, 1876-06-17


When t3ala Of Atyssinta ats down nycr n
pit covered with h!1c, llnprccntfng TINT he
may full Int" . pit II he hreaks hs word, nr
wn ,sr p lp our sKk M s5sfn sser aSa en
Ing It. oil the sulI IN front Of tlle Wttncas.box,
words IT YOU DO MT tell the truth your soul
twn full unshs, Of which tue penalty, magical Or
religious, Is shown IT. r,antoniime bcforr Us. by
tl,r wny, tho English Ju1gcs who authorized
this Inst sensational ceremony must haycbcllelti
that they were euling on CAnamnn to take
| judicial ontt n!ter Tie manner u his own
country hut they actrd under !. mistake, tnr
III lnet thr Chinese use 10 uatls nt VII N ihc1f
| law courts. Nuw, we AavG to distinguish these
| real uatlls frum mere nsscycrntlohs. III Which
etnphntic terns or descriptive gestures afe
introduced merely for ths puFM,se of showing
Where, tIcu, docs the difference lie between
tic twol It Is to be- found In the i'lcurrng III
supernatural penalty. There would hc no
difficulty Ut i'll y clearing ap t,y gucst!",;. IT,
tinrtion between oatiis Of nprccat!oi's aild
u.tlls of witness. Such subsictics, However,
loukrs1 ut from II practical pont, ol view, ase
tic rough broom Of common sense will sweet
awAy. The practical question. Is this: Docs the
swearer 1aean that BY going through the crrs-
oy he brings W himself, Il ,;,, is efeaks iatn,
and punishment II SO, thy oatll is practically
imprecatory; II not Il is futile, wanting thevcry
| sn,!GtlOn which gives it legal Vnlile IT. does not
| mRttyr whether the imprecaton Is statel, or
on!y Implied. When Bcduu!n picks upa straw,
andsweass by him who mnte IT grow and wst'ter,
there Is III need to accompany 5h!s With hontly
oil the fats q the ret}ured. Tnis sct!esncc Is
have to 70 outside tue actual formula anu ecrc-
lnumy 10 learn wllnt tlclr full intention Is.
IL. US now examine sntnG TYPICAL 1orns Of
oath, The rude natives Of New Gulnch swear
BY thc sum or by Il certain mountain, or by q
weupo,., tint the sun mny burn tl.em, or the
mountain Crush them, or the wcal'on wound
them, II they lie. Ille even rudcr sayagcs Of
the Brazilian forests, to cun1frn the!r Words,
raifc the hand over the bend Or thrust Y tnto
their sar, or they will touch the points Of their
weapons. These two accounts Of savage
ceremony introduce us to customs well-known
10 natioIs Of higher culture. The snistna Of the
bend towards tic sky seems to mean here What
It docs elsewhere. It ls IN gesture calling On
the heaven g9a 70 sn'lte TIC prrluler w'th l., ss
carries It's meaning anong these Brazlltnns,
almost as plainly is In Africa where We find
men swearing by thelr hsats or limbs, N the
ssst h ,ey s w9 oa Ttss rfussa, nn ~ou
oa the lioIy oak, saylng, ",fay perkun ttls
thunder god) destroy mel" AS to swearing "
origlnnl meaning comes from Aracar, whe:e
tlle witness, sweaytng to Bpcuk tbs truth,
takes III Ills lanA Il 1nuskct a sword, 6petr,
tIgers tusk, croeod'les tootl,, ana n @ faunusf
BY I'll. weapon not only listed On through
cfassic ages, but remained 70 co'ns1ion IN Chris
tendon TINT it wus expressly forbidden by Il
Synod. Even 1T tho seventeenth century to
swear on the sword (kc Hamlet's friend in the
ghost sccnc) was still legal oath IN Holstcin.
As fur holding up the lla,Id to Invoke the per-
sonal divine NY tn successor OF thas prlili,sfes
lets in the solemn oatrs Of Europsu.l natious.
1t could scarcely b. shown more clearly with
whit chiidlikc Imagination the sAynyu cOncetYcH
,1,y,1I,t futtEf
or Ills spear, Will somehow puss Into fculltJ LII
connection with this group OF oatls VIC call carry
} yet step further the Illustration of the way
inou'e nliads. work. in this primitive stage Of
! association of ideas. Onc Of thc accounts from,
. New Guinea Is that the swearer, lolding up a,l
arrow ealls on heaven to punish him II lie lies
oath can be ncHtralized. This is mnEic ull over.
