Survival of the Fittest. 457 



such spirits prompting to action as men are conscious they 

 themselves possess." Probably, as has been clearly shown 

 by Tyler, dreams may have first given rise to the notion of 

 spirits. Savages do not readily discriminate between sub- 

 jective and objective phenomena. When a savage dreams, 

 the figures which appear in his vision are believed to have 

 come from a distance and to stand over him, or the soul of 

 the dreamer goes out on a journey and returns with a 

 remembrance of what has been seen. That tendency in 

 savages to imagine that natural objects and agencies are 

 animated by living or spiritual beings may be illustrated by 

 a little fact which I have frequently noticed. Standing on 

 the corner of a street, waiting for a closed snow-sweeper, 

 which was driven by electricity, to pass, my attention was 

 directed to a young horse that was geared to a hansom. The 

 horse was at rest, and its driver, evidently awaiting some 

 one, sat upon the box. Upon the appearance of the sweeper 

 the horse reared, turned his face directly toward the object 

 of his fear, pawed the pavement in the most impatient man- 

 ner possible, and then looked wistfully and pleadingly at his 

 master, as though imploring protection from some fearful 

 and gigantic monster. Another sweeper passed while I was 

 still in waiting, and the poor animal went through the same 

 trying and fearful ordeal as before. He must, I think, 

 have reasoned in a rapid and unconscious manner, that 

 movement without any apparent cause indicated the presence 

 of some strange living agent, which was about to do him 

 some serious physical harm. Belief in spiritual agencies 

 would thus easily pass into a belief in the existence of one 

 or more gods, for savages would naturally ascribe to spirits 

 the same passions, the same line of vengeance or simple 

 form of justice, and the same affections which they them- 

 selves experienced. 



Religious devotion is a highly complex feeling. Love, 

 complete submission to an exalted and mysterious superior, 

 a strong sense of dependence, fear, reverence, gratitude, hope 



