Appendix. 307 



say, of God. The tvord may be wanting among them, because thr 

 idea is not yet clear and distinct ; but no less does it exist within the 

 folds of the opening intelligence, and the philosophic observer easily 

 discovers it there." 



Passing many of the able thinkers, who have treated of this sub- 

 ject in some form, as Psychologists simply, we are more interested at 

 present, with the views of .those, who have of late treated it, from the 

 broader field of view — Anthropology. 



Mr. Darwin, in his " Descent of Man," published since these 

 Lectures were written, denies that man has naturally the idea of 

 God, but he grants all we claim, when he says, " If, however, we in- 

 clude under the term ' religion ' the belief in unseen or spiritual 

 agencies, the case is wholly different, fo7- this belief seems to be al- 

 7nost universal with the less civilized races." And the poor Fuegian 

 declared in the most solemn manner, says Mr. Darwin, " Oh, Mr. 

 Boynoe, much rain, much snow, blow much," when he saw Mr, Boy- 

 noe, needlessly, as he thought, killing the ducks. And yet Mr. Dar- 

 win adds, that he could never discover that the Fuegians believed in 

 what we should call a God ! Probably not. Nor is that the ques- 

 tion here. The question is M^hether they had struggling within, an 

 instinct that tended to reveal God, or to lead them to seek for a 

 knowledge of God by all its impulses and tendencies, as other in- 

 stincts work in man. It took the killing of those ducks to bring out 

 the belief of the Fuegian, in an unseen being who controlled the ele- 

 ments, and in man's accountability to him for his actions. 



Sir John Lubbock, after presenting his proof against the exist- 

 ence of any knowledge of God, among the degraded tribes of men, 

 considering all their superstitions, expresses this sentiment, which is 

 quoted approvingly by Darwin, and commented upon by him, as fol- 

 lows : " ' // is not too much to say that the JwiTible dread of tinknown 

 evil hangs like a thick cloud over savage life, and eniMtters every pleas' 

 tire.' These miserable and indirect consequences of our highest fac- 

 ulties, may be compared with the incidental and occasional mistakes 

 of the instincts of the lower animals." To all this we agree, only 

 substituting religious instincts for " highest faculties," and add that 

 the mistakes of these, are more terrible than those of the lower in- 

 stincts, because they are higher, and are linked in their activity, with 

 all of man's highest powers. They struggle, but they need light and 

 guidance, which must come to them, through the comprehending 

 powers, from the Revelations in God's works and Word. 



