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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 t 2 3 [ 4 5 6 Till') ORIGIN AND (iROWTJJ MORAL INSTINCT M I: ! THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE MORAL INSTINCT BV ALEXANDER SUTHERLAND, M.A. IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. II. LONGMANS, GRKEN, AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON- NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 1898 All rif;hts reserved I i C0.\TKNT8 OF VOL. II. CHAPTEIt XIV. SVMPATHY AS A NATCRAr, JIORAMTV Moral Svst..,,,. „ 4 ', a ,"" ' "^ "'"''"'"■"f"' 'Vindple i„ (Wt " "•■••■■■- "■M-:.^'t;,,:;L.;;:;.::t"' -"■"- CHAPTER XV. CrROWTIf or TIIK SkNSK OF DlTV ,.. ^-'--n.. .„„'„,,.,„ ,,„,:;;;:!l; ;; ■:;™: ;;;■!;;■". .•■ '■'- , , ,.,., CHAPTER XVI. Sklf-Respect nuty an Kxtonial, S,.l(-If..sp,,,.t an l„ Respect, Progressive witli Tiiiiu PAOK 1 30 poet, p. 71-W,.|r.[{esp,.i.t 03 .spect. p. ,JS_T1„. Tr,u. Sanction of Sclf.Respoc.t, le, p. 7-4. CHAPTER XVII. The Bealtv of Rip.ht Cokdcct "-.11, I). .>— Hence Con.es the .Moral J.leal, p. 9,-;. CHAPTER XVIII. Rfrpo.vhibimtv ScientiMe Neccssitiirianism, 11. 100-l\Vl..,'t"i. \r '". . "c ^^ AUsenccofKrccWill I , s not J , ' ' ^^"""'>' '' ^"■""= ^iH ? p. 107- L'se of the Sense f R 'on if ^ "'''"'''' '^'^'^''''''■^''''''•>- !'• 1"- tl'ought, p. 122. •'^■^"""^""■"y. p. n7-Kesponsilnlity and Pore- CHAPTER XIX. The Influence op thf Fa.i,,,. . OF THK IMMILV ox THK GUOWTH OP MOUAI S loo n CONTENTS. CHAPTER XX. The Growth op Law Iiulividiial liespoiisibility Extended no t'artluT tlmn tlie Family, p. 157— Re- taliation and Fend, p. 161— Compensation, p. 103— Arliitration, p. ICo— Sovereign Power, p. 169— Codes of Law, p. 1713. PAOB 157 CHAPTER XXI. The Prevalence op Law 182 Legal Ordeals, p. 182— The King's Peace, p. 18S— The Court of .Instiee, p. 195 — Inliltratiou of K(inity into Law, p. 198- Law as a Reformatory Ageut p. 206. CHAPTER XXIL The Nervous Basis of the Emotions Kmotlon Arises from Bodily Htimnlus, p. 211— The Two Nerve-Systems, p. 215 —Conipariitive Independence of the Sympathetic System, p. 221— Influence of the Sympathetic on Emotions, \). 22.')— Development of the Sympathetic System, p. 227— Development of ihe VVarni-lilooded Type, p. 235— Inllu- enee of Temperature on Hatching, p. 239 -Temperature in Mannnals ■ami Birds, p. 246— The Limit to Warmth of Blood, p. 248— Tempera- ture-Control of the Sympathetic System, p. 249— Warm Blood and Emotions, p. 253— Direct Action of the Sympathetic System on Emotions, p. 258— Vascular Conditions in Amatory Emotion, p. 259— Vascular Conditions in Maternal Emotions, p. 261. 211 ^ CHAPTER XXni. The Nature of the Emotions Bodily Condition and Emotional Capacity, p. 264— Emotional Effects of Drugs, p. 269— Emotional Effects of Pathological States, p. 275— Arguments froui Insanity, p. 278— The Primary Emotions, p. 284 -Induced Primary Emotions, p, 295— Nature of the Moral Instinct, p. .303. 264 CHAPTER XXIV. Right and Wrong Index ... 308 ... 825 I f PACK . 167 157-Re- p. 105— 182 Of, p. 195 y Ageut, 211 IS, p. 215 Inllneiice iiputlietic 15-liitlii- Maiuniuls IViiipera- ood anil )motion.s, ■Vascular 264 f Drugs, Ills from Priniarv .. 308 .. 325 THE OUIGIX AM) (JIJCJWTH OF THE MOKAL IXSTIXCT. CHAPTER XIV. SYMPATHY AS A xNATlUAL MORALITY. The Emmixatk.x ok UxsYMfATHETic Types Causes Neiive Development. I HAD prepared an elaborate chapter relatinw ve.y large a proportion of this change has belonged to the last century or two. r ha.i also written a chapter describing the mitigation of ernnmai treatment, showing ho^^ radically diflerent must have I'een the nervous organisation of the crowds of former days who gathered m eager /eal to watch the tortan- of men anrl women from that of a cultured lady or gentleman of our own !'* 2 THK ORIGIN AN.) (^R„WTH „F XHK MOHAL INSTINCT. tina., who would sl.rink with h„m,r fn.n, the th.;u.d,t of wit -s,.^ a scK. .o a,o.n.h.^. and woul.l ,ive a iWuun- .-athor ha. b co.npeil...l to take any part in what our ancx-stors uii(l()ul)tc(Ily fiijoyed. I hav. o.nittcl th,.se three chapters i„ order to keep this •ook w.thu, reasonable houn.ls, hut if adn.itted they wouM have en.phas,sed th. truth ah-eady shown, that a hu,. tx .u e ot syn.pathy has hy natural n.ean« taken place I^tween the sava^r, a„d the culture.l conditions of n.ankin.l. However it 1ms been an.ply shown that those preservative en.otions which ... the hsh are purely parental an.l by no n.eans strono- ^vh^cll '" •>••''/-• >'HU.nnal have been seen to ,row both conjugal a... socal, and of u.tenser type, have continued their pro'IaCss ami qu.ckened ,t throu^d.out all .rade. of mankind, and'^that hey are even now in full process of .levelopnient. The result has been a distinct alteration in the nerve constitution of men • not an alt.Tat.on to be seen perhaps for n.any a lon^. century' under the nncroscope of the histolo^ist, but visible, plainly v.s.ble., n. ,ts eHects. The society la.ly of ancient Konu. could -Inve out n. her chariot witli ea^er expectation of a day's en- .loynKT.t n. seeino-the l)Iood of o-ladiators How, an.l their bodies s .Hen m convulsive death upon the sands, or in behoidin.. the limbs ol women crunche.l by the jaws of wil.l beasts Ask the avera-e lady of our own times to witness such a scene : take her to view a prisoner rto..o.ed or a bullock s uu,htered and the pliysical revulsion, ending, perhaps in a deadly hunt will assert a manifest chan^.e in nerve condi- tioir:. MultiUides of all ranks used to hasten out in mediaeval Spam and I'ortuo.al to see the heretic lowered into a bonhr^ from which, lest he should be too soon broiled, he was hoisted out a^jain by means of pulleys. Roars of lau<,diter went up from the crowd at the contortions of the ajronised victim Now-a-days there are thousands of men unable to follow their choice of the sur^^eon s profession by reason of a physical incapacity to look on blood and woun.ls without horror I have seen a strong youn^r man faint when asked to -dve assistance in reducing- a .lislocated shoulder. In En-drnd three centuries a^^o, bear-baitinj., cock-ti^irlitin^., ami '^nany' kinds of sport mvolvinir cruelty, were ^a-eatly enjoye.i That N'STINCT. ii;,'lit of wit- ■tiiiii' i-atliLT ir aiicvstors to keep this tliey would i^'e expanse )t!t\veeii tlie However, it ti(Jiis wliicli ■oil;;', wliicli ;Ii conjugal iii" proij^ress • I, and that The result on oF uieu ; nt; centuiy )Ii', plainly ^ome could a da^-'s en- heii- hodies hehoidintr Jeasts. less such a a bullock rhaps in a rve condi- 1 iiiedijeval ) a bonrira, "^as hoisted r Went up .'d victim. )llow their I physical horror. I d to jrive En^daiul, nd many ed. That SYMi-ATHV AS A NAITRAL M(H{ALITV of i,f^,. i . y '"""^"t riom i,rr h-esh yet tl,i» .Iocs ot 1 , ," "T "' '""'"■"' ""■"'"'•I''- ■ '-^« ay feel "u,;';,,:r; r; :;r:;;""-« ™'": , ■'■'- »l.«ll »h„w in the i?„,| c 1 ' '"" "'■ ">"'l"'"'y.a» I Nl 4 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE MORAL INSTINCT. It is, I am convinced, an actual sy.steniic chan<,^e which has been tl,e cause of the ^n-eat development of sympathy in the past. A man fairly typical of the modern standard of sympathy would rathe.- have a hand cut off than that any person should he killed by his fa,dt. One of o.u- ancest./s of 1000 y,,ars a^^o would without compunction have slauohtered thirty jx-rsons to save his own hand. If we analyse the motives, we h'n.l that they are in no way con- cerned with justice or ri^-hteousness, what we have ])een told by others or what we have j-easoned out for oin-selves Our reluctance to cause the death of another is ),ase.l on certain mstnictive aversions, whicli were nnich less developed amouff our ancestors. The Roman emperor, Valentinian, had two hears whose ca-e was always kept near his bedroom, so that with- out trouble he could daily see them .levour the limbs of the men who had just been executed, thus losing before his meals notluHg of an excelh^.t and appetising spectacle. (Gibbon, chap. XXV.) Can we conceive that a modern emp..ror of C.ermany would feel anything but deep loathing and dis-ust m such a scene / Yet fully half of the Roman emperors lound more or less pleasure in the sight of mutilation and death. So gnuitly has the nerve susceptibility of the race been altered in the interval ' If we se.-k for the reason, it is fairly plain. At all epochs of the iMologic struggle, the process of natural selection has sei/.e.l upon one or two .pialities as the car.linal points upon which preservation is to hinge. For a long tinu' .-ither speed, or strength and courage, or else adventitious tricks of colour, of di'fensive armour or of offensive weapon, decided which was to be the em.'rgent type. Then came the stage at winch intelligence was dominant: and still among all men it IS ol great though not now of supreme importance. A ..-ood brain always wins the day in the long run against strong muscles, and yet there is something still more potent— a good heart: whereby is meant that collection of syin|)atlietic nuahties popularly summed up in this term. Tlu-'dever, but heartless fellow, has a less chance of ultimate success 'and eventual representation !,.. posterity than nuv. luss clever but better e(|uippe,l with those (|ualities which win friends, gain a INSTINCT. liiui<,fe which symjmthy in I .stiiiidard of mil that any )nr anoi'.st(jr.s iction have and. It' we no wa^' con- ve been told selve.s. Our d on certain loped among ad two hears a that with- ind)s of the re his meals }. (Gihl)on, emperor of and disnust n emperors tilation and of the race .t all epochs election has loints upon time either IS tricks of on, decided hi' stage at ;' all men it e. A good iiist strong nt — a good ym[)athetic clevei', hut iK'cess and clever but nds, gain a SYMPATHY AS A NATURAL MORALITY g the prevalence of a sincere and nnadected friendh-,. . pursu ni^ th.ir hf)..,.«f „.fi • ""LLtL.i iiiendhness, and I ^ r Ml .lonest paths in multitndes of hom.-s tl,.,f ... ae.:/;^::,:;::;r;;^;::;— ;!rs;:r^^ » ' '";»"■»' ■" y< hy ,v i,„ii,,,et ,„.„,, :■;'",'"*-"' si'ni tliat tin. i„»ii wli„ i, ., ,,,„„. ,■„,,, , " '"'™ >np..l,.,„„c. t.v,,„ or „l„n„l«„t l„.„i,„ l,„J .I'sefon .V , or 1,^,, f,,„„ „rt- ti„, f„e„ „f ti,„ ,.„,,i, ;^r, 'f "■'"';'■*' i;=;:;;"'i';;;;:,:3-:;:r-' —-s^^ ".-.■»t..,s f„L,,,, „ livi, ;::,•;,, .r,,.?:';"'''''"''" '';f '"» ■""■■'«■.-.•• CO,,,,.,, ,„„i ,,: ,.i ,; r , .": :;; ;,7" "" aiice. aiK assum.. tl,.,f -^., "''^" 'i"ow- "' ,""; >""" "f Quo™ Eii.„i.ti, . 1, r ■',■"" ''^"'''' "'." ""'■» «■«■■« then bon, .,00 bovx , ,«, '" ,"""r ki ,v' ,i „1 ",,;"'."""■ ?" '"«'" l"'V, been .y own youthtui i minora tcs aiinfh«,. .. i- i " "■"» l'™.U«.' of l,i,S ,|i«,,|„,.,y „,„ 1 C ' "' / i G THK ORIGIN AND GUOWTH OV THE MOHAL INSTINCT. time, out f,f every 1000 personn l.orn Hve M'ere actually hannv.l. as a matter of recor.lod statistics. But brawls venereal diseases, and so forth were far more potent cleansers oi society. Those thus eliminated would l)e replaced by men an.l women of better stock, an.l so we may feel sure that at each veneration a steady 5 per cent, of the poorer type was withdrawn, leavin^r room for the e.xpansion of those richer in symiKithetie .(ualities. But the power of such a steady with- drawal, acti no. i„ cumulative fashion, is enormous when spread ov.T a sufHcient tin,,.; even im years are .piite enouoh to pn.duee visible ertects ; indeed, if we had a means of sifting.- the peopl.. „f Queen Elizabeth's time into twoe.pial sets those who could pass in those days for fairly uood men an.l w'omen, and those who were more or less distinctly below the avera..-e of moral con.hict, it would be found that practically none of the inferior blood Hows in tlie veins of the present ^-eneration- we bem^- bred almost wholly from the better stock. _ All this implies that nerve or^'anisms of finer suscepti- bdities survive, and it follows, therefore, that we are of distinctly different nerve reactions from those ancestors of ours who, 1.500 years a^'o, re^-arded the Lej-'es Barbarorum as suitable codes of justice. And the chan^v becomes very rapid in_ such a land as the England of the last three centuries, with its internal development so little troubled by war,' and its external conHicts serviii-' only as a vent for restless spirits away from home. Within the community the pre- seryative value of coura-e ami stren-th has been declininf., while that of intelli^rence and sympatJiy has been ever on the increase. In no other way can we account for that enr. nious acceleration in the jrrowth of sympathy during? these later times, so abundantly shown in the chapters which have, or were to have, preceded. The Sympathy thus DEVEroPEn is a .Mohal Instinct. But the sympathy which has thus been developed is practi- cal morality in its natural and simple aspect. I am far from as8orfin|r that it forms tlie whole of our moral instinct, for there are other later and more derivative constituents yet to be ;STIN('T. I'c actually )ut brawls, it cleansers ced by men uu-e tbat at V typo was se richer in eatly witli- lieii spread enounh to s of siftiuf^' sets, those 11(1 women, le a\-ei-a .U^iy of doing nght .s lost in the pleasure of .loing right. Where no love exists, a sense of duty is far bettntinient. Yet the essential basis of utilitarian etiiic- ■.; .iympnthetic; it proclaims as right jhat which pro- motes <.o noblest hapr '.less of the race. Mill's " standard of moraiity ' lonsists of 'those rules and precepts for human conduct, by the observance of which an existence of high and pure happiness may be secured to all mankintl, and not only SYMPATHY AS A NATURAL MORALI fY. I7 to them, hut HO far as the nature of thin-rs a.hi.its to fho whole .seTitiei.t creation " '^ ' " ^^'^ {J''c M tlu.ls of ttlnr,, book iv.), reeo-nises the appeal to syupathy to he ahuo,st the sa„,e thin, a.s^n appeal ^utH t but h.. unnecessarily .Hverts the ,uesti.>n \ Von, itsf ehanne by speaking of ti,e ;,/...,. 'of syn.pathy. inl 1 / o > on the pleasure ol ..■at.fie.I syn.pathy stands on a son.e- r orr^V"^'-- '""' '' ^''^' ■^>-I-^'".V winch in,H.ls ^ huself from a hn.lo-e n.to a coM and turbulent strean. : ule he runs round to plunge in fron. the hank he may have clohes, of the considerable chance his wife has of bein- a ^Y''^'^^' -/•' -« children of hein. orphans. He feels^u' t!Z\Z '"" J"-^^!'^'^!;- '-t'-'^'-t an.er that the vvon.an •should luue been so w.lfu], and yet it is in.possible for him to stand callously by and see her ,lrown. I he tried o ^ a so.n.tlun, would boil in his blood, and as the^h ,^ f^ take the plunp and face all the inconveniences. Possibly enough after he has ,.ot the woman out he n.ay ^Z Dleisnr.,bl,.. . r I ^'^'^•"""^•- '« by no means essentially elves but n obedience to certain inoperative inst nets which Have been bequeathed us by our ancestors, because if tty >vc should never have existed. But in spite of the va.-ue and ncoi,clu.n.e termination of his book, sid.wick seen.: t^ me ac ept the view that syn.pathy forms the ultimate basis o nu^ahty, and that the oro^ress of morals by which the histo.y of 1 uman .societies lu.s l.en characterised has lar^^ely depended on t^ increasing, "capacity for sympathy in an a^Cr^e nL,d:r of tlie community (p. 452). .fj] ^ ^'T'-':'' ^''' '''•"^^i/''"^''"" '" ^thic. a ; ;■, ;''»»--™W': -im., y,.t ir l„,. „yn„»,thy i» „ , ::"c;;;i;r::;:;i: "■-«« •"■'■- -;f •"*';*» ;l''limti"n "f morality coinciil.'s with tl„. vi,.w. r .. nt ,.a™.ns ,,y reason of tin: r„et tin.t „ I „ ..l ,,''■;■ "" '.'■'■ """■' "'•■ ""■ si-i-. But it ,„,;■•: 'l.mn t., I,,, more n> accor,lai,cv ivitl, tl„. i,l,.«san,l tl„. f ^ ^ """»""""■■«"'«"■•"- "--v. u,sir;;i!t,':::;x » • i II 20 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE MORAL INSTINCT. ! I! ill li for a week to nurse a sick neighbour, she is little concerned with the good of the species in general ; nor iloes such an idea ever cross her mind. Her kindness is the result of sympathy awakened at the sight of sutt'ering. The only tirst-rate writer to whom such a detinition of morality would be distasteful is Kant, with whom all morality must be founded on a sense of duty. To him who is naturally truthful, who is clear as the open day in his honesty because he loves truth, Kant will give but little credit. For he acts only as his feelings prompt him, not at the voice of duty. Only the man who would like to lie and cheat but refrains from doing so out of a sense of duty is to be reckoned truly moral. This might seem like a travesty of Kant's views. Take then his own words {Metaphysic of Morals, Abbot's transla- tion, p. 14) : "There are many mimls so sympathetically con- stituted that, witlKjut any other motive, they find a pleasure in spreading joy around them, and can take delight in the satisfaction of others so far as it is their own work. But I maintain that in such a case an action of this kind, however proper, however amiable it may be, has nevertheless no true moral worth, but is on a level with other inclinations. For the maxim lacks the moral import, namely, that such actions be done from duty, not from inclination." There is much in Kant's exposition of his views that is strikingly noble, bvit the whole system is based on two un- tenaV)le propositions, the first being this, that "unless an action be done strictly as a duty, it can have no moral worth " (p. 23). In that case if I have two children, one of whom loves me, and finds a cheerful ilelight in obeying me, its obedience is in no way moral, while the other, who has no love for me, and wouM prefer to disobey me, but from a sense of duty renders a strict oljedience, is alone worthy of credit as a moral creature. One mother tends and trains her children with loving devotion : another would prefer to spend her time at balls and gaieties, but from a sense of .luty she nn'nisters with care to her family, in Kant's view the latter alone is to be ii'ranted the )iraise of moral com won luct. If I have two servants, one of whom hates me and l.l nuu'der me, but that a sense of duty keeps him out of I ! SYMPATHY AS A NATURAL MORALITY. 21 crime: the other loves me and woul.l not sufier harm to be- fall me, thou^rh his life shoukl be forfeit: this latter is no- wise moral, but the former is a ^rood man. These, though so foreign to our reasonable views, are the conceptions of morality which Kant repeatedly emphasises. " It is Just in this that the moral worth of the character is brought out, which is incomparably the highest of all, namely, that he is beneticeiit, not from inclination, but from duty" (p. 15). It is a view which would shut out from the credit of morality all the beneficence of the world's ]nost famous philanthro- pists who have uniforndy been much more actuated by the inclination to do good than by a mere sense of d^.t3^ It is a view radically opposed to that of Jesus, and to that of Buddha, whose teachings always I)ade men think less of duty and more of love: not that duty is abolished or lessene.l, but tliat it is a motive of poor etiiciency unless vivified and warmed by the natural sympathies. Kant's second misconception, as I view it, is his notion of the origin of the sense of duty. For he considers duty to be " the necessity of acting from respect for the law/' thus making duty subse([uent to law and arising from it: wherea.s in truth the law is subseipient to duty and springs from it, as I shall eventually show. Laws are altered because our sense of duty alters : we are ail accustomed to test the i-ightnes.s of a law by our sense of duty, and the truly moral man in general acts without reference tt) the law, often in opposition to it. It is my duty to educate my children: I do not in- (|uire whether the law tells me to do so oi' ii(jt. If the great majority of a conununity conceive the education of cliililren to be a duty they may pass a law wliicl: declares it to be a duty for all. Vet in spite of that, men may still have their own notions on the subject. Theiv arc lliousands of people who feel it their duty not to have their children vaccinated even tlumgh the law may direct that they should: and if they reasonaI)ly believe that a small public good would by vac- cination be purchased at the expense of great and life-long misery to their children they have a duty to resist the law, (!ven as the parents of Closes had a duty to resist that decree wliich ordered the death of theii- male children. No one feels i i 22 THE OUKi.X AM) GROWTH OF THE MOHAL INSTINCT. it his ;Teatly pained you, it is a nobler thin-;' to suppress the sij.,ms of your pain and a.ssure him it is of little conse(iuence, than to ttdl him he lias hurt \-ou very badly. If your hostess expresses her regret tliat the beef is so tou^^h, and is sorry that you are not likely to en]oy your .