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THE

W O R K S

OF THE

RIGHT REVEREND

WILLIAM WARBURTON, D.D

LORD BISHOP OF GLOUCESTER.

A NEW EDITION,
IN TWELVE VOLUMES.

TO WHICH IS PREFIXED

A DISCOURSE BY WAY OF GENERAL PREFACE-,

CONTAINING

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE, WRITINGS, AND CHARACTER
OF THE AUTHOR;

BY RICHARD II U R D, D.D.

LORD BISHOP OF WORCESTER. \^

^^&gt;A^

VOLUME THE SECOND. ^

Printed by Luke Hansard $ Sons, near Lincoln 1 s-Im Fields,

FOR T. CADELL AND W. DA VIES, IN THE STRAND.

1811.

CONTENTS

OF
V O L. II.

THE DIVINE LEGATION.
BOOK II.

PROVES THE NECESSITY OF THE DOCTRINE OF A FUTURE
STATE TO SOCIETY, FROM THE CONDUCT OF THE
ANCIENT LAWGIVERS, AND FOUNDERS OF CIVIL
POLICY ;

continued.

SECT. IV. The next art was the legislator s invention
of the mysteries, solely instituted for the propagation and
support of the doctrine of a future state of rewards and
punishments. Their original and progress deduced :
their nature and end explained : their secrets revealed :
and the causes of the degeneracy accounted for. To
give a complete idea of this important institution, the
sixth hook of Virgil is examined, and the descent of
JEneas into hell, shewn to be only an initiation into, and
representation of the shows of the mysteries, pp.i 210

APPENDIX- pp. 211 263

SECT. V. The next instance of the magistrate s care of
religion, in establishing a national worship. That an
established religion is the universal voice of nature. The
right of establishing a religion justified, in an explanation

JV CONTEXTS OF SECOND VOLUME.

of the true theory of the union between Church and
State. This theory applied as a rule to judge of the
actual establishment* in the pagan world. The causes
that facilitated the establishment of religion amongst
them ; as likewise those causes that hindered their esta
blishments from receiving their due form, pp.264 298

SECT. VI. The last instance of the magistrate s care for
the support of religion ; in the allowance of a general
toleration : the measure and causes of it : the nature of
the ancient tolerated religions : how, under the super
vision and direction of the magistrate: and how first

violated and destroyed by civil tyranny - pp. 298 334
NOTES to Fourth, Filth, & Sixth Sections - pp. 335 390

THE

DIVINE LEGATION OF MOSES

DEMONSTRATED.

BOOK IL

CONTINUED.

SECT. IV.

THE NEXT step the Legislator took, was to sup*
port and affirm the general doctrine of a PRO
VIDENCE, which he had delivered in his laws, by a
very circumstantial and popular method of inculcating
the belief of a future state of rewards and punish
ments.

This was by the institution of the MYSTERIES, the
most sacred part of pagan Religion; and artfully
framed to strike deeply and forcibly into the minds and
imaginations of the people.

I propose, therefore, to give a full and distinct
account of this whole matter : and the rather, because
it is a thing little known or attended to : the Ancients,
who wrote expressly on the Mysteries, such as Melan-
thius, Menander, Hicesius, Sotades, and others, not
being come down to us. So that the modern writers
on this subject are altogether in the dark concerning

Voi,. II, B their

2 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

their origine and end ; not excepting Meursius himself :
to whom, however, I am much indebted, for abridging
my labour in the search of those passages of antiquity,
which make mention of the ELEUSINIAN Mysteries^
and for bringing the greater part of them together
under one view*.

To avoid ambiguity, it will be proper to explain
the term. Each of the pagan Gods had (besides the
publick and open) a secret worship f paid unto him :
to which none were admitted but those who had been
selected by preparatory ceremonies, called INITIATION.
This sco rt wors/i ip w r as termed the M Y s T E it i E s .

But though every God had, besides his open wor
ship, the secret likewise ; yet this latter did not every
where attend the former; but only there, where he
was the patron God, or in principal esteem. Thus,
when in consequence of that intercommunity of pa
ganism, which will be explained hereafter, one nation
adopted the Gods of another, they did not always take
in at the same time, the secret worship or Mysteries
of that God : so, in Rome, the publick and open
worship of Bacchus was in use long before his Mys
teries were admitted. But, on the other hand again,
the worship of the strange God was sometimes intro
duced only for the sake of his Mysteries : as, in the
game city, that of Isis and Osiris. Thus stood the
case in general ; the particular exceptions to it, will be
seen in the sequel of this dissertation.

* Eleusinia: sive de Cereris Eleusina? sacro,
f trabo, in his tenth book of his Geography, p. 716, Gron. ed.
writes thus : Kot&gt;oj ^ rare, *J run EXhwuv x) ruv fiagGagu* lr&lt;

{ &lt;& ftij* K.AI TAX MEN
MYSTIK.ni:, TAS AE EN $ANEPfi/ TsV &lt;pir&gt;s vrut vvufrftvu.

The

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. j

The first and original Mysteries, of which we have
any sure account, were those of Isis and Osiris in
EGYPT; from whence they were derived to the
GREEKS*, under the presidency of various Godsf, as
the institutor thought most for his purpose : Zoroaster
brought them into Persia : Cadmus and Inachus into
Greece at large J; Orpheus into Thrace: Melampus

* Diod. Sic. lib. i. Eudoxus said, as Plutarch informs us, that
the Egyptians invented this fable concerning Jupiter Ammon,
or the Supreme God, That his Legs being unseparated, very
shame drove him into solitude ; but that Isis split and divided
them, and by that means set him at liberty to walk about the
JVorld. &lt;J&gt;jc-* rs&lt; rS

*H $t "lew ^nx,T6^a(7cc tCj Swrycrucra, rcc. pscy ruvra. T a-upa-ros,
nj&gt; vrofeietf vettfjxfi. De Is. & Osir. Vol. I. pag. 670. Edit. Steph.
8vo. The moral of the fable is plainly this, as we shall see more
plainly hereafter, That the FIRST CAUSE was kept unknown, till
the Egyptian Mysteries of Isis revealed him amongst their airopfifla ;
which Mysteries were communicated to the Greeks, and, through
them, to the rest of mankind. But the Image under which the
fable is conveyed, was taken from the form of the Egyptian Statues
of the Gods, which the workmen made with their Legs undivided.
When the Greek Artists first shewed them how to form their Gods
in a walking Posture, the attitude so alarmed their Worshippers,
that they bound them with Chains, lest they should desert their
own Country. For the people imagined that their Gods, on the
least ill humour or disgust, had a strange propensity to shew them
A fair pair of heels.

f- "Ori bl ruv Aiwvc-wv, xj fuv Tlce.vct.$r l vct.My t t ptAoi TUV 8f0pO$4MW,
xj rut XXftMrufap TJ reAelaf OfptVf* v^ O^pvcr^, elf raff A$watt

elf roe, rns Aj2? x^ T Aittvftf (ttldftuMt offcot. Theodoretus, Thera-
peut. i.

rap AirTDTIOIS, xj w^d *^w|, xj ^oin|J, xj
Ktt)iu&lt;; inwtvwpivot, ptltvtxfiiflo, rt sl$ "EAA^^a? awo T?? ruv

Epiphan. adv. Haer. lib. i. Ha?res. iv.

4 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

into Argis; Trophonius into Bceotia; Minos into Crete;
Cinyras into Cyprus ; and Erechtheus into Athens,
And as in Egypt they were to Isis and Osiris ; so in
Asia they were to Mithras; in Samothrace to the
Mother of the Gods ; in Boeotia to Bacchus ; in
Cyprus to Venus ; in Crete to Jupiter ; in Athens to
Ceres and Proserpine ; in Amphissa to Castor and
Pollux ; in Lemnos to Vulcan, and so to others, in
other places, the number of which is incredible*.

But their end, as well as nature, was the same in
all; to teach the doctrine of a FUTURE STATE. In
this, Origen and Celsus agree ; the two most learned
writers of their several parties. The first, minding his
adversary of the difference between the future lift
promised by the Gospel, and that taught in Paganism,
bids him compare the Christian doctrine with what all
the sects of Philosophy, and all the Mysteries,
amongst Greeks and Barbarians, taught concerning
it j* : And Celsus, in his turn, endeavouring to shew
that Christianity had no advantage over paganism in the
efficacy of stronger sanctions, expresses himself to
this purpose : " But now, after all, just as you believe
" eternal punishments, so do the Ministers of the
" sacred rites, and those who initiate into, and preside
" in the Mysteries f /

They

* Postulat quidem magnitude) materise, atque ipsius defensionis
officium, ut siniiliter caUeras turpitudinum species persequamur c
vel quas produnt antiquitatis historic, vel mysteria ilia continent
sacra, quibus initiis nomen est, & qua non omnibus vulgo, sed pau-
corum taciturnitatibus tradi licet. Sed Sacrorum innvmeriritus, atque
affixa deformitas singulis, corporaliter prohibet universanos exequi.
Arnob. adv. Geiites, lib. v. p. 165. Edit. Plantini, 8vo, 1582.

f KaS* Jjiar*}? (p&c&o&lt;puv afptfti tv "EAfojcny y B/jago$ y MYS-
THPinAH. Orig. cont. Cels. lib. iii. p. 160. Sp. ed.

lt%uv \HUVUV l&htcti rtfarai ft xj fcvrafwyoi, lib. viii. p. 408. And

that

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 5

They continued long in religious reverence : some
were more famous and more extensive than others;
to which many accidents- concurred. The most noted
were the ORPHIC, the BACCHIC, the ELEUSINIAN,
the SAMOTHRACIAN, the CABIRIC; and the Mi-

THRIAC.

Euripides makes Bacchus say, in his tragedy of
that name*, that the Qrgics were celebrated by all
foreign nations, and that he came to introduce them
amongst the Greeks. And it is not improbable, but
several barbarous nations might have learned them of
the Egyptians long before they came into Greece. The
Druids of Britain, who had, as well as the Brachmans
of India, divers of their religious rites from thence,
celebrated the Orgies of Bacchus, as we learn from
Dionysius the African. And Strabo having quoted
Artemidorus for a fabulous story, subjoins, " But what
" he says of Ceres and Proserpine is more credible,
" namely, that there is an island near Britain, where
" they perform the ,same rites to those two God-
" desses as are used in Samothrace f." But, of all
the MYSTERIES, those which bore that name, by way
of eminence, the ELEUSINIAX, celebrated at Athens

that nothing very heterodox was taught in the mysteries con
cerning a future state, I collect from the answer Origen makes to
Celsus, who had preferred what was taught in the Mysteries of
Bacchus on that point, to what the Christian Religion revealed
concerning it &lt;crEp* p^v av ruv Bxx^xuv rikifSt vri T?

TS jun$!u$ TetSr^ lib. iv. p. 167,
Act. II.

t^ rw Ko*jv iizoKoiMTou. Strabonis Geogr. lib. iv. p. 137. lin.
Edit. Casaub. The nature of these Saraotbracian rites is
plained afterwards.

6 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

in honour of Ceres, were by far the most renowned ;
and, in course of time, eclipsed, and almost swallowed
up the rest. Their neighbours round about very early
practised these Mysteries to the neglect of their own :
in a little time all Greece and Asia Minor were
initiated into them : and at length they spread over the
whole Roman empire, and even beyond the limits of
it. " I insist not," says Tully, " on those sacred
and august rites of ELEUSIS, where, from the re-
" motest regions, men came to be initiated *." And
we are told in Zosimus, that " these most holy rites
" were then so extensive, as to take in the whole
f&lt; race of mankind j\" Aristides calls Eleu sis, the com
mon temple of the earth ;. And Pausanias says, the
rites performed there for the promotion of piety and
yirtue, as much excelled all other rites, as the Gods
excelled the Heroes .

How this happened, the nature and turn of the Peor
pie, who introduced these Mysteries, will account for.
Athens was a city the most devoted to Religion of any
upon the face of the earth. On this account their
poet Sophocles calls it the sacred building of the
Gods ||, his figure of speech alluding to its fabulous.

* Omitto ELEUSINAM sanctam illam & augustam : ubi initiantur
gentes orarum ultimae. Nat. Deor. lib. i. c. 42. Edit. Ox. 4.
T. ii. p. 432.

f Toe, av vip1o TO av0&lt;y7riov /xsv^ ayuvTctla (jt,vrr,fiK. lib. IV.

J "OfK xotvov Tk rri? yrx ripsf- rrjv EAsv^rVa vyt~ro. Aristidis
Eleusinia, in initio.

Oi yap ^^atore^oj ruv EhXwuv r&zriiv rJjv EXsy^ivtaf nauvlajv
iwoo-a, I? tvo-iSiioc,* VKII, Toffury yyov ivli^or^uv, oa-u xj Ttf? ^a? iTr^offBlv
vuuv. Phocica, 1. x. 0.31. 9.876. In this elegant similitude
he seems plainly to allude to the secret of the mysteries ; which, as we
shall see, consisted in an explanation of the origin of hero-worship,
and the nature of the deity.

