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where customary restraints are laid aside and license prevails, where caste lines are broken down and fellowship reigns. To get him to come, all manner of attractions will be provided for him. Dignitaries and rulers usually invisible to the multitude will show themselves, processions will march, pomps and pageants can be seen. If the assemblage is religious, mys- teries are unveiled, wonders are promised, the blessings of the gods will descend, and benefits, both public and private, will be reaped. The private gratifications afforded will, therefore, seem fully able to account for the festival, and no other end will be thought of. The social meaning of it will be unacknowledged and unapparent.
II.
How much light can this interpretation throw on history ?
It is likely that many assemblages we have looked upon as meetings for social pleasure should be regarded in this light. Among hunting peoples, when the tribe has to scatter, or when confederation takes place, the regular festivals and dances that reunite the members of the tribe on one spot probably have this function. The eating together that characterizes early assem- blage, aside from the mystic bond established between com- mensals, favors an expansive and fraternal frame of mind. Even to the present day eating or drinking together is every- where the source of fellowship and the seal of amity. Hence, also, the deliberate intoxication on such occasions. Well does Professor Giddings say : "Deplorable as are the consequences of both gambling and drunkenness, the truthful scientific observer is forced to admit that in the early stages of social development these vices have served a useful function . . . ."*
That the unit for feasting should so often be larger than the unit for cooperation may be due to the peculiar socializing power of festivity. People can get along together under festal excitement who cannot bring themselves to work together. Joint festivity, therefore, often keeps the way open for mutual
1 Principles of Sociology, pp. 119, 120.
