112 THE LIGHT OF DAY 



this central fact. The state and the church were 

 one. The national gods were invoked and deferred 

 to on all occasions. Every festival was in honor of 

 some divinity ; the puhlic games were presided over 

 by some god. In going to war, or in concluding 

 peace, solemn sacrifices were offered, and the favor 

 of the gods was solicited. 



In fact, in the ancient world there was but one 

 principle, — the religious principle. This dominated 

 everything, — science, literature, the arts, the state, 

 the nation, the individual ; everything revolved 

 about and was subordinated to this rule. Men lived 

 on the most familiar terms with the supernatural 

 powers. In Mohammedan countries there is still but 

 one principle. But among the European nations the 

 religious principle is but one of two ; it is relegated 

 to the sects, and is aired once a week. The mass of 

 modern life is secular and not religious. The mod- 

 ern state is not even decently moral. The attitude 

 of the great European powers toward each other 

 to-day is precisely that of so many dogs growling at 

 each other over their bones. 



" The religion of polytheism," says Gibbon, " was 

 not merely a speculative doctrine professed in the 

 schools or preached in the temples." On the contrary, 

 its deities and its rites " were closely interwoven 

 with every circumstance of business or pleasure, of 

 public or private life." 



In comparison with many Oriental people we are 

 an irreligious and God-forsaken nation. No gods 

 are recognized by the state, and in 1796 Washington 