R Electra, act. ii. sc. i. AGHNftN T^N 0EOAMHTOT.

foundation^

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 7

foundation. Nor was it a less compliment St. Paul
intended to pay the Athenians, when he said, V
AOflvaloj, HOLTO, -wraVla wj istftfatfvtturifis u/xa
And Josephus tells us, that they were universally
esteemed the most litigious people of Greece f . Hence,
in these matters, Athens became the pattern and
standard to the rest of the world.

In discoursing, therefore, of the MYSTERIES in
general, we shall be forced to take our ideas of them
chieny from what we find practised in the Eleu-sinian.
Nor need we fear to be mistaken ; the END of all
being the same, and all having their common ORIGINAL
from Egypt.

To begin with the general purpose and design of
their Institution. This will be understood, by shewing
what they communicated promiscuously to all.

To support the doctrine of a PROVIDENCE, which,
they taught, governed the world J, they inforced the
belief of a FUTURE STATE of rewards and punish
ments , by every sort of contrivance. But as this
did not quite clear up the intricate ways of Provi
dence, they added the doctrine of a METEMPSYCHOSIS,
or the belief of a prior state : as we learn from Cicero,
and Porphyry || ; the latter of whom informs us, that it
was taught in the Mysteries of the Persian Mithras.

* Act. Apost. xvii. 22.

\ tt7teraTtf? rut&gt; EXA^VW* aTTxflis xiyxcui. Cont. Ap. lib. ii. t. II.
edit. Oxon. folio, 1720, cap. 15. pag. 1373. lin. 12.

I Plutarch, de Is. & Osir.

[Mysteriis] neque solum, &c, Seel etiam cum SPE MELIORS
MORJENDI. Tull. de Legg. lib. ii. c, 14. Edit. Ox. 4. t. III.
p. 148.

j| Ksct ya,f Mfc* wajJla;* er* ruv Vf strut, T^V METEM^YXfii;!?*
sivou o x^ I/*^ki/Et&gt; ioixa&lt;7iv tv ro~{ rS MiQ^a ftffijoioiS. De Abst. lib. iY
. 16. Edit. Cantabr. 1655. Svo.

B 4 This

8 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

This was an ingenious solution, invented by the
Egyptian Lawgivers, to remove all doubts concerning
the moral attributes of God * ; and so, by adding a
prior to a future state, to establish the firm belief
of his Providence. For the Lawgiver well knew
how precarious that belief was, while the moral attri
butes of God remained doubtful and uncertain.

In cultivating the doctrine of a juture life, it
\vas taught, that the Initiated should be happier in
that state than all other mortals : that while the souls
of the profane, at their leaving the body, stuck fast
in mire and filth, and remained in darkness, the souls
of the Initiated winged their flight directly to the
happy islands, and the habitations of the Godsf.
This doctrine was as necessary for the support of the
Mysteries, as the Mysteries were for the support of
the doctrine. But now, lest it should be mistaken,
that initiation alone, or any other means than a vir
tuous life, intitled men to this future happiness, the
Mysteries openly proclaimed it as their chief busi
ness, to restore the soul to its original purity. " It
" v as the end and design of initiation" says Plato,
" to restore the soul to that state, from whence it fell,
" as from its native seat of perfection J." They

* So Tully. Ex quibus humanae vitag erroribus & aerumnis
sit, lit interdum veteres illi sive vates, sive in sacris IMTIIHQUE
tradendis divinae mentis interpretes, qui nos ob aLqua. scelera
suscepta in vita superiore, poenarum luendarum caussa, natos
esse dixerunt, aliquid vidisse videantur. Fragm. ex. lib. de
Philosophia.

t Plato in Phecdone, p. 69. C. p. 81. A. t. I. Edit. Henr.
Stephani. Aristides Eleusinia, t. I. p. 454. Edit Canteri, 8vo.
& apud Stobaeum, Serm. 119, &c. Schol. Arist. iu Ranis. Diog.
Laert. in vita Diog. Cynici.

J EKOTTO? TO;* TiXTo Ef t , fi; T&G? Juafayu* ra? -*]/f^aj lutTvo &$ a

1" F^xdone.

contrived

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. g

contrived that every thing should tend to shew the
necessity of virtue ; as appears from Epictetus :
" Thus the Mysteries become useful ; thus we seize
" the true spirit of them; when we begin to ap-
&lt;( prehend that every thing therein was instituted by
" the Ancients, for instruction and amendment of
" life*." Porphyry gives us some of those moral
precepts^ which were inforced in the Mysteries, as
to honour their parents, to offer up fruits to the
Gads, and to J or bear cruelty towards animals f . For
the accomplishment of this purpose, it was required
in the Aspirant to the Mysteries, that he should be
of a clear and unblemished Character, and free even
from the suspicion of any notorious crime . To
come at the truth of his Character, he was severely
interrogated by the Priest or Hierophant, impressing
on him the same sense of obligation to conceal no
thing, as is now done at the Roman Confessional ,
Hence it was, that when Nero, alter the murder of

his

1 T4* piH XUrJJ Craj Jat Tat/ Ta C6TO T.OIV

Apud \rrisin. Dissert lib. iii. cap. 21. My reason for
translating EK piWi av in this manner, was, because I imagined
the author, in this obscure expression, alluded to the custom in th
Jklysteries of calling those who were initiated only in the lesser,
Mvron t but those, in the greater, $jro7u.

*}" TcfEK T*/*aj , ? xap^ror? atya&XH9 t Zficc, i^v crlysa-QoLi. De Abst.

lib. iv. . 22. Kdit. Cant. 1655. 8vo.

. 7* \/&gt;V f\ ^ 7 i* I 9 "* r* f

I O^TO* ystj&gt; roe. T a^Aa xaoa|/o&lt;$ fiva TO&lt;? [Av&lt;rou$ it xsn/ui i Eroct,lopsv&e ty t
do) ra? jce^ac ryv -^v^v nvxi. Libaniiis Decl. xix. p. 495. D
Edjt, Morelli, fol. 1606.

As appears 4 roin the repartee which Plutarch records; in
his Laconic apophthegms of Lysander, Edit. Fjancof. 1599. t. II.
p. 229. D. when he went to be initiated into the Samothracian
mysteries; *y $1 Z/*o6pxii xpurwfta&u
t^Jov ayri Iv TU find

ID THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

his mother, took a journey into Greece, and had a
mind to be present at the celebration of the Eleusi-
nlan Mysteries, the conscience of his parricide de
terred him from attempting it *. On the same account,
the good emperor M. Antoninus, when he would
purge himself to the world of the death of Avid ins
Cassius, chose to be initiated into the Eleusinian
Mysteries t ; it being notorious, that none were ad
mitted into them, who laboured under the just sus
picion of any heinous immorality. And Philostratus
tells us, that Apollonius was desirous of being initiated
in these My fit erics ; but that the Hierophant refused
to admit him, because he esteemed the Aspirant to be
no better than a Magician : for the Eleusinian stood
open to none who did not approach the Gods with
a pure and holy worship J. This was, originally, an
indispensable condition of initiation, observed in com
mon, by all the Mysteries; and instituted by Bacchus,
or Osiris himself, the first inventer of them ; who, as
Diodorus tells us, initiated none but pious and vir
tuous men^. During the celebration of the. Mys

teries,

ruv 9e-u*, rxro ^e

v rows , s^u

i, \Vhy initiation into these Mysteries is called, enquiring
of the oracle, will be seen afterwards.

* Peregrinatione quidem Gneciae, Eleusiniis sacris, quorum
iuitiatione impii & scelerati voce praeconis submoverentur,
intcresse nonausus est. Sueton. Vita Neron. cap. 34. 12. Edit.
Pitisci.

t Jul. Capit. Vita Ant. Phil, and Dion Cass.

I O ^6 ito&lt;poiv f \w x iCaXelo aa.^w roc, tEga, pw ya.% -ore7i pM^
y^oe, (in rw E^et/o-r avoT&i oifyvva ^ x0ag Ta Aai
De Vita Apollonii Tyanensis, 1. iv. c. 18. Edit. Olearii, fol.

Lib. iii. p. 138.
St. ed.

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 11

teries, they were enjoined the greatest sanctity, and
highest elevation of mind. " When you sacrifice or
" pray (says Epictetus in Arrian) go with a prepared
" purity of mind, and with dispositions so previously
" ordered, as are required of you when you approach
" the ancient rites and Mysteries*" And Proclus
tells us that the Mysteries and the Initiations drew
the souls of men from a material, sensual, and
merely human life, and joined them in communion
with the Gods f . Nor was a less degree of purity
required of the Initiated for their future conduct J.
They were obliged by solemn engagements to com
mence a new life of strictest piety and virtue ; into
which they were entered by a severe course of pe
nance, proper to purge the mind of its natural defile
ments. Gregory Nazianzen tells us, that " no one
" could be initiated into the Mysteries of Mithras, till
" he had undergone alt sorts of mortifying trials, and
" had approved himself holy and impassible ." The
consideration of all this made Tertullian say, that,
in the Mysteries^ " Truth herself took on every
" shape, to oppose and combat Truth ||." And St.
Austin, " That the devil hurried away deluded souls

Ki futft Svcria? ^, x^ /-CST tv%uv, ^ Vfoqfavxfofti xj -ro^iy^axEtyuvov
in ^(Tthiua&a,* xj Mge*f &ctXft.ko~&lt;;. Arrian.

Dissert, lib. iii. cap. 21.

uw ra? 4/t/xa?, xj 0vKMr1ti T*2&lt; $iK&lt; In Hemp. Plat. lib. i.

+ ff \ ~ &gt; &gt; fl ^ " tv \ ~

4. i^-fiti Tfy lAVfYiflUV Ct^00i? tOtOtATjV X* T&gt;3$ 1

Quidam apud Sopatrum, in Div. Qu^st.

Julian.

(I Omnia adversus veritatem, de ipsa veritate constructa sunt.
Apol. cap. 47.

" tO

12 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book I L

" to their destruction, when he promised to purify
" them by those ceremonies, called INITIATIONS*."

The initiated, under this discipline, and with thes6
promises, were esteemed the only happy amongst
men. Aristophanes, who speaks the sense of the
people, makes them exult and triumph after this
manner : tc On us only does the sun dispense his
" blessings ; we only receive pleasure from his beams :
" we, who are initiated, and perform towards citizens
" and strangers all acts of piety and justice f." Arid
Sophocles, to the same purpose, " LIFE, only is
" to be had there : all other places are full of misery
" and evil ." " Happy (says Euripides) is the man
" who hath been initiated into the greater Mysteries,
" and leads a life of piety and religion ." And
the longer any one had been initiated, the more ho
nourable was he deemed |j. It was even scandalous
not to be initiated : and however virtuous the person
otherwise appeared, he became suspicious to the
people : As was the case of Socrates, and, in after-

* Diabolum animas deceptas illusasque prascipitasse qmmi
polliceretur purgationemanimae per cas, quas TEAETAS appellant-
De Trinitate, lib. iv. c. 10.

Ti lVtil

Kcd TBS ^WT*?. Chorus in Ranis, act. i. in fine.

rn *^ ^ / isj

J - - - - i o*; 01 /XCVOK *

Zr,v tfi* To^ o aAAoJcrt -Kravr lx.rxaxa.

^ 3 fl fixx-ap o rK tvootipuy ra^sla? Siuv

Bacch.

S trct^at ^^f. Aristidis
in Oral. *ep crapafpOiy^oI-.

times,

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 13

times, of Demonax *. No wonder, then, if the su
perior advantages of the Initiated, both here and
hereafter, should make the Mysteries universally
aspired to. And, indeed, they soon grew as compre
hensive in the numbers they embraced, as in the
regions and countries to which they extended : men,
women, and children ran to be initiated. Thus Apu-
leius t describes the state of the Mysteries even in
his time : " Influunt turbae, sacris divinis initiates, via
" fosminaeque, omnis setatis & omnis dignitatis." The
Pagans, we see, seemed to think initiation as neces
sary, as the Christians did baptism. And the custom
of initiating children appears from a passage of Te
rence , to have been general.

* Ferietar alio munere, ubi hera pepererit;
46 POTTO autem alio, ubi erit puero natalis dies,
** Ubi INITIABUNT."

Nay they had even the same superstition in tic
administration of it, which some Christians had of
Baptism, to defer it till the approach of death ; so the
honest farmer Trygaeus, in the Pax of Aristophanes :

As" yotg jcuiflWvoti pi Tsrpiv TtQi/wwai.

The occasion of this solicitude is told us by the
scholiast on the Ranee of the same poet. " The
" Athenians believed, that he who was initiated, and
" instructed in the Mysteries, would obtain celestial

* Lueian. Vit. Dem. t. II. p. 374, et eeq. Edit. Reitzi-i, 4*
Amstel. 1745.

t Met. lib. xi. pag. 959. Edit. Lugd. 1587, 8vo.

J Phorm. act. \. sc. i. And Donatus, on the place, tells us, tlie
tame custom prevailed in the Samothracian mysteries : " Tereu-
" t.ius Apollodorufn sequitur, apud quern legitur, in insuLi Sam.-&gt;-
* thracuui a certo Unipore pneros initiari, rncre Atheniei)sium,"

" honour

14 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

" honour after death : and THEREFORE all ran to
" be initiated *." Their fondness for it became so
great, that at such times as the publick Treasury was
low, the Magistrates could have recourse to the Mys
teries, as a fund to supply the exigencies of the
State. " Aristogiton (says the commentator on Hcr-
" mogenes) in a great scarcity of publick money,
" procured a law, that in Athens every one should
" pay a certain sum for his initiation f ."

