duty of the prescribed rituals and transmitted such knowledge to their posterity.» 1 Risley more decidedly refers the origin of Brahmins to the families or guilds of priestly singers who in early times officiated under the kings. As the mass of ritual grew to such an extent that the king could no longer cope with it unaided, the employment of family priests, formerly optional, became a necessity, and thus arose a race of sacerdotal specialists. 2 Referring to Livy, M. Fustel de Coulanges observes that in Rome, Numa »fulfilled the greater part of the priestly functions, but he foresaw that his successors, often having wars to maintain, would not always be able to take care of the sacrifices, and instituted the flamens to replace the kings when the latter were absent from Rome. Thus the Roman priesthood was only an emanation from the primitive royalty.» 3

We cannot however believe that, as a general rule, the priesthood has emanated from the institution of king-priest, which Spencer seems to assume. Although this theory, as we have just seen, is also held by other scientists, there seem to be comparatively few cases in which such a development has actually taken place. The union of royal and priestly powers can by no means be regarded as the general source of priesthood, as in most cases, simultaneously with king-priests, other sorts of priests are met with among the same peoples.

1

Nesfield, Caste System of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, p. 50.

3

2 Risley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal, i. 143.

Fustel de Coulanges, La Cité Antique, p. 204.

In lib. i. cap.

20 Livy writes: »Tum sacerdotibus creandis animum adjecit, quamquam ipse plurima sacra obibat, ea maxime, quae nunc ad Dialem flaminem pertinent. Sed, quia in civitate bellicosa plures Romuli, quam Numae, similes reges putabat fore, iturosque ipsos ad bella, ne sacra regiæ vicis desererentur, flaminem Jovi assiduum sacerdotem creavit, insignique cum veste et curuli regia sella adornavit. Huic duos flamines adjecit: Marti unum, alterum Quirino.»

As a matter of fact, various kinds of priests and wizards arise in communities, independent of the priesthood of kings, and without either being concerned with private family worship. In the commencement of this chapter we have pointed out that evidently in the beginning everybody worshipped the gods and practised magic on his own account, but that gradually the more advanced practitioners must have taken a certain precedence over the rest. Among the number of these more gifted or cunning individuals we are able to distinguish certain classes of men who, owing to their unmistakeable priestly affinities, appear to 11s as forerunners of a regular priesthood.

One class of men who occasionally exercise priestly functions without being priests, are persons who, when in a state of ecstasy, are believed to be inspired by the gods. During their convulsive fits such persons are sometimes interrogated by the people respecting the will of the gods and future events, etc. As is generally the case under similar circumstances, the gods are believed to speak through these ecstatic individuals, who are thus really thought able to act as mediators in communication with the supreme powers. We meet with reports of such observances in India and Polynesia. Shortt, describing the public worship of the Yenadies in South India, writes that during the performance »one of the number present is said to become possessed, questions are put to him and he gives the necessary answers; occasionally natives from other villages also seek information. They believe that a spirit is actually in the man and speaks through him.» As regards the Râji, a tribe in Askot, Kumaraun, and along the lower Himalayan ranges, it is remarked: »They are not skilled in any special form of magic or witchcraft, but certain persons occasionally fall under the

1

1

Shortt, 'Rude Tribes of Southern India,' in Trans. Ethn. Soc. N. S. iii. 379.

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.» 2 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. *

2

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.

3

Mariner, Natives of the Tonga Islands, i. 102 sq.

+ Meinicke, Inseln des Stillen Oceans, i. 48.

5

The Tribes inhabiting the Neilgherry Hills, p. 37.

4

he continues to hold the office.1 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

2

The Tribes inhabiting the Neilgherry Hills, p. 39.

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

Soc. of Bengal, xviii. 733.

3

4

5

6

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

Jellinghaus, 'Munda-Kolhs,' in Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, iii. 334.

Vial, Les Lolos, p. 12.

Aspelin, 'Mordvalaisten pakanalliset jumalat ja juhlamenot,' inKirjallinen 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. 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

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

2

3

4

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

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

Wellhausen, Reste Arabischen Heidenthums, p. 130.

5 Hislop, Tribes of the Central Provinces, p. 19.