164 THE IMMORTALITY OE ANIMALS 



history. Slavery was once considered legitimate 

 by all civilized nations, as the slaves were of a dif- 

 ferent and subordinate race to their masters. The 

 robbery and murder of foreigners are considered 

 legitimate to-day by some countries, and the savage 

 who can boast of the most scalps of other tribes or 

 races is the greatest hero. Though men may be 

 cannibals and though they may be ignorant and 

 cruel, live in caves and holes in the ground, go 

 naked, and subsist on herbs, roots, snakes, and 

 lizards, and occasionally roast a fat missionary, yet 

 they are never denied the possession of souls ; while 

 innocent, helpless animals are conceived of as 

 being without this God-given endowment. How 

 narrow and contracted such a system of theology 

 to discriminate thus against any of God's crea- 

 tures. 



History is a very important factor in holding 

 mankind responsible for any great wrong com- 

 mitted individually or collectively. Less than a 

 century ago a book was published, in this country, 

 based upon the hypothesis that the African race 

 did not have souls, and according to the history of 

 the case, a large number of good people were per- 

 suaded to believe in its arguments. The Mahom- 



