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Show 100 TIIE DESCENT OF MAl~. PAr.T L quarters of the world, so deeply impressed on t~e mind of men; but it is worthy of remark that a behef constantly inculcated during the early years of life, whilst the brain is impressible, appears to acquire almost the nature of an instinct; and the very essence of an instinct is that it is followed independently of reason. Neither can we say why certain admirable virtues, such as the love of truth, are much more highly appreciated by some savage tribes than by others; 33 nor, again, why similar differences prevail even amongst civilised nations. Knowing how firmly fixed many strange customs and superstitions ha Ye become, we need feel no surprise that the self-regarding virtues should now appear to us so natural, supported as they are by reason, as to be thought innate, although they were not valued by man in his early condition. Notwithstanding many sources of doubt, man can generally and readily distinguish between the higher and lower moral rules. The higher are founded on the social instincts, and relate to the welfare of others. They are supported by the approbation of our fellowmen and by reason. The lower rules, though some of them when implying self-sacrifice hardly deserve to be called lower, relate chiefly to self, and' owe their origin to public opinion, when matured by experience and cultivated ; for they are not practised Ly rude tribes. As man advances in civilisation, and small tribesare united into larger communities, the simplest reason would tell each individual that he ought to extend his social instincts and sympathies to all the members of the same nation, though personally unknown to him. This point being once reached, there is only an arii-· 33 Good instances are given by 1\'Ir. Wallace in 'Scientific Opinion,' Sept. 15, 1869; and more fully in his 'Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection,' 1870, p. 353 . . ' •CHAP. liT. MORAL SENSE. 101 :ficial barrier to prevent his sympathies extending to the men of all nations and races. If, indeed, such men are separated from him by great differences in appearance Dr habits, experience unfortunately shews us Low long it is before we look at them as our fellow-creatures. Sympathy beyond the confines of man, that is humanity to the lower animals, seems to be one of the latest moral acquisitions. It is apparently unfelt by savages, except towards their pets. How little the old Romans knew of it is shewn by their abhorrent gladiatorial exhibitions. The very idea of humanity, as far as I could obserYe, was new to most of the Gauchos of the Pampas. This virtue, one of the noblest with which man is endowed, seems to arise incidentally from our sympathies becoming more tender and more widely diffused, until they are extended to all sentient beings. As soon as this virtue is honoured and practised by some few men, it spreads through instruction and example to the young, and eventually through public opinion. The highest stage in moral culture at which we can arrive, is when we recognise that we ought to control our thoughts, and " not even in inmost thought to think " again the sins that made the past so pleasant to us." 34 Whatever makes any bad action familiar to the mind, renders its performance by so much the easier. As lVIarcus Aurelius long ago said, '' Such as are thy habi"'' tual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy " mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts." 35 Our great philosopher, Herbert Spencer, has recently explained his views on the moral sense. He says,36 " I 34 Tennyson, • Idylls of the King,' p. 244. 35 • The 'l'houghts of the Emperor l\1. Aurelius Antoninus,' Eng. translat., 2nd edit., 1869, p. 112. Marcus Amelius was born A.D. 121. 36 Letter to Mr. Mill in Bain's 'Mental and 1\'Ioml Science,' 1868, 'P· 722. . |