The origin and development of the moral ideas

In some instances the firstborn seems to be killed, not in sacrifice to a god, but for the purpose of being eaten as a kind of medicine.190 In other cases the act is a sacrifice in the true sense of the word and, apparently, substitutional in character. Considering that children are occasionally sacrificed to save the lives of their parents, or for the health of the families, or to promote fecundity, it seems probable that the regular sacrifice of the firstborn has similar objects in view. This supposition, indeed, is strongly supported by some statements in which the motive of the act is expressly mentioned.191 Among the Coast Salish of British Columbia the first child is sacrificed to the sun “to secure health and happiness to the whole family.”192 The same is reported of a neighbouring people, the Kutonaqa. The mother prays to the sun:—“I am with child. When it is born I shall offer it to you. Have pity upon us.”193 Among some tribes of South-Eastern Africa it is a rule that, when a woman’s husband has been killed in battle and she marries again, the first child to which she gives birth after her second marriage must be put to death, whether she has it by her first or her second husband.

Such a child is called “the child of the assegai,” and if it were not killed, death or accident would be sure to befall the second spouse, and the woman herself would be barren.194 Among some peoples, including the ancient Hindus, we find the belief that the son is in some sense identical with his father, that he is a new birth, a new manifestation of the same person.195 The new birth might be supposed to endanger the life of the father, just as, according to a notion prevalent among the ancient Teutons196 and in some parts of Italy,197 a person would soon die if his name were given to his son or grandson whilst he was still alive. Among the Brazilian Tupis the father was accustomed to take a new name after the birth of each new son;198 whilst, on killing an enemy, a person used to take the enemy’s name so as to annihilate not only his body but also his soul.199 Among the Kafirs, “if a mother gives birth to twins, one is frequently killed by the father, for the natives think that unless the father places a lump of earth in the mouth of one of the babies he will lose his strength.”200 In some cases the practice of killing the firstborn son might possibly be traced back to a similar belief. But I can quote no fact directly supporting this suggestion.

Human sacrifices are offered in connection with the foundation of buildings. This is a wide-spread custom, which not only occurs among various uncivilised and semi-civilised peoples of the present day, but which is proved to have existed among the so-called Aryan races.201 In India we find traces of it in traditions and popular beliefs.202 The Hindu rajas, we are told, used to lay the foundation of public buildings in human blood.203 When Mr. Grierson wanted to photograph a Bihār peasant house, the grandmother of the family refused to allow any of the children to appear in the picture, her reason being that the Government was building the bridge across the Gandak and wanted children to bury under the foundations.204 Among the ancient Romans the old custom survived in the practice of placing statues or images under the foundations of their buildings.205 In the island of Zacynthus the peasants to this day believe that in order to secure the durability of important buildings, such as bridges and fortresses, it is desirable to kill a man, especially a Muhammedan or a Jew, and bury him on the spot.206 South Slavonian folk-tales speak of the immuration of a woman or a child as a foundation sacrifice.207 In Servia no city was thought to be secure unless a human being, or at least the shadow of one, was built into its walls;208 and the Bulgarians, when going to build, are still said to take a thread and measure the shadow of some casual passer-by, and then bury the measure under the foundation-stone, expecting that the man whose shadow has been thus treated will soon die.209 A

similar custom prevails in Roumania.210 According to Nennius, when Dinas Emris in Wales was founded by Gortigern, all the materials collected for the fortress were carried away in one night; and materials were thus gathered thrice, and were thrice carried away. When he then asked of his Druids, “Whence this evil?” the Druids told him that it was necessary to find a child whose father was unknown, put him to death, and sprinkle with his blood the ground on which the citadel was to be built.211 A Scotch legend tells that, when St. Columba first attempted to build a cathedral on Iona, the walls fell down as they were erected; he then received supernatural information that they would never stand unless a human victim was buried alive, and, in consequence, his companion, Oran, was interred at the foundation of the structure.212 It is reported that, when not long ago the Bridge Gate of Bremen city walls was demolished, the skeleton of a child was found embedded in the groundwork;213 and when the new bridge at Halle, finished in 1843, was building, “the common people fancied a child was wanted to be walled into the foundations.”214

It seems highly probable that the building-sacrifice, like other kinds of human sacrifice, is based on the idea of substitution. A new house or dwelling-place is commonly regarded as dangerous, a wall or a tower is liable to fall down and cause destruction of life, a bridge may break, or the person who crosses it may tumble into the water and be drowned. In the Babar Islands, before entering a new house, offerings are thrown inside, that the spirit, Orloo, may not make the inmates ill.215 Before the Sandwich Islanders could occupy their houses “offerings were made to the gods, and presents to the priest, who entered the house, uttered prayers, went through other ceremonies, and slept in it before the owner took possession, in order to prevent evil spirits from resorting to it, and to secure its inmates from the effects of incantation.”216 Among the Kayans of Borneo, on the occasion of the king or principal chief taking possession of a newly-built house, a human victim was killed, and the blood was sprinkled on the pillars and under the house.217 The Russian peasant believes that the building of a new house “is apt to be followed by the death of the head of the family for which the new dwelling is constructed, or that the member of the family who is the first to enter it will soon die”; and, in accordance with a custom of great antiquity, the oldest member of a migrating household enters the new house first.218 In German folk-tales “the first to cross the bridge, the first to enter the new building or the country, pays with his life.”219 Even nowadays, in the North of

Europe, there is a wide-spread fear of being the first to enter a new building or of going over a newly-built bridge; “if to do this is not everywhere and in all cases thought to entail death, it is considered supremely unlucky.”220 This superstition has been interpreted as a survival of a previous sacrifice;221 but there can be no doubt, I think, that the foundation sacrifice itself owes its origin to similar notions and fears of supernatural dangers. Uncultured people are commonly afraid of anything new, or of doing an act for the first time;222 and, apart from this, the erecting of a new building is an intrusion upon the land of the local spirit, and therefore likely to arouse its anger. There are houses which remain haunted by spirits all their time.223 It is natural, then, that attempts should be made to avert the danger. And, human life being at stake, no preventive could be more effective than the offering up of a human victim.