aced at the grave for
his subsistence on the journey. Indeed, some even set aside food at
each meal for the departed; others, as {115} instanced by the Greeks,
placed tables in the burying ground for the dead. Many views were
entertained by the early people concerning the origin of the soul and
its course after death. But in all of the rude conditions of life
religion was indefinite and uncultured. From lower simple forms it
arose to more complex systems and to higher generalizations.

Religious influence on progress has been very great. There are those
who have neglected the subject of religion in the discussion of the
history of civilization. Other writers have considered it of little
importance, and still others believe it to have been a positive
hindrance to the development of the race. Religion, in general, as
practised by savage and barbarous races, based, as it is largely, on
superstition, must of a necessity be conservative and non-progressive.
Yet the service which it performs in making the tribe or family
cohesive and in giving an impetus to the development of the mind before
the introduction of science and art as special studies is, indeed,
great. The early forms of culture are found almost wholly in religious
belief and practice.

The religious ceremonies at the grave of a departed companion, around
the family altar or in the congregation, whether in the temple or in
the open air, tended to social cohesion and social activity. The
exercise of religious belief in a superior being and a recognition of
his authority, had a tendency to bring the actions of individuals into
orderly arrangement and to develop unity of life. It also had a strong
tendency to prepare the simple mind of the primitive man for later
intellectual development. It gave the mind something to contemplate,
something to reason about, before it reached a stage of scientific
investigation. Its moral influence is unquestioned. While some of the
early religions are barbarous in the extreme in their degenerate state,
as a whole they teach man to consider himself and his fellows, and
develop an ethical relationship. And while altruism as a great factor
in religious and in social progress appeared at a comparatively recent
period, it has been in existence from the earliest associations of men
to {116} the present time, and usually makes its strongest appeal
through religious belief. Religion thus becomes a great
society-builder, as w