,transcriber's ,notes3 ,text enclosed by underscores is in italics4 ,additional ,transcriber's ,notes are at the end4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,origin ,,of ,,thought ,,and ,,speech 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,origin ,,of ,,thought ,,and ,,speech ,,by ,m4 ,,moncalm ,,translated ,,from ,,the ,,french ,,by ,g4 ,s4 ,,whitmarsh 8,language is the autobiography of the human mind40 ,the ,science of ,thought 7,,max ,m,,ller74 8,language is our ,rubicon which no brute will dare to cross40 ,the ,science of ,language 7,,max ,m,,ller74 ,,london ,,kegan ,,paul1 ,,trench1 ,,tr,,bner ,,co41 ,,ltd4 ,,dryden ,,house1 #dc ,,gerrard ,,street1 ,w4 #aije 99 99 99 99 99 ,with the approval of the ,author's representative1 the translator has at times followed the exact words of ,max ,mller rather than the literal translation1 where the latter has differed slightly from the former4 ,the thanks of the translator are due to friends who have kindly revised the ,,ms4 and a portion of the proof sheets4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the books used by the ,author in this work are3-- ,,max ,m,,ller4 ,introduction to the ,science of ,religion4 ,origin and ,growth of ,religion4 ,chips from a ,german ,workshop4 ,the ,science of ,language4 ,the ,science of ,thought4 ,natural ,religion4 ,physical ,religion4 ,anthropological ,religion4 ,theosophy1 or ,psychological ,religion4 ,,ch4 ,,darwin4 ,origin of ,species4 ,the ,descent of ,man4 ,expression of the ,emotions4 ,l4 ,,noir4 ,der ,ursprung der ,sprache4 ,die ,lehre ,kants1 und der ,ursprung der ,vernunft4 ,,contents ,,page ,,introduction #a ,,chapter ,i ,,hypotheses #ad ,,chapter ,,ii ,,our ,,aryan ,,ancestors #da ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,philosophy ,,of ,,language #ea ,,chapter ,,iv ,,animals #eg ,,chapter ,v ,,primitive ,,humanity #fc ,the #aba ,original ,concepts #hi ,,chapter ,,vi ,,ancient ,,language #ic ,,chapter ,,vii ,,myths #ii ,,chapter ,,viii ,,between ,,sleeping ,,and ,,waking #aah ,,chapter ,,ix ,a ,,decisive ,,step #adj ,kant's ,teaching #adi ,sensation #adi ,space and ,time #aeb ,phenomena #aeb ,the ,categories of the ,understanding #aec ,cause and ,effect #aed ,axioms #aed ,metaphysics #aef ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,vedic ,,hymns #agc ,,chapter ,,xi ,,man',s ,,conceptions ,,of ,,religion #bad ,the ,sacred ,writings of the ,hebrews #bbh ,the ,various ,names of ,god #bca ,the ,genius of ,languages #bcd ,metaphor #bce ,the ,later ,name for ,god amongst the ,hebrews #bcf ,on the ,prophets 7,nbh7 #bch ,the ,views of ,spinoza #bdb ,obedience #bdf ,the ,law #bdi ,the ,law in the ,gospel #bea ,biographical ,note #beb ,the ,ideas of ,plato #bee ,episodial #beg ,an ,excursion into a ,country little known #beh ,anthropomorphism #bfa ,the ,sacred ,codes and the ,codes of ,laws #bfb ,,chapter ,,xii ,,of ,,words #bgf ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,observations ,,and ,,reflections #bhf ,physics #bhg ,comparative ,sciences #bhh ,concerning some ,authors #bia ,religion and ,religions #bic ,opposition #bih ,abstraction1 ,inattention #bih ,speech #cjj ,rsum #cjc 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,origin ,,of ,,thought ,,and ,,speech ,,introduction ,when opening my eyes in the morning1 and whilst still struggling with an inclination to sleep1 ,i review the day and what it will have in store for me2 but the pictures drawn are confused1 and my will takes no part in it4 ,for some time ,i have been haunted by the impression that the mental faculties of the generality of men have not succeeded in throwing off a species of torpor resembling that of a person hardly awake2 the supposition that this torpid condition prevents our minds from attaining that degree of lucidity to which they have a right to aspire1 is perhaps a hallucination1 yet possibly ,i may be right in thinking it4 ,how many confused ideas traverse my brain in one day1 and how seldom those come of which ,i follow the thread4 ,we know well that injunction so often given by parents to children1 and by schoolmasters to their pupils3 8,try to concentrate your attention40 ,it almost seems as if that which we require of children is beyond my powers1 for ,i have hardly resolved to disentangle a problem of whatever kind1 when1 under the form of useless1 futile1 inept thoughts1 obstacles heap themselves across my path4 ,i conclude from this that a fatal somnolence paralyses my faculties4 ,when a person has to be awakened who is disinclined to be disturbed1 he is violently shaken4 ,what movement would suffice to energise a man whose mental powers were drowsy8 ,i do not see anything from the outside2 and a personal effort could not be looked for1 from an enervated will4 ,and yet ,i am possessed by the desire to penetrate the mystery of my existence2 ,i ask myself what ,i am1 and why ,i am on this earth2 from the moment that ,i put this question to myself ,i feel that the awakening may be possible for me4 ,i know two classes of men who never ask it2 first those who do not see that there is any problem to solve2 and secondly those who are content with infantine and superficial teaching2 or more or less elaborate and learned1 but coming from one who appears to himself to be the depository of a collection of supernaturally inspired truths4 ,i own that ,i do not belong to the first of these divisions1 since ,i shall have no rest as long as ,i am ignorant of what passes in me and around me2 neither do ,i belong to the second of these classes1 since those who compose it are content to believe2 but faith is not knowledge1 and ,i am anxious to comprehend what has been discovered1 known1 and established by evidence4 ,but how shall ,i submit to this labour of research1 when the habitual condition of my thoughts is to wander at will amongst my impressions1 and when ,i am so incurably absent-minded8 ,we live in an atmosphere of many and varied ideas2 ideas true and false1 good and bad2 they pulsate in the air we breathe2 they are like the winged antheral seeds which are lifted up by the slightest breeze of autumn and carried afar2 they are little heeded2 but should it happen that these seeds attached themselves to our garments we should notice how strikingly the one form varied from the other4 ,amongst those ideas which wander at large is this aphorism--that we are ignorant of that of which we know not the commencement1 or in other words of that which we do not examine from the practical point of view2 he who wishes to learn how something is made1 whatever it may be1 must know how to begin it4 ,this truth has so ancient a date that we cannot conceive of a time when it was absent from the mind of man2 only it had the common lot of all truths with which we are so familiar that apparently there is nothing to learn from them1 and this aphorism appears at first sight to be the ramblings which we hear but to which we do not listen4 ,to me it is of value1 as it strengthens my conviction that the mist which obscures my vision will not be dissipated until ,i have traced certain problems to their source2 ,i know by experience that few phenomena are easy of explanation when their appearances only are examined at any given moment2 and close questioning fails to elicit light1 whilst ignorance prevails concerning their beginning4 ,how does it happen that in spite of such unfavourable circumstances1 often with no clear purpose1 and with eyes half shut1 humanity can advance8 ,for the progress is indubitable4 ,the public conscience has developed2 and its actions make themselves felt2 civilised nations have become more humane2 they understand better than they did formerly that peace is more profitable than war2 certain social problems are being seriously discussed1 and some are on the point of solution4 ,in the physical sciences1 as well as in mechanical arts1 progress is most marked4 ,but ,i see that though imagination1 observation1 and a talent for invention have had much to do with this progress1 the capacity of imitation has also been a powerful factor4 ,when ,william ,herschel gave up music for astronomy1 he perfected the optical instruments which were in use at that time1 and manufactured some excellent telescopes at comparatively moderate prices1 with the result that his fellow astronomers and their successors were able to devote themselves to the study of the heavens with greater ease and readiness2 and the discovery of ,uranus was soon followed by that of a large number of celestial bodies4 ,again1 at one of the ,national ,exhibitions of our time1 there was shown to all comers the model of a recently invented apparatus for the conveyance of the wounded on battlefields2 since which1 each country now produces its own design with various improvements1 and the victims of the barbarism1 still lingering in war1 were benefited by these modern appliances1 due entirely to the art of imitation4 ,in short1 progress exists1 but not all along the line4 ,as thought travels slowly in its own domain1 so mental science is behindhand4 ,a true idea is not mechanically reproduced1 it must be tended for it to bear fruit1 but what tendance would avail1 if it is only with difficulty that we discriminate between what we know already1 and what we do not yet know1 for this distinction must accompany conscious progress4 ,everything around us tends to keep us in this penumbra1 which is so favourable to inertia1 ignorance1 sleep4 ,certain groups of philosophical ideas become condensed and systematised2 in some systems there are one or two great thoughts only4 ,this suffices--these systems remain1 germinate and direct contemporaneous generations as well as those of the future4 ,it may also happen that these same ideas invade brains little prepared to receive them1 and thus deviate from their course1 err as they advance1 and end by becoming so travestied that it is no longer possible to know what they were at their origin--a swerving movement has taken place1 which causes suffering to contemporaries1 and1 still more1 to those who come after4 ,thus the bulk increases1 the bulk of truth and the bulk of error2 and this fatal expansion of the true and the false1 intertwined the one with the other1 pursues its encroaching and troublous way4 ,this confusion is something impersonal2 it is an opaque body which interposes itself between the truth and ourselves1 and prevents us from contemplating it2 but the confusion may also arise directly from those whose mission it is to guide us4 ,i open a book written by some grave thinker who1 ,i imagine1 knows his subject thoroughly1 and ,i begin to read in all confidence2 at first ,i think ,i understand him2 then ,i am stopped by a word1 and ,i wonder what meaning the author has attached to it2 a little further ,i come upon the same word1 which now seems invested with another signification2 this disconcerts me1 and ,i close the book4 ,i take another1 but the same disagreeable surprise awaits me1 and ,i find everywhere terms whose meaning varies to suit the convenience of the author2 and what we are to understand by these words is nowhere explained4 ,these defects arise probably from the fact that certain philosophers1 taking their confused opinions for new ideas1 seek for words in which to express them1 and not finding them in their vocabulary1 they coin them1 using terms to which no precise meaning is attached2 which terms remain more or less enigmatical to the authors themselves1 and1 consequently1 unintelligible to the readers2 in this way does the confusion of ideas arise and is propagated4 ,a philosopher1 ,i think it was ,haman1 made the following very true and very alarming statement3 8,language is not only the basis of our power of thought1 but also the point from which our misunderstandings and errors spring02 and ,hobbes also says3 8,it is obvious that truth and falsehood dwell only with those living creatures who have the use of speech40 ,but all that ,i have just said indicates merely a superficial portion of my passing impressions2 in going below the surface ,i find in the past other causes for our present perturbation of mind4 ,for centuries we have frequented schools in order to learn to distinguish truth from error1 yet it is always a mixture of truth and error that we are taught4 ,what result had we attained on the eve of the twentieth century8 ,we are still asking ourselves whether science does or does not harmonise with religion4 ,after that we cannot but give ourselves up to the deepest despondency1 we cannot but fold our arms in despair and question whether we shall ever see things clearly4 ,amongst our ancestors there were sometimes found men of great resolution who1 in order to punish themselves for cowardice and luxury1 administered discipline to themselves2 the idea is not so extravagant as it appears to some people4 ,a few good strokes of the whip might result in reviving or strengthening the will1 and in forcing it to resist the moral supineness which is so apt to increase2 but physical discipline is no longer in use amongst us1 and in my own case ,i have substituted an illustration of which ,i try never to lose sight4 ,i picture to myself an ideal potter1 whose whole ambition would be to make good vessels1 and1 having succeeded in making some of great solidity1 he would choose out those of the finest shape for the market4 ,he attains success1 and his thoughts being occupied with his pottery only1 at last he makes vases of absolute perfection4 ,with what feelings of envy ,i contemplate this creature of my imagination1 who is to serve as my model1 and yet whom the want of concentration of thought prevents me from imitating4 ,it would have been perhaps prudent on my part to follow the example of this workman1 and to accustom myself to reflect on subjects less immeasurably above me than those which have such a powerful attraction for me2 but ,i yield to the impulse--once given4 ,i often lose myself when pondering on the world where destiny has placed me2 and ,i ask myself--,how did life first appear on the earth8 ,was there nothing but a cellule from whence all that fills space came8 ,was there one cellule for the vegetables and another for the animals8 ,if man did not spring from the cradle of all things that live and grow on the surface of the globe1 was he an individual of his own species at the beginning1 or two individuals1 or many8 ,after what fashion did man speak at his first appearance8 ,what were his thoughts8 8,how can it be explained10 ,i asked myself again1 8that of all the members of the animal kingdom1 one only should have marvelled at and pondered on his position with regard to the universe and himself8 ,that one only should have manifested the desire to understand his role in life1 whilst all the creatures that surrounded him1 lived contentedly in blissful ignorance8 ,it would be impossible to conceive of a horse1 an elephant1 or a mammoth disquieting itself concerning its origin and the end of its being2 why has man only sought a solution of these problems80 ,the learned scholars who occupy themselves with these questions are far from agreeing unanimously concerning them2 thus ,i--,i1 who am only one link in the interminable chain of units which composes humanity1 past1 present and future2 ,i1 in my own individuality must live and die in my ignorance4 ,i revolt against this prospect1 which ,i yet recognise as inevitable2 ,i refuse to acknowledge myself beaten1 and ,i feel myself irresistibly driven to seek for more knowledge2 then feeling unable to supply the lack1 ,i cease to be anxious1 and fall asleep again4 ,sometimes when led to investigate the inner tribunal1 conscience1 ,i contemplate a phenomenon purely intellectual and moral1 which the uproar raised by the conflict of so many heterogeneous ideas cannot make me forget1 although it does not intrude itself upon me with violence2 on the contrary1 it waits with an unparalleled patience and discretion at my door4 ,it is the phenomenon named religion4 ,we read in the ,bible that ,moses1 having noticed a burning bush that yet was not consumed1 went up to it1 the more closely to investigate this marvel4 ,for many people religion has borne the same aspect that the burning bush did for ,moses1 and those1 like ,moses1 have approached it in the endeavour to discover what it could be4 ,religion has always compelled attention1 its metaphysical side has been described in voluminous theological and philosophical treatises2 historians on their side have made many researches concerning the forms in which it has clothed itself on earth during a long succession of centuries1 and amongst many peoples2 it is even said there are learned men who have studied all the ,bibles and catechisms2 and it is added that few amongst them know what religion really is4 ,it does not on that account play a less important part in our existence2 it is from religion that all those acts of devotion and charity spring1 to which millions of human creatures give themselves4 ,there are few who ask themselves whence comes this breath which inspires them so fully1 and since when has its influence extended itself amongst us2 to be nourished with its fruits sufficed4 ,such is the disposition of soul of the majority of those for whom religion is more than a name--whatsoever it be--pronounced in an unknown tongue4 ,would it not be natural to desire to make its acquaintance more closely8 ,apparently not2 we accept it as something known by intuition1 without concerning ourselves with its aspect4 ,this strange fact ,i have also noticed4 ,when studying history very attentively1 and with an attitude of mind free from all prejudice1 it is possible to fix the exact period at which errors1 more or less generally acknowledged as such1 have first crept into the world2 but ,i have vainly sought in history for the corresponding moment when truths first made their appearance2 truths1 which have been accepted1 if only by a few isolated individuals1 or by certain groups of individuals1 of whatever race1 or of whatever period of the life of humanity they might be4 ,but as it is acknowledged that amongst the errors which trouble us1 we possess some truths1 it is evident that they have manifested themselves2 but when and how8 ,at this ,i do not arrive4 ,this silence of history indicates1 ,i think1 that the truths of which we seek the commencement have been revealed to man in prehistoric days4 ,i do not feel that ,i know positively concerning the first human beings who appeared on the earth2 ,i picture them like soft wax ready to receive a definite form from the hand which created them4 ,these first comers who knew nothing1 never having had any training1 and possessing only their five senses to aid them in arriving at knowledge1 were infinitely better placed than ,i am to embrace truth1 since ,i should have to disentangle myself from a vast mass of ideas which disfigure the natural simplicity of my soul2 ,i should have to forget1 even the truths which ,i believed myself to possess1 and to transform myself into white plastic blank wax1 with no impress whatsoever1 and to wait until my ,creator traced the image ,he wished2 this is now not possible4 ,i should not be now here if ,i could have been contemporaneous with my ancestors1 and ,i had been permitted to follow in the steps of their pilgrimage1 this would have pleased me well4 ,i perceive my friends are uneasy--8,take care10 they say1 8an ,ide fixe is dangerous40 ,but is it quite certain that an ,ide fixe is always harmful8 ,have they never seen a man wandering in a forest without any fixed determination to quit it8 ,is it credible that our first parents had no fixed idea of discovering the import towards themselves1 of the vast world in which they had been placed1 knowing nothing of the reason of their position8 ,equally ignorant of the reason why the sun1 the moon1 fire1 hurricanes1 storms1 thunder1 rivers1 mountains existed1 always above and around them4 ,the whole of nature itself required to be interrogated4 ,in what way could this settled determination have harmed them8 ,it is true that they are all dead1 but determination did not kill them4 ,and their ,ide fixe must have been very tenacious and powerful for this thirst for knowledge to have descended with their blood into our own veins2 their wish to gain information is reproduced in us2 this is the legacy that our fathers have left us1 and the singular feature of the legacy is that unlike others1 of which the parts are subdivided and diminished1 this in its entirety has passed down to each of the milliards and milliards of inheritors4 ,must we then feel that we are destined to ask perpetually1 and to receive no answer8 ,that need not be4 ,many things that our ancestors could not fathom are clear to us2 what was unknown to them is known to us4 ,that which prevents us from following up this line of progress through these phases is that each reply brings forth anew fresh questions1 and thus it will be to the end--if the end should ever arrive4 ,this last question we do not put to ourselves1 which is an indication that we are not careful to arrive at the answer4 ,when ,i compare the present state of our knowledge1 and of our condition of mind1 to which ,i have given the epithets of torpor and inertia--and they are rightly given--to that which held sway in the dark ages when the earth rested on an elephant1 the elephant on a tortoise1 and the tortoise swam in the void1 ,i must acknowledge that we now see things more truly4 ,but to start from the point of the sum of our acquired knowledge in this march of progress would be fatal to us2 the ground we have won will only retain its solidity in proportion as we keep in sight the path we have trodden1 with all its encountered and vanquished obstacles1 and that will only be by pursuing the same path again in company with our ancestors4 ,here my friends interpose--8,that would be a vain task1 you cannot picture humanity in its infancy1 that is an impossibility40 ,doubtless1 and since ,i am too practical to attempt the impossible1 abstaining from every superhuman effort1 and submitting my imagination to a strict discipline1 ,i will again consult history1 but not history as ,i know it1 nor that history which is written in our days1 polished1 cautious1 honestly critical1 that which notes the old traces of humanity when they occur on the route mixed with events1 and which treats the eternal truths as though they had no existence1 and1 truly1 they do not belong to its dominion4 ,i would study the other history1 which at first was related1 not written1 because speech came before writing4 ,i should try to collect information from the ancient literatures of the people concerning the manner in which our ancestors depicted divinity to themselves1 especially with regard to dealings with mortals at the time when visits between the celestial inhabitants and those on earth were common4444 ,we possess the ,old ,testament of the ,hebrews1 the sacred books of the ,hindoos1 and the mythology of the ,aryan family2 the mine is rich1 so rich that ,i should have time to die a thousand times before ,i should have finished the task of searching in this mixed medley of historical remains1 fantastic recitals1 sublime thoughts1 and flagrant falsehoods4 ,happily this work of digging in the past in quest of an idea is not the work of one man nor of one epoch1 but that of many men and many epochs1 and it never ceases4 ,moreover1 a short time ago no one imagined that documents very much more ancient than those ,i have just named1 would have been discovered in hitherto unexplored regions of the physical and mental world4 ,two enterprising men1 ,darwin and ,max ,mller1 visited and studied them4 ,darwin sought to explain what the origin of organic beings might have been1 and in what way they passed through a series of evolutions1 from one form to another of great dissimilarity4 ,he who speaks of evolution implies researches into the beginnings of things2 this was exactly what ,i needed4 ,all the world knows ,darwin's name1 even those who abstain from dealing with scientific problems2 he has some ardent admirers who are not careful to define very accurately what it is they admire in him1 and some furious adversaries1 who1 judging mainly by hearsay1 have formed a conception of him which is either very superficial or very false4 ,the development of human reason has been one of the objects of ,max ,mller's researches4 ,this great thinker1 who is at the same time the first philologist of our time1 has sought in the science of ,language for the origin of thinking man4 ,very few amongst the men of the world1 who are nothing more than men of the world1 know what the name of ,max ,mller represents1 even the existence of a science of ,language is unknown to them4 ,even if ,darwin and ,max ,mller have not been absolutely the first to strive to go back1 the one to the origin of the organic world1 the other to the dawn of human speech1 no others have yet walked in this darkness so courageously and so perseveringly as these two men4 ,not only have the journeys of exploration been much multiplied of late1 but a principle of action has been extracted from beneath the scaffolding used in the building up of new theories2 which is1 8,if you have an idea1 and you wish to see whither it may lead1 take it from its first commencement1 and advance confidently40 ,this is what ,i am about to do4 ,i am undertaking a long journey2 ,i carry with me but few plans2 turning my eyes away from whatever might attract my curiosity either on the right hand or the left1 ,i shall still more carefully guard myself from being dazzled by the mirages which ,i am told are frequent in those countries2 or frightened by the phantoms which it is possible ,i may meet on the road4 ,i shall always remind myself that one hour of feebleness1 indecision1 hesitation might cause me to lose my equilibrium1 and that it would only require one moment of dizziness to cause my retrogression to the elephant and the tortoise4 ,god forbid6 ,it is to the opposite pole to which ,i shall direct myself2 if truth exist1 reason is here to find it4 ,,chapter ,i ,,hypotheses ,thinkers of all times have asked themselves the question whence does this world come on which we live4 ,curious to know whether the universe was self-made1 or was the work of a great primal ancestor1 or personal ,creator2 philosophers who considered the matter in its entirety have left us two hypotheses4 8,according to one1 chaos reigned at the beginning1 or in other words1 the possibility of everything2 and from the midst of this chaos certain realities were evolved10#a from an inherent aptitude for development2 this aptitude has been named in many ways1 such as 8natural selection10 8survival of the fittest40 ,the ,greek sages were already acquainted with the thought implied in these terms4 ,empedocles said that the fittest would always preponderate1 since conservation is an integral part of their nature2 whilst what is unfit1 or not in accord with the surroundings1 must disappear4 ,but the partisans of this theory find themselves confronted by a serious difficulty3 if a blind force has produced the universe1 whence comes the order which reigns in nature8 ,it is freely acknowledged1 even by those with small powers of observation1 that the inhabitants of the terrestrial globe are divided into animal and vegetable1 which are again subdivided into distinct classes1 separated by distinct lines of demarcation4 ,if we admitted that the vegetable and animal kingdoms were not at first so entirely separated as they are at present1 there would always remain a question awaiting reply3 ,how is it to be accounted for1 that two families issuing from the same source1 become so separated1 and have remained distinct ever since8 ,amongst the propagators of the second hypothesis1 some admit the existence of a primordial germ possessing the power of infinite production2 others believe in a ,personal ,creator who formed all things1 whether by the means of pre-existent material or from nothing4 ,in accepting this theory of a reasonable ,being we must at once lay aside that of pure chance1 since to ,him is attributed the permanence of the separation described above1 this separation or division is of such a nature as to induce the impression that thus it is by premeditation and co-ordination4 ,certain philosophers putting aside the question of the origin of the organic world in its entirety1 have restricted their field of investigation1 and taken it in detail4 ,thus3 ,what is the origin of man8 ,how is it that man thinks and speaks8 ,what is human thought and human speech8 ,is it man's nature that compels him to speak1 or has language been from the first a matter of convention8 ,the ,greeks whilst pursuing their researches amongst the lofty regions of metaphysics expressed some very subtle theories on this subject1 coupled with vast systems which comprehended the whole of humanity4 ,by these they weighed the words spoken1 their derivation1 the ideas which these words represented1 and the primitive source of the various phenomena exhibited by man1 for the ancients recognised man's indivisibility4 ,heraclitus considered that each object combines in itself a thought and its expression1 emanating from the object1 and that man is the recipient only2 that he breathes a spiritual atmosphere2 thus it is that every name necessarily designates the object it denotes4 ,plato said that all the objects of the external world have in them something which constitutes their essence1 and that this essence is capable of being transmitted from objects themselves into the human mind2 that ideas constitute the essence of objects1 and that words are therefore necessarily related to the constituent parts of the objects1 and their impression on the human understanding4 ,epicurus said that human language is the result of the pressure exercised by the external world on the sensitive essential matter in man1 and that as soon as man sustains this pressure he emits words spontaneously2 the most ancient words used seem to have been expressive sounds1 and with the human race it was as natural for them to talk as to groan1 to cough1 or to sneeze4 ,thus the ,ancients did not distinguish speech from conception4 ,the problem of the origin of speech1 treated in antiquity with as much depth as calmness1 profoundly agitated the minds in the ,middle ,ages1 and the theologians naturally introduced this variant in their exposition of the subject3 ,has language a divine or human origin8 ,the ,christian philosopher replies3 8,the intellect of ,god created the world1 and the human soul1 made in the likeness of the mind of ,god1 has in itself the source of all knowledge3 thought and language are of divine origin2 left to himself1 with only the help of his own powers1 man would never have found a means of expressing his thoughts40 ,such was the belief of the greatest thinkers of the ,middle ,ages2 and they accepted the fact of a primordial language which men must have received directly from the ,creator2 this opinion was perpetuated until the most recent times4 ,but from the earliest ,christian centuries there were certain philosophers such as ,gregory of ,nyssa1 who1 whilst acknowledging the existence of a primitive universal language1 considered that it redounded more to the glory of the ,almighty ,creator to endow man simply with the power of speech1 and they deny that this language with its grammar and orthography was divinely revealed4 ,the materials for the study of these questions are lacking4 ,the only document in our possession on the origin of mankind--the ,old ,testament--was carefully consulted2 there we read that ,god created man after ,his image1 that ,he made him of the dust of the earth1 that ,he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life1 so that man became a living creature4 ,the ,bible narrative is one of simple facts1 and it was necessary to look upon them as so many facts1 for any effort to pierce beneath the surface of these mysterious words was like groping in the dark4 ,another recital was also given in ,genesis4 ,god brought all the animals of the earth1 and the birds of the air to ,adam that he might name them1 and whatsoever ,adam called every living thing that was the name of it4 ,this seemed difficult to interpret1 and renewed the questions under other forms4 ,did man at the beginning resemble a newly born babe who cries but cannot speak8 ,in this case how did he begin to express his thoughts8 ,if man was created an adult1 but did not receive a complete language from heaven1 how did he acquire the faculty of speech1 this faculty which we know to be the distinguishing mark of humanity1 and which is missing in other creatures8 ,the eighteenth century decided that this way of treating a scientific question left much to be desired2 it resulted in a cul de sac1 and a fresh beginning had to be made4 ,some philosophers1 thinking to simplify matters1 affirmed that primitive man1 tired of wandering through woods like other animals1 decided to group themselves into companies2 the members of this society1 feeling the necessity of making themselves mutually understood1 expressed themselves at first by the aid of signs and gestures1 then by sounds peculiar to the things denoted1 afterwards1 in one way or another1 actual words were pronounced4 ,this reasoning was used in the eighteenth century1 and not knowing where to find better1 those who employed it felt satisfied with their perspicacity2 language which was formerly considered as a gift direct from ,god1 became a physiological endowment1 a conventional art2 this century had an intense horror of the supernatural1 so that it readily accepted any system in which ,god did not appear4 ,the lack of reflection shown in the building up of these hypotheses concerning the commencement of humanity has been severely criticised1 and that they were very superficial must be conceded4 ,it is equally clear that all these tentative efforts had this in common1 that they were the results of the influence on immature minds of the period1 of the necessity of explaining the awakening of human reason in a rational manner4 ,the search was continued4 ,at last the nineteenth century considered that a solution had been found4 ,certain ideas which had received attention during divers periods were now collected1 sorted1 re-examined more closely1 and classified1 and from these labours there arose the two theories of interjection and imitation4 ,according to the first1 language consists of sounds drawn involuntarily from man by his emotions and feelings2 by degrees man became accustomed to reproduce similar exclamations when wishing to express the same feelings1 and these exclamations would serve as the roots of words2 this is the interjectional theory4 ,the imitative or onomatopic proceeds from another source2 when man was confronted by all the objects of the exterior world he began to imitate the sounds emitted1 such as the cries of various animals1 the whistling of the wind1 the fall of a stone2 the many sounds which fill the air were reproduced by the human voice and formed the basis for future words4 ,objections to both of these theories are not lacking4 ,if emotions such as joy1 pain1 anger1 love1 disgust--or if physical sensations such as result from the sting of a bee or from a blow of the fist1 could furnish the roots of a language1 and if it were the same with the imitation of noises produced by nature1 the sounds of the words should retain a definite impress of these emotions and feelings1 and should reproduce1 if only approximately1 these various noises4 ,even if we admit that a small number of primitive men set themselves to imitate the murmur of the stream1 the rolling of the thunder1 the barking of a dog1 the groans of the wounded1 the only result would have been infinite variations of clamour quite impossible to distinguish or to understand4 ,strictly speaking1 the prolonged sound of 8be0 and 8mou0 might awaken the conception of a goat and cow in the mind2 but in order to convey the idea of a herd of oxen it would be necessary to avoid equally the sound of 8be0 and 8mou10 as belonging exclusively to the two special animals4 ,the warbling notes of birds have always attracted attention1 and essays have been made to reproduce them by imitative harmony1 but the various peoples have given various interpretations1#b and in the generality of cases there is no resemblance between the names of animals and their cries4#c ,after examining the testimony of the name 8cuckoo0 7no doubt convincing taken by itself71 which is the prominent argument brought forward by the advocates of the imitative theory called by ,max ,mller the bow-wow theory1 we are not able to advance further in that direction4 ,darwin in his book1 ,the ,descent of ,man1 promulgates the idea that language may have originated from interjections and imitations1 but elsewhere in the ,expressions of the ,emotions he hastens to add with his accustomed frankness3 8,but the whole subject of the differences of the sounds produced under different states of the mind is so obscure that ,i have succeeded in throwing hardly any light on it2 and the remarks which ,i have made have but little significance40#d ,scholars and literary men have taxed the resources of all the treasures of their imagination in endeavouring to picture the beginnings of language2 in the present day many efforts are made by learned men to discover1 from nurses surrounded by their charges1 how the first words were reproduced by primitive man4 ,it would be as useful to study the nature of primitive rocks amongst a mass of bricks and mortar1 since the chasm is wide between the thoughts which our little ones have when they first begin to speak and those which primitive man had in trying to name his surroundings4 ,we who speak because we know point out father or mother to a little child1 naming them at the same time--8this is mother10 8this is father20 by degrees attributes become connected in the child's mind with these names2 such as mother's hair1 or her dress2 or father's beard1 his pin2 and whilst naming them we again point them out2 and when the child pronounces these words in its own fashion1 that is incorrectly1 is this defect in pronunciation to be a sign-post to us--pointing out the direction to be followed in judging of primitive language8 ,at a later period the child distinguishes between the mother's smile and the father's voice2 later still its mind comprehends all the moral and physical attributes covered by these two terms2 and thus with all other objects--8here is the cow10 and 8here is the piece of sugar10 which so soon become familiar to the child1 with their cognate words1 milk and sweetness4 ,our children thus learn to speak under very different conditions from those in which our first ancestors found themselves1 when with no previous experience they tried to put forth their first words4 ,conjectures increased and developed into systems1 which1 however1 contained nothing beyond germs of fresh conjectures and fresh systems1 of which none rested on a reasonable basis4 ,at the beginning of the eighteenth century it was quite natural that there should be uncertainty as to the path to be followed in seeking the beginning of human speech4 ,was it necessary to trace all the known languages to their source8 ,would not the same feeling of confusion arise when attacking all the dialects spoken on the surface of the earth as oppressed those who were at the base of the ,tower of ,babel8 ,an idea which was universally adopted rather tended to check the progress of this study3 it sprang from the theory that humanity had received the gift of speech from the ,creator2 and as the ,jewish people alone were thought to be the recipients of a supernatural revelation1 it followed that ,hebrew must be the earliest language1 and consequently that all existing languages were derived from the ,hebrew4 ,it is hardly possible to conceive the number of works put forth by the learned to remove any doubt with regard to this strange affiliation2 the difficulty was to support or prove the supposition that ,hebrew had given birth to ,greek1 ,latin1 and the rest2 this ,biblical language was tortured and twisted about in the endeavour to prove the descent of the others from it1 but no satisfactory result was obtained4 ,it was by the advice of ,leibniz that as many facts as possible were collected concerning the modern languages then in use4 ,he asked for the assistance of monarchs1 ,european princes1 ambassadors1 missionaries1 and travellers4 ,it was during these investigations that the attention of certain philologists was directed to ,sanscrit1 a language which had been dead #cjj years before the ,christian era1 and about which the learned in ,europe had troubled themselves very little4 ,at the time of ,plato and ,aristotle a vague notion was current in ,greece that ,india1 as well as ,egypt1 was the birthplace of matchless learning1 only it was not known in what this learning consisted1 and even the name of the ,vedas 7the most ancient collection of sacred writings of the ,hindoos7 was unknown to the philosophers4 ,the first ,christian writers who mentioned the religions of ,india1 and who knew up to a certain point how to distinguish ,brahminism from ,buddhism1 never quoted the ,vedas2 this name is first used by some ,chinese converts to ,buddhism1 at the beginning of the ,christian era1 who had undertaken a pilgrimage to ,india1 considered by them as a holy land4 ,in the sixteenth century ,francis ,xavier went there as a missionary1 but without knowing ,sanscrit2 in the seventeenth century ,roberto de ,nobili1 another missionary1 acquired the language1 and caused a compilation to be made of ,hindoo and ,christian doctrines4 ,it was not well done2 the ,french translation was sent to ,voltaire1 who praised it and spoke of it as the most precious gift for which the ,west had ever been indebted to the ,east4 ,the ,pre ,calmette1 who had heard of the importance of the ,vedas1 was the first ,european to obtain authentic fragments1 but these attracted little attention in ,europe4 ,in the early part of the nineteenth century some members of the ,asiatic ,society residing in ,calcutta discovered a collection of ,sanscrit ,,mss41 amongst them some portions of the laws of ,manu1 two epic poems1 the ,rmayana and the ,mahbhrata1 some philosophical treatises1 works on astronomy and medicine1 plays and fables4 ,these works possessed great interest for those scholars who were occupied with the study of humanity1 such as ,herder1 ,schlegel1 ,goethe1 and ,humboldt4 ,for the most part the preconceived ideas with which these literary men received them tended to diminish the benefit to be derived from them to a great extent1 as they endeavoured--consistently with the spirit of the time--to establish the identity of thought running through the sacred literature of the ,hindoos and the ,bible4 ,they also sought to point out the supposed connection between the historical recitals of the ,old ,testament1 the ,indian legends1 and the ,greek and ,latin mythologies4 ,certain ,,mss4 containing passages from the sacred code of the ,hindoos having been translated by ,anquetil ,duperron1 ,schopenhauer drew from it the foundations of his own philosophical belief2 nothing less than the genius of this ,german scholar would have sufficed for the presentation of the sublime truths which the original contained1 by means of this very defective translation4 ,one of the first historiographers of ,buddhism was the ,abb ,barthelemy ,saint-,hilaire1 but yet his labours have not served to raise the veil hiding the true meaning of the ,brahman writings1 for without the knowledge of the early ,sanscrit1 it was not possible to seize the inner meaning of a literature which the sages of ,india had required fifteen centuries to complete4 ,thus it was that ,europe only knew the more accessible portions1 and those better calculated to strike the imagination1 but not necessarily the most important4 8,much had been said and written about ,buddhism1 enough to show the ,roman ,catholic clergy that the ,lamas of ,thibet had anticipated them in the use of auricular confession1 the rosary1 and the tonsure2 and to disconcert philosophers by showing them that they were outdone in positivism and nihilism by the inmates of ,chinese monasteries40#e ,the strangeness of this religion attracted public attention1 which was especially directed towards certain blemishes1 which had crept into it during a decadent period1 and tarnished its original purity1 and although learned men continued to devote themselves to a study more and more deeply penetrated with the ,sanscrit language1 they were yet so unprepared for the results which must inevitably follow this study1 that certain ,german universities became the scenes of veritable scandals1 when some of the learned declared that they had found a community of origin between the people of ,athens1 of ,rome1 and of ,india1 and the stupefaction of the philologists knew no bounds when1 in #ahcc1 ,bopp's work appeared1 ,the ,comparative ,grammar of the ,greek1 ,latin1 ,gothic1 ,sanscrit1 ,zend1 ,lithuanian1 ,slavonic1 and ,german ,languages1 whilst the effect on the younger students was quite bewildering4 ,but that which created the greatest furore in all ,europe was the promulgation of the scientific discoveries of ,eugne ,burnouf1 ,professor of ,oriental ,languages in the ,collge de ,france4 ,long centuries had passed during which no original ,sanscrit document had come to light1 and now in the short space of ten years three complete collections of ,oriental literature were known1 the sacred books of the ,brahmans1 of the ,buddhists1 and of the ,magians4 8,the critical examination and restitution of the ,zend texts1 the outlines of a ,zend grammar1 the translation and philological anatomy of considerable portions of the ,zoroastrian writings were the work of the learned young ,french scholar40#f ,a few proper names and certain titles were up to this time all that could be deciphered of the cuneiform inscriptions on the walls of ,persian palaces4 ,classical or oriental scholars had hitherto only seen in them a quaint conglomeration of nails1 wedges1 or arrows2 but when at last the meaning was disentangled1 it suddenly flashed upon the discoverers that there was a close relationship between languages hitherto held to be quite distinct4 ,facts1 at first only suspected1 now received full confirmation2 those previously unknown were discovered and claimed1 if only provisionally1 in the name of ,science4 ,historians and philologists pressed eagerly into this new path4 ,in looking back they could see that the human family was divided into three distinct groups1 the ,semetic family1 the ,aryan family--sometimes called the ,indo-,germanic--and the ,turanian class1 the northern division of which has the name ,ural-,altaic given to it occasionally4 ,i use the word class advisedly1 as the characteristic traits hardly merit the rank of family4 ,they also discovered that human speech had equally marked divisions1 making three groups or families1 corresponding to the three great human races4 ,the ,semetic family produced the ,hebrew of the ,old ,testament1 the ,arabic of the ,koran1 and the ancient language graven on the monuments of ,phnicia and ,carthage1 of ,babylon and ,assyria2 the ,greek and ,latin1 ,persian and ,sanscrit1 the ,germanic languages1 ,celtic and ,slavonic1 all belong to the ,aryan family2 from the ,ural-,altaic group come the ,tungusic1 ,mongolic1 ,turkic1 ,samoyedic and ,finnic2 there still remains the ,chinese language1 which is monosyllabic and stands by itself1 the only remnant of the earliest formation of human speech4 ,these discoveries caused a complete change in the methods adopted by philologists2 at the present time the ancient systems of the classification of tongues are entirely abandoned4 ,the comparative philologist ignores altogether geographical locality1 the varying ages of languages1 and their classical or illiterate character4 ,languages are now classified genealogically1 according to their real relationship2 and ,hebrew1 coming down from its pedestal1 took its natural place amongst the languages of the ,semetic family4#g 99 99 99 99 99 ,i revert here for a moment to the past in order to quote a page from ,plato1 which shows us the small esteem in which the purely speculative method1 in the treatment of philosophy1 was held by one of the profoundest minds of antiquity3-- 8,dost thou see that very tall plane-tree80 said ,phdros to ,socrates4 8,certainly1 ,i do40 8,tell me1 ,socrates1 is it not from the foot of this plane-tree that they say ,boreas carried away ,oreithyia from the ,ilissos80 8,so they say40 8,but tell me1 ,o ,socrates1 dost thou believe this mythe to be true80 8,well1 if ,i did not believe it1 like the wise people1 ,i should not be so very far wrong2 and ,i might set up an ingenious theory and say that a gust of ,boreas1 the north wind1 carried her down from the rocks in the neighbourhood1 and that having died in this manner1 she was reported to have been carried off by ,boreas from thence4 ,as for myself1 ,phdros1 ,i think these explanations1 on the whole1 very pleasant2 a man is1 after all1 not much to be envied1 if it were only for this1 that when he has set right this one fable1 he is bound to do the same for a second1 then a third1 and thus much time is lost4 ,i1 at least1 have no leisure to spare for these things1 and the reason1 my friend1 is this1 that ,i cannot yet1 according to the ,delphic line1 know myself2 and it seems to me ridiculous that a man who does not yet know this1 should trouble himself about what does not concern him4 ,therefore ,i leave these things alone1 and1 believing what other people believe about them1 ,i meditate1 as ,i said just now1 not on them1 but on myself--whether ,i be a monster more complicated and more savage than ,typhon1 or a tamer and simpler creature1 enjoying by nature a blessed and modest lot40#h 8,thus1 to the mind of ,socrates1 man was pre-eminently the individual 444 he is ever seeking to solve the mystery of human nature by brooding over his own mind1 by watching the secret workings of the soul1 by analysing the organs of knowledge1 and by trying to determine its proper limits2 and thus the last result of his philosophy was that he knew but one thing1 and this was1 that he knew nothing40#i ,more than #bcjj years have elapsed since the intercourse between ,socrates and his disciple took place4 ,but the problems which we of the twentieth century have not yet succeeded in solving1 have so entirely absorbed our attention1 that it seldom occurs to us to measure the distance which separates us from the commencement of philosophical studies4 ,although the scientific equipment of our forefathers occupies a small portion of our thoughts in our leisure moments1 we yet discover--in comparison with ourselves--how very indigent they were4 ,this earth was unintelligible to the ,greeks1 they looked upon it as a solitary being1 without a peer in the whole universe2 to us it is a planet2 one of many1 all governed by the same laws1 all moving round the same centre4 ,it is the same with man who also remained a riddle to the ancients4 ,an intelligent study of the world's history1 which they knew but imperfectly1 has enriched our language with a word which never passed the lips of ,socrates1 ,plato or ,aristotle--humanity4 ,where the ,greeks saw barbarians1 that is1 human beings other than themselves--we see brethren2 those whom they called heroes and demi-gods are our ancestors2 those who appeared to them strangers1 united by no ties1 are to us one family in work and suffering1 divided by language and severed by national enmity1 but pressing forward step by step almost unconsciously towards the fulfilment of that inscrutable purpose for which the world was created4 ,as we have ceased to see in nature the working of demons or the manifestation of an evil principle1 so we deny in history an atomistic conglomerate of chances1 or the despotic rule of a mute fate2 we turn over the leaves of the past seeking for a hidden train of thought in the actions of the human race2 we understand that every effect has its cause2 that connecting links run through the moral world1 as well as the physical world2 that there is nothing irrational in either history or nature1 and we believe that the human mind is called upon to discover in both the manifestations of a ,divine ,power1 the source of our existence4#aj ,this result1 however1 we could not have attained without first recognising the fact that man is no isolated being1 complete in himself2 that if he is to be effectively studied he cannot be disassociated from his family1 all the members of which are governed by the same laws1 all move round the same centre1 and all receive their light from the same focal point4 ,he is one of a class1 of one genus or kind1 whom it would be impossible to estimate correctly1 if we set aside his relations to his fellows4 8,to understand man10 an illustrious naturalist has said recently1 8it is not sufficient not to separate him from those whom he resembles in every point2 it is quite as necessary to study him in connection with those closely related to him1 the inferior animals40 ,hitherto ,i have not mentioned a hypothesis which has been promulgated in our days on the origin of man1 which would have been considered the most remarkable this century had seen1 had it not appeared simultaneously with another treatment of a like subject equally noticeable for its profundity in another direction4 ,during a voyage which he made in ,south ,america1 ,darwin had been struck by the very close affinity which existed between the living and the fossil species of this continent2 this link between the past and present appeared to him to throw considerable light on the obscurity which enveloped the question of the origin of species4 ,the degree in which organs were capable of modification was especially to be taken into account2 the study of the variation of animals and plants under domestication led ,darwin to the path he followed2 the uninterrupted reproduction of characteristics in the structure of organic beings1 intensified rather than attenuated by a succession of modifications1 caused him to see in all living creatures1 not independent entities1 the one apart from the other1 but descendants from common ancestors now extinct4 ,evolution1 like many another theory1 may be dangerous if not thoroughly grasped1 and if it lead to a denial of the permanence of the well marked lines of demarcation in nature4 ,evolution1 according to ,darwin1 starts from beginnings which are quite distinct2 and leads on to well defined ends2 thus ,darwin does not acknowledge only one common progenitor for all the great natural races1 but many1 and nothing more clearly demonstrates his transparent sincerity in scientific matters than what his critics are pleased to call his inconsistencies4 ,at the end of many years of persistent labour1 ,darwin published his book on the ,origin of ,species4 ,i do not propose to give a summary of it4 ,the author does not adopt the method of a learned writer expounding his system2 his attitude is that of a naturalist who1 during his excursions1 examines nature in its innumerable and most minute details2 when two facts1 both of which he considers true1 appear to contradict each other1 he notes both equally1 since he is too sincere to conceal that one from the public which apparently invalidates his theory4 ,moreover at each step he avows that this theory is not yet entirely free from the fog which invariably envelops each new idea at its birth4 ,an explorer such as he is1 who has succeeded in explaining so many mysteries1 might very naturally become elated1 but it is not so with him2 his thoughts never seem directed towards himself2 with all his genius1 self does not appear to exist with him2 the only things that are prominent--with a distinct existence--are the phenomena which he studies4 ,the notion that all organic beings have been such as we now see them from the beginning1 was almost inevitable1 as long as the theory was held that the formation of the world was of comparatively recent date2 and those who1 without further investigation1 held the traditional belief of the independent and individual creation of each species1 could only offer one explanation1 if all animals--all plants--are as they are it is because it has pleased the ,creator to make them so4 ,because the ,darwinian theory has cast a doubt on the successive creation of living things1 it has been said that ,darwin's views were inimical to religion4 ,these impressions are transitory--as were those expressed by ,leibniz when he reproached ,newton with introducing 8occult qualities and miracles into philosophy20#aa and when he attacked his law of gravitation 8as subversive of natural1 and inferentially of revealed religion40#aa ,after explaining in what manner nature had produced all the variations of plants and inferior animals from a small number of germs1 ,darwin did not feel himself under the necessity of adding one more to the germs in order that what was afterwards termed humanity might appear on the scene2 the principle of evolution as already applied to the organic world1 would suffice to explain all difficulties2 the natural forces all engaged in the same movement1 would spread and branch out in various directions1 until they reached the culminating point of incorporation with the human creature4 ,darwin's book1 the ,descent of ,man1 contains the genealogical table of this higher animal which the author so often compares with the lower animals4 ,if both have so much in common1 such as the chemical composition of their bodies--their germinal vesicles--their laws of growth and reproduction2 it is--so he conceives--that both have come from the same ancestor2 moreover1 all helps to prove that man has received from his prototype amongst the mammifers1 all the special characteristics of its own organs4 ,thus it is easy to understand that in the eyes of many naturalists the embryonic structure is of more importance for an accurate classification than that of an adult1 since the embryo is that condition in which the animal has undergone the least modification1 thus it better represents the original form of the primitive progenitor4 ,for a species of one of the inferior animals to have attained the level of man1 it was necessary that1 following an universal law1 it must have undergone variations both corporally and mentally1 during a long succession of generations2 the primary causes of these variations is not clearly understood1 but it has been proved that the conditions of life or environment to which the living beings submitted were potent agents in the renewal of phenomena4 ,like all other creatures man increased out of all proportion to his means of subsistence1 and thus began the struggle for existence1 when those who were best equipped for the fight survived in the greatest numbers1 and left the greatest number of robust descendants4 ,man acquired the capability of expressing his wants by means of language1 at first1 perhaps1 little different from that of the inferior animals1 but the continued use of language reacting on the brain furnished a means for the further development of those mental faculties which of themselves constitute a real distinction between man and beast4 ,this difference1 however1 does not become pronounced until a certain period of man's existence1 as during the earliest stages the intelligence of the newly created human beings does not differ from that of other mammifers4 ,it begins to dawn a little later1 then gradually increases1 and at last becomes most strongly marked1 even if a comparison be made between the intelligence of a highly developed monkey and that of the lowest savage1 who has failed perhaps to find words with which to express the most elementary emotions4 ,but men are not all on the same level2 without speaking of the vast difference that exists between the faculties of a ,papuan and those which we know to have been possessed by a ,newton or a ,kant1 we notice a very sensible difference between the mental powers of two individuals of the same race2 but we always find these extremes are connected by shades of difference which gradually melt imperceptibly the one into the other4 ,darwin arrives at the conclusion that the distinctions to be drawn between the intellect of man and the intelligence of animals is one of degree rather than of kind4 ,darwin shares the opinion of those who consider the moral consciousness in man as that which distinguishes him specially from the inferior animals1 and he conceives its origin to be found in the social instincts whose most important constituent parts are family ties and the emotions to which they give rise4 ,this consciousness makes man capable of approving of certain acts and disapproving of others4 ,after having been overcome by a temporary passion1 he reflects and compares the already weakened motives causing him to act as he did1 with the appeal made to him by his family and social instincts1 and he resolves to act differently in the future2 the opinion of his neighbours influences him1 but it is not so much the opinion of the community in general as that of his own small circle to which he belongs4 ,social instincts are found also amongst a large number of inferior animals1 but with them1 this mutual sympathy does not extend to all the species of their class1 as with man it reaches only to the members of their own small community4 ,with the progress of civilisation and in proportion as the smaller communities become larger1 so man's reason leads him to extend his sympathy to all the men of his nationality2 arrived at this point1 there remains a very impalpable barrier between that and the inclusion of men of all races in feelings of universal benevolence2 but if these races are separated from his by strong dissimilarities in external appearance and in habits of life1 it would take much time for him to learn and recognise in them the constituent parts of humanity similar to himself4 ,the moral consciousness which raises man to a level not attained by beasts1 leads him to conceive and apprehend the precept1 8,do unto others as you would they should do unto you40 ,the sympathy which extends beyond the limits of humanity1 such as compassion for animals1 seems the last quality to be developed4 ,the moral sense in man has its counterpart in animals of the inferior order2 under the influence of man the animal becomes more capable of improvement by the increased exercise of his intelligence1 by habits1 by instincts of heredity1 so as to have transformed the prototype of the wolf and jackal to that of a dog4 ,there is nothing to lead us to suppose that primitive man had felt the existence of a principle higher than nature4 ,there is much to indicate that what we mean by religious feeling was not known to him2 but the aspect of the question undergoes a change if by religious sentiment we understand belief in invisible spirits1 for this belief was universal4 ,this is natural2 as soon as certain faculties of the imagination awoke in man1 such as astonishment1 curiosity1 he would seek to understand all that passed around him2 his first idea would be that all the phenomena in nature would proceed from the presence inherent in them of a power compelling to action in the same way as man feels himself obliged to act4 ,this belief in the course of age would easily tend towards fetishism1 then to polytheism and finally to monotheism2 it would simultaneously inculcate many strange superstitions1 of which some produced terrible effects1 such as the sacrifice of human lives to a powerful being eager for human blood1 since savages readily attribute to these superior powers the desire for vengeance as well as all the other evil passions they themselves possess4 ,amongst civilised peoples the conception of an all-knowing1 an all-seeing ,god1 exercises a powerful influence on morality2 man learns little by little1 no longer to regard the praise or blame of society as his sole guide2 this external guidance is replaced by personal inward convictions which come from his reason and which is conscience4 ,religious devotion is a very complex human sentiment2 it is composed of love1 submission1 gratitude1 hope1 and perhaps of other elements2 no creature is in a position to experience so complicated an emotion whose intellectual faculties have not attained a level of medium development4 ,yet something approaching this may be seen in the depth of affection manifested by a dog for his master1 which is a combination of complete submission1 of fear1 dependence1 and perhaps also of other qualities4 ,learned writers have for some time agreed in looking upon language as the barrier separating man from animals2 all books on logic state the fact4 ,but this special characteristic of the human race attracted ,darwin's attention in a very small degree4 8,man1 however1 at first1 uses1 in common with the lower animals1 inarticulate cries to express his meaning1 aided by gestures and the movements of the muscles of the face40#ab 8,certain animals10 he says1 8do not lack the physical conditions necessary for articulate language1 since there is not a letter in the alphabet that a parrot cannot pronounce40 ,darwin goes even beyond this4 8,it is not the mere power of articulation that distinguishes man from other animals1 but it is his large power of connecting definite sounds with definite ideas40#ab ,it would be difficult to be more explicit1 and it must be owned that this was a great concession on ,darwin's part2 but afterwards1 and perhaps with the object of weakening the force of this statement1 he adds3 8,the fact of the higher apes not using their vocal organs for speech1 no doubt depends on their intelligence not having been sufficiently advanced40#ac ,however1 no effort of thought1 in the present state of our knowledge1 would cause us to understand how any number of thousands of centuries passed in roaring and barking could enable wolves and dogs to join a single definite idea to a single definite sound2 and if we said that1 by the help of specially favourable environments some unknown species of primitive animal had acquired the power of speech1 and had succeeded in imparting the knowledge to its descendants1 and in thus elevating them to the level of human beings1 we should only be relating fantastic tales1 which would have no connection with scientific research4 ,darwin does not allow himself to be affected by this consideration4 8,in a series of forms graduating insensibly from some ape-like creature to man as he now exists1 it would be impossible to fix on any definite point where the term #8man' ought to be used40#ad ,it is evident that if the gradations were imperceptible1 there would be no possibility of marking the precise point where the animal ended and man began2 8the admission of this insensible gradation would eliminate1 not only the difference between ape and man1 but likewise between black and white1 hot and cold1 a high and a low note in music2 in fact1 it would do away with the possibility of all exact and definite knowledge1 by removing those wonderful lines and laws of nature which 444 enable us to count1 to tell1 and to know40#ae ,i will now bring together some passages which are scattered in various parts of the ,origin of ,species and the ,descent of ,man which have especially attracted criticism4 8,it is interesting to note that all that we are1 all that we see1 has been produced by laws acting around us4 ,these laws1 taken in the largest sense1 being ,growth with ,reproduction2 ,inheritance1 which is almost implied by reproduction2 ,variability from the indirect and direct action of the conditions of life1 and from use and disuse2 a ,ratio of ,increase so high as to lead to a ,struggle for ,life1 and as a consequence to ,natural ,selection1 entailing ,divergence of ,character and the ,extinction of less-improved forms4 ,thus1 from the war of nature1 from famine and death1 the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving1 namely1 the production of the higher animals1 directly follows40#af ,and again3 8,there is grandeur in this view of life1 with its several powers1 having been originally breathed by the ,creator into a few forms or into one40#af 8,man may be excused for feeling some pride at having risen1 though not through his own exertions1 to the very summit of the organic scale2 and the fact of his having thus risen1 instead of having been aboriginally placed there1 may give him hopes for a still higher destiny in the distant future40#ag 8,in the future ,i see open fields for far more important researches4 ,psychology will be securely based on newly laid down foundations2 that of the necessary acquirement of each mental power and capacity by gradation4 ,much light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history40#ah ,again elsewhere3 8,the moral sense or conscience1 as ,mackintosh remarks1 has a rightful supremacy over every other principle of human action4 ,it is summed up in that short but imperious word ought10 and ,darwin proceeds to quote ,kant's apostrophe as follows3 8,duty6 wondrous thought1 that workest neither by fond insinuation1 flattery1 nor by any threat1 but merely by holding up thy naked law in the soul1 and so extorting for thyself always reverence1 if not always obedience2 before whom all appetites are dumb1 however secretly they rebel4 ,duty6 whence thy original80#ai ,darwin continues3 8,this great question1 #8,whence thy origin8' has been discussed by many writers of consummate ability2 and my sole excuse for touching on it is 444 that1 as far as ,i know1 no one has approached it exclusively from the side of natural history40#bj 8,but as the feelings of love and sympathy and the power of self-command become strengthened by habit1 and as the power of reasoning becomes clearer1 so that man can appreciate the justice of the judgments of his fellow-men1 he will feel himself impelled1 independently of any pleasure or pain felt at the moment1 to risk his life for his fellow-creature1 or to sacrifice himself for any great cause4 ,he may then say1 ,i am the supreme judge of my own conduct1 and1 in the words of ,kant1 ,i will not in my own person violate the dignity of humanity40#ba ,the warmest admirers of ,darwin wish that he had expressed himself more definitely4 ,some amongst them are astonished to find the word 8,creator0 in certain editions of the ,origin of ,species1 and not in all2 others have drawn attention to the fact that ,darwin could say in all good faith1 8,i see no good reason why the views given in this volume should shock the religious feelings of any one40#bb ,darwin's line of thought has perhaps not been perfectly grasped1 and his commentators have been numerous4 ,this1 however1 is certain4 ,from the moment when the author of the ,descent of ,man considered that he had discovered in social instincts the first germ of the idea of duty1 it becomes a matter for surprise that he yielded to the desire of referring to ,kant and of quoting his apostrophe to ,duty4 ,but it is quite evident that ,darwin did not see in the universe only the fortuitous result of a combination of matter2 he admitted the existence of a law acting from the beginning and continuing to act4 ,in order the better to grasp his thought1 it is necessary to be in a position to define his terms4 ,he speaks of natural selection1 but in ordinary parlance selection presupposes the existence of