178 TEE DESCENT OF MAN 



break his parole,* would not feel remorse in his inmost 

 soul if he had failed in a duty which he held sacred. 



We may therefore conclude that primeval man, at a very 

 remote period, was influenced by the praise and blame of his 

 fellows. It is obvious that the members of the same tribe 

 would approve of conduct which appeared to them to be for 

 the general good, and would reprobate that which appeared 

 evil. To do good unto others— to do unto others as ye would 

 they should do unto you— is the foundation-stone of moral- 

 ity. It is, therefore, hardly possible to exaggerate the im- 

 portance, during rude times, of the love of praise and the 

 dread of blame. A man who was not impelled by any deep, 

 instinctive feeling to sacrifice his life for the good of others, 

 yet was roused to such actions by a sense of glory, would 

 by his example excite the same wish for glory in other men, 

 and would strengthen by exercise the noble feeling of ad- 

 miration. He might thus do far more good to his tribe than 

 by begetting offspring with a tendency to inherit his own 

 high character. 



With increased experience and reason, man perceives the 

 more remote consequences of his actions, and the self-regard- 

 ing virtues, such as temperance, chastity, etc., which during 

 early times are, as we have before seen, utterly disregarded, 

 come to be highly esteemed or even held sacred. I need 

 not, however, repeat what I have said on this head in the 

 fourth chapter. Ultimately our moral sense or conscience 

 becomes a highly complex sentiment — originating in the 

 social instincts, largely guided by the approbation of our 

 fellow-men, ruled by reason, self-interest, and in later times 

 by deep religious feelings, and confirmed by instruction and 

 habit. 



It must not be forgotten that although a high standard 

 of morality gives but a slight or no advantage to each indi- 

 vidual man and his children over the other men of the same 



* Mr. Wallace gives oases in Ms "Contributions to the Theory of Natural 

 Selection," 1870, p. 354. 



