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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



trated in every other domain accessi- 

 ble to human inquiry. Before we grap- 

 ple with this question, however, it will 

 be well to place before ourselves as 

 clear an idea as possible of what man's 

 moral nature is. 



The moral nature of man, according 

 to our understanding of the expression, 

 is that part of the human consciousness 

 which takes cognizance of, and is defi- 

 nitely afFected by, conduct, as that term 

 is employed both by Herbert Spencer 

 and by Matthew Arnold. That there 

 should be a sense for conduct is as nat- 

 ural as that there should be a sense for 

 {?ny other outward phenomenon ; and, 

 if so, we can readily understand that 

 an individual may examine and criticise 

 his own conduct just as he may exam- 

 ine and criticise his own personal ap- 

 pearance. The norm or standard in 

 both cases — that is to say, whether 

 conduct or physical structure is in 

 question — is the same, namely, some as- 

 sumed ideal suitable to the human race, 

 and in a manner generalized from vary- 

 ing human characteristics. Nobody, so 

 far as we are aware, aspires either to a 

 virtue or to a beauty appropriate to any 

 non-human race of beings. Enough 

 for a man to be a man in the best sense ; 

 enough for a woman to fulfill the best 

 type of womanhood. But this striving 

 after a type, what does it imply ? Our 

 contemporary says that, so far as con- 

 duct is concerned, it implies the origi- 

 nal creation of a perfect moral nature, 

 which sin has marred, but of which a 

 perpetual reminiscence lingers. Good ! 

 but how about the striving after physi- 

 cal beauty? Does that also imply the 

 reminiscence of a lost perfection? Or 

 does it merely imjdy a sense in the in- 

 dividual of that wliich constitutes the 

 best expression of the species? We in- 

 cline to the latter opinion, and we think 

 a similar answer might be given to the 

 question as to the striving after a moral 

 ideal. 



The fact should not be lost sight of 

 that our ideas in regard both to beauty 



of conduct and to beauty of form are 

 very greatly controlled by habit and 

 tradition. The standard of physical 

 beauty varies from country to country, 

 so that what inspires admiration here 

 may be regarded as far from attractive 

 there ; and the same may be said of the 

 standard of virtue. What is deemed 

 most worthy of imitation in one age or 

 clime may be regarded with positive 

 disapproval under changed conditions 

 of time or place. The very words 

 "moral" and "ethical" teach us a 

 lesson under this head ; since the essen- 

 tial meaning of both, if we revert to 

 their etymology, is neither more nor 

 less than "customary." The first no- 

 tions of morality were therefore based 

 wholly on custom ; and only as reflec- 

 tion developed, and as the contact of 

 tribe with tribe and nation with na- 

 tion gave the opportunity of com- 

 paring custom with custom, did the 

 notion of morality enlarge and purify 

 itself. The red Indian of former 

 days would strive to harden himself 

 against physical suflTering, and to dead- 

 en in his heart any stirrings of com- 

 passion for a fallen foe. Are we to 

 suppose that the original typical or 

 ideal human nature was one, the main 

 features of which were physical en- 

 durance and remorseless cruelty? If 

 not, the argument drawn from the 

 sense of struggle or conflict must fall 

 to the ground ; for iindoubtedly every 

 individual Indian had to strive in order 

 to bring himself up to the true heroic 

 level, as understood in his tribe. The 

 need for effort to attain any moral ideal, 

 whether that of the red Indian or that 

 of the most public-schooled inhabitant 

 of Massachusetts or New York, seems 

 to us to be strictly comparable and 

 analogous to the need for educational 

 effort of other kinds. The family, the 

 tribe, the race, acquire knowledge, 

 habits, and principles of one kind or 

 another, w^hich every new-born individ- 

 ual must grow up into, on pain of 

 social failure and probably of early 



