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Teutons would not permit their children to be instructed in any science, for fear lest they should become effeminate and averse from war; and long afterwards it was held that a nobleman ought not to know letters, and that to write and read was a shame to gentry.?

The regard for knowledge springs in the first instance. from the love of it. As Aristotle said, "all men are by nature desirous of knowledge." 3 But this feeling is not equally strong, nor equally deep, in all. The curiosity of savages, however great it often may be, has chiefly reference to objects or events which immediately concern their welfare or appear to them alarming, or to trifles which attract attention on account of their novelty. If their curiosity were more penetrating, they would no longer remain savages; an extended desire of knowledge leads to civilisation. But curiosity or love of knowledge, whether in savage or civilised men, is not resolvable merely into views of utility; as Dr. Brown observed, we feel it without reflecting on the pleasure which we are to enjoy or the pain which we are to suffer. When highly developed, it drives men to scientific investigations even though no practical benefits are expected from the results. This devotion to truth for its own sake, pure and disinterested as it is, has a singular tendency to excite regard and admiration in everyone who has come under its influence. From the utilitarian point of view it has been defended on

2.

1 Procopius, De bello Gothorum, i. Robertson, History of the Reign of Charles V. i. 234. Millingen, op. cit. i. 22 19. n.t

Alain Chartier, quoted by SaintePalaye, op. cit. ii. 104. See also De la Noue, Discours politiques et militaires, p. 238; Lyttleton, Life of Henry II. II. 246 57. The ignorance of the medieval clergy has been somewhat exaggerated by Robertson (op. cit. pp. 21, 22, 278 sq.). Even in the dark ages it was not a very uncommon thing for the clergy to be able to read and write (Maitland, The Dark Ages, p. 16

Aristotle, Metaphysica, i. 1. 1, p. 980. Cf. Cicero, De officiis, i. 4.

4 Murdoch, 'Ethnological Results of the Point Barrow Expedition,' in Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn. ix. 42 (Eskimo). Krasheninnikoff, History of Kamschatka, p. 177. Anderson, Mandalay to Momien, p. 151 (Kakhyens). Foreman, Philippine Islands, p. 188 (Tagalog natives of the North). Bock, Head Hunters of Borneo, p. 209 (Dyaks). Forbes, A Naturalist's Wanderings in the Eastern Archipelago, p. 320 (natives of Timor-laut). Dieffenbach, Travels in New Zealand, ii. 108.

5 Dugald Stewart, op. cit. ii. 336. Brown, Lectures on the Philosophy of the Human Mind, lec. 67, p. 451.

the ground that, on the whole, every truth is in the long rin Leful and every error harmful, and that we can never exactly tell in advance what benefits may accrue even from a knowledge which is apparently fruitless. But it seems that our love of truth is somewhat apt to mislead our moral judgment. When duly reflecting on the matter, we cannot help making a moral distinction between him who persues his studies merely from an instinctive craving for knowledge, and him who devotes his life to the search of truth from a conviction that he may thereby promote human welfare.

CHAPTER XXXII

THE RESPECT FOR OTHER MEN'S HONOUR AND SELFREGARDING PRIDE-POLITENESS

THERE are many acts, forbearances, and omissions, the offensiveness of which mainly or exclusively springs from men's desire to be respected by their fellow-men and their dislike of being looked down upon. Foremost among these are attacks upon people's honour and good name. A man's honour may be defined as the moral worth he possesses in the eyes of the society of which he is a member, and it behoves other persons to acknowledge this worth and, especially, not to detract from it by imputing to him, on insufficient grounds, such behaviour as is generally considered degrading. The censure to which he is subject or the contempt in which he is held may no doubt affect his welfare in various ways, but it is chiefly painful as a violation of his personal dignity. Hence the duty of respecting a man's honour is on the whole contained in the more comprehensive obligation of showing deference, in words and deeds, for his feeling of self-regarding pride.

