258 Christian and Savage Morality. 



that they were in general endowed with all that 

 virile morality by which men regulate their con 

 duct towards one another and make living together 

 in society possible. What, then, was the founda 

 tion of the missionary s general depreciatory 

 judgment ? It was not a baseless verdict. His 

 opinion had been formed in the light of an ob 

 servation that astonished and appalled him. He 

 was surrounded by a community that had not the 

 faintest conception of the virtue of chastity, and 

 chastity has been so exalted and glorified by the 

 Christian Church that its absence might well 

 strike a Christian missionary as the collapse of 

 all morality. 



It has now been shown that the morality of 

 the family is varied and changeable. It has fur 

 ther been suggested that, when women are put 

 aside, a remarkable agreement may be found be 

 tween the morals of savage and civilized man. 

 But this last statement requires some qualifi 

 cation. The modern American owes duties to 

 every man as man ; the primitive American owes 

 none outside the circle of his own tribe. This 

 contrast, however, is rather apparent than real. 

 For, in times of war, Christian nations think it 

 right to kill and plunder their enemies ; and the 

 normal condition of the savage is one of war, 



