influence of a demon, and in a state of ecstacy pour out incoherent expressions, which are regarded as oracles.» 1 The priests of the Tongans do not seem to form any class of their own; »what constitutes the priesthood is not the position of the forefathers, but the inspiration or faculty of being possessed by the Deity. So long as this state lasts, the men are distinguished before others, but when the ecstasy is over, their priesthood and the veneration paid to them accordingly disappear.» Mariner states respecting the same people that persons who are not priests are often visited by the gods, particularly females, which visitation occurs during fits of inspiration. 3 In the Marquesas Island certain persons are regarded as occasionally possessed and inspired by the gods. *

4

3

There is little doubt that such customs and beliefs imply the beginning of priesthood. From the idea of occasional inspiration it is an easy step to the conviction that certain persons are able to put themselves in communication with the gods whenever they like.

On the whole, certain facts seem to corroborate the idea that in the early ages of priesthood men often retained the same office only for a certain time or with intermissions. Among some rude tribes, as we are told, the priests take up their office, and leave it, as they like. We read that among the Todas the engagement of a priest is not for life, but for a limited term, at the end of which he may resign his office. 5 Among the Khotas, another tribe inhabiting the Neilgherry Hills, the priest is said to be exempt from all manual labour so long as

1

Crooke, Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, iv. 214.

2 Zimmermann, Inseln des Indischen und Stillen Meeres, i. 542.

he continues to hold the office. With the Bodo and Dhimál people, whoever thinks fit to learn the forms of offering and invocation, can be a priest, »and if he get tired of the profession, he can throw it up when he will.» 2 Similar statements are made respecting the Dophlás3 and Munda Kolhs. M. Vial says of the priest or sorcerer of the Lolos: »du reste, c'est un bon agriculteur qui ne fonctionne que par intermittences.» 5 Among the Mordvines, there were no priests permanently intrusted with the duty of sacrificing for the people. At their general festivals certain venerated old men were each time particularly chosen to conduct the worship. 6

Another beginning of priesthood may be referred to the observance of sacred places» or other kinds of sanctuaries which, for some reason or other, are held in high veneration by the neighbouring peoples. As a rule, they are thought to be the abodes of a god, and the men who have it in charge to guard the sacred rooms naturally tend to become mediators between the people and these gods. A similar idea, as regards the origin of priesthood, is entertained by certain eminent writers. Grant Allen says that in addition to the union of king and priest the origin of priesthood »is to be found in the institution of 'temple slaves' the attendants told off to do duty at the grave of the chief or dead warrior.»»>The temple attendants, endowed for the purpose of performing sacred rites for the ghost or god, have grown into priests, who knew the habits of the unseen

1

The Tribes inhabiting the Neilgherry Hills, p. 39.

2 Hodgson, 'The Kocch, Bodo and Dhimál people,' in Jour. of the As.

Soc. of Bengal, xviii. 733.

3

4

6

Robinson, 'Notes on the Dophlás,' ib, xx. 128.

Jellinghaus, 'Munda-Kolhs,' in Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, iii. 334. 5 Vial, Les Lolos, p. 12.

Aspelin, 'Mordvalaisten pakanalliset jumalat ja juhlamenot,' in Kirjallinen Kuukauslehti, viii. 185.

denizen of the shrine.» And Dr. Lippert thinks that in certain Polynesian islands the rise of priesthood is to a great extent referable to observances of a similar kind. 2

In ancient Greece, according to the description of Schoemann in his Griechische Alterthümer, the only duty of the priests was the administering of the cult of the gods to whom they were attached and who were worshipped in temples or sacred groves. The origin of the priesthood in that sense, the author says, cannot be proved historically, but coincides, no doubt, with the origin of the temples and other sanctuaries. 3 Among the Arabs the office of priest consists in guarding the sanctuary, that is to say, if there are any sacred objects to be guarded. Wherever this is not the case, no priests. are met with either. At sacrifices performed on a simple stone, the priests can be dispensed with. The Gonds have scarcely any priesthood, but »>there are some men who from supposed superior powers, or in consequence of their hereditary connection with a sacred spot are held to be entitled to take the lead in worship.» 5 Ellis tells us that in Madagascar there are villages in which idols are kept in some ordinary house without any priesthood. But » the man in whose house the idol is kept, issues its pretended orders, and answers all applications made to it.» In Yap the spirits of the departed are thought to enter into the bodies of big lizards, which are therefore tended in a sacred grove by specially appointed guardians. From all parts of the island the people send

6

1

Grant Allen, Evolution of the Idea of God, pp. 88, 89.