[inner, it would be unpai'donable, whatever you may tin ik, if you replied that it is the toughest meat you ever ate. A reasonable tact will forbid you to say that the meat is really most tender, when in Fact it is clearly not so. People who in the daily inteirourse of life ailopt ."'ich a tone sutler irom a want of sincerity. But the courteous man will be ouided by tact, which is always a sympathetic appreciation of circumstances, and so will steer a middle course between the brutal truth and a downriu'ht lie I'or after all it i.s the meanness of the purpose that is the essence oF a lie, not the mere variance From actual fact. In diplomacy, men sometimes tell the truth for the express pur- pose of deceivin--'. It is none the less a lie For beiny' true. On the other hand, thinj;'s oF exactly the same iho;vei' of untruth- 24 THE OBIGIN AND GROWTH OP THE MORAL INSTINCT. fulness are moral or inunoral entirely according to the relation they bear to sympathetic impulses. I say to a friend that if he IS fToing past the post office on his wav home he might oblige me by dropping in a letter. He perhaps ha.l no inten- tion of going borne by that road, but he knows that if he said so I should on no account suffer him to disarrange his plans He tells me he was inten.ling to go that way, and takes the letter. Another, but meaner man, fully intende.l to go that way, but so soon as I ask him the .juestion pretends that he had not been so purposing, but that to oblige me he will most willingly change his route. The amount of departure from the e.xact truth is the same in each case, but the first we '^hall certainly not brand as a lie, for it concerns no one but the man himself which way he had inten.Ie.l to go, and his con- cealment of what had l,een his true plan has a kindlv ol.ject Ihe secoml we despise as a verital,Ie lie because the purpose is the mean one of obtaining a degree of thanks that is not deserved. In speaking at a later place of morals as an ideal of JH^autv I shall have something to say of truth as a .|ualitv of more' transcendental character, but in ordinary evervdaV life the truth cannot be freely spoken. The wise^loctor will help the .lespondent patient by assuming a little more hopefulness than he really feels ; the kindly teacher will encourag.. tl... slow pupil by a word of prais(. that woul.l otluTwise not be jiistiH- nble ; a good clergyman will sometimes seem to know nothin- oi the trouble which is Invwiiig within a family till the time comes when be may be able to set it right.' In all cases, tact, wh(Mi its pu.'po.s,. is kindly, is amply justified bv all <)1 us m or.linary lif,. : and tact implies tl... softening or partial suppression ..f such truth as is calculate to "nve pam. *" In all cases the turpitude of a lie is determined by its sympathetic relationships. A schoolboy tells a lie for the express purpose of bringing another into trouble. Th,. fault 18 as nn^an and black as it can be. Another schoolboy tells a he, not to injure any one, but merely to escape a punishment which otherwise he must sutfrr. The falsehood is a mean one • but still not half so bad as the otlu er. The immorality of the act SYMPATHY AS A NATURAL MORALITY. 25 consists HI l„s havm^r withliekl from the teacher infornuition which he had a nj^ht to know. He has therefore misle.l that teacher and beneHte.1 himself at the expense of another. A th.rd schoolboy whose younj^er brother has committe.l a fault screens hnn by declarin.i. hin.self the culprit and takinxr the conse<,uences It is a fault, for here a.o-ain the teacher has been wronged by the concealment of a truth which he had a right to know ; but it is by no means despicable, for the pur- pose of ,t was kindly and sympathetic. In short, if it i.s the case, a.s mo.st of us will agree, that an ill-natured truth is a worse thing than a kindly faisehoo.l which makes for peace and mutual goodwill among our fellows, then we can see how even in its details, the morality of truth is dependent on' sympathy. But ,n its broad features we are entitled to say hat, as a he is a thing which wrongs our neighbour hv wil- tu ly mi.sleadmg him, truth is a virtue to which without any other gui.lance we must I),. M bv svmpathy Few will dc.ny the esseutiall.;- sympathetic nature of the virtues .set forth in the second column. Humilitv an.l rever- ence are .pialities the reverse of aggressiveness annised to ,ul>t oi ehastity is reached in that fond devotion wherehv the youth and maiden, havino- „nce for all in a lifetime forn.ed a true attachment and hecme united, r.-nmin inviolably houn.l 1" M.eh nu.tual consideration that neither couhl so much as •''••■am of woun.Iino. the otlier hy sli^'ht, or col.lne.ss, or inc.m- •stancy. t'ehbacy receivers the praise of chastity only so Ion- as It has a sympathetic purpose: without such pun>o,se its moral character is dubious. The Catholic priest who rcn.ains unmarrv.d n, onjer that he may all the more concentrate Ins thou-hts on the welfare of his Hock wins the praise of riuht teel.nc.-. The ^.„,i ,,,,j„ ,.,.„..^i„„ „n„uuTie.l so that she nuiy ten.l an old and helpless parent: or the man who checks his inclination to marry because his m(,tlier and sisters would thereby sutter-these are entitled to have their celibacy counted o them for morality. Even the man or woman who, havini-- formed a romantic attachment an.l lost the beloved ohiect remains thereafter single by rea.son of unbroken .levotion is sure to wn. our admiration. Not so the professed misanthro- pijst or m,,so«yn.,st. who remains sino^le because too surly or •sclhsh to mate. Not so the hermit of old who Hed into the wilderness, .shunning- his fellows and de.spi.sino- all the sweet .sympathies of hon.e life, of conjugal helpfulness and parental interests. I he ravine's of the ;5ealots of the fifth century about woman as the .snare of Satan, the bait of hell, sound to us in no way moral. Rather indeed in their innate coar,seness and m their revealmont of the sensual passions as the onlv'con- SVM.ATHV AS A NATUKAr. ^rOHAMTV ^f across t)H. Xia" r r nr ' '^''''"" ^^ '^'''' ^^^^" «^^'^'" «ivat e„„ra,. '];;.• ^" -- was .h-owncl therein, show.-d ta r.-vf .,f • , ' ' ' ''"'*"«■'' t" ^^'^ill^- oahnly i„ front of •> ta.^et at wiueh c-ontinual Hrino- is o,>i on I . .. L,' V'tuous on that account. Cotu^a,;. nnv ' ""''" as when .h-snlave.l \n- '.; i " "^ '' "^'^"""y n'unoral, beco.ues n.ora > 'L 'fr'''^'!'' "'• ''^■■'--^<' --ssin. It i^itsavesaH:^.;:;,::;;:7^:'-'^^'-^<- ^ecisely the same .listinction annlies in fl, -- „f ,«in« t,,i„,„ ,„,„, i,, ,t, iv : i: ::,";::,;," "■" tioii as tliey are FouikKmI on H, I • "^ propoi-- beeon.e nial virtrs •"4>pna.s,s of others do they X oristhecasedirterentwitl iion-niorai so Un 1 reoard t UK '«■ as It IS not synipatiiet 'Mustice: it is n »'0"ey, it is perfectly just that 1 s| ic. IF lerely a man owes luuld ask him for it i I I 28 THE ORIGIN AND GltOWTH OK THE MOKAL INSTINCT. I i that I .shoul.l, if iuhmIFuI, nm- him for it. But such assertion of my ri^rlits dot's not make nie any tlie more a ^roo;! man. But if I i^o to niy nei^dihour and say to him that, thou^d- 1,^ is unaware of it, I have done him an iajury and wish to make rei)aration, such an act of Justice is truly moral. Herbert Spencer (h-aws the same di.stinction witli o;rmt care (/iVA/r.s', part iv., 20), hut lie extends tlie nu'aninM' of the word moral fai- Ihyoi.d its .scope in ordinary usa<,re. If a man (h-ops a weight ujK.n his toes, it is ju.st that lie .should suHer ; and Sp.Micer would declare the se(|Uence to he moral. In ordinary lan^uauv, the matter would he neither moral noi' immon.i. If a man has IVe,|Ufiitly cheated me, it is Just eiiouoh that I slKmld ,s clear tlu>„, Mwit uh..,, tin- Jovv .len.un.ls justic- i„ the Hl.ape „ |„s pound of ll.sh, su.-l, justi,... is not necessarily ••""■al : l.ut u. the lan.nws ,leHniti„n ^iven ,n tl.e Iv.tiint.s of .rustnuan. aeeonlino. to whiel, <'j„.stice is the constant willin-- ness to <,nve to each person his own riohts." the virtue 'is c..irly moral, an.l is, n.oreover. syn.pathetic in its hasis. Wh^en he p«s.sess,on of ri^M.ts of n.y own lea.ls „.e to con.- I»vh..n, that others have ri^rl.t.s ; when the a. uoyance which 1 t<'<'l . my nohts are .lisreo-ar.le,! o.- -lestroy. ,1 lea.ls n.e to e..n>,.rehen.l that others nn.st surti.r in the same way il' I . .sreuanl or .lestn.y their ri^rhts, then the next step in the Wevelop.nent of justice occurs wh,., I learn to forbear intlictin.- up.... others those pains or annoyances which I nivs.-lF .lislikc^ Iho n,:.tter otters scope Un- fu.'ther i.ivestioation ; but e....uoh ,s clear tor o,u- present pu.-pos,. when we see with Herbert Spence'- ^Duta of m.rs, p. 14,S) that "synipathv is the root ot b.,th justice and benetice.ice -. Even Kant' in •spite oi h.s emphasis of the comnmndino- ,lui,ns of duty is atterall compelled to Hud his roots of n.orality in the same basis. Ih,,slr of Morals p. 4/,; This, as I understand it, resolves itself into a wise synipathy that ministers to the o,.„craI o^o.] of humanity. I h.is the most scientiHc analysis of morals serves only to .•eveal the essential truth of the teachino. of Jesus an.l of Huddha. For the ethics of the o..e centre.l in this command- ment, "that ye love one another" rjohn xv. 12): of the other ... the .loble sayino-, "He who is ].atient with those who hate will hud peace: this is the spirit of relioion ". (Udanavarnai, rou.i.l all the wanls a.., I leli ollow. But th(! net ■si^'I.t of sutfci iiiovc his •i.ii i;;': a ha.Klsonie oIummi '•'■suit is hette.- who,, that null, 1, • ' \vi II the ^eueral practice of sv,..,.. h '.s -'T "^ ""' "'^ •uM In-v , 1 • * ' ' "''t''"nt a.iy such a.lventiti.ms -n::ri;,^z;;,;:;:;:t!s ■''•'''•'■■"' •'«■"- :";::::::r:;::n.r: i!;,: -'fi - ' """'■ «'■""■'"« "'■^•'^n.kui „r i„„„.,ii,„, ,,;,„„, ' „ • liecoi.iuiii- lusteai .i 1,,^,. I . • suimhi, a. id >notive j^n "r ; ,1^^''"""'?^^'"'- '"'^ '"">- -"^-„ous that h ; '""""' t™"^''*ni.e,l into ,l„tv \o, that It ever becouies Mholly so tra.isforn.e.l ■ ,|,Uv is ve • mi-ely ,,u.te i.i.lepen.lent of svi.ipathv • it is ..iu- ' • 7 r..Ji'f ^ 1 . ,>"'P'iiM\ , .1 is always easiei to Kw polite to a chanuuif.- an.l oracious yomn- hulv thau t, i -ru.upy ol.l bel.la.ne ; but courtc^sV to tl. .. ""'^'^ ^^ -nipathy which has .-oir ; , ^/^^^^r^' "f -^« -•H>lly.lepeii.,e.ito„a,i;utecedei.t:l:'^^^^^^^ im. duty is in part uierely a sort of control which the '-'>-t-l syuipathies of a nian have ove.. his actions, lul 'i :fe m ill 32 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OP THE MORAL INSTINCT. i : I t far as this side of its nature is concerned it only ilevelops in more s^-steniatic form tlie morality discussed in the last chapter I shall return a<>ain to the subject when speaking of self-respect. But at present I sluill deal with duty in the much commoner view of it as that rio^htness of conduct which is actuated, not by the internal play (jf the sympathy of the nidiviilual, but by the external intiuence exerted on his actions by the avei'a>;e sympathies of his community. It is tliis feature which n-jvi-s to the morality of duty a <;reater definite- ness and permanence than the morality of pure sympathy ; for while the latter is liable to all the variations of individual moods and natures, the avera<,fe is a .soniethinj;- nmch more steady and uniform. X(jt that it is ever anywhere near to complete uniformity. Ideas of duty vary from class to class, from nation to nation, from relio'ion to reli»'ion. Hut in all eases the avei-a^e sympathy is less liable to chanj-'e than that of the individual, an•"• He shnnks away M-ith his tail between his Tl 10 same experiment with paroxysm iA' fury, hideefl II niordcey ])uts hiin into lo he pet( VOL. 11 every aniniul of Jntelli '" Hud praised, hates to be scol.led or hum'hed a H'ence lik-(>,s at. 1 64 THE ORIGIN ANn GROWTH OF THE MORAL INSTINCT. I> I Ihe savage feel.s the.se emotion.s i„ tlie .stroni.e.st form He Iove.s praise ; he hates blan.e; he cannot en.hire to he au^^hed a . The hrst bloodshed of natives in Victoria aro.se from he fancy of the bluejackets to put an old suit on a fnendly l^hick, and then lauf,di heartily at his ridiculous appearance. They never dreamt that it was a thinjr a sava.^e dete,sts, an.l when a shower of spears revenf,.e,l the uproarious lau|rh, oui- honest .sailors attributed the attack to a treacherous and ferocious spirit. But to say that a savajre loves praise, fears reproaches detests nd.cule is practically to say that he is lar^^elv under the nirtuence of public opinion : an intluence of public opinion are Ht work the sense of .luty must always arise. Hut they are constantly at work wherever a do/en p..,ple .Invll too^'ther GHOWTH OF THP ^^i-v^.t- it±l-, ShXSK OF DUTY. - - '■ 35 and therefore we »n I ,r ., ^ ■ , winch is justifierl by the best n^ ' ■^'' '' ^""^''"■^i"" lowliest tribes. ' """'^ '"''^'^"t accounts of the J^^^ve see., that the low " , %r ''^ ""''"''^^ ^■"""■^- ^e -va,es possess a^e ^ ^T .7" ^'"^^ *'" '''«^'- 'noment doubts that ...id , T-"?''- ^"^ "'^ ""^' fo^' a 'e.s.sed. Each i'metio.,s ;,f those ^^■\.:,;^''^^ "' ''-^ ^^'lows.a,.d i„. H. Mo.^a,. tells us^t.";L";/'T''"'^''""-" ^■ a>Hl H. H..ook. Lovr,'. . '^ ' ^'■"''"'"■'^ .st.-aio.ht,- ^•'^tl..'r tha.. face the i L V""'"'" ^" «'^"""'^ -iei'Ic^ ^'-■y .'--ied i.. ea..,.n;:di' rh^cr';'?''"^'^''^^"^^^ "le.. of their reco,-ds of h.„n ""'''^•' ^" ^^'' ''^'^'^ as they perceived the ho " , '"f'^' ''T ""•" '-^'^'-"t' •'^^^-s passed ft-o... a ,i • :.7:'"r^''--""^- ^-Inaf which i„dieated the eo..l ^""'" '" ""*' "' •^'"""« ^^J-.E,v,.chSheldo.. ?;;T'^" ^'-" P.'actice. t'-y are the '■ slaves o ^ " ""f ^7 '" ''''' ^^'"'^'^ ^'^^ to co,..,nit suicide whe,.;,, ' rV''"' '"""'" "'^' ^^"'•"'^-^" «''« tins, though true to a ",- i 1, ^ '" ^"'"^ "^ '''^^'•"ce : a..d " t'tau.,xte,.tan.o„^. ourselves, is more 36 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE MORAL INSTINCT. :i ^i particularly true of oriental peoples. The Chinese have a proverb that "a feelinjr of shame is akin to courage" (Douglas, Confacianism, p. 108), meaning that a man not naturally valiant may be made courageous by a feeling of duty prompted only by shame. We know very well that among ourselves t)ie formation of a strong public opinion in regard to any detail of conduct will sooner or later force upon the community as a duty the conduct thus approved. In this way, then, a corporate standard of sympathy will thrust upon tlie individual a line of conduct to which his own sympathies may not naturally impel him. To secure the general praise, avoid the general blame, and escape the general ridicule, he will imitate the general example, and the pressure of this external force upon his actions will be felt by him as a sense of duty. Yet in a primitive community j; man has to accpiire for himself his own conception of the idea that prevails in the community. His old mother, perhaps, is growing very feeble and burdeiiHonje. He would like to aliandon h(>r. But dare he do so ! He may make a mistake and incur the blamo of the tribe. So long as the community is very small he can easily enough learn the general niiml on the matter. The larger it grows the more difficult will it become to form an ade(|uate estimate. It must be a relief then to the barbarian to Hnd the general sense of the comnnniity expressed in traditions, maxims, and eventually in laws. These he obeys becau.se they justify his actions ; it is thus he may shun dis- approbation : it is thus he may win applause. For those who are sympathetic (Plough to thirst for praise and to shriidc from blame, this is all that is necessary. A fairly accurate compliance with the ordinances that express the general opinion will thereby become common. But tlie community has still strongei- incentives to oti'er than praise and bhune ; it has punishments anil rewards : it can ai)))t'al not only to the emotional side of a man's nature but also to his prmlence. Yet when the corporate authority becomes strong juough to compel obedience to its notions of riglit, then the individual, in so far as his obedience is dictated by fear of conseciuences. have a feeling GROWTH OF THE SENSE OP DUTY. ' 37 Ittr' no ,o„,e. by ,noral but only by ,ua,si-n.oral sidell,' uTZh''\ "f "^'^^ '-''" ^"-^'-^•' ^"* that on con- quasiTr 'or "'"" .'" "^"^""""^^ •■^ -^' moraf but only Snt t t" " T"''^"^' '^'"■^■^•'^"*^ -"• it is un.l.niable « su Ititu T yf';''' '^ imperceptible ,le,.ee.s into ■substitute torn,. I„,l,e,l, quasi-niorality always h-vs a s rong tendency with tinie to ,L into son etl h^^^o v ry lKstzn,-u,shable iron, the other. A chiM n,ay t^r fea o^ Wr o•' -' active fo^e^^^. ;• ""^' '''""^''^^ '^t" ^'-^ '""'•'• ^i"". there- out ;;th,'r;'," conununity, .ather their notion oF duty aZ r ; "^ '•^^''"^"*'^' thene va.^uer dirterences .row ZZ^tJT ""••" "'^'T^' - tl'o ^l>ape of a definit: al- t In o tb "■^' "■ " '""'"'•"• "'"' "-^P'--«« the general leenng ot the conununity. .lutv^in 7u '^\\'r"J'-''''''' '' ^"^■'^' ^'" '■•'"" the sense of If 'f r . "" •''>""f"^^'>"'tic its nature the more easily is tlmteeiing educed; both the content ol' the duty and its «anct.o„« b.n, foun.led on sympathy. For of IC t ■b:, I ! 38 TITK OHUnn ANI, (iRoWTl, <.K TIfE MOHAL INSTINCT. clear that the more kiniliy a ehil.l is hy ,li easily will it ho tau<,fht to •selHshiicss or aiiwr. T] hy (li.spositioii tl le nigre injinv i.ono hy criu'lty or falsehood. le more e iisily a! prevailiMo- tone of morals l)y reason of its so will i general opinion, to imitatioi lovt'S. t ahsorh the susceptibility to 1 anil to the authoi-ity oF those it A False t antl riiininn. heoins with the i-nder I ""•'ty, and lays the I'onnd, "<"'i''ty. " IF yon do tl !iti( 'orni oF appeal to >ns wron lis," the child is told wl.ippe.I. IF you do that yon shall he'locke.i Hi I it a proper trainino. would rather assume tl 1. Tl us He(|uence: nature and tl encouranement oF the kindlier side oF the child e repression oF the moi'e seltish To a child oF ten or twel will be heai-d t< ve months old, the w ise mother lieani to say: " V ou would iu,t nurc poor little sister' <>'• •'(")•.■ douu-.e a little bit, see how hungry ho is," or "(Jive ^ick iHs toy to the little boy: ho is c.yin. because you took . Such a trannno. in the very first year has a largo scope o Its activity: one mother may by indulo.enco oven at that tally ao.o allow the seltish tendencies to acquire a melancholy pre.lom,nanco; another may so work upon the more ^onerous tee hno-s, so cultivate and stronu-then them that thoy shall be «i heinsolvos an internal standard oF duty such as I propose to describe m the lollowin^' chapters. 2. The encouragement of a deference to the foelinp-s an.l opinions ot those around it. For before the child is a year old the influence of sur- rounding opinion has beoun its useful work. When anythiiiir has been ami.s, the wonls "you are a nauo-hty little child'' are Followed by tears, which show how the con.lemnation has gone homo " Give up the plate, you may break it, there's a dear little baby, and the plate is surrondere.,,i„« twu,,.«,,i^;l:l' ;•>• -7' -ftl-' >.»!«, ,H,, -f to o»cl, of ,. " „ ' . ';» -' »■"' ™,„1 yea,.. Tl,u,, "■^.i..;-vi„:::t,,,';r;::.'' '" ""'""^"'" '■■"■ "- '■' '■-" •i. The use of imitation '" i'.^ ii.i. " vo ,; . . ':""""f, •" f ''"'■"" """-■"">• "i'i«'i» '■'-l"-.t a,l,„„,° i , ' "",";";'.'l° ■"'■'I' « '!■"'« ■■ i« » very lit. ■ «W,.r . , ' ■ '■ I"' " "•''' '""look Low nicely trail. ,.,1, for th.^ i,,..;, .. , , "^ "^" ''''''^*' ^"'^ well dutyi,.e w 'tvty I ;i':::;r, ',:;■"" r"™ """""" -^ m«Ue,- of in.itatio,,. '"""' "*""" '"' " ■"«"> *. The npiwil to autliority the case, tlji, tcK, e.l t,y 1 IXT'"''''^ T" and wh", ye ", .;"' "''«" ''« '--« «" 'atl.ert ho^e"^ near hi,,,, rivcTav t, vc T*'""' '" '""'■ '■- "" '""K- I; 40 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE MORAL INSTINCT. 1l a loose rein to every paasion. So, too. there are those who if their faith in the truth of their reli^non declines, so tliat its denunciations of punishment have no longer their ancient hold, leel in ^rreat danger of precipitation into all manner of evil You may see when a party of schoolboys are left for a while to themselves whether their training has been that merely ol compulsory obedience to authority or the superior training which h.- cultivate.l right feelings. In the former ca,se all restraints are thrown off when the controlling author- ity is absent ; in the latter no material diHurence is seen for the rules of good con.luct are such as a properly trained sense ot kindness and consideration will dictate. Yet the appeal to authority has its place in moral trainin.. and m a well brought up hunUy it is enough if it is ivporttS ather says you must not ,lo so ". When the respectable citizen finds that a thing is forbi.Men by law, there is an en.l of it; the thing is wholly ina.lmissil)le. When the religious man is shown '< thus is it written," he no longer discusses the matter His duty is clear. To the averag,- man of fairly moral feeling this is a comfort. Xo longei is he tossed hifh/r ami tinther by conHieting sympathies. The W(M-d of father or law, or holy writ, being venerable, forms an easier an.l more dehnite guide. But this .leference to authority may be either trulv mo.