en yet I had not walked above
A mile or two from my first love:
But felt through all this fleshly dress
Bright shoots of everlastingness. [2]

Degradation may almost be considered a law of religion and morality
which needs some kind of violent counteraction, some continual
intervention and providence, if it is to be kept in check. After all,
this is only a dressing-up of the old platitude that a holy life means
continual warfare and straining of the spirit against the flesh, of the
moral order against the physical order, of altruism or the true egoism
against selfishness or the false egoism. Of course an ideal civilization
would help and not hinder religion; but the chances against civilization
being ideal are so large as to make it historically true that, advance
in civilization does not always mean advance in religion and morality,
and often means decay.

Far from animism being the root of theism, more often it is rather the
ivy that grows up about it, hides it and chokes it. Just because the
demands of religion and morality are so burdensome to men, they will
ever seek short-cuts to salvation; and the intercession of presumably
corruptible courtiers will be secured to win the favour, or avert the
displeasure, of the rigorously incorruptible and inexorable King, who is
"no respecter of persons." Except among Jews and Christians, the Supreme
Being is nowhere worshipped with sacrifice--that service of
food-offering being reserved for subordinate deities susceptible to
gentle bribery. The great God of conscience is naturally the least
popular object of cultus; though, were the animists right, He should be
the most popular, seeing He would be the latest development demanded and
created by the popular mind. But contrariwise, He tends to recede more
and more into the background, behind the ever-multiplying crowd of
patron-spirits, guardians, family-gods; till, as in Greece and Rome, He
is almost entirely obscured, "an unknown God ignorantly worshipped"--the
End, as usual, being forgotten and buried in the means. All this process
of degradation will be hastened by the corruption of priests whose
avarice or ambition, as Mr. Lang says, will tempt them to exploit the
lucrative elements in religion at the expense of the ethical; to
whittle-away the decrees of God and conscience to suit the wealthy and
easy-going; to substitute purchasable sacrifice, for obedience; and the
fat of rams, for charity. We need only look to th