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Show 16G THJ~ DESCEN'l' OF MAN. social instincts, largely guided by the approbation of our fellow-men, ruled by reason, self-interest, and iu later times by deep religious feelings, confirmed by instruction and habit, all combined, constitute our moral sense or conscience. It must not be forgotten that although a high stand-ard of morality gives but a slight or no ad,vantage to each individual man and his children over the other men of the same tribe, yet that an ad van cement in the standard of morality and an increase in the number of well-endowed men will certainly give an immense advantage to one tribe over another. There can be no doubt that a tribe including many members who, from possessing in a high degree the spirit of patriotism, fidelity, obedience, courage, and sympathy, were always ready to give aiel to each other and to sacrifice themselves for the common good, would be victorious over most other tribes; and this would be natural selection. At all times throughout the world tribes have supplanted other tribes ; and as morality is one element in their success, the standard of morality and the number of well-endowed men will thus everywhere tend to rise and increase. It is, however, very difficult to form any judgment whv one particular tribe and not another has been successf~l and.has risen in the .s:ale of civilisation. Many savages are m the same cond1t1on as when first discovered several centuries ago. As Mr. Bagehot has remarked, we are apt to look at progress as the normal rule in human society; but history refutes this. Tho ancients did not even entertain the idea ; nor do the oriental nations at the pres~nt day. According to another high authority, Mr. Mame,8 "the greatest part of mankiucl has never • 8 'Ancien.t Law,' 1861, p. 22. For 1\ir. Bngehot's rem:nks • Fort-mghtly ReVIew,' April 1, 1868, p. 452. ' •CIIAl'. V. CIVILISED NATIONS. 167 " shewn a particle of desire that its civil institutions "should be improved." Progress seems to depend on many concurrent favourable conditions, far too complex to be followed out. But it has often been remarked, that a cool climate from leading to industry and the various arts has been highly favourable, or even indispensable for this end. The Esquimaux, pressed by hard necessity, have succeeded in many ingenious inventions, but their climate bas been too severe for continued proO'ress. N omaclic habits, whether over wide plains, or th;ough :the dense forests of the tropics, or along the shores of the sea, have in every case been highly detrimental. Whilst observing the barbarous inhabitants of Tierra oel Fuego, it struck me that the possession of some property, a fixed abode, and the union of many families under a chief, were the indispensable requisites for -civilisation. Such habits almost necessitate the cultivation of the ground; and the first steps in cultivation would probably result, as I have elsewhere shewn,9 from some such accident as the seeds of a fruit-tree fallinO' on a heap of refuse and producing an unusually fin~ variety. The problem, however, of the first advance of savages towards civilisation is at present much too difficult to be solved. Natural Selection as a:ffect?:ng Civilised Nations.-In the last and present chapters I have considered the ad'fancement of man from a former semi-human conclition to his present state as a barbarian. But some remarks on the agency of natural selection on civilised nations may be here worth adding. This subject has been ably discussed by Mr. vV. R. Greg,1° and previously 9 ''l'l1e Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,' vol. i. p. 309 . 10 'Fraser·s Magazine,' Sept. 1868, p. 353. '!'his article seems to have struck many persons, and has given rise to two remarkable essays |
