Any man who seems able to give information as to the nature of these agencies; who can declare their wishes with regard to the conduct of men; who can assert, with apparent authority, their determination to reward certain kinds of actions, and to punish others, is listened to with avidity; and if he is believed to speak truly his counsels are followed. Any tradition which is held to make known the proper manner of approaching these great powers is devoutly conserved, and becomes the foundation of the conduct of many generations. Any writing which is consecrated by popular belief as either emanating directly from these powers, or as having been composed under their authority and at their dictation, is regarded with profound reverence; and no one is allowed to question either its statements of fact or its injunctions. What are the particular characteristics which enable either men, traditions, or writings to acquire so extraordinary an authority, it is difficult, if not impossible, to say. Some approach to a reply may be made in the course of the inquiry, but much will still remain unaccounted for: one of those ultimate secrets of our nature which admit of no complete discovery. Certain it is, however, that this passionate longing to enter into some kind of relation with the unknown receives its satisfaction in the earliest stages of human society. Man, isolated, fearful, struck with wonder at his own existence, craves to become acquainted with the Divine will, to hear the accents of the Divine voice, to offer up his petitions to those higher beings who are able to grant them, and to offer them up in such a manner that they may be willing as well as able. Impelled by this craving, the Religious Idea passes out of its condition of vague emotion into that of positive opinion. It becomes manifest, or, if I may use an appropriate image, incarnate. The means by which the wished-for intercourse between man and the higher powers is effected are obviously twofold: such as convey information from the worshipers to their deities, and such as convey it from the deities back to their worshipers. In other words they might be described as serving for communication upwards, or communication downwards; from mankind to God, or from God to mankind. In the former case human beings are the agents; in the latter the patients. In the former, they consciously and intentionally place themselves, or endeavor to place themselves, in correspondence with the unseen powers; in the latter, they simply receive the injunctions, reproofs, or other intimations with which those powers may think fit to favor them. The methods by which this correspondence is sought to be effected are very various. Let us take first those which carry the thoughts of men's hearts upwards.