ETHICS AND ALTRUISM 251 



grees. It pervades all nature, and is always just and 

 impartial. 



The evolutionist views man, in his primitive stage, 

 as little above the animal, governed by passions, de- 

 sires, and instincts, inherited from his remote ances- 

 tors. His altruistic evolution comes from his associa- 

 tion with his fellows for the purpose of mutual pro- 

 tection, and is correlated with the economic, political, 

 and intellectual evolution of society. 



Man's moral nature is thus evolved biologically 

 from the very nature of his life itself ; from the nature 

 of all life: not only this; but from the atoms of the 

 nebula, whose moving principle is condensation. This 

 is the criterion of the strength, and binding force of 

 natural ethics. Man was never perfect, even in his own 

 view of himself. But he has been, ever since he built 

 the first fire and made the first tool, evolving into a 

 better adapted organism to his environment; his 

 primitive instincts blindly led him to those efforts, 

 which conduce to his physical welfare. This effort has 

 been his salvation. When the struggle ceases, that is 

 death. But he passes life on to his offspring with an 

 inherited periodical variation, which prolongs and 

 widens it, generation after generation. 



RIGHTEOUSNESS. All men properly organized are de- 

 sirous of promoting the growth of what is generally 

 called "righteousness." That word, however, is quite 

 indefinite in its application. In some localities, and un- 

 der certain conditions, it is considered quite compatible 

 with a state of external war, of slavery, of injustice ; and 

 in others, with a state of what we would call decided 

 personal immorality. 



In 1820 the American missionaries to the Sandwich 

 Islands found the inhabitants living in the lowest stages. 



