304 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ties. In other words, if it is said to be " right " that they should carry 

 them on, then, by permutation, we get the assertion that they *' have a 

 right " to carry them on. Clearly the conception of " natural rights " 

 originates in recognition of the truth that if life is justifiable, there 

 must be a justification for the performance of acts essential to its 

 preservation ; and, therefore, a justification for those liberties and 

 claims which make these acts possible. 



But being true of other creatures as of man, this is a proposition 

 lacking ethical character. Ethical character arises only with the dis- 

 tinction between what the individual may do in carrying on his life- 

 sustaining activities, and what he may not do. This distinction ob- 

 viously results from the presence of his fellows. Among those who 

 are in close proximity, or even at some distance ajDart, the doings of 

 each are apt to interfere with the doings of others, and in the absence 

 of proof that some may do what they will without limit, while others 

 may not, mutual limitation is necessitated. The non-ethical form of 

 the right to pursue ends, passes into the ethical form when there is 

 recognized the difference between acts which can be performed without 

 transgressing the limits, and others which can not be so performed. 



This, which is the a priori conclusion, is the conclusion yielded 

 a posteriori, when we study the doings of the uncivilized. In its 

 vaguest form, mutual limitation of spheres of action, and the ideas 

 and sentiments associated with it, are seen in the relations of groups 

 to one another. Habitually there come to be established certain 

 bounds to the territories within which each tribe obtains its liveli- 

 hood ; and these bounds when not respected are defended. Among 

 the Wood-Yeddahs, who have no political organization, the small 

 clans have their respective portions of forest ; and " these conven- 

 tional allotments are always honorably recognized," * Of the ungov- 

 erned tribes of Tasmania, we are told that "their hunting-grounds 

 were all determined, and trespassers were liable to attack." f And, 

 manifestly, the quarrels caused among tribes by intrusions on one 

 another's territories, tend in the long run to fix bounds and to give a 

 certain sanction to them. As with each inhabited area, so with each 

 inhabiting group. A death in one, rightly or wrongly ascribed to 

 somebody in another, prompts " the sacred duty of blood-revenge " ; 

 and though retaliations are thus made chronic, some restraint is put 

 on new aggressions. Like causes and effects were seen in those early 

 stages of civilized societies, during which families or clans, rather than 

 individuals, were the political units ; and during which each family 

 or clan had to maintain itself and its possessions against others such. 

 This mutual restraint, which in the nature of things arises between 

 small communities, similarly arises between individuals in each com- 

 munity ; and the ideas and usages appropriate to the one are more or 

 less appropriate to the other. Though within each group there is ever 



* Tennant, ii, 440. f Bonwick, J., " Daily Life and Origin of the Tasmanians," 83, 



