The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-02-02
DIR. D. G. BRINTON'S LECTURE
4 LARGE AUDIENCE LISTENED LAST
 EVENING WITH DEEP INTEREST.

Word" Was the subject-rhe Power of
 Words and Sacredness of Names-Cere-
 monial Law and Divination-The Myth
 and Its Instrumentality.
 Dr. Daniel G. Brinton of the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, delivered last evening in Osborn hall the second in the course of lectures which he is giv- ing before the university. The topic of the lecture was Primitive Religious Expression; in the Word" After speaking of the power of words Dr. Brinton referred to the frequency with which we find the idea of sacredness associated with a name. As examples of this he mentioned the custom prev alent among many tribes of never re- ferring by name to a deceased mem Der of the tribe or to anything which has caused calamity to the tribe or any of its members, for fear of recur- rance of the calamity. Part of the education Of the Chinese mandarin is to enable him to know what words must be expressed in different charac- ters on account of their likeness to the name of some characteristic of the emperor. This idea has modified and changed all religion. In all ancient and modern religions is the idea that the name Of the god is the god, and may be injured by inappropriate use or light and frivolous reference. The Levites never pronounced the name of the most high God, only the high priests being permitted to do so on great oc- casions We know that this name was not Jehovah, but owing to the rarity of it's use We do not know what it was.
 Among the Egyptians, the Zulus and even the Cnoctaw Indians of our own continent this same custom prevailed and does prevail. These latter never pronounced the name of their highest divinity except at sacred ceremonies and at all other times the deity is re- ferred to by some other name. In fact this custom is universal among all re- ligions Australians are so careful of the name of their great divinity that they never tell the women what 1t is, and do not even tell the men until they have participated in certain sacred rites and become cognizant of all the customs of the tribe.
 The second phrase of the Lords prayer, "Hallowed be Thy name,' we pronounce almost daily and yet we don't know the name referred to. Com mentators have suggested four differ ent names one of which may have been the name referred to.
 The same idea is that the bottom of our conception of profanity, the deep down sentiment in the heart of man that the name of the Most High must not be used in common thought and experience.
 When monotheism arose the names of the many gods previously acknowl- edged were supposed to be consolidated in the name applied to the one God. The tendency to apply the name of some divinity to an individual we find among all religions, the idea apparent 1y being that in this way spiritual relationship was established between the divinity and the man to whom the name was applied.
 There are three forms in which lan- guage may be the expression of re- ligious sentiment: First words spoken to the gods, i. e., prayed; second, words spoken from or by the gods, i. e. cere- monial law or prophecy; third words used in relation. to the gods, i. Q. myths.
 Prayer is the most universal and natural of expressions of religious sen- timents. One of the oldest of prayers is the one which petitions "Oh, Lord, prosper us in the getting and the keep ing"
 We do not find even among the lowest tribes prayer for material benehts alone. Dr. Brinton said that he had found among the American Indians prayer for spiritual benefits. These savage tribes lay great stress and great value on prayer. The Maoris of New Zealand have tradition that their an- cestors came to the island many cen turies ago, bringing to their island home no images or religious symbols. They say, however, that their ances- tors brought with them prayer and that this was all that was necessary to put them in the way of prosperity We often find among savages high order of prayer, but among others prayer is unintelligible, it being thought by them that their prayer is intelligible only to the divine ear. The Hindoos believe that if certain prayers are offered at the right time, no divin- ity can refuse to grant them The aim of every prayer in all tribes and in all races is to bring the offerer in touch with the divine soul.
 Dr. Brinton next spoke of ceremonial law and divination. Ceremonial law is found to exist in every tribe and is obeyed with surprising punctuality. It is often absurd and ridiculous, but is obeyed just the same. Among certain tribes it is against this law to roast 9 pig, only boiling of that animal be- ing allowed with other tribes no fuel from two different species of trees may be used for the same fire, and in Kam- tchatka a certain tribe has a cere- monial law which prohibits the scrap ing of snow from the boots with metal knife and another law which threatens with boils anyone who kills very young duck. It is believed that punishment for the infraction of any of these laws falls not upon the indi- vidual but upon his tribe. Darwin found very little religion among the Patagonians but the seVereSt cere-