THE SUBJECTION OF CHILDREN
FROM the modes of conduct which affect the life or bodily welfare of a
fellow-creature we shall pass to those relating to personal freedom.
In its absolute form the right of liberty may be granted to a perfect
being, but has no existence on earth. Ever since the conduct of men
became subject to moral censure, the right of doing what they pleased
was _eo ipso_ denied them; and in resisting wrong men have not only in
various ways interfered with the liberty of their fellow-creatures,
but have considered such interference to be their right or even their
duty. As to the question what conduct is wrong opinions have differed,
and so also as to the proper means of interference; but with neither
of these questions are we concerned at present. Nor shall I deal with
the subject of political liberty, nor with such restrictions as people
lay on their own freedom by contract. I shall only consider facts
bearing upon that state of subjection to which large classes of
individuals are doomed by custom or law, on account of their birth or
other circumstances beyond their own control--the subjection of
children, wives, and slaves to their parents, husbands, or masters.
Among the lower races every family has its head, who exercises more or
less authority over its members. In some instances where the maternal
system of descent prevails, a man's children are in the power of the
head of {598} their mother's family or of their maternal uncle;[1] but
this is by no means the rule even among peoples who reckon kinship
through females only. The facts which have been adduced as examples of
the so-called "mother-right" in most instances imply, chiefly, that
children are named after their mothers, not after their fathers, and
that property and rank descend exclusively in the female line;[2] and
this is certainly very different from a denial of paternal rights.[3]
Among those Australian tribes which have the system of maternal
descent the father is distinctly said to be the master of his
children.[4] In Melanesia, where the clan of the children is
determined by that of the mother, she is, to quote Dr. Codrington, "in
no way the head of the family. The house of the family is the
father's, the garden is his, the rule and government are his."[5] As
regards the Iroquois--among whom, at the death of a man, his property
is divided between his brothers, sisters, and mother's brothers,
whilst the property of a woman is transmitted to her children and
sisters[6]--we are told that the mother superintends the children, but
that the word of the father is law and must be obeyed by the whole
household.[7] Among the Mpongwe, who reckon kinship through the
mother, the father has by law unrestricted power over his children.[8]
And in Madagascar, where children generally follow the condition of
the mother,[9] the commands of a father or an ancestor are, among all
the tribes, "held as most sacredly binding upon his descendants."[10]
Whatever might have been the case in earlier times, it is a fact
beyond dispute that among the great bulk of existing savages children
are in the power of {599} their father, though he may to some extent
have to share his authority with the mother.
[Footnote 1: Westermarck, _History of Human Marriage_, p. 40 _sq._
Grosse, _Die Formen der Familie_, p. 183 _sq._ Post, _Afrikanische
Jurisprudenz_, i. 51 _sq._ Marsden, _History of Sumatra_, p. 262 _sq._]
[Footnote 2: Westermarck, _op. cit._ p. 97.]
[Footnote 3: See von Dargun, _Mutterrecht und Vaterrecht_, p. 3 _sqq._]
[Footnote 4: Curr, _The Australian Race_, i. 60, 61, 69.]
[Footnote 5: Codrington, _Melanesians_, p. 34.]
[Footnote 6: Westermarck, _op. cit._ p. 110.]
[Footnote 7: Seaver, _Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison_,
p. 165.]
[Footnote 8: Hübbe-Schleiden, _Ethiopien_, pp. 151, 153.]
[Footnote 9: Westermarck, _op. cit._ p. 103.]
[Footnote 10: Sibree, _The Great African Island_, p. 326.]
The extent of the father's power, however, is subject to great
variations. Among some savage peoples, as we have seen, he may destroy
his new-born child; among others infanticide is prohibited by custom.
Among some he may sell his children,[11] among others such a right is
expressly denied him.[12] Frequently he gives away his daughter in
marriage without consulting her wishes; but in other cases her own
consent is required, or she is allowed to choose her husband
herself.[13] Marriage by purchase does not imply that "a girl is sold
by her father in the same manner, and with the same authority, with
which he would dispose of a cow."[14] It seems that the paternal
authority is always in some degree limited by public opinion. Among
the Káfirs of the Hindu-Kush, for instance, though the head of the
house is described as an autocrat in his own family, the son, backed
by public opinion, may, and does, openly quarrel with and threaten his
father in cases when the father's actions have been of a particularly
gross character.[15]
[Footnote 11: Schadenberg, 'Negritos der Philippinen,' in _Zeitschr.
f. Ethnologie_, xii. 137. Post, _Afrikanische Jurisprudenz_, i. 51
_sq._ (Bogos, Fantis, Dahomans). Paulitschke, _Ethnographie
Nordost-Afrikas_, p. 189. Leuschner, in Steinmetz, _Rechtsverhältnisse_,
p. 16 _sq._ (Bakwiri). Among the Banaka and Bapuku, in the Cameroons,
the father may give his daughter in payment for a debt, but not his
son (_ibid._ p. 31).]
[Footnote 12: Kraft, in Steinmetz, _Rechtsverhältnisse_, p. 285
(Wapokomo). Rautanen, _ibid._ p. 329 (Ondonga).]
[Footnote 13: Westermarck, _op. cit._ p. 215 _sqq._]
[Footnote 14: Leslie, _Among the Zulus and Amatongas_, p. 194.
Westermarck, _op. cit._ ch. x.]
[Footnote 15: Robertson, _Káfirs of the Hindu-Kush_, p. 474.]
The essence of dependence lies in obedience and submission. To judge
from what is said about children's behaviour towards their parents,
the authority of the father must among some savages be practically
very slight.
The South American Charruas "ne défendent rien à leurs enfans, et
ceux-ci n'ont aucun respect pour leurs pères."[16] Among the Brazilian
Indians, according to von Martius, respect and obedience on the part
of children towards their parents are unknown.[17] {600} Among the
Tarahumares of Mexico "the children grow up entirely independent, and
if angry a boy may even strike his father."[18] We are told that among
the Aleuts parents "scarcely ever enjoy so much authority as to compel
their own children to shew them the least obedience, or to go a single
step in their service";[19] but this does not seem to hold good of all
of their tribes.[20] Of the Kamchadales Steller states that the
children insult their parents with all sorts of bad talk, stand in no
fear of them, obey them in nothing, and are consequently never
commanded to do anything, nor punished.[21]
[Footnote 16: Azara, _Voyages dans l'Amérique méridionale_, ii. 23.]
[Footnote 17: von Martius, in _Jour. Roy. Geo. Soc._ ii. 199. _Cf._
Southey, _History of Brazil_, iii. 387 (Guaycurus).]
[Footnote 18: Lumholtz, _Unknown Mexico_, p. 275.]
[Footnote 19: Georgi, _Russia_, iii. 212.]
[Footnote 20: Veniaminof, quoted by Petroff, 'Report on Alaska,' in
_Tenth Census of the United States_, pp. 155, 158.]
[Footnote 21: Steller, _Beschreibung von dem Lande Kamtschatka_, p.
353. _Cf._ Georgi, _op. cit._ iii. 158.]
Other savages, again, are by no means deficient in filial piety.[22]
[Footnote 22: Im Thurn, _Among the Indians of Guiana_, p. 213.
Schwaner, _Borneo_, i. 162 (Malays of the Barito River in Borneo).
Worcester, _Philippine Islands_, p. 481. Lewin, _Hill Tracts of
Chittagong_, p. 102 (Kukis). Vámbéry, _Türkenvolk_, p. 268
(Kara-Kirghiz). Macpherson, _Memorials of Service in India_, p. 67;
Hunter, _Annals of Rural Bengal_, iii. 72 (Kandhs). Granville and
Roth, in _Jour. Anthr. Inst._ xxviii. 109 (Jekris of the Warri
District of the Niger Coast Protectorate). Stuhlmann, _Mit Emin Pascha
ins Herz von Afrika_, p. 801 (Latuka).]
Among various Eskimo[23] and North American Indian tribes[24]
children are described as very obedient to their parents. Parry says
of the Eskimo of Winter Island and Igloolik that disobedience is
scarcely ever known, and that "a word or even a look from a parent is
enough."[25] The Potawatomis hold the violation of the advice and
directions of their parents one of the most atrocious crimes.[26] In
Tonga "filial duty is a most important duty and appears to be
universally felt."[27] One of the chief duties which the Ainos taught
their children was obedience to parents.[28] Among the Central Asiatic
Turks a son, whilst young, behaves as if he were his father's
slave.[29] Among the {601} Ossetes "the authority of the head of the
family, whether grandfather, father, stepfather, uncle, or elder
brother, is submitted to unconditionally; the young men never sit in
his presence, nor speak with a loud voice, nor contradict him."[30]
Among the Barea and Kunáma "a father and a mother are respected to the
utmost degree. A son never dares to contradict his parents nor oppose
their commands, however unjust they be. The mother particularly is
much beloved and tenderly cared for at her old age."[31] Among the
Mandingoes children "have a great veneration for their parents," and
"would feel extreme reluctance to disobey their father."[32] Of the
Bachapins, a Bechuana tribe, it is said that **"filial obedience is
strenuously enforced."[33] Among the Kafirs "any one who should fail
in respect for his father, or show any neglect of him, would draw on
himself the contempt of the whole horde; there have been even
instances in which want of filial duty has been punished with infamy
and banishment."[34]
[Footnote 23: Hall, _Arctic Researches_, p. 568. Boas, 'Central
Eskimo,' in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._ vi. 566. Murdoch, 'Ethnol. Results
of the Point Barrow Expedition,' _ibid._ ix. 417. Turner, 'Ethnology
of the Ungava District,' _ibid._ xi. 191 (Koksoagmyut).]
[Footnote 24: Turner, in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._ xi. 269 (Hudson Bay
Indians). Heriot, _Travels through the Canadas_, p. 530. Harmon,
_Journal of Voyages_, p. 347 (Indians on the east side of the Rocky
Mountains).]