-al or on ly quas,-m„ral. If the father's teaching has merely been do this or I shall whip you "; if the man's obedience to the law arises merely from fear of gallows or gaol ; if the grounds of a man s respect for what he regards as Divine law be mercdy the awful torments threatened by the Koran, the degradations me empsychosis as taught by Bud.lha, or the endless flames of he 1 as pictured in me.liit^val Christianity, then his morality IS only .piasi-moral. He does right, not because it is right but because he is attentive to his ultimate self-interests I have heard a religious man say: "If I were to believe that there was no hereafter, I should start an,l have a good time. 1 should ei^oy myself, I can tell you." Thus he expressed a cynic 8elfi8hne.ss, betraying that in all this universe there were no interests worth considering but his own pleasures, and, moreover, revealing but a gross idea of pleasure. For if he GROWTH OP THE SENSE OF DUTY, 41 knew ,t, how coul.l l,e more truly enjoy himself than in the practice ol vu-tue >. Is happiness found where vice flaunts where not rules >. Is it not a thousan.l times rather where a «oo(l wife returns a nuitual fon.lness ; where little children are knit by tender ties to the father's heart: where daily life moves on amid the love an.l respect of all one's neighbours and the interchange of kindly services ? Yet we have reason to ])e thankful that for some natures tins quasi-moral sanction is in operation. There are boys wlio would never allow a llower to eneficence. The tlun^ht of goin., to «H0l never crosses his nn'nd, but the excellence of the law mnansh. respect too .leeply to suffer bin. to wanto.dy hsiegard It Even such enactments as have in no way gained IS approI.xtion he will in general con.ply with scruput.sly, lom a feehng that a profound respect evinced by all for the law IS a n.eans of securing in the highest measure the order and harmony of human societies. Midway between this .leference of love and the deference of fear, there ,s the deference of awe. It springs from the consciousness of that which is greater than ourselves, even thougl, there be no tincture of fear. If you or I in this afternoo,! s walk could n.eet with Shakspeare or Beethoven on the country road, and pace a mile or two by his side listen- ing- to the cheery commonplaces of an ordinary conversation what a tmie of deep emotion would that be, and how memor- able the experience : However republican you may be in sentiment if the ruler of a great empire visited your home you wou d scarcely treat him as an ordinary stranger. Thou'«""^^«''t years, authority has had chd looks up w,th aM-e to the parent; then when he is firs n:i r 'T ■) ''r-"*^«-- ^o hedge the teache ro L and ex. n when he leaves it, a certain soniething li„..ers abou the na.n.ory of the head-master, who never seen^ wl^ |y ma m the st eet looks up with eyes in which indeHnite awe may clearly he read. How eagerly he lister, to sto e o Lnrgs an.l ,ueens, of sorcerers and feiries ; all power, all Ze a g ea ness ben.g sources of that awe which is he st. y-' tellers chief stock in trade ! ^ itseif'soli^n"'-" '" '"?""'^' "'^"'^ '""'^'^ ^"-« - -ot in Itself SOI did. „i general it is essentially sympatlietic If a ^nnyson were to take some interest hi a la^lt^ vf^es ^ a Helmholt. or Kelvin to suggest a few criticisn s o ,1 mathematical problems, the extreme deference which aw woT: youth would pay to age and experience 1 Ce would be much more sympathetic than se If-seekiuir • andT general he same n.ay be said .>f the respect wl idils'"' o hose older or greater than ourselves. lud this, f our t «^e ch,ef element in that deference to authority whTch we yield to parent, to judge, or to sovereign power. asa child W.S HUed with a deep devoli^: ;:t ^ i- ^ - with gratitude for much love and abounding- care should in maturer years transfer precisely the same sort of devtt^ Z ill 44 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE MORAL INSTINCT.' one conceived as a heavenly father on whose goodness he is dependent. Suppose that mingled with this affection and gratitude there is the awe that naturally fills our minds at the aspect of the very great or very noble, then the deference to Divine authority becomes purely sympathetic. A man then obeys his God because he loves and reveres him, not because he IS afraid of his punishments. Thus when we analyse the three .sanctions which enforce the sense of duty-public opinion, imitation, and deference to authonty-we find that the action of the two former is e,ssc-ntially sympathetic ; while that of the last is always sympathetic in so far as it produces a true morality It is thus abundantly clear that having traced the rise of sympathy from the humblest origin we have thereby explan.ed also the .source of the sense of duty which always when men dwell together, arises out of the play of .sympathy' It i.s strange, tlierefore, that ,so many moral philosophers should have been bent on maintaining what Kant calls the inscrutable origin " of the sense of duty. According to them the .sen.seof duty or conscience is a thing that "every man has originally witliin him". How can this be so ^ Do we not see its growth in the child ( What sens, of duty do we expect ot a babe six months ol.l i Do we ,iot look for more of It when the child is a year, and still move when he is five years ol.l i Can w. not trace the stages in the growth of duty within the savage community ? Do we not see that notions of duty vary from man to man and from nation to nation : while the strength of the general sense of duty IS even more inconstant ^ These transcen.lental views of duty have no grounds to stand upon, aiul are possible o,dy to those who have been too bu.sy with theories ever to take an occasional look at facts. Will any one affirm that the causes herein enumerated are of insufficient power to produc' the sense of duty ? Why the influence of public opinion alone is ample; .sometimes it i.s even too powerful, and overstepping the limits of beneficent rule It becomes a perfect tyrant. With the influence of imita- tion add. d It is far more than adequate to the formation of all our Ideas ot duty, which, ii, fact, if we care to analyse them OHOWTH OF THE SENSE OF DUTY 45 ^.o one 18 born with tlie .ens. that he ou-^ht to wear covenn(''.s on IWu *v>,.<- a' i. ^i . . 'j"^,m/ 10 wear U " ''""? """ ""'■ '"■"»' """"■- A»k „ Lo,„l„„ street, an.l ,ee how powerful tl,e* i„Huence» are A ,i„rfe 1 , 7 ."" r'''"'"'-'' °' "^""""y- ''"P"» '<> a lady to visit 1 teir:; "■ »."«'^'™". and then observe ho v a«lutd, ove,-power,„K is the hahit of co.nphance with P« op,„,o„ and general usage. The worst fe ture of tise te t"::,::,;:.,""",^^ '■"^^.'°° «■■«" » p--. 'o.- they „ ! utll'u,"L """■"' ~'"P'«'°" whatsoever, and „ti„ tl^e mo ^^uMuI"" Th ':""" "'■^■"«''<'"» <"■ "•'■ ■"""«■■ «n.l wo d '' , «:■ ''™,;""'''^- ir''"" ^'■^- "■"" "•'- ^.ritittr;!:;::. r- '" » ~ --- He who wi,sh... to .see the tremendous power of th^ «3;|npa etie sub„us.ion to public opinion ru^JT^^ ^ „t th St ;: T' "'"'^ ^'""^ ^° '""^''^ '"^ H-^appearan c^T 'L H,' ■ ^'^""^'""-^i-n on the eve of n.akin. his son'ifi th. o,. ■ - r ^ ^'*''''' P^'"^> tli« masieian's ^sonata 1 ,. orators .luseourse are known with ample accuracv and nothm. very dreadful would be the result of L."ke ^S you may see the agonies of nervousness to which tl st^^^^^^^^ ^ hal,le n.erely by reason of the thraldom of public opin on buch a person breaks out in profuse perspirations : his' h art beats fast; In.s hmbs tremble: his colour shows a sickKde ran,.ement and for a day or two thereafter his di.. ion wm certan.ly be m.paired. But we are all of us in our own J«..sure constantly before our own public, compasec round - with an audience or with spectators before whose oolhXe nu«ht we ,uake though we scarcely know it. Not 01 1^, ." a thousand could so far stand up against it as to ap^ar ! I, f I ,i» '!'■ 46 THK OHIGIN AND OBOWTH OF THE MOKAL INSTINCT. a public .linner, even on a .sunm.er night of sweltering heat in a hght an.l loo.se-httn,g .suit of .snow-white linen. A humLd years ago every n.an in a gentlexnan's position .shav T iSs XXz:^''e' tt' ^^ ^''' ' '''^' -n-nfortab;: aeniand ot fashion, squeezed her waist into a wasp contour j;j.un..g her health and acting with conscious ^^ C^^ incapable of bravnig the tyranny of opinion ndeed the words of Locke (E.s,say ii., xxviii., 12) are in - -ay over .strong when he .says: "There is not on i n t " housand who is stiff and insensible enough to bear up under he constant dislike and condenn.tion o'f his ow lb ,1 "ust be o a strange an.l unusual constitution who ca con nt hnn.sel to live in constant di.sgrace and .lisrepr Th" lu.s own particular .society ". '^P"tt \\it(i The .sense of ,luty thus fonne.l out of the pressure nf WhX if • "^"'T '' ''-'' ^" '- ^' oxtraordi^^r W^ ol ! e thi ^r" " "•?,' "'" ''^^^"'^ "" --unLstances: in duel t H '' "'•' '""'^^ '' ' "'-''« -'"ty to fight a duel, m another ay-e it will ....il-,. u i- i . ^ figlit. ^ ""''''' '^ ^"'^ 'I'lty to refu.se to The CONTENT.S of an Idea of Dvty. Whether any particular duty is a moral duty can be de nan.elv n.d.lln '\P!'"" .^''.'^^ *''«'^« ""-^'^ sanctions of duty ^^ L^ ' TT?'"^ '^"^^^^^ «^ ^'^^'- "'to a duty t.on must he in ascertah.ing whiher that 2^ ZZ :H;iH-arance ol a .hity has any really sympathe ^ 1^^ t v.eoptiont-;r^^^^^^ external depen.lence on .sympathy: but in itself it I. "owever, i.s not ojdy enforced up on GROWTH OF THE qpv.-o i±li, SENSE OF DUTY. y^clcls not only the sham! of ft ^!"^'"«««- ^ want of it -morse of .entas ac u on bef "'"'■^™ °' °^^^^'-^' '^"^ t'>« sympathy. '"'^'^'°" '^^^^^■'^ our own inner instinct of -^^''^•- --^ oulkt to Jn , h,^4 >"^'^t'°^'« ^«bed beforinn.K "«t to call by J,er Chris L '" "^'^on^ine"; we ou-^ht ->"''^ -',,e under thf La i I T -^^ '"'"'^ ^^'^'^'^ '^^'^ ^'^'-■' J shall ..erely caVnon 2 'hypothetical i„,pe.a- ^^■^ - person n,ay withot't h I '^ ''""'"• '^^^^^'>' ^^^ «"eh P"'^''-<^ opinion. L the ' "T"'"'' '^' ''^^ ^''"«'^«« to defy ^"« --r self of :;.; .n;;:::r '^'^ "^ '^""^--^ '"- '-^- i^ut fai- nio.v .•.. P "P^'" sympathy. the p.seudo-n,oral duty T « 1 t "^ ^ "'"'^' ^'"^^^ ^""1 «y'"PHthies set up .st.n,lard,s whid I«/"r T'"^ ""P^'^-^'^'^' ^ ;-'^t,f3^ Take the exan.ph "' '^^v^Iopn.ents refuse b««fc of men in bvirono in Z, ^^ ^^'"'"" P^^-««c"tiou. The f ;••" ti.ey believ^!lt ^Z^^T '^ ^'^^"^ ^^'^" ^^-- «t'^'«I't he i„.p,oved Thi 1 !>f ''" "^^^^ M-^'-'^^^mtion «'"on^^ the Australian blacks set n '""""' '^' ^''''' ^''^'-'^ t'-u^ht it their ubsolute'dutf to' T^ ""'"'^^-'-^ '-o ^«f'- ». 7 t" ''^' '•■'■'■'y an.l heartily! 50 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE MORAL INSTINCT. I .{ i Whttt crowds of holy men in the middle age.s thou^dit it a duty to advance the cause of reli^non by the invention of fraudulent miracles 1 And in those times was the mere vio- lation of an oath considered sinful if it had not been made over some saint's relics ? Among- ourselves is it not the duty of a general to deceive as much as possible his opponent but to be absolutely straightforward with the sovereign or minister under ^ hom he acts i The nobh. of old woul.i have disgraced hnnself and his family, would indeed have been false to his most evi.lent duty if he ha'- ^'"ngs are now held to be ab. , f'''' ^^'^^'^ thousands of The GROWTH of x\ew Duties. '-';";;" !;::',r „r:t:;; :f - "'■">'- --^ »'«-.„,, ,,, P«l« each pa,,,.t t„ 1, tr,';'''"'^' "■'"*"''«' =om- -1 "t- N„ Bi,„i„ , ' r'^- *" ™. -;■ ta.,,„t to read InJo,,! it „„«t be vxTv pUb tl " '° ""'"'''"■ "«> '' "}". """ '"»' "- "« '- «- " Xt:::"^-';:!:::? -- ^ 'VL centuries aijo ft I I I fr ? 52 THE OEIGIN AND GROWTH OP THE MORAL INSTINCT. there was no such sense of duty. Why does it now press so strongly and with so considerable a uniformity upon all of us ■! The answer must be that for this as for all other duties which are truly moral there is a double play of sympathetic motive : an internal one and an external one. First, that of the inilividual sympathies, acting in tliis case on the parental side of a :nau's nature, and second, that of the community, acting on him by imitation and by the influence of public opinion. Suppose that I am inclined to be lazy or parsi- monious and tlierefore to neglect the education of my children, or that selfishness bids me spend my money otherwise. Parental sympathy interferes, and pictures to me my children suttering all through life from their ignorance. Are they tc rank as illiterate boors ? Are they to be drudges on the commonest level for want of the education which will give them a chance ? Are they to be shut off from all the pleasures which books and newspapers and correspondence can offer ? The direct parental sympathy of the individual will not suffer it, and apart from any other motive this is in general suflicient to determine my conduct, and fill me with a sense of duty that will overcomvi laziness or parsimony or selfishness. Suppose, however, I am too poorly endowed with parental sympathy to feel it as an overmastering impulse, that though I have some sense of duty in the matter, it is too weak to do the work recjuired of it. Then see how the sym- pathies of those who surround me reinforce my feeble parental sympathy. All my friends and neighbours express themselves as shocked at my neglect. They lament that the children are going to sutt'er in th • future by reason of my selfishness. Meanwhile the children themselves may be abundantly happy, rolling in the fields in careless idleness ; but the sympathies of all my neighbours travel forward to the ignominies, the disabilities, the sufferings of the future. I know that I am condemned. I feel that in every house in the district I am held up to reprobation. What my own individual sympathies have been too feeble to enforce as a duty, the galling conscious- ness of universal blame will compel mo to follow. Fortunately, matters rarely go to this extremity, for public GEOWTH OP THE SENSE OF DUTY 53 choolor otherwise provide for its edueatio^ „.er ij el^ 1 l/iVT.r""' ""'^"- ^-^'fI-alysed,x,yLtTvesI 1. Why have I sent my children to school i Be^useeve,ybody else sends his children to school. -. l^ut why does everybody send his children to scliool ^ 3. B„t w\xy is tlii., tl,<. „t.„„ra| „pi„j„^ , el,.u,«.s that «luH e*;-ll*'""- "P "'"''-' ^-'-^ i' ">e W» tl,„., fi,„| ,|„u ,1,. „l«„|„,„ f„„„,,„n„„ „f ,1 .^ »2;-:';:t;;:,.e;'Ct;:''i''';""'^^-'"''-^''-^"»^ opinio,:' II';;; ■:';- :;;;«■'>• j;--;' *a. p„H,ie parent i» compelled to coLho,* ■,''"'' "';V!"'-i''«»l ..a™ of tiK. co,„,„„„it, „,j,i,: ,;:'■:, ««r'T;rti;i*: far from the < uty hein™: Ho ...s. ,„ ,„„ 7„„ ,„„„, „^j^.,., ,1,^^^^ ^^_, J ^«. a» M (-1 J OHOWTH „F THE SEXSH OF nrxv 55 «v.H,.,.«,K|,,,„„|,,,^';,„,,^, ;»■'.»•» "->';.' that ,„a„y „ a, w':':„r,.;ri,;;:,;.";'r' '■ "■^■" '■■""•"■ """ «•"-•'■«. _ en. iin\ar.I coiisciou.sness of .lutv sn f... K he.no. a uniform monitor whose dict-^fT inuilterini;, is never n.nr. fl f '""'' ^'"''"" "»'' •so in re,;;,! to 1 , '"""'^^^^' ""'^■"^■•"' '""' ^^»'y life. I,r 1 rr *;;'!''""^"*^' ---ties of soci^ vagaries. '' ''^ ' ^'""^'^ "^ ^he n.ost perplexin. pas/^^eilTf po^C?'^^^ T'-;- ^'^^ '""^ ^^- «^ the faiths that they ac e " ^ '""'"'^ '^'' ^^'"'--»t« ^f other Their eonseie.^ "l;;;^:!^ 7 T ^^ ^^^^^'^ tl,o»e wl,„ maintained the 1 1, f„l T f'" "'"' ""'"y "' ".«,. «n,l that their eonscL ^ aln "m ,"''""''^: """ «°"'l man's coiLscionce fo,l,i,l. 1 , "^"^ °"' »P""»™- One appear on the sta^e without 111 '^/^ally ^roo.l p,ece One man's conscience smites him •. \ "^'V ^" *" ««^^ it- church on a sin.We Sun(l.n nl . "*''^' ^'^'^^ ^'^^'^ ren^otest ,,uahn in st i "'• ^'"''^''' "^"^^^ ^"^^''^ the place he 'vouM ,;^'' ? 'T^V ^^ ^'""'^'^ ^-"^^ the last absohUeh- im irtl. t th . T'; ''"■ ^"'■'^^--^- -- heef:...t all!X:t^.r:;^/'T*«^^^^^^^ grieve over an untruth of w h TT ,■''"" ""^^'^^ An ancient .ewhaa no mor:;t!-;:;;r;::r:Cr ^l> IJv :m: -J r.! ii :' 's . , ..Sj 56 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE MORAL INSTINCT. the marrying of three or four wives: a modern Jew has a wholly different conscience. It is absolutely untrue then that a man will always do right when he listens to the voice of his conscience All we can say is that he will, as a general rule, do what is considered right in his time and community. For his conscience is the mirror of that general l.,.|i..f, and in Germany it will encourage him to take his family out on a Sunday afternoon to hear some good music in the public gardens ; while in Scotland it will make him thrill with horror at the thou^dit of 8uch profanity. But the growth of sympathy from age to age tends to produce a greater uniformity in the sense of duty • for It steadily sweeps out what is non-moral or of spurious' morality, and leaves only that which kindness and tenderness to all our fellows would dictate; and this is the true morality. * Duty and the Law. How has it come about then, if the sense of ,luty IS so variable and so dependent on accidents of l)irth and training, that it is so generally considered to be something absolutely fixed and unchangeable i Even those philosophers whose eyes have been unwillingly opened to the wide variations in special or concrete duties delight to maintain the transcendental nature at least of the abstract sense of duty. To tliem this abstract conscience is the primary feature from which are derived all our ideas of special duties; and, according to them any variations in these ideas are due to corruptions of the original conscience. But as Herbert Spencer most unanswer- ably shows (Data of Ethics, p. 124), the special duties come first in our life experience. We never appeal to the conscience of a six months' baby. We teach it special •: ; J! , any f tlie J GROWTH OF THE SENSE OF DUTY. 57 ception of the relation between law and duty. So Ion. as it in z ;r T '' '^ ''" ^"^' "''^'' '"^^'- ^he duty, l: clea tha, the sen.se of duty will take its form from the arbitrary muul of the lawn.aker. Whereas in truth the duty hrst grows up as a conse,uence of human nature and human needs, and then, as I shall suhse,uently show, the law steps n as a definite ,nude for practical conduct. The channel are >u ^ "'1' /'' "'"' """ ^'"^^'^^ '^ «*-r; the laws ^taklue^^^^al^^^'""^'"^^^ The Api'auevt Arsoli'texess ok Drrv. Xow, lastly, we have to inquire whence comes that feeling Htnsc of luty winch we all experience. For thou.^h we know very well when we were tau,ht certain .special du'^ties, luZ can iX iT' T '"'-''' '''^''^'' '^'-"^ "t'--. thou,h w can nd e, race the genesis of three-fourths of our i.Feas of prac :ca duty, 3^et a general sense of an external ri-d es to winch we must yield obedience is a thing that has .70 such oij^on ,n our n.Iivi.lual experience. Thus in a hi - hss umd the sense of duty does in truth assume a a^i^ an ce,,,ental appearance. To use the words of J. TZ ne8,s, that apparent mHnity and incommensur.l.ility with all o or consKlerat,ons which constitute the distinction betwe h f ehng of nght and wrong, and the feeling of or i rv expedience and mexpediency ". There are Four sep. rate cau^sbr this; three of them arising within th'x^'^^ oriJn'i!" ""7' ''"^^'^-""- -^ '^PP^arance of inscrutable mtm ,y Our remembrance can rarely carrv us back with any distinctness to the years before our'Hfth, ..d ne" u Ir any cireum.stances carry us Ivml- .,f all , , the child .-ho is to n,. "" °"*' "^'^"^'- ^"t _ ••"[' ''^ ^° «^"^^' "P 'luLiiul goes through momentous experiences before that age. It Hnds that its^i.l is cmtl I ■J i I 58 THK (MUCtIN AM) CHOWTH OF THl', MOH.Xh INSTINCT. nn.I chucked on all hands; that its „wn indivi.hml and in- ternal motives are subject at all times to reversal or modlKca- tion hy t)u' action of external motives such as imitatioji, love of pnuse, fear of !)iame, or hvad oF punishmeiit. Thus lon-^ heFore the dawn of n.emo.y, the sensr has .jrown up of ret sponsdahty to an ,>xternal standard which, tlierefore, assun.es all the nistnictive appearance characteristic of other (|ualities ae,,nnvd in the pre-n.emorial pc-riod, such as the capacity of ^•raspui.' Hecurat..|y, of walkino- with due balance, of makin-r the exact sound with our vocal chords that we wi^l. to niakt^ 2. The action of habit has made the sense of duty auto- matic. For everything which has passed bv habit into the mere operation of a reflex action ten.ls to become mvstei-ious (.)bserve an expert musician seate.l in can>Iess nioo,'l befo.-e a piano: while he lau<,dis and chats his tinoers easily execute the bars of complicated music. The fallinj,^ of certain .-roups of black s,o.ns upon the retina of his eyes sets his tinovrs ut work m corresponding- motions, aTid not only is his readin- at si<;ht a marvel to us, it is a mystery to himself. He could not explain how he does it, an.l if his inusical trainin^^ had be-un very early so that he had been al)le to read at sijrl,t fairly well before the a-'e of Hve, he would have a strouSunaa3 ■ 1 ho nab.t has become part of his nature A .leeo « ot u„ea.si„e.s.s woul.l harass hi.n if he it.ut o Hku., a walk in the heMs o„ a Snn,Iay .H.X r r -e en-eun.stancos, the .ut. ., ,,„, ,/„„„,, ^„ ^^ TZm \ ■■"""t^r '^'"^ ^^' ' ^'"-''"^^ cor,seiousness o In lloo. tlie .n.hv.Iua. i,..s see-, the househ<,l.l, in the t r:jr'':r?'T"'' -'^"-^tt-andsdemn; ^u..| onanls the church. Such an experience havin-. no —"•>"-l be.-innin.. no break incontinuit, '^ force. I l)y the utmost WeJL^it of s henio- en- thnt inevitable .>,„] , ■^"r "' •'"^■^•^^"•"'"'«- <>l'i"ion, assumes iMtN, table an.l etei-nal aspect of which I s,,eak Yet a 1 l.een_ brought up in a fannly which never attended u In conscience would speak to hin. in utterlv .liHerent n i .' he ,dea would never cross his nund that upon that ■ ' are so solidly ao-ettl^H- '""">: P«'"*'^-"P-' which we nature of du y ^ . "^ "'^ T^^"'^'^"" '' ^^e transeendental Habit of hJ^fS^Z^J^'^Tir'^''- '^'''' "^""'^^' ^^- our time .,,".