Every thing in these rites was mysteriously con
ducted, and under the most solemn obligations to
secrecy . Which how it could agree to our repre
sentation of the Mysteries, as an institution for the
use of the people, we shall now endeavour to
explain.

They were hidden and kept secret for two reasons :

I. Nothing excites our curiosity like that which
retires, from our observation, and seems to forbid

T*3&gt;

v attccvu ^Yi^otruVf ypa,(pn wfj-otf vrctp
j. Syrianus.

| Cum ignotis hominibus Orplieua sacrorum ceremonias
aperiret, nihil aliud ab his quos initiabat in primo vestibulo nisi
jurisjurancli necessitatem, & cum terribili quadam auctoritate
religionis, exegit, ne profanis auribus inventae ac composita3 reli-
gioiiis secreta proderentur. Fermicus in limine lib. vii. Astronum.

Nota surit hcec Greece superstitionis Hierophantis, quibus
inviolabili lege interdictum erat, ne base atque hujusmodi Mys-
teria apud eos, qui his sacris minimi initiati essent, evulgarent.

Nicetas in Gregorii Nazianzem Orat. EK f y^ ?urcc. This
obligation of the initiated to secrecy was the reason that the
Egyptian hieroglyphic for them, was a grass-hopper, which was
supposed to have no mouth. See Horapollo Hieroglyph, lib. ii.
cap. 55. Edit. Pauw, 1727, 4to.

our

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 15

our search. Of this opinion we find the learned
Synesius, where he says, " The people will despise
" what is easy and intelligible, and therefore they
" must always be provided with something wonderful
" and mysterious in Religion, to hit their taste, and
" stimulate their curiosity*." And again, " Tlie
" ignorance of the mysteries preserves their venera-
" tion : for which reason they are entrusted only to
" tlie cover of night f." " The veil or mist (says
" Clemens Alex.) through which things are only
" permitted to be seen, renders the truths contained
" under it more venerable and majestick ." On these
principles the Mysteries were framed. They were
kept secret, to excite curiosity : They were celebrated
in the night, to impress veneration and religious hor
ror : And they were performed with variety of shews
and representations (of which more hereafter) to fix
and perpetuate these impressions |j. Hitherto, then,
the Mysteries are to be considered as invented, not

* To $\ farov xolayAa&lt;7/ia.i o djj/x,- fi&tm yg T^olsMej. To tbesani*
purpose, Nicephorus Gregoras, Hist, lib. v. p. 72. Edit. Basil. ibL
1562. To. yctg TO^ ttctn tpOSKsa, KOOV Tt

f Ayvufficc cffAtoryis in r&eluv x^ &gt;l| TTC &lt;Bnrzvsl0u TO.
Libro de Providentia,

I a.Xhu&lt;; re * aroin oa-ot $ici riven;

piifyvo. re x^ cre/x.wT^aj/ htxvvcn rr,v a,l\r t sia,i/. Stroili. L. v. pag. 419*
iin. 3. Edit. Sylburgh,

Euripides, in the Bacchantes, aft. ii. makes Bacchus say, that
the orgies were celebrated in the night, because darkness has
something solemn and august in it, and proper to fill the mind
with sacred horror.

(! Ato xj rot. fWfiipat if AAAHrOPIAIS hsytl&i,
tyfat&gt; u&lt;rvt% it SKOTfit, xj NTKTI tews Gt J n a
rvww, Demet. Plmlereus de Elocutione, 110.

16 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

to deter, but to invite the curiosity of the people.
But,

II. They were kept secret from a necessity of
teaching the Initiated some things, improper to be
communicated to ALL. The learned Varro in a frag
ment of his book Of Religions, preserved by St.
Augustin, tells us, that " There were many truths,
" which it was inconvenient for the State to be gene-
" rally known ; and many things, which, though false,
" it was expedient the People should believe; and
" that therefore the Greeks shut up their MYSTERIES
* in the silence of their sacred inclosures*/

Now to reconcile this seeming contradiction, in
supposing the Mysteries to be instituted to invite the
People into them, and, at the same time, to keep
them from the People s knowledge, we are to ob
serve, that in the Eleusinian rites there were two
celebrations of the Mysteries, the GREATER and the
LESS f . The end of the less must be referred to what
we said of the Institutor s intention to invite the
people into them ; and of the greater, to his inten
tion of keeping some truths from the people s know
ledge. Nor is this said without sufficient warrant :
Antiquity is very express for this distinction. We
are told that the lesser Mysteries were only a kind of
preparatory purification for the Greater $, and might

* Multa ease vera, quae vulgo scire non sit utile ; multaque, quse,
tametsi -falsa shit, aliter existimare populum expcdiat. Et ideo
Graecos TELETAS ac MYSTERIA taciturnitate parietibusqua
clausisse. Civ. Dei, lib. iv. cap. 31.

of. Interp. Gra&gt;c. ad Plut. Aristophanis.

Schol, ad Plut. secund. Aristoph.

2 be

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 17

be easily communicated to all*. That four years f
was the usual time of probation for those greater
Mysteries ; in which (as Clemens Alexandrinus ex
pressly informs us) the SECRETS were deposited J.

However, as it is very certain, that both the
greater and lesser Mysteries were instituted for the
benefit of the State, it follows, that the DOCTRINES*
taught in both, were equally for the service of Society ;
only with this difference ; some without inconvenience
might be taught promiscuously, others could not.

On the whole, the secret in the lesser Mysteries
was principally contained in some hidden rites and
shews to be kept from the open view of the people,
only to invite their curiosity : And the secret in the
greater, some hidden doctrines to be kept from the
people s, knowledge, for the very contrary purpose. For
the Shews common both to the greater and lesser
mysteries, were only designed to engage the attention,
and raise their devotion.

But it may be worth while to enquire more particu
larly into the HIDDEN DOCTRINES of the greater
Mysteries : for so religiously was the secret kept, that
the thing seems still to lie involved in darkness. We
shall, therefore, proceed cautiously; and try, from
the obscure hints dropped up and down in Antiquity,

" Pandere res alta terra & caligine mersas,"

Schol* Aristoph.

f Cum epoptas ante quinquennium instituunt, ut opinionem
suspendio cognitionis sediikent. Tertul. adv. Valentiniauos, in
initio.

I Mela ravra $e Ir ra ptxga pvrtipa, hbao-xabtctq rtv* va-odxH*
X1, xj CTgoB-agaurxEvq? run peMQfluf roc. $1 ^syaiXoe, &lt;ere^ TUV trvpKa.t{uw
& f*av9am&gt;&gt; m tTroAEWslaj, tfrvTilevsi.v $1, xj ipspvwf rr t v TI Qvriv, xj ri

rp/]aa7a. Strom, v. pag.^4. C. Edit. Sylburgii.

VOL. II. C First,

IS THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II,

First, as to the general nature of these hidden doc
trines, it appears, they must needs be such, which, if
promiscuously taught, would bring prejudice to the
State ; Why else were they secreted ? and, at the same
time, benefit, if communicated with caution and pru
dence ; Why else were they taught at all ?

From their general nature, we come by degress to
their particular. And first,

I. To the certain knowledge of what they were not :
which is one step to the knowledge of what
they were.

1 . They were not the common doctrines of a Pro
vidence and future state ; for ancient testimony is
express, that these doctrines were taught promiscuously
to all the initiated ; and were of the very essence of
these Rites These doctrines were not capable of
being hid and secreted, because they were of universal
credit amongst the civilized part of mankind. There
was no need to hide them; because the common
knowledge of them was so far from being detrimental
to Society, that, as we have shewn, Society could not
even subsist without their being generally known and
believed.

2. These secret doctrines could not be the me-
taphysical speculations of the Philosophers concern
ing the Deity, and the hitman soul. i. Because-
this would be making the hidden doctrines of the schools
of Philosophy, and of the mysteries of Religion, one
and the same ; which they could not be, because
their ends were different : the end of pagan Philosophy
being only Truth; the end of pagan Religion, only
Utility. These indeed were their professed ends. But

12 Both

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 19

Both being ignorant of this important verity, That
Truth and general Utility do coincide *, they Both, in
many cases, missed shamefully of their end. The
Philosopher, while he neglected utility, falling into the
most absurd and fatal errors concerning the nature of
God and of the Soul f : And the Lawgiver, while
so little solicitous of truth , encouraged a Polytheism
very mischievous to Society. However, as we shall
now see, he invented and successfully employed these
Mysteries to remedy the disorders arising from it.
2. Because revealing such metaphysical speculations
to the members of civil Society, with what caution
soever, would be injurious to the State, and productive
of no good to Religion ; as will be seen when we come,
in the third book, to examine what those metaphysical
speculations were. 3. Because such speculations (as
we shall then see) would overthrow every thing taught
to ALL, in the Mysteries, concerning a Providence,
and a future state : And yet we are told by the
Ancients, that the doctrines of a Providence, and future
state, were the FOUNDATION of the more secret ones,
after which we are now enquiring.

I have been the more particular in refuting this
notion, that the secret doctrines of the Schools &gt;
and of the Mysteries, might be the same ; because I
find it to be an error, into which some, even of the most
knowing of the Ancients, were apt to falL What
misled them, was, i. That the Schools and Mysteries
both pretended to restore the soul to its original purity
and perfection. We have seen how much the Mysteries
pretended to it. As to the Philosophers, Porphyry,
speaking of Pythagoras, tells us, that " he professed

* See B. HI. Sect. 2, f See B. III. Sect. 4.

c 2 " philosophy,

20 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

philosophy, whose end is to free and vindicate the
" soul from those chains and confinements, to which
" its abode with us hath made it subject*." 2. That
the Schools and Mysteries had each their hidden
doctrines, which went under the common name of
AI1OPPHTA ; and that, which had a common name,
was understood to have a common nature, 3. And
Chiefly, that the Philosopher and Lawgiver, being
frequently in one and the same person, and, conse
quently, the Institutions of the Mysteries and the
Schools established by the same hand, it appeared
reasonable to think, that the VoppVI, in both, were the
same ; they not distinguishing the twofold character
of the ancient Sage, which shall be explained here
after f .

II. Having, from the discovery of the general end
and purpose of these SECRETS, seen what they
could not be, we shall now be enabled to find
what, in fact, they were.

To begin with a passage of Clemens Alexandrinus,
" After these (namely, lustrations) are the LESSER
** Mysteries, in which is laid the FOUNDATION of the
" hidden doctrines, and preparations for what is to
" come afterwards J." From a knowledge of the
foundation, we may be able to form an idea of the

TUV TOi8Tv tifauv T( xj ffw^iff^uv Toy xalaxep/wgtcr^tvoi i/AfV vuv. De

Vita Pythag. Edit. Cantabr. 1655, 8vo. pag. aoi.

f See B. III. Sect. 2.

J Mela ravrcc $t ij- T&lt;X //tx.pa f&lt;-yr^a, &&*rxaAia; riva lirobtew
3f^o&gt;1a, xj -Gr^oTrapacrxEvrK ruv pfrhovlur. Strom. V. pag. 4 2 4* *Ayw
ycif xj o terpoaywy, icj /xvrga ra fErp /AtT*?f wv, Strom, i. pag. 203.
iia. 7. Edit. Sylburgh.

superstructure.

Sect 4.3 OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 21

superstructure. This foundation (as hath been shewn)
was the belief of a Providence, and future state;
and, its consequence on practice, inducement to a
virtuous life. But there was one insuperable obstacle
to a life of purity and holiness, the vicious examples
of their Gods. EGO HOMUNCIO HOC KON F4CEREM*?
was the absolving Formula, whenever any one was
resolved to give a loose to his appetites f . But the
mischief went still farther; They not only thought
themselves excused by the example, but even drawn, by
a divine impulse of their Gods. When the young
man in the Aulularia of Plautus apologises to Euclio
for having debauched his Daughter, he says,

" DeusmihiiMPULsoRfuit, Ismeadillam JLLEXITJ:. *

And by a passage in his Amphitruo, where he makes
Mercury joke upon the office of a Parasite in the

* Terence, Eun. act. iii. sc. vi. Euripides puts this argument
into the mouth of several of his speakers, up and down his tra
gedies. Helen, in the fourth act of the Trojan Dames, says,
44 How could 1 resist a Goddess, whom Jupiter^himself obeys ? "
ion, in his play of that name, in the latter end of the first act,
speaks to the same purpose: and in the fifth act of Hercules
Furens, Theseus comforts his friend by the examples of the crimes
of the Gods. See likewise his Hippolytus, act ii. sc. ii. The
learned and ingenious Mr. Seward, in his tract of the Conformity
between Popery and Paganism, has taken notice of a difficult
passage in this tragedy, which he has very ably explained, on the
system here delivered of the detection of Polytheism in the sacred
Mysteries.

\ o ol &lt;sroA:/$ t^ ^tXocro^&gt;)I^ o^X- ETT* T %*# Xa^amv p^e?

