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CLARK'S
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NEW SEEIES.
VOL. XXXI.
VOL. III.
EDINBURGH:
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1887.
PRINTED BT MORRISON AND GIBB,
FOR
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a-
APOLOGETICS
OR,
THE SCIENTIFIC VINDICATION
OF
CHRISTIANITY.
J. H. A. EBRARD, Ph.D., D.D,
1 11
PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ERLANGEN.
BEransIateo og
Rev. JOHN MACPHERSON, M.A.
VOL. III.
EDINBURGH:
T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET.
18 87.
CONTENTS.
SECOND PART.— FIRST BOOK.
SECOND DIVISION.— HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES.
Chapter II. — The Races of Asia and Polynesia.
(.4) THE ugrian-finnic-tartar group of races.
§ PAQE
261. Ethnographical and Historical Sketch, ... 1
262. The Religion of the Finnic Tribes, .... 5
263. The Religion of the Tartars, .... 10
(B) THE MONGOLIAN RACES.
264. Characteristics and Distribution of the Mongolian Group, 14
265. Buddhism among the Mongolian Tribes, ... 33
266. The Ancient Religion of the Mongols, ... 41
267. The Ancient Religions of Tibet, Higher India, and Ceylon, 46
268. China and its Religion, ..... 52
269. Japan and its Religion, .... 66
(C) THE MALAY RACES.
270. The Unity of the Malay- Polynesian Group of Tribes, . 74
271. The Religion of the Malays, .... 82
272. Culture, Religion, and Traditions of the Polynesians, . 87
(D) THE CUSHITE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA.
273. The Remnants of Cushite Peoples in Asia and Polynesia, 95
274. Civilisation and Religion of the Kolhs and their Traditions, 99
275. The Religion of the Papuans, Negritos, and Alfurus, . 109
Chapter III. — The Savage Races of Africa.
276. Ethnographical Survey, . . . . . 113
277. Religions of the Cushites of South Africa and of the
Hottentots, ..... 121
278. The Religion and Traditions of the Negroes, . . 131
vi CONTENTS.
Chapter IV.— The Peoples and Hordes of America.
PAGE 142
279. Introductory, ...¦•¦
(A) MALAYAN-POLYNESIAN IMMIGRATION, B.C. 1600-1400.
280. Evidence of this Immigration, . . • ¦ 148
281. Traces of Malay Religions in various parts of America, 158
282. The Religion of the Tsonecas, .... 165
283. The Religions of the Arnacas and Tamanacs, . . 167
(B) IMMIGRATIONS FROM AFRICA FROM B.C. 600 TILL A.D. 600.
284. Indications of African Immigrations at various times, . 176
285. Religion and Legends of the Caribs, . . 183
(C) EARLY IMMIGRATION OF JAPAN O-MONGOLIAN RACES ABOUT B.C. 100.
286. Traces of an Early Mongolian Immigration, . . 1 88
287. The Old Peruvian Empire of the Aymaras and their
Religion, ...... 197
288. Religion and Traditions of the Wild Aymara Tribes, . 209
289. The Empire of the Muyscas and their Religion, . . 214
290. The Old Cultured Races of Central America, . 221
(D) CHINESE IMMIGRATION OF A.D. 650. THE TOLTECS AND THE INCAS.
291. Historical Traditions of the Aztecs, . . . 226
292. Criticism of the Aztec Tradition, .... 229
293. The Origin of the Toltecs and their Relation to the Incas, 236
294. The Empire of the Incas in Peru, . . . . 246
295. The Religion of the Incas, ..... 250
296. The Legends of the Toltecs and Mayas, ... 257
(E) IMMIGRATIONS OF THE TSHUKTCHIS, ABOUT A.D. 1220, AND MONGOLS,
ABOUT A.D. 1281.
297. The Chicimecs and Nahuatlacs, . . . 264
298. The Religion of the Aztecs, . . . 285
299. The Buddhism of the Aztecs, ... 293
300. Traces of Pre-Aztec Deities in Central America, . . 295
(F) THE UGRO-FINNIC IMMIGRATION INTO THE NORTH DURING THE
THIRTEENTH CHRISTIAN CENTURY.
301. The Redskins and their Religion, . . 301
302. The Traditions of the Redskins, ... 3U
SECOND BOOK.
THE REVELATION OF GOD.
303. Summary of Results already gained, ... 317
CONTENTS. Vll
FIRST SECTION.
THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD.
§ PAQE
304. The Flood, ....... 325
305. The Confusion of Languages and Separation of Peoples, . 327
306. The Cardinal Question : Is the One God a Product of
Israel 1 Or is Israel the Product of the One God ? . 339
307. The Semitic Race and the Choice of the Covenant People, 343
308. God's Educative Procedure in the Patriarchal Age, . 348
309. The Law and the Ordinance of Sacrifice, . . . 354
310. The Period of the Judges, ..... 359
311. The Period of the Kings and the Prophet?, . . 364
312. The Divine Act of Redemption, .... 372
SECOND SECTION.
THE EFFECTS OF REDEMPTION.
313. The Several Effects of Redemption, . . . 381
314. The Influence of Christianity on the Life of the People
and the State, ...... 384
315. The Influence of Sin on the Christian Life of the Com
munity, ....... 391
SECOND PART. FIRST BOOK.
SECOND DIVISION. HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE
RACES.
Chapter II.— The Races of Asia and Polynesia.
A. — The Ugkian-Finnic-Taetar Gkotjp of Races.
§ 261. Ethnographical and Historical Sketch.
THE Iranians in their remote and legendary antiquity
(§ 224), in addition to the Semitic tribes inhabiting
the banks of the Euphrates, had as neighbours other two
nations, the Salm or Sairimians, and the Turanians. The
former are the Sarmatians and Sauromati, both of which
designations are connected together as Salm and Sairim, and
so may be identified with the Slavs. The Turanians are
found first of all to the east and south of the Sea of Aral and
around Lake Balkash, where under the names Turan, Turkes
tan, Turkomania, the old designation is still retained.
A. Although the present inhabitants of East Turkestan are
correctly represented as of Aryan extraction,1 belonging to
the Iranian stock, yet of the Turanian origin of the Tartar
races there can be no doubt. After the Tshu-king dynasty of
the Chinese, there was the Turanian family of Yuchi, which,
about B.c 150, descended from the nortjh upon Bactria and
Yarkand, and made subject to them the Iranians dwelling
1 Robert B. Shaw, Journey to High Tartary, Yarkand, and Kashgar,
1871, chap. ii.
EBRARD III. A
2 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 261.
there. From the mixture of the two there arose the Uzbeks,
who, as a settled and agricultural people, were called Sarti.
The pure Tartars, who have maintained the nomadic habits
of life, were called Kirghis, embracing the tribes Kazak,
Kiptchak, Kari-Kalpak, and that of the Kirghis in the
narrower sense. But tribes of a like form and descent
inhabit those vast steppes in the north and east of Turkes
tan, which are usually designated by the generic name of
the Kirghis-steppes. To these tribes belong the Kalmucks
from Mustagh, the Dulans from the Akmetshet Lake, and a
portion of the inhabitants of Dzoungaria, south-east from the
Balkash Lake, east of the Thian-Shan mountains.
B. But it is now discovered that far in the north and
north-west, and even in Europe, there are peoples tribally and
linguistically related to these Tartars. When the Hungarians,
about a.d. 950, appeared on the borders of Europe, they were
designated Turks by the Byzantine writers, because they came
from Turkestan. The present Hungarian language is, in fact,
most intimately related to that of the Turks, who about A.D.
1400 rushed down from Turkestan, founded in Further Asia
the Turkish Empire, and in 1453 took Constantinople (see
Obs. 1). In this way the Tartar origin of the Hungarians is
proved. C. If, now, we go back to the appearance of the Hungarians
in history, Constantinus Porphyrogenitus (a.d. 950), a con
temporary, relates that the Hazara tribe of the Kabars was
joined with the Hungarians. But the Hazara, according to
Hunsalvy's * happy suggestion, are identical with the Akhaziri,
of whom Jordanes, writing in a.d. 570, gives an account, and
in the Kabars we recognise the name of the Avars, who were
spoken of by Theophylactus Simakotta, in a.d. 580, as an
Ugrian race, consisting of three tribes, Uars, Vars, and Huns, '
a portion of which in Justinian's time founded the kingdom
of the Avars on the banks of the Theiss and the Danube.
Roman and Byzantine writers, however, designate these Avars
1 Hunsalvy, Reise in die Ostseeprovinzen, 1873.
§ 261.1 THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 3
as Huns. The chiefs of the Avars were called Chagans,
and Eginhard speaks of Chagani et Jugurri as missi
Hunnorum. It is thus made apparent that from one and
the same mother - tribe, the Ugrians (Ogori, Jugurri) or
Hazara, which had its home on the Volga and Kama, first
of all the Huns, about a.d. 375, then the Avars about a.d.
740, rushed down upon Europe, and from Turkestan about
a.d. 950 there came the Hungarians. All the three were
Turanians, that is, they belonged to the Tartar races.1
D. As there is a linguistic relationship between the
Hungarians and the Turks, so is there also between the
whole circle of those races now extant in Asia and Europe
and these two races, especially the Hungarians. These are
the Tsherimis and Mordvins on the Volga, the immediate
neighbours of those Hazara, the Zirianians, the Permians, the
Votiaks on the Dwina and northern Kama and the western
slopes of the Ural mountains ; also the Suranians, Voguls,
Ostiaks, Tshudes, hunting tribes on the north of the Urals,
round the Sosva, Konda, about the Obi down to Tobolsk and
even to Irtis; likewise, the Finns, Esthonians, Livonians, and
Lapps (see Obs. 2) ; finally, the Russian Tartars, those of the
Crimea, Kazan, and the Obi, along with the Bashkers, the
Yakuts, Teleuts, etc.
E. But also the Samoyed family, of which the greater part
occupies the north of Siberia, and a smaller part, including
the Koibals, Soiots, Motors, Kamassintzi, the south of Siberia,
speaks a common language, which is so closely related to that
of the Tartars, that even these tribes must be regarded as
belonging to the Ugrian-Tartar group. Among the . northern
Samoyeds are included, the Samoyeds proper, the Ostiaks of
the Narum and of the Yenesei, the Assans, Karagassans,
Gorales, and other Yenesei tribes, the Kottovs, Arnizians, and
Tubnizians, and the Tshuktshians on the north-eastern corner
of Asia.
1 Constantinns Porphyrog. relates that the Hungarians and Hazara
were able to understand one another's languages.
HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES.
[§ 261.
F On the other hand, the Tungus, in the south-east of
Siberia, among whom are included the Mandshus, in the
north-east of the Chinese empire, seem to be a race partly
Mongolian, partly Tartar.
Obs. 1. — Words which in Hungarian and Turkish are pro
nounced exactly alike, such as kulta, gold, rauta, iron, miekla,
sword, etc., are less decisive, because they might have been
introduced among the Hungarians from a foreign language after
the date of their subjugation under the Turks. This is less
probable in the case of words like atra, plough, leipa, bread,
kakra, oats, ruis, rye, multa, dust, etc., which designate things
which the Hungarians could not have learnt to know first from
the Turks. Those words, again, are quite decisive as evidence
of the original linguistic relationship of these races, in which
transmutation according to a fixed law takes place ; for example,
in Turkish a z takes the place of what was originally r in the
Hungarian. Thus, e.g., we have the Hungarian borju, Turkish
buzagu, a calf ; terol, diz, the knee ; ir, jaz, to write ; bor, boza,
drink ; kard, kazik, stake ; okor, okuz, an ox ; iker, ikiz, twin ;
gyuril, juzuk, a ring, etc.
Obs. 2. — In order to render perfectly clear the relationship of
the Finnic-Esthonian and the Hungarian language, we may here
append a few examples : —
Moon,
Finn
. kua
Esthon. kuu
Hung
. ho
Fish,
>>
kala
13
kala
(
hal
To die,
jj
kuole
33
kool
,3
hal
To hear
}i
kuule
33
kuul
hall
Wood,
»
puu
33
pun
)3
fa
Morsel,
)>
pala
!3
pala
33
fal
Cloud,
»
pilve
33
pilve
33
felho
Wife,
»
puole
33
poole
33
felese'g
Old,
D
vanha
33
vana
ven
Blood,
>>
vere
33
vere
ver
World,
>j
valkea
33
valge
33
vilag
Water,
33
vete
33
ved
viz
Eye,
33
silma
33
silm
szem
Heart,
3)
sybm
33
suame
3,
sziv
One,
33
yhte
33
iihd
33
egy Vogul, akve
Two
33
kahte
33
kahd
kett „ kitt
Three,
J3
kolme
33
kolme
3,
harom „ horom
Four,
33
nelja
33
neli
33
negy „ nila
Five,
)3
viite
33
viid
3)
ot „ at
The members of the Finnic group generally may be arranged
as follows: — Finnic, Esthonian, Livonian, Vespian (that is,
North Tschud), and Votian ; and to the Ugrian group belong, the
Hungarian, Lapp, Vogul, and Tsheremisic. For the languages
of the Samoyeds, Tshuktshians, Mandshurians, etc., we may
§ 262.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 5
compare the following words : Eye, Samoyed saima, saiwa,
Ostiak sai, Kurile sik ; sea, Finnic jaka (flood), Tshuktschian
ajam, Koriak uuem; wood, tree, Ostiak pob, Samoyed and
Tshuktschian pfa, ua ; stone, Hungarian ko, Finnic kiwi,
Koriak guwwen, Ostiak kei, Turkish qitaja; son, Hung.
fiu, Ostiak piiwo, Kurile poo; brother, sister, Hung, nenem,
Samoy. nenja, Koriak ninichsch. On the relation of the
Mongolian languages to the Ugro-Finnic, see below at § 264.
Obs. 3. — The Ugrians or Ogori are still met with in Genghis
Khan's time under the name of Uigrians to the east of the
Balkash Lake. D'Hossom, hist, des Mongoles, vol. i. p. 107 f.
§ 262. The Religion of the Finnic Tribes.
While we have no information regarding the earlier form
of religion prevailing among the Asiatic races of the Ugrian
group, and while, in that which is now preserved among
them in the way of religious conceptions and customs, so far
as they have not come under the influence of Islam, we see
before us only a picture of religious decay, we are, on the
other hand, fortunate enough to be in possession of informa
tion regarding the Finns and Esthonians from the date of
their conversion to Christianity, which affords us an accurate
picture of their religion. And this picture is anything but an
attractive one. In general, their enumeration and conception
of the gods (as already J. Grimm had remarked) corresponded
to those of the Germans and Celts ; only among them these
notions are found in a more primitive stage. While among
the Celts and Germans the godhead had been already formally
dismembered into a multitude of distinct individual deities,
there still continued among the Finns and Esthonians, first of
all, a mode of thought corresponding to that of the oldest
Vedic religion, according to which the gods of heaven were
only forms of revelation of the one God ; and secondly, from
these, gods of heaven the inferior deities, in a way somewhat
similar to that in which the Iranians spoke of the Yazatas
and Ahuramazda, were sharply distinguished.
The appellative term for God, which has also been carried
over into Christianity, is jumala, Esthonian jumal, from the
6 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 262.
verb jum, Hungr. vim, etymologically identical with the Old
High German wihi, wihjan (see Obs.). The verb jum means
to pray: jumala is he who is prayed to, one who can be
worshipped. But the supreme god was Taara, Esthonian
Tor, Lapp Toraturos, with the predicate vana-isa, old-Father.
In name he corresponds to the Celtic thunder-god Tarani, the
Norse Thor, but not in nature. For Taara was quite
essentially regarded and worshipped as creator of the world,
and indeed as the invisible ; and a multitude of very beautiful
Finnic and Esthonian legends, which are to some extent
current among the people to this day, refer to this position
of his. There are Taara mountains, Taara groves, Taara oaks.
Dorpat, too (Tar-to), has its name from him. Three yearly
festivals were celebrated in his honour ; where, by opening the
vein in the fourth finger, blood was offered him, and in doing
so the words were uttered : " With my blood I name and
mark thee; with it I mark my house, that it may be
blessed." In a quite similar way this sacrificial custom
existed among the ancient heathen Hungarians. In this
there was present not merely the thought of a gift to the
deity from whom men had received their blood and life, but
also there was bound up in it that of a sin-offering and
expiation; for the pagan Esthonians characterized their
Taara-faith, in opposition to the :munga-usk, monkish faith,
that is, Christianity, as lepingu-usk, expiating faith.
Besides Taara, they had also a second god, Ukko, the
Ancient (Esth. Kou), who was the god of thunder and
lightning, of rain and fruitfulness. When it thunders, the
Finns of the present time still say: Ukko pauhaa, the
ancient rolls. Every village had a Uku kivi (Hung.
Ukko kove), Ukko stone, whereon in spring offerings of seed,
and in harvest offerings of grain, were laid. But Ukko also
had this same cognomen of vana isa, old-Father, as well as
Taara, and the name Taara itself signifies the thunderer.1 It
1 This circumstance decides against any sort of notion that the name
Taara was derived from an ancestral hero of the Turanians. The
§ 262.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 7
was therefore one and the same old-Father who thundered
as Ukko the ancient, and as Taara, the thunderer, created
the world. Only when this is recognised is the sameness of
name for him with the German Donar and Thor, and the
Celtic Tarani, rightly explained. The thunder-god of the
Ugro-Finnic race was not regarded as distinguished poly-
theistically from the creator of the world as a separate
individual deity, but as the creator of the world himself
under another form of manifestation.
From him, however, three inferior deities were very
decidedly distinguished. They occupied an intermediate
position between heaven and earth, and were endowed with
the qualities of mythical champions or heroes rather than
those of the gods properly so called. 1. Vana-muine (Esth.)
or Waine-moinen (Finn.) is the contriver, and so the god of
art, especially of music, but also of wisdom and magic.
Once on a time men and animals were gathered together in
the Taara grove to learn a heavenly festal speech. Vana-
muine descended in a rushing of the wind, touched the
strings, and sang. Then the streams ceased to flow: all
things listened. But now men learnt the art of song ; the
trees caught only the gentle murmuring sound, the streams
only the rustling of his garment, the woodpeckers only the
creaking of the strings beating upon the lyre, the fishes,
whose ears were under the water, only the dumb movement
of the mouth. 2. Ilmarine is the discoverer and god of
the art of forging. 3. Then alongside of these two there
appears Lammekune, without any other predicate than that
embraced in the name.
These are, as we have said, mythical figures rather than
derivation of the old onomatopoetic primitive root tar, tonar, is much
nearer the mark, all the more as we find among the Celts and Germans,
among whom there is no trace of a descent from a patriarch Tux, that the
name of the thunder-god of heaven is derived from the same primitive
root. From this, by necessary consequence, it follows that the ancestor-
gods among the Finns are distinguished sharply and consciously from
the one god as inferior deities.
8 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 262.
gods; for they are wrapt up in legend. The present race
of men, it is said, was preceded by a race of giants, begotten
by the sons of the gods, who came down to earth and •
associated with the daughters of men. One of these giants
was Kaleva (Finn.) or Kalev (Esth.). An ancient epic
among the Finns and Esthonians, Kalevala (Kalevapoeg),
relates how Kaleva sailed in a ship over the Baltic Sea, seeking
his mother, who had been robbed and hidden away by a power
ful giant; also how he, from among three virgins, Salme, an
orphan, and Linda, who had sprung respectively from a hen, a
crow, and an egg, chose Linda as his wife, had by her three
sons, and died before the birth of the third.1 Have we
not here a reminiscence of Noah and his three sons ? Kalev
in the ship seeks mother earth, which is robbed and hidden,
and is no more to be seen. Those giants then, who signifi
cantly enough remind us of Gen. vi. 1 ff., are designated
appellatively as vainemoinen : the first part, vana, is the well-
known adjective meaning old (§ 261, Obs. 2); but muine
seems to be an old word for man, identical with the Sanscrit
manu. Those who lived before the flood were thus desig
nated as the old men. That legendary hero, Vanamuine, is
therefore nothing else than one of the antediluvians, and we
need not for a moment doubt that in the three legendary
figures, Vanamuine, Ilmarine, and Lammekune, we have pre
sented to us in a quite uncontorted form a reminiscence of
the three brothers, Jubal, the discoverer of music ; Tubal-cain,
the discoverer of working in metal and the art of forging ; and
Jabal, who, as a nomad, is not specially designated. The
popular tales of the Finns and Esthonians point to the name
of the divine or half-divine being, to whom the ancient
Father has entrusted the care of morning dawn and evening
twilight, the sunrise, etc., and in fact these peoples have
1 Thus speaks the Esthonian legend. The Finnic legend gives him
twelve sons, and enumerates among them Vana-muine. This evidently
arose from a secondary and confused combination of different myths.
Kaweh (not Kalev) also is once mentioned as Vana-muine's father,
and Vana-muine is designated as father (not son) of Kalev.
§ 262.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 9
worshipped deities or genii of the sun, of the dawn, etc., like
the Iranian Yazatas. Their Wipune appears to have corre
sponded to the German Vola. A Rune speaks of a goddess
Suometar as the guardian-goddess of Finnland. The Salme
of the legend points to a goddess of , the sea, bearing the same
name (Salme signifies gulf of the sea). In legendary songs
it is related how the sun as a man, and the moon, and a star
made love to Salme, and she chose this latter one.1 Koit
was goddess of the dawn. Tapio was a forest god; his wife
was Metan-emanta, mother of the wood, with the surname
Sinifirkku, blue-bird. Pakkainen was the god of the winter-
cold ; Turrisa, the god of war.2 Particular animals, especially
birds, were sacred to the several deities, and as such were
inviolable. The god to whom they were sacred was supposed
to be present in them, hence the stories of the old chroniclers s
that the Esthonians and Finns had worshipped birds. Thus,
in spite of that remnant of a primitive monotheism, a poly
theistic deification of nature was spread in ever-widening
circles. At the three chief festivals, sacrifices were offered
to Taara, and to the rest of the genii of nature. Magical arts
and conjurations, especially serpent charms,4 entered into the
service of the genii.
Obs. 1. — As the old primitive religion of the Ugro-Tartar
group of nations is related to that of the Slavs, Germans, and
Celts, so also is the Ugro-Tartar group of languages related to
the rest of the Japhetic group, that is, the so-called Aryan
family of languages. Notwithstanding varieties of construc
tion, as in the case of the Basque dialect (see § 256, Obs. 2), they
are essentially cognate. I need only briefly, by way of example,
cite the following words : Finnic kutd, Hungr. hid, xXvav,
to hear ; Finnic paljo, Hungr. falo, iroKfa, much ; Finnic
pit, Hungr. fu, Sansc. vd, to blow ; Finnic valkea and
vilag, Old High German wereld, world (from primitive root
var, val ; comp. Sansc. Varuna) ; Finnic vete, viup, udor, water ;
1 H. Neus, esthn. Volkslieder, i. p. 10 ff.
2 This war-god may be a reminiscence of the tribal ancestor of the
Turanians. Turr-isa means father-Turr.
3 For example, Adam von Bremen, in Pertz, Monum. Germ. iv. 17.
4 Esthnische Beschworungslieder, see in Neus, pp. 65-86.
10 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 263.
nime, name ; teke, tev, Sansc. dhd, to do ; soo, suo, sea ;
Murta, murda, Lat. mordere; vana, ven, Lat. vetus, old; Hungr.
fog, Germ. /aAew, /crn^m, to catch ; pata, head, French pot,
Finnic jtioftfei, Old High Germ, pihal, beil, axe; pilve,
cloud, Old High Germ, pilipi, nourishment, the clouds
regarded as dispensers of nourishment ; edes, sweet, jjSus ;
Aa/, haar, hair; hajlek, harke, rake; fer-tb, swamp, Lat.
^aZ-'its; &ft, Goth, handus; Vogul wi, to waken, Sansc. gar;
Finnic ora, Hungr. ara, Old High Germ, ala, ahle, awl;
ar, prize, Germ, ehre, etc.
Obs. 2. — The Finnic - Esthonian myths of the creation, in
the Kalev epic of Vanamuine having transformed an eagle's
egg into a world, since heaven is produced from the upper half,
the earth from the lower, the moon from the yolk, is an
ingenious fable, rather than of significance for the history of
religion, and belonging to the earlier mythology. It has its
origin during a period when the remembrance of Taara was
already thrown into the background by the worship of Vana
muine, and its similarity to the later Indian (Brahmanical)
egg-myths of the creation is purely accidental.
§ 263. The Religion of the Tartars.
When we turn from the European tribes of the Ugro-
Finnic group to those of Northern Asia, we meet with the
tribes of the Finnic, Ugrian, and Samoyed group in Siberia,
among whom not only heathenish superstition, but even, in many
cases, open and avowed heathenism has prevailed, generally,
however, along with a significant trace of an old religion
like that of the Finns, that has been subjected to a decided
religious deterioration. Most markedly have those traces
been retained in the East among the Tungus and Mandshus.
These believe in a creator of the world invisible to man, who
dwells in heaven or in the sun. Some of their tribes attribute
to him a human form;1 others identify him with the sun
itself.2 The Ugrian tribes on the west of the Urals, like the
Finns, worship the invisible creator of the world under the
1 This human figure has in the course of time assumed once and again
very different forms. The Teleutians think of God as an old bearded man,
in the form of a Russian officer of dragoons.
3 Compare Stuhr, Eeligionssysteme der heidn. Vblker des Orients,
p. 244.
§ 263.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 1 1
name of Jumala.1 The Voguls have still kept the name
Torom, the Ostiaks the name Turum, Tbrm, Tshudo the name
Tora, for their supreme god. By the Votiaks, on the other
hand, Tirgani is worshipped as the sun-god.2 Thus, in part
at least, has the knowledge of the invisible creator of the
world been retained, while in other cases it has degenerated
into a worship of the sun-god. The Tungus worship along
side of the creator of the world a number of guardian spirits,
who watch over female virtue, over children, over the chase,
over herds, over health, over the rearing of reindeers.3 But
this forms the transition to the belief in spirits, the so-called
Shamanism, which became most prevalent midway between
the extreme east and the extreme west, between the Lena
and the Yenesei, and which has completely overgrown the
forms of the old religion, while even on the Ural and among the
Tungus it also plays a part alongside of it. If in the Vedic
religion the one God was regarded with a pantheistic one
sided prominence to his immanence as present in existence,
and in the principal powers of nature, and gradually then
his irpoaaira were elevated into deities alongside of him, he
was, on the other hand, thought of in those Ugro-Tartar
religions as present in all separate particular things, split up
and divided into a countless number of spirits, amid which
his unity would either be utterly forgotten, or at least
practically thrust into the background. In every power of
nature, in every natural existence, there dwells a ruling
spirit. This stage of the beginning of a belief in spirits
and in natural magic we found, § 262, existing among the
Finns and Esthonians ; it appears at a further advanced
stage in the Shamanism of the Ugro-Tartars. Because there
is much of evil in the world, those spirits were regarded by
the Tartars for the most part as hurtful to men, threatening
evil, or more properly, unclean spirits, although they did not,
1 Stuhr, supra, p. 260.
2 J. G. Miiller, amerihanische Urreligionen, p. 57.
8 Georgi, Beschreibung alter russ. Nationen, part 2, p. 380.
12 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 263.
like the Iranians, regard the contraposition of a kingdom of
good and a kingdom of evil as fundamental. To those spirits
belonged pre-eminently the souls of the departed: they
were thought of and feared as ghosts and hobgoblins, and
Shamanism consisted essentially in the art of conjuring those
spirits, and rendering them serviceable, so that instead of
being hurtful, they would become useful. The Shamans did
not form a priestly order. Each person of both sexes, who
was thought to understand the art of conjuring the spirits,
is a Shaman, or among the Tartars, Kame, as in the time of
Genghis Khan among the Ugrians,1 the rest were even then
in part Buddhists. As such they wear a special dress,2 and
live mainly on gifts, which are brought them as rewards for
exorcising of spirits. At night sitting by a fire, smoking
tobacco and beating a drum, the Shaman falls into convul
sions, distorts his limbs, roars, dances round the fire, summons
the spirit to battle, puts questions to him, listens trembling
and shuddering to his answer, audible only to himself, and
falls at last in a state of utter prostration ; the belief, more
over, prevails, that during this prostration the soul quits the
body, and in the shape of animals of various kinds makes a
journey to the abodes of the spirits, where they make their
appearance also in the animal form (see Obs.). To these
spirits belong, as we have said, the souls of the departed,
who ramble wandering in deserts and among wastes of snow,
and dwell in clefts of the rocks. The souls of departed
Shamans are feared as specially powerful and malignant.
But it is not only by the incantations of living Shamans that
the Ugro-Tartars seek to drive away all kinds of evil, sickness,
and death, but also by magical rites which they themselves
practise. In every jurte or tent-dwelling is found a sort of
idol image, a small figure in human form wearing a Shaman's
1 D'Hossom, hist, des Mongoles, vol. i. p. 107 ff.
2 Long leathern robes, stocking boots, everything with wonderful
magical emblems represented,— tin-plates, bells, eagles' claws, strips of
skin, stuffed serpents, etc.
§ 263.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 1 3
dress, which, however, is not at all to be described as a deity,
but is simply an amulet, in which a virtue is supposed to
reside for protecting against the influence of evil spirits.
Especially on the east of every jurte there are two birches
bound by an oak twig, and ermine skins are hung on them :
this, too, is a protective amulet. And finally, in the third
place, every one possesses amulets of other sorts, on which in
the most senseless and arbitrary fashion he suspends trifles
of various kinds, rags of red linen, bunches of horse hair,
bones of animals, etc., even bells from the dress of a Shaman.
The whole tribe too, as well as the individual, has its pro
tective amulets. These are stones or stakes which are erected
on heights,1 to which every passer-by must bring the offering
of a stake or stone. Evidently it is thought that good
protecting spirits are associated with these stones or dwell
within. A terrible fear of one's own death prevails, just as in regard
to the apparition of the souls of the departed and their corpses.
At funerals various ceremonies are observed in order to
prevent the soul of the departed from haunting the survivors.
Care is taken not to mention the name of the dead. Par
ticular nomadic tribes like the Iranians, and probably in con
sequence of Iranian influences,2 allow the corpses to remain
exposed to the air. In the east among the Tshuktshians, and
especially among the closely-related Kamtshadales, a more
hopeful view of death still continues along with other
remnants of the old religion. The Kamtshadales fear death
in no form ; rather they often bring it on themselves by
voluntary suicide, because they expect afterwards a joyous
and glorious life.
1 These should not be confounded with the Obos of the Buddhist
Mongols, that is, earth hillocks which are erected on heights. There is
evidently a certain connection between the two, and this is easily ex
plained by the manifold connections which the Tartar and Mongolian
tribes had with one another.
2 The Tadshiks in the Government of Orenburg are descendants of the
ancient Persians. Berghaus, allg. Lander- v/nd Volkerkunde, v. 518.
14 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 264.
Obs. — The notion that during this mantic powerlessness
the soul had been able to leave the body and to assume the
form of an animal, gave occasion to the development of this
further belief, that the earlier generations of their ancestors
had been in possession of this power in a yet higher degree.
Thus by the Turks the form of the wolf is ascribed to the
father of their race, and this legend of the Turks is to be under
stood as indicating that they were descended from a wolf, which
is called Tsena (Ritter, Asien, 438 ; Schmidt, Forschungen
im Gebiete Mittelasiens, Petersb. 1824, p. 70). In conse
quence of the close connection which subsisted in the time of
Genghis Khan between the Turks and the Mongols, this legend
was introduced among a portion of the latter, who designated
their tribal ancestor as Biirtetschino, the blue wolf. That the
legend was not of Mongol origin is shown, partly from its close
connection with Shamanism, partly from the fact that the
Mongols have quite another legend in regard to their descent
(§ 266).
B. — The Mongolian Races.
§ 264. Characteristics and Distribution of the Mongolian
Group.
The determining of the limits between the Mongolian
and the Ugro-Finnic races is one of the most difficult and
intricate points in ethnographical science. In Tibet, China,
Corea, the Loo-Choo islands, and Japan, we find a race of
inhabitants who show no sort of connection either in speech
or in bodily appearance with the Tartars, Turks, Hungarians,
and Finns. In bodily appearance those cultured races of
Eastern Asia resemble one another in the yellow colour of
their skin, the dark hair, the little dark obliquely set eyes
and prominent cheek-bones ; while, on the other hand, the
races which form the Ugro-Finnic family have white skins,
fair hair, inclining sometimes to red, regularly curved blue
eyes, inclining to grey, and cheek-bones not prominent.
Those characteristics of the Chinese and other Eastern
Asiatics are found also in a leading race of Northern India,
the Barmans, as well as in Further India, among the'
Nepaulese, and are among them, on account of a mixing
§ 261] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. lo
with Aryan-Indian blood that is historically demonstrable,
only in a slight degree modified. In the form of their coun
tenance the Barmans are much more like the Chinese than
the Hindus.1 Since it has been customary to reckon these
tribes among the Mongolian races, we shall group them
together for convenience' sake and without prejudice pro
visionally under the name of East-Mongolian tribes. In
their languages these tribes are indeed far removed from one
another. In respect of language this alone is common to all,
the negative characteristic, that while there is a pretty close
affinity among the languages of the Ugro-Finnic tribes, a
great linguistic diversity is the prevailing characteristic of
this group of East-Mongolian tribes, which have led some to
go so far as to suggest that the languages are altogether of
an isolated character (see Obs. 1).
If now, however, we turn to the eastern part of the moun
tainous district of Asia, we meet with the Western-Mongolian
group of tribes, that is, those of the Mongols in the narrower
and more exact sense, and in them we have the most difficult
part of our investigation. Under them the following tribes
are grouped: — (a) The Mongols in the strictest use of the
word, living between the desert of Gobi and Mandshuria ;
(6) the Buriats and the Kalka around Lake Baikal, north of
the Gobi ; (c) the 016 ts or Kalmucks, of whom one branch
still occupies its ancient home in Dzoungaria, while the
other, which during Genghis Khan's lordship was resident in
the North- West, now dwells between the Ural and the Volga ;
(d) the Tshatshers, far up on the north-western borders of
China, and in the deep vale of Kokonoor ; (e) alongside of
the Buriats we find also in the south-east the Mandshus, a
people of Mongolian origin, with a mixture of Tartar blood ;
while, on the other hand, the Tungus on the north-west of
1 Basler Missions Mag. 1837, p. 213. J. W. Heifer's Reisen in Vord-
erasien und in Indien, Leipz. 1873, part 2, p. 83 : "A broad face with
strong cheek-bones, a flat snub nose, more or less protruding lips, small
grey eyes, oblique, and with a sharp upward angle, and pale yellow skin
of a hue like an unripe citron." On the Carenes, see § 267, Obs.
16 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 264,
the Buriats seem to be a people of Tartar origin, with a
mixture of Mongol blood. The West-Mongolian group has
thus its original residence around the Baikal lake, while the
original home of the Turko-Tartaric group is round about Lake
Balkash. At this point we are met by the difficult question : To
what group do these West - Mongolian races belong ?
Whether must we assign their origin to the Ugro- Tartaric
stem, or to that which we have designated the East-Mon
golian ? It is only during the present century that any real
distinction has been made between the Tartars and the Mon
gols. De Guignes,1 and even more recently D'Hossom,2
employ these names as synonymous terms. Scientific
research regarding these has now led to the marking of a
distinction between the Ugro - Tartaric races, comprising
the Huns, Avars, and Hungarians, which, one after another,
between a.d. 375 and a.d. 950, broke in upon Europe,
following the Slavs in their movement westward, and the
Mongols who under Genghis Khan Temujin3 in the 13th
century struck horror into Eastern Europe. But even after
this has been settled, the question still remains unsolved
as to whether these West - Mongolians should have their
descent traced back to the stem of the Ugro-Tartars, or
whether they should be regarded as essentially one with the
East-Mongolian group of nations (Tibet, China, etc.). The
Mongolian language, which seems to have an intimate con
nection with Ugro - Finnic - Tartaric, favours a decision in
accordance with the former alternative ; 4 but the bodily
1 De Guignes, allg. Geschichte der Hunnen und Tiirken, deutsch von
Dahnert, Greifswald 1769 ff.
2 D'Hossom, hist, des Mongoles, Amsterdam 1852.
s Compare upon this, besides the two works named, PStis de la Croix,
hist, du grand Genghizcan, Paris 1710. Hammer-Purgstall, Gesoh. der
goldenen Horde, Pesth 1840. von Erdmann, Temutsehin der Unerschutter-
liche, Leipzig 1862.
4 This is the view of Schott, " Ueber das altaische Sprachgeschlecht," in
the Abhandlungen der Berl. Akad. der Wissensch. of the year 1847 r>
281 ff. J >f
§ 261.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 17
appearance of the Mongols is in favour of the latter. The
West-Mongolians are similar to our East-Mongolians in the
shape of their skull, the prominent cheek-bones, the dark
and oblique eyes, as well as in the yellow colour of their skin.
In Dzoungaria the Tartars who are resident there (§ 261) are
easily distinguishable from the Kalmucks and Tunganis1 in
bodily appearance, dress, and manners. Nobody will main
tain that there is any greater similarity in bodily appearance
between the Finns and Kalmucks, or between the Magyars
and Mongols, than there is between the Mongols and the
Chinese. But if the West-Mongolians are to be regarded in
respect of bodily appearance as of the same stem with our
East-Mongolian group, and consequently to be joined together
with them as a Mongolian people, how then is the relation
ship of the West-Mongolian language with that of the Ugro-
Tartars to be explained ? For the case is not merely that
of borrowed words,2 but one of an actual primary relationship
of the roots, at least of many roots. This phenomenon, how
ever, is at once easily explained so soon as we take history
into account.
(a) We know, in the first place, that Celts and Germans
are two nations belonging to different groups, and yet they
have many roots in their languages in common. Similarly,
too, the Greeks have roots in common with the Germans, and
both with the Latins ; and not only so, but the Indo-
Germanic languages have entire series of roots in common
with the Semitic. We have a precisely similar phenomenon
in the fact that a number of roots are common to the Mon
golian and Ugro - Tartaric languages, and the development
of comparative philology has led to the abandonment of the
x Shaw, Journey to High Tartary, Yarkand, and Kashgar, p. 28 f. The
derivation of the name of the Tunganis from the Chinese tun-jfoi, mihtary
colonists, that is, Chinese, seems to me most improbable. The Taranhis
among the Dzoungarians are colonists of a late period (Shaw,, p. 29 f.).
We must not confound with the Tunganis the Tibetan tribe of the
Tanguts (called in Chinese Si-fan) which occupies Kokonoor.
2 Schott, Ueber das altaische Sprachgeschlecht, p. 323.
EBRARD III. B
18 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 264.
narrower conception of the Indo-Germanic group, and to
substitute for it that of the Japhetic group. The possibility
of such an original relationship between the Mongolian
language and the Ugrian becomes peculiarly feasible when
we find roots in which both are related, not only with one
another, but also with the Aryan, and even with the Semitic.
For " mother " we have in nearly all the languages of the
world the primitive root ma, Aryan mdtr, '/jtrjTqp, mater,
mutter, mother, Irish mna, Basque emea (wife), in the
language of South Sonora mama (grandmother), Malayan
mu, amu, ma, mak, Finnic ema, Mandshurian erne, Semitic
em. Earth, turf, Arabic tarbu, Swedish torfoa (turf), Finnic
turpaha, Mongolian towarak, Turkish toprak, Tungusic tuor,
turu. Hand, Sanscrit ka.ra, Mongolian ghar, Tungusic gala,
Turkish kol, while in ^et/j and in the Old Latin Mr we have
partially related roots. To take, Turkish cap, tschap, Mon
golian chab, Latin capio. Cloth, clothing,1 Semitic buz (Syr.
buso, hence Arabic buza, to be white), Greek /Jvo-o-o?, Turkish
bus, Mongolian bus, Mandshurian boso, Chinese pu. Silk
is in Mandshurian and Tungusic sirge (raw silk, se), Chinese
ssS and se, Corean sil, sir, Russian scholk, North - Germany
silk, Greek o-ijp (silk cord). For other examples, see under
§ 305. (b) This, however, does not carry us far. We have still
to account for the fact, that the West-Mongolian language is
closely connected with the Ugrian languages, even in regard
to words that do not occur in other tongues, and that its
intimate relation to the Ugrian languages is more obvious than
its separation from the East-Mongolian languages. In order
to make this plain, we must keep in mind the fact that
according to the original documents of Chinese history there
was in the early times a dynasty of Hiang-nu, which held
sway from b.c. 200 till a.d. 93, and then at a later period
"¦ We do not forget that the Basques of the Stone Age had brought
with them from Asia the art of weaving. This, therefore, was a common
endowment of primitive times before the separation of the races.
§ 264.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 19
over Northern China till a.d. 330. That this kingdom of
the Hiang-nu was a Ugrian or Turanian one, can be proved
from the fragments of the language l which are preserved in
these early historical documents. Its chief, for example, had
the title tanglikutu, which, according to the appended note of
the Chinese historian, means in Chinese , tien tsse, Son of
Heaven. Now heaven is in the Ugrian language tengri, and
son is kuto, kbtti, guto. The princes bore the title of luli, and
in Turkish they are called ulu, great. The Hiang-nu were,
therefore, a Ugrian or Turanian people. If, now, during
those centuries the Ugro-Tartars extended their dominion
eastward even to China, so that the wall of China was built
to withstand their advances, it follows that while the West-
Mongolian tribes in the north and west of China were gradu
ally subdued by them, and lived for at least half a century
under their dominion, there was a blending together of the
two races and an intermixture by marriage, just as we find
actually taking place between the Tungus and the Mandshus.
That the conquered should during that half-century adopt
the language of their conquerors 2 was indeed very natural.3
After the overthrow of that Turko-Tartar Empire, the foreign
speech adopted by the West-Mongolians was formed into a
separate dialect, but still a Ugro-Tartar one, just as the Latin
language adopted by the Visigoths was modified into Spanish ;
and as between a.d. 552-703 the Turks of Turkestan still
continued their inroads into China,-the Mongolian tribes were
subject to the influence of the Ugrian tongue for nearly two
centuries. We must not therefore hastily conclude for the
Ugrian language of the Mongol race, strictly so called, that
1 Schott, Sprachgeschlecht, p. 289 ff.
2 Franz von Erdmann, too, assumes (Temutschin, p. 131 f.) that in con
sequence of historical circumstances the original language of the Mongols
had been changed into the Turkish, but he does not enter more minutely
into the subject.
3 Schott has shown that before the appearance of Buddhism in Higher
Asia, the Mongols possessed the art of writing and the beginnings of a
literature. The art of writing, however, was introduced among them by
the Uighurs. P^tis, p. 120 f.
20 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 264.
they are of the same stock, for this their bodily appearance
will not allow.
(c) When at a later period, during the 12 th and 13 th
centuries, the West-Mongolians got the upper hand of the
Tartars, when Genghis Khan subdued the nation of the Nighurs
and of Turkestan, and of all Higher Asia, and led his mixed
horde of Mongolian and Ugro-Tartar tribes against Europe,
many words were transferred from the Mongolian dialect. It
was then also developed into a distinct language, into the
language of those Ugro-Tartar races with which the Mongols
were now brought into connection, and those words referred
to were borrowed words (see Obs. 2).
The correctness of the view which we have taken finds
confirmation, first of all, in this, that even in religion there is
a thoroughly characteristic distinction between the primitive
religion of the Mongols and that of the Tartar tribes (see
§ 266 ff.), and that a similar distinction is observable in the
languages themselves. One may already conjecture that there
would be very frequently two quite different words for the
same idea in the languages of the Ugro-Tartar tribes dwelling
most closely to the Mongols, that the one of these words
would be originally derived from the Mongolian, the other
would be originally derived from the Ugrian. It is indeed
quite evident that the Hiangnus may have derived their
words from the Mongols, just as well as the Mongols from
them. But of yet greater importance is the grammatical
structure of the language. In the Mongolian, as well as in
the closely related Mandshurian language, the characteristics
of the Mongolian family of languages are predominant in its
purer forms (see Obs. 1). The verb has the form of an
indeclinable verbal substantive, the infinitive, while the verb
in the Ugro-Finnic languages is conjugated. In Mandshurian,
I stand, thou standest, etc., are rendered, bi ilimbi, si ilimbi,
etc.; while in the language of the Tungus we have ilitschem,
ilitschende, ilitscheren, ilitschercb, ilitschesch, ilitschere. The
Hungarians and Finns have a very finely constructed conjuga-
§ 264.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 2 1
tion, with a modification in the word to indicate the object,
like the Semitic suffix of the object. While the Ugro-Tartar-
Finnic have likewise a declension, the Mongols and Mandshus,
inasmuch as the former were powerfully influenced in
linguistic matters by the Turks of Turkestan, express their
cases by separate case terms, such as man -possession for
man's. In neither of the languages do we find any relative
pronoun. In both the Mongolian and Ugrian languages the
infinitive is freely used as a verbal noun, for example, I know
thee to be conquered, instead of, I know that thou art con
quered. In the Ugrian language, however, the pronominal
suffix has undergone a metamorphosis in sound, so that it
is conjoined with the verbal stem, while in Mongolian it
continues separate. Thus, notwithstanding that the West-
Mongolians of ancient times adopted the Ugrian language of
the Hiangnus, yet the impress of the Mongolian tongue has
been left upon the very form in which this foreign speech
was adopted by them.1
We have now, finally, to consider the languages of the
tribes that have been designated by us East-Mongolians.
We have already indicated the fundamental characteristic of
these as that of the multiplication of dialectic differences.
This common character is shown in these three fundamental
features : (a) a number of common roots ; (b) a tendency to
continual change of sound in defiance of all rules; and (c)
a tendency to secure construction by the use of separate
particles. These three points deserve careful consideration.
The existence of words common to all the languages is
specially noticeable in the case of words indicating numbers.
I select from Liiken's tables,2 drawn up from Lassen's Indian
Antiquities and Klaproth's Archives, the following list, to
1 Quite analogous to this was the adoption of the Latin language by
the Goths, Franks, Langobards, and from it, modified by the Teutonic
taste and genius, the Romance languages were constructed. They did
not say amabo, \m.tje aimer ai, amar ai, etc. ; not amavi, but je amdi,
and then ,;e ai aim/, ho amato, etc.
2 Einheit des Menschengeschlechts, p. 174.
22
HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES.
[§ 264.
which I add numerical terms from the Vogul and Tangut
dialects, in order to show the distinction between them and
the Ugro-Tartar languages. For an exact acquaintance with
the Tibetan numerical terms I am indebted to an oblig
ing communication from J. Th. Reichelt, missionary at
Herrnhut : —
Barmese.
Nepaulese.
Tibet.1
Tangut.
China.
Loochoo.
Japan.
Corea.
Vogul.
1
thit
sehi
fejtschig(g)nji(s)
chzik
1*
tids, idshi
\z, fito
ho- tli Lin
aku
2
niht
nus-ki
m
611
ni, tads
ni, fi-tak
thu-pu
kit
3
ssum
suum
(g)sum
sum
san
schan, nids
san, miz
ssai
korom
4
leh
Pi
fb)schi
bsche
sse
stheu, juds
si, ioz
na%
nila
5
ngah
nga
(l)nga
ma
u
u, idsilzi
go, izuz
taschU
dt
ti
khiok
kbu
d(r)ug
tschok
lu
rugu, nits
rok, muz
ii-schli
kat
7
khu-nit
nhei
(b)dun(br)gjad
dim
Zl
schi, nanadzii
siz, wanaz
ii-kii
sat
8
seit
kea '
dsjat
pa
ftCdshi, jads
faz, jads
ii-ta
nala
y
koh
gu
fljga
rgu
kieu
ka, Tcogulads
fcow, hokonoz
ja-hao
(Mfente.Hung.)
10
ta-zak
sanah
kb)tschu
ztt-tamba
9ch6
sua, tu
siou, towo
je
lau
The second of the words given in the columns for Loochoo
and Japan represents the language of the earlier inhabitants,
who were probably of Tartar blood. One pair of synonyms
under the Vogul and Hungarian group represent a variety
in cursive manuscripts. In the numerals for 1, 3, 9, 10,
the resemblance among the East-Mongolian languages is quite
apparent ; in regard to 2, China and Corea go their own way ;
in regard to 7, the Tartar root, with the hissing sound, in
Loochoo and Japan dislodged, even among the Mongolian
inhabitants, the Mongol root; in regard to 8, we find no
sort of agreement appearing. The perfect agreement, how
ever, in regard to 1, 3, 9, 10, and the well-nigh perfect
agreement in regard to 2, 4, 5, 6, is sufficiently striking.
In regard to the Barmanic and Chinese, W. von Humboldt 2
has proved the relationship of the more important gram
matical roots ; the nota pluralis is in the Barman language
kra (pronounced kja), in Chinese kidi ; the Barman particle
thong (pronounced thi) corresponds to the Chinese tschi, ti;
the verb to be is in Barman hri (pronounced shi), and in
1 The letters placed within parentheses are written but not pronounced.
2 Gesammelte Werke, vi. "Ueber die Verschiedenheit des Sprach-
baus."
§ 264.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 23
Chinese shi ; the term in numeration, "piece, particular,
head," is in Barman khu, and in Chinese ko.
Although in respect to other words no relationship, or only
a very slight one, is discernible, an explanation of this is
afforded under our second point : the free change of sounds
which prevails in those languages. From the time of
Khongtse, B.C. 600, or at least from' the time of Shi-Hoangti,
B.C. 213, the Chinese had adopted a fixed form of expression ;
but that the written symbol was pronounced in ancient times
in a way different from that which now prevails is placed
beyond dispute ; just as in the provincial dialects of to-day
the pronunciations vary considerably from one another. In
the Barman language, which has a written alphabet, the
variation in the pronunciation is regularly marked, and in
their writings it is shown what an older, and that not a
very ancient form, had been. W. von Humboldt has let us
see how incredibly great the change from it to the pro
nunciation of the present day has been ; for example, what is
written kak sounds ket, what is written tup is pronounced
tok, re is pronounced je, hri is pronounced shi, etc. Now,
if we could sometimes pass over into sh, sometimes into j,
ang into i, ak into et, up into ok, and if such changes were
continued for four thousand years, and if this were done, as
was natural, by every race in a different way, it is quite
conceivable that the corresponding roots of the different
languages should by this time be no longer in the least like
one another.
The third point is the tendency in the East-Mongolian
languages to indicate its structural modifications by separate
particles. This is not universally, nor in the same way,
6haracteristic of these languages. In Japan, where, as we
shall see in § 269, the East-Mongolian or North-Chinese
immigrants found before them a primitive Ugro-Tartar race,
and mixed themselves up more or less with them, there is
no appearance of this tendency to isolation. In Tibet, where
the original Mongolian language has undergone perhaps the
24 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 264.
least change, the use of modifying suffixes has not been
altogether abandoned, but in the languages of Northern India
this process has been well-nigh, and in those of China
altogether carried out with the most rigid consistency. There
have indeed been important and talented men who regarded
this mode of grammatical construction by separate particles
as the most primitive of all. In accordance with W. von
Humboldt's example,1 we feel ourselves unable to accept this
view (see Obs. 1).
Finally, however, there is one characteristic common to all
those nations of the Mongolian group, that is, their extreme
national feeling, by reason of which each one of them, living
on friendly terms with one another, and each in unconditional
servile subjection to its own chief, is absolutely separated
from all other peoples, or exercises against them in war the
severest cruelties even to utter extermination.
Obs. 1. — There are two elements which the language will give
expression to : ideas, and the combination of these in a Ju^g-
ment. For ideas it creates for itself simple words, roots, and
so soon as these have once been created, they are objectively
given to him who speaks as a vocabulary. The relations, on
the other hand, in which certain of these ideas stand to one
another in the judgment are not objectively given, but are
every moment subjectively determined by the speaker. One,
for example, has to relate, and for this he must first think and
then speak, " his enemy has slain him ; " another, " he has slain
his enemy ; " the one, " he will rest ; " the other, " he will
journey." A. Human speech for the most part supplies words of one
syllable to express ideas, though even here such have initial
and final double consonants ; the Semitic races have had the
instinct to enlarge these roots into words of two syllables, even
to split up one into more (e.g. zHr,jazar, zarar, comp. also § 260,
Obs. 1), and in this way to secure a multiplicity of vocables for
the expression of modifications of the idea. The Japhetic
languages have made only a sparing use of the two-syllabled
roots of the kind described, and show a preference for the com
pounding of two roots, as we have seen exemplified in the
Aryan language in the pronoun ; for example, au-ro?, Sanscrit
i-dam, Zend a-dem, etc. (comp. Bopp, krit. Gramm. der Sanskr.
1 Humboldt's Werke, vi. p. 118 and p. 196.
§ 264.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 25
Spr. § 247). Iii order to give definiteness to a purely abstract
uncertain term, as when, for example, there are roots alongside
of it of the same meaning, a synonym is set down beside it, or
a word indicating the next higher kind or species. This style
of quasi-compounding is practised in Chinese, in the Barman
language, and is employed with special freedom by the Tagals,
among the Malays, and by the Aztecs and Delaware tribes 1
among the Americans. Thus, for example, in Barman pan
means to endeavour, and krd means to obtain an answer, and
pan-kwd means to endeavour to obtain an answer, that is,
to question,- to ask; lak means hand, tat, to be skilful, and
lak-tat, an artificer. The most primitive stage of all in this
root construction by means of the compounding of words is
seen very conspicuously in various negro languages. In the
Ga and Akra languages the theory of these compoundings forms
a not unimportant part of the grammar. (Comp. J. Zimmer-
mann, Grammar of the Gd Language, Stuttg. 1856, together with
its Vocabulary^) For example, dshe, to come, about, to happen ;
mddshe, to transmit (from md, to place); ladshe, to be lost (from
la, to hang loosely) ; kddshe, to lie on the back (from kd, to
lie) ; dshadshe (from dsha, to be stretched). Also ga, to go ;
fe, to do; gafe, to go in order to do. While, then, the
primitive roots of the Hamitic languages were monoliteral, con
sisting of one consonant with an accompanying vowel, biliteral
roots were formed by means of this process of compounding.
Certainly in quite a similar way have triliteral stems been
formed in the Aryan and Semitic languages from biliteral roots.
B. The monosyllabic or isolating languages separate the
objective ideas from the relation in which the speaker places
these ideas in such a way that they give only to the former a
vocal garb, while the relation is expressed only by the posi
tion of the words. The Chinese language, for example, makes
the governing word precede the governed, the subject precede
the verb or verbal noun, this again precede the object, and this
again the more remote object, while the word that has to be
qualitatively determined must follow that which determines
the quality. The Barman language, on the other hand, has the
following order of succession : subject, object, verb, but requires
the adverb of quality to precede that of which it determines the
quality. For " I eat with butter boiled rice," the Chinese says,
" I to eat butter to boil rice " (infinitives as verbal nouns), the
Barman says, " I butter to boil rice to eat." For " I praise
1 The Delaware language in the agglutination of suffixes divides again
its compounds, and makes use of. only one of the roots. For example,
wul-it, beautiful ; mtseh-gat, foot ; k' uligat-schis means thy dainty little
foot.
26 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 264.
him who all things has created and from sin is free," the Bar
man says, " All things to create then he, thau, sin free to be
he, thau, I praise ; " the particle thau serves only to bind to
gether like a vocal comma what precedes as referring to one
thing. This importance belonging to the position of words
meets us also in inflectional languages, and indeed plays scarcely
anywhere a more conspicuous part than in the Middle Age and
modern German, where by means of the three different arrange
ments of the words — the direct, as " I do my duty ; " the ante
cedent and relative arrangement, as " if I my duty do," " who
his duty does;" and the consequential and interrogative arrange
ment, as " so loves me my father," " loves me my father ? "
" how loves me my father ? " " inexpressibly loves me my
father " — the entire proposition and the structure of the period
are determined. The German language, however, and also the
agglutinate languages, in which, as for example in the Massa
chusetts dialect, the arrangement of the words is of decisive
importance, have always in addition inflectional suffixes, corre
sponding to the agglutinative suffixes, by means of which the
relation, in which the speaker wishes the idea to be understood
by the hearer, is audibly expressed and embodied. This evi
dently is the process that is more strictly in accordance with
nature. W. von Humboldt also (see p. 118) thinks it probable
" that the use of naked roots is something secondary. Originally
the roots never appear as such, but clothed with the accompany
ing sounds which fit them to express some living relation."
And at p. 196 he says : " The more primitive the languages are,
the richer they are in the abundance of forms and constructions."
The abstraction which separates the relations of the ideas from
the ideas themselves, and. analyses the latter like anatomical
preparations, is quite an artificial thing, and presupposes,
according to W. von Humboldt, an unimaginative and one-
sidedly rational process of thinking. It is primitive and in
accordance with nature, that the entire vocable should corre
spond to the entire mental conception, and should portray it.
" Der Mann spaltet der Stamm " (the man splits the tree). As
the man actually represents the agent, a primitive language will
apply the term that represents the subject to one who works and
acts, and will express this by a suffix to the verb and a suffix
to the object, thus : " Mann-er Spaltung-thun Baum-hin (baum-
warts)." These suffixes are still evidently found in the inflectional
languages. The s of the Indo-Germanic possessive singular is an
abbreviated pronoun sa (ta) ; many languages form their verbal
forms from nouns by dhd, ta, tu, and the accusative has still in
Sanscrit preserved its original characteristic by taking a locative
termination. But even this form of language is not the most
primitve of all, for even it belongs properly to the inflectional
§264.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 27
languages. The most primitive is that in which the entire con
ception of the action is set forth under one single complex word,
in which the idea is not yet exactly determined, but has only
its principal element brought out, to which the more exact
determination is subsequently joined, and this is the essence of
that agglutination (comp. § 256, Obs. 1), which we, therefore,
regard as the primary form of grammatical structure. " Er
spalten es, Mann er, Baum-hin." There is first of all the
general notion of a splitting, then the statement, who is the he,
and what is the it. That this was actually the primitive form
of language we have ample proof in the fact emphasized by W.
von Humboldt, that by means of the comparison of languages
the pronominal roots are always found to be the very oldest
and most primitive elements of the various languages and of
human speech, and indeed above all the roots of the personal
pronouns. In this, then, we have also a new confirmation of*
what we have said in § 49 about the origin of language, and
against the naturalistic and materialistic explanation thereof.
The origin of language is dependent upon personal conscious
ness, self-consciousness in the sense of § 57.
From the agglutinative stage there were two possible ways
along which the course of development might be continued.
(1.) The ever-recurring pronominal suffixes of nouns of action,
of verbal nouns, and the likewise recurring suffixes of direction,
of names of things, might be abbreviated into unaccented ter
minations,1 and thus the pronoun of the object for a noun of
action would be altogether disused as superfluous. Instead of
ta-bhandsh-tam, manu-sa, druma-im, we now say bhandsha-ta
(later bhandshati) manus drumam, which in Sanscrit means,
" The man breaks the tree." The noun of action is formed into
a conjugated verb, the noun that designates a thing into a de
clined substantive, and thus every word of such a kind has its
relation to the other words expressed in its own grammatical
construction, the drawback of a slavish grammatical order of
words was overcome, and that freedom of rhetorical and poetic
arrangement of words secured which has been most thoroughly
developed in the Latin language, and contributes so largely to the
beauty and the pre-eminence of the languages of the old cultured
Indo-Germanic races. The Teutonic languages, and still more
the Romance languages, in their recurrence to a grammatically
determined order of words, represent a certain retrogression,
and in such a sentence as c'est ce que je vous ai dit, the French
is scarcely to be distinguished from an agglutinative language.
(2.) The pronominal suffix and the suffix of direction might,
instead of being abbreviated and combined with the word, be
1 In the language of the Aztecs and in that of the Delaware Indians
this process is seen in a merely initial stage.
28 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 264.
wholly removed, and might wholly give over to the arrangement
of the words the expression of the relation of the ideas with one
another. Language now no longer portrays the action to him
to whom it is told, but puts before the hearer only the material
of the conception rationally arranged, in order that he by the
exercise of reason may form a conception of the action for him
self. In the language of the Barmans this process is not yet
• absolutely completed. It forms out of synonymous monosyllabic
roots actual compounds, inasmuch as it changes the initial
mute of the second word into a sounded syllable. It has also
such a wealth of particles, that by means of them and of pro
nouns it can sufficiently and clearly express the persons, tenses,
numbers, and words of the verb. The Chinese language, again,has
carried out the principle of isolating, or monosyllabism, with
that strict intellectual consistency characteristic of the Chinese
'people. Obs. 2. — A. Primitive roots which occur in various families
of languages : — To take, grasp : Turkish kap, tschap, Mongolian
ap, Latin capere, etc. — Breath, life, soul, spirit : Finnic henka,
angga (to breathe), Tsherimis language jang (soul), Mongolian
angki-l (to smell, inhale), changgu-la (to sniff), amin (life) ;
Mongolian and Tungusic onggo-d (spirits), ong-char (to recog
nise), ong-si (to rehearse) ; Turkish ang (to remember), originally
connected with Sanscrit anas, breath, anilas, wind, &vepos, animus,
Old High German unst. — To turn,to revolve: Mandshurian chorgi
(gur, land), Mongolian chorijan, court, kiirdu, wheel, Susmi her,
kier, to move around ; Hungarian Mr, circle, kor, course of time,
koros, old ; Turkish kura, court, kari, old ; Finnic Mom, to turn,
karmet, serpent ; comp. Mongolian and Turkish ordu, tent-circle,
camp, Turkish orta, middle. Originally connected with ipxog,
i'ipyu, Lat. circus, Old High German cherjan. — Mother, wife :
Mongolian erne, wife, Mandshu. ama, mother, amu, aunt, sister-in-
law, erne, mother, mama, grandmother, Finnic emi, emo, mother,
em, im, to suck ; Turkish meme, breasts, Tshuvash anja, and
Mandshu. enie, mother. Originally connected with md in mdtr,
tmrno, mater, mamma, Old High German muader, muoter ; also
with the Basque emea, wife.— Flame of fire, Mongolian chahsa
hardened by fire, Mandshu. dschak-sannga, red, Chinese tsse, red,
Lapp kwohso, down, comp. m/M.- Water, Finnic wesi, viz'vete,
Hungarian uss, Mongolian usun, UuP, Latin udor, Slavic 'voda,
Old High German wazar, etc.
