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NEW SYSTEM

MYTHOLOGY

VOL. I.

/2 : n/^.

w^-

NEW SYSTEM

MYTHOLOOY,

IN TWO VOLUMES;
GIVING A FULL ACCOUNT OF

THE IDOLATRY OF THE PAGAN WORLD,

ILLUSTRATED BY

Analytical Tables, and SO elegant Copperplate Engravings,

Representing more than 200 subjects.

In a third volume, particularly adapted to the capacity of

Junior Students,

COMPILED, DIGESTED, .AND ARRANGED,

BY ROBERT MAYO, M. D.

Author of a View of Ancient Geography, and History.

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR,

By T. S. Manning, JV. W. corner of Sixth and Chesnut streets.

181a.

DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, TO WIT:

^.j-^sT^^ Be it Remembered, That on the tenth day of July, in the for-
S SEAL. S tieth year of the Independence of the United States of Ame.
X^^^^ i ^'^^' ^- ^- ^^^^» ROBERT MAYO, M. D., of the said dis-
^ ' trict, hath deposited in this office, the title of a Book, the right

whereof he claims as Author in the words following, to wit:

" ^ new System of Mythology^ in two volumes; giving a full ac-
count of the Idolatry of the Pagan World: Illustrated by Analy-
tical Tables, and 50 elegant cofifierfilate engravings.) representing
more than 200 subjects, in a third volume, particularly adapted to
the capacity of junior students: Compiled, digested, and arraJiged,
by Robert Mayo, M. D. Author of a View of Ancient Geography,
aJid History."

In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, inti-
tuled, *' An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the co-
pies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such
copies, during the times therein mentioned." — And also to the Act, enti-
tled " An Act supplementary to An Act, entitled * An Act for the Encour-
agement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts, and Books,
to the Authors and Proprietors of such copies diu-ing the times therein
mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to the Arts of designing,
engraving, and etching Historical and other Prints."

D. CALDWELL,

Clerk of the District of Pennsylvania.

ADVERTISEMENT.

THE object of the author in undertaking this work originally,
was confined chiefly to the convenience of Seminaries. But find-
ing it impossible to dissect away the objectionable, from the inno-
cent part, and sometimes instructive moral, of the subject, so as
to render its use admissible among young ladies and gentlemen
— without mutilating, and destroying its true character, and lay-
ing a foundation for a false conception of history, or rather con-
firming errors already industriously propagated by the partial
works or epitomies extant on the same subject — he resolved to
compromise the difficulties on either hand, by giving every thing
that is material to a clear conception of so interesting a science
to all lovers of antiquity, and then digesting the same into a se-
ries of concise analytical tables, especially explanatoi-y of the
plates, with which they might make a separate volume for the
use of schools, so that the work may be complete in the enlarged
or epitomized form.

We may add that a well-digested elementary book, in any
science, is, in general, the more precious, as it is more rare. Yet
we see daily coming from the press, new efforts of this kind, and
each aspiring to offer a method, either more simple, or more clear,
or more concise, than any which have yet appeared. Such pro-
ductions as the latter, seldom fail to make assurances, through
the medium of a preface, qf the most decided and complete suc-
cess; and their persuasive tone would unquestionably secure our
confidence, if the abortions of their text did not contradict to our
better judgment, what their prefatory egotism had so daringly
promised. This is decidedly true of the herd of elementary books
for the instruction of youth. — Whether the present work will de-
serve a place in the latter or the former class, awaits the decision
of learned professors, from whose judgment there is no appeal.

vi ADVERTISEMENT.

Of the utility of Mythology, as a vehicle of moral precept, we
will express our high estimation in the language of the immor-
tal Bacon. In his Critique upon that subject, he says: " Every
man, of any learning, must readily allow, that this method of in-
structing is grave, sober, or exceedingly useful, and sometimes
necessary in the sciences; as it opens a familiar and easy passage
to the human understanding, in all new discoveries that are ab-
struse and out of the road of vulgar opinions. Hence, in the first
ages, when such inventions and conclusions of the human reason
as are now trite and common, were new and little known; all
things abounded with fables, parables, similies, comparisons, and
allusions; which were not intended to conceal, but to inform and
teach: whilst the minds of men continued rude and unpractised
in matters of subtility and speculation; or even impatient, and in
a manner incapable of receiving such things as did not directly
fall under and strike the senses. For, as hieroglyphics were in
use before writing, so were parables in use before arguments."
****** i To conclude, the knowledge of the early ages was ei-
ther greaty or hafifiy, great, if they by design made this use of
trope and figure; hafi/iy, if, whilst they had no other views, they
afforded matter and occasion to such noble contemplations. Let
either be the case, our pains, perhaps, will not be misemployed,
whether we illustrate antiquity or things themselves.'

By examining the table of contents to this volume, an estimate
may easily be made of its comprehensiveness and method. In
regard to the sequel of the work, we will subjoin that— The Se-
cond Volume will contain, in a series of Chapters and Sections,
a methodical and full account — 1st, of the Egyptian, Phenician,
Carthaginian, Ethiopian, Arabian, Syrian, Chaldean, Babylonian,
Persian, Sythian, German, and Gallic deities, together with such
as are only mentioned in Scripture: 2.d, of the Greek and Roman
deities— whether they be heavenly, infernal, terrestrial, or sea-
deities, &c, &c: 2d, of their demi-gods; giants; heroes; and he-
roines: 4th, of their fabulous nations; monsters, and sacred ani-
mals, &;c, Sec.

ADVERTISEMENT. vli

These Volumes will be accompanied by a Volume of Ana-
lytical Tables, and fifty elegant Copperplate Engravings, repre-
senting more than two hundred subjects — such as the altars; tem-
ples; instruments used in sacrifice; the ceremonies of a sacri-
fice; the modes of consulting and receiving the oracles; and the
various exercises in celebrating the games: together with the fi-
gures of the deities; giants; heroes; heroines; monsters, &c; re-
presenting their symbols; metamorphoses; and wonderful ex-
ploits; whether purely fabulous, or partly historical.

To enable the enlightened public to decide upon the merits of
this essay towards a System of Mythology, and to induce them to
patronise our undertaking, we have ventured to publish the first
Volume in anticipation of the custom of soliciting subscriptions,
with the hope that so much of the demonstration of our plan will
make a deeper impression upon public confidence, than the mere
promise of a prospectus.

In the execution of a plan suggested and designed purely to
facilitate the progress of junior students, and to remove the diffi-
culties accumulated upon them by the defects of tlie ejMtomies
of Mythology, it was not only deemed unnecessary — to make re-
references to authorities for the facts stated in the course of the
work, inasmuch as they will seldom have it in their power, or
would be at the trouble to examine them, — but that it would even
be derogatory to the principal consideration continually kept in
view, such as the preserving a strict continuity, and rapid succes-
sion of the parts, whether contained or containing, so that the in-
evitable result of little more than a single attentive reading might
be, a happy comparison of the relative importance of the lesser
parts to each other, and of the greater divisions to the entire sub-
ject. But to supply this omission as well as possible in a few
words, for the satisfaction of the learned, whose inspection we
shall solicit, and to whom we shall ever feel amenable on the score
of candour, will here make a general reference to " The Mytho-
logy and Fables of the Ancients explained from History, four
Volumes 8vo, without plates, by the Abbe Banier^ The Anti-

viii ADVERTISEMENT.

guides explained and refiresented by Sculfiture^ five volumes folio,
by Bernard de Montfaucon; The Polywetia^ with superb en-
gravings, one volume folio, by the Rev'd. Mr. Spence; JK.en-
net's Roman Antiquities^ with plates, one volume 8vo; Le Tern-
file des Musesj with many superb engravings, one folio volume;
The Usag'es, religious, civil, ifc, of the Ancients, in four volumes,
with plates, by M. Dandre Bardon; besides a variety of other
authors superfluous to mention. Confiding in these and other
profound interpreters of original authors, my object of facilitating
the classical studies of American youth, will warrant me in ma-
king a free use of their labours. — Whoever feels particular soli-
citude for the improvement of American literature, let him be-
stow a portion of his leisure, to the modification of the elements
of general science, for the capacity oi youth; and they will demon-
strate to^him in his old age, the wonderful effects of his fostering
care for their early studies, which will infinitely exceed any thing
that he could have effected by attempts at originality with an im-
perfect education — the necessary result of the present defects of
our juvenile instruction. Having been deeply sensible of these
defects, which are chiefly owing to the want of suitable books for
the tyro, is the circumstance that has actuated me in my present
undertaking. If my success should be equal to my zeal, my re-
ward will be accomplished.

ERRATA.

Pages — 7, substitute tenebrx for tenebre; 85, read the second line firstj
115, substitute Hymenxus for Hymenius; 116, Pavor for Pravor; 180, Ur-
ceolus for Urcolus; 135, first line, froin for or,- 137, Kidron for Cedron;
178, Censer for Cencer, and Thuribulum for Thurebulam; 227, Paphos for
Paphas; 239, xternus for xtumus; 253, Pegomancy for Pi^omancy; 327,
Panathenaa for Pauathenxa,- 350, Chorcebus for Corxbus; 370, Eleusinian
for Elusinian.

BECOMMENDATIONS.

Philadelphia, Jidt, 27th, 1315.
Sir,

I HAVE perused, wltli much satlsfiiction and impi'ovement, your Isi
volume of Mythology, and really consider it an interesting and useful
work. Your arrangement of the subject-matter is very judicious, and the
authorities you refer to are of the first cliaractcr. Shoidd the subsequent
volumes be executed with equal success, they will collectively constitute
k highly valuable acquisition for the accomplished Scholar, as well as for the
junior Student.

With great respect, I am, your most humble servant,

R. Maijo, M. JD. JAS. ABEllCUO^.lBIE, D. D.

Dear Sir,

With much satisfaction I haAe perused the first volume of your " New
System of Mythology." I confess I did not anticipate much novelty on a
subject that has ali'eady employed the talents of so many men well quali-
fied for the task; but in this I have been disappointed. I am not only par-
ticularly pleased with the variety of the matter, but also highly commend
your success in the instructing and lucid order you have adopted. I have
no doubt that your performance — exhibiting the ingenious absurdities of a
false Mythology, and commending to the reader the beautiful and pure
principles of the true religion — will be perused by many with interest and
pleasure. I wish you success in the circulation of this valuable production
of your useful pen,

W. STAUCIITOX, D. D.
Br. Mayo. 1' hiladelphiu, Juli/ 21, 1815.

Sir,

Having examined the first volume of your " System of Mythology," I
am free in giving it as my opinion that it will be particulaily u.sc.ful to
our Colleges and Schools. I am yours, &c^

FREDERIC BEASLEY, D. D.

Br. .Ifaiio. University of Pcnniylvuniu. Juli) 2Qth, ISl j.

Bear Sir,

Without entering into a formal analysis of the valuable qualities of
your " New System of Mythology," allow me to thank you for the plea-
sure and instruction 1 have derived from a perusal of the first volume.

Wliethev regard be had to its matter or manner, the subjects it em-
braces or its mode of illustrating them, it appears to be a work of veal
merit; oniamental to the classical scholar, useful to every one, and essen-
tial to all who are ambitious of a knowledge of general history. — To some
of the most interesting portions of the history of ancient nations, as well
as of several modern ones, an able and correct .system of Mythology mi^^ ht
be emphatically denominated the master key. Such a key I feel persuaded
your countrymen will nut fail to find in thatoi whicli you have conmicnced
the publication.

RECOMMENDATIONS.

Thus far of what you have published — Respecting that portion of your
work which is yet to appear, it may be regarded as premature in me to
speak. Judging, however, from the specimen in my possession, candour
and reason unite in obliging me to augur well of it.

Tlie third vobime, in particular, if executed with equal ability with that
which has just been printed, promises to be a production of no common in-
terest. While \he first awd seco?irf volumes will be calculated to communi-
cate information on a broader scale, and in a more detailed form, the
third, being an analytical epitome of the entire system, and addressed to
the eye, the best of the senses, will, if I mistake not, be well adapted to
the use of schools.

On the whole, enough has already appeared to encourage the belief,
that when complete, the work will be an addition to American literature,
honorable to yourself, and useful to your country. May it be welcomed
under a patronage correspondingly liberal.
I am, truly and respectfully, your obedient and very humble servant,

CH. CALDWELL, M. D.
Eobert Mayo, M. B. Philadelphia, July 27, 1815.

Dear Sir,

I have examined the first volume of your " New System of Mytholo-
gy."— Without arrogating to myself the right of deciding on its merits,
a task which I willingly leave to abler critics, I may be permitted to ex-
press my high opinion of the usefulness of such a work; and to add my
belief, that competent judges will be less backward than myself in bestow-
ing their commendations on it. The industry and talents of the author are
the grounds of this belief.

Very respectfully, I am, sir, your humble servant,

J. S. DORSEY, M. D.

Dr. Mayo. Philadelphia, July 20tk, 1815.

Dear Sir,

The studies which engross my attention are so entirely foreign to the
subject of tlie work which you are now publishing, that I should think it
inexcusable arrogance in me to speak minutely on its merits. It gives
me pleasure, however, to remark, that the work is arranged with admi-
rable method, written with great perspicuity, and filled with interesting
matter. Believe me, with the greatest respect, your obedient servant,

R. M. PATTERSON, M. D.
Dr. E. Mayo. University of Pennsylvania. July 17th, 1815>

Dear Sir,

I HAVE read your work with as much attention as my leisure would
admit, and experience very great pleasure in adding my suffrage to the
distinguished testimonials which you have received to its merits.
I am, dear sir, very respectfully, yours, &c.

N. CHAPMAN, M. D.
jB, Mayo, M. D. Philadelphia, July 28th, 1815-

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

OF THE SENTIMENTS OF THE ANCIENTS, ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF
THE WORLD, AND OF THE GODS.

page
1st, The Cosmogony mid Theogony of the Chaldeans. 1

The antiquity of the Chaldeans; — their historians; — their Cosmo-
gony and Theogony; wh;it they say respecting the dehige. — Re-
flection on the above.

2d, The Cosmogony and Theogony of the Phenicians. 8

Sanchoniathon — the authenticity of his fragment, — its division
into three parts, viz, — 1st, of the origin of the world; 2d, of the
ten generations before the deluge; 3d, of those who lived after
the deluge. Philo's remarks upon this fragment: — additional
reflections upon the same fragment.

'id. The Cosmogony and Theogony of the Egyptians. 18

Thot — his Cosmogony and Theogony the most ancient; — explain-
ed by Dio dor us SicuLus. Reflections upon the above.

4fA, The Theogony of the Atlantid<e. 22

. The MlantidtB claim the birth-place of the Gods. Uranus and Titisa
deified; — their progeny the Titans, &c. Rhxa, Hyperion, and their
progeny persecuted by the Titans — and are deified. The Em-
pire of Uranus divided among the Titans,- — their progeny. Re-
flections on the above Theogony.

5th, The Cosmogony and Theogony of the Greeks. 25

Errors of the Greeks as to the sources of their Theogony. The
Cosmogony and Theogony of Orpheus. Remarks on the same.
The Theogony of Hesiod — 1st, The line of Chaos. 2d, The line
of Terra. 3d, The line of JVo.x. 4th, The line of Pontus. 5th,
The line of Tethys. 6th, The line of Thea. 7th, The line of
Creius. 8th, The line of Phcebe. 9th, The line of Rhea. 10th,
The line of Japetus. (Of the war of Jupiter and the Titans at
Mount Olympus.) 11th, The line of /wpiYe;-. 12th, The line of
JVeptune. lotb, Gods descended of mortal men and Goddesses.

CONTEM'S.

INTRODUCTION.

pag-e
14th, The Demons and Genii. The Theogony of Plato's dia-
log'ue, The Jianqiiei. The Theogony of Peopanides the precep-
tor of Homer. The Theology, copied as it were, by Homer.
The Cosmogony of Ovid. General reflections upon the fore-
going Cosmogonies and Theogonies. Hesiod and Moses' Cos-
mogony compared. A trait of resemblance between that of Ovid
and Moses. These Cosmogonies and Theogonies are but dis-
tortions of ancient traditions: Additional example in proof of
the same. Reflections upon the latter example. Comparison of
the Greeks and Romans, in systematising these fables.

6^^, The Theogony and Cosmogony of the Indians. 42

The Theogony of the Brahmin priests. The Cosmogony of the
Brahmin priests.

7th, The Theogony of the Chinese. 44

In the first ages, the Chinese worship was not corrupted by Idola-
try: nor had they either Cosmogony or Theogony: but in process
of time, Lao-Kiun introduced the Idolatrous sect of Taose; in-
vented a Cosmogony; and with his proselytes, gave rise to a sort
of Theogony. Another sect founded by the emperor Mingti,
called Ho-Chang.

Sth, The Cosmogony and other fables of the aboriginal Americans. 50
Laffiteau's account of the Cosmogony of the American Indians.
Remarks upon that Cosmogony. Their Fables and Idols. Their
superstitions, religious rites, and persuasions; particularly in re-
gard to fire. Their human sacrifices; — a parallel: — continued in
regard t© other savage nations.

9fh, Of the Pagan Theology in general, and that of the Poets in

particular. 57

Its absurdity, and the arguments of the Fathers, compel the Phi-
losophers to explain it by allegory. The Pagan Theology is dis-
tinguished by Varro into three parts. Theology of the Poets; —
its partisans make a parallel of it with the Sacred Writ. Why
we should entertain a very different sentiment of their Theology;
— confirmed by deductions from Homer's account of the Trojan
■war; and from that of JEneas and Turnus in Italy; also from num-
berless other examples, in which the Poets abounded. Reflec-
tions upon the Theology of the Poets.

COXTENTS.

HISTORY OF IDOLATRY.

MYTHOLOGY.

CHAPTER I.

HISTORY OF IDOLATRY.

SECTION I.

page
ITS ORIGIJS". 69

The worship of the children of God pure — that of the children of
Men idolatrous. Idolatry, whether it commenced before the de-
luge. Idolatry, how early restored after the deluge, and where.
From Egypt Idolatry propagated itself through Phenicia to other
countries.

SECTION II.

ITS FIRST OBJECTS. 73

The opinion of Vossius, viz, — 1st, Two Principles Good and Evil.-
these are enveloped in the fable of Osiris and Typho7i of Egypt;
which are copied in the fables of the Phasnicians, and Greeks:
how treated by ancient and modern philosophers: 2d, Spirits or
Geiiii — their worship: 3d, So^lls departed; — their worship, the
effect of two causes— ^rsi, Gratitude; second, Fear. M. Le
Clerc's opinion differs, in favour oi Jlngels. The Sun and Moon,
in reality, were the first objects of Idolatry, according to the
opinion of Maimonides; and according to the opinion of Euse-
Bius; which is confirmed by profane authors: also, inferable from
its prohibition by Moses; and from the position of the Pagan
temples; and to them Macrobius reduces all the Pagan Deities.
Their worship called Sabism, the most universal, and of the
longest duration.

SECTION HI.

ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM. 84

General remarks. The causes of Mythological Fables, viz. — 1st, Igno-
rance in Physics; 2d, I'he Scripture, &c, misunderstood; 3d,
Ignorance of Chronology and ancient History; 4th, Ignorance of
languages; 5th, The Plurality, or Unity of Names; 6th, The mar-
vellous relations of travellers; Tth, False eloquence of eulogizing
Orators; 8th, Poetic Fictions and exaggerations; 9th, The Paint-
ers and Statuaries, &c; 10th, Pretended interviews with the
Gods, llth, A desire to be reckoned of Divine origin. — System of

CONTENTS.

MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

page

I)eities,\'iz, — 1st, The adoration of physical objects, — theirtutelar
Deities; Sd. The adoration of many of the human species — their
tutelar Deities; 3d, The adoration of brute animals — their tutelar
Deities; 4th, The adoration of reptiles, insects, and stones; 5th,
The Deities assigned to the Passions and Affections; 6th, The
tutelar Deities for particulai- professions, and other occasions;
7th, The Deities that received peculiar honour in particular pla-
ces. 8th, Of the Demi-Gods, Heroes, Genii, and Junones. — A
few individual exceptions from Pagan corruption.

SECTION IV,

ITS DECLLYE. 122

Admiration at Pagan extravagance; — which was kept in vogue
chiefly by habit and the convenience of it; — and which Divine in-
terposition alone could eradicate.

CHAPTER II.

THE MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY.

SECTION I.

TffE STATUES OF ITS DEITIES. 126

The Pagan Gods — how represented through several periods, &c,
viz, — 1st, By shapeless stones, pillars, trimks of trees, &c; 2d, By
the figure of an Ox or Calf, and statues called Tei-mes; 3d, By
statues of perfect symmetry. The materials of statuary were
earth, -wood, stone, marble, ivory, metals, tvax, &c. The sizes of
statues varied from the Pigmy to the Colossus. The statues were
set up in temple^:, in private houses, and in the ^fields. Of the usa-
ges in regard to the expressio?i, and the symbols, of the Statues.

SECTION II.

ITS ALTARS. 132

TuE Etymology of the word Altar. The ahtiquit}% matter, and
form, of the Altars; their height, and the places where they
were erected.

CONTENTS.

MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY.

SECTION III.

page
ITS SACRED GROVES. 134

The antiquity of Sacred Groves; — their universality; — a refuge for
criminals, &c; the Jews were interdicted their use, by Moses.
They became greatly frequented; and were applied to religious
festivity. To fell them was the greatest sacrilege.

SECTION IV.

ITS TEMPLES. 137

The several terms which design a Temple. The antiquity of Tern-
pies; — the Tabernacle probably their model. From small chapels.
Temples became examples of magnificence and wonder in Art.
The parts of the Temples, and their ornaments. The ceremony
of founding a Temple among the Romans. The places prescribed
for some Temples to be erected. The veneration of the Idolaters
for their Temples.

1st, The Temple of Behis. 143

This Temple was originally the Towei" of Babel; — its plan, &c. It
was embellished by JVebxichadnezzar, and destroyed by Xerxes,

2d, Temple of Vulcan at jyiemphis; with other Egyptian Temples. 144
The antiquity of the Temple of Vulcan; — by whom founded and
embellished. Other Egyptian Temples, with one of a single stone.

3d, Three Temples of Diana at Ephesus. 147

1st, The first Temple of Diana — by whom established, and what
it was. 2d, The second, the famous Ephesian Temple — an ac-
count of it. 3d, The third Ephesian Temple was but little infe-
rior to the last mentioned.

Ath, Temple of Jupiter Olympins. 149

Description of the Temple o? Jupiter Olympius- The Statue and
Throne it contained of that God.

5th, Temple of Apollo at Delphos. 1^2

This Temple was built five times — an account of each.

6th, The Pantheon at Rome. 154

The age of the Pantheon'is uncertain; — it j'et subsists in All-Saints'
—Of its foundation and its ornaments.

CONTENTS.

MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY.

page
7th, Of the 7iature of Sanctuaries, or Aayla. 156

OaiGiN of the right of Asyhim, or Sanctuary: — for what purpose
it was instituted, and to what places or structures it attached.
The right was not always inviolable. It was abolished by Tibe-
rius for its abuses.

SECTION V.

ITS VICTIMS OR SACRIFICES. 159

The simplicity of Saci'ifices in general, In the early ages. At length,
bloody Sacrifices became general; but the time of their introduc-
tion is uncertain, excepting Abel's offering: nevertheless, the
former simplicity of sacrifice was not forgotten. At last, human
sacrifices were offered up; which originated from Abrahatn's sa-
crifice being misunderstood: but several prodigies caused them to
be abolished. Of public and private sacrifices; and the choice of
victims, in which something was peculiar to each Deity. Each
Deity had also their consecrated birds, animals, fishes, and plants.
— The ceremonials of a Sacrifice. Purification of the Priests,
preparatory to a sacrifice. The Sacrifice called the Hecatomb,
offered on public emergencies. The Sacrifice of Agroterae, in
honour of Diana. The Sacrifice called Taurobolium, in honour of
Cybele; — on what occasions offered, — and what kind of victims:
the form of prayer, &.c, it required.

SECTION VI.

LisrsTRUMEjrrs used ijv sacrifice, &c. 177

The Acerra. The Cencer. The Cochlearia. Praeferriculum. The
Simpulum. The Patera. Malleus and Ax. The Secespita. The
Dolabi-a. The Lingula. The Enclabris. The Augural Staff. The
Discus. The OUa. The Candelabrum. The Trumpet. The Dou-
ble Flute. The Uscolus. The Tripod — of three sorts.

SECTION VII.
THE PRIESTS AJVD OTHER MIJ\riSTERS OF SACRIFICES. 181

Who exercised the Priesthood in early times. Defects of person,
&c, excluded from that office. The Greek Hierarchy. The
Roman Hierarchy; of which the Pontiffs were the first in rank;
next to whom were Flamines — who were JVlajores and JVfinores;
lastly, the Epulones, — and those who kept the Sibylline Books.
The Priests common to the Greeks and Romans, viz, — 1st, those
of Cybele; 2d, The Priests of Mithras; 3d, The Priests and
Priestesses of Bacchus.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY.

SECTION VIII.

page
THE VESTAL VIRGIJVS. 193

The object, origin, qualifications, and service, of these Priestesses:
the punishment for neglect of the sacred Fire, Palladium, &c, un-
der their care: their privileges: their restrictions; their dress and
luxury: by whom the order was abolished.

SECTION IX.

THE SIBYLS. 196

The subject considered under five heads, \'iz, — 1st, Whether there
really were Sibyls,- 2d, How many there were of them; 3d, Why
they were supposed to be gifted with prophecy; 4th, The long
life attributed to them; two reflections thereupon; 5th, Lastly,
whether they were reputed Divinities. The Tomb and Epitaph
of the Eri/thrcean Sibyl.

CHAPTER m.

SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY.

SECTION I.

OF ORACLES IJ\' GEJVERAL. 207

Oracles, the language or will of the Gods, are public and private.
Oracles were as universal as Idolatry. Were they mere impos-
tures? and did they cease at the coming of Christ? Of the time
and manner of consulting the Oracles.

1st, The Oracle of Dodona. 211

The origin of this Oracle, and that of Jupiter Hammon. How the
Oracle of Dodona was given.

2d, The Oracle of Jupiter Hammon. 213

The antiquity of this Oracle, — character of its Priests. How the
responses were given.

Zd, The Oracle of Apollo at Heliopolis. 215

"^his Oracle, and that of Jupiter Philius, were given as that of
Hammon.

CONTENTS.

SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

page
4th, The Oracle of JpoHo at Delphos. 215

The origin of this Oracle. Several Gods liad this Oracle succes-
sively: which was transferred voluntarily, or by force. This
Oracle became highly celebrated. How the Inspiration was ac-
quired; by whom delivered; and when. The ceremony of receiv-
ing the responses. Other ministers of the Oracle oi JipoUo.

5th, The Oracle of Trophonius in Lebadea. 221

The origin of this Oracle. The manner of consulting this Oracle, &c.

6th, Other Oracles of less note. 225

Other Oracles of Apollo. Otber Oracles of Jupiter. Other Oracles
of several other Deities. The Oracles oi Demi-Gods, Heroes, and
Emperors. The Oracles of the Fountains. Oracles were owing
pai'tly to the instigation of the Devil, and chiefly to the imposture
of the Priests. They were of all dates; old ones declining, and
new ones coming in vogue.

7th, The Oracles of the Sibyls. 232

How the Cumcean Sibyl delivered her Oracles. The Sibylline Verses;
— how they were collected; and how they were destro3'ed. The
Romans repaired their loss by a second collection. To whose care
it was entrusted, and on what occasions consulted. Its fate is
uncertain; but it is not to be confounded with a Third, the pro-
duct of pious fraud; of which we give several remarkable predic-
tions;— Reflections on the same. These three collections of the
Sibylline Verses, in a manner distinguished. The second collection
is burnt, and their veneration terminated.

Bth, Various ways of delivering Oracles,- luith several remarkable

Responses. 242

Modes of delivering Oracles afore-mentioned. Other modes of
delivering Oracles, viz, — 1st, P"rom the hollow of the Statue; 2d,
By letters under a seal; 3d, The names and number only of the
suppliants required; 4th, The response is communicated by a
dream. 5th, By the first words heard after interrogating the
statue of the God; 6th, Oracular responses were given by lots;
lastly. Many were given by equivocal phrases — Extraordinary
responses, viz. — 1st, That of the priestess of Delphos to Ciossus;
2d, That of the Oracle of JMopsus, to the governor of Cilicia.
3d, That of the priestess of Dodonu to the Boeotians. — Remarks
on the decline of the Oracle of Apollo.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATKY.

SECTION II.

pag'e
OF DIVIjXATWJW 250

General reflections on the subject of Divination. Numerous infe-
rior modes of Divination.

1st, Divination of the four Elements. 253

1st, The divination of water, called Hydromancy. 2d, The divina-
tion of fire, called Pyromancy. 3d, The divination of eai'th, called
Geromancy. 4th, The divination of air, called Jleromancy.

2d, The Auguria or Auspicia.
The nature of this sort of Divination, — its antiquity. This art was
entrusted to a college of Augurs educated in Etruria. Of the
election of the Augurs; and the importance of their office. The
time, place and manner, of taking the Auguries, and from what
signs, viz. — 1st, From the flight of birds; 2d, From t|)e feeding of
the sacred Chickens. 3d, From ordinary signs in the air, as
thunder, lightning, winds. 4th, From Prodigies, viz,— first, such
as are supernatural, (if we allow of their existence); second, from
extraordinary signs in the air, as meteors, &c. Remarks upon
this latter kind of Prodigies. Remarks upon the foi-mer class of
Prodigies. — The public consternation occasioned by Prodigies.

3(/, The Ariispicia. 266

The office and the institution, generally, of the Aruspices. The
manner in which the Aruspices drew their presages.

Ath, Of Private Presages. 269

Several kinds of these presages, viz, — 1st, Casual words; 2d,
Startings in parts of the body; 3d, Tingling of the ear; 4th,
Sneezings; 5th, Accidental falls, and the like; 6th, Certain acci-
dental meetings, of persons or animals; 7th, Names, lucky or un-
lucky. Other presages not mentioned. How the bad Omens

were avoided.

SECTION III.

OF MAGIC. 272

Definition of Magic; — itscriminalexcesses; — its original attribu-
ted to Zoroaster. Sevei-al kinds of AJagic, viz, — 1st, Natural
Magic. 2d, Mathematical Magic, or Astrology; — its origin and
propagation; — its leading principles. 3d, and 4th, Thurgia and
Goethia, — their difFci-ence^what ceremonies they had in common:

CONTENTS.

SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY, CHAP. III.

page
—the trials of initiation to the Thurgia Ma^^ic; the miraculous
feats of Heroes attributed to this art; its connexion with Pagan
Theology. 5th, Necromancy or Evocation of the IVIanes; — how
it originated, with examples of the Art: stricture on the phrase,
to call up souls.

SECTIOX IV.

OF EXPIATIOJK'S. 283

Expiation defined, and its objects stated. Several sorts of Expia-
tions, which are more or less solemn, viz, — 1st, Expiation for
Prodigies. 2d, Expiation for Homicide. 3d, Expiation for Cities
and other places. 4th, Expiation for Armies. Other public Expia-
tionsto be spoken of elsewhere. Private Expiations. Oaths, as
a sort of Expiations examined,— ^^r.?^. As to their origin; second.
By what Gods they swore; third. The ceremonies of an Oath;
fourth. The obligation of an Oath; ffth. On what occasions were
Oaths used; lastly. How was perjury regarded.

SECTION V.

OF PUBLIC SUPPLICATIO^rS. 291

Definition. — Private Supplications slightly noticed. Public Sup-
plications— on what occasions observed.

\st. The Lectistemia. 291

The ceremonies of the Lectisternium: it was in use both among the
Greeks and the Romans: its celebration, and its immunities; — by
whom appointed.

2d, The Evocations. 294

Three sorts of Evocation, viz, — 1st, To call up the Manes, (which
belongs to Magic.) — 2d, A prayer in making Sieges. 3d, This was
used to call up the Gods, to which they connected the ceremony
of taking leave of them.

3c?, The forms of Devoting.
Public and private Devotings. Of votive members.

Ath, Ceremonies used at the founding of Cities, Temples, &c.
These ceremonies commenced, probably ia Etruria.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY.

SECTION VI.

page
OF FESTIVALS. 298

On what occasions wei-e Festivals instituted. Whence they derive
their names. The principal of them given in the three following
Articles.

1st, Egyptian Festivals. 299

The character of the Egyptian Festivals. The Festival of Osiris.
The Festival of Isis. The Festival of Diana. The Festival of
JWinerva. The Festival of Mars. Egyptian festivals and proces-
sions imitated by the Jews, &c.

2(1, Grecian Festivals. 303

Alphabetical calendar of Greek Festivals, viz, — The Achillsea.
The Actia. The Adonia. The .SImaturia. The Agraulia. The Ag-
rionia. The Agrotera. The Aloa. The Ambrosia. The Aphidro-
mia. The Anthesphoria. The Anthesteria. The Apaturia. The
Aphrodisia. The ApoUonia. The Artemisia. The Asclepia. The
Athensea. The Boedromia. The Boreasmi. The Brauronia. The
Cabiria. The Callisteria. The Canephoria. The Carneia. The Cha-
rila. The Charisia. The Chelidonia. The Cissotomia. The Cronia.
The Cynophontis. The Dxdala. The Daidis. Tlie Daphnephoria.
The Delia. The Demetria. The Diamastigosis. The Diasia. Tlse
Dionysia. The Dioscuria. The Elaphebolia. The Eleusinia. The
Eleutheria. The Encosnia. The Eoria. The Erotidia. The Eume-
nidia. The Gamelia. The Hecatesia. The Hecatomboia. The
Hecatomphonia. The Helenia. The Hephsestia. The Heracleia.
The Hermaea. The Horxa. The Hyacinthia. The Hydrophoria.
The Leonidea. The LycKa. The Lycurgides. The Menelaia. The
Musaea. The Nemesia. The Nephalia. The Niceteria. The Nu-
menia. The Oscophoria. The Plynteria. The Septerion. The
Soteria. The Thargela. The Theoxenia. The Tliesmophoria. The
Trielaria. The Xanthica.

od, Roman Festivals. 326

The Romans adopted the Greek festivals, and instituted others pro-
per to themselves: First, Of those that were common to both.
Second, Of those of Roman institution — their motives. The Ago-
nalia. The Agones Capitolini. The Argeronalia. The Armilus-
trium. The Augustalia. The Caprotinae. The Carmentales. The
Charistia. The Compitalia. The Consuales Ludi. The Equiria.
The Faunalia. The Feralia. The Feriae Latinse. The Floralia.
The Hilaria. The Lemuria. The Mmervalia. The Nemoralia.

CONTENTS.

SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

page

The Palilia. The Parentalia. The Portumnalia. The Regifugium.
The Kemuria. The Robigalia. The Septimontium. The Termina-
lia. The Vestalia. The Vinalia. The Vulcanalia. — Comparative
remarks between Festivals and Games.

SECTION VII.

OF GAMES. 337

Games were religious institutions; — they were also politic. Their
origin. They were instituted by Heroes, and participated by all
classes. They were highly celebrated in Greece; which was ow-
ing to the honours decreed to the conquerors. Some Games were
repeated; others occurred only once: — their modes of exercise,
viz, — the Race; the Coit; the Gauntlet; the Pancrace; Leaping;
the Javelin; the Gladiators. The Hellanodices or Judges of the
Games. Lucian's derision of the Combats. Some exercises re-
quired more, some less gi'ound: in the earlier ages they were
performed in the open fields; — but afterwards, in appropriate
places, v/herein convenient structures were raised. Fifteen foun-
ders of ihe Games.

GRECIAN GAMES.

\st. The Olympic Games. 350

The origin of these Games. Their frequent interruptions and final
establishment. The time and place of their celebration. The
parts of the Stadium; — tlie dangers of the Race The combatants
prohibited the use of fraud; — its punishment. The concourse to
see these Games enriched the city and state. The descendants of
Helen, only, admitted to dispute the prizes.

2d, The Pythic Games. 356

The origin of these Games: the earlier exercises and disputants in
these Games: Other exercises afterwards introduced. The period
for celebrating these Games. Their adoption by the Romans.

od. The JVemean Games. 359

The origin, and the period of celebrating these Games. The exer-
cises of these Games were the same as the former. The reward •
of the conquerors therein.

'ith. The Isthmic Games. 360

The origin of these Games. The trials of skill; and the reward to
. the victors.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. Ill SUPERSTI : IONS OF IDOLATRY.

page
5th, The Scenic Games. 361

The exei'cises of these Games; and to whom they were dedicated.
The conqueror received the title of Poet Laurent. 1 he scenic ex-
ercises were introduced into several Games, besides those proper-
ly Scenic.

ROMAN GAMES.

Istf The Trojan Games, or Games of the Youth. (^ 363

The founder of these Games, — their patrons. Virgil's account
of them.

2d, The Secular Games. 369

The origin of these Games, and their periods. Their solemnization.

Zd, The Games of Ceres. 369

The origin of these Games. Their solemnization.

Ath, The Games of Cybele, and those of the other great Gods. SrO
The origin and celebration of the Games of Cybele. Those of other
great Gods — different from the former.

Sth, The Games of Castor and Pollux. 371

The origin and celebration of these Games.

()th. The Cercensian Games. 372

These were of Greek origin, and adopted by Romulus.

7th, The Capitoline Games. 372

On what occasion founded; — their exercises.

Sth, The Games celebrated in the Camps. 373

These were instituted for the health of the soldiers..

9thy Some other Games. 373

CONCLVSION.

INTRODUCTION.

OF THE SENTIMENTS OP THE ANCIENTS, ABOUT THE ORIGIN
OF THE WORLD, AND OF THE GODS.

SINCE the opinion of the ancients about the origin of the
Gods was always mixed with that of the origin of the world, I
shall in the way of Introduction to this Mythology, say some-
thing about both their Cosmogony and their Theogony, derived
from the writings of the early historians, whether Chaldean, Pne-
nician, Egyptian, Atlantidae, Greek, Chinese, or Indian.

1*/, Cosmogony and Theogony of the Chaldeans.

. THERE is no disputing the Chaldeans the

Antiquity of , p , . r , ' • • •

the Chaldeans- none r ol bemg one ct the most ancient nations in

their historians;-- the world. Nimrod. their fiist king, lived even

===^= in the time of Peleg, and he is looked upon to

be the author of the mad project of the toiner of Babel. This peo-
ple according to Josephus, took care from the earliest periods of
time, to preserve, by public inscriptions and other monuments,
the memory of all occurrences, and to eniploy the wisest men of
their nation in writing their annals; but there are no better proofs
of the antiquity of the Chaldeans, than the agreement of their
opinion about the origin of the world, the ten generations that
went before the deluge, and the other ten that came after it, with
the writings of Moses.— The history of the Chaldeans had been
written by four ancient authors, Berosus, Abydenus, Apollo-
DORUS, and Alexander Polyhisior. We have some fragments
of their works now remaining in Josephus, Eusebius, and Syn-
CELLUs; and it is in the last of these authors we find that
small piece of Berosus upon their Cosmogony, viz. —

INTRODUCTION.

CHALDEAN COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

■ In ihe reign of Jnienon., a monster, half man,

their Cosmo.2:ony and half fish, by the name of Cannes, sprung from
and Theog-ori)'; , , , , • . • .

tiie led sea, appeared near a place m the neigh-
bourhood of Babijlo7i. He had two heads; that of
the man, was below that of the^s/i. To his fish's ?az7 were joined
Xhcfeet of a man, and he had human voice and speech: his image
is preserved to this very day in painting. This monster, according
to the Chaldean author, abode with men by day, without food, and
taught them the knowledge of letters and sciences, and the prac-
tice of arts; to build cities and temples, to enact laws, to apply
themselves to geometry, to sow and gather grain and fruits; in a
word, whatever could contribute to civilize their manners, — The
same author adds concerning Oannes, that he had written a book
about the oris^in of things, wherein he taught, that there was a
time when all was water and darkness, in which were contained
animals of a monstrous form — some men with two wings; others
with four, having also two heads upon the same body, one of a
man, the other of a woman, with the distinctions of either sex;
that some were seen with the legs and horns of a goat; while
others had the fore or hind parts of a horse, like the HijifiQcen-
taurs; others were born with the head of a man and the body of
a bull: that the dogs had four tails, with the hind parts of a fish:
in short, that all the animals were of a monstrous and irregular
make, like the representations of them to be seen in the tem-
ple of Belus. This author added farther, that a woman named
Omoroca, was mistress of the universe, and that the god Belus
clove her asunder, formed earth of the one part, and heaven of
the other, and put all those monsters to death. Then this god
divided the darkness, separated earth from heaven, and arranged
the universe in order; and after the destruction of the animals,
who could not support the splendour of the light, seeing the
world desolate, he ordered his own head to be cut off by one of
the Gods, to mix with earth the blood which flowed from the
wound, and of it to frame men and animals; after which, he
framed the stars and the planets, and thus finished the produc-
tion of all beings. — Syncellus, who has preserved to us the
fragments of several oiher ancients, says, that, according to
Abydenus, a second Annedotus or an animal resembling OawMes,
had likewise come out of the sea, under the reign of Amillarus,

INTRODUCTION.

CHALDEAN COSMOGONY AND THEOG.>NY.

(see the table in the note) who dwelt in the town of Pantibibla*
six and twenty sares\ from the foundation of the Chaldean mon-
archy. But Apollodohus said, as the same Syncellus has it,
that it was only under the succeeding reign he appeared, that is,
in the time of Amenon. Polyhistor, like Berosus, introduced
his Oannes in the first year; that is, probably, at the beginning
of that same monarchy; which would fain be a third Oannes.
The same Apoleodohus speaks of a fourth Oannes or Annedo-
tus, who had likewise coine out of the sea under the reign of
Daonus. In addition to these, Abydenus mentions four persons,
who came at that time by sea, to give the Chaldeans a more full
explication of what Oannes had taught them only in a summary
way; he names these four doctors, Euedocus, Eneugamus, Eneu-
bulus, and Anementus4 — We shall subjoin what the above histo-
rians say respecting the deluge, and conclude with such reflec-
tions as the occasion suggests.

• ScAi-iGKH upon EusEBius, p. 406, i-emarks very justly that the an-
cients have taken no notice of the town named Pantibibla. What if it was
the Sipphara of Ptolemy, where Xixutrus, who is the same with Noah,
deposited the remains he had composed before the deluge? Since the name
may be derived from the Chaldaic word sepher, meaning a book, a collection;
and that is precisely the same sense, which the word Pantibibla bears in
Greek. Sir Isaac Newton, in his chronology, takes that town for the
Sepharvaim mentioned in the second book of Kings, ch. 19, v. 13.

t The ancients divided time into sares, neres, and soses. The sares, {saros
according to Syncellus) denoted three thousand six hundred years.

* Such was the tradition of tlie Chaldeans about tlie origin of the world,
where it is plain they suppose the Gods prior to the formation of the
world. We see there is no mention of their birth as in the tradition of
the Phenicians. Be that as it will, here are the ten first generations ac-
cording to the opinion of the Chaldeans, with* the duration of each reign
in sares.

Thus, Africanus.

Thus, Abyubnus.

Thus, Apollodorus.

Kings. Sai'es.

Kings.

Sares.

Kings. Sares.

1 Alorus, reigned

1 Alorus, reigned, 10

2 Alasparus,

2 Alaparus,

S Amelon,

3 Amillarus,

3 Amelon,

4 Amenon,

5 Metalarus,

5 Megalarus,

5 Megalarus, 18

6 Daonus,

6 Daos,

6 Daonus, 10

7 Evedorachus,

7 Evedorescus,

7 Evedoriscus, 18

INTRODUCTION.

CHALDEAN COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

•■'■ Chronus or Saturn, having appeared to Xixu-

^WciiiiiT the^el- TRUS in a dream, forewarned him,- that on the fif-
lipe. teenth of the month Dtssus, mankind were to

■ be destroyed by a deluge; and enjoined him to

wiite down the origin, the history, and the end of all things; and
to conceal his memoirs under ground, in the city of the Sun,
named Sififihara. After this he was to build a ship, to lay up the
necessary provisions, and enter into it himself; his friends, and
relations, and shut in with him the birds and four-footed beasts.
XixuTRus put his orders punctually into execution, and made a
si ip which was two furlongs in breadth, and five in length, and
no sooner had he entered into it than the earth was drowned.
Sometime uher- seeing the waters abate, he let go some fowls,
which finding neither nourishment nor resting-place, returned
into the vessel. A few days after, he sent out others that returned
with mud adhering to their feet. The thiid time he let them go,
they appeared no more; whence he concluded, that the earth
was beginning to be sufficiently discovered: then he made a win-
dow in ihe vessel, and finding it had rested on a mountain, he
c-ime forth with his wife, his daughter, and the pilot; and, having
p. id adoration to the earth, raised an altar, and offered sacrifice
to tlie Gods, he and those who were with him disappeared. Those
w!io staid in the ship finding that they did not return, came out
and made search for them, but in vain: only they heard a voice
sounding these words in their ears, Xixutrus, by the merit of
his piety, is translated to Heaven, and ranked among the Gods,
with those who accompanied him. The same voice exhorted them
to be religious and to repair to Babylon, after digging up at Sifi-

8 Amphis, 10 8 Anedaphus, 9 8 Amenpsinus, 10

9 Otiartes, 8 9 9 Otiartes, 8
10 Xixutrus, 18 10 Sisuthrus, 10 Xixutrus, 18

Since, in this system of the Chaldeans, it is taken for granted, that Alorus
is \dam, there is no doubt but Xixutrus must be Noah. Accordingly
they report it was in this time the deluge happened; where, by the by,
the Chaidaick authoi's are more honest than Sanchoniathon, whom I
shall speak of afterwards; the latter describing- the ten first generations
of the infant world, and the ten immediately succeeding, by an unpardon-
able prevarication takes no notice of this celebrated event. What the au-
thors I have been quoting say about it follows in the text.

INTRODUCTION.

CHALDEAN COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

phara the memoiis that had been deposited there. The voice be-
ing heard no more, they set. about rebuilding the city I have
named, with some others.

' This is a gross system o? /ihusics, and a theog-
Reflections on , t. • . a n

the above °"^ "° ^^^ ^°* ^^ '^ *''"^ Alexander Polyhis-

I ' . . . . rpQjj thovight the whole system allegorical; but

what allegories could render it supportable? However, monstrous
as it is, it appears to be only a disfigured tradition of the history of
the creation^ taken either from the books of Moses, or from a tra-
dition still more ancient. It seems plain, that the place where
Moses speaks of the darkness that covered the earth, then mixed
with the water, et tenebre erant super facicm abyssi, is the founda-
tion of this whole cosmogovy, in which the Chaldeans had feigned
those monsters, whose history we have now read, to give a more
sensible and hideous description of that state of confusion which
reigned in the world immediately after the Creation. As to what
regards the forming of man,, it is evident that the history thereof
is likewise taken from the description of Moses, who says, that
God, after he had as it were exerted himself in the production
of this masterpiece, took of the earth which he tempered with
water, and breathed into it a living spirit. These last words, it
would seem, gave the author of the Chaldean system occasion to
say, that Belus had ordered his head to be cut off; or, according
to another tradition, that he himself had cut off that of Omoroca;
whence Berosus concludes, this was the cause of man's being
endued with intelligence. As for those man-monsters who had
two heads, four wings, and both sexes, we may reckon the idea
of them to have been likewise taken from those words of Moses,
where tl^e historian, in the second chapter, making a recapitula-
tion of what he had said in the first, subjoins, in speaking of Adam
and Eve, masculum et fxminam creavit illos. — By the by, it is
this notion of the Chaldeans, if we may be allowed the digres-
sion, that has given rise to the fable of the Jndrogynss, so cele-
brated in Plato's dialogue, intitled The Banquet; a fable, which
this- philosopher puts into the month of Aristojihanes^ one of the
speakers. " The Gods, says he, formed man at first of a round
figure, with two bodies, two faces, four legs, four feet, and both
sexes." These men were of such extraordinary strength, that
they resolved to make war upon the Gods. Jupiter incensed by

INTRODUCTION.

THENICIAN COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

this enterprizg, was going to destroy them, as he had done the
Giants, who attempted to scale Heaven; but foreseeing that he
must have entirely extinguished the human race, he contented
himself with parting them asunder; to the end, that, being thus
divided into tv.'o parts, hencefoith they might neither be so
strong, nor so daring. At the same time he gave orders to Jpollo
to adjust these two half bodies, and to stretch over the breast a.id
the other parts of the body, the skin, as it is at present, and
•which bears a mark in the na-vel that it has been fastened to it,
and knotted as one shuts a purse. These two parts of one body
thus disjoined, want to be reunited; and this is the origin oi Love.
It is easy to see, that this fiction is drawn fiom the history, which
Moses gives of the formation of the ivoman^ who was taken from
one of Adam's ribs, and was bone of his bone, and flesh of his
flesh: but to return — In vain does the mind of man use all its
efforts to corrupt the truth; it leaves always some rays of light
to lead us to find it out: for the name of Oannes or Oes, as Hel-
LADius calls him, seems to be formed from the Syriac word
OnedOf which signifies a traveller or a stranger. Thus the whole
story amounts to this, that at a time, which cannot be determined,
there arrived by sea, a man who taught the Chaldeans some prin-
ciples of philosophy, and some knowledge of ancient traditions,
and left them memoirs upon that subject which no doubt had
the books of Moses for theii* foundation.

2c?, The Cosmogony and Theogony of the Pheniciana. ■

Sanchoniathon, priest of Berytha, who is

the'^Tuthelticky reckoned to have lived before the war of Troy,

of his fragment, had written upon the Cosrvogony and Theogony

--Its division into ^f ^jjg phenicians. Eusebius, who has preserved

three parts, viz.- , ^ .

— to us a long fragment of this treatise, recites a

passage relative to this author, which needs not be suspected,
since it is taken from Porphyry, the greatest enemy the Chris-
tians ever had. This author reports, that Sanchoniathon had
written about the Jews, things very true; that he agreed with
their own writers, and learned several circumstances, which he
relates, from Jerombaal priest of Jevo, that he had dedicated his

INTRODUCTION. 9

PHENICIAN CObMUGONY AND THEOGONY.

work to Abibail king of Phenicia; and that not only this prince, but
they who were commissioned to examine his books, were agreed
as to the truth of this author's history: In fine, that he had taken
what he advanced, partly fiom the registers of particular towns,
and partly from the archives, which were carefully preserved in
the temples. — The work of this ancient author was yet extant in
the first ages of Christianity, since it is about that time, that is,
about the reign of the Amonines^ that Philo of Byblos., translated
it into Greek, and divided it into nine books. In the preface he
had annexed to them, he said, " that Sanchoniathun, a man of
learning and great experience, being passionc^tely desirous to
know the histories of all nations, and that from their origin, had
made an exact scrutiny into the writings of Thaautus, from an
assurance, that as he had been the inventor of letters, he must
have been likewise the first historian." It was therefore from the
works of this chief of the learned, Thaautus or the celebrated
Mercury, that the Phenician author had taken the foundation of
his history. — This traiislaiion appears, from what remains we
have of it preserved by Eusebius, to have been interpolated by
Philo, and adapted to the ideas of the Greeks in his time. What
is farther unlucky, (for it is proper that we give a plain and ex-
act account of this fragnent) besides its being interpolated by
Philo, as has been just said, Lusebius too, in reciting it, instead
of having copied it as it was, has intermixed with it, as one
who reads it with attention will easily perceive, not only the reflec-
tions of the Greek translator, but also others of his own, which
very much weaken the authority of this valuable remain of Phe-
nician antiquities; while it is not always easy to distinguish what
is SANCHONiATHON'sfrom the additions of Philo or Eusebi%us.
The fragment may be divided into three parts; and they who
would see the entire translation of it, need only read the reflec-
tions of M. FouuMONT upon ancient nations. 1st, The first contains
the Cosmogony of the Phenicians; 2d, the second, the history of
the primitive world before the deluge, although this author says
not a word of that noted event; 3d, and the tb.ird treats of those
who lived after the deluge, among whom we shall recognise many
names of the Pagan Deities.

10 INTRODUCTION.

PHENICIAN COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

'■ ' 1st, According to this ancient author, "the

rVi*' T.7 °7^'" " first principle of the universe was a dark and
of the World. ^ ^

_^__^_j^^^ " spirituous air, a Chaos full of confusion, and
' " without light, eternal, and of an endless dura-

" tion. The spirit falling in love with its own principles, entered
"into close union with them; and this union was called Love.
" Hence sprung Alot or Alod, that is to say, a slime, or rather
<' an aqueous mixture, which was the seminal principle of all
" the creatures, and the generation of the universe. The first
" animals were void of sensation; they engendered others
" endued with intelligence, who were named Zofihasemin, that
<' is, conteniplators of the Heavens. Immediately after Moty
" the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, smaller and greater, began to ap-
<' pear and shine forth. The earth being strongly illuminated by
*' the intense heat communicated to the land and the sea, the
« winds were produced, with clouds that fell down in showers
" of rain; and the waters, with which the earth had been over-
" flowed being dissipated by the heat of the Sun, were again
" united in the air, where they formed lightning and thunder,
" whose noise awakened the intelligent animals, and terrified
" them so, that they began to stir in the earth and in the sea." —
This system of the Piieiiicians led to atheism — God being left
out in the formation of the universe. Sanchoniathon even
says, that the spirit, such as he conceives it to be, had no know-
ledge of its own proper production.
■ 2d, The Phenician author, after this account

2d, iheten ge- j- j^ orisi;in of the world, enters upon the his-
nerations before ^ ^

the deluge. tory of the first man and first woman, whom

— ^ Philo his translator calls Protogonus and Man;

«' and adds that the latter found the fruits of trees to hefirofier nour-

^'■ishment. The children of these parents of human kind, who

" were Genus and Genera, dwelt in Phenicia. In time of a great

"drought, they stretched forth their hands towards the sun,

" whom they looked upon as the sole God and sovereign of Hea*

"ven, and gave him the name of Beelsamen; which, in the Phe-

" nician language, signifies Lord of the Heavens. Genus after-

" wards begat other men, who were named Fhos, Pur, Phlox,

INTRODUCTION. 11

PHENICIAN COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

" that is, lights Jircy and Jlame: these are they, who by rubbing
"two pieces of wood against one another, found out the use of
" fire. Their sons, who were of an enormous size, gave their
"names to the mountains which they possessed; hence the
"names of mount Cassius, Libanus, Antilibanus, Brathys, &c.
" Tlie offspring of those Giants were Memrumus and Hyfisuru'
*^nius. The latter dwelt at Tyre, and invented the art of building
"cottages of reeds, and rushes, and the papyrus; and his bro-
*'ther, with whom he quarrelled, taught men to clothe them-
" selves with the skins of beasts. Nor was this all, for an impet-
" uous wind having kindled a forest hard by l^yre, he took a tree,
"cut off its branches, and having launched it into the sea, made
" use of it for a ship. He also paid a religious homage to two
"stones he had consecrated to the wind and ^re, and poured out
" libations to them of the blood of certain animals. After the
" death of Memrumus and Hyfisuranius, continues Sanchonia-
" THON, their children consecrated to them misshapen pieces of
" wood and stone, which they adored, and instituted anniversary
" festivals to their honour. Several years after this generation,
" which is the sixth, came jigreus and Halieus, inventors of fishing
" and hunting, as their names import. These had offspring, two
" sons, who invented the art of making instruments of iron. He of
" the two whose name was Chrysor, the same with He/ihestus, or
" Vulcan, gave himself to the abominable study of incantations
" and sorceries; invented the hook, the bait and fishing-line, the
"use of barks fit for that purpose, with sails. So many inventions
"procured him after death divine honours, under the name of
" Zeumichius, or Jupiter the engineer. These two ingenious bro-
" thers are aiso thought to have invented the art of making walls
" of brick. Their sons were, Technites or the artist, and Geinus
'^ jiutocthon, that is, home-born man of the earth; they having
" found out the secret of mixing straw with brick, formed tiles
" thereof, which they dried in the sun. Their two sons named
" Jgrai the swain, and Jgrotes the husbandman, devoted them-
" selves to the rural life and to hunting. They were also styled
« Aleta and Titans. In fine, jimynus and Magus, the counter-ivi'
" zard and the conjurer, were the last of this primiti\e race; and
" they taught men the art of building villages, and o gathering

12 INTRODUCTION.

PHKNICIAN COSMOGONY AND THEOGONT.

" their flock into them.* — There was also in their time, in the

"neighbourhood oi Byblos, one Jilion, a name that may be ren-

<' dered in Greek, Hy/isistusy the most high, who had to wife Be-

" ruth. They had a son named E/iigeus, who was afterwards call-

" ed Uranus, and a daughter, who went by the name of Ge; and

<' it is the names of those two children the Greeks have given

« to Heaven and Earth. Hijfisistus having died in a hunting-match,

" was advanced to divine honours, and had libations and sacrifices

«' offered to him. Uranus possessed his father's throne, and hav-

" ing married his sister Ge, had several children by her; //?i», who

"was styled C/ir onus or Saturn; Betyliis; Dagon; and Atlas."

-• " Of those, says Sanchoniathon, meaning

3d, Those who a ^mynus and Magus, were born Misor and Syd-
lived after the ,, . ^, ,. i i • , r i .

deluo-e. ^^'> "^^ ""^^ ^"" ^""^ J"^^' ^^"° found out the use

====== " of salt. The former was father to Thaautus,

" who first invented letters; this is the Thoot or Thoor of the Egyp-

* These, according to the Phenician author, except that of Elion or Ift/p'
sisivs, who is next, but incidentally, mentioned, were the ten first genera-
tions, and were of the line of Cain; on which we have four remarks to
make. First, that this ancient author, who had a mind to favour idolatry,
was willing to mention none but Cain's descendants, who are reckoned,
not without reason, to have been the founders of idolatry. Secondly, that
he makes no mention of the deluge, which, according to the fathers of
the church, was sent to punish this race for their crimes, the greatest of
which was the sacrilegious worship they paid to the creatures. A third re-
mark is, that Sanchoniathon counts ten generations in the lineage of
Cain, though Moses reckons only eight, passing from the third to the
sixth, or from Enoch to Irad. But we may suppose that Moses, whose
aim was principally to take notice of the race of Set h, or that of the just,
has not in the same way followed that of Cain, especially the fourth and
fifth generations, because, perhaps, they did not deserve to be named; for
it is not likely, that the eight generations of Cain were of equal duration
with the ten of Seth, of whom Moses midces mention. The last remark
is that the Phenician author, as well as Moses, ascribes to these descen-
dants of Cain, the greater part of useful inventions, although the two
authors are not always agreed as to the time when, nor the persons by
whom, these discoveries wei'e made; Sanchoniathon giving to one race
what Moses gives to another, as one may be convinced by reading the
first chapter of Genesis. — These ten generations I have said, belonged to
Cain's descendants, except IJi/psistus in the neiglibourhood of ^^Wos, be-
cause the learned, after Cumberland, who has given a larg-e explication

INTRODUCTION. 13

phemioian cosmogony and theogony.

" tians, the Thogit ov T/ioyth oi the Alexandrians, and the Her-
" mes of the Greeks: the sons of Sydic were the Diosairi or Cabiri,
"afterwards named Cory bant es ov ^amothraces. These built a ship
" and improved the art of navigation; and among their children
"there were some who found out the use of simples; vetnedies
" against the bite of animals; and in fine, the art of enchantment or
*' the method of curing these bites by spells. — C7ra?77/s, whose chil-
" dren were alive in the time of those we have just been speak-
"ing of, having succeeded his father Elion., had by his sister Ge
"the four sons already named; Chronus; Betylus; Atlas; and Da-
*■'• gon or Siton, whose surname was Zeus Arotriiis, or Jujxiter the
^'•tiller.) from his having invented the art of sowing corn; he had
" also several other children by different concubines. Ge, dis-
" pleased with the gallantries of her spouse, made bitter com-
" plaints to him upon that account; which obliged him to turn
" her off. But having an affection for her, he took her back, and

of this fragment of the Phenician author, contend that this Hypsistus was
the father of Noah, and that the reason of his being mentioned so tran-
siently is, that he was an enemy to the idolaters, whose cause Sancho-
NiATHON pleads. — For the reader's satisfaction, I shall set down the two
tables of Gain's descendants, or the ten first generations according to
MosES and Sanchoniathon.

According to Moses. According' to Sanchoniathon.

1 Adam, Eve. 1 Protogonus, .Slon.

2 Cain. 2 Genus, Genea.

3 Enoch. 3 Phos, Pur, Phlox.

4 4 Cassias, Libanus.

5 5 Memrumus, Usous.

6 Irad. 6 Agreus, Halieus.

7 Methusael. 7 Chrysor or Hephestug,

8 Mehujael. 8 Technites, Geinus.

9 Lamech. 9 Agrus, Agrotes.
10 Jabal, Jubal, Tuhal-Cain. 10 Amynus, Magus.

By Moses, as we see, Cain's race ends with the last of the persons I
have now named, because they themselves or their descendants perished
in the deluge, not so much as one of them being saved. If you ask how
it comes then to be continued by Sanchoniathon, in the third part of
his abstract I am going to transcribe; the answer is easy, that he has taken
in Noah's descendants to make up his second decade: this will appear
evident by the reflections afterwards to be made.

14 INTROt>UCTION.

PHENICIAN COSMOGONY AND TIIROGONY.

" had several other ci.iltlren by her, all of whom he sought to de-
'' stroy. Chronus arriving at the age of manhood, espoused his
" mother's quarrel, placed at the head of his counsel Hermes
" Trifsmegistus^ who was his secretary, made vigofous opposition
" to the designs of Uranus., expelled him from his kingdom, and
" succeeded to his power; in the scuffle having taken a concubine
" whom his father tenderly loved, he gave her, though big with
" child, in marriage to his brother Dagon; soon after he had her
" she was delivered of a male child, who was named Demaroon,
" Ckrovus, for security, built a wall round his house, and found-
" ed Byblos, the first city of Phenicia. Some time after, having
*' conceived a violent jealousy against his brother Atlas^ by the
" advice of Trismegistus, he caused him to be thrown into a pit}
" where he perished. Chronus had at that time, two daughters;
** Persefihone or Proserfiine, who died a virgin; and Athene or
« Minerva} he had also a son named Sadid, whom he put to death.
" He also cut off his daughter's head, and by these actions, greatly
" amazed the Gods; those I mean of his party, who were deno-
" minated Eloim. About that time, continues the Phenician au-
" thor, the offspring of the Dioscuri., having built ships, put to
*' sea; and being driven ashore near mount Cassius, there built a
"temple. In the mean time, Uranus, though in exile, was still
" plotting against his son Chronus, and sent him three of his
" daughters, Astarte, Rhea, and Dione, on purpose to cut him off.
« But he having seized upon them, took them into the number of
" his concubines, as he had done Eimarmene and Hora, who were
« sent to him upon the same design. He had seven daughters
« by Astarte, named Titanidg or Artemidx; and two sons, Pothoa
« and Eros, or Desire and Love. By Rhea he had seven sons, the
" youngest of them (to whom the author gives no name) was ad-
« ded to the number of the Gods at the very moment of his birth;
« that is, he was consecrated to the Gods, and to divine service;
" he had likewise some daughters by Dione, who are not named.
" The same Chronus or Saturn, had in Perea three sons, Chronus
" afier the name of his father, Zeus-Belus and Afiollo. Sydic or
" the just, having married one of the Titunida above mentioned,
" had a son by ^er named Ascle/iius.* who was contemporary with

• Here it is proper to remark, that Sydic, being, according to some au-

INTRODUCTION. I5

PHENICIAN COSJ'OGONY AND THEOGONY.

^^Ponius, with JVerus, and with Tyfihon. Ponlus had two chil-
"dren; a son named Poseidon or J'^ejitune; and a daughter called
« Sidon, who being a charming singer, was the first who com-
« posed odes. Demaroon was father to MJicertus, otherwise call-
" ed Hercules. Then it was that Uranus engaged in a new war
" against Ponlus, whom he had deserted, and joined with Dema-
« roan; who fell upon Pontus and was routed by him, so that he was
" obliged to make a vow to the Gods for his life. Ilus, that is
" Chronus or Saturn, in the thirty-second year of his reign, hav-
"ing laid an ambuscade for his father Uranus in a thicket wa-
" tered by fountains and rivulets, cut his privities with the stroke
"of a sabre; and in that very place was Uranus deified. There it
" was he gave up the ghost, and there they shew the blood that
"issued from his wound, mingled with the streams; and the
"place where this happened is still to be seen. "f— After some
other things, the author thus goes on: " J^starte the great, Jujiit-
" er Demaroon, and Modus the king of Gods, reigned in the
" country, according to the counsels of Chronus or Saturn. As-
" tarte, as a sign of her royalty, set upon her head, the head of a
" bull. Traversing the earth, she found a star fallen from Heaven;
"this she took and consecrated in the holy island of Tyre, As-
" tarte, according to the Phenicians, is Afihrodite or Venus, Chro-
" nus, in like manner, taking the tour of the earth, gave his daugh-
" ter Athene the kingdom of Attica. In the mean time, pestilence
" and famine having arose, Chronus offers up to his father Uranus
"his son Sadie, and circumcises himself, ordering all the soldiers
"of his army to do the same. Some time after, a son whom he

thors, Shem, the son of J^Toah or Uranus, he must, according to Sancho-
N I AT HON, have passed over into the land of Canaan, and there manned
a daughter of Ham, who is the Chronus of this author. Asclepius, his son,
i3 the only one of Sydic's children whom the author mentions; for he con-
cerned himself only for his own country, which was Phenicia, peopled by
Ham and his descendants.

I Here then (and it is a reflection which Eusebius has subjoined to
the recital of the Phenician author) you have the history of Chronus or
Saturn; and what is a true matter of fact in relation to a prince, whose
reign the Greeks have looked upon as so happy, that of it they have made
the gulden age.

16 INTRODUCTION.

PHENICIAN COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

" had by Rhea, called Mouthy* was ranked among the, Gods. Chro-
<^nus afterwards gave away two of his cities, to wit, Byblos to the
" Goddess Baaltis or Diane, Beryt to JVefitune, to the Cabiri, to
" the jigr'oti or labourers, and to the fishers. But before this hap-
" pened, the God Thaautus drew the portraiture of the other
" Gods — of Saturn or Clironus, of Dagon, &c. thence to form the
" sacred characters of the letters. As an emblem of sovereignty,
" he gave Chronus four eyes, two before and two behind. Of
" these four eyes two were shut while the other two were awake.
*' In like manner, upon each shoulder he placed a pair of wings,
" two of which were expanded, the others remaining in a state
"of rest — his design being to repiesent by the eyes, that ChrO'
" nus, when gone to rest was still awake, and while awake was at
" rest; and, by the wings, that though in repose, he wtis inces-
" santly flying, while with that motion he enjoyed undisturbed
"tranquillity. To the other Gods he gave only two wings, one
" upon each shoulder, to shew that they were only to be upon the
<' wing to accompany Chronus. He likewise added to the figure
<'of Chronus two wings more upon the crown of his head; the
" one to denote the superior wisdom of his government, the other
" to point out the delicacy of his sensations. Chronus having gone
" to the country of the South, made over to the God Thaautus
« the full property of the kingdom of Egypt."

■ Such is the fragment of Sanchoniathon.

PHiLo'sremarks ^f^^,. j^^^j^^ translated this fragment, Philo of
upon this irag-- '^ ^ ^ r> j

ment. Byblos adds, that this history was left to the pos-

===^=^=^ terity of Sydic; and that Sanchoniathon the
son of 77iaAzo72, after he had turned it to allegory, and interspersed
it with some physical ideas about the origin of the world, had de-
livered over the scheme thereof to the prophets of the Orgies.—
The Greeks, continues the same translator, who in refinement of
genius excelled all other nations, appropriated every ancient his-
tory to themselves, exaggerated and embellished them, and aimed
at nothing but to amuse bv their narrations: hence they have turn-
ed those histories into quite a new shape; and hence it is that He-

• The name given to this son by the Greeks, may be rendered Pluto.

INTRODUCTION. 17

PHENICIAN COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

sioD and the ovher historical poets have forged iheogonies^ gigari'
tomachiesi titanoiyiachies, and other pieces, by which they have in a
manner stifled the truth. Our ears accustomed from our infancy
to their fictions, and prepossessed with opinions that have been in
vogue for several ages, retain the vain impressions of those fa-
bles as a sacred dep-ositum. And because time has insensibly
rivetted those idle tales in our imaginations, they have now got
such fast hold thereof, that it is extremely difficult to dislodge
them. Hence it conies to pass, that even truth, when it is dis-
covered to men, appears to have the air of falsehood, while fabu-
lous narrations, be they ever so absurd, pass for the most authen-
tic facts.
====== As I shall have occasion in the course of this

Additional re- ^o,,j^ ^q speak of all the personages mentioned
flections upon the '^ . .

fragment. by that author, I shall subjoin here only a few

=^=^--=-' reflections. 1st, As to the genuineness of this
piece, authors are greatly divided; some maintaining that it is
really,the Phenician author's, though interpolated by Philo his
translator, and intermixed with several reflections which are none
of Sanchoniathon's, while the far greater number have always
looked upon it as spurious. The celebrated Cumberland, and
M. FouRMONT the elder, are the two writers, who have main-
tained its genuineness with most strength and learning. In the
latter especially, you may see the history of the opinions of the
learned upon this subject, and the arguments he brings to refute
them. — 2d, The author is clearer and freer from interpolations
as to those ten first generations, of which we have given the ta-
ble, than in relation to those that followed the deluge, where we
find more confusion, and less connection, although it is easy to
see he was willing to carry them as far down as to the family of
Abraham, and to some of his descendants — 3d, It is not to be
doubted but Sanchoniathon had taken the idea of this theogony
from traditions of very great antiquity, though they had been al-
ready corrupted by the Phenicians, who had mixed fictions with
them; but at the same time it is evident, that the author with a
view to gain credit to idolatry, has said nothing of the genealo-
gies before the deluge, except in the line of Cain, no mention
being made of that' of Setk. — 4lh. Next to the gaining credit to
idolatry, the author's main scope seems to have been, to shevv

18 INTRODUCTION.

EGYPTIAN COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

who were the inventors of arts; wherein he sometimes agrees
with Moses, and at the same time, gives the history of ufiotheo'
ses; never failing to point out those, who for useful inventions,
had been ranked among the Gods, and honoured with a public
worship; whence it follows, that having given to the supreme
being little or no share in the formation of the world, his cos/no^'-
ony is a scheme of atheis7n. — 5th, Eusebius, to whom we are in-
debted for this fragment, maintained that the Phenician cosmog-
ony was a direct inti eduction to Jthdsm; and in this he is followed
by the famous Cumberland, who justly considered this system
concerning the origin of the world, as solely designed to apolo-
gize for the idolatrous worship paid to different parts ot the uni-
verse, and to mere mortals — Thaautus having involved San-
CHONiATHON, his copyer, in the grossest of all" Pagan darkness,
which is to leave out the supreme being in the formation and
government of the world, and having attempted to introduce the
religion of the Egyptians and Phenicians, who honored the crea'
ture instead of the Creator. Yet, a celebrated modern contends,
that by giving a favourable interpretation to Sanchoniathon's
words, it will appear evident the Phenicians supposed two princi'
pies, the one a Chaos-, darksome and obscure; the other a wind^
or rather an intelligence endued with goodness, which arranged
the world into its present order; and that the Phenician author,
by saying this intelligence knew not his own production, means
only that it was eternal, and had never been produced. But this
Phenician cosmogony being taken from the books of Thaautus,
it is proper to suspend our judgment, till we have given thq
Egyptian cosmogony and theogony, which are to be the subject
of the following section.

3c?, The Cosmogoyiy and Theogony of the Egyfitians.

The apologists for Christianity were obliged

Thot, his

iHOT, ms jQ search into the earliest antiquity for the ori-
Cosmogony and , , . * ^

Theogony the gin of other religions, and none has laboured

most ancient; — herein more successfully than EusEBiusof Cc
"■"— ""^■^■^ sarea. What precious remains has he pre-
served, which must have been destroyed by the injuries of time,

INTRODUCTION. 19

EGYPTIAN COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

had not he been at the pains to collect them into his work! Be-
sides the celebrated fragment we have spoken of in the last sec-
lion, we owe to hi?n a great many other pieces upon the ancient
religion of the Egyptians, Greeks, and several other nations, It
is in his works we can trace — by what steps idolatry c^nie to "its
growth — and how various and fluctuating the opinions of philoso-
phers have been about physical principles, and ai)OUt the origin of
the world in particular. The fragment we have just now tran-
scribed, has properly a regard to none but the Pheniciuis; but
•what were the Gods of Phenicia but the Gods of Egypt? "And
whence had Greece hers according to Herodotus, Plato, Plu-
tarch, and so many others, but from Egypt and Phenici.i? Sax-
CHONiATHON appears to have copied Thot, or Thaatus: now
Thot was an Egyptian, and the most learned man of his time.
We must therefore expect to find the ideas of the Egyptians as
to the origin of the world, and of the Gods, to be pretty near the
same with those of the Phenicians we have just been speaking
of, and withal, to be the most ancient of any wherewith tradition
ad'ises us. Diodc rus Siculus, in the passage I am now going
to quote, has explained them, without nauiing however the Egyp-
tians in particular; and Eusebius seems to have copied him,
though the chapter where he treats of that subject be intitled,
<' The Cosmogony of the Greeks." But we know that these had it
from the Egyptians.

' " In the beginning," says Diodorus, " the

explained by Di- u heavens and the earth had but one form,

ODORUS SiCU- , • , , 1 1 , 1 , •

j^^j " their natures being blended together; but being

' " afterwards separated, the world assumed tiiat

" orderly disposition which we now see. By the agitation of the
" czV, {.hejierij fiarticles mounted upwards, and gave the Sun the
" Moon and the Stars their form, lustre and circular motion. The
" solid matter sunk downward and formed the earth and sea.,
" whence sprung the Jishes and animals — much after the manner
"as we still see in Egypt, swarms of insects and other animals
" spring from the earth that has been overflowed with the waters
" of the Nile." — " CAroKus,'* continues Diodorus, " having mar-
" ried Rhea., became according to some, the father of Isis and
<' Osiris, and according to others, of Jupiter andJuJio, From Ju-

20 INTRODUCTION.

KGYI'TIAN COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

'■^/litrr, accoidiiig lo ihe latter, sprung five other gods, Osiris, Inisy
«' Tyfibon, Afiollo^ and Jfihrodite or Venus. Osiris, added they, was
" the same with Bacchus; and IsisXhe same with Ceres. Aniibia and
" Mucedo sprung from Afiollo, who accompanied Osiris in his
" conquests. Osiris, setting out on his expeditions, left in his room
" Busiris iiis' brother; upon his return from the Indies, Tyfxhon as-
<' sassinated him, and they deified him upon account of his heroic
»' deeds, and the oxen Ajiis and Mnevis, that had been consecrated
<' to him, were themselves worshipped as Divinities. But, as in
" apotheoses they frequently changed the names of the persons
" deified, Osiris was called Sera/iis . Dionysius, Pluto, Jupiter, Fan,
" 8cc.; and Isis his vufe who was also ranked among the Goddess-
" es, was worsliipped under the names of Tesmo/ihoros, of Selene
"or the Moon, of Hera or Juno, Sec; Orus, son of Isis, and the
« last of the Gods, having escaped the ambuscades of the Titans,
" leigned over Egypt, and after his death was numbered with the
u gods^and it is he whom the Greeks named ^/!o//o."— Indeed,
according to Socrates, whose testimony is quoted by Eusebius,
the Egjptians struck with the view of the sun and the other lumi-
naries, imagined them to be the sovereigns of the world, and the
primary deities vyho governed the same. Accordingly the su7i
they styled Odris, and the mr^on they called I&is. Osiris, said they,
sit;nifies,/i<// of eyes, or extremely quick-sighted: /s/sisthe same
as, the ancient, or the aged, and this name was approi)riated to
the moon, on accourt of her eternal birth. — But they did not stop
here: when one has set out in the dark, he loses himself in propor-
tion as he advances. Diodhrus Siculus who had carefully col-
lected the Egyptian traditions, tells us, their great Gods were the
Sun; Saturn; Rhea; Jujtiter; Juno; Vulcan; Vesta; and Mercury,
whom they reputed the last; but were not agreed whether the
Sun or Vulcan had reignedy?rs?. Here, to mention it by the by,
are the eight great Gods of the Egyptians, of whom Herodotus
spe-iks several limes, though he does not name them.
• Such, according to Diodorus Siculus; was

Keflections upon ^j^g cosmogony and theogony of the Egyptians;
.. and it is easy to see that it had been corrupted
by the Greeks, and adapted to their manner.
Eusebius has well oliserved, that their cosmogony, as well as
that of the Pheniciaiis which was derived from the same origi-

INTRODUCTION. 21

EGYPTIAN COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

nal, excludes the creator from havinpf any hand in the formation
of the universe. In confirmation of his judgment, he cites a p;;is-
sage of Porphyry, who, in his epistle to Anebo the Egyptian
priest, writes that Ch^remon and others believed there was no-
thing prior to this visible world; that the planets and fitara were
the true gods of the Egyptians, and that the Sun was to be -reck-
oned the artificer of the universe: and it is pioper to remark, that
this is the amount of that abstract of the Egyptian -theology,
given by Diogenes Laertius, who had himself taken it from
Manetho and from Hecatjeus, who before him had stiid, thtt
matter was theirs; firinci/ile, and the sun and moon the first Di-
vinities of that ancient people, adored by them under the names

of Osiris and I&is. It is worth remarking, however, that a

modern of great abilities. Dr. Cudworth, has done more jus-
tice to the Egyptians, proving from Eusebius himself, that they
believed that an intelligent being, whom they named Cnejilu pre-
sided over the formation of the world. They represented this be-
ing, according to Porphyry, under the figure of a man holding
a^-zrrf/e and a sce/2<7*e, with magnificent plumes upon his head,
and out of his mouth proceeded an egg^ frofn which, in its turn,
proceed another god whom they named Phta,, and the Greeks
Vulcan. They themselves gave the explication of this mysteri-
ous fable. The plumes that overshadowed his head, denoted the
hidden invisible nature of that intelligence, the power he hud of
communicating life, his uinversal sovereignty, and the spirituality
of his operations. The e^^ which proceeds out of his mouth, sig-
nified the world which is his workmanship. These same people
sometimes represented the Divinity under the emblem of a ser-
pent^ with the head of a hawk, which by opening its eyes fills the
world with light, and by shutting them covers it with darkness.
— The opinion of this modern author may be confirmed by the
testimony of Jamblicus, who in the time of Eusebius had ap-
plied himself much to the study of the ancient Egyptian theolo-
gy, and he endeavours to make good what Ch^remon had ad-
vanced, that they did not generally believe that an inanimate na-
ture was the original of all things; but that in the world, as well
as in ourselves, they acknowledged a soul superior to nature, and
an Intelligence who created the world, superior to the soul. —
What we may conclude with most certainty concerning their the-

22 INTRODUCTION.

THKOGONY OF THE ATLANTIDjE.

ogonij, is, that this ancient people adored two sorts of Deities, viz.
the Stars, especially the Sun and Moon of the one part; and illustri-
ouH meiiy of the other part, to whom, for their good services, they
paid a religious worship. But be this theology drawn from the
books of I'haut or Thot, or from some tradition preserved by
the Egyptian priests, still we are sure the Greeks formed their
system upon it, as wc shall see in order.

4/'/;, The Theogony of the Atlantida.

. '■ DioDORus SicuLus IS the only one of the an-

The Atlantid?e cients, by whom the Theogony of the people in

claim the birth- r*r- nii*,-

place of tlie g-ods. ^"^ westein parts of Atrica, called the Atlanti-

si=is=i=s=issiiii= dsc, has been preserved to us. As these people,
says he, relate some things concerning the origin and birth of the
gods, which have a considerable affinity with what the Greeks them-
selves say of them, it is not improper to repeat them. They val-
ued themselves, continues our historian, upon their being pos-
ses-sed of a country that had been the birth-place of the Gods,
and cited for a proof of it, that part of Homer where he makes
Juno say, she was going to the extremities of the earth, to visit
OccanuH ;\ik1 Trthya, the father and mother of the Gods.
" Uranus, or Ctrlus, according to them, was their

TiSa""deificd— ^'"^^ ^'"^'' '^^ taught his subjects, Nvho had hith-
their progeny the erto wandered without any fixed residence, to
Titans, &c. jj^g j^ society, to cultivate the ground, and to

""—^•^•^—^ enjoy the blessings it afforded them. Uranus,
applying himself to astronomy, regulated the year by the course
of the sun, and the nionths by that of the moon; and by calcula-
ting the motions of the stars he formed predictions, whose ac-
complishment astonished the Atlantidse so much, that they be-
lieved their prince had somewhat divine about him, and after his
decease they enrolled him among the Gods. Uranus had by seve-
ral wives, forty-five children; Tilaa alone had brotight him eigh-
teen. These last though each had a name of his own, went by
the general designation of Titans, from that of their mother.
This princess, after her death, received likevyise divine honours,

INTRODUCTION. 23

THEOGONY OF THE ATLANIID^E.

and the earth was called after her n^.nie, as Heaven had been after
that of her husband,

■ Among the dangnters of Uranus and Titcea,

Rhaea, Hypen- ^\^q j^y^ eldest distinguished themselves by their
on, and their pro- ... t., *■ r- , ,, ,

geny persecuted, nierit and virtue. 1 he nrst who was called queen

by the Titans — by way of eminence, and who is thought to have

' been the saine with lihea or Pandora, took great

care of the education of her brothers and sisters;
and this, Diodorus remarks to have been the reason of calling
her the Great Mother. This princess, who had always professed
great chastity, being desirous at last to leave heirs to her father,
married Hyfierion her brother, and by him had two children Helion
and Selene^ who distinguished themselves as much by their pru-
dence and wisdom, as they were remarkable for their beauty.
Their uncles, jealous to see m Helion a prince so perfect, and in
Selene all the beauty of her sex united to the most consummate
wisdom, and fearing that the empire might devolve upon them,
assassinated Hyfierion, and flung Helion into the river Po: Selene,
who bore the most tender affection to her Inother, threw herself
down from the top of the palace. The queen seeking her son
along the banks of the river, fell asleep through fatigue and an-
guish; and saw in a dream Helion, who foretold her that the Titans
were to be punished for their cruelty, and she and her children
advanced to divine honors; that the celestial fire by which we are
enlightened, should henceforth bear the name of Helion, and the
planet formerly called Mene, should take the name of Selene.
Rhea awaking, related her vision; ordered divine honours to be
paid to her children, commanded that none should ever touch her
body, and on a sudden, seized with an outrageous madness, ran
all over the fields with her hair dishevelled, and holding cymbals
in her hands, whose noise mingled with her bowlings, spread ter-
ror wherever she passed. Her subjects seeing their queen in
such a deplorable condition, were going to stop her; but no sooner
had a presumptuous hand touched her, than Heaven gave a signal
in her behalf — it appeared all inflamed — a violent rain poured down
in torrents, accompanied by violent peals of thunder, when the
queen was suddenly snatched out of sight! After this event the
Atlantidas conferred divine honours upon their queen, whom they

24 INTRODUCTION.

THEOGONY OF THE ATLANTID^.

named the great mother of the Gods, and worshipped ihe two
great luminaries under the names of Helton and Selene.

_ In the mean time the Titan princes, especially

nus divided ^^' '^o'^"''" and -^^/as, after the death of their father
among the Titans f/ran us, made a division of his empire. The
eir progeny, vixstern parts of Afi ica fell to the last, who gave
his name to that celebrated mountain that has
since been denominated mount-Atlas: and this prince having en-
tirely devoted himself to astronomy and to the study of the sphere,
gave rise lo the fiction that this mountain bore up the Heavens.
Hesfierus was he of his sons who distinguished himself most by
his piety and other virtues; but one day as he had ascended mount-
Atlas to study the Heavens, he was snatched away in a cloud, and
to him they assigned a place in the Star that bears iiis name, and
paid him the same honours that are given to the other Gods. — To
Atlas were born seven daughters, named the Atlantida, \iz. Maia^
Electra^ Taygete, Asterofie, MerofiCf Halcyone, and Celceno. They
were all married either to heroes or Gods; and as several nations
valued themselves for having derived their original from them,
hence they came to be placed after their death in the Heavens,
where they form the constellation called Pleiades. The Atlantidse
were far from making the same encomiums on Saturn,, who
shared the empire with his brother Atlas: for he was cruel and
extremely avaricious. This prince married his sister Rhea, had
by her, Jz^/zf/^r, who was surnamed Olxjmfiius. It is true that they
acknowledged another Jufiiter, brother to Uranus^ and king of
Crete, but far less celebrated than his nephew, who after he had
made a conquest of the world, and conferred many blessings upon
mankind, became the greatest of all the Gods.
: Such, according to Diodorus Siculus, is the

Reflections on j'/jeof'-owz/ ofthe Atlantidae, which bears a consider-
the above Theog- ^ ^ , ■ r , r-, , i i •

ony able resemblance to that of the Greeks; though it

• is ni't certain whether they had it from these peo-

ple of Africa, or whether these learned it from the Greeks. I shall
make only a remark or two ipon this piece of history, because I shall
explain it in the history of the Gods of Greece. 1st, I must ob-
serve what is very surprising, that Diodorus makes no mention
of JVefitune, the knowledge and worship of whom, according to
Herodotus, came into Greece from Libya, where he was known

INTKODUCTION.

GKEEK COSMOGONY AND THKOGONY.

and worshipped Irom time immemorial. 3cl, That he says as little
about Tritonian Minerva.^ whom the ancients believed to have been
born upon the banks of Lake Triton in Africa, and who must
likewise have been known to the Ailantidse.

5thi The Cosmogony and Theogony of the Greeks.

:s=====. Greece never had but a very confused idea of

Ejtois of the the history of her own religion. Devoting herself
Greeks as to the . ,. . , , . ....

sources of their iiT'P'icitly to her ancient poets, in this so impor-

Theogony. tant an article, she looked upon them as her first

^^^^^^~^^^^^— divines; while these poets, as Strabo judiciously
remarks, whether from ignorance of antiquity, or from flattery to
the Greek princes, had, in complaisance to them, contrived all the
genealogies of their Gods so as to make it be believed that they
were descended from them. Thus whenever we meet with any
hero in their works, we need not trace far back till we find at the
head of his genealogy, a Hercules^ a Jufiiter^ or some other God.
That foolish humour of laying claim to great antiquity, betrays
itself in almost every people; but never were any so intoxicated
with it as the Greeks, Thus it is surprising to see them, who could
not but know that they had received several colonies from Egypt
and Phenicia, and by them their Gods and the ceremonies of their
religion, still pretending that these same Gods were originally
from Greece; for this is the amount of the whole system of their
poets. Two or three words of Herodotus, who says, that the
Gods of the Greeks came from Egypt, are preferable to all that
the poets have delivered upon this subject. Be that as it will, we
shall take a view of their Theogony^ in which Orpheus and He-
siOD shall be our vouchers; for it is plain, the other poets Avho
came after, have done no more than copied them. It is true, none
of Orpheus's works are now extant; but his testimony may be
gathered — 1st, from i\\Q Pythagorean philosophers^ who renewed
this doctrine; 2d, from a manuscript of Damascius^ cited by Cum-
berland, andl^y Cudw^orth; 3d, from an abstract of Orpheus's
Cosmogony, done by Timotheus, a vrriter on chronology. These
are the sources whence we shall borrow the system of this ancient
poet.

26 INTRODUCTION.

GHEEK COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

' ' Very different accounts are given of the Cos-

-'^Y^?°^'"°^""^ mogony and Theoeony of OuPHtus. As it was he
and Tneogony or "^ • _ "^ ■^

Orpheus. who first introduced among the Greeks, the reli-

I gious riles oi jiaganUm^ some have accused him

of having invented the names of the Gods, and forged their gene-
alogies; adding, that in this he has been imitated by Homer and
Hesiud. Damascius, in that same manuscript I just mentioned,
says, he represented on^; of the principles of the world, under the
figure of a dragon^ with one head of a bull^ and another of a /zon,
with the face of a god between them, and on his shoulders wings
of gold. However, notwithstanding this extravagant assertion, he
was looked upon to be a profound philosopher, and a man endued
with inspiration; and by the help of allegory, they found out, in
this same whimsical device, the sublimest of mysteries. Though
it appears froni what the ancients have quoted of this poet, that he
is to be considered as the apostle oi fioly theism; yet several learned
men are persuaded of his having acknowledged one God, supreme
and uncreated, tlie author of the universe; and they found their
opinion, not only upon that iiigh esteem he held in the sects of
philosophero who set most up for religion, namely, \\\e Pythago-
reans or Platonists; but also because it was piobably from his wiit-
ings that these two sects derived their ideas in philosophy and
divinity. This opinion, advantageous for Orpheus, has a better
foundation, if credit be given to the abstract of Timotheus; for
we learn from him, that this ancient poet, in describing the gene-
ration of the Gods, the creation of the world, and the formation
of man, had advanced nothing near so extravagant as what some
authors have laid to his charge. According to that abridgment,
Orpheus's Theogony amounts nearly to this: — In the beginning
God fornied the JEther, or the Gods, and on every side of the
JEther there was a Chaos^ and night covered all that was under the
Mther (meaning thereby that night was prior to the creation); that
the earth was invisible by reason of the obscurity that covered it;
but that the light darting through the JEther., enlightened the
whole world. This is that light he calls the eldest of all beings, to
which an oracle had given the names of counsel light, fountain of
life. TiMOTHEUs adds, that according to the doctrine of Orpheus,
it was by the power of this being, all the other immaterial beings,
as also the Smw, the Moon, Sec, were created. That mankind were

INTRODUCTION. 27

GREEK COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

formed from the earth by the same divinity, and received from
thence a reasonable soul. But what is more particularly observa-
ble as to the doctrine of this ancient poet, is, that he was the first
who taught the Greeks the doctrine oi Xhe primitive egg, whence
all other beings proceeded; an opinion very ancient, which without
doubt he had learned from the Egyptians, who, as well as several
other nations, represented the world under this emblem. The Phe-
nicians gave their Sojihasemim the form of an egg, and made use
of this representation in their orgies. The same symbol was em-
ployed by the Chaldeans, the Persians, the Indians, and even the
Chinese; and it is not improbable that this was the primary opinion
of all those who undertook to explain the formation of the world.
In fine, TiMOTHEus asserts, that Orpheus had published another
piece, wherein he taught, that all things had been produced by one
sole God, who had three names, and this God was himself all
things.

„ But whatever be in that, for it is a very easy

Remarks on the ...

above, matter to palm opinions upon an author of such

■ antiquity, and whose writings possibly were lost

long before Timotheus wrote in his behalf; one thing is certain
that the primitive fiuhers of the church preferred the Theology
of Orpheus to that of any other Pagan; whence it should seem, if
that ancient poet introduced fioly theism, he did it rather in com-
pliance with the gross conceptions of those he had a mind to
civilize, than that he was convinced of the thing. The Or/ihics,
that is, the mysteries established by Orpheus, at least if they be
taken according to the system of Proclus the Platonic pliiloso-
pher, form likewise another kind of Theogony. According to these
philosophers, Orpheus believed the government of the world had
not always belonged to the same God, but that six of them had
successively contended for it, and wrested it out of one another's
hands. Phanes had been invested with it in his turn; and this
Phones was no other than the Egyptian Bacchus, ih^X. is to say,
Osiris,
•'■ Now we come to the Theogony of Hesiod, of

The Theogony ^jT^^^^ ^i,g following is an abstract. In the beein-
of Hesiod — 1st, . ° p*

The line of C'Aflo*. ning was the Chaos; after this, Terra or the Earth;

■ I then Love, the fairest of the immortal Gods.

28 INTRODUCTION.

GREEK COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

Chaos engendered Erebus and JVox; from whose mixture was
born JEthtr^ and the Day.

■ Terra formed afterwards Calua or Heaven;

j^gj-Za and the Stars, the mansion of the immortal Gods.

