642 POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. 



its possessor may pay the debts of poorer men and settle differences, we are 

 obliged to reject the assumption that &quot; brotherly love &quot; can exist only as a 

 consequence of divine injunctions, with promised rewards and threatened 

 punishments ; for of these Araf uras we read that 



&quot; Of the immortality of the soul they have not the least conception. To 

 all my enquiries on the subject they answered, No Arafura hns ever returned 

 to us after death, therefore we know nothing of a future state, and this is 

 the first time we have heard of it. Their idea was, when you are dead 

 there is an end of you. Neither have they any notion of the creation of the 

 world. They only answered, None of us were aware of this, we have nevei 

 heard anything about it, and therefore do not know who has done it all. &quot; 



The truth disclosed by the facts is that, so far as men s moral states are con 

 cerned, theory is almost nothing and practice is almost evervthing. No 

 matter how high their nominal creed, nations given to political burglari3S to 

 get &quot;scientific frontiers,&quot; and the like, will have among their members many 

 who &quot; annex &quot; others goods for their own convenience ; and with the orga 

 nized crime of aggressive war, will go criminality in the behaviour of one 

 citizen to another. Conversely, as these uncultivated tribes prove, no matter 

 how devoid they are of religious beliefs, those who, generation after genera 

 tion remaining unmolested, inflict no injuries upon others, have their altru 

 istic sentiments fostered by the sympathetic intercourse of a peaceful daily 

 life, and display the resulting virtues. We need teaching that it is impossible 

 to join injustice and brutality abroad with justice and humanity at home. 

 What a pity these Heathens cannot be induced to send missionaries among 

 the Christians 1 



