CHAPTER XXV

108Frazer,Golden Bough, i. 299sqq.

109Cf.the “trial of jealousy” inNumbers. v. 11sqq., particularly verse 22: “This water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot.”

110Burckhardt,Bedouins and Wahábys, p. 102.

111Ratzel,op. cit.ii. 480.

112Baker,Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia, p. 94.

113Emin Pasha in Central Africa, p. 107.

114Trumbull,Threshold Covenant, p. 9.

115Frazer,Golden Bough, i. 303.

116Lafitau,op. cit.ii. 88. James,Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, i. 321sq.Morgan,League of the Iroquois, p. 328. Sproat,op. cit.p. 57 (Ahts).

117James,op. cit.i. 322.

118Gautama, v. 25.

119Mahabharata, Shanti Parva, clxxxix. 2sq., pt. xxviii.sq.p. 281.

120Âpastamba, ii. 3. 7. 3.

121Ibid.ii. 3. 6. 19sq.Cf.Proverbs, xxiii. 6: “Eat not the bread of him that hath an evil eye.”

122Mariner,op. cit.ii. 154.

123Ellis,Tour through Hawaii, p. 347.

124Ibid.p. 347.

Among the precautions taken against the visiting stranger kind and respectful treatment is of particularly great importance. No traveller among an Arabic-speaking people can fail to notice the contrast between the lavish welcome and the plain leave-taking. The profuse greetings mean that the stranger will be treated as a friend and not as an enemy; and it is particularly desirable to secure his good-will in the beginning, since the first glance of an evil eye is always held to be the most dangerous. We can now realise that the extreme regard shown to a guest, and the preference given to him in every matter, must, in alarge measure, be due to fear of his anger, as well as to hope of his blessings. Even the peculiar custom which requires a host to lend his wife to a guest becomes more intelligible when we consider the supposed danger of the stranger’s evil eye or his curses, as also the benefits which may be supposed to result from his love.125And when the guest leaves, it is wise of the host to accept no reward; for there maybe misfortune in the stranger’s gift.

125Egede informs us (op. cit.p. 140) that the native women of Greenland thought themselves fortunate if an Angekokk, or “prophet,” honoured them with his caresses; and some husbands even paid him for having intercourse with their wives, since they believed that the child of such a holy man could not but be happier and better than others. Some similar belief may be held in regard to intercourse with a guest, though I can adduce no direct evidence for my supposition.Cf.also thejus primae noctisaccorded to priests (Westermarck,History of Human Marriage, p. 76sq.;cf.ibid.p. 80).

That hospitality should be free of cost is implied in the very meaning of the word. Wherever the custom of entertaining guests has been preserved pure and genuine, remuneration is neither asked nor expected; indeed, to offer payment would give offence, and to accept it would be disgraceful.126Such a custom might no doubt result from absence or scarcity of money, as it cannot be expected that the wandering stranger shall carry with him heavy presents to all his future hosts; and where the intercourse is mutual, the hospitable man may hope one day to be paid back in his own coin. But it seems likely that the custom of not receiving payment from a guest is largely due to that same dread of strangers which underlies many other rules of hospitality. The acceptance of gifts is frequently considered to be connected with some danger. According to rules laid down in the sacred books of India, he who is about to accept gifts, or he who has accepted gifts, must repeatedly recite the four Vedic verses called Taratsamandîs;127or all gifts are to be preceded by pouring outwater into the extended palm of the recipient’s right hand,128evidently because the water is supposed to cleanse the gift from the baneful energy with which it may be saturated. On the other hand, “without a full knowledge of the rules prescribed by the sacred law for the acceptance of presents, a wise man should not take anything, even though he may pine with hunger. But an ignorant man who accepts gold, land, a horse, a cow, food, a dress, sesamum-grains, or clarified butter, is reduced to ashes like a piece of wood…. Hence an ignorant man should be afraid of accepting any presents; for by reason of a very small gift even a fool sinks into hell as a cow into a morass.”129Moreover, a gift, to be accepted by a Brâhmana, ought to be given voluntarily, not to be asked for.130So, too, Hebrew writers are anxious to inculcate the duty of giving alms with an ungrudging eye, as also of not giving anything before witnesses—the latter, perhaps, with a view to preventing the evil influence which is likely to emanate from an envious spectator.131An Atlas Berber, who had probably never before had anything to do with a European, spat on the coin which I gave him for rendering me a service, and my native friends told me that he did so for fear lest the coin, owing to some sorcery on my part, should not only itself return to me, but at the same time take with it all the money with which it had been in contact in his bag. Of the Annamites it is said that “for fear of bringing ill-luck into the place the people even decline presents.”132

126Veniaminof, quoted by Dall,op. cit.p. 397 (Aleuts). Bartram, inTrans. American Ethn. Soc.iii. pt. i. 42. Foreman,Philippine Islands, p. 187 (Tagalogs). Hunter,Annals of Rural Bengal, i. 216. Bogle,Narrative of Mission to Tibet, p. 109sq.Vámbéry,Das Türkenvolk, p. 614 (Turks in Asia Minor). Robinson,Biblical Researches in Palestine, ii. 18sq.; Burton,Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah, i. 36; Blunt,op. cit.ii. 212; Lane,Modern Egyptians, p. 297 (Bedouins). Krauss,Die Südslaven, p. 648.

