is a universal instinct in the human heart, leading it
strongly to feel the need of help from an unseen and supernatural
world in its sorrows and trials; and it is almost always the case that
rude and savage nations, in their attempts to obtain this spiritual
aid, connect the idea of personal privation and suffering on their
part, self inflicted if necessary, as a means of seeking it. It seems
as if the instinctive conviction of personal guilt, which associates
itself so naturally and so strongly in the minds of men with all
conceptions of the unseen world and of divine power, demands something
like an expiation as an essential prerequisite to obtaining audience
and acceptance with the King of Heaven. The tribe of savages above
referred to manifested this feeling by a dreadful observance. Once in
every five years they were accustomed to choose by lot, with solemn
ceremonies, one of their number, to be sent as a legate or embassador
to their god. The victim, when chosen, was laid down upon the ground
in the midst of the vast assembly convened to witness the rite, while
officers designated for the purpose stood by, armed with javelins.
Other men, selected for their great personal strength, then took the
man from the ground by the hands and feet, and swinging him to and fro
three times to gain momentum, they threw him with all their force into
the air, and the armed men, when he came down, caught him on the
points of their javelins. If he was killed by this dreadful
impalement, all was right. He would bear the message of the wants and
necessities of the tribe to their god, and they might reasonably
expect a favorable reception. If, on the other hand, he did not die,
he was thought to be rejected by the god as a wicked man and an
unsuitable messenger. The unfortunate convalescent was, in such cases,
dismissed in disgrace, and another messenger chosen.

The army of Darius reached the banks of the Danube at last, and they
found that the fleet of the Ionians had attained the point agreed upon
before them, and were awaiting their arrival. The vessels were soon
arranged in the form of a bridge across the stream, and as there was
no enemy at hand to embarrass them, the army soon accomplished the
passage. They were now fairly in the Scythian country, and
immediately began their preparations to advance and meet the foe.
Darius gave orders to have the bridge broken up, and the galleys
abandoned and destroyed, as he chose rather to t