This Doctrine Of Transmigration Or Reincarnation Of

Even The Recognition Of An Individual Whom We See Every Day Is Only Possible As The Result Of An Abstract Idea Of Him Formed By Generalization From His Appearances In The Past.

Yet It Would Be Unfair To The Generality Of Our Kind To Ascribe To Their Intellectual And Moral Weakness The Gradual Divergence Of Buddhism And Christianity From Their Primitive Patterns. For It Should Not Be Forgotten That By Their Glorification Of Poverty And Celibacy Both These Religions Struck Straight At The Root Not Merely Of Civil Society But Of Human Existence. The Blow Was Parried By The Wisdom Or The Folly Of The Vast Majority Of Mankind, Who Refused To Purchase A Chance Of Saving Their Souls With The Certainty Of Extinguishing The Species.

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 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.

Some Of The Old Laws Of Israel Are Clearly Savage Taboos Of A Familiar Type Thinly Disguised As Commands Of The Deity.