428 THE GHOST RELIGION. 



by means of war. Religion is afterwards useful as a 

 means of keeping the conquered people in subjectioa ; 

 but in this case it plays only a secondary part. In 

 another class of nationalities, however, religion operates 

 as the prime agent. 



When the human herd first wandered through the 

 gloomy and gigantic forest, sleeping on reed platforms 

 in the trees, or burrowing in holes, there was no 

 government but that of force. The strongest man was 

 the leader, and ceased to be the leader when he ceased 

 to be the strongest. But as the minds of men became 

 developed, the ruler was elected by the members of 

 the clan, who combined to depose him if he exceeded 

 his rightful powers ; and chiefs were chosen not only 

 for their strength, but also sometimes for their beauty, 

 and sometimes on account of their intelligence. These 

 chiefs possessed but little power ; they merely ex- 

 pressed and executed the voice of the majority. But 

 when it was believed that the soul was immortal, or, 

 in other words, that there were ghosts; when it was 

 believed that the bodies of men were merely garments, 

 and that the true inmates were spirits, whom death 

 stripped bare of flesh and blood, but whom death was 

 powerless to kill ; when it was believed that these 

 souls or ghosts dwelt among the graves, haunted their 

 old homes, hovered round the scenes in which they 

 had passed their lives, and even took a part in human 

 affairs, a theory arose that the ghost of the departed 

 chief was still the rider of the clan, and that in his 

 spiritual state he could inflict terrible punishments on 

 those by whom he was offended, and could also bestow 

 upon them good fortune, in hunting, in harvests, and 

 in war. So then homage and gifts were rendered to 

 him at his grave. A child of his house became the 



