us growth, and were produced by forces, which,
as they were at work in every part of the early world, may be called
natural. These religions do not appeal to the authority of any
founder, but are borne forward by custom and tradition. Some of the
later systems, on the contrary, bear the names of their founders, and
are said to have been introduced into the world at a certain time and
place. Their beginning is fixed, and they have a body of beliefs and
practices which belong to their original constitution, and possess
authority for all subsequent generations of believers.

This classification promises well at first, but it is difficult to
apply it; some religions pass imperceptibly from the stage of custom
to that of statute, and in many religions both elements are so
largely present that it is difficult to strike the balance between
them. We are led to the conclusion that the real difference between
the earlier and the later religions is a more vital one than any of
these classifications would indicate. The authority and the positive
character of the later systems is a symptom of the change which has
produced them, but the change itself lies deeper. The higher form of
religion is due to a great step which has been taken in civilisation;
it is one of the features of the advance of society to a new stage.

Rise of National Religion.--It is an immense step in human progress
when a set of barbarous tribes unite to form a nation. Under the
strong hand of some chief or under the pressure of some great
necessity, they give up the isolation which is both the weakness and
the strength of the tribal state of society, they choose some strong
place for their centre, they submit to a common government, and while
still remembering their separate tribal traditions and usages, they
learn to act as members of a greater community than the tribe. This
is the beginning of civilisation proper. Law takes the place of
custom; the state undertakes to punish crime, and private vengeance
is discouraged; the state also undertakes the protection of the weak,
so that humane sentiment appears, and a security is engendered in
which the arts and sciences can spring up and flourish.

When this takes place a new type of religion also makes its
appearance. While each of the tribes may long retain its own gods,
and its peculiar rites, some one god, perhaps the god of the
strongest tribe, assumes a higher position than the rest; his worship
becomes the