own desires, if they do not interfere with his social instincts, that
is with the good of others; but in order to be quite free from
self-reproach, or at least of anxiety, it is almost necessary for him
to avoid the disapprobation, whether reasonable or not, of his
fellow-men. Nor must he break through the fixed habits of his life,
especially if these are supported by reason; for if he does, he will
assuredly feel dissatisfaction. He must likewise avoid the reprobation
of the one God or gods in whom, according to his knowledge or
superstition, he may believe; but in this case the additional fear of
divine punishment often supervenes.
THE STRICTLY SOCIAL VIRTUES AT FIRST ALONE REGARDED.
The above view of the origin and nature of the moral sense, which tells
us what we ought to do, and of the conscience which reproves us if we
disobey it, accords well with what we see of the early and undeveloped
condition of this faculty in mankind. The virtues which must be
practised, at least generally, by rude men, so that they may associate
in a body, are those which are still recognised as the most important.
But they are practised almost exclusively in relation to the men of the
same tribe; and their opposites are not regarded as crimes in relation
to the men of other tribes. No tribe could hold together if murder,
robbery, treachery, etc., were common; consequently such crimes within
the limits of the same tribe are branded with everlasting infamy (31.
See an able article in the North British Review, 1867, p. 395. See
also Mr. W. Bagehot s articles on the Importance of Obedience and
Coherence to Primitive Man, in the Fortnightly Review, 1867, p. 529,
and 1868, p. 457, etc.); but excite no such sentiment beyond these
limits. A North-American Indian is well pleased with himself, and is
honoured by others, when he scalps a man of another tribe; and a Dyak
cuts off the head of an unoffending person, and dries it as a trophy.
The murder of infants has prevailed on the largest scale throughout the
world (32. The fullest account which I have met with is by Dr. Gerland,
in his Ueber den Aussterben der Naturvolker, 1868; but I shall have
to recur to the subject of infanticide in a future chapter.), and has
met with no reproach; but infanticide, especially of females, has been
thought to be good for the tribe, or at least not injurious. Suicide
during former times was not generally considered as a crime (33. See
the very interesting discussion on suicide in Lecky s History of
European Morals, vol. i. 1869, p. 223. With respect to savages, Mr.
131