THE BEGINNINGS OP SOCIAL EVOLUTION 139 



down under the influence of circumstances ; an attach- 

 ment which was based upon an affection that was 

 slight and never very lasting. Instead of being an 

 ideal condition, evidence shows that the life of the 

 primitive families was only a step in advance of the 

 brute whose law of life was the law of struggle and 

 extermination. 



Such a condition was hardly an advance over that 

 of certain animal societies. Animals, as well as men, 

 are ruled by fear and pride, and, to a certain extent, 

 by mother's love. Those who have observed the 

 natural life of monkeys, for example, tell us that 

 the families or groups live in harmony and that the 

 children are forced by fear of punishment to obey 

 the will of their parents or the leaders of the groups. 

 The males protect and lead the family, and the two 

 sexes are as faithful to each other as they are in the 

 low races of mankind. The primitive human fam- 

 ily certainly occupied a higher position, since its 

 customs were more definite and were enforced by 

 language. But the difference could not have been 

 very great, certainly not sufficient to indicate that any 

 radical break here separated mankind from the rest 

 of the animal world. It must be emphasized again 

 that such a low condition of the human family is not 

 simply a matter of scientific imagination. It is actu- 

 ally found among many savage races of to-day, and 

 historical records plainly point to a time when it 

 represented the life of the ancestors of the races that 

 have later developed into the highest nations. Such 

 a condition was found, for example, among the Aryan 

 race in its early history. 



Within these families the relation of the members 

 to each other showed considerable variety. Whether 