■ She likewise formed the mountains; and by her

marriage with Calus, she brought forth Oceanus the Ocean; and
by him Ceeus, Creius, Hy/ierion, Japetus, Thea, Rhea, Themis^
Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys and Saturn. She engendered likewise
the Cyclops Brontes, Sterofies, and Arges, who forged the thun-
der that Jnfiiter was armed with. These Cyclofis resembled the
other Gods in every thing, except that they had but one eye in
the middle of their forehead. Ccelus and Terra had other children?
as tlie proud Titans, Cottus, Briareus, and Gyges who had an
hundred hands, and fifty heads. In the mean time Calus kept his
sons so close shiit up, that they were not allowed to see the day;
which was so very afflicting to their mother Terra, that having
forged a scythe, Saturn seized it, and laying in ambuscade, sur-
prised Ccelus as he was coming to lie with Terra, and cut off his
privities. Of the blood that came from the wound, were formed the
giants, furies and nymphs; and these same parts being thrown
into the sea, and mixing with the foam, gave birth to the beau-
tiful Venus who took up her residence at Cythera. They named
her >^/2//rorfi7f, because she was born of the sea foam; Cyfirinay
because it was near the isle of Cyprus she had her birth; and
Cythera^ because she came first' into the island of that name.
ioTy<? and Cupid were her inseparable companions, and this God-
dess became the darling of Gods and men. In the mean time,
Ccelus was continually at odds with the Titans his sons, and
threatening to punish them.

. . - Farther, Nox of herself alone, without the in-
^3d, The line of tervention of any other God, brought forth the
■■ hateful Destiny, and the black Parca; Mors^

Somnus, and Dreams of all sorts; then Momus, Mrumna or Anxi-
ety, accompanied with pain and discontent; the Hesperidcs, who
have the keeping of the golden apples, and of the trees that bear
them on the other side of the ocean; the three Parcje, or destinies^
as Ciotlio, Lachesis, and Airopos, the unrelenting Goddesses who
spin out our days, and are always ready to avenge the crimes of
Gods anU men; JVemceis^ the eternal bane of human kind; Fraudy

INTRODUCTION*. 29

GREEK COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

Old ^^e, and Discord who brought into the world painful travail,

oblivion, pestilence, and doleful sorrows, bloody battles, slaughters,

massacres, and all the scenes of human destruction, quarrels,

dissentions, false and treacherous speeches, contempt of laws,

knavery, and the oath that often brings the greatest ruin upon the

perjured.

======= PoNTUS, from his commerce with Terra, had

4th,The line of , . , , _,, ,, , , ,

pontus. ^"^ J^st Jvereus, ihauvias., jr/iorcys, the beauti-

■ ful Ceto, and Eurybia. From jVereus and Doris
the daughter of Oceanus^ came the J^ereids, to the number of fifty.
Thaumas wedded Elcctra daughter of Oceanus., who was niOther
of Irisj and of the Harpies Adlo, and Ocvpelc. Phorcys by Ceto

had Pefihredo and Enyo^ who got the name of Graiae, because
they had gray hairs from their birth; he had likewise by the same
marriage, the three Gorgons, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa from
whose blood, when Perseus had cut off her head, sprung the horse
Pegasus, and Chrysaor who having n.arried CaZ/zV/zoe, daughter of

Oceanus.) had by her, Geryon with his three heads. The same

Callirhoe brought forth a monster that neither resembled Gods

nor men, Echidna, the one half of whose body was that of a lovely

nymph, the other half a ser/?fn?, ugly and terrible. Though the

God kept her imprisoned in a den in Syria, yet by Tyfihon, she

conceived Oreus, Cerberus, the Hydraoi Lerna,the Chimara whom

Bellerofihon slew, the Sjihinx who occasioned so many disasters

to Thebes, the Lion of Nemea, put to death by Hercules. Phorcys

had also by Ceto, the Dragon that kept the garden of the Hesperides,

====== Tethys had by Oceanus, all the rivers, the N'lle^

5th, The line of -,, , . , ^ v i i •

rpgtjiyg Alfiheus, &c. and a great many nymphs who ni-

■ " habit the fountains and floods. Here the poet

enumerates several of these nymphs, and says, there were three

thousand of them, answering to the same number of rivers, all

the offspring of Oceanus and Tethys.

I ' ' ' ■ We reckon as the descendants of Thea by her

6th, The line of brother Hyperion, the Sun, the Moon, and the
shea.

^^sss^^=^^ ^''^^ "Aurora.

• ' Creius by his marriage with Eurybea, had

Crcll//^^^'"^"^ -^^(reus, Perses, and Paiias, ji^'treus, having

' matched with Aurora, begat the Winds, Lucifer

that beautiful morning star, and the other Stars that adorn the

30 INTRODUCTION.

GREEK COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

Heavens. From the conjunction o( Pallaa v/hh 5ri/a-, the daughter
of Oceanus and Tethys^ were born Zelun, the fair ^Uce, Force and
Violence^ the inseparable companions of Jufiiter; for when this
God wanted to be avenged of the Titana, and called all the Gods
to his assistance, Styx was the first that arrived at Olympus with
her sons; which pleased Jupiter so much, that he conferred high
honours upon this Goddess, loaded her with presents, ordered her
name to be used in the inviolable oath of the Gods, and kept her
children with him.

Phoebe had by C^wsthe charming Latona^ and

8 h. The hne of ^ , • c- ^- r. i j . •

n, ,' jlsteria. Some time aiterwards jjstena was mar-

• ried to Perses, and became the mother of the

renowned Hecate, whom Jupiter honoured above any other

Goddess, giving her an absolute power over earth, sea, and heaven,

insomuch that there is never a sacrifice or prayer ofTered to the

Gods without invoking her. She presides over war, over the

councils of kings, and bestows victory in battles.

, „, ,. Rhea having united with Saturn, had by him

9th, The hne of .,, . , .,^, ^^ ^ r r,.

jihea. illustrious children; as Vesta, Ceres, Juno, Fluto,

=r= Keptune, and Jupiter the father of Gods and
men: but Saturn, learning from an oracle delivered by Ccelus and
Terra, that one of his children should dethrone him, devoured
them as Rhea brought them forth; which threw her into extremi-
ty of affliction: so that when she was near her lime of being de-
livered oS. Jupiter, she consulted her parents to know in what
manner she might rescue h'un from the cruelty of his father, and
by their advice she secretly withdrew into Crete, where she was
delivered; and, instead of the child, presented Saturn with a stone
wriipped about with swaddling clothes, which he swallowed.
Jupiter being grown up, delivered Ccelus, whom Saturn had loaded
with chains. Calus, in return for this service, gave him thunder,
whereby he became the sovereign of Gods and men.
- . In the mean time, Japetus having wedded

jI^Sm J^^ ^"'^ °^ C/!/7wenc daughter of Oceanus, she brought into
- the world Atlas, Afenetius, the artful Prometheus,
and the foolish Epimetheus. Menetius, who was defiled with va-
rious crimes, Jupiter crushed with a thunder-bolt and sent him
down into Htll; Jtlas he employed in propping the Heavens with
his shoulders, in the country of the Hesperides,zX the extremities

INTRODUCTION. 31

GREEK COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

of the earth; and Prometheus he bound fast to a pillar with strong
chains, an eagle continually preying upon his liver by day, while
it is renewed by growth every ni^ht, as a punishment for putting
a cheat upon the God in a sacrifice he otfered him.

■ Hesiod, after this, gives an account of the
t'ter\nA. the Ti- ^^''^ oi Jup.it er against his father Saturn and the
tana at Mount 0- Titans.^ over whom the father of the Gods having

lympus. gained the victory, drove them from Olytn/ius;

and condemned to the bottom of Tartarus, in the
extremities of the earth, Cottus, Gijges, and Briareus. JVe/itune
took the last to be his son-in-law, giving him in marriage his
daughter Cymo/iolia. In the mean time, Terra, having matched
•with Tartarus, brought forth the last of her sons, Tyfihon, on
•whose shoulders grew an hundred ser-hents heads. Fire flashed
from their eyes, and dreadful voices issued from every mouth.
Heaven was in danger, and Jupiter himself was threatened with
the loss of his empire; but the God arrayed with thunder, over-
thre'W the presumptuous Giant, and plunged him headlong into
the bottom of Tartarus. This is that Typhon, to whom the winds
owe their original, except JVotus, Boreas, and Zephyrus, who are
the offspring of the Gods.

' Jupiter now established in the peaceful pcs-
n J '. ® "^^ session of Olympus, and in dominion over the
■■ ■ Gods, took to wife Metis, a Goddess who sur-

passed all, both Gods and men, in knowledge. But when she was
about to be delivered oi Minerva, Jupiter informed that she was
to have a son, for whom the sovereignty of the universe was or-
dained, swallowed the mother and the child, that he might learn
from her good and evil. After this he mariied Themis, who
brought forth' the three seasons or Horae, Eunomia, Dice, and
Irene; also the three Destinies, Clotho, Lachesis, and .-./itrofios.
He had likewise by Eurynone daughter of Oceanus, the three
Graces, Aglaia, Euphrosine, and Thalia; and by Ceres he had Pro-
serpina, whom Pluto carried off. Being enamoured oi Mnemosyne^
he made her mother to the nine Muses. Latona bore him Apollo
and Diana. In fine, his last wife was Juno, who made him father
to Hebe^ Mar§, and Lucina. She also brought forth Vulcan but at
the moment of his birth she fell out with her husband, who had
none upon his side but the sage Minervuy having produced her

INTRODUCTION.

GREEK COSMOGONY AND THEOGONT.

from his brain. Vulcan married^^/aja the youngest of the Graces.
Maia^ daughter of ^^r/as, became mother of iV/ercMrz/ by Jupiter;
who had likewise Bacchus by Semele the daughter of Cadmus;
and Hercules by Alcmena. Bacchus married jiriadne daughter of
Minos; and Hercules, after his deification, married the youthful
Hebe, daughter of Jupiter and Juno.

■ Neptune had Triton hy Amphitrite; 'And Venus

of JV*6/ ' '^'"^ '^y Mars, Terror and Fear who accompany

. this God in battles, and the fair Harmonia the
wife of Cadmus. The fair Perseis to the Sun, bore Circe, and
Metes who, by the advice of the Gods, wedded the charming Idyia
daughter of Oceanus, by Avhom he had Medea.

' After this account of the genealogies of the

^^^\ ^^^^^ ^^" Gods, Hesiod takes notice of the children born
scended oi mor-
tal men and God- by Goddesses to mortal men, who were adopted

^^^^^^- into the number of the Gods. Ceres became mo-

'~~"^~'''~"~"" ther of Plutus, the God of riches. Harmonia^
Venus's daughter, had by Cadmus, /«o, Semele, Agave, and Auto-
noe who married Arisieus and Polydorus. Chrysaor had by the
beautiful Callirhoe daughter of Oceanus, the gigantic Geryon,
who was worsted by Hercules. Aurora bore to Tithonus, Memnon
king of Egypt, and Hemathion; and to Cephalus, Phatton, (not the
same mentioned by Ovid) who was so dear to Venus. Jason hav-
ing married Medea the datighter of JEtes, by her had Medus.
Psamathe, one of th JVereids, marrying ^acus, became mother
to Phocus. Thetis, Peleus's spouse, bore to him Achilles; and
Anchises had by Venus the pious yEneas, in the woods of mount
Ida. Circe, daughter to the Sun, h. d ly Ulysses, ./fj'n^* and La-
tinus. Lastly, Caly/iso brought the same Ulysses two sons, A'au'
sithous and A^ausinous.
r—- -^' Hesiod, also has it, that the men of the golden

14th, The De- age became Deinons, ov good Genii; these accord-
mons and Genii. • ^ i- i j- r ^, ,

ing to him, are the guardians oi men, the earth

having fullen to their lot. Those of the silver age
were changed into Manes, or subterraneous Genii, happy though
mortal. Those of the brazen age went down to the infernal re-
gions. In fine those of the heroic age took possession of the for-
lunate islands, or the Elysian Jielda, situated at the extremities
of the world.

INTRODUCTION. 33

GREEK COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

======= Aristophanes, whom Plato in his Banquet,

The Theogony ^g ^^ have observed, introduces in delivering:
of Plato s dia- "

logue, The Ban- the fabie of the Androgines., has also wrought into

?"*'• his comedy of the birds, the substance of the

'''''''"'"'"'"~"^'~' Greek theogony and cosmogony, with more me-
thod and perspicuity than Hesiod. — In the beginning, as he
makes one of his actors speak, were the Chaosy the black Erebus,
and the vast Tartarus; but as yet there was neither earth., nor air,
nor heavens. Mght, with her sable wings, laid the first egg in the
wide womb of Erebus, whence sprung after some time, benefi-
cent Love, adorned with golden wings. From the union of Love
with Chaos, arose men and animals. Farther, the Gods had not a
being till all things were mingled together by Love; and from this
commixion were engendered the heavens and the earth, as well
as the race of the immortal Gods. — This theogony, inserted in a
comedy by way of derision, undoubtedly made a part of some an-
cient system, whose author is unknown.

■ ■ There is yet a fourth Greek theogony, which

The Theogony j^jgy j^g drawn from an author very ancient, if it

of PrONAPIDES ' . r 11 1 1 r.

the preceptor of ^6 true that it was lollowed by Pronapides the
Homer. preceptor of HoMER, as is alleged by Boccace,

■"""*■ from a fragment of Theodontius, which prob-
ably was extant in his time. According to this ancient theogony,
the most reasonable of all, there was but one sole God the eter-
nal, by whom all the other Gods were produced. It was not al-
lowed to give any name to this first being, and none was able to
declare his name. Anaxagoras thought he gave some definition
of him in calling him the mind. However, as the most simple
ideas have through time been altered, Lactantius, a scholiast
upon Statius, calls this sovereign being Daimogorgon, as the
author I have ciuoted does after Theodontius; a name which
imports the Genius of the earth, and which, by the description
they give of this God, as shall be seen in its place, answers but
indifferently to the idea the first philosophers formed of him—
for Daimogorgon as well as Achlys, in their system, had a being
before the world, even before Chaos itself. Their Acmon, their
Hyfisistus, have an existence before heaven, whom the Latins call
Ccclus, and the Greeks Ouranos. Nay more, according to them,
Terroj Tartarus, and Love were prior to Coclus, since Hesjod, as

34 INTRODUCTION.

GUEKK COSMOGONY AND THEOGONT.

■we see, makes him even the son of Terra. Acmon is taken for
the father of Ccelusy by Phohnutus, Hesychius, and Simmies
of Rhodes, his scholiast; and the same Acmon is the son of Manes
in PoLYHiSTOR, and in Stephanus. Ccelus was father first of the
Hecatoncheires, next of the Cyclo/is, then of the Titans^ and 5a-
turn, who, in his turn, became father to the other Gods. Next
came the earth-born Giants, and the last of them is Ty/ihon. Af-
ter the Gods and Giants, quite diffeient as we see from the Ti-
tans, who were the Gods of the race of Ccelus, came the demi-
Gods, from the conimerce of Gods with women, or of Goddesses
with men.

■ I should no doubt be censured, if, after what

The Theology j j^^^,^ g^jj jj^ j.|^jg section concerninsj Orpheus
copied as it were "

by Homer. and Hesiod, and some other Greek poets, I

;==== should take no notice of Homer, who, in both

his poems, has, with so much apparatus, employed the same
Gods with Orpheus and Hesiod; but it is observable, that this
great poet had no design, like the other two, to deliver a system
of these Gods, but only to apply the theology of his time as he
found it. Homer, as the Abbe Fraguier judiciously remarks, is
no more than a poet: if he assumes the theologue, as in effect he
does by bringing in his Gods, and using their agency on all occa-
sions, he is only so occasionally, and by no means as a systemat-
ic. And what is this but to be a poet? It is to act the painter, or
the imitator: the object is none of his production, he only copies
the likeness, and draws the picture. Whatever his own private
sentiments were about his Gods, as he speaks of them with a
view to please and to be intelligible, he would not recede from
the received standard of his time. Consequently Homer, born in
the heart of paganism, could not represent the Gods in another
manner than he had done. The theology he follows was not of
his invention, he had it given him; but as time, which destroys
errors, has raised the credit of his works, and as the masterly
poet has shewed his skill in making the best use he could of a
false religion, so he has been taken in later times for the father
and inventor of so many strange uncommon things, whereof in
truth he was but the copier and pi»inter. Cicero complains of
Homer, for bringing down his Gods to the level of men, instead
of exalting men to the perfection of Gods. This charge is unjust;

INTRODUCTION.

GREEK COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

the greater number of Homer's Gods had been men, wiio pro-
cured divine honours by their heroic exploits or useful inventions.
But those actions, however dazzling they appeared, were not al-
ways conformed to the rules of strict virtue: men had not always
that pure sense of morality to which Pythagoras and Plato af-
terwards reduced it. Mere strength, bodily accomplishments and
natural endowments, had long supplied the place oi true merit;
and these great men having been consecrated for possessing such
qualities, made these things be thought worthy of them after
their consecration. In a word, the men whom they deified, had a
share both of divine perfection and human weakness; thus it was
the poet's business to represent them in both these ii.^hts; and
hence we find such a mixture in his characters of grandeur with
meanness, strength with weakness, majesty with abjectness,
shining virtues with scandalous vices.
■ Last of all, Ovid, that faithful imitator of the

The Cosmogo- p^^^g ^,^0 ^gjjt before him, has given us a Cos-
ny of Ovid. * . . .

^^s^:^^^^^^ mogony at the beginning of his Metamorfihoses.

" Before the formation, says he, of the Sea^ the Earth, and the all-

" surrounding Heavens, universal nature had but one appearance.

" That confused mass, that insignificant useless heap, wherein the

" principles of all beings were promiscuously blended together, is

" what was called Chaos. As yet there was no Sun to enlighten

" the world, no Moon to perform her various changes; the Earth,

" self-balanced, was not yet suspended in the air; the Sea had no

" bounding shores; earth, air, and water were jumbled together;

" earth without solidity, luater not fluid, air without light; all was

" darkness and confusion. No body had its proper form, and each

" of them was an incumbrance to another; cold combating with

" heat, moisture with driness; the hard bodies encountered those

" that made no resistance, and the heavy and the light justled loge-

« ther. God, or Nature herself, parted the whole strife, by separating

" the heavens from the earth, the earth from the waters, and the

« cether from the air more gross. The Chaos being thus disen-

»< tangled, every body had its own proper place allotted to it; God

" established the laws of their future union. Fire, which is the

" lightest of the elements, possessed the highest region; the air

" occupied a place beneath the fire, corresponding to its lightness;

«« the earth, unwieldy as it was, became poised and balanced; and

36 INTROiDUCTION.

GUEEK COSMOGONY AND THEOGONT.

" the water sunk down to the lowest situation. After this first

" distribution, that God, whoever he was, formed the earth into a

" globe, and spread the seaa over its surface; he gave the tvinda

« permission to agitate the waters, without suffering the waves

" however to pass the bounds prescribed them. Then he formed

" lh.eyou7itains, the fiools, the lakes and rivers, to water the earth,

« confining them within their banks. At his command the filaina

« were extended, the trees clothed with leaves, the mountains

" lifted up their heads, and the valleys sunk downward." Ovid,

after he has described this orderly disposition, speaks of the five

zones, two frigid, two te7nfierate, and one scorched with heat,

which is the torrid zone. He also takes notice of the winds, and

marks out the places whence they blow. Then, having mentioned

the aerial regions, where hail, thunder, and lightning are formed,

he thus goes on: — " So soon as the various bodies of the universe

" were confined within their respective bounds, the constellations,

" till then shut up in the shapeless mass of CAaos, began to shine.

« And, in fine, that every region might be stored with animated

" beings, the stars, the images of the Gods, were set in the heavens;

" the fishes inhabited the waters; the four-footed beasts got the

" earth to dwell in; and the air became the mansion of the birds.

" There was yet wanting in the world a being of greater perfec-

" tion, one who might be endued with a more exalted soul, and

" so qualified to maintain dominion over the rest — Man was

" formed — whether the author of nature made him of that divine

« seed which is proper for him, or of that celestial principle,

" which the new-made Earth, but just disjoined from Heaven,

" still contained in its bosom. Prometheus having mixed some

" of that earth with water, moulded it into a Man after the like-

" ness of the Gods; and whereas all the other animals have their

" heads groveling downwards. Mart alone lifts his towards Heaven,

<' and looks up to the Stars. Thus a bit of earth, which was nothing

*' at first but a shapeless mass, became the figure of a being till

" then unknown in nature."

' Such are the different Cosmogonies and The-

lions upon the og°">cs of the Greeks, upon which I shall make

foregoing Cos- the following remarks.— As for the system of

mogonies and Oui'HEUs, we are not able to judge, from the
Thcogonics. . j o '

■ little we know of it, what part he allowed the

INTRODUCTION. 37

GREEK COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

Deity in the formation of the world; and if we have not sufficient
ground to believe his sentiments to have been the same with those
of the more enlightened poets and philosophers who came long
after him, such as the Piihagoreans and Platonics.^ as little have
we reason to confound his opinion with that of Sanchoniathon;
far less with the system of Diodorus Siculus, who makes men
at first to have been propagated much after what the Egyptians
falsely believed to be the manner of producing insects after the
overflowing of the Nile. — Each of these systems supposes, that
Love united the different principles the Chaos was made up of,
and that all beings sprung from this union: but what else is this
Lovcy but the natural union of homogeneous bodies? And though
the authors of these extravagant opinions have made a person of
it, we plainly see it is only a figurative one that never existed out
of their own imagination. The creation is a mystery beyond the
reach of human reason. The generality of the philosophers, who
could never comprehend how something could be made of nothing,
had adopted that axiom, ex nihilo nihily et .in nihilum nil /losse
reverti. Thus, seeing the admirable structure of the universe,
which they ascribed either to a being superior to nature, or most
frequently to nature herself, they always supposed a pre-existent
matter, but lying in confusion, and without form, till it was disen-
tangled; and not knowing on whoni to confer the glory of having
settled the order that now reigns in the world, they contrived
their Love, which is nothing but the union that results from the
mere motion of bodies. Ovid, who was not born till eight hun-
dred years after Hesiod, or thereabouts, ushers in, like him, his
grand work the Metamorfihoses, with a Chaos; but he imitates him
in nothing else: for as to the manner of unfolding this Chaos, he
differs entirely from the Greek poet. I dont find he makes Love
have any concern in the operation; but as an agent was wanting,
he is at a loss whom to pitch upon. He gives us the Chaos and
the Erebus, so much sung by the poets, the first notions of which
seem to be taken from Sanchoniathon, who had himself no
doubt borrowed it either from these words of Moses, terra autem
eral inanis et vacua, et tenebrx erant sufier faciem abyssi ; oy rather
from the traditions dispersed through the country where this
Phenician author had lived, and that were of greater antiquity
than the writings of the sacred Jewish legislator. I am far from

INTRODUCTION.

GREEK COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

being able to find, with some learned men, a great conformity be- .
tween this tradition of the creation of the world, and what San-
CHoNiATHON, Hesiod, and Ovid have written about it; but I am
not so far prepossessed, as not to believe lljey have formed the
idea of their Chaos upon it. As to the rest, nothing can be more
different. They are lively geniuses, who, from a single hint, gave
full scope to their imagination, which no sooner abandoned the
guidance of reason, than it lost itself in the unbounded region of
fictions.

A short comparison of the beginning of Gene-
sis with HESioD'scosTOo^onj/ will shew the reader
wherein they either correspond or differ. I say
nothing of the creation of the world from nothijig,
as it is what neither Hesiod nor any profane author knew any
thing of.

Hesiod & Mo-
ses' Cosmogony
compared.

Moses begins thus —
The Earth was void, and dark-
ness was spread over, the abyss.

And the Sfiirit moved upon
the waters; et sfiiritus ferebatur
super aquas.

Moses tells us next, that God
said,^a/ Lux-,et Lux facta est —
let there be Light, and there
was Light: words which a pro-
fane author, Longinus, thinks so
sublime.

The Jewish legislator goes on
to tell us, that God made the
JFirma)7ient — et fecit Deum Fir-
mentum; and that he divided the
waters that were abo-ve the fir-
mament, from those tliat were
wider it. To which he subjoins.

and Hesiod thus —
The Chaos was before all
things; then the spacious Earth\
next the Mansion of immortal
beings; and then Tartarus far
remote from thence.

Hesiod next speaks of Love,
the most beauteous and amiable
of the immortals, who expels
and drives away cares from the
hearts of Gods and men.

Hesiod likewise says, that
from the JSi'ight sprung the
Mther and the Day.

The author of the Greek tlie-
ogony corresponds with the
learned Jew here likewise pret-
ty much: the Earth says he, at
first brought forth Heaven with
the Stars, and by her union with
Heaven she had the Ocean,-^

INTRODUCTION. 39

GREKK COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

Bpt in what follows, the profane
author loses himself; and let
one be ever so prepossessed in
his favour, yet I think it would
be impossible to trace any far-
ther resemblance between him
and Moses.

that God commanded the waters
that were under the Heaven to
be gathered together into one
place; and that he called this
collection of waters the Sea, and
that part of the earth which by
this means became dry was call-
ed the dry-Land.

■ Ovid displays the formation of the world in

A trait of resem- ^i j i.- j • ■^- i

bl between ''""^her manner, and his description bears no si-

thatof Ovid and militude to that of Hesiod, as has been observed.

^°^^^- But there is one thing worth remarking, namely,

""""""""""""'""' that he considers iV/an as the last production of
the author of nature; in which he comes nearer to Moses than
any other Pagan author. Another great stroke of resemblance is
where he says,man ivas formed of clay mixed with water; but who
that Prometheus was, whom he makes the author of so fine a work,
is not easy to conjecture. The poet who thus far ascribes the dis-
position of the universe either to God or nature, when he comes
to the formation of man, makes a Prometheus appear, of vvhom he
had not said one woid before. Hesiod indeed mentions Provie-
theusthvii he does not honour him, as Ovid has done, with the form-
ing of man. Besides, the breath of life, with which the poets say
Minerva animated Prometheus's work, is plainly copied from the
words of Moses, wlio says, that God having formed man of the
clay, breathed into him the breath of life; insfiiravit infaciem ejus
sfiiraculum vita. .

— Upon all we have now seen, we might well

onies^and Theop-- exclaim — what a monstrous and heterogeneous
onies are butdis- composition of history and fables, where we see

tortions ot an- gvery moment, pliysics of a gross nature blended
cient tradition. -^ , . .

' with distorted traditions! natural generations

mixed with metaphorical ones ! names plainly allegorical along

■with those that are real ! the whole collected by Hesiod, in a kind

of poem, that has neither art, invention, nor any charm, unless it

be a few splendid epithets with which he has set it off. I judged

it necessary however to give an account of this in particular as

being the foundation of the Greek fables, which I explain in the

second volume of this work. — In a word, the Greeks considered

40 INTRODUCTION.

GREEK COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

all those as Gods, who had lived from the beginning of the world,
till the supposed division of the universe between Jufiiter^ Xefi-
tune., and Pluto; that is, if we would reconcile fables with history,
till the time of P cleg and JVimrod. They had but a very confused
knowledge of the first times, which has happened to them in com-
mon with all the nations that preserved ancient annals, such as
the Egyptians, the Chinese, &c. It is easy to see, that they have
only disguised the true ancient tradition which Moses alone has
preserved, and that they have thereby fallen into the most mon-
strous errors, of which the following is a very authentic example,
in addition to what we have already said.
'■ ■ We find in the text of the Se/ituagint, ihat the

Additional ex- Giants came from Angels embracing the dauglr
amples in proof _ , . ... , , r n •

of the same ^^^*' of men: this opmion has also been lollowed

==== by the most ancient interpreters of scripture; as
also by Philo, Josephus, S. Justin, Athenagoras, Clemens
Alexandrinus, See. It has been adopted by several learned Rab-
bins-, and is still generally received by all the Mahometans. Was not
this a sufficient handle for those who were acquainted with this tra-
dition, to say the Gods had been enamoured of mortal women, and
had children by them? The Avgtls in scripture are styled sons of
God, so that it is probable, the Gods of Greece were formed upon
the idea of the Angelsy good and bad: thence proceeded the Egre-
gores of the Hebrews, the Annedots of the Chaldeans, in short, the
Gennes^ the Genii, the Mons, the Archontes, the Titans., the Giants^
and all the Gods or demi-Gods of Paganism. — The Book of Enoch
too no doubt, contributed a great deal to the adopting of the opinion
xh^X Angels had been familiar with the daughters of men. This
work, withal, is very ancient, since it was known to the apostles,
by whom it is cited; but it is certainly spurious. Dodwel and father
Pezron were in the wrong to call its antiquity in question, merely
because the Greeks were strangers to it, as if they had been ac-
quainted with all the ancient books before they had them trans-
lated in their own language. It will not be amiss that we give some
short account of this book, and then lay open the origin of the fable
it contains, which Philastrius ranks in the number of the He-
resies. When men multiplied, says the author, they had daughters
of an exquisite beauty, so amiable that the Egregores, or the guar-
dian Angels, conceived a violent passion for them. They came

INTRODUCTION. 41

GREEK COhMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

down from Heaven, aliglT.edupon mount He'-mon, joined in league
together, and bound themselves by oath to stand to one another.
After this, having embraced these virgins, they conceived the
Giants; and from the A''e/i/ielim, sons of the Giants.^ came the Eliud.
The author names twenty of these leading Angels^ who taught men
several arts, especially the pernicious art of magici and the use of
arms. To which he adds, that God seeing what horrid enormities
the Giants and their sons committed, sent down to the earth Mi-
chad, Gabriel, Rajihael and Uriel. Michael, the archangel, seized
Semixas the head of these rebel Angels, bound him with his asso-
ciates, and condemned them to the lowest parts of the earth, where
they are reserved to the day of their judgment. After this he sowed
dissentions among their children, who extirpated one another.

' ' This Fable of the Book of Enoch, is founded

Reflections , , , . .. , . ^^ ^

upon the latter merely upon a /i/irase zn scn/i^z^re not well under-

example. stood, and of course upon an ambiguity: the first

' interpreters, finding in 7(3(5,1 he epithet son of God

ascribed to the Angels, applied it likewise to the Angels in the pas-
sage in Genesis, where it is only the sons of Seth are meant,
who arc designated so7zs o/" Gorf in contradistinction to the sons
of Cain. They being smitten with the beauty of the daugh-
ters of Cain's race, niatched with them, and had sons by them,
who became terrible more for the enormity of their crimes than
of their stature; for the word JVefihelim, applied to them in Genesis^
signifies equally Giants, or /lersons dissolute and immoral in thtir
lives. But passing that, I shall only borrow a reflection from M.
FouRMONT, who may be consulted on this article, wherein betakes
the names of twenty apostate Angels from the fictitious Book of
Enoch, and explains them with erudition. The reflection is, that
the author of this book introduces five sorts of personages, viz.
1st, Men, of the seed of Adam; 2d, The Egregores, or Angels of
Heaven; 3d, The Giants, sprung from the Egregores; 4th, The
J\''e/iheli7n, sons of the Giants; 5th, The -£//«(/, sons of the Nephe-
lim: in which this author seems to correspond with Hesiod, in
whose theogoiiy we find these ^Jx)? classes, with little variation.

^ From what we have seen in this section, it an-

Companson or '^

the Greeks and pears not only that the Greeks had irvero/ TV/eo^--

Romans, in sys- onies, but that they had digested into a system

lematising these \

fables. the Theology they derived from the eastern nati-

ons. With the Romans, the case was quite other-

42 INTRODUCTION.

INDIAN COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

wise: content with the religion of the Greeks, and other nations
whom they conquered, they borrowed their Divinities, worship,
ceremonies, sacrifices, priests, festivals; in a word, the whole
aftfiaratus which idolatry drew after it, without once having a
thought of reducing so fantastical a religion into a system; and the
most idolatrous city in the world was the least concerned about
the history of its Gods. CicERoindeed,in his tieatise of the nature
of the Gods, gives some of their genealogies; but since, for the
most part, his notions are borrovv'ed from the writings of the Greeks,
and he only reasons upon the subject like an Academic, this piece
of his is not to be looked upon as a System of Theology.

6th; The Theogony and Cosmogony of the Lidians.

■i ' I am now to give the Theogony of those Indian

of the Brahmin i^i'iests we call Brahmins.^ or Brachmans;* who
priests. make the first and most respectable class among

"""■"■""""""" the Indians, and are solely set apart for the wor-
ship of their Gods, and the ceremonies of religion. The Brachmans
got this name from Brahma, who, according to the Indian doctrine,
is tlie first of the three beings whom God created, and by whose
means he afterwards formed the world — this name moreover sig-
nifying, in the Indian language, he who penetrates into all things.
This Brahma, say the Brachmans, composed and left to the Indi-
ans the four books which they call Beth or Bed^ in which all the
sciences and all the ceremonies of religion are comprised; and
that is the reason why the Indians represent this God with four
heads. Father Hircher, whohas given a print of the God Brahma^
has enlarged a good deal upon the mythology of the Indians, in
relation to him. The Gods of the Brachmans, says the learned Je-
suit, are Brahma, Vesne or Vichnou, and Butzen; and they are the

* These are the same with those whom the Greeks cidledGt/mnosophists.
Pythagoras studied their doctrine and manners. They were the Babylonian
a,nd Assyrian philosophers, who went naked in the woods, abstaining from
all the pl?asures of human life.

INTRODUCTION. 43

INDIAN COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

chiefs of all the other Gods, whose number amounts to thirty -three

millions.

====== According to the same author, these Indian

of the°Brahmin P^'iests say, that all mankind are spnmg fiom
priests. Brahma, and that this God has produced as many

~~^^^^-^^— --^ worlds as there are parts in his body. Theirs;
of these worlds, which is above the heavens, sprung from his
brain; the aecond, from his cijes; the- third, from his mouth; the
fourth, from the left ear; the Jifth, from the palate and from the
tongue; the sixth, from the heart; the seventh, from the belly; the
eighth, from the genitals; the ninth, from the Ic/t thigh; the tenth,
from the knees; the eleventh, from the heel; the twelfth, from the
toes of the right foot; the thirteenth, from the sole of the left foot;
and lastly, the fourteenth, from the air which encompassed him at
the time of these productions. If the Brachmans be asked the rea-
sons of a theology so ridiculous, they answer, that the different
qualities of men gave rise to it. The ivise and learned are meant
by the world rprung from Brahma's brain; the gluttons came from
his belly; and so of the rest. Hence these priests are so curious in
observing physiognomy and personal qualities, pretending thereby
to divine, to what world every one belongs. — When once men are
delivered up to superstition, there is no opinion so wild but they
may fall into it. These same Bi-achmans have im^^ined seven seas:
one oi water; one o^milk; one oi curds; a fourth of butter; a fifth
of salt; a sixth of sugar; and in fine, a seventh oiwine: and each of
these seas has its particular paradises, some of them for the wiser
and more refined, and the rest for the sensual and volufituous; with
this difference, that the first of these paradises, which unites us
intimately with the Divinity, has no need of any other sort of rfe-
lights; whereas the rest are stored with all imaginary pleasures.
As for the other wild notions of the Indians, about the formation
of the world, which they believe to be a work spun by a spider,
and which shall be destroyed when the work returns into the bow-
els of that insect, I here wave them, because they are too n. icu-
lous for the curiosity of the most zealous antiquarians. It appears
from what I have been saying above, that the Indians follow the
ancient doctrine of the Egyptians, which the author just quoted
calls Divine Transformation.

INTRODUCTION.

CHINESE THEOGONY.

7fA, The Theogony of the Chinese.

■ • The Chinese began to improve letters from
In the first ages, ,• • r . • , , r

the Chinese wor- ^"^ earliest times of their monarchy, at least from

ship was not cor- the reigns of Yao and Chum, who lived upwards
try " oftwo thousand two hundredyearsbefore Christ.

' It is a common opinion, and universally received
by those who have gone farthest in investigating the origin of a
people of such unquestionable antiquity, that the sons of Noah
were dispersed over the eastern parts of Asia, and that there were
some of them who penetrated into China, a few years after the
deluge, and there laid the first foundations of the oldest monarchy
we know in the world. It is a thing not to be denied, that these
first founders, instructed from a tradition not very remote from
its source, in the greatness and power of the first being, taught
their posterity to honour this sovereign Lord of the universe, and
to live agreeably to the principles of that law of nature he had en-
graved on their hearts. Their classical books, some of them writ-
ten even in the lime of the two emperors just named, leave no
room to doubt of it. There are five of these books among them,
they call the Kink, for which they have an extreme veneration.
Though these books contain only the fundamental laws of the
state, and dont directly meddle with religion, their author's inten-
tion having been to secure the peace and tranquillity of the empire;
yet they are very proper to inform us what was the religion of that
ancient people, and we are told in every page, that in order to
compass that peace and tranquillity, two things were necessary to
be observed, the duties of religion, and the rules of a good govern'
ment. It appears through the whole, that the first object of their
worship was one being, the supreme Lord and sovereign principle
of all things, whom they honoured under the name of Changti,
that is, supreme emperor, or Tien, which in their language is of
the same import. Tien, say the interpreters of these books, is, the
spirit who presides over Heaven. It is true, the same word often
signifies among the Chinese, the material Heavens, and no iv since
atheism has been for some ages introduced among the literati, it
is restricted to this sense; but in their ancient books they under-
stood by it, the Lord of Heaven, the sovereign of the world. In
them there is mention, upon all occasions, of the providence of

INTRODL'CTION 4i

CHINESE THEOGONY.

Tien, of the chastisements he inflicts upon the bad eniperors, and
of the rewards he dispenses to the good. They likewise represent
him as one, \yho is flexible to vows and prayers, appeased by sa-
crifices, and who diverts calamities that threaten the empire, with
a thousand other things which can agree to none but an intelligent
being. To convince us of this, we need but read the extracts which
father HALOEhas taken from these ancient books, in the r.econd
volume of his large history of China, and what he farther says in
the beginning of the third. The fear of being tedious, and of wan-
dering from my purpose, may justify me in not copying him; but
one cannot forbear concluding with him, after the long detail he
makes, that it appears from the doctrine of the standard Chinese
books, that from the foundation of the empire by Fo-hi, through a
long tract of ages thereafter, the supreme being, known among
them under the name of Changti, or of Tien, was the object of
public worship, and that they looked upon him to be the soul^ as
it were, and the firimum mobile of their national government; that
this first of beings was feared, honoured, and revered; and that not
only the emperors who at all times have been the leaders and
priests of their religion, but the grandees of the empire, and the
vulgar, knew they had aLoHD and judge above, who knows how
to reward those who obey him, and to punish offenders. — It is
certain, that if in these ancient books proofs are to be found of the
knowledge the Chinese had of the supreme being, and of the re-
ligious worship they have paid him for a long series of ages, it is
no less certain that no footsteps are there to be seen of an idola-
trous worship. But this will appear less surprising when we con-
sider, 1st, That idolatry spread itself through the world but slowly,
and step by step; and that having probably taken its rise in Assyria,
as EusEBius alleges, where there was not even the appearance of
an idol till long after Belus, or according toothers in Phenicia,or
in Egypt, it could not have made its way so soon into China, a na-
tion that has ever been sequestered from others, and separated by
the great Indies from the centre of idolatry. 2d, That there was
always in China a supreme court, to take care of the affairs of reli-
gion, which with the utmost exactness kept a watchful eye over
their principal object. Thus it was no easy matter to introduce
new laws and new ceremonies among a people so much attached
to their ancient traditions. Besides, as the Chinese have always
been accustomed to write their history with great care, and have

46 INTRODUCTION.

CHINESE THEOGONY.

hislorians contemporary with all the facts they relate, they would

never have failed to take notice of what innovations had happened

in religion, as they have done at great length, when the idol Fo

and his worship were introduced.

====== Such was the established religion of China, in

nor had they ei- ^Y\q first ages of their empire: I call it establish-

ther Cosmogony . . '■ ,

or Tbeoo-ony ed rehgion, because the vulgar continued to ac-

" ■ ' knowledge subaltern spirits who watched over
the towns and fields; and to them they used to pay a superstitious
worship, to pray to them for health, success in their affairs, and
plentiful harvests; as also did they intermix with this worship sev-
eral superstitious usages, that had something of the nature of
magic, to which that people has always been strongly addicted:
but this was not the religion of the state, and the usages of that
kind have always been condemned by the Court ofrites^ though
frequently some of the Mandarins.^ of whom it was composed,
were themselves tinctured with them. — Thus, to speak accurate-
ly, the Chinese had not what we call a Theogomj or Cosmogony .
Their philosophers solely attached to morality, politics, and his-
tory, have always neglected natural fihilosofihy; and we do not
find in their writings, those I mean of the ancients, the systems
BO well known in Europe, in Egypt, and in some parts of Asia,
about the formation of the world, and the bodies it is made up of,
or about the Gods, of whom we have so many genealogies. I
said their ancient philosophers, because the modern ones, who at-
tempted to give some kind of Cosmogony, have fallen into an
atlitinm resembling that of Strato and Spinoza. — We can as
little find that they spoke clearly about the soul, of which they
dont appear to have had a distinct idea. However, we can be in
no doubt of their believing the souVs subsistence after death, not
only from the stories of apparitions, which are to be found in the
books of Confucius himself, the wisest and most knowing of
their philosophers, bui from the opinion of the MetemfisychosiSf
which they have received many ages ago.

■' However, as man deprived of revelation, and

but in process of j^j-. ^^ jj^^ ^-.^^ ^^ j^j^ ^^^,^ ^^^ j^^^ ^^j

time, Lao-Kiun , '

introduced the been a prey to error, I am far from believing

Idolatrous sect of the Chinese have been exempted from it; and

Taose; invented

a Cosmog^on}'; ^ve have a favourable enough opinion of them,

III. I — — . when we think they were perhaps somewhat

INTRODUCTION. 47

CHINESE THEOGONY.

later than other nations in giving themselves up to practise idola-
try. Let us consider them, if you will, as the philosophers the
jifiostle speaks of; who, by the light of nature- rose to the know-
ledge of the supreme being: are not these as guilty as those, of
having known him, without having glorified him? At length the
sect of the Taose appeared in China, near six hundred years be-
fore Christ. Lao-Kiun is the philosopher by whom it was found-
ed. The birth of this man, if we may believe, his disciples, was
one of the most extraordinary: carried four and twenty years in
the loins of his mother, he opened himself a passage through the

left side, and occasioned the death of her who conceived him

The morals of this philosopher came very near to those of Epi-
curus, and he wrapped up his physics in impenetrable obscurity:
I take no more of them than what regards the Cosmogony. " Fao^
said he, or reason, produced One., One produced Tivo, 7'wo pro-
duced Three., and Three produced all things." The whole happi-
ness of man, according to this philosopher, consisted in that state
of mind which the Greeks called apathy, a state wherein man
divested of fear, and all tormenting passions, must be free from
disquietude of every kind; and as it is exceeding hard for one to
get rid of the uneasy apprehensions of death and futurity, they
who made profession of this sect, were addicted to magic and
chemistry, to find out the secret whereby to become immortal;
presuming they should be able to find it at length by the assist-
ance of the spirits they invoked. There were some of them who
flattered themselves with that discovery, by means of certain po-
tions they made up; and more than one emperor has tried the
fruitless experiment.
- One, who is acquainted with the temper of

sefyS^ai^K """^^i"^' ^^" ^^^'^^ j"^g^^ ^^^^ « «^^t which
to a sort of The- raised such flattering hopes, would very soon

°^°"y' make proselytes; accordingly it was embraced

"~~"~~~~"~~" by several of the Mandarins, who gave their
minds entirely to the magic art, which it prescribed. But it made
yet greater advances among the women, naturally curious and
extremely fond of life. In fine, the author of the sect was himself
ranked among the Gods; a stateiy temple was erected to him; and
the emperor Hium Tsong caused the statue of this new God to be
brought into his palace. His disciples got the name of Heavenly

48 INTRODUCTION.

CHINESE THEOGONT.

teachers, and his descendants are siill honoured with the dignity
of Mandarins, These are they who have introduced that vast
multitude of Spirits, subordinate to the supreme being, whom
they honour in temples, and in particular chapels, and to whom
they sacrifice three sorts of victims, a hog., a^sh, and a piece of a
fowl. They have even carried superstition the length of deifying
several of their emperors; whereby we see that the Chinese, a
people otherwise very ingenious, after their first ages of pure
■worship, are nothing short, in point of sufierstition and idolatry, of
the other nations whom they have always taken a pride to con-
temn. This sect has filled China with divines and impostors, who
impose upon the vulgar, and sometimes upon the great, by delu-
sive arts and magic rites, wherewith they are too apt to be infa-
tuated.

■ About the sixty-fifth year after Christ, the em-

Another sect pgj,Qi. Mingti, through a vain curiosity, was the
emperor Ming- means of introducing a sect still more dangerous.
Ti, called Ho- "YYS.^ emperor, struck with some words which
s^^^s^sssjss; Confucius had often repeated, namely, that it
was in the west they would find the holy One, sent ambassadors into
the Indies in quest of him, and to learn the law he taught. These
envoys believed they had at last found him out, among the wor-
shippers of an zrfo/ named Fo ov Fee. They transmitted into China
the idol, together with the fables of which the Indian books were
full, their sufierstitions, metempsychosis, and in fine, atheism. They
reported that in this part of India which the Chinese call Chun-
tien-cho, Moye the king's wife dreamed that she was swallowing
an Elephant; and that when the time came that she was to be deli-
vered of the child, he tore her right side, and no sooner had he
come from the womb of his mother, than he stood up and made
six steps, and pointing with one hand to Heaven, and the other
to the earth, he pronounced these words: there is none but I in
heaven or upon earth that deserves to be honoured: they gave him the
name of Che-Kia or Cha-Ka. At the age of nineteen years he for-
sook his wives, his sons, and all his terrestrial cares, retired into
a solitary life, and put himself under the conduct of four philoso-
phers. At thirty years he had a plenteous infusion of the divinity,
and became Fo, or Pagode, as the Indians express themselves, and
thought of nothing but propagating his doctrine every where. His

INTRODUCTION. 49

CHINKSE THEOGONY.

lying miracles were surprising to all, and produced him the vene-
ration of the whole country, and a prodigious number of disciples,
who were his instruments in infecting the east with his impious
tenets. The Chinese call these disciples Ho-Chang; the Tartars
call them Lamas; the Siamese call them Jalafioins; andthe Ja-
panese denominate them Bonzes; for this sect is diffused among
all the people now mentioned. In the mean time, Fo arrived at the
age of seventy-nine years, convened some of his disciples, and
after having explained to them his doctrine, died; and they invent-
ed many fables about his death. As the Metemfisyc/iosis was the
principal article of this doctrine, they gave it out that their master
was born eight thousand times, and that he had appeared in the
world sometimes under the figure of an ape^ sometimes under that
of a dragon^ then of an elefihant^ Sec. All this probably was to estab-
lish the worship of this pretended divinity, and that under the
symbol of these different animals, which actually became objects
of the Indian worship. The Chinese having received this idol^
erected to him a world of temples; and his sect, though always
outlawed by the Court of rites, has made immense progress in the
country, under the direction of the Ho-Chang^ the most despica-
ble of mortals, the most superstitious, and the most ignorant. In
fine, to abridge what is to be found at very great length, in the
beginning of father Du Halde's third volume of the history of
China, the doctrine of Fo is divided into external and internal,
The7?rs^, full as it is of gross superstitions, is taught by the
greater number of the Ho-Chang, The secoiid is reserved for the
more learned, and it consists in saying, that -vacuity is the prin-
ciple and the end of all things; that from nothing our first parents
derived their original, and to nothing they returned after their
death; that va'cuity is what constitutes our being and substance,
and that it is from this nothing, and from the mixture of the ele-
ments^ that all productions ca7ne, and thither they afterwards re-
turn; in fine, that all beings only differ from one another by their
Jigures and qualities: and in this manner they pretend, their mas-
ter, when dying, explained his doctrine, that is to say, his atheism,
to his favorite disciples.— I shall say but little of the Theogonies
of the other nations, except what occurs incidentally under the
following head, for they seem hardly digested into a system.
For example, the Brachmans in the East-Indies have a tradition

50 INTRODUCTION.

COSMOGONY OF THE .ABORIGINAL AMERICANS.

of their God Vichnou, inetamorphosed into a tortoise; and by way
of explication they tell us, that by the fall of a mountain the world
began to stagger, and to sink down gradually towards the abyaSy
where it had perished, if their beneficent God had not trans-
formed himself into a tortoise to bear it up.— The Chinese have
adopted this tradition, and they apply it, as father Kircher re-
marks, to ihtiv Jlying dragon, who, they say, sprung from a tor-
toise, and became the prop of the universe that rests upon him.
The Troglodytes had probably the same fable among them, since
they had a high veneration for the tortoise, and had an abhorrence
of their neighbours the Helinophagi, so called, because they fed
upon the flesh of the tortoise.

Sth, The Cosmogony a7id other fables of the Aboriginal Americans.

======= We are not to imagine that the savages of

Laffiteau s America, a wandering and unsettled race, ever
account of the .. , , , r r- i- •

Cosmogony of the applied themselvss to torm a system ot religion.

American Indi- There are however, traditions to be found among
.. some of them, which may form a kind of Theog-

ony. In this manner, according to father Laffiteau,! the Iro-
quois, one of the most considerable of these savage nations, account
for the origin oflhc world. In the beginning, say they, there were
six Men, (the people of Peru and of Brasil agree upon the same
number;) as yet there being no earth, these men were carried in
the air at the mercy of the vjinds. Having no Women, they fore-
saw that their species would soon come to an end; but having

* If some of our readers should be startled at seeing here introduced
so modern a subject as this title indicates, on a single reflection they will
readily admit, that in all probability it is not the more modern because it
is the less ancient, but the rather, because it owed its longevity to the
providential grace of a seclusion from a more ambitious, turbulent, ran-
corous, and intolerant Hemisphere: And if this be not a suflBcient apology,
we will vouch for the subject being sufficientlj' interesting, from its strik-
ing analogy with what has gone before, to justify its introduction.

•j- Mceurs cles Sauva^es. As most of the examples I here make use of are
taken from that work, it may suffice to have cited it once for all.

INTRODUCTION. 51

COSMOGONY OF THE ABORIGINAL AMERICANS.

got notice there was one in heaven^ they i esolved that one of them,
named the Wolf, should transport himself thither. The enter-
prize was difficult and dangerous; but the birds wafted him
thither upon their wings. Being arrived there, he waited till this
Woman came out, as her way was, to draw water. So soon as she
appeared, he offered her some present, and seduced her. The
Lord of Heaven, knowing what had happened, banished the
Woman, and a Tortoise received her upon its back. This Woman
at first had tnvo so72s, of whom the one, who was armed with oifen-
sive weapons, slew his brother who had none. She was afterwards
delivered of several children; from whom the rest of mankind are
sprung. — The otter and the fishes drawing up mud from the bot-
tom of the water, formed upon the body of the Tortoise just men-,
tioned, a small island, which grew greater and greater by degrees;
and such, according to these savages, is the original of our
Eart/t.

===== This tradition, if it be exactly reported, is un-
thr^abov^e ^C°s" ^o^^^e^'ly ^ remnant of the prinsitive history of
mogony. the creation, of Eve banished from the terrestrial

— — paradise, and of the murder of Abel by Cain.
For in short, it is possible that these savages, descended from the
same stock with the rest of mankind, may have preserved a tra-
dition, which they might well alter, though they could not totally
erase out of their memory. — Although we had no knowledge of
the traditions of the other American nations, it is highly probable
that their notions were mostly the same with those of the Iro-
quois, since the people of Peru and Brazil in South America,
agree with them as to the number of men there were at the be-
ginning, as we have said.
====== But it is not only by their Cosmogomj that the

Iheir Fables Americans have equalled the Greeks and other
and Idols. . „ . .

. nations of the old contment, m the whimsical

system they invented concerning their original; they resemble
them too pretty often in their Fables, Thus, for instance, their
way of accounting for the production o? rain, was, that a young
girl was in the clouds, sporting with her little brother, and he
broke hcv pitc/ter full of water. Is there not here a great simili-
tude to those fotintaiu'ninyiphs, and river-Gods, who poured forth

52 INTRODUCTION.

COSMOGONY OF THE ABORIGINAL AMERICANS.

•water from their urns? They too were persuaded like the Greeks
that there were Gods who inhabited the Rivers and other collec-
tions of water, since at one of their festivals, the people of Mexi-
co had a solemn practice of drowning a young boy, to be company
for these Gods. According to the traditions of Peru, the Ynca,
MancO'Guina-Cafiacy Son of the Su7i^ found a way, by his elo-
quence, to make the inhabitants of the country quit their retire-
ments in the woods, where they lived after the manner of the
beasts, and brought them to live under reasonable laws. Just so
did Orpheus with the Greeks, and he too passed for the Son of
the San. It is remarkable that both these people, so remote the
one from the other, should have agreed to fancy that such as had
extraordinary accomplishments were the offspring of the Sun.
If the Greeks, and, in imitation of them, the ancient Gauls, had
a religious veneration for Trees., and believed them to be the
abode of Dryads and Havmdryads — the Abenaquis too, as father
Laffiteau reports, had a famous Tree., whereof they told seve-
ral wonders, and it was always loaded with offerings; nor did they
doubt of its having something divine. We find they had likewise
avcion^ Xhcm., consecrated groves., much like all the rest of the
idolatrous world. — Their Idols, often monstrous, as in the old
continent, either charged with symbols like those we call Pantheas^
or sometimes even resembling those of Pria/ius, prove, that the
people 1 am speaking of, were nothing short of the old inhabi-
tants of the old world, in the extravagance of their idolatry and
fables. Their veneration for Idols, which are nothing but either
mis-shapen stones, or sometimes of a conical figure, is a farther
proof, that their idolatry resembled that of the ancients, who, be-
fore the art of sculpture, paid honours to such like stones, or sim-
ple pillars, as we shall see elsewhere.
- ■' As for what relates to sorceries, co7?jiirations,

Their supersti- cUvitieis, and enchantments, the people of the
tions, religious ' '^

rites and persua- i^ew World resemble but too much those of the

si""^; Old. Their belief was every where the same

"""■"""""""" about the benevolent and malignant Genii, of

whom the universe was imagined to be full; over whom presided,

as Lord and sovereign of the other Gods, the Manitou of the Al-

gonquine nations, the C/iewiew of the Caribbees, the Okki or the

Ares-Koui of the Hurons. As for the /istix'als and viystcrics, we

INTRODUCTION. 53

COSMOGONY OF THE ABORIGINAL AMERICANS,

shall find by reading the author I just now quoted, that those of
the Americans had a great affinity with the orgies of the Greeks.
As to the immortality of the soul, and its state after death, the sa-
vages thought much the same way with the Greeks, even at the
time when they were most civilized. Did not the Americans be-
lieve that the souls of the wicked were condemned to dwell in
certain Lukes, miry and loathsome, as the Greeks sent them to
wander along the banks of Styx and Acheron ? Was it not like-
wise their opinion that the souls of those who !iad led a regular
life, had places of delightful abode, which bore a considerable
resemblance to the Elysicni Jitlds? They have, like the old Ro-
mans, their women hired to mourn at funerals, and like them
celebrated feasts for the dead; and what is still more surprising,
they distinguish, like the Greeks, between the soul and its shade
ox phantom, and believe that while tho soul is in a hapfiy mansion,
the shade is hovering about the filace of interment.
• The sacred fire, preserved by almost every

particularly in re- j^^tion of the world, as I shall shew in the article
gard to fire.

••• of Vesta, was also the object of the superstitious

worship of the Americans. The nations most adjoining to Asia,
have tcmjiles, where the sacred fire is carefully preserved; and
these temples are mostly built in a round form, as were those of
Vesta. In Louisiana, the Natchez had one of them, where a guard
watched continually for the preservation of the fire, which is never
suffered to go out. Every body knows how famous those temples
were under the reign of the Yncas; but what appeared very sur-
prising, was those companies o^-virgijis set apart for the service
of the Sun, whose laws were even more severe than those of the
Roman vestals; and the punishments, when they broke their vows,
precisely the same, since they were buried alive. They who had
debauched them were punished with far more rigour than at
Rome, since the punishment extended not only to the whole fa-
mily, but even to the place where they were born; its whole inha-
bitants were utterly extirpated, nor did they leave so much as one
stone in it upon another. The sacred fire was equally revered in
Mexico, and committed to the care of vestals., who led a very re-
gular life; and if the savages of this vast continent had not all of
them temples to maintain it there, the halls of their counsel,
made much after the fashion of the Frytanea of the Greeks,

54 INTIi01>UCTI0N.

COSMOGONY OF THE ABORIGINAL AMKRICANS.

were employed for this use, chiefly among the Iroquois and the

Hur)ns.

- Would it have been consistent with the cor-

Their human ruption of the human heart, not to place upon the
sacrifices; — a pa- , , • , i i • i •

j-jjllgl. altars, every thing that soothed vice and irregu-

' larity of manners? 'I'lie custom of sacrificing

upon high pidces, a custom so ancient, and whereof the prophets
so often accuse the idolatrous nations, was likewise known among
the Americans. To be convinced of this, we need only read the
relations of Rochefort, in the place where he speaks of the
mountain Olaimi.) upon which the Apalachites, a people of Florida,
offer sacrifices yearly to the Sun, in a caver?i which serves for a
temfile to this divinity. — The sacrifices of these savages were at
first very simple, as they were among the Jirimilive Idolaters of the
old world; and this simplicity still remains among some of their
nations, where they content themselves with offering up to the
Gods, the fruits of the earth, or with making libations to them of
water; others hang upon trees or pillars, the skins of the beasts
they liave slain in hunting; there are of them who throw some
leaves of tobacco into the fire, in honour of the Stcn, and into the
rivers and streams to appease the Gem'i that preside over them.
Tliose of the Caribbee islands offer up the cassave and the ouicou,
that is, their bread and their drink, to the Gods who are the guar-
dians of these plants, as the Greeks and the other nations offered
their sacrifices to Bacchna and Ceres, \Vhal though the names of
those Gods are not the same in either continent, the ideas are
still the same, and it is precisely the same kind of idolatry! But
with these savages, as with other nations, these ancient manners
not having always subsisted in that primitive simplicity which is
the characteristic of the first ages of the world; they, like the Pa-
gans of the old continent, carried superstition to the length of
sacrificing hnman victims. The sacrifices of this sort were in use
especially in Mexico; and though they were less known among the
other savages, yet there were of them however^ who, at certain
seasonsof the year, offered their children to the Gods, who watched
over the fruits of the earth. The relation of Le Moyne informs
us, that in Florida the aborigines looked upon the Sun as the father
of their chiefs; off'ered up to that luminary, their great Divinity,
their children in sacrifice; as the Canaanites sacrificed them to

INTRODUCTION. 55

COSMOGONY OF THE ABORIGINAL AMERICANS.

their Moloch., who was likewise the Sun^ only with this difference
in the ceremony, that the latter burned them in a furnace which
was contrived within their /c/o/, as I shall shew in speaking of that
God; whereas the former knocked them on the head in the midst
of an assembly of the people, and in the presence of the Chief who
himself represented the God who was believed to be his father.—
The sacrifices in the new World, as in the Old, were accompani-
ed vi'iihinstruments, with dances^ and with all the marks of public
rejoicing; — but I will not carry this parrallel any farther, which
would oblige me to copy the work which I have cited, where the
learned author descends to a very particular detail. — What I have
said is sufficient to shew, that the mind of man, left merely to its
own light, is carried out to nothing but error and delusion; and that
in spite of the refinement of the best regulated nations, their sen-
timents have been pretty much the same all the world over, where
they wanted the knowledge of the true religion.

' In fine, there are few countries, where much

continued in re- jj^^ g^^^^ f^^j^^ j^^^,^ j^^^ 1^^^,^ f^^^^^,. ^^ ^^^

gardto other sa- . •'

vage nations. ideas oi things no wheie found in nature; an ex-

=^:==== traordinary race of ?nen, who called themselves
the sons of Heaven, or of the stars, or of the rivers, &c.; every
where cheats, who wanted to carry on imposture, by the story of a
singular and extraordinary birth. The Egyptians and the Pheni-
cians, from whom the Greek and Romans derived their fables, are
not the only people who have invented them: there are some that
bear a resemblance to theirs, to be found among nations that can-
not be suspected of having borrowed from them. Kaisouven boast-
ed, that he was born of a river-God, the more easily to delude the
people of Corea by the dazzling idea of this imaginary birth. The
Coreans must needs have attributed Divinity to the rivers and
mountains, like the Greeks and Romans, since upon their becom-
ing tributary to China, the emperor confirmed their king in the
privilege he enjoyed of sacrificing alone to the rivers and moun-
tains. The origin of one nation of the eastern Tartars, named
Kao-Kiuli, of the race of the i'oM- Fa, bears a considerable resem-
blance, in respect to the fables witli which it is intei mixed, to (nir
fictions in the western world; and the Roman history, notwithstand-
ing its being so grave and serious, presents us with notions near
akin to what I am going to relate of the former. — The prince of

56 rXTRODUCTION.

COSMOGONY OF THE AEOKIGINAL AMEKICANS.

the Kao-Kiuli had in his dominions a davighttr of the God ^oAaw^-
Ho^ whom he kept shut up in a prison. One day as she was struck
with the reflections of the Sun-beams^ she conceived; and she
brought forth an egg. which they broke, and in it they found a
male child. When he was grown up. they gave him the name of
Tchu-Mong^ which imports c good [nlot. ']"he king of the country,
who took a liking to him, one day carried him out to hunt, and
seeing his address, became jealous of him; which Tchu-Mong ^ev-
ceiving, fled from him; and being ready to fall into the hands of
those who pursued him, at the passage of a river, he addressed
his prayer to the Sun his father;^then ihtjishes of the river raising
up to the surface of the water, supplied him with a bridge^ on
which he crossed over. — What is there in this more extravagant,
than in the fables oi Perseus* s birth, and that oi Leda's children?
If we know nations that sacrificed their childi-en to their false Dei-
ties; and if the Greeks offered up Ifihigcnia to procure a favoura-
ble wind; are we not told by Du Halde of most the ancienthistories
wherein we may read of islanders in the eastern sea, who during
the seventh Moon of every year, used solemnly to droivn a young
■virgin? If the Romans fabled that their Janus had two, nay four
faces, as is to be seen upon ancient monuments, have not the Indi-
ans their idol Menipus, who has many heads of different shapes?
Does it not pass current among the same Indians, that there is a
country where men have two visages; that withal, they are ex-
tremely wild and untractable; that they speak no language, and suf-
fer themselves to die for hunger when they are taken: they add,
that they had taken one of them clad in linen, who rose out of the
sea; a story not much unlike to that of Oannes, which we have
mentioned above. If the Egyptians, and after them Pythagoras,
taught the Metemfisychosis; is not the same doctrine spread over
all the Indies, and is it not the foundation of the idolatry of Foe?
Which is so far true, that the great Lama., who calls himself a
living Foe^ gives it out, that he has been born several times, and
that he shall be born again; insomuch that when he dies, they
make diligent search for the child whose figure he reassumes,
that they may substitute him in his room: and though it is easy to
see, that thi« is a child he has artfully provided to succeed him,
the mystery whereof is well known to the other Lamas his confi-
dants, yet this farce has been acted for several ages, without being

INTRODUCTION. 57

PAGAN THEOLOGY.

suspecteci by the peopie. We slu',11 remark, when we are upon the
origin of the fublcs, that numbers of them had been introduced by
means of a gross kind of philosophy; perhaps there never was one
in Greece of so extraordinary a nature as was that of the Chinese
philosophers, with relation to iht tbbing and Jiowing of the Sea. A
princess, said they,had an hundred children; fifty of them dwelt along
the Sea-shore, and the other fifty in the mountains: hence came two
great nations, who are often at war together; when the inhabitants
of the shores get the better of those in the mountains, and put them
to flight, the sea Jloiva; when they are repulsed by them, and fly
from the mountains towards the shores, the Sea ebbs. This manner
of philosophizing, says M. Fontenelle, is not unlike the meta-
morjihoses of Ovid: so true it is, that the sarnie ignorance has pro-
duced the same effects in every nation — Such are the Cosmogonies
and Theogonies of the most ancient nations. Others whose religion
and fables are considered in the sequel of this work, though sunk
in an abyss of the grossest idolatry, yet had not a genius philoso-
phical enfiugh to form any conceptions about ihe formation of the
world, or the origin of the Gods, whom they contented themselves
to worship according to the tradition of their country.

9th, Of the Pagati Theology in general, and that of the Poets in
particular.

■ Having represented the diff"erent Theogojiies

Its absurdity of the ancients, peculiar to every nation; it may

and the argii- ' . •' ■'

ments of the Fa- be of use to shew more particularly the general

thers compel the Theology of the Pagan world, especially that of

Philosophers to , ,,, " ht i • •

explain it by al- ^"^ tjicek poets. — My design is not to lay open

leg-ory. all its abominations; for this would now be use-

~~~~~~~~°"~~" less: the primitive fathers of the church, and the
defenders of the christian religion, as they found themselves ne-
cessarily engaged in that task, in order to sap the foundations of
Paganism, which was the predominant religion of their times,
they acquitted themselves in it with so much learning and strength
of argument, that they at last obliged the most knowing philoso-
phers, to explaiti by allegories, oftentimes ingenious, a system,

INTRODUCTION,

PAGAN THEOLOGY.

the bare repi esentaiion whereof was shocking. To this dilemma
they were reduced by Justin; Arnobius; Athenagoras; Lac-
TANTius; Clemens Alexandrinus; Minutius Felix; but
above all by Tertullian in his j^poiogetics, one of the most
excellent performances antiquity has left us; and by S. Augus-
tine in his book of the City of God., a work which, abstracted from
the other views of the author, may be considered as a treasure of
profane literature. To speak accurately, the philosophers did not
wait for the time of tliose great men I have been naming, to per-
ceive the absurdity of their Theology. Allegory had been intro-
duced to help out the monstrous fables that were intermixed
with religion, upwards of 400 years before the christian sera.
Plato had brought it in fashion, and his disciples improved it:
nay Pythagoras, long before Plato's days, had represented the
established religion of his time in such a light, as made its absur-
dity partly disappear. This way of allegorizing was never more
in vogue than in the time of Jamblicus and Porphyry, who
lived both of them in the first ages of Christianity. But every
body knows the little success which attended the allegorical
manner of expUiining the fables and mysteries of religion; and,
that notwithstanding the subtilties of the philosophers who used
it, that same religion, and the fables upon which it was founded,
still continued, even to the entire destruction of itself, in one
quarter of the world at least.
■ Varro distinguished Theology into three parts,

The Pagan T/i<r- ist, the fabulous, 2d, the natural, and 3d, ihefio-
oloo-y is distin- ,..,„,,_ , rr.i i r , .

e'uished by Varro li'ical. I he first was the Theology ot the /loers;

into three parts, the second that of the philosophers; and the third

^^^^""^^^^^^ that of the ministers of religion. Varro endea-
voured to promote this distinction, whereof the high-priest Q.
ScxvoLA is thought to have been the founder, the same who was
slain by one of those assassins employed by Marius. — Ist, The
Theology of the /2oe^5 was rejected by the wiser Pagans. Varro,
as we have it from S. Augustine, acknowledged that it imputed
to their Gods, actions, which one would have blushed to ascribe to
the vilest men. 2d, Varro did not condemn the second kind of
Theology, that of the philosophers; but he was of opinion, it ought
to be confined to the schools, because it reasoned with freedom
upon the nature of the Gods, which, according to him, had a dan-

INTRODUCTION. 59

PAGAN THEOLOGY.

gerous tendency, 3d, The third kind of Theology made up the
system of religion^ and was the foundation of the worship paid to
the Gods; and if it was not the most esteemed by the abler judges,
it was at least the most venerable, and the only one that was fol-
lowed in practice.
======= Though the Theology of the poets was explo-

Poets— its xfuv^f- ^^^^ ^^ ^^ ha\e seen; yet it has found partisans

sans make a pa- in these last ages. Several modern authors,

rallel of it with charmed with the fine strokes that occur in the
the sacred writ.

' works of the poets, concerning the most sublime

truths, have spoken of them in such high strains of encomium,
that it would seem they consider them as the most excellent di-
vines. Father Thomassin has been at great pains to collect what-
ever they have said upon divinity and upon morality, and he
thinks he has discovered in them several passages conformable to
holy ivritj and to the light of nature. The author of the book en-
titled, Homer Hebraizing^ has not contented himself with consi-
dering the poets as great divines; he has undertaken to prove,
that Homer, in both his poems, had in several places copied
Moses and the prophets. A celebrated English author, Cud-
worth, after he has cried up the Theology of the poets, that of
Orpheus especially, recites the finest of their sentiments upon
the divinity. In fine, a modern author, whose v^orks have occa-
sioned his being more than once disgraced, has gone farther than
any I have yet named, since in his remarks upon V^irgil, he
makes no scruple of preferring that poet to most of our divines;
alleging, that, with respect to providence and the Deity, his sen-
timents are most orthodox. He has even had the presumption to
compare the conduct of Jupiter in relation to tEneas, with that
of God in respect to David. According to these authors, piety,
and the worship of the true God, are taught in a sublime manner,
in the works of these poets; and nearly all the most essential
truths are there to be found, though veiled under sensible images.
Thus, to single out some of these truths, among others, they find,
the unity of a God; his omnipotence; his infinite goodness; his
immensity; his eternity. The council of the Gods, which Homer
speaks of, where Jupiter always presides, is, according to them,
an imitation of those mysterious councils, which God, in the

60 INTRODUCTION.

PAGAN THEOLOGY.

Book of Job, holds with the Angels. When they tell us, that all
good and evil came from the hand of God, by the ministration of
subaltern Deities; this is a copy of what the scripture says of the
jingels^ who are his ministers. When they give Jjifiiter such a
peculiar pre-eminence, it is evident, that under this name they
understood the true God, and not Jujiiter the son of Saturn and
king of Crete. In fine, when Aratus says, all is full of God,
the earih^ the sea, ihejields, and maji himself; or, as S. Paul ex-
presses himself, in the precise words of this poet, smnus genus
Dei, in i/iso vhn?fius, movemur, et sut7ius, is it not evident, that he
must needs be speaking of the immensity of God? — To these
speculative tniths, the authors I mention join others which are
practical; and think the poets have settled, not only what duties
we owe to God, but those of men to one another, as well as the
other purely moral precepts. Their infernal regions, and their
Elysianjields, they say, are proper restraints from lust, and incen-
tives to the practice oi -virtue. Those Judges, who examine with
so much severity the actions of men; and ihe Furies, who chastise
the guilty with such rigour; could all this have been contrived
without a deep insight into morality? In fine, to represent the
sentiment of these authors in a few words, it suffices to say, that
upon all occasions they rack their invention to draw parallels be-
tw een the truths they find in the poets, and those in the sacred
IV ri lings.

• I own, for my part, the reading of the poets

Why we should j^^g -^^ ^^ jj^ another idea of their Theolo-

entertain a very . . r t-w-

different senti- gV- It is true, they sometimes speak of the Di-

ment of then- yinity jn a sublime manner, but they are by no

Theolog'y. ^ .

■ means consistent with themselves upon this sub-

ject; and after they have given their Gods the magnificent epi-
thets oi immortal, omnipotent, &€., they represent them with im-
perfections, which, as has been said, belong only to the worst and
most corrupt of men. Insomuch that I am astonished, how learn-
ed men can so highly extol their Theology,^ while Plato, for
this same Theology, which to him appeared so monstrous, banish-
ed them from his Commonioealth. Cicero had not such favourable
thouglus of the poets, as the authors I have spoken of; on the
contrary, he censures them for setting before us the debaucheries
of the Gods, their quarrels, their battles, their dissentions, their

INTRODUCTION, 61

I'AGAN THEOLOGY.

adulteries, Sec. — It is true, that they style these fabulous Gods of
theirs immortal, but at the same time there is not one of them of
whose genealogy, they have not informed us; they name their
fathers, their mothers, the place of their birth, and all the circum-
stances of their life from their infancy; sometimes they speak of
their se/mlckres too. In Homer, the greatest of their poets, we
see the Gods squabbling together, falling foul of one another,
wounded by mortals, and pouring forth shrieks and lamentations
at seeing their blood shed: they are every now and then giving
gross abusive language; instance Jupiter and Juno represented
eternally at odds, a thing so scandalous between husband and wife.
Euripides, willingto excuse Phedra, who had conceived a vio-
lent passion for the son of her husband, throws the blame upon
Venus, who vi'anted to revenge, upon Hi/ipolytus, the contempt
he had thrown upon her worship and votaries. Another tradition
which Racine has followed, no less dishonourable for Venus,
intimated that she was thus taking her revenge upon the Sun,
P/j^erfra's great-God-father, for having discovered her intrigue with
the God Mars; and it is from the. same motive of resentment,
that this Goddess had inspired Pasifihae, Phcedra's mother, with
that infamous passion which made so much noise. Tn the same
play, Euripides brings in Diana to comfort Hifipolytus in his
dying moments, the Goddess telling him that she could not in-
deed reverse the order of destiny, but to give him revenge, she
would kill one of Ve7ius's gallants with her own hand. Thesd
then are their powerful Gods, subjected to the/ates, and not be-
ing able to accomplish all the mischief they would, perpetrate
that which they can. What thoughts can one have of a Theology,
whose end being to exalt man to the Gods, has depressed these
same Gods, I say, not only to the condition of men, but even to
their greatest frailties? Can any thing be conceived more fantas-
tical? What shall we say of that mixture oi fiower and weakness,
of eternity and death, of happiness and misery, of tranquillity and
disturbance? What shall we think of the railleries which Aris-
tophanes throws out against the Gods in some of his comedies,
and of the blasphemies which ^Eschylus pours forth against them
in his Prometheus?

62 INTRODUCTION.

PAGAN THEOLOGY.

■ But, it IB suid, the poets speak often of the /jro-

conhrmed by de- -y^of^^jcf of the Ciods, and of the care they exercise
ductions irom . •'

Homer's account over n^en. What pfovidence! let us smgle ou£

of the Trojan ivar. one of the subjects of fable where it is most con-
"~~~~~~~~" spicuous, a subject described by the greatest of
poets with peculiar care; I mean the Trojan ivar. This war de-
stroyed multitudes of people, and ruined a flourishing kingdom;
it was attended with miseries without number, with seditions*
broils, and all the other companions of sweeping desolation. All
the Gods took part in it; Heaven was divided into two factions:
there was no plot, no stratagem, no sly artifice, but every one of
the Gods put in practice. To be sure they can't be accused of being
idle during the course of this war; thtiv providence was sufficient-
ly employed. Homer describes all their motions in the fullest
manner; and the other poets have followed his example. Here
then is a proper point of view, whence we may clearly discern
their theological sentiments about firovidence: let us see then what
■was the motive of this war; let us trace it back to its source. Was
the chastising an impious nation, the thing in question? was it to
avenge oppressed innocence, or the indignities offered to the
Gods themselves? or to give the world a signal example of justice
and equity? Nothing like it: but to glut the resentment of a God-
dess, for a slight put upon her beauty, was all the affair; the story
is this— At the marri^ige of Thetis and Pcleus, an a/i/ile is thrown
Ijy Discord, for the fairest of the company. The Gods not daring
to make then^selves umpires in the difference that arises upon
this occasion between three Goddesses, send them to Phrygia, to
get the decision of a young shephekd who was renowned for
equity. The shepherd, whom each of the three Goddesses would
fain corrupt by magnificent promises, decides in favour of Venus;
she being actually the greatest beauty, nothing could be said
against the equity of his sentence: yet here was enough to exas-
perate the other two. Juno, the tvise Juno^ivom that moment re-
solves upon the destruction, not of Paris only, though even that
had been a very unjust piece of revenge, but of the whole empire
of Priam his father, and of all Phrygia. The rape of Helen, who
had been betrothed to Paris, became the signal pretence of a
bloody war: all Gieece rises in arms, while Juno leaves no stone
unturned to engage all the powers above in her interest; she

INTRODUCTION. 63

PAGAN THEOLOGY.

makes use of a thousand stratagems to bring over the other Gods,
and gives them the most insinuating promises; she runs over all
the cities of Greece to animate them to the %var, Troy is besieged^
and for a course of ten years the queen of the Gods plays the game
of a woman quite frantic^ and tries to lay her husband asleep, that
he may not see the overthrow of the Trojans, or impede her de-
praved revenge. Alinerva has the contrivance of the tvooden horse;
Juno appears in arms^ and herself thiows open the gates of the
city, rouses the Greeks, too cool for her vengeance; while JVcfiiune^
her ally, beats down the walls with his trident. The Greeks enter
the town, a thousand disorders are there committed, which it is
unnecessary to describe: but we must not forget, that Virgil is at
great pains to let us see, that they are to be attributed to the wrath
and revenge of the Gods. Troy is reduced to ashes; Paris, Puiam
and the rest of his family are massacred or made slaves.

' Thus it was full time for the wrath oi Juno to
StaHn^T^r^ ^« appeased. But with the poets, a Goddess,
■nusy in Italy; whose beauty has been injured, is not so easily

' atoned. They represent her pursuing the remains
of the fugitive Trojans with implacable rage; she will needs cut
them off from that retreat in Italy, which was promised them by
the Fates. Here she meanly supplicates JEolus^ a subaltern Di-
vinity, to move him to raise a storm, contrary to the orders of
JSTeptune^ who had changed sides, and \^\\o%q providence was then
interested for the Trojans. Sometimes she endeavours to detain
.^NEAS in Africa by the charms of pleasure: there she makes
Irin appear under the figure of Beroe.^ to oblige the Trojan ma-
trons to burn their fleet. No sooner has jEneas arrived in Italy,
than she despatches thei^wnVs to Turnus and Amata, to excite
them to expel him their country, and kindles a bloody war; and
not being able absolutely to hinder the execution of the orders of
destiny, she strives at least to retard it by all sorts of means. As
the decree of destiny intimated, that Lavinia was to be mairied
to the Trojan hero, she will needs cause him to pay her dowry
in the blood of an infinite number of his own countrymen. — Every
body knows what this Goddess did to support Iurnus's party,
and all the game Virgil makes her play in the course of this
war. In fine, finding Destiny too powerful for her, as the last
effort of her vengeance, she tries if Jupiter will grant that the

64 INTRODUCTION.

PAGAN THEOLOGY.

Latins shall not assume ihe name of tlie Trojans their conquer-
ors, that Troy and its memory nii^ht the moie easily he abolished.
■■■ Is it possible to conceive a more complete re-

also from mim- venere! Was ever resentment carried farther! or
berless other ex- \

araples, in which was it ever raised on a more ft ivolous foundation!
thePoets abound, c^y up after this the theology of the fioets^ as to
^~~~~"~~~~ the providence of their Gods, and the care which
they take of the most notable events. These, according to them,
are the motives whence they act. Alas! what could they teach
more impious! What a fine pattern of resentweni and revenge were
they able to give, especially to ladies who idolize their beauty! Were
I at liberty to run over the other examples, of which the poets are
full, we should see that the spring of all the actions of the Gods is
either revenge, or love, or some other passion: that the true motive
o^ Jupiter's travels up and down the earth, was nothing else but
to debauch some mistress; that while the reparation of the disas-
ters done by the deluge, or by the conflagration of Fhaton, were
made the pretext, Culisto and Europa were the real occasions of
his pilgrimages: that if Diana sends a boar to lay waste the Caly-
donian plains, it was owing to (^neus's having neglected her in a
sacrifice: in fine, that Venus for the same reason, afflicted the
daughters of Tyndarus with madness. If J^fiobe's fourteen children
are killed before her eyes by invisible darts, it is for her having
presumed to compare herself to Latona. If Cadmus sees his
house filled with disorder and blood-shed, Jcteon his grandson
devoured by his dogs, Ptntheus another grandson torn in pieces
by the Bacchanals, and hiitiseif transformed into a serpent, the
reason of all this cruelty is, that he had a sister and a daughter^
whose beauty had charmed Jupiter, and excited the jealousy of
Juno. Ino for having nursed Bacchus, is condemned to madness,
together with her husband Jihamas; the latter dashes his own son
against a rock, and the former, the unfortunate queen of Thebes,
throws herself headlong into the sea with Mclicertes. l{ jindro-
meda sees herself exposed to the fury of a sea-monster, it is be-
cause her mother had compared her beauty to that of the JSTereids.
Venus, to be avenged of Diomede, who had wounded her at the
siege of Troy, made his wife become a prostitute. However
much recourse may be had to allegory, yet what can we think,
when we see Cybele.^xhe great mother of the Gods, running after

I!>rTROUtJCTION. 65

PAGAN THEOLOGY.

tlie youthful Atys^ making bo many advances to captivate his
heart, and punishing him so severely for his indifference? — Such,
according to the poets, aie the ntciives of revenge in the Gods,
and for the most part, it is not upon the guilty they inflict such
dreadful punishments; or if that is sometimes the case, it is not
in order to reclaim thein, but to render them more criminal. —
Clio upbraids Venus for being so excessively fond of Adonis; in-
stead of improving so wholesome an admonition, the Goddess
returns it by wounding her with io-ue for a yoiing man, by whom
she had Hyacinth. Cyanipt^us forgets Bacchus in a saciifice, he
makes him drunk, in consequence of which, he commits incest.
The daughters of Pralus prefer their ovin beauty to that oiJuno;
the Goddess turns them frantic, and makes them become prosti-
tutes. One of the daughters of Danaus having gone to draw wa-
ter for a sacrifice, was attacked by a Saiyr^ who ofTered violence
to her; she invoked JVeptune to her assistance; who having res-
cued her froni the attacks of the Satyr, made the same assault
upon her, which she had just now declined: miserable relief I

■ This now is what the poets teach, in relation

Reflections up- j^ providence of their Gods: a providence

on the Theology ' _ _ •

of the poets. anxious and disturbed; disgraced by resentments

===^^=i dreadful for exceeding slight provocations; and
chastisements not for the punishment of vice or the support of
virtue, which would be good Divinity, but inflicted intentionally
to avenge some personal aflfront, not upon the guilty., but upon
the innocent — or if the guilty too are involved therein, it is only to
make them Rtore wicked and abandoned. You won't see those
Gods forward to chastise impiety and iiijustice; they vent their
spite upon none but those who forget them in sacrifice, or who
compare the hair or complexion to that of some Goddess: like
those petty Lords, who have very little concern that their vassals
be profligate and licentious, so they do but forbear hunting upon
their grounds, and give presents from time to time to their ivives!
Was any thing more apt to excite ambition and the most unjust
designs, than the history of Saturn, who had used his father Ura-
nus so ill, and that o{ Jupiter who had treated his father in like
manner, and dethroned him? — This would be the proper place to
explain the theology of the poets, with respect to the morals of their
Gods; but I should be afraid of disgusting the reader, by reciting

65 INTRODUCTION.

PAGAN THEOLOGY.

their infamous characters: Yet I cannot forbear expressing my
admiration at that Jupiier of theirs! No chastity on earth was proof
against his assauhs! no beastly figure he had not assumed to en-
snare sometimes virtuous princesses, sometimes innocent shep-
herdesses!! All the other Gods were stained with the like crimes.
Arnobius, Lactantius, and the other fathers, bring a thousand
stories of those Gods, from the writings of the poets, which are
shocking to modesty. There is no crime, disoider, or lewdness^
that they were not guilty of; and the poets, those pretended sublime
divines, are they who have been at most pains to perpetuate their
memory. Homer, and after him Ovid, tell us how the Sun sur-
prized Mars and Venus in adultery; the last subjoins very loose
reflections. In a word, all the metamorphoses he speaks of, are ra-
ther monuments of the imperfection of the Gods, and of their de^
baucheries, than of their providence and power. These considera-
tions should be a seasonable warning to all reasonable persons to
be upon their guard against that value, which so many people have
for the divinity of the poets; and shew those who want to defend
them, that, excepting a few vague expressions that have dropped
from them about {heimfnoi^al essence of their Gods, their vigilance^
that universal spirit which animates all things (a strain to which
they by no means keep up in the rest of their works), their whole
system consists in representing to us Gods inconstant and selfin-
(crested in their providence, turbulent and outrageous in their re*
aentmenty debauched and infamous in their moral character,— After
all these preliminaries, which I thought fitting to treat at some
length, it is time to enter upon the proper subjects of this

VOLUME.

l^fEW SYSTEM

MYTHOLOGY.

CHAPTER I.

HISTORY OF IDOLATRY.

SECTION FIRST.
ITS OBIGIM
AT the beginning of the world, men knew

hTldren^of ^"^ served only one God, the Creator, Omni-

The^
the chi

Godpiire — thatof poTENT, Eternal. Adam, formed by the im-
the children of . r /^

Men idolatrous. mediate agency of the hands of God, preserved

•^=^^--— — - the purest idea of the Deity in his own fanniiy;
and there need be no doubt of its having continued uncorrupted
in the branch of Seth until the deluge. God had given our first
parents too many manifestations of himself, for them to be un-
acquainted with him. He thought it not enough to draw his
image on the works of nature, and to enlighten their minds by
the illuminations of his grace; he conversed with them, and in-
structed them either immediately, or by the mediation of his
Angels: thus they had the clearest and soundest idea of the su-
fireme being., which it is possible for man to have; and consequently
the worship they paid to God, and which he himself had pre-
scribed, was pure and undefiled.— .We cannot entertain the same
. " I

TO HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. I.

ITS OKIGIN. SECT. I.

belief in relation to Cain's family: his posterity not only fell into
idolatry, but into all the other crimes which brought on the del-
uge; whereof to be sure, idolatry, which the scripture frequently
terms either fornication or adultery^ was one of the principal
causes. The sons of men., that is, according to interpreters, the
offspring of Cain, were abandoned to the most infamous passions.
With these carnal men, the fiure idea of an all-perfect being be-
gan insensibly to wear out, and to be corrupted by that of sense:
thus they very soon affixed it to sensible objects; and that which
appeared most beneficial and perfect to their eyes, was worship-
ped as their greatest God.

■■ The learned Maimonides, in his treatise

Idolatry, whelh- , . . r • , , , • i • , ,

er it commenced "pon the origin ot idolatry, which is translated

before the deluge, ju^q Latin in a piece by Vossius upon the same
subject, thus expresses himself: " The first
origin of idolatry must be referred to the time of Enos, when
men began to study the motion of the Sun and Mooji and the
other heavenly bodies, and reckoned them created by God to
govern the world. They imagined God had set them in the
heavens to make them partake of his own glory — and serve
him as ministers ; whence they concluded it was their duty to
give them honour. Upon this foundation they began to build
temples to the Stars, to offer sacrifices to them, and to prostrate
themselves before them, in order to obtain favours from him who
had created them — and this was the first origin of idolatry. Not
that they believed there was no other God besides the Stars;\i\xX.
they were persuaded that by adoring them, they fulfilled the will of
the CREATOR. In process of time, how{?ver, certainya/se/!?-o/?/ie/«
arose, pretending to be sent from God, and that they had revela-
tions for appointing such and such a Star to be worshipped — nay,
for appointing sacrifices to be offered to the whole host of hea-
ven; they also made figures of them which they exposed to be
publicly worshipped. Thereupon they began to set uptheirrepre-
entalions in temples, under trees, and upon the tops of moun-

CHAP. T. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 71

SECT. I. ITS ORIGIN.

tains. They flocked together for their adoration, and the prosperity
they enjoyed was attributed to the worship they paid to them.
Hence it came about, conlcudes Maimonides, that the name of
God was entirely banished from the hearts and mouths of men."
— Tertullian also, believed idolatry had commenced before the
deluge: and this is likewise the sentiment of the generality of
the most learned Babbi?i8. They found it upon a passage in
Genesis, where it is said of Enos, iste c<epit in-uocare nomen
Domini; which is thus expressed in another version, tunc firo-
fanatum. est in invocando nomine Domini; and this difference
arises froin the word chalal in the original, which equally im-
ports, to begin., or to profane. But we are not to dwell long upon ,
the period which preceded the deluge; a period about which
Moses has said little, and from what he says of it, we can draw
no conclusions with respect to idolatry. For, in short, the pas-
sage they solely rely upon, is very hard to be understood, and
would require the (discussing of some questions that would lead
us too far from our subject.

====== However it be as to the beginning of idolatry,

Idolatry, how ... , , , , , , , . , r

early restored af- certam it is, that the knowledge and worship ot

ter the deluge, jj^g \x\xe GoD were again united in the family of
and where.

' Noah, which remained alone upon the earth,

after the deluge. That holy patriarch, in gratitude to God for his
preservation, offered him a solemn sacrifice of every clean animal
that came out of the ark; and no dotibt he would be sure to re-
commend to his children and grand-children, to preserve with
veneration the worship prescribed to him by God himself. Thus
before the division of tongues, and while the children and grand-
children of that patriarch made up but one family and people,
there is the highest probability that this worship was not altered
in its purity. Noah was still alive, and was the head of that peo-
ple. In all likelihood therefore, it was not till after the disper-
sion of that people^ that idolatry arose; at which period most pro-
bably, while the true religion was yet for a long time preserved

72 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. I.

ITS ORIGIN. SECT. I.

in some families, especially in thai from which Abraham sprung,
others abandoned it for the service of vain idols^i which their ig-
norance, or rather the corruption of their hearts had formed.

, However, if we do not date the restoration of idolatry, (suppos-
I ing it had pre-existed the flood) so early as the dispersion of man-
kind, we shall not descend as low, to fix its date, as the time of
[ NiNUS, who was the first who introduced that particular species
I of idolatry only which had for its object the worship of the manes
of great men — having built a temple to the honour of his father
Belus; for there was an idolatry of much greater antiquity in
Egypt and Phenicia, and even among the Chaldeans or Babylo-
nians themselves, in their worship oi Jire and the heavenly bodies.
Doubtless, very shortly after the dispersion, whose allotment dis-
1 posed Egypt to Mitzhaim, and Phenicia to Canaan, two of the
' sons of the accursed Ham, idolatry made its appearance in those
countries; whence it very readily propagated itself to the east, the
north, and north-west. Egypt, and Phenicia, then were the first
nurseries of idolatry: this is the opinion of Eusebius, who had
not a little examined into this subject; also of Lactantius, and
of Cassian, the former of whom ascribes its original to Canaan,
and the latter to Ham his father. This is Avhat several Rabbins
have thought upon the subject, who even reckon that those two
patriarchs had been idolaters before the deluge. Vossius says,
it is beyond doubt, that idolatry had its rise in the family of Ham,
and by consequence in Egypt; this author adds, that it is agreed
to by all the ancients. And without mentioning Diodorus, and
several others, it suffices to quote Lucian, who says in so many
words, that " the Egyptians were the first who honoured the gods
and paid them a solemn worship." Herodotus, in the beginning
of his history, is not so posiiive on this head as Lucian, but what
he says is much the same: "the Egyptians, according to this
learned historian, are the first who knew the names of the twelve
great Gods, and from them it is that the Greeks learned them."
—Indeed Egypt has always been early celebrated for idolatry, so

CHAP. I. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 73

SECT. II. ITS FIRST OBJECTS.

it is represented in several places in scripture: there prevailed
magick, divination., auguries, the interfiretation of dreams, Sec,
the unhappy fruits of a superstitious worship. Even in the time
of MosES, idolatry was there at its highest pitch, which supposes
a great antiquity; for, in short, it requires a considerable time
before a complete system of religion can be established. Moses
even seems to have given the Jews such a multitude of precepts,
only to oppose them in every thing, to the Egyptian ceremonies:
what concerns the sacrijices, the use of meats, and fiolity, these
were established merely to keep them at a distance from the
practices of that idolatrous people.

.. From Egypt idolatry passed into Phenicia, (if

idolatry propa- indeed it did not begin there at the same time).

gates itself thro' From Phenicia it was propagated to the East,

Phenicia to other

countries. to the places inhabited by the posterity of Shem,

' into Chaldea, Mesopotamia, and the places ad-

jacent; and to the West, where the posterity of Japhet fixed
their residence; that is to say, in Asia minor, in Greece, and in the
Isles. This is the course it is made to take by Eusebius and other
ancient fathers: so we are not to hearken to the Greeks, when
they tell us that idolatry took its rise, either in the island of
Crete under the reign of Melissus, or at Athens under Cecrops,
or in Phrygia, since they were not acquainted with the true an-
tiquity; for we are sure they had their religion and ceremonies
from Egypt and Phenicia, with the colonies that came to them
from these ancient kingdoms, as all the learned are agreed, and
as Herodotus expressly declares.

_ ^

SECTION SECOND. '

ITS FIRST OBJECTS.

■ AFTER having settled the most probable

The opinion of r • i , i i> i i ,

Vossius viz. <era 01 idolatry, and discovered {he /daces where

;====== it began; we shall now endeavour to ascertain

74 HISTORY OP IDOLATRY. CHAP. I.

ITS FIRST OBJECTS. SECT. II.

its FIRST OBJECTS; — 1 f wc believe the faiTious Vossius, the most

ancient objects of idolatry were, first, the two principles, Good

and Evil; second, Spirits or Genii; third the Souls dtparttd. We

shall give the substance of what he says of each, in succession.

• 1st, Men seeing the world full of good and

X, \,'^ evil, and not being able to conceive, that a being

Principles — ' & ' t>

Good and Evil- of essential goodness could be the author of evily
""""""^"""""^ invented two corresponding divinities, equal, and
eternal. They believed all good came from the good principle,
and that the bad principle did all the evil he possibly could; that
the latter seeing the former designed to create a world, had thwart-
ed his purpose as far as he was able; that upon this ensued a sharp
war between these two beings, which was the thing that retarded
this creation, until the moment that the good principle got the
better; that the other in revenge, had scattered up and down in
it all sorts of evils and miseries. — This learned author adds,
" there is no possibility of determining the precise date of this
error, or who was its original author," but he looks upon it, with
reason, to be very ancient. He seems of opinion elsewhere, how-
ever, that this error had its rise among the Chaldeans; though
the strongest probability is in favour of an Egyptian original.
===^= Vossius maintains, that the idolatry of the two
loned irT^thTfa- PRINCIPLES spread itself in a little time over
ble of Osiris and ^11 Egypt, except Thebais, where the worship

Typhon of Egypt;

—-^—-^—-—-- of the true God was preserved; and he alleges,
that all that the Egyptians fabled about Osiris and Tyfihon, and
the persecutions of the latter against his brother, ought to be
understood of these two principles, and their eternal war.
This, without doubt, is what that ancient people, whose whole
theology was full of symbols, intended to teach us by the mys-
terious fable which intimated that Osiris had shut up in an egg
twelve white pyramidical figures, to denote the infinite blessings
he had designed to multiply upon mankind; but that his brother
Typhon having found a way to open this egg, had secretly con-

CHAP. I. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 75

SECT. II. ITS FIRST OBJECTS.

veyed thither twelve other pyramid^ tliat were blacky by which
means evil came to be always blended with good.

■ We may add, that whatever the philosophers
which are copied , . , . , ,

in the fables of have Said concerning the good and BAD puiNci-

*^^, Phenicians, p^^; whatever the Persians have eivenout, of
and Greeks:

■ their two divinities Oromasdes and Arimanius;

the Chaldeans, of their benign or noxious filajiets; the Greeks, of
their salutary or pernicious Geyiii; all these, I say, derive their
origin from that ancient Egyptit\n theology, veiled under the fa-
ble of Osiris and Ty/ihon. This opinion, if we would trace it
back to its true source, was owing to men having been always
puzzled how to account for the introduction of evil into a world,
which was the Avork of a God infinitely good and beneficent. As
for the other fables that were there iniermixed, they took their
origin, no doubt, from the tradition of the combat between the
good and bad angels.

' Be that as it will, this opinion made vast pro-

how treated by ^ , , . _ ^

ancient and mod- gress. Pythagoras brought it from Egypt,

ern philosophers, g^j thg^ propagated it through all Italy. The
famous Manes, not to mention what other pro-
gress this error made, spread it through the christian world in
the fourteenth century, where he had several disciples. S. Au-
gustine himself went into it for sometime, but having discover-
ed its absurdity, he afterwards combated it with so much success,
that it was from that time looked upon as a cause quiie indespe-
rate; till M. Bayle resolved to revive it, and to set up for the
advocate of the Manicheans, whether, as is highly probable, to cut
out work for the divines of all parties, or to show thc.t the most
desperate cause, by falling into able hands, may be so managed
as to puzzle the greatest wits, or for some other reason which
we shall not dive into; and seeing himself attacked on all hands
by illustrious adversaries, he has employed all the artifice of a
curious, refined sophist, to give some credit to so bad a cause.

76 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. 1.

ITS FIRST OBJECTS. SECT. 11.

===== From the idolatry of two firincifiles^ Vossius

2d,SpiRiTsor J . ^i_ ^ r- ju

Genii— their proceeds to that ot spirits or GENii; and he ex-

worship. amines the causes that influenced men to wor-

ship them, of which he finds two; 1st, the
knowledge they had of the excellency of their nature, 2d, the
surprising effects believed to be produced by them. — Doubtless
oracles, apparitions, and magical operations, contributed not a
little to make their power and sovereignty be acknowledged.
Their worship was almost every where established, especially
towards the bad angels; and this to be sure is the sense of the
scripture language, which calls all the Gods of the Gentiles de-
mons. This sort of idolatry is still to be found in all the countries
where the gospel has not been embraced, as the relations of all
our missionaries attest. — But here we must apply the judicious
remark of M. Le Clerc, "that it is a mistake to believe, that
those idolaters who worship two beings, the one beneficent and
the other malicious^ understand thereby the good and bad angelsj
as if they knew the system of the fall of the one, and of the fidel-
ity of the others; whereas by genii they mean certain fionvers dis-
persed through the world, who produce in it good and evil"—
which, though similar, is not of the identity of the worship of
the tivo princifiles.
• To the worship of Genii, Vossius joins that

T.»"L^^?. tv,^;/ of SOULS DEPARTED, which was established in se-
p ART ED; — tneir

worship, veral countries, if we credit Mela, Herodotus,

'~"'^"~~~~"~' and Tertullian, especially in Africa, where
those of great men were held in high veneration: but as this is
the species of idolatry that has made great progress in the world,
since, as we shall shew, most of the Pagan Gods were none other
than the great men who distinguished themselves among them,
let us enlarge upon this point, and propose the conjectures of a
person of great ability, about the origin of this species of it.

CHAP. I. HISTOTIY OF IDOLATRY. 17

SECT. II. ITS FIRST OBJECTS.

■ Two causes, he reckons, introduced it into

the effect of two , , , , . , i .• ^i

causes.— /?rs«, ^"^ world — 1 st, gratitude^ or the veneration they

Gratitude. ^^^,q ^^ ^.j^g illustrious dead: 2d,/ear, or appre-

""""""""""" hension of the evils to which we are obnoxious.
1st, Gratitude — The regard they had for their ancestors, brought
in the custom of funeral solemnities; their ambition to please
the living, made them run out extravagantly in praising the ac-
tions of the dead; panegyrics were sung at their funerals, their
names cried up to the skies; and, as, before the introduction of the
poetical hell and elysian Jields, it was the opinion, that the souls
•wandered in the houses and places which they had frequented
during their union with the body, they erected in the most vene-
rable part of the house a sort of altar, where their portraits wer*
preserved with respect, and there they burned incense and sweet
odours. They had Priests constituted to have the oversight of the
worship they paid them; and hither they repaired upon pressing
exigencies, to implore their assistance. A desire of continuing a
lucrative service, made those Priests invent stories, where they
intermixed miracles and many things supernatural, sometimes to
alar.ii the incredulous, sometimes to animate the devout. These
ministers framed romances too, upon the lives of those great men,
which they concealed for a long time, and passed them upon the
world afterwards for true histories: and however their contempo-
raries might be proof against the cheat, those who came a long
time after, had no opportunity of learning the history of those
great men but from the mouths of their Priests. Every thing
they saw, carrying an air of divinity, and public temples having
come in the room of private chapels, it became the fashion in
good earnest to honour those first men as gods. It was even dan-
gerous to be prying into the original of established worship: it
was like to have cost JE,schylus his life, that in one of his plays
he was thought to have revealed somewhat of the mysteries of
Ceres. Accordingly, in the temples, in those especially of Oairis,

HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. ^HAP. I.

ITS FIRST OBJECTS. SECT. II.

was to be seen a statue of Harfioirates holding a finger on his
mouth, to denote, as Varro has it, that the mystery of his life
and death was prohibited to be revealed; and this was likewise
the signification of the S/ihinxes in the same country, placed at
the entrance of the temples, as the emblem of silence.
•' The second cause of this species of idolatry,

ecoTK , according to the same author, is, the fear of evils

to which we are liable: they had a notion, for example, that many
evils were occasioned by the influence of the Stars; these were
thought to be animated with souls departed and immortal, be-
cause they saw them without alteration. Thus, the most effectual
way, they thought, to obtain their favour, was to appease them
whenever they believed them incensed; and from that time they
began to prostrate themselves before the Sun and the Moon, and
all the host of heaven, as the prophets so often upbraided the na-
tions.— Thus in short, religious worship was regulated according
to human exigence; the exigences of society introduced the wor-
ship of illustrious men, those of nature that of things inanimate.
i M. Le Clerc alleges the most ancient spe-

M.LeClerc's • r ' 1 , 1 .1 ^ r • • V^*

opinion differs in ^les of idolatry to be that of givmg a religious
favor of ANGELS, vvorship to angels. The opinion that prevailed
~~~"~~~^"^ about their mediation between God and man,
procured them certain regard out of gratitude and fear, in pro-
portion to the blessings that were thought to be derived from
them: then they came to pay them a worship subordinate to that
of the first being; and at last they gave them full adoration, and
they spared not incense nor sacrifices in order to appease them
when they were thought to be out of humour. From the worship
of ANGELS, according to this author, they proceeded to that of the
souls of illustrious men: then, taking into their heads that those
souls, when departed from bodies, were united to certain stars,
which they animated, they came at last to worship those stars
themselves.

