cribes.

This is so evident that probably, or possibly, the Dampier state of
society was not developed in obedience to a recognised tribal interest,
but in obedience to an affectionate instinct. "Ils s'entr' aiment les
une les autres," says Brebeuf of the Hurons.(1) "I never heard the
women complain of being left out of feasts, or that the men ate the
best portions... every one does his business sweetly, peaceably, without
dispute. You never see disputes, quarrels, hatred, or reproach among
them." Brebeuf then tells how a young Indian stranger, in a time of
want, stole the best part of a moose. "They did not rage or curse,
they only bantered him, and yet to take our meat was almost to take our
lives." Brebeuf wanted to lecture the lad; his Indian host bade him hold
his peace, and the stranger was given hospitality, with his wife and
children. "They are very generous, and make it a point not to attach
themselves to the goods of this world." "Their greatest reproach is
'that man wants everything, he is greedy'. They support, with never
a murmur, widows, orphans and old men, yet they kill hopeless or
troublesome invalids, and their whole conduct to Europeans was the
reverse of their domestic behaviour."

(1) Relations, 1634, p. 29.

Another example of savage unselfish ethics may be found in Mr. Mann's
account of the Andaman Islanders, a nomad race, very low in culture. "It
is a noteworthy trait, and one which deserves high commendation, that
every care and consideration are paid by all classes to the very young,
the weak, the aged, and the helpless, and these being made special
objects of interest and attention, invariably fare better in regard to
the comforts and necessaries of daily life than any of the otherwise
more fortunate members of the community."(1)

(1) J. A. I., xii. p. 93.

Mr. Huxley, in his celebrated Romanes Lecture on "Evolution and
Morality," laid stress on man's contravention of the cosmic law, "the
weakest must go to the wall". He did not explain the evolution of man's
opposition to this law. The ordinary evolutionist hypothesis, that
the tribe would prosper most whose members were least self-seeking, is
contradicted by all history. The overbearing, "grabbing," aristocratic,
individualistic, unscrupulous races beat the others out of the field.
Mr. Huxley, indeed, alleged that the "influence of the cosmic process
in the evolution of society is the greater the more rudimentary its
civilisati