720 Dynamic Theory. 



other persen not immediately connected with himself. Retaliation made 

 every one a victim as well as an aggressor. After a sufficient number 

 of ages of this sort of experience a perception of the unprofitable results 

 of mutual robbery and distrust would begin to bore its way through even 

 rather thick skulls, and a few families in a neighborhood would after 

 awhile, perhaps without any very definite agreement, he found to agree 

 not to rob or murder each other, but to put their forces together for the 

 plunder of more distant victims. There was nothing of sentiment or 

 far-away ethics in such first compact of government, but it was blank 

 selfishness guided by a small amount of experience and common sense. 

 Thus the first stage of law both civil and moral is ' ' Honor among 

 thieves." As the means of locomotion and intercourse increased, the 

 areas of the civil compacts would increase, neighboring tribes thus be- 

 coming bound to each other in nations, each nation a murderer, robber 

 and thief with respect to other nations, but its component parts keeping 

 the peace among themselves by virtue of the fi % rst principle, ' ' Honor 

 among thieves. " The next stage of development is that in which na- 

 tions, gradually discovering the cost and general unprofitableness of mu- 

 tual plunder by violence, make efforts to avoid war by substituting 

 diplomacy. In other words, the age of violence is succeeded by the age 

 of finesse. Nations try to overreach each other by means of hostile trade 

 and tariff regulations, and by diplomatic palaver and treaty bargains. 

 This is the size of international morality to-day. Where men are packed 

 together closely their development goes forward faster than where they 

 are separated. So the moral law, as well as the civil law which is based 

 upon it, has reached a much higher development as between individuals 

 of the same nation than as between nations. But the steps are just the 

 same. We pass through the age of violence into the age of cheating. 

 Further development is the gradual suppression of the grosser and more 

 open forms of cheating. This is done by the cheated provided they are 

 sufficiently intelligent and have the power ; and every step in the ad- 

 vance is a contest between the self-interest of the cheater and the cheatee. 

 At present our law and our morality allow of large classes getting great 

 amounts of property from those who originally earn and produce it. 

 This is accomplished under the general operations of what are called the 

 1 ' laws of trade " and the "law of supply and demand." This is, of 

 course, a great improvement over sneaking into peoples premises and 

 stealing their property or holding them up and taking it by force. But 

 it is far from satisfactory, and is destined to undergo a vast development 

 in the future. The best development of moral sentiment like "the 

 quality of mercy, is not strained " and cannot be enforced by civil 

 codes. Pity, kindness, sympathy, affection and love are sentiments 

 which have been developed by the intimate and mutual dependence of 