CHAP. I. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 79

SECT. II. ITS FIRST OBJECTS.

====== Without entering into a critical exaniination

Moon in reality °^ these different opinions, which want not pro-
were the first ob- bability, I am persuaded that idolatry began by
jects of idolatry-
_ the worship of heavenly bodies^ and especially of

the SUN. As men could have no other reason for abandoning the
true God, but that the idea of a being purely spiritual was defaced
from their carnal minds, it is not probable they would choose men
like themselves to be the first objects of their adoration; it is
more likely they would cast about for such sensible objects as
bore the character of the Divinity, whose idea they had not en-
tirely lost, and which might be a more significant symbol of him.
Now nothing was more capable of seducing them than the hea-
venly bodies^ and the sun especially: his beauty, tlie bright splen-
dour of his beams, the rapidity of his course, exulta-vit ul gigas
ad currendam viajn; his regularity in enlightening the whole earth
by turns, and in diffusing light and fertility all around, essential
characters of the Divinity, who is himself the light and source
of every thing that exists; all these were but too capable of im-
pressing the gross minds with a belief, that there was no other
God but the sun, and that this splendid luminary was the throne
of the Divinity. Indeed they saw nothing that bore more marks
of Divinity than the sun We cannot therefore question the an-
tiquity of the worship of the sun and other luminaries : and if
there was occasion for adding authority to such natural arguments,
I should have upon my side not only several great men who have
been of the same mind, but also almost all the Rabbins., and espe-
cially the learned Maimonides, who, in his treatise upon the ori-
gin of idolatry, thinks it began in this manner, and that before
the deluge.

===== Considering what ignorance men were in as
accordinc' to the , , „ , „ i i i

opinion of Mai- *° ^^e nature of the tiue God, says that learned

MOKiDEs; Rabbi, nothing must needs have struck them

■ more than the sight of the sun and moon. Men

80 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY- CHAP. 1.

ITS FIRST OBJECTS. SECT. II.

never lost sight of this principle, that the Divinity essentially com-
prehends supreme beauty; and not having sufficient lights lo rise
to the idea of an immaterial and invisible principle, they found
nothing more amiable in nature than these luminaries. Gratitude,
natural enough to men when they receive a benefit, fortified them
still more in the same persuasion: they could not doubt that the
SUN was the source of fertility, that it was to his heat they ought
to ascribe the fruitfulness of the earth, which without the warm-
ing influences of his beams, would be but a barren mass, without
trees and without fruits. The regular motions and revolutions of
the celestial spheres, soon persuaded them that the stars were
animated: and this error has found but two many partisans. Even
learned men and philosophers came to espouse this opinion, es-
pecially the Platonics.) and Plato, their master. It was from that
philosophy, Philo the Jew derived his doctrine, that the stars
are so many souls incorruptible and immortal. It was upon the
principles of this same doctrine, that Origen laboured to estab-
lish the same opinion. S. Augustine seems to waver in his senti-
ments about this matter; but he afterwards retracts. There is a
good deal of probability that it was likewise Aristotle's senti-
ment; fpr however some of his commentators say, he only gives
the stars intelligences, lo direct them, yet there are others of
them who hold, that he looked upon these intelligences as the
internal and essential forms of the stars.

■ Eusebius delivers his thoughts more clearly

and according to i • >

the opinion of upon this article: " That man, says he, ni the

usEBius, j^^,g^ ^^^ earliest limes, never dreamed either of

erecting temples, or idols, having neither painting at that time,
nor the potter's art, nor sculpture, nor masonry, nor architecture,
is, I suppose, what every thinking man evidently sees: but over
and above all these, they had not so much as heard of those gods
and heroes so renowned since; and that they had then neither J^w-
fiiter, Saturn, JVefitune, Juno, Minerva, Bacchus, nor any other

CHAP. t. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 81

SECT. II. ITS FIRST OBJECTS.

God, male or female, such as have been found in latter times by
thousands both among Greeks and barbarians; finally, that there
was no Demon, whether good or bad, whom men revered; but
that they adored the stars only, we are told by the Greeks them-
selves. Moreover that the stars themselves were not honoured
as they are now by animal sacrifices, nor by rites of worship
since invented, is a fact that depends not upon our single testimo-
ny, but is attested by the Pagans themselves."

■, . . . I might subjoin the authority of profane au-

wJuch IS confirm- '-'•'.

ed by profane au- thors, who have been of the same opinion; but

thors; - 1 c • 1 • • r

. , 1 content myselt with two testimonies; one irom

DiODORUs SicuLus, who says, " men in earlier times, struck
with the beauty of the universe, with the splendor and regularity
which every where shines forth, made no doubt but there was
some divinity who therein presided, and they adored the sun and
MOON under the names of Osiris and Isis" Hereby this learned
author gives us to understand, that the worship of the stars was
the commencement of idolatry, and that Egypt was the place
where it began. — The other is that of Plato, if indeed he be
the author of the dialogues, intitled Efiinomis^' where we have
these words: " the first inhabitants of Greece, as I conjecture, ac-
knowledged no other gods but those which are at this very day
the gods of the barbarians, namely, the sun, the moon, the earth
the stars, and the heavens."

. ^ , , But nothing proves so much the antiquity of I

also, inferable ;

from its prohibi- this kind of idolatry, as the care Moses took to

tion by Moses; , -i • • ,, i ■ ■ ix.it i-..

■' prohibit It: " take heed, says he to the Israelites,

lest, when you lift up your eyes to heaven, and see the sun, the

MOON, and all the stars, you be seduced and drawn away to pay ;

worship and adoration to the creatures, which the Lord your God

has made for the service of all the nations under heaven." On \

which R. Levi Ben Gerson remarks, that Moses mentions the j

sun before the other stars, because his beauty and usefulness are

82 HISTORY OP IDOLATRY. CHAP. I.

ITS FIRST OBJECTS. SECT. II.

inore apt to seuuce, than they. — As it was after their depar-
ture out of Egypt, and when the Jews were yet in the desert,
God indited to them this precept of the law, there is the highest
ground to believe, that it was to make them forget the Egyptian
superstitions of this nature, and to guard them against being-
drawn into those of the other nations, whom they were very soon
to be among; for this worship was at that time spread over all, the
East, as we shall shew presently, and this is the reason why Job,
to testify his innocence, says: " if I beheld the sun when he
shined, or the moon walking in her brightness; if my heart has
been tickled with a secret joy, and I have put my hand to my
mouth to kiss it; this also is the height of iniquity, even a renunci-
ation of the most high God."

■ In the last place we observe, it is with a view
and from the po-
sition of the Pa- to acknowledge the divinity of the sun, that the

gan temples. Pagans in prayer turned to the East, and had all

their temples directed to that quarter; whereas the Jews, that

they might not imitate them, were always in the habit of turning

their sanctuary towards the West. The primitive Christians

likewise used to turn their churches towards the rising sun, not

to adore that luminary, but to pay their devotion to « the Son of

righteousness, who diffuses light over the mind, and warms the

hearts of those who worship him, by the influences of his grace,"

■ ' Authors are not agreed as to the place where

Their worship . r • , j

commenced in the worship of the SUN was introduced; some

^Syy^'' iioij it ^yas ii^ Chaldea, because that ancient peo-

ple were always addicted to astronomy, and were the first who
observed the motion of the Stars; as if it required astronomical
observations to be capable of admiring the sun, and knowing its
influences, when indeed we need but open our eyes, to be struck
with his glory and his beauty. It is much more probable, that
Egypt, which I but just now proved to have been the nursery of
idolatry, was the place where the sun began to be worshipped un-

CHAP. I. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 8:3

SECT. II. ITS FIRST OBJECTS.

der the name o{ Osiris, From Egypt, this idolatry was spread
through the neighbouring countries, or rather through the world,
since this luminary has been the divinity of every nation, even
those that are most barbarous, under different names as we shall
see in the sequel.

' Every body knows that Macrobius under- >

and to them Mac- ^ , ^ ^i 4. n .1 r^ i r r>

ROBius reduces takes to prove, that all the Gods ot Paganism

all the Pagan de- j^jgy j^g reduced to the sun. This author allows
ities.

5=^==== the poets the honour of having followed the sen-
timents of the philosophers, especially in reuniting all the divi-
nities in the sun, who, being the ruler of the other orbs, whose
influences act upon this lower world, must of consequence be the
author of the universe. This same author, and after him Vossius, \
reduced almost all the divinities of the feminine sex to the moon;
•who were only formed from the Egyptian goddess Zsis, whose ^
name imports ancient, and who was among that people, the sym- '
bol of the moon; and here, without doubt, we have the first
OBJECTS of idolatry, and the foundation of the whole pagan the-
ology.— From the adoration of the sun and moon, they went to
that of the other stars, especially of the planets, whose influences
were more sensible; in a word, they worshipped the whole host
of heaven. And this sort of idolatry which has the stars and plan- \
ets for the objects of its worship, goes under the name of Sabism. \
As to what may have given rise to this^enomination, the learned
are not agreed among themselves; the thing at bottom is of no
great consequence: but what is more essential to be known, is,
that this sect is the most ancient of all, as cannot be doubted,

====== There are learned men of opinion, that the

Their worship, . ... , , . ,, ^ ^, ,

called Sabism the ancient philosophers, those especially of Chal-

most universal, & ^ j^^d given the handle for Sabism. It is true,

01 the longest du- '^

ration. indeed, that they reason a great deal about the

^"""■^"""""■^ Stars;, about their influences, and their beauty:
perhaps too they believed them to be eternal beings, and conse-

84 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. ' CHAP. I.

ITS PROGUESS TO SYSTEM. SECT. III.

quenlly so many divinities, or at least that there were gods who
resided in them, and regulated their courses and influences. They
even gave out, and it is a very ancient opinion, that the body of
the star was no more than the vehicle, or a sort of machine, that
served to carry the gods who conducted it: — but what occasion
was there for such refined reasoning, to influence gross and car-
nal men to address their first prayers to those luminous and re-
splendent bodies? Was it not enough for them to turn their eyes
towards the sun, to behold how he both enlightens the world, and
communicates to it heat and fertility, in order to judge that he
was the parent of nature, that by him it was vivified, and without
him would be nothing but a lifeless expanse, without light, and
without any production, as we noted before? All the savage na-
tions, who worshipped the sun, even the Mexicans, the Peruvi-
ans, and other savages of America, did they wait for the decision
of philosophers to teach them to prefer their vows and prayers to
this luminary? — But be that as it will, Sabi/i?n is to be looked upon
as the most ancient sect in the pagan world. It arose not long
after the deluge, since it was known to Abraham's ancestors, to
Terah and Serug, and perhaps before them too. This is the
sect which has made the greatest progress; I have mentioned the
different nations that adopted it; and if w^e believe the most learn-
ed Rabbins, and the eastern authors, almost the whole world has
been infected by it. In fine, of all the sects, this has been of the
longest duration, since there are numbers of idolaters who still
adhere to it.

SECTION third.

ITS PR0GI2ESS TO SYSTEM

■ ■ THE first race of men, some time after their
j„^j.]js dispersion, were extremely rude; even the

Greeks, who became afterwards so polite, were

CHAP. I. HISTORY OP IDOLATRY. 85

SEC. III. ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

they were wont to call barbarians. We are not therefore lo ima-
no better at first, if we credit Diodorus Siculus, than those whom
gine that idolatry, in its first setting out, was a studied system;
that theology was then encumbered with that apparatus of cere-
monies they added to it in aflertimes. Nothing could be more sim-
ple, nor at the same time more gross, than the religion of the
primitive Idolaters. They were at little or no charge either to
represent their Gods, or pay them a religious worship. But Idola-
try did not long remain in this simple state. Various causes, as
time progressed, perhaps totally independent of sincere devotion,
gradually enlisted along with the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars,
nearly all the objects of the physical and animal world — the
JUlements, the Mivers, the Mou?imins, on the one hand; with va-
rious living animals down to the meanest insect^ and the souls of
the departed, on the other. And thus far, their ideal Divinities
were founded upon objects that had a real existence. But, a fruit-
ful imagination actuated by a rage for the multiplication of the
objects of a depraved worship, did not permit them to stop here.
They not only deified the noble virtues, but every intermediate
measure of moral quality down to the basest vice: Tliey not only
bestowed divine honours upon the most dignified of humanyMwc-
tionsf but extended those honours to the most degrading offices
that human oppression or corruption can devise — till at last it as-
sumed the form of an universal syutem, whose parts, though at
first physically founded and simple, were now perhaps ninety-nine
in the hundred Poetical distortions and exaggerations of true
history, or purely fabulous, and proportionally complicated, not
to say occasionally impenetrably mysterious.— -We will proceed
in this SECTioK, ^rst, to examine into the principal Causes of this
fabulous extension of the Pagan worship; and then, secondly, to
enumerate the Deities of that worship in its full latitude, whether
their prototype or original be physical, animal, or souls departed;
Ayhether they be virtues or vices; or whether they be dignified

86 HISTORY OP IDOLATRY CHAP. I.

XTS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM. SEC. III.

functions^ or degrading offices. But I will be in no dangei' of being
understood to insinuate that these objects of Idolatry were insti-
tuted in succession, in classes, as I shall enumerate them; for it
is equally doubtless that each class was yet increasing while ano-
ther was not perfected, as it is evident that physical objects were
the first, and abstract qualities the last that received Divine ho-
nours. Nor will we be understood to attribute all the causes of
Fable to the poets, who truly, as the earliest among the profane
historians, contributed a very abundant share together with the
painters and sculptors; for there were many other fruitful causes
with which these artists co-operated only as instruments. We
shall, forthwith, see more particularly how the case is! for we shall
treat the subject somewhat at length, as the perspicuity of all
Mythology materially rests thereon.

'— Ignorance in philosophy, and especially in phy-

The causes ^^- j^^g given rise to many fables. Thatcuriosi-

OF Mytholo- ° ^

GicAL Fables, ty, which is SO natural to men, has always deter-

First, Ignorance . , , , r , r

in Physics. mined them to seek alter the causes of astonish-

ing events; and in the barbarous ages, when so
little advancement had been made in the knowledge of nature,
Ihey had recourse to gross and sensible representations: they gave
life to every physical thing: here was an admirable expedient for
shortening their enquiries; as nothing is more easy than to refer
effects, whose principles are unknown^ to some visible cause.— ^
They proceeded, through length of time, to deify these objects;
which they represented in human form: the Swi was worshipped
under the name of Apollo, and the Moon under that of Diana. A
dread of their influences, which are thought to extend to all
things here below, was certainly the cause of their deification,
and of that worship which was introduced in order to appease
their imaginary resentment. The priests, for that purpose, in-
vented stories, and published apparitions of tlieir pretended Dei-
ties, and thereby kept up a gainful worship. They made people
believe; for exair-ple, tlutt Diana had fallen in love with Endy-

CHAP. f. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 87

SEC. III. ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

mion, and that the cause of her eclipses, was owing to the inter-
views she had with her gallant on the mountains of Caria; but as
ill luck would have it, these a?)tours could not last forever, and
this put them upon the hard shift of accounting for her ecUfisea
another way. They gave out that sorceresses, especittlly those of
Thessaly, where poisonous plants were common*, had power by
their enckanttnents to draw down the Moon to the Earth, In
like manner, as they were unacquainted with the causes of the
winds, they believed, that boisterous Deities raised such commo-
tions in the Earth and Sea; and to check their daring insults, they
set over them a superior Deity. Thus ^olus, for reasons to be
given in his history, was appointed their king. Every ri-ver and
fountain had also a tutelar Deity; and whether it was the rivers
got the names of \\\&Jirst kings who inhabited the country through
which they ran, or whether it was the A-fn^-.s were named from the
riverSi in a course of years they came to be confounded together,
and they made a Divinity of the prince, for the sake of the river.
Had they occasion to talk about the Rainboiv, whose nature they
knew nothing of, they forged a Divinity of it; its beauty made it
pass for the daughter of Thaumas, a poetical personage, whose
name signifies marvellous; and because, in all appearance, they
had learned from the traditional accounts of the Deluge, that
God had set forth the rainbow as a token of reconciliation, hence
they looked upon their Iris as the messenger of the Gods, and of
Juno especially, because the rainbow declares the disposition of
the air, which that Goddess represents. The very name of Iris
was given her, if we will take Plato's word for it, to point out
her employment. — In this manner were formed several physical
Divinities, and so many astronomical fables. What wretched phi-
losophy this was! But it was the best they had; and when it came
of course to the Poets' turn to embellish those gross ideas, with

* By reason of the foam Cerberus had dropt there, when he was
brought from Hell by Hercules, according to another fable.

88 HISTORY OF mOLATRY. CHAP. I-

ITS PHOGllESS TO SYSTEM. SEC. III.

all the oinamenis ihtii muse so fertile in invention could furnish
them with, men become so fond of considering nature only under
these captivating images, that it was a considerable time before
they so much as dreamed of carrying their discoveries to any
greater length. What is worst of all, religion was concerned in
this system; every new Divinity brought in a load of ceremonies;
and those who pretended to see with their own eyes, were looked
upon as impious. Thus the unfortunate Anaxagoras was pu-
nished with death, for having taught that the Sun was not anima-
ted, and that it was nothing but a mass of red hot iron, about the
bigness of the Peloponnesus. From the whole, we may conclude,
that they are in the right, who thought a part of the ancient phi-
losophy was couched under their fables; but then they must needs
own it was a philosophy of a gross nature, and a system founded
on the report of the senses, and such as might have entcredinto
the i?nagination of a clown.
■■■ Mciny of the learned in the last age, and some

Second, The . , , , ,11, r ,

Scripture &c., '" "^^ present, have alleged, that most of the

misunderstood. f^es derived their origin from the Sacred Books
not ivell understood; and that the traditions of the
chosen fieo/ile, preserved in Phcnicia, Egypt, and the other adja-
cent countries, adulterated in process of time, had given rise to
vast many fables. 'I'hey add farther, that colonies having come
from the countries bordering upon Palestine, and settled in the
islands of the Mediterranean, and in Greece, had brought thither
these traditions thus disfigured, and that they were still more viti-
ated afterwards by the additional fictions of the poets; in fine, that
the Patriarchs, especially those who lived after the deluge, jibra-
ham, Jacob, Esau, Moses, and some others, were the first Gods of
the Pagan world; and that their illustrious achievements, their con-
quests, and laws, had influenced the people to deify them. Among
these learned authors, we may reckon the famous Bochart,
Gerand Vossius, HuETius, Thomassin, &c. — It is agreedj that
Moses and Joshua were well known, not only in Egypt and Pheni-

CHAP. 1. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 89

SEC. III. ITS PROGRESS TO SY-TEM.

cia, but likewise in several oilier countries; tluitrne lust es[jecially
having carried his conquests a great way into Palestine, spread
such a terror over the coast of Syria, that several, it is thought,
shipped themselves off with their goods for foreign parts, rather
than come under his dominion; that some of them came as far
as the confines of the ocean, where, as we are assured, they set up
pillars with this inscription, we are the persons who Jied for shelter
from that robber Joshua the son of JVun. It is likewise certain, that
Jnachus, Cecro/is, Danaus, Cadmus, and some others, came out of
Egypt and Phenicia, and introduced their respective colonies into
Greece, and the neighbouiing isles; and probably, having their
heads full of the exploits of those great men, they would rehearse
them to the inhabitants of the country; and the Greeks, fond of the
pompous and supernatural, would be sure to make use of them
for the embellishing the history of their heroes in aftertimes. As
a proof of it, the accounts of Hercules especially and Bacchus, are
thought to agree in many things with the history of those famous
Israelites. Accordingly, very curious parallels have been drawn:
a celebrated prelate has even gone the length of confounding all
the heroes in fable with those of the bible, and finds in Moses
alone the origin of Afiollo, Priafius, Esculafiius, Prometheus, Tire-
aias, Tyfihon, Perseus, Orpheus, Janus, Adonis, and numbers of
others; and in Zipporah the wife of Moses, or in Miriam his sis-
ter, he finds almost all the Goddesses, as Jstarte, Venus, Cybelcy
Ceres, Diana, the Muses, the Destinies, 8cc. And another learned
author even alleges that Homer, in his poems, has given a histo-
ry of the scripture heroes under borrowed names. In fine, some
years ago this very ancient opinion has been revived by two au-
thors, who have carried it yet farther than any I have named. The
first is M. DE Lavaux, in a piece enti'led, comparison of fable
with sacred history; who, to give greater weight to his opinion,
quotes two of the fatheis, and some ecclesidsdcal writers, by
whom it was maintained before him; these are, Justin, Origen,
Tertullian^ Minutius Felix, Cyril, Arnodius, Lactantius, Ht. Angus-

90 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY, CHAP. I.

ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM. SEC. III.

tine, Theodoret, St. ^ithanasius, Philo, Josephus, and others. The
second is M. Fourmont, of the Academy of Belles Lettres, in his
critical reflections upon the history of ancient nations. As this
learned Academic understands ancient languages to the bottom,
he is the man who has enlarged most upon this subject; and he
has applied, with much exactness, to the Patriarchs, the characters
of the first men drawn by Sanchoniathon: he finds so great
affinity between their names, and those given them in Scripture,
and the characters and actions so nearly resembling what is
there said of them, that it is often pretty difficult to hold
out against his argument. Farther, says he in his preface,
can one be blamed for following a multitude of authors, all of
them eminent either for knowledge or piety, and for endea-
vouring to find in the patriarchs the Gods whom the Pagan
world revered — Saturn in Noah, Pluto in Shem, Jupiter Hammon
in Cham, JVeptune in Japhet, as Bo chart has made out; Belus
and Jupiter in Nimrod, as others have maintained; Minerva in the
idea we have of the Trinity, which is the opinionof father Tour-
NEMiNE the Jesuit; Apollo in Jubal, with father Thomassin; and
so of the rest? Besides, continues he, nothing is more advantage-
ous to religion than this opinion; and in the same way Huetius
delivers himself upon the subject. — However great an esteem I
have for these great men, I can never be induced to think that
any wrong use the poets could make of the Old Testament, was
capable of producing such a heap of fables, as is alleged: for, in
the first place, the Jews were a people greatly contemned by their
neighbours, little known to distant nations, and extremely jealous
of their Law and their Ceremonies, which they concealed from
strangers, as being profane in their eyes, even at a time when they
were obli.^ed to live among them. In like manner, granting the
miracles wrought by God in Egypt in the lime of Moses to have
been published, yet it is very unlikely that they who reported them
to the Greeks, would have any great value for a man who must
have been so odious to them: I make no doubt but they gave the

CHAP. I. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 91

SEC. III. ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

preference even to their own Magicians; or rather, would they not
do all that in them lay, to cut off the very memory of a man who
had plagued them so much? Farther, shall we contradict all anci-
ent history, and the most authentic monuments which mention
the heroes of Greece, their names, their parentage, and the place
of their nativity, to believe upon the authority of a few trifling ety-
mologists, o-r some slight traces of resemblance, that they were
only copied from Moses? Might not several similar events have
happened in different places? Might not j1ga7ncmnon have thought
of sacrificing his daughter Ijihigenla., under the apprehension of
losing the command of a fine army, without any necessity of con-
founding this event with Je/uha's sacrifice, whatever resemblance
we may find between the two princesses in their name and the
time when they lived? The same may be said of Deucalio7i*s de-
luge; oi Minerva sprung from Jufiiter's brain; nvA some other fa-
bles, that seem to have an affinity with scrijiture truths. Is it
impossible to see the same events return upon the theatre of the
■world? Will there not always be sacrifices made to ambition? Will
not murders, parricides, 8cc. be seen every day? So true it is, that
one perfectly acquainted with the history of past ages, would see
a variety of things as recurring only, which have already come
about more than once. After all, if there be an affinity between
JablesdXiA the history of Moses or of Sampson, it is only to be con-
sidered as a remnant of tradition, whicb nothing has been able to
deface. There is no denying, for instance, that the resemblance of
the universal deluge, preserved among all nations, has contributed
to the embellishing of Deucalion's; that some circumstances have
been borrowed from JVoah's history, to that of Saturn and his chil-
dren, who lived shortly after; especially with respect to the divi-
sion of the world, as also in some other things: but to think almost
all the fables may be accounted for by that pretended abuse of
Moses's books, is to grope in the dark. — Are men really in earnest
when they tell us, the tranrforfnation/s of Froteus — were invented
merely for what the scripture says of Moses's rod? Th:\t Mercury

92 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. I.

ITS PUOGKE^S TO SYSTEM. SEC. III.

was taken for the messenger of the Gods, and the covjidant in their
amours — from nothing else but the story of Canaan's curiosity^
which drew down Noah's curse upon him? That the history of
the Muses has no other foundation — but the corruption oi, Moses's
name? and that they ascribed to them the invention of dancing
and music — only because Miriam., whom the Greeks might pos-
sibly call Musa, sung a song to a dance? That the fable which
speaks of Mercury's conducting the souls into Hell — is founded
upon Moses's causing the earth to swallow up Dathan and ^bira7n?
That Euristheus prosecuting Herculet- — is Moses giving Joshua
the management? That Vulcan falling from Heaven — is Moses
coming down fiom the mount? That Hercules' combat wiih Ache-
lous — is the passing over the Jordan? That Pro7netheus loosed
from mount Caucasus by Hercules — is Moses's praying upon the
moimt while Joshua is defeating the Amulekites? — If one was to
refine upon every minute resemblance, I too might say, that the
dog which knew Ulysses upon his return to Ithaca — is the same
with the dog of Tobit^ which caressed his young master upon his
^ return to Raguel: that Achilles's discourse to his horse — is in imi-
tation of Balaam's conversation with his jiss: that the expedition
of the Argonauts — is but a diversified relation oi Abraham's jour-
neyings, and those of the Israelites in the desart: that the story of
Philemon and Baucis — is that of Abraham and Sarah, or of JL-o^and
his ivi/e: that the fable of JViobe and her children — is a copy of
Job's afflictions; as that of Lasmedon^ and of the Gods who built
Troy — is the history of Laban and Jacob: that the story of Orion— -m
is drawn from that oi Jacob and Sarah; and so of a world of others
1 could na7ne^ which however, is not such easy matter to /irove.
Farther, if there be such a perfect conformity between the heroes
of the bible — and the heroes in fable, why do our most celebrated
authors difi^er among themselves? Why is il/<?rfz«-z/, according to
BocKART the same with Canaan, and in Huetius the same with
Moses? How comes the one to tell us Hercules is Samfisouy and
the other that he is Joshua? The one that J/oah is Sa!u?-?i, and the

CHAP. !. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 93

SEC. III. ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

Other that he is Abraham? This variety of opinions is a strong pre-
sumption against the hypothesis of the learned nioderns: it must
also be owned that however studied these comparisons be, of which
their books are full, there are still some things there which are hut
mere suppositions, to say no worse. Should the learned author,
who, in examining the annals of China, found a considerable re-
semblance between one cf their emperors and one of the kings of
France in name, disposition, and manners, take it into his head,
that either the king of France must have been the emperor of
China, or the Chinese monarch king of France, I would fain know
what reception he would expect from the world? — There is no-
thing so arbitrary as the etymologies of names we may often read
of, and the interpretation of them is wholly in the power of fancy,
I am of opinion, that Orpheus and others travelled into Egypt, in
that very period when the Israelites dwelt there; but at the same
time, I believe they got more information from thence in the per-
nicious science of magic, or at least in the vain superstitions of
that idolatrous people, than in the knowledge of the true God,
whatever several of the learned, after S. Justin, have. thought on
that head; and besides, we have nothing remaining of this Or-
pheus. In what, I pray you, do those who travel into foreign
countries take care to be informed, if it is not in their religion^
laws, and customs? Do they not consult the Priests and Doctors
of the country, rather than those of a people under captivity, hated
persecuted, and withal not very forward to reveal their mysteries
to strangers? I dont indeed deny, that those ancient poets were
acquainted with several truths, as the unity of the Godhead, the
immortality of the soul, X.'ne punishments of Hell, the reivards of Pa-
radise; TRUTHS which notwithstanding that a/ifiaratus qffcdonsy
with which they are dressed up, are conspicuous in several places
of their works: but are we therefore to believe they borrowed them
from our INSPIRED writings? Are they not rather the precious

94 HISTORY Ot IDOLATRY. CHA1P. I.

ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM. SEC. III.

remains of tradition^ which nothing can deface; sparks of reason
and nature's light, which are, to use Tertullian's words, ' the
testimony of a soul naturally christian?* In a word, they are the
geeds of eternal truth, that remained rooted in the mind of man,
in his primitive state of innocence, and had the God of nature
for their author as well as the Sacred Books. — We may add, that
fables having taken their rise but a few ages after the deluge, when
there was still a recent enough tradition of what had happened,
even before Noah, jt is pretty probable that they who followed
them, would be sure to adopt some strokes of those ancient truths*
Thus the Chaos, the golden age, and many other fables — are copied
from the account Moses gives o{(he Creator, the state of innocence
and the hafif^y society primitive mortals lived in. But as to those
numberless circumstances, wherein Thomassin and after him the
author of Homer Hebraizing, find Moses and that ancient poet
agreeing together; I am of opinion, they would not have seen
quite so many, unless they had been favourably disposed to find
them. Let us then leave Greece in the possession of her heroes and
heroism, and content ourselves with saying, that however there
are some fables whose original is owing to that Pagan practice of
perverting scrifiture and tradition; yet the number of such is not
so great, as is commonly believed.

■ ' '■ A more plentiful source of fables, and more

Thii'd, Ikno- ^ , , ... , . ...

ranee of Chiono- iiivourable to their mtroduction, is the ignorance

logy and ancient of chronology and ancient history. As it was very
5Sii^^^^== late before they came to have the use of letters,
especially in Greece, several ages passed, during which they had
no other way of preserving the memory of remarkable events but
by tradition, or at best by some monuments, which in time be-
came very ambiguous. Even when they began to use writing,
their first compositions were not connected histories, but enco-
miums, songs, and genealogies, stuffed with fables, which the
priests took pains to dress up in the manner already hinted; in-

CHAP. I. HISTORY OP IDOLATRY. 95

SEC. III. XTS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

somuch, that nothing was to be found but confusion over all; and
even such as were inclined to see farther into the history of anti-
quity, after tracing back about three or four generations, found
themselves in the labyrinth of the history of the Gods, where
they were every moment stumbling upon Jufiiter^ Sacurn, Ccelus,
and Tellus, The Greeks especially had no farther account to give
of their original; this was the limiting point of their whole tradi-
tion, even among persons of better understanding. As for others,
they innocently gave out, that their ancestors had sprung from
the earth like mushrooms^ or pismires in the forest of Egina, or
from Cadmus's dragon's teeth. However, as they were fond of
being thought ancient, like most other nations, they forged a fabu-
lous history of imaginary kings, Gods, and heroes, that never had
a being: and when they wanted to speak of the early times, about
which they had got a few hints from the colonies that had settled
among them, they only substituted fable in the room of true his-
tory. If the creation of the world was the point in question — out
cametheyc6/e of a Chaos: if it was about Xhe frst inventors of arts,
instead of Adam and Cain, who were the first that cultivated the
ground — they ascribed the whole honour of the invention to Ceres
and Trifitolemus; Pan, according to them, instead of Abel, was
the first that led a fiastoral life; to Apollo was given the invention
q/"??!!/*??— whereas it is Jubal's invention by right: Vulcan with his
Cyclops, passed for him who had taught to forge iron and other
metals, in place of Tubal-Cain: Bacchus, with them, was the God
of ^Ae -wzrae, which .A/baA dressed; substituting at every moment
their modern divinities, in room of the ancient patriarchs, whom
we learn from Scripture to have been the fiist and true inventors
of arts. They were mere children, as Aristotle taxes tiiem,
whenever they had occasion to speak of remote times. They were
even so weak as to believe, that it was their colonies who had
peopled all the other countries, and derived the names of such of
them as they knew, from the names of their heroes. Thus Eu-

96 HISTORY or IDOLATRV. CHAl'. I.

ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

rope was deiived from Eurojia tlie sister of Cad/nus; Asia from
the mother of Promctlieus; Africa from the daughter of Jifiafihe;
Armenia from Annenus; Media from Aledus; the Persians from
Perseus; and so of others: not knowing that such names were
given to places at their being first inhabited, as denoted the quali-
ties of the country or the manners and customs of the people who
came to it, as the learned Bochart proves. Thus Europe got
the name from the xvhiteness of its inhabitants) &cc.— Indeed the
smallest ambiguities gave rise to a fable. Plutarch, in the life
of Lycurgus, tells us, upon the authority of an ancient, that
Apollo having given some Cretans a Dol/ihin for their guide, they
came to Phocis, where they built the town Cyrra: we plainly see
they had been conveyed thither in a shi/i named the Dolphin,
Whenever they had occasion to find out the origin of tov/ns and
the founders of them, it was always some hero, a son of some of
their Gods. The city of Cyparisso in Phocis, was environed with
cypress trees, whence it had the name; and that of Daulis in the
same country, was also encompassed with trees, whence its name
Avas borrowed: these originals were too simple, they chose ra-
ther to have recourse to one Cijfiarissus, and to the pretended
Daulis a tyrant, who gave their names to these two cities. Lyco-
reus had built that of Lycoreus upon the Parnassus, which had
got its name from the many wolves that were there. We might
add here an infinite number of examples, but these may suffice
for what I have just now advanced. So that it is not among the
Greek writers we are to seek for the origin of ancient nations^
l\ov oiher monunie7its of antiquity; they did nothing but copy from
the Egyptians and other Eastern people, who had themselves
filled their ancient history whh fables. It is therefore in the Sacred
Scrifiture that the truth of antiquity must be sought after: the
profane historians comnience only at the lime of Ezra, that is,
the last of the sacred historians, unless you take in the author of
the Maccabees. Homer himself, and Hesiod, their most ancient

CHAP. t. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 97

SEC. III. ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

poets, and their greatest divines too, lived not till a lont;; time af-
ter the war of Troy. As for Dares tlie Phrygian, Dictys of Crete,
and some others, granting they were not fictitious authors, as
they really were, they must have lived but about the time of the
Trojan war, a period corresponding to the time of the Judges;
and would still have been much later than the events recorded by
MosEs. So that the Greeks were far from being instructed in the
history of the times a little farther back, and their history never
had any shew of probability, till the time of the Oly?n/imds, hefove
which Vahro owns, there is nothing to be seen in it but confusion
and c/iitnaras. — But to clear up this whole matter, and to ascer-
tain the time when fables arose, we must distinguish three sorts
of time; the times unknown, the fabulous, and the historical. The
Jirst, the times unknown, which are as it wer« the infancy and
nonage of the world, comprehended what had passed from the
Chaosf or rather from the creation, to the deluge of Ogyges, which
fell out towards the 1600th year before Christ. The second, the
fabulous ti77ies, take in a series of events from this deluge until
the first Olympiad, where the third division called historical
time, begins. It is proper to remark, that this famous division
made by Varro, has a regard only to the Greek history; for not
only the Israelites, but even the Egyptians and Phenicians, had
some knowledge of the earliest times, by means of tradition and
annals, though often dashed with fables: but here we have to do
only with the Greeks, who had but a very confused knowledge of
the first ages of the world; and it is within the compass of the se-
cond period that we are to place the origin of that prodigious
number of ./aWes we find dispersed through their poets. It must
however be acknowledged, that all the ages of the fabulous pe-
riod, were not equally fruitful in fables and heroism: without
doubt, the one that has furnished us with the greatest stock of
them, was that of the siege of Troy, That famous city was twice
taken; the first time by Hercules; and 30 or 35 years after, that is

98 HISTORY OP IDOLATRY. CHAP. i.

ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM. SEC. IH.

to say, the year before Christ 1282, by the Grecian army, under
the conduct of Jgamemnon. At the time of its being first taken,
we see upon the stage, Telamon, Hercules, Theseus, Jason, Or-
pheus, Castor and Pollux, and all those other heroes of the golden
Jleece. At the second siege appear the sons or grandsons of the
former, Agamevmon, Menelaus, Achilles, Diomede, Ajax, Hector^
Paris, Mneas^ Sec; and in the time which intervened between
these two epochs, happened the tnao ivars of Thebes, where ap-
peared Adrastus, CEdi/ius, Etheocles, Polynices, Cafifianeus, and
numbers of others, the eternal subjects of poetical fables: Happy
age for poems and tragedies! Accordingly the theatres of Greece
have a thousand times resounded with these illustrious names.
To which we may add, that those of the present time ring with
them every day; insomuch that the heroes of our own age, who
often deserve the name better than those of antiquity, dare not
appear there but under borrowed names. Nor is this the thing
that surprises most; no, it is to seethe Divinities of /'a^arayas/uon
introduced every day upon our stages: despicable Divinities! ex"
hibiting in christian cities the hideous representation of their de-
baucheries; insomuch that one is doubly shocked, to see ancient
idolatry revived there with all the pomp and pageantry it former-
ly wore at Athens or Rome, and to think on the dangerous lessons
our youth imbibe from a system of mere Pagan morality*
===== Ignorance of languages, the Phenician espe-
rance of'Tanffua- cially, has also been a source of an infinite deal
S^^- of fables. It is certain that several countries in

Greece were peopled by colonies from Pheni-
cia; whose language, without doubt, would mix itself with that of
the countries they came into; and as the Phenician language has
many equivocal words, the Greeks, who in aftertimes read their
ancient history, which abounded with Phenician idioms, finding
therein these equivocal words, were sure to explain them in a sense
that was most to their taste. There is even little room to doubt,

CHAP. I. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 99

SEC. III. ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

but that the Phenicians, knowing what strong propensity they had
towards fictions, would impose upon their credulity as often as
they were consulted. This was the origin of numberless fables;
of which the following are examples, most of them taken from
BocHART. The word Alfiha^ or Iljihut in the Phenician lan-
guage, signifying either a bull or a ship; the Greeks instead of
saying Eurojm had been conveyed in a shifi into Crete, gave out
that Jufiiter, transformed into a bull., had carried her off. In the
same language, the Phenicians call themselves Hevecns, or Achi'
■viens; and as the word Chiva signifies a serfient^ the Greeks
lighting upon it in the annals of Cadmus, feigned the story of that
prince's being changed into a serfient. And from the word Ar,
which imports a song., they have made up the fable of Sirens.
Molus had never passed among them for the god of the winds and
tempests, but for the word jEoI^ or Choi., which signifies a tem-
fiest. That fable, which says the ship of the Argonauts spoke^
and that Minerva had set at the helm one of the oaks of the forest
oi Dodona, that gave oracular responses, owes its origin likewise
to a double entendre in the Phenician tongue, where the same
wo'.d signifies, to speak, and to govern a ship. From the word
Moun, or Mon^ which imports vice^ they have made the God
Momus, the censor of the faults of men. The fable of the famous
fountain of Castalia, in Bceotia, takes its rise in like manner from
an equivocal sound; for, as it runs with a murmuring noise that
appeared to have something singular, and the effect of its water
being to disorder the imagination of those who drank it, they fan-
cied at first it communicated the gift of prophecy; and when the
question was, how it came by this virtue, they invented this fable:
A nymph, say they, was beloved by Apollo; while the god was one
day in pursuit of her, she threw herself into this fountain; Apollo,
as a consolation for his mistress, imparted to the water the gift of
prophecy. Had the Greeks understood the Hebrew language,
they might easily have seen that the word Castalia, comes from

100 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. I.

ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM. SEC. HI.

Caslala, wliich signifies noise; nor would they have run into such
ridiculous fables, the ordinary resort of their ignorance. We
have much the same account to give of the origin of the fountain
Hifipocrene^ which, theysay, sprung forth upon Pegasus's striking
his foot against mount Helicon, because the word Pigran, whence
comes Hi/ifngrann, and then^ e Hipjiocrene, imports to spring from,
the earth. The fable of the fountain Arethusa and Alfiheus her
lover, so well described by Ovid, has its foundation in nothing
else but such a poor quibble. The Phenicians, upon their arri-
val in Sicily, seeing that fountain environed with willows, named
it perhaps Alphaga, as much as to say, the fountain of ivillows,
Ti)e Greeks who landed afterwards in the same place, not under-
standing the signification of the word, and calling to mind their
river Al/iheus, imagined, that since \.\\q fountain and the river had
nearly the same name, they must have had the same original too;
and upon this, some sprightly wit made up the romance of the
amours between the god of the river and the nymfih Arethusa.
Almost all the succeeding historians were befooled by this fable,
and gravely told that .4lfiheus sunk under ground, crossed the
sea, and re-appeared in the island of Sicily, nigh to the fountain
of .drethusa. One and the same Phenician root of the word
.Yahhasch might easily stand for a keefier, or a dragon: when they
read any history where this word occurred, to denote the keeper of
something of value, they were sure to say it was a dragon. Hence
all those fables of the famous dragons, whom they set to keep the
garden of the Hesperides, the golden feece^ the cave at Delphi, SiXiA
the famous fountain of Thebes. In tl^fe room of men they have
set over them so many monsters; and what has authorised the
freedom they took, in applying the Phenician word to that sense,
is, that to be the guardian of a thing of worth, and to watch for its
])reservalion, one must be vigilant and sharp-sighted. This is
what has often deceived PAL.ffiPHASTWs, Diodorus, and some
others, who, for explaining these fables, have substituted others

CHAP. I. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 101

SEC. III. ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

in their room, and introduced personages to whom they have
given the name of Draco. — Just so when the poets tell us, that
the Gods terrified by the menaces of the Giants^ disguised them-
selves in Egypt under the figures of several animals; which is
founded upon bare allusions to the Phenician or Hebrew names,
which gave occasion to these fables. And to condescend upon
examples, it is unquestionably certain, that their reason for trans-
forming the God Anubis into a dog^ is, that A^obeah signifies, to
bark: Afiis into an ox^ because Abir signifies an ox: Juno into a
heifer.^ because Astarot, which was Juno's name, signifies Jlocks:
and Venus into ajish, because Dag, which was that of Venus, or
Astarte, imports a ^s/i. — Here a world of examples might be
produced; for, not only the equivocal words in the eastern lan-
guages have made way for numberless fables, but those of other
languages besides. The equivocal words in Greek, for instance,
have produced a vast number. From Crios^ which was the name
of the governor to Athamas's children, and signified a ram; they
have made up the fable of the ram with the golden Jieece, as we
shall show at more length, when it comes to be explained. In
like mannei', they have turned Lycaon into a ivolf, because his
name and the name of that animal are the same. They have
given it out that Cyrus Avas suckled by a bitchy because his mirsey
the wife of Astyages's cow-herd, was called in Greek, Cxjno^ and
in the language of the Medes, Sfiaco, names which import a
biich. That Ve7ius sprung from sea-foam.^ because Aphrodite,
which was the name given to that goddess, signified ybam. That
the temple of Delphi had been built with nvax by the nvings of the
bees which Apollo had brought from the Hyperborean regions,
because Peteras, whose name imports a •wing, had been the archi-
tect. The same thing is to be said of other fables, where we
meet with some infants that have been nursed by she-goats, as
iEgisthes; or by a hind, as Telephus, the son of Hercules; be-
cause their names answer to the names of these animals.

102 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. I

ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

■• As it frequently happened that one and the

Fifth, 1 he Pin- , , ,

rality or Unity same person had several names, a case very com-

of Names. ^^j^ among the Eastern nations; in process of

lime, they who came to read their undigested
histories, and inconsistent adventures, mistook them for different
persons. Hence that multiplicity of heroes; the actions and tra-
vels of one were distributed among several; by Mercury, for ex-
ample, was designed Thaut in Egypt; Teutat among our ancient
Gauls; i/frmcs among the Greeks: Pluto is the Dis of the Celtae,
the Ades of the Greeks; the Stimmanus of the Latins; the Soranus
of the Sabines. And as sometimes the hero or God was not known
in one country, but under a single name, and they knew little
about his exploits elsewhere; when they came to read of other
adventures, other names, or other qualities than those they had
heard of they never questioned but they related to different per-
sons; hence th.ii prodigious number of Jufiiters, Mercurys, 8cc.
Sometimes again we have this practice inverted; and when the
case was, that several persons went under the same name, they
ascribed to one what belonged to many, and the adventures of all
were crowded into the history of him who was best known. Such
is the history of the Hercules of Thebes, where they have foisted
in the actions and travels of the Phenician Hercules, and several
other heroes of the same name. Such likewise is the history of
Jupiter, the son- of Solurris where they have amassed the adven-
tures of several kings of Crete, who bore the same name, which
was common with their ancient kings; as that of Pharaoh or
Ptolemy was in Egypt, or that of ^asar among the Roman em-
perors.

• • History has likewise siiffered a great deal from
m rveUous rt-h- *^^^ many fabulous relations, that have been in-

tions of travel- troduced by travellers and 7nerchants. People
lers. , . ,

.„.„„,.,„„,„,.;..„,.,^i^ in that way of life are often ignorant and inclined

to falsehood; thus it was easy for such to deceive others who bad

CHAP. i. HISTORY OF IDOLATllY. lOJ

SEC. III. ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

but little means of detecting them; for in those early times geo-
graphy was but little known, and navigation was brought to no
great perfection; wherefore the circumstances of distant regions
were eiiveloped in darkness, and were made to assume whatever
character such travellers chose to impose, which were generally
of a doleful or hideous cast. Accordingly when they came to
relate their voyages, they mingled with them a deal of fable; they
never spoke of the Ocean but as a place overspread with dark-
ness, where the Sun went every evening to bed in the palace of
Tethys. The rocks that forn) the streights of Scylla and Charyb-
disy passed for two monsters that swallowed up their ships. The
Symfilegades or the Cyanex., at the mouth of the Euxine sea, were
represented as though they run together to devour vessels as they
were sailing between them. The Cimmerians were represented
as a people buried in eternal darkness; the Arimasliians and Issc'
doniansf as men that had but one eye; the Hyperboreans^ as a race
that lived a thousand years without pain or sickness, and distressed
with none of the injuries of life. Here was a people covered over
with feathers; there man-monsters who wanted heads, as the AcO'
phali; or having dog's heads, as the Cynocefihali; some w hose ears
reached down to their heels; others, in fine, who had but one foot;
for such are the ridiculous fictions their relations of the Indies
and northern regions were made up of: every where they were
obliged to quell tremendous monsters. If any one visited the Per-
sian gulph, he told how he had come to the extremity of the rising
Sun, and to that region where Aurora opens the barrier of the
day. Perseusy for having stoutly ventured to pass the streights
of Gibraltar, in his way to the Orkneys, had the winged Pegasus
given him, with the equipage of Pluto and Mercury; as if it had
been impossible to accomplish so long a voyage without some
supernatural assistance. What ridiculous fables, what childish
fictions do we meet with in the spurious Orpheus^ in Apollo-
Nius Rhodius, on the subject of the return of the Argonauts!

104 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. 1.

ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM. SEC. III.

how many unknown countries and people do they light upon in
that chimerical voyage! Who is there can tell where lay the Cim-
merians of Homer, and where the island of Cahj/iso?
======= It was a custom with the ancients to praise their

eloq^uence'of eiu ^^^''"^^ after their death, and upon their festival
logizing Orators, flays, in studied panegyrics, where the young
""""""""*"" Orators, whose genius they wanted to prove by
these first essays, gave themselves full liberty to feign and invent,
believing this would gain them a character for sprightliness. Thus
they made it their business to represent their heroes, not what
they had been, but such as they ought to be, according to the chi-
merical notions of greatness they had formed to themselves. They
especially never failed to exalt them to Heaven, and confer divin-
ity upon them without the least reserve; thiswasthe title to nobi-
lity most sought after in early times. These Orators, far from being-
blamed, were praised for their fertile inventions; their best perfor-
mances were preserved; they frequently learned them by heart;
and if they were verses or songs, they sung them in public. Out of
these memorials they afterwards composed histories: the historian
himself was not sorry to be the publisher of extraordinary things
which were warranted only by these relations. Diodorus tells
something like this of the Egyptians, with respect to their deceas-
ed kings: he says, the whole kingdom went into mourning, and
that they sung the praises of the dead in verse: these funeral
pieces, no doubt, were preserved by the priests, who made use of
them in writing the history of these princes. The Greeks, great
imitators of the Egyptians, practised this method, not only towards
their kings, but likewise towards those who had planted colonies,
or brought any art to perfection among them. It is easy to con-
ceive that this practice must have introduced numbers of fables
into history; for what is not a lively wanton imagination capable of,
when licensed to roam unconfined over the wide field of flattering
ideas! — If one was to attempt, even novv^-a-days, to compile a his-

CHAP. 1. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. iOo

ITS PROGRESS TO SYbTEM.

tory of our own heroes from most of their panegyrics, or their
funeral sermons, it would be no less fabulous than those of anti-
quity, except in point of deification. I am not at all surprised that
ancient history should be so full of fables, when it was written
upon such precarious memorials; but I am astonished to see the
sottish vanity of the Roman historians, who ha^e so often given
into the fabulous, either to flatter their emperors, or that they
might not come short of the Greeks in the marvellous, or to shew
the visible protection of the Gods over their great men. Hence
those frequent apotheoses^ that multitude of prodigies they relate
so gravely, and whatever else of the supernatural kind their histo-
ries are full of.

' Poets are undoubtedly the persons by whom
Fictions 'and ex- fables have been mostly produced in the world.
aggerations. ^g ^j^gy have always aimed at pleasing more

"""""'""""""' than instructing, they preferred an ingenious
falsehood to a known truth. If a Poet had occasion to flatter, or
console a dejected prince upon the loss of a son, it was but giving
him a place among the Stars or among the Gods, as Lactan-
Tius has it. Such as had been lovers of the Belles-Lettres, were
considered either as sons, or favorites oS. Apollo: this was the rea-
son why Hyacinth passed for the minion of that God; and because
he was killed by the stroke of a coit which unluckily glanced aside,
they feigned that Boreas in a fit of jealousy was the author of that
accident. Success justified the happy rashnessof the poets; their
works were read with pleasure, and nothing in them pleased so
much as fiction: they laid it down as a maxim in poetry, never
to tell a thing in a natural way. The shepherdesses were nymphs
or naides; ships became sometimes Jlying horses, as in the story
of Bellerophon; and sometimes dragons, as in that of Medea: the
shepherds were all satyrs or fauns; and men on horseback were
Centaurs: every lover of music was Apollo; and e\ ery physician, an
Esculapius: yoxxvfne singers ail, so many Muses; and every beauty

106 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. I.

ITS PHOGUES3 TO SYSTEM. SEC. III.

a Venus: leivd %vomen were Syrens and Harpies; and every
celebrated huntress, a Diana: oranges, must be apples of gold;
and arrows and daris were lightning and thunder-bolts. — They
even went farther: for finding they were masters of painting and
caricaturing persons and things as they pleased, to shew that
their art lay chiefly in fiction, they made it their particular study
to contradict the truth; and for fear of agreeing with the histo-
rians, they changed the characters of the persons they spoke of.
HoMEU, of a faithless prostitute, has made his prudent chaste
Penelope; and Virgil, of a traitor to his country, has given us
the pious hero; of a renegado who lost a battle against Mazentius,
and with it his life, he has made a conqueror and Demi-God. The
same poet has made no scruple to dishonour a princess of strict
virtue, and to divest her of the reputation she had for chastity and
courage, to give her an infamous fiassion, and a cowardice capable
of despair. All of them have conspired to make Tantalus pass for
a miser, and have set him as such in the centre of Hell, where he
suffers a cruel punishment, in proportion to his avarice; though
as Pindar relates it, he was a most religious prince, and a very
generous man. — But it was not merely inclination to soothe and
flatter, that laid the poets under the necessity of forgery and lies;
they were often obliged to it by the meanness of their subjects.
What they had to say would frequently have been low and vulgar^
unless they had artfully brought in something fictitious and su-
pernatural. If one were to make an analysis of their poems, they
might be reduced to almost nothing: there are numbers of mer-
chants and soldiers, who have gone through many more occa-
sional dangers, than either JEneas, Ulysses, or Achilles, What
would the Mneid, Iliad, or Odyssey be, was it not for the eternal
interposition of the Gods, and perpetual mixture of truths of
small concern, with the most interesting fictions? A man saved
from his country's ruin, in company with other exiles, fits out a
few ships; embarks, and arrives in Thrace? in Macedon, and

CHAP. I. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 107

SEC. III. ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

some of the Archipelago ishmcls; after staying some time in
Crete, he goes on to Sicily, where having passed the streights of
Messana, he arrives at length in Italy by the mouth of the Tiber,
where he first killed his rival, and then married. Another is ab-
sent from his native home for many years; in the mean time his
family affairs are all in disorder, his estate is squandered away,
his wife and son are harassed; at length, after having undergone
some dangers, he finds out some of his domestics, who had per-
severed in their duty, and with their assistance, sets all again to
rights by destroying his enemies. Another having fallen out with
jlgamemnon^ Avithdraws to his tent: the Trojans take advantage
of the misunderstanding between the generals, gain the superiori-
ty, beat the Greeks, force their entrenchments, set fire to their
ships; Patroclus borrows the armour of Achilles and kills Sarfie-
do7i; Hector avenges the death of his friend, and kills Patroclus,
then Jchilles leaves the tent, and drives the Trojans back to their
walls; and having forced them to enter the town, finds Hector
alone, kills him, and drags his dead body round the tomb of his
friend, to whom he pei forms magnificent funeral rites. — Here
you see the three finest poems we have now extant, founded on
very ordinary pieces of history, and supported by the merit of
heroes of no extraordinary character; thus, their authors were
obliged to furnish numberless fables to bear them out, and to
embellish the truths they blended with them. Instead of saying,
for example, Ulijsses arrived incognito at Meinour's house, Ho-
mer makes him be conducted by Minerva., who covers him with
BLcloud. Virgil, who faithfully imitates the Greek poet, brings
JEneas and Dido together after the same manner, under the con-
duct of Venus. If the delights of the country of the Lotofihagi
detained Ulysses's companions too long, we are told, it was the
fruits of that island made those who eat of them lose all remem-
brance of their native home. Do they loiter at Cercc's court,
giving a loose to riot and debauchery? this pretended sorceress is

108 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. I.

ITS PROCKESS TO SYSTEM. SEC. III.

said to have transformed them into sivine. We are not to be told
simply, that Ulysses was exposed to a great many storms; he
must likewise suffer the addition of JS/'efitiine's resentment, who
takes this way to avenge his son Polyphemus. What mysteries,
what preparations before Achilles kills Hector 1 his mother brings
him the armour of Vulcan's manufacture^ and had dipt him into the
Styx to make him invulnerable. Minerva takes the form of
DeifihobuSf to impose upon Hector by the imagined assistance of
his brother. Jupiter takes the scales, weighs the destinies of those
two heroes; and seeing Hector's sink down as far as Hell^ he aban-
dons him, and Jchillcs takes away his life. Nothing is done
among them but by machinery; for every purpose they employ
the power of some Deity. " There every method of enchanting
us is practised, all nature assumes a Body^ and looks, and lives,
and thinks; every virtue becomes a Divinity; Minerva is pru-
dence, and Venus beauty. It is no longer the exhalations that pro-
duce the thunder — it is Jupiter armed, to affright mortals. The
mariners behold the threatning storm arise — it is angry JVefitune
chiding the waves. Echo is no longer a sound that vibrates in the
air — it is a nymph in tears bewailing her A'arcissus" — so says
Boileau. — Thus it is the poets adorn their subjects, and fill them
with sprightly and ingenious images You need not be apprehen-
sive of their saying in a simple way, that the troops of the two
Aloidai those proud Giunts who made war upon ^w/izfer, increased
their forces by new levies; they will say, these Giants themselves
grew a cubit every day. Uomeu, instead of describing, that after
the bloody battle which was fought upon the banks of Xanthusy
the channel of the river having been choaked up with dead bodies,
the water overflowed its banks ynd flooded all the plain, till they
took these bodies out of the water, and kindling a funeral-pile
consumed them to ashes; instead of this, the poet images that the
river feeling himself oppressed in his channel, complained of it
to jichillesy and not receiving satisfaction from that hero, he swell-

CHAP. I, HISTORY OP mOLATRY. 109

SEC. III. ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

ed against him, and pursued him with so much rapidity that he
had certainly drowned him, if Xep.tune and Minerva., commis-
sioned by Jufiiter.) had not given him promises of a speedy satis-
faction. The same poet, when he would let us know that the
inundations of the sea, sometime after the retreat of the Greeks,
demolished the famous Ayall they had reared up during the siege
of Troy, to screen themselves from the attacks of the enemy,
says that Kefitune provoked by this enterprise of the Greeks,
asked permission from Jufiiter to beat it down with his trident;
and having engaged Ajiollo in his quarrel, they laboured in con-
cert to overturn the work. If the Phenician vessel which had car-
ried Ulysses to Ithaca, is shipwrecked in its return, we are sure
to be told that JSTefitune was so angry, that he turned it to a rock.
If Turnus caused JEneas's fleet to be burned, Virgil brings Cy-
bele into play, who transforms these vessels into sea-nymfihs.
Wherever any fine buildings were to be seen, such as the ivalls of
Troy, the towers of Argos, and others, it was always the Gods
who had been their architects. — We must add to what has been
just said, that almost the whole of those we find in the metamor-
/ihoses of Ovid, in Hyginus, and Antoninus Liberalis, are
merely founded upon figurative and metaphorical ways of speak-
ing: they are commonly real matters of fact, with an addition of
some supernatural circumstance by way of embellishment.
. The Painters and Statuaries, tJfc., working upon

Jrinth, "® poetical fancies, may be reckoned instrumental
tuaries, &c. in propagating some fables; and to them, per-

"~~—""^~~~ haps, we owe in part at least, the existence of
centaurs, sirens, harpies, nymphs, satyrs, and fauns, which they
have painted from the portraitures of them given by the poets, or
from some relations of travellers and fishermen. They have even
frequently promoted the credit of fabulous stories, by represent-
ing them with art; a thing so true, as I shall take notice afterwards,

110 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. T.

ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM. SEC. III.

that the Pagans ov^ed the existence of many of their Gods, to some

line statues, or pictures well finished.

■■■■ To all these sources of fable we may add, a

Te?jM, Pretended ^ ., , -.^, , ,. tt r -i

'nterv ews with ^o"*^^^" ^° ^'^'"^ ^'^'^ honour oj the laaies. It a trail

the Gods. princess yielded to her lover, there were flatterers

"~^~^~~"°~'" enough to call in some friendly Deity to screen
her reputation: he could be no other than a God in human form
who had triumphed over.the coy^ insensible fair ; by this means her
reputation was safe, and the gallantries of that sort, far from being
infamous, were highly honourable. There was not a man, not ex-
cepting even the good-natured spouse himself, but humoured the
thing; and the story of Paulina and Mundus is not the only monu-
ment we have of the sottish credulity of husbands. Mundus, a
young Roman knight, had deeply fallen in love with Paulina, a
m^irried lady, and after all his eflbrts to touch her heart had prov-
ed in vain, he bethought himself of gaining the priest oi Anubis,
who assured Paulina that the God was enamoured with her — that
very night was Paulina led to the temple by her strangely im-
pressed, credulous husbayid. A few days after, Mundus, whom she
chanced to meet, let her into the secret of his base artifice. Paulina,
in a desperate fit, carried her complaint before Tiberius; who, as
much Tiberius as he was, caused the priest of Anubis to be burnt,
the statue of the God to be thrown into the Tiber, and Mundus to
be sent into exile. — Certain it is, that an infinite deal of fables draw
their origin from this source: witness that of Rhea Silvia, the
mother of Rhemus and Romulus: her uncle Amulius got into her
cell, and her father Numitor spread it abroad that the twins she
brought forth had been the offspring of the God of war. Often the
priests themselves, when they were not proof against a woman's
charms, made her believe she was the favourite of the God they
served, and she put herself in order for lying in the temple, whi-
ther she was conducted by the parents in form. Thus at Babylon,
a woman, one or another of those whom Jupiter Belus had autho-

CHAP. I. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. Ill

SEC. III. ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

rised his priests to single out, laid in the temple every night: from
such practices arose that great stock of children the poets have
fathered upon the Gods. And this, in effect, generated the follow-
ing ridiculous cause of many fables and fabulous Deities, viz. —
======= That the great men of those times were com-

to be reclToned of ™only actuated by ^foolish ambition of being
Divme ongm. thought descended from Gods. To be heroes,

~"~~~~~~~~" nothing less would satisfy them, than to have
Jupiter or ApoUo for their ancestors; and we may be sure there
■were genealogists to be found then, full as complaisunt as at pre-
sent; so that they were at no great loss to get the branches of
their family commenced from the stock of some God: according-
ly almost all the ancient pedigrees were much in this manner, —
Jufiiter was the founder of the family, after him came Hercules^
&c. 8cc.

- From the worship of the Surij the Moon, and

Es^^viz l^st" t'^® Stay's, whom we have shown to have been

The adoration of ^y^^ f^^,^^ Qq^Is of the Pagans, they proceeded to

physical objects

—their tutelar the worship of other physical objects; when they

^^^^^^^' looked up(Jn Nature herself, or the World, as a

Divinity. This universal Nature is what the Assyrians adored un-
der the name oi Belus; the Phenicians, under that oi Moloch; the
Egyptians oi Hammon; the Arcadians, of Pan; the Romans, of
Jupiter: and, as if the World had been too great to be governed by
one sole God, they assigned to every part of it a particular Deity,
that he might have the more leisure and less trouble in governing
it; or, in other words, it was Nature in her various scenes they
intended to adore; and over each of her parts a Divinity was made
to preside. They worshipped the Earth, under the name oi Rhea,
Tellus, Ops, Cybele; the Fire, under those of Vulcan and Vesta;
the Water of the sea and rivers, under those of Oceanus, Neptune^
Kerens, the Nereids, Nymphs and Naiads; the Air and Winds, un-
der the names of Jupiter and Molus, Salacia was the goddess of

112 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. 1.

ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM. SEC. III.

tempests; VoUonia dnd Ejiunda took care of things exposed to the
air. The Woods had their Satijisy Faiinsf and Hamadryads, ap-
pointed them, with Pa?i and Sylvarius at their head. The God
Terminus presided over the fields and marches; Ceres presided
over the harvest fields; and Flora, Pomona, Vertumnus, and Pria-
fius, were guardians of orchards, fiowers andfiruits; as Deverrona
watched over the crofis: Seia had the care of the grain newly
sown; Proserpina, when the stalk was forming; Segetia, when it
began to spring up; Patelina, when it was ready to put forth the
ear; and Tutilina to preserve it in the granaries, with many
others.

■'■ We have seen the reasons that induced men

2cl The adora."
tion 'of mankind ^° adore some of their oivn species. Gratitude,

—their tutelar ^^^ affection of a wife to her beloved spouse, or
Deities. ^

===== of a mother to her darling son; the beauty of
the works of the statuary, illustrious achievements, the invention
of necessary arts; all these made them honour the memory of
some great men, and were obligations upon them to preserve their
pictures, and distinguish their sepulchres, which at last became
public temples, as proved by Eusebsus and Clemens Alexax-
DRiNUs: such were the tombs oi ytcrisius,oi Cecrops, Erichthoni-
us, Clemachus, Cinyras, and several others. — It was in Egypt and
Phenicia that this sort of idolatry began; and in the former, pro-
bably not long after the death of Osiris and Isis. They having dis-
tinguished themselves by their shining merit, the people whom
they had taught agriculture, and several necessary arts, thought
they could not otherwise acquit themselves of the infinite obliga-
Mons they had laid them under, but by honouring them as Divini-
ties. But because it might have appeared shocking to see divine
honours paid to persons but newly dead, it was probably given out,
that their souls were reunited with the orbs, from which they had
formerly come, according to their conception, to animate their
corporeal frames. From that time, they were taken for the Sun

CHAP. I. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 11^

SEC. III. ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

and ^l/oow, and their wofslup was confounded wiih tliat ol" these
two luminaries. This custom of diifijing men, was propagated from
Egypt to other nations, and we find that the Chaldeans, much
about the same time, raised their Belus to the order of the Gods.
The Syrians, Phenicians, Greeks, and Romans, all of them imitat-
ed the Egyptians and Chaldeans; and //eax'fTz, as Cicero observes,
was soon peopled with deified mortals: which was likewise true in
another sense, since upon iheii' deification, they gave out that their
souls were united to certain Stars, which they chose for their ha-
bitation. Thus, Andromeda, Cefi/ieus, Perseus and Cavszo^ac, made
up the constellations that bear their names; Hi/ifiolytus, the sign
of the charioteer; Esaila/iius, that of the Serpent^; Gani/mede, that
of Aquarius; Phxton, that of the Chariot; Castor and Pollux^
that of Gemini, or the twins; Erigone and ^strea, were Vir-
go; Atergatis, or rather Venus and Cu/dd, took that of Pisces
or the Fishes; and so of others. This custom passed to almost
every country, and penetrated even into China, where the
astronomers called the twenty-eight constellations, which in
their system comprehended all the stars, by the names of as
many of their heroes, whom they affiimed to have been trans-
formed into stars. The Egyptians only gave the names of
animals to the constellations, and this was the fouiidation of that
worship they afterwards paid to them. — For children, were invok-
ed the Goddess JVascio or JVafio, Ofiis, Rumina, Patina, Cumina,
JLevana, Paventia, Carnea, Edusa, Ossilago, Statilinus, Vagitanus,
Fabulinus, Juventa, A''ondina, Orbona; and this last Goddess was
for orfihans, or to comfort fathers and mothers for the loss oftheir
children. When the child was laid upon the ground, they recom-
mended him to the Gods Pilumiius and Picumnus: for fear too that
the God Sylvanus should do him harm, there were three other
Divinities who watched at the gates, Jntercido, Pilumnus, and
Deverra; it being a custom at the nati'.iiy of a child, to knock at
the gate first with an axe, then with a mullet, and last oflia to sweep

114 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. I.

ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM. SEC. III.

the porch; believing that Sylvanus seeing these three signs, durst
not attempt to harm the children, whom he thus judged to be
under the protection of those three Divinities. Statilinus presided
over children's education; Fabulinus taught them to speak; Pa-
■ventia kept away from them frightful, terrifying objects; J\ondina,
presided over the names given them; Cumina had the chai'ge of
the cradle; in fine, Rumiu preserved the milk of their mothers.
The Efiidotes were Gods that presided over the growth of children,
as their names declare. The beauteous Hebe and Horn also pre-
sided over youth, and Senuius over old age. They likewise invent-
ed Gods for every part of the body: the Sun presided over the
heart; Jufiiter over the head and liver; Mars over the entrails;
Minerva over the eyes and fingers; Juno over the eye-brows;
Pluto over the back; Venus over the veins; Saturn over the spleen;
Mercury over the tongue; Tethys over the feet; the Moon over
the stomach; Genius and Modesty over the forehead; Memory
over the eyes; Faith or Bona Fides overihe right hand; and
Comfiassion over the knees.

' To complete the absurdity, brute animals of

lion of brute a'ni- almost every description, enjoyed a considerable

mals— their tute- portion of the Pagan worship: nor was it only

lar Deities.

^^^^1^^^;^;;^ pariiculur persons that offered them incense and

sacrifices, but whole cities, where their worship was established:

thus Memphis and Heliopolis adored the Ox; Sais and Thebes

the Sheep; Cynopolis the dogs; Mendes the goats; the Assyrians

the pigeons. In some towns they worshipped the jnonkeysy in

others the crocodiles and lizards, the ravens, the storks, the eagle^

the lion; and these towns even frequently bore the names of the

animals that were the objects of their worship, as Cynopolis,

Leontopolis, Mendes, &c. The Jishes too became the object of a

superstitious worship, not only among the Syrians, who durst not

so much as eat of them, but also in several towns in Egypt, Ly-

dia and other countries. Some placed upon their altars eelsj others

CHAP. I. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 115

SEC. III. ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

tortoises^ and others Jiikes. — They had likewise a Hififiona for
horses; a Bulona for oxen; and a Mellona for bees, &.c.

' They did not stop here; even the reptiles and

ration of reptiles' ^'^^ insects received divine honours. The ser-
insects & stones, fients were worshipped in Egypt, and in several
■■'—^—'—— other countries. Epidaurus and Rome had tem-
ples erected to the adder ^ which they believed represented Escu'
lapius. The Thessalians honoured the fiismires^ to whom they
thought they owed their original; the Acarnanians the Jiies; and
if the inhabitants of Accaron did not worship them, they at least
offered incense to the genius who drove them away, and Beelze-
bub was their great Divinity. — In fine, the very stones were the
object of public worship; as that called Abidir which Saturn had
swallowed, instead of his son Jujiiter when an infant; and that
which among the Phrygians represented the mother of the Gods;
as also that which represented the God Terminus.^ who was a sort
of march'Stone or rock used as a land mark.

======= The passions too and affections had Divinities

5th, The Dei- • i . .i i .u • u .

ties assigned to assigned to them, and there was no crime but

the Passions and had a patron Deity: Venus and Pn'a/zws presided

Affections.

;;^s;;s==^ over generation; Morpheus over sleep; Juturna

among the Latins, and Hyg^eia among the Greeks, were the God-
desses of health; and Jaso of sickness, Murcia was the Goddess
of sloth; and Agenoria inspired courage. They established a BeU
lona and a Mars for war. The adultress owned Jupiter; the ladies
of gallantry, Venus; jealous wives, Juno; and the pick-pockets,
Mercury and the Goddess Lavernu. This is not all; there were
Destinies to over-rule every action in life. Over marriage pre-
sided Juno^ Hyinenius, Thalassius, Lucina, Jugatinus^ Domiducus,
and several others, whose infamous occupations are enough to put
every virtuous person to the blush. Momus was the God of raille-
ry; for jollity, Vetula; for pleasures, Volupta, The great talkers
invoked Aius Locutius; while Harpocrates and Sigalion were the

116 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. I.

ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM. SEC. III.

Gods of silence. Pravor, Timor ^ Pallor, were those whose inven-
tion was owing to terror, fear, and paleness which accompanies
them. Imprudence itself had its tutelar Divinity, whom they
made Coalemus: Catius made persons smart and witty; and Comus
the God of revels, gay and contented. In fine, there was nothing
which had not a friendly divinity. The Romans had two of them
for love; the one for mutual flames, the other to avenge slighted
love; and this passion was a Divinity of the greatest antiquity, and
most universally adored. The same people had likewise two
temples of modesty, one dedicated to the chastity of the nobles^
and the other to that of the fiopulace. — To be brief, the Pagans
deified every -virtue, as well as every vice. Every where there
were to be seen temples erected \.o peace, to vicforij, io faith, to
clemency, io piety, Xo poverty, to justice, to liberty, to concord, to
fortune, to discord, to ambition, to mercy, to wodesty, io prudence,
to 'wisdom, to honour, to truth, and an infinity of otliers.

======= Men v.ere apprehensive of evil, desirous of

6th, The tutelar , , , .»,..,..

Deities for parti- good, and wanted to gratiiy their inclinations

cular professions, ^viihout remorse; this was the original of all those

and other occa- ^ "^

sions. Divinities, natural and metaphorical,whose names

"■"""—""""""" correspond to their employments, who were look-
ed upon as so many Genii dispersed through the world to regulate
the motions of men; and believing them to be of a malevolent
disposition, therefore tley courted their favour by prayers and
sacrifices. The poets invoked .^^-'y/Zo, Minerva, and the Muses;
the orators, Suada and Pitho; the physicians, Esculapius, Medir
trina, Co7isus, Hygieia and Telefphorus; the servants and maids,
the Gods named Anculi and Ancula; shepherds, the God Pan;
cow-herds, the Goddess Bubona; horsemen, Castor and Hippona,
—As each profession had its Gods, so had every action and func-
tion in life: thus over different actions presided, Volumnus, Volu-
pia, Libentia, Horsa, Horsilia, Stimula, Strenua, Stata, Adeona^
Ageronioy Agonisy Abeona, Fessorioy Fugtay Catius^ Fidius or

CHAP. I. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 117

SEC. in. ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

Sanctus-Fidiiis, Dins, Murcia, Aonia, J\~umerica, Vacuna, Vertum-
nusf Fictusj Festitus, Vibilia. — Pellonia was established to free
them from whatever was annoying; Pofiutonia, to divert all sorts
of devastation. They had made a Divinity of life under the name
of Fituta, and Fever too had its altars. They had a God of ordure,
named Stercutius; one for other conveniencies, Crepitus; a God-
dess for the common sewers, Cloadna. — Over justice presided
yistreay Themis, and Bice. Over the coining of brass money, jEs,
jEsculanus, and JEres; and over specie of all sorts, Juno-Mo-
neta, or simply, Moneta. — Flatus and Ops, for riches; Janus, Car-
dea, and Limentina, to take care of the gates of cities, &c.; Clu-
67M» a.'id Patulius were the Gods they invoked at opening or shut-
ting them; Laterculus and the Penates, for the hearths; Jupiter
Erceus for the walls. — It is not to be expected that I should give
a larger account of the subaltern Divinities; their names suffici-
ently point out their offices, and the bare nam.ing them is enough
to give one a notion of them, when they occur in the poets and
mythologists. I shall only remark, 1st, That almost the whole
of these latter Divinities were of Roman invention, as their names
sufficiently discover; whereby we see how many Gods, known to
none but the Romans them.selves, had been introduced by those
Lords of the world, though they had besides adopted almost all
the Gods Gi' every nation which they subdued. 2nd, That the
greater part of these Divinities were the invention of sculptors
and painters. 3d, That some of them were peculiar to certain
families, and sometimes even to single per£ons. 4lh, That all
the deified virtues were nothing but symbols that represented
them, either upon medals, where numbers of them are to be
found, or upon other monuments, and in inscriptions. 5th, That
their worship was neither in so great reputation nor extent, as
that of the great Gods: and yet a great many of them had their
altars and chapels, and were invoked at certain times; as before

118 HISTORY OP roOLATRY. CHAP. I.

ITS PROGUESS TO SYSTEM. SEC. III.

harvest, at the vintages, when they gathered fruits, in diseases

upon men or beasts, Etc. he.

•■ Besides these Gods, whose number is aheady

rih. The Dei- , . ■ , , ,• .

ties that received exorbitant, every nation had some pecuhar lo

pccuhar honour ijseif. gg others were proper lo certain towns,

m particular pla- *

ces. particularly among the Greeks and Romans,

"""""""""""^ whether they were believed to have been born
in those towns, or to afford them a particular protection. In a
word, the whole world was divided among numberless Divinities.
The great Gods were acknowledged universally, though honour-
ed more particularly in certain places; the rest were worshipped
only among some nations, and in some countries. Thus, besides
his universal worship, Jujiiter was peculiarly honoured in Crete,
where he was believed to have been brought up; at Dicte, or
Mount Ida; on Mount Olympus; at Pirea in Epirus; and at Do-
dona. Juno at Argos; at Mycense; at Phalisca; at Samos; and at
Carthage. Ceres in Sicily, and at Eleusis. Vesta or Cybele,
throughout all Phrygia; above all at Berecynthus, and Pessinus.
Minerva at Alalcomene; at Athens, and at Argos. Jpollo at
Chrysa, a city in Phrygia; at Delphos; at Cylla; at Claros, one of
the Cyclades; at Cynthus, a mountain in Delos; at Grynium; at
Lesbos; at Miletos; at Phaselis, a mountain in Lycia, at Smyn-
thus; at Rhodes; at Tenedos; at Cyrrha; among the Hyperbo-
reans, and elsewhere. JDiana at Ephcsus; at Delos; at Mycenae;
at Brauron in Attica; at Magnesia; upon mount Menala; at Se-
gesta, &.C. Venus, at Amathus in Cyprus; at Cythera; at Gnidus,
at Paphos, at Idalia; upon mount Eryx in Sicily; und upon Ida in
Phrygia. Mars at Rome; among the Getes, and other northern
people; and among the Thracians. Vulcan in the iEolian islands;
at Lemnos, near mount ^Etna; and in earlier times, in Egypt,
whose first Divinity he was, according to the best authors. Mer-
cury upon Helicon, and the Cyllenian mountains; at Nonacria;
and generally through all Arcadia. JVe/iiune in the Isthmus of

CHAP. I. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 119

SEC. III. ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

Corinth; at Taenarus; and upon all tiie Seas. AWens upon the
sea-coasts, and by seamen. Saturn in several places cf Italy.
Pluto in all the sacrifices offered to the dead. Bacchus at Thebes,
Nysa, Naxos, Sec. Esculapius at Epidaurus; at Rome; and else-
where. Pan upon Menakis in Arcadia, &c. Fortune at Antium;
and Molus in the Isles that bore his name. Theses were the
principal places in Greece, in Asia minor, and in Italy, where the
Gods were honoured with a particular worship.

'-'- ■ We will now speak of the Demi-Gods and

8th, Of the -, II. T • 1 r .1

Demi-Gods He- Heroes; and what a prodigious number or them

roes, Genii, and also, shall we find! Their temples were diffused

Junones.

^^^ssss^s^^ over all the earth, and their worship, though

less solemn than that of the Gods, made a considerable part of

the Pagan religion. JEneas^ surnamed Jufiiter-Indigeiea had a

chapel erected to his honour upon the banks of the river Numi-

cus; Janus-) Faunusy Pictis, Evander, Fatua, or Cai'metila, Acca-

Laurentia or Flora., Matuta^ Portutnnus, JMania, jinna-Perrenna^

Vertumnus, Romulus, and several others, were honoured among

the Latins. Hercules, Theseus, Castor and Pollux, Helen, Aga-

memnon, and most of the heroes of the golden fleece, or of the

siege of Troy, had temples and altars in most of the cities of

Greece. Laconia honoured Hijacinthus who fought against the

Amyclaeans; not to mention Agamenmon, Menelaus, Paris and

Deijihobus. The Messenians offered incense and sacrifices to

Polycaon, to his wife Messena, to their son Triofias, and to the

celebrated Machaon, son of Esculafiius. The Arcadians granted

divine honours to Calisto, to his son Areas, to Aristeus who had

quitted the island of Cos where he Avas born, for Arcadia, where

he taught that people the art of training up bees. The people

of Argos honoured Perseus, Lynceus, Hyfiermnestra, lo, Afiis.

The Arcadians revered Amfihilochus, and consulted his oracles.

The people of Athens had filled that famous city with the temple

of CecrofLB of his daughters Aglauros^ HersCf and Fandrososj of

120 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. CIlAy. I.

ITS PROCKESS TO SYSTEM. SEC. III.

Celcus and Trifitolemus his son, of Erectheus and his daughters:
there also were to be seen the temples of jEgeus; of Theseus; of
Deduliis, and Perdix his nephew; oi ^ndrogeos, ^Icmena, ^actcsj
and lolaus the famous companion of Hercules in his iabovirs; of
Codi-us, and an infinity of others. At Delphos was to be seen
that of J\''eoptolemusi at Megara that of AUathous; among the
Oropians that oi Amf\hiaraus, Thebes was famous, not only for
the worship o{ Bacchus^ Seinele^ Cadmus and Herviione^ but also
of that whole illustrious family; thus Ino and Meliceita had their
temples and their altars there, as well as Hercules, lolaus and
Amfihiaraus. In Elis, the women sacrificed once a year to Hip.'
podamiUf the daughter of Peloiis. Teles/i/iorus was honoured at
Pergamus; Damia or Lamia., Epidaurus; J\''cmesis at Rhamnus;
Sancfus or Saugus, among tiie Sabines; Adramus and Palicus,
in Sicily; Coronis at Sicyon; Boreas in Thrace; Tellenus at Aqui-
leia; Tanais in Armenia; Ferentina at Ferentum; Tages in Etru-
ria, the modern Tuscany; Feronia in several places of Italy;
Marica at Minternse; tliC Graces at Oachomenos; the Muses in
Pieria, and at Lesbos; and Amphilochus at Oropos. Thessaly
sacrificed to Pelrus, to C/iiron, to Achilles. The island of Tene-
dos to Tenes; thut of Chios to Aristeus and Dri?nachus; Samos to
Lysandiv; Naxus to Ariadne-, the ^Eyinetse to ^Eacus; the people
of Salaniis to the famous AJuj;, son of Telamon\ the island of
Crete to Eiiropa., Idomeneus, Mulon, and Minos. In Afi'ica were
to be seen the temples of several kings. The Moors honoured
Juba; the Cyienians, Battus; the Carthaginians Dido, Arnilcar, &c.
The Thracians honouied Orpheus, and their legislator Zamolxis.
There would be no end of it, were we to run over all the other
places celebrated for the worship of some particular Divinity,
since the whole earth was full of temples and altars, raised not
only to the great Gods, but also to the Indigetes; and, generally
speaking, every people and city advanced their founders and con-
querors to a place among the Gods. If proofs should be thought

CHAP. I. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 121

SEC. III. ITS PROGRESS TO SYSTEM.

necessary for all that I have said upon this last article, we need
but read Stjiabo and Pausanias, who mention temples conse-
crated to all those heroes; and among the moderns, Meursius
in his excellent treatise of the festivals of Greece; the first book
of Vossius, and Rosixus. — In fine, if to all these Gods we add
the Genii and the Jiinones^ who were as guardian angels to every
man and woman, we shall have no difficulty in believing what
Pliny says, that the number of the Gods surpassed that of men;
far less what Varro reports, who makes the number amount to
only thirty thousand.

■====== I am far from denying there were some in

A few individ-
ual exceptions every age, through almost every country of the

from Pagan coi'- ^vorld, who sincerely rejected those ridiculous
ruption. • J

^— — Deities, at least the most of them. I know God
reserved to himself some servants among the most idolatrous
nations; that Salem had its Mctchisedeck, the Idumeans their
Job^ the Chaldeans their Abraham: but excepting these, we may
believe that the whole earth was overspread with the darkness of
idolatry; that there were none but the Jewish people in a corner
of the world, who retained the idea and worship of the true God;
nay, that same people, who are but too justly charged with ingra-
titude, and always immersed in sensuality, notwithstanding the
conspicuous favours they received from their God, and the con-
tinual prohibitions of the prophets, suffered themselves but too
often to be drawn away by the fatal propensity which they had to
idolatry.

122 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. I.

ITS DECLINE. SEC. IV.

SECTION FOURTH.

ITS DECLI.YE.

■■ WE have now seen what sort of Gods they

Paean extrava- "^^ere, whom the blinded world adored! What a

5"''"<^^'" mortifying spectacle to human nature! to see,

for more than two thousand years, the whole

earth filled with temples raised to vain idols, where innocent vic'

tims were offered up to crimin.d Deities, and the richest perfumes

shed for idols who had no sense of them; prayers put up to Gods

•who were incapable of hearing their votaries; vain endeavours

used to appease them, who knew not whether they had received

any provocation; and their assistance implored, who, all the while,

knew nothing of our wants!! Sure man, left to his own guidance,

is a strange fantastical being!!!

