The Abundance, The Solidity, And The Splendor

The Scapegoat Upon Whom The Sins Of The People Are Periodically Laid, May Also Be A Human Being.

For When A Nation Becomes Civilized, If It Does Not Drop Human Sacrifices Altogether, It At Least Selects As Victims Only Such Wretches As Would Be Put To Death At Any Rate. Thus The Killing Of A God May Sometimes Come To Be Confounded With The Execution Of A Criminal.

The Awe And Dread With Which The Untutored Savage Contemplates His Mother-in-law Are Amongst The Most Familiar Facts Of Anthropology.

The Athenians Regularly Maintained A Number Of Degraded And Useless Beings At The Public Expense; And When Any Calamity, Such As Plague, Drought, Or Famine, Befell The City, They Sacrificed Two Of These Outcast Scapegoats.

If Mankind Had Always Been Logical And Wise, History Would Not Be A Long Chronicle Of Folly And Crime.