CHAPTER XIV

PRELIMINARY REMARKS-HOMICIDE IN GENERAL

Necessity of restricting the investigation to the more important modes of conduct

with which the moral consciousness is concerned, p. 327 sq.-The six groups

into which these modes of conduct may be divided, p. 328.-The most

sacred duty which we owe to our fellow-creatures generally considered to be

regard for their lives, ibid.-Among various uncivilised peoples human life

said to be held very cheap, p. 328 sq.- Among others homicide or murder

said to be hardly known, p. 329 sq.-In other instances homicide expressly

said to be regarded as wrong, p. 330 sq.-In every society custom prohibits

homicide within a certain circle of men, p. 331.-Savages distinguish between

an act of homicide committed within their own community and one where the

victim is a stranger, pp. 331-333.—In various instances, however, the rule,

"Thou shalt not kill," applies even to foreigners, p. 333 sq.-Some uncivil-

ised peoples said to have no wars, p. 334.—Savages' recognition of intertribal

rights in times of peace obvious from certain customs connected with their

wars, p. 334 sq.-Savage custom does not always allow indiscriminate

slaughter even in warfare, p. 335 sq.-The readiness with which savages

engage in war, p. 337.-The old distinction between injuries committed

against compatriots and harm done to foreigners remains among peoples more

advanced in culture, p. 337 sq.-The readiness with which such peoples wage

war on foreign nations, and the estimation in which the successful warrior is

held, pp. 338-340.-The life of a guest sacred, p. 340.—The commencement

of international hostilities preceded by special ceremonies, ibid.-Warfare in

some cases condemned, or a distinction made between just and unjust war, pp.

340-342.-Even in war the killing of an enemy under certain circumstances

prohibited, either by custom or by enlightened moral opinion, pp. 342-344.

CHAPTER XV

HOMICIDE IN GENERAL (continued)

Homicide of any kind condemned by the early Christians, p. 345.-Their total

condemnation of warfare, p. 345 sq.-This attitude towards war was soon

given up, pp. 346-348.-The feeling that a soldier scarcely could make a good

Christian, p. 348.-Penance prescribed for those who had shed blood in war, p.

348 sq.-Wars forbidden by popes, p. 349.—The military Christianity of the

Crusades, pp. 349-352.-Chivalry, pp. 352-354.-The intimate connection
between chivalry and religion displayed in tournaments, p. 354 sq.—The prac-
tice of private war, p. 355 sq.-The attitude of the Church towards private war,
p. 356.-The Truce of God, p. 357.-The main cause of the abolition of
private war was the increase of the authority of emperors or kings, p. 357 sq.
-War looked upon as a judgment of God, p. 358.—The attitude adopted by

the great Christian congregations towards war one of sympathetic approval,

pp. 359-362.-Religious protests against war, pp. 362-365.-Freethinkers'

opposition to war, pp. 365-367.-The idea of a perpetual peace, p. 367.-

The awakening spirit of nationalism, and the glorification of war, p. 367 sq.

-Arguments against arbitration, p. 368.-The opposition against war rapidly

increasing, p. 368 sq.-The prohibition of needless destruction in war, p.

369 sq.-The survival, in modern civilisation, of the old feeling that the life

of a foreigner is not equally sacred with that of a countryman, p. 370.-The

behaviour of European colonists towards coloured races, p. 370 sq.

CHAPTER XVI

HOMICIDE IN GENERAL (concluded.)

Sympathetic resentment felt on account of the injury suffered by the victim a potent

cause of the condemnation of homicide, p. 372 sq.-No such resentment felt

if the victim is a member of another group, p. 373.-Why extra-tribal

homicide is approved of, ibid.—Superstition an encouragement to extra-tribal

homicide, ibid.-The expansion of the altruistic sentiment largely explains

why the prohibition of homicide has come to embrace more and more com-

prehensive circles of men, ibid.-Homicide viewed as an injury inflicted

upon the survivors, p. 373 sq.-Conceived as a breach of the "King's peace,"

p. 374. Stigmatised as a disturbance of public tranquillity and an outrage on

public safety, ibid.—Homicide disapproved of because the manslayer gives

trouble to his own people, p. 374 sq.-The idea that a manslayer is unclean,

pp. 375-377.-The influence which this idea has exercised on the moral judg-

ment of homicide, p. 377.-The disapproval of the deed easily enhanced by the

spiritual danger attending on it, as also by the inconvenient restrictions laid

on the tabooed manslayer and the ceremonies of purification to which he is

subject, p. 377 sq.-The notion of a persecuting ghost may be replaced by

the notion of an avenging god, pp. 378-380.-The defilement resulting from

homicide particularly shunned by gods, p. 380 sq.-Priests forbidden to shed

human blood, p. 381 sq.-Reasons for Christianity's high regard for human

life, p. 382.

