CHAPTER VII. The Moral Progress of the Human Species As Shown by History

THE MORAL PROGRESS OF THE HUMAN SPECIES AS SHOWN BY HISTORY

The assimilative character of human progress--The character of our savage ancestors--Greek civilization--The Greek treatment of children--Of old men--Human sacrifices among the Greeks--Slaughter of prisoners--Slavery--The Greek attitude towards the fundamental virtues of trustworthiness--Athenian Democracy--Roman civilization--Treatment of children--Human sacrifices--Gladiatorial shows--Slavery--Moral character of the Middle Ages--Human sacrifice in England before the Roman conquest--Slave laws--State punishment in England: burning, hanging, and boiling, quartering and disembowelling--Women under the criminal law--Blood-money--The classification of crimes--Caste-favor in English criminal law--Mutilation--Flaying--Ordeals--Punishment by starvation--The press--The rack--"Skevington's Daughter"--Benefit of Clergy--The position of the English churl--The worship of rank--Hanging for petty theft--The pillory--Brutality of public feeling--Condition of the prisons--Jail-breaking, bribery, etc.--More concerning women under the law--Favor to rank--The logical consistency of human character in its various directions of action--General comparison of the past with the present--The evidence of literature--Modern philanthropy--Decrease of national prejudices--Growth of the democratic spirit--Lack of imagination a reason for the failure to realize the evils of the past--The Golden Age of Man 466-499