POLITICAL HEADS CHIEFS, KINGS, ETC. 733 



ters of Vol. I were set forth at length the proofs, past and present, 

 furnished by many places and peoples, of this genesis of gods from 

 propitiated ghosts. Here there remains to be pointed out the strength- 

 ening of political headship inevitably thus effected. 



Descent from a ruler who when alive was distinguished by supe- 

 riority, and whose ghost, specially feared, comes to be propitiated in 

 so unusual a degree as to distinguish it from ancestral ghosts at large, 

 exalts and supports the living ruler in two ways. In the first place, 

 he is assumed to inherit from his great progenitor more or less of the 

 character, apt to be considered supei-natural, which gave him his 

 power ; and, in the second place, making sacrifices to this great pro- 

 genitor, he is supposed to maintain such relations with him as insure 

 divine aid. Passages in Canon Callaway's account of the Amazulu 

 show the influence of this belief. It is said, " The itongo [ancestral 

 ghost] dwells with the great man, and speaks with him " ; and then it 

 is also said, referring to a medicine-man : " The chiefs of the house of 

 Uzulu used not to allow a mere inferior to be even said to have power 

 over the heaven ; for it was said that the heaven belonged only to the 

 chief of that place." These facts yield us a definite interpretation of 

 others, like the following, which show that the authority of the ter- 

 restrial ruler is increased by his supposed relation to the celestial 

 ruler ; be the celestial the ghost of the remotest known ancestor who 

 founded the society, or of a conquering invader, or of a superior 

 stranger. 



Of the chiefs among the Kukis, who are descendants of Hindoo 

 adventurers, we read : "All these rajahs are supposed to have sprung 

 from the same stock, which it is believed originally had connection 

 with the gods themselves ; their persons ai"e therefore looked upon 

 with the greatest respect and almost superstitious veneration, and 

 their commands are in every case law." Of the Tahitians Ellis says : 

 "The god and the king were generally supposed to share the authority 

 over the mass of mankind between them. The latter sometimes im- 

 personated the former. . . . The kings, in some of the islands, were 

 supposed to have descended from the gods. Their persons were always 

 sacred." According to JVlariner, " Toritonga and Veaehi (hereditary 

 divine chiefs in Tonga) are both acknowledged descendants of chief 

 gods who formerly visited the islands of Tonga." And, in ancient 

 Peru, " the Inca gave them (his vassals) to understand that all he did 

 with regard to them was by an order and revelation of his father, the 

 Sun." 



This reenforcement of natural power by supernatural power be- 

 comes extreme where the ruler is at once a descendant of the gods 

 and himself a god ; a union of attributes which is familiar among 

 peoples who do not distinguish between the divine and the human as 

 we do. It was thus in the case just instanced that of the Peruvians. 

 It was thus with the ancient Egyptians. The monarch " was the rep- 