CHAPTER XVII

THE KILLING OF PARENTS, SICK PERSONS, CHILDREN-FETICIDE

Parricide the most aggravated form of murder, pp. 383-386.—The custom of aban-

doning or killing parents who are worn out with age or disease, p. 386 sq.-Its

causes, pp. 387-390.-The custom of abandoning or killing persons suffering

from some illness, p. 391 sq.-Its causes, p. 392 sq.-The father's power of

life and death over his children, p. 393 sq.-Infanticide among many savage

races permitted or even enjoined by custom, pp. 394-398.-The causes of infan-

ticide, and how it has grown into a regular custom, pp. 398-402.-Among

many savages infanticide said to be unheard of or almost so, p. 402 sq.-

The custom of infanticide not a survival of earliest savagery, but seems to

have grown up under specific conditions in later stages of development,

p. 403.-Savages who disapprove of infanticide, p. 403 sq.-The custom of

infanticide in most cases requires that the child should be killed immediately

or soon after its birth, p. 404 sq.-Infanticide among semi-civilised or civilised

races, pp. 405-411.-The practice of exposing new-born infants vehemently

denounced by the early Fathers of the Church, p. 411.-Christian horror of

infanticide, p. 411 sq.-The punishment of infanticide in Christian countries,

p. 412 sq.-Feticide among savages, p. 413 sq.-Among more civilised

nations, p. 414 sq.-According to Christian views, a form of murder, p. 415 sq.

-Distinction between an embryo informatus and an embryo formatus, p.

416 sq.-Modern legislation and opinion concerning feticide, p. 417.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE KILLING OF WOMEN, AND OF SLAVES-THE CRIMINALITY OF HOMICIDE

INFLUENCED BY DISTINCTIONS OF CLASS

The husband's power of life and death over his wife among many of the lower
races, p. 418 sq.-The right of punishing his wife capitally not universally

granted to the husband in uncivilised communities, p. 419.-The husband's

power of life and death among peoples of a higher type, ibid.-Uxoricide

punished less severely than mariticide, p. 419 sq.-The estimate of a woman's

life sometimes lower than that of a man's, sometimes equal to it, sometimes

higher, p. 420 sq.-The master's power of life and death over his slave, p.

421 sq.--The right, among many savages, of killing his slave at his own dis-

cretion expressly denied to the master, p. 422 sq.-The murder of another

person's slave largely regarded as an offence against the property of the

owner, but not exclusively looked upon in this light, p. 423.-When the sys-

tem of blood-money prevails, the price paid for the life of a slave less than

that paid for the life of a freeman, ibid.-Among the nations of archaic cul-

ture, also, the life of a slave held in less estimation than that of a freeman,

but not even the master in all circumstances allowed to put his slave to death,

pp. 423-426.-Efforts of the Christian Church to secure the life of the slave

against the violence of the master, p. 426.—But neither the ecclesiastical nor

the secular legislation gave him the same protection as was bestowed upon the

free member of the Church and State, pp. 426-428.-In modern times, in

Christian countries, the life of the negro slave was only inadequately protected

by law, p. 428 sq.—Why the life of a slave is held in so little regard, p. 429.

-The killing of a freeman by a slave, especially if the victim be his owner,

commonly punished more severely than if the same act were done by a free

person, p. 429 sq.-In the estimate of life a distinction also made between

different classes of freemen, p. 430 sq.-The magnitude of the crime may

depend not only on the rank of the victim, but on the rank of the manslayer

as well, pp. 431-433.-Explanation of this influence of class, p. 433.—

In progressive societies each member of the society at last admitted to be
born with an equal claim to the right to live, ibid.

