Nor are the arguments based upon the memorial rites of definitely historical heroes, of comparatively late date, such as Hussein and Hossein, of any value here. It is precisely the death, and not the resurrection, of the martyr which is of the essence of the Muharram. No one contends that Hussein rose from the dead, but it is precisely this point which is of primary importance in the Nature cults; and Sir W. Ridgeway must surely be aware that Folk-lorists find in this very Muharram distinct traces of borrowing from the earlier Vegetation rites. The author triumphantly asserts that the fact that certain Burmese heroes and heroines are after death reverenced as tree spirits ‘sets at rest for ever’ the belief in abstract deities. But how can he be sure that the process was not the reverse of that which he postulates, _i.e._, that certain natural objects, trees, rivers, etc., were not regarded as sacred _before_ the Nats became connected with them? That the deified human beings were not after death assigned to places already held in reverence? Such a possibility is obvious to any Folk-lore student, and local traditions should in each case be carefully examined before the contrary is definitely asserted. So far as the origins of Drama are concerned the Ode quoted later from the Naassene Document is absolute and definite proof of the close connection existing between the Attis Mystery ritual, and dramatic performances, _i.e._, Attis regarded in his deified, Creative, ‘Logos,’ aspect, not Attis, the dead youth. Nor do I think that the idea of ‘Mana’ can be lightly dismissed as ‘an ordinary case of relics.’ The influence may well be something entirely apart from the continued existence of the ancestor, an independent force, assisting him in life, and transferring itself after death to his successor. A ‘Magic’ Sword or Staff is not necessarily a relic; Medieval romance supplies numerous instances of self-acting weapons whose virtue in no wise depends upon their previous owner, as _e.g._ the Sword in _Le Chevalier à l’Épée_, or the Flaming Lance of the _Chevalier de la Charrette_. Doubtless the cult of Ancestors plays a large _rôle_ in the beliefs of certain peoples, but it is not a sufficiently solid foundation to bear the weight of the super-structure Sir W. Ridgeway would fain rear upon it, while it differs too radically from the cults he attacks to be used as an argument against them; the one is based upon Death, the other on Life. Wherefore, in spite of all the learning and ingenuity brought to bear against it, I avow myself an impenitent believer in Sir J. G. Frazer’s main theory, and as I have said above, I hold that theory to be of greater and more far-reaching importance than has been hitherto suspected.