EVOLUTIONARY SCIENCE 159 



beings and the approximation of their manner of life 

 to that of their beastly ancestors is somewhat propor- 

 tionate to their antiquity. In whatever part of the 

 world man's early state is investigated, and whatever 

 race of men is considered, this law of development 

 from ancient savagery is said to hold good. Seeming 

 exceptions have been discovered, and the existing sav- 

 age races are thought by many to show signs of degen- 

 eration from higher conditions and beliefs. Some 

 authorities in comparative rehgion think that evidence 

 exists of a primitive monotheism; and many ancient / 

 peoples possessed traditions of a better age. Yet the,' 

 general conclusion that the nearer we come in our 

 study of man's past to the time when he was evolved t 

 from a lower species, the more closely do his habits 

 resemble those of his beastly progenitors — this con- 

 clusion is too widely accepted either to be ignored in I 

 our inquiry or to be denied with convincing effect by / 

 non-experts in anthropological science. I certainly do 

 not class myself among anthropological experts; and 

 it is not my intention in this discussion to combat the 

 contention that natural investigation, exclusively con- 

 sidered, appears to show that man's moral depravity, 

 broadly speaking, is proportionate to his antiquity.^ \ 



to be estimated from the point of view which these races were capa- 

 ble of taking. 



1 Lest I be misunderstood at this point, I ought to remind the 

 reader that I am summarizing the prevaihng view of anthropolo- 

 gists. That it requires some modification, I believe. But the argu- 

 ment of these lectures does not require me to show this, and I am 

 seeking to meet the modern attack as far as possible on its own ground. 



