The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-10-05
Was Man Originally SAVAGE,

At the meeting of the British Association al
Dundee, Sir John Lubbock Bart, F. r. s.. Presi.
dent of the chronological Society, made an in
teresting contribution on the above subject. The
| late Archbishop Whately held that we have nc
| reason to suppose that any community ever did OF
ever can,emerge unasssted from state of utter
barbarsm into anything that can be called ciyiliza-
tcn. Having pointed out the difficulty OF produc-
ing evidence to satisfy Whately OF the utter
primitive barbarism OF race, Sir John went into
evidence showing that civilized races are descend.
ants of races that Have risen from barbarism. II
it was asked how it came to pass the Australian
had not advanced to the same stage as the Eu.
ropean races, Sir John Lubbock answered. he
cause Australia possesses neither cereals nor
animals that can be domesticated with any adyan-
tage; and asked il the Australian ia DEGRADED yyby
Is not the European equally degraded? Whately
quoted President Smith, That If man had been left
an outcast orphan Of nature he must have perish
ed before he learned to supply his urgent wants.
The writer answered that the same NAV be said OF
the gorilla, or the chimpanZee who we're certainly
not the degraded descendants Of civilized auces-
tors.
Among tho facts which seemed to. initiate
against Whatelys view, Sir John mentioned the
following: Whately supposed mankind ORIGINALLY
herdsmen and cultivators. The Australians. Tas-
manians, North and South Americans and several
other moro or iess savage races, were entirely iS-
norant of cattle-rearing and cultiyatnp the soil.
He thought it extremely improbable that such easy
and advantageous arts once learned should ever
havo been abandoned. Lost civilization would
leave traces behind it. No trace of bone OF either
oxen or sheep had been found in the whole extent
of Australia or America, nor, in Australia, of the
horse. Cultivated cereals would survive. perhaps.
in wild state and in modified forms; but other
plants follow in the train OF man. The Maors
have melancholy proverb that the Maori disap-
pears before the white man Just as the white mars
away the Maori fly, and the clover kills the New
Zealand fern. The fauna and flora. Of Australia
give no evidence Of former superior race No
weapons or instruments of metal have ever been
discovered in any country inhabited by savages ig-
norapt of metallurgy. Pottery afforded q still
stroneer argument and no fragment ,of pottery
had ever been found in Australia, New Zealand or
POLYNESIA. None Of these arts, or the use of the
bow. or spinning was likely to have been aban-
referred to religion, Of which several tribes were
wholly ignorant. Had it once existed among them
it would not have been lost.
The second part of Sir Johns argument was that
Improvement has taken place among savage tribes.
troduced outriggers; the Waiiil negroes have
learned to make brass; the Tahitians had given up
canibalism when visited by Cook, Some of the
American tribes cultivate maize, which is native
plant-a clear evidence OF step in advance. Sub
stitutes for writing were found among various
tribes. II the Mexicans had ever possessed letters
would they have fallen back on picture writing
The numerical systems of sayages often amount
to no higher than five; no Australian language
goes beyond four; the Brazilian tribes cannot
count beyond two. Among civilized nations nu-
merioals are often derived words among sayages
they bear the stamp OF nsH4e and recent origin.
The most curious and striking part OF the argu-
ment remains to be put, that the most civilized
nations were once in state OF barbarfsm. In the
cradle OF so-called civilization and Syria,
and in India the remains aof o slow age have been
discovered. Why were stone knives used by Jew
ish and Egyptian priests, just because they had
been once in general use? The regard paid to
marriage in different nations was also sgular il
lusrationa Of various degrees Of progress, o.
Many sayaees have not arrived at the idea OF
marriage. A savage's wives are essentially part
OF his property. In some cases the tie is OF such
g. nature that it affords not even presumption as
to parentage. Many saysges recognize kinship
only on the mothers side. This is the case with
tho South Sea Islanders generally. 1t was 80 with
the ancient Celts, Greeks, Gbssack hordes, &c. By
tracing up the idea OF manage we can account for
the two extraordinary customs which we fnd in
every part of the world, that man is regarded as
no relation to his own children. Only as things
improved and the probability of parentage became
greater, kinship through females only was aban-
doned. Sir John then proceeded TO reply to the
argument of Halliburton, that the univelsahty OF
certain customs which APPEARED arbitrary proved
they were derived from a&common source. He
showed that the belief inEhosts, &C., was easily
accounted for by the condition through which the
people were passing. We e6ud hardly say when
a custom was arbitrary or aDelief unnatural. The
Australians do not believe in natural DEATH When
4 man dies they take il for granted that he has
been destroyed by witchcraq, and the only doubt
is who is the culprit. Sir John Lubbock thought
that similar ideas in distant countries owed their
origin, not to the dispersion Of the human race,
but to the original identity of the human mind.