B. Of such primitive roots, however, there are many which
are not found in one of the two groups of languages. Thus the
root that lies in in, Ipoc,, is only met with in the Ugro-Finnic
group : Finnic wuori, Tungusic uro, urjo. So, too, the root pre
sent in the Latin jacere, Lapp jdwat, to spread out, jdwatak,
cushion, bolster, Turkish jatak, bolster, jat, to lie Finnic wuot ¦
§ 264.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 29
bed, wat, to throw, Turkish at, to throw. On the other hand, the
roots that underlie hOlen, Latin edere, to eat, appear only in
Mongolian in ide, to eat, which first passed over into Turkish
and Hungarian in the Middle Ages, when it appears in Hun
garian as et, to eat, and in Turkish as et-mek, bread, whereas the
Ugro-Finnic languages have another root SE, perhaps partially
connected with the former, Mandshu. Ashe, Finnic syo, Yakut
se, Tshuvash si. The root underlying the word to see, Goth.
saivjan, exists only in Finnic and Esthonian szem, silm (see
under E) ; in Mongolian it" is wanting. On the other hand,
chair, Mongol, for stone, Turkish kyr (v.t'o(i\, Sansc. tschr) — kira,
Mongol, for mountain ridge, Mandshu. gira, bones, Hungarian
gerentz, ridge of the back (Middle High German grdt, Grat,
Grate) — bejna, Mongol, for sound, Latin bonus — se Mongol, for
thou, Greek au, — are wanting in the Ugro-Finnic languages. In
the Mongolian again are wanting : kuul, Finnic to hear, chorwa,
ear, Ostiak chol, Vogul jul, Turkish hulak, and chulga, ear, Tun
gusic korot, ear (Sanscrit gru, -/.Xuiii, Celtic cual, cluinn, Old High
German hdrjan).
C. The verbal stems, which the Mongols in a remote
antiquity appropriated to themselves from the Ugro-Finnic
languages, are very numerous ; for example, to ask : Mongol.
asak, Lapp jasko ; to flow : Finnic wirta, Turkish eri, to melt,
ir-mak, stream, Mongol, ur-us, flowing 'water; an oath, to
swear: Esthonian wand, Mongol, andaghar, Turkish and;
fine : Finnic arka, tender, Turkish aryk, slender, Lapp njuor,
tender, Mongol, nar-in, fine, wise, Mandshu. narchun, thin ;
sympathy: Lapp njuor, Mongol, ttre; small: the diminutive
affix kenne, ken, kun, gun, gen, is common to the Ugro-Finnic
and Mongolian languages, as also to the Dutch ; firm, strong :
Finnic jirka (also steep), Turkish iri, firm, Mongol, erki, steep ;
red : Finnic weri, blood, Ostiak wyry, red, Mongol, jurte, to
redden, Mandshu. kira, red.
D. Still more significant is the fact _ that we have a consider
able number of roots and word stems which are found either
only in the Ugro-Finnic languages, including the mixed dialects
of the Tungus and Mandshurians, or only in the Mongolian
language, and the Turkish as affected by it in the Middle Ages.
(a) The following roots are strictly confined to the Ugro-Finnic
languages : — to sing : Finnic wiru, Turkish ir ; girdle, haunch :
Finnic wyo, Turkish ui-luk ; thief, to steal : Finnic warka, woru,
Yakut or, Turkish oghur; reindeer: Finnic poro, Lapp ron,
Tungusic irum, Mandshu. iren, oron (comp. Scand. ren) ; early :
Mandshu. nergin, Turkish erken ; to rain : Lapp okte, Mandshu.
aga, Turkish jagh ; to build, to adorn : Finnic koria, Turkish
kor, kurghan, etc. (b) The following belong exclusively to
the Mongolian languages : — Man : Mongol, ere, Mandshu. eru,
30
HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES.
[§ 264.
Turkish er (comp. Latin vir, Celtic fir, Old High German wer) ;
sister: Mongol, eke-tschi, Tungusic akin, Yakut akas; nose:
Mongol, chabar, Kalmuck chamar, Mandshu. oforo, orro, Tun
gusic ongokto, okto, Turkish murun, burun; bones: Mongol.
omok, Turkish sumuk, kemiik, Tshuvash schunu, Yakut ungoch
(comp. Old High German knoche); horde : Mongol, and Tungusic
aimak; to bury: Mandshu. somi, Turkish kum ; flesh: Tungusic
nila, vita, Mandshu. jali, Tshuvash jut (ixomjult), etc.
E. This becomes specially remarkable when it is seen that
peoples who have been untouched by the Mongols actually
employ another root to express the same idea. For example :—
Father: (a) Ugro-Finnic root ise, Lapp attsche, Mongol, etsi;
(b) Mongolian root aba, abu, Tsherimis and Tshuvash aba,
mother, Turkish baba, father, Mandshu. mafa, grandmother;
red: Finnic puna; on the other hand, Mongol, ula-gahn,
Tungusic kula-rin, Mandshu. fulgian. Mouth: Finnic suu;
on the other hand, Mongol, ama, Tungusic amga, Yakut hamun,
Tirianian worn, Turkish anggir, jangir, and tschangir, to cry ;
to see: Finnic and Esthonian szem, eye, silm; on the other
hand, Mongol, chara, connected with opav, kara, to foresee,
Yakut charak (karak, eye), Turkish Mra, Mr; to eat (see
above under B) ; to drink : Finnic juo, hence jauma, a drink,
md is the borrowed syllable, Lapp jukka and tschuoke, to soak,
Turkish jut, adopted into Mongolian ughu ; on the other hand,
the Chinese dialects: jam, modern Chinese jen, in, Mongol.
um-tan, a drink, Tungusic omi, to drink, with the radical m ;
to rejoice: Finnic ilo, Mandshu. ilga; on the other hand,
even if originally related, Mongol, dshir, ir, Mandshu. urgun,
Hungarian orom, orul, Turkish ir-mek ; heaven : Finnic minia,
Hungarian meng; on the other hand, Mongol, koke, Mandshu.
kuku, Kamtskadal kagal, Turkish gok, Hungarian kek. Specially
deserving of notice are the personal pronouns : —
Mongol.
.Mandshu.
Turkish.
The Ugro-Finnic.
I
bi
bi
be-n
en (Samoede, man)
Thou
tzin
ozi
se-n
te, de
He
e
i
(ol)
s, a
We
bi-da
be
biz
mi,mek (Samoede,
mende)
You
ta
sue
siz
dek tek (Samoede,
tende)
They
ede
dshe
(on-lar)
-k, sek, vok (Sa
moede, tin)
§ 264.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 31
F. On the other hand, there exist certain words similarly
pronounced (homonyms) which have, nevertheless, in the two
groups of languages fundamentally different significations, and
are thus of different origin. For example, el in Finnic means
to live, and in Hungarian 41 has the same meaning; on the
other hand, in Mongolian el means peace, in Hungarian el-eg,
satisfying, sufficient, in Mandshu. elche, nelche, means peace.
In Finnic and Hungarian fej means head, Turkish basch is
head ; in Mandshu. feje is wound, and in Turkish basch is
wound. G. In the words for heaven, as well as in the homonymous
words el, we see that in the Ugrian languages two different
synonymous or homonymous words lie alongside of one another,
but the latter are distinguished in pronunciation (41 and el).
The case is similar in regard to the Turkish. Originally
Ugro-Finnic roots, which as such are also present in Turkish,
which, however, already in primitive times had been borrowed
from the Mongols, came, in the Middle Ages, in consequence
of that linguistic change which they had suffered from the
Mongols, to be regarded by the Turks as foreign words. For
example, Finnic jauko, Turkish jygh, to accumulate, was in use
among the Mongols as tschuk, much, Mandshu. tschoocha, crowd,
and this passed over again into Turkish in the form of tschok,
much. Similarly, the Turkish jak, to kindle, jahty, bright,
Lapp tsake, to burn, Hungarian ek, to burn (eg, heaven),
Mandshu. jacha, glowing coal. Among the Mongols the root
took the form tschok,1 tschakil, to lighten, tschaki, to strike fire,
and then tschok, to strike fire, was borrowed again by the Turks
as a foreign word.
Unless this note is to be allowed to swell up into a volume,
I must select just a few from the hundreds of examples that
might be given ; but what have been adduced may suffice to
illustrate the correctness of the view set forth in the section
to which these observations are appended. The Mongolian
and Ugro-Finnic groups of languages are like two streams
which two thousand years ago overflowed one another's banks
and got their waters mixed. That, notwithstanding, they should
still show evident traces of their original linguistic diversity, is
more than could be expected. Under division D, I might, had
space been allowed me, besides the thirteen examples given,
have adduced eighty-eight other similar instances ; and under
1 Similarly, among the Lapps we find that an initial.;' is quite readily
transformed into ts or tsch; for example, tschdke, to accumulate, from
jauk; tschuok, light, iromjak; but it is remarkable that it is not from
the Lapps, but from the Mongols, that the Turks have received those
modified constructions.
32 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 264.
division A, I might easily have given a dozen more. In many
cases under division E, the changes in pronunciation show that
the one root was originally Ugrian and the other originally
Mongolian. Thus, for the word " to go," we have the Mongolian
voot jabu (Mandshu. jabu,jo, Hungarian jo, to come, Turkish
jol, a way) ; but alongside of it an Ugrian root, Turkish jurih,
Mongol, dshurtschi, Mandshu. dshura, where the transformation
of the j into the squeezing sound indicates the course along
which it has travelled (comp. Schott, p. 380). In a similar
way the Lapp jurte, to think, Turkish jiirek, spirit, Mongol.
dshurik, spirit, will, dshuri, are determined. Also, Turkish
joba, to be in travail, Mongol, dshoba, pain. Also, Lapp kawa,
to bend, Finnic kawala, crooked, koje, bending, Mongol, chadsha,
crooked, etc. In like manner the investigation of the changes
in pronunciation in division A teaches us to recognise a
primitive relationship. In the Ugro-Finnic languages, w some
times passes over into k (Schott, p. 382). Thus in Finnic we
have for turn (German wenden), wadnd, and also the form
kadnt ; and in Mongol, we have chantu, which is allied to the
Gothic vandjan, Old High German wendjan. There is also an
evident connection between wulu, bulu, hair, in the Malayan
languages, and the Gothic vulla, the Old High German wolla
(wool), Lapp kwol-ga, Mongol, and Turkish Ml, hair of animals.
In regard to division C, it should be observed that many stems
originally Ugrian have become modified in signification among
the Mongols, by means of which they clearly enough give
evidence of their non-Mongolian derivation. In the Finnic
and Magyar languages, koyda, kot, is to bind, koyte is a cord,
perhaps originally connected with Latin catena. The Mongols
evidently adopt the noun as it stands, and make therefrom the
verb kiite, to lead an animal with a cord. Amon^ the mixed
race of the Mandshurians both words are brought together
again; chuaita, to bind, and kutele. The Finns say neitid,
moist (German nass, Old High German nazi), Magyar nete,
moist, Lapp njuos-ka, moist, fresh, Turkish jasch, fresh, hence
tascha, to live ; in this derivative sense the word passed over
to the Mongols as nasu, age, or stage of life. On the other
hand, the word nara, the sun, is wanting in the Ugro-Finnic
languages, and so is originally Mongolian, and it has passed
over into Turkish and Hungarian in the derivative sense of
summer, Magyar nyar, Turkish jar. In reply to those who do
not concern themselves with details about the so-called Altaic
languages, I observe, in conclusion, that in the above investiga
tion I have not taken into account any etymological connections
between words of the Altaic languages which have not been
already proved as such by Schott in the work to which refer
ence has been made.
§ 265.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 33
§ 265. Buddhism among the Mongolian Tribes.
Before entering upon our investigation into the primitive
religions of the Mongolian races, it is indispensably necessary
that we should endeavour to acquaint ourselves with the form
in which Buddhism was first received among these people. In
§ 206 we followed its fortunes in the land of its birth. The
panacea for mankind had been found, and was practically
applied to the life, pantheism was carried out to its ultimate
consequence, the wish of D. Fr. Strauss was already realized
twenty-three centuries before his day : miracle was divorced
from religion, and priesthood from the religious community ;
without any priestly interference, any one might surrender
himself to the confession that he is a moment in the self-
developing process of the unconscious absolute, and will
infallibly lose himself in the universal negation. This doctrine
spread with gigantic strides ; with truly fanatical zeal it was
preached to the peoples of Asia by hundreds, yes, by thousands
of missionaries. Upper India received it with open arms ;
and in the last century before Christ it had won possession
of the countries west of Tibet, Cashgar, Khotan, and Yarkand.
About A.D. 500 the whole of Higher Asia lying south of Gobi
was already under the sway of Buddhism, and a hundred years
later, the Emperor Srongdsan Gambo of Tibet, when he had
given political unity to the kingdom, completed his work by
the introduction of Buddhism. When, in the beginning of the
1 0th century, owing to a reaction on the part of the adherents
of the old national religion, the Tibetan dynasty was over
thrown, and a dreadful persecution of Buddhists set in, this
only gave occasion for its further spread. Those who were
driven forth began to proclaim their doctrines in the north,
as far as Japan, where at least a great portion of the in
habitants adopted the new faith. Buddhism had been intro
duced into China in B.C. 65 ; and in a.d. 648,Hiouen-Thsang
made the distribution of Buddhist literature throughout the
empire his special life-task. In a.d. 1200, the Lama Oshu
EBRARD III. C
34 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 265.
Adhisha again restored Buddhism in Tibet, and in the
13 th century this religion was carried thence among the
Mongols, in the strict sense of the word ; and after Genghis
Khan had adopted it in a.d. 1247, it soon became (about a.d.
1260) the national religion.
It may now be asked : How far has pantheism preserved
its much lauded excellences in this religion ? History makes
answer thus : It has appeared in the form of absolute im
potence in religious, intellectual, and moral relations. A
David Fr. Strauss .of the 5th century was immediately
followed by a crowd of Vischers, who were convinced that
halting half way was not at all such a bad thing, but that
rather it was absolutely necessary for the people,1 and that we
must leave to the masses their faith in the gods. Connivance
with polytheism was the universal characteristic of Buddhism.
A more thoroughgoing contrast is nowhere to be found in
history than that which exists between this Buddhism and the
gospel, as in the first centuries after Christ, and now again in
modern missionary enterprise.2 Like a pungent salt, the gospel
purged out all the filth of polytheistic superstition, and in the
power of the living God overcame heathenism and overthrew it ;
whereas the pantheism of Buddhism was never able to conquer
heathenism, but, like a wet wrapper, clung round every form of
polytheism, and thus became itself often thoroughly polytheistic,
adapting itself even to the crudest forms of pagan belief. Thus
in India, its own proper home, it accommodated itself in order
to win the people, so as to admit into its system the worship
1 Vischer, kritische Gange, Heft 6, " Alter und neuer Glaube."
2 On the other hand, the degraded, paganized Christianity of the
Eomish Church has, besides other striking resemblances to Buddhism,
shown this tendency to connive with heathen superstition and poly
theism. The whole system of saint- worship in the Church of Eome has
its origin essentially in such a connivance (compare the letter of Gregory
the Great to the British Missionary Augustine in Bede, i. 30, and my own
Kirchen^ und Dogmengeschichte, i. p. 438). One is also reminded of the
Jesuit missions to China and Malabar (see the same work, iii. p. 678 f.)
where the Jesuit Nobili expressed himself in favour of 'the idea of a
bodily return of the god Brahma.
§ 265.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 35
of Indra along with a multitude of Indian gods and demi-gods
and legendary heroes. This strange amalgam was then
introduced by Buddhism into Higher India and Tibet. In
China, Ceylon, and among the Mongols, a similar connivance
with local beliefs was exercised ; and thus Buddhism has as
many forms as there are countries into which it has been
introduced. In China it was reduced to a dry rationalistic
philosophical system, that it might be conformed as far as
possible to the system of Confucius. In the empire of
Mongolia nothing was left that was characteristic of Buddhism,
but an external ceremonial, wherein in a masked form the old
Mongolian religion was reproduced.1
We are now in a position to advance to a study of its inner
and essential development. Just as with David Fr. Strauss
the craving for some sort of worship, after the divine object of
worship had been removed, sought out earthly objects, and had
recourse to a worship of genius, so also it happened in the case
of the Buddhists. Sakya-Muni was himself the genius who
pre-eminently received their adoration ; in him the impersonal
absolute had reached the highest stage of his self-developing
process. So far back, then, as the period between 400 and
100 B.C., the name of Sakya-Muni had become the subject and
centre of a cycle of myths, wherein he was straightway
elevated to the rank of a divine being. He is to descend
upon India from Damba-Togar, the abode of the gods, in the
form of an elephant, and to enter into the womb of Queen
Maha Madsha ; so soon as born, he is to pass through the
whole world in seven steps, he is to enter into marriage, but
during his thirty years' life he is to pass his time in penitential
exercises ; the King of the Apes (very suitably) declares his
reverence for him, a raging elephant is pacified by him, fair
maidens, who are brought to him inflamed with the passion of
1 " The influence of the Chinese on the Mongols is everywhere the
same. It may be described as in the first instance a demoralizing, and
then a civilising influence." Thus writes, though with immediate
reference to the present, Prejevalsky in his Travels in Mongolia, p. 202,
who otherwise ranks Buddhism and Confucianism high above Christianity.
36 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 265.
love, are persuaded by him to enter on the life of nuns.
While the Brahmans of India during those last centuries
before Christ contrived their philosophical notion of the
Trimurti, according to which Brahma as the absolute manifests
himself in Vishnu, the creator of matter or the water-god, and
in Siva, the destroyer of matter or the fire-god, Buddhism
brought forth its doctrine of a Trimurti in quite another form ;
the deified Sakya-Muni, under the name of Buddha or
Gautama, called in China and among the Mongols Fo, his
doctrine designated Dharma or the law, and the Buddhist
priesthood, Sangha, form all that now remains as an object of
worship. This, however, was the esoteric doctrine ; alongside
of this- there was still allowed, as we have said, to the masses
the entire accumulation of their polytheistic belief. As might
be expected, there is no lack of theoretical attempts to bring
these two into harmony. It is this that brings to view the
impotence of Buddhism from an intellectual point of view.
The question as to how the world had its origin was solved in
a way which strikingly reminds us of the atomistic material
ism of our own times. The world had its origin from the
aggregation of elements. First a great wind blew ; by this
means the atmospheric particles were gathered together; in
the midst of these a cloud arose, and out of its rain the sea
was produced, and upon the surface of the sea the dry land
appeared like cream on milk. The several atoms are here
evidently assumed to be the primitive existences, for they
do not need first to be originated, but only to be gathered
together. In the beginning all was light, but then arose a
thought, and this produced the false light, darkness. The
subjectively self-conscious is thus regarded as evil and
destructive. According to other schools, for Buddhism was
split up into many sects and parties, over matter there existed
a world of spirits, who by degrading themselves by contact
with matter fell, and thus were made to assume the form of
personal existence. Personality or self-consciousness is thus
evidently regarded as a function of matter ! Upon earth,
§ 265.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 37
besides men and animals there are good spirits and Asurs,
half-evil spirits, and under the earth there are wholly evil
spirits. Indra is enthroned on Mount Sumeru in his own
special heaven, called by the Mongols Churmusta.1 Four
heavens lying below this mountain, and four wrapped in the
clouds above the heaven of Indra, in each of which resides a
spirit-prince, form with it the nine heavens of delights. The
spirits inhabiting these marry and are given in marriage.
Above these are three heavens, in which there is the ordeal of
fire ; in the three succeeding these there are still storms and
perturbations of mind ; in the next three there are still
separate sensations and thoughts. Finally, there come six
heavens, in which all feeling and sensation is utterly dead,
and the essential nature of all as they are in themselves is
shown. Above these eighteen " coloured " heavens there are
thus, finally, those six " colourless " heavens, in which all
knowledge and consciousness cease, and utter annihilation
or Nirvana (§ 205) is reached. At last the whole world
together with all the heavens will be destroyed and pass into
nothingness. Every man has to make his way through these
heavens to this goal ; to be is pain, not to be is the one true
happiness, — the Schopenhauer-Hartmann practical conclusion
of Hegelianism, for there is nothing new under the sun.
It was a true practical instinct that led the Buddhists to
assign this process of gradual self-extinction, not to the earthly
life, but to that which is beyond. In this way there was
preserved for the earthly life a bright page of existence free
from care. Buddhism has given forth some moral precepts,
since during the present life such cannot altogether be dis
pensed with. These indeed are few in number. The pro
hibition against killing man is extended into a prohibition
against killing any living thing. The Buddhist finds vermin
on his body ; he wraps it up carefully in cotton, or pushes it
1 The nine legendary tales of Siddi-Khur have been issued in Mongolian
with a German translation by Bernhard Jiilg, published at Innsbruck
1868. See p. 181.
38 HALF- CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 265.
off unnoticed upon his companion. In Higher and Further
India there are to be found as Buddhist institutions great
hospitals for the treatment of sick animals ; but miserable sick
men are left untended. The institution of caste continues in
all its severity. There is no command of mercy ; the pro
hibition against killing any living creature is regarded as
sufficient. Further, stealing, lying, and drunkenness are
forbidden ; also men are warned against becoming the slaves
of lust. This last injunction, just precisely as in the Romish
Church, is intended in the sense of giving a special honour to
the life of celibacy. Marriage and property are denied to the
priesthood, also sharing in dances and music, and dyeing of the
hair and skin ; set hours for eating, too, are prescribed for
them. It is meritorious for a layman to give a present to the
priests. But where do the priests come from ? Had not
Sakya-Muni divorced priesthood from religion ? Even at this
point pantheism has shown its impotency. Buddhism here
appears inconsistent with its own principles. Deliverance
from all priestly interference had been promised, and instead
of this a guardian-like position is assigned to the priesthood,
which has the closest resemblance to that of the Romish
Church, and is even brought to a point in a way similar to
that of the Papacy. At the outset there was the hope of
speedily reaching Nirvana, which induced hundreds and
thousands to abandon marriage and property and to live as
beggars. These holy penitents soon came to be regarded as
priests of Buddha, called in other regions Jainas, and in Tibet
and among the Mongols, Lamas. They gathered together in
cloisters under abbots called Gurus ; they preached with zeal
the Buddhist doctrine. The burying of the dead, the educa
tion of the youth, were by and by assigned to them. Rapidly
these communities developed into an elaborately arranged
hierarchy, consisting mostly of three orders, but among the
Mongols of four. This soon led to the opinion that the priest
has to perform the duties of religion for the laymen, and thus
religion was reduced to a mere mechanical thing. This shows
§ 265.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 39
itself most conspicuously in the way in which the meritorious
duty of prayer is discharged. The form of prayer is written
on a slip of paper, this is fixed on a round, stick and is turned
about for a long while. And since even this takes up too
much time and is inconvenient, the little stick is often set as
the axle of a small water-wheel and then put in a brook,
and thus the water performs the devotional duties of the
worshipper. Among Chinese Buddhists, offerings consist of
strips of gold-paper, which are burnt.
In Tibet for the last four hundred years, as is well known,
the priesthood has had its head in the Dalai-Lama at H'lassa,
who is looked upon as the representative of Buddha on the
earth, and as the incarnation of a spiritual prince, Bodhisattwa.
This Buddhist papacy is of Mongolian origin. In A.D. 1260,
the Khan Batu, uncle of Genghis Khan, set up, after the
pattern of the strict monarchical system that prevailed in the
political constitution of the empire, a supreme Lama (Khubil-
ghan) over the Lamas of his domiriion. And just as in India,
with its polytheism, the images of the gods were put under
Buddhist protection, and were introduced into Buddhist
worship, so in the Mongolian empire, made up of a mixture of
Mongolian and Tartar tribes, the whole system of magic and
necromancy was readily incorporated. And if Buddhism
boasts that it has rendered nations gentler, and has vanquished
in them the thirst for blood, there is in the history of the
Mongols nothing to warrant such a claim. They were, after
the year 1247, the same savage and bloodthirsty robbers and
murderers as before (see § 266). In this kingdom, during the
15th century, the Lama priesthood split up into two parties, —
the red-caps, who allowed the lower orders of their priests to
marry, and the yellow-caps, and between these there was a
bitter and bloody strife. The yellows renounced the authority
of the Mongolian Khubilghan, and put themselves under the
Dalai-Lama of Tibet. These two are set over against one
another to the present time as opposing sects. The Chinese
Buddhists belong to the yellow faction. The Buddhism of
40 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 265.
to-day has assumed in every respect the quality of a worship
of the idols of the land.1 Among the Barmans polygamy and
polyandry is allowed by law, and they have reduced lying to
a system as thoroughly as the Brahmans of Further India.2
In Japan, not merely with the connivance of the Buddhist
priests, but organized and zealously and actively conducted
by them as a lucrative business, prostitution is pursued
under State regulation ; 3 and, indeed, under the influence of
Buddhism it has been developed into a regular phallic
worship in the temples.4 This is the noble result of pan
theism as a world-purifying power in Buddhism.
1 On Buddhism in Higher India, compare Basler Miss. Mag. 1837, H. 2.
On Ceylon, 1839, H. 4. Of the Cingalese, Ed. Hildebrandt (Reise urn die
Erde, 4th ed. Berlin 1873, i. 58) writes : "I have often given attention
in order to see if I could discover in the countenance of suppliants any
trace of inner spiritual feeling. In vain ; there was to be observed in
them just as little discontent or dissatisfaction with the Sansaras, this
present world, as hope of the eternal peace of Nirvana. It was only
my worldly rupees that always kept the pious Cingalese in the best
spirits." 2 Heifer's Reisen in Vorderasien und Indien, ii. 86 and 95.
3 Ed. Hildebrandt, Reise urn die Erde, ii. 85 ff. In Yeddo there were,
in 1869, no less than 3289 public prostitutes (von Kudriaffsky, Japan, p.
108). That the Japanese for the most part marry their wives from among
the prostitutes is doubted, in so far as men of good position are concerned,
by Al. von Hiibner (Spazierg. um die Welt, i. 342), but is affirmed by
E. von Hildebrandt with regard to those of the lower orders, who also are
devotees of Buddhism. Wernich doubts even this, but admits that in
youths of eighteen years a quite unreasonable lust is awakened which is
satisfied in brothels, so that young men of from eighteen to twenty-five
years appear half -grizzled elderly men ; further, that it is a duty to
protect sailors of ships trading with Japan because of the State-sanctioned
vice through the establishment of brothels, and that, according to official
reports, on twenty-five ships with 2740 men, thirty-five were daily
incapacitated from work on account of syphilitic diseases ; further,
that in the higher ranks marriages are concluded only for five years,
in the lower ranks for even a shorter time. On the other hand, what
will it signify though adultery by the woman is threatened by law with
death, and though an old law, that has long passed into desuetude, that
youths should marry in their sixteenth year? Compare also Kreitner,
zurfernen Osten, pp. 235-276.
4 Hildebrandt, Reise um die Erde, ii. 101.
§ 266.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 41
§ 266. The Ancient Religion of the Mongols.
.Those who use the name Mongols as interchangeable with
that of Tartar are wont to appeal to the fact that Genghis
Khan doomed to death those found guilty of witchcraft and
soothsaying, and enacted by law that all his subjects should
believe in the creator of heaven and earth,1 as a proof that
the same Shamanism must have prevailed among the Mongols
as did among the Ugro-Tartar tribes. It is, however, quite
evident that Genghis Khan, who never advanced any preten
sion to be regarded as a founder of a religion, did not intend
by that law to take away from his Mongolian subjects their
earlier religion and substitute another in its place, but rather
simply to introduce the religion of his own superior race into
the conquered domains of the Kirghiz, Nigurs, Merkites of
the Altaian group, Turks, etc., and thus to extirpate the
Shamanism that was offensive to the Mongols. It might
therefore be assumed beforehand that the Mongols had believed
in the creator of heaven and earth, and that they were not
addicted to Shamanism. Both of these positions can be sup
ported by direct evidence. The Franciscan Johannes Plankar-
pinus, who was sent in a.d. 1246 by Innocent IV. to the
Grand Khan of the Mongols, relates,2 that they believed in a
creator of all things, whom they called Nagatai, naga corre
sponding to ngangnjd in Tungusic and inikch in Aleutian,
meaning heaven, and tai corresponding to the Chinese lab,
god (comp. diva, Gothic tius). To this god, however, they did
not render any special worship. Alongside of him they
had guardian deities of their tents and herds;3 a wooden image
of such deities stood in every tent covered with silk cloth,
placed also on a special decorated car. If an ox was slain, its
heart was placed before the image as an offering, and was left
lying there till the following day. Of the mare's milk, which
1 Ssanang Sseten, p. 393. Timoffsky's Reise, iii. 182.
2 See de Guignes, allg. Geschichte der Hunnen und Twken, iii. p. 7.
3 Oeggo-d, spirits, from the root ang, ong ; see § 264, Obs. 2.
42 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 266.
they drink, and the flesh, which they eat, they first take a
portion and besmear therewith the mouth of the idol. They
worship these images kneeling.1 In front of the Khan's tent
stands a costly decorated image. Plankarpinus tells also of a
god Fo, who was from a southern land. This is Buddha,
whose religion (§265) had even then begun to spread among
the Mongols. Traces of Buddhism appear in the prohibition
against killing young birds ; the Buddhist missionaries, how
ever, were not able to extend the prohibition to the slaying of
all animals in dealing with a nomadic race which lived by the
rearing of cattle. Other customs and laws, which Plankar
pinus speaks about, appear, on the other hand, to be purely
Mongolian ; for example, the prohibition against leaning on a
whip, spitting out chewed flesh, spilling milk, easing nature
within a dwelling, putting an iron vessel upon the fire, beating
a horse with the bridle, or sending it without a halter into a
meadow. All these were forbidden on pain of death ; if any
of these faults had been unintentionally committed, it might
be atoned for by a fine and a ceremony of purification by fire,
All these precepts bear the character rather of a reasonably
severe police arrangement than that of a religious system.
Those guardian deities, however, seem to us of special interest,
inasmuch as they were evidently family gods, being placed not
in common public sanctuary, but in every tent ; and this will
be confirmed by reports obtained from other quarters. After
the death of Genghis Khan a monument was placed over his
tomb, and round about it eight sanctuaries were built, where
his followers should be obliged to render him worship ; 2 this
reverence being claimed by him, not as prince of the nation,
1 D'Hossom gives Tangri as the name of the creator of the world, and
ongon as that of the images of the guardian deities. As he mentions no
authorities, and manifestly confounds what is Tartarian and what is
Mongolian, his assertions are of no great weight. The name tangri may
either be the Tartarian appellative for heaven, tengri (see § 264 under 6), or
may be the result of a confusion with the tegris or ancestral spirits of the
Mongols. 2 Ssanang Sseten, pp. 109 and 389.
§ 266.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 43
but as the ancestor of their race. Now this could not have
been done unless the worship of ancestry prevailed among the
Mongols ; and that such a custom was actually prevalent, and
that ancestors of both sexes were appealed to for protection
and assistance, the document referred to explicitly declares.1
When the Mongolian empire came to an end in A.D. 1368,
and Buddhism was with it overthrown, the old national
religion was revived, until Dajan again restored Buddhism in
a.d. 1578. During this period, as in former times, an offering
(choilga) was brought to the spirit of the departed (tegri),
consisting of horses and camels, which were slain and buried
with the deceased ; but sometimes also men, and especially
children, were sacrificed. It seems now quite evident that
those images in the several tents were nothing else than
images of the tegris, the ancestors of the race, whose spirits
were appealed to and worshipped as guardian spirits of the
family. In this respect the Mongolian people stand contrasted
with the Ugro-Tartar races generally ; for while the Ugro-
Tartar feared the spirits of the departed as vengeful ghosts, so
that he would not venture even once to mention their names
(§ 263), the Mongol regarded them as friendly guardian deities,
set up their images in his tent, worshipped them, and invoked
their help. We shall find this prevalence of a pious feeling
in regard to their ancestors to be thoroughly characteristic also
of other nations- belonging to the Mongolian family.
Belief in a creator of the world does not as such form any
distinction between the Mongolian and the Ugro-Tartar groups,
for we have already shown in § 263 that even among the
Ugro-Tartars there are evident traces of a primitive acquaint
ance with the idea of a creator. And yet even in respect of
this point there is a thoroughgoing difference in the form in
which this belief was adopted. We find among the Ugro-
Tartars, and even among the Finns, a perceptible tendency to
think of that creator after a purely anthropomorphic fashion ;
— among the Finns he is called " the old father ; " among the
1 Ssanang Sseten, pp. 109, 235, 249, 416.
44 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 266.
Votiaks and their neighbours he is spoken of as dwelling
under human conditions in the sun ; by the Teleutians he is
described as in the uniform of the dragoons. The Mongols,
on the other hand, have persistently conceived of their
Nagatai as a pure spirit, an incorporeal being, without material
form, raised beyond the reach of the senses, and dwelling far
away in an abstract distance. The same is also true in regard
to the Chinese.
A second point, in regard to which the Mongols would
seem at first sight to be at one with the Ugro-Tartars, but
occupy in fact quite a different position, has been referred to
in § 262 f. There the sun and the moon were raised as
near as possible to the creator, and the creator brought down
as near as possible to the sun, either as dwelling in it or as
wholly identical with it. Among the Mongolian races, one
might say, the creator stands rather in the wide expanse of
heaven, dwelling in an abstract distance above all that is
visible ; whereas the sun and moon are thought of as approach
ing near to man, like the ancestors of the ruling family, in
whom the nation itself is represented as an ideal unity, and
toward whom it regards itself as standing in a pious relation
of children to their parents. It is not only in China that the
Emperor bears the title Son of Heaven, Thiantse, but also the
Mongols, according to Plankarpinus, worshipped the moon,
and, indeed, the full moon, as the great queen j1 and the sun,
as the direct ancestor of the royal house. They possessed in
regard to this a very definite tradition.2 One of the ancient
Khans, Yulduz, had two sons, who died before him ; the one
left a son, Dedshunbajan, the other a daughter, Alankava.
Those two were married to one another ; the husband soon
died, after Alankava had borne him two sons, Baktut and
Balaktut, named by Marco Polo, who draws upon other sources,
1 De Guignes, Geschichte der Hunnen und Turken„iii. 8.
2 Abuabdallah Marrakeschi (im abmamalik), Mehemed bin Cavendshah
(called Miraconda), and Marco Polo, see in Petis, p. 11 ; D'Hossom, p. 21 ;
De Guignes, p. 11 f.
§ 266.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 45
Balgadai and Begdsadai. There appeared to the widow in her
chamber, while she lay once upon her bed, a clear shining ray
of light which three times encircled her breast ; according to
another account, it took the form of a beautiful orange-coloured
man : she became pregnant, was led before the judges, related
the phenomenon, and told that she had conceived three sons ;
if she should not bring forth three sons, she should then be
treated as an adulteress. She actually did bring forth three
boys, who were called nuranium, sons of light : Bokum katagun,
Boskin saldgi, and Buzend shir. The last of these was the
ancestor of Genghis Khan.
This tracing of their descent from the sun affords a very
striking contrast to the tracing of their descent by the Ugro-
Tartars from the wolf. It is nevertheless clear that the sun
legends of the Mongols, which we shall find recurring in the
traditions of the most varied nations of the Mongolian family,
has a purely polytheistic origin, just as the Phcenicio-Greek
legends related in § 250, Obs. 2, have their root in Phoenician
polytheism. If it had been the despotic patriarchal constitu
tion of the Mongolian people, together with their worship of
ancestry, that had led to the apotheosizing and tracing back to
the sun-god the descent of the ruling class in each of those
nationalities, then of necessity myths to this effect must have
been constructed. That the sun was regarded as a god,
though subordinate to the supreme god, is the one presup
position required for the production of such legends.
Finally, there are still some customs of the Mongols reported
by Marco Polo that may be mentioned. Ambassadors from
foreign nations were made to pass between two fires, to be
purified, before there could be any intercourse with them ; also
whoever was found in a tent that had been struck by lightning,
or in which a dead body had lain. Whoever had been present
at the death of a man, was unclean until the next new moon.
The dead was buried with his tent ; before him was placed a
table with flesh and mare's milk, and along with him a horse
saddled and bridled and a mare with her foal were buried : for
46 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 267.
the life to come was regarded as a continuation of the life that
now is. Polygamy was allowed ; adultery and impure relations
of unmarried persons were punished on discovery without more
ado with death. Among themselves the Mongols had never
any strife ; they never lied to and stole from one another ;
they practised free hospitality and benevolence. In regard to
strangers, they were allowed to indulge in all manner of decep
tion, and were bound by no contracts. The Khan exercised
unlimited jurisdiction; there was no private property apart
from him ; the people willingly and heartily submitted to his
authority.
§ 2C7. The Ancient Religions of Tibet, Higher India,
and Ceylon.
In Tibet, remnants of the primitive religions continued down
to A.D. 900 ; although very little more is known about them,
but that the priests were called bonbos, and formed a regularly
graded community, at the head of which were two chief
priests, a bonbo of heaven and a bonbo of earth.1 This leads to
the supposition that here also there was that separation between
the purely spiritual and invisible creator of the world, enthroned
in heaven, and a multitude of guardian spirits which had rule
over the earth. Then in Tibet, as in China, a worship of spirits
was prevalent in early times. The spirits in China, how
ever, will be shown in § 268 to be no Shamanistic hobgoblins
and ghosts, but friendly guardian spirits of their ancestors, as
among the Mongols. The same thing is illustrated by a further
circumstance. The population of the island of Ceylon 2 seems
to be wholly or partially of Mongol blood. In the inland
parts of the island there are independent tribes which have
remained uninfluenced by Buddhism. The references in the
songs of these tribes to Maha-Bambo as the name of a great
1 See Stuhr, Religionen des Orients, p. 262.
2 Compare on what follows, Stuhr, Religionen des Orients, p. 274 ff.
§ 267.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 47
guardian spirit,1 prove unmistakeably their connection, in
respect of race and of religion, with nations of the Mongolian
family ; and the existence of a regular intercourse between
Ceylon and Higher India in early times is also in other ways
quite demonstrable. In the religion professed by those tribes
in the present day, though doubtless now found in a very
corrupt form, of which we have detailed accounts given us by
Knox2 and by Davy,3 we have an extremely satisfactory
source of information regarding the early religion of those
nations. Those peoples believe in one supreme god, the
invisible creator of heaven and earth, whom they call Ossa
polla maupt Dio. Further, they worship the sun Irrihaumi,
and the moon Handahaumi,4 as a divine pair ; also four great
guardian spirits of the earth, enthroned on the mountain
peaks, pattinie ; a multitude of spirits of the woods and the
hills ; but, above all, the spirits of the departed, dajautas.
Each family erects a temple (kowilla, meaning perhaps place
of invocation ; comp. Mandshu. chula, Tungusic goli, to call, to
invoke, Mongol, choola, voice, throat) to its own dajauta,
where- the father of the family officiates as priest. These
temples are adorned with swords, battle-axes, arrows, and
shields, and the walls are painted with human figures in war
like attitudes. Here, too, we have the specific religious
patriotism of the Mongols, which seeks the aid of their
ancestors in their struggle against foreign tribes and nations.
In connection with every act of worship of the spirits there
was a magical performance carried out by those Cingalese,
which, however, had not the least resemblance to Shamanism.
The priestly head of the family laid on his shoulder one of the
1 In Tibet the word which designated god was applied to the priests,
who were called god's servants, god's men, the godly.
2 Knox, Historical Account of the Island of Ceylon.
3 Davy, Account of the Interior of Ceylon.
4 Great and small Son ! Iri is in Turkish great, compact, firm ; kenne
in all Mongolian and Ugrian languages is small ; Mongol, chomsa,
Mandshu. komso, small. Haumi may be Mongol, koioe, Tungus.
kunga, Chinese hdi, — son.
48 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 267.
sacred weapons hung up in the temple, and is thereby carried
away into an ecstasy in which he utters prophecies. The
origin of sicknesses is attributed to an angry guardian spirit ;
in order to discover who among them it is, recourse is had to an
oracle, — iron shears are hung to the strings of a bow, the
names of all the guardian spirits are called out in succession,
and that one at whose name the shears fall with a vibrating
motion is understood to be the angry spirit, and atonement is
made to him with offerings and wild dances and masquerades.
The dancers are called dshaddese or jakka dura. It is evident
that at the basis of this religious practice there lies an idea
completely different from that of Shamanism. A hobgoblin
to whose nature it belongs to do mischief, and a good guardian
spirit, who, because he has been wronged, temporarily chas
tises his charge, are two very different things. Neither should
we identify a magician by profession and a family chieftain as
hereditary priest.
In Cingalese legends and songs the word bambo often
means a dragon or snake, and so it seems that the guardian
spirits were conceived of as having the shape of a dragon or
serpent, and in earlier times were probably represented as such
in figures. The legends of the Aryan Indians tell of the
spread of a worship of Nat and Naga,1 spirits and serpents,
which in the earliest times had made its way through all the
southern parts of Further India;2 and this would lead to
the supposition that the Aryan population had been preceded
by a Mongolian. These Cingalese have also a system of star
observation, which, however, is of Chaldsean origin, and has
clearly come to them from the Aryan Indians, and at a later
period from the Arabians.3 Among those dwelling on the
*It should be noticed here that naga is a Sanscrit appellative for
serpent, and not at all a Mongolian proper name of the sun-god. The
name Nagatai has nothing to do with it.
2 The serpent king of the Indian legends, Karak6taka, springs un
doubtedly from a Mongolian origin, though not in name, yet certainly in
regard to character.
3 Stuhr, Religionen des Orients, p. 282 f.
§ 267.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 49
coasts of Ceylon the modern Aryan - Indian religion and
mythology have plainly been mixed up with their own primi
tive religion. From a corrupt form of Brahmanism they have
adopted the goddess Kali as Omawan ganama, the health-
god Kumaras, and a multitude of evil spirits, and all this
jumble they have mixed up with their idolatrous Buddhist
worship.1 When, again, we turn our attention to Tibet, we are told by
the inhabitants of this land that they have a traditioii2 to the
effect that their nation sprang, partly from the marriage of an
ape with a female hobgoblin, partly directly from the apes
who were instructed in agriculture by a great sage, whether
he was called Darwin is not said, in consequence of which
their tails became gradually shortened, their hair fell off, and
they began to speak. This tradition represents a stage
of scientific knowledge far too advanced to be regarded as a
genuine relic of antiquity. Jesting aside, it bears quite the
character of a Buddhist fable ; and that it is not of early
Mongolian origin appears from this, that among the Mon
golian nations there never appears any trace (§ 263, Obs.) of
a belief in a descent from animals ; but that Tartars should
be confined to the Brahmaputra is not in the least degree
possible. Of the old national religion of the peoples of Upper India
only a few vestiges remain. Long before Buddhism made its
appearance3 in its polytheistic modifications, these peoples
were under the spiritual influence of the Aryans of Further
India. It is all the more remarkable that those slight traces
exhibit the same characteristics as the old Mongolian religion.
The Barmans of the present time, although Buddhists, still
celebrate the full moon and the new moon,4 an evident
remnant of a primitive moon-worship. In Siam there has
1 Stuhr, Religionen des Orients, p. 278 ff. 2 Ibid. p. 261.
3 The image of the god Jamataga, which has been found in Nepaul,
with eight heads, thirty-six arms, and eighteen legs, proves the blending
there of the worship of Siva and Buddha. See Stuhr, p. 279.
4 Basler Miss. Mag. 1837, p. 219.
EBRARD III. D
50 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. I§ 267.
been maintained a special adoration of the departed, and belief
in their sheltering influence : the dead are burned with peculiarly
honourable rites ; but the body of a pregnant woman is buried,
and to the fetus in the mother's womb is ascribed a special
power for protecting against evil spirits. Whoever succeeds
in stealing such an undeveloped child from the grave, cuts off
its head, hands, and feet, fits them on to a stump of clay,
and sets up this image as a guardian deity in his temple.1
Throughout the whole of Anam and Cochin-China, where in
general Buddhism has made its way and prevails in the form
of the rudest idolatry, with a predominant fear of the evil spirits
of the Buddhist system (§ 265), ordinarily the spirits of the
departed are regarded as guardian spirits, and are profoundly
and earnestly honoured. Four times in the year are offerings
brought them.2
In all this we find an illustration of the old truth, that
when we go back to a remote antiquity we find, as the original
common possession of all peoples of the various groups of
nations, belief in the one invisible creator of heaven and earth,
that then there grew up in various forms a polytheistic deifica
tion of nature, — among the Mongols connected essentially with
ancestor-worship, among the Ugro-Tartars, on the other hand,
with animal-worship, — and in consequence thereof soothsaying
and witchcraft of various kinds were practised. Among the
Mongolian nations that have been hitherto spoken of, there has,
finally, to be added to all this deterioration that pestilential
and corrupting product of the foreign, Aryan-Indian cultured
race, Buddhism. The lowest depth of degradation is occupied
by the Khyeng, who inhabit the mountain region between
Aracan and Ava in Further India. With them religion has
been almost completely reduced to a system of soothsaying.
They have a priesthood under a spiritual chief, the passine,
1 Stuhr, Religionen des Orients, p. 297. Finlayson, Mission to Siam and
Hue, p. 238.
2 Hamilton, East India Gazetteer, p. 296 and p. 835 ; Barrow, Voyage to
Cochin-China, p. 232. The same four sorts of offerings are made in China ;
see § 268.
§ 267.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 51
a clear proof that in earlier times they had a religion. This,
however, has now shrunk up into the adoration of a big tree
called Subri, to which once a year they offer oxen and swine
and the thunder columns, that is, stones which they dig out of
the earth on places that have been struck by lightning. At
such places a pig and an ox are offered, and the stone that has
been dug up, which they regard as having fallen from heaven,
is given up to the passine as a charm against sickness. This
points to an earlier worship of a thunder-god ; and, in fact,
they tell of a god who dwells on a high, inaccessible mountain.1
The passine is consulted in regard to marriages in order to
secure good luck for him, and he is the arbiter in disputes.
Death is regarded as a joyful circumstance, and is celebrated
by festival, at which there is drinking, debauchery, and dancing;
the bodies of distinguished persons are burnt, others are buried,
, and watchers against evil spirits are placed at the grave.
Whoever has lost children and cattle, and gets befittingly
drunk over it, has the happy prospect for his soul of its being
turned, after death, into an ox or a pig.2 Of the Old Mongolian
religion there is here no trace to be seen. The adoration of
a sacred tree, the worship of the thunder-god (Indra), with his
dwelling on a high mountain, Sumeru (comp. § 265), the use
of Brahmanical customs in burning the bodies of the dis
tinguished, the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, and,
finally, the joy that is shown over death as marking a step in
the journey back to the universal primary being, — all this
shows clearly the presence, if not of Aryan-Indian influences,
pure or mixed, at least the operation of influences from the
Brahmanical Buddhism of Further India.
Obs. — The Karens dwelling in the mountains of the Burmese
empire are, according to their own traditions, immigrants from
the north, from a land where they possessed books ; and in spite
of their servile position under the Burmese, which has lasted
for centuries, they show traces of having had a higher civilisa
tion in their dress and customs (Heifer's Reisen, ii. 104), when
1 Basler Miss. Mag. 1837, p. 215.
2 Asiatic Researches, vol. xvi. p. 261 ff.
52 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 268.
the Burmese were savages going' almost naked and tattooed. The
Mongolian type is much more faintly discernible in them(Helfer).
This fact, as well as their religion, leads us to conjecture that
in them there is primarily an Iranian, and only secondarily a
Mongolian extraction. Their doctrine of the gods is limited to a
belief in good and evil spirits (nat), to whom they lay down, in
hidden spots in the woods, offerings of rice, fruits, and flowers ;
they have no priesthood or any regular form of worship; but
their burial ceremonies are evidently the result of a compromise
between Iranian and Mongolian customs. The bringing together
and laying out the whole possessions of the deceased, and their
burying of the dead, was thoroughly Mongolian ; their raising
the body after the expiry of a year, and their letting it remain
exposed to the air, was thoroughly Iranian (comp. § 216). Also
the custom (Heifer, p. 107 f.) of surrendering the body, care
fully wrapped up, to the earth for a year, appears to rest origin
ally upon an Iranian notion that the body should .not come into
any immediate connection with the sacred earth. The sacred
books which this people possessed in their primitive state, of
which they have a remembrance, and over the loss of which
they bitterly lament, undoubtedly must have been those of
the Avesta. § 268. China and its Religion.
The Chinese are in the highest degree a cultured people.
Although I have not treated of them in the first section, but
ranked them in this place, this has been done simply on account
of their geographical, ethnographical, and historical position.
In respect of bodily form they belong to the great Mongolian
group of nations, and must be regarded as a branch of the
same, though even as such they became isolated from the
other members of the group in a very remote antiquity. This
isolation, moreover, was not so much an external one, for
during a thousand years they were obliged to wage a defensive
war against the hostile inroads and predatory attacks, first of
the Ugro-Tartars and then of the savage West-Mongolians.
Their isolation was rather in respect of spiritual development
and in respect of language (see Obs.). It is not necessary that
we should here enlarge upon the primitive culture of the
Chinese, who are acknowledged to have anticipated the West
in the use of the magnetic needle, in the discovery of the art
§ 268.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 53
of printing, of gunpowder, etc. ; nor is it required of us that
we should give in detail a history of the Chinese people and
their empire. The ancient historical document of the Chinese,
Schu-Klng, which reaches from b.c. 2356 down to B.c. 947,
exists no longer in its original form, but only in an abridg
ment, which the well-known Khiing-tse, Confucius, made
about b.c. 500.1 We shall have to consider farther on what
the Chinese tell about the early history of mankind and about
the flood ; for the present it need only be said that the
Chinese, or as they put it, the hundred families, pS k%a (where
a hundred evidently is a round number in the sense of many,
for there are 438 such families expressly enumerated), when
they reached the land, found already before them certain wild
tribes of a Malay race, the Miao-tse, in the mountains of Sze
Chuen, Kuei Choo, Che Kiang, Kuang Se, and Kuang Tung,
whom they, since they were not able to subdue them, shut out
by means of strong fortifications at the outlets of the mountain
ravines.2 They continue to exist down to the present day,
living in fenced villages of, at the most, 2000 inhabitants,
tending their cattle and following agricultural pursuits. They
formed the pith of the Tai- ping rebellion of 1850, and the
great rival Emperor Tien-te was of this race.3 This people of
the hundred families at the beginning possessed only the
country between the great desert and Mandshuria on the
north, and the Kiang-uria on the south, beyond which there
were only the two provinces of King and Yang. From B.c
2205 China has been a hereditary kingdom, with a feudal
constitution; from B.C. 1122 till B.C. 256 the Tchow dynasty
reigned ; it was overthrown by Tsin, a vassal king, who gained
the superiority; his adopted son, Chl-Hoang-Ti, B.C. 246-209,
who built the Chinese Wall about B.C. 220, to resist the
inroads of the wild Hiong-nu (see § 264), sought to change
1 V. von Strauss, Lao-tse's Tao-te-king, Leipzig 1870, Introd. § 11,
p. xxxvii. By the same author, Schi-king, Heidelberg, 1880, Intro
duction. 5 De Mailla, xi. p. 588.
3 Callery and Ivan, L 'insurrection en Chine, p. 50.
54 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. L§ 268.
the national constitution into an imperial government, and
ordered, in B.C. 212, the burning of all the old books, with
the exception of medical and economical treatises, and those
containing prophecies. Original documents were thus irre
coverably lost in the flames. When this dynasty broke up
under the hands of his incapable successors, and in B.C. 201
the Han dynasty assumed the reins of government, the Schu-
Klng was reproduced from memory, and soon also a hidden
and secretly preserved ancient copy was discovered.1 But far
more corrupting and injurious than the burning of those
books was the course of action entered on by the so-called
philosopher and reformer, or rather deformer, Confucius, about
B.C. 500, who, almost contemporaneously with Sakya-Muni,
endeavoured, only too successfully, to introduce into China
a system of purely worldly wisdom. His teaching consists in
a barren morality founded upon eudsenionist rules of prudence.
The charge against him is not so much that he argued against
the ancient god of the Chinese, as that he ignored him, and
taught the people to ignore him. In his edition of the Schu-
Klng, as well as in that of the Schi-King, a collection of
ancient songs, he has carefully struck out every reference to
the early Chinese worship of god or of the gods; of 3000
songs, he has only given 315.2 These expurgated editions of
the two ancient documents constituted all that was preserved
when, three hundred years later, the other literary products
were committed to the flames. There is thus no very brilliant
expectations excited in regard to the sources of information
concerning the history of the early Chinese religion. Never
theless even from these we shall be able to sketch its charac
teristic features. In turning our attention to this subject, we
shall set aside Buddhism, the first traces of which are found in
the south of China about a.d. 65, but which was first exten
sively spread, between a.d. 202 and 220, by the Buddhist
missionary Ho -Chang, and only about a.d. 500, when the
1 V. von Strauss, Lao-tse's Tao-te-king, p. Ixx. ff.
2 Ibid. p. xxxviii.
§ 268.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 55
first Buddhist patriarch or Lama was appointed for China,
began to play an important part ; and we shall also decline to
follow the story of the barren morality of Confucius.1
A. The Chinese religion acknowledges only one God, the
invisible lord (Ti), or the supreme lord (Schang Ti) and ruler
of the world, whom it also designates Thian, heaven, a
designation which reminds us of the Mongolian name of God,
Naga-tai, heaven's-tai. He is conscious, all-seeing, all-hearing,
omnipresent, and incorporeal : he gives life, endues with
wisdom, rewards the good, and punishes the evil. He
provides for the course of the world, and determines it.
Thus, as the unapproachable and supersensible, he exists in
absolute separation from his creatures. The gulf, between
him and the visible world is filled by the souls of their
deceased forefathers, who act as mediators, as with the West
Mongols, and by a multitude of nature-spirits. The souls of
the departed are with God in heaven. The invisible God is
worshipped by offerings which the Emperor presents at the
solstices on an altar of earth under the open canopy of
heaven. The spirits of ancestors have their temples and halls,
where offerings are brought them four times a year by the
heads of families. There is no order of priests, and the fact
that there is none, and that monarch, princes, and heads of
families are required to perform the worship of God and of
the ancestors*, is an indication of a primitive condition having
prevailed in China similar to that which we meet with in
India during the Vedic period.
B. The want of a word for God is very striking. Such a
word, however, had originally existed. In the oldest portions
of the Schu-Klng, B.c. 2255-2206, the supreme being is once
called Tao, and the philosopher or theosophist La6-tse, in the
6 th century Bid, speaks of the Ta6 of antiquity. In the
consciousness of the Chinese this name Tao was perhaps only
an appellative, identical with the appellative tab, in Japanese
1 An account of this system may be found in Stuhr, Religionen des
heidn. Orients, p. 10 ff.
56 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 268.
too, which has the root signification of way, and the derived
significations of procedure, order, government of the world.
The name of God, Ta6, is also indicated by the same written
sign. It nevertheless seems to me a fair question whether
we have not rather in Ta6 a primitive proper name, identical
with the Naga-tai of the West Mongols, preserved to us from a
time when as yet the art of writing was unknown. When the
art of writing was discovered by the Chinese, the sign for the
apellative tab would be seized upon, and it would be thought
that the name of God must be explained from the signification
of that appellative term. The written sign for Tao, however,
may much more plausibly be regarded as compounded of two
signs, one of which, tschM, stands for come or go, and the other,
scheu, for head* or origin, which when combined present the
idea — " that from which all springs." This notion we find
in the remarkable writing of La6-tse, a philosopher almost
exactly contemporary with Khiing-tse, Confucius. In his
Tab-tg-king, which all the more easily escaped the book
burning since Chi-Hoang-Ti, while hostile to Confucianism,
was favourable to the Ta6-ss£e, the worshippers of Tao,1 Lao-
tse developed in a theosophical manner the doctrine of the
Tao antiquity.2 Ta6 existed as an incomparably perfect being
before the origin of the heavens and the earth (cap. 2 5), and
before Tf (cap. 4). Incorporeal and immense, invisible and
inaudible, mysterious and unsearchable, without form or
figure (cap. 14), he is the eternal ultimate ground of all
things (cap. 1), and the original creator of all being (cap. 4) ;
as such he is unnameable, nameable only as revealed by the
creation, and in this duplicate form the outlet of everything
spiritual and intellectual (cap. 1). Everything springs from
him and returns to him again (caps. 16 and 21), and it is his
work to reproduce these things again (cap. 40); for though
eternal and without any neediness, he is yet never inactive
1 V. von Strauss, Tad-te-kmg, p. lxxiii.
2 Tad-te-king, cap. 28 : "who, born in the present age, goes back to the
tab of antiquity."
§ 268.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 57
(caps. 34 and 37). Never growing old, omnipresent, immut
able, and self-determining (cap. 25), he creates, upholds, and
perfects all existences, which, therefore, honour him and
praise his goodness, because he loves them and allows them
free self-determination (caps. 51 and 34). In him is spirit,
and his spirit is the most genuine ; yet only those who are
purified from lust can see him (caps. 21 and 1). He who
determines his conduct according to Ta6 is one with him
(cap. 23); Tao is the ground of his moral life (cap. 38).
He is the great giver, and perfecter, and peace-bringer (caps.
41 and 46), the refuge of all beings, the protection of the
good, the saviour of sinners, and he who forgives their guilt
(cap. 6 2).1 It is quite evident now that La6-tse did not meet
with the belief in Tao in such a form and at such a stage
of development in the common religious conceptions of the
people. It is, indeed, in the highest degree probable that he
came into contact with fugitives and exiled Israelites of the
ten tribes, recognised in their Jehovah the Tao of his own
nation,2 and was led by them to the attainment of such a
profound knowledge of God. But he could not have re
cognised in the ancient Tao of his nation the God of
revelation, and he could never have identified the two,
unless the Tao of the Chinese ' had clearly been conceived
of as the invisible creator of the world. In the Schu-King,
too, Confucius has allowed words in two passages to remain
(i. 3, § 6 and § 15) which refer to the ancient Tao worship :
" Oppose not Tao, so as to secure the praises of the hundred
families." " Man's heart is fraught with danger ; Tao's heart
is fine, is pure, is one ; wishes you to hold by him."
In the time of Lao-tse the Tao worship among the people
had no doubt become greatly corrupted. A portion of the
people preserved alongside of the belief in Thian-ti the belief
1 V. von Strauss, Tad-U-king, p. xxxv.
2 Cap. 14 : " His name is II Hi Wei." How this suggests an acquaint
ance with the religion of Israel is shown in thoroughly convincing way
by V. von Strauss (p. 61 ff.) in answer to Stanislas Julien.
58 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 268.
in the old god Ta6. They were called Ta6-sst5e. But they
were distinguished from the rest of the people, so far as
practice was concerned, only in their being addicted to sooth
saying, magic, astrology, and alchemy.1 La6-tse exercised no
influence upon them; he was and continues a lonely, private
thinker. His book was in later times commented on by Con-
fucianists, but in doing so they read into it their own ideas.
He has exercised no influence upon the Chinese people ; hence
all the greater became that of Khung-tse (Confucius), for the
insipid Ta6 religion could offer no sufficient opposition to his
superior enlightenment.
The question now arises, how did the god Ta6 stand in
relation to the thidn, heaven, and to Schang-ti, the supreme
lord, not in Lao-tse's time, but in these primitive ages which
La6-tse himself designates antiquity ? The passage in Tab-te-
klng seems to me of the utmost importance where Lao-tse says :
I know not whose son Ta6 is, that is, he is no one's son ; he
reveals himself as the ancestor of the Schang-ti3 In the
early Chinese religion, therefore, Schang-ti, or what was the
same, Thian-ti, was a son of Ta6. It is told, too, of an
Emperor Schun, b.c. 2254-2204, that he offered sacrifices to
Thian; in the L\-ki (cap. 23) is found also the old sacrificial
formula : " At the presentation of the solstice offering there is
great praise rendered to heaven, and- first of all to the sun,
and also to the moon: the offering to the sun is made on an
altar of earth, and to the moon in a pit." It thus appears
that the lord of heaven of Chinese antiquity was no sun-
god in the strict sense, that is, not to be identified as a deity
with the sun, like the Japanese Ten-sio dai-sin, but still a
1 V. von Strauss, Tab-ti-klng, Introd, p. lxxiiL
2 Ibid. p. lxxvii.
3 By this La6-tse cannot intend merely to say that the name of Ta6 is
more ancient than that of Schang-tf. For had this been his intention, he
would have been obliged in some sort of way to indicate the identity of
Schang-tf with Ta6 ; but he rather affirms that Ta6 is Schang-tf s ancestor,
in the same sense in which he denies that Ta6 has any ancestor or has
been begotten.
