108 SOCIAL HEREDITY AND SOCIAL EVOLUTION 



The child of primitive man, from the time that the 

 family became lasting, was from earliest infancy 

 placed under the influence of his elders, who became 

 his teachers. From the dawning of his intelligence 

 and during all the early years when his mind was 

 most plastic he was sure to be molded by the influ- 

 ence of those around him. During these years one 

 great lesson was both consciously and unconsciously 

 taught him, namely, that he must ohey not only the 

 commands of his parents, but must yield to the public 

 opinion of the tribe of which his family formed a 

 part. From very early infancy the child, like the 

 animal, was influenced by expressions of praise ^d 

 blame and, since public opinion praises one line "of 

 action and blames another, the child, even among 

 primitive peoples, must have been urged to follow 

 one line of action and avoid another. By imitation 

 he learned to act as his parents acted, and later as 

 others around him acted. 



In this way the child soon learned the force of 

 authority, finding through his slight experience that 

 in his family all yielded to the family head. Later he 

 found that the family head yielded to the commands 

 of the tribal chief, and all these facts so molded his 

 growing mind that by the time he had become an 

 adult the idea of obedience to authority was thor- 

 oughly impressed upon him. He gradually devel- 

 oped the notion of submission to authority, perhaps 

 the most important mental trait controlling his evo- 

 lution, and constituting the foundation of ethics and 

 religion; for conscience is surely founded upon the 

 recognition of the necessity for obedience. 



Sympathy and love were internal forces, and per- 

 haps the willingness to yield obedience may have 



