14 CEREMONIAL INSTITUTIONS. 



in the dirt: &quot; religious, political, and social subordination 

 are expressed by the same form of behaviour. 



These indications of a general truth which will be abun 

 dantly exemplified when discussing each kind of ceremonial 

 observance, I here give in brief, as further showing that the 

 control of ceremony precedes in order of evolution the civil 

 and religious controls, and must therefore be first dealt with. 



3-KJ. On passing to the less general aspects of ceremoni 

 al government, we are met by the question How do there 

 arise 1 those modifications of behaviour which constitute it? 

 Commonly it is assumed that they are consciously chosen 

 as symbolizing reverence or respect. After their usual man 

 ner of speculating about primitive practices, men read back 

 developed ideas into undeveloped minds. The supposition, 

 is allied to that which originated the social-contract theory: a 

 kind of conception that has become familiar to the civilized 

 man, is assumed to have been familiar to man in his earliest 

 state. But just as little basis as there is for the belief that 

 savages deliberately made social contracts, is there for the 

 belief that they deliberately adopted symbols. The 



error is best seen on turning to the most developed kind of 

 symbol ization that of language. An Australian or a Fue- 

 gian does not sit down and knowingly coin a word; but the 

 words he finds in use, and the new ones which come into use 

 during his life, grow up unawares by onomatopoeia, or by 

 vocal suggestions of qualities, or by metaphor which some 

 observable likeness suggests. Among civilized peoples, 

 however, who have learnt that words are symbolic, new 

 words are frequently chosen to symbolize new ideas. So, 

 too, is it with written language. The early Egyptian never 

 thought of fixing on a sign to represent a sound, but his rec 

 ords began, as those of Xorth American Indians begin now, 

 with rude pictures of the transactions to be kept in memory; 

 and as the process of recording extended, the pictures, abbre 

 viated and generalized, lost more and more their likenesses 



