The Destiny of Man. 79 



men, or conceivable by them, was the 

 physical fact of blood-relationship. Illus- 

 trations of this are found in plenty far 

 within the historic period. The very 

 township, which under one name or an* 

 other has formed the unit of political 

 society among all civilized peoples, was 

 originally the stockaded dwelling-place of 

 a clan which traced its blood to a common 

 ancestor. In such a condition of things 

 the nearest approach ever made to peace 

 was a state of armed truce ; and while the 

 simple rules of morality were recognized, 

 they were only regarded as binding within 

 the limits of the clan. There was no rec- 

 ognition of the wickedness of robbery and 

 murder in general. 



This state of things, as above hinted, 

 could not come to an end as long as men 

 obtained food by seizing upon edible ob- 

 jects already in existence. The supply of 

 fish, game, or fruit being strictly limited, 

 men must ordinarily fight under penalty of 

 starvation. If we could put a moral inter- 



