wake; and inferior, surely, is he who imitates his
better's deeds, and follows in his wake."'

So saith the 'Satapatha Brahmana.' {211}

FETICHISM AND THE INFINITE.

What is the true place of Fetichism, to use a common but unscientific
term, in the history of religious evolution? Some theorists have made
fetichism, that is to say, the adoration of odds and ends (with which
they have confused the worship of animals, of mountains, and even of the
earth), the first moment in the development of worship. Others, again,
think that fetichism is 'a corruption of religion, in Africa, as
elsewhere.' The latter is the opinion of Mr Max Muller, who has stated
it in his 'Hibbert Lectures,' on 'The Origin and Growth of Religion,
especially as illustrated by the Religions of India.' It seems probable
that there is a middle position between these two extremes. Students may
hold that we hardly know enough to justify us in talking about the
_origin_ of religion, while at the same time they may believe that
Fetichism is one of the earliest traceable steps by which men climbed to
higher conceptions of the supernatural. Meanwhile Mr. Max Muller
supports his own theory, that fetichism is a 'parasitical growth,' a
'corruption' of religion, by arguments mainly drawn from historical study
of savage creeds, and from the ancient religious documents of India.

These documents are to English investigators ignorant of Sanskrit 'a book
sealed with seven seals.' The Vedas are interpreted in very different
ways by different Oriental scholars. It does not yet appear to be known
whether a certain word in the Vedic funeral service means 'goat' or
'soul'! Mr. Max Muller's rendering is certain to have the first claim on
English readers, and therefore it is desirable to investigate the
conclusions which he draws from his Vedic studies. The ordinary
anthropologist must first, however, lodge a protest against the tendency
to look for _primitive_ matter in the Vedas. They are the elaborate
hymns of a specially trained set of poets and philosophers, living in an
age almost of civilisation. They can therefore contain little testimony
as to what man, while still 'primitive,' thought about God, the world,
and the soul. One might as well look for the first germs of religion,
for _primitive_ religion strictly so called, in 'Hymns Ancient and
Modern' as in the Vedas. It is chiefly, however, by way of deductions
from the Vedas, that Mr. Max Mu