D2 ! THE DESCENT OF MAN. ! Part I. 
vengeance. It is possible, or, as we shall hereafter 
■see, even probable, that the habit of self-command 
may, like other habits, be inherited. Thus at last 
man comes to feel, through acquired and perhaps in- 
herited habit, that it is best for him to obey his more 
persistent instincts. The imperious word ought seems 
merely to imply the consciousness of the existence of a 
persistent instinct, either innate or partly acquired, 
serving him as a guide, though liable to be disobeyed. 
We hardly use the word ought in a metaphorical sense, 
when we say hounds ought to hunt, pointers to point, 
and retrievers to retrieve their game. If they fail thus 
to act, they fail in their duty and act wrongly. 
If any desire or instinct, leading to an action opposed 
to the good of others, still appears to a man, when re- 
called to mind, as strong as, or stronger than, his social 
instinct, he will feel no keen regret at having followed 
it ; but he will be conscious that if his conduct were 
known to his fellows, it would meet with their disap- 
probation ; and few are so destitute of sympathy as not 
to feel discomfort when this is realised. If he has no 
.such sympathy, and if his desires leading to bad actions 
are at the time strong, and when recalled are not over- 
mastered by the persistent social instincts, then he is 
essentially a bad man ; 22 and the sole restraining motive 
left is the fear of punishment, and the conviction that 
in the long run it would be best for his own selfish 
interests to regard the good of others rather than his 
'Own. 
It is obvious that every one may with an easy con- 
science gratify his own desires, if they do not interfere 
22 Dr. Prosper Despine, in his ‘Psychologie Naturelle,’ 1868 (tom. 
i. p. 243 ; tom ii. p. 169) gives many curious cases of the worst criminals, 
who apparently have been entirely destitute of conscience. 
