416 FROM BRUTE 



Increased Sympathy, as well as an increased recognition 

 by each unit of the * social organism ' of what he might do 

 for the gratification of his own wants or desires without 

 bringing pain upon himself through the anger of his 

 fellovvSj would gradually teach him the necessity of sub- 

 ordinating within certain limits his realization of egoistic 

 impulses, and the need, even for the sake of his own 

 happiness, of continually bearing in mind the wants and 

 wishes of his fellow-men. 



Sympathy we have seen to have been begotten even 

 in the breasts of many dumb animals, when they have 

 learned to recognize in their fellows the outward signs of 

 that which they remember as a condition of past distress 

 for themselves. The ideal recurrence of such a state, 

 coupled with a perception implying the similar present 

 suffering of another, prompts to actions for its relief. In 

 such exercise of mere brute Sympathy, we have one of the 

 most important germs of those altruistic feelings which 

 attain so much breadth and power in higher races of Man. 



Equally important, however, among savage races, are 

 those limitations which 'expediency' compels the individual 

 to recognize, as imposed by his fellow-men upon the 

 freedom of his own actions. Such considerations, in 

 concert perhaps with a strengthening Sympathy, gra- 

 dually tend to build up within him an inward monitor, or 

 * Conscience,' at the same time that there arise embryo 

 notions of Eight and Duty, constituting the foundations 

 of a dawning ' Moral Sense.' Having such an origin, the 

 impulses of such a ' faculty ' cannot fail to harmonize with 

 prevalent opinions and influences. As G. H. Lewes 

 says* : — 



"There cannot be moral relations apart from Society .... The 

 Intellect and the Conscience are social functions; and their special 



* "Problems of Life and Mind," vol. i. p. 173. 



