Chapter XXXIII (1)

REGARD FOR OTHER PERSONS' HAPPINESS IN GENERAL--GRATITUDE--PATRIOTISM AND COSMOPOLITANISM

IN previous chapters we have dealt with moral ideas concerning various modes of conduct which have reference to other men's welfare--to their life or bodily comfort, their liberty, property, knowledge of truth, or self-regarding pride. But the list of duties which we owe to our fellow-creatures is as yet by no means complete. Any act, forbearance, or omission, which in some way or other diminishes or increases their happiness may on that account become a subject of moral blame or praise, being apt to call forth sympathetic retributive emotions.

To do good to others is a rule which has been inculcated by all the great teachers of morality. According to Confucius, benevolence is the root of righteousness and a leading characteristic of perfect virtue.[1] In the Taouist 'Book of Secret Blessings' men are enjoined to be compassionate and loving, and to devote their wealth to the good of their fellow-men.[2] The moralists of ancient India teach that we should with our life, means, understanding, and speech, seek to advance the welfare of other creatures in this world; that we should do so without expecting reciprocity; and that we should enjoy the prosperity of others even though ourselves unprosperous.[3] The writers {154} of classical antiquity repeatedly give expression to the idea that man is not born for himself alone, but should assist his fellow-men to the best of his ability.[4] In the Old Testament we meet with the injunction, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself";[5] and this was declared by Christ to be of equal importance with the commandment, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God."[6]

[Footnote 1: _Lun Yü_, xvii. 6. Douglas, _Confucianism and Taouism_, p. 108.]

[Footnote 2: Douglas, _op. cit._ p. 272 _sq._]

[Footnote 3: Muir, _Religious and Moral Sentiments rendered from Sanskrit Writers_, p. 107 _sq._ Monier Williams, _Indian Wisdom_, p. 448.]

[Footnote 4: Schmidt, _Die Ethik der alten Griechen_, ii. 275 _sqq._]

[Footnote 5: _Leviticus_, xix. 18.]

[Footnote 6: _St. Matthew_, xxii. 39.]

To a reflecting mind it is obvious that the moral value of beneficence exclusively lies in the benevolent motive, and that there is nothing praiseworthy in promoting the happiness of others from selfish considerations. Confucius taught that self must be conquered before a man can be perfectly virtuous.[7] According to Lao-tsze, self-abnegation is the cardinal rule for both the sovereign and the people.[8] Self-denial is the chief demand of the Gospel, and is emphasised as a supreme duty by Islam.[9] Generally speaking, the merit attached to a good action is proportionate to the self-denial which it costs the agent. This follows from the nature of moral approval in its capacity of a retributive emotion, as is proved by the fact that the degree of gratitude felt towards a benefactor is in a similar way influenced by the deprivation to which he subjects himself. On the other hand, there is considerable variety of opinion, even among ourselves, as to the dictates of duty, in cases where our own interests conflict with those of our fellow-men. To Professor Sidgwick it is a moral axiom that "I ought not to prefer my own lesser good to the greater good of another."[10] According to Hutcheson, we do not condemn those as evil who will not sacrifice their private interest to the advancement of the positive good of others, "unless the private interest be very small, and the publick good very great."[11]

[Footnote 7: _Lun Yü_, xii. i. 1.]

[Footnote 8: Douglas, _Confucianism and Taouism_, p. 192.]

[Footnote 9: Ameer Ali, _Ethics of Islâm_, p. 32.]

[Footnote 10: Sidgwick, _Methods of Ethics_, p. 383.]

[Footnote 11: Hutcheson, _Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions, &c._ p. 312.]

The idea that it is bad to cause harm to others and {155} good or obligatory to promote their happiness, is in different ways influenced by the relationship between the parties; and to many cases it does not apply at all. We have previously noticed that according to early ethics an enemy is a proper object of hatred, not of love;[12] and according to more advanced ideas a person who treats us badly has at all events little claim upon our kindness. The very opposite is the case with a benefactor or friend. To requite a benefit, or to be grateful to him who bestows it, is probably everywhere, at least under certain circumstances, regarded as a duty. This is a subject which in the present connection calls for special consideration.

[Footnote 12: _Supra_, i. p. 73 _sq._]

The duty of gratefulness presupposes a disposition for gratitude.[13] According to travellers' accounts, this feeling is lacking in many uncivilised races.[14] Lyon writes of the Eskimo of Igloolik:--"Gratitude is not only rare, but absolutely unknown amongst them, either by action, word, or look, beyond the first outcry of satisfaction. Nursing their sick, burying the dead, clothing and feeding the whole tribe, furnishing the men with weapons, and the women and children with ornaments, are insufficient to awaken a grateful feeling, and the very people who relieved their distresses when starving are laughed at in time of plenty for the quantity and quality of the food which was bestowed in charity."[15] Various other tribes in {156} North America have been accused of ingratitude;[16] and of some South American savages we are told that they evinced no thankfulness for the presents which were given them.[17] The Fijians are described as utterly indifferent to their benefactors. The Rev. Th. Williams writes:--"If one of them, when sick, obtained medicine from me, he thought me bound to give him food; the reception of food he considered as giving him a claim on me for covering; and, that being secured, he deemed himself at liberty to beg anything he wanted, and abuse me if I refused his unreasonable request."[18] Mr. Lumholtz had a similar experience with regard to the natives of Herbert River, Northern Queensland:--"If you give one thing to a black man, he finds ten other things to ask for, and he is not ashamed to ask for all that you have, and more too. He is never satisfied. Gratitude does not exist in his breast."[19] In several languages there is no word expressive of what we term gratitude or no phrase corresponding to our "thank you";[20] and on this fact much stress has been {157} laid, the deficiency of language being regarded as an indication of a corresponding deficiency in feelings.

[Footnote 13: For the definition of gratitude, see _supra_, i. 93.]

[Footnote 14: Steller, _Beschreibung von Kamischatka_, p. 292. Bergmann, _Nomadische Streifereien unter den Kalmüken_, ii. 310, 316. Foreman, _Philippine Islands_, p. 183. Modigliani, _Viaggio a Nías_, p. 467. Selenka, _Sonnige Welten_, p. 286 (Malays). Marsden, _History of Sumatra_, p. 207 (Malays of Sumatra). Forbes, _A Naturalist's Wanderings in the Eastern Archipelago_, p. 320 (natives of Timor-laut). Mrs. Forbes, _Insulinde_, p. 178 (natives of Ritabel). Hagen, _Unter den Papua's_, p. 266 (Papuans of Bogadjim). Romilly, _Western Pacific and New Guinea_, p. 239. La Pérouse, _Voyage round the World_, ii. 109 (Samoans). Colenso, _Maori Races of New Zealand_, p. 48; Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 110. Ling Roth, _Aborigines of Tasmania_, p. 63. Gason, 'Manners and Customs of the Dieyerie Tribe,' in Woods, _Native Tribes of South Australia_, p. 258. Baker, _Albert N'yanza_, i. 242 (Latukas), 289 (Negroes), von François, _Nama und Damara_, p. 191 (Herero).]

