Chap. V.] MORAL FACULTIES. 157 



doubtful whether the offspring of tlie more sympathetic 

 and benevolent parents, or of those which were the most 

 faithful to their comrades, would be reared in greater 

 number than the children of selfish and treacherous par- 

 ents of the same tribe. He who was ready to sacrifice his 

 life, as many a savage has been, rather than betray his 

 comrades, would often leave no oflspring to inherit nis 

 noble nature. The bravest men, who were always willing 

 to come to the front in war, and who freely risked their 

 lives for others, would on an average perish in larger num- 

 ber than other men. Therefore it seems scarcely possible 

 (bearing in mind that we are not here speaking of one 

 tribe being victorious over another) that the number of 

 men gifted with such virtues, or that the standard of their 

 excellence, could be increased through natural selection, 

 that is, by the survival of the fittest. 



Although the circumstances which lead to an increase 

 in the number of men thus endowed within the same tribe 

 are too complex to be clearly followed out, we can trace 

 some of the probable steps. In the first place, as the rea- 

 soning powers and foresight of the members became im- 

 proved, each man would soon learn from experience that, 

 if he aided his fellow-men, he would commonly receive aid 

 in return. From this low motive he might acquire the 

 habit of aiding his fellows ; and the habit of performing 

 benevolent actions certainly strengthens the feeling of 

 sympathy, which gives the first impulse to benevolent ac- 

 tions. Habits, moreover, followed during many genera- 

 tions probably tend to be inherited. 



But there is another and much more powerful stimulus 

 to the development of the social vii^tues, namely, the 

 praise and the blame of our fellow-men. The love of ap- 

 probation and the dread of infamy, as well as the be- 

 stowal of praise or blame, are primarily due, as we have 

 seen in the third chapter, to the instinct of sympathy ; 