127Baudhâyana, iv. 2. 4.

128Âpastamba, ii. 4. 9. 8. Bühler, inSacred Books of the East, ii. 122, n.8

129Laws of Manu, iv. 187, 188, 191.

130Ibid.iv. 247sq.

131Tobit, iv. 7. Kohler, inJewish Encyclopedia, i. 436.Cf.St. Matthew, vi. 1sqq.; Brandt,Mandäische Schriften, pp. 28, 64: “If you give alms do not do it before witnesses.” The Mandæans were also forbidden to eat food prepared by a stranger or to take a meal in his company (Brandt,Mandäische Religion, p. 94).

132Ratzel,op. cit.iii. 418.

The duty of hospitality is probably always limited by time, even though, among some peoples, a guest is said to be entertained as long as he pleases to stay.133Accordingto Teutonic custom, a guest might tarry only up to the third day.134The Anglo-Saxon rule was, “Two nights a guest, the third night one of the household,” that is, a slave.135A German proverb says, “Den ersten Tag ein Gast, den zweiten eine Last, den dritten stinkt er fast.”136So, also, the Southern Slavs declare that “a guest and a fish smell on the third day.”137Burckhardt states that, among the Bedouins, if the stranger intends to prolong his visit after a lapse of three days and four hours from the time of his arrival, it is expected that he should assist his host in domestic matters; should he decline this, “he may remain, but will be censured by all the Arabs of the camp.”138The Moors say that “the hospitality of the Prophet lasts for three days”; the first night the guest is entertained most lavishly, for then, but only then, he is “the guest of God.” The Prophet laid down the following rule: “Whoever believes in God and the day of resurrection, must respect his guest; and the time of being kind to him is one day and one night; and the period of entertaining him is three days; and after that, if he does it longer, he benefits him more; but it is not right for a guest to stay in the house of the host so long as to incommode him.”139According to Javanese custom, it is a point of honour to supply a stranger with food and accommodation for a day and a night at least.140Among the Kalmucks special honour is paid to a stranger for one day only, whereas, if he remains longer, he is treated without ceremonies.141Growing familiarity with the stranger naturally tends to dispel the superstitious dread which he inspired at first, and this, combined with the feeling that it is unfair of him to live at his host’s expense longer than necessity requires, seems to account for therapid decline of his extraordinary privileges and for the short duration of his title to hospitable treatment.

133Veniaminof, quoted by Dall,op. cit.p. 397 (Aleuts). Morgan,League of the Iroquois, p. 328. Bartram, inTrans. American Ethn. Soc.iii. pt. i. 42 (Creeks and Cherokee Indians).

134Grimm,Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer, p. 400. Weinhold,Altnordisches Leben, p. 447.

135Quoted inLeges Edwardi Confessoris, 23: “Tuua nicte geste þe þirdde nicte agen hine.”Cf.Laws of Cnut, ii. 28;Laws of Hlothhære and Eadric, 15;Leges Henrici I.viii. 5.

136Weinhold,op. cit.p. 447.

137Krauss,op. cit.p. 658.

138Burckhardt,Bedouins and Wahábys, p. 101sq.

139Lane,Arabian Society, p. 142sq.

140Crawfurd,op. cit.i. 53.

141Bergmann,op. cit.ii. 285.

Contrary to what is the case with other duties which men owe to their fellow-creatures, in every progressive society we find hospitality on the wane. In the later days of Greece and Rome it almost dwindled into a survival.142In the Middle Ages hospitality was extensively practised by high and low; it was enjoined by the tenets of Chivalry,143and the poorer people, also, considered it disgraceful to refuse to share their meals with a needy stranger.144However, in the reign of Henry IV., Thomas Occlif complains of the decline of hospitality in England; and in the middle of the Elizabethan age, Archbishop Sandys says that “it is come to pass that hospitality itself is waxen a stranger.”145The reasons for this decline are not difficult to find. Increasing intercourse between different communities or different countries not only makes hospitality an intolerable burden, but leads to the establishment of inns, and thus hospitality becomes superfluous. It habituates the people to the sight of strangers, and, in consequence, deprives the stranger of that mystery which surrounds the lonely wanderer in an isolated district whose inhabitants have little communication with the outside world. And, finally, increase of intercourse gives rise to laws which make an individual protector needless, by placing the stranger under the protection of the State.