•■ But the system of which we have been speak-

which was kept . ^, ..... , -

in vogue chiefly ^"S' was the predommant religion, and few peo-

by habit and the pig examined it so as to discover its faults. There

convenience of it;

^;;;;;^;^;5^;^;;;;;;;5 uscs woX to bc 3 grcat dcal of rcasouing upon the

subject of religion; the common way. is for the children to follow
that of their fathers, and but few people are converted by reason-
ings. Besides, the Pagan religion was not very incommodious:
however incumbered it was with ceremonies, it allowed an entire
liberty in morals. When a religion is thus indulgent to people's
inclinations, they hardly think of examining into it; would it have
been agreeable to them to exchange Gods who were themselves
the models of vice, for others who would have punished them
with severity? It is certain, that lust and ignorance introduced it;
and that interest, the passions, and voluptuousness maintained it.
Thus, we are not to be surprised at its having prevailed so long
in the world, where even yet it is not totally destroyed, since there
are people at this day who groan under the tyranny of the Devil;
nor is that happy period yet arrived, when all the world is to ac-

CHAP. I. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 123

SEC. IV. ITS DECLINE.

knowledge but one God, by Jesus Christ. But what may give
us surprise, is, how idolatry has been propagated to the most re-
mote nations, and there coniinued till now, since it is certain
that the idolatry of the Indies, of Persia, and of the north of
Asia, is precisely the same with the ancient Egyptian idolatry.
The monstrous errors into which men have been carried, will
always be the disgrace of human nature. Who would not indeed
be surprised, to seethe world, which God had made for the mani-
festation of his power, become a temple of idols; to see man so
blind as to adore the work of his own hands; and offer incense to
beasts and refitiles: and after having set up these idols, to believe
there was a necessity for shedding his own blood, in order to ap-
pease them? For in fact among every nation of the world, men
have sacrificed victims of their own species, as with some it has
even been a common practice.

' But if idolatry be so great a perversion of the
and which Divine

interposition a\on& .human mmd, ought we not to be less astonish-

■conid eradicate. ^^ ^^ -^^^ l^^ii^^ destroyed, than at its having con-

tinned so long? Its extravagance shews the diffi-
culty there was to subdue it. The world had grown old in this
error: enchanted by its own idols, it had become deaf to the voice
of nature, which cried aloud against them. Besides, every thing
was engaged in its behalf: the senses, the passions, lust, igno-
rance, a false veneration for antiquity, the interest of private per-
sons, and that of the slate. On one hand, nothing was so mon-
strous as the system of idolatry; and at the same time, nothing so
delusive. Indeed, how greatly must the passions have been
soothed, by adoring Gods who had themselves been subject to
them, and finding examples in them to authorise and justify the
greatest irregularities? Religion, instead of curbing, served to
deify vice: the conduct of the Gods, their history renewed in their
festivals and sacrifices, was wholly calculated for inspiring men
with a fond regard to their passions. Gods revengeful, im^-

124 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY, CHAP. I.

ITS DECLINE. SEC. IV.

pure, and debauched, were made for a corrupt nature, which
•wishes to be gratified without remorse, and with impunity. — We
may add, that idolatry was entirely calculated for pleasure: diver-
sions, shows, and in short licentiousness itself, were consecrated
by it to be a part of divine worship. The festivals were nothing
but games, and from no action in human life, was modesty more
effectually banished than from the mysteries of religion. What
power was requisite to restore the impressions of the true God,
wiiich were so entirely defaced from the minds of men? How
should depraved hearts be habituated to the strict rules of the true
religion, which is chaste, an enemy to sensuality, and solely at-
tached to the blessings of an invisible world? These desirable
ends seemed beyond the power of human means to accomplish:
it rested with the true God himself to devise the effectual rcmedtj.
Accordingly, in this forlorn state of the world, God compassiona-
ting our miseries, sent Ais own son to redeem our sins and restore
us to the path of righteousness. No sooner did this new Sun arise,
than the darkness of idolatry began gradually to disappear. The
spotless lamb was soon seen in possession of the rights which the
devil had usurped; and Jesus Christ crucified, appeared in
the centre of the capitol, instead of the infamous Jufiiter.

CHAPTER II.

THE MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY.

SECTION FIRST.
THE STATUES OF ITS DEITIES.

TO reduce within bounds a subject in itself so

how ^ilpres Jnted extensive, I shall examine 1st, What the figures

through several of the Gods were, before sculpture was invented.
periods, &c., viz.

. 2d, What they were, when this art was but rude

and imperfect. 3d, The pitch of perfection to which statuary was
afterwards carried. 4th, The materials they used for the statues
of the Gods. 5th, The extreme greatness or smallness of some
of those figures. 6th, The places where they were most ordina-
rily set up. Lastly, by what symbols the Gods were therein dis-
tinguisl'.ed.

■' 1st, What their figures were before sculp-

Firsty By shape- ^ . ■, r -, r

less stones nil- ^"''^ ^^'^^ invented. In the first ages, as most na-

lars, trunks of \]o\\% knew neither towns nor houses, and dwelt
trees, &c.

. only in huts, or undertnoveable tents, wandering

about to different places in quest of fixed settlements, it was nei-
ther easy nor convenient for them to build temples and set up
idols; and this is what obliged them at first to choose for the ex-
ercise of their religion, caves, groves, and mountains; the priests
and legislators having considered those retired places, as exceed
ingly proper to give a more venerable aspect to the mysteries of

128 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

THE STATUES OF ITS DEITIES. SEC. I.

religion. Pliny expresses himself clearly upon this subject.
The trees, says he, and fields were in old times the temples of
the Gods. This is what gave rise to the consecration of groves,
a custom that lasted as long as idolatry itself. When they came
to build temples, the sacred groves still continued to be in use,
and oft-times they enclosed them with a plantation. Those first
temples had no idols. It was not till the invention of architecture
that the art of making idols came to be known. Herodotus and
LuciAN let us know this much of the Egyptians and Scythians.
If we may believe Plutarch after Varro, the Romans were
one hundred and seventy years without statues or idols., and even
Numa Pompilius prohibited them by a law equally wise and ju-
dicious. In like manner, Silius Italicus tells us, that the tem-
ple of Jujiiter Ammon was without an idol, and that the eternal
Jire they preserved there, represented the Divinity of the place.
In fine, Tertullian lets us know, that even in his time there
■were several temples that had no statues. Before statuary was
invented, they paid a religious worship to shapeless stones, to
fiillarsy and other things of that nature; this is what we learn
from several authors. Sanchoniathon says, the most ancient
statues were nothing but unheivcd stones, which he calls Bxtilia;
which word probably comes from Bethel, the name which Jacob
gave to the stone he set up for an altar, after his wrestling with
the Angel. Pausanias speaks of the statues of Hercules and of
Cupid, that were nothing but two masses of stone. The Scythians,
according to Clemens Alexandrinus, in ancient times adored
a «cj/n2i7ar as the God of war; the Arabians adored a rough un-
hewn s/one; and other nations contented themselves with erect-
ing the trunk of a tree or ^pillar of some other materials, with-
out ornament. In the Orkneys, the image oi Diana was a log of
ivood unvvrought; and at Cytheron, their ^«?20 Thespia was noth'm^^
but the trunk of a tree; that at Samos but a si?nple plank, and so
of others.

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 127

THE STATUES OF ITS DEITIES.

' 2cl, The oiigin of sculpture is lost in the most

figurrof Ln Oaor ^'^mote antiquity. It is enough to know that the

Calf, and statues Eeyptians had it in Moses's time, and perhaps
called Termes. , .

, , long before the siatues of their Gods, spoken of

in the books of that sacred legislator; the statues of their God
jijiis, too faithfully imitated by the Israelites, who worshipped
him in the wilderness, under the form of an Ox or Calf, prove it
beyond contradiction; and I make no doubt, but in the very time
when the yet rough and barbarous nations worshipped either
shapeless 7nasses, or simple trunks of trees^ sculpture was then
known, not only in Egypt, but also in Syria, and the adjacent
countries. For the arts sprung originally from the countries I
had named, were but gradually propagated to the west. — At the
first, sculpture itself was extremely rude, and rose but slowly to
that height of perfection when it became admired, especially in
Greece, for the master-pieces it formed. Consequently we may
suppose, that the Jirst statues of the Gods, though modelled by
this new art, were still exceedingly coarse. They had the eyes
shut, arid the arms hanging down, and as it were glued to the
body, and the feet joined; neither expression, nor attitude, nor
gesture. They were mostly square, and like mis-shapen figures,
that ended like those figures called Termes. The cabinets of the
curious furnish several models of these Statues; they are dug up
yet every day, especially in Egypt, and the most uncontroverted
marks of their antiquity, is, when they are such as I have des-
cribed them.
======= Sd, They continued in this state, at least in the

Third, By sta- ^^^^^ ^^^^jj Qeq^lus, in the time of Minos II.,
tues or perrect '

symmetry. and of Theseus, iiad the art of giving to his Sta-

""""^"^""^■^ fwes, eyes, feet, and hands. In some measure he

put soul and life into them, and so surprising was this change, as

to give rise to a common report of his having animated them,

made them walk, &;c. The statues of the Gods improved by this,

128 HISTORY OF IDOLATEY. CHAP. II.

THE STATUES OF ITS DEITIES. SEC. I.

it was to bring tliem to perfection that the most skilful artists
mainly applied themselves; and time at length produced the
master-pieces of a Phidias, Praxitiles, and Mykox, which
were the principal ornaments of Greece, and drew the just admi-
ration of persons of taste, as at this very day do those of them that
are yet remaining. Such, among others, are the Venus of Medicis^
the Anlinous^ the Hercules.^ and the fine Jiijiitcr still to be seen at
Versailles. However I know not from what veneration of anti-
quity, they still kept up the old taste, in those statues they called
Hermes or Termes.
======= 4th, Sculpture being an art which imitates

Fourth, The »ia-

fma/» of statuary nature, both in the design and solidity of its
wereeai ^^°^^^' materials; it has for its subject, timber, stone,

ivory, metals, marble, ivory, and different metals, as gold, sil-
wax, &c.

s=s^==^ii; ver, brass, precious stones, &c. As it compre-
hends also the art of founding, which is subdivided into the art
of moulding figures in wax, and that of casting all sorts of metals,
the statuaries were at liberty to use all these materials^ and all
these forms for the statues of the Gods. History informs us, there
were some of them of each sort; some made of wood, the most
precious of its kind and least liable to corruption. That of Jufiiter
at Sicyon, was of box- wood; and at Ephesus, that of Diana was
of cedar. Elsewhere, they were to be met with of citron-wood,
of palm tree, of olive-wood, of ebony, and of cypress. We have
also accounts of the golden ones that were in the temple of
Belus at Babylon, and of Apollo at Delphos. We shall give a des-
cription of that of Jupiter Olympius., where gold was artfully
blended with ivory, ebony, and precious stones; a master-piece
which, as Pliny tells us, nobody durst imitate. It would be to no
purpose to dwell upon those of marble, or of stone, whose number
was immensely great. I have mentioned above, the principal
artists, who, of those different materials, had composed master-
pieces of skill. One who has the curiosity to find statues of Gods

CHAP. II. HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. 129

SEC. I. THE STATUES OF ITS DEITIES

of all theyb;vH,v and lyiaterials 1 have mentioned, needs but read
Pausanias, who describes of them of all sorts. — Generally speak-
ing, the statues of the Gods, after the invention of sculpture, were
chiefly but of moulded earth, and brittle like simple vases. This
art of moulding earth or clay, is called fictillisy and the works it
produces, JictiUia. The sacred wiiters, especially the prophets,
are continually reproaching the Pagans for worshipping these
sorts of idols. In later times, those statues were laid over -v^ith
different colours, and at last they were gilt. The Romans, whose
religion for a long time declared the simplicity of their manners,
were very late in beginning to have these gilded statues; till then
they had only the colour of the earth of which they were made.
Pliny praises the primitive Roman simplicity. Men, says he,
•who sincerely honoured such Gods, give us no reason to be
ashamed of them. To them, continues he, gold was of no con-
sideration, either for themselves or their Gods. Juvenal, speak-
ing of the earthen statue which Tarquin the elder set up in the
temple of Jupiter, calls it the earthen Jupiter.) whom gold had not
tarnished nor defiled. Titus Livius has informed us at what
period gilt statues were first introduced; it was according to him,
under the consulship of P. Cornelius Cethegus.

===== 5th, As there was no fixed rule as to the mate-
Fifth The sizes
of Statues vary '"'^'^^^ ^^ ^^^^ statues of the Gods, there v/as as little

from the Pigmy to fQj, their size, and it depended upon the caprice
the Colossus.

' of the workmen, or the will of those by whom

they were employed, either to make them great or small. Ac-
cordingly while the Egyptians valued themselves upon those
colossal statues that were to be seen in the porches of their tem-
ples, frequently nothing was to be found within those edifices but
some pitiful monkeys or pigmies, which provoked the contempt and
ridicule of spectators; w itriess Cambyses, when he was introduced
into the temple of Vulcan at Memphis, as we said above. Greece
chose sometimes to imitate the Egyptian manner in those colos-

130 MACHINERY OP IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

THK STATUES OF ITS DEITIES. SEC. I.

suses, and had several statues of her Gods of an enormous bigness.
That of Jupiter Olymfius^ and several others besides were much
larger than life; but the most extniordinary one, was the colossus
at Rhodes, representing Jlfiollo., which was looked upon as one of
the seven wonders of the world. This statue, done by Chares,
was twelve years in finishing, and its heiglit was seventy cubits:
it was so placed, that its two feel stood upon the two moles, which
formed the harbour of Rhodes, and ships at full sail passed between
its legs. We may judge of what an enormous size this Colossus
must have been, when few persons were able to embrace one of
its thumbs. Notwithstanding the weight of this prodigious mass;
notwithstanding the dangers of the sea, and the length of time it
■was exposed, yet it continued standing for the space of 1 360 years;
and its fall at last was only owing to an earthquake. A Jewish
merchant bought it of the Saracens; and having taken it to pieces,
loaded 900 camels with it. Nor was it only the Egyptians and
Greeks who had those colossal Jig'urcs; the Romans would needs
imitate their example, as in that metropolis there were no fewer
than five of them, two of jipollo^ two of Jufiiter, and one of the
Sun, (for the Sun was often distinguished from Apollo-) not to
mention two others, one of them represented Domiiian, the other
Kero: but as if statues of this sort had of right belonged to none

but Gods, they caused an ApoWj's head to be set on the latter

These works were curiosities of their kind; but for the most part
the statues of the Gods imitated beautiful natiire^^^^&cv^Wy when
they were to be planted within the easy reach of the eye. Thus,
those of the Gods were a degree larger and more robust than
those of the Goddesses, with respect to whom the expert artists
made it their business chiefly to imitate the softness and delicacy
of the sex. — There were however Gods, whose statues were or-
dinarily little, and perhaps there was a necessity for them to be
so. Those of the Pataiciov Patted, which they set upon the sterns
of ships, were of this kind, if we credit Herodotus, as also those

CHAP. 11. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 131

SEC. I. THE STATUES OF ITS DEITIES.

of the Lares, the Penates, the Cabiri, and some others. There
Avere others, whose statues were monstrous., representing the
heads of a dog, a cat, a goat, a monkey, a lion, Sec, as we shall
shew when we come to the Gods of Egypt.

====== 6lh, The number of statues of the Gods was

Sixth, The stst- . . i ' r> i r.^ i u ^ i-i

tues were set up immense, not only in Greece and Italy, but like-

jn temples, in pri- yf\se in the eastern countries; and nothing sets

vate houses, and

in the fields. it forth to us more strongly than the scrip-

^^=^=^== ture expression, which styles Chaldea a larid of

idols. Accordingly they occurred every where, in te?)i/iks, where

they were upon pedestals, or set in niches; in fiublic places; at the

gates of houses; and without the cities, on the highways and

in the fields.

'■'■ 7th, Though the manner of representing the

Seventh, The /-^ , , -r ,i i

usages in re^-ard "^^^'^ was not unitorm, there were however, cer-

to the expression, ^^i^ usages generally observed. Thus, to Ju/ii-

and the symbols

of the Statues. ter was given a noble and majestic air, which

"~~~^^^^~~~~ spoke the sovereignty of the world; and he ap-
peared always with a beard, ^fiollo, is painted like a young man,
and wears 7io beard. Bacchus sometimes has 07ie, and then he is
called Barbatiis; but most frequently he has it not. Jwio appears
with an air becoming the consort of Jufiiter, and the queen of the
Gods. Minerva has a masculine beauty, but sweet, such as is
befitting the wisest and chasest of Goddesses. Venus, on the
contrary, exhibits I know not what softness and effeminacy, which
speaks forth the mother of love. Alars has a warlike mein; JSTep-
tune has a stern anvful look. — They, generally, wore upon their
Statues the sijmbols consecrated to them. Thus Jupiter appears
•with his thunder; Apollo with his lyre; .N'eptune with his trident;
Pluto -with his bidented sceptre; Bacchus holds in his hand
clusters of grapes; Ceres has ears of corn; Hercules his club; and
Diana her arrows and quiver: The dog appears in the statues of
Mercury; the owl in those of Minerva; and the serpeyit wreathed

132 HISTORY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

ITS ALTARS. SEC. II.

about a piilar in those of Esculapius. The chariot of JVeptune is
drawn by sea-horses; that of Venus by doves; that of Juno by
peacocks; and that of Cijbele by lions. Sometimes those symbols
are single, sometimes multiplied; and when it appears that they
are proper to several Gods, the statues that bear them get the
name of Pantheons, such as are for the most part those of Har-
fiocrates, and some others. The Egyptian Statues were more
charged with symbols than those of the Greeks and Romans, as
may be seen in the antiquaries. The symbols were taken either
from trees ox plants, or such animals as, for some particular rea-
sons, were dearer to the Gods than others, as shall be shewn in
speaking of the sacrifices, offerings, and victims, which were
commonly taken from things wherein they were thought to take
delight. The reasons of this preference given by the Gods were
sometimes mysterious, and the ancients durst not reveal them;
but then it is frequently an easy matter to see through them.
Thus, to give but a few examples, the laurel was beloved by
Afiollo, for the sake iil Dafihne; the fiine by Cybele, v on account
oi jitys; and the fio/ilar by Hercules, because he had brought one
from the country of the Hyperboreans, &c. — For the most part,
the Statues of the Gods were simple, and presented but a single
figure; sometimes they were grouped, and contained several
figures together.

SECTION SECOND.

ITS ALTARS.

'■■ Without insisting upon the etymology of the

The Etvmolo- , ., , . , , ,

gy of the word "^^oi"d Altare, a name which we commonly reck-

Altar.

on to have been given to Altars, because they
are high built, we say with Servius, that the
ancients made some distinction between Altar and Ara; for al-

CHAP. n. MACHINTIRY OF IDOLATRY. 133

SEC. II. ITS ALTARS.

though the last was equally used, either in speaking of the celes-
tial or infernal Gods, yet the word Altare was peculiarly set
apart to denote the Altars of the former. This was Servius's
disdnction, though some authors add another, and say, that to the
celestial Gods, sacrifices were offered upon Altars; to the terres-
trial Gods, upon the eart/i itself; and to the infernal Gods, in holes;
F. Berthold subjoins, that to the nymjihs, victims were offered
in dens and caverns,

■ The antiquity of Altars is not to be called

The antiquity, . . -vt i i . -^ ■ ^ ,i

matter and form ^ question: No doubt it was prior to the

of Altars; building of temples, not only among the Pa-

"""""""""""""'^ triarchs, but among the Pagans too. And as
the superstitious Pagan worship commenced in Egypt, tins is
probably the country where the first Altars were erected. Ac-
cordingly, this is the opinion of Herodotus, and of C^lius
Rhodiginus, who has copied him. Simplicity having always
been a concomitant of usages newly invented, it is plain that the
first Altars were nothing but simple heaps oi earth or turf which
were called Ara cespititia, ox gr amine x; or of rough stones, &c.;
and idolaters at first imitated the simple manner of raising Altars,
which was used by Noah and the other primitive Patriarchs;
but in later times. Altars came to be quite changed, both in 7nat'
ter 2iX\A form. Accordingly, Paganism had of them these several
forms; square, oblong, roM«£/, and triangular; and of different ma-
terials, as stone, marble, brass, and gold itself, at least Herodo-
tus says so of the table that was used as an Altar in the temple
of i?d-/M.9, at Babylon. Pausanias observes, that some of them
were of ivood, but that it was rare to find any of that sort. That
oi Jupiter Olyvijnus was nothing but a heap of ashes; others were
but a mere collection of horns of different animals. Eustatius
who mentions such an Altar, says it was at Ephesus, and that
Jfiollo had built it of the bulls" horns which Diana had killed in

134 MACnmERY OP IDOLATRY. GHAP. 11.

ITS SACRED GROVES. SEC. III.

hunting. Moses, speaking of the horns of the Altars, means

thereby nothing but the corners of the Altars.

■ ' Altars were no less distinguished in their

^\^^\\ r^ „li,^1 height, than by their matter and form. Some
the places where o ■> 7 •^

they were erect- reached no higher than to the knee^ others came
ed.

■ up to the waist; some were yet higher, espe-
cially those oi Jujiiter, and the other celestial Gods; while those
of Vesta, and the other terrestrial Deities, were the lowest. Among
these Altars, some were solid, others were hollow at the top, to
receive the libations and blood of the victims; others, in fine, were
iiortable, to be used in travelling, and upon other occasions. —
Altars were not all in temfiles; there were some of them in the
sacred groves; and others exposed in the ofien fields, as those of
the Gods Terminus, Sylvanua, Pan, Vertumnus, and those which
Epimenides caused the Athenians, in the time of a plague, to set
up in places where the victims, left to their own liberty, happen-
ed to stop: These last are the same that St. Paul speaks of,
which were dedicated to unknown Gods. But it was still more
common to set up Altars upon the mountairis, where, frequently
too, they had sacred groves; and this custom of going to sacrifice
upon high places, was so ancient and universal, that the scripture
incessantly reproaches the Israelites with it, and even blames the
better kings for not having abolished it.

SECTION THIRD.
ITS SACRED GROVES.

' THE institution of Sacred Groves, is so an-

Antiquity of . , . . , , , ,

Sacred Groves cient, that it is even thought to have been ante-

their universality ^.^^i^^^ ^^ ^}^.,^ ^f Temples and Altars. As the

— reiuge tor en- '

minals, &.c.; Ronuins called these Groves Ltici, Seuvius

""""""""""" thinks they got that name, because they kind-
led fire to let the mysteries be seen that were there celebrated.

CHAP. IT. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 135

SEC. III. ITS SACRED GROVES.

The original name Luci or Lucendo apart, whether they first
chose for the purpose natural woods, with which every place
was anciently furnished; or planted them on purpose, as was done
in later times; they were always the thickest groves of the kind,
places dark and gloomy, impenetrable even to the sun-beams.
It was in these dark retreats, iipt to overcast the mind with I
know not what horror, that the first mysteries of Paganism were
celebrated. Here it was the ancient Druids assembled, who got
their very names from the oaks which they frequented. — It ap-
pears however, to have been the opinion of the ancients, that
these Groves, at first consecrated to Lucina., who was the same
with Diana and Hecate.) had been so called from the name of that
Goddess. Be that as it will, the use of sacred Groves for the
celebration of mysteries, is of very great antiquity, and perhaps
of all others the most universal. At first, there were in these
Groves neither Temples nor Altars: they were simple retreats,
to which there was no access for the profane; that is, such as
were not devoted to the service of the Gods. Afterwards they
built Chapels and Temples in them; and even to preserve so an-'
cient a custom, they took care, whenever it was in their power,
to plant Groves around their Temples and Altars, to inclose them
with walls, hedges, and ditches; and these Groves were not only
consecrated to the Gods, in honour of whom the Temples in the
centres of them had been built, but they were themselves a place
of sanctuary for criminals^ who fled thither for refuge.

' ■ ' MosEs, to hinder the Hebrews, too prone to

interdicted their in^itate the idolatrous .practices of the people
use, by Moses; about them, from following this pernicious cus-
''^^~^"~~"~ tom, forbids them to plant Groves about the
Altars of the true God. Nay, every time this sacred legislator
commands the Jews to destroy idols, he orders them at the same
time to cut down the hallowed Groves. The same orders were
renewed to Gideon; and the prophets always speak with indigna-

136 MACHINERY OP IDOLATRY. CHAP. H.

ITS SACRED GROVES. SEC. Ill,

tion of tlie kings of Judah and Israel, who had a custom of sacri-
ficing in the consecrated Groves. The Jews were so prone to
imitate the idolatrous nations in this, that one of their kings car-
ried his impiety so far as to plant at Jerusalem one of these
Groves, which Josiah cut down, and burned in the valley of Ce-
dron. The Rabbins add, that the Jews were not permitted to
enter these Groves, to cut a tree of them for their use, to rest
tinder their shade, to eat the eggs or the little birds that nestled
there, nor to take the dead wood; nay, nor to eat the bread that
had been baked with that wood.
======== The sacred Groves, in after ages, became ex-

they became tj-emely frequented. There, assemblies were
greatly irequent- ^ ^

ed, and applied held on holidays, and after the celebration of the
to religious fes- • i , i ,• • ,

tivitv; mysteries, they kept public entertainments there,

accompanied with dancing, and all other demon-

strations of vigorous mirth. Tibullus describes these festivals
and entertainments with a good deal of humour. They were at
the pains to deck these Groves with flowers, chaplets, garlands,
and nosegays; and hang them about, with donations and offer-
ings, so lavishly, that though they had been less bushy and con-
densed, they would have been quite darkened thereby, shutting
out the very light of day.

' To cut down the sacred Groves, or to waste
to fell them , . - ., j . t

was the "reatest them, was a piece ot sacrilege, and perhaps that

sacrilege. which they thought the most unpardonable. Lu-

'^^~~~~"'^^~ CAN, speaking of the trees which Caesar caused

to be felled near Marseilles, to make warlike engines of them,

well describes the consternation of the soldiers, who refused to be

instrunnental in this work, till that great general, taking an ax,

felled one of them himself. " Struck with a religious awe for the

sanctity of the Grove, they were full of the belief, that if they

presumptuously attempted to cut down one of its trees, the ax

would have recoiled upon themselves." — It was lawful, however,

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 137

SEC. IV. ITS TEMPLES.

to prune and dress them, and to cut out the trees which they
thought attracted the thunder. We have the history of some of
these sacred Groves handed down to us by the Ancients, such as
those of Lucina^ of Feronia^ of the emperor Augustus, and others:
all of which resembled each other, and were held in equal vene-
ration.

SECTION FOURTH.

ITS TEMPLES.

■ AS the Latins used a variety of words for a

terms that design Temple, as Tewplum., Fanum., JEdes., Sacrarium^
a Temple. Delubriwi, Sec, the grammarians and commen-

tators have searched into the etymology of each
of these denominations; but when all is well examined, it appears
that each of these names signified a place consecrated to the Gods,
distinguished from one another more by their size, than other re-
spects, though very good authors make other distinctions between
thetn. We shall pass over those distinctions, with observing by
the ^7ay, that if the single word Tem/ilum was not always confined
to denote a building — since the Augurs applied it to the plots of
ground inclosed -with fiallisadoes or nets, which they had marked
out with their augural staff, in order to take the auguries — why
multiply distinctions between terms, of which either most pro-
bably applied to Avhatever places were consecrated to the Gods,
•with no other difference perhaps than that oi local use.

■' The antiquity of Temples is as unquestiona-

of Temples— the ^'^' ^^ ^^^ ^'"^^ when they began to be used is

Tabernacle prob- uncertain. As it was in Egypt and Phenicia
ably their model. _ . _ ' '

— that idolatry took its rise shortly after the de-

luge, these are the two countries where we are to seek for the
origin of whatever concerns the worship of false Gods, and the
use of temples which they introduced. Hekodotus and Lucian

138 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

ITS TEMPLES. SEC. IV.

expressly tell us so of the Egyptians — but we are to observe at
the same time, that the system of that false religion was not
established all at once. At first, the Gods were honoured after
a very gross manner — simple altars of rough stone or turf, set up
in open fields, were all the apparatus of the sacrifices that were
offered them. Chapels, that is to say, close places, and at last
Temples, were introduced in later times; accordingly, we do not
find that the Egyptians had any Temples in the time of Moses,
or he had mentioned them, as he had frequent occasions so to do.
Thus, I am confident that the Tabernacle he made in the dcsart,
■which was a portable Temple, is the first of the kind that was
known, and perhaps the model of all the rest. The Tabernacle
had a place more sacred than the rest, the sancta sanctorum^ an-
swering to the more sacred and holy places in the Pagan Tem-
ples, which they called Adyta. This Temple, exposed to the
view of the nations bordering upon the tract through which the
Israelites were sojourning forty years, might give occasion to
those idolaters to build others like it, though not portable: At
least, it is certain they had of them before the building of the
Temple of Jerusalem. — The first we find mention of in Scrip-
ture, is that of Dagon, the God of the Philistines: But all circum-
stances being duly considered, we must conclude that the custom
of erecting Temples in honour of the Gods, was derived from
Egypt to other nations. Lucian says it was propagated from
that country to the Assyrians, under which name he doubtless
comprehends the adjacent countries of Phenicia, Syria, and oth-
ers. From Egypt and Phenicia it passed to Greece with the colO'
nies, and from Greece to Rome — the course of fables and idola-
try. This opinion is founded upon the authority of Herodotus,
and all the evidence that antiquity can afford. Deucalion has the
glory ascribed to him, of having built the first Temple in Greece.
Janus has the like honour ascribed to him in relation to Italy;
though others will have it, that the honour of building the first

CHAP. II. JNIACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 139

SEC. IV. ITS TKMPLES.

Temple in Italy belongs to Faunus, from whom was derived the

name of Fanum^ which with the Latins signifies a Temple. But

these enquiries are equally frivolous and uncertain.

'■' The small chapels, mostly reared up by pri-

From small ^ ' r / r

chapels, Temples vate persons, in the open fields, were very soon

of magnificence succeeded by regular buildings, and at last by

and wonder in master-pieces of architecture. We may see in

' Herodotus and other authors, what was the

magnificence of the Temple of Vulcan in Egypt, which so
many kings had much ado to finish: a prince gained no small
honour, if in the course of a long leign, he was able to build one
portico of it. In PAUsANiAsyou have the description of the Tem-
ple of Jupiter Olyvi/iius^ which I shall presently mention. That
of Dei/i/ios^ as famous for its Oracles, as for the immense presents
with which it was enriched, deserves also to be known. That of
Diana at Ephesus, that master-piece of art, and so renowned, that
a despicable fool thought to immortalize" his name by burning it,
■was as rich as magnificent. The Fant/ieon, a specimen of the
magnificence of. Agrippa, Avigustus' son-in-law, is still subsist-
ing, and is dedicated to all the iiaints^ as it was formerly to all the
Gods. In fine, the Temple of Belus, or rather that grand TotveVi
composed of eight stories, whereof the highest contained the
statue of that God, with other things of which Herodotus
speaks, as it was the most ancient, so it was the most singular,
and the most magnificent. — These are the most stately of the
Pagan Temples, whereof the memory is preserved to us in histo-
ry. The others of less distinction are so numerous that it would
require several volumes to describe them, nor would there be
any utility in it. In Rome alone, there are reckoned to have been
upwards of a thousand, large and small together. The antiqua-
ries have given us the plan and elevation of some of those Tern*
pies, especially Montfaucon, who may be consulted.

140 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

ITS TEMPLES. SEC. IV.

. The teniples of the ancienls were divided into

the?empre's'ar!d several parts which it is proper to distinguish,
their ornaments, jn order to understand the descriptions they give
"^™~~~~'^~~ of them. The ^rst was the Porch where stood
the pool, whence the priests drew the holy-water for the expia-
tion of such as were to enter into the Temple; the second was
the JVave, or middle of the Temple; the third was the holy place
called Penetrale, Sacrarium, or Jdytum, into which private per-
sons were not permitted to enter; lastly, the back Temple, which
division, indeed, was not in every one. — The Temples had often
/wrticoes, and always steps of ascent. There were some of them
with ^a//erzes carried quite around; which were composed of a
range of pillars set at a certain distance from the wall, covered
with large stones: Ternples of this sort were called Ferijitercs,
that is, winged all around; but Temples whose galleries had two
ranges of pillars, were called Bi/Ueres; and Prostyles, when pil-
lars formed the portico without a gallery; and lastly, Hyfiethres,
when they had two rows of pillars en the outside, and as many on
the inside, the middle behig wholly uncovered, after the form of

a cloyster The inner part of the Temple was often very much

adorned; for, besides the statues, of the Gods, which were some-
times oi gold, ivory, ebony, or of some other precious materials,,
and those of the great men which were sometimes very nume-
rous, it was ordinary to sec there paintings, gildings, and other
embellishments, among which we must not forget the offerings
of the ex volo, that is to say, prows oj" ships, dedicated upon their
being saved from shipwreck, by the assistance, as they thought, of
some God; tablets, or tabcllas, for the cure of a disease; armsy
colours, trifiods, and -votive bucklers won from an enemy. There
were, especially in the Temple at Delphos, and in several Tem-
ples at Rome, immense riches of this kind. Besides these sorts
of ornaments, they were not wanting, on holidays, to deck the
Temples with branches of laurel, olive, and ivy.

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 141

ITS TEMPLES.

===== Among the Romans, when they were to build
of founding""! ^ Temple, the Auruspices were employed to

Temple among- choose the place where, and time when, they

the Romans.

: should begin the work. This place was purified

with great care; they even encircled it with fillets and gailands.
The Vestals accompanied with young boys and girls, washed this
spot of ground with water, pure and clean, and the priests expi-
ated it by a solemn sacrifice. Then he touched the stone that
was to be first laid in the foundation, which was bound with a fillet;
when the people, animated by enthusiastic zeal, threw it in with
some pieces of money or metal which had never passed through
the furnace. When the edifice was finished, there was also a
consecration of it, with grand ceremonies, wherein the priest, or
in his absence, some of his college presided. — Tacitus, speak-
ing of the restoration of the Capital, has transmitted to us the
forms and ceremonies in consecrating the ground set apart for
building a Temple.

=^===^ Of those Temples, some were not to be built
scribed for some ^'''J^hin the precincts of the cities, but without

Temples to be ^j^gij. walls; as those of Mars. Vulcan, and Femts,
ei-ected.

=^=^=== for reasons given by Vitruvius: says he,
" When Temples are to be built to the Gods, especially to those
of them who are patrons of the City, if it be to Jupiter., Juno, or
Minerva., they must be set on Jilaces of the greatest eminence.^
whence one may have a view of the bulk of the Town-walls. If
it is to Mercury.) they must be set in the Forum or Market-filace^
as the Egyptians observed in those of /sz>and Serafiis, Those of
jifioUo and Bacchus must be near the Theatre. Those of Hercules^
when there is neither Gymnasium nor Amfihitheatre^ should be
placed near the Circus. Those of Mars without the City, in the
fields; and those of Venus at the City-Gates. We find in the
writings of the Tuscan Soothsayersy^' continues he, " that they

142 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

ITS TEMPLKS. SEC. IV.

had a custom of placing the Temples of Venus, of Vulcan, and of
Mars, ■without the walls, lest, if Venus were in the city itself, it
might be a means of debauching the young virgins and the ma-
trons too: as, in regard to Vulcan, his was placed without, that
houses might not be in danger of taking fire: and as to Mars^
while he is without the walls, there will be no dissentions among
the people; nay more, he will be in the place of a rampart, to se-
cure the walls of the city from the hazards of war. The Temples
of Ceres were likewise without the cities, in places not much fre-
quented, lest, when offering sacrifices to her, their purity might
be defiled." These distinctions however, were not always strictly-
observed.

====== The Idolaters had all possible veneration for

The veneration ,, • rr. i tr i i- >

of the Idolaters "^^"' Temples. It we may believe Arrian, it

for then- Tern- was even forbid to blow one's nose, or spit there;

pies.

f=i===s and Dion adds, that sometimes they clambered

up to them on their knees. In times of public calamity, the wo-
men prostrated themselves in these sacred places, and swept the
pavements with their hair. Sometimes, however, when public
disasters obstinately continued, the people lost all due reverence
for the Temples, and became so outrageous, as to fall a pelting
the walls with stones; an instance whereof we find in Suetonius.
We shall presently derive a further idea of their veneration for
their Temples, consecrated Groves, Altars, 8cc., when we speak
of them as Asyla, or Sanctuaries for criminals, debtors, &c.—
Though commonly both men and women entered into the Tem-
ples, yet there were some into which men were forbid to enter;
for instance, that of Diana at Rome, in the street called the Vicus
Puiricius, as we learn from Plutarch, although they might enter
into the other Temples of that Goddess. The reason of this pro-
hibition is thought to have been, that a woman, as she was pray-
ing in that Temple, had received a most cruel insult. — ;We will
subjoin to this general account of Temples, a particular descrip-

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 143

SEC. IV. ITS TEMPLES.

tion of some of the most famous; from which we may judge to
what pitch of profusion and magnificence the Ancients were
carried by their idolatrous zeal.

I*^, The Temple of Bclus.

As this Temple was the most ancient in the

This Temple _ ,, . ,

•wasoritrhiallythe P^g^" world, so was its structure the most cu-

Tower of Babel j-jqus. Berosus, as Josephus relates, ascribes
— Its plan, &c.

' ' ■ the building of it to Belus, who was himself wor-

shipped there after his death. But certain it is, his design was
not to build a Temple, but to erect a Tower, in order to shelter
himself and his people from inundations, if such a one as the
deluge should again happen. We know in what manner God put
a stop to that mad design. The work continued in the same state
it was in at the confusion of tongues, and was afterwards set apart
for a Temple of Belus, who was deified after his death. This
famous Tower commonly called the Tower of Babel, formed a
square in its base, of which each side contained a stadium in
length, making a half mile in circumference. The whole work
consisted of eight Towers raised the one upon the other, w hich
diminished gradually from the lowest to the uppermost. Some
authors, as Prideavx remarks, being misled by the latin version
of Herodotus, allege that each of these Towers was a furlong
in height, which would make the whole a mile high; but the
Greek text says no such thing, nor is any mention made of the
height of the edifice. — We learn from Herodotus that the ac-
cess to the top of this building was by a winding stair on the
outside of it. These eight Towers composed, as it were, so many
stories, each of which was seventy-five feet high. In each of
them were disposed several great chambers supported by pillars,
and other lesser ones, where people might rest themselves in
going up. The highest or uppermost, was the most richly adorn-
ed, and was that for which the people had the greatest venera-
tion. In this, according to Herodotus, there was no statue, but

144 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

ITS TEMPLES. SEC. IV.

a table of massy gold, and a stately bed that no one was allowed to
lie in, except a woman of the city whom the Priest of Belua
chose every day, first making her believe that she would be
honoured there with the presence of the God.
====== Until the lime of Nebuchadnezzar, this Tem-

lished \\ Nebu- P'^ contained nothing but the towers and cham-

chadnezzar, and bers just mentioned; which were so many pri-

destroyed by

Xerxes. vate chapels. But that monarch, as Berosus re-

'■^■■~~"^"~"" laies, enlarged it by edifices which he built all
around it; and encompassed the whole with a wall, having brazen
gates. In executing this work he employed the Sea of Brassy
and other utensils of which he had rifled the Temple of Jerusa-
lem. Tills Temple was still subsisting in the time of Xerxes,
who, as he returned from his unfortunate expedition against
Greece, ordered it to be demolished; having first pillaged it of
its imniense riches, among which were statues of massy gold.
One of these statues, as Diodorus Siculus has it, was forty
feel high; which was probably the same that Nebuchadnezzar
had consecrated in the plains of Dura. The Scripture indeed,
gives this Colossus ninety feet in height; but this is to be under-
stood of the statue and pedestal taken both together. There were
likewise in the Temple several Idols of solid gold, and a great
number of sacred vases of the same metal, whose aggregate
weight, according to the same author, amounted to 5030 talents!
— how wretched and needy indeed, must have been the condition
of the subjects of these splendid monarchs, who could bestow
such boundless profusion, only by the privation of those who la-
boured to produce it ! 1

2c/, Temjile of Vulcan at Memfihis; with other Egyptian Temfiles.
The antiqui^ '^''^ Egyptians, according to Herodotus,
of the Temple were the first people in the Avorld, who built
whom founded T^emples in honour of the Gods. The Temple
and embellished, ^f yuican^ a^ Memphis, and ^ome others of other

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 145

SEC. IV. ITS TEMPLES.

principal cities, deserve a particular consideration on account
of their rintiquity. — Althous^h we have not any very full de-
scription of the temple of Vulcan., we may judge, from what
Herodotus says of it in several parts of his history, that it must
have been of surpassing magnificence. First, as to its antiquity,
that seems to be inevitable, since this historian tells us it was
built by Menes, the first who reigned in Egypt after the Gods
and Demi-Gods. Probably it was not that prince who gave all
that beauty to the work for which it was afterwards so much ad-
mired; although Herodotus says, that it was even then grand
and highly celebrated, since the primitive building spoke nothing
but a noble simplicity. But the successors of Menes ambitiously
vied with one another in embeUisjlung the work of the founder of
their monarchy, as we are going to mention, particularly with
statues, wherewith the interior of the ancient temples of Egypt,
according to the best authorities, were not adorned. M^ris, a
powerful prince, and extremely opulent, added to this first Tem-
ple, the stately porch that was on the north side of it. Rhamsini-
tus, Proteus' successor, I'aised according to the same author,
that which fronted to the west, and placed over against the porch,
two Colossal statues, each twenty-five cubits, that is thirty-seven
or eight feet in height. The one, which the Egyptians worship-
ped, was called aummer, because it faced from the south; the
other, for which they had no regard, they called winter, because
it looked from the north. Finally, Amasis set up before the
same Temple an inverted statue, seventy-five feet high, and
upon this Colossus, which served as a foundation or pedestal, he
erected two other statues, each twenty feet in height, and of the
same marble with the former. In the meantime the inner parts
of the edifice, so far from invitmg the admiration of those who
entered into it, only provoked the contempt of Cambyses, who
broke out with an immoderate fit of laughter, at seeing the ima-
ges of Vulcan^ and other Gods, like fiygmies; which in truth must

146 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

ITS TEMPLES. SEC. IV.

have made a very ridiculous contrast with the colossuses in the

porches of which we have just spoken.

. Egypt had many other very rich Temples,

Temples with ^J^o^gst which were, the Temple of Jufiiter at

one of a single Thebes or Diospolis; that of Andera at Her-

stone.

^==:^==. munthis; that of Proteus at Memphis; and that

of Minerva at Sais, which as Herodotus tells us, Amasis had
taken great pains to embellish with a Porch, which far surpassed
in grandeur, all the monuments which his kingly predecessors
had left. He also added to it statues of a prodigious size; for the
Egyptians were greatly devoted to colossal figures, not to say
stones that were hardly to be measured for their enormous big-
ness, which came chiefly from Elephantina, a town at the dis-
tance of twenty days sail from Sais.— The particularities neces-
sary to be entered upon in order to give a tolerable notion of so
many fine works, would be too great a digression; but we cannot
forbear to take notice of a sort of Temple, the only one of its
kind, that Chapel of a single stone which the same Amasis had
caused to be cut out of the quarries in Upper Egypt, and to be
transported with incredible labour and pains, as far as Sais, where
it was to have been set up in the Temple of Minerva. Herodo-
tus speaks of it thus; " But what I admire more than all the
other works done by Amasis, is this — he caused to be brought
from Elephantina, a house made of one entire stone, which 2,000
men, all of them pilots and sailors, were not able to transport in
less than three years. The front of this house was twenty-one
cubits in breadth, by eight in height; and within the walls, five
cubits high by eight in length." This house never entered the
Temple of Minerva; but was left at the gate, whether Amasis
was provoked to see the architect, who conducted it, complain
heavily of the labour this work had cost him, or because one of
those who had been assisting to convey it along the Nile, was
crushed to death, as the same historian relates.

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 147

SEC. IV. ITS TEMPLES.

3d, Three Temples o^ Diana at Efihesus.

DioNYSius the Geographer, informs us that

1st, The first . • r,, , r r^- t- i

Temple of Diana *"^ most ancient 1 emple of Zyzawa at Ephesus

by whom estab. ^gg j^yjit [jy thg Amazons, which remarkably

lished, and what

it was. declares the simplicity of the first ages; since it

—■"""■""■■■■"" only consisted of a nich hollowed out of an Elm^

where was probably the statue of Diana. That of which I am

going to speak, was not so ancient; but how magnificent it was,

the following description from Pliny will show.

' The celebrated Temple of Diana at Ephesus
2d The se-
cond the famous was built in a marshy ground, to secure it from

Ephesian Tern- earthquakes, and openinp;s of the earth, which

pie, an account _ r o

of it. sometimes happened there; and that the foun-

■^"""■■"^■^■" dation of such a weighty building might stand
solid upon this soft and fenny ground, they strewed over it a
quantity of beaten coal, and laid over them sheep skins with their
wool. This Temple was four hundred and twenty-five feet long,
and two hundred feet wide. The hundred and twenty-seven co-
lumns which supported the edifice were placed there by so many
kings, and were each of them sixty feet high. Of these pillars,
there were thirty-six beautifully carved; one of which was done
by the famous Scopas. The architect who carried on this great
work was Chersiphron or Ctesiphon; and it is a wonder how he
could place architraves of so prodigious a weight. It is credible
enough, that the roof of the Temple was made of cedar planks,
as the same author tells us, but I do not know how to credit what
he says of the stairs by which they ascended to the very top, as
being made of a single vine stock. Neither Chersiphron, nor his
son Metagenes finished this edifice of unrivalled grandeur; other
architects wrought at it, since, according to Pliny, all Asia con-
spired for two hundred and twenty years, or as he says elsewhere,
for four hundred years, to adorn and embellish it. Pindau in
one of his Odes, says, it was built by the Amazons, when they

148 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

ITS TEMPLES. SEC. IV.

•were going to make v/ar upon the Athenians and Theseus; but
Pausanias assures us that tliis great poet was ignorant of the an-
tiquity of that Temple, since those very Amazons had come from
the banks of the Thermodon, to sacrifice to Diana of the Ephe-
sians in her Temple, with which they were acquainted; for,
sometime before, being defeated by Hercules.^ and antecedently to
him, by Bacchus, they had fled thither for refuge as into a sanc-
tuary. The riches of this Temple must have been immense, since
so many kings contributed to embellish it; and since nothing in
all Asia was more famous than this fabric, either for devotion or
the infinite concourse of people attracted to Ephesus by it. The
account given by St. Paul, of the sedition kindled by the Gold-
smiths of that city, who earned their living by making small gold
and silver statues of Diana, shows us effectually how celebrated
the worship of that Goddess was. This Temple was burnt by
Erostratus, for a pitiful niotive that every body knows.
====== The Temple which subsisted in Pliny's time,

Ephes'ian Temple ^^^^ hG.^n raised by Cheiromocrates, who built

was but little m- ^i^g town of Alexandria, and proposed to cut

ferior to the last

mentioned. Mount Atlas into a statue of Alexander. This

—■'•'— last Temple, which Strabo had seen, was little
inferior in riches and beauty to the former; for there were to be
seen the works of the greatest statuaries in Greece. The Altar
was almost wholly of Praxiteles's workmanship. }^enophon
speaks of a statue of massy gold, whereof Herodotus, who had
visited this temple, says nothing. Strabo assures us likewise,
that the Ephesians, in gratitude, bad erected in the same place
a statue of gold, in honour of Artemidorus. Vitruvius tells
us, that this temple, of the Ionic order, was dipteric, that is, that
there went quite round it two ranges of pillars, in form of a dou-
ble poi'tico; that it was seventy-one toises in length, with more
than thirty-six in breadth; and that there were reckoned in it
one himdred and twenty-seven "pillars of sixty feet high — This

CHAP. 11. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 149

SEC. IV. ITS TEMPLES.

temple was one of the most celebrated asylums^ which, accoiding
to the author last quoted, extended to one hundred and twenty-
five feet of the adjacent ground. Mithridates had confined it to
the space of a bow-shot. Marc Antony doubled that extent; but
Tiberius, to correct the abuses that were occasioned by those
sorts of privileges, abolished this asylum. — Nothing remains at
this day of so stately a fabric but some ruins; of which the reader
may see an account in Spon's voyage.

Ath^ Temple of Jupiter Olympius,
■ Greece had so many Temples, Chapels, and

the Teniple of Altars, that they occurred every where, whether

Jupiter Olympi- jj^ cities and villages, or in the open fields.

us. .

====== To be convinced of this, we need but read the

Ancients, especially Pausanias, who has applied himself parti-
cularly to describe them, and speaks of them in almost every
page of his travels through Greece. In pursuance of my design,^
I shall single out two of these Temples, that o£ Jupiter Olympius,
and that of Apollo at Delphos which were the two most magnifi-
cent.— The former, according to Pausanias, with the admirable
statue of Jupiter which it contained, were the product of the
spoils which the Eleans had won from the Pisans and their Allies,
when they sacked the city of Pisa. This Temple, whereof Libo,
a native of the country, vvas the architect, was of the Doric o'der,
and surrounded with columns, insomuch that the place where it
was built, formed a stately peristyle. In this fabric they made use
of the stones of the country, which however, Avere of a singular
nature, and exquisitely beautiful. The height of the Temple,
from the area to the roof, was sixty-eight feet, its breadth ninety-
five, and its length two hundred and thirty. The roof was not of
tiles, but of a fine pentelic marble, cut in the form of tiles. From
the middle of the roof hung a gilded victory, and under this sta-
tue, a golden shield, on which was represented Medusa's head;

150 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

ITS TEMPLES. SEC. IV.

and at each extremity of the same roof hung two golden kettlea.
On the outside, above the columns, a rope bound around the
Tem.ple, to which were fastened twenty-one gilt bucklers^ conse-
crated to Jupiter by Mummius, after the sacking of Corinth.
Upon the pediment, in the front, was represented with exquisite
art, the Chariot-race between Pelops and Oenomaus, with Jupiter
in the middle. Oenomaus and his wife Sterope, one of the daugh-
ters of Atlas, the chariot with four horses, and Myrtilus the cha-
rioteer of Oenomaus were on the right hand of the God; Pelops
with Hippodamia, and his charioteer with his horses, were on
the left. All these figures were done by Paeonius, a native of
Thrace. The back pediment, the work of Alcamenes, the best
statuary in his time next to Phidia, represented the battle of the
Centaurs with the Lajiitha^ at the marriage of Pirithous. A num-
ber of the labours of Hercules were represented upon the inside
of the fabric; and upon the Gates, which were all of brass, were
to be seen, among ot'.ifer things, the hunting of the boar of Ery-
7vant/ius, together with the exploits of the same Hercules against
Diomedcs, king of Thrace, Geryon, &c. In fine, to pass over ma-
ny important particulars which it would be tedious to mention,
there were two ranges of columns supporting two Galleries rais-
ed exceedingly high, under wliich passed the way that led to
Jujdter's throne.

================= This Throne and the Statue of the God

TheStatueand m • r , • ,. ,-, • -

Tlirone it con- were Phidias master-piece, than which antiqui-

tained of that ty produced nothing more magnificent or more

highly finished. The Statue, of an immense

height, was oi gold and ivory so artfully blended, that it could not

be beheld but with astonishment. The God wore upon his head

a Crown which resembled the olive leaf to perfection; in his right

liand he held a Victory likewise of Gold and Ivory; and in his left

a Sceptre of exquisite taste, refulgent with all sorts of metals,

and supporting an Eagle. The Shoes and the Mantle of tlie God

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 151

SEC. IV. ITS TEMPLES.

were of gold; and upon the latler were all sorts of animals and
flowers engraved. The Throne v/as all sparkling with gold and
precious stones. The ivory and ebony, the animals there repre-
sented, and several other 0|rnaments by their assemblage formed
a delightful variety. At the four corners of the Throne were as
many Victories who seemed to be joining hands for a danee, be-
sides two others which were at Jupiter's feet. The foot of the
Throne, on the front part, was adorned with Sphinxes, who
were plucking the tender infants from the bosoms of the Theban
Mothers; while underneath were to be seen Apollo and Diana
wounding Miobe^s children to death with their arrows. Four cross-
bars that were at the foot of the Throne, and passed from one
end to the other, were adorned with a great number of figures
Extremely beautiful; upon one were represented seven conquer-
ors at the Olympic Games; upon another appeared Hercules^
ready to engage with the Amazons, the number of combatants on
either side being twenty-nine. Besides ihe feet of the Throne,
there were likewise pillars to support it. In fine, a great ballus-
trade painted and adorned with figures, railed in the whole work.
— Panaeus, an able painter of that time, had represented there,
with inimitable art. Atlas bearing the heavens upon his shoulders,
and Hercules in the attitude of stooping to relieve him from his
load; Theseus and Pirithous; the combat of Hercules with the
Nemean Lion; Ajax offering violence to Cassandra; Hippodamia
with her mother; Prometheus in chains; and numberless other
subjects of fabulous history. In the most elevated part of the
Throne, above the head of the God, were the Graces and Hours j
of each three in number. — The Pedestal which supported this
pile was equally adorned with the rest: there, Phidias had en-
graved upon Gold, on the one side, the Sun guiding his Chariot;
and on the other, Jupiter and Juno^ the Graces., Mercury, and
Vesta: there Venus appeared rising out of the sea, and Cupid
receiving her, while Pitho^ or the Goddess of persuasion was

152 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

ITS TEMPLES. SEC. IV.

presenting her with a crown: there also appeared Afiollo and
Diana.) Minerva and Hercules: At the bottom of the Pedestal
might be seen Amphitrite and JVeJitune; and Diana mounted on
horseback: in fine, a woollen -veil, of purple dye, and magnificent-
ly embroidered; the present of Antiochus, hung from toji to bot~
torn. — I say nothing of the other ornaments of this noble Struc-
ture, nor of the Jiavement which was of the finest marble; nor of
the firesents consecrated to the Gods by several princes; nor of
the prodigious number of statues that were in the Temple, as
well as in the neighbourhood of it: for all these Pausanias may
be consulted. I only add, that in order to judge of the greatness
of Jufiiter's Statue, about which the ancients are not agreed, it is
sufficient to observe, that the Thkone and Statue reached from
the pavement to the roof, whose elevation is marked above. It
■will readily be granted, that a work of such a nature — of so pro-
digious an extent; of so considerable a height; where ^o/cf blended
with ebony and ivory, casting a dazzling splendour; where so ma-
ny 7?^wre.s, bas-reliefs, and painting were to be seen; the whole
done by the greatest masters — would not fail to produce a very
sublime effect upon those who entered into the Temple. — We
must not forget that this Edifice was of the Doric Order, the
most ancient of all the Orders in Architecture, and at the same
time the most suitable for works of grandeur.

5 th, Temple of Apollo at Delphos.

====== If the Temple of Apollo at Delphos was not

This Temple .„ . , t ^ •

was built five ^^ magnificent in structure as that I have just

times —an ac- described, it was a great deal richer in the im-

count 01 eacli. °

si,,,_„..„,„.„.,„^ mense presents which were sent to it from all

quarters: I say richer, if indeed it be possible to estimate Jupiter's

statue, the master-piece of Phidias, just described. — At first the

Temple of Deiphos was of very little consideration. A Cavern,

v^hence issued certain exhalations which infused vivacity and a

sort of enthusiasm into those who approached it, having impress-

CHAP. II. ! MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 153

SEC. IV. ITS TEMPLES.

ed people with a belief that there was in it something divine, an
Oracle was founded there, as I shall explain at a greater length in
speaking on the subject of Oracles. The concourse which this
pretended miracle drew, obliged the neighbouring inhabitants to
consecrate the place; and the Jirst temple they built there was a
sort of chafieli or rather a hut made of laurel boughs. — The second
Temple, they gave out, adds Pacsanias, was raised by Bees^
and made of wax; and that Afiollo sent it to the Hyperboreans,
This is evidently a fable which will be explained when speaking
of Oracles. — The third Temple of Delphos was built of brass.
This need not seem very surprising, since Acrisius, king of
Argos, caused an apartment to be made of brass., to shut up in it
his daughter Danae; in the time of Pausanias, there was ex-
tant, at Sparta, the Temple of Minerva Chalciacos, so called be-
cause it was wholly o^ brass: but that it was built by Vulcan, is what
Pausanias says he does not believe; nor that there were upon
the ceiling. Golden Virgins who sung charmingly, as Pindar re-
presented, in imitation, no doubt, of the Sirens in Homer. The
Ancients were not agreed about the manner in which this Tem-
ple was destroyed: some said the earth had opened and swallowed
it up; others, that it had taken fire and the brass whereof it was
chiefly made, melted down — Be that as it will, the Temple was
built 2^ fourth time, when its materials were of Stone, and its arch-
itects were Agamedes and Trophonius. This edifice was burnt to
the ground, on the first year of the fifty-eighth Olympiad. Kffth
Temple, in fine, was erected by the direction of the Amphicty-
ones, with the money which the people had consecrated for that
use. This temple was subsisting in the time of Pausanias, and
greatly excelled the preceding, in grandeur and riches; for, al-
though we have not a particular description of this Temple, it is
easy to judge of its extent, and of the immense riches it contained,
from that concern which so many princes, and whole nations took

154 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

ITS TEMPLES. SEC. IV.

in sending presents to it. Few came to consult the Oracle of
AfioUOf without bringing some offering to the God; and who were
there but either came or sent to iti! Of these offerings there must
have been uncountable numbers, whether of one kind or of every
variety; since, although the Temple had been pillaged several
times, Nero carried off from \\. Jive hundred stances of brass,
chiefly of Gods, and partly of illustrious men.

6thf The Pantheon at Rome,
■ Rome and Italy in general, abounded with

PantlTeon^is* un- Temples as much as Greece. They were to be

certain; — it yet met with every where; and several of them re-
subsists in All
Saints. markable either for their singularity or magnifi-

^^^----^--— — cence. Among the most elegant, we are to
reckon that of Jupiter Capitolinus^ and that of Peace; which, ac-
cording to Pliny, were two of the finest ornaments of Rome. But
as none of them were moi"e noble, nor more solidly built than the
great Pantheon^ commonly called the Rotunda^ and since it sub-
sists at this day entire, under the name of Jll Saitits, to whom it
is consecrated, as in Paganism, it was to all the Gods; I choose to
give the description of it in preference to others. The draught of
it maybe seen in the second volume of Montfaucon's jintigui'
ties, who has taken the plan of it from Serlio, and the profile
from Lafreri. The most common opinion is, that it was built
by the direction, and at the expense of Agiippa, Augustus* son-in-
law; though there are authors who maintain, that it was before
his time, and that he only repaired it, and made an addition to it
of that fine Portico, which is there still to be seen. Be that as it
will, that grand fabric, which receives light only from a hole in
the middle of the dome, so ingeniously contrived, that the whole
is sufficiently lighted by it, is of a round figure, the architect, it
seems, designing to imitate the figure of the world, as is to be re-
marked of a great number of other Temples of the earliest anti-

CHAP. II. MACHIXERY OF IDOLATRY. 155

SEC. IV. ITS TEMPLES.

quity. The Portico^ the work of Agvippa, more beautiful and
more surprising than the Temple itself, is composed of sixteen
columns of granite marble, each of one entire stone. These co-
lumns are five feet in diameter, and above seven and thirty feet in
height, without including the bass and capital. Of these sixteen
columns^) there are eight in front, and as many behind them, all of
the Corinthian order. As in the time of Pope Eugenius, there was
found near this edifice, a part of Agvippa's head\v\ brass, a horse's
footf and a piece of a wheel of the same metal; it would seem that
this great man had himself been represented in brass upon this
Portico^ riding in a chariot w'wh Jour horses.
====== When I say that this Temple is subsisting en-

tion and its orna- ^"'^ ^^ *^'^ ^^^y' ^ ^^o^ld be understood to mean
"*^"ts. the body of the work, raised on such solid foun-

^"~~'^~~~~~' dations, that nothing has been able to affect it.
And no wonder; for, according to a Roman architect, these foun-
dations were a mass not only extending itself under the whole
edifice, but also a greut way beyond its walls. As for the magni-
ficent works, the statues., and other firecious things, of which it was
full, these are all gone to wreck. The plates of gilt brass, that
covered the whole roof, were carried off by the emperor Constan-
tius III. Pope Urban made free with the beams of the same metal,
to form the canopy of St. Peters, and the great pieces of artillery,
which are in the castle of •S';'. Angelo. The statues of the Gods
which were in the niches still to be seen within the Temple,
have either been pillaged, or buried under ground; nor is it very
long ago, since in digging near this edifice, they found first a lion
of basalt, which is a fine Egyptian marble, and then another, which
served for ornaments to the fountain of Sextus V., not to mention
a large beautiful -vase oi porphyry, that was placed by the Portico.
nl general, this edifice was exceedingly magnificent, perfectly
well built, in just proportions, and it siill makes one of the fairest
ornaments of Home.

156 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. 11.

ITS TEMPLES. SEC. IV.

7^A, Of the nature of Sanctuaries.^ or Asyla.

======= The Altars, Sacred Groves, and Temples,

right^^^ Asylum, l^^ving been places of refuge for criminals among
or Sanctuary. the Pagans, we must explain wherein this right

"""""""■""■"" of Asylum consisted; what were the privileges
belonging to it; and whence the origin of the custom was derived.
From the time that men began to devote places to the worship of
the Gods, there to acknowledge them in an authentic manner as
their lords, and the sovereign disposers of their destinies, and to
conceive hopes of being aided by them, they believed them to be
there present in a peculiar manner; and hence, that they might
not seem inexorable towards others, while they were supplicating
the Gods to be propitious to themselves, it is highly credible that
they looked upon those sacred places, whither the guilty had re-
paired, perhaps fortuitously at first, though afterwards by design,
as sarictuaries in-violable. The Tabernacle and the Temple of
Jerusalem were places of refuge^ and doubtless the first Altars
raised by the Patriarchs were so too, since Moses excludes mur-
derers, who fled for refuge to those he himself set up. The cities
of refuge appointed by Moses and Joshua, were likewise Asyla.
Paganism, which imitated many of the customs of God's people,
from them, no doubt, had likewise taken this of appropriating
./^sy/a; thus, could we know the date of the foundation of their first
Temple and Altars, this would lead us to the original of this pri-
vilege. We can only affirm, that it is very ancient, without being
able to determine the precise time when it commenced. We know
from Pausanias, that Cadmus granted it to the city or citadel,
which he built in Bseotia; and it is probable, as M. Simon re-
marks, that this prince, a native of Phenicia, and from the neigh-
bourhood of Palestine, having learned how much the confluence
of criminals and debtors into the Jewish cities of refuge had been
of use to that people, had used the same means to draw inhabi-
tants into his. Theseus for Athens, and Romulus for his new

CHAP II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 157

SEC IV. ITS TEMPLES.

city* had recourse to the same piece of policy, if we believe Plu-
tarch DiODORUs SicuLus ussures us that Cybele founded an
jisyium in Samothrace. The Egyptian Hercules passed for the
author of that of Canopus: That of Diana Stratonia at Smyrna, and
that of the Tenean JSTefitune owed their institution to Oracular
responses.

===== But as this privilege, granted to criminals not
it was institutecT o^^X i" the Temples and near the Altars, but

and to what pla- gyen in the cities which claimed it, and actually

ces or structures

it attached. enjoyed it time immemorial, was capable of pro-

ducing very bad consequences, such as autho-
rising crimes, in hopes of impunity, the Asylum was restrained
to mvoluntary offences. This, according to Thucydides, was the
way the Athenians repelled the charge of the Boeotians— asserting
that their Altars were only Sanctuaries for crimes of this sort.
We learn from Titus Livius, that the murderer of king Eume-
nes was obliged to quit the Temple of Samothrace, where he had
taken Sanctuary. Thus the Asyla were properly for involuntary
delinquencies; for those who were oppressed by unjust power;
for slaves ill used by cruel masters; and for debtors who were
unjustly dealt with, Sec. But as the wisest institutions are liable
to be abused, even criminals condemned to death, found a secure
Sanctuary in the Temple of Pallas at Lacedemon; bankrupts, in
that of the Goddess Hebe at Phlius, and in that oi Diana at Ephe-
sus. — It was not only Cities and Temples that served for Sanctua-
ries; the Sacred Grove, the Altars, the Statues of the Gods, ti.ose
of the Emperors, and the Tombs of Heroes, wherever they
were, had the same privilege; and it was enough for a criminal to
be within the compass of those Groves; or to have embraced an
Altar, the Statues of some God, or Tomb of some Hero, to be in
perfect safety. Being once within the protection of an Asylum,
the rriminul remained there, commonly at the feet of the Altar or

158 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. IT.

ITS TEMPLKS.

Statue, and had his victuals brought to him, till he fovind an oppor-
tunity of making his escape, or of satisfying the offended party.

====== The Asylum was tiot always inviolate; either

The riGrht was
not always invio- ^^^^ offender was sometimes forcibly torn from

^^^^ it; or permitted to die of hunger, by cutting off

his provisions, and sometimes erecting a wall
about the place of refuge, as the Ephori did in the case of Pausa-
nias, of which we are told by Cornelius Nepos. The sanctity
of the Asylum would, no doubt, have been oftener violated than it
wa!S, had it not been for the punishments appointed by Gods and
men against the Profaners: I say by the Gods, because the cala-
mities which sometimes ensued upon the profanation of those
places, were construed to be the effect of Divine vengeance. This
accordingly was the judgment pronounced upon the desolating
plague, that befel Epirus, after the murder of Laodamia, who was
slain in the Temple of Diana. The history is thus related by
Justin: There were none remaining in all Epirus, of the blood
I'oyal, but JVereh and Laodatnia, her sister. The former married
the son of Gelo, king of Sicily, and Laodmnia^ who fled for refuge
to the Temple of Diana, was assassinated there by the people:
but the Gods revenged this sacrilege by plagues and calamities,
which proved the ruin of almost the whole nation. To barren-
ness, famine, and civil war, succeeded other wars, which brought
all to the greatest extremity; and il/z/o, who had given that un-
fortunate princess her mortal bioio, was seized with such furious
viadness as to tear out his own bowels, of which he died in ex-
treme agony, on the twelfth day after the murder. They pro-
nounced the same judgment upon the infamous disease that
finished the days of Sijlla, who had violated the right of Asylum.
The Oracles consulted after such kinds of profanations, prescrib-
ed not only. for the offender, but for whole cities, solemn expiations.^
or public reparations, to be juade; thus the Lacedemonians were

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 159

SEC. V. ITS VICTIMS OR SACRIFICES.

obliged to erect two Statues of brass to the unhappy Paiisaniaay

in the very place where he died.

.. M. Simon seems to think that all the Temples,

by "rfberius' for ^^"'^^ Groves, and Altars, &c., were Asyla:
its abuses. there is however, a great probability that all these

"""""""""" places did not enjoy that privilege. Be that as
it will, the Asyla occasioned more harm, by the imfmnity they
gave to offenders^ than they did good by the protection it offered
to some who were innocent; wherefore Tiberius abolished them.

SECTION FIFTH.

ITS VICTIMS OR SACRIFICES.

======= Sacrifice is an act of religion, whereby man

of Sacrifices in acknowledges the Divinity of him to whom he

general, in the offers it up, professes to honour him in a solemn
early ages.

'■ manner, to thank him for blessings received)

and to supplicate him for new ones. In the earliest times of Pa-
ganism the worship paid to the Gods was exceedingly simple.
The Egyptians, if we believe Theophrastus, cited by Porphy-
RY, made an offering in ancient times to their Gods, not oiincense
and fierfu?nes, but of the green kerbs, which they gathered, and
presented to them as the first productions of nature. Ovid paints
very well the simplicity of those primitive Sacrifices: Noincense,
says he, as yet was brought from the banks of Euphrates, nor
the fragrant costus from the extremity of India. They were
strangers then to the blushing saffron; and the richest offerings
with which the Altars were crowned, were simple herbs or bat/'
leaves. The same Theophrastus adds, that they joined libation
to those first Sucrifices; and doubtless it was water they poured
out in honour of the Gods: For the Egyptians, of whom he
speaks, made use of no other liquor, as we shall see afterwards.

160 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAl'. II.

ITS VICTIMS OR SACRIFICES. SEC. V.

Pliny, IvIacrobius, Plutarch, Dionysius of Halicarnassus,
and Thucydides, make frequent mention of the simplicity of
the festivals and Sacrifices of the ancient Egyptians, and of the
Greeks and Romans, as may be seen in Vossius, who has cited
them in proof of this truth. — This primitive simplicity lasted a
very long lime, and there were places where it always subsisted.
Pausanias, speaking of an Altar at Athens, consecrated to
Jujiiter the most /lig/i, tells us, that no living thing was offered
there, but that they made only simfile offerings., without so much
as using wine in the libations. This custom was derived from
Cecrops, who, in regulating the worship of the Gods, and the ce-
remonies he had brought from Egypt into Greece, ordained that
nothing which had life should be given in sacrifice, but that they
should oniy offer simple cakes, as we learn from the same author.
- As they offered in sacrifice the same things

blood Wct-nf ' ^'^^y ^^^ upon, when bread came to be substitut-
became general; ed in the room of herbs, they applied to that use
"~'~'~~~™~~' a sort of Jlour and cakes baked with salt. — To
these sacrifices they joined the productions of the earth, honey,
oil, and ivine; and when they came afterwards to feed upon the
flesh of animals, they began also to make offerings of bloody sacri-
Jices, in honour of the Gods: For there always was a remarkable
connexion between the food of mankind and the matter of the
Sacrifices, since the law ordained, that one part of them should
be eaten; and they are always accompanied "i^'xxSx feasting, as we
shall see in the sequel.

■ It would be hard to determine at what period

but the time of r ^' .1 c Lt j £ • ^

their introduc- time the use 01 bloody sacrijices was intro-

tion is uncertain, duced among the Pagans. No great stress will

excepting Abel's

offeri7ig: be li^id on the authority of Ovid, Avho alleges,

"■ that the soiv was the first animated victim which

was offered to Ceres, upon account of the ravages which that ani-
mal makes in the fields. Homer, at least, will tell us, that the

CHAP. 11. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 161

SEC. V. ITS VICTIMS OJl SACRIFICES.

use of this sort of sacrifices was common in the time of the Tro'
jan war; and I do not believe we have more early examples. I
know that Pausanias speaks of the human sacrifice which Ly-
caon offered up to Jufiiter Lycxus; that the authors of the jirgo-
nautics tell us, the heroes of the golden fleece stowed a hecatomb
in their ship, as an offering to Afiollo; they also mention a sacri-
fice of the deer taken in hunting, which those heroes sacrificed
instead of the other animals; but these authorities are to be less
regarded than Homer, the most ancient of poets, and conse-
quently nearer to the events he described. — Be that as it will,
there can be no doubt but the use of bloody sacrifices in the Pagan
world is of very great antiquity, if what is advanced by some of
the fathers of the church be true, that God accepted that sort of
sacrifice, and Moses enjoined them to the Israelites, only to pre-
vent their offering them to the Pagan Gods, as was done by the
neighbouring nations. But this account is by no means just; and
it is certain, that in the true religion, these sacrifices were as old
as the world, since Cain offered to God the fruits of the eart/^
and Abel sacrificed to him victims taken from his Jlocks. Now
as idolatry is but a corruption of the true religion, there is no
doubt of its having borrowed its rites from thence, and in particu-
lar, the use of bloody sacrifices, and that from the earliest ages.
It is however as true, that there were countries where this prac-
tice was not received till very late, and with reluctance too, as
the fact I am going to relate testifies sufficiently. Among the
Athenians, the sacrificer, after having struck the animal that was
to be offered up, was obliged to fly with all his might. He was
pursued, and to prevent his being arrested, he threw away the ax
he had made use of, as being alone guilty of the death of the
victim. The pursuers seized the ax, and entered an action
against it. He, who spoke in defence of the ax.^ alleged it was
less guilty than the grinder, who had sharpened it; the grinder
being questioned, laid the blame upon the sharfiening stone he

163 MACHINERY OP mOLATRY. CHAP. H.

ITS VICTIMS OR SACRIFICES.

had used, and thus it became an endless process: A ceremony

ridiculous indeed, but which proves the aversion the Athenians

had to bloody sacrifices.

' But it is fit to observe, that at the very time

ncvcrtliclpss tlic *

former simplicity ^^^7 were accustomed to offer up victims which

of sacrifice is not j,,,^ life, they did not forget the ancient form of

forgotten. j j : t>

— ~»^ sacrifices, which consisted only in herbs, salt, and
7ncal, and to this they had still recourse, as the most proper way
to appease the Gods. Thus, according to Festus and Servius,
they always threw meal and salt upon the victims, upon the./?re,
and upon the sacrificing knives. Numa Pompilius, as Pliny has
it, even laid the Romans under a prohibition not to use bloody
■victims, or any other sacrifice, but those in which they employed
fruits, salt, and corn. Dionysius of Halicarnassus seems to as-
cribe to Romulus what we have been saying of Numa; and he
adds, that this usage was still subsisting in his time, although they
had superadded to it that oi bloody sacrifices. Plutarch observes
there were Gods among the Romans, of whom the God Terminus
was one, towards whom they preserved the ancient custom of
offering up nothing that had life.

- In process of time, they came to such a pitch

i as , an ^^ superstition, as to offer up human victims.
sacniices were ' ' '^

offered up; Who was the first author of these barbarous sa-

'~'^~"""^^"" crifices is not knowir; but whether it be Chro-
7nis or Saturn, as it is in the fragment of Sanchoniathon, or
Lycaon, as Pausanias seems to insinuate, or some other, it is
certain, that this barbarous custom was propagated to almost
every known nation. Fathers themselves, actuated by a blind fu-
ry, sacrificed their children, and burned them instead of incense.
These horrid sacrifices, prescribed even by the oracles of the
Gods, were known in Moses's days, and constituted a part of
these abominations with which that holy legislator reproaches the
the Amorites. The Moabites sacrificed their children to Moloch,

CFIAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 163

SKC.V. ITS VICTIMS OR SACRIFICES.

and buined them in the cavity of the staiue of that God. Accord-
ing to DiONYSius of Halicarnassus, they oflered men in sacrifice
to Saturn^ not only at Tyre, and Carthage, but even in Greece,
and Italy. The Gauls, if we may believe Diodouus Siculus, sa-
crificed to their Gods their prisoners of war; those of Tauris, all
the strangers who landed upon their coasts; the inhabitants of
Pella sacrificed a man to Peleus. Those of Temessa, as Pausa-
NiAS has it, offered every year a young virgin to the ge?2ius of one
of Ulysses's associates, whom they had stoned. Strabo men-
tions those abominable sacrifices offered by the ancient Germans.
Athanasius gives the same account of the Phenicians and Cre-
tans; and Tertullian of. the Scythians and Africans. In the
Jliad of Homkr we see twelve Trojans sacrificed by Achilles to
the manes of Patroclus. In fine, Porphyry gives a long detail
of all the places, where, in old tin)es, they offered up human sa-
crifices.— From all these testimonies put together, and from sev-
eral others, which it is needless to quote, it follows, that the Phe-
nicians, the Egyptians, Arabians, Canaanites, the inhabitants of
Tyre and Carthage, those of Athens and Lacedemon, the loni-
ans, nay, all Greece; the Romans, the Scythians, the Arabians,
the Allemans, the Angles, the Spaniards, and the Gauls, were
equally guilty of this horrid superstition.

'■ The late Abbe de Boissi, ascribes the origin

which orifirinated r ^i, . i < . c y •

from Mraham's ^^ ^"^^ baroarous custom of sacrificing men, to

sacrifice being an imperfect knowledge of Jbra/mm's sacrifice.

misunderstood:

s==;;^^s5ss5; The Canaauites, says he, the Amorites, and the

other people in the neighbourhood of those places, where that
holy Patriarch had lived, no doubt would hear honourable men-
tion made of the zeal and steadiness of that holy man, who sti-
fled all the impressions of natural affection to an only son; they
probably knew something of the rewards God promised to his
faith; but being ignorant that the sacrifice was not accomplished,
they understood the thing in the literal meaning, and thought, by

164 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

ITS VICTIMS OR SACRIFICES. SEC. V.

imitating so heroic an action, to obtain the sanne benediction from

heaven: and indeed, according to the poets and historians, it was

Saturn who introduced the detestable custom 6f sacrificing men;

now Saturn.) in the judgment of the best authors, is the same

with Abraham. The proofs of it are clear; but I must defer them

till we come to the article of that God.

■ ■ The ancients came at last to see those inhu-

^Hc.^fJ.^iLw'i?..! man sacrifices in a true light; and the facts
gies caused them £> '

to be abolished. which I am going to relate, were the occasion
. at last of their ceasing by degrees. An oracle,

says Plutarch, having ordered the Lacedemonians, in time of
a plague, to sacrifice a virgin; and tlje lot having fallen upon a
young maid named Helena, an eagle carried off the sacrificing
hiife and laid it on the head of a heifn-n, which was sacrificed in
her stead. The same author tells us that Pelopidas, the Athenian
general, having been directed in a dream, the night before a bat-
tle, to sacrifice a fair virgin to the manes of the daughters of Sce-
dassvis, who had been ravished and assassinated in the same place;
he, under great terror, deliberated about the inhumanity of such
a sacrifice, which he believed to be odious to the Gods; when
seeing a red 7nare, he sacrificed it by the advice of Theocritus
the soothsayer, and gained the victory. In Egypt Amasis made a
law, .that only ihe Jiffures.o^ men should be offered up instead of
themselves. In the island of Cyprus, in the room oi /iuma7z sacri-
fices, Diphilus substituted sacrifices of oxen; as Hercules did in
Italy waxen heads named Oscillce, instead of real men. ■
-■ Anciently the head of the family was equally

pri^atrsacrificrs; ^"""^ ^"^ priest, and he was the person by whom

and the choice pf sacrifices were offered; but in later times, every

victims, in which

bomethinj? was state had priests and other ministers, ordained

peculiar to each ^^ ^^.^^ function, as we shall show in the follow-
Deity. '

■ ■ ing SECTION. But yet at that very time when

there were priests institruted, the head of the family still retained

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 165

SEC. V. ITS VICTIMS OR SACRIFICES.

the same right. Thus we may distinguish two kinds of sacrifices;
the private ones., which every one might offer in his own house,
to his Lares or Penates; and the public nacrijices established by
the laws, for which there were ministers authorised, and a priest
who presided over them. These sorts of sacrifices were offered
at Rome and in Greece, accoi'ding to certain rules they were
strictly to observe. To this purpose Cicero says, "our ances-
tors have laid down rules for divine things, so that for the cere-
monies instituted at high solemnities we have recoiirse to the
Priests, who are well instructed in ihem; and for managing the
affairs of the comnjonwealih, we consult the Augurs, &.c. &c,—
The principal business of these ministers, consisted in muking
a right choice of victims; for of whatever nature they were, great
care was to be made in the choice of them; and the same ble-
mishes which excluded them from sacrifices among the Jews,
also rendered them imperfect among the Pagans; whence it
would seem that the latter received from, or communicated to,
the former, several of their rites. Vossius in his learned treatise
upon idolatry, has, on this branch of it, entered into very cuiious
philological dissertations, to which we must refer. We will only
say here, with Pollux, that the victim ought to be clean, with-
out blemish, neither lame, nor deformed: ivhite, and of an odd num.'
bery for the celestial Gods; while, on the contrary, they should be
black, and of an even nuinber, for the infernal Gods. They should
also be chosen from among those anitnals, plants, or fruits, which
were agreeable to the Gods to whom they were offered; for all
sorts of victims were not offered indifferently to every Divinity.
It was commonly a sow big with young, that they offered to Cy-
bele, and to the goddess Terra; the bull to Jupiter; to Juno, heifers^
enue-lambs, and at Corinth a she-goat; to JVeptune, a bull, and
lambs, as appears from Homeu: to Pluto, a black bull; and to
Proserpine, a black coiv; but when that Goddess is taken for

166 MACHINERY OF mOLATRY. CHAP. H.

.. ft. ,

ITS VICTIMS OR SACRIFICES. SEC. V.

Hecate.) they sacrifice to her a dog^ whose barking they supposed
drove away the apparitions sent by her. The most acceptable
victim to Ceres., was the boar and the sow; they made her like-
wise an offering of honey and of milk: to Venus' was offered the
dove, the he-goat., the heifer., the she-goat^ &c.: to Bacchus the he-
goat. To the Sun was sometimes offered honey., but the Persians,
the Armenians, the Massagetes, and others, sacrificed to him the
horse. To Apollo., (for he was frequently distinguished from the
Sun) they offered the ra7n, the she-goat, the enve., and the he-goat;
but when they confounded him with the Sun^ they offered him a
bullock, with gilded. horns, as an emblem of his beams; they offered
him likewise a raven. To Mars was generally offered the horse,
the bull, the boar, and the rain; but the Lusitanians in particular,
sacrificed to him, goats of either sex, and sometimes, their ene-
mies; while the Scythians offered him asses, and the Carians dogs.
We learn from Homer, that the victims most grateful to Miner-
va, were the bull, the lamb, and oxen that had never known the
yoke. To Diana, stags and she-goats, more especially among the
Athenians; and with some others, cows. To the Dii Lares, a bul-
lock, or an ewe-lamb, according tp the ability of those who sacri-
ficed, these being of a private nature: to them they also sacrificed
cocks, and swallows, and hogs, from which latter these Deities
were sometimes called Grundiles.

' ' In fine, each Deity had their favourite, or con-

also their ^conse- secrated birds, animals,Jishes and plants; between

cr.ited hirdsf ani- which, and their appropriate fiV/zVns just spoken

malsy Jishea, and

plants. of, there seems to be some ground of distinc-

^^^ii^^^^i tion — 1st, of the Birds, the eagle was conse-
crated to Jupiter; the peacock to Juno; the cock and the owl to
Minerva; the cock, the vulture and the wood-pecker to Mars; the
cock also to Apollo, and to Escidapius; the dove and sparrow to
Venus; the king-Jisher to Tethys; the phoenix to the 5u«; and the
cicada, a sort of insect, to Apollo. — 2d, Among Animals, the lion

CHAP. IT. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. l&T

SEC. V. ITS VICTIMS OR SACRIFICES.

was consecrated to Vulcan; the nvolf to Jfiollo and Mar's; the dog
to the Lares and to Mars; the dragon to Bacchus and Minerva;
the griffin to Afiollo; the serpent to Escidajiins; the s^o^" to //(?r-
cules; the /a??2d to Jmio; the horse to Mars; the heifer to Isis -—'
3d, Among the Fishes, which belonged all to A''c/ituney the coji-
c//a marina, and the small fish called c/;mg, were sacred to Venus,
and the barbel to Diana. — 4th, Among the Trees and Plants,
the /?Ene was consecrated to Cybele^ for the sake of ./f^ys; the oaAr
and the 6eecA to Jupiter; every species of oo/: to Rhea; the o//t;(?
to Minerva; the laurel to jIJioUo^ from his amour with Daphne;
the reerf to Pan, from the story of Syrinx; the /o^z^s and the
myrtle to Apollo and Venus; the qypress to Pluto; the narcissus
and the maiden-hair or capilli veneris, to Proserpine; the cs/^ to
Mars; the purselane to Mercury; the myrtle and the poppy to
Ceres; the -yf^e to Bacchus; the poplar to Hercides; dittany and
the poppy to Lucina; garlic to the Penates; the alder, the cedar,
the juniper, and the narcissus, to the Furies; the /za/nz to the
Manes; the plane-tree to the Genii; the alder \.o Sylvamis; the /UHe
also to Pa??, Sec. Ecc. And if we except some symbolical motives,
which have been transiently mentioned, for these sorts of conse-
crations, there is no possibility of divining, what the other motives
may have been. It is probable — since those distinctions of victims,
and of objects especially consecrated to some Divinity exclusive
of others, were not known to the earliest ages of idolatry— that
all this refinement was invented by the Priests, who proposed
thereby to irtfprint upon the minds of the people a higher vene-
ration for the Gods.

======== The victim being chosen in the trianner we

Tlic cGrciTio- • •

nials of a Sacri- h^ve said, it was decked with ribbons and jfillets;

fice. they gilded its horns, laid upon its head the salt'

cake, fruit, and male-frankincense; this is what

they call immolation. Then came the libation; it was of tvine,

which the priest first tasted himself, and then gave to the by»

168 MACKIiVERY OF lDOLATIi\. CHAP. li.

ITS VICTIMS OR SACRIFICES. SEC. V.

star.dei s to do the same. After .this, was the ceremony called
liUbatur, that is, the priest took some hairs from between the
horns of the victim, threw them into the Jire., and then turning
his face towards the east, ordered the sacrificer to alay tlie victim.
Hardly was it dead, when the Priest plunged the sacrificing
knife into its entrails, to see if the sacrifice was auspicious, aii fier-
litatumforet; and then they were explored by the Harusfiex, in or-
der to draw from them di favourable omen. The next thingwas to
cut the victim in pieces., part whereof they roasted, and distributed
for the feast. The sacrificers were termed Victimarii, Pope,
Cultrarii. The priests, besides the vestments appointed for his
functions,, was sure to be crowned with a chaplet of the branches
or leaves of the tree peculiarly sacred to the God for whom the
sacrifice was; as of oak for Jupiter; of laurel for .Apollo; of white
poplar for Hercules; of the vine for Bacchus; of the cypress for
Pluto, and so for the rest. — The Diviners among the Greeks, as
Calchas, Mopsus, Amphiaraus, and many others; and the, Harus-
pices among the Romans, assisted at the sacrifices, to consillt the
entrails of the victim, and give their opinion of them. It belonged
to them to order the titne, \heform, and the matter of the sacri-
fices, especially upon important occasions; and they were not
wanting then to consult them, and follow their decisions.— But
there were different sorts of sacrifices, the holocaust, the expia-
tory sacrifice, the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and several others, in
wlach their way of managing the victim was different. In the
holocaust, it was wholly consumed by fire. SometiTnes they only
Sprinkled the blood around the altar; burnt upon it the fat that
iMclosed the entrails, and the remainder was carried ofi", or eaten
up near the same place where the immolation was performed.
1 heie were portions which the priests, only, had a right to touch,
others were distributed, or carried off. It would seem also, that
among the Gentiles, whatever was designed for ordinary food,
especially the flesh of animals, was first offered up by way of sa-

CHAP. 11. 31AG11INEUY OF IDOLATRY. IGy

SEC. V. ITS VICTIMS OR SACRIFICES.

orifice; and hence the tirimitive chris'ians., while living in the
midst of Pagans, were so mucli upon tiieir guard against eating
meats that had been offered to Idols. If this account, which has
been likewise followed by some authors, and which appears to be
grounded upon antiquity, is not strictly just, this much at least
is true, that all the fiublic feasts were ushered in with sacrifices,
upon the flesh whereof they feasted, as Antheneus expressly
says; to be satisfied of this, we need only read Homer, Virgil,
and other ancients.-— It was not always necessary to bring a living
victim to the altar, since, for want of other animals, they went
and slew some in hunting, to be offered in sacrifice. Nor was
the whole animal offered to the Gods; the thighs were the por-
tion which was allotted to them, as Pausanias remarks in gene-
ral, with respect to the sacrifices of the Greeks; and this part of
the victim they burned upon a clear fire, made of chips of wood.
Apollonius Rhodius gives the same account: " They slay,
two oxen," says he, " cut them into quarters, and then into
pieces, setting the votive thighs apart by themselves; and after
having covered them with the fat, or with the omentum which is
fat, they roast them upon chips of wood." The sacrifices were
always accompanied with libations. This was the liquor they
poured out in honour of the God to whom the sacrifice was
offered, and oft-times the sacrifice itself was no more than sim-
file libation. In ancient times, the libation was only an effusion of
■mater, while the use of ivine was not introduced, or was so only in
some places; and what will appear surprising, several nations that
celebrated the Orgies, or Bacchanalia, knew not, or at least made
no use oi ivine. The Persians, according to Herodotus, drank
nothing but water. The same may be said of the nations of Pon-
tus, the Cappadocians, and Scythians. How could the Arcadians,
who of old lived upon nothing but acorns, or rather upon a sort of
wild chestnut; the Troglodytes, the Ichthyoi hagi, and a number
of vagrant people, who lived in the midst of woods or in caves

170 MACmNERY OF mOLATRY, CHAP. II.

ITS VICTIMS OR SACRIFICES. SEC.V.

have any notion of the use of wine? And yet they had a religion,
sacrijices, and libations. Nations even more civilized, who knew
its use, such as the Egyptians, durst not, if Plutarch says true,
bring any of it into the temples. And indeed, before Psammiticus,
the Egyptians made no use of wine at all, nor offered any to their
Gods, believing it not to be agreeable to them, since they looked
upon it as the blood of the Titans, which mixing with the earth,
after Jufiiter had thunder-struck them, produced the wzf. Al-
though for firi-uate sacrifices there vvas no time specified, yet in
public sacrijices, they were very religiously exact in choosing the
morning for the Celestial Gods, and the evening or the night, for
the Terrestrial and Infernal Gods. The sacrifices made in honour
of the last, required peculiar ceremonies. They sacrificed to
them no victims but such as were all black, as we have remark-
ed; for receiving whose blood, a hole was prepared in the earth,
and into it was the ivine of the libation thrown. The entire victim
was burnt, as in the holocausts, without reserving any thing for
the feast; for it was not lawful to eat the me.at that had been offer-
ed to the infernal Gods and to the Manes. Eusebius cites a pas-
sage from Porphyry,' concerning an oracle of Apollo, which
prescribed the form of sacrifices. " There are, Scid Porphyry,
after the oracle, Gods of the Earth, and Gods of Hell. To them,
victims are to be offered cA quadrupeds of a black colour; but with
this difference, that for the Terrestrial Gods, the victims must be
presented upon altars, and for the Infernal Gods, in ditches and
in holes. To the arial Gods, the sacrifice is to be oV birds, whose
whole body is to be burned by way oi holocaust, and their blood
poured out around the altar. Fowls are likewise to be offered up
to the Sea Gods, but the libation must be poured upon the waves,
and the fowls are to be of a black colour." Whence we may con-
clude, that the birds they offered to the Celestial Gods were white,
as I observed already of other victims. * But we are farther to ob-
serve, 1st, That at Rome, when the victim had any spots, they

CHAP. 11. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 171

SEC. V. ITS VICIIBIS OR SACRIFICES.

Avhiffened it over with chalk, and this is what they called Bo&'cre-
talus. 2d, That they cffered up to the Terrestrial Gods., four foot-
ed beasts, provided they were black; thus it was with the hog
they sacrificed to Ceres, because, as the same Porphyry remarks,
the colour of the earth is black. Lastly, that as ihe Jillets where-
with they adorned the heads of the victims offered to the Celestial
Gods were to be white, so, those with which they dressed the
animals to be sacrificed to the Terrestrial and Infernal Deities,
were to be black. — Sacrifices, as has been remarked, did not al-
ways consist in offering up animals alone; oft -times they present-
ed to the Gods nothing but fruits and plants, as, to Pomona an4
other Divinities; frequently ^owr, or cakes of corn or barley*meal.
Of these, the Greeks made an oblation in all their sacrifices, of
whatever nature they were. At Rome, these cakes were made of
meal and salt, which they called Ador, and the sacrifices made of
them Adorea sacrijicia. According to Romulus's law, these cakes
were to be baked in an oven; for which purpose he instituted the
festivals called Fornacalia; whence came afterwards, the Goddess
Fornax. — After the victim was slain, there were Ministers who
held vessels ready to receive the blood; others with instruments
in their hands, either to flay, or cut it in several pieces. It has
been observed, that the Harusjiex, the Flamen, or the Priest, ex-
amined the entrtiils of the victim, from thence to draw ausfiicious
omens. We add here, 1st, That the heart, the liver, the luiigs,
and the spleen were the principal subjects of their attention. 2d,
That from inspecting the entrails, came the manner of divination,
called Extisfiicium. 3dj That they made observations also upon
the motion of 'the tail, when the victim was just expiring. If it
twisted, that signified a difficult enterprise: when it was turned
downward, it presaged an overthrow; but if it was lifted ufi, it be-
tokened a complete triumph. 4th, That they drew also presages
from the manner in which the sparkling of the incense as it burn-
ed, as well as from the smoak, and its different contortions.-—

172 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

ITS VICTIMS OR SACRIFICES. SEC. V.

