THE SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS CONDITION 



OF 



THE LOWEE RACES OF MAN, 



ADDRESS TO THE WORKINGMEN OF LIVERPOOL. 



By Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M.P., F.R.S. 



Gentleimen: The subject on whicli I have been requested to address 

 you this evening is one of much interest, but also of such vast extent, 

 that I shall make no apology for entering- at once upon it, without any 

 introductory remarks. I will only observe that I do not propose to de- 

 scribe the arms or implements, houses or boats, food or dress of savages, 

 all no doubt very interesting, but which time will not permit me to dis- 

 cuss ; my object will rather be, if possible, to illustrate the mental con- 

 dition and ideas of the lower races of men, a subject necessarily of great 

 interest to the philosopher, but also of immense practical importance to 

 an empire like ours, which extends to every quarter of the globe, and 

 contains races of men in every stage of civilization. 



Even those who consider that man was civilized from the beginning, 

 and look upon savages as the degenerate descendants of much superior 

 parents, must still admit that our ancestors were once mere savages, 

 and may find therefore much interest in this study ; but it no doubt ap- 

 pears far more important to those who think, as I do, that the primitive 

 condition of man was one of barbarism, and that the history of the human 

 race has, on the whole, been one of progress. 



I do not of course suppose that every people must necessarily advance ; 

 but those who do not, will assuredly be replaced, sooner or later, by 

 more worthy races. Nor does progress take i)lace alike, or j»;aH passu, 

 in all nations. The Greeks, though very advanced in arts, were extremely 

 backward in other respects. Even the most civilized races show traces, 

 and often more than traces, of their former barbarism. 



Nor do I mean that our modern savages in all respects reproduce the 

 . condition of our ancestors in early times ; on the contrary, even the 

 Australians have now codes of laws and rules which have grown up 

 gradually, and cannot have existed originally. I feel satisfied, however, 

 that from the study of modern savages we can gain a correct idea of 

 man as he existed in ancient times, and of the stages through which our 

 civilization has been evolved. 



As regards their habits indeed, and the material conditions of life, 

 savages differ greatly. The Esquimaux, in the land of ice and seals, 

 the hunters of the American forests and prairies, the beautiful island- 

 ers of the still more beautiful islands in the Pacific, the Tartars of the 

 Siberian steppes, the Negroes of tropical Africa, necessarily differ 

 greatly in their diet, their clothes, their houses, &c. ; but, on the other 

 hand, as regards ideas and customs, the case is different, and we find 



