ETHICS AND RELIGION. 733 



but they gradually assume an ethical character. Man ascribes 

 his own conscience to the deity ; he can not think of the divine 

 as morally inferior to himself; the divine demands are those 

 which man recognizes in his own conscience. 



The forms of the ritual are developed out of social customs. 

 The first idea of the primitive man probably is that the deity is 

 to be propitiated by friendly attentions or by a gift, as a human 

 chieftain or other person would be, and the more precious the gift 

 the better. A man would therefore offer that which he held to be 

 dearest to him even his own flesh and blood; a human life would 

 be considered the costliest of offerings. All the ceremonies of so- 

 cial life were naturally transferred to the sacrifice of the gods. As 

 eating was so prominent a fact for man, he prepared feasts for his 

 deities ; tables were spread, and food and drink were offered. It 

 was assumed that the gods shared men's love of praise ; hymns 

 were sung celebrating the divine power and glory. Sometimes a 

 malevolent nature was ascribed to the deity : it was supposed that 

 he was jealous of man's prosperity, and that his displeasure was 

 to be removed by the sacrifice of something which the man 

 esteemed valuable a costly ring, for example, would be thrown 

 into the sea ; but woe to the offerer if it should be found in a fish 

 and returned to him! Out of this primitive material of sacri- 

 fices, feasts, praise, and thanksgiving, have arisen all the compli- 

 cated liturgies and rituals of the world. The outward form of 

 them has followed the customs of society. That which in social 

 intercourse came to be considered seemly and reverent was 

 adopted as the proper attitude toward the gods. The dress of 

 the ministers of religion, words of supplication or praise which 

 they employed, the posture of the worshipers, have always been 

 determined by the forms of human society. The basis of religious 

 service is man's desire to secure the friendship of the deity, its 

 form is determined by the social proprieties. These last must 

 therefore be looked on as an accessory of religion, important as 

 means, but not belonging to its essence.* 



Parallel with the religious development is the growth of moral 

 ideas and the elaboration of systems . of practical ethics. These 

 also are founded in the nature of things, inasmuch as they have 

 never failed to appear in human society. It is not our purpose 

 here to attempt an explanation of the origin of those instincts on 

 which society is founded, and which furnish the basis of moral 

 character. So far as we know, the complementary instincts of 

 self -maintenance and sympathy are inseparable from the nature 

 of man. They are found, indeed, in the lower forms of being, and 

 were doubtless inherited by man from his ancestors of a lower 

 type ; but, in any case, they are now to be considered essential 



* It is not here intended to deny that ritual may be a symbolic representation of ideas. 



