784 ECCLESIASTICAL INSTITUTIONS. 



immediately around us produce. Recognizing the truth that 

 the gods of savages and partially-civilized peoples, were 

 originally ferocious chiefs and kings whose ghosts were 

 propitiated by carrying out their aggressive or revengeful 

 projects ; we see that their official propitiators, so far from 

 being at first associated in doctrine and deed with the higher 

 traits of human nature, were in both associated with the 

 lower. Hence the naturalness of that militancy which 

 characterizes them in early stages. 



Under a more concrete form this union of the sacerdotal 

 and belligerent characters, is shown by the fact that in the 

 normal order of social evolution, the political head is at the 

 same time the leader in war and the leader in worship. 

 Evidently the implication is that these two functions, at 

 first united, can acquire separate agencies but gradually; 

 and that these separate agencies must long continue to show 

 some community of character: a truth indicated by that 

 nominal headship of the church and the army which the 

 head of the state in many cases retains when actual head 

 ship has ceased. 



That other priests besides that head priest who is also 

 head warrior, should take active parts in war, is therefore to 

 be expected. We need feel no surprise on finding that in 

 various barbarous societies they share in battle sometimes 

 as actual soldiers, at other times as inspiring prompters, at 

 other times as advisers divinely enlightened; while occa 

 sionally they act as war ministers. 



Moreover this original relation is, as we see, not easily 

 obliterated. The history of mediaeval Europe proves un 

 deniably that conditions which, cause a great recrudescence 

 of militancy, re-establish the primitive union of soldier and 

 priest, notwithstanding a cult which forbids bloodshed 

 re-establish it just as completely as though the cult were of 

 the most sanguinary kind. Only as war becomes less 

 chronic, and the civilizing influences of peace begin to pre 

 dominate, does the priest lose his semi -warlike character. 