-/'•"' '^^'^'^'•f"'«- to the conventional standard of sease of d uT' ""'^^ *^" ^^-^'^ "^' ^1- instinctive ensL or lutj. It begins m unremembered infancv it i^ nn I..,,. <-• , '"'"'^'-'^ t^noiauied m our nature, and we all of n« emcient. Public opnuon sets these up I, fl r 60 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE MORAL INSTINCT. M J . as a standard, and in its own way compels obedience. The habit of obedience becomes a second nature, and it is thus practically impossible for the avera^t^e man to walk out on the public streets in costume which would be elegant and modest for a woman. A male costume for men and a female costume for women seem as if among the most ilefinite, unalterable and absolute provisions of nature itself. Yet we know that it is a mere matter of convention. 4. In the case of moral ideals that are less fluctuating, and by their uniformity ajid fundamental nature have gathered fresh weight antl compulsiveness from the process of the centuries, the phenomena of iidieritance give them no little founclation of a truly instinctive character. For in their case the dictates of tl.. public opinion around us lind an approving echo in our own inherited natures. The voices of a far-off past are sul)tly swelling within us. Even as the first wholly uin-enienibered years of our lives leave a record none tlie less indelible, so that a melody then often heard but since for- gotten may wake at a chord or two impressions of mysterious power suggestive of pre-natal experience, so does tJie child- hood of the race dwell unknown to us in the nerves of each. Thus does it come that those of us who have never killed an animal for sport in our lives can rarely see a rabbit peep out from a bush or a rat from a corner without a sudden momen- tary flash of murderous impulse. But the same subtle power lives witliiii us for kimlness as for destruction, and a full measure of this gives the individual an instinctive predisposi- tion to moral conduct, 'though it is true that all children require, in .some measure, to be taught the habit of truth, yet there are many so teiw'. i- and aflectionate by natuiv that they easily learn to feel a lie as a wrong done, an injury inflicted. On such a eliil.l the habit of truth is easily iinpressed. and exerci.ses throughout life a peculiar power: whilst a ehil.l of coai-ser flhre and l)y nature less susceptible to fliie emotional impulses will be taught with difliculty to be truthful, and will always V< roughout life And the seltish instincts at war with ac(|uired habits of veracity. N(nv in the • ' se of all truly inorfil duties, this instinctive play of inner emotions is in unison with the external play of 'GROWTH OF THE SENSE OF DUTY. 61 public opinion, which has settled us into .special habits. And i^^^h tt """' f '' " "'' '■'^ ""' ^"^^'^-^^1- '—- allied with the sense oi sympathy, which is. Considerin- then the iih-r;" ^"^^^°'ri""-^ ^^^ «o-i .mties .^ihout'thi^ a l.ance, such as dressn.^. reasonably well, eating- our food like other peopl or keepino- our houses cleanly, it Ts !>■ no n,ean rash to conclude that, with the powerful aid of "instinct^^ ve ■sympatlues, the truly n.oral duties will ^-ather a sa c .o pec^^^^ n.y«terious control. A n,an Lis that het:. ^^antonl^ hurt an annnal ; firstly, because his own instincts are a«.unst ,t ; .secondly, becau.se he was tau,ht not to so jn earhest c ddhood ; thirdly, because he has'ahvays le . the habit of treatni,. anin.als well; and, fourthly, because pubh. opnuon, n. which he Joins, con.lenms all cruelty. T knul t.reatn.en of aninuxls is with bin. a nuitter of course quite as inevitable as his sleepin. or eatin. at state.l int^" d ' hab.t, whose date is iannemorial, and the expected lash o S^jeral disappi.ba.ion, would combine to form ll^ tu he ti I sma 1 voice of conscience, an inner monitor seemiiudv absolute and eternal, thou«-h really dependent first o £ emotiona capacity of the individual, a„d secondly o emotional capacity of surrounding, individuals ^ Locke puts in a forcible way one part of thi,s true oriirin of te sense of duty (i., iii., oo, ^ .j, nn^y rea.lily col? to pas that doctnnes .lerived from no better authority Jhan the su Htition o an old woman may nevertheless Irow up tT ^ .l;.-.ty of pnuciples in morality. Yet such Is are re d to prnic.ple cluldren well, instil into the as vet unnn i , 1 ^ i< to' III ),f. I t 62 THE OKIGIN AND GKOWTH OF THE MORAL INSTINCT. I i to liave tlie reputation of uiKjuestioiiable, self-evident and innate truths." We have only to join this undoubted influence of educa- tion with the inherited tendency to sympathy which underlies all moral .luty, to see how the idea has arisen of duty as somethm^iT superlatively ^rreat and mysterious. It has alrea'l.-» of life tainted .itl, tire .^^iJ^^^J:^ ^ ZZl^ZA^ m.eu,.o„, we ought to jujge other.,, and wi 1 el t '^^ ^;:;e' '■ ™'» '» '"« »'>'«'• ^^ «.» .u.ti„ei„C™":? But the in.lividual who has been Ion... ,s,ihiect to ih. ,.1 o external criticism an.l ,vho has lon^ ^I^ch d a^r^ H ^^ o^-.tici.n, others is ahso.utel, eerta^, i. hi: in^ ..^ moderately developed, to beeon^e a critic oF Imnself' of h own conthict and of his own work Tl,«.. , ."-y l«ople who hl.„ne\';,";L '^ZlTt!^ »p,euou, ,n then,>,elve,. But tin, i., rarely p„J t ^ Z, '.1 «nHe. An,l in youth a wise training wyeouinel t , i, -pec .ve eo,„p„ri,on,. .Supp,» th.t"„ iLrir i, ; a..o her boy br getting up » late i„ the „„,rning, he v H d toed for reflect.ou iu the ren.ark : •■ ludee,!, yo,r are . ' » e.«,ly r„u,e,i iu reasonable tin.e ". Tire Lud I'ri wl I lelatnig « httle pieee of ilLtemper on the mrt „f , r , ^■'^ '■ ""«' »' «o.n«thiug :,f the sit':; 'ttiut :::;;;,;: own critical words -ften take n «>-laiipf> at 1 condemns in others VOL. II. — ....1 vy.Dnduct m" others, lie learns to apply the same rules to himself. And if his characcei- has any degree of nobility in it, he judges his own conduct with more severity than ever he judges that of othfH-s. lt"'or he knows his own motives, whiio he can oidy imperfectly guess at those of others. He deals n-ith his own conduct in its entirety. That of other people hn can under- stand only in fragments. He is well aware that while he frequently misunderstands even those who are nearest and dearest to him, he never misunderstands himself. He, there- fore, is a])le to coridemn his own weaknesses with a freedom and certainty he caimot apply t(j the foibles of other people. Of course I am Iiere not speaking of petty nunds, to whom, hideed, this whole region of moral sanction is little known. To them the faults of others are excellent subjects foi- scandal anil eon.Iemiuirion ; their (jwn are hidden by impenetrable mists of self-love. fSut in proportion as a mind is exalted, so will its self-criticism be severe and searching. It may go too far and become morl)i^ i;imself. We see this con- ■ n such cases as that of ptuiussional self-respect. The • ist wJiose picture has been the success of the season may tus \ray with dis- dain from all the nnu-mured applause as hi glows :atislied in his own mind that the woi-k is essentially «■■-., icious. If STIXCT. , ciiap. i.) process of n another rnturally iems to be se the like First u;' s Viitchful appear to mt is the judo-e the ;o himself, he ju can only h his own an inider- wliile ht; arest and He, there- i freedom er people. to whom, e known. )r scandal able mists id, so will ^o too far nstinct of 1 temper, es a ver^ icate sus- is conduct ■iuch cases se picture with dis- >itistied in cions. If SELF-RESl'ECT. 67 he be a true artist with lofty aspirations, his canvas never meets a critic more unsparing- than himself. Supposing' a wealthy advertising manufacturer were to offer a great poet £1000 to insert in his next work a single line that will putf' a certain ware. Now if the poet were badly in want of the money and felt certain not only that the line could be intro- duced so as to look quite spontaneous, but also that none would ever know the secret of its origin : why should he refuse ? Be- cause if he knew of another poet who did so mercenary a thing he would despise him. If a single line in that which he feels should have a high and holy mission assumed the character of a sham and an imposition his respect for the perpetrator would instinctively fall. But even more would his respect for himself be impaired by such a meanness ; and, to a mind such as we are supposing, that loss would be the keenest of all losses. But it is not merely in the tine arts and in famous works that this feature is seen. Every high-minded man who takes a pride in his calling has the same feeling of sacred respect for Ins work. I remember how a wheelwright once repaired tor me the wiieels of a vehicle. The work was approved and paid for. Yet the first time the vehicle passed the shop I saw the artisan come to the door and watch with keenly critical eyes the running of those wheels. He sent me a message that he woul.l like to overhaul one of them if the vehicle coul.l be returned to him. For myself I was amply satisfied, but the vvork was a woun.l to his prolV-ssional self-respect an to a satisfactory standard. This is a temper we shouhrvainlv look for in the bulk of mankind ; but it pervades the loftier- minded minority in all ranks. It is a feature wliich lias something in it always of heroic .■u.d_ generally, therefore, even though sprung from mere pro- essioml pri.le, it appeals to our moral sense. When his shin has been wrecked aiir when he if he were eiffhbours. s when it ir/' he can bishop on leap-frog P warming is the man I his home nily. Its spend in ■ rel}' needs by throw- e lesser or iightier or igh never 3tical UMe. ork only because he would hate to be reprovnl by his ....n.iover iHs mofve ,s n.ost certai.dy a kind of self-n.pect. Tl man with no such feelh-g would, so Ion. as h. hJd his p/: was sure of not ben.,- disndssed. listen with merely a « -in to his employer s severest reproaches. Vet the self-respect of the or„.er ,s much mferior to that of the man who nieds no r^! •-uke ol employer or any other to impel him to industry His actions stand to be judged by that nlfrr r,n which w.u'ld s.i.d ">" I-'- -. the evening with a sense of degradation if he had |"ade a pre once of working but had reallv i.lle.l. For if he |.s aman who is disgusted at shams in others, if h. resents ^rn^ cheate. and imposed upon in his dealings with h ■ts he would on those of others: and a sense of buvnoss whic is^sentially sympathetic, will utterly condemn him'^ ; ^ "^tshis employers in such a way as he would himself in rT ;r . " ""'"'' '•^' ''''''''■'■ 'l^'"'^ "'-'« self-re pe iorbids that he should ever appear, to his own eyes so ."u creature as those men seen, who work while the r Jnn> " " i ookmg, „ul dawdle when his back is turned. His' no i then. IS truly moral: but in the other case, wherein Id' respect thinks only of humiliation before othe, "^d ^^^ f^ uundia urn before his own Judgment, we shall call i Z^. noi 1 , to , so tar as ,t goes, it is a perfectly efficient subs itute for the nobler sentiment. ^^jsutuie As another instance, let us imagine that a man is reso- " ol^ strugghn,. to pay his debts. If his motive is that he .nay stand honourably forth in his own eyes as one wh h ! pa.d to every man all that he owed, we Ly regard sdT espect as of a truly moral type. But if it I merely cause he hates the humiliation of being an insolvent: if 1 is me^I attitude IS only this-" Oh, no I you won't catch me i th Bank,,pte3. Com, i would rather die first." then we may cl t luasi-mora . or its utility is almost as great for purpa o .-actical nght conduct. But it wants the lofty diaracter of the nobler foi,,; of self-respect. Nor even fr- practical purposes is it quite as efficient- for the n.orahty that is base But she is so wealthy that this small sum, though so nnicli to me, is to her cpiite insigniHcant. Nor will the law attect me, for there is no law dn-ecting me to pa}- money that is not asked for. Thus for those whose notion of .luty is confined to the law and the influence of surrounding opinion there is no moti\L' compelling repayment. He who pays nuist do so, because if he knew of any oi.e else who meaidy .said nothing of the matter and let it lap.se, he would feel con t' nipt for so base a character, and he detests the thought of standing before his own eyes in so despicable a light. It is, of course, inadmissible to assume that he is controlled by the consciousness of an all-seeing eye of divine p(nver. Firstly, beeaase abundance of men in ancient times who had no such consciousne-o wi-re amongst the most noted for a sense of noble self-respect. Secondly, Ijecause there are now amongst th^ most eoaspicuoi dy upright men, great numbers who have no «jnse, such as Milton had, of standing " ever in a great Taskmaster's eye". And, thirdly, because those who have had, and Mi;: have, that lielief, have ^ aried ,so radicallv in their views of what divine power demanded of tfieni, that we are forced to regard these views as only the exten;alisa- tion of their own inner sense ui rectitude. In fact it is now well understood that th onception of the Deity has been ever rising and progress ^, k oing pace with men's moral nnprovement, an- "-^"-t« - left aIo.K. in a hb .uy. He , ,sl„„ choice, ,f he pleases, of anm.sinc. himself with books o^ an impure ami sensuous tone. He l^oks nto hem an.l tun.s away to duller an.l less spicy real. Xot from the pressure of any law nor of public opinion ; both are eju But he has a poor opnuon of those who at .liruier parties retail inch^eent jokes ; he despises those who rush for p u ien mnvsf..per reports; he honours an., respects the cleani; 3 3 nulful theretore, that in the future h. must stand up to be jud«.eii a uiind ite basis. tincti\ely rtiiitr her ! scorn of pleasures e synipa- .'onien of poets, in ion upon w main- o many, 'al, mys- ontrary, learn to nend in xl in all thereby d while es from respect, t, must jries of SELF-RESPECT, 73 the sense of self-respect. None can deny that oualitv in hi.-h .legree to Plato an,l Aristotle: yet to neither of tlieni .li-Pa reasonable u.,lul^a"nce in libertine pleasure seem at all incon- sistent with that self-respect. Cato the Censor was peculiarly ^'ijte.l with this ,,uality, yet it in no way reproached him for selhn^^ the slaves ^rown old in his service, and it eventually impelled him to suici woul.l take a huye pride in securiiij;' the ao.|uittal of a criminal of the deepest dye His professional s.df-rosjx.ct would have been wounde.l by failure, an.l he had no other self-respect in the matter. There was a time when if a man of a hio;h sense of honour were struck he would have felt absolutely boun.l by every feelinj,^ of self- respect to wash out the insult in the blood of the assailant. Amon^r the Jews and scores of other people a loss of self- respect weifrhed upon the woman who reached maturitv with- out fimhno' a husband. Amon^^ ourselves many womeJ would teel themselves ,le,i.raded if they accepted a husban.l without bem^- induced thereto by a most undoubted call of lov and devotion. Montaione tells us that in the time of his father the great ladies in France felt a loss of self-respect when they could secure no lovers in addition to their husbands for it appeared m public estimation as a sli.irht upon their charms The lady who sails through the l^allroom in pride at the admiration won by her beautiful neck and bosom, would feel a deep wound to her self-respect if on her way to a bathroom next monnng she were caught by a man in e-iual exposure But If we run through all the list of the varying ideas of decency amorig women of t ha- ■||";^n.ng or romancing as in Fenimore C^.oper, but seen in H .In and obse,,uiousne,ss of ordinary life, is not rich in the - .- ..I personal .l.gnity. He makes a poor con.pari.son with Maun or Malaga.sy nv .Malay. These in their turn must yield ■V... SKLF-RESPECT. .'' I to the erlucated Chinese or Japanese, while, on tlie otlier hand, it is very noticealjle that the Oernian, the Frenclunan, tlie En^'lishnian who goes to Cliina or Japan carries with him a pei-sonal w(>ig-ht wliicli is (hie to tlie superior di-i-nity of his genei-al bearino-. Surround the oriental monarch with all his insioiiiu, and he ia still a man of less '■- «..c-ic.tj- ,v.,„M rail to Uc„ ,ri •■»"' w..,v a la„. ,„„„ |„„„,||. Soil-,,.,,,,, .nSykMt^t. p,.,.,o,. c,,,,.„c,. or ,,„t,. M„, ,„.r, it.;,,,. ,„„„, ° - t ^ '-"at.e ; l,„t .f I s.w a iun.tic on hounl ship approach ,! J"«ti<^t I, .1 no othor possible way of salVty pmsontc.I its.lf - -su,. ,„y ^„n an.I shootin^ hin. .load ol L ^p!l ' It ..WW he sai.l in reply that the .,avin^ of the lives of all in the slupis merely a higher duty, and that the higher ,lu v o^^Tnlos the ower But of course this is preeisei;th v^ I an now man.ta,nn,.. For what is it that n.al<:.s the " Merely that it rests on •, more -J^usym^^^^^ " J at c , hut a Ino-hei- syn.pathy forbids me to ,nve hin an odd chance of savi,.^ his life at the gravest risk <^ .i .^ -'•y MS own l,„t that of a whole ships con.pany. ^ acceX'^sT'^r"'"'""'^- l^"ty is a most useful acctsso _y , se! -respect a t.a.isforn.ation of duty which lends a P,eul.u- and n.ost efficacious assistance. ■• liut tl ' . c ai tla by char.ty ,s meant a syn.pathetic kin.h.ess. And tl.c subtlest a..alysis of morals in a properly experin.n, a spjn^, .. .hstin^uished fron, the .Idi.htk/but'illui: I ^l hmoo the transcendentalists. reveals as the true fo, n.dation »» '^ tf.at ,s r,,d.t, the wine exercise of the ,,uality wh apos le consi.lered as th,. greatest of all the graces' ' liut tnoui,.h the noble feelin.' of self-respect neither adds SKLF-RESPECT. 77 up my ')nt lets any new element to morality nor forms tiie paramount arbiter ill coiidnct, its presence in a characttir is none tlie less the most satisfactory evidence oi" a lii^di moral development. As (jeoi-fe Sand declares in her Secretaire Inlivie, "the sentiment of self-respect is the surest ^niarantee a<,^aiiist every form of de- pravity ". Sublime amono- inen is he who can walk uji the scaffold W steps to his ignoble docmj, undismayed by hoots an-l jeers, calm Hiid erect in the approbation of his own soul. Even so « noble is he who through a life-time can move on upon the path which his imuu- sense of self-respect marks out. For I him there is no stumbling-block in the little meannesses that % are sanctioned by u.sage, nor any pitfall in wrong that can never be revealed. Though not praised, yet content if worthy of praise ; though not succi'ssful, yet happy if success has honestly and manfully been deserved, he moves ev(!r girt with the dignity of a nature that can stand unabashed before that inward Judge, never to be bribed, never to be hoodwinked which pronounces upon each deed and every thought :— Wiio, wlictlier praise of him iniist walk tlie earth For ever, und to nohle deeds ^ive hirtli, Or, he must fall to sleep witliont his fame, Ai\d leave a dead improfitahle name, Finds comfort in hims.>lf, and in his cause. i I, 'I 78 CHAPTER XVII. THE BEAUTY OF KIGHT CONDUCT. i^foRAL Ideals. Yn^ .UK)ther sta.e .n.l the ,„oral in.tinct cuh„i„ate« i„ .,.. votion to ..ocxlncss tor its own .sweet sake. TJien does a n. u. liontst. He seeks „o reason for liis alle^nance outsi.le of thl "a ure oi the thin«. itself. He feels that to .lo rH t s -1 t iui.l seeks no other ^ui-lance. ^ ^ *' There are thus four levels of ascen.Hn^' worth but of -Inunushn... extensiveness, in the n.otives of ri.ht con 1,; • each .s nu^re a.hnirablc. than the last, but etiective " ^ lessene. area of nu.nkin.1. This last is the loftiest of alll u .t app.Us only to those choicer souls who in .General fo „ u a slender nnnonty of existing comnnnnties. Many Ttlt who are ..pable of bein,- honest because dishonesty i an in"^ J.u-y o a lelbw a less nund.r are honest because honest; L a .luty (apar . ot course, fron, the quasi-n.oral fear of punfsh- .nen to be hereafter discusse.l). Fewer still are th y "t az. honest because they would scorn to snnrch theni.|v" ith baseness, and who dread the ren.orse of seeuun^. nu-an in then- own eyes. Hut very \:^y indee.l are thoy who are ho. 11 w,th no thought of any consequence, near orC ^ x W or entn-eb^ wiUdn themselves ; who love to dwell v:!:!,^: ^^ s they love o ndjal>it a repon of ex,uisite beautv, or to ..-.• a,,n.d e burest creations of ,enius, solely 'lecau ihese are ni themselves de!it;'htful. The n.an who feels a throb of enthusiasn, leap within hin, as he turn oU road reveals a sweet prospect of hili and ia^ and the lar-oH mists of spaciou. fields and woudlun.ls- who' THE BEAUTY OF UIGHT CONDUCT. 79 4 as a symphony melts at some tenderly mysterious resolution of chords, thrills in waves of einotion : or who, as he rea.ls some ^dorious passage of sublimest poetry, may' be seen with heifrhtened colour and with kindlinjr eye, i.s likely enou^-h to carry into the domain of mcjrals the same testhetic sensibility. As an artist may devote his life to the passionate worship of the beautiful, disdainful of all mercenary interests, so may my soul of fine susceptibilities yil p(>,i,.,. that K'.iodncs-; I)„s,,mis ever. For although it be tru.- that purity an.l sincerity ort'-r the most delicate, yet most lasting happiness that earth can .jtfer yet ,s tins no part oC her motive. Though virtue should mean' strife against every friend, or though it were certain to l.-in.r tile inwar.1 unhappiness „f a struggle against a misplaced passion, yet would virtue be the chosen path. If the choice were to be wanton and live to share a throne, or to be in- exorably chaste and die witliin the hour, still would th.- choice lie virtue, whone own inherent b.