The National tribune., 1890-12-25
AUSTRALIAN BOAT.

unfruitful branch. u is we'll nigh impractical
Bile 10 define a savage. and to conceive an actu-
ally primitive condition Of mankind IS, per-
haps, impossible Some imperfect description
Of those characteristics which mark tho rela-
lively undeveloped human being may be at
tempted, but at most this will only suggest
approximately correct ideas of his state, aud
even these must be conveyed chiefly by means
Of negatives.
The savage is the most homogeneous Of all
men. lie is, considered abstractly and at large.
comparatively deficient in muscular aud
nervous energy. and in vital and mental vigOr.
On the vast circle Of his environment no
touches but few points, and therefore for
him the earth is filled with the creations Of
fancy and Of fear. Against the adverse forces
Of nature he has no guard. Without rational
curiosity, he is necessarily ignorant even OF
those things most necessary for him TO know.
So constituted that violent emotions immedi-
ately explode IN action, the general torpor Of
life is broken by fits Of
FEENZIED EXCITEMENT,
which entail disaster and death upon himself
or others. Those inhibitOry centers OF the
brain through whose function dcliberatiOn in
action is induced, by bringing into conscious
ness the associations connected with any act
are undeyelopcd, and the associations them
selves do not exist. Hence he is. To- a great
extent, oTganically incapable OF justice, tenn
perance, pity, moderation, mercy and sympa-
thy, except ia their rudiIneHtaTy forms. From
his intolerance 81 persistent effort, except in
those few directions IA which lac has been edu.
Gated TO perseverance, by necessity, and through
thOughtlessnoss. brutality and fcOcity he COM
mits incredible Inconsistencies aud crimes. He
reycngcs the aggressiOns or injuries oI accident
or inadyeTtencc as premuditated oiIsnses muir
dcrs his disabled father while worshiping the
ancestral ghost rs god bakes and eats his
wife or, impatient Of delay, may bait his hook
with the flesh OF his child.
All this, and more, lac has done, not because
the savage is monster. nor because he is in
capable of good feeling, but for the reason that
be Is an uuevOlved, negative man, and di-
rectly subseTvient TO existing impulses and
needs. These statements Of savagery as a con-
dition are abstTsctly true, the illustrations are
matters Of fact
Point out to men In this state pictures Of
perfectly familiar objects in a book and most
probably they will not recognize them. The
reason OF this gives the key to their
ENTIRE SPIRITUAL EXISTENCE.
Beset, as Is the untutored man, with phantoms
and surrounded by unrealities which have
more influence upon his miud than actualities
savage is essentially n materialist confined To
the concrete, incapable Of approaching any
thing beyond that with which the experience
OF his senses directly acquaint him, and in the
fullest meaning of the term he is intensely
egotistic. This failure 10 recognize pictured
objects, while at the same time he may be able
TO draw chart, depends upon the inability of
hls intellect TO appreciate outward things
through their common qualities. IIo only
knows them by means Of phenomena peculiar
To themselves. They are recognized as like
one another, because when remembered and
set side by side in consciousness, as they are
placed in undeycloped languages where cOnuec-
ton between words aud ideas is represented by
the contiguity of their symbols in sound, he
sees that they are alike Pictures have not
the attributes of outward things, and therefore
do OF suggest them.
orientation, however, is one of the