730 ECCLESIASTICAL INSTITUTIONS. 



the New Zealanders, who have in many cases chiefs who are 

 at the same time priests, we read that in other cases the 

 brother of the chief is priest. In the Mexican empire &quot; the 

 high-priest in the kingdom of Acolhuacan [and in that of 

 Tlacupan] was, according to some historians, always the 

 second son of the king.&quot; So, too, in ancient Peru &quot; they had 

 a high priest, who was an uncle or brother of the king, or at 

 least a legitimate member of the royal family.&quot; As this last 

 case shows, when the ruling man, still exercising the priestly 

 function on great occasions, does not invariably make his 

 younger brother his deputy on ordinary occasions, the office 

 of high-priest still habitually falls to some blood-relation. 

 Thus of the Khonds we read that &quot; the chief civil and sacer 

 dotal offices appear originally to have been united, or, at 

 least, to have been always held by members of the chief 

 patriarchal family.&quot; In Tahiti, where the king frequently 

 personified the god, receiving the offerings brought to the 

 temple and the prayers of the supplicants, and where he 

 was sometimes the priest of the nation, &quot; the highest sacer 

 dotal dignity was often possessed by some member of the 

 reigning family.&quot; Dupuis tells us that one of the priests of 

 Ashantee belonged to the &quot; king s own family.&quot; Among the 

 Maya nations of America &quot; the high-priests were members of 

 the royal families.&quot; And in ancient Egypt there existed a 

 kindred connexion. The king himself being high-priest, it 

 was natural that the priesthood should include some of 

 his relatives ; and Brugsch, speaking of the high-priests of 

 c tah, says &quot; We find among their number princes of the 

 blood royal. As an example we may name the prince 

 Khamus, a favourite son of Ramses II.&quot; 



In some cases the priestly functions of the head man are 

 performed by a female relative. Among the Damaras the 

 chief s daughter is priestess ; and, &quot; besides attending to the 

 sacrifices, it is her duty to keep up the holy fire. &quot; On 

 appointed occasions among the Dahomans, sacrifices are 

 brought to the tomb (presumably cf a king) and &quot; before the 



