is no exception to this. The refined symbolisms which pass current
to day as religious philosophies exemplify it. The one, esthetic
symbolism, has its field in musical and architectural art, in the study
and portraiture of the beautiful; the other, scientific symbolism,
claims to discover in the morphology of organisms, in the harmonic laws
of physics, and in the processes of the dialectic, the proof that
symbolism, if not a revelation, is at least an unconscious inspiration
of universal truth. This is the "Doctrine of Correspondences," much in
favor with Swedenborgians, but by no means introduced by the founder of
that sect. The recognition of the identity in form of the fundamental
laws of motion and thought, and the clearer understanding of the
character of harmony which the experiments of Helmholtz and others give
us, disperse most of the mystery about these similarities. The religion
of art, as such, will come up for consideration in the next chapter.

The second form of the Cult is the Rite. This includes the acts or
ceremonies of worship. Considered in the gross, they can be classed as
of two kinds, the first and earliest propitiatory, the second and later
memorial or institutionary.

We have but to bear in mind the one aspiration of commencing religious
thought, to wit, the attainment of a wish, to see that whatever action
arose therefrom must be directed to that purpose. Hence, when we analyze
the rude ceremonies of savage cults, the motive is extremely apparent.
They, like their prayers, all point to the securing of some material
advantage. They are designed

"to cozen
The gods that constrain us and curse."

The motives which underlie these simplest as well as the most elaborate
rituals, and impress upon them their distinctively religious character
can be reduced to two, the idea of _sacrifice_ and the idea of _specific
performance_.

The simplest notion involved in a sacrifice is that of _giving_. The
value of the gift is not, however, the intrinsic worth of the thing
given, nor even the pleasure or advantage the recipient derives
therefrom, but, singularly enough, the amount of pain the giver
experiences in depriving himself of it! This is also often seen in
ordinary transactions. A rich man who subscribes a hundred dollars to a
charity, is thought to merit less commendation than the widow who gives
her mite. Measured by motive, this reasoning is correct. There is