[Footnote 15: Lyon, _Private Journal during the Voyage of Discovery under Captain Parry_, p. 348 _sq._ See also Parry, _Journal of a Second Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage_, p. 524 _sq._]

[Footnote 16: Cranz, _History of Greenland_, i. 174. Sarytschew, 'Voyage of Discovery to the North-East of Siberia,' in _Collection of Modern Voyages_, vi. 78 (Aleuts). Harmon, _Voyages and Travels in the Interior of North America_, p. 291 (Tacullies). Heriot, _Travels through the Canadas_, p. 319. Lafitau, _M[oe]urs des sauvages ameriquains_, i. 106. Burton, _City of the Saints_, p. 125 (Sioux and prairie tribes generally).]

[Footnote 17: von Spix and von Martius, _Travels in Brazil_, ii. 228, 241 _sq._ (Coroados). Stokes, quoted by King and Fitzroy, _Voyages of the 'Adventure' and 'Beagle,'_ i. 77 (Fuegians).]

[Footnote 18: Williams and Calvert, _Fiji_, p. 111. See also Anderson, _Notes of Travel in Fiji and New Caledonia_, pp. 124, 131.]

[Footnote 19: Lumholtz, _Among Cannibals_, p. 100.]

[Footnote 20: Southey, _History of Brazil_, iii. 399 (Abipones, Guaranies). Hearne, _Journey to the Northern Ocean_, p. 307 (Northern Indians). Lewin, _Wild Races of South-Eastern India_, p. 192 (Toungtha). Foreman, _op. cit._ p. 182 _sq._ (Bisayans). Modigliani, _Viaggio a Nías_, p. 467. Ling Roth, _Natives of Sarawak_, i. 74 (Dyaks). Chalmers, _Pioneering in New Guinea_, p. 187; Romilly, _Western Pacific and New Guinea_, p. 239 _sq._ (However, Mr Romilly's statement that "in all the known New Guinea languages there is not even a word for 'thank you,'" is not quite correct, as appears from Chalmers _op. cit._ p. 187.) Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean_, p. 365; Waitz-Gerland, _Anthropologie der Naturvölker_, vi. 116 (Tahitians). Colenso, _op. cit._ p. 48 (Maoris). New, _Life and Labours in Eastern Africa_, p. 100 (Wanika). von François, _op. cit._ p. 191 (Herero). In the Vedic language, also, there was no word for "thanks" (Oldenberg, _Die Religion des Veda_, p. 305); and many Eastern languages of the present day lack an equivalent for "thank you" (Ward, _View of the History, &c. of the Hindoos_, ii. 81, n. _a_.; Pool, _Studies in Muhammedanism_, p. 176; Polak, _Persien_, i. 9). When one of the missionaries in India was engaged in the translation of the Scriptures into Bengali, he found no common word in that language suitable to express the idea of gratitude (Wilkins, _Modern Hinduism_, p. 397).]

Here again we must distinguish between a traveller's actual experience and the conclusions which he draws from it; and it seems that in many cases our authorities have been too ready to charge savages with a total lack of grateful feelings, because they have been wanting in gratitude on certain occasions. It is too much to expect that a savage should show himself thankful to any stranger who gives him a present. Speaking of the Ahts of British Columbia, Mr Sproat remarks that the Indian's suspicion prevents a ready gratitude, as he is prone to see, in apparent kindness extended to him, some under-current of selfish motive. "He is accustomed, among his own people, to gifts made for purposes of guile, and also to presents made merely to show the greatness and richness of the giver; but, I imagine," our author adds, "when the Aht ceases to suspect such motives--when he does not detect pride, craft, or carelessness--he is grateful, and probably grateful in proportion to the trouble taken to serve him."[21] As for the ingratitude of the Northern Queensland natives, Mr. Lumholtz himself admits that "they assume that the gift is bestowed out of fear";[22] and of the New Zealanders we are told that their total want of gratitude was particularly due to the fact that "no New Zealander ever did any kindness, or gave anything, to another, without mainly having an eye to himself in the transaction."[23] Moreover, gratitude often requires not only the absence of a selfish motive in the benefactor, but some degree of self-sacrifice. "A person," says Mr. Sproat, "may keep an Indian from starving all the winter through, yet, when summer comes, very likely he will not walk a yard for his preserver without payment. The savage does not, in this instance, {158} recognise any obligation; but thinks that a person who had so much more than he could himself consume might well, and without any claim for after services, part with some of it for the advantage of another in want."[24] Mr. Powers makes a similar observation with reference to the aborigines of California:--"White men," he says, "who have had dealings with Indians, in conversation with me have often bitterly accused them of ingratitude. 'Do everything in your power for an Indian,' they say, 'and he will accept it all as a matter of course; but for the slightest service you require of him he will demand pay.' These men do not enter into the Indian's ideas. This 'ingratitude' is really an unconscious compliment to our power. The savage feels, vaguely, the unapproachable elevation on which the American stands above him. He feels that we had much and he had little, and we took away from him even his little. In his view giving does not impoverish us, nor withholding enrich us. Gratitude is a sentiment not in place between master and slave; it is a sentiment for equals. The Indians are grateful to one another."[25] Nor are men very apt to feel grateful for benefits to which they consider themselves to have a right. Thus, according to Mr. Howitt, the want of gratitude among the South Australian Kurnai for kindnesses shown them by the whites is due to the principle of community, which is so strong a feature of the domestic and social life of these aborigines. "For a supply of food, or for nursing when sick, the Kurnai would not feel grateful to his family group. There would be a common obligation upon all to share food, and to afford personal aid and succour. This principle would also come into play as regards the simple personal property they possess, and would extend to the before-unknown articles procured from the whites. The food, the clothes, the medical attendance which the Kurnai receive from the whites, they take in the accustomed manner; and, in addition to {159} this, we must remember that the donors are regarded as having unlimited resources. They cannot be supposed by the Kurnai to be doing anything but giving out of their abundance."[26] Mr. Guppy found the same principle at work among the Solomon Islanders:--"Often when during my excursions I have come upon some man who was preparing a meal for himself and his family, I have been surprised at the open-handed way in which he dispensed the food to my party of hungry natives. No gratitude was shown towards the giver, who apparently expected none."[27] It has also been observed that the want of gratitude with which Arabs have often been charged by Europeans has arisen "from the very common practice of hospitality and generosity, and from the prevailing opinion that these virtues are absolute duties which it would be disgraceful and sinful to neglect."[28]

[Footnote 21: Sproat, _Scenes and Studies of Savage Life_, p. 165 _sq._]

[Footnote 22: Lumholtz, _Among Cannibals_, p. 159.]