[Footnote 25: Parry, _Journal of a Second Voyage for the Discovery of
a North-West Passage_, p. 530.]
[Footnote 26: Keating, _Expedition to the Source of St. Peter's
River_, i. 127.]
[Footnote 27: Mariner, _Natives of the Tonga Islands_, ii. 179.]
[Footnote 28: Batchelor, _Ainu and their Folk-Lore_, p. 254.]
[Footnote 29: Vámbéry, _op. cit._ p. 226.]
[Footnote 30: von Haxthausen, _Transcaucasia_, p. 414 _sq._]
[Footnote 31: Munzinger, _Ostafrikanische Studien_, p. 474.]
[Footnote 32: Caillié, _Travels through Central Africa_, i. 352 _sq._]
[Footnote 33: Burchell, _Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa_,
ii. 557.]
[Footnote 34: Lichtenstein, _Travels in Southern Africa_, i. 265.
Alberti, _De Kaffers aan de Zuidkust van Afrika_, p. 116 _sqq._
Shooter, _Kafirs of Natal_, p. 98.]
The period during which the paternal authority lasts varies. The
daughter is in her father's power till she marries, and as a rule no
longer;[35] but in some instances his authority over her continues
even after her marriage.[36] This, we have reason to believe, is
particularly the case when the husband, on marrying, does not take his
wife to his own home, but goes himself to live with her in the house
or community of her father.[37] A father's authority over his son
frequently comes to an end as the young man {602} grows up. Among the
Fuegians a son becomes independent of his parents at a very early age,
being allowed to leave their wigwam if he pleases.[38] Among the
Togiagamutes, an Eskimo tribe, "the youth, as soon as he is able to
build a kaiak and to support himself, no longer observes any family
ties but goes where his fancy takes him."[39] Of the Australian
natives it is said that sons become independent when they have gone
through the ceremonies by which they attain to the _status_ of
manhood;[40] among the Bangerang tribe of Victoria "after his twelfth
year or so the boy was very little subject to the father, though
parental affection always endured."[41] Among the Bedouins "the young
man, as soon as it is in his power, emancipates himself from the
father's authority, still paying him some deference as long as he
continues in his tent; but whenever he can become master of a tent
himself (to obtain which is his constant endeavour), he listens to no
advice, nor obeys any earthly command but that of his own will."[42]
That a son is emancipated from the father's power by getting
full-grown or by leaving the household is probably the rule among the
great majority of the lower races.[43] But here again instances to the
contrary are not wanting.[44] In Flores the sons even of rich families
are dressed like slaves at public feasts, so long as the father lives,
as also at his funeral. This, our authority adds, is apparently the
external sign of a strict _patria potestas_, which remains in force
till the funeral; until then the son is the father's slave.[45]
[Footnote 35: See, _e.g._, Leuschner, in Steinmetz, _Rechtsverhältnisse_,
p. 17 (Bakwiri); Fama Mademba, _ibid._ p. 65 (natives of the
Sansanding States); Nicole, _ibid._ p. 100 (Diakité); Lang, _ibid._ p.
224 (Washambala); Kraft, _ibid._ p. 286 (Wapokomo); Marx, _ibid._ p.
349 (Amahlubi); Sorge, _ibid._ p. 404 (Nissan Islanders of the
Bismarck Archipelago).]
[Footnote 36: See, _e.g._, Beverley, in Steinmetz, _Rechtsverhältnisse_,
p. 206. What is said, _ibid._ p. 31, concerning the Banaka and Bapuku
does not seem to agree with the statement p. 30, that the husband is
the head of his household and the possessor of his wives.]
[Footnote 37: _Cf._ Mazzarella, _La condizione giuridica del marito
nella famiglia matriarcale_, _passim_; _infra_, on the Subjection of
Wives. The point in question, like the whole subject of the father's
authority among the lower races, requires much further investigation.]
[Footnote 38: Bove, _Patagonia, Terra del Fuoco_, p. 133.]
[Footnote 39: Petroff, _loc. cit._ p. 135.]
[Footnote 40: Curr, _The Australian Race_, i. 61.]
[Footnote 41: _Idem_, _Recollections of Squatting in Victoria_, p. 248.]
[Footnote 42: Burckhardt, _Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys_, p. 201.]
[Footnote 43: For other instances, see Munzinger, _Die Sitten und das
Recht der Bogos_, p. 36; Post, _Afrikanische Jurisprudenz_, i. 51
(Somals); Leuschner, in Steinmetz, _Rechtsverhältnisse_, p. 17
(Bakwiri); Nicole, _ibid._ p. 100 (Diakité); Beverley, _ibid._ p. 206
(Wagogo); Marx, _ibid._ p. 349 (Amahlubi); Sorge, _ibid._ p. 404
(Nissan Islanders).]
[Footnote 44: Sarbah, _Fanti Customary Laws_, p. 5. Stuhlmann, _op.
cit._ p. 801 (Latuka). Steinmetz, _Rechtsverhältnisse_, p. 31 (Banaka
and Bapuku). Fama Mademba, _ibid._ p. 65 (natives of the Sansanding
States). Kraft, _ibid._ p. 286 (Wapokomo), Abercromby, _Pre- and
Proto-historic Finns_, i. 181 (Mordvins).]
[Footnote 45: von Martens, quoted by Nieboer, _Slavery as an
Industrial System_, p. 26, n. 2.]
{603} However, the expiration of the paternal power, in the proper
sense of the term, does not necessarily imply the loss of all
authority over the children. The father, at all events, retains the
rights incident to his superior age, and among many uncivilised
peoples these are great. Old age commands respect and gives
authority.
Among the Fuegians "in each family the word of an old man is
accepted as law by the young people; they never dispute his
authority."[46] The Patagonians "pay respect to old people, taking
great care of them."[47] The Caribs "portent un grand respect aus
vieillards."[48] The same is the case among many of the North American
Indians.[49] Among the Naudowessies, whilst the advice of a father
will seldom meet with any extraordinary attention from the young
Indians, "they will tremble before a grandfather, and submit to his
injunctions with the utmost alacrity. The words of the ancient part of
their community are esteemed by the young as oracles."[50] Among the
Eskimo about Behring Strait the old men are listened to with
respect;[51] and among the Point Barrow Eskimo "respect for the
opinions of elders is so great that the people may be said to be
practically under what is called 'simple elder rule.'"[52] Among the
Veddahs of Ceylon the oldest man "is regarded with a sort of
patriarchal respect when accident or occasion has brought together any
others than the members of one family."[53] Among the Jakuts an old
man is implicitly obeyed as a father of a family; "a young man ever
gives his opinion with the greatest respect and caution; and even when
asked, he submits his ideas to the judgment of the old."[54] Regard
for the aged is found among the Ainos,[55] Kurilians,[56] Mongols,[57]
Ossetes,[58] {604} Kukis,[59] Nicobarese,[60] Negritos of the
Philippine Islands,[61] Papuans of New Guinea[62] New Caledonians,[63]
Caroline Islanders,[64] Tonga Islanders,[65] and, in a remarkable
degree, among the Australian aborigines.[66] "Among the Kurnai," says
Mr. Howitt, "age meets with great reverence. . . . It may be stated as
a general rule that authority attaches to age. It follows from this
that there is no hereditary authority and no hereditary chieftain. The
authority which is inherent in age attaches not alone to the man, but
also to the woman." And he justly adds that this principle regulating
authority seems to be, not peculiar to the Kurnai, but general to the
whole Australian race.[67]
[Footnote 46: King and Fitzroy, _Voyages of the "Adventure" and
"Beagle,"_ ii. 179.]
[Footnote 47: _Ibid._ ii. 172.]
[Footnote 48: de Poircy-de Rochefort, _Histoire des Isles Antilles_,
p. 461.]
[Footnote 49: Buchanan, _North American Indians_, p. 7. Prescott, in
Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes of the United States_, ii. 196.]
[Footnote 50: Carver, _Travels through the Interior Parts of North
America_, p. 243.]
[Footnote 51: Nelson, 'Eskimo about Bering Strait,' in _Ann. Rep. Bur.
Ethn._ xviii. 304.]
[Footnote 52: Murdoch, in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._ ix. 427.]
[Footnote 53: Hartshorne, 'Weddas,' in _Indian Antiquary_, viii. 320.
_Cf._ Deschamps, _Carnet d'un voyageur_, p. 395.]
[Footnote 54: Sauer, _Billings' Expedition to the Northern Parts of
Russia_, p. 124.]
[Footnote 55: Batchelor, _Ainu and their Folk-Lore_, p. 254. von
Siebold, _Ethnol. Studien über die Aino auf der Insel Yesso_, p. 25.]
[Footnote 56: Krasheninnikoff, _History of Kamschatka_, p. 236.]
[Footnote 57: Prejevalsky, _Mongolia_, i. 71.]
[Footnote 58: von Haxthausen, _Transcaucasia_, p. 414. Strabo (xi. 4.
8) reports the same of the Albanians of the Eastern Caucasus.]
[Footnote 59: Lewin, _Hill Tracts of Chittagong_, p. 102.]
[Footnote 60: Kloss, _In the Andamans and Nicobars_, p. 243.]
[Footnote 61: Schadenberg, in _Zeitschr. f. Ethnol._ xii. 135. Earl,
_Papuans_, p. 133. Foreman, _Philippine Islands_, p. 209.]
[Footnote 62: Earl, _op. cit._ p. 81.]
[Footnote 63: Atkinson, in _Folk-Lore_, xiv. 248.]
[Footnote 64: Christian, _Caroline Islands_, p. 72. Angas,
_Polynesia_, p. 382.]
[Footnote 65: Mariner, _op. cit._ ii. 155.]
[Footnote 66: Roth, _North-West-Central Queensland Aborigines_, p.
