88 THE DESCENT OF MAN |Part I- 



experienced when other instincts or desires are left unsat- 

 isfied ; but every unsatisfied instinct has its own proper 

 prompting sensation, as we recognize with hunger, thirst, 

 etc. Man thus prompted, will through long habit acquire 

 such j>erfect self-command, that his desires and passions 

 will at last instantly yield to his social sympathies, and 

 there will no longer be a struggle between them. The 

 still hungry, or the still revengeful man will not think of 

 stealing food, or of wreaking his vengeance. It is possi- 

 ble, or, as we shall hereafter see, even probable, that the 

 habit of self-command may, like other habits, be inherited. 

 Thus at last man comes to feel, through acquired, and, 

 perhaps, inherited habit, that it is best for him to obey 

 his more persistent instincts. The imperious word ought 

 seems merely to employ the consciousness of the existence 

 of a persistent instinct, either innate or partly acquired, 

 serving him as a guide, though liable to be disobeyed. We 

 hardly use the word ought in a metaphorical sense when 

 we say hounds ought to hunt, pointers to point, and re- 

 trievers to retrieve their game. If they fail thus to act, 

 they fail in their duty and act wrongly. 



If any desire or instinct, leading to an action opposed 

 to the good of others, still appears- to a man, when recalled 

 to mind, as strong as, or stronger than, his social instinct, 

 he will feel no keen regret at having followed it ; but- he 

 will be conscious that if his conduct were known to his 

 fellows, it would meet with their disapprobation ; and few 

 are so destitute of sympathy as not to feel discomfort when 

 this is realized. If he has no such sympathy, and if his 

 desires leading to bad actions are at the time strong, and 

 when recalled are not overmastered by the persistent so- 

 cial instincts, then he is essentially a bad man ; 22 and the 



22 Dr. Prosper Despine, in his ' Psychologie Naturelle,' 1868 (torn. i. p. 

 243 ; torn. ii. p. 169), gives many curious cases of the worst criminals, who 

 apparently have been entirely destitute of conscience. 