[Footnote 23: Colenso, _op. cit._ p. 48.]

[Footnote 24: Sproat, _op. cit._ p. 165 _sq._]

[Footnote 25: Powers, _Tribes of California_, p. 411.]

[Footnote 26: Fison and Howitt, _Kamilaroi and Kurnai_, p. 257.]

[Footnote 27: Guppy, _Solomon Islands_, p. 127.]

[Footnote 28: Lane, _Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians_, p. 298. See also Burton, _Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah_, i. 51.]

We should further remember that savages often take care not to display their emotions. Among the Melanesians, according to Dr. Codrington, "it is not the custom to say anything by way of thanks; it is rather improper to show emotion when anything is given, or when friends meet again; silence with the eyes cast down is the sign of the inward trembling or shyness which they feel, or think they ought to feel, under these circumstances. There is no lack of a word which may be fairly translated 'thank'; and certainly no one who has given cause for it will say that Melanesians have no gratitude; others probably are ready enough to say it."[29] Of the North American Chippewas Major Strickland writes:--"If an Indian makes a present, it is always expected that one equally valuable should be given in return. No matter what you give them, or how valuable or rich the present, they seldom betray the least emotion or appearance of gratitude, it being considered beneath the dignity of a red man to betray his feelings. For all this seeming indifference, {160} they are in reality as grateful, and, I believe, even more so than our own peasantry."[30] The Aleuts also, although they are chary of expressions of thanks, "do not forget kindness, and endeavour to express their thankfulness by deeds. If anyone assists an Aleut, and afterwards offends him, he does not forget the former favour, and in his mind it often cancels the offence."[31] From the want of a word for a feeling we must not conclude that the feeling itself is wanting. Mr. Sproat observes:--"The Ahts have, it is true, no word for gratitude, but a defect in language does not absolutely imply defect in heart; and the Indian who, in return for a benefit received, says, with glistening eyes, that his heart is good towards his benefactor, expresses his gratitude quite as well perhaps as the English man who says 'Thank you.'"[32]

[Footnote 29: Codrington, _Melanesians_, p. 354.]

[Footnote 30: Strickland, _Twenty-seven Years in Canada West_, ii. 58.]

[Footnote 31: Veniaminof, quoted by Dall, _Alaska_, p. 395.]

[Footnote 32: Sproat, _op. cit._ p. 165. See also Ling Roth, _Natives of Sarawak_, i. 74 (Dyaks).]

It is not surprising, then, that in various cases a people which to one traveller appears to be quite destitute of gratitude is by another described as being by no means lacking in this feeling;[33] and sometimes contradictory statements are made even by the same writer. Thus Mr. Lumholtz, who gives such a gloomy picture of the character of the Northern Queensland natives, nevertheless tells us of a native who, though himself very hungry, threw the animals which the traveller had shot for him to an old man--his wife's uncle--whom they met, in order to give some proof of the gratitude he owed the person from whom he had received his wife;[34] and regarding the Fijians Mr. Williams himself states that thanks for presents "are always expressed aloud, and generally with a kind wish for the giver."[35] As we have noticed before, retributive kindly emotions, of which gratitude is only the most developed form, are commonly found among gregarious animals, social affection being not only a friendly {161} sentiment towards another individual, but towards an individual who is conceived of as a friend.[36] And it is all the more difficult to believe in the absolute want of gratitude in some savage races, as the majority of them--to judge from my collection of facts--are expressly acquitted of such a defect, and several are described as remarkably grateful for benefits bestowed upon them.

[Footnote 33: _E.g._, the Fuegians, Sioux, Ahts, Aleuts, Kamchadales, Tasmanians, Zulus (see _supra_ and _infra_).]

[Footnote 34: Lumholtz, _Among Cannibals_, p. 221.]

[Footnote 35: Williams and Calvert, _op. cit._ p. 132.]

[Footnote 36: _Supra_, i. 94.]

The Fuegians use the word _chapakouta_, which means glad, satisfied, affectionate, grateful, to express thanks.[37] Jemmy Button, the young Fuegian who was brought to England on board the _Beagle_, gave proofs of sincere gratitude;[38] and Admiral Fitzroy also mentions a Patagonian boy who appeared thankful for kindness shown to him.[39] Of the Mapuchés of Chili Mr. E. R. Smith observes:--"Whatever present is made, or favour conferred, is considered as something to be returned; and the Indian never fails, though months and years may intervene, to repay what he conscientiously thinks an exact equivalent for the thing received."[40] The Botocudos do not readily forget kind treatment;[41] and the Tupis "were a grateful race, and remembered that they had received gifts, after the giver had forgotten it."[42] The Guiana Indians "are grateful for any kindness."[43] The Navahos of New Mexico have a word for thanks, and employ it on all occasions which we would consider appropriate.[44] The Sioux "evinced the warmest gratitude to any who had ever displayed kind feelings towards them."[45] In his 'Voyages from Montreal to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans,' Mackenzie mentions the gratitude shown him by a young Indian whom he had cured of a bad wound. When well enough to engage in a hunting party, the young man brought to his physician the tongue of an elk, and when they parted both he and his relatives expressed the heartiest acknowledgment for the care bestowed on him.[46] If an Aleut receives a gift he accepts it, saying _Akh!_ which means "thanks."[47] Some of the Point Barrow Eskimo visited by Mr. Murdoch "seem to feel truly {162} grateful for the benefits and gifts received, and endeavoured by their general behaviour, as well as in more substantial ways, to make some adequate return"; whereas others appeared to think only of what they might receive.[48]

[Footnote 37: Hyades and Deniker, _Mission scientifique du Cap Horn_, vii. 314.]

[Footnote 38: King and Fitzroy, _op. cit._ ii. 327.]

