I have written of the Legend of Perseus with no polemical object. Yet, valuing the science of folklore, as I do, chiefly for the light it throws on the mental constitution of mankind and the genesis of ideas and of institutions, I cannot hide from myself the important bearing that some of the subjects dealt with in these pages may have upon matters of Christian controversy. Our illustrations of the Supernatural Birth have been drawn entirely from certain forms of the story, to the exclusion of other forms which, interesting as they are in themselves, were for our purpose irrelevant. But sufficient has been said to raise questions which may be summarily stated thus:—If these legends be universal, if they must be rejected in every case but one as the product of an inevitable tendency of human imagination, then why not in that one case also? Assuredly that one case can be regarded as exceptional, only if it stand upon historical evidence totally different in kind from the others, and of inevitable cogency. But can any one who sits down (as it is the duty at least of every educated man to do) calmly and, so far as he can, with scrupulous impartiality to weigh the evidence, say that the testimony of ecclesiastical tradition, or even of our Gospels, is different in kind from, or of greater cogency than, that which we reject, without hesitation, in the case of Sákyamuni, or of Alexander the Great? About ecclesiastical tradition I need say nothing. The records in the two Gospels which bear the names of Saint Matthew and Saint Luke are, carefully considered, irreconcilable. Both Gospels are now admitted to be secondary documents. It is hardly claimed for either of them that it was written less than sixty years after the event. It is by no means certain that they were in existence, as we now have them, when Justin Martyr wrote in the middle of the second century. Outside them there is no record, no unambiguous allusion even, that can be dated within one hundred and ten years of the Birth, and then only if we admit the genuineness of the questionable Epistles of Saint Ignatius, and the earliest possible date for his very doubtful journey. Is this the testimony on which belief in so amazing an event can be safely built?
Our researches into sacramental beliefs and practices, and the ideas underlying them, must have suggested once and again the central rite of Christianity. The institution of the Eucharist is not an event of the same supernatural character as the Birth is alleged to be. Yet if the difficulties of testimony be smaller, those of interpretation are even greater. That sacramental superstitions were rife as well in Judæa as elsewhere in the time of Jesus Christ is certain, though our information concerning them is still lamentably deficient. The influence of the Mysteries upon Christianity has been hitherto little studied. But it is manifest that we cannot appreciate the intention of the rite, or understand the course of its history, without a more extended knowledge of these things.
Doubt is often a more imperative duty than belief. Nor is it the less a duty because it is painful. To the priest, everywhere and in all time, it is the gravest of sins; for the corporate interest of a priesthood adds strength to the sincere belief of the individual, a belief usually founded upon complete ignorance of all but his own side of the question. Priests, therefore, always favour the growth of beliefs of which they are the centre, so leading men deeper and deeper into the slough of superstition. Pleading that it is safer to believe too much than too little, they are not content with a ready-made creed, imperfectly verified, if verified at all. Their inclination and interest alike tend to its enlargement by continual additions, whose only test is consonance with the emotions awakened by something previously accepted. They cannot away with reason, with patient inquiry, and the judicial temper. They seek to prejudice the question before it be tried. Hence they conspire with reactionary statesmen to obtain, or to keep, the control of education. This treachery against civilisation, against the public weal, against truth itself, may succeed for a moment; but only to evoke a retribution which will be strictly measured by its success. It is no light thing to divorce the intellect of a nation from its religion; it is disastrous to attempt to coop the intellect within the bounds of a religion which have become too strait for it.
But abhorrent as doubt and inquiry may be to the priest, they are the means whereby we have gradually reached a more correct and adequate view of the universe, and of human history, than was formerly imposed in the name of divine revelation. He who seeks truth by such means bears a more devoted allegiance to himself and to humanity than he who, for the sake of safety or of ease, flings himself into the lap of a priesthood, which professes to assure to him in the next world eternal salvation, and can certainly bestow upon him, in this, comfort and social consideration and freedom from petty parochial persecution. He will recognise it as a duty to withhold his assent from dogmas, even though the most solemn articles of the Christian faith, until in the open court of reason his objections have been answered and his difficulties solved by sounder arguments and a deeper historical and scientific knowledge than have yet been applied by apologists to the issues.
[The End]
APPENDIX
TABLE A.