^antv has awakeise-l a devo- tion with which nought else can oope. This consecration of moral beauty such as Milton calls in his r,>ma^, ^'f I Tf r •1 i i'f-[ ) . 80 THE ORIGIN AXD GROWTH OF THE MORAL INSTINCT. The sublime notion and hi^ri, mystery And serious doctrine of virginity, ' i' Ute IT T' '■'^•''r' P""- °f «- ™™> U»tinct which An honest mnn's the noblest work of God, fcel>y ac,uiescin^ i„ the adnm-ation of honesty as a divinelv noble attribute, one of those qualities to be cultivateln ll ^. l^e th. choicest Howe, of the ,^CCLl^ reason but then- own ".racious aspect. Yet everv morpl ., seun-,no... quality, .nay assu.ne .Le o. leL^^ ^i^^^^: , pitasuit , affords may be a reasonable equivalent for the labour it uivo ves. Verv nrnb».M,r if i • . ^ <" "^*^ pleasure. For while itTt':: ^ '" " '™^'^ ^•^^"' ^^^^• That that which is not good is not deli..ious 10 a well-governed and wise appetite, of t*°,l'™:. "'it "■""' " 7"' "'""y" ""-- -,„. ,„„a,uro pieZ oZive i\:':i*:; '° '^" i°'""?" "■'«"- "■« of -ainin.. it V. H ; ' "'1'"™'--'"' for tile »eriflce or .iiiimg It. \et tlu.t ,» „„ver tlie ouestion who,, tln% This traiiseondental asneet of .■•. ...n ).,.,,. 'iMpt.ci (H an enthuNiaMu so inde»i..n (,«.Klc„,. „.|,i,.l, ,„ak.. „. think ., i • ." :" " '. "'y"'*™"" NSTINCT. inct wliich 3rce to the t to Pope's a divinely ite;l at all I' no other moral, or iH exalted because it whether lit for the fe'ive her iiioasure ^ther the sacrifice hen this th tilled 3i' iiiusic the dis- I« of the that the lie yield ;-fellow'.s ! hei^rjit ndepcn- ends to sterious oo pure s elated THE BEAUTY OF RIGHT CONDUCT. Ql witli the first wann .Iream of love cannot bear to think of it as be„.,. even distantly connected with that instinct o"natnl winch re,o.ns through the aninual world, so when our o^ J all of an eth:c .low, when love of truth and purity an ben hcence nmkes us thrill at the aspect of a sereL i, eal we are nK.t unwdhn, to acknowledge that it is of purely ri^ZZ An.l to any one who has a tender sympathy with the sweet Illusive drean^s of th. «ner part of hu„,a„ity, it is un-'rat^fu work to seek „. any way to shatter the cha.tin. b rf Y us very , evot.on to moral beauty itself n.ust ur.e us on tor d we be filled with the sense of devotion to'the d al •Ith^htful ol alsehoods. If this belief in the beauty of rio-ht onduct as ben.,- an eternal and chan,.eless «.ui.le, wh cl h ad no mort.1 growth, be only a pardonab^^ err^r. tl^ ^ xi«ht-nnn.led man wdl wish to cherish the delusion. All Ideals are of Earthly Orkjin. me J^i^rr" '-'" ,"P"'^^^' """^ "*^ unanswerable a.^u- mtntwlich at once and inevitably overthrow the transcen dental view of the moral ideal. For, firstly were it t r f ::d?n.:i: ir^r;;*;;;, "-;'-■-'■■■■« -o u I ■ .. ^^ ivniK .So omon cou < imf have been the i.leal of (Jeory-e Washin-fm, TL • T 'innn „ 11,. ^ ^vtisnniyton. | ho niterveninf>- 3000 years had wholly transfonned the nature of a Za n „s aspn.t,ons. What was ri,ht and what wrl't H 7 T' ;" ^'^^••^^•"'"•^"t- '» «lHvexy, in worship an -jiHjy ha.l und..,.one the most radical alterations In Ihe But in our own day also, the ideals of .ood men diHer A ( athohc priest has one i-jea! of oh.,,.stity tlu^ Protest mr i ■nan, with his el.,.ri..l.,..l ».;•■ .P \ ' *' ''^■^''^'t cieroy. ..an with his ehorished wife an,! family.has a wholly Ideal VOL. 11. le pies of a ' were due e the ease, . from the IS grasped ches with n. Listen ! zeal and wake his iels in an ess-player ;ies in an ried away I hrought serve the lea of an ex(|uisite t'ou wcrn days had tirst-rate THE BKAUTY OP RIGHT CONJ)UCT. gg crew sweep past on a final practice, you wouM see how a mere sport can move a nmn's soul to its most secret depths. So too a quondam boxmg amateur, if he sees two champion pu,.ili.st,s «trrp or the contest, may make a perfect spectacle of hhnself m h,s hoarse-voiced enthusiasm. Some with horses and others with anghng; some with tiowers and others with wine: some with cookery and others with ballet-dancing-, absolutely end- less are the departments of human interest in which ; man may experience an enthusiasm which absorbs all his faculties and carries liini out of himself. It i.s fatal therefore, to the transceiulental theory of moral beauty that there is a complete gradation of such enfhusiasms Some are or things base and unworthy in themselves, as the Uyak Ideal of head-hunting, or as in the case of a man I know by name who gave a bachelor dinner party to celebrate Ins twentieth seduction. Others of these enthus asms are on cerned with things which a considerable proportion of m n pugilism ballet-dancing or warfare. Others are cncerned with matters that are indifferent with regard to approbatLn or .hsapprobation.such as the enthu.siasmrfor che.ss'jr cricke ^•uughng or for poultry-bree,Iing. There are others a't n which enjoy a mild riavour of moral approbation, such asll e J^.^ner;s .eal for flowers, or the meciliieian's Joy ^i ^en! ons. hen we pass by degrees into the realms wherein our ^m H.ment y.ids its praise to the pursuit as one in W wo thy to wake the noblest fervour; such as that of the poet o^^ «. mus^ian. Finall^^ there are those moral enthusi^ ^^hlch most profoundly mov, our admiration so tint we should rather desiiv that one w. loved should l. a goo Jn tan an excellent poet; so that we should have no'sntisZ l^onin a brother who was a sublime painter but . .lespieable Now in this ascending scale it is to be noticed that in proportion to the beneHcial influence of an enthu!^ n if tl^e fi pl> the truest happiness of mankind is -..dued above all others. But in this respect there is no enth- ^iasin whTcrca" compare with that of moral beauty. None .. . be m^rl dee^; m 84 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE MORAL INSTINCT. . useful nor more generally felt than the enthusiasm for truth which will give to all men absolute reliance on the statement or the promise of a man ; none more useful than the en- thusiasm for beneficence which bids us assist and oblige all who surround us. When a man of ardent nature is not only filled with an instinctive love of a certain sort of beauty, but feels likewise that his zeal carries with it the admiration of all men far and wide, his ideal becomes overmastering. A musician who for the first time secures the score of some mighty composition will become absorbed, forget his meals, and grow oblivious to time and space. As he drinks in the meaning of the spots and tails, the modulations and all the technical and artistic significance of the dirty old manuscript, no Elysium can com- pare with his raptures. Think of the joy of a Keats when first I :. lipped into the Faery Queen, or caught a deep full breas : .;■: Homer's inspiration through the voice of Chap- mas; \S «; tims .see that the assthetic glow of moral enthusiasm is nothiiig individual and apart from all things else. It is merely that by reason of the greater importance of its sanctions and the wider generality of the approbation it brings, it gives to the character a peculiar dignity which nothing else can quite approach. Yet this, of course, in no way accounts for the origin of this enthusiasm for moral beauty ; it shows, however, that most probably it is in its development analogous to other enthusiasms. But all enthusiasms are fundamentally de- pendent on the pleasure to be derived from an object or pursuit. The man who finds a deep pleasure in contemplat- ing an example of unswerving fidelity such as that of Regulus, or feels his .soul kindle at the purity of an Imogen, has within him the enthusiasms of the moral ideal. It is an extreme pleasure to watch the operations of goodness in a character ; it is most painful to observe the slow development of evil.' If in poem or drama or story we ever take interest in wicked- ness it is with the expectation of a pleasure in seeing it meet its due reward, but the contemplation of beneficence Ts always agreeable. NSTINCT. Ill for truth 3 statement an the en- 1 obH^fe all 3d with an ils likewise len far and in who for omposition bliviouH to the spots nd artistic 1 can com- .eats when deep full of Chap- nthusiasni Ise. It is s sanctions fs, it gives r else can origin of ever, that to other itally de- object or nteniplat- :" Regulus, las within I extreme iharacter ; t of evil, ti wicked- ig it meet is always THE BEAUT V OF RIGHT CONDUCT. 85 A little consideration, therefore, will show that the origin of the cesthetic pleasures of morality must be sought in the causes which have developed the sense of pleasure in general. This (luestion has in many places been admirably discussed by Herbert Spencer, and to me his views scmu in the t ^lin incon- trovertible. Yet I would desire here briefly t I with it after my own fashion in so far as it touches on ui.; source of the pleasure which we feel in beholding goodness. OniGIX OF THE SeXSE OF BeAI'TV. The sense of beauty is a department oi^ the more general sense of pleasure which has two roots, one of prnnary importance, in the experience of the race ; and one, of much less con.sequence, in the experience ui the individual! If every person at Hrst trial enjoys eating a ripe peach, that must be by reason of inherited tendencies sprung from race experiences ; but many persons who at first cannot endure a banana come to be fond of it after a time. This is a capacity for pleasure acquired in the experience of the in.livi.lual Both will be found to play a part in the development of the iesthetic pleasure of morality. Dealing Hrst of all with the more important element let us inquire why the sweetness of sugar is pleasant, ihit as a preliminary we must ask the paradoxical ([uestion whether we eat sugar because it is sweet, or whether it is sweet becau.se we eat it. 8o far as the experience of the individual uoes the former statement expresses the truth: he eats the sm.ar be- cause ,t is sweet But the far more fun.lamental tnith is that sugar is .sweet because men must eat it. Of the three forms in which food is assimilated in our systems, su-nir is not the least important. All our food stuffs which are neither proteids nor fats must be either sugars or else starches which are Hrst converted into sugars in order to be dissolved and absorbed. Sugar is therefore the Hrst and most easily assimilated of our three fundamental forms of fond ; and \n the state of nature sugar is mainly attainable in the form of ripe fruits In the history of man's progenitors, therefore, it was of ex- • • 1" w IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V // .^' % :/. f/. 1.0 i^ |||2| I4£ 1^ l.i 11: 1^ 1. ,. 1.25 1.4 2.5 2.2 12.0 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 4fs ,5^ £^ V ^^ WJ'. ^o & ^ & %' Ir i '•A <\ 1 86 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE MORAL INSTINCT. treine importance that he should be able to pick out nutritious fruits from those unsuitable to be his food. Tiiose who wasted their etibrts in chewinf>' pine-cones or eucalyptus berries would have but a poor chance in comparison with those whom a safe instinct of taste led to the wild peach or the orape. Moreover, all fruits pass throu<;h a sta^e in which an iiniutritious woody fibre prevails ; not until this has chan^'ed into the form of sugar is it suited for men's food. It is plain, therefore, that if a certain sensation of taste could induce the individual to pass over the unripe fruit and pick only the ripe, it would yield a material assistance as a means of pre- servation. A sensation which is a sufficicsnt motive for us to wish its continuance is called pleasant ; one which itself induces US to seek its cessation is called unpleasant. Great advantage must therefore have ])een derived when the organism became so adapted that the taste of a ripe fruit tempted the eater to go on and finish it, while the taste of one unripe made him throw it away. Still it happens among ourselves that in- dividuals not well ecjuipped with this discrimination die out ; quite a small army of children, and even of adults, peri.sh each year through eating green fruit ; whereas an inclination for really well ripened fruit is so useful to the system that we may readily conceive of those who have it, as being on the average rather longer than others in the duration of their lives. But what is this compared with tlie cuUing-out process among primeval man, before intelligence came to reinforce the teachings of instincts, and all our present variety of food became possible ^ The savage who eats a (juantity of green or indi- gestible fruit because it is near his camp will never survive, as he does who is willing to wander a few miles out in search of other fj-uit that will be truly ripe and sweet. But long before man appeared at all upon the scene, the organis?i's of his predeces.sors had become so adapted that the sen.sations of the palate were at once the motive to exertion and the means of discriminating between the safe and the un.safe. There is nothing iidierently pleasant in sweetness, nor anything inherently unpleasant in Ijitterness. It is merely that in p»'C'..,oion as an organism became adapted to seek I INSTINCT. out nutritious Those who Dr eucalyptus iparison with ivild peacli or ita^e in whicli is has chanj^ed I. It is plain, ilil induce the lick only the neans of pre- tive for us to itself induces )at advanta^^e misni l)ecanie I the eater to pe made him lives that in- ition die out ; idults, perish in inclination ) system that , AS bein<;- on ition of their ^-out process reinforce the f food became ;reen or indi- lever survive, out in search t. But long organi.sTps of sensations of nd the means *e. k^eetness, nor It is merely pted to seek THE BEAUTY OF RIGHT CONDUCT. 87 the repetition of tastes coiuiected with the luitritious and to avoid those connected with the innutritions, so did it tend to survive. There would be for ever, therefore, the weeding out of individuals less qualified to be moved by a stimulus o^t" this sort. Annderly in her ear in an evening stilhiess ; the meaning of tiie words has no more inwardly bewitching power than the tones in - 't ..I i I ?' h !■ irij, 88 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE MORAL INSTINCT. whicli they are uttere.l ; an.l the or^rani.s.n ,so tuned will take m more ^^eneral circumstances, something, of the same pleasure in the music of young affection's converse. How silver sweet somid lovcn toii;;iKv '>>• niglit. Ihus m part has arisen the sense of the pleasure we feel in certain sorts of sounds. But there has been one other con- tributory cause, the inriuence of iono- habit in makino- scMisa- tions aoTeeal)le. The man to whom co.l-liver oil or miinin.- has been prescribed finds the taste at first disagreeable. But the ind.vi.hial organism adapts itself to continued impressions especially if they are beneficial to the organism. He who visits a guano vessel hohls his nose and escapes, b„t those who Imve sailed in one for a year or two and n.ade it their home express rather a liking for the odour. So with sound The man who goes to dwell in a house by the ocean beach is dis- turbed by the never-ending roll of the surf: its hoarse mono- tony IS painful; but if he lives there for twenty years he will probably long, wlu-n he leaves it, to have the soothing sound of the waters again in his ears. The countrvu'.an who .-ces into the great city is distracted by the cea.^ dattei- of raffic: to the city man ,t is pleasant, and w.S. • ,.e can stand tor a change the silence of the country .luring a week or two lie has quite a longing to be back once more amid the familiar' rumble. There is nothing more certain than this fact, that the organism does a.lapt itself to its .surroumling eircnnstances. I he man who leaves a cold climate to dwell in a warm one is at first much mcommo.led. But after twelve or Kfteen vears of the new conditions, if he returns to his native land h^ feels as it the warmth he had left behiml w^ould be n.ost grateful 1 ou y..s,t a bachelor who tells you that of all things in the world l.e IS unable to endure, the worst is the clatter and chatter o children. You visit him ten years later, to tin.l him delighting m the noisy sports of his little familv Ini- tiated by slow .legrees, custom has grown secon.l nature. TUANSMirrED CaI'ACITIES of PLEASrRE. We cannot .Urectly apply this i.rinciple to the experience INSTINCT. lied will take, ut even more beauty have voice is pro- ■he siyht. A sweet lines lie curves of ly vanishiuir Thus in the in the man's isly Weighed ■ valued the ed to main- vestal.s and n whom the beari 1 and would leave ence to that !n and the I'ious power asised. tary ([uali- ' are trans- 1. The son • look with e dau^diter ptibility to ''hus there luty. The ill that is the sound THE BEAUTY OF RIGHT CONDrCT. ft in itself is truly so: but that in tlu; nature of thino;s we ourselves are l)ound to have been so developed as to feel it so. The type of ^ t^- ^«- : ^H e ; f ' f "'""" "^^ '""* ^ ^'"^•^' "^ P-''''3' bottom. apxiLs .u . olten somewhat latent; and, when they are at a ouc awakened, they leave us the impression of eclurfVont a tai-ofi experience, as indeed essentially they are echoes o ~:^::, 7 -r ^^^-^ ^" ^^ ''' ^" *^« o;:';i:'::o^ tnnt v\ hui man s prooenitors .Iwelt in forest or sea-maro-i„ he essential feature of it all is this, that obje ts ^ "ot .nade p easant to suit our senses, but tliat our senses h. so developed in a pre-existent order of things as to Zl po i 1 vi "".^ "••' ''"'*' "^ °^"^^*^'""^'" ^>--« the fullest possible vo-our from its surroundings: and in the stern pctuated their species whose natures were most liealthfullv Sympathy has Gimu-x to m ax Ideal. If we apply these general principles to the .niestion out tlio tender tale, Beneath the milk-white tliorn tluit seents the evening gale. l!;i 94 THE ORICHN AND ..ROWTH OF THK MORAL INSTmCT. ( 1 t I h fli iTluA ^ '" " '^''"^ '''''^^'' 'i^'^-" 'o^« of Romeo and Juhet was mcst unlmppy, yet to our eyen it seen.s most bew,tehn.,,ly beautiful. For it is a primary an.l n l^rv s n.e o our race that rouml the eLly pL.l oF ^^f thei^. should ^ratlier nnpulses „f pleasure ami hope ^' So. too, there is beauty ir, the social sy.npathies It is a ohar„„„,. s,.ht to see brothers and sisters dlellin.; to' et ler m mutual atfection a„,l helpfulness: an u,ly selatfo to hnd arnon^ them quarrels and ill.feelin. y' t i we tk s there any n.hereut reason in the nature c^f things wl7y th one n::^S.^"''f ";' ^'^-^her.,isa,reeablf. we' o^^ ansvver that smce fanuly union has for countless «eneration^ !>-.. benehcal, ministerir.. to the happiness of the^^ vt,u ' and to the strength of the family, sj that by it, , " ' dw.dual has the fullest opportunity of personal aJ.U^Z and the lannly the greatest chance of spreadin.. t "as absolute y n,ev.table that ideas of pleasure shouh ad.er round the s.f,dit of family affection '^ to hl^i^^ T'l^T''' '''''''''''''' '^^^^ to nospitaJity, to philanthropy. Thev 'ill «.>,„., i because bein, useful to the Llth ^Z :!U^'^ T '^' our systems have .rown adapted to fin<' pleasure nth' exercse of them or in their conten.plation. ^ '^" llius the same natural process which has n..,do ,-f pleasure rn the former cases seems more easily explica in the lattei it is more mysterious, bein^ of an emotional character but in the concluding, chapters o^f this boori p " pose to show that tliere is no inherent dirterence • that all emotional conditions are due to chan.^es of thrceibttl " distin,.iished from the peripheral nervous system "" In the meantime we are not concerne.l with'the physio o,nca basis of the pleasure. It is enough to Iw Z^ around an experience so vital an.l so habitual to the L at INSTINCT. it that to us e of Romeo ■seems most (1 necessary of matiii^f, es. It is a If,' to^fether ensation to we ask, is fhy tJie one I'e can only ,'enei-ations individual, aid the in- ^■(-'lopiiient, |,i,^ it was lid <,^Hther aatriotism, beautiful, the race, I'e in the liide it a ly in the look into "ection, or vte. The splicable, iusations. inotional 'k I pro- that all intra! as physio- ow that ! race as THE BKAUTY OF UKiHT CONDUCT. m that of sympathy an instinct of pleasure has arisen and that this is stroufT and deep. When, in the children's readin all nistmctively desire to see in her A daughter must inherit some of her father's way of ju.lgmg women, and a son some of his mothers mode of apprec.ahng men. Hence the masculine and feminine tyv^es of moral beauty are very far from being sharp and dis- inct. The noblest type of man is as gentle as a woman; the most admn-able woman is as fearlessly truthful as a man Yet the difference is pronounced. If a girl should suddenly see her affianced lover in a thundering passion it would probably not greatly infiuence her feeling, because not incom- patible witli her Ideal of man the protector. But if the lover saw his betrothed maiden in a similar fit of anger the engagement would probably soon cool off; such an exhibition would be utterly at variance with the prevailing ideal of woman, the sweet and gentle. Thus we have seen that the exercise of sympatliy was sure to grow lovely in the eyes of man, and that a process of sexual selection has intensified. the feeling an.l caused a very evident, though not sharply defined, divergence to arise between the female and the male type of moral excellence. Ihe picture of a man thrusting a spear into the enemy of hi.s country is not discordant with the popular ideal o/ the THK liJCVrxV OF KKi HT CONDUCT. 