COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



Indians described by Mr. Parkman, such vil- 

 lainy as this formed the most delightful of re- 

 creations. 



Thus, though the savage has the germ of a 

 moral sense, which prompts him, irrespective 

 of utilitarian considerations, to postpone his 

 personal welfare to that of his clan, he can by 

 no means be accredited with a fully developed 

 moral sense. And the incentives which influence 

 him are not what we call moral sentiments, in 

 the strict sense of the phrase. " They are sim- 

 ply sentiments that precede and make possible 

 those highest sentiments which do not refer 

 either to personal benefits or evils to be expected 

 from men, or to more remote rewards and pun- 

 ishments." The lower incentives have indeed 

 continued to exert a powerful, perhaps a pre- 

 dominating, influence down to the present time. 

 So long as readers are found for ethical treatises 

 like that of Jonathan Dymond, in which the 

 sole ground of moral obligation is held to be 

 the supernaturally revealed fiat of an anthropo- 

 morphic Deity, " while sermons set forth the 

 torments of the damned and the joys of the 

 blessed as the chief deterrents and incentives, 

 and while we have prepared for us printed 

 instructions ' how to make the best of both 

 worlds,* it cannot be denied that the feelings 

 which impel and restrain men are still largely 

 composed of elements like those operative on 

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