ON THE HYPOTHESIS OF EVOLUTION. 165 



Egyptians, of jewels, and tliey were allowed '' an eye for an eye 

 and a tooth for a tooth." They were expected to butcher other 

 nations, with their women and children, their flocks and their 

 herds. If we look at the lives of men recorded in the Old Testa- 

 ment as examples of distinguished excellence, we find that their 

 standard, however superior to that of the peoj)le around them, 

 would ill accord with the morality of the present day. They were 

 all polygamists, slaveholders, and warriors. Abraham treated Ha- 

 gar and Ishmael with inhumanity. Jacob, with his mother's aid, 

 deceived Isaac, and received thereby a blessing which extended to 

 the whole Jewish nation. David, a man whom Paul tells us the 

 Lord found to be after his own heart, slew the messenger who 

 brought tidings of the death of Saul, and committed other acts 

 which would stain the reputation of a Christian beyond redemp- 

 tion. It is scarcely necessary to turn to other nations if this be 

 true of the chosen men of a chosen people. History, indeed, pre- 

 sents us with no people prior to, or contemporary with, the Jews 

 who were not morally their inferiors.* 



If we turn to more modern periods, an examination of the mo- 

 rality of Greece and Eome reveals a curious intermixture of lower 

 and higher moral conditions. While each of these nations joro- 

 duced excellent moralists, the influence of their teachings was not 

 sufficient to elevate the masses above what would now be regarded 

 as a very low standard. The popularity of those scenes of cruelty, 

 the gladiatorial shows and the combats with wild beasts, sufficiently 

 attests this. The Roman virtue of patriotism, while productive 

 of many noble deeds, is in itself far from being a disinterested 

 one, but partakes rather of the nature of partisanship and selfish- 

 ness. If the Greeks were superior to the Romans in humanity, 

 they were apparently their inferiors in the social virtues, and were 

 much below the standard of Christian nations in both respects. 



Ancient history points to a state of chronic war, in which the 

 social relations were in confusion, and the development of the 

 useful arts was almost impossible. Savage races, which continue 

 to this day in a similar moral condition, are, we may easily be- 

 lieve, most unhappy. They are generally divided into tribes, 

 which are mutually hostile, or friendly only with the view of in- 

 juring some other tribe. Might is their law, and robbery, rapine, 



* The evidence on this point being very imperfect, judgment may be properly 

 suspended. (Ed. 1886.) 