T? -nrspt CIVTUV Aoy?&gt; *} tffoto-^ft SaTE^ov, Sj xetla$fMtH ruv Seuv., u&lt;; lit

jroXX&gt;5 xotMOotipovia. KvlMvSupivuv % ruv cdo-^ruv re ^ ^ixfatvo^ulciruv

xfrtvoi; ctTT^troti, StoTq o%uv aiiroc, Bf Qffx.s ifAtvet. Dion, liiilicar, apud
Euseb. Praep. Evang. lib. ii. cap. 8.

} Act \, Sc. 10.

c 3 description

22 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

description he gives of his own obsequiousness to his
father Jupiter, we see it was grown up into an avowed
Principle :

" Arnanti [patri] supparasitor, hortor, asto, admoneo,

" gaudeo.
" Siquid patri volup est, voluptas ea mihi multo

" maxima est.
" Amat, sapit : recte facit, animo quando obse-

" quitur suo*. ?&gt;

He then addresses himself to the audience, and tells
them gravely, that men, in like manner, after the ex
ample of Jupiter, should indulge their passions, where
they can do it decently.

" Quod omnes homines facere OPORTET, dum id
" modo fiat bono."

And the licentious rites, in the OPEN worship of their
Gods, gave still greater encouragement to these con
clusions. Plato, in his book Of Laws, forbids drink
ing to excess ; unless, says he, during the feasts of
Bacchus, and in honour of that God f . And Aristotle,
in his Politics, having blamed all lewd and obscene
images and pictures, excepts those of the Gods, which
Helicon had sanctified. When St. Austin J had quoted
the Ego homuncio hoc non facerem, to shew his adver
saries what mischief these stories did to the morals of
the people ; he makes the defenders of Paganism
reply, that it was true ; but then (say they) these things
were only taught in the Fables of the poets, which, an
attention to the MYSTERIES would rectify : " At enim

* Act. iii. Sc. iv. f Lib. vi.

J Civ. Dei, L. II. Cap. 7. in fine, ct 8. in initio.

" IIOR

Sect. 4.J OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 23
" non traduntur ista SACRIS deoruin, sed Fabulis
** poetarum *."

For tlie Mysteries professed to exact nothing dif*
ficult, of the initiated f, which they would not assist
him to perform. It \vas necessary, then, to remedy
this evil; which they did, by striking at the root of it.
So that, such of the Initiated as were judged capable,
were made acquainted with the whole delusion. The
MYSTAGOGUE taught them, that Jupiter, Mercury,
Bacchus, Venus, Mars, and the whole rabble of licen
tious Deities, were only DEAD MORTALS; subject, in
life, to the same passions and infirmities with themselves ;
but having been, on other accounts, Benefactors to
mankind, grateful Posterity had deified them ; and,
with their virtues, had indiscreetly canonized their vices.
The fabulous Gods being thus routed, the supreme
cause of all things naturally took their place. HIM
they were taught to consider as the Creator of the
Universe, who pervaded all things by his virtue, and
governed all by his power. But here it must be ob
served, that the discovery of this supreme Cause they
made to be consistent with Ihe notion of local tutelary
Deities, Beings superior to men, and inferior to God,
and by him set over the several parts of his creation.
This was an opinion universally holden by learned
Antiquity, and never brought into question by any Theist.

* This the Father could not deny; but observes, however, that
in the THEN corrupt state of the Mysteries the remedy was becomt
part of the disease: " Nolo dicere ILLA MYSTICA quam ista thea*
** trica esse tmpioM."

f AM* so-ofAoii ha, ryv rsXtrriv -ro^o? izcieratv g&} erotfAoroil" Sopat,
in Div. QuafSt. Ka6a7r a^Aw juvrrpw Wp&AiffOttj TJ? fftuiry, TU*
e,X^uv flCftagfajMrBTArii Xourof TO&gt; tjActvlS |9iov IKO,^OH^OV, x^, / sr^of TJJV vsiar
fuv vtuv t&Jliif iTfuyo^v^t IxxAimi/ TWV u puQyy.& t ~ut sc &lt; ffu4a,ov+
^opat. ibidem.

C 4 What

34 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II,

What the aVeppijJa overthrew in their reformed theology,
was the vulgar Polytheism, the worship of dead men.
From this time, the initiated had the title ofEnonTHS,
by which was meant one that sees things as they are,
and without disguise ; whereas, before, he was called
MT2THS, which has a contrary signification.

But, besides the prevention of vice, their bringing
the Initiated acquainted with the national Gods had
another important use, which was to excite them
to HEROIC VIRTUE, by shewing them what honours
the benefactors of nations had acquired, by the free
exercise of it. And this (as will be shewn hereafter)
was the chief reason why Princes, Statesmen, and
Leaders of colonies and armies, all aspired to be
partakers of the GREATER MYSTERIES.

Thus we see, how what was taught and required
in the lesser Mysteries, became the foundation of
instruction in the GREATER : the obligation to a good
life there ) made it necessary to remove the errors of
vulgar polytheism here\ and the doctrine of a Pro
vidence taught previously in those, facilitated the re
ception of the sole cause of all things, when finally
revealed in these.

Such were the TRUTHS which Varro, as quoted
above, tells us it was inexpedient for the People to
know : for indeed he supposed, the error of vulgar
Polytheism to be so inveterate, that it was not to be
expelled without throwing Society into convulsions.
But Plato spoke out : he owned it to be " difficult
* to find the Father and Creator of the universe : and,
" when found, impossible to discover him to all the
world*."

* Tcv |MEV 5" wotiflriy xj vrotlegct. rtiSs TS wcwlof wp7 Tfi egfo

In Timaeo.

Besides,

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 25

Besides, there was another reason why the Insti-
tutors of the Mysteries, who were LAWGIVERS,
should be for secreting this truth. They themselves
had the chief hand in the rise of vulgar Polytheism *.
They contrived it for the sake of the State ; and to
keep the people in awe, under a greater veneration
for their laws. This Polytheism, the poets had de
praved, by inventing or recording vicious stories of
the Gods and Heroes, which the Lawgivers were willing
should be stifled f. And they were only such stories,
that, in their opinion, (as may be seen in Plato) made
Polytheism hurtful to the State.

Scaevola, that most learned Pontifex, as St. Austin
calls him, gives this very account of the matter, where
be says, There were three Systems concerning the
GODS, the Poetic, the Philosophic, and the Civil: the
first, he says, was nugatory, and therefore hurtful to
the virtue of the State ; the second incongruous to
public establishments, by creating disorder and con*
fusion in the speculative opinions of the People ; such

* See the second Section of this Book.

f Plato has a remarkable passage to this purpose. Speaking,
in the beginning of his twelfth book Of Laws, concerning theft,
and fraud, and rapine, he takes notice of the popular stories told of
Mercury, as if he delighted in such things, and patronized those
who did ; the philosopher says they are not true ; and cautions
men from being led away by such pretended examples. However,
to make all sure, he takes up the method of the mysteries, and
adds, that if, indeed, Mercury did, or encouraged such things, he
was neither a God, nor of celestial original. xtavij p\v

TUV Atpj $1 vleuv t^ij

VTTO

t&gt;9ro TIVUV jM.yOoAo ywi , crAjj^uTutfj &lt;crEfi
0g&lt;70ii;. x^ xAsWIwv y /Sta^o^t^, ols&Qu fJLijotv

26 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

as the teaching them, promiscuously, that the Popular
Gods were dead men deified. The directors of the
third System therefore prevented the mischiefs of the
Jirxt by such a partial communication of the second
System, as was necessary for that purpose*.

That tills account of the SECRET, in the greater
Mysteries, is no precarious hypothesis, standing on
mere conjecture, I shall now endeavour to shew,

First, from the clear evidence of Antiquity, which
expressly informs us of these two particulars ; That
the EKROR8 OF POLYTHEISM were detected, and the
DOCTRINE OF THE UNITY was taught and explained
in the Mysteries. But here it is to be observed, that
when the Ancients speak of Mysteries indefinitely,
they generally mean the greater.

It hath been shewn, that the Grecian and Asiatic
Mysteries came originally from Egypt. Now of the
EGYPT i AX, St. Austin giveth us this remarkable ac
count. 4i Of the same nature, too, are those things
" which Alexander of Maccdon wrote to his mother,
" as revcciled unto him by one LEO f, chief liiero-

" phant

* Relatum est in literis, doctissirauin Pontificem Scxvolam
disputasse tna genera tradita Deoruni ; unura a poetis, alterum a
philosophis, tertium a principibus civitatis. Primum genus nuga-
torium die-it esse Secundum non congruere civitatibus, quod
habeant aliqua qua 1 obsint populis nosbe Quae sunt autern ilia
quae prolata in multitudinem nocent? " Ucec, inqnit; non esse
* deos iierculein, ^Esculapium, Castorem, Pollucem : proditur
" enim a doctis, quod homines fuerint, Ac humana conditione de-
* fecerint." Augustiu. De Civit. Dei, lib. iv. cap. 27. in initio.

f it is not unlikely but this might be a name of office. Por
phyry, in his fourth book Of Abstinence, 16. Kdit. Cantabr.
1655, 8vo, informs us, that the priests of the Mysteriet of Mi-

thrat

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 27
" phant of the Egyptian Mysteries: whereby it ap-
" peared, that not only such as Picus, and Faunas,
" and yEneas, and Romulus, nay Hercules, and /s-
" culapivis, and Bacchus the son of Semele, and Cas-
" tor, arid Pollux, and ail others of the same rank,
" had been advanced, from the condition of mortal
u Men, into Gods; but that even those Deities of the
" higher order, the Dii mqjorum gentium, those whom
tf Cicero, without naming, seems to hint at, in his
" T lisculans, such as Jupiter, Juno, Saturn, Neptune,
" Vulcan, Vesta, and many others (whom Varro
" endeavours to allegorize into the elements or parts
" of the world) were, in truth, only deceased mortals.
" But the Priest being under great fears and appre-
" hensions, while he was telling this, as conscious that
" he was betraying the SECRET OF THE MYSTERIES,
" begged of Alexander, when he found that he intend-
" ed to communicate it to his mother *, that he would

" enjoin

thras were called Lions , the priestesses Lionesses; and the inferior
ministers, Ravens. Ty? ulv avrvv opyiuv pvrat* Alfe xetfaTv rots
$1 ywa.ixas Asaivac. TOVS $1 Ivn^tTvfla^, Kopa^.a? : for there was a
great conformity, in the practices and ceremonies of the several
Mysteries, throughout the whole pagan world. And this conjecture
is supported by a passage in Eunapius, which seems to say, that it
was unlawful to reveal the name of the Hierophant. - rS $1

in Maximo, p. 74. F.dit. Comelini, 8vo, 1616. It looks as if the
corruptions and debaucheries of some of the Mysteries, in later
times, had made this further provision for secrecy.

* I suppose this communication to his Mother, might be with a
purpose to let her understand, that he was no longer the dupe of
her fine story of Jupiter s invasion, and the intrigue of his divine
original. For Eratosthenes, according to Plutarch, Edit. Francof.
fol. 1599. T. I. p. 665, E. says, that Olympias, when she. brought
Alexander on his way to the army, in his first military expedition,

acquainted

28 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book tt.

41 enjoin her to burn the letter, as soon as she had read

To understand the concluding part, we are to know,
that Cyprian (who has also preserved this curious
anecdote) tells us, it was the dread of Alexander s
power which extorted the secret from the hiero*
phant |.

But

acquainted him, in private, with this secret of his birth : and ex
horted him to behave himself as became the son of Jupiter Ham-
inon. This, I suppose, Alexander might boast of to the Priest,
and so the murder came out.

