742 ECCLESIASTICAL INSTITUTIONS. 



allegiance to the head man while alive, will similarly modify 

 the allegiance to his ghost after his death. How closely con 

 nected are the two kinds of fealty we see in such a fact as 

 that at a Santal marriage, the bride must give up her clan 

 and its gods for those of her husband : reminding us of the 

 representation made by Naomi to Ruth &quot; thy sister-in-law 

 is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods ; &quot; and the 

 rejoinder of Euth &quot; thy people shall be my people, and thy 

 god my god.&quot; 



So understanding the matter, we see how it naturally 

 happens that just as the subjects of a living chief, for one 

 reason or another dissatisfied with his rule, will some of 

 them desert him and attach themselves to a neighbouring 

 chief ( 452) ; so, among a polytheistic people, this or that 

 motive may prompt decrease in the number of devotees at 

 one god s temple and increase those at the temple of another. 

 Disappointments like those which lead to the beating of their 

 idols by savages, when in return for sacrifices the idols have 

 not given what was wanted, will, among peoples somewhat 

 more advanced, cause alienation from a deity who has proved 

 obstinate, and propitiation of a deity who it is hoped will be 

 more conceding. Even at the present day, we are shown by 

 the streams of pilgrims to Lourdes, how the spread of belief 

 in some alleged marvel may initiate a new worship, or re 

 inforce an old one. As with saints so with gods there result 

 gradations. Political influences, again, occasionally conduce 

 to the elevation of some cults above others. Speaking of 

 Greece, Curtius says : 



&quot; Another religious worship which the Tyrants raised to a new import 

 ance was that of Dionysus. This god of the peasantry is everywhere 

 opposed to the gods of the knightly houses, and was therefore favoured 

 by all rulers who endeavoured to break the power of the aristocracy.&quot; 



Chiefly, however, inequalities among the ascribed powers 

 of gods, where many co-exist, are due to conquests. Militant 

 activities, which establish gradations of rank among the living, 

 also establish gradations of rank among the worshipped dead. 

 Habitually mythologies tell of victories achieved by the gods ; 