2 Lippert, Allgemeine Geschichte des Priesterthums, i. 199 sqq.

3 Schoemann, Griechische Alterthümer, i. 37; ii. 421.

Wellhausen, Reste Arabischen Heidenthums, p. 130.

4

cocoa-nuts and other fruits to these men, who by their constant intercourse with the sacred animals are believed to have been endowed with the power of producing lightning and earthquake as well as rain and drought.

1

As a kind of forerunners to a regular priesthood, we have further to notice the »Holy men, who, without being real priests, exercise a certain religious authority among some peoples. This class of men consists of those who make themselves renowned by occasional miracles, or acquire the religious veneration of the people by their eccentric habits. In an instructive essay on the adoration of saints in Islam, Goldziher gives an account of the Wâli who are distinguished by the attributes of wonder-working and officiate as mediators between God and man. These saints originate in pious and Goddevoted men with men with whom the faculty of involuntary ecstasy constitutes the beginning as well as the visible indication of their sacred character. 2 Munzinger mentions holy persons among the Muhammedan peoples of North Eastern Africa. Wherever Muhammedans live, he says, there are among them saints who are thought by the people to be the favourites of the god and to possess the faculty of wonder-working. Whether they lead a pious life, or whether occasionally a prophecy of theirs has proved correct, or a curse has injured somebody, every tribe is happy to have such a man among their number, as he is thought to bring luck. He becomes the priest of the people and is consulted on all matters. General Daumas, speaking of the Arabs of Algeria, says: »Les premiers marabouts étaient en général des hommes rigoreux observateurs du Koran, qui passaient pour avoir donné des preuves de leur nature supérieure

3

1

Hernsheim, Südsee-Erinnerungen, pp. 22 sq.

2 Goldziher, Muhammedanische Studien, ii. 287.

3 Munzinger, Ostafrikanische Studien, pp. 315 sq.

en produisant des miracles.» Among the Gonds, as has already been mentioned, there is scarcely any proper priesthood, but besides men who are hereditarily connected with a sacred place, those distinguished by supposed superior powers are held to be entitled to take the lead in worship. Some of these men profess to prevent wild beasts from devouring men and cattle, and they are supposed to have the power of detecting sorcery, etc. 2

In early stages of cult the rites are naturally very simple, and in consequence almost anybody is thought able to undertake the performance of the priestly functions. In general a simple cult and a superficially instructed, mutable priesthood seem to go together. And evidently, where everybody is qualified to assume the priestly office, priesthood is not likely to be held in particularly great veneration. 4 Of many peoples we are told that the priests do not form any distinct class and that almost any man may become a priest. The New Zealanders are alleged not to have any »regular priesthood, though there are many who assume the title of Priest; and almost any person may perform their various superstitious ceremonies, or repeat their prayers, or consult their oracles, or charm the sick.»5 Among the Golapûrabs, in the Agra district of India, the office of Syâna or >>cunning man» is not confined to any special caste: any one may undertake the duty if he learns the appropriate spell. 6 In Tanala, a province of Madagascar, any one

1 Daumas, Moeurs et Coutumes de l'Algérie, p. 19.

2 Hislop, Tribes of the Central Provinces, pp. 19 sq.

3

Cf. Hodgson on the Bodo and Dhimál people, in Jour. of the As. Soc. of Bengal, xviii. 727.

p. 277.

4 Cf. Steller on the Kamchadales, in Beschreibung von Kamtschatka,

5

Yate, An Account of the New Zealanders, p. 146.

• Crooke, Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, ii. 428.