THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGIONS. 159 



god of games and letters, and the conductor of souls. " He was the 

 messenger of the gods," Sir John Lubbock adds, " because embassa- 

 dors met at the frontiers ; and of eloquence, for the same reason." * 



Unfortunately for this explanation, Kuhn has traced the connection 

 between Hermes or Hermias and the two sons of Sarama, the messen- 

 ger of Indra, who brought back cows stolen by the demon of the 

 storm. They, the Saramayau, represented the mythical dogs that 

 guarded the road to the other world and led souls to Yama, the sub- 

 terranean sun, and king of the infernal regions. Going with the 

 Greeks to the West, one of these personages, named ^arvara, became 

 Cerberus ; the other was j^romoted to be Hermes — personifying the 

 wind or the twilight ; and we find in Max Miiller that that identifica- 

 tion " is one of the guiding threads that have pointed out to science 

 the right road in the labyi'inth of the ancient Aryan mythology." 



Thus we see how, by this exchange of good ofiSces between lin- 

 guistics and anthropology, the sciences check and correct, and con- 

 sequently complement one another, each bringing its contingent to 

 the constantly increasing treasure of our historical knowledge. The 

 sesame of this treasure is, " No exclusiveness, no prejudice." 



I have now passed in review the principal forms that have served 

 as the vehicle of the aspirations of the human mind toward the in- 

 visible and beyond — from vague adoration of luminous and nourishing 

 force to the highest conception of a God at once spirit, love, and truth 

 — from the worship concerned with ghosts and fetiches to the identifi- 

 cation of religion with faith in the moral order of the world. What 

 picture could be presented more varied, more instructive, more capable 

 of attracting those who are occupied at the same time with the modern 

 discoveries of science and the great problems of humanity ? 



If any are animated with the desire of contending against super- 

 stitions (using the word in its etymological sense), they can find no 

 stronger tool than this study with which to sap the foot of clay of all 

 idols. 



To those who hold to the religious traditions of their childhood, I 

 believe I have said enough, however much our views may diverge, to 

 reassure their conscience, provided it does not resist the impartial 

 search for truth. At all events, they should meditate on that phrase 

 of Chateaubriand's : " We must not say that Christianity is good be- 

 cause it comes from God, but that it comes from God because it is 

 good." This thesis implies full liberty of examination, comparison, 

 and criticism. 



I insist on the importance, were it only from motives of patriotism, 

 of propagating the more exact knowledge of religious facts. The con- 

 clusions of history are not alone lessons of truth ; they are also lessons 

 of tolerance. The historical study of religions, I repeat, is not being 



* " On the Origin of Civilization and Primitive Condition of Man." Xew York : D. 

 Appleton & Co. 1871. P. 205. 