141. Fraser, _Aborigines of New South Wales_, p. 5. Schuermann,
'Aboriginal Tribes of Port Lincoln,' in Woods, _Native Tribes of South
Australia_, p. 226. Hale _U.S. Exploring Expedition. Vol. VI.
Ethnography and Philology_, p. 113. Mitchell, _Expeditions into the
Interior of Eastern Australia_, ii. 346. Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of
Victoria_, i. 137 _sq._ See also Steinmetz, _Ethnol. Studien zur
Entwicklungsgeschichte der Strafe_, ii. 26 _sqq._]
[Footnote 67: Fison and Howitt, _Kamilaroi and Kurnai_, p. 211 _sq._]
Turning to African peoples: among the Danakil the aged of both
sexes, but especially the males, are held in great veneration, and the
old men are consulted on every occasion of any importance.[68] "The
real religion of the Barea and Kunáma," says Munzinger, "consists in
an extraordinary reverence for old age. Among these peoples only the
old, the weak, or the blind command respect."[69] The E[(w]e-speaking
peoples on the Slave Coast have a proverb, "Respect the elders, they
are our fathers."[70] Winterbottom doubts whether the ancient
Lacedæmonians paid greater regard to old age than do the natives of
Sierra Leone.[71] Mr. Leighton Wilson says of the Mpongwe:--"There is
no part of the world where respect and veneration for age is carried
to a greater length than among this people. . . . All the younger
members of society are early trained to show the utmost deference to
age. They must never come into the presence of aged persons or pass by
their dwellings without taking off their hats and assuming a crouching
gait. When seated in their presence {605} it must always be at a
'respectful distance'--a distance proportioned to the difference in
their ages and position in society. If they come near enough to hand
an aged man a lighted pipe or a glass of water, the bearer must always
fall upon one knee. Aged persons must always be addressed as 'father'
(_rera_) or 'mother' (_ngwe_). Any disrespectful deportment or
reproachful language toward such persons is regarded as a misdemeanour
of no ordinary aggravation. A youthful person carefully avoids
communicating any disagreeable intelligence to such persons, and
almost always addresses them in terms of flattery and adulation."[72]
Among the For tribe of Central Africa "great consideration is shown
towards women when they are old, as well as towards aged men."[73]
Regard for old age is, in fact, a very general trait of the African
character.[74]
[Footnote 68: Scaramucci and Giglioli, 'Notizie sui _Danakil_,' in
_Archivio per l'antropologia e la etnologia_, xiv. 36.]
[Footnote 69: Munzinger, _Ostafrikanische Studien_, p. 474.]
[Footnote 70: Ellis, _E[(w]e-speaking Peoples_, p. 268.]
[Footnote 71: Winterbottom, _Native Africans in the Neighbourhood of
Sierra Leone_, i. 211.]
[Footnote 72: Wilson, _Western Africa_, p. 392 _sq._]
[Footnote 73: Felkin, 'Notes on the For Tribe of Central Africa,' in
_Proceed. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh_, xiii. 224 _sq._]
[Footnote 74: Monrad, _Bidrag til en Skildring af Guinea-Kysten_, p.
37 (Negroes of Accra). Granville and Roth, in _Jour. Anthr. Inst._
xxviii. 109 (Jekris). Kingsley, _Travels in West Africa_, p. 460
(Calabar tribes). Caillié, _op. cit._ i. 352 (Mandingoes). Stuhlmann,
_op. cit._ pp. 789, 801 (Latuka). Casati, _Ten Years in Equatoria_, i.
186. Chanler, _Through Jungle and Desert_, p. 246 (Embe). New, _Life,
Wanderings, and Labours in Eastern Africa_, p. 101 (Wanika). Johnston,
_Kilima-njaro Expedition_, p. 419 (Masai). Arnot, _Garenganze_, p. 78,
note. Lichtenstein, _op. cit._ i. 265; Alberti, _op. cit._ p. 118;
Shooter, _op. cit._ p. 98 (Kafirs). Schinz, _Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika_,
p. 82 (Hottentots).]
Not only old age, but superiority of age, gives a certain amount of
power.
The Australian natives have a well-regulated order of precedence
and authority. "When the individual reaches the full development of
puberty, he or she undergoes a ceremony which entitles him or her on
its successful completion to a certain social rank or _status_ in the
community. As life progresses, other and higher ranks are
progressively attainable for each sex, until the highest and most
honourable grade, that enjoyed by an old man, or an old woman, is
reached."[75] All North American Indians "hold that superior age gives
authority; and every person is taught from childhood to obey his
superiors and to rule over his inferiors. The superiors are those of
greater age; the inferiors, those who are younger."[76] The same
influence of age makes itself felt in the relations between elder
{606} and younger brothers and sisters.[77] Navaho myths indicate that
"even among twins, the younger must defer to the elder."[78] The
eldest brother comes next to the father in authority, and, in case of
his death, succeeds him as the head of the family. The Aleuts
described by Father Veniaminof maintained that "if one had no father
he should respect his oldest brother and serve him as he would a
father."[79] Among the Kalmucks "the elder brother is the despot of
the younger ones, and is even allowed to punish them."[80] In
Madagascar so great respect is paid to seniority "that if two slaves
who are brothers are going a journey, any burden must be carried by
the younger one, so far at least as his strength will allow."[81] In
Tonga custom decrees "that all persons shall be in the service of
their older and superior relations, if those relations think proper to
employ them"; and every chief shows the greatest regard for his eldest
sister.[82] Among the Hottentots "the highest oath a man could take
and still takes, was to swear by his eldest sister, and if he should
abuse this name, the sister will walk into his flock and take his
finest cows and sheep, and no law could prevent her from doing
so."[83] Among the Point Barrow Eskimo, again, "seniority gives
precedence when there are several women in one hut, and the sway of
the elder in the direction of everything connected with her duties
seems never disputed."[84]
[Footnote 75: Roth, _op. cit._ p. 169. _Cf._ _ibid._ p. 65 _sq._;
Eyre, _Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia_,
ii. 315.]
[Footnote 76: Powell, 'Sociology,' in _American Anthropologist_, N. S.
i. 700. _Cf._ _Idem_, in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._ iii. p. lviii.]
[Footnote 77: Nachtigal, _Sahara und Sudan_, i. 450 (Tedâ). Chavanne,
_Die Sahara_, p. 396 (Arabs of the Sahara). Paulitschke, _op. cit._ p.
192 (Gallas). von Haxthausen, _Transcaucasia_, p. 415 (Ossetes). Bach,
'Die Wotjaken,' in _Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicæ_, xii. 489
(Votyaks). Sumner, in _Jour. Anthr. Inst._ xxxi. 75 (Jakuts).
Batchelor, _Ainu and their Folk-Lore_, p. 254.]
[Footnote 78: Matthews, 'Study of Ethics among the Lower Races,' in
_Journal of American Folk-Lore_, xii. 9.]
[Footnote 79: Veniaminof, quoted by Petroff, _loc. cit._ p. 155.]
[Footnote 80: Bergmann, _Nomadische Streifereien unter den Kalmüken_,
ii. 305.]
[Footnote 81: Sibree, _op. cit._ p. 182.]
[Footnote 82: Mariner, _op. cit._ i. 226; ii. 155.]
[Footnote 83: Hahn, _The Supreme Being of the Khoi-Khoi_, p. 21.]
[Footnote 84: Simpson, quoted by Murdoch, in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._
ix. 427.]
It must be added, however, that the reverence for old age may cease
when the grey-head gets so old as to be an incumbrance to those around
him;[85] and imbecility may put an end to the father's authority over
his family.[86] We have previously noticed that parents worn out with
age {607} and disease are among some peoples killed or abandoned by
their own children.[87]
[Footnote 85: Curr, _Squatting in Victoria_, pp. 254. 245, 265 _sqq._;
Eyre, _op. cit._ ii. 316 (Australian aborigines). Sumner, in _Jour.
Anthr. Inst._ xxxi. 76 (Jakuts). Nansen, _Eskimo Life_, p. 177 _sq._
(Greenlanders). _Supra_, p. 534.]
[Footnote 86: Steinmetz, _Rechtsverhältnisse_, p. 31 (Banaka and
Bapuku).]
[Footnote 87: _Supra_, p. 386 _sq._]
When passing from the savage and barbarous races of men to those next
above them in civilisation, we find paternal, or parental, authority
and filial reverence at their height. In ancient Mexico "necessitous
parents were allowed to dispose of any one of their children, in order
to relieve their poverty," whereas a master could not sell a
well-behaved slave without his consent.[88] A youth was seldom
permitted to choose a wife for himself, but was expected to abide by
the selection of his parents;[89] and "children were bred to stand so
much in awe of their parents that even when grown up and married they
hardly durst speak before them."[90] So, too, in Nicaragua a father
might sell his children as slaves in cases of great necessity,[91] and
matches were in the larger part of the country arranged by the
parents.[92] In ancient Peru disobedient children were publicly
chastised by their own parents;[93] and Inca Pachacutec confirmed the
law that sons should obey and serve their fathers until they reached
the age of twenty-five, and that none should marry without the consent
of the parents and of the parents of the girl.[94]
[Footnote 88: Clavigero, _History of Mexico_, i. 360.]
[Footnote 89: Westermarck, _op. cit._ p. 226.]
[Footnote 90: Clavigero, _op. cit._ i. 331.]
[Footnote 91: Squier, _Nicaragua_, p. 345.]
[Footnote 92: Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_, ii. 667.]
[Footnote 93: Herrera, _General History of the West Indies_, iv. 339.]
[Footnote 94: Garcilasso de la Vega, _First Part of the Royal
Commentaries of the Yncas_, ii. 207.]