[Footnote 39: _Ibid._ ii. 173.]

[Footnote 40: Smith, _Araucanians_, p. 258.]

[Footnote 41: Wied-Neuwied, _Reise nach Brasilien_, ii. 16.]

[Footnote 42: Southey, _op. cit._ i. 247.]

[Footnote 43: Im Thurn, _Among the Indians of Guiana_, p. 213.]

[Footnote 44: Matthews, 'Study of Ethics among the Lower Races,' in _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, xii. 9.]

[Footnote 45: Eastman, _Dacotah_, p. ix.]

[Footnote 46: Mackenzie, _Voyages from Montreal to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans_, p. 137 _sq._]

[Footnote 47: Veniaminof, quoted by Dall, _op. cit._ p. 395.]

[Footnote 48: Murdoch, 'Ethnol. Results of the Point Barrow Expedition,' in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._ ix. 42. See also Seemann, _Voyage of 'Herald,'_ ii. 67 (Western Eskimo).]

Of the Tunguses it is said, "If you make them a present, they hardly thank you; but though so unpolite, they are exceedingly grateful."[49] The Jakuts never forget a benefit received; "for they not only make restitution, but recommend to their offspring the ties of friendship and gratitude to their benefactors."[50] The Veddah of Ceylon is described as very grateful for attention or assistance.[51] "A little kindly sympathy makes him an attached friend, and for his friend . . . . he will readily give his life."[52] Mr. Bennett once had an interview with two village Veddahs, and on that occasion gave them presents. Two months after a couple of elephant's tusks found their way into his front verandah at night, but the Veddahs who had brought them never gave him an opportunity to reward them. "What a lesson in gratitude and delicacy," he exclaims, "even a Veddah may teach!"[53]

[Footnote 49: Georgi, _Russia_, iii. 111.]

[Footnote 50: Sauer, _Expedition to the Northern Parts of Russia, performed by Billings_, p. 124.]

[Footnote 51: Tennent, _Ceylon_, ii. 445. Sarasin, _Forschungen auf Ceylon_, iii. 546.]

[Footnote 52: Nevill, 'Vaeddas of Ceylon,' in _Taprobanian_, i. 192.]

[Footnote 53: Pridham, _Account of Ceylon_, i. 460 _sq._]

The Alfura of Halmahera,[54] the Bataks of Sumatra,[55] and the Dyaks of Borneo[56] are praised for their grateful disposition of mind. Of the Hill Dyaks Mr. Low observes that gratitude "eminently adorns the character of these simple people, and the smallest benefit conferred upon them calls forth its vigorous and continued exercise."[57] The Motu people of New Guinea are "capable of appreciating kindness,"[58] and have words for expressing thanks.[59] Chamisso speaks highly of the gratitude evinced by the natives of Ulea, Caroline Islands:--"Any thing, a useful instrument, for example, which they have received as a gift from a friend, retains and bears among them as a lasting memorial the name of the friend who bestowed it."[60] When Professor Moseley at Dentrecasteaux Island, of the Admiralty Group, gave a hatchet as pay to his guide, according {163} to promise, the guide seemed grateful, and presented him with his own shell adze in return.[61] Though the Tahitians never return thanks nor seem to have a word in their language expressive of gratitude, they are not devoid of the feeling itself.[62] Backhouse tells us of a Tasmanian native who, having been nursed through an illness, showed many demonstrations of gratitude; and he adds that this virtue was often exhibited among these people--a statement which is corroborated by the accounts of other travellers.[63] Of the Australian aborigines Mr. Ridley writes:--"I believe they are as a people remarkably susceptible of impressions from kind treatment. They recognised me as one who sought their good, and were evidently pleased and thankful to see that I thought them worth looking after."[64] The Adelaide and Encounter Bay blacks are said to display attachment to persons who are kind to them.[65] Speaking of the Central Australian tribes, Messrs. Spencer and Gillen observe that, though they are not in the habit of showing anything like excessive gratitude on receiving gifts from the white man, they are in reality by no means incapable of that feeling;[66] and other writers report instances of gratitude displayed by natives of West Australia[67] and Queensland.[68]

[Footnote 54: Kükenthal, _Forschungsreise in den Molukken und Borneo_, i. 188.]

[Footnote 55: Junghuhn, _Die Battaländer auf Sumatra_, ii. 239.]

[Footnote 56: Ling Roth, _Natives of Sarawak_, i. 74, 76.]

[Footnote 57: Low, _Sarawak_, p. 246.]

[Footnote 58: Stone, _A Few Months in New Guinea_, p. 95.]

[Footnote 59: Chalmers, _Pioneering in New Guinea_, p. 187.]

[Footnote 60: von Kotzebue, _Voyage of Discovery into the South Sea_, iii. 214.]

[Footnote 61: Moseley, 'Inhabitants of the Admiralty Islands,' in _Jour. Anthr. Inst._ vi. 416.]

[Footnote 62: Waitz-Gerland, _op. cit._ vi. 116.]

[Footnote 63: Ling Roth, _Aborigines of Tasmania_, pp. 47, 62, 64.]

[Footnote 64: Ridley, _Aborigines of Australia_, p. 24. See also _ibid._ p. 20 _sqq._]

[Footnote 65: Wyatt, 'Manners and Superstitions of the Adelaide and Encounter Bay Aboriginal Tribes,' in Woods, _Native Tribes of South Australia_, p. 162.]

[Footnote 66: Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_, p. 48 _sqq._]

[Footnote 67: Salvado, _Mémoires historiques sur l'Australie_, p. 146.]

[Footnote 68: Fraser, _Aborigines of New South Wales_, p. 44.]

