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.