This was the spirit of the past, of the Dark Ages,
which still survives amongst us. The spirit of to-day
just reverses this. Forward the good that is, instead
of passively bowing at the shrine of the good and the
gods that were — or more frequently, never were!
Work, which is Worship of the God of Things as They
Are, is the religion of the twentieth century. And
Service, not Holiness, is the Master Word!

Few better illustrations of this worship of the past
and belittling of the present can be found than our
opinion of our own physique "in these degenerate
days" ! However modestly and inconclusively we may
be content to express ourselves upon the nebular hypo-
thesis, or the negro question, or the future navigation



MODERN PHYSICAL DEGENERACY 61

of the air, we are quite sure, beyond the shadow of a
doubt, that our ancestors in the Good Old Days —
particularly in the "Old Coimtry" — were taller,
stronger, healthier, and longer-Kved, to say nothing
of their being more honest and patriotic than we are.
