THE ORIGIN OF MAN 241 



It is claimed that self-consciousness and other fac- 

 ulties not possessed by brutes may be evolved from 

 " other highly advanced intellectual faculties." As 

 to how self-consciousness could thus be evolved, we 

 are left wholly in the dark. No facts are given to 

 justify this extraordinary conclusion. It is a neces- 

 sary part of the theory of evolution, and consequent- 

 ly it must be assumed even in the absence of proof. 

 Mr. Darwin, in speaking of the many high powers of 

 the human mind which have been enumerated, says 

 cautiously, " I will hazard a few remarks on the 

 more important and interesting of these points." He 

 does not claim to offer anything like conclusive evi- 

 dence that self-consciousness and other high powers 

 have been evolved from lower faculties, such as ani- 

 mals possess, but I think that he simply assumes it as 

 a necessary part of his theory. To tell us that self- 

 consciousness is evolved from certain high faculties 

 which themselves have been mostly produced by the 

 use of a perfect language may be a legitimate opin- 

 ion, but I think that it is very far from conclusive 

 evidence. 



He refers to the low moral standing of savages in 

 support of his theory. According to natural selec- 

 , tion, savages ought not to have any capacities except 

 those that have been constantly in use and that have 

 been preserved because they have been useful. The 

 moral standing of savages is low, and this fact would 

 seem to indicate a lack of capacity for morals. It is 

 found, however, that savages have natural powers 

 which enable them to make great progress in morals, 

 and in education in all directions. It is this native 

 capacity for improvement, which could not have been 

 evolved by their savage mode of life, that distin- 

 guishes them from animals. 



The story has been told of Mr. Darwin that when 



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