ere is
one which seems to me to be particularly helpful for our present
purposes; it is contributed by an American investigator. "_Religion is
the effective desire to be in right relation to the Power manifesting
itself in the universe._"[5] Dr. Frazer's definition is not different in
essentials: "By religion I understand a propitiation or conciliation of
powers superior to man which are believed to direct and control the
course of nature and of human life;"[6] only that here the word is used
of acts of worship rather than of the feeling or desire that prompts
them. The definition of the late M. Jean Reville, in a chapter on
"Religious Experience," written near the end of his valuable life, is in
my view nearer the mark, and more comprehensive. "Religion," he says,
"is essentially a principle of life, the feeling of a living relation
between the human individual and the powers or power of which the
universe is the manifestation. What characterises each religion is its
way of looking upon this relation and its method of applying it."[7] And
a little further on he writes: "It is generally admitted that this
feeling of dependence upon the universe is the root of all religion."
But this is not so succinct as the definition which I quoted first, and
it introduces at least one term, _the individual_, which, for certain
good reasons, I think it will be better for us to avoid in studying the
early Roman religious ideas.

"_Religion is the effective desire to be in right relations with the
Power manifesting itself in the universe._" This has the advantage of
treating religion as primarily and essentially a _feeling_, an
instinctive desire, and the word "effective," skilfully introduced,
suggests that this feeling manifests itself in certain actions
undertaken in order to secure a desired end. Again, the phrase "right
relations" seems to me well chosen, and better than the "living
relation" of M. Reville, which if applied to the religions of antiquity
can only be understood in a sacramental sense, and is not obviously so
intended. "Right relation" will cover all religious feeling, from the
most material to the most spiritual. Think for a moment of the 119th
Psalm, the high-water mark of the religious feeling of the most
religious people of antiquity; it is a magnificent declaration of
conformity to the will of God, _i.e._ of the desire to be in right
relation to Him, to His statutes, judgments, laws, commands,
testimonies, right