When the s.,crifice was ended, if the omens were favourable, it
was then a perfect sacrifice, which was expressed by the single
word Litare; for they were not all acceptable to the Deity to whom
they were made. We see from Plautus, " If 1 am not guilty of
what you lay to ray charge, may Jupiter never accept a sacrifice I
shall offer." Thus there was no true sacrifice without the Litatio7i^
if one may be allowed to adopt the word. From what has been said,
we may conclude that there must needs have been in the Tem-
ples, and wherever else they sacrificed, different apartments
marked out; some iox preparing or adorning the victim^ others for
killivg it, others for dressing thejlesh, and others for celebrating
thefmst; which last, though an act of religion, was exceedingly
gay, being always accompanied by dancing, music.,9X\Ahymns,^\xx\^
in honour of the Gods. In fine, we may remark with Lucian,
that tlie sacrifices differed in the quality of the victims, according
to the character of those who offered them up. The Husbandman^
says he, offers up an ox; the i>/iep/ierd, a la7nb; and the Goat-herd^
a goat: there are so?7ie classes who make only a simple offering of
cakes and incense; and a Pavper, or he that has nothing, makes
his sacrifice by kissing his right hand. — Sacrifices were become
so common, as to be offered upon almost every occasion in life:
since, besides those prescribed by the rituals, they were offered
by generals before battle, as we may see in ancient authors, par-
ticularly in Pausanias; by those who were to found a city, as
appears from the same author; by those who were to enter upon a
journey; in the common affairs of domestic life; when one is
afflicted by any disease; after a dream; and in short, they enter
upon no entcrprize of any in portance, till -they have first im-
plored the assistance of the Gods, by this act of religion.

; The Piiest, before sacrificing, was to prepare

Purification of , . ir r • -hi

the Priests, pre- "in^selt tor It, especially by continence during

crifice'^ *^ ^ ^^' *he preceding night, and by ablutions and for that
.1 ,wm^,i.-^ purpose, there was ordinarily at the entry into

CHAP, ir IMACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 173

SEC.V. ITS VICTIMS OR SACRIFICES.

the temple, water where he purified himself. In ancient times, it
would seem that they bathed themselves in some river; at least
Virgil makes ^neas say, when he is ready to offer a sacrifice,
that he will not enter upon that action till he has purified h\n\se\i
in running iveter. But it is to be observed, that this kind of ablu-
Hon was only requisite in sacrifices offered to the celestial Gods;
simple sfiri7ikli7ig being sufficient for the terrestrial and infernal
Gods. At Rome they never offered sacrifice, till they had ushered
it in with a prayer to Janus^ for the reason given by Ovid, that
he kept the gate which led to the other Gods. This prayer being
ended, a second was addressed to Ju/iiter^ then a thiid toJuno^ or,
according to others, to Vesta. After this, the priest embraced the
altar several times, lifting his hands to his mouth; then he pour-
ed wine upon the altar, from the Patera: lastly he ordered the
sacrificerto strike the victim; which he did either with the knife
called Secesfiita^ov he knocked it on the head wjth a mallet. — Mont-
FAUcoN explains most of the sacrifices that are still to be found
represented upon marbles, and upon bas-reliefs; so that there is
little occasion for me to speak further of them here, and the ra-
ther, that his explications suppose the figures which one ought to
have before his eyes: but as in that multitude of sacrifices, some
were more solemn than others, such as the Hecatomb., the Agro-
tevte, and the Taurobolium., with some others, I suppose it is in-
cumbent upon me to give a short detail of ihcm here.

■ ■ In great victories, or in time of some public

The Sacrifice t • ^- .• rr i • ,,

called Hecatomb, calamity, tncy somecimes offered m the same

offered on public sacrifice, no less than an hundred oxen^ or other

emergencies.

■■-■ ■ — animals; this is what they called a Hecatomb;

sometimes it amounted io ^ thousand^ though very rarely, and
then it got the name of a Chiliomb. Capitolinus, speaking of the
Hecatomb which was offered by Balbinus, after Maximinus's de-
feat, informs us at the same time, in what manner this sort of sa-

174 iVrACHINERY OF mOLATRY. CHAP. IL

ITS VICTIMS OR SACRIFICES. SEC. V.

orifice was offered. " They set up in a place appointed, an hun-
dred altars of turf ^ and sacrificed an hundred nheefi^ and as many
hogs; if the sacrifice is imperial, they offer up an hundred liona^
an hundred eagles^ and as many other animals. The Greeks, says
this author, did the same thing when they were iniected with the
plague." AthenjEus adds, that they took the same course after
signal victories, for which he cites the example of Conon the La-
cedemonian captain; who offered, says he, a true Hecatomb. By
this phrase, true Hecatomb^ the author gives us to understand, that
the general actually offered up an hundred oxen, for sometimes
the name Hecatomb was given to sacrifices, where the hundred
animals were of another species. From the passage in Capito-
LiNUS, we may refute the error of those who maintain, that the
Hecatomb was so called, on account of an hundred oxen or bulls
which were therein sacrificed. Hesychius, and several other au-
thors, confirm what Capitolinus says, that in Hecatombs they
sacrificed other animals as well as oxen. To conclude, this kind
of sacrifice was of very great antiquity, since there is mention of
it in Homer, who says, Mejitune went into ^Ethiopia to receive
the sacrifice of the Hecatomb^ of bulls and lambs. It is a noted story
that Pythagoras offered a Hecatomb for having found ovit the
demonstration of the forty-seventh proposition in the first Book of
Euclid.

■■ We must not omit the sacrifice of Agroters,

called A^^l'terx, "^^^^^''^ ^'^^y sacrificed five hundred goats every

m honour of i>f«- year at Athens, in honour of Diana, surnamed
na.

' Jgrotcra, whether from the city Agros in Attica,

or, according to Rhodiginus, because she was always in the

fields. Xekophon refers the institution of this sacrifice, to a vow

made by the Athenians, of sacrificing to that Goddess as many

goats as they should kill of Persians; but the slaughter they made

of them \vas so great, tliai it was impossible for them literally to

accomplish their vow, which obliged them to make a decree,

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 175

SEC. V. ITS VICTIMS OR SACUIFICES.

binding themselves to offer up every year, five hundred goats in
honour of her, which was still kept up in the time of that histo-
rian.

■ The Taurobolium was -a sacrifice offered to the
calle/raSoS mother of the Gods. This sacrifice does not ap-
um, in honour of pgai- ^q hjjy-g i^ggn known in the first a^es of Pa-
Ctjbele: * ...

=====; ganism; since the oldest inscription that mentions

it, which was found at Lions, A. D. 1704, in the mountain Four-
viere, informs us, that- this Taurobolium was offered under the
reign of Antoninus, A. D. 160. But then it was very late before
it was laid aside; the last inscription of it that we know, is in the
reign of Valentiniati III. We have hardly any way of knowing
this sort of sacrifice, but from inscriptions; the Ancients, at least
such of them as are extant, being quite silent upon this article;
except Julius Firmicus, a christian author, Prudentius, and
perhaps Lampridius, who speaking of Heliogabalus, says, he was
so devoted to Cybele, that he received the blood of the bulls that
were offered up to that Goddess. This sacrifice was offered to
Cijbde^ioY the consecration of the high priest, for the expiation of
sins, or for the health of the prince, or of those who offered it. It
was a sort of bapthm of bloody which they thought conveyed a spi-
ritual regeneration, and whose rites and ce+emonies were different
from other sacrifices. But, as the poet Puudentius has left a
particular description of the Taurobolium^ I shall, for the satisfac-
tion of the reader, give it here. " In order," says he, " to conse-
crate the high priest, that is, to initiate him into the Tduroboliutn,
a great hole was made in the earth, into which he entei'ed, dress-
ed in an extraordinary garb, wearing a crown of gold, with a toga
of silk tucked up after the Sabine fashion. Above the hole was a
sort of floor, the boards of which, not being close joined, left seve-
ral chinks, and besides, they bored several holes therein: then the^y
led up a bull, crowned with festoons, upon his shoulders fillets co-
vered with flowers, and having his forehead gilt. Here the vic»

176 MACnmERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP II.

ITS VICTIMS OR SACRIFICES. SEC. V.

tim's throat was cut, so that the reeking blood came streaming
clown upon the floor, which being made like a sieve, let it fall into
the hole as it were like a shower, which the priest received upon
his head^ upon his body, end upon his clothes. Not content with
this, he even held back his head to receive the blood upon his
Jace, he let it fall upon both cheeks, upon his ears, his lips, and his
nostrils; nay, he opened his mouth to bedew his tongue with it,
and some of it he sivallotved. When all the blood was drained,
the victim was removed, and the high priest came out of the hole.
It was a horrible spectacle to see him in this plight! his head covered
over with blood, clotted drops, sticking to his beard, and all his gar-
ments distained. ^nd yet, as soon as he appeared, he was received
with a general congratulation, a?id not daring to approach his per-
son, they adored him at a distance, looking upon him now as a man
quite pure and sanctified. They who had thus received the blood of
the Taurobolium, wore their stained clothes as long as possible, as a
sensible sigri of their regeneration.

' It was not always for private persons the Tau-

on whatoccasions , ,. i , • <-

offered and I'^bohum was made: this ceremony was periorm-

what kind of ed for the whole body of citizens, for entire pro-

victims: '' "^

■ vinces, for the prosperity of the empire, &c.

Sometimes these regenerations were for twenty years; sometimes,
in fine, the .'irchigullus, or the high priest of Cybele, appointed it
for certain occasions. This sacrifice of regeneration did not al-
ways require the victim to be a bull; sometimes the victim was a
ram, and then it was called Crioboliu7n. Sometimes a she-goat,
and then it got the name of Egibolium, or JEgoboliumi Several of
the learned are not agreed that this last victim was used in the
Taurobolcs; but chiefly the bull, and sometimes the ram, when
they would do honour to Atys, Cybele' s favorite, to whom solely
th^a Taurobolium was consecrated; although Du Choul, Camb-
DEN, Selden, and some others, are of opinion that it was like-
wise offered in honour of Diana.

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 177

SEC. VI, INSTRUMENTS USED IN SACRIFICE.

■ I We shall end this section \\ilh some gene-

er^&c^lt'remdr- ^'^^ observations, in relation to the forms of pray-
ed, er used upon this occasion. As they believed
. the Gods themselves had endited those forms,
they were considered as a thing so essential, that if he to whom
the pronouncing of them belonged, did but forget or transpose a
single word, they were persuaded the sacrifice would have no ef-
fect. Thus, when Decius the consul devoted himself to the in-
fernal Gods, and with himself the enemy's troops, he cautioned
the pontif Valerius Maximus, to be exact in pronouncing the form
prescribed upon that occasion. There were even overseers ap-
pointed to take care that nothing of the formulary was forgot; and
that they iftight hear every syllable which the speaker pronounc-
ed, the spectators were peremptorily enjoined silence. Most
of those forms, if Jamblicus may be believed, like that of Theur-
gy, (a sort of magic to be explained afterwards) were composed
at first in the Egyptian or Chaldean language. The Greeks and
Romans, in translating them, kept in many of the original words
of those foreign languages, so that they frequently became a sort
of barbarous and unintelligible jargon, but still the more barba-
rous and unintelligible, the more sacred and revered.

SECTION sixth.
IJVSTIiUMEJSrTS USED IjY SACRTFICE, &c.

After having treated of sacrifices and -victims, I am to speak

of the Sacred Instruments; but as it is hard to make my re .ders

understand the description of them without figures, they will

have recourse to the antiquaries who have given prints of them.

■ The Jcerra, was a little chest where the in-

The Acerra.
s=s=^^=55= cense was put, much the same with those at

present used by the Catholics. Those which now remain, and are

178 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

INSTRUMENTS USED IN SACRIFICE. SEC. VI,

to be seen in the cabinets of the curious, were not made after
one model, nor of the same metal. This chest or box of per-
fumes, is frequently to be seen upon ancient monuments, in the
hands of the Camilli, and sometimes in the hands of the Vestals.

===== The Cencer, or Thurebulum, was known to the
The Cencer. . . "' .

s=s=^== ancients, but there is now no representation of

it to be seen in monuments. The Greeks called this instrument
Thymiaterion; its use was for burning the incense in time of the
sacrifice.

The Coc/ilearia, a species of spoon, was used
to transfer the incense from the Acerra to the

TheCochlearia.

Thurebulum.

Praeferriculum.

The Simpulum.

The Prxferriculum was a vase that contained
the liquor which was made use of in libations.

The Simpulum was in form pretty much re-
sembling a ladle. According to Festus, they
used it in sacrifices for making the libations of wine. Pliny calls
this instrument Sim}iuvium^ and says some of them were of baked
earth.

===== The Patera^ was an instrument ordinarily
The Patera.

round, somewhat hollow, and with a handle.

The use of it was to receive the liquor that was poured from the

vase, and to sprinkle it upon the victim; which Virgil explains;

" The beauteous Dido, holding the Patera in her right hand,

pours the wine between the horns of the white heifer." — This

instrument made of different metals, with some variety of formi

is that which has suffered least from the injury of time, and there

are few antiquaries but have several of them.

- The Malleus or Mallet, as also the Ax, was

Malleus and Ax. . . .

^s==s!:^== for knocking down the victim; for both these

sorts of inst! uments are to be seen indifferently in the hands of

sacrificers upon bas-reliefs.

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 179

SEC. VI. INSTRUMENTS USED IN SACRIFICE.

===== The Sece.'-fiiia serve to cut the throat of the
The Secespita. , , , •

■ victim. They w^ere of different forms, and even

some of them in a case. — Festus gives a just description of it.

It was, says he, an iron knife, with an oblong blade, and round

haft or handle, made of solid ivory, fastened to the blade with

gold and silyer, and studded with nails of Cyprian brass, which

the Flamines, the Flaminic vhginsy and Pontifs made use of in

sacrifice.

========= The Dolabra was a ereat knife which served

The Dolabra. . , *', .

=:^=:==:= for dismembering the victim.

. The Ligula or Lingula, a sort of spatula, or

The Lingula.

' forceps, which the Hanxsfiices used for exploring

the entrails of the victim.

■ The Enclabris^ mentioned by Misson, in his

The Enclabris. '

==5ss=55= travels through Italy, was the table upon which

the victim was laid for the* convenience of examining the entrails,

and drawing the entrails therefrom.

====== The Litures or Aumiral Staff., like a s-ort of

Augural Staff. * -^

^=:=s==: trumpet, crooked at the end, was held by the

Augur when he was to examine the flight of birds, and take the
omens.

" The Discus was a bason whereon the flesh of

The Discus.
===== the victim was laid.

===== The Olla was the pot in which the priests
The Olla. . . * . ^

=;^s5s=s=: boiled the portion of the victim that was allotted

to them.

- The Candelabrum was a species of candle-
Candelabrum. Jk
■ ■ stick on which they set the torcne^ that burned

during the sacrifice.

The Truwhet was a sort of horn or clarion

The Trumpet.
' which they sounded at the ceremony of the

Hecatombs only.

180 iMACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

INSTRUMENTS USED IN SACRIFICE.

: The double Flute was played durins: every

Double Flute. . . b /

' sacrifice as we see in all the monuments re-

maining upon the subject; and a player always accompanied the

victim while it was conducted to the Altar.

„. The Urcolus was a small vase of brass, silver,

The Urcolus. ' '

' or some other metal, which had a'straightneck,

and wide mouth, which the inferior ministers carried for washing
the priests hands. They are to be found upon antique monu-
ments, in the hands of this sort of ministers.

' ' Although we are not to reckon Tri^iods in the
The Tripod, — , <- •, , -r- i

of three sorts. number ol utensils used at sacrincesj yet, as they

■II I ' had them frequently in the Temples, in those

especially of Afiollo^ and sometimes used thetn for the support of
the sacred vases, it is necessary to say something of them here.
I. divide them into three kinds. Under \\\q firsts I include those
used by Pythia^ when she delivered the oracle of Ajiollo in the
temple of Delphos. As the exhalation, to which she owed her
prophetic inspiration, issued out of a cave, which shall be spoken
of in the history of oracles; and as one who approached too near
it was in danger of falling into it, as sometimes happened; they
contrived a three-footed machine, which they set upon the rock,
and there the priestess sat, for the convenience of catching the
exhalations without any danger. It is of this sort of Trifiodn we
read so much in ancient history. — The aecovd kind comprehends
whatever stood upon three feet, such as vases, ladles, or whatever
else might have had that form; and of these there were a vast
quantity. — In the t/izrd, I reckon the -votive Trifiods, which priests
or private persons dedicated in the temple of Jfiollo. Herodo-
tus speaks of a golden Tripod, which the Greeks, upon their
victory over the Persians, sent to Delphos: « in the division they
made of the spoils of the enemy, says that author, they set the
silver by itself, took a tenth of it for the God who was worshipped
at Delphos; and of this portion they made a golden Trip-od, which

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 181

SEC. VII. THE MINISTERS OF SACRIFICES.

they dedicated to him, and which is still to be seen upon a brazen
three-headed serjient," From these last words it appears, that
this golden Trifiod was supported by one of another kind, repre-
sented by three heads of a serpent; which is confirmed by Pau-
SANIAS, who tells us, that the golden Trijiod ^iven by the Greeks,
after the battle of Plataea, was supported by a serfient of bi-ass. It
will not be expected, I should include, under any of these kinds
of TrifiodSf those of Homer, which walked upon their own legs
to the assembly of the Gods: a poetical fiction, to give us the
higher notion of the excellence of Vulcan's works. — Nothing is
more common in the cabinets of the curious, and in the works of
antiquarians, than these Trifiods; there they are to be found of
all sorts of figures, and some even pretty singular. The most of
them are of brass or of bronze.

SECTION seventh.

THE PRIESTS AJVD OTHER MIjYISTERS OF SJICRIFICES.

' After the sacrifices or victims^ and the instru'

the^Prietthoodln "'^"'* which were used in offering them up,
early times. something must be said of the Priests., and other

Ministers of the same. As there is no nation, be
it ever so savage, but has some religion, neither is there any ,
without Ministers to preside over it; but in this section we shall
hardly take notice of any except those of the Greeks and Ro-
mans.— First then, I am of opinion, that in earlier times, the
priesthood belonged to the head of the family; at least that he had
the privilege of sacrificing, although there were Priests by office.
Thus at the siege of Troy, notwithstanding Chryses and others
were Priests, yet we see in Homer, the kings, the princes, and
captains of the army, offering saci'ifices upon certain occasions.

182 MACHINEHY OF mOLATRY. CHAP. II.

THE MINISTERS OF SACRIFICES. SEC. VII.

■ ; W hen they were to choose a Priest, an ex-
Defects of per-
son, &c., exclu- aminalion was made into his life, his manners,

offke ^'""^ ^^^^ ^"^ ^^^" ^^® qualities of his body, as he was to be

=^:^=== free from all unseemly defects; just as we see in
the sacred writings, those who had but one eye, the lame, the
hump-backed, &c., were excluded from the Priesthood. .The
Athenians even required that their ministers of religion should
be pure and chaste in their lives, and their Hicrofihantas, we know,
made use of some cold herbs, such as hemlock, as a means to
obtain the gift of continence. The Priests were generally allowed
to marry; they were frequently indeed forbid second marriages^
although history informs us that this rule was not always ob-
served.

. The Greeks and Romans had a Hierarchy of

The Greek Hie-
j.^j.j.j, High-Pnests, Priests, and subaltern Ministers,

===== who served them in their functions; but as the
Greeks were divided into several states independent of one ano-
ther, this Hierarchy was not every where uniform. There were
even cities, such as Argos, and some others, where women pre-
sided in religion. Nothing is more celebrated than those
Priestesses of Argos, since their Priesthood served for the date
of public events. The names of most of those Priestesses were
lost, till M. FouRMONT the younger, in his travels through
Greece, found a very large inscription, containing a full list of
them. Minerva Polias the patroness of Athens, had a Priestess
to preside over her worship, and Plutarch in his morals,
names one Lysimache, who exercised that function. The Peda-
sians, according to Herodotus, had also a Priestess for their
Minerva. There was likewise one for Ceres ai Catana, for Pallas
at Clazomense, Sec. — At Athens, the Archon thought himself
honoured by the title of Priest. The origin of the Priesthood of
the Archonsi according to Demosthenes, was owing to this, that
anciently the kinga and giceetis of Athens were the high Priests,

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 183

SEC. VII. THE MINISTERS OF SACRIFICES.

The royalty being abolished, they continued to choose a king and
a gueeTZf to preside over sacred things^ which office was afterwards
transferred to the jirchons^ and their wives. The Epimelete serv-
ed the king in sacred matters; and women named Geremy assist-
ed the queen in sacred matters, to the number of fourteen. The
Ceryx served the sacred queen likewise in the most secret myste-
ries of religion. There was also, independent of all these myste-
ries, a pontiff, or rather a chief Priest, who presided in sacred
things. Sometimes he was only for one city; sometimes for a
whole province. Oftentimes too he was vested with this dignity
for life; sometimes for only five years. — As there were chief
Priests, so we find chief Priestesses; for among the Greeks, wo-
men as often as men were admitted to minister in sacred matters.
These chief Priestesses vvere the superintendents of the Priest-
esses, and were chosen from the best families: But of all the
Pagan Priestesses, the most celebrated was the Pythia, of whom
we shall have occasion to speak elsewhere — If we may give
credit to Pollux, there were sixteen sorts of Ministers of the
temples; the Priests; the Temple keepers, or ^ditiii; those who
had the charge of holy things; the Prophets; the Hypoprophets,
or under-Prophets, who publish the oracles; the Sacrificers;
those who perform the rites of initiation; the Administrators of
holy things; the Purifiers; the Divines, or inspired, the Sortilegi;
the Fortune-tellers; the Cresmothetae, or those who gave forth
the lots to be drawn; the Saints or Devotees; the Thuriferi, or
incense-bearers; the Hyparetae; and the Servitors, or CamilH.
The same author next remarks, that the same names were given
to different orders of Priestesses, in places where the women
ministered in the temples; and the Priestess oiA}ioUo at Deiphos,
had the name of Pythia by way of eminence. He might have ad-
ded further, that at Clazomenae the Priestess of Pallas was
named Hesychia^ and that of Bacchus, Thyas; and in Crete, that
of Cybele, Melissa, He might likewise have remarked, that

184 MACHINERY OF roOLATKV. CHAP. 11.

THE MINISTERS OF SACRIFICES. SEC. VII.

among the Athenians, the subaltern Ministers were styled Para-
siti; that not being then a name of reproach, as it is at present.
The acceptation of this word, in the sense here taken, is derived
from an inscription at Athens, where it is said, that of two bulls
offered in sacrifice, one part should be reserved for the §"aw2es,.
the other distributed among the Priests and Parasites. The
principal function of these Parasites^ who had a place among the
chief magistrates, was to choose the wheat allotted for the sacri-
fices.— There was likewise another sort of people set apart for
service in the sacrifices. These were the Ceryces or the Cryers,
whose office was to make public proclamation of things, whether
civil or sacred. Thus, according to Atheneus, two of them were
to be chosen; and accordingly we find the Ceryces are two in
number in some Athenian inscriptions, one for the Jlreopagusy
the other for the Jrchon. They were to be taken from the Athe-
nian family; which, according to Isoc rates, bore the name of
Ceryccj from one Ceryx, the son of Mercurij^ and Pandrosos,
daughter of Cecrops. — The JVeocori had offices corresponding to
those of the Sacristans of our churches: accordingly it was their
business to adorn the temples, and keep in order the vases and
utensils that were used in the ceremonies of religion. Theodo-
ret is the only one who mentions two other functions of the
JVeocori: the one to stand at the gate of the temples to sprinkle
holy water for purification of those who wei e entering into them;
the other, to throw some of the same water upon the meat served
up at the emperor's table. Julian the apostate, says this author,
went into the temple q{ public Genius in the city of Antioch; and
the JVeocori standing at the two sides of the temple gate, sprin-
kled holy water upon those who were entering, pretending there-
by to givfe them absolution. This office became very considera-
ble; for the JVeocori, who at first were employed only in servile
duties, were afterwards raised to the superior station of Ministers
and High-Priests, who sacrificed for the life of the empeior. We

CHAR ir. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 185

SEC. VII. THE MINISTERS OF SACRIFICES.

find on medals, where the name of Mcocorus often occvirs, that
also oiPrytanist which was sometimes granted to them, with that
of AgonotheteSf or dispenser of prizes at the public games. Even
cities, and Ephesus among the first, according to Van-Dale,
took the name of JVeocorus; upon which the reader may consult
Vaillant and the other antiquaries.
====== Rome, at first, being nothing but an assem-

H'erarchv blage of renegadoes and fugitives, whom Romu-

I lus had drawn together, that piinee had but little

thought about religion, and having borrowed it, such as it was,
from the Albans, and other neighbouring people, it was, in those
first ages, exceedingly plain and simple. Their temples and cha-
pels had neither ornaments nor statues; for according to Plu-
tarch, there passed 171 years before any of them were there to
be seen: sacrifices ofi'ered without apparatus^ constituted the
whole ceremonial of this infant city. Yet we find in Dionysius
of Halicarnassus, that Romulus having divided Rome into thirty
Curigf instituted two Priests for each, which made sixty in all.
Numa Pompilius, who was more taken up about religion than
warlike affairs, made several alterations in the Roman Hierarchy,
and so did some of his successors, as we may see in Titus Li-
vius, Dionysius oftHalicarnassus, and in Dion. I shall deliver
what I think myself best warranted to say upon this head. — The
Priests of Romulus's institution, were to be at letst fifty years of
age, men of distinguished morals and birth, capable of maintain-
ing themselves with honour, and free from all corporeal blemish-
es: so true it is, that even in the grossest reiigions, care has al-
ways been taken to admit none for ministers, and offer up nothing
in sacrifice, but what was most perfect, and best adapted to the
honour of the Divinity. As, in tl.e Ministry of those Priests
there were some things that could only be perfoimed by women,
and others, wherein their assistance was necessary, the wives and
daughters of the Priests were employed in those pieces of ser-

186 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

THE MINISTERS OF SACRIFICES. SEC. VII.

vice. The Priesthood at first was engrossed by the Patricians;
but the Peofile disliking that preference, prevailed to have the
Priesthood divided between the Senate and themselves; and not
only so, but under the tribuneship of Cn. Domitius, got into their
own hands the privilege of choosing the Priests, which was for-
merly reserved for the College of Patricians; which was again
brought under a new regulation, that the College should be the
electors, and the people confirm that election. In fine, after some
other alterations, which it would be needless to relate, the empe-
rors arrogated the right of choosing the Priests, and became
themselves the high Priests; which began in Julius Cjesar.
When the election of the Priest, made by the college to whom that
privilege belonged, was confirmed by the people, they proceeded
to the inauguration^ which, like the induction of ecclesiastical
livings, was performed with ceremony, and concluded with an
entertainment given by the new Priests. From that mom.ent,
they assumed the gown, called the Toga Prxtexta, and the orna-
ment of the head, termed Afiex^ Galerus^ Albo-Galerus^ which
consisted in a sort of white bonnet, and had frequently the addi-
tion of a crown above — The Priests in Rome enjoyed several pri-
vileges, and they might assist in the Senate; but this privilege
was afterwards taken from them. They were exempt from bur-
thensome offices in the state, and were exonerated from military
service. They had ordinarily a torch and a branch of laurel car-
ried before them; and they were allowed to ride up to the capitol
in a chariot called carpentum. There were Priests whose priest-
hood was for life; others, who had it taken from them; but the
Augurs could not be deposed upon any account whatsoever.
Every order of Priests had its particular college, and revenues for
the sacrifices. As in provinces, the Priests were obliged to defray
the expenses of the public games, which making the office fre-
quently chargeable, nobody was compelled to accept of it.

CHAP. 11. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 187

THE MINISTERS OF SACRIFICES.

~:- . . ., Z I» the Older of the Roman Hierarchy, the

of which the Pon- ^'

tiftswere the first Pontiffs were ihe^^rA^ Qf them, there were but

in rank;

■■■ ■ four at first; but that number being afterwards

augmented, they distinguished them into Pontiffs Major, and
Pontiffs Minor; both of them subject to the Pontifex Maximus,
or High-Priest; whose sole authority was so great, that the
Emperors did not think the office unworthy of them, as has been
said. The High-Priest being master of all the ceremonies of re-
ligion, and a member of the first college, was extremely reverenc-
ed. His chariot, named Thensa, was distinguished from that of
the other Priests, as well as his garb^ and the rest of his equijiage.
He was not allowed to go out of Italy. As it was a sort of profa-
nation for him to see a dead body, when he assisted at funerals,
they put a veil between him and the funeral-bed. This particular
we have from Seneca, better informed theiein than Dion, who,
speaking of Agrippa's funeral obsequies, at which Augustus the
High-Priest was present, says, he can give no reason why they ptit
a veil between the emperor and the funeral-bed; and that it is an
error to believe the High-Priest was not permitted to look upon
a dead body. Perhaps it will be objected to me, that Caesar, when
High-Priest, went and made war in Gaul; whence I should seem
to be mistaken, in alleging that it was not permitted to one in that
office to go out of Italy. But we may answer, 1st, That there are
occasions when the laws, which cannot foresee every thing, are
not observed. 2d, That Caesar's example proves nothing, since
he regarded laws no farther than they struck in with his ambi-
tion.

' Next to the Pontifex Maximus were the Fla-

next to whom • i iC^i^.,j • ,

were Flamines— "^^"^S' ^"° were at hrst but three \n number, in-

whowereJV/<yor« stituted, according to Plutarch, by Romulus;
and JUinores;

■■■ or rather, according to Livy, by Nunia Pompi-

lius. They were, the Fiamen Dialiit or ol Jiipitery the Flamen

Martialis or of Mars, and the Flamen Quirinalia or of Quirinus.

188 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. 11.

THK MINISTERS OF SACRIFICES. SEC. VII.

They were chosen by the people, and the High-Piiest confirmed
their election. As those three Flamines were in high esteem,
and enjoyed seveial privileges, though they were not of the order
of Pontiffs, yet they took place among them in affairs of conse-
quence. This order was afterwards augmented to the number of
Jifteen; three of whom were taken from the Senatorian order, and
were called Flamines Majores, or the superior Flam'ens; and the
other twelve., named Flamines Minores, or the inferior Flamens,
were chosen from among the Plebeians. Every Flamen was des-
tined to the particular service of one Divinity; and his priesthood
endured for life, although for weighty reasons he might be de-
posed, which was expressed by these words, Flaminio abire, as if
to say, lay down the Flamen&hifi. The inferior Flamens, taken
from the Plebeians., were less regarded, nor was the number of
them always restrained to twelve. The bare naming them is
enough to let us know their functions. The Flamen Carmentalis
was the Priest of the Goddess Carmenta, The Flamen Falacus,
was so called, from an ancient God of that name. The Flamen
who was surnamed Floralis, took the title from the Goddess Flora;
Furinalis from Furina, mentioned by Varro; Laurentalis from
Acca Laurentia; Lucinalis from Lucina; Palatinalis from the God-
dess Palaiina, the protectress of the Palatium; Pomonalis from
Pomona; Virbialis from Virbius or Hi/ifiolytus; Volcanalis from
Vulcan; Volturnalis from the God of the river Vulturnus. The
deified emperors had likewise their Flamens. Thus we find in
inscriptions, a Priest of Augustus, i'Yamew Augustalis;di Priest of
Csesar, Flamen Casaris; and Marc Antony would needs assume
that dignity out of flattery; a Priest of the emperor Claudius,
Flamen Claudil; and one of Hadrian, Flamen Hadrianalis. In fine,
there was a Flamen who seems to have been concerned in the
service of all the Gods, and was named Flamen Divoruni omnium,
the Piiest of all the Gods; which however, was contrary to the old
constitutions. Festits will have it, that the wives of the Fla?nineff

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 189

SEC.VH. THE MlNIbTERS OF ;,ACK1FICES.

Diales were priestesses, and had the name ot I- lumini c m and ac-
cording to AuLus Gellius, they enjoyed the same [iriVileges
as their husbands, and were under the sume lestrictions.

• To all these Ministers ue may add, the Epu-

lastly, theEpulo- , i i-, • • . i n- cr-, ■

jjgg. .^^^ those loi^cs, who likewise exercised the < mce ot Fiiest

who kept the amoner the Romans. The Pontiffs not havins;
SibyUne Books. _ ^ ^

' leisure to attend upon ull the .Sactilices perform-

ed at Rome, on account of the infinite number of Gods who
were honoured there, instituted three Ministers whom they called
Epulones, or the Triumviri Epulo7iiim; becduse their business
was to prepare the sacred banquets at the solen n games, as we
learn from Festus, and to set up the couches on which they lay
at table. These feasts, which were for none but the Gods, and
especially for Jujiiter, went by the name of Lectisternia-, as we
shall observe in the article of Festivals. The Epulones had the
privilege of wearing the robe bordered with purple, like the Pon-
tiffs, as LiVY tells us. The number of these Ministers was aug-
mented first by tnuo^ then by two more, and at last in tlie time of
Julius Caesar's fiontijicate^ they were increased to ten. Hence
the T^r/uwjy/j-z, the Qidntumviri^ the Septemviri, and the Decemviri
Efiulonum^ we find mentioned in the Roman history. — Among
other privileges granted to the Epulones, the most considerable
was, that they were not obliged to give their daughters to be ■yfs-
talsf and this they had in common with the other Ministers, as we
learn from AuLus Gellius. — From Titus Livius we learn the
date of the first institution of the Epulones, it was in the year of
Rome 558, under the Consulship of L. Furius Purpureo, and of
M. Claudius Marcellus; so that it is surprising how Pomponius
L.a:TUS should say, that the date of this early institution cannot be
discovered. — At present I shall say but little of the Priests insti-
tuted for keeping the SibyUne Books, reserving a fuller account of
them for the article of the Sibyls. Tarquin the proud, having

2. A

190 MACHIXEUY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. 11.

THE MINISTERS OF SACRIFICES. SEC VII.

bought these books, instittited two Ministers to keep them care-
fully: in the year of the city 388, they created tight others; and
last of all there was an addition oi five more, in the time of Sylla,
which made fifteen in all. This Ministry, highly respected at
Rome, lasted till the time of Theodosius, or the 380th year of the
Christian ^Era.

•-■ I must say something of the three sorts of

The Pi'iests t» • . u . «i. r> j

^ < .. „ rriests who were common to the Romans and

coinmon to the

Greeks and Ro- the Greeks. The j?r«^ are those of Cy6e/e; the

mans, viz.: — 1st,

Tho.se of Cjbele. second those of Mythras: the third those of the

'■ Oj-gies, or mysteries of Bacchus. — 1st, Nothing

in antiquity is more famous, nor at the same time more con-
temptible than the Priests of Cybele^ who were called Galli or Ar-
chigalli, from a river in Phrygia, named Galliis. Van-Dale con-
siders these Gallic and justly too, as so many strollers, vagrants,
and cjnacks, who went strolling about from town to town, playing
upon cymbals and crotala, wearing on their breasts small images of
the mother of the Gods, in order to raise charitable contributions;
the very dregs of the people, according to Apuleius; a sect of
furious fanatics, and infamously debauched. We agree with that
learned author in the character which he draws of those Minis-
ters; but we cannot be of his mind, when he says, that notwith-
standing their being consecrated to the service of Cybele, yet they
were not in the quality of Priests, for their priesthood is a thing
undeniable. Pliny, Apuleius, and Suidas expressly say they
were Priests, atid give them that title; and Lucian, Avho de-
scribes the ceremony of their initiation, leaves no room to doubt
of it. VVe shall not be surprised to find how those wretched Priests
are represented by Clemens of Alexandria, Lactantius, Chry-
sosTOM, and St. Augustine, since pi ofane authors have had an
equal contempt for them. The law however had provided for
their subsistence, since, according toCicERo, it marked "out the
days when they had permission to ask alms, ami in which none

CHAP. II MACHINERY OF IDOI.ATllY. 191

SEC. VII, THE MINISTERS OF SACRIFICES.

else were allowed to go a begging. This begging, auihoiiseci by
law, probably came about every month; and those Priests got the
name of lil.'nagyrtee ■et.nd Metragyrtx, because it was for the mo-
ther of the Gods they collected those alms. To these names,
they added, by way of derision that of ylgijrta:, which imports
Jugglers and dealers in legerdemain Jar money. Clemens of
Alexandria adds to the qualifications of those Galli, that o[ for-
tune teller and soothsayer; because, in reality, they pretended to
prediction. They had always old women in their retinue, who
passed for sorceresses, Plutarch, who speaks of the verses
which they sung, says, they had brought the poetry of Oracles
into such contempt, that by their means the true Oracles of the
Trifioa^ that is to say, of Delphos, were quite neglected. The
same author adds, that they delivered their oracles extempore,
or drew them by lot from certain books they carried with them,
and sold their wretched predictions to silly women, who were
charmed with the cadence of their verses. — To this description
of the Gallif we may add what Lucian informs us of the great
Festival that was celebrated in Syria, and of the madness into
which the initiation of those pitiful Ministers threw them. " To
this solemnity, says he, numbers of Galli repair to celebrate their
mysteries. They slash their elbows, and scourge one another's
backs with whips. The gang about them play on the flute and
dulcimer; while others, seized with a divine enthusiasm, sing
songs, which they compose extemporaneously. It is on that day,
adds Lucian, that the Galli are initiated. As the sound of the
flute infuses into the by-standers a sort of madness, the young
man, who is to be initiated, throws off his clothes, and raising
loud shrieks, comes into the midst of the gang that is without the
temple, draws his sword, and makes an eunuch of himself; then
running through the city, holding in his hand the marks of his
castration, throws them into a house where he takes on a woman's
dress. This mutilation was performed in other places, according

192 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. 11.

THE MINISTERS OF SACRIFICES. SEC. VII.

to Pliny- wiih a shred or fragment of a pot of Samian earth; and
consequently the operation was both more lingering and more
painful. It is well known, that it was in honour of .'itys^ Cybelc^s
favourite, that this barbarity was practised, whereof he himself
had given the precedent. But let us draw the curtain over this
infamous scene, and say only a word or two of the High-Priest of
this worthless Crew. This head of theirs was named Archigallus^
and was ordinarily of a considerable family; at least we read in
Gruter, an inscription of the jirc/iigallus, Camerius Crescius,
who had in his retinue a great number of bondmen and enfran-
chised slaves. — Besides those Galli and Arc/iigalli, Cybele had
other Priests who were not emasculated; and Priestesses, whose
names are to be met with in Gruter. Among those Priestesses,
we find a lady named Laberia Falicla, who was High-Priestess to
the mother of the Gods; that is, who presided over the rest of the
Priestesses, as the Archigallus did over the Galli. — We may re-
mark, that all the Priests and Priestesses of the mother of the
Gods, at first instituted in Phrygia, were afterwards propagated
through Greece, and through the Roman empire, in the very
time of the republic.

■' 2d, As for the Priests of Mii/ii-as, whose wor-

2d. The Priests
of Mithras. ^^'P ^'^^ brought to Rome, if we believe Plu-

. tarch, in the time of Pompey, and later, ac-

cording io \'an-Dale, I shall say but little, because I shall give
the history of that God at full length. I shall only observe at pre-
sent, that Mi'/iras had a Minister who was called the father of
the sacred mysteries. Pater Sacrorum; that those Priests were
surnamed Lions, and 'he Piiestesses Hyxnx^ according to Por-
phyry. Hence the mysteries of Mithras were termed Leontica
and Fatrica, because of the Patres who presided there: that other
Minisieis of that God were called C'oraces, ravens; or Hierocoro'
cesi sacred ravens; or Heliaci, from the Sun, whom Mithras re-
presented. In fine, that those who were to be initiated in the mys-

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 193

SEC. VIII. THE VESTAL VIRGINS.

teries of that God, were obliged to submit to expiations equally

lingering and painful, as we shall shew in its proper place.

■■■ ■ Lastly^ As the Greeks and Romans equally

•3d The Priests
and' Priestesses celebrated the high mysteiies of Bacchus^ or

of Bacchus. the Orgies, I may rank in this common class,

'—^^-—————— tj^g Priests and Priestesses who presided there-
in; but as there will be occasion to consider them in the history
of those mysteries, I shall only say here, that those Ministei-s
bore different names, since we find in the ancients, that the Bac-
chanals were called Bacc/ia, Alanades, Bas.sarides, T/iyades, Mi-
mallonides, Edonides, Eleides, tfc, all of them names derived
either from their manner of yelling, or from their /"ury and mad-
ness.— We shall here make a transient remark, that there were
sacerdotal families, out of which Priests were to be taken; as at
Athens, those of the Eumolfiida, for the worship of Cei-es and
the Eleusinian 7nysteries; and at Rome those of i'inarii and Po-
titii for tliat of Hercules.

SECTION EIGHTH.

THE VESTAL VIRGIMS.

===== We will now say a few words about a pecu-

Theobject, ori- ,. , r •,^ ■ ■ rr. • i

ffln qualifications "^^ Class oi i'riestesses, who oiticiated among

and service, ot ^j^g Romans, in preservina: the sacred Fire, in
these Priestesses: °

■ ' honour of a Goddess of which she was the sym-

bol, called the younger Vesta, in contradistinction from the God-
dess of that name, who was the symbol of the Earth, ^neas is
supposed to have been the founder of this order of Priestesses in
Italy, which Numa Pompilius re-established. This monarch fixed
their number at four, to which Tarquin added two. They were
always chosen by the monarchs, but after the expulsion of the
Tarquins, the high priest was entrusted with the care of them.

194 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II

THE VESTAL VIRGINS, SEC. VIII.

As they were to be virgins, they were chosen young, from the
age of six to ten; and if there was not a sufficient number that
presented themselves as candidates for the office, twenty virgins
were selected, and they upon whom the lot fell were obliged to
become priestesses. Plebeians as well as Patricians were permit-
ted to propose themselves, but it was I'equired that they should
be born of a good family, and be without blemish or deformity in
every part of their body. For thirty years they were to remain in
the greatest continence; the ten first years were spent in learning
the studies of the o; der, the ten following were employed in dis-
charging them with fidelity and sanctity, and the ten last in in-
structing such as had entered the noviciate. When the thirty
years were elapsed, they were permitted to marry, or if they still
preferred celibacy, they waited upon the rest of the Vestals. As
soon as a Vestal was initiated, her head was shaved to intimate
the liberty of her person, as she was then free from the shackles
of parental authority, and she was permitted to dispose of her
possessions as she pleased.

. When the sacred Fire chanced to expire

for negS o^he through the neglect of the Vestals, it was deem-

sacred Fire, Pal- g^^i ^ prognostic of great calamities to the state;
ladium, Stc, un-
der their care: and the offender was punished for her negli-

■— -^^— ^'""^'''^ gence, with being severely scourged by the high
priest. In such a case all was consternation at Rome; till this
Fire was rekindled with the rays of the Sun drawn to a focus by
glasses. — In the temple of Vesta were preserved besides the sa-
cred Fire, several other things which jEneas had brought from
Phrygia: such as the Palladium of Troy; with the Gods Penates;
and some other images of the Samothracian Gods which Darda-
nus had brought into Phrygia, and which the religious jEneas
took care to preserve in the midst of storms. It was to save these
sacred de/iosita, judged so necessary to the preservation of the
city, that Cecilius Metellus threw himself into the midst of the

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 195

SEC. VIII. THE VESTAL VIRGINS.

flames, when the temple of tlie Vestals was on fire, and those
timorous priestesses fled; for which he was honoured with a sta-
tue in the capitol, with a gloiious inscription. This temple was
built by Numa, Romulus never having dared, whatever devotion
he had for the Goddess, to erect one for fear of renewing the
memory of his mother's crime, and of authoiising by her exam-
ple the licentiousness of other Vestals; contenting himself as we
learn from Dionysius of Halicarnassus, with building small
chapels to Vesta in each Tribe.

' The privileges of the Vestals were great: they

their privileges:
■■ had the most honourable aeats at public games

and festivals; a lictor with \\\q fasces always preceded them when

they walked in public; they were carried in chariots when they

pleased; and they had the power of pardoning criminals when led

to execution, if they declared that their meeting was accidental.

Their declarations., in trials, were received without the formality

of an oath; they were chosen as arbiters in causes of moment,

and in the execution of wills; and so great was the deference

paid them by the magistrates, as well as by the people, tliat the

consuls themselves made way for them, and bowed Xheiv fasces

when they passed before them. To insult them was a capital

crime, and whoever attempted to violate their chastity was beaten

to death with scourges. If any of them died while in office their

body was buried within the walls of the city — an honour granted

to but few.

========== Such of the V^estals as proved incontinent

their restrictions;

• were punished in the most rigorous manner.

Numa ordered them to be stoned, but Tarquin the eider dug a

large cavity in the earth, where a bed was placed with a little

bread, wine, water, and oil, and a lighted lamp, and the guilty

Vestal was stripped of the habit of her order, and compelled to

descend into the subterraneous cavity, which was immediately

shut, and she was left to die through hunger. Few of the Vestals

196 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

THE SIBYLS.

were guilty of incontinence^ and fur the space of one thousand

years, during which the order continued, from the reign of Nu-

ma, only eighteen were punished for the violation of their vow.

- The dress of the Vestals was peculiar; they

their dress and , • • , 1,1 , •

luxury; by whom ^^°*'*= ^ ^"''^ ^"^^^ ^^'^^^^ purple borders, a white

the order was lij-jen surplice called linteum superr.um^ above

abolished.

^=:=^== which was a great purple mantle which flowed

to the ground, and which was tucked up when they offered sacri-
fices. They had <* close covering on their head, called infuluy from
•which hung ribbons, or -viltx. Their manner of living was sump-
tuous, as they were maintained at the public expense, and though
originally satisfied witii the simple diet of the Romans, their ta-
bles soon after displayed the luxuries and superfluities of the
great and opulent. — 1 he Vestals were abolished by Theodosius
the great, and the. Fire of Vesta extinguished.

SECTION NINTH.
THE SIBYLS.

■ For the sake of method, I divide what I have

The subiect , . 1 • » • . 1 *• 1 1 .. t

considered under ^° ^^'X °" ^^'^ subject into several articles. 1st, I

five heads, VIZ.; — shall examine whether there really were Sibyls.
'''''~"'''~°~~'~'* 2d, How many there were of them. 3d, Upon
what ground the ancients belie\edthey had the gift of prophecy.
4th, What we are to think of the long life that was attributed to
them. Lastly., Whether they were reputed Divinities, and what
worship was paid to them.

-'■'• 1st, The ancients gave the name of Sibyls to

1st, Whether . • 1 r 1 ..1

^v ,1 „. ,^ a certain number 01 voung women, whom they

there really were ^ t> ' j

Sybils. belie\ed to be endowed with the gift of prophe-

'~~~°™~'~"°'~" cy. This name was originally either Hebrew, as
DeluiOj Peucerus, Neander, and some others contend; or

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 197

SEC. IX. THE SIBYLS.

JLatiii.) as Suidas says; or African,, as Pausanias \s'i\\ have it; or
in fine, Gre-eXr, as most of the learned asseit. This last was the
opinion of Diodorus, who derives the name from a word im-
porting in the Greek language, ins/iired, enthusiast,, because they
were fully persuaded that the Sibyls were inspired by the Gods:
but of all who have inquired into the etymology of this name,
IjActantius is he whose opinion is generally followed. This
learned author says, it signified the counsel of God. — Be that; as it
■will, all antiquity concurs in establishing the existence of some
such persolis, and though there is a considerable vaiiation with
respect to their number, as we shall see afterwards, that does not
however destroy the certainty of their having existed. One dis-
putes about their number,, another about their cou7itrij, a third
about the time vjhen they lived, Sec. But these very disputes prove
their existence to be taken for granted; so that it cannot be deni-
ed, without overturning whatever is most certain in antiquity,
and without contradicting, at the same time, several Fathers of
the first centuries, who have given into the unanimous opinion of
the Ancients.

' 2d, If the Ancients are agreed as to the ex-
there were of ^•^'"f"'"^ of the Sibyls, they are far from being so
t^^'"- as to their number. The cause of their uncer-

''~^^"^~~"'"~ tainty about this siil^ject is, that one and the
same Sibyl travelled into several countries, and after having
staid sometime in one place, and delivered oracles there, she
passed into another: frequently too, different names were given
to the same, sometimes that of the country, sometimes that of
the places of her abode. The opinion, however, most generally
received, is that ofVARRo, recited by Lactantius; and the ac-
count of them given by that learned father of the church, is as
follows. *' Varro in the books which he composed upon divine,
things dedicated by him to C. Caesar the High-Priest, when he

^ B

198 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

THE SIBYLS. SEC. IX.

comes to the article of the Sibylline Books, says, that tho'Se
Books were not the work of only one Sibyl, but of ten^ for there
■were that number in all. Then he names them one after another,
vith the authors who had spoken'of them before him. "The^^rs?,
says he, and the most ancient one, was a Persian by birth, as we
learn from Nicanor, whom the Persians called Sambethe, the
same who had written the history of Alexander of Macedon. The
seco7id was born in Libya^ and of her Euripides makesmention,
in the prologue to his tragedy, intitled • Lamia^ saying that she
was the daughter of Jufiiter and Lamia; The third '.vas of Del-
fihoHt i^s we learn from the book of divination composed by
Chrysipi'US, Diodorus Siculus names her Dajihne. The
fourth had her birth among the Simmerians \n \X^\y\ N^vius
speaks of her in his history of the Punic war, and Piso in his
annals. The ,fij(h^ the most famous of all, was oi Erythrea.^ ac-
cording to Apollodorus, who was of the same country; she
prophesied to the Greeks who were going to besiege Troy, the
happy success of their enterprise, and at the same thne, that
Homer should one day write a great deal of fictions upon that
subject. The sixth was o^ Samos, and her history was to be found
in the most ancient iinnals of the Samians, as we learn from Era-
tosthenes; she was called Pitho "br Persuasion^ according to
SuiDAS, but EusEBius termed he Erijihile. The seventh, born at
Cum<e, was named ^malthcea, according to some authors, and ac-
cording to others, Detno/ihile, or Hierofihile: it was she who offer-
ed lo Tarquin the elder, a collection of Sibylline verses, in nine
bocks. The eighth was the Hellesfio7itine, born at Marfiesus near
the town of Gergis in Traos: Heracmdes of Pontus said, she
lived in ihe time of Cyrus and Solon. The 7ii7ith, likewise a
Phrygiusi by birth, gave her Oracles at ylncyra, the place of her
residence. The tenth, in fine, named Albunica, was of Tibur or
Tivoli, and was honoured as a Divinity in the neighbourhood of
the v'wcv Anio." These are the ten Sibvls whom Varro admit-

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OP IDOLATRY. 199

SEC. IX. THE SIBYLS.

ted. — SuiDAs, also speaks of the Sibyls, but not very accurately:
he has given us two articles about them which don't resemble
one another, though in both he reckons ten of them, ^lian, on
the contrary, allows but four of them, namely, the Erythrxan^
the Egyfiiian, she who was born at Sainos^ and another at SarcUa
in Lydia. Solinus seems persuaded, that their number ought
to be reduced to three, those of Sardis- and Cumcc, and the Ery-
thrxan^ wherein he is followed by Ausonius, who likewise admits
not more of them than three. — This would be the proper place
to examine Vi'hen the mbyh lived; their parentage, the place of
their birth, and the order wherein they ought to be placed; but
so many different opinions in relation to these four articles are to
be found among both ancients and moderns, that after strict ex-
amination, one is at a loss what to fix upon. I have chosen to
mention them in the same order as Lactantius had done after
Varro, although I am not ignorant that several of the learned
have inverted that order, as if it was a thing worth while to make
a bustle about. What does it really avail whether that of Per-
sia be the Jirst and most ancient of all, as Varro alleged; or the
jftfih, as BoissARD will have it; or only the eighth according to
Onuphrius Panvinus. Gall^eus has taken the trouble to put
together all that has been said upon this subject; and to him the
learned may have recourse.

===== 3d, The ancients have reasoned profoundly
were'sunn^osed to "P^" ^^^® intercourse and union which the Crea-

be gifted vvitii tuyg is capable of attaining with the Deity; and

prophecy.

55=;=^=:^=; this union or correspondence they reckoned

might be so intimate, that when man was arrived to a certain de-
gree of perfection, the darkest events of futurity were then laid
open to his view. To this pitch of perfection, several endeavour-
ed to arrive, and some of them were believed to have actually
attained it, by virtue of that sort of magic which they termed
Theurgia, as shall be said in the sequel: thus reasoned the Plato-

200 MACHIXERV OF IDOLATRY, CHAK fl.

THK SIBVLS. SEC. IX.

nirs upon the ti72ion which A/un mtiy have with the Gods: tuking
it for granted that this was one of the fundameiital articles of the
Pagan theology, we may say that vhat made them believe the
Sibyls were possessed of a prophetic gift, must have been owing
to their having had a persuasion t!)at they enjoyed this intimate
union with the Gods, especially with Afiollo the master o{ DiviriO'
tion. It was likewise for this reason that they gave the same
privilege to the Pythia of Delphof^^ and to \.\\c Priestesses of Dodo-
na whom they believed to be intimately united with the Deity by
whom they were inspired. But other philosophers had very dif-
ferent sentiments about the profihetic spirit of the Sibyls, which
they attributed to the influence of a black and melancholy /iM??20Mr,
or some other disease. Others again were of opinion, that the
fury to which they were wrought up, enabled them to know and
foretell future events, as Iamblicus and Agathias maintain.
To this f try, Cicero added dreams, which sometimes inform us
of things to come. This illustrious author says elsewhere, " there
are persons, who without any science, and without any observa-
tion, foretel future events, by I know not v/hdii furious impulse"
We also find ancient authors who ascribe this faculty of divina-
tion which the Sibyls had, to the vajiours '4nd exhalations of the
caverns inhabited by them, as was ascribed to the cave of Delphos.
Lastly, St. Jerom maintained that this gift was imparted to them
as a renvard of their chastity: — true it is that chastity has al-
ways been looked upon, even by the Pagans, as a necessary quali-
fication in those who approached the altars^ that the Priests, be-
fore they offered up the sacrifices, were obliged to prepare them-
selves for that service by continence, and that there were even
some of them who used medicinal means to acquire this gift: it
is likewise true, that in order to be assured of tlie chastity of the
Priestess of Delphos, they chose her in the earliest time of life,
from among the country peofile, with whom this virtue is less ex-
posed than with the citizens. 1 know not, however, what founda-

CIIAP. 11. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 201

THE SIBYLS.

tion St. Jerom had, for entertaining such a favourable notion oi
the chastity of the Sibyls, since there is one of them who boasts
of having had a great number of lovers, without being married, in
this verse which I have taken from the Latin translation; mille
mihi lecti, connubia nulla fuere. The Sibyl of Persia too, speaks
of her husband who was with her in Noah's Ark, as we shall see
in the sequel. — Our opinion therefore is, that the Sibyls, being
of a sullen melancholy humour, living retired, and giving way to
^fanatic impulse, as Virgil describes the Sibyl of Camxa, de-
livered at a venture what came into their mind, and that in the
course of their frequent predictions, they sometimes hit right;
or rather by the help of a favourable commentary, people per-
suaded themselves that they had divined. And indeed, how easy
was it for those who collected theiv predictions, and put them in
verse, as was done fb those of the Priestess of Del/ihos, to retrench
or add what they pleased, and that frequently even after the event?
Some have been prophets in spite of then)selves, and the public
frequently gives itself the trouble to accommodate words spoken
at random, to facts which were never dreamed of by him who
uttered them. Do we not see instances of this every day among
ourselves, in relation to our pretending prophets.

. ; 4th, I cannot pass in silence, what Ovid tells
4tn, The long

life attributed to US in his Metamorphoses, of the amours of the

them: two reflec- >, c>-jl / •.! ^i^ ,, r^., /-. ,

tions thereupon. C'"'«'^«" ^^^yl xvUlr Jpollo. That God, says he,

^^=== falling in love with her, she promised to receive
his addresses, if he would grant her to live as many years as she
had grains of sand in her hand: but after she had obtained her re-
quest, she repaid the God with ivgi-atitude; who, in turn, pun-
ished her in the enjoyment oi h.ev vain deKire, for — having forgot
to ask, that her youthful vigour might be continued through that
length of years, she lived till she became a burden to herself, op-
pressed with old age, and so emaciated, that she hud nothing left
but her voice. It is easy to see, that this fable is founded upon a

202 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. If.

THE SIBYLS. SEC. IX.

double tradition; the one, Ihut they looked upon Afiollo to be the
God, who had deepest insaght into futurity, and who communica-
ted the same to his favourites, which accounts for tlieir saying,
he had been in love with this Sibyl, who was believed to be greatly
endued with the prophetic gift: And what accounts for the other
part of the fuble is the general persuasion that prevailed of the
Sibyl having lived to a very great age. Virgil, in two passages,
calls the Sibyl of Cunise the aged Priestess, Longava Sacerdos.
Erasmus assures us, it was Irom this longevity of the Sibyls, that
the proverb came, Sibylla vivacior; and Propertius says, in the
second book of his elegies, '• though you should Uveas many ages
as the Sibyl:" to the same purpose are usually quoted the verses
of an old poet, who gives three examples of persons who were
long-lived, viz Hecuba^ the wife of Priam; JEUira-^ the mother of
Theseus; and the Sibyl. Ovid tells us, thSt at the time when
iEneas consulted the Cunsean Sibyl, she had already lived seven
hundred years, and that she had three hundred more to live. —
Phlegon gives the same account of the Erythraean Sibyl; and she
herself, in her predictions, boasts of this privilege. — These testi-
monies for the longevity of the Sibyls, induce me to make two
reflections: Firsts that they are nothing but exaggerations of the
poets. That some of them lived as long as Hecuba and Mthra,
that is fourscore, or fourscore and ten years, has nothing in it ex-
traordinary; but this is the most we can allow. Even Lucian,
who gives a long detail of persons who were long-lived, makes
no mention of the Sibyls; which is a strong presumption against
the great age which is assigned to them. But as poetical fictions
have always some foundation, learned authors will have it, that
the Sibyl of Cumaa was said to have lived a thousand years., only
because she had foretold what was to befal the Romans in that
space of time. The transformation of that Sibyl into Voice, is
nothing but an emblem, which imports that her Oracles were to
last forever. — The second reflection is, that in all appearance, the

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 203

SEC. IX. THE SIBYLS.

Sibyl oT Cumce was the same with that of Erythr<sa, who having
quitted her native country, came and settled in Italy- And indeed
if we credit Servius, the amour, which we have just now taken
from Ovid, concerns the ^ihyloi Erijthrxa. That author, speak-
ing of JpoUo's amours with that virgin, subjoins to what we have
said of her, that the God granted her the long life she sought,
only upon condition she would abandon the isle Erijthr'<ea., the
place of her birth, to come and settle in Italy. Accordingly she
came thither, and fixed her residence near Cuma, where she
lived so long, till, quite spent with old age, nothing remained of
licr but /ler voice. " Those of her own country, says the same au-
thor, whether out of pity, or some other motive, wiote her a
letter; but fearing that she would not be able to read the charac-
ter then in use, and which must have been much altered since
she left their Island, they thought fit to use the oldest they knew,
and to seal the letter after the old fashion; but no sooner had she
read it than she died." — We may add, that the ancients gave the
same account of the long life of the Sibyls of Erythrcea and of
the Ionian Cumoca, as we have now given of the Cumaan Sibyl
in Italy; which made Gall.s;us inclined to believe that those
three Sibyls were but one, who had passed a part of her life in
the island of Erythrxa, at Cuma in Ionia, and at Ciunx in Italy,
where she ended her days.
======: 5th, The Pagans, especially the Romans, had

whether ^The'' the highest possible -i;rae?-a^z'o?2 for the Sibyls. If

were reputed Di- ihey did not always look upon them to be Divini-

vinities.

^ss^==^=^ '^^«5 they at least reputed them of a middle 7ia-

ture between Gods and men. This is what one of the Sibyls said

of herself, according to Pausanias. While she acknowledged,

that after a life of several ages, she was to pay the tribute which

all human kind owe to death; at the same time she said, she was

to be one day transformed into that face which appears in the

Moon.) as maybe seen in Plutarch; as if before the Sibyls were.

204 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II,

THK SIBYLS. SEC. IX.

that Planet had not exhibited the same appearance oi a/ace, which
is thought to be there discerned. Mythologists, ancient and mo-
dern, have trifled egregiously in making moral and physical lec-
tures upon this metamorphosis of the Sibyls, and I hope it will
not be expected I am to copy them. And indeed what reasonable
allegories can be imagined as a foundation for a fiction so frivo-
lous?— Such was the idea the ancients had of the Sibyls. In later
times, at least some of them, had divine honours paid them. Lac-
TANTius, who had read the work of Varro, in which he speaks
of the Sibyls, is positive that the Tiburtine was worshipped as a
Goddess at Tibtir. It would likewise seem, that the worship
which those of her own country paid to her, was brought to Rome,
since that learned father of the church subjoins, cwyMssflc^-c, Serm-
tius in Cafiitolum transtidit. — The highest mark of supreme wor-
ship given to any one, was to consecrate temples to him; now it
is certain, that someof the Sibyls had temples. St. Justin Mar-
tyr mentions that of the Sibyl of Cumx in Italy, built over the
very caiye where she had delivered her Oracles: and as he had the
curiosity to visit it when in Italy, he has given a very full descrip-
tion of it. Virgil makes mention of this temple; or rather he
considers as a temple the grotto where the Sibyl delivered her
Oracles, because in after-times there was one actually built there.
We read in M. Spon's travels, that near the place which the
people of the country give out to be the cave of the Tiburtine
Sibyl, are to be seen the ruins of a small temple, which is thought
to have been consecrated to her. We may add farther, that the
inhabitants of Gergis^ in the lesser Phrygia, had a custom of re-
presenting upon their medals, the Sibyl who was born in that
city, as being their great Divinity. — Another proof of the wor-
ship paid to the Sibyls, is that there were statues erected to them,
which were placed in the temples; those of which Gall^eus has
given us prints, were even in the church of Sienna., where proba-
Wv thcv had been left at its consecration. Now, if we would

CHAP. II. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 205

SEC IX. THE SIBYLS.

know what honours were paid to stutues in the temples, Arno-
Bius will inform us: they /iros^ra^erf themselves before the statues
of the Gods, and kissed the very ground. We may add farther,
that they would not touch the book containing the Oracles of the
Sibyls, unless their hands were covered; which was the practice
in all the other religious ceremonies. — These are the most posi-
tive arguments we find for the worship paid to the Sibyls.
' I will briefly take notice of the To?}ib and E/ii

Eoitanh of the ^^^^^' ^^ ^^^ Erythrsean Sibyl, the most ceiebrat-
Erythrsean Sibyl, ed of all; but as the passage where it is men-
^~^"~~~'~~ tioned by Pausanias, contains some other par-
ticularities concerning this Sibyl, which are not to be met with
elsewhere, 1 shall copy it entire. " The Sibyl Herophile^ says
Pausanias, is later than she who was daughter to Ju/iiter and
Lamia, and yet she lived before the siege of Troy; for she pro-
phesied, that Helen should be educated at Sparta, to be the curse
of Asia, and that upon her account all Greece should one day
conspire the ruin of Troy. The inhabitants of Delos have hymns
in honour of Jfiollo, which they ascribe to this woman. In these
verses, she gives herself out not only for Heto/i/iih,h\it for Diana
too. Sometimes she makes herself the ivife^ sometimes the
sister, and sometimes the daughter of ylpollo; but then she speaks
like one inspired, and as it were delirious: for elsewhere she says
she was born of an immortal mother, one of the J\^ymphs of Ida,
and a mortal father; ' I am, says she, the daughter of an immortal
JM'ym/ih, but of a mortal father; a native of Ida, that country where
the soil is so fiarched and light; Marfiessus is the birth-place of my
mother, and the river Adoneus.' Accordingly about Mount Ida in
Phrygia, there are to be seen at this day, the ruins of Marpessus,
where are still remaining about sixty inhabitants. Marpessus is
about two hundred and forty furlongs from Alexandria, a city of
Troas. The inhabitants of Alexandria say, Herophile was the

3 C

206 MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. II.

THE SIBYLS. SP:c. IX.

keeper of the temple to Afiollo Smintheus,, and that she had given
an interpretation of Hecuba's drea?7i, whereof the truth was justi-
fied by the event. This Sibyl passed a good part of her life at
Siimos; then she came to Claros, which belongs to the Colopho-
nians; then to Delos; from that to Delphos, where she delivered
her Oracles from the rock I have spoken of. She ended her days
in Traos: her Tomb is still subsisting in the sacred grove of
Afiollo Smintheusf witii an epitaph in elegiac verse, engraved on
a Column, which is to this effect: ' I am that famous Sibyl^nvhom
Afiollo had for the interfireter of his Oracles; once an eloquent vir-
gin, now lying speechless underneath this marble, and condem7ied
to an eternal silence: nevertheless, by the favour of the God, dead
as I am, I enjoy the siveet society of Mercury^ and of the M/m/ihs
my com/ianions.' And indeed, nigh her monument stands il/erc«rt/
in a quadrangular figure; on the left, a fountain of waterfalls into
a bason, where statues of JVym/ihs are lo be seen. The Eryth-
raeans are they of all the Greeks who claim this Sibyl with the
greatest warmth They vauntingly shew their mount Corycus,
and in this mountain a cave, where they pretended Herofihile had
her birth. According to them, a shepherd of the country, named
Theodorus, was her father, and a J^ymfih her mother. This
Mymph was surnamed Idxa, because every place was tie!- called
Ida, which was planted with a number of trees. As for those
verses, which speak of Marpessus and the river Aidoneus, as her
native country, the Erythiaeans strike them out of the poems of
Herofihile." — We shall speak of the Sibyline Books and their
Oracles, when speaking of Oracles in general, in the following
Chapter.

CHAPTER III.

THE SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY.

THE ceremonies of Supersridon authorised by idolatry, are
very numerous. Among them I reckon, Ist, The veneration that
was paid to Oracles in general, and to the Sibylline Books in par-
ticular, which, with the Romans, were a standing Oracle consult-
ed by them upon all occasions; 2d, the Presages; 3d, the Prodi-
gies; 4th, Expiations; 5th, Magic; 6th, Judicial Astrology; 7th,
Divination; 8th, the Lots; 9th, the Praestigise; 10th, the Augu-
ries; 11th, the Auspices; 12th, Public Supplications, and Devo-
tions; 13th, Ceremonies of founding Cities; 14th, the Festivals;
15th, the Games; besides some others,

SECTION FIRST.
OF ORACLES IJ\r GEJ^ERAL.

As the Oracles, which Seneca defines to be

Or3.cics the
lang'uae'e or will *^^ ^^'^ °^ ^^^ Gods declared by the mouths of

of the Gods, are ^nen, and which Cicero simply calls the lan-
public & private.

■ guage of the Gods, Deorum Oratioy depended

upon the Pagan religion, and were a considerable part of it, their
history belongs to a treatise upon Mythology. Nothing was more
famous than these Oracles: they were consulted not only for na-
tional enterprise, but even in affairs of piivate life. In public
matters^ were the points in question, to make peace or war, to
enact laws, reform states, or change the constitution; in all these

208 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. HI.

OF ORACLES. SEC. I.

cases they hud recourse to the Oracle by public authority. In
private life, if a mun had a desii^n to marry, if he was to enter
upon a journey, or in short, whatever business he was to under-
take, was he sick and out of order, he must directly consult the
Oracle. Men's desire of knowing futurity, and of securing the
success of their designs, led them to consult those Gods who
were reputed prophetic; for all the Gods had not that character.*
Hence, the institution of Oracles, the eagerness to consult them,
and the immense donations wherewith their temples were filled;
for an anxious mind, subdued by vain curiosity, sticks at nothing.
■ Upon this principle, we need not doubt but

as universal as ^^^^ every nation, where idolatry prevailed, had
Idolatry. ^jg Oracles, or some other means of searching

'~~~~'^^'''~~ into the hidden events of futurity. There never
was any nation where impostors were wanting, and a tribe of
covetous mortals, who pretended to the gift of foreknowing and
predicting mysterious future events. They have been found even
among the most gross and barbarous nations, such as the Iroquois,
and other savages of America. The ancient Gauls had their
Druids., who were regarded by them as prophets. Among the
Egyptians and Phenicians, the Priests were clothed with this
character, and thus doubtless it was among other nations. But
as a particular examination into the Oracles of every idolatrous
people, would carry us too far, and as we want records, from
which to compile their history, we shall confine ourselves to the
Oracles of the Egyptians, Gieeks, and Romans; especially those
of the Greeks, who were both very numerous, and highly cele-
brated.

• In older times there were hardly any who delivered Oracles but The-
mis, Jupiter, and Jlpollo; but afterwards this privilege was granted to al-
most all the Gods, and to a great number of Heroes, as we shall see in
due time.

CHAP. 111. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 209

OF OKACLES.

' Bef<..re we enter upon the particular history
AVei-e they mere r , ,^ , ■. ■ ^ • •

impostures- and ^* tliese Oracles, it is necessary to examine in

did they cease at ^ fg^y words two important questions. 1st, Were

the coming- of

Christ? tiie niin;erous predictions which authors ascri-

" bed to them, the mere imposture of priests, or

did they proceed from the Devil? 2d. Did the Oracles actually

cease at the coming of Christ? — Van Dale, in a treatise, which

cannot be censured for want of learning, has attempted to prove

that all of those predictions proceeded entirely from the tricks of

those who had the charge of the Oracles; and that they did not

cease when Christ came into the world — As the opinion of Vau

Dale seemed to contradict the unanimous sentiments of all the

Fathers, and the constant tradition of the Church, which asciibed

a great part at least of the Oracular responses to the Devil, who

was not chained up till the coming of Jesus Christ, father Bal-

THus the Jesuit, in a learned treatise, undertook the defence of

the tradition of the Church, and the Fathers; and without denying

the imposture of the Piiests, which was often mixed with the

Oracles, he proves in an equally perspicuous and solid manner,

the intervention of the Devil in some predictions, which all the

efforts of incredulity were incapable of ascribing to the cheats of

the Priests alone. And as for the time of the cessation of these

Oracles, he proves with the same erudition, that if they did not

cease altogether at the comingof Christ, they at least began then

to decline; they were no longer in such high reputation; they

were no longer consulted with the usual apparatus: though it is

unquestionable that they did not entirely cease, till Christianity

triumphed over idolatry. — It is not to my purpose to enlarge

farther upon these two questions, the particulars of the case being

in every body's hands. Yet I cannot help making some reflections

upon the ^rsf, that serve to overthrow Van-Dale's scheme. Is

it then credible, that if the Oracles had been notjiing but the

offspring of firiestcra/tf whatever artful methods they may be

210 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF OUACLES. SEC. I.

thought to have used; and however successfi 1 in pumping out
the secrets and schemes of those who came to consult them; is
it credible, I say, that these Oracles w^ould have lasted so long,
and supported themselves with so much splendour and reputa-
tion, had they been merely owing to the forgery of the priests?
Imposture betrays itself: falsehood never holds out. Besides,
there were too many witnesses, too many curious spies, too many
people whose interest it was, not to suffer themselves to be delu-
ded. One may put a cheat for a time upon a few private persons,
who are ov . - tm with credulity, but by no means upon whole
nations for several ages. Some princes who had been played upon
by ambiguous responses, a trick once discovered, tl e bare curio-
sity of a free-thinker, any of these, in short, was sufficient to blow
up the whole mystery, and at once make the credit of the Oracle
fall to the ground. How many people deluded by hateful respon-
ses, were concerned to examine, if it was really 'i e priests by
whom they were seduced. But why was it so hard a matter to find
one of the priests themselves, capable of being bribed to betray
the cause of his accomplices, by the fair promises and more sub-
stantial gifts, of those, who omitted no means of being thorough-
ly informed on a subject of such ( oncern? It s cms then there
were no mercenary soiils in that virtuous ate! Gold had no be-
witching charms! contempt and dishonour had lost their power!
Why else, would not the priests of an Oracle, whose credit was
low, or entirely sunk, hue revealed, either through despair or
revenge, the inipostures of those who carried off" from them all
their gain? they, who by practising the like tricks, had good rea-
son at least to suspect those of others. What an odd combination
is this, and how unparalleled, to hold out against interest, and
against reputation: to unite -so many impostors in a secret so re-
ligiously kept! To these reflections, Lther Balthus adds ano-
ther, drawn from human sacrifices that were required by the
Oracles; since man, says he, however inthralled to his passions,
never wo\ild have demanded such victims.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 211

CF OltACLES.

====== In order tocoiisult tlie Or. .cits, ihe time was

A ^ „ . ..f to be chosen, when it was believed the Gods
and munner ot

consulting the delivered them; for all days were not equally
Oracles.

S5= agreeal !e to them for that purpose: at Delphos
there was but one month in the year.) when the priestess answered
those who came to consult Afiollo. In after-limes, there was one
day in each months when that God pronounced his Oracles. — Nor
were all the Oracles delivered in the same manner: here, it was
the priestess who answered for the God whom they consulted;
there, it w s the God himself who pronounced the Oracle; in an-
other place they received the ree^ponse of the God in their sleep,
for procuring which they used certain preparatory means of a
mysterious nature; sometimes they received the responses in
letters under a seal; and in fine, in other places, by casting lots,
as at Preneste in Italy. Sometimes they were obliged to use
many preparatives, in order to qualify themselves for receiving
the Oracles, such asjizstings, sacrijices, lustrations, he- At other
times, so little ceremony was requisite, that the consulter receiv-
ed his answer instantaneously upon coming up to the Oracle; as
Alexander did, when he came to Libya to consult that oi Ju/iiter-
Hammon: for no sooner did the priest see him, than he gave him
the conipellation of, son of Jupiter; to obtain which, was the
whole end of his journey. But it is time to pass on to the par-
ticular history of the most celebrated Oracles: and as those of
Dodona, and.Jupiter Ham?non, were the most ancient, I shall be-
gin with the history of them.

1st, The Oracte of Dodona.*

— ■ ■ ■■ We learn from Herodotus, that the Oracle

The origin of „ „ , , . „ „ , ,

this Oracle, and of Dodona, the most ancient or Greece, and that

that of Jupiter ^^f Juhitcr Hammon in Libya, had the same ori-
Hammon.

■ ginal, and both owed their institution to the

* The honours of this Oracle were divided between Jupiter and Jpollo.

212 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF ORACLES. SEC. I.

Egyptians, as did all the other antiquities of Greece. — Here is
the allegory, under which this piece of history is transmitted to
us: Two pigeons^ said they, taking flight from Thebes in Egypt,
one of them came to Libya; the other having flown as far as the
forest of Dodona in Chaonia, a province of Epirus, alighted there,
and let the inhabitants of the country know, that it was the will
of Jufiiter to have an Oracle in that place. This prodigy aston-
ished those who were witnesses to it, and the Oracle being found-
ed, there was very soon a great concourse of consnltors. Servius
adds, that Jvpiter had given to his daughter Tebe these two
pigeons, and communicated to them the gift of speech. — Hero-
dotus, who judged rightly that the fact which gave rise to the
institution of the Oracle, was couched under the fable, has ex-
amined into its historical foundation. " Phenician merchants,
says this author, sometime ago carried off" tnuo firiestesses of
Thebes; she who was sold in Greece, took up her residence in
the forest of Dodona^ where the Greeks came to gather acorns,
their ancient food; and there she erected a small chapel at the
foot of an Oak, in honour ol Jupiter^ whose priestess she had been
at Thebes: this was the foundation of that Oracle, so famous in
succeeding ages. The same author subjoins, that this priestess
was called the pigeon, because they understood not her language;
but soon coming to be acquainted with it, they reported that the
pigeon spoke. ^*

-' In ancient times, the Oracle of Dodona was

How the Oracle . , , . ^ ^ . • ,

of Dodona was given by the murmuring of a fountain m the

S'^'^"- forest of Dodona, whose purling stream rippled

along the foot of an Oak. Afterwards, it seems,

they had recourse to more formalities, and this was the artifice

they fell upon; they suspended in the air some brazen kettles^

near a s?(2/«e of the same metal which was likewise suspended,

and held a lash in its hand: this figure being agitated by the wind)

Struck against the kettle that was next to it, which communicating

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 213

SEC. I. OF ORACLES.

the motion to the rest of the kettla., raised a clattering din which
continued sometime; and upon this noise they formed predictions.
Hence the forest o( Dodona had even taken its name, for Dodo in
Hebrew signifies a kettle. If )'ou nsk, what gave rise to the fable
of those Oracles being deliveied by the Oafcs themselves? the
answer ! take to be this; that the ministeis of that Oracle hid
themselves in the holloiu of the Cak^ when tliey gave their res-
ponses— From these speaking Oaks^ to mention it by the by,
came the origin of that other fable about the maHlR of the ship
jirgo, cut in the forest of Dodona, which, according to Onoma-
CRiTus, Apollonius of Rhodes, and Valkeius Flaccus gave
Oracles to the jirgonauts, as we shall see in the history of their
expedition. Suidas, speaking of the Oaks of this forest, says,
they spoke, and gave responses to the supplicants in this form;
" Thus saith Jufiiter^ Isfc." Van-Dale, in his history of Oracles,
after remarking that Suidas has barely copied Eustathius,
reports the opinion of Aristotle and several other authors, and
takes particular notice how much the ancients vary in their ac-
counts of this Oracle; this variation among them, no doubt, is
owing to the care that was taken, not to allow those who came to
consult the Oracle, to approach too near it. so that they could only
hear a certain sound, but by no means could judge whence it
proceeded. — But whatever be in that, no sooner was the sound of
the kettles over, than the women whom they named Dodonid<e.,
delivered their Oracles, either in verse, as appears from the col-
lection made of them; or by the lots, as Cicero seems to think,
in his book of Divination.

2rf, The Oracle of Jupiter Hammon.

- What I have taken from Herodotus at the

The antiquity , . . r u j- • . i

of this Oracle-— begmnmg ot the preceding arrzr/e, proves the

character of its Oracle of Jupiter Hammon in Libya, to have

Priests.

s=5=5=s==s5= been as ancient as thai of Bodona, whose history

d D

214 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAF. III.

OF ORACLES. Sr,C. I-

Tie have seen. This Oracle recame likewise very famous, and
they flocked from all part? to consult it, notwithstanding the in-
conveniences of so long a journey, and the burning sands of Li-
bya thej had to go through. One knows not well what to think
of the fidelity of the priests who ministered to the God. Some-
times they were proof against corruption, as appears from the
charge they gave in at Sparta against Lysander, who had offered
to bribe them, in that scheme he was projecting, to change the
order of succession to the throne: but sometimes they are not so
scrupulous; witness the story of Alexander, who, either to screen
the reputation of his mother, or from pure vanity, affected to be
reputed son of Jupiter; since the priest of that God, as has been
said, stood in readiness to receive him, and saluted him. Son of
the king of Gods,
■■■■ We learn from Quintus Curtius, and

Itow the res- , . , , , r t . ■

ponses were ffiv- o^her ancient authors, that the statue or Jupiter

^"- Hammon had a rani's head, with its horns. And

from DioDORUs Siculus we learn the inanoer
in which that God delivered his Oracles, when any one came to
consult him; — Twenty-four of his priests bore upon their shoul-
ders, in a gilded barge, the statue of their God sparkling with
precious stones, and moved on whithersoever they thought the
impulse of the God carried them: a troop of matrons and virgins
accompanied this procession, singing hymns in honour oi Jupiter.
Stuabo remarks, upon the authority of Calisthenes, that the
responses of that God were not -words, as at Delphos, and among
the Bianchidae, but a sign; and he quotes upon this occasion,
that veise in Homer which says, Jupiter signified his consent by
bending his brows.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. 215

SEC. I. OF ORACLES.

3d, The Oracle of Aliollo at Heliop.o[is.

According to Macrobius, Jfiollo gave his

This Oracle
and that of Jiql responses in the city of Heliopolis in Egypt, in

ter Phlius, were jj^g same way with Juliiter Hammon, " The

g'lven as that of

Hammon. Statue of that God, says he, is carried in the

'~~"""""^~~~~ same manner as those of the Gods in the pro-
cession at the Circeneian games. The priests, attended by the
principal persons of the country who join in the ceremony, hav-
ing their heads shaved, and after a long continence, set forward,
not as they are inclined themselves, but according as they are
impelled by the God whom they bear, by motions resembling
those of the statues oi Fortune at Antium." — We may add here a
remark on another Oracle; that it was, probably, by the same
kind of motions of the statue oi Jupiter Fhlius, that his piiests
delivered their Oracles, as may be seen in Eusebius and in

RUFINUS.

4^A, The Oracle of Aliollo at Deljihos.

- If the Oracle of Delphos was not the most

The origin of • . r .1 c r-^ • 1 i

this Oracle ancient 01 those or Greece, it was at least tlie

I most celebrated, and that which continued
longest. To relate all that has been said about this Oracle, would
oblige me to copy almost all the ancient authors, and not a few
of the moderns: and therefore, to satisfy those who are not fond
of long narrations, I shall only give an abstract of its history. — At
what time this Oracle was founded is not known; which, in the
first place, proves it to be of great antiquity, nor was jifxollo the
first who was consulted there. Diodorus Siculus, who was at
the pains to inquire into the origin of this Oracle,- reports a tra-
dition, which he had taken from monuments of the greatest an-
tiquity: Goats^ says he, that were feeding in the valleys of Par- •
nassus, gave rise to the discovery of this Oracle. There was, in
the place afterwards called the Sanctuary^ a hole,. ihe mouth of
which was very straight. These Goats having come near it with

216 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. 111.

OF OUACLES. SEC. I.

their heads, began to leap and frisk about so strangely, that the
Shepherd, being struck with it, came up to the place, and leaning
over the hole, was seized with a fit of enthusiasm, whereby he
was prompted to utter some extravagant expressions, which
passed for prophecies. The news of this Avonder drew thither the
people of the neighbourhood, who no sooner approached the Ao/e,
than they too were transported into the like enthusiasm. Sur-
prised with so astonishing a prodigy, they supposed it to proceed
from some friendly Deity, or from the earth itself; and from that
time, they began to confer a particular worship upon the Divinity
of the place, and to look upon what was delivered in these fits of
enthusiasm as predictions and Oracles. The place where this
hole was observed, was on a rising ground, near Partiassus, a
mountain in Phocis, on the south side; and here they afterwards
built the temple and city of Delphos.

' ■ But the ancients not being agreed as to the

Several Gods r^ j i , , , • ■ • i • •

had this Oracle ^°"S ^^"^ "''" "^^^ oracle successively, it is ne-

successively; cessary to give their opinions, ^schylus, in

the beginning of his tragedy of the Eumenidesf
says Terra was the Jirst who gave Oracles there; after her
Themis; then Phcsbe, another daughter of Terra: Phabe accord-
ing to the mythologists, was mother to Latona, and grandmother
to ^/2o//o; and he, in short, was theybwr//;. Ovid only informs
us, that Themis delivered Oracles at the foot of Parnassus; and
that Pijrrha and Deucalion came to consult her about the means
of replenishing the earth, whose inhabitants had been destroyed
by a deluge. Pausanias adds, that before Themis, Terra and
JVefitune had likewise given their Oracles there; and if we take
the authority of the old scholiast upon Lycophron, Sattcrn too,
had been consulted there with M/itune and Terra.
■ Several Gods having given Oracles succes-

■ Wd '^' Wunta- si^^V' the historians and poets give a very odd
rily or by force, j^ccount of the manner of their transferring their
""""""""'"'''""' right. Terra and JSfe/inme possessed it in com-

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 217

SEC. I. OF ORACLES.

nion; \Aith this difference, tl.at Terra gave her Uiacles herself,
and JVefitune gave his by the niinistrtilion oT a priest named
Pyrcon. From Terra the Oracle passed to Themis^ her daugh-
ter, who possessed it sometime, and lesigned in favour of Aliollo.)
■whom she fondly doated upon: but according to an ancient tradi-
tion, followed by Euripides, the resignation was far from being
voluntary. Apollo, whom Pan had taught the art of prediction,
being arrived at Parnassus., with the equipage described by Ho-
mer, that is clothed in his immortal robes, perfumed with es-
sences, and in bis hand a golden lyre, on which he played melo-
dious airs, seized the sanctuary by force, slew the dragon, which
Terra had posted there to be the keeper, and made himself master
of the Oracle. JVeJitune, who likewise had his share therein, not
being inclined to dispute it with his nephew, exchanged vvith him
for the island of Calauria, over against Trezene. From that time,
none but Jpollo delivered Oracles at Delphos. — It is easy to per-
ceive, that this fiction had no other foundation but the interest of
the priests, who seeing the zeal of the people become cool, tried
to awaken it, by presenting them with new objects of worship.

■ Whatever be in that, the Oracle oi Jfiollo&ot

This Ors-clc be-
came highly cele- ^^^ better of all the rest, both in its high reputa-

brated. \\ox\, and long standing. Thither they flocked

from all parts to consult the God; Greeks and
Barbarians, piinces and private persons, men of ail characters,
upon every minute enterprize, as well as affairs of great impor-
tance, came to Delphos, either in person, or sent a deputation, to
know the w'xWoi Apollo. Hence the vast donations, and immense
riches, wherewith the temple and city were filled, and which be-
came so considerable, as to be compared to those of the Persian
kings.

218 SUPERSTITIONS OF mOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF OUACLES.

========= About the time when tiiis Oracle was first dis-

How the Inspi- i ,, , • • , • i

rationwas acqui- covei ed, all the mystery requihite to obtain the

red; by whom prophetic Sfift, was to approach the cavern^ and
delivered; and | ^ ^ ^\ '

when. inhale the vapour which issued from it; and at

^^^=^^== that time, the God inspired all sorts of persons
indifferently: but at length, several of those enthusiasts, in the
excess of their fury, having thrown themselves headlong into
the gulf, they thought fit to piovide a remedy against that acci-
dent, which frequently happened. They set over the hole a ma-
chine, which they called a trifwd, because it had tiirec feet, and
commissioned a woman to get upon this sort of chair, whence she
might catch the exhalation without any danger, because the three
feet ot the machine stood upon the rock. This priestess was
called Pythia, from the serpent Python, slain by ^fwllo, as we
shall see in his history. At first there were promoted to this
ministration, young women, who were yet virgins, and great pie-
caution was taken in the choice of them. The Pythia was ordi-
narily chosen from a poor family, where she had lived in obscurity,
free from luxury, and affectation of dress, and other gaudy orna-
ments with which young women set themselves to show. Igno-
rance itself was one of the things that qiialified them for being
promoted to this dignity, and no more was required in her who
was to be elected, but to be able to speak and repeat what the
God dictated. The custom of choosing young virgins lasted very
long, and would have been continued, had it not been for an
accident which occasioned its being abolished: A young Thes-
salian named Echecrates, being at Delphos, fell in love with the
piiestess, who was extreinely beautiful, and ravished her. To
prevent any abuses of the like nature" for the future, the people
of Delphos made an express law, ordaining that none should be
chosen but women above fifty years old. — At first they had only
one priestess, and she sufficed for gi>ijig responses to those who
came to Delphosj but in aftertimes there were two or three of

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 219

OF OUACLES.

them. — Tlie Oracles were not delivered every day; sacrifices,
repeated over and over again, until the God whose will they ex-
pressed, was pleased, consunied frequently a whole year; and it
was only once a year, in the beginning of springs that jljiollo in-
spired the priestess. Except on this set day, the priestess was
forbid, under pain of death, to go into the sanctuary to consult
Afiollo. Alexander, who before his expedition to Asia, came to
Delplios, on one of those silent days during which the sanctuary
was shut, entreated the priestess to mount the trifiod: she refu-
sed, and quoted the law which stood in her way. This prince
being naturally hasty, and impatient to set out, drew the priestess
by force from her cell, and was leading her himself to the sanc-
tuary; which gave her occasion to say, " my son, thou art invinci'
ble." At these words, he cried out that he was satisfied, and
would have no other Oracle.

■ As nothing served so much to raise or keep

The ceremony , ■ r r^ •, , • r.

of receiving the "P ^"^ reputation ot an Oracle, as that air of

Response. mystery which was given to every thing about

it, we may be sure that nothing was neglected
at Delphos to procure it veiieration. They used infinite precau-
tion in choosing the victims, inspecting the entrails, and in the
omens they drew from them. The neglecting the smallest punc-
tilio, was a sufficient motive to renew the sacrifices that were to
precede the resjxonse of Afiollo, and they repeated them till all
was right. The priestess herself made great preparation for
discharging her duty: she fasted three days, and before she
mounted the trifiod, she bathed herself in the fountain of Casta-
Ha. There she ordinarily washed \\e.v feet and hands^ sometimes
her whole body; and she swallowed a certain quantity of water
from the fountain, because jifiollo was thought to have commu-
nicated to it a part of his enthusiastic virtue. After this she was
made to chew some leaves of the laurel tree, gathered near the
fountain; for the laurel vvas the symbol of divination, and wanted

220 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF OKACLES. SEC. I.

not its influence to promote enthusiasm. After these prepara-
tions, jifiollo gave sii;nais himself of his arrival in the temple;
the whole fabric, by I know not what artifice, trembled and shook
to its very foundations, as likewise a laurel tree which was at the
entry of the temple. Then the priests, who were likewise called
prophets, took hold of the priestess, led her into the sanctuary,
and placed her upon the tripod. As soon as she began to be agi-
tated by the divine exhalation.^ you might have seen her hair stand
on end., her nicin grow wild and ghastly., her mouth begin to foam.,
and her whole body suddenly seized with violent trembling. In this
plight she attempted to get away from the prophets, who were
holding her, as it were, by force, while her shrieks and howlinga
made the whole temple resound, and filled the by-standers with
a sacred horror. In fine, being no longer able to resist the im-
pulse, she gave herself ufi to the God, and at certain intervals ut-
tered some incoherent words., which the prophets carefully picked
up, arranged them in order, and put them in form diverse. The
Oracle being pronounced, she was taken down from the trifiod
and conducted back to her cell., where she continued for several
days, to recover herself from the conflict. We are told by Lu-
CAN, that sfieedy death was frequjently the consequence of her
enthusiasm.

— As the priestess was only the instrument made

of the Oracle of "^^ °^ ^° reveal the will of Afiollo, so the Oracle
Apollo. had several other ministers, priests or prophets,

""""""""""""" who took care of every thing belonging to it;
who chose the victims; offered up the sacrifices; repeated them
when they were not propitious; conducted the priestess to the
tripod^ where they placed her in a convenient posture for receiv-
ing all the vapour that issued from the cave, at the mouth of
which she sat; put her words together, and delivered them to the
poets, who were another sort of ministers, by whom they were
put into verse. From a passage in Plutarch, it appears, that

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. 221

SEC. I. OF ORACLES.

three poets, together with the prophets, were about the priestess
when she pronounced the words which the God dictated to her.
The verses composed by those poets, were often stiff, of a wretch-
ed composition, and always obscure; which gave occasion to that
piece of raillery, that Afiollo the prince of the Muses, was the worst
of poets. Sometimes the priestess herself pronounced her Ora-
cles in verse, at least v. e are told so of one of them, called /'^e-
momonoe; but in later times they contented themselves with de-
livering them in prose; rnd this Plutarch reckons to have been
the cause of the declension of the Oracle. — There weie belong-
ing to this Oracle several other ministers, whose names and func-
tions may be seen in the third dissertation of M. Hardion; inso-
much that, as M. Fontenelle has it, the whole town of Delphos
■was opulently maintained by the Oracle — The sanctuary where
the priestess was, being covered with branches of laurel, she her-
self surrounded with prophets and poets, and there being two
women besides to hinder the profane from coming near her, it
was difficult to know precisely what was done there; and had it
not been for persons of curiosity, who pried more narrowly into
the secret of the priesthood, we should not have been able to
speak so positively as we have done, concerning the manner in
which this Oracle was delivered.

5th.) The Oracle of Trophonius in Lebadea.
rsBs=====. Though Trophonius was only a hero; nay, ac-
this Oracle cording to some authors, an execrable robber;

I ' yet he had an Oracle in Boeotia, which became
exceedingly famous, and where grand ceremonies were used,
before obtaining the responses. As to the time when the Oracle
of Trophonius was founded, we are not able to determine: only
we know from Pausanias, that he was not heard of in Boeotia it-
self, till that coimtry being distressed with a great drought, they
had recourse to Apollo at Delphos, to learn from that God, by

2 E

222 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. m.

