the Devil hath used to deceive the Indians, to be the same
wherewith he hath deceived the Greeks and Romans, and other
ancient Gentiles, giving them to understand that these notable
creatures, the Sun, Moon, Stars, and elements, had power or
authority to do good or harm to men."[551:1]

We see, then, that the gods and heroes of antiquity were originally
personifications of certain elements of Nature, and that the legends of
adventures ascribed to them are merely mythical forms of describing the
phenomena of these elements.

These legends relating to the elements of Nature, whether they had
reference to the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, or a certain natural
phenomenon, became, in the course of time, to be regarded as accounts of
men of a high order, who had once inhabited the earth. Sanctuaries and
temples were erected to these heroes, their bones were searched for, and
when found--which was always the case--were regarded as a great source
of strength to the town that possessed them; all relics of their stay on
earth were hallowed, and a form of worship was specially adapted to
them.

The idea that heavenly luminaries were inhabited by spirits, of a nature
intermediate between God and men, first led mortals to address prayers
to the orbs over which they were supposed to preside. In order to
supplicate these deities, when Sun, Moon, and Stars were not visible,
_they made images of them_, which the priests consecrated with many
ceremonies. Then they pronounced solemn invocations to draw down the
spirits into the statues provided for their reception. By this process
it was supposed that a mysterious connection was established between the
spirit and the image, so that prayers addressed to one were thenceforth
heard by the other. This was probably the origin of image worship
everywhere.

The _motive_ of this worship was the same among all nations of
antiquity, _i. e._, _fear_. They supposed that these deities were
irritated by the sins of men, but, at the same time, were merciful, and
capable of being appeased by prayer and repentance; for this reason men
offered to these deities sacrifices and prayers. How natural that such
should have been the case, for, as Abbe Dubois observes: "To the rude,
untutored eye, the 'Host of Heaven,' clothed in that calm beauty which
distinguishes an Oriental night, might well appear to be instinct with
some divine principle, endowed with consciousness, and the power to