142Becker-Goll,Charikles, ii. 3sqq.Idem,Gallus, iii. 28sqq.

143Sainte-Palaye,Mémoires sur l’ancienne chevalerie, i. 310.

144Wright,Domestic Manners and Sentiments in England during the Middle Ages, p. 329sqq.

145Sandys,Sermons, p. 401.

FROMthe 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 waseo ipsodenied 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 oftheir mother’s family or of their maternal uncle;1but 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;2and this is certainly very different from a denial of paternal rights.3Among those Australian tribes which have the system of maternal descent the father is distinctly said to be the master of his children.4In 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.”5As 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 sisters6—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.7Among the Mpongwe, who reckon kinship through the mother, the father has by law unrestricted power over his children.8And in Madagascar, where children generally follow the condition of the mother,9the commands of a father or an ancestor are, among all the tribes, “held as most sacredly binding upon his descendants.”10Whatever 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 oftheir father, though he may to some extent have to share his authority with the mother.

1Westermarck,History of Human Marriage, p. 40sq.Grosse,Die Formen der Familie, p. 183sq.Post,Afrikanische Jurisprudenz, i. 51sq.Marsden,History of Sumatra, p. 262sq.

2Westermarck,op. cit.p. 97.

3See von Dargun,Mutterrecht und Vaterrecht, p. 3sqq.

4Curr,The Australian Race, i. 60, 61, 69.

5Codrington,Melanesians, p. 34.

6Westermarck,op. cit.p. 110.

7Seaver,Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison, p. 165.

8Hübbe-Schleiden,Ethiopien, pp. 151, 153.

9Westermarck,op. cit.p. 103.

10Sibree,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,11among others such a right is expressly denied him.12Frequently 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.13Marriage 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.”14It 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

11Schadenberg, ‘Negritos der Philippinen,’ inZeitschr. f. Ethnologie, xii. 137. Post,Afrikanische Jurisprudenz, i. 51sq.(Bogos, Fantis, Dahomans). Paulitschke,Ethnographie Nordost-Afrikas, p. 189. Leuschner, in Steinmetz,Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 16sq.(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).

12Kraft, in Steinmetz,Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 285 (Wapokomo). Rautanen,ibid.p. 329 (Ondonga).

13Westermarck,op. cit.p. 215sqq.

14Leslie,Among the Zulus and Amatongas, p. 194. Westermarck,op. cit.ch. x.

15Robertson,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.”16Among the Brazilian Indians, according to von Martius, respect and obedience on the part of children towards their parents are unknown.17Among the Tarahumares of Mexico “the children grow up entirely independent, and if angry a boy may even strike his father.”18We 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”;19but this does not seem to hold good of all of their tribes.20Of 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

16Azara,Voyages dans l’Amérique méridionale, ii. 23.

17von Martius, inJour. Roy. Geo. Soc.ii. 199.Cf.Southey,History of Brazil, iii. 387 (Guaycurus).

18Lumholtz,Unknown Mexico, p. 275.

19Georgi,Russia, iii. 212.

20Veniaminof, quoted by Petroff, ‘Report on Alaska,’ inTenth Census of the United States, pp. 155, 158.

21Steller,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

22Im 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, inJour. 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 Eskimo23and North American Indian tribes24children 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.”25The Potawatomis hold the violation of the advice and directions of their parents one of the most atrocious crimes.26In Tonga “filial duty is a most important duty and appears to be universally felt.”27One of the chief duties which the Ainos taught their children was obedience to parents.28Among the Central Asiatic Turks a son, whilst young, behaves as if he were his father’s slave.29Among theOssetes “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.”30Among 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.”31Among the Mandingoes children “have a great veneration for their parents,” and “would feel extreme reluctance to disobey their father.”32Of the Bachapins, a Bechuana tribe, it is said that“filial obedience is strenuously enforced.”33Among 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

23Hall,Arctic Researches, p. 568. Boas, ‘Central Eskimo,’ inAnn. 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).

24Turner, inAnn. 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).

25Parry,Journal of a Second Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage, p. 530.

26Keating,Expedition to the Source of St. Peter’s River, i. 127.

27Mariner,Natives of the Tonga Islands, ii. 179.

28Batchelor,Ainu and their Folk-Lore, p. 254.

29Vámbéry,op. cit.p. 226.

30von Haxthausen,Transcaucasia, p. 414sq.

31Munzinger,Ostafrikanische Studien, p. 474.

32Caillié,Travels through Central Africa, i. 352sq.

33Burchell,Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa, ii. 557.

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