* In eo gcnere sunt etiam ilia qua? Alexander Macedo scribit
ad matrem, sibi a magno antistite sac.rorum ^Egyptiorum quodam
LF.ONE patefacta: ubi non Picus S, Faunus, & yEneas & Romulus,
vel etiam Hercules & /Esculapius, & Liber Semele natus, & Tyn-
dLiridre fratres, & si quos alios ex mortalibus pro diis haberit; sed
ipsi etiam majorum gentium dii, quos Cicero in Tusculanis, tacitis
nominibus, videtur attingere, Jupiter, Juno, Saturnus, Neptunus,
Yulcanus, Vesta, & alii plurimi, quos Varro conatur ad mundi
partes sive elementa transferre, homines fuisse produntur. Timeng
jnm & ille quasi revelata mysteria, petens admonet Alexandrum,
ut cum ea matri conscripta insinuaverit, flammis jubeat concre-
De Civit. Dei, lib. viii. cap. 5.

f- metu suoe potestatis proditum sibi de diis hominibus a sa-
eerdote SECIIETUM. De Idol. Yen. circa initium. But this is a
mistake, at least it is expressed inaccurately. What was extorted
by the dread of Alexander s power, was not the secret (which the
initiated had a right to) but the Priest s consent that he should
communicate the secret to another, which was contrary to the lawi
of the Mysteries. Plutarch, in his life of Alexander, Edit. Fran-
cof. fol. 1599, p-68o-. E, appears to refer to this very Epistle of Alex
ander to his Mother, where he says, AAi an-^*$ tv i*rroX*5 rfo?

c? IMVW ly^vnv. " Alexander in the Epistle says that there
were certaia Oracular Mysteries imparted to him, which on his
return he would communicate to her under the same seal of se
crecy." For at this time the Mysteries foretold the future, as
6 re\ 7 ealeii the past*

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 29

But Tully brings the matter home to the ELEUSI-
NIAX Mysteries themselves. " What (says he) is not
" almost all Heaven, not to carry on this detail any
" further, filled with the Human race ? But if I should
" search and examine Antiquity, and from those
" things which the Grecian writers have delivered, go
" to the bottom of this affair, it would be found, that
46 even those very Gods themselves who are deemed
" the Dii mqjoram gentium, had their original here
" below; and ascended from hence into Heaven.
" Enquire, to whom those Sepulchres belong, which
" are so commonly shewn in Greece *. REMEMBER,
" for you are initiated, WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN

" TAUGHT IN THE MYSTERIES; YOU WILL THEN
" AT LENGTH UNDERSTAND HOW FAR THIS MAT-

" TER MAY BE CARRIED f." Indeed, he carries it
further himself; for he tells us, in another place, that
not only the Elcusinian Mysteries, but the Samothra-
dan likewise, and the Lemnian, taught the error of
Polytheism, agreeably to this system ; which supposes
all the Mysteries derived from the same original, and
instituted for the same ends. " What think you (says
" he) of those who assert, that valiant, or famous, or
" powerful men have obtained divine honours after
" death; and that these are the very Gods, now be-

Alluding to that of Jupiter in Crete.

f Quid ? totum prope codum, ue plures persequar, nonne hu-
mana genere cornpletum est? Si vero scrutari vetera, & ex his ea f
quag scriptores Grcetix prodiderunt, eruere coner; ipsi illi, ma-
jorum gentium Dii qui habentur, hinc a nobis profecti in coeluru
reperiuntur. Qusere, quorum demonstrantur sepulchra in Grcecia :

REMINISCERE, QUOXIAM IS INITIATUS QU& TRADANTUR
MYSTERIIS J TUM DENIQUE QU AM HOC LATE PATIJAT, INTELLIGES.

Tusc. Disp. lib.i. cap. 12, 13. Edit. Ox. 410. T. II. p. 243. Set
Ote D, at the end of this Book.

" come

30 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

" corne the object of our worship, our prayers, and
" adoration? EUHEMERUS tells us, when these Gods
" died, and where they lie buried. I forbear to speak
" of the sacred and august rites &lt;?/ ELEUSIS. I pass by
" Samothrace, and the Mysteries of Lemnos, whose
" hidden rites are celebrated in darkness, and amidst
" the thick shades of groves and forests *."

Julius Fermicus speaks much to the same purpose,
-and even more directly, " Adhuc supersunt alire su-
" perstitiones, quarum secreta pandenda sunt Liberi &
" Liberse, qurc omnia sacris sensibus vestris specialiter
" intimancla sunt, ut in istis profanis religionibus sciatis

" MORTES ESSE HOMINUM CONSECRATAS. Liber

" itaque, Jovis fuit filius, regis scil. Cretici," &c. f

What hath been here said, will let us into the mean
ing of Plutarch s hint, in the following words of IMS
tract Concerning the ceasing of oracles. " As to the
" Mysteries, in whose representations the true XA-
" TURK OF DEMONS is clearly and accurately held
" forth, a sacred silence, to use an expression of He-
" rodotus, is to be observed ." All this well illus-

* Quid, qui aut fortes, aut claros aut potentes viros tradunt, post
mortem ad Deos i-cnisse, eosque esse ipsos, quos nos colere, precari,
Venerarique,soleamus Ab Euhemero ^ mo rtes fy sepultures demon-
strantur diximm Omitto ELeusinam sauctam illam & augustam
Praitereo Samothraciam, eaquc, qua3

Lcmni r.octurno aditu occulta coluniur

Silvestribus sa^pibus densa.

De Nat. Deor. lib. i. cap. 4-2. Edit. Ox. 4to. T. II. p. 432, 33.- -
See note E, at the end of this Book.

f De errore profan. relig. cap,vi. Edit. Oxon. 166-2, i6mo,
pag. 9.

t Hep TUV pVTtKuv Iv OK T? ^yi^&lt;; e^acrcit;

P. 742. lin. 3. Steph. edit.

trates

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 31

trates a passage in Luciarfs Council of the Gods;
-when, after Momus had ridiculed the monstrous
Deities of Egypt, Jupiter replies, " It is true, these are
" abominable things, which you mention of the Egyp-
" tian Worship. But then, consider, Momus, tliat
" much of it is enigmatical , and. so, consequently,
" a very unfit subject for the burfbonry of the Pro-
" phane and Uninitiated." To which, the other
answers with much spirit, " Yes, indeed, we have
" great occasion for the MYSTERIES, to know that
" Gods are Gods, and monsters, monsters*."

Thus far in detection of the vulgar Polytheism.
With regard to the other part of the SECRET, the
doctrine of the UNITY, Clemens Alexandrinus informs
us, that the Egyptian Mystagogues taught it amongst
their greater secrets. " The Egyptians (says he) did
44 not use to reveal their Mysteries indiscriminately to
" all, nor expose their truths concerning their Gods to
** the Prophane, but to those only who were to succeed
" to the administration of the State : and to such of tlie
14 Priests as were most approved, by their education,
" learning, and quality f ."

But, to come to the Grecian Mysteries. Chry-
sippus, as quoted by the author of the Etymol. magnum,
speaks to this purpose. " And Chrysippus says, tliat

TO.

ovla. MHM. Haw ysv MTSTHPII2N, u ZsD, h? ypTt,
wq flaevon 3sy? pi* Tt?j- Stye; x.vvox,s(pu&gt;h&&amp;lt;; 1 rovs xt- yoKg^aXy?. Edit.

Reitzii, T. III. p. 534.

Ttx, TF&QJC, cQicriv uvstvcj f/.v

Hat ^jv /3stc&gt;??vot$ Triv TUV Seiuv tlcl fi3 {y l^s^s^ov, a.\\ ^ ^ovcij? yi
n* ITT* TIV @atT&eicC:)i Iffpo isveu ^ ruv isesuv ro7&lt;; xft
ii; otTro rr,&lt;; Tpo^&gt;^?, x^ r&gt;j? wat^sta? x^ Ta yivuq.

lib. v. p. 566. edit. Lut. [p. 413. 1. 16. edit. Sylburg.]

the

32 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book It

" the secret doctrines concerning divine matters, are
" rightly called TEAETAj, for that these are the last
" things the initiated should be informed of : The soul
" having gained an able support; and, being possessed
" of her desires *, can keep silent betore the Uninitiated
" and Prophane f." To the same purpose, Clemens ;
" The doctrines delivered in the greater Mysteries,
" are concerning the UNIVERSE. Here all instruction
" ends. Things are seen as they are ; and Nature,
" and the things of Nature, are given to be compre-
" bended*."

Strabo having said , that Nature dictated to men
the institution of the Mysteries, as well as the other
rites of Religion, gives this remarkable reason for his
assertion, " that the secret celebration of the Mys-
" teries preserves the majesty due to the Divinity, and,
" at the same time, imitates its nature, which hides
" itself from our senses ||." A plain intimation of what
kind the secret was. But had there been any ambi
guity, he presently removes it, where, speaking of the

* i.e. mistress of herself.

ra? -G^i run tia

yap

*Cf ta

yap tvon TO ao?, vtrg suv axacrai TS cpa,
t avruy. Etymol. Auctor, in TEAETH.
Tec $1 (Atycihct tstf* rut c-Vfjwavluv s /xavfiavev ET

tfftgivot iv TV* re &lt;pt;atv x^ Tot, &lt;BJ%o&lt;,y pa/rot,. Strom. V.
p. 424. C. Edit. Sylburgh.

vi (pvtrn uruq y9rayov. lib. x. p. 467. Edit. Paris. 16-20, fol.
(I ijTf Xi54 ^ /^wrxJ&gt; TUV isguy ffEfAVQTrots i TO Sewv, /xt/xa/xnj TVV
tyvcw O.VT& ixtptvyuiroiv vi^uy Tr t v odff$r&gt;(rw. Ibid. Here Straho takes
in all that is said, both of the Gods, and of nature, in the two
preceding passages from Chrysippus and Clemens ; and shews that
by nature is not meant the comical but theological nature.

different

Sect, 4-] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 33

different faculties exercised in the different rites of Reli
gion, he makes Philosophy to be the object of the
Mysteries*. Plutarch expressly says, that the FIRST
CAUSE of all things is communicated to those who ap
proach the temple of Isis with prudence and sanctity f*
By which words he means, the necessary qualifications
for Initiation.

We have seen Tully expressly declaring^ that the
Eleusinian and Samothracian Mysteries were partly
employed in detecting the error of Polytheism. We
shall now find Galen intimating, not obscurely, that the
doctrine of the divine nature was taught in those very
Mysteries. In his excellent tract Of the use of the
parts of the human body, he has these words " The
" study, therefore, of the use of the parts, is not only
IC of service to the mere physician, but of much greater
" to him who joins Philosophy to the art of healing;
" and, in order to perfect himself in this Mystery, la-
" hours to investigate the universal Nature. They
" who initiate themselves here, whether private men
" or bodies, Will find, in my opinion, nobler instruc-
" tion than in the rites either of ELEUSIS or SAMO-
" THRACE J." By which he means, that the study of
the use of the parts of animals, leads us easier and

"icrtioy u(. tlcrofAHov TO ov, ocv peloc, Aoyy y^

ufiM T&gt;J? SeS. IS. xj OS. Edit. Franc, fol.
1599. T. II. p. 352. A. in initio libri.

J a* av ialgy /AOVOV v\
os p.tXTvAsc ioi,T

Sh, x^ Kctr cturyv x nXseai ryv
xj xctT fiOv^M, x^ X.O-T a^6|W,oj c^0pa&gt;7ry? 7 ocroi
tod tv OjtAotof I ^ycrtv AfcrjvJo5 TI t^ 2a/xo0^axoi^ c^ytoK- Gal. De
tisu part. lib. xvii. c. i. p. 702. K. F. Edit. Charterii, Fol. Pans.
1679. Petit, instead of oW ripunv laJla?, reads very ingeniously
iVo rt pvuo-w lavlaj. Charterius, cVot T*/*W &?,

VOL. IL D gooner

34 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

sooner up to the knowledge of the FIRST CAUSE, than
:the most venerable of the Mysteries, such as the
Eleus wiau and Samothracian. A clear implication,
that to lead men thither was their special business.

But this seems to have been so well known to the
learned in the time of EUSF.BIUS, that where this writer
takes occasion to observe, that the Hebrews were the
Only people whose object, in their public and national
worship, was the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE, he suits his
whole expression, by one continued metaphor, to the
usages of the Mysteries. " For the Hebrew people
" alone (says he) was reserved the honour of being
; INITIATED into the knowledge of God the Creator
" of all thimgs, and of being instructed in the practice of
" true piety towards him*." Where, EnonTEIA,
which signifies the inspection of the secret 0E.OPIA,
the contemplation of it; and AHMIOYPros, the Creator,
the subject of it, are all words appropriated to the
secret of the greater Mysteries.

JOSEPHUS is still more express. He tells Appion,
that that high and sublime knowledge, which the Gen
tiles with difficulty attained unto, in the rare and
temporary celebration of their Mysteries^ was habi
tually taught to the Jews, at all times. And what was
this sublime knowledge, but the doctrine of the UNITY ?
" Can any Government (says he) be more holy than
" this ? or any Religion better adapted to the nature
4{ of the Deity? Where, in any place but in this, are
" the whole People, by the special diligence of the
" Priests, to whom the care of public instruction is

rtf T*V fauv -nrotjjlS xj AHMIOYPFOS iS, *j ?w i*
iva&iia.&lt;;. Praep. vang. lib. i. cap. 9. See note [F]
at the ead of this Book*

" cominitted ?

.Sect 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 35

* e committed, accurately taught the principles of true
" piety? So that the body-politic seems, as it were, one
" great Assembly^ constantly kept together, for the
" celebration of some sacred Mysteries. For those
" things which the Gentiles keep up for a few days
" only, that is, during those solemnities they call
" MYSTERIES and INITIATIONS, we, with vast delight,
" and a plenitude of knowledge, which admits of no
" error, fully enjoy, and perpetually contemplate
" through the whole course of our lives. If you ask
u (continues he) the nature of those things, which in
" our sacred rites are enjoined and forbidden ; I
11 answer, they are simple, and easily understood. The
lt first instruction relates to the DEITY, and teaches,
" that GOD CONTAINS ALL THINGS, and is a Being
" every way perfect and happy : that he is self- existent,
" and the SOLE CAUSE of all existence; the begin-
" fling, the middle, and the end of all things*," e.

Nothing can be more explicit than the testimony of
this learned Jew. He not only alludes to the greater
Mysteries, by the direct terms of T^m and ^ur^aia,
but uses several expressions relative to what the gen
tile Mijstagogues taught therein; such as aAA&puAoi
ij referring to the unfitness of ths

a.v tiv ap%? 7

, aravio^ //Jv r csr^ja? at&$*t*?fksn ^0? ryv svc-tsia,v,
atf^tlo* $1 TYJV 1/n^aeAsiav ruv hpsut tz-tTrirevpsvuv, uo-TTtq $\ T&trriS
v&lt;^ TJJS oAoj&lt;j TroA/lsta? otxofOjaiJ/xsyjjf ; a yap oAtywn r,[*Sfvv otFtQpov
kliiSivovlts aAAoi^yAot l^tiAarfcif
, rccvra pt
rS wavro?

