476 CANNIBALISM. 



CANNIBALISM. 



" Heu ! quantum scelus est, in viscera viscera condi ; 

 Congestoque avidum, pinguescere corpore corpus." 



IF, in the strict sense of the word, by cannibalism is meant the ordi- 

 nary feeding of man upon man, incited solely by the call of hunger ; 

 then, in my humble opinion, there is no such phenomenon to be found. 

 Did such a thing really exist, the very act would indeed reduce the 

 exalted rank of man to a very inferior state. Tigers, known to be so 

 sanguinary, never feed on tigers. If animals were to eat animals 

 of their own species, there would soon be an end to the breed alto- 

 gether. 



The Roman poet, in his amusing account of the creation, has given, 

 most justly, to man a character which raises him far above the level 

 of all animals. He tells us, that after these had received their ex- 

 istence, there still was wanting an animal of superior intellect, to 

 hold dominion over all the rest ; and man was then created : 



" Sanctius his animal, mentisque capacius altse, deerat adhuc, et 

 quod dominari in eastern posset ; natus homo est." 



If man had originally been formed by his Maker to be a cannibal 

 that is, as I have just observed, to feed upon his fellow-man, in 

 order to satisfy the craving of his hunger there does not seem to 

 have been any particular objection why Cain, after his murder of 

 Abel, should not have had a joint out of him for his own dinner. 

 Still, there is no mention made that Cain, on this occasion, did treat 

 himself to a feast on any part of his brother's body. Wherefore we 

 may safely infer that man was not created to feed upon his own 

 species, and that, when he is absolutely reduced to the sad necessity 

 of doing so, he is either instigated by ungovernable passion, or else 

 he is reduced to the terrible necessity of prolonging his existence by 

 casting lots to determine which man shall die to save the lives of the 

 rest as in cases of shipwreck, or in other dreadful disasters, where 

 nothing remains, and where nothing can be found that will support 

 life, short of the terrible sacrifice. I would not call people in this 

 shocking dilemma by the name of cannibals ; neither would I fear to 