CHAPTER XIX

HUMAN SACRIFICE

The prevalence of human sacrifice, pp. 434-436.-This practice much more

frequently found among barbarians and semi-civilised peoples than among

genuine savages, p. 436 sq.-Among some peoples it has been noticed to

become increasingly prevalent in the course of time, p. 437.-Human sacri-

fice partly due to the idea that gods have an appetite for human flesh or

blood, p. 437 sq.-Sometimes connected with the idea that gods require

attendants, p. 438.-Moreover, an angry god may be appeased simply by the

death of him or those who aroused his anger, or of some representative of the

offending community, or of somebody belonging to the kin of the offender,

pp. 438-440.-Human sacrifice chiefly a method of life-insurance, based on

the idea of substitution, p. 440.-Human victims offered in war, before

a battle, or during a siege, p. 440 sq.-For the purpose of stopping or pre-

venting epidemics, p. 441 sq.—For the purpose of putting an end to a

devastating famine, p. 442 sq.-For the purpose of preventing famine, p.

443 sq.-Criticism of Dr. Frazer's hypothesis that the human victim who is

killed for the purpose of ensuring good crops is regarded as a representative of

the corn-spirit and is slain as such, pp. 444-451.-Human victims offered

with a view to getting water, p. 451 sq.-With a view to averting perils

arising from the sea or from rivers, pp. 452-454.-For the purpose of pre-

venting the death of some particular individual, especially a chief or a king,

from sickness, old age, or other circumstances, pp. 454-457.-For the pur-

pose of helping other men into existence, p. 457 sq.-The killing of the first-

born child, or the first-born son, p. 458 sq.—Explanation of this practice, pp.

459-461.-Human sacrifices offered in connection with the foundation of

buildings, p. 461 sq.-The building-sacrifice, like other kinds of human sacri-

fice, probably based on the idea of substitution, pp. 462-464.—The belief that

the soul of the victim is converted into a protecting demon, p. 464 sq.-The

human victim regarded as a messenger, p. 465 sq.-Human sacrifice not an

act of wanton cruelty, p. 466.-The king or chief sometimes sacrificed, ibid.

-The victims frequently prisoners of war or other aliens, or slaves, or

criminals, pp. 466-468.-The disappearance of human sacrifice, p. 468.—

Human sacrifice condemned, p. 468 sq.-Practices intended to replace it,

p. 469.-Human effigies or animals offered instead of men, p. 469 sq.--

Human sacrifices succeeded by practices involving the effusion of human

blood without loss of life, p. 470.-Bleeding or mutilation practised for

the same purpose as human sacrifice, p. 470 sq.-Why the penal sacrifice of

offenders has outlived all other forms of human sacrifice, p. 471.— Human

beings sacrificed to the dead in order to serve them as slaves, wives, or com-

panions, pp. 472-474.-This custom dwindling into a survival, p. 475.-The

funeral sacrifice of men and animals also seems to involve an intention

to vivify the spirits of the deceased with blood, p. 475 sq.-Manslayers killed

in order to satisfy their victims' craving for revenge, p. 476.

CHAPTER XX

BLOOD-REVENGE AND COMPENSATION-THE PUNISHMENT OF DEATH

The prevalence of the custom of blood-revenge, pp. 477-479.-Blood-revenge

regarded not only as a right, but as a duty, p. 479 sq.-This duty in the first

place regarded as a duty to the dead, whose spirit is believed to find no rest

after death until the injury has been avenged, p. 481 sq.-Blood-revenge a

form of human sacrifice, p. 482.-Blood-revenge also practised on account of

the injury inflicted on the survivors, p. 482 sq.-Murder committed within

the family or kin left unavenged, p. 483.—The injury inflicted on the relatives

of the murdered man suggests not only revenge, but reparation, ibid.—The

taking of life for life may itself, in a way, serve as compensation, p. 483 sq.—

Various methods of compensation, p. 484.-The advantages of the practice

of composition, p. 484 sq.-Its disadvantages, p. 485.-The importance of

these disadvantages depends on the circumstances in each special case,

p. 486 sq.-Among many peoples the rule of revenge strictly followed, and to

accept compensation considered disgraceful, p. 487.-The acceptance of com-

pensation does not always mean that the family of the slain altogether re-

nounce their right of revenge, p. 487 sq.-The acceptance of compensation

allowed as a justifiable alternative for blood-revenge, or even regarded as the

proper method of settling the case, p. 488 sq.-The system of compensation

partly due to the pressure of some intervening authority, p. 489 sq.-The

adoption of this method for the settling of disputes a sign of weakness, p. 491.