Concerning the people of Madagascar the missionary Ellis writes:--"Whether the noble and generous feeling of gratitude has much place amongst the Malagasy has been questioned. Though often characterised by extreme apathy, they are certainly susceptible of tenderness of feeling, and their customs furnish various modes of testifying their sense of any acts of kindness shewn them, and their language contains many forms of speech expressive of thankfulness. The following are among those in most general use: 'May you live to grow old--may you live long--may you live sacred--may you see, or obtain, justice from the sovereign.'" Moreover, with all their expressions of thankfulness, considerable action is used: sometimes the two hands are extended open as if to make a present; or the party stoops down to the ground, and clasps the legs, or touches the knee and the feet of the person he is thanking.[69] Ingratitude, {164} again, is expressed by many strong metaphors, such as "son of a thunderbolt," or "offspring of a wild boar."[70] The Bushmans, according to Burchell, are not incapable of gratitude.[71] The statement made by certain travellers or colonists that the Zulus are devoid of this feeling, is contradicted by Mr. Tyler, who asserts that "many instances might be related in which a thankful spirit has been manifested, and gifts bestowed for favours received."[72] The Basutos have words to express gratitude.[73] Among the Bakongo, says Mr. Ward, "evidences of gratitude are rare indeed, although occasionally one meets with this sentiment in odd guises. Once, by a happy chance, I saved a baby's life. The child was brought to me by its mother in convulsions, and I was fortunate enough to find in my medicine chest a drug that effected an almost immediate cure. Yet the service I rendered to this woman, instead of meeting with any appreciation, only procured for me the whispered reputation of being a witch." But twenty months afterwards, at midnight when all the people were sleeping, the same woman came to Mr. Ward and gave him some fowl's eggs in payment. "I come," she said, "in the darkness that my people may not know, for they would jeer at me if they knew of this gift."[74] A traveller tells us that the inhabitants of Great Benin "if given any trifles expressed their thanks."[75] Writing on the natives of Accra, Monrad states that gratitude is among the virtues of the Negroes, and induces them even to give their lives in return for benefits conferred on them.[76] The Feloops, bordering on the Gambia, "display the utmost gratitude and affection towards their benefactors."[77] As regards the Eastern Central Africans, Mr. Macdonald affirms without any hesitation that they have gratitude, "even though we define gratitude as being much more than an 'acute sense of favours to come.'"[78] The Masai and Wadshagga have "a curious habit of spitting on things or people as a compliment or sign of gratitude"[79]--originally, I presume, with a view to transferring to them a blessing. The Barea are said to be thankful for benefits.[80] According to Palgrave, "gratitude is no {165} less an Arab than a European virtue, whatever the ignorance or the prejudices of some foreigners may have affirmed to the contrary";[81] and Burckhardt says that an Arab never forgets the generosity shown to him even by an enemy.[82]

[Footnote 69: Ellis, _History of Madagascar_, i. 258. See also Rochon, _Voyage to Madagascar_, p. 56.]

[Footnote 70: Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 139 _sq._]

[Footnote 71: Burchell, _Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa_, ii. 68, 86, 447.]

[Footnote 72: Tyler, _Forty Years among the Zulus_, p. 194.]

[Footnote 73: Casalis, _Basutos_, p. 306.]

[Footnote 74: Ward, _Five Years with the Congo Cannibals_, p. 47 _sqq._]

[Footnote 75: Punch, quoted by Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 45.]

[Footnote 76: Monrad, _Skildring af Guinea-Kysten_, p. 8.]

[Footnote 77: Mungo Park, _Travels in the Interior of Africa_, p. 14.]

[Footnote 78: Macdonald, _Africana_, i. 10.]

[Footnote 79: Johnston, _Kilima-njaro Expedition_, p. 438.]

[Footnote 80: Munzinger, _Ostafrikanische Studien_, p. 533.]

[Footnote 81: Palgrave, quoted in Spencer's _Descriptive Sociology_, 'Asiatic Races,' p. 31.]

[Footnote 82: Burckhardt, _Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys_, p. 105.]

In other statements gratitude is directly represented as an object of praise, or its absence as an object of disapproval. Among the Atkha Aleuts, according to Father Yakof, gratitude to benefactors was considered a virtue.[83] Among the Omahas, if a man receives a favour and does not manifest his thankfulness, the people exclaim:--"He does not appreciate the gift! He has no manners."[84] The Kamchadales "are not only grateful for favours, but they think it absolutely necessary to make some return for a present."[85] The Chinese say that "kindness is more binding than a loan."[86] According to the 'Divine Panorama,' a well-known Taouist work, those who forget kindness and are guilty of ingratitude shall be tormented after death and "shall not escape one jot of their punishments."[87] In one of the Pahlavi texts gratitude is represented as a means of arriving at heaven, whilst ingratitude is stigmatised as a heinous sin;[88] and according to Ammian ungrateful persons were even punished by law in ancient Persia.[89] The same, we are told, was the case in Macedonia.[90] The duty of gratitude was strongly inculcated by Greek and Roman moralists.[91] Aristotle observes that we ought, as a general rule, rather to return a kindness to our benefactor than to confer a gratuitous favour upon a brother in arms, just as we ought rather to repay a loan to a creditor than to spend the same sum upon a present to a friend.[92] According to {166} Xenophon the requital of benefits is enjoined by a divine law.[93] "There is no duty more indispensable than that of returning a kindness," says Cicero; "all men detest one forgetful of a benefit."[94] Seneca calls ingratitude a most odious vice, which it is difficult to punish by law, but which we refer for judgment to the gods.[95] The ancient Scandinavians considered it dishonourable for a man to kill even an enemy in blood-revenge if he had received a benefit from him.[96]

[Footnote 83: Yakof, quoted by Petroff, _Report on the Population, &c. of Alaska_, p. 158.]

[Footnote 84: Dorsey, 'Omaha Sociology,' in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._ iii. 270.]

[Footnote 85: Dobell, _Travels in Kamtschatka_, i. 75.]

[Footnote 86: Davis, _China_, ii. 123.]

[Footnote 87: Giles, _Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio_, ii. 374 _sq._ See also _Thâi-Shang_, 4.]

[Footnote 88: _Dînâ-î Maînôg-î Khirad_, xxxvi. 28; xxxvii. 6; xliii. 9.]

[Footnote 89: Ammianus Marcellinus, xxiii. 6. 81.]

[Footnote 90: Seneca, _De beneficiis_, iii. 6. 2.]

[Footnote 91: See Schmidt, _Die Ethik der alten Griechen_, ii. 305 _sqq._]

[Footnote 92: Aristotle, _Ethica Nicomachea_, x. 2. 3.]

[Footnote 93: Xenophon, _Memorabilia_, iv. 4. 24.]

[Footnote 94: Cicero, _De officiis_, i. 15 (47); ii. 18 (63).]

[Footnote 95: Seneca, _De beneficiis_, iii. 6. 1 _sq._]

[Footnote 96: Maurer, _Die Bekehrung des Norwegischen Stammes_, ii. 174.]

