THE

FUTURE

or their immediate effects on our own environment.

The

'purposive' man

is

always trying to secure a spurious and

delusive immortality for his acts by pushing his interest in

them forward into time. He does not love his cat,

but

his cat's

kittens; nor, in truth, the kittens, hut only the kittens' kittens,

and

so

on forward for ever to the end

of

catdom. For hirn jam

is

not jam unless it

is

a case

of

jam tomorrow and never jam

today. Thus hy pushing his jam always forward into the future,

he strives to secure for his act

of

hoiling it an immortality.

Let

me remind you

of

the Professor in Sylvie

and

Bruno:

'Only the tailor, sir, with your little bill,' said a meek voice outside the door.

'Ah,

weIl,

1 can soon settle

his

business,' the Professor said to the children,

'ifyou'Il just wait aminute. How much

is

it, this year,

my

man?'

The

tailor

had come in while he

was

speaking.

'WeIl, it's been a-doubling

so

many years, you see,' the tailor replied,

a little gruffiy,

'and

1 think

I'd

like the money now. It's two thousand

pound, it

is!'

'Oh,

that's nothing

!'

the Professor carelessly remarked, feeling in his

pocket,

as

if

he always carried at least that amount about with hirn.

'But

wouldn't you like to wait

JUS!

another year and make it

Jour

thousand?

Just think how rich you'd bel Why, you might be a

king,

ifyou

liked!'

'I

don't know

as

I'd

care about being a king,' the man said thoughtfuIly.

'But

it

dew

sound a powerful sight

0'

money! WeIl, 1 think

1'11

wait-'

'Of

course you will!' said the Professor.

'There's

good sense in you,

1 see. Good-day to you,

my

man!'

'Will youever have to pay hirn that four thousand pounds?' Sylvie asked

as

the door closed on the departing creditor.

'Never,

my

child!' the Professor replied emphaticaIly.

'He'll

go

on

doubling it till he dies. You see, it's

a/ways

worth while waiting another

year to get twice

as

much money!'

Perhaps it is not an accident that the race which did most

to bring the promise

of

immortality into the heart and essence

of

our religions has also done most for the principle

of

compound

interest and particularly loves this most purposive

of

human

institutions.

I see us free, therefore, to return to some

of

the most sure

and certain principles

of

religion and traditional

virtue-that

33°