In China a house-father reigns almost supreme in his family, and,
according to ancient Chinese ideas, not even marriage withdraws the
son from his power.[95] The law, it is true, prohibits him from
killing[96] or selling[97] his children; but it is only in supreme
cases that the State interferes between the head of a household and
his family belongings, and the sale of children is practically
allowed.[98] No person, of whatever age, can act for himself in
matrimonial {608} matters during the lifetime or in the neighbourhood
of his parents or near senior kinsfolk.[99] The law provides that
disobedience to the instructions and commands of parents or paternal
grandparents shall be punished with one hundred blows,[100] and that a
still greater punishment shall be inflicted on a son accusing his
father or mother and on a grandson accusing his paternal grandparent,
even though the accusation prove true.[101] Indeed, from earliest
youth the Chinese lad is imbued with such respect for his parents that
it becomes at last a religious sentiment, and forms, as he gets older,
the basis of his only creed--the worship of ancestors.[102]
Confucianism itself has been briefly described as "an expansion of the
root idea of filial piety."[103] The Master said:--"filial piety is
the root of all virtue, and the stem out of which grows all moral
teaching. . . . Filial piety is the constant method of Heaven, the
righteousness of Earth, and the practical duty of Man. . . . Of all
the actions of man there is none greater than filial piety. In filial
piety there is nothing greater than the reverential awe of one's
father. In the reverential awe shown to one's father there is nothing
greater than the making him the correlate of Heaven."[104] But the
idea that filial piety is the fundamental duty of man was not
originated by Confucius, it had obtained a firm hold of the national
mind long before his time.[105] It also prevails in Corea[106] and
Japan,[107] where the authority of a house-father is, or, in the case
of Japan, until lately has been,[108] as great as in China. "The
Japanese maiden, as pure as the purest Christian virgin, will at the
command of her father enter the brothel to-morrow, and prostitute
herself for life. Not a murmur escapes her lips {609} as she thus
filially obeys."[109] In Corea, whilst the first thing inculcated in
a child's mind is respect for his father, little respect is felt for
the mother; the child soon learns that a mother's authority is next
to nothing.[110]
[Footnote 95: de Groot, _Religious System of China_ (vol. ii. book)
i. 507.]
[Footnote 96: _Supra_, p. 393.]
[Footnote 97: _Ta Tsing Leu Lee_, sec. cclxxv. p. 292.]
[Footnote 98: Douglas, _Society in China_, p. 78. Staunton, in his
translation of _Ta Tsing Leu Lee_, p. 292 n. * Doolittle, _Social Life
of the Chinese_, ii. 209.]
[Footnote 99: Medhurst, 'Marriage, Affinity, and Inheritance in
China,' in _Trans. Roy. Asiatic Soc. China Branch_, iv. 11.]
[Footnote 100: _Ta Tsing Leu Lee_, sec. cccxxxviii. p. 374.]
[Footnote 101: _Ibid._ sec. cccxxxvii. p. 371 _sq._]
[Footnote 102: Wells Williams, _Middle Kingdom_, i. 646.]
[Footnote 103: Griffis, _Corea_, p. 328 _sq._]
[Footnote 104: _Hsiáo King_, 1, 7, 9 (_Sacred Books of the East_, iii.
446, 473, 476).]
[Footnote 105: Douglas, _Confucianism and Taouism_, p. 118.]
[Footnote 106: Griffis, _Corea_, pp. 236, 259.]
[Footnote 107: Rein, _Japan_, p. 427. Griffis, _Religions of Japan_,
p. 122 _sq._]
[Footnote 108: Griffis, _Religions of Japan_, p. 148.]
[Footnote 109: _Idem_, _Mikado's Empire_, p. 555. _Cf._ Rein, _Japan_,
p. 427.]
[Footnote 110: Griffis, _Corea_, p. 259.]
It is the general opinion of Assyriologists that in ancient Chaldæa,
at least in the early period of its history, the father had absolute
authority over all the members of his household.[111] Anything
undertaken by them without his consent was held invalid in the eyes of
the law,[112] and a disobedient son might be sold as a slave.[113]
According to the Laws of [Hv]ammurabi, a man might give his son or
daughter as a hostage for debts;[114] but he could not disown his
children at discretion. It is said that if he wishes to cut off his
son he must declare his intention to the judge, whereupon "the judge
shall enquire into his reasons, and if the son has not committed a
heavy crime which cuts off from sonship, the father shall not cut off
his son from sonship."[115] Professor Hommel believes that the
mother's authority over her children was as great as the
father's,[116] whereas Meissner concludes that it was less, from the
fact that her children are not seldom found to be at law with her in
matters of succession.[117] Among the Hebrews a father might sell his
child to relieve his own distress, or offer it to a creditor as a
pledge.[118] He had not only unlimited power to marry his daughters,
but even to sell them as maids into concubinage, though not to a
foreign people.[119] He also chose wives for his sons;[120] and there
is no indication that the subjection of sons ceased after a certain
age.[121] How important were the duties of the child to the {610}
parents is shown in the primitive typical relation of Isaac to
Abraham, and may be at once learned from the placing of the law on the
subject among the Ten Commandments, and from its position there in the
immediate proximity to the commands relating to the duties of man
towards God.[122] Philo Judæus observes that it occupies this position
because parents are something between divine and human nature,
partaking of both--of human nature inasmuch as it is plain that they
have been born and that they will die, and of divine nature because
they have engendered other beings, and have brought what did not exist
into existence. What God is to the world, that parents are to their
children; they are "the visible gods."[123] In Muhammedan countries
parents have practically great authority over their children. Should a
father exceed the bounds of moderation or justice in chastising his
son, the idea of prosecuting him would hardly occur to anyone, the
injured party being prevented by public opinion, if not by habit and
feeling, from appealing against his own father.[124] Disobedience to
parents is considered by Moslems as one of the greatest of sins, and
is put, in point of heinousness, on a par with idolatry, murder, and
desertion in an expedition against infidels. "An undutiful child,"
says Mr. Lane, "is very seldom heard of among the Egyptians or the
Arabs in general. . . . Sons scarcely sit or eat or smoke in the
presence of the father, unless bidden to do so."[125] In Morocco it is
curious to see big, grown-up sons sneak away as soon as they hear
their father's steps, or to notice their absolute reticence in his
presence. Children's deference for their mothers is less formal, but
almost equally great.[126]
[Footnote 111: Oppert, in _Göttingische gelehrte Anzeigen_, 1879, p.
1604 _sqq._ Hommel, _Die semitischen Völker und Sprachen_, i. 416.
Meissner, _Beiträge zum altbabylonischen Privatrecht_, p. 14 _sq._]
[Footnote 112: Maspero, _Dawn of Civilization_, p. 134.]
[Footnote 113: Hommel, _op. cit._ i. 416. Meissner, _op. cit._ p. 1.]
[Footnote 114: _Laws of [Hv]ammurabi_, 117.]
[Footnote 115: _Ibid._ 168.]
[Footnote 116: Hommel, _op. cit._ i. 416.]
[Footnote 117: Meissner, _op. cit._ p. 15.]
[Footnote 118: Ewald, _Antiquities of Israel_, p. 190. Wellhausen,
_Prolegomena to the History of Israel_, p. 465.]
[Footnote 119: _Exodus_, xxi. 7 _sq._]
[Footnote 120: _Genesis_, xxiv. 4; xxviii. 1 _sq._ _Exodus_, xxxiv.
16. _Deuteronomy_, vii, 3.]
[Footnote 121: _Cf._ Michaelis, _Commentaries on the Laws of Moses_,
i. 444.]
[Footnote 122: _Cf._ Ewald, _op. cit._ p. 188; Gans, _Das Erbrecht in
weltgeschichtlicher Entwickelung_, i. 134.]
[Footnote 123: Philo Judæus, _Opera_, i. 759 _sqq._]
[Footnote 124: Urquhart, _Spirit of the East_, ii. 440 _sq._]
[Footnote 125: Lane, _Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians_, p.
70. _Cf._ Pool, _Studies in Mohammedanism_, p. 171.]
[Footnote 126: _Cf._ Urquhart, _op. cit._ ii. 265 _sq._]
Among the ancient Romans, in relation to the house-father, "all in the
household were destitute of legal rights--the wife and the child no
less than the bullock or the {611} slave."[127] The father not only
had judicial authority over his children--implying the right of
inflicting capital punishment on them[128]--but he could sell them at
discretion.[129] Even the grown-up son and his children were subject
to the house-father's authority,[130] and in marriage without
_conventio in manum_ a daughter remained in the power of her father or
tutor even after marriage.[131] Filial piety, including reverence not
only for the father but for the mother also, was regarded as a most
sacred duty.[132] To the ancient Roman the parents were hardly less
sacred beings than the gods.[133]
[Footnote 127: Mommsen, _History of Rome_, i. 74.]
[Footnote 128: _Supra_, p. 393.]
[Footnote 129: Dionysius of Halicarnassus, _Antiquitates Romanæ_,
ii. 27.]
[Footnote 130: _Institutiones_, i. 9. 3.]
[Footnote 131: Westermarck, _op. cit._ p. 230.]
[Footnote 132: Leist, _Græco-italische Rechtsgeschichte_, p. 11 _sqq._
_Idem_, _Alt-arisches Jus Gentium_, p. 185.]
[Footnote 133: Valerius Maximus, i. 1. 13: "Pari vindicta parentum ac
deorum violatio expianda est." Servius, _In Virgilii Georgicon_, ii.
473: "Sacra deorum sancta apud illos sunt, sancti etiam
parentes."]
