gs were originally amulets to protect the wearer
against invisible inimical powers, as they were talismans to confer upon
their possessor supernatural gifts. We can get no distinct view back of
this custom in time, but we may feel well assured that when gold had
acquired such use, nature-worship had advanced far into the stage of
symbolism. It was not the metal itself that was the object of worship.
That object gold typified and figured to the devout mind.

To discover what property it was that gave this metal its early
preference, it will be necessary to trace the survival of similar views
and feelings farther than we have ourselves consciously prolonged them.
It is to be observed that among the Turks and other Oriental people,
amber and yellow gems like the topaz, still enjoy a pre-eminence in
popular favor. These substances are still supposed to possess magical
power always beneficent. Among the Chinese, yellow is both sacred and it
is associated with the dignity of imperial rank. Yellow is the color of
the royal standard, and a yellow sash distinguishes a member of the
royal family. Robes of state are of the same color. And this
appropriation of yellow to certain sacred or governmental uses is not
confined to China. It is common through the East. The farther back we
trace the idea of special sacredness in color, the more exclusively do
we see this confined to yellow. This was long saved from vulgar uses and
associations. It had a significance to the ancients, such as it does not
have to us. There was a fitness in their decorating the temples and the
statues of the gods with gold, and silver, and ivory, and amber, and
gems. These offerings symbolized light, and light stood for the happier
destinies of man,--for the milder and gentler influences which lead to
good; while darkness typified malignant powers of evil. There was the
same distinction conceived of between life and death. White victims were
offered to the gods of Olympus, while for sacrifice to the gods of the
under-world black victims were selected.

Gold shines with the brightest and the warmest glow of any of the
metals, and its brilliancy and lustre are not tarnished by corrosion. To
the Oriental fancy it typified the genial light of day. To the
fire-worshipper it was a fit emblem of his faith. Fire was originally
sacred, perhaps, only as the representative of the sun; and this
luminary was later spiritualized in the idea of Apollo. Gold was sacred
as fa