FRANK GRANGER, D.LIT. PROFESSOR IN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, NOTTINGHAM AMIEL. "Heaven, hell, the world are within us. Man is the great abyss." METHUEN & CO. 36, ESSEX STREET, STRAND LONDON 1895 I PREFACE HAVE attempted in the pages that follow to delineate that group of beliefs which stood in close connection with Roman religion; to point out the manner in which they are related one to another, and to justify them as a necessary factor in the awakening of the religious sentiment. The first chapter traces out the mode in which they are fitted into the organic structure of mental life, viewed as common to a whole nation. The topic of dreams and apparitions suggests that this community of experience extends to all mankind, and, in particular, to the age in which we live. The characteristic beliefs are then traced which the Romans held with respect to the soul, and life after death. After taking account of the manner in which the Romans interpreted their physical surroundings, and especially the miraculous occurrences which formed part of their experience, as the experience of every other people, ancient and modern, we are in a position to understand their worship of Nature. Through |