07 a.lmiral.Ie man: Init on., of . won.un en^ra^a-.l in the same nakos lo e to a num excites our aversion, while no such ehn, ttaches to the n.an who n.akes love to a woman. In .MCoies ot instances, ,t nuiy be seer, that what is n^ht for the one sex is wron^^ for die other. " The operation of natural selection has been to endow the •luahty o sympathy with an aspect of ideal beauty, while exual selection has enhanced and inteasiHed this quality of beauy andsoditterentiated it that two types-the' .racious and the nobe-r.se out of a common foundation of moral J.oodne.ss. These have been processes of the race, and leave us with inherited i.Ieals. But within the experience of the individual also there is much as I have alrea.ly shown, which fosters or thwarts the ^a-owth o i.leals, and which may becon.. so closely incorpo- rated with his nature as to seem an essential part of himself Ihe boy born nito the famdy of a fox-hunting. .s.pnVe ma^' perhaps .levelop from other circumstances the ideal of -i student life, but the chances are ten to one that hi.s ideal man i.s ^ntted with courage to ride and skill to manage a Jiorse to jump well, shoot well, bestow a lordly alms an.I maintain he dio-nity of the name amongst villagers and tradespeople ; his ideal may even include an appreciation of a good .^ass of beer or of wine, and a discriminating taste in the mat er ot cigars. Indeed a little upper-class objurgation may add a flavour to what his surroundings have impressed on him as the highest ideal of a man. How different the Ideal ot a lad born, let us fancy, into the family of a German musician, his earliest recollections bound up witJi music as the only worthy pursuit of life, all the friends of the household bringing with them at nearly every visit their instruments the conversation at every meal-tin.-e being praise of this per-' tormance and cundemnation of that. In such an atmosphere Uie idea' man will be essentially dirterent from that of the llinglish squire's son. So we find that from nation to nation, from profession to profe.s.s,on, from rank to rank, the circumstances amid which the individual is place.l will radically affect the nature of his VOL. II. 7 t: f 98 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OK THK MORAL INSTINCT. 11 ^ i I i.leal And it is to l,o notico.l tliat those .lifforences are not nierely skin-.lecp; tliey are profound and fre(,uentlv unalter- able impressions. The ffirl brou^dit up in a strict);^ virtuous family will have an ideal of modesty wholly different from what It would have been had she been trained as a courtesan tor a Hin.loo or Greek temple, or had she been an orphan is pleased "virtue is ban is the THK UEAUTY OK KKiHT CONDUCT. 99 man o nobk- as,,irations, a somt.thin,c. to which life mav wortlnly be devoted, n.or- to be sought than all other objects of human .lesire, that which alone can make all o her possessions a true happiness, yet in itself also a thin-, ot exijuisite delight. " 1 I vistas is to d cadenced of newly- leh is the and the 1 I! it 100 I I II t CHAPTER XVIII. liESPONSIBILIT^■. SCIEXTIKIC XkcESSITAIUAMSM. I ^.A^•^: omunomte.l, i„ the onlor ..f tl.dr occumMico, th. oM 1 T ' ' '"'.T r"^"' I!'"l'"''^''^" "'■ '•■«'''t conduct is based ... ul.< t I have ealle.1 ,uas,.„.orul .notivos. I„ true n.crality yo hn.l our n.ot.vos within us; in .,uasi-n,orality we feel onlv te pressure of external „K>tives. I„ the one eas^ iil; iftc.en ,t we perceive a thin,- to he ri,-ht. then oF necessity .t n ust l,e done: n. the other we find no inclination to the act ans.nj.- w.thn, us on the mere percej.tion of its ri-ditness • we n.ust he hnbed by son.e expected satisfaction or 7lete.Ted by son.e dreaded penalty. If I see a fellow-creature sta...erin.r alon,, beneath a burden too heavy for bin. to bear, I .^a^^'^t O..I. n.y ... to belp bin. fro. t.on o the ruly moral n,otives alrea.ly discussed, I n.av syn.patluse w.th him and as a natural impulse ren.er hi n assistance, or I may help by reason of an inward sense o .tuty ; or ,t n.ay be only that if I passed him by, I shouhl feel ".ysolf mean and contemptible to walk on in ease wiU notlun,- w Inle another was bein,- killed with too much • or I n.ay otter help because there is a charm about kin.lHness and sel-sacnhce whose aspect kindles en.otions such as wake at .ght of tender sunset or unfol.lin. rose-bu.l, of ..-aceful J\. hood or n.Unt shnubers. In all those cases the act ha.rno motive except such as is internal to the a^ront But where only quasi-moral motives are in operation I otter my assistance in hopes of the praise T shall m't for my kindness, or possibly of some material reward- or I am iurrciicc, the 'ho pruftical duct is based cue inonility we feel only ' case, it is oF necessity itioii to the H rii^-'htness : or (leteiTed - sta^'geriufr ', I may put ly conibina- «o(l, I niay fender him i"d sense of should feel ease with nuch ; or I dlinesH and is wake at acoi'ul jrirl- act has no poration, I ill get for ; or I am HKSroxsiIULITY. |,,j actuated l)v the Fciv .if M.,> , r . l.uwius ,, ,.I I sl,„„|,| l,av„ |,a»*.l l,i,„ I,,. „„l„„.,ri,,„ .|.,,„ r:!;':;:,'''","-'''-'"''^ -— ™.. .,„. .1: .,„.,' tins l,>ss worthy class ol motives tlie hin.-er sh'uv nV fl, • i . conduct of p..actica. ,i,V. IF .. „, ^^JZ Jt^t ot out o. parental affection, l.nt only For Fear oF h ^ ^ I'ow poor would he our households' IF we .ll t.v , wives with kindness only For Fear OF lawl;.^ t^ candal-heanno. tongues, our hon.es would hav. litti. .Ft -PP.H- w uch Fortunately is connnon. IF the n.r h or bore to cheat only by reason oF the ^aol then e v bu.ness ...ation would ,row suspicious,;..;.':^; ^ s.nall nutters, utterly corrupt with lies and inFest.d b.': a -inner of such .lishonesty as the law nu.st Fail to rea ^ou^ on, there is enough oF this to Justify occasi^ ', bmsts oF bitterness, and send the businessman honu. in the Venn,,. d>s,,usted with the conduct oF some whon. he ha . < unno. the < ay, yet it nuist be allowed that the lar^vr Id, the stra.,.h forward transactions which occur in b,;iness life are founded not on fear of punishn.ent. but on the charac of the person who acts. 'I'aciti I know that there are many people who take a very much more pessnnist.c view of life, who maintain that nearly every merchant would cheat iF he could : that nearly every servant wou 1 he and rob if she mi.ht do so with im,.unity : t arly every tra.lesn.an will, if he ,.ets the chance, scamp l.L ^^olk an.l char«:e an extortionate price. It has not been n.y •say that the larj^er half of the business transactions <,f a modern c. y are intrinsically honourable: that only the na ler halt of don>estic servants n.ake any practice o cheatn,,. hen- en.ployers when they have the chance ; that at least one ha. of the tradesmen we en.ploy take a reasonabh pnde ni niakn.,. a ^^oo.l job, and would feel ashamed to ren.ler an exorbitant bill. ij itnou But our estimate of the pr- portion in which truly moril and only .juasi-moral motives .;re efficient ii : M W M It m ' 1 practical riirht con Jiistoi-ic growth of our i.leas of law. Tlie .juestion of responsibility is one which, for its own sake, is well worthy of consideration, 'oecause at the present tnne the public min.l is becoming, .somewhat .listracted by the intrusion of a scientific .loctrine of necessity into the common- sense belief m free-will. We cannot, witlumt wilful per- versity, suit our eyes to the fact that, in every .lomliin, the deju-n-lence of effects upon deHnite causes is bein^- .lemon- stra e,l. Lflncs p,.rhHps form the last reo.i„„ ^vhich science IS thus con.pierino-; the bulk of men still think it e.niallv possible for all persons to be .-oo.l. But several sciences are Hteadily conspiring, to show that character is .lepen.l.-nt on circumstances over which the in.livi.lnal has no control. Just as a person must have a black skin if his father an.l mother were both negroes, an.l a skin interme.liate if one parent was wJu te an.l one black, so, it is beo-i„„i„.. to be recof,nused, '""St Ins emper be purely or partly of the ne^n-o type ac- oor. lino, as both or only .M.e of his parents was of African race. I he tacts ol herclity in character have lono. been pateU : It has lonjr been seen that if father an.l mother are both mean, dishonourable people it is useless to expect that the chil.Iren wd be of h.mourable type; it has been for ages expecte.1 of the son of noble parents that he sh.juld be al 3 I tl le aver invc age in nobility. But even idiosyncrasies of cliaracte: J INSTINCT, i-aiuont. The tliis (livor.sity ive perfectly at rest. If now, an ifr„orant person were lookm^^ on while an operator su.ldenlv turned on the cm-rents, he would imaoino the iron ball to lie filled not only with some sort (jf life but with a certain will power. For so often as the ball was put down it would run now to this one .and now to that one of the niay:nets: not always to the one that was nearest, for one farther ofi' niio-ht be of sufficiently greater power to determine the motion to itself. Yet this ball which seems to ch.jose, is only actuated by external attrac- tions, and the path along which it moves is determined by the resultant of all the foi-ces which act upon it. ■'(•^ iii V ... fi ■i r ,':^ MM i I 104 THK „UUWX AN.. .UIOUT,, ok tiIK MoKAL INStInCT. u nutl , n. eou .1 be mur. subtly Failaeious. , )„/ ,onWuct i.s ho esul ant oi the attractions of external .notiv.-s. Do ^ns l..n leave no share in the process to our internal nature" y "o n.eans. It n.akes a very ,a-eat .litteren.v in the case of t "• .na...ets whether the hall he of iron or ol' copper or o ^^ass. Kor what is an attractive power to one thin • s , whatsoever to another. The analogy wouM he n.ore ^o^. ^ .t, .Mstea.Ioi 'nak-n,. all our attractive aoents of one class hev were all .htferent, so that the effect of ^ach u,K,n onTt^, i^^ l«^' -on 1 1. ditterent Iron, the effect of any l.ther IVn >s plan, that the nature of the eHl-ct will v try n.uch 1 . upon the nature of the niovinu- ha|| ^ '" '"' So with our n.iu.Is: accor.lin«- to thei,- character is the tractn-e power upon then, of any particula.- class <.f u.otiv one n.a„_, sensual pleasure will fo..,.. a n.otive outwei^hin,: and t .e love of power n.ay forn. a,, attraction powerful enough o overc...e it. A third n.a,. n.ay have hoth of Zl con«derable .strength, yet on his n.ind the approbation,. tellow-„.en acts with greatly preponderati.IJ power. A fointh s of such a disposition that the si.hfc of sufie,-i„.. mov- '-" to .ts alleviation with a force that'^o other no i:t power can wUhsta.uI. Now as a n.ultiplicity of n.otwl always surround us in social life, it follows that con c^ tI^TT^u7]^:rr ^-^*--^^" ^'-- -otivesthem": Povmful ' '■' *^^""'"'^'-^' "''■'^•'""■^ *° the most cCrir 1 T"''^'"'' ""^ ""'' n.adly towards a weakly tacto ,s the decree of affinity which exists between the in^ ternal nature and the external motives It IS plain therefore that as no n.an can n,ake his own ex- ternal n.ot.ves, he can have no sort of free-will unless h c". n>ake Ins own internal nature. But this is a thir . e tirelv ";lTr'-t «^" '- own control, depending on (1) J^ed tt 2) ph3>=u.lo.,cal circu„.stances, (.S) social circrn..stances '^' ^ ^ lie most important of these is he.vdity. Xo amount of ohoosni"' will ..>..i- . - - .. -^ amount or I iiiake a man able u. writ a "Hamlet' or a INSTINCT. ty of clioict!, r conduct is :iv('.s. l)u(>.s Mill iiatiu-os:' 1 the case of •opI)er or of liii;^' is none re coiiipi.'te e class, they one soi-t of 1'. Then it uch depend etei- is the of njotive. itweiuhinif ?, ambition i powerful th of these •oI)ation of [)o\ver. A suff'ei-in^f ler motive f motives conduct is ituated hy ves them- the most a weakly »minatin;;r ti the in- I own ex- SH he can entirely edity, (2) iiount of it" or a HKSPONSIIillJi V. lory " Faust ". He may !).■ most anxious to do so, I,ut if horn with- out the al.dity his anxiety is fruitless. So. too. it would he preposterous to expect in a Vnr^hiu laroe nawtsure, deternn-ne anion- (mrselves whetlu.r our disposition will he prone f, idealism in morality, or to a lolty self-respect, or to th,. dailv round of un.|Uesti.m- ■I'f;' duty, or t.) mere in.pulses of sympathy as natural ..eeasi.ms ■mse : or whether it will have no n.orality at all sive such as tlie law an.l the policen.an compel; or whether possihly it nmy hav,. not eve., that sordid description. Ilav.loek l>llis m h,s work on T/.e CV/..;,u,/ rd.ap. iii.)sun,s „,, the ahso- luely conclusive evidence lono- „,uhered hy lahour.rs in the hold oi cnnunal anthropolony, to show tl'iat -'tlH. criminal parent tends to i^roduce a criminal child ". The facts of course point o.dy to a tendency ; for ther.. is notlun^r u.ore intricate than the stu.ly of heredity One parent may he of criminal type and th.- other ,,uite the re- verse M-en where two parents are criminals, it ,lo,.s not absolutely follow that the chihl will he crin.inal. F.,r instance the hither may bo a man of ability but of a lazine-ss which' ren.lers h.m a parasite on society. The mother may be in- dustrious and vivacious, but so feeble in min.l that the tempta- tions ot dress, of drink, of sexual feelino- may degrade her and send her to herd with the lowest classes. Vet if it shouhl so chance that the chil.l inherite.l the bettei- sid.- of the nature ot each, the ability of the father and the industry of the mother, an excellent type miuht result, whiK- it is just as possible that another child mij-ht exhibit the worst side of each parent. Then in heredity there is to be consi.lered the niHuence ot atavism. As each of us has had sixteen ;,^reat-f,m-at- ^^randparents, whose (pialities are certain to blend in his nature in varyinjr proportions, all sorts of eccentricities of characters may arise out of varying, combinations, from the abnormal ^•ennis to the most common-place man ; from the noblest type of n.orality to the foulest wretch of our .aols. Ihit we know that hke sprin^vs from like, and we a.-e abundantly ce.lai.i that, thouo-h ,t is impossible fo.' us to verify tl... conclusion i.i every .Jeta.l, there is not a sino.],. „Htu.-al f.-atniv in our II ■: I ■ M • j, 'I /I I .; !' 10<5 THK „KUHX AXU (UM.WTH OF THK MOitAL INSTIXCT. nation of th.- clmrack'i-s of our aucostors I h!tr"'"''' '','""'*"■ ''^''^""'" "" Pl^ysiolo^^ical accidents. had lett on Ins bran. n,,unV.s as evident as the scar it had left ^me 1^'", ■""" '"" ''""'^'^'"^ -ceived severe brain Z R T "'T' "■"""■'^'^' '^'^"'^'^^ "^ «'»--«^ter there- after Brown_-S.,aard tells us «>,tral Krrrou. S>,sfnn p lea ';; "', "•'"'"'' '''' "^'^ "^' '-^ I'"''^ P«'"t in any one of t "nc ik ' r" ^"^'^ "•' '•"' '"""' ^^'^'' ^^"'- ^^ •-- t'^ turn mt utter y , ..capable of ceasi... bis strano,. antics. So h,' Wes^of the In-an, the spine, or the .an,l.,nic cord, physio- unon th T' •:"' ^r"^' ""'' '^'^'"^ ^'^^y^ ^'^ ->'- ^'«-t " ' " '^ ;""' :' ^'^ ^"'^PI^'^'^ ^ *-"P--- 'I'J- -an he is n^f H "I'^^'^PP'"^'^'^ ''^" '« ^^"'-»«- 'H»>-lf a,ul others, .s perfectly able to confast what he was with what he is but lus character ,s nevertheless materially altered. So, too a person uro-ed by n.edical advice to the nio-btly use of nar-' cotics sutlers a pbysiolo^ical chan«-e which ],rin«-s detrin.ent to he character (.^olerid^v expressed the utn.ost abhorrence of the hes be told ni order to secure the use of his fatal dru- ye wl,en the craving' was con,e the lie would inevitably follow. Alcohol bas also the power of chano-iuo. the character. Many a youno- ,„u,si..o. mother recommended to drink porter .nay be see,, ten years late., altered from a lady of bri<,dit ■nnd and h„b hopes b.to a wonuvn of coa.-ser tvpe, acctis- omed to be a,.d schen.e for the n.lulo.ence, yet the con- ceahnent, ,. an appetite that has o,,,wn overnmsterin«- as l.ysiolooucal co.>d.t.ons have been deteriorated. Contrariwise the man who has .nnvn out of lono- chronic liver troubles, or' the wonutn who at last o-cts rid of a neuralo-ia which has per- sisted for years, n.a^- be seen to improve in character, to .row I.'Hs selhsh, more sympathetic a..,l ^micious. Ofte.i the sur.reou « INSTINCT. some coinbi- I accidents, roiii all his lorse, whicli • it liad k'ft which men levore brain ictei- tliere- Si/stion, p. y one of at luin to tui'ii r for hours 'le is doinir, cs. So in •rd, pliysio- 1 which lie some effect o him that The man md others, hat he is, . So, too, se of nar- detriment .bhorrence atal druo-, inevitably character, nk porter of bright pe, accus- the con- tering as trariwise, )ubles, or has per- , to g)'OW i surgeon HKSPONSmiLITV. 107 ersonie (operation shall truly pr(!dicts a change of character aft have been successfidly performed. In the final chapters of tln"s book I shall re(juire inci- . . ..n,.a„_ ( i, l! ;' ter, and tivt^vy item in what seems the voluntary adoption of 108 THE OIU That will-power must he here.litary: he did not create it. The man born without it can never make it for himself. Ami more- over, wluitever be the appearances, this will-power is neces- sarily, m retluT ,s I,y nature resolute an<: consistent the .l"est,on o ultin.ate necessity is only renK>ve.l one l^. larther hack. Shakspere tells us- •"' F'TiiMtuiv is ma.le better l.v no me;uw Hut nature makes tliat menus. So we n,ayask. if a .nan's character is in.prove.l hv his resolute w.ll. who .-ave hin. that will ^ Sooner or Mr we co.ne to he position of irresponsihility. As Spino.a . . , percen-ed iEflnr., i.. prop. 82, . WHI, like .L,y h Z^J^ re,un-es a cause wherehy it is detonnine.l to he L 7n^^ a certani dehnite maimer". Moreover, this "will-power" that I have discussed with the_ ordnuuy tern.s, ,s no separate existence, no real ent t It IS only a capacity of hein. so powerfully attracts h^- one' HK^xve U.a other jn^iv.. hecon.e insignificant. It is as if Zi ; r linr " ""T r" -'*-'"l-J'ydraw„ ^ one paiticuai k ml ol nia-net, that the others had little or no power to deflect its course. Thus, for instance, if a . " 1 resoute „M„arryino. ,,..• lover, in spite of all opnositi; a cor^cnnation: if she finds him tl.: one and c^^ a^„e whe wealth and position, parents, friends, all things el 1 1.!; Kut, n tiuth, her wdl is no separate entity which amides lu.r : .:S;;:th T' t-- ^" ^^^^^-^-o/ort;,^ iic<^iccnng all others, and so to our eves the.v. Jm «. of choice an,l „F vo,,- ,|ou.,.,„i„e.| choico '"""""'™'' are active t.„.„u,„ „ ,„;, p" ^J i ^t irir ,""'' »ee,„ only the, »t.o„,.„,. „,■ !.,„. But i! ho l- iS, ."e °i "i';,' opposite Jireetioi,,, im matter how rtro„» eaeh of (hi Lhei :: rr r t-'- ^ ^^^. iuaobeth may be strongly drawn to the crown, but " wliat he would hii^hly, <;hat he would holily " His mot ve of n • is powerful enough, hut he is sw/,ed ^z::T::::;:^: i "iif w is ?1l! Ill) nil'; OliUUN AND CiUaWTII OF THi: MoKAl, I.N'S'I'INCT, - ( ■ hy tlu' fiU't tliat Dniicaii is his kinsman an.l his },nu'st, ami that Iio has ht-cn nicck and virtuous ; lie is s\vayi' liiMt milk- tne ; I would while it was smilin).' in my lace Have plucked my ni;i|tle from his boneless ^auns And dashed tiie iwa.iis out. So weak are all other motives in presence of the one that leads over Duncan's corpse to a throne I Hence she seems a woman of stronir will, whereas she is only one who is capable of being Htroni;ly influenced by a sin{,de motive to the ex- clusion of all others. Small minds often exhibit a will-power that leads them to success, for they are capable of being almost entirely po.ssessed by the one unchanging motive. Larger minds often fail of success by reason of a want of consistency in piirsuit due to the varied play of many motives, each capable of ,' slrouf attraction on a richly endowed nature. It is hard to persuade the connnon-sense inan that he never really makes a deliberate choice: yet in fact all that his judgment can do is to weigh the various attractions of several motives, and the more powerful must certainly prove vle.tor-ous, as when a child measures with his eyes two pieces '.r' .•ai.e a-'' thinks he choose.M the larger, ivhen in reality it is tlo !«.;,.' I- piece which has attracted Inm. Of course it may eM,iij happen thit the child's mind has been so trained as to find the smaller piece for various reasons the more ma<'-netic ; or it may happen that he may waver and hesitate, realising the motive power of the larger in some respects pnd the motive power of the smaller in others, but the resultant \'STINCT. ^fiU'st, and iilso by tho olutc man. ci' is ovfcr- rcc Even iM lie no (' ono that le seems a is capable ;() the ex- Is them to possessed en fail of lit due to ! that he fc all that ictions of nly prove wo pieces ality it is ie it may ned as to la^metic ; realising pnd the resultant HKSPONSiniLITV 111 conduct must be d.^teriniM..] bv tl... ..I , i • n;o.iv..:„n,iwi„-i,.,,,,,<,,n,,i,t ■£;■■;;;■, ',"'.""■ n.in,l „f tl,„t p„rtta,l„,. <,„,»tit,„i,„, "'' ""•""■ "'"■"" In <,'eneral, when we d<'Iib<.ratp u-,. .... i • • •m-n,l., tl„. ,i„„. t„ piet,„v t.^l.^Cl^t""'''':'" T more ,ii„ta„t motivs r,„- „cti, , , ""-"""""" ""• foun.U.r„,I s .„„„t i„ „ „T '1„.„ ;, ', , ■ T' "' " ;z:r t: ™" ■ ^"" ■■'■ "■•' — "••'"'■ 'nirt' bbcrates it is Ix-cause fancy berrjns to ..l„bn,.,t n ., " I".- life i,.,.vi„„„, ,„t •,•„,;„ : : *' :\; ,*"-'7':f l™ne an,I f^„„ily. H.- i, co 1 ' 'T" """•« "'•""'!-' i» .-n^Hne,. „„/„„„ „.;;;;;:':,;;;' :,;;.;' ",;: ;:".,»;"« ca.se his action will be determbwvl i *i '*'''>' A..SEXOE OP l..„...„„,,, „,„„ ,„^, ,„,._^. ^^^^_^^^_^ ^^ KE.SI'OVSIHILITV. "orMonint lil.