on over all,
And preyed on all things, and the stronger man
Trampled his weaker brother under foot."

Mr. John Fiske maintains that mankind, during the previous bestial
period, were compelled like all other animals to maraud and destroy, as
a part of the plan of natural selection in securing the survival of the
fittest; the victories of the strong over the weak were the steps and
stages of the animal creation in its general advancement. And he further
states that, even after man had entered upon the heritage of his
manhood, it was still for a time the true end of his being to maraud as
before and to despoil all men whose weakness placed them in his power.
It was only thus that the steady improvement of the race could be
secured; and in that view it was man's duty to consult the dictates of
selfishness and cruelty rather than those of kindness. To use Mr.
Fiske's own words, "If we could put a moral interpretation upon events
which antedated morality as we understand it, we should say it was their
duty to fight; and the reverence accorded to the chieftain who murdered
most successfully in behalf of his clansmen was well deserved."[189]

Much to the same effect writes Professor Leconte. "In organic evolution
the weak, the sick, the helpless, the unfit in anyway, perish, _and
ought to perish_, because this is the most efficient way of
strengthening the _blood or physical nature_ of the species, and thus of
carrying forward evolution. In human evolution (which occurs at an
advanced stage) the weak, the helpless, the sick, the old, the unfit in
anyway, are sustained, _and ought to be sustained_, because sympathy,
love, pity, strengthen the _spirit and moral nature_ of the race."[190]
There is this difference, however, between this statement and that of
Mr. Fiske, that it does not indicate at what point "human evolution"
begins; it does not expressly declare that the subject of evolution,
even after he has become a man, is still for a time in duty bound to
fight in the interest of selfishness and natural selection. Still he
reverses the "ought" as he advances from organic to human evolution.

According to both authors, when, in view of new environments and new
social requirements, it became more advantageous to each individual man
that he should cease to maraud, should learn to regard the rights of
others, should respect the family relation, and subordinate his selfish
interest to the general good; then altruism dawn