§ 268.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 59
oeure/jos Oeos, a lord and ruler of the visible heaven and its
stars, subordinate to the eternal supreme god and creator of
the world, Ta6. The title of the Chinese emperor, Thian-tse\
heaven's son, is literally identical with the Japanese ten-si;
but while the latter is given to the Emperor of Japan as a
descendant of the sun, there is no trace among the Chinese
of their emperor having ever been regarded as descended
from the sun ; on the contrary, the offerings which the
Emperor of China presents to his ancestors in his ancestral
temple, and the offerings at the solstice, are quite distinct
things. The title Thian-tse" is therefore to be regarded as
an abstract title of honour, or, at furthest, it may be con
jectured that in primitive times the emperors of the oldest
dynasty had regarded themselves as descendants, not of the
sun, but of that son of Ta6, Thian-ti, and that the title, in
the most general sense, had been assumed by emperors of
succeeding dynasties, in regard to whom there could be no
pretension of descent even from those who had preceded
them. The Tchow dynasty, however, actually traced their
descent back through Heu-tsI to Schang-ti.1
If, then, in early times there was placed alongside of Ta6 a
son of Ta6 and Thian-ti in an emanationistic rather than a
polytheistic sense, it is quite conceivable that there was here,
as well as among the Iranians, a reformatory reaction against
this emanationistic development of religion, which showed
1 The Heii-tsi legend (in Schl-Emg, iii. 2. 1) corresponds in its character
istic features to the Mongolian Buzend legend (§ 266). A woman, Kiang-
Juan, brings an offering to the lord of heaven, praying for the blessing of
children ; in perfect solitude she walks in the god's footsteps, and becomes
pregnant. That she was impregnated by the god in the mythological
fashion is not expressly stated, the redactor evidently putting this idea
aside, or at least evading it, and favouring rather the supposition that
the god simply granted her the blessing of fruitfulness, so that she
became pregnant by her own husband. The old mythological form of
the tradition, however, appears clearly enough from out of its artistic
drapery. In the first place, it is quite manifest that according to the
invariable custom of the Schi-King the name of no earthly husband is
given. Thus we observe that the child, the boy Heii-tsi, was born
without pain. Then the child was exposed, which is inconceivable if
60 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 268.
itself in an attempt to identify Thian-ti with Tad, to
transfer the attributes of Ta6 to Thian-ti, and to set aside
altogether the name of Ta6 as superfluous and calculated to
foster false doctrine. When this reaction set in, the product
of which was called the religion of Syft, of the learned, in
contrast to that of the Tad-ssde, it is not easy exactly to say.
It was, at least, so long before the time of La6-tse that the
pre-reformation time seemed to him a remote antiquity ;
yet it must have been subsequent to the writing of the
section of the Schu-King, i. 3. The old emanationistic
religion of two gods only maintained its hold of a portion
of the people, and that the very lowest of them, and continued
to be developed in a superstitious manner in the form of
soothsaying and magic. The lonely thinker, La6-tse, first
became dissatisfied with the reduction of the Thian-ti religion
by his contemporaries to a system of abstract deism, and
sought to lead them back to the Ta6 of antiquity, endeavour
ing in his name to construct his own profoundly speculative
philosophy of religion. Thus would La6-tse have, become the
founder of a second reformation, if he only had gained
disciples, and had been able to found a school.
From chapter 5 of La6-tse's work it appears that in his
time the Chinese had a richer sacrificial ceremonial than they
have had since the time of Khung-tse (Confucius).1 There
he speaks of the hay-dog, a dog made of hay, covered with
his birth had been eagerly longed for by the parents, but quite conceiv
able if the child, like Buzend, seemed an illegitimate. The exposed child
is then wonderfully preserved and brought up by the wild beasts. "We
find underlying that version of the myth which, in the Schi-King, cor
responds to the abstract deistical Syu-religion, an older and purely
mythological version, and this affords evidence of a mythological stage of
the Chinese religion. We shall yet meet with (§ 298) among the Aztecs
who are descended from a Chinese-Mongolian stock, the Mongolian
tradition of Buzend without any concealment of its mythological features •
but it is most noticeable that the Aztec proper name of the child Hwitzi
is more closely related to the Chinese Heii-tsi than to the Old Mongolian
Buzend. 1 In the temple of agriculture in Pekin oxen were even then offered
and indeed burned alive. Hildebrandt, Reise um die Erde ii. 161.
§ 268.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 61
rich clothing, which was placed as an offering before the altar
to avert bad luck, the influences of evil spirits ; l but, after the
offering had been made, its dress was taken off and it was torn
up and scattered on the streets.
C. This leads to speak of the belief in spirits that prevailed
among the ancient Chinese. This belief, in spite of Con
fucianism and Buddhism, has lingered among the people down
to the present day. We do not here speak of the Shamanism
that had its origin among the Ugro-Tartars (§ 263), which
already at an earlier period, but especially from a.d. 1644,
when the Mandshurian dynasty of Thsing came to the throne,
may have been introduced from the north among some of the
border tribes, but of the specifically Mongolian belief in spirits,
which, as already the magical superstition of the Tao-ssde
shows, was an integral constituent of the Old Chinese national
religion, and even now is generally current throughout China.
This belief in spirits stands in the closest connection with the
specifically Mongolian practice of ancestor-worship. How
deeply rooted this was in the national life in early times is
shown by the fact that in every city a sort of temple, Khung-
tse-kia, is dedicated to the spirit of Khung-tse, in which he is
invoked as a guardian spirit, and is entreated to look down on
them with favour.2 In the capital, too, there is a temple
which is called " the hall of the ancestors," where the spirits
of the departed members of the royal family are worshipped.
The regular festival of this worship is called tsin jun men,
gate of the pure clouds ; the emperor betakes himself to a
table laden with flowers and frankincense ; the wall behind
the table bears a tablet with the names of the ancestors, and a
son or grandson of the emperor appears as Schi, the dead boy,
dressed in the cloak of the most distinguished of the ancestors,
1 This reminds of the dog Nasu, driven away by the Iranians, § 216.
2 Barrow, Travels in China, chap. 4. The reverence for parents, grand
parents, and old persons, everywhere prominent in the national life of the
Chinese, carried so far that in order to flatter a young man it is customary
to say, Thou art already very old, stands in close connection with this
worship of ancestors.
62 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 268.
takes his place on the seat of honour, and in his stead receives
food, and drink, and homage, and dispenses good fortune and
blessing. While sixteen dancers perform in a solemn circle,
the emperor bows before the Schi and the tablet of names,
and two series of musicians sing with musical accompaniment
a hymn in three strophes, the oldest hymn extant, which,
according to Chinese accounts, dates as far back as B.C. 1122.
During the performance of the first strophe it is thought that
the gods approach, during the singing of the second they
linger about, and during the rendering of the third they again
withdraw. Libations and prostrations fill up the pauses
between the strophes.1 Similar ceremonies are observed by
the people. At the burial of a Chinaman the relatives offer
rice-wine to the spirit of the deceased, pouring it out at the
grave, and also gold paper, which they burn.2 Besides the
spirits of ancestors, guardian spirits of^ the soil and agriculture,
of mountains and streams, are also honoured with offerings ;
but this is confined to the princes and noblemen.3
D. From the earliest times the dragon, Lung, is the
national emblem, appearing as such as early as B.c. 2100.
In the Schu-King, expurgated by Khung-tse, traditions about it
are not found ; but it may be supposed that the dragon or
serpent had figured in the national myths in some sort of way
as a guardian deity or as a god of the empire ; and this
supposition gains weight when we think of the bambo and
the serpent of the southern races connected with the Mongolians
(§ 267), and of the legends of the Japanese (§ 269), the
founder of whose kingdom, Dsin mu ten, had a dragon for
his grandmother. In fact, there is a great dragon festival
1 Billert in Mendel's musik. Convers. Lexikon, ii. p. 410, where the text
and music of the hymn are given.
2 Hildebrandt, Reise um die Erde, iii. 4.
3 Stuhr (p. 22 ff.) could only come to the opinion that La6-tse had first
introduced this belief in spirits because La6-tse's book had been in
accessible to and unknown by him. There is not a word there about spirits
and belief in spirits. The custom of setting up images to the spirits was
introduced (according to Stuhr, p. 28) under the Song dynasty, which was
peculiarly favourable to the Ta6-ssee, between a.d. 1000 and 1300.
§ 268.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 6 3
celebrated yearly at Canton on the 18th of June, where the
dragon is called upon to give fruitfulness to the fields and
an abundant fishing, and has his image borne about in
procession through the streets.1
E. This brings us to the Chinese traditions. These begin
as far back as B.C. 2900 with Pao-hi or Fii-hi, who is said
to have invented the figures (kua) of the Ii-king and the
art of fishing. Then followed Schin-nung, who introduced
agriculture, trades, and markets, B.C. 2837. Then came
Hoang-ti, B.C. 2697, who conquered China by the overthrow
of the Emperor Tsche-jeu, during whose reign the laws were
put in shape, and music was introduced by Ling-liin. But
although the third of these heroes of tradition had been
transplanted to China, they were all antediluvian heroes.
It was during the reign of Iao, who is said to have begun to
reign in B.C. 2657, that the flood, which submerged the whole
kingdom, occurred in B.C. 2597. It was Iao who averted
the flood by showing the streams their courses. It is very
remarkable how this chronological statement agrees with that
of the Bible. According to the Masoretic text of Genesis, the
flood came in the year B.C. 2544 ; according to the Septuagint
text, somewhat earlier (§ 248, Obs.).
To return now to Pao-hi, Schin-nung, and Hoang-ti, we see
in these three as emperors successively reigning a reminiscence
of the three brothers Tubal-Cain, Jabal, and Jubal, who
introduced working in metals, the keeping of cattle, and the
art of music, the remembrance of whom, we are persuaded,
has been preserved among the most diverse nations of the
earth.2 The Chinese name of Noah, Iao, agrees literally with
the Yima of the Iranians, the Ymir of the Germans. The
Chinese tradition calls the first man Puan-ku.
Finally, we have still to mention the tradition of the
Coreans, that the daughter of a river in the county of Fii-jii,
1 Hildebrandt, Reise um die Erde, ii. 5S f.
2 A more modern form of the tradition confounds Pao-hi and Iao. See
Klaproth, Asia polyglot, p. 28.
64 HALF- CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 208.
north of Corea, being impregnated by the sun, laid an egg,
from which the first king of the Coreans was brought forth.1
This is just that specifically Mongolian tradition which we have
already come to know (§ 267), and have found in a more
refined form among the Japanese.
Obs. — We have already spoken of the spirit and construction
of the Chinese language, § 264, Obs. 1 ; and now we need only
refer to the vocabulary. If the words of the Chinese language
of the present day show little resemblance and literal relation
ship to synonymous words in the other Mongolian languages,
this is to be explained on the following grounds.
A. The monosyllabic words of the Chinese language should
not without more ado be assumed to be the literally well-con
served original roots. If we take tschhi, to run, tschhlng, horse,
sse, to operate, sse", result, sse writer, ssjtf,, a scribe, thslfai, to exist,
thsiin, to preserve, etc., no one can for a moment suppose that
the second word is a root word ; its derivation is unquestion
able. B. If one considers the multitude and diversity of meanings
which one and the same Chinese word has, — as when, for
example, ji means slight, immediate, rightly, great, peaceable,
contented, like, equally, to arrange, to root out, to destroy, to
damage, to overturn, — there is here presented to us a .process of
derivation and change of ideas which is so great, that one must
admit that, apart from current use, the oldest meaning and the
most original can no longer with any certainty be discovered, as
when, for example, kung means bodies, but also art.
C. But also the pronunciation of the words has changed in no
less a degree. In regard to a number of words, it is known
with certainty that in early times they were pronounced other
wise than now ; of no word can it be said with certainty that
in early times it was pronounced as it is now. For the Chinese
writing is not phonetic but notional ; it does not indicate the
separate . letters of which the word consists, but has for the
whole monosyllabic word one sign, and evidently an ancient
picture writing lay at the basis of these signs.
D. If one considers the indefinite multitude of diverse, often
quite unconnected dialects, so great that, for example, the
inhabitants of Tientsin would scarcely understand the dialect of
a native of Pekin, only a few days' journey distant (Hildebrandt,
ii. 159), and as the so-called written language, more correctly
the Mandarin dialect, is only one of these dialects, the pro-
1 Gatterer, Handb. der Universalhistorie, part 2, p. 357. Liicken
Einheit des Menscliengeschlechtes, p. 181.
§ 268.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 65
nunciation of this Mandarin dialect is no-more decisive in the
way of determining the original sound of these roots.
E. The extent of the verbal changes that the Chinese language
has made upon the old Mongolian roots in the course of a
thousand years may be calculated, on the one hand, from the
way in which it formed the proper names of foreign nations, as
when it rendered Shakia by Schi, Kharisma by Ki-li-sse-mo,
Kashgar by Kie-scha, etc. ; on the other hand, from its having
an indefinite number of homonyms, which are only distin
guished by the accent ; for example, tschX, to fix, to hold firm ;
tschl, to acknowledge ; tschi, this ; tshi, to heal ; tschhlng, horse ;
tscliMmg, to complete ; sching, holy ; sehmg, sound ; sching, sail ;
ti, to wash ; ti, earth and ruler, etc. It is thus evident that roots
originally different have been by mutilation made like one
another, and only by means of the tone can be artificially dis
tinguished. And often it cannot be done even in this way.
For example, mil, finger, Mongolian miisum, and mil, mother,
Mongolian amu, have the same accent.
F. Since, then, it cannot be determined with any certainty,
either from the present meaning or from the present pronuncia
tion, what the original pronunciation and meaning of any
particular word may have been, any comparison between it and
other languages of the Mongolian group is well-nigh impossible.
But where are those other languages ? The Burmese, as well as
the Japanese, has itself passed through an equally radical pro
cess of change, and this is beyond question true of the Tibetan
language. The Mongols in the strict sense, however, had (§ 264,
Obs. 2) already at a very early period, while under the Ugro-
Tartar dominion, practically adopted the Ugro-Tartar language.
G. It is not, then, to be wondered at that in regard to a
multitude of Chinese words it should be demonstrable or highly
probable that there should be a similarity of sound with
Burmese (W. von Humboldt above in § 264), with Nepaulese,
Tibetan, Japanese (see the table of numerals in § 264), and also
with such Mongolian words as the Mongols had not received
from the Ugro-Tartars (§ 264, Obs. 2, D), or with such as (comp.
under A) were derived from primitive roots common to the
Japhetic languages. I may refer, for example, to khiti, old
(ukko) ; khi, heath (angga, henki) ; kieu, guilt, sin (qual, ghol, to
excite horror) ; tschin, dust (choso, chasy) ; te, to reach (tap) ; tab,
way (Japanese too, way ; Mongol, and Ugrian tul, to come) ;
thing, to hear (tun, don, to hear, feel, perceive) ; siab, small ; syeu,
pliant (suikia, suieha, thin) ; yue, to tell ; yu, conversation (ydtte,
to tell) ; faai, to embrace (sis'd, sisi, inward, to bound); fee, teacher ;
feing, spirit (sed, sod, to think, to know; it seems that a
reduplicated dental is modified into ts) ; tseng, to quarrel (tschigg,
dsanggo, sbg) ; san, to strew (sata, dsata, to rain) ; sydi, point ;
EBRARD III. E
,66 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 269.
suogge, tsoghol, to pierce, bore ; ludn, unquiet (lugga, likka, Idiky,
to rule oneself) ; mung, blind (menek, weak, lame) ; mido, spirit
(mede, midle, to know) ; syX, pronounced shi, sun (Tungusic
schiwun, schun); tsh (Old Chinese ts\), son (Mongol, -tschi,
eke-tschi, sister) ; Mi, child (kunga, kowe) ; Mo, great ; and ku4i,
greatness (guai), etc.
§ 269. Japan and its Religion.
The insular empire of Wa or Jamato, as it was called in
earlier times, or Nipon,"as it has been called more recently,
or Japan, more properly Shapan, as we are accustomed to call
it, from the Chinese word sgi-pun, the sun-rising, or eastern
land, has two different races among its inhabitants.1 The
Japanese tradition relates that Zen-mou-ten-wo arrived with
his people from the West in b.c. 660, but found already
a population resident upon the island of Nipon. These
aborigines were driven eastward, and were designated Atsum-
adshebis or Eastern barbarians. Both races actually continued
to exist down to a.d. 1100, and even after they had become
thoroughly amalgamated they are distinguishable by the use
of a different idiom in their written language which is not
monosyllabic but agglutinate. At the present time a Ugro-
Tartar tribe of Ainos lives on the coasts of the islands of
Yezo and Turakai, and on the Kurile isles, reaching even to
Kamtskatka and Mandshuria, which probably is identical
with the Atsumadshebis, and forms the older element in
the mixed population of Japan. Wernich2 has satisfactorily
proved that the Ainos, notwithstanding the peculiarly hairy
aspect of body, stand closely related to the Japanese, while
both are strongly distinguished from the Malays. That these
Ainos are to be identified with the Atsumadshebis, and not
1 Compare especially the following works : Klaproth, histoire mythol.
des Japons. Phil, von Siebold, Nippon. Mitford, Tales of Old Japan.
Eufemia von Kudriaffsky, Japan, vier Vortrage. Al. von Hiibner,
Spaziergang um die Welt, part 1, pp. 267-396. A. Wernich, geogr. medic.
Studien nach den Erlebnissen einer Reise um die Erde, Berlin 1878 pp.
56-286. 2 Wernich, Studien, p. 112 ff.
§ 269 J THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 67
with the hordes of Zen-mou-ten-wo, is hardly to be questioned.
The latter were undoubtedly a Mongolian race. They were
followed, in B.C. 209, by a second immigration from China
under Ziko-suku, in Chinese Seu-fuh, who introduced the
arts. Thus the Old Japanese language, furu-koto, which was
used down to a.d. 1600, was one closely connected with the
Mongolian, with some Chinese words interspersed (Kudriaffsky,
p. 18.3). That Malays also occasionally landed in Japan,
and got mixed up with the native races, has been abundantly
proved.1 A sort of picture writing, which is found on some
very old monuments,2 may have belonged to these Malays.
The use of paper was introduced about B.c. 600. At first
the Chinese ideogramme was employed. This, however, did
not suit for the agglutinate speech of Japan, and so, soon
after a.d. 700, the Japanese syllable-systems kata-kana and
fira-hana, of forty-eight signs, were invented by Kobo, and
from that time until now have continued in use. The art
of reading and writing is universally acquired, and a rich
literature has been produced, especially since a.d. 1206,
when the book trade with China was opened up. The
Japanese were great sailors in early times : they possessed
mighty fleets, and their merchant vessels sailed as far as to
Bengal. In consequence of a revolution in a.d. 1585,
seafaring and the fleet were destroyed, and an edict of a.d.
1638 shut out Japan from intercourse with foreign lands, and
forbade any attempt thereat.
As early as a.d. 543, Buddhism had been introduced from
Corea and was made the State religion. The Japanese name
of Buddha is Shaka. It is well known that until lately there
1 Bound half-precious stones, maga-tamas, are regarded in Japan as
presents of the sun-goddess, but had already, according to Japanese
tradition, been in use by the original inhabitants, and that in the twofold
character of instruments of exchange and barter and of things sacred.
We may compare therewith the (§ 272) bracks of the inhabitants of the
Malay-Melanesian island Palau.
2 Braunschweig, amerik. Denkmaler. Bauch, Einh. des Menschengesch-
lechtes, p. 317.
68 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 269.
existed not only a spiritual head, the Mikado, who had also the
title Dairi, great house, but also a secular head, the Shiogun
or Tycoon, who had an almost equal jurisdiction. The Dairis
are properly the descendants of the old national royal family,
and as such have been greeted from the earliest times with
divine honours ; the Shioguns, as a sort of major-domo and
marshal of the empire, had, from the end of the 12 th
century, assumed the greater part of the civil power, and
were the patrons and representatives of Buddhism, but were
attacked by the present Mikado and completely overthrown,
the Sintu temples were stripped of Buddhist emblems, and
the fiefs (han) of the vassal princes (daimios) were confiscated.
Long before Buddhism, buttoo, even in a.d. 288, the doctrine
of Confucius (sintu) had found entrance from China into
Japan. But the two imported religions were not able to
drive out the old national religion, which even in the present
day numbers many among its followers, although it has
become corrupted by the introduction of many Buddhist
elements. The details of its earlier, unadulterated form are
given in the religious legends preserved in the Japanese
literature. This old national religion, since the introduction of Buddh
ism, and in order to mark its distinction from it, has been
designated by the Chinese word Sintu, the way or doctrine of
spirits, and in Japanese words kami-no-mits, kami signifying
a good spirit or a guardian spirit. The ruling family is
descended from Zen-mou-ten-wo, and through him from the
sun, just as in the Mongolian tradition and in that of China.
The Mikado bears the predicate ten-si, son of heaven, and is
in his nature so sacred and divine, that he dare not be
designated by his name, but only described as the dairi of
the royal palace. His race can never die out; for, if a
Mikado be childless, there is found always quite unexpectedly
under a tree of the palace a little boy chosen out of a Kuge
or old noble family and laid there by its contriving, who is
considered a present from heaven, and is adopted as successor
§ 269.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 69
to the throne. All this is an order of things quite similar
to that which primitively prevailed in Mongolia, which
Buddhism has not been able to efface ; Japan, however,
required no superior-lama, for it already possessed in its own
Mikado a direct offshoot of deity. Sintuism distinguishes,
as all Mongolian religions do, the invisible and far distant
deity, and the present and guardian deities which are around
men ; but it has this peculiarity, that it endeavours to secure
a transition from the one to the other, and for this cause
divides the god of heaven into seven heavenly gods, to which
are added five earthly gods. The former are the world-
ruling powers. But even this doctrine, as it is reported in
Japanese literature, shows unmistakeable traces of Buddhist
influences, so that in this form it cannot possibly be regarded
as the old genuine national religion. First of all chaos
existed, while as yet heaven and earth, male and female, were
not distinguished. Then the bright, pure part gathered itself
together above as heaven; the heavy, dark part gathered
itself together below as sea ; and floating upon the latter, the
dry land gathered itself together (comp. § 265). Between
heaven and earth there grew in the form of a flower a kami,
by name Kuni toka tatsi no mikkoto, "worthy of the
reverence of the ever-enduring empire," and has ruled for a
hundred thousand millions of years. He produced for himself
a water-spirit, that one, again, a fire-spirit, and that one, next,
a wood- spirit, who had a wife, and ruled along with her two
hundred thousand millions of years. These huge numbers
plainly reveal the Buddhist origin of the fables ! These were
succeeded by a metal-spirit with his wife, and sixthly by an
earth-spirit and his wife, each ruling during an equally long
period. Then these spirits have offspring, but not through
intercourse with their wives ; and this is thoroughly in
keeping with Buddhist influences. It is the seventh, Isa-na-gi,1
1 According to the modern form of the language : wanderers of man.
More correctly, the Old Turanian isa, " father," is taken as the fundamental
meaning.
70 HALF- CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 269.
who first begets in this way, and he produces one after
another the islands of the Japanese empire, and afterwards
all the rest of the world. Thereafter — and here we come
upon genuine remnants of the myth — he begot as mistress of
the world a noble and lovely daughter, whom he set as the
sun in the heaven, Ten-sio-dai-sin, sun-heat, great spirit, and
then her sister the moon. The god begat also two brothers,
the younger of which, on account of his violent passion,
challenged the sister of the sun to a fight, which interrupted
the husbandry fostered by her, and so frightened her that
she wounded herself with her weaver's spool, and enraged
thereat betook herself to a cave. Then the whole world was
darkened. The eight hundred thousand gods (the numbers
.again suggest derivation from Buddhism) brought her back
again by persuasion and force, and cast her brother down to
the earth, where he delivered men from a dragon which was
slaying them.
Ten-sio-da'i-sin is the first of the five earthly deities, and
among the Japanese the most highly honoured. Her son, the
first king of Japan, is the second of the earthly deities, and here
begin the spirits of ancestors or ancestral gods. What has to
be added later on of the part they play in the struggle between
good and evil spirits is again. purely Buddhistic and worthless.
All the more genuine and important is that which is narrated
about the third of the earthly deities, Amatsu-fiko, grandson
of the sun. His bride became pregnant before marriage :
she offered during her pains to set fire to her soul ; if she
remained unconsumed, it would be a sign that the child was
her bridegroom's. In the flames, remaining unburnt, she
bore three sons. We met with this very identical legend
among the Mongols, § 266 ; only by the Buddhists it is rent
from its proper position : the sun-god was a male,1 and she
who bore was made pregnant by him. This was evidently
1 Is Ten-sio-da'i-sin actually a female deity ? Or has the Old Japanese
language had originally only one word to designate both son and
daughter 'I
§ 269.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 71
the original of the legend ; but Buddhism cannot be satisfied
without an elaboration of the simple story. A similar story
is retold in that of the fourth earthly deity, Amatsu-fiko's
son, who marries Dshebidsu, a daughter of the sea-god ; he
watches his wife during her confinement ; she changes herself
for shame into a dragon, and destroys herself in the sea.
The fifth, finally, begets Zen-mou-ten-wo, the founder of the
Japanese empire.
When we have distinguished the genuine original germ
from its Buddhistic admixture, we have left — (a) the distinc
tion between the spirits of ancestors and the heavenly, world-
creating deity ; (b) the classifying of the sun-god among the
earthly or ancestral gods ; and (c) in close connection there
with, the tradition of the origin of the father of the ruling
family from the sun. These three particulars are genuinely
Mongolian. . On the other hand, the conception of the
Japanese, that after death souls lose themselves in universal
being, is distinctly Buddhistic ; while in contrast to this, as
representing the Old Mongolian element, we have the belief
that the souls of the Mikados are immortal, as much as the
prevailing belief among decided adherents of Sintuism is in
the immortality of all men and in an existence after death.
Apart from such a belief in immortality, the worship of
spirits of ancestors could have no meaning.
This result of a critical investigation of the Buddhist legends
is confirmed by an examination of the Sintuism of the present
day as distinguished from the present form of Buddhism in
Japan. It is a characteristic feature in the contrast of these
two, that the adherents of Sintuism use for deities the word
kami, lord or ruler, also ssin, spirits ; and the Buddhists use the
word hotoke ; that the former have not zinc-roofed, but straw
or wood-roofed temples (dsMsiro), in which a mirror is found
as the image of the sun, while among the Buddhists the mirror
is the emblem of the value of good works ; that besides they
have miyas, private chapels, where the ancestral god, gohei, is
represented by a tuft of five different coloured strips of paper.
72 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 269.
The gods presently worshipped by the adherents of Sintuism
are these : the sun-goddess Ten-sio-dai-ssin, the god of travel
and roads Saveno-kami or Dsiso, the thunder-god Eai-dshin
(thunder they call kami-nari, the noise of god), the water-
god Sui-idshiu, etc. Alongside of these they have guardian
deities for everything conceivable : Fukuno-kami for prosperity,
Tschi-no-okura for marriage, Gun-dshui for defence in war,
Funa-dama for seamen, Jnari for cultivation of rice, Kodshin-
do-kodshin for cooking, that the rice may not burn, Yabukidsho-
kami against pestilence, etc. The dragon is a great guardian
spirit of the nation : to him serpents, as a sort of incarnation,
are sacred, and hence are regarded as inviolable.1 The worship
of ancestors is a most elaborate ceremonial. If the parents of
the bridegroom are dead, their images take their place at the
marriage. In the event of a death, the deceased has an
accompanying name given him, oku-rina, which is written on
a tablet, hung up in the temple, and worshipped with frank
incense. For seven weeks after the death there is a weekly
festival of the dead celebrated ; the name-tablet and the image
of the dead, with those of his ancestors, are collected, and
vessels with fruits, flowers, and food are placed before them ;
' after the seventh celebration, the deceased is supposed to have
been received among the blessed. Great and wise men are
apotheosed into kamis and canonized ; thus, for example, from
the Emperor Adshin, a.d. 270-313, we have the warrior deity
Hatsiman. The priests are called kami-nusi, hosts or keepers
of the gods. It is not very easy to determine whether the
pantomimic struggle,2 which the priests carry on during cer
tain festive seasons with invisible enemies or evil spirits,
is an element which genuinely belongs to Sintuism or to
Buddhism. The following legends current among the adherents of
Sintuism are specially worthy of attention. Yamato, whose
name at once reminds us of that of Yima in the Iranian
legends, § 224, slew an eight-headed dragon, who had required
1 HUbner, Spaziergang um die Erde, i. 350. 2 Ibid. 303 ff.
§ 269.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 73
that a yearly sacrifice of the daughter of a king should be
made to him. According to one version of the story, this
Yamato lived nineteen hundred years ago. According to an
other version, he lived before Zin-mou-ten-wo. At the age of
forty-five years, Zin-mou-ten-wo undertook, along with his
brothers and his sons, a voyage by sea to the East ; a pilot led
the way in a tortoise-shell. When a severe storm broke out,
they offered up the two brothers of Zin-mou-ten-wo to the
water-god. When he landed on the island of Yamato in
Japan, he encountered a bear, but succeeded in driving him
off without being injured. Then appeared a man, and handed
him the sword Tsurugi, which Yamato had found on the tail
of the slain dragon (hence Yamato was older than Zin-mou-
ten-wo), and a goddess promised to send him a raven as a
guide. This raven, just like that of the German ancestral
god (Wodin, § 260), is a reminiscence of Noah's raven. In
the Japanese tradition, the reminiscence of the leader of their
special immigration into Japan is confounded with the remini
scence of the continuance of the flood. Alongside of Yamato,
by means of a reduplication similar to those of the Iranians
and Greeks, they have a second dragon-slayer, Dsharimarisa,
who destroyed a dragon, Nuge, which threatened the Dairi.
There are also sacred animals : the fox, sacred to the sun ; the
tortoise, the heron, the cock, and (as the -emblem of luck) the
crab. In the spring the Sintuists celebrate a feast, when they
beseech the hame of the earth for favour in agricultural matters.
In autumn they have a second feast, when they thank him for
the harvest. They have also the custom of prayer at the
family table, and prayer at the rising and setting of the sun.
Instead of the belief that men may assume the shape of
animals, the converse notion prevails in Japan, that animals
may assume the shape of men, in order to bewitch men and
cause them terror.
74 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 270.
C. — The Malay Races.
§ 270. The Unity of the Malay-Polynesian Group of Tribes.
While the idea of an immigration of the various nationalities
of the Asiatic and European continent from the banks of the
Euphrates presents no difficulty, so that there is no physical
impediment preventing our adoption of the idea of their
original unity of stock ; when, on the other hand, the matter
is viewed from the standpoint of natural science, — a peopling
of the scattered islands of Polynesia from the continent of Asia
is highly improbable and even inconceivable, and indeed all
the more inconceivable, if we are to regard the original popula
tion of the earth as existing in a condition of rude barbarism.
That in each of those islands or groups of islands a distinct
native population had been developed from a purely animal
condition, may appear to many a one1 more feasible than the
bold geological hypothesis,2 that the Polynesian groups of
islands had, during the period of man's existence, been con
nected with the Asiatic mainland, and that, after they had
been peopled, they were separated and made into islands,
either by a volcanic catastrophe, or by a gradual process of
submersion. The Javanese have, indeed, a tradition that
Java was once a peninsula and afterwards became an island :s
and also in regard to the Sunda islands, which are separated
from the continent only by a shallow sea ; and in regard to
the volcanic group of Sumatra, Java, Lambock, Sambana,
Flores, Timor, Banda, Ternata, Mindanor, and Luzon, such a
hypothesis might be urged with a high degree of probability.
Such an idea, however, could by no possibility be urged in
regard to the islands of Polynesia, for the simple reason that a
volcanic convulsion which had riven into small fragments and,
as it were, pulverised a continent extending from 23° S. to
1 Waitz, Anthropologic der Naturvolker.
2 Forster, Carli, de Mas, Vogt.
3 Bauch, Einheit des Menschengeschlechtes, p. 340.
§ 270.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 75
30° N. latitude, and from 140° to 230° East longitude, and
so embracing an extent of something like 85,000 square
miles, would have utterly destroyed every vestige of life on
the portions of land which were allowed still to exist. The
submersion hypothesis is rather more plausible. Polynesia is
really one of those regions where a long-continued process of
submersion has been observed;1 but in order to reach the
notion of Polynesia forming part of the continent, this sub
mersion must be conceived as having commenced at least a
hundred thousand years before the present day,2 and must
thus be relegated to an age prior to the origin of the human
race.3 Thus, then, purely from the standpoint of natural
science the hypothesis of separate native races would have
most to recommend it, if only the conclusion was well founded,
that the original inhabitants were too rude to be able to sail
over a great tract of sea. At the present day, indeed, such
tribes as those of the Pelew islands, so thoroughly degraded
and fallen into barbarism, or, according to that hypothesis,
remaining barbarous, venture upon voyages to the far outlying
island-groups ;4 why should the same thing not have been
possible in earlier times ? Cook found on these islands entire
fleets, one consisting of seventeen hundred ships, each one
manned by forty men.5 The inhabitants of the Tonga islands
kept up a lively intercourse with the Fiji islands and the New
Hebrides. Forster and Cook obtained from a native of the
Society islands a sort of map, on which the Marquesas, Tahiti,
1 Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, i. 9 ff.
2 Peschel in Ausland, 1864, p. 363.
3 As we have seen from purely scientific grounds (§ 168), the Ice Age
can at farthest be dated back to a period of 10,000 years ago. Compare
Kirchoff, die Sudseeinseln, p. 245 (in Frommel and Pfaff, Samml. von
Vortragen, iii. 9) : " The flora make it quite plain, to us that here we have
before us the last remnants of a portion of the primitive antediluvian world
before the development of the mammalians and long before the Tertiary
period. For on the Fiji islands fifty per cent., and on the Hawaiian group
sixty per cent, of the plants are indigenous."
* Semper, die Palau-Inseln, Leipz. 1873.
5 Kennedy, Essais, p. 137.
76 HALF-CIVILISED and SAVAGE RACES. [§ 270.
Samoa, and the Fiji islands were marked.1 In these same islands
Forster found a native who was able to name more than eighty
islands spread over a surface of thirteen or fourteen hundred
miles, which he had himself, for the most part, visited. In
1824 the inhabitants of Anaa undertook a voyage to Tahiti, a
distance of three hundred miles.2 A promontory in Hawaii3 is
designated by the natives " toward Tahiti," though the one is
between twenty-seven and twenty-eight hundred miles distant
from the other. The Tongan language has no other words for
north and west than toward Samoa, toward Fiji.4 These fleets
do not any longer exist ; the shipping industry has fallen into
decay. Here, as everywhere, we meet with the degradation,
not the elevation, of races. But it may here be asked, what
means had these people at command in order that without
compass and instruments for taking observations they, might
find their way upon the high seas ? The Hawaiians still pre
serve a tradition that their forefathers had made long voyages
with their whole fleets, and had kept their course by means of
the stars.5 A second means of determining their whereabouts
were the sea-birds, following the flight of which the ships
were sure to reach land somewhere. The boats of the Poly
nesians, though small in comparison with our ships, are yet
skilfully constructed for battling with rough water, for they are
protected against the surging waves by an outrigger, a suspended
boom, or by being formed as a double canoe. Thus the funda
mental presupposition of the hypothesis of distinct native races
is utterly shattered by the history of recent voyages of discovery.
If we turn now to the legends of the Polynesian races, we
find among the Sandwich islanders the tradition that they are
originally from Tahiti, and there they place their paradise.6
1 See in Bauch, Einheit der Menschengeschlechtes, p. 342 f .
2 Beechy in Ausland, 1860, p. 446.
3 Pickering, Races of Man, p. 298.
1 W. von Humboldt, " Kawi-Sprache," Abhandl. der Berl. Akad. des
Wissensch. 1832, iii. p. 241 ff.
n Pickering, Races of Man.
6 Ellis, Reise nach Owaii, Hamb. 1827, pp. 220, 243.
§ 270.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 77
New Zealand is thickly peopled in the north, thinly in the
south, showing that there was an immigration there from the
seafaring islands. The Pelew islanders placed their paradise
and the land of their origin in the West.1 We do not, how
ever, need to rely upon these traditions. The language alone
will decide, and completely put to confusion the hypothesis
of distinct native races. Whoever, from the higher ground
of general culture, refuses to allow himself to be followed in
a one-sided manner by the reading of researches in natural
science and by hypothesis, and takes into account the notices
given by travellers of their linguistic discoveries, will only
treat the hypothesis of distinct native races as a subject of
ridicule. It was proved as early as 1832, by W. von Hum
boldt,2 that the inhabitants 3 of Madagascar, Java, Celebes,
Sumatra, Malacca, New Zealand, and the whole insular region
of Polynesia between 30° N. and 30° S. latitude, and within
a curve extending from New Zealand to Easter island, from
thence to the Sandwich islands, and from thence to the
Philippines, speak languages that belong to one and the same
stem. If any one wishes to be more thoroughly convinced,
he may examine the comparative tables of roots given by
Bnschmann on pp. 241—256, and 264, which occupy seven
teen folio sheets. (See Obs. 1.) It is a fact that one and the
same Malay race inhabit Madagascar, the Sunda islands, and
Polynesia. This Malay race has spread out from 60° to 250°
E. longitude, if we draw a line from Madagascar over Celebes to
Hawaii, a linear distance of 170 degrees, or over 10,000 miles.
Evidently, before the Mongols, the Malays had overrun India,
as the Mongols did before the Aryans. Driven out before these
two, the Malays wandered toward the coast, westward to Mada
gascar, and the greater part eastward to the Sunda islands ;
another portion migrated to China (comp. § 2 6 8, the Miao-tse),
1 Semper, die Palau-Inseln.
2 Abhandlungen der Berl. Akad. d. W. 1832, vols, ii.-iv.
3 With the exception of the Melanesian tribes, of which we shall treat
in § 273.
78 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 270.
and then, pressed by the Chinese, moved toward the Philip
pines and the various groups of the other Polynesian islands.1
From these facts it follows that even in a very remote antiquity
the Malays must have been very expert as a seafaring people.
This character of bold and fearless seamen is in fact retained
down to the present day by the natives of the Sunda islands,
and by the Polynesians down to the times of Captain Cook.
Historical records prove that in the 12 th and 13th cen
turies there existed a mighty shipping and trading Malay
State, having its capital at Singapore, the southern point of
Malacca.2 When the Portuguese first came into the Indian
Archipelago, they found Menangkabu the centre of a great
trade with the East and the West, and with a command of
the sea beyond anything then known in Europe. One of the
fleets numbered ninety ships, among which were twenty-five
large galleons ; a second had three hundred ships, of which
eighty were of 400 tons burthen each ; a third had five
hundred ships, having in their crews six thousand men.3 The
historical records of the Chinese carry us back to a yet more
remote period;4 and so early as a.d. 417-423, Chinese ships
found a civilised people at Java. In these regions, too, we
now find, in comparison with those early times, a thorough
degradation of race, especially in Polynesia, the inner causes
of which will be treated of in a later section. The causes of
corruption are of a religious and moral nature, and it did not
require first the visits of European ships in order to inflict
upon the people the doom of decay and diminution of popula
tion. Europeans already found them a race abandoned to
corruption, and the process of decrease in population and
degradation of character had already set in long before the
1 And then (§ 269) from the Philippines, and even directly from China
to Japan.
2 This peninsula, according to the native records of the Malays, had
been taken and was overrun by the Malays from Sumatra.
8 Marsden, Sumatra, p. 424. Bradford, American Antiquities, p. 232.
In Bauch, Einheit Menschengeschlechtes, p. 341 f.
4 W. von Humboldt, Abhandl. der Berl. Akad. ii. p. 16 f.
§ 270.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 79
arrival of the first Europeans. When Europeans discovered
the Tortoise islands or Galapagos group, lying close to South
America, as well as the islands of Bourbon and Juan Fernandez,
and also the Falkland islands at the southern point of
South America, they were found to be already destitute of
inhabitants, but they found on them evident traces of their
having been inhabited at an earlier period.1
While thus the researches that have been made in the
comparative science of language demonstrate the unity of the
Malay races, we find this also confirmed by an examination
of their bodily construction. That varieties appear among
them will be matter of surprise to no thinking person. In
the Ugro-Tartar family the Finns and Esthonians are dis
tinguished from the Tsherimis, Votiaks, and Balkash-Tartars ;
among the Mongolians the Kalmucks are different from the
Chinese and Japanese ; and these last again are as different
from the Tibetans as the Javanese are from the Tahitians
and the Malagassy. A diversity that has grown up during
hundreds or thousands of years amid various conditions of
life and civilisation, is accounted for by variations of climate
and the relative isolation of their insular dwellings, shows
itself naturally in the colour of the skin and in the physiog
nomy ; the Polynesians, who go naked during an eternal spring,
must have a darker colour than the Sunda islanders and Mala
gassy, who have retained certain customs of civilisation. The
light colour of the skin is common to all the Malay-Polynesian
tribes, ranging from brownish yellow and light brown to a
reddish hue, in marked contrast to the Melanesians, § 273 ;
and the shape of the skull and general configuration of the
body reminds us of the Mongolian family. We are thus led
to define the Malays as a Mongol- Aryan or Mongol-Caucasian
mixed race. The view of Oscar Peschel in the Races of Man,
p. 359, and Otto Mohnicke (Banka und Palembang, Munster
1 8 74, p. 1 8 0 f.), is extremely probable, that the Malays are
a race that was early broken off from the primitive Mongoloid
1 Ellis in Eauch, Einheit Menschengeschlechtes, p. 341 f.
80 HALF- CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 270.
stem, and that they bear to the Mongols a relation similar to
that borne by the Basques to the Celts.1 The statistical
relations, too, are analogous. The Mongolian races, if we
reckon only one-half of the mixed races of Tungus and Mand-
shurians, number somewhere about four hundred and twenty
millions ; the Malays, great as the space is over which they
are spread, number at furthest no more than two and a half
millions. Obs. 1. — The principal Malay languages are these : The Mala-
gassic, the Malayan in the narrower sense, as confined to Malacca,
the Javanese, the Bugish in Celebes, the Tagalic in the Philip
pines, the Tongan in the Tonga islands, the Maoric in New
Zealand, the Tahitian in the Society islands, and the Hawaiian
in the Sandwich islands. Here we give only a few illustrations
of the relation subsisting between these languages. Eye is in
Malag. Javan. Bug. Tag. Maori, Tah. mata, in Tong. matta,
in Haw. maka, Malagass. masse. Tree is in Malay, Jav.
kaju, in Tag, cahui, in Tong. acow, in Maori racau, in Tah.
raau, in Haw. laau, in Malag. Mzo. To plant is in Mai.
tanam, in Jav. tanem, in Tong. tano, in Maori and Tah.
tanu, in Haw. kanu. Blood is in Mai. darah, (a) in Jav.
rah, in Malag. rd, (b) in Bug. dara, in Tag. dugo, in Tong.
tawto, in Maori and Tah. toto, in Haw. hoko. Earth is (1) in
Mai. Jav. Bug. tana, in Malag. tane ; (2) in Mai. benua, in
Bug. wanua, in Tag. banjan, in Maori wenua, in Tah. fenua,
in Haw. honua and aina. Fire is in Mai. and Bug. api, in
Sav. hapi, in Tag. Mpon, in Tong. afi, in Maori ahi, in
Tah. auahi, in Haw. ahi, in Malag. affe or fe. Fruit is in
Mai. buah, in Jav. woh, in Bug. buwa, in Tag. bonga, in
Tong. foa, in Haw. hua, in Tah. hodu, in Malag. voM, etc.
The Javanese, Tagals, and Bugis possess the art of writing ; but
their alphabets were of Indian origin. (W. von Humboldt,
Kawi-Sprache, part 2, p. xi.)
Obs. 2. — In the Malay languages, much more distinctly than
in those of the nations belonging to the Mongolian group, we can
trace a relationship with the Aryan languages ; a new proof that
the process in the direction of monosyllabism and of immoderate
change of pronunciation in the Mongolian languages belongs to a
secondary stage. Gerang, herah, hahik, Old Sanscr. garan, garas,
yipawg, ynpac,. Lava, loa, loma, htmu (old), lagui, great, long, Lat.
1 That in Java, besides Aryan-Indian or Brahmanical influences, there
may have been an intermixture of Aryan- Indian blood, is not at all
incredible.
§ 270.] THE RACES OF ASIA AND POLYNESIA. 81
longus. Malta, mata, eye, Saiiscr. mukka. Mauna, maua, moonga,
mountain, Lat. mons. Bukit, heap, Old High Germ, piokan, to
curve, bend, puhil, hillock. Tana, earth, %6tZt (which is not
connected, as Curtius thinks, with ^«/»a/, humus). lema in
Javanese means earth (as matter), Old High Germ. Um, lema,
leim, lehm, loam. Benua, bajan, fenua, land, /3a/W, Lat. venire.
Kai, hi, cain, to eat, Old High Germ, chiuwan, kauen, to chew.
Run-toh, to fall, Lat. ruere. Padang, a plain, wsdiov, Sanscr. pad.
Vaoo, wenua, wilderness, waste, Old High Germ, wasda, Lat.
vastus. Gni, genni, ahi, auahi, ahi, fire, Sanscr. agni, Lat. ignis.
Ika, isda, ika, hiwah, fish, /'%^uc, Lat. piscis, Celt. iasc. Buah,
buwa, foa, hua, fruit, Sanscr. bhu,
pdr/fia.
(c) Out of the great multitude of such local guardian deities,
however, there are some occupying a pre-eminent position
which are found under the same name and with the same
emblems in various places, and are already in this way
characterized as old national deities. As such they are
characterized by the circumstance that definite worship is
appointed them, and priests (ganga) are assigned them. These
gods are characterized by the appellation kisso, kissie, and, what
is most important, are clearly distinguished by their images.
In their temples there are empty couches, beside which em
blems of the god are set ; for example, in the temple of kisso-
i-Nimina we find a wooden spear and an iron gong. From
time to time the hisso is raised from the earth, takes unseen
its place upon the couch, and then the priests beat upon the
gong. The chief of all these hisso are the following : Bunsi,
with the predicate Mama Mamkissie, mother of all gods,1 who
is worshipped in all parts of the land, and has, in Tshimsinda
in Moanga, an oracle, where she invisibly rises from the earth
in order to instruct a newly-crowned king in regard to his
kingly duties by the mouth of her ganga. The Kissie insie,
1 Bastian, Expedition a. d. LoangoMste, i. 223 f, translates loosely :
Mother of all fetiches.
§277.] THE SAVAGE RACES OF AFRICA. 125
god of the earth, also called Mo-kisso insie Makonih, is repre
sented by two wooden figures, the one bearing the other ; also
by a pot bound round with bands ; less frequently also (as the
god of harvest, Umkissie Boma) by a mere heap of animal
skulls. The first-fruits of harvest are brought to him as
an offering. His ganga gives his services likewise to Kissie
'mshiti, the god of the woods. A Kisso Mangaka protects from
thieves and robbers, and whoever has a personal enemy, in
order to rouse against him the anger of the god, drives a nail
into the god's wooden image. The lower half of this image is
covered with matting, and the bearded countenance is depicted
with a flat retreating forehead. Mangaka's wife is called
Matanga. For a similar reason nails are driven into Mabiali
(Abiala, Mandembo) ; his image is of a white colour, the eyes
of glass, with threatening outstretched arm ; in his mouth a red
cloth, on his head a mirror. Additional forms or additional
names of this god are Mabiali-panso, Mabiari-pano, Mani-
panso. Nimina and his wife Njambi are the god of the fish
ing and the goddess of wealth and commerce. Lunsunsi, in
Cabinda, is the god of the coasts, is regarded as the son of
Bunsi, and has a brother, Um-wemwe, who slays the sorcerers.
The itaphylle Kondu-mambo (Kombi-mambo), with his wife
Umgulambenzi, seem to be gods of animal productiveness. In
earlier time a Tshekoke (Tshikoko) had been worshipped as
Mo-kisso kola, the mighty god, along with his wife Gumbiri.
This perhaps was the old national war-god. On the war-god
Bumba, see § 276, Obs. 2.
Besides these gods there are various others, some dispensers
of rain, some protectors of their infants. We find that in
Congo and Loango a developed polytheism has prevailed,
which very generally grows over into witchcraft and super
stition, but is in no way overgrown by the so-called
fetichism, and is quite distinct from the actual fetisso belief.
(d) There are still, indeed, most evident traces remaining
of an ancient monotheism. High above the kissos, imported
perhaps in part or wholly at a later period from India (see
126 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 277.
§ 276, Obs. 2), stands Zambi. This word zambi seems to be
a primitive appellative of deity;, for over against the good
god Zambi am-Pungo we have the wicked god Zambi an-hi ;
and among the pirate tribe of the Solonghos, south of the
Zaire, we have- Zambi 'm-pi Tshimbi.1 The proper name of
the good god is Pungo (Pungu), which, singularly enough, is
connected with the Bonga of the Kolhs (§ 274), whose name
recurs generally among the most varied Melanesian and
African tribes. The Loangans say of Zambi Pungo that he
created the whole world, including kissos and also men;
the latter sinned against him, and have been punished by
being made black. The Solonghos or Mossorunghos south
of the Zaire have a tradition that Zambi Pungo died, that is,
his worship ceased to be practised; after his death another
evil zambi, Zambi 'm-pi, arose, created the evil spirit Shimbi,
and keeps up their numbers from the souls of the deceased.
To the Shimbi belong the fish-god Kudshanga Nemadia, who
is invoked on behalf of animal productivity; a god of the
sea-storms, Memo diatudili mankumbi; an Umpoeta, who
teaches men the arts, etc. The inhabitants of Cabinda, or
Angoy, have a tradition that Zambi Pungo carries thunder
and lightning in his hand ; he created ma-Gog, the first king
of the land of Angoy, and put under his protection the
mother of the gods, Bunsi, who then, on her part, brought
forth and created the various kissos. Thus in Zambi Pungo
we have a distinct reminiscence of the one original God, the
creator of the world.
(e) In Cabinda there is also associated with Zambi Pungo
a tradition of the flood. Zambi had created all men white ;
when, however, a woman, out of curiosity, opened the door
of a room in which wonderfully beautiful things were stored,2
there fell over her head and that of her tempter a barrel full
1 Similarly the Lobals place their good god Kashanda over against the
evil god Mikitschi. The Moluwas, too, have a supreme god or creator,
Kalumbo. 2 Comp. the Papalangi stuff of the Tonga islanders, § 272.
§ 277.] THE SAVAGE RACES OF AFRICA. 127
of black colouring powder, whereby both were made black.
She fled screaming from Em-puto1 to the river Zaire. The
following tradition of the flood in Cabinda is very fully
developed. When the whites stayed away from the coast,
the sacred palm-tree closed up its crown, and thick clouds
gathered over heaven and earth. Njambi, the goddess of
wealth, retired to Em-puto. Always heavier the clouds hungr
overhead, till at last birds, bende-bende, were let loose from
the confinement of the palm-tree, and flew hither and thither.
Now Njambi turns back ; the clouds fled, the sun shone forth
in his full strength, and ships came again with white people.
A modern element, the keeping away and the coming again
of ships with white people, is here confusedly mixed up with
the older part of the tradition. If in the old legend mention
was made of a ship which after a long voyage found landing
at last, it is evident how such a story, when it was no longer
understood, was confusedly interpreted and combined with
elements of quite a recent origin. The Portuguese whites
appeared at first to the blacks as almost superhuman beings,
and Njambi was the goddess of commerce. What wonder,
then, that they should understand the going out and coming
again, of the withdrawal and return, of the Portuguese ships ?
A quite similar commingling of an old legend with a modern
element was observed (§ 278) among the Odshis.
(/) The most remarkable point is that the belief in Zambi
has practically counteracted, by means of its awaking effect
on the conscience and its moral influence generally, the worst
consequences of polytheism and witchcraft. In consequence
of polygamy, vindicated by Bastian on medical grounds,
immorality and adultery, especially on the part of women,
are frequent, and married women often seek to seduce youths
into sin by measures analogous to those spoken of in Gen.
xxxix. 1 2 ff. If, now, Zambi is called upon, settling invisibly
1 Is there here concealed a reminiscence of Phut ? Em-puto may be
the land or the inheritance where the first progenitor of the tribe
lived.
128 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 277.
on a wooden plate, married women are obliged to confess
unreservedly all their failings, and to obtain forgiveness.
There have thus sprung up a certain kind of marriages,
Lemba marriages, which are concluded with special cere
monies, with invocation of a kissie Lemba, holding a particular
relation to Bunsi and Zambi, and its members are under
strict obligation to faithfulness and eventual confession in the
presence of Zambi. Oaths, too, are sworn by Zambi. In
short, what little good is to be found among these peoples
is connected with the belief in Zambi Pungo. For the rest,
the moral and social conditions which are the immediate
consequence of the kisso-polytheism and fetisso-witchcraft
are sad enough. As the Malays have their taboo, so the
tribes of Congo and Loango have their quidsilles and schinas,
that is, to every individual from childhood something or other
in itself quite harmless is forbidden : one must never give
any one a hand, another may eat no manioch, a third must
not cross the Zaire, etc. In the observance of this super
stition they are evidently quite equal to the Pharisees ; but
impurity is not forbidden. When one is sick the gangas
come, set themselves down smoking hemp, and amid noisy
music work themselves into a frantic condition, and declare
whether the sickness of the sick person has been caused by
the breaking of a schina, or by some fetissero who has bewitched
him. In the latter case, he who is charged as guilty is either
subjected to ordeals, such as the drinking of poisoned cassa,
which, if causing vomiting, shows him guiltless, if otherwise,
shows him guilty, or is driven to confession by the most
revolting and cruel tortures, and the convicted or confessor
is burnt alive or else put to death on the rack. There are
also human offerings during war, and on the death of every
king or prince or eminent individual.
(g) The dead are roasted to mummies over fire, and are
then buried ; into the graves of chiefs their images are cast.
The continuance of the soul after death in a ghostly condition
is put in connection with the appearance of the new moon.
§ 277:] THE SAVAGE RACES OF AFRICA. - 129
In Congo the appearance of the crescent moon is greeted with
the words Eatua fua, eatua dshinga, man dies, man lives
again. C. On the religion of the mixed race of the Hottentots,
it is reported to us from a period in which it continued
uninfluenced by Europeans, or at least less under such
influence than now,1 that in practice their chief object of
worship was the moon, although they said expressly that this
was not the highest, but only a subordinate and visible god, —
a sign that even they still possessed the idea of one invisible
supreme God. To the moon they ascribed the control of the
weather. At every full moon and new moon they gathered
together, danced, shouted, and clapped their hands till sun
down, and cried — " We greet thee, we welcome thee ; give us
fodder for our cattle, and milk in abundance ! " Besides this,
they had a peculiar worship of animals. An insect of their
country with green back, white and red speckled belly, and
two wings,2 was regarded by them as an incarnation of a
benevolent deity. When one of these appeared in a village,
they gathered around, danced about in wrapt devotion, offered
him two fat sheep, sprinkled before him powdered Spircea
(meadow sweet), feeling assured that by his appearance all
guilt is forgiven, and blessing and good fortune are secured.
If that insect lights upon a man, he is regarded as a saint
well-pleasing to the deity, and to the honour of both the
fattest ox is immediately slaughtered as a thank-offering.
After the death of such a saint, a mountain or a river is
called after his name. Whoever passes through such a place
ought to conceal his head in his cloak and dance round the
place, imploring the saint for his protection. As, then, this
chafer worship reminds us of the scarabaeus of the Egyptians,
and affords a new witness in favour of the derivation of the
Hottentots from the neighbourhood of Egypt, the land of the
1 H. Adam, View of Religions.
2 The mantis religiosa, a locust-like creature, with a head turning to
every side. See Weber, Vier Jahr in Afrika, part 2, p. 210.
EBRARD III. I
130 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 277.
Gallas, see § 276, the worship of an evil spirit, whom they
seek to pacify by offerings of oxen and sheep, tells of their
mixing with the negro tribes.
D. Even in the north-east of Africa there is to be found
in the Wagandas on Lake Nyanza a tribe of Ethiopic descent.1
They had, according to their own traditions thirty-five genera
tions ago, according to Stanley's well-grounded opinion at a
much earlier period, made their way hither from the north.
They have the tradition that a pious man, Kintu, a priest, had
migrated, together with his wife and some domestic animals,
and seeds of various kinds, to Uganda, which was then wholly
uninhabited, rapidly peopled the land with his children, of
whom his wife bare four to him every year, and who came
into the world bearded and already arrived at man's estate,
introduced the banana and potato plant, and held in abhorrence
all shedding of blood. A paradisiacal state prevailed. But
when his children discovered the art of brewing banana wine
(comp. Gen. ix. 20 ff), and in consequence excess, godless-
ness, and violence began, Kintu went forth with his wife
during the night, and has been sought for in vain by his
successors on the throne, his son and grandsons, Tshwa,
Kamiera, Kimera. There is here something that reminds us
of paradise, the fall, and Noah. It is noticeable that in Mowa
at the Livingstone Falls the name Kintu occurs as the title of
their chiefs.2 There is also found round about the Victoria
Nyanza the root Mani, Mana, Moeni, Muini, in Uregga Wana,
in Bateke Land, Nwana, which are identical with Manu,
meaning lord.3 The tribal relationship between the Wagandas
and the Bassutos and the Congo negroes is shown by the
relationship of their languages. Among all these peoples, mo
and m' is the prefix of the singular, ba, be, wa that of the plural.
See, for particulars of the linguistic relationship, the compara
tive tables of Stanley, vol. ii. pp. 536-551.
1 Stanley, Through the Dark Continent, vol. i. chap. xiv.
2 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 425. s jurf voj ; p 545_
§ 278.] THE SAVAGE RACES OF AFRICA. 131
§ 278. The Religion and Traditions of the Negroes.
If one reads the usual descriptions given by missionaries
and other travellers of the social and religious condition of the
negroes, one would suppose that these tribes had as good as
no religion, or that at least their religion consisted in a mere
senseless fetich-worship, since any sort of potsherd, a broken
bottle, thrown-out offal, is regarded, venerated, and feared as
an awfully mighty thing, and as at the same time an amulet.
It is quite true that among many negro tribes religion has
been degraded and shrivelled up into such fetich -worship,
especially since about the year 1517, when Europeans, calling
themselves Christian, introduced the slave trade and brandy,
which have exercised a dreadfully deteriorating influence,
socially, morally, and also religiously, upon the negro race.1
The remnants, however, of a quite complicated civil constitu
tion2 show significantly enough that these tribes have sunk
from a higher stage of civilisation.3 Then, again, if only one
carefully considers that among the most of these tribes, besides
these absurd private fetiches of individual negroes and their
sorcerers, there also exist idol temples with idol images, that,
e.g., the Joruba city Abbeokuta before its conversion to
Christianity swarmed with idol images, and that in it the gods,
the highest of which is called Shango, were honoured with
1 Compare, in regard to this, Bastian, Expedition a. d. Loangokiiste,
i. p. 352.
2 E.g. among the Akwamboo negroes, a king ruling over 400 square
miles, under him four chamberlains : he and they limited by the village
councils. Each village, again, has its president, along with a set of village
councillors. The chamberlains are also war chiefs. All higher ranks are
hereditary (Basler Miss. Mag. 1837, p. 537 ff.). Among the Bulloms and
other tribes of Western Africa we find a monarchy limited by a regular
nobility with an electoral kingship. At the head of every village there
is an elected chief (Basler Miss. Mag. 1839, H. 2, p. 187 f.). The
Jorubas distinguish ogbonis, that is, civil authorities, and baloguns, that
is, war chiefs (ibid. 1858, Feb.).
3 So also have the cannibal Wavinza negroes on the Victoria Nyanza
a developed art of iron-smelting and copper-founding as an industry
understood by tradition. Stanley, Through the Dark Continent.
132 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 278.
festivals with solemn processions,1 that among the Akwapim
human offerings are brought to particular idols,2 that generally
among the most of the negro tribes human victims are slain in
fearful numbers, not only during war, but also at the graves of
distinguished persons, which probably indicates an idea of a
god of death, we shall no longer be able to doubt, that even
where now there remains over only that fetich-worship, there
had originally lain at the foundation of it some sort of
polytheistic worship of a higher sort. But we are fortunately
able to prove this in the most decided manner in regard to
one negro tribe, and not this only, but there have also been
found there very evident traces of an original monotheism
which passed over into polytheism, and it is highly probable
that by continued minute investigation in Africa those traces
will be found in other districts.
The Odshi negroes 3 on the Gold Coast, in the Akwapim
mountains, not only knew, but still continued to worship
one god, the supreme creator of the world, whom they call
Onjang-ko-pong, or shortly, Onjame,4 from njam, to beam
forth, and a root that is not otherwise found in their
language, hopong, but which we have assumed to be quite
synonymous with kubong (§ 272 f.) among the Alfurus of
Australia ; its second syllable, pong, bong, we have found also
among the Kolhs, § 274, as bonga, spirit, god: so that we
may here with certainty conclude that there was a primitive
Hamitic root bong, which was originally an appellative for
God, and seems to have designated God as an invisible Spirit.
Onjang-ko-pong, the god Pong, is synonymous with the Sing-
bonga of the Kolhs, with the diva, deus, tius of the Aryan
1 Basler Miss. Mag. 1885, Feb. p. 74 f.
8 Ibid. 1837, p. 555.
3 The report of the missionary Mader in the Basler Miss. Mag. 1862,
September. The same in all essential respects, only less thorough and
complete, had been reported previously by other missionaries. Compare
issue of 1837, H. 3.
4 The various Akra or Ga tribes worship Njongmo or Onjame as the
highest being, the creator of heaven and earth. J. Zimmermann,
Vocabulary of the Akra or Ga Language, p. 337.
§278.] THE SAVAGE RACES OF AFRICA. 133
races. We find this Pungu again in the interior of Africa
under the slightly changed form of Mungu. " The Makonde
at Eowana believe in an invisible god, Mungu." 1 " At Lake
Bangweolo they call God Mungu or Mulungu." 2 This widely-
spread name is also found in Bambarra-land in Moero, where
Mulungu has also the additional name of Eeza, and a good
Eeza in heaven is distinguished from a wicked Eeza in the
lower world.3 Besides the name Mungu, we also here and
there meet with the name Chesimpu,4 which plainly points to
the Zambi of the Loango Coast. Also the Uandalas south
of Bornu have a good god Da-damia, whose name in part
sounds like Zambi; besides him they have an evil god
Oeksee, and a good spirit Abi.5 The name of the chief idol
of Alkum, Boka,6 reminds us of Pungu. In every invocation
of an inferior deity, and in every sacrificial act, the Odshis
utter first the name of Onjame, then the earth, and only after
wards that of the inferior god. They have these proverbs :
" The hawk says, Everything that Onjang-ko-pong has made is
good. No one shows the smithy to the smith's son ; if he
understands smith-work, it is Onjame that has taught him.
