mythology of the ancient worship has perished, but the
notion which inspired the ritual practice has survived; sun-worship is
thus shown to have been characteristic of our forefathers, as indeed, in
all probability, it was an original feature of primitive human life. In
this case, also, could we go back a little way in time, we should
probably find a conception of the sun as a personal being united with
usages arising from contemplation of this path.

It is always found that especial conservatism attaches to customs and
ideas associated with death; the disinclination to exercise independent
thought on a subject so serious leaves the field open for the continuance
of ancestral notions and practices. It is therefore natural that the
volume of superstition associated with the end of life should only be
paralleled by that connected with the marriage relation. A vast number of
actions and experiences still pass as the "signs" of approaching
departure. As in omens generally, the prevailing principle is usually the
effect of association of ideas; the shock to the nerves consequent on the
imagination of the occurrence is, in the popular fancy, inseparable from
belief in its reality. Hence the general tendency to insist on
euphemistic speech, the required abstinence from unpleasant suggestions,
the _favete linguis_ of the Roman. In this body of deeds to be avoided,
ancient and modern notions are interwoven. One must not pass under a
ladder, for a ladder is used in modern executions; one must not carry a
spade through the house, for with a spade is dug a grave. More in
accordance with fundamentally human ideas, the delicate rose of fall
presages the untimely waning of a youthful life. As with all
superstition, the sign is not merely the prediction of an event; it is
felt that as the avoidance of the omen would be to escape its
consequence, so the careless action, in becoming the presage of calamity,
is likewise its cause. Here appear natural antinomies of human thought:
on the one hand, the sense of the inevitableness of the designated fate;
on the other hand, the consciousness of ability by altering conditions to
change conclusions. Thus the thoughts and actions of primitive man are
inspired by the same contending intellectual forces which in later time
appear under the guise of warring philosophies.

Still more remarkable are the remains of world-old usage, wherein may be
remarked tendencies which have formerly been expressed