596 



THE RACES OF MAN 



[chap. XL. 



flavage state in intellectual achievements, we have not 

 advanced equally in morals. It \b true that among those 

 classes who have no wants that cannot he easily sup- 

 plied, and among whom pohlic opinion has great influence, 

 the rights of others are fully respected. It is ti-ue, also, 

 that we have vastly extended the sphere of those rights, 

 and include within them all the hrotherhood of man. But 

 it is not too much to say, that the mass of our populations 

 have not at all advanced beyond the savage code of 

 morals, and have in maiiy cases sunk Ijelow it. A defi- 

 cient morality is the great blot of modern civilization, and 

 the gi^eatest hindrance to tnie progress. 



Dnring tlie last century, and especially in the last tliirty 

 years, oiu* intellectual and material advancement has been 

 too quickly achieved lor us to reap the full benefit of it. 

 Our mastery over the forces of nature has led to a rapid 

 growth of population, and a vast accumulation of wealth ; 

 but these have brought with them such an amount of 

 poverty and crime, and have fostered the growth of so 

 much sordid feeling and so many fierce passions, that it 

 may well be questioned, whether the mental and moral 

 status of our population has not on the average been 

 lowered, and whether the evil has not overbalanced the 

 good. Compared with our wondrous progress in physical 

 science and its practical applications, our system of 

 govei-nmeut, of adrninistering justice, of national educa- 

 tion, and our whole social and moral organization, remains 

 in a state of barbarism ♦ And if we continue to devote 

 our chief energies to the ntilizing of our knowledge 

 of the laws of nature with the view of still turther 

 extending our commerce and our wealth, the e^-ils which 

 necessarily accompany these when too eagerly pursued, 

 may increase to such gigantic dimensions as to be beyond 

 our power to alleviate. 



We should now clearly recognise the fact, that the 

 wealth and knowledge and culture of the few do not con- 

 stitute civilization, and do not of themseives advance us 

 towards the " perfect social state/' Our vast manufactm-mg 

 system, our gigantic commerce, oiu- crowded towns and 

 cities, support and continually renew a ma^s of human 



• See uota next page. 