distinction and judgment2 and to distinguish and choose1 intelligence is necessary2 and if the essential nature is intelligent1 what is this nature8 ,the endeavour to prove that man has descended from a creature not originally man has deeply stirred our generation1 and the greater number amongst us only yielded to a natural repugnance in repulsing the idea with indignation4 ,however1 because this inward feeling tells us that a proposition is false1 it does not necessarily follow that it is so2 in looking at it more closely1 we have to admit that many humiliating facts are accepted by us without demur4 ,we are not scandalised at the notion of being composed of the same chemical elements as the inferior animals1 nor do we revolt against the injustice of the circumstances and restraints imposed upon all by the facts of birth and death2 but this unreasoning submission has no more rational basis than the revolt of our feelings1 in presence of the assumption1 that an animal only was our ancestor4 ,the notion that animals so dissimilar as the monkey1 the elephant1 the bird1 fish1 and man could have proceeded from the same parentage seems too monstrous to be true2 from the scientific point of view this feeling is of no value2 in the face of all the assertions of our moral convictions science1 as such1 remains immovable2 the only weapon admitted in a scientific encounter is fact opposed to fact1 argument to argument4 ,moreover1 any appeals which can be made to our pride1 our dignity1 our piety1 would be equally wide of the mark1 so long as proof is lacking that man possesses something which has no existence in lower animals either actually or potentially4 ,it is a matter for regret to have to acknowledge the fact that the union of a profound knowledge1 combined with true sincerity in research1 is insufficient to endow the world with a well established truth4 ,the world is too hasty in accepting or rejecting a new system before giving itself the trouble to divide the system into two parts1 one of which can be placed at once amongst evident truths1 whilst the other must be subjected to minute investigation and close testing4 ,precisely after this manner does ,darwin's work lend itself to a division into two parts1 the former is the history of the formation and gradual development of the organic world1 represented by plants and animals1 including man 7,the ,origin of ,species71 but it is also the history of the formation and gradual development of man considered as a being composed of body and spirit 7,descent of ,man74 ,in the author's mind this portion of the subject is closely connected with the former4 ,at first sight it would appear that a tribunal1 which was quick to distinguish truth from error in this teaching1 had not been found4 ,certainly scientific materialism has no voice in the matter1 since its mission is only to deal with material and actual facts2 and when from the facts accumulated conclusions are deduced as applied to origins1 this would be out of its sphere1 and the conclusions reached can only be arbitrary2 thus ,darwin's theory not being found free from the taint of idealism1 it was condemned without trial4 ,religious dogmatism did not show itself any more capable of deciding the question1 for this dogmatism1 whose domain is faith1 considered that due reference was not made to ,divine intervention1 and concluded that the theory was only judged by the light of science1 and thus condemned it unheard4 ,but all condemnation1 which cannot prove itself to be just1 has no scientific value1 only one tribunal is competent of judging and solving the question1 and that is the science of language1 it alone possesses documentary evidence4 ,the exact point at which the animal ceases and man begins can be determined with precision since it coincides with the beginning of the 8,radical ,period0 of language1 and language is reason4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,max ,mller1 ,science of ,thought1 p4 #ih4 #b ,thus ,max ,mller says3 8,in ,chinese the number of imitative sounds is very considerable4444 ,we give a few1 together with the corresponding sounds in ,mandshu4 ,the difference between the two will show how differently the same sounds strike different ears1 and how differently they are rendered into articulate language3 ,the cock crows kiao kiao in ,chinese dchor dchor in ,mandshu40 --,max ,mller1 ,science of ,language1 vol4 i4 note p4 #dai4 #c ,max ,mller says again3 8,we listen in vain for any similarity between goose and cackling1 hen and clucking1 duck and quacking40--,max ,mller1 ,science of ,language1 vol4 i41 p4 #daj4 #d ,darwin's ,expression of the ,emotions1 p4 #ic4 #e ,max ,mller1 ,chips from a ,german ,workshop1 vol4 i4 p4 #aij4 #f ,chips from a ,german ,workshop1 vol4 i4 p4 #hb4 #g ,max ,mller1 ,chips from a ,german ,workshop1 vol4 i4 p4 #ba4 #h ,max ,mller1 ,chips from a ,german ,workshop1 vol4 ii4 p4 #a4 #i ,chips from a ,german ,workshop1 vol4 ii4 p4 #e4 #aj ,max ,mller1 partly from ,chips from a ,german ,workshop1 vol4 ii4 p4 #f4 #aa ,darwin's ,origin of ,species1 #fth ,edition1 p4 #cif4 #ab ,darwin's ,descent of ,man1 #ahga1 vol4 i4 p4 #ed4 #ac ,darwin's ,descent of ,man1 vol4 i4 p4 #ei4 #ad ,ibid41 vol4 i4 p4 #bce4 #ae ,max ,mller's ,science of ,thought1 pp4 #aff1 #afg4 #af ,darwin's ,origin of ,species1 p4 #djc4 #ag ,darwin's ,descent of ,man1 vol4 ii4 p4 #dje4 #ah ,darwin's ,origin of ,species1 p4 #djb4 #ai ,quoted by ,darwin in ,descent of ,man1 vol4 i4 p4 #gj4 #bj ,darwin's ,descent of ,man1 vol4 i4 p4 #ga4 #ba ,ibid41 vol4 i4 p4 #hf4 #bb ,darwin's ,origin of ,species1 p4 #cif4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,our ,,aryan ,,ancestors ,some of the studies undertaken and carried on in a tentative groping fashion1 with the purpose of ascertaining the nature of that complex being man1 have been placed before you4 ,i have mentioned the more or less fantastic suppositions set forth on the subject1 and ,i have dwelt rather more fully on a recent system1 of which the fundamental portion 7a magnificent scientific monument1 to which experimental tests have given a solid basis7 is followed by a second part which treats especially of the descent of man4 ,the time has now come to examine the studies of a school of philosophy1 which1 guided by a new theory1 searches in the past1 and passes under review all previous conceptions1 suppositions1 or even misconceptions of the previous schools4 ,the science of language1 based on the close connection between thought and speech1 only dates back to the beginning of the nineteenth century4 ,the first problem presented to it is that of origin--the origin of thought and speech in man--which two united in their essential parts1 make man what he is4 ,the means by which this science works is called comparative philology2 it is by the analysis of languages--living as well as dead--that it seeks to discover the infancy of human thought4 ,it is evident that in order to penetrate thus deeply1 this analysis must follow the whole progress of speech since it first sounded2 to no other school of philosophy had this idea occurred2 all others ignored the fact that previous to the commencement of human language1 no vestige of humanity could exist2 therefore1 probably1 another fact had been ignored2 that the only archives in which it is possible to study the history of humanity and the development of reason are those of language4 ,wherever sacred writings exist1 we find in them the most ancient languages of the people who possess them2 this is the case in ,persia1 ,china1 ,palestine1 ,arabia1 and ,india2 thus it is in these writings which are looked upon as being divinely inspired1 that search must be made for the genesis of the successive thought of these peoples4 ,but these ancient writings differ widely the one from the other2 for the most part they contain ideas which are the product of various ages2 often also1 as in ,greece1 and ,rome and ,persia1 we find ourselves confronted by thoughts or theories which had already arrived at a high degree of development1 or are beginning to lose their first clearness4 ,only amongst the ,hindoos is it possible to follow step by step the growth of the conception1 and the transformation of the names which clothe them4 ,the ,vedas show us more clearly than any other literary monument in the world1 the uninterrupted course of the evolution of language and thought from the first word pronounced by our ancestors to our own most recent reflection4 ,india does not possess remains of ancient temples nor of ancient palaces4 ,edifices of this kind were probably unknown before the invasion of ,alexander4 ,the ,hindoos have always felt themselves strangers in the land1 and the constant efforts of the kings of ,egypt and of ,babylon to perpetuate their names during thousands of years1 by means of bricks and blocks of stone1 did not occur to them until suggested by foreigners4 ,but on the other hand1 from the most remote times1 they have possessed sacred writings1 and they still preserve them in their ancient form4 ,the number of separate works in ,sanscrit of which the manuscripts are still in existence is now estimated at more than ten thousand4 ,what would ,plato and ,aristotle have said1 had they been told that there existed in that ,india which ,alexander had just discovered--if not conquered--an ancient literature1 far richer than anything they possessed at that time in ,greece1 and dating back so far that the old ,sanscrit which clothed the religious and philosophical thought of these early inhabitants was a dead language4 ,this literature has not ceased to increase1 and contains the canonical books of the three principal religions of the ancient world2 the ,zend-,avesta1 the sacred books of the ,magians1 written in ,zend1 the ancient ,persian2 the ,tripitaka1 the sacred books of the ,buddhists1 which contain moral treatises1 dogmatic philosophy1 and metaphysics2 and the sacred writings of the ,brahmans called the ,vedas4 ,it would be difficult to say whether the ,old ,testament1 or certain portions of the ,vedas1 have existed for the greater number of centuries2 it is certain that the ,aryan race had no existence previous to the ,vedas4 ,the name ,veda signifies 8knowing1 or knowledge02 veda1 ,greek 1 is a verb with the same meaning in ,sanscrit as in ,greek1 8,i know40 ,the book of the ,vedas contains an epitome of the most ancient ,brahmanic science1 and is composed of four collections of hymns2 that which is called ,rig-,veda 7hymns of praise7 is the true ,veda1 and the other ,vedas are to the ,rig-,veda what the ,talmud is to the ,bible4 ,the ,rig-,veda1 which for more than three thousand years had laid the foundations of the moral and religious life of innumerable millions of human creatures had never been published until ,max ,mller put forth a complete edition1 accompanied by authorised commentaries on ,indian theology4 ,the composition of these hymns occupied many centuries1 and in #fjj ,b4,c4 the collection seems to have been complete4 ,some early treatises on these hymns tell us that at this date the theological schools had accomplished a great undertaking1 that of counting every verse1 every word1 every syllable of the hymns2 the number of syllables is #dcb1jjj1 the number of words #aec1hbf1 and the number of verses as computed in these treatises varies from #aj1djb to #aj1fbb4 ,until the introduction of writing1 the ,vedic hymns were entirely preserved by memory1 with such accuracy and fidelity that the rules contained in the treatise for the repetitions correspond with great exactness with the actual text1 its accents1 metre1 and the divinity it praises4 ,the ,rig-,veda now forms the foundation of all philological and mythological studies1 as well as those connected with the science and growth of religion2 without it we should never have obtained any insight into the belief of our ancestors4 99 99 99 99 99 ,we will now transport ourselves to the cradle of the ,aryas 8,noble10 according to some writers situated on the ,asiatic continent1 according to others more to the north1 between the ,baltic and the ,caspian seas4 ,this will suffice for the first stage2 ,i shall make few demands on history1 or on grammar4 ,there was a time when the great mass of the ,aryan people was hesitating on the eve of abandoning their early habitations1 previous to a dispersion in two directions4 ,this people was composed of two branches1 the tribes of the north1 and those of the south2 the former went towards the north-west of ,asia and ,europe2 here they established themselves1 and the great historical nations--historical1 since most of them have played noted parts amongst the nations--the ,celts1 ,grecians1 ,romans1 ,germans and ,slavs were their descendants4 ,endowed with every aptitude for an active life1 they fostered these capabilities to the highest degree2 society was founded by them1 morals brought to a greater perfection1 the foundation of science and art established1 and the principles of philosophy laid down4 ,although constantly in conflict with the ,semitic and ,turanian races1 these ,aryans became in their descendants the masters of the world4 ,whilst the northern division followed a north-westerly direction1 the southern went to the mountains lying to the north of ,india2 crossing the passes of the ,himalayas1 and following the long watercourses1 they descended into the vast fertile valleys1 and from that time ,india became as their own land4 ,these pleasant dwelling-places of the ,aryan colonists1 protected on the one side by high mountains1 and on the other by the ocean from all foreign invasions1 were not disturbed by any of the ancient conquerors of the world2 around them kingdoms rose and fell1 dynasties were created and became extinct1 but the inner life of the tribes remained undisturbed by these events4 ,the ancient ,hindoos were calm1 contemplative dreamers1 a nation of philosophers1 who could only conceive of disputes in themselves1 in their own thoughts2 the transcendental nature of the atmosphere in which his ideas worked1 and in which the ,hindoo lived1 could not fail to retard the development of practical1 social1 and political virtues1 and the appreciation of the beautiful and useful4 ,the ,hindoo saw nothing in the past but the mystery of the ,creation1 in the future but the mystery of his destiny2 the present offered nothing to him that could awaken physical activity1 and apparently had no reality for him2 no people ever existed who believed more firmly in a future life1 or who occupied themselves less with this one2 such as they were in the beginning1 such they remained4 ,the only sphere in which the ,indian mind moves freely is the sphere of religion and that of philosophy4 ,in no other part of the world have metaphysical ideas taken such deep root as in ,india2 the forms in which these ideas were clothed1 in epochs of varying culture1 and in the midst of divers classes of society1 were alternately those of the grossest superstition and of the most exalted spiritualism4 ,it has been asserted that in these two ,aryan branches must we look for our ancestors4 ,how shall we verify the truth of this assertion8 ,what family likeness must we seek in order to recognise the relationship8 ,how feel certain that the languages we speak have been derived from them8 8,if we knew nothing of the existence of ,latin--if no historical documents existed to tell us of the ,roman empire--a mere comparison of the six ,romance dialects would enable us to say that at some time there must have been a language from which all these modern dialects derived their origin in common40#bc ,let us conjugate the verb to be in ,italian1 ,spanish1 ,portuguese1 ,french1 ,walachian1 and in ,rhtian1 and we shall see that it is clear3 first1 that all are but varieties of one common type3 secondly1 that it is impossible to consider any one of these six dialects as the original from which the others had been borrowed1 since no single one contains the elements composing them4 8,if we find such forms as j'ai aim1 we can explain them by a mere reference to the grammatical materials which ,french has still at its command1 and the same may be said of j'aimerai1 i4e4 je-aimer-ai1 ,i have to love1 ,i shall love4 ,but a change from je suis to tu es is inexplicable by the light of ,french grammar2 it must have been a part of some language antecedent to any of the ,romance dialects2 it is1 in fact1 the verb to be in ,latin1 which solves this difficulty2 each of the six paradigms is but a metamorphosis of the ,latin40#bd ,it was known that the roots were the same in all the ,aryan languages1 that the same grammatical changes were common in many of the words in everyday use1 such as father1 mother1 heaven1 sun1 moon1 horse1 and cow1 as well as in the principal numbers2 but it was the study of ,sanscrit in its primitive form which first led the learned to the discovery of the reason of the vowel changes in certain words in use in our day1 and which changes the ,english word to wit1 to know1 into ,i wot1 ,i know1 and the ,german ich weise into wir wissen2 these changes are the result of a general law1 the application of which can nowhere be more clearly appreciated than in the ,vedic ,sanscrit1 and which was unknown until this language was studied in the ,veda4 7,i will here note that ,sanscrit not being the original from which the other ,aryan dialects have their being1 but an elder brother1 when ,max ,mller makes use of a ,sanscrit phrase he does it to give an idea of the process through which the language has passed which he considers preceded ,sanscrit47 ,there is another list of paradigms which1 under a less familiar aspect than the first1 presents the same phenomenon4 ,conjugate the verb to be in ,doric1 ,latin1 old ,slav1 ,sanscrit1 ,celtic1 ,lithuanian1 ,zend1 ,gothic1 and ,armenian1 and you will see that the nine are varieties of one common type1 and that it is impossible to consider any one of them as the original of the others1 since1 here again1 none of the languages possess the grammatical material out of which these forms could have been framed4 ,sanscrit cannot have been the source from which the rest were derived1 since ,greek1 in several instances1 has retained a more organic form than the ,sanscrit4 ,nor can ,greek be considered as the earliest language from which the others were derived1 for not even ,latin could be called the daughter of ,greek1 since ,latin has preserved certain forms more primitive than the ,greek4 ,hence all these nine dialects point to some more ancient language1 which was to them what ,latin was to the ,romance dialects2 only at that early period there was no literature to preserve to us any remnant of that mother-tongue that died in giving birth to all the modern ,aryan dialects4#be ,there is one fact to be noted4 ,if a comparison be made of the verb to be in these dialects1 it will be seen that ,sanscrit is no more distinct from the ,greek of ,homer1 or from the ,gothic of ,ulfilas1 or from the ,anglo-,saxon of ,alfred1 than the ,romance dialects from each other2 that1 in fact1 the resemblance is more striking between ,sanscrit and ,lithuanian1 and between ,sanscrit and ,russian1 than between ,french and ,italian4 ,this circumstance proves that all the essential grammatical forms of these languages had been fully framed and established before the first separation of the ,aryan family took place1 that is to say1 at a time before there were any ,grecians to speak ,greek1 or any ,brahmans to invoke ,god's name in ,sanscrit4 ,the science of comparative philology enables us to have glimpses of the social condition of our ,aryan ancestors before they left their first abode4 ,all historical documents of this period are lacking1 for the simple reason that the time of which we are speaking is anterior to any historical records2 8but comparative philology has placed in our hands a telescope of such power that where formerly we could see but nebulous clouds we now discover distinct forms and outlines40#bf ,we see that our ancestors were no savages1 but agricultural nomads1 that they laboured1 made roads1 possessed the art of weaving and sewing2 they built towns1 kept domestic animals1 lived under a kingly government1 and counted at least up to one hundred4 ,we learn this not only from the words father1 mother1 son1 daughter1 heaven1 earth1 but also from house1 town1 king1 dog1 cow1 hatchet1 and many others1 which are found to be the same in the ,german1 ,celtic1 ,slavonic1 ,greek1 ,latin1 and ,sanscrit4 ,they are the same because they all point to some more ancient language1 the mother-tongue in use before the separation of the various ,aryan tribes4 ,from this period the other words also date1 expressing all the degrees of relationship1 even those by alliance1 thus giving clear proof of the early organisation of family life4 ,at the same time a decimal system of numeration also existed1 the numbers from one to a hundred1 8in itself one of the most marvellous achievements of the human mind1 produced from an abstract conception of quantity1 regulated by a spirit of philosophical classification1 and yet conceived1 matured and finished before the soil of ,europe was trodden by ,greek1 ,roman1 ,slav1 or ,teuton4 ,such a system could only have been formed by a very small community1 in which by the help of a tacit agreement1 each number could only bear one signification4 ,if we were suddenly obliged to invent new names for one1 two and three we should quickly feel the great difficulty of the task2 to supply new names for material objects would be comparatively easy1 as these have different attributes which could be used in their designation2 we could call the sea1 the salt water2 and the rain1 the water of heaven2 numbers are1 however1 such abstract conceptions that it would be foolish to attempt to find in them palpable attributes1 and thus give expression to a merely quantitative idea40#bg ,since the names of the ,aryan numbers up to one hundred are the same1 it proves that they date from a time when our ancestors lived under circumscribed conditions united by common ties4 ,this is not so with the word thousand2 the names for thousand differ in ,german and ,slavonic1 because they have their rise after the dispersion of the race4 ,sanscrit and ,zend share the name for thousand1 which proves the union of the ancestors of the ,brahmans and ,zoroastrians--after their exodus--by the ties of a common language4 ,in this way the facts of language--which are so simple that a child could seize them--enable us to travel from the known to the unknown1 and prove our descent from the once small family of the ,aryas4 ,man in the abstract has been studied for long years4 ,max ,mller contemplates this abstraction in the ,aryan man2 this has not previously been attempted4 ,certainly we ,aryans of to-day differ greatly from our first parents1 but not in toto2 the ties which connect us have not been severed1 and he it is--our ,aryan ancestor--who will help us to understand how we are verily the children of our fathers4 ,,footnotes3 #bc ,chips from a ,german ,workshop1 vol4 ii4 p4 #ah4 #bd ,ibid41 vol4 ii4 p4 #ai4 #be ,chips from a ,german ,workshop1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #ah-bj4 #bf ,chips from1 a ,german ,workshop1 vol4 ii4 p4 #ag4 #bg ,chips from a ,german ,workshop1 vol4 ii4 p4 #eb4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,philosophy ,,of ,,language ,it is possible to distinguish in ourselves four things3 sensation1 perception1 conception1 and the signs by means of which we designate objects1 that is their names2 these enable us to separate the one from the other4 ,we must not imagine that these four exist as separate entities1 8no words are possible without concepts1 no concepts without percepts1 no percepts without sensations40#bh--,science of ,thought1 p4 #b4 ,these four constituent elements of thought are merely four different phases in the growth of what we call our mind4 ,i employ these terms because they are in use in philosophical language2 there are also many others constantly on the lips of philosophers1 some of them newly coined4 ,this is greatly to be regretted1 as much of our confusion of thought arises from this superabundance of philosophical terms4 ,if such words as impression1 sensation1 perception1 intuition1 presentation1 conception1 soul1 reason1 and many others could for a time be banished from our philosophical dictionaries1 and some only readmitted after they had undergone a thorough purification and were made to return to their primitive signification1 an immense service would have been rendered to mental science2 as every writer defines them as he will1 or uses them without definition2 and he seems to imagine that because there are so many words1 there must also be so many variations1 8,because in the ,german language there are two words3 verstand and vernunft1 both originally expressing the same thing1 the greatest efforts have been made to show that there is something to be called verstand1 totally different from what is called vernunft2 and as there is a vernunft by the side of a verstand in ,german1 ,english philosophers have been most anxious to introduce the same distinction between understanding and reason into ,english02#bi and 8because we have a name for impression1 and another for sensations1 we are led to imagine that impressions do actually exist by the side of sensations4 ,but what was originally meant by impression was not something beside sensation1 but rather one side of sensation1 namely1 the passive side1 which may be spoken of by itself1 but which in every real sensation is inseparable from its active side40#cj ,all the various shades and developments of sensation were doubtless distinguished and named for some very useful purpose2 but the inconvenience was great when the terms became too numerous4 8,we may safely enjoy the wealth of language accumulated by a long line of thinkers1 if only we take care not to accept a coin for more or less than it is really worth4 ,we must weigh our words as the ancients often weighed their coins1 and not be deceived by their current value40#ca ,when we have bravely resolved to throw away superfluous words1 we need not imagine that we are the poorer1 since we have only lost what we1 in reality1 never possessed4 ,so powerful1 however1 is the action of words on thoughts1 that as soon as we throw away a word1 we feel ourselves to have been robbed of the thing itself2 the sun rises just the same1 though we say now that it does not rise4 ,those things which we call mind1 intellect1 reason1 memory1 in fact the soul1 have no existence as such--that is apart from ourselves4 ,this assertion may sound very terrible to those philosophers who imagine that the dignity of man consists in the possession of these and other powers2 at last there arises a complete mythology1 a philosophic polytheism1 when these are spoken of as distinct possessions1 independent powers1 with limits not very sharply defined2 and however orthodox that polytheism has become1 it is never too late to protest against it4 ,in making use of these terms it should be understood that they represent certain modes of action and phases of the ,ego4 ,it is to be regretted that our modern languages have nothing to replace the word 8mind10 such as there is in the ,sanscrit language1 meaning 8working within40 ,as soon as we speak of mind we cannot help thinking of an independent something dwelling in our body1 whereas by mind ,i mean nothing but that working which is going on within1 embracing sensation1 perception1 conception1 and naming1 and the worker who accomplishes this is the ,ego4 ,thus the ,ego means nothing but consciousness of itself4 ,there is one word which it would be desirable to reintroduce into our philosophical phraseology and that is ,logos2 it means the word and the thought combined4 ,logos is a single intellectual act under two aspects2 it is an untranslatable word4 ,we were told at school that it was strange that the ,greeks should not have distinguished between ,logos ,speech and ,logos ,reason1 and it was represented as a progress toward clearer thought that later writers should have distinguished between ,logos the spoken word and ,logos the inner thought4 ,but the ,greeks were right3 no doubt it may be an advantage to be able to distinguish between two sides of the same thing1 but that advantage is more than neutralised if such distinction leads us to suppose that these two sides are two different things4 ,let us avoid the very common error that things which can be distinguished can therefore claim an independent existence2 we can distinguish between an orange and its peel1 but no orange can grow without peel1 nor peel without the fruit4 ,let it not be supposed that ,i am such a bigoted upholder of the unity of the ,ego as to wish to see all these names banished from our philosophical dictionaries4 ,let us use the word ,sense when speaking of the ,ego as perceiving4 ,let us use ,intellect when the ,ego is simply conceiving2 and the word language when it is speaking2 let us even use the word memory when we wish to speak of the partial permanence of the work done by sensation1 perception1 and conception2 and let us use ,reason or ,reasoning for the process which produces what the logicians call propositions and syllogisms2 but let us never forget that neither to remember nor to reason implies the possession of a thing called reason or memory4 ,all our mental life will remain just the same though we deny the existence of the terms which obscure our vision2 let us hold fast to the existence of the ,ego1 it exists in its entity1 it only is the worker1 and it receives its highest expression in the ,logos4 ,this truth1 that thought and language are inseparable1 that thought without language is as impossible as language without thought has only recently been affirmed by comparative philologists4 ,many learned writers are still unwilling to admit that ideas without words are impossible though at the same time they are quite willing to concede that words are impossible without concepts4#cb ,we possess an immense number of books on logic1 yet we are met everywhere by the same vagueness on this subject4 ,john ,stuart ,mill speaks of language as one of the principal elements or helps of thought1 but he never mentions any other instruments4 ,this lack is probably owing to the unfortunate influence of modern languages which have two words1 the one for language1 the other for thought2 this gives the impression that there is a substantial instead of an apparent difference between the two2 it is also owing to the dislike of philosophers to allow that all which is most lofty1 most spiritual in us should be dependent on such miserable crutches as words are supposed to be4 ,yet it is evident that we cannot advance one step towards philosophy without acknowledging the fact that we think in words and words only4 ,this thought would be less difficult to grasp if we defined clearly what are thoughts4 ,sensation1 pain1 pleasure1 dreaming1 or willing cannot be called true thought1 but variations of inward activity2 in the same way as shrieks1 howls1 or even the sounds of real words1 taken from a foreign language1 are no more language than our emotions are thoughts4 ,the word ,logos expresses this1 since it had originally the two meanings of gathering and combining1 and so became the proper name of all that we call reason2 but as it also means language1 it tells us that the process of gathering and combining1 which begins with sensation and passes on to perception and conception1 reaches its full perfection only when the inward activity takes form in the ,logos or speech4 ,language therefore is not as has been often imagined1 thought plus sound2 but thought is really language minus sound2 words are the external symbols of thought1 sounding symbols when we articulate in a loud voice1 but mute when we confine ourselves to merely thinking them1 since it is a fact that we think in words1 and it is not possible to think otherwise4 ,the possession of a language is shown even in the tracing of whole sentences by ideographic signs1 which need not be pronounced at all1 or as in the astronomical signs in our almanacks which may be pronounced differently in different languages3 or we may substitute algebraic signs for words2 we could as well calculate without numbers as apply our reason without words ,i have freely and fully admitted that thoughts may exist without words1 because other signs may take the place of words between persons speaking different languages possibly between deaf and dumb people4 ,five fingers held up are quite sufficient to convey the concept of five1 thus the hand may become the sign for five1 both hands for ten1 hands and feet for twenty4 ,in ,america and ,australia where many dialects are spoken this method has attained a great degree of perfection1 but we notice that in all cases under review each one thinks in his own language and then translates his thought into pantomime4 ,a final fact adduced against the theory that it is impossible to think without language1 which was very popular1 is that deaf and dumb people cannot speak1 and yet can think2 this argument has no great value1 as it is now averred that 8a man born dumb who had always lived among deaf and dumb people1 and had not been taught to express thoughts by signs would be capable of few higher intellectual manifestations than a monkey or an elephant2 and this in spite of the fact that no naturalist could distinguish any difference between the size of their brains and those belonging to men who could speak40 ,for deaf mutes to be able to think and reason1 they must have learned from those who use words1 then only can they substitute other signs for their words and concepts4 ,still ,professor ,huxley accords to these unfortunate men certain intellectual heritages derived from their parents4 ,these are some of the chief points in the science of language4 ,the fundamental law which this science lays down of the unity of thought and speech is a torch which may throw light on the origin of man4 ,,footnotes3 #bh ,max ,mller says3 8,i use percept instead of presentation1 because it is better understood in ,english40--,science of ,thought1 p4 #b4 #bi ,max ,mller's ,science of ,thought1 p4 #gb4 #cj ,ibid41 p4 #ag4 #ca ,ibid41 p4 #ge4 #cb ,science of ,thought1 p4 #cj4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,animals ,whilst philosophers and moralists have studied men1 and naturalists animals1 ,darwin considered it necessary to collect information concerning both men and beasts simultaneously before making a biography of the human being4 ,with the modesty so often characteristic of a great genius1 the ,english naturalist acknowledges that 8many of the views which have been advanced are highly speculative1 and some no doubt will prove erroneous4 ,false facts are highly injurious to the progress of science1 for they often long endure2 but false views1 if supported by some evidence1 do little harm1 as everyone takes a salutary pleasure in proving their falseness2 and when this is done1 one path towards error is closed and the road to truth is often at the same time opened40#cc ,although there is no doubt that the facts observed by ,darwin and recorded in the ,origin of ,species1 are perfectly correct1 ,i hope to be able to dispose of the opinion that 8man and animals follow parallel lines in their lives1 but that man advances more quickly1 and has taken his place in the front rank40 ,whilst making a short rsum of remarks which ,noir and other learned writers have made on animals1 ,i also propose to draw a comparison between the two who are so closely connected--the superior and inferior animal4 ,darwin was not alone in his endeavour to prove that there exists no essential difference between man and beast2 some have even asserted that the intelligence of certain animals is not only equal to1 but at times1 superior to that of man4 ,we must be on our guard1 however1 against those numerous anecdotes which have led even philosophers astray2 we will also divest our minds of prejudice and preconceived notions1 that we may introduce some order into ideas which have been disturbed by superficial observers and the makers of false systems1 those enemies of true science2 let us candidly own the smallness of our knowledge concerning the mind of an animal2 we do not in the least know how they philosophise1 nor how an ox recognises his stable door4 ,instead of having recourse to animals and seeking to draw parallels between their mental faculties and ours1 let us examine ourselves to find out what passes in our own minds4 ,we shall then discover that we never in reality perceive anything unless we can distinguish it from other things by means1 if not of a word1 yet of a sign2 that is till we have passed through the four stages of sensation1 perception1 conception1 and more important than all1 for our present purpose1 of naming4 ,when it is once acknowledged that concepts are impossible without words1 and that man alone amongst organised beings possesses the power of language1 and that the mental faculties of animals are different from ours in kind1 and not only in degree1 it naturally follows that a genealogical descent of man from animals is an impossible assumption4 ,formerly1 in comparing the characteristics of man and animals it was contended that the latter were ruled by instinct in place of the reason which was the attribute of the former2 and although an affirmation is not an explanation it appeared sufficiently plausible and was accepted4 ,but the fact is that both man and beast possess instinct4 ,if the spider weaves his net by instinct1 a child takes his mother's breast also by instinct2 both are with regard to instinct at one level4 ,man involuntarily extends his arm to protect himself if he suddenly perceives an object near him on the point of striking him4 8,if we tear a spider's web1 and watch the spider first run from it in despair1 then return and examine the mischief and endeavour to mend it4 ,surely we have the instinct of weaving controlled by observation1 by comparison1 by reflection1 and by judgment40#cd ,no one has hitherto succeeded in explaining and analysing the instinct said to be in animals4 ,cuvier#ce and other naturalists have compared it with habit4#cf ,this comparison gives an accurate notion of the frame of mind under which an instinctive action is performed1 but does not necessarily explain its origin4 ,as reason develops in man1 instinct plays a less important part2 whereas a cat chases a mouse1 a bird flies1 and fish swim by instinct from their birth to their last day2 and the actions of ants1 bees1 and moles1 do not cease to amaze us1 because they are inseparable from their structure and their vital functions4 ,the natural impulses which guide birds and insects in making their nests1 hives1 and storehouses1 cocoons of silk with which they have so enriched our world and theirs1 are the results of constant and repeated acts1 during the course of innumerable generations4 ,the fact of not distinguishing the instinct which is in man from that found in animals and thus attributing man's conscious acts to the natural leanings which guide unconscious creatures1 has perhaps caused ,renan to assert that the monotheistic tendency of the ,semitic race belongs to it by a religious instinct4 ,it is certain that impressions are received both by man and by animals2 with both the knowledge of objects proceeds from the impressions made on the senses1 thus transmitting the image to the intelligence2 but there the likeness ends2 the capacities differ4 ,the animal remains the slave--in every sense of the word--of his organs2 the sight of a bone to gnaw1 the corner in which he lies1 the signs of friendship that he receives from human beings1 call forth in a dog a chain of feelings taking the place of the chain of ideas called out in man4 ,man's capabilities of introducing intermediaries between the intention and the fulfilment of his object witness to his wideness of mind1 his experience of the past and prevision of the future2 all those things that he owes to his power of imagination and conception even in the case of things having no real existence1 or which do not exist as yet2 he reproduces at will the outward likeness of what is not at the moment before him4 ,thus man who names an object1 thinks it2 but the animal from not possessing language cannot think it and cannot reproduce it when out of its sight4 ,the use or non-use of tools creates a great gulf between man and the brutes4 ,the most intelligent animal1 a monkey of a high order1 never uses a tool--even the most primitive--to accomplish his will2 no one can ascribe to the animal creative actions1 that is1 it does not fashion an implement that it may attain another end2 it has never been known to carry an object from one spot to another that it might act as a ladder to bring the animal nearer to the fruit it desired to reach4 ,but this concession1 ,i think1 we may make to ,darwin2 that even in the sphere of mental activities we can never entirely separate ourselves from the brute creation4 ,we experience in ourselves a certain condition of mind1 where fancies alternate with passing agitation2 these proceed from intense1 but confused emotions4 ,this condition does not allow of clear explanation even to ourselves1 since it has nothing in common with true thought1 which is inseparable from the consciousness of objects1 and therefore is lacking in words with which to express itself4 ,to ,mendelssohn this mental condition was perfectly known1 and he says1 8,it is exactly at that moment when language is impotent to express the experiences of the soul1 that the sphere of music opens to us2 if all that passes in us were capable of being expressed in words1 ,i should write no more music40 ,a flock of birds about to migrate1 all follow an unanimous impulse in uttering at starting a few high clear notes1 perhaps impelled by an unknown motive1 their inclinations and wills find collective expression therein1 by a mutual impulse which comes from soundless depths of the life of the senses1 carrying all before it4 ,this universal sympathy1 however difficult to explain1 is one of the noblest possessions of the inferior animals2 even the aptitude they display for certain mechanical acts of labour does not stand on the same level2 but in the vocal manifestations of birds there is no indication of true thought1 the basis of real language4 99 99 99 99 99 ,now come1 my dog1 for a tte--tte4 ,it would be impossible to hold converse with ants1 bees1 monkeys1 moles1 or birds1 as ,i should not acknowledge them as my compeers1 ,i should not admit them as intimates2 but you ,i know well2 and1 let me tell you1 your judges have shown their impartiality towards you2 none of the vices which degrade us--your superiors--have been laid to your account4 ,you are called neither gourmand1 thief1 idler1 nor hypocrite2 but you lack the qualities that might have been yours had you possessed the faculty of combination4 ,they say that you create nothing because you fail to see what purpose tools may serve2 and you are ignorant of the fact that ,a4 being given1 ,b4 must follow--such is combination4 ,still1 on looking closely1 it is possible to discover amongst us--your superiors--those who are stupid--or awkward--who take small advantage of all the means put within their reach to recede from a false position1 to recover from the effects of a wrong step1 or1 what is still more important1 remedy their ignorance4 ,yes1 there are many such1 and these also lack the faculty of combination4 ,your judges also assert that from the want on your part of being able to attach one idea to another1 you do not think of your master when he is absent from you4 ,what ingratitude6 ,but ,i wonder whether those friends1 who profess so much pleasure in my company1 think of me when ,i am absent2 perhaps no more than you do4 ,let me continue my enquiries for a few minutes4 ,we will suppose that we two are in my study4 ,i am occupied with a book1 and am not thinking of you at all4 ,you are stretched at my feet with your nose between your paws1 watching a fly near you4 ,i make a sudden movement1 you look at me1 and at the same moment wag your tail4444 ,am ,i to suppose that you wag it to hide your dislike to me8 ,the noble quality which ,i and all your superiors possess is lacking in you2 you have no speech for thought in which to tell me your love for me2 but if you could speak1 that is1 were like one of ourselves1 would you be as truthful as you are now1 being only a dog that has nothing but his tail with which to make his master understand his feelings towards him8 ,schopenhauer 444 but you know nothing of ,schopenhauer1 if you could speak ,i should teach you to read1 and then you would know him4 ,schopenhauer is a great and learned philosopher1 who says1 8,how much this movement of the tail surpasses in sincerity many other assurances of friendship and devotion40#cg ,this is a long digression on ,darwin's idea that man and animals lead parallel lives1 but that the one progresses quickly1 the other slowly4 ,i think ,i have shown that it is not a question of rapidity or tardiness of progress1 but rather whether both travellers are equally well equipped with the means of passing the ,rubicon4 ,,footnotes3 #cc ,darwin's ,descent of ,man1 vol4 ii4 p4 #che4 #cd ,max ,mller's ,science of ,language1 vol4 i4 p4 #djb4 #ce 8,cuvier maintained that instinct and intelligence stand in an inverse ratio to each other40--,darwin's ,descent of ,man1 vol4 i4 p4 #cg4 ,translator's note4 #cf ,frederick ,cuvier and several of the older metaphysicians have compared instinct with habit4--,darwin's ,origin of ,species1 p4 #aia4 #cg ,max ,mller's ,science of ,thought1 p4 #agh4 ,,chapter ,v ,,primitive ,,humanity ,some courage is required to attack the subject of comparative philology as treated by certain learned authors2 they are bold enough to seek to transport themselves to an age of such remote antiquity that history is silent on the subject1 but in which a nascent humanity endeavoured to find expression for its sensations in a language which probably had no name4 ,when my attention was first attracted to the work of this school1 so long as my mind was content to skim over the surface of an unknown world1 so immeasurably distant from us1 and whilst flitting too rapidly over it to be able to distinguish any of its features1 it presented itself to me as a creation of my heated imagination4 ,since then ,i have lived in that world of wonders1 and ,i then grasped the fact that it was quite possible for this world to have been a reality4 ,but to journey thither1 even to live in this strange country1 the only path to which is by induction1 in company with ,max ,mller and ,noir1 who1 apparently1 are its inhabitants1 from the ease with which they move in it1 is a totally different matter from explaining the methods of getting there1 or describing the sojourn4 ,i should have to draw information from various sources1 and the scientific and hypothetical data connected therewith would require sorting and rearranging to make them assimilate more easily2 these would present difficulties not readily surmounted4 ,how could a reasonable and speaking being come forth from that which had no reason and no language8 ,the earliest traditions are silent on the manner of man's acquisition of his first ideas and his first words4 ,but because a problem has not been solved1 that is no reason for the assertion that it is insoluble1 unless a refutation is at once demonstrable1 as in the squaring of the circle4 8,if every one had abstained from striving to penetrate hidden things1 no sciences would exist10 ,noir remarked4 ,newton might have said3 8,the facts that a stone falls and the planets move are known by actual experience1 why search out the laws which produce these phenomena80 ,and the theory of gravitation would have been lacking4 ,lyell might have said3 8,we see that the crust of the earth is composed of several strata1 why reckon the time required for their formation80 ,and there would have been no science of geology4 ,liebig might have said3 8,we see that clover grows and cattle prosper1 why should the relation of cause and effect concern us80 ,and there would have been no organic chemistry4 ,adam ,smith might have said3 8,we know by experience that valuable objects can be exchanged1 and that their prices fluctuate1 why should we study the cause of rise and fall80 ,and this chapter would have been missing from political economy4 ,no road presents itself to me by which to arrive in the midst of primitive humanity2 of necessity1 therefore1 ,i have recourse to analogy1 which1 under the circumstances1 is not the worst expedient4 ,when the ,romans first encountered ,germans1 they were chiefly struck by the great stature1 the blue eyes1 and the light hair of this inimical race4 ,tacitus1 in alluding to this fact1 says that each ,german exactly resembled his fellow4 ,although we are familiar with the external appearance of various nations1 yet if we found ourselves in the presence of a large number of negroes we should experience an analogous sensation1 only by degrees should we distinguish one from the other4 ,in an intensified degree primitive man must have had similar experiences when1 first finding himself in a world of which he knew nothing1 and of which he understood nothing1 the consciousness of what he saw around him was making itself apparent4 ,these early races learnt the meaning of the details of surrounding nature but slowly2 their eyes followed the brilliant circle as it moved from one quarter of the heavens to the other2 they noticed the fire which came whence they knew not2 they heard the crash of thunder1 reproduced by the echoes in the mountains synchronising with the devastations caused by the storm4 ,if one man alone had witnessed these terrifying effects in nature1 his reason would have tottered from fear2 the stones and the herbs of the field could not share his agitation2 the death of a man from terror would leave them unmoved4 ,happily man was not alone1 all those around him shared his agitation1 and the terror manifested itself on each by signs which each would understand instinctively4 ,this period of semi-consciousness before the full awakening might have been a prolonged one1 but physical sensations and necessities multiplied themselves1 and were very various and imperative2 action was indispensable if privations were to be avoided2 and instinct came to their aid4 ,the need of guarding themselves from the burning rays of the sun caused them to provide shelters by interlacing branches of trees2 to protect themselves from cold they took the skins of wild beasts to throw over their shoulders2 where natural caverns were insufficient for their wants they made themselves refuges in the sides of the mountains2 they were forced to light and maintain fires2 sharpen stones either for tools or for weapons of defence2 the wants of one were the wants of all1 and all gave themselves to the task of satisfying them4 ,it is so evident that primitive activity must have been co-operative1 that it outrages common sense to picture each man labouring by himself for himself alone4 ,the mental phenomenon known as intention1 was the common property of all2 the mutual sympathy played the part of the electric current of our laboratories1 and the inarticulate sounds escaping involuntarily from the lips of each worker1 served as a means of communication4 ,in order the better to understand the function of the voice in the education of primitive man1 let us look around us and listen4 ,whenever our senses are excited1 and our muscles hard at work1 we feel a kind of relief in uttering sounds which in themselves have no meaning4 8,they are a relief rather than an effort1 a moderation or modulation of the quickened breath in its escape through the mouth40#ch ,when men work together1 on account of the nature of the task requiring united effort1 they are naturally inclined to accompany their occupations with certain more or less rhythmical utterances1 which react beneficially on the inward disturbance caused by muscular effort4 ,when a body of men march1 row1 or wield hammers1 they do not keep silence2 formerly soldiers sang as they marched to battle2 our modern civilisation only caused the substitution of fife and drums for the songs2 and our soldiers do not readily abandon these measured accompaniments1 which make them less susceptible of fatigue4 ,when savage races dance they make the air resound with measured cadences2 our peasants sing while joining in the country dances2 the custom of singing during work is more marked amongst those who belong to the races which are less under the influence of civilisation1 and are more entirely absorbed by their manual occupation1 and with whom personal preoccupation has small hold4 ,these inarticulate sounds which ,noir has named clamor concomitans and ,max ,mller clamor significans1 uttered by primitive men when working in concert1 and always inseparable from acts1 could be differentiated in accordance with the acts performed2 and at a period when actual speech did not yet exist1 they would always have this practical value1 they would awaken the remembrance of acts performed in the past1 and be repeated in the present1 they would thus be instantly understood by all1 and readily retained by the memory4 ,but what was there to determine the application of certain sounds to certain occupations8 ,this has not been made clear4 ,plato1 ,socrates1 and others1 have considered that the origin of language might be traced to the imitation of the sounds of nature1 and have sought for a resemblance between these sounds and certain letters of the alphabet1 but even were it possible here and there to discover a faint analogy1 our efforts would only end in contradictions4 ,there seems to be neither necessity nor absolute freedom in the choice of the sounds expressive of these acts1 but rather the result of some accident1 or of causes of which we are ignorant4 ,in any case these sounds were merely the materials of which language was built4 ,it will be easily understood that nothing would penetrate more deeply into man's consciousness1 or produce mutual understanding more readily1 than acts undertaken and accomplished with the same end in view by a number of men united in a common impulse4 ,during the digging of the caves1 the weaving of the nets1 the thrashing of the grain1 the workers would follow with their eyes the gradual transformation perceptible in these activities1 and the sounds which they emitted1 or the half-formed words issuing from their lips would be modified or softened at each development in the work2 these developments becoming more and more distinct1 more and more impressed with their own special characteristic4 ,the idea of individuality must have been very clouded1 very confused amongst primitive man2 that which one saw the other saw after the same manner2 they designed each object in creating it2 in this way the world became as a book to them1 this book1 the result of their combined labour1 they learnt to read fluently by means of these sounds and words which increased as they varied4 ,thus work--man's good genius--is proved to be the source of what is truly human1 viz41 reason and language4 ,here ,i will note a curious fact and one which is historical4 ,at a period when writing was unknown in ,india1 the ,brahmans had already established the rules of poetical metre1 which were originally connected with dancing and music4 ,these rules had been preserved in the ,veda4 ,the various ,sanscrit names for metre are a witness of the union of corporal and phonetic movements4 ,the root of ,khandas1 metre1 is the same as the ,latin scandere in the sense of stepping2 vritta1 metre1 from vrit1 verto--to turn1 meant originally the last three or four steps of a dancing movement1 the turn1 the versus1 which determined the whole character of dance or of the metre4 ,trishtubh1 the name of a common metre in the ,veda1 meant three-step1 because its turn--its vritta or versus--consisted of three steps1 - -4 ,thus the innate necessity that man feels of linking the play of the vocal chords to the movement of hands or feet1 had been controlled by fixed laws1 twenty-four centuries ago1 by the ,hindoo grammarians2 and the most recent theories of modern writers on the subject attest the excellence of these laws4 ,the assertion that it is natural to peasants not to keep silence when working is of very ancient date1 but ,noir was the first to deduce scientific data from the fact4 ,the study of ,sanscrit has shown us that two thousand years ago it occurred to ,hindoo grammarians to investigate the origin of the words of their language1 when they discovered that all words could be reduced to roots1 and that these roots all expressed various forms of activity2 that they were therefore verbs1 and that the number of these roots was very restricted4 ,our present philologists have continued this work and are not only able to acknowledge the accuracy of the ,brahmanic discovery1 but also to certify that the grammatical analysis of the ,hindoos1 put forth #ejj years before our era1 has never been surpassed4 ,it is important to remember that roots are the fundamental elements which permeate the whole organism of the language4 ,hebrew has been reduced by ,renan and other ,hebraists to about #ejj roots2 the work has still to be done for the whole ,semitic family4 ,the same process has been carried out with regard to the ,aryan languages2 we find the number of roots in ,sanscrit reduced to about #hjj2 of ,gothic about #fjj2 rather more than #djj in the ,teutonic family1 and #fjj in the ,slavic4 ,the ,ural-,altaic languages have also undergone a partial analysis of the same kind1 and the result at present corresponds to that obtained by the examination of the other families4 ,after eliminating the tertiary and secondary roots from the ,sanscrit the residuum is #fjj or #ejj1 and we arrive at the fact that this entire language1 and1 in a great measure1 all the ,aryan languages1 can be traced back to an extremely small number of roots4 ,as the ,hindoo grammarians asserted that all roots contain the representation of various forms of activity1 it behoved our philologists to investigate this and discover their meaning4 ,professor ,noir thought that the consciousness that men had of their own acts must have formed the origin of the primitive concepts of the human mind1 and found expression in signs or words4 ,max ,mller shows us#ci that all the ,sanscrit roots express a concept or consciousness of the repeated acts1 the acts with which man in his infancy would be most familiar4 ,but it must be noted that the concepts or signs are not of single acts1 but the realisation of repeated acts2 to dig was not to put a spade into the ground once1 it is the action of digging continuously2 to sharpen was not to pass one flint over another once1 it was the continual action of sharpening4 ,the consciousness of accomplishing these repeated acts as if one act1 became the first germ of conceptual thought4 ,during this initial phase of thought1 when the first consciousness of his own repeated acts awoke in man and assumed a conceptual character1 will1 act and knowledge were as yet one and undivided1 and the whole of his conscious knowledge was subjective1 exclusively concerned with his own voluntary act4 ,we possess the genealogy of a large number of ,aryan roots1 and we find on examination that the activity which formed their basis was at the beginning always a creative activity1 since it called into life conceptions which up to that time had not existed4 ,nothing is more interesting than researches into the origin of the growth of human thought1 when carried out not according to the systems of certain philologists of our day1 but historically1 after the fashion of the ,indian trapper1 who notes on the sand every imprint of the footsteps of him whom he pursues4 ,for the present ,i will content myself by bringing forward in illustration three primary roots4 ,v 7,v71 which is1 to weave2 ,mar1 to crush2 and ,khan1 to dig4 ,v 7,v71 ,mar1 and ,khan are thus verbs4 ,when we now picture the four acts of weaving1 spinning1 sewing1 and knitting1 they appear so to differ the one from the other1 that it seems impossible to consider them other than four distinct acts1 and difficult to believe that there is one common origin to all4 ,these four processes1 however1 all had their germ in the one primitive act of interlacing the boughs of trees to form a hedge or roof4 ,this root ,v 7,v7 had an immense number of offshoots2 from the acts of interlacing and platting came the conception of binding1 in ,latin vieo1 to twist1 to divide2 in ,german1 winden1 wickeln2 the ,latin words vitis1 a vine2 vimen1 osier1 a twig2 viburnum1 a climbing plant2 the ,slavic word vetla1 willow2 the ,sanscrit vetra1 reed1 rush2 the ,german word for rush1 binse1 is connected with binden1 to join1 and the secondary meaning of ties of relationship and alliance3 again1 in the ,old ,high-,german1 nothbendig1 or nothwendigkeit1 bound1 straitened1 and the ,gothic naudibandi1 tie1 chain4 ,all these words1 whether in the ,roman1 ,german1 or ,slavonic dialects1 have retained the root ,v 7,v71 so that it is impossible not to recognise the trunk of which these are the branches4 ,thus a large number of apparently dissimilar images became entangled the one with the other1 and in proportion as we approach their starting-point do we find them discarding their own special signification1 and becoming absorbed in the single conception of weaving and platting4 ,the root mar1 to grind1 has also the meaning of to crush1 to powder1 to rub down1 etc41 and whether we look at the ,latin1 ,greek1 ,celtic1 ,german1 or ,slav1 the words representing the verb to mill1 and the name mill come thence2 the transition from milling to fighting is natural2 thus ,homer used the word mar-na-mai1 ,i fight1 ,i pound4 ,mar produced in ,latin the words mordeo1 ,i bite2 morior 7originally1 to decay71 ,i die2 mortuus1 dead2 mors1 death2 morbus1 illness2 in ,greek1 marasmos1 decay2 rendered in ,german by sich aufreiben1 to become exhausted4 ,in ,sanscrit we must remember that the consonants r and l are cognate and interchangeable2 thus1 mar mal2 and that ar in ,sanscrit is shortened1 and the vowel modified and pronounced ri1 mar mri2 that ar may be pronounced ra1 and al1 la2 mar mra and mal mla3 thus in ,sanscrit we find mrita1 dead2 mritya1 death1 and mriye1 ,i die4 ,one of the earliest names for man was marta1 the dying2 the equivalent in ,greek for the ,sanscrit mra and mla is mbro1 mblo2 and after dropping the m becomes bro and blo2 brotos1 mortal4 ,having chosen this name for himself1 man gave the opposite name to the gods2 he called them ,ambrotoi1 without decay1 immortal2 and their food ambrosia1 immortality4 ,an offshoot of mar is mard and mrg2 thence mradati1 rubbing down1 pulverising1 grind to powder2 mrid is in ,sanscrit the word for dust1 and afterwards was used for soil in general or earth2 mrid1 to weaken1 to soften1 to melt2 thus1 fluid mass4 ,this idea in ,english takes the form malt1 grain soaked and softened2 then the ,greek meldo1 and the ,gothic mulda1 soft ground or morass1 and that which is softened by use or the action of time4 ,the ,latin sordes and sordidus are connected herewith1 as the same root may be found in smarna1 ,gothic1 and the ,greek mlas and moros1 black1 and in murus1 brown-black2 in the ,russian smola1 wax and resin4 8,colour was conceived originally as the result of the act of covering or extending a fluid over a surface2 it was not till the art of painting1 in its most primitive form1 was discovered and named1 that there could have been a name for colour40#dj ,the name of colour in ,sanscrit is varna1 from var1 to cover4 ,the idea conveyed by the words1 to smooth1 to flatter1 to soften1 to mollify1 to melt a hard substance1 to polish a rough surface by constant rubbing1 led to the same terms being used for expressing the softening influence which man exercised on man1 by looks1 gestures1 words or prayers1 and these expressions were especially used by men in their relations to the gods1 when they strove to propitiate them by supplications and sacrifices3 thus the prayer which we now translate by 8,be gracious unto us1 ,o ,god10 meant originally1 8,melt to us2 be softened1 ye gods40 ,language grew and made offshoots1 but without confusion2 disorder had no place in the progress of thought 7still less chance71 which was simple and rational4 ,this was not the development of the conscious effort towards some goal4 ,at this period there was no such thing as reflection properly so called2 for instance1 man did not ponder how best to express a feeling of fear1 since fear1 like so many other impressions1 received vague expression before the concept of fear acquired shape2 but our ancestors had a root to express shaking 7in ,sanscrit kap1 kamp1 to shake73 they used it to describe fear1 which manifested itself in the trembling of voice or limbs4 ,thus1 8,i shake0 might mean1 8,i shake a tree10 or 8,i am shaken10 8,i am shaken by him0 7by my horse71 but also 8,i am trembling02 from it we have in ,greek karnos1 smoke1 not what shakes1 or is shaken1 but what is in a shaking state1 that which moves2 kup1 which is probably a modification of kamp1 means to shake inwardly1 to be angry4 ,some learned writers have felt disconcerted when after tracing words to their source1 they have found nothing but roots with general meanings1 such as to go1 to move1 to run1 to do2 however1 it is by means of these vague1 pale conceptions that language has obtained the material for an entire language4 ,the ,aryan root ar signified originally to go1 to send1 to advance1 to proceed1 going regularly1 to stir4 ,applied to the stirring of the soil1 it took the meaning of ploughing2 in ,latin ar-are1 in ,greek ar-oun1 in ,irish ar1 in ,lithuanian ar-ti1 in ,russian ora-ti2 this root1 from its meaning of advancing regularly1 was the name of the plough2 one derivative was applied to the cattle fit for ploughing1 and also to the labourer4 ,ar was also used for the ploughing of the sea1 or rowing1 and was found in the words rower and rudder4 ,the ,latin word vum1 originally from i1 to go1 became the name of time1 age2 and its derivative viternus1 turnus was made to express eternity4 ,it was by a poetical fiat that the ,greek probata1 which originally meant no more than things walking forward1 became in time the name of cattle4 ,in ,french1 the word meuble means literally anything that is movable1 but it became the name of chairs1 tables1 wardrobes1 etc4 ,in this way we see the power of language1 which1 out of a few simple elements1 has created names sufficient to express the infinite aspects of nature4 ,the ramifications of the ,aryan root ,d give a good idea of the process4 ,thus ,d to give1 is in the ,sanscrit ddmi1 ,i give2 in ,latin1 do2 in ,old ,slavonic1 da-mi2 in ,lithuanian1 du-mi2 in ,french1 donner and pardonner2 in ,latin1 trado1 to give over2 in ,italian1 tradire2 in ,french1 trahir1 trahison2 in ,latin again1 reddo1 to give back2 in ,french1 rendre and rente4 ,side by side with the root ,d1 there is another root also ,d1 exactly the same in all outward appearance2 it consists of ,d 1 but is totally distinct from the former4 ,while from the former we have in ,sanscrit1 d-tram1 a gift1 we have from the latter d-tram1 a sickle4 ,the meaning of the second root is to cut1 to carve2 the difference is shown by the accent remaining on the radical syllable in d-tram1 i4e41 the cutting 7active72 whilst it leaves the radical syllable in d-trm1 i4e41 what is given 7passive74 ,the history of these roots d affords an opportunity of noticing a curious resemblance between natural history and philology1 two sciences which otherwise are totally different1 but alike in one idea which enters into the inwardness of both4 ,darwin admitted four or five progenitors in the vegetable and animal kingdoms1 so that the primary elements of all living organisms are the simple cells4 ,in the same way philologists have discovered that there remain in the end certain simple elements of human speech--the primordial roots--which have sufficed to provide the innumerable multitude of words used by the human race4 ,a principle neglected by a great number of evolutionists is that if two origins1 whether the roots of language or living cells1 have at their starting-point an absolutely similar appearance1 and afterwards diverge1 it is because at their origin they bore in themselves the germs destined to produce this divergence4 ,darwin says that two organic cells1 which in the embryonic stage may perfectly resemble each other1 in growing1 gradually develop1 the one into an inferior animal1 the other into a superior animal1 never varying the process2 the reason of which fact is that the cells1 although not distinguishable the one from the other1 differ in the rudiments or principle of life3 in the same way philologists say that when two roots have the same sound1 but produce families of perfectly distinct words1 it is because the germs in each differ4 ,we learn from this that the sound of the words is a matter of indifference at the commencement of a language2 no one has succeeded1 or will succeed1 in making the sound alone the vehicle of a conception4 ,to ,locke belongs the merit of having first clearly asserted that roots1 the true irreducible elements of language1 which furnish words for the most abstract and sublime conceptions1 had at the beginning only a material or sensuous meaning1 and this fact1 on which idealists and materialists are agreed1 is confirmed by comparative philologists4 ,all primitive roots express directly only those acts and those conditions which come under the domain of the senses2 all express the consciousness of repeated acts familiar to the members of a society in its infancy1 such as pounding1 striking1 weaving1 tying1 burning1 rubbing1 moving1 cutting1 sharpening1 softening4 ,by means of generalisation and specialisation1 the roots have acquired the most abstract terms of our advanced society2 thus the root to burn developed into the thought of to love1 and also to be ashamed2 to dig1 came to mean to search for1 to enquire2 the root which means to gather1 expressed in primitive logic what we now call observation of facts2 the connection of major and minor1 or even syllogism4 ,this is without doubt1 and it is as certain that the words rake and pinchers came from the verbs to rake and to pinch4 ,to make the assertion of ,locke the more striking1 ,noir adds3 8,when the representative words springing from one root are found side by side1 it is always the more ancient of the two which expresses the more material act4 ,the verbs to tear and to cut are the offshoots of a single root2 but the passage from the concept of tearing to that of cutting would be slowly effected2 the act of tearing was immediate with man1 cutting was a mediate act1 and of later date1 since it could not be done whilst the instrument was lacking40 ,i shall now bridge over the distance between the primordial roots1 and the organised language as we possess it1 in order to show how our ancestors succeeded in forming real phrases1 that is to say1 intelligible propositions2 this will show us the continuous thread which connects our present language with primitive speech4 ,we can show that both dictionary and grammar are made up of predicative roots and demonstrative elements4 ,by the help of