374 PSYCHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION. [PART II. 



come then the mediators between gods and men, and the 

 benefactors of the latter as the founders of a new religion, the 

 inventors of important arts, the founders of agriculture and 

 social order, and the promoters of civilization. Squier 1 gives 

 as examples, Buddha in India, Fohi in China, Zoroaster in 

 Persia, Osiris in Egypt, Odin in Scandinavia, etc. In the New 

 World belong to this category, Quetzalcoatl in Mexico ; Manco 

 Capac in Peru, the founder of Cuzco, sent by the sun ; ana- 

 logous heroes we find among the Muyscas in Yucatan, in Nica- 

 ragua, and even among the Natchez ; 3 Hiawatha among the 

 Iroquois, the founder of their confederacy ; Manabozho among 

 the Algonquins ; Tamoi among the Guarayos. 3 



It is by the influence of such heroes that religion becomes 

 an element of civilization, whilst in its natural form it directly 

 or indirectly impedes it. In order to promote culture, it re- 

 quires a transformation, which, like all psychical progress, is 

 not so much determined by the influence of external natural 

 forces, or by social relations and historical events, as by the 

 influence of pre-eminently gifted individuals, who no doubt, 

 to be successful in their endeavours, require a susceptible and 

 productive field in their own people. No natural religion 

 seems in itself to possess the germ of a higher development 

 conducive to civilization. The mass of superstition which 

 these religions" contain suffocates thought ; and the exclusive 

 predominance of evil spirits, whilst the benevolent beings are 

 little heeded, deprives them of any beneficial effect which religion 

 should exercise upon moral conduct. It is only in a higher 

 stage of cultivation when man becomes the master of nature, 

 and his moral sense is developed by means independent of a 

 religious source, that he is led to the worship of a good prin- 

 ciple. Even the question as regards the variety of surrounding 

 phenomena, and the origin of the world, is not originally raised 

 by man; the idea of a creation does not immediately occur 

 to him, but remains for a long time dormant, or at least 

 confused. 



1 " Serpent Symbol ;" and Kougement, " Le peuple primitif," ii, p. 108. 



2 Du Pratz, " Hist, de la Louisane," ii, p. 324, 1758. 



3 D'Orbigny, L'Homme Amer./' iii, pp. 12, 23, 1839. 



