I do not affirm that the practice of human sacrifice is in every case based on the idea of substitution; the notion that a certain god has a desire for such sacrifices may no doubt induce his worshippers to gratify this desire for a variety of purposes. But I think there is sufficient evidence to prove that, when men offer the lives of their fellow-men in sacrifice to their gods, they do so as a rule in the hopes of thereby saving their own. Human sacrifice is essentially a method of life-insurance—absurd, no doubt, according to our ideas, but not an act of wanton cruelty. When practised for the benefit of the community or in a case of national distress, it is hardly more cruel than to advocate the infliction of capital punishment on the ground of social expediency, or to compel thousands of men to suffer death on the battle-field on behalf of their country. The custom of human sacrifice admits that the life of one is taken to save the lives of many, or that an inferior individual is put to death for the purpose of preventing the death of somebody who has a higher right to live. Sometimes the king or chief is sacrificed in times of scarcity or pestilence, but then he is probably held personally responsible for the calamity.[237] Very frequently the victims are prisoners of war or other aliens, or slaves, or criminals, that is, persons whose lives are held in little regard. And in many cases these are the only victims allowed by custom.
[237] Frazer, Golden Bough, i. 15 sq.
This was generally the case among the ancient Teutons,[238] though they sometimes deemed a human sacrifice the more efficacious the more distinguished the victim, and the nearer his relationship to him who offered the sacrifice.[239] The Gauls, says Cæsar, “consider that the oblation of such as have been taken in theft, or robbery, or any other offence, is more acceptable to the immortal gods; but when a supply of that class is wanting, they have recourse to the oblation of even the innocent.”[240] Diodorus Siculus states that the Carthaginians in former times used to sacrifice to Saturn the sons of the most eminent persons, but that, of later times, they secretly bought and bred up children for that purpose.[241] The chief aim of the wars of the ancient Mexicans was to make prisoners for sacrificial purposes; other victims were slaves who were purchased for this object, and many criminals “who were condemned to expiate their crimes by the sacrifice of their lives.”[242] The Yucatans sacrificed captives taken in war, and only if such victims were wanting they dedicated their children to the altar “rather than let the gods be deprived of their due.”[243] In Guatemala the victims were slaves or captives or, among the Pipiles, illegitimate children from six to twelve years old who belonged to the tribe.[244] In Florida the human victim who was offered up at harvest time was chosen from among the Spaniards wrecked on the coast.[245] Of the Peruvian Indians before the time of the Incas, Garcilasso de la Vega states that, “besides ordinary things such as animals and maize, they sacrificed men and women of all ages, being captives taken in wars which they made against each other.”[246] Among the Tshi-speaking peoples of the Gold Coast, “the persons ordinarily sacrificed to the gods are prisoners of war or slaves. When the latter, they are usually aliens, as a protecting god is not so well satisfied with the sacrifice of his own people.”[247] In Great Benin, according to Captain Roupell, the people who were kept for sacrifice were bad men, or men with bad sickness, and they were all slaves.[248] In Fiji the victims were generally prisoners of war, but sometimes they were slaves procured by purchase from other tribes.[249] In Nukahiva “the custom of the country requires that the men destined for sacrifice should belong to some neighbouring nation, and accordingly they are generally stolen.”[250] In Tahiti “the unhappy wretches selected were either captives taken in war, or individuals who had rendered themselves obnoxious to the chiefs or the priests.”[251] The Muruts of Borneo “never sacrifice one of their own people, but either capture an individual of a hostile tribe, or send to a friendly tribe to purchase a slave for the purpose.”[252] It is said to be contrary to the Káyán custom to sell or sacrifice one of their own nation.[253] The Gāro hill tribes “generally select their victims out of the Bengali villages in the plains.”[254] The Kandhs considered that the victim must be a stranger. “If we spill our own blood,” they said, “we shall have no descendants”;[255] and even the children of Meriahs, who were reared for sacrificial purposes, were never offered up in the village of their birth.[256]
[238] Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, i. 45.
[239] Holtzmann, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 232.
[240] Cæsar, De bello gallico, vi. 16.
[241] Diodorus Siculus, xx. 14.
[242] Clavigero, op. cit. i. 282.
[243] Bancroft, op. cit. ii. 704.
[244] Stoll, op. cit. p. 40.