with the Gods. They placed themselves as mediators between heaven and
earth, assumed the prerogative of revealing the will of beings of a
nature superior to man, and pretended to show wonders and prodigies
that surpassed any power which was merely human.

To understand this, we must bear in mind the state of knowledge in
ancient times, where for the most part the cultivation of the mind,
and an acquaintance with either science or art, were confined to a
very small part of the population. In each of the nations we have
mentioned, there was a particular caste or tribe of men, who, by the
prerogative of their birth, were entitled to the advantages of science
and a superior education, while the rest of their countrymen were
destined to subsist by manual labour. This of necessity gave birth in
the privileged few to an overweening sense of their own importance.
They scarcely regarded the rest of their countrymen as beings of the
same species with themselves; and, finding a strong line of distinction
cutting them off from the herd, they had recourse to every practicable
method for making that distinction still stronger. Wonder is one of
the most obvious means of generating deference; and, by keeping to
themselves the grounds and process of their skill, and presenting the
results only, they were sure to excite the admiration and reverence of
their contemporaries. This mode of proceeding further produced a
re-action upon themselves. That which supplied and promised to supply
to them so large a harvest of honour and fame, unavoidably became
precious in their eyes. They pursued their discoveries with avidity,
because few had access to their opportunities in that respect, and
because, the profounder were their researches, the more sure they were
of being looked up to by the public as having that in them which was
sacred and inviolable. They spent their days and nights in these
investigations. They shrank from no privation and labour. At the same