[Footnote 11: Brough Smyth, i. 423. Cunow, p. 134. _Studies in Ancient History_, second series, _ut supra_.] [Footnote 12: See ‘The Origin of Totemism.’] [Footnote 13: Cf. p. 83.] [Footnote 14: _Proc. Roy. Soc. N.S.W._ xxxi. 161.] [Footnote 15: _Op. cit._ pp. 172-175.] CHAPTER VII THEORIES OF LORD AVEBURY The opinions of Lord Avebury (Sir John Lubbock) are to be collected from the sixth edition (1902) of his _Origin of Civilisation_. First published in 1870, this was a pioneer work of great value and importance. Perhaps the vast amount of new information and of new speculation which has accrued since 1870 might almost make us wish that Lord Avebury had found time to re-write his early book. But he ‘sees no reason to change in any essential respects the opinions originally expressed,’ and merely adds a few references to such recent researches as those of Messrs. Spencer and Gillen. Therefore we must not look to Lord Avebury for much new light on the origin of the Australian ‘classes’ or ‘primary divisions,’ or ‘phratries,’ and on their relations to the totem kindreds within them. LORD AVEBURY ON TOTEMISM Our author (p. 217) regards Totemism as synonymous with Nature-Worship. He speaks of ‘Nature-Worship or Totemism, in which natural objects, trees, lakes, stones, animals, &c. are worshipped.’ I am not acquainted (unless it be in early Peru) with any totem kin whose totem is a lake; and totems, very often, are not ‘worshipped’ at all. Nature-Worship, again, may exist where there is no Totemism, and Totemism where there is no Nature-Worship, indeed where, as among the Arunta, there is, strictly speaking, no worship, as far as we are informed. Again (p. 351), ‘Totemism’ (as opposed to fetichism), ‘is a deification of classes.’ But the term ‘deification’ implies the possession, by the deifiers, of the conception of Deity; of gods, or of a god. The Australians have totems, but, according to Lord Avebury, have no notion of a god or gods. They ‘possess merely certain vague ideas as to the existence of evil spirits, and a general dread of witchcraft’ (p. 338). It is not clear, then, how they can ‘deify’ classes of things, if they have no notion of deity. ‘They do not believe in the existence of a true Deity’ (with a capital D), says Lord Avebury, without defining what ‘a _true_ Deity’ is: and, contrary to the evidence of Mr. Howitt and many others, he denies that ‘morality is in any way connected with their religion, if such it can be called’ (p. 338). The authority cited is of 1859,[1] and is contradicted, for example, by Mr. Howitt (1880-1890), who is not here quoted. It is clear that Australian totems cannot result from the ‘deification of classes,’ if the Australians have no conception of Deity, whether ‘true’ or not so true.