the first we make affirmations concerning things1 derived from our knowledge of another object or of many1 either in combination under one name1 or taking each separately4 ,with the demonstrative element we point to any object in space or time1 by using such words as this1 that1 then1 here1 there2 near1 far1 above1 below1 and others of the same kind1 whose existence may be explained as a survival of the gesticulating phase in which objects were neither conceived nor described but pointed out2 from this we are not to infer that gestures--even accompanied by sounds--gave birth to speech1 since they rather excluded it4 ,in their primitive form and intention1 these demonstrative elements are addressed to the senses rather than to the intellect4 ,they have in themselves no meaning1 and to be of service they must be attached to words that have4 ,the history of the root ,khan1 to dig1 will explain my thought4 ,when our ,aryan ancestors had learnt to say ,khan1 and they wanted to distinguish between those who were digging and the instruments used in digging1 between the object of the digging and the time and place of the work1 it is possible that these demonstrative suffixes1 combined with predicative roots1 formed bases1 such as ,khan-ana1 ,khan-i1 ,khan-a1 ,khan-itra1 and still others1 which were intended probably for digging-here1 digging-now1 dig-we1 dig-you4 ,by means of these combinations1 which varied in their application according to the customs of different villages and families1 the speaker sought to distinguish between the subject acting and the object acted upon2 and when this difficulty was surmounted1 a great step had been taken1 the passage from perception to conception was accomplished1 and this passage no philosopher prior to ,noir had made clear4 8,we must always bear in mind that we are speaking here of times1 so far beyond the reach of history1 and of intellectual processes so widely removed from our own1 that none would venture to speak dogmatically on what was actually passing in the minds of the early framers of language when they first uttered these words40#da ,all we can do is to hazard an explanation1 and accept it in as far as it seems reasonable2 and in the interest of science1 we must carefully guard ourselves from asserting that our theory is the only true one4 ,it is easy to conceive that after centuries of constant use certain derivatives should have become unalterably attached to certain meanings1 and others should have also retained their special meanings4 ,but what we do not know1 is how the sounds destined to become demonstrative elements or personal pronouns were restricted to the terms required for such words1 as--here1 there1 those1 he1 ,i1 that1 etc4 ,there were cases in which a verb in the infinitive would develop into a phrase without any additions being made to it2 it would suffice1 for instance1 if a man uttered the word ,khan in a commanding voice--as we should say 8work0--for his fellow-labourers to understand that they were to begin to dig4 ,thus the imperative could be considered a complete sentence with as much justice as ,veni-,vedi-,vici would be termed independent and complete sentences4 8,the shortest sentence of all is1 no doubt1 the imperative1 and it is in the imperative that almost to the present day roots retain their simplest form40#db ,our intellects in the present day are developed by the discourses we hear1 the books we read1 the reflections suggested by our experiences of life2 our vocabularies become enriched as our knowledge increases and embraces a greater number of subjects2 and if we retrace the path taking us to our ancestors who could not count beyond four sometimes1 we should find words and ideas becoming fewer and conspicuous by their absence4 ,it does not therefore follow that because we use language that we made it4 ,it is not our invention2 to us every language is traditional4 8,the words in which we think are channels of thought which we have not dug ourselves1 but which we found ready made for us4 ,the work of making language belongs to a period in the history of mankind beyond the reach of the ordinary historian1 and of which we in our advanced state of mental development can hardly form a clear conception40 ,yet that time must have been a fact not less possible of verification than that geological period when 8the earth was absorbed in producing the carboniferous vegetation which still supplies us with the means of warmth1 light1 and life1 accumulating during enormous periods of time small deposits of organic matter forming the strata of the globe on which we live4 ,in the same manner the human mind formed that linguistic vegetation1 the produce of which still supplies the stores of our grammars and dictionaries02 and after a close examination of these primordial roots whence our language has sprung1 we find that it does not consist in a conglomeration of words1 the result of an agreement amongst a certain number of men1 or the result of chance1 but expresses human activity by means of verbs1 the living and vivifying portion of speech by the side of which the remainder may almost be considered as dead matter4 ,the question of the birth of the substantive1 without being deliberately posed as a problem1 occupied the minds of the ,grecian philosophers1 and was involved in their researches concerning the relation of an object to the name it bears1 of the unknown cause by which a certain name designates a certain object and no other4 ,whilst the ,greeks speculated on the subject after a tentative manner1 building up theories which later observations were not long in upsetting1 the ,hindoos were also engaged in efforts to solve the problem by the help of a more reliable process--the historical4 ,the early grammarians1 having found that words came from roots expressing general concepts1 and that these concepts represented some sort of activity1 made this fact the basis of their studies2 profound thinkers as they were they discovered that man at first could not give a name to a tree1 an animal1 a star1 a river1 nor to any other object without discovering first some special quality that seemed at the time most characteristic of the object to be named4 ,sanscrit has a root ,as1 having amongst other meanings sharpness1 quickness2 from the same root came words for needle1 point1 sharpness of sight1 quickness of thought2 this root is found in the ,sanscrit name for a horse1 which is asva1 runner or racer1 one who leaves space quickly behind him4 ,many other names might have been given to the horse besides the one here mentioned1 but all must recall some characteristic trait of this animal2 that name1 the quick1 could also have been given to other animals1 but having been repeatedly applied to one1 it became unfit for other purposes1 and the horse retains undisputed possession4 ,the ,sanscrit aksha1 eye1 comes from the same root as1 which also meant to point1 to pierce4 ,another name for eye in ,sanscrit is netram1 leader1 from n1 to lead4 ,noir has just put forth an ingenious theory1 that the first substantives would not be miller1 digger1 weaver1 carpenter2 but flour1 cave1 pit1 mat1 hedge1 club1 arrow1 boat1 because these were what had been thought and willed1 whilst the agents1 of no account from that point of view1 remained in the shade1 forgotten1 and it is possible that for some time no names were given to them4 8,when we have once seen that thought in its true sense is always conceptual1 taking a verbal form1 and that every word is derived from a conceptual root1 we shall be ready for the assertion that words being conceptual can never stand for a single percept40--,,max ,m,,ller4 ,locke first insisted that names are not the signs of things themselves1 but always the signs of our concepts of them4 ,this remark received small attention at first1 and remained little appreciated until such time as the discoveries of our contemporaries1 with no preconcerted unanimity1 confirmed its value4 ,max ,mller explains ,locke's words in the following manner3 8,each time that we use a general name1 if we say dog1 tree1 chair1 we have not these objects before our eyes1 only our concepts of them2 there can be nothing in the world of sense corresponding even to such simple words as dog1 tree1 chair4 ,we can never expect to see a dog1 a tree1 a chair4 ,dog means every kind of dog from the greyhound to the spaniel2 tree1 every kind of tree from the oak to the cherry2 chair1 every kind of chair from the royal throne to the artisan's stool4 ,we may see a spaniel or a ,newfoundland dog2 we may see a fir or an apple tree2 we may see such and such a chair4 ,people often imagine that they can form a general image of a dog by leaving out what is peculiar to every individual dog40#dc ,this general idea we have in our mind of which we can talk1 but our eyes cannot see it as they could a real object4 ,nothing that we name1 nothing that we find in our dictionary can ever be heard1 or seen1 or felt4 8,we can even have names for things which never existed1 such as gnomes2 also for things which exist no more1 or which exist not yet1 such as the grapes of the last harvest1 and those of the next4 ,the mere fact that ,i call a thing past or future ought to be sufficient to show that it is my concept of which ,i am speaking1 and not the thing as independent of me40#dd ,berkeley showed that it is simply impossible for any human being to make to himself a general image of a triangle1 for such an image would have to be at the same time right-angled1 obtuse-angled1 acute-angled1 and other kinds also2 such an object does not exist2 whereas it is perfectly possible to have an image of any single triangle2 to name some characteristic features common to all triangles1 and thus to form a name and at the same time a concept of a triangle4#de ,this mental process which ,berkeley described so well as applied to modern concepts we can adopt with regard to all1 even the most primitive4 ,man1 in entering a forest1 discovered in the trees something that was interesting to him4 ,for practical purposes trees were particularly interesting to the primitive framers of language1 because they could be split in two1 three1 or four pieces1 cut1 shaped according to the size of the piece into blocks1 planks1 boats1 and shafts2 any object for which the necessity had made itself felt4 ,hence1 from a root dar1 to tear1 our ,aryan ancestors called trees dru1 or dru1 literally what can be torn1 or split1 or cut2 from the same root the ,greeks called the skin of an animal drma1 because it was torn off1 and a sack dros 7in ,sanscrit driti71 because it was made of leather1 and a spear dry1 because it came from a tree1 and was cut and shaped and planed4 ,such words being once given would produce many offshoots2 the ,celts of ,gaul and of ,ireland called their priests ,druids1 literally the men of oak-groves4 ,the ,greeks called the spirits of the forest trees ,dryades2 and the ,hindoos called a man of wood1 or a man with a wooden1 or1 as we say1 flinty heart1 druna1 cruel4 ,the immense number of intelligible roots gave birth to many new images1 these roots crossed and recrossed1 for the concepts of to go1 to give1 to move1 to make1 would be the foundations of others1 in some ways differing2 one idea or thought in its flight would meet others perhaps of a conflicting nature1 thoughts and words would equally undergo incessant modifications1 which fact explains why in these earlier stages of language the members of a community soon ceased to understand each other if separated but for a short period of time4 ,ovid1 in speaking of the chaos at the beginning of the world1 makes a picture which would equally well describe the birth of language4 8,matter was in an unformed mass 444 the sky1 the earth1 the sea had all one aspect2 there where was the earth1 was also the sea1 and the sky was there also40 ,the extraordinary destinies of the roots ,i have named constitutes a short chapter only1 in the birth and development of tongues2 but short as it is1 it suffices to give us an idea of the elastic nature of these roots1 their faculty of extension1 and the part they play in the economy of language1 and in the administration of the affairs of the human mind4 ,every mental phenomenon has its history1 which can only be discovered by tracing it to its source2 and as speech has undergone many phases1 of which the earlier must have been very different from those now in existence1 it is pardonable in the greatest philosophers of antiquity not to have known the intricacies of the human mind1 which this changeable speech could alone interpret4 ,the ancients knew their own times1 but were ignorant of the preceding ones1 in the same way they knew their own language only1 and of this language only its contemporary form2 and in the case of a word whose meaning was lost or of a foreign word1 they sought its origin in an idiom with which they were familiar2 in other words1 not where it could be found4 ,for a long time man only knew one kind of being1 his own2 and possessed one language only1 that which expressed his own acts and his own states2 the primitive men were sufficiently advanced to say3 8let us dig10 8grind10 8they weave02 but if1 at the beginning1 concepts and speech arose from the consciousness of their own activity1 how was the advance made when men desired to speak of the external objects of the world which they saw around them1 and were conscious of not having made1 and which consequently remained outside the sphere of their wills and of their experience8 ,it is clear that these outward objects to be grasped and named1 must have their part in the human activities for which names had already been found4 ,when he saw the lightning tearing a hole in the field1 or splitting the trunk of a tree1 man could no longer say1 8,we have dug this hole1 you have split the tree40 ,it was no longer someone1 but something that had dug and struck4 ,nothing seems more simple to us than after saying 8,i dig0 to say also 8it digs10 and yet it was a passing to a new world of thought1 from the conscious feeling of our own activity to the intuition of the activity of an outward object2 this mental act1 though inevitable1 was by no means an easy one2 men realised that the world around was a reflex of themselves1 the only light was the light from within4 ,if men could measure1 so could the moon2 hence he was called the measurer of the sky1 from the root ,m1 to measure2 the moon was called ,ms1 that which measures1 its actual name in ,sanscrit2 in ,latin1 mensis2 in ,greek1 mn2 ,english1 moon2 ,german1 ,monat2 in ,russian1 misets4 ,men who ran called themselves runners2 also the rivers they named sar1 running2 and to designate the position of the river they added the suffix it1 sar-it2 literally1 running here4 ,thus sarit is river in ,sanscrit2 ,ms and sarit thus become complete1 intelligible sentences4 ,what we call lightning was originally1 tearing1 digging1 bursting1 sparkling2 what we call storm and tempest were1 grinding1 smashing1 bursting1 blowing2 if man could smash1 so could the thunderbolt1 hence it was called the smasher2 and tempest and storm and thunderbolt may have been1 smashing1 grinding1 hurling2 and with the addition of the suffix1 smashing here1 now1 there1 then4 ,we have seen that the attribute which was the peculiar characteristic of an object supplied its name1 but as most objects possessed more than one attribute1 more than one designation were given to it2 thus several names were used for river besides sarit1 each representing one of its aspects2 when flowing in a straight line it was called sr1 arrow1 plough1 plougher2 if it seemed to nourish the fields it was mtar1 mother2 if it separated or protected one country from another1 it became sindhu1 the defender1 from sidh or sedhati1 to keep off2 if it became a torrent it received the name of nadi1 noisy4 ,in all these forms the river is considered as acting1 and is named by roots expressing action2 it nourishes1 it traces a furrow1 it guards1 it roars as a wild beast roars4 ,the sun has many attributes2 he is brilliant1 the warmer1 the generator1 the scorcher1 he is vivifying1 overpowering1 his many qualities giving him fifty different names1 all synonyms of the sun4 ,the earth also had many1 it was known by twenty-one names1 amongst others it was urv1 wide2 jurithv1 broad2 mah1 great2 but each characteristic trait of the earth could also be found in other objects1 thus uriv also meant a river2 sky and dawn were called prithv2 and mah 7great1 strong7 is used for cow and speech4 ,hence earth1 river1 sky1 dawn1 cow1 and speech would become homonyms4 ,these names are of clearly defined objects1 all recognisable by the senses2 this fact entitles us to apply the following definition to this primitive stage of language2 the conscious expression of impressions perceived by the senses4 ,but there is another class of words differing somewhat from those we have named1 such words1 as day1 night1 spring1 winter1 dawn and twilight2 these lack the individuality and tangibleness of the others2 and when we say 8day approaches1 night comes10 we attribute acts to things which are not agents1 we affirm propositions1 which1 logically analysed1 have no properly defined subjects4 ,semi-tangible names1 such as sky1 earth1 belong to the same category4 ,when we say 8the earth nourishes man10 we do not allude to any well defined portion of the soil1 we take the earth as a whole2 and the sky is not only the small portion of the horizon grasped by our eyes1 our imagination conceives objects not within the ken of our senses1 but inasmuch as we look upon the earth or sky as a whole1 see in it a power or an ideal1 we make of it1 involuntarily1 an individuality4 ,now these words had certain terminations affixed to them indicating what we call gender1 and became masculine or feminine1 the neuter gender at that time did not enter into the language1 until thought becoming more lucid perceived it in nature4 ,what was the result8 ,that it was impossible to speak of morning or night1 of spring or winter1 of dawn or twilight1 of sky and earth1 without clothing them not only with active and individual characteristics1 but with personal and sexual attributes2 hence all the objects of discourse as used by the founders of language became necessarily so many actors1 as men and women act2 and thought1 when once launched in this direction1 being irresistibly attracted by the tendency towards analogy and metaphor1 overspread the whole world of human experience with this method of representation4 ,what is called animism1 anthropomorphism1 and personification1 have therefore their source in this inevitable dynamic stage1 as ,max ,mller calls it1 of thought and language1 in which the psychological necessity of representing the external objects as resembling themselves operated on our ancestors4 ,this necessity might have been named subjectivism had it not received more specific terms such as animism1 which consists in conceiving of inanimate objects as animate2 anthropomorphism1 conceiving objects as men1 and personification1 conceiving objects as persons4 ,as soon as this new mental act was performed1 a new world was called into existence1 a world of names1 or as we now call it1 the world of myths4 8,so long as the real identity of thought and language had not been grasped1 so long as people imagined that language is one thing and thought another1 it was but natural that they should fail to see the real meaning of treating mythology1 if not as a disease1 at all events as an inevitable affection of language4 ,if the active verb was merely a grammatical1 and not at the same time a psychological1 nay1 an historical fact1 it might seem absurd to identify the active meaning of our roots with the active meaning ascribed to the phenomena of nature4 ,but let it be once perceived that language and thought are one and indivisible1 and nothing will seem more natural than that what1 as the grammarian tells us1 happened in language1 should1 as the psychologist tells us1 have likewise happened in thought40#df ,the men who spoke in this manner of the external phenomena understood perfectly that they themselves1 who struck1 who measured1 who ran1 who rose up1 who lay down1 were not to be confounded with the thunder1 the moon1 the river1 and the sun2 those scholars who studied thought as apart from language1 rather allowed themselves selves to be misled by the phraseology of the time1 and considered it a proof that our ,aryan ancestors looked upon their physical surroundings as human beings1 endowed with the appropriate organs and acts4 ,not only had the early ,aryans perfectly understood that they were not identical with themselves1 but they were far more struck by the differences between them than by any imaginary similarities4 ,the confirmation of this theory is preserved for us in the ,veda4 8,the torrent is roaring--not a bull10 i4e4 like a bull2 instead of saying as we do1 8firm as a rock10 the poets of the ,veda would say 8firm--not a rock40 8,the mountains were not to be thrown down1 but they were not warriors10 8,the fire was eating up the forest1 yet it was not a lion40 ,the men of that time used few words2 all thoughts that went beyond the narrow horizon of their daily and practical lives had to be expressed by the transference of a name from the object to which it properly belongs to other well known objects4 ,it was the birth of metaphor2 it was metaphor that enabled the inner consciousness to project itself into the outer chaos of the world of objects2 which it recreated with personal images2 and the fact that each natural phenomenon bore many names1 and that these same names were used for many other different objects furnished germs of metaphor4 ,metaphor was to language what rain and sunshine are to the harvest1 it multiplies each grain a hundred and a thousand fold2 and metaphor in multiplying language disperses it in every direction2 without it no language would have progressed beyond the simplest rudiments4 ,we must be careful not to confuse the radical metaphor with the poetical which we use daily1 and which is very different from the former4 ,if we open any book of poetry at whatever page1 we shall find inanimate and mute objects described as speaking1 rejoicing1 praising their ,creator2 there is no portion of nature however insentient1 however incapable of thought1 in which we do not infuse our own sentiments1 our own ideas4 ,this mode of expression is especially a poet's prerogative1 and that it does not strike us as incongruous is owing to the fact that poetry appeals to the generality of men1 and is more natural to them than prose1 and that this outpouring of our heart towards nature costs us less effort than to speak of it in the abstract4 ,it requires cold reflection to describe lightning as an electrical discharge1 and rain as condensed vapour2 in this case it is no longer the transference of the characteristic of a known object to one still unknown1 but that of a known object to another equally well known2 the poet who transfers the word tear to the dew has already clear names and concepts both for tear and dew2 the poetical metaphor is thus a voluntary creative act of our mind1 and as such takes no part in the formation of the human mind4 ,the world was astonished some few years ago by a declaration made by students of the science of language that the #bej1jjj words comprehended in the ,english ,dictionary now being published at ,oxford all proceeded from about #hjj roots2 and it has now been found possible to reduce this number4 ,in any case #ejj to #hjj ,sanscrit roots1 on account of their great fertility1 sufficed our ,aryan ancestors for all the many words occurring in ,sanscrit literature1 and suffice also for us who have #bde1jjj living animals and #ie1jjj fossil specimens to name2 also #ajj1jjj living and #bejj fossil plants1 without speaking of crystals1 metals and minerals4 ,another surprising discovery is that every thought that has ever passed through a human brain can be expressed in #aba radical concepts1 of which ,i give a list4 ,it is taken from ,max ,mller's ,science of ,thought1 p4 #djd4 ,each single word of every phrase that we use has its origin in one of the #hjj roots1 and not a thought but proceeds from the #aba fundamental concepts4 ,this is as accepted a fact as that all that is visible on the earth and in the vault of heaven is composed of about #fj elementary substances4 ,,the #aba ,,original ,,concepts4 #a4 ,dig4 #b4 ,plait1 weave1 sew1 bind4 #c4 ,crush1 pound1 destroy1 waste1 rub1 smoothe4 #d4 ,sharpen4 #e4 ,smear1 colour1 knead1 harden4 #f4 ,scratch4 #g4 ,bite1 eat4 #h4 ,divide1 share1 eat4 #i4 ,cut4 #aj4 ,gather1 observe4 #aa4 ,stretch1 spread4 #ab4 ,mix4 #ac4 ,scatter1 strew4 #ad4 ,sprinkle1 drip1 wet4 #ae;a4 ,shake1 tremble1 quiver1 flicker4 #ae;b4 ,shake mentally1 be angry1 abashed1 fearful1 etc4 #af4 ,throw down1 fall4 #ag4 ,fall to pieces4 #ah4 ,shoot1 throw at4 #ai4 ,pierce1 split4 #bj4 ,join1 fight1 check4 #ba4 ,tear4 #bb4 ,break1 smash4 #bc4 ,measure4 #bd4 ,blow4 #be4 ,kindle4 #bf4 ,milk1 yield4 #bg4 ,pour1 flow1 rush4 #bh4 ,separate1 free1 leave1 lack4 #bi4 ,glean4 #cj4 ,choose4 #ca4 ,cook1 roast1 boil4 #cb4 ,clean4 #cc4 ,wash4 #cd4 ,bend1 bow4 #ce4 ,turn1 roll4 #cf4 ,press1 fix4 #cg4 ,squeeze4 #ch4 ,drive1 thrust4 #ci4 ,push1 stir1 live4 #dj4 ,burst1 gush1 laugh1 beam4 #da4 ,dress4 #db4 ,adorn4 #dc4 ,strip1 remove4 #dd4 ,steal4 #de4 ,check4 #df4 ,fill1 thrive1 swell1 grow strong4 #dg4 ,cross4 #dh4 ,sweeten4 #di4 ,shorten4 #ej4 ,thin1 suffer4 #ea4 ,fat1 stick1 love4 #eb4 ,lick4 #ec4 ,suck1 nourish4 #ed4 ,drink1 swell4 #ee4 ,swallow1 sip4 #ef4 ,vomit4 #eg4 ,chew1 eat4 #eh4 ,open1 extend4 #ei4 ,reach1 strive1 rule1 have4 #fj4 ,conquer1 take by violence1 struggle4 #fa4 ,perform1 succeed4 #fb4 ,attack1 hurt4 #fc4 ,hide1 dive4 #fd4 ,cover1 embrace4 #fe4 ,bear1 carry4 #ff4 ,can1 be strong4 #fg4 ,show4 #fh4 ,touch4 #fi4 ,strike4 #gj4 ,ask4 #ga4 ,watch1 observe4 #gb4 ,lead4 #gc4 ,set4 #gd4 ,hold1 wield4 #ge4 ,give1 yield4 #gf4 ,couch4 #gg4 ,thirst1 dry4 #gh4 ,hunger4 #gi4 ,yawn4 #hj4 ,spue4 #ha4 ,fly4 #hb4 ,sleep4 #hc4 ,bristle1 dare4 #hd4 ,be angry1 harsh4 #he4 ,breathe4 #hf4 ,speak4 #hg4 ,see4 #hh4 ,hear4 #hi4 ,smell1 sniff4 #ij4 ,sweat4 #ia4 ,seethe1 boil4 #ib4 ,dance4 #ic4 ,leap4 #id4 ,creep4 #ie4 ,stumble4 #if4 ,stick4 #ig4 ,burn4 #ih4 ,dwell4 #ii4 ,stand4 #ajj4 ,sink1 lie1 fail4 #aja4 ,swing4 #ajb4 ,hang down1 lean4 #ajc4 ,rise up1 grow4 #ajd4 ,sit4 #aje4 ,toil4 #ajf4 ,weary1 waste1 slacken4 #ajg4 ,rejoice1 please4 #ajh4 ,desire1 love4 #aji4 ,wake4 #aaj4 ,fear4 #aaa4 ,cool1 refresh4 #aab4 ,stink4 #aac4 ,hate4 #aad4 ,know4 #aae4 ,think4 #aaf4 ,shine4 #aag4 ,run4 #aah4 ,move1 go4 #aai;a4 ,noise1 inarticulate4 #aai;b4 ,noise1 musical4 #abj4 ,do4 #aba4 ,be4 ,this classification of the roots is purely tentative4 ,it has been difficult to ascertain what is most likely to have been the original meaning of some2 there are certain words of which it is almost impossible to find the etymology4 ,the order in which the concepts succeed each other is not very systematic4 ,max ,mller tried to classify them more correctly by keeping the special acts1 such as to dig1 the general acts1 such as to find1 the special states1 such as to cough1 and the general states1 such as to stand--together4 ,but it was impossible to adhere strictly to such a plan1 because there are roots which express both acts and states2 while in many cases it is difficult to determine whether the special or general meaning predominates2 thus there are the words to boil1 to make boil1 or to be boiling4 ,some of the roots have closely allied meanings1 so that there are as many as fifteen connected with the concepts to burn1 and to speak2 and many more which can be traced to shine4 ,we experience feelings at once humbling and elevating when we consider that all we admire1 all on which we pride ourselves1 our thoughts1 whether poetical1 philosophical1 religious1 our whole literature1 all our dictionaries1 whether scientific or industrial2 in fact1 our whole intellectual life is built upon this small number of mother-ideas1 of #aba concepts4 ,we should feel neither humbled nor elevated2 we are making use of the wisdom of our ancestors4 ,it is our duty to transmit the legacy to our descendants which they gave us1 but purged from alloy4 ,three chief points are to be noted1 when we are concerned with the progress of the intellect3-- #a4 ,the creative activity of humanity is the basis of all the roots of words4 #b4 ,the source of all abstract ideas lies in acts which are entirely material4 #c4 ,it has been satisfactorily proved that we speak the language derived from that spoken by our primitive ancestors4 ,it was the custom of ,nebuchadnezzar to have his name stamped on every brick that was used during his reign in erecting his colossal palaces4 ,those palaces fell to ruins1 but from the ruins the ancient materials were carried away for building new cities2 and on examining the bricks in the walls of the modern city of ,bagdad1 travellers have discovered on every one the clear traces of that royal signature4 ,our modern languages were built up with the materials taken from the ruins of the ancient languages1 and every word that we pronounce displays the royal stamp impressed upon it by the founders4 ,the formation of those derived languages1 by means of the roots with their successive change of meaning1 the construction of their grammatical forms1 the continued changes amongst the different dialects1 all indicate the presence of a germ in man tending from the first to make him a reasoning being4 ,,footnotes3 #ch ,max ,mller's ,science of ,thought1 p4 #cjj4 #ci ,science of ,thought1 p4 #bai4 #dj ,max ,mller1 ,science of ,thought1 p4 #cjc4 #da ,max ,mller1 ,science of ,thought1 p4 #bbc4 #db ,max ,mller1 ,science of ,thought1 p4 #dba4 #dc ,science of ,thought1 pp4 #gg1 #gh4 ,natural ,religion1 p4 #cha4 #dd ,science of ,thought1 p4 #gi4 #de ,natural ,religion1 p4 #chb4 #df ,max ,mller1 ,natural ,religion1 p4 #djf4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,ancient ,,language ,language may be divided into three distinct periods1 when taken as a whole4 ,the first is1 when language1 finding itself released from those restraints which enveloped it in its cradle1 supplies those words which are most indispensable to man in connecting the one word with others1 such as pronouns1 prepositions1 names of numbers1 and of objects of daily use4 ,this must have been the first stage of a language hardly yet agglutinate1 free from trammels1 with no sign of nationality1 or individuality1 but containing in itself all the chief features of the many forms belonging to the ,turanian1 ,aryan and ,semitic families2 the explorer of philosophic antiquity does not penetrate beyond this first period4 ,the second phase is that in which two linguistic families passing out of the agglutinate stage1 unattached as yet to grammatical forms1 received once for all the stamp of the formation which we find amongst the popular and modern dialects belonging both to the ,semitic and ,aryan divisions1 and to which they owe this family resemblance1 which justifies their inclusion in one or other of these branches of language2 on the one side the ,teutonic1 ,celtic1 ,slav1 ,italic1 ,hellenic1 ,iranian and ,indian2 on the other ,arabic1 ,armenian and ,hebrew2 the yet unformed elements of grammar were eventually introduced into these languages at the substitution of the amalgamate for the agglutinate4 ,the ,turanian or ,ural-,altaic languages have an entirely different character2 they preserved for some time--and one or two still retain--the agglutinate form which retards the development of the grammar1 and hides the evidence of relationship to the languages between ,china and the ,pyrenees1 and between ,cape ,comorin and ,lapland4 ,these two periods are followed by a third1 generally known as the mythological2 it is obscure1 and is calculated to shake one's faith in the regular and orderly progress of human reason4 ,we find it to be a phase through which all peoples have passed2 yet in using the word mythology our thoughts naturally turn to the mythology of ,greece1 the only one with which we were made acquainted in our school days1 and also the only one with which those were familiar who had not given themselves over specially to the study of the beliefs of antiquity4 ,in the schools this study ran side by side with history2 from our earliest days we had been taught the complete polytheism of heathen divinities2 our work as pupils was to know our lessons1 the work of the masters was to see that we learnt them4 ,mythology1 therefore1 was to us only one chapter in that great work1 entitled the compulsory course of studies--a chapter which apparently required no more elucidation than the gymnastic lesson4 ,our masters represented the ,greeks as a people endowed with a vivid imagination1 who recounted in exalted pure language most fantastic stories2 we read in these authors3 8,eos has fled--,eos will return--,eos has returned--,eos wakens the sleepers--,eos lengthens the life of mortals--,eos rises from the sea--,eos is the daughter of the sky--,eos is followed by the sun--,eos is loved by the sun--,eos is killed by the sun10 and so on ad infinitum2 and we were told1 8,these are myths40 ,as no explanation was given of the word myth1 we were none the wiser4 ,if the movements of ,eos are inexplicable1 they are not without a certain picturesqueness4 ,but what shall we say of the myth concerning ,saturn1 who1 on account of a prediction that he would be killed by his children1 swallowed them as soon as they were born1 with the exception of ,jupiter1 who was saved by the substitution of a stone1 which ,saturn afterwards brought up with the children he had swallowed4 ,or again1 what can be said of the feast offered to the gods by ,tantalus to test their omniscience2 he caused the members of the body of his son ,pelops to be mixed with other meats2 a shoulder was eaten before ,jupiter discovered the deception2 he ordered the remainder to be thrown into a copper from which ,pelops emerged alive with one shoulder lacking1 and one made of ivory was given to him4 ,can anything more grotesque be imagined8 ,and our children are subjected to this regimen1 and their memories charged with these fables1 under the pretext that they will the better appreciate the chefs-d'uvre of classical literature4 ,the enigmatical part of this period of language will be more evident if we examine the early traditional history which began at its close1 and at which time a light appeared in ,greece destined to flood the world with a splendour hitherto unknown2 it was the epoch which produced ,thales1 ,pythagoras and ,heraclitus1 who1 in the midst of much ignorance1 had thoughts of wonderful lucidity4 ,a national literature was beginning1 where we find indications of the germs of political societies2 the creation of laws1 and the development of morals4 ,and we ask ourselves3 ,whence come these sages8 ,who were their masters8 ,how could these glorious days of ,greek civilisation have been preceded by several generations whose principal occupation seemed to consist in inventing and repeating to satiety absurd fables concerning gods1 heroes1 and other beings whom no human being had ever seen2 which fables contravene the simplest principles of logic1 morality and religion8 ,the ancient sages themselves were harsh in their judgment of these revolting stories contained in ,grecian mythology2 ,xenophanes1 a contemporary of ,pythagoras1 considered ,hesiod and ,homer responsible for these superstitions1 and blamed them for attributing to the gods all that was most reprehensible in man4 ,heraclitus was of opinion that ,homer deserved to be banished from the public assemblies1 and ,plato wrote1 8,mothers and nurses tell their children stories full of misstatements and immoralities which are gathered from the poets40 ,thus spoke philosophers #ejj years before our era1 because they knew that if the 8gods commit anything that is evil they are no gods40 8,taken by themselves and in their literal meaning1 most of these ancient myths are absurd and irrational1 and frequently opposed to the principles of thought1 religion1 and morality which guided the ,greeks as soon as they appear to us in the twilight of traditional history40#dg ,many explanations have been sought to account in a rational manner for these strange tales2 writers have striven to discover what can have given rise to such ridiculous inventions2 some have asserted that it was the intention of the authors of mythology to convey to the people a knowledge of certain facts of nature1 and certain moral truths whilst clothing them in allegorical form1 and by endowing the divinities with certain virtues which it would become men to imitate and acquire2 and that the worship of these divinities was instituted that man might be more fully impressed1 that the likeness of the virtues upheld might be more deeply engraved in the heart of the pious worshipper4 ,zeus1 was mind2 ,athene1 art2 ,hercules1 energy and perseverance in labours of great difficulty2 whilst the ,homeric heroes1 ,agamemnon1 ,achilles1 and ,hector represented physical activities4 ,according to another theory the object with which the myths were composed was political1 the laws of government were supposed to emanate from the gods2 and whoso refused to recognise the excellence of the institutions of the country was held to be in revolt against the gods themselves4 ,the philosopher ,euhemerus was the author of a third theory1 called the historical2 he represented the mythological personages not as gods1 but as kings1 heroes1 and philosophers1 who1 after their death1 had received divine honours among their fellow men2 in this system ,eolus1 the god of the winds1 became a skilful mariner who could foretell atmospheric changes2 ,atlas1 supporting the sky and earth on his wide shoulders1 had been formerly a great astronomer2 ,jupiter1 a ruler of ,crete2 ,hercules1 a knight-errant4 ,although these ancient writers interpreted the fables in so many different ways1 they all agreed in denying that an atom of truth is found in these stories concerning the gods1 and they insisted that no myth must be taken au pied de la lettre4 ,at a later period it was thought that reminiscences of a barbaric age could be found in which the ancestors of the ,greeks apparently occupied themselves by stealing1 killing1 deceiving1 and eating their offspring4 8,lactantius1 ,st ,augustine1 and the first missionaries1 in their attacks on the religious belief of the ,greeks1 and ,romans availed themselves of these arguments of ,euhemerus1 and taunted them with worshipping gods that were no gods1 but known and admitted to have been merely deified mortals40#dh ,in later times the same theory was revived2 certain theologians1 rather lacking in penetration1 looked to ,greek mythology for traces of sacred personages1 they imagined that they could recognise in ,saturn and his three sons1 ,jupiter1 ,neptune1 and ,pluto1 the features of ,noah and his sons1 ,ham1 ,japhet1 and ,shem2 and in a recently published book the author suggests that when ,hesiod describes the garden of the ,hesperides1 we have a tradition of the garden of ,eden4 ,thus from the moment when1 for the first time1 the ancient philosophers questioned 8why80 from the time of ,socrates1 ,plato1 and ,aristotle1 to our own practical and matter-of-fact century1 mythology has not ceased to compel attention1 and to furnish endless matter of conjecture4 ,learned writers have sought in physical sciences1 history1 and metaphysics1 an explanation of this phenomenon2 but in spite of this vast labour inspired by a love of science1 and carried on for more than two thousand years1 the secret of the sphinx of mythology remains undisclosed1 and we still ask1 8what is mythology80 ,is it an invention of ,homer and ,hesiod8 ,or is it a phase in the development of the human mind1 a deviation in the growth of reason8 ,the school of philology has a solution of its own to offer2 will it be as futile as the others8 ,after hearing it shall we still say the ,sphinx is mute8 ,this school takes upon itself to assert that the explanation of the mystery can only be found in the ,science of ,language4 ,it is a fact that the history of language--which is the history of the human mind--enables us to answer the preceding questions categorically4 ,yes4 ,mythology was inevitable1 an inherent part of language itself1 to be considered1 not as a simple external symbol1 but as the only incorporation of thought possible4 ,mythology1 in the widest acceptation of the term1 is the shadow which language casts on thought2 and the whole history of philosophy from ,thales to ,hegel has been one uninterrupted struggle with mythology1 a constant protest between thought and language4 ,,footnotes3 #dg ,chips from a ,german ,workshop1 vol4 ii4 p4 #aa4 ,max ,mller4 #dh ,max ,mller1 ,science of ,language1 vol4 ii4 p4 #dcf4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,myths ,in order to appreciate truly our neighbour's impressions and points of view1 we must constantly detach ourselves from our own special way of seeing and feeling2 this habit of abstraction--which is most difficult to every one--is indispensable when we are endeavouring to understand the natures of persons who lived many thousands of years ago1 and who thought and spoke in a totally different manner from ourselves4 ,in seeking to grasp the phraseology of myths we perceive that its chief elements consist in a repetition of phrases in which the acts of nature are used as embodiments of the idea1 under the figures of day and night1 dawn and twilight1 the sun and the moon1 the heavens and the earth1 as they stand in relation to man4 ,when we in the present century speak of the last hours of the day1 we use precise and exact terms2 we say1 8,it is late2 the sun is setting2 the moon rises2 it is night40 ,our ancestors also had occasion to mention these same hours1 but as they did not speak of the facts of nature without investing them with some of their own personality1 they preferred to say1 8,dawn flies before the sun40 8,the sun loves--pursues--embraces the dawn40 8,she dies in the arms of the sun40 ,they spoke of the sun growing old--decaying--dying4 ,besides these general terms our ancestors used special designations1 which the nature of their language suggested2 the hymns of the ,rig-,veda supply instances4 ,one of these modes of speech it would be difficult for me to render in ,french1 but the ,english language has the impersonal verb which will illustrate my meaning1 for all such atmospheric phenomena such as rain1 thunder1 the light of day2 instead of it rains1 it thunders1 it shines1 our ancestors said1 he rains1 he thunders1 he shines1 without knowing who was this he1 who for us is the third person masculine2 but1 naturally for them1 he meant the rainer1 the thunderer1 the lightener1 or1 in other words--the agent4 ,mythology1 taken in its entirety1 is the outcome of myths which preceded it4 ,if the original meaning of the ,greek word ,logos--as both word and thought--has revealed to us a forgotten truth2 the original meaning of mythos is also indispensable for the study of mythology4 ,this ,greek term means simply word as opposed to deed1 and hardly differed at first from ,logos4 ,afterwards1 however1 a distinction was made between myth1--a fable1 a story1 and logos1 a historical account4 ,thus a myth was at first a word4 ,almost all terms used in the first spontaneous stage of language had for their basis striking metaphors1 whose signification may have been forgotten1 and these terms having lost their original as well as poetical meaning1 remained words only1 current in familiar conversation4 ,i give the following myths as they have come down to us4 ,endymion is the son of ,zeus and ,kalyke1 but he is also the son of thlios1 a king of ,elis1 who is himself called a son of ,zeus2 for1 according to ,greek customs1 the reigning race of ,elis derived its origin from the king of the gods4 ,endymion is one of the many names of the sun1 but with special reference to the setting or dying sun2 it is derived from a verb which originally meant to dive into2 an expression such as 8the sun dived0 presupposes an earlier conception1 that it dived into the sea4 ,but the verb enduo is never used in classical ,greek for setting1 because the simple verb duo had become the technical term for sunset4 ,thus this myth of ,endymion owes its origin to the use probably of enduo in some ,greek dialect1 though not the commonly received term for sunset4 ,the original meaning of ,endymion being once forgotten1 what was told originally of the setting sun was now told of a name1 which in order to have any meaning1 had to be changed into a god or hero4 ,this handsome prince or shepherd1 according to the different versions of the tale1 went to ,karia1 where on ,mount ,latmos he had strange adventures2 he slept in a cave to which the rays of the moon1 ,selene1 penetrated1 and in the ancient poetical and proverbial language of ,elis it was said1 8,selene loves and watches ,endymion2 ,selene embraces ,endymion and kisses him into sleep40 ,the name ,selene is so transparent that the word moon pierces through it2 we should have guessed that the moon was intended1 even if tradition had only preserved her other name1 ,asterodia--8wanderer amongst the stars02 the names ,hecate or ,lucina do not force us to acknowledge their fitness1 they present to our imagination a totally different figure 7as they suggest opaqueness7 from ,selene4 ,learned writers at times still put forward the explanation with regard to mythology that it 8was a past which was never a present10 but this myth of ,endymion was 8present0 with the people of ,elis at the period of its narration4 ,these and similar expressions were repeated long after their meaning had ceased to be understood2 and as the human mind is generally as anxious for a reason as ready to invent one1 the poets added to this story several details1 and reasons why ,endymion sank into eternal sleep after a life of but one day2 and if allusions were made to these by a popular poet1 it became a mythological fact1 repeated and embellished by later poets4 ,the construction of such a name as ,eos does not differ materially from that of any other name1 but as all roots expressed at the first denote action1 it follows that for all an agent must be found2 the name of ,eos in ,sanscrit is ,ushas1 dawn1 or 8the bright one0 from the root ,vas1 to shine2 thus ,eos meant originally 8he or she shines40 ,but who was 8he0 or 8she08 ,thus the inevitable myth is evolved4 ,for us the dawn is only the natural illumination of the sky1 the brightness of the morning2 our ancestors received a different impression by the break of day4 ,after having coined a word meaning 8he or she shines10 that is the light1 or ,eos1 the ,greeks continued to portray each step of ,eos as she preceded the appearance of the sun on the celestial vault2 8,eos is followed by the sun--is loved by the sun02 she is conceived as a bright and beautiful woman2 if she appeared veiled in clouds1 she would be considered as a veiled bride2 thus the epithets and relationships showered on ,eos become intelligible1 she is the daughter of ,hyperion1 thus her father would be the high heaven1 since hyper corresponds to the ,latin super2 she is the sister of ,helios and ,selene1 the sun and the moon4 ,as soon as a name such as ,eos was first enunciated and used in daily conversation1 it grew and gathered new materials round itself2 all the names surrounding ,eos in ,greek and ,aurora in ,latin show us how inevitably what we call mythology springs up from the soil of language4 ,even such simple sentences as 8,eos appears1 disappears1 or dies0 are changed at once into myth1 fable1 and legend1 and it soon becomes impossible to draw a line between what is simple language and what is myth4 ,we do not unfortunately always possess the original form of each legend as it first passed from mouth to mouth in the towns and country2 thus our chief sources are the ancient chroniclers1 who took mythology for history1 and used only so much of it as answered their purpose1 and these accounts do not reach us at first hand4 ,we find a legend in ,greek mythology which has much exercised the learned2 the nymph ,daphne flies before ,phbus ,apollo1 her mother1 the earth1 moved by compassion1 takes her to her bosom1 and immediately a laurel appears and fills the abyss into which ,daphne had vanished4 ,the mythologists asked themselves what could be the meaning of this2 the more phlegmatic amongst them considered that it had no special meaning at all1 but was simply to be looked upon as a fable2 why seek further for a hidden import8 ,why8 ,because people do not relate such stories concerning their gods and heroes without some good motive4 ,in the legend of ,endymion the ,greek language supplies all that is needed to make it intelligible1 but there are many instances of the difficulty1 or even the impossibility of explaining certain ,greek names by the help of ,greek only2 since a name is not converted into a myth until its original meaning has become obscured in the language which gave it birth1 though still perfectly comprehensible in another of the same family1 it behoves the classical philologist to surrender all etymological researches of this nature to the comparative philologist1 whose privilege it is to seek to discover the signification of a ,greek word by confronting it with contemporary witnesses from the ,german1 ,celtic1 or ,sanscrit4 ,in the ,teutonic languages1 for instance1 day has several names which are derived from the root dah1 to burn1 to be hot2 and this same root has also given rise to the ,greek name for dawn4 ,in ,sanscrit it is called ,ahana1 from ahan or dahan1 the root of which is ah2 dah and dahan may have lost their initial d1 or this letter may have been added to the root ah2 these gains and losses are met with frequently4 ,the ,sanscrit name ,ahana1 known before ,greek and ,sanscrit became separated1 occurs but once in a hymn of the ,rig-,veda2 in ,india this mythological germ withered away1 and even the name ,ahana would not have survived1 but for this single verse which saved it from oblivion2 but it developed into a splendid growth in ,greece1 in the legend of ,eos1 which ,i have quoted4 ,in this hymn addressed to ,ushas we read3 8,we have crossed the frontier of this darkness2 ,ahana shining forth gives light1 lighting up all the world1 awakening mortals to walk about--she received praise from every thinker40 ,ahana rises from the head of ,dyu1 the forehead of the sky2 she shows herself in the east1 she advances and awakens the sleepers4 ,in ,sanscrit budh means to wake and to know1 but light in ,sanscrit has again a double meaning1 and means knowledge1 much more frequently and distinctly than light2 this explains how ,ahana1 in awakening mortals1 causes persons to know4 ,the stories of ,daphne and of ,ahana are closely allied1 and the one explains the other4 ,as long as we remain ignorant of the fact that at first ,daphne and ,aurora were one1 this myth is inexplicable2 but turn the name ,ahana into ,greek1 and you have the ,dawn in the features of a nymph loved by ,apollo1 and dying when the bright sun touched her with his rays4 ,but why1 it may be asked1 was ,daphne supposed to have been changed into a laurel-tree8 ,the dawn was called daphne1 the burning2 so was the laurel--as wood that burns easily1 and whose flame throws a bright light--two different objects1 but alike under one aspect1 though two distinct acts4 ,the root dah is found in daphne for laurel equally with ,daphne1 dawn1 the synonymy of the two names producing the myth of ,daphne4 ,although this legend first came to life on ,greek soil1 it would have been unintelligible without the help of the ,veda1 as the later ,sanscrit supplied no key to it4 ,the ,sanscrit root ,ah is also the germ of the name of ,athena1 the termination of the name corresponding to ,ahana2 ,athene is said to spring from the head of ,zeus4 ,this extraordinary birth1 though post-,homeric1 is no doubt of ancient date1 since it repeats exactly the birth of ,ahana4 ,the ,hellenists maintain that the ,greeks were unconscious that the word ,athene meant the dawn2 doubtless few amongst them knew that ,zeus originally meant the surface or forehead of the sky4 ,it is also true that when the people of ,athens worshipped ,athene as their tutelary deity1 she became something very different from the ,indian ,ushas2 but if we notice carefully all the many and various ideas concerning this ,greek goddess1 we shall be led to the supposition that her cradle was no other than that of the dawn1 namely1 the east1 the forehead of the sky1 or ,zeus4 ,neither in the ,veda1 nor in ,homer1 is there any mention of the mother of the dawn1 although both mention her parents4 ,it is a curious fact that in the mythology of ,italy1 ,minerva1 who was identical with ,athene1 should from the beginning have assumed a name apparently expressive of the intellectual rather than the physical character of the ,dawn-goddess4 ,minerva or ,menerva is clearly connected with mens1 the ,greek menos1 the ,sanscrit manas1 mind2 mane in ,latin is morning2 manare is specially used of the rising sun2 and matuta1 another name of the same category1 is the ,dawn4 ,the root man1 which in all ,aryan languages means thought1 was at a very early time1 like the ,sanscrit budh1 destined to express the revived consciousness of the whole of nature at the approach of the light of the morning4 ,the equation ,ahane ,athene is both phonetically and mythologically irreproachable1 the correlative ,minerva can also be explained mythologically4 ,to reject the explanations of these myths which ,comparative ,philology furnishes1 it would be necessary to prove that ,ahana and ,eos do not mean the dawn1 that ,athene does not correspond with ,ahana1 and that ,helios is not the sun4 ,mythologists have sometimes failed to discover the primitive character of certain myths1 because they have not looked beyond the ,greek etymology4 ,the word ,erinnys1 8hovering in the gloom10 corresponds exactly to the ,sanscrit ,sarany 8break of day40 ,poets sometimes speak of the ,dawn as avenging the crimes committed in the dark2 the myth of ,erinnys denotes this same idea4 ,instead of our lifeless and abstract expression1 8,a crime is sure to be discovered10 the old proverbial and poetical saying amongst the ,greeks and ,hindoos was1 ,erinnys--,sarany1 8will bring misdeeds to light40 ,at first this phrase was free from all mythological taint1 but it was afterwards transformed into a myth by the ,greeks1 as they were ignorant of the true signification of the name of ,erinnys4 ,when the mythology of ,greece fails to furnish an explanation of many of the ,greek phrases1 because it belongs to a later date than the classical period1 the ,veda may then be questioned1 and will supply us with the information1 by disclosing an ancient substratum of human thought1 such as existed amongst the inhabitants of one of the most important regions of the world1 ,india4 ,it is with as much pleasure as assurance that we repeat to those learned scholars1 who decline to open their eyes in order to see1 or see only what they consider should be there1 the ,brahmanic saying1 8,it is not the fault of the post that the blind man passes it without noticing it40 ,it seems astonishing that a people so richly endowed as the ,greeks should have found pleasure in romancing so constantly concerning the sun and the moon1 the day and the night1 the dawn and the twilight2 but the custom of repeating these mythological phrases1 which much resembled each other1 dated from an epoch before the ,greeks1 when nothing more powerfully attracted and fascinated the imagination of man than the aspect of nature's forces1 especially the return of the sun1 bringing with it each morning light and heat and life4 ,repeated thus incessantly these phrases became idiomatic1 and were retold long after the thread connecting them with the simple facts of nature was broken and lost to memory4 ,at first some old grandmother would repeat them1 partly understanding them in their true natural sense1 and partly metaphorically2 the sons of the old people would repeat them with a partial understanding2 but the grandsons would relate them only for their peculiarities1 or for the charm of their style and setting2 and the great-grandchildren would hand them on at random1 with no comprehension of their meaning4 ,at a much later period when all these sayings1 with no connection between them1 had become traditional1 the poets would embody them in verse1 giving them their first form and permanence in a cycle of legends4 ,they congratulated themselves on the treasure-trove1 but marvelled that the ,greeks should enclose these bald phrases of perpetual iteration in the casket of their literature4 ,they might as well ask why the ,greeks apparently sanctioned all the irregular verbs their language holds by retaining them in their grammar4 ,is it not a historical fact that cannot be denied that the whole ,aryan peoples1 without exception1 have conserved as the heritage of their common origin not only the names of their divinities1 their legends1 and their folk-lore1 but also remains of their primitive language4 ,here is a noteworthy statement4 ,comparative ,philology has proved that there is nothing really irregular in a language1 and that what was formerly considered so in declensions and conjugations is the stratum on which the edifice of each language raised itself progressively4 ,this same apparent irregularity is found also in mythology1 because it is itself only a sort of dialect or offshoot of language4 ,since the raison d'tre of myths1 as such1 is a forgetfulness of the original sense of the words1 we cannot hope to be able to explain all the mythological recitals2 no one has more clearly stated the difficulty1 nor expressed it with greater modesty1 than he who has laid the most lasting foundation of comparative mythology4 ,grimm says3 8,i shall indeed interpret all that ,i can1 but ,i cannot interpret all that ,i should like40#di ,in examining these archives1 which1 if only on account of their antiquity1 are very superior to any other evidence for our purpose1 we learn that identification differs from comparison4 ,it is only possible to identify two or more divinities by seeing if one name applies equally to all1 and by showing that this name denotes the essence of each2 this result is obtained when1 for instance1 we note a general resemblance between a god or a hero of the ,veda1 and a god or hero of ,hesiod1 and discover that though their names may be phonetically dissimilar1 yet that they have one source4 ,uranus1 in the language of ,hesiod1 is used as a name for the sky--8a firm place for the blessed gods02 and the poet says that ,uranus covers everything1 and that when he brings the night he is stretched out1 everywhere embracing the earth4 ,this sounds like a reproduction of the name of ,varuna1 which is derived from a root ,var1 to cover 7the ,sanscrit term varutra1 overcoat1 would prove this if need be74 ,the name ,uranus in the ,greek apparently retains something of its primitive meaning1 which is not the case with the name of ,zeus and ,apollo4 ,varuna and ,uranus evidently both express the same mythological concept1 that of the covering1 enclosing sky2 this may even be one of the most ancient discoveries of comparative mythology4 ,in the same way we prove that ,ushas1 ,eos1 ,daphne1 ,ahana1 and ,athene were five names of the dawn1 and that they can be traced back to a time before ,greek and ,sanscrit were separated4 ,thus1 whilst one legend becomes differentiated from another by its own peculiar form and attributes1 the name of its original prototype remains etymologically the same1 though taking varying forms amongst the various peoples who use the legend2 it is in this immutable name that the continuity of ideas lies1 which nothing obliterates1 and which traverses the centuries1 and connects the mythologies of countries as totally distinct as ,india1 ,greece1 and ,ireland4 ,but we must remember that all that is taken for etymology is not always so2 the explanations which ,homer gives of the names of the divinities only proves that at his time the original meaning had been forgotten4 ,to us who now know the true principles of mythology1 it is clear that it represents a prehistoric period of language1 and the light it throws on the times that followed1 has the same importance with regard to the study of the human mind1 that geology and paleontology have for the knowledge of the earth4 ,sometimes we come upon difficulties of another kind when we seek to translate the language of the poets into our modern forms of thought and speech4 ,in consequence of the absence of merely auxiliary words in mythological language1 each word1 whether noun or verb1 had its full original power1 it was heavy and unwieldy1 it said more than it ought to say4 ,here is an example3 ,nyx 7night71 the mother of ,moros 7fate71 of ,ker 7destruction71 of ,thanatos 7death71 of ,hypnos 7sleep71 and of the ,oneroi 7dreams71 and these1--her progeny1 ,night is said1 by the poet1 to have borne without a father4 ,she has also other children3 ,momos 7blame71 ,oizys 7woe71 the ,hesperides1 which are the evening stars1 ,nemesis 7vengeance71 ,apate 7fraud71 ,philotes 7lust71 ,geras 7old age71 and ,eris 7strife74 ,now let us use our modern expressions4 8,the stars are seen as the night approaches10 8we sleep1 we dream1 we die10 8we run into danger during night10 8nightly revels lead to strife1 angry discussions1 and woe10 8many nights bring old age1 and at last death10 8an evil deed concealed at first by the darkness of night will at last be revealed by the day10 8night herself will be revenged on the criminal02 and we have translated the language of ,hesiod1 a language to a great extent understood by the people to whom it was addressed many hundreds of years ago1 and it is made comprehensible to us by the addition of some auxiliary words4 ,this is hardly mythological language1 but rather a poetical and proverbial kind of expression known to all poets whether modern or ancient1 and frequently to be found in the language of common people when it becomes proverbial4 8,in ,greece the mortal element1 inherent in all gods1 was eliminated to a great extent by the conception of heroes4 ,whatever was too human in the ancient legends told of ,zeus and ,apollo was transferred to so-called half gods or heroes1 who were represented as the sons or favourites of the gods4 ,the two-fold character of ,herakles as a god and as a hero is acknowledged even by ,herodotus1 and some of his epithets would have been sufficient to indicate his solar and originally divine character4 ,but in order to make some of the legends told of the solar deity possible or conceivable1 it was necessary to represent ,herakles as a more human being1 and to make him rise to the seat of the immortals only after he had endured toils and sufferings incompatible with the dignity of an ,olympian god40#ej ,the divinities of a second and third order1 who were sometimes solicited for special favours1 were perhaps placed in the same category as some provincial or local saints1 who were considered more accessible and more pitiful in certain places1 just as some physicians make a practice of curing those ills only of which they had made a speciality4 ,there were also abstract divinities1 representing certain virtues in the eyes of the people1 which were highly esteemed and useful to possess2 each of these qualities which were conceived separately1 and considered in the superlative degree1 were from that time raised to the rank of a divine person1 thus altars and temples were dedicated to ,courage1 ,strength1 and ,piety2 ,fame was likewise thus honoured4 8,great ,fame is never lost though scattered abroad10 said ,hesiod1 8it is in itself a divinity40 ,the language of mythology was in use at a late period4 ,history tells us that the ,greek town of ,cyrene in ,libya was founded about the thirty-seventh ,olympiad1 the ruling race came from ,thessaly2 the foundation of the colony was due to the oracle of ,apollo at ,pytho4 ,this simple historical fact has been thus rendered1 from the habit of not recounting events as they happened4 8,the heroic maid ,cyrene1 who lived in ,thessaly1 was loved by ,apollo1 and carried off to ,libya40 ,the question has been often asked1 what can be the origin of the fables which are identical in character and form1 whether we find them on ,indian1 ,greek1 ,italian1 ,persian1 ,slavonic1 ,celtic1 or ,teutonic soil4 ,was there a period of temporary insanity1 through which the human mind had to pass1 and was it a madness identically the same in the south of ,india and in the north of ,ireland8 ,the necessity of solving this problem became more imperative when collections of these ancient traditions were brought from countries which formerly were almost unknown to us2 incredible tales came from all parts1 from amongst the ,hottentots1 the ,patagonians1 ,zulus1 ,esquimaux1 and ,mongols2 in all cases we were able to recognise the fables with which we were already so well acquainted1 from having seen them in ,aryan literature4 ,when ,max ,mller first published his essays on the ,greek myths1 the mythologists acknowledged generally that it was very natural he should devote so much time to the explanation of the ,greek legends1 since these same stories had been universally found in all parts of the globe1 from the one pole to the other2 stories of men and women turned into trees1 trees transformed into men1 men behaving as animals1 animals talking as if they were men1 men swallowed by gods and brought up again whole1 as were the children of ,kronos2 in all places the same adventures were told of the sun and moon1 also swallowed1 but the swallower not known4 ,the ,greek myths--so it was asserted by the learned who did not care to abandon the old paths--form only one page of that vast mythology created by the disordered imagination of nations in their infancy2 the epidemic was general1 and it is useless to seek for a definite or peculiar meaning in such and such a local myth4 ,nevertheless1 in presence of these striking likenesses1 impartial and clear-sighted science recognised that there must be something in the human mind that of necessity tended to mythology1 nay1 that there must be some reason in all the unreason that goes by the name of myth4 ,that 8something0 ,max ,mller discovered to be language1 in its natural progress from roots to words1 up to definite and special names4 ,mythology has now been acknowledged to be an inevitable phase in the growth of language and thought2 a form of expression which changes non-personal beings into personal1 and all relationships into actions2 it is a mental phenomenon so peculiar that it would be difficult to avoid the admission that it emanated from a distinct stratum1 it is metaphoric language and thought2 and it is the duty of the geologist of language to establish the authenticity of this epoch of organic life in humanity1 which is contemporaneous with the most ancient forms of language4 ,if ,hegel compares the discovery of the common origin of ,greek and ,sanscrit to that of a new world1 the same may be said with regard to the common origin of all the mythologies1 for already the science of ,comparative ,mythology has risen to the same importance as ,comparative ,philology4 ,the supposition that grammatical gender of nouns must necessarily be the cause of personification1 and produce myths which had no previous existence at the time when this denotation of sex did not yet exist1 has been proved incorrect4 ,but the following fact1 which concerns language more than mythology1 is not so evident at first sight1 viz41 that however the various languages may differ externally1 and however they may lack gender1 yet they have without exception what is analogous to it1 and takes its place2 this is a system of fundamental classification to which all equally submit1 and which each language supplies2 the result is that at the foundation of thought common to all humanity1 certain forms are found answering the purpose of gender4 ,each myth and each legend was at first the intelligible expression of an intelligible thought1 and as the thought contained in each recital must evidently be the same wherever there were men to repeat it1 the science of ,comparative ,mythology seeks to place its hand on the expression which best renders this one and the selfsame thought1 under different aspects4 ,what is commonly called ,hindoo mythology is of little or no avail for comparative purposes1 because nothing is systematically arranged4 ,names are used in one hymn of the ,rig-,veda as appellatives1 in another as names of gods4 ,there are as yet no genealogies1 and no recorded marriages between gods and goddesses4 ,as the conception of the poet varied1 so varied the nature of these gods2 the myths are arranged with little order4 ,nowhere is the wide distance which separates the ancient poems of ,india from the most ancient literature of ,greece more clearly felt than when we compare the growing myths of the ,veda with the full-grown1 or already decaying myths on which the poetry of ,homer is founded4 ,the ,veda is the real theogony of the ,aryan races1 while that of ,hesiod is a copy only of the original image4 ,the ,hindoo ,rishis differed much amongst themselves in their representation of things2 some of them attributed the dispersion of clouds by a solar hero1 to the will of some supreme or divine being2 others considered the combatants to be the supreme beings themselves1 who dispersed the clouds full of lightning and thunder1 making the sky serene after the fight4 ,these are the two distinct interpretations of the solar and atmospheric schools2 the dualism in nature1 which at a later period took the character of light and darkness1 even of good and evil1 was at the beginning the dualism of day and night1 spring and winter1 life and death1 represented by the two great luminaries of the physical world4 ,the characteristic traits of the moon which made the deepest impression on our ancestors were its increase1 and afterwards its gradual diminution1 until its total disappearance4 ,the eclipses1 though filling the minds of the people with sudden fear at first1 did not continue long to awaken dread or curiosity1 as they were of rare occurrence and transitory2 the moon1 it was thought1 was swallowed and afterwards disgorged by some hostile power2 but the monthly increase and diminution required some other explanation4 ,the ,hindoos1 in seeking to discover the abode of the gods and of their own ancestors1 assigned the brilliant sky to the former1 and where1 therefore1 should the ,fathers live if not in the vast vault and in the moon8 ,this was1 in fact1 the belief of the whole ,aryan race4 ,but the subject is complicated1 since in an earlier period of lunar mythology1 we find in the ,vedic ,pantheon a divinity of the name of ,soma1 which certain poets identify with the plant of that name1 whose intoxicating juice played an important part in the sacrifices2 there is no doubt a great obscurity with regard to these two rival powers1 to which the same name had been given1 and on which mythologists have found it difficult to enlighten us2 but quite recently exponents of the ,rig-,veda have discovered that ,soma originally meant the moon itself1 thus the ,rishis allow it to be apparent in their