The earth is vast, but Onjame is the highest. So long as
Onjame slays thee not, thou shalt not die, even though a man
wished to kill thee. When the cock drinks water, Onjame
points him to it. Wilt thou speak with Onjame, tell it to the
wind." The clouds of heaven are the border and outer part
of God. He maintains the supervision of all things, and
considers the conduct of men. The earth is called wjase,
literally, what is under the sun. The sun is awjia, moon and
stars ; nsoromma, heaven's children ; and they are the servants
of God. Indeed, awjia is a friendly servant, who with his
beams, anuenjam, shines willingly upon the earth, and thus,
too, rises daily. The moon, again, is a murderer, aundifo, who
carries the death drum, which is visible in the spots on the
1 Livingstone's Last Journals, London 1874.
2 Ibid. 3 p0id. * Ibid.
5 Bohlfs, Quer durch Afrika, ii. 62. 6 Ibid. ii. 223.
134 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 278.
moon, and by beating it slays many men, calls forth sick
nesses on its becoming full ; hence God allows it to become
full only once a month, but to be out of sight for two whole
days. The stars are appealed to for the blessing of children.
Besides these star-gods, there are a multitude of inferior
deities, regarded by missionaries as principal fetiches, which
receive divine worship. The Odshi negroes call them children
of God, and describe them as created beings, and indeed as
spirits (ahonhom, from home, to breathe ; sunsum, from sum,
dark, invisible; in Ga, sisa), which are in themselves
invisible, but can become visible to the initiated as fleeting
forms in a white sheet, and to other men make themselves
and their will known mediately through animals, trees, etc.
The appellative for these inferior deities, bbosom} from bbo,
stone, and som, to serve, indicates that at an earlier time these
were considered to be present in sacred stones, and must have
been worshipped, as indeed several traditions testify.2 They
are also called Atumfo, the mighty ones, because they have
from Onjame absolute power over the life and death of men,
only, according to the present belief of the Odshis, they have
not this power over a witch or against the use of an amulet.
God is their father, a reminiscence of the b'ne elohim, whom we
meet with again in the Adityas of the Indians and the Amesha-
spentas of the Iranians. They are absolutely dependent on
his will, and they carry it out. If a man has done evil, they
bring the case first of all before God ; if he approves the
same, they execute the sentence, for they bring sickness or
death upon the guilty. , They move hither and thither
between heaven and earth. Whoever wishes to pray must
address himself to them ; then they bring his prayer before
God. They are gracious to all who serve them. But such a
false mediatorship must necessarily lead to a polytheistic
development. Among the Odshis generally there is recog-
1 By d I indicate the open sound, that is, between o and a in the middle
of a word, like the English aw.
2 See later on under the tradition C.
§ 278.] THE SAVAGE RACES OF AFRICA. 135
nised a superior bbosom called Bosompra or Obosomdade, the
iron Obosom, who is at the same time the house-obosom of
the king of Akwapim, the kwaw dade, the iron man, and
receives yearly a sheep in sacrifice. Under him stand next
in order Kjengku, Akonedi, and Ohjiar; then comes a river
god, Ajesu, good-water ; Akjefo, one. who partakes of sacrificial
flesh ; Burukumadaw, as guardian spirit of the fields ; Awan-
samme, to whom the tiger, dog, and antelope are sacred;
Kjeritinanse, poison spider ; Dasik-ji, as the guardian spirit
of the river Volta, etc. The worship of this bbosom, however,
is now in practice completely overshadowed by the worship
of akomfoabosom, the spirits of the fetich prophets, that is, the
fetiches proper or the idols (amagd, wodshi). The latter have,
according to the statements of the Odshis themselves, had
their origin and have come into favour in a recent period, and
daily new ones are being added from the sorcerer priests. In
earlier times, say they, the bbosoms lived with men ; but then
they separated from them, and went apart into a certain
grove where there was a lake with a serpent. They now
bring to them also human sacrifices : the bodies of the
victims are laid in that grove, and remain lying there
unburied. The akomfoabosom, whose number is legion, are
not well-disposed, but mischievous, evil spirits, who know
nothing of goodness and mercy, and slay every one without
favour who does not secure their goodwill by bringing* gold
and palm wine to the priest. Thus we can clearly perceive
how the fetich -worship originated. The insertion of the
bbosom between Onjame and men brought men into depend
ence upon the priests, and the instinctive cunning and greed
of the priests, together with the fear of the powers of dark
ness and death, to whom men of an unexpiated conscience felt
themselves delivered over, occasioned the spiritual bondage
and superstition of the fetich-worship. Among the Odshis
alongside of and behind this fetich-worship the worship of
the bbosom and the knowledge of the one God still endure.
Among many other negro tribes, but certainly not among all,
136 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 278.
nothing now remains save the bare product of the fetich-
worship. The souls of the deceased (sissa) are feared as
ghosts by the Odshis. When an Odshi rises up from a chair,
he turns it over so that no sissa may sit upon it.1
The legends of the Odshis are extremely worthy of atten
tion. They are wont in the evenings to gather their children
together, and tell them the old legends and stories of their
race. That now, when they give out anew their stories, they
should mix up many marvels with their legendary tales, does
not astonish us so much as the amount of truth that they
have retained from the primitive traditions of mankind.
A. In regard to the creation they say : God began the
creation on a kwasida, the first of their week of seven days,
and completed it on fida, the sixth day of the week. On the
seventh day He created nothing, but gave man a command.
In those six days He created first the woman, then the man,
then animals, then plants, then the rocks, — -just reversing the
order. Men were after their creation sent forth into this
sub-solar world (wjase), a reminiscence of the expulsion from
Eden. B. The fall : — formerly God was very near to men ;
when they needed anything, they just pointed with a staff
upward, then it rained fish and other things. But a woman
who pounded afusu, a banana fruit, in a mortar, went with
the pestle inadvertently into God's presence. Then was God
angry and withdrew into the high heavens,2 and listened no
more to men. After six rainless years came a famine
which compelled them to slay men. At the advice of a
wise man they sent a messenger to God, acknowledging they
1 The report of the missionary Biis in Akropong, Basler Miss. Mag.
1837, p. 560 ff.
2 And with him the obosom, as results necessarily from what is afterwards
told that God sends again in answer to the prayers of men Obosomtua.
But this return of the obosom into high heaven is to be distinguished
from the withdrawal of the obosom into the grove, which is a later
occurrence. The Odshis themselves seem to have confounded the two,
for the serpent which exists in that grove identifies the grove with the
garden of Eden.
§ 278.] THE SAVAGE RACES OF AFRICA. 137
had done wrong, and entreated Him to send one of His
counsellors, bsafohene, who should care for them. Then God
sent His highest minister Obosomtua and his wife Ntuabea,
with the message that He would now no longer scorch them,
but would give rain in its proper season : when the rainbow
would appear, they should fire their muskets, and remember
God the giver of rain and sunshine. (We observe here a
striking intermixture with a certain reminiscence of the flood,
of the story of a specifically African disaster, the want of
rain, which overshadows the other.) Obosomtua dwelt now
as bbosom or inferior deity in the west, his wife in the east,
of the country, and placed around also six other bbosom,
Obosomdade, Ajesu, Akiefo, Kjeretinanse, Awansamme, and
Burukumadaw. C. The legend of the flood, of Noah, and the tower
building is very much disfigured, but still quite recognisable.
It turns again on man being driven forth upon the earth.
There were two Gods in heaven (onjangkSpong), and two
men, a white and a black. (This feature in the legend
of a distinction between white and black men is referred back
to heaven, — a tradition probably derived from a primitive
period, see § 272 f.) The two Gods — God and Satan —
fought long with, one another for the possession of the two
men. Finally, the people of heaven (brsoromang) agreed to
cast the two men out of heaven. Borebore, to whom, as the
servant of God, another legend, given under D, ascribes the
creation of the world, let the two men down to earth by a
chain, which he hung round his neck, and stayed with them
a hundred years. Then he dug an enormous pit, and
brought down a fearful rain from all sides, which rushed like
a river over the earth, but in the pit dug by the wise Borebore
it found a place where it would empty itself. The rain filled
this pit : then rose up the sea between the black and the white
people. Borebore swept with a broom his wisdom into a box,
but lost this, and must die. The white man found the
wisdom-box, and discovered by means of it a medicine to
138 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 278.
save from death. Because men, however, were too old, too
hostile to one another, and too numerous, he renounced the
use of this means (a truly heathen way of minimizing the
necessity of death !) ; but the black man concluded to worship
the stone on which he sat. There was then only one
language among men. The whites joined things together
and placed what they had made on the waters. (A con
fusion between the ark and the first European ships.) They
went into the land of the blacks, and before they parted from
these they made an attempt to mount up to heaven. They
heaped all their fusu-mortars on one another to make a tower.
Only one mortar was then wanting, and they took out the
lowermost to place it on the top, but now the whole tower,
wanting a foundation, fell and had slain them all had they
not instantly fled. They were scattered over the earth, and
thus sprang up the multitude of different languages.
D. Borebore, as already remarked, plays a part in yet
another legend of the Odshis. God sent out Adomankama
and Borebore with the instruction to create the earth, wjase.
Sleepless and with never halting motion they drove through
all regions until they came to Efoo, the black monkey, who
took them with him to eat and to spend the night with him.
Waking from sleep, they separated : Borebore went to Africa
and created the products that are found there ; Adomankama
parted the sea with a cow's tail, went to Europe, and created
all things that are found there. Then the legend itself runs
out into a cow's tail, for it goes on to relate that Adomankama
at a later time came to Africa in a ship and brought the
negroes brandy, which in this form is naturally a recent
addition, but possibly only a modernized version of a remini
scence of Gen. ix. 20 ff., similar to the Kintu tradition
current among the Wagandas. In the original tradition
evidently Adomankama and Borebore stand in relation to
the separation of the races of mankind, and so are parallel
to the sons of Noah or Manu, and in Adomankama we may
perhaps find a trace of the name Manu. But the post-
§ 278.] THE SAVAGE RACES OF AFRICA. 139
diluvian condition of the earth is here, as among so many
other nations, confused with the first creation of the world ;
hence those two as servants of God appear in the original
creation. According to Mader, Borebore is derived from the-
Odshi word bo, to create, which seems related to the Sanscrit
word bhu ; but from the appearance of the consonant r
it reminds us much more strikingly of Buri and Borr of the
Scandinavian legend (§ 250), who corresponds to the Noah
of the biblical primitive tradition, whose name is derived
from the primitive Sanscr. root bhr, cf>ipeiv, Lat. ferre, Goth.
bairan, Old High Germ, beran, Celt, ber, biur, Heb. tm and
"O, son, Mong. bari, to bring, to give. Borebore, however, seems
in the original legend current among the negroes to have corre
sponded not so much to Noah as to Adam, or the persons of
Adam and Noah have been confounded together in it. The
disobedience into which he allowed himself to be seduced by
the black monkey, reminds us distinctly of the fall.
E. I add here a tradition that prevails among another race
on the Gold Coast, the Ashantees.1 In the beginning God
created three white and three black pairs, and gave them the
choice between good and evil, for He laid on the earth a
calabash and a sealed leaf. The blacks chose the calabash,
but found therein only a piece of gold, and a piece of iron,
and other metals, the use of which they did not know. The
whites took the sealed papers, and it told them everything.
When now God was angry with the blacks, they wandered
away from Him, and worshipped subordinate spirits, who
presided over the rivers, mountains, and woods. This
tradition in its present form is evidently modern. It cannot
have taken this shape before the arrival of Europeans, and
was made apparently under the influence of astonishment
at their skill in writing and reading. The kernel of it,
however, is found in a primitive tradition which makes its
appearance in Tonga and in America, as well as among the
1 Bowdik, Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee, London 1819,
p. 344.
140 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. T§ 278.
Odshis, of the white and black brothers, and especially
we find in it the consciousness that the fetich-worship marks
a secondary religious stage, which had been preceded by the
worship of one God. The Ashantee language, too, has a
word to indicate the idea of God.
The supreme god of the Jorubas, Shango, was the god of
thunder and lightning. The Egbas worship a good god
Obbatalla, over against whom is the evil god Shugudu. The
Nupis worship one supreme god Soko, who is again evidently
identical with the Shango of the Jorubas. The names Zambi,
Shango, Soko, form an etymological series. The heathen
tribes existing in and around Bajirmi in the Soudan have all
a belief in one supreme, invisible being. They regard the
thunder as his voice, and assign his dwelling to the clouds.1
The negroes of the Bonny country call their temples Uru-
houses, uru-wara, or in the Ebo dialect, houses of Ara, olo
ab-ara. They thus have uru, ara as an appellative of God.
There are now, however, negro tribes widely spread through
Central Africa, among whom there is still preserved the know
ledge, yea the worship, of the one invisible god Mungu,
Mulungu. There is such a knowledge among the Makra
negroes, who " have a clear conception of a supreme being,
but do not pray to him;"2 among the Matambwes, who
" tremble before Mulungu, do not willingly speak of him, and
fear misfortune when he is spoken of."3 There is such a
worship in the countries between the Lakes of Nyassa, Bang-
weolo, Tanganyika, and Muero, where they know nothing of
idols and fetiches.4 The Maganjas of Lake Nyassa in a
case of death say of the deceased: Mungu took him. The
inhabitants of these regions in respect of their bodily forma
tion, a fine facial angle, good cast of countenance, and lips not
protruding, occupy a position nearer the original type of the
negro, and show less evidence of deterioration ; 5 and traces
1 Comp. Nachtigal, Sahara und Sudan, 1881, part 2, p. 685.
2 Livingstone's Last Journals.
3 Ibid. * Ibid. « Ibid.
§ 278.] THE SAVAGE RACES OF AFRICA. 141
are found among them of previous higher culture, of the
exercise of the art of agriculture, smith's and potter's craft.1
The maintenance of a higher religious position among them
goes hand in hand with the preservation of a nobler form of
a physical type.
That the knowledge and worship of the one invisible God
is the original, and the heathenism is the element afterward
introduced, is demonstrated incontestably from this, that the
root of the divine name, Punga, Bonga, Mungu, is common
to the most diverse negro tribes, and even to the most diverse
Hamite tribes, therefore in use before their separation,
whereas each tribe has its own designation for the inferior
deities, idols, fetiches, and spirits. Thus, for example, in
Central Africa, as designations of the souls of deceased men,
we meet with the words ngolu and mezimo; then in the Ga
language, sise, sunsum ; in the speech of the Loango Coast,
fetisso and shinbi; the gods are called by the Odshi obosom,
in Loango kissie, among the Betchuanas rimo, in Manjuema
nkongolo ; idol images among the Odshis are called amagd
and wodshi, etc. In Majuemeland, between Lake Tanganyika
and the river Lualaba, there exists still the transition stage
between the old monotheism and the fetich and spirit worship.
A god of heaven is still worshipped under the name of Gulu,
which means above or heaven ; but there is placed alongside
of him a god of earth, Mamou, which means below. Souls
after death go to Gulu, and are worshipped as ancestor-deities
by the erection of wooden and tin images of the ancestors, and
by the offering of goat's flesh.2 The names of particular sub
ordinate deities are entirely different among the various tribes.
For example, among the Kanuris of Bornu there are a forest-
god Koliram, a water-god Ngamaram ; among the Afoos there
are the animal-shaped idol Dodo with two faces, one bearded
the other beardless, and Harna-ja-mussa, sitting without arms ;
among the Batumas, on the islands in Lake Tchad, there is a
god of storms Nadshikenem, and two good spirits Betziromaino
1 Livingstone's Last Journals. 2 Ibid.
142 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 279.
and Bakoma-main.i The Wagandas acknowledge one god, a
creator of the world, whom they call Kabonda. Especially to
the god of thunder do they present offerings and prayers.2
Chapter IV. — The Peoples and Hordes of America.
§ 279. Introductory.
We possess a useful work upon the history of the religions
of the primitive inhabitants of America, which has been
wrought up with great diligence, but it is only in the form
of a collection of materials. J. G. Miiller of Basel, in his
Amerikanischen Urreligionen, Basel 1855, has indeed assured
us in his preface that he has no intention whatever of doing
anything more than to present a statement of facts. In the
execution of his work, however, he has done the very opposite,
and has put a violent pressure upon his facts in the form of
a scheme of a priori conceptions which he carries with him.
His fundamental error consists in his refusing to hear any
question about a historical connection between those races and
religions and the races and religions of the Old World, and his
tracing the origin of the American religions purely to physical
causes. In cold climates the mind must turn to belief in
ghosts and shamanism, and in warm climates to the worship
of the sun. This would require us to regard Senegambia as
possessed of a very cold climate ! (See § 278.) How far one
may be carried by such d priori constructions is shown in the
case of Fr. von Erdmann (see § 260, Obs. 3), which should
afford a warning against such methods. The Great Spirit of
the redskins is, according to J. G. Miiller, only the chief of the
hobgoblins, and indeed scarcely makes a figure at all after Miiller
has laboriously proved that that Great Spirit is not the God of
the Christians ! Surely the petrifaction of a palm is not the
1 Bohlfs, Quer durch Afrika, ii. pp. 10, 199, part 1, p. 333 ff.
2 Basler Miss. Mag. 1880, p. 252.
§ 279.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 143
living palm, but yet it gives evidence that a living palm had
once existed there. The legends of the Peruvians, Toltecs, and
other tribes of foreign origin, who introduced culture and the
worship of the sun into the country, may be ever so clear and
definite, yet J. G Miiller reduces them all to an & priori con
structed sun-myth, in which the sun-god is represented as the
god and patron of agriculture ; in this way, by and by, he
might make a sun-god out of the Scandinavian god Odin.
However distinctly traces of a knowledge of the flood are
found among the most diverse American tribes, — a flood which
came upon the earth after the human race had existed there,
from which only one pair was saved, — those traditions, accord
ing to J. G. Miiller, are only cosmogonic philosophemes
explaining the origin of the world from the water; as if
these Indian tribes had troubled their heads about such
problems, and had simply adopted the philosophical principle-
of Thales ! The animal attributes of the gods he regards as
original forms under which conceptions of the gods had been
formed ; the idea of gods in human form is generally of later
growth. The Mexican priesthood is extremely like that of the
Buddhist, down even to minute details of their dress, and
their monkish orders, and their seminaries ; in the empire of
the Incas, Chinese customs, and institutions, and religious
ceremonies are still scrupulously preserved, down to the
smallest particulars ; but these immigrations from Asia must
upon no account be thought of. These are fancies, but no
history. The constant, ant-like diligence, however, with which
J. G. Miiller has gathered together from a literature very
rich but very fragmentary, and often hard to disentangle, the
material for a scientific investigation, though it may be only in
an unmethodized heap of chaff and chips, is deserving of our
sincere gratitude.
When, now, I set myself to work up this material (in regard
to which generally it may here suffice to refer to the pages of
Miiller, where the sources and guarantees are found carefully
144 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 279.
recorded), it is quite evident that I shall not separate the
ethnographical question about descent and extraction from
the religious and historical, and that in regard to both of these
questions the linguistic researches, to which Buschmann1
before all others has made important contributions, will be
employed by me as a lever, yea, often as a foundation. In
ethnographical matters Eauch 2 has broken ground in a very
capable manner. He has properly acknowledged that one
should not allow himself to be determined by any isolated
characteristic to assume this or that derivation for any one
American tribe.3 Besides what we learn from the anatomical
physical constitution, we must have relationship in manners
and customs ; besides proof of the physical possibility of a
migration or sea voyage from the conjectured fatherland to the
American abode, we must have some historical record of the
fact, even though it be only in the form of a tradition. If
then, moreover, the facts thus arrived at are confirmed by the
manifest affinity of the religion ; if, for example, the worship
of the moon in connection with impure practices is found
among such tribes of the East Coast opposite Africa as have
a construction of skull and a dark colour which point to a
North African extraction ; if, on the other hand, a faithful
reproduction of the Chinese customs and constitution, and the
Chinese worship of the sun, is found among the Western
tribes of a light colour and oblique eyes, — the facts arrived at
obtain a very important confirmation. That the population
found by the discoverers of America in possession of the
1 J. E. O. Buschmann, " Spuren der aztek. Sprache im Norden Mexi-
ko's," in the Abhandl. der Berl. Akad. der Wissensch. 1854, Suppl. vol. ii.
" Ueber die aztek. Oetsnamen," ibid. 1852. " Ueber die athapaskischen
Sprachen," ibid. 1859. " Die Volker und Sprachen Neumexiko's," ibid.
1857, p. 209 ff.
2 P. M. Bauch, die Einheit des Menschengeschlechtes, Augsb. 1837, pp.
266-366. 3 Even the single fact that Europeans who live long in Brazil find
their hair becoming crisp and splitting at the ends, and their skin assum
ing a greyish yellow colour (Oscar Canstatt, Brasilien, Berl. 1877, p. 17),
shows how alongside of descent, yet in spite of and in contradiction to it,
the climate has an influence upon the bodily constitution.
§ 279.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 145
country, was made up of tribes of very diverse extraction, is
proved by the differences of colour. We have (§ 125, Obs. 1)
convinced ourselves from facts in our possession that sameness
of colour does not justify us in concluding to sameness of
origin ; but all the more surely does diversity of colour in the
same country and climate lead to the assumption of diversity
of origin. When, then, in California, alongside of the majority
of the tribes remaining there, who are dark-coloured, and,
according to Eollin and Prichard, have negro skulls and short
depressed noses, we find the bright-coloured tribe of the
Monas ; 1 when on the northern coasts of South America,
alongside of the dark-coloured Caribs worshipping a moon-
goddess, we find the light-coloured, small-nosed Guaranis ; on
the banks of the Amazon, alongside of the black Amaquas,
the light-coloured, oblique-eyed Botocudos, who call themselves
Aymaras,2 and in this unwittingly give evidence of their tribal
affinity with the Peruvian Aymaras of Lake Titicaca, — it is
shown by this and similar circumstances to be a fact, that races
of very diverse origin had migrated to America, and having
thrust themselves among one another, they here and there,
quite naturally, got blended together.
In conclusion, there only remains the question, what weight
in this investigation should be allowed to the language and
the affinity of the languages of the several groups of tribes ?
Tribes which, notwithstanding local separation from each
other, still speak the same or a very similar language, or at
least have important roots common to one another, certainly
prove thereby their tribal affinity.3 On the other hand,
diversity of language affords no incontestable proof against
sameness of origin. There is found in the languages of un
civilised, or even half-civilised people, quite demonstrably a
remarkable process of rapid and most irregular transmutation
1 Bauch, die Einheit des Menschengeschlechtes, p. 278.
- Miiller, amerikanischen Urreligionen, p. 241.
3 Thus Buschmann has proved the linguistic and tribal affinity of the
Sonora group, and the same again in regard to the Athabascans.
EBRARD III. K
146 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 279.
of sounds, and a change of language going the length of
becoming unintelligible to those who have its earlier form.
The comparison of the Greek dialects with one another shows
an interchange of gutturals and labials (77-0409, Ionic koios,
etc.) ; among Celtic languages, the Welsh has constantly
changed gutturals into labials ; but what is that in com
parison to the changes of sound introduced into the Burmese
languages, although in these, as monosyllabic languages, there
is no opportunity of changing the root-stems by inflection or
agglutination. There the present language as spoken differs
completely from that of former times fixed in writing ; l kak
has become tet, hri is shi, hra is hya, tMng is thi, etc. What,
then, must it have been in the case of the agglutinate lan
guages of America, where, in addition to this agglutinate con
struction, it was customary to mutilate the several roots
in the rarest and most capricious manner ? 2 With what
rapidity such languages come to be unintelligible, that is, to
be completely changed, Moffat 3 and Tschudi 4 show by most
notable examples. Single troops of Indians, as Tschudi tells,
are separated from the main body of the tribe, pass into
distant regions, and there form for themselves an essentially
new language, at least an idiom, which contains an altogether
new vocabulary, and is not intelligible to the mother tribe. To
all this we must still add the mingling of languages, when one
tribe is brought into relation with a foreign tribe of different
extraction, be it in the way of friendly commercial inter
course, or as dwellers in the land in the form of a subject
1 W. von Humboldt, Gesammelte Werke, vi. 343. Compare above,
§264. 2 The Delaware language, e.g., connects together hi, thou, wulit, pretty,
wichgat, paw, schis, little, into one word — kuligatschis, thy pretty little
paw ; naten, to fetch, amochol, boat, into nadhol - ineen — fetch us in
boats ; nayundam, to bear a burden, awesis, an animal — into nana-
yung-es, a beast of burden. Humboldt, Werke, vi. 323.
3 Moffat, Missionary Labours and Scenes in Southern Africa, London
1842. 4 Tschudi, die Kechuassprache, i. 8. Comp. Bauch, die Einheit des
Menschengeschlechtes, p. 303.
§ 279.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 147
race. Hence only positive proofs of tribal affinity, or at least
historical evidence of close connection, and not merely absence
of proof to the contrary, should be sought for from the
languages.1 When now, by the application of the above-mentioned
criteria, we investigate scientifically the primitive populations
of America, we find that America was peopled by means of
six successive immigrations. 1. The original stock of the
population seems to have consisted of Malay tribes, together
with Melanesians, who either were subject to them or had
fled before them. These made their appearance in America
about B.C. 1600 or 1400. From them are sprung the
Araucanians, Patagonians, primitive Californians, the Kolushes
of the Orinoco, and the primitive inhabitants of Peru, repre
senting the Stone Period there, whose blood flows in the
veins of many of the mixed tribes. 2. It may, perhaps, be
considered doubtful whether Phoenician ships touched the
coasts of America so early as B.C. 600 ; but it can be proved
with certainty that about a.d. 600, North African pirates, the
Berbers, were driven to Brazil, and that from them are sprung
the Amaquas, Caribs, Charruas, etc. 3. From the Mongolian
group of races, and especially from Japan, there came, at a
somewhat earlier date, about a.d. 100, civilised tribes which
took possession of Chiapa, or, indeed, generally of Central
America, and founded in Bogota the two empires of the
Muysca, and in Peru the ancient Peruvian empire. The
Botocudos are some of those which broke off from the rest and
1 Buschmann, " Spuren der aztek. Sprache," says at p. 39 : "I would
only undertake to explain the general type of this group of languages
spread over a vast tract of the earth's surface, and broken up into a
thousand forms. I have already by repeated endeavours sought to indi
cate the contents of such a problem ; they embrace the infinite sub
divisions, separations, alienations, and violent expulsions of the American
races and the smallest groups of men, occasioned by natural circumstances,
by prevalent customs, and modes of life, by the hatreds rankling in savage
natures ; and also, on the other hand, the most multifarious commingling
through friendly relations, intentional and violent linguistic changes, and
disfigurement, and finally, capricious linguistic contrivances."
148 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 280.
took to the nomadic hunting life, and uncivilised customs of
a degraded tribe. 4. Somewhat later, probably about a.d. 500,
from China or its immediate neighbourhood, a troop rushed
down through California upon Mexico, founded there the
empire of the Toltecs, was driven southward about A.D. 1290
by new hordes of invaders, and founded the empire of the
Incas in Peru. 5. The Tshukkhi tribes, driven away by the
Mongols under Genghis Khan, fled about A.D. 1200 over
Aleutia to North America, where they appeared as Tshits-
himecs, and from these are descended also the Mandans,
the Menomennecs, east of the Eocky Mountains, and the
Calif omian Monas. Soon afterwards, about a.d. 1282, a
Mongolian horde followed, made up of various constituents,
outwardly tinged with Buddhism and Chinese civilisation,
from China, which were then subject to the Mongols, a horde
which, under the name of the Nahuatlan tribe, entered
Mexico, then under the Aztecs. 6. Finno-Tartaric tribes
came in the 13 th century over Kamtschatka into the north,
peopled Greenland, drove the Malayan Alligewi, and later
also the Aztecs, southwards, and got mixed up with the
original population belonging to the two principal races of
the Eedskins, the Delawares and the Mengwes.
Each of those six immigrations will now be carefully proved,
and there will be added in respect of each of them a historical
statement of the nature of their religious condition.
A. — Malayan-Polynesian Immigration, b.c. 1600-1400.
§ 280. Evidence of this Immigration.
A. It has been already shown in § 270 that the Malays
were expert seamen, and undertook relatively long voyages,
and that Polynesia was peopled by them. This makes it quite
possible that the Malays should have reached America. A
race which had spread itself over a space 2550 geographical
miles long, from Madagascar to Hawaii, might also surely
§ 280.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 149
travel thence to California, a distance of 600 miles, and, if not
willingly, then all the more certainly if under constraint to do
so. The North Pacific Ocean current runs from the Polynesian
islands direct to North California, and in the Gulf of California
there are continually seen the wreck of boats, stems of trees,
and sea-weed, which have been driven from Polynesia to those
coasts. On the other side, the South polar current in the South
Pacific Ocean passes over toward Easter island and thence to
Chili. Ships or boats which get into one of these two currents
would inevitably be driven either to California or to Chili.
B. Now, as a matter of fact, Indian tribes are found in both
of these countries which exhibit in a striking manner the
Malayan-Polynesian type. Pickering1 found in California,
alongside of the group speaking the Sonora languages, which,
as we have seen, are Mongolian tribes of a later immigration,
tribes of darker complexion, whose build and cast of counte
nance were quite Polynesian. The same also is reported by
Jaquinot.2 From California these tribes spread themselves
southwards along the coast. In Acapulco, on the south-west
coast of Mexico, Chamberlain, a missionary in Hawaii, found
aborigines whose Polynesian customs arrested his attention.
Such, too,. were the experiences of Captain Hall, Bory de St.
Vincent, Ellis, and W. von Humboldt, all along the west
coast.3 The Indians of New Spain have the brown skin, the
small hands, and slender build of the Polynesians. Malay
servants, brought by Smith to New Jersey, were astonished at
the appearance of the Indians there, and the Indians at theirs,
because of their likeness to one another.4 These extend down
to Terra del Fuego.6 ,
1 Pickering, The Races of Man, pp. 100-108.
2 Jaquinot, Annuaire des voyages, 1846, p. 179.
3 Hall in Pickering, p. 113. Bory, der Mensch, Weimar 1827, p. 170.
Ellis, Polynesian Researches, i. 121. A. von Humboldt, Reisen in die Aequa-
torialgegenden, part 2. Comp. Bauch, Einlieit des Menschg. p. 349 f.
4 Smith, Essay, p. 217. Assal, Nachrichten iiber die frilheren Einwan-
derung Nordamerika's, p. 85.
5 Lin. Martin, Naturgeschichte des Mensohen, p. 343.
150 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 280.
C. To the similarity of physical build must be added
similarity of customs, and this proves that Malayan-Polynesian
tribes gave, their populations not only to the west coast, but
also, pressed and driven by later incomers, or led by the love
of wandering, they have made their way in North, as well as
in South, America to the east coast. Decidedly Polynesian
customs are found not merely on the west coasts of California
down to the Araucanians and Patagonians, but also among the
Natchez and Creeks, among the Iroquois and Dahcotahs or
Sioux, and even the Kolushes of Norfolk Sound, as well as among
several tribes on the Orinoco. The custom of shaving away
their hair, with the exception of a single lock, is not decisive ;
it prevails in Polynesia, but, according to Herodotus, was met
with among several of his Scythian tribes, which perhaps were
identical with the Ugro-Tartars or Tungusic-Mongols, and is met
with at the present time among Tartars and Kalmucks. More
decisive are the painting of the body in gay colours, the piercing
of the ear-flaps and hanging in them heavy ornaments. The
Araucanians, along with many neighbouring tribes, wear wrapt
about their head the Pontsho, which is exactly similar to the
Tiputa of the Tahitians.1 Both peoples have the same sort
of armour ; both, as well as the most of the Indian tribes of
North America designated the Eedskins, preserve the scalps of
slaughtered foes as a sign of victory. As on many of the
South Sea islands, it is customary among the Old Californian
savages to cut off the little finger of a child in order to save
one from a deadly sickness.2 In the one race as well as in
the other, and also among the Brazilian Tupis, corpses are
buried in a sitting posture. In Durango in the north-east of
Mexico, in 1818, a pit was uncovered, in the bottom of which
over a thousand well-preserved Indian corpses were seated,
with their hands placed upon their knees.3 Sometimes they
1 Ellis, Polynesian Researches, i. 182.
2 Waitz, Anthropologie, iv. 250.
3 Buschmann, " Spuren der aztek. Sprache," etc., p. 183. Canstatt,
Brasilien, p. 80.
§280.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 151
were put in a boat, and this then hung between two trees. At
San Sacramento in New California, the women wear the maro,
just as in Polynesia.1 The Indians of Old California, when
the country was first visited by Europeans, went naked, the
men completely, the women with a girdle, just as in many
Polynesian islands. Tattooing is not only generally a
Polynesian custom, but also in Bodega Bay Vancouver found
the women tattooed exactly in the same way as on the Sand
wich islands. Among the Assiniboins, as also upon the
Marquesas islands, there is found in front of every village a
paved court for holding assemblies of the people.2 In Upper
California the women wear a needle in their hair as in the
Fiji islands, and the feather head-dress like that of Hawaii.
The Aztecs in Mexico were distinguished in the art of feather
ornamentation, garments and carpets being made up of
feathers, wrought in patterns and representing complete scenes.
They seem, however, to have learnt this art from some tribe
which they met with among the older inhabitants. Mummies
have also been found in North America with such feather
dresses, which could hardly have been of Aztec origin, but
must rather have belonged to some Polynesian tribe, since
that art of feather embroidery is native to Polynesia.3 The
artistic carvings of the Kolushes are also produced by the
Polynesians. On the Orinoco the Indians shoot their poisoned
darts through a long tube, just as the Malays of the Indian
Archipelago do ; by the Malays the tube is called sarbacane,
by the Orinoco Indians it is called sgaravatana ;4 the c is
turned into t, otherwise it is the same word. The Polynesians
prepare from the piper amethysticum the intoxicating drink
called hava, in preparing which old women chew the root of
this plant, then spit it out, and cause an affusion to run over
the matter expectorated while in a state of fermentation. In
1 Smith, Essay, p. 238. Ellis, Researches, i. 178.
2 Jaquinot, Annuaire des voyages, p. 182.
3 Assal, Nachrichten, etc., pp. 65, 95.
4 Bradford, American Antiquities, p. 416.
152" HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§280.
precisely the same way the Tupis prepare their haveng, or
kavan, or kabnin from soaked maize, which is chewed by old
women. The Ges in Brazil prepare an intoxicating drink from
the fruit of the Assai palm, and other South American Indians
from soaked Cassada, chewed by old women.1 Among the
Dahcotahs, Iroquois, and Hurons, every family chooses an
animal or a plant as an escutcheon or protection, and then he
dare not kill or eat any of that species. This custom is also
found in Australia, where the word kobong is used to indicate
such an animal or plant.2 The taboo of the Polynesians is
also of a similar nature. The Melanesians, too, seem to have
reached America either before the Polynesians or along with
them as a subject race. The custom, prevalent among the
Papuans, of knocking out an upper incisor tooth on reaching
man's estate, was observed by Skyring among the Patagonian
tribes, and the bodily build of the Pesherahs reminds one
very strongly of that of the Papuans.
D. The tradition of the Malays of Tonga, that two
daughters of the demi-god Langi, while their father attended
an assembly of the gods, went, contrary to his orders, to
the earth, and for this were condemned to death, is found,
as has been already noticed by W. von Humboldt,3 among
the Tamanacs on the Orinoco. It there takes the form of
a legend of Amalivaka, who breaks the feet of his travel-
loving daughters in order to keep them at home.
E. It must now be quite evident that we assume not a
single immigration, but several repeated immigrations of the
1 Waitz, Anthropologie, iii. 423. Kotzebue, Reisen, ii. 42. Globus, vii.
204. Gerland, das Austerben der Naturvolker, p. 42 ff. Canstatt, Brasilien,
p. 81. Also at Chittagong, on the Burmese territories in Further India,
E. Hildebrandt (Reise um die Erde, i. 115) found this custom, which also
there was evidently of Malay origin. The drink is there called tshitsha,
from the Jav. root tshotshot, mouth, to eat, to drink. The same word is
found in Peru. See § 294. Kava, kavan, corresponds to the Polynesian
root kai, kain, ky (kanen), to chew. This root, too, may possibly lie at the
basis of the Jav. tshotshot.
2 Prichard, The Physical History of Mankind, iv. 282.
3 Werke, iv. 454.
§ 280.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 153
Malayan-Polynesians, .
further inquire what still is known about this god. Now
the inhabitants of Chiapa had a legend about him.1 He was
nephew of the aged man who saved himself from the great
flood. He took part with his uncle in the building of the
great tower which was to reach up to the clouds. But during
the building a scattering of the peoples took place, then Votan
.at the command of teotl (an Aztec appellative for the abstract
deity) led his people southward to Guatemala and introduced
civilisation among the barbarians there, such as the use of
table requisites and table-cloths. That the legend at last
localizes the occurrence cannot be overlooked. In it we have
simply the conviction expressed: We Mayas in Chiapa are
sprung from Votan ; Votan is the ancestor of our race. But
they thought of him as the primitive ancestor who dates back
from the time of the flood. That they made him not the
son but the nephew of the hero of the flood, and regard the
tower builder as his uncle, should not be overlooked. In
those matters all pagan myths are a mass of confusion. In
the reminiscences of those peoples, largely composed of gossip
ing stories, the tower building is immediately connected with
the receding of the flood ; but the conviction that the tower
was dedicated, not to the supreme god, but to the dragon, was
retained by the Mishtecs, and that this was the cause of the
anger of the great god was the belief of the Mayas. Even
a glimmering recollection of the name of the ancestor of the
Japhetic tribes has been preserved ; for in Votan we have the
radical letters of nnc (comp. § 260, 06s. 1). About a.d. 50Q
this tradition still survived in China. There in the mother
country it by and. by was extinguished under the blighting
blasts of rationalistic abstraction ; but in the Chinese colonies
of America the old tradition was long retained. And now,
1 Miiller, p. 487. The Bishop of Chiapa, Nunnez de la Vega, had in
his possession the sacred writings of the Chiapans. More recently some
of these were in the possession of a Chiapan called Aguyar ; according to
his oral communication, Dr. Paul Felix Cabrera made known the legend
in his work, Beschreibung einer alten Stadt, die in Guatemala unsern
Palenque entdeckt worden ist, Berlin 1832.
§ 296.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 2 61
just as in the farthest east, we have in America and in the
extreme west of the Old World, in Europe, a race which has
preserved a reminiscence of the name na* or nns. The
Cambrian Gwydion also, and the German Vodan, Wtiotan,
Odhinn, has been shown by us (§ 260) to have been an
ancestral hero, elevated into a god, striding with his descend
ants through the world, and making conquests in all parts
of the earth. And thus we are certainly quite justified in
declaring that the Votan of the Toltecs and the Wuotan are
identical. In regard to this it is worthy of notice that
according to Minutoli and Braunschweig, a picture of Votan
has been found in which he bears a sceptre, the top of which
is a head with the hair blowing in the wind. Among the
Toltecs, then, just as' among the Germans, the idea of the
rushing wind that cannot be held ie connected with that of
the world-striding ancestral deity. — Yet another legend,1
which is declared quite decided by the Aztecs to have been an
old Toltec tradition, and was no doubt actually current among
the remnant of the Toltec population, is associated with the
name of Quetzalcoatl. When the Toltecs founded the city of
Tula, Quetzalcoatl was their high priest, and Huemac was
their king. The former was of a fair complexion, with dark
hair and beard, dressed, like the Chinese, in long white
garments, such as according to Aztec tradition and report the
Toltecs themselves wore, with a mitre on his head like the
Toltec priests, and a sickle in his hand. He taught agricul
ture, mining, statesmanship, and the calendar, and put a stop
to human sacrifices, this last constituting a new and important
point of resemblance between the Toltecs and the Incas. — Up
to this point the legends have been simply reminiscences of
the Chinese immigrants about their leader Huemac, who with
them first introduced a higher degree of culture into the
country previously inhabited by a Malay race. The ancestral
god of those immigrants (for we have seen that the Toltec
name Quetzalcoatl was just Votan) is placed alongside of him
1 See in Miiller, p. 577 f.
262 . HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 296.
as if still living. But now an old tradition about the fall
is confounded with this reminiscence. Under Quetzalcoatl,
abundance, fruitfulness, peace, and prosperity prevail. When
Tezcatlipoca let himself down from heaven by a filament of
spider's web, he made his appearance before the daughter of
Huamac, Ciocoatl, the serpent wife, in the form of a beautiful
young pepper-pod seller, and seduced her, and thus the flood
gates of universal sin and impurity were opened.1 He gave
to Quetzalcoatl, that is, to Votan, the ancestor of the race, a
drink which he pretended would render him immortal; but
the effect of partaking of the draught was that Quetzalcoatl
destroyed his own palaces, changed fruit trees into barren
shrubs (thorns and thistles !), and flew away with the singing
birds (Gen. iii. 23 f.). In Quauhtitlan he uprooted a tree by
throwing a stone ; in Tlalnepantla he left the print of hand
and foot upon a rock. In Cholula he came to be worshipped
as a god — a reminiscence of the fact that originally he was
no god. After twenty years he wished to return to his native
Tlapallan, " the red land," but reached only so far as Coatza-
cualco, " serpent-stone," and promised at once to return to the
Toltecs.. Once he actually attempted to return, but, since the
Toltecs had, meanwhile formed connections with the native
races, they would have been hateful to him. He died at
Coatzacualco. According to another version, he was brought
back to Tlapallan, his early home, in a ship made of a coiled-up
serpent. — In regard to all these legends we should not forget
that they have come to us first of all through the medium of
the Aztecs, and therefore not without considerable disfigure
ment, and certainly with Aztec transliterations or even
translations of the proper names. The name Quetzalcoatl is,
as has been already observed, an appellative predicate which
the Aztecs gave to the Votan of the Toltecs, because in
] She is called by the Aztecs " our lady and mother, the first goddess
who brought forth, who bequeathed the sufferings of childbirth to women
as the tribute of death, and by whom sin came into the world." Prescott,
Mex. p. 640. She is represented with a serpent beside her.
§296.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 263
pictures he had alongside of him the emblem of a winged
serpent,1 while he was himself represented under the figure of
a bearded man in a long robe. It is therefore certain that he
was not originally represented as a serpent, but only stood in
connection with the serpent ; for it is instructive to notice
that in Coatzacualco, the place where Quetzalcoatl meets his
death, the serpent is regarded as nothing else than his tempter
who had handed him that deadly draught. But it is, on the
other hand, quite conceivable that in Quetzalcoatl we have a
combination of the particular tribal ancestor Votan-Japhet
and the primitive world-ancestor Adam. The traditions of all
races are indeed full of such confusions and identifications. —
Traces of this tradition are met with here and there throughout
Central America. In Yucatan, a god, Cuculcan, seems to
have been worshipped, and his worshippers were called cocome,
'• serpents." In Humboldt's Monuments (84), Tezcatlipoca is
represented hewing a serpent in pieces. Hence Tezcatlipoca
was not originally, as in the Aztec version of that tradition,
the tempter himself, but the opponent of the tempting serpent.
With this, too, corresponds the feature of the Aztec tradition,
according to which Tezcatlipoca "lets himself down from
heaven." He was without doubt originally thought of as a
celestial being, perhaps as the promised serpent slayer, and
then the Aztecs confounded him with the tempter. They
found him represented with a serpent alongside of him, and
so might regard that as his own emblem, and then gradually,
instead of designating him "the man with the winged
serpent," they would come to call him " the winged serpent."
Comp. § 298, where this conjecture is confirmed in a very
convincing manner. 1 Muller, p. 284.
264 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. C§ 297.
E. — Immigrations of the Tchuktchis, about 1220,
and Mongols, about 1281.
§ 297. The Chichimecs and Nahuatlacs.
The possibility of an immigration from Asia over into
America by way of the Aleutian Islands does not admit of
the slightest doubt. It has been shown by Nordenskiold 1 that
since the earliest times a brisk trade was maintained between
the one continent and the other. No scientific demonstration
can be rendered more concisely, or supported by more con
vincing evidence, than that which can be adduced as to the
Mongolian origin, in the strict sense of the word, of the Sonora
nationalities.2 It is specially worthy of note that the Sonora-
Aztec family of languages belongs to the Finnic-Mongolian
linguistic order. It thus possesses nearly all those roots and
stems which, in part originally Ugrian, in part originally
Mongolian (§ 264, Obs. 2), had already become in a remote
antiquity, through mutual contact and subjugations, the
common possessions of both peoples, of the Mongols in the
narrower sense, including Mandshurians, Kalmucks and
Kirghis, and the Ugro-Finnic tribes, including among others
the Tchuktchis or Tchurtchis. The letter / is wanting in the
Sonora-Aztec languages as well as in the Mongolian. The
Aztec as well as the Mongolian has lost the r; the modifica
tion of the Sonora t into the Aztec tl has its analogue in the
tl of the Tchuwashis and Tcheremissis ; the change of con
struction from the agglutinate to the inflectional is made just
as in the Ugro-Finnic ; but this is the most important point,
that nearly all those stems which are common to the Sonora
languages and the Aztec, as well as those which belong
exclusively to the Sonora languages, are most distinctly
proved to be identical with Ugro-Mongolian stems ; (for the
1 Die Umsegelung Asiens u. Europas auf der Vega, Leipzig 1882,
Bd. ii. pp. 80-83 ; comp. also p. 101.
2 On this idea see above, § 291, 292.
§ 297.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 265
proof of this see Obs.) A second point is the calendar. The
Mongolians represent the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and also,
according to Przewalski, the several years of a twelve years'
cycle, by the figures of animals. The Aztecs have figures for
the representation of twelve successive days. We may now
compare the two series side by side : 1 — -
Mongol.
Aztec.
Mongol.
Aztec.
1.
Chulungu, mouse
Eeed
7. Mori, horse
The ecliptic
2.
Uhyr, cow
Knife
8. Choni, sheep
Dog's tail
3.
Bar, tiger
Panther
9. Metschi, ape
Ape
4.
Tollaj, hare
Hare
10. Tastja, hen
Eagle
5.
Lu, dragon
Lizard
11. Nockqj, dog
Dog
6.
Mogo, serpent
Serpent
12. Gackaj, swine
House
The variations may be explained on the supposition that
there were no oxen, sheep, horses, and swine in Mexico. The
substituted signs (reed, knife, etc.), derived from the Indian
calendar, can only have come to the Ugro-Mongols through
Buddhist missionaries. — This brings us to the third point in
the proof of their similarity : the quite undeniable traces of
Buddhist institutions in the Aztec religion. We have the
cloisters and seminaries, the sacerdotal theocracy, the dress of
the priests, precisely similar to that of the Buddhists, and a
whole mass of old-world stories of a purely Buddhist type, all
of which we shall more closely examine in the following
paragraphs. But now we call attention to the fact that
(§ 265) in the twelfth century Buddhism obtained an entrance
among the Mongols, and in the thirteenth century, in A.D. 1260,
became the national religion. At the same time we also call
attention to this, that this Buddhism of that period, and
especially among the Mongols, was nothing more than an
outward, impotent form and whitewash, which pushed itself
into favour by its easy compliance with the rites of the national
religion. Thus, then, it is perfectly explained how Buddhist
institutions and traditions came to be combined among the
Aztecs with a kind of worship that was not Buddhist, but
1 A. v. Humboldt, Vues des Cordill. Prescott, Mexico, p. 644. Bauch,
Einheit d. Mensch. p. 318.
266 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 297.
essentially Mongolian. But here we come upon a question
which demands careful investigation. We meet with not one,
but two successive immigrations of distinctly different kinds.
The first was that of the Chichimecs somewhere about
a.d. 1170 (see § 291). These were, according to the Aztec
accounts, a wild hunting tribe, nomads. They were soon
followed by the Acolhuacs, a people related to them ; and then,
probably about a.d. 1178, these were followed by the
Nahuatlacs ; and Sahagan says that the Acolhuacs were
themselves a Nahuatlac tribe. And indeed among the six
Nahuatlac tribes the tribe of the Colhuacs is reckoned,
and A-Colhuacs means nothing else than Water-Colhuacs,
and therefore simply designates the Colhuacs who dwell
around Lake Tezcuco. If, then, we only refuse to close our
eyes in uncritical credulousness to the clear light of day,
we shall be forced, to admit that there is no trace of three,
but only of two immigrations, namely, that of the Chichimecs,
and later that of the Nahuatlacs. " Later," I say, though I
do not at all believe that the latter followed at the heels
of the former. That immigrating civilised race could not
certainly know how long the nomadic tribes which they met
with had been already in possession of the land, and this
nomadic race could not itself have any very certain chrono
logical tradition in regard to such a matter, since, owing to its
wild unsettled habits of life, it could not have any reliable
chronological system. This only has been recorded, " that they
had not been long" in the land. Thus the chronological and
historical statements of the Aztecs on this point would not be
absolutely credible, even if they had been clear. But they
are not by any means clear. So ambiguous were the old
picture-writings of the Aztecs, that their editors (§291) differ
from one another to the extent of half, and even a whole
century. We shall therefore have to look out for a more
reliable basis for our chronology. Two fixed points are given
us, — Buddhism, which could not have made its appearance in
a Mongolian tribe in a manner so thoroughly dominating the
§ 297.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 267
constitution of the priesthood and of religion before a.d. 1260 j1
and, in the next place, the highly developed stage of culture
reached by the Aztecs, which was not that of the Tungusic, or
Mandshurian, or Tartarian nomads, could not certainly have
been found among the Mongols themselves earlier than the
establishment of the empire of Temudjin, or more exactly,
not before the beginning of the reign of Kublai - Khan
in a.d. 1260.
A. The Chichimecs were nomads; they may have passed over
the Aleutian Islands into America about A.D. 1220, driven out
before Genghis Khan Temudjin. It may not have been they
who brought the Fo- worship into Central America ; this may
have been done at a later date by Buddhist missionaries, who
were met with among the Nahuatlac tribes.2 There is no
reason for assuming that Buddhism was known or accepted by
the Chichimecs. When Temudjin after the overthrow of Ungh
Khan had conquered the Nay mans in a.d. 1204, and made
his entrance into the country of the Tan juts or Tang-hiangs
in A.D. 1205, and soon thereafter, in a.d. 1211, the Mand
shurian tribe of the Khitanis, confederate with him, cast off
the yoke of the Tchuktchis dwelling in the north-east, while
a portion of those Tchuktchis, whose name is nearly the same
in sound as that of the Chichimecs,3 may have passed over
the Aleutian Islands into America along with other Mand
shurian tribes.
B. But when did the Nahuatlacs come, and who were they ?
- — The Aztecs, and, according to their accounts, the Acolhuacs
1 Hiouen-Thsang (§ 293, Obs. 1) made a Buddhist missionary effort
among the Kirghis about a.d. 600, but must have had small success, since
even in the time of Genghis Khan there is no trace of Buddhism among
the Ugro-Tartars.
2 It did take place, however, before Ahuizotl, Emperor of Mexico,
conquered Yucatan in a.d. 1500, but probably at the time when the Aztecs
abandoned Buddhism (see § 299). At that time, about a.d. 1350, the
expelled Buddhist priests fled towards the south.
B The k in Tchuktchi is not essential, for alongside of Tchuktchi we
meet with the name in the form of Tchurtchi. It was an unimportant
guttural sign before the percussive guttural tsch, a sign which might
easily happen to fall out by and by.
268' HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 297.
also had attained a considerable degree of culture. Among
the Aztecs, however, the culture was not very deep. The
fact that they still wrought the land with the spade and not
with the plough, shows plainly enough that the race to which
they belonged had not long before ceased from the habit of
the nomad and adopted the fixed and residential mode of life:
They cultivated cotton and wove it into garments, but the
loom was unknown to them. They had no weights or
measures, no coined money, but gold dust in quills, tin and
copper stalks, and cacoa cobs served the purposes of exchange.
Merchants carried on a trade which, in a fashion truly
characteristic of Upper Asia, was conveyed by caravans
through the country; and slaves, precious stones, cochineal,
pottery, and grain were offered for sale. They were able to
work in bronze, making it for tools in the proportion of 8 of
copper to 1 of tin, and for other purposes in other proportions,1
just as in China. But more frequently they made their tools
of obsidian. Flesh and venison they used only at their feasts ',
the lakes afforded them fish daily. The cultivation of maize
had been carried on in the country before their arrival. From
the stalks of the maize they extracted sugar ; the Agave
mexic., in Aztec maquai, me, afforded them paper, string, nails,
needles, roofing, and the drink called Pulque. They built
large cities, bridges of wickerwork, not like the Peruvians of
stone, instead of which they often had recourse to simple ferries.
Their highways are not nearly so magnificent as those of the
Peruvians. They had also a well-developed system of posts.
Their architecture was symmetrical, but is far inferior to that
of the Toltecs, and very decidedly behind that of the ancient
cultured race of Central America. Their animal figures were
far better drawn than the stiff, expressionless figures of the
gods with great flat brows, with which they adorned their
temples and the entrances to their houses. That they had no
naked figures of gods is what might be expected in a people
of Mongolian extraction. In their frescoes and other paintings
1 Bougemont, Bronzezeit, § 24.
5 297.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 269
there is no perspective ; profile figures show the eye en face.
In the Aztec hieroglyphics preserved in the Dresden Library,
we meet with series of animal figures sitting upright on their
haunches, with peculiarly elongated snouts or jaws with
fearful teeth. Precisely similar animals on blue Chinese
porcelain about twenty or twenty-four inches high are to
be seen in the royal collection of porcelain at Dresden. This
points clearly to a connection between the culture and
mythology of the Aztecs and the Chinese. — The art of feather
ornamentation was known to them as well as to the primitive
Malayan population of California (§ 280), and was probably
learnt from the latter. Their constitution was a feudal one.
The emperor, always a brother or nephew, never a son, of his
predecessor, was chosen from the reigning family by four
electoral princes who belonged to the highest rank of the nobles,
and was crowned by the Prince of Tezcuco. The nobles had
hereditary landed property ; the peasants (macaque) were the
bondmen of the nobles, but could be transferred for a life
time with the estates. The crown, too, and the priesthood
had land and bondmen. The artisans in cities were divided
into guilds. The nobles provided a militia out of their own
slaves ; warriors of noble birth formed the core and phalanx
of the army. The priests took part in the battle ; tactics
were carefully planned ; the weapons were clubs, spears,
wooden swords inlaid with obsidian, javelins with obsidian
points, slings, and bows. The nobles wore golden and silver
armour and an animal-shaped helmet ; the common soldiers,
quilted cotton doublets. The emperor exercised absolute
authority through his officers, who were chosen from the
nobility. The judges, named by the emperor, gave decisions
from which there was no appeal. The penal code was of
Draconic severity, and a death sentence was given for
even trivial offences. Thieves, debtors, and prisoners of
war were delivered up to slavery, but also men might if they
chose sell their wives as slaves, and parents their children.
When we consider, too, the rudeness of their music, which
270 . HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. • '[§ 297.
simply amounted to wild noise with empty shells and fifes ;
the coarseness of their singing; the inartistic character of
their theatre, where the performers either appeared dressed
as animals or as suppliants who cried to some particular god
for help, biit put in his mouth simply preposterous burlesque
answers; and, finally, when we consider especially the cannibal
savagery of their human offerings, associated with the eating
of the victims (§ 298), — we have presented to us such a picture
of their general condition as we should expect of a horde
sprung from the empire and army of Genghis Khan. But
the Mongols must have already, previous to their migrations,
come into contact with an actually cultured race, such as the
Chinese, since, besides the Chinese art of alloying bronze,
which they might indeed have learnt from the remnants of
the Toltecs, they had also made respectable attainments in
astronomical science, so that they knew the causes of the
eclipses, which was not the case among the Incas, inserted an
intercalary day in every fourth year of 365 days, and again
inserted an intercalary day every 104 years, a remarkable
approach to the accuracy of the Gregorian calendar ! — Now
it is a historical fact that after Mangu Khan had conquered
China, his successor, Kublai Khan (1260—94), introduced
Chinese culture and customs,1 that he caused a book on
astronomy and chronology to be written by a Persian mathe
matician, Dshemaleddin, that he gathered scholars of all sorts
at his court; formed a high school (han-lin), appointed a
Tibetan Buddhist, Pasepa, high priest and lama, and that
under him the Mongols were changed in character and habits,
and from being nomads became settled, civilised people. But
as the incessant wars continued, one could suppose that this
culture, at least in the army, could not be very deep, and that
the Mongols with all their increase of knowledge and artistic
skill retained many of their old savage habits. Those Mongols
who, as we have seen, made their appearance as Nahuatlacs,
consisting of a multitude of different but closely related
1 De Guignes, Gesch. der Hunnen und Turken, iii. 154.
§ 297.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 271
tribes, could not have effected an entrance into that continent
before the beginning of the reign of Kublai Khan. But we
can state precisely even the year of their arrival. Having
resolved to make an attack upon Japan, where an ambassador
of his had been killed, in A.D. 1281 Kublai Khan fitted out
an army of a hundred thousand men, among whom, as we
might expect, there were not only Mongols, but hordes from
various subject Mongolian and Tartarian tribes, and sailed
with a confederate army from Corea in a fleet. This squadron,
however, was completely shattered by a dreadful storm ; a
number of ships fell into the hands of the Japanese, who are
said to have killed 70,000 Coreans and Chinese and 30,000
Mongols. What became of the other ships with the other
70,000 Mongols, Kublai Khan does not say.1 We think
that an answer may be fairly risked. The routed host of
Kublai and the group of tribes known as Nahuatlacs precisely
correspond to one another like two coinciding triangles. The
multitude of different but closely-related tribes, the advancing
culture which had reference purely to military matters, the
distinction between officers and soldiers, which must have
quite naturally of itself grown up into a distinction of nobles
and serfs, the elective emperor from the want of a hereditary
royal family, a mass of scholarly acquirements, the possessors
of which, the Buddhist priests, were joined to the army, and,
finally, Buddhism itself, which as a ceremonial varnish covered
over the inward rudeness of the warrior hordes, — here every
thing explains itself down to the slightest detail. The Aztecs
tell that they, nominally four hundred years before the landing
of Cortes, but really only four Mexican cycles of fifty-two
years, had lived in a country lying to the north, Aztlan,
which Humboldt rightly ' identifies with California, and from
that were driven southwards. But it is just to California
that the North Pacific current would carry the ships which,
shattered by the typhoon, were placed at its mercy (see
§ 280). Seeing that they were a fully - equipped army,
1 De Guignes, Gesch. d. Hunnen, iii. 187 f.
272 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 297.
they would have no difficulty in making from thence a
victorious advance ; and the knowledge of the lately-arrived
Chichimec race dwelling in the south and speaking the same
Mongolian language, with whom, too, they were certainly
more closely related than with the naked Malays of California,
must have induced men in want of wives to make a rapid
advance southwards. The union, too, of cultured Colhuacs
with the nomadic Chichimecs in the empire of Tezcuco
(§ 291) is quite explicable on the same grounds of marriage
necessities. But how does this agree with our chronology ?
According to their tradition, the Aztecs were driven, about a.d.
1091, from Aztlan, but made their first entrance into Mexico
(Anahuac) in a.d. 1178 — ninety years for five hundred
miles ! x Here they remained for fifty years subject to the
Nahuatlac tribe of the Colhuacs, but then gained their
freedom, and founded the capital city of Tenochtitlan or
Mexico.2 This brings us to a.d. 1228, and yet they them
selves place the finding of Mexico one hundred and ninety-
years before the arrival of Cortes, that is, in the year 1325 !
They say that in A.D. 1352 their first king was elected, and
that he had ten successors. This latter calculation of years
may be correct; but since they must already have had a
residence under the rule of the Colhuacs, and since it is only
in legends that cities originate from resolutions and decrees,
but in reality by natural growth, we may assume that such
1 The Huns under Attila in a.d. 451 rushed down from Pannonia upon
Orleans, over seven hundred miles, in one year.
2 Tenochtitlan means " the cactus on a stone." According to the legend,
they saw on a rock at the Tezcuco lake a cactus on which sat an eagle with
a serpent in its claws, and they took this as a divine token that there they
should build a city. Whether the city had its name from this circum
stance, and the Aztecs were called from their city Tenochen, Tenochichi,
or whether it was not conversely the city that was after them called " the
Stone of the Tenochen," and that this gave rise to the legend, any reader
may decide for himself. The name Tenochichi seems to indicate a com
bination of a Mongolian tribe "Teno" with the Chichimecs. — So, too, the
place Chichomoztoc had its name from the Chichimecs, — " the cave of the
Chichano," — but the Chichimecs had their name not from Chichi, dog,
but, as already said, from Tschuktsche, Tschiiktsche,
§297.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 273
also was true regarding Tenochtitlan. The city as the
original residence of the Tenochichi, that is, the Aztecs, must
have grown up while these were still under the rule of the
Colhuacs; then in a.d. 1352 the Aztecs gained their freedom,
and elected their own king. Had they been for fifty years in
the country subject to the Colhuacs, this would give a.d. 1302
as the date of the migration of the Aztecs into the country of
Mexico occupied by the Colhuacs and other Nahuatlac tribes ;
and in fact the twenty-one years from a.d. 1281 to a.d. 1302
will be perfectly sufficient for the journey from the Old
California down into Mexico, — giving twenty- six miles for
every year ! — Here, then, for the first fifty years, down to
a.d. 1352, the tribe of the Acolhuacs, who had settled in
Tezcuco, held the supremacy over the other tribes. The
Aztecs themselves relate that they received their laws from
the Acolhuacs. These had distinguished themselves over
the other tribes in respect of culture, had reared stable
dwellings, and had as king in Tezcuco a lyric poet. In the
year 1352 the Aztecs secured their independence and elected
their own king, and the attitude which they assumed toward the
Acolhuacs was like that of Sparta toward Athens. When in
a.d. 1418 the Acolhuacs declared war with the Tepanecs, also
a Nahuatlac tribe, and were subdued by them, their king,
Nezahualcoyotl, called in the assistance of the Aztecs. These
overcame the Tepanecs in a.d. 1425, destroyed their capital,
Azcapozalco, and entered into a league with Tezcuco and
Tlacopan, in which they assumed to themselves the supremacy,
said to be a hundred years long, but actually existing only
ninety-three years, from a.d. 1425 till a.d. 1518. This league,
however, did not really continue until a.d. 1518, but already
toward the end of the fifteenth century this supremacy was
converted into an absolute sovereignty from which the Otomies
and the Tlascalans, perhaps Toltec tribes,1 emancipated them-
1 The monosyllabic language of the Otomies has in its one-syllabled
words, in respect of structure and vocabulary, according to Naxera (de
lingua Othomitorum, Transactions of the Amer. Phil Soc. vol v. Philad.