OF ORACLES. SEC. I.

what means they ijiight put a stop to the famine. Thepiiesless
■ answered, tliat they were to apply themselves to Trofthonius^
whom they would find in Lehadea. The deputies obeyed; but not
being able to find an Oracle in that city, 6Gow,the oldest of them,
spied a swarm of Bees; and observing that they flew towards a
Cave^ he followed them, and thus discovered the Oracle. They
say, continues Pausanias, that Trophonius himself instructed
hiiu in all the ceremonies of his worship, and after what manner
he would be honoured and consulted; wliioh makes me think that
this Saon was himself the founder of that Oracle, which, no
doubt, was instituted upon occasion of the famine I have men-
tioned. As nobody has desciibed it more fully and more accu-
rately than Pausanias who had consulted it, and submitted to all
its irksome formalities, we cannot do better than transcribe what
he says of this personage and his Oracle. Erginus^ says he, son
of Chjmenus king of Orchomenos, being far advanced in years,
and inclined to marry, came to consult the Oracle of Ajiollo^
whether he should have children. The priestess puzzled with his
question, answered him in enigmatical terms, that though he was
rather too late in coming to a resolution, yet he might entertain
good hopes if he married a young woman. Conformably to this
response, he married a young wife, by whom he had two sons,
Trophonius and Jgumedes., who, both of them, became afterwards
great architects. By them was built the temple of Apollo at Del-
phos, and Hyrieus's treasure-house. In the construction of this
latter edifice they had recourse to a secret stratagem, known to
none but themselves: by means of a stone in the wall, \vhich they
had the art of taking out and putting in again, so that nobody
could discover them, they had access every night to this treasu-
ry, and robbed Hyrieus of his money. He observing his money
diminished, and yet no appearance of the doors having been
opened, set a trap about the vessels which contained his treasure,
and there Jgamcdss was caught. Trophonius not knowing how

CHAP. m. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 223

SEC. I. OF ORACI.ES.

to extricate him, and fearing lest if he was the next day put lo the
rack, he should discover the secret, cut off his head. — Without
entering- into a critical examination of this story, which seems to
be but a copy of what Herodotus fully relates of one of the
kings of Egypt, and two brothers who robbed his treasure by a
like stratagem, I would have it be observed, that Pausanias
gives us no account of the life of Trophonius; only as to the man-
ner of his death he tells us, that the earth opened and swallowed
him up alive, and that the place where it happened was still called
at that day, ^gamedes's pit^ which was to be seen in a sacred
grove of Lebadea, with a pillar set over it. — The death of those
two brothers is told otherwise by Plutarch, who cites Pindau.
After the building of the temple of Delphos, whose foundation
was laid by Ajxollo himself, as it is in Homer, they asked their
reward of that God, who ordered them to wait eight days, and in
the mean time to make merry; but at the expiration of that term
they were found dead.

===== Lebadea, continues Pausanias, is a city as

The manner of i_ j j xi i /^ i

consulting this "^"^h adorned as any throughout Greece: the

Oracle, &c. sacred Grove of Trophonius is but a very iiitle

""""""""" distance from it, and in this grove is the Tem-

ple of Trophonius^ with his Statue, which is the work of Praxi-
letes. They who come to consult his Oracle, must perform cer-
tain ceremonies. Before they go down into the Cave where the
resfionse is given, they must pass some days in a chapel dedicated
to good Genius and to Fortune. That time is spent in purification,
by abstinence from all things unlawful, and in making use of the
cold bath, the warm baths being prohibited; thus, the suppliant is
not allowed to wash himself, unless in the water of the river
Hercyna. He must sacrifice to Trophonius and all his family, to
Jupiter surnamed King^ to Saturn, to Ceres surnamed Luropa,
who was believed to have been Trophonius' s nurse; thus the God
had plentiful provision of flesh offered to him in sacrifice. There

224, MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. CflAF. Hi.

OF ORACLES. SEC. I.

were Divir.ers also to coi.sult the entrails of every, victim.^ to
know if it was agreeable to Trofihonius that the person should
come down into his Cave; but he especially revealed his mind by
the entrails of a ram, which was offered up to him last of all. If
the Omens were favourable, the suppliant was led that night to
the river Hercyna, where two boys about twelve or thirteen years
old, anointed his whole body with oil. Then he was conducted
as far as the source of the river, and was made to drink two sorts
of water; that o{ Lethe, which effaced from his mind all profane
thoughts, and that of Mnemosyne^ which had the quality of ena-
bling him to retain v\hatever he was to see in the sacred Cave.
After all this apfiaratus, the priests presented to him the statue
of Trofihonius^ to which he was to address a prayer: then he got
a linen tunic to put on, which was adorned with sacred fillets;
and after all, was solemnly conducted to the Oracle. — This Ora-
cle was upon a mountain, with an inclosure made of white stones^
upon which were erected obelisks of brass. In this enclosure was
a Cave of the figure of an oven, cut out by art. The mouth of it
was narrow, and the descent into it was not by steps, but by a
small ladder. When they were got down, they found another
srr.all Cave, the entrance to which was very straight: the suppliant
prostrated himself on the ground, carrying a certain composition
of honey in either hand, without which he is not admitted; he
first puts down his feet into the mouth of the Cave, and instantly
his whole body is forcibly drawn in. They who were admitted,
were favoured with revelationsy but not .all in the same manner:
some had the knowledge of futurity by vision, others by an audi-
ble voice. Having got their response, they can^e out of the Cave
the same way they went in, prostrated on the ground, and their
feet foremost. Then the suppliant was conducted to the chair
of Mnemosyne, and there being set down, was interrogated as to
what he had seen or heaid: fiom that he was brought back quite
stupified and senseless, into the chapel of good, Genius, till he

CHAP. in. MACHINERY OF IDOLATRY. 225

SEC. I. OF OKACI.ES.

should recovei" his senses; alter which he wiis oblisj;ed to write
down in a table-book, all that he had. seen or heard; which the
priests interpreted in their own way. Pal sanias adds, that there
never had been any but one man who entered Trop/ionius's Cave
without coming out again. This was a spy sent thither by De-
metrius, to see whether in that holy place there was any thing
worth plundering. His body was found far from thence, and it is
likely that his design being discovered, the priests assassinated
him in the Cave, and carried out his body by some passage,
whereby they themselves came into the Cave without being per-
ceived. The same author concludes: " What I have wrote is not
founded upon hearsay; I relate what I have seen happen to others,
and what happened to myself: for to be assured of the truth, I
went down into the Cave and consulted the Oracle." Plutarch
wh(J tells us that in his time all the Oracles of Boeotia had ceased,
except that of rro/zAowzMs, makes mention in his treatise concern-
ing SocRATEs's genius, of one Timachus, who gave account of
what he pretended to have seen in Tro/i/ionius's Cave; but he
seems to have been but an impostor, who regards not whether
the thing be true or false, but only cares that it be wonderful or
extraordinary; and therefore deserves much less to be believed
than Pausanias.

6th, Other Oracles of less note,

■ After having spoken at some length of the

Other Oracles ' ■ , ,^ ^ • .,, , •

of Apollo. pimcipal Oiacles, it will not be amiss to say

I something of those thai weie of less note. Afiol-
lo, of all the Gods, had the greatest number, of which I shall
name the principal: 1st, That of Cluros, a town in Ionia, near Co-
lophon, though of less antiquity than several others, was yet very
famous, and very often consulted. The city Cluros is thought to
have been founded by Manto, the daughter of Tiresias, after the
second war of Thebes, some years before the taking of Troy.
This daughter, of whom antiquity tells many wonders, with re-

226 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF ORACLKS. SEC. I.

spect to her prophetic gifts, deploiing the miseries of her coun-
try, melted into tears, and those tears formed a fountain and a
lake, whose water communicated the gift of prophecy to those
who drank it: but the water not being wholesome, it likewise
brought on diseases, and was a means of shortening life. 2d,
There was one, and that a very famous one too, in the suburbs of
Daphne at Antioch. 3d, According to Lucan there was one in
the island of Delos, the supposed bii th-place of that God. 4th,
According to Herodotus, he had one at Didyone among the
Branchidas. 5th, He had one at Argos, as we learn from Pausa-
NiAS. 6th and 7th, He had one in Troas, and another in Eolis,
according to Stephanus. 8th, Capitolinus informs us of one
at Baix in Italy: and besides the above cited, there were Oracles
of Ajiollo, in Cilicia, in Laconia, in Arcadia, at Corinth, in Thrace,
and in the Alps; in fine, in an infinity of other places, as may be
seen in the modern author just cited.

=^==== Though the other Gods had not an equal

of Juniter number of Oivcles with Apollo, the God of rfm-

i nation, yet, in piocess of time, almost every one

of them had his Oracle. Jupiter had several of them, besides
that of Hanmion aforementioned, as well as that of Dodona and
some others, whereof he shared the honour with Apollo. 1st, He
had one in Bceotia under the name of Jupiter the thunderer. 2d,
He had one in Elis. 3d and 4th, He had one at Thebes, and ano-
ther at Meroe. 5th, He had one at Antioch, and several others.
=f===^== We shall give a slight glance at the Oracles
of several other °^ other Gods in numerical order. 1st, Osiris,
I*^ities. j^ig^ 3jj(j Serapis, delivered Oracles by dreams^

as we learn frorn Pausani as, Tacitus, Ar-

rian, and several others This manner of givirg Oracles, to

mention it by the by, was very common. Serapis had an Ora-
cle at .^/f^aTzrfrza, which Vespasian wenl to consult: the priest
who ministered to the God, would only reveal to him in secret

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 227

SEC. I, OF OHAtLES.

what he had lo tell him concerning the grand c.-.signs he had in
view. It was a very rare thing for tliose who ca'ue to consult the
Oracles, to be permitted to enter the sanctuaiy; and Van Dale,
who has exhausted the subject, finds but two examples of it, viz.
that oi Jlexande}-. who as Plutarch reports after Calisthenes,
entered alone into the sanctuary of Hammon; and th^tt of Vespa-
sian, who, according to Tacitus, was introduced into that of
Serajiis. — 2d, The Ox A^if had als(j his Oracle in Egypt: the
manner of considtiiig him was singular: If he eat what was of-
fered him by the suppliant, it was a good sign; but a bad one when
he refused it; as it happened to Germanicus: — Whereon we
win remark that it was much the same with the ceremony prac-
tised at Rome, When they drew good or bad oniens from what
they called their sacred Chickens; as if the events of futurity had
depended upon the good appetite or full stomach of an Ox or
Chickens. — 3d, The Gods called Cabiri, if we may credit St.
ATHANAsius,had their Oracles in Bceotia. — 4 th,iV/(frcM.'-i/ delivered
Oracles at Patras upon Hemon, and in other places. — 5th, Mars
delivered Oracles in Thrace^ Egyfit, and elsewhere, — 6th, Diana
the sister of A/iollo had not a few: she had one in Egypt ^ one in
Cilicia, and one at Ephesus^ not to mention several others. — 7th,
Juno likewise had many Oracles; of which one was near Corinth.,
another at Aysa, and others elsewhere. — 8th, Mi'nerxia, surnamed
Eaiidica, of consequence was not vt'ithout her Oracles: she had
one in Egypt, one in Spaiit, one upon mount. Etria, cine at Myce-
7;<f, one in Colchis., and elsewhere.- — 9th, Latona, according to
Herodotus, had an Oracle at Butes in Egypt. — lOih, Those of
Venus were dispersed in sundry places; at Gaza, upon mount
Libanus^ at Paphas, in Cyprus. I cannot pass in silence that of
Venus Aphacite, mentioned by Zozimus, which was consulted by
the Palmai'enians, who revolted under the reign of Aureii^n about
272 years since the birth of Christ. At Aphaca, a place between
HeliopoHs and Byblos, Venus had a temple, near W'hich was a lake

228 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF ORACLES. SKC. I.

resembling a cistern, 'ihey who came to consult the Oracle of
that Goddess, threw presents into the lake; and it was no matter
of what kind they were: if they were acceptable to Venus., they
went to the bottom; if she rejected them, they swam on the sur-
face, even though of gold or silver. The historian whom I have
quoted subjoins, that in the year which preceded the ruin of the
Palmarenians, their presents sunk to the bottom, but that in the
following year they floated on the surface. — 1 llh, The Oracles of
JVcptune were at Dclfilios^ at Calauria near Neocesarea, and else-
where.— 12th, Pan had several Oracles, the most famous of which
was in Jlrcadia. — 13th, Saturn also had several Oracles; but the
most famous of them \\ere, liiat of Cumce in Italy, and that of
Jllexandna in Egypt. — .14th, Pluto, as we learn from Strabo,
had one at J^ysa. — 15ih, The JVywJihs had their Oracles in the
cave of Corycia.

- Nor was it only the Gods who had Oracles;

The Oracles of j Demi Gods and Heroes had theirs likewise.
Demi-Gods, He-
roes, and Empe- igj, Hercules had his at Gades, now Cadiz; at

— • . Athens; in Egyfit-, at Tivoli, which was given by
lots as Statius tells us, much after the manner of that o( For-
tune at P>-eneste and at Jntiuni; he had an Oracle in Aleso/iotamia,
where according to 'I'acitus, he gave his Oracles by dreams,
whence he got the name of Somnialis, as may be seen in an in-'
scription of Spon, and in another recited by Reinesius.— 2d, It
is hardly credible that Geryon, the three-headed monster who
■was slain by Hercules, should have had an Oracle! He had one
however, as well as his conqueror. This Oracle was in Italy near
Padua, and Suetonius tells us that Tiberius went to consult it.
There, we are told, was the fountain of Ajionus, which, if we may
believe Claudian, restored speech to the dumb, and cured all
sorts of diseases.— 3d, JEsculafiius was consulted in Cilicia, atJfioU
Ionia, in the isle of Cos, at Pergamus, Efiidaurus, Rome, and else-
where.—4th, LuTATius speaks of the Oracle of Castor and Pol-

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 229

SEC. I. OF ORACLES.

/ujc, which was at Lacedemon. — 5th, Barthius makes mention
of that of Amfihiaraus, at Orofius in Macedonia. — 6th, Mofisus

likewise had one in Cilicia, as we learn from the Ancients 7th,

The head of Or/i/ieus, according to Ovid, delivered responses at
Lesbos; — 8th, jimp/ii/oc/iius,alMallos; — 9\\\,Sarp.edon^ in TrQas;—-
10th, Her mi me, in Macedonia; — ilth, and Pasifihae, in Laconia,
as we learn from Tertullian I2th, C/ja/cas delivered respon-
ses in Italy; — 13th, Arist(eus,\n Bceotia; — 14th, jiutobjcus, at Si-
nofie; — I5th, P hnjxus, (imon^ the Colchi; — i6th, and Rhesus at
Pangea — 17ih, Ulysses, if we may believe the old commentator
on Lycofihron, likewise had an Oracle; — 18th, so had Zamolxis,
among the Getes, as Strabo assures us. — 19th and 20th, Even
Ephestioii too, Alexander' s minion; and Antinous, minion of Ha-
drian, had Oracles: After the death of Efihestiov, nothing would
satisfy Alexander, but to have him made a God; and all the cour-
tiers of that prince consented to it without the least hesitation:
whereupon Temples were built to him in several towns; Festi-
vals instituted to his honour; Sacrifices offered; Cures ascribed to
him; and Oracles given out in his name. And Hadrian practised
the same fooleries towards Antinous; he caused the city Antino-
polia to be built to his memory, gave him temples, and prophets
to deliver his oracles — for prophets belong to oracular temples
only, says St. Jerom. We have still a Greek inscription to this
purpose, To Antinous, the companion of the Gods of Egypt; M.
Ulpius Jpollonius his prophet. After this, we shall not be sur-
prised at Augustus's having delivered Oracles at Rome., as we
learn from Prudentius. These modern Oracles however were
never in so much repute as the ancient ones, and they made
these new-created Gods deliver only so many responses, as were
thought convenient in order to make their court to the princes
who had deified them.

2 F

230 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF ORACLES.

«■" The Fountains too, delivered Oracles; for to

The Oracles of u r ..i v • •.. -i i i •

the P'ountains each or them divinity was ascribed: such in par-

■ ticular, was the fountain of Castalia at Delphos;
another of the name of Castalia in the suburbs of Antioch; and
the firofihetic Fountain near the temple of Ceres in Achaia. "What
Pliny tells us of that of Limyra^ is very singular; it gave Ora-
cles by means of Fishes: The consulters having presented food
to the Fishes, if they fell-to greedily, it was a favourable omen for
the event about which they were interrogated; if they refused the
bait, by rejecting it with their tails, it betokened bad success. —
But there would be no end of it, were I to enumerate all the Pa-
gan Oracles. Van-Dale after having discoursed of the chief of
them, contents himself with naming those that occur at the end
of his work; a list of which he had collected from the ancients:
in his list, which may be consulted, he reckons up nearly three
hundred, the most of them belonging to Greece. But certainly
he has not named them all; for there were few temples where
there was not an Oracle, or some other sort of divination. To be
short, the numerous Oracles we have just glanced over, besides
others not here mentioned, were not consulted very seriously;
for in affairs of great moment, recourse was still had to Del/ihos,
to Claros, or to the Cave of Trofihonlus.

- Of all the parts of Greece, Bceotia was that

Or&clcs were
owinff' partly to ^vhich had most Oracles, upon account of the

the instigation of mountains and caverns with which it abounded:

tlie Devil, and

chiefly to the im- for it is proper to remark with M. Fontenelle,

I'rie.sts. ^^^t nothing suited better for Oracles than cav-

I ems and mountains. It was in these caves, whose

view inspired a sort of religious horror, that the Priests could
artfully contrive passages whereby to go in, and come out; and
convey, without being perceived, machines and hollow statues
•within which they hid themselves, to give more efficacy and re-
putation to their Oracles. For indeed, although I am persuaded

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRV. 231

SEC. I. OF ORACLES.

with the most, learned fathers of the church, that the Devil pre-
sided over Oracles, and that it was he himself personally present,
or the Priests acting by his instigation^ who delivered responses
concerning future events; since, let men say what they will, there
is no other possible way of explaining all that we learn from an-
tiquity relating to responses: yet I am fully convinced, that the
imfiQsture of the Priests had often, nay, for the most part, if you
will, a very great hand in them; and consequently we may be-
lieve, that they neglected no method for supporting their impos-
tures. The discovery, which Daniel made of the tricks of .flc/z^s's
priests, who came by night through subteiraneous passages, and
carried off the meat, which they said was eat up by the God him-
self; this, I say, is a convincing proof of the cheats that were
practised in the Pagan temples; a proof which leaves no room to
doubt but the like tricks were used in the Oracles. Accordingly,
when the Christian religion had once triumphed over idolatry,
and when the Oracles were abolished with it, there were discove-
ries made in the caves and de?js where there had been Oracles,
of several marks o^ ihe Jraud and imposture of the ministers who
had had the charge of them.

■ To conclude: we must not think, that all the

all dates-^ ^old Ot-acles we have been speaking of, and others,

ones declining', of which we know but the bare names, did sub-

and new ones

coming in vogue, sist at one and the same time. There were

^^^~^^^~~^~~ some of them older, some of them later, and of

all dates, from that of Dodona, which was looked upon as the most

ancient, down to that of Antinous, which may be reckoned the

last. Sometimes even the ancient ones came to be laid aside.

Their credit was lost, either by discovering the impostures of

their ministers, or by wars, which laid waste the places where

they were, or by other accidents unknown. One thing we know,

that the immense riches, which were at Delfihos., had frequently

been a temptation to rifle that temple, as was done more than

232 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. ill.

OF ORACLES. SEC. I.

once; though at the same time, those pillages did not make the
Oracle to cease. And upon the ruin of some Oracles, they took
care to found new ones in their room; and these, in their turn,
gave place to others: but the precise time of the declension of
many of those Oracles, and of the institution of the new, is not
known. — The Oracles of the Sibyls next demand our notice.
7th^ The Oracles of the Sibyls.
•* Gall^us, in his thirteenth dissertation upon
injean Sybvl deli- ^'^^ Sibyls, explains at great length all the modes
veiedherOracles. by which futurity may be revealed to man. He
"""""'"""'""" quotes all the passages of Scripture, wherein
they are mentioned, and carefully examines in what sense the
Devil may be said to foreknow and reveal it. I have no mind to
follow him in questions, which would carry me too far into spe-
culation.— Let us resume a little of what we have said upon
other Oracles, and apply it to those of the Sibyls. As some of the
Oracles were sometimes pronounced vivavoce^a?, those of the
Priestess of Delfihos; so the Sibyl of Cumte in Italy sometimes
delivered hers in the same manner, since Helenus tells .fineas,
as he is advising him to consult her when he arrived in Italy, to
entreat her not to write her predictions upon leaves of trees,, as
she usually ciid; but to c.nswer him in the manner just mentioned,
■viva vocf ; which jEneus li erally obeyed, when he consulted her.
As the Priestess of Afiollo^ after remaining a while upon the Tri-
fiod, turned furious^ and in the transport with which she was ac-
tuated, pronounced her Oracles; so the Sibyl was seized with the
same fury when she uttered her predictions: As there were
priests at Delplios, whose business it was to gather up what the
Priestess pronounced in her fury, and put it in verse; so it is pro-
bable, that they did much the same with the responses of the
Sibyl, since all those, which antiquity has transmitted down to us,
are likewise in verse. — Virgil informs us of the singular man-
net how the Sibyl of Cur.Ke, only, was wont to declare her Ora-

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. 233

SEC. I. OF ORACLES.

cles. She wrote them upon the leaves o. a tree, which she ar-
ranged in order at the entrance to her cave; and it required one
to be pretty nimble and expeditious, to gather up the leaves in
the same order as she left them. For if they happened to be dis-
composed by the wind, or any other accideint, all was lost; and
the person was obliged to go away without expecting another
response. This manner of the Cumcean Sibyl's delivering her
Oracles was by no means a fiction of the poets; it was an ancient
tradition which we find in Varro. That learned Roman, accor-
ding to Servius, says expressly in his book of divine things, that
this Sibyl wrote her predictions on the leaves of the palm-tree.
The same Servius likewise informs us, that she had three ways
of delivering her Oracles, either by word of mouthy or by writings
or by signs. It may be asked what the author means by those
signs; but since he tells us himself they were marks like those
which were formed upon the obelisk that had been carried from
Egypt to Rome; it is plain, that he has in his view that hierogiy-
phical writing, in use among the Egyptians, and which was upon
the obelisk that was at Rome, as to which Pliny may be consulted.
These Oracles were delivered in other different ways, either in a
dream, or by letters under seal. Sec. In fine, nothing was more
famous in Italy than the Cave where this Sibyl had delivered her
Oracles. Aristotle mentions it as a place of great curiosity;
and Virgil gives a very magnificent description of it. Religion
had consecrated this Cave and made a Temple of it as we have
already seen. As to the other Sibyls, it is not certainly known in
■what manner they delivered their Oracles.

=======^^ Under the head of their Oracles it cannot be

1 he Sibyl-
line Verses; — amiss to treat of the Sibylline Verses^ whose pre-

how they were j- .• .. .1 r» ... , • ,

collected; dictions were, to the Romans especially, a knid

===^== ot" standing Oracle, consulted upon all occasions

wherein the Republic was threatened with any disaster. — As to

the manner how the collection of these verses was made, it is not

234 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF OKACLES. SEC. r.

known. It is not likely that the Sibyls prophesied in verse, far
less that they themselves kept their predictions, and digested
theni in order. Besides they lived in different periods of time,
and in countries remote the one from the other. How then came
the world by a collection of those predictions, put in hexameters?
In what age did it appear? Who was its author? These are facts
which antiquity has not transmitted to us. All that we know is,
that a Woman came to Tarquin the proud, offered him a collec-
tion of those verses, in nine books, and that she demanded for
them three hundred pieces of gold; that when the prince would
not give that sum, she threw three of them into the fire, and ex-
acted the same sum for the remaining six; which being refused
her, she burnt three more of them, and still persisted in asking
the three hundred pieces, for those thiit were left; at length, the
king fearing that she would burn the other three, gave her the
sum she demanded.

■ This story has all the air of romance; it is

and how they i i t 11

were destroyed. attested, however, by a great many authors, and

^===^ perhaps the falsehood of it lies only in the cir-
cumstances: for it is certain that the Romans had in their pos-
session a collection of the Sibylline verses, and that they preser-
ved it from the reign of Tarquin, to the time of Sylla; when it
perished in the burning of the Capitol, where it had been depo-
sited: And therefore, that the reader may be able to judge of this
fact, I shall put it in a true light. Lactantius, who relates it
in the narrative which we have given, says it was the Sibyl of
CumcE who presented this collection to Tarquin, and he has been
followed by Pliny, Solinus, and Isidorus. Perhaps Lactan-
tius had found it in Varro's books of divine things, whence he
had taken his accoimt of the Sibyls; but other authors barely
affirm, that a woman offered those books to Tarquin, without say-
ing it was the Sibyl herself. Servius, who agrees to this fact,
and appears to have examined it, says, it is not credible that the

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 235

SEC. I. OF OKACLES.

Sibyl of Cumtt, with all the length of years they have given her,
having lived in the time of ^neas who consulted her, was also
alive in the time of Tarquin; that is five or six hundred years
after. — Be that as it will, the Romans carefully kept this collec-
tion, from the time of Tarquin, to the burning of the Capitol;
when it was consumed with that edifice. In this long period of
time, it was only consulted by the Priests; as we learn from So-

LINUS.

• After this accident, the Romans, to repair

The Romans re- , . , ™ ,..,.„

pah- their loss by then- loss, sent, as 1 acitus has it, into different

a. second collection, places; to Samos, to Troy, into Africa, Sicily,
'~"~~~"~~~~' and among the colonies settled in Italy, to col-
lect all the Sibylline verses that could be found; and the deputies
brought back a great quantity of them. As no doubt there were
many of them dubious, Priests were commissioned to make a ju-
dicious choice of them. Fenestella^ in Lactantius, saysonly, that
the Senate after the Capitol was rebuilt, sent to Erythrxa, P. Ga-
binius, M. Octacilius, and L, Valerius, to search for the verses
of the Sibyl of that name, and that they had found in the hands of
private persons, about an hundred of them, which they brought to
Rome. — Thus was the second collection of Sibylline verses made
up; but I don't believe they had equal faith in them as in the for-
mer. They had been in the possession it seems, of private per-
sons, who added or retrenched what they had a mind. There
were none, according to Lactantius, but the verses of the Cm-
mtean Sibyl, that were carefully kept by the Romans: and these
none had access to see. The Quindecimviri were the only per-
sons who had permission to inspect and consult them. As to
those of the other Sibyls, they were in every body's hands: the
consequence of this was, that upon every event, predictions were
propagated in Rome and through all Italy; and this abuse went so
far, that Tiberius forbid the keeping of those private collections,
and ordered that they, in whose hands they were, should deliver

236 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF ORACLES. SEC I.

them up to the Prxtor. — lliese books were written upon a sort

of lineji that they might last the longer.

===== There was a College^ first of tivo^ then of ten^

To whose care , p i r ^ ^ r i i i

It was entrusted ^"" atterwards oijijieen persons, tounded to be

a.ndonwhatocca- ^|^g guardians of this collection, whom thev
sions consulted.

■■ called the Quimdecimviri of the Sibyls: to them

this depositum was conmiitted; by them it was consulted; and so
great was the faith that was put in the predictions it contained,
that whenever they were to enter upon a war; whenever a plague
or famine or other calamity infested either city or country, hither
they were sure to have recouise. It was, as we have said, a kind
of standing Oracle, as often consulted by the Romans, as that of
Delphos was by the Greeks and other nations. We learn more
particularly from Dionysius of Halicarnassns, on what occasion
they had recourse to the Sibylline books. " The senate, says he,
orders ihem to be consulted, upon the rise of any sedition; upon
the defeat of the army; or when some prodigies are observed,
which presage a great calamity, for there have been many such."
As to this last article, it is confirmed by Varro; and the Roman
history furnishes us with several examples, which prove that they
consulted them upon the like occasions.
====== We know not what was the fate of this collec-

Its fate IS un- ^-^^^ ^^ Sibylline verses; for as to that which we

certain; but it is ^

not to be con- have at present, consisting oi Eight .BooX-s, upon

founded with a '

Third, the pro- which GALL.EUS has made a learned commen-

^"^* °^ -^*''"* tary, though it may possibly contain some of the
• ancient predictions, yet all the critics look upon

it as a very dubious comfiosition^ and likely to have been the pro-
duct of the pious fraud of some more zealous than judicious
Christian, who thought, by compiling it, to strengthen the au-
thority of the christian religion, and enable its defenders to com-
bat paganism with greater advantage: as if truth stood in need of
forgery and lies, to effect its triumph over error. What puts the

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 237

SEC. I. OF ORACLES.

matter quite out of doubt, is that we find in this indigested col- .
lection, predictions relating to the mysteries of Christianity,
clearer than they are in Isaiah and the other prophets. There
the very name of Jesus Christ and that of the Virgin Mary, oc-
cur in every page. It speaks of the mysteries of redemption, of
our Saviour's miracles, his passion, his death and resurrection;
the creation of the world, the terrestrial paradise, the longevity
of the Patriarchs, and the Deluge. One of the Sibyls even vaunts
that she had been in the Ark with Noah. There, mention is made
of the invention of arts; and they who are said to have excelled
in them, are the same with those whom Moses mentions; with a
thousand other particularities which are evidently drawn from the
Sacred Books: insomuch that it is amazing to find authors so
prepossessed, as to hold that whatever this collection contains
was composed by the Sibyls. Would God have revealed to Pa-
gans the mysteries of our religion, in a clearer manner than he
had done to his own people by the mouth of his prophets? — I
said, there were probably in this last collection, verses taken froni
the two former; but it is not easy to distinguish such as were
borrowed thence, from those which the author has spun out of
his own brain. P. Petit, it is true, attempted to do it; but to
♦ me, it appears, that this otherwise ingenious author has, in this
part of his work, shewed more credulity than sound criticism.
He even seems so prepossessed in favour of his Sibyl.^ and allows
her such a deep insight into futurity, that the priestess ofj/iolloy
compared to her, was but a learner. But what proves undeniably
the difference between this collection and the ancient ones is,
that the Sibylline verses, consulted at Rome, breathed nothing but
idolatry, and the worship of false Gods, and for the most part
prescribed nothing but barbarous sacrifices, and human victims;
whereas those we have now remaining, inculcates the worship of
the true God, and are mostly calculated to lead men to piety.

2 G

238 SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. CHAP. in.

OF ORACLES.

===== Before we close this article, it will not be amiss
of which the fol-
lowing are re- to insert oome predictions of these Sibyls; by

markable predic- ,., •, i^ ^ i.^»i

tions— which we m?'- judge what account ought to be

=^=^^= made of the collection wherein they are contain-
ed. 1st, The Persian Sibyl, who speaks of the Deluge, calls her-
self the daughter of Noah. But as this Sibyl is not very sure of
what she says of herself, or rather as the impostor, who puts words
in her mouth, had forgot himself in this place, she asserts else-
where, that she had met with the adventure of Lot's daughters;
and again in another place, she calls herself christian, is if there
really had been christians in the days of Noah or of Lot.— 2d, She
whom tiiey called the Libyan Sibyl, speaks of the miraculous
birth of Jesus Christ, and of his miracles in such terms as would
lead you to think it was Isaiah^ or one of the evangelists speak-
ing.— 3d, The Sibyl of De//i/ios is equally plain upon our Saviour^s
conception and nativity; then forgetting that she speaks in the
character of a true prophet, she resumes her Pagan style, and
menlions her gallantries with Jfiolio. — 4th, The Cumaan Sibyl,
after having spoken of the incarnation, throws out at random st-
yeral predictions, which the Romans did her the honour to believe
had a relation to their Em/iire. — 5th, Among the predictions of
the Erythraan Sibyl, we find acrostic verses, the initial letters o^
which form these words, Jes7is Christusf Dei-Filius, Salvator. Of
her, St. Augustine says to this purpose, " the Erythrxan Sibyl
has prophesied of Jesus Christ in a very perspicuous manner: I
had a translation thereof, but it was a very false one, when Fla-
vianus the proconsul, a very knowing man, showed me the origi-
nal Greek, where was this prediction in acrostic verses." — 6th,
The Sibyl of Samos, after having spoken of God, in an equally
sublime and orthodox manner, says, there is none but he iv/io ia
nvorthy to be adored. — 7th, The Sibyl of Ciuncs in Ionia, speaks of
the resurrection of Jesus Christ, of the end of the world, and of
the general conflagration; then she foretels the overthrow of

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. 239

SEC. I. OF ORACLES.

Alexander's empire, on whose ruins the power of the Romans
was to be formed. — Sth, The Hdleslinntine Sibyl prophesies of
an Age under Jesus Christ, as happy as the golden Age^ so much
sung by the poets, and mentions the eclijise that was to happen at
his death. — 9th, The Phrygian Sibyl foretels the annunciation,
and the birth of Jesus Christ, miraculously conceived in the
womb of a virgin; his death, his passion, his resurrection; and, as
if she had copied the Evangelists, she prophesies that he shall
show his hands and his feet to his A/iostles. To these predictions,
so plain and clear, she subjoins others about Idolaters., whom she
threatens with the wrath of God, unless they abandon the wor-
ship of Idols. She foresees the last judgment^ and Jesus Christ
seated upon a throne, coming to judge all mankind. She does
not even omit the signs that are to usher in the last daijy nor the

trum/ietj which shall be heard in ihe four corners of the world

10th, In fine, the Sibyl of Tibur or Tivoli^ speaks also of the birth
of Jesus Christ at Bethlehem: but if the Cumxan Sibyl foretold the
Romans only a train offiros/ierity, she of Tivoli, threatened Rome
with the most grievous calainities; and after having drawn an
ugly picture of that city, siie thus denounces its approaching
ruin:

JVunc Deus ceturnu^ disperdet teque tuosque.-
JVec super ulla tin in terra monicmenta manebunt.

■' The author of this collection had concealed his

Reflections on the . . ,, ._. ....

gaiijg lorgeries much better, it, instead of msertmg so

'-^—— many predictions, which God never revealed to
Pagan women, he had interspersed it with several of their Ora-
cles, which are to be found in profane authors; but it would seem
he had not read them over so carefully as Gall^us, and others
who have collected them. A single example which I am going
to quote from Pausanias, will let us see how they were con-
ceived, and at the same time in what manner they were applied
to events. « Philip, says that author, having given battle to Fla-

240 SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. CHAP. in.

OF ORACLES. SEC. I.

iTiinius. was totally routed, and obtained a peace, but upon con-
dition, that he should evacuate all the fortresses which he held
in Greece; nay, this peace, though dear bought, was but an empty
name, since, in effect, he became the slave of the Romans. Thus
was fulfilled what had been long foretold by the Sibyl, inspired
no doubt from above, that the Macedonian empire, after having
arrived to the highest pitch of glory under Philip the son of
Amyntas, should sink and fall into ruin under another Philip; for
the Oracle which she delivered was conceived in these terms:
' Ye Macedonians, who value yourselves on being the subjects of
monarchs sprung from the ancient kings of Argos, know, that
TWO, of the name of Philip, shall bring about your greatest pros-
perity and misfortune. The first shall give lords to mighty
cities and nations; the second., vanquished by a people come from
the East and West, shall involve you in irrevocable ruin, and sub-
ject you to everlasting infamy.' Accordingly, adds Pausanias,
the Romans, by whom the Macedonian empire was overthrown,
were in the west of Europe, and they were assisted by Attalus,
king of Mysia, and by the Mysians, who were the eastern peo-
ple.— It is easy to judge from this, and several other examples
which might be brought, that most of the predictions of the Si-
byls, which are still to be found in apcient authors, had been made
after the event. The Sibyls had likewise foretold several other
overthrows of empires, earthquakes, and other calamities, which
the Pagans believed to have happened conformably to their pre-
dictions, as has been said. It would seem they had made particu-
lar mention of that great earthquake which shook the island of
Rhodes to its very foundations, since the author I have now cited,
says upon this occasion, that the prediction of the Sibyl was fully
accomplished.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 241

SEC. I. OF ORACLES.

■■ We are then to distinguish three collections of

These three
collections of the Sibylline verses; for I wave those that some

Sibylhne Verses, private persons nii^ht have. The first is that

m a manner dis-

tinguished. which was presented to Tarquinius, which con-

'' tained only three books. The second is that
•which was compiled after the burning of the Capitol, consist-
ing of several shreds.^ which the deputies we have mentioned
had brought back from their travels; how many books it contain-
ed is what we don't know. The third, in fine, is what we have
in eight books, wherein there is no doubt, but the author has in-
serted several predictions of the second, whether he took them
from a copy, or picked up such of them as were become public;
but he has added a vast number of others, which certainly were
not the composition of those Profihetesses — If we credit Ser-
vius, the ancient collection contained, in all, but a hundred fire-
dictions. He says, " there were but a hundred resfionses, or a
hundred firedictions of the Sibyls^ neither more nor less:" but it
is probable, that this learned commentator meant only, in this
place, the Sibyl of Cum<e, to whom the passage in Virgil re-
lates. Lactantius, who allowed ten Sibyls, as also does Varro,
attributes to each of them a book of predictions, though there is
no way to distinguish to which of them each of those books be-
longed, except that of the Erythraean Sibyl, who had put her
name at the head of the book which contained hers. I know not,
whence Lactantius had taken what he here says; but it is cer-
tain the Romans had but three of those books; the avarice of
Tarquin having occasioned the oiher six to be burned by her
who presented them to him.
■ I must not omit that the veneration for the

The sccoTtd col*
lection is burnt, Sibylline verses lasted a good while under the

and their venera- reign of the emperors; but a part of the se-

tion terminated.

=^=^==: nate having embraced Christianity, in the time

of Theodosius the Great, that superstitious veneration began

242 SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF ORACLES. SEC. I.

to be Ijiid aside; and at last Stilico, under the reign of Hono-
rius, caused them to be burned. — So much for the Oracles of
these celebrated Virgins, whose predictions were in vogue for so
many ages among the Pagans.

8th, Various ways of deliveririg Oi-acles; with several
remarkable Resfior^es.

■ Before we finish what belongs to Oracles, we
Modes of de- , , , p ,, ■ • i

liverins? Oracles l^^^^t touch upon two heads more luUy, which

afore mentioned, gg y^^ ^^g have only hinted at occasionally. The
Jij-st, concerns the different modes in which the
Oracles were delivered. The second, relates to the more remark-
able Responses handed down to us by antiquity — We have seen
in what manner several Oracles were given: we have seen, that,
at the Oracle of Delji/ios, they interpreted and put in verse what
the priestess pronounced in the time of her fury; that, at the
Oracle of Hammon, it was the priestess who pronounced the re-
sponse of their God; that, at the Oracle of Dodona, the response
■was given from the hollow of an Oak; that, at the Cave of Tf-o-
/ihonius, the Oracle was gathered from what the suppliant said
before he recovered his senses; that, at the Oracle of Mtmfihis^
they drew a good or bad omen, according as the Ox Jfiis re-
ceived or rejected what was presented to him; and that it was
like the latter, with the Fishes of the fountain Limyra.

■ We must now add, that the responses of the
ofdeliverino-Ora- ^^"^ ^^'^^ often given from the bottom of his Sta-

cles, viz. — First, tue; whether it was the jDewV delivered his Ora-

from the hollow

of the Statue. cles there; or the Priests, who had hollowed

=--^-^^-^=— - those statues and found a way to convey them-
selves thither, by some subterranean passage; for to repeat it, the
suppliants were not allowed to enter the sanctuaries where the
Oracles were given, far less to appear too curious in that point.
Accordingly they took care, that neither the Efiicureans nor
Christians should come near them, and the reason is very obvious.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 243

SEC. I. OF ORACLES,

===== In several places the Oracles were given by
ters^under a seal. ^^^^^^^ under a seal; Jis in that of Mofisus, and at
r ■ MuUos in Cilicia. He who came to consult

these Oracles, was obliged to give his letter into the priest's
hands, or to leave it upon the altar, and to lie in the temple:
and it was in time of his sleep, that he received the answer to his
letter; whether it was that the priests had the secret of opening
these letters, as Lucian assures us of his false prophet Alexan-
der, who had founded his Oracle in Pontus; or whether there was
something supernatural in the case, I shall not determine.
■■■ • The manner of delivering the Oracle at Cla-

naraes and'num- ^°'^ ^^^^ somewhat still more extraordinary,

ber only of the since no more was required but that the person
suppliants re-
quired, should communicate his name to the priest of

=^==^== that God. Tacitus, is my author: " Germani-
cus, says he, went to consult tlie Oracle of Claras. The res-
ponses of that God are not delivered by a woman, as at Delphos;
but by a man chosen out of a particular family, and who is gene-
rally of Miletus. All he requires is to be told the number and the
names of the suppliants. Then he letires into a ^ro^^o, and having
taken water from a secret spring, he gives a response in verse,
suitable to what every one has been thinking upon; though, for
the most part, he is extremely ignorantl"

■■ ■ ' ' "• Among the Oracles which were delivered in

Fourth, the , ,, r . • ,

response is com- ^ ^'■''""'' ^^'^''« ^^<^''e some for which prepara-

municated by a tions were necessary by JastingSy as that in ./^?«-
dream.

'■ phiarausin Attica, and some others, as Philos-

TRATUS informs us, where the suppliants were obliged to sleep

upon the skins of the victimsl

■ One of the most singular Oracles was that of

Fifth, by the ,, -ai- i-it~.

first words heard ^'^^rcury^ in Achaia, which Pausanias treats of.

after interrogat- After a great many ceremonies, which we need

mg- the statue of

the God. not here enumerate, they whispered in the ear

. of the God, and asked him, what they were de-

244 SUPERSTITIOXS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF ORACLES. SEC. I.

sirous to know; then they stopped their ears with their hands,

went out of the temple, and the first words they heard upon their

coming out, was taken for the response of the God.

- Oracles were frequently given by lot; and this

Sixth, Oracu- . , ^ ^ , . r^, , , i • j

lar responses ^^ what we must explam. 1 he lots were a kmd

were given by of dice, on which were eneraven certain charac-
lots. ^

i=^i=:==^ ters or words, whose explanation they were to
look for in the tables made for the purpose. The way of using
those dice for knowing futurity was different, according to the
places where they were used In some temples, the person tlnew
them himself; in others, they were dropped from a box; whence
came the proverbial expression, t/ie lot is fallen. This playing
with dice was always preceded by sacrifices, and other customary
ceremonies. — They had recourse to these /o^s in several Oracles,
even at Dodonuy as appears in the case of the Lacedemonians,
when they came thither for a consultation, as we have it from
Cicero; but the most famous lots were at Antium and Preneste^
two towns in Italy. At Prxneste., it was the Goddess ofybr/u«fy and
at Antium, the Goddesses of fortune, that is, her Divinity at the
latter was represei.ted by several statues. The statues at Antium
had this singularity, that they moved themselves, according to
Macrobius's testimony; and their various movements served
either for the response, or signified whether the lots could be con-
sulted. From a passage in Ciceko, where he says, ihe lots of
Prxneste were consulted by consent of Fortune, it would seem,
that the Fortune which was in that city was a sort of automaton, like
those at Antiutn, which gave some sign v/iih its head, much like
that of Ju/iiter Hammon; who, as has been said, thus signified to
the priests who carried him in procession, what rout they were to
take. An event which Suetonius relates, undoubtedly raised the
lots of Prtcneste to great reputation, (contrary to the intention of
Tiberius, who was going to destroy them) since he tells us, that
they were not to be found in a coffer securely sealed, when the

CHAP. m. SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. 245

SEC. I. OF ORACLES.

the cofier was opened at Rome, but when brought back to Prx-
neate they were again found. — In Greece and Italy, they fre-
quently drew lots from some celebrated poets, as Homer and
Euripides; and what presented itself upon o/zewmg* the boofc^ was
the decree of Heaven: of this, history furnishes a thousand ex-
amples. Nothing was more common than the Sortes Virgiiia'
7ztf, or lots ivhich were drawn from Virgil* s poems. Lampridius
informs us, that Alexander Severus, when yet a private man, and
at a time when the emperor Heliogabaliis bore no good will to
him, received by way of response in the temple of Prxneste., that
passage in Virgil; si qua fata asfiera rumpasi tu Marcellus eris—
if thou canst by any vieans surmount severe destiny., thou shalt be
Marcellus. — In the eastern countries, arrows served for lots; and
these the Turks and Arabians use at this day, in the same way as
the ancients did. We learn from the prophet Ezf.kiel, that
Nebuchadnezzar, coming from Babylon with a great army, stop-
ped in a cross-way, to know by means of the arrows., which he
mingled, miscuit sagittas, if he should make war upon Egypt, or
against the Jews; and the prophet adds, that the lot fell upon Je-
rusalem. In fine, lots were even introduced into Christianity, and
were taken from the sacred books, where the first words that
threw up, decided what they wanted to know.

======= The ordinary ambiguity of the Oracles, and

Lasth/.MsLuysive , • , ,, . ,, , i

piven by equivo- their double meaning, could not but be a great

cal phrases. support to them; since, by interpreting them in

a certain sense, which they could bear, the Ora-
cles were sure to be fulfilled. Thus the response given to Croe-
sus, by the priestess of Delphos, must, in all events, have appear-
ed a true prediction. Crcesus, said the priestess, in passing the
Halys, shall overthrow a great empire: thus, if that Lydian mon-
arch had conquered Cyrus, he had overthrown the Assyrian em-
pire; if he himself was routed, he overturned his own. — That
delivered to Pyrrbus, which is comprised in this Latin verse,

2 H

246 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF ORACLES. SEC. I.

Credo equidem j^acidaa Rominos vincere fioase, had the same ad-
vantage, for, according to the rules of syntax, either of the two
accusatives may be governed by the verb, and the verse be ex-
ph^ined, either by saying the Romans shall conquer the ^acidae, of
whom Pyrrhus was descended, or these shall conquer the Romans.
When Alexander fell sick at Babylon, some of his courtiers wh
happened to be in Egypt, or who went thither on purpose, passed
the night in the temple of Sera/iis^ to inquire if it would not be
proper to bring Alexander to be cured by him. The God an-
swered, it ivas better that Alexander should remain where he was.
This in all events was a very prudent and safe answer. If the king
recovered his health, what glory must Serafiis have gained by
saving him the fatigue of the journey! If he died, it was but say-
ing he died in a favourable juncture after so many conquests;
which, had he lived, he could neither have enlarged nor preser-
ved: and this is actually the construction they put upon the re-
sponse. But had Alexander been advised to undertake the jour-
ney, and had died in the temple, or by the way, nothing could
have been said in favour of Sera/iis. — When Trajan had formed
the design of his expedition against the Parthians, he was advi-
sed to consult the Oracle of Heliofiolis, in which he had no more
to do but send a note under a seal. That prince, who had no
great faith in Oracles, sent thither a bla/ik note; and they returned
him another of the same. By this Trajan was convinced of the
Divinity of the Oracle. He sent back a second note to the God,
■wherein he inquired, whether he should return to Rome after
finishing the war he had in view. The God, as Macrobius tells
the story, ordered a -vijie., which was among the offerings of his
temple, to be divided into many pieces, and brought to Trajan.
The event justified the Oracle; for the emperor dying in that
"wav, his bones were carried lo Rome, which had been represent-
ed by the broken -vine. As the priests of that Oracle knew Tra-
jan's design, which ^vas no secret, they happily devised that re-

CHAP. in. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 247

OF OUACLES.

sponse; which, in all events, was capable of a favourable interpre-
tation, whether he routed and cut the Parthians in pieces, or if
his own army met with that fate. — Sometimes the responses of
the Oracles were nothing but a piece of mere banter; witness
that which was given to a man, who came to demand by what
means he might grow rich. The God answered him, that he had
no more to do but make himself master of all that lay between
Cicyon and Corinth. Another, wanting a cure for the ^'om/, was
answered by the Oracle, he should drink nothing but cold water.
We shall conclude this section by reporting some singular re-
sjionaes of Oracles.

■ But among the responses of the Oracles, some

Extraordinary r ■ , ^ . •

responses viz.— ^^'^I'e ot a singular nature. Croesus not bemg

First, that of the satisfied with the response of the priestess of

priestess of Del-

phos to Croesus. Del/ihos, although he had been excessively libe-

■— ^ ral to it, as Herodotus informs us, sent, with a
view to surprise the Oracle, to inquire of the priestess, what he
was doing at the very time when his deputy was consulting her.
She answered, he was then boiling a lamb with a tortoisei as he
really was. Croesus, who had contrived this odd ragout^ in the
hope that the Oracle would never hit upon the secret, which he
had communicated tone mortal, and which at the same time was
in the nature of the thing so unlikely to be thought of, w as amazed
at this response: it heightened his credulity, and new presents
were sent to the God. But this fact being very singular, and con-
taining other circumstances; besides, I shall relate it as it is in
Herodotus. " Croesus seeing the power of the Persians grow
greater and greater every day, by the valor of Cyrus, thought it
high time to be making ready to bear it down. Before he took
any steps, he sent to consult the Oracles of Greece and Africa.
Accordingly he named deputies for Delfihos, some for Dodona^
others for the Oracle of Amfihiaraus^ for that of Trofihonius^ and
for that of the Branchida, which was upon the frontiers of tho

248 SCPERSTITIOVS ot IDOLAIRY. CHAP. 111.

OF ORACLES. SEC. I.

Milesians. Those lie despatched into Africa were to consult the
Oracle oi Jufiiter Hammon. His first step was only to sound the
Oracles; and if they gave a true answer, he proposed to send
thither a second tinie, to learn from them whether he should
carry on his designs against the Persians. He commanded the
deputies to observe exactly what time intervened between their
setting out from Sardis^ and the day of the consultation; and to
inquire at the several Oracles, what Croesus was doing that day.
What were the answers of the other Oracles we are not told; but
upon their arrival at Delfihos, they were not well entered into the
temple, when the priestess told them in heroic verse, < that she
knew the immense expanse of the ocean; that she, like the Gods,
could number the grains of sand on the sea-shore; that she un-
derstood the language of him who never speaks, nor was any
thing a secret to her; tliat she actually saw him, who was now in
secret, boiling in a brazen pot, with a lid of the same metal, the
flesh of a lamb mixed with that of a tortoise.' When the depu-
ties sent to the other Oracles arrived, Croesus examined with
great care their several answers, and had no regard to any of
them, except to that of Jm/i/uaraus, (as to which our author
gives us no light); but so soon as the deputies from Del/i/ios ar-
rived, the king was struck with astonishment upon hearing the re-
sponse of the Oracle, and looked upon it as the most infallible
of all."

====== The governor of Cilicia, who had a gang of

<S<?co7zc?, That of r... ■ 1^.1- i. ^mi 1

the Oracle of ■c!A'<^""«"« about him, who were still endea-

Mopsus, to the youring to inspire him with a contempt of the
governor of Cili-
cia. Oracles, resolved, as Plutarch says pleasant-

^===== ly, to send a Spy to the Gods. He gave the Spy
a letter, well sealed, to carry to Mallos^ where was the Oracle of
Mofisua. As the deputy was lying in the temple, a man remark-
ably well made appeared to him, and pronounced the word black.
This answer he bore to the governor, which though it appeared

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 249

SEC. I. OF ORACLES.

ridiculous to the Epicureans- to whom he communicated it, yet

struck himself with astonishment, and upon opening the letter,

he shewed them these uords which he had there written; Shall I

sacrifice to thee a tvhite ox or a black?

■ We shall finish those examples with a response

Third, that of , ^ , ^ , . , , f ,

the priestess of related by bxRABO, which proved ratal to the

Dodona to the pj^^gtess of Dodona who trave it. Durins: the
Boeotians. ' o o

— -I war between the Thracians and Eceotians, the

latter came to consult the Oracle oi Dodona., and were answered
by the priestess, that they should have hapfiy success, if they "Mere
guilty of some impious action. The deputies of the Boeotians, from
a persuasion that the priestess had a mind to deceive them, to
favour the Pelasgi, from whom she was descended, and who were
in alliance with the Thracians, took and burnt her alive; alleging
that in whatever light that action was considered, it should not but
be justified: And indeed, if the priestess had an intention to cheat
them, she was punished for her deceit; if she spoke sincerely,
they had only literally fulfilled the Oracle. These reasons how-
ever, were not admitted: the deputies were seized; but not daring
to punish them before they were judged, they were brought before
the two remaining priestesses; for, according to Strabo's ac-
count, there were at that time, three belonging to that Oracle.
The deputies having remonstrated against this proceeding, were
allowed two men to judge them with the priestesses, who were
clear for their being condemned; but the two men were more fa-
vourable to them; whereby, the votes being equal, they were
absolved.

-■ We may here remark, that as the priests turned

Remark on the •. ,» ir ii^. •, r

decline of the 'i-'erse what was delivered by the priestess of

Oracle ofjipollo. Delphos in \\t\' fury, of course \hiA\: poetry was
"~~"~~"~~'~~' often wretchedly bud. The Epicureans especi-
ally, made it their open jest, and SdicI, in raillery. It was surpris-
ing enough, that Apollo.^ the God of poetry, should be a much

250 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. lU.

OF DIVINATION. SEC. II.

worse poet than Homer, whom he himself had inspired. The
priests were even frequently obliged to steal from that famous
poet, despairing to make so good of their own. No doubt, it was
the railleries of these philosophers, and more particularly those of
the Cynics and Peri/iatetics, that obliged the priests to lay aside
the practice of turning the responses of the Pythia into verse;
which, according to Plutarch, was one of the principal causes
of the declension of the Oracle of Delfihos.—L,t\. us now pass to
other means that were used for knowing the will of the Gods, and
that futurity about which human curiosity has always been most
keenly exercised.

SECTION SECOND.

OF DIVIJV^JTIOM

- Man, always anxious about future events, did

tions on\he sub- ^'^^ content himself with seeking to come at the
ject of Divination, knowledge thereof by the Oracles and predic-
—"^■^"^"■"^ tions of the Gods and Sibyls; he attempted to
make the discovery by a thousand other ways, and invented several
sorts of Divinations, by which he pretended to a forecast upon fu-
turity by means of /i2« own ariijice; for which he even established
maxims and rules, as if such frivolous observations had been capa-
ble of being reduced to fixed and certain principles. Accordingly
Divination wasdcfined^rerumj'ueurarumscietitia, or the knowledge
of future events; and it was of several sorts, as shall be shewn as
we goon. This science is as ancient as Idolatry itself, and made
a considerable part of the Pagan mythology. It was even autho-
rized by the laws, particularly among the Romans. — Cicero
has composed two books, equally curious and elegant, upon Divi-
nation, in which he, though immersed in Pagan darkness, makes
a jest of those pieces of superstition, and turns them into ridicule.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 251

SKC. II. OF DIVINATION.

And in truth religion informs us that luturity is not only hid from
man, unless God pleases to reveal it to him; but also that it is a
criminal tempting of providence, to pry into it; and that all the arts
employed for that end, are as criminal as insignificant. Or, would
it be for our interest to see into this futurity, which men have
strained so hard to know? No, surely not; it is with infinite wis-
dom, that God has concealed it from us. Nothing is more moving
nor more elegant than what Cicero says upon this occasion. "In
what deep melancholy had Priam spent the remainder of his life,
had he known the lamentable fate that awaited him? Would the
three consulships, the three triumphs of Pompey, have made him
sensible of the smallest impression of joy, had he been capable to
foresee, what we ourselves are even unable to mention without
the deepest sense of sorrow, that on the day after the loss of a bat-
tle, and the total defeat of his army, he should be slain in the de-
sarts of Egypt? And what would Caesar have thought, if he too
had known, that in the midst of that very senate, which he had
filled with his friends and creatures, near the statue of Pompey, in
sight of his guards, he should be stabbed to death by his best friends,
and his body be abandoned, not a soul daring to approach it? It is
therefore more for our interest and real good, to remain in our
present state of ignorance, than to know the evils that are to come
upon us." Certainly the ignorance oUlls, at least, is better than
prescience. Nor, even were the foresight of good, our gift, would
there be much we should foresee; and though it should enable us
to improve the promised blessing, the pleasing contemplation of
the good in store, would ever be clouded by the apprehension of
an evil surjirise.

===== Divination was practised more than a hundred

Numerous infe- ,.rr ^ „, . .

rior modes of ^'nerent ways. The sacred scrifiture speaks of

Divination. mwf^ sorts of Divination: 1st, By inspection of the

Planets, Stars, and Clouds; (of this we shall

speak under the head of Astrology.) 2d, By means of Auguries.

252 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF DIVINATION. SEC. II.

3d, By Witchcraft. 4th, By C7iarms. 5tli, By consulting Sfiirits;
or, as Moses says, those who inteirogated Python^ or a familiar
Sfiirit. 6th, By Di-viners, or Magicians.^ whom the same Moses
calls Jedeoni. 7th, By A'ecrofnaiicy., or by calling up the dead. 8th,
By Rabdomancy, the mingling of slaves or rods, as may be seen
in the prophet Hosea: this may include Bolomancy, which was
performed by mingling arrows; the prophet Ezekiel mentions
this in relation to Nebuchadnezzar. In fine, the 9th was by inspect-
ing the liver, and was termed He/iatonco/na. These nine sorts of
Divination are very ancient, since most of them were in use in the
time of Moses: there were besides, an infinity of other sorts of
Divination, which I shall only name, that I may come to those
which were authorized by the laws, and by religion. They gave
the name Ornit/io?nancy to that which they drew from the flight
or the chirping of birds; and Ciedonzsmancy to that which they
drew from the voice: Cicero remarks on this occasion, that the
Pythagoreans not only observed the voice of the Gods, but of the
men too. Divination by .the lines which appear in the palm of
the hand, wtis denominated Chiro7vuncy; and this sort of Di-
vination has been most in vogue, and of longest continuance.
That which was practised by means of keys was named Clidoman-
cy; by a sieve, Coscinomancy ; by meal, Jljihitomancy ; by means of
certain stones, Lithornancy; by one or more rings, Dactyliomancy;
by conjuring up the dettd, Psychomancy, or Sciomancy; by the
flame of alamp, -LyrAo^wawc!/; when waxen figures were made use
of it was denominated Ceromancy ; if it was performed with an
ax or hatchet, Axinomancy ; and when they had recourse to num-
bers, Arithmomancy. We meet with some other kinds of Divin-
ation in Cicero's books; in the fourth book of wisdom, by Car-
don; in Robert Fludd, and elsewhere: but possibly we have
already dwelt too long upon so vain and fri\ol6us a subject, as
these inferior sorts of Divination; and as most of them made a
part of the science, or higher order of Divinations, of the Augurs,

CUW IIT SUPLRSTITIONS Ol- IDOLATRY. 253

SEC. II. OF DIVINATION.

jiusfiices, and Arusfiices.) whose functions were authorized by the
laws of the Romans, and constituted a part of their religion, we
shall see in the subsequent articles, what use they made of them.
But first, we will say a few words on four other sorts of Divina-
tion, in which the Elements were subservient.

Is^, Divination of the Four Elc?ne?its.

■ The four most general kinds of Divination,

1st, The divi-
nation of water, were those in which they had recourse to some
called Hydro- ^^^^ ^f ^j^^ ^^^^, elements, JVater, Earth, Mr,

===== and Fire; whence these divinations derived their
names. — 1st, As to the frst, they made use either of sea ivater,
and then it was called Hydromancy; or Fountain JVater, and it
was named Pigomancy. This sort of Divination is very ancient,
since we are told, it derives its origin from the Persians, who
communicated it to the other nations, and particularly to the
Greeks, especially to Pythagoras, who, according to Varro,
was very much addicted to it. — The ceremony of Hydromancy
was- performed two ways; first, by filling a basin with water, and
suspending a ring to a thread, which they held with one finger,
while he who performed the operation pronounced certain words,
and according as the ring struck against the sides of the basin,
he drew from it his predictions: second, by conjuring up spirits
who appeared at the bottom of the basjn. It was this kind which
Numa Pompilius practised. — Pegomancy, or Divination by foun-
tain-water, was performed by throwing lots, or a kind of dice.
They drew happy presages when they went to the bottom; but
when they remained on the surface of the water, it was a bad
omen. Rous informs us, that there were other methods besides
of prognosticating by means of fountain-water; first, by drinking
the water of certain fountains, as that of Castalia in Bceotia, which
had the virtue of communicating that gift: second, by throwing
cakes into certain fountains, as into that of Ino in Laconia; for if

2 I

254 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF DIVINATION. SEC. H.

they went to the bottom, it was a good omen, but bad if they

floated on the surface, as we learn fiom Pausanias: the same

observations were also made by letters, which they used to throw

into the two lakes of the Palici, as shall be said in the history of

those Gods. Third, when the image of the thing they wanted

to see, appeared in the water, as they tell us it happened in the

fountain oi A/iqUo Phrijxeus, in Achaia:ybwrM, by throwing glass

phials into certain waters, to know the issue of some disease; for

it is alleged, that upon taking them out, a judgment could be

made whether it was mortal, or if the patient would recover:

Jifch, by observing the motion of three stones which were thrown

into the water: for which that author may be consulted.

======= 2d5 Pyromancy was performed by means of

2d, The divina- . • , , , . . , .• r .v

lion of fire, called ^'"^J either by observing the sparkling ot the

Pyromancy. fl^^^g^ qj. ^.y t^g jjght of a lamp. For this pur-

pose at Athens, they had always a lamp burning
in the temple of Minerva P alias, constantly fed by Virgins, who
regularly observed the motion of the flame; the Arusfiices obser-
ved it in like manner, as we shall take notice afterwards. — Ano-
ther ancient kind of Pyromancy, was to fill bladders with wine,
which they threw into the^r<»; and by observing in what manner
the wine run out when the bladder burst, they believed they
could presage future events. Also, by throwing pitch "into the
Jire, attending to the manner of its burning, and taking particular
notice of the smoke, they pretended to Divine. Several other
ways of Divining by means oS. fire, were devised, but I insist only
upon those which made a part of Idolatry.

======= 3d, Geromancy was performed by employing

3d, The divi- . . n- • .1 i , t.

nation of earth ^'^^^^s ss Its name sufiiciently denotes. It con-
called Geroman- sisted mostly in drawing lines or circles, by
=2;;;====^ which they flattered themselves, to be able to

Divine whatever they were desirous to be informed about; or in
observing the chinks and crannies which naturally break out in

CHAP. ni. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 255

SEC. II. OF DIVINATION.

the surface of the earthy whence, said they, issued Divine exha-
lations, as we have said of the cave of Delfihos.
======= 4th, Divination by means of azV, was also per-

^r.t^-r.L ^e ^ri' formed in different manners, either by observing
nation oi air, ' •' "

called Aeroman- the flight of birds and the cries of certain ani-
cy.

■ - ■ ■ mals, or by examining from what side thunder

broke, or upon the occasional appearance of meteors and comets;
but of these we shall speak in the article of auguries and firodi-
gies: in fine, from the inspection of the clouds; and it was a wo-
man named Anthusa.^ who, in the time of the emperor Leo, in-
vented this sort of Divination, which, if we credit Photius, had
never been thought of by any body before her.

2q?, The Auguria or Auspicia,
■ ■ The Auguj-iutn, to speak accurately, was

this sort of Divi- taken from the fihenomena which appeared in the

nation; — its anti- skies; the Auspicimn was taken from thejiight

quity.

^^:=:zs:;=:^ ^t^^ chirfiing of birds; and the Arusfiicium was

taken from the inspection of the e«ifrcz7,s o/"Tyfc/z>?2s; but the two
former seem to have been confounded in their import, and in that
light we shall consider them as one; for the Augurs observed also
the chirping of birdst &c., and hence the very name Augur is
thought to be derived from Avium Garritu. Be that as it will, the
Augur's art is very ancient, since it was in use in the time of
Moses, who prohibits it, as well as every sort of Divination. It is
thought to have taken its rise among the Chaldeans, whence the
Greeks, and the Romans, came to the knowledge of it. The last
had so great an esteem and regard for this science, that there
was a lavsr of the twelve tables, forbidding to disobey the Augurs,
under pain of death. — This art was known in Italy before the
time of Romulus, since that prince did not set about the building
of Rome till he had taken the Auguries. The Etrurians or Tus-
cans practised it in the earliest times, and had rendered them-

256 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. HI.

OF DIVINATION. SEC. II.

selves extremcl) o pert in it since the time they liad learned it

from Tages.

" ' The kings who were Romulus's successors,
This art was ^ ^ ~ . ^ii^i-ii.

entrusted to a "°^ ^° suffer a science to be lost, which they

College of Au- thought SO useful, and at the same time not to

gurs educated in

Etruria. render it contemptible by becoming too familiar,

"^^^^^^~^~~" brought from Etruria the most skilful Augurs.
to introduce the practice of it into the religious ceremonies, and
to teach it to their citizens; and from that time, they sent every
year into Tuscany some of the youth of the first families in Rome,
to study it there, as I shall prove in the sequel. — Romulus at first
iTia:)e up hi-' C o'lege only of three Augurs, taken from the three
Tribes which then comprehended all the inhabitants of the city;
and Servius added &. fourth. None were qualified for being mem-
bers of this College, but such as were of a Patrician family, and
the custom of admitting no others into it, continued till the year
of Rome 454, under the consulship of Q. Apuleius Pansa, and M.
Valerius Corvinus, when the tribunes of the people insisted on
having Plebeians raised to the Augural dignity; which, after some
struggle was granted to them, and^t^e were chosen from among
the people: thus this College consisted of vme persons till the
time of Sylla, who added ttvo more to it, as we learn from Livy
and Flokus, or Jiftcen^ according to other historians, who will
have it, that under that dictator the College of Augurs was com-
posed of iiventy-four persons. The head of this College was
named JMugistcr Augurum, — The number of Augurs, however,
was not limited to those who composed this College, since be-
sides those who were in commission, the emperors had private
ones for themselves, who lived at court, and attended them
•wherever they went; and some of the ciiies subject to the Ro-
mans, had so many of them, that the College of Augurs at Lions,
amounted to three hundred persons.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 257

SEC. II, OF DIVINATION.

Great piecaulions veie taken in the eleclion

of thV^ Augurs" of Augurs; and none were qualified for being

and the impor- advanced to that dignity, but per.sons of a blame-

tance of their

office. less life, and free from all corporal defects: And

"~~~~"~^~~" then, his character was sacred and indelible; nor
could the Augu s be deposed on any account whatsoever. Their
functions were of very great consideration, both with regard to re-
ligion and the state. The senate could not assemble but in a place
which they had consecrated. And if in the time of an Assembly
either of the senate or the people, they observed any bad omen,
they had a power to dissolve the meeting; as also had they the
power to invalidate the election of magistrates, who had been
chosen under bad auspices. No important enterprise was entered
upon, no wars, no sieges, without having first consulted the Au-
gurs. If the presages which they drev/ on these occasions were
favourable, or firospera, as they expressed it, they made answer,
id avea addicunt — the Birds are for it: if they were adversa, infaus-
ta, /liacularia, or unfavourable, their answer was, zrf avesabdicunt-—
the Birds are against it. When the Omens offered of themselves,
they were called, oblativa; but if they appeared only when sought
after, they were called imfietrata. So high a regard had the Ro-
mans for the Augurs, and for their declarations, that those who
contemned their persons, or made their predictions the subject of
raillery, were accounted impious and profane. Accordingly, they
construed as a punishment from the Gods, the overthrow of Clau-
dius Pulcher, who ordered the Sacred Chickens to be thrown into
the sea, because they had refused to eat what was set before them:
if they won't eat^ said he, they shall drink.

- The Auguries were taken after different man-

The time, place

and manner, of "ers, and always with particular ceremonies,

taking the Augu- yj^ ^^^.^ ^^^ ^ ^^,^^ ^j^^ ^j , ^ ^^^ ^j^.
Ties, — and irom •' ° »

what signs, viz.— ing of Birds; 2d, from the eating of the Sacred

Chickens; Sd, from the Meteors, or the Pheno-

858 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF DIVINATION. SEC. II.

mena which appeared in the Heavens; 4lh; from Prodigies. Nor
were all days or seasons equally proper for taking the Auguries;
and therefore Metellus, as Plutarch reports, forbad them to be
taken after the month of August, because the Birds moult in that
season. As little were they allowed to be taken immediately after
the ides of each month, because the moon then began to wane;
neither were they allowed to be taken afternoon on any day what-
soever. The place where the Augury was to be taken, should be
on an eminence^ and therefore, according to Sers^ius, it was called
Temfilunii ./irx, Juguraculum; and the field consecrated to that
use, Ager effatus. When the weather was ctdm and serene, (for
the Augury was not allowed to be taken in any other state of the
air) and when all the other ceremonies were performed, the Augur
clothed in his robe called Lena or Trahea^ and holding in his right
hand the augural staff', which resembled our bishop's crosier, sat
down at the entry of his tent, surveyed all around, and after hav-
ing marked out the divisions of the heavens with his stuff, and
drawn one line from east to west, and another from south to north,
he offered up sacrifices, and addressed to Jupiter this prayer; fa-
ther Jupiter, if thou art the protector of Rome, ajid of the Roman
people, grant me a favourable Augury. Or as Livy has it, upon
occasion of the election of Numa Pompilius: Jupiter, if it is thy
ivill, that this Afuma Pompilius, on whose head Hay my hands, shall
be king ofRotne, grant clear and unerring signs within these bounds
which I have marked out. This prayer being over, the priest turn-
ed his eyes to the right and left, and towards whatever place the
birds took their flight, from thence to determine if the Augury
was prosperous, or unhappy. — As this ceremony constituted a part
of the religion of the Romans, it was attended to with high vene-
ration, and during the sacrifice and prayer, profound silence was
kept. If the Augury was favourable, or unfavourable, he who had
taken it came down from his place, and gave intimation of it to
the people in this form, which we have already reported; the Birds

CHAP. in. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 259

SEC. II. OF DIVINATION.

apfiro-ue i!, or disafi/irove it. Though the Augury Avas favourable,

they sometimes defened the enterprise till the Gods confirmed

it by a new sign: this is what we learn from Virgil in these

words; Jufiiter be firopidous to me, aiid conjirm the presages thou

hast now given me.

■ 1 St, But to commence with the Jlight of Birds:

First, From the , • ,■ m . „ . . ,

fliffht of bh-ds their different manner m flying prognosticated

I good or bad Omens. If it was an unlucky Omen,

it was called sinistra., ov funesta, or arcula, that is, such as prohi-
bited any enterprise; clevia, to denote that the same enterprise
would be difficult to accomplish; reinora, when it ought to be de-
layed; inebra., when the Augury seemed to portend some obstacle
in the way; and in fine, altera.^ when a second presage destroyed
the first. — The Birds whose flight and chirping they more ex-
actly noticed, were the eagle, the vulture, the kite, the owl, the
raveriy and the crow.
— 2d, But the most common way of taking the

Second, From . ... ... -

the feedino-ofthe Augury, consisted in examming the mawwer o/t

sacred Chickens, ^f^g sacred Chickens' taking the corn that was of-
fered them. They generally brought these Chick-
ens from the island of Euboea, and they had them shut up in
coops. He who had the care of them was named Pullarius, as
we learn from Cicero: so great was the faith which the Romans
had in the niannei' of their feeding, that ti ey undertook nothing
of importance, without ha\ing previously taken tliis sort of Au-
gury. Even the general of armies had them brought into their
camps, and consulted them before they gave battle. The consul,
after notice given to the person who had the care of those Chick-
ens, to make the necessary piepaic.tions for taking the Auspice,
threw down grains to them himself: if they fell on with greedi-
ness, the Omen was good; but if they refused to eat, spurning
away the corn with their feet, and scattering it here and there,

260 SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF DIVINATION. SEC. II.

it was reckoned so unlucky, that they desisted from the enter-
prise for which they consulted them.*

'" 3d, Among the signs in the heavens which

Third, From or- , , , , , , , ,

dhiary sig-ns in ^"^ Augurs observed, there were some that had

the air, as thun- j^^ meanino-, and these they called Bruta or Fa-
der, lightning, ^
winds. na; others which declared a certain event, were

*~"~^~~~~~^ termed Fatidica: of these last, such as appeared
while they were deliberating upon an affair, had the name of
Consiliaria Signa: such as did not offer till the thing was deter-
mined, were called Auctoritativa or confirming signs. Of these
last again, there were two kinds; first, Poslularia., which obliged
them to renew the sacrifices; and second, Monitoria, which warn-
ed them of what was to be avoided. — Of all the signs in the hea-
vens, which were observed in taking the Augury, the most un-
erring were thunder and lightning; especially when it thundered
in serene weather. If the thunder and lightning came from the
left hand, it was a good omen; and a bad one if it came from the
right. DoNATUs, explaining this, lets us know that the reason
why thunder breaking on the left, was reputed a favourable omen;
namely, that all appearances on that hand proceeded from the
right hand of the Gods. The thunder which passed from north to
east, was reckoned auspicious. — The winds were another sign of
the heavens observed in Auguries, because they looked upon them
as the messengers of the Gods, who came to signify their de-

* It is a matter of just surprise to find that so grave and wise a people
as the Romans, had for whole ages been addicted to such a childish su-
perstition, and made the greatest enterprises depend upon a Chicken's
having or luantitig an appetite; but the fact is nevertheless unquestionably
true. Cicero indeed openly ridicules it, without appearing to have made
it a serious affair, but the times were changed when he wrote his books
of divination: it may be questioned whether in another age it would have
been safe for him to rally the thing as he did.

CHAP. m. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 261

SEC. II. v.j> ^*^— ^HON.

crees to men. Lutatius, the ancient commentator upon Sta-
Tius, explaining that place where the poet says, that the inspec-
tion of the ivinds and of the Jiight of birds caused the war to be
deferred, observes, that the Augurs drew their presages from the
'winds: but he lets us know nothing more particular upon this
subject. Thus we are at a loss to determine what "winds were
favourable, and what were unlucky. — The Auguries or presages
drawn from Meteors of a preternatural or extraordinary nature
fall properly to be treated among Prodigies, as follows.
■ ; 4th, Of all presages, those drawn from Prodi-

Prodiffies viz. S^^^ were the worst, and those for which the

5====== Pagan religion prescribed the greatest ceremo-
nies. When the Pi'odigy was followed by any dismal event, they
were always credulous enough to believe, that the one had been
the cause of the other, or at least sent to prognosticate the same.
Titus Livius, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and other histo-
rians, have taken care to insert into their works, the Prodigies
which the annals they consulted, informed them to have fallen
out at different times, and they have marked the calamitous
events which followed upon them. Pliny likewise reports a
great number of them, as also Valerius Maximus; and Julius
Obsequens has made up a collection of them.
- ' All the Prodigies treated of by the ancients

supe*rnatural! ^\f "^ay be reduced to two classes:— 1st, In the

we allow their jfirst, we comprehend those miracles of Pagan-

T^xistence.

S55;;5:5s;;=s;=ss ism which seem inexplicable, unless we have

recourse to a supernatural cause. Such, among others, was the
story of the Dii Penates^ or household Gods iEneas had brought
to Italy, which is thus related by Dionysius of Halicarnassus.
« While they were employed in carrying on the works of the
New Temple, there happened a surprising prodigy. The tem-
ple and sanctuary being put in order to receive the Gods which

2 K

2^2 StJPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. CHAP. IH.

OP Di^'"-— -'"• SEC. II.

JEneas had brought from Troy, and which he had placed at La-
vinium, their statues were transported into the new temple; but
the next day they were found in the very same place, and upon
the same basis whence they had been taken the evening before,
though the gates had been shut during the night, nor was there
any appearance of a breach in the v^'alls: they were transported a
second time from Lavinium in form, after a sacrifice had been
offered up to appease the offended Gods; but they were again
found set down in the same place at Lavinium." — We may take
into the same class that oi Ju filter Terminalis which there was no
possibility of forcing from its place, at the time of building the
capitol: also the adventure of Accius JVtzvius^ who cut, as they
say, a flint stone with a razor, to convince the incredulity of a
king of Rome who slighted the Augurs, and the Tuscan Divina-
tion: that of the vestal Mmilia^ who drew water in a sieve: that of
another vestal^ who with her girdle drew to shore a ship stranded,
which the strongest efforts of others were not able to move: and
that of another, who with the skirt of her gown, kindled the sa-
cred fire which her inadvertency had suffered to go out. To the
Prodigies of this kind we may also join, the afifiarition of those
two young knights, mounted on two white horses, who were seen
near the lake RhegiUnm^ at the time when the dictator Posthumius
was upon the point of losing the battle, and having fought for the
Romans till they had gained the victory, disapfieared in a mo-
ment, while the general, who ordered strict search after them,
that he might have rewarded their valor, could never hear ac-
count of them more: also the adventure which Julius Obse-
QUENs relates of that statue of Jiino^ who being interrogated by
a young man, if she would go to Rome, -visne ire Roman Juno?
gave a nod with her head, to signify the Goddess's consent] to
go, fiostea quain cafiite anmdsset; and not only so, but answered,
that she would go with all her heart, to the great astonishment
■o(all who were present at this Prodigy, se libenter ituram,7nagna

CHAP. Ill, SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. 261

SEC. II. OF DIVINATION.

oinnium admiratione resfiondit: to which we may add, that of the

two oxen who spake: and in fine, that of the shield which fell from

heaven, under the reign of Numa Pompilius, as is told by the

same author; with several others which appear to be supernatural

efforts, if we admit the facts to be circimistantially true.

" 2d, The Prodigies of the second class were

2d, On extra- . , r , , • , r

ordinary signs in indeed ot the kuid of purely natural events; but

teors^ &'c.^^ "*^' '^^'"S ^^^^ frequent, and appearing to be contra-
-=»=—. ry to the ordinary course of nature, were as-
cribed to a superior cause, through the superstition and exces-
sive credulity of the Pagans, affrighted with the sight of these
effects, either rare, or quite unknown. Such were extraordinary
Meteors, as the Parhelia, or the image of the sun reflected on
the clouds; the appearances of Jire and lights by night; showers
oi blood, of stones, of ashes, or o[ Jire; inonstrous births, whether
of men or animals; and a thousand other things purely natural,
whereof I shall give some examples, drawn from ancient authors,
and in particular from Julius Obsequens. 1st, Under the reign
of Romulus, says this author; and at a time when that prince
was besieging the town of Fidenae, there fell a shower of blood,
and soon after, Rome was infested with the plague. 2d, Under
that of Tullus Hostilius, there fell from heaven a prodigious
quantity of stones, much like a shower of hail. 3d, Under the
consulship of P. Posthumius Tubero, and of Menenius Agrippa,
there were seen in the heavens, during a considerable part of the
night, burning arroivs. 4th, The same author makes frequent
mention of fiery meteors appearing in the heavens, like armies
encountering one another. 5th, He also mentions sfiectres, and
extraordinary -voices that had been heard by night. 6th, The lake
of Alba, according to LivY, swelled to a considerable height
without any preceding rain, or other visible cause; and that inci-
dent so terrified the Romans, who were then employed in the
siege of VeiaC) that not having an opportunity to consult the

264 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRl. CHAP. IH.

OF DIVINATION. SEC. II.

Tuscans.) with whom they were then at war, they were obliged
to send to the Oracle of Delfxhos. 7th, Under the consulship of
M. Valerius Maximus, and of Q. Manilius Vitulus, blood Avas
seen rising out of the earth, while a shower of mzYA- fell from hea-
ven. 8th, Under that of C. Quintus Flaminius, and of P. Furio, a
river appeared covered with blood. — The other Prodigies report-
ed by the ancients, are pretty much of the same kind. To be
short, they are either statues of Gods struck with thunder^ or
overspread with blood; or they are earthquakes, or sudden inun~
dations: here, a child of two months cries out, Triumfih; there
the heavens are all injlamed, and nights illuminated by the <Suw,
or rather by a globe of light which resembles him; or else it is
thick darkness at noon-day: Sometimes you have the birth of a
monster, an infant for instance with two heads and but one hand,
or who has the shape of some brute animal; a stone of an enor-
mous size falling from heaven; or a rainboiu without a cloud, 8cc.
L. It would be no hard matter, if one was so dis-

th?Mte?ckssof P^^^'^' *° account for most of the Prodigies of
Prodigies. this second kind, from natural causes. All those

"■^■'"— '™"—~" nocturnal ^res, those inflamed sfiears, those
crTwzV* appearing in the heavens, are what we now call the Lumen
Borealcy or iiorthern lights, so common some years past, and
perhaps as ancient as the world. Those extraordinary inunda-
tions; whereof no visible cause could be discovered, might have
been owing to some subterraneous fermentation which raised the
waters. Showers of stones, o{ ashes, or Jire, were the effect of
some Volcano, like those of mount jEtJia or Vesuvius. Those of
milk, a whitish water condensed by some quality in the air: no-
body questions now-a-days, but that those of blood, are the stains
left upon stones, upon the earth, and upon leaves of trees, by
butterjiies and other insects, which hatch in hot and stormy
weather. M. de Peyresc had guessed at it more than a century
ago, upon occasion ofone of those showers; having observed, that

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 265

SEC. II. OF UIVI.MATION.

the same stains were found in covered places: and M. Reaumur,
in his memoirs for the history of insects^ has put the matter be-
yond doubt.

- -■ ■ As to the Prodigies of the Jirst kind, I own

Remarks upon ,, , , , i • i > ^ ^i n

the former class *"^y ^^'^ liarder to be explained: but are they all

of Prodigies. ^gH attested? Were they all seen and written

""^'^'""''"^ down by persons of ability, at the very time
when we are told they happened? Are they not mostly founded
upon popular traditions? May they not, some of them at least,
be explained naturally, especially if we strip them of those mar-
vellous circurnstances, with which excessof credulity had clothed
them? We may say with the author of the dissertation just
quoted, that those facts, und all others that resembled them, are
to be looked upon as fablt-s invented by corrupt priests, and swal-
lowed down by an ignorant superstitious populace. The consent
of the people, says he, who believe all, though they have seen
nothing, and who are always the bubbles of stories of that kind,
can hardly be of more weight to gain our beliefs, than the testi-
mony of Pagan priests, who, in every age and country, have had
too strong motives from self-interest for imposing those sorts of
miracles, to be vouchers of great credit.

■ Be that as it will, inexpressible was the as-

The public con-
sternation occa- tonishment and constei nation of the Pagans, up-

^'\es^ ^^ ^'°'^'" °" ^'^^ apparition of one of those Prodigies,
==^=^== even of such as might easiy have been account-
ed to be purely natural effects. The whole empire was in per-
plexity upon such an occasion, it was the only subject of conver-
sation at Rome: the senate gave orders to the Quitidecimviri, to
consult the books of the Sibyls, foi it was principally upon those
occasions they had recourse to them, as I have already remarked,
and ihey prescribed the ceremonies of expiation, whereof we
shall presently speak. If in tiie UiCanvvhile, any calamity happen-
ed to befal the commonwealth; if an enemy declared war against

266 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF DIVINATION. SEC. H.

it; if it was overtaken with an epidemical distemper, &c.; all

was imputed to the influence of the Piodigy, which had come to

denounce these calamilies.

Srf, The Aruspicia,

- The Aruspices were equally regarded at Rome

The office and • , , , ,,•(-• • i

the institution ^'^^'" *^'^^ Augurs. As their lunctions consisted

generally, oi the •^^^ examining the entrails of the victims, besides
Aruspices.

I other circumstances attending a sacrifice, they

were likewise named Extisfiices, a name compounded of two Latin
words, exta., entrails, and in^fiicere, to survey, to observe, as has
been said in speaking of the sacrifices. The Tuscans, of all the
people of Italy, were most masters of this science, they having
been taught it by Tages; and it was from their country that the
Romans brought those whom they employed, or at least chose
them from among those whom they had sent thither to be in-
structed in it; for ihey sent every year into Tuscany, as the se-
nate had ordained, six young persons, according to Cicero, or
ten^ as Valerius Maximus has it, or tivelve^ as we are assured
by other authors, to be instructed in the knowledge of the Arus-
fiices, and other sorts of Di\inaiion. And for fear that this sort
of science should be undervalued, by the quality of the persons
who professed it, they chose these youlhs from among the best
families in Rome. Andrew Glareanus reckons, that as the
Tuscans were divided into twelve nations, so we ought to read in
Valerius Maximus, and in Cicero's second book of Divina-
tion, twelve youths, and not tefi, as the former has it, nor six, as
it is in the latter; being persuaded that the text in both these au-
thors has been vitiated by some transcriber. We said Tages was
the first who taught the Tuscans the science of the ^rws/z/ces, and
that other sort of Divination, which the Latins call the Tuscan
Divination; we shall now say who this Tages was. Cicero thus
relates his history, or rather his fable: " A peasant, says he, la-
bouring in a field, and his plough-share going pretty deep into the

Chap. TTT. stipv.RSTTTh)NS of idolatry. 267

sec. ii. of divination.

earth, turned up a clod, whence sprung a child, who taught him
as well as the other Tuscans, the -principles of Divination." Ovid
tells the sane table in the I5lh book of his Meta7norJihoses. As
the manner of relating a fact, may considerably alter its circum-
stances without destroying it, I am persuaded, that the fable I
have now rehearsed has a true foundation, and that it imports, ei-
ther that Tages was of an obscure birth, or that he was a native of
the country Autochthon; for it was that desciiption of people
whom they commonly gave out to be sprung from the earth.
However this may be, Tages grew expert in the science of Divi-
nation, especially in that which consisted in exfiloring the entrails;
and he afterwards communicated it to the Tuscans, who likewise
became great proficients theiein. He had even composed upon
this subject a treatise, which was kept with peculiar care, and
explained afterwards by Antistius Labeo, who divided it into
fifteen books. It is not known whether Tages himself had invented
this sort of Divination, or if he had learned it from strangers who
travelled into Tuscany in his time: This nmch we are assured of
by several authors, that it was known and practised in other coun-
tries. Some have even traced it up to the earliest ages, and
maintain that it was in use in Chaldea, and in Egypt; whence the
Greeks learned it, and for a long time put it in practice. Nay,
there were in Greece two families, the Jamidx^ and the Clytidx^
who were peculiarly set apart for the functions which it prescrib-
ed. From Greece it pussed into Etruria, and the Tuscans ac-
complished themselves therein, so as to become the most know-
ing of all the JruHpices^ as has been already said. It must have
been diffused through several parts of Italy, even before the foun-
dation of Rome; since Romulus, in his new city, founded a Col-
lege of these Arusfiices^ choosing one from each Tribe.

268 SUPERSTITIONS Or IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF DIVINAIION. SEC II,

' The Arusfiices drew their presages from the
The manner in ...

which the Arus- motion of the victim which they led to sacrifice,

pices drew their j^,^^ j^^ entrails, and from the /?re in which it
presages. "^

I was consumed. If the victim suffered itself to
be led without any struggle; if it gave no extraordinary cries when
it got the deadly blow; if it did not get loose from the person's
hands who led it; all these were g-oorf Omens: but if the contrary
happened, those were bad Omens. The victim being struck down,
its abdomen was ripped up, and its entrails examined, especially
the liver.^ the hearty the spleen, the kidnies; and then the tongue.
Their colour was particularly noticed, and accurate observation
made, whether they were withered, and if every part was as it ought
to be. Before the victim wus opened, one of the lobes of the liver
■was allotted to those who offered the sacrifice, and the other to the
enemies of the state. That which was found to be ruddy, and of
a fresh vermilion colour, neither larger nor smaller than it ought
to be, not blemished nor withered, prognosticated the greatest
prosperity to those for whom it was set apart; that which was
lean, livid, Sec, presaged the worst of all Omens. Lucan, who
has described with a great deal of elegance all the operations of
the Arusfiices, has not omitted this circumstance. — Next to the
Hver, the heart was the part which they observed with most care.
If it palpitated, was lean, and of a less size than ordinary, all these
were bad Omens; but if no heart was found in the victim, they
drew from thence the most unhappy presages. We are assured,
that on the day of Caesar's assassination, this part was wanting in
two victims which they had offered up. The same thing happen-
ed, say they, to Caius Marius in^ sacrifice which he offered at Uti-
ca in Africa, and to the emperor Pertinax. — In like manner they
did with the s/ileen, the gall, and the lungs; nor was the Jugury
propitious unless these three parts had much the same qualities
with those that were requisite in the heart and liver. If the en-
trails dropped from the hands of him who examined them; if they

CHAP. III. SUPERSTrriONS OP roOLATRY. 269

SEC. II, OF DIVINATION.

smelt rank; in fine, if they were livid, withered, or bloated, the
Aruspex foreboded nothing from thence but misfortune. After
having scrupulously examined the entrails of the victim, they
kindled the ^re and drew several Omens from its manner of
burning. If the flame was clear; if it mounted up without divi-
ding; if it did not go out till the victim was entirely consumed;
those were infallible marks that the sacrifice was acceptable. If
on the contrary, they had difficulty in kindling the fire; if the
flame divided; if, instead of fastening on the victim, it only played
around; or if it sunk downward; all these were bad presages.—
Again, the Aruspex drew his prognostics from the wine used for
the libation. If it lost its colour and flavour, the Omen was un-
lucky. This, according to Virgil, is what happened to Dido:
•when offering a sacrifice, she perceived the wine was changed into
a blackish and corrupted blood; as also in the case of Xerxes, who,
according to Valerius Maximus, being at supper the evening
before he laid siege to Sparta, saw, to his astonishment, the ivine
that was served up for his drink, turn three times into blood. —
Such, were the presages drawn by the Augurs, or Auspices, and
Aruspices: but as there were several others, which every private
man might observe, I shall speak of them in the following article.
4th, Of Private Presages.

■ ' Mr. Simon reduces /i7-ivate Presages to seven

Seven kinds of . , , . ^ , , , • , • ,.

these Presaees kjnds. — 1st, Casual words; which were again di-

viz.— First, Ca- vided into two classes; first, those whose author
siial words.

■ ■- was unknown, which they called Divine Voices;

such was the voice whereby the Romans were apprised, without

knowing whence it proceeded, of the approach of the Gauls, and

to which they built a temple, under the name of Jius Loquutius:

second, when it was known who pronounced these articulate

sounds, they were called human Voices. They used this sort of

presage, either by picking up the first words they heard at coming

2 L

270 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY, CHAP. Ill,

-OF DIVINATION, SEC. II.

out of the house, or by sending a slave into the street, to repeat
the first words which he heard. To this kind of Jvesage, we may
refer what was taken from the words pronounced by childreyi at
play, which were interpreted either in a good or bad sense.

■ 2d, The starlings of some parts of the bodtj^
iriffs in parts of chiefly of the eyes, the eye-brows, and the heart,
the body. formed the second kind of Presages. The start-

ing of the right eye., and of the eye-brorvs, was a .
happy Omen; that of the hearty or its palpitations, were a bad
Omen, which presaged, according to Melampus, the treachery
of a friend. The numbness of the little finger, and the starting
of the thumb of the left hand, portended nothing favourable.

- 3d, The tingling of the ear, and some other

Third, Tinff'. . . , , • ,

ff of the ear. imaginary sounds, which were sometimes owing

to the state of that organ, were likewise bad

ling of the ear.

presages.

-■ 4th, Sneezing in the morning was by no means

Fourth, Sneez- , „ , . • • *i, y,

:„„„ a good Omen; but sneezing in the afternoon^

■ was reckoned very favourable.
======= 5th, Accidental falls, were always bad Omens;

tal falls* and the ^^^^ those of statues: thus, those of Nero being
like. found overturned on the first day of January,

'^''~"~"~"'"'" they foreboded from thence the approaching
death of that prince. If at going abroad, a person hit his foot
against the threshold of the door; if by any straining, he broke
the strings of his shoes; or if at rising from his seat he happened
to be held by his robe; all these were taken for bad Omens,
====== 6th, Accidental rencounters, of certain persons,

acddentaf mlet" o'' animals, presaged either good or bad. If they
ings, of persons j^^et in the morning an Mthiopian, a Dwarf, an
or animals.
.. Eunuch, or a man diformed, they were sure to

return quickly home, and stir no more abroad for that day. The
rencounter of a Serfient, cf a Wolf, a Fox^ a Dog, a Cat; the

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 271

SEC. II. OF DIVINATION.

squeak of a Mouse^ 8cc., presaged nothing but bad luck. The
meeting with a Lion, with Ants, or with Bees, were, on the con-
trary, happy Omens.

■■ 7th, Again, there were JVames of a good or

jScT'en^A, Names , , , , , .

were lucky or °^" portent; and they were very scrupulous in

unlucky. observing, that the first soldiers they listed, the

children who served at the sacrifices, those who

performed the dedication of a temple, Sec, should have lucky

names; as they had an aversion to those which imported any thing

sad or disastrous.

. Several other Presages might be added to

Other Presages ^\^q^q ^^q l^.^ve recited: but what could we learn
not mentioned.