hymns that there were at one time two ,somas--the plant and its juice1 and at an earlier period the other ,soma1 known only to the old ,brahmans1 which was the moon4 ,a belief held by the ,hindoos was that the moon supplied nourishment to the gods1 which was the cause of the diminution2 its increase was explained by the entrance into it of the souls of their ancestors2 the gods swallowing these also as an integral portion of the moon4 ,all these ideas were of slow development1 and of successive growth2 no portion of mythology had a systematic elaboration4 ,i will add as a curious scientific fact1 that lately botanists have sought in vain in ,northern ,india and in ,persia for a plant whose qualities correspond to those of the ,soma as described in the ,vedic hymns2 they are more or less agreed that it must be akin to the ,ephedra1 but as this plant abounded in the whole country between ,siberia and the ,iberian ,peninsula1 there was no hope of discovering the locality of the ,aryans by means of the habitat of the plant4 ,it has been often asserted that these stories of men and things that have been swallowed must have come from countries formerly inhabited by cannibals2 learned writers1 even ,herbert ,spencer--to quote one instance--consider1 not without some appearance of reason1 that ,hindoos1 ,greeks1 ,romans and ,germans could hardly have put forth similar stories of this kind had there been no foundation in fact4 ,but the verbs to eat1 to swallow1 will admit of divers interpretations2 we say of a man that it was impossible for him to swallow such an insult1 or that he has consumed his fortune2 and this mode of speech surprises no one2 where we speak of an eclipse1 the inhabitants of the shores of the ,baltic say that the moon or sun is in the act of being eaten2 in ,india instead of saying such an one has been flogged1 it would be said1 he has tasted the whip4 ,a little reflection will convince us that if nations who had nothing in common but human nature1 spoke of the night as covering1 hiding1 swallowing various beings1 especially the sun and the day1 it was not more unreasonable on their part than to say1 as we do1 that day and night follow each other1 instead of expressing ourselves after a more scientific manner1 and not less correctly1 in saying that day and night are the successive effects of the rotation of the earth on its axis4 ,having discovered that mythological phraseology was sometimes due to misconceptions of names1 and that poetical fantasies had their share1 philologists quoted an instance of the imagination being misled by a simple mistake2 that of the name 8,great ,bear0 being given to a certain group of stars4 ,the ,sanscrit root ,ark signified to brighten1 to praise1 to glorify1 to celebrate2 man praised1 glorified1 celebrated the sun1 moon and stars2 for these purposes the word ,ark was used4 ,for all we know the substantive rik may really have conveyed all these meanings during the earliest period of the ,aryan language2 but if we look at the fully developed branches of that family of speech1 we find that in this1 its simplest form1 rik has been divested of all meaning in the ,rig-,veda except one2 it only means a song of praise1 a hymn1 that gladdens the heart of man1 and brightens the countenance of the gods4 ,the other words1 however1 which rik might have expressed were not entirely given up1 but the root was rendered more definite2 thus arki and arkis were formed1 these no longer meant hymns of praise1 but light1 ray4 ,it is difficult to understand how ,riksha1 in the sense of bright1 has become the name of 8the bear02 might it not be on account of his brilliant tawny fur1 or from his bright eyes8 ,no one knows4 ,certain it is that in ,sanscrit bears were called ,riksha4 ,but the word ,riksha had also another meaning1 as shown by a passage in the ,rig-,veda #a1 #bd1 #aj4 8,these stars 7riksha7 fixed high above1 which are seen by night2 whither did they go by day80 ,the ,commentator observed that the word riksha is not used in the sense of stars in general1 but that according to tradition the name is only given to that particular constellation1 which in later ,sanscrit is called 8the ,seven ,rishis10 or 8the ,seven ,sages40 ,and thus it happened that when the dispersion took place1 and the ,aryans left their primitive home and settled in ,europe1 they ceased to use the plural form 8,arktoi10 or many bears1 and spoke of the group of seven stars as the ,bear1 the ,great ,bear1 without knowing why these stars had originally received that name4 ,it did not escape the notice even of the less erudite that the gods of ,greece and ,rome and of other ,aryan nations had a close connection with the most striking phenomena of nature2 they also recognised the same origin amongst the divinities of the ,semitic nations1 as well as those of ,egypt1 ,africa and ,america2 this could1 of course1 be accounted for by the presence of the same primitive stratum of human thought1 resembling those deeper geological layers1 which only show themselves in a partial and fragmentary manner4 ,but none of these mythologists attached the least importance to the names of the divinities1 and if they were told that they were nothing but names1 it sounded almost like heresy to them1 and they ignored the fact that one of the latest scientific discoveries was being submitted to them4 ,yet it is indubitable that the sun and the moon were in the places occupied by them at present before they were named2 but not till they were named was there a ,savitar1 a ,helios1 a ,selene or a ,mene4 ,if then it is the name which makes the gods in mythology1 in enabling us to distinguish one from another1 it follows that we must call the ,science of ,language to our aid in order to solve the problem of mythology1 since that alone discloses the causes which have despoiled the names of their primitive meaning1 and that alone shows how the germs of decrepitude1 inherent in language1 affect both the phonetic portion and also the signification of words1 since words naturally react on thought and mould it4 ,,footnotes3 #di ,max ,mller1 ,chips from a ,german ,workshop1 vol4 ii4 p4 #gj4 #ej ,max ,mller1 ,chips from a ,german ,workshop1 vol4 i4 p4 #bdc4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,between ,,sleeping ,,and ,,waking ,the habit which ,i have contracted of living in the society of our ancestors of prehistoric times1 would1 it might be thought1 naturally cause me to notice the dissimilarities between us and them rather than the likenesses2 this often happens1 but not always4 ,our fathers1 for instance1 did not know the thousandth part of our vocabulary1 which is very copious2 this would seem to indicate that our knowledge has considerably increased in the course of thirty or forty centuries4 ,words of deep import are familiar to us2 who amongst us does not know and use such as these--,law1 ,necessity1 ,liberty1 ,spirit1 ,matter1 ,conscience1 ,belief1 ,nature1 ,providence1 ,revelation1 ,inspiration1 the ,soul1 ,religion1 ,infinite1 ,immortality1 and many others1 which are either of recent origin1 or have become new because their meaning has changed8 ,here the difference between our fathers and ourselves springs into sight4 ,but the points of resemblance are still more striking4 ,long before our present era1 certain philosophers asserted that their world was full of gods1 we may say with equal truth that ,god fills our world2 ,his name is in every mouth1 and our little children know it well4 ,moreover the complete identity between certain mental acts of our fathers and our own is easily recognised4 ,our fathers were satisfied not to enquire concerning the nature of their gods1 they knew their names1 and that sufficed4 ,we too have become accustomed to hear ,god's name repeated frequently1 without always questioning ourselves as to its meaning1 and in what way ,he has made the earth ,his habitation4 ,to talk of what we do not grasp must be essentially human1 since we find the practice in two social conditions1 separated from each other by thousands of years4 ,it is incredible to what a point we of the nineteenth century carry our lack of enquiry4 ,if one day we were to count on our fingers the number of interesting subjects we had allowed to pass by us without any interrogations concerning them1 fifty hands would not suffice us for the tale2 our ignorance would then become apparent4 ,should we feel humiliated8 ,in all probability no1 for before arriving at this much to be desired consummation1 we should have been carried away by many thoughts in no way bearing on the subject1 and the one thought which would come prominently to the front and hinder us from passing our conduct in review would be1 8,i see no necessity to apply myself to them40 ,in fact1 nothing is easier and nothing so reposeful to our mind as acquiescence in the popular opinion1 which we allow to guide us in our estimation of words and phrases2 as so frequently happens with ourselves 7by 8ourselves0 ,i mean that very considerable portion of society which separates the working classes from the savants and philosophers74 8,all things are full of the gods10 was said by the heathen in former days2 and in fact divinities abounded2 this was not surprising4 8,god has chosen to ,himself a people and spread ,his name over the whole earth1 and to make ,his will to be known10 as we say now4 ,thus we know that ,god is1 and that ,his commandments must be kept4 ,to consider words as ideas is not wise4 ,why do we not imitate the savages who when they hear an organ for the first time have a great desire to open it in order to see what is inside2 and we who are civilised play with much light-hearted readiness on the gigantic instrument of language without seeking to know the value of the sounds we draw from it2 and the names of beings and objects which should exercise the most powerful influence to which moral things can be subjected1 are treated as mere sounds4 ,have we asked ourselves the meaning of the word ,god8 ,many must answer no to this question4 ,this is not well1 in spite of the fact that those who have asked it in this form have not always succeeded in obtaining an answer2 no one has formed a complete conception of ,god1 since neither sense nor reason is equal to the task4 ,plato1 although named 8,divine0 by the ancient philosophers and by ,christian theologians1 did not like to speak of ,the ,gods1 but replacing the plural by the singular used the word 8,divine10 but he did not explain what he understood by this word4 ,plato certainly mentions the ,creator of the ,universe1 the ,father of humanity1 but--8he does not tell ,his name1 for he knew it not2 he does not tell ,his colour1 for he said it not2 he does not tell ,his size1 for he touched it not40#ea ,xenophanes1 who lived #cjj years before ,plato1 said1 8,there is one ,god1 the greatest amongst gods and men2 neither in form nor in thought like unto mortals40#eb ,the ,greek philosophers protested against all attempts to apply a name which should be adequate to the ,supreme ,being2 since all the words chosen failed to grasp ,his essence1 and only designated certain sides and points of view1 predicting of ,him whatever was most beautiful in nature4 ,for this reason early ,christian writers who were ,greeks rather than ,jews1 who had studied in the schools of ,plato and ,aristotle1 spoke of ,god in the same abstract language1 the same negative terms2 they said1 8,we cannot call ,him ,light1 since ,light is ,his creation2 we cannot call ,him ,spirit1 since the ,spirit is ,his breath2 nor ,wisdom1 since ,wisdom emanates from ,him2 nor ,force1 since ,force is the manifestation of ,his ,power40 ,thus instead of saying what ,god is1 the philosophers1 heathen as well as ,christian1 prefer to say what ,he is not4 ,but in that case what idea could man form of a ,being whom the wisest amongst them could not represent or describe8 ,do we understand the nature of this ,supreme ,being better by using the name so well known of ,providence8 ,again no2 since we have introduced several meanings into this word which are inconsistent the one with the other4 ,amongst them there might well be some that are erroneous1 which would thus lead us to rest our hopes on false foundations4 ,this mist1 hiding from us the meaning of words and obscuring our ideas1 is partly owing to a fault committed by the ancients themselves4 ,when our ancestors communed with their divinities1 they did not ask themselves what the names they pronounced really meant2 in invoking ,varuna1 ,helios1 ,athene1 ,prithvi1 and the others1 they were satisfied1 at least for the time being1 since names possess a strange calming property2 this unquestioning acquiescence has been bequeathed to us4 ,we are neither more enquiring1 more exact1 nor more pedantic than the greater part of our ancestors2 we speak of angels1 for instance1 without seeking to fathom their nature1 much in the same way as we might mention lords and dukes without troubling ourselves to reflect that the one means 8bread-giver0 and the other 8dux10 or one capable of being a leader of men4 ,in speaking of the soul1 the immortality of the soul1 and of religion1 we use words which have become common property1 and it is not necessary to analyse them in order to feel sure that they represent things which are very real2 still we do not strive to understand what these things really are4 ,thus it happens that words whose meaning is unknown to us or escapes us1 are generally those of which we make daily use2 we keep to the impression received of them in our childhood1 or accepted by current opinion1 or with which sentiment invests them1 but this is unsatisfactory2 we should feel ashamed of not possessing more accurate knowledge than this of geography or arithmetic4 ,on the other hand1 there are scientific terms which seem to us so technical that we willingly abandon their use to experts1 and yet their meaning can be readily and definitely grasped4 ,what meaning1 for instance1 has the word infinite for us1 even if taken in its most simple acceptation2 this infinite towards which our thoughts travel when we raise our eyes to the skies8 ,astronomers say to us1 8,look at something greater than the greatest possible greatness1 that is the infinitely great40 ,they then quote figures1 but these figures of infinite greatness elude our imagination1 we repeat them mechanically and only out of respect to the high scientific authority who guarantees the accuracy of the calculations or the value of the appreciation4 ,a small object1 apparently of the size of a homeopathic globule1 moves in space1 it contains our continents and our oceans1 this globule moves in company with other globules of the same nature4 ,astronomers speak to us of the millions of miles separating us from the sun1 yet this distance dwindles down to nothing as compared with the nearest star1 which1 we are told1 lies twenty millions of millions of miles from our earth4 ,another stupendous thought is that a ray of light traverses space at the rate of #ahg1jjj miles in a second1 and yet it requires three years to reach us4 ,but this is only a small matter4 ,more than one thousand millions of such stars have been discovered by our telescopes1 and there may be millions of millions of suns within our siderial system which are as yet beyond the reach of our best telescopes2 even that siderial system need not be regarded as single within the universe1 thousands of millions of similar systems may be recognised in the galaxy or milky way4#ec ,now let us turn our eyes to the infinitely little4 ,one drop of water taken from the ocean contains atoms so small that a grain of the finest dust would seem colossal by the side of them2 chemists are now able to ascertain the relative positions of atoms so minute that millions of them can stand upon a needle's point4 ,all this we gather from science when--working together with the telescope--it investigates space2 and this may still be little compared to what we might see through glasses1 which should magnify objects some millions of times more than our best instruments4 ,the infinite in space has engaged the attention of many thinkers2 ,i will quote from two only1 as this infinite1 which they studied from different points of view1 yet suggests thoughts somewhat alike4 ,kepler1 the discoverer of the laws on which our planetary system is based1 said1 8,my highest wish is to find within the ,god whom ,i have found everywhere without40 ,kant1 the philosopher1 to whom the ,divine in nature and the ,divine in man appeared as transcendent and beyond our cognisance1 and who refused to listen to any theological argument tending to prove the existence of ,god1 yet says1 8,two things fill me with new and ever growing admiration and awe3 the starry firmament above me1 and the moral law within me2 neither of them is hidden in darkness1 ,i see them both before me1 and ,i connect them directly with the consciousness of my own existence40#ed ,these are very abstract thoughts2 and it is pertinent to notice that the most solemn religious terms1 and the most striking expressions of admiration1 and poetical phrases of love1 have their source in verbal roots1 indicative of acts and conditions palpable to the senses4 ,but ,i am approaching too closely to matters of high import4 ,i am drawn by the word ,infinite4 ,aristotle said truly1 8the ,infinite attracts40 ,he was thinking of that other infinite1 which is not the one intended by astronomers2 but for myself the infinite in nature captivates me so powerfully that ,i find it difficult to touch earth again4 ,let us walk in beaten paths2 let us endeavour to grasp the meaning of the more simple words learnt mechanically at school1 such as those denoting abstraction as well as nouns1 and terms both general and particular2 and let us see to what phase of thought and speech these grammatical exercises will carry us4 99 99 99 99 99 ,each palpable object is known to us according as it affects our senses1 that is to say1 by its properties2 all impalpable objects cannot be known otherwise than by their qualities2 but nothing exists in nature1 whether palpable or impalpable1 that has only one property or one quality1 each object has several2 an object as it exists in reality is concrete1 and has a concrete name4 ,if we wished to consider only one of its attributes1 we should have to take that apart and isolate it1 in order to fix our thoughts exclusively on that2 8we must drop that of which the attributes are attributes40#ee ,we see white snow1 white chalk1 white milk1 we have the sensation of the white colour2 but to take whiteness apart from the snow1 the chalk1 and the milk1 is an operation which requires an instrument1 a means1 this we possess in a word1 viz41 the word white4 ,without that word we should have the sensation of whiteness1 but not the idea2 it is the word white1 whilst separating the white colour from the snow1 the chalk1 and the milk1 that gives us the abstract idea as well as the abstract term whiteness4 ,this mental act is called abstraction3 and it is by this process of abstraction that we really arrive at the true knowledge of anything1 apart from the sensation of it only4 ,here is another example of abstraction4 ,let us suppose that two persons are in one room1 and that there are in the room two windows1 two doors1 two tables and two chairs4 ,let us try to obliterate in our mind the persons1 the windows1 the doors1 the tables and the chairs2 nothing now remains but the abstraction two4 ,now two1 as such1 apart from objects1 does not exist in nature2 still it is a conception we can retain in our mind1 and this abstract idea can be incorporated in the abstract word two4 ,these two examples of abstraction tell us but little of what is meant by it2 and although they teach us little of the part abstraction plays in our mental life1 they are correct from a logical point of view1 and clearly demonstrate the impossibility of retaining a thought apart from the word expressing it1 since evidently the representation of two and of whiteness could not have been made if the words had been lacking4 ,the faculty of abstraction has no doubt taken time to develop in man1 and the absence of abstract words and consequently of abstract ideas was complete in primitive man as it now is in our very young children4 ,the faculties of brutes can by no means attain to abstraction4 ,one reason1 amongst others1 why we have no ground to think brutes have abstract general ideas is that they do not speak1 that they have no use of the words without which it is impossible to carry out the operation which ,i have just described1 and to cause a conception to arise from a sensation4 99 99 99 99 99 ,when1 in our early days1 our parents gave us instruction on the three divisions of natural history1 and explained to us of what they consisted1 we did not suspect that a period of immense length had elapsed before man succeeded in thus skilfully classifying the vast mass of names in the manner which struck us as so natural and inevitable4 ,many thousands of objects were before us1 each one entitled to bear an expressive name2 and in proportion as our knowledge of things increased was science called upon to furnish new terms2 their name became legion and memory failed to retain them4 ,it therefore became a necessity to classify the objects of a common nature under one name2 hence the evolution of the terms animal1 vegetable and mineral1 which relieved us from the burden of enumerating all the objects composing genus and species2 then in speaking of them to others we use the generic term1 which at the same time presents the image to our own minds4 ,thus when we wish to denote men having the same nationality as ourselves we employ the collective term compatriot2 in the same way the word furniture includes all that serves to furnish our rooms4 ,by the help of this ingenious combination we relieve our memories of a mass of encumbering words1 we economise our time and our powers1 and simplify the machinery of our thoughts4 ,this is evidently an advantage4 ,but now a difficulty presents itself4 ,when employing these general terms1 such as vegetable1 animal1 the human race1 we are speaking of things of which we are ignorant1 and are therefore for us as if they had no existence4 ,we cannot have a complete knowledge of vegetables since that word comprehends all plants and trees on the earth2 neither of animals1 since 8animal0 includes not only all beasts lacking reason but also man who is endowed with it4 ,we are equally ignorant of the human race1 since it is composed of all human creatures1 past1 present and to come4 ,it is evident that we only know individual persons and things1 such as this fir tree or that oak1 this horse1 this cow1 ,paul or ,james1 and we know them because we are in a position to distinguish them by naming them1 or indicating them4 ,how is it that philosophers of the mental calibre possessed by ,locke1 ,hume and ,berkeley--whose minds follow so closely the progress of the perception of general ideas--did not question how it was that terms which were applicable to these ideas could equally well be applied to particular things8 ,what was the origin of the word man that it could be as suitable for ,paul or ,james as for many men1 in fact the whole human race8 ,this is a fact about which philosophers do not appear to have troubled themselves1 and which the science of language alone can explain4 ,in the time of our primitive ancestors human knowledge was evolved gradually from what was confused and vague1 before arriving at what was deemed settled and distinct4 ,man's vocabulary was small1 substantives were rare2 that which we now understand by garden1 courtyard1 field1 habitation1 was merged into one and the same conception1 and would be expressed by one vocable1 of which the modern equivalent is enclosure2 the word serpent designated all creatures that crawled1 the word fruit implied all that could be eaten1 the word man all who could think2 each name was a general term expressive of a general idea4 ,we may remember that the ,sanscrit word sar1 to run1 which was at first used for rivers in general1 became a particular name2 a demonstrative element joined to the verb1 changing it into sarit1 run here1 sufficed at once to turn it into an intelligible phrase1 and the name of a particular river4 ,in order to form the word man-u-s1 man1 the constructors of language combined the root man1 measurer1 thinker1 in its secondary form man-u1 with the suffix s1 which gives the meaning think-here4 ,this was at first not of general application1 but as it could be repeated any number of times and referred each time to different persons1 who could each be named thinker-here1 it became a general term4 ,we thus see that the name manus was from the beginning something more than a mere conventional sign applied to a particular person as are all proper names4 ,it was a predicative name1 that is applicable to all possessing the same attributes1 viz41 of being able to think1 and capable of the same act1 that of thinking4 ,this discovery was followed by another not less unexpected4 ,when examining the oldest word for name1 which in ,sanscrit is nman1 in ,greek onoma1 in ,latin nomen1 we find that it dates from a time when the ,sanscrit1 ,greek and ,latin languages were all one2 consequently the ,english name and the ,german ,name are not as we supposed1 words invented by the ancient ,saxons1 but they already existed before the separation of ,teutonic idioms from their elder brothers4 ,after some further steps our contemporary philologists discovered the sources whence proceeded this ,sanscrit nman2 it is formed of the root n1 originally gn1 to know1 joined to a suffix which generally expresses an instrument1 a means2 nman is the representative of gnman1 which we recognise in the ,latin cognomen1 the consonant g being dropped as in natus1 son1 which was formerly gnatus4 ,this word name had at first a much more extended meaning than that of a simple arbitrary sign applied 8to what we call a thing40 ,the constructors of the word were aware of a fact of which consciousness was afterwards lost1 and which the learned ignored during all the supervening centuries--viz41 that all names1 far from being mere conventional signs used to distinguish one thing from another1 were meant to express what it was possible to know of a thing2 and that a name thus places us in a position really to be cognisant of a thing4 ,a natural insight taught the early framers of our language a truth only acquired by us after interminable researches1 such as ,hegel expresses when saying1 8,we think in words10 and which we find again in this somewhat tautological expression 8nominibus noscimus0 8tel nom1 telle notion40 ,the fact that names1 which are signs not of things1 but of particular concepts1 are all derived from general ideas1 is one of the most fruitful discoveries of the science of language2 since it not only expresses the truth which has been stated below1 that language and the capability of forming general ideas separate man from the animals1 but also a second truth that these two phenomena are two sides of the same truth4 ,this explains the reason why the science of language rejects equally the interjectional theory and the mimetic1 but accepts the final elements of language1 those roots which all contain concepts4 ,the name man1 which we all apply to ourselves1 is a title of nobility to which none other can compare4 ,it is the direct issue of man1 which in its turn came from m1 to measure1 this gave ms1 moon1 to the ,sanscrit language4 ,the word man contains in itself the kernel of subtle thought2 if we connect the word with the celestial body that helps us to measure our time1 we do not therefore necessarily invest the moon with a living and thinking personality2 it is sufficient to consider that if our ancestors conceived of it as measuring the nights and days1 they had in themselves the capabilities with which they invested the words they created4 ,we must also notice that the creators of this name having connected it with the loftiest thing of which they could conceive--thought--did not stop there2 the sight of what was lowest--the dust--inspired them with another name1 homo earth-born2 this ,latin word having the same source as humus the soil4 ,our fathers also gave themselves a third name1 which was brotos in ,greek1 mortalis in ,latin1 and marta--the dying--in ,sanscrit2 they could hardly have applied the word mortal to themselves if they had not at the same time believed in other beings who did not die4 ,and this strange fact has come to pass1 that on our planet there existed in former days men--simple mortals as they were--who manipulated thought1 incorporating it with language1 the only domain in which it can exist2 then these marvellous men so entirely eclipsed themselves1 and passed out of our ken1 that their posterity do not recognise them under their modest garb of anonymity2 for their work though still living through thousands of centuries1 is so unrecognised that men ask themselves1 8,why is it not possible to think apart from words80 ,thus we acknowledge the profound wisdom of the conceptions of our ancestors2 but their understanding worked unequally1 on certain points it was very advanced1 but on others behindhand4 ,in following the march of human intellect in the past1 we are struck by the slowness with which thought and speech co-operated4 ,as long as our ancestors had no occasion to speak of the action of covering a surface with a liquid or soft substance1 they did not possess the word var to cover2 8the name of colour in ,sanscrit is varna1 clearly derived from this word2 and not till the art of painting1 in its most primitive form1 was discovered and named1 could there have been a name for colour40 ,for some time they continued to view various objects differently coloured without distinguishing the tints2 it is well known that the distinction of colours is of late date2 our ancestors gazed on the blue sky1 or the green trees1 as in a dream1 without recognising blue or green1 as long as they lacked words to define the two colours1 and some time elapsed before they particularised the colours by giving each its proper title4 ,we speak of the seven colours of the rainbow1 because the intermediate tints elude us2 the ancients acted much in the same way1 ,xenophanes speaks of the rainbow as a cloud of purple1 red1 and yellow2 ,aristotle also speaks of the tri-coloured rainbow1 red1 yellow1 and green2 and ,democritus seems only to have mentioned black1 white and yellow4 ,does this indicate that our senses have gradually become more acute and accurate8 ,no1 no one has asserted that the sensitiveness of the organs of sense was less thousands of years ago than it is now2 the sensation has not changed1 but 8we see in this evolution of consciousness of colour how perception goes hand in hand with the evolution of language1 and how1 by a very slow process1 every definite concept is developed out of an infinitude of indistinct perceptions40#ef ,the names of colours have not been applied arbitrarily1 any more than the names given to divinities4 ,blue1 for instance1 owes its origin to the visible results of violence1 or of an accident2 the science of etymology shows us that the ,old ,norse words1 blr1 bl1 blatt1 which now mean blue1 meant originally the livid colour of a bruise4 ,grimm traces these words back to the ,gothic bliggvan1 to strike2 and he quotes as an analogous case the ,latin csius--a bluish grey1 from cdere1 to cut4 ,if the assertion that blue and green are rarely mentioned until a late date be correct1 it would follow that they had been worked out of an infinity of colours before they took their place definitely as the colour of the sky and the colour of the trees and grass4 ,as we trace etymology to its source1 we see how man's perception was confused at first4 ,from the ,sanscrit root ghar1 which has many different meanings1 such as to heat1 to melt1 to drip1 to burn1 to shine1 come not only many words--heat1 oven1 warmth1 and brightness1 but also the names of many bright colours1 all varying between yellow1 green1 red1 and white4 ,but the most striking example is afforded by the ,sanscrit word ak-tu4 ,here we have the first instance of the uncertainty in the meaning of the names of colours which pervades all languages1 and which can be terminated at last by scientific definition only4 ,this word has two opposite meanings--a light tinge or ray of light1 and also a dark tinge1 and night2 this same word in ,greek1 ak-tis1 means a ray of light4 ,thus1 whilst ideas are not definitely named1 even the most simple1 such as those of white and black1 are not realised2 philosophers have long known this1 but the learned in physical science seem only recently to have drawn attention to the fact4 ,virchow was the first to make the following assertion3 8,only after their perceptions have become fixed by language1 are the senses brought to a conscious possession and a real understanding of them40#eg ,surgeons have explained that the faculty of sight proceeds from the movement of an unknown medium1 which in the case of light has been called ether1 this strikes the retina1 and is conveyed to the brain by the optic nerve2 8but what relation there is between the effect1 namely1 our sensation of red1 and the cause1 namely1 the #ejj millions of millions of vibrations of ether in one second1 neither philosophy nor physical science has yet been able to explain40#eh ,we are able to picture to ourselves the difficulties which assailed man in his efforts to express his impressions in primitive times1 since we find ourselves at times struggling with the same difficulties1 and there are occasions when we struggle in vain1 we do not conquer the difficulty4 ,sensations which are subjective and personal are of all others the most difficult to define1 since we lack words to express what is from its nature purely personal2 and yet we have frequently occasion to mention them1 how can we best express ourselves8 ,as the required word does not seem forthcoming we have recourse to metaphor1 and almost unconsciously we use terms borrowed from external phenomena connected with the sense of hearing1 of smelling1 and of tasting1 and which for the most part are acts or conditions in the domain of the sense of sight4 ,our old acquaintances the roots1 whose meanings are to cut1 to pinch1 to bite1 to burn1 to hit1 to sting1 to soften1 having formed the base of the adjectives sharp1 sweet1 keen1 burning1 we use these to describe certain sensations4 ,we do not know how better to particularise a physical pain than by comparing it to something that tears1 cuts or stings4 ,but if certain physical ills1 certain colour perceptions1 certain impressions of sharpness1 sweetness and heat experienced when tasting various foods find metaphorical expression in external acts1 there still remains a whole category of simple ideas for which no words can be found4 ,there are certain sensations of taste which cannot be expressed in words4 ,yesterday ,i ate a pear1 to-day ,i have eaten a peach2 ,i am quite capable of distinguishing the special flavour of each1 but finding nothing in the world of facts with which to compare them1 ,i am without words to apply to them1 and it would be as impossible for me to convey an idea of the flavour to any one who had never eaten a pear or a peach as to make any person understand if ,i spoke in a language which was unknown to him4 ,since all words that succeed in expressing our sensations are drawn from external phenomena1 we are in a position to know the origin and historic past of these words4 ,but ,i cannot thus easily foresee even the near future of some of these words4 ,the sound of the clarionet and that of the hautbois1 the whistling of the wind1 the whisper of the waves1 the yellow of the straw and that of the lemon1 the green of the emerald and the blue of the sky1 all characterise objects belonging to the material world2 but if these words3 clarionet and hautbois1 wind and waves1 straw and lemon1 emerald and sky1 which alone enable us to define clearly to our minds certain sounds and certain colours were lacking in our vocabulary1 ,i do not know how a musician could have composed a symphony1 or an artist painted his picture1 although the creation of both works of art proceeds equally from personal inspiration invisible to the eye4 ,the tie that binds thought to speech has been alternately acknowledged and forgotten2 if ,plato believed that the origin of language was the imitation of the voices of nature 7an error which weighed heavily on humanity during the space of two thousand years71 he also knew that words are indispensable to man for the very formation of thought4 ,abelard was more explicit on this point1 he said3 8,language is generated by the intellect1 and generates intellect40 ,hobbes understood so well that language was meant first of all for ourselves1 and afterwards only for others1 that he calls words1 as meant for ourselves1 not1 and distinguishes them from signa1 the same words as used for the sake of communication1 and he added3 8,if there were only one man in the world he would require not40#ei ,the close connection between thought and speech cannot be more clearly or concisely expressed4 ,this discovery makes its way slowly in the world1 because certain philosophers who have been rendered immobile by tradition1 darken counsel by their speculations4 ,some of the ,polynesians would seem to have a far truer insight into the nature of thought and language than these philosophers to whom ,i have made allusion2 they call thinking 8speaking in the stomach10 which means of course to speak inaudibly1 and it is this absolutely inarticulate speech which is so often mistaken for thought without words2 because the fact is ignored that notion and name are two words for one thing4 8,it is certain10 they say1 8that a thought may be conceived in the mind1 but is formulated at a later period2 for instance1 if you have to write a letter of no great importance1 and which affects you little1 take your pen1 and before the idea appears to you completely clothed1 your hand has passed over the paper1 and you proceed to read your ideas in the words you see before you40 ,this is an illusion4 ,we can no doubt distinguish the written word from the word-concept1 but the former could not exist without the latter4 ,i defy our opponents to think of the most ordinary and familiar object1 such as a dog for instance1 without saying to themselves the word dog4 ,they would explain that the remembrance only of a special dog1 or of its bark would suffice to call up the image of the dog in their minds2 they do not see that the likeness of a dog1 or the remembrance of its bark is equivalent to the word dog1 and that they cannot possibly become conscious to themselves of what they appear to be thinking1 without having the word in reserve in some part of themselves1 either 8in the stomach10 as some savages say1 or1 as is more gracefully expressed by the ,italians1 in petto4 ,descartes was a learned ,christian1 who pondered for some time over the questions whether the human mind could be certain of anything without being supernaturally enlightened2 he resolved to prove it2 and to this end he imagined that he1 ,descartes1 was certain of nothing--doubted of all--even mathematical conclusions2 he then reflected on this position1 and after a time the idea occurred to him that as he was capable of reflection it proved without a doubt that he1 ,descartes1 existed1 and that consequently it was no longer possible to have doubts of his own identity4 ,the portrait of this philosopher as depicted on the cover of his works1 represents him reclining in a chair thinking--thinking--thinking--and exclaiming1 8,cogito ergo sum40 ,those persons amongst us who are not specially interested in any system of philosophy are certainly in the majority2 all know that such systems exist1 and that they are noted1 but from the want of reflection1 however little1 some persons look upon them as having sprung fully equipped1 and in their present form1 from the brains of their founders4 ,but it would be incorrect1 simply on the evidence of a frontispiece1 to consider these philosophical processes as thus instantaneous4 ,the systems of philosophy1 even those of small value1 require much time for their elaboration1 and ripen slowly1 and are never free from opposition4 ,they establish close links between the living thinkers of to-day1 and those who are no longer on earth4 ,the philosophers of the ,middle ,ages consulted those of antiquity1 the thinkers of to-day strove to be in agreement with those alike of the ,middle ,ages and of antiquity1 and there arise from this intercommunion of knowledge1 groups of ideas of which some are borrowed and some original1 some true and some false2 these are dependent on the intellectual lucidity and vigour of the latest arrivals in the arena4 ,many problems are thus threshed out before our eyes4 ,not long ago three philosophers were in dispute and ,noir records the arguments2 the discussion turned on the question of priority of thought or speech4 ,they agreed on the fundamental point1 all three said there could be no reason without language1 nor language without reason4 ,but as they penetrated more deeply into the question1 they perceived divergencies2 although the conception and the word be inseparable1 yet there may be a moment of time--infinitely little1 doubtless--between the arrival of the one and of the other1 as with twins4 ,according to ,schopenhauer conceptions were the first in the field1 and their immediate duty consisted in creating words2 since the mind could not deal with ideas at will1 could neither evoke them1 grasp them1 nor reject them1 whilst no signs were attached to them4 ,to this ,geiger objected4 ,how could ideas be produced whilst no signs existed with which to represent them8 ,words came first1 and thought1 rendered possible by the development of language1 followed2 8language has created reason2 before language1 man was without reason40#fj ,max ,mller replied to both4 ,how could there be a sign when there was nothing to represent8 ,conceptions and words1 inseparable from the beginning1 were produced on the same day2 the day when man's history begins2 before that what was a fugitive impression and a vocal sound void of sense1 became a conception4 ,max ,mller adds3 8,if ,geiger had said that with every new word there is more reason1 or that every progress of reason is marked by a new word1 he would have been right1 for the growth of reason and language may be said to be coral-like1 each shell is the product of life1 and becomes in turn the support of new life40#fa ,the most important results obtained during the ,middle ,ages on these subjects find their representations in this discussion carried on by the three learned contemporaries4 ,max ,mller's point of view is one which reconciles the two diverse opinions4 ,men still find themselves under the magic influence of the past after some thousands of years2 the first words which our ancestors used in the midst of their ordinary occupations have not ceased to appear in our daily conversations1 in our philosophical writings1 and in the reports of scientific proceedings2 it is impossible to speak of our family or social relations1 of our affections1 our ordinary obligations1 our most sacred duties1 our observance of laws1 without having recourse to words and expressions1 which represent the acts of linking or tying1 those early activities of our ancestors4 ,the chemist speaks of the affinity of the substances with which he is working2 the poet and the devout believer when giving free scope to their highest aspirations do not find truer or loftier terms than links1 chains1 ties1 for that which connects them with the ,giver of all pure1 sublime thoughts4 ,as it is possible in the present day to speak of delving into a question 7creuser7 and of racking our brains 7creuser7 when we puzzle over a conundrum2 of linking one idea to another2 of polishing our manners by the help of art and letters2 of seeking to soften the heart of ,god by offerings 7as if ,he were a mercenary ,judge71 of linking ourselves with others the better to accomplish a good work1 of uniting in freeing ourselves from an undesirable opponent2 it follows that our ancestors as they emerged from their condition of muteness found it necessary to dig 7creuser7 cabins for themselves1 to polish stones1 to weave and plait branches together1 and to soften tough roots for their nourishment4 ,the same words repeat themselves from time immemorial4 ,but how comes it that these words1 which have remained the same outwardly1 have so completely changed their meaning as exactly to adapt themselves to modern usage8 ,we have been deceived by appearances4 ,these words have not changed their meaning1 but at first they were applied to tangible objects and visible acts1 those which were the most necessary and the most usual in daily life at that time2 and now these words are applied to intangible things1 and invisible acts1 the most necessary and usual in our present mental life4 ,nor is this which follows less curious4 ,this adaptation of the old words to modern usages could only have been accomplished on one condition1 that we should forget many things1 and be utterly oblivious to the original destination of these words2 that we should put from before our eyes all images of caves1 branches1 stones and tough roots2 and this condition we have fulfilled absolutely2 the forgetfulness has been complete2 no one suspects the source of these expressions2 only a small number of men knows it1 but these men are thoroughly aware that they are making use of the true primitive forms of the human language4 ,a difficulty to be avoided still remains4 ,it might be said that1 as it is the result of concerted action undertaken from a community of interest1 that these images have become fixed in the memory1 and that if the ideas and representations exercised so potent a spell on us1 that we were compelled to use the words which can be traced back to the first period of language1 does it not follow that we absolutely resemble each other1 and that consequently we must renounce the idea of attributing the least individuality to ourselves8 ,this is a great mistake4 ,each one of us gives to these representations of ideas that form towards which he is impelled by his own nature1 his education1 his environment4 ,a man who has some knowledge of astronomy will look at the star-lit sky with quite another eye to that of the poet1 who knows nothing of the subject but is struck with its inexpressible splendour4 ,a landscape painter would see in a tree details of beauty which would quite escape one who admired it1 but had never sought to draw it2 a clever architect with one glance at a newly-built house could assign it a place either with the failures or with those houses which were a success1 and this glance would sufficiently account for the murmured exclamation1 8,how gladly would ,i live in it60 ,,footnotes3 #ea ,max ,mller1 ,anthropological ,religion1 p4 #ajj4 #eb ,ibid41 p4 #aha4 #ec ,max ,mller1 ,natural ,religion1 p4 #ach4 #ed ,max ,mller1 ,anthropological ,religion1 p4 #cic4 #ee ,max ,mller1 ,science of ,thought1 p4 #hj4 #ef ,max ,mller4 #eg ,science of ,thought1 p4 #aea4 ,max ,mller4 #eh ,natural ,religion1 p4 #aah4 ,max ,mller4 #ei ,science of ,thought1 p4 #dj4 ,max ,mller4 #fj ,on the ,origin of ,human ,language and ,reason4 ,geiger4 #fa ,science of ,thought1 p4 #bii4 ,max ,mller4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,a ,,decisive ,,step ,how is it that primitive man1 provided with five senses which bring him into contact with the material world only1 has found it possible to conceive the existence of an invisible world peopled with beings whom his eyes cannot see1 nor his hands touch1 nor his ears hear8 ,between the birth of human reason and the invention of writing a long period of time elapsed2 when the art of writing was followed by that of printing1 man then printed all that he had thought and written1 and at present we possess thousands of volumes which will inform us on all the truths and errors which have alternately illuminated and obscured the human mind4 ,whoever would take the trouble to examine this mass of documents1 and read those which furnish an approximate estimate of the mental activity of our primitive ancestors1 will see that the human ego pursued science unconsciously long before scholars appeared1 and applied the name of philosophers to themselves1 because they had sought patiently and with many discussions1 through thousands of centuries1 to find the best way of arriving at the truth4 ,these ancestors of ours were of an enquiring turn of mind4 ,the appearance of religion amongst men is at the same time the most natural and the most supernatural fact in the history of humanity4 ,the greater number of philosophers have recognised that the tendency of the human mind to turn towards that which is outside the domain of the senses is as powerful in man as the desire of eating and drinking is in all living beings4 ,the ancients acknowledged this to be a true sense1 as irresistible as the rest of the operations of our external senses1 and they have well named it sensus numinis--the consciousness of the divine4 ,the desire of understanding the secrets with which the ,unknown was invested naturally led to the investigation of the influence which these secrets might exercise on the destinies of mankind4 ,amongst certain peoples this gave birth to the art of divination4 ,to this they abandoned themselves in all sincerity1 not doubting that omnipotent beings would always be ready to make their will known to mortals4 ,the men of modern times have shown that they have the critical faculty more highly developed1 and their investigations have dealt more with practical matters4 ,in the eighteenth century1 writers1 historians and philosophers--,voltaire amongst the number--wishing to know how the phenomenon of mental religion appeared in the world1 collected all the data to be obtained from travellers concerning savages2 they found that without exception all believed in occult powers1 as distinct from material or human forces1 and doubted not the efficacy of certain magic arts in use amongst them to attract these powers to themselves1 and to constrain them to act on their behalf4 ,judging by analogy these writers contend that primitive man1 doubtless impressed by the alarming phenomena of nature1 would make search for the unknown beings around him1 whom the storms1 the thunders and the lightnings obey1 but these beings were invisible1 consequently there must be an invisible world in communication with the visible or human world4 ,in this way were the beliefs of the present-day savages supposed to be those current at the dawn of religious conceptions of humanity4 ,the ignorance of a subject1 of whatever nature1 has never prevented the laying down of axioms concerning that subject4 ,towards the end of the eighteenth century some ,portuguese navigators1 who never embarked without providing themselves with talisman and amulet1--to protect them during their voyages1--which they called feitios1 seeing some negroes of the ,gold ,coast prostrating themselves with every appearance of reverence1 before bones1 stones1 or the tails of some animals1 concluded at once without further investigation that these were considered as divinities by the negroes2 and on their return to their native land1 they spread the report that savage races worshipped feitios4 ,this word feitios corresponds to the ,latin factitius1 meaning that which is made by hand1 as the amulets were which belonged to the ,portuguese sailors4 ,the well-known ,president de ,brosses used the name and promulgated the idea1 and without having set foot on countries inhabited by negroes1 composed and published a book on their fetishes4 ,in this manner the ,french language was enriched in #agfj by the new word fetish4 ,all this seemed so natural and plausible that the word1 and the idea of the adoration of fetishes became quite general2 the theory of the worship of fetishes penetrated rapidly1 and took deep root in the public mind1 it found its way very readily into school books and manuals1 and we were taught that the religion of savages consists solely in the worship of fetishes1 and learned writers draw the conclusion that fetishism must necessarily have been the primitive religion of humanity4 ,with what readiness do well-instructed persons1 no less than the ignorant1 allow themselves to speak without sufficiently reflecting on what they say4 ,in order to elevate material objects1 of whatever kind1 to the rank of divinities1 it would be necessary previously to possess the concept of a divinity4 ,writers on religion speak of that as existing in primitive times which they seek to describe2 they might as well say that primitive men mummified their dead before they had mm or wax to embalm them with4 ,fetishism cannot be considered as absolutely primitive1 seeing that from its nature it must presuppose the previous growth of the predicate ,god4 ,this idea of ,de ,brosses and his successors will remain for ever a striking anachronism in the history of religion4 ,the history of all primitive races opens with this note4 8,man is conscious of a divine descent1 though made from the dust of the earth2 the ,hindoo doubted it not1 though he called ,dyn his father1 and ,prithvi his mother2 ,plato knew it when he said the earth produced men1 but that ,god formed them40 ,on the banks of the ,rhine1 ,tacitus listened to the war-songs of the ,germans2 they were to him in an unknown tongue4 8,it resembles the whisperings of birds10 he said1 but added1 8,they are cries of valour10 and his ear caught the sound of two words which recurred frequently1 8,tuisto ,mannus60 ,we now know what formed the basis of these songs2 the ,germans were celebrating their lineal ancestors under the names of ,tuisto1 and ,mannus1 his son4 ,tuisto appears to have been one form of ,tiu1 the ,aryan god of light4 ,tacitus tells us that the ,germans 8called by the names of gods that hidden thing which they did not perceive except by reverence40#fb ,mannus1 so the ,germans considered1 sprang from the earth1 which they venerated as their mother-earth who before nourishing her children on its fruits first gave them life4 ,this ,mannus1 grandson of the god of light1 meant originally man4 ,certain races living beyond the pale of organised religious systems having been interrogated have furnished the following information concerning their belief4 ,a very low race in ,india is supposed to worship the sun under the name of ,chando or ,cando2 they declared to the missionaries who had settled amongst them that ,chando had created the world4 8,how is that possible6 ,who then has created the sun itself80 ,they replied with 8,we do not mean the visible ,chando1 but an invisible one40#fc 8,our god10 said the original natives of ,california to those who asked in what god they believed1 8our god has neither father nor mother1 and his origin is quite unknown4 ,but he is present everywhere1 he sees everything even at midnight1 though himself invisible to human eyes4 ,he is the friend of all good people1 and he punishes the evil-doers40 ,a ,blackfoot ,indian1 when arguing with a ,christian missionary1 said3 8,there were two religions given by the ,great ,spirit1 one in a book for the guidance of the white men1 who1 by following its teaching1 will reach the white man's heaven2 the other is in the heads of the ,indians1 in the sky1 rocks1 rivers and mountains4 ,and the red men who listen to ,god in nature1 will hear his voice1 and find at last the heaven beyond40 ,these ,indians consider that that external nature which to us is at the same time the veil and the revelation of the ,divine1 is sufficient to teach them so much concerning the ,supreme ,being that missionaries are superfluous4 ,amongst those whose thoughts are occupied by the origin of religious perception in man1 there exist several theories2 the first1 that the idea of infinity is a necessity to the mind of man1 and that by enlarging the boundaries of space and of time1 it arrives at that which is without space and without time4 ,thus may a true philosopher reason2 but primitive man was no philosopher1 and the infinite of philosophy had no existence for him4 ,another theory is that man is naturally endowed with religious instincts1 which render him--alone of all living creatures--capable of perceiving the infinite in the invisible2 but the nature of this innate instinct not being clearly defined1 it is in vain that we try to explain one mystery by another4 ,others again affirm that religious impressions were the result of a supernatural revelation1 but they seem vague with regard to the time in the life of humanity1 to which people1 and in what manner this came to pass4 ,at the same time they draw attention to the fact that men have always arrived at conclusions rapidly1 and1 as they consider1 without due reflection2 one of these conclusions is that ,god is4 ,let us1 for the sake of argument1 replace the word man by the word intuitive sense or apprehension1 and we shall understand why this intuitive sense renders it a superfluous task to make great researches as to the reasons of man's decision that ,god is4 ,this intuitive sense is wise1 and utters at times great truths2 but the philosophers who consider it their metier to seek for the reason of things are not content with what satisfies intuitive sense1 and they act on their right4 ,in our days the religious problem is viewed from two sides4 ,what is understood by these words--the conception of ,god8 ,this is the question of questions2 and the names of the writers on the subject1 both philosophical and theological1 are too numerous to give4 ,it is a psychological and thought impelling study4 ,how did the idea of ,god first arise in the minds of primitive man8 ,this is another question which few try and answer4 ,it is a historical study4 ,this presentation of the problem is perhaps not calculated to inspire excitement or let loose agitating passions2 and apparently the end of the nineteenth century will not witness the renewal of the philosophical debates on the subject which characterised the last half of the eighteenth4 ,never either1 before or since1 has there been so much agitation1 nor have men's minds been so tossed by diverse currents4 ,many various theories were promulgated at the time1 but opinions grouped themselves chiefly round two diametrically opposite schools of thought1 towards one or the other of which they leaned4 ,according to ,hume1 ,condillac and their adherents1 matter alone exists2 our understanding1 our feelings1 our will are only transformed sensations4 ,this was pure materialism4 ,pure idealism was represented by ,berkeley1 who went so far as to deny the reality of matter2 according to him the bodies making up the universe have no real existence2 the true realities were ,god and the ideas ,he produced in us4 ,those who preserved their ancient beliefs were the most troubled1 they began to ask themselves whether the foundations of their faith were solid1 and they much desired to see certain problems solved4 ,these thoughts had exercised the minds of the sages of ,india1 the thinkers of ,greece1 the dreamers of ,alexandria1 and the divines and scholars of the ,middle ,ages4 ,they were the old problems of the world1 what we know of the ,infinite1 the questions of the beginning and end of our existence2 the questions of the possibility of absolute certainty in the evidence of the senses1 of reason or of faith4 ,how much was comprehended in these enquiries4 ,one hundred years previously1 the cautious reasoner1 ,descartes1 instead of asking 8,what do we know80 posed in its place the question1 8,how do we know80 ,this was in fact a fundamental question which appealed to philosophers who followed ,descartes1 as of the utmost importance1 and they also asked themselves1 8,after what manner does the human mind acquire what it knows80 ,what is called ,locke's tenet1 8,nihil est in intellectu quod non ante fuerit in sensu10 ,leibnitz answered by 8,nihil--nisi intellectus40 ,noir gives this sentiment a fresh turn by saying3 8,there is nothing in this plant that was not already in the soil1 the water and the atmosphere1 but that which causes this plant to be a plant40 ,condillac1 who agreed with ,locke1 thus formulated his opinion3 8,penser c'est sentir02 or1 8,in order to feel it is necessary to possess senses10 which is self-evident4 ,nevertheless1 this sentence scandalised some of the philosophers1 they considered it degraded thought4 ,it degraded thought only in ,condillac's mouth1 since he and his school had previously taken out of sentir or sensation all that possessed the right to be called thought2 but for those who admit that sensation is really impregnated with thought it is no degradation2 it is then true to say that thought is sensation1 in the same way as an oak-tree may be said to be the acorn2 and a little reflection will show us that 8the acorn is far more wonderful than the oak1 and perceiving far more wonderful than thinking40 ,this was not acknowledged by some who disagreed as to the nature of reason and sensation2 they considered the former a mysterious power that could only be a direct gift of the ,creator1 and the senses1 to which we owe our perceptions1 appeared so natural and simple1 as not to require a scientific explanation4 ,if philosophers1 such as ,descartes and ,leibnitz1 succeeded in influencing certain enlightened spirits1 their language was not understood by the general public2 and ,berkeley's idealism when pushed to the extreme point1 proved too abstract to counterbalance the sensualist doctrines2 its language hardly penetrated beyond the inner circle of the experts dealing with the subject1 whereas the writings of ,locke1 ,condillac and ,hume permeated all classes of society2 everywhere the same questions were asked1 and often unanswered amidst the maze of metaphysics1 in which it would have been difficult to obtain a precise explanation of a science not yet clearly defined4 ,it is natural that reason after its high flight in pursuit of truth1 frightened by the obstacles met in its ascent1 and by the contradictions found in itself1 should fall heavily to earth1 exclaiming with ,voltaire1 8,o metaphysics1 we are as advanced as in the times of the ,druids40 ,this same feeling of distrust towards proceedings which resulted only in hypothesis1 was also expressed by ,newton1 who1 recognising that philosophy moved nowhere so freely nor with such certainty as in the domain of facts1 recently cried1 8,o physics1 preserve me from metaphysics40 8,towards the end of the eighteenth century the current public opinion had been decidedly in favour of materialism1 but a reaction was slowly setting in in the minds of independent thinkers when ,kant appeared02 he came so exactly in the nick of time that one almost doubts whether the tide was turning1 or whether he turned the tide4 ,to sketch briefly the chief points in ,kant's system such as he has given us in his book called ,critique of ,pure ,reason1 is a rash proceeding2 my object1 which is to satisfy the imperious and more immediate wants of our moral being1 could only be attained by ignoring the irradicable difficulties2 this is excusable if we1 unlearned members of society1 are to form any idea of this same philosophy4 ,the technical terms which abound in philosophical works are useful in the exposition of a system1 but rather the reverse for those who are striving to grasp its salient features2 for understanding these terms partially only1 or not understanding them at all1 they are tempted to imagine that they take in the meaning2 this leads to vague notions being entertained on a subject which is nevertheless earnestly studied4 ,generally ,i abstain from the use of esoteric terms1 but ,kant having coined fresh ones to express his ideas it behoves us to use his own formula4 ,to paraphrase them so as to render them intelligible without multiplying them might only further obscure the sense1 and yet1 on the other hand1 to enter freely into further developments would require a volume1 and the end would be better served by going direct to ,kant's work4 ,hence the embarrassment ,i feel on approaching the subject4 ,,kant',s ,,teaching4 ,kant undertook a work which no one before him had attempted4 ,instead of criticising1 as was then the fashion1 the result of our knowledge1 whether in religion or in history1 or science1 he shut his eyes resolutely to all that philosophy1 whether sensualistic or spiritualistic asserted as true1 and making ,descartes his starting point he boldly went to the root of the matter2 he questioned whether human reason had the power of perceiving the truth1 and in cases where this power existed--but with limits--he sought to discover why these limits existed4 ,he therefore resolved to subject reason itself to his searching analysis1 and thus to assist1 as it were1 at the birth of thought4 ,he accomplished this extraordinary task with an ease of which no one previously would have been capable4 ,the world is governed by immutable laws1 and the human race is subject to them4 ,kant gives an account of those which it must necessarily obey in order to pass from a passive 8mirror0 into a conscious mind4 ,,sensation4 ,in any material object ,i may seek to obtain1 such as a table1 my interests are concentrated in the table itself1 not on the tools which the workman has used in its manufacture2 but if it were a question of thought1 then the means by which it was produced by the human mind engage us2 and these means1 of course1 consist in the proper use of the instruments at man's disposal4 ,that which was at the origin of mankind is repeated at the birth of every human being2 he comes into the world in a lethargic condition1 but endowed with latent instincts which we name in one word1 sense2 common to man and to animals1 it places them in relationship with the things exterior to themselves2 this sense1 or capability of sensation1 is merely the general faculty of feeling4 ,no newly-born child would emerge from its torpor if it were not surrounded by material objects which affirm their presence by reacting on him2 his first act1 at the moment when he perceives his surroundings is the transference of his own mind1 until now isolated in itself alone1 towards the objects which solicit his attention4 ,the sense which operates in each child is inward1 we name it briefly--sensation--to distinguish it from the five external senses1 which are more familiar to us1 since even at school their functions and modes of action have been explained to us4 ,for instance1 we know that it is only necessary to touch the strings of an instrument to cause them to vibrate1 the vibrations are communicated to the air1 and are then called waves of sound2 they diffuse themselves with an incredible swiftness in space1 advancing and retreating in the manner of the waves of the sea1 they reach our ears1 touch the auditory nerve1 cause the tympanum to vibrate1 penetrate to the brain1 and give us instantaneously the sensation of sound4 ,and it is to the waves of light passing through the ether1 and communicating with the optic nerve of the organ of sight1 that we owe the sensation of sight of the objects before us4 ,the vacant look of a newly-born infant1 implies that it has undergone an experience1 it has felt something of the nature of a shock2 a shock always implies resistance and yielding4 ,in the child it is the human eye becoming conscious of itself amidst the impressions produced on it by the confused sight of external objects1 and hearing the noises which occur around him4 ,this instance is analogous to the vibratory movement of the waves described and even drawn in all manuals on physics4 ,it is strange that a natural phenomenon which learned men have taken some trouble to analyse1 should find expression in the following commonplace phrase4 8,from the clash of opinions light is generated40 ,if this phrase were not only on our lips1 but also implanted in our mind1 we should more readily have grasped the physiological fact of sensation4 ,sensation plays such an important part in the world of humanity1 that all the sciences1 both physical and moral1 deal with it2 but we1 who grumble so readily and continuously at feeling either too hot or too cold1 probably never enquire what philosophy has to do with purely bodily impressions4 ,sensations come to us from without1 but they would leave us in a condition of perturbation only1 if whilst receiving them we were passive as a mirror on which external objects are reflected2 we might have continued to sleep--perchance to dream--if a mental act on our part did not mark the awakening of our intelligence when in contact with the material world1 and thus have proved the existence of a power within us hitherto latent1 but quite capable of accepting1 knowing1 and realising sensations which come to us without having been summoned4 ,we are nearing the solution of the problem4 ,descartes had asked3 ,how we know4 ,kant had clearly explained that all our knowledge has its commencement in our senses1 which give us pure intuitions1 that is to say1 a clear direct view of external objects1 and he also proved that intelligence would not have been aroused without the aid of material objects4 ,but still greater discoveries awaited ,kant4 ,we feel that nothing in ourselves is so free as thought4 ,it comprehends the whole world1 it mounts to the stars1 it descends to the bowels of the earth1 arrested perhaps in its path by special objects on which it dwells at will2 but although free to encircle the universe1 it may not choose its path1 thought is obliged--like the sun--to follow one which has been previously traced out for it2 of this we can readily convince ourselves4 ,,space ,,and ,,time4 ,all objects of which we become conscious must be placed by us in the imagination side by side in space1 and at a distance from ourselves1 here or there2 as being now present1 or as having been1 or about to be2 but always in succession1 i4e41 in time1 time past1 present and future4 ,according to ,kant1 ,space and ,time are two fundamental or inevitable conditions of all sensuous manifestations1 and he was the first to observe that they are imposed by so absolute a power that no effort1 on our part1 would enable us to escape from them1 any more than we could avoid seeing the light of day at noon1 unless we are either blind or have our eyes shut4 ,we must make it clear that what we call ,space and ,time1 being forms of our sensuous intuition1 do not exist apart from ourselves1 or1 as ,max ,mller says1 8depend on us as recipients1 as perceivers40 ,it is we who say there can be no ,here without a ,there1 and no ,now without a ,then2 and this is necessary1 since we are dependent on the mould of our minds1 which work in accordance with their constitutions4 ,,phenomena4 ,when opening a dictionary at the letters ,p4 ,h4 ,e4 we should soon arrive at the word ,phenomenon and its meaning3 whatever is presented to the senses1 or affects us physically or morally4 ,as long as knowledge comes to us only by the way of our senses1 it follows that in speaking of affinity1 electricity and magnetism as natural phenomena1 which are known to us only by their effect on ,space and ,time1 we speak in accordance with our method of representation1 and not as they are in themselves1 since we have not the least idea what these