Chapter VII: 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