Progress of Mankind from the Bottom of the Scale.—Illustrated by Inventions, Discoveries and Institutions.—Two Plans of Government—one Gentile and Social, giving a Society (Societas); the other Political, giving a State (Civitas).—The former founded upon Persons and Gentilism; the Latter upon Territory and Property.—The First, the Plan of Government of Ancient Society.—The Second, that of Modern or Civilized Society.—Uniformity of Human Experience.—Proposed Ethnical Periods—I. Lower Status of Savagery; II. Middle Status of Savagery; III. Upper Status of Savagery; IV. Lower Status of Barbarism; V. Middle Status of Barbarism; VI. Upper Status of Barbarism; VII. Status of Civilization.

Supremacy of Mankind over the Earth.—Control over Subsistence the Condition.—Mankind alone gained that Control.—Successive Arts of Subsistence—I. Natural Subsistence; II. Fish Subsistence; III. Farinaceous Subsistence; IV. Meat and Milk Subsistence; V. Unlimited Subsistence through Field Agriculture.—Long Intervals of Time between them.

Retrospect on the Lines of Human Progress.—Principal Contributions of Modern Civilization.—Of Ancient Civilization.—Of Later Period of Barbarism.—Of Middle Period.—Of Older Period.—Of Period of Savagery.—Humble Condition of Primitive Man.—Human Progress in a Geometrical Ratio.—Relative Length of Ethnical Periods.—Appearance of Semitic and Aryan Families.

Australian Classes.—Organized upon Sex.—Archaic Character of the Organization.—Australian Gentes.—The Eight Classes.—Rule of Marriage.—Descent in the Female Line.—Stupendous Conjugal System.—Two Male and Two Female Classes in each Gens.—Innovations upon the Classes.—Gens still Rudimentary.

The Gentile Organization.—Its Wide Prevalence.—Definition of a Gens.—Descent in the Female Line the Archaic Rule.—Rights, Privileges and Obligations of Members of a Gens.—Right of Electing and Deposing its Sachem and Chiefs.—Obligation not to marry in the Gens.—Mutual Rights of Inheritance of the Property of deceased Members.—Reciprocal Obligations of Help, Defense and Redress of Injuries.—Right of Naming its Members.—Right of Adopting Strangers into the Gens.—Common Religious Rites, Query.—A Common Burial Place.—Council of the Gens.—Gentes named after Animals.—Number of Persons in a Gens.

Definition of a Phratry.—Kindred Gentes Reunited in a Higher Organization.—Phratry of the Iroquois Tribes.—Its Composition.—Its Uses and Functions.—Social and Religious.—Illustrations.—The Analogue of the Grecian Phratry; but in its Archaic Form.—Phratries of the Choctas.—Of the Chickasas.—Of the Mohegans.—Of the Thlinkeets.—Their Probable Universality in the Tribes of the American Aborigines.

The Tribe as an Organization.—Composed of Gentes Speaking the same Dialect.—Separation in Area led to Divergence of Speech, and Segmentation.—The Tribe a Natural Growth.—Illustrations.—Attributes of a Tribe.—A Territory and Name.—An Exclusive Dialect.—The Right to Invest and Depose its Sachems and Chiefs.—A Religious Faith and Worship.—A Council of Chiefs.—A Head-Chief of Tribe in some Instances.—Three successive Forms of Gentile Government: First, a Government of One Power; Second, of Two Powers; Third, of Three Powers.

Confederacies Natural Growths.—Founded upon Common Gentes, and a Common Language.—The Iroquois Tribes.—Their Settlement in New York.—Formation of the Confederacy.—Its Structure and Principles.—Fifty Sachemships Created.—Made Hereditary in certain Gentes.—Number assigned to each Tribe.—These Sachems formed the Council of the Confederacy.—The Civil Council.—Its Mode of Transacting Business.—Unanimity Necessary to its Action.—The Mourning Council.—Mode of Raising up Sachems.—General Military Commanders.—This Office the Germ of that of a Chief Executive Magistrate.—Intellectual Capacity of the Iroquois.

Divisions of American Aborigines.—Gentes in Indian Tribes; with their Rules of Descent and Inheritance.—I. Hodenosaunian Tribes.—II. [Pg xii]Dakotian.—III. Gulf.—IV. Pawnee.—V. Algonkin.—VI. Athapasco-Apache.—VII. Tribes of North-west Coast.—Eskimos, a Distinct Family.—VIII. Salish, Sahaptin, and Kootenay Tribes.—IX. Shoshonee.—X. Village Indians of New Mexico, Mexico and Central America.—XI. South American Indian Tribes.—Probable Universality of the Organization in Gentes in the GanowÁnian Family.