natural forces are in themselves4 ,we recognise musical sounds because our ears hear them1 and we appreciate colours because our eyes see them2 we take cognisance of them as they appear to us1 but we are ignorant of both the one and the other as they are in actuality1 that is independently of our organs which correspond to them4 ,thus all the objects that we know--from the manner of our knowledge--become for us phenomena1 and the world in which we live is a world of phenomena4 ,,the ,,categories ,,of ,,the ,,understanding4 ,besides these fundamental forms of sensuous intuition ,space and ,time1 ,kant by his analysis of ,pure ,reason discovered other conditions of our knowledge which could not have come from without4 ,he divides them into twelve distinct classes1 and in the phraseology of philosophy they are called ,categories of the ,understanding4 ,aristotle had previously arranged a table of ,categories1 but in his ,logic ,aristotle concerns himself with the laws of thought in general1 the abstraction derived from the practical use made of them2 whilst ,kant studies the facts first themselves1 or first principles1 in their relation with certain fixed objects4 ,the different categories have certain traits in common1 not a single one of our thoughts but will find a place in the one or the other4 ,another feature which characterises all is1 that without them no experience would be possible1 they rule our understanding4 ,this is very marked in the category called ,plurality4 ,let us try to think of anything without thinking of it at the same time as one or many1 and we shall find it an impossibility4 ,we cannot think of an apple or speak of an apple without picturing more than one2 and ,max ,mller has demonstrated that rational speech is impossible1 if we cannot when speaking decide whether the subject of a sentence consists of one or many4 ,,cause ,,and ,,effect4 ,the ideas of ,cause and ,effect belong to those first principles that reason draws from itself1 and the category of causality is one of the most important4 ,we never experience a sensation1 of whatever kind1 without attaching it1 involuntarily and necessarily1 to some external object which we know possesses the qualities corresponding to our sensations4 ,thus the impressions of heat or cold1 sweet or bitter1 blue or yellow1 evoke immediately the picture of certain objects which are hot or cold1 such as fire or ice2 or which are sweet or bitter1 such as sugar or absinth2 or blue1 as the sky2 or yellow1 as the lemon2 and these external objects we consider as the causes1 and our bodily sensations as the effects4 ,,axioms4 ,there are certain universal truths which are self-evident1 and were evolved not by experience only or argument1 nor science1 as they are the natural appanage of common-sense1 e4g41 such axioms as the following3 the whole is greater than the part2 a straight line is the shortest distance between two points2 each body occupies space2 every event occupies time2 every effect has a cause4 ,all these are more certain than that the sun will rise to-morrow2 common-sense has always known them1 and the entire human race has not waited for the coming of ,kant to recognise these facts4 ,it is strange that the majority of men who know so many things that are true by intuition1 often make mistakes when they begin to reflect4 ,they imagine that all things falling under their observation have the power of making themselves known directly1 as if they entered an empty space in the imagination which was ready to receive them4 ,are they ignorant of the fact that in order to think of an external object1 it is not necessary to have it in actuality--as it exists in nature--before one's eyes1 but that it suffices to imprint its image on the mind8 ,this is very simple1 and no doubt common-sense itself would see a truism which might be passed in silence4 8,what is there extraordinary10 common-sense might say1 8if in thinking of a lemon1 for instance1 there should be at once presented to the mind a yellow fruit1 of acid flavour1 and of a certain shape--a lemon in fact80 ,this remark is useful only in showing our natural incapacity for experiencing a sensation1 of whatever kind1 without connecting it with an external object possessing corresponding attributes to the sensation1 and which was its cause4 ,in any case the truism is not to be ignored1 since ,aristotle1 great philosopher as he was1 did not consider it beneath his dignity to employ it4 ,he said3 8,i think of a stone2 the stone is not in my mind1 but its form is40 ,to prove to common-sense that its remark has no connection with the thesis recently laid down1 would serve no good purpose4 ,a personal mental act1 if it be lawful to personate a quality1 would alone convince common-sense of its error2 but when once convinced common-sense would then have changed to something higher than it had previously been4 ,it will have mounted up one stage towards reason1 and in following this route under the guidance of increasing reason1 it will end by understanding this truth as demonstrated by ,kant3 he who cannot distinguish a real object from its representation will never understand the working of the human mind4 ,the importance of this truth must excuse my digression4 ,,metaphysics4 ,the name of ,kant will always be intimately connected with the word metaphysics1 not because he buried himself in it1 as some have supposed who only know his system of philosophy by hearsay2 but because his labours consisted in forbidding reason to approach this science which is constantly threatening to invade it1 and to get the upper hand by putting itself in its place4 ,kant was the first to trace with decision the line of demarcation between the knowledge of which our reason is capable1 and that of which it is incapable4 ,no one has drawn so sharp a line between the knowable and the unknowable2 this was to explain metaphysics4 ,alfred ,fouille has defined them as 8the critical study of problems which the mind seeks to unravel from a necessity of its nature1 although another necessity of its nature renders it incapable of solving them0--such is metaphysics4 ,this definition is excellent1 but for those who make no preparatory studies in philosophy it would present itself rather in this form4 ,if certain questions are of necessity presented to the mind which it finds it impossible to solve1 it follows that the mind would necessarily contradict itself4 ,thus this succinct definition of ,fouille requires to be itself defined4 ,noir1 whilst giving more details1 is also more exact4 8,metaphysics is only explained on the condition that we understand the nature of our power of understanding1 in so far as1 on the one part1 this power is actively manifested in experience1 and secondly1 in so far as it possesses anteriorly to any experience1 and to anything observed1 certain ideas without which there could not possibly or even conceivably1 be any impression made in the human mind40 ,i am afraid that this explanation of ,noir will also be lost upon those who are not experienced in the subject4 ,the explanation of ,schopenhauer is not less definite1 and is more concise than the two preceding4 ,the foundation upon which all our knowledge and all our science rests1 is the incomprehensible--,i fancy that the uninitiated will be equally unable to understand this4 ,it is not surprising4 ,philosophers speak a language of their own1 which must be learnt before it can be understood1 which is the case with all languages4 ,kant develops this thesis with greater simplicity and clearness4 8,as long as the human intellect moves in the sphere of the senses and of experience it is safe2 this sphere is very vast2 it is there that all phenomena may be known which appears in space and time1 that is to say1 all belonging to the phenomenal world in which we live4 ,but if the intellect rebels against the gaoler which holds it captive in the magic circle1 breaks its chains and enters into the region of ideals1 it will err40 ,kant relates the following anecdote3 8,a dove1 which found great pleasure in spreading its wings1 was troubled because this pleasure was of short duration2 the simple bird was ignorant of the fact that its structure did not admit of its taking flights such as the swallow enjoys2 not divining the real cause of its inability1 it blamed the fluid ether whose resisting power it had felt1 and thought how much better it would fly #8in vacuo4'0 ,the dove was mistaken4 ,kant's crowning merit is having discovered the object of metaphysics not only in the categories of the understanding1 without which1 as ,noir says1 no impression on the human mind would be possible1 or even conceivable1 but chiefly in the power1 inherent in our nature1 of resisting or yielding to impressions4 ,it is this power1 according to ,kant1 which constitutes the transcendental side of our knowledge4 ,the empirical school of philosophers is tried by ,kant's recognition of the transcendental principle in man4 ,its members accuse the spiritualists of seeking to raise human nature beyond its proper level1 and of wishing at the same time to open an inlet for other truths which claim a mysterious character and a superhuman authority4 ,but ,kant is the very last person to encourage the thought2 on the contrary1 through the whole of his philosophy he insists that these priori forms1 or antecedent conditions of knowledge1 have no authority whatever 8except in and for experience10 and to use the category of causality1 for instance1 in order to establish the existence of ,god is1 according to ,kant1 a philosophical blunder4 8,if only we could always remember the first intentions of our words1 many philosophical difficulties would vanish40 ,in ,greek meant originally1 ,i have seen1 and therefore ,i know4 ,in a court of justice the witness who says1 8,i saw0 can hardly say anything more convincing4 ,to apply such a word to our knowledge of causes1 forces1 and faculties would be a solecism--to apply it to ,god would be self-contradictory4 ,each of the abstract definitions of metaphysics given by ,alfred ,fouille1 ,noir1 and ,schopenhauer contains the leading conception of the subject2 if presented in more simple language it would be within the comprehension of all2 our understanding is blind to all with which it is not made acquainted by intuition derived from experience4 ,those things for which we have a strong desire1 of which we have a certain conviction1 but which are outside the sphere of our actual life1 8for these10 as ,max ,mller says in this connection1 8we want another word which should mean--,i have not seen and yet ,i know1 and that is--faith40#fd ,our senses may not always authorise us to affirm their reality4 ,god and the future life are not made the subjects of phenomena4 ,all that ,i have said as to what distinguishes knowledge acquired by the senses from that which is anterior to all experience 7,kant was the first to make this distinction71 might seem simple to those heedless minds which are surprised at nothing1 but complicated and confused to minds however little attentive1 and quite useless to the rest of us4 ,there may be something of truth in each of these primitive and superficial estimations1 but the whole truth is that all this is very scientific1 so scientific as to require a ,kant to enable those who reflect to give a lucid account of it4 ,it was by the help of this learned science that ,kant broke the serried ranks of his antagonists4 ,confronted by two philosophical opinions1 both of which he considered erroneous1 he proved to the materialists ,condillac1 ,hume1 and ,locke1 that there is something within us which could never have been supplied from without1 which therefore belongs to our ego1 that is to say to the subject thinking and not to the object thought of1 or matter2 then turning against the ,idealists of the time of ,berkeley1 he shows that there is something without us which could never have been supplied from within2 and when he proved that intellect and matter are correlative1 that they exist for each other1 depend on each other1 form together a whole that should never have been torn asunder1 two streams of philosophic thought1 which had been running in separate beds1 met for the first time4 ,the existence of the phenomenal world being proved by the irrefragable testimony of the senses1 is admitted also by reason1 and1 as a necessary consequence1 another1 not only in appearance1 but which will be1 assuredly2 as sound is independent of our hearing1 as material objects are independent of our sight2 for though ,kant declares our inability to know objects as they are in themselves1 he does not deny their existence1 since he says1 8,we should be capable1 if not of knowing things as they are in themselves1 at least of knowing them as they are to us1 otherwise we should arrive at the irrational conclusion1 that there may be appearances without something that appears40 ,kant undertook to make an exact science of the necessary and universal ideas of the human mind1 such as logic and mathematics1 which are parts of human knowledge2 to this end he wrote ,critique of ,pure ,reason1 afterwards he composed another work1 the ,critique of ,practical ,reason4 ,practical reason may also be called pure1 in as much as it does not allow itself to be influenced by anything but what proceeds from itself1 and reason becomes practical when it seeks an independent principle which determines the will4 ,this principle is formulated by ,kant in the following terms3 8,let each individual follow commands which may be considered as a universal law imposed alike on all human beings40 ,this law1 which man possesses in his conscience1 does not stop half way in its exactions from man since it aims at perfection1 it commands man to love his neighbour1 and to do good even to his enemy4 ,to love and to do acts of kindness when pleasant to oneself is natural1 and requires no command1 but1 otherwise1 a law is required to coerce the will1 the man who submits is free1 since he can choose to infringe or to obey it2 obedience to the moral law constitutes duty1 which must be accomplished because it is our duty1 and embodies the satisfaction felt in its performance4 ,man is under an obligation to be moral and to do his duty1 but not necessarily to be happy1 yet he demands happiness4 ,the union of virtue and happiness being the summum bonum1 we must acknowledge the existence of a power external to ourselves1 endowed with intellect and will1 which makes this union possible2 this power is known to us by the name of ,god4 ,the perfect good is holiness2 this life is too short to enable us to attain to it in its perfection1 it is therefore a necessity that our life should be prolonged beyond the term of years spent on this earth1 thus we are assured of the survival of the soul after what we term death4 ,thus ,kant speaks in his ,critique of ,practical ,reason4 ,i may now be permitted to speak and give my own opinion4 ,i hear the ,positivist perhaps say3 8,this result might be considered conceivable if all that has been previously said were true2 but to infer from the desire for happiness that a supernatural power must infallibly satisfy it might be a hallucination1 or at least a hypothesis40 ,if this were so we need not deride hypotheses2 in the domain of human knowledge reason would not be itself if it never made ventures in scientific discoveries2 its path starts from the possible in making excursions from the known to the unknown1 in going from darkness to light--hence then hypothesis4 ,there is also this fact to notice1 some of the most important of our acts are not guided by reason1 it acts as a spectator2 for instance1 reason is not active when we have perception of an object1 and intuitions occur in us without the intervention of reason4 ,this was well understood by certain men who have come forward from time to time from the multitude1 the bearers of inspired messages to the world2 they have spoken of those things which 8eye hath not seen nor ear heard10 and they were hard to be understood of the people2 but each one alike said3 8,i give no proof of the truth of what ,i assert2 do as ,i say1 and you will know the truth of my words40 ,there remains little more to be said on the subject of ,kant4 ,there is a serious omission in the system of this profound thinker4 ,nothing has so stopped the progress of ,darwin's great conception as the injudicious efforts of his so-called disciples to bring it to perfection4 ,instead of correcting their chief1 they should have weighed thoughtfully all ,kant's arguments against the materialism of his adversaries1 and have sought to refute them2 if they had succeeded in proving that ,kant makes a mistake when he admits that there is in man a principle quite distinct from his body1 they would have been authorised in replacing ,darwin's theory by their own2 if they had not succeeded1 ,darwin and his theory would have remained unshaken1 but they would be annihilated4 ,max ,mller examines the question from another point of view4 8,we admit that as we know nothing1 except by analogy1 of the mind of animals1 we could not with the weapons that ,kant has placed in our hands1 make head against the assertion that they might possess1 for all we know1 the same forms of sensuous intuition and the same categories of the understanding which we possess4 ,nothing1 therefore1 could have been said from a purely philosophical point of view1 against treating man as a mere variety of some other genus of animals40#fe ,but as the origin of language was to ,kant less than a secondary question--it might almost be said to have no existence for him--it belongs to the science of language to show1 what ,kant had never shown1 that for all human knowledge not only were percepts and concepts necessary1 but also names4 ,how was it that it did not occur to ,kant since he perceived that there were mathematics of the forms or manifestations of sensation1 namely1 time or duration and space8 ,he said well3 ,each object of which we think is attached in time or space to another2 this can only be done by the use of such indications as now1 then1 here1 there2 and he saw in this gradation of perception1 the first step towards the act of counting1 that is to say of reasoning1 and consequently of speaking2 all of which was comprehended by the ,greeks in their word ,logos4 ,as an instance the word cent exists in every language1 but cent in ,french consists only of four letters placed side by side one after the other1 and would never be anything else to us if we could not count2 but to count is to add and to take away1 that is to say1 addition and subtraction1 thus to conceive and name2 in order to possess a hundred objects1 it does not suffice to see them only1 it is necessary to count them up to the hundred4 ,these two works of ,kant's1 the ,critique of ,pure ,reason and the ,critique of ,practical ,reason appear to emanate from two different pens2 in the first1 whatever is asserted is proved4 ,the second work is dictated by a personal experience2 ,kant affirms that thus it is and that it cannot be otherwise4 ,but here again ,i perceive a lack1 a want1 if not from the believer's point of view1 yet from that of those people who ask what could be the religion of our primitive ancestors2 personal experience is not expressed as ,kant expresses it1 unless it is the result of a long series of meditations and examinations of conscience2 in a word1 experiences which have been transmitted from generation to generation4 ,this is a religion that has achieved much1 it is not that form of it which would be found amongst the generality of men1 and still less would it spring to life in the heart of primitive man4 ,but here are two positivist philosophers who undertake to solve this great problem3 they consider reason as ready with a reply to those who seek to know the meaning of ,god and of religion1 two concepts which are inseparable1 the one from the other2 and even ready to explain how these two concepts have penetrated into the consciousness of all human beings4 ,these philosophers speak no doubt from experience1 for having questioned their reason it has replied to them3 ,god and religion form one conception4 ,the first explanation is--man is conscious of his condition2 he is possessed with the desire of happiness1 and is unable to realise it2 but his imagination represents to him another state in which the desire of happiness will exist and in which there will be no obstacle to its realisation2 the first of these states is real1 the other visible to the mind's eye2 they are therefore not identical2 to will and not to have the power is to be man2 to will and to be omnipotent is to be ,god4 ,little by little man understands that these two states of conditions having been conceived by the same mind1 have the same origin2 the notion fixes itself firmly in his mind that the two states seem gradually to approach each other1 and are not always distinguishable2 the union of desire and power is the ,divine essence2 the growing consciousness of this union is religion1 which dawns and increases in man4 ,man does not desire immortality because he believes in it1 nor because it is demonstrable2 but he believes in it and demonstrates its existence because he desires it4 ,the sentence1 8,god sees all10 does not mean1 so we are told1 what it appears to mean2 it expresses the feeling ,god knows all of which man is ignorant1 but which he fain would know2 and the sentence1 8,god is beneficence10 is the cry of man who desires happiness4 ,all the predicates applied by man to the ,deity in the course of history and humanity have never1 in the opinion of philosophers1 had any other origin than the representation of our wishes4 ,but the inner combat1 which has been long and unhappy1 with no truce1 has exhausted man's powers1 and when the despondency checks1 and at times almost paralyses his flight after happiness1 the instinct of self-preservation leads him towards religion2 as this instinct with the incapacity of satisfying it is inseparable in man1 motives of religion are renewed continually in each individual and consequently in the multitude4 ,god and religion1 i4e4 the outward sign of our union with ,god1 yet emanates from ourselves4 ,this system1 of which ,feuerbach is the exponent1 has many followers amongst the ,positivists4 ,the second explanation comes from a learned member of the extreme ,positivist school in ,germany2 but1 as ,max ,mller says1 it would be impossible to represent religion in a worse light 444 8and it would be difficult to take a lower view of it40#ff ,according to ,dr ,gruppe1 religion exists simply because it satisfies certain selfish instincts of man4 ,he notices two4 ,the first instinct is common to all organic beings2 it tends towards the preservation of the individual1 and consequently to that of the race2 it is elementary1 and acts from within outwards4 ,the second instinct belongs only to man taken collectively1 and has vitality only in numbers2 it belongs to a more advanced stage1 and acts from without inwardly4 ,man instinctively grasps the greatest amount of happiness possible2 he therefore seeks that which he considers his greatest good1 not after the fashion of the beasts1 but in his own way4 8,we call religious belief10 says ,dr ,gruppe1 8a belief in an indefinable state or being which we strive to bring into our sphere1 and to render permanent by means of sacrificial ceremonies1 prayers1 penances1 and self-denial40#fg ,this indefinable something1 the professor considers1 would never have appeared in the world without an impulsion1 however light2 an accidental movement1 a casual combination of a disordered brain1 and a personality endowed with a certain amount of energy1 would have sufficed to make a single individual the author of an idea totally opposed to man's good possession common sense1 and the originator of a movement which must find in the surroundings in which it came to life1 all facilities for its indefinite perpetuation4 ,it is of no consequence whether this mental phenomenon has been produced in one individual or in more2 figures are of little account in the matter4 ,if this disease called hallucination#fh had remained confined in the circumscribed sphere of one individual or a few1 a personal intelligent effort might have overcome it1 but being contagious and spreading amongst the people it became impossible to conquer it4 ,the natural laws of reason once violated1 the perturbed mind created a succession of sophistical arguments which appeared to satisfy the ineradicable desire for happiness in man2 and an incredibly tenacious opposition on the side of error assumed menacing proportions4 ,if the belief that the sun1 instead of disappearing each night below the horizon1 would continue to shine during the night could in any way contribute to the happiness of mankind1 men would slowly but surely have accepted it4 ,the man who isolates himself from his fellow men and becomes self-absorbed is peculiarly apt to create for himself mental pictures which give him pleasure2 if1 then1 joy is indispensable to man's existence1 the religion which gives it1 or the illusion of it1 enables him to forget the tangible world1 and substitute an imaginary one peopled with phantoms4 ,but the solitary man is a rare phenomenon1 and we judge favourably those men who live in the midst of their social surroundings1 and whose community of ideas and sentiments has made a homogeneous whole1 during many centuries4 ,each one will find means to develop his personal faculties1 and to strengthen his power of resistance in the struggle of all against all1 and the good which is illusive in the solitary man becomes a benefit to the members of the society4 ,religion might possibly cease to exist1 in ,gruppe's opinion1 were it not for the inequalities of man's condition1 and for the troubles which follow him2 but the action of religion is helpful to society4#fi ,it tells the poor not to hanker after riches which are not lasting4 ,it mirrors for them images of future compensations1 thus the rich and the noble here are enabled to enjoy their pleasures on earth in safety4 ,in its name bright hopes are built up for the wretched1 and it takes its stand in front of the palaces of the rich2 sedatives are prescribed for incurables1 and rich foods for those who can pay for them4 ,charity is preached to the compassionate1 and persecutions to the fanatics3 at times it encourages the use of arts and sciences2 at times it warns its followers not to love overmuch the beautiful in art1 nor to seek too earnestly the truth in science4 ,but the outcome of this religion1 whether good or the reverse1 is of small importance compared with the benefits it renders to society4 ,it is the support of the civil and moral law1 and in lighting the hymeneal torch it adds to the sanctity of families4 ,without attributing selfish motives1 in the lowest sense1 to the founders of the various religions and sects which flourish in our midst1 ,gruppe considers all of them unconscious egoists2 he thinks that had they been calm psychologists1 which sincere prophets are not1 they would have recognised in themselves the attraction that glory had for them2 but in that case they would not have remained faithful unto the death1 and the power of communicating their own spirit and force to their adherents would have failed them4 ,gruppe distinguishes with great keenness the reflex action of our desire for happiness1 which is no other than the instinct of self-preservation1 from the motives which are sufficient to inspire certain enthusiasts to found new religions2 these two things are in reality quite distinct1 although they may act in concert2 the desire for universal and permanent happiness paves the way for the manifestation of individual enthusiasm2 he asserts that religions1 while professing to found a new kingdom of heaven1 only succeed in inheriting the kingdom of this world4 ,the struggle between an extreme positivism and a true idealism is a sight that energises earnest men4 ,evidently impressed by the exposition of the spiritualist doctrine1 the learned doctor remarks3 8,the first perception of the infinite1 of law and order in nature1 communicated an impulse to the mind of man2 but this force1 when once in movement1 did not slacken before having called forth in our ancestors the conviction that all is right and good1 and the hope--even more than hope--that all would be right and good4 ,such is the celebrated system of ,max ,mller4 ,it is not only the great personal worth of the author that obliges us to give it close consideration1 but also the fact that this system is the most eloquent exposition of an idea which has also been expressed by other writers in some remarkable works on the history of religions4 ,the position in which ,max ,mller has placed himself for a starting-point is1 from a positivist point of view1 impregnable40 ,this commendation1 which is particularly striking1 coming as it does from one of ,max ,mller's fiercest adversaries1 ,i have quoted word for word4 ,gruppe is not only a positivist philosopher1 but also learned in ,eastern languages and literature1 and a clever mythologist2 it would have been better had he confined himself to fields of labour with which he was acquainted4 ,but as he admits that there is psychological and spontaneous thought in man1 side by side with the rational1 he cannot but acknowledge the right of humanity to say what it thinks4 ,there are certain literary documents which show us what the human mind has thought in all ages and in all places1 and we are of opinion that these sentiments have not varied4 ,it is said that an universal belief in any fact is not a proof of the existence of this fact1 and that consequently the conception of super-sensible things need have no real basis2 the observation is just2 ,i shall reply to it by a question4 ,is it possible to demonstrate that this belief in things that cannot be proved is not only universal but even inevitable8 ,if it were possible much would be gained4 ,in geometrical calculations it is sufficient to know that three dimensions only exist1--at least in this world--that the straight line is the shortest1 that two parallel lines never meet2 it should suffice to know that in this world belief1 whether rational or illusory1 in one or more divinities1 is inevitable for men constituted as we are4 ,our first fathers no doubt pictured a large space situated on the further side of all that they could see1 and we know how their imagination peopled it with confused images1 either hidden1 or seen in the visible phenomena4 ,these flights of fancy1 which may have lasted thousands of centuries1 became crystallised at last in the mythologies of all peoples1 and it is these mythologies by which we gain access to this initial stage in the life of humanity1 and which preserves for us the traces of this eternal truth amidst many extravagances of the fancy misled by language1 which guided their first steps4 ,there is a petrified philosophy in mythology4 ,since history and legend1 in one form or another1 have voiced the feelings called religion1 these feelings1 variously interpreted1 have changed their aspect from age to age1 and from country to country2 as long as we have not traced the stream to its source1 the question1 as to the manner in which the conception of ,god had birth in the human mind1 will always be before us4 ,we take man at the time when he had recently appeared on the earth1 his sole possession being his five senses1 which place him in contact with the external world4 ,we must distinguish between two classes of senses2 those of touch1 scent1 and taste being more evident2 from the evolutionist's point of view the sense of touch has the largest share in the building up of the human edifice which arose later2 its use is chiefly connected with the hands1 and has thus given us the word manifest2 that which we call certainty hardly exists for us apart from what is manifest4 ,the two other senses1 sight and hearing1 are less sure1 and have frequently to be verified by those first named4 ,the objects of which we obtain knowledge by means of our senses can be divided into tangible1 semi-tangible and intangible4 ,the first are1 for instance1 a stone1 a bone1 a fruit1 the skin of an animal1 these can be touched as it were all round1 and we are able to assert their reality4 ,the second1 the semi-tangible1 might be a river1 a mountain1 the earth1 a tree4 ,we stand by the banks of a river and dip our hand in the small volume of water passing away before our eyes2 we can also touch the ground on which we are standing1 also the trunk of the tree beneath which we are sitting2 but it is only an insignificant part of which we assert the reality by touching it1 all the other parts remain unknown to us2 for the river itself consists of a large mass of waters springing from a source which is not seen and flowing towards a spot which we may never see2 we are told that the earth is in the shape of a globe1 and that this globe is suspended in air1 which fact it would be difficult to verify2 the tree is small in comparison with the river and the earth1 and yet how little we know of it1 whence come its buds1 and its leaves1 and the sap which rises each spring in the branches8 ,we say of a beam that it is dead wood1 but of the tree we say that it grows and lives2 what is this life of the tree8 ,we are in the presence of the unknown4 ,these are samples of semi-tangible objects4 ,the sense of touch has no place with regard to the sky1 the stars1 the clouds1 the winds2 those are intangible objects1 which we see and feel without knowing them by personal grasp2 the proof of their existence is also in the fact that years of work are required to know astronomy and meteorology4 ,we now have primitive man provided with fine senses1 in presence of these natural phenomena1 and the problem to be solved is this3 ,how is it that this man is able to think and to speak of things which are not finite1 finite things being the only ones of which his senses make him cognisant8 8,i have before me10 says ,max ,mller1 8a school of philosophy adverse to my views2 ,i am warned that nothing ,i say will be accepted1 unless ,i submit to the conditions imposed on me4 ,i am told3 #8,you pretend to prove that man can know that ,god exists2 whereas we affirm that the great triumph of our age is that we have proved that religion is an illusion4 ,all knowledge must pass through two gates1 the gate of the senses and the gate of reason1 consequently religious knowledge even can enter by no other gate4' ,in this way does positivism bar the entrance which ,kant left open1 who in his definition of religion considered morality the basis of it1 which with him presupposed the existence of ,god4 ,positivism refuses to hear a psychological and historical explanation of one of the greatest psychological and religious facts--namely1 religion2 it stops its ears when we say ,nihil est in fide quod non ante fuerit in sensu2 but we are not discouraged by the absurdity of imagining that by shutting our eyes1 we can annihilate facts2 we accept the struggle on the common ground on which the positivist and we have decided to fight2 we also agree to use the weapons chosen for us4 ,let us inspect the battlefield and measure the ground4 ,both sides seem in accord that all consciousness begins with sensuous perception1 with what we feel1 and hear1 and see2 what is likewise granted is that out of this we construct what may be called conceptual knowledge1 consisting of collective and abstract concepts4 ,the conditions of the combat are fixed2 at the two gates of the senses and reason we take our stand2 whatever claims to have entered in by any other gate1 whether that gate be called primeval revelation1 or religious instinct1#gj must be rejected as contraband of thought2 and whatever claims to have entered in by the gate of reason without having first passed through the gate of the senses1 will equally be rejected1 as without sufficient warrant40#ga ,,footnotes3 #fb ,tac4 ,germ4 #i4 8,deorumque nominibus appellant secretum illud quod sola reverentia vident10 from ,max ,mller's ,origin and ,growth of ,religion1 p4 #id4 #fc ,origin and ,growth of ,religion1 p4 #bad4 #fd ,science of ,thought1 p4 #fji4 #fe ,science of ,thought1 p4 #abe4 #ff ,natural ,religion1 pp4 #gd1 #gg4 #fg ,ibid41 p4 #gf4 #fh ,it is not surprising that ,max ,mller says1 8,we are not likely to allow ourselves to be persuaded by ,dr ,gruppe that the only source of religion all over the world was hallucination40--,anthropological ,religion1 p4 #abf4--,,translator',s ,,note4 #fi ,max ,mller remarks3 8,his 7,dr ,gruppe's7 definition of religion is at all events too narrow2 it might possibly be found to apply to religion1 not in its original1 but in its most depraved state40--,natural ,religion1 p4 #gg4--,,translator',s ,,note4 #gj ,natural ,religion1 p4 #aid4 #ga ,max ,mller does not exclude faith in making this statement1 which also occurs in his work ,the ,origin and ,growth of ,religion1 as on the next page he says1 8,what we call sense1 reason1 and faith are three functions of one and the same perceptive self40--,origin and ,growth of ,religion1 p4 #bbg4 ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,vedic ,,hymns ,it has been possible to ascertain that the first words pronounced by the most ancient members of the ,aryan family are connected by a thread of continuity to those which we use to-day in all languages1 whether living or dead2 our family would not be a portion of the entire human race1 if this continuity of thought did not form a constituent part of the mental equipment of all the other families2 but as no others possess in an equal degree with ourselves the archives sufficiently extensive to contain indication of the gradual development of human speech1 such as the ,veda furnishes1 that is the authority to which ,max ,mller appeals in all his works4 ,and it is precisely because there has been no cessation in the continuity of human thought1 that the historical method is the only one capable of linking us with the primitive ,aryans2 our work will consist in collecting tokens of the long pilgrimage undertaken by our ancestors1 and with which we desire to be associated1 and which those who come after us must also undertake4 8,no doubt1 between the first daybreak of human thought and the first hymns of praise of the ,rig-,veda1 composed in the most perfect metre and the most polished language1 there may be1 nay1 there must be a gap that can only be measured by generations1 by hundreds1 aye1 by thousands of years40#gb ,the exodus and separation of the ,aryan family1 belonging as it does to a prehistoric epoch and therefore unchronicled1 and the ,vedic ,hymns--the work of many centuries--having been completed and collected together some hundreds of years before our present era1 thus at a time relatively recent1 that which constitutes their chief claim to great antiquity in our eyes is that the ,hindoo poets or rishis incorporated certain thoughts and words in them whose roots threw out shoots in the primitive ,aryan soil before the dispersion of its members4 ,the period of the life of humanity into which the hymns enable us to penetrate1 is the most ancient of which mention is made4 ,the rishis sing in ,sanscrit of thoughts conceived in the hidden recesses of souls before they awoke to the consciousness of that concept to which the name of ,god alone can be applied1 before these same people pictured in their imagination those whom they named gods1 before the appearance of myths and mythological fables1 and before the ,sanscrit language existed4 ,our ,aryan ancestors had not left the cradle of their race when their language1 whatever it may have been1 possessed the root dyu and div1 two cognate words meaning to shine4 ,the ,veda shows that many things were bright to the ,vedic poets1 the heaven1 dawn1 the stars and several other things1 such as the rivers1 spring1 the fields1 the eyes of man1 all that would have the effect on us of being smiling1 flourishing1 and rejoicing in life2 and from this root the word deva was formed4 ,neither in ,greek nor in ,latin1 nor in any living language can a word be found which exactly expresses deva2 ,greek dictionaries translate it by ,theos1 in the same way as we translate ,theos by ,god2 but if--dictionary in hand--we put the word ,god in certain passages in the hymns where this word is found1 we should sometimes commit a mental anachronism of a thousand years4 ,at the time of the first ,aryans1 gods1 in one sense of the word1 did not exist2 they were slowly struggling into being2 it was therefore impossible for man to form any conception of them even in dreams4 ,as this word deva changes its signification so frequently1 not only in the most ancient ,brahmanic poems1 but also in works of a later date1 we can only obtain even an approximate idea of its meaning by writing its history1 beginning from its etymology and ending with its latest definition2 but it is not necessary to undertake this philological labour1 and ,i shall content myself by showing that originally deva denoted a quality common to many natural phenomena1 that of light1 and therefore deva was a general term4 ,man at first received this impression passively1 as animals would1 but by his nature he could not rest there2 all the phenomena surrounding him were animated1 the most marvellous and those of peculiar intensity moved in the upper regions of the firmament2 in the midst of these general movements the mind of man could not alone be inactive1 and thought and speech--that is reason--inevitably vindicated their right to activity2 names were given to all things4 ,the ,aryan root svar or sval1 which signified to shine1 to sparkle1 and to heat1 produced a ,sanscrit substantive meaning sometimes sun and sometimes the sky4 ,the ,hindoo poets1 the authors of these hymns1 gave various names to the sun1 according to the task it accomplished2 and each name reproduced the salient feature of the task4 ,the sun when rising was ,mitra friend2 as it advances on its journey1 giving new life1 it is ,savitar bringing forth1 or leading day2 the vivifying sun2 when it collects the clouds and sends rain on the earth1 it is ,indra1 from ind-u drops2 and it continues to be ,indra when its rays attain their zenith and reach their greatest splendour2 for no plant flourishes without the combined action of light and humidity2 the sun is ,vishnu when it makes 8its three strides0 in the vault of heaven1 its position in the morning1 at noon1 and in the evening2 it is ,varuna--the all embracing--when it envelops itself in clouds as in a shroud1 and the sky darkens4 ,some phenomena descended on man from above1 such as thunder-bolts1 winds1 storms2 the storms that came unexpectedly1 dealing destruction as they passed received the name of ,maruts--from the root ,mar--and with the meaning of those who strike or beat to death2 the thunder was called ,rudra he who roars2 the wind was ,vayu he who blows4 ,all these names indicated that which could be seen and that which could be heard2 the invisible things remained unnamed2 how was it possible for man to name that of which he was ignorant 7except that they had a real existence71 he who could only conceive a name after having seen a certain feature or quality in the object8 ,they made use therefore of the names they already knew1 and they rang the changes on the storm1 the fire1 and the firmament1 which names they borrowed4 ,jacob's prayer1 which arose in the darkness when he was wrestling with a great ,unknown1 8,tell me1 ,i pray thee1 thy name10 must have been1 in the early ages1 the question of all humanity2 but uttered under a thousand varying forms1 and as1 at the beginning1 each name was imperfect1 since it expressed only one side of the object1 every additional name denoted a step forward1 and every fresh check experienced by the mind in its search after accurate names only stimulated it to look elsewhere4 ,the first germ of the concept of law and order appears in the minds of the poets1 and to this they give the name of ,rita4 ,this word has no equivalent in our languages1 and translators are uncertain as to the meaning attached to it by the rishis4 ,pliant and full of capability1 there seems no word more fitted to reflect new shades of thought2 and in our efforts to understand it conjecture is much called into play1 from the fact that we have to transfuse ancient thought into modern forms2 in that process some violence is inevitable4 ,max ,mller supposes1 from etymological reasons1 that ,rita originally was used to express the regular movement of the heavenly bodies1 and the path which they followed daily1 from the one point of the heavens to the other1 and he translates ,rita by the 8right path40 8,if we remember how many of the ancient sacrifices in ,india depended on the course of the sun1 how there were daily sacrifices1 at the rising of the sun1 at noon1 and at the setting of the sun2 how there were offerings for the full moon and the new moon1 we may well understand how the sacrifice itself came in time to be called the path of ,rita40#gc ,rita expresses all that is right1 good1 and true1 and ,anrita was used for whatever is false1 evil1 and untrue2 thus the ,hindoos laid it down as an axiom that there was an universal law in the world equally binding on the physical phenomena and on conscious beings1 such as themselves2 and it was this law which ruled the times of the sacrifices to be offered to the divine powers2 and this intuitive perception of law and order1 which is the foundation of the ancient faith of the ,asiatic ,aryans1 is far more important than all the histories of ,savitar1 ,mitra1 ,rudra1 and ,indra1 which are recounted at a later period of the gods of ,india4 ,this belief in ,rita1 in law and order1 as revealed in the unvarying movement of the stars1 or manifested in the unvarying number of the petals1 and stamens1 and pistils of the smallest plant1 was a grand thing2 it was all the difference between a chaos and a cosmos1 between the blind play of chance and a well defined plan4 ,we have become so familiarised with the idea of a fundamental law1 that it now often occupies us less than many of the secondary laws or causes2 and yet our philosophers often find themselves at fault when they endeavour to give an exact idea of this primary law2 but to the ancient prophets it must have been infinitely more perplexing1 though also infinitely more important in their gropings after terra firma on which to plant their feet4 ,the rishis are indefatigable in pointing to the straight path1 or ,rita1 followed by the day and night2 and because the gods have themselves followed this path1 they have the strength to triumph over the powers of darkness1 and to those who ask for it they grant the grace to walk in the same road4 8,o ,indra1 lead us on the path of ,rita1 on the right path over all evils40#gd ,to walk with regularity in the path of duty1 imitating the example of the astral bodies1 or following step by step the sun which never deviates from its orbit1 cannot be an idea foreign to humanity since it is equally familiar to the primitive races and the most elevated minds4 ,cicero said of himself that he was born not only to contemplate the order of the heavenly bodies1 but to imitate this order in his own conduct2 this great orator1 although he was ignorant of the existence of the ,vedic hymns1 spoke after the same manner as the rishis2 and the ,maoris are inspired neither by ,cicero nor the ,hindoo poets1 when they send forth their energetic cry1 8,wait1 wait1 ,o sun1 we will go with thee40 ,to our first ancestors nothing in nature could have been indifferent2 all that they perceived must have come upon them as a continual surprise2 the ,vedic hymns show that our surmise is correct4 ,an irresistible force led them continually to investigate and interrogate those apparitions which1 by their strangeness and grandeur1 were so striking1 and to which they gave the names of the thunderers1 the rainers1 the pounders or storm gods2 no voice replied to their questions2 absolute silence reigned around them2 the limits of the known confronted them4 ,gradually a different perception forced itself upon them1 whether consciously or unconsciously2 all limits have two sides1 the one towards ourselves1 the other towards the beyond2 they were ignorant of what existed beyond1 but they believed it to be there1 since the further boundaries came in contact with it4 ,they wished to draw near to it in order to examine it close at hand1 but in what direction should they advance8 ,the sentiments which the sun and its forerunners awoke in our ancestors must remain for ever beyond our powers of imagination2 the rising of this luminary is to us the result of a physical law1 and is not considered more extraordinary than the birth of a child in a large family2 we know that the dawn is the reflection of the sun's rays in the matutinal vapours2 we have even learnt to calculate the time of its duration in different climates2 but the assurance with which we say1 8,the sun will rise to-morrow1 the day after to-morrow1 every day10 our ancestors never possessed1 and it was this vast unknown domain1 behind the known1 that from the very first supplied the human mind with the impetus required to cause it to seek1 to discover1 what there could be beyond the visible world4 ,as nothing seems to be so far apart as the two points of the horizon where the light of day appears and where he sets1 it is there that the rishis look for a solution of the problem of the beyond4#ge 8,that whence the sun rises1 and that where he sets1 that ,i believe is the oldest1 and no one goes beyond40#gf ,the poets gave the name ,aditi to the dawn4 ,aditi is derived from diti1 binding and bond1 with the negative particle a2 thus at first ,aditi meant that which is without bonds1 not chained1 not enclosed1 infinite4 ,but their imagination soon carried the poets beyond the dawn itself1 that came and went1 but there remained always behind the dawn that heaving sea of light or fire from which she springs2 thus ,aditi herself could not be grasped by the senses4 ,was not this the visible infinite8 ,at this point the mind of the rishis conceived an original and striking idea1 at the sight of the sun following his path and touching two opposite points of the horizon2 they said that arrived at the centre of its course at the zenith1 ,indra from thence could see at the same time ,diti and ,aditi--8,that is what is yonder and what is here1 what is infinite and what is finite1 what is mortal and what is immortal40#gg ,whilst searching increasingly for what he had not yet found1 man had mastered two ideas1 those of law1 and the beyond or the infinite1 though not understanding the accurate meaning of these words2 on these two points his mind was at rest4 ,these two possessions once acquired could not be taken from him2 in ,aditi--which is limitless--could be found a home for things which had no bounds1 and it could furnish an answer to all questions2 and ,rita1 the order which rules the movements of the celestial bodies1 is at the same time an incentive and a promise4 ,a violent convulsion of nature may have alarmed the hearts of men1 but the thought occurs to them1 8,this cannot last always40#gh 8,sun and moon move in regular succession--that we may see1 ,indra1 and believe40#gi ,without fear there could have been no hope1 without hope there could have been no faith4 raddh1 an ancient ,aryan word used before the dispersion of the various members of the family1 is the same as the ,latin ,credo4 ,where the ,romans said credidi the ,brahmans said raddadhau2 where the ,romans said creditum1 the ,brahmans said raddhitam4 ,the germ of the faculty of faith1 therefore1 must have existed in the earliest strata of thought and language1 since without the first glimpses of faith in the soul1 there could have been no word for 8to believe40 ,as auxiliary verbs were lacking at first1 the early ,aryans found it very difficult to say of a thing that it is or is not2 but they possessed the root as1 which originally meant to breathe1 and its simplest derivation was as-u--breath4 ,man having discovered in all the natural phenomena an activity resembling his own1 said of the moon that it measures1 of the river that it runs1 of the sun that it rises and sets2 thus each of these had certain activities peculiar to itself4 ,was there nothing common to all8 ,doubtless1 since an action can be found which is shared equally by man and all animals1 the act of breathing is common to all1 so that our fathers when wishing to affirm that something existed said that it breathed4 ,man turns his gaze from the things that surround him to himself2 he feels superior to the physical phenomena1 to the rivers1 to the mountains4 ,he possesses another nature to that of the sun1 of the stars4 ,he has discovered something in himself that is more than his body4 ,what is it8 how is he to name it8 ,he saw his father or his mother1 who had formerly been in every respect like himself1 prostrate1 without motion1 without speech4 ,what had happened8 ,what was it that had left them8 ,knowing the root as1 and its derivative as-u1 he called it from the first breath1 then spirit1 which originally meant nothing more than the air absorbed by the lungs1 from which it is exhaled as breath4 ,nothing constrained our ancestors to believe that because they had seen their parents die and their bodies decay1 it must follow that what had hitherto animated them was now annihilated4 ,this notion may have entered the brain of a philosopher1 but man in his primitive simplicity1 though doubtless terrified at the sight of death1 would naturally incline to the belief that what he had known and loved1 and had called by the names of father and mother1 must still exist somewhere1 although not in the body4 ,the breath had not been seen to decay4 ,what had become of it8 ,various answers were given to this question1 at divers times and in divers countries4 ,they were all equally probable2 no objections could be made to them1 but neither was there proof2 they are beyond the reach of proof4 8,the best answer was perhaps that contained in the most ancient ,greek language and mythology1 that the souls had gone to the house of the ,invisible1 of ,aides4 ,no one has ever said anything truer40 ,from the depths of the eastern sky ,aditi arises each morning4 ,to the eyes of the ancient seers the dawn seemed to open the gates of another world into which they begged to enter--into the abode of the gods4 ,we can understand that as the sun and all the solar deities rise from the east1 ,aditi was said to be the mother of ,mitra1 ,vishnu1 ,savitar1 and ,varuna4 ,another conception also arose1 that the east being the abode of the bright gods1 would also become the home of those parents and friends who died1 8the blessed departed who would join the company of the gods that they might be transferred to the east40#hj ,aditi thus embodied the mystery of life and death2 and was the 8,mot de l'nigme0 of our existence4 ,all the theogony and primitive philosophy of the ,aryan were concentrated in the dawn4 ,those souls who participate with ,aditi in the 8birthplace of the ,immortals0 sometimes share the worship offered by their children who are still on the earth4 ,one off-shoot of this ancient worship still survives1 and the popularity of the festival of the #ast of ,november in certain countries testifies that the homage rendered to the memory of the dead is a necessity of the human heart4 ,and certainly those whom we are accustomed to speak of as dead are most surely living4 ,the rishis desired to contemplate their faces1 and one of them1 speaking for all1 cried3 8,who will give us back to the great ,aditi1 that ,i may see father and mother80#ha ,all peoples have desired to know which part of the human body is the seat of the soul and of life2 the dictionaries of all languages1 whether spoken by civilised or uncivilised people1 show that the words blood1 heart1 chest1 reins and breath have all been used to indicate the seat of life1 soul1 thought1 and the affections4 ,amongst the ,maoris1 the words used for the internal organs mean at the same time the heart1 and the centre of joy and sorrow2 the seat of conscience and of desires and the will2 it is strange that the brain1 which we often look upon as the cradle of thought1 is not found in the psychological nomenclature of the ancient world4 ,the expression which we find in the ,bible1 8,the blood is the life10 and in other languages besides ,hebrew1 inspired many religious and superstitious acts4 ,it is singular that in one of the dialects spoken in the south of ,india1 ,tamil1 the word used for soul has the sense of leaper or dancer2 these are efforts to express that which moves within us4 ,we are here not amongst learned metaphysicians1 but concerned with simple children of nature2 but the greatest philosophers have at no time more clearly defined the soul than by describing it as that which moves of itself1 but is not moved4 ,our language is so rich in abstract terms1 derived from a small number of concrete words1 that we are not aware how often we use the old material words to express purely mental states or conditions2 for instance we speak of taking things to heart1 or learning verses by heart1 without thinking of the heart that beats within our breasts4 ,fire has always occupied a prominent position in the imagination of all people1 of all nations2 but with the exception of the ,hindoos none have left traditions which enable us to transport ourselves to the simplest beginnings of the fire upon the hearth1 and nothing more4 ,heracleitus already mentions fire as everlasting or immortal1 and the 8origin of all things1 a higher conception than that of the gods of the populace whom ,heracleitus tolerated1 though he did not believe in them4 #8,neither one of the gods1' he declares1 #8nor of men has made this world1 444 it always was and will be1 ever-living fire1 catching forms and consuming them4'0#hb ,heracleitus imagined that he knew what was fire2 but the rishis speak with less assurance2 at first they express their astonishment at the appearance of fire1 it is one of the physical apparitions which impressed them the most1 although of all the devas fire seemed the one most readily known1 since it had its dwelling with men1 it was within reach of the hand1 could be touched1 but as it burnt the fingers the experiment was only made once4 ,although seen so near at hand fire remained a great enigma2 our ancestors could not understand how it could unite in itself at the same time such good and such destructive qualities4 ,it warmed the members numbed by cold1 at night it lighted the hut as if the sun were in it1 yet at times it destroyed suddenly whole forests2 it seemed everywhere2 when the thunder rolled1 fire escaped from a dark cloud like a flash2 it appeared as a spark when two flints were struck or two branches of wood rubbed together2 but its chief characteristic was its excessive mobility1 nothing in nature could compare with the velocity of its movements4 ,the ,aryans at that time possessed a root ag1 which meant going1 marching1 leading1 running1 forcing1 pushing1 chasing1 and jumping1 and gives generally an idea of quick movement1 and as fire moved perpetually1 our ancestors made use of this root ag1 and called fire agni2 this ,sanscrit word--which amongst many others was the most popular--still survives in the ,latin1 as ignis1 in ,lithuania as ugni1 in old ,slavonic1 as ogni2 another ,sanscrit name for fire is vah-ni1 coming from the same root which we have in veho and vehemens1 and it meant originally what moves about quickly4 ,i have collected a few of the characteristic traits attributed by the rishis to the deva ,agni4 8,how did he come--living--from pieces of dead wood8 ,how is he produced from two stones8 ,his mother does not nourish him1 how does he grow so rapidly1 and proceed at once to do his work8 ,he whom nothing resists--like the heavenly thunderbolt--like a hurled weapon4 ,agni1 in a moment1 does violence to the trees of the forest2 he prostrates them--all that moves--that which stands1 trembles before him--making the herbs his food--he licks the garment of the earth--he nourishes himself4 ,turning about with his tongues of fire1 ,agni flares up in the forests4 ,roused by the wind1 he moves about among the tall trees1 and eats them with his sharpened teeth2 he never tires2 coming again and again2 turning about on all sides2 resounding with his sickle2 laughing with his light40 8,professor ,tyndal asks quite rightly3 #8,is it in the human mind to imagine motion1 without at the same time imagining something moved8 ,certainly not4 ,the very conception of motion includes that of a moving body4 ,what then is the thing moved in the case of sunlight8 ,the undulatory theory replies that it is a substance of determinate mechanical properties1 a body which may or may not be a form of ordinary matter1 but to which1 whether it is or not1 we give the name of ,ether4' ,may not the ancient ,aryas say with the same right 7had he been wise enough to put the question71 #8,is it in the human mind to imagine motion without at the same time imagining some one that moves8' ,certainly not4 ,the very conception of motion includes that of a mover1 and1 in the end1 of a prime mover40#hc ,and if1 in the presence of fire1 the early ,aryas had asked who then is the mover1 he would have been told 7if any had been there wise enough to answer the question7 that it is a subject of determinate properties1 a person who may or may not be like ordinary persons1 but to whom1 whether he be or not1 the name ,agni has been given4 ,thus the rishis spoke of ,agni as of an agent1 as well as of ,indra1 ,vayu1 ,rudra1 and the ,maruts2 but we must always remember that they knew nothing definite of these agents any more than we do when we speak of physical phenomena as elements1 or forces of nature1 or certain movements4 ,this striking deva1 ,agni1 manifested at first in the lightning and in the spark1 became as time went on1 the most popular1 and most desired of all the powers2 the fire on the hearth rendered winter bearable1 cooked herbs and roots1 and transformed the devourer of raw flesh into the eater of roast meat2 caused the smoke of sacrifices offered to the higher ,powers to ascend up to heaven4 ,what precautions were necessary to prevent the capricious and uncertain fire from becoming extinct at an inopportune moment1 or in its rage from destroying men and things4 ,fire was for the rishis a being more and more inexplicable4 ,becoming increasingly impressed by his beneficence1 they seek to call him by some new name which shall express more perfectly this later impression2 the name deva--bright1 shining--no longer satisfies them2 they use words such as invincible1 almighty2 even these do not suffice them2 at last they find the word ,amartya--immortal4 8,immortal amongst ,mortals40 ,this expression may be understood in more ways than one2 it is enough for me that the ,hindoos made use of it4 ,it is possible to recognise in it the first attempt to bridge over the gulf which human language and human thought had themselves created between the visible and the invisible1 between the mortal and the immortal1 between the finite and the infinite4 ,for the right appreciation of our intellectual organisation1 it is important to discover and distinguish the coarse threads that form the woof of our most abstract thoughts4 ,it must be noticed that the use of the word immortal in this passage does not imply that ,agni is considered otherwise than as natural fire4 ,the ,rig-,veda does not seem to acknowledge the presence of supernatural beings2 all the names given to the striking aspects of nature1 even those used to designate the unknown powers in general1 such as ,asura--a living thing2 ,deva-asura--the living gods2 ,amartya--the immortal1 still retain physical elements in the most ancient hymns4 ,beings without definite attributes did not occur to the imagination of those who supplied these names1 and believed in the existence of those which these names represented4 ,that which has often been called the adoration of fire was at first its application to the necessities of domestic life1 and afterwards its use in all mechanical and artistic pursuits4 ,if we transfer ourselves to that early stage of life1 and picture the difficulties there were in primitive times of procuring fire at a moment's notice1 and the dangers which would menace a whole community deprived of fire in the midst of winter1 and plunged suddenly in darkness1 we require no far-fetched explanation for a number of time-hallowed customs throughout the world connected with the lighting1 and still more with the guarding of the fire4 ,the natural desire for possessing so useful an object1 and the no less natural terror of being deprived of it1 would lead men to adopt the practices for maintaining it1 afterwards called superstitions1 but which during the infancy of humanity1 were perfectly natural1 and which developed into a sacred rite2 at a later period vestal virgins were appointed to guard it in the temples2 and the fires of ,st ,john1 which are still lighted annually on the tops of certain mountains1 are the last remains of these ancient customs4 ,the ,vedic hymns give us the many different channels whence the phenomenon of fire proceeds1 at one time coming in one way and then in another1 to attract man's attention and to awaken his drowsy faculties4 ,fire comes from the skies where it shines as the sun1 from the waters1 since it comes as lightning1 from the moist and rain-laden clouds1 from the stones1 and from wood1 in the shape of sparks1 from dried leaves and herbs placed on the altar to receive and nourish the sacrificial flame4 ,ceaselessly fire applied at the door of each habitation4 ,apparently it said to man1 whose slowness of comprehension it seemed to understand1 8,to you men1 ,i come1 that ,i may awake you from sleep1 and cause you to know what ,i am40 ,at last man understood1 and the rishis reply to the fire4 8,thou1 ,o ,agni1 art born from the skies--thou from the waters--thou from the stone--thou from the wood--thou from the herbs--thou1 king of men1 the bright one40#hd ,at the same time the mind of the poet seems illuminated with a new thought4 8,if we have committed any sin against thee through human weakness1 through thoughtlessness1 make us sinless before ,aditi1 ,o ,agni1 loosen our misdeeds from us on every side40#he ,of ,agni1 the fire1 there would seem to be nothing left in that supreme god whose laws must be obeyed1 and who can forgive those who have broken his laws4 ,between this transformed ,being of whom the ,aryans implore mercy1 and ,him whom we call ,god1 we can perceive no difference1 and yet1 so mysterious are human speech and thought1 the ,hindoos1 who thought in ancient ,sanscrit1 declare that ,agni has not yet thrown off his physical characteristics1 that he is not yet1 and cannot be ,god2 they add that it is impossible to give the true ,vedic impression in its fulness1 since no modern language possesses phrases in which to express it4 ,i read in another hymn addressed to ,agni a curious verse4 8,o ,heaven and ,earth1 ,i proclaim this truthful fact1 that the child1 as soon as born1 eats his parents4 ,i1 a mortal1 do not understand this fact of a god2 ,agni indeed understands1 for he is wise40#hf ,are the rishis who utter this exclamation ignorant of the fact that the parents of fire are two dry sticks8 ,or is it that the act of a god in eating its father and mother is abhorrent to them8 8,if we1 ,o gods--ignorant among the wise--transgress your commandments1 whatever of the sacrifice weak mortals with their feeble intellect do not comprehend1 ,agni1 the priest1 who knows all rights1 comprehends it1 makes it all good40#hg ,the whole question of sacrifices is still hotly discussed2 whether they preceded or followed prayer4 ,did the ,vedic poets wait till the ceremonial was fully developed before they invoked the ,powers1 or did their prayers suggest the performance of sacrificial acts8 8,agni1 accept this branch that ,i offer4 ,accept this my service--listen well to these my songs4 ,whosoever sacrifices to ,agni with a stick of wood1 with a libation1 with a bundle of herbs1 or with an inclination of his head1 he will be blessed40#hh ,we nowhere hear of a mute sacrifice4 ,that which we call a sacrifice the ancients called simply karma1 an act2 a simple prayer1 preceded by a washing of the hands1 or accompanied by an inclination of the head1 may constitute a karma1 an act2 to light the fire on the hearth1 to bow the head and utter the name of ,agni with some kind epithet1 might also be termed an act4 ,at first the sacrifice may only have been a prayer accompanied by a gift4 ,they may originally have been inseparable1 but in all this there is nothing opposed to the idea that it would be in accordance with human nature that prayer should come first4 ,in time the act of sacrifice assumed a sacred and solemn character4 ,in the earlier vocabularies of the ,aryan tongues the word sacrifice does not occur2 the ,sanscrit and ,zend root of the word are almost identical1 and these languages furnish many words indicative of minute detail of ancient ceremonial4 ,from this may be inferred that a hymn full of allusions to the celebrations of sacrifices must date from a period posterior to the separation of the families4 8,agni1 drive away from us the enemies--tribes who keep no fire came to attack us40#hi ,when the ,aryans of ,asia abandoned their first habitation1 and advanced southwards plundering as they went1 they encountered some of the aborigines of the country1 whose territory they coveted4 ,they were wild tribes2 the descriptions given by the rishis evidently refer to the aborigines of ,india1 whose descendants survive to the present day1 speaking non-,aryan dialects4 ,the epithets of devil and demon are freely used concerning them in the hymns4 ,but apparently in their encounters ,agni1 who opposes these hostile foes1 by appearing under the form of flaming torches1 is not successful in overcoming them1 since the ,aryans implore the aid of other allies4 ,they invoke the help of the two chief warlike powers1 ,indra and ,soma1 to destroy those 8who worship other gods1 who do not speak the truth1 and who eat raw meat40#ij 8,o ,indra and ,soma1 burn the devils1 throw them down--they who grow in darkness--tear them off1 the madmen1 kill them1 slay the gluttons4 ,o ,indra and ,soma1 up against the cursing demon--may he burn like an oblation in the fire4 ,pour your everlasting hatred upon the villain who hates the ,brahman1 who eats raw flesh1 and who looks abominable40#ia ,of ,soma1 who lends such capable aid to ,agni when repulsing the enemies of the ,aryans1 the ,hindoos have four different conceptions4 ,soma is sometimes the moon1 the abode of the fathers4 ,soma is also the lord of the moon4 ,soma is the bowl containing the drink of the gods1 ambrosia4 ,soma is sometimes ambrosia itself4 ,the etymology of the word indicates homonymy2 originally it meant rain and the moon4 ,ambrosia was a type of the rain fertilising the earth1 yet being at the same time a strengthening draught4 ,it is sometimes quite impossible to decide of which ,soma the rishis are speaking1 especially as they seem to find pleasure in confounding the terms4 ,this play upon words fills almost the whole of one book of the ,rig-,veda4 8,meditate on the wisdom of ,soma 7moon7 in all its greatness--yesterday it was dead1 to-day it is living40 