TE &gt;tj

p^i ra cravla -cra.v]A&gt;j? x^ /w.a*a^-, ayrc? totvru ^
cifXfl xj jtxEc-a, xj rsA ,^ -c-avT& v. Cont. A p. lib. ij.
cap. 22. pag. 1379, lin, 30.

r&gt; 2 doctrine

36 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book It

doctrine of the unity for general instruction : such as
PIT*, -STOKES n7ov!!?, in contradiction to what they taught
of tiie labours, pain, and difficulties to be encountered
by those who aspired to the knowledge of the first
cause; such as aVxai* xj yi/pjuoi, in contradiction to
what they taught of the great intricacy and obscurity of
the question; and such, again, as o Qsog fyti T#
Wtfa, the characteristic of the AHMIOTPFOS of the
Mysteries.

Thus, I think, it appears, that the AIIOPPHTA, in the
greater Mysteries, were the detection of the origine of
vulgar Polytheism * ; and the discovery of the doctrine
of the Unity] .

But now I have gone thus far, I will venture one
step further; and undertake to give the very HISTORY
repeated, and the very HYMN sung, on these occasions,
to the initiated. In the first of which was delivered
the true origine and progress of VULGAR POLYTHEISM ;
and in the other, the doctrine of the UNITY.

For I am much mistaken, if that celebrated fragment
of SANCHONIATIIO, the Phoenician, translated by
Philo-Bybiius, and preserved by Eusebius, containing
a genealogical account of the first ages, be not that
very HISTORY; as it was wont to be read to the
initiated, in the celebration of the Egyptian and
Phcenician Mysteries. The purpose of it being to
inform us, that their popular Gods (whose chronicle is
there given according to their generations) were only
dead men deified.

* See note [G} at the end of this Book.

f See this account supported, and the objections to it clearly
confuted, in a well reasoned trait lately printed, intitled, A Dis
sertation on the ancient Pagan Mysteries,

And

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 37

And as this curious and authentic record (for such
\ve shall find it was) not only serves to illustrate the
subject we are now upon, but will be of use to support
what is said hereafter of the rise, progress, and order
of the several species of ancient idolatry, it may not
be improper to give a short extract of it in this place.

I. lie tells us then, that, " of the two first mortals,
Protogonus and ynon, (the latter of whom was the
author of seeking and procuring food from forest-trees)
were begotten Genos and Genea. These, in the time
of great droughts, stretched their hands upwards to the
SUN, whom they regarded as a God, and sole ruler of
the heavens. From these, after two or three gene
rations, came Upsouranios and his brother Ousous.
One of them invented the art of building cottages of
reeds and rushes ; the other the art of making garments
of the skins of wild beasts. In their time, violent
tempests of wind and rain having rubbed the large
branches of the forest-trees against one another, they
took fire, and burnt up the w^oods. Of the bare trunks
of trees, they first made vessels to pass the waters ; they
consecrated two pillars to FIRE and WIND, and then
offered bloody sacrifices to them as to Gods*/* Arid

* Alava, xj npcJloyovov Swj&S vo&lt;^, uru

uv& ryv u,wo TVV div^puv rgaffiv. m TSTUV raq

Tsiffav ctv^^uv as ysvoutvuv, ra&lt;; %*? o^s/em stj
r^o? TC,V JjAtov, TyTov y&gi (p*}^, &lt;Seoj&gt; ivoiAiQv ^qvov afOiva xv^
IT* &lt;p!7t TOV Y^vtciviov olf,^(7on Ty^ov, xaA^feaj re firwoqaou
) ^ tsaTrv^u rctffi&aoe.i ot STgos TOV
fa ffu^a\\, f-r^ ^ ix. ae^fAOtrw uv

tot, ty TV; Tt c(U OEvapa, i/jv^ avai/a*, x^ T*jy awrot uAjv
c svfya $1 hadfj,*vov TOV Qvculv x^ a^r

i at PVQ r^

D 3

38 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

here let it be observed, that this worship of the Elements
and heavenly Bodies is truly represented as the FIRST
species of idolatry.

II. " After many generations, came Chrysor; and
he likewise invented many things useful to civil life ; for
which, after his decease, he was worshipped as a God *.
Then flourished Ouranos and his sister Ge ; who deified
and offered sacrifices to their father, Upsistos, when
he had been torn in pieces by wild beasts t- After
wards Cronos consecrated Muth his son, and was
himself consecrated by his subjects^." And this is,
as truly represented to be the SECOND species of
idolatry ; the. worship of dead men.

III. He goes on, and says, that " Ouranos was the
inventor of the Baetylia, a kind of animated stones,
framed with great art. And that Taautus formed
allegoric figures, characters, and images of the celestial
Gods and elements j|." In which is delivered the THIRD
species of idolatry, statue and brute worship. For
by the animated stones, is meant stones cut into a

v $TlpM rlv "H$airov. tiigtTv ol xj
epfAia,*) i aysouzv IT^TOV re tpewvv dvufuTruv d ^tvffon, ow x^ u&lt;;

&VTC/V [Atlx POttptlQIt l&lt;7iQa.~VnC CX.V.

j- *O ol rsruv &lt;&cw% o c T^
&lt;pip&lt;y6)5, ui jq %o^? Mg zwi&S ol

\ Ka* JM.ST wcAv, frsgof eivrv tra^x O.TTO P/a? ovrjy.xfy
MS9 aTroGavovIa atpiefo? Kp;-- ro wvv, pairtfavuv Tj? %^ pa?,
rw r5 |ats Tifovrv-.v el&lt;; rov rx Kpovw aj-e ga xafiiepwdgi;.

T ^,

o? Tu.u. J\os

rev
r*

human

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED 39

human shape * ; brute, unformed stones being before
this invention consecrated and adored. As by Taau-
tus s invention of allegoric figures, is insinuated (what
was truly the fact) the origine of brute worship j~ from
the use of HIEROGLYPHICS.

This is a very short and imperfect extract of the
Fragment ; many particulars, to avoid tediousness,
are omitted, which would much support what we are
upon, particularly a minute detail of the principal arts
invented for the use of civil life. But what has been
selected on this head will afford a good comment to a
celebrated passage of Cicero, quoted, in this section,
on another occasion. As the two important doctrines,
taught in secret, were the detection of Polytheism, and
the discovery of the Unity ; so, the two capital doctrines
taught more openly, were the origine of Society with
the arts of life, and the existence of the soul after
death,* in a state of reward or punishments. These
latter doctrines Tully hints at in the following words :
" mini cum multa exitnia divinaque videntur
" Athena? peperisse turn nih.il melius ill is My stems,
" quibus ex AGRESTI immanique vita EXCULTI ad
" hurnamtatem & mitigati sumus : neque solum cum
" laetitia yivendi rationeni accepimus, sed etiam cum
" spe meliore moriendij." The Fragment explains
what Tully meant by men s being drawn by the Mys
teries from an irrational and savage life, and tamed,

So when the Egyptians rst saw the Grecian artists separate
the legs of their statues, they put fetters on them, to prevent their
jiinriing away.

t See Div. Leg. book iv. 4.

J De Legg. lib. ii. cap, 14. Edit. Ox. 4^0. T. III. p. 148.

p 4 &lt;tf

40 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

as it were, and broken to humanity. It was, we see,
by the information given them^ concerning the origine
of SOCIETY, and the Inventors of the ARTS OF LIFE;
and the rewards they received from grateful Posterity,
for having made themselves Benefactors to mankind.
Tully, who thought this a strong excitement to public
virtue, provides for it in his Lanes: " Divos, & eos,
i qui crelestes semper habiti, colunto : & olios, quos
" endo ca?lo MERIT A vocaverint Herculem, Liberurn,
^Esculapium *," &c.

The reasons which induce me to think this Fragment
the very History narrated to the E7roY]&lt;%, in the cele
bration of the greater Mysteries, are these :

i. It bears an exact conformity with what the An
cients tell us that History contained in general, namely,
an instruction, that all the national Gods, as well
those ma jorum (such as Hypsistus, Ouranos, and
Cronos) as those minorum gentium, were only dead
men deified: together with a recommendation of the
advantages of civil life above the state of nature, and
an excitement to the most considerable of the initiated
(the summations viris, as Macrohius calls them) to
procure it. And these two ends are served together,
in the history of the rise and progress of idolatry as
delivered in this Fragment. In the date it gives to the
origine of idolatry, they were instructed that the two
first mortals were not idolaters, and consequently, that
idolatry was the corruption of a better Religion ; a
matter of importance, where the purpose was to disr
credit Polytheism. The History shews us too, that
this had the common fate of all corruptions, of failing

* De Legg. lib. ii. cap. 8.

from

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 41

from bad to worse, from elementary worship to human,
and from human to brutal. But this was not enough;
it was necessary too to expose the unreasonableness
of all these modes of superstition. And as this could
be only done by shewing what gave birth to the several
species s, we are told that not any occult or metaphysic
influences of the heavenly or elementary Bodies upon
men, but their common physical effects felt by us, oc
casioned the first worship to be paid unto them : that
no imaginary Divinity in the minds of patriarchs and
heroes occasioned Posterity to bring them into the
number of the Gods ; but a warm sense of gratitude
for what they had invented for the introduction and
promotion of civil life : and that even brute-worship
was brought in without the least consideration to the
animal, but as its figure was a symbol only of the pro
perties of the two other species s. Again, in order to
recommend civil life, and to excite men to promote it s
advantages, a lively picture is given of his miserable
condition ; and how obnoxious he was, in that state,
to the rage of all the elements, and how imperfectly,
while he continued in it, he could, with all his industry,
fence against them, by food of acorns, by cottages of
. reeds, and by garments of skins : a matter the Myste
ries thought so necessary to be impressed, that we find,
by Diodorus Siculus, there was a scenical representa
tion of this state exhibited in their snows. And
what stronger excitement had heroic minds, than to
be taught, (as they are in this Fragment) that public
benefits to their fellow creatures were rewarded with
immortality. As all these things, therefore, so essen
tial to the instruction of the Mysteries, are here
taught with an art and disposition peculiarly calculated
to promote those ends, we have reason to conclude,
4 that

43 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

that this History \vas composed for the use of the
Mysteries.

2. My second reason for supposing it to be that very
History, is our being told, that Sanchoniatno tran
scribed the account from secret records, kept in the
penetralia of the temples, and written in a sacred sa
cerdotal character, called the Animonean *, from the
place where they were first deposited ; (which, as
Marsham reasonably supposes, was Ammomio, or
Thebes, in Egypt t) a kind of writing employed, as
*ye have shewn elsewhere, by the Ilierophants of the
Mysteries.

3. Thirdly, we are informed, that this sacred com
mentary was composed by the CABJIII, at the com
mand, and by the direction, of Thoth . Now These
were the principal Ilierophants of the Mysteries. The
name CABIRI is, indeed, used by the Ancients, to
signify indifferently three several persons- the GODS,
in whose honour the Mysteries were instituted; the
IXSTITUTORS of the Mysteries , and the principal
HIEROPHANTS who officiated in them. In the first
sense we find it used by Herodotus, who speaks of the
images of the Cabiri in the Egyptian temples ; and

*Aftytom&lt;*n ypa/A/xa^i crvyKUpsvcus, oc, fa tin. \i tsracrf

t Chron. Can. p. 234. Lond. edit.

"J Tatrra ^, ^vjcrt, ttpuToi wavta* y7TE/xi /xfitK&lt;r;&gt;1o 01 I^rla. 1,v$\
KABEIPOI, ^ oy^o- atvrav aocA^o; A^

KatJvc-r t s icr^Abe t x \q ruv Kot^eiv TO iov, I? TO y viirov lr

sff-istxi aAXoy yt r t rov l^ia. TCCVTOC, ^s T aya

as. lib. iii. cap. 37. p. 176. Edit. Gale

Sect 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 43

by the scholiast on Apollonitis, who tells us, there were
four Samothracian Cabin, Axieros, Axiokersa, Axio-
kersos, and Casmilus ; that is to say, Ceres, Proser
pine, Pluto, and Mercury. Pausanias, in his Beotics,
uses the word in the second sense, where he makes
mention of the Cabiri Prometheus and his son /Et-
rioeus, to whom was committed the sacred deposit of
the Mysteries by Ceres *. And Strabo uses it in the
third sense, where he speaks of the Cabiri as Minis
ters in the sacred Mysteries f . It is no wonder there
should be this difference amongst the ancients in their
accounts of these Wights. Cabiri was a sacred appel
lation, which was transferred from the God of the
Mysteries, through the Institutors of them, down to
the Ministers who officiated in them. And in this last
sense it is used by Sanchoniatho. The same kind of
confusion, and proceeding from the same cause, we find
in the ancient accounts concerning the founder of the
Ekusinlan Mysteries, as we shall see hereafter ; Some
ascribing the institution to Ceres or Triptolemus, the
Gods in whose honour they were celebrated ; others,
to Erectheus, who indeed founded them : others again,
to Eumolpus and Musseus, the first who ministred
there in the office of Hierophants.

s t & Eft ruv Kot.Ssigoc.iuv j^ A.ira,iu ru IIfty*)j0f*( 0.$ i-

roc. t

Ar/^&gt;flpo? y2v Ka^^aiof? Supov \r\v y TiAelij. Beeot. lib. ix. cap. 25.
pag. 758, 59. Edit. Kuknii, fol. Lips. 1696.

tut pr, T$ uvrxq TOK JCopo-* Ty? Ko^j^a^a? xj KABEIPOYS

xj jocixpa? rtva? ot-vrujv -c^o? aXAAsj ^a^o^aj $ir*faiflu. lib. X.

p. 466, C. Edit. Paris, folio. 1620.