EBRARD III. S
274 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. ' [§ 297.
selves. About a.d. 1500 the Emperor Ahuitzotl conquered
Yucatan and Guatemala ; and Montezuma II. began to reign
in a.d. 1502. Thus the period during which this league was
in force may be put at fifty instead of a hundred years ; it
was an Aztec seeculum, not a European.
Obs. — I use the sign ss. to indicate the South Sonora languages
(Cora, Tarahumeric, Tepeguanic, Cahita) ; ns. for the Northern
Sonora languages (Soshonic, Wihinasht, etc.); es. for the East
Sonora dialects (that of the Comantshes, etc.); a. for the Aztec
language. A single s. means the whole of the Sonora languages
collectively. — I render the ch of words recorded by the Spaniards
in the Spanish fashion by tsch, the c preceded by an e or an i
by s, or for distinguishing the decidedly guttural origin of it by
g , the hu by hw, gu by gw, j by ch (to express the guttural, as in
machen, lachen, only somewhat weaker) ; but the letter x, which
the Spaniards used in order to express the sharp h of the Aztecs,
sounded sh (the French j), I render by shh (see Humboldt's
Werke, vi. p. 168) ; z, which sounds like a weak s, I render by
the Greek £.
I. Stars, Elements, Light, Colours.— 1. Day, Sun, ns. taba,
tapa> ss. taica, taa, tasse, es. tabi, tap, correspond to the Finnic
taiwas, heaven, which does not come from the Finnic taipua,
" to bow," but is originally connected with Sanscr. div, " to shed
beams." The Turkish tang-ri is related to the Finnic taiwas, as
the ss. taica to the ns. tava, as the Old High Germ, tah to the
Old Latin dius. — 2. Heaven, ns. toke, ss. tehweca, and Sun, taica,
tasse, come from the same root as the Finnic tdhte, " star. "—3.
Heaven, s. re-gwega, re-wega, te-hwecca (tecca), il-hwica, Tungus.
ngangnjd, Aleut, inikch. — 4. Moon, ss. metscha, massade, mushh,
ns. mushha, munga, rnojah, es. mea, a. meet, ; the root m-k, m-g,
which appears as the radical in all these forms, corresponds
exactly to the Tungus. bjego, " moon " (Mandsh. bia), for in the
Ugrian languages the initial m is generally transmuted into
another labial. For the rest, that root m-g seems to be derived
from the same primitive root MA as the Sanscr. mas, fifr, Goth.
mena and menoths, Old High Germ, manbt, Lith. menu, Zend
1835) and Ampere (Revue des deux mondes, 1853, Oct.), great resemblance
to the Chinese, so that we may regard the Otomies as a part of the
Chinese-Toltec immigration. They were indeed a very savage race ; they
provisioned themselves on their warlike expeditions with slaughtered
children! More precisely, the Otomies may be identified with the
remnants of that Corean- Chinese auxiliary atmy which had been driven
to America at the same time with the Nahuatlacs. On the Tlascalans,
see § 300.
§ 297.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 275
maonk (already with k !), Polyn. mahina (already with h !). — 5.
Star, s. gitlallin, Ugr. csillag. — 6. Night, dark, black, ns. tugaguo,
tuhukwit, tuwit, ss. tucu, tschoca, teca, es. tohop, a. tlilli (from
tec-li), Tungus. tiniwo (and tinu, " stars "), Turk, tun, Mong.
dagn, " black." — 7. Colour, — witja, — wit, oi (t), from the primi
tive root VID, eJ&ov, Lat. videre. — 8. White, ns. toha-k-witja,
tuscha-bi, ss. tossa, toshha, toa, es. totschoa, toscMp, from the
primitive root DIK, Sanscr. dig, ouxmlp, which appear in ns. kuro, whence keupi, kuape,
kuto), ss. kutala, a quetsch. — 71. Breath, busica, putsche, puetza,
ibusta, ibui, ibusane, an&pitza, " to blow a musical instrument,"
" to blow up a fire," hence also " to smelt," Finn, puhu,
Hungar. fui, originally related to ,
Sanscr. dantas, bMg, Lat. dent-, Goth, tunthus, Old High Germ.
zand, zan; in the Ugro-Finn. languages it appears in Turk.
disch, still more evidently in the Mong. languages in Tangut.
soo, " tooth." — 76. To eat, s. hucua, cua, coai, bua, a. qua, Malay
(Tagal. coin, Tong. ky, Maori kai), from a primitive root which
also lies at the basis of the stem j^auw, Old High Germ.
chiuwan, " to chew," Polyn. kunjuh, kenjah, ngongo, gnow, " to
chew" (comp. § 270, Obs. 2). — 77. Food, provender, bittuga,
hitaca ; to provide oneself, bittu-te, Mong. budshu (Turk, pisch,
Hungar. fo), " to cook." Not related to Sanscr. bidh, Lat. findo,
Old High Germ, pizan, " to bite "). — 78. To hunger, s. tuhriti,
Mong. tora, " want, famine." — 79. To hunger, a. teo-sihwi, from
teo, " man," and sihwi = Finn, suihia, " weak, thin, lean." — 80.
To drink, ns. ivi, pahi, baji, iwi-pi (compounded with pa,
" water "), ss. iwi, ie, es. ibig, ebet, Finn, juo, Lapp, jukka,
Mong. ugku. Hence s. iivat, icuat, "to thirst," and nabaiti,
" wine " (an early example of the compounding of words).
— 81. Hand, ns. mahat, mai, ss. moo, ma, es. mowa, masch-pa, a.
mai (also in the Pueblo language mah, New Californ. menat,
Ketschua maqui), probably derived from Mong. mata, " to bow,"
Finn, mutka, "bowing," but which is itself again originally
related to Lat. movere and manus. — 82. Finger, ns. mascho, ss.
massaqui, es. massit, compounded from two roots, which we
meet with again in Mong. ki-.musiin, cho-mosum, '' claws," and
Finn, kinsy (from ki-m'sy), Chin, mil, " finger." Comp. Tangut.
mdsu-gee, " finger." — 83. Flesh, ns. atuku, ss. tucaja, es. tokko,
leschca-p, is the Malay daging, Bug. dshuka. — 84, Flesh, a. naca,
Finn, nakka, " skin," Mandsh. notscho, " skin '' (related to naked,
280 ¦ HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 297.
nudus, Ir. nochct). — 85. Back, hunch-backed, s. topossi, teputzi,
a. tepotzo, comp. Finn, typa and Lapp, tdwa, " hillock," Mong.
dobo, " to project." — 86. Navel, s. sicu, a. shhik, comp. Mandsh.
sekien, " origin," Finn, siki, " to originate." — 87. Filth, excre
ment, s. and a. guekle, cuitla, cuita, tsehuita, originally related
to Lat. cacare, Old High Germ, qudt, and to xaxog. — 88. Knee,
ss, tono, tuna, tonna, es. tamop, from the root tan, Finn, tan-ot,
" to extend," Mong. tata, " to stretch," Sanscr. and Zend, tan,
nim, Lat. tendo, Goth, thanja, Lith. tempju, Old High Germ.
dennan, "to stretch." — 89. Foot, leg, Finn, knlke (comp. Lat.
calcare, conculcare), " foot," Mong. cholhita, " to wander," Tun
gus. cMlgan and hul, " foot," Finn, jalha, " foot," Mandsh. chol-
chon, "leg" (also Finn, juoh, Mong. gujii, Ostiak. chog, " to run"),
ns. hugi, hoegen, ss. goqqui, hwoqui, "foot." — 90. Foot, s. tola,
tara, Corean tari, " leg," Mong. toghol and tol, " to stretch over "
(comp, Lat. talus). — 91. To go, s. simi, Mong. jabu. From the
same jabu comes the word ami, "to go forth to hunt."— -92. To
run, to trot, ss.judu, Hungar. jut, " to reach the end," Mandsh.
io, " to come." — 93. To shave, to shear, s. shhima, from shhi,
" skin," No. 54. — 94. To scratch, s. suhu, comp. Lapp, suogge,
" to pierce, to bore," Turk, sok, " to pierce," syk, " to squeeze." —
95. To scourge, gwepa, gupe, originally related to vapulare ? —
96. Wearied, ibi, Mandsh. ebe, Lapp, ebere (comp. Mong. ebe, " to
be ill," and Lat. hebes). — 97. To sleep, cotschi, comp. Turk, gidshe,
" night," Mong. kedsho, " late." — 98. Ill, cui, cocM, cocoa, cocore,
originally related to aaxos. — 99. To die, s. mu, mue, mumu,
mueque, a. miqui (hence muetsehita, miction, " the kingdom of
the dead") ; hence in the Ketschua language in Peru, "corpse,"
munao and malqui, and in Nicaragua mique, so undoubtedly
the root mu was met with in the land of the Toltecs by the
Chichimecs and the Nahuatlacs derived perhaps from Malag.
mati, "to die;" but certainly it is originally connected with
Sanscr. mr, Lat. mori. — 100. Groans, s. ooga, ugat, Tschuw. jog,
and Turk, ag, " to flow," see No. 16.
V. Quantity, Quality, Direction, Movement. — 101. Great, s.
gu, huetscha, es. huei, Mong. ghowai, quai, " important," Chin.
chdo,hdo, Corean k6u, Finn, kau-ni. — 102. Large, much, gwelu,
gweru (where gw is a labial ; comp. Nos. 119, 121, and 143).
Finn, paljo, Vogul. paul, Hungar. felu (iroX&g, Goth, filu, " much ").
— 103. Small, s. and a. pitzaem, pitzactic, Mong. utschil-ken, Turk..
kutschuk, Mandsh. adsi, Lapp. utse. — 104. Small, s. ari, iri, ali,
Finn. arM, ". short," Mong. narin, Lapp, njuor. — 105. To be
full, te-mi, Magy. tol, " to fill," tele, " full," Syr. tvr and Turk.
tolu, "full," Mong. del, "full moon," Finn, tdy-te, "to fill." —
106. Strong, ss. igue, es. shigon, 'Fmn.jirka, and Turk, iri, " firm."
A tendency to drop the ris noticeable in the Sonora languages ;
the Aztec, too, has no longer an r. The Chinese have similarly
§ 297.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 281'
rid themselves of r. — 107. Whole, all, gem, hence gem-anahua-tl,
" the whole of Anahuac," that is, the whole kingdom, the whole
world, Mong. cMm, " to unite," Turk, cham, " all," identical with
gfo, Lat. cum, Celt. con. — 108. All, bu-ssi, mu-tschi, from mui,
"much" (No. 109), and ki, Finn, kaiki, Turk, kai, Chin, kiai,
kai, "all." — 109. Much, mui, mieX,, Mong. baki, and Mandsh.
mangga, " strong," originally related to Sanscr. maMt, piyag,
Lat. magnus, Old High Germ, manag, " many." — 110: One (the
numeral), ge, sse, ssenu, Nepaul. sehi, Loochoo idsi, Malay so. —
111. Good, ga, qualli (gwalli), see No. 31. — 112. Sweet, s. hatschca,
caca, from cua, "to eat," No. 76. — 113. Bad, es. teschzek, ss.
tscheti, Finn, suikia, " weak, thin," soika, " blind, miserable "
(comp. Mong. schinggu, "low"). — 114. Oblique, tschico, Mong.
chadsM, Turk. kuja. — 115. To be, to find oneself in a place,
s. gati-ki, a. cat-qui, ca, Mong. and Mandsh. ehada, " to put
something in a place," Turk. cMdak, " peg."— 116. Far, s.
metschea, Finn, mene, " to go," or connected with prjxog. —
117. Way, street, s. bogwi, boi, boo, pobe, a. es. Mong. bai, "to
stand," Mandsh. ba, " place," Finn, pdikka, " place." Bogwi is
probably compounded of ba, " place," and a verbal root, gwi,
qui, see No. 118. — 118. To enter, s. ba-qui, ba-que, and cohabita
tion, boi-qui, from ba, " place" (No. 117), and qui, which expresses
a movement. — 119. To fall, gaguse, gwetschi-ki, hwetsch, hwetzi,
wausdsi, asi, Mandsh. wasi, " to descend," closely connected
with the Finn, wdt, heit, "to throw" (No. 166), wuot, "bed,"
Lapp, jdwat, "to scatter." — 120. To reach, attain, win, a-tsi,
from root ti, which appears in Finn, tyty (reduplicated), " to be
held fast," and in Mong. tutu, " capable of being seized." —
121. To find, to meet with, s. tugwe, tebua, teuh, Finn, tawa, " to
catch, reach, find." — 122. To hold, tepi, tepu, the same root with
the last.-^123. To give, maca, mache, mashhe (hence " to receive,"
maiti-qui, muni-te, a-hwe), Mong. bacha and Lapp, fagge, " to
take, to receive." The ideas of giving and taking are mixed up
with one another in the Ugro-Mongolian languages ; the Mon
golian bari has both meanings. — 124. To pour, to discharge, tema,
from tegma, Finn, tykb, Turk, tbk, Tibet, dug, "to pour." —
125. To rend in pieces, s. tapani, Turk, tap, " to hit with a
weapon," Finn, typpi, " stem of a tree, fragment." — 126. To beat,
s. tuque, Finn, tokko, " to hammer," Turk, tok, dog, " to beat." —
127. Circle, tschitula, comp. Mandsh. hutule, " to lead bound,"
Finn, hoyte, " a cord." — 128. Eound, s. cawol, hence " bullet,"
cawoli, Lapp. Mwa, "to crook, to curve." — 129. Ball, bullet, ura,
ule, oli, Finn, wieri, " to roll," piord, " a roll," Mandsh. /oro, 'and
Malag. forog, "to roll," Lapp, wer, "ripe," Mandsh. weren,
" whirlpool," originally connected with Old High Germ, wirvil.
— 130. To raise, s. cucuse, quetza, Finn. My, "to stand up,"
kayttd, " to make to stand upright."
&
282 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. ' [§ 297.
VI. Nature. — 131. Mountain, tepe, Lapp, tdwa, "hillock,"
Mong. ddbo, "to project." — 132. Sand, s. saate, a. shhalli, from a
primitive root SA, " to strew, to sow," Lat. sero, from which the
Finn, sata, and Mong. dsata, " to rain," and the Old High Germ.
sant, " sand," are derived. — 133. Hollow, s. tesso, osto, asta, Finn.
sisd, "inward," Turk, itsch. — 134. Hollow, hiding-place, cusco,
comp. Lapp, and Turk, katsch, "to flee," Mandsh. chatsi. —
135. Salt, s. honaca onne, Mong. chomaki, and Malag. homok,
Turk, kumak, and Mandsh. jonggan, "sand." — 136. Metal, iron,
s. gwenomi, vainomi, the Persian ayan. There were Persian
sages at the Court of Kublai Khan ; see the above section. —
137. Copper, tin, s. amutzi, either from Finn, waski (Turk. /0s,
Mong. dshes) or from Semitic abtsa. — 138. To smelt, ss. tepula,
tepura, hence tepuraca, " hatchet," and teputz, " copper," Mong.
sobi, and Tschuw. sab, "to cut," Finn, sepd, "a smith." — 139. To
inflame, sprout, spring, s. jossiga, " to blossom," ssehwa, ssegwa,
" a flower," a. shhotla, " to bud," and " to catch fire," shMtli, " a
flower," Tmk.jak, "to kindle," Mandsh. jacha, "glowing coal,"
Lapp, tsahe, " to burn," Turk, jaghads, " a tree," Aleut, jagakch,
" a tree," Ostiak. juch, " twig," Hungar. ag, " branch," Mong.
tsetsek, " flower." — 140. Tree, coagui, susiki, usci, quahui, Finn.
kusi, and Mong. chosi, " fir-tree," — 141. Tree, ago, and fir, cedar,
juggue, oko, otschco, Turk, joghad, aghad, "tree." — 142. Eoot,
nelhwa, from Finn, and Ugr. el, " to live," comp. Mong. el and
Mandsh. elche, nelche, " peace," that is, is a fixed, settled condi
tion. — 143. Willow-tree, hwecho, hweshho, Finn. pao. — 144. Veget
ables, roots, s. and a. qui-li, from the same primitive root as Goth.
quijan, Old High Germ. quicMn, " to make alive, to quicken," and
Finn, wieka, Malag. vig, Mandsh. wej, " lively, fresh." — 145. Shaw,
shhacca, eushMti, also' paca, Mong. choghorai, " dry, withered,"
Lat. siccus. — 146. Sour, shhoccoo, originally related probably to
Mong. chaga, " to rend, to split," Mandsh. dshaga, " to split."
We speak in the same way of a biting, stinging taste. — 147. Dry,
lean, vaki, saki, Mong. cAowa, Lapp. kbike,Finn. kuiwa and suikid.
—148. To spring, sprout, meja, from root ba, wuo, No. 15. —
149. To rain, s. chukiki, ducue, quiahui, vije, Turk, jagh, Lapp.
ok-te. Further : pa-jagwi, compounded from pa, " water," and
jagwi ^Twik. jagh, Corean pi, rain. — 150. To thunder, s. tatzine,
a. tlatzine, Mong. tschakil, " to lighten," Lapp, tsake, " to burn,"
Vgr.jak, "to kindle." — 151. Male (said of animals), s. Mguila,
Mugui,pougu, a. oquitsch, Mandsh. chacha, Ostiak. cho. — 152. Egg,
s. hauquaea (reduplicated from root quek, No. 142). — 153. Bear,
ss. bohi, vohi, Mong. baki, Finn, wdki, " strong," bbgi, " ox,"
Mandsh. bucha, "ox," buka, "ram;" perhaps jSoDs is from this
root — /3/a — rather than from Sanscr. gaus. — 154; Bear, es. uira;
es. wilah, Sanscr. urksha, apxrog, Lat. ursus. — 155. Bear, es. uisisi,
ss. otzet, es. ochzo, Mong. oteke,, Uigur, adik, Aleut, tangach ; on
§ 297.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 283
the other side, comp. Goth, a'uhsa, Old High Germ, ohto, " oxen ;"
there are two collateral roots, o-t-k and o-ch-t(s). — 156. Dog, s.
tschu, cocotschi, gogosci, a. tschitschi, from the primitive root,
Sanscr. gvan, ximv, Lat. canis, Goth, hunds, Ir. cu. — 157. Ser
pent, coa, Lapp, kawa, " to curve, bend," Lith. kum-pis, " crooked,"
xd/iwa, hence probably also xrirog, rather than from ^au, yaexu,
— 158. Bird, s. tschulugui, urugui, ugui, Mong. chuli, Lapp. halwe,
Turk. Mlja, " to fly." — 159. To fly, s. daai, daa, Esthon. tup,
Finn. sdpi. — 160. Nest, s. cosade tosa, Finn, heisa, Turk, gis, " to
save, conceal." — 161. Eaven, x6pa%, Aleut, kalkagiak, kalkahjon,
s. colatschi, comp. the collateral form sw> I^t. corvus, Old High
Germ, kraban. — 162. Eagle, s.gwaugue, gwague, bagwe, bwaue, a.
quauh, comp. Finn, kajawa and Mong. cMiraga, " sea-gull." —
163. Bug, teshhca, Finn, and Esthon. tai, "vermin, louse,"
Hungar. tetii.
VII. Works and Tools, Clothing and Dwellings. — 164. To
do, to make, s. duni, tawo (iehwa), primitive root dhd, te.
Hence also s. tuca, a. toca, "spider, spinner." — 165. Work, s.
tahwa (jehwa), a. tequi and tschihwa, Finn, teke, " to do," from
the same primitive root. — 166. To carry, it-qui, comp. Turk.
at, Finn, wdt, Turk, jat, " to throw, to lay." — 167. To lay, s.
tutu- qui, a. teca, from the same root ; compare Lapp, jdwat,
"to scatter," jdwatak, "cushion," Turk, jatak, " pillow." — 168.
To dress, put on, s. tschemi, a. quemi, Finn, kapia, " folding
closely," Turk, kap, " to cover," Lapp./op<«, " to conceal, cover."
— 169. Cloak, tilma, perhaps from Mong. dul, Finn, tuli, " to
be warm." — 170. To stitch, soso, Lapp, suogge, " to bore," Turk.
sog. — 171. To plait, to weave, a. gwigwi-tu, igwi, from a root
which we meet with in the Finn, wyb, Turk, ui, " girdle," and was
closely related to or identical with the Old High Germ, weban.
— 172. Mat, peraca, petla ; and " to spread out," peri, Finn.
pera, " earth, soil," Mandsh. fere. — 173. House, ss. cari, call, es.
canuke, a. colli, Mong. ger, " skin, hide," Turk, kura, " court,"
for chor, gur, " to encircle, surround." — 174. To dwell, s.
betschte, bete, and dwelling, betschteke, baqui, qui, a. hwaca (they
were thinking of its possible destruction and disfigurement),
Mandsh. buksin, " ambush," Mong. bilkkil, " to bow oneself, to
save oneself." From primitive root BAK, " to march." — 175.
Field, acre, s. bussa, Finn, mbjsa, " field, estate," Corean pas,
" field," comp. Turk, buza, " wheat." — 176. To sow, plant, put in
the ground, toca, Finn, tukki and Turk, tyka, " to stop hard,"
Mong. sigha, " to drive stakes into the ground." — 177. To sow,
to strew, ach, ech, atz, uss ; root, ach, which should be closely
related to the Mong. jak, No. 139, and which probably lies at
the basis of Turk, and Lapp, oghul, juglo, " sow ; " compare
Lat. satus. — 178. To bury, s. cobe, hoco, Turk. kilm. — 179. To
guard, stand and watch, pia, via, from root bai, No. 117. — 180.
284 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 297.
Bread, ss. temeke, remeke, shimmita, from Mandsh. and Turk.
sdhe, Yakut, se, Tschuw. si, Finn, syd, " to eat," and a root mek,
which is found in Turk, et-mek, comp. also Malay makan, " to
eat," and Sanscr. bMksh, ipaytn. — 181. To baste, to roast, 8.
chaque, gwaugukke, gaggai, Mong. chaga, Corean MM, " cooked
flesh ; " comp. Lat. coquo. — 182. To knead, a. tesi, tegi, and
dough, s. tusckiki, tui, tuligi, a. teshh, comp. Finn, tako, " to beat,
smelt," Turk, dog, " to beat," syk, " to press," Finn. saM, " to
condense ; " perhaps relates to Goth, daigs, Old High Germ, teik,
" dough," and Goth, deigan, " to knead." — 183. To cut, s. ska,
Finn, sarke. — 184 To cut small, cut in pieces, s. and a. pajana,
Finn. wdM, " smaU," weistd, " to cut in pieces," Mong. bagM,
" small" — 185. Hatchet, hwik, Finn, pdaka, Hungar. fejsze. —
186. Bows (weapons), ns. ati, atsche, ss. Mta-ca, es. eth, Finn.
heit, wot, Turk, at, " to sling, to throw." Hence s. at-la, " javelin-
strap." — 187. Arrow, s. gwaca, vu, a. mi; comp. Mandsh.
vjejche and Malag. fog, " tooth." — 188. To wash, paca, bacua,
vacua; also vaccui and palti, " wet," palwa, "to dive, to dip,"
wadduide, wapakate, " to moisten," pahi, balii, " to drink," pa,
" poison," from primitive root pa, ba, " water," No. 15. — 189.
To paint, s. jushM, hossele, aosa, oae, probably =" to moisten,"
from primitive root VA, see No. 15, Mong. usum, " water,"
Finn, wete, wiz, west.
Among the 189 words enumerated we have three which
certainly, and two which probably, are Malayan (43, 76, 83, and
57, 64) ; eight which are themselves primitive roots (7, 24, 38,
68, 95, 98, 99, 155), earlier forms of which are not to be found
in the Ugro-Tartar and Mongolian languages of to-day, but
which might certainly have existed as late as the 12th century
in the Tschuktchian and Mandshurian dialects; one Persian
word (136), which serves only to confirm our view of the origin
of the Aztecs ; the other 175 are found all and several in the
Ugro-Mongolian languages, for the most part quite evidently.
Upon this we make these observations : To the Ugr. t and
Mong. d corresponds the Son. t, Aztec tl; to the Finn. *, Mong.
sch or ds. a Son. s or shh; to the Mong. s, a Son. t or tz; to the
Ugr. j, Mong. dsh, a Son. j, or k, or s, or shh ; to the Finn, p, a
hw, gvj, or p ; to the bam; to the w, Mong. 6, a p or hw ; the
Lapp, ts, Ugr. j, Mong. tsch, is in Son. t ; the Ugr. t or Mong. d
is Son. t and r, Azt. tl ; k and ch remain or become tsch.
These are the transmutations which have their analogues in
the various Ugro - Finnic - Mongolian languages. Finally, we
need only review the above 189 words in an unprejudiced
manner in order to find immediate confirmation for our opinion
(§ 292) that these stems of words did not come from the
Aztec into the Sonora languages, but from the Sonora into the
Aztec ; for it has been made thoroughly clear that the Sonora
{ 2S8-] THE PEOPLES ASD HORDES OF AMERICA. 285
languages possess the older and less adulterated form of the
word. — Among the words which are found only in the Aztec
langnage and not also in the Sonora languages, are presumably
many which the Aztecs had not brought with them from Asia,
but had learnt from the remnants of the Toltecs still in the
land. Thus, tg^ guegue, "old," pee, "mountain" (Malay
biikit\ etc
From the work of Oppert, Fin Virschlossejics Land, Reisen
Tuxek Korea, Leipz. 1880, it appears that the Coreans also have
the tradition of the sun's son. A daughter of the god Hoango-
ho was made pregnant by a sunbeam, bore a son Tschumong,
who afterwards called himself Kao, and from him the noble
families of Corea trace their descent. It is noticeable that the
population of Corea is a mixture from an Aryan and a
Mongolian tribe. It is thus explicable how we hud traces of
traditions of an Iranian character, and of customs which re
appear in Eastern Asia and America.
§ 298. T?i> Religion of the Aztecs.
As we might expect from a people that had sprung from a
warrior tribe, the supreme god of the Aztecs is their war-god,
who is called Meshhitli or Huitzllopoehtli. The latter name
is explained by J. G. Muller, following Torquemada and
Acosta, to mean " a humming-bird on the left," from HuitzQx,
" a humming-bird," and OpodUli, " the left." Clavigero saw
pictures of this god in the feather embroidery work, in which
" sometimes " the feathers of humming-birds were among
others used on the left foot • The Aztecs also had the
legend that that chieftain who led their fathers southward
from Agflan had borne the name Huitzitoc1 or Huitziton,5
and that he was impelled by the eall of a bird, " tihwi,"=let
us go, to lead his people southwards. This affords ground
enough for J. G. Muller to assume that the Aztecs
worshipped as god a humming-bird by whose cry they
had originally been led forth, and that as culture advanced
they raised the bird -god into an anthropomorphic deity,
on whose left foot the humming - bird was represented
as sitting. The only drawback is that in Californian-
1 Prichard, iv. 3S5. " Clavigero, GescL Hex. i. 172 S.
286 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 298.
Aztlan there happens to be no humming - birds. We
know that potsch - tli means " the son " or " the youth,"
§ 297, Obs. No. 44; huitz means in Aztec "thorn, sting;"
and if the name in question were an appellative designation,
then " son of a thorn " would suit better than " a humming
bird on the left " as a description of the war-god, who in his
pictures is represented as holding a spear in his right hand
and a bundle of arrows in his left, human bones on his
garments, and bearing the figure of a torn and lacerated man,
and has the titles of tetzalcotl, " the terrible," tetzahuitl, " the
frightful." But it may be asked whether Huitzilopochtli was
an appellative designation, or whether Huitzi-li was not rather
a proper name. That legend which makes the Aztecs conquer
the country under a human hero, Huitzitoc, is in this form
recent, having been first heard in the 18th century by
Clavigero for the mouth of the Aztecs. According to its
original form and meaning, the god Huitzi precedes in
advance of the Aztecs as the breaker of their path, and their
actual leader was Huitzi's servant (Huitzi-toc, toe — teasch,
tacha, § 297, Obs. No. 51).1 But now, in fact, the Aztecs had
quite a different legend 2 of Huitzilopochtli, which in respect
of its contents is found to be of a thoroughly Old Mongolian
type. In Coatepec, " the serpent mountain," there lived a pious
woman Coatlicue or Coatlantana ; once when she went into
the temple a feather ball fell, frdm heaven ; she stuck it in
her bosom, intending with its feathers to adorn the altar;
placed there she found it no more, but found that she was
pregnant. Her sons, the Centzonhwifnahis, wished now to
kill her, but a voice proceeded out of her womb : " Fear not,
0 mother, I shall save thee to thy honour and mine own
1 The Aztecs actually report (Muller, p. 594) that on the journey from
Aztlan to Mexico four priests had home in front the image of the god on
a teoiepalli, " a carrying chair," in regard to -which we would not omit
remarking that it was a custom common to the Mongols and Japanese
to carry the images of their gods on such carrying chairs in front of their
armies. 2 Muller, p. 601.
§ 298.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 287
renown." When now those sons prepared to kill her, Huitzi
lopochtli sprang armed from her body, slew them, and plun
dered their dwellings. — We have here again that Old
Mongolian Alankava legend (§ 266), the echo of which we
have already found among the Mandshurians (§ 286). But
here the very names correspond. In Coat-licue, Coat-lantana,
coa is an old form of the Sonora goni, cunna, of the Aztec
gihua, from Mong. eke, cheche (§ 297, Obs. No. 42), and licue
or lantana, a phonetic transmutation of lankava, so that
Goa-t-licue, " the woman Licue," precisely corresponds to that
A-lankava = Ama-lankava, " mother Lankava." But among
the Aztecs she also bears the name Teteionan, and this corre
sponds again to the signification of tinian-ac in the Mandshu
rian legend. And now, in conclusion, we need not doubt
that also the most eminent son of Alankava will correspond to
the son of Licue ; in the one he is called Buzend-shir (§ 266),
in the other Hwitzi or Huitzi ; but to the Mongolian o corre
sponds the Aztec hw (§. 297, Obs. No. 47, Mong. etsi, Sonora
jatsu) ; the interchange of the flat vowel with the sharp and
light accounts for the transposition of Lankava into Licue ;
only the ending is different, which will surprise nobody. We
yet observe that the Finn, stem liika, Mandsh. lukku, has
the meaning of rich, great ; so then Huitzi-li-pochtli means
Buzend, the great son (of Licue). It was the sun's son of
the Old Mongolian legend whom the Aztecs worshipped as
their war - god and ancestral deity. It is nothing to be
wondered at that we should find the same tradition in a tribe
of the Old Japanese immigrants of B.C. 100, the Mandshusicus
in Faraguay, and, among the Aztecs, the Mongol immigrants
of A.D. 12 8 1.1 That legend was already in Asia the common
1 On the other hand, Citlalicue, the goddess of the Mayas in Chiapa,
has only a chance and apparent similarity in name with Coatlicue. The
sun-god is called Citlali by the Mayas (see § 300), cue in all the Mongolian
race of languages is the same primitive root for "wife," which in the
name Coatlicue forms the beginning, but in Citlali-cue forms the end of
the name. This latter name, therefore, means the sun-god's wife, the
moon-goddess, and has nothing to do with Licue or Lancava.
288 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. ' [§298.
possession of the most diverse races. We found it in Japan
as a primitive myth of the pre- Buddhistic Old Japanese
religion (§ 269), and heard it told in 1246 to Plankarpin
by the Mongols.^Another name of Huitzi was Meshhihtli
or Mexitl. According to the Aztec tradition, the capital
Tenochtitlan obtained the name of Mexico from the agave or
mango plant (me-tl) growing in the district, and that from
the city again the god obtained this name. It is possible,
however, that here too, as in § 297 (see note on Tenochtitlan),
the city was rather named after the god ; but whence this
name of the god came I cannot determine.1 — By means
of the festivals also, celebrated in his honour, Huitzi is
characterized as the son of the sun. In the rainy season, in
the middle of May, figures of the god of an edible plant
and honey were made and eaten, frankincense was offered,
dances were performed, prayer songs for rain and fruit-
fulness were recited, and human sacrifices were presented.
At the end of the rainy season, in the middle of August,
in the twelfth month of the Aztecs, an image of the god was
wound round with a blue band, indicating the blue heavens,
and all houses were ornamented with flowers. At the winter
solstice an image of the god made of seeds and the blood of
the sacrificed children was pierced by a priest with an arrow,
the heart was cut out and eaten by the Emperor, the rest was
divided among the people. The winter solstice is the death
and new birth of the sun, therefore also of the sun's son. —
Now Huitzi himself, as well as his mother Coatlicue, was
represented as having the attributes of the serpent, not for the
reason, far from it,2 that the serpent by reason of its casting
its skin is a symbol of the rejuvenating power of nature, still
less because the antique word coa, " woman, wife," had been
erroneously taken for " serpent," but because already in the
1 Meshhi would literally correspond to Boskun (Buzend's brother, § 266).
Since the Aztec legend knows only of one son of Licue, the names of the
Old Mongolian triplet-brothers of Buzend were transferred to this one.
2 Muller, p. 611.
§ 298.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 289
primitive Mongolian tradition the serpent played an important
part. Among the Chinese the dragon is the ancient symbol
of the empire (§ 268) ; so also among the Toltecs the
symbol of the dragon was confounded with the form of Votan
(§ 296), and especially the Aztecs distinguish themselves by
this, that they, like genuine Ophites, have made the temptress
of the human race into a god, and confounded her with God.
We have seen this already in the disfigurement which the
Toltec tradition of Votan has suffered at their hands when it
is rendered into the legend of Quetzalcoatl, the legend of the
dragon (§ 296).1 We meet with it too in the legendary
figure which they name Tezcatlipoca, where God and the devil
are confounded. The name Tezcatlipoca was not an Aztec
word.2 They themselves affirmed that they had learnt to
know and had adopted this god from a foreign race of Tlait-
lotlacs dwelling in the country who inhabited Tescuco and
Chalco, and this, too, with a misconception of the serpent
attributes such as already referred to at the end of § 296.
Since it is in accordance with the belief of all the Mongol
peoples that every district and every land has its own guardian
spirit, and since the Aztecs particularly worshipped alongside
of their ancestral deities such local guardian spirits,3 it is
highly probable that they adopted among their own gods the
god whom they came to know as already resident in that
region as the local guardian spirit of the land. The Aztecs
made Tezcatlipoca a brother of their own Huitzi, but did not
expressly entitle him a son of Licue, and they devoted to the
two the festival of the winter solstice. Of the former, how-
1 Huitzi, too, is found frequently represented as encircled by a serpent
with a serpent staff in his hand ; the walls of his temple were adorned
with pictures of the serpent.
2 As an Aztec word, Tezcatlipoca should mean " smoking mirror," which
is the designation of the sun. The Aztecs may have, in adopting Toltec
words, modified them according to taste.
3 Tepejollotli, guardian spirits who dwelt in particular mountains,
fairies about particular lakes, as e.g. the Malitsin ; penates (tepitoton)
which they kept in the house hung up in cords, guardian deities for par
ticular periods of life, etc.
EBRARD III. T
290 . HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. •[§ 298.
ever, they tell1 that he dwells in heaven, is the invisible
ruler of the whole world ; it was he who foretold to men the
great flood. This was the old Toltec form of the story, in
which he corresponds to the invisible tao of the Chinese !
The Aztecs have also made him the god of death and of the
lower world, of barrenness and of all evil. This invisible
god of the Toltecs was to them a dismal, feared, and hated
god, and was only served for terror, and therefore they put
him just in the place which among the Mongolian peoples was
usually given to evil spirits (Aztec tzitzimete). They desig
nated him jactzin, " the fiend, the enemy." He was, indeed,
supposed to dwell in heaven, but only to shoot from thence
the arrows of the pestilence, barrenness, and famine as
disasters upon the race of mankind. This, his double nature,
is set forth in his figure, for he was represented sometimes as
a fair youth, sometimes with the countenance of a bear. His
chief festival, toschcoalth, " barrenness," was celebrated on the
day of his death, the 19th May; as god of barrenness, he
died at the beginning of the rainy season. The priest took
dust in his hand and swallowed it ; the people fasted ; on a
carrying chair of dried maize plant the image of the god was
carried about ; a troop of youths and maidens, tepotschtlitfli,
crowned with dry stalks of maize, made a procession. The
kneeling people lashed themselves with cords, and besought
the help of night and storms against the god. The fairest of
the prisoners of war had been selected a year before, received
even divine honours, and twenty days before the festival he
was given four beautiful maidens as his companions ; on the
festival day he was offered as a victim to the god ; young
men and young women were married, and were exposed to
the scoffs of the youth. A second festival was in October, at
the end of the rainy season, when the god returning was met
with the scattering of maize flour, and men were burnt in
his honour. His third festival was celebrated at the winter
solstice in common with that of Huitzi, as the conqueror
1 Muller, p. 613.
§ 298.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 291
of Tezcatlipoca. — Thus, then, the Aztecs worshipped their
blood-stained savage ancestral deity Huitzi as the highest god,
and changed the invisible creator of the world of the Toltecs
into the devil. And from this horrifying perversion, as
well as from the Votan legend, we may obtain for ourselves
this addition to our scientific possessions, the knowledge that
the Toltecs had known in North America the invisible creator
of the world, who was afterwards forgotten by them in Peru
during the period of the Inca empire. There, then, again we
have depravation, development downwards ! — The number
of human victims sacrificed by the Aztecs was frightful.
According to Diaz,1 they amounted in one year to at least
2500, but sometimes in a single year to as many as 6000.
At the consecration of the great temple of Huitzi, in A.D.
1486, there were during one year offered of prisoners spared
for the purpose, according to Torquemada, 72,344 ; according
to Ixtilxocuitl, 80,400. They had separate apartments in
the temples for the preservation of the skulls of the victims
sacrificed; in one such quashhitschalco, Cortez found 136,000
skulls. — They had, as real unsophisticated polytheists, a mul
titude of various sorts of gods. It is said that they had as
many as thirteen principal deities. Certain it is that they
adopted gods into their religion from all the tribes with which
they came into contact. Although their Huitzi, as son of the
sun, was their chief god, they had still besides a sun-god,
Tonatiuh (tona, " heat," and Huh, " god "), subordinate to him,
whom they, as the non-Aztec word tiuh already shows, had
taken over from a Toltec or such-like tribe. Further, they
had a moon-god Me£tli, a god of the earth Tlatecutli or
Tewacajohua, the pre-Chichimec water-god Tlaloc or Taloc, a
Chichimec fish-god Coshhcoshh or Cipactli, a fire-god Shhiuh-
teuctli or Ishhcoazauqui (comp. § 297, 06s. No. 139), a salt-
goddess Hwishhto-qihuatl, to whom women were sacrificed,
a god of the Agave wine Tototschtli. Further, they had
guardian deities of boys and girls, Joalteuctli and Joaltigitl ; of
1 Diaz, iv. 259 ,
292 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. T§ 298.
men and women, Ometeuctli and Omec,ihuatli ; of age, Jlama-
teuctli ; of merchants, Chacateuctli ; of fishers, Opotschtli and
Amimitl ; of goldsmiths, Shhippe ; of marriage, Tla£blteotl and
Tla^olteutjihua ; and a strange, naked figure, Ishhcuina, for
whom one is tempted to suggest a Phoenician origin, piK'K and
cunna, a hybrid of tautological construction ; of lust, Tlemef-
quiquilli ; of concord, Cundinamarca.
Obs. 1. — Tezcatlipoca is also judge of the dead who receives
the souls of fallen warriors into heaven, while other souls pass
into the lower world. In Ausland of 1831, p. 1027, the follow
ing Aztec prayer to Tezcatlipoca at the outbreak of a war is
reported : 0 Lord, most friendly and most helpful to men,
invisible and impalpable protector, by whose wisdom we are
•led. . . . Lord of battles! A war draws on, the god of war
opens his mouth ; he is hungry ; he will drink the blood of
those who fall. The sun and the god of the earth, Tlatecutli,
will rejoice, and the gods of heaven and the lower world will
refresh themselves with meat and drink, and prepare them
selves a meal from the flesh and blood of mortals who fall in
the fight. They glance upon us who shall conquer and who
shall die. . . . The noble fathers and mothers whose children
are to die know it not ; the mothers know it not who nourished
'them when they were little, who suckled them with their milk.
Grant, 0 Lord, that the fallen be graciously received of the
sun and the earth, the father and mother of all, in whose heart
love (of eating human flesh) dwells. Thou didst not deceive
them when thou required that they should die in battle. For
it is true and certain that thou sentest them to the earth, in
order that they should feed sun and moon with their flesh
and blood. Oh most friendly to men, we flee to thee, that those
whom thou causest to fall in this battle may be received with
love and honour among the heroes who in former times had
fallen. There shall they enjoy unheard-of pleasures, celebrate in
constant songs the praises of our Lord the sun, breathe the sweet'
perfume of the flowers, intoxicate themselves with delightSj
number not the days and nights, the years and the periods,
for their power and happiness are without end, and the flowers,
whose perfume they breathe, never fade.
06s. 2. — The dead were some of them burnt, some of them
buried. The former custom might, indeed, have been intro
duced through the Indian Buddhists. But since the Mongols
of Asia when they became Buddhists did not adopt this custom,
while urns with ashes are found in pre-Aztec, that is, in Toltec
graves as far down as the Mississippi (§ 283 and 293), it is more
§ 299.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 293
probable that that custom was borrowed by the Aztecs from the
Toltecs.
§299. The Buddhism of the Aztecs.
The Aztecs were not Buddhists ; their religion is purely
Mongolian, and the name Fo is not once met with in it. But
they had been Buddhists, and all of the Nahuatlacs, especially
the Colhuacs, had been Buddhists. The Aztecs themselves
have reported that the Colhuacs in Tescuco had no human
sacrifices, that they themselves first introduced the practice,
and made a beginning of it by the sacrifice of the daughter
of a Colhuac king craftily decoyed among them.1 Thus,
then, the Aztecs were that Nahuatlac tribe which first fell
away again from the Buddhism that had been grafted on from
a foreign source,2 and under their supremacy the old national
religion was again introduced among the other tribes.3 But
we have remnants of two different kinds from their Buddhistic
periods. Firstly, we have the specifically' Buddhist legends,
or rather system, of the ages or the periods of the world4 which
have been preserved by Ixtilocuitl, from which, however, Eios
and Clavigero have drawn different conclusions from A. von
Humboldt. According to the latter, the ages of the earth,
fire, air, and water succeed one another; according to the
former, the succession is that of water, earth, air, and fire-
But in precisely the same way as the Indian and Tibetan
Buddhists, the Aztec legend represents the first age as over
thrown by means of an earthquake, the second by means of
fire, the third by means of a storm, the last by means of water.5
The old traditions of giants and the flood are in those legends
' Miiller, p. 597 f.
2 It must have been about the same time that it happened that the
Aztecs won political independence, that is, about a.d. 1350 or shortly
before. 3 To this old religion belonged the custom of human sacrifice. Marco
Polo found it practised among the civilised tribes of Asia even in China
and Japan. Prescott, Mexico, p. 643.
4 Miiller, p. 509 ff. 5 "Waitz, Anthropologie, i. 291.
294 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. ['§ 299.
interwoven in duplicate repetitions. The pair who saved
themselves in the flood are called sometimes Coshhcoshh
and Shhochiquetzal, sometimes Nata and Nena (comp. § 300).
Ethnography too lays hold upon those legends, for an attempt
has been made to explain as legendary the genealogy of the
Mexican races (see 06s.). — Secondly, we have the ordinances
of the ritual and the priesthood. Their temples (teocalli),
truncated pyramids with horizontal terraces, stairs at the four
corners leading to the chapels placed at the top which con
tained the image of the god, remind us in their ground-plan
of the structure of the Polynesian pyramids (§ 280), but in
their ornaments and hanging bells rather of the pagodas of
Further India. The priests, of whom there were in the
capital 5000, in the whole country, according to Clavigero,
four millions, were organized as they are among the Buddhists
in a complicated series of ranks.1 They were divided into
assemblies or classes, each of which had its chief. Celibacy
was no longer enforced, they had rejected it along with
Buddhism, and therewith not only the high estimation of the
unmarried state but also of chastity ; for polygamy was pre
valent, and the celebrated "law against adultery" which
punished with stoning the entrance into another's harem,
had no deep moral significance. Unrestricted intercourse of
the sexes outside of marriage was generally allowed, and such
licence had even its own special guardian deity. But the
outward shell of Buddhism still remained. They practised
the Buddhist custom of consecrating their children with water
and the custom of confession. The black clothing of the priests
with yellow and red ornaments was precisely that of the
Buddhists.2 The bells, too, are of Buddhist origin, which are
found on the noses, lips, and ears of figures of Aztec work
manship. Golden bells hang from the old Ssiba trees on the
1 At the head stood two chosen high priests, the teoteuctli, " divine Lord,"
and the huei-teoquishhque, "great servant of God ; " the highest sacrificing
priest of Huitzi of hereditary rank is called topitzlin, the chief superin
tendent over all the priests meshhico-teo-huatzin.
2 Al. v. Humboldt, Vues des Cordill. i. 197.
§ 300.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 295'
tumuli at Caramari, just as they hang on the pagodas of
Further India, and the elephant - like masks of the Aztec
priests in the Aztec hieroglyphics correspond exactly to the
tapir-like mythical animal Me of the Chinese Buddhists.1
Finally, the Aztecs had the cloisters for orders of monks and
nuns (tlamacagqui), with which were connected, exactly as in
the case of the Buddhists, seminaries for the education and
instruction of youth, in which boys and girls remained from
their seventh year until their marriage. The Aztec religion
had only diverged in this particular, that the vows of monks
and nuns were not life-long, but their renunciation on the
part of those who wished to marry was freely permitted. — On
the Buddhist handle-cross among the Aztecs, see § 303, 06s.
06s. — Genealogical traditions of the Aztec Buddhists (Muller,
p. 517) : After the destruction of the first world there was
darkness for twenty-five years. Then Citala-Tonal, the sun-
god of the Mayas, or Ometeuctli, Old Japan name of a deity
(see § 300), with his wife the moon-goddess Citali-cue or-
Omecihuatl begot a stone, which fell to the earth, broke in
fragments, and became 16,000 heroes. These commissioned one
of their number, Shholotl, to fetch from the lower world the
bones of a dead man ; the bone burst ; from the fragments
came a boy and maiden, Chiltacmischhcuatl and Ilancuaitl ;
these produced six sons, Shhelwa, Tenuch, the ancestor of the
Aztecs, Umecatl, ancestor of the half-fabulous Olmecs, Shhika-
lacautl, ancestor of the Shhikalacautlacs, Mishhtecatl, ancestor
of the Mishhtecs, and Otomitl, ancestor of the Otomies. Old
and new, foreign and native, Buddhistic and Mongolian elements
are confusedly mixed up together.
§ 300. Traces of Pre-Aztec Deities in Central America.
Only after we have thoroughly acquainted ourselves with
the special characteristics of the Aztec religion is it possible
to distinguish those elements in it that have been imported
from other sources, whether from the Toltecs or from the
influence of the Old Japanese immigrants into Central
America. 1 Kauch, Einheit d. Mensch. p. 323 f.
296 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 300.
Among those pre-Aztec divinities the first place belongs to
the divine pair Ometeuctli and Omegihuatl, who in the legend
in which Buddhist elements are mixed up (§ 299, 06s.) are
identified with the divine pair of the Mayas, Citlalitonal and
Citlalicue; which identification, however, is of no critical
importance. We know that among the Aztecs the Ome-pair
did not figure as the sun and the moon, but as the guardian
of men and women. This, however, is immaterial to the
question as to what this divine pair, in the country to which
they belonged, may have been originally conceived to be.
But we should also expect to meet again with this divine pair
in another tribe, to which it evidently was native, for certainly
the name Ome cannot be explained from any Aztec word.1 This
tribe is one which inhabits Nicaragua, in which a divine pair,
Homey-atelite and Homey-ategiguat, is named alongside a son
Siagat ; and thus we are here reminded of the tribe of the
Mandshusicas in Paraguay (§ 286) who worship Omequaturlgni
(or Urago soriso), Ura-sana, and Vra-po. There were, as we
there saw, undoubtedly three purely Japanese heavenly gods,
supposed to rule consecutively, each following the other, and
begotten the one of the other emanationistically, and so not to
be regarded as a divine pair, and so with nothing in common
except the syllable ome = homey; but Ome, or in the
Nicaraguan language, Homey, is evidently enough equivalent to
the Ugro-Finnic-Mongolian, or rather generally Japhetic primi
tive root (Mong. amu, ama, § 297, 06s. No. 49) for "father"
and " mother," or generally for any of the older relatives, e.g.
uncle. But Qua is a contracted kame, the Japanese appella
tion of god. Atelite might be derived from the Ugro-
Mongolian word tuil, " fire, heat " (No. 10), which would be
1 No one will consider the meaning " Two-men," " Two-women,'' for
Aztec ome, "two," as satisfactory (Buchmann, art. " Ortsnamen," p. 773).
This careful investigator has allowed himself to be carried away by the
desire to trace everything to an Aztec source. But though the places
Bonames and Bilbil near Frankfort a. M. may be rightly derived from
bona messis and villa bella, it does not follow that Frankfurt must be
derived from frangere and fortis.
§ 300.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 297
suitable as a designation of the 'sun-god ; but the parallel
ategiguat leads to the supposition that ate is an auxiliary
word (perhaps ata, atta, Nrs. 47, 48, as synonym of homey,
amu), where then lite would indicate the masculine, giguat
the feminine gender (comp. Mandsh. cheche, No. 42). We
know then nothing more than that there was a god and a
goddess, a father and a mother. But Homey-Atelite had, just
like the Mandshurian Omequa, a son Siagat, and the
Nicaraguans at a religious examination made the following
statements about him, and made this record : Question : Qui
a cr^e" les hommes, les femmes et toutes les austres choses ?
Reponse: lis ont e"te" cre^s par Famagostad et Zipaltonal, et par
un jeune homme nomine" Ecalchotl guegue et le petit Ciagat.
But here we see the person of Siagat already amalgamated
with Buddha Qiwa and a god Ecalshhotl,1 which from its name,
ending in tl, we may conclude to have been imported by
Buddhist missionaries of Aztec blood from Mexico. We first
come upon the religion of this people at a time when it had
already become amalgamated with Buddhist elements. The
only conclusion we can draw is that Siagat, if in the Buddhist
religion he belonged to the order of creating deities, must also
in the national religion have had to do with creation, so that
he emanated from the Ome-pair, and then again the world
from him. What then is to be made of the fourth, "the
young man, Eealshho, the old " — for guegue means " old " in
Aztec ? Perhaps these four gods were suggested by,1 and bear
some relation to, the four Buddhist periods or evolutions of
the world. To the second, " Civa, the glowing," undoubtedly
belongs the empire of fire ; but eca means in Aztec " air,
wind," and the wind might well be designated " a young old
man ; " 2 then Fo-mahadeo will correspond to the god of water,
1 The French ch has been transliterated by shh, and not, as the
Spaniards have done, by tsh. So, too, the c in Ciagat is rendered by s. —
Ecalshhotl, too, which according to Aztec etymology is identified with the
Nicaraguan rain-god Quia-teol, "Bain-god," will have been imported
from Mexico along with Buddhism.
2 In Nicaragua a god of the air is named Tschiquinan. It was hence
298 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 300.
and the son Siagat x to the earth. — Biit besides in Nicaragua
we meet with a Thomatojo, by Oviedo translated "great god"
(comp. on matMjo, § 297, 06s. No. 109, baki, mangga, mieds),
with his son Theotbilahe (comp. Tepeguan puguli, " son," No.
44). It is, possible that these were identical with Homey-
atelite and Siagat. — When in Nicaragua the god of the lower
world is called Miquetan-teo, and in Yucatan and Chiapa the
lower world itself is called mitual, we are reminded that the
root mic, male, mu, is Malayan, already met with by all the
later immigrants .(§ 297, 06s. No. 99). — We again meet with
the Votan of the Toltecs (§ 296) in the Tipotan, the god
Potan of the Indians of Martiaca, and also with the tradition
that the first human pair were "called Nembrita and Nengui-
tamali.2 In the Buddhist- Aztec legend given in § 299, man's
first parents were Nata and Nena. According to Oviedo,3
in Nicaragua guardian deities of cultivated plant were
worshipped, e.g. a Cacao-god, Caco-guat. It might therefore
be concluded that guat, gwat, was an appellative of god, which
would . then have a singular resemblance to the Sanscr. khut>
Asam. khoda, Goth, guths, Old High Germ, cot; but the
meaning of that appellative may very well have been that of
making or that of protecting, as in the case of the Sanscr.
ghut. It would indeed be quite possible to suppose that gwat
was a transmutation of the Old Malayan appellation of god,
waka, which was also transferred to the Old Peruvian gwat,
coming from wak-ti, gwakti* — A female deity of the chase,
Mishhcoatl, was adopted by the Aztecs for the Otomies.5
She had also been worshipped by the Tlascalans.8 Her name,
possible that only the name Ecalshhotl was imported by the Aztecs, and
was given to an old Nicaraguan deity, namely, to Tschiquinan.
1 As son he is called le petit, " the young."
2 Buschmann explains (frangendo, fortiter, see note 1) this name from
the Aztec nemi, "to live," and tarnalli, "maize," "a woman who lives
upon maize."
3 Oviedo, ix. 200 ff.
4 Comp., with special reference to the Malay gods of maize and potatoes,
zarap cono-pa and papac cono-pa, § 287 E.
6 Muller, pp. 484 and 495. 6 Ibid. p. 529 f .
§300.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 299
which may be explained from the Aztec mishh-tli, " a cloud,"
and coatl, " a serpent," may be the Aztec translation of the
name of a Toltec god of similar signification ; for although the
Otomies were indeed scarcely a Toltec tribe, yet the Tlascalans
were undoubtedly largely intermixed with Toltecs, as is shown
in § 297. But now in Nicaragua we meet with a similarly
sounding name of a god Mixcoa, which indeed belongs as it
seems to a male deity, not of the chase, but of trade. We
read in the examination above referred to : Qu. Pourquoi
sacrifiez-vous en vous incisant la langue ? Rip. Nous le faisons
toujours quand nous allons vendre, acheter ou conclure quelque
marche\ parceque nous croyons que cela nous procure une
heureuse rdussite. Le dieu que nous invoquons a cet effet, se
nomme Mixcoa. Qu. Ou est votre dieu Mixcou ? Rip. Ce sont
des pierres figures que nous invoquons en son honneur. But
that one and the same deity of wealth and well-being should
pass in one tribe, a civilised one, as patron god of trade, and
in another, a nomadic tribe, living by the chase, as patron
goddess of hunting, is quite conceivable. But now, as the
pierre figurie show, Mixcoa must have been tin Nicaragua
before the appearance of the Old Japanese immigrants, on
whose stone- worship comp. § 287 C. The name itself is
nothing else than a contracted Pacha-camac (§ 287); and as
it is changed into Botschi-ka among the Muyscas (§ 289), so
it might in Nicaragua be rendered Mitsch-ca, Mits-co. In
Old Peru there were figures of sea-monsters with connection
with Pachacamac. His temple in Pachacamac valley was
adorned with such.1 Further, also, in Old Peru there was
worshipped a god of wealth, Urcaguay, represented as a
serpent,2 whose name reminds us strikingly of the Urago of
the Mandshusicas (§ 286), which may therefore have been
only an appellative of Pachacamac, as Urago was an appella
tive of the "Father-god" Omequa. Thus, then, the Mixcoa
of the Nicaraguans is certainly to be identified with their
Homey - atelite (the Omequa of the Mandshusicas), conse-
1 Muller, p. 366. 2 Ibid. p. 366.
300 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 300.
quently also with the Urago of the Mandshusicas, the serpent-
shaped god of wealth among the Old Peruvians, Uruguay.
In fact, serpent sculptures are found in abundance in
Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Yucatan, and the Indians in those
regions also worshipped living serpents.1 This worship of a
serpent-shaped god of wealth, Mixcoa, spread from Central
America to several Toltec tribes, belonging therefore to the
period of the Chinese immigration in B.C. 600, or at least to
tribes in which their were Toltec elements, such as the
Tlascalans, where the god of wealth was already specialized into
a god of the abundance of the hunting-field. At a far later
period the remnants of the Corean-Chinese hordes that had
entered the country in a.d. 1281 along with the Mongolian
Nahuatlacs (§ 297), i.e. the Otomies, adopted a mode of
worship in keeping with the stage of civilisation reached by
them as hunting nomads, and finally, the Aztecs formed the
name of that god, so that he in their language, as " the cloud-
serpent," mishh-coa-tl, came to have a tolerably adequate
designation. — For the rest we may find here further con
firmation of the conviction already reached of an original
knowledge of the one god overshadowed by the rubbish of
polytheistic superstition. Fachacamac, the creator of the
world, is reduced at last to a serpent idol that gives good
fortune in the chase ! — Among the Tlascalans the name of
Ome-tosch-tli, as he appears under the influence of the Aztec
language, was indeed retained alongside that of Mixcoa. This
god was evidently closely connected with Ome-teot. Next to
him they worshipped a war-god Camashhtle,2 an unmistake-
able transmutation of Camac with the usual Aztec ending.
Thus on all sides the idea is confirmed that the Tlascalans
were a mixed race made up of the Old Japanese and Toltec-
Chinese immigrants. — That the Mayas, too, had a strong Toltec
infusion has been already shown. They had for the sun-god
the Chichimec or Sonora name of Tomahieli, " fire-lord,
glowing lord," and for the moon -god, Tonaca-cihwa, "the
1 Miiller, p. 483. 2 Ibid. p. 529.
§ 301.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 301
glowing woman;"1 but besides these they had the Toltec
names Dsitlala and Dsitlali-cue, at the basis of which we
seem to find the Chinese sji, " the sun," although the two
names have experienced a modification in the Aztec citlalli,
"star." Tlali, under the influence of Aztec philology, is
derived from ta-li; ta is the Chinese tao, "god," li un
doubtedly is the same Old Mongol root which we find in the
atelite of the Nicaraguans, as well as in the Finnic liika,
"great, rich," which will thus have had the meaning of
" great." 2 Ate-lite, " the great father ; " Dsi-tla-li, " the great
sun-god ; " Dsi-tla-li-cue, " the great sun-god's wife." 3
F. — The Ugro-Finnic Immigration into the North during
the 13th Christian Century.
§ 301. The Redskins and their Religion.
The wild Indian tribes between Mexico and Greenland are
comprehended under the name of the Eedskins. In the
middle of the 17th century eight so-called families were
distinguished among them. Those of the Hurons and Iroquois
(with the tribes of the Sioux, Nadowessi, Dahcotahs, Mengwees,
Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayegas, Senecas, etc.) dwelt around
the great lakes ; south of them, along the east coast, and
westward to the Mississippi, was the great family of the
Algonquins (with the tribes of the Delawares, Mohicans,
Senilenapsis, Wampanogas, etc.) ; south of them are the
families of the Ch^rokees (with the Creeks), Utsches, Nat-
shez, Tuskaroras, Catanbas, and Mobilians. — Quite in the
north, farther north than the Iroquois, although some stretch
1 Muller (p. 474) explains to-naca-cihwa by " Lady or Mistress of our
flesh!" *2 Therefore in Chinese, li, "gain," we meet again with this word.
3 Then also Licue among the Mayas, and already Lan-cava in Japan
among the Japanese, had the meaning of "great lady." The Mand
shurian liika is identical with the Finnic lukka; the vowel therefore
was not constant.
302 . HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 301.
out far south like straggling shoots, dwell the Athabaskaus
(see 06s.). All these follow a nomadic course of life, and
support themselves by hunting, which they foolishly and
recklessly pursue to the utter ruin of the hunting-fields.
Still traces of an earlier culture are discoverable, especially here
and there a rude sort of picture-writing for epistolary advice
in war, here and there the knotted-thread system, with various
coloured pearls (wampun). The languages of these tribes,
although in the last stage of decadence and decomposition,
show clearly a mingling of Ugro-Finnic and Malayan words',
(see 06s. 1), and also almost all these tribes have traditions
that they came from the west over the sea, and found in
America around the Mississippi a cultured race, the Allegevi
(§ 283), and that they had been subdued or oppressed (see
06s. 2), which has been thoroughly confirmed by the ruins
and monuments of the Mississippi region (§ 283). In general,
the further south we go, the remnants of Malayan customs
and language become more conspicuous (comp. § 280, which
treats of the Delawares and Iroquois), while the Athabaskans
appear to be far purer Ugro-Finns or Siberians. The immigra
tion of this tribe was most undoubtedly made over Kamtschatka
and Aleutia, partly also by way of Behring's Strait (see 06s. 2) ;
and that specifically Ugro-Finnic form of their religion, with
out specifically Mongolian elements, leads to the conclusion
that they were in all probability tribes from the east of
Siberia. Like the Tartar-Siberian peoples (§ 263), these
redskins also worshipped — (a) the invisible creator of the
world as "the Great Spirit," (6) next to him the Sun, Moon,
and Stars, and, finally, (c) a multitude of evil mischievous
spirits, which were represented in the form of animals.