8,the poet has swallowed ,soma 7the juice71 he has felt an overpowering inspiration--he has found his hymn40 ,the exalted virtues of ,soma have raised it to the rank of those divinities who dispense immortality4 8,where there is eternal light1 in the world where the sun is placed1 in that immortal1 imperishable world place me1 ,o ,soma1 where life is free1 in the third heaven of heavens1 there make me immortal40#ib ,what is the third heaven8 ,it is an expression with which we are familiar1 but what does it mean8 ,the ,aryans also call the children of ,rudra to their help2 they are allied to ,indra and are called ,maruts4 ,they fill the air with alarming sounds2 these noise-producing beings are the representatives of storms and tempests1 they never appear alone in the ,veda1 they traverse space in groups of from twenty-five to eighty in number1 and they make the earth tremble4 8,where are you going8 towards whom do you go when you descend from on high like a blast of fire8 ,may power be with thee and thy race1 ,o ,rudra4 ,come to us1 ,maruts1 come and help us as quickly as lightning before the rain6 ,let loose1 ,o devourer1 your anger like an arrow against the proud enemy of the poets40#ic 99 99 99 99 99 ,a deep problem now presents itself4 ,what was there before anything existed8 ,two contradictory ideas appear in the hymns1 and the conflict must have been trying4 8,sages have said3 ,in the beginning the world was--a single world--there was not a second4 ,others have said3 ,in the beginning this world had no existence1 and out of nothing1 what now is1 came40 ,much confusion of thought reigned in the human mind4 ,the world must surely have been made from something1 and by certain agents2 but then1 how were the agents themselves formed8 and what material served them for the making of the world8 ,other questions followed4 8,who has seen the firstborn8 ,where was the life1 the blood1 the soul of the world8 ,who went to ask this from any that knew it8 ,what was the forest8 what was the tree out of which they shaped heaven and earth8 ,ye wise1 seek in your mind on what he stood when he held the world40#id ,our ancestors would not have been human if they had not yielded to the temptation of representing the invisible makers of the world by some personality4 ,they therefore speak of carpenters and workmen 8who have cunning hands2 clever artificers who forge the lightning40 ,is it those who have made all that is visible8 ,they know not4 ,it is certain that in speaking of carpenters1 workmen1 thunderers1 tearers1 rainers1 men approached1 perhaps unconsciously1 the domain of causes1 which from the beginning has been the ancient foundation of all that is transcendental in our knowledge4 ,it could not be otherwise1 since our reason is so constituted that it admits nothing but what is either cause or effect4 ,there are thoughts to be found in the ,veda which are excessively infantine1 but again there are others of astonishing subtlety2 perhaps they date from different epochs2 but individualities are apparent in these hymns1 and they anticipated by many centuries the greater number of contemporary writers who followed at a slower pace4 ,the rishis who said1 8,there is one ,being only1 although the poets call him by a thousand names10 perfectly expressed this truth2 and the ,hindoos for centuries have invoked ,indra1 ,mitra1 ,agni1 and ,savitar1 though the more profound thinkers have protested against the traditional use of these names1 just as ,heracleitus #ejj years before our era objected to the thousand names1 the thousand temples1 and the thousand legends of the ,greek mythology4 ,the rishis in asking themselves how all things began were not content with representing the world as coming from the hands of clever workmen1 were they even invisible2 it was no great labour to discover that2 but at times they had profounder thoughts4 ,the sacred literatures of many ancient peoples have reached us1 in fragments more or less complete2 but the meditations which can equal those in the hymn #abi are rare4 8,the ,one in the form of the ,un-born was not--the luminous firmament existed not--nor the great vault of heaven--where was he hidden8 ,was it in the bottomless abyss8 ,death existed not--nor immortality4 ,there was no distinction between day and night4 ,the ,one breathed breathless by itself4 ,other than it there nothing since has been4 ,there was darkness then2 everything in the beginning was hidden in gloom--all was like the ocean1 without a light4 ,then that germ which was covered by the husk--the ,one--was brought forth by the power of heat4 ,on this germ was love--the springtime of the spirit--yes4 ,and the poets whilst meditating upon it1 discovered in their soul the link between created things and things not created4 ,this spark1 comes it from the earth--piercing all--penetrating through all--or comes it from the sky8 ,there seeds were scattered1 and powerful forces came into being2 nature beneath1 will and power above4 ,who knows the secret--who proclaimed whence this manifold creation sprang8 ,the gods themselves came later into being2 who knows whence this great creation sprang8 ,he from whom all this great creation came--whether his will created or was mute4 ,he1 the most high seer1 that is in highest heaven1 he knows it--or perchance even he knows not40 8,who knows whence this great creation sprang80 the ,hindoos asked themselves1 thousands of years before our era2 and again1 8,what was the forest1 what was the tree1 from which they cut out heaven and earth8 ,what was there before anything existed80 ,these questions1 differently expressed1 are found in many places in the ,veda2 every kind of problem is presented to us under the form of enigmas4 ,the ,hindoos seem to have had an idea that the visible world was preceded by something invisible1 yet much more real than the world of phenomena in which we live2 and that before apparitions existed1 there was that which appeared afterwards in time and space4 ,these same questions will constantly be repeated in changing terms1 through the coming centuries1 whilst a heaven and earth remain4 ,the problem which occupied the powerful intellects of ,hume and ,kant1 and which these philosophers named the principle of causality1 was already exercising the brains of our fathers when they gave names for the first time to the sky1 the sun1 the dawn1 and the other physical phenomena1 by means of roots indicating activity2 for the principle of causality manifested itself in the beginning1 not in the direct search for a cause1 but in the assertion of the existence of an agent4 ,this mental labour1 commenced and accomplished thousands of centuries ago by millions of human beings1 deserves at least as much attention from us as the learned speculations of two modern philosophers1 be they ,hume or ,kant4 ,so striking an object as the sun1 even before possessing a definite name1 must have been designated in some special way2 perhaps as a simple circle1 such as we find in the ,egyptian hieroglyphics1 in the ,chinese writing1 and in our astronomical almanacs2 this symbol would give little opportunities to the mythologists2 but when the idea arose that the sun was a ball1 and that an analogy was found between a ball and an eye1 man began to speak of the sun as the eye of the sky4 ,we say readily in all languages1 8,god is omniscient10 but ,hesiod1 to express the same truth said1 8,the sun is the eye of ,zeus who sees and knows all40 ,if the language appears childish to us1 we must remember that it was the expression of a poet who lived long before the philosophers of ,greece1 we shall then be less struck by its harshness than by the happy and pure thought which has been expressed4 ,the sun has been an object of adoration with many of the primitive nations2 it seems uncertain whether as the divinity himself or as his representative2 most of the mythologists assure us that the ancient ,egyptians worshipped the sun's disc itself4 ,the first step is invariably followed by a second1 and a good example of development in religious belief is afforded by a ,mexican legend4 ,the story is told of the ,inca ,tupac ,yupanqui1 who1 though reputed a son of the sun1 began to doubt the divine omnipotence of his divine ancestor4 ,at a great religious council1 held at the consecration of the newly built temple of the sun at ,cuzco1 he rose before the assembled multitude to deny the divinity of the sun4 8,many say10 he began1 8that the sun is the maker of all things4 ,but he who makes should abide by what he has made4 ,now many things happen when the sun is absent2 therefore he cannot be the universal ,creator4 ,and that he is alive at all1 is doubtful1 for his journeys do not tire him4 ,he is like a tethered beast who makes a daily round2 he is like an arrow which must go whither it is sent1 not whither it wishes4 ,i tell you that he1 our father and maker--the sun--must have a lord and master more powerful than himself1 who constrains him to his daily circuit without pause or rest40#ie ,we can follow in the ,vedic hymns the gradual development which changes the sun from a simple luminary1 and the giver of daily light and life1 to the preserver and ruler of the world4 ,he who brings life and light to-day1 is the same who brought life and light on the first of days2 as he drives away the darkness of night1 and as 8the stars flee before the all-seeing sun1 like thieves10 the eye fixed on men--the sun--sees the right and wrong and knows their thoughts4 ,almost all peoples have raised their eyes to the sky1 the abode of the invisible ,powers2 and our ancestors1 who addressed such fervent prayers to all the phenomena of nature could not fail to invoke it4 ,but the sky shows itself under very varying aspects1 it is sometimes the sky dazzling with light1 then there is the lowering sky1 or the sky that thunders1 that rains2 each time that it varies it changes its name2 and these names must be known to man since it is always invoked under the special denomination of the power he is about to address4 ,varuna is one of the names of the sky1 his physical characteristic reflects it1 it is the vast vault or covering which protects the whole earth and its inhabitants2 it is also the sky which is itself obscured when the sun disappears4 ,in the ,veda1 ,varuna is associated with ,mitra1 the light1 thus giving rise to a concept of correlative gods representing night and day1 morning and evening1 heaven and earth4 8,he who should flee far beyond the sky--even he would not be rid of ,varuna1 the king4 ,king ,varuna sees all this1 what is between heaven and earth1 and what is beyond4 ,this earth1 too1 belongs to ,varuna1 the king1 and this wide sky with its ends far apart4 ,the two seas are ,varuna's loins2 he is also contained in this small drop of water40 8,the great lord of these worlds sees as if he were near3 if a man stands or walks1 if he goes to lie down or to get up1 if he thinks he is walking by stealth1 the god ,varuna knows it all4 ,what two people sitting together whisper1 ,king ,varuna knows it1 he is there as the third40#if ,the prayers of the rishis overflow with the acknowledgment of their sins1 and their belief that the gods have the power to deliver them from the burden of their faults4 8,let me not yet1 ,o ,varuna1 enter into the house of clay 7earth74 ,have mercy1 ,almighty1 have mercy4 ,if ,i move along trembling1 like a cloud driven by the wind1 have mercy4 ,through want of strength1 have ,i gone astray1 thou strong and bright god1 have mercy4 ,thirst came upon the worshipper1 though he stood in the midst of the waters--have mercy1 ,almighty1 have mercy40#ig ,it is noticeable that in the ,hindoo mind the sun1 in its many manifestations1 is sometimes synonymous with the firmament3 ,indra1 as the illuminator of the zenith2 ,savitar1 as the bestower of life2 ,mitra1 as the friend of humanity2 the indefatigable ,agni1 so modest but so active1 in cooking the food and smelting iron1 so powerful when it bears the smoke of the sacrifices heavenwards1 and so exalted when it takes its place in the sun and descends in the form of lightning2 and the spacious firmament which holds them all in its bosom2 they are all one to the adorer of the divine powers2 all are equally marvellous1 it is a galaxy of brilliance4 ,what innumerable gods1 and not one to whom it could be said1 8,deliver us from evil40 ,urged on by an irresistible curiosity the rishis ceaselessly probe into the unknown and the distant4 8,beyond the sky1 beyond the earth1 beyond the ,devas and the ,asuras1 what was the first germ which the waters bore1 wherein all gods were seen8 ,the waters bore that first germ in which all the gods came together4 ,that one thing in which all creatures rested was placed in the lap of the unborn4 ,you will never know him who created these things1 something else stands between you and ,him4 ,enveloped in mist and with faltering voices1 the poets walk along rejoicing in life40#ih ,how was it that in the midst of the magnificence of their immense ,pantheon1 the poets succeeded in obtaining glimpses of the ,one4 ,who was ,he8 ,the mists surround ,him and prevent ,him being clearly discerned4 ,if there was one thing in nature more adapted than another to satisfy the desire of bridging over the limits of the visible world1 it was certainly the vault of heaven2 above the storms and clouds which are temporary1 beyond all that is changeable2 amongst all the changing objects which meet the eyes1 surely the firmament was the most exalted1 the most extended1 and immovable4 ,we know the genealogy of the name of the sky1 ,dyaus1 which enables us to trace the transformations and subsequent applications2 and as we advance we shall glean some particulars of that science which at a later date was called grammar4 ,it is known that in the ,aryan languages some of the oldest words are without gender2 speaking grammatically1 pater is not a masculine1 nor mater a feminine2 nor do the oldest words for river1 mountain1 tree1 or sky1 disclose any outward sign of grammatical gender4 ,but though without any signs of gender1 all ancient nouns expressed activity4 ,the distinction of gender began1 not with the introduction of masculine nouns1 but with the setting apart of certain derivative suffixes for feminine words2 thus when bona was introduced1 bonus became masculine2 when puella could be applied to a girl1 puer1 which formerly meant both boy and girl1 became restricted to the meaning of boy4 ,therefore1 whenever it happens that we have a female representative of a natural phenomenon by the side of a male1 the female may almost always be taken as the later form4 ,this rule1 which has been strictly applied to the name of ,dyaus1 dates from so remote a time that its origin is lost in the mists of ages4 ,dyaus1 like deva1 shining1 comes from the root div or dyu1 but this root bifurcates at once4 ,in the ,rig-,veda forms derived from the base div are masculine or feminine as the case may be1 whilst those which are derived from dyu are always masculine2 thus dyaus from div1 is the firmament1 the expanse above our heads1 and is the later feminine form2 whereas dyaus from dyu1 is the sky considered as a power1 an active force1 and is masculine1 and consequently is the earlier conception4 ,these two words1 dyaus1 nominative singular1 and its base1 dyu1 being almost synonymous may be used indifferently4 ,all vegetable cells are destined to become plants1 though sometimes different plants1 this1 observation of nature teaches us4 ,all verbal cells are destined to become words1 though differing1 that is1 with different meanings2 the small amount of philological study to which we have already devoted ourselves in these pages shows us this4 ,all cells1 whatever their nature1 possess a transitive movement2 the ,french word clater has the meaning of to disperse in brilliancy2 if we imagine scintillations of light escaping from a central luminary we obtain the idea of a transitive luminous movement4 ,whilst a cell preserves its primary condition it is not possible to predict its future2 no human intelligence could have foretold that the root div and dyu would produce the ,sanscrit word deva1 which means to shine1 and deva would in time develop into deus1 which now no longer means to shine1 but ,god4 ,it is a curious characteristic of ,vedic ,sanscrit that this uncertainty of meaning of such words as deva1 which expresses equally the half physical and half spiritual intention1 is an evidence of its rays having proceeded from the same source of light and heat4 ,human reason1 in finding its way amongst crooked paths1 often wanders2 the representations it makes of things are coloured by rays projected by mythological or dogmatic mirages4 ,we may recognise in the manner in which our ancestors have viewed the supernatural powers the prototype of our own errors of judgment4 ,from the time that ,dyaus became the warming1 life-giving sky and thus active1 the rishis were authorised to call him pitar1 father1 and to place by his side ,prithvi1 the earth1 who is the mother1 and they then spoke of ,dyaus as the father of the dawn1 and of day and night4 ,these were thus considered as the first attributes of the sky in ,aryan mythology4 ,we are inclined to ascribe these excursions of thought to the flights of poetic fancy1 but they are rather the results of the poverty of language1 which make it impossible not only to express abstract ideas1 but even to describe accurately the phenomena of the physical world4 ,religion and language in those days were so closely allied that it is possible to say of a religious idea in its infancy that it was a fragment of ancient language2 for in order to describe his impressions the ,aryan depended entirely on the words with which it furnished him4 ,for this reason many of the hymns1 incoherent though they may appear1 are of inestimable value4 ,every one of their words weighs and tells1 but for the translator who endeavours to present the ,vedic thought in modern idioms1 the results are so discouraging that he is tempted to give up in despair4 ,when at a later date the name of ,dyaus became the centre of fabulous tales1 it still remained in the ,sanscrit language of that time one of the many traditional and unmeaning words for sky2 but we must understand clearly that in the most ancient hymns of the ,rig-,veda this name is the incarnation of the ,power which is beyond and above conception1 whose existence had been obscurely indicated from the beginning1 and who remained unnamed long after the beasts of the forests and the birds of the air had received their appellations4 ,from the time of their exodus the ,aryan family1 going in different directions1 were naturally divided into branches2 vast distances separated them1 and they forgot that the same cradle1 the same hearth1 had sheltered them at birth4 ,but the ties which connected them originally were not snapped at all points1 since they brought away with them words belonging to their mother-tongue1 and certain intuitions were the common property of all4 ,before the ,greek1 ,latin1 ,sanscrit1 and ,german languages became separated1 the name of a sovereign ,power was implied in those of the divinity which at a much later time occupied so large a space in the history of ,greece1 ,rome1 ,india1 and of ,germany4 ,coupled with the word pitar the name ,dyaus appears in the most ancient ,aryan prayers as ,dyaush-pitar1 ,zeus-pater1 and ,ju-piter4 ,these composite names are no invention of the poets2 they are the results of certain laws of language to which our minds--if they would not turn from the right path--must submit4 ,the initial dy in ,dyaus is represented in ,latin by j2 ,ju in ,jupiter corresponds exactly with ,dyaus4 ,the name of the ,teutonic god ,tyr1 genitive ,tys1 also corresponds1 and as exactly1 with ,dyaus2 in ,gothic it would be ,tius1 and in ,anglo-,saxon ,tiw1 preserved in ,tiwsdg1 the day of the god ,tyr1 and ,zio in ,old ,high-,german1 where we find ,ziestac for the modern ,dienstag1 the day of the god ,mars4 ,tius1 ,tiw1 ,tyr1 and ,zio are forms that exist side by side1 all of which of course proceed from that wonderful root div1 and represent the bright sky1 day1 and god4 ,no etymological interpretation would be satisfying which did not embrace all these forms1 since they are all dialectic variations of ,dyaus1 the same name in different languages4 ,all names truly related have but one root1 in the same way as living beings who are brothers have but one mother4 ,if another proof were needed of the uninterrupted continuity of speech and thought amongst the chief of the ,aryan people1 the following fact will afford it3-- ,at the time when the schools flourished in ,athens1 and when the ,greeks were hardly conscious of the existence of ,india1 it would have been possible1 ,i suppose1 to see young pupils seated before tables on which the master had written the declensions which composed the task for the day4 ,there might be read3-- ,nom4 ,zes ,gen4 ,dios ,dat4 ,dii ,acc4 ,dia ,voc4 ,ze ,thus the young ,athenians wrote the name of ,zeus with an acute accent in the nominative1 and a circumflex in the vocative4 ,at the same time the pupils of the ,brahmans at ,benares1 when declining the name of their supreme deity1 accented the syllables exactly in the same way as the ,greeks1 and they wrote3-- ,nom4 ,dyas ,gen4 ,dyvas ,dat4 ,divi ,acc4 ,divam ,voc4 ,dyas ,but there was this difference between the ,grecian pupils and the ,hindoos1 that the former were ignorant of the reason of these changes of accent1 since the explanation was lacking in the ,greek grammar1 whereas the ,sanscrit grammar explained to the latter the general principles of accentuation on which the changes rested4 ,the name of ,dyaus was the source from which sprang an unique name1 coined once and for ever1 adopted by our entire family2 the ,greeks have no more borrowed it from the ,hindoos1 than the ,romans and the ,teutons from the ,greeks2 for it was pronounced before the separation of our ancestors with regard to language or religion2 its meaning was ,heaven-,father4 ,our missionaries who go from one end of the earth to the other1 reciting the ,lord's ,prayer in all the dialects of the world1 do not doubt the historical fact that this prayer was said one day at ,jerusalem for the first time2 we also may feel as profoundly convinced that under the name of ,heaven-,father1 the ,supreme ,being has been worshipped on the ,himalayan mountains1 under the oaks of ,dodona1 on the ,capitol1 and in the forests of ,germany4 ,it has required millions of men to fashion this name alone1 which is the most ancient prayer of the ,aryan race4 8,five thousand years have passed1 perhaps more1 since the ,asiatic ,aryans1 speaking as yet neither ,sanscrit1 ,greek1 nor ,latin1 called upon the ,all-,father as ,dyu-patar1 ,heaven-,father4 ,four thousand years ago1 or it may be earlier1 the ,aryans who had travelled southwards to the rivers of the ,punjaub called him ,dyaush-pita1 the ,heaven-,father4 ,three thousand years ago1 or it may be earlier1 the ,aryans on the shores of the ,hellespont called him ,zeus-pater1 ,heaven-,father4 ,two thousand years ago the ,aryans of ,italy looked up to that bright ,heaven above and called it ,ju-piter1 the ,heaven-,father4 ,and a thousand years ago the same ,heaven-,father was invoked in the dark forests of ,germany1 since the ,teutonic ,aryans sacrificed to the same ,heaven-,father2 and his old name of ,tyr1 ,tiu1 or ,zio resounded then perhaps for the last time4 8,but no thought1 no name1 has ever been entirely lost40#ii ,some thousands of years have elapsed since these families have spread abroad on all sides2 each branch has formed its own language1 its own nationality1 its mode of viewing life1 and its philosophies2 temples have been built and razed to the ground2 since then all have aged1 all are wiser1 perhaps better1 but the name which they gave to the ,invisible ,power who enfolds them is still the same1 8,our ,father which art in ,heaven40 ,this name1 whose unity has always been perfect1 is a magical formula1 which brings our ancestors1 even the most remote1 within touch1 and enables us to see them as they were1 as they spoke and felt1 thousands of years before ,homer and the ,hindoo poets4 ,guided by the science of language and following the path in the ,vedic hymns taken by the humanity preceding us1 we see how the concept of ,god1 in its germ in the name ,deva1 grew from the idea of light1 to active light1 the one who wakens1 the giver of daily light1 of warmth and new life4 ,it is easy to understand the difference between these two assertions--first of this one--that the early ,aryans called the phenomena of nature themselves by the name of ,god2 and the other--that the ,aryan mind distilled from the concept of these phenomena the general idea of ,god4 8,if ,i were asked10 said ,max ,mller1 8which is the most wonderful discovery of the nineteenth century in the history of humanity1 ,i should reply it is that of the etymological equation of the ,sanscrit ,dyaush-pitar1 the ,greek ,zeus-pater1 the ,latin ,ju-piter1 and ,tyr1 ,tiw1 and ,zio of the ,germans40 ,that the generality of people should be inconsequent is not a matter of surprise4 ,he may well be pardoned who does not at once1 on the word of another1 credit a number of facts of which no proofs are forthcoming1 and who at the same time shows himself unwilling to accept the deductions of a science of which he knows nothing1 that of etymology2 but what does seem strange is that learned scholars who are perfectly capable of following the progress made by philology1 refuse to recognise the identity of the different names given to the supreme deity of the ,aryan race4 ,certain positivists are in this case2 nothing irritates them more than to offer them grammatical proof that all the ,aryan families had1 before their separation1 the same belief2 and they try to demonstrate that the name of ,dyaus at the first meant nothing more than the sky2 and that only at a later period people had changed the name of sky and of firmament--physical phenomena only--into proper names which transformed nomina into numina4 ,it is worthy of note that this assertion is founded on a fact1 but a fact not well understood4 ,in the later literature of ,india which was known before the ,veda became so much studied1 the name of ,dyaus was only known as a feminine2 it was the recognised name for sky and day1 and implied nothing divine4 ,the ancient ,aryan ,dyaus after a time paled before ,indra--a god of ,indian soil2 ,indra1 formerly the rain-giver--the ally of ,rudra--ceased to reside exclusively in the more menacing phenomena of the atmosphere1 and it is the pure light in which he is worshipped4 ,he is now supreme4 8,before ,indra the divine ,dyu bowed1 before ,indra bowed the great ,prithivi40#ajj ,in order duly to celebrate ,indra1 the rishis did not content themselves with the praises they considered fitting for the other gods4 ,they laboured hard to find the right expression and every hymn is a heroic feat4 8,the other gods were sent away like shrivelled up old men2 thou1 ,o ,indra1 becamest the king4 ,no one is beyond thee1 no one is better than thou art1 no one is like unto thee4 ,keep silence well6 we offer our praises to the great ,indra in the house of the sacrificer4 ,does he find treasure for those who are like sleepers8 ,mean praise is not valued among the munificent40#aja ,it is strange that it is in connection with the great ,indra1 the most popular of all the gods of ,india1 that indications of a struggle between faith and doubt are apparent in the praises addressed to him4 ,the existence of the other divinities was as firmly established as the splendour of the sun and stars1 as the appearances of fire1 the movements of the winds1 the impressions made by heat and cold2 and the confidence they inspired was too firmly established to require stimulating2 and then suddenly we find the rishis discoursing on and enumerating the reasons that exist for man's belief in ,indra4 8,when the fiery ,indra hurls down the thunder-bolt1 then people put faith in him4 ,look at this his great and mighty work1 and believe in his great power40 ,whence came this insistence to recall the great power of ,indra8 ,it almost suggests the thought that the rishis felt the approach of a change in their conception of the omnipotence of some of the gods of nature4 8,offer praise to ,indra1 if you desire booty2 true praise1 if he truly exists4 ,one and the other says1 ,there is no ,indra1 who has seen him8 ,whom shall we praise8 ,the terrible one of whom they ask where he is40#ajb ,but the poet at once introduces ,indra on the scene1 and makes him say3-- 8,here ,i am1 ,o worshipper6 behold me here4 ,in might ,i overcome all creatures40--,id4 ,in reading the ,rig-,veda attentively1 in spite of these efforts to revive the ancient faith1 here and there can be discovered slight traces of scepticism1 so slight as to be scarcely perceptible1 and these apart from the incredulity exhibited concerning the powerful ,indra4 ,the ,hindoo was by nature profoundly believing1 but his intellect was subtle and scrutinising1 and he considered it due to himself to give exact explanations of all2 the rishis make the following true remarks4 8,fire is quenched by water1 a cloud hides the sun1 the sun also disappears behind the sea20 and from these observations they draw the following conclusions4 8,water must not be worshipped1 since a cloud can carry it away2 nor the cloud1 since the wind can disperse it40 99 99 99 99 99 ,the positivists have made too much of the fact that ,dyaus1 at one time in ,india1 meant simply the sky and day2 a rock is not more immovable than grammar1 and it is moreover quite indifferent to all blows aimed at truths other than it holds4 ,certain scholars in their researches after the origin of ,aryan divinities1 were surprised and somewhat disconcerted at a gap which confronted them and prevented further progress2 nowhere in the later literature of ,india could any trace be found of ,dyaus as a god who could correspond to the supreme divinity of the other branches of the family4 ,however1 the very rational conviction that this deity must have existed gradually strengthened in the minds of the learned4 ,they were thus at a standstill1 when the ,veda appeared under the strong light of modern investigation and brought to view the name of ,dyaus totally different from the feminine dyaus1 a ,dyaus presenting in itself1 not merely the masculine substantive1 but joined with pita--father4 ,amongst the ,hindoos it had paled before ,indra1 who was a god of later date1 but the other ,aryan races had been uninfluenced by this4 ,dyaus1 the chief god1 had accompanied them in their migrations1 and ,zeus-pater1 ,ju-piter1 ,tyr1 ,tiw1 and ,zio1 became the exact representative of him1 each in a different country2 this discovery of ,dyaush-pita1 was like finding at last a star in the very place of the heavens which had been fixed before by calculation1 but where previously there had been a void4 ,this was not the only discovery due to the study of the ,veda4 ,no one could ignore the fact1 that amongst the ,hindoos dyaus was the name of the sky1 since it bears in itself the root which attests this2 but it would have been impossible to discover the radical or predicative meaning of ,zeus by the help of ,greek alone2 it possesses no certificate of birth1 and the ,greeks had no traditions connected with it that could have taught us4 ,with the help of comparative philology all is made plain2 ,zeus was born when ,dyaus was recognised as masculine and called father1 ,dyaush-pitar1 ,ju-piter1 ,zeus-pater1 and from the moment that we are made acquainted with the origin of ,zeus1 the rest of his career unrolls before us4 ,our ancestors1 however1 had still a long time to wander in the wilderness of error1 and lost themselves many times4 ,the ,hindoos thought for a time that they had found in ,dyaus the object of their search2 but the supernatural light and the light of day became confounded2 when the word ,dyaus was pronounced1 the many natural bright objects it might signify all vibrated in response and melted into one2 they became--as a double star does--one object1 and ,dyu1 the god of light1 was eclipsed behind dyu the sky4 ,when the question was asked for the first time whence came the rain1 the lightning1 and the thunder1 those who inhabited ,italy replied that rain came from ,jupiter ,pluvius1 the lightning from ,jupiter fulminator and fulgurator1 the thunder from ,jupiter tonans4 ,in ,greece all that concerned the higher regions of the atmosphere was attributed to ,zeus2 it was ,zeus who rained1 who snowed1 thundered1 gathered the clouds1 let loose the tempests1 held the rainbow in his hand2 many legends were grouped around these divine names2 the more incomprehensible they were1 the more eagerly were they heard1 until it is very doubtful whether any trace remains of that ,being who at the first gave to the name of the sky its highest signification4 ,a characteristic trait of the ,hindoos1 which is noticeable in the hymns1 is a tendency to praise all by which they are surrounded4 ,not satisfied with celebrating the virtues of the invisible beings1 which they imagine to be behind the semi-tangible and intangible objects such as mountains1 rivers1 trees1 fire1 the sun1 storms1 etc41 the rishis1 carried away by the ardour of their feelings1 glorify objects which are perfectly tangible1 even those which they may have made with their own hands1 or those which at least have nothing mysterious in them2 these are termed devatas1 and the commentator explains that by this word is meant the person or thing addressed2 thus the victims to be offered1 or a sacrificial vessel1 or a battle-axe or shield1 all these are called devatas2 in some dialogues found in the hymns whoever speaks is called the rishi1 whoever is spoken to is the devata4 8,the late ,herbert ,spencer relates that even in our days the ,hindoo offers prayers to the objects which he uses2 a woman adores the basket which she takes to the market and offers sacrifices to it1 as well as to the other implements which assist her in her household labours4 ,a carpenter pays the like homage to his hatchet1 the mason to his trowel1 and the ,brahman to the style with which he is going to write4 ,the question is1 in what sense did the author of ,principles of ,sociology use the word adore80#ajc ,the desire to have an exact account of what is happening alternates with the prayers and adoration2 the questions and praises interlace like the threads of a web4 8,unsupported1 not fastened1 how does he 7the sun7 rising up1 not fall down80 ,the poet is also anxious to know how the dawn and the sun appear each morning2 how there is so much rain1 also such an abundance of rivers and streams4 8,how many fires are there1 how many dawns1 how many suns1 and how many waters8 ,i do not say this1 ,o fathers1 to worry you2 ,i ask you1 ,o seers1 that ,i may know40 ,the explanation also is desired by these enquirers how it is that a red or brown cow can give white milk4#ajd ,the rishis are rigorous logicians1 and consider that the powerful divinities who made the world such as it is might have done better2 and they do not scruple to communicate their opinion to whom it concerns4 8,if we were as rich as you we should not allow our worshippers to beg their bread40 99 99 99 99 99 ,it has been asked whether humanity commenced by having a monotheistic or a polytheistic religion4 ,this is not the first time that this question has been propounded2 it has as an antecedent a very ancient opinion1 developed in the schools of theology in the ,middle ,ages2 the ,fathers of the ,church gave it as their opinion that a faith in one ,god1 from the days of the greatest antiquity1 had been the glorious heritage of the ,semitic family1 coming in a direct line from the first man4 ,but these same theologians considered ,hebrew to be the primitive language of the human race1 an assertion now known to be erroneous4#aje ,we may therefore subject the first assertion to an examination4 ,the learned writers who dispute on the original form of religious thought forget that the ancient ,aryans could not have been either monotheistic or polytheistic4 ,the ,vedic hymns show us that though there were many gods1 and that they were equal1 yet whilst the worshipper was addressing one1 the rest were excluded from his mind1 and were as though they did not exist2 each god became in turn the ,supreme ,power1 and received the highest praise2 the rishis1 who had represented the sun under the names of ,vishnu1 ,varuna1 ,mitra1 ,savitar as the creator of the world1 spoke of it immediately afterwards as the child of the waters1 born of the dawn1 a god among other gods1 neither better nor worse2 it is this characteristic of the ,aryan religion1 this worship offered alternately to different divinities to which ,max ,mller has given the name of ,henotheism4 8,among you1 ,o gods1 there is none that is great1 and none that is little--none old or young--you are all great indeed40 ,the religion of humanity in its entirety at the beginning was this intuition of the divine1 whose formula is that article of faith1 at once the simplest and the most important--,god is ,god--the want of definiteness in it making it the more applicable to the dawn of thought4 ,this primitive intuition of ,god was in itself neither monotheistic nor polytheistic1 though it might become either according to the expression which it took in the language of man2 in no language does the plural exist before the singular2 no human mind could have conceived the idea of gods without having previously conceived the idea of one ,god4 8,it would be1 however1 quite as great a mistake to imagine1 because the idea of a god must exist previously to that of gods1 that therefore a belief in one ,god preceded everywhere the belief in many gods4 ,a belief in ,god1 as exclusively ,one1 involves a distinct negation of more than one ,god1 and that negation is possible only after the conception1 whether real or imaginary1 of many gods40#ajf ,if therefore an expression had been given to this primitive intuition of the ,deity1 which is the mainspring of all later religion1 it would have been1 8,there is a ,god10 but certainly not yet1 8,there is but one ,god40 ,these fine distinctions require close attention to grasp them2 the fact that in our modern tongues we have derived the singular ,theos from the ,greek plural ,theoi has caused confusion2 from a historical point of view1 no doubt ,theos has come from ,theoi2 but putting this aside1 the meaning of the word has gone through as complete a transformation as that of the acorn to the oak2 the evidence of this change has been so deeply impressed even on our outward senses that as soon as our intellect has attained some measure of development the sound of the word ,god used in the plural jars on our ears as if we heard of two universes or one twin4 ,the ,hindoo mind1 however1 oscillated between the representation of many gods and of one only ,god2 and the rishis appear to have attempted to establish a sort of priority amongst their numerous deities4 8,that which is one1 the seers call in many ways2 they speak of ,indra1 ,mitra1 ,agni1 and ,varuna--they call it by various names--that which is1 and is one40 8,in the evening ,agni becomes ,varuna--he becomes ,mitra when rising in the mornings2 having become ,savitri1 he passes through the sky--having become ,indra he warms the heaven in the centre40#ajg ,this attempt1 which might have led to monotheism1 came to nothing2 on this point the ,hindoos were behind the ,greeks and ,romans1 who with their polytheism had a presiding deity1 viz41 ,zeus and ,jupiter4 8,when we thus see the god ,dyaus antiquated by ,indra1 and ,indra himself almost denied1 we might expect in ,india the same catastrophe which in ,iceland the poets of the ,edda always predicted--the twilight of the gods preceding the destruction of the world4 ,we seem to have reached the stage when henotheism1 after trying in vain to grow into an organised polytheism on the one side1 or into an exclusive monotheism on the other1 would by necessity end in atheism2 yet atheism is not the last word of the ,indian religion40#ajh ,what is atheism8 ,,footnotes3 #gb ,max ,mller1 ,origin and ,growth of ,religion1 p4 #bca4 #gc ,max ,mller1 ,origin and ,growth of ,religion1 p4 #bej4 #gd ,rig-,veda1 ,x4 #acc4 #f4 #ge 8,to the ancient seers the dawn seemed to open the golden gates of another world1 and while these gates were open for the sun to pass in triumph1 their eyes and their minds strove in their childish way to pierce beyond the limits of this finite world40--,origin and ,growth of ,religion1 p4 #bce4 #gf ,atharva-,veda1 ,x4 #h4 #af4 #gg ,rig-,veda1 ,i4 #ce4 #b4 #gh ,max ,mller's words on the subject are as follows3 8,these two concepts 7the infinite1 and order and law71 which sooner or later must be taken in and minded by every human being1 were at first no more than an impulse1 but their impulsive force would not rest till it had beaten into the minds of the fathers of our race the deep and indelible impression that #8all is right1' and filled them with a hope1 and more than a hope1 that #8all will be right4'0--,origin and ,growth of ,religion1 p4 #bei4 #gi ,rig-,veda1 ,i4 #ajb4 #b4 #hj ,origin and ,growth of ,religion1 p4 #bch4 #ha ,rig-,veda1 ,i4 #bd4 #a4 #hb ,physical ,religion1 p4 #bde4 #hc ,physical ,religion1 p4 #abg4 #hd ,rig-,veda1 ,,ii4 #a4 #a4 #he ,ibid41 ,,iv4 #ab4 #d4 #hf ,rig-,veda1 ,x4 #gi4 #d4 #hg ,ibid41 ,x4 #b4 #d1 #e4 #hh ,ibid41 ,,ii4 #f4 #a2 ,,viii4 #ai4 #e4 #hi ,rig-,veda1 ,i4 #ahi4 #c4 #ij ,ibid41 ,,vii4 #ajd4 #ia ,rig-,veda1 ,,vii4 #ajd4 #ib ,ibid41 ,,ix4 #aac4 #g4 #ic ,rig-,veda1 ,i4 #ci4 #id ,ibid41 ,i4 #afd2 ,x4 #ha4 #d4 #ie ,physical ,religion1 pp4 #ahc-d4 #if ,atharva1 ,,iv4 #af4 #ig ,rig-,veda1 ,,vii4 #hi4 #ih ,rig-,veda1 ,x4 #hb4 #ii ,origin and ,growth of ,religion1 p4 #bbc4 #ajj ,rig-,veda1 ,i4 #aca4 #a4 #aja ,rig-,veda1 ,i4 #aec2 ,,iv4 #ai4 #b4 #ajb ,ibid41 ,,viii4 #ajj4 #c4 #ajc ,origin and ,growth of ,religion1 p4 #bje note4 #ajd ,max ,mller says3 8,there is also a common saying or riddle in ,german which you may hear repeated to the present day3-- #8,o sagt mir doch wie geht es zu ,dass weis die milch der rothen ,kuh8'0 --,physical ,religion1 p4 #aja4 #aje ,dante at one time was of this opinion4 8,in his ,il ,volgare ,eloquio1 lib4 #a1 cvi4 p4 #aee1 he says3 #8,it was the ,hebrew idiom which was uttered by the lips of the first man who ever spoke in this world6' ,this idea was afterwards relinquished by him1 as in the ,paradiso he puts these words into the mouth of ,adam3-- #8,the language ,i did use ,was worn away or ever ,nimrod's race ,their unaccomplishable work began4' 8,the oldest form of human speech still remains lost in the darkness of antiquity40--,quoted from ,dante in ,ravenna by ,miss ,phillimore4 #ajf ,chips from a ,german ,workshop1 vol4 i4 p4 #ced4 #ajg ,atharva1 ,,xiii4 #c4 #ac4 #ajh ,origin and ,growth of ,religion1 p4 #caj4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,man',s ,,conceptions ,,of ,,religion 8,no one sufficiently recognises the power of reason40 --,,st ,,thomas ,,aquinas4 8,de nos jours1 nous mouquons encore plus de raison que de religion40 --,,fenelon4 ,this question3 8,what is atheism80 has aroused me with a start4 ,led aside as ,i had been by many beautiful1 true1 and striking thoughts1 which ,i noted as they presented themselves to me2 being also very preoccupied by depressing observations that ,i had made on my chronic inability to turn them to account1 ,i lost sight of the fact that it is not sufficient to write and think at will merely1 without definite plan1 not keeping the goal in sight4 ,this is my eleventh chapter1 and ,i see with dismay that it is likely to exceed the two which precede it in length1 and that it follows one concerned more with the repetition of words often spoken and seldom understood4 ,i fear that ,i lack method4 ,during our own time we have seen a school arise1 the ,historical ,school2 it was heralded in ,germany by such men as ,niebuhr1 the two ,humboldts1 ,bopp--the author of the first ,comparative ,grammar--,grimm1 and many others4 ,this ,school shows that an uninterrupted continuity connects what has been thought of old with what is being thought at present2 that there is no break between the present and the past2 and that the difficulties which are presented to us by the study of the present philosophical problems1 would in a great measure disappear1 if we knew under what form these same problems presented themselves to man for the first time4 ,the ,historical ,school advances step by step with the study of comparative philology2 this latter has shown that at the beginning the number of words was very small2 they lay1 as it were1 side by side1 before man's eyes1 as evenly and as regularly as the threads on a weaver's loom4 ,but gradually1 on account of our neglect1 and our many misunderstandings1 the idea contained in these words became entangled1 and we have ceased to follow the course of the thread2 the words have remained in our memory1 but the meaning has changed2 they may even have several meanings which contradict each other2 the result is that we are ignorant of many things it would be well for us to know with certainty4 ,all problems whether of philosophy or of philology1 are best solved by the historical method2 let us bravely face each obscure question to which we have no key2 each doubtful term the meaning of which is lost1 and bid all retrace their steps in the path by which they arrived at us2 avoiding the peril of the idle worker who has a theory1 and a remedy ready for everything2 and the walks in the country of dreams which have no chart to direct travellers4 ,for us who are not learned linguists there is more than one method of gaining information concerning words2 the easiest is to note the use made of them at various times in the past2 another way which is more important and more certain is to study their biographies1 we should find them in ancient documents2 a third method that exacts neither a knowledge of their history1 nor their genealogy1 consists simply in reflection2 this process1 which should be within the reach of all1 is seldom used4 ,as ,i am constrained to follow the development of the ,vedic religion at the commencement of what was neither polytheism nor monotheism2 ,i recur to the last word of the preceding chapter in order to find its historical antecedents4 ,history tells us that much in the same way as a wild beast pursues its prey1 this epithet of atheist is hurled at men who in truth have little in common4 8,in the eyes of his ,athenian judges ,socrates was an atheist2 yet he did not even deny the gods of ,greece1 but he reserved to himself the right to believe in something higher and more truly divine than ,hephaistos and ,aphrodite40#aji ,spinoza was called an atheist by the ,jews1 his co-religionists1 because his conception of ,jahveh or ,jehovah was wider than theirs4 ,the early ,christians were called theoi by the ,jews and ,greeks because they believed not as the ,jews and ,christians believed4 ,were the ,hindoos atheists when they said1 8,what is ,indra8 it is the sun1 the rain only40 ,were they atheists when they ceased to believe in their ,devas1 the brilliant objects1 the stars1 the fields1 the rivers1 the eyes of man8 ,if the history of the word atheist had only taught us one thing1 e4g4 that those who think differently from ourselves do not deserve the reproach of atheism1 it would have extinguished the fires of many an auto da f4 ,but are there real atheists8 ,do those persons exist who are convinced that the word ,god represents nothing8 ,there may be2 if you have succeeded in convincing human reason that there can be an act without a cause1 a boundary without a beyond1 a finite without an infinite2 then you will have proved without doubt that there is no ,god4 8,god is a great word10 said a ,german theologian1 lately deceased1 whose honesty and piety have never been questioned1 8he who feels and understands that1 will judge more mildly and more justly of those who confess that they dare not say that they believe in ,god40#aaj ,we ought never to call a man an atheist till we know what kind of ,god it is that he has been brought up to believe in1 and what kind of ,god it is that he rejects1 it may be1 from the best and highest motives4 ,if we can respect the childlike faith of a charcoal-burner1 let us also respect philosophical doubt2 it may well indicate a turning-point in the life of a man1 in which he is perhaps abandoning a belief of which he has seen the error1 or is perhaps seeking to replace the less worthy faith1 however dear it may be to him1 by one more perfect1 however its novelty may distress him2 without such 8atheism0 as this our religion would long ago have only been a congealed hypocrisy4 ,in the life of an individual1 as in the life of a nation1 there comes a moment when opinion becomes modified2 the old theory of the world being fashioned by a workman as a potter moulds his vessels of clay1 has gradually disappeared4 ,these ideas were so repugnant to the enlightened mind of ,sakya-muni1 the ,hindoo ,prince--universally known as ,buddha--that he considered it irreverent to enquire how the world was made1 and still more audacious to attempt to answer the enquiry4 ,that which took the place of henotheism amongst the ,hindoos might aptly be termed adivism1 a denial of the old ,devas4 ,such a denial1 however1 of what was once believed1 but could be honestly believed no longer1 so far from being the end of religion1 is in reality its vital principle4 ,whilst about to deal with ideas which ,i know are true1 it is gratifying to expose at the same time certain false opinions which have been put forth on the subject2 it is curious to note how to start with a false opinion brings one to a wrong conclusion4 ,herodotus1 ,csar1 and ,quintus ,curtius1 who have all written on popular religious beliefs1 relate that men adored the sun1 the earth1 the sky1 fire1 and water2 that they worshipped certain rivers1 and certain trees1 and considered as gods all things that were useful to them4 ,this was the opinion of the ancient writers who knew no better1 and modern theorists repeated also3 8,primitive men deified the grand natural phenomena of nature1 especially the stars1 taking them for gods40 ,it is not a matter for surprise that primitive man should have formed the opinion that either in the world or out of it there should be a sovereign power which they considered as their gods4 ,in the eighteenth century the theory of fetishism was held to explain all the intuitions of primitive man2 although not pertinent to the subject1 this was not perceived until afterwards1 and the theory was considered reasonable4 ,whilst the ,theorists take the predicate of ,god1 when applied even to a fetish1 as requiring no explanation1 the ,historical ,school sees in it the result of a long continued evolution of thought4 ,it was evident that the human soul was so constituted that it must tend naturally and inevitably towards the ,unknown2 it was also necessary that man should learn that he possessed a soul4 ,we recognise that we have one2 but are we equally clear as to what it is8 ,we answer perhaps3 8,yes1 it is that part of us which is not the body which perishes--the soul is immortal40 ,it is well to be able to make such a reply1 since it is true2 our catechisms have sown the seed of which this is the result4 ,but since all human knowledge1 whether abstract or practical1 has the same beginning1 through the senses1 and that neither eye1 ear1 nor hand has to do with the soul1 what can we know of it8 ,above all1 what can we learn of its existence after death1 the time when immortality has passed beyond the sphere of the experience of the senses8 ,as man we recognise the spirit inhabiting the body1 but with no form1 such as it might receive after death2 we can hardly clothe these ideas in words4 ,this belief in a soul1 exactly like the belief in gods1 and at last in ,one ,god1 can only be understood as the outcome of constantly renewed observations and long meditations2 the annals of language furnish material for this study1 those ancient words1 which1 meaning originally something quite tangible and visible1 came in time to mean that which is invisible and infinite4 ,the last breath of a dying person gave the first conception of the presence in man of a non-corporeal principle2 it was recognised that this perceptible breath1 at the moment of death1 was an accident and transient4 ,language marks clearly the difference between the act of breathing or breath1 and that which breathed1 the invisible agent of this act--the living soul1 the spirit4 ,this agent received different names1 in the different languages2 the ,greeks named it ,psyche1 saying that it was the breath which1 at the hour of death1 passed out through the bars of the teeth2 amongst the ,hindoos it was called ,atman1 and ,anima amongst the ,latins1 two words which originally were understood by those using them as meaning something breathing4 ,cicero spoke of ,anima1 but he refrained from defining it1 and frankly avowed that he did not know whether to call it breath or fire4 ,the word breath has been used figuratively to express the ,power governing the world4#aaa ,a poet in the ,veda when speaking of the ,supreme ,being says1 8,it breathed without air40 ,although the word breath was most frequently used to denote the principle of life1 another expression was employed at a much earlier period2 in countries the most remote from each other1 the words1 the shadow of the dead1 were used1 in order to express the idea of something intangible yet closely related to the body4 ,the influence of language on thought is so real and so much more powerful than the testimony of our senses1 that those who named the soul a shadow1 came at last to believe that corpses threw no shadow because it had left them4 ,it was then considered that the soul was not a homogeneous whole1 but composed of parts of which some are ephemeral1 destined to disappear with the body2 these parts form what the ,greek and ,latin writers call the ,ego1 and the ,hindoos ,aham1 what in ,french would be termed the moi--three words for one thing--an object of contingency1 since it depends on circumstances--on the body1 on age1 and on sex4 ,all men have endeavoured to solve the riddle of human life2 but the ,hindoos1 who especially excelled in researches dealing with the formation of words1 that is to say1 with the birth or development of ideas1 whilst penetrating deeply into the mysteries of their soul1 their ,atman1 arrived at an abstraction of this ,atman1 entirely freed from all earthly or physical particles1 and this 8vehicle of an abstraction0 they considered to be incapable of perishing1 since it had no connection with breath1 it was the pure self1 8freed from the fetters and conditions of the human ,ego10 hidden in the ,aham2 not contingent on circumstances--the self-existent ,one4 ,this new conception demanded a new name2 the word ,atman1 which at first signified all the concomitant elements of the soul--those which pass1 equally with those that remain--the ,hindoos retained in their language1 and it was used to define the essence itself1 the being with no attributes1 identical with the ,being who vivified nature1 the ,infinite that supported man's own being1 the ,highest ,self4 ,socrates knew this same ,self1 but he called it ,daimonion1 the indwelling ,god1 whom the early ,christians called the ,holy ,ghost4 ,from the ,hindoo point of view this idea holds in itself the solution of the world's great enigma4 ,the commandment indicating the kernel of all philosophy1 8,know thyself10 was the ,hindoo doctrine4 ,know thyself as the self1 or if we translate it into religious language1 8,know that we live and move and have our being in ,god0 7,acts xvii4 #bh74aab ,in recognising the soul as that which is the self1 we see that this fact of existing is more wonderful than the acts of breathing1 feeling1 thinking1 living1 since none of these manifestations are possible but on the sole condition of having proceeded from the ,being--who is4 ,after having analysed the human soul1 the ,hindoos followed it from phase to phase from the moment when the breath which makes man a living being received its first names4 ,they thus traced its history through time1 and believed that they could follow it through eternity4 ,years were employed in the elaboration of this history1 and we only find its completion in a work which is posterior to the ,vedic hymns1 the ,upanishads4 ,the study of the human soul is the central point in ,hindoo philosophy1 and the ,upanishads are the first psychological work which has ever been made4 ,there are persons who doubt the existence of things1 of which others feel certain2 but no one ever doubted the existence of his own soul4 ,why did the theologians who arranged the creeds not include the article1 8,i believe in my soul40 ,it would not have found men incredulous4 ,reflection enables us to admit that the soul without ,god could possess no history1 since neither the soul without ,god1 nor ,god without the soul1 could constitute religion4 ,for this which is called religion1 if under the form only of a soaring towards an unknown but longed-for ,being1 has always existed since there have been men on the earth4 ,we often meet the recurring questions 8,whence80 8,why80 and the frequent 8,because02 and now we are told by a small number of thinkers that all the explanations of speculative philosophy on the first impulses of the human soul towards religion1 are only worthless suppositions1 unless philosophers--as historians have done--have recognised that there was a revelation at the beginning of time in the true sense of the word2 but opinions differ as to 8the true sense of the word40 ,we are so accustomed to apply the expression 8the ,word of ,god0 to the sacred canon of ,scripture1 that we are inapt at seeking for ,god's ,word elsewhere4 ,but our first fathers read and studied it before the ,bible existed4 ,to reflective minds1 primitive man presents a moving spectacle1 drawn towards the ,unknown--the ,unseen--they abandoned themselves unresistingly to the current leading them in certain directions4 ,i imagine that our ,aryan ancestors would not have fixed their attention with such tenacity on the objects in nature which environed them1 had the stars and heavenly bodies been immovable4 ,but the sun appearing on the one side1 traversing the sky and then disappearing on the opposite side1 made the remark of the ,incas prince very natural3 8,there is some power behind the sun causing it to ascend and descend40 ,it did not occur to him that the sun travelled in accordance with natural laws4 ,other princes and poets1 with their eyes fixed on the moving objects of the firmament1 would have made the same reflection and sought the invisible cause4 ,if the world had been propelled by a moving power within itself1 creatures possessing reason would have been vaguely conscious of it from the first4 ,they would have been like the plants which turn regularly and infallibly in one direction1 since they are not free to do otherwise4 8,you premise a revelation10 may be said to me1 8and yet you direct us towards ,evolution2 choose one of the two since the one contradicts the other40 ,that remains to be proved4 ,apply the theory of the evolutionist to the mollusc2 we see it directing itself1 and extending its tentacles1 towards a crumb of bread that floats on the water4 ,if they touch it the contact calls forth in the mollusc the act of seizing its prey4 ,this is only a movement of semi-consciousness1 or perhaps rather it is not entirely involuntary4 ,under the aspect of immediate cause and effect1 we see a principle anterior to the phenomenon2 certain perceptions which appear in the sight of many psychologists to be innate1 that is to say1 impressions received on our mind before we became conscious of ourself1 may well be the result of the receptability of our ,ego1 which enables us1 when it is affected in a certain fashion1 to represent these affections to ourselves under certain forms4 ,the presentiment that unknown powers were to be found behind the visible world only showed itself when the ,aryans first named them sky1 sun1 moon1 storm1 day1 night1 all terms previously used for various parts of nature4 ,with the perception of a ,beyond1 with the desire to know what it contained1 a gap made itself felt which separated it from the known world4 ,it must be crossed--a bridge was necessary4 ,this thought spread from one end of the globe to the other1 but our ancestors were the first bridge-makers4 ,scandinavian mythology mentions a bridge built by the gods which was of three colours2 it was clearly intended originally for the rainbow4 ,the ,milky ,way provided the ,hindoos with a bridge2 and in the ,upanishads mention is made of a path having five colours4 ,here we have the rainbow again probably4 ,the source of these legends is the ineradicable belief in the heart of man1 that the here and hereafter1 the immortal and the mortal1 the divine and the human1 cannot remain apart for ever4 ,here ,i will comment on a striking feature of the ,rig-,veda4 ,the rishis give accounts of the manner in which the hymns are composed4 ,they say that they worked at them as other workmen do1 such as carpenters1 weavers1 and potters4 ,sometimes they speak of the verses as coming direct from the heart2 another says his hymn moves as a skiff on the river4 ,sometimes they speak of their hymns as god-given1 and that the gods themselves are seers and poets4 ,in no part of the ,rig-,veda are there traces of the theories of the verbal inspiration with the meaning which the ,greeks attached to the word as a theophany or manifestation of divinity1 nor as it was understood afterwards in all religions1 beginning with ,brahmanism4 ,it would be useless to seek for a complete exposition of ,vedic thought in the ,rig-,veda2 all the hymns found in it are not ancient2 the collection was made by the priests1 and if they retained much that was useless for our purpose in their worship1 yet we should be very grateful to them1 as in this manner much has been preserved to us of the ancient poetry of ,india1 and it is they who recount the pilgrimage undertaken by the ,aryans in search of the invisible lodestone which attracted them beyond what they could see and hear4 ,as they advanced they rejoiced1 seeming to attain their desire2 but cast down under the weight of their sadness1 as at times they found themselves misled4 ,it is said in the ,bible1 that for ,god a thousand years is as one day1 and as ,i read the sacred books of ,india1 not as a learned critic1 but as a man who is rejoiced to discover his own thoughts in the writings of the ,hindoo poets1 the three or four thousand years appear to me as one day during which these poets have not ceased to pour themselves out in their hymns1 and it would be possible to condense in one page the sentiments expressed in the first hymns and the last ,upanishads4 8,simple minded1 not comprehending in my mind1 ,i ask for the hidden places of the gods40#aac 8,my ears vanish1 my eyes vanish1 and the light also which dwells in my heart2 my mind with its far-off longings leaves me2 what shall ,i say1 and what shall ,i think80#aad 8,there is no likeness of ,him whose name is ,great ,glory4 ,he is not apprehended of the eye1 nor by the other senses1 nor by speech2 not by penance1 or good works4 ,we do not know1 we do not understand1 how anyone can teach it4 ,it is different from the known1 it is also above the unknown1 thus we have heard from those of old who taught us this40 8,you will not find ,him who has created these things2 something else stands between you and ,him40#aae ,these detached sentences acquire a very special value1 when it is remembered that they are not quotations drawn from some modern works1 which imitate the writings of another epoch2 these exist nowhere but in the ,veda1 a literary work composed in the silence and shade1 by writers who themselves were ignorant of the object of their desire4 ,one point at last becomes clear in the mist2 a thousand years probably before the coming of ,christ in ,palestine1 this verse was pronounced in the north of ,india1 8,he who is above the gods alone is ,god40#aaf ,the ,grecian1 ,roman1 and ,german divinities disappeared before other beliefs2 but the ,hindoos who knew that their gods were nothing more than mere names1 had no dawning religion within their reach that they could adopt2 therefore they did not abandon their traditions1 and they continued to grope1 as one of their own poets says1 8,enveloped in mist and with faltering voices40 ,all the religious thought of the ,vedic period can be found in the ,upanishads 7the literal meaning of this name is1 sessions or assemblies of pupils round their master74 ,there is not what could be called a philosophical system in these ,upanishads2 they are fragments1 and are in the true sense of the word1 guesses at truth2 the spirit of the work is liberal1 all shades of opinion are represented in it1 the most divers1 and sometimes contradictory4 ,conjectures abound with regard to the creation1 all start from the theory that the world we see is not the true world1 and that before it appeared there was the true ,self--the ,self-existent--the ,one which underlies the whole world1 from which has come all that seems to exist and does actually exist4 ,this was the final solution of the search after the ,unknown1 the ,invisible1 which had been foretold through a long chain of centuries2 an intuition more convincing than all the arguments which were used at a later period to prove the existence of the ,causa ,caus4 ,the difficulties of the ,brahmans in making a complete collection of these vague presentiments1 confused thoughts1 and true intuitions1 were increased a hundredfold by the fact that they had to accept every word and every sentence of the ,upanishads as supernaturally revealed4 ,however contradictory at first sight1 all that was said in the ,upanishads had to be accepted and explained4 ,it would seem difficult to construct a well-arranged literary monument out of such heterogeneous materials2 but it was harmonised and welded into a system of philosophy that for solidity and unity will bear comparison with any other system of philosophy in the world4#aag ,this gigantic work1 which commenced with the ,vedic hymns and ended in the book called the ,vedanta1 or ,end1 and was the end or supreme object of the ,veda1 is also known under the name of ,mmms-sutras4 ,mmms is a desiderative form of the root man1 to think1 and a very appropriate name for a philosophical work of this kind2 and stra means literally a string2 but it is here used as the name of short and abstract aphorisms1 rendered still more enigmatical by the conciseness of the language4 ,there are several hundreds of these sayings or headings1 forming tables of contents1 a magic chaplet of immeasurable length1 each word containing condensed thought4 ,this work must have required a concentration of mind which it is difficult for us to realise4 ,the meaning and form of these aphorisms are characteristic--here is one4 8,i will declare in a line1 that which has required millions of volumes4 8,brahma is true1 the world is false2 the soul is ,brahma and nothing else40 ,those who consider the ,supreme ,being as the ,infinite in nature1 and the individual soul as the ,infinite in man1 must consider ,god and the soul as one1 not two1 seeing there cannot be two ,infinites2 such is the belief of the ,hindoos2 but this belief does not belong to them exclusively1 it existed amongst the ,greeks1 and it is encountered in other places in our day besides ,india4 ,as works of art these stras are of course nothing1 but for giving a complete and accurate outline of a whole system of philosophy they are admirable4 ,under these fragmentary forms can be found treatises of grammar1 etymology1 exegesis1 phonetics1 ceremonial1 and jurisprudence4 ,the aphorism which ,i have quoted is the pure quintessence of the ,vedanta4 ,and of ,pantheism also1 it may be said4 ,this word ,pantheism is one of the most difficult to define1 and ,i shall not attempt to explain it4 ,i have a horror of epithets1 and ,i am sorry that it is not always possible to avoid them4 ,i do not examine philosophical systems too minutely1 lest ,i should be drawn into hurling at them such words as pantheism1 mysticism1 positivism1 materialism1 naturalism1 without being quite clear when it is no longer lawful to express myself in these terms2 epithets and labels are very apt to return home to roost4 ,i will therefore confine myself to this remark1 with regard to the belief of the ,hindoos2 if each definite colour can be broken up into a number of tints too numerous to name1 may it not be the same with certain shades and meanings in words and thoughts8 ,the ,greeks hardly suspected the existence of the ,veda2 in more modern times ,europe caught glimpses of it2 and now1 although completely discovered and studied1 it is thoroughly known only to a few erudite scholars1 which explains the fact that this ancient creation of the ,hindoo mind has exercised so small an influence on our philosophy4 ,,the ,,sacred ,,writings ,,of ,,the ,,hebrews ,whilst the hymns of the ,rig-,veda1 with their simple meditations1 invocations and interrogations--sent out by chance1 as it were1 into space--accurately trace the march of thought which accompanies the search for indications of the ,unknown--the ,infinite2 we look in vain in the ,old ,testament for the first dawnings1 the first impressions made on the human soul by the existence of things divine4 ,from the time when1 in the garden of ,eden1 ,adam and ,eve entered into communion with the ,eternal1 the sacred narrative of facts1 evidently historical1 continues in such a manner as to have led some to regard it as merely allegorical4 ,to verify in the light of scientific knowledge the titles which the ,bible can truly present to the veneration of the ,christian world appears to some more and more advisable4#aah ,few persons amongst the critical students of the ,old ,testament doubt that the books said to be by ,moses are a collection of ancient documents1 a compilation made by different individuals living at different periods1 with long intervals between them1 each with his own point of view4 ,the conscientious examination to which these portions of the sacred writings have been subjected was directed at first to isolated points1 and in order to exercise freely the critical faculties so much in evidence now1 it was necessary to modify the generally accepted view that the religion of the ,jews was cast in one piece1 and perfect at the first4 ,it was necessary to separate the ancient documents from those of a more recent date1 but the attempt to make an exact chronological table of the earlier history of the ,hebrews was abandoned4 ,until the death of ,solomon only round numbers could be used1 even the date of the oldest fact in history1 the exodus of the ,jewish people from ,egypt1 cannot definitely be fixed4 ,amongst the ,egyptologists1 whose testimony is of the greatest value1 there is great hesitation in assigning a date1 though the greater number hold to the fifteenth century ,b4,c4 ,their representations with regard to ,moses are so devoid of definite historical data as to envelop his personality in great mystery4 ,the idea of a revelation expressly delivered to the ,jewish