Ellis’s theory the Supreme Beings of races which but recently came for the first time in contact with Europeans, Supreme Beings kept jealously apart from European ken, and revered in the secrecy of ancient mysteries, must also, by parity of reason, be the result of European influence.  Unfortunately, Major Ellis gives no evidence for his statements about the past history of Tshi religion.  Authorities he must have, and references would be welcome.

’With people in the condition in which the natives of the Gold Coast now are, religion is not in any way allied with moral ideas.’[24] We have given abundant evidence that among much more backward tribes morals rest on a religious sanction.  If this be not so on the Gold Coast we cannot accept these relatively advanced Fantis and Ashantis as representing the ‘original’ state of ethics and religion, any more than those people with cities, a king, a priesthood, iron, and gold, represent the ‘original’ material condition of society.  Major Ellis also shows that the Gods exact chastity from aspirants to the priesthood.[25] The present beliefs of the Gold Coast are kept up by organised priesthoods as ’lucrative business.’[26] Where there is no lucre and no priesthood, as among more backward races, this kind of business cannot be done.  On the Gold Coast men can only approach gods through priests.[27] This is degeneration.

Obviously, if religion began in a form relatively pure and moral, it must degenerate, as civilisation advances, under priests who ‘exploit’ the lucrative, and can see no money in the pure elements of belief and practice.  That the lucrative elements in Christianity were exploited by the clergy, to the neglect of ethics, was precisely the complaint of the Reformers.  From these lucrative elements the creed of the Apostles was free, and a similar freedom marks the religion of Australia or of the Pawnees.  We cannot possibly, then, expect to find the ‘original’ state of religion among a people subdued to a money-grubbing priesthood, like the Tshi races.  Let religion begin as pure as snow, it would be corrupted by priestly trafficking in its lucrative animistic aspect.  And priests are developed relatively late.

Major Ellis discriminates Tshi gods as—­

1.  General, worshipped by an entire tribe or more tribes. 2.  Local deities of river, hill, forest, or sea. 3.  Deities of families or corporations. 4.  Tutelary deities of individuals.

The second class, according to the natives, were appointed by the first class, who are ’too distant or indifferent to interfere ordinarily in human affairs.’  Thus, the Huron god, Ahone, punishes nobody.  He is all sweetness and light, but has a deputy god, called Okeus.  On our hypothesis this indifference of high gods suggests the crowding out of the great disinterested God by venal animistic competition.  All of class II. ’appear to have been originally malignant.’  Though, in native belief, class I. was prior to, and ‘appointed’ class II., Major Ellis thinks that malignant spirits of class II. were raised to class I. as if to the peerage, while classes III. and IV. ’are clearly the product of priesthood’—­therefore late.