A. The invisible creator of the world appears under three
different names.1 1. The Hurons, especially the Mengwees,
call their highest god Okki or Hokkan. He sits in heaven,
has the seasons, wind, and sea, under his control. By him
they swore their oaths. Among the Canadians we find this
1 For the proofs of what follows, see Muller, p. 102 ff.
§ 301.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 303
Hocan bearing the name of Ata-hocan, " father Hocan," from
the well-known root ata, atta. In Okki, Hocan, every one will
easily recognise the Ugro-Finnic Ukko (§262), identical with
Taara ; to ata corresponds in Finnic the form iso, isa, so that
Ata-hocan is literally and in meaning the same as Ukko iso,
" father Ukko, the ancient father," of the Finns. Alongside
of Ata-hocan we come upon the forms of Adnagni, Cuduagni,
which either are mere corruptions of Atahocan, or are derived
from ata, and a word identical with the Tungus., ngdngnjd,
" heaven," and so meaning " father of heaven," but in no case
having anything to do with the word gni, hoxa agni, "fire," a
word not generally Polynesian, but introduced into Java from
the Sanscrit. In Cudu a prefix seems to have been combined
with adu, ada. 2. The Delaware tribes called him Manitowa
(Monaitowa, Manitah, wisi Manitto, Maniton), in which we
seem to see a compound of Mani with the Malayan appellative
of God, tuwan, " Lord." Mani is a proper name, and is no
other than the hero of the flood, Manu, who here again, just
as among the Battas (§271 c), or among the Muyscas (§ 289),
or the Germans (§ 250), and elsewhere, is confounded as the
postdiluvian, quasi-creator with the real original creator of
the world (comp. § 303). The Canadians distinguish two
creators of the world, Adnagni, " who first made the world,"
and Messu (comp. the Iranian Messhia !), who " restored the
world after the flood." We shall meet again with the name
Manu in the flood legend of the Chippeways (§ 302). The
Leni-Lenapis brought to Manitowa an offering of tobacco ; the
Maudans offered him animals and the spoils of war. He had
various attributes : kitschi, " the great," 1 wolsit, " the heavenly,"
wdosemsjogan, " the universal father," wazehaud, " the creative,"
taronhi conagon, "he who embraces heaven," hurahuannentacton,
"he who binds the sun," etc. But besides this name, he
also bears among the Delawares the Ugro - Finnic one
Atahocan, Ato-Mn. The Moschkas called him Esteki-isa,
where isa is evidently the Ugro-Finnic iso, " father," but esteki,
1 Comp. the Sonora huetscha, "great," § 297, Obs. No. 101.
304 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 301.
some sort of adjectival predicate. 3. The Dahcotahs and
Sioux and Stone Indians called him by the Malayan name of
Wakon (see on this § 281, 06s.). Here and there, however,
Wakon appears alongside of Manitowa. Among the Mengwes
kitschi Manila shows himself in the clouds, sitting on the bird
Wakon. This bird produces lightning by the twinkling of his
eyes, thunder by the flapping of his wings.1 Besides these,
among the Iroquois tribes, we meet with the following desig
nations : Nigoh, Nijoh, Neo, Iawo-neo, Nowai-neo, Hawai-neo,
Lanwe-neo, Hauwe-negu, Howe-nea, Hawonio, whence we
conclude that nijo, noo, is an appellative for god which is
derived from the Ugro-Finnic nee, "to see," as waka, Wakon,
from the Malayan wak, "to see," so that Neo was only a
translation for Wakon.
B. The Chippeways worshipped only Manedo, and not the sun
and moon ;2 and so among them the old primitive Monotheism
had retained its present form.8 The Mingwes, Nadowessis,
Natchez, and many of the Leni-Lenapis worshipped Manitowa
as the sun-god, that is, they represented him, as most Siberians
did, as dwelling in the sun, and designated him taron-hiawagon,
" holder or occupier of heaven." Other Delaware tribes prayed
to a sun-god besides Manitowa as a subordinate but separate
deity. The Hurons and Iroquois had a sun-god Arescowi or
Agriskowe, who was at the same time their war-god. The name
may be derived from the Malayan-Polynesian arao, " sun," but
it can have scarcely any connection with 'Apvi, Ear, Airja.
In Florida the first-born male children were sacrificed to the
sun-god.4 This worship of a special sun-god, as well as the
existence of priests (jacuas), temples, and annual festivals 5
1 Chateaubriand, i. 192. 2 Muller, p. 117.
3 A Chippeway chieftain prayed during a voyage over a lake : " Thou
hast made this lake, and hast also created us as thy children ; thou art
able to make this water calm until we have safely and happily crossed
over. Tanner, Narrative of the Captivity, etc., New York 1830. Quoted
in Muller, p. 117 f.
4 Account of an eye-witness in Mejer mythol. Taschenb. 1811, p. 28;
Muller, p. 57 f.
s Muller, p. 57 f.
§ 301.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 305:
among the southern tribes, the Natchez and Apalachians, seems
to have proceeded from the AllegeVi empire, and to have been
introduced among these tribes, naturally without the accom
paniment of human sacrifices from the south-west, by means
of Toltec influences such as are referred to in § 293. To
this conclusion we are led by the circumstance that in Florida,
as well as among the Natchez on the lower Mississippi, the
tribal chiefs called themselves " sons of the sun " 1 (comp, the
Incas). The Natchez, too, preserve in a kind of temple of the
sun a sacred fire, which we find again as a custom in Mexico,2
as also among the Muyscas and among the Incas, and so in
Mexico as a pre-Aztec institution. We also find traces of the
sacred fire as far down as Louisiana and New Mexico, and
even among a particular branch of the Chippeways, called the
Wambenos.3 In the south, among the Pimos, we meet with a
remnant of the Old Mongolian legend of Alankava. During
a famine a beautiful woman distributes maize; while she
sleeps naked, she is rendered pregnant by a rain-drop, and
bears a son. The woman, like the legend itself, belongs to
the race of the Old Japanese immigrants who (§ 286)
brought the maize to the Malays in America. The moon is
regarded by all the Eedskins as a living being ; the eclipse of
the moon is regarded as a sickness, whose evil spirit they
seek to drive away by noises. Particular tribes worship the
morning and evening star ; the star in the tail of the Great
Bear, which represents three hunters who pursue the okuari,
" she-bear ; " the Pleiades, tejeun-non-jakua, " male and female
dancers;" the Milky Way or spirit's path; the northern light ;
the rainbow, etc. The Delawares have a god of the sea,
Mikabitschi (Mirabitschi, Mitschi) ; a thunder-god who fights
with the giants ; 4 a mother earth goddess — in short, a com
pletely developed polytheism. Among the Apalachians and
Natchez the stars are regarded as the dwelling-places of
1 Mejer, p. 74. 2 Chateaubriand, Voyage, etc. i. 165.
3 Tanner, Narrative of the Captivity, etc. p. 135.
* Schoolcraft, Algonquin, Researches, ii. 212 f.
EBRARD III. U
306 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 301.
departed souls ; the sun as the dwelling-place of the dead
heroes, — a Malayan, or at least not a Ugro-Finnic conception.
Among the Chippeways this idea is found combined with the
Ugro-Finnic notion (§ 263) that every man has two souls, of
which one passes to the stars (Malayan), while the other
remains in the grave, and appears on earth as a ghost under
various forms (Ugro-Finnic).
C. Belief in local spirits, which dwell in trees, mountains,
etc., was not less prevalent among the Malays than among
the Ugro-Finnic races, and is accordingly met with among
all the Eedskins. Belief in ghosts and fear of ghosts, which
we saw prevailing among the Ugro-Finnic-Tartar tribes (§ 263),
in short, Shamanism, is on the other hand only fully developed
among the northern tribes of the Eedskins. Here, too, is it
especially that the souls of the departed are regarded as spirits
which must be propitiated. The appellative for spirits is, among
the Hurons nantena, among the Iroquois hondal, among the
Mandanian Mengwes cMppenih and maunom-heha, among the
Chippeways rnaschkape and namschwa, among the Dahcotahs
uanbffgi, etc. Here, too, again we see that among every family
of nations one word for the idea of God has survived from the
period of primitive Monotheism ; but for the worship of spirits,
which marks a later period of decay, each tribe had formed
for itself its own particular expression. It is, however, con
ceivable that after one god, as " the great Manitu," had been
placed at the head of the spirits, the name Manitu, or Okki, or
Neo (neene), or Wakon (wall), came to be used as an appellative
term for the spirits, and in this way obtained the meaning of
" spirit." — As among the Tartar-Finnic races, so also among
the Eedskins, guardian spirits were regarded as attaching
themselves to some favourite object (ojaron among the
Iroquois), and these were worn as amulets. With this
there was combined a Malayan element ; a species of animal
was chosen as the dwelling of the guardian spirit, as a
totem, which then could not be eaten by the party concerned
(comp. § 272, the Tabu of the Polynesians). The werewolf
§ 301.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 307
legend1 is common to all the families of the Eedskins. The
art of the sorcerers and sorceresses is altogether of Ugro-Tartar
origin. Among the Canadians the sorcerers are called pillotoas,
ostemois, arendiovann, by the Ottowas panans, by the Dahcotahs
we chasba Wakon, by the Blackfoots nahlose, by the Delawares
sajotkatta. The sorcerer gives information about the future,
decoys the game into the hunter's path, exorcises the evil
spirits of disease ; all this is performed in a condition of
ecstasy and convulsion.2 Also belief in demoniacal possession,
called by the Maudans otschkih-Mdda, and in witches is wide
spread ; among the Iroquois, witches are burnt to this very
day. Fear and dread constitute the foundation of the religion
of the Eedskins since they have become known to Europeans;
bloodthirstiness and cruelty form the basis of their character.
Belief in the Great Spirit is now reduced to a mere relic of
an antique superstition.
06s. 1. — The languages of those tribes afford a picture of the
most utter linguistic decadence. Even the length of the words
in many of those languages shows that they are formed by
infinitely repeated composition of decayed and depreciated
roots. From thousands of examples, we offer only a few.
When among the Comanches " to cut " is nenochkian, among
the Chippeways " woman " is gee-ack-au-we, among the Wakos
" small " is tiethidekitz, among the Kaddos " son " is hinnin-
catrseh, " finger " duts-est-kats-he, in the Zumi language " lake "
is tscatolilanah, among the Kahwillos " life " is ninujeshmapacul,
among the Moleles " love " is tischhtaschewetaungko, who can
possibly any longer resolve this clatter of syllables into any
recognisable roots ? And when every tribe, every village of
perhaps a hundred inhabitants, speaks its own language, who
does not see from this that such splitting up would have been
impossible without an exceptionally often repeated modification
of root words, which must render any recognition of the roots
originally at the basis of their structure absolutely impossible ?
— All the more important therefore is the fact that, notwith
standing in many of those languages quite recognisable roots
1 Miiller, p. 64.
2 Magicians converted to Christianity have declared that these con
ditions are by no means feigned, and ascribe them to the kingdom of
darkness. Muller, p. 80 f.
308 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. ' [§ 301.
are still retained, and those pretty generally Malayan roots
mixed with Ugro-Finnic, which thus afford evidence for the
blending of blood such as we had affirmed. From a great
multitude of examples I give only the following selection from
the Californian, Pueblo, and Athabaskan languages. (On the
latter, compare Buschmann in the Abh. der Berl. Akad. d. W.
of the year 1859, § 50 ff. To that group belong the Chippe
ways, the Beaver-Indians, Tahkalis, Kinais, Coloshes, Apaches,
Inkilik, Dogrib, Navachas, Sicanis, Ugalenses, etc. The Pueblo
languages are Tezuque and Zumi. The Kotschinii are a
Californian tribe.)
A. Malayan Eoots and Words. — Makua-hane (Hawaian),
" father," Kotschim. ak and kdna. Waha, " month," Kotsch.
aha. Wewangi, " name," Kotsch. mimanga. Getih, " blood,"
Kotsch. jueta. Wahine, " wife," Kotsch. hwdgin, wakoe, wuktu,
Zumi okea and iai. Huma, " house," Kotsch. aji-huemen. Uku,
" small," Tezuque hiquia. Hai and pau, " to speak," Tez. hii,
Zumi piji. Pono, " tree," Tez: beh. Tshi, " small," Zumi tsanna.
Apat, "four," Zumi awite. Kai, "to eat," Tez. koo. Ongo, "to
hear," Tez. ojez. Etooa, " God," Tez. eose. Avae, Tahit. " foot,"
Tez. au. Bukit, "mountain," Tez. piquai, Zumi poke. Mate,
" dead," Beaver-Ind. mite, " to kill." Tone, " man, husband,"
Chippew. dinne, Beaver-Ind. dunna, tine (Chippew. etc. tinne,
" man "). Quito, kita, " to see," Beaver-Ind. kaneta. Kalci,
" foot," Athabaskan cu, cas, cagasch. Sejuk and ma-chbkek,
" cold," Chippew. htehchoz, Kinai htechoz. Wanua, fenua,
aina, "earth," Ugal. nanee, Tahk. nee. Lima, " hand," Athab.
laa, lani, llah. Camay, Tagal. "hand," Athab. kene, kuna,
kone, kuina, etc. Tangata, Polyn. " man," Athab. tenge, tenghi,
tachkbli. Kaiki, kane, Haw. " son," Athab. askehaja, chuane,
cheecanc. Tahi, tai, Polyn. " sea," Athab. tu, too, towe, toa, tchu,
" water," atenni, toatna, " to drink." Gigi, niko, nio, " tooth,"
Athab. houh, goo, gji.
B. Ugro-Finnic Eoots and Words. — Paljo, falu, " much,"
Kotsch. Muilei. Kiwe, ko, " stone," Kotsch. kota, Tez. kuk.
Kuu, " moon," Kotsch. gamma. Hugy, " star," Tez. ahgojah.
Jo, jaki, " stream," Tez. koh. Pdaw, " sun," Tez. pah. Ingni,
anongkin, " tongue," Zumi Mninne. Tuba, " post," Tez. taiwa,
" house." Taiwas, " heaven, day," Tez. tai, " light," Zumi
taiko-hanannai, " day," Tahk. tsa, " sun," Tlasc. taose, " sun." Et,
dset, " to eat," Zumi ito, etor, Chippew. etse, shati, Beaver-Ind.
atoun and Tahk. utson, " flesh." Kuula and kurk, " neck," Tez.
kaiku. Silm, " to see," Tez. tzi, tschai, " eye." Atta, tate, iso,
"father," Athab. atta, ata, tah, nta, staa, "father;" Zumi
tatschu, Tahk. utso, " grandmother." Tok, " to beat," Chippew.
telkit, " to beat to death." Serke, serel, " to wound," Chippew.
siltir, "to kill." Jdgna, "cold," Chippew. ghdjai, jakkai, cheita,
§ 301.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 309
" winter," Athab. jachs, jochos, jas, jath, " snow." Tul, " to
come," Athab. etelj, nathall. Ne, " to see," nighor, nidun, " sight,"
Athab. nila, nentsbno, Tahk. and Kinai neetlen, " to see." Quili,
" herbs, grass," Athab. kio, chlow, tchlo, qlucho, tljuch. Kulke,
jalka, " foot," Athab. katlnja, hatch, Chippew. and Ugal. chagut,
kakout, "knee," Tahk. kutchlai, "to run." Cheche, "woman,
wife," Tahk. tschekwe, Dogrib - Ind. tschikwe, other Athab.
languages, tseokeia, tzagai. Kala, " fish," Tahk. cloolai, Inkit.
tchjalch, kchcMch, etc., and Kotsch. kahal, " water." Jak, " to
kindle," Ugal. etc. chong, konh, kon, "fire." Chuli, "to fly,"
Kinai kaselju, "wing." Chora, "court" (comp. Sonora cari,
" house "), Athab. cooah, cunno, kanka. Suikia, " lean," Athab.
seisekwe-tzik, "hungry." Kutschuk, "small," Athab. ehtzakke.
Kenne, kan, " child," Athab. zkaniken, zchanik, i-schinnika, eeskane,
eshkee, etc. Tan, tate, "to extend," Athab. tsone, tsee, zzenn,
" sinew, bone." CMga, " to roast," Ugal. coath, " to cook,"
Ami, " to go," Tahk. and Kinai ani, " to come." Alia, " spear,"
Pinal, aillotai. Angga (Aztec eca), " air, wind," Dogrib-Ind.
eattige. Nokka, ongokto, "nose," Athab. chee, chi, tsee, intsbs,
tschess, kalkagjak, "raven," Kinai, etc. tschijischlja, eheensla.
Ulagan, fnlgian, " red," Athab. te-lkosse, etle-lkoss, ti-galtil (?).
Po, ba, " water," Kinai bon, ben, bana, " lake." Jdtte, " to speak,"
Tahk. etc. jaltuk, jeste. And inasmuch as we have proved in
§ 297 that the Sonora branch of languages is a member of the
Ugro-Finnic family of languages, we may now add to the other
Ugro-Finnic words the following Sonora words that are still to
be met with in the dialects of the Eedskins : nashha, " to hear,"
Athab. nisch. Cocho, "ill," Athab. tan-chac. Tecual, "lord,
man," Athab. tkichli, tachkoli, tschilje. Honasa, " salt," Athab.
nutge, nnte, " salt, salt-water." Gwaca, " arrow," Athab. kohuk,
hcM, kahuss. Coa, " serpent," Athab. coo, cotso. Tele, te, " stone,"
Athab. te, tse. Noca, "to speak," Athab. nok-eilnjik, nukiln-
jak. Tohakwitja, tossa, " white," Athab. tolkai, talkae, tekhine,
halokai. Tuni, " lip," Athab. taon, tu, dthu, tso, toula, " tongue."
06s. 2. — The Upper Creeks have a tradition of their having
migrated from the west of the Mississippi into Florida (Malte-
Brun, Giogr. Univ. v. 217). The Comanches in Texas say that
they came from the west and found before them a civilised
people (Buschmann, Spuren, etc., p. 362). The Delawares say
that they came from the west with the Iroquois, and that
they drove out the civilised AlligeVi (Heckewelder, Archeolog.
Amiric. i. 30). The Indians of Arkansas say the same. The
Shawnees on the Ohio (Assal, diefruhern Einwohner v. Amerika,
Heidelb. 1827, p. 87) say that their forefathers at an early
period came over the sea, and they celebrate a feast in memory
of their happy landing. The country about the Ohio was in
habited by a white race possessed of iron (comp. on this 06s. 3).
310 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 301.
The Chippeways tell how their forefathers came from a land
where they dwelt alongside of a cross-grained people, over a
long narrow sea full of rocks and islands under ice and snow,
and that they got with great labour and difficulty into the
country and to the Copper Eiver (Mackenzie, Voyage dans
Vintirieur de VAmirique, Septentr. 1789-1793, Paris 1802, i.
278). The Dogrib-Indians, which are related to them, say that
their ancestor Chippewa lived on a narrow strip between two
seas in the land from which the white man came (Franklin,
Second Expedition to the Polar Sea). The Squint Indians on
the Mackenzie Eiver say that they came in early times from
the west over an arm of the sea (Ausland, 1843, Aug., No.
238). The Californians came into California from the north
(Augsb. Allg. Ztg. 1850, 14th March). The Chippeways and
Dogrib-Indians thus undoubtedly came across Behring's Straits.
When ? See 06s. 3. The medicine men of both the sections of
the Thlinkite Indians in Southern Alaska bear the name of
Shamans, just as among the Tartar races (Reform. Kirchenzeitung
von Cleveland, 24th Dec. 1884).
06s. 3. — The white, iron-possessing people on the Ohio, who
were met with by the Chippeways on their first landing, were
without doubt a northern race. Gardar discovered Iceland in
A.D. 863 ; Gunbjorn discovered Greenland in a.d. 877 ; from
thence Leif the Fortunate, son of Eric the Eed, started on a
voyage of discovery, and reached the mouth of a river in a
region where the shortest day was nine hours long, therefore
about 40° northern latitude. The island now called New
foundland was called by him " Helluland," that is, stone land ;
New Scotland was called Markland ; Massachusetts, where he
found the vine, he called Vinland (Al. v. Humboldt, Cosmos).
After him Thorfinn^Carlsefne, in A.D. 1007, arrived in Vinland
with 160 men and waited there three years, but was then
driven out by the hostile inhabitants. But Norman planters
remained there, and in a.d. 1121 the Greenland bishop Eric
Gnupson went to Vinland to confirm his countrymen there in
the Christian faith. The last voyage from Greenland to
Vinland was undertaken in A.D. 1347. The ruins of a building
standing on round pillars at Newport on Ehode Island were
regarded by Eafu, a learned expert in northern antiquities, as a
Norman baptistry, and in some inscriptions on the rocks of that
place it is thought that runes are discoverable (Mem. de la Soc.
roy. des antiquaires du Nord, 1852, pp. 133 and 135). Dr.
Lund thinks that even in Brazil at Bahia are to be found runes
and a statue of Thor (Ausland, 1840, p. 652), which may
perhaps rest on a misunderstanding. But that in the neigh
bourhood of the Ohio, Norman colonists had settled in the 12th
century, is historical truth. Hence the coming of the Chippe-
§ 302.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 311
ways into that region must be placed somewhere during the
13th century. The consequences of the storm occasioned
by Temudjin among the peoples of Asia, might also have led
those Siberian tribes to betake themselves to flight and wander
ing. — What became of the remnants of those " Skarlinger" of
Vinland no one knows. They may have been partly extirpated,
partly absorbed among the savages, and mixed up with the
Ugrian tribes. In the speech of the warlike Kaddos (comp.
Goth. Mthus, Old High Germ, hadu, "war"), who according to
their own tradition came from the north, alongside of Ugrian-
Sonora roots (aa, ugugh, " father ; " maso, " hand ; " quia, " life ; "
deta, "tooth," etc.), some are found which sound very much
like German roots (tunua, " tongue ; " hattato, " hot ; " houchto,
" breath ; " diska, "day ; " nubba, "night ; " notsche, natse, "neck ; "
hunniu, "son;" hee-cut, "lake;" datsch, "bull-dog;" dah, "animal;"
dehka, "death;" duschku, "darkness," comp. Engl, dusk; kiaotsch,
" child ; " dehto and teso, " this ; " dehe, " the ; " bete, " among ; "
tahho, "roof, house"). — The tradition of the Dogrib-Indians
(Muller, p. 129), that a man visited them who healed the sick,
raised the dead, and gave them holy books, can only be explained
as a reminiscence of the attempts at evangelization by the
Danish Mission, in which the Indians have confounded what
was told them with what they had seen actually living among
them. — The Indians on the Ohio had the tradition that a white
race dwelling on the east coast had been annihilated by their
forefathers (Eauch, p. 366, 06s. 2). It has been thought that
in the Indian tribe of the Mandanes on the Mississippi we
have the descendants in America of the defeated Celts (Eauch,
pp. 363-371). § 302. The Traditions of the Redskins.
A. Traditions of the Flood. — 1. The Canadians x tell of a
flood which covered the whole earth. Messu alone (comp.
the Meshia of the Iranian tradition, § 224) saved himself and
restored the devastated earth. They honour him as a second
god 2 alongside of the original creator Ata- Hocan. 2. The
Chippeways say that the whole earth was buried under a
1 The proof for this statement and those that follow will be found in
Muller, p. 112.
2 The Japhetic pagan name Messu (Manuscha, Meshia), as well as the
whole cast of the traditions, forbids us deriving this from the preaching of
the Danish missionaries. In that case we would have expected to meet a
name similar in sound to that of Noah.
312 , HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§302.
flood in which all men perished ; only one, Mano-bozho,1 saved
himself on a tree, that is, in a canoe. Manobozho commanded
the water to stand still, and had sent forth several animals one
after another which were swallowed up, until finally a musk-
rat brought back something from the submerged earth, and
out of this he created a new earth.2 3. The Lenilapi and
Iroquois say that Manu-kitschton, " the great Manu " (comp.
Gen. i. 2), created the earth out of a grain of sand, and the
first human pair out of the stem of a tree. When men were
afterwards destroyed by a great flood, he converted the sea
animals into land animals and men.3 We have here complete
confusion between the traditions of the creation and the flood
in consequence of the confusion between the creator and the
hero of the flood. 4. The Knistinos on the Upper Missouri
say that when the whole earth was covered with a flood, and
all men had been destroyed, a woman, Kwaptaw, " virgin,"
grasped the foot of a flying bird (confusion of the raven with
the ark !), and was by it saved . on a cliff, and then, im
pregnated by a royal eagle, bare twins by whom the new earth
was peopled. 5. The Apal aches tell how the sun stood still
in its course for twenty-four hours ; 4 then the water of the
lake Olaimi rose till it covered the tops of the highest moun
tains, with the exception of Mount Olaimi, on which stood a
temple of the sun. Whoever could reach this peak was
saved. After twenty-four hours the sun resumed its course,
and the flood withdrew. 6. Among the Chirokees a dog is
1 The name Manu proves again that the tradition had been carried
from Asia.
2 The Indians then have made out of Manobozho a sort of tricky
hobgoblin of whom they inquire as an oracle, whom they bring into
connection with the werewolf legend (Muller, p. 130 ff.).
3 Muller, pp. 107 and 110.
4 If that which is narrated in Josh. x. 12 was an objective fact, and so
observable throughout the whole earth, a reminiscence of it would be
retained among various peoples. The Greek legend of Phrethon, too, seems
to be such a reminiscence. Among the Apalaches this reminiscence
has got mixed up anachronistically with the much older story of the
flood.
§ 302.] THE PEOPLES AND HORDES OF AMERICA. 313
said to have pointed out to his master the rising flood, and
then to have saved him.
B. Creation, Fall, Cain's Murder of his Brother. — 1. The
Mengwes x say that Tschi-Maniton made on an island animals
out of clay. The Manitus (comp. the Elohim) behold and rejoice
in it. Tschi-Maniton, " the great Manitu," breathes upon each
of the clay animals and gives them life ; those that did not
please him he destroyed, the rest swam over to the continent.
He created one which was so great that he himself was
afraid of it. He also created one in the form of man. It
pleased him not ; but he forgot to destroy it ; and so from it
there came the evil spirit Matschinito. 2. The Dahcotahs
say that the first men when they had been created by the
great spirit, stood like trees firmly planted in the earth ;
then the serpent gnawed them, and to him do they owe their
freedom. (Ophitism ! ) 3. The Iroquois and Onondagas
say that men (oneidas) are created from onia, " a stone, earth."
The great spirit breathed out of his mouth breath and life
into two figures which he had made from the earth : thus
came into being the first man and the first helpmate. The
first man, Juskeka,2 however, slew his brother and became
thereby lord of the whole world. 4. The Mandanes say
that when at first the Mandanes dwelt with the Monitarris,
the great spirit appeared to them visibly in human form.
5. The Wakoschs tell how the creator of the world,
Quahutze,3 appeared to the first mother of mankind in
human form. 6. The Lenilenapi say that Nahabusch or
Nanabusch4 at the command of the great spirit created
plants and animals, but rebelled against God because he had
slain his brother (confusion between fall and Cain's murder !).
But the great spirit was reconciled, and sent him for his
1 Schoolcraft in Muller, p. 108 ff.
2 The Arickarees, a Mengwe tribe, call the first man Ihkotschu, also
Ssiritsch. 8 Qua=kami, " god," and hutze=kitschi, " great."
4 Comp. the Nena of the Aztecs, § 299, and of the Indians of Martiaca,
§300.
314 HALF-CIVILISED AND SAVAGE RACES. [§ 302.
restoration the formula Metai. 7. The Wiandots say that
the creator made two brothers, one good and one bad ; the
latter slew his mother, and was therefore slain by the
creator, and the grandmother, who had incited him to the
murder, was transformed into the moon. 8. According to
a tradition of the Mengwes and Lenilenapi, the first man
was called Numank Matschana (by the Monitarris, Ehsicka
Wahaddish), and is identified with the hero of the flood, and
then even with the great spirit himself. It may mean
perhaps the appearing of God in human form ; see B, Nos. 4
and 5. 9. The Chippeways and Dogrib-Indians say that
the earth was at first covered with water ; then a terribly
•powerful bird dived into the water (comp. § 301, the bird
Wakon, and Gen. i. 2, the Spirit of God brooding on the
face of the waters, which the Dogribs may perhaps have
heard of from the Danish missionaries ; but it is more probable
to think of the bird Wakon), then the earth rose out of the
water, and at his command animals came forth. 10. The
Mingos, a Mengwe tribe, say that Mitschabu, the occupier of
heaven (Taronhiawagon), lived for a generation among men.
He conquered the giants by hurling great stones at them.1
The Onondagas, who call him Hiawatha, " the heavenly," have
the same tradition. 1 Muller, p. 119.
SECOND BOOK.
THE EEVELATION OF GOD.
§ 303.] THE REVELATION OF GOD. 317
§ 303. Summary of Results already gained.
WHAT was stated in § 190 by way of assertion has now
been established by the detailed examination which
we have made of the history of civilisation and religion among
all the races of mankind. We have nowhere been able to
discover the least trace of any forward and upward move
ment from Fetichism to Polytheism, and from that again to a
gradually advancing knowledge of the One God; but, on the
contrary, WE have found among all the peoples of the
HEATHEN WORLD A MOST DECIDED TENDENCY TO SINK FROM AN
EARLIER AND RELATIVELY PURER KNOWLEDGE OF GOD ; even
among such as are wholly sunk in the rude superstition of
Fetichism there still exist certain reminiscences, like the ruins
of an earlier worship, of one invisible Creator and Euler of the
world, which are objectively all the more important because
they are no longer understood by the degraded people. The
cause of this sinking has invariably been found to be the
tendency to excuse and apologize for sin, to lull to sleep the
accusing conscience, and to drive to a distance the holy God.
Hand in hand with this religious deterioration we meet with
deterioration in culture and civilisation. The islands of the
Malays, North and South America, not less than Asia and Africa,
have afforded us historical proofs that the most remote anti
quity was an age of highest and most widely-spread civilisation,
not in the sense of asserting that in the course of later cen
turies very important technical inventions and discoveries were
not made, and civil and social conditions were not more and
more thoroughly elaborated, but in the sense of affirming that
under far simpler conditions, and by far simpler means, the
civilisation of that remote antiquity was far nobler and more
318 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§303.
ingenious than that of later times. The world has become
more artificial, not more spiritual or full of genius (§ 257).
The scientific knowledge of nature among men left to their
own resources therefore in the realm of heathenism, has
developed itself essentially only on the side of astronomy, as
observation of the stars, which was connected with a study of
the significance of the stars, — a study belonging to the remotest
antiquity. Physics among the Greeks remained still in its
swaddling-clothes. The farthest advanced in scientific know
ledge among the ancients were the Old Persians (§ 208), but
just these were the people who worshipped the One invisible
God.1 All higher advance of science was first secured under
the daylight which was shed abroad by Christianity. Art, in
the more exact sense of the term, is as old as mankind, and
belongs to the very idea of man. We do not know any
civilised people of antiquity who were not in possession of
poetry and music. The latter was cultivated in the earliest
times among the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Chinese; the
system of acoustic development was awkward, but had a dis
tinctive character of its own. In the development of archi
tecture and the plastic arts, as we pass from the Egyptians
and Assyrians to the Greeks, we note a decided advance
similar to that which we observe in the development of poetry,
— an advance, however, which was followed by reaction and
decay. Invariably where civilisation in the higher sense was
developed in a people, it burst forth like a northern light, only
soon to be quenched again, like a flash of lightning illuminat
ing different nations in. succession, and leaving behind it a
darkness more dense than that which it found. The ancient
civilisation of the Egyptians passed away ; that of the Indians
has become corrupt ; that of the Chinese is fossilized ; the
Christian nations have served themselves heirs to the civilisa
tion of Greece and Eome ; and the old civilised empires of the
Malays, Aymares, and Toltecs are known to us only from their
1 Even the learning of the Alexandrians rested essentially on the basis
of Egyptian and Oriental learning.
§ 303.] SUMMARY OF RESULTS. 319
ruins. But while civilisation, like a fleeting flash of light,
illumined for a little a few races, history shows us among the
untold multitude of other peoples and tribes the process of
inconceivable savagery, and even amongst those few civilisa
tion was not able to break the power of moral evil. Sin had
indeed become a national habit, a national institution, which
underlay their forms of civilisation. Sin operates in the
direction of barbarism. When once the one holy God has
been banished to a distance and forgotten, the second step is
no longer difficult, whereby polytheism is degraded into a
blind superstition, or exchanged for a frivolous irreligiousness
and scepticism. The history of religions shows us at every
step that the one holy God is forgotten by men ; but nowhere
that He is found, conceived of, discovered by them. Even
where reformatory movements back toward God on the part
of those who had forgotten God make their appearance, as in
the 6th century before Christ, we find that either there had
been previous deformations and perversions (as in the case of
Sakya-Mouni and Confucius), or the reformation, even if
honourably and honestly meant, bore already in itself (as in
the case of Zarathustra, comp. § 222 f.) the seeds of further
decay. The history of man left to himself is not development,
but retrogression and decline.
And now we come upon a second incontestable result of
our investigations : The Unity of the Human Eace and the
Unity of its Primitive Tradition, i.e. the Truth of its
Early History. Whether or not the conjectures ventured
upon in § 247 about the ancestors of the several families of
nations may be altogether correct, may be a matter still open
for discussion, but, quite independent of this question, rest
ing on purely physiological, ethnographical, historical, and
linguistic investigations, is the scientifically certain fact that
the population of all parts of the earth has gone forth from
the west of Inner Asia, the Euphrates region. To all parts of
the earth they took the remembrance of One invisible God,
who in the beginning had revealed Himself visibly to man ; of
320 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§303.
a sin committed by the first parents, begun by the wife in
her eating of forbidden fruit under the influence of a tempter,
who for the most part appears in connection with a serpent ; of
the entrance of death as consequence and punishment of this
sin ; of a brother's murder ; of three brothers who discovered the
arts, namely, the working of metals ; of a race of mighty men
or giants who rebelled against God (specially " demanding the
daughters of the gods for their wives ") ; of a flood that covered
the highest, mountains, in which all men but one family
perished ; of a mountain on whose top this family landed ; of
birds which the father of this family sent forth ; of a rainbow
which stood in some relation to their deliverance ; of the three
sons of this man as ancestors of the various peoples ; of a new
rebellion against God, when men sought to rear a building
which should reach to heaven ; of a fire from heaven which
destroyed this building, confused the languages, and scattered
the races of mankind over the face of the earth.1 But these
traditions of the heathen bear to the primitive tradition of
the Israelites the relation which crude, often perverted and
confused, misty glimmerings bear to the clear light of day,
so that the sense of those legends is often first intelligible
through comparison with this clear history. In them sin is
excused, Noah is confounded with Adam, even with God Him
self, men are raised into gods, here and there (comp. § 3 0 0 and
§ 302, i? 2) the serpent is directly celebrated and worshipped
as the benefactor of humanity, who confers wealth or wisdom.
And still, in spite of all such distortions, the characteristic
features, down to minute details (such as the rainbow, the
sending out of the birds, then in the Iranian tradition, § 224,
the three stories of the galleries and the window), are so faith
fully reproduced that it is impossible to doubt as to the
original identity of these traditions and the original traditions
of Scripture. The most diverse peoples, sprung from the
MOST DIVERSE STEMS, HAVE THE REMEMBRANCE OF ONE COMMON
1 Comp. § 207, 224, 231, 240, 255, 260, 262, 266, 268, 269, 271 (sub C),
272, 274, 278, 281, 283, 287, 288, 289, 296 (comp. 298), 302.
§ 303.] SUMMARY OF RESULTS. 321
PRIMITIVE HISTORY OF THEIR COMMON ANCESTORS, AND THIS
COMMON GROUND IN THEIR REMINISCENCES EXTENDS DOWN
EXACTLY TO THE BUILDING OFTHE TOWER AND THE CONFUSION
of languages, and no further. These peoples could not
have had a reminiscence of this common primitive history
unless this had been transmitted to them by their forefathers.
The conclusion that " because the heathen have similar tradi
tions, the original biblical tradition is itself no better than
such traditions," is the ne plus ultra of absurdity and vacuity.
The adoption of this conclusion presupposes that the common,
still unseparated ancestors of our race had combined and
had concocted, invented, and forged among them that " legend"
of the creation, the fall, the flood, etc. ; for if it is not history,
but legend, it must have been devised ; and if it was devised,
it must have been devised by somebody (one or many) ; and
if peoples, who for thousands of years, until a few hundred
years ago, lived quite apart from one another, so that these
traditions could not have been communicated to one another
by mutual intercourse, — all alike, one as well as another, have
versions and representations of one and the same tradition, —
it must have been the common ancestors of these scattered
peoples who concocted these traditions. But the traditions
reach down to the scattering of the peoples, and include the
story of that scattering! How could the still unseparated
race devise the legend of the confusion of languages and scat
tering of peoples as having actually taken place, and have
brought themselves to believe it ? And how, again, could this
report of the tower building and the scattering of peoples be
found among the most diverse races, the Odshi negroes in
Western Africa, the Tongans in Polynesia, the Toltecs in
Mexico, etc., unless it had been a heritage to those several
peoples from their own tribal ancestors ? and this could be
only if it were not a legend, but the story of actual facts.
The common element in the original pagan traditions in which
the most diverse peoples of all parts of the earth and of all
races agree (while they differ widely from one another in their
ebrard in. x
3,22 the revelation of god. C§ 303.
special polytheistic national legends according to race and
family, comp. § 266), affords evidence for the historical truth
of the original biblical tradition.
05s.— A lie is the ape of truth, paganism the ape of the reve
lation of God. Some Chinese tribes, among which no other trace
of Buddhist influence appears (so the Incas, § 295), had a custom
of a solemn bathing of newly-born children, a custom which
undoubtedly (just like the institution of running posts) came in
very early times from the Iranians (§ 216) to the Mongolians.
There was no specially religious significance associated with
this bathing performance (see § 216) ; it has therefore only an
external resemblance to Christian baptism. The Diksha cere
monial of the Brahmins, described in § 202, has a much more
particular and genuine resemblance to the ordinance of baptism.
It may have been that which suggested the Buddhist baptism
of children, which in § 299 we again met with among the
Aztecs. But what conclusion is to be drawn from all this ?
Nothing more than that in an extreme antiquity, even among
men left to themselves, the knowledge sprang up that the con
dition of man was an organically perverse one, that it was neces
sary for him that he should be wholly born again (see § 202).
A correct postulate in earliest time, perhaps even among the
Iranians, lay at the basis of that practice, — a postulate such as
that repeated by John the Baptist, the fulfilment of which, how
ever, was first accomplished by Christ, for He met the need of
regeneration in Christian baptism with the pledge and guarantee
of the new birth. Paganism had at first only the postulate,
then only a no longer understood symbol of the postulate. —
Among more than one pagan nation we meet with the tradition,
not only of sons of God who, because they were only the
immediate consequence of polytheism and of polytheistic genea
logies of the gods, stand not in a relation of analogy but of
opposition to the revealed Son of God, but also of some sort of
virgin's son. But here all those legends which are of Phoenician
origin pass quite out of account (§ 250, Obs. 2) as symbolical
adaptations of astronomical observations (the waxing of the
moon represented as the fructification of the moon-goddess).
They have only an accidental and caricature resemblance to the
sacred mystery, with which D. F. Strauss (Leben Jesu krit.
bearb. i. § 14), undeterred by any feelings of modesty, has not
scrupled to represent them as parallel. Even the legend of the
son of the sun among the Mongolian races (§ 266, 269, 286,
298) has, according to § 266, a polytheistic origin. The sun-god
was conceived of by the Mongolian races as an inferior deity,
occupying a position far beneath the Creator of the world, and
§ 303.] SEEMING CHRISTIAN ELEMENTS IN PAGANISM. 323
it was to him that the genealogical tree of the reigning family
pointed back. The might of lies produces caricatures which
bears a relation to the truth such as a caricature or parody bears
to a genuine work of art. — The symbol of the cross is found,
we can scarcely say with what meaning, on old pre-Christian
Celtic coins or medals, as also among the Scandinavian runes,
likewise as a handle-cross among the emblems of the Indian
Siva ; and so it was adopted in Buddhism, and with it found its
way among the Aztecs, in whose system of hieroglyphics, accord
ing to Ixtilxocutil, it represented the god of rain and health, and
also the tree of nourishment. Even on Egyptian monuments
the handle-cross is found, where, according to Champollion,
it signifies help. The mathematical figure of two lines bisect
ing one another at right angles is in itself one so simple that
it need not occasion surprise that among various races it should
be found used as a sign for various things or ideas. Similarity
to the historical Eoman instrument of torture, and consequently
to the Christian cross, is explicable as a purely casual one ;
and nothing is more groundless than when J. W. von Muller,
upon the pre-existence of that Buddhist ideogram among the
Aztecs, rears the conjecture that the Apostle Thomas had gone
to America, and there had preached (to the Aztecs ? ! !) Chris
tianity. He and Tiedemann (Heidelb. Jahrb. 1851, 176) thought
that they recognised in Quetzalcoatl a portrait of the apostle ! —
One might push the parallel of seeming resemblance between
the heathen religion and the divine revelation to yet greater
length. The latter even had its animal symbolism. The ser
pent of Paradise is indeed no symbol, but belongs to the history ;
only paganism has here and there made of the serpent a bene
ficent deity, dispensing wealth or wisdom (see in the section
above). But if, among the Egyptians, the persons of several
deities were sensibly represented in the form of particular kinds
of animals, is not also the Saviour of the world described as the
Lamb of God and as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and was there
not a visible descent of the Holy Spirit upon Him in the form
of a dove ? Yes, quite true. Paganism gives us here again the
caricature of the truth. In the revelation of God, the Lamb,
the Lion, and the Dove, also the DUTD, the ox, and the eagle
(Ezek. i. 10 ; Eev. iv. 1), may serve for similitudes and symbols,
and that rightly and without desecration of that which is holy ;
for they are indeed (§91) divine thoughts which are realized in
nature and in the several orders of the animal kingdom. In the
relation of the head to the members, of the vine to the branches,
of the seed-corn to the future harvest, of hunger and thirst and
the satisfying of them, of the father and mother to the child, of
brother to brother, of bridegroom to bride, higher and richer
spiritual relations are mirrored forth. All nature is a parable of
324 THE REVELATION OF GOD.. [§ 303,
spiritual things. There are also ethical qualities, like the patience,
courage, purity mirrored in the lamb, lion, dove, and thus the
lower can be used in order to set forth the higher by way of
similitude. Paganism has made a caricature of this, a distorted
representation, for it viewed the animal, not as a similitude, but
as the residence and incarnation of a deity (John i. 32 and
parallel passages do not speak of the animal as residence and
incarnation, but gives in vision an animal form by way of simi
litude to the visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit), and so the
higher is sunk into the lower, and instead of a tendency to rise
upwards from the creature to the Creator, head and knee are
bowed low in the dust before a creature lower than man, yea, in
the very filth, and here and there (§ 263 and § 267) the utmost
extreme is reached by men tracing back their own descent from
the irrational beasts, — to which extreme the wisdom of modern
denial of God once again inclines. — The D^DiE', Isa. vi. 2 ff., are
not to be derived, with Gesenius, as serpent-gods, from sjlK',
"serpents," but as sitters upon the throne, with Winer, from the
Arab, sharif. How should Isaiah have come upon the idea of
serpent-gods when he had, in chap, xxvii. 1, used the serpent
as symbol of God-opposing powers !
FIRST SECTION.
THE EEDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD.
§ 304. The Flood.
rTlHAT the law of the Macrocosmos of nature as well as of
-*~ the Microcosmos of man, before there was more than the
possibility that man should decide for that which is evil, were
ordained of God, has been shown in § 129 ff. That the tempta
tion of the first man could have taken place in no other form
than that under which it did take place according to Gen. iii.,
and which is now witnessed to by the traditions of all the
races of mankind, has been shown in § 128. When the fall
had taken place, and consequently the penalty of toilsome
labour and the doom of death, we have the beginning of
a series of facts by which the living God, who is gracious as
well as holy, co-operates with man himself in the realization
of the development of the human race, in order to secure that it
should be preserved redeemable, i.e. to save it from sinking from
a sinful condition (§ 114-124) into one of obduracy (comp.
§ 130 and § 131). The first of these facts is the flood, the
second the confusion of languages and the scattering of peoples.
With the call of Abraham as father of a chosen people begins
the series of those divine operations which positively prepare
the way for redemption ; but alongside of these the first series,
that of operations of a disciplinary character, with the object of
keeping within the range of redemption, still always continues
in operation. The God-forgetting, but, in respect of the crea-
turely capacities of human nature, highly-endowed race of
325
326 THE REVELATION of GOD. [§ 304.
Cain lived from the first apart from the God-fearing race of
Shem,1 those " sons of God," Gen. vi. 2, whose genealogy is also
significantly traced back in Gen. i. 1 ff. and Luke iii. 38 to
God as the creator of Adam. Universal overthrow became
imminent when both races began to get mixed up together.
More than this is not said in the words of Gen. vi. 1 ff.
Although in Job i. 6 " the sons of God " may be understood
of the angels, yet in Gen. i.-vi. no mention is made of angels ;
and only good angels, who remained holy (as in Job i. 6), not
the fallen and evil angels, could be described as b'ne Elohim.
Even Christ the Lord brings as a reproach against Noah's con
temporaries only this, that they spent their time frivolously,
" they' were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage " (Matt. xxiv. 3 8 ; Luke xvii. 26); of supernatural,
extraordinary forms of wickedness, of sexual intercourse be
tween demons and women, he had read nothing in that passage
from Genesis. The pagan traditions speak of a race of giants
in antediluvian times ; Holy Scripture knows nothing of such.
As though it would directly shut out all such legends of pagan
neighbouring nations, the Scripture says at ver. 4 : " The
Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that,
when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men," etc.
In fact, even Num. xiii. 33, in the time of Moses, speaks of
the Nephilim as sons of Anak (comp. ver. 2 2) ; but they were,
according to ver. 28, reckoned simply as men of strength, and,
according to Deut. i. 28, ii. 10, ix. 2, as "tall people,"
i.e. people of great stature, and there is no idea of reckoning
them supernatural giants ; on the contrary, Joshua succeeds in
subduing them (Josh. xi. 21 f., xv. 13 f.). And so, too, in
Num. xiii. 32 they are quite simply characterized as an'schS
midddth, " people of great stature." If so, then in the word
^33 we cannot find the meaning " giant," 2 but at most that
1 Gen. iv. 26, where TX means not " then " but " there," is to be under
stood not temporally but locally (in opposition to the land of Nod and its
Cainite inhabitants).
2 The extraordinarily large Og (Deut. iii. 11), whose bed, according to
the account of one who had this relic before him, was 9 cubits long, i.e.
§ 305.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 327
of " a man of large growth." We may perhaps derive the
word from an obsolete stem ^3=^13- (Arab. pMla, " to grow,
to become thick ; " Aram, and Arab, phtl, " elephant," as a thick,
plump animal), which seems to me better than Winer's deriva
tion from pqj, in the sense of irruere. — Such people of great
stature are said by the author of Genesis to have lived, not
only before the flood, but also after it ; and then he contradicts
the legendary tales of the pagans in whose fancy the ante
diluvian race had grown into giants in the fabulous, mythical
sense, yea, were even elevated into gods. It was not, more
over, in their size of body that the danger lay, but in this, that
the forgetfulness of God which characterized the Cainites
affected also the children of Seth. When the living God, who
guides the course of nature according to natural laws and yet
according to His own will (§ 101, Obs.), allowed the flood to go
up, this need as little be regarded as a miracle as the earlier
tertiary and secondary floods. That He revealed Himself to
Noah, and directed him to build an ark, this rather belongs
to the category of miracles (§ 134). The historical truth of
the flood, and Noah's deliverance and that of his three sons,
is witnessed to by the traditions of all the families of races on
the earth (§ 303); with this, too, geology thoroughly agrees
(see § 257).
§ 305. The Confusion of Languages and Separation
of Peoples.
The primitive occurrence of the flood had the intention and
result of keeping mankind in a redeemable condition, inasmuch
as it prevented the disaster of an obdurate forgetfulness of God
„ gaining dominion over all men down to the last, but it was
not itself an act of redemption. Thus, then, that organic
decadence, i.e. that pathological sinful condition (§ 114 ff.),
continued to exist after the flood, and led, five generations
somewhere about 2.7 metres or 10 feet, his length of body would then be
about 8 feet. He is not designated Naphil.
328 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 305.
after Noah, but several centuries after the flood, to the reitera
tion of a catastrophe of a critical kind. The endeavour to
drive away the holy God, whose all-seeing nearness was a
painful experience to the accusing conscience of the sinner,
and of whom " we wish to rid ourselves," led to an extremely
clever, but thoroughly satanically clever, notion : " Let us no
longer be creatures of God, but let us make a god, who will
be our creature and of our kind and nature." A Shim, a
symbol and figure of this god, was to be set up for worship.
That this is the meaning of Gen. xi. 4 has been already
shown in § 255, and if we refer back to the history of the
heathen, religions in Book I., we can scarcely doubt that it
was the sun, which as operating beneficently, shining im
partially on the evil and the good, was singled out as that
god. It is always the sun that in all the religions of men, that
is, the pagan religions, first enters alongside of the invisible
creator as a secondary deity. But then in the time of Pheleg it
makes its appearance as the only god in his place, the visible
creature in place of the invisible creator, the natural law in
place of the moral law. It was what we might expect of the
sun-god shining in the heavens, that the temple building reared
to his honour should reach high above the earth, stretching
toward heaven, as the region of the clouds was called. With
what individual this idea originated, whether with a descendant
of Shem, or of Ham, or of Japhet, is not recorded. Hence it
may be concluded, that by whomsoever it may have been first
suggested, the whole race of mankind, still occupying a common
dwelling-place, were agreed and unanimous regarding it, and
found in the proposition only that which each of them had
half-consciously been entertaining in his own heart. Themorally
indifferent regulative course of nature, which reached its
highest point in the illuminating, warming sun distinguishing
day from night, was to take the place of the holy, living God.
Then God manifested Himself as the living One, the Creator
and Lord. By an act of revelation of Himself, the foolish race
of mankind must be reminded that the creation can make no
§ 305.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 329
God, cannot create its own creator, but is bound to worship
Him who is God. He comes down, whether in a form actually
visible to men or in another way, is not told. The former
supposition we may regard as improbable ; that still after the
fall the creator 1 should appear in visible form among men, of
this we find no trace among the traditions of the nations.
Had God appeared in human form among the tower builders
at Babel, we should certainly have found in the earliest
types of heathenism images of the creator of the world in the
form of a man. Such images, however, occur only at a late
date. The Adityas of the oldest Vedic religion were invisible.
The Iranians, the Germans, the Basques had no images of the
gods. The Ugro - Finnic and Mongolian peoples expressly
declare that the creator of the world (Taara, Nagatai, Pacha
camac, etc.) was invisible. But the Ugro-Finns confounded
the idea of the invisible creator of the world with that of
Taara, the thunder-god, the thundering ancient (Ukko) ; just
as among the Germans Tius, " God," is the thonar, among the
Pelasgians Jew, and among the Latins Dius-pater is he who
thunders and lightens. The form of the special thunder-god
Volcanus, Percuna, Fairguns, owes its origin evidently to a
later polytheistic distinguishing of the forms of the gods. Did
God manifest Himself in lightning and thunder to the builders
of the tower ? If we imagine that before the flood the con
stitution and composition of the atmosphere must necessarily
have been different from what it is now, and that then also the
primitive tradition before the flood knows only of deposition
of dew and not of rain (Gen. ii. 6), then it is no over-subtle
assumption that the first thunderstorm appeared one and a
half century later than the first rain, namely, that of the flood ;
and indeed a thunderstorm of a terrific description, by means
of which hitherto unheard-of occurrence the living God made of
1 The anthropomorphic appearance of polytheistic deities, e.g. of Zeus
become a mythological deity, do not naturally come into consideration
here. "We have here to do only with such legends as have in them a
reminiscence of an underlying primitive monotheism, as e.g. § 302, B.
4r-5 j § 278, B. etc.
330 THE REVELATION OF GOD. t§ 305.
the lofty building a heap of ruins,1 revealed His might and His
being, and by means of this occurrence awakening terror in the
souls of men deep enough to paralyse the powers of their souls,
and so to introduce that which He in His gracious and wise
counsel desired : a breaking up of the human race into various
nationalities. As each appearance of the rainbow anew re
minded men of the tender mercy of God, every thunderstorm
must have reminded them of that manifestation of His judicial
holiness and of Him the living and holy One,2 and the division
into separate nations made one grand concentration of wicked
ness and obdurate defiance of God impossible. — The primary
cause of the separation of peoples was the confusion of
languages, not the converse, and the primary cause of the con
fusion of languages was a psychical impression of a paralysing
nature from that unprecedentedly terrible occurrence. If we
assume in this case a sudden confusion of tongues, we have
then indeed the flippant, modern theory against us, but the
results of more careful and comprehensive researches in com
parative philology are in our favour. If one really would
picture to himself the circumstances that an individual had
suddenly to begin to speak Greek, another German, another
Eussian, a fourth Arabic, a fifth Egyptian, etc., their fancy
would seem as absurd as anything that could be conceived.
The matter here cannot relate to the multiplicity of later
languages, but only of some few principal or fundamental
tongues, each of which is to be regarded as the mother of a
cognate family of languages. We may assume as such : The
1 According to Nostiz in Heifer's Travels, in the ruins of Birs Nimrud
lay huge stones blasted by lightning, which must have been hurled down
from an immense height.
2 Down to this very day ! For though natural science ten times should
discover in electricity the secondary cause of the thunderstorm, it is ever
the living God who designedly ordains it, as well as all natural laws, and
even that of electricity itself (§ 74), and who in these laws and by them
works out His own free determinations. The lightning flashes are in His
hand unaffected by the law of electricity, which binds and fetters Him as
little as the physiological laws of the circulation of the blood, and of the
nerves, etc., hinder me in the free use of my hand (see § 101, Obs.).
§ 305.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 331
early Semitic (closely related to the Arabic, according to
§ 245, Obs.), the Indo-Irano-Pelasgian, the Early Cymbrian,
Getic, Early Sarmatian, Ugrian, Mongolian along with Early
Malayan, Old Egyptian, Cushite, besides one or two other
Hamitic languages. That all these languages are in possession
of originally related roots, namely, of root words for the simplest
and most original leading ideas, has, been long admitted in
reference to the Indo-Iranian, Pelasgian, Cymbrian, Getic or
Germanic, Sarmatian or Slavic. That this primitive relation
ship extends also to the Semitic languages has been proved
by E. v. Eaumer and Fr. Delitzsch ; and that it extends to the
Egyptian language has been proved by Ebers (see § 247,
Obs. 4). The close connection of the Ugrian, Mongolian, and
Malayan languages in their earliest forms with the other
Japhetic languages, has been demonstrated in § 256 and
§ 270 ; and in § 280-302, I have shown that the various
languages of the tribes and nationalities of the New World, as
well as those tribes themselves, are sprung from the Old World.
Although we do not now possess any further facts beyond
these isolated instances of very early relationship between the
various languages of the earth, we can nevertheless come to
the conclusion that these families and groups of languages
branched off gradually from one another, and by degrees dis
tinguished themselves and secured a distinct and characteristic
form. But whoever has attentively followed the investigations
carried on in §256, 264, 270, etc., must have been impressed
by a second series of facts. Besides the early relationship, an
early distinction in the possession of genuine primitive roots
which go not hand in hand with the diversity of descent,
but intersect one another, and that in such a way that the.
dozen primitive languages which we have been obliged to
assume seem from the earliest times to have been split up
and severed into a great number of dialects or idioms of par
ticular tribes, where now the group of tribes belonging to one
family of peoples have a series of roots in common with groups
of tribes of quite a foreign family, while the tribes of the
332 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 305.
former have in use for the corresponding ideas words that are
altogether different. We may designate this a scattering or
diffusion of words and roots, and will prove our contention
by adducing a series of examples.
1. For hand the Latin has the root man-, which we again
meet with in the Ugrian and Mongol, mata, " to bend," and in
the thence derived Sonor. Aztec, and other American words for
hand : ma, mowa, mai, etc. On the other hand, among the
Pelasgians and Greeks this root for hand is quite lost, and
instead of it the Sanscr. root hr, " to rend, to seize " (Zend zar),
as %£/>, has come into use. The Old Latin, too, had still hir.
The Germans had neither of the two, but Goth. Mndus (corre
sponding to the Greek xevr-, " sting, twig," in xhrpov and xevr&w).
The Basques have seized on the root «,%s/i<, " to have, to hold,"
and from it form escu. The Celts from the root present in the
Greek \u[i(3a,veiv have formed lab, lamb, lam. The Bantu
languages have a root ok, oko (sing, koko, plur. miako) ; the
Acra languages, ninde, nine. And, finally, the Malayan has
taken the root tang-, which we meet with again in the Lat.
tangere and in the Germ, zanga, " pincers," only with a different
application. Quite different from all that is the Semitic root
jadd. We find here the phenomenon of particular Indo-
Germanic tribes, in order to express an idea for which in the
primitive common language of the still unscattered people
there must of necessity have existed a word, and for which, in
fact, there was a word, allowing this word to pass out of their
vocabulary and using instead a word altogether different, which
with some other application had also belonged to the common
primitive language.
2. For tooth the Semitic languages (in their schan-n) have, in
common with the most of the Japhetic (Sanscrit, Greek, Latin,
Gothic, Ugrian, Sonora) and the languages of the Swaheli,
Gandas, and Kaffirs, the root dant-, tann- ; the Malay-Polynesian
languages have for this a root ngip, nif,1 and have no longer
any trace of the old primitive root. The Eua language has
neno, resembling the Malayan nif. Other negro languages have
meno, lino, neno, imino.
3. For mouth we find a root variously constructed with m
among the Indians (mukha), the Goths (munths), the Mongols
(ama, hamun, amga; comp. Son. cama), which the Basques
have in the form of minha, meaning " tongue," the Malays as
maka, mata, with the signification of " countenance, eye," the
1 With probably collateral relation to the Old High German gniant,
knitan, " to rub."
§ 305.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 333
Bantu language in Africa and the Sabinda negroes as munu
(sing, umunu, plur. iminu), " mouth," the Eua language in
Central South Africa as makanu, the Swaheli as kinwa, the
Baregga, Gande, Manjema, etc., as kama, kamwa, kaniwa,
uniwa ; on the other hand, among the Greeks and among the
Malayans, immediately related not to these but to the Mongols,
there is another root eripa,, Bug. timu, from root rajh-mv, " to
cut," with which dan-, " mouth," in the Acra language (a negro
dialect), may be compared. So also di, da, " mouth," among the
Susi and Mandingo negroes, and again among the Latins or-,
which originally meant " countenance," from the root wor, war,
opdta. Then, further, the Germans and Malays have yet another
root, mui (Javan. mulut), which may indeed be related to the
first named, and which we again meet with among Njamwesi
and Sukuma negroes as mulomo, m'lomo, among the Tschuani
and Kaffirs as molomo, umlomo. The Amharia, together with
the Gallas and Somali, have for mouth a fifth root, afi affan, off.
4. For "foot "and "to go," the Lat., in common with the Mongol.,
has the two roots culc-, calc-, and tai (-us) ; the Tagal. and
Malag. have, in common with the Greek, Latin, and German, the
root pad, irod, ped-, fuoz, paa, pe; while two other Malayan
tribes (Malays of the Straits Settlements and Javanese) have
preserved the root culc in the forms haki, sikil, suku. Kolu,
gulu, ulle, " foot " in the Bantu language (sing, kulle, plur.
malle), may also be related to culc. On the other hand, the Eua
language has uswaga. Among the Njamwesi and their neigh
bours we find for foot the words lu-geri, kl-geri, ki-rengi,
vi-rengi. 5. For "to speak" we find the Greek root K HTin, as Him " who is what He is," i.e. who
is that which He is of Himself, independently of His being
worshipped and recognised by men.1 What is always made
by man the object of worship, whether rightly or wrongly,
1 That this explanation is the right one, and the only philologically
possible, has been convincingly proved by Drechsler, Die Einheit der
Genesis Handb. 1838, p. 11 ff.
342 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 306.
is an nba, whereas the one living God is njn;, because He is
who He is independently of the inclination and will of men.
He is not the product of men, not devised by them ; this is
already contained in this name. And no heathen people hag
known this name. Schrader1 has called attention to the fact
that the name of Jahavah is not found among any of the
heathen Semite nations,2 while the words nba, !>K, 5>jn are
common to all the Semitic languages. — In spite of all this,
however, the modern negative criticism takes great pains over
this matter. What is incontestably good in the religion of
Israel, its monotheism and high - toned ethical precepts, is
regarded as a natural product of the " Semitic mental develop
ment;" the Semitic races had in the blood a tendency
toward monotheism, just as the Indians had to pantheism.
But what in the history of Israel is rightly or wrongly con
sidered base and corrupt is speedily found to have been
brought about by their belief in a " wrathful Jehovah," who
is pictured as a crude and undeveloped kind of deity.
When Jacob deceives Esau and Laban, David commits
adultery, etc., this is supposed to prove that a God who had
such " favourites " has nothing in common with the God of
Christianity, but is to be regarded as a product of thought
among a rude people occupying the same rank as the product
of thought of the heathen mythology. And when the Hamitic
race of the Canaanites, sunken in the corruption of the Baal-
worship, is exterminated at Jehovah's command, or when
Jehovah is obliged to waken up the conscience of the corrupt
and polluted Semitic race of Israel from its lethargy by sharp
judgments, these must be taken as proofs of the wrathful and
bloodthirsty character of this God, i.e. of the Israelitish con
ception of God ! But when it suits their purpose to praise
1 Schrader, Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament, 2 vols.
London 1885-1887, vol. i. p. 11.
2 In Palmyra, on a monument of the post-Solomonic time, we meet with
the name Jao, evidently, as also Schrader assumes, borrowed from Israel.
So, too, had the Chinese philosopher Lao-tse, about B.C. 600, come to know
the name Ji-hi-wei through exiled members of the ten tribes ; see § 268.
§ 307.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 343
the Jewish race, these critics can glorify it loudly enough by
saying that monotheism lay " in the blood " of that people, and
that they produced the idea of the unity of God, or that " they
have raised themselves to this conception." 1 — This is now
very specially the cardinal question in reference to the history
of the religion of the Old Covenant : Is Jahavah a product of
Israel ? or is Israel a product of Jahavah, the living God ?
