It will be to the point, however, to note the general economic
character of devout consumption, in comparison with consumption
for other purposes. An indication of the range of motives and
purposes from which devout consumption of goods proceeds will
help toward an appreciation of the value both of this consumption
itself and of the general habit of mind to which it is congenial.
There is a striking parallelism, if not rather a substantial
identity of motive, between the consumption which goes to the
service of an anthropomorphic divinity and that which goes to the
service of a gentleman of leisure chieftain or patriarch -- in
the upper class of society during the barbarian culture. Both in
the case of the chieftain and in that of the divinity there are
expensive edifices set apart for the behoof of the person served.
These edifices, as well as the properties which supplement them
in the service, must not be common in kind or grade; they always
show a large element of conspicuous waste. It may also be noted
that the devout edifices are invariably of an archaic cast in
their structure and fittings. So also the servants, both of the
chieftain and of the divinity, must appear in the presence
clothed in garments of a special, ornate character.
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