44 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IT.

4. But, fourthly and lastly, We are told, that when
this genealogical history came into the hands of a cer
tain son of Thabion, the first Hierophant on record
amongst the Phoenicians, he, after having corrupted it
with allegories, and intermixed physical and cosmical
affections with historical (that is, made the one signifi*
cative of the other) DELIVERED IT TO THE PROPHETS

OF THE ORGIES, AXD THE HIEHOPHANT^S OF THE

MYSTERIES; who left it to their successors (one of
which was Osiris) and to the Initiated *. So that
now we have an express testimony for the fact here
advanced, that this was the very history read to the
EnonTAI in the celebration of the great Mysteries.

But one thing is too remarkable to pass by unob
served : and that is, Sanchoniatho s account of the
corruption of this History with allegories and physical
affections, by one of his own countrymen ; and of its
delivery, in that state, to the Egyptians, (for Isiris is
the same as Osiris) who corrupted it still more. That
the Pagan Mythology was, indeed, thus corrupted, I
have shewn at large, in several parts of this work :
but I believe, not so early as is here pretended ; which
makes me suspect that Sanchoniatho lived in a later
age than his interpreter, Philp, assigns to him. And
what confirms me in this suspicion, is that mark of na
tional vanity and partiality, common to aftertimes, ia
making the Mysteries of his own country original, and
conveyed from Phoenicia to Egypt. Whereas it is
very certain, they came first from Egypt. But of this

mxst.

#, TO$ TE (fiver iy.j~&lt;;

ro if rii$cv xv^ziv I-/, Gtayl j; I9

i VJfl^fW^O^. U e. j W*lffk%t$t

elsewhere,

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 45
elsewhere. However, let the reader take notice, that
the question concerning the antiquity of Sanchoniatho
does not at all affect our inference concerning the
nature and use of this History *.

We now come to the HYM:: celebrating the Unity
of the Godhead, which was sung in the Eleuii-
nian Hysterics by the Hierophant, habited like the
CREATOR t- And this, I take | to be the little ORPHIC
poem quoted by Clemens Alexandrians and Euse-
bius |j ; which begins thus : " I will declare a SECRET
&lt; to the Initiated; but let the doors be shut against
" the profane. But thou, O Musaeus, the offspring
" of bright Selene, attend carefully to my song ; for
* I shall deliver the truth without disguise. Suffer

* See note [II] at the erd of this Book.

f E? IE TO~$ Kizr EAEY2INA /4Vr*2 o;, {** I?f00a*fo$ tl$ SIX.MX rS?
r^ia^yS itenuvaffttUf Euseb. Prcep. Evang. lib. iii. A passage in
Porphyry well explains this of Eusebius, and shews by what kind
of personage the Creator was represented ; and that this, like all
the rest, was of Egyptian original; and introduced into these se
cret mysteries, for the reason above explained. To. ruv Airrn-
TIHN tta hiv roietvru Qr.Ckv %uy cr^aCo?.a. Tc,v AHMlOYPrON, oy
Kvr/(p, ol Ar/inflm vrfQOrafcfiynerui ANQPniIOEIAH, r jf $1 %% oi * v **
avccva fAthuv& f^o^loif xfctfevloe. tffv^t. t^ cnvtirlgpv CTT* SI TJJ? ztyahvc,
Wlijjov /?acriAov Tpix.( / /svav, OTI AOrOE ATSETPETO2 KAI KEK
PYMENOE, KAI OY &lt;DANOS, xj or* ^OTTO^?, xj OT Qacntevq, *} crt
&gt;&w$ Kivifaou ^o 4 rS c/Ie^S (pveis Iv rr, xE^aA&gt;J XeTrou, Apud Euseb.
Prasp. Evang. lib. iii. cap. 1 1.

I M.Voltaire, in his remarks on his fine Tragedy of Olynipia,
has done me the honour of advancing this conjecture into a cer
tainty; and what is more, of a known and acknowledged fact.
" On chantait (says he) UHymne de Orphee* and then gives it
as he finds it here.

Admonitio ad genres, pag. 36. B, Edit. Sylburgh.

H Prsep. Evang. lib, xiii.

not,

40 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

" not, therefore, thy former prejudices to debar thee of
" that happy life^ which the knowledge of these sub-
" lime truths will procure unto thee : but carefully
" contemplate this divine Oracle, and preserve it in
" purity of mind and heart. Go on, in the right way,
" and contemplate THE SOLE GOVERNOR OF THE
" WORLD: HE is ONE, AND OF HIMSELF ALONE;

" AND TO THAT ONE ALL THINGS OWE THEIR
" BEING. HE OPERATES THROUGH ALL, WAS
c&lt; NEVER SEEN BY MORTAL EYES, BUT DOES
" HIMSELF SEE EVERY ONE *."

The reasons which support my conjecture are these :
l . We learn from the scholiast on Aristophanes and
others, that hymns were sung in the mysteries, and
what were the subject of them. And Dion. Chrys. in
his Oration De divina Civitate aut Gubernatione, says
expressly, that in the Mithriac Mysteries the Magi sung
an awful Hymn in which the glories of the supreme
God who governs all things were celebrated f And
further says, that this knowledge of the One supreme
was kept a SECRET amongst the initiated Persians*

oTj SEJAIJ err, S^aj F E7rifc&lt;r(&gt;
fcj 0y 3" coatf &lt;paz&lt;r(poZ inyovs

ere TO.

S" 1 sffoga KQ^OIO oaca&a,
ij y tr auToytVY,$ } EVO$ tKycva wavla Tsruxlat,
v o ainoi$ ctt/TOj sreptviffffsleu %$ TL; aurov

roaa Svyluv, auros SE ye vsavlaz o^arai.

sv at9TA0091toi{ Te^/lat? VTTQ

2. Orpheus.,

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 47

2. Orpheus, as we have said, first brought the Myste*
rks from Egypt into Thrace, and even religion itself:
hence it was called 0/?&lt;nsi , as being supposed the.-
invention of the Tliracian. 3. The verses, which go
under the name 6f Orpheus, are, at least, more ancient
than Plato and Herodotus ; though since interpolated.
It was the common opinion, that they were genuine ;
and those who doubted of that, yet gave them to the
earliest Pythagoreans *. 4. The subject of them are
the Mysteries, under the several titles of f
fAYi7fu*&lt; "Mxflatlj Itoot; XyQ^| and n sis a J
5. Pausanias tells us, that Orpheus s hymns were sung
in the rites of Ceres, in preference to Homer s though
more elegant, for the reasons given above . 6&lt; This
hymn is addressed to Musseus, his disciple, who was
said, though falsely, to institute the Mysteries at
Athens, as his master had done in Thrace ; and be
gins with the formula used by the Mystagogue on
that occasion, warning the PROFHAXE to keep at dis
tance : and in the fourth line, mentions that new life
or regeneration, to which the Initiated were taught to
aspire. 7. No other original than singing the hymns

* Laertius in Vita Pythag. and Suidas, voce

t The following passage of Dion. Chrys. will explain the
meaning of this gonc^xos Ka9a9T;g tia&tto it iv T KatAau/iw 0PO-
NTZMH, xot$ wa*lis TS? ^tyy/&gt;cv$ ol TihSflss, ni-K^a -zr
Oral. xii.

J Or$ at ?e^t crotTjtTEi;? &lt; 7r&Av7r^a/^tov3c7i ,
iTnii o^la?, ixarv Tf uvruv, nil /SaToloy, x TO

,Ev ay) T&V tituv otvtf&gt;ict tgoivo an, [Ata, /Ajra ye
TJ/M.55? ^E IK TS Sslti x I? wA/ov txstvwv t%acrt. Pausan. lib. ix. cap. 30.
sub fin. pag. 770. Edit. Kuhnn, fol. Lips. 1696. and again, to the
game purpose, cap. 27.
Tertull. Apol.

48 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

of Orpheus in the Eleitsinian Mysteries, can be well
imagined of that popular opinion, mentioned by Theo-
doret, that Orpheus instituted those Mysteries*, when
the Athenians had such certain records of another
Founder. 8. We are told that one article of the
Athenians charge against Diagoras for revealing the
Mysteries, was his making the Orphic-speech, or hymn,
the subject of his common conversation f. g. But
lastly, the account, which Clemens gives of this hymn,
seems to put the matter out of question : his words are
these : " But the Thracian Mystagogue, who -was at
" the same time a poet, Orpheus, the son of Oeagcr,
" after he had opened the Mysteries, and sung the
" whole. THEOLOGY OF IDOLS; recants all he had said,
11 and introduceth TRUTH. The Sacreds then truly
" begin, though late, and thus he enters upon the
" matter ." To understand the force of this passage,
we are to know, that the Mystagogue explained the
representations in the Mysteries , where, as we learn
from Apuleius , the supernal and infernal Gods passed
in review. To each of these they sung an hymn ;
which Clemens calls the theology 6 f images, or idols*
These are yet to be seen amongst the works ascribed

* See f note, p. 3.

*)~ Aiayopa piv yap tlxoTUt; Ivtzcihyv AvyvotToij ^ povov TCV OP^&gt;IKON
fi? fAz&lt;7(&gt;v xctlcclktotvli AOFON, Kg ret. Iv SXfttiFm, y^ TO, TUV
Svpticvlt pvrifiUr. Athenagoras in Legat.

J *O $1 Qfaxt lgoQccfiy)&lt;; &gt;% cc-oivjl?!? /-ca, o ra Oiay^
VW TUV Ocyiav is^o^avli^v, ^ ruv tl^uXuv Tr t v ^JoXoyi
Avj6s*a$ t~c/7i, rov IS^QV efiyq o-^s &A&, opu$ ^ y a.$uv Aoyoy. Admon.
ad Genres, pag. 36. A. Edit. Sylburgh.

Access! consinium mortis, deos inferos, & deos superos access!
coram, cV adoravi de proximo. Met, lib. xi. p. 1000. circa /inem.
Edit, Lugd. 1587. 8vo.

Sect. 4fJ UP MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 49

to Orpheus. When all this was over, then came the
AHOPPHTA, delivered in the HYMN in question. And,
after that, the Assembly was dismissed, with these two
barbarous words, KOFH OMriAE, which shews the
Mysteries not to have been originally Greek. The
learned Mr. Le Clerc well observes, that this seems to
be only an ill pronunciation of kots and omphets^
which, he tells us, signify in the Phoenician tongue,
watch and abstain from evil*.

Thus the reader is brought acquainted with the end
and use both of the greater and lesser Mysteries ;
and sees that, as well in what they hid, as in what
they divulged, all aimed at the benefit of the State.
To this end, they were to draw in as many as they
could to their general participation ; which they did by
spreading abroad the doctrine of a Providence, and a
future state ; and how much happier the Initiated should
be, and what superior felicities they were intitled to,
in another life. It was on this account that Antiquity
is so full and express in this part. But then, they were
to make those, they had got in, as virtuous as was
possible ; which they did, by discovering, to such as
were judged capable of the secret : , the whole delusion
of Polytheism. Now this being supposed the shaking
of foundations, was to be done with all possible cir
cumspection, and under the most tremendous seal of
secrecy f. For they taught, that the Gods themselves
punished the revealers of the SECRET; and not them
only, but the hearers of it likewise J. Nor did they

altogether

* Bibl. Univ. torn. vi. p. S6.

t See cap. 20. of Meursius s Eleusinia.

J Quaeras forsitan satis anxie, studiose lector, quid delude
dictum, quid fac turn? Dicerem, si dicere liceret; cognosceres, si

VOL- U. E liceret

#&gt; THE DIVINE LEGATION [fiook IL

altogether trust to that alone : for, more effectually to
curb an ungovernable curiosity, the State decreed ca
pital punishment against the betrayers of the Mystcries T
and inflicted it with merciless severity*". The case of
Diagpras, the Melian, is too remarkable to be omitted.
This man had revealed the Orphic and Eleusinian,
Mysteries: and so, passed with the people for ai&gt;
Atheist : which at once confirms what hath been said
of the object of the secret doctrines, and of the mis*
chief which would attend an indiscreet communication
of them* For the charge of ATHEISM was the com
mon lot of all those who communicated their knowledge
of the om only God ; whether they learnt it by natural
light, or were afterwards taught it by Revelation. lie-
likewise dissuaded his friends from being initiated into
these rites : the consequence of which was, that the city
of Athens proscribed him, and set a price upon his
head f. While Socrates, who preached up the latter
part of this doctrine (and was on that account a reputed
Atheist likewise) and Epicurus, who taught the former
(and was a real one) were suffered, because they
delivered their opinions only as points of philosophic
speculation, amongst their followers, to live a long time,
tmmolested. And to avoid the danger of those
laws, which secured the secret of the Mysteries, was-
perhaps, the reason why Socrates declined initia^

tion~

liceret audire ; sed parem noxam contraherent aures
temerarice curiositatis. Apul. Met. lib. xi. p. 1000. Edit. Lugd*
Svo, 1587.