We may assume that among beings capable of feeling moral emotions the general disposition to be kind to a benefactor will inevitably lead to the notion that ungrateful behaviour is wrong. Such behaviour is offensive to the benefactor; as Spinoza observes, "he who has conferred a benefit on anyone from motives of love or honour will feel pain, if he sees that the benefit is received without gratitude."[97] This by itself tends to evoke in the bystander sympathetic resentment towards the offender; but his resentment is much increased by the retributive kindliness which he is apt to feel, sympathetically, towards the benefactor. He wants to see the latter's kindness rewarded; and he is shocked by the absence of a similar desire in the very person who may be naturally expected to feel it more strongly than anybody else**.

[Footnote 97: Spinoza, _Ethica_, iii. 42. A Japanese proverb says that "thankless labour brings fatigue" (Reed, _Japan_, ii. 109).]

The moral ideas concerning conduct which affects other persons' welfare vary according as the parties are members of the same or different families, or of the same or different communities. For reasons which have been stated in previous chapters parents have in this respect special duties towards their children, and children towards their parents; and a tribesman or a fellow-countryman has claims which are not shared by a foreigner. But there are duties not only to particular individuals, but also to {167} whole social aggregates. Foremost among these is the duty of patriotism.

The duty of patriotism is rooted in the patriotic sentiment, in a person's love of the social body of which he is himself a member, and which is attached to the territory he calls his country. It involves a desire to promote its welfare, a wish that it may prosper for the time being and for all future. This desire is the outcome of a variety of sentiments: of men's affection for the people among whom they live, of attachment to the places where they have grown up or spent part of their lives, of devotion to their race and language, and to the traditions, customs, laws, and institutions of the society in which they were born and to which they belong.

Genuine patriotism presupposes a power of abstraction which the lower savages can hardly be supposed to possess. But it seems to be far from unknown among uncultured peoples of a higher type. North American Indians are praised for their truly patriotic spirit, for their strong attachment to their tribe and their country.[98] Carver says of the Naudowessies:--"The honour of their tribe, and the welfare of their nation, is the first and most predominant emotion of their hearts; and from hence proceed in a great measure all their virtues and their vices. Actuated by this, they brave every danger, endure the most exquisite torments, and expire triumphing in their fortitude, not as a personal qualification, but as a national characteristic."[99] Patriotism and public spirit were often strongly manifested by the Tahitians.[100] The Maori "loves his country and the rights of his ancestors, and he will fight for his children's land."[101] Of the Guanches of Teneriffe we are told that patriotism was {168} their chief virtue.[102] The same quality distinguishes the Yorubas of West Africa; "no race of men," says Mr. MacGregor, "could be more devoted to their country."[103] Burckhardt writes:--"As to the attachment which a Bedouin entertains for his own tribe, the deep-felt interest he takes in its power and fame, and the sacrifices of every kind he is ready to make for its prosperity--these are feelings rarely operating with equal force in any other nation; and it is with an exulting pride of conscious patriotism, not inferior to any which ennobled the history of Grecian or Helvetian republics, that an Aeneze, should he be suddenly attacked, seizes his lance, and waving it over his head exclaims, 'I am an Aeneze.'"[104]

[Footnote 98: Adair, _History of the American Indians_, p. 378 _sq._ Heriot, _Travels through the Canadas_, p. 317. Loskiel, _History of the Mission of the United Brethren among the Indians_, i. 17 (Iroquois).]

[Footnote 99: Carver, _Travels through the Interior Parts of North America_, p. 412.]

[Footnote 100: Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, i. 128.]

[Footnote 101: Angas, _Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand_, i. 338. See also Travers, 'Life and Times of Te Rauparaha,' in _Trans. and Proceed. New Zealand Institute_, v. 22.]

[Footnote 102: Bory de St. Vincent, _Essais sur les Isles Fortunées_, p. 70.]

[Footnote 103: MacGregor, 'Lagos, Abeokuta, and the Alake,' in _Jour. African Soc._ 1904, p. 466.]

[Footnote 104: Burckhardt, _Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys_, p. 205.]

Many of the elements out of which patriotism proper has grown are clearly distinguishable among savages, even the very lowest. We have previously noticed the savage's attachment to members of his own community or tribe. Combined with this is his love of his native place, and of the mode of life to which he is habituated. There is a touching illustration of this feeling in the behaviour of the wild boy who had been found in the woods near Aveyron--where he had spent most part of his young life in perfect isolation from all human beings--when he, after being removed to Paris, was once taken back to the country, to the vale of Montmorence. Joy was painted in his eyes, in all the motions and postures of his body, at the view of the hills and the woods of the charming valley; he appeared more than ever restless and savage, and "in spite of the most assiduous attention that was paid to his wishes, and the most affectionate regard that was expressed for him, he seemed to be occupied only with an anxious desire of taking his flight."[105] How much greater must not the love of home be in him who has there his relatives and friends! Mr. Howitt tells us of {169} an Australian native who, on leaving his camp with him for a trip of about a week, burst into tears, saying to himself once and again, "My country, my people, I shall not see them."[106] The Veddahs of Ceylon "would exchange their wild forest life for none other, and it was with the utmost difficulty that they could be induced to quit even for a short time their favourite solitude."[107] The Stiêns of Cambodia are so strongly attached to their forests and mountains that to leave them seems almost like death.[108] Solomon Islanders not seldom die from home-sickness on their way to the Fiji or Queensland plantations.[109] The Hovas of Madagascar, when setting out on a journey, often take with them a small portion of their native earth, on which they gaze during their absence, invoking their god that they may be permitted to return to restore it to the place from which it was taken.[110] Mr. Crawfurd observes that in the Malay Archipelago the attachment to the native spot is strongest with the agricultural tribes;[111] but, though a settled life is naturally most favourable to its development, this feeling is not inconsistent with nomadism. The Nishinam, who are the most nomadic of all the Californian tribes, have very great attachment for the valley or flat which they count their home.[112]

[Footnote 105: Itard, _Account of the Discovery and Education of a Savage Man_, p. 70 _sqq._]

[Footnote 106: Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of Victoria_, ii. 305.]

[Footnote 107: Hartshorne, 'Weddas,' in _Indian Antiquary_, viii. 317.]

[Footnote 108: Mouhot, _Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China_, i. 243.]

[Footnote 109: Guppy, _op. cit._ p. 167.]

[Footnote 110: Ellis, _History of Madagascar_, i. 141.]

[Footnote 111: Crawfurd, _History of the Indian Archipelago_, i. 84.]