™ ^ I'Zt ^nT ,:V"t "'"'^'"f ''" will, and thereto,,. „„ true .-e.,,,™ ..int! iC 'l '">',"» "•«■■ -ty that no one ,ho„l,l he „L,e t<^ ftii / J!; 'TT the practimi conduct of the ,l«„nte ,, „ V / '" appear a, leader, on one ,ide he 1 L ''r T'""""' of the other. Here is , w„„' i^ *^ champion™ "leie IS a woman who has noisomd l.oTr ten people though she had little u, ™i„ hf he The doctors call upon us to l„oL- •,. ft S '""'"'■ »kull, indicative of'sma e,^,: p " 7" «'™«<'" f '-er .lencics. They prove that her M,er la, —"TT". '■ "' poisoned some one. and that her .J„r„Ztract::";; H ' it' If' If 112 THE OliKilN AND (UiOWTH OF THK MORAL INSTINCT. 1^ I .1 m Ih r tri('(l for an alle<;'0(l ofibnco of tho same sort. Tlio woman lias liers('lf sliowii a stranj^'c persistency in talkiii"- about poisons: tlu'y have hecn to lier as a candle-Hanie to a niotli. She has inlieritc(l a derani^ed system, and is clearly not re- sponsible. The lawyers, on the other hand, insist that she went about the ordinary aHairs of life with perfect sanity, bought wiseh' and mana<;i'd her lum.sehold sensibly, and as shrewd even if petty-minded. Hence she was (juite rational enouf;h to know what she was dcjino- and to measure the consequences. 8he must therefore abide by the results of what she has done. The doctors (that is, those who take a prominent part in the contention) inveij;-h a;Lriiiii>*t the injustice of puiu.shino- such people f(jr actino; out the nature with which they have been born. The lawyers reply that such arouments apply in ecpial measure to every member of a connnunity, and that if they should prevail all would be left without check ; the thief and the nuirderer would be unhindered, and society would fall to pieces. Here lies our dileunna: on the one side it is clear that the man born with the criminal temperament can be no other than a criminal ; and on the other we are bomid to say to him, that if he is a criminal we shall punish him. But the difficulty arises from pushiiif"' the idea of respon- sibility forward as a philoscjpliical iloctrine, whereas it is only a practical instrument, not a thing of any inherent justice, but an indispen.sable means of social order. This view, though inade many slaps. The oidy possible eiiuation nnist be between the motive po\\-er of cream and the motive power of slaps. We shall never emerge into a region of clear thought on the subject initil we cease to regard punishment as retro- spective, and treat it wholly as prospective. It is not retri- butive for the past, but an element of motive for the future. I do not slap my cat for having stolen the cream, but because I wish the memory of the slaps to enter as a part of the motives when next it sees my cream within its reach. I do not attribute to my cat any such unphilosopliical capacity as freedom of will. I know that its conduct will always follow the attractive power of the strongest motive, and I wish so to weigh up the sum total of motive that the resultant which r.'i)<.|..l..ratc ovor tl.c lov,. of cvain H.Mvi.i in ail casos lio.s tlu- tnio inoa.iin^r „r ,vsp„n,sil,ility" It. .looN not ii„,)iy that w.' arc .-vor really fr.v a-cnts a.'i.l thoreforc rcsponsihlo f,,,- „„i- actions in such a scnsv lint it in.>ans that w.. have to take the conse.,u..nccs of our acts, an.l the exi).«ctation of thes(. cons,M|nences must h.^ left to operate ... th.'play of ,notiv,>s. if i ,ln,p u t.-n-poun.! ir.a. wei^^ht on my toe. 1 hop aroun.I tlu- room hearin^r the conse.pu-nces II I .l.-op It on another man's toe, I have still to take tlie cons,..,uences in the shap.> of his resentm.-nt. An-I if the act has hcen such as to naiso his .Icep an.l pei-manenr resentment, the conscpicnt disonler that arises is an injury to HocK^ty. whose resentment I hav,. therefor., to ..n'.lur,. likewise. Mut ohs.M-ve that it is throun-hout a -pu'stion of motivs. If th.' .Iroppino- of that wei^rl,t upon my .)wn toe was wilful, then the memory of th." pain I ineur will 1... a motiv f.,r not h.M.i- s.) foolish another time, an.l in that case 1 am sai.l to 1... responsihl,-. If it was an acci.l.'.it, hut arisin- fnnn careless- ness, I am consi.l,Mv.l to he responsihl,- f,,,- wu.it ..f care, an.l th.. memory of my sutrei.inn. will ]„. a nmtiv,. to me to he ...(HV careful in futur... Hut if the mattrr was a pur.- accident, utti-rly out of my control, 1 sufH.r .piit,. as nnieh pain as hefor.., hut \ am hel.l in n.) wav responsihl,. f,,,- my surterin- s,...in- that it cannot in any way ...iter into my motive for futur.' action. ff I drop th.. weight .)n another man's to., an.l th.. action is a pure acci.lent over which no alt..ration in my motiv,.s cml.l have had any control, 1 am h..|rly alt..rs tb.- .lirection of the resultant impulse. It is true that as I cock my pistol a «:lance may assuiv me that a man with such a face, such a cranium an.l such a sinuchin.r look, is .ally o„ine- t.) act in acc.r.lanc.. with the tiatmv which birth an.l traininu' have o.iv..n him. H,. is not r..sp,aisible in the sense that h.. can b.. tli.. cans.; .,f his own natuiv .,r .,f his own acts. Hut, inasmuch as he is a civatuiv capabl,. of b,.in,. swaye.l by motives, I am o,,inn- to treat him as if responsible'^ an.l, m.lee.l, he i,s r.;sp.)nsible in the sens.' that h.- must abi.I.-" by th.' conso.|ueuces of his acts. If it is his natur.. to f„l| m, with a blu.l^^eon to secuiv my pr.,p..rty, it is my nature to shoot liim with a pistol in or.ler t.) .h'feiid my Ijf,, f].1 m fi t r i ill 1 I; 116 Till', OIUCIN AND fiUOWTII OK THK MOUAT. IXSTI-NCT. But all respoii.siI)ility is of tho same kind. If it is a dork's nature to etiihezzle money, it is society's nature to put emi)ez/lei-s in <.-aol, and If it is his nature not to like hein..- jnit in <,raol, then we must just hope that in the conHict ol' motives the on.' moi-e useful to society will prevail. At any I'ate, the thonoht ol' ^r,iol ()u-;ht to he to him, just what tlu; click oF my pistol was to tlu! midnii-ht villain. Hi'sponsihility thus never implies the existence of free-will, hut oidy the entrance of the resentment of society iiito the sum total of actuating;- motives. For in the case of a social heinj^-, one of the most im- portant consecpKmces of his acts is that when they are nijurious to his fellows they meet with comlemnation and resentment ; when henetlcial, with applause or reward. And in all (piasi-moral conduct these form the determinant motives. The principles here in-licated are simple enou^di, yet so lOEAL PURITV ^■^' ^f SELF-RESPECT -"^^^^^ Duty .I.;fS ''"'^ SYMPATHY Af"^ K-IP Rewards _ , Quasi nwitil impnhes , Fear of Punishment SELF Indulgence ^,^/~* Sensuousness ^^ Chuelty diver<;ent from popular conceptions that I shall emphasise them with a dia<,n-am to illustrate the play of various motives. Let A B represent the line alon<-' which a man's conduct passes when it is neutral, n.Mther ' and hahit : self-respect otters the happi- licM^-: of internal peace ; ever, the iile.-t! of an uprir^ht mind may shine with all its charm, \ STI'NCT. \i' it is a irt! to put bcinn; put )!' iiiotiv^cs I'ato, tlie ick of iny hus never HOC oi' tlic f motives, most ini- tliey jire itioii and 1(1. And t motives. 1, 3'et so uiosi'o.NsmiM'iv. 117 >s Punishment B imphasise t various < conduct quite in- evil, any luct there As the ■e oi" the lows him ^tractions lie happi- lind may J he extent t<. which thes,. various motives are active will <'t course depend nn the nature of his n.ind, and the resultant iorce mil deper.d upon that natu.e. The more it inelin.s up- """•d Inm. C, the n.ore is his con.luct kindly, nohl. and self- .suT>hcn,o.. tlu- more it inclines downward," tl... n.ore is his con.U.ct selhsh, .nean and de^radin;^. If, as the eond.i I Hfee. ol these motives, th.. n.sultant h-nds upward, there has occurred a purely n.o.vd vict<.ry. i5ut if it turns .luunward as aion^ the line U I), all is not yet lost. It is impossible tJ •'lake that n.an act from n^l.t n.otives, yet it is e part of the expei-ience from which we derive our sense of responsibility is not i^'athered so much P from what happens to ourselves, as from what happens to others. When a child is whipped and sent to bed, the lesson sinks I realise perfectly that he is not a Ireoaovnt: yet 1 hold him n-sponsible for the damage done, so that the whippin- which I now ^nve him may enUu- into' the motives controllino- his necessitarian action when the next temptation arises. Am I to allow a cliild, merely because it is youno' ami by nature oI)stinate, to wantonly ruin my choicest flowers, phick- mo- them l)y the root unmindful of all my injunctions '. Whatever be its nature, it will be all the better for experiencin<,^ my resentment in whatever shape that may be most wisely expressed. Because a man is of weak mind am I to sutler him, if such be his freak, to pull my nose in the public streets i He will be none the worse if in the future impulses that control his con.luct, he has a salutary remembrance of th" way I took his impertinence on this occasion. Griesin^^er, when speakino- of the desirability of remov- ing the insane at a very early period of their malady to well-conducted asylums {Mental Diseases, chap, ii., sec i) condemns the bail effect which follows the loss of the sense of responsibility when the patient lives with his friends. For they cannot have the heart to hold the man responsible for his words and acts when they see his mind, day after day givin^r way. And the o-rowino- laxity of the sense of respon- sibility only makes the mind more undisciplined. When other motives grow weak, the motive of responsibility should, if anything, be strengthened. The .juietness, the steady routine, and uncompromising insistence upon good conduct which characterise the asylum are like a balm to the mind unhinged. " His restless habits," as Griesiiiger says, " and the noisy expression of his maniacal impulses are controlle.l by the ruling spirit of peace and order: he passes of his own accord into the quiet routine of- the house ; he observes that resistance is utterly useless, and notices that the whole style of the treatment he receives and the amount of liberty and WB-'IB I Kv HKSPONSIBILITV. 12] t'njoyn.ent allou-e.l hi,,, ,lepe.„l niti.vlv oi, fl„. I control he exercises ovorl,i,.seIF'Tu ^^'"" "^ Ln-ows worse if tl.,>„ .... (• , .• "^ '^"' ''"' " f'lte Sr. l,.n -^ '■"^'' '"•'" '^" ^^'^^^ <^f n'sno.,sil,ilitv f^o lon^r as a man is capal.l,- „r foreseein- or „r l ' ""7 " to fV,resee the conse,,„ences oF h" ^ '^ "^^ '""^ ^"'^''^ on«-ht to he allowed their lull weight .', ^""-"i— '^ his motives " '" *'''' c»"'P"«ition of so^^' o N 1 , "PP"''"'^ Pi-opensities must have some SOI t of (hscphne sharply maintained. It would he ■. ZT to society From the very first he should learn that a lie h hlfe \""""''^'^^''° eonse,uenees, so that h mly by habit come to assu.ne a virtue if he liave it not " ^ ^ P ^tie 111 !\ T ■'^''"''^ •'^l"'^'' "^«'^^ ^'--^^-Jy and em- responsibility. more undeviatini,. must be the disnin! pline of It would be a fatal crisis in the history of society if it ml mmm 1'2'2 THK ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE MORAL INSTINCT. ever annoimced to tlie man of weak intellect or criminal passions, " Poor fellow, you cannot help being what you are, and we shall not be so unjust as to punish you for beinj^ what you could not fail to be ". Such a course would precipitate a thousand evils : its mistaken kindness would be a cruel un- kindness to the worthier part of the communities left a prey to the less worthy. It is fortunate for mankind, as \ 'JU be shown at len<;th in the following chapters, that througli tU its liistory, x'esponsibility, though growing less severe, has been becoming more tletinite and inexorable. While systems of penalties have become less cruel, they are now more certain. A wholesome sense of discipline pervades society sucli as con- verts a rabble of men into an orderly army, a discipline which has no need to be stern so long as it is resolute. ' Resi'onsiiui.ity and Forethought. To this growing sense of responsibility must be attributed the greater capacity of forethouglit which men now display. It is of impoi'tance to us all to tind an increasing share of our motives in the future consequences of our acts. A savage takes small thought of the morrow, less of next month, and none whatsoever of the following year. The responsible citizen of our time educates his children with thought of the far-off' years when they are to be men and women ; he works and saves with a realisation that a time may come when old age will dim his faculties ; in his business his plan.s- look far ahead : in his very pleasures he has his time mapped out more or less for weeks in advance. This habit of living much in the future may become morbid, so that a man may fail to enjoy the happiness of the present, in which case he is doomed to be permanently un- happy, for, his pleasure being always to come, it is never actually enjoyed, and he justifies Pope's line: — Man never i.*, but always to l)e blest. The joyous temperament lives in the present and feels dis- posed to say to th . pa.ssing hour, " Stay, for thou art pleasant". RKSroNSIBlLITY. joQ lie ,|,™,1» ' 4 |,i| "."" ""■"""' '"r P'-«"™' - -e" that ti.« tutu,,.. A^: ' ;r:; ;:■; '••■ '"•^•" *« p™"'^ m Wliy for tl,„ futm-,. ,1 . ■> '' "■"* "' '-""im,,.,!. ti- ...u.,t',„ by ;Te ;;''': ';"';r ■"-• «<'t - «-«-ai '■■"'■ "' In- ..a.„™l c„ ::;l''".*;r" "'■ -P"'»i''i«ty. "' «-„at is to CO,,,. , ' • ,'" "'^' P''«»«"t' f"''K-tf"l »p-. a wwie c..„ of CO,,,,,..,:;;;, ,',', , t: r''"^' ""-" »y,„lM,hy. A „„.„ „.|,„ ,. 1 , ,"'"'" °* "" »" ""P«""l '>J- fyi.« i.i„,,.if With T" ,^ "l: i'"""^, r"'""' "*■ -"■"''■ ;"o»t ,,e.ic..t„.y .eo,,,t.„„„ r r^'u: ''«™;;"-'-'' i» ;:^-;'n.™;:i:t=r, E'Fi- »-t» „-it„„ut . ,^i^ , , ":; r" "' '■" ™"- '- -- follow to l,i„,.,„if ,„:i , ,. I , "'"""'•""'I'wnocs that ,„ay he full of sip, th bur-;' ■ 'T' '" "''""■» '"■" "aturo to f.-o.„ wi,„. ■* "^ ^' "" " ""^ >>» " "J-Pathy that is f„,. to.x.t;p..^;X:^,^::;-™-::::--;t»^ iiiuru truly moral. Fo- tlvif l.nh;* i- i . • . ""^' "^'^^ '"^^ < i, ff/l ^. 1 1 'i i ii 1 1 1 ' 'i' 124 THK ORIGIN AND GROWTH OP THE MORAL INSTINCT. motives, and so it may easily come to pass tliat the sense of responsibility, though not itself moral, may lend all its \veio;ht to the enforcement of other motives that are truly moral. It may (1) rectify the operations of tliou<;litless sympathy: (2) deepen the sense of duty; (8) en)iol)le the feelin^f of self- respect, and sometimes even (4) strengthen the devotion to the pure and beautiful. (1) Sympathy, as I luive slitj-htly shown, by aid of a sense of responsil)ility Ijecomes wiser. If I have a servant whose faults are serious, I ou^^'ht to speak to him about them. But I may dislike to n'ive pain and shirk the necessary inter- view. But this sort of sympathy is eminently unwise, and so the sense of responsibility conies to my aid. I realise what I shall feel if, after a while, the faults grow worse and I lind it necessary to dismiss tluvt servant : I foresee what will be my sensations, if in some future day I hear he has gone utterly wrong for want of a little timel}' plain-speaking. I feel responsible to my own futiu'e sympathies, and brace \ip my courage for the disagreeable task of fault-tinding in the present. (2) Duty also is often intimately connected with the sense of responsibility. Not always of course, for when duty has become habit, responsibility has no part in the play of motives. The good man tells the truth as a matter of habit. He does not weigh the futui-e, nor is he urged on by any regard of conseciuences. When he buys an article he places the money on the counter as a matter of habit, and there never crosses his mind a thought of what might happen if he tried to cheat. Yet whenever duty has less than this habitual con- trol over us : when we are inclined to hesitate, and the moral victory is uncertain ; then up conies the reserve force of responsibility, and one thought of all the hateful consequences determines to right conduct. (3) But far more characteristic of our modern develop- ments is that feeling of responsibility which is attached to self-respect. What an immense number of people now-a-days set themselves to the task of self-improvement, and that not to win a heaven, nor to earn applause, but solely out of a sense of responsibility in regard to the use of tlieir time ; a feeling SfSTINCT. RESPONSIBILITY. k'vution to aee up my tl'at the months and years of tl..f/" ^^^' •Holen.n voices : ■• Whe.v are t] I ^''""" '""' 'i'^l< witi, - up.vard p.o.ress wh.eh t: " "^^ "^''^l'^' -'-ve„,ent •■^"cl' a nnnd its future character i" '"'''' '"•'^"^'''^ ^ " To I--nt action is shaped t "J, ; ''^ ^^"^^■^' -^P-'--''i'ity. and --.nueh harassed h^such S;.. ^^"^^ "'^ '-'■'^-^-' *« ^ tho nobler souls a,non^. He .^ ,^ ^^^^^^^re notunknowr. f't't .sa purely modern featu el ?''^ ^'"^ ««-". -"ythn... h-ke a .reat scale Tn '''/''"" "' ^'«t>»» "pon !^n'^' ^'^ ''is Ills home life w.-M, « , 'lutstion, vezy much, of dutv ■ 1 , ■'■■'-•'--'--r:::-:;'£ (. I ^ 1 kMM 126 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE MORAL INSTINCT. eveniiiff in weak association with a baser ideal, he must expect to be bitterly repaid in the future by the reproaches of the purer conception which really controls his artections. So we may imajijine a jj;irl, poor, surrounded with dis- comfort and under the necessity of a sordid toil for her daily bread. She has an offer of marria^je from a man who un- doubtedly loves her, whose character is unexceptionable, and whose means are aiuple. Yet she refuses the offer, because her ideal of marriage demands that she should feel towards her bridej^room as she feels to no other upon earth. What, then, is her fear of future unhappiness ? In material sur- roundini^s she must be far more happily placed ; friends would all approve of the match ; her lover is aware he has not secured her affections, yet would rather win her so than not win her at all. Yet is she resolute because she feels a respon- sibility to her own ideal. It is not in its essence a ((uestion of duty; she mij^ht easily consider that duty would rather prompt her to an honourable marriage, which would make a good man happy and gather round her a little family who should have every prospect of promi.se in their favour ; moreover, she may be able to help her people more effectually, and in her station, as a matron of .some influence, she might have scope for doing much good. Multitudes would in such a case accept, but there is many a girl who would feel her responsi- bility to an unwavering ideal a wholly insuperable obstacle. A realisation of what the future would mean if passed with a husband to whom she could not feel as a wife .should feel : the fear of a lifelong reproach if she entered into so sacred a union from motives other than the highest and holiest — these would form for her the noblest of all forms of responsibility, that which we derive from our sense of allegiance to a great ideal. Where conscience is thus tender, the moral instinct has reached its highest phase. For it is one thing to see the ideal and approve of it, but another thing to feel this deep con- sciousness of responsibility in regard to it. He who is thus susceptible, whose conduct is kept from present wrong by reason of the future accusation before the ideals of truth and kindliness, of purity and dignity, has the .suhlimest of all pos- SrSTINCT. , he must preaches of tions. with (lis- r her daily II who nn- )nable, and 3r, becauwe lel towards :h. What, iterial sur- d ; friends he has not than not ^ a respon- (uestion of ler prompt , ^ood man lould have cover, she iiul in her lave scope eh a case r responsi- wtarle. A sed with a 1 feel : the 3 sacred a est — these lonsihility, to a great RESPONSIBILITY. «ib]e motives for right conduct If ^''^ laws, for they are'utterly t ' 'os" T ''^^^"^''^"^ "P^' ^t. No code that ever wl f , "'^*'^^'*1 *« att^-ct - -u-ehin,, ,so inwald y cl ul" ""'' '^ '^ ^'^^'-t an Ideal. ^ compulsive, as this allegiance tJ I !, i:u' istinct has e the ideal deep con- ho is thus wrong by truth and of ail pos- » !l# 128 CHAPTER XIX. THE INFLUENCP: of the FA^^LY ON THE GROWTH OP MORALS. Sexual Jealousy Makes the Family Unit Distinct. Among modern writers on the liistory of law, the belief has lon<"- been very definitely expressed that in its development law has nothing;- to do with morals, but only with dama<>;es ; that even criminal law in its primitive form is in no way con- cerned with sins, but only with injuries: in short, that early law never dreams of makin<>- people good, but only of keeping them from tiuarrelling. Sir Henry Maine remarks (Ancient Law, p. :?70) : " I'he penal law of ancient communities is not the law of crinuss, it is the law of wrongs, or to use the English technical word, it is the law of torts ". Stephen, in his History of Ewflish Criminal Law (iii., 27), says that "in all the English laws l)efore the Concpiest homicide is treated almost entirely as a wrong," a damage done to a family, which may be compensated for its loss. In early law, the only ideas that are prominent are the injury inflicted, the probable revenge of the injured person, and the amount of compensation which is likely to mollify him and preserve the peace. INIurder is not a wickedness, but an injury to the bereaved family, Our Teutonic ancestors had small notion of any personal unworthi- ness in the want of chastity in a man, but they did most thoroughly eompi-ehend the loss which a family sustained if one of its maidens was depreciated in market value. They never recognised the loss to the maiden herself, but purely the money loss to hei- kindred. The laws of the Frisians directed that if a man had violated a maid he should pay to liei- rela- tives ten shillings, but if he married her against their will he that of ,n..ely ae^r^oi^Ur^:, ^ ^ T 'f ■^Z--^- *!'