192 THE DESCENT OF MAN 



the same physical evils as the lower auimals, he has no right 

 to expect an immunity from the erils consequent on the 

 struggle for existence. Had he not been subjected during 

 primeval ' times to natural selection, assuredly he would 

 never have attained to his present rank. Since we see ia 

 many parts of the world enormous areas of the most fertile 

 land capable of supporting numerous happy homes, but peo- 

 pled only by a few wandering savages, it might be argued 

 that the struggle for existence had not been sufficiently 

 severe to force man upward to his highest standard. Judg- 

 ing from all that we know of man and the lower animals, 

 there has always been sufficient variability in their intel- 

 lectual and moral faculties for a steady advance through 

 natural selection. No doubt such advance demands many 

 favorable concurrent circumstances; but it may well be 

 doubted whether the most favorable would have sufficed, 

 had not the rate of increase been rapid, and the consequent 

 struggle for existence extremely severe. It even appears 

 from what we see, for instance, in parts of South America, 

 that a people which may be called civilized, such as the 

 Spanish settlers, is liable to become indolent and to retro- 

 grade, when the conditions of life are very easy. With 

 highly civilized nations continued progress depends in a 

 subordinate degree on natural selection; for such nations 

 do not supplant and exterminate one another as do savage 

 tribes. Nevertheless, the more intelligent members within 

 the same community will succeed better in the long run 

 than the inferior, and leave a more numerous progeny, and 

 this is a form of natural selection. The more efficient causes 

 of progress seem to consist of a good education during youth 

 while the brain is impressible, and of a high standard of 

 excellence, inculcated by the ablestand best men, embodied 

 in the laws, customs, and traditions of the nation, and en- 

 forced by public opinion. It should, however, be borne 

 in mind that the enforcement of public opinion depends on 

 our appreciation of the approbation and disapprobation 

 of others; and this appreciation is founded on our sym- 



