294 DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION 



and of the physical qualities of genetically connected 

 peoples. Thus the nations of Europe that branched out 

 in all directions from very nearly the same sources 

 possessed common linguistic characters and somewhat 

 similar creeds. The Sanskrit-speaking races were the 

 original Brahmins and Buddhists. Ancestor worship is 

 an accompaniment of the peculiar languages spoken by 

 eastern Mongolian peoples. And although the correla- 

 tion specified is by no means invariable, because a race 

 of one stock can readily accept the religion of a neighbor 

 or of a conqueror, yet much is gained through the in- 

 troduction of the idea of evolutionary relationships. 



A more logical classification frankly adopts the genetic 

 method and clearly recognizes the direct effects of cultu- 

 ral and intellectual attainments upon the way a reli- 

 gious system becomes formulated. In such an arrange- 

 ment, similar to that of Jastrow, religions can be classed 

 as those of savagery, of barbarism, of advanced culture, 

 and of civilization. Among the first named, nota- 

 bly those of Polynesian and African tribes, beliefs in 

 diversified ghosts and spirits bulk largely, and every 

 moving thing, be it a river or a cloud or a tree or animal, 

 is held to be animated by an invisible conscious genius ; 

 the spirits reside in everything, as well as in the great 

 unknown beyond. Above these in the scale are the 

 religions of so-called primitive cults, more elaborate and 

 formalized in the ancient beliefs of Egypt and Assyria, 

 but still below those of advanced culture, which make up 

 a third group. The fourth class includes the religions 

 which tend to be coextensive with life, and which enjoin 

 the higher harmony of practical and theoretical con- 

 ceptions. Taking Christianity as an example, the con- 



