82 MANNERS AND FASHION. 



completely these facts harmonize with the hyjDothesis, that 

 the aboriginal god is the first man sufiiciently great to be- 

 come a tradition, the earliest whose power and deeds made 

 him remembered ; that hence antiquity unavoidably became 

 associated with superiority, and age with nearness in blood 

 to " the powerful one ; " that so there naturally arose that 

 domination of the eldest which characterizes all history, 

 and that theory of human degeneracy which even yet sur- 

 vives. 



We might further dwell on the facts, that Lord signi- 

 fies high-born, or, as the same root gives a word meaning 

 heaven, possibly heaven-born ; that, before it became com- 

 mon, 8ir or S>ire^ as well as Father^ was the distinction of 

 a priest ; that worship^ originally worth-ship — a term of 

 respect that has been used commonly, as well as to magis- 

 trates — is also our term for the act of attributing greatness 

 or worth to the Deity ; so that to ascribe worth-ship to a 

 man is to worship him. We might make much of the evi- 

 dence that all early governments are more or less distinct- 

 ly theocratic ; and that among ancient Eastern nations even 

 the commonest forms and customs appear to have been in- 

 fluenced by religion. We might enforce our argument re- 

 specting the derivation of ceremonies, by tracing out the 

 aboriginal obeisance made by putting dust on the head, 

 which probably symbolizes putting the head in the dust : 

 by afEHating the practice prevailing among certain tribes, 

 of doing another honour by presenting him with a portion 

 of hair torn from the head — an act which seems tantamount 

 to saying, " I am your slave ; " by investigating the Oriental 

 custom of giving to a visitor any object he speaks of ad- 

 miringly, which is pretty clearly a carrying out the compli- 

 ment, " All I have is yours." 



Without enlarging, however, on these and many minor 

 facts, we venture to think that tlie evidence already assign- 

 ed is sufficient to justify our position. Had the proofs been 