It has been suggested by Sir Henry Maine and others that the _patria
potestas_ of the Romans was a survival of the paternal authority which
existed among the primitive Aryans.[134] But no clear evidence of the
general prevalence of such unlimited authority among other so-called
Aryan peoples has been adduced. The ancient jurist observed, "The
power which we have over our children is peculiar to Roman citizens;
for there are no other nations possessing the same power over their
children as we have over ours."[135] That among the Greeks and Teutons
the father had the right to expose his children in their infancy, to
sell them, in case of urgency, as long as they remained in his
power,[136] and to give away his daughters in marriage,[137] does not
imply the possession of a sovereignty like that which the Roman
house-father exercised over his descendants of all ages. In
Greece[138] and among all the Teutonic {612} nations[139] the father's
authority over his sons came to an end when the son grew up and left
his home. But here again we must distinguish between the legal rights
of parents and the duties of children. There are numerous passages in
the Greek writings which put filial piety on a par with the duties
towards the gods.[140]
[Footnote 134: Maine, _Ancient Law_, p. 138. Fustel de Coulanges, _La
cité antique_, p. 96 _sqq._ Hearn, _Aryan Household_, p. 92.]
[Footnote 135: _Institutiones_, i. 9. 2.]
[Footnote 136: Leist, _Græco-italische Rechtsgeschichte_, p. 60 _sq._
Grimm, _Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer_, p. 461 _sq._ Brunner, _Deutsche
Rechtsgeschichte_, i. 76. In France the parents' right of selling
their children gradually disappeared under the kings of the third race
(de Laurière, in Loysel, _Institutes coutumières_, i. 82).]
[Footnote 137: Westermarck, _op. cit._ p. 232 _sqq._]
[Footnote 138: Leist, _Græco-italische Rechtsgeschichte_, p. 62 _sq._
Cauvet, 'De l'organisation de la famille à Athènes,' in _Revue de
législation_, xxiv. 138.]
[Footnote 139: Grimm, _Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer_, p. 462. Brunner,
_Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte_, i. 75 _sq._]
[Footnote 140: Schmidt, _Ethik der alten Griechen_, ii. 141 _sq._]
Nor is there any evidence that the _patria potestas_ of the Roman type
ever prevailed in full in India, great though the father's or parent's
authority has been, and still is, among the Hindus.[141] Among the
Vedic people the father seems to have been the head of the family only
as long as he was able to be its protector and maintainer,[142]
decrepit parents being even allowed to die of starvation.[143]
According to some sacred books from a later age, the father and the
mother have power to give, to sell, and to abandon their son, because
"man formed of uterine blood and virile seed proceeds from his mother
and his father as an effect from its cause"; however, an only son may
not be given or received in adoption, nor is a woman allowed to give
or receive a son except with her husband's permission.[144] In other
books it is said that "the gift or acceptance of a child and the right
to sell or buy a child are not recognised,"[145] and that he who casts
off his son--unless the son be guilty of a crime causing loss of
caste--shall be fined by the king six hundred _panas_.[146] But
whatever be the legal rights of a parent, filial piety is a most
stringent duty in the child.[147] A man has three Atigurus, or
specially venerable superiors: his father, mother, and spiritual
teacher. To them he must always pay obedience. He must do what is
agreeable and serviceable to them. He must never do anything without
their leave.[148] "By honouring these three all that ought to be done
by man is accomplished; {613} that is clearly the highest duty, every
other act is a subordinate duty."[149] Similar feelings prevail among
the modern Hindus.[150] Sir W. H. Sleeman observes, "There is no part
of the world, I believe, where parents are so much reverenced by their
sons as they are in India in all classes of society." The duty of
daughters is from the day of their marriage transferred entirely to
their husbands and their husbands' parents, but between the son and
his parents the reciprocity of rights and duties which have bound
together the parent and child from infancy follows them to the grave.
The sons are often actually tyrannised over by their mothers.[151]
[Footnote 141: Westermarck, _op. cit._ p. 231 _sq._]
[Footnote 142: _Rig-Veda_, i. 70. 5.]
[Footnote 143: Zimmer, _Altindisches Leben_, p. 328.]
[Footnote 144: _Vasishtha_, xv. 1 _sqq._ _Baudhâyana Parisishta_, vii.
5. 2 _sqq._]
[Footnote 145: _Âpastamba_, ii. 6. 13. 11.]
[Footnote 146: _Laws of Manu_, viii. 389. _Cf._ _ibid._ xi. 60.]
[Footnote 147: _Âpastamba_, i. 4. 14. 6. _Laws of Manu_, ii. 225
_sqq._; iv. 162; &c.]
[Footnote 148: _Institutes of Vishnu_, ch. 31.]
[Footnote 149: _Laws of Manu_, ii. 237.]
[Footnote 150: Nelson, _View of the Hind[=u] Law_, p. 56 _sq._ Ghani,
'Social Life and Morality in India,' in _International Journal of
Ethics_, vii. 312.]
[Footnote 151: Sleeman, _Rambles and Recollections of an Indian
Official_, i. 330 _sqq._]
According to ancient Russian laws, fathers had great power over their
children;[152] but it is not probable that a son could be sold as a
slave.[153] Baron von Haxthausen, who wrote before the Emancipation in
1861, says that "the patriarchal government, feelings, and
organisation are in full activity in the life, manners, and customs of
the Great Russians. The same unlimited authority which the father
exercises over all his children is possessed by the mother over her
daughters."[154] It was a common custom for a father to marry his
young sons to full-grown women; and in Poland also, according to
Nestor, a father used to select a bride for his son.[155] According to
Professor Bogi[vs]i['c], the power of the father is not so great among
the Southern Slavs as among the Russians;[156] but a son is not
permitted to make a proposal of marriage to a girl against the will of
his parents, whilst a daughter, of course, enjoys still less freedom
of disposing of her own hand.[157] According to a Slavonian maxim, "a
father is like an earthly god to his son."[158]
[Footnote 152: Accurse, quoted by de Laurière, in Loysel, _op. cit._
i. 82.]
[Footnote 153: Macieiowski, _Slavische Rechtsgeschichte_, iv. 404.]
[Footnote 154: von Haxthausen, _Russian Empire_, ii. 229 _sq._]
[Footnote 155: Westermarck, _op. cit._ p. 234. Macieiowski, _op. cit._
ii. 189.]
[Footnote 156: Maine, _Early Law and Custom_, p. 244, note.]
[Footnote 157: Krauss, _Sitte und Brauch der Südslaven_, pp. 314, 320.]
[Footnote 158: Maine, _Early Law and Custom_, p. 243.]
{614} Among this group of peoples, also, we meet with reverence for
the elder brother, for persons of a superior age generally, and,
especially, for the aged.
Obedience on the part of the younger to the elder brother is
strongly inculcated by Confucianism and Taouism.[159] In ancient China
the eldest son of the principal wife held so high a position that even
his own father had to mourn for him at his death in the selfsame
degree in which the son was bound to mourn for his father;[160] and in
some provinces of Japan the elder brother or sister did not even go to
the funeral of the younger.[161] In Babylonia the elder brother
occupied a privileged position in the family in relation to the
younger.[162] In one of the Mandæan writings it is said, "Honour your
father and your mother and your elder brother as your father."[163]
According to the sacred books of the Hindus, "the feet of elder
brothers and sisters must be embraced, according to the order of their
seniority";[164] "towards a sister of one's father and of one's
mother, and towards one's own elder sister, one must behave as towards
one's mother," though the mother is more venerable than they.[165]
[Footnote 159: Douglas, _Confucianism and Taouism_, pp. 123, 124, 259.
Griffis, _Religions of Japan_, p. 125 _sq._]
[Footnote 160: de Groot, _op. cit._ (vol. ii. book) i. 509.]
[Footnote 161: Griffis, _Religions of Japan_, p. 127.]
[Footnote 162: Hommel, _op. cit._ i. 417 _sq._]
[Footnote 163: Brandt, _Mandäische Schriften_, p. 64.]
[Footnote 164: _Âpastamba_, i. 4. 14. 9. _Cf._ _ibid._ i. 4. 14. 14;
_Laws of Manu_, ii. 225.]
[Footnote 165: _Laws of Manu_, ii. 133.]
Again, in ancient Mexico respect was paid not only by children to
their parents but by the young to the old.[166] Among the Yucatans
"the young reverenced much the aged."[167] In China persons of the
lowest class who have attained to an unusual age have not infrequently
been distinguished by the Emperor,[168] and even criminals with grey
hairs are treated with regard.[169] "Respect for elders," says
Mencius, "is the working of righteousness";[170] and it is said in
Thâi Shang that the good man "will respect the old and cherish the
young."[171] A Japanese proverb runs, "Regard an old man as thy
father."[172] We read in Leviticus, "Thou shalt rise up before the
hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy
God."[173] Veneration {615} for the aged is emphatically inculcated by
Islam.[174] In the sacred books of India it is represented as a
virtue.[175] Herodotus states that the Egyptians resembled the
Lacedæmonians in the reverence the young men paid to their
elders.[176] Plato says in his 'Laws' that everybody ought to consider
that the elder has the precedence of the younger in honour, both among
the gods as also among men who would live in security and happiness;
wherefore it is a foolish thing and hateful to the gods to see an
elder man assaulted by a younger in the city. Everybody ought to
regard a person who is twenty years older than himself, whether male
or female, as his father or mother, and to abstain from laying hands
on any such person "out of reverence to the gods who preside over
birth."[177] Regard for old age lies behind such words as _presbyter_
and the Anglo-Saxon _ealdormonn_; and all travellers among the
Southern Slavs have noticed their extraordinary respect for old
people.[178]
[Footnote 166: Clavigero, _op. cit._ i. 8l. _Cf._ _ibid._ i. 332.]
[Footnote 167: Landa, _Relacion de las cosas de Yucatan_, p. 178.]
[Footnote 168: Davis, _China_, ii. 97.]
[Footnote 169: Wells Williams, _Middle Empire_, i. 805.]
[Footnote 170: Mencius, vii. 1. 15. 3.]
[Footnote 171: _Thâi Shang_, 3.]
[Footnote 172: Griffis, _Mikado's Empire_, p. 505.]
[Footnote 173: _Leviticus_, xix. 32. _Cf._ _Job_, xxxii. 1;
_Proverbs_, xvi. 31, and xx. 29.]
