"Draw not nigh hither," said the occupant of the burning bush to Moses; "put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground" (Exod. iii. 5). This verse embodies the universal theory of holy places. They are spots occupied in a special and peculiar manner by the deity or his representative; and where he finds it easier to communicate with mankind than it is elsewhere. Hence, those who hope or desire to receive some celestial intimation, resort to such holy places. The oracles of the ancient world, and the temple at Jerusalem, are instances of holy places where the respective gods worshiped by those who frequented them gave responses, or manifested their presence. Holy places are not always consecrated places. Sometimes—as in the case of the Delphian oracle—the consecration is the work of nature; the divinity intimates in some unmistakable way his presence in the sanctuary which he has himself selected; and human beings have nothing to do but humbly to receive such communications as he may desire to make. Frequently, however, holy places have only become holy by the act of consecration; the local god has not occupied them until they have been duly prepared for him by human labor. On the other hand, consecrated places are always holy places. Not indeed that there are always conspicuous intimations of the divine presence; but it is nevertheless vaguely supposed to haunt the buildings where worship is offered, and rites are performed, more than it does the outer world. To begin with a few instances of holy places which have not undergone consecration. On the coast of Guinea "almost every village hath a small appropriated grove." Offerings are made in these groves, and they are regarded as so sacred that no one ventures to injure the trees by plucking, cutting, or breaking their branches. "Universal malediction" would be one of the consequences of such misconduct (D. C. G., p. 128). Mr. Turner states that "as of old in Canaan, sacred _groves_ for heathen worship, with and without temples, were quite common in the islands of the Pacific" (N. Y., p. 329). These are instances of the sacredness so frequently attached to woods and forests by primitive nations. "The groves were God's first temples. Ere man learned To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave, And spread the roof above them; ere he framed The lofty vault, to gather and roll back The sound of anthems,—in the darkling wood, Amidst the cool and silence he knelt down. And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks And supplication."[10]