people acquired a more definite form in the ,middle ,ages2 and from the ,reformation the theory was promulgated1 amongst those to whom the idea was not repugnant1 that to a small portion of humanity only--the elect--had been consigned the task of disseminating the knowledge of religious truth in the world4 ,the study of the ,scriptures spread to all classes where it was not forbidden to the laity1 and from that time millions of human beings knew no other literature4 ,assured that the ,old ,testament contained the inspired words1 ,jews and ,christians alike read it with feelings of reverence which naturally excluded all idea of captious criticism4 ,but the spirit of biblical criticism which animated the reformers was never afterwards extinguished1 and attentive readers discovered variations in the construction of the ,pentateuch which at that time were inexplicable4 ,the fact that the ,bible contained many narratives which could not always be reconciled the one with the other was known long before the period of which we are speaking4 ,st ,jerome1 when feeling the want of more accurate ,greek and ,latin translations than those in use in his time1 undertook to make one1 and wrote thus to a friend of his1 a priest3 8,re-read the books of the ,old and ,new ,testaments1 and you will find so many contradictions in the numbers referring to the years1 and to the kings of ,judah and ,israel1 that it would require a man of leisure rather than a student to enter thoroughly into the matter40#aai ,side by side with this historical reconstruction which is now carried on1 there is a work of examination being pursued4 ,it is asked by what means did the ,jewish people become so strong1 so compact1 whilst in the midst of strange nations1 and in spite of all vicissitudes4 ,it is also asked what was the earliest history of the ,hebrews1 and whether it is due to the supernatural element that the tribes assembled at the base of ,mount ,sinai were enabled to become an united people2 and1 finally1 these keen questioners desire to know the stages by which the conception of the ,deity entered the ,semitic mind4 ,the scholars who give themselves to these enquiries1 generally eliminate the question of popular orthodoxy from the subject1 since they consider that when theoretical theology finds its way amongst such workers it does not assist research2 it confuses their point of view2 they look upon the whole race as becoming prophets1 and the prophets become apostles1 and thus1 out of proportion4 ,the work advances slowly2 each critic puts forth his own special lucubrations concerning the biblical settings which all are naturally anxious to retain2 contentions are rife on the subject of the ,hebrew writers2 their lack of ,christianity1 and their philosophy are both made matters for discussion1 and disputes between the commentators did not cease4 ,amongst those who are passive witnesses of the scientific investigations1 there are many who1 without closely following this modern exegesis1 are sufficiently enlightened to recognise its aim and its use1 and they exclaim with a satisfaction mixed with astonishment1 8,whatever may be said one fact remains certain1 our holy ,scriptures speak of ,god as ,god1 the ,creator of ,heaven and ,earth1 as ,he most truly is1 therefore the ,old ,testament1 the product of the ,semitic mind1 is free from the taint which is perceptible in ancient ,aryan literature1 that of mythology40 ,let us seek the reason of this immunity accorded to the sacred books of the ,hebrews1 let us seek it in the language1 not apart from it1 as some do when looking for the origin of thought4 ,,the ,,various ,,names ,,of ,,god ,according to the historians who have made a study of the ancient religions1 each name given to or descriptive of a deity corresponded to a special conception formed by the people4 ,this has been a generally received principle1 and it serves as a clue to guide us in our study of primitive creeds4 ,the ,semitic languages1 like the ,aryan1 possessed a number of names of the ,deity in common1 all expressive of certain general qualities of the ,deity1 but all raised by one or other of the ,semitic tribes to be the names of ,god1 or of that idea which the first breath1 the first sight of the world1 the feeling of absolute dependence on a power beyond ourselves1 had for ever impressed and implanted in the human mind4 ,these names were all either honorific titles1 or represented some moral qualities4 ,el and ,el-,schadai--,strong1 ,powerful2 ,bel or ,baal--,lord2 ,adon or ,adonai--my ,lord1 ,master2 ,melk or ,moloch--,king2 ,eliun--the ,highest ,god4 ,such names as these1 so clear and easily understood1 did not readily lend themselves to mythological contagion1 and they were adopted by ,christian phraseology because they contained nothing but what might be rightly ascribed to ,god4 ,i could have wished to pass over the name ,eloha1 which eventually became ,elohim1 in silence1 as its history is a long one1 but ,i shall say a few words about it1 as it is one of the most primitive names1 and indicates to us what the ,semites understood by divine4 ,the name ,elohim1 applied to an unknown1 invisible power1 one not grasped by the senses1 was the expression of all that was superior and beyond what was seen and known on the earth4 ,at the same time the name was used not exclusively for the ,deity1 but for others whose attributes1 whether physical or moral1 demanded a superlative appellative 444 there were thus several ,elohims of varying natures1 the ,semitic termination in im turning ,eloha into a plural1 still always took a singular verb after it1 and ,elohim or the ,elohim 7pl47 were both used4 ,if a comparison be made between the ,semitic and ,aryan methods of treating the same subjects1 the assertion seems amply justified that mythology has not ventured to effect an entrance into the thoughts of the ,hebrew writers4 ,if the subject ,dawn be taken1 it would remain with the ,semitic authors a natural daily occurrence1 but the ,aryan writers would transform it into a personal agent taking the form of gracious1 kindly mythical personages4 ,an example presents itself in the book of ,job4 ,jehovah1 the ,creator of the universe1 8answered ,job out of the whirlwind10 who had sought to learn the secrets of nature4 ,jehovah said to him3-- 8,hast thou commanded the morning since thy days began1 and caused the dayspring to know its place8 8,declare if thou knowest it all4 8,where is the way to the dwelling of light2 and as for darkness1 where is the place thereof8 8,doubtless thou knowest1 for thou wast then born4 ,and the number of thy days is great40 7,job xxxviii4 #ab1 #ah1 #ai1 #ba74 ,this is dawn in biblical language and in nature2 but who would recognise it under the figure of ,daphne1 ,eos1 or ,ahana8 ,all of whom have so exercised the brains of our mythologists4 ,but ,jehovah drives still more deeply the point of ,his discourse into the conscience of ,job4 8,who hath cleft a channel for the water flood1 to cause it to rain on a land where no man is8 8,hath the rain a father8 8,or who hath begotten the drops of dew8 8,canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds1 that abundance of waters may cover thee80 7,job xxxviii4 #be1 #bf1 #bh1 #cd74 ,the ,aryans had also described the rain1 and their thoughts on the subject coincided with those of the ,semitic race1 but they were clothed in the grotesque language generally associated with myths4 8,the rain is represented in all the primitive mythologies of the ,aryan race as the fruit of the embraces of ,heaven and ,earth40#abj ,this is an advance towards the poetical metaphor which schylus at a later date thus expressed3 8,the bright sky loves to fructify the earth2 the earth on her part aspires to the heavenly marriage4 ,rain falling from the loving sky impregnates the earth1 and she produces for mortals her fruit40 ,it is necessary to possess a somewhat profound knowledge of the morphological characteristics of the ,semitic and ,aryan languages in order to note accurately the particulars to which ,i have drawn attention1 and to understand the amount of influence they exercise on religious phraseology4 ,,the ,,genius ,,of ,,languages ,each linguistic family has special features1 just as each race has its own physiognomy2 the distinctive feature of the ,semitic languages is that the significative elements destined to form appellatives1 when once incorporated as roots in the body of a word1 suffered no modification1 and the original meaning could never be ignored4 ,thus all ,semitic names for the dawn1 the sun1 the vault of heaven1 the rain1 and other natural phenomena1 preserving their appellative character1 could not be used for any other object2 thus they could never express an abstract idea1 such as that of the ,deity4 ,the method followed with regard to the arrangement of words in the greater number of ,semitic dictionaries1 which are generally arranged according to their roots1 attest the truth of this fact4 ,when we wish to find the meaning of a word in ,hebrew or ,arabic1 we first seek for its root1 and then look in the dictionary for that root and its derivatives4 ,in similar languages no ambiguity is possible2 nothing lends itself to myths4 ,in the ,aryan languages1 on the contrary1 such an arrangement would have been extremely inconvenient2 here the roots were apt to become so completely absorbed by the derivative elements1 whether prefixes or suffixes1 that often substantives ceased almost immediately to be appellative1 and were changed into mere names or proper names2 this peculiarity of the language enabled the ,hindoos to form such words as ,dyaus1 ,aditi1 ,varuna1 ,indra1 which at first designate various aspects of nature1 and afterwards were applied to different aspects of divinities4 ,the preceding pages have afforded us many examples1 and ,i hope that the comparison ,i have drawn between the two representations of the same object will suffice to explain why it is that we possess a ,grecian and ,hindoo mythology1 but that there was no ,hebrew mythology4 ,,metaphor ,but1 on the other hand1 the ,old ,testament is full of metaphor--these pearls of discourse2 these expressions so light and effective in the mouths of poets as they skim over the surface of the subject in hand1 but which we make so ponderous and ungraceful with our literal interpretations4 ,when ,david speaks of ,god as a rock1 a fortress1 a buckler1 we have no difficulty in understanding his meaning1 although we might express ourselves differently1 and probably speak of the ever-present help of ,god4 ,where we allude to a temptation from within or from without1 it was more natural for the ancients to speak of a tempter1 whether in a human or animal form4 ,what with us is a heavenly message or a godsend was to them a winged messenger4 ,what is really meant is perhaps the same1 and the fault is ours1 not theirs1 if we persist in understanding their words in their outward and material aspect only2 and forget that before language had sanctioned a distinction between the concrete and the abstract1 the intention of the speakers comprehended both the concrete and the abstract1 both the material and the spiritual1 in a manner which has become quite strange to us4#aba ,i believe it can be proved that more than half the difficulties in the history of religion owe their origin to this constant misinterpretation of ancient language by modern language1 of ancient thought by modern thought1 particularly whenever the word has become more sacred than the spirit4 ,,the ,,later ,,name ,,for ,,god ,,amongst ,,the ,,hebrews ,each divine name mentioned hitherto represented a quality or an attribute2 we now come to one of comparatively more recent date1 which contains neither attribute nor similitude2 it is mentioned for the first time in a conversation between ,god and ,moses4 ,god speaks from the burning bush1 and tells ,moses to bring the children of ,israel out of ,egypt4 8,and ,moses said unto ,god3 ,behold1 when ,i come unto the children of ,israel and shall say unto them3 #8,the ,god of your fathers hath sent me unto you'2 and they shall say to me3 #8,what is ,his name8' what shall ,i say unto them8 ,and ,god said unto ,moses3 #8,i ,am that ,i ,am4' ,and he said3 #8,thus shalt thou say unto the children of ,israel1 ,i ,,am hath sent me unto you'0 7,exod4 iii4 #ad1 #ae74 ,god in speaking of ,himself said3 8,i ,am that ,i ,am10 or1 8,i ,am02 but man in designating ,god used the word ,jehovah4 ,the etymology of this word was sought1 and it was regarded by many1 rightly or wrongly1 as a derivative of the verb to be4 ,jehovah was thus--absolute existence1 or the ,being4 8,and ,god spake unto ,moses and said unto him3 #8,i am ,jehovah2 and ,i appeared unto ,abraham1 unto ,isaac1 and unto ,jacob as ,el ,shaddai1 but by my name ,jehovah ,i was not known to them'0 7,exodus vi4 #b1 #c74 ,writers are now generally agreed that ,jehovah should be pronounced ,jahveh4 ,renan notices this striking fact4 8,the name of ,god which has conquered the world10 he says1 8is unknown to all who are not ,hebraists1 and even they do not know how to pronounce it40 ,by a superstition which some writers trace back to a very remote period1 the ,israelites considered the name which ,god had used of ,himself to be too sacred to be uttered by human lips2 gradually its use was discontinued2 and the name ,lord was used in its place4 ,although the names of ,god all indicated the one true ,god1 they did not preserve the children of ,israel from polytheism1 since there was hardly a tribe that did not forget the original meaning of the titles used4 ,if the ,jews had remembered the meaning of the word ,el1 they could not have worshipped ,baal as distinct from ,el2 but in the same way as the ,greeks connected the worship of ,apollos and ,uranus with that of ,zeus1 so the ,jews were ready at times to invoke the gods of their neighbours4 ,it is not that the earlier names of the ,deity contained no second meaning as qualificative adjective2 ,force1 for instance1 could be symbolised1 but the idea of absolute existence expressed by the words1 8,i ,am10 excluded all symbol and all likenesses4 ,the ,jews did not profit by this preservative from error2 on the contrary1 with the advent in ,israel of this new conception of the ,deity1 the partial eclipse which so often obscured their reason seems at times to have given place to one more complete4 ,as soon as ,moses had constituted them a nation1 they appear to have looked upon ,god as a national ,god1 ignoring ,his relationship with other peoples4 ,the salient point in the ,old ,testament is the relation of ,god with ,his people1 an alliance or covenant between ,jehovah and ,israel of which the rainbow became the first type4 ,threatenings and promises enforced the keeping of the moral law1 the good and evil things of this life2 if ,israel obeyed the ,lord and kept ,his commandments1 the fields would yield their crops1 the trees their fruits1 and peace would reign in the land2 if they were disobedient1 the heaven would become brass1 and famine and pestilence would decimate the people1 and the rest would be led captive by foreign kings4 ,although no definite assertion concerning the immortality of the soul may be found in the ,old ,testament1 a belief in personal immortality is taken for granted in several passages1 and mention is frequently made of an abode in which the spirits remain after their separation from the body1 that is ,sheol1 in which joy and suffering are equally unknown4 ,the picture drawn by ,david in some of the ,psalms1 of the abode of the departed is sad and desolate4 ,though the word is not meant for an individual grave1 this idea may have been borrowed from it2 the meaning is that of a vast space in the interior of the earth2 the dead lie down and are together and at rest1 but separated not only from man but also from ,god4 ,the ,hebrews naturally mourned and compassionated their dead most sincerely4 8,alas my father1 alas my mother1 my poor children40 ,but why should we ,aryans1 whose language is not allied philologically with the ,semitic1 copy their phrases8 ,why should we ,christians1 who are not linked to them by dogma1 allow ourselves to use the same hopeless expressions1 instead of words instinct with life and hope8 ,,on ,,the ,,prophets 7,n,,bh7 ,the phenomenon of prophecy1 one of the earlier developments of the human mind1 has been found amongst all peoples1 at one time or other of their history4 ,certain spontaneous psychical movements dominated men4 ,the important rle played by the oracles in the history of ,greece1 is well known2 the ,greeks classed both the priests who interpreted the auguries1 and those persons who considered themselves inspired by the gods and claimed a knowledge of hidden things1 under the name of prophets1 indifferently4 ,in the third century ,b4,c4 the ,jews of ,alexandria1 when writing the ,septuagint1 translated the ,hebrew word ,nbh by prophet4 ,as amongst ,hebraists the word ,nbh does not necessarily imply the power of foretelling the future1 whilst the word prophet conveys that meaning1 it might have been well to employ both terms4 ,the original meaning of the word ,nbh seems to have been 8agitated outbursts40 ,these men seem to have passed through a phase of nervous exaltation before beginning their exhortations2 when once they had started their outpourings they no longer had control over their spirit's impulse2 and were often physically prostrated1 showing signs of an overpowering compelling physical force1 divinely irresistible4 ,these ,nbhs1 who appeared on the occasion of any crisis1 when the welfare of the public was at stake1 were at the head of popular movements1 giving them a right direction2 they were the first to rise against the oppression of the ruling powers1 and thousands of them perished in misery4 ,isaiah likens them to sentinels1 or watchmen always on the alert1 watching with eyes fixed on the horizon1 charged with the duty of sounding the alarm on the approach of danger4 8,one calleth unto me out of ,seir2 ,watchman1 what of the night8 ,watchman1 what of the night80 ,this same ,isaiah compares the negligent prophets to 8dumb dogs1 that cannot bark1 lying down1 loving to slumber40 ,their preaching must have been very powerful2 ,luther1 in speaking of the prophecies of ,isaiah1 says1 8,every word is a furnace40 ,until now ,jehovah had by the mouth of the ,nbhs addressed the people as a nation2 the individual was not singled out4 ,but imperceptibly a change took place2 new indications presented themselves4 ,instead of the order1 8,slay1 slay10 milder accents were heard2 it was as though heart spoke to heart3 8,wherewith shall ,i come before the ,lord1 and bow myself before the high ,god8 ,shall ,i come before ,him with burnt offerings2 with calves of a year old8 ,shall ,i give my firstborn for my transgression1 the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul8 ,he hath showed thee1 ,o man1 what is good2 and what doth the ,lord require of thee1 but to do justly1 and to love mercy0 7,micah vi474 ,the individual becomes more evident2 like the rishis1 ,elijah sought the ,lord2 and he came to ,mount ,horeb3 8,and a great and strong wind rent the mountains1 and brake in pieces the rocks before the ,lord2 but the ,lord was not in the wind2 and after the wind an earthquake2 but the ,lord was not in the earthquake2 and after the earthquake a fire2 but the ,lord was not in the fire2 and after the fire a still small voice10 ,i imagine that ,elijah said to himself3 8,that still small voice is for me40 ,there were in certain places assemblies of ,nbhs1 and schools in which the young prophets were trained in rhetoric and in composing discourses2 for though some improvised1 others--amongst them probably ,isaiah--previously wrote their messages4 ,all used a rhythmical language akin to poetry2 the teaching of music no doubt formed a part of their education1 since we know that the sound of music helped to produce the ecstasy which resulted in prophesy4#abb ,the gift seems to have been to some extent contagious4 ,prophets were found in bands1 prophesying1 and followed by musicians4 ,during the eight centuries preceding our era1 a succession of terrible calamities took place4 ,the ,nbhs upheld the courage of the people by their immovable conviction that the ,lord would send a leader1 and deliverer of the people from their enemies4 ,through the whole of this time ,israel1 though often despairing and sometimes in revolt1 resisted doubt2 an unknown phenomenon amongst the heathens of antiquity4 ,that which strikes us as so inexplicable is that ,judaism showed itself capable of such prodigies of devotion and self-sacrifice1 though so little sustained by the bright glimpses of the future life4 ,the ,elohim with whom the patriarchs ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob were permitted to hold intercourse1 appeared more accessible to the ,israelites than the mighty ,jehovah of whom they were forbidden to make an image4 ,the more we contemplate the infinite grandeur of the majesty of ,god1 of whom there is no similitude1 whose name is 8,i ,am10 to whom1 according to ,fenelon1 even the word spirit is inapplicable1 and of whom1 according to ,descartes and ,bossuet1 nothing may be said but this1 8,the ,being10 the more it seems possible to fear1 to reverence ,him2 but to love in those days seemed difficult--love was rarely seen4 ,i desired to know what the best and most profound thinkers could say on the ties uniting them with their ,creator1 those who had experienced the action of the ,divine love in themselves4 ,at the same time ,i determined to emphasise as little as possible the various forms these thoughts might wear1 whether in philosophical systems or in religions which had been founded or organised in the visible ,church4 ,amongst the thinkers who have occupied themselves with these matters1 ,i will mention one who1 about two hundred years ago1 was looked upon as a dangerous heretic4 ,since that time ,baruch ,spinoza has been anathematised as an atheist1 and venerated as a saint2 afterwards he was declared by certain philosophers to be no atheist1 but was counted as a ,pantheist4 ,in our day he is known to be less of a ,pantheist than was thought4 ,shrinking from such epithets1 which disturb my judgment1 ,i will not enter into the question as to which approaches more nearly to the truth4 ,i spoke once after this manner to some friends of mine1 in the presence of one whom ,i had not seen before4 8,you are too diffident10 he said to me1 8,i will give you a safeguard against obscurity of judgment4 ,read any system of philosophy you like1 you will doubtless discover that error predominates in it2 put it aside for the time being and read another1 make the round of several systems4 ,with each your first impression will probably be renewed4 ,after that go over each in your mind1 not in detail1 but taking each in its entirety4 ,you will find that you can point out a certain truth1 one truth which will have occurred in all4 ,let this gradually expand in your mind without unduly forcing it2 you will have forgotten the epithets used1 and will find one dominant note which will enlighten your judgment40 ,the manner in which ,spinoza interpreted the sacred writings of his race has perhaps not attracted sufficient attention4 ,his most important work from this point of view has the somewhat repellant title of ,tractatus theologico-politicus4 ,it is diffuse and heavy1 and its translators have not succeeded in rendering it more agreeable4 ,it is very difficult to grasp in detail1 as omissions and reservations abound4 ,,the ,,views ,,of ,,spinoza ,when reading ,spinoza it is necessary to bear in mind--which is not easy--that he is neither a heathen philosopher nor a ,father of the ,church nor a modern critic1 but a learned ,jew1 living in the middle of the seventeenth century4 ,i will try to reproduce his opinions in his own words1 and endeavour to keep them uncontaminated1 as far as possible1 with the views of the end of the nineteenth century4 ,spinoza asserts plainly that he receives the ,bible as an inspired book2 in this he perhaps differs from some of our more recent exegetes who examine the ,bible as any other literary work of history and morality4 ,christians grow up in the truth that the ,bible contains the ,word of ,god1 and they claim that their teaching has its basis in the ,old ,testament4 ,but others have argued thus3 ,what do these know of the history of the ,hebrews8 ,they do not understand the language of their writings1 and they cannot say what caused those sublime teachers of the people1 the prophets1 to speak on such and such an occasion1 in such and such a manner4 ,being ignorant on all these points it is possible that interpretations of the ,old ,testament may have led us into error4 ,the existence of what are now called the laws of nature being unknown in those far-off days1 the ,hebrews were unable to recognise secondary or mediate causes2 the book of ,job is an example of this4 ,god intervenes personally on each occasion4 ,our attention is directed solely to two points3 man who suffers1 that is1 who consents or is in revolt1 and ,god who wills or wills not4 ,as everything without exception is placed in direct relationship with ,god in the ,old ,testament1 all is said to emanate from ,god2 the cedars of ,lebanon are the cedars of ,god2#abc men of great stature1 the giants1 are called in ,genesis sons of ,god2 the knowledge of nature and of natural things which ,solomon possessed is called the wisdom of ,god2 the discretion of a judge and the gains of a merchant are the gifts of ,god2 ,assyria is the scourge of ,god1 and the lightning ,his arrows4 ,and ,spinoza asks3 why are the children of ,israel called ,god's chosen people8 ,because the ,lord1 having delivered them out of ,pharaoh's hands1 led them into the land of ,canaan1 where they lived under the laws revealed to ,moses1 to which the surrounding nations were not subject4 8,i will be your ,god1 and ye shall be ,my people10 ,jehovah had said by the mouth of ,moses4 ,this was the covenant concluded on ,mount ,sinai between the ,lord ,god and the ,jewish nation4 ,these laws1 which were at the same time civil and religious1 were included under the general term1 the ,law of the ,lord1 and the ,book containing these precepts was called the ,word of ,god4 ,according to an ancient tradition1 ,god revealed to ,noah seven precepts which corresponded to commandments given generally to all mankind without distinction of race2 there was thus perhaps a revelation given at the beginning of time1 even before the first and greatest of the prophets1 ,moses2 and this revelation the patriarchs knew4 ,the light which lightens every man born into the world impressed these first precepts on the human heart2 to the ,jewish race it seemed perhaps improbable that a divine law not promulgated by a human mouth nor delivered in the name of the ,god of ,israel1 could be imposed on man2 as ,moses was permitted to hear ,god's voice amongst the lightnings and thunders1 the ,israelites considered themselves on a higher level than the rest of humanity1 and held in less esteem eternal verities which were the possession of all mankind4 ,moses told them that after his death ,god would raise up a prophet amongst them on condition that they should keep ,his ,covenant and ,his ,commandments to do them1 and he warned them of the consequences of breaking these3 8,i testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish40 ,we find the second revelation in the books ascribed to ,moses2 written in our memory as distinctly as in the ,bible2 it has so entirely eclipsed the first that the greater number of us do not remember ever to have heard of the seven precepts of ,noah4 ,after the death of ,moses1 prophets succeeded each other in ,israel2 all from the first to the last acknowledged that they received the revelation either by symbols or illustrations1 or by the word2 their eyes saw certain objects and their ears heard the explanation of what they saw4 ,ezekiel1 like ,moses1 saw ,god under the appearance of a flaming fire2 ,daniel saw ,him as the 8,ancient of ,days1 whose garment was white as snow02 the disciples of ,christ saw the ,spirit of ,god under the form of a dove2 the ,apostles as tongues of fire2 and ,saul1 at the moment of his conversion1 recognised it in a bright light1 and these visions were always accompanied by words4 ,the prophets rise above the level of other men by the intensity of their faith1 and by their vivid imagination2 but imagination is mobile1 and their ecstatic conditions were not permanent2 how could they feel assured of being in direct communication with the ,lord ,himself8 ,they were so lacking in assurance that they often required some palpable sign1 thus did ,abraham1 ,moses1 ,gideon and many others4 ,each time the sign was granted to them2 a fire descending from heaven to consume the offering2 a rod changed into a serpent2 a healthy hand instantly covered with leprosy2 a fleece of wool remaining dry on ground that was wet with dew1 and other miraculous signs4 ,according to ,spinoza the gift of prophecy is on a lower level than that of ordinary intellectual knowledge which requires no outward sign of confirmation4 ,the nature of the revelation depended also upon the temperament of each prophet1 on his education and his own personal opinions2 the ,magi who studied astronomy and astrology1 seeing a star in the east1 at once went in search of the expected child4 ,but on one point all were agreed1 they all said with ,moses3 8,thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god with all thine heart1 and with all thy soul1 and with all thy might1 and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself40 ,and they said with ,isaiah3 8,wash you1 make you clean1 put away the evil of your doings1 cease to do evil1 learn to do well1 relieve the oppressed40 ,,obedience ,a striking feature of ,spinoza's philosophical system was the basis of obedience upon which the whole edifice of a religious life rested2 now obedience presupposes the existence of a law4 ,as the ,israelites seemed incapable of appreciating the intrinsic excellence of the precepts delivered to them1 ,moses enforced their fulfilment1 and spoke of ,god to them as a just and righteous law-giver who would reward those who kept the commandments and punish those who transgressed them4 ,and when this law was given out1 amongst thunders and lightnings1 the children of ,israel acknowledged it with acclaim--though not always fulfilling it--because they were the only people possessing it4 ,at last the time came when it was possible to say3 8,the appointed hour has come40 ,the ,jewish nation1 for whose sake the ,mosaic law had been revealed1 was on the point of crumbling to pieces1 when ,christ appeared proclaiming the universal and divine law4 ,christ was no prophet in the ordinary acceptation of the word1 since neither word nor vision revealed ,god's ,will to ,him1 the truth was in ,him in all its plenitude1 ,his mind was identical with that of the ,father1 and ,eternal ,wisdom took the form of humanity4 ,jewish as well as ,christian theologians have equally contributed at times to obscure the sense of the ,holy ,scriptures2 they have taught that man's reason is unsound and can with difficulty penetrate the mysteries of religion2 and that the only way1 therefore1 was to accept the ,bible as infallible in all its details4 ,the faithful extended this doctrine of infallibility to every verbal peculiarity and failed to distinguish the eternal principles1 always clearly and simply expressed by the prophets1 from those vivid illustrations which enabled them to speak1 without hindrance1 in terms most adapted for arousing the wonder and belief of the ordinary hearer1 of matters per se inexpressible1 as for instance of the ,divine ,nature4 ,spinoza especially blames the theologians for having introduced in their commentaries notions borrowed from ,grecian philosophers1 which they adapted to the ,old and ,new ,testament1 clothing them in biblical language2 this mixture of divine inspiration and subtle argument more and more disturbed pious souls who went to their ,bibles for edification only4 ,to those capable of understanding them ,christ revealed the secrets of the ,kingdom of ,god2 they were the higher truths of eternal life1 the counsels of perfection2 to the multitude ,he spoke in parables and gave them commandments which were to be obeyed that they might enter the kingdom of heaven4 ,the ,apostles spread abroad the teachings of ,christ2 they preached the love of ,god with that of our neighbour1 not as sufficing in itself1 but as a commandment spoken in the name of the ,life and ,passion of our ,saviour4 ,and then each one added to these great truths minor teachings1 varying the subjects according as they addressed ,jews or ,gentiles2 many different teachings were thus promulgated1 giving rise in the early ,church to misunderstandings1 gradually leading to disputes and schisms2 and after nineteen centuries of study of the subject we still have not arrived at perfect mutual understanding4 ,spinoza quotes in this connection a ,dutch proverb3 8,geen ketter2 sonder letter40 ,without a text1 no heresy4 ,when shall we learn that the revelation of ,god is not confined to a certain number of books1 to a certain number of words8 ,it must of necessity be inscribed elsewhere also1 since words are patient of more than one interpretation1 books go astray and are lost1 paper becomes mildewed and is torn1 stones are smashed even in the hands of a prophet4 ,spinoza tells us that he read and re-read the ,holy ,scriptures with the greatest care before commenting on them1 and he undertakes to demonstrate to the ,christian governments the necessity of reforming the constitutions of the established churches by replacing a phantom ,bible by the ,bible understood in spirit and in truth4 ,the scientific portion of the task would not be complicated1 since the commandments of ,god are few in number1 in fact they may be reduced to one4 8,he that cometh to ,god must believe that ,he is1 and that ,he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek ,him02 and as a proof that they seek ,him they must practise justice and charity2 these are the foundations of the faith1 and they are so clear and so simple1 that no commentary thereon is needed1 nor are they affected by any of the verbal differences or inaccuracies4 ,the ecclesiastical authorities thus act sometimes contrary to the divine will when they declare those who are leading a good and virtuous life to be the enemies of ,god1 simply because their opinions are not in exact conformity with the theological definitions put forth by the churches4 ,the civil power ought to be able to judge of the belief of its citizens by the fruits they produce1 if their works are good1 it may be thought that in the eyes of ,god their belief is also correct1 but personal theological opinions1 though in conformity with the decrees permitted by the ,church1 would not prevail in ,god's sight over wrong doing4 ,when governments act in accordance with these views1 all is well--individuals1 the nation1 and the governments4 ,in order to believe that ,god's ,word may be found elsewhere1 it is necessary to believe that ,he exists4 ,his existence cannot be known2#abd we can1 however1 obtain some knowledge of it by certain means of which we can know the reality2 they are so real that we cannot imagine any force that can invalidate them2 these means or notions are the fundamental axioms inherent in the human mind1 and are the bases of all knowledge2 it is to these that we owe the power of being able to distinguish good from evil1 and this faculty we may regard as the forerunner of the divine revelation4 ,if we once admit the possibility of these first principles--these axioms--becoming obliterated1 we should then admit a doubt of their intrinsic truth1 which would attack and weaken their immediate conclusion1 which is the existence of ,god2 from that time we should possess no element of certainty4 ,this is why it has been said that attacks against reason are more dangerous than attacks against the faith1 because they destroy with one blow the sacred edifice and the foundation which bears it4 ,,the ,,law ,in a system where law is everything1 how does ,spinoza understand the action of ,providence8 ,men are accustomed to call that knowledge divine which surpasses the human understanding1 and that event miraculous when the cause is unknown to them2 and nothing better demonstrates to them the existence of ,god1 ,his power and ,his providence1 than those things which appear to them to change the order of nature4 ,we sometimes show our ignorance by attributing things of which we are ignorant to a special interposition of providence4 ,those who think thus are not in a position to explain what they mean by the order of nature4 ,this manner of viewing things might well date from the time of the early ,hebrews1 who wished to prove to those nations who were not ,semitic1 and who worshipped visible objects1 such as the heavenly bodies1 that these were subordinate deities1 subject to the will of the invisible ,god1 whose miracles on their behalf they related1 since they were convinced that the whole of nature contributed to the well-being of the ,hebrew people exclusively4 ,with ,god the understanding and the will are the same2 to know and to will is a single act2 to know an object as it is in itself1 and to realise it effectively1 is a necessity inherent in the ,divine perfection2 since all truths come inevitably from the ,divine intellect1 the universal laws of nature are the eternal decrees of ,god4 ,if any event takes place in nature not in accordance with these universal laws1 then the mind of ,god has not conceived it2 in other words1 he who affirms that in a certain case ,god has acted contrarily to the laws of nature1 affirms also that ,god has acted contrarily to ,his own ,divine nature1 which would prove the speaker's perversity4 ,no event happens that is not by the will and eternal decrees of ,god1 each event conforms to laws eternally necessary and absolutely true4 ,to believe that this could be otherwise would be to admit that ,god made an imperfect nature1 and established laws so incomplete that they required to be retouched each time that they failed to realise the divine plan1 a strange conception1 and for which there is no necessity4 ,those who seek and find their supreme happiness in the love of ,god1 and in doing the greatest good1 have no wish that nature should obey them2 they desire to submit to nature1 knowing indubitably1 that ,god governs all things in accordance with general laws which are in agreement with universal life4 ,from this statement it will be seen that it is no longer a question of resignation--of passive submission2 man responds in every part of his being to the supreme law which1 as is the case with all men1 leads them blindly1 and1 for the most part1 unconsciously towards happiness2 and causes1 in a great nature1 such as ,spinoza's1 an unceasing effort to maintain and to raise itself2 the passage from excellence to perfection is always accompanied by a feeling of joy1 and sadness marks each backward step towards imperfection4 ,the being--,spinoza's monad--thus typifies perfection1 and good1 and evil consists in the increase or diminution of the being4 ,the natural love of man for life has been transformed by ,spinoza into law2 his maxim is well known3 ,every being tends to preserve its existence4 ,,the ,,law ,,in ,,the ,,gospel ,the ,old and ,new ,testaments are an exposition of a long discipline of obedience1 this makes their power1 and those who study them without preconceived ideas discover this4 ,spinoza distinguishes between the spiritual needs of the majority of men and the minority1 and between the religions which suit the one and the other4 ,but all men1 without exception1 must acquire the religion demanded by all1 that is practical religion1 which consists in keeping those commandments given us in the sacred books4 ,this obedience serves to weaken passions2 in the same proportion as man attains this end1 so a light1 ever increasing in purity1 illumines his intellect1 and so much the more does he comprehend that true happiness is the result of virtue4 ,few men go beyond this1 or--without any other guide than their reason--experience that intellectual love of ,god1 inseparable from the true knowledge of ,god and man2 this love1 when entirely disinterested1 yields a joy which is not the reward of virtue1 since it is one with virtue itself4 ,the divine law was in the world1 as ,st ,john said1 before the coming of ,moses or of ,christ1 but the world as a whole was ignorant of it2 reason leads us to it1 and reason tells us that it leads to the highest beatitude1 and that those who follow it will not need to seek any other4 ,but there is one thing of which reason cannot tell us2 this--that the moral effect of this universal law1 which is obeyed1 not because it is true1 necessary and perfect1 but simply because ,moses commanded the observance of it1 by reason of the covenant made by ,god1 and because ,christ commands it in ,his own name1 is the power of leading to this beatitude1 which those obtain who strive after the spirit of ,christ1 perceiving in this law of ,god1 absolute truth4 ,this reason alone could not have taught us1 it is not written in the human heart1 this we learn in the ,bible4 ,that obedience only to a truth should inevitably produce certain results can hardly be asserted with mathematical certainty1 since mathematical results are the effects only of those things which can be deduced from the elements contained in them2 but a moral certainty we can feel1 and this was the privilege and portion of the prophets2 and it was possible1 as it was not contrary to reason4 ,,biographical ,,note ,spinoza belonged to a family of ,portuguese ,jews settled in ,amsterdam4 ,he led an exemplary life2 he was poor and apparently content to be so1 since he refused help from his friends1 which he might have accepted with a clear conscience2 what he obtained by polishing spectacle lenses seems to have satisfied him4 ,he was advised to dedicate one of his books to ,louis ,,xiv41 a munificent patron of literary men1 but he did not do so4 ,ethics--the work to which he owes his fame--in accordance with his express wish1 only appeared after his death1 and without the name of the author1 because1 he said1 the truth should go forth under no man's name2 he feared also to attach his to a new school of philosophy4 ,the ,rabbis of ,amsterdam had long sought to bring ,spinoza into a more orthodox path than the one he trod2 his idea that the institution of prophets had been a source of weakness rather than of strength to the ,hebrew people1 threatened to develop into a formal heresy4 ,the appearance in #afef of ,spinoza's ,tractatus theologico-politicus1 raised a storm of indignation2 it was the only work of importance which he published during his lifetime2 it was followed by a sentence of excommunication1 read at the gate of the synagogue1 and was in these terms3-- 8,in the name of the ,angels and by a decree of the ,saints1 we anathematise and exorcise ,baruch ,spinoza1 in the presence of the ,sacred ,books and the six hundred and thirty precepts they contain4 ,cursed be he by day and night2 may the fury of the ,lord consume this man1 and may all the maledictions written in the ,book of the ,law light on him2 may the ,lord destroy him from amongst the tribes of ,israel2 let no man go near him1 nor speak to him1 nor write to him1 nor show him any compassion40 ,how eloquent men can be when they are angry6 ,spinoza left his native town on that day2 he took refuge at the ,hague1 where he died in #afgg1 at forty-four years of age4 ,in reading the pages in which eminent critics have examined ,spinoza's system1 one seems to see not the man whose writings are known1 but two different men1 or rather perhaps several different men2 ,i do not think even the philosopher would have recognised himself in these rsums4 ,as has been noticed1 ,spinoza is neither a true ,jew nor1 apparently1 a ,christian1 since the negation of final causes is as foreign to the spirit of the ,old ,testament1 as his joyous stoicism is to that of the ,new2 some have remembered the words of ,novalis3 8,spinoza is inebriated with ,god40 ,they added that with him the crown of the intellectual love of ,god was the transport of a soul carried out of itself1 but that this transport must have differed from the ecstasies in which so many of the saints of the ,christian ,church found the supreme delight of the religious life4 ,but amongst ,christians what is their conception of the highest beatitude8 ,i see ,god in ,his heaven1 but my neighbour1 where is he8 ,on the one side are the happy1 on the other the faulty2 we recognise ourselves in each1 we see ourselves1 we have fellowship with all2 painters have so often represented this scene on theological lines1 that it is familiar to us2 is this really the beatitude we picture to ourselves8 ,the mental and moral condition of this philosopher lends itself little to analysis2 he who has the most carefully studied his views1 would be the most diffident in expounding them1 having found so many obscure points in them4 ,in any case it is well to remember this circumstance1 ,spinoza has now been dead more than two hundred years1 and the discovery that before speaking it is advisable to know something of the meaning of the words used1 dates from yesterday only4 ,spinoza in his ,tractatus theologico-politicus1 uses constantly the words prophecy1 inspiration1 revelation1 faith1 and theology1 and the reader who has sacrificed his rest for several nights that he may know what he means by these five words1 ends by acknowledging that his devotion has been in vain4 ,happily1 no one knows better than our philosopher the meaning of the word obedience2 this helps the reader2 he only regrets that the critics have laid little stress on this crucial point4 ,since no man's writings are capable of being clearly understood if he is isolated from those who have written on similar lines--beginning from ,novalis 7that poetic and charming writer whose true name was ,hardenberg71 points of comparison have been established between the ,dutch philosopher 7,spinoza71 the ecstatic ,saint ,theresa and the enthusiastic ,saint ,francis d',assisi4 ,let us now turn to the more sober genius of ,aristotle and see if he will succeed in throwing daylight on the obscure thought of ,spinoza4 8,infinity attracts10 this word of ,aristotle would have sufficed1 but the prince of critics gives a further explanation4 8,man is face to face with a truth1 and the light lighteth every one that cometh into the world2 all who see see the same things1 and all that man has seen is true4444 ,god works in us not as a workman who tires himself1 but as an all-powerful virtue which acts2 ,he moves as an object of love40#abe ,this opinion of ,aristotle is shared by ,plato1 ,st ,thomas ,aquinas and ,st ,augustine4 ,a complete unanimity4 ,when ,i am sometimes struck by certain truths1 dressed in all the brilliance which pure virtues possess1 but feeling unable to form a rational whole of these virtues when they are not arranged in an orderly manner1 ,i should often have yielded to discouragement1 if ,i had not read in ,bossuet's ,trait du libre arbitre these words3 8,when we begin to reason1 we must first consider this as indubitable1 that we may know with complete certainty many things of which we do not understand their corollaries1 nor all their results4 ,the first rule of our logic is that we must not abandon truths which we have once known1 whatever difficulties may present themselves when we are trying to deal with them2 but that we must hold both ends of the chain firmly1 although we may not be able to see the middle by which the two ends are linked40 ,,the ,,ideas ,,of ,,plato ,a philosopher said to me3 8,since we can know nothing of the beyond1 let us make a virtue of necessity1 and learn exactly what there is on our side of the veil40 ,the advice is excellent4 ,astronomy teaches us that perfect order reigns in the sphere studied by that science4 ,the world may be the result of certain chemical combinations which have met by chance2 but if chance has introduced order in these chemical combinations1 it might as easily derange them and replace them by disorder2 yet the astronomers have not succeeded in discovering the least indication of disorder in their domain2 that we know positively4 ,it is generally admitted that the world has had a beginning2 is it reason or the absence of reason that we should expect to find at the origin of the world8 ,does it proceed so regularly in obedience to laws8 ,sages have said1 8,laws govern matter1 forces1 movements1 all things that are1 but might not have been1 just as the world is or exists1 but might not have been40 ,since ,darwin wrote1 much discussion has taken place with regard to the origin of species1 no one has thought of asking whether the ,greek philosophers had anything to say on the subject4 ,if1 for instance1 it had been discovered that the law of certain sidereal phenomena compelled a circular or elliptical movement1 or any other geometrical form1 then this law1 in itself1 would be a geometrical idea2 that could exist1 although the phenomenon in which it was realised1 might disappear with the world itself4 ,according to ,kepler1 geometry has given forms for all creation1 and ,kepler has also said that ,god governs all things in conformity with ,himself2 in that case geometry would be anterior to the world and co-eternal with ,god1 and if these geometrical forms which are perfect have been thought out by a perfect intelligence1 is it not the same with all the component parts of the vegetable and animal kingdoms8 ,would a horse1 or whatever the ancestor of a horse may be1 have been produced spontaneously by nature8 ,must there not have been a type of some kind1 which was realised in all horses1 multiplying and varying for every new species8 ,and in the same manner also for all trees and plants4 ,the first types of these things existed before man1 that other part of nature1 and before all that man calls the good1 the beautiful4 ,were not all these things thought and willed by a mind capable of thinking and willing8 ,thus ,plato reasons4 ,it is received in theology as in philosophy that all things have their ideal in ,god2 matter itself has its conception and raison d'tre in ,god2 ,st ,thomas ,aquinas was able to say with no trace of pantheism1 8,god is eminently all things40 ,,episodial ,two ,english travellers1 ,gatchet and ,hall1 finding themselves once amongst the ,klamaths1 a tribe of ,red ,indians1 asked them concerning their beliefs2 these ,indians worshipped a supreme being who made the world with its plants1 animals and men1 whom they called 8,the most ,ancient10 8,the ,ancient ,one on high40 ,the travellers then asked how ,he had created the world1 whether by means of tools or instruments2 they replied1 8,by thinking and willing40 ,this wonderful answer contains the germ of the thought which1 on ,greek soil1 became the ,logos1 the act of thinking and speaking1 the unique act which in the ,creator means willing and producing4 ,this answer is an echo1 and by no means a feeble one1 of the celebrated saying3 8,god is the ,living ,one who is1 in whom is the ,idea of ,good0 7,timaeus74 ,plato affirms that the world and all that it contains has been made in the eternal pattern of the ,idea of ,good1 and this ,idea of ,good is not separable from the ,creator4 ,again perfect unanimity1 extending this time to the ,red ,indians4 ,it might be thought that an electric current ran round the world2 certain psychical phenomena cannot otherwise be explained4 ,,an ,,excursion ,,into ,a ,,country ,,little ,,known ,if there are proofs of the existence of ,god1 they should be within reach of all the world1 both the learned and the ignorant1 since ,god is no more the ,god of a certain class of person than ,he is of a certain nation4 ,in some modern books on philosophy we see this phrase1 8,the influence of the ,infinite on souls10 though we may not pay much attention to it1 we perhaps have the feeling that the infinite does not exercise much influence on us2 but it does not allude to ourselves1 it refers to our primitive ancestors1 who sought to discover what there could be behind all they saw and heard2 common sense1 with its uncertain but powerful instincts directed primitive man towards an invisible magnet4 ,this is not our common sense1 that is1 not as we should define it1 self-evident principles1 spontaneous judgments1 which direct our acts2 but common sense as ,aristotle would understand the word2 the faculty of feeling and perceiving1 where all our sensations are united1 because all our external senses converge thither2 this common sense is so truly a sense1 that it has its own central organ1 which is what we call heart4 ,but this influence of the invisible--another name for the infinite--had at first no connection with religion2 it merely deposited a germ in the soul1 without which no religious tendency could make itself felt2 and under the impulse of this power--this divine sense which ,aristotle calls the attraction of the desirable and the intelligible--the passing from the finite to the infinite--the most natural and the most necessary act of the moral life--is accomplished by a simple flight or upward movement of the human spirit4 ,plato explains this mental phenomenon3 8,there is in the depth of our soul a point which is the root of the soul and which forms a connecting link between ,god and the soul2 the soul apprehends because ,god has touched it40 ,perceiving in itself and all around it traces of goodness1 beauty1 justice1 love1 and joy2 feeling in itself and around it1 life and its forces2 it is only necessary for the soul to send its ideas beyond the limits of its own confined being1 with its imperfect capabilities and joys1 and it will approach ,god4 ,kepler1 when discovering the laws governing the planetary system1 found geometry in the sky2 since then1 the learned have found mathematics in all the branches of physics4 ,they have seen numbers and geometrical figures in light and colour1 in sound and in music under its sensible form4 ,leibnitz1 one of the world's greatest mathematicians1 who discovered the infinitesimal calculus1 saw that in this way one could pass from finite grandeur to mathematical laws and forms such as belong eternally to ,god--independent of all dimensions4 ,between the spontaneous flight of the soul with spreading wings1 going from finite facts to infinite1 and the highest mathematics1 which have existed for about two hundred years only1 the analogy is complete2 the learned demonstrations of the existence of ,god given by all true philosophers are results which correspond with those obtained by the ordinary methods used by all men4 ,thus the identity of the fundamental process of a reasonable life with that of the geometrical process1 which both demonstrate the existence of ,god1 is established4 ,the metaphysical certainty of the first process equals the geometrical certainty of the second4 ,for this reason ,leibnitz could say1 8,there are geometry1 metaphysics1 harmony1 and morality everywhere40 ,i have well said that the human ,ego used science and philosophy1 before the appearance of philosophers1 to attest that the true path leading to ,god is that natural movement of the soul described by the ,hindoo poets--during a time of great ignorance--in the ,vedic hymns4 ,this movement is the universal act of prayer4 ,for the philosopher1 the proof of the existence of ,god may appear to rest on a syllogism2 for the historian it rests on the complete evolution of the human mind4 ,is it necessary still to ask how the idea of a super-sensible principle penetrated into the human mind1 and how it is diffused over the world8 ,the reply to this question is in the ,veda1 where the hymns show methodically1 under an apparent confusion1 what we have been able to glean here and there from the mouth of sages of all times4 ,this idea revealed itself to man at first in external nature2 then man discovered it in his own personal and phenomenal self1 the abridgment of humanity in its entirety with its living and its dead4 8,at last the consciousness of self arose from out the clouds of psychological mythology1 and became the consciousness of the ,infinite or the ,divine within us4 ,the individual self found itself again in the ,divine ,self4 ,socrates knew it1 but he called it ,daimonion1 the indwelling ,god4 ,the early ,christian philosophers called it the ,holy ,ghost1 a name which received many interpretations and misinterpretations in different schools of theology1 but which ought to become again what it was meant for in the beginning1 the spirit which unites all that is holy within man1 with the ,holy of ,holies1 or the ,infinite40#abf ,this may be called natural religion1 since it was revealed by nature1 and the truth of this revelation is demonstrated mathematically4 ,all that ,i have just said has been epitomised in a few lines by a thinker of our century1 ,bordas-,desmoulins3 8,without mathematics it would be impossible to penetrate to the depths of philosophy2 without philosophy it would be impossible to arrive at the foundations of mathematics2 without the two we could penetrate nothing40 ,aristotle quotes these words of ,anaxagoras1 who lived one hundred and fifty years before him3 8,the man who recognised in nature an intelligence which is the cause of the arrangement and order of the universe has alone kept his reason in the midst of the follies of his predecessors40 ,there has been no break in the continuity of the first impression experienced by man at the sight of lightning1 and ,god whom each nation named after its own way1 and ,him whom the ,athenians worshipped without knowing1 whom the ,apostle declared to them4 ,i will here repeat the words of ,aristotle1 which must never be effaced from our memories3 8,man is face to face with the light that lighteth every one that cometh into the world40 ,it was this that caused the same philosopher to use those other surprising words1 so difficult to grasp when reading them for the first time in a book3 8,all who see see the same things1 and all that a man has seen is true40 ,,anthropomorphism ,man at the beginning1 knowing of two kinds of agents only1 both tangible1 themselves and the beasts1 conceived the idea that the phenomena of nature were set in motion by invisible agents of some kind1 their imagination followed its natural bent in picturing these agents under one or the other of the two aspects familiar to them1 and sometimes under the two united2 since these unknown powers--for instance amongst the ,egyptians--often assumed the shape of creatures half man and half fish1 or bird1 or quadruped4 ,but with the progress of civilisation these representations of divinities were modified4 ,man having obtained glimpses of the difference between the phenomenal and the non-phenomenal1 was led to suspect the existence of an author for the one and the other2 and this author or agent was perceived by him anthropomorphically1 that is to say1 arrayed with a human personality1 but endowed with all the qualities of goodness and beauty which distinguish the highest and noblest of men4 ,we know that anthropomorphism in the abstract is wrong1 yet without it man could never have found the way of approach to this unknown author of all created things1 and the desire to know him nearer was irresistible4 ,in one sense we are less advanced than our primitive ancestors4 ,attracted on the one hand by the occult properties of the magnet1 and impelled by sensation1 they advanced in all simplicity4 ,at a later date they desired to have those things explained to them which they did not understand2 men undertook this duty1 greater distances grew up between them1 and the sacred code was the result4 ,,the ,,sacred ,,codes ,,and ,,the ,,codes ,,of ,,laws ,history teaches us that each sacred ,code grew gradually1 and in the same way as the ,codes of ,laws4 ,a religion peculiar to each people existed1 though vague and indefinite1 before the written ,code4 ,if there had not been a growth of the law by means of decrees1 pronounced at various times by the heads of the people1 accumulating slowly1 and accepted in the same degree by the people in general1 there would have been no definite ,codes of ,laws1 such as those of ,solon and ,draco and others4 ,if there had not been a religious growth formulated in oracles and prayers1 and in commandments promulgated at different times by the prophets1 accumulating slowly1 and accepted in the same degree by the people in general1 there would have been no sacred writings1 such as those of ,moses1 ,confucius1 ,buddha1 and others4 ,it sometimes happens that ,codes of ,laws become transformed into petrified fetishes1 to which submission is blindly yielded1 whilst their origin is forgotten1 and the sense of what is just or unjust is lost in the question of what is written and thus legal2 and some sacred books are treated as fetishes1 to which an implicit submission is exacted1 whilst their origin is forgotten and the sense of what is true and divine is absorbed in the sole thought of what is written and therefore orthodox4 ,the sense of responsibility of the citizen with regard to the law of his country is in danger of becoming paralysed when that law is applied with such mechanical exactitude as to confuse the ideas of law and equity2#abg and the responsibility of the believer with regard to the religion of his country may run risks of becoming paralysed when that religion is framed in accordance with a ceremonial exactitude rather than with a human feeling for what is true or false4 ,the mere possession of the sacred ,scriptures may have become a substitute for the love of ,god2 the effective influence of the ,infinite became changed into a mere habit which drove away the spontaneous action of the soul4 ,we distinguish with difficulty organised religions from religions as practised by each one1 which was our primitive religion4 ,there are rites that we love2 rites which at first reflected ,god have imperceptibly taken the place of ,god who vivified our religious life4 ,we possess dogmas1 but lose perhaps our hold of the personal assurance of the existence of a ,being whom ,plato named 8the ,being apart10 or 8the self-existent ,being40 ,the results of this are serious1 since dogmata1 of themselves1 do not always furnish sufficing arguments against atheism4 ,it may be asked for how many people is this ,supreme ,being anything more than a name encountered in a book8 ,to a small number of individuals ,he was an intense reality at intervals during the course of ages1 to saints of the ,christian ,church and some of the heathen philosophers4 ,he may still be a reality for certain individualities which modern philosophies have not classified1 as amongst pantheists or atheists1 or minds full of inconsequent enthusiasm4 ,this ,being is also a reality for the erudite mind1 or the contemplative who make ,him an object of study4 ,but the greater number of men1 even the civilised1 the baptised1 are content to pass by2 they are satisfied with the reflection only4 ,some might say that it is by means of our reason rather than of our heart that we are enabled to trace in ,god 8the ,being apart0 or 8self-existent ,being10 but ,seneca says3 8,reason is not only composed of evidence2 its best part is obscure and hidden40 ,in our days this remark of ,seneca's has been paraphrased and rendered more in detail1 it has been said3 8,there are certain minds which are illumined1 and there are others full of warmth2 the warmth and the clarity at times separate1 but never the warmth and the nobility2 in the more noble minds there is more warmth40 ,if1 as ,spinoza thought1 reason becomes less apt at raising itself to the knowledge of ,god1 in proportion as imagination and enthusiasm--to which it gives rise--gain in strength1 yet1 on the other hand1 the world in general would no doubt have benefited by the work of prophets which characterised the history of the ,hebrew people2 the greater number of intellectual men amongst the ancient philosophers would not have sought after the knowledge of ,god1 when it was presented in a form too pure and too abstract to impress the multitude4 ,the divine conception therefore descended and captivated them by a union of the divine and human2 and it is because the ,bible contains this universal element that the idea of a supernatural revelation has become deeply engraved in the human conscience1 and has caused some to consider the ,bible as the unique source of all revelation4 ,for this reason the people of ,israel1 though less prone to action than many of whom history speaks1 are1 to those who think1 the most important amongst the nations of antiquity1 since they have proved1 as none others have done1 the power of the spiritual element in humanity4 ,it is displeasing to many persons to hear the term 8,science of ,religion0 used4 8,how can a science be made10 they say1 8of what is a natural sentiment8 ,we can believe without study40 ,why do they not add1 8and without reflection80 ,certainly religion did not commence in this world by study2 men first applied themselves to the natural sciences2 they have hardly arrived1 at the present time1 at the social sciences2 and in the opinion of certain theologians--,pre ,gratry1 for instance--it was several centuries before the science of religion became known1 but it may be a science without the religious sentiment suffering in any way4 ,with this view before us1 let us begin not to build but to bring together the materials2 following the advice of the excommunicated philosopher of ,amsterdam1 let us look at the sacred writings of the people in order to form some idea of the different religions1 which is much easier than to know what religion is4 ,indifference and ignorance are so common that sometimes young men are found--even those about to take orders--who would be incapable of answering these questions3 8,what are the chief historical religions of our day8 ,how many are there8 ,who are their founders8 ,what are the titles of the sacred writings considered by these communities as authorities in matters of ,faith80 ,we know that it is not of ,faith to consider that the world was created in six days of ordinary length1 but we do not know the constitution and names of the religions whence for thousands of years millions of human creatures have drawn their hope1 their consolation1 and their rules of conduct4 ,eight supreme or 8book0 religions1 as ,max ,mller calls them1 are in possession of ,sacred ,writings2 ,brahmanism1 which is the religion of the ,veda1 and the most ancient of the ,aryan family1 with ,buddhism form the two religions of ,india2 ,zoroastrianism1 or ,magism1 the ,persian religion2 two religions in ,china1 one the result of the philosophical teachings of ,lao-tse2 the other--which is more practical--of ,confucius2 ,judaism and ,christianity2 and ,mohammedanism1 the religion of ,arabia4#abh ,with regard to the non-,christian religions1 there is one with which we are little familiar2 it seems to have an attraction for some people1 probably because we imagine it to contain much occult knowledge1 which stimulates us to search for its mysteries2 this religion is ,buddhism4 ,with what complacency we discuss it in our drawing-rooms1 without suspecting that we have erred from the first2 we generalise on the religious opinions of millions of souls separated from us by half the globe1 and by thousands of years1 without remembering that these opinions have varied and continue to vary amongst numerous sects1 just as the dialects of a language vary2 and all the time the fundamental principles of the religion have escaped us4 ,i shall say a few words only as to ,buddhism1 and these will relate first to orthography2 it is necessary to distinguish between the words ,buddha and ,budha1 which are often confounded2 they have nothing in common but their roots4 ,buddha with two ds is a participle of budh which means awakened1 or enlightened with a special light2 this name is given to those who have attained the highest degree of human wisdom2 ,budha with one d is simply a wise man2 and when the ,hindoos taught the ,greeks a knowledge of the planets1 they gave this name to the planet ,mercury4 ,the custom of immolating the widow on the funeral pile of her dead husband is naturally spoken of with astonishment and horror2 for many centuries neither the ,hindoos nor ,europeans knew that it arose from a mistaken interpretation of some lines in the ,veda4 ,at last a time arrived when the ,brahmans1 who were the religious nobility of the country and had the control of the ,vedic religion1 pretended that each word of the ,veda had been supernaturally revealed2 voices were now raised in protest against this affirmation2 the ,hindoo people1 who submitted patiently to the yoke of political despotism1 would not permit a monopoly of the teaching of eternal truths2 and to shake the authority of the clergy it was quite sufficient for one man to step forth from amongst the multitude and assert that it was possible to obtain eternal happiness without the intervention of the ,brahmanic priesthood1 and without a blindfold faith in the books on which they had placed the seal of infallibility4 ,five hundred years before our present era this man appeared1 the son of a king1 of the warrior caste1 not belonging to the ,brahman class2 he was ,gautama ,skya-,muni1 known to the entire world afterwards as the ,buddha4 ,he claimed the right of giving instruction1 and handed it on to others who were also enlightened4 ,two hundred years after his death1 the famous king ,asoka convened a great council in order to determine the various points of doctrine2 and his edicts were engraved in the ,sanscrit dialect then in use1 on rocks in various parts of his kingdom4 ,if the teaching of ,buddha awakened such an ardent sympathy amongst men1 and was propagated with so much rapidity1 it was owing to the fact that the ,hindoo mind had been prepared to receive it by centuries of meditation4 ,in all probability it was not ,buddha who coined the term ,nirvna2 he may have found it ready made in the ,upanishads1 where it meant originally not annihilation of the soul1 or absorption1 but a 8blowing out1 an extinction10 then an extinction of passions1 a final moral emancipation1 and the union of the individual soul with eternal truth4 ,in ending this short appreciation of ,buddhism1 ,i will add that1 even in our day1 there are begging ,brahmans1 some living in communities1 others dispersed in villages1 who know the entire ,rig-,veda by heart1 as their ancestors did three thousand years ago2 and although they had manuscripts and even printed texts they made no use of them4 ,our knowledge of established religions has rendered one indubitable fact clear to us1 that is the deterioration to which all are subject2 none has remained what it was in its initial period2 the most perfect suffers from contact with the world1 in the same way as pure air undergoes a change when breathed by thousands of lungs4 ,christ's teaching conquered alike the ignorant multitude and the most civilised portions of the world1 because from the first ,he used words with which to express the most exalted truths1 which could equally be understood by the young ,jew1 the ,roman publican1 and