[275] Geo. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 9; Dr. Tautain, in _L’Anthropologie_, tome vii., p. 548. [276] On the ordeal, see Post, _Ethnologisches Jurisprudenz_, Bd. ii., ss. 459, _sq._, 479; Waitz, _Anthropologie der Naturvölker_, Bd. i., s. 461. The assertion by some writers that the ordeal was not known to the American Indians is incorrect. For example, Captain Clark recounts those to test the virtue of women who have been accused. _Indian Sign Language_, pp. 45, 208. [277] See S. K. Steinmetz on “Der Zweikampf als Ordal” in his _Ethnologische Studien zur ersten Entwicklung der Strafe_, Bd. ii., s. 76, _sq._ [278] Post, _ubi supra_, Bd. ii., s. 478. [279] Adair, _Hist. of the N. American Indians_, p. 158; Boscana, _Acc. of the Indians of California_, p. 262. [280] This is presented admirably and at length by M. Kulischer in an article “Der Dualismus der Ethik bei den primitiven Völkern,” in the _Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, Bd. xvii., pp. 205, _sqq._ He also sees clearly enough that the same principle, masked and denied though it be, reigns to-day. The “categorical imperative” of Kant, is as far from realisation as is “the golden rule.” [281] There were, of course, some hobgoblins always ready to eat up or injure man; but not for any moral or ethical reason. “They afflict men, not out of anger or to punish sin, but because it is their nature to do so,” as Dalton says of the devils of the Oraons. _Ethnology of Bengal_, p. 256. [282] This explains what Dr. Robertson Smith, in his _Religion of the Semites_, p. 140, says is so difficult to grasp,—that the primitive idea of holiness is apart from personal character, and even shameful wretches could lay claim to it. Entirely parallel instances are found in the history of Christian heresies, as the Anomians and Anabaptists, who were so holy that they could commit no sin, and hence allowed themselves the wildest licence. [283] It is in this sense that Wilhelm von Humboldt wrote: “Wahre Tugend ist unverträglich mit auf Autorität geglaubter Religion.” (_Gesammelte Werke_, Bd. vii., p. 72.) This is a cardinal principle in studying the history of ethics. [284] Ling Roth, _Natives of Sarawak_, vol. i., p. 271; Hoffman, _Secret Societies of the Ojibway_, _passim_. [285] They were called the Abecedarians, because they distrusted even the ABC. Some learned scholars actually threw away their books and joined them. [286] Bain, _The Senses and the Intellect_, p. 607. [287] _The Descent of Man_, p. 581. [288] As Wilhelm von Humboldt remarked: “Das Streben der Natur ist auf etwas Unbeschränktes gerichtet.” The meaning of this profound observation is ably discussed by Steinthal, _Die sprachphilosophischen Werke W. von Humboldt’s_, p. 178. [289] _Bull. Amer. Museum Nat. History_, vol. viii., p. 227. [290] They were preserved in the original tongue by the first missionaries, Sahagun, Olmos, Bautista, etc., and have, in part, been published.