HELPFUL ANIMALS.
| Authority. | Country. | Animals. | How obtained. |
|---|---|---|---|
| i. Campbell, 71 | Argyllshire | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Luzel, _Contes Bretons_, 63 | Brittany | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| i. Cosquin, 60 | Lorraine | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| i. Cosquin, 64 | Lorraine | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| ii. Cosquin, 56 | Lorraine | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Zéliqzon, 63 | Lorraine | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Bladé, _Agenais_, 9 | Gascony | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Webster, 87 | Basque Provinces | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Caballero, 27 | Spain | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| i. Gonzenbach, 269 | Sicily | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| xviii. Pitrè, 45 | Sicily | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| vii. Pitrè, 296 | Sicily (Albanian) | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| i. Finamore, pt. i., 105 | Abruzzi | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| iii. De Nino, 321 | Abruzzi | Horse and dog | Congenital |
| Nerucci, 61; and Imbriani, 375 | Tuscany | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| De Gubernatis, 40 | Tuscany | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Visentini, 104 | Mantua | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Schneller, 186 | Tirol | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Schneller, 79 | Tirol | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Authority. | Country. | Animals. | How obtained. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zingerle, _K. und Hausm._, 122 | Tirol | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Wolf, _Deutsche M._, 134 | Germany | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Cavallius, 348 | Sweden | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Leskien, 385 | Lithuania | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Von Wlislocki, _Volksdicht._, 316 | Transylvania (Gipsy) | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Vernaleken, 193 | Lower Austria | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Leskien, 543 (from Jukié) | Bosnia | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Leskien, 544 (from Valjavec) | Croatia | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Leskien, 544 (from Mikuliĕié) | Croatia | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Karajich, 174 | Servia | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| i. Von Hahn, 166; and Geldart, 74 | Epirus | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| Legrand, 161 | Greece | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| *Leskien, 546 (from Afanasief) | Russia | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| *Leskien, 546 (from Valjavec) | Croatia | Horses and dogs | Congenital |
| ix. _Rev. Trad. Pop._, 174 | Brittany | Horses and dogs | ? |
| Coelho, 120 | Portugal | Horses | Congenital |
| Grimm, i. _Tales_, 331 | Hesse | Horses | Congenital |
| *Leskien, 546 (from Erlenvein) | Great Russia | Horses | Congenital |
| De Gubernatis, 41 | Tuscany | Dogs | Congenital |
| ii. Von Hahn, 214 | Greece | Dogs | Congenital |
| ii. Macdonald, 341 | Quilimane (probably from Portugal) | Dogs | Congenital |
| Authority. | Country. | Animals. | How obtained. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wardrop, 25 | Georgia | Eight Dogs | Congenital |
| Leskien, 546 (from Vrána) | Moravia | Dogs | ? |
| v. _Folklore_, 156 | Donegal | Horses, dogs, and hawks | Congenital |
| i. Grundtvig, 277 | Denmark | Horses, dogs, and sparrowhawks | Congenital |
| Pedroso, 100 | Portugal | Horses and lions | Congenital |
| Braga, i. _Contos_, 117 | Portugal | Horses and lions | Congenital |
| i. Campbell, 93 | South Uist | Horses and dogs Lion, wolf, and falcon | Congenital Gratitude for dividing carcase justly |
| Cavallius, 354 | Sweden | Horses and dogs Bears, wolves, and foxes | Congenital Given by parent animals |
| Kuhn und Schwartz, 337 | North Germany | Horses and dogs Bears, wolves, and lions | Congenital Given by parent animals |
| i. Comparetti, 126; and Crane, 30 | Pisa | Horses and dogs Lion, eagle, and ant Dog-fish | Congenital Gratitude for dividing carcase Gratitude for saving life |
| Cavallius, 95 | Sweden | Dogs Bears, wolves, and foxes | Given by mother Given by parent animals |
| *Cox, _Cinderella_, 450 (from iii. _Journ. Gipsy Lore Soc._, 208) | England (Gipsy) | Bull-calf | Given by father |
| *Zingerle, _K. und Hausm._, 35; and Busk, _Hofer_, 207 | Tirol | Three dogs | Left to hero by his father |
| *Dennys, 110 | China | Dog | Supplied by heroine’s father |
| Grimm, i. _Tales_, 244 | Hesse | Hares, foxes, wolves, bears, and lions | Given by parent animals |
| Grimm, i. _Tales_, 419 | Hesse | Bears, lions, and wolves | Given by parent animals |
| Stier, i.; and Jones and Kropf, 110 | Hungary | Wolves, bears, and lions | Given by parent animals |