se ceremonies, was a benefactor, and, more
generally, that man had his salvation in his own hands. The business of
the priest was to maintain the outward forms of religion, to order and
elaborate the ritual, to organize the whole cultus.[1978] This was a
work that required time and the cooeperation of many minds. Priests were,
in fact, naturally drawn together by a common aim and common
interests--with rare exceptions they lived in groups, formed societies
and colleges, had their traditions of policy, gathered wealth.[1979] For
this reason they were in general opposed to social changes--they were a
conservative element in society, and in this regard were the friends of
peace.

+1077+. On another side they did good work; they were to some extent the
guardians of morals. In ancient popular life ethics was not separated
from religion--religion adopted in general the best moral ideas of its
time and place and undertook to enforce obedience to the moral law by
divine sanctions. Priests announced, interpreted, and administered the
law, which was at once religious and ethical; they were teachers and
judges, and this function of theirs was of prime importance,
particularly where good systems of popular education did not exist.
Further, as a leisured class they often turned to literary occupations;
examples of their literary work are found in India (poetry and
philosophy), Babylonia (the history of Berossus), Palestine (Old
Testament Psalter, the works of Josephus). They offered a place of rest
in the midst of the continual warfare of ancient times.

+1078+. On the other hand, the priesthood has been generally
conservative of the bad as well as of the good. It has maintained
customs and ideas that had ceased to be effective and true, and in order
to preserve them it has resorted to forced interpretations and has
invented accounts of their origin. It has thus in many cases been
obscurantive and mendacious. It has tended to make the essence of
religion consist in outward observances, and has not infrequently
degraded the placation of the deity to a matter of bargaining--it has
sold salvation for money. Priests have not always escaped the danger
that threatens all such corporations--that of sacrificing public
interests to the interests of the order. They have drifted naturally
toward tyranny--the enormous power put into their hands of regulating
men's relations with the deity has led to the attempt to regulate men's
general thoug