126 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd s. No 111., Fkb. 13. '58. 



germ and original idea of Supekstition. On the 

 other hand, the true origin of the word being re- 

 condite and complex, and connected with a local 

 and obscure fact or form of Superstition, it be- 

 came lost : that is, the particular instance of Su- 

 perstition, respecting the relations between the 

 Dead and the Living, which, as a type and re- 

 presentative, gave name to the whole class of 

 vain, ill-grounded, fanatical lleliglon, became for- 

 gotten ; and Scrupulosity, Idle Ceremony, that 

 superfluous care and fidgetty anxiety which over- 

 estimates trifles, and is cumbered with much 

 serving, &c. — being a necessary concomitant, or 

 'rather, fundamental Principle of all Superstition ; 

 and being comprehended under the same word, 

 which also signified Surviving, we can easily see 

 how this general principle swallowed up the ob- 

 scure and isolated particular instance which really 

 originated the word. 



We owe to Cicero the true origin of the word, 

 but he gives it in such a curt, unsatisfactory 

 manner, that much obscurity hangs over it : — 



" Non enim philosophi solum, verum majores nostri 

 Superstitionem a Religione separaverunt. Nam qui 



TOTOS DIES PRECABANTUR ET IMMOLABANT UT SUI LI- 

 BERI SUPERSTITES KSSENT, SUPERSTITIOSI SUNT APPEL- 



LATi ; quod nomen latius patuit." — De Natura Deorum. 

 " Not only Philosophers, but all our forefathers dydde 

 ever separate Superstition from true Reltgion : For 

 they whiche prayed all day that theyr Children mought over- 

 lyve them, were caZ/ed Superstitious; 'whichename after- 

 ward was larger extended." — Old Trans. 



Lactawtius objects to this derivation; for, he 

 says, we all wish and pray for the same thing our- 

 selves, and cannot be called superstitious for 

 doing so : he says the word got its meaning yro??i 

 the Worship of deceased parents and relatives, hy 

 the Superstites or Survivors; or from men holding 

 the memory of the Dead in superstitious veiieraiion : 



" SuPERSTiTiosi vocantur, non quia filios suos super- 

 stites optant (omnes enim optamus) ; sed, aut ii qui 

 superstitem memoriam Defunctorum colunt, aut qui pa- 

 rentibus suis Superstites colebant." 



Cicero and Lactantius, then, agree in con- 

 necting the word with some visionary notion 

 respecting the relations between the Dead and 

 the Living who survive them. The question now 

 arises as to what the notion was. 



1. Was it, that the Living could benefit their 

 Dead relatives or friends, whom they survived ? 



2. Was it the doctrine of Vicarious Death and 

 Atonement ; — viz. that a man by voluntarily dying 

 could preserve the life of, and cause to survive, 

 the person or persons for whom he laid down his 

 life ? 



3. Was it the Deification of the Departed ; or 

 the Worship of the Manes of the Dead by their 

 Survivors ? 



Lactantius is rather too hasty in rejecting 

 what Cicero asserts as matter of fact, simply 

 because he, Lactantius, cannot assign any con- 



ceivable motive for such a proceeding (if it be 

 anything extraordinary and beyond what is na- 

 tural to all men) — and Cicero furnishes no clue, 

 but nakedly states the fact. 



Now it so happens (account for It as we may), 

 that there was an idea prevalent among the An- 

 cients that it was a disgraceful and unhappy thing 

 not to leave a descendant, and die childless. 

 Moreover, to survive one's children was considered 

 the greatest of misfortunes. Cf. Plautus, Mil. 

 Glor. i. 1., Ita ut tiium vis unicum gnatum tuce 

 sitperesse vitee, sospitem et .superstitem, ^c. Cf. 

 Alcestis, Eurip. verse 290. 



The first idea, I think, may be traced to the 

 Promise made with regard to the Seed of the 

 Woman, which exercised so powerful an influ- 

 ence upon Jewish minds, and lingered long amid 

 the Traditions of the Gentiles. 



The second idea, which is that we have to do 

 with chiefly, had reference, I think, mainly to 

 the rites of sepulture. The Ancients believed that 

 the Manes of unburled men were restless and 

 unhappy, and haunted the earth; and in this 

 point of view they deemed it unfortunate not to 

 have a child to close the eyes after death, and to 

 perform duly the last solemn rites : accordingly 

 they even adopted children with this view, rather 

 than die without survivors. 



This may not seem a very satisfactory solution 

 of the matter, as It might be asked. Why should 

 one's own children be absolutely required ? could 

 not others perform the last rites ? The question 

 then still remains : Why was it considered so 

 terrible a misfortune to survive one's children ? 

 It is obvious that there was something more at 

 bottom than the mere natural feelings. 



The origin of the word Superstition was, in 

 any case, some mysterious belief respecting the 

 relations between the Dead and the Living — the 

 deceased and those who survived them — the 

 World that is seen, and the World that is not seen. 



As for the use of Prayers to the Dead *, or Prayers 

 for the Dead, among the Ancients, I shall not dwell 

 on it now, but pass on to the Doctrine of Vicarious 

 Sacrifice. 



The Ancients believed that the Death of one 

 person might be prevented by that of another. 

 From hence came the custom of those Devote- 

 ments we read of, made for the lives of a friend, 

 a nation, or a prlnce.f Horace alludes to this in 

 the exquisite Amceba^an Ode Ad Lydiam : Lydia 

 says of her dear Ornytus : — 

 " Pro quo bis patiar mori, 



Si parcent puero fata' superstiti." 



* " When a Father mourned grievously for his Child 

 that was taken away suddenly, he made an Image of him 

 that was then dead, and worshipped him as a god, or- 

 daining to those under liim Ceremonies and Sacrifices. 

 Thus, in process of time, this wicked custom prevailed, 

 and was kept as a law." — IVisdom, xiv. 15, IG. 



t See my Note on Longfellow's Golden Lqjend. 



