The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c9.147.3

v1.c9.147.3

A vitiated taste aided by general prevalence of immorality might at first sight appear to be the most likely one; but I cannot believe that libidinousness, however depraved, would even think of selecting fanes dedicated to the worship of God, as the most appropriate for its manifestation; for it is worthy of remark that they occur almost exclusively on temples and their attached porches, and never on enclosing walls, gateways, and other non-religious structures. "Our ideas of propriety", according to Voltaire, "lead us to suppose that a ceremony" (like the worship of Priapus), "which appears to us so infamous, could only be invented by licentiousness; but [**66**] it is impossible to believe that depravity of manners would ever have led among any people to the establishment of religious ceremonies. It is probable, on the contrary, that this custom was first introduced in times of simplicity, that the first thought was to honor the deity in the symbol of life which it has given us; such a ceremony may have excited licentiousness among youths, and have appeared ridiculous to men of education in more refined, more corrupt, and more enlightened times", but it never has its origin in such feelings. Besides, vicious propensities have, in India, been everywhere and at all times most emphatically denounced, and there is no creed known in this country which does not condemn it as hateful.