ALTRUISM 275 



been a wonder. The foundation of their remarkable 

 eagerness to sacrifice life was their absolute belief 

 in an immediate reward in a life after death, which 

 made the sacrifice of life appear as nothing. It was 

 the promise of paradise, with its houris, that nerved 

 the sword of the Mohammedan. Such power did this 

 belief give to this mighty force that, but for an acci- 

 dent, it would have overrun the Western as well as 

 the Eastern world. Even in the Western nations the 

 monarchs who have ingrafted their power upon the 

 communal system have supported their claims by 

 means of divine right. In modern times the inspira- 

 tion of this feeling is somewhat weakened, but it still 

 actuates the majority of mankind. It still makes 

 martyrs. From this standpoint it is easy to see why 

 monarchy has, even in Western nations, been so de- 

 sirous of insisting on the divine right of kings. This 

 divine right is only one phase of the belief that the 

 king is a mediator between the natural and the super- 

 natural, and that only by obeying him can the indi- 

 vidual be sure of the permanent reward which he 

 feels is promised as a recompense. It furnishes the 

 king with the only logical reason for his inherited 

 authority. 



Religion, then, has had a very significant relation 

 to the progress of civilization, perhaps more inti- 

 mate than any other single factor. Even in its earli- 

 est phases it taught the dependence of man and the 

 necessity of yielding to higher authority. By em- 

 phasizing supernatural powers it emphasized obedi- 

 ence. It has insisted upon the necessity of sacrifice, 

 has taught of supernatural powers that demand 

 obedience, and has told of rewards after death as 

 recompenses for sacrifices in this life. Its great 