[Footnote 174: Ameer Ali, _Ethics of Islâm_, p. 27 _sq._]
[Footnote 175: _Âpastamba_, i. 5. 15. _Laws of Manu_, ii. 121.
_Dhammapada_, 109.]
[Footnote 176: Herodotus, ii. 80.]
[Footnote 177: Plato, _Leges_, ix. 879. _Cf._ _Idem_, _Respublica_,
v. 465.]
[Footnote 178: Maine, _Early Law and Custom_, p. 243.]
In Europe the paternal authority of the archaic type which we have
just considered has gradually yielded to a system under which the
father has been divested of the most essential rights he formerly
possessed over his children--a system the inmost drift of which is
expressed in the words of the French Encyclopedist, "Le pouvoir
paternel est plutôt un devoir qu'un pouvoir."[179] Already in pagan
times the Roman _patria potestas_ became a shadow of what it had been.
Under the Republic the abuses of paternal authority were checked by
the censors, and in later times the Emperors reduced the father's
power within comparatively narrow limits. Not only was the life of the
child practically as sacred as that of the parent long before
Christianity became the religion of Rome,[180] but Alexander Severus
ordained that heavy punishments should be inflicted on members of a
family by the magistrate only. Diocletian and Maximilian took away the
power of selling freeborn children as slaves. The father's privilege
of {616} dictating marriage for his sons declined into a conditional
veto; and it seems that the daughters also, at length, gained a
certain amount of freedom in the choice of a husband.[181]
[Footnote 179: _Encyclopédie méthodique_, Jurisprudence, vii. 77, art.
Puissance paternelle.]
[Footnote 180: _Supra_, p. 393 _sq._]
[Footnote 181: Westermarck, _op. cit._ p. 236.]
The new religion was anything but unfavourable to this process of
emancipation. The ethical precept of filial piety was changed by
Christ. His church was a militant church. He had come not to send
peace but a sword, "to set a man at variance against his father, and
the daughter against her mother."[182] Being chiefly addressed to the
young, the new teaching naturally caused much disorder in families.
Fathers disinherited their converted sons,[183] and children thought
that they owed no duty to their parents where such a duty was opposed
to the interests of their souls. According to Gregory the Great, we
ought to ignore our parents, hating them and flying from them when
they are an obstacle to us in the way of the Lord;[184] and this
became the accepted theory of the Church.[185] Nay, it was not only in
similar cases of conflict that Christianity exercised a weakening
influence on family ties which had previously been regarded with
religious veneration. In all circumstances the relationship between
child and parent was put in the shade by the relationship between man
and God. "Call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your
Father, which is in Heaven."[186] "If any man come to me, and hate not
his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and
sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."[187]
At the same time the fifth commandment, though modified by
considerations which would never have occurred to the mind of an
orthodox Jew, was left formally intact. Obedience to parents was, in
fact, repeatedly enjoined by St. Paul as a Christian duty.[188] It was
regarded as a prerequisite {617} for the veneration of God. "If we do
not honour and reverence our parents, whom we ought to love next to
God, and whom we have almost continually before our eyes, how can we
honour or reverence God, the supreme and best of parents, whom we
cannot see?"[189]
[Footnote 182: _St. Matthew_, x. 34 _sq._ _St. Luke_, xii. 51 _sqq._]
[Footnote 183: Tertullian, _Apologeticus_, 3 (Migne, _Patrologiæ
cursus_, i. 280 _sq._).]
[Footnote 184: St. Gregory the Great, _Homiliæ in Evangelia_, xxxvii.
2 (Migne, _op. cit._ lxxvi. 1275).]
[Footnote 185: Thomas Aquinas, _Summa theologica_, ii.-ii. 101. 4.]
[Footnote 186: _St. Matthew_, xxiii. 9.]
[Footnote 187: _St. Luke_, xiv. 26.]
[Footnote 188: _Ephesians_, vi. 1 _sqq._ _Colossians_, iii. 20.]
[Footnote 189: _Catechism of the Council of Trent_, iii. 5. 1.]
Ancient, deep-rooted ideas die slowly. Whilst among Teutonic peoples
the grown-up child is recognised both by custom and law as independent
of the parents, and the parental authority over minors is regarded
merely in the light of guardianship,[190] the Roman notions of
paternal rights and filial duties have to some extent survived in
Latin countries, not only through the Middle Ages, but up to the
present time. "Above the majesty of the feudal baron," says M.
Bernard, "that of the paternal power was held still more sacred and
inviolable. However powerful the son might be, he would not have dared
to outrage his father, whose authority was in his eyes always
confounded with the sovereignty of command."[191] Du Vair remarks,
"Nous devons tenir nos pères comme des dieux en terre."[192] Bodin
wrote, in the later part of the sixteenth century, that, though the
monarch commands his subjects, the master his disciples, the captain
his soldiers, there is none to whom nature has given any command
except the father, "who is the true image of the great sovereign God,
universal father of all things."[193] According to edicts of Henry
III., Louis XIII., and Louis XIV., sons could not marry before the age
of thirty, nor daughters before the age of twenty-five, without the
consent of the father and mother, on pain of being disinherited.[194]
And even now in France considerable power is accorded to parents, not
only by custom and public sentiment, but by law. A child cannot quit
the paternal residence without the permission of the father before the
age of twenty-one, except for enrolment {618} in the army.[195] For
grave misconduct by his children the father has strong means of
correction.[196] A son under twenty-five and a daughter under
twenty-one could not until 1907 marry without parental consent;[197]
and even when a man had attained his twenty-fifth year and a woman her
twenty-first, both were still bound to ask for it, by a formal
notification.[198]
[Footnote 190: Starcke, _La famille dans les différentes sociétés_,
p. 213 _sqq._]
[Footnote 191: Bernard, quoted in Spencer's _Descriptive Sociology_,
France, p. 38.]
[Footnote 192: Du Vair, quoted by de Ribbe, _Les familles et la
société en France avant la Révolution_, p. 51.]
[Footnote 193: Bodin, _De republica_, i. 4, p. 31.]
[Footnote 194: Koenigswarter, _Histoire de l'organisation de la
famille en France_, p. 231.]
[Footnote 195: _Code Civil_, art. 374.]
[Footnote 196: _Ibid._ art. 375 _sqq._]
[Footnote 197: _Ibid._ art. 148.]
[Footnote 198: _Ibid._ art. 151.]
The parental authority depends, in the first place, on the natural
superiority of parents over their children when young, and on the
helplessness of the latter; and for similar reasons the daughter,
though grown-up, still remains in her father's power. Parents are,
moreover, considered to possess in some measure proprietary rights
over their offspring, being their originators and maintainers;[199]
and in various cases, it seems, the father is also regarded as their
owner because he is the owner of their mother. Filial duties and
parental rights to some extent spring from the children's natural
feeling of affection for their parents,[200] particularly for their
mother,[201] and from the debt of gratitude which they are considered
to owe to those who have brought them into existence and taken care of
them whilst young.[202] The authority of parents is much enhanced and
extended by the sentiment of filial reverence, as distinct from mere
affection. From their infancy children are used to look up to their
parents, {619} especially the father, as to beings superior to
themselves; and this feeling, which by itself has a tendency to
persist, is all the more likely to last even when the parents get old,
as it is based not only on superior strength and bodily skill, but on
superior knowledge, which remains though the physical power be on the
wane. Among savages, in particular, filial regard is largely regard
for one's elders or the aged. The old men represent the wisdom of the
tribe. "Long life and wisdom," say the Iroquois, "are always connected
together."[203] Throughout all West Africa the aged are "the knowing
ones."[204] In his work on the Algerian natives M. Villot
observes:--"Les vieillards, au milieu des sociétés barbares,
représentent la tradition qui tient lieu de patrie; la science des
coutumes et usages qui remplacent la loi; la connaissance des
généalogies qui fixe les degrés de parenté et sert de base à la
détermination des titres de propriété. Pour ces causes, aussi bien
qu'en raison de leur faiblesse et de leurs cheveux blancs, le respect
pour les vieillards est de règle au milieu des indigènes."[205] Among
people who possess no literature the old men are the sole authorities
on religion, as well as on custom. In Australia the deference shown to
them is partly due to the superstitious awe of certain mysterious
rites which are known to them alone, and to the knowledge of which
young persons are only very gradually admitted.[206] Moreover, old age
itself inspires a feeling of mysterious awe. The Moors say that, when
getting old, a man becomes a saint, and a woman a _jinnía_, or evil
spirit--there is something supernatural in both. Among the East
African Embe "it is only by means of the rankest superstition that the
old men are able to maintain their supremacy over the hot-blooded
youths"; they convince the warriors, by presenting them {620} with
some magic emblem, that in the hands of the sages alone rest the fate
and fortune of those who fight in a battle. And old women, also, are
often believed to possess supernatural power, in which case their
influence, in spite of the subservient position of their sex in
general, is almost as great as that of a medicine-man.[207] According
to the beliefs of the natives of Western Victoria, witches always
appear in the form of an old woman.[208] Among the Maoris some of the
aged women exercise the greatest influence over their tribes, being
supposed to possess the power of witchcraft and sorcery.[209] Among
the Abipones, says Charlevoix, "the old women take upon them to be
great witches; and it would be no easy matter to convert them."[210]
In Arabia, as well as in Morocco, old women are always believed to be
skilled in sorcery.[211]
[Footnote 199: _Cf._ _Vasishtha_, xv. 1 _sq._; _Bandháyana
Parisishta_, vii. 5. 2 _sq._]
[Footnote 200: For instances of filial affection among savages see
Catlin, _North American Indians_, ii. 242; Powers, _Tribes of
California_, p. 112 (Mattoal); Selenka, _Sonnige Welten_, p. 34
(Dyaks); Seemann, _Viti_, p. 193; Mathew, 'Australian Aborigines,' in
_Jour. & Proceed. Roy. Soc. N.S. Wales_, xxiii. 388.]