This feeling, or at least the germ of it, is found already in some of the lower animals. Among "highlife" dogs, says Professor Romanes, "wounded sensibilities and loss of esteem are capable of producing much keener suffering than is mere physical pain." A reproachful word or look from any of his friends made a

Skye terrier miserable for a whole day; and another terrier, who when in good humour used to perform various tricks, was never so pleased as when his joke was duly appreciated, whereas "nothing displeased him so much as being laughed at when he did not intend to be ridiculous.” 1 Monkeys also, according to Dr. Brehm, are "very sensitive to every kind of treatment they may receive, to love and dislike, to encouraging praise and chilling blame, to pleasant flattery and wounding ridicule, to caresses and chastisement." 2

Hence

Among the savage races of men, as among civilised peoples, self-regarding pride is universal, and in many of them it is a very conspicuous trait of chararacter. The Veddah of Ceylon, says Mr. Nevill," is proud in the extreme, and considers himself no man's inferior. he is keenly sensitive to ridicule, contempt, and even patronage. There is nothing he dreads more than being laughed at as a savage, because he dislikes clothes and cultivation." 4 Australian aborigines are described as "extravagantly proud," as "vain and fond of approbation." 6 In Fiji" anything like a slight deeply offends a native, and is not soon forgotten." The Negroes of Sierra Leone" possess a great share of pride, and are easily affected by an insult they cannot hear even a harsh expression, or a raised tone of voice, without shewing that

1 Romanes, Animal Intelligence, pp. 439, 444.

2 Brehm, From North Pole to Equator, p. 299. Cf. ibid. pp. 304-306, 312, 314; Brehm, Thierleben, i. 75, 157; Schultze, Vergleichende Seelenkunde, i. pt. i. 110; Perty, Das Seelenleben der Thiere, p. 66.

3 Dieffenbach, Travels in New Zealand, ii. 107; Colenso, Maori Races of New Zealand, p. 56. Crawfurd, History of the Indian Archipelago, i. 54. Raffles, History of Java, i. 249. St. John, Life in the Forests of the Far East, ii. 323 (Malays of Sarawak). Man, Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands,' in Jour. Anthr. Inst. xii. 94. Stewart, Notes on Northern Cachar,' in Jour. Asiatic Soc.

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they feel it." The Araucanians, inhabiting parts of Chili, "are naturally fond of honourable distinction, and there is nothing they can endure with less patience than contempt or inattention." 2 The North American Indians, says Perrot, "ont généralement touts beaucoup de vaine gloire dans leurs actions bonnes ou mauvaises. L'ambition est en un mot une des plus fortes passions qui les anime." 3 The Indian of British Columbia, for instance, "watches that he may receive his proper share of honour at festivals; he cannot endure to be ridiculed for even the slightest mistake; he carefully guards all his actions, and looks for due honour to be paid to him by friends, strangers, and subordinates. This peculiarity appears most clearly in great festivals." 4 Thus, in numerous instances, "persons who have been hoarding up property for ten, fifteen, or twenty years (at the same time almost starving themselves for want of clothing), have given it all away to make a show for a few hours, and to be thought of consequence."! Speaking of the of the Eskimo about Behring Strait, Mr. Nelson observes, "As with all savages, the Eskimo are extremely sensitive to ridicule and are very quick to take offence at real or seeming slights." Among the Atkha Aleuts it has happened that men have committed suicide from disappointment at the failure of an undertaking, fearing that they would become the laughing-stock of the village. Among many other savages shame or wounded pride is not uncommonly a cause of suicide. The Hos of Chota Nagpore have a saying that for a wife who has been reproved by her husband

1 Winterbottom, Native Africans in the Neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, i.

211.

2 Molina, History of Chili, ii. 113. * Perrot, Memoire sur les moeurs, coustumes et relligion des sauvages de Amerique septentrionale, p. 76. Cf. Buchanan, Sketches of the History, Manners, and Customs of the North American Indians, p. 165; Matthews, Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa Indians, p. 41.

Boas, in Fifth Report on the North

Western Tribes of Canada, p. 19.

5 Duncan, quoted by Mayne, Four Years in British Columbia, p. 295.

Nelson, Eskimo about Bering Strait,' in Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn. xviii. 300.

7 Yakof, quoted by Petroff, Report on Alaska, p. 158. Cf. Dall, op. cit. P. 391 (Aleuts).

See infra, on Suicide; Lasch, 'Besitzen die Naturvölker ein persönliches Ehrgefühl,' in Zeitschr. f. Socialwissenschaft, iii. 837 sqq.

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