Misconception of Aztec Society.—Condition of Advancement.—Nahuatlac Tribes.—Their Settlement in Mexico.—Pueblo of Mexico founded, A. D. 1325.—Aztec Confederacy established, A. D. 1426.—Extent of Territorial Domination.—Probable Number of the People.—Whether or not the Aztecs were organized in Gentes and Phratries.—The Council of Chiefs.—Its probable Functions.—Office held by Montezuma.—Elective in Tenure.—Deposition of Montezuma.—Probable Functions of the Office.—Aztec Institutions essentially Democratical.—The Government a Military Democracy.

Early Condition of Grecian Tribes.—Organized into Gentes.—Changes in the Character of the Gens.—Necessity for a Political System.—Problem to be Solved.—The Formation of a State.—Grote’s Description of the Grecian Gentes.—Of their Phratries and Tribes.—Rights, Privileges and Obligations of the Members of the Gens.—Similar to those of the Iroquois Gens.—The Office of Chief of the Gens.—Whether Elective or Hereditary.—The Gens the Basis of the Social System.—Antiquity of the Gentile Lineage.—Inheritance of Property.—Archaic and Final Rule.—Relationships between the Members of a Gens.—The Gens the Center of Social and Religious Influence.

The Athenian Phratry.—How Formed.—Definition of DikÆarchus.—Objects chiefly Religious.—The Phratriarch.—The Tribe.—Composed of Three Phratries.—The Phylo Basileus.—The Nation.—Composed of Four Tribes.—BoulÊ, or Council of Chiefs.—Agora, or Assembly of the People.—The Basileus.—Tenure of the Office.—Military and Priestly Functions.—Civil Functions not shown.—Governments of the Heroic Age, Military Democracies.—Aristotle’s Definition of a Basileus.—Later Athenian Democracy.—Inherited from the Gentes.—Its Powerful Influence upon Athenian Development.

Failure of the Gentes as a Basis of Government.—Legislation of Theseus.—Attempted Substitution of Classes.—Its Failure.—Abolition of the Office of Basileus.—The Archonship.—Naucraries and Trittyes.—Legislation of Solon.—The Property Classes.—Partial Transfer of Civil Power from the Gentes to the Classes.—Persons unattached to any Gens.—Made Citizens.—The Senate.—The Ecclesia.—Political Society partially attained.—Legislation of Cleisthenes.—Institution of Political Society.—The Attic Deme or Township.—Its Organization and Powers.—Its Local Self-government.—The Local Tribe or District.—The Attic Commonwealth.—Athenian Democracy.

Italian Tribes Organized in Gentes.—Founding of Rome.—Tribes Organized into a Military Democracy.—The Roman Gens.—Definition of a Gentilis by Cicero.—By Festus.—By Varro.—Descent in Male Line.—Marrying out of the Gens.—Rights, Privileges and Obligations of the Members of a Gens.—Democratic Constitution of Ancient Latin Society.—Number of Persons in a Gens.

Roman Gentile Society.—Four Stages of Organization.—1. The Gens; 2. The Curia, consisting of Ten Gentes; 3. The Tribe, composed of Ten CuriÆ; 4. The Populus Romanus, composed of Three Tribes.—Numerical Proportions.—How Produced.—Concentration of Gentes at Rome.—The Roman Senate.—Its Functions.—The Assembly of the People.—Its Powers.—The People Sovereign.—Office of Military Commander (Rex).—Its Powers and Functions.—Roman Gentile Institutions essentially Democratical.

The Populus.—The Plebeians.—The Clients.—The Patricians.—Limits of the Order.—Legislation of Servius Tullius.—Institution of Property Classes.—Of the Centuries.—Unequal Suffrage.—Comitia Centuriata. [Pg xiv]—Supersedes Comitia Curiata.—Classes supersede the Gentes.—The Census.—Plebeians made Citizens.—Institution of City Wards.—Of Country Townships.—Tribes increased to Four.—Made Local instead of Consanguine.—Character of New Political System.—Decline and Disappearance of Gentile Organization.—The Work it Accomplished.

