occasionally separated by a hyphen from the root of a word. Sometimes the letters forming the original root have been printed in small capitals, and those letters that have been added by a later usage left in ordinary type. Occasionally the article (H=Ha) prefixed to a Hebrew word is printed with a capital letter italicised, to divide the article from the word proper. The references to Sanchoniathon are taken from Eusebius, Praeparationis Evangelicae, Liber I., cap. Phoenicum, Paris, MDCXXVIII. The aim of the author has been to state verified facts with as few of his own inferences as possible. The order of arrangement follows the march of thought from the first conceptions and untaught speculations of the religious sentiment, passing rapidly through the classic period of ancient philosophy and religion to the field of modern controversy. SPIRIT-HISTORY OF MAN. CHAPTER 1. SPIRITS. FROM the earliest times, among all nations, man has sought to recognize his God; to define that inscrutable Providence which rules the world. Like the successive changes of the forests, the infinite variety of the harvests, the differing notes of the birds, the opposite languages of men, the varied fragrance of the flowers, such is the contrast of religious belief which man's spirit brings, as its first fruits, to its Creator. From Constantinople to the shores of India, China, and Japan, four great world-religions meet in conflict. Each asserts its claims to be regarded as the civilized and saving religion of mankind. Brahmanism has an antiquity of more than three thousand years, Buddhism of twenty-three hundred, the Christian religion of eighteen centuries, the Mahometan of twelve. The number of Christians is perhaps two hundred and fifty millions; that of the Mahometans, Brahmans, and Buddhists united, may be set down as not far from eight hundred millions. This enormous mass of human beings, whom we call pagans, are adherents of systems which are founded on the religious convictions of many centuries, and are improvements upon former modes of worship that have long since passed away. The Christian religion holds possession of Europe and America; the Mahometan, of North Africa, Turkey, Lesser Asia, Palestine, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Persia, and even Northern India; the Brahman holds Hindustan, and some isles; Buddhism predominates in Ceylon, Thibet, the countries north-east of the Ganges, the Birman Empire, Siam, China, Japan, and the Indian Archipelago; also in Russian and Chinese Tartary. Man has his worth-his mission. To properly estimate our own, we must consider it in its relation to that of all other men; not only those who at this day cover the surface of the globe, but those who have preceded us and contributed in action, thought and sentiment, to form the present. Nature, to man in the most primitive state, is all alive; she is a congregation of distinct existences, each moved by the soul or spirit that dwells in it.' There is no harmony, no unity. All is separate, independent life. Hence, almost every object is a subject of suspicion to the savage. He is environed by agencies visible and invisible. Legions of spirits are seen in the woods, the flowers, the fruits, the grass, the mountains, the seas, the lakes, the rivers, the brooks, the fountains, the waterfalls, the birds, and the stars. Trees have their protecting spirits; the animals have their spirits, and are themselves divine spirits. Songs were sung and fasts celebrated in honor of the guardian deities of the bears in Canada. Every appearance is the work of a spirit. If thunder is heard, the mighty god of the thunder is adored. The snow, the frost, the hail, and the stormwinds, have each their especial divinities, which lie con 1 "And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth wherein is a living soul.”—1 Gen. 30. "Like man, all nature separates into body and spirit."-2 Duncker, 66; Castren, Vorl. über Finnische Mythologie, 59, 163. 'J. Müller, 61, 74, 75, 107, 114, 120. J. Müller, Am. Urreligionen, 75, 91. |
