24 SOCIAL HEREDITY AND SOCIAL EVOLUTION 



tures of mankind which constitute the higher pliase 

 of his nature shows us that they are one and all of 

 the class which are generally called acquired char- 

 acters. Nothing is more certain than the fact that 

 mankind is not born possessing these attributes that 

 constitute his chief glory. The young child does not 

 inherit language, nor does he show a moral sense, 

 nor the principles of government, nor any shred of 

 knowledge from his parents. It may perhaps be 

 questioned by some whether he does not inherit a 

 moral sense, and this subject we shall have to dis- 

 cuss later. But for a moment we may be allowed to 

 assume the truth of this position; and certainly in 

 regard to the other special attributes which we have 

 mentioned above, they are each acquired independ- 

 ently by each individual after his birth. They are 

 distinctly acquired characters, and like other 

 acquired characters they do not seem to be trans- 

 mitted to the offspring. Although our ancestors 

 have used language for long generations, and though 

 they have been submissive to law and government, 

 it is still absolutely necessary for each child born 

 into the world to learn to speak, and to be taught the 

 principles of submission to authority; and the same 

 principle is manifestly true of the other distinctively 

 human attributes. 



Social Inheritance 



This conclusion leads us to another of much 

 wider significance. Since civilization is a unique 

 phase of evolution, it must have been developed by 

 laws of its own. Since it is simply a series of ac- 

 quired characters, it cannot have been inherited in 