[Footnote 112: Powers, _op. cit._ p. 318 _sq._ For other instances of love of home among uncivilised races see von Spix and von Martius, _op. cit._ ii. 242, note (Coroados); von Kotzebue, _op. cit._ iii. 45 (Indians of California); Gibbs, _Tribes of Western Washington and North-Western Oregon_, p. 187; Elliott, _Report of the Seal Islands of Alaska_, p. 240; Hooper, _Ten Months among the Tents of the Tuski_, p. 209; von Siebold, _Aino auf der Insel Yesso_, p. 11; Mallat, _Les Philippines_, ii. 95 (Negritos); von Brenner, _Besuch bei den Kannibalen Sumatras_, p. 194 (Bataks); Earl, _Papuans_, p. 126 (natives of Rotti, near Timor); Ling Roth, _Aborigines of Tasmania_, p. 46; Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 174; Cumming, _In the Himalayas_, p. 404 (Paharis); Lane, _Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians_, p. 302 (Bedawees); Tristram, _Great Sahara_, p. 193 _sq._ (Beni M'zab); Burton, _Zanzibar_, ii. 96 (Wanika); _Emin Pasha in Central Africa_, p. 315 (Monbuttu); Andersson, _Lake Ngami_, p. 198 (Ovambo); Rowley, _Africa Unveiled_, p. 63 _sq._ (Kroos of the Grain Coast below Liberia); Price, 'Quissama Tribe,' in _Jour. Anthr. Inst._ i. 187.]

{170} Moreover, as we have noticed above, savages have the greatest regard for their native customs and institutions.[113] Many of them have displayed that love of national independence which gives to patriotism its highest fervour.[114] And among some uncivilised peoples, at least, the force of racial and linguistic unity shows itself even outside the social or political unit. Burckhardt observes that the Bedouins are not only solicitous for the honour of their own respective tribes, but consider the interests of all other tribes as more or less attached to their own, and frequently evince a general _esprit de corps_, lamenting "the losses of any of their tribes occasioned by attacks from settlers or foreign troops, even though at war with those tribes."[115] A Tongan "loves the island on which he was born, in particular, and all the Tonga islands generally, as being one country, and speaking one language."[116] Travellers have noticed how gratifying it is, when visiting an uncultured people, to know a little of their language; there is at once a sympathetic link between the native and the stranger.[117] Even the almost inaccessible Berber of the Great Atlas, in spite of his excessive hatred of the European, will at once give you a kindly glance as soon as you, to his astonishment, utter to him a few words in his own tongue.

[Footnote 113: See _supra_, i. 118 _sq._]

[Footnote 114: _Cf._ Dobrizhoffer, _Account of the Abipones_, ii. 95, 105; Lomonaco, 'Sulle razze indigene del Brasile,' in _Archivio per l'antropologia e la etnologia_, xix. 57 (Tupis); Brett, _Indian Tribes of Guiana_, p. 348; Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes of the United States_, iii. 189 (Iroquois); Nansen, _Eskimo Life_, p. 323 (Greenlanders); Macpherson, _Memorials of Service in India_, p. 81 (Kandhs); Sarasin, _op. cit._ iii. 530 (Veddahs); Casati, _Ten Years in Equatoria_, i. 188, 304 (Negroes of Central Africa); Fritsch, _Die Eingeborenen Süd-Afrika's_, p. 422 _sq._ (Bushmans).]

[Footnote 115: Burckhardt, _Bedouins and Wahábys_, p. 205.]

[Footnote 116: Mariner, _Natives of the Tonga Islands_, ii. 156.]

[Footnote 117: See Stokes, _Discoveries in Australia_, ii. 25.]

Like other species of the altruistic sentiment, patriotism is apt to overestimate the qualities of the object for which it is felt; and it does so all the more readily as love of one's country is almost inseparably intermingled with love of one's self. The ordinary, typical patriot has a strong will to believe that his nation is the best. If, as many {171} people nowadays seem to maintain, such a will to believe is an essential characteristic of true patriotism, savages are as good patriots as anybody. In their intercourse with white men they have often with astonishment noticed the arrogant air of superiority adopted by the latter; in their own opinion they are themselves vastly superior to the whites. According to Eskimo beliefs, the first man, though made by the Great Being, was a failure, and was consequently cast aside and called _kob-lu-na_, which means "white man"; but a second attempt of the Great Being resulted in the formation of a perfect man, and he was called _in-nu_, the name which the Eskimo give to themselves.[118] Australian natives, on being asked to work, have often replied, "White fellow works, not black fellow; black fellow gentleman."[119] When anything foolish is done, the Chippewas use an expression which means "as stupid as a white man."[120] If a South Sea Islander sees a very awkward person, he says, "How stupid you are; perhaps you are an Englishman."[121] Mr. Williams tells us of a Fijian who, having been to the United States, was ordered by his chiefs to say whether the country of the white man was better than Fiji, and in what respects. He had not, however, gone far in telling the truth, when one cried out, "He is a prating fellow"; another, "He is impudent"; and some said, "Kill him."[122] The Koriaks are more argumentative; in order to prove that the accounts they hear of the advantages of other countries are so many lies, they say to the stranger, "If you could enjoy these advantages at home, what made you take so much trouble to come to us?"[123] But the Koriaks, in their turn are looked down upon by their neighbours, the Chukchi, who call the surrounding peoples old women, only fit to guard their flocks, and to be their attendants.[124] The Ainu despise the Japanese {172} just as much as the Japanese despise them, and are convinced of "the superiority of their own blood and descent over that of all other peoples in the world."[125] Even the miserable Veddah of Ceylon has a very high opinion of himself, and regards his civilised neighbours with contempt.[126] As is often the case with civilised men, savages attribute to their own people all kinds of virtue in perfection. The South American Mbayás, according to Azara, "se croient la nation la plus noble du monde, la plus généreuse, la plus exacte à tenir sa parole avec loyauté, et la plus vaillante."[127] The Eskimo of Norton Sound speak of themselves as _yu'-p[)i]k_, meaning fine or complete people, whereas an Indian is termed _iñ-k[)i]-l[)i]k_, from a word which means "a louse egg."[128] When a Greenlander saw a foreigner of gentle and modest manners, his usual remark was, "He is almost as well-bred as we," or, "He begins to be a man," that is, a Greenlander.[129] The savage regards his people as the people, as the root of all others, and as occupying the middle of the earth. The Hottentots love to call themselves "the men of men."[130] The Indians of the Ungava district, Hudson Bay, give themselves the name _nenenot_, that is, true or ideal red men.[131] In the language of the Illinois Indians the word _illinois_ means "men"--"as if they looked upon all other Indians as beasts."[132] The aborigines of Hayti believed that their island was the first of all things, that the sun and moon issued from one of its caverns, and men from another.[133] Each Australian tribe, says Mr. Curr, regards its country as the centre of the earth, which in most cases is believed not to extend more than a couple of hundred miles or so in any direction.[134]

[Footnote 118: Hall, _Arctic Researches_, p. 566 _sq._]

[Footnote 119: Hale, _U.S. Exploring Expedition. Vol. VI. Ethnography and Philology_, p. 109.]

