238 PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 



kingdom of Dahomey, and the office, which is hereditary, is 

 a lucrative one.&quot; 



From Abyssinia we get an illustration of the way in which 

 the united germs of biography and history make their ap 

 pearance during burials of notables. 



&quot;Professional singing women frequently attend the funeral meetings 

 of great people . . . Each person in wailing takes it by turn to im 

 provise some verses in praise of the deceased . . . The professional 

 singers will give minute details of the history of his ancestry, his 

 deeds, character, and even his property.&quot; 



When the deceased person is a conquering monarch, this 

 funeral laudation by professionals, the first step in apotheo 

 sis, begins a worship in which there are united that account 

 of his life which constitutes a biography and that account 

 of his deeds which forms the nucleus of primitive history. 



From the accounts of ancient American civilizations, facts 

 of kindred meaning come to us. Here is a passage from 

 Bancroft concerning the Aztecs: 



&quot;The preparation and guardianship of records of the higher class, 

 such as historical annals and ecclesiastical mysteries, were under the 

 control of the highest ranks of the priesthood.&quot; 

 Again we read : 



At this assembly the Book of God was prepared. &quot;In its pages 

 were inscribed the Nahua annals from the time of the Deluge . . . 

 religious rites, governmental system, laws and social customs; their 

 knowledge respecting agriculture and all the arts and sciences.&quot; 

 It is instructive to observe how in this sacred book, as in 

 other sacred books, religion, history, and biography were 

 mingled with secular customs and knowledge. 



684. Early civilized societies have bequeathed similar 

 proofs. The biographico-historical nature of the Hebrew 

 scriptures is conspicuous. As in other cases, incidents in 

 the life of the national deity form its first subject-matter 

 how God created various things on successive days and 

 rested on the seventh day. Accounts of his personal doings 

 characterize the next books, and are combined with ac- 



