The Custom Of Burning A Beneficent God

Small Minds Cannot Grasp Great Ideas; To Their Narrow Comprehension, Their Purblind Vision, Nothing Seems Really Great And Important But Themselves.

The Natives Of British Columbia Live Largely Upon The Fish Which Abound In Their Seas And Rivers. If The Fish Do Not Come In Due Season, And The Indians Are Hungry, A Nootka Wizard Will Make An Image Of A Swimming Fish And Put It Into The Water In The Direction From Which The Fish Generally Appear. This Ceremony, Accompanied By A Prayer To The Fish To Come, Will Cause Them To Arrive At Once.

With The Advance Of Knowledge, Therefore, Prayer And Sacrifice Assume The Leading Place In Religious Ritual; And Magic; Which Once Ranked With Them As A Legitimate Equal, Is Gradually Relegated To The Background And Sinks To The Level Of A Black Art.

The Consideration Of Human Suffering Is Not One Which Enters Into The Calculations Of Primitive Man.

Yet Perhaps No Sacrifice Is Wholly Useless Which Proves There Are Men Who Prefer Honour To Life.