THE DESCENT OR ORIGIN OF MAN 179 



tribe, yet that an increase in the number of well-endowed 

 men and an advancement in the standard of morality will 

 certainly give an immense advantage to one tribe over an- 

 other. A tribe including many members who, from pos- 

 sessing in a high degree the spirit of patriotism, fidelity, 

 obedience, courage, and sympathy, were always ready to 

 aid one another, and to sacrifice themselves for the common 

 good, would be victorious over most other tribes; and this 

 would be natural selection. At all times throughout the 

 world tribes have supplanted other tribes; and as morality 

 is one important element in their success, the standard of 

 morality and the number of well-endowed men will thus 

 everywhere tend to rise and increase. 



It is, however, very difficult to form any judgment why 

 one particular tribe and not another has been successful 

 and has risen in the scale of civilization. Many savages 

 are in the same condition as when first discovered several 

 centuries ago. As Mr. Bagehot has remarked, we are apt 

 to look at progress as normal in human society ; but history 

 refutes this. The ancients did not even entertain the idea, 

 nor do the Oriental nations at the present day. According 

 to another high authority, Sir Henry Maine,' "the greatest 

 part of mankind has never shown a particle of desire that 

 its civil institutions should be improved." Progress seema 

 to depend on many concurrent favorable conditions, far too 

 complex to be followed out. But it has often been remarked 

 that a cool climate, from leading to industry and to the vari- 

 ous arts, has been highly favorable thereto. The Eskimos, 

 pressed by hard necessity, have succeeded in many ingen- 

 ious inventions, but their climate has been too severe for 

 continued progress. Nomadic habits, whether over wide 

 plains or through the dense forests of the tropics, or along 

 the shores of the sea, have in every case been highly detri- 

 mental. While observing the barbarous inhabitants of Tierra 



' "Ancient Law," 1861, p. 22. For Mr. Bagehot's remarks, "Fortnightly 

 Eeview," April 1, 1868, p. 452. 