the ,greek philosopher4 ,christianity broke down the barrier which divided nations2 until that time everyone who did not speak ,greek1 was1 to the ,greek1 a barbarian2 to the ,jew all the uncircumcised were strangers2 the nascent ,christianity drew white and black together2 the idea of the whole human race forming one family had its birth at the word of ,christ4 ,the narrowness of outlook disappeared for a time2 it returned when efforts were made to confine the words of ,christ within the narrow compass of a rigid formula2 and thus it came to pass that the recently established doctrine soon ceased to fulfil its chief object1 that of being a link of universal charity4 ,zealous disciples1 whilst depreciating dissident religions1 endeavoured to detach ,christianity from the uninterrupted chain of the government of the world or divine ,providence1 thus forming an isolated branch in the history of the human family4 ,each religion1 like each language1 has a past history1 only we neglect to study the beginnings1 because we lose sight of the fact that the founders of the great religions claim no exclusive right to the name of sole author4#abi ,justin ,martyr1 in his ,apology 7,a4,d4 #aci71 has this memorable passage 7,apol4 i4 #df73 8,one article of our faith1 then1 is that ,christ is the true ,logos 7or universal ,reason7 of which mankind are all partakers2 and therefore those who live according to the ,logos are ,christians1 notwithstanding they may pass with you for atheists2 such among the ,greeks were ,socrates and ,heracleitus1 and the like2 and such among the barbarians were ,abraham1 and ,ananias1 and ,azarias1 and ,misael1 and ,elias1 and many others2 444 and those who have lived in former times in defiance of the ,logos or ,reason were evil1 and enemies of ,christ1 and murderers of such as lived according to the ,logos2 but they who have made or make the ,logos or ,reason the rule of their actions are ,christians1 and men without fear and trembling40#acj ,st ,augustine1 speaking in the same strain1 says3 8,what is now called the ,christian religion1 has existed among the ancients1 and was not absent from the beginning of the human race1 until ,christ came in the flesh1 from which time the true religion1 which existed already1 began to be called ,christian0 7,retr4 i4 #ac74 ,we know by heart certain passages of the ,new ,testament1 but it is rather the sound than the meaning which is impressed on our memory2 when we come upon similar remarks made some centuries before the ,gospel was preached1 they strike us forcibly2 and it is as though we heard them for the first time4 ,jesus ,christ declared before the assembled multitude3 8,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto thee1 except a man be born anew1 he cannot see the kingdom of ,god40 ,these words were said to a ruler of the ,jews named ,nicodemus1 who had come to ,jesus by night1 and he asked ,him to explain how these things could be4 ,jesus answered3 8,art thou the teacher of ,israel1 and understandest not these things80 ,no1 the teacher of ,israel understood not these things1 but the heathen ,aristotle knew them2 he had said in speaking of the contemplation of ,god3 8,such a life is superior to the ordinary life of man2 it is not as man that man lives this life1 but by merit of a divine principle living in him40 ,jesus said unto the woman of ,samaria who was sitting at the foot of ,mount ,gerizim1 a place sacred to those of her belief3 8,woman1 believe ,me1 the hour cometh1 when neither in this mountain1 nor in ,jerusalem1 shall ye worship the ,father2 444 but the true worshippers shall worship the ,father in spirit and truth40 ,although nearly two thousand years have passed men do not yet believe it4 ,origen1 one of the early ,fathers of the ,church1 wrote3 8,if we wish at last to emerge from infancy1 we must translate the temporal and visible ,gospel into that which is eternal and intelligible40 ,this same ,father was condemned by a council for certain opinions deemed erroneous1 amongst others those on the plurality of worlds1 which he said he found in the ,gospel1 this opinion might well be true4 ,st ,jerome mentions the anathema used3 8,like ,satan1 of whom he is the son1 ,origen fell as lightning from heaven40 ,as a piece of eloquence it rivals the condemnation of the philosopher of ,amsterdam4 99 99 99 99 99 ,many legends were disseminated amongst the people1 they were the natural productions of the moral atmosphere of ,europe at the time when the first germs of ,christianity sank into a soil strewn with the debris of ancient mythology4 ,what happened then will always happen when the multitudes learn the language of their rulers without at the same time assimilating their ideas4 ,it is related that in the thirteenth century1 in a little town of ,italy1 a ,brother ,thomas asked ,brother ,bonaventure whence came the power and unction of which all his sermons were so full4 ,bonaventure pointed to a crucifix hanging on the wall of his cell3 8,he it is who dictates to me all that ,i say40 ,this reply was reported to the people1 who believed it literally1 and the inhabitants of the town were convinced that ,brother ,bonaventure possessed a crucifix that spoke4 ,the painters adopted the subject1 amongst the first were those of ,spain4 ,thus a symbol took the place of a sacred truth4 ,the ,church has often been accused of tolerating like superstitions2 yet she endeavours to stop their propagation2 but the task of trying to restore each stone to its place is one of great delicacy1 lest the foundations should be shaken upon which the spiritual life of long centuries has been built4 ,miracles are a prominent feature in all religions2 nevertheless1 when the disciples of ,buddha asked their master to enable them to perform them1 he replied3 8,i will teach you to perform the greatest moral miracle4 ,hide your good deeds1 and confess before the world the sins you have committed0 7,phy4 ,religion1 p4 #cci74 ,mohammed1 in the ,koran1 expresses the strongest contempt for miracles1 in the usual sense of that word1 and he appeals to the true miracles1 the great works of ,allah in nature3 8,i cannot show you10 he said to his disciples1 8signs more wonderful than what you see every day and every night40 ,but the orthodox ,mohammedans delight in relating the miracles wrought by ,mohammed1 and which have made him the marvel of ,arabia4 ,miracles seem to serve the purpose of impressing upon us that the religion is true in which name they are performed2 it has also been observed that the same miracle is not generally performed twice1 as the second time it appears natural2 it is extraordinary the faculty man possesses of feeling no astonishment at those things which should awaken his most profound astonishment4 ,as critics we are now in a position to take note of the mental aberrations of the mythological period2 we can understand that when the ancient peoples attributed a divine descent to their kings and heroes1 it was the highest praise that one man could give to another2 we know that the mythology as taught in the schools1 was no more the religion of the ,greeks and ,romans than rust is iron4 ,yet it is this homage which has perhaps obscured our minds as we imagine absolutely human intercourse taking place between mortals and immortals4 ,the action of metaphor overstepped the boundary of the fabulous ages2 it invaded1 unknown to us1 the domain of the modern thinker1 and even our religion was not sheltered from its attacks2 we now use in our religious phraseology the words of father and son1 without having first despoiled them of their material meaning2 and we hardly realise that in this different sphere these words are a daring metaphor1 upon which1 of our own initiative1 we could not have ventured4 ,a vague idea that ,god is separated from us by space dominates us1 so that the belief that there can be no barrier between the divine and human is often confounded with pantheism2 yet without pantheism of this kind1 which differs in toto from the dogmatic pantheism1 ,christianity would not have made its appearance in the world4 ,we invoke neither ,jupiter nor ,jehovah2 ,god is for us the ,god whose name is found in all modern languages2 but it is ,god around us1 beyond us2 in speaking of ,him our thoughts follow ,him to ,heaven4 ,when a man takes ,god to witness of his innocence1 he involuntarily lifts his hand to ,heaven2 in a time of disastrous drought1 when the earth refuses its nourishment to man and beast1 pious souls are invited to pray to ,god for the blessing of rain4 ,whilst the work of science has been specially directed to causes1 religion is content1 as in the past1 to attribute each act to an agent2 the influence of ancient ideas on our present thought is still in force1 and our mind has to live as the oyster1 under a cover which it has made for itself4 ,but we must submit to evidence1 and acknowledge that if we do not yet escape from the power of mythology1 it is that we meet its language everywhere1 even in our sacred writings4 ,language has moulded our thoughts2 when they tend towards ,god1 we make a representation of ,him as a person1 we are not able to avoid such representations2 we know that the sun does not rise each morning1 but we cannot do otherwise than see it rise2 we know that the sky is not blue1 but to us it wears no other appearance4 ,we hear it repeated that an impersonal ,god is no ,god2 but it is forgotten that personification implies limitations1 since it cannot be conceived but from a human point of view1 and thus with limits4 ,when ,spinoza denied a ,divine personality1 his opposers believed him to be denying ,god2 the philosophers of the seventeenth century1 including ,catholic theologians1 did not define the personality of ,god4#aca ,descartes and ,fenelon's definition is 8,the ,infinitely perfect ,being1 without restrictions1 the ,being1 to which nothing can be added40 ,in regarding ,god's personality as we do that of a human being1 we might logically say with ,massillon3 8,god1 in ,his anger1 hears unwise prayers1 in order to punish those who use them02 you would also be logical if you thought with that mother that ,god had taken away her child because she had loved it too well4 ,in tracing the progress of ideas concerning ,god throughout the course of ages1 it would be a sorry task to gather together the characteristics chosen by ,christian writers as those which mark the supreme ,being2 these traits would furnish a whole ,pantheon of mythological divinities4 ,all philosophers and all truly philosophical theologians have held that ,god is impersonal ,reason2 ,bossuet called ,him 8,la ,raison-,dieu40 ,this ,light that lighteth every one that cometh into the world is the source of a principle of certitude2 ,aristotle1 ,st ,augustine1 ,st ,thomas ,aquinas thus understood it when they said that mind cannot be mistaken4 ,if we would make an approximate conception of ,god we must scrupulously follow the advice of ,st ,thomas ,aquinas1 8,eliminate1 eliminate10 then only shall we understand the meaning of the sages who said that negation is fuller than affirmation4 ,thousands of years before ,st ,thomas ,aquinas1 the ,hindoos practised his method2 for it was the inadequacy of the names used to express the indefinable attributes of divinity that led them always to search for new ones1 until at last1 all the phenomena of nature having been examined and rejected1 the ,hindoos in despair cried1 8,it is impossible to seize that which we seek2 it is not this1 nor that1 nor anything for which we have a name40 ,at last they came to the conclusion that there was no name worthy of ,god in the language of humanity1 and that all that could be said was1 8,no1 no40 ,it is necessary1 however1 to use names as soon as we possess the ideas4 ,all those which have contributed to the education of humanity have been the production of an impersonal work1 the result of a long meditation by the human mind4 ,it has been said that the idea and name of 8the ,being0 for ,god1 originated in the mind of ,moses2 perhaps this prophet put the last touch4 8,i ,am that ,i ,am0 was the name used by him for the ,eternal4 ,the ,hebrews employed another method when speaking of ,god1 they used the word ,il or ,el4 ,in ,hebrew it occurs both in its general sense of strong or hero1 and as a name of ,god4 ,something equivalent is found in the ,zend-,avesta2 8,looking around him1 ,il 7,ahuramazda1 the ,zend name for ,ormazd7 sees nothing but himself2 and ,il said1 #8,i ,am1' and his name became #8,i ,am4'0 ,but man at times yearns for a closer union with ,god than is expressed by the name 8,being40 ,when troubled and in pain he says1 8,my ,father60 and he remembers the names which he lisped as a child1 and all come crowding to his lips2 and ,he who is above all hears and understands4 ,we must not separate religion from philosophy2 the subjects touching on religion have always been those which have given birth to philosophy2 even if religion existed only on sentiment1 as some people maintain1 it would be for philosophy to determine if this sentiment were an illusion1 or if it had a rational base2 to separate them is to lessen both4 ,,footnotes3 #aji ,origin and ,growth of ,religion1 p4 #cab4 #aaj ,rothe in his 8,stille ,stunden10 ,anthropological ,religion1 p4 #af4 #aaa ,psalm xxxiii4 #f2 ,isaiah xi4 #d4 #aab ,natural ,religion1 p4 #afd4 #aac ,rig-,veda1 ,i4 #afd4 #f4 #aad ,ibid41 ,,vi4 #i4 #f4 #aae ,rig-,veda1 ,x4 #hb4 #g4 #aaf ,ibid41 #aba4 #h4 #aag ,theosophy or ,psychological ,religion1 p4 #ig4 #aah ,higher ,critics4 #aai ,we find from a letter of ,st ,jerome's to ,paula that he was in the habit of advising his disciples to read the ,scriptures1 which he so reverenced1 in the following order4 ,he began by the ,psalms1 then took the books of ,solomon1 then he would come to ,job4 ,after going through this course of ,old ,testament history he would come to the ,gospels and then to the ,acts and the ,epistles4 ,after this preparation he would turn to the ,prophets1 who had foretold all that the ,gospels related1 and ended by allowing his disciples to read the historical ,books of the ,old ,testament1 which might1 he thought1 without such previous training1 trouble and perplex them4--,,translator',s ,,note4 #abj ,from ,m4 ,renan's work on ,semitic languages4 #aba ,introduction to the ,science of ,religion1 pp4 #ca1 #cb4 #abb #b ,kings iii4 #ae4 #abc ,ezekiel xxxi4 #h4 #abd 8,a ,god understood would be no ,god at all40--,dean ,mansel1 seventeenth century4 #abe ,metaphysics1 xii4 #abf ,physical ,religion1 p4 #d4 #abg ,cf4 ,summum jus est summa injuria4 #abh ,this study of religions hardly gives sufficient prominence to ,christianity2 ,max ,mller says3 8,i make no secret that true ,christianity1 ,i mean the religion of ,christ1 seems to me to become more and more exalted the more we know and the more we appreciate the treasures of truth hidden in the despised religions of the world40--,introduction to the ,science of ,religion1 p4 #bh4 8,it may be said that my chief object has been to magnify ,christianity1 by showing that it is the fulfilment of all that the world has been hoping and striving for4 ,in one sense that is true4 ,but if ,i hold that ,christianity has given the best and truest expression to what the old world had tried to express in various and less perfect ways1 ,i have at least given the facts on which ,i rely40--,anthropological ,religion1 p4 #chh4 #abi ,on this subject ,max ,mller says3 8,the ancient ,fathers of the ,church spoke on these subjects with greater freedom than we venture to use in these days40--,chips from a ,german ,workshop1 vol4 i41 ,pref4 xxix4 #acj ,chips from a ,german ,workshop1 vol4 i41 ,pref4 xxix4 #aca ,in the seventh century the ,personality was clearly set forth in the ,athanasian ,creed4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,of ,,words 8,nomina si nescis1 perit et cognitio rerum40--,,linn4 ,if language is the true autobiography of the human mind1 our present language may also be called a perfect photograph of our mind in its present state of fog4 ,whether ignorant or learned we still talk and discuss1 and we seldom arrive at an understanding of the subject1 owing to our want of knowledge of the precise meaning of the terms4 ,the most advanced sciences are those about whose terms we no longer dispute1 mathematics1 for instance4 ,when we are quite convinced of the identity of thought and speech1 we shall introduce into our ideas1 and consequently into all our discourses1 whether familiar or philosophical1 a clearness impossible to obtain in any other manner4 ,it would be a great help to know the etymology of words1 but that would not suffice4 8,l'tymologie10 said ,voltaire1 8est une science o les voyelles ne font rien1 et les consonnes fort peu de choses40 ,this sally bears on its face the date of the century of which this could be said in all truth4 ,at the time of ,voltaire the science of etymology was confined to ascribing the derivation of a word to another word to which it bore a close resemblance in sound2 and the clever writer was not the only one to rally the few learned men who considered it possible to trace words to a source which one can hardly suspect of being related to them4 ,if ,voltaire had known that his sarcasm was nothing more than a simple scientific truth1 he would perhaps have found less pleasure in expressing it4 ,the science of etymology--a growth of our day--has discovered that words1 which in appearance have nothing in common1 neither sound nor meaning1 yet have a common origin4 ,that would be a curious chapter of the history of thought1 in which were demonstrated the errors that had been introduced and embedded in our minds by the use of certain words1 which in the course of time gradually developed a meaning the exact opposite of that which they had at the first4 ,for instance1 matter is generally represented as something tangible1 that is to say1 all are agreed in finding it devoid of mind1 and it is a sign of condemnation to say of a century it is materialistic4 ,yet we who daily touch tangible objects1 such as stone1 metal1 wood1 never succeed in putting our hands on matter as such2 we should not know where to find it4 ,does this arise from the fact that matter is not tangible8 ,the ,latin word materia had originally the meaning of the wood of a tree1 then of wood or timber for building4 ,this meaning was generalised so as to include solid bodies capable of taking various shapes4 ,when idols were fashioned a distinction was made between the wood and the shape which emerged2 and afterwards1 when sculptors carved statues of marble or of metal1 the marble and metal again received the name of matter or material2 and when it was asked of what all tangible objects were made1 even the world on which we live1 the answer was that all were made of matter whilst they differ in form4 ,in this way have we become possessed of our word matter1 to which nothing tangible quite corresponds2 and no doubt1 owing to its complexity of meaning1 it has not ceased to exercise the minds of learned men4 ,if philosophers have not been able to explain accurately the meaning of matter1 physicists have not been more successful1 since what we call matter does not come under our senses4 ,the word might have escaped this ill fate had it always been used only by philosophers 8who try only to use words that have been clearly defined1 but names are used by the wise and the foolish1 and the foolish1 as we know1 are in such an immense majority that the wonder is that words have any definite sense left at all40#acb ,max ,mller says3 8,i am quite willing to admit that matter may be called the objective cause of all that we perceive4 ,for the very reason1 however1 that it is a cause1 matter can never fall under the cognisance of our senses4 ,all that we can predicate of matter is that it causes our sensations1 that it exists in space and time1 that it is one1 but appears under an endless variety of phenomenal forms1 that it remains unchanged in the change of outward appearances40#acc ,the history of the word matter teaches us then that speech1 whose sole duty it is to introduce light into our minds1 admits error also as long as we are ignorant of the original meaning of words3 matter1 whilst it was the solid wood of a tree and wood for building1 became for those who had coined the word a fit object for perception and conception2 later1 others1 differently constituted1 saw in it a word 8which contains to every man exactly what he has found in it or added to it40#acd ,there are many words whose transformations we are able to follow from one language to another1 but1 on the other hand1 there are others whose history it is not possible to know with exactness1 owing to the many revolutions1 the many breaks and pauses which here and there have destroyed and scattered the links2 but the science of language progresses1 and those who study it look forward to the day when its foundations will be placed on philosophical bases4 ,many of the false ideas we have conceived of words are no doubt owing to the translations we read of books4 ,when we first begin the study of a new language the task appears a simple one1 the dictionary supplies us with the equivalent words and the grammar with the correct forms2 but the further we advance the less we are satisfied2 the difficulties of finding expressions which content us increase2 words are too abundant1 or too scarce2 our conceptions are invaded by ideas of complete disparity2 and we seem to be entering an unknown land1 because new effects of light and shade have lent a novel character to the country4 ,a translation is therefore at best but an effort to bring together thoughts which were designed to remain always apart4 ,if in our modern languages certain words necessarily change their meaning during the course of three or four centuries1 ancient languages are under the same necessity in an infinitely greater degree4 ,many scholars have devoted their entire lives to the task of deciphering old documents1 as it is impossible for literature of an age anterior to our present era by many centuries to preserve its original physiognomy two thousand years later4 ,a translation of the hymns of the ,veda1 or of the ,zend-,avesta1 requires exactly the same process as the deciphering of the inscriptions in the time of ,cyrus1 ,darius1 and ,xerxes4 ,the only certain way is to compare every passage in which the same word occurs1 and look for a meaning that is equally applicable to all4 ,from the lack of this method ,sanscrit and ,zend texts have been rendered most incorrectly4 ,it is precisely the ,sacred ,writings that have suffered the most from the efforts of interpreters4 ,those passages of the hymns which have no close connection with religious or philosophical doctrines are generally correctly rendered1 but as each generation expects to find the ideas reflecting its own time in the words of the ancient seers1 the most simple discourse--if it can in any way be construed to represent modern thought--is tortured and twisted so as to coincide with preconceived ideas1 however foreign to the mind of the writer4 ,it is the same with the ,hebrew version of the ,old ,testament4 ,at the time when the seventy ,jews at ,alexandria were occupied in translating the ,scriptures into ,greek1 #bej ,b4,c41 although ,hebrew could not be looked upon as a dead language1 yet even the most learned amongst these elders did not understand the original of many of the expressions1 and probably few of the translators undertook the task of explaining how far those to whom ,moses' discourses were addressed1 understood them4 ,if the ,old ,testament has lost amongst the ,higher ,critics some of its ancient glories1 it has1 on the other hand1 acquired a historical value which theologians of former times had never contemplated4 ,the knowledge of comparative philology having been used in deciphering the cuneiform inscriptions or hieroglyphics engraved on the ruined walls of the temples and palaces of ,nineveh and ,babylon1 we possess information concerning the worship of the ,phnicians1 the ,carthaginians1 and the ,nomads of the ,arabian peninsula4 ,we no longer seek the help of the inscriptions in proving the truth of the biblical records2 it is rather these which confirm the correctness of all that we learn from the inscriptions4 ,one more remark on the subject of our venerable and venerated ,bible4 ,i do not understand how it is that some people with literary tastes never open the ,old ,testament to satisfy them4 ,lack of habit perhaps4 ,some of the wits of the ,renaissance looked down on the ,old ,testament2 now the admirers of classic literature know better how to appreciate its literary beauties of many kinds of which it is full2 some of our modern writers have been much commended for their perorations2 the perorations of the chapters contained in the ,bible are superb4 8,i will give an instance how the peculiar character of a language may influence even religious expressions4 ,a ,mohawk 7coming originally from ,north ,america7 was questioned concerning his mother-tongue4 ,it seems that in ,mohawk it is impossible to say father1 mother1 child1 nor the father1 the mother1 the child4 ,we must always say1 my father1 thy mother1 or his child4 ,once when ,i asked him to translate the ,apostles' ,creed for me1 he translated #8,i believe in our ,god1 our ,father1 and his ,son' all right4 ,but when he came to the ,holy ,ghost1 he asked is it their or his ,holy ,ghost8 ,i told him there was a difference of opinion on that point between two great divisions of the ,christian ,church1 and he then shook his head and declared that he could not translate the ,creed till that point had been settled40#ace ,this fact has an interest for linguists2 what ,i am about to relate concerns all4 ,a lady wishing to practise a little philosophy with the means within her reach1 wrote to me once3 8,i am perplexed2 my heart tells me one thing1 and my soul another40 ,it required some moments of reflection to understand what my correspondent meant2 the heart was1 in her eyes1 obviously1 the seat of earthly affections2 and the soul that of purely spiritual aspirations4 ,this hazy manner of explanation might1 at first sight1 appear harmless1 but on looking at it more closely1 it is seen to be unfortunate1 for this confusion between thoughts and words1 meets one in many a book of so-called edification1 where the reader seldom takes note of it1 especially if he be hurried or careless2 but one regrets to see good women waste daily half an hour in reading such indefinite nothings1 thinking to accomplish thereby a religious duty2 these persons1 with intellectual culture would draw greater benefit to themselves in devoting their half hour to the perusal of books of a more sturdy tone4 ,we believe ourselves to be in the possession of very clear notions concerning conscience2 earnest men speak of it as an inward monitor2 simple folk like ourselves call it the ,voice of ,god2 for the one and for the other conscience seems to be a guide on which they can rely1 and the ,greek poet ,menander was not mistaken when he wrote the line 8,conscience is a god to all mortals40 ,but if we possessed within us a faculty to tell us what is our duty1 how could ,pascal have said that good and evil differ with a few degrees of latitude8 ,it is a well-known fact that the conscience of a ,mormon speaks another language to that of a non-,mormon4 ,we say with truth that we are conscious of having done well or ill1 but it does not follow that it is to our conscience that we owe the fact of knowing right from wrong2 this consciousness is the result of instruction from without1 which we accept when our own judgment and our own experience demonstrate its truth4 ,in subjects of general interest1 the task of defining terms should consist in choosing amongst the various interpretations which have gradually become attached to certain words1 not always that one which is most intimately or etymologically connected with the primary root1 but that which would indicate an important practical difference4 ,yet by an unforeseen misfortune1 the daily necessity comes before us of using words whose meaning has never been clearly defined1 so that at no time has one meaning prevailed more than another2 this is especially the case with words connected with religion1 faith1 and objects of belief1 which each one understands after his own manner4 ,in our days the possibility of an agreement between religion and science is often debated2 how can we enter on the discussion without being quite clear as to what religion is8 ,according to some it is simply the feeling of love for ,god2 according to others it is the expression of our faith under the form of acts of worship1 acts of charity1 or perhaps the holding of certain dogmas4 ,the same holds good with that which we call faith1 and which is often a feeling of confidence--not always the result of thought--in the faith of those surrounding us4 ,some give the name of faith to that enthusiasm which has sufficed to cause men joyfully to meet martyrdom2 others apply it to the confidence with which the wise men followed the guiding of the star1 when it indicated the road they should follow4 ,faith is only worthy of the name when it can be said to be a reasonable faith1 and thus accounting for its existence4 ,if we are not amongst the number of those who can give a reason for the faith that is in them1 we must take care that credulity does not glide in before we are aware of its approach2 it arises from a weakness of the mind and is compatible with a tranquillity that differs very widely from peace2 and when once mistress of the situation1 it increases1 and occupies it4 ,a wise ,arab well said1 8,he who builds his house on human credulity builds on a rock40 8,abstract10 this word which we can trace back to ,aristotle1 has an interesting history4 ,aristotle used it at first to characterise the creation of a work of art2 the sculptor carves out of a block of marble the statue of a man or of a woman1 rejecting the chips and dust which serve no purpose4 ,afterwards ,aristotle applied this same word to an idea which an accurate thinker forms1 giving it a suitable shape1 and separating it from all accidental thoughts that may have surrounded it2 that done1 what remains is an abstract idea4 ,aristotle has so well explained the meaning of abstract1 that if our logicians had simply spoken of concrete as that which is non-abstract1 all the world would more readily have understood the meaning of the word--concrete4 ,we possess and employ a vast number of words1 and we apparently increase them by endowing the same word--from a want of clearness in our perceptions--with various meanings4 ,the ancient ,hindoos must have felt that an over-abundance of words is pernicious1 and for this reason1 no doubt1 the ,brahmans at a certain period of their literature1 imposed on themselves the rule of expressing their thoughts in the fewest words possible4 ,they succeeded in presenting each point of doctrine denuded of all but the barest outline of words2 they are the authors of the aphorism1 8,a writer of the ,sutras is happier in having economised a portion of a diphthong than from the birth of a son40 ,the full force of this sentence becomes apparent when it is remembered that the ,brahman who has no son to perform his funeral rites cannot hope to enter heaven4 ,it would be difficult to express more forcibly a respect for words1 and the great necessity there is for cultivating clearness of thought4 99 99 99 99 99 ,what ,i am about to say concerns a word to which ,i owe the direction of my views of life1 and my resolution to undertake the study of the subjects forming my present work2 this word is the name of a man4 ,when ,i was young ,i made the acquaintance of a very learned ,jesuit ,father who employed his time in researches on the ecclesiastical antiquities of the ,east4 ,we once found ourselves in the company of certain persons who were surveying the most remarkable of all the scientific and philosophical works published in our day2 ,darwin1 ,pasteur1 ,helmholtz and ,max ,mller were named4 ,when the reverend ,father heard this last name1 he exclaimed1 with his accustomed impetuosity1 8,oh6 ,max ,mller1 his works are absolutely magnificent40 ,twenty years later the announcement of a new work of ,max ,mller reminded me of the ,jesuit ,father's exclamation2 hitherto ,i had read nothing of this author's2 ,i procured the book which had appeared recently2 afterwards ,i read those that had preceded it4 ,at the end of some years ,i wrote to the reverend ,father2 the state of his health had obliged him to settle in a town in the south1 and ,i had not seen him for some time4 ,i thanked him for having drawn my attention to ,max ,mller's name4 ,i received an immediate reply1 the first lines of which ,i will quote4 8,your thanks are unexpected4 ,max ,mller seems to me an incomparable philosopher1 but my admiration does not surpass his merit40 ,a few weeks later the worthy ,father died of consumption4 ,,footnotes3 #acb ,science of ,thought1 p4 #efh4 #acc ,ibid41 p4 #efi4 #acd ,ibid41 p4 #egj4 #ace ,max ,mller1 ,anthropological ,religion1 p4 #aga4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,observations ,,and ,,reflections ,i had not decided beforehand on the number of my chapters2 it seems that there will be thirteen4 ,if these pages have readers to whom the number thirteen is distressing1 ,i beg of them at once to dismiss this feeling by saying3 8,he who objects to sit down thirteen at table1 acknowledges by this that he does not believe in a supreme intelligence1 superior to his own1 which governs the world40 99 99 99 99 99 ,science1 religion1 reason1 and faith1 these four words form the circle in which all intellects move1 now more than ever2 on this all the world is agreed1 but all the world does not know what the greatest thinkers have understood by these four words4 ,if we do not wish to deserve the title given to that collective being1 8the man in the street10 the best means of avoiding it is to acknowledge openly that there are many unexplained problems facing us1 and that man exists in order to do his part in solving them4 ,humanity is not composed of individuals who have been poured forth from a horn of plenty1 its destiny cannot therefore be to diffuse itself over the surface of the earth without the means of knowing why it is there4 ,an ancient ,greek said once that the gods were ready to sell all kinds of good things to mortals but at a high price1 at the cost of hard work4 ,if then we can only acquire the promised good things by the aid of hard work1 our thoughts carry us at once to science1 and we ask what can this science do1 upon which we so pride ourselves in this century1 to explain the motive of our existence8 ,,physics ,in proportion as physical science studies this universe1 so it recognises more and more clearly that its most general phenomenon is vibration1 a periodical movement1 which propagates itself in waves succeeding each other at regular intervals4 ,we have all noticed the effect produced by drops of rain falling on water which the absence of wind leaves perfectly tranquil4 ,each drop forms a circle1 but the causes of perturbation of an aqueous surface are infinite2 the dip of an insect1 the leap of a fish1 all ceaselessly cause new circles1 which follow each other1 become wider1 and finally lose themselves in each other under our eyes2 the water is apparently a prey to shivering fits2 this is a type of the vibrations whose percussions are felt by the whole world4 ,we are all1 body and soul1 subject to the law of vibrations1 each sense recognises its power by means of sensations whose various kinds are apprehended by physical science1 by the calculation of the number of vibrations which1 in a given time1 affect differently each of our organs of sensation4 ,science records the number of vibrations which denote to our skin the exact degree of the external temperature1 she counts the millions of vibrations which enable our eyes to see definite colours in the space of a second1 and the thousands of vibrations which enable our ears to hear1 in the same space of time1 well defined sounds4 ,thus physical science explains a general phenomenon which exerts its influence1 indubitably1 on all men since there have been men on earth4 ,,comparative ,,sciences ,when ,bordas-,desmoulins1 one of the first of our learned thinkers to study comparative science1 said3 8,without mathematics we cannot plumb the depths of philosophy2 without philosophy we cannot penetrate mathematics2 without the two we can reach the foundation of nothing10 did he see that this truth is so great as to be all embracing8 ,we see theologians walking steadily in the footsteps of those who study comparative science with conviction4 ,father ,gratry contends that without it it is impossible to know ,god1 man1 and nature4 ,matter cannot be conceived without spirit1 nor spirit apart from matter4 ,whilst a human being is in the embryonic stage1 the soul1 the principle of life1 is occupied in forming the body1 destined to cover it during its earthly existence4 ,the moment arrives when this body is sufficiently prepared to appear in the light of day2 it contains two nervous centres1 the one supplying the vegetative life1 the other the animal2 they are distinct though not separated1 and the soul still continues its work on the body1 whether it sleeps or whether it wakes2 but during sleep1 whilst man's will is torpid1 the soul supplies by rhythmic movements of the nerves1 the requisite matter for the reparation of the losses sustained during the waking periods4 ,this intimate union of mind and matter has been rejected by certain great philosophers4 ,descartes1 for instance1 completely separated the immaterial substance possessed of the property of thinking from the material body4 ,apparently we are of his way of thinking since we always speak of our soul as of one thing and our body as of another2 this is to make two truths out of one and the same truth4 ,but it is better to look upon it as one truth as ,aristotle did formerly4 ,at a later date certain doctors of the ,church became of the same opinion1 and at present ,christian theologians1 who are also thinkers1 hold the same view4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a fresh science is now in process of development4 ,it connects psychical phenomena1 such as sensation1 thought1 and action1 with that which can be weighed and measured4 ,this science bears several more or less characteristic names2 in order to keep to generalities ,i will call it the new psychology2 it is taught in ,germany1 ,england1 ,paris1 and ,russia1 and perhaps elsewhere4 ,there is only one way of dealing rightly with so vast a science1 it should be treated in its entirety2 but as ,i am anxious only to make known some of its more recent discoveries1 ,i will content myself by doing this briefly and with many omissions4 99 99 99 99 99 ,kant had as his disciple the physiologist ,j4 ,mller1 who applied the method of his master to the study of sensations2 and ,helmholtz was trained by ,j4 ,mller4 ,at one time1 rather more than fifty years ago1 the germs of life were considered to be an exception on the terrestrial globe2 but ,helmholtz discovered them even in rocky masses2 and he proved to ,liebig that putrefaction was not a simple chemical reaction1 but was due to the action of a living organism4 ,m4 ,pasteur was one of the first to profit by this lesson4 ,each definite science has its own special sphere in which it is occupied only with itself2 ,helmholtz1 a physician and musician1 worked entirely in connection with his own science only2 without reference to the conclusion that comparative science might draw from his labours1 he gave himself up to the study of the rapidity of the transmission of nervous impressions1 and dogmatically laid down his thesis in his book ,the ,physiological ,theory of ,music1 which is perhaps the most important of his works2 at least it is the one of which ,i have made the most use4 ,in nature we never hear simple sounds2 nothing but a fusion of noises reaches us4 ,helmholtz1 however1 succeeded in distinguishing a fundamental sound in a mass of others2 but it is quickly amalgamated with two or three other sounds which are higher and feebler than itself1 as distant echoes4 ,helmholtz became convinced that music is composed of single sounds accompanied by others of a decreasing intensity1 and he demonstrated by calculation that the number of vibrations of these secondary sounds called harmonics are greater than those of the fundamental sounds2 and the differences of the grouping of harmonic sounds determines the difference of timbre4 ,in this way ,helmholtz discovered the cause of musical timbre1 and was able to explain the reason1 hitherto unknown1 of the sound of a flute differing from that of a hautbois1 or of a woman's voice from that of a man's4 ,there are two marvellous things in music2 timbre and rhythm4 ,by rhythm is understood the number of a group of corresponding vibrations recurring in a second4 ,rhythm may be defined as a recurring movement1 composed of unequal parts2 the beat of a pulse1 in which each pulsation can be separately distinguished1 will serve as an example4 ,rhythm may be found everywhere1 in poetry equally with music2 and it is this which imparts its chief charm4 ,the beauty of the rhythmic prose of the ,hebrew ,nbh naturally attracted the multitude independently of the subject matter of their words2 and the rhythmic language of ,renan's translation of the book of ,job enables us perfectly to grasp and appreciate the special charm incidental to rhythm4 ,music is provocative of nervous effects1 at times of great intensity2 beneficent to the greater number of persons1 but to others quite the reverse2 in his infancy ,mozart almost fainted on hearing the sound of the trumpet4 ,professor ,wundt--who in his works deals with the human soul and that of beasts--founded at ,leipzig1 in #ahgi1 a laboratory with this inscription over the entrance1 8,institute for ,experimental ,psychology40 ,wundt said3 8,the result of my researches does not accord with the dualism of ,plato and ,descartes2 from experimental psychology the animism of ,aristotle 7who connects psychology and biology7 alone is evolved1 as the plausible metaphysical conclusion40 ,a wonderful man this ,aristotle6 ,whether we wish to analyse those sensations which stir every fibre of our moral being1 or to trace the etymology of a word1 or study the most modern of all our sciences1 the first to present himself to our mental vision is the sage of ,stageira4 ,the first notes of an air by ,mozart or of a sonata of ,beethoven could never have been produced by them by chance1 they were willed by a power which their composers considered outside themselves4 ,inspiration--revelation--the same thing with all1 in all time1 and in every place1 they differ but in degree4 ,it is possible that a musical physician such as ,helmholtz1 added to a psychological physiologist as ,wundt was1 and the two grafted on to a philosopher such as ,aristotle1 might have been able to define1 in a measure1 the meaning of the words ,inspiration and ,revelation4 ,it is with a knowledge of causes that we are able to say3 8,the universal phenomenon of vibration is a fight for life1 a fight between being and not being40 ,,concerning ,,some ,,authors ,we do not always occupy ourselves with science1 and writers of a poetical temperament like to write on the more serious subjects1 at the dictation of their heart and conscience only1 especially when they speak to themselves alone1 with no thought of others4 ,renan1 in his ,history of the ,people of ,israel1 writes3 8,in presence of the social problems of our days1 and of the question3 ,has life a premeditated end and object8 ,what is it8 ,is it for the good of humanity8 ,is it for the good of the individual80 ,the author replies3 8,the universe1 whose last word we never learn1 attains its end by an infinite variety of germs2 if we are amongst those who deceive themselves and rebel against authority1 that may not be attended by serious consequences 444 let us be quiet2 if we miss the mark others will hit it2 that which ,jahvah wills1 will come to pass40 ,understand if you can4 ,those who wish to adore1 always find an object of adoration2 ,renan seeks his religion in the love of science and art2 ,comte thought to find it in a life devoted to the happiness of humanity4 ,is it not of these1 and of men similar to them1 that the most intellectual and clearest sighted of judges1 the mythological god ,krishna1 spoke when he said1 8,all those who adore idols1 adore me40 ,everywhere we encounter ,god and ,his power2 either ,he triumphs over man1 or man vainly seeks to triumph over ,him4 ,i have noticed that ,renan's work1 ,la ,vie de ,jsus1 to which earnest-minded persons have a great objection1 has been the means of consoling more than one sincere soul4 ,is it to be reckoned a good or an evil8 ,who shall take upon himself to say8 ,renan has certainly an attraction for certain readers1 they do not succeed in finding out what he believes1 but that is not to the point2 generally he confines himself to troubling the water1 it becomes muddy2 in muddy waters fish are sometimes taken--we throw our lines--and--marvellous--each one draws out his favourite fish4 ,pre ,gratry has nothing in common with ,renan1 except that both are poets4 ,plato having said that all but the wicked have their eternal types in ,god1 ,gratry was authorised in the conclusion he drew in his ,logic that 8nothing in us1 neither sentiment1 nor imagination1 nor prayer1 can go too far2 all is more beautiful than that of which we dream2 all is higher than we can believe possible40 ,this language has displeased certain moralists1 and they have not spared their censures on the theologian who used it4 ,they have accused him of dreaming whilst dealing with religion1 and they would have preferred that ,gratry should occupy himself simply with literature4 8,above all10 they say1 8how is it that ,gratry has ventured to write five long chapters on the probable site of immortality1 and to inquire where men will live when there is no longer death40 ,why should we not be permitted to ask ourselves these questions1 and to reply to them as we please8 ,are not theologians men like ourselves8 ,especially that theologian who said3 8,the time when religion will have acquired the characteristics of a science is yet far distant40 ,,religion ,,and ,,religions ,at an early period of our present era1 various groups of men formed themselves into assemblies1 8,churches10 as they were called1 all teaching religion1 and each from his own point of view4 ,the study of these instructions is full of important lessons4 ,first is to be noticed this fact that the truths on which all were agreed weighed more heavily in the balance than those on which they disagreed4 ,it is necessary to disentangle true religion in itself from its surroundings4 ,there is one true religion1 as there is one ,god1 and one logic4 ,the expressions which are current with us of natural religion and revealed religion should be lacking in our conversation1 since they cause us to believe that they denote two different religions4#acf ,opinions are sometimes attributed to the founders of organised religions which really belong only to their disciples1 or even to theologians who live in an age much more recent than the historical birth of the religion2 if free discussion followed1 suppositions and doubts might often be dissipated1 but in certain cases laws are imposed and rules laid down which are considered infallible and not open to discussion4 ,according to the early ,christian ,doctors1 the ,church is external and visible1 together with that which is within and invisible2 the title1 8,soul of the ,church10 was given to the invisible union of men amongst themselves and with ,god2 its dogma is1 8,all the righteous1 none but the righteous can have their share in the soul of the ,church2 many are in the visible ,church who do not belong to its soul2 many are out of the visible ,church who form a portion of the soul of the ,church40#acg ,in speaking thus the ,fathers rested on an ancient tradition2 it came to them from ,plato1 whose words ,i have already quoted3 8,there is in the soul a point1 which is the root by which the ,divinity suspends his creatures to ,himself2 and this central point is the truth which connects all men from one end of the world to the other40 ,this explains the previous assertion of the ,fathers4 ,but they did not content themselves with an assertion only2 they imposed on reason the burden of explanation and the duty of knowing all4 ,the first effort of our reason in natural sciences consists in examining facts and endeavouring to find the laws4 ,if one eternal law did not rule over the whole of nature our labour would be in vain2 if this same law did not govern our reason we should be incapable of finding those laws which govern the phenomena around us2 and it is clear that there could consequently be no physical science4 ,but it is not so apparent at first sight that if our reason were not governed by an eternal law1 there could be no moral sciences either4 ,many observations have been made by men of attentive and profound minds1 but they have remained isolated for the most part4 ,i will quote one or two that ,i have collected here and there2 it is well to pass them in review1 if only to assure one's self that they are true4 8,it is a great mistake to suppose that those who have read many books know many things4 ,reading supplies the material for knowledge1 but reflection alone causes it to take root and grow40 ,locke made this observation4 ,i add to it that for reflection to bear fruit it must be joined to a good method4 ,pre ,gratry1 who is a practical man1 also enforces this in a chapter in his ,logic1 in which he lays great stress on the importance of reserving the morning hours for study and reflection4 ,it is a fine paragraph1 and worthy of being reproduced4 8,in the book of the ,apocalypse we read1 #8,and there was silence in heaven for the space of half an hour4' ,in the heaven of souls this is rare4 ,according to ,st ,augustine the ,eternal ,wisdom does not cease to speak to human creatures1 and reason does not cease its activities in us4 ,we have only to listen1 and to listen we must keep silence4 ,but amongst men1 and especially amongst thinkers1 who can keep still silence8 ,the generality of men1 especially those who study1 have not a single half hour of silence in the day1 men of learning either listen to those who speak1 or are speaking themselves2 and when they find themselves alone and silent1 then they permit books to speak to them1 and they devour long discourses1 with rapid glances1 in a few minutes40 ,under these conditions all study requiring much reflection is impossible4 ,attention1 ,abstraction1 ,contradiction1 ,speech--only a few persons appreciate the importance of these four words1 and hardly any one doubts that they know the part played in their lives by the things which these words represent4 ,if we wish to know ourselves many subjects of all kinds must be studied simultaneously2 religion and religions2 the opinions of the ancients and of our contemporaries2 men as they now are and as they were4 ,renan has well characterised primitive men in attributing to them 8a special feeling for nature which enabled them1 with wonderful delicacy and accuracy1 of which we have no conception1 to perceive the qualities which furnished names2 and they saw innumerable things at once40 ,the ,hindoos1 who were writers many centuries before our present era1 must have inherited from their primitive ancestors this special feeling for nature1 or they would not have composed those verses in the #abith hymn3 8,everything in the beginning was hidden in gloom--the germ which was covered by the husk was brought forth by the power of heat4 ,on this germ rested love1 the spring of the mind1 yes1 and the poets1 in meditating thereon1 discovered in their souls the tie between the things created and the things uncreated4--,this spark1 comes it from the earth1 piercing all1 penetrating into all1 or comes it from heaven80 ,these passages have something modern in them2 they might have been written now when science seeks to fuse heaven and earth1 which was not done formerly4 ,the cord does not cease to vibrate4 ,the persistence of this phenomenon has different comments made on it4 8,it is the effect of heredity10 says modern science2 8it is a contemporaneous effect of the fall10 says theology4 ,perhaps the one and the other make of the human race one unique being which continues through the ages4 ,it is as though time had no existence for humanity4 ,space also apparently does not count for much with the race4 ,if the singular facts are true which we hear1 two persons separated by a great distance have the same thoughts at the same instant2 not the universal thought naturally inherent in the human mind1 but entirely personal4 ,has sympathy--which is as essentially human as it is mysterious--a relationship with electricity1 which is a distinctly physical phenomenon8 ,on those who reject such a supposition should fail the burden of finding another4 ,each of us sees a landscape according to our sight2 to the short-sighted 7and this is a normal condition7 the landscape appears simple2 trees here1 there houses and streets1 men walking2 but with strong glasses1 as is well known1 it is possible to see many more things4 ,again1 the short-sighted can distinguish only the colour1 veins and serrated edge of a leaf1 but if this were placed under a microscope they would see a surface of green glittering with light1 and strewn with gold and diamonds4 ,if there are two ways of looking at a leaf1 there are at least three of looking at life2 it can be seen from its pleasant or painful side1 this is to feel that we live only2 then we can grasp it with regard to the duties it imposes on us4 ,this is a right point of view1 but it shows one side only2 or we may consider it as science represents it1 that is its moral1 rational1 and religious aspect combined4 ,the more we observe and the more we reflect on what we observe1 so much the more do we exercise our faculty of understanding things2 and according as this faculty approaches or withdraws from the normal type1 so it will correspond either with the leaf seen by the naked eye or with it as seen under the microscope4 ,,opposition ,there are two kinds of opposition4 ,very often we come upon a true thought in a book which shocks us because for the moment we do not recognise its truth4 ,we also forget that all truths can be viewed at various angles2 or we do not understand a truth because it is expressed in a novel way4 ,a manual treating of physics will best explain the reason of our false impression4 ,when a ray of light is transmitted from one medium to another of different density1 as from air to water1 a change of direction is impressed on the ray1 making the straight line appear broken2 this change of direction is called refraction4 ,cardinal ,newman made a very true observation on this subject4 8,if an idea is presented unexpectedly to us10 he said1 8clothed in words to which we are unaccustomed1 it is sufficient to cause us to speak of it as erroneous2 this illusion is only a simple effect of the refraction of words2 that is to say1 that in the mind of the writer of this truth which startles us1 the idea followed a straight line1 but in our mind it became broken40 ,the second kind of opposition is of a different nature4 ,it is amusing to watch two individuals who are taking opposite sides in a heated discussion concerning some philosopher4 8,what ,i tell you is correct2 ,a1 who is a great scholar1 says so40 8,yes1 but ,i also know a great scholar1 ,b1 and he says just the contrary40 ,there seems to be a charm in controversy which few persons can resist2 they ignore what you say1 and bluntly tell you that you are in the wrong4 ,,abstraction1 ,,inattention ,not only is abstraction fatal to study1 but it often plays us sorry tricks apart from our occupations4 ,sometimes a bright idea comes into our mind1 but touching only the surface2 if by inattention or idleness we do not fix it firmly in our memory by clothing it in suitable words1 it is a hundred to one that it is not irrevocably lost to us4 ,it is not more possible to arrest its flight than to fasten a placard to the wall without nails or gum4 ,it is difficult to note with exactness the amount of inattention which so frequently accompanies the act of opening a serious book even with the fixed intention of reading it4 ,i once surprised myself in a flagrant act of inattention4 ,i was staying with a friend1 and took up ,pascal's ,penses1 which ,i had not read for some time4 ,the edition was not the same as the one ,i had at home4 ,whilst turning over the leaves ,i said to myself occasionally1 8,how the style has changed--this is not clear--this observation is very shallow02 and so ,i went on1 astonished at not being able to admire this celebrated work as ,i had formerly done4 ,suddenly ,i came upon this phrase1 8,monsieur ,pascal confond tout cela40 ,what was my humiliation to discover that in this edition 8les ,penses de ,pascal0 were followed by 8les ,penses de ,nicole40 ,i had passed from the one to the other without noticing it4 ,but what could have given rise to this impression of ,nicole's8 ,i turned back a few pages1 and read3 8,a book has just appeared which is perhaps the most useful that could be placed in the hands of princes2 it is a selection of the #8,penses de ,pascal4' ,i do not say that all are equally good 444 ,i find amongst them many well polished stones and fit to adorn a great building2 but the remainder appeared to be mixed material1 for which ,i can hardly suppose that ,m4 ,pascal could find a use4444 ,there are even certain sentiments which hardly appear to be exact1 and are like scattered thoughts thrown out at random1 which are written only that they may afterwards be examined with more care and attention4 ,monsieur ,pascal supposes that ennui comes from that which we see in ourselves--from what we think of ourselves4 ,that assertion is perhaps more subtle than solid4 ,thousands of persons experience ennui without thinking of themselves at all2 they feel weariness not from what they think1 but because they do not think enough4444 ,m4 ,pascal confond tout cela40 ,upon my word1 ,i felt consoled for my lapse into inattention2 to this fault ,i owe my acquaintance with ,m4 ,nicole's acute remark3 8,men do not feel weariness from what they think1 but because they do not think enough40 ,,speech ,when the members of the human family began to use the clamor concomitans which accompanied their occupations1 as clamor significans1 these simple materials formed the roots which indicated such and such acts1 and produced verbal and nominatival bases composed of predicative and demonstrative elements4 ,during the course of ages the first became conjugated and the second were declined4 ,by means of adding the successive acts together1 and retaining them united in the mind1 or subtracting in several directions1 our ancestors diversified the meaning of all the primitive roots2 they formed collective and abstract nouns in their simplest form by combination4 ,the process never varied2 thus the thought progressed from the first root to the last concept4 ,but the first word ever pronounced by a human creature was a true proposition1 and our last literary chef-d'uvre consists of a series of propositions4 ,descartes' brief phrase 8,cogito1 ergo sum0 may be better rendered and still more briefly by one word4 ,the ,greek word ,logos1 meaning word and thought combined1 had originally1 as ,i have already remarked1 the two meanings of assembling and combining4 8,cogito0 ,i think1 which is the short for co-agito ,i assemble4 ,the act of assembling presupposes that of separating1 seeing that it is impossible to combine two or more things without at the same time separating them from other things4 ,the child who is taught the first rules of arithmetic adds and subtracts1 which can only be done by combining and separating4 ,however little intelligence he may have1 his task does not present great difficulties to him2 and yet the most abstruse mathematical problem consists in adding and subtracting1 and the most astounding calculations of ,newton1 and the most profound mathematical speculations of ,kant1 are but the results of addition and subtraction1 of combining and separating4 ,in the course of time all that fills our dictionaries and our grammars was developed and achieved1 and nothing remained for poets and philosophers to do but to add to and deduce from the materials which they had inherited or had themselves acquired as the result of their own efforts2 and however powerful the imagination of poets may be1 and however subtle the reasoning of philosophers1 the materials which both use to form their monuments are exactly the same1 and these are nothing but the words derived from roots and collected in dictionaries4 ,most decidedly ,michael ,angelo was something more than a mason or bricklayer1 but yet the basilica of ,st ,peter's is made only of stones and bricks and a little cement1 which1 when brought down to its final constituents1 is nothing but pulverised stone4 ,most decidedly one of ,shakespeare's plays is possessed of other qualities than a mere assemblage of the letters of the alphabet arranged in a certain order1 but the materials of which the plays are formed were drawn from the inexhaustible supply of words accumulated during thousands of years1 and which contain no single particle of gold or silver that is not found in the thousand roots of our language and the #aba concepts conceived in our minds4 ,amongst the men who know how to think1 many are astonished that the so-called civilised portion of humanity should have advanced so little1 there is nothing astonishing in this2 let us consider the point1 and remember that we are only now on the morrow of the day when we were still immature humanity1 and in which the human character1 with its germs of language and of thought1 only began to be visible in us4 ,the universe obeys the unchangeable law which we name ,divine ,providence2 an irresistible law which compels matter to make certain predetermined movements1 and the mind to tend towards perfection2 man knows that he is morally free1 and not necessarily subject to animal impulses4 ,man's moral liberty being conceded1 he uses it as he will2 at times he seeks and finds opportunities for resisting the moral law2 man1 even the nominal ,christian1 stifles the spirit's higher voice and compels himself to listen to the lower voice of the flesh4 ,pascal said plainly3 8,according to the carnal ,christian the ,messiah has come to dispense us from the necessity of loving ,god by providing sacraments which act as charms apart from our co-operation10 and our hatred and our injustice continue--under cover of a scrupulous observance of rites--to infect the world as well as ourselves4 ,he spoke truly1 and saw clearly1 who first said3 8,every being tends to preserve its existence40 ,with regard to the man of whom ,pascal speaks1 this means to follow incessantly his evil practices4 ,but1 happily1 there exist other men who feel that1 besides oxygen and pleasure1 they must also absorb science and true prosperity for their well-being4 ,we read in the book of ,ecclesiasticus3 8,in every good work trust thine own soul0 7,ecclesiasticus xxxii4 #bc74 ,yes1 let us believe in our own soul1 which is the true ,ego1 and it will bid us live4 ,i am far from sharing ,pascal's opinion1 which is1 that the ,ego always merits contempt4 ,science1 after having noted and counted the exact number of vibrations of all kinds which from all parts affect us1 at a certain point ceases to have the power to calculate further1 and recognises that beyond and above all vibrations there exists that which can neither be named nor counted4 ,in my opinion that which is the best part of science is that it knows its limitations2 with some people it is a well known experience that when they have once grasped the fact that their inability rightly to comprehend something they desire to know arises from an immutable decree1 they become at once imbued with a profound quiescence1 closely allied to certainty4 ,after which there is but one step left to human reason1 to forsake that reason which is but temporary1 and to lose oneself in that which has neither beginning nor end4 ,this last step is an act of faith4 ,someone1 who does not think sufficiently1 calls this a leap in the dark1 but for him who accomplishes it this darkness becomes transparent as crystal4 8,yes10 these persons exclaim1 8and such was ,kant's last act40 ,it would be more correct to say ,kant ended as he began1 by an act of reason1 since he drew the logical conclusion of what he had learnt4 ,r,,sum ,the evolution of the human race will not become clear to us unless we remember that a time existed when man was without language and without reason4 ,during this obscure period which we name the dawn of humanity1 the material wants and their satisfaction1 comprised the whole being of man1 as it does that of the animal4 ,with man commenced the line of individuals leading to the higher order of social life4 ,it is possible that the feeling of being one of many was one of the first to awake in man1 since it was owing to the support afforded him by his fellows that he obtained what he needed2 he was also conscious of family ties1 this emotion and sentiment was the cradle of all his best qualities2 afterwards would come the attractions of race2 this feeling might so dominate the individual as to cause him to forget that he was a separate entity2 then by a concurrence of circumstances difficult to define1 national feelings were developed from the salient features of the race1 and national languages separated themselves from the central source4 ,the knowledge of being a portion of humanity arrived at a much later period2 he is still at this present time a part of a feeble few1 and he can be summed up in the well-known sentence1 of which the first words are1 8,homo sum40 ,if we consider the meaning of this classical quotation it is very striking4 ,we often mention the pre-historic times1 but we seldom ask ourselves at what date history can have begun4 ,with the first heap of stones piled up by the men of a certain tribe at the burial of a venerated chief1 history commenced2 this heap became the point at which the past touched the future1 a visible link in the interminable chain of human thought4 ,at the origin of all this mental activity we find an inspiration--a poetical fiat4 ,it was a historical moment--no other similar to it has ever been1 before or since--when the first group of human creatures acclaimed with inarticulate cries their first cavern1 or the first den dug by themselves4 ,at a much later date when man1 looking up at the vault of heaven--his curiosity aroused--wished to know what were the brilliant things he saw moving high above him1 was he not impelled by the feeling of the presence of a ,being hitherto unknown1 and to whom he paid unconscious homage by giving ,him a name8 ,if the feeling had not made itself felt simultaneously with the awakened attention caused by the appearance of the sky1 the electric spark would not have burst forth4 ,at a later date still to what can we attribute the union of pure thought and beating hearts but to the first definite perception of the ,divine breath1 and the conception of an invisible yet longed for ,god1 whose name descended from generation to generation down to ourselves8 ,aristotle1 ,st ,augustine1 ,st ,thomas ,aquinas1 ,kant1 and ,max ,mller1 have all described this ascension of the reason from the first thought which contained the germ of the idea1 up to ,god ,himself4 99 99 99 99 99 ,we thus arrive at a high level though starting from low ground2 we should be higher still1 but that we are retarded equally by lack of speech and of thought4 ,as long as we fondly imagine that in possessing a word we are also masters of the thought attached to it1 and that to penetrate to the heart of a thought is nothing but a linguistic exercise1 or an intellectual gymnastic feat1 we shall not use the sole method with which we are supplied1 of growing morally1 rationally1 and religiously4 ,we form ideas of many things1 but we know them only partially and disjointedly2 sciences which we have learnt possess unity1 since with grammar is connected synthesis1 and with mathematics1 algebra2 7this word algebra is of ,arab origin1 8al djabroun10 and means the reduction of dislocated members71 is it possible that we--the creators of these sciences--should be destined to wander around and away from unity1 and never attain it8 99 99 99 99 99 ,it is time to end this study2 ,i suspect that ,i am not the only one of this opinion4 ,it is possible that amongst my readers--if ,i have any--some may already have found means of shortening it for themselves2 they will perhaps turn over the pages1 read a few1 and say1 8,how tedious the old pedant is10 then shut the book and not open it again4 ,this would be a pity in my opinion2 they should read a little more4 ,no philosophical work can be written without the words perceive and conceive appearing very frequently in it4 ,the ,latin language possesses the word 8capio10 which means to seize something with the hand2 only convincing facts can lead us to believe that these terms to perceive and to conceive are derived from capio2 thus the word expressing the well-known physical movement of taking something with the hand was the origin of the two words percept and concept1 without which no philosophical idea could take shape or be developed in us4 ,the space which separates the word capio from percept and concept includes neither more nor less than the entire evolution of man2 that is1 our own history4 ,that of which we think so little is in reality the indelible sign impressed once for all on man1 that which alone distinguishes him from the animals1 and which may yet help to form in man an excellence hitherto unknown to us2 this distinguishing mark is thought and speech4 ,we are men--but has the type of the 8genus homo0 been realised8 ,is it impossible8 ,it has been undoubtedly proved that man is free in certain directions1 and not in others2 happily he is not free not to be a man4 ,,the ,,end ,,footnotes3 #acf ,there is one in the way in which ,st ,paul speaks3 8,there is one body1 and one spirit1 even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling2 one ,lord1 one faith1 one baptism1 one ,god and ,father of all1 who is over all1 and through all1 and in all40 #acg ,as ,savonarola said3 8,yes1 from the ,church militant1 but not from the ,church in ,heaven10 in answer to his excommunication4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,printed ,,by ,,turnbull ,,and ,,spears1 ,,edinburgh 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,footnotes have been moved to the end of each chapter and relabeled consecutively through the document4 ,punctuation has been made consistent4 ,variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in the original publication1 except that obvious typographical errors have been corrected4 ,the following changes were made3 p4 #bc3 ,llamas changed to ,lamas 7the ,lamas of7 p4 #ahj3 ,lines below ,s and s have been standardized to acute accents 7raddh1 raddadhau1 raddhitam7