HUMAN CORRUPTION A FACT. 189 



natural history of Man as that he is a Liped 

 without feathers. It is entirely independent 

 of any belief, or any theory as to Man's 

 original condition. Sir J. Lubbock's argu- 

 ment implies that the tribes, if such there be, 

 (which, by the way, is extremely doubtful) 

 who are not known to have any ideas 

 at all in respect to spiritual beings or to 

 another vrorld, are in a lower condition than 

 tribes which have a *^ religion," however cruel 

 and horrible its rites may be. According to 

 this theory, even devil-worship would be a 

 step in ascent towards "civilization" from 

 the "utter barbarism" of Primeval Man. But 

 this is a theory as contrary to reason as it 

 is contrary to all the evidence we have on 

 the history of Man. The farther we go back 



