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Vestiges of the Spirit-History of Man
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Vestiges of the Spirit-History of Man
Current price: $12.52
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Vestiges of the Spirit-History of Man
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An excerpt from the beginning of CHAPTER I. SPIRITS.
FROM the earliest times, among all nations, man has sought to recognize his God ; to define that inscrutable Providence which rules the world. Like the successive changes of the forests, the infinite variety of the harvests, the differing notes of the birds, the opposite languages of men, the varied fragrance of the flowers, such is the contrast of religious belief which man's spirit brings, as its first fruits, to its Creator.
From Constantinople to the shores of India, China, and Japan, four great world-religions meet in conflict. Each asserts its claims to be regarded as the civilized and saving religion of mankind. Brahmanism has an antiquity of more than three thousand years, Buddhism of twenty-three hundred, the Christian religion of eighteen centuries, the Mahometan of twelve. The number of Christians is perhaps two hundred and fifty millions; that of the Mahometans, Brahmans, and Buddhists united, may be set down as not far from eight hundred millions. This enormous mass of human beings, whom we call pagans, are adherents of systems which are founded on the religious convictions of many centuries, and are improvements upon former modes of worship that have long since passed away. The Christian religion holds possession of Europe and America; the Mahometan, of North Africa, Turkey, Lesser Asia, Palestine, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Persia, and even Northern India; the Brahman holds Hindustan, and some isles; Buddhism predominates in Ceylon, Thibet, the countries north-east of the Ganges, the Birman Empire, Siam, China, Japan, and the Indian Archipelago; also in Russian and Chinese Tartary.
Man has his worth—his mission. To properly estimate our own, we must consider it in its relation to that of all other men; not only those who at this day cover the surface of the globe, but those who have preceded us and contributed in action, thought and sentiment, to form the present.
Nature, to man in the most primitive state, is all alive; she is a congregation of distinct existences, each moved by the soul or spirit that dwells in it.' There is no harmony, no unity. All is separate, independent life. Hence, almost every object is a subject of suspicion to the savage. He is environed by agencies visible and invisible. Legions of spirits are seen in the woods, the flowers, the fruits, the grass, the mountains, the seas, the lakes, the rivers, the brooks, the fountains, the waterfalls, the birds, and the stars. Trees have their protecting spirits; the animals have their spirits, and are themselves divine spirits." Songs were sung and fasts celebrated in honor of the guardian deities of the bears in Canada. Every appearance is the work of a spirit. If thunder is heard, the mighty god of the thunder is adored. The snow, the frost, the hail, and the storm-winds, have each their especial divinities, which lie concealed in the material substances to which they belong, like the soul in the human body. Spiritual existences inhabit almost everything, and consequently almost everything is an object of worship. Gods are seen "in the mist of the mountain, the rocky defile, the foaming cataract, the lonely dell, the shooting star, the tempest's blast, the evening breeze." The Dacotah has "his god of the north, his god of the south, his god of the woods, and god of the prairies; his god of the air and god of the waters." The savage has his war-god, his fire-god, and his sun-god. The child of Nature reverse the lovely morning-red and the zephyrs that attend the path of the sun; he adores the "great star" Venus and other planets, the clouds, or the shining nymphs of the waters above," and locates souls of the distinguished dead, as deified spirits, in the regions of the air, or among the countless host in the starry heavens. The Milky Way is the "path of souls leading to the spirit-land," or the stars are their lights seen in heaven.' The soul, an airy form, is borne on the wings of the wind, following the sun in its course to the heaven in the West.' The Northern Lights are the dances of dead warriors and seers in the realms above." The Iroquois and Algonquin tribes call the souls "shades" (otahchuk), like the Greeks and Romans." The sunbeams are themselves the pious souls in the old Vedic ideas."
FROM the earliest times, among all nations, man has sought to recognize his God ; to define that inscrutable Providence which rules the world. Like the successive changes of the forests, the infinite variety of the harvests, the differing notes of the birds, the opposite languages of men, the varied fragrance of the flowers, such is the contrast of religious belief which man's spirit brings, as its first fruits, to its Creator.
From Constantinople to the shores of India, China, and Japan, four great world-religions meet in conflict. Each asserts its claims to be regarded as the civilized and saving religion of mankind. Brahmanism has an antiquity of more than three thousand years, Buddhism of twenty-three hundred, the Christian religion of eighteen centuries, the Mahometan of twelve. The number of Christians is perhaps two hundred and fifty millions; that of the Mahometans, Brahmans, and Buddhists united, may be set down as not far from eight hundred millions. This enormous mass of human beings, whom we call pagans, are adherents of systems which are founded on the religious convictions of many centuries, and are improvements upon former modes of worship that have long since passed away. The Christian religion holds possession of Europe and America; the Mahometan, of North Africa, Turkey, Lesser Asia, Palestine, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Persia, and even Northern India; the Brahman holds Hindustan, and some isles; Buddhism predominates in Ceylon, Thibet, the countries north-east of the Ganges, the Birman Empire, Siam, China, Japan, and the Indian Archipelago; also in Russian and Chinese Tartary.
Man has his worth—his mission. To properly estimate our own, we must consider it in its relation to that of all other men; not only those who at this day cover the surface of the globe, but those who have preceded us and contributed in action, thought and sentiment, to form the present.
Nature, to man in the most primitive state, is all alive; she is a congregation of distinct existences, each moved by the soul or spirit that dwells in it.' There is no harmony, no unity. All is separate, independent life. Hence, almost every object is a subject of suspicion to the savage. He is environed by agencies visible and invisible. Legions of spirits are seen in the woods, the flowers, the fruits, the grass, the mountains, the seas, the lakes, the rivers, the brooks, the fountains, the waterfalls, the birds, and the stars. Trees have their protecting spirits; the animals have their spirits, and are themselves divine spirits." Songs were sung and fasts celebrated in honor of the guardian deities of the bears in Canada. Every appearance is the work of a spirit. If thunder is heard, the mighty god of the thunder is adored. The snow, the frost, the hail, and the storm-winds, have each their especial divinities, which lie concealed in the material substances to which they belong, like the soul in the human body. Spiritual existences inhabit almost everything, and consequently almost everything is an object of worship. Gods are seen "in the mist of the mountain, the rocky defile, the foaming cataract, the lonely dell, the shooting star, the tempest's blast, the evening breeze." The Dacotah has "his god of the north, his god of the south, his god of the woods, and god of the prairies; his god of the air and god of the waters." The savage has his war-god, his fire-god, and his sun-god. The child of Nature reverse the lovely morning-red and the zephyrs that attend the path of the sun; he adores the "great star" Venus and other planets, the clouds, or the shining nymphs of the waters above," and locates souls of the distinguished dead, as deified spirits, in the regions of the air, or among the countless host in the starry heavens. The Milky Way is the "path of souls leading to the spirit-land," or the stars are their lights seen in heaven.' The soul, an airy form, is borne on the wings of the wind, following the sun in its course to the heaven in the West.' The Northern Lights are the dances of dead warriors and seers in the realms above." The Iroquois and Algonquin tribes call the souls "shades" (otahchuk), like the Greeks and Romans." The sunbeams are themselves the pious souls in the old Vedic ideas."
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