fered by early man.
Man's wishes are not, and never were, limited: escape from calamity is
not, and never has been, the only thing for which man is capable of
wishing. It certainly is not the only thing for which he has been
capable of praying. Even early man wishes for material blessings: the
kindly fruits of the earth and his daily food are things for which he
not only works but also prays. The negro on the Gold Coast prays for
his daily rice and yams, the Zulu for cattle and for corn, the Samoan
for abundant food, the Finno-Ugrian for rain to make his crops grow;
the Peruvian prayed for health and prosperity. And when man has
attained his wish, when his prayers have been granted, he does not
always forget to render thanks to the god who listened to his prayer.
'Thank you, gods'; says the Basuto, 'give us bread to-morrow also.'

Whether the prayer be for food, or for deliverance from calamity, the
natural tendency is for gratitude and thanks to follow, when the
prayer has been fulfilled; and the mental attitude, or mood of
feeling, is then no longer one of hope or fear, but of thankfulness
and praise. It is in its essence, potentially and, to varying degrees,
actually, the mood of veneration and adoration.

'My lips shall praise thee,
So will I bless thee while I live:
I will lift up my hands in thy name,
And my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.'

From the prayers that are offered in early, if not primitive,
religions we may draw with safety some conclusions as to the idea,
which the worshippers had before their minds, of the being to whom
they believed they had access in prayer. He was a being accessible in
prayer; and he had it in his power, and, if properly approached, in
his will, to deliver the community from material and external evils.
The spirit in which he was to be properly approached was one of
confession and repentance of offences committed against him: the
calamities which fell upon the community were conceived to have fallen
justly. He was not conceived to be offended without a cause. Doubtless
the causes of offence, like the punishments with which they were
visited, were external and visible, in the sense that they could be
discovered and made plain to all who were concerned to recognise
them. The offences were actions which not only provoked the wrath of
the god, but were condemned by the community. They included offences
which were purely formal and external; and, in the ca