THE EVOLUTION OF A FATHER. 299 



were safe ; and the old marriage dates, with their sub 

 sequent desertions, were struck from the human cal 

 endar. So arose, or at least was inaugurated, Family 

 Life, the first and the last nursery of the higher sym 

 pathies, and the home of all that was afterwards holy 

 in the world. One could not find a simpler instance 

 of the growing sovereignty of Mind over the powers 

 of Nature. So remote a cause as the inclination of 

 the earth s axis, and the consequent changes of the 

 seasons, determines the time of Marriage for almost 

 the whole animal creation, while Man, and a few other 

 forms of life whose environment is exceptional, are 

 able to refuse all such dictations. It was when Man s 

 mind became capable of making its own provisions 

 against the weather and the crops that the possibility 

 of Fatherhood, Motherhood, and the Family were re 

 alized. 



The supporters of the hypothesis of promiscuity 

 have tried to show, what would almost follow from 

 their theory, that the children in primitive times be 

 longed rather to the tribe. But it is not likely that 

 this was the case. The hypothesis of promiscuity 

 itself, notwithstanding its support from M Lennan, 

 Morgan, Lubbock, Bastian, Post and other authorities, 

 has probably received its deathblow ; and the ancient- 

 ness of the family as well as of the institution of Mar 

 riage are both vindicated by later facts. &quot;Every 

 where,&quot; writes Westermarck, &quot; we find the tribes or 

 clans composed of several families, the members of 

 each family being more closely connected with one 

 another than with the rest of the tribe. The Family, 

 consisting of parents, children, and often also their 

 next descendants, is a universal institution among ex- 



