182 THE DESCENT OF MAN 



Man accumulates property and bequeaths it to his chil- 

 dren, so that the children of the rich have an advantage 

 over the poor in the race for success, independently of 

 bodily or mental superiority. On the other hand, the chil- 

 dren of parents who are short-lived, and are therefore on 

 an average deficient in health and vigor, come into their 

 property sooner than other children, and will be likely to 

 marry earlier, and leave a larger number of offspring to 

 inherit their inferior constitutions. But the inheritance 

 of property by itself is very far from an evil; for without 

 the accumulation of capital the arts could not progress; and 

 it is chiefly through their power that the civilized races have 

 extended, and are now everywhere extending their range, so 

 as to take the place of the lower races. Nor does the mod- 

 erate accumulation of wealth interfere with the process of 

 selection. When a poor man becomes moderately rich, his 

 children enter trades or professions in which there is strug- 

 gle enough, so that the able in body and mind succeed best. 

 The presence of a body of well-instructed men, who have 

 not to labor for their daily bread, is important to a degree 

 which cannot be over-estimated; as all high intellectual 

 work is carried on by them, and on such work material 

 progress of all kinds mainly depends, not to mention other 

 and higher advantages. No doubt wealth when very great 

 tends to convert men into useless drones, but their number 

 is never large ; and some degree of elimination here occurs, 

 for we daily see rich men, who happen to be fools or profli- 

 gate, squandering away their wealth. 



Primogeniture with entailed estates is a more direct evil, 

 though it may formerly have been a great advantage by the 

 creation of a dominant class, and any government is better 

 than none. Most eldest sons, though they may be weak in 

 body or mind, marry, while the younger sons, however supe- 

 rior in these respects, do not so generally marry. Nor can 

 worthless eldest sons with entailed estates squander their 

 wealth. But here, as elsewhere, the relations of civilized 

 life are so complex that some compensatory checks inter- 