• from a longer detail, but that the superstition of
the Pagans knew no bounds, since there was hardly any action in
life, especially among the Romans, for which they had not re-
course to Presages; none wherein they believed themselves at
liberty to neglect them? But that superstitious attention was
chiefly engaged in all the ceremonies of religion, in the public
acts, which for that reason, were all ushered in with this pre-
amble; Quod felix, faustum, fortunatuvique sit; as in marriages,
at the births of children, in travelling, in their repasts, &c. But
it was not enough to observe the Presages, it was also necessary
to accept of them when favourable, thank the Gods for them, beg
of them their accomplishment, and even supplicate them to send
new ones in confirmation of the first; and in case they were bad,
pray that they would divert their effect.
====== The Romans had particular Gods whom they

Omens were a- invoked, and to whom they sacrificed, when they
voided. wanted to have bad Omens diverted, and the ef-

"~^~~''~~'"'''~' feet of them prevented; and these Gods were
named Averrunci, or Averruncani, from the old Latin word aver-
runcare, which signified to ward off, or divert. But independently
of the aid of those Gods, they thought bad presages could be re-

272 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF MAGIC. SF-C. III.

dressed by many oilier ways; since, in order to obvialc the bad
effect of an unUicky ex/ireasion or o^/ec/, it sufficed to s/iit hastily^
as it were to throw out the poison they had sucked in. They
Avere scrupulously careful, when they could not shun making use
of unlucky words, to soften the terms, and keep as far as possible
from conveying the shocking idea which they naturally raised:
thus, instead of saying directly, a man was dead^ they said vixit^
that is, he has lived. At Athens, a prison was called the house;
the common executioner w^-i called the fiublic man; the Furies were
called £u?nc}iides) or the good natured Goddesses; and so of the
rest.

SECTION THIRD.
OF J\MGIC.

" After having spoken of Divination, and other

Definition of i • i ^i r> j c c • ~

Mag-ic— its cri- ^neans which the Pagans made use oi tor coming

minal excesses; ^^ i\^q knowledge of future events, I must needs
"'""""'"""'"" say somewhat of Magic; which may be defined,
the art of producing in nature, effects above the ponver of man^ by
the assistance of the Gods, upon using certain "words and ceremonies.
Of all the excesses to which a vain and criminal curiosity has
carried men, Magic was the greatest, and at the same lime the
most dangerous. How may we be justly amazed, on the one
hand, to consider the uselessness of so frivolous an art; on
the other, the crimes in which it has involved the most civilized
and II. ost knowing nations as well as the more rude and barbarous
ones! I shall speak of this subject, only so far as it had a relation
to the Pagan Theology, and to the superstitious practices of
Idolatry.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 273

OF MAGIC.

======== The ancients are not agreed as to the time

buted^ to^^ Zoro- '^'^^"' ^^^ country where Magic had its original,
aster. But what does it avail to know, whether it was

the Egyptians or the Chaldeans, or other people,
who were inventors of an art, as abominable as it is frivolous?
What we may aver, is, that it is of very great antiquity, and per-
haps as old as Idolatry itself. Scripture informs us, that the
Egyptians practised it from the earliest ages, wlien it makes
mention of the Magicians whom Pharaoh opposed to Moses, and
who imitated, by their enchantments, almost all the miracles which
God wrought, by means of that great man. Among those Magi-
cians, there were two whom St. Paul names Jannes and Jam-
bresj whom Puny had heard of; but he puts them and Moses,
their great adversary, in the same rank, and takes them for Jews
likewise. But the ancients believed Zoroaster to be the first in-
ventor of Magic, who flourished many ages before.
■ Magic is commonly distinguished into several

Sgvgi*3.i kinds
of Maffic, viz.— ki"ds: Jirst, the M'atiiral, which is nothing but

1st, Natural Ma- ^ deeper and more exact insight into physical
gic.

— — causes, than what the ignorant vulgar possess,

whose way is, to take iov firodigies, effects, of whose causes they
are ignorant, and for real /iredicdons, what was foretold by the
natural philosopher. We are told, it was in this sort of Magic
that Hermes Trismegistus of old, Zoroaster, and some others ex-
celled. The Indians, Chaldeans, Egyptians, and Persians, were
also very much addicted to it; and in this science, we are assured
by Plato, that the children of the kings of Persia were educated.
: ' ■ The second kmd of Magic is what they call

ileal Ma8:^ic^™or Mathematical; which, joining certain subtile and

Astrology; its ingenious usages, to the pretended influence of

origin and propa-
gation; the Stars upon things here below, pretends to

' produce mii aculous eff"ects, known by the gene-

ral term of Astrology. The ancients are not agreed as to the

274 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. HI.

OF MAGIC. SEC. III.

people who have a just claim lo the invention of ^istrology. He-
rodotus says, it took its rise in Egypt; and it is agreed, that
it was cultivated there from the earliest periods of time; but
the name of Chaldaic Science^ which it has always had, proves
that it is in Chaldea we are to search for its original: accor-
dingly this is the sentiment of Cicero. " As the Assyrians,
says he, inhabiting vast plains, whence they have a full view of
the heavens on every side, were the first who observed the course
of the stars; they too, were the first who taught posterity the ef-
fects which were thought to be owing to them; and of their ob-
servations have made a science, whereby they pretend to be able
to foretel what is to befal every one, and what fate is ordained
for him from his birth." A passage in the prophet Isaiah in-
forms us, that this art of prediction by means of Stars, was
very ancient in Chaldea, and particularly at Babylon, the capital
thereof: " let now the Astrologers" says that prophet, making an
apostrophe to that idolatrous city, " the star-gazers., the vionthly
prognosticators, stand up and save thee from those things that
shall come upon thee." — We see then, judicial Astrology was
known in Chaldea in the earliest ages: this is all we can say for
certain about the origin of this science. For how little ground
should we gain did we know assuredly, as Suidas says, that Zo-
roaster and Ostanes were the inventors of it, since many difficul-
ties would still remain as to the country of these two personages,
and still more as to the time when they lived? Testimonies from
Berosus and Eupolemus, cited by Eusebius, inform us indeed,
that Abraham was well versed in the knowledge of the Stars; and
was master of what was anciently called, the Chaldaic science;
but these two authors have not distinguished Astronomy^ to which
that holy patriarch perhaps applied himself, from judicial Astro-
logy: for it frequently happened that these two sciences were
confounded, though the one is as solid and usefi 1, as the other is
vain and frivolous. From Chaldea this science passed into Egypt,

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 275

SEC. III. OF MAGIC.

where it was very much cultivated,, as has been ah'eady remarked;
and from Egypt into Greece: this latter is the ordinary course
vhich science, arts, and fables took. The Greeks, vain and cu-
rious as they were, gave great application to it; and we are told
that Chilo the Lacedemonian, one of the seven wise men of
Greece, was the first who addicted himself to it. From Greece
it was propagated to the other western countries, where it made
such progress, that there never was any science more universally
diffused.

■ I am not to insist upon its profiagation^ far

cioleT less upon the different rites which the Astrolo-

===== gers used, to come at the knowledge of futurity
by surveying the Stars: nothing is so frivolous as the principles
they built upon. And indeed, what is that positipn of the heavens
which the Astrologer takes, to ground his predictions upon? The
ancient Astrologers had divided the Zodiac into tivelve portions^
and gave names to the tivelve constellations^ of which it was form-
ed; but they might have had other names, as they actually had in
other planispheres. The Barbaric sphere, says Firmicus, was
entirely different from that of the Greeks and Romans; and that
of the Chinese again was different from all the three. In the
Greek sphere, the planets bore the names of several Divinities;
the Arabians, who would have thought themselves guilty of Idol-
atry^ had they placed human figures in the heavens, put animals
or other things in their room; peacocks, for example, in place of
the tivins; a sheaff, instead of the virgin; a quiver, instead oi Sagit-
tarius, 8cc.: all this was quite arbitrary. How comes it then that
the Astrologers judged of the temper and actions of men from
the natnes of those planets or constellations, under whose aspect
they were born? What ground had they for saying, that he who
•was born under the sign of the Virgin, was chaste? that they at
whose birth Venus had presided, were gallant and amorous? that
Mercury inspired with wit and ingenuity; Saturn with wisdom

are superstitions of idolatry. chap. hi.

OF MAGIC. SEC. Ill,

and prudence? that the Moon made the good sailors; Mars, the
warriors? &c. Had these constellations and planets the smallest
connexion with the symbols that represented them? and how
came they to have the same connexion with other symbols in
countries where they were differently represented? — Farther,
who can pretend to take the exact position of the heavens, at the
moment of any one's birth? of those heavens where the scenes
are continually shifting, and which are so immensely distant from
us? But why attempt to refute those absurdities? Numbers of
others have done it, and to triumph on the subject is so easy, that
there is but little honour in the success. In short, is it not evi-
dent, so evident I mean, as to be able to strike the most opinion-
ative and headstrong with conviction, that those bodies which roll
in spaces so remote from us, cannot so exactly direct their influ-
ences, that is, the minute corpuscles which fly off from them, as
to meet with nothing to divert them from falling directly upon
our earth, which is but an invisible point in respect to them,
where it would take them some time to arrive, even though they
should move with the velocity of light; upon a kingdom, a pro-
vince, a town, a house, and in particular, upon a man, who occu-
pies but a small space in that same invisible point of earth? How
is it conceivable, even though these corpuscles should come into
the place where the child is born, .that they should be able to de-
termine all the actions of the child's life, with which they have
certainly no manner of connexion; to act upon his thoughts, upon
his liberty, Sec? What wild extravagance then has emboldened
men to advance, that these influences acted so powerfully upon
us, that they determined all our actions, inclined us to good or
evil; that they formed our tempers, our inclinations, our habits?
How could it be said in good earnest, that the sign of the Ram
presided over the head; the Bull over the gullet; the Twins, over
the breast; the Scor/non, over the entrails; the Fishes over the
feet; that the Lion^ gave strength; that the different aspects of

CHAP. ni. SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. 211

SEC. III. OF MAGIC.

these signs were the causes of the good or bad dispositions of our
bodies? that there was great need of caution, for example, in
taking medicine under the asfiect of the bull., because, as this ani-
mal chews his cud^ the person would vo?nit it uji? with a thou-
sand other extravagances which I would be ashamed to repeat.
■ Let us now come to a kind of Magic which

p-ia and Goetia — constituted the principal doctrine of the Pagan
their difference. Theology, than which none had more illustrious

"■"'"■■■"■■"''■""" partisans, especially among the philosophers who
lived in the first ages of Christianity. As the magicians in this
kind of Magic, invoked two sorts of Divinities, the one benevo-
lent^ and the other inalevolent, this difference constitutes two sorts
of that Art; namely that which had recourse to the beneficent Ge-
nii^ was called Theurgia.) the other, which had no other end but
to do mischief, for which purpose it invoked only the malevo-
lent Genii, was called Goetia. The wisest of the Pagan world,
and their greatest philosophers, despised the latter, as much as
they esteemed the former — Theurgy, was, according to them, a
divine art, which served only to advance the mind of man to high-
er perfection, and render the soul more pure; and they, who by
means of this Magic had the happiness to arrive at what they call-
ed Autofida, or Intuition, a state wherein they enjoyed intimate
intercourse with the Gods, believed themselves invested with all
their power, and were persuaded that nothing to them was im-
possible. Towards this state of perfection all those aspired, who
made profession of that sort of Magic; but then it laid them un-
der severe regulations. None could be priest of this order, but a
man of unblemished morals, and all who joined with him in his
operations, were bound to strict purity; they were not allowed to
have any commerce with women; to eat any kind of animal food,
nor to defile themselves by the touch of a dead body. The philo-
sophers, and persons of the greatest virtue, thought it their ho-

2 M

2/8 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. HI.

OF MAGIC. SEC. III.

nour to be initiated into the mysteries of this sort of Magic—
Their Goetia was quite different: every thing rendered it equally
odious and contemptible. The professors of it had correspondence
■with none but the evil Genii, and employed their operations to do
mischief. The apparatus of their ceremonies heightened the aver-
sion which all sober people had to this Magic. The subterraneous
places were chosen preferably to others: the darkness of the
night, the black victims which they offered; the bones of the
dead and the corpses with which they were surrounded in the
caves; the infants whose throats they cut, to rake into their en-
trails for an insight into futurity; all conspired to make it equally
shocking, and criminal.

-I ■■ Jamblxcus, in his treatise of mysteries, insists

they hTdlU" com! ^t a great length upon this subject, and his work
raon: supposes through the whole, this distinction

'"'""''^'""'""~"~ between the Theurgia and Goetia; and of the
former he seems to have a high esteem. What both of them had
in common, is, that they equally employed certain words, to which
a certain virtue was believed to be annexed. Sometimes the
mere charm of these words wrought all the effect that was expect-
ed; sometimes it was necessary to add to them compositions of
herbs: there was always a necessity for observing exactly the time
■when the sacrifices were offered, the days, the hours, the aspect
of the stars^ the number and qrialitij of the victims. What puzzled
them most, was to know what Divinities they were to invoke, what
offerings to present them, what plants, vfhat /lerjiwies, were most
agreeable to them. And indeed, the dose, if too strong or too
weak, rendered the whole magical operation abortive, as did the
omission of a single Divinity. As one broken string disconcerts
the harmony of an instrument; just so,, Jamblicus remarks,
one God whose name had been omitted, or, in whose honour they
had neglected, among other ingredients that were offered, the par-
ticyihv fierfumC) herb, or whatever else was specially consecrated to

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. STS

■ , . . . . ... I I I 1 r I I' >

SEC. Ill, OF MAGIC.

him, defeated the effects of the sacrifice. Thus it was also with the
/brm of prayers and otiier words that were of iiecessity to be pro-
nounced; and though those forms were often composed of words
in a strange language, which were not understood, it was neces-
sary however to recite them, such as they were, without omitting
one syllable; as was customary in Evocations and forms of DevO'
ting. They were even so fully persuaded of the necessity of keep-
ing exactly to the ceremonial, that it was alleged, if Tulhis Hos-
tilius had consulted the pontiff set over the religious rites, when
he undertook to bring down Juidter from heaven, according to
the forms prescribed in the ritual of Numa Pompilius, he had
not been thunder-struck for an omission in some punctilio of the
sacrifice, which he offered for that end. — Pliny ridicules a part
of this superstition with some humour; when, after mentioning
an Aeri, the mere throwing of which into the midst of an army,
was sufficient, they said, to put it to the rout, he asks, " Where
tvas this herb when Rome was so distressed by the Cimbri and
Teutones? Why did not the Persians make use of it when Lu-
cullus cut their troops in pieces?" Then resuming his serious air,
he expostulates with Scipio for having drawn together such quan-
tities of arms and warlike engines, since one single plant had been
sufficient to open to him the gates of Carthage.
•— . They who professed Theurgy.^ did not arrive

tiSion^^^o'^ the ^^^ ^^ *^"*^^' ^^ ^^'^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ perfection to which
Theurgic Magic: they aspired; they were first to undergo ex-
"■■■■'"''■■'■™'"'~~' fiiations; next, they got themselves initiated into
the lesser mysteries, for which they were obliged to fast and/ii'ayf
to live in strict continence and self-purification, as a preparation
for a more advanced state: then came the high mysteries, where
their sole employment was to meditate, and contemplate univer-
sal Nature, who by that time disclosed all her secrets to them
who had passed through those trials. — Nero who was so foolish
that he would needs command the Gods, which he thought there

2S0 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOl.ATIiV. CHAP III.

OF MAGIC. SEC. III.

was no way of attaining but by Magic, had such a high esteem
for the Magicians, that lie sent for them from every quarter,
and heaped favours upon them. Tiridates, for his pains in pro-
viding him with ihem, was rewarded with the crown of Arme-
nia.

The Pagans were so fully persuaded of the

the miraculous po^Ygj. of Magic especially of the Theurgic kind,

attributed to this and of the efficacy of mysteries, that they be-
Art

lieved those prodigies of valour performed by

Hercules, Jason, Castor and Pollux:, and other
heroes, were owing to their initiation into these mysteries. Var-'
Ro, the most learned of the Romans, was so convinced of the
force and power of that Magic, that he did not doubt that what
Homer relates of the transformation of Ulysses's companions into
hogs, was the effect of C/rce's enchantments. He judged the same
way of what was given out concerning the Orcadians, who, ac-
cording to the story, as they were swimming over a pond, were
transformed into wolves, and recovered their former figure at the
end of nine years, if, after abstaining from human flesh during
that time, they repassed the same pond.

■■ As Paganism admitted a vast number of Gods,

its connexion f. ,, • £ . ^^ i , i

with Pae'an The- ^^^^ ^^ them benejicent, others malevolent; and

ology. as each had his own particular worship and cere-

monies appropriated to him, so none could obtatn
a favour from them, nor desired success in their enterprises, un-
less they were careful to observe the manner of worshipping them,
as it was taught by religion. This principle laid down, it is easy
to see that both sorts of Magic above named had a plain con-
nexion with their Theology, and that such as professed either of
them, must needs have been excellent Pagan Theologues. Thi«
is what makes Pliny say, that Magic, the offspring of Medicine,
after having fortified itself with the help of Astrology, had bor-
rowed all its splendor and authority from Religion.

CHAV. m. SUPERSTITIOXS OP IDOLATRY. 281

SEC. III. OF MAGIC.

- Numa, among the religious ceremonies he
cv or Evocation taught, had prescril)ed those for Evocations;
of the Manes: which were a consequence of Theurgic Magic.

Among the Evocations, the most solemn, and at
the same time the most frequently practised, was that of conjur-
ing ufi souls df/iarted, commonly cMed JVecromancy. The custom
of raising the Manes was so ancient, that its origin is traced as high
as the earliest periods of time; and all the anathemas denounced
by the sacred authors, against those who consulted familiar spirits,
are proofs of the antiquity of this practice. Among the different
sorts of Magic which Moses prohibits, that of calling up the dettd
is there expressly specified. Every body knows the history of Saul,
who went to consult the ivitc/i of Endor, to call up the ghost of
Samuel. I shall not enter into the effect which this conjuration
produced, nor shall I examine if it was really •Sctmz^p/ who appear-
ed to that prince, or if it was the -Devil who deceived him under
a borrowed appearance; or in fine, if the milch herself imposed
upon him by some illusion. We know that the fathers and eccle-
siastic writers are much divided in their sentiments about it, and
that there is nothing in religion to determine us to follow the one
opinion rather than the other. I only take notice of the use of
the thing, and this, it is certain, was as ancient, as it was univer-
sally practised.

■ Profane authors look upon Orpheus as the
howitorisfinated, . r i • i i i- • i i -

with examples of inventor ot this cursed art; and so tar mdeed it

the Art: is true, that the. hymns which are ascribed to

"~"~"~~"^"^ him, are mostly real pieces of co?ijuration: but
it is probable this practice came from the eastern people, and was
carried into Greece with the other religious ceremonies, by colo-
nies which came and settled there. Let this be as it will, it is
certain that in Homer's time, this sort of conjuration was in prac-
tice, as appears from sonje passages in the Iliad, where mention
is made of it. Nor vas it at that time reputed odious or crimi»

282 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. lU,

OF MAGIC. SEC. III.

nal, since there were persons who iiidde public profession oi con-
juring u/i ghofts, and there were temples where the ceremony of
conjuration was to be performed. Pausanias speaksof that which
was in Thesproda, where Okpheus caine to call up the soul of
his wife Eurydice. It is this very journey? and the motive which
put him upon it, that made it be believed he went down to hell.
Ulysses* s travels into the country of the Cimmerians, whither he
went to consult the ghost of Tiresias, which Homer so well de-
scribes in the Odyssey., has all the air of such another conjuration;
and the same may be said of all the otiier pretended journeys into
Pluto*s kingdom. — But it is not only the poets who speak of co/z-
juring ufi sfiirits; history likewise furnishes examples thereof.
Periander, the tyrant of Corinth, visited the Thesprolians, to
consult about something left with his wife in trust: and historians
tell us, that the Lacedemonians, having starved Pausanias to
death in the temple of Pallas., and not being able to appease his
Manes, which tormented them without intermission; sent for the
Magicians from Thessaly, who having brought up the ghosts of
his enemies, they banished Pausanias's ghost so effectually, that
it was obliged to quit the country. I have no mind to display the
horrid rites that were practised by those who dealt in JVecroman'
cy, when they raised the souls of the dead: it is enough that I
have showed the union and connexion, which this execrable art
had with the Pagan religion which authorized it.

■- We shall conclude, by remarking that this

stricture on the , ^ ,, a t ■ .. . r i .

phrase, to call up ph^'^se, to call ufi souls, is not accurate: for what

*""'*• the Magicians, and priests, appointed in the

"~°"~°~°~~°'''"" temples of the Manes, called up, was neither

soul nor body, but a sort of middle substance, between soul and

body, which the Latins call Imago, Umbra. When Patroclus prays

Achilles to grant him the honours of burial, it is that he might

not be hindered from passing the fatal river by the thin fihantoms

of the dead. It was neither soul nor body that went down to the

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 283

SEC. IV. OF EXPIATIONS.

infernal regions, but these Jihantoms: accordingly, Ulysses sees
the phantom of Hercules in the Elysian Jielcls, while the hero
himself is in Heaven. But I shall explain this point of Pagan
Theology, when I come to speak of the Infernal Regions.

SECTION FOURTH.

OF EXPMTIOjVS.

■• Expiation was an act of religion, instituted

Expiation de- ^ j p^„,ifyjn„ thg guilty, and the places which
fined;— its objects i / o o / r

stated. were reckoned defiled. Though this ceremony

*"""— "^"■"" to speak accurately, was only to be used for
crimes, yet they put it in practice upon several other occasions.
Dread of public calamities, and hope of appeasing the incensed
Gods, occasioned the institution of several sorts of Expiations:
monsters, prodigies, presages, auguries, all were subject to it; and
the Expiatory sacrifices were renewed upon a thousand occasions,
insomuch that there was hardly any action in life, whether pri-
vate or public but had need of them, or which was not either fol-
lowed or ushered in witli the ceremony of Eipiation. Was a ge-
neral to assume the command of an army? were games or festi-
vals to be celebrated? an assen)bly to be called? or was a person
to be initiated into any mystery? in all such cases they were sure
to have recourse to Expiatory sacrifices. As to private life, every
individual took care to purify himself, not only for the smallest
faults, but even upon occasion of every object which superstition
taught to consider as of bad portent. Accordingly, these words,
which occur so often in the writings of the ancients, Expiare^
Purgare, Februare, signified to perform acts of religion, either
for blotting out some fault, or for diverting impending calamities.

284 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRT. CHAP. in.

OF EXPIATIONS. SEC. IV-

■ Though in general, public expiations were

Several sorts of • i -^i ^ t

Expiations, more accompanied with prayers and sacrifices, yet

or less solemn. there were of them more or less solemn, en-
"~^"""~~~'~~' cumbered with more or fewer ceremonies; nor
was it always the same Gods who were to be invoked. Those
whom the Latins styled Averrunci, were implored in order to
avert the evils which some prodigy or object of bad omen had
portended. They were free to make their addresses to others,
upon private occasions, wherein they thought there was need of
FsXfiiation. — There were then several sorts of Exfiiations; and
particular ceremonies for each kind. I shall say but little of those
used by every private man, since it sufficed for him to wash him-
self, or to receive the holy water when he was entering into the
temple; but I shall expatiate more fully upon those which reli-
gion and the laws had presciibed.

===== One of the most solemn, was what they used
fo/prSu'^ies"^"^ upon the appearance of some firodigy. The
==^=== senate, after having ordered the Sibylline books
to be consulted by those who had the keeping of them, to see
what was to be done upon those occasions, ordinarily appointed
days oi fasting ; as al^o festivals.) especially those of the Lectis-
ternia; games; public Jirayers; and sacrifices. Then you might
have seen the whole city of Rome, and in imitation of her, all
the other cities of the empire, in mourning and consternation;
the Temples adotned, the Lectisternia prepared in the public
places. Expiatory sacrifices repeated over and over again. The
senators and patricians, their wives and their children, with gar-
lands on their hea^ds;, every Tribe, every Order, preceded by the
high Prifst and the Duumviri, marched gravely through the
streets; and this procession was accompanied with the youtli sing-
ing hyniJiSj or repeating ;^rcz/frs, while the Priests were offering
Expiatory sacrifices in the temples, and invoking theGods to divert
the calamities", with which they thought themselves threatened.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. 285

SEC. IV. OF EXPIATIONS.

====== Anciently, but a few ceremonies were requir-

for Homicide.^"" ^^ ^°'' ^'^^ expiation of hojyiicide; but in after-
■ times, a great many were added, and it became

even exceedingly burdensome. All that was requisite at first, for
a person's purification from murder, was to wash himself in run-
ning water; and thus it -was, according to AxHENiEus, that ./^cA??-
les was purified, after having killed Stra?nbelus king of the
Laeleges. ^neas, as he was leaving Troy, then in the enemy's
hands, left to his father the care of the household Gods which he
was going to take along with him, not daring to touch them with
his polluted hands, until he had purified himself in some river;
a punishment, if indeed it was one, abundantly gentle, for a crime
such as homicide: Accordingly Ovid, after having mentioned
several heroes who had been purified in this manner, breaks forth
into this exclamation; how credulous must they be, who believe
that the crime of murder can be purged away at so easy a rate!
This sort of Expiation did not last long, since we see in the he-
roic ages, it was attended with more irksome and solemn cere-
monies: at that time, when the offender was a person of distinc-
tion, even kings themselves did not disdain to perform the cere-
mony. Thus in Apollodrus, Cofiretis^ who had slain Iphisusj
is expiated by Euristheiis king of Mycenae, ^drastus, according
to the testimony of Herodotus, came to receive Expiation
from Crcssus king of Lydia. Frequently the hero guilty of man-
slaughter, was even obliged to traverse several countries, not
lighting upon any body who would give him Expiation; which
was the case of Hercules^ who was expiated at length by Ceyx
king of Trachinia. — Nobody has given a fuller description of the
ceremonial of this sort of Expiation, than ApoLLONiusof Rhodes,
on occasion of the murder of Jdsyrtus, the brother of MedeUy
slain by Jason: that prince, says he, being arrived with Medea in
the inland of ^Ea, sent their addresses to Circe, desiring her to

2 N

286 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF EXPIATIONS. SEC. IV.

perform the ceremony of Expiation for them; and having obtain-
ed permission to come to the place of that princess, they advanc-
ed both of them, with downcast eyes, after the manner of sup-
pliants, till they came up to the hearth^ where Jason struck into
the ground the sword wherewith he had slain his brother-in-law.
Their silence and posture made Circe easily perceive that they
were fugitives, guilty of some murder, and she prepared herself
to expiate them. First she caused a yoMW^ pig not yet weaned,
to be brought, and having cut its throat, she rubbed the hands of
Jason and Medea with its blood. Then she offered libations in
honour oi Jupiter Expiator. After which, having ordered the re-
mains of the sacrifice to be thrown out of the hall, she burned
upon the altar, cakes, which were made of flour, salt, and water,
and accompanied these ceremonies with prayers proper to ap-
pease the wrath of the Furies, who commonly pursue the guilty.
The ceremony being ended, she caused her guests to sit down
upon magnificent seats, where they were regaled. — The Romans
had ceremonies for the Expiation oj^ murder, different from those
of the Greeks. We have a very authentic example of them in
DioNYSius of Halicarnassus, who relates in what m.anner Hora-
tiua was expiated, after having killed his Sister, who reproached
him for the death of her lover, one of the Curiatii. " Sentence
was given, says he, against young Horatius, and he was after-
wards absolved from the crime: but the king, who did not think
the judgment of men sufficient to absolve a criminal, in a city
which made profession of fearing the Gods, sent for the pontiffs,
and would needs have them to appease the Gods tmd Genii, and
the offender to pass through all the trials that were in use, for
expiating involuntary crimes. The pontiffs therefore erected two
altars, the one to Juno, the protectress of Sisters, the other to a
certain God or Genius of the country, who has since boTne the
name of the Curiatii, whom Horatius had slain. Upon these
altars were offered several sacrifices of expiation, after which.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIOXS OF IDOLATRY. 287

SEC. IV. OF EXPIATIONS.

the criminal was made to pass under the yoke; that is, under a

cross beam, supported by two other pieces of limber."

' The ceremony of Expiation for cities, was one
3d, Expiation - , , t > r-. . ,

for Cities and ^^ ^"^ "^0^*^ solemn. In the Roman calendar,

other places. there were days marked out for this ceremony;

"'^"^~^"~^~ which mostly corresponded with ouv fifth of
February. The sacrifice which was there oflered, was denomi-
nated, according to Servius, Siiburbale, or Siiburbiupii and the
victims there sacrificed, were called, as Festus has it, Ambuv'
biales. Besides this festival, there was another, which returned
but once in, ^xie years, the solemnity whereof was employed in
purifying a whole city; and from the word lustrarCf to exfiiate^
the name lustrum came to denote the sfxace of five years. — Im-
portant occasions sometimes made it necessary to celebrate this
Bolenmity, out of the ordinary time, as was the case, according to
DioNYSius of Halicarnassus, when the Tarquins were banished
from Rome. If any particular place happened to be defiled, they
took care to have it expiated; and these sorts of Expiations had
names whereby they were designated. That of the crossivays,
for instance, was termed Compitalia; that of the fields, was called
Ambarvalia. The Greeks had particular Expiations for the Thea-
tres, and for the places where the people assembled.
. . Before and after battle, there was a purifica-

f ArmS^^ ^ ^^"^ °^ ^'^® Army, and that ceremony was term-
■ ed Armilustrium; a word which was taken in

aftertimes, to express a review of the troops, as appears from
several passages of Caesar's Commentaries; just as thatof Zms-
trum was taken for the enrolment of the people; but both these
ceremonies were always accompanied with sacrifices. The fes-
tival of the Armilustrium was celebrated at Rome, on the nine-
teenth of October.

288 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF EXPIATIONS. SEC. IV.

======= To these public Expiations, I might subjoin

Other public , , ■ , , , • , , . . . ,

expiations to be those which they used in order to be initiated

spoken of else- jj^j^ jj^g ereater and lesser Eleusinian mysteries,
where. ^ ^

=^===: into those of Mithras, into the Orgies, Sec. But

of these I shall speak in the history of Ceres, in that of the Per'
sian Gods, and in that of Bacchus. It suffices to say here, that
fasting was often prescribed for Expiations of this sort; thus it is
we are to understand with Clemens of Alexandria, when he
says, that those who were to be initiated, being interrogated by
the priests, answered, " I have performed ivhat is prescribed in
order to the mysteries, I have kept the Fast"
• The ^^jwa^e Expiations were far more nume-

.• * rous.than the public ones; since they used these

=^s===: in almost every action of life, as we have already
remarked: thus, there were neither nuptials, no funerals, nor
hardly any matter of consequence, that was not preceded by Ex-
piation. Whatever was reputed of bad portent; the encounter of
a iveazle, a raven, or a hare; an unexpected storm, a dream, and
a thousand other accidents, obliged the people to have recourse
to the same ceremony. But it is necessary to observe, that for
these sorts of private Expiations, there was not always a necessi-
ty, as in the public ones, of offering sacrifices; but a simple ablu-
tion sufficed. The sea-water, however, when it could be had, was
preferied \o fountain-water; and this latter, to that which stagna-
ted. Sometimes the party was obliged to wash his whole body,
sometimes only his hands or ears. It is from Euripides we learn
this last usage, when he makes Hippolitus say, that as he looked
upon himself to be polluted for having been solicited to a crime,
so he must needs wash his ears. Procopius of Gaza, speaking
of the Expiations so much in use among the Jews, informs us
that in general they made use oi water, salt, barley, laurel, and even
fre, which those were made to pass through, who were to be pu-
rified; and there is no doubt but that the Pagans, in the ceremo-

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 289

SEC. IV. OF EXPIATIONS.

nies of their Expiations, had imitiited most of those which Moses

had prescribed to the Jews, as is proved by learned commentators

on the Sacred Books.

• Here I should subjoin what regards Oaths, one

«4^^r "J' „tL„o of the most ancient and most solemn acts of re-
sort oi expiations

examined, — ligion, since it was a kind of Expiation — he who

"■"■"■"■""""■ took the Oath, purging himself thereby from the
crime that was laid to his charge. But this subject has been han-
dled by several authors, whether lawyers or divines. I shall give
the substance of two learned dissertations of the Abbe Massieu,
who examines the following questions.

■ 1st, What was the origin of Oaths? which he

First, As to sayg js near as ancient as the world, since they
their orig-m; ■' '

" began as soon as men became false and dishonest.

======= 2d, By what Divinities the ancients swore? dnd

Second, by what , , . , , n i <-. i

Gods they swore; "^ proves, that it was by almost all the (jods, es-

==s=5=s pecially by two, who were regarded as the gua-
rantees thereof, to wit: Bona Fides, and Deus Fidius, The Gods
themselves swore by the Stijx.^ and this Oath was of all others the
most inviolable.

■ 3d, What were the ceremonies of the Oath?
TAtrrf, The ce- a.c . .u • - j

remonies of an ^* "''^^ ^^^"^ ^®''^ ^^""y s^^iP'^, and no more

Oath; ^-as required but holding up the harid, as is still

^~~~^~"~~~ the practice at this day. The Great introduced
more formality into it; Kings lifted up their sccfisrea, Generals
of armies their shears or s/zff/rfs, and the Soldiers their swords^
the fiointa of which some of them put to their throats, as we learn
from Marcellinus. In later times, it was required that the
Oath should be taken in the temples, the party laying his hand
upon the altar; and if there was occasion for taking an Oath when
no temples were near, an altar was raised in haste, or there were
portable ones ready for immediate use. Frequently too it happen-

290 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. Ill,

OF EXPIATIONS. SEC. IV.

ed, that those who swore, dipt their hajids in the blood of the

sacrificed victims.

■ 4th, What were the moral sentiments of the

Fourth, The ancients about Oaths? to which the unequivocal
obligation oi an i "

Oath; answer is, tiiey were such, that perjury was

"~~"~''~~'~~~' looked upon as the greatest of crimes. But
more allowances were made for the Oaths o{ orators, poets,, and
lovers; yet even these were not taken in courts of justice. That
fine sentiment of Pythagoras, honour the Gods, and revere an
Oath, comprehends according to the commentators on that fa-
mous philosopher, the purest, and at the same time, the most
sublime morality, with relation to this last act of religion.

■ 5th, The use which the ancients made of an

Fifth, On what ^^ .i • • -i • » ? i »- • l i '

occasions were ^^"^ ^" ^'^'^' society? and tnis was much the same

Oaths used; as among ourfeelves, that is, it was lequited of

"'~""'^'^"~~~" all who entered into an office^ or who were to in-
termeddle in any manner of way with the government, and the
public revenues. The General, when he assumed the com-
mand of an army; the Soldier when he was listed; those who
entered into the priesthood, or into other offices which depended
upon it; the Vestals, the Augurs, the Feciales; or those who were
employed in treaties of peace; all of them were obliged to take
an Oath.

-■ 6th, In fine, what notion they had in those

perjitry reg^d- days, of such as violated their Oath? And our
^^- author finds that they were looked upon as the

basest of all mortals, since they had trampled
upon all the sacred lies of religion, and endeavoured to put a cheat
upon the Gods, as well as upon Men.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 291

OF PUBLIC bUPPLICATIONS.

SECTION FIFTH.
OF PUBLIC SUPPLICATTOjYS.

■ Supplication, among the Pagans, consisted

Definition; — . r r i • ■ , , • •

Private Siipplica- ^" prayer tor luvoMrs desired, or thanksgiving

tions slightly no- f^,. benefits received, whether public oi* private.

=^===== — We are not to insist upon firivate Sufifilica-
tions, which were nothing else hui /irayers., which every one put
up to the Gods, either to obtain health, a good harvest, or to
thank them for mercies received, Sec A single Jbr7nula of their
prayers will be sufficient to give us some idea of them: here is
one preserved in an inscription, which Camilla Amata makes to
the /ever of her son in sickness. Ca?niL'a Amata offers iiji her
prayers for her sick son, to (he diviiie Febris, the holy Febris, the
great Febris.
■ The public Supfilications were made either in

Public SupplI- .... . . r ■,

cations— on what ^°™^ ciuical juncture, as in time of a plague, or

occasions observ- some epidemical calannty; or after an unexpect-
ed.

=^== ed victory, or when a newly elected general ap-
plied to the senate to be confirmed by them, and to have a Sup-
plication appointed for obtaining the fa\our of the Gods; as also
for other reasons. These Supplications occasioned solemn days,
on which there was to be no pleading upon any account whatso-
ever, and they were celebrated by sacrijices, prayers, and public
feasts. Sometimes the senate limited the duration o{ \.h\s festival
to one day; sometimes it took up several; and history informs us,
that some of them X'dsXtA fifty clays.

\st, The Lectisternia.

===== There was a kind oi public Supplication, which

TliG ceremonies
of the Lectister- ^'^^y called the Lectisternia^ from lectus a bed,

"'"'^' and sternere to make up. This ceremony con-

—'——'—'-——' sisted in d^ feast which was prepared, and which

was kept in the temple; and because, according to the customs

292 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. m.

OF PUBLIC SUPPLICATIONS. SEC. V,

of those times, they arranged beds round the tables, and placed
upon these beds the statues of the Gods, in whose honour the
festival was celebrated, in the same way as men used to lay there-
on at meals; hence they got the name oi Lectisternia. The Efiu-
lones mentioned under the article of the Priests, presided at this
ceremony, and were the regulators of it. Valerius Maximus
takes notice of a Lectisternium, celebrated in honour of Jufiiter.
That God, that is his sfaifuf, was laid there upon a bed; while
those oi Juno and Miner-va were upon chains. — Titus Livius,
Cicero, Lampridius, and others, make frequent mention of
this ceremony; and the first of these authors refers its institution
to the year of Rome 354, upon occasion of the plague which
raged in the city. This Lectisternium lasted for eight days, and
was celebrated in honour of jifiollo, Latona^ Diana., Hercules^
Mercury and J\''efitune. Valerius Maximus indeed mentions
another more ancient, since according to him, it was celebrated
under the consulship of Brutus, and Valerius Poplicola; but it
seems it was either less solemn, or Livy knew nothing of it.

■' Until the time of Casaubon, the Lectister-

it was in use, . . ,,, , c -n ..

both among: the "'""^ was believed to have been oi Roman insti-

Greeks and the tution, and not to have been known out of Italy;
Romans:

• but that learned critic, examining a passage of

the scholictst upon Pindar, and finding there mention made of
those fiilloivs, or cus/iio7is, which they put under statues of the
Gods, from thence has justly concluded, that the Lectistemiu7n
■was in use among the Greeks. Authors have been found to sup-
port this discovery, and the truth of it is now no longer contro-
verted. And indeed Pausanias speaks in several places of those
sorts oi cushions; and in his travels through Arcadia, tells us, that
some of them were put under the statues of Peace; and in his
Phocica^ he speaks of those on which they placed the statues of
JEscula/iius. Valerius Maximus, says the same of the statues
of Harmodius and Jristogilon. « The statues, says he, of these

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 293

SEC. V. OF PUBLIC SUPPLICATIONS.

two heroes, who had done so much to rescue Athens from the
tyranny it groaned under, having been carried away by Xerxes,
Seleucus restored them afterwards; and when the ship that
brought them, arrived at Rhodes, the chief men of the city in-
vited them to be their guests, and placed them upon pillows"
Suetonius reckons ihcse /allows among those things that were
appropriated only to the Gods; for when speaking of Caesar,
he says, "he even suffered such honours to be decreed him as
are too high for mere mortals, such as fein/ilcs, altars, statues as
those of the Gods, the sac7-pc/ ///7/ow," Sec. James Spon, in his
travels through Greece, tells us, that the Lectisternium of Tsiq and
Serafiis was still to be seen at Athens. It was a small marble bed^
of two feet in length, by one in heit^ht, on which those two Divi-
nities were represented sitting. Tliis learned traveller says, that
others, like them, were found in the same city; as also at Sala-
mis and elsewhere. From this relation we learn the true form of
the cushions: they were small beds, either of marble, stone, or
wood, on which they placed the statues of the Gods, in honour
of whom i\ftast was prepared. — After what has been said, it is
evident, that the Lectisternium was equally in use in Greece and
in Italy.

' The days set apart for \\\\s festival were most

its celebration, , , . .... ,i i .

and its immum- solemn; durmg which, it was not allowed to m-

ties;— by whom fjj^,^ punishment upon any description of per-

■ sons, so that criminals were even set at liberty.

It was the chief magistrate, or high priest, who appointed the

festival; and its end was to appease the Gods, or to supplicate

them for favours. We have only to say farther, that the table for

the. feast, and the beds on which the Gods were to lie, were

adorned with branches, flowers, and odoriferous herbs. — So much

for this subject; let us now give some short account of the

Evocations.

3 O

294 SUPERSTinONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

'i ' ' ' f . ' I , ■ ..,- .

OF PUBLIC SUPPLICATIONS. SPC. V.

2rf, The Evocations.

' ■• Of Evocations^ there were three sorts: the

Three sorts of , • , ,

Evocations, viz.— Ji>'st were magical ojierations^ which they used m

1st, to call up the order to call uti souls dejmrled or the Manes; and

Manes, 3d, a ' ^

prayer in making of them I have spoken in the article of Magic.

Sic fires.

■ The secoTid, which I shall here consider, was

ordinarily employed, during the siege of some town^ which they

thought it neither their duty nor in their power to take, without

invoking the Gods, under whose protection it was. We have in

Macrobius a form of this sort of E-uocation preserved, which

win give the reader a better notion of the thing than all we can

deliver on the subject. " Whether it be a God, or whether it be a

Goddess, under 'whose tuition the city and fieople of Carthage is, I

sufijilicatc you, I conjure you, and I earnestly request you, ye great

Gods, who have taken this city and fieojile under your ixrotection, to

abandon both city and people, to qliit all those mansions, temples, and

aacred places; to cast them off, infuse iiito them fear, consternation^

and a spirit of forgetfulness; and vouchsafe to repair to Rome to

dwell among us: graciously accept of our mansions, temples, sacred

things, and our whole city. Let it be seen, that you are the defence

of me and my army, and of the Roman people. Grant me these

petitiojis, and I vow aiid promise tofoimd temples and games to your

honour."

• Lastly, the third sort of Evocation was, that

used* to call up "^vhich was used in ca/Z/wg* «/? ?/ie Gocf*. In order

*^,^. , Goils; to tQ understand what I am to say upon this head
which they con- _ ' '

nected — we must know it was the doctrine of the Pagan

" Theology, that the Gods in a peculiar manner

presided over certain places, and that frequently several of those

places were under the protection of the same God; and it being

impossible for him to be in them all at once, it was necessary to

use the ceremony of Evocation, when his presence was thought

needful. They had hymns proper to this operation, as are most

CHAP. HI. SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY 295

SEC. V. OF PUBLIC SUPPLICATIONS,

of those which are ascribed to Orpheus, and those of the poet
Proclus. Those hymns generally were composed of two parts:
Xhejirst was taken up in the praises of the Gods, and in celebra-
ting the different places under their protection; the second con-
tained the prayer whereby they endeavoured to invite and allure
them to the places where their presence was necessary. When
they thought the patron God was arrived, they celebrated the
festivals: Such were some of those which the Argives kept in
honour oi Juno, and the inhabitants of Delos and Miletus in hon-
our of ^/!o//o.

■' ■ ■ As soon as the danger which had made them

the ceremony i>t • , ,i «-. i ,, ,. i-,

taking' leave of ^voke the Gods was over, they gave tneni liber-

^"^™- ty to go any where they listed; and they had

other hymns for celebrating their departure. Ju-
lius ScALioER, who iTiay be consulted upon this subject, ob-
serves, that these hymns, wherein Bacchyllides the lyiic poet
chiefly excelled, were of greater length than those used for invi-
ting the Gods, in order thereby to detain them as long as possi-
ble. For when we desire an object, says he, we wish to be
quickly possessed of it; but if it is to leave us, we wish it to be as
long as possible before we be deprived of it.

3c?, The forms of Devoting.
■ The forms of Devoting, which the Romans

vate"uevo^thi^s.^" called Devotio, were either private, as those of
I the tv/o DEcii,and of Marcus Curtius, who de-

voted themselves to save the Romans; or public, as performed by
the dictator, or consul, at the head of an army. Here is their form
of public Devoting, transmitted to us by the same Macrobius.
« Father Dis, Pluto, Jupiter, Manes, or by whatever name it is
lawful to call you, I beseech you to fll this city Carthage, and the
army I mean, with terror and consternation: grant that they, who
bear arms against our legions and army, may be put to the rout, that
the inhabitants of their cities^ and of t/ieir fields, with all that dwell

296 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF PUBLIC SUPPLICATIONS. SEC. V.

in them, of every age, may be devoted to you, according to the latva
by ivhich our greatest enemies are devoted. I, by the authority of
my commission, devote them in name of the Roman fieojile^ in
name of the army, and in name of our legions^ that you may
preserve both the commanders, and those who serve under them.""
Whenever the law devoted any one to death, it vvas permitted to
kill him. There was one of Romulus' laws conceived in these
terms: If any patron defrauds his client, let him be devoted. It
was to Pluto, or Dis, and the other infernal Deities, that crimi-
nals were devoted. — Antiquity has not transmitted to us the form
of private Devoting, but certain it is there was one; for when
Decius devoted himself, he gave notice to the pontiff Valerius,
to proceed to pronounce the form of devoting.

■ 1 shall say nothing here of the supplications

Of votive mem- ■, i u * • t r

, and vows made by certain persons: I foresecj

===^^= that the enumeration of them would be endless;
and we could learn nothing from them, but that the Gods having
been always looked upon by the Pagans as the authors of all good
and evil, they were careful to address them, in order to obtain the
good things, and be delivered from the evils of life: that in dan-
gers or sickness, they put up supplications to them for deliver-
ance, and recovery of health: and in fine, that from gratitude,
they even put into temples, representations of the members, for
the cure whereof they thought themselves indebted to them. Of
these, we have great numbers preserved by antiquaries, as may
be seen in their works. Among these vows or votive membersj
there were some that bore the characters of different Gods, as
that which is called the hand of jEneas, upon which is Votu7n Ce-
cropis, and which has been explained in a small tract of Thoma-
siNE. Sometimes it was a single hand, an arm, a leg, or an eye^
•without any symbol. What we find most singular among these
vows, is a table of brass, on which mention is made of all the
cures wrought by the interpo^sition of JEsculapius>

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 297

SEC. V. OF PUBLIC SUPPLICATIONS.

4M, Cere7nonies used at the founding of Cities.^ Temples, ksfc.

I ha\e noticed that the ancients used JEvota-

Thcsc ccrcmo-
nies commenced, catmisy at besieging a city, in order to invoke

probably, in Etru- ^^le Gods, under whose protection it was: and as
ria.

- these same Gods were owned for patrons of the

city at the time it was founded, it is proper before conchiding
this CHAPTER, to say something of the cereu onies in use upon
that occasion. — We learn from Festus, that the Etrurians had
books concerning the ceremonies observed at the founding of
Cities, Altars, Temfilesy Walls, and Gates. Plutarch tells us,
that Romulus, before he laid the foundation of Rome, sent for
men from Etruria, who informed him in all the punctilios of cere-
mony which he was to observe. According to Dionysius of
Halicarnassus, they began with offeiing a sacrifice, after which
they kindled fires near the tents; and they who were to have any
employment in building the town, leaped over these fires, to pu-
rify themselves. They then dug a ditch, into which they threw
the first fruits of all things that served for human nourishment,
and a handful of earth from the country to which each of them
belonged, who were to assist at the ceremony. At the same time
they consulted the Gods, to know if the enterprise would be ac-
ceptable to them, and if they approved of the day chosen to begin
the work. Then they chalked out the boundaries by a score of
white earth, which they called Terra fiura; and for want of this
kind of chalk, they made use oijlour, as Strabo assures us was
done by Alexander, when he laid the foundation of Alexandria.
This first operation being finished, they opened a furrow, as deep
as possible, with a brazen plough; and to this plough they yoked a
'sohite bull, and a white heifer. All the ground opened by the
plough was reputed holy. While they were forming the boun-
dary, they stopped at certain intervals lo renew the sacrifices,
and marked the places where they were offtred, by a heap of
stones, which they called Cijipi. In these sacrifices, they invoked,

298 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF FESTIVALS. SEC. VI.

besides the Gods of the couiUry, denominated Dii Patrii Indi-
getes, also the Gods, to whose protection the new city was re-
commended, which was done secretly, because it was necessary
that the tutelar Gods should be unknown to the vulgar. In fine,
so much regarded was the day on which a City was founded, that
they kept up the memory of it by an anniversary festival; and at
Rome, this festival was what they called the Palilia. — The cere-
monies practised among the Ancients in consecrating the ground
whereon a Temple was to be erected, is the same species of su-
perstition with that we have just spoken of; and conformably to
method, should be noticed here; but having spoken of it, when
treating of Temples, in order to give full satisfaction on that
head, we need not here repeat what the reader has already seen.

SECTION SIXTH.

OF FESTIVALS.

•
■ The Ancients consecrated Festivals to nearly

sions were Festi- ^'^ their Deities.) Heroes, retnarkable events, or
vals instituted. other matters which they thought to be of great
""""""""""^ public concern; nor were they less profuse of
these ceremonies even to appease tlie Manes of the dead.

======= The majority of the Festivals derive their

Whence they ^ , , . , ,

derived their "^i^ies trom the objects upon whom those su-

"^™^^- persiitious honours were conferred: as that of

""''^~~~~~~~~ yl/iollonia, among the many festivals instituted

in honour ol Ajiollo; and the Bacchanalia, among those in honour

of Bacchus. Others owe their names to the places where they

were celebrated: as that of Busiris, in honour of Isisj and the

jithenay in honour of Diana. A third, but less numerous class,

CHAP. ni. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 299

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

took their names from the matter of the offering: as that of the

Hecatombtea^ which was attended with a sacrifice of an hundred

Oxen,

- The Ancients had so many Festivals^ that it

The principa ,]^.| j^^ fmitiess to attempt, as well as useless

oi tnem given in '^

the three follow- to give, an account of them all. I shall only
ing Articles. ' . . . . , , ,

■ meniion the prmcipdl ones instituted by the

Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, under thoi^e respective heads;

and hope by explaining some passages in history which gave

rise to them, to atone for the dryness of the calendar.

l6'^, Egyfitian Festivals,

, , Never was a religion more encumbered with

The character ceremonies than that of the Egyptians, and no-
of the Egyptian °^ '^

Festivals. thing was ever accompanied with more outward

"~"~~~~~~~~ splendor than their Festivals. An infinite con-
course of people, licentiousness, jollity, all combined in their
celebration: and if the priests on the one hand, made preparation
for them by fastings continence, and other burthensome ceremo-
nies; the people on the other hand, longed for them, as the most
proper days of their lives for 7-iot and debauchenj. — Among those
Festivals, they reckoned the following principal ones.

■ Firsts The Festival of Osiris, or his symbol

The Festival
of Osiris ^fiis, at Memphis. The two most extraordinary

■ ceremonies of this Festival, were, the deat/i and

the re -appear ance of the Ox Apis: for the sacred books of the
priests prescribed to this Deity a precise day beyond which he
was not permitted to live; and if his natural death did not occur
on that day, he was drowned in the A7/e with great solemnity,
and another'./fyf^zs substituted in his place, with the same marks as
though he haJ returned. — The dead Apis was embalmed and in-
terred at Memphis, and after that, the priests were permitted to
enter the temple of Serapis, a privilege which they were for-
bidden as long as the Festival lasted.— After the death of the Ox

300 SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. CHAP. HI.

OF FESTIVALS. SEC. VI.

Afiis^ the people mourned and n»ade lamentations, as if Osiris
had been but ji st then dead: the priests cut oflF their hair; which
in Egypt was a sign of the deepest mourning; and this mourning
lasted till they got another Ox to appear, resembling ,the former
in the same marks. Then they began to rnake merry, as if the
prince himself had arisen from the dead. Herodotus tells us,
that this Ox was to be black over all the body, with a square while
mark in the forehead; upon the back he was to have the figure of
an eagle; a knot under his tongue in the figure of a beetle; the
hairs of his tail double; and according to Pliny, a white mark
upon his right side, which, as we learn from Ammianus Mar-
CELiNus and iElian, was to resemble the crescent of the Moon.
And then the last qualification was an extraordinary generation;
such as, his mother having conceived him by a clap of thunder.
Without examining into these mysteries, I am of opinion, that
the priests imprinted the marks I have been speaking of, upon
some young calves which they brought up secretly: and to re-
move any suspicion of the imposture, they took care that their
God Atiis should sometimes be long before he appeared. After
having found a bull proper to represent A}ns^ he was left, before
they conducted him to Memphis, in the city of the Nile, where
he was fed for forty days. During which time, the women only'
were allowed to see him; and they presented themselves before
him in a very indecent manner. The forty days being expired,
lie was put into a barge, where they h..d a gilded niche for his
reception; and thus he was carried dov\n the Nile to Memphis,
in a formal procession led by the priests. There the obscene
image of the Phallus, which Ids had consecrated, was carried in
procession; which became the symbol of fruitfuiness, though 'in
its original institution it had only been the mark of the passion of
that princess for her husband Osiris. This Festival lasted seven
days; and what is very singular, it was believed that the ckildren
•who had smelled the breath of Jfiis, acquired thereby a prophetic

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 301

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

power. — When Canibyses arrived at Memphis upon his return

from Ethiopia, an expedition which proved so unliappy to him,

he found the people engaged in celebrating the Festival of Osiris^

and imagining they were rejoicing at his disgrace, sent for the

priests to demand the occasion of their joy, Tliey having made

answer that they were celebrating the appearance of ^/iia^ who

had not been seen for a great while, Cambyses dissatisfied with

the answer, which he thought a prevarication, ordered them to

bring before him that pretended God of theirs, and gave him a

wound with his sword, whereof he died; he also caused the

priests to be lashed; and ordered his soldiers to massacre all >^

whom they found celebrating this Festival.

'• _ Second, The Festival of /sfs, at Busiris, — At

Fcslivsl of Tsis.
s=^^^=;^^^ the Festival of Busiris, which was celebrated in

honour of Isis, the sacrijices were followed with the ceremony of
2k flagellation, from which neither men nor women were exempt-
ed; but the Carians, especially, who inhabited Egypt, were the
persons who drubbed themselves most heartily, and they added
even to this ceremony, that of stabbing themselves in \.he fore-
head with the point of a sword.

. Third, The Festival of Diana, at Bubastis.

Festival of Diana.
5si=s=;^= — The Festival of Bubastis in lower Egypt was

still more solemn. Thither they came from all parts, and the
Nile for several days was overspread with barges, which they who
filled them had decked with all the orn iments they could devise,
and as every barge had its musicians and concert, the air resound-
ed on all hands with the harmony of their instruments. The
banks of the river were crowded on either side with spectators to
see those barges as they passed: those who were in them, accord-
ing to a very ancient custom, lashed the spectators with satirical
jests, and frequently with scurrilous ribaldry; while the others in
their turn paid home their compliments with large interest. The

2 P

302 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF FESTIVALS. SEC. VI.

women who were upon the water, presented themselves to those
curious eyes, in a manner too immodest to be here described.
Care was taken to prepare upon the banks of the river numbers
of inns, where they came to refresh themselves, and there great
plenty was to be had of every thing conducive to good cheer. The
number of spectators at this Festival was computed to be 700,000>
without including- children, who accompanied their parents. When
they arrived at Bubastis, they abandoned themselves entirely to
mirth and revelling; and more wine was consumed in that city
S."^ ► , during the stay they made there upon account of this solemnity,
\ jjp ^ ^h'^i^ through the whole year besides. — As nothing is more diffi-
• cult to be abolished than ceremonies where riotmgis intermixed,

this Festival lasts at this very day, though the object thereof be
changed; and every year the Egyptians, together with the Turks
who govern them, full down the Nile at a certain time of the year,
from Cairo as far as Roselto, with such a vast confluence of peo-
ple, that the river resembles a floating city. The musical instru-
ments; the inns; and the scurrilous gibes that pass between those
that are on the water, and the spectators on the banks of the Nile;
all bear a resemblance there to the ancient Festivals of Bubastis.
But nothing was ever so pompous and magnificent as the solemn
procession made by Ptolemy's orders, whereof we have the de-
scription in Theocritus, and in Athen^us, who has taken it
from an ancient author.
====== Fourth^ The Festival of Minerva at Sais.— .

of Minerva ' What distinguished the Festival of Miverva at

T Sais, from the foregoing, was the great number

of lamps they burnt there during the night; and those who could

not be present at this Festival, kept them burning in their own

houses.

■ -Pififh The Festival of Mars at Pampremi^ —

The Festival rr', t^ . , , . , , , , „ '' '

of Mars. ^ "^ festival which was celebrated at Pampre-

'■ mis in honour of Mars, was attended M^th a re*

CHAP. m. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 303

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

luarkable singularity. The priests bore upon a four-wheeled cha-
riot the statue of that God, which was inclosed in a small chapel
of gilt wood, which they endeavoured to force into the temple of
that Divinity, while men armed with clubs stood in the way to
hinder them; and as the priests who accompanied the procession,
had likewise arms, there ensued an engagement, whereby many
people must have lost their lives. The Egyptians, however,
maintained that nobody died of the wounds they received upon
that occasion.

' That people had besides, several sorts of pro-

„ io^^!!i^!!..^^t! cessions, but less solemn than those which I
vals and proces- '

sions, imitated have been describing. — The Hebrews, who de-

by the Jews, &.c.

^:^^=^^= rived from the Egyptians that fatal propensity

which they had towards Idolatry, imitated them but too often,
not only in the solemnity of the golden calf, as has been said, but
also in the ceremony of their processions. The prophet Amos
upbraids them for having led about in the wilderness, the taber-
nacle of the God Moloch, the image of their Idol, and the star of
the God Remfiham, St. Stephen, in the Acts of the Apostles^
taxes them with the same piece of idolatry. — Several other peo-
ple practised the same ceremonies, whether they had learned them
from the Egyptians, as is very probable, or had invented them
themselves.

2(f, Grecian Festivals.
. The Greeks borrowed several of their Festi-

letff of G^eek ^'^^^ ^''^"^ ^^^^ Egyptians and Phenicians: they
Festivals, viz. — had likewise many peculiar to themselves. We
"^""■"""""^ shall here give an alphabetical calendar of the
principal of them.

====== The Achillea were festivals celebrated in ho-

The Achillaea.
- nour oi Achilles. Pausanias, who tells us they

were celebrated at Brasias, where that hero had a temple, gives
us no particular account of them.

304 SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF FESTIVALS. SEC. VI.

===== The Actia were festivals sacred to Afiolloy in
The Actia. . r

;^^s=^== commemoration of the victory of Augustus over

M. Antony at Aciium. They were celebrated every third year,

with great pomp; and the Lacedaemonians had the care of them.

-■ The Adonia were festivals in honour of Mo-

Tlie Adonia.

■ nis, first celebrated at Byblos in Phoenicia,

They lasted two days; the ^r«? of which was spent in bowlings
and lamentations; the second in joyful clamours, as M Adonis was
returned to life. In some towns of Greece and Egypt they lasted
eight days; the one half of which was spent in lamentations, and
the other in rejoicings. Only women were admitted, and such as
did not appear were compelled to prostitute themselves for one
day; and the money obtained by this shameful custom was devo-
ted to the service of Jdonis. The time of the celebration was
supposed to be very unlucky. The fleet of Nicias sailed from
Athens to Sicily on that day, whence many unfortunate omens
were drawn.

===== In the Mmaturia^ celebrated in honour of
i iie 7Em..turia. . . • . .
■ Pelofts. What was remarkable m this festival is,

that boys whipped themselves till the blood came from their la-
cerated bpdies.

' The AgrauUa was a festival at Athens, in
The AgTaulia.
•^^s^=^^s^^ honour of ^^raz/Zos priestess of i^fzwenya. The

Cyprians also observed these festivals, by offering human victims.

. The Agrioyiia are thus described by Plu-

The Agrioiiia. ^ ,

s^=ss^s=^^ TARCH. There, says he, the women make search

for Bacc/ius, t^nd not finding him, they give over their pursuit,
saying, he is retired to the Muses; then they sup together, and
after supper they propose riddles to one another: a mystery, sig-
nifying that mirth, and good cheer, should always be seasoned with
learning and the Muses; and that if a man happens to have drunk
too much, his rage is hid by the Muses, and by them kindly re-
strained and kept within bounds.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 305

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

■ The Agrotera is an anniveisary sacrifice of
The AgTotera. „■

' goats offered to Diana at Athens. It was insti-

tuted by Callimachus, who vowed to sicrifice to the Goddess so

many goats as there might be enemies killed in a battle which

he was going to engage against the troops of Darius, who had

invaded Attica. The quantity of the slain was so great, that a

sufficient number of goats could not be procured; therefore they

were limited to 500 every year, till they equalled the number of

Persians slain in battle.

• „,, The Moa were festivals of the barn- floor a at

The Aloa. _ -^

" Athens in honor of Bacchus and Ceres.) by whose

beneficence the husbandmen received the recompense of their

labours. The oblations were the first fruits of the earth.

====== The Ambrosia were festivals celebrated in time

The Ambrosia.

-t of the vintage, in honour of Bacchus, in some

cities in Greece. They were tl.e same as the Brumalia of the

Romans.

_ The Amphidromia was a festival observed by

Amphidromia.
;^s=^=== private families at Athens, the first day after the

birth of every child. It was customary to run round the fire with
a child in their arms; whence the name of the festival was de-
rived.

' ' ■ The Anthesphoria were festivals celebrated in
Anthesphoria.
;ss==^= Sicily, in honour of Proserpine, \\\ consequence

of her being carried away by Pluto as she was gathesing flowers.

===== The Anthesteria was so termed from the month

Anthesteria.
c;=:=^::^=s Anihesterion, partly answering to our Jsovember.

It had this peculiarity, that the masters served their slaves at ta-
ble, during the three days of that festival, which the Romans
imitated in their Saturnalia. At the end of the festival, they
turned those slaves out of doors, and as they were almost all of
Caria, hence came the proverb; begone ye Cariaris, the Anthesteria
are ended.

306 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF FESTIVALS.

_ The ^paturia, a festival of the Athenians,

The Apaturia.
^:=:^^=ss55s= SO called from a word that signifies deceit, owed

its institution to the following piece of histoi-y. The Boeotians
having declared war against the Athenians, upon occasion of a
contest between them about the territory of Celaense or Onoe,
which they both claimed, Xanthus, captain of the BcEotians, offer-
ed to decide the quarrel in a dml. Thymsetes, king of Athens,
having declined the challenge, was deposed, and Melanlhius, who
accepted it was put in his place. He, seeing his enemy conung
up, told him it was not like a brave man to bring a second with
him to the duel. Xanthus turned about to see if any one follow-
ed him, and in the meantime, Melanthius thrust him through.
This festival lasted three days: on \hejirsf they kept a feast; they
sacrificed on the seco77d, and on the third they inrolled the youths
that were to be admitted.

'■ The .Ajihrodisia^ were celebrated in honour of

The Aphrodisia.

■ Venus, at Cyprus, and in several other places.

Here, they who would be initiated, gave a piece of money to

Venus, as to a prostitute, and received from her some salt and a

phallus, presents worthy of the Goddess.

_ The Apollonia were instituted to Apollo and

The Apollonia.
^=5^ss5i= Diana by the people of .iEgialea, on this occa-

sion. Apollo, after the defeat of Python, repaired to ^gialea with
his sister Diana: but being driven thence, he was obliged to seek
a retreat in Crete. In the mean time, the plague raging in the
city which this God had left, the iEgialeans came to consult the
oracle, and were told that they must depute seven young men,
and as many young virgins, to go in search o^ Apollo and Dianoy
and brnig them back to their city. This depntatior\ pleased the
offended Deities, and they returned to iEgiuIea, where the peo-
ple dedicated a temple to Pytho, the Goddess of persuasion; and
in commemoration of this event, they sent out yearly the same

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 307

SEC. VI. CF FEhl IVALS.

number cf youths ot both sexes, as it were to go in quest oiJfiollo

and Diana.

■ The .Artemisia, festivals of Diana, were cele-

The Artemisia. '

^=:::::::;=::;:=^:^=i brated in several parts of Greece, particularly

at Del/i/ios, where they offeied to the Goddess, a fish called the
muUett, which, as was supposed, bore some affinity to the God-
dess of hunting, because it is said to hunt and kill other fish.
There was a solemnity of the same name at Syracuse; it lasted
three days, which were spent in banqueting and diversions.

■ The Ascrilia w-as a festival in honour of Bac-
The Ascolia.

■ chiis, celebrated about December, by the Athe-

nian husbandmen, who generally sacrificed a goat to the God,
because that animal is a grea' enemy to the vine. They made a
bottle with the skin of the victim, which they filled with oil and
wine, and afterwards leaped upon it. He who could stand upon it
first was victorious, and received the bottle as a reward. Tils
was called leaping upon the bottle, whence the name of the festi-
val is derived. It was also introduced in Italy, where the people
besmeared their faces with the dregs of wine, and sang hymns to
the God. They always hanged some small images of the God
on the tallest trees in their vineyards, and these images they call-
ed Oscilla.

- The Athenxa .were festivals in honour of Mi'

The Athenaca.

■ nerva the patroness of the Athenians. They

were instituted by Erichtheiis or Orfiheus; but Theseus afterwards
renewed them, and caused them to be celebrated and observed by
all the Tribes of Athens, which he had united into one, and for
which reason these festivals received the name of Panathenaa.
In the first years of the insiitution, they were observed only du-
ring one day, but afterwards the time was prolonged, and the ce-
lebration was attended with greater pomp and solemnity. The
festivals were two; the Panathenea, which was observed every
5th year, and the lesser Panathenaa, which were kept every 3d

308 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF FESTIVALS. SEC. VI.

year, or annually. — In the lesser festivals there were three games
conducted by ten presidents chosen from the ten tribes of Athens,
who continued four yeai s in office. On the evening of the first
day there was a race with torches, in which men on foot, and
afterwards on horseback, contended. The second combat was
gymnical, and exhibited a trial of bodily strength and dexterity.
The last was a musical contention, first instituted by Pericles.
The poets contended in four plays, the last of which was a satire.
There was also at Sunium an imitation of a naval fight. Who-
ever obtained the victory in any of these games was rewarded
with a vessel of oil, which he was permitted to dispose of in what-
ever manner he pleased, and it was unlawful for any other per-
son to transport that commodity. The conqueror also received
a crown of the olives which grew in the groves of Academus,
and were sacred to Minerva, who thus expressed her triumph
over the vanquished Titans. Gladiators were also introduced
when Athens became tributary to the Romans. During the cele-
bration no person was permitted to appear in d\ed garments, and
if any one transgressed he was punished according to the discre-
tion of the president of the games. After these things, a sump-
tuous sacrifice was offered, in which every one of the Athenian
boroughs contributed an ox; and the whole was concluded by an
entertainment for all the company with the flesh that remained
from the sacrifice. — In the greater festivals, the same rites and
ceremonies were usually observed, but with more solemnity and
magnificence. Others were also added, particularly the proces-
sion, in which Minerva's sacred garment was carried. This gar-
ment was woven by a select number of virgins. They were su-
perintended by two young virgins, not above seventeen years of
age nor under eleven, whose garments were Avhite and set off
with ornaments of gold. Minerva^s garment or Jieplus was of a
white colour without sleeves, and embroidered with gold. Upon
it were described the achievements of the Goddess, particularly

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. 309

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

her victories over the giants. The exploits of Jufiiter and the
other Gods were also represented there, and from that circum-
stance men of courage and bravery are said to be worthy to be
portrayed in Minerva's sacred garraejit. In the procession of the
pefilus, the following ceremonies were observed. In the Cerami'
cus, without the city, there was an engine built in the form of a
ship, upon which iT/mc?-x'a's garment was hung as a sail, and the
whole was conducted, not by beasts, as some have supposed, but
by subterraneous machines, to the temple of Ceres JEleusinia, and
from thence to the citadel, where the /ic/ilus was placed upon
Minerva's statue, which was laid upon a bed woven or strewed
with flowers. Persons of all ages, of every sex and quality, at-
tended the procession, which was led by old men and women
carrying olive branches in their hands, from which reason they
were called hearers o^ green borjs. Next followed men in the prime
of life with shields and sfiears. These were succeeded by for-
eigners who carried small boats as a token of their foreign origin,
and on that account were called boat bearers. After these came
the women attended by the wives of the foreigners, who carried
water-fiots. Next to these were young men crowned with millet.,
and singing hymns to the Gods. After them followed select vir-
gins of the noblest families, called basket bearers., because they
carried baskets.^ containing the things necessary for the celebra-
tion, distributed among them by the chief manager of the festi-
val. These were succeeded by the daughters of foreigners, who
carried little seats., from which they were called seat carriers.
Finally, the boys lead the rear — The necessaries for this and
every other festival was prepared in a public hall erected for that
purpose, between the Pircean gate and the temple of Cer$s. The
management and the care of the whole was entrusted to people
employed in seeing the rites and ceremonies properly observed.
It was also used to set ail prisoners at liberty, and to present

310 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATKY. CHAP. Ill

OF FESTIVALS. SEC. VI.

golden croM'ns to such as had deserved well of their country.

Some persons were also chosen to sing some of Homer's poems,

a custom which was first introduced by Hififiarchus the son of

Pisistratua. It was also customary in this festival, and every

other quinquennial festival, to pray for the prosperity of the Pla-

i(eans, whose services had been so conspicuous at the battle of

Alarat/ton.

• ■ ■ --- The Boedromia was a festival at Athens, du-
The Boedromia.
■ ring which, they ran about, bawling with all

their might; look their name from Boe, a cry, and Dromos, run-
ning. They were celebrated in the month of August; whence
the Athenian month answering to it, was named Boedromion.
This festival, according to Plutarch, was instituted when the
Atnazons gained possession of Athens.

■ The Boreasmi were festivals celebrated at
The Boreasmi. , • i r>

■ Athens, to appease the wind Boreas.

_ The Brauronia were festivals of Diana at

The Brauronia. ,^ pa- i • u it

.... Brauron, a town of Attica, which were celebra-

ted once every fith year. They sacrificed a goat to the Goddess,
and it Avas usual to sing one of the books of Homer's Iliad, The
most remarkable that attended were young virgins in yellow
gowns, consecrated to Diana. They were about ten years of
age, and not under five. — There was a bear in one of the villa-
ges of Attica, so tame that he ate with the inhabitants, and play-
ed harmlessly with them. This familiarity lasted long, till a
young virgin treated the animal too roughly, and was killed by it.
The virgin's brother killed the bear, and the country was soon
after visited by a pestilence. The Oracle was consulted, and the
plagn#'removed by consecrating virgins to the service of Diana,
This was so faithfully observed, that no woman in Athens was
married, without this ceremony.

'■ The Cabiria were festivals celebrated with the

. „. , ^ '^^' ' ". greatest solemnity at Samothrace, where all

CHAP. HI. SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. 311

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

the ancient heroes and princes were generally initiated as

their power seemed to be great in protecting persons from

shipwreck and storms. The obscenities which prevailed in the

celebration have obliged the authors of every country to pass over

them in silence, and say that it was unlawful to reveal them.

======== The Callisteria was a festival at Lesbos, during

The Callisteria.
■■ which women contended for the prize of beauty,

in the temple-ef Jimo., and the fairest was rewarded in a public
manner. There was also an institution of the same kind among
the Parrhasians, first made by Cypselus, whose wife was honour-
ed with the first prize. The Eleans had one also, in which the
fairest man received, as a prize, a complete suit of armour, v/hich
he dedicated to Minerva.

■ The Canelihoria were festivals celebrated at

The Canephoi'ia.

- Athens in honour of Baccbuu^ or, according to

others, oi Diana., in which all marriageable women offered small

baskets to the Deity, and received the nanie of Canefihorx,, whence

statues representing women in that attitude were called by the

same appellation.

===== The Carneia was a festival observed in most
The Cai-neia.

■ of the Grecian cities, but more particularly at

Sparta, where it v/as first instituted, about 675 years B. C. in

honour of Ajiollo surnamed Carneus. It lasted nine days, and was

an imitation of the manner of living in camps among the ancients.

• The Charila was a festival observed once in
The Charila.
^^^5^^=:^^ nine years by the Delphians. It owes its origin

to this circumstance: in a great famine the people of Delphos
assembled and applied to their king to relieve their wants. He
accordingly distributed the little corn he had among the noblest;
but as a poor little girl, called Charila., begged the king with more
than common earnestness, he beat her with his shoe, and the
girl, unable to bear his treatment, hanged herself with her girdle.
The famine increased; and the Oracle told the king, that to re-

312 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. HI.

OF FESTIVALS. SEC. VI.

lieve his people, he must atone for the murder of Charila. Upon
this a festival was instituted, with expiatory rites. The king pre-
sided over this institution, and distributed pulse and corn to such
as attended. Charila's image was bioughl before the king, who
struck it with his shoe; after which it was carried to a desolate
place, where they put a halter round its neck, and buried it where
Charila was buried.

■ The Charisia was a festival in honour of the
The Charisia.

■ Graces, with dances which continued all night.

He who continued awake the longest, was rewarded with a cake.

■ The Chelidonia was a festival at Rhodes, in

The Chelidonia.

-^-— which it was .customary for boys to go begging

from door to door, and singing certain songs, &c.

= The Cissotomia was a festival, so called, from

The Cissotomia. . . .,,.., p

„ _ ^ the ivy they wore at its celebration, m honour or

Hebe the Goddess of youth.

.. ■ The Cro7iia was a festival at Athens, in honour

The Cronia. „ „ r.-. t^. i- i i •

of Saturn. 1 he Rhodians observed the same

festival, and generally sacrificed to the God a condemned male-
factor.

., The Cyno/i/iontis was a festival celebrated at

TheCynophontis. , , , i • i • i ^i i

5;;;;;^;^^^;^:^=^ Argos, On the dog-days., during which they slew

all the dogs; whence this solemnity had its name.

: The Dicdala were two festivals in Boeotia. The

■ lesser of these -vvas observed by the Pialxans, in

a large grove, where ihey exposed, in the open air, pieces of
boiled flesh, and carefully observed whither the crows that came
to prey upon them, directed their flight. All the trees upon
which any of these birds alightec, were immediately cut down
and with them statues were made, called Dxdala, in honour of

Dedalus. The greater fesiival was of a more solemn kind. It was

celebrated every sixty days, by all the cities of Boeotia, as a com-
pensation for the intermission of the lesser festivals, during the

CHAP. 111. SUPERSTniUNS OF IDOLATRY. 31J

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

sixty years exile of the Platseans, and irj commemoration of tliat
exile. Fourteen of the statues, called Dadala, were distributed
by lot among the Plataeans, Lebadasans, Orchomenians, Thes-
pians, Thebans, Tanagrseans, and Chaemneans, because they had
effected a reconciliation, and caused the Platseans to be re-called
from exile, about the time that Thebes was restored by Cassan-
der, the son of Antipater.

====== The Daidis was a solemnity observed amons:

The Daidis. ' ^

■ the Greeks. It lasted three days. The Jirst was

in commemoration of Latond's labour. The second in ruemory of
Ajiollo's birth, and the third in honour of Podalirius^ and of the
mother of Alexander. Torches were always carried at the cele-
bration; whence the name.

• The Dafihnepkojia was a Festival in honour

Daphneplioria.

■ ■ of Jpollo, celebrated every ninth year by the

Boeotians. It was then usual to adorn an olive bough with gar-
lands of laurel and other flowers, i;nd place on the top a brazen
globe, on which were suspended smaller ones. In the middle was
placed a number of crowns, and a globe of inferior size, and the
bottom was adorned with a saffron coloured garment. The globe
on the top represented the sun or AjioWi; that in the middle was
an emblem of the moon^ and the others of the stars. The crowns
represented the days of the years. This bough was carried in
front of a solemn procession by a beautiful youth of an illustrious
family.

====== The Delia was a festival celebrated everv

The Delia. . . ^

^:s=s==s=^ fifth year in the island of Delos, in honour of

Apollo. It was first instituted by Theseus, who, at liis return fiom
Crete, placed a statue there, which he had received fiom Ariad-
ne. At the celebration, they crov ned the statue with garlands,
appointed a choir of n.usic, and exhibited horse races. They
afterwards led a dance, in which they imitated, by tiieir motions,
the various windings of the Cretan labyrinth, from which Theseus

314 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDULATllY. CHAP. III.

OF FESTIVALS. SEC. VI.

had extricated himself by Aiiadne's assistance. — There was also
another festival of the same name, yearly celebrated by the Athe-
nians at Delos. It was also instituted by Tiieseus, who, when he
was goins? to Crete, made a vow, that if he returned victorious,
he would yearly visit, in a solemn manner, the temple of Delos.
The persons employed in this annual procession were called
Deliastx^ and the ship in which they made the visit to Delos be-
ing the same which carried Theseus to Crete, and which had
been carefully preserved by the Athenians, was called Delias.
"When the ship was ready for the voyage, the priest of Afiollo
solemnly adorned the stern with garlands, and an universal lus-
tration was made all over the city. The Deliaste were crowned
with laurel, and before them proceed men armed with axes, in
commemoration of Theseus, who had cleared the way from Tras-
zene to Athens, and delivered the country from robbers. When
the ship arrived at Delos, they offered solemn sacrifices to the
God of the island, and celebrated a festival in his honour. After
this they retired to the ship, and sailed back to Athens, where
all the people of the city ran in crowds to meet them. Every
appearance of festivity prevailed at their approach, and the citi-
zens opened their doors, and prostrated themselves before the
Deliastx^ as they walked in procession. During this festival it
was unlav^ful to put to death any malefactor, and on that account
the life of Socrates was prolonged for thirty days.

■ The Demetria was a festival in honour of

The Demetria.
• Ceresi called by the Greeks Demeter. It was

then customary for the votaries of the Goddess to lash themselves
with whips made with the bark of trees. The Athenians had a
solemnity of the same name, in honour of Demetrius Polior-
certes.

^. . . The Diamastigosis was a festival at Sparta in

Diamastjgosis.

' honour of Diana, in which boys of the first re-

spectability were whipped before the altar of the Goddess. This

CHAP. in. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 315

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

operation was performed by an officer in a severe and unfeeling-
manner; and that no compassion should be raised, the priest stood
near the altar with a small light statue of the Goddess, which
suddenly became heavy and insupportable if the lash of the whip
was lenient or less rigorous. The parents of the children attended
the solemnity, and exhorted them not to betray any thing either
by fear or groans, that might be unworthy of their education.
These flagellations were so severe, that the blood g:ushed forth,
and many expired under the lash of the whip without uttering a
groan, or betraying any marks of fear. Such a death was reckon-
ed very honourable, and the corpse was buried with much solem-
nity, with a garland of flowers on its head. The origin of this
festival is unknown. Some suppose that Lycurgus first instituted
it to inure the youths of Lacedemon to bear labour and fatigue,
and render them insensible to pain and wounds.

■ ■ The Diasia were festivals in honour ol Jufii-

The Diasia.
■sss=s=:=. ''^'' ^t Athens; because by makmg application to

Jupiter.) men obtained relief from their misfortunes, and were

delivered from dangers. During this festival things of all kinds

were exposed to sale.

' " The Dionysia were festivals in honour of Bac-

The Dionysia. " • .

■ chus among the Gieeks. Their form and solem-

nity were first introduced into Gieece from Egypt, by a certain
Melampus, and are the same as the festivals celebrated by the
Egyptians in honour of Isis. They were observed at Athens with
more splendour and ceremonious superstition than in any other
part of Greece. The years were numbered by their celebration,
the Archon assisted at the solemnity, and the priests that officiated
were honoured with the most dignified seats at the public Games.
At first they were celebrated with great simplicity. The wor-
shippers imitated in their dress and actions the poetical fictions
concerning Bacchus. They clothed themselves in fawn skins,
fine linen, and mitres; they carried thyrsi, drums, pipes, and

316 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF FESTIVALS. SEC. VI.

flutes; and crowned themselves with garlands of ivy, vine, fir, &c.
Some imitated Silenus, Pan^ and the Satyrs^ by the uncouth man-
ner of their dress, and their fantastical motions. Some rode upon
asses, and others drove the goats to slaughter for the sacrifice.
In this manner both sexes joined in the solemnity, and ran about
the hills and country, nodding their heads, dancing in ridiculous
postures, and filling the air with hideous shrieks and clamorous
shoutings. — The festivals of Bacchus were innumerable. All
were celebrated by the Greeks with great licentiousness, and they
contributed much to the corruption of morals among all ranks of
the people.

, The Diosciiria were festivals in honour of

I'he Dioscuria.
^^^;^^sss=. Castor and Pollux^ who were called Dioscuri.

They were celebrated by the people of Corcyra, and chiefiy by

the Lacedaemonians with much jovial festivity.

===== The Elal'hebolia was a festival in honour oS. Di-
The ELiphebolia.

- ana the himtress. In the celebration, a ccA-e was

made in the form of a (/e£'7-,and offered to the Goddess.

/ The Eleusinia was a great festival in honour of

The Eleusinia.
^s;;:;;:^::^;;:^;:;^:::^ Ceres and Proserpine, observed by many cities

of Greece, but more particularly at Elcusis in Attica, where it
was introduced by Eumolpus, before Christ 1356. Of all the re-
ligious ceremonies of Greece, those of this festival were the most
celebrated, whence they were often called, by way of emidence,
the mjsteries. They were sosuperstitiously concealed, that if any
one revealed them it was supposed that he had called divine ven-
geance upon his head, for which he was publicly punished with
an ignominious death. If any one ever appeared at the celebra-
tion, either intentionally, or through ignorance, without proper
introduction, he was immediately punished with death. Persons
of both sexes and all ages were initiated at this solemnity, and it
was looked upon as so heinous a crime to neglect this sacred part
of religion, that it was one of the heaviest accusations which con-

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 317

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

tributed to the condemnation of Socrates. The initiated were
under the more particular care of the Deities, and therefore their
lives were supposed to be attended with more happiness and real
security than those of other men. This benefit was not only grant-
ed during life, but it extended beyond the grave, and they were
honoured with the first places in the Elysian fields. Particular
care was taken in examining the character of such as were pre-
sented for initiation; nor were any admitted but citizens of Athens.
This regulation, which compelled Hercules^ Castor and Pollux^
to become citizens of Athens, was strictly observed in the first
ages of the institution, but afterwards all persons, barbarians ex-
cepted, were freely initiated.

' The Eleutheria was a festival celebrated at
The Eleutheria. . „

;s;^s;^;=;=i Platsca m honour of Jufiiter Eleutherius, or the

assertor of liberty, by delegates from almost all the cities of
Greece. Its institution oiigina.ted in this; after the victory obtain-
ed by the Grecians under Pausanias over Mardonius the Persian
general, in the country of Platsea, an altar and statue were erected
to Jufiiter Eleutherius. who had freed the Greeks from tlie tyran-
ny of the barbarians. It was further agreed upon in a general
assembly, by the advice of Aristides the Athenian, that deputies
should be sent every fifth year from the different cities of Greece
to celebrate the Eleutheria^ festivals of liberty.

- The Encxnia^ — the day of the dedication of

The Encaenia. , , , ,

^5^^;^^^^^=; every temple was celebrated by a particular fes-

tival, called the Encania.

' The Eoria was a festival at Athens, in honour

The Eoria.
^^^_____^ of Erigone^ the daughter of Icarus; for the in-

stitution of which, this reason is given— that Erigone.^ being driven
by extremity of grief for the murder of her father, to hang her-
self, had prayed the Gods, as she was dying, that unless the
Athenians avenged her father's death, their daughters might all

2 R

318 SUPERS riTlONS OY IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF FESTIVALS. SEC. VI.

perish in the same manner. Accordingly several of them hanged

themselves; upon which jilioUo being consulted, he ordered the

institution of a festival, to appease the manes o{ Erigone.

■ ■ The Erotidia was a festival in honour of Cu-
The Erotidia.

„ ,.„ „' ftid the God of love. It was celebrated by the

Thespians, every fifth year, with sports and Games, when musi-
cians, among others, contended. If any quarrels, or seditions had
arisen among the people, it was then usual to offer sacrifices and
prayers to the God, that he would totally remove them.

:■ The Eumeiiidia were festivals in honour of the

The Eunienid'ia.
__^_^_^^^^;^ F.umenides or Furies. They were celebrated an-

nually, with saciifices of pregnant ewes, with offerings of cakes
made by the most eminent youths, and libations of honey and
wine. At Athens none but free-born citizens were admitted, who
had led the most virtuous life, as others were not acceptable to
the Goddesses whose care it was to punish all sorts of wicked-
ness in an exemplary manner.

. ^ The Gamelia, adopted from a surname of

The Gameha. _ \

1=^ Jmio^ was a private festival observed at three pe-
riods of one's Life. The fiibt was in commemoration of a birth'
day; the second was the celebration of a marriage; and the third
was an anniversary of the death of a person. The second gene-
rally took place about the first of January, wherefore marriages
on that day were considered as good omens.

■ ■ The Hccatesia was a yearly festival observed

The Hecatesia. , , r^ . . .

:: by the Stratonicensiansm honour of //ecG^e. The

Athenians paid also particular worship to this Goddess, who was
deemed the patroness of families and of children. From this
circumstance the statues of the Goddess were erected before the
doors of the houses, and upon every new moon a public supper
■was always provided at the expense of the richest people, and set
irSthe streets, where the poorest of the citizens wei'e permitted
10 feast upon it, while they reported that Hecate had devoured it.

CHAP. Ilf. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 319

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

There were also expiatory ofTeiings to supplicate the Goddess
to remove whatever evils might impend on the head of the pub-
lic, 8cc.

■ The Hecatomboia or Hertza were Festivals at
Hecatomboia. . •

— Argos in honour of J/^7?o, who was the patroness

of that city. They were also celebrated by colonies of the Aif^ives
•which had been planted at Samos and .Eginn. There were always
two processions to the temple of the Goddess without the city
walls. The first was of the men in armour; the second of the wo-
men, among whom the piicstcss, a woman of the first quality, was
drawn in a chariot by white oxen. The Argives always reckoned
their years from her priesthood, as the Athenians did from their
archons, or as the Romans did from their consuls. When they came

to the temple of the Goddess they ofTered a hecatomb of oxen

There was a Festival of the same name in Elis, celebrated every
fifth year, in which sixteen matrons wove a garment for the God-
dess—There were also others instituted by Ilippodromia, who had
received assistance from Juno when she married Pelops. Sixteen
matrons, each attended by a maid, presided at the celebration. The
contenders were young virgins, who being divided in classes, ac-
cording to their age, ran races each in their order, beginning with
the youngest. The habit of all was alike, their hair was dishevel-
led, and their right shoulder bare to the breast, with coats reach-
ing no lower than the knee. She who obtained the victory was
rewarded with a crown of olive, and obtained a part of the ox that
was offered in sacrifice, and was permitted to dedicate her picture
to the Goddess.— There was also a solemn day of mourning at
Corinth, which bore the same name, in commemoration of Me-
dea's children, who were buried in Juno's temple. They had
been slain by the Corinthians; who, as it is reported, to avert the
scandal which accompanied so barbarous a murder, presented
Euripides with a large sum of money to write a play, in which
Medea, herself? is represented as the murderer of her children.

520 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. HI.

— r

OF FESTIVALS. SEC. VI.

. The Hecatomphonia was a solemn sacrifice of-
Hecatomplionia.

=^====; fered by the Mesbcnians to Jupiter.) when any of

them had killed an hundred of the enemy.

. The Hele7iia was a festival in Laconia, in hon-

The Helenia. •• , , ,. . ,

;^—^— ————-- our oi Hele7i, who received there divine honours.

It was celebrated by virgins riding upon mules, and in chariots

made of reeds and bulrushes.

■ The Hefihestia was a festival in honour of

The Hephsestla. „ . , n,, , • ,

■ ■ Vulcan at Athens. 1 here was then a race with

torches between three young men. Each in his turn ran a race
with a lighted torch in his hand, and whoever could carry it to
the end of the course before it was extinguished, obtained the
prize. They delivered it one to the other after they finished their
course, and from that circumstance we see many allusions in an-
cient authors, Avbo compare the vicissitudes of human affairs to
this delivering of the torch.

■ The Heracleia was a festival at Athens, cele-

The Heracleia. .

. brated every fifth year m honour of Hercules.—

The Thisbians and Thebans in Bceotia, observed a festival of the
same name, in which they offered apples to the God. This cus-
tom of offering apples arose from this: it was always usual to of-
fer sheep, but the overflowing of the river Asopus prevented the
votaries of the God from observing it with the ancient ceremony;
and as the same word signified both an apple and a sheep, some'
youths acquainted with the ambiguity of the term, offered apples
to the'God, with much sport and festivity. Hercules was delight-
ed with the ingenuity of the youths, and the festival was ever
continued with the offering of apples.

■ The Hermaa was a festival in Crete, whereof

The Hermaea.
I II I I ...I. the principal ceremony consisted in masters

waiting upon their servants. It was also observed at Athens and
Babylon.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. ,J21

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

===== The Horxa — The four Seasons of the year
The riorsea.
s=s==^;= had also their festivals, which were terhied Ho-

raa, from the Greek naiTie of the Seasons; and in each of these
festivals they kept a solemn entertainment, upon the fruits of the
earth.

_ The Hijaciniliia was an annual solemnity at

The Hj'acinthia. " . . .

■ Amyclxa, in Laconia, in honour of Hyacinthua^

who was killed by ylfioilo. It continued for three days, during
which time the grief of the people was so great for the death of
Hyacinfhust that they did not adorn their hair with garlands during
their festivals, nor eat bread, but feed only upon sweetmeats.
They did not even sing paeans in honour of J/iollo^ or observe any
of the solemnities which were usual at other sacrifices. On the
second day of the festival there were a number of different exhi-
bitions. The city began then to be filled with joy, and immense
numbers of victims were offered on the altars of AfioUo^ and the
votaries liberally entertained their friends and slaves. During this
latter part of the festivity, all were eager to be present at the
games, and the city was almost desolated of its inhabitants.

. The Hydrofihoria was a festival observed at

Hvdrophoria.

■ Athens. It was celebrated in commemoration of

those who perished in the deluge of Deucalion and Ogyges.

' The Leonidea were festivals yearly celebrated

The Leonidea.
- at Sparta in honour of Leonidas^ the hero of

Thermopile, in which free-born youths contended.
' The Lycxa were festivals in Arcadia, in ho-

The Lycaea.

- nour of Pt/w, the God of shepherds. They are

the Same, as the Liifiercalia of the Romans.

■ The Lycurgides were annual days of solem-

The Lycurgides.

==^=;=; nity appointed in honour of Lycurgus the re-
nowned lawgiver of Sparta.

•■ . •. ■ The M<:nelaia was a festival celebrated at

The Menelaia.

- Therapnse in Laconia, in honour of Menelaus.

322 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF FESTIVALS. SEC. VI.

He had there a temple, where he was worshipped with his wife

Helen as one of the supreme Gods.

' The Muse were festivals instituted in honour

The Musse.
5=^==== of the Muses in several parts of Greece, espe-

cially among tiie Thespians, every fifth year. The Macedonians

observed also a festival in honour of Jujiiter and the Muses. It

had been instituted by king Archelaus, and it was celebrated with

stage plays, games, and different exhibitions, which continued

nine days, according to the number of the Muses.

. Tlie J^'emesia was a festival in memory of

The Nemesia.

===== deceased persons, as the Goddess JVemesis was

supposed to defend t'^.e relics and the memory of the dead from

all insult.

. The J^e/ihalia were festivals in honour of

The Nephalia. ■,

■ Mnemosyne the mother of the Muses. No wine

was used during the ceremony, but merely a mixture of water
and honey.

L- The VWce^ena was a festival of Athens, in me-

' mory of the victory which Minerva obtained over

Mefitune^ in their dispute about giving a name to the capital of the
country.

- The iN'umenia^ or J^eomenia was a festival ob-

TheNumenia. , . . ^ , . i • • r

_5j5;2;s== served by the Greeks at the begmning ot every

lunar month, in honor of all the Gods, but especially of Apollo^ or
the SwTz, who is justly deemed the author of light, and of whatever
distinction is made in the months, seasons, days, and nights. It
was observed with games and public entertainments which were
provided at the expense of rich citizens, and which were always
frequented by the poor. Solemn prayers were offered at Athens
during the solemnity for the prosperity of the republic. The
Demi-Gods as well as the Heroes of the ancients were honoured
and invoked in this festival.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY.

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

' The Osco/ihoiia was a fesiival celebrated at

The Oscophoria. .....