- 'H^vs, if a man seduces a H^la. v m^ I I ' ""' '" "'" ^^'^^'^ '^etion on account of tlu"v , "'f"",'"" '"^^ ^" Pay loi' Lis cl>osen people, he n.avlXhh:::^''"^ " !■'•"■" ^^''^''-^ ^'-' - -thin, but .lan.a.e^> a ill W R T ^''""" ^ ''"^^^'^ V J" laws of iKM.ple^n h r""^^-"^'^'-^"^^' '•- '"uch. the Teutons ol J ll^.W s" T" ^"'^^-•'^^'' ^ ^'''- of incipient notion of the sin nil ' '/""'' certainly see son.e -Hie. stages .hiehpL:;;:^' It r::r^^^^^ )^i«, -Uy the sense of i„j„,y, ,,t^ hc^f"^^"'"';: ^^' "'^^-''^^^ ne.s.s,i« to be detected. The sava 1 ^"^- "'""'«■''"'■ "'^"•'•^ children ; if he ,loe he! . '""^ '"•'"'•^' '""^t'"''- He nmst not seduce oVistri^ " '"';'""' '"' J''--- can sell his own to a Z .' st "'"r'"'«'''^^''- '*"' ^- another n,ans wife b^ C ' "f f ''' ''"■" ""^ ^'^'-^ tiu-<^.hhisowniftii:L;:::;:;;^^^^^^^ "^"H:r^rr;r:f'';::rr?'^^- ^•■■"•-' retaliation, and his con.luct t '■ "''^' ''•^- '"'-• "•' l^-is. It is within ]u 1 ;, "f""'"' T'^''-'^ true n.oral -ope for the growth o Z^tJ^ "'^ f'^ """^^ -'^"-' «-iHcin, love for his orts;^ ^^^u'!'' '''':' '" -"'- wite, and then the habit .AiMn^"'^' " '''""""" ^■•>'' '"'^ t-.l to spread outwards i !"■ :;• "7"' ^"^^''^ -"^' hours. Jiut it was fron. th. C "' *"'" '"^"'c "eiH,. ' -''- one urn.ed na ' ^f^' ^^'^'•^•^'-' ^''"t 'aw ar^^e ; ^^i"o^ and when t,;;; i!;::;:::^::^ -^^^ ■support and defend, it was natural . .' ^ *''^"'»«^''ves to «ans should make an eft r t ^''" '^-'^ J'oated parti- -f'- con.pensati; ^.^b^n ofte::7^"T''^^ ''*' ''"'"'•"' -"' would form , precedent ^^^ :;::^r7^-'- ^''-''ci.i-t -»Hlar injury threatene.i a I^L L u H T'""" "'"'" '^ JeatliH and desolations Ouit '^" ^'■'^'■" '^*" riso. •'Hv, Hi ail cases chat we know ipiict coinpix)- VOL. II. oJ', take its earliest m r it n :i 9 .1 * 'If I i IHO THK ORKilX AND (JKOWTII Ol' THi; MOKAL INSTINCT. Since morality, tlu'ii, ori^niuites within th.- family, while law is born of friction l)otwecn families, it is very needful to mi.lerstan.l the constitution of the familv as the unit of society. Not that the family is always tlie really notable uiut. We shall see subseciuently that family limits may some- times be .rreatly blurred, and that unions may prevail whose basis is alto^-ether ditierent. Indi\i(!uals are 'to society what atoms are to cliemical matter. They oT„up themselves in a molecule, and the form of that molecule will depend on the internal play of various attractions. Rut what is called allo- tropic or isomeric chan(,a! is always possible. Precisely the same atoms may so alter their oToupin^r as wholly to chano-o the aspect and character of the constituted l)ody. The onTy Invent historic instance of this molecular chanj;'(- with which we shall be jiractically concerned was the media'val transition from the family unit to the alleo-iance unit, fi-om the khidred to the comitatus. But for the present we shall only notice, as bein^r intimately connected with the manner in which moral .prof,a-ess has occurred, the strong contrast that exists ])etween a comparatively amorphous community and one with well- defined molecular structure. In pi-imitive societies the condition is amorphous, that is, without any marked molecular constitution, uidess in cases wherein tlie family is a very deHnite i'eatuiv ; and the family is strong in its cohesiveness, an-- '^^^l- <''>v.n, when the d^d,^ . T''""'"" ^''''" ''-" ^-'-' * «oeia. life de.:::;C:LX^;;; r;:;^^^^ ^"- -"•'•- ^-- ^;^tter things than the ^pl i;^, K ^^'T^ ^^'''^^''^^ '^*' ^•ood-huniour. L, ,i,ch •, n. ""''Herent, easy-ooino. ^'-^-iiyto be. . ^i:,n;7?7.;--'.i-lousy c^us.: --lute in keeping his w ' 2t t r^ """'• ^'"'' '"^^ - careleas as to whethe^t hi , V" """'*• ^" ^'^ "--■- ;-• Mono,an.y, tL!^L^''^: l:;^-'-- -lly his it.nmles and nniles are horn n, P^valent. for since the average n.an w ^ h'^ T""^'t "'"^' '" ""-'-• already «hown, will he ^rm T' 7'''- '''''' ""■-'■ - that union will he v ^d Sv'.ir ,"'^; ^'"''"•- '-" of I'l'^tead of helon.-ino. i,, , ''''^f^ ^^ttiidml to their par-nts There is. l^^Z: 'T!^ "'^^ '" ''^ ^^'^^^^^ oAribe. ' attirstlikeatraveilerCtlw^ "-^ ^ ''''"^''"'^^ ^* ■•"■"'■^ ^'•'; Hussanyeh Arat :n t,^l;:r;---Ub^^^ ""'I-vstood to hold good foro / ' ".""■'■'"«'^' '"^ "'^^'O''^ but when a dozen con 1. 1" "'""^' '"^"'•^•^ '" ^''" -..i: -^ ''a'f a century v, d^^^ ^ '"T '' '"'"'"^'^ ^''-"^1'- -eept it. John 'petl L , " "'' "•^' '^''""'^^ »'-"' to PJ-'itly (/^V//y< ^/.. ,V, ; , l''^^;''^' ^.^'"'^ -^ very ex- r^J- ---4 contract :''!r'::^^'':""'P- 1^2) that in th vow. 10 week the brid Th e is <-' Ncale IS two tl, •ays specifies foi' «iX])ecte(l to ul "ow many .1;., /H •serve tin ays, three thiys, or at tl "larriai V'W ■S\i \:, le Juost four i'A-2 'I'llIC OHICIX AM) (ilJOWl'H OF Till': MOKAI, INSTIXCT. (lays ill tlic week, the usuul terms lu'liij;' tli.it tlic coiitruct liolds yood for INronday, Tuosilay, Wednesday and 'I'liursda}'." Dnriii;;' the remainder oi' tlie \veel\ slie may please lierselt', staying- with lier Imshand or cohahitin;;' with otliers as slie proi'ers. There is no race in whicli ahsohite promiscuity prevails i none in which some sort of marriage, some definite appropria- tion of women, doea not take })laci'. Vet there arc very many in which the union of the sexes is too loose to fiivc rise to any very definite family feeliii<;'. Aiiionj;' a large proportion of the nei^ro tril)es, as we learn from Brown, Clapporton, Laini;-, Bosnian and Smith, the women siu'render their persons with a rcailiiu>ss that sui^'yests how feehle is the prevailing jealousy, and Major Gray, in speaking of a particular tribe, declares that " except the few females whom the chiefs keep in re- straint, the women xany be said to be in common". Almost as severe are the comments of two English ladies who have given their experience oi some years of intimate life among negresses. We know for certain that a wife's company was readily lent or bartered among Kafirs, Australians, Tas- manians, Dyaks, Sontals, Domes, Bhotias, Ladaks, Nepalese, Toilas, Nagas, Semangs, Mooruts, Maoris and Ainus. We are assured by most respectalile missionaries that among many Melanesian and Polynesian races, as well as among a considerable proportion of the Tatar tribes, wives were lent as a matter of hospitality, and that on public festivals women were allowed a i-iotous degree of laxity. Robertson Smith, a most reliable authority, tells us that among the earl}' Arabs {Marriage and Kinship, p. 110), " when a man desired goodly seed, he would call upon his wife to cohabit with some man of recognised excellence ". There are Arab races in which to-day the same spirit prevails. Of all mankind, the Aryans have been those most gener- ally self-assertive and inclined to jealousy. Yet even of this o'reat stock certain races have not been free from some degree of inditlerence in regard to their women. Miiller tells us {Dorians, iii., x., 4) that among the Spartans and other Dorians a married but childless man was connnended if he brought in a younger or more powerful man to be the father •stepmother tcn.l.s to pro.h.cc ■? T ^ ^ ■ ""^"'"'" "*' ^^ f'""i'y. Hut if a , nan -oM ,; "'"■""" ^'"-t "Pou the y^-a>-.s an.l took a .u-w on h .ri '" '"'' '""•^' *'"•'"■ "'' f^"!" oiawo.an.n..,--:-s^::;v;Lr^^-^-''-^ '"UKl.. 1 cm,l,l „,,.; ""T,«"™ "1> "'" M,H with a kai«i.i„.,c„,>ic «,.i:« : „,,„:':': '■" -'■" ■"■ -•• -f ti,a,„ alleys .,f „„,. c,-ow,Ie,i 0. " T '" '"" .'" ""^^ '»"« "-I l"'» a„„tl,'. el,il,,. T ' ; ; "•;"■"»■ «-l« a «.w ,„„t„ „„, pa-l,ap» l„.i.,„i„„ i„ „„otl„.,. r ? '"■'''"'"■''■ '"™"tiinc. A ...„„,bc„. „rti,?» co^i,":.!:"' ,"■';";'"" '"'- •='''''"-• ««.-ly infancy ,„i,,|,t n^-J " . ^ " '"" '""' '"» "'"'l'™ i" an.i tl.vc. arc, ,Ly „ ,'"' ,"■"",""" '""""■'■ -'- «il.ly toll w,<, l.a/bc-.° »;■""''*:''" »'"•' ■'"' I- ■".y be little cc-tai rt; ,: ; : '"Tt '^"°' ""'"«'■ "'-- k..o,vn. Hence anWtl ,„„,!!; 'I.'- "'" """'"'■ '" K«'™liy ••»lnp» »ucl, a, McLe, , *'"," ',' '"""""-'"'""I ■••'»«"" '■a» cle»i,n.atc,i by tl Z,, "o, ft :*' "":' '- "■ "'"■^•"' va,l n^, la.it;, i„ ,,„,,„„ ^Ua^ " ""'"" ''"f-™ "f P«- 'r\y .sort of lie. ,•....-.,.' ''\.'' ^«»'y P^'-iceful an.l coinuii ^"•oo. or "mch cliarna-d A. R." Wall' ty whicii so people (luarrt'Ls ai 'e ri ice in Aralaysia. An.on-r snd 'j«oau,se men sel.b„, fe.l witi I a I Nutfi- 1 II M 4. : , ! lilt 134 THK ORIGIN AXD (JHOWTH OF THK MORAL INSTINX'T. ciciit keenness to be inclineil for quarrels. If any one tells a man a lie, he takes it all as truth, and merely tells a bii>'f>-er lie m return; if anybody steals his property, he lets him keep it, and when the chance occurs steals an efpiivalent : if a young man is openly cai-ryino- on an intrio-ue with his dauo-hter, he ^.aly orins, and thinks complacently how j^reat a favourite he was himself with the o'irls in his 3'ounger days. With such an indifferent temper, people rub along- very pl(\asantly together, but the resultant moi-ality is of a fiabby kinil, and the community is amorphous in constitution. A hundred times better the Aryan type, which, like the steed not easily broken in, is yet well worth the concpxest when its strength and spirit have once learnt to endure the curb. I u ( III: Ij The Family as the Molecule of Societv. Dealing now solely with this Aryan type, harder to disci- pline but nobler in the end, we have two jiroblems to consider in regard to molecular constitution. The first is this of the deMnite family, forined b^- that strong feeling of sexual jealousy which keeps the maid uncontaminated till wooed and wedded by a husband who will part with her to no one while he lives, who is grindy resolute that Iier kisses shall be his and his alone, that her children shall never need to doubt but that he is their father. Society in this case is very evidently formed of well-ilefined molecules. Here stands the man with the spear, behind him crouch his wife and his children, and behind every other spearman is a similar group, and all the public relationships of life are no longer between indiviilual and individual, but between group and group. The second problem relates to the size which these groups will ultimately attain. Suppose that a community of 100 persons is divided into twenty families, each of the natural average of five individuals. Suppose that the connnunity in- creases to 1000 persons, will there now be 200 families of five in each, or will the uund)er of families still remain at twenty, but with fifty ])ersons in ((acli :" The former would be the case among civiliseil people of our own times. The latter course s a Iji^'fjer INFLUENC i^as a I way; consciously K OK THK l••A.^rIL that wliieli t: V ox GROWTH OF MORALS. 18;" but le e 'ii-b' Ary .some type of their duiract When the nuniher of f Hs a result of tlie self-asserti an races adopted, not ve and 'luarrt fimilies remains limited hut of each ..roup evtends h 1'"" """**^'^ '^^^ ^he si.e tion of socittv o i ; • T'' '''"* Pati-iarchal or^^anisa- couian,en;:i^^jr;S' f ^'^ '- --'^ «^ Aryan peoples, and determin /i '''''' "''^"'^^^'^'ristic of all and the fcT-n. assu 1 7 " n""? "' *'"'^^ ^'^^'^-^^-^ -'-- sexual un,^ Jl'' r"" ''fi''. ''''''■ ^' --o- only where feuds and Ij • "^^K^.^'^^'^/ -' ^^^^^on,, and a^ressivetyp.of the^^ir^V^rrn"':^ "" ^^"^^"^^'^^ lived in unchanu.i„o. „„„,/;.. ^^^'''' * '^^^^">''^^- a"«l '"other lon«- in the l..me,;"ltr in t T"'' '"""''""' ^" ^^^^^ .spear. ' ^''"^« themselves behind the father's Indeed, in a communit\- nf n • , far from safe for the V f / '^^'''T ''''^P^'^'tion, it is when at length he kt a ' • 7 T'T' '" ^"^^'^' '^^'^ ^^--' ^ -'l fonn a nevv .,.0" te th ' ," r""''' ""' ^^^^ ^'--^J^ to nothin^tode^eZ:^ ^r,::,^ ;-J-". ^-m, he has arm. In such n oJ. fi '"''^"'^t^ but his own unaided ri.rht pose that It h ;^ Z ?r;r f ^T-' ^-W- «"t s^p. W"-elf and tla-ir Xn- ^''^'"■' ''''' ' ^^"'^ ^--'J" the father, with tw^o ,i, '; '"' '^^'"'"''^ '^P''^^""-'' -"^ roven,.e himse o ,ss r ' , "'"' '"''^ behind him. can than before The lit' r'"'^ '^ ""^'^ ^^^^^ P»^'Pose all quarrels: n. fi i^^f ' '"" ■^""^''"^«- ^^^ «-'' <>tli- in weai in eompal^ I'" ,^:.^;;' ^^ "^ ^^ for himself is homes, every son in hi L 1 • ^'"'"^' '"' *° ^'"^"'^ "^w The familv thu ^t nde ' "T '" ^', "^''^ '' ''" «''' ^-"-• domineered .Z .1 " T"^ '^'^^"'^ *'^ «'^-«^^> f- - it sons would 1 : o Z' ^; "'T "' '^^ ^^^"'^*'^' «-"''- would be no li i . :^ ; ^tT T '"'T'^'''' ^'"' ^^^--^ left the familv woul .o « tl n ""^'^ ''• ^^'^'^" ^"' ^''^^ bullied and oppress ;,n.lu"Vor"':f"'^^'""^ *° ''^' •ntm wouhl have found t, tf I . . , *^ "'eantime, other form their ^.n^y^^^o^''^' ^ "'' ''f ^ °""' '""^^ societv wo.d., ,... ..?';;"'"• ^^^";^ *'^^^ •"••^"-•^1 constitution of •ty would be that of which to be isolateTowth of such a family. In f^eneral, from fifty to eighty individuals dwelt together. In early agriculture, only small patches of land are sufficiently rich and clear enough of heavy timber to be utilised. When all the patches readily accessible were farmed, and all the grassy lands in the neighbourhood were occupied with cattle, then the family had reached its greatest size. Straitened resources would compel a process of hiving off". In the modern Sclavonic house-comnuinities which are the still-existent models of the ancient patriarclial family, about sixty persons form the average according to Professor Bogisic ((juoted Sir Henry Maine, E((rbj Lino, p. 261). In the laws of Howell we see that among the Welsli of the ninth century, kinship was reckoned to the fifth degree, an extent which would recognise an average of not more than eighty in the family. Numerous expressions and detailed arrangements of the Teutonic laws suggest that in very primitive times this must have represented something like the extent over which kinship was operative. But even where the difficulty of fooil supply was over- come there would be in early times a natural limit to increase of the family. Where there are eighty persons at that grade of advancement there will be about a dozen married couples, and when so many with their children live in the same house- hold, little frictions and jarring interests must inevitably arise. The bigger the conglomeration tiie more probable is 1 tl ' ^Hi. KU„M- ox .HOWnr O. MOHAI..S. 187 le occijiTcnct' of •'^o'lH' sti-aii, wlnV'l '"•-"'Ptivo Turn., UM.I split tl I Wll • I'll tuully parts "' 'I'^wciatioii into tw L'Xert u <> or more '^ ^i/.- of the ,.xU.M,U>.l fa..,il. ''y tl.0 balancing of Iwrir''. 7''^ '''"■"'■'''•'' '''■*-•''"»-» t'-at sort of int:r„ 1 r,.X^'*'^ ^"'^^'■^ ' "" ^''•' -H' luuul American socialistic ox .Z: '"""", "'''■'' '"''"-'' ^1- to less than an avera-^ "tw V "'V "• ''''' '" ""'"'-^•) other han.l. while this^. le I ' ' • "' ''""T"' ""■''• ^^" ^'-^ ont..ie of the fa.il, t";;:;i\;:::;::s;!7^^ host!;:;:' '""^'"'^•^"'^^ ----'- t>.eGe;::rin:;;;;::rct"^'r'"'^ <^ornpiIe.l, we .shall 1 se 'f' !"' "'"•^ ''^'^''^••- ^'--' were <'«atlx o. slavery o\- Tt H "-n"'' "' '""-^ '"''' '"'"•l^'^-^l. awaited ev.ry n „U le^ ,, le' ;" ''r\. -'"I'l^-t- spoliation very plainly. When the An-do S" ' '''"'' ^^"'Ptoins -'^.1-d. the laws of ina ^11^^;::^:^^;::' -''''-' •- or a stranL^er iournev tt.vnnr • tHi--connncr man neither sh^ut^o'Z ' X^ T 'f ^^ f' "'^^'^^^'^>' ^^^ and to be either slain or Ihr" fit" " "" '" '^ ^^"'^^' men of each other. (Thorne i n-^ ""eriy .I.strustful were En^.lan,l, the Statute o^ Vi ^ ^ ''" "^ ^''''^ '' ^^Ho-in times (for there were "L-^ "7"""'"^ '^^* '-^^ '-^^ borou^rh and villi' ,' > • '"' ' ''"' '^"'^'^^ ^'^'^^'^^ that aViy o f fitrt r ''• '"'^•'^ '^^'"^ ^'' ■^"»-^- -^^ % the sa«.e statute («;« 5) vv s ''^ ^f^r"' '"'"' '''' ^''^^ of eve.^ highway a l;:^!!f' ^L^^: ^ T ^ f ^^ ^^^'^ bushes, .so that a man while trav ■! H. \ "^^ '^'^' "^" of the onset of his encmu ,'^^'''- "^'«bt ^.et fair warning Thus within .six ,tuS " " ''^''^ ^" ''^•^■"-' '"--It! body expected ^^^ :;^:t iT"^'^''"'^'" "^^^ ^-^- »night. But away In . e u-I I'' ^'''^'''y ""' ^^«t he -t i^-om the sh 1^ t ; ': -.rr'^f'^^ '"- -h--vea a ti me oppression escape. wa.s doomed lus kmdred, thou.}, he mi^d.t for ere long t(j .I^str uction or ' lii 138 THK OUrcl.V AND GROWTH OK THE MORAL INSTINCT. 1» Family Morals. We see, theroforo, that within the fau.ily n.on ha.l every reason to lean, the le.s.son,s of nmtuai forhearance. Those wlio slept in that cluster of huts, as ni^.ht .lesce-xle.! on the dark orest that stretehe.l all an unci, harbouring, who couhl tell what toes or envious n,airai,lers, would lay down their limbs to rest m a se.ise ot ex-iuisite security only when they felt the close continuity of warm-hearted, strono--,sinewe.l, a"nd well-armed brethren and cousins. Thoujrh self-assertive in type, the indi- vidual would be willing' to endure much and for^nve a m-eat deal m order to enjoy that sense of comfort and protection, llie man who mule himself obnoxious within the family would run the risk of bein^. thrust forth, and we know that tins was the chief penalty for misconduct in the early times How oHen around the winter hearth or underneath the sprea.ln,i. tree on summer twilio.hts must the <,a-ave debate have proceeded, and how often nnist the prayer of mother, the entreaty of wife, the tears of chil.lren, have secured foi^ the culprit another chance : And incorrint on fear and the expectation of retaliation. The itoiy of f'-ence of other strong- states. I le i-etaliatioii or ioal fi Weaker one joalou.s inter- Kuropean P-.wers;;;i;at'ZI;. T '"' '"'""'"' ^"''^'^^ "'' ^'"^ -tchfu, fear of other na^l^t '''^^.l^^'-f"" ^^l '^^ the ot 'levelopn.ent re.-nlates intern., H'^ /' ''''"" ''^"^•^'^' i-etaliation ah.ne rules in n n "'' ''"^ ^''^ ''^^^' '>*' An.I until nation, have lea nt fT' 1 '."'^'^•"'^tional concern. -" -'ti'me to he tile Z W::'';^ ^^ "''^^•^^^^"" *'- i-^ffuvl to soverei.n, peonies F "' ^''"'''"'^ "«^^' '" •"orality that ,,.,,, n^lZuTf T'''^' *'" '"^^^^ '^^ --ertion an.l Tetaliati n ^^""''y an.l those of .self- tant is the .listinetio ''"''' "^^ ''^^--'"^ ^t- '^o i'"por- f-- of new words : . .,,27"! '^ ^"f "' ^'^^ ^••^^'^' ' ^ /^<^'«^^.' that hody oi' usaiwi ;o ■ •'<--«'«'nHte as ^..v;. i-th. those nL,e«:?^j ^ :::;:;;;;?-' ^'t-*^'^'^ •^pruno- n.nialit- [ ^u.,u ,,„ "''' ^'^^' ^^•«»' which ha,H on^inaliy consisted o I^.X":, ^" ^f'' '^-' '-t w^ich ^■euds were a^ erted and even ' "'i""''*-'"t'S whereby fanuly '-ly of aplastic u : ' cf d"'rr'"'- ''-^ *h^^ '^^"i. ';"t the reniainder o? th^ ^IL ^I^il ^ '''''''''!' '"'^P^^' ■short .sketch of the opera iotnf , ' ^"'""^''"'^ ''''''^' ^' «-^-owth of niorals. ' "^ penhestic usao-,. i„ the '»0"est, .o he chas e o " "''^'' '" ^^ ^^-'^tliful. to be as nutters of C;^ " '" T""^' '""' "^"^'^^ ^'"-t"- ^-ew -bordinate pa^ T ' ,r d.^^^"^^' -^-'- ^ear pla^d a In his aphestie u a-e „ n . s \ Tu "'"' "^^'"^'^^^ '^«ection. by wa/onh- of !h-ea If th " ■^^'' ''''' '^'^^^ ^he.se thin,. -early growth na^^^ peHhe.tie ,s. T^'::::^:'::^^:' ^'^^^^y ^^^ of til insni esion anioi 1 too-etlier. H themselves; tlie} patriarch was the bond which kt,. ■«»-aiulsons had little co- is u x'eat ■pt were only the children of I' ^ <;* li > I 'I ii- i 140 THE ORIGIN AND GKOWTH OF THl': MOKAL INSTINCT. ; J i U.i coasins, a deoree of relationHhip to wliicli wo ourselves attach no o-reat importance. How few of us keep up an intimacy witli those who are the eliildren of our father's cousins. The okl man's yTandsons heiii^' cousins nii^dit feel themselves truly related; but even then the presence of their one conniion ancestor would o.ive oreater deHniieness and cohesion to the i--niship. If, then, a family was to I)e lar<;-e tmd powerful it .ust be gathered in strong- devotion round tho hous(;-father ; anil if he had the reputation of rememl)ered prowess, his son.s and g-randsons, yes, and his great-grandsons, would gather round him with affectionate pride. Xot his the fate of the old outworn farmer among ourselves wlui dozes and gruinble.s unheeded at the chinniey corner. Being the visible sign of a union on which depends the family'.s safety an«■ >ee., le.,, than that of a ™le which «t „,;,:""' '" """ ™-'y I"l""'. The Withi,, that ci le ' l" """ '■'■'"'•■'■'"" "> ""■• family. then al. authority „.„» .i:^L^ ^ VZ^,: , ":''""'">■ ''"".;"■« *a' ■i»i>oti™,. ia,„,-ii„, r..! ; A ■'■■ "■" ^Semitic people wh,vi, h>,. p ,. -^ Aiynn aiK An a.f„,' ,.iini;y:';;:;;, .,,'•; ;:';;,:, t; ;;■' '"';;•« .;"'-„. ■"to the househohl ,ea« tau.-ht f,; ' ^r"'" '«"- I-" ' l"n...Ba,l. ,„„,.,le..ous n,e„ were "„, , ,e '",, '■°7™'«- lay bcyon.l the forest. A„ai,„t th ,1 , , " "'"'■''' ' -'.^an.isoa.;:^,':-::;:™---- author! ^,^it.ed authority, I„ the ■ity of the paterfamilias was ahv fath er may be a pure despotism, he hav "iitural family the po •ays a dele jwer of tin "»g none under him f ft I' I u4 F i\i 142 THK OiUGIN ANU GKOWTTi OF THK MCJJtAL INSTINCT. 1 ' I'll lii. but women and cliildrcn physically incapable oi' disputin-;' Ids will. Not HO in the case of the.se extended raniilies. "They are as far as pos.sible," says Elaine, "from beino- patriarchal