24.21. 21. Of the Metempsychosis.
The doctrine of the immortality of the
soul is divided into three branches — that of pure immortality, that of
a simple change of habitation, and that of a metempsychosis, that is,
the system of the Christians, that of the Scythians, and that of the
Indians. We have just been speaking of the first two, and I shall say of
the last that as it has been well or ill explained, it has had good or
bad effects. As it inspires men with a certain horror against bloodshed,
very few murders are committed in the Indies; and though they seldom
punish with death, yet they enjoy a perfect tranquillity.
On the other hand, women burn themselves at the death of their
husbands; thus it is only the innocent who suffer a violent death.
