om. 62, particularly honoured the god Mars, by
sacrificing to him every hundredth captive. This they did, he says, by
cutting their throats, &c. The same author informs us of the Persians,
that they had a custom of burying persons alive, generally young ones
it would seem, in honour of the river Strymon, considered by them as a
deity. Polym. 114. In this he is confirmed by Plutarch. Other writers,
also, charge the Persians with using human sacrifices, as is shewn by
Dr Magee. The same may be said of the Chinese and Indians, according
to works mentioned by that gentleman. The case of the latter people
has been made notorious by Dr Buchanan. With respect to the Grecian
states in general, we have the most indubitable evidence of the
prevalence of supplicating their gods by human sacrifices, when going
against their enemies, as we see done by the Otaheitans, and on other
occasions. The Roman history, in its early state especially, abounds
in like examples, as every reader will be prepared to prove. The
practice was shockingly prevalent amongst the Carthaginians and other
inhabitants of Africa. The writer above quoted, specifies the works
which mention it, and has enumerated the authorities for asserting the
same of a great many other ancient people, as the Getae, Leucadians,
Goths, Gauls, Heruli, Britons, Germans; besides the Arabians, Cretans,
Cyprians, Rhodians, Phocians, and the inhabitants of Chios, Lesbos,
Tenedos, and Pella. The northern nations, without exception, are
chargeable with the same enormity. Of this, satisfactory evidence has
been adduced by Dr Magee from various authors, as Mr Thorkelin in his
Essay on the Slave Trade, Mallet, in his work on Northern Antiquities,
&c. And it is well known that the evil existed amongst the Mexicans,
Peruvians, and other people of America, in a degree surpassing its
magnitude in any other country. The perusal of the present narrative,
and of other accounts of voyages, will evince the continuance of the
practice throughout more recent people. On the whole then, we assert,
that the fact of the universality of human sacrifice amongst the
various nations of the world is perfectly well authenticated. Let
us next say a word or two respecting its origin and meaning. Here
we shall find it necessary to consider the origin and meaning of
sacrifice in general, as it is self-evident that the notion of
sacrifice is previous to the selection of the subjects for it, that
of human beings dif