A.—MEDITATIONS OF A SAVAGE.

In the presence of the great mystery of existence, the thoughts of the untutored savage are not always so very unlike those of civilized men, as we may see from the following pathetic words of a Kafir, named Sekese, in conversation with a French traveller, M. Arbrouseille, on the subject of the Christian religion:—

"Your tidings," said this uncultivated barbarian, "are what I want, and I was seeking before I knew you, as you shall hear and judge for yourself. Twelve years ago I went to feed my flocks; the weather was hazy. I sat down upon a rock and asked myself sorrowful questions; yes, sorrowful, because I was unable to answer them. Who has touched the stars with his hands—on what pillars do they rest, I asked myself. The waters never weary, they know no other law than to flow without ceasing from morning till night and from night till morning; but where do they stop, and who makes them flow thus? The clouds also come and go, and burst in water over the earth. Whence come they—who sends them? The diviners certainly do not give us rain; for how could they do it? and why do not I see them with my own eyes when they go up to heaven to fetch it? I cannot see the wind; but what is it? who brings it, makes it blow and roar and terrify us? Do I know how the corn sprouts? Yesterday there was not a blade in my field, to-day I returned to the field and found some; who can have given to the earth the wisdom and the power to produce it? Then I buried my head in both my hands."—Cited in Picton, Mystery of Matter, p. 222.

B.—THE NAME GOD.

None of the dictionaries offer a satisfactory explanation of the word God. It was once commonly supposed to be related to the adjective good, but Grimm long ago showed that this connection is, to say the least, very improbable. It has also been sought to identify it with Persian KhodÂ, from Zend qvadata, Skr. svadata, Lat. a se datus, in which the idea is that of self-existence; but this fanciful etymology was exploded by Aufrecht. The arrant guesswork of Donaldson, who would connect God with ?a???, and ?e?? with t???? (New Cratylus, p. 710), scarcely deserves mention in these days. Among the more scientific philologists of our time, August Fick, in treating of the "Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit," simply refers God to a primitive Teutonic gutha, and says no more about it. (Vergl. Woerterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, III. 107.) He is followed by Skeat (Etymological Dictionary, p. 238), who adds that there is "no connection with good." Eduard MÜller says: "So bedenklich die zusammenstellung mit good, so fraglich ist doch auch noch die urverwandtschaft mit pers. Khod gott, oder skr. gÛdha mysterium, oder skr. guddha purus; Heyne: 'als sich verhÜllender, unsichtbarer, vgl. skr. guh fÜr gudh celare.'" (Woerterbuch der englischen Sprache, p. 456.)

Max MÜller has much more plausibly suggested that God was formerly a heathen name for the Deity, which passed into Christian usage, like the Latin Deus. (Science of Language, 6th ed. II. 317.) Following this hint, I suggested, several years ago (North Amer. Review, Oct. 1869, p. 354), that God is probably identical with Wodan or Odin, the name of the great Northern deity, the chief object of the worship of our forefathers. This relation of an initial G to an initial W is a very common one; as for example Guillaume and William, guerre and war, guardian and warden, guile and wile. The same thing is seen in Armorican guasta and Ital. guastare, as compared with Lat. vastare, Eng. waste; and in the Eng. quick, Goth. quivs, Lat. vivus. In Erchempert's Historia Langobardorum, 11, Pertz, III. 245, we find Ludoguicus for Ludovicus. Not only is this relation a common one, but there are plenty of specific instances of it in the case of Wodan. In Germany we have the town names of Godesberg, Gudenberg, and Godensholt, all derived from Wodan. In the Westphalian dialect, Wednesday ("day of Wodan") is called Godenstag or Gunstag; in Nether-Rhenish, Gudenstag; in Flemish, Goenstag. See Thorpe, Northern Mythol. I. 229; Taylor, Words and Places, 323; and cf. Grimm, Gesch. der deutschen Sprache, 296. The Westphalian Saxons wrote both Guodan and Gudan. Odin was also called Godin (Laing, Heimskringla, I. 74), and Paulus Diaconus tells us that the Lombards pronounced Wodan as Guodan. In view of such a convergence of proofs, I am surprised that attention was not long ago called to this etymology.

Wodan was originally the storm-spirit or animating genius of the wind, answering in many respects to the Greek Hermes and the Vedic Sarameyas. See my Myths and Myth-makers, 19, 20, 32, 35, 67, 124, 204; and cf. Mackay, Religious Development of the Greeks and Hebrews, i. 260-273.