Chap. III.] MORAL SENSE. 77 



sense of dissatisfaction is generally experienced ; and this 

 is especially true in regard to persons of feeble intellect. 



It has often been assumed that animals were in the 

 first place rendered social, and that they feel as a conse- 

 quence uncomfortable when separated from each other, 

 and comfortable while together ; but it is a more probable 

 view that these sensations were first developed, in order 

 that those animals which would profit by living in so- 

 ciety, should be induced to live together, in the same 

 manner as the sense of hunger and the pleasure of eating 

 were, no doubt, first acquired in order to induce animals 

 to eat. The feeling of pleasure from society is probably 

 an extension of the parental or filial affections ; and this 

 extension may be in chief part attributed to natural selec- 

 tion, but perhaps in part to mere habit. For with those 

 animals which were benefited by living in close associa- 

 tion, the individuals which took the greatest pleasure in 

 society would best escape various dangers ; while those 

 that cared least for their comrades and lived solitary 

 would perish in greater numbers. With respect to the 

 origin of the parental and filial affections, which appar- 

 ently lie at the basis of the social affections, it is hopeless 

 to speculate ; but we may infer that they have been to a 

 large extent gained through natural selection. So it has 

 almost certainly been with the unusual and opposite feel- 

 ing of hatred between the nearest relations, as with the 

 worker-bees which kill their brother-drones, and with the 

 queen-bees which kill their daughter-queens ; the desire 

 to destroy, instead of loving, their nearest relations hav- 

 ing been here of service to the community. 



The all-important emotion of sympathy is distinct, 

 from that of love. A mother may passionately love her 

 sleeping and passive infant, but she can then hardly be 

 said to feel sympathy for it. The love of a man for his 

 \Tog is distinct from sympathy, and so is that of a dog 



