

The Descent of Man 



no government, and were merciless to every one 



not of their own small tribe. He who has 

 a savage in his native land will no1 feel much 

 shame, if forced to acknowledge that the blood of 

 some more humble creature flows in his veins. For 

 my own part I would as soon be descended fr< >m 

 that heroic little monkey who braved his dreaded 

 enemy in order to save the life of his keeper; or 

 from that old baboon, who, descending from the 

 mountains, carried away in triumph his young 

 comrade from a crowd of astonished dogs — as 

 from a savage who delights to torture his ene- 

 mies, offers up bloody sacrifices, practises infan- 

 ticide without remorse, treats his wives like 

 slaves, knows no decency, and is haunted bv the 

 grossest superstitions. 



Man may be excused for feeling some pride at 

 having risen, though not through his own ex- 

 ertions, to the very summit of the organic scale; 

 and the fact of his having thus risen, instead of 

 having been aboriginally placed there, may give 

 him hope for a still higher destiny in the distant 

 future. But we are not here concerned with 

 hopes or fears, only with the truth as far as our 

 reason permits us to discover it. I have given 

 the evidence to the best of my ability, and we 

 must acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man, 

 with all his noble qualities, with sympathy which 

 feels for the most debased, with benevolence 

 which extends not only to other men but t<> the 

 humblest living creature, with his godlike intel- 

 lect which has penetrated into the movements 

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