ix.j RATIONAL AND IRRATIONAL FEAR. 205 



I have quoted, I believe, every fact given by 

 Theophrastus ; and you will agree, I am sure,' that the 

 moving and inspiring element of such a character is 

 mere bodily fear of unknown evil. The only super- 

 stition attributed to him which does not at first sight 

 seem to have its root in dread is that of the Orphic 

 mysteries. But of them Miiller says that the Dionusos 

 whom they worshipped "was an infernal deity, con- 

 nected with Hades, and was the personification, not 

 merely of rapturous pleasure, but of a deep sorrow for 

 the miseries of human life." The Orphic societies of 

 Greece seem to have been peculiarly ascetic, taking no 

 animal food save raw flesh from the sacrificed ox of 

 Dionusos. And Plato speaks of a lower grade of 

 Orphic priests, Orpheotelestai, " who used to come 

 before the doors of the rich, and promise, by sacrifices 

 and expiatory songs, to release them from their own 

 sins, and those of their forefathers ; " and such would 

 be but too likely to get a hearing from the man who 

 was afraid of a weasel or an owl. 



Now, this same bodily fear, I verily believe, 

 will be found at the root of all superstition what- 

 soever. 



But be it so. Fear is a natural passion, and a 

 wholesome one. Without the instinct of self-pre- 

 servation, which causes the sea-anemone to contract 

 its tentacles, or the fish to dash into its hover, 

 species would be extermined wholesale by involuntary 

 suicide. 



Yes; fear is wholesome enough, like all other 

 faculties, as long as it is controlled by reason. But 

 what if the fear be not rational, but irrational ? What 

 if it be, in plain homely English, blind fear ; fear of 



