therefore proceed
to show the groundlessness of the entire controversy from evidence
which satisfactorily establishes that the authentic form of
Christianity, as fixed by its founder and his followers for two
centuries, admits of no such thing as a priesthood in the sense
contemplated by the disputants whose wordy warfare has now, we
understand, been closed for ever.

To begin, then, whence arose the idea of a priest? What is the meaning
of the word? Etymologically, we may take it to be identical with the
Saxon word _preost_, which again is doubtless, though it is not
admitted on all hands, identical with the Greek _presbys_ or elder. A
priest, then, originally and literally, signified senior or elder,
whether in the family or the State. How an elder came to be associated
with religion was in this wise. Every philosopher and anthropologist
has been constrained to admit the presence in man of an instinct of
unity, impelling him not merely to society or intercourse with his
fellows, but to communion with a power unseen. This instinct, as
already defined in a former chapter, is religion. Now the initiatory
development of this aboriginal instinct was very humble, and if we wish
to know what our direct ancestors once were, we need only consult the
record of anthropological research among such savages as the Fijians or
Tonga Islanders. The shape assumed by religion amongst such people was
most probably ancestor or ghost worship. The dead father or chieftain
is still seen in the dreams of his children or people, and the
mysteriousness of the new shape and presence he assumes excites the awe
and reverence which is at the root of the religious habit. The chief
becomes the tutelary deity or protector of his tribe, or locality over
which he ruled. Other chieftains are added to him in course of time,
and soon we have a veritable pantheon of gods, good and evil, whom it
is necessary to placate by certain offices and functions, very much as
it is necessary to covet the favour of powerful men on earth. Whose
duty shall it be to perform such rites? Naturally, it falls to the
head of the family and the head of the State. They are the born
officers of religious functions, the father for his home circle, the
chieftain for his clan or tribe. Thus Livy tells us that Numa, the
Roman king, was accustomed to offer sacrifice, but that the increasing
cares of State caused him to relinquish the office in favour of
specially appoi