Transcriber's Notes: Variations in spelling and hyphenation remain as in the original. A row of asterisks represents a thought break except in poetry where a row of asterisks indicates an ellipsis. A complete list of corrections follows the text. SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT AND MORAL PROGRESS [Illustration: Alfred R. Wallace _Photo: Reginald Haines_] [Illustration: Alfred R. Wallace signature] Social Environment and Moral Progress BY Alfred Russel Wallace O.M., D.C.L.Oxon. F.R.S., &c. Author of "The Malay Archipelago," "Darwinism," "Man's Place in the Universe," "The World of Life," &c. &c. Cassell and Company, Ltd London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne 1913 First Edition _March 1913_. _Reprinted April and June 1913._ Contents PART I.—HISTORICAL CHAPTER PAGE 1. INTRODUCTORY 1 2. MORALITY AS BASED UPON CHARACTER 4 3. PERMANENCE OF CHARACTER 8 4. PERMANENCE OF HIGH INTELLECT 15 5. SPEECH AND WRITING AS PROOFS OF INTELLIGENCE 28 6. SAVAGES NOT MORALLY INFERIOR TO CIVILISED RACES 31 7. A SELECTIVE AGENCY NEEDED TO IMPROVE CHARACTER 36 8. ENVIRONMENT DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 40 9. INSANITARY DWELLINGS AND LIFE-DESTROYING TRADES 47 10. ADULTERATION, BRIBERY, AND GAMBLING 55 11. OUR ADMINISTRATION OF "JUSTICE" IS IMMORAL 62 12. INDICATIONS OF INCREASING MORAL DEGRADATION 67 PART II.—THEORETICAL 13. NATURAL SELECTION AMONG ANIMALS 75 14. SELECTION AS MODIFIED BY MIND 93 15. THE LAWS OF HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT 103 16. MORAL PROGRESS THROUGH A NEW FORM OF SELECTION 125 17. HOW TO INITIATE AN ERA OF MORAL PROGRESS 150 INDEX 159 Social Environment and Moral Progress PART I.—HISTORICAL CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY Before entering on the question of the relation of morality to our existing social environment, it will be advisable to inquire what we mean by moral progress, and what evidence there is that any such progress has occurred in recent times, or even within the period of well-established history.