220 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



SIR JOHN LUBBOCK AND THE RELIGION OF 

 SAVAGES. 



BY THE VKRY REV. JAMES CAEMICHAEL, 



DEAN OF MONTREAL. 



THE question as to whether there are races or tribes on the 

 earth entirely without a religion is one that demands on its 

 threshold a definition of the word " religion." That it can not 

 fairly be tied down to advanced forms of belief seems apparent, 

 and hence the necessity of falling back on the original meaning 

 of the word i. e., that of binding fast the human mind to a sense 

 of the obligation which it owes to supernatural powers. Civiliza- 

 tion, education, may make this obligation clearer, and a professed 

 revelation may bring before the mind the attributes of the powers 

 to whom the obligation is felt to -be due ; but, as long as the obli- 

 gation is mentally present and the force of the obligation fashions 

 to any important extent not only personal but tribal conduct, so 

 long in fairness we seem bound to acknowledge the religiousness 

 of such persons or tribes, even though such religiousness may 

 never create a theology, or a cut-and-dried system of doctrinal 

 truths. 



If this definition of religion be accepted, then it may boldly be 

 asserted that, as far as is known, there is not a tribe on the face of 

 the earth without a religion ; indeed, it may be said that, of all 

 human ideas that in any form influence the mind and conduct of 

 man, there is no idea so widespread and influential as the re- 

 ligious idea. To us, living as we think in the light of reason or 

 revelation, such religious ideas may appear unworthy of the 

 name, but when we consider that the most indefinite belief may 

 and indeed, as a rule, does lead a savage to fashion his con- 

 duct in accordance with what he believes to be the will of higher 

 powers, as far as personal actions are concerned, he stands on ex- 

 actly the same platform as the most devoted believer in natural 

 or revealed religion. 



In such cases, as far as the use of the word religion is con- 

 cerned, it matters little what the mental idea of the higher power 

 or powers believed in may be. That idea may center itself in a 

 supreme God, or a Trinity of gods, or a multitude of gods, or in 

 good and evil spirits, or in gods dwelling temporarily in com- 

 mon things, or in the spirits of dead ancestors or friends, but as 

 long as any one of such powers demands and receives obedience, 

 and as such obedience fashions life, the most indefinite spirit is 

 practically as powerful as the most clearly defined god. And the 

 same may be said with reference to forms or methods of worship. 

 If the worship, whatever form it takes, is regarded as a necessity, 