[Footnote 120: Keating, _Expedition to the Source of St. Peter's River_, ii. 168. See also Boller, _Among the Indians_, p. 54 _sq._]

[Footnote 121: Williams, _Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands_, p. 514.]

[Footnote 122: Williams and Calvert, _Fiji_, p. 105.]

[Footnote 123: Krasheninnikoff, _History of Kamschatka_, p. 224.]

[Footnote 124: Sauer, _op. cit._ p. 255.]

[Footnote 125: Batchelor, 'Notes on the Ainu,' in _Trans. Asiatic Soc. Japan_, x. 211 _sq._ Howard, _Life with Trans-Siberian Savages_, p. 182.]

[Footnote 126: Nevill, in _Taprobanian_, i. 192. Sarasin, _op. cit._ iii. 530, 534. 553.]

[Footnote 127: Azara, _Voyages dans l'Amérique méridionale_, ii. 107.]

[Footnote 128: Nelson, 'Eskimo about Bering Strait,' in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._ xviii. 306 _sq._]

[Footnote 129: Cranz, _History of Greenland_, i. 126.]

[Footnote 130: Kidd, _The Essential Kafir_, p. 92.]

[Footnote 131: Turner, 'Ethnology of the Ungava District,' in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._ xi. 267.]

[Footnote 132: Marquette, _Recit des voyages_, p. 47 _sq._]

[Footnote 133: Brett, _Indian Tribes of Guiana_, p. 376.]

[Footnote 134: Curr, _The Australian Race_, i. 50. For other instances of national conceit or pride among savages see Darwin, _Journal of Researches_, p. 207 (Fuegians); von den Steinen, _Unter den Naturvölkern Zentral-Brasiliens_, p. 332 (Bakaïri); von Humboldt, _Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent_, v. 423, and Brett, _op. cit._ p. 128 (Guiana Indians); James, _Expedition to the Rocky Mountains_, i. 320 (Omahas); Murdoch, in _Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn._ ix. 42 (Point Barrow Eskimo); Krasheninnikoff, _op. cit._ p. 180 (Kamchadales); Brough Smyth, _op. cit._ ii. 284 (Australian natives); Macpherson, _op. cit._ p. 67 (Kandhs); Munzinger, _Ueber die Sitten und das Recht der Bogos_, p. 94; Andersson, _Lake Ngami_, p. 198 (Ovambo).]

{173} We meet with similar feelings and ideas among the nations of archaic culture. The Chinese are taught to think themselves superior to all other peoples. In their writings, ancient and modern, the word "foreigner" is regularly joined with some disrespectful epithet, implying or expressing the ignorance, brutality, obstinacy, or meanness of alien nations, and their obligations to or dependence upon China.[135] To Confucius himself China was "the middle kingdom," "the multitude of great states," "all under heaven," beyond which were only rude and barbarous tribes.[136] According to Japanese ideas, Nippon was the first country created, and the centre of the world.[137] The ancient Egyptians considered themselves as the peculiar people, specially loved by the gods. They alone were termed "men" (_romet_); other nations were negroes, Asiatics, or Libyans, but not men; and according to the myth these nations were descended from the enemies of the gods.[138] The national pride of the Assyrians, so often referred to by the Hebrew prophets,[139] is conspicuous everywhere in their cuneiform inscriptions: they are the wise, the brave, the powerful, who, like the deluge, carry away all resistance; their kings are the "matchless, irresistible"; and their gods are much exalted above the gods of all other nations.[140] To the Hebrews their own land was "an exceeding good land," "flowing with milk and honey," "the glory of all lands";[141] and its inhabitants were a holy {174} people which the Lord had chosen "to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth."[142] Concerning the ancient Persians, Herodotus writes:--"They look upon themselves as very greatly superior in all respects to the rest of mankind, regarding others as approaching to excellence in proportion as they dwell nearer to them; whence it comes to pass that those who are the farthest off must be the most degraded of mankind."[143] To this day the monarch of Persia retains the title of "the Centre of the Universe"; and it is not easy to persuade a native of Isfahan that any European capital can be superior to his native city.[144] The Greeks called Delphi--or rather the round stone in the Delphic temple--"the navel" or "middle point of the earth";[145] and they considered the natural relation between themselves and barbarians to be that between master and slave.[146]

[Footnote 135: Philip, _Life and Opinions of the Rev. W. Milne_, p. 257. _Cf._ Staunton, in _Narrative of the Chinese Embassy to the Khan of the Tourgouth Tartars_, p. viii.]

[Footnote 136: Legge, _Chinese Classics_, i. 107. See also Giles, _op. cit._ ii. 116, n. 2.]

[Footnote 137: Griffis, _Religions of Japan_, p. 207.]

[Footnote 138: Erman, _Life in Ancient Egypt_, p. 32.]

[Footnote 139: _Isaiah_, x. 7 _sqq._; xxxvii. 24 _sqq._ _Ezekiel_, xxxi. 10 _sq._ _Zephaniah_, ii. 15.]

[Footnote 140: Mürdter-Delitzsch, _Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens_, p. 104.]

[Footnote 141: _Numbers_, xiii. 27; xiv. 7. _Ezekiel_, xx. 6, 15.]

[Footnote 142: _Deuteronomy_, vii. 6.]

[Footnote 143: Herodotus, i. 134.]

[Footnote 144: Rawlinson, in his translation of Herodotus, i. 260 _sq._ n. 5.]

[Footnote 145: Pindar, _Pythia_, vi. 3 _sq._ _Idem_, _Nemea_, vii. 33 _sq._ Aeschylus, _Eumenides_, 40, 166. Sophocles, _[OE]dipus Tyrannus_, 480, 898. Livy, xxxviii. 48. _Cf._ Herodotus' theory of "extremities" (iii. 115 _sq._), and Rawlinson's commentary, in his translation of Herodotus, i. 260 _sq._ n. 6.]

[Footnote 146: Euripides, _Iphigenia in Aulide_, 1400 _sq._ Aristotle, _Politica_, i. 2, 6, pp. 1252 b, 1255 a.]