* Si qnis arcanre mysteria Cereris sacra vulgasset, lege morti
addicebatur. To \%iv*a$at TO. p,vr*)pt# rsSvavai. Meminit hujus-
Jegis Sopater in Divisioue quxstionis. Sam, Petit, in Leges
Atticas, p. 33.

f Suidas, voce Atayegaj a M^/%^ -- & etiana Athenagoraa
;a Legatione.

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 5*

tion *. And this appearing a singular affectation, exposed
him to much censure f. But he declined it with his usual
prudence. He remembered, that jEschylus J, on a
mere imagination of his having given a hint of something
in the Mysteries, had like to have been torn in pieces
on the stage by the people ; and only escaped by an
appeal to the Areopagus : which venerable Court ac
quitted him of this dangerous charge, on his proving
that he had never been initiated. The famous
EUHEMERUS, who assumed the same office of Hiero-
pliant to the People at large, with more boldness than
Socrates, and more temper than Epicurus, employed
another expedient to screen himself from the laws,
though he fell, and not (like the rest) undeservedly ?
under the same imputation of Atheism. This man
gave a fabulous relation of a voyage to the imaginary
island of Panchoea ||, a kind of ancient Utopia ; where,
in a temple of Jupiter, he found a genealogical record,
which discovered to him the births and deaths of the
greater Gods; and, in short, every thing that the
Hierophant revealed to the Initiated on this subject
Thus he too avoided the suspicion of a betrayer of
the Mysteries. A character infamous in social life.
And to this the Son of Sirach alludes, where he
speaks of this species of infidelity in general*]

* For that he had a good opinion of the Mysteries appears from
the Phcedo of Tlato.

f fC0URgj0gS}f{ art l/A jnS ^ftov^aTjrctil^vTaj? EXev&uixu;. Llicianus,.
Demonacte, T. II. p. 380. Edit. Reitzii, 4to. Amstel. 1743.

I Clem. Alex. Strom, ii. pag, 283. 13. Edit. Sylburg. & Arist.
lib. iii, cap. i. Nicom. Eth.

See note [1] at the end of this Book.

|| Euseb. Praep. Evang. lib. ii. cap, 2.

5f o aTromXyTrU * MYLTHPIA, a.tru htffi -Zvtfi^ x} tf ^ eygij ^&gt;tAoy
tFgo$ T^V -xl/yp^i/ atrtf. Cap. xxvii. ver, 17,

E 2 " Whoso

5* THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book I!

" Whoso discovereth SECRETS !Vwf**] loseth his
" credit, and shall never find friend to his mind."
This, therefore, is the reason why so little is to be met
with, concerning the AOOPPHTA. Varaoand Cicero, the
two most inquisitive persons in antiquity, affording but
a glimmering light Yh& first giving us a sb*)rt account
of the cause only of the SECRET, without mentioning
the doctrine ; and the othti\ a hint of the doctrine,
without mentioning the cause.

But now a remarkable exception jto all we have been
saying, concerning the secrecy of the Mytierks, ob
trudes itself upon us, in the case of the CRETANS;
who, as Diodorus Siculus assures us, celebrated their
Mysteries OPENLY, and taught their aVoppilfc without
reserve. His words are these : " At Cnossus in Crete,
" it was provided tor, by an ancient law, that these
" Mysteries- should he shewn- openly to all : and that
" those things, which in other places were delivered in
" secret, should be hid from none who were desirous
" of knowing them*." But, as contrary as this seems
to the principles delivered above, it will be found, on
attentive reflection, altogether to confirm them. We
have shews, that the great secret was the detection of
Polytheism ; which was done by teaching the original
of the Gods; their birth from mortals; and their ad
vancement to divine honour, for benefits done to their
Country, or Mankind. But it is to be observed, that
the Cretans proclaimed this to all the world, by shewing,
and boasting of the tomb of Jupiter himself, the Father
of Gods and Men. How then could they tell that as a

TJ7V K^rr,y iv Kw&cry vo/^t^ov 1% atf%a&tn s

ffxuv. Bibiioth. lib, v,,

secret

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 53

secret in their Mysteries, which they told to every one
out of them ? Nor is it less remarkable that the Cretans
themselves, as Diodorus, in the same place, tells us,
gave this very circumstance of their celebrating the
Mysteries openly as a proof of their being the first who
had consecrated dead mortals. " These are the old
" stories which the Cretans tell of their Gods, who,
" they pretend to say, were born amongst them. And
" they urge this as an invincible reason to prove that the
" adoration, the worship, and the MYSTERIES of these
" Gods were first derived from Crete to the rest of
" the world; for, whereas, amongst the Athenians,
" those most illustrious Mysteries of all, called the
" Elcusinian, those of Samothrace, and those of the
" Ciconians in Thrace, of Orpheus^ institution, are
" all celebrated in SECRET : yet in Crete*" - and
so on as above. For it seems the Cretans were proud
of their invention ; and used this method to proclaim
and perpetuate the notice of it. So when Pythagoras,
as Porphyry f informs us, had been initiated into the
Cretan mysteries, and had continued in the Mean cave
three times nine days, he wrote this epigram on the
tomb of Jupiter,

Kt~rai Zay ov

Zan, whom men call Jupiter, lies here deceased

ivM)9i)Mf TOK*VT&lt;X. /*vftoXoywr* raq $1 rt/.*f xj Svriots ^ Teiq -STEP*

rSro ff&lt;ry, w? oftv%ni piyirt.* rex^r.ot rifle ya.

re ya.%
tv Eht
TJV iv

f De vita Pytbag. n. xvii.

3 It

54 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

It was this which so much exasperated the other
Grecians against them ; and gave birth to the common
proverb of KPHTE2 AEI YET2TAI *, The Cretans are
eternal liars. For nothing could more affront these
superstitious idolaters than asserting the fact, or more
displease the politic protectors of the Mysteries than
the divulging it f .

The MYSTERIES then being of so great service to
the state, we shall not be surprized to hear the wisest
of the Ancients speaking highly in their commendation ;
and their ablest Lawgivers, and reformers, providing
carefully for their support. " Ceres (says Isocrates)
" hath made the Athenians two presents of the greatest
" consequence : corn, which brought us out of a state
" of brutality; and the MYSTERIES, which teach the
" initiated to entertain the most agreeable expectations
" touching death and eternity J." And Plato intro-
duceth Socrates speaking after this manner ; " In my
" opinion, those who established the MYSTERIES,
" whoever they were, were well skilled in human nature.
" For in these rites it was of old signified to the as-
" pirants, that those who died without being initiated,

* KJT$ ae* favfau* ^ TAP ra^ov, u ct,vo.&gt; ffe?o

Kgvres eTs*]?*avio. Callim. Hymn, in Joveni.

And Nonnus;

Ov ya.% ae* rp//At/xw Ao ? YEYAHMONI TYMBflt.
Ttginuin KpprstfGrijrj twk tsi^v /ivtccirvts. Dionys. lib. viii.
And Lucan ;

Tarn mendax Magni tumulo. quam Creta Tonantis. lib, viii,
f See note [KJ at the end of this Book.

775V rfysbtfj ij&lt;; ri pjftpgtjriff urep k TE TJJ? ra fSiti refawrvi&lt;;, ) T

OHM* ViNtSC. T&$ A7T^a? ^S^y. PanPgVF*

"stuck

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 55

* stuck fast in mire and filth : but that he who \vas
* purified and initiated, should, at his death, have his
" habitation with the Gods *." And Tully thought
them of such use to Society, for preserving and pro-
ipa.ga.ting the doctrine of a future state of rewards and
^punishments, that in the law where he forbids nocturnal
.sacrifices offered by women, he makes an express
^exception for the Mysteries of Ceres, as well as for the
sacrifices to -the GOOD GODDESS. " Nocturna mu-
~ %c lierum sacrificia ne suato, praefter olla, qute pro
* populo rite fiant. Neve quern mitianto, -nisi, ut
" assolet, Cereri, Grasco sa-cro." Which law he .thus
comments : " M. But now, Titus, as to what folio ws,
" I would fain knew how you can give your assent, or
" I blame you for withholding it ? A. What is that, 1
* pray you? J/. The law concerning the nocturnal
* sacrifices of women. A. I assent to it, especially as
" there is an express exception to the public and so-
^ lemn sacrifice. M. What then will become of our
" Elcusinian Rites, those reverend and august Mys-
" t -cries, if, indeed, we take away nocturnal celebrations?
"" For oar laics arc calculated^ not only for the Roman,
4i but for all just and well established policies. A. I
" think you except those, into which we ourselves have
" been initiated. M. Doubtless I do: for as, in my
" opinion, your Athens hath produced many excellent
" and even divine inventions, and applied -them to the
" use of life.: so has she given nothing better than
4( those Mysteries, by which we are drawn from an
irrational aad -savage life, and tamed, as it were,

, a
f? tlv&i, 0,7^0, ru ofo 1x0,^0.1 ctlvirlsa-Qcu, ort oq a,v u [/.)$ &*, t

O l KSKOi^dC^V^ T

iV.^crgf. In Plisedone.

4 " and

56 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

" and broken to humanity. They are truly called

INITIA, for they are indeed the beginnings of a life

of reason and virtue. From whence we not only

" receive the benefits of a more comfortable and

" elegant subsistence here, but are taught to hope for,

" and aspire to a better life hereafter. But what it is

c that displeases me in nocturnal rites, the comic poets

" wjll shew you*. Which liberty of celebration,

" had it been permitted at Rome, what wickedness

6 would not HE f have attempted, who came with a

" premeditated purpose of indulging his lust, to a

" Sacrifice where even the misbehaviour of the eye

" was deeply criminal ."

* See note [L] at tlie end of this Book.

t See note [M] at the end of this Book.

| The Ancients esteemed that to he the greatest misbehaviour
of the eye, where the sight oimen obtruded, though only by accident,
upon those Mysteries, which it was only lawful for women to
behold.

M. At vero, quod sequitur, quomodo aut tu assentiare, aut ego
reprehendam, sane quaero, Tite. A. Quid tandem id est? M. De
nocturnis sacrifices mulierum. A. Ego vero assentior, excepto
praesertim in ipsa lege solemn! sacrificio ac publico. M. Quid
ergo aget lacchus Eumolpidaeque vestri [nostri a/], & augustp.
ilia mysteria, giquidem sacra nocturna tollimus? non enim populo
Romano, sed omnibus bonis firmisque populis leges damus.
A. Excipis, credo, ilia, quibus ipsi initiati sumus. M. Ego vero
excipiam. Nam mini cum multa eximia divinaque videntur
Athena? tuce peperisse, atque in vita horninum attulisse, turn nihil
melius illis mysteriis, quibus ex agresti immanique vita exculti ad
immanitatem, & mitigati sumus; initiaque, ut appellantur, ita
revera principia vitas cognovimus ; neque solum cum laetitid Vivendi
rationem accepimus, sed etiam cum spe meliore moriendi. Quid
aultm mihi displiceat IN NOCTURNIS, Poetae indicant Comici.
Qua licentia Romae data, quidnam egisset ille, qui in saciificium
cogitatam libidinem intuht, quo ne imprudentiam quidem oculorum
fidjici las fiut? D.e Legg. lib. ii, cap, 14. Edit. Ox. 410. T. III.
P- H8, 49-

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 57

We have seen, that the other exception to this law
against nocturnal sacrifices, was in favour of the rites
perforated to the GOOD GODDESS, called the public
and solemn sacrifice. This was offered pro populo, for
the safety of the people. So that Cicero, ranking the
Eleusinian with these rites, appears to have thought
them in the number of such as were celebrated for the
public safety. Solon, the famous lawgiver of Athens,
long before him, had the same high opinion of these
Mysteries, as is seen by the care he took of their re
gulation ; and so had Prsetextatus, a most accomplished
Roman Magistrate, long after him : For when his
master, Valentinian, had divided the Empire with his
brother, and projected a general reform of the laws,
and, amongst the rest, had forbid NOCTURNAL SACRI
FICES ; he was persuaded by Praetextatus, who
governed for him in Greece, to make an exception for
the Mysteries of Ceres ; which had been brought to
Rome very early *, and incorporated into the national
worship f , and long afterwards regulated anew by the
wise emperor Hadrian .

Zosimus tells the story in this manner : " The su-
" preme power being thus divided, Valentinian entered
" on his new command with a more serious attention
" to his office. He reformed the Magistracy, he re-
" gulatecl the Revenue, and, by a rigid exaction of

* As appears by Tully s Oration for Corn. Balbus, and by a
passage in his second Book, cap. 04. Of the nature of the Gods,
quoted above ; and likewise from Dionys. Hal. lib. i. cap. 33.
Antiq. f lfe&lt;ratfla cl

t Suetