CHAPTER XXIII

CHARITY AND GENEROSITY

IN previous chapters we have examined the regard for the life and

physical well-being of others as displayed in moral ideas concerning

homicide and the infliction of bodily harm. We shall now consider the

same subject from another point of view, namely, the valuation of such

conduct as positively promotes the existence and material comfort of a

fellow-creature.

There is one duty so universal and obvious that it is seldom

mentioned: the mother's duty to rear her children, provided that they

are suffered to live. Another duty--equally primitive, I believe, in

the human race--is incumbent on the married man: the protection and

support of his family. We hear of this duty from all quarters of the

savage world.

Among the North American Indians it was considered disgraceful for

a man to have more wives than he was able to maintain.[1] Mr. Powers

says that among the Patwin, a Californian tribe which he believes to

rank among the lowest in the world, "the sentiment that the men are

bound to support the women--that is to furnish the supplies--is

stronger even than among us."[2] Among the Iroquois it was the office

of the husband "to make a mat, to repair the cabin of his wife, or to

construct a new one." The product of his hunting expeditions, {527}

during the first year of marriage, belonged of right to his wife, and

afterwards he shared it equally with her, whether she remained in the

village, or accompanied him to the chase.[3] Among the Botocudos,

whose girls are married very young, remaining in the house of the

father till the age of puberty, the husband is even then obliged to

maintain his wife, though living apart from her.[4] Among the Lengua

Indians of the Paraguayan Chaco the child of a woman whose husband

deserts her is generally killed at birth, the mother feeling that it

is the man's part of married life to provide meat for his

offspring.[5] Azara states that, among the Charruas, "du moment où un

homme se marie, il forme une famille à part, et travaille pour la

nourrir."[6] Of the Fuegians it is said that, "as soon as a youth is

able to maintain a wife, by his exertions in fishing or bird-catching,

he obtains the consent of her relations."[7] The wretched Rock Veddahs

in Ceylon "acknowledge the marital obligation and the duty of

supporting their own families."[8] Among the Maldivians, "although a

man is allowed four wives at one time, it is only on condition of his

being able to support them."[9] The Nairs, we are told, consider it a

husband's duty to provide his wife with food, clothing, and

ornaments;[10] and almost the same is said by Dr. Schwaner with

reference to the tribes of the Barito district, in the south east part

of Borneo.[11] Among the cannibals of New Britain the chiefs have to

see that the families of the warriors are properly maintained.[12]

Concerning the Tonga Islanders Mariner states that "a married woman is

one who cohabits with a man, and lives under his roof and

protection."[13] Among the Maoris "the mission of woman was to

increase and multiply, that of man to defend his home."[14] With

reference to the Kurnai in South Australia, Mr. Howitt states that

"the man has to provide for his family with the assistance of his

wife. His share is to hunt for their support, and to fight for their

protection."[15] In Lado, in Africa, the bridegroom has to assure his

father-in-law three times that he will {528} protect his wife, calling

the people present to witness.[16] Among the Touareg a man who deserts

his wife is blamed, as he has taken upon himself the obligation of

maintaining her.[17]

[Footnote 1: Waitz, _Anthropologie der Naturvölker_, iii. 109. Carver,

_Travels through the Interior Parts of North America_, p. 367.]

[Footnote 2: Powers, _Tribes of California_, p. 222.]

[Footnote 3: Heriot, _Travels through the Canadas_, p. 338.]

[Footnote 4: von Tschudi, _Reisen durch Südamerika_, ii. 283.]

[Footnote 5: Hawtrey, in _Jour. Anthr. Inst._ xxxi. 295.]

[Footnote 6: Azara, _Voyages dans l'Amérique méridionale_, ii. 22.]

[Footnote 7: King and Fitzroy, _Voyages of the "Adventure" and

"Beagle,"_ ii. 182.]

[Footnote 8: Tennent, _Ceylon_, ii. 441.]

[Footnote 9: Rosset, 'Maldive Islands,' in _Jour. Anthr. Inst._ xvi.

168 _sq._]

[Footnote 10: Stewart, 'Notes on Northern Cachar,' in _Jour. Asiatic

Soc. Bengal_, xxiv. 614.]

[Footnote 11: Schwaner, _Borneo_, i. 199.]

[Footnote 12: Angas, _Polynesia_, p. 373.]

[Footnote 13: Mariner, _Natives of the Tonga Islands_, ii. 167.]

[Footnote 14: Johnston, _Maoria_, p. 28 _sq._]

[Footnote 15: Fison and Howitt, _Kamilaroi and Kurnai_, p. 206.]

[Footnote 16: Wilson and Felkin, _Uganda_, ii. 90.]

[Footnote 17: Chavanne, _Die Sahara_, p. 209. _Cf._ Hanoteau and

Letourneux, _La Kabylie_, ii. 167.]

Among many of the lower races a man is not even permitted to marry

until he has given some proof of his ability to support and protect

his family.[18] Indeed, so closely is the idea that a man is bound to

maintain his family connected with that of marriage and fatherhood,

that sometimes even repudiated wives with their children are, at least

to a certain extent, supported by their former husbands.[19] And upon

the death of a husband, the obligation of maintaining his wife and her

children devolves on his heirs, the wide-spread custom of a man

marrying the widow of his deceased brother being not only a privilege,

but, among several peoples, even a duty.[20]

[Footnote 18: Westermarck, _History of Human Marriage_, p. 18.]

[Footnote 19: _Ibid._ p. 19.]

[Footnote 20: _Ibid._ p. 511 _sq._]

Turning to peoples who have reached a higher stage of culture:--Abû

Shugâ[(] says that, among Muhammedans, parents are obliged to support

their families, "if the children are both poor and under age, or both

poor and lastingly infirm, or both poor and insane."[21] But that this

duty chiefly devolves on the father is evident from the fact that the

mother is even entitled to claim wages for nursing them.[22]

Buddhistic law goes so far as to prescribe that the parents shall

provide their son with a beautiful wife, and give him a share of the

wealth belonging to the family.[23] It has been observed that in the

Confucian books there is no mention of any real duties incumbent upon

the father towards his children;[24] nor does the Decalogue contain

anything on the subject; nor any law of ancient Greece or Rome.[25]

But, as has been justly {529} argued, if legal prescriptions are

wanting, that is because they are thought to be superfluous, nature

itself having sufficiently prepared men for the performance of their

duties towards their offspring.[26] So, also, it is regarded as a

matter of course that the husband shall support his wife, however

great power he may possess over her. Among the Romans _manus_ implied

not only the wife's subordination to the husband, but also the

husband's obligation to protect the wife.[27]

[Footnote 21: Sachau, _Muhammedanisches Recht_, p. 18.]

[Footnote 22: _Ibid._ p. 99 _sq._]

[Footnote 23: Hardy, _Manual of Budhism_, p. 495.]

[Footnote 24: Faber, _Digest of the Doctrines of Confucius_, p. 82.]

[Footnote 25: Leist, _Græco-italische Rechtsgeschichte_, p. 13.]

[Footnote 26: _Ibid._, p. 13. Schmidt, _Ethik der alten Griechen_, ii.

141. Adam Smith, _Theory of Moral Sentiments_, p. 199 _sq._]

[Footnote 27: Rossbach, _Untersuchungen über die römische Ehe_, p. 32.

_Cf._ _Laws of Manu_, ix. 74, 75, 95.]

The parents' duty of taking care of their offspring is, in the first

place, based on the sentiment of parental affection. That the maternal

sentiment is universal in mankind is a fact too generally admitted to

need demonstration; not so the father's love of his children. Savage

men are commonly supposed to be very indifferent towards their

offspring; but a detailed study of facts leads us to a different

conclusion. It appears that, among the lower races, the paternal

sentiment is hardly less universal than the maternal, although it is

probably never so strong and in many cases distinctly feeble. But more

often it displays itself with considerable intensity even among the

rudest savages. In the often-quoted case of the Patagonian chief who,

in a moment of passion, dashed his little son with the utmost violence

against the rocks because he let a basket of eggs which the father

handed to him fall down, we have only an instance of savage

impetuosity. The same father "would, at any other time, have been the

most daring, the most enduring, and the most self-devoted" in the

support and defence of his child.[28] Similarly the Central Australian

natives, in fits of sudden passion, when hardly knowing what they do,

sometimes treat a child with great severity; but as a rule, to which

there are very few exceptions, they are kind and considerate to their

children, the men as well as the women carrying them when they get

tired on the march, {530} and always seeing that they get a good share

of any food.[29] All authorities agree that the Australian Black is

affectionate to his children.[30] "From observation of various tribes

in far distant parts of Australia," says Mr. Howitt, "I can assert

confidently that love for their children is a marked feature in the

aboriginal character. I cannot recollect having ever seen a parent

beat or cruelly use a child; and a short road to the goodwill of the

parents is, as amongst us, by noticing and admiring their children. No

greater grief could be exhibited, by the fondest parents in the most

civilised community at the death of some little child, than that which

I have seen exhibited in an Australian native camp, not only by the

immediate parents, but by the whole related group."[31] Other

representatives of the lowest savagery, as the Veddahs[32] and

Fuegians,[33] are likewise described as tender parents. Though few

peoples have acquired a worse reputation for cruelty than the Fijians,

even the greatest censurer of their character admits that the

exhibition of parental love among them "is sometimes such as to be

worthy of admiration";[34] whilst, according to another authority, "it

is truly touching to see how parents are attached to their

children."[35] The Bangala of the Upper Congo, "swayed one moment by a

thirst for blood and indulging in the most horrible orgies, . . . may

yet the next be found approaching their homes looking forward with

{531} the liveliest interest to the caresses of their wives and

children."[36] Carver asserts that he never saw among any other people

greater proofs of parental or filial tenderness than among the North

American Naudowessies.[37] Among the Point Barrow Eskimo "the

affection of parents for their children is extreme";[38] and the same

seems to be the case among the Eskimo in general.[39] Concerning the

Aleuts Veniaminof wrote long ago:--"The children are often well fed

and satisfied, while the parents almost perish with hunger. The

daintiest morsel, the best dress, is always kept for them."[40] Mr.

Hooper, again, found parental love nowhere more strongly exemplified

than among the Chukchi; "the natives absolutely doat upon their

children."[41] Innumerable facts might indeed be quoted to prove that

parental affection is not a late product of civilisation, but a normal

feature of the savage mind as it is known to us.[42]

[Footnote 28: King and Fitzroy, _op. cit._ ii. 155. _Cf._ _ibid._ ii.

154; Musters, _At Home with the Patagonians_, p. 196 _sq._]

[Footnote 29: Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central

Australia_, p. 50 _sq._]

[Footnote 30: Curr, _The Australian Race_, i. 402; iii. 155. _Idem_,

_Recollections of Squatting in Victoria_, p. 252. Angas, _Savage Life

and Scenes in Australia_, i. 94. Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of

Victoria_, i. 51; ii. 311. Ridley, _Aborigines of Australia_, p. 23.

Eyre, _Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia_,

ii. 214 _sq._ Sturt, _Expedition into Central Australia_, ii. 137.

Calvert, _Aborigines of Western Australia_, p. 30 _sq._ Taplin,

'Narrinyeri,' in Woods, _Native Tribes of South Australia_, p. 15.

Gason, 'Manners and Customs of the Dieyerie Tribe,' _ibid._ p. 258.

Hill and Thornton, _Aborigines of New South Wales_, pp. 2, 4. Fraser,

_Aborigines of New South Wales_, pp. 2, 44. Lumholtz, _Among

Cannibals_, p. 193.]

[Footnote 31: Fison and Howitt, _op. cit._ p. 189. _Cf._ _ibid._ p. 259.]

[Footnote 32: Bailey, 'Wild Tribes of the Veddahs of Ceylon,' in

_Trans. Ethn. Soc._ N.S. ii. 291. Deschamps, _Carnet d'un voyageur au

pays des Veddas_, p. 380.]

[Footnote 33: King and Fitzroy, _op. cit._ i. 76; ii. 186. Weddell,

_Voyage towards the South Pole_, p. 156. Pertuiset, _Le Trésor des

Incas à la Terre de Feu_, p. 217.]

[Footnote 34: Williams and Calvert, _Fiji and the Fijians_, p. 116.]

[Footnote 35: Seemann, _Viti_, p. 193. _Cf._ _ibid._ p. 194.]

[Footnote 36: Ward, _Five Years with the Congo Cannibals_, p. 141.

_Cf._ _ibid._ p. 139.]

[Footnote 37: Carver, _op. cit._ p. 240 _sq._ _Cf._ _ibid._ p. 378 _sq._]

[Footnote 38: Murdoch, 'Ethnological Results of the Point Barrow

Expedition,' in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._ ix. 417.]

[Footnote 39: Hall, _Arctic Researches_, p. 568. Parry, _Second Voyage

for the Discovery of a North-West Passage_, p. 529. Boas, 'Central

Eskimo,' in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._ vi. 566. Turner, 'Ethnology of the

Ungava District,' _ibid._ xi. 191. Seemann, _Voyage of "Herald,"_ ii.

65. Cranz, _History of Greenland_, i. 174.]

[Footnote 40: Veniaminof, quoted by Dall, _Alaska_, p. 397. _Cf._

_ibid._ p. 393; Petroff, 'Report on Alaska,' in _Tenth Census of the

United States_, p. 158.]

[Footnote 41: Hooper, _Ten Months among the Tents of the Tuski_, p. 201.]

[Footnote 42: Dobrizhoffer, _Account of the Abipones_, ii. 214 _sq._

Wied-Neuwied, _Reise nach Brasilien_, ii. 40 (Botocudos). Wallace,

_Travels on the Amazon_, p. 518 _sq._ (Amazon Indians; but on the

Brazilian Indians generally, _cf._ von Martius, in _Jour. Roy. Geo.

Soc._ ii. 198, and _Idem_, _Beiträge zur Ethnographie Amerika's_, i.

125). Im Thurn, _Among the Indians of Guiana_, pp. 213, 219.

MacCauley, 'Seminole Indians of Florida,' in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._ v.

491. Dunbar, 'Pawnee Indians,' in **_Magazine of American History_,

viii. 745. Catlin, _North American Indians_, ii. 242. Ten Kate,

_Reizen en onderzoekingen in Noord-Amerika_, p. 364 _sq._ Sproat,

_Scenes and Studies of Savage Life_, p. 160 (Ahts). Franklin,

_Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea_, p. 68 (Crees). Elliott,

'Report on the Seal Islands,' in _Tenth Census of the United States_,

p. 238. Krasheninnikoff, _History of Kamschatka_, p. 232 (Koriaks).

Georgi, _Russia_, i. 25 (Laplanders); iii. 13 (Tunguses), 158

(Kamchadales). Castrén, _Nordiska resor och forskningar_, ii. 121

(Ostyaks). Prejevalsky, _Mongolia_, i. 71. Scott Robertson, _Káfirs of

the Hindu-Kush_, p. 189. Blunt, _Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates_, ii.

214. Dalton, _Desiriptive Ethnology of Bengal_, p. 68 (Garos).

Marshall, _A Phrenologist amongst the Todas_, p. 200; Shortt, 'Hill

Tribes of the Neilgherries,' in _Trans. Ethn. Soc._ N.S. vii. 254

(Todas). Kloss, _In the Andamans and Nicobars_, p. 228 (Nicobarese).

Man, _Sonthalia and the Sonthals_, p. 78. Wallace, _Malay

Archipelago_, p. 450 (Malays). Schwaner, _op. cit._ i. 162 (Malays of

the Barito River Basin in Borneo). Low, _Sarawak_, p. 148 (Malays).

Bock, _Head-Hunters of Borneo_, p. 210 (Dyaks). Ling Roth, _Natives of

Sarawak and British North Borneo_, i. 68 (Land Dyaks). Forbes, _A

Naturalist's Wanderings in the Eastern Archipelago_, p. 321 (natives

of Timor-laut). Forbes, _Insulinde_, p. 182 (natives of Ritobel)

Seligmann, in _Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to

Torres Straits_, v. 199; Haddon, _ibid._ v. 229, 274 (Western

Islands). Romilly, _From my Verandah in New Guinea_, p. 51. Chalmers,

_Pioneering in New Guinea_, p. 163. Christian, _Caroline Islands_, p.

72 (Ponapeans). Kubary, 'Die Bewohner der Mortlock Inseln,' in

_Mittheilungen der Geogr. Gesellsch. in Hamburg_, 1878-9, p. 261.

Macdonald, _Oceana_, p. 195 (Efatese). Turner, _Samoa_, p. 317

(natives of Tana), von Kotzebue, _Voyage of Discovery_, iii. 165

(Natives of Radack). Mariner, _op. cit._ ii. 179 (Tongans).

Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 26, 107; Crozet, _Voyage to

Tasmania_, p. 66 (Maoris). Dove, 'Aborigines of Tasmania,' in

_Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science_, i. 252. Reade, _Savage

Africa_, p. 245 (Equatorial Africans). Casati, _Ten Years in

Equatoria_, i. 186 (Central African Negroes). Caillié, _Travels

through Central Africa_, i. 352 (Mandingoes). Holub, _Seven Years in

South Africa_, ii. 296 (Marutse). Livingstone, _Missionary Travels_,

p. 126 (Bechuanas). Johnston, _Uganda Protectorate_, ii. 539

(Pigmies). Sparrman, _Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope_, i. 219

(Hottentots). Shaw, 'Betsileo Country and People,' in _Antananarivo

Annual and Madagascar Magazine_, iii. 82. See also _supra_, p. 405;

Steinmetz, 'Verhältnis zwischen Eltern und Kindern bei den

Naturvölkern,' in _Zeitschrift für Socialwissenschaft_, i. 610 _sqq._;

_Idem_, _Ethnologische Studien zur ersten Entwicklung der Strafe_, ii.

ch. vi. §2.]

{532} When dealing with the origin of the altruistic sentiment we

shall find reason to believe that paternal affection not only prevails

among existing men, savage and civilised, but that it belonged to the

human race from the very beginning, and that the same was the case

with the germ of marital affection, inducing the male to remain with

the female till after the birth or the offspring, and to defend and

support her during the periods of pregnancy and motherhood. It is true

that among several savage peoples conjugal love is said to be unknown;

but what is meant by this is, I think, typically expressed in Major

Ellis's statement referring to some Gold Coast natives, that among

them "love, as understood by the people of Europe, has no

existence."[43] The love of a savage is certainly very different from

the love of a civilised man; nevertheless we may discover in it traces

of the same ingredients. Even rude savages, such as the Bushmans,

Fuegians, Andaman Islanders, and Australian aborigines, seem often to

be lovingly attached to their wives.[44]

[Footnote 43: Ellis, _Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast_, p.

285. I have dealt with this subject in my _History of Human Marriage_,

p. 356 _sqq._]

[Footnote 44: _Ibid._ p. 358 _sq._]

{533} The prevalence of paternal and marital affection accounts for

the origin of the family (consisting of parents and children), and for

the functions of the man as father and husband. The growing intensity

of these sentiments has naturally increased the stability of the

family tie; and other factors, of a selfish nature, have contributed

towards the same result. From various points of view it is desirable

for a man to have children. They are to him objects of pride; when

grown-up, they add to his safety and power; they support him when he

gets old; they make offerings to his spirit when he is dead. And no

less useful is the possession of a wife. When the generative power is

no longer restricted to a certain season of the year, she becomes a

lasting cause of sensual delight; she is a mother of children; she

manages the household; she acts as a carrier, she works in the field.

Every social institution has a tendency to become a matter of moral

concern because of the persistence of habit. But the simplest paternal

and marital duties have a deeper foundation than the mere force of the

habitual. If a man leaves his wife and children without protection and

support, the other members of the community will sympathise with them,

and feel resentment towards the neglectful husband and father. He will

be looked upon as the cause of their sufferings, because he omitted to

do what other men in his position would have done. His conduct will be

repulsive to everyone who himself possesses those sentiments of which

he proves destitute. He will be held guilty of a breach of contract,

since by marrying he took upon himself the burden of maintaining his

wife and their common offspring. To thoughtful minds his

responsibility towards his children is further increased by the fact

that he is the author of their being, and for that reason the source

of their misery. Finally, the community as a whole will suffer by his

negligence.

The parents' duty of taking care of their offspring lasts until the

latter are able to shift for themselves. On the other hand, when the

parents, in their turn, get in need of {534} support, their care is to

be reciprocated by the children. The practice of killing or abandoning

decrepit parents is an exception even in the savage world, and, as we

have seen, restricted to extreme cases in which it may be regarded as

an act of kindness or of hard necessity. There are always savage

peoples among whom aged parents, though suffered to live, are said to

be grossly neglected by their children. But, so far as I know, these

peoples are not numerous, and can hardly be regarded as

representatives of a custom common to any larger ethnic group.

Thus, according to Hearne, "old age is the greatest calamity that

can befall a Northern Indian; for when he is past labour, he is

neglected, and treated with great disrespect, even by his own

children. They not only serve him last at meals, but generally give

him the coarsest and worst of the victuals; and such of the skins as

they do not chuse to wear, are made up in the clumsiest manner into

clothing for their aged parents."[45] Yet among the same people

Richardson witnessed "several unquestionable instances of tenderness

and affection shown by children to their parents, and of compliance

with their whims, much to their own personal inconvenience."[46] In

his work on the tribes of California Mr. Powers observes:--"filial

piety cannot be said to be a distinguishing quality of the Wailakki,

or, in fact, of any Indians. No matter how high may be their station,

the aged and decrepit are counted a burden. The old man, hero of a

hundred battles, sometime 'lord of the lion heart and eagle eye,' when

his fading eyesight no more can guide the winged arrow as of yore, is

ignominiously compelled to accompany his sons into the forest, and

bear home on his poor old shoulders the game they have killed."[47]

But concerning the Indians of Upper California Beechey writes, "When

any of their relations are indisposed, the greatest attention is paid

to their wants, and it was remarked by Padre Arroyo that filial

affection is stronger in these tribes than in any civilised nation on

the globe with which he was acquainted."[48] Among the Indians on the

east side of the Rocky Mountains, "the aged are commonly treated with

much respect, which they consider themselves as entitled to claim";

and they "are not suffered to want any thing which they need, and

which {535} it is in the power of their relations to procure for

them."[49] The religious teachers of the Iroquois inculcated the duty

of protecting aged parents, as divinely enjoined:--"It is the will of

the Great Spirit that you reverence the aged, even though they be as

helpless as infants."[50] The Aleuts described by Veniaminof

considered disregard of one's parents to be the greatest and most

dishonourable of crimes; "we should sincerely love them," they said,

"do all we could toward their support, remain with them, and care for

them until their death."[51] The children of the Central Eskimo are

very dutiful, obeying the wishes of their parents and taking care of

them in their old age;[52] and statements to the same effect are made

with reference to other Eskimo tribes.[53] Cranz, who did not

generally panegyrise the moral qualities of the Greenlanders, wrote

that the bonds of filial and parental love seem stronger in them than

amongst other nations, and that "ingratitude in up-grown children

towards their old decrepit parents, is scarcely exemplified among

them."[54] Among the Botocudos Prince Wied-Neuwied saw a young man

carrying about his blind father, not leaving him alone for a single

moment.[55] Among the Fuegians "grown-up children are expected to

support their parents when they become aged; the son generally makes

his father, if he is past work, a canoe every season, and if the aged

man is a widower he lives entirely under the charge of his eldest

son."[56] The Australian natives are much praised for the regard with

which they treat their parents and elders. With reference to the

Western tribes, Bishop Salvado observes:--"Les fils adultes payent de

retour l'affection de leurs parents. S'ils sont vieux, ils réservent

pour eux les meilleurs pièces de gibier, ou de tout autre mets, et se

chargent de venger leurs offenses."[57] Among the Kukis of India,

"when past work, the father and mother are supported by their

children."[58] Among the Bódo and Dhimáls "it is {536} deemed shameful

to leave old parents entirely alone; and the last of the sons, who by

his departure does so, is liable to fine as well as disinheritance."[59]

Among the Betsileo of Madagascar "the old are never left destitute or

to their own devices. . . . It is by no means uncommon to see the son

carrying the aged parent on his back, when necessity or inclination

demands locomotion."[60] Among the Mandingoes "the aged who are unable

to support themselves are always maintained and treated with respect

by their children."[61] That uncivilised races commonly regard it a

stringent duty for children to maintain their aged parents and to

administer to their wants, is also obvious from statements testifying

their filial regard in general terms.[62] On the other hand, the fact

that some peoples are said to be deficient in this sentiment, does not

imply that they fail to recognise the simple duty of supporting old

and helpless parents.

[Footnote 45: Hearne, _Journey to the Northern Ocean_, p. 345 _sq._]

[Footnote 46: Richardson, _Arctic Searching Expedition_, ii. 17.]

[Footnote 47: Powers, _op. cit._ p. 118 _sq._]

[Footnote 48: Beechey, _Voyage to the Pacific and Behring's Strait_,

ii. 402.]

[Footnote 49: Harmon, _Voyages and Travels in the Interior of North

America_, p. 348.]

[Footnote 50: Morgan, _League of the Iroquois_, p. 171.]

[Footnote 51: Veniaminof, quoted by Petroff, _loc. cit._ p. 155.]

[Footnote 52: Boas, 'Central Eskimo,' in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._

vi. 566.]

[Footnote 53: Murdoch, 'Point Barrow Expedition,' in _Ann. Rep. Bur.

Ethn._ ix. 417. Turner, 'Ungava District,' _ibid._ xi. 191.]

[Footnote 54: Cranz, _op. cit._ i. 174, 150. _Cf._ Egede, _Description

of Greenland_, p. 147; Holm, 'Ethnologisk Skizze af Angmagsalikerne,'

in _Meddelelser om Grönland_, x. 93.]

[Footnote 55: Wied-Neuwied, _op. cit._ ii. 40.]

[Footnote 56: Bridges, 'Manners and Customs of the Firelanders,' in _A

Voice for South America_, xiii. 206.]

[Footnote 57: Salvado, _Mémoires historiques sur l'Australie_, p. 277.

_Cf._ Curr, _The Australian Race_, iii. 155; Gason, 'Dieyerie Tribe,'

in Woods, _Native Tribes of South Australia_, p. 258; Mathew,

'Australian Aborigines,' in _Jour. & Proceed. Roy. Soc. N. S. Wales_,

xxiii. 388.]

[Footnote 58: Lewin, _Wild Races of South-Eastern India_, p. 256.]

[Footnote 59: Hodgson, _Miscellaneous Essays_, i. 123.]

[Footnote 60: Shaw, in _Antananarivo Annual_, iii. 82.]

[Footnote 61: Caillié, _op. cit._ i. 352.]

[Footnote 62: See _infra_, on the Subjection of Children.]

At a higher stage of civilisation reverence for parents reaches its

pitch, and the duty of maintaining them in their old age is taken for

a matter of course. Among the present Hindus "it would certainly be

regarded as a most disgraceful thing were a man who could do anything

for the support of an aged father or mother to allow the burden of

their maintenance to fall on strangers";[63] and it is common for

unmarried soldiers to stint themselves almost to starvation point,

that they may send home money to their parents.[64] The priesthood of

modern Buddhism teach that children shall "respect their parents, and

perform all kinds of offices for them, even though they should have

servants whom they could command to do all that they require."[65] At

ancient Athens, before a man could become a magistrate, evidence was

to be produced that he had treated his parents properly; and a person

who refused his parents food and dwelling lost his right of speaking

in the national assembly.[66] According to {537} the Icelandic Grágás,

a man should maintain in the first place his mother, in the second his

father, in the third his own children.[67] The Talmud enjoins the duty

of maintaining parents;[68] and so does Muhammedan law, "if the

parents are both poor and lastingly infirm, or both poor and

insane."[69]

[Footnote 63: Wilkins, _Modern Hinduism_, p. 418.]

[Footnote 64: Monier Williams, _Indian Wisdom_, p. 440, n. 1.]

[Footnote 65: Hardy, _op. cit._ p. 494. _Cf._ _ibid._ p. 495.]

[Footnote 66: Schmidt, _Ethik der alten Griechen_, ii. 144.]

[Footnote 67: _Grágás_, Omaga-balkr, 1, vol. i. 232.]

[Footnote 68: Katz, _Der wahre Talmudjude_, p. 119.]

[Footnote 69: Sachau, _op. cit._ p. 17 _sq._]

Christianity, as will be shown, in one essential point changed the

notions of antiquity regarding children's duties towards their

parents: it made these duties subordinate to men's duties towards God.

"Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or

brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or

lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, but he shall receive an

hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and

mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world

to come eternal life."[70] There are numerous legends and lives of

saints in which the desertion of the nearest relations is recorded as

one of the leading features of their sanctity, and as one of their

chief titles to honour.[71] Some Catholic writers were of opinion that

a man might lawfully abandon his parents, even though they could not

be supported without him, and enter religion, committing the care of

them to God. But Thomas Aquinas says that this would be tempting God,

adding however that he who has already professed religion "ought not,

on any plea of supporting his parents, to quit the cloister in which

he is buried with Christ, and entangle himself again in worldly

business."[72] Yet our duties towards our parents come next to our

duties towards God. We ought to aid them when in want, and to

supplicate God in their behalf that they may lead prosperous and happy

lives.[73]

[Footnote 70: _St. Mark_, x. 29 _sq._]

[Footnote 71: _Cf._ Farrer, _Paganism and Christianity_, p. 196.]

[Footnote 72: Thomas Aquinas, _Summa Theologica_, ii.-ii. 101. 4.]

[Footnote 73: _Catechism of the Council of Trent_, iii. 5. 10 _sq._]

The duty of supporting aged parents has its root in {538} the

sentiments of affection, gratitude, and regard, and, to some extent,

in superstitious fear. However feeble they be, the parents have in

their hands a powerful weapon--the curse; or, when they are dead,

their ghosts may avenge their wrongs on their neglectful children. All

these circumstances will be discussed in the chapter dealing with the

subjection of children.

We have further to consider the duty of assisting brothers and sisters

and more distant relatives. Among the Aleuts, says Veniaminof, a

brother "must always aid his brother in war as well as in the chase,

and each protect the other; but if anybody, disregarding this natural

law, should go to live apart, caring only for himself, such a one

should be discarded by his relatives in case of attack by enemies or

animals, or in time of storms; and such dishonourable conduct would

lead to general contempt."[74] Among the Point Barrow Eskimo "the

older children take very good care of the smaller ones";[75] and of

the Sia Indians (Pueblos) we are told that "a marked trait is their

loving kindness and care for younger brothers and sisters."[76] Dr.

Schweinfurth writes:--"Notwithstanding . . . that certain instances

may be alleged which seem to demonstrate that the character of the

Dinka is unfeeling, these cases never refer to such as are bound by

the ties of kindred. Parents do not desert their children, nor are

brothers faithless to brothers, but are ever prompt to render whatever

aid is possible."[77] I presume that these examples of fraternal

relations may, on the whole, be regarded as expressive of universal

facts. According to Confucius, the love which brother should bear to

brother is second only to that which is due from children to

parents.[78]

[Footnote 74: Veniaminof, quoted by Petroff, _loc. cit._ p. 155.]

[Footnote 75: Murdoch, in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._ ix. 417.]

[Footnote 76: Stevenson, 'Sia,' in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._ xi. 22.]

[Footnote 77: Schweinfurth, _Heart of Africa_, i. 169.]

[Footnote 78: Douglas, _Confucianism and Taouism_, p. 123.]

The duty of assisting more distant relatives is much more variable. It

may be said that, as a general rule, among {539} savages and

barbarians--with the exception, perhaps, of those who live in small

family-groups--as also among the peoples of archaic culture, this duty

is more prominent and extends further than amongst ourselves. The

blood-tie has much greater strength, related families keep more

closely together for mutual protection and aid. The Angmagsaliks of

Eastern Greenland, says Lieutenant Holm, consider that the tie of

blood imposes mutual assistance as a duty under all circumstances.[79]

The Omahas maintain that "generosity cannot be exercised toward

kindred, who have a natural right to our assistance."[80] Among the

natives of Madagascar "the claims of relationship are distinctly

recognised by custom and law. If one branch of a family becomes poor,

the members of the same family support him; if he be sold into slavery

for debt, they often unite in furnishing the price of his redemption.

. . . The laws facilitate and encourage, and sometimes even enforce,

such acts of kindness."[81] In his description of the Australian

Bangerang, Mr. Curr observes, "Though their ways were different from

ours, it always seemed to me that the bonds of friendship between

blood relations were stronger, as a rule, with savages than amongst

ourselves."[82] Among the Philippine Islanders "families are very

united, and claims for help and protection are admitted, however

distant the relationship may be."[83] Of the Burmans it is said, "No

people can be more careful in preserving and acknowledging the bonds

of family relationship to the remotest degrees, and not merely as a

matter of form, but as involving the duty of mutual assistance."[84]

Among the ancient Hindus, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, persons

belonging to the four generations of near relatives--the Sapindas,

Syngeneis, Anchisteis, or Propinqui--were expected to assist {540}

each other whenever it was needed.[85] The Scandinavians considered

him to be a bad man who did not help his kindred against strangers,

even though there was enmity between the relatives.[86]

[Footnote 79: Holm, in _Meddelelser om Grönland_, x. 87.]

[Footnote 80: Dorsey, 'Omaha Sociology,' in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._

iii. 274.]

[Footnote 81: Ellis, _History of Madagascar_, i. 138. _Cf._ Sibree,

_The Great African Island_, p. 256 _sq._]

[Footnote 82: Curr, _Recollections of Squatting in Victoria_, p. 274.]

[Footnote 83: Foreman, _Philippine Islands_, p. 186.]

[Footnote 84: Forbes, _British Burma_, p. 59.]

[Footnote 85: Leist, _Alt-arisches Jus Civile_, i. 47 _sqq._, 231 _sqq._]

[Footnote 86: Rosenberg, _Nordboernes Aandsliv_, i. 488.]

But the duty of helping the needy and protecting those in danger goes

beyond the limits of the family and the _kin_. Uncivilised peoples

are, as a rule, described as kind towards members of their own

community or tribe. Between themselves charity is enjoined as a duty,

and generosity is praised as a virtue. Indeed, their customs regarding

mutual aid are often much more stringent than our own. And this

applies even to the lowest savages.[87]

[Footnote 87: The prevalence of mutual aid in uncivilised communities

has been duly emphasised by Prince Kropotkin, _Mutual Aid_, p. 76 _sqq._]

"La disposition à la générosité," says M. Hyades, "est un trait

charactéristique des Fuégiens. Ils aiment à partager ce qu'ils ont

avec tous ceux qui les entourent."[88] Captain Weddell likewise speaks

of "the philanthropic principle which these people exhibit towards one

another."[89] Burchell tells us that the Bushmans, between themselves,

"exercise the virtues of hospitality and generosity, often in an

extraordinary degree."[90] The Veddahs of Ceylon are friendly towards

each other, and ready to help a person in distress.[91] The Andamanese

display much mutual affection in their social relations, and

frequently make presents of the best that they possess. "Every care

and consideration," says Mr. Man, "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."[92] The Australian

natives are almost universally praised for their friendly behaviour

towards persons {541} belonging to their own people.[93] Presents

given to one of a group are speedily divided as far as possible among

the rest, and when a black man has employment at a station he

generally gives away most of his earnings to his comrades in the

camp.[94] "Between the males of a tribe," says Mr. Curr, "there always

exists a strong feeling of brotherhood, so that, come weal come woe, a

man can always calculate on the aid, in danger, of every member of his

tribe."[95] Regarding the Central Australian natives, Messrs. Spencer

and Gillen observe that their treatment of one another "is marked on

the whole by considerable kindness, that is, of course, in the case of

members of friendly groups, with every now and then the perpetration

of acts of cruelty."[96] Collins says that the aborigines about Botany

Bay and Port Jackson "applauded acts of kindness and generosity, for

of both these they were capable."[97]

[Footnote 88: Hyades and Deniker, _Mission scientifique du Cap Horn_,

vii. 243.]

[Footnote 89: Weddell, _op. cit._ p. 168. According to other

authorities, the Fuegians, though free from malevolence and cruelty,

are not distinguished for active benevolence (Bridges, in _A Voice for

South America_, xiii. 208, 213. Bove, _Patagonia_, pp. 133, 137.

Lovisato, 'Appunti etnografici sulla Terra del Fuoco,' in _Cosmos di

Guida Cora_, viii. 145, 151. _Cf._ also Hyades and Deniker, _op. cit._

vii. 238, 240, 243 _sq._).]

[Footnote 90: Burchell, _Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa_,

ii. 54.]

[Footnote 91: Sarasin, _Ergebnisse naturwissenschaftlicher Forschungen

auf Ceylon_, iii. 545, 550. Schmidt, _Ceylon_, p. 276.]

[Footnote 92: Man, in _Jour. Anthr. Inst._ xii. 93 _sq._ _Cf._

Portman, _ibid._ xxv. 368.]

[Footnote 93: Curr, _The Australian Race_, i. 49. Hodgson,

_Reminiscences of Australia_, p. 88. Oldfield, 'Aborigines of

Australia,' in _Trans. Ethn. Soc._ N.S. iii. 226. Eyre, _op. cit._ ii.

385 _sq._ Brough Smyth, _op. cit._ ii. 279. Lumholtz, _Among

Cannibals_, p. 176. Mathew, in _Jour. & Proceed. Roy. Soc. N.S.

Wales_, xxiii. 387 _sq._ Breton, _Excursions in New South Wales_, p.

218. Fison and Howitt, _op. cit._ p. 259. Wyatt, 'Manners and

Superstitions of the Adelaide and Encounter Bay Aboriginal Tribes,' in

Woods, _Native Tribes of South Australia_, p. 162. Schuermann,

'Aboriginal Tribes of Port Lincoln,' _ibid._ pp. 243, 244,

247.]

[Footnote 94: Schuermann, _loc. cit._ p. 244. Ridley, _Kámilarói_, p.

158. Fison and Howitt, _op. cit._ p. 256. Lumholtz, _Among Cannibals_,

pp. 199, 343. Stirling, _Report of the Horn Expedition to Central

Australia. Part IV. Anthropology_, p. 36.]

[Footnote 95: Curr, _The Australian Race_, i. 62.]

[Footnote 96: Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central

Australia_, p. 50.]

[Footnote 97: Collins, _English Colony in New South Wales_, i. 549.]

Passing to savages and barbarians who have reached a somewhat

higher level of culture:--We are told by Mr. Catlin, with reference to

the North American Indians, that, "to their friends, there are no

people on earth that are more kind."[98] According to Adair, "they are

very kind and liberal to every one of their own tribe, even to the

last morsel of food they enjoy"; Nature's school "teaches them the

plain easy rule, 'do to others, as you would be done by.'"[99] Harmon

praises the generosity of the Indians:--"They are more ready, in

proportion to their means, to assist a neighbour who may be in want,

than the inhabitants, generally, of civilised countries. An Indian

rarely kills an animal, without sending a part of it to a neighbour if

he has one near him."[100] The Naudowessies "supply the deficiency of

their friends with any superfluity of their own," and "in dangers they

readily give assistance to those of their band {542} who stand in need

of it, without any expectation of return."[101] Among the Iroquois

"kindness to the orphan, hospitality to all, and a common brotherhood,

were among the doctrines held up for acceptance by their religious

instructors"; an Iroquois "would surrender his dinner to feed the

hungry, vacate his bed to refresh the weary, and give up his apparel

to clothe the naked."[102] Among the Omahas grades of merit or bravery

were of two sorts: to the first class belonged such as had given to

the poor on many occasions, and had invited guests to many feasts. To

the second class belonged those who, besides having done these things

many times, had killed several of the foe, and had brought home many

horses. When a person sees a poor man or woman, they said, he should

make presents to the unfortunate being; thus he can gain the goodwill

of Wakanda as well as that of his own people.[103] The Ahts of

Vancouver Island succour any one in need of help, without looking for

any ulterior benefit.[104] The Aleuts were instructed to be kind to

others and to refrain from selfishness; it was the custom for the

successful hunter or fisher, particularly in times of scarcity, to

share his prize with all, not only taking no larger share, but often

less than the others.[105] Among the Eskimo about Behring Strait,

whenever a successful trader accumulates property and food, and is

known to work solely for his own welfare, he becomes an object of

enmity and hatred among his fellow-villagers, which ends in one of two

ways--the villagers may compel him to make a feast and distribute his

goods, or they may kill him and divide his property among

themselves.[106] According to the Greenland creed, all those who had

striven and suffered for the benefit of their fellow-men should find a

happy existence after death in the abodes of the supreme being,

Tornarsuk.[107] "The Greenlander," says Dr. Nansen, "is the most

compassionate of creatures with regard to his neighbour. His first

social law is to help others."[108] Captain Hall holds an equally

favourable opinion of those Eskimo with whom he came in contact. "As

between themselves," he says, "there can be no people exceeding them

in this virtue kindness of heart. Take, for instance, times of great

scarcity of food. If one family happens to have any provisions on

{543} hand, these are shared with all their neighbours. If one man is

successful in capturing a seal, though his family may need it all to

save them from the pangs of hunger, yet the whole of his people about,

including the poor, the widow, the fatherless, are at once invited to

a seal-feast."[109] They believe that all Innuits who have been good,

"that is, who have been kind to the poor and hungry," will after death

go to Koodleparmiung, or heaven, whereas those who have been bad,

"that is, unkind to one another," will go to Adleparmeun, or

hell.[110] Many of the South American peoples are praised for their

kind disposition of mind;[111] the Guiana Indians seemed to a

Christian missionary to be "generous to a fault."[112] The Caribs had

all their interests in common, lived in great harmony, and loved each

other heartily.[113]

[Footnote 98: Catlin, _North American Indians_, ii. 241.]

[Footnote 99: Adair, _History of the American Indians_, pp. 431, 429.]

[Footnote 100: Harmon, _op. cit._ p. 349.]

[Footnote 101: Carver, _op. cit._ p. 247.]

[Footnote 102: Morgan, _League of the Iroquois_, pp. 172, 329.]

[Footnote 103: Dorsey, 'Omaha Sociology,' in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._

iii. 333, 274. _Cf._ _Idem_, 'Siouan Sociology,' _ibid._ xv. 232

(Kansas).]

[Footnote 104: Sproat, _op. cit._ p. 166.]

[Footnote 105: Veniaminof, quoted by Petroff, _loc. cit._ p. 155, and

Dall, _Alaska_, p. 392.]

[Footnote 106: Nelson, 'Eskimo about Bering Strait,' in _Ann. Rep.

Bur. Ethn._ xviii. 305.]

[Footnote 107: Rink, _Greenland_, p. 141.]

[Footnote 108: Nansen, _First Crossing of Greenland_, ii. 304. _Cf._

_ibid._ ii. 334; Nansen, _Eskimo Life_, pp. 116, 177; Egede, _op.

cit._ pp. 123, 126 _sq._]

[Footnote 109: Hall, _Arctic Researches_, p. 567.]

[Footnote 110: _Ibid._ p. 571 _sq._]

[Footnote 111: von Martius, _Beiträge zur Ethnographie Amerika's_,

i. 217, 641 (Guarayos, Macusis). Musters, _op. cit._ p. 195

(Patagonians).]

[Footnote 112: Brett, _Indian Tribes of Guiana_, p. 276.]

[Footnote 113: de Poircy-Rochefort, _Histoire naturelle et morale des

Iles Antilles_, p. 460.]

Among the Tonga Islanders the sentiment of humanity, or a

fellow-feeling for one another, is universally approved. They "are not

only not selfish, but admire liberality, and are practically liberal."

When any one is about to eat, he always shares what he has with those

about him without any hesitation, and not to do so would be considered

exceedingly vile and selfish. So, also, "if one chief sees something

in the possession of another, which he has a strong desire to have, he

has only to ask him for it, and in all probability it is readily and

liberally given."[114] Not even the Fijians, who took great pains to

instil into the minds of their youth a contempt for compassionate

impulses and an admiration for relentless cruelty,[115] were destitute

of humanity and friendly feelings.[116] In Aneiteum, of the New

Hebrides, the people believed that the sin which would be visited with

the severest punishment in the land of the dead was stinginess or

niggardliness in giving away food, and that the virtue which received

the highest reward was a generous hospitality and a giving liberally

at feasts.[117] In Tana, another island belonging to the same group,

"one man has only to ask anything from his neighbours, and he gets

it."[118] Of the New Caledonians Mr. Atkinson states that, among

themselves, they are "of a generosity that seems to arise mainly from

aversion to refuse any request."[119] The Dyaks are described as

hospitable, {544} kindly, and humane, "to a degree which well might

shame ourselves";[120] whilst the practice of head-hunting is carried

on by every tribe at the expense of its neighbour, the members of each

community have strong feelings of sympathy for each other.[121] Among

the Sea Dyaks, says Grassland, "if any are sick or unable to work, the

rest help; and there seems to me a much stronger bond of union amongst

them than I have ever seen among the labouring classes in England."[122]

[Footnote 114: Mariner, _op. cit._ ii. 153, 154, 165.]

[Footnote 115: Erskine, _Cruise among the Islands of the Western

Pacific_, p. 247.]

[Footnote 116: _Ibid._ pp. 247, 273. Williams and Calvert, _op. cit._

pp. 93, 115 _sq._ Seemann, _Viti_, p. 192.]

[Footnote 117: Inglis, _In the New Hebrides_, p. 31.]

[Footnote 118: Campbell, _A Year in the New Hebrides_, p. 169.]

[Footnote 119: Atkinson, in _Folk-Lore_, xiv. 248.]

[Footnote 120: Boyle, _Adventures among the Dyaks of Borneo_, p. 215.]

[Footnote 121: Bock, _Head-Hunters of Borneo_, p. 210 _sq._ Brooke,

_Ten Years in Saráwak_, i. 57.]

[Footnote 122: Crossland, quoted by Ling Roth, _Natives of Sarawak_,

i. 85.]

The Santals are gentle and very obliging, and sociable to a fault

among their own people.[123] The Hos "are charitable to those

deserving aid."[124] The Todas believe that, after death, the souls of

good people will have enjoyment in heaven, whilst the souls of bad

people will suffer punishment; "a good man is, in the Toda estimation,

one who is given to deeds of charity, and a bad man one who is

uncharitable (this in order of precedence), quarrelsome, thieving,

&c."[125] Mr. Batchelor states that "a more kind, gentle, and

sympathetic people than the Ainos of Japan would be very difficult to

find"; anything given to them they always divide with their

friends.[126] The Samoyedes are ready to share their last morsel with

their companions; and it is said that nobody can surpass the poor

Ostyak in benevolence and other virtues of the heart.[127] "The finest

trait in the character of a Bedouin (next to good faith)," Burckhardt

observes, "is his kindness, benevolence, and charity. . . . Among

themselves, the Bedouins constitute a nation of brothers; often

quarrelling, it must be owned, with each other, but ever ready, when

at peace, to give mutual assistance."[128] Generosity is a virtue

which always commands particular respect in the desert.[129] The Arabs

of the Soudan have a saying that "you must always put other people's

things on your head, and your own under your arm. Then, if there be

danger of the things falling off your head, you must raise your arm,

and let fall your own things to save those of others."[130]

[Footnote 123: Man, _Sonthalia_, p. 19 _sq._ Hunter, _Annals of Rural

Bengal_, i. 215.]

[Footnote 124: Tickell, 'Memoir on the Hodésum,' in _Jour. Asiatic

Soc. Bengal_, ix. (pt. ii.) 807.]

[Footnote 125: Thurston, 'Todas of the Nilgiris,' in the Madras

Government Museum's _Bulletin_, i. 166 _sq._]

[Footnote 126: Batchelor, _Ainu of Japan_, p. 19. Holland, 'Ainos,' in

_Jour. Anthr. Inst._ iii. 235.]

[Footnote 127: Castrén, _op. cit._ i. 238; ii. 55.]

[Footnote 128: Burckhardt, _Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys_, p. 208.]

[Footnote 129: Wallin, _Reseanteckningar från Orienten_, iii. 244.

Blunt, _Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates_, ii. 224.]

[Footnote 130: Richardson, _Mission to Central Africa_, i. 117.]

{545} The Barea are a benevolent people, kind even to

strangers.[131] The Manganja, in the neighbourhood of Lake Nyassa,

"are generous in the distribution of food," and even when starving

they share the last morsel with their friends.[132] Sir H. Johnston

says that he has never met with "a more kindly, sensible, considerate

set of beings" than the Wa-taveita.[133] The Eastern Central Africans,

the Rev. D. Macdonald observes, "are not mere animals composed of

greed and selfishness. They often shew great bravery and devotedness.

I can point to one man who saved my life on three separate occasions

at the risk of his own."[134] Among the Bechuanas a regard for the

poor, for widows, and for orphans, is everywhere considered to be a

sacred duty.[135] Among all the virtues the Basutos appreciate none

more than kindness. They have a saying that "one link only sounds

because of another"--which implies that we cannot do without the help

of our fellow-creatures,--and another saying that "one does not skin

one's game without showing it to one's friends"--that is, when we have

been successful in our undertakings, it becomes us to be generous. If

any food is brought to them while they are in each other's society,

however small may be the quantity, every one must have a taste.[136]

The Kafirs are a kindly race; Lichtenstein says that "whenever anyone

kills an ox he must invite all his neighbours to partake of it, and

they remain his guests till the whole is eaten."[137] Of the

Hottentots Kolben states:--"They are certainly the most friendly, the

most liberal, and the most benevolent people to one another that ever

appear'd upon earth . . . . They are charmed with opportunities of

obliging each other, and one of their greatest pleasures lies in

interchanging gifts and good offices."[138] "A Hottentot," says

Barrow, "would share his last morsel with his companions."[139] Drury

wrote of the people of Madagascar:--"They certainly treat one another

with more humanity than we do. Here is no one miserable, if it is in

the power of his neighbours to help him. Here is love, tenderness, and

generosity which might {546} shame us; and . . . . this is . . . . all

over the island."[140] Ellis likewise observes that, in Madagascar,

assisting in distress, and lending and borrowing property and money,

are carried on much more commonly and freely than amongst neighbours

or relatives in England, and that a kindness of heart in these things

is always esteemed excellent.[141]

[Footnote 131: Munzinger, _Ostafrikanische Studien_, p. 534.]

[Footnote 132: Rowley, _Africa Unveiled_, p. 47.]

[Footnote 133: Johnston, _Kilima-njaro Expedition_, p. 436.]

[Footnote 134: Macdonald, _Africana_, i. 270, 266.]

[Footnote 135: Arbousset and Daumas, _Exploratory Tour to the

North-East of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope_, p. 402.]

[Footnote 136: Casalis, _Basutos_, pp. 206, 207, 301, 306, 309 _sqq._]

[Footnote 137: Leslie, _Among the Zulus and Amatongas_, p. 203.

Lichtenstein, _Travels in Southern Africa_, i. 272.]

[Footnote 138: Kolben, _Present State of the Cape of Good Hope_, i.

334 _sq._ _Cf._ _ibid._ i. 167.]

[Footnote 139: Barrow, _Travels into the Interior of Southern Africa_,

i. 151.]

[Footnote 140: Drury, _Adventures during Fifteen Years' Captivity on

the Island of Madagascar_, p. 172 _sq._]

[Footnote 141: Ellis, _History of Madagascar_, i. 139. For other

African instances, see Mungo Park, _Travels in the Interior of

Africa_, p. 17 (Mandingoes); Burton, _Abeokuta_, i. 303 (Yoruba);

_Idem_, _Two Trips to Gorilla Land_, i. 106 (Mpongwe); Monrad,

_Guinea-Kysten og dens Indbyggere_, p. 7; Johnston, _River Congo_, p.

423 (races of the Upper Congo); Wilson and Felkin, _op. cit._ i. 225

(Waganda).]

Among many savages the old people, in particular, have a claim to

support and assistance, not only from their own children or relatives,

but from the younger members of the community generally.

Among the Australian natives the old men get the best and largest

share of everything, and are allowed to monopolise the youngest and

best-looking women, whilst a young man must consider himself fortunate

if he can get an old woman for wife.[142] Among the Tonga Islanders

"every aged man and woman enjoys the attentions and services of the

younger branches of society."[143] In the Kingsmill Islands

"generosity, hospitality, and attention to the aged and infirm are

virtues highly esteemed and generally practised among all the

natives."[144] Among the Kafirs, when persons advanced in years become

sick and helpless, "everyone is eager to afford them assistance."[145]

In the opinion of the Aleuts, "feeble old men must be respected and

attended when they need aid, and the young and strong should give them

a share of their booty and help them through all their troubles,

endeavouring to obtain in exchange their good advice only."[146]

[Footnote 142: Eyre, _op. cit._ ii. 385 _sq._ Mathew, in _Jour. &

Proceed. Roy. Soc. N.S. Wales_, xxiii. 407. Lumholtz, _Among

Cannibals_, p. 163. _Cf._ Grey, _Journals of Two Expeditions of

Discovery in North-West and Western Australia_, ii. 248; Brough Smyth,

_op. cit._ i. 138; Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central

Australia_, p. 51.]

[Footnote 143: Mariner, _op. cit._ ii. 155.]

[Footnote 144: Hale, _U.S. Exploring Expedition. Vol. VI. Ethnography

and Philology_, p. 95.]

[Footnote 145: Lichtenstein, _op. cit._ i. 265.]

[Footnote 146: Veniaminof, quoted by Petroff, _loc. cit._ p. 155.]

The sick, also, are often very carefully attended to.

Among the coast tribes of British Columbia Mr. Duncan "always found

one or two nurses to an invalid, if the case was {547} at all bad; the

sympathy of the nurses, too, seemed very great."[147] Beechey says of

the wild Indians of Upper California:--"The very great care taken of

all those who are affected with any disease ought not to be allowed to

escape a remark. When any of their relations are indisposed, the

greatest attention is paid to their wants."[148] Keating noticed the

kind and humane treatment which the Potawatomis extended even to the

idiots.[149] The Koriaks "carefully attend those who are sick."[150]

The same is said of the Ainos of Japan,[151] and the Tagbanuas of the

Philippine Islands.[152] In Sarawak no relative is abandoned because

an injury or illness may have incapacitated him for work.[153] When a

Dyak is ill at home, the women nurse the patient in turn.[154] In

Samoa "the treatment of the sick was invariably humane."[155] In

Tana,[156] Humphrey's Island,[157] Erromanga,[158] and Tasmania,[159]

they were likewise kindly attended to; and the same is the case at

least among many of the Australian tribes.[160] Concerning the

aborigines of Herbert River, in Northern Queensland, Lumholtz

writes:--"The natives are very kind and sympathetic towards those who

are ill, and they carry them from camp to camp. This is the only noble

trait I discovered in the Australian natives."[161] In various parts

of Australia the blind, and especially the aged blind, are carefully

tended; travellers on the northern coast of the continent have noticed

that these are generally the fattest of the company, being supplied

with the best of everything.[162] "No trait in the character of the

Malagasy," says Ellis, "is more creditable to their humanity, and more

gratifying to our benevolent feelings, than the kind, patient, and

affectionate manner in which they attend upon the sick."[163] A

similar praise is bestowed upon the {548} Mandingoes[164] and

Kafirs.[165] Among the Zulus, says Mr. J. Tyler, "work, however

important, is at once suspended that they may help their afflicted

friends."[166]

[Footnote 147: Duncan, quoted by Mayne, _Four Years in British

Columbia_, p. 292 _sq._]

[Footnote 148: Beechey, _op. cit._ ii. 402.]

[Footnote 149: Keating, _Expedition to the Source of St. Peter's

River_, i. 100.]

[Footnote 150: Krasheninnikoff, _op. cit._ p. 233.]

[Footnote 151: von Siebold, _Die Aino auf der Insel Yesso_, p. 11.]

[Footnote 152: Worcester, _Philippine Islands_, p. 494.]

[Footnote 153: St. John, _Life in the Forests of the Far East_, ii. 323.]

[Footnote 154: Bock, _Head-Hunters of Borneo_, p. 211.]

[Footnote 155: Turner, _Samoa_, p. 141. _Cf._ Pritchard, _Polynesian

Reminiscences_, p. 146.]

[Footnote 156: Turner, _Samoa_, p. 323.]

[Footnote 157: _Ibid._ p. 276.]

[Footnote 158: Robertson, _Erromanga_, p. 399.]

[Footnote 159: Ling Roth, _Aborigines of Tasmania_, p. 47. Bonwick,

_Daily Life and Origin of the Tasmanians_, p. 10.]

[Footnote 160: Brough Smyth, _op. cit._ ii. 284 (West Australian

natives). Schuermann, 'Aboriginal Tribes of Port Lincoln,' in Woods,

_Native Tribes of South Australia_, p. 225.]

[Footnote 161: Lumholtz, _Among Cannibals_, p. 183.]

[Footnote 162: Ridley, _Kámilarói_, p. 169. Eyre, _op. cit._ ii. 382

Barrington, _History of New South Wales_, p. 23. Stirling, _op. cit._

p. 36.]

[Footnote 163: Ellis, _History of Madagascar_, i. 231 _sq._]

[Footnote 164: Caillié, _op. cit._ i. 354.]

[Footnote 165: Lichtenstein, _op. cit._ i. 266.]

[Footnote 166: Tyler, _Forty Years among the Zulus_, p. 195.]

Whilst the information which I have been able to gather on the social

customs of uncivilised races seems to indicate that, in the majority

of cases, mutual kindness and goodwill prevail within their

communities, there are not wanting statements of a different

character. But these statements are, after all, exceptional, and some

of them are either ambiguous or obviously inexact. Only too often

travellers represent to us the savage, not as he is in his daily life

amidst his own people, but as he behaves towards his enemy, or towards

a stranger who enters his country uninvited. As an experienced

observer remarks, "the savage, passionate and furious with the feeling

of revenge, slaughtering and devouring his enemy and drinking his

blood, is no longer the same being as when cultivating his fields in

peace; and it would be as unjust to estimate his general character by

his actions in these moments of unrestrained passion, as to judge of

Europeans by the excesses of an excited soldiery or an infuriated

mob."[167] Moreover, many accounts of savages date from a period when

they have already been affected by contact with a "higher culture," as

we call it, a culture which almost universally has proved to exercise

a deteriorating influence on the character of the lower races. Among

the North American Indians, for instance, "there was more good-will,

hospitality, and charity, practised towards one another" before white

people came and resided among them;[168] whereas contact with

civilisation has made them "false, suspicious, avaricious and

hard-hearted."[169] As has been truly said, "search modern history,

and in the North {549} and South and East and West the story is ever

the same--we come, we civilise, and we corrupt or exterminate."[170]

[Footnote 167: Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 130 _sq._]

[Footnote 168: Warren, in Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes of the United

States_, ii. 139.]

[Footnote 169: Domenech, _Seven Years' Residence in the Great Deserts

of North America_, ii. 69.]

[Footnote 170: Boyle, _op. cit._ p. 108.]

Among the semi-civilised and civilised nations charity has universally

been regarded as a duty, and has often been strenuously enjoined by

their religions. When Spain and Peru first came into contact, the

Americans surpassed the Spaniards in brotherly love and systematic

care for the needy. They had a poor-law according to which the blind,

lame, aged, and infirm, who could not till their own lands so as to

clothe and feed themselves, should receive sustenance from the public

stores.[171] The ancient Mexicans, according to Clavigero, seemed to

give without reluctance what had cost them the utmost labour to

acquire.[172] "The great virtue of the Coreans is their innate respect

for and daily practice of the laws of human brotherhood. Mutual

assistance and generous hospitality among themselves are distinctive

national traits."[173] According to Chinese law, "all poor destitute

widowers and widows, the fatherless and childless, the helpless and

the infirm, shall receive sufficient maintenance and protection from

the magistrates of their native city or district, whenever they have

neither relations nor connections upon whom they can depend for

support."[174] "Benevolence," said Confucius, "is more to man than

either water or fire."[175] To assist the needy, to feed the hungry,

to clothe the naked, to succour the sick, to save men in danger--these

and similar acts of kindness are, according to Chinese beliefs, merits

which will be rewarded by the unseen powers that watch human conduct,

whereas the uncharitable and parsimonious are threatened with divine

punishments.[176] In a book of Buddhistic-Confucian flavour, {550} as

familiar to the youth of Japan as the Sermon on the Mount is to us, it

is said, "Above all things, men must practise charity; it is by

almsgiving that wisdom is fed."[177] According to the Dhammapada, "the

uncharitable do not go to the world of the gods; fools only do not

praise liberality; a wise man rejoices in liberality, and through it

becomes blessed in the other world."[178] Indeed, in the didactic

poetry of Buddhism the virtue of beneficence occupies the most

prominent place; without any regard to what is the measure of the real

benefit thereby extended to the recipient of the gift, the legends set

before us as a duty the most unbounded generosity, pushed even to the

extreme of self-destruction.[179] And in its conception of charity and

liberality, as in all other points of worldly morality, Buddhism does

not differ from the standard recognised in India since ancient

times.[180] Already in the Vedic hymns praise is bestowed on those who

from their abundance willingly dispense to the needy, on those who do

not turn away from the hungry, on those who are kind to the poor.[181]

In the Hitopadesa it is said that the good man shows pity even to the

worthless, as the moon does not withdraw its light even from a member

of the lowest caste.[182] The sacred law-books of India are full of

prescriptions enjoining almsgiving as a duty on all twice-born

men.[183] "A householder must give as much food as he is able to spare

to those who do not cook for themselves, and to all beings one must

distribute food without detriment to one's own interest."[184] The

student "should always without sloth give alms out of whatever he has

for food."[185] The Brâhmana who has completed his studentship should

without tiring "perform works of {551} charity with faith."[186]

Almsgiving confers merit on the giver, it frees him from guilt, it

destroys sin;[187] "for whatever purpose a man bestows any gift, for

that purpose he receives in his next birth with due honour its

reward."[188] On the other hand, he who cooks for himself alone eats

nothing but sin.[189] Speaking of the modern Hindus, Mr. Wilkins

observes:--"The charity of the Hindus is great. . . . There is no

poor-law in India, no guardians of the poor, no workhouses, excepting

for the Europeans in the Presidency towns. The poor of a family, the

halt, the lame, the blind, the weak, the insane, are provided for by

their family, if it is at all able to do it; in cases where there are

few or no relatives, then the burden is taken up by others. It is a

'work of merit.'"[190]

[Footnote 171: Garcilasso de fa Vega, _First Part of the Royal

Commentaries of the Yncas_, ii. 34.]

[Footnote 172: Clavigero, _History of Mexico_, i. 81.]

[Footnote 173: Griffis, _Corea_, p. 288.]

[Footnote 174: _Ta Tsing Leu Lee_, sec. lxxxix. p. 93. On the

charitable institutions of the Chinese, see Staunton, _ibid._ p. 93 n.

*; Smith, _Chinese Characteristics_, p. 186 _sq._]

[Footnote 175: Douglas, _Confucianism and Taouism_, p. 109.]

[Footnote 176: 'Merits and Errors Scrutinized,' in _Indo-Chinese

Gleaner_, iii. 159, 161 _sqq._ _Thâi Shang_, 3. 'Divine Panorama,' in

Giles, _Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio_, ii. 370, 371, 374, 379.

Douglas, _Confucianism and Taouism_, pp. 259, 272 _sq._ Davis,

_China_, ii. 48. Edkins, _Religion in China_, p. 89 _sq._]

[Footnote 177: Chamberlain, _Things Japanese_, p. 309.]

[Footnote 178: _Dhammapada_, 177.]

[Footnote 179: Oldenberg, _Buddha_, p. 301.]

[Footnote 180: _Cf._ Kern, _Manual of Indian Buddhism_, p. 72.]

[Footnote 181: _Rig-Veda_, x. 117. Kaegi, _Rigveda_, p. 18.]

[Footnote 182: _Hitopadesa_, Mitralâbhâ, 63.]

[Footnote 183: _Gautama_, v. 21; x. 1 _sq._ _Institutes of Vishnu_,

lix. 28. _Baudhâyana_, ii. 7. 13. 5. _Laws of Manu_, ix. 333; x. 75,

79; xi. 1 _sqq._]

[Footnote 184: _Laws of Manu_, iv. 32.]

[Footnote 185: _Anugîtâ_, 31.]

[Footnote 186: _Laws of Manu_, iv. 226. _Cf._ _ibid._ iv. 227.]

[Footnote 187: _Institutes of Vishnu_, lix. 15, 30; ch. xc. _sqq._

_Gautama_, xix. 11, 16. _Vasishtha_, xx. 47; xxii. 8. _Laws of Manu_,

iii. 95; iv. 229 _sqq._; xi. 228.]

[Footnote 188: _Laws of Manu_, iv. 234.]

[Footnote 189: _Institutes of Vishnu_, lxvii. 43. _Laws of Manu_, iii.

118. _Cf._ _Rig-Veda_, x. 117. 6.]

[Footnote 190: Wilkins, _Modern Hinduism_, p. 416 _sq._]

Of the ancient Persians Thucydides said that they preferred giving to

receiving.[191] To be charitable towards the poor of their own faith

was among them a religious duty of the first order.[192] Zoroaster

thus addressed Vîshtâspa:--"Let no thought of Angra Mainyu ever infect

thee, so that thou shouldst indulge in evil lusts, make derision and

idolatry, and shut to the poor the door of thy house."[193] The holy

Sraosha is the protector of the poor.[194] In the Shâyast it is said

that the clothing of the soul in the next world is formed out of

almsgiving.[195]

[Footnote 191: Thucydides, ii. 97. 4.]

[Footnote 192: See Geiger, _Civilization of the Eastern Ir[=a]nians_,

i. 164 _sqq._; Mills, in _Sacred Books of the East_, xxxi. p. xxii.]

[Footnote 193: _Yasts_, xxiv. 37.]

[Footnote 194: _Ibid._ xi. 3.]

[Footnote 195: _Shâyast Lâ-Shâyast_, xii. 4. _Cf._ _Bundahis_, xxx. 28.]

It seems that among the ancient Egyptians charity was considered no

less meritorious.[196] "The god," M. Maspero observes, "does not

confine his favour to the prosperous and the powerful of this world;

he bestows it also upon {552} the poor. His will is that they be fed

and clothed, and exempted from tasks beyond their strength; that they

be not oppressed, and that unnecessary tears be spared them."[197] In

the memorial inscriptions, where the dead plead their good deeds,

charity is often referred to. "I harmed not a child," says one

Egyptian, "I injured not a widow; there was neither beggar nor needy

in my time; none were hungered, widows were cared for as though their

husbands were still alive."[198] In the inscription in honour of a

lady who had been charitable to persons of her own sex, whether girls,

wives, or widows, it is said, "The god rewarded me for this, rejoicing

me with the happiness which he has granted me for walking after his

way."[199]

[Footnote 196: Brugsch, _History of Egypt under the Pharaohs_, i. 29

_sq._ Tiele, _History of the Egyptian Religion_, p. 226 _sq._ Renouf,

_Hibbert Lectures on the Religion of Egypt_, p. 72 _sqq._ Amélineau,

_L'évolution des idées morales dans l'Égypt Ancienne_, pp. 145, 354.]

[Footnote 197: Maspero, _Dawn of Civilization_, p. 191. _Cf._

Schiapparelli, _Del sentimento religioso degli antichi egiziani_, p.

18; Amélineau, _op. cit._ p. 268.]

[Footnote 198: Wiedemann, _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, p. 253.]

[Footnote 199: Renouf, _op. cit._ p. 75.]

Charity was urgently insisted upon by the religious law of the

Hebrews.[200] "Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to

thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land"; "for this thing the Lord thy

God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest

thine hand unto."[201] Even "if thine enemy be hungry, give him bread

to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: . . . the Lord

shall reward thee."[202] Especially in the Old Testament Apocrypha and

in Rabbinical literature almsgiving assumed an excessive

prominence--so much so that the word which in the older writings means

"righteousness" in general, came to be used for almsgiving in

particular.[203] "Shut up alms in thy storehouses: and it shall

deliver thee from all affliction."[204] "As water will quench a

flaming fire, so alms maketh an atonement for sins."[205] "For alms

doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin. Those that

exercise alms and {553} righteousness shall be filled with life."[206]

The charitable man is rewarded with the birth of male issue.[207]

Almsgiving is equal in value to all other commandments.[208] He who

averts his eyes from charity commits a sin equal to idolatry.[209] To

such an extreme was almsgiving carried on by the Jews, that some

Rabbis at length decreed that no man should give above a fifth part of

his goods in charity.[210]

[Footnote 200: _Deuteronomy_, xiv. 29; xv. 7 _sqq._; xvi. 11, 14.

_Leviticus_, xix. 9 _sq._; xxv. 35.]

[Footnote 201: _Deuteronomy_, xv. 11, 10.]

[Footnote 202: _Proverbs_, xxv. 21 _sq._]

[Footnote 203: Addis, 'Alms,' in _Encyclopædia Biblica_, i. 118. _Cf._

Montefiore, _Hibbert Lectures on the Religion of the Ancient Hebrews_,

p. 484 _sq._]

[Footnote 204: _Ecclesiasticus_, xxix. 12.]

[Footnote 205: _Ibid._ iii. 30.]

[Footnote 206: _Tobit_, xii. 9. _Cf._ _ibid._ i. 3, 16; ii. 14; iv. 7

_sqq._; xii. 8.]

[Footnote 207: _Bava Bathra_, fol. 10 B, quoted by Hershon, _Treasures

of the Talmud_, p. 24.]

[Footnote 208: Rab Assi, quoted by Kohler, 'Alms,' in _Jewish

Encyclopedia_, i. 435.]

[Footnote 209: _Kethuboth_, fol. 68 A, quoted by Katz, _Der wahre

Talmudjude_, p. 36.]

[Footnote 210: Katz, _op. cit._ p. 42.]

Almsgiving, prayer, and fasting were the three cardinal disciplines

which the synagogue transmitted to both the Christian Church and the

Muhammedan mosque.[211] According to Islam, the duty next in

importance to prayer is that of giving alms.[212] Muhammed repeatedly

announces that the path which leads to God is the helping of the

orphans and the relieving of the poor.[213] "Ye cannot attain to

righteousness until ye expend in alms of what ye love."[214] "Those

who expend their wealth by night and day, secretly and openly, they

shall have their hire with their lord."[215] It is said that "prayer

carries us half-way to God, fasting brings us to the door of His

palace, and alms procure us admission."[216] Certain alms, called

Zakât, are prescribed by law; it is an indispensable duty for every

Muhammedan of full age to bestow in charity about one-fortieth of all

such property as has been a year in his possession, provided that he

has sufficient for his subsistence and has an income equivalent to

about £5 per annum.[217] Other charitable gifts are voluntary, and

confer merit upon the giver.

[Footnote 211: _Cf._ _Tobit_, xii. 8; Kohler, in _Jewish

Encyclopedia_, i. 435.]

[Footnote 212: See Sale's 'Preliminary Discourse,' in Wherry,

_Commentary on the Qurán_, i. 172; Lane, _Manners and Customs of the

Modern Egyptians_, p. 105.]

[Footnote 213: _Koran_, ii. 267, 269, 275; viii. 42; ix. 60; xc. 12,

14 _sq._; xciii. 6 _sqq._; &c.]

[Footnote 214: _Ibid._ iii. 86.]

[Footnote 215: _Ibid._ ii. 275]

[Footnote 216: Sell, _Faith of Islám_, p. 284.]

[Footnote 217: _Ibid._ p. 283. Palmer, 'Introduction' to his

translation of _The Qur'án_, i. p. lxxiii. Ameer Ali, _Life and

Teaching of Mohammed_, p. 268.]

By Christianity charity of the religious type which we {554} find in

the East was introduced into Europe. We have certainly no reason to

blame the ancient Greeks and Romans for neglecting their poor. Among

them slavery in a great measure replaced pauperism; and what slavery

did for the very poor, the Roman system of clientage did for those of

a somewhat higher rank.[218] Moreover, the relief of the indigent was

an important function of the State.[219] The Areopagus provided public

works for the poor.[220] At Rome gratuitous distribution of corn was

the rule for many centuries;[221] agrarian laws furnished free

homesteads to the landless, on conquered or public territory;[222]

since the days of Nerva a systematic support of poor children was

enjoined in all the cities of Italy.[223] A few examples of private

charity, also, have descended to us already from early times, such as

Epaminondas collecting dowers for poor girls,[224] and Cimon feeding

and clothing the poor;[225] and from the days of the Pagan Empire

there are recorded several cases of individual beneficence. Charitable

bequests are alluded to in the burial inscriptions; when some great

catastrophe happened, relief was willingly given to the sufferers;

private infirmaries were established for slaves.[226] The duty of

charity was forcibly enjoined by some of the moralists. The wise man,

says Seneca, "will dry the tears of others, but will not mingle his

own with them; he will stretch out his hand to the shipwrecked

mariner, will offer hospitality to the exile, and alms to the

needy."[227] But his alms are not thrown away by chance; his purse

will open easily, but never leak. He will choose out the worthiest

with the utmost care, and never give without sufficient reason; for

unwise gifts must be reckoned among foolish extravagances.[228] So

also Cicero, {555} whilst styling beneficence and liberality "virtues

that are the most agreeable to the nature of man," is anxious to warn

his readers against imprudence in practising them, "lest our kindness

should hurt both those whom it is meant to assist, and others."[229]

[Footnote 218: See Lecky, _History of European Morals_, ii. 73.]

[Footnote 219: Boissier, _Religion Romaine_, ii. 206.]

[Footnote 220: Farrer, _Paganism and Christianity_, p. 183.]

[Footnote 221: Naudet, 'Des secours publics chez les Romains,' in

_Mémoires de l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres_,

xiii. 43 _sq._]

[Footnote 222: _Ibid._ p. 71 _sq._]

[Footnote 223: Aurelius Victor, _Epitome_, xii. 8.]

[Footnote 224: Cornelius Nepos, _Epaminondas_, 3.]

[Footnote 225: Plutarch, _Cimon_, 10.]

[Footnote 226: Lecky, _History of European Morals_, ii. 77 _sq._

Boissier, _op. cit._ ii. 213 _sq._ Farrer, _Paganism and

Christianity_, p. 182.]

[Footnote 227: Seneca, _De clementia_, ii. 6.]

[Footnote 228: _Idem_, _De vita beata_, 23 _sq._]

[Footnote 229: Cicero, _De officiis_, i. 14 _sq._]

In a very different light was charity viewed by the Christians.

Unlimited open-handedness became a cardinal virtue. An ideal Christian

was he who did what Jesus commanded the young man to do: who went and

sold what he had and gave it to the poor.[230] Promiscuous almsgiving

was enjoined as a duty:--"Give to him that asketh thee, and from him

that would borrow of thee turn not thou away."[231] The discharge of

this duty was even more profitable to the giver than to the receiver.

There is perhaps no precept in the Gospel to which a promise of

recompense is so frequently annexed as to that concerning charity.

Eternal life is promised to those who feed the hungry, give drink to

the thirsty, take in the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the

sick.[232] Charity was regarded as an atonement. "God," says St.

Augustine, "is to be propitiated through alms for sins past";[233] and

countless times is the thought expressed, that almsgiving is a safe

investment of money at good interest with God in heaven.[234] Cyprian,

who is the father of the Romish doctrine of good works, establishes an

arithmetical relation between the number of alms-offerings and the

blotting out of sins.[235] "The food of the needy," says Leo the

Great, "is the purchase-money of the kingdom of heaven."[236] "As long

as the market lasts," says St. Chrysostom, "let us buy alms, or rather

let us purchase salvation through alms."[237] The rich man is only a

debtor; all that he possesses beyond {556} what is necessary, belongs

to the poor, and ought to be given away.[238] The poor, no longer

looked down upon, became instruments of salvation. To them was given

the first place in the Church and in the Christian community. St.

Chrysostom says of them, "As fountains flow near the place of prayer

that the hands that are about to be raised to heaven may be washed, so

were the poor placed by our fathers near to the door of the Church,

that our hands might be consecrated by benevolence before they are

raised to God."[239] Gregory the Great announces, and the Middle Ages

re-echo, "The poor are not to be lightly esteemed and despised, but to

be honoured as patrons."[240] Thus it happened that even in the

darkest periods, when all other Christian virtues were nearly extinct,

charity survived unimpaired.[241] Later on Protestantism, by denying

the atoning effect of good deeds, deprived charity of a great deal of

its religious attraction. And in modern times the enlightened opinion

on the subject, recognising the demoralising influence of

indiscriminate almsgiving, rather agrees with the principles laid down

by Cicero and Seneca, than with the literal interpretation of the

injunctions of Christ.

[Footnote 230: _Cf._ _Acts_, ii. 45.]

[Footnote 231: _St. Matthew_, v. 42. _Cf._ _St. Luke_, vi. 30.]

[Footnote 232: _St. Matthew_, xxv. 34 _sqq._]

[Footnote 233: St. Augustine, _Enchiridion_, 70 (Migne, _Patrologiæ

cursus_, xl. 265).]

[Footnote 234: See Uhlhorn, _Die christliche Liebesthätigkeit_, i. 270.]

[Footnote 235: Cyprian, _De opere et eleemosynis_, 24 (Migne, _op.

cit._ iv. 620). _Cf._ Harnack, _History of Dogma_, ii. 134, n. 2.]

[Footnote 236: Leo Magnus, _Sermo X., de Collectis_, 5 (Migne, _op.

cit._ liv. 165 _sq._).]

[Footnote 237: St. Chrysostom, _Homilia VII., de P[oe]nitentia_

(Migne, _op. cit._ Ser. Graeca, xlix. _sq._ 333).]

[Footnote 238: Uhlhorn, _op. cit._ p. 294 _sq._]

[Footnote 239: St. Chrysostom, _De verbis Apostoli, Habentes eumdem

spiritum_, iii. 11 (Migne, _op. cit._ Ser. Graeca, li. _sq._ 300).]

[Footnote 240: Quoted by Uhlhorn, _op. cit._ i. 315.]

[Footnote 241: _Cf._ Milman, _History of Latin Christianity_,

ix. 33 _sq._]

In the course of progressing civilisation the obligation of assisting

the needy has been extended to wider and wider circles of men. The

charity and generosity which savages require as a duty or praise as a

virtue have, broadly speaking, reference only to members of the same

community or tribe. Kindness towards foreigners is looked upon in a

very different light. "The virtues of the Negroes," Monrad observes,

"are entirely restricted to their own tribe. The doing good to a

stranger they would generally find ridiculous."[242] To the

Greenlander a foreigner, especially if he be of another race, is "an

indifferent object, whose welfare he has no interest in

furthering."[243] {557} The Bedouin, says Doughty, "has two faces,

this of gentle kindness at home, the other of wild misanthropy and his

teeth set against the world besides."[244] At higher stages of

civilisation the duty of charity embraces a wider group of people, in

proportion to the largeness of the social unit or to the scope of the

religion by which it is enjoined. But it is still more or less

restrained by national or religious boundaries. M. Amélineau observes

that the charity referred to on ancient Egyptian papyri is "la charité

limitée à ceux de la même nation."[245] According to Zoroastrianism,

charity should be restricted to the followers of the true religion; to

succour an unbeliever would be like a strengthening of the dominion of

Evil.[246] The Zakât, or legal alms of the Muhammedans, must not be

given to a non-Muslim, because it is regarded as a fundamental part of

worship;[247] similarly the [S.]adaqah, or offering on the feast-day

known as [(]Idu'l-Fi[t.]r, is confined to true believers.[248] Nor has

Christian charity always been free from religious narrowness. Fleury

says that the early Christians, in the care they took of the poor,

always preferred Christians before infidels, because "their principal

regard was to their spiritual concerns, and to their temporal welfare

only in order to their spiritual."[249] The principle of the Church

was, "Omnem hominem _fidelem_ judica tuum esse fratrem."[250] In the

seventeenth century the Scotch clergy taught that food or shelter must

on no occasion be given to a starving man unless his opinions were

orthodox.[251] On the other hand, Christianity of a higher type

preaches charity towards all men; and so does advanced Judaism and

Buddhism. It is said in the Talmud, with reference to the treatment of

the poor, that no distinction should be made between such as are Jews

and such as are not.[252] In modern times charity now and then {558}

steps over the barriers of nationality even when the sufferers belong

to distant nations. Whilst our indigent compatriots are generally

recognised to have a greater claim on our pity than needy strangers, a

great calamity in one country readily calls forth a charitable

response in other nations. Mr. Pike believes that the contribution of

one hundred thousand pounds sterling which England, in the year 1755,

when Lisbon was laid in ruins by an earthquake, sent for the relief of

the sufferers, inaugurated this new era of international

charitableness. "Compassion." he observes, "was at last shown by

Englishmen, not simply for Englishmen and Protestants, but for

foreigners professing a different religion; pity, for once, triumphed

over intolerance and national prejudice."[253] And in war, in the case

of enemies rendered harmless by wounds or disease, the growth of human

feeling has passed beyond the simple requirement that they shall not

be killed or ill-used, and has cast upon belligerents the duty of

tending them so far as is consistent with the primary duty to their

own wounded.[254] However, it must not be imagined that this humane

principle, which has only lately been recognised in Europe, is a

unique outcome of Christian civilisation at its height. It is said in

the Mahabharata that, when a quarrel arises among good men, a wounded

enemy is to be cured in the conqueror's own country, or to be conveyed

to his home.[255] Strangely enough, even from the savage world we hear

of something like an anticipation of the Geneva Convention. Among

certain tribes in New South Wales, as soon as the fight is concluded,

"both parties seem perfectly reconciled, and jointly assist in tending

the wounded men."[256]

[Footnote 242: Monrad, _op. cit._ p. 4.]

[Footnote 243: Nansen, _Eskimo Life_, p. 159.]

[Footnote 244: Doughty, _Arabia Deserta_, i. 368 _sq._]

[Footnote 245: Amélineau, _op. cit._ p. 354.]

[Footnote 246: Geiger, _op. cit._ i. 165.]

[Footnote 247: Sell, _op. cit._ p. 284. _Cf._ _Koran_, ix. 60.]

[Footnote 248: Sell, _op. cit._ p. 318.]

[Footnote 249: Fleury, _Manners and Behaviour of the Christians_,

p. 133 _sq._]

[Footnote 250: Laurent, _Études sur l'histoire del'Humanité_, iv. 94.]

[Footnote 251: Buckle, _History of Civilization in England_, iii. 277.]

[Footnote 252: _Gitin_, fol. 61 A, quoted by Katz, _Der wahre

Talmudjude_, p. 38. _Cf._ Chaikin, _Apologie des Juifs_, p. 10.]

[Footnote 253: Pike, _History of Crime in England_, ii. 346.]

[Footnote 254: 'Convention signed at Geneva, August 22, 1864, for the

Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field,'

in Lorimer, _Institutes of the Law of Nations_, ii. Appendix no. vi.

Hall, _Treatise on International **Law_, p. 399. Heffter, _Das

Europäische Völkerrecht der Gegenwart_, § 126, p. 267, n. 5.]

[Footnote 255: _Mahabharata_, xii. 3547, quoted by Lorimer, _op. cit._

ii. 431.]

[Footnote 256: Brough Smyth, _op. cit._ i. 160.]

{559} The gradual expansion of the duty of charity is due to the fact

that this duty, in the first place, is based on the altruistic

sentiment, and consequently follows the same general law of

development. Many cases referred to above imply that savages are by no

means strangers to affection, and that in their communities there is

not only mutual assistance, but general kindness of heart. Numerous

instances to the same effect might easily be added. When a Fuegian is

very ill the near relatives show much grief;[257] and Darwin tells us

that the Fuegian boy who was taken on board the _Beagle_ and brought

to Europe, used to go to the sea-sick and say, in a plaintive voice,

"Poor, poor fellow!"[258] The Veddahs are praised not only for their

charitable behaviour towards each other, but for their natural

tenderness of heart.[259] The aborigines of Victoria are said to "have

the greatest love for their friends and relatives," and to testify the

liveliest joy when a companion after a long absence returns to the

camp.[260] Forster mentions an instance of affection among the natives

of Tana, which, as he says, "strongly proves that the passions and

innate quality of human nature are much the same in every

climate."[261] Melville declares that, after passing a few weeks in

the Typee valley of the Marquesas, he formed a higher estimate of

human nature than he ever before entertained.[262] It can hardly be

doubted that in every human society there is, normally, some degree of

social affection between its members;[263] and it seems that the

evolution of this sentiment in mankind has been much more in the

direction of greater extensiveness than of greater intensity.

[Footnote 257: Bridges, in _A Voice for South America_, xiii. 206.]

[Footnote 258: Darwin, _Journal of Researches_, p. 207.]

[Footnote 259: Sarasin, _op. cit._ iii. 545, 550.]

[Footnote 260: Brough Smyth, _op. cit._ i. 138.]

[Footnote 261: Forster, _Voyage round the World_, ii. 325.]

[Footnote 262: Melville, _Typee_, p. 297.]

[Footnote 263: See _infra_, on the Origin and Development of the

Altruistic Sentiment.]

Where the members of a group have affection for each other, mutual aid

will be regarded as a duty both because it will be practised

habitually, and because a {560} failure to afford it will call forth

sympathetic resentment on behalf of the sufferer, But we need, here

again, to look below the surface. Men may be induced to do good to

their fellow-creatures not only by kindly feelings towards them, but

by egoistic motives; and such motives, through having a share in

making beneficence a tribal habit, at the same time influence the

moral estimation in which it is held. The Basutos say that "the knife

that is lent does not return alone to its master"--a kindness is never

thrown away.[264] Of the Asiniboin, a Siouan tribe, Mr. Dorsey states

that "nothing is given except with a view to a gift in return."[265]

When the Andaman Islanders make presents of the best that they

possess, they tacitly understand that an equivalent should be rendered

for every gift.[266] Among the Makololo "the rich show kindness to the

poor, in expectation of services."[267] In his description of the

Greenlanders, Dr. Nansen observes that all the small communities

depend for their existence on the law of mutual assistance, on the

principle of common suffering and common enjoyment. "A hard life has

taught the Eskimo that even if he is a skilful hunter and can, as a

rule, manage to hold his own well enough, there may come times when,

without the help of his fellows, he would have to succumb. It is

better, therefore, for him to help in his turn."[268] That similar

considerations largely lie at the bottom of the custom of mutual aid

and charity both in uncivilised and more advanced communities, we may

assume from the experience of human nature which we have acquired at

home. And such motives must be particularly active in a society the

members of which are so dependent on each other's services and

return-services, as is generally the case with a horde of savages.

[Footnote 264: Casalis, _op. cit._ p. 310.]

[Footnote 265: Dorsey, 'Siouan Sociology,' in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._

xv. 225 _sq._]

[Footnote 266: Man, in _Jour. Anthr. Inst._ xii. 95.]

[Footnote 267: Livingstone, _Missionary Travels_, p. 511.]

[Footnote 268: Nansen, _First Crossing of Greenland_, ii. 304 _sq._

_Cf._ Cranz, _History of Greenland_, i. 173; Parry, _op. cit._ p. 525.]

Moreover, by niggardliness a person may expose himself {561} to

supernatural dangers, whereas liberality may entail supernatural

reward. In Morocco nobody would like to eat in the presence of other

people without sharing his meal with them; otherwise they might poison

his food by looking at it with an evil eye. So also, if anybody shows

a great liking for a thing belonging to you, wanting, for instance, to

buy your gun or your horse, it is best to let him have it, since

otherwise an accident is likely to happen to the object of his

desire.[269] But baneful energy, what the Moors call _l-bas_, is

transferable not only by the eye, but by the voice. The poor and the

needy have thus in their hands a powerful weapon and means of

retaliation, the curse. The ancient Greeks believed that the beggar

had his Erinys,[270] his avenging demon, which was obviously only a

personification of his curse.[271] It is said in the Proverbs, "He

that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes

shall have many a curse."[272] The same idea is expressed in

Ecclesiasticus:--"Turn not away thine eye from the needy, and give him

none occasion to curse thee: for if he curse thee in the bitterness of

his soul, his prayer shall be heard of him that made him. . . . A

prayer out of a poor man's mouth reacheth to the ears of God, and his

judgment cometh speedily."[273] According to the Zoroastrian Yasts,

the poor man who follows the good law, when wronged and deprived of

his rights, invokes Mithra for help, with hands uplifted.[274] Mr.

Chapman states that, "though the Damaras are, generally speaking,

great gluttons, they would not think of eating in the presence of any

of their tribe without sharing their meal with all comers, for fear of

being visited by a curse from their 'Omu-kuru' [or deity], and

becoming impoverished."[275] There is all reason {562} to suppose that

in this case the curse of the deity was originally the curse, or evil

wish, of an angry man.

[Footnote 269: Similar beliefs prevail in modern Egypt (Klunzinger,

_Upper Egypt_, p. 391).]

[Footnote 270: _Odyssey_, xvii. 475.]

[Footnote 271: _Supra_, p. 60.]

[Footnote 272: _Proverbs_, xxviii. 27.]

[Footnote 273: _Ecclesiasticus_, iv. 5 _sq._; xxi. 5. _Cf._

_Deuteronomy_, xv. 9. Rabbi Johanan says that almsgiving "saves man

from sudden, unnatural death" (Kohler, in _Jewish Encyclopedia_, i.

435). _Cf._ _Proverbs_, x. 2.]

[Footnote 274: _Yasts_, x. 84.]

[Footnote 275: Chapman, _Travels in the Interior of South Africa_,

i. 341.]

A poor man is able not only to punish the uncharitable by means of his

curses, but to reward the generous giver by means of his blessings.

During my residence among the Andjra tribe in the mountains of

Northern Morocco, our village was visited by a band of ambulant

scribes who went from house to house, receiving presents and invoking

blessings in return. When a goat was given them they asked God to

increase the flocks of the giver, when money was given they asked God

to increase his money, and so forth. Some of the villagers told me

that it was a profitable bargain, since they would be tenfold repaid

for their gifts through the blessings of the scribes. A town Moor who

starts for a journey to the country generally likes to give a coin to

one of the beggars who are sitting near the gate, so as to receive his

blessings. It is said in Ecclesiasticus:--"Stretch thine hand unto the

poor, that thy blessing may be perfected. A gift hath grace in the

sight of every man living."[276] Whilst he that withholdeth corn shall

be cursed by the people, "blessing shall be upon the head of him that

selleth it."[277] Among the early Christians those who brought gifts

for the poor were specially remembered in the prayers of the

Church.[278] Of the Nay[=a]dis of Malabar Mr. Iyer says that the

purport and object of their prayers are, among other things, "that all

the superior castes, who give them alms, may enjoy long life and

prosperity."[279] In various cases the nature of the rewards promised

for charitable acts suggests that they are due to the blessings of the

recipient. According to Vasishtha, "through liberality man obtains all

his desires, even longevity."[280] In the Yasts it is said that the

children of a charitable man will thrive.[281] According to Talmudic

ideas, men acquire wealth for their children by {563} distributing

alms among the poor.[282] Considering how widely spread is the belief

in the efficacy of curses and blessings, there can be little doubt

that charity and generosity are connected with this belief in many

cases where no such connection has been noticed by the European

visitor.

[Footnote 276: _Ecclesiasticus_, vii. 32. _Cf._ _Proverbs_, xxii. 9.]

[Footnote 277: _Proverbs_, xi. 26.]

[Footnote 278: Uhlhorn, _op. cit._ i. 141.]

[Footnote 279: Iyer, in the Madras Government Museum's _Bulletin_,

iv. 72.]

[Footnote 280: _Vasishtha_, xxix. 1 _sq._]

[Footnote 281: _Yasts_, xxiv. 36.]

[Footnote 282: Kohler, in _Jewish Encyclopedia_, i. 436. _Cf._

_Proverbs_, xxviii. 27.]

The curses and blessings of the poor partly account for the fact that

charity has come to be regarded as a religious duty. Originally, it is

true, they had not the character of an appeal to a god, but were

believed to possess a purely magical power, independent of any

superhuman will. This belief is rooted in the close association

between the wish, more particularly the spoken wish, and the idea of

its fulfilment. The wish is looked upon in the light of energy which

may be transferred--by material contact, or by the eye, or by means of

speech--to the person concerned, and then becomes a fact. This

process, however, is not taken quite as a matter of course; there is

always some mystery about it. Hence the words of a holy man, a

magician or priest, are considered more efficacious than those of

ordinary mortals. The Australian natives believe that the curse of a

potent magician will kill at the distance of a hundred miles. Among

the Maoris "the anathema of a priest is regarded as a thunderbolt that

an enemy cannot escape."[283] Among the Gallas no man will under any

circumstances slay either a priest or a wizard, from a dread of his

dying curse.[284] Some of the Rabbis maintained that a curse uttered

by a scholar is unfailing in its effect, even if undeserved.[285] In

Muhammedan countries the curses of saints or shereefs are particularly

feared. According to the Laws of Manu, a Brâhmana "may punish his foes

by his own power alone," speech being his weapon.[286] But though a

curse may derive particular potency from the person who utters it,

{564} it is by no means ineffective even in the mouth of an ordinary

man.[287] In the Old Testament children are forbidden to curse their

parents,[288] subjects their rulers,[289] men their god;[290] and

according to Talmudic conceptions, a curse should not be regarded

lightly however ignorant be the person who utters it.[291] All that is

required is that the words should possess that supernatural quality

which alone can bring about the result desired, and this quality may

be inherent in the curse quite independently of the person who utters

it. It is inherent in certain mystic formulas or spells and in the

invocations of some spirit or god. The will of the invoked being is

not considered at all; his name is simply brought in to give the curse

that mystic efficacy which the plain word lacks. Thus both in the Old

Testament[292] and in the Talmud[293] there are traces of the ancient

idea that the name of the Lord might be used with advantage in any

curse however undeserved. But with the deepening of the religious

sentiment this idea had to be given up. A righteous and mighty god

cannot agree to be a mere tool in the hand of a wicked curser. Hence

the curse comes to be looked upon in the light of a prayer, which is

not fulfilled if undeserved; as it is said in the Proverbs, "the curse

causeless shall not come."[294] And the same is the case with the

blessing. Whilst in ancient days Jacob could take away his brother's

blessing by deceit,[295] the efficacy of a blessing was later on

limited by moral considerations.[296] The Psalmist declares that only

the offspring of the righteous can be blessed;[297] and according to

the Apostolic Constitutions, "although a widow who eateth and is

filled from the wicked, pray for them, she shall not be heard."[298]

{565} On the other hand, curses and blessings, when well deserved,

continued to draw down calamity or prosperity upon their objects, by

inducing God to put them into effect; this idea prevails both in

post-exilic Judaism and in Muhammedanism,[299] and underlies the

Christian oath and benediction. The final, but not the original view

was that, as an uncharitable man deserves to be punished and a

charitable man merits reward, the curses and blessings of the poor

will naturally be heard by a righteous God. "The Lord will plead their

cause."[300]

[Footnote 283: Polack, _Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders_,

i. 248 _sq._]

[Footnote 284: Harris, _Highlands of Æthiopia_, iii. 50.]

[Footnote 285: _Makkoth_, fol. 11 A. _Berakhoth_, fol. 56 A.]

[Footnote 286: _Laws of Manu_, xi. 32 _sq._]

[Footnote 287: Taylor, _Te Ika a Maui_, p. 204 (Maoris). Wellhausen,

_Reste arabischen Heidentums_, p. 139.]

[Footnote 288: _Exodus_, xxi. 17. _Leviticus_, xx. 9. _Proverbs_,

xx. 20; xxx. 11.]

[Footnote 289: _Exodus_, xxii. 28. _Ecclesiastes_, x. 20.]

[Footnote 290: _Exodus_, xxii. 28.]

[Footnote 291: _Meghilla_, fol. 15 A.]

[Footnote 292: _Supra_, p. 564.]

[Footnote 293: _Makkoth_, fol. 11 A. _Berakhoth_, foll. 19 A, 56 A.]

[Footnote 294: _Proverbs_, xxvi. 2.]

[Footnote 295: _Genesis_, xxvii. 23 _sqq._]

[Footnote 296: _Cf._ Cheyne, 'Blessings and Curses,' in _Encyclopædia

Biblica_, i. 592.]

[Footnote 297: _Psalms_, xxxvii. 26.]

[Footnote 298: _Constitutiones Apostolicæ_, iv. 6. _Cf._ _Jeremiah_,

vii. 16.]

[Footnote 299: _Cf._ Cheyne, in _Encyclopædia Biblica_, i. 592;

Goldziher, _Abhandlungen zur arabischen Philologie_, i. 29 _sqq._]

[Footnote 300: _Proverbs_, xxii. 23.]

The chief cause, however, of the extraordinary stress which the higher

religions put on the duty of charity seems to lie in the connection

between almsgiving and sacrifice. When food is offered as a tribute to

a god, the god is supposed to enjoy its spiritual part only, whilst

the substance of it is left behind and is eaten by the poor. And when

the offering is continued in ceremonial survival in spite of the

growing conviction that, after all, the deity does not need and cannot

profit by it,[301] the poor become the natural heirs of the god, and

the almsgiver inherits the merit of the sacrificer. The chief virtue

of the act, then, lies in the self-abnegation of the donor, and its

efficacy is measured by the "sacrifice" which it costs him.

[Footnote 301: For such a survival, see Tylor, _Primitive Culture_,

ii. 396 _sqq._]

Many instances may be quoted of sacrificial food being left for the

poor or being distributed among them. At Scillus, where Xenophon had

built an altar and a temple to Artemis and a sacrifice was afterwards

made every year, the goddess supplied the poor people living there in

tents with "barley-meal, bread, wine, sweetmeats, and a share of the

victims offered from the sacred pastures, and of those caught in

hunting."[302] According to Yasna, sacrifices to Mazda were given to

his poor.[303] In ancient Arabia the poor were allowed to partake of

the meal-offering {566} which was laid before the god Uqaiçir.[304]

In Zinder, in the Soudan, there are some trees, regarded as divine, to

which annual offerings of bullocks, sheep, and so forth, are made,

"though the poor of the country get the benefit of them."[305] In

Morocco even animals which are killed as _[(]âr_--a sacrifice

embodying a conditional curse--on departed saints or living people,

with a view to compelling them to grant a request, are commonly eaten

by the poor, though nobody else would dare to partake of

them.

[Footnote 302: Xenophon, _Anabasis_, v. 3. 9.]

[Footnote 303: _Yasna_, xxxiv. 5.]

[Footnote 304: Wellhausen, _Reste arabischen Heidentums_, p. 64.

Robertson Smith, _Religion of the Semites_, p. 223.]

[Footnote 305: Richardson, _Mission to Central Africa_, ii. 259.]

In other cases we find that almsgiving is itself regarded as a form of

sacrifice, or takes the place of it. In the sacred books of India the

two things are repeatedly mentioned side by side. "The householder

offers sacrifices, the householder practises austerities, the

householder distributes gifts."[306] Of a Brâhmana who has completed

his studentship it is said, "Let him always practise, according to his

ability, with a cheerful heart, the duty of liberality, both by

sacrifices and by charitable works, if he finds a worthy recipient for

his gifts."[307] "In the Krita age the chief virtue is declared to be

the performance of austerities, in the Tretâ divine knowledge, in the

Dvâpara the performance of sacrifices, in the Kali liberality

alone."[308] In the Egyptian 'Book of the Dead' the soul, on

approaching to the gods who are in the Tuat, pleads:--"I have done

that which man prescribeth and that which pleaseth the gods. I have

propitiated the god with that which he loveth. I have given bread to

the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, a boat to the

shipwrecked. I have made oblations to the gods and funeral offerings

to the departed."[309] In the Zoroastrian prayer Ahuna-Vairya, to

which great efficacy is ascribed, it is said, "He who relieves the

poor makes Ahura king."[310] {567} In the Koran almsgiving is often

mentioned in connection with prayer;[311] and the Zakât, or alms

prescribed by law, is regarded by the Muhammedans as a fundamental

part of their religion, hence infidels, who cannot perform acceptable

worship, have nothing to do with these alms.[312] Among the

Muhammedans of India it is common for men and women to vow "that when

what they desire shall come to pass, they will, in the name of God,

the Prophet, his companions, or some _wullee_, present offerings and

oblations." One of these offerings, called "an offering unto God,"

consists in preparing particular victuals, and in "distributing them

among friends and the poor, and giving any sort of grain, a sacrificed

sheep, clothes, or ready-money in alms to the indigent."[313] When the

destruction of the Temple with its altar filled the Jews with alarm as

they thought of their unatoned sins, Johanan ben Zakkai comforted them

by saying, "You have another means of atonement, as powerful as the

altar, and that is the work of charity, for it is said: 'I desired

mercy, and not sacrifice.'"[314] Many other passages show how closely

the Jews associated almsgiving with sacrifice. "He that giveth alms

sacrificeth praise."[315] "As sin-offering makes atonement for Israel,

so alms for the Gentiles."[316] "Almsdeeds are more meritorious than

all sacrifices."[317] An orphan is called an "altar to God."[318] And

as a sacrificer should be a person of a godly character, so it is

better to perish by famine than to receive an oblation from the

ungodly.[319] Alms were systematically collected in the synagogues,

and officers were appointed to make the collection.[320] So, also,

among the early Christians the collection of alms for the relief of

the poor was an act of the Church life itself. Almsgiving took place

in public worship, nay formed itself a part of worship. {568} Gifts of

natural produce, the so-called oblations, were connected with the

celebration of the Lord's Supper. They were offered to God as the

first-fruits of the creatures (_primitiæ creaturarum_), and a prayer

was said:--"O Lord, accept also the offerings of those who to-day

bring an offering, as Thou didst accept the offerings of righteous

Abel, the offering of our father Abraham, the incense of Zachariah,

the alms of Cornelius, and the two mites of the widow." These

oblations were not only used for the Lord's Supper, but they formed

the chief means for the relief of the poor. They were regarded as

sacrifice in the most special sense; and, as no unclean gift might be

laid upon the Lord's altar, profit made from sinful occupations was

not accepted as an oblation, neither were the oblations of impenitent

sinners.[321] The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of

almsgiving as a sacrifice of thanksgiving which continues after the

Jewish altar has been done away with.[322] Like sacrifice, almsgiving

is connected with prayer, as a means of making the prayer efficacious

and furnishing it with wings; the angel said to Cornelius, "Thy

prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God."[323]

When the Christians were reproached for having no sacrifices, Justin

wrote, "We have been taught that the only honour that is worthy of Him

is not to consume by fire what He has brought into being for our

sustenance, but to use it for ourselves and those who need."[324] So,

also, Irenæus observes that sacrifices are not abolished in the New

Testament, though their form is indeed altered, because they are no

longer offered by slaves, but by freemen, of which just the oblations

are the proof.[325] And God has enjoined on Christians this sacrifice

of oblations, not because He needs them, but "in order that themselves

{569} might be neither unfruitful nor ungrateful."[326] St. Augustine

says, "The sacrifice of the Christians is the alms bestowed upon the

poor."[327]

[Footnote 306: _Institutes of Vishnu_, lix. 28.]

[Footnote 307: _Laws of Manu_, iv. 227. _Cf._ _ibid._ iv. 226.]

[Footnote 308: _Ibid._ i. 86.]

[Footnote 309: _Book of the Dead_, 125, Renouf's translation, p. 217.]

[Footnote 310: _Vendîdâd_, xix, 2.]

[Footnote 311: _Koran_, ii. 40, 104; ix. 54.]

[Footnote 312: Sell, _op. cit._ 284.]

[Footnote 313: Jaffur Shureef, _Qanoon-e-Islam_, p. 179.]

[Footnote 314: Kohler, in _Jewish Encyclopedia_, i. 467. _Hosea_,

vi. 6.]

[Footnote 315: _Ecclesiasticus_, xxxv. 2.]

[Footnote 316: Quoted by Levy, _Neuhebräisches und Chaldäisches

Wörterbuch_, iv. 173.]

[Footnote 317: Quoted _ibid._ iv. 173.]

[Footnote 318: _Constitutiones Apostolicæ_, iv. 3.]

[Footnote 319: _Ibid._ iv. 8.]

[Footnote 320: Addis, in _Encyclopædia Biblica_, i. 119.]

[Footnote 321: Uhlhorn, _op. cit._ i. 135 _sqq._ Harnack, _History of

Dogma_, i. 205.]

[Footnote 322: _Hebrews_, xiii. 14 _sqq._ _Cf._ Addis, in

_Encyclopædia Biblica_, i. 119.]

[Footnote 323: _Act_, x. 4. Cyprian, _De opere et eleemosynis_, 4. St.

Chrysostom, _Homilia VII., de P[oe]nitentia_, 6 (Migne, _Patrologiæ

cursus_, Ser. Gr. xlix. _sq._ 332).]

[Footnote 324: Justin, _Apologia I. pro Christianis_, 13.]

[Footnote 325: Irenæus, _Adversus hæreses_, iv. 18. 82.]

[Footnote 326: _Ibid._ iv. 17. 5.]

[Footnote 327: St. Augustine, _Sermo XLII._ 1 (Migne, _op. cit._

xxxviii. 252).]

The objection will perhaps be raised that I have here tried to trace

back the most beautiful of all religious virtues to a magical and

ritualistic origin without taking into due account the benevolent

feelings attributed to the Deity. But in the present connection I have

not had to show why charity, like other human duties, has been

sanctioned by religious beliefs, but why, in the ethics of the higher

religions, it has attained the same supreme importance as is otherwise

attached only to devotional exercises. And this is certainly a problem

by itself, for which the belief in a benevolent god affords no

adequate explanation. That the religious duty of charity is not merely

an outcome of the altruistic sentiment is well illustrated by the fact

that Zoroastrianism, whilst exalting almsgiving to the rank of a

cardinal virtue, at the same time excludes the sick man from the

community of the faithful until he has been cured and cleansed

according to prescribed rites.[328]

[Footnote 328: Darmesteter, 'Introduction' to the Zend-Avesta, in

_Sacred Books of the East_, iv. p. lxxx.]