ix.] WHAT IS SUPEESTITION ? 203 



whole, may be considered as no definition. His first 

 thought, as often happens, is the best " Unnecessary 

 fear." But after that he wanders. The root-meaning 

 of the word is still to seek. But, indeed, the popular 

 meaning, thanks to popular common sense, will 

 generally be found to contain in itself the root- 

 meaning. 



Let us go back to the Latin word Superstitio. 

 Cicero says that the superstitious element consists in 

 " a certain empty dread of the gods " a purely 

 physical affection, if you will remember three things : 



1 . That dread is in itself a physical affection. 



2. That the gods who were dreaded were, with the 

 vulgar, who alone dreaded them, merely impersona- 

 tions of the powers of nature. 



3. That it was physical injury which these gods 

 were expected to inflict. 



But he himself agrees with this theory of mine; 

 for he says shortly after, that not only philosophers, 

 but even the ancient Romans, had separated super- 

 stition from religion; and that the word was first 

 applied to those who prayed all day ut liberi sui sibi 

 superstites esseni, might survive them. On the ety- 

 mology no one will depend who knows the remarkable 

 absence of any etymological instinct in the ancients, 

 in consequence of their weak grasp of that sound in- 

 ductive method which has created modern criticism. 

 But if it be correct, it is a natural and pathetic form 

 for superstition to take in the minds of men who saw 

 their children fade and die; probably the greater 

 number of them beneath diseases which mankind 

 could neither comprehend nor cure. 



The best exemplification of what the ancients 