-When the central power of jurisdiction is firmly established, the rule of

life for life regains its sway, ibid.-A person may forfeit his right to live by

other crimes besides homicide, p. 491 sq.-Opposition to and arguments

against capital punishment, pp. 492-495.-Modern legislation has undergone

a radical change with reference to capital punishment, p. 495.-Arguments

against its abolition, p. 495 sq.-The chief motive for retaining it in modern

legislation, p. 496.

CHAPTER XXI

THE DUEL

Duelling resorted to as a means of bringing to an end hostilities between different

groups of people, p. 497 sq.-Duels fought for the purpose of settling disputes

between individuals, either by conferring on the victor the right of possessing

b

the object of the strife, or by gratifying a craving for revenge and wiping off

the affront, pp. 498-502.-The circumstances to which these customs are due,

p. 503 sq.-The duel as an ordeal or "judgment of God," p. 504 sq.-The

judicial duel fundamentally derived its efficacy as a means of ascertaining the

truth from its connection with an oath, p. 505 sq.-How it came to be re-

garded as an appeal to the justice of God, p. 506 sq.-The decline and dis-

appearance of the judicial duel, p. 507.-The modern duel of honour,

pp. 507-509. —Its causes, p. 509.--Arguments adduced in support of it,

p. 509 sq.

In the case of bodily injuries the magnitude of the offence, other things being

equal, proportionate to the harm inflicted, pp. 511-513.-The degree of the

offence also depends on the station of the parties concerned, and in some

cases the infliction of pain held allowable or even a duty, p. 513.—Children

using violence against their parents, ibid.—Parents' right to inflict corporal

punishment on their children, p. 513 sq.-The husband's right to chastise his

wife, pp. 514-516.—The master's right to inflict corporal punishment on his

slave, p. 516 sq.-The maltreatment of another person's slave regarded as an

injury done to the master, rather than to the slave, p. 517.-Slaves severely

punished for inflicting bodily injuries on freemen, p. 518.-The penalties or fines

for bodily injuries influenced by the class or rank of the parties when both of

them are freemen, p. 518 sq.-Distinction between compatriots and aliens with

reference to bodily injuries, p. 519.-The infliction of sufferings on vanquished

enemies, p. 519 sq.—The right to bodily integrity influenced by religious

differences, p. 520.-Forfeited by the commission of a crime, p. 520 sq.-

Amputation or mutilation of the offending member has particularly been in

vogue among peoples of culture, p. 521 sq.-The disappearance of corporal

punishment in Europe, p. 522.-Corporal punishment has been by preference

a punishment for poor and common people or slaves, p. 522 sq.-The status

of a person influencing his right to bodily integrity with reference to judicial

torture, p. 523 sq.-Explanation of the moral notions regarding the infliction

of bodily injuries, p. 524.—The notions that an act of bodily violence involves

a gross insult, and that corporal punishment disgraces the criminal more than

any
other form of penalty, p. 524 sq.

CHAPTER XXIII

CHARITY AND GENEROSITY

The mother's duty to rear her children, p. 526.-The husband's and father's duty

to protect and support his family, pp. 526-529.-The parents' duty of taking

care of their offspring in the first place based on the sentiment of parental

affection, p. 529.-The universality not only of the maternal, but of the

paternal, sentiment in mankind, pp. 529-532.-Marital affection among

savages, p. 532.-Explanation of the simplest paternal and marital duties,

p. 533. Children's duty of supporting their aged parents, pp. 533–538.-

The duty of assisting brothers and sisters, p. 538.-Of assisting more distant

relatives, pp. 538-540.-Uncivilised peoples as a rule described as kind

towards members of their own community or tribe, enjoin charity between

themselves as a duty, and praise generosity as a virtue, pp. 540-546.—Among

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

assistance, p. 546.-The sick often carefully attended to, pp. 546-548.-