IDOL-WORSHIP AND FETICH-WORSHIP. i6i 



From these examjiles of transition we may turn to those in which 

 the funeral propitiations are made to a substituted image. 



The Mexicans practised cremation : and, when men killed in battle 

 were missing, they made figures of them, and after honoring these 

 burned them and bui'ied the ashes. Here are extracts from Clavigero 

 and Torquemada : 



" When any of the merchants died on their journey, ... his relations . . , 

 formed an imperfect statue of wood to represent the deceased, to which they 

 paid all the funeral honors which they would have done to the real dead body." 



" When some one died drowned or in any other way which excluded con- 

 cremation and required burial, they made a likeness of liim and put it on the 

 altar of idols, together with a large offering of wine and bread." 



In Africa kindred observances occur. While a deceased King of 

 Congo is being embalmed, says Bastian, a wooden figure is set up in 

 the palace to represent liim, and is daily furnished with food and 

 drink, Parkyns tells us that among the Abyssinians mourning takes 

 place on the third day ; and, the deceased having been buried on the 

 day of his death, a representation of the corpse does duty instead. 

 Of some Papuan-Islanders Earl states that, when the grave is filled 

 with earth, they collect round an idol and offer provisions to it. Con- 

 cerning certain Javans we learn from Raffles that after a death a feast 

 is held, in which a man-shaped figure, supported round the body by 

 the clothes of the deceased, plays an important part. 



These practices look strange to us ; but a stranger thing is that we 

 have so soon forgotten the like practices of civilized nations. In 

 Monstrelet's " Chronicles," book i., the burial of Charles VI. of France 

 is described thus : 



"Over the cofBn was an image of the late king, bearing a I'icli crown of gold 

 and diamonds, and holding two shields, one of gold, the other of silver ; the 

 hands had white gloves on, and the fingers were adorned with very precious 

 rings. This image was dressed with cloth of gold," etc. ... "In this state was 

 he solemnly carried to the church of N^otre-Dame." 



This usage was observed in the case of princes also. Speaking of the 

 father of the great Conde, Madame de Motteville says, " The effigy of 

 this prince was attended (servit) for three days, as was customary : " 

 forty days having been the original time during which food was sup- 

 plied to such an effigy at the usual hours. Monstrelet describes a like 

 figure used at the burial of Henry V. of England ; and the effigies of 

 many English monarchs, thus honored at their funerals, are said to 

 have been preserved in Westminster Abbey till they decayed. 



With these reminders befoi*e us, we ought to have no difficulty in 

 understanding the primitive ideas respecting such representations. 

 When we read that the Coast negroes in some districts " place certain 

 earthen images on the graves ; " that the Araucanians fixed over a 

 tomb an upright log, " rudely carved to represent the human frame ; " 



VOL. Tin. 11 



