Prehistoric and Savage Man 191 



tliis exhibition will now help to bring home to us the essen- 

 tial similarity of nature which underlies the conspicuous 

 diversities of appearance presented by different members of 

 the great human family. Thus our poor cousins of the 

 woods and wilds, in fulfilling the end of their existence, are 

 far from devoid of utility to us, since their testimony is of 

 high value in supporting our claims to a more than brutal 

 origin. The religion of Abraham and Chrysostom, the intel- 

 lect of Aristotle and Newton, the art of Raphael — of Shake- 

 speare, of Mozart, have their claims to be no mere bestial 

 developments supported by that unconscious testimony. 



These considerations, ladies and gentlemen, may well 

 cause you to regard this exhibition not merely as one replete 

 with objects of curiosity and interest, but as a spectacle full 

 of deep and solemn import. And once more permit me 

 to congratulate you on its existence liere to-day, and to con- 

 clude with a practical suggestion with reference to the 

 locahty in which we have met. It is eminently fitting that 

 such an exhibition should have its home in this great city, 

 one of the largest shipping centres in the world, the home of 

 a commerce which brings in its tributes from almost every 

 race and clime. No city is better able than is Liverpool 

 to give important aid to the science of Ethnography, nor, 

 I am well persuaded, is there any want of generous desire on 

 the part of its merchants to help the science to the best of 

 their ability. I ask, then, why should a great ethnographical 

 collection be but a transient, however attractive, feature of 

 this city ? Why should there not be a permanent local 

 ethnographic museum attached to such a port as this ? 

 I should indeed rejoice if from this very 25th of May might 

 be dated the setting on foot of such a project as the founda- 

 tion of the Liverpool Ethnographical Gallery. Whilst the 

 competition of foreign countries renders it daily more diffi- 

 cult for us to secure costly works of art, the opportunity still 



