But with the
transition to an agricultural life, and still more with the growth
of commerce and the arts, private accumulation became possible.
Individual initiative began to pay; the smarter and more ingenious
could outstrip their fellows by breaking through the crust of custom,
while those who were hidebound by a conventional conscience were at
a disadvantage. To a large extent this lawlessness or innovation in
conduct came into conflict with the individual's conscience. But the
question "Why not?" would at once arise; if possible, a man would justify
his act to himself. And to some degree those new ways of acting would
swing conscience over to their side.
(4) In earliest times each tribe lived, very, much to itself and
developed its own morals, under the stress of similar forces, but
without much influence from the experience of other groups. It was
thus exceedingly difficult for it to conceive of any other ways of
doing things; the ancestral customs were accepted as inevitable, like
the sun and the rain. Inter-tribal conflicts first gave, perhaps, a
vantage point for mutual criticism. A clan that by some custom had
an obvious advantage over its neighbors would naturally be imitated
as soon as men became quick-witted enough to understand its superiority.
The taking of prisoners, the exchange of hostages or envoys, friendly
missions and journeys, would give insight into one another's life.
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