340 POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. 



much rain, he threatens to pour storms and lightning upon them for 

 ever, unless they bring him so many hundred baskets of corn, &c., 

 &c. . . . His subjects have the most thorough confidence in his power.&quot; 



And the king is similarly supposed to exercise control over tho 

 weather among the people of Loango. 



A like connexion is traceable in the records of various 

 extinct peoples in both hemispheres. Of Huitzilopochtli, the 

 founder of the Mexican power, we read that &quot; a great wizard 

 he had been, and a sorcerer ;&quot; and every Mexican king on 

 ascending the throne had to swear &quot; to make the sun go his 

 course, to make the clouds pour down rain, to make the rivers 

 run, and all fruits to ripen/ Eeproaching his subjects for 

 want of obedience, a Chibcha ruler told them they knew 

 &quot; that it was in his power to afflict them with pestilence, 

 small-pox, rheumatism, and fever, and to make to grow as 

 much grass, vegetables, and plants as they wanted.&quot; Ancient 

 Egyptian records yield indications of a similar early belief. 

 Thothmes III., after being deified, &quot; was considered as the 

 luck-bringing god of the country, and a preserver against the 

 evil influence of wicked spirits and magicians.&quot; And it was 

 thus with the Jews : 



&quot; Eabbinical writings are never weary of enlarging upon the magical 

 power and knowledge of Solomon. He was represented as not only 

 king of the whole earth, but also as reigning over devils and evil spirits, 

 and having the power of expelling them from the bodies of men and 

 animals and also of delivering people to them.&quot; 



The traditions of European peoples furnish kindred evidence. 

 As before shown ( 198) stories in the Heims-kringla saga 

 imply that the Scandinavian ruler, Odin, was a medicine 

 man ; as were also Niort and Frey, his successors. And after 

 recalling the supernatural weapons and supernatural achieve 

 ments of early heroic kings, we can scarcely doubt that with 

 them were in some cases associated those ascribed magical 

 characters whence have descended the supposed powers of 

 kings to cure diseases by touching. &quot;We shall the less doubt 

 this on finding that like powers were attributed to subordinate 

 rulers of early origin. There existed certain Breton noblea 