With the answer to this stands or falls the fact of redemption
under the New Covenant. We must deal more closely with
this question, and then also the further question demands an
answer : Why God has chosen for the field and sphere of
the revelation that was to prepare the way for redemption a
nation not the noblest by nature, but rather by nature one of
the most corrupt of the races of mankind.
§ 3 0 7. TM Semitic Race and the Choice of the Covenant People.
It was pointed out in § 247 that we cannot speak of three
races of men as thoroughly distinct. From the flood down to
the scattering of the peoples, a period of a century and a half
passed before the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japhet
would be obliged to have interchange of marriages with one
another. No trace of such interchanges has been found as
yet in history. For example, the Hamite race of the
Egyptians has in its determined stability and exclusiveness
and its monosyllabic speech such remarkable similarity to the
Japhetic race, and indeed to the Chinese of Mongolian descent
from the family of Magog, that one might suppose that some
of the sons of Mizraim had married daughters of Magog, or
one of the sons of Magog had married a daughter of Mizraim.
An affinity of such a kind might also be assumed between
Javan and that son of Madai from whom the Indians are
1 As though the matter in question was the numerical unity merely,
and not rather the qualitative essence of the One ! If the God of the
Old Testament were actually that " bloodthirsty fury," He were then
in spite of the unicity a merely common idol, and the praise of having
" produced the idea of monotheism " does not belong to Israel.
344 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 307.
sprung. But while the distribution of mankind into three
chief races, as the sons of Japhet, Ham, and Shem, must
always be taken cum grano salis, each of these, notwith
standing the overlapping of its single line determined by
affinity upon the second or third chief race, has nevertheless
preserved a certain unique set of characteristics. This funda
mental character of the three chief races or families may be
summarily expressed in a few words. There is no doubt that
the sons of Japhet in contrast to the Hamites were endowed
with higher intellectual capacity. What the Latins called
ingenium, the capacity for free intellectual production and
movement, we meet with among the Indians and Iranians,
the Pelasgians and Latins, the Germans and Celts ; 1 even
among the Chinese in a high degree, among the old Uigurs in
a less degree but one not to be despised, among the Esthonians
and the Finns and the Slavs, as well as among the Etruscans,
there was a high development of art. The Hamites, on the
other hand, if we except the Egyptians and their Phoenician
offshoots, give the impression of a thoroughly dull, mentally
sluggish race, with an innate tendency to run out into bar
barism ; while for the rest even in a state of barbarism they
show a certain good-natured disposition, an honourable open
ness and true-heartedness, as we see, e.g., among the Kolhs
and in the negroes, breaking forth, too, among the converted
negroes sometimes from under the mass of ignorance as a
childlike, naive simplicity. The highest intellectual elevation
to which a Hamitic tribe has risen is that of the Egyptian
civilisation, which, however, in its angularity and one-sided-
ness can be compared at most to the Chinese, certainly not to
the Hellenic, Indian, or German, and results, perhaps, only
1 In spite of the complaint of Vilmar about the sluggishness of the
ingenium of the Bretons, it would not be difficult to prove, even apart
from the Ossian question, that the Celts were a singularly gifted race in
the domain of poetry, and since the time of Iro-Scottish Christian
missionaries they have been remarkably fruitful in their contributions to
the poetry and music of the Middle Ages. One need only compare, for
example, Th. Stephens, Gesch. der wdlisahen Liter atur, Halle 1864.
§ 307.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 345
from intermarriage between the children of the Hamite
Mizraim and the Japhetic Magog. — If we turn now to the
Semites, no one can deny that in respect of mental and
spiritual endowments they are as like the Japhetites as these
are unlike the Hamites. And yet between the Semites and
the Japhetites there is a thoroughgoing difference. There is,
almost independently of the relation of God, a purely human
nobility, a full development of those natural powers which
distinguish man as man, mark him off as a rational being
from the brute creation, the harmonious unfolding of which
ought on this account to be denominated " humanity.'' This
humanity may coexist with a sinful determination of will and
a God-forgetting disposition, i.e. it may along with godlessness
of heart and life continue for a long time to exist among the
people as heir of an earlier God-fearing age. According to
its nature, it may be designated a kind of sesthetic and social
conscience, a feeling for the distinction of the becoming and
the unbecoming, the fair and the hideous, the noble and the
base, in one word, a sense of honour, which has become to a
people or to a group of peoples a second nature.1 This noble
sentiment of humanity we find now among most of the peoples
of Japhetic descent, while it is wholly wanting among the
Semites. No Semitic nation possesses a true aesthetic sense.
Even the Hebrew muse, although inspired by God, has
admittedly much crudeness, and the beauty of the Old
1 The origin of this honourable sesthetic sense of the becoming in a
people can only be directly explained by this, that in a very remote
antiquity among the fathers of the race conscience in reference to the
relation of man to God continued awake through a large series of genera
tions. In these ancient times such a sense of honour became a second
nature to that people, and now survived as a natural characteristic during
centuries and even thousands of years, even after the fear of God of
earlier days had meanwhile been lost. But nothing is more certain than
that when in a nation the last remnants of a religious conscience has
been utterly lost (as in the case of polytheism generally), and the frivolity
of such ages as that of Euripides and the Augustan writers has taken its
place, then that noble character which appears in a sense of sesthetic
beauty and of social honour hurries on to a sudden overthrow and
extinction.
346 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 307.
Testament Psalms and prophetic poetry depends on something
quite different from the unfolding of a human sense of beauty.
Still more were the Semites, again only something like half
way excluding the Arabs, wanting in the human moral sense
of honour. The Semitic huckstering spirit, this dishonourable
and shameless quest of gain and selfish ends, and the Semitic
insolence of reckless and inconsiderate pride, are vouchers
enough for the want of magnanimity of nature and a sense of
honour. That there were and are among the Semites indi
viduals of a nobler temper, we would by no means deny.
We are only stating here what is the national character. —
And from this general characterization we by no means exempt
Israel, the people of the Old Covenant. It is a fault that
has been transmitted from generation to generation among
Christian theologians, especially noticeable in practical religious
literature, that the patriarchs and the godly of the Old Testament
are represented as saints, or at least as ideals of humanity.
Jews they were in their nature and in their national character.
Jacob bargains with his twin brother for his birthright privilege,
and gets by craft the herds of Laban ; Joseph takes advantage
of the Egyptians' famine to do a brilliant stroke for Fharaoh ;
and thus the Semitic characteristics crop up through cracks
and crannies in the lives of the most pious and the best.1
" And such people were the favourites of Jehovah ! " exult-
ingly cries out rationalism in coarse homely wisdom. Yes,
answer we, just this nation, wanting all natural magnanimity
and high sense of honour, has God chosen as the sphere and
organ of His revelation, that should prepare the way for
1 The much spoken of "purloining" (more properly : snatching from,
taking by force) of Egyptian articles (Ex. xiv. 35 f.) can scarcely be
reckoned under this head. The Egyptians themselves constrained and
urged the Israelites (ver. 34), without seeking back their articles. One
might say, but just as well might doubt, that the noble-minded Japhetites
would nevertheless have left the articles behind, instead of taking them
with them in the excitement of the moment. Objectively considered, it
was a reward which the Egyptians were obliged unwillingly to pay the
Israelites according to the counsel of God for their long service as
bondmen.
§ 307.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 347
redemption, — not in spite of but because of its being so
mean a race, yea, in its natural form the meanest and most
corrupt of all the three. A few words will be enough to
explain and establish this. The Japhetites had high mental
endowments with that natural nobility of mind, the Semites
had great mental endowments without that nobility, and the
Hamites were but meanly equipped intellectually. So far it
is plain — (1) That the Hamites earliest of all sank into
barbarism, and in them sin showed itself as merely savage
rudeness without any veil of craft; (2) That among the
Japhetites remnants of a conscience and of a knowledge of
God was longest retained, and among them that national sense
of honour as a relative drag resisted the development of evil ;
and (3) That among the Semites evil as a combination of
shamelessly selfish desire with natural acuteness and mental
ability, without any counteracting drag, must have taken the
form of essential corruption and pollution, especially when
to dishonourable baseness was added shameless pride and self-
righteous stubbornness. And now it is directly also easy to
understand' why God's Son, according to the counsel of His
Father, must have assumed flesh and blood from the Semitic
race. Not the stupidest, endowed with the slenderest natural
capacities, in which sin showed itself in mere savage rudeness,
could be the race that should be the vessel and bearer of
salvation for the rest of the nations. This, without more ado,
is clear. One might rather have supposed the Japhetic family
the most suitable. But if the Son of God was to be born the
redeemer of a world of sinners, the opposition of lost humanity
and the saving God must be sharply and distinctly emphasized.
" The people that sat in darkness saw a great light." Not
then among those in whom there was an appearance, however
fallacious, of a capacity for self-redemption, which was in
reality only a relative check upon sin such as kept them in
a redeemable condition, but among those in whom the full,
deep misery of sin in its most dangerous form had manifested
itself, in whom there was no natural check upon this corrup-
348 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 308.
tion, upon whom only the acts of the Old Testament revelation
of God operated as checks restraining them within the limits
of possible redemption, and in whom all goodness present, e.g.
the piety of those in the land who waited for salvation, a
Mary, an Elizabeth, a Simeon, a Nathanael, a Peter, a John,
was to be traced back simply to the operations of God and
the revelations of God, — among such a people must the Lord
become man. And this had to be in order that He might
passively endure sin in its most potent form, sin as Semitic
corruption (see § 312).
But now we must, in conclusion, call attention to the
incontestable fact that our Lord Jesus Christ has in Himself
not a fibre of that peculiarly Semitic character. The person
of the Lord is distinguished by the highest, freest magnanimity,
as is evidenced to us by the record of all the four evangelists.
The Son of God became man within the range of a people of
the Semitic race ; but He became not a Semite, but a man.
Whatever can be regarded within the limits of the Japhetic
family as the highest ideal of all that is noble in man most
harmoniously developed, is in comparison with Him like pale
moonlight before the clear shining of the sun. This alone
should suffice to prove the truth of this incarnation. Jesus
Christ is no product of humanity. The combined powers of
a whole series of Semites, together with Thamar (Matt. i. 3)
and Jezebel (2 Kings viii. 18 and Matt. i. 8), might have
begotten a Semite, but never a Son of man, the second Adam.
§ 308. God's Educative Procedure in the Patriarchal Age.
The foolishness of unbelief that thinks itself wise sneers at
the God who blesses Jacob, this man of cunning (Gen. xxvii.
and xxx., xxviii. and xxxi.), and prefers him to the honest,
upright Esau. According to the notion of such, the fruits
must be fully formed before even root or tree exists.1 But
1 The unbelief of our day, which boasts of its " liberalism," thus under
mines the foundation of ethics, the fear of God and conscience, and tears
§ 308.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 349
such modelled mature fruits are not useable, and melt away
like butter before the sun. The living and wise God pro
ceeded in a manner quite the contrary of this. " Walk before
me," this is the demand which He makes of His servant. Not,
walk correctly, walk with a firm step, and without faltering ;
but " walk before me ; thou weak, lame, halting one ; thou wilt
stumble every moment, but follow me closely with thine eye,
continue in my presence, be sincerely ashamed of thy weak
ness and sinful nature ; but fly not from my sight with the
foolish, proud thought of hiding from me thy guilt and
palliating it ; but confess it, and put believing confidence in
me who am the holy God, hating thy sin, yet showing tender
mercy toward thee." This was the course of God's pro
cedure with Abraham and the rest of the patriarchs. Of the
racial defects of the Semites, insolent pride and mean selfish
ness and love of gain, the pride must first in order be eradi
cated and overcome by awakening the childlike and humble
but firm faith in God ; in the God who revealed Himself as
the merciful One notwithstanding His holiness, which He
showed, e.g., in His treatment of Sodom. This humility and
this stedfastness of faith we find among the patriarchs as a
first-fruit well matured of the divine education, though ex
hibited, indeed, in the midst of many evidences of the weaknesses
of a child's faith.1 As an immediately consequent fruit of
this we have neighbourly love, which in Abraham shows itself
in his friendly yielding to Lot, and in Joseph in the noblest
manner as forgiving love. How well must Joseph have
understood the innermost depths of the divine pity ! He
acted toward his brethren in the hardest manner before he
them from the heart, but then complains with sad lamentations that
instead of the morality of pantheism "in need of no religious basis,"
"standing on its own feet" (i.e. hanging in the air), we have only naked
selfishness (on the one hand, maintenance of privilege and the exciting
struggles of the exchange ; on the other hand, social democratic covetous
ness) ; and instead of the hoped-for modern Buddhist reign of peace, a
bellum omnium contra omnes.
1 E.g. Gen. xx., xxxii. 7 ff.
350 , THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 308.
made himself known to them in order to bring home to them
their guilt and make them confess it ; but in the very moment
when he makes himself known to them, he imparts to them
also the assurance that he has forgiven them ! — Similarly, too,
does God assume a position toward the other racial defect, the
mean huckstering spirit and the low cunning that is by no
means passive or indifferent. Jacob deceived his old blind
father by a slain kid and a borrowed coat ; but the surrepti
tiously obtained blessing drives its possessor immediately into
the unblessed region of homelessness and banishment ; in his
old age he himself is deceived in the most heartless way by
his own sons by means of a coat smeared with the blood of
a slaughtered kid (Gen. xxxvii. 31 ff.). By a trick, though
indeed in self-defence, he obtained for himself a large portion
of Laban's herd ; he led them away in anxiety, and soon after
felt himself obliged to offer and surrender to Esau a part
of his flocks and herds (Gen. xxxii. 13 ff., xxxiii. 11). With
genuinely Semitic cunning Joseph took advantage of the
need of the Egyptians to effect a clever financial policy for
Pharaoh (Gen. xlvii.), but his descendants soon found how
easily such cleverness is turned into foolishness when (comp.
§ 241, Obs. 1) the national hatred of the Egyptians against
Israel kindled by this very proceeding, and against the fifteenth
dynasty connected with Israel, burst out in a flame, overthrew
the dynasty, and terribly oppressed Israel as " plunderers of
the treasures of the land." — The leadings of divine providence,
by means of which Jacob's race are brought to reside in
Egypt, had a special purpose in connection with the history of
redemption ; Abraham's race would thus be preserved from
the plague of the Semitic worship of Baal Once already this
plague had come near enough. In the vale of Siddim, which
had for twelve years been subject to the Euphrates-Semites
(Gen. xiv. 4, comp. § 253), this plague had taken root. There
the Lord rooted it out by that judgment of which traces in
the geological formations are to be found to this day (see
Obs.). When, some generations after the overthrow of Sodom;
§ 308.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 351
this pestilence of Baal-worship spread also into Palestine
among the Canaanites, Phoenicians, the children of Lot, and
the Midianites, the Ishmaelites had already moved southwards
into Arabia, remaining true to " the faith of Abraham " (§ 254,
Obs.). But the Israelites were saved in Egypt from this
plague. They were not, however, preserved from the con
tagion of the relatively harmless Old Egyptian polytheism
(§ 241), that symbolizing of the creator of the world, ossified
as the soul of the world, invisible but yet unfree, represented
in the regular course of the stars and of nature. How deeply
the Israelites were influenced and affected by the tendency to
such polytheistic nature-symbolism, and specially to symbo
lizing through animals, is seen from the fact (Ex. xxxii.) that
they, after and in spite of all the powerful manifestations of
the free, living God, who was the God of their fathers, and
had revealed Himself to them as mrv, yet set up a polytheistic
plurality of gods (comp. ver. 1, 13^) in place of that one God,
and wished to symbolize these in the form of animals (the
figure of Apis). This inbred tendency to polytheism showed
itself in a very marked manner even during the wilderness
wanderings, in the worship of the heavenly bodies (Amos
v. 26), and later also in animal symbolism (1 Kings xii.).
And this is the people, forsooth, that have of themselves pro
duced " the idea of monotheism ! " The mass of the people
could but after a long time grasp the idea that Jahavah was
one God, but only that He was stronger than the gods of the
heathen (with Deut. iv. 35 comp. iii. 24 and Num. x. 17
and 2 Chron. ii. 5). And this is the people that were to
produce the idea of monotheism ! A " Jehovist party ''
arose and gained a standing among the people long, long
after Moses, and this party remodelled the Semitic Baal into a
rather more spiritually conceived and not altogether so terrible,
but still a tolerably bloodthirsty " Jahveh," craftily introduced
Him into the old songs of the people, and set Him forth
under Jehovistic titles. And in regard to this grand discovery
of wisdom only this small matter is forgotten, that (§ 246)
352 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 308.
the proper names which have "Jehovah" in them are already
met with in the time of Moses.
The Israelites in Egypt, by reason of their natural Semitic
character as a nation, would undoubtedly have forgotten the
God of their fathers, and have fallen completely into poly
theism, had not the violent hatred of their Egyptian oppressors
forcibly compelled them to cry out to their fathers' God.
And then did this God reveal Himself in a series of judg
ments which He sent upon the Egyptians,1 judgments which
found their like in the natural magic practised by the
Egyptians, but in the degree and manner in which they are
here performed are clearly enough marked out as miracles
(§ 134). So, too, an east wind makes it possible for them
to pass through the Eed Sea (Ex. xiv. 21), and nothing
prevents us from understanding the words of ver. 22, D'Din,
nmn nrb, as meaning that the waters on right and left of the
sandbank laid bare by the wind served as a protection to
them from attacks upon their flanks, and not that the waters
stood up like the walls of a tower around them, which would
have been expressed by niDirn OWi. But should one con
clude from this that the miracle can be explained away as a
natural occurrence, in which case that east wind would have
been merely an event of lucky chance, he should remember
that without the admission of a notable miracle the passing
of the Jordan (Josh. iii. f.), of which the stone memorials still
existed in the time when the story of the occurrence was
written (iv. 9, 20), cannot be satisfactorily explained. By
manifestations of His omnipotence God graciously unlooses the
1 When it is said that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh, the meaning
of the author is not to discuss the dogmatic question as to the relation of
human freedom to the divine decree, but simply to remove the erroneous
conception of a people prone to polytheism, as if God somehow were not
mighty enough to immediately enforce obedience from Pharaoh. That
the opposition of Pharaoh so long continued was not contrary to God's
plan and counsel, but operated within limits determined by God's counsel,
this and nothing else is here affirmed. The subtler question as to whether
God's will here shows itself determining or permissive, does not in the
least come into consideration.
§ 308.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 353
entanglements of sin in what is the complication and not the
development of man. By means of ever repeated acts He
overcame the inbred Semitic tendency to polytheism, and as
it were enforced the acknowledgment of Himself.
O&s.^-The admitted fact that the surface of the Dead Sea is
1300 feet below that of the Mediterranean has nothing to do
with the catastrophe of Sodom. Even the Lake of Gennesareth
lies 600 feet below the Mediterranean. The whole Jordan
valley is a cleft or fissure which, long before there were men
upon the earth, in the beginning of the Tertiary period, was
occasioned by a volcanic plutonic eruption, probably in conse
quence of the explosive nature of the Jebel Kuleib or the
mountains of Bashan. — It is quite a different geognostic fact
which affords evidence of the overthrow of Sodom. The Dead
Sea throughout its greater part, down as far as the peninsula,
is of very great depth ; the plummet here sounded a depth of
1200 or 1300 feet ; from the peninsula to the south end of the
lake, however, it is only from 4 to 13 feet deep. It here forms
a basin of 10 miles long, and has the appearance of an inter
sected shallow flooded valley of about the same breadth. The
continuation of the valley that is not flooded, only a few feet
higher, forms the peninsula, and this has under its surface rich
beds of asphalt, just as is said in Gen. xiv. 10 of the whole
range of the valley. Close to the sea on the west side stands
Jebel Usdum, 500 feet high, 2\ leagues long, composed entirely
of rock-salt covered with a thin layer of chalk and clay, which
forms a steep background of bare rock-salt over against the
Dead Sea. The English naval officer Van de Velde (Journey
through Sinai and Palestine, 2 vols. Edin. 1854), to whom we
are indebted for these detailed geognostic observations, explains
the origin of these geognostic geographical peculiarities by the
simple assumption that the southern quarter of the lake was
land at an earlier period, that a flash of lightning kindled the
layer of asphalt lying under the surface, and probably here and
there existing to this day or intentionally laid bare by the hand
of man ; that this burned on underground, destroying by its
heat the cities situated above it ; that in consequence of this
conflagration the crust of the earth sank from 10 to 20 feet
therefore below the level of the lake, and so was flooded by it
to a slight depth ; and finally, that in consequence of the heat,
the crust of clay of the Jebel Usdum overlooking the east
side burst into flame, and with part of the rock-salt fell into
the lake and thus gave it its saltness, which now also every
rush of rain which washes down the naked walls and gorges
of the salt mountain increases. — That B>Kl nntil, falling from
EBRARD III. Z
354 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 309.
heaven, in Gen. xix. 24, can be understood of a kindling flash
of lightning, admits of no doubt. If we are to think of actual
burning brimstone, the effects would evidently be the same as
from the lightning.
§ 309. The Law and the Ordinance of Sacrifice.
We pursue no farther the series of these particular facts, but
turn now to the giving of the law. No unprejudiced person can
deny that in post-Mosaic times particular additions as well as
several historical elucidations were added by way of supplement
(e.g. Gen. xii. 6, xiii. 7, xxxvi. 31; Num. xxxv. 14; Deut. iii.
14). The groundwork of the law, however, and that in a far
higher degree than the Vendidad (§ 208), is derived from one
source, and from the time of Moses. This groundwork falls
into three parts, which may even be externally distinguished.
The " law " (nny), Ex. xx., contains the eternal requirements
made by God of His people, requirements which are only an
exposition of the requirements which conscience makes of
every man ; hence then the decalogue can maintain its place
in Christianity as the expression of the ethical law for all the
nations of the earth. For it covers the whole ground of the
ethical law as such. To worship the living God alone as God,
to worship Him as the invisible, as a spirit, not by images, to
treat His holy name as holy, and not to drag it down into the
service of sin through passion or superstition, to withdraw a
set portion of one's lifetime from the pursuit of earthly busi
ness and devote it to the concerns of the soul's salvation in the
exercises of worship and the service of God, to honour parents
as the representatives of God (comp. § 124), to respect the
life, the marriage ties, and the property of our neighbours, to
speak the truth, and finally, to acknowledge our sin and put
away from us even the secret desire for what is not our own, —
these are the groundworks of a true system of morals basing
itself upon God and the fear of God. In regard to marriage,
polygamy was still in practice tolerated, because God will not
have the fruits before the root. This law was not to change
§ 309.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 355
the sinner into a sinless man, but was to produce the con
sciousness of sin (usus elenchticus), and to construct a solid
wall of wholesome discipline to resist its further inroads. The
second part of the law : d,bbe>'d (Ex. xxi., xxii.), affords an out
line of judicial procedure, of social and civil order, and for this
very reason has had significance only for Israel as a nation
peculiar in respect of its civil constitution. Specially worthy
of notice is the injunction to love enemies, Ex. xxiii. 4 ; comp.
Num. xix. 1 7. — The third part : filpn (Ex. xxv.-xxxi., and
Lev. i.— viii. and xi. ff.), gives detailed directions concerning
divine worship. God made a covenant with Israel, IVO, pro
mising His grace, demanding the fulfilment of His law. But a
nation of sinful men fulfils not this requirement, and cannot
fulfil it ; Israel still, even as at the beginning (Ex. xxxii.),
breaks the covenant, and proves itself a stiff-necked people
(vv. 9, 1 0). Thus the decalogue becomes an accusing witness
against the nation. It deserves only overthrow ; but God for the
sake of His own honour, the honour of His covenant faithfulness
(ver. 1 ff.), shows Himself merciful to His people. The accusing
witness will be concealed with a covering (rnB3), and the
covering is to be sprinkled with the blood of an ox slain as a
substitutionary sin-offering (Lev. xvi.), in order that the eye
of the Lord may fall, not on the accusing witness, but on the
consummated atonement. The whole ritual, with all its other
offerings, is organically grouped around this central act per
formed yearly by the high priest. The sprinkling of blood on
the lid of the ark in the holiest of all, symbolized the main
tenance of the covenant by a continual new atonement for the
continual new breaches of the covenant of the people. In the
holy place the relatively incomplete fulfilment of the law was
set forth under symbol by the daily presentation of the fruit
of the land, bread and oil, and the worship of God by the
presenting of incense to Him on the altar of incense at the
entering in of the holiest of all. In the holiest of all the
living God manifested, not His creative omnipresence, but speci
fically His gracious nearness growing out of His covenant with
'356 THE REVELATION OF GOD. f_§ 309.
Israel in the light-gleam of the Shechinali ; but the holiest of
all was unapproachable and shut ; the sacrificial worship only
secured that God cared for His people, went not into judgment
with their sins, but continued to exercise further patience ; not,
however, that the guilt of sin which stood between Him and
His people as a wall of partition was fully atoned for (trdpea-i<3,
not dipeo-K, comp. . Eom. iii. 25). This points significantly
enough to. the need of a future more perfect atonement (comp.
Heb. ix.).
In regard to two points we must here enter on a closer
examination. A. The whole ritual is founded on the assumption of the
sinfulness and guilt of Israel, and the whole history of the
exodus and the wilderness journey has to tell of nothing else
than the unusual stiff-neckedness and depravity of the people,
not of their merits, excellences, and virtues, but only of the
wonderful long-suffering of the holy God. That is a phenomenon
which we do not meet with in the history of the religion of any
other nation. The heathen nations (comp. Book First) repre
sent themselves in the best light ; here and there on account
of particular sins their gods are angered, and they seek by
means of sacrifices of various kinds to pacify them. To a sad
extent they have lost the idea of sin and guilt and the con
ception of an avenging God, and know only of capricious evil
powers or beings from a necessity of their nature injurious,
whose blind rage they seek to avert by sacrifice. But the
peoples as such are always and everywhere full of their own
praises and the glorification of themselves. The Moabite
king Mesha describes himself as on the best understanding
with his god Chemosh ; he has built him a temple, and there
fore looks to him for a brilliant victory. This tone prevails
in the inscription of Darius at Bagastana or Behistun, and in
the other Achamsedian inscriptions. The case is similar, too,
with regard to the Greeks, the Eomans, the Indians, the
Mongols, and the Chinese. And a people so characterized by
insolent pride as the Israelites were, possesses now as the oldest
§• 309.]! THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 357:
literary monument and the earliest book of laws a treatise in
which mention is only made of the wickedness and depravity
of the people, in which the whole ritual is built up upon
the assumption of the sinfulness and guilt of the people,
in which is found nothing else in praise of the people than
that God, the holy and living God, revealed Himself to them,
and has shown His patience in dealing with them. And this,
book, which gives such a slap in the face to all their pride and
national self-esteem, is to be regarded as a product of the
national spirit of the people ! If a national enemy of Israel
had turned his attention to wounding Israel's pride in its most
tender point, he could have written nothing more cutting than
this history of the exodus. But as this Torah was not written
by a member of a hostile nation, but by an Israelite, in the
language of the Israelites, it can have the ground of its origin
only in the revelation of a divine friend, i.e. of a friendly God,
who in His grace roused up a member of that race, so sunken
naturally in corruption, from the sleep of conscience, that root
of hardening and unredeemable depravity, again and again un-
weariedly shaking them up with powerful disciplinary words
and acts of God, and kept awake the awakened consciousness
of sin by means of the ordinance of sacrifice.
B. This sacrificial worship embraced in its deep symbolism
the truth whose caricatures are seen in the various heathen
religions. Even the first men had brought their sacrifices. The
idea of sacrifice was given in the very consciousness of guilt.
In the Book of Genesis there is no word to the effect that God
ordained and recommended sacrifice.1 Man quite naturally came
upon the idea himself. The consciousness of being behind
hand in the discharge of duty, of that which he was bound to
1 When God, appearing in human form (Gen. iii. 21), gives to man
clothing of skins of beasts as a covering of their nakedness, the act of the
slaying of those beasts is not there indeed once mentioned, and therefore
comes into consideration only as a means for supplying clothing, not as
a sacrificial act. •. All the less is the latter reference possible from the fact
that God Himself slew the animals, and would in that case have presented
the sacrifice to Himself. j
358 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 309.
do, led to the idea of making good the deficiency, i.e. of a suf
ficient satisfaction. For the performance of the duty which
man has left unperformed, another performance which he is
not obliged to do, the voluntary surrender of some good thing,
looks like the payment of an equivalent. This idea seems to
have lain at the basis of the first sacrifices (Gen. iv. 3 f.). But
conscience could not be thereby pacified. Conscience said to
man that he not merely left good undone, but had willed and
done evil, and by his sin had deserved punishment. This led
to the idea of a personal substitution. Instead of the person
who is amenable to punishment, another being may suffer the
death due by reason of sin, and the slain victim should blaze
up in flames before God, whom man involuntarily thinks of
as in the distant heavens ruling over the earth. This was the
notion underlying the burnt-offering (e.g. Gen. viii. 20), and
the equivalent substitution, the surrender of some possession
or something treasured, was likewise present and emphasized
therein. But even these sacrifices sufficed not to bring peace
to the conscience. Can an animal make an appearance for a
man ? Would it not be proper that a man, and that a very
dear and much loved map, even the offerer's own son, should
be presented unto God ? This was not proper, in the first
place, because every man by his own sin was under the doom
of death, so that he could not atone for the sin of another ;
and secondly, because a man, even one's own son, is not the
property of the offerer, but the property of God, and therefore
as little suited for essential substitution as for personal. It
was not proper, yet one can understand how men hit upon the
idea. And thus have we, even among noble Japhetic nations,
the Greeks, the Eomans, the Germans, significant traces of
human sacrifices having been made in very early times, apart
altogether from the savage practice in later times of slaughter
ing prisoners of war in honour of the war-god. These noble
human sacrifices are quite essentially distinguished from the
horrible Moloch sacrifices of the Euphrates-Semites, which had
not in the remotest degree any reference to the consciousness
§ 310.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 359
of guilt and the idea of an essential and personal substitution,
but were presented to the deity of the blind process of nature,
which produced and then again destroyed its own production,
bereft altogether of any moral notion. The Israelites may be
considered as from the first preserved from the error of the
more nobly conceived human sacrifices. This occurred through
the incident recorded in Gen. xxii. God demanded for a burnt-
offering Abraham's son, whom he had given Him by a miracle
(Gen. xviii. 11), and on whom the promise rested (Gen. xvii.
19). Firmly believing that God could not be unfaithful to
His promise, and so restore the victim again to life (Eom. iv.
1 7 ; Heb. xi. 1 9), he prepared himself to obey ; but God sub
stituted an animal for Isaac. Since, then, God had Himself
declared that He preferred an animal sacrifice, every doubt as
to whether God would be satisfied with an animal sacrifice
was dispelled. And then afterward in the law at Sinai, God
ordained animal sacrifice, and expressly forbade human sacri
fice (Lev. xviii. 2 1).
§ 310. The Period of the Judges.
When the Israelites entered Palestine, the plague of the
Baal-worship had laid hold upon the Canaanites, and the pro
duct of Semitic corruption had called into existence on the
neighbouring territory of Hamitic barbarism a form of rehgion
like that which we have already seen to be current among
the Phoenicians (§ 251), and in Palestine exhibitions possibly
were met with of a yet more horrible kind (Num. xxv. 1 ff. ;
comp. the command, Deut. xxiii. 18 ; further, 1 Kings xiv. 24,
xv. 12, xxii. 47; 2 Kings xxiii. 7; also Judg. ii, 17, etc.,
where nns n:r is wrongly taken symbolically, but rather just
means the Tro/oma-service of Ashera). The animal vice of
whoredom was regarded as service to the deity ; on all hills
and under all trees (2 Kings xvi. 4, xvii. 1 0 ; Jer. ii. 20;
Ezek. vi. 13, xx. 28) stood pillars and images of Ashera
(Judg. iii. 7; 1 Kings xiv. 23), where that vile worship was
360 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 310.
practised. The Canaanites were foul to the very marrow and
ripe for judgment, and Israel was not to be infected by the
plague; hence the righteous and gracious command of the
holy God that the Canaanites should be utterly destroyed.
We call this command a gracious one. Eationalistic sen
timentality1 has regarded it as hard and cruel; but the
individuals of the generation that perished through the
charem had in any case once to die, and that this generation
should have ho descendants of a still blacker die was grace,
or rather, would have been grace had only Israel obeyed, and
consistently and completely fulfilled the command. But the
Semitic nature fell lusting after the lusts of the Baal- worship
(Num. xxv.), stopped short in the execution of the divine
injunction, allowed (Judg. i. 21 ff.) a portion, by no means
small, of the Canaanite inhabitants to escape, and were tempted
by them to engage in the worship of Baal (Judg. ii. 17,
iii. 7, x. 6, etc. ; comp. chap. vi. 28). Then God gave them
up for chastisement to the tyranny of their neighbours, the
Philistines, the Ammonites, the Midianites, the Moabites, etc.,
till in their need they cried to the Lord, and He revealed
Himself to them, and called individuals (e.g. Judg. iv. 4-8,
vi. 8, and xi. ff.), and endowed them with courage, wisdom,
and power to free the subject people and restore the worship
of Jahavah. The tabernacle with its high priest and sacri
ficial worship (1 Sam. i. 3) and series of festivals (Judg.
xxi. 19) continued to exist throughout the period of trouble
and decay, and was regarded as a safe retreat by that por
tion of the people which had not yielded to seduction, or had
under the influence of the divine chastisements returned again
to the service of God (1 Sam. iv. 3). But that in that
period of oppression and confusion the precepts of the Torah
should have been preserved only in an imperfect and frag
mentary form is what might have been expected, and it is
mere folly to draw from the deviations in the ordinary form
1 Samuel was entirely free from such sentimentality, Saul was not
(1 Sam. xv. 8 and 33).
§ 310.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 361
of the law during the period of the Judges the conclusion
that the law did not as then at all exist. Many of these
deviations are, indeed, only in appearance. The Baal- worship
on the high places (Judg. iii. 7, etc.) is in conflict with the
prohibition of any other places for sacrifice than the door
of the tabernacle (Lev. xvii. ; Deut. xii.), or when Gideon in
Ophra by the setting up of a golden ephod gave occasion to
image-worship (Judg. viii. 2 7), or Micah engaged in idolatrous
practices (Judg. xvii. 4), — but there is no such conflict when
God as rorp *]n^d appears visibly, and an offering is then
brought to Him (Judg. ii. 5, vi. 24, xiii. 16); for the latter is
required and approved by an angel of the Lord Himself
(Judg. xiii. 16), and not on its own account, but on account
of the God present in the holiest of all over the ark of the
covenant was the tabernacle the appointed place of sacrifice.
When, moreover, the ark of the Lord was carried in war to
Bethel (Judg. xx. 27), and before it an altar was raised and a
sacrifice presented (Judg. xxi. 4), this is quite in keeping with
what we have in Lev. xvii It was not on account of the taber
nacle that the ark of the covenant existed, but on account of
this ark of the covenant was the tabernacle the legitimate place
for sacrifice. When Samuel (1 Sam. ix. 12), at his residence
in Eamah in the land of Zuph (south of Bethlehem, comp.
1 Sam. x. 2), presented a sacrifice to God on a high place, the
offering seems in this case to have been occasioned by the pre
ceding theophany (ix. 5). In ver. 1 2 it is expressly said, "For the
people have a sacrifice to-day." But it is mere silliness from these
passages to think to draw the conclusion that the God originally,
and still during the period of the Judges, worshipped in Israel
was no other than the Semitic Baal, or at least some sort of Baal
(see Obs.), and that He was then usually worshipped on high
places, and that first in later times was Jehovism introduced
along with the law that Jehovah should be worshipped only
in the tabernacle, whereas the whole history of the period of
the Judges from first to last is taken up with an account of
the vigorous antagonism of the worship of the self-revealing
362 , THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§310.
Jehovah and the service of Baal. — The moral condition of
the people during this rough, wild age showed more of a
retrogression than a progression, quite as might be expected,
seeing that this whole period as such was one of great falling
off on the part of the people of the fear of God (Judg. ii.).
The Lord must again begin from the first to heal and
strengthen the damaged root that threatened the very seat
of life, so that in future times blossoms and fruits might
be developed. We find individual ethically beautiful traits
in Deborah, Barak, Gideon ; in Jephthah and Samson, again,
the moral element falls into the background. God has been
obliged to be satisfied with fitting out these men by miraculous
endowments of His Spirit so as to make them, as it were,
involuntary and blind instruments for His particular opera
tions which they had to perform for God's purposes on others
and for others, without having been themselves men renewed
in heart and spirit. They were servants of God, not chil
dren ; 1 servants who acknowledged the one living and true
God, and faithfully (faithfully in a relative sense, Judg.
viii. 27) rendered Him service, and continued to avoid and
abhor the worship of Baal. In the struggle between the
service of God and the service of Baal, they attached them
selves to the party of God, and this negative attitude was for
the time enough. The garden must be saved from the
rushing flood which could destroy it utterly, and would have
turned it into, a poisonous swamp. The rooting out of weeds
from within the garden was a work that must be left for later
times. With every decline in the worship of the true God
there was a corresponding decline in public morals ; conscience
could not wholly fall asleep. When Samson (Judg. xvi. 1, 4)
entered into relations with a Philistine harlot, we see the sinful
1 We cannot, indeed, speak of children of God in the strict sense in the
Old Covenant. One becomes a child of God first when born again of Christ.
He gives the power to become sons of God (John i. 12). But a germ of the
child-consciousness was already possible even under the Old Covenant,
namely, to those whose believing knowledge and trust were directed
to the future salvation promised (Isa. lxiv. 16 ; Heb. xi. 13-16).
§ 310.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 363
rudeness of fleshly lust ; but there is a heaven- wide difference
between the sinful coarseness and the corruption of the Baal-
worshippers, which made whoredom a part of divine worship.
And far above Samson stand his parents, also Jephthah
(Judg. xi. 34 f.) and Gideon.
Obs. — In Jephthah's history some find a hint that among the
Israelites whoredom belonged to the service of their national
god, as it belonged to the Baal-worship of the Canaanites and
heathen Semites. Jephthah, when he could not offer his
daughter as a burnt-offering, gave her as a temple attendant to
the service of the god for the said purpose. Hence the maiden
bewailed the loss of her virginity for two months. The words,
Judg. xi. 39 : B»K Ptjrp &6 ktti, are then used in reference to the
past. But this rendering is as senseless as possible. If the
idea of the national god of Israel was similar to that of Baal,
nothing would have prevented Jephthah from burning his
daughter in honour of this god, since such offerings by fire were
certainly proper to the Baal-worship (comp. Lev. xviii. 21 ;
Deut. xviii. 10) ; and if he avoided doing this from paternal
tenderness, then it would not have been said in ver. 39, fe>jn
ITUvik i"6, but it ought to have explained that, and why he
left his vow unfulfilled, and what he substituted in its place.
Further, if it is regarded as an act of divine worship to
surrender oneself as a temple . attendant, it is not conceivable
how the maiden should bewail the loss of her virginity ; not
amid lamentation, but amid wild demoniac exultation did the
female devotees of Baal and Bilit give themselves up to dis
honour. That explanation is based upon two assumptions which
are mutually exclusive : that prostitution had been introduced
as an act well-pleasing to the gods, and that in reference to
it there existed a fine moral feeling, and that it was considered
a misfortune and dire calamity. Finally, the observation : " she
knew no man," seems on that assumption quite vain, since in the
Baal- worship married women as well as virgins gave themselves
up to such practice in the temples. — The idea that Jephthah
actually slew his daughter as nblV is golden as compared with
that vile interpretation. She bewailed then " her virginity,"
i.e. not the loss of it, of which there is no mention at all, but that
she must die a virgin, in accordance with which her not having
known a man is quite a reasonable expression. It is well known
that among the Israelites marriage and the blessing of children
seemed the highest good, and barrenness the greatest misfor
tune. — And yet even this explanation is not tenable. The
Book of Judges is written for readers, all of whom it is
admitted would assume that (Lev. xviii. 21) Jehovah would
364 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 311.
have no human sacrifices made to Him, specially not of children
by their parents, and above all not as, burnt-sacrifices. It is
clear that the first half of the vow must have been fulfilled
upon the maiden, and what is implied when a man is spoken
of as being the Lord's is already clear from Judg. xiii. 5 and
1 Sam. i. 11. But, further, the author writes quite expressly
(Judg. xi. 39) : he did with her according to his vow which he
had vowed, and she knew no man. (The preterite serves here
to render the negative judgment absolute ; the future with vau
conversive would not have suited here.) This shows how the
first part of the vow is to be understood. How the second
half of the vow must have been fulfilled, is most clearly laid
down in Lev. xxvii. 1-7. Whoever had vowed a man to God
as a burnt-offering, he dared not actually slay and burn him
(comp. Deut. xii. 31, also the horror of the Israelites on seeing
such a sight, 2 Kings iii. 27), but must have him valued by the
priests in order that he may buy with the valuation price an
animal to offer, and slay and burn this. (Comp. Kohler, Lehrb.
der bibl. Geseh. a. T. p. 100 ff.) — So then Jephthah's daughter
spends her lifetime as a virgin in maidenly service in the
tabernacle, and this devotement to an unmarried life she
bewails. Such maidens of the sanctuary are spoken of in
1 Sam. ii. 22 ; and that their tasks were not those of the temple'
attendants of Baal follows from this passage, where it is re
garded as an unpardonable sin against the Lord that Eli's sons
had intercourse with them, which, according to that, would
have been very well pleasing to Baal, and would have been
regarded as an act honouring to Baal. How unworthy it is to
rend from their connection isolated points in a story and to
twist it into its own very opposite, so that it stands in con
tradiction to the rest of the narrative, and then to represent
those distorted features as the historical germ, and all the rest
as a later mythical and evidently forged addition !
§ 311. The Period of the Kings and the Prophets.
After Israel, under Samuel and Saul, had definitely thrown
off the yoke of the neighbouring nations, there was under
David a flourishing and powerful State, in which the worship
of the living God and the performance of the law were fully
carried ont. Thus the brilliant period of David's reign became
an actual prophecy of the New Testament kingdom of God,
but still only a prophecy and not the fulfilment. As yet the
divine act of redemption had not taken place ; the law awoke,
§311.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 365
the sacrificial worship quieted conscience for the time being ;
.but the real atonement for the guilt of sin was not yet accom
plished, and so the curse of sin was not yet broken. David
himself, in whom already rich fruits of moral holiness had
ripened (e.g. 2 Sam. iii. 33, xvi. 10, xviii. 33), fell into a ter
rible double deadly sin (2 Sam. xi.), which God brought home
to him by means of sore chastisement, and of which David
sincerely repented. Had the people, like him, yielded them
selves under the hand of God, there had then been an advance
in the spiritual condition of Israel. But there actually was
a decline. The Semitic tendency to naturalism made itself
conspicuous in Solomon, who at the end of a life full of
wisdom and glory allowed himself to be led away by his wives
to the worship of Baal and Moloch. In consequence of this,
the plague of the most corrupt paganism was planted down
in the midst of Israel, and thus was laid the germ of utter
desolation. The division of the kingdom followed as a divine
judgment. The whole period that followed, down to the exile,
was a time of extraordinary declension. In the kingdom of
the twelve tribes the deterioration proceeded from the politic
image-worship of Jeroboam to the Baal-worship of Jezebel,
and Jehu's reformation was only half-hearted, and therefore,
from its very nature, without lasting significance. In the
kingdom of Judah the sins of Solomon were continued, with
short periods of fluctuation (1 Kings xiv. 23 f, xv. 3 ; comp.
with xi. 11); by means of affinity with Ahab's house it
became worse and worse. Israel's, inbred naturalism as a
Semitic characteristic was seen conspicuously in the specifically
Semitic pantheistic foul nature-worship of the religion of Baal,
and the consequent departure from God. On the other hand,
there are acts of the living God which snatched the people
from the threatened danger of utter declension into the most
corrupt forms of paganism. During the most critical period,
that of Jezebel, prophecy makes its appearance as, in this form,
a new instrument in the hands of God. It starts with the
heroic figure of Elijah. The living God reveals Himself as
366 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 311.
the living, free, almighty, over against the deity of the unbend
ing course of nature conceived of by men (2 Kings xviii.).
Elijah at God's command executes against the priests of Baal
that same righteous and necessary judgment, one also in
accordance with law (Lev. xvii. 2 ff.), which Joshua had
formerly been compelled to carry out upon the Canaanites.
But he must experience and learn that judgment and the
fulfiment of law do indeed set limits to corruption, but cannot
break the evil, sinful will (2 Kings xix.), and that the Lord
Himself is not in the judgments of the Lord, but in the still
small voice of His Spirit. The whole of the prophecy of all
subsequent prophets is only a development of this one truth,
is a pointing on of law to the future salvation of redeeming
grace. As Elijah in acts, so they in words, had to punish the
sins of the people, to set forth the innermost meaning and the
innermost demands of the law, but above all, to point away
from the provisional ritual of expiation through sacrificial
worship to the need and the promise of a real redemption, from
the sign to the thing signified. Hence, while they prophesy
of future judgments, they promise salvation and redemption.
Joel, in the closest spiritual relationship with 2 Kings xix.
11—13, prophesies that God, while visiting all the nations with
judgment, will pause till He had poured out His Spirit on
His people, and had given it spiritual renewal ; therefore a
gracious healing operation of God should precede the judg
ment, fitting them for undergoing the judgment. Amos
makes known that Israel has no reason to look forward
with delight to the judgment day of Jehovah, as though it
were that people described in Joel iv. 2 ; even Israel could
not endure the judgment of God (Amos v. 1 8 ff), and yet
a judgment of God against her is at hand, especially sub
jection under the Gentile and exile (Amos vii.-ix.) ; only if
thereby she is brought to repentance will God raise up again
the tabernacle of David that is fallen. Hosea carries out
this prophecy to further development ; the kingdom of the
ten tribes will be carried away to the river Euphrates in
§ 311.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD, 367
Assyria. When under Ahaz, even in Judah, rebellion gained
the mastery, which Hezekiah was able only temporarily to
turn aside, Micah pronounced the threat of exile against
Judah, but prophesied also that after the chastisement of
exile had been suffered, Zion, as the abode of the word of the
Lord, would become the meeting-place of the nations, whither
they should turn in order to be converted to the true God
(Micah iv. 1-5) : " And thou, 0 tower of the flock (where the
first David first tended his flock), 0 hill ! . the daughter of
Zion shall come unto thee (to meet there the second David),
and the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the
daughter of Jerusalem " (iv. 8) ; then, v. 1 : • Out of Bethlehem
shall go forth the future ruler and king, He, that is to say, whose
goings forth have been from of old, yea, from everlasting, as
Jehovah, before ever His people had gone out of Egypt; and yet
in ver. 3 he is distinguished from Jehovah, and described as a
man. Contemporarily with Micah, Isaiah prophesied the birth
of a human child, to be called and to be God, inr^N, and to
reign eternally on the throne of David. Before this virgin's
child1 is born the land was to become desolate, and to be
subject to the Assyrians, so that only pasturage and forests
with wild honey should remain in it (vii. 15-25). Hence,
first exile, then, but still during the time of need consequent
1 Rationalism has made the discovery that nD?J? means, not the virgo
intacta, but a grown maiden as marriageable. Some have derived the word
from the Arab, ghalama, "to be marriageable." But in the Hebr. D^jj
means celare, and nc6j? is connected with thy, celare, just as n^im with
bl"0, segregare, and in all places where the HDPJ? is met with it is virgin
that is intended (virgines intacta); and this meaning suits the context
(Gen. xxiv. 43 ; Ex. ii. 8 ; Prov. xxx. 19, where not a grown young
woman, in contrast to the parva puella, but the bride on the bridal night ;
and Song of Songs i. 3 and 8). When He who already from of old had
gone forth before His people (Micah v. 1), the Tiar^X, whose own the land
and people already are (Isa viii. 8, 10), should be born as the future
Saviour (Isa. ix. 5-7), and indeed as the Branch (Isa. xi. 1) promised
to David by Nathan (2 Sam. vii.), it followed from these premisses, so
becoming in themselves, and so strongly confirmed by the Holy Spirit in
the prophet, that the D^IVO cannot be being first begotten of a father, but
only entering into the womb of a mother. Comp. § 138 in vol. i. p. 334.
368 THE REVELATION OF GOD- L§ 311.
upon the exile, the birth of Immanuel. That the child of
Isaiah, Maher-shalal-hash-baz (viii. 1), was not the Immanuel
prophesied, but a typical foreshadowing of Him, and indeed
first of all a warning of the immediately approaching overthrow
of Samaria^ ver. 4, is quite evident. This child was even born
before the beginning of the exile. — But as each successive
stage of the prophecy is organically developed out of the
preceding under the control of the Holy Spirit in the prophet,
so also was this Messianic prophecy of Micah and Isaiah only
the organic unfolding of that which Nathan had declared to
David in 2 Sam. viii. It was not David that was to build a
house to the Lord, but the Lord that was to build a house to .
the seed of David, and this seed should reign for ever. David
himself immediately acknowledged that this promise given to
his seed, i.e. his descendants, could find its fulfilment (Ps. ii.
and Ps. ex.), not in a multitude, but only in one individual in
" the estate of a man of the high degree of Jehovah, of God "
(1 Chron. xvii. 17); but Solomon understood and confessed
(1 Kings viii. 25 ff.) that he was not this promised seed of
David. Therewith was given the germ and groundwork of
the hope and promise and expectation of a branch of David
who should be a man of equal rank with Jehovah. -^-When
the Babylonian empire arose on the ruins of the declining
Assyrian empire, it was further revealed to Isaiah that the
kingdom of Judah, preserved by God from the power of
Assyria for the sake of Hezekiah's faithfulness, should be
carried away into exile by the hand of Babylon (Isa. xxxix.
and xiii. and xiv.). Closely connected with the indolent
resignation wherewith Hezekiah (xxxix. 8) receives this an
nouncement, is the great prophecy of the Servant of God in
Isa. xl.-lxvi., expressed in terms thoroughly in keeping with
the Palestinian views of nature, and consequently not first
originated during the exile in Babylon. In respect of calling,
Israel is the servant of God among the Gentile nations and
for them (xliii. 1, xiii. 6, xliv. 1 and 21), who in this service
has to endure the hatred of the heathen ; but Israel is herself
§ 311.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 369
blind (xiii. 19), and has fallen away from God to heathen
idols (xliii. 22 ff., xlviii. 1-8, etc.), and suffering therefore her
many troubles as righteous judgments (xiii. 24). Therefore
God needed first again a servant who should bring Israel again
to Him (xlix. 5), and, ver. 6, through Israel also the Gentiles.
But not even Isaiah is this servant ; he has spent his strength
for his people for nought, ver. 4. He points to a servant of
God of the future, by whom the people shall be comforted
after their exilian distress (xlix. 13 ; comp. xl. 1), and should
be delivered out of this and all other distress. But as in
chap. xxiv. the prophetic view of the joyous return from the
exile (vv. 14-16) is suddenly interrupted by the view of a
new misdeed and new chastisements (vv. 16-20), he was by
a process of analogy thinking himself into the position of the
servant-prophet of the future, that he too will suffer opposi
tion, reproach, yea, even death (1. 5 ff.) ; the call to Israel to
repent remains unheeded (li.) ; the joyful shout, Thy God
reigneth (Iii. 7), awakens no enthusiasm ; they take offence
at his lowly form, and despise and reject him (liii. 1-3). And
just for this reason, that in his guiltless sufferings and death
he bore the guilt (py, ver. 6) and the punishment (idid, ver. 5)
of our sins patiently as a lamb, he fulfils the Father's decree
of redemption, he constitutes the true sin-offering (db>k,
ver. 10). In this way he breaks the curse of sin ; there now
comes to him a great people (liv. ff.) from the Gentiles
(liv. 3, lv. 5), but a part of Israel still continues hardened
(lvii.), until finally, through God's sharp discipline (lxv. 13,
etc.), they are brought to cry to the Lord (lxiv.) ; those who
remain hardened against the redeeming grace of God fall under
eternal condemnation (Ixvi. 24). — The essential part of this
prophecy was repeated and further developed during succeeding
ages (Jer. xxiii. 29 ff, xxxiii. ; Ezek. xviii., xxxiii. f. ; Zeph.
iii. ; Hag. ii. ; Zech. viii. ff.). — The exile began. What had
happened on a small scale in the times of the Judges happened
on a large scale now ; the people who had once and again
forsaken their Lord, and had gone a-whoring after the service
EBRARD HI. 2 A
370 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 811.
of Baal, were obliged, now in the cradle of this Baal-worship
in Babylon, to groan for more than two generations under the
cruel and harsh oppression of the worshippers of Baal. Here
they were thoroughly cured of their love for Baal. It must
have been a moment for Israel of great relief when the natur
ally noble Japhetic race of the Iranians, with their acknow
ledgment of one holy Creator of the world, restored to them
by Zarathustra, overthrew the Babylonian empire. Cyrus
(Iranian Kurush), already foretold of God by Isaiah, allowed
the return of the banished; but already had God through
Daniel x declared that notwithstanding the return to Palestine
from the seventy years' exile, foretold in Jer. xxv., the entire
period of the subjection of Israel under heathen monarchs
would be extended to seventy times seven years, until 'the
redemption and reconciliation (ix. 24) should come. What
Isaiah had seen perspectively as contemporaneous — the return
from exile and the appearance of redemption — now are seen
to be entirely apart. — If Daniel foresees and foretells special
occurrences (chap. xi. ; comp. also Ezek. xxiv. 1, the vision
in the distance, and Jer. 1. f.),, a gift is here placed at the
service of the Holy Spirit, which, even in the secular life, is
here and there met with under the name of second sight. The
prophetic gift of the prophet in the service and spirit of the
living God is related to the soothsaying stoutly forbidden in
the Old Testament law, the miraculous gift of the prophet to
the heathen sorcery, just as the God-enjoined sacrificial wor
ship- of Israel is to the sacrifices of the heathens, that is, as
truth to its distortion and caricature.
Obs. — Anything more crude, destitute of truth, and utterly
absurd cannot be written than that which D. Fr. Strauss (Leb.
1 To push this Daniel away down into the Maccabean age is an unhappy
attempt. How could that Maccabean age, with its narrow-hearted, fana
tical hatred of the Gentiles and characteristic Semitic arrogance, have
conceived of such a figure as that Daniel who, while firm as a rock in his
fidelity to his God, exhibited at the same time the most wonderful large-
heartedness toward the Gentile ruler (e.g. Dan. iv. 16) and toward the
forms of the Magian learning ?
§ 311.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 371-
Jesu f. d. deutsche Volk, p. 168) has written: "Little trace is
to be found of that special treasure which Israel had been pro
mised by her Jehovah, seeing that with short interruptions
there was scarcely ever a people more held down than the
chosen people of the Jewish race. This, indeed, the priests and
prophets of the one God represent as chastisement for the
people's disobedience, whereas the people might excuse their
unwillingness to serve such a God by citing the non-appearance
of the special treasure which they had been led by him to expect."
— Where, then, was the people of Israel led to expect a special
treasure apart altogether from any condition ? Let him read
Lev. xxvi., Deut. xi. 26. So long as the people under Joshua,
under Samuel, under David, and in the beginning of Solomon's
reign, feared God, they conquered everywhere. The pious
Hezekiah was delivered from Sennacherib. So often as the
people rebelled against God they were chastised. And now
this unhappy man affirms that the prophets had described
strokes of misfortune only as " penal judgments," and rebellion
against Jehovah is the righteous return for his breaking of his
word ! Thus with his unwashed fingers does he catch a history
of Israel with its head placed downwards. This is the same D.
Fr. Strauss whom I already, before his removal from this world,
publicly, in my Gospel History, charged with being guilty of
falsifying a quotation from a Church Father (Tertull. de bapt. 15),
and who found it convenient to remain lying under the reproach,
and never to answer a single word. It would have cost him
some trouble to find anything to reply ! Tertullian and like
wise Jerome (Catal. 77) relate that a presbyter of Asia Minor
in the second century composed a legend of Paul and Thecla,
also called npafyig nau/.ou, in such a form as if Paul himself
were the author, and that this presbyter had consequently been
deposed, notwithstanding his excuse id se amore Pauli fecisse.
Hence it follows that the Church of the second century
could not endure the forging of spurious writings, and acted
very decidedly in reference to the matter. D. Fr. Strauss, in
order to make the German people believe the opposite, cited
the beginning of that passage, but left out the words that spoke
of punishment by deposition, and added to it the fabricated
statement that the Church had " kept in use " that very writing
(whereas, according to Euseb. iii. 25, it had rather reckoned it
among the vo&oig), and, " on the ground of this, had celebrated a
feast to that same saint " (in the Middle Ages, but not in the
second century), and proved to " the German people," on the
ground of those three fabrications and lies, that critical admis
sion of uugenuine writings had been the order of the day in the
pre-Constantine age ! This surely is an admirable man to be
recommended by a teacher of the German people as a pattern !
372' . THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 312.
§ 312. The Divine Act of Redemption.
Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, had pro
phesied that there would be no further revelation of God until
the final manifestation of Jehovah Himself coming to His
temple accompanied by an alter Elias. And so it was. Cured
of their idolatrous tendencies, the people were left to themselves
and to their outward and inward distress, until during the
period of Eoman supremacy the divine act of redemption was
wrought. Wherein this divine act of redemption in Christ
consisted has been already shown in the First Part, § 138
(see vol. i. p. 334). The climax of this Second Part is iden
tical with that of the First as the corner-stone of the whole.
The indistinct glimmering desire of the heathen world, and the
unquieted, because only symbolically and figuratively quieted,
desire of the people of Israel has found in the incarnate Son
of God their real and absolute satisfaction. A sinless holy man
was given,1 of purely human development, yet one in will and
being with the Father, holy in the form of human self-deter
mination, who by reason of the voluntary act of His incarnation
had placed Himself under the natural consequences of sin,
natural amenability to death, and therewith to natural suffer
ing, § 129 ff., and who, by reason cf His constant self-deter
mination to that which is good (John iv. 34), which allowed Him
not to connive in the least with lies and sin, endured in a violent
death the actual outbreak of potent sin. Sin in all its forms
spent its rage upon Him. He experienced pain from the weak
ness of His believing disciples (Matt. xxvi. 35, 40, 51, 69 ff).
The sin of the heathen world in the form of moral frivolity
1 The statement as to how in a genuinely human consciousness of the
boyhood and youth of the growing incarnate Son of God the knowledge
and consciousness of His calling as Messiah and of His eternal being
(John viii. 58) had grown and developed, is a necessary supplement
to § 138, which I recommend to be here read over again. This statement
I have given in my Gospel History, § 51, and could here have done
nothing else than reprint what is said there. Reference, therefore, is
simply made to that passage.
§ 312.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 373
and indifference (Matt, xxvii. 24-26), and as savage barbarity
(vv. 27-29), was directed against Him. But the Jews, who de
livered Him to the pagan Eomans, with their specifically Semitic
corruption, were the main occasion and authors of His sufferings
and death. What parallels of Jewish and pagan personalities
are contained in the Gospel history ! We might place to
gether the Jewish nobleman, John iv. 47 ff, who did not
trouble himself with questions of religion and matters of the
soul, and so did not think of Jesus until a family affliction
led him to Jesus for help in the affairs of this life ; and the
Gentile centurion of Matt, viii., who was a friend of the
Jewish race despised by the Eomans, because he was a wor
shipper of Israel's God (comp. Luke vii. 5), and who had so
great a measure of acquaintance with and understanding of
Messianic prophecy, that it was clear to him (Luke vii. 7 f.)
that Jesus the Messiah is more than an avdpmiro<; otto
igovo-tav, and who had such a great measure of love that set
all his friends to work on behalf of his sick slave, and who
had awakened and called forth so much love that the
friends, Gentiles and Jews, willingly and " instantly " (Luke
vii. 4) interested themselves in his servant. We might con
sider the impression made upon the Eoman Pilate in one hour
by the appearance of Jesus, and compare it with that made on
the chief priests and the people of the Jews during the three
and a half years' activity of Jesus under which they remained
hardened. As a thoroughly skilled official, Pilate immedi
ately saw through the hypocritical spite of the Jews (John
xviii. 29), admitted that Jesus was no political adventurer1
(vv. 34-38), declared Him innocent (ver. 38 ; Luke xxiii. 4),
and used every endeavour to secure His escape. Throughout
this whole procedure Pilate appears a naturally noble man.
First, where (John xix. 12) the alternative is placed before
1 The words, What is truth ? could not in this connection have been
the expression of philosophical scepticism; Pilate does not say as a
philosopher that truth is not discoverable, but he says as a statesman that
the kingdom of truth is politically free from danger.
374 THE REVELATION OF GOD. t§ 312.
him either to assume the responsibility and reproach of de
livering Him whom he had pronounced innocent or to con
demn the guiltless, then for the first time did the natural
nobility of the man show its limitations. How very different
was it with the Jews ! What mean, low tricks on the part of
the Pharisees wherewith from the first they steeled themselves
against every call to repentance, men who utterly prevented
the purpose of the divine law to awaken the consciousness of
sin and humility, and with unspiritual and senseless precepts
of their own devising practised a thoroughly Semitic barter-
righteousness in the service of a thoroughly Semitic arrogance I1
How essentially of the same sort was the root idea of the
Sadducean party, in which the old tendency to heathenism
was only changed in form, — into the form of the cosmopoli
tanism of Eeformed Judaism, with a tincture of Pantheism,
inwardly absolutely indifferent toward God, and directed only
to a cunning estimation of earthly relationships, goods, and
enjoyments ! 8 Over such souls sunk in corruption every
appeal of truth runs like water on a waxed floor. And now,
finally, of Judas ! Had he not had the natural gifts of an
apostle, he would not have been chosen by the Lord to a
place among the Twelve. For Judas, as well as for each of
His disciples, the question was whether he would bring his
heart to repentance and self-knowledge, and have himself
separated from his natural love of sin. So long as the
Galilean people applauded the Lord, Judas held the Lord dear
and listened to Him. When (John vi.) for the first time the
popular masses gave signs of deserting Jesus, there arose, as
1 The passages collected in the Mischna date in part from this period ;
even then the party of the Pharisees was dominated by that Talmudic
spirit which gave its attention to passages (e.g. of Corban, Mark vii. 11,
of the D13P',y, of the eilJVt?) etc.) which had only the effect of making it
possible to dispense with the law under the hypocritical pretence of the
strictest fulfilment of the law.
