[37] _G. B_. i. 88, 89. [38] _G. B_. i. 86. [39] _G. B_. i. 72, note 1. [40] _G. B_., i. 86, 87. [41] _G. B_. i. 72. [42] _G. B_. i. 87. [43] _G. B_. i. 72, note. [44] _G. B_. ii. 75-80. The hypothesis is offered with all due diffidence. [45] _G. B._ iii. 424. [46] _Natives of Central Australia_, p. 246, note 1. [47] _J. A. I_., 1872, pp. 268, 269. Lang's _Queensland_, pp. 444, 445. Winslow, in Arber's _Captain Smith_, p. 768. [48] See 'The Theory of Loan-Gods,' _supra_. [49] _G. B_. i. xvii. [50] _J. A. I._, 1885, pp. 344-370. [51] Parenthetically, I may remark that many beliefs as to the future state originate in, or are confirmed by, visions of 'doctors' who visit the Hades or Paradise of a tribe, and by reports of men given up for dead, who recover and narrate their experiences. The case of Montezuma's aunt is familiar to readers of Mr. Prescott's _Conquest of Mexico_. The new religion of the Sioux is based on a similar vision. Anthropologists have given slight attention to these circumstances. [52] See my _Modern Mythology_, and introduction to my _Homeric Hymns_. [53] Roth, _North-West Queensland Central Aborigines_, p. 132. Spencer and Gillen, 575. [55] _G. B_. ii. 21. E. Palmer, _J. A. I_. xiii. p. 292. [56] _Asiatic Studies_, i. ix. [57] _Primitive Culture_, i. 379, 1871. IV _THE ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH_ Among the many recent theories concerning the origin of religion, certainly the most impressive is Mr. Frazer's hypothesis as to the origin of the belief in the divinity of Christ. Unlike several modern speculations, Mr. Frazer's is based on an extraordinary mass of erudition. We are not put off with vague and unvouched-for statements, or with familiar facts extracted from the collections of Mr. Tylor, Lord Avebury, and Mr. Herbert Spencer. Mr. Frazer does not collect knowledge, as his Babylonian kings are supposed by him to have been sacrificed--by proxy. No writer is so erudite, and few are so exact in their references. While venturing to differ from Mr. Frazer, I must often, as it were, make use of his own ammunition in this war. Let me say sincerely that I am not pitting my knowledge or industry against his. I rather represent the student who has an interest in these subjects, and peruses 'The Golden Bough,' not as 'the general reader' does, but with some care, and with some verification of the citations and sources. It is first necessary to state, as briefly as possible, Mr. Frazer's hypothesis as to the origin of the belief in the Divinity of our Lord, or, at least, as to what he thinks a very powerful factor in the evolution of that creed.