How the Change might have been made.—Inheritance of Property the Motive.—Descent in the Female Line among the Lycians.—The Cretans.—The Etruscans.—Probably among the Athenians in the time of Cecrops.—The Hundred Families of the Locrians.—Evidence from Marriages.—Turanian System of Consanguinity among Grecian Tribes.—Legend of the DanaidÆ.

The Scottish Clan.—The Irish Sept.—Germanic Tribes.—Traces of a prior Gentile System.—Gentes in Southern Asiatic Tribes.—In Northern.—In Uralian Tribes.—Hundred Families of Chinese.—Hebrew Tribes.—Composed of Gentes and Phratries Apparently.—Gentes in African Tribes.—In Australian Tribes.—Subdivisions of Fejees and Rewas.—Wide Distribution of Gentile Organization.

Five successive Forms of the Family.—First, the Consanguine Family.—It created the Malayan System of Consanguinity and Affinity.—Second, the Punaluan.—It created the Turanian and GanowÁnian System.—Third, the Monogamian.—It created the Aryan, Semitic, and Uralian System.—The Syndyasmian and Patriarchal Families Intermediate.— [Pg xv]Both failed to create a System of Consanguinity.—These Systems Natural Growths.—Two Ultimate Forms.—One Classificatory, the other Descriptive.—General Principles of these Systems.—Their Persistent Maintenance.

Former Existence of this Family.—Proved by Malayan System of Consanguinity.—Hawaiian System used as Typical.—Five Grades of Relations.—Details of System.—Explained in its origin by the Intermarriage of Brothers and Sisters in a Group.—Early State of Society in the Sandwich Islands.—Nine Grades of Relations of the Chinese.—Identical in Principle with the Hawaiian.—Five Grades of Relations in Ideal Republic of Plato.—Table of Malayan System of Consanguinity and Affinity.

The Punaluan Family supervened upon the Consanguine.—Transition, how Produced.—Hawaiian Custom of Punalua.—Its probable ancient Prevalence over wide Areas.—The Gentes originated probably in Punaluan Groups.—The Turanian System of Consanguinity.—Created by the Punaluan Family.—It proves the Existence of this Family when the System was formed.—Details of System.—Explanation of its Relationships in their Origin.—Table of Turanian and GanowÁnian Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity.

The Syndyasmian Family.—How Constituted.—Its Characteristics.—Influence upon it of the Gentile Organization.—Propensity to Pair a late Development.—Ancient Society should be Studied where the highest Exemplifications are found.—The Patriarchal Family.—Paternal Power its Essential Characteristic.—Polygamy subordinate.—The Roman Family similar.—Paternal Power unknown in previous Families.

This Family comparatively Modern.—The Term Familia.—Family of Ancient Germans.—Of Homeric Greeks.—Of Civilized Greeks.—Seclusion [Pg xvi]of Wives.—Obligations of Monogamy not respected by the Males. —The Roman Family.—Wives under Power.—Aryan System of Consanguinity.—It came in under Monogamy.—Previous System probably Turanian.—Transition from Turanian into Aryan.—Roman and Arabic Systems of Consanguinity.—Details of the Former.—Present Monogamian Family.—Table of Roman and Arabic Systems.

Sequence in part Hypothetical.—Relation of these Institutions in the Order of their Origination.—Evidence of their Origination in the Order named.—Hypothesis of Degradation Considered.—The Antiquity of Mankind.

Property in the Status of Savagery.—Slow Rate of Progress.—First Rule of Inheritance.—Property Distributed among the Gentiles.—Property in the Lower Status of Barbarism.—Germ of Second Rule of Inheritance.—Distributed among Agnatic Kindred.—Improved Character of Man.—Property in Middle Status.—Rule of Inheritance imperfectly Known.—Agnatic Inheritance Probable.

Property in the Upper Status of Barbarism.—Slavery.—Tenure of Lands in Grecian Tribes.—Culture of the Period.—Its Brilliancy.—Third Rule of Inheritance.—Exclusively in Children.—Hebrew Tribes.—Rule of Inheritance.—Daughters of Zelophehad.—Property remained in the Phratry, and probably in the Gens.—The Reversion.—Athenian Inheritance.—Exclusively in Children.—The Reversion.—Inheritance remained in the Gens.—Heiresses.—Wills.—Roman Inheritance.—The Reversion.—Property remained in the Gens.—Appearance of Aristocracy.—Property Career of the Human Race.—Unity of Origin of Mankind.