2 Herod Antipas is a genuine type of this Sadducean Judaism. Along
side of him whom his wife, married to him in incestual adultery, tempted
to a murder, may be placed Pilate, whom his wife, faithfully concerned
about his peace of conscience, warned against committing a judicial murder.
§ 312.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF G'OD. 375
we must conclude, from the warning of ver. 70, in the soul of
that disciple the dark feeling of indignation and disappoint
ment. It may have dawned upon him, from the words of
Jesus in ver. 51, that the following of Jesus was not to bring
the hoped-for earthly glory. Possessed by the specifically
Semitic sin of greed, which showed itself in him in the most
despicable forms (John xii. 6), he surrendered himself more
and more to a spiteful hatred of Jesus. A man upon whom
the Japhetic characteristics had been imprinted would in such
circumstances have forsaken Jesus ; it was the crowning
example of the Semitic form of sin to feign submission and
thus betray his Master. This all the more commended itself
to him when a profit could be made out of it. When Dante
in his Inferno associates Brutus and Judas together, he
strangely overlooks a manifest difference between the two
cases. Brutus, in the interest of a political idea, therefore
really, or according to his own notion, for the well-being
of the -State, sacrifices the duty of private gratitude, and was
not more ignoble than Ulysses in the Philoctetes. With
Judas he has not anything in common. Among the disciples
of Socrates there was no betrayer. To produce a Judas was
reserved for the Semitic race. And thus what was said in
§ 307 of the grounds and purpose of the choice of the
covenant people from the Semitic race is here thoroughly con
firmed. Not in spite of, but because in it (comp. the sayings
of Christ, Matt. viii. 10, xi. 21, etc.) sin had assumed its most
potent form, and all conquest of sin was seen to be purely the
act and operation of God,1 the Semitic people of Israel was
chosen as the organ of preparation and as the arena of the act
of redemption. When sin had spent the full measure of its rage upon the
incarnate Son of God, the sin-offering, which is of eternal
significance, was accomplished in His death, and He who was
1 Hence then, too, among such Semites as turn in repentance and be-
lievingly accept salvation (a Simeon, a John, a Paul, etc.), we behold the
noblest, because the humblest form of Christian faith and life.
"376 The revelation of god. [§ 312.
dead and is alive, again for evermore went forth in a trans
formed body from His grave as the first-fruits, the beginner
and king of a new humanity and of a new nature. Detailed
investigations regarding the genuineness and credibility of the
writings which witness to these facts belong not to this
department (see § 7), but to the so-called science of I'ntror
duction. But apart from those detailed researches, the his
torical truth of His incarnation, of His atoning death upon
the cross, of His resurrection and ascension into heaven,
stands unalterably firm, through witnesses which the most
negative criticism has not dared to impugn.
A. Jesus the Eternal Son of God in time became Man.
In opposition to the pretext that this doctrine first appears in
the fourth Gospel, and that this writing had its origin only in
the second century, it is answered that, in Luke i. 17, John
the Baptist is called the forerunner of the icvpios 6 ©eo.s (for
only to this can airov refer; comp. Paulus, de Wette, Bleek,
etc.), and compare the passages already cited in § 137 ; Matt.
ii. 6 ; Mark xiii. 32 ; Matt. xxvi. 63 ff. ; Luke i. 16 f. The
Bevelation of John, not merely by the believing, but also by
the negative criticism of the present day, is emphatically
recognised as a genuine work of the apostle ; but just in it
Jesus declares Himself (i. 8, 1 8) as the " Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the ending," as " the first and the last, and
He that liyeth," who " was dead, but is alive for evermore,"
and (ii 18) as "the Son of God" who (ver. 23) "searcheth
the reins and the hearts," and (iii. 1) who "hath the seven
spirits of God " (i. 4, iv. 5) ; and in chap. xxi. 3 it is
said that God with them (Immanuel) shall be their God.
To this incontestable witness of the Apostle John may be
added the unexceptionable testimonies of the Apostle Paul
(1 Cor. i. 2, eiriicaXov pivots rb ovop,a rov xvplov rjfi&v 'Inopia rij? ovvio-ews, we have in this the most convincing
and incontestable proof that they, these Israelites who would
shrink with horror from any deification of a creature, had received
from Jesus in deeds and words satisfactory proofs and demonstra
tions of His eternal Godhead, and that the person and teaching
of Jesus must have been just what it is represented as being
in the Gospel of John, and not less in the other three Gospels.
378 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 312.
B. In regard to the atoning death of the Lord, it is
enough to point to the holy Supper observed in the whole
Christian Church, and that from the very beginning (1 Cor.
x., xi.), in addition to which we consider that in 1 Cor. x.
16—21 Christ the Lord is again represented as God over
against the false gods of the heathens. In regard to the
crucifixion as the mode of death, the passages Eom. vi. 6,
1 Cor. i. 13-18, ii. 2, 2 Cor. xiii. 4, Gal. ii. 20, v. 24,
vi. 14, should be sufficient.
C. As the holy Supper witnesses on behalf of the death
upon the cross, so the observance of the Lord's Day
witnesses to hhe Eesurrection of the Lord, taking rank
at first alongside of the Jewish Sabbath, and soon thereafter
taking its place. Only in consequence of a divine act could
Christendom have held itself entitled formally to change the
rite enjoined in the decalogue. Thus, then, we have testimony
borne to the fact of the resurrection, not only in such disputed
apostolical Epistles as Eph. i. 20, 2 Tim. ii. 8, and 1 Pet.
i. 4, but also in those which, as incontestably genuine, are the
most certain of all (Eom. vi. 4 ; 1 Cor. ix. 1, xv.). The
apostle (1 Cor. xv. 6.) could refer to the fact that the Eisen
One bad been seen by more than five hundred brethren at
once, of whom the greater part even then survived, which
excludes any thought of a merely subjective vision. The
insipid fancy of D. Fr. Strauss as to the way in which the
belief in the resurrection of Christ may have arisen without
the actual occurrence of this resurrection, in which he has
involved himself in the most ridiculous self-contradictions,
has been already sufficiently commented on by me in my
Gospel History, where it is tried by the torch of reason and
found to be irrational. That even the appearance granted to
Paul on the way to Damascus was no mere subjective inward,
dream- vision in the soul of Paul, but an objective appearance
of the Eisen One, may be gathered indirectly from 1 Cor.
xv. 8 f, as well as from the fact that Paul designates the
resurrection of Christ (Eph. i. 19, 20) ivipjeia rov Kparov? rrji
§ 312.] THE REDEMPTIVE ACTS OF GOD. 379
tV%ve»? rov Qeov, and (in 1 Cor. xv. 53; 2 Cor. v. 2 f.) he
speaks of the resurrection in general as a being clothed upon
tif the material body in itself mortal with power, not as an
immaterializing. What sense would there be in this on the
supposition of a subjective dream-like vision, since in that case
no " working of the mighty power of God," but only some
nervous weakness of a man, would be required. But we have
direct proof from his disciple and fellow-traveller Luke, who,
partly in his own words, partly in those of the apostle, tells how
the appearance was seen also by the companions of the apostle,
though they perceived not indeed the form of Christ (Acts
ix. 7), but only the bright light (xxii. 9), by the brilliancy of
which they were dazzled (comp. ver. 11) ; and heard indeed
somewhat of the sound (ix. 7, rij? (pcovrjs), but could not
understand the words (xxii. 9, rrjv ^covrjv rov XoXowto? p,oi).
D. That the Eisen One has ascended into heaven, and that
from thence He will visibly descend to judgment, is witnessed
to again by Paul (1 Cor. i. 7, iv. 5, xv. 51 ; 2 Cor. v. 10 ;
comp. Eph. i. 20, iv. 9 ; Col. iii. 4 ; 1 Thess. iv. 13 ff), by
Peter (1 Pet. i. 7, iv. 5), by John (Eev. i.-xxii.). — The
Ebionite Jesus, who was a mere man, exists only in the
imagination and wish of modern Buddhists, not in history.
Obs. 1. — D. Fr. Strauss (Leb. Jesu f. d. d. V. p. 206) affirms
that the historical Jesus of the first three Gospels thought that
the heavenly Father should be conceived of as unconditional and
indiscriminate goodness. One need only read Matt. viii. 12,
xii. 34, xxiii. 13 ff., 33, and 35, xxiv. 13, 31, and 51, xxv.
41 ff, and their parallels ! There is a certain tone which could
not certainly be used of a God who was " unconditional good
ness." But in Jesus Christ, whether we refer to the synoptic
Gospels or the Gospel of John, there is represented throughout
the nature of that same holy God who had revealed Himself in
the Old Testament, of the God who in His grace, yea, through
His grace, is holy — through grace, because the kind of the
redemption with which pantheism, like its father, since Gen.
. iii. 5, has been able to bless men — " there is no difference, and
it is all one whether you love God or set your will in opposition
to His ; the latter, just as well as the former, leads to the end,
yea, even better, for sin is a necessary transition point in the
development," would be not only a degradation but a complete
380 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 312.
brutalizing (comp. § 141). Christ indeed has taught (Matt. v. 45)
that God exercises long-suffering toward the sinner, and gives
him a gracious respite, and that He actually exercised such long-
suffering (Luke xiii. 8 ; Matt, xxiii. 37), not, however, that He
may treat the sinner " without distinction," and lull his con
science asleep, but in order to comfort those who have been
longing for salvation, the weary and heavy laden, to call the
impenitent by earnest threatening of doom unto repentance, to
proclaim in the ears of the hardened the infallible judgment of
God. Between Jesus Christ and the God of the Old Testament
there is not the least essential disagreement. " Search the
Scriptures, for they are they which testify of me."
Obs. 2. — The performance of miracles generally is historically
witnessed to in 1 Cor. xii. 9 ; 2 Cor. xii. 12 ; Acts xvi. 26, xx.
9 ff, xxviii. 3-6, and 8, 9.
SECOND SECTION.
THE EFFECTS OF EEDEMPTION.
§ 313. The Several Effects of Redemption.
TO those who believe in His name, Christ has given the
power to become the sons of God (John i. 12). In
regard to redemption, however, man has the right of free self-
determination (§ 135) ; he can harden himself against the
offered salvation, against the gracious operations of the Holy
Spirit on his inner man. Hence it may be at once concluded
that the divine act of redemption does not affect the subsequent
history of mankind mechanically after the pattern of a law of
nature, so that the process of historical development from the
appearing of Christ might be represented as that of the history
of a generation made free from sin. This indeed were impos
sible for this reason, that Christianity must first spread itself
among unredeemed mankind, which requires time. So, then,
besides the community of those who believe in Christ, there is
present, from the first the multitude of those who do not yet
believe, or have not yet even once heard of Christ. But even
within the range of the first community, yea, within the range
of the most exclusive, most exactly defined Christian com
munion, individual self-determination remains always free, and
in it the possibility of an opposition to salvation or a turning
away again from it. Hence, then, Christ has foretold (Matt.
xiii. 24-30) that there will be no sort of community which
will not include stalks of tares along with the stalks of wheat.
It therefore follows that there can and must be an organic
Sol
382 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 313.
communion of those who, through holy baptism, confess Christ
as Eedeemer ; but this communion — the Christian Church — is
a communion of the means of grace, not of the effects or results
of grace. God, on His part, stores up in it in. the word and
sacraments all the means which are necessary in order to reach
unto eternal life, but the results of grace — the fruits of the
redeeming act of Christ — are always dependent upon the
individual self-determination. There are within the range of
the Church — the society which hands out to its members the
means of grace — ¦ visible because distinguished by baptism
from all that are without — nominal Christians and hypocrites,
and it never has been and never will be possible to form a
close communion which shall consist of members all truly
converted to Christ, born again of His Spirit, and endued with
the power of a new life. These " true Christians " constitute
the kingdom of God, known only to God, but not visible to
the eyes of men. — But still further : even among the true
Christians the fruits of redemption are here below always only
relative, because even in the redeemed individual alongside of
the new man of regeneration there is still the old man as some-
thins to be overcome, the last remnant of which will first be
utterly destroyed at the death of the body (comp. Eom. vii. 24).'
— If, now, we inquire after the specific fruits of redemption,
after the proofs of its power, we have to advance this proof,
not from the history of Christian communities, but are quite
properly pointed to the biographies of Christian personalities
in whom the gospel has proved itself the power of God. And
thus through all centuries there exists a cloud of witnesses
before our eyes which in no respect comes behind that of the
Old Testament (Heb. xi.). We find among them no single
saint, at least no sinless man, let alone any one who per
formed more than he was bound to do, and had " superfluous
merits." Even the purest Christian had his blemishes, — his
black side, — where the old man was still present in weaknesses
or one-sidednesses of character, in errors, in manifold moment
ary failings. The world hostile to Christianity, which loves
§313.] THE EFFECTS OF REDEMPTION. 383
to blacken the shining and to drag the noble in the dust, is
never weary of pointing with scorn and malicious joy to any
naked point where a Christian lays himself open to attack.
But in doing so it always contributes something of its own, and
after all does not make much of it in the end ; for, if it regards
every sin and sinful weakness in the Christian as so evil, it
thereby involuntarily testifies that, according to its own convic
tion and its own feeling, sin and Christian faith are incompatible
with one another, that therefore Christianity is directly hostile
to sin. Higher praise and fuller recognition Christianity cannot
desire. But whoever now considers with an unprejudiced
mind the history of the kingdom of God, — i.e. of those
witnesses, — this power of patience under sufferings, gentleness
toward persecutors, the constancy of faith which prefers tor
tures and death to denial of the truth, the self-sacrificing love
which goes forth to the erring, the neglected, the miserable,
the sick, the poor, regards it as a sacred duty to alleviate every
sort of trouble, gives up earthly gain and enjoyment, the happi
ness and ease of life, in order to work for Christ's kingdom in
the Spirit of Christ : 'then again, the power of heroic witnessing
against sin with willing endurance of the reproach of Christ,
or, to refer to more homely instances, whoever keeps in view the
sanctity of the family life, the purity of chastely-living youth,
the fostering of quiet domestic happiness in modesty and the
fear of God, the heavenly nobility of Christian wives — whoever
. turns his attention to a Paul (2 Cor. xi.), a Polycarp, an Am
brose, an Augustine, a Monica, a Patrick and Columba, a Peter
Waldus, an Elizabeth of Hesse, to the Eeformers, to those who
witnessed for the gospel with their blood, then again to a Spener,
Cocceius, Lampe, Tersteegen, Francke, Anna Frey, Amelie
Sieveking,Wilberforce, Fliederer, Baron v. Koltwiz, Gossner, and
hundreds who cannot here be named, or thousands of unknown
who yet are known to the Lord, — he will perceive that fruits of
purity, holiness, self-denial, Christian patience and Christian
courage have never been wanting, and that though the Spirit of
Christ here below makes of believers no -sinless saints, He does
384 THE REVELATION. OF GOD. L§ 314.
make men of God, who walk in the fear of the Lord and in the
love of the Lord, and are engaged in a constant struggle against
sin. The celebrated blasphemer of God, now gone to his place,
has thrown contempt upon the position of a Christian engaged
in such a conflict, by comparing him to a beast on which an
angel rides. It is well, then, that the angel finally rides the
beast to death ; better such a riding angel than a mere beast.
The words of Jesus Christ in John xvi. 8—11 retain their
truth : the Holy Spirit proving in actual believers its sin-
conquering power convinces the world that it is wrong in
regard to sin, righteousness, and judgment. In regard to sin,
it becomes apparent that where there is no belief in Christ,
sin undestroyed and unpunished shoots up into a strong
growth. In regard to righteousness, it is felt that a world
which had no place for the solitary Being who was without sin,
but hated, drove away, and slew Him, as it still to-day hates
and to-day would slay Him, has not righteousness on its side ;
the world has a presentiment, and feels that the Church has a
living connection with its invisible, and by the world so much
hated head ; it feels that its hatred is directed against a really
supernatural power of life, and is therefore unrighteousness ;
the invisible Church of Christ is to it a phenomenon that
causes discomfort and uneasiness.1 Then also in regard to
judgment, it is convinced by the Spirit of the Lord proving
itself powerful in that Church, that the final judgment is already
in operation, that the sifting process in the world incessantly goes
on, and what will not let itself be saved is given over to certain
destruction. — But this leads to a second point — to the ferment
ing influence which Christianity exercises upon the world.
§ 314. The Influence of Christianity on the Life of the
People and the State.
By means of the ordinance of baptism instituted by Christ
the multitude of the confessors of Christ are marked out and
1 With the Church as visible it sooner learns how to deal.
§ 314.] THE EFFECTS OF REDEMPTION. 385,
brought together into a visible communion, the Christian
Church. To every member the Christian Church furnishes
the means of grace. In those means and through them the
Holy Spirit exercises His influence upon man (gratia sufficiens) ;
but the kind of use and the result of the means depends on
the self-determination of the man to repentance, faith, sancti
fication. It is possible for a man to withdraw himself from
the operation of the Holy Spirit in the means of grace,
or not to use the means of grace themselves, or finally, to
use them hypocritically and only in appearance.1 Thus
(§ 313) the membership of the Church contains in itself
no guarantee of the membership of the kingdom of God.
But the kingdom of God, the invisible, that is, not visibly
marked off, community of those standing in the new life of
the Spirit of Christ, is within the range of the Christian
Church. With all its defects and blemishes and impurities,
the visible organization bears in it that invisible organism
(Eph. i. 22, iv. 15 ; John xv. 1 ff.) with its heavenly powers,
and therein the former, where it exists, and all the more
powerfully in proportion as it exists in relative purity,
exercises a transforming influence, not only upon the life of
the individual and family, but also upon that of the people
and the State. The influence which it thus exercises is that
of a witness. More than this the Christian Church should
not exercise. It should offer the means of grace, it should
not make their use compulsory, fur then it would usurp
authority over the State, and by civil laws enact entrance into
the Church, therefore baptism,2 or even faith itself. But it
1 One thinks, for example, of the Semite H. Heine, who from purely
worldly motives accepted baptism, and immediately after receiving the
ordinance wrote a letter full of blasphemy against the Christ Whom he
hated. 2 And if not baptism, then also not the Christian consecration of
marriage. That by the introduction of civil marriages the Church and
Christendom should suffer damage, I cannot for my part admit. The
Church will then, if membership in it is a matter of free self-determina
tion, first truly find again the power that comes from independence, and
this is also for the good of the State and public life. Only there evidently
EBRARD III. 2 B
386 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 314.
must and does bear witness, the witness for the truth and
against lies and sin. In this its influence upon the life of
the people consists, in that it wakens the sleeping conscience
even in those who stand far removed from the faith. The
appropriation of redemption is a matter of individual self-
determination ; but conscience is a universal attribute of man
as such (§ 106). Thus, then, history teaches that the Christian
Church wherever it has spread itself, and wherever it has
affected the majority of a nation, has aroused the public con
science, and has in this way secured that deeds, which might
have before passed unpunished, are now repudiated by the
civil legislature and are placed under the criminal code, by
which means the conscience awakened in regard to them is
also kept awake throughout succeeding generations. When
the Eoman State under Constantine adopted Christianity, the
gladiatorial contests, those butcheries for the enjoyment of a
brutalized public, as well as the production of obscene per
formances at the theatre, were forbidden by an act of the
legislature ; the divorces, which had before been possible on
the flimsiest pretences, were in some measure restricted ; the
absolute power of fathers over their children, to kill them or
sell them as slaves, as well as that of masters over their
slaves, was greatly modified; slaves were placed under the
protection of the laws, and their condition generally was
essentially improved ; the prisons were arranged and fitted
in accordance with more humane ideas ; the more horrible
must be in the Church and its officers as much force of character and
ecclesiastical esprit as to exercise in a consistent manner church discipline
against those who actually speak contemptuously of Christianity, e.g. by
the concluding of mixed marriages with those who are not Christians. —
This ecclesiastical esprit is wanting here and there. In the Zurich
State Church, calling itself Beformed, the simple declaration, "I wish
to belong to this State Church," is all that is required in order to be
received into it, and for full membership in it baptism is not indispens
able ! Indeed, the two communions still rub together in the German'
Swiss State Church, the Christian and that of the heathenish " Beformer '
fumbling about in a transition process, but it might be wished that this
process were conducted with some more energy.
§ 314.] THE EFFECTS OF REDEMPTION. 387
forms of penal execution were abolished ; greater privileges
were accorded to women, and widows and orphans, who
previously were utterly uncared for, had now legal protection
extended to them.1
We shall not need to go through all the various nationalities
pointing out the legislative improvements introduced in con
sequence of their receiving Christianity. The notorious
horrors that were publicly suffered : human sacrifices, blood-
revenge, murder, public immoralities and shameful deeds,
have all been prohibited by law. So also slavery was by
degrees completely abolished. When it was introduced
again in a.d. 1516 by Spain and Portugal as negro slavery,
this was done, indeed, on the well-meant but unfortunate
advice of the personally estimable Bishop Las Casas of
Chiapa, by a part of the Christian Church in which the
knowledge of the essential core and centre of Christianity,
the knowledge of the gospel, was thoroughly obscured; and
just in this way is explained the continuance of absolutism
and barbarism during the Middle Ages. By Christian believ
ing statesmen of an evangelical State the abolition of negro
slavery was accomplished. To put it all in a few words :
Not where the Church has become a power, but where in the
Church the gospel has become a power, the Church exercises
its blissful influence as a witness upon the life of the people
and the State. And this influence is one that rejuvenates
the people. In the heathen world (§ 303) civilisation has
passed over particular peoples like a shadowy cloud, and after
it has past they are in deeper barbarism and rudeness than
before. When, on the other hand, the Eoman empire, that had
become politically rotten, was shattered by the wild heathen
German tribes, the Christianity of the conquered overcame
the conquerors. Among the Eomanic mixed races, as well as
among the pure Germans, and later also the Scandinavians,
the civilisation of ancient times lived on, their culture was
1 De Bhoer, dissertatio de effectu religionis christians injurisprudentiam
Romanam, Groni'ng. 1776.
388 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 314.
indeed a slow but steady revival, and with an ever-renewed
and increasing vigour these nations have surmounted every
historical crisis.
One must not, however, on this account entertain the idea
that that is to be ascribed to the credit of ancient civilisation
which was the proof of the power of Christianity ; and so we
turn, finally, to a consideration of the effects which the gospel
has directly produced upon wholly uncivilised peoples. The
modern heathenism of our day, quite properly characterized
on account of its hostility to missions as friendly to heathenism,
though not friendly to the heathens, affirms that missions do
nothing for the savage people's, and that missionary effort is
foolishly lost labour,1 that we should give the heathen people
civilisation, or still better, we should let them follow out their
own development. We simply place these foolish and false
cries over against history. When, in a.d. 1816, the first
English missionaries, Jansen and During, went to the Cape
of Sierra Leone they found there twenty-two different negro
tribes, with twenty - two different idioms or dialects, in a
condition of utter corruption, and threatened with speedy
extinction. They went about quite naked, had no longer
any trace of marriage ; the ideal of that " free love " which is
advocated by a well-known party in our own day was realized
among the negroes, i.e. free sexual intercourse of all with all
as liking prompted, prevailed ; from fifteen to twenty persons
of both sexes lived together in the same hut. The physical
§ 314.] THE EFFECTS OF REDEMPTION. 389
there were only six deaths, while in last three months there
were forty-two births. These four hundred married couples
were Christians, the first - fruits of the mission ; thirteen
hundred negroes took part in Christian worship : five hundred
boys and girls attended school.1 All good qualities and
natural gifts of the Hamitic races, childlike openness and
trustfulness, hearty gratitude, were awakened out of the
grave, where they had slumbered for more than a thousand
years. But, first of all, the conscience had been awakened,.
and, lo, it had suffered itself to awake ; it was still existing,
deep though its sleep had been, and under the light of the
gospel it quickly became a tender conscience, more tender
than that which the enemies of missions possess. This is
not an isolated case. That the Bushmen have reached the
very confines of extinction, and border upon the very brute
creation, has been shown in § 277. But even among them
the gospel has proved its regenerative power. Among many
facts this one will serve as an example, that at the consecration
of a new house of God in Bushland a choir of converted
Bushmen performed well and correctly the chorus, "The
Heavens are telling," from Haydn's Creation.3 Among the
Papuans of Australia the horrible custom prevailed of the
newly - married man giving over his young bride to all the
men of the tribe ; the children begotten from these connec
tions were slain and eaten. The language of the people has
no words for the ideas- " love, fidelity, honour, forgiveness.''
The people have no longer any trace of religion ; instead of it
there is only a faint conception of a good and a bad spirit, to
whom, however, no sort of worship is rendered. Nowhere
have idols or fetiches been met with, no ritual, no priest, no
sacrifice. Long-continued efforts of the Moravian missionaries
proved fruitless. When Threlkeld, nevertheless, attempted a
1 Beports by Jansen, During, and Benner from 1816-1820 in Basl.
Miss. Mag. 1839, H. 2.
2 Schleinitz, " The Lowest of the Heathen," in History of Sixth Confer.
of Evang. Alliance, New York 1874, p. 622.
390 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 314.
new mission enterprise, the unbelieving laughed, even the
believing were doubtful. (Does still Darwinism maintain
that a crow has more mind or spirit than a Papuan !) But in
a.d. 1860 the first-fruits of New Holland Papuans, Nathan ael
Pepper, was baptized ; by this time there is a considerable
number of Christian Papuan villages ; many Papuans have
learnt reading, writing, and arithmetic, and among the twelve
hundred colonial schools of New 'Holland that of Papuan
children at Eamahyuk has lately received from Government
the first prize.1 While previously the number of deaths far
exceeded the births, the relation which they bear to one
another is now quite the reverse. — On the strip of coast down
from Sierra Leone the Methodist missionaries alone, from a.d.
1817 to a.d. 1834, have gathered together no less than 2220
Church members of converted negroes. The Baptists had, in
A.D. 1856, in their East Indian and South African Mission
Stations 4240 communicants. And these are just the two
denominations which are most inclined to be slow in admitting
to baptism. In the New Hebrides, where in a.d. 1839 the
missionary Williams was killed and eaten, there are now
50,000 converts. In New Holland, among those Papuans
that had become almost brutish, the missionary Threlkeld has
wrought with most encouraging success ; even in them con
science had only been asleep ; so soon as it was awakened
and had found peace in Christ, they became instead of
apparently half-ape like creatures, God-fearing and civilised
men. In the West Indies there were, in a.d. 1825, not less
than 40,000 converted negro slaves. If one takes the trouble
and reads the history of the conversion of the Bechuanas and
1 Supra, p. 621. — Our Darwinians should not stop short of instituting
crow-schools and securing still further the culture of the crows, as
Threlkeld has done for the Papuans. If they do not succeed, it is clearly
proven that the heathen Papuans do not represent a low grade of natural
development like the crows, but are actual men, i.e. qualitatively dis
tinguished from the brutes by having a self-consciousness and a conscience
that may be awakened, and so has not been utterly destroyed, and that
their nature has only been deeply sunk in sin and through sin.
§ 315.] THE EFFECTS OF REDEMPTION. 391'
Bassutos in South Africa, that of the Fiji islanders wholly
converted, of New Holland, of the Sandwich Islands, since
a.d. 1831 wholly converted, of the Karens and others of
Further India, with 14,000 communicants, among a profess
ing Christian population of 100,000, of the Kolhs, etc.,1 — if
one reads that, he will soon see that only miserable and pitiful
ignorance can form such absurd judgments as those which we
have quoted. Along with salvation the gospel has brought
to the heathens a pure civilisation (Matt. vi. 33). But what
has civilisation without Christianity ever brought to the
heathens ? Brandy and opium.2 For a civilisation that is
carried out in the service of selfishness and greed brings not
culture, but only produces a more terrible barbarism among
the heathens. Civilised men, if in themselves conscience has
not been awakened, are unscrupulous in making use of the
heathens for their own selfish ends, but cannot be expected to
be able to awaken conscience in the heathen. This can only
be done by the witness of the gospel carried out by the
Church. And only on the basis of an awakened conscience
can true civilisation grow.
§ 315. The Influence of Sin on the Christian Life of the
Community.
If the Christian Church, by reason of the power of the
gospel living in it, exercises an influence of such a sort upon
the world and society by means of the witness of the truth, it
cannot be wondered at that the power of sinful purpose present
in the world, which is not willing to have itself punished,
should lead on a hostile reaction against the Church as the
1 Comp. especially Warneck on Missions in Allg. Conservat. Monat-
sohrift of Nathusius (1879, May and June), also in Daheim of that date,
in the literature quoted by him on the subject.
2 Messrs. Kossak and company speak glibly as if the Christian-hearted
people of England should bear the blame of the opium traffic. In
England there are friends of missions ; in England there are also opium
traders ; consequently these two are one and the same persons ! !
392 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 315.
bearer of the gospel. There was first of all the downright
hostility of bloody violent persecution ; but the virofiovr] ko\
TrtoTt? ra>v dyimv won the victory over the rage of the enemies,
the Spirit of Jesus Christ was victorious over brutal cruelty.
Even the craftily conceived system of Neo-Platonism, which
arose about the middle of the third century, proved impotent
over against the gospel, and was buried with its chief patron,
Julian the Apostate, in the same coffin " which the son of the
carpenter" made for them. Much more formidable was, and
still is even to this day, a kingdom of lies in which during
the seventh century the opposition of the darkness to the light
gained for itself concentrated force. Once again it was a
Semitic tribe which put itself in the hands of the Prince of
darkness as his fit and convenient tool. If God had chosen the
Semitic Israel as His people, that they, because quite destitute
of natural goodness, should in the persons of their believing
members appear a pure work of divine grace, but in the persons
of unbelievers should vent forth their sin as wickedness against
Jesus, it was this time the Prince of darkness who chose the
Semitic race of Ishmael as his people and instrument, in order
to produce in an amalgam of truth and lies a religion which,
like a poisonous simoom, has spread its life-destroying presence
over a great part of the earth. A mongrel product of mantic
fanaticism and cunning calculation, borrowing a monotheism of
merely doctrinaire significance from a corrupted heretical
Christianity and from the Judaism that survived among the
Old Arabians (§ 255, Obs.), removing from its idea of God the
attribute of holiness, and from its idea of Christianity its central
point, redemption, by some external observances, which were
not very grievous to the flesh, silencing conscience, setting
aside the mystery of the incarnation of the eternal personal
love by shallow rationalistic arguments, Islam, under its two
chief forms of savage and fanatical cruelty and calm refined
sensuality, has emancipated the flesh, degraded the position of
the wife, destroyed the family life, changed the State into a
despotism, and under the varnish of an outward appearance
§ 315.] THE EFFECTS OF REDEMPTION. 393
of civilisation has made true culture of the mind impossible.1
Islam, possessed of such deadly power, not only well-nigh
extinguished the Eastern Church which had already become
inwardly rotten, and even temporarily endangered the Church
of the West, but also like a wall of separation forced itself
between Christian Europe and the African and Asiatic heathen
world from the Pillars of Hercules to the Aral and Balkash
lakes, and for centuries, down to the discovery and opening
up of the seaway to the East Indies, made it impossible for
Christendom to exercise any influence upon heathendom, or do
anything for the spread of the gospel.2
And yet these outside foes of Christianity are not altogether
the worst. More hurtful than the opposition to the gospel by
the world from without, is the influence which sin, present
in the human race as a pathological condition (§115 ff.), and
even, too, among the most pure and faithful Christians not yet
wholly overcome, exercises upon the life of Christian society,
and therefore upon the Christian Church. It is no evidence
against Christianity, but rather a witness to its truth, that the
condition of Christendom as a whole shows no rising, but a
steady sinking, no development, but a growing decay, a Baby
lonian confusion of truth and lies, and that the history of the
Church or " Christendom " after a certain point moves down-
1 It was with the foreign plumes of Old Persian civilisation that the
oft-praised Chalifat of Haroun al-Baschid adorned itself. Islam could
not preserve this culture, but could only help to kill it out among the
Persians. On the weird stories of the demoniacal origin of Islam and its
whole system, comp. Miihleisen- Arnold, Ishmael, or the Bible and the
Koran. 2 Nothing can be more perverse than the assertion that Islamic Semitism,
by reason of its monotheism derived from natural Semitic tendencies (!),
formed for the negro races a bridge over to Christianity. One only needs
to read Livingstone's and Baker's travels to be convinced how that boasted
Semitism brings to the negroes along with the slave trade, war, brandy,
murder, mutilation, and destruction, without even making an attempt to
convert the heathen to monotheism. One may read in Bholf's Quer durch
Africa, how still under our very eyes well-disposed and peaceable negro
tribes were changed by Islamism into crafty fanatics, and how, alongside
of other praiseworthy institutions, Islam has introduced among them
syphilis.
394 THE REVELATION OF GOD. L§ 315.
ward, where it must reach a final crisis, and where a new divine
act will separate the gold from the dross, the wheat from the
tares (Matt. xiii. 41 ; Eev. xix. 16, 19). Pantheistic dreamers
have fabled that mankind will always grow better, till the
Church will be quite superfluous, and finally be absorbed inthe
State. Jesus Christ prophesies the opposite. The Babylonian
blending of truth and lies becomes ever finer and more subtle.
The characteristics of this course of development are shadowed
forth in the history of the apostolic age. Paul during his
lifetime had to fight against a Judaistic legal perversion of
Christianity. It was not that Israel was chosen as the instru
ment of God for the sake of redemption, and redemption
wrought for all penitent members of the sinful human race,
but Christ was to come for ¦ Israel's sake, and one must first
become an Israelite through circumcision and observance of the
law before he can have a part in Christ. So Christ was
regarded as a machine for blessing, a thesaurus beatitudinis
for Israel, and man's fulfilling of the law was to guarantee and
secure salvation.1 About the time of his departure Paul
prophesied of a directly opposite heretical tendency as immi
nent, of an antinomian character, and what he prophesied was
fulfilled soon after in the appearance of Gnosticism within the
Church, against which Jude and John contended, and (1 John
ii. 19) banished from the Church, so that from the second
century it was found in sects outside the Church's pale. It
was not through the question, What must I do to be saved,
to be freed from guilt and sin, that those Gnostics were drawn
to Christianity, but they hoped to find solutions for cosmo-
logical, religious - historical, and pagan - ethical problems in
particular points of the Christian doctrine. They took Chris
tianity not for that which it is, as redemption from sin, but as
something entirely different, yea, directly the opposite Of this.
They were not concerned with redemption from sin, but with
the palliation of sin. So they shifted the guilt of sin from
' x Against the fundamental error of the ?ra.peid«8e?i?!o/, Paul can
cite the authority of the twelve apostles on his side. Gal. ii. 6 ; Acts xv.
§ 315.] THE EFFECTS OF REDEMPTION. 395
man on to matter and on to the Demiurge, who as dis
tinguished from the highest God was the creator of matter.
That in Christ, the eternal personal love, the eternally-loved,
loving One became man, in order to manifest absolute love in
substitutionary suffering of death and of absolute pain on
account of sin, was to them, who longed for no redemption,
as inconceivable as it is to Pantheists of to-day. They ex
plained Jesus, either as having assumed the appearance of a
body,1 or as a mere man distinguished from the "Aeon
Christ." 2 The Aeon Christ should not suffer, should not die,
but should only have brought a philosophical knowledge, or
have redeemed the spirit from matter. Since sin was now
regarded, not as a determination of the will, but only as conse
quence of connection with matter, it followed that no sin
which He committed could stain the spirit inwardly redeemed
from matter, that to Him anything was allowable. — During
the apostolic age such errors could not be affirmed within the
Christian Church ; by powerful discipline the Church was
purged of such heresies. But in the post-apostolic age we
have what in the course of almost two thousand years has
been repeated in a remarkably similar manner. Understand
ing that the gospel means of grace are to be found within and
notj without the Church, that outside of it are only Jewish,
pagan, and gnostic lies, men like Ignatius exhorted to faithful
combination and union under the eirio-Koirot,. This was what
might be expected and is justifiable. But when even over
against earnest, though in part morbidly earnest tendencies,
like those of the Montanists, the Novatians, and Donatists, a
Cyprian and an Augustine place the consensus episcoporum
as the criterion of truth, it was not a long step that was
needed to set aside the proposition, " The Church possesses the
1 So the Naassenes and Perates (Hippolytus, Book V.) ; also the
Gnostics of Tralles, Smyrna, and Ephesus (Ignat. Smyr. ii. and v., Eph.
xviii., and Trail, x.).
2 So Cerinthus (Iren. i. 26). According to the testimony of Polycarp
(in Iren. iii. 3. 4), Cerinthus was a contemporary of John, and lived beside
him in Ephesus.
396 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 315.
truth because it possesses the gospel," and substitute for it its
opposite, " The gospel is truth because it is taught by the
Church." Thus the Church was not for the sake of the gospel,
but the gospel was for the sake of the Church, as among the
Jewish teachers Christ was for the Israelites. Soon this
instinctive, demoniacal striving after dominion, inherited from
paganism, gained possession of that distorted proposition, of
the Eoman chair significantly standing forth among the turmoil
of the movements of the nations, " Truth depends upon the
consensus episcoporum." This must be carefully guarded, and
how could this be done more effectually than by a sovereign pon
tiff ? for which rank the Bishop of Borne endeavoured eagerly
to qualify himself by the use of utterly unhistorical figments.
By what means from that day forth the Eoman chair proceeded
to break down and destroy every National Church independent
of Eome which would not submit itself to him, how he made
his command and laws paramount, but the grace of God a
thesaurus, under the custody of the Church of Eome, the
treasures of which must be merited by works and acts of
obedience, while in practice he turned the glance of the Chris
tian away from the Eedeemer to the ecclesiastical means, Pope,
priesthood, mass, indulgences, Mary and the saints, and de
manded submission from States and their rulers as the general
dispenser of the divine grace, may be learnt from Church
history. When, among the Eeformers, the Paulus redivivus
opposed to this pagan creature-worshipping as well as Judaistic-
legal system the evangelical witness, the Eoman Pontiff
hardened himself and lost his opportunity, engaged in cruel
persecutions of the gospel in Spain, France, Holland, Italy,
Hungary, and at first also in Great Britain, played the role
which once the heathen world had played, and produced in the
diabolical craft of the order of the Jesuits and other instru
ments a moral pest, the like of which paganism had never
known. The corrupt products of a Christianity reared upon
lies must necessarily be more poisonous and vile than those of
heathenism. Nitrate of potash gives nitre, but nitrate of silver
§ 315.] THE EFFECTS OF REDEMPTION. 397
gives lunar caustic. Only madness can charge the offensive
manifestations of the papacy against Christianity, or, yet more
silly, against religion in abstracto. It is only reasonable that
one should distinguish between the gospel and an ecclesiastical
institution. The former is the truth revealed by God, the
latter a product of. the reception of this truth on the part of
man. An ecclesiastical institution may become faulty and
decay ; the gospel, never. The gospel is and remains for ever
one and the same ; a Church institution can change, because
it sets in the place of the gospel figments of human sin, or
adulterates the gospel with such ingredients. Hence, then,
arise those manifestations of moral corruption. But senseless
as it is to lay to the charge of Christianity, i.e. the gospel,
those manifestations which have their origin just, in departure
from the gospel, nevertheless the world, which eagerly catches
at every kind of reproach against the truth, draws this false
conclusion. It confounds with the gospel the faults of the
Christian community, of the Church. Because men in opposi
tion to the gospel misuse the name of the gospel, or Chris
tianity, or Christ, or the forgiveness of sins, or grace, etc., in
the service of their lust of power or greed, for the delusion,
yea, for the actual stupefying of the people, the mass of those
who have not yet come to a knowledge of their sinful misery,
have no longing after salvation, yea, no wish to be delivered
from sin, immediately will draw with instinctive cunning
the false conclusion, "therefore this whole affair of Christ,
forgiveness of sins, etc., is silly deceit, the gospel only a trick
or delusion, all religion only a sham." Because an infected
pseudo-Church has involved itself in the guilt of fanatical, yea,
Satanic persecutions, the bulk of people draw the false conclu
sion that all religion is fanatical and leads to fanaticism.
Thus is unbelief bound in the fetters of superstition. The
confused mixture of truth and lies in Eoman Catholicism
has brought truth into discredit.1 The theory of unbelief, like
1 Of the pillagings by soldiers under Louis XIV. Chateaubriand writes :
" The sight of the narrow-minded and cruel bigotry of the king, of the
398 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 315.
that of a new Gnosticism, yea, of a repristinated Buddhistic
paganism, was first of all found out in the form of a philo
sophical theory by a Semite, Baruch Spinoza (§ 182). It
belongs as such to the province of philosophical science. But,
that the essential view in this system, the denial of the per
sonal, holy, willing God, the theory of absolute natural necessity
under which the Absolute Himself stands, therefore the explain
ing away of sin as a necessary moment in the world's develop
ment, and the denial of the miraculous, — that this essential
view, since Bayle, the Deists, and Encyclopaedists, could keep
hold of the masses of the people, and that during one genera
tion also in Germany should have thoroughly permeated the
masses, is a consequence of that discredit into which the gospel
of God has been brought through faulty Church organizations
of men. And this is to be said of Churches Eoman or non-
Eoman, for who will deny that even the period of orthodoxy
in the Evangelical Churches, and even Pietism itself, has here
its seamy side ? But here now a conclusion obtrudes itself
which we cannot refuse to draw : Superstition and unbelief
work together hand in hand, though the representatives of the
two tendencies have not this in view. According to their
individual intention they hit wildly at one another, and thereby
the one only furthers the other. The farther the confusing
power of the amalgamating of truth and lies pushes its
(pap/jiaice'iai, the more surely do the masses turn away from all
truth. The more daintily and consistently unbelief undermines
all the grand works of moral, and therefore of social and civil
order, the more surely will instances occur in which the
dishonourable tricks of his godfather, of the profanation of the sacraments
approved by the clergy, of the soldiers transformed into missionaries, of
the soiling of religion with blood and horrors, of the priests who trampled
under foot all human and divine laws, were the immediate cause that
drove the upper classes into the arms of scepticism." — In our own days,
how much have the two newly-ordained doctrines of Pius IX., together
with his contention against the civil power, contributed to arouse multi
tudes in Germany to make a great outcry against the whole of Christianity
and the gospel, which is indiscriminately summed together under the
name of the papacy !
§ 315.] THE EFFECTS OF REDEMPTION. 399
comfortless, weary, and excited masses, because they cannot
longer exist upon mere negations, will cast themselves into the
arms of the most extravagant superstitions of the Church.
We see here standing over the individual will of sinful man a
higher power opposed to God, a providence of evil which
operates against the providence of God, only, indeed, with the
prospect of a certain final overthrow by a last decisive act of
God. Thus by ocular demonstration and experience what Holy
Scripture says of the Prince of this world is confirmed, not a
supernatural, not a supramundane, but a superhuman being,
because belonging to another department of creation than the
earth, a created being wilfully rebelling against God ; and this
doctrine of Scripture is the truth, the caricature of which is
seen in the heathens' fear of evil spirits and in the heathens'
worship of evil spirits. Paganism, not recognising sin as evil,
traces evil back to evil spirits, which it seeks to pacify by sacri
fices, to curse and bind by sorcery ; Christianity recognises in
calamity and evil God's chastisements, but acknowledges as the
tempter to sin, and as him whose plans directed against God,
the will of man directed against God must involuntarily carry
out, a prince of darkness, against whom no sorcery, but only
believing surrender to God's purpose of grace, can avail. —
Under the successive forms of lies, the Church that has let its
place be usurped by a lie and open revolt from Church and
Christianity, the invisible Church of the members of Christ,
which in time is still the invisible kingdom of Christ, has to
suffer. In the history of this kingdom the history of the Lord is
repeated. The persecution of the child Jesus by Herod answers
to the pre-Constantine persecution by the heathen world outside
the Church. The age that followed corresponds to the three
and a half years' official activity of Christ. When the pro
phesied falling away (Eev. xvii.) has been accomplished, and an
end has been made of the witness of the law (§ 314) and of
the gospel (Eev. xi. 7 ff), then will the days of the passion
for the invisible Church of Christ have come, which He will
bring to an end by His second coming.
400 THE REVELATION OF GOD. [§ 315.
Where do we stand ? Whoever considers attentively the
signs of the times, will be ready to admit that our age is com
parable to the last year of the active work of Christ, where
the great masses of the people of Israel, who previously had
followed under a mistaken enthusiasm, turned away from Him,
and left Him alone with His disciples (Matt. xvi.-xx.). In
this present day, again, this same Semitic people appears as
chief operator in introducing a phase of modern Sadduceanisra
which aims at overthrowing the Christian faith of the
Germanic and Germano-Eoman, but mainly the Germanic
races, and carrying out a propaganda on behalf of a pantheistic
theory of the world, and strives in this way to decompose and
destroy as much as possible the specifically Japhetic- Aryan
nationality of the German peoples. That the modern State,
under the influence of evangelical church institutions, no
longer persecutes and oppresses the Jews as the mediaeval
State did, under the influence of the Eomish Church, is in the
highest degree proper ; but not so this, that the members of
this foreign race, with the characteristic forwardness of their
race,1 should not only take their place in the German States
alongside of others, but should bit by bit give the lead in the
press and in the legislative assemblies.2 Our German people
has been only too complaisant toward them during this
generation. The social and civil life of the people is already
dominated by pantheistic ideas. " Laissez faire I Leave
unrestricted freedom to the will of the individual ; all evil
corrects itself as a moment in the necessary course of develop
ment, and will do so infallibly of ' itself." In the social and
1 It deserves to be recorded that a Jewish paper appearing in Berlin
had the impudence to demand the abolition of the Christian second
festival !
2 Comp. Constant. Frantz, Der Nationalliberalismus und die Judenherr-
schaft, Munchen 1874.— Yet quite curtly has a distinguished Jewish
literateur spoken out in a publication : " German Judaism works now so
powerfully, so vigorously, so unweariedly for the new culture and science
that the greatest part of Christianity [sic! he would say : Christendom]
consciously or unconsciously is guided by the spirit of modern Judaism.'
Comp. Deutsche Reichspost, 1879, 23 Juli.
§ 315.] THE EFFECTS OF REDEMPTION. 401
civil economic sphere it is said : " The egoism of the
individual already secures its own highest well-being ; when
prices are dear, then importation increases ; work is mer
chandise ; " and are spoken of as the infallible dicta of the
Manchester school ! But experience has shown that the
principle of unrestricted egoism (since labour is a sort of
merchandise which cannot be piled up) leads to nothing else
than a depression in the rewards of labour in favour of the
capitalists and to their immense enriching, and a fit of rage
on the part of men robbed of their Christian faith and
Christian Ethics, an incitement of the labourers also by the
egoism of the religion of this world against the propertied
classes, and consequently the danger of a bellum omnium
contra omnes, an overthrow of all culture and civilisation. In
the sphere of politics we meet with this idea : " All men
have an equal right to govern. To govern is not to acknow
ledge and carry out God's will, but the will of the majority.
Since man is good by nature, the will of the majority is
infallibly good, and what may nevertheless be perverse is
corrected of itself in the process of development. Hence
universal suffrage." But experience has taught that men by
nature are not good, but are possessed by the passions of
greed, lust of power, vanity, and that fear of man which
sacrifices conviction, for fear of giving offence, and that
election by universal suffrage- is a mere farce, where the
masses are lured and wooed by party leaders with ill-under
stood catchwords and phrases of the day, and led about as
blind tools, with no will of their own, by the will of those
leaders. In the department of journalism we meet with the
following proposition : " Freedom of the press ! Only let all
untruth and poison be freely spread abroad! Truth can
likewise be disseminated, and will thus surely gain the
victory." Yes, truly, if it would be read ! But not the truth,
but the money turns the scale in deciding what sheets shall
find the widest circulation. And if one succeeds after many
sacrifices in founding and maintaining papers which oppose
EBRAED III. 2 C
402 . THE REVELATION OF GOD. ' [§"315:
untruth and afford an antidote to the poison, they are not
read just by those who are most in need of such an antidote.
Should one then be still obliged to prove what sort of
influence the pantheistic falsehoods about the natural excellence
of man and about sin as a self-correcting moment in the
process of development exercises in the department of educa
tion and in our schools ? — We stand over an abyss. Our
national and civil life is disorganized by the perverse teaching
of that antichristian system. A people that shuns the
quickening influence and conscience-awakening witness of the
gospel, loses the power of self-renewing and of continued
existence, and mankind fallen away from Christianity passes
down into utter corruption (Matt. xxiv. 28). Have we gone
so f ar ? It is still possible to recover lost ground. Still in
our German people there is a remnant, not of millions, but of
many thousands, who have not bowed their knees to Baal, this
old god of pantheism, and who in the fear of the Lord exert
all the powers wherewith God has endowed them in witness
ing by word and deed against untruth, sin, and shamelessness,
on behalf of the truth that man is a sinner and needs
redemption, and that not egoism, but self-denying love, which
endeavours first to secure the well-being of its neighbour and
the community, and then afterwards its own, makes a people
happy. God grant that this book may contribute its mite to.
the dissemination of this truth.
INDEX.
Achilles heel of materialis
tic theories, . . . i. 373
Adaptation in nature, . . i. 162
in the Darwinian
theory ii. 24
Africa, Races of, . . . iii. 113
Ahuramazda in the Iranian
traditions, ii. 195
Alfurus, Religion of the, . iii. 109
America, Races of, . . iii. 142
Ameshaspehtas in Iranian
- traditions, . . . ii. 195
Ammonites, Religion of the, ii. 349
Amraphal, War of, . . ii. 321
Ancestry, Worship of, . . ii. 165
Angromainyus, Iranian legend
of, ii. 200
Animal, The psychical func
tions of the, . '. '. i. 145
Apologetics as a science, . i. 1-12
Arabians, Ancient religion
of the, ii. 360
Aruacas, Religion of the, . iii. 167
Aryan-Indian religion, . ii. 143
Aschera, Worship of, . . . ii. 337
Asia, Races of, . . . iii. 1
Assyrians, Religion of the, . ii. 328
Assyrio - Babylonian tradi
tions, ii. 363
Astarte, Worship of, . . ii. 338
Avesta, Sacred book, of the
Iranians, . . . . ii. 187
Aymaras, The religion of the, iii. 197
The empire of the, . iii. 209
Aztecs, Traditions of the, . iii. 226
Buddhism of the, . iii. 293
Religion of the, . . iii. 285
Baal, "Worship .of, ii. 337, 351, 355
Babel, Building of the tower
of, . . . ii. 357, 371, iii. 137, 327
Babylonians, Religion of
the, ii. 328
Baldr, a Norse deity, . . ii. 411
Basques, an Indo-Germanic
vol
PAGE
people,
ii
. 373
Basques, their history and
religion,
ii
387
Bilu and Bilit, Worship of,
ii
340
Brahma,
ii
166
Brahmanical priesthood,
ii
171'
schools, .
ii
174
Brahmanism, Origin of,
ii
167
Buddhism of the Aztecs,
iii
293
among Mongolian
tribes, . . . .
iii
33
Canaanites, Origin of the,
ii.
284
Religion of the, .
ii.
328
Caribs, Religion and legends
of the, . . . .
ii.
183
Celtic nations, Religion of
the,. ....
ii.
402
Ceylon, Ancient religion of,
iii.
46
Chemosh, God of Ammonites
and Moabites, .
ii.
350
Chichimecs, Origin and re
ligion of the, .
iii.
264
Chinese ; their immigration
into America, .
iii.
226
Chinese, Religion of the,
iii.
52
Christianity, Nature of,
i.
15
its influence on society,
iii.
384
Confusion of languages at
Babel, ....
iii.
327
Conscience, ....
i.
250
Consciousness, Facts of,
i.
25
Consciousness of guilt,
i.
272
Creation, Legends of the, ii. 363
, iii.
313
Crimes, their place in moral
statistics,
ii.
82
Cushite races of Asia and
Polynesia,
iii.
95
Cushite races of South Africa,
iii.
121
Dagon, a deity of the Philis
tines, . . . . ii. 347
Darwinian theory of descent, ii. 1-69
404
INDEX.
VOL. PAGE
Derceto, a deity of the Philis
tines, . . . . ii. 347
Design, Proof of the theory
of, ... . i. 162-198
Design of the Universe, . i. 235
in rudimentary organs, i. 396
in nature, Presumed
absence of, i. 400
Design in nature, Evidence
of, . . . . . i. 402
Devas in Iranian religious
system i. 200
Donar ; German name of the
Norse Thorr, ii. 409
Doric influence on Greek
religion, ii. 252
Dualism of Zarathustra, . ii. 215
i. 110
i. 198
ii. 263
ii. 266
ii. 278
ii. 47
Ego, Self-certainty of the, .
Relation of, to the laws
of the outer world, .
Egyptians, Gods of the,
Myths of the,
Ethics of the,
Embryogenesis and phylo
genesis, ....
Ethical law and its con
tents, . . . i. 236-288
Ethical law and its author, . i. 17
Origin of, . . . i. 21
no law of nature, . i. 23
Existence of God, Proofs of
the,. . . i. 227, 230, 248
External world, Knowledge
of the, . . . . i. 26-100
Fall, Traditions of the, ii. 226, 365,
iii. 136, 313
Fall, Authenticity of the, . i. 310
Fetichism among African
tribes iii. 122
Fichte, ii. 106
Finnic tribes, Religion of, . iii. 5
Flood, Traditions of the, . ii. 183,
227, 248, 366, iii. 137, 311
Flood, its place in history of
redemption, . . . iii. 325
Force, Denial of idea of, . i. 371
Freedom of the will, i. 266, 268,
ii. 85
and permission of evil,
Freyr ; Norse god of fruit-
fulness
Functions of Blood, Mechan
istic explanations of, ,
Geologt contradicts Dar
winism, ....
Germans, Religon of the
ancient, ....
God, the self - conscious
author of the world,
i.
303
ii.
411
i.
378
ii
56
ii.
407
i.
219
VOL. PAGE
God, Proofs for existence of, i. 277, 248
Feeling of constraint to
. know i. 236
Gospel, no human invention,
The i. 341
Government of the world,
Divine i. 307
Greeks, Religion of the, ii. 232-259
Gwydion ; Cambrian name of
Teutonic deity, . . ii. 408
Haeckel's arguments, Re^
view of, .
Hamites, Moral and intellec
tual character of the, iii. 344, 347
Hartmann ; his physical and
philosophical system,
Hegel, Philosophical system
of,
Hegelianism, Failure of,
Heredity and transmission
according to Darwin,
History : what may and may
not be learned from it,
History of religions, . ii. 143— iii. 314
Homeric age of Greek re
ligion, . .
Hottentots, Religion of the, .
Huitzi ; war - god of the
Aztecs
Humanity, Hypothesis of
sinless development of, .
Hungarians ; their appear
ance in Europe,
Hyksos, Researches in regard
to the, ....
ii. 15
iii. 116
iii. 110
iii. 124
ii. 35
ii. 133
ii. 249
iii. 129
iii. 285
i. 320
ii. 271
Impotence of the will, . i. 211
Inability of man to save him
self, . . . . i. 329
Incarnation of Christ con
ceivable, . . . . i. 346
Incas ; their relation to the
Toltecs, . . . .iii. 236
Incas, Empire of the, . . iii. 246
Religion of the, . . iii. 250
India, Religions of Higher, . iii. 46
Indian religions, . . ii. 143-186
Indians originally connected
with Iranians, ii. 221
Indra period in history of
Indian religion, . . ii. 160
Inorganic and organic na
ture, . . . . i. 125
Instinct, Mechanistic ex
planations of, . . . i. 388
Iranian religion, . . ii. 186-232
traditions, ii. 225
Japan, Religion of, . . iii. 66
Judges, Period of the, . . iii. 359
INDEX.
405
Kings and Prophets, Period
of the, ...
Knowledge of God, . ii,
of self, . . ii,
Kolhs, Religion and culture
of the, . . . .
Lamaism among the Mon
golian tribes, .
Language, The origin of, .
Languages, Laws of trans
mutation of, .
Confusion,
Law, The Moral, .
Contents of the Ethical,
Linguistic peculiarities of the
Basques, ....
VOL. PAGE
iii. 364
208-236100-208 iii. 99
111.
38
i.
71
i.
287
iii.
327
i.
17
i.
251
ii. 375
iii. 158
iii. 148
iii. 82
i. 199
i. 248
i. 329
ii. 77
n.
ii.
ii. 94
Malay religions in America,
Traces of, ...
Malays into America, Immi
gration of,
Malays, Religions of the,
Man : the ultimate design of
nature, ....
his destiny according to
ethical law,
Man's inability to redeem
himself, ....
Marriage as viewed in moral
statistics,
Materialism, Consequences
of,
fails to construct a moral
system, ....
related to Pantheism,
Materialistic and Christian
estimates of man,
Materialists, Argumentation
of, ....
Mayas, The legends of the,
Mechanistic theory of the
world, . . . i. 371-395
Miracles of Christ conceiv
able, ....
Miracles, Possibility of,
Moabites, Religion of the, .
Monads of various orders, .
Mongolian races, Character
istics and distribution of, .
Buddhism among the,
Traces of their immi
gration into America,
Mongols, Ancient religion of
the, ....
Monotheism of Israel,
of Zarathustra, .
Traces of, in
peoples, .
Moral Law,
Moral statistics, .
80
257
i. 346
Muyscas, The Empire and
Religion of the,
Nahuatlacs, Traditions and
religion of the,
Nature and man,
Negritos, The religion and
culture of the,
Negroes, The religion and
traditions of the,
Odhinn ; a Norse and Ger
man deity,
Odshi negroes, Legends and
religion of, .
Organic nature, .
Origin of sin,
Paganism the caricature of
Christianity,
Pangenesis, Theory of,
Pantheism a paralogism,
Pantheism : can it afford an
explanation of the uni
verse ? . . . .
Papuans, Religion of the, .
Parseeism ; the Persian re
ligious system,
The dark side of,
Pathological effects of evil
volition in the individual,
Patriarchal age, God's edu
cative procedure in the, .
Pelasgians, Origin of the, .
Divinities of the,
Perception, The theory of, .
Philistines, Religion of the,
Phoenicians, Religion of
the, ....
Phylogenesis ; its relation
to embryogenesis, .
Polynesians, Culture, reli
gion, and traditions of the,
Polytheistic corruptions of
religion, . . ii.
VOL. PAOE
iii. 214
264 195
iii. 109
iii. 131
ii. 415
i.
325
ii.
349
Redemption, Divine act of,
i
134
Effects of, .
Outline of idea of,
iii.
14
as set forth in revela
iii.
33
tion, . . . .
of Christ corresponds
iii.
188
to requirements,
Redemptive acts of God,
iii.
41
Redskins, The religion of,
iii.
339
Traditions of,
ii.
209
Reflective consciousness,
Reflex motives, Mechanistic
32,
etc.
explanation of,
i.
17
Regenerative principle, Me
ii.
81
chanistic explanation of,
iii
. 132
i
. 125
i
. 298
ii:
. 322
i
. 390
i
. 204
ii
116
iii
109
ii
189
ii
224
i
269
iii
348
ii
235
ii
237
i.
26
ii.
347
ii.
336
ii.
47
iii.
87
63,
257
iii.
372
iii.
381
i.
328
i.
332
i.
342
iii.
325
iii.
301
iii.
311
i.
90
i. 383
i. 384
406
INDEX.
Reminiscence no activity of
brain and nerve, . .
Romans, Religion of the,,
Sakva Mouni, .
Schelling, The philosophical
system of, '. .
Scholastic period in history
of Indian religion, .
Self-certainty of the Ego,
Self-consciousness, ' .
Semites, Moral, and, intel
lectual character of the,
of the Euphrates,
Semitic race and choice of
the covenant people,
Separation of the peoples.
Sexual selection^
Shamanism among Tartar
tribes,
Sin, The fact of,
¦ — ^ The nature of, .
The origin of,
The possibility of,
¦Slavs, Religion of the,
Spinoza, The philosophy of,
Struggle for existence,
Subjectivity, The two kinds
of, . . . .
Sutra theology : a reaction
ary movement,
Table of the nations,
Tamanacs,' Religion of the,
Tartars, The religion of the,
Teleological theses proved, .
Teleology, The proof of,
Tibet, Religion and tradi
tions of, .
Toltecs, Origin of the, , '.
Legends of the, .
Traditions' of all races, A
common element in,
VOL.
PAGE
i.
38
ii
259
ii. 179
ii. 109
ii. 178
ii. 110
ii. 104
iii. 345
ii. 355
iii. 343
iii. 327
ii. 44
iii, 11
i. 259
i. 266
i. 298
i. 314
ii. 407
ii. 100
ii. 36
i. 223
ii. 181
ii. 393
iii. 167
iii. i,
10
164402
iii. 46
iii. 236
iii. 257
iii. 319
Tshuktchis, Immigration
into America of the,
Tsonecas, The religion of
the, ....
Ugkian races, Ethnographi
cal and historical sketch
of, . . . . .
Ultimate design of nature:
Man,
Unconscious thinking,
Unity of Malay-Polynesian
group of tribe's,
Unreflected thought, .
Variability and adaptation
according to Darwinism, .
Vedic period in history of
Indian religion, . ' .
Vegetable, kingdom,, Dar
winian theory of, . .
Natural law in .the,
Vital force,
Denial of idea of,
Will, Province of the,
— — Free and not free,
Not absolutely free, .
-Limits to. freedom of
the, ....
World, Our knowledge of
the external,
.Influence of Christianity
upon the,
Ya£atas in the Persian re
ligious system,
VOL. PAGE
iii. 264
iii. 165
i.i.
199 81
iii. i.
7481
ii.
24
ii.
145
ii. i.i.i.
18
142 131
375
i. i.
ii.
56
266 85
i.
267
i.
26
iii.
384
ii. 197
Zaeathustra ; Persian re
ligious reformer, ii. 1'86, 209, 215
Zend, the Huzvaresh trans
lation of the Avesta, . ii. 193
THE END.
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