s it is lucrative or is apprehended to contribute to
the temporal well-being of mankind. The tabu in the case of the priestly
class goes farther and adds a refinement in the form of an injunction
against their seeking worldly gain even where it may be had without
debasing application to industry. It is felt to be unworthy of the
servant of the divinity, or rather unworthy the dignity of the divinity
whose servant he is, that he should seek material gain or take thought
for temporal matters. "Of all contemptible things a man who pretends to
be a priest of God and is a priest to his own comforts and ambitions
is the most contemptible." There is a line of discrimination, which a
cultivated taste in matters of devout observance finds little difficulty
in drawing, between such actions and conduct as conduce to the
fullness of human life and such as conduce to the good fame of the
anthropomorphic divinity; and the activity of the priestly class, in the
ideal barbarian scheme, falls wholly on the hither side of this line.
What falls within the range of economics falls below the proper level
of solicitude of the priesthood in its best estate. Such apparent
exceptions to this rule as are afforded, for instance, by some of the
medieval orders of monks (the members of which actually labored to some
useful end), scarcely impugn the rule. These outlying orders of the
priestly class are not a sacerdotal element in the full sense of the
term. And it is noticeable also that these doubtfully sacerdotal
orders, which countenanced their members in earning a living, fell into
disrepute through offending the sense of propriety in the communities
where they existed.

The priest should not put his hand to mechanically productive work; but
he should consume in large measure. But even as regards his consumption
it is to be noted that it should take such forms as do not obviously
conduce to his own comfort or fullness of life; it should conform to the
rules governing vicarious consumption, as explained under that head in
an earlier chapter. It is not ordinarily in good form for the priestly
class to appear well fed or in hilarious spirits. Indeed, in many of
the more elaborate cults the injunction against other than vicarious
consumption by this class frequently goes so far as to enjoin
mortification of the flesh. And even in those modern denominations which
have been organized under the latest formulations of the creed, in a
modern industrial c