It is not simply that among savage tribes or classes of imperfect mental and moral discipline prophets con- stitute venerated and imiiortant meiribers of the loose organization ; but that their prophets always pretend antl are believed to he in direct communication with unearthly wisdom, and to bo specially commissioned to impart— always for a consideration, as Bayle follows Atheuffius in remarking— the will or the purpose of destiny to those who consult them. To the untutored fancy the whole universe swarms with superhuman ii>- telligcnces. The strong and hungry faith and the weak intellectual disccnmient recognise but slight differences between the Iniman and the divine, and see no improb- ability in the constant intercourse between the guardian deities and the favored spirits of the tribe. If Pindar, in the age when the Theseum was built, could maintain
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that "men and gods were of one origin, and that both descended from the same mother," how much deeper must have been the sentiment of communion between embodied and disembodied souls in less advanced popu- lations ?
Eecent investigations into " primitive culture," or the condition and belief of the earlier stages of society, with the comparison of similarities of conviction and practice which such investigations have occasioned, throw new though often indirect light upon the mys- tery of oracles, and enable us to form juster notions of the phase of popular thought by which they are induced and accredited. When the attention was restricted to the oracles of Greece and the rarer and less notable ora- cles of Italy, the explanation of their occurrence and of their frequent appearance of veracity might oscillate between the allegation of dajmoniac, or truly divine in- spiration, and systematic fraud and imposture. But when oracles in all variety, from crude mummery to singular discernment, are discovered among all pagan nations, and among all semi-pagan classes in Christian communities, it is necessary to refer their production and acceptance to the characteristics of the untrained intellect of man. With the information thus obtained it may be possible to understand the changing aspects of the same enduring delusion.
The office of the prophet, in his character of inter- preter of the win of the gods, and intermediary between deities and men, has existed, as already declared, among all heathen peoples. Such seers were found not merely among the Greeks, from the time of the Homeric Calchas and the precursors of Calchas, but were also an estab- lished order in the Phoenician cities and among the Celtic tribes. They still exercise their controlling influence not only among the North American Indians and the Tartars, but, contemporaneously with sachems and Shamans, their congeners are common among African tribes and Poly- nesian Islanders. It is strange also to find in the ac- counts given of a KafFre prophet the symptoms of the access of the divine afflatus which were reported of the Delphic Pythoness, and ascribed by Yirgil to the Cu- masan Sibyl. " He becomes depressed in mind ; prefers solitude to company, and often has fainting fits; he is visited by dreams of an extraordinary character; ... he becomes more and more possessed, until the perturba- tions of the spirit manifest themselves openly. lu this stage he utters terrible j'ells, leaps here and there with astonishing vigor." He tells his family and friends, "People call me mad; I know they say I am mad; that is nothing; tlie spirits are infiuenciiig me." Is this all imposture in the poor African? Is it not more halluci- nation than imposture? Is it actual daemoniacal posses- sion ? or is it not rather that morbid exaltation of en- thusiastic credulity which has been recognised by phy- sicians as a specific disease? Are not the like furies which were attributed to the priestess of Delphi, at least in their primitive exhibition, due to the same causes?
With the accounts of the African prophet and of the Sibyl and Pythoness may be advantageously compared <he report of the call of Tecumseh's brother to the pro- phetic office. "Lo, the poor Indian!" In this case there was more of artifice and design, more imposture than self-delifsion ; but could the experiment have suc- ceeded with his people and the allied tribes unless there had originally been innocent hallucination to cherish the growth of credulity?
The suggestion of a natural exposition, at once phys- iological and psychical, for the phenomena of oracular inspiration, by no means militates against the recogni- tion of a large infusion of fraud and imposture in the sj'stematic establishment of oracular agencies. It is impossible, as has fref|uently been observed, to distin- guish by any clear line of demarcation between delusion and deception. The two temi)eraments blend insensibly into each other. What began in a diseased apprehen- sion— in a morbid, dreamy conviction — passes by slow degrees and by multitudinous shades of difference into
hypocritical pretence and mercenary jugglery; bat something of the original fantasy remains in the mind of the impostor, and continues to fill the awe -struck hearts of the votaries.
2. There has been, and not yet has there ceased to be, much discussion in regard to the character of the inspi- ration of the ancient oracles of Greece. Whatever doc- trine may be adopted, it is manifest that it should be capable of embracing all the phenomena, and should be applicable to the explanation of oracles in all their forms and in all their localities. Three theories have been propoundeil and warmly advocated bj' their respective champions : i. The hypothesis of actual and veracious inspiration by God, or the angels of God. ii. That of diabolic intervention, iii. That of the contrivance of designing men, which will include the common and un- reflecting allegation of pure chicanerv and fraudulent deception. The first view has been entertained even in late years, and seems partiaUy sanctioned by some of the Christian fathers, especially in their respect for SibyUine inspiration. The second opinion prevailed generally among the doctors of both the Greek and Latin churches, and was usualh' entertained until re- cent times, having the support of the historian Eollin, the English divines Sherlock and Collyer, and many other writers of note. The third explanation is that which is now prevalent, and was promulgated by Bayle, and supported by Van Dale and Fontenelle.