326 THE EVOLUTION OF THEOLOGY 



Mil 



excellent authority, Moerenhout, who lived among 

 the people of the Society Islands many years and 

 knew them well, says that, in Tahiti, the role of 

 the prophet had very generally passed out of Ho- 

 llands of the priests into that of private person- 

 who professed to represent the god, often assumed 

 his name, and in this capacity prophesied. I will 

 not run the risk of weakening tin- force <>t' 

 Moerenhout's description of the prophetic state hy 

 t ranslating it : 



Un individu, dans cet t-t.it, avail le bras #mrhr eiiveloppii 

 (I'lin morceau d'etolfe, signc dc la presence do la Divinite. II 

 in- p:irlail (jue d'un ton imperieiix et vehement. Ses attaques, 

 i|usiiid il allait prophetiser, etaient aussi dlVoyal.lcs i|u'ini|><>- 

 sanies. II tremblait d'abord de tons ses mrmbres, la li^nrc. 

 ciillt'r, Irs yeux hazards, routes ft etiin elants (rune expression 

 -.invade. II gesticulait, artieulait des mots vide.s dc sens, 

 jioiissait l<'s evis liorribles (jui Jaisaieiil tressaillir tnus Ics 

 a.sMsiants, et s'exaltait part'ois au point (ju'dii n'u>;iit ]as 

 l':i]i]irM-li.-r. Autour de lui, le silence de l;i tenvur el dti re- 

 spect. . . . C'est alors <|u'il repondait aux i|tie.stions, 

 iiniioneait 1'avenir, le destin des batailles, la volonh' drs dienx : 

 et, i hose etoiinante ! au sein de ee delire, dc eet entliousiasme 

 reli^ieiix, son langlge etait ^iave, imposanl, MUI ('loi|iieiico 



liolilc et JielMiasivC. 1 



,)ust so Saul strips off his clothes, "prophesies" 

 hefore Samuel, and lies di\vn " naked all thai, day 

 and night." 



Dnlh Mariner and Moei-enlioiit refuse to have 



recourse to the hypothesis of imposture in order 



(mini tr llie inspired slale i.flhe Polynesian 



iff., dn i,'r,i'i Ocean, t. i. p. isj. 