[Footnote 201: For instances of great affection for the mother, see
Munzinger, _Ostafrikanische Studien_, p. 474 (Barea and Kunáma);
Winterbottom, _Native Africans in the Neighbourhood of Sierra Leone_, i.
211; Park, _Travels in the Interior of Africa_, p. 241; New, _op. cit._
p. 101 (Wanika); François, _Nama und Damara, Deutsch-Süd-West-Afrika_,
p. 251 (Mountain Damaras); Rowley, _Africa Unveiled_, p. 164; Lane,
_Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians_, p. 70 _sq._; Urquhart,
_op. cit._ ii. 265 _sq._ (Turks); Schmidt, _Ethik der alten Griechen_,
ii. 146, 155. It is said in the Talmud that the child loves its mother
more than its father, whilst it fears its father more than its mother
(Deutsch, _Literary Remains_, p. 55).]
[Footnote 202: _Hsiáo King_, 9 (_Sacred Books of the East_, iii. 479).
_Laws of Manu_, ii. 227. Plato, _Leges_, iv. 717.]
[Footnote 203: Loskiel, _History of the Mission of the United Brethren
among the Indians in North America_, i. 15.]
[Footnote 204: Kingsley, _West African Studies_, p. 142.]
[Footnote 205: Villot, _M[oe]urs, coutumes et institutions des
indigènes de l'Algérie_, p. 47.]
[Footnote 206: Schuermann, 'Aboriginal Tribes of Port Lincoln,' in
Woods, _Native Tribes of South Australia_, p. 226. _Cf._ Nelson,
'Eskimo about Bering Strait,' in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._ xviii.
304.]
[Footnote 207: Chanler, _op. cit._ pp. 247, 252.]
[Footnote 208: Dawson, _Australian Aborigines_, p. 52.]
[Footnote 209: Angas, _Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New
Zealand_, i. 317.]
[Footnote 210: Charlevoix, _History of Paraguay_, i. 406.]
[Footnote 211: Niebuhr, _Travels in Arabia_, ii. 216.]
The beliefs held regarding the dead also influence the treatment of
the aged whose lives are drawing to an end. Certain African tribes
treat their old people with every kindness in order to secure their
goodwill after death.[212] A missionary in East Africa heard a negro
say with reference to an old man, "We will do what he says, because he
is soon going to die."[213] The Omahas "were afraid to abandon their
aged on the prairie when away from their permanent villages lest
Wakanda should punish them";[214] and in this case it seems that
Wakanda, at least originally meant the ghost of the dead. The Niase is
an egoist ever in his respect for the old, because he hopes that they
will protect and assist him when they are dead.[215] In China the
doctrine that ghosts may interfere at any moment with human business
and fate, either favourably or unfavourably, "enforces respect for
human life and a charitable {621} treatment of the infirm, the aged,
and the sick, especially if they stand on the brink of the
grave."[216] The regard for the aged and the worship of the dead are
often mentioned together in a way which suggests that there exists an
intrinsic connection between them. Of the Dacotahs Prescott observes,
"Veneration is very great in some Indians for old age, and they all
feel it for the dead."[217] The worship of ancestors is a distinguishing
characteristic of the religious system of Southern Guinea; the
"profound respect for aged persons, by a very natural operation of the
mind, is turned into idolatrous regard for them when dead."[218] "The
Barotse chiefly worship the souls of their ancestors. . . . Cognate to
this worship of ancestors is the great respect displayed for parents
and the old--especially the eldest of a family or tribe."[219] Among
the Herero "the tomb of a father is the most important of all holy
places, the soul of a father the oracle most often consulted."[220]
The Aetas of the Philippine Islands "have a profound respect for
old-age and for their dead."[221] The Ossetes "show the greatest love
and veneration to their parents, to old age generally, and especially
to the memory of their ancestors."[222] In cases like these, however,
it is impossible accurately to distinguish between cause and effect.
Whilst the worship of the dead is, in the first place, due to the
mystery of death, it is evident that the regard in which a person is
held during his lifetime also influences the veneration which is
bestowed on his disembodied soul.
[Footnote 212: Arnot, _op. cit._ p. 78, note.]
[Footnote 213: Lippert, _Kulturgeschichte der Menschheit_, i. 229.]
[Footnote 214: Dorsey, 'Omaha Sociology,' in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._
iii. 369. _Cf._ _ibid._ p. 275.]
[Footnote 215: Modigliani, _Viaggio a Nías_, p. 467.]
[Footnote 216: de Groot, _op. cit._ (vol. iv. book) ii. 450.]
[Footnote 217: Prescott, in Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes of the United
States_, ii. 196.]
[Footnote 218: Wilson, _Western Africa_, p. 392 _sq._]
[Footnote 219: Decle, _Three Years in Savage Africa_, p. 74 _sq._]
[Footnote 220: François, _op. cit._ p. 192.]
[Footnote 221: Foreman, _op. cit._ p. 209.]
[Footnote 222: von Haxthausen, _Transcaucasia_, p. 414.]
There are thus obvious reasons for the connection between filial
submissiveness and religious beliefs; but the chief cause of this
connection seems to be the extreme importance frequently attached to
the curses and blessings of parents. Among the Nandi in Central
Africa, "if a {622} son refuses to obey his father in any serious
matter, the father solemnly strikes the son with his fur mantle. This
is equivalent to a most serious curse, and is supposed to be fatal to
the son unless he obtains forgiveness, which he can only do by
sacrificing a goat before his father."[223] Among the Mpongwe "there
is nothing which a young person so much deprecates as the curse of an
aged person, and especially that of a revered father."[224] The Barea
and Kunáma are convinced that any undertaking which has not the
blessing of the old people will fail, that every curse uttered by them
must be destructive.[225] Among the Bogos nobody takes an employment
or gives it up, nobody engages in a business or contracts a marriage,
before he has received the blessing of his father or his master.[226]
Among the Herero, "when a chief feels his dissolution approaching, he
calls his sons to the bedside, and gives them his benediction."[227]
The Moors have a proverb that "if the saints curse you the parents
will cure you, but if the parents curse you the saints will not cure
you." The ancient Hebrews believed that parents, and especially a
father, could by their blessings or curses determine the fate of their
children;[228] indeed, we have reason to assume that the reward which
in the fifth commandment is held out to respectful children was
originally a result of parental blessings. We still meet with the
original idea in Ecclesiasticus, where it is said: "Honour thy father
and mother both in word and deed, that a blessing may come upon thee
from them. For the blessing of the father establisheth the houses of
children; but the curse of the mother rooteth out foundations."[229]
The same notion that the parents' blessings beget prosperity, and that
their curses bring ruin, prevailed in ancient Greece. Plato says {623}
in his 'Laws':--"Neither God, nor a man who has understanding, will
ever advise any one to neglect his parents. . . . If a man has a
father or mother, or their fathers or mothers treasured up in his
house stricken in years, let him consider that no statue can be more
potent to grant his requests than they are, who are sitting at his
hearth, if only he knows how to show true service to them. . . .
Oedipus, as tradition says, when dishonoured by his sons, invoked on
them curses which every one declares to have been heard and ratified
by the gods, and Amyntor in his wrath invoked curses on his son
Phoenix, and Theseus upon Hippolytus, and innumerable others have also
called down wrath upon their children, whence it is clear that the
gods listen to the imprecations of parents; for the curses of parents
are, as they ought to be, mighty against their children as no others
are. And shall we suppose that the prayers of a father or mother who
is specially dishonoured by his or her children, are heard by the gods
in accordance with nature; and that if a parent is honoured by them,
and in the gladness of his heart earnestly entreats the gods in his
prayers to do them good, he is not equally heard, and that they do not
minister to his request? . . . Therefore, if a man makes a right use
of his father and grandfather and other aged relations, he will have
images which above all others will win him the favour of the
gods."[230] Originally the efficacy of parents' curses and blessings
were ascribed to a magic power immanent in the spoken word itself, and
their Erinyes, who were no less terrible than the Erinyes of neglected
guests,[231] were only personifications of their curses.[232] But in
this, as in other similar cases already noticed, the fulfilment of the
curse or the blessing came afterwards to be looked upon as an act of
divine justice. According to Plato, "Nemesis, the messenger of
justice," watches over unbecoming words uttered {624} to a
parent;[233] and Hesiod says that if anybody reproaches an aged father
or mother "Zeus himself is wroth, and at last, in requital for wrong
deeds, lays on him a bitter penalty."[234] It also seems to be beyond
all doubt that the _divi parentum_ of the Romans, like their _dii
hospitales_, were nothing but personified curses. For it is said, "If
a son beat his parent and he cry out, the son shall be devoted to the
parental gods for destruction."[235] In aristocratic families in
Russia children used to stand in mortal fear of their fathers'
curses;[236] and the country people still believe that a marriage
without the parents' approval will call down the wrath of Heaven on
the heads of the young couple.[237] Some of the Southern Slavs
maintain that if a son does not fulfil the last will of his father,
the soul of the father will curse him from the grave.[238] The
Servians say, "Without reverence for old men, there is no
salvation."[239]
[Footnote 223: Johnston, _Uganda Protectorate_, ii. 879.]
[Footnote 224: Wilson, _Western Africa_, p. 393.]
[Footnote 225: Munzinger, _Ostafrikanische Studien_, p. 475.]
[Footnote 226: _Idem_, _Sitten der Bogos_, p. 90 _sq._]
[Footnote 227: Andersson, _Lake Ngami_, p. 228.]
[Footnote 228: _Genesis_, ix. 25 _sqq._; xxvii. 4, 19, 23, 25, 27
_sqq._; xlviii. 9, 14 _sqq._; xlix. 4, 7 _sqq._ _Judges_, xvii. 2.