! Wl,at ono symbol eau do, the zrycrsa symbol
! Gnu undo. True to tho laws OF primitive
magical reasoning, unculturcA men elsewhere
t outha. An AhysBniau Chief, who had svorI
un oath lie dsIaked, hus bccn seen to scrape Il
OF his tongue mud spit It. out, TlSro fn;rs ars st
4 reckons to escape the spiritual consequence o.
! perjury by rrook!ng one 6ngcr to inalir 1t,
l suppose, not q straight but a crooked uath o
hi puts his left taiid to Ills side to ncntratzt
l. what tho right halld Is dotug. Here ls the ic,
Of our s.oycr tho lcft;" but 10 far Us know till
llas come down with Us to illerc schoolboy
sllutlliug. ....,.,.. ......
n
and North Aata. rrobaoy to this day tl.cr,
il may ho seen III kuas!an lazy courts III Siberia th
Il outh on the hear's head. Whcn an ostyak Is t,
q be sworn bcas's l,cad Is brought into court
unl the man ukes bGt[eve tu btu ut It, callln;
+ p tue bear to 1cyour him III like manner II b
c does not tell the truth. Nuw, the meaning Il
n this act goes beyond magic MD Into religion, 10
we are here IN & te asIglon no. o. ~ GGar ,s Mors
=, divine te,.st knows what gOes on and will com
II unl punish them. Nor need o'ie wonder II
o this, for the IDEA that the bear VIII hear alt
L, come II called Oil ia familiar to Gertnnn my
d tl,uIUgy. ! was Interested to tlnll II still 4
~. suryival In switzcrlald il few years ago when
~ peasant woman, whom . 1n!scl1lcsons l!ttl
IL pronounced the uncicnt awful innprceatIol. Ii
le him, "'rir bcar take ther!h (dpr larnilnt
20 ulei!1 Among the hill tr'bcs Of l'itaa tlger't
skdn IL sworn 1T. In tlle Fnlle Rense 9B the btar'
10 heui u,nong the Ostyuks. Rivers, ayAln, Wlltc
v to the suyaye all.l barbarian ure Intelligent I'LL
T. pursonal divinltcs uru sworn BY III strong bcl!e
IN t!Nt their wutcrs will punish him WIN talse
II their name IN Yuln. We ran understand VII
"a hcur still among llinlus how tr sacred Gauge
In will taisc vengeance sure ard terrible On tn
!s children nf The l,crjurer, II is with tha sa,!l
Z, cl,ust.scnent from tlIu outraged deity, thu
savage and barbarc lslen hnye sworn BY sky I
Or sun. Thus the llurnn Indian would aay
X wo d. this day p a.i tho Tunguh branllshi,,
OF knife before tho sun, would sAy: VII III
er may the sun plunge sickncs* i.i, my cntr4r
Cp ! ltKu this kMfun We haye nut to rise one sta
u. higher tn religious Ideas tu reach tho tyru Ut Il
inlilous Notnai, o1ths by Jupiter, tlic hcaye
go,l. liz who swore held in his hnnl IL ston
prnytns that, II he knowingly deceived, othc
might b. sulr In tcIr countries antl Inws, the
~, holy pnccs a their tolabs, but hc u!one ni;;I
. te c.,st cut ns this stone HOw-atA tu t!1uE
M M'u fr1In llM Even nlprc impressive was the gre
4n lrcaty yoath wherr the patrr patratus. tmluir
n tc sucrc.l ll!pt that syintolzctl te thulsicrbnl
IL. called on Juve tllat II hy public culnsci
In wicked fraud thu Romans should break Il
-. ~ treaty tlrst-"i, that lay, Joyc, snitc I'll.
|st the Roman prnl'!u as fere to-lny slIal! sui
Us tlis swim, and sln!tu thu heavier In tlsou u
III the rtrunger"' 10 saying. lsu slew tile yIcti
With the slurel stone.
en- III court lately little E1rl waA asked Il
up usual preliminary question Us to the CONS
If; quence Ut swcurinx falsely, und ANSWERED III IL
'fo form, "Flease, y!r, should ~ to burnir
HE'LL" Uhluvky, however, the unusual .uu
ton WIS then put, how she knew 1t. Viii,