ays to the same man, and the tribe is rich to-day and poor
to-morrow, and the days of want come in every man's history; and when
they come the old suffer most, and the burden of old age is oppressive.
In youth activity is joy; in old age activity is pain. So wonder, then,
that old age loves youth, or that to-day loves yesterday, for the
instinct is born of the inherited experiences of mankind.

But there is yet another and more potent reason for ancientism. That
tale is the most wonderful that has been most repeated, for the breath
of speech is the fertilizer of story. Hence, the older the story the
greater its thaumaturgics. Thus, yesterday is greater than to-day by
natural processes of human exaggeration. Again, that is held to be most
certain, and hence most sacred, which has been most often affirmed. A
Brahman was carrying a goat to the altar. Three thieves would steal it.
So they placed themselves at intervals along the way by which the pious
Brahman would travel. When the venerable man came to the first thief he
was accosted: "Brahman, why do you carry a dog?" Now, a dog is an
unclean beast which no Brahman must touch. And the Brahman, after
looking at his goat, said: "You do err; this is a goat." And when the
old man reached the second thief, again he was accosted: "Brahman, why
do you carry a dog?" So the Brahman put his goat on the ground, and
after narrowly scrutinizing it, he said: "Surely this is a goat," and
went on his way. When he came to the third thief he was once more
accosted: "Brahman, why do you carry a dog?" Then the Brahman, having
thrice heard that his goat was a dog, was convinced, and throwing it
down, he fled to the temple for ablution, and the thieves had a feast.

The child learns not for himself, but is taught, and accepts as true
that which is told, and a propensity to believe the affirmed is
implanted in his mind. In every society some are wise and some are
foolish, and the wise are revered, and their affirmations are accepted.
Thus, the few lead the multitude in knowledge, and the propensity to
believe the affirmed started in childhood is increased in manhood in the
great average of persons constituting society, and these propensities
are inherited from generation to generation, until we have a cumulation
of effects.

The propagation of opinions by affirmation, the cultivation of the
propensity to believe that which has been affirmed many times, let us
call _affirmatization_. If the wo