_Cf._ Cheyne, 'Blessings and Cursings,' in _Encyclopædia Biblica_,
i. 592; Nowack, 'Blessing and Cursing,' in _Jewish Encyclopedia_,
iii. 244.]
[Footnote 229: _Ecclesiasticus_, iii. 8 _sq._ _Cf._ _ibid._ iii. 16.]
[Footnote 230: Plato, _Leges_, xi. 930 _sq._ _Cf._ _ibid._ iv. 717.]
[Footnote 231: Aeschylus, _Eumenides_, 545 _sqq._]
[Footnote 232: See _Iliad_, xxi. 412 _sq._; Sophocles, _[OE]dipus
Coloneus_, 1299, 1434; von Lasaulx, _Der Fluch bei Griechen und
Römern_, p. 8; Müller, _Dissertations on the Eumenides_, p. 155
_sqq._; Rohde, 'Paralipomena,' in _Rheinisches Museum für Philologie_,
1895, p. 7.]
[Footnote 233: Plato, _Leges_, iv. 717.]
[Footnote 234: Hesiod, _Opera et dies_, 331 _sqq._ (329 _sqq._).]
[Footnote 235: Servius Tullius, in Bruns, _Fontes Juris Romani
antiqui_, p. 14, and Festus, _De verborum significatione_, ver.
_Plorare_: "Si parentem puer verberit, ast olle plorassit, puer divis
parentum sacer esto." _Cf._ Leist, _Alt-arisches Jus Civile_, i. 184.]
[Footnote 236: I am indebted to Prince Kropotkin for this statement.]
[Footnote 237: Kovalewsky, _Modern Customs and Ancient Laws of
Russia_, p. 37.]
[Footnote 238: Krauss, _op. cit._ p. 119.]
[Footnote 239: Maine, _Early Law and Custom_, p. 243.]
In various instances the rewards or punishments attached to the
behaviour of children seem to spring from the belief in parental
blessings and curses, although the cause is not expressly mentioned.
According to ancient Hindu ideas, a father, mother, and spiritual
teacher are equal to the three Vedas, equal to the three gods,
Brahman, Vishnu, and Siva.[240] A man who shows no regard for them
derives no benefit from any religious observance; whereas, "by
honouring his mother, he gains the present world; by honouring his
father, the world of gods; and by paying strict obedience to his
spiritual teacher, the world of Brahman."[241] As in Greece a person
who had assaulted his parent was regarded as polluted by a curse,[242]
so according {625} to the sacred law of India, those who quarrel with
their father, and those who have forsaken their father, mother, or
spiritual teacher, defile a company and must not be entertained at a
Srâddha offering.[243] Those who have struck any of these persons
cannot be readmitted until they have been purified with water taken
from a sacred lake or river.[244] The stain of disobedience towards
mother and father is purged away with barley-corns, like food which
has been licked at by dogs or pigs, or defiled by crows and impure
men.[245] In the Dhammapada it is said that to him who always greets
and constantly reveres the aged four things will increase, namely,
life, beauty, happiness, and power.[246] The Coreans believe that "the
richest rewards on earth and brightest heaven hereafter await the
filial child," whereas "curses and disgrace in this life and the
hottest hell in the world hereafter are the penalties of the
disobedient or neglectful child."[247] It seems to have been a notion
of the ancient Egyptians that a son who accepted the word of his
father would attain old age on that account.[248] The following is an
exhortation which an Aztec gave to his son:--"Guard against imitating
the example of those wicked sons who, like brutes that are deprived of
reason, neither reverence their parents, listen to their instruction,
nor submit to their correction; because whoever follows their steps
will have an unhappy end, will die in a desperate or sudden manner, or
will be killed and devoured by wild beasts."[249] And if an Aztec
married without the sanction of his parents, the belief was that he
would be punished with some misfortune.[250] The Aleuts were of
opinion that those who were attentive to feeble old men, expecting in
exchange their good advice only, would be long-lived and fortunate in
the chase and in war, and would not be neglected when growing old
{626} themselves.[251] In the Tonga Islands "disrespect to one's
superior relations is little short of sacrilege to the gods," and to
pay respect to chiefs is "a superior sacred duty, the non-fulfilment
of which it is supposed the gods would punish almost as severely as
disrespect to themselves."[252] In the same islands great efficacy is
ascribed to curses which are uttered by a superior.[253]
[Footnote 240: _Institutes of Vishnu_, xxxi. 7. _Laws of Manu_, ii. 230.]
[Footnote 241: _Institutes of Vishnu_, xxxi. 9 _sq._ _Cf._ _Laws of
Manu_, ii. 233 _sq._]
[Footnote 242: Plato, _Leges_, ix. 881.]
[Footnote 243: _Institutes of Vishnu_, lxxxii. 28 _sqq._]
[Footnote 244: _Vasishtha_, xv. 19 _sq._]
[Footnote 245: _Baudháyana_, iii. 6. 5. _Institutes of Vishnu_,
xlviii. 20.]
[Footnote 246: _Dhammapada_, 109.]
[Footnote 247: Griffis, _Corea_, p. 236.]
[Footnote 248: _Precepts of Ptah-Hotep_, 39.]
[Footnote 249: Clavigero, _op. cit._ i. 332. Torquemada, _Monarchia
Indiana_, ii. 493.]
[Footnote 250: Torquemada, _op. cit._ ii. 415.]
[Footnote 251: Veniaminof, quoted by Petroff, _loc. cit._ p. 155.]
[Footnote 252: Mariner, _op. cit._ ii. 237, 155.]
[Footnote 253: _Ibid._ ii. 238.]
Why are the blessings and curses of parents supposed to possess such
an extraordinary power? One reason is no doubt the mystery of old age
and the nearness of death. As appears from several of the cases
already referred to, it is not parents only but old people generally
that are held capable of giving due effect to their good and evil
wishes, and this capacity is believed to increase when life is drawing
to its close. The Herero "know really no blessing save that conferred
by the father on his death-bed."[254] According to old Teutonic ideas,
the curse of a dying person was the strongest of all curses.[255] A
similar notion prevailed among the ancient Arabs;[256] and among the
Hebrews the father's mystic privilege of determining the weal or woe
of his children was particularly obvious when his days were manifestly
numbered.[257] But, at the same time, parental benedictions and
imprecations possess a potency of their own owing to the parents'
superior position in the family and the respect in which they are
naturally held. The influence which such a superiority has upon the
efficacy of curses is well brought out by various facts. According to
the Greek notion, the Erinyes avenged wrongs done by younger members
of a family to elder ones, even brothers and sisters, but not _vice
versâ_.[258] The Arabs of Morocco say that the curse of a husband is
as potent as that of a father. The Tonga Islanders believe {627} that
curses have no effect "if the party who curses is considerably lower
in rank than the party cursed."[259] Moreover, where the father was
invested with sacerdotal functions--as was the case among the ancient
nations of culture--his blessings and curses would for that reason
also be efficacious in an exceptional degree.[260]
[Footnote 254: Ratzel, _History of Mankind_, ii. 468.]
[Footnote 255: Grimm, _Teutonic Mythology_, iv. 1690.]
[Footnote 256: Wellhausen, _Reste arabischen Heidentums_, pp. 139, 191.]
[Footnote 257: Cheyne, in _Encyclopædia Biblica_, i. 592.]
[Footnote 258: _Iliad_, xv. 204: "Thou knowest how the Erinyes do
always follow to aid the elder-born." _Cf._ Müller, _Dissertations on
the Eumenides_, p. 155 _sq._]
[Footnote 259: Mariner, _op. cit._ ii. 238.]
[Footnote 260: _Cf._ Nowack, in _Jewish Encyclopedia_, iii. 243 _sq._]
However, the facts which we have hitherto considered are hardly
sufficient to account for the extraordinary development of the
paternal authority in the archaic State. Great though it be, the
influence which magic and religious beliefs exercise upon the paternal
authority is, as we have just seen, largely of a reactive character. A
father's blessings would not be so eagerly sought for, nor would his
curses be so greatly feared, if he were a less important personage in
the family. So, too, as Sir Henry Maine aptly remarks, the father's
power is older than the practice of worshipping him. "Why should the
dead father be worshipped more than any other member of the household
unless he was the most prominent--it may be said, the most
awful--figure in it during his life?"[261] We must assume that there
exists some connection between the organisation of the family and the
political constitution of the society. At the lower stages of
civilisation--though hardly at the very lowest--we frequently find
that the clan has attained such an overwhelming importance that only a
very limited amount of authority could be claimed by the head of each
separate family. But, as will be shown in a following chapter, this
was changed when clans and tribes were united into a State. The new
State tended to weaken and destroy the clan-system, whereas at the
same time the family-tie grew in strength. In early society there
seems to be an antagonism between the family and the clan. Where the
clan-bond is very strong it encroaches upon the family feeling, and
where it is loosened the family gains. Hence Dr. Grosse is probably
right in his {628} assumption that the father became a patriarch, in
the true sense of the word, only as the inheritor of the authority
which formerly belonged to the clan.[262]
[Footnote 261: Maine, _Early Law and Custom_, p. 76.]
[Footnote 262: Grosse, _Die Formen der Familie_, p. 219.]
But whilst in its early days the State strengthened the family by
weakening the clan, its later development had a different tendency.
When national life grew more intense, when members of separate
families drew nearer to one another in pursuit of a common goal, the
family again lost in importance. It has been observed that in England
and America, where political life is most highly developed, children's
respect for their parents is at a particularly low ebb.[263] Other
factors also, inherent in progressive civilisation, contributed to the
downfall of the paternal power--the extinction of ancestor-worship,
the decay of certain superstitious beliefs, the declining influence of
religion, and last, but not least, the spread of a keener mutual
sympathy throughout the State, which could not tolerate that the
liberty of children should be sacrificed to the despotic rule of their
fathers.
[Footnote 263: Monier Williams, _Indian Wisdom_, p. 440, n. 1.]