The tradition so universally prevalent among the disciples of all the
Oriental systems of religious faith, as well as those of a more modern
origin, and which is still a conspicuous element of the Christian
system,--that man commenced his career in a state of moral
perfection,--is so obviously at war with every principle of
anthropology, and every page of human history tending to demonstrate the
moral character of the primitive inhabitants of the earth, that I shall
employ but little time and space in exposing its absurdity and falsity.
1. All the organic remains of the _earliest_ types of the human species
that have been found demonstrate conclusively that man started on the
animal plane with animal feelings, propensities, and habits, almost
totally devoid of moral feelings, and "consequently victim to his
passions, propensities, and lusts."
Where, then, were his moral purity and angelic holiness? The idea is a
mere chimera.
2. It is now a settled problem in mental science that the character of
every species of animate being corresponds with its organization;
that the organic structure of the being, whether dead or alive, always
indicates its true character. If it possesses the form and type of the
tiger it will always be found with the disposition and habits of the
tiger; or, if it is a sheep in form, it will be a sheep in character.
There is no deviation from this rule. Hence, when we find the bones of
the early types of the human species resembling those of the lower order
of animals, there is no escaping the conclusion that they possessed an
analogous character.
3. Look, then, at the fact that the skulls and facial bones of human
beings, found embedded in the rocks of Gibraltar, belonging to a
race which naturalists have decided existed upon the earth sixty-five
thousand years ago, closely approximate those of an animal. They
possessed retreating foreheads, prognathous jaws, extremely coarse
features, and skulls nearly an inch in thickness; hands resembling those
of a monkey, feet resembling those of a bear, and cranial receptacle
showing a very small amount of moral brain. Now, it is evident that
this early race, with such a gross, brutal organization, could not
have possessed fine moral sensibilities and lofty virtue, purity, and
perfection.
4. And we find that nations whose organizations indicate a higher moral
character are of more modern origin, as shown by their organic remains
being found in more recently formed strata,--the tertiary formation.
It is thus scientifically demonstrated that man's tendency toward moral
perfection is inversely to the remoteness of time,--that, the nearer we
retrace his history to his origin, the lower position he occupies in the
scale of morals.
5. We will cite one more historical fact to establish this theory The
existence of a tribe of negroes has been traced (as stated in Chap. 16.)
to near the date of Noah's flood, whose organization indicates a very
near approach to the animal; thus showing, that, if they are descendants
of Adam, he himself must have possessed an inferior or defective moral
organization and character.
6. Let the reader, after noting these facts, read the history of the
practical lives of the earliest races or nations whose deeds have been
recorded, and he will find they sustain the same proportion; that
their defective moral character corresponds (_ceteris paribus_) to
the remoteness of the era in which they lived. The history of the
Jews themselves illustrates and corroborates the proposition, as the
character of the modern Jews is far superior to those of the era of
Abraham and Moses.
7. Once more: The fact that the moral character of nearly all nations
is constantly improving, proves beyond question that man once occupied
a much lower plane, and that, instead of falling from a state of moral
purity, he is constantly ascending toward that condition.
8. The current belief of man's primitive moral perfection is easily
traced to its origin. Nearly all the Oriental nations had a tradition
of a "golden age," when the most sublime and unalloyed bliss was the lot
and enjoyment of the _genus homo_. But the serpent that beguiled Eve to
eat of the forbidden fruit in Eden, the serpent who stole the recipe
of immortal life in Assyria, the entering of Typhon into the golden
paradise of Osirus in Egypt, the opening of Pandora's box in Greece, the
piercing of the evil egg by Ahrimanes in Chaldea, the machinations of
the snake in India, of the lizard in Persia, and the demon in Mexico,
seem to have all had an agency in defeating the omniscient designs of
Deity, and placing the reins of government in the hands of the world's
omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient evil genius, thus prostrating
for ever the great and glorious plans of Infinite Wisdom.