;ss=== Alliens. Its original institution is thus mention-

ed: Theseus at his return fiom Crete, forgot to hantj out the white
sail by which his father was to he apprized of his success. This
neglect was fatal to Mgeiis, who with chagrin at the supposed ill
success of his son, threw himself into the sea and perished. The-
seus no sooner reached the land, than he sent a herald to inform
his father of his safe return, and in the mean time, he began to
make the sacrifices which he vowed when he first set sail from
Crete, The herald, on his entrance into the city, found the peo-
ple in great agitation. Some lamented the kings death, while
others, elated at the sudden news of the victory of Theseus^
crowned the herald with garlands in demonstration of joy. The
herald carried back the garlands on his staff to the sea shore,
and after he had waited till Theseus had finished his sacri-
fice, he related the melancholy story of the king's death.
Upon this, the people ran in crowds t6 the city, shewing
their grief by cries and lamentations. From that circumstance,
therefore, at the feast of Osco/ihoria^ not the herald, but his
staff, is crowned with garlands, and all the people that were pre-
sent alv^ays made two exclamations, the first of which express-
ed haste, and the other a consternation or depression of spirits.
The historian further mentions, that Theseus, when he went
to Crete, did not take with him the usual number of virgins, but
that instead of two of them, he filled up the number with two
youths of his acquaintance, whom he made pass for women, by
disguising their dress, and by using them to the ointments and
perfumes of women, as well as by a long and successful imitation
of their voice. The imposition succeeded; their sex was not dis-
covered in Crete, and when Theseus had triumphed over the
Minotaur, he, with these two youths, led a procession with
branches in their hands, in the habits which were afterwards used
by the women at the celebration of the Osco/ihoria, The branches

524 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF FESTIVALS.

which were carried were in honour of Bacchus or oi AriadMc^ or
because ihey returned in autumn, when the j>;rapes were ripe.
Besides this procession, there was also a race exliibited, in which
only young men, whose parents were both alive, were permitted
to engage. It was usual for them to run from the temple of Bac-
chus to that of Minerva.) wliich was on the sea-shore, where the
boughs which they carried in their hands were deposited. The
rewards of the conqueror was a cap- the name of which signified
fivefold,! because it contained a mixture of five different things,
viz., vjine^ honcij^ cheese.^ ineal. and oil.

===== The Piijnteria was a Festival among the Greeks

The Plvnteria. . ^ ,^ , ■ , r ,

■ . . : in honour ot Minerva.^ who received trom the

daughter of Cecrops the name of Jglauros. Uuiing the solem-
nity, they undressed the statue of the Goddess, and washed it.
The day on which it was observed was universally looked upon as
unfortunate and inauspicious, and on that account, no person was
permitted to appear in the temples, as they were purposely sur-
rounded with ropes.

.- . . The SepterioJi was a festival observed once in

The Septerioii.
____________ nine years at Delphos, m honour ol Afiollo. It

was a representation of the pursuit of Fyihon by Jpollo^ and of

the victory obtained by the God.

■ The Soteria were days appointed for thanks-
The Soteria.
' givinqs and the offering of sacrifices, for deli-

verance from danger. One of these was observed of Sicyon, to

commemorate the deliverance of that city from the hands of the

Macedonians, by Aratus.

'■■ The Thargelia were festivals in honour of

The Thargelia.
===== J/wllo and Diana. They lasted two days, and the

youngest of both sexes carried olive branches on which were

suspended cakes and fruits.

'~' The Theoxinia was a festival celebrated in

The Theoxinia. . • r /-^

honour of all the Gods m every city of Greece,

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 325

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

but especially at Athens. Games were then observed, and the
conqueror who obtained the prize, received a large sum of mo-
ney, 01', according to others, a vest beautifully ornamented. The
Dioscuri established a festival of the same name, in honour of
the Gods, who had visited them at one of their entertainments.

' ' ' ' The Thesmophora were instituted by Triptol-
Thesmophora.
^s=^==s=^ emus, in honour of Ceres., or according to some

by Orpheus. The greater part of the Grecian ciiies, especially
Athens, observed them with great solemnity. The worshippers
were free-born women, whose husbands were obliged to defray
the expenses of the festival. They were assisted by a priest who
carried a crown on his head. There were also certain virgins who
officiated, and were maintained at the public expense. The free-
born women were dressed in white robes, to intimate their spot-
less innocence; they were charged to observe the strictest chas-
tity during the five days' celebration of the solemnity, and on
that account it was usual to strew their bed with fleabane, and all
such herbs as were supposed to have the power of expelling all
venereal propensities. They were also charged not to eat pome-
granates, or to wear garlands on their heads, as the whole was to
be observed with the greatest signs of seriousness and gravity,
without any display of wantonness or levity. It was however usual
to jest at one another, as the Goddess Ceres had been made to
smile by a merry expression when she was sad and melancholy
for the recent loss of her daughter Proserfiine.

^^ ,^ ■ , ■ • The Triclaria, was a yearly festival celebrated
The rriclaria,
ss===5s by the inhabitants of three cities in Ionia, to ap-

pease the anger of Diana Triclaria., whose temple had been defiled
by the adulterous commerce of Menalippus and Cometho. It was
usual to sacrifice a boy and girl, but this barbarous custom was abo-
lished by Eurypilus. The three ciiies were Aroc, Messans, and
Anthea, whose united labours had erected the ten.ple of the God-
dess. 2 S

§^6 SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF FESTIVALS.

■ The Xanthica was a fesiival observed by the

The Xanthica. ^ , '

" ■■ Macedonians in the month called Xanthicus^ the

Same di^ April. It was then usual to make a lustration of the army

with great solemnity. A bitch was cut into two parts, and one half

of the body placed on one side, and the other part on the other

side, after which the soldiers marched between and they imitated

a real battle by a sham engagement.

3cf, Roman Festivals,

"■■ . • The Roman calendar contained yet a greater

The Romans rr-ii ,. r.<-. .

adopted Greek nvimber ol testivals than that ot the tireeks; since

festivals and in- ^esi^ies those that they had borrowed from them,

stituted others: ^

t -— i^ they instituted several others unknown to the

vest of the world. We will first mention those they had adopted
from the Greeks.

' 1st, As the Greeks celebrated the Chronia in

were common to '^o^o"*" of Saturn, so did the Romans celebrate
^^th. ^]^g same ceremonies under the name of Saturn-

*~~~~~*"~~"~" alia. They were instituted long before the foun-
dation of Rome, in conjmemoraiion of the freedom and equality
which prevailed on earth in the golden reign of Saturn. The Sa-
turnalia were originally celebrated only for one day, but afterwards
the solemnity continued for three, four, five and at last for seven
days. The celebration was remarkable for the liberty which uni-
versally prevailed. The slaves were permitted to ridicule their
masters, and to speak with freedom upon every subject. It was
usual for friends to make presents to one another, all animosity
ceased, no criminals were executed, schools were shut, hostilities
were suspended, while all was mirth, riot, and debauchery. In the
sacrifices the priests made their offerings with their heads unco-
vered, a custom which was never observed at any other festival.
—2d, The festival named Jovialia was the same with what the
Greeks called Dia&ia, and was celebrated in honour of Jujiiter.~~-
3d, The festival Junonia^ instituted by the Romans, in honour of

CHAP. 111. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY, 327

-. ^,>^

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

Juno, was knowji to the Greeks by the name of Henea, with the
same ceremonies; for which see Hecatomboia, — 4th, The Megale-
sia, common to both of these idolatrous nations, was instituted in
honour of Cybele, or of the great mother. The Romans who cele-
brated this solemnity on mount Palatine, near the temple of that
Goddess, added to it two days called Megalesian days..^ — 5th, The
Cerealia and Ambervalia of the Romans corresponded to the D<?-
metria and Thesmophoria of the Greeks, all of them festivals of
Ceres. — 6th, The Mercurialia of the Romans, in honour of Mer-
cury, were the same with the Hermca^ of the Greeks. — 7th, The
Grecian Athenaea, or Pauathenaa in honour of MiTierva, were
adopted by the Romans under the nam.e oi Mange Ha. — 8th, Both
of these nations had the Orgies, the Trietcria, the A^ijctdeia, and
the Bacchanalia, all festivals of Bacchus. But because in these
last the Romans made some alterations, it is proper to take notice
of them. At first they celebrated their Bacchanalia only three
times a year; afterwards they solemnized them every month. I
shall give, from Livy, a declaration thereupon, given by Hispala
Fecenia a freed-woman, to the consul Porthumius. " In earlier
times, says she to him, the Bacchanalia were celebrated by none
but women, no man being allowed to join them. Three days in
the year were chosen for initiating into these mysteries, and the
ceremonial was performed by day. The priestesses who were to
preside there were left to the choice of the matrons. A total in-
novation was made by Paculla Minia: she initiated her two sons;
caused the ceremony to be performed in the night; and instead of
three days, she instituted five in each month. This promiscuous
meeting of men and women introduced horrid irregularities;
whereof if any of the company shewed a detestation, they offered
him up as a victim acceptable to their God, or took care to be rid
of him by soirie piece of machinery, and then gave out that he
was carried up to heaven. During this festival, the men, counter-
feiting madness, and exhibiting various contortions of their bodies ,

328 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. HI.

OF FESTIVALS. SEC. VI.

began to prophesy; while the women, in th^ir Bacchanal dress, and
all disshevelled, ran towards the Tiber, with burning torches in
their hands, which they plunge into the river, where they remain
unextinguished, as being made of sulphur and lime." The senate,
to rectify this disorder, passed a decree, suppressing the celebra-
tion of these infamous mysteries in Rome, and through all Italy;
but the Liberalia., another festival of Bacchus^ surnamed Liber Pa-
ter^ which they solemnized on the 17ih of March, were still con-
tinued, as not being quite so licentious. Here they offered up a
liquor composed of honey, which they threw into the fire. — 9th,
The Sufiercalia were equally celebrated in Greece, and at Rome,
in honour of Pan; whose ceremony, as we are told by LivY, Plu-
tarch, and Justin, was brought by Evander from Arcadia into
Italy. The youth, during this festival, run about quite naked, with
whips in their hands, lashing all who came in their way without
distinction. The women, even those of quality, believing there
was a virtue in those whips to make them fruitful, or to bring
them to a happy deliverance in case they were pregnant, offered
themselves to receive them. Valerius Maximus will have it,
that this festival was only introduced in the time of Romulus, at
the persuasion of the shepherd Faustulus. At the first celebra-
tion, they offered up goats to the God Pan. The shepherds who
were invited to it, being heated with drink at the feast, divided
into two bands, and ran about in a frolicksome way, clad in the
skins of the victims they had now offered. To render this festi-
val more solemn, the Romans founded two colleges of Zw/iem,
named the Fabii and Quiniilii; afterwards they created a third in
honour of Caesar, even in his life-time.

■- We will now proceed to mention in alphabet-

iSecoJirf, those of • i j i r .• i en

Roman institution '^^^ o^^^"^' ^^^'^ festivals as were of Roman in-

—their motives. stitution; remarking by the way, that they al-
'—"■""■""""' ways had a more rational motive for their fes-
tivals, than had, for the most part, the earlier institutors of

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 329

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

those superstitious ceremonies. By them they supplicated the
Gods, either for a plentiful harvest, or some other blessing. By
them they appeased those whom ihey thought they had injured,
or sought to turn away the calamities they were threatened with,
as we may judge from the history of those we shall mention. —
Oftentimes it was to keep up the remembrance of a benefit re-
ceived; and such was the festival named the Luceria^ a word de-
rived from Lucus, a Siicred grove. This solemnity was celebrated
in one of those groves which was between the Via Salaria and
the Tiber^ in commemoration of tlie deliverance of the Romans,
who were saved from the Gauls by flying into that retreat. Or
else it was to keep up the memory of some disaster; such was
the festival of the Pofiulifugia^ to commemorate tie day when
the people, and even Romulus's guards fled, upon the news of
the confederacy of the Fidenates and the other Latins, against
the Romans. — ^^Sometimes they were merely to promote mutual
joy; of this kind was the festival of Maiuma, so called because
it was celebrated on the first of May, when the principal per-
sons of the city repaired to Ostia, where they exercised them-
selves in sports of every kind. As solemnities, where pleasure
has full sway, are of all others the hardest to be abolished,
this last continued a long lime even under the christian emperors.
—There were festivals appropriated to certain stations in life, as
the Ca/irotinie (or the maid-servants, and others for men-servants.
—The mrerchants had one which they celebrated in the month of
May, in honour of Mercm-y, the God of commerce The ma-
trons celebrated the Matralia in honor of the Goddess Matuta, to
whom they offered rustic libations which they boiled in earthen
pots: these are the libations which Ovid names Flava Liba. But
as grandeur wants to be every where maintained, even at the foot
of the altar, the Roman ladies, while they excluded from this fes-
tival all the other sldves of their own sex, admitted one whom
they buffetted heartily. These matrons had also another festival,

330 SUPERSTITIONS OP mOLATRY. CHAP. IIL

OF FESTIVALS. SEC. VI.

named Matronalia^ which they celebrated in honour of the God
Marsf ow the first of that month vi^hich is named from him. Ovid
gives five reasons for the institution of this festival. The, Jirst., in
memory of the peace made between the Sabines and Romans, in
which the Sabine women, who were married to the Romans, had
so great a hand. The second, that Mars might make these Ro-
man ladies as happy as Romulus his son. The third, that they
might be blest with the same fiuitfulness as the month of March
imparts to the earth. The fourth, because it was upon the first
of March that a temple had been dedicated on mount Esquilines,
to Lucina the Goddess of childbed. The Jifth, which comes to
the same, because Mars was the son of Juno, who presides over
marriage. — The pastors and shepherds too had their festival, that
of the Palilia, dedicated to Pales their Goddess. On that day the
people took care to be purified with perfumes, mingled in horses'
blood, with the ashes of a calf that was burnt as soon as it was
taken from the mothei's belly, and v\ith stalks of beans. The
shepherds, on the morning of the festival day, purified likewise
their folds and flocks, with water and brimstone, and burned the
shrub called savine, whose smoke diffused itself over all the fold.
After this, they offered in sacrifice to the Goddess, milk, boiled
wine, and millet; then followed the feast. In the evening they
made bonfires of straw or hay, and leaped over them. Ovid de-
scribes this whole solemnity at full length. These ceremonies
were accompanied with musical instruments, such as flutes, cym-
bals, and tabours, which played all the day long — In fine, the
young people and the scholars had likewise their festivals, named
Quinquatria, the etymology of which may be seen in Varro and
Festus. On that day the scholars made presents to their mas-
ters: this festival fell upon the 1 9th of March.

1 _ '" The Jgonalia or Jgonia were fesiivals in

The Agonalia.
-- Rome, celebrated three times a year in honour

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 331

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

of Janus or Jgonius, They vi'ere instituted by Numa, and on the

festival days the chief priest used to offer a ram.

• The Jgones Cufiitolini were games celebrated

itolint^""^^ ^^' ^^'^'"y ^^^^ y^^"" "1'°" '^^^ Capitoline hill. Prizes
s^==== were proposed for agility and strength, as well
as for poetical and literary compositions. The poet Statius pub-
licly recited his Thebaid, which was not received with much ap-
plause.

■ The jingeronalia was a festival of Angerona

The Angeronalia. r-> ■, ^ r -t

sjsss^i^s^ssssi; the Gocidess ot silence, as Harpocrates was the

God thereof among the Greeks, was celebrated the 21st of De-
cember.

======= The Armilustrium was a festival at Rome on

Armilustriura.
" the 19th of October. When the sacrifices were

offered, all the people appeared under arms. This festival has of-
ten been confounded with that of the Salii^ though easily distin-
guished; because the latter was observed the 2d of March; and
on the celebration of the Armilustrium they always played on a
flute; whereas at the Salii they- played upon the trumpet. It was
instituted A. U. C. 543.

\ The Augustalia was a festival at Rome, in
The Augustalia.
' commemoration of the day on which Augustus

returned to Rome, after he had established peace over the differ-
ent parts of the empire.

' The Cafirotince were festivals celebrated on

The Caprotinac.
3===^ the 9th of July, in honour of Juno surnamcd

Cafiroiina^ where there were none but women to minister the
sacrifices. The servant-maids, for whom they were celebrated,
ran about during this solemnity, beating themselves with their
fists and with whips.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^"^^ The Carmentales were festivals at Rome, in
TheCarmentales.

■ honour of CarmentOy celebrated the 11th of Ja-

nuary near the Porta Cdrmentaliii, below the Capitol, This God-

332 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. lit,

OF FESTIVALS. SEC. VI.

dess was entrealed to render the Roman matrons prolific, and

their labours easy.

• The Charistia were festivals at Rome, cele-

The Charistia.
=^1^==;;^= brated en the 20tli of February, by the distribu-

tion of mutual piesents.

===^==== The Comfiitalia were festivals celebrated by
The Compitalia.
===== the Romans on the 12th of January and the 6th

of March, in the cross-ways, in. honour of the household Gods
called Lares. Tarquin the proud, or, according to some, Servius
Tullius, instituted them, on account of an oracle which ordered
him to offer heads to the Lares. He sacrificed to them human
victims; but J. Brutus, after the expulsion of the Tarquins,
thought it sufficient to offer them only po^ijuj heads., and figures
of men, or their clothes stuffed with straw. The slaves were ge-
nerally the ministers, and, during the celebration, they enjoyed
their freedom.

^=====7= Tlie Consuales Ludi, or Consualia, were festi-
Consuales Liidi. .

- vals at Rome, in honour of Consus, the God of

counsel, whose ultar'Romulus discovered under the ground. This
altar was always covered except at the festival, when a mule was
sacrificed, and games and horse-races exhibited in honour of
Neptune. It was during these festivals that Romulus carried
away the Sabine women who had assembled to be spectators of
the games. They were first instituted by Romulus. Some say
however, that Romulus only regulated and re-instituted them af-
ter they had been before established by Evander. During the ce-
lebration, which happened about the middle of August, horses,
mules, and asses, were exempted from all labour, and were led
through the streets adorned with garlands and flowers.

— ■ _ " The Equiria were festivals established at

TheEquiria.

■ Rome by Romulus, m honour of Mars, when

horse-races and games were exhibited in the Campus Martins.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 333

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

The Faunalia.

The Faunalia was celebrated on the 5th of

December, in honour of Faunus. Their place of

meeting for that purpose was in the woods, where they sacrificed

he-goats, and made libations of wine.

■ The Feralia was a festival in honour of the
The Feralia.
- Dead, instituted by ^neas, and observed at

Rome the 17th or 21st of February. It continued for eleven

days, during which time presents were carried to the graves of

the Deceased; marriages were forbidden; and the temples of the

Gods were shut. It was universally believed that the Manes of

their departed friends came and hovered over their graves, and

feasted upon the provisions that the hand of piety and affection ■

had procured for them. Their punishment in the infernal regions

were also suspended, and during that lime they enjoyed rest and

liberty.

■■ . . ■ The Feris Latinx were festivals at Rome,

Ferise Latinae.
' instituted by Tarquin the proud. The principal

■magistrates of 47 towns in Latinum usually assembled on a mount

near Rome, where they altogether with the Roman magistrates

offered a bull to Jufiiter, of which they carried home some part

after the immolation, having first sworn mutual friendship and

alliance. It continued but one day originally, but in process of

time four days were dedicated to its celebration.

■ The Floralia were cramcs in honour of Flora

The Floralia. ^ .

■■ at Rome. They were instituted about the age

of Romulus, but they were not celebrated with regularity and
proper attention till the year U. C. 580. They were observed
yearly, and exhibited a scene of the most unbounded licentious-
ness. It is reported that Cato wished once to be present at the
celebration, and that when he saw that the deference for his pre-
sence interrupted the Feast, he retired, not choosing to be the
spectator of the prostitution of naked women in a public theatre.

334 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF FESTIVALS. SEC. VI.

This behaviour so captivated the degenerate Romans, that the

■venerable senator was treated with the most uncommon applause

as he retired.

■ The Hilaria, whose name sufficiently denotes

The Hllaria. r r ^ ^ ■

■■ the gaiety of the festival, were celebrated m

honour of Cybele on the 25th of March. Here they appeared in
their finest clothes; nay, they exchanged the dress which belong-
ed to their station for that of another, and if they had any thing
in their houses fine or curious, they were sure to have it carried
before them in procession.

■ The Leviuria were instituted for appeasing

The Lemuria.
• the malignant Genii, whom they called Lemures.

They believed they were able to banish them from houses which

they infested by night, and terrified people, by throwing beans at

them.

■ The Minervalia was a festival in honour of

The Minervalia.
ji^^ssssis^^^ Minerva at Rome, which continued during five

days. The beginning of the celebration was the 18th of March.
On the first day sacrifices and oblations were presented, but, how-
ever, without the effusion of blood. On the second, third, and
fourth days, shows of gladiators were exhibited, and on the fifth
day, there was a solemn procession through the streets of the
city. On the days of the celebration, scholars obtained holidays,
and it was usual for them to offer prayers to Minerva for learn-
ing and wisdom, which the Goddess pati'onized; and on their re-
turn to school they presented their master with a gift which has
received the name of Minerval. They were much the same as
the Pancithenxa of the Greeks. Plays were also acted, and dispu-
tations were held on subjects of literature. They received their
name from the five duys which were devoted for the celebration.

' ~ ~7~ T4ie A''emoralia were festivals observed in the

The Nemoralia.
; I f I—— woods of Aricia in honour of Diana, who presided

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 335

SEC. VI. OF FESTIVALS.

over the country and the forests, on which account that part of

Italy was sometimes denominated JSl'emorensis ager.

' ■ The Palilia was a festival celebrated by the

The Palilia. . r r^

^^^^==^=i Romans, m honour of the Goddess Pales. The

ceremony consisted In burning heaps of straw, and in leaping
over them. The purifications were made with the smoke of
horse's blood, and with the ashes of a calf. The purification of
the flocks was also made with the smoke of sulphur, of the oli\e,
the pine, the laurel, and the rosemary. Offerings of mild cheese,
boiled wine, and cakes of millet, were afterwards made to the
Goddess. This festival was observed on the 21st of April, and
it was during the celebration that Romulus first began to build
his city. The sacrifices were offered to the Divinity for the fe-
cundity of the flocks.

- - The Parentalia was a festival annually ob-

The Parentalia. . r , ^ , r^

' served at Rome m honour ot the Dead. 1 he

friends and relations of the deceased assembled on the occasion,

when sacrifices were offered and banquets provided. .£neas first

established it in Italy.

■ ■ The Portumnalia was a festival of Portumnus
The Portumnalia.
===== at Rome, celebrated on the 17th of August, in

a very solemn and lugubrious manner, on the borders of tKe Tiber,

^, „ ■„ . The RegifiiPium was instituted to Iceep up the

The Regifugium. !:> J t. v v

;===^^=; memory of the expulsion of the Tarquins; and

on that day the Rex Sacrificulus, or the king Priest^ fled as soon

as»the sacrifice was offered. Plutarch assigns another origin

of this festival; but Ovid and Festus are in this particular rather

to be believed than he.

■ The Remuria were festivals established at Rome

The Remuria. . „ , , ,^ n- i u

;^52;^^^^=s by Romulus, to appease the Manes of his brother

Remus. They were afterwards called Lemuria^ and celebrated
yearly.

S3S SUFERSTlTIOiVS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF FESTIVALS. SEC. VI.

' As the fear of future evils had a ereat share
The Robig-alia. ... .

■ in the religious worship of the Pagans, they in-

stituted festivals in order to be preserved from them. Of this

number was their Eobigalia, in honour of the God Robigus^ by

whom they believed their corn was secured from blasting. It

was celebrated about the end of April; and the offeringHb this

Divinity was a sheep and a dog, with wine and incense.

' ■ ■ The Sefitimontiu7n was a^festival instituted at

Septimontium.
;s^^s^=^:^ Rome, when they enlarged its precincts by ta-

king in a seventh hill. This festival, at which they offered several

sacrifices in different places, fell in the month of December, and

on that day the emperor gave donatives to the people.

■ ■■■ The Terminalia were so named, according to
The Terminalia.

■ Varro, because they were celebrated on the

last day of February, which closed the Roman year: or rather, as
DiONYSius of Halicarnassus alleges, because they were institu-
ted by Numa, in honour of the God Terminus^ when that prince
ordered land-marks to be fixed, that every man might know the
extent of his own ground. This festival was entirely rural, and
nothing of the animal kind was then permitted to be offered, for
fear of staining with blood the marches, near which they present-
ed fruits to the God who presided over them, and made libations
to him of^milk and wine. These circumstances however must
have been altered some time after, since we learn from Plu-
tarch, that the peasants met on that day near the marches, and
there sacrificed a sow or a lamb. Be that as it will, there wasj||o-#
thing more sacred among the Romans than the land-?nark8, and
they who were so audacious as to change them, were devoted to
the i^wnVs, and might lawfully be put to death.

The Veslalia were festivals in honour of Feata,

The Vestalia.

;=s=5==^=: observed at Rome on the 9th of June. Banquets

were then prepared before the houses, and meat was sent to the
vestals to be offered to the Gods, milletones were decked with

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 337

SEC. VII. OF GAMKS.

garlands, and the asses that turned them were led around the
city covered with the like ornaments. The ladies walked in the
procession, bare-footed, to the temple of the Goddess, and an al-
tar was erected to Jupiter surnamed Pistor.

■ The Vinalia were celebrated twice, a year; in
The Vinalia.

■ May and September: the Jirst, for tasting the

wine; and the second., for procuring a favourable season for the

vintage.

- The Vulcanalia were festivals in honour of

The Vulcanalia.
1:^==== Vulcan observed in the month of August. The

streets were illuminated, fires kindled every where, and animals

thrown into the flames as a sacrifice to the Deity.

' ■ Vertumnus., Pomona., and a vast number of other
Comparative . , . _ . ,

remark between Gof/s and Dfwz-Gorfs had likewise their festivals,

GameT^^ ^"^ ^''°"^ which nothing particular being to be learn-

■ ed, I lefer to Ovid, and to Rosinus, who has

given a Roman calendar, with all its Festivals and Holidays. — We
shall now proceed to consider the article of Games, between
Avhich, and Festivals we will make this comparative remark; that
there was no other essential difference between them, than, that
to the sacrijices arid other religious ceremonies of the Festivalsj
tvere sufieradded various Feats of Bodily and Mental fioivers, called

Combats, ivhich constituted the distinguishing features and princi-
pal ceremonies of the Games.

SECTION seventh.

OF GAMES.

" ' Bv these Games. I understand that sort of
Gcinics \vcv6 re-

lieious institute shows which religion had consecrated, and

ons; — they were ^yijid^ were exhibited in Greece, and afterwards
also pontic.

' at Rome; either in the Circus, or in the StadiuiUj

338 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF GAMES. SEC. VH.

or in the Amphitheatres.^ or in oiher places deslined to that use.
I say, which religion had consecrate.: — for though, in Greece,
there were none of them but such as were dedicated either to
some God in particular, or to several; yet the solemnization of
t^m never commenced, as we learn from Tertullian, till af-
ter having offered sacrifices, and performed other religious cere-
monies; and afterwards when the Romans adopted those Games,
the senate made an act commanding that they should always be
dedicated to some Divinit). — But I ought to add, that policy had
likewise a good share in the histitution of those Games; and that
that fiolicy had two principal objects; one, ihut the Greeks there-
by might acquire, from their youth, a martial genius, and qualify
themselves for battles and other military expeditions; the other^
that they might become more nimble, moie alert, and robust;
these exercises being very proper, according to unquestionable
experience, to promote bodily strength and a vigorous state of
health. Further, we may easily conceive, that such a subject has
escaped neither the ancients nur moderns; both have wtitten up-
on it; even the fathers of the church, Tertullian, Clement of
Alexandria, S. Cyprian, S. Augustine, have made mention of
it in their works. But no Ancient has enlarged more fully, espe-
cially as to the Olympic Ga?nes, than Pausanias, who has given
a very full and curious account of them.

===== If we would trace the original of those Games,
Their orig'in.

• lERiuLLiAN tells US that the Lydians were the

first inventors of them, and that their prince Tyrrheiius, was
obliged to resign to his brother the part which he claimed in the
dominions their father had left them, and having planted a colony
in that part of Italy which from that tinie Wi>s cJled Tyrrhenian
introduced thither the use of those sorts of shows. Herodotus,
and after him Dionysius of Halicarnassus, had said the same
thing long before, and tiic former of these authors informs us it
was during a famine which raged in Lydia in the time of Atys

CHAF. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 339

SEC. VII. OF GAMES.

the son of Manes, that the Lydians, to redress their grievances,
finding the ground, when cuhivated, did not answer the expecta-
tion of the labourer, invented for their amusement several sorts
of Games. But, in truth, those which Herodotus speaks of,
vere rather Games of recreation than shows of religion.— .\ know
not, indeed, whether it was from the Lydians that the Greeks de-
rived an idea of them; but it is certain that their use was known
to Greece in the heroic ages; and religion, or pious duties, were
always the motives of their institution.

Thev were n- ''^^ most of those Games, at least in Greece,

stituted by He- had been instituted by Heroes, upon important
roes, and partici-
pated by all class- occasions, they made no scruples to enter the

^^' lists themselves, and it was fabled that Saturn^

Jufiiter^ and the other Gods, had formerly disputed the victory.
In after ages, when all comers were permitted to enter the lists,
these sorts of exercises were divided: the grandees and kings
themselves appeared there, eiiher^in the horse or chariot races;
ivhile the less noble trials of skill, such as wrestling, fencing, and
others, were reserved for the fiofiulace^ and for the gladiators^ of
whom the latter held the last rank of all, and at the same time
the most despicable.

■ Nothing, in short, was more celebrated in

celebrated in Greece, than these Games, especially those of
Greece. Olymfxia: it was upon these that the whole chro-

"'°"'~~~~'™"'°~ nology of Greece rested, and its principal events
were dated from their time of the celebration. The Greeks often
made the Games the subjects of their whole conversation and
their sole employment; and as they were celebrated at different
times and in different places, they were always careful to be pre-
pared for them. Oftentimes too the interval from one Olympiad
to another, that is, a re\olution of four years, was not sufficient
for that effect. Those who were disposed to combat therein,chose
the best horses, and took particular care of the beauty and light-

S40 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. lU.

OF GAMES. SEC. VII.

ness of their chariots: in a word, these Games engaged the chief
attention, and were the most general employment of the people
who were distinguished either by their birth, or by their actions,
especially among the youth. Muhiiudes flocked to them not only
from all quarters of Greece, but also from the neighbouring
countries, and nothing was so magnificent as those sorts of as-
semblies.

. What made the Greeks so ardent on this head,

which was owing-
to the honours was, the honour that accrued to the conquer-

conquerorr ^^^ °^^' ^^^ ^'^^ *^"^® ^^^"^'^ ^^^V ^CQ^i'^d through
=^==== all Greece, and even in other countries, by vie-
tj^ries gained in those games; they were distinguished on all ob-
casions, and had every where the most honourable places. The
greatest poets thought it their honour to celebrate those victories,
and it is to such triumphs we owe the odes of Pindar. It was
not, doubtless, from a motive of avarice that those competitors
strove to carry the victory from one another: a mere wreath of
laurel, olive, poplar, or of some plant, and statues raised in hon-
our of the conquerors, were ail the rewards allotted to them. It
IS true other marks of distinction were annexed to the victory
afterwards; those who won it having commonly the chief places
in the public assemblies, and often a breach was made in the
city walls, to receive as in triumph those conquered at Olympia;
but still it is certain that at first glory was the sole motive that
animated those who entered the lists in those Games. I say,
avarice was not the usual motive of the combatants, though it
may have been so in the funeral Gatnes, where the prize was
either slaves, or moveables, or even money; but these Games
were commonly celebrated but once.

„ Some of the Games were repeated, and others

Some Games

were repeated, occurred only once. Of this last description,

others occurred

onlv once: were most o( the/uneral Games. I say most of

' ' them, because some, though funeral in their

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 341

SEC. VII. OF GAMES.

original, became perpetual., and were resumed regularly at cer-
tain times; such as the JVemean Games, instituted on occasion of
the death of Achemorus, with some others. — Of those that were
renewed^ there were several classes; 1st, some whose celebration
was fixed and stated, which was therefore called Stativi; 2d,
others that depended upon the appointmen-t of magistrates, there-
fore called Indictivi; 3d, others that were the consequence of a
vow made on important occasions, were called Votivi; 4th, lastly,
there were of them, annual, triennial.^ decennial, secular, &c. All
these Games had their particular combats and ceremonies, which
made up the Gymnastic of the ancients.

■ ' Under three Classes were included all the

exercise viz. exercises oi iht G-Avne.^ oi Greece and Rome,

====: viz., Races, Combats, and Shows. 1st, The Races
otherwise denominated Ludi Equestres, or Curules, were per-
formed in the Circus dedicated to the Sun or to Keptune: 2d,
The Combats, called Agonales or Gymnici (whence the name
Gymnastic was derived; which was also employed to signify all
the Games,) consisted of combats, wrestling, and other feats,
partly of men and partly of wild beasts trained for that purpose,
was performed in the Amphitheatre consecrated to Mars and -O/-
ana: 3d, The Shows, called Scenici, Poetici, Musici, consisted of
tragedies, comedies, and satires, that were represented upon the
Theatre in honour of Bacchus, Venus, Apollo, and Minerva. The
word Gymnastic comes from a Greek word, which signifies naked)
because it was in that unattired condition the Athletes fought, at
least from the time of the accident that befel Orcippus, whose
drawers being untied, they embarrassed him, and hindered his
gaining the victory; which happened in the thirty-second Olym-
piad.— The different sorts of exercises embraced in the above
Classes were proper for the display of strength, agility, and ad-
dress; and when not carried to excess, they were very serviceable

2 U

342 Superstitions of idolatry. chap. hi.

OF GAMES. SEC. VII.

to h.talih. V FFMAN, in his dictionary, makes the number of these

exeivises amount to Jifcy-Jive; but the most common were the

race^ leaping, the dice or coitf ihe •wrestling match or /lancrace^ the

javflin, and boxijig matches; and these exercises compose what

b called the Pentathlum. In the -ScemV Games the singing ^7nusicy

and tragedies., wherein the musicians and poets disputed the

prize, were very ancient, since mention is made of it in the

Games celebrated by the Argonauts.

• • — I said the Race was one of those exercises,
The Race.

■ ■ and I add it was either on foot or horseback, or

in chariots drawn by two or four horses; which is expressed by
the words Biga or Quadriga. This race was single or double:
the latter consisted in running over the Stadium or lists twice,
whence it was called Diaulus.
■ • The Coit was a kind of square implement.

The Coit.

====; made either of wood, or of stone, or of iron; and

ti>e \ictory was adjudged to him who threw it the farthest. The

Coits were very large and heavy, and sometimes fatal accidents

happened from them: it was with a blow of one of those Coits

that Alxollo or some of his priests slew the young Hyacinth.^ and

Perseus his grandfather Acrisius.

•■ Boxing was a match fought with the Cestus

The Gauntlet.
jsii^ssssiiisi^s or Gauntlet, which was a band made of Ox's hide.

In early limes, the leather of those Gauntlets was softer, and
more limber; afterwards it was of a harder and stouter quality.
The combatants covered their hands with them, and their arms
as far as the elbow, by means of several straps; and with those
Gauntlets they dealt to one another such terrible blows, that they
often beat out each other's teeth, and crushed their jaws. — The
Bebrycians especially excelled in this gauntlet-fight: accordingly
Virgil, in the description of Anchises's funeral Games, feigns
thai Entellus,- who signalized himself in this combat, came from
that country; as it is said of Amycus, in the history of the Ar-

gAlUUtS,

CHAP. HI, SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 343

SEC. VII. OF GAMES.

— — Wrestling consisted in a combat between two

The Pancrace.

I persons, hand to hand; and he who by force or

address overthrew his antagonist, and kept him down, gained the
victory. This exercise was one of the most common, and was
used in the heroic age, as appears from the combat between
Hercules and Anteus. The wrestlers besmeared their bodies with
oil, the more easily to elude their adversaries, and they tried all
the feats of activity they were masters of, to obtain the victory.
When one of the two combatants was thrown down, he strained
his utmost to get up again, while his antagonist held him by the
throat, trod upon his breast, and treated him with all possible in-
humanity. The wrestling match, whether simple or compound,
was called the Pancrace.

•■ ■ Lea/ling was performed either over a ditch, or
Leaping.
-' ■ ■ some determined spot of ground, or in jumping

up an eminence: thus the ancients distinguished several sorts of

Lea/lings which may be seen in Mercurialis. It is sufficient to

observe, that he who leaped best and farthest, gained the prize,

' I " •' The Javelin match consisted either in throw-
The Javelin.
■ ■ ■ ing a stone, or a dart, or some other things, with

the most address, and to the greatest distance. Plato admitted

two sorts o{ Jactdafionsy if I may use this term; and Galen in

forms us, that Afiollo and Esculafiius were the inventors of them.

In those exercises they equally employed the bow or a sling, or

another instrument, which they made use of for hanging to the

arrow, a thong which they held in their hand to take the more

steady aim.

■ 'I As the noblest of all these matches was the
The Gladiators.

•• Race, especially when it was performed on

horseback, or in chariots; so the most despicable was thai of the
Gladiators, who fenced for life and death. Their comnion weap-
ons were two swords, wherewith they sometimes attacked and
defended equally with both hands> and then, they were called £)i'

344 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF GAMES. SEC. VII.

?nach<eri, from an old Latin word, which signifies a double sword.
Nothing can parallel the rage with which these combatants
fought; but the fury which actuated the Greeks and Romans in
seeing them batter one another in blood and wounds, and often
kill their antagonists in the middle of the amphitheatre. In vain
did the emperors make several edicts to stop this fury; they were
illy obeyed, and hardly was this combat abolished till after the es-
tablishment of Christianity; nor even then was it laid aside at the
same lime, and in all places where it had been practised.
-. For each celebration of Games, judges were

ces or Judges of chosen to decide the victory, and these judges
the Games. were named Hellanodices. They had a place set

""""""""""" apart for them, where they might view and judge
best of the advantage which one combatant had over the other,
and from their decision there lay no appeal. The number of these
judges, especially at Olymfiia, was not always the same: Jfihitusy
the restorer of the Games that were celebrated there, would
needs be the sole judge of them; and Oxilus^ as well as his suc-
cessors, retained the same privilege. In later times, the number
of these judges increased to twelve, and there were several
changes in this matter, as may be seen in Pausanias.

■■ LuciAN fell upon a very ingenious contriv-

irida/i's derision , ^\ c i • c ^ .• c

of the Combats. ^nce, to expose the tury and intatuation of most

I of these combats by introducing the Scythian

jinacharsis, thus discoursing of them to Solon: " What would
these young people be at by putting themselves into a rage; by
tripping up one another's heels; and tumbling together in the
dirt like so many swine; striving to stifle and stop one another's
breath? They anoint their bodies, and shave one another, at first,
in a peaceable enough manner; but all of a sudden sinking their
heads, they run against one another like rams; then the one lift-
ing up his companion, lets him fall to the ground with a violent
stroke, and throwing himself upon him, hinders him from rising,

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY 545

SEC. VII. OF GAMES.

pressing his throat with his elbow, and squeezing him to the
earth with liis knees, insomucli that I am in terror lest he stifle
him, though the other taps him on the shoulder, praying to be
released, as acknowledging himself vanquished. How absurd is
it that they should first anoint themselves with oil, and then roll
in the dirt! "For my part, I cannot help smiling to see them mock
the grasp of their companions, and glide away like eels from the
hand that holds them: Some of them, nevertheless, roll them-
selves in the sand like pullets, before they engage, that the hands
of their antagonists may get the better hold, and not slip with the
oil and sweat. Others, in like manner, overspread with dust, be-
labour one another with blows offset and fists., without striving,
like the first, to overthrow one another; one spits out his teeth
with the sand, from a blow he has received in the jaws, while
that man clad in purple, who presides at these exercises, gives
himself no trouble to part them. Some make the dust fly about
them as they jump and spring in the air, like those who dispute
the prize in the race, &c."

===== The combats and other exercises that were

Some exercises

requh-ed more, exhibited in these Games were very different;

some required „ • • , ,

less ground: ^^"^'^ reqtiirmg more, and some less ground.

~ There were places built on purpose for the cel-

ebration of them, whose spaciousness and convenience answer-
ed to their magnificence, and to the ornaments that were laid out
upon them; and these places, though destined for the same ex-
ercises^ had not every where the same form, nor did they bear
the same name.

' In the earlier ages, when simplicity reigned,

in the earlier ages , < c \ r>

they were per- '^ appears, that for the Games, at least for those

o^eTfield?— ^^ ^'^^^ ^^'^''^ celebrated but once, they contented
==^== themselves with choosing, in the open fields, a
commodious place for the exercises that were to be there per-
formed. Thus Achilles did) for the celebration of Fatroclus's fu-

346 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOI.A lIlV. <;nAR III.

OF GAMES. SEC. VII.

neral Games: and Mneas for the anniversary of his father; for
•which no other preparations were made, but to measure the space
of ground that was to be taken up, make it clean, and place boun-
daries to it. Adrasttis and the other chiefs who instituted the J^e-
mean Games, made no other provision for them, though they de-
signed to have them represented at stated times.

■■ But afterwards proper places were prepared,
but afterwards, in • n • • • /• , . • ^u

appropruite pla- especially m great ciues, ior celebrating them

ces, wherein con- y^\[\^ all possible magnificence, and these places

venient struc-

tures were raised, bore different names. At Pisa, the place allotted

"■"""" for the Olympic Games was called the Stadiu7n:
at Rome it was the Circus^ and at Constantinople the Hipfiodro-
mos. As the racesy whether on foot or horseback, or in chariots,
required a considerable space of ground, these places were am-
ply spacious and of greater length than breadth, such as they
ought to have been for the races there performed. For the Sce-
nic Games they had public theatres; and for the fencing matches
and the gladiators, whether against one another, or against wild
beasts, there were structures raised on purpose, that were called
Areasy Colisees^ &c. And in both the one and the other, care was
taken to provide a vast number of lodges, and other places, to
which they got up by little stairs contrived in the thickness of
the walls. These places were allotted for persons of different
stations. The concourse of people that frequented them was very
great, for the Greeks and Romans loved those kinds of shows;
the last especially admired those of the gladiators^ with a fury
not easy to be expressed. In those edifices wherein animals were
combattcd, there were cells contrived below wherein the animals
were shut up, and which opened by means of a sliding door which
drew up when they were to be let out upon the Amphitheatre.,
where those who were to fight with them stood ready to receive
them. Great pains were taken to provide the fiercest and at the
same time the rarest animals, and sometimes they were brought

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 347

SEC. VII. OF GAMES.

from the extremity of Africa, at extraorclin-iry expense. As sea-
fights were sornetimes exhibited in some of those places, water
was conveyed into them in so great plenty, and the space that
contained it was so large, that several gailies plied there with
ease; and a real naval engagement was represented there with all
possible exactness, — Antiquaries have taken great care to give
us drafts of those edifices: Onuphrius Panviniis especially has
preserved to us those of the Circus of Rome, of the Hipfiodromef
and several others. There are even some of them still remaining
in that city, and some others, which time has not destroyed; such
as the Amfihitheatres of Nismes, those of Orange, and several
others; but nothing gives a higher idea of the magnificence of
those monuments, than the remains of the Colisee that is still to
be seen at Rome, and which has something in it that strikes with
astonishment, though one of the popes of the past age destroyed
a great part of it in order to build a stately palace.

======= Hyginus names fifteen founders of Games,

Fifteeh found- -, t- ■ i rr ■ .

ers of the games. ^'^^" iEneas, who was the tiiteenth; but the

====^= names of the four first are not now to be found,
neither in the manuscripts of that author, nor in the printed co-
pies; while neither Kunius nor his other commentators have
given themselves the trouble to fill up this blank. 1 his chapter
of Hyginus begins therefore with \.\\& fifth founder of Games, as
follows: — 5th, Danmis^ says he, the son of Bclus, instituted Games
at Argos in honour of the marriage of his fifteen daughters; and
as epithalamiums were sung there, (for those Games consisted of
no other trials of skill but those of 7nusic,) they got the name of
Hymenean Games. — 6th, Lyncius his son-in-law, one of the sons
of Egyptus, whom our author makes the sixth, founded one of
them in the same city, in honour of Juno Argian. The conque-
rors in those Games, instead of a crown, received a buckler, be-
cause Lynceus having escaped the general massacre of tlie other
sons of Egyptus, took from the temple of that Goddess the buck-

348 SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF GAMES. SEC. VII.

ler which Danaus had consecrated there, to give it to his son
Abasi who had it after the death of his grand father. These
Gaines were renewed at stated times. — 7th, The seventh found-
er, according to the same author, was Perseua^ who solemnized
them at the funerals of Polydectes^ who had taken care of his
education; and ferseus, combating tiiere himself, had the misfor-
tune to slay his grandfather Acrisius, with the blow of a coil. —
8th, The eighth was Hercules, who instituted the Gi/wm/c Games
at Olympia, in honour of Pelo/is, the son of 'J'antalus; and this
hero won the prize there of the Pancratia, that is according to
Aristotle, of the boxing and wrestling matches, or to speak
more accurately, of the single wrestling, and the co7nfiound wrest'
ling. — 9th, The seven chieftains who led the arnjy to Thebes,
instituted the JVemean Games, in honour of Arrhemorus, the son
of Lycurgus and Eurydice, and they are reckoned by Hyginus
the ninth founder. — 10th, Eratocles, or rather Theseus, who in-
stituted Games in the Isthmus of Corinth, in honour of Mdicerta
the son of Athamas and Ino, which got the name of Isthmic: the
two last were renewed also at stated times — 1 1th, The Argonauts^
whom the same author reckons the eleventh, celebrated funeral
Games, in honour of Cyzicus, whom Jason had slain by accident:
jumping, wrestling, and throwing the ja\elin, were the three
combats there exhibited. — 12ih, Acastus the son of Pelias, after
the return of the Argonauts, appointed the celebration of fune-
rals in honour of his father, where most of those heroes disputed
the prize. Zethus the son of Aquilo, was conqueror there, as also
Calais his brother, in the diaulits or double course; Castor in that
of the stadiinn, and Pollux his brother in the gauntlet fight; Tela-
mon in that of the coit; Pelius in the wrestling match; Hercules
in all the combats; Meleager in that of the javelin; Cygnus the
son of Mars slew therein the son of Diodotus in a desperate
fight; Bellerofihon was victorious in the horse-race; lolatis the
son of Tphiclos, in the chafiot-race^ where he outstripped Glau-

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 349

SEC. VII. OF GAMES.

cus the son of Sisyphus, whose horse became unmanageable.
Eurithus the son of Mercury., gained the victory in shooting the
bow; Cefihaliia in singing; Oly777pus, the disciple of Marsyas, in
blowing the trumfiet; Or/i/ieua the son of Oeagrus, gained the
prize of tHe harp; Linus., the son of Apollo, that of shining; Eu-
tnolpus that of the voice in concert with the trumpet. These Games
as we may easily see, wpre very solemn, and almost all sorts of
trials of skill were exhibited therein, which were frequently but
partial in most of the other Games. — 13ih, Priam is the thir-
teenth, who after having exposed his son Paris, appointed Games
to be celebrated several years after, near a cenotaph which he
had raised in honour of him, wherein contended JSTeleus the son
of Nereus; Helenus, Deipkobus., and Polytesus, three sons of Pri»
am; Telephus, the son of Hercules; Cygmis., Sarpedon^ and Pa-
ri* himself, who having vanquished his brothers, was acknow-
ledged by his father. — 14th, Achilles is the fourteenth in this list,
who celebrated funeral Games, in honour of Patroclus, which
were so elegantly described in the twenty-fourth book of the
Iliad.— 'isih, In fine, yEneasis the last, who celebrated games at
the court of Accstes his host, in honour of jinchises his father,
dead a year before, for which I refer to the fifth book of the
^ucid.— 'As Hyginus makes no mention of the Pythian Games,
celebrated in honour of Apollo, nor of some others of much
the same antiquity, I make no doubt but that their institutovs
were those whom he had mentioned in the part of that chapter
which is lost.— Having given a general idea of those Games, and
of the exercises that were therein performed, I shall be some-
what more particular upon the chief of them; those especially
that were instituted by the Greeks. I begin with the Olympip
Games, as the tr.ost celebrated, and perhaps the most ancient of
Greece: not that the time of their institution is precisely known,
there being a diversity of opinions as to this point among the
ancien'.s. 2 X

350 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF GAMES. SEC. -V 11.

GRECIAN GAMES.

1st, The Olymliic Games.
I Pausanias, who seems to have been at parti-

these^Games. cular pains to get infoimalion in 'his travels

ssss====^ through Greece, of nvhatever related to this so-
lemnity, says, " as for the Games of Greece, this is what I have
learned concerning them from some Eleans, who appeared to me
profoundly skilled in the study of antiquity. According to them,
Saturn is the first who reigned in heaven, and in the golden age
he had a temple at Olympia. Jii/iiter being born, Rhea, his mo-
ther, committed the education of him to the Dactyli, or Curetes
of mount Ida. These Dactijli came afterwards from Crete to Ells,
for this mount Ida is in Crete. They were five brothers, name-
ly, Hercules, Peoneus, Ejiimedes, Jasius,^x\A Ida. Hercules, as be-
ing the eldest, proposed to his brothers a running match, where-
of the prize was to be a crown of olive; for the olive was so com-
mon, that they took the leaves of it to strew the ground, and to
sleep upon; and Hercules was the first who brought that tree into
Greece, from among the Hyperboreans. It was therefore Hercu-
le» of mount Ida, who had the honour of inventing these Games,
and gave them the name of Olymfiicm; and because he was one
of five brothers, he would have these Games celebrated every
Jiflh year. Some say that Jufiiter and Saturn fought a wrestling
match in Olympia, and that the empire of the world was the
prize of the victor: others allege, that Jufiiter having triumphed
over the Titans, instituted these Games himself, wherein Jfiollo,
among others, signalized his address, and won the prize of the
race from Mercurij, and that of boxing from Mars'*

• We must not imagine that these Games, from

intenniptionsTnd ^^^^^^ ^''^^ institution, were celebrated continu-

final establish, edly: thev were often interrupted, for several
ment.

•' ■■^- considerable intervals; and renewed again, till at

CHAP. ill. SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. 851

SEC. VII. OF GAMES.

last they assumed a fixed and durable form; their celebration re-
turning regularly every four years, that is, in the first month of
the ffth year. The author now cited will instruct us in these in-
terruptions and re-establishments. During one of these interrup-
tions Greece groaned under the oppression of intestine wars, and
was at the same time laid waste by pestilence. Iphitus went to
Delphos, to consult the oracle about these pressing calamites,
and the response given him by the Pythia^ was that the renewal
of the Olymjiic Games would be the safety of Greece; that he
and his Eleans should therefore set about it. Ijtlntus forthwith
ordered a sacrifice to Hercules to appease that Gcd, and then cel-
ebrated the Games. — These Games were again interrupted for
the space of 86 years; they then were resumed, and it was at this
first Olympiad that Conebus gained the prize of the race. This
victory is the more remarkable in antiquity, as it was by this same
celebration the reckoning by O/ympiads began, which were no
longer interrupted afterwards; which event happened 1776 years
before Jesus Christ; a famous aera among the Greeks, though
to speak accurately, they never used Olympiadu for computing
time, till about 30 years before Alexander the Great. But com-
mencing with the Olymjiiad of Corxdus, these Games served for
an important sera to all Greece, in contradistinction to all othe«
Games, which were afterwards used for computing time in coun-
tries where they were celebrated, as was the Olymfiiad through-
out Greece: thus the inhabitants of Delphos, and the Bceotiaps,
employed in their chronology the Pythian Games; those laf the
Isthmus and the Corinthians computed their years by the celebra-
tions of the Isthniic Games; and the Argives and the Arcadians,
for this purpose, made use of the JVemean Games; for I find none
but these four Games, whose celebration served the Greeks in
computing time.

352 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. ill.

OF GAMES. SKC. VII.

======== The Olymfiic Games, which were celebrated

fitece of their eel- ^^°^^ ^^^ summer-solstice, lasted five days; for
ebration. a single day would not have sufficed for all the

'■~~^~~~'"~ trials of skill that were exhibited there. As they
were consecrated to Jufiiter^ and made part of the religious cere-
monies of Paganism, the^rs^ day was destined for the sacrifices,
the second for the Pentatbbim and the foot-race, the third for the
combat of the Pancrace, and the simple wrestling match; the
other two days, for the horse and chariot races. — The place
where these Games were exhibited was called the Stadium; it
was a space of six hundred paces, inclosed with walls, near the
city Elis and the river Alfiheus^ and was adorned with proper em-
bellishments. But being necessitated to take up with ground which
was uneven, the Stadium was very irregular.

■ The Stadium consisted of two parts: the Jirst

The parts of
the Stadiiwi; whose figure pretty much resembles the pro^y

the clangers of ^^ ^ gj^j ^^.^^ called the Barrier: there, were

the race. '

===ss=s= the stables and coach-houses where the horses

and chariots were kept, and where they were matched. The «<?-
cond was called the Lists, and it was within the space of ground
it contained that the races were performed, whether on horse-
back or in chariots. At the extremity of the Lists was the goal,
round which they were to turn; and as he who approached it the
nearest, formed a shorter circle, he was sure, all things else be-
ing equal, to come in sooner to the place he sat out. It was in
this cWefly consisted the address of those who guided the cha-
riots, and wherein at the same time they ran the greatest hazard.
For besides the danger there was of encountering with another
chariot; if they happened to touch the goal, the axle-tree broke
into many pieces, or received at least some fatal blow, of which
they could not recover. Eeyond this goal was another occasion
of danger, I mean the figure ^f the Genius Taraxipfius) which

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 353

SBC. Vir. OF GAMES.

was framed afier such a fashion as (o fi ighten the horses. We
cannot determine whether it was placed there of purpose to aug-
ment the danger of the race, or if out of respect to that Genius,
it had been left to stand there, as it had done before the construc-
tion of the Stadiu7nj but still this is certain, that it was a place of
very great danger. On both sides of the Lists, through their
whole length, were the places for the spectators. The principal
ones were for the Juflg( s and persons of distinction; the popu-
lace, who flocked thither in crowds, planted themselves wherever
they could; for nothing equalled the curiosity they had for these
exercises — I shall add, that from the Barrier the chariots en-
tered the Lists; and that these two places were separated by a
rope, which was let down by a kind of mechanism, as the signal
that gave notice to enter the Lists. As the athletes or wrestlers
fought naked in those games, at least ever since the accident I
have mentioned, matrons and maids were prohibited, under pain
of death, to be present there, and even to pass the Alpheus dur-
ing the whole time of their celebration; and this prohibition, as
the inhabitants of the country told Pausanias, was so punctually
observed, that there never was an instance of any but one wo-
man's violating that law. This woman whom some call Callifm'
tria, and others Phivenia, Icing a widow, dressed herself after
the fashion of the masters of the exercises, and conducted her
own son Pisidonis to Olympia. The young man having been de-
clared conqueror, the n»other wa3 so transported with joy, that
she threw aside her man's habit, and jumped over the Barrier
where she had been placed with the other masters, and discover-
ed her sex. However, she was pardoned for this infringement of
the law, out of regard to her father, her brothers, and son, whcr
had all been crowned at the same games; but from that time the
masters of the exercises were forbid to appear otherwise than
naked at these shows. The punishment imposed by the law, was

354 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF GAMES. SEC. VII.

to thrpw the women who durst infringe it, headlong fiom a very
steep rock which was called mount Tijfthxa^ on the other side of

the Alph'us.

- The men were also prohibited, under pain of
The combatants
prohibited the a considerable fine, to use the least fraud towards

use of fraud; — its _ • • ^u • .. ' u » •.» i i

pvinishment gaming the victory; but neither laws nor penal-

' ties are always a curb sufficient to confine ambi-

tion within due bounds. There were tricks committed; and the
severe punishments inflicted upon them did not deter others from
falling now and then into the same faults. There were, says Pau-
SANiAs, in the way from the temple of the mother of the Gods
to the Stadium, six statues of Ju/dter, all of bronze, which had
been made of the produce of the fines to which wrestlers had
been condemned, who had used fraud to win the prize, as was
signified by the inscriptions in elegiac verse that were inserted
there. The verses inscribed upon the Jirs(, proclaim that the
prize of the Olym/iic Games was gained, not by money, but by
swiftness of foot, and strength of body. Those cf the second
stated, that this statue had been erected by Jufiiter to inspire the
combatants with dread of the vengeance of that God, if they
durst violate the laws prescribed to them; and it was much the
same as to the rest. — Eumolpus the Thessalian is thought to be
the first who bribed with money those who offered themselves
with him to the gauntlet fight; he was punished for having given
this money, and those to whom he hi'd given it, for having re-
ceived it. Though noihing was more infamous than this fine, and
the monuments which I have mentioned, yet there was an Athe-
nian named CuUifius^ who bought the prize of the Pentathlum.
He was condemned to the fine; and Hipeiides, the deputy for
Athens, having solicited his pardon, and not being able to obtain
it, the Athenians forbid the offender to pay the fine; but the Eli-
ans, firm to the maintenance of their laws, excluded them from

CHAP. HI. SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. 355

SEC. VII. OF GAMES.

the Games; and this interdiction lasted till upon their consulting

the oracle of Delphos, the priestess declared she had no answer

to give them till they had made satisfaction to the Eleans. Upon

this the Athenians submitted to the fine, whereof the produce

was employed in consecrating to Jufiiter six other statues, with

inscriptions containing their history.

=====: The prodigious concourse of people which

The concourse , i ■ • r • r^ , ^,

to see these ^"^ celebration oi those Uames drew to Olym-

Games eiinched ^i^ enriched that city and all Elis: accordine-Iy

the city & state. ' _ ^ ^ '

" nothing in all Greece was comparable to the

temple and statue of Olympian Jufiiter. About this temple was a

sacred grove, named Mtis, wherein besides the chapels, altars,

and other monuments consecrated to the Gods, and whereof we

have a very full description in the author I have so often quoted,

were statues, all by the hand of the most celebrated sculptors,

erected in honour of those who had won the prizes in these

Games; a valuable reward, which added to the laurel crown

wherewith they had their heads incircled in presence of all the

grandees and persons of distinction in Greece, and the honour

done them by the cities in receiving them, were very capable to

support that ardour for victory which animated the combatants.

r We may remark, before we close this article,

The descend-
ants of Helen that the descendants of Helen having formed a

only, to dispute prodigious number of families in Greece, be-

the prizes. '^ °

===== came so powerful, and gained therein so much

interest, that they made a law be passed, ordaining that none but
those who derived their origin from those families should be
capable of being ^omitted to dispute the prizes at the Olymjiic
Games; and Herodotus informs us to this purpose, that Alex-
ander the Great himself was obliged to prove his being one of the
/Te/Zenes, before he was received to enter the lists in those Games.
But the consequences of this was that all the Greeks made it out
that they, were sprung from some one of those families; so nu-

356 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF GAMES. SEC VII.

merous and diffused had they been in all the country; and from
that time the nan<e of Htllenes.) peculiar to a particular people,
became the general name of all the Greeks. — I have insisted at
some length upon the celebration of these Games; but as they
were at the same time, as has been said, the most ancient and
most solemn of Greece; and as much the same laws and regula-
tions were observed in tiie rest; much the same exercises; crowns
for reward; and as the judges, and combatants who celebrated
them, were bound by oath to submit lo certain laws — I thought it
was necessary to give a full account of them; which shall answer
in a great measure for the rest.

2c/, The Pythic Games.

======== It is certain that the overthrow of the serpent

The origin of . . . .

these Gaines. Python gave rise to the msatution of the Pythic

'=^=^==^ Games; but it is uncertain at what time they
were instituted or who was their founder; for when Pausanias
gives the honour thereof to Diomedes^ who upon his return from
Troy built a Temple in honour of Afiollo Efiibaterius^ I am per-
suaded he is nubtaken, since their institution was a long while
before the time when that heio lived. What may be said with
more probability upon this subject is, that he established in the
place where he erected the temple just mentioned, the same
Games that had been celebrated long before at Delphos.

■ At first these Gumes coubisted only in sing-

The earlier ex- .
ercises and dis- mg i^nd music matches, as the same Pausanias

putants in these observes, and consequently it would seem that
Games: '■ ^

— — — they had been instinted only for celebrating the
praises of the God who had delivered the earth from a monster
that threatened it with desolation. The other exercises were not
admitted there till afterwards. It is sufficiently plain in fact that
the thing was so, from those who disputed there the first prizes,
since in the first representation Chrysothemis of Crete gained the
victory, and next Thamyris the son of Philammon. What is sin*

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 35?

SEC. VII. OF GAMES.

gular in this, considering the veneration that was generally enter-
tained for all those Games which religion had consecrated, and
which were especially dedicated to some Divinity, is, that neither
OrfiheuB-, who was distinguished by his deep wisdom and pro-
found knowledge of the mysteries, nor Musxus^ would ever con-
descend to dispute the prizes of the Pythic Games. One EleU'
therus was crowned there, merely upon account of his fine voice,
for the hymn he sung was not his own. We are told that Hesiod
was not admitted to dispute there for the prize, because he could
not sing in concert with the lyre. As for Homer, we read that he
went to Delphos; but that being blind, he had made but little use
of his talent of singing and playing upon the lyre in concert. The
painters too were admitted there to dispute the prize, and Tima'
gorus was preferred to Peneus the brother of Phidias.

„., In later times changes were introduced into

Other exercises °

afterwards intro- these Games. In the third year of the forty-eighth
duced.

■ ■ Olympiad, the jimfihictyonsf leaving the prize of

music and poetry still to subsist, added two others to them, the
first for those who sung in concert with the flute, the other for
those who played upon the flute alone: at length the same com-
bats and exercises were admitted at those Games as at the Olym-
pic. The race in chariots drawn by four horses, after having been
a long time excluded, was introduced thither in the time of Ores-
tes. Even children were by an express law admitted at the races
both of the single and double Stadium, Immediately after, that is,
in the Pythiad next after that wherein children were permitted
to run, the prize was abolished, and it was regulated that the con-
querors there should only have crowns, as in the other Games of
Greece. By this it appears that there was anciently a prize in
money, or clothes, Sec, as at the funeral games of Patroclus, but
■wherein it precisely consisted is more than we can determine.
From these Games they retrenched afterwards the singing, along

358 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF GAMES. SEC. VII.

with the flute, because there was something mournful in them
which suited only with elegies; but chariot races with four horses
were admitted in their stead; and Ciisthenes^ the same who after-
wards became the tyrant of Sicyon, was crowned at the first of those
races. To these and some other exercises which Pausanias men-
tions, the Pancrace was added at the last, in the 6 1 si Pythiady
wherein Laidus of Thebes gained the victory. The laurel crown
was at first the sole reward of the conquerors, and the branches
of this tree were preferred to those of others, from a prevailing
opinion that J/iollo had been in love with Da/ihne, Afterwards a
reward was given in money, even in the places where the use of
crowns prevailed.

. , ^ To conclude, we may observe that, anciently,

The period for

celebrating these these Games were celebrated only every eighth
' year, but afterwards once m four years; and they

Served for an ara to the inhabitants of Deljihos, and the neigh-
bourhood. The time of their celebration, according to Diodoeus
SicuLus, Pausanias, and Plutarch, regularly coincided with
the third year of each Olympiad. This change was introduced by
the Amfihictyons.) for which I refer to Petavius, Scaliger, and
especially to the Cycles of the ingenious Dodwel.
--' The Romans were induced by some verses of

by thrRom°^s° Martius, to adopt these Games in the year of
3===:= their city 642, and gave them the name of Jfiol-
loniares. If you would overcome the enemy, said the prediction
of that soothsayer, institute Games in honour of Afiollo, At first
the pretor presided in the representation of these Games, then
Quindecimvirs were appointed to take care of them, and to ex-
hibit them after the manner of the Greeks.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 359

SEC. VII. OF GAMES.

2d, The J^emean Games,

====== The JVemean Games were instituted by Ad-

The origin, and , , , , . _ , . ,

the period of ce- '^ostus and the other chieis wno accompanied

G^mes"^ ^^^^^ ^^™' ^^^^^ ^^® ^^^ adventure that befel the young
===== Archemorus-t or, as others call him, Ofiheltea the
son of Lycurgus, whom Hyfisifihile, the daughter of Thoas, nursed.
However, this tradition concerning the instituiion of those Games,
though well vouched by antiquity, was not the only one that pass-
ed current in Greece; there was another that attributed it to Her-
cules, who founded them after having rid the forest cf JVemea and
the neighbourhood, of that Lion so celebrated in fitble, whereof
he always wore the skin. This is the opinion of Tertullian
who had got it, no doubt, from the Greek authors. Farther, these
Games, though renewed at stated times, that is, either every t/iird
year according to some authors, or every Jift/i year, were much
of the nature oi funeral Games. This is the account given of them
by Statius and Artemidorus: " the crown that is given at
JVemea, says the latter, is one of those that are destined to funeral
combats."

. In |hcse Games the same exercises were per-

The exercises
of these Games formed as in the others, even those of vocal and

were the same . , . , • -.-.j , _

as the former mstrumental music. We have an express pas-

====^ sage to this point, Pausanias, when it is said

that " Philofiemen joining in the JVemean Games, where the play-
ers on the harp disputed the prize of Music, Plyades of Megalo-
polis, one of the most skilled in that art, and who had already
won the prize at the Pythic Games, began to sing a song of
Timotheus of Miletus, intitled the Gates, which began with these
words: Hero', to whom the Greeks oive their hafifiy liberty!— pre'
sently all turned their eyes upon Philo/iemen, and with one voice
cried out, that nothing could be more applicable to that great
man."

360 SUPERSTITIONS 01-: IDOLAl RY. CHAF IJI.

OF GAMES. SEC. VII.

' "ZT, Z ^^ n The reward of the conquerors in the A''emea7z
1 he reward of

the conquerors Games, was a crown of green fiarshj^ in memory
'. of the adventure of the young Archemorus^ whom

his nurse had laid down upon some sprigs of that plant, when
she left him, to guide*the leaders of the Argive army; and their
celebration served for an (zra to the Argives, and the inhabitants
of that part of Arcadia, which lay next to the forest oi Kemea.
Ath, The Isthmic Games.

Athamas king of the Orchomenians, a peo-

these Gaines" ° P^^ °^ Beotia, having divorced his former wife,
' named Kephele^ by whom he had two sons,

Phryxus and Helle^ and having married Ino by whom he had also
two sons, Learchus and Melicerta; the latter persecuted the chil-
dren of the former marriage, so far as to make her husband be-
lieve, that the Oracle of Delphos demanded the blood of Phryxuaj
as the means of putting a stop to the famine, whereof she herself
was the cause; and the too credulous Athamas was upon the point
of sacrificing his son to the safety of his subjects; but upon de-
tecting his wife's duplicity, he slew her son Learchus^ and pur-
sued her so eagerly that she was forced tia throw herself down
•with Melicerta, whom she held in her arms, from the top of the
rock Moluria, into the sea. A dolphin, we are told, or rather the
waves, carried Melicerta upon the Isthmus of Corinth, and the ,
Corinthians, at the persuasion of Sisyphus, the brother of Athamas^
gave him a splendid funeral, and instituted to his honour. Games
which got the name of Isthmic, from the place where they were
celebrated the first time.

'■ These Games, wherein were exhibited the

The trials of . . ,.,,•«

skill, and the re- same trials of skill as in the others, and chiefly

ward to the vie- jj-,osg ^f music and poetry, having been inter-
tors. '^ '

— ;j;— =; rupted, probably by some wars, were afterwards

re-established by Theseus, who consecrated them to Meptuncy

whose son he pretended to be, as to the God who peculiarly pre-

CHAP. m. SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. 361

t ,1.1.

SEC. VII. OF GAMES.

sided over the Isthmus of Corinth; and they were renewed so re-
gularly every Jive years, about the middle of the month Heca-
tomdion, that they were not even discontinued after the city of
Corinth had been destroyed and reduced to ashes by Mummius— •
the Sicyonians having received orders to celebrate them, notwith-
standing the public grief and desolation. When the city was af-
terwards rebuilt, the new inhabitants resumed the care of these
Games, and continued to exhibit them with great regularity.
Some time after, the Romans were admitted to them, and cele-
brated them with so much pomp and apparatus, that besides the
ordinary exercises, a hunting match was there exhibited; wherein
were presented the most rare animals; the city of Corinth neg-
lected no means whereby to please the conquerors in these
games: and what still increased their fame is, that they served for
an tera to the Corinthians and inhabitants of the Isthmus. A
crown offline leaves was the reward of those who gained the vic-
tory in those Games.

5(h, The Scenic Games.

' " We have seen that among the Scenic exercises

The exercises . - • r

of these Games, are ranked, the trials of the skill of the tragic

and to whom they p^^f^ ^^^ those of the musicians or singers and
were dedicated. ' ' ^

I players on instruments, who disputed the prize

there, whence the Scenic Games derived their name. Nothing equal-
led the excessive fondness the Greeks had for these shows, but
the ardour of those who were to exhibit them, in making prepa-
rations for them. The Scenic Games were consecrated to Bacchus,
^/lollo, Venus, and Minerva, and never begun till the ordinary sa-
crifices had first been offered to the Gods. The autumn, the time
of vintage, was the season made choice of especially for the re-
presentation of tragedies, because those shows were especially
consecrated to Bacchus. The tragic poets, who were willing to
dispute the piizes there, were obliged to prepare four pieces,
three tragedies, and one satire; this is what was called Tetralogia,

362 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. HI.

■ ■■ . . ■ ,♦

OF GAMES. SEC. VII.

It was requisite that those pieces which were hardly represented
but upon such occasions, though they soinetimes happened to be
resumed, should have some connexion with one another; but the
satire was only a farce, as appears from the Cyclop of Euripides;
the only piece of that kind we have now extant. It is easy to
judge that those satires were extremely free, and all full of buf-
foonery, and consequently merely designed to entertain the peo-
ple, and to gain their applause. It is surprising that the first
geniuses of the Athenians should have submitted to degrade the
buskin to so mean and ludicrous a piece of comic humour. In
those trials of skill, the voice was accompanied with some instru-
ment, especially with the harp; but I believe they sometimes dis-
puted with the voice alone without any instrument; as they did
with instruments without the voice. Vitruvius observes, that
one of the Ptolemies consecrated to Apollo this sort of trial, pro-
bably at the time of iis admission into Egypt; but from the ear-
liest times we can trace, for the origin thereof is not known, the
Greeks had dedicated it to the Gods just named. I say from the
earliest times, for we learn from Pausanias and Hyginus, that
this sort of combat was exhibited in the Games which Acastus
instituted in honour of his father Pelias, after the return of the
Argonauts. I have already shown that Linus, Thamyris, and some
others, had been conquerors there, in that heroic age.

' ' At the end of the representations, the votes,

The conqueror
received the title which were exactly collected during the per-

oe aurea . formance, were numbered, and he who had the
most votes was publicly crowned. The poet on whom this honour
was conferred, took the title of Poet Laureat, because the crown
he received was oi laurel. His reward, frivolous as it may appear
to mercenary souls, was the boundary of those great men's ambi-
tion, and procured' them the most flattering distinctions. As to
what remains of it, the practice of crowning poets has lasted a
long time, especially in Italy. The poets and musicians showed a

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 363

SEC. VII. OF GAMES.

great zeal for these Games, and frequently came from a very

great distance, to the places where they were celebrated; so

much were they dharmed at that time with the glory of victory.

This sort of trial, in short, must have been very amusing to those

who were witnesses of it.

' As to these Games wherein were proposed

The scenic ex-
ercises were intra- prizes of poetry and music, the one not going

GameJ"*°be?des ^^Jthout the other, there were of them among

those properly the Greeks in the earliest periods of time, and
Scejiic.

' " those not a few. These trials of skill were admit-

ted in the great Games, that is, in the Pythian, JVemean, and Isth-
mian; as for the Olympic Games, there is some doubt, at least
with respect to the heroic age. For Suetonius, from whom we
learn that Nero disputed therein the prize of music, adds that this
was a thing new and unusual. — However it may have been as to
these combats in the Olympic Games, it is certain that they were
common in the other three I have named, especially in ihePythic
Games, whereof they made the first and most considerable part.
But it was not only in the great Games of Greece, that those
prizes o{ poetry and music were proposed; they were admitted in
several cities of Greece.

ROMAN GAMES *

ls^ The Trojan Games, or Games of the Youth.
■ This Game or exercise, which JEneas insti-

these^ Games— *"^*^<^' ^"^ ^^^ funeral Games of his father, was

their patrons;— for the youth, who, being divided into two bands,

Virgil's account

of them. showed therem both their valour and address.

-~-^— =— == These Games having suffered some interrup-

* I should never have done were I to speak at any length of all the
Roman Games, since there were no considerable cities in the Roman em-
pire, but valued themselves upon the celebration of some Games or other,
either upon the arrival of the magistrates who were to govern them, or

364 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF GAMES. SEC VII.

tion, when Ascanius afterwards built the only city Alba Longa,
he brought them again into repute, and taught that military di-
version to the ancient Latins. The Albans having received it
from him, transmitted it down to their posterity. Rome, in ho-
nour of the memory of its founders, resumed the use of that an-
cient carousal, and represented it in the Circus. Sylla, as we read
in Plutarch, exhibited this show; but civil wars interrupted the
performance thereof until Csesar restored it. From that time, the
representations thereof were pretty frequent, since the same au-
thor informs us, that Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, ex-
hibited it to the Roman people; but none of the emperors did it
either with so much pomp, or so often as Augustus, who gave a
representation of it for the first time after the victory at Actium,
in the year of Rome 726. This prince chose for the purpose two
companies from among the Roman youth, one young, and the
other of a more advanced a;j;e; being persuaded that this exercise
■would give the youth of quality an opportunity of forming them-
selves, and of showing their address. The body of youths that
was prepared for this exercise, was still called, in the time of
Virgil, the Trojan band. — To give a just idea of the order of

upon occasion of victories and other advantages gained by the common-
wealth. The magistrates also took care to exhibit Games at their own ex-
pense, when they entered on their office; and though of all offices, that of
the Edileship was the least considerable, it was however during the dis«
charge of its functions, that the greatest expense was laid out upon those
Games, because the people judgea from thence how those who were in-
vested with it were likely to behave when they came to be advanced to
more considerable ones. Lastly, others were exhibited at the birth of
great men, which were called JVatalitii, and on a» thousand other occa-
sions. However, as among these Games some wei-e very noted, as most
of those I have discoursed upon hitherto, among the Greeks, it will not
be amiss to give a summary account of these, proper to the Rojnans.

CHAP. III. SUTPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 365

SEC. VII. OF GAMES.

these Games, I cannot do better than copy the description of it

from Virgil.

Now caird the prince, before the Games were done,

The hoary guardian of his royal son,

And gently whispers in his faithful ear,

To bid Ascanius in his arms appear,

And with his youthful band and courser come,

To pay due honours at his grandsire's tomb.

Next he commands the huge assembled train

To quit the ground, and leave an open plain.

Straight on their bridled steeds, with grace divine,

The beauteous youths before their fathers shine.

The blooming Trojans and Sicilians throng,

And gaz'd with wonder as they march'd along.

Around their brows a vivid wreath they wore;

Two glittering* lances tipt with steel they bore:

These a light quiver stor'd with shafts sustain,

And from their neck depends a golden chain.

On sprightly steeds advance three graceful bands,

And each a little blooming chief commands.

Beneath each chief twelve sprightly springlings came,

In shining arms, in looks and age the same.

Grac'd with his grandsire's name, Polites' son,

Young Priam, leads the first gay squadron on;

A youth, whose progeny must Latium grace:

He press'd a dappled steed of Thracian race:

Before, white spots on either foot appear,_

And on his forehead blaz'd, a silver star.

Atys the next advanc'd, with looks divine,

Atys, the source of the great Attian line:

Julus' friendship grac'd the lovely boy:

And last Julus came, the pride of Troy,

" e.j.

366 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF GAMES. SF.C. VII.

In charms, superior to the blooming train;

And spurr'd his Tyrian courser to the plain;

Which Dido gave the princelj' youth, to prove

A lasting pledge, memorial of her love.

Th' inferior boys on beauteous coursers ride.

From great Acestes' royal stalls supply'd.

Now flush'd with hopes, now pale -with anxious fear,

Before the shouting crowds, the youths appear;

The shouting crowds admire their charms, and trace

Their parents lines in every lovely face.

Now round the ring, before their fathers, ride

The boys, in all their military pride,

'Till Periphantes' sounding lash, from far.

Gave the loud signal of the mimic war;

Straight, in three bands distinct, they break away,

Divide in order, and their ranks display:

Swift at the summons they return, and throw

At once their hostile lances at the foe:

Then take a new excursion on the plain;

Round within round, an endless course maintain;

And now advance, and now retreat again;

With well-dissembled rage their rivals dare,

And please the crowd with images of war.

Alternate now they turn their backs in flight,

Now dart their lances, and renew the fight;

Then in a moment from the combat cease,

Rejoin their scatter'd bands, and move in peace.

So winds delusive, in a thousand ways

Perplex'd and intricate, the Cretan maze;

Round within round, the blind Mseanders run,

Untrac'd and dark, and end where they begun.

The skilful youths, in sport, alternate ply

Their shifting course; by turns they fight, and fly:

CHAP. III. SUPERSTlTiOXS OP IDOLATRY. 36?-

SEC. VII, OF GAMES.

As dolphins gambol on the wat'ry way,
And, bounding o'er the tides, in wanton circles play.
2rf, The Secular Games.
The Secular Games were so called not from

The origin of

these Games, and their being repeated only once in an hundred

their periods. . , i i- . i ^ •

years, as is commonly believed; but this name

was not given to certain Games that Avere renewed but seldom,
or that were represented but once during any person's life. Ac-
cordingly their original, as it is related at very great length by
Valerius Maximxjs, and Zosimus, had no relation to the name
which they were known by afterwards. Volusius Valerius, says the
former of those two authors, having three Children, two sons and
a daughter, who were seized by the plague that wasted the pro-
vince where they lived, and finding the remedies applied by phy-
sicians ineffectual, having addressed himself to the genius of his
Gods Lares, heard a voice enjoining him to carry them to the
banks of the Tiber, and to make them drink of the water of the
river. He at first scrupled to obey, considering the distance he
was from the river; but at last the malady and the danger increas-
ing, he determined to set out; and having arrived near the Tyber,
at a place named Taurentum, he gave them drink, and they were
cured. In gratitude to the Gods for so singular a kindness, he
offered sacrifices of black victims to Pluto, Proserfiine, and the
other infernal Divinities, for three nights successively. Valerius
Publicola, continues the same author, who was rnade consul when
Tarquin was banished, believing the Romans had more need
than ever of the protection of the Gods, renewed the sacrifices of
Volusius, in the year of Rome 245, appointed them to be offered
upon the same altar and to the same Gods, and added Games to
them. In fine, we learn from Varro, whose testimony is cited
by Censorikus, that the Romans, affrighted by several prodigies
that happened one after another, consulted, according to custom,
the books of the Sibyls, learned that they were to renew the sa-

368 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OP GAMES. SEC. VII.

crifices and the Games of Folusius, and to celebrate them for the
future every hundred years in the Campus Martins: this was the
orit^in of the Secular Games.

•' Nothing was equal to the solemnity of these

zation^'^ ^° emm- Games. First, heralds were despatched through
Im all Italy to invite every body to them, as to a

solemnity which they would never see again; and when the time
of their celebration approached, the Consuls, Decemvirs, and at
last the Emperors themselves went into different temples to offer
sacrifices, and ordered a distribution to be made to the people of
such things as were necessary, that everyone might set about the
expiating of his sins; such as torches, siilft/iur, and bitumen, in
which none were excepted but the slaves. The people thus fur-
nished with materials for expiation, flocked to the temple of
Diana, which was upon the Aventine mount, and every one gave
his children barley, corn, and beans, to offer the whole in sacri-
fice to the Destinies in order to appease them. Then upon the ar-
rival of the first festival which was consecrated to Juno, three
days and thfee nights were employed in offering victims to Juno,
Jufiiter, J^efitune, Vulcan, Mars, Diana, Vesta, Venus, Hercules,
Saturn, to Divinities of the fountains, and lastly to the Pares, to
Proserfiine, and to Pluto; and all this at Tarentum, a place not
far from the Camfius Martins, where the Games were to be per-
formed.— On the first night, at the second hour, the consuls in
the time of the republic, and afterwards the Emperors themselves,
accompanied by the Decemvirs who presided at this solemnity,
went to the banks of the Tyber, where they raised three altars,
on which they sacrificed three lambs; and after sprinkling the
altars with the blood of those victims, they ordered the rest of

them to be burnt. This ceremony was illuminated by a great

ft . ' . . .

number of lamps, and accompanied wiih singing several hymns

in honour of the Gods, and terminated by the offering of several

black victims, such as Volusius and Publigola had formerly offer-

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. 369

SEC. VII. OF GAMES.

ed. — While they were employed in these religious functions
artists erected a Theatre, and prepared the place where the exer-
cises common to the Games were to be performed; then the
next day in the morning they went to the capitol, where offering
a sacrifice to Jupiter^ they returned to the place just mentioned,
and began the celebration of the Games in honour q{ Jfiollo and
Diana. The next day the Roman Ladies repaired to the same
capitol to sacrifice to Juno: lastly the Emperor himself, accom-
panied by the Decemvirs, went the same day and offered to each
of the aforesaid Divinities the victims proper to them. — On the
third day, seven and twenty youths of the first families, all in
robes, and as many virgins, marched in procession to the Palatine
mount to the temple of Apollo, where they vied with one another
in singing hymns and songs, to make the Gods propitious to the
Emperor, the Senate, and the Roman people. Lastly, during the
three nights that the solemnity of these Games continued, all the
Theatres in Rome, the Circuses, and other public places destined
for these festivals, were employed in shows that were thei'ein ex-
hibited. Among other things, there were also hunting matches,
combats with wild beasts, imitation of sea-fights, &c.: the people
dividing the whole time between mirth and devotion.
3cf, The Games of Ceres.
-.J. ,' Though the Greeks celebrated the greater
these Games ^^^ lesser mysteries in honour of Ceres, yet no

• Games or shows were therein represented; thus,

those I speak of here, owe their origin to the Romans, and ac-
cording to Tacitus, it was C. Mummius while he was Edile, gave
the first representation of them in the Circus. But he was not
their founder, since we learn from Titus Livius, that long before
him, even from the second year of the Puiiic war, under the di-
rectorship of Servilius Geminus, they had been exhibited. The
celebration of these Games, which lasted eight days, commenced
on the twelfth of April,

3rO SUPERSTITIONS OP IDOLATRY. CHAP. III.

OF GAMES.

====== As in those Games ihe mourning of Ceres for

Their solemni- r , , , ,

2ation. the rape or her daughter was commemorated,

^'————^•'—^ as well as in the Elusinian mysteries^ the Roman
ladies appeared there in white robes, with lighted torches in their
hands, to represent that Goddess seeking for her dcdr Proserfiine;
the men too who joined in them, came thither fasting; for the
strictest abstinence was enjoined for the preceding night, especi-
ally from women and wine, which M^as most punctually observed:
moreover the smallest blemish excluded the spectators from
them, and the public herald took care to warn all who might pro-
fane them, to quit the assembly. If any one was convicted of hav-
ing stained his purity, he was punished with no less than death.
This is confirmed by the unanimous testimony of all the histo-
rians who have spoken of the celebration of these Games. As to
what remains the same shows were exhibited there as in the
other Games, especially that of the horse-race. I believe they
were celebrated every fifth year; at least it was after such an in-
terval that the Sibylline oracles ordained a day of fasting by way
of preparation for them, to which was added the use of the warm
bath, as very conducive to continency and purity, with which they
were obliged to come up to the solemnity.

4;/i, T/ie Games of Cybele, and those of the other great Gods,
■ These Games, instituted by the Greeks, and

celebration'of the adopted by the Romans, went by the name of
Games of Cybele. Great Games, or Megalenses, from the Goddess
"~~~''""''"'^~" in whose honour they were celebrated, and who
was called the Great Mother, Cicero, who informs us that a
great concourse of people and strangers frequented these Games,
adds, that they were exhibited upon the Palatine mount, near the
temple, in order to be represented in the very presence of the
Goddess. Their celebration fell on the day before the Ides of
April, on which the Romans had received her worship.

CHAP. III. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 3/1

SEC. VII. OF GAMES.

' " SoiDe authors hc>Ve confounded these Games
Those of the • , , r i > /-. *~i i • . i .

Great Gods dif- ^"-'^ "^^^^ ^i the olher urtat (jrods, who had the

ferent from the same name; hut Cicero plainly distineui'shes

lorraer. ^ '^

— " them. The last had been instituted by Tarquin

the elder; the others not till the Romans brought from Pessinus
the worship of Cybele^ in the year of Rome 543, under the con-
sulship of Cornelius Cethegus, and Cornelius Tuditanus. The
day of their celebration was likewise different, since those of Cij-
bele fell on the day before the' Ides of April, as has been said from
Titus Livius, and those of the Great Gods, on the day before
the calends of September, as we learn from Cicero.
5tht 7 he Ga?nes of Castor and Pollux.

The Romans, who conferred upon these two

celebration*" '''of heroes a particular worship, as has been said in
these Games. their history, instituted these Games in the wars

. they had with the Latins, who had abandoned

the Romans, and joined the Tarquins. It was the dictator Aulus
Posthumius who made a solemn vow to exhibit those Games in
honour of those heroes, if he was successful in that expedition;
and the Senate, in consummation of Aulus Posthumus's vow, pass-
ed an act for the continuation of those Games every year. Nothing
exceeded the magnificent pomp with which they were ushered
in and accompanied, as we learn from Dionysius of Halicarnas-
sus. After the ordinary sacrifices, says he, such as presided over
the Games, set out from the capitol to march in order through
the Forum to the Circus, where this show was exhibited: they
were preceded by their children, on horseback, when they them-
selves were of the Equestrian order, while the plebeians marched
on foot. The former, composed so mnay troops; and the latter,
companies of foot soldiers, v/ho came in crowds to this spectacle,
and who were received on the occasion with all possible regard:
go that strangers might see the resource which Rome had in that
illustrious body of youth, who were ready to appear soon in the

Sr2 SUPERSTITIONS OF It)OLATRY. CHAP. HI.

OF GAMES. SEC. VII.

midst of her armies. This procession, followed with chariots,
some drawn by two, some by four horses, and with the other
knights who were to run in the Circus, was closed by the ath-
letes, who were also to fight there.

6?A, The Circensian Games.

'■ Though by the Circensian Games we are to

ThcsG were of
Greek oririn a- u^^^^erstand only the combats, the races, and

dopted by Romu- other exercises that were performed in the
lus.

== places known by the name of Circus, which had
been raised for the representation of all sorts of Games, yet the
antiquaries comprehended under that name, the race which was
instituted in the Isthmus of Corinth, by (Enomaus king of Pisa,
to rid himself of those who were courting his daughter Hi/ifio-
damia, and wherein Felofis was conqueror; or that other race
which Hercules instituted in Elis, wherein he, having gained the
victory, received a crown of olive from the hand of the same Pe-
lofis: — Romulus, afier the rape of the Sabine women, appointed
the same Games to be celebrated in the open fields, for there
was no place then destined for that purpose. These first Games
of the 'Romans went by the name of Consualia; and if Virgil
gives the name of Circensian Games to those which Romulus ex-
hibited on the occasion now mentioned, it is by way of anticipa-
tion; for it was only in the time of Tarquinius the elder that the
first Circus was built. These Games were also called by the
name of the great Games, Ludi magni.

7th, The Cafiitoline Games.
====== These Games were founded by the Romans,

sion founded;— according to TiTUS Livius, to thank the Gods
their exercises. for having saved the capitol, when the Gauls
'''^'"'~~~'"''~~" plundered Rome; and to add to their magnifi-
cence, and at the same time that they may be renewed at stated
times, a new college of priests was instituted. In these Games
three sorts of exercises were commonly exhibited, the horse

CHAP. ril. SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. 373

SEC. VII. OF GAMES.

racc'j the Gymnasiaj and the trial in vocal and instrumental mu-
sic; that is, all those wliich composed the Pentathlum.
Bth) The Games celebrated in the Camfis.

======= These Games did not require so much cere-

These were in- •

stituted for the mony and apparatus as the others; they were ce-

jjjgj.g ° ' lebrated by the soldiers themselves in their

' camps, either for their exercise or recreation.

And indeed nothing was more proper to keep them in cheerful

preparation, than those sorts of combats, among which besides

wrestling, running, and other trials of skill, they it seems fought

with the fiercest animals; this is what we learn from a passage of

SuETOxius, who says that Tiberius, to show he enjoyed a perfect

state of health, for there was a surmise to the contrary, not only

was present at these Games, but himself attacked a bear with his

arrows.

9th, Some other Games.

^ ' . We will conclude this subject with a summa-

Conclusion.

■ ■ ry of some other Games of the Romans, whose

names at least, ought to be mentioned. — 1st, The Games called

Decumani, were such as they represented evei'y tenth year, and

which the Senate had instituted in honour of jiugustusy who

every tenth year, proposed to quit the reins of government,

which he took good care however, never to perform. — 2d, the

Games of ihe Leaves., were so called either from the leaves that

the crowns were made of, or because the people threw leaves

upon the conqueror. — 3d, The Litstral, Lustrales, or Rubigalia^

had been instituted in honour of Mars, and it was during their

celebration that the arms, the trumpets. Sec, were purified. — 4th,

The Games nam^d JVovendiles, were the eame with those funeral

Games we have discoursed of, and which were exhibited at the

death of great men, or of the Emperors. — 5th, The Palatine

Gain6s, Palatini, were instituted by Augustus in honour ofJuliue

3 A

374 SUPERSTITIONS OF IDOLATRY. CHAP. Ill

OF GAMES. SEC. VII.

tVior, and got that name, from the temple which was upon the
Palatine mount, where they were celebrated every year for eight
days, beginning with the 25th of December.— .6th, Those of the
Jishea, called Piscatorii, were renewed every year in the month
of June, by the pretor of the city, in honour of such of the fish-
eries upon the Tybev, whose gain was carried into the temple of
Vulcan, as a tribute paid to the dead. — 7th, The Plebeian Games
were exhibited in honour of the people, who had contributed so
much to the extinction of the regal power. — 8th, The Pontificals
were those exhibited by the priests at entering on their office, in
imitation of the Questors, whose Games went by the name of
Ludi Quxstorii. — 9th, Romani or the Roman Games had been
instituted by Tarquin the elder, in honour of Jupiter, Juno, and
Minerva, as we learn from Cicero. — 10th, The Sacerrfo^a/ Games
were those which the people in the provinces obliged the priests
to present them with. — llih, The Triumphales, those that were
represented upon occasion of some triumph. — 12th, The Votivi
were exhibited in consequence of some vow; and those were
either /iu^/zV, when it was a public vow, as was the case either in
public calamities, or in the heat of a battle, or* on other momen-
tous occasions; or private, when some private person gave a re-
presentation of them. The former were given by the magistrates
in consequence of an act of the Senate: We have an inscription
that makes mention of one of these votive and public Games, for
the happy return of Augustus. — \3t/i, Ludi Sigillares, were so
called on account of the little figures, either of silver or some
other metal, which they sent to one another in token of friend-
ship, and that commonly during the Saturnalia.. — Rth, Ludi Tau-
rii were instituted to the honour of the Infernal Gods, on account
of a plague under the reign of Tarquin the proud, which plague
arose from the exposing of bulls flesh to sale.

EJ^TD OF THE FIB ST VOLUME.

'^'^"^l^iiiiiiiiriTifrr" 'M

ERRATA.

Passing- over a few typofjraphlcal errors, which cannot mislead tlie reader,
Mce invite liis attention to the following'.

For Thebois read Thebais page 5 line 1
Posiedon Poseidon 6 12

€ecropian
M. CupEtt
in

Ceropian
M. Cuur.n
oi
rtcre

Jlfooii
Stverns

where

Sim

Sevei-us

40
68
83
135
191
222

For ^M^acesread Eubages p. 224 1. 12
reed {in some copies) forced 225 30
sepurture sepulture 247 15
who name names 279 20

Cnattius Eriattius 311 24
colonies wAo brought, read colo-
nies brought page 337 line 7

v>^

gyr ,fli*"'77x^:.

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Full text of "A new system of mythology, in two volumes: giving a full account of the idoltry of the pagan world, illustrated by analytical tables, and 50 elegant copperplate engravings representing more than 200 subjects, in a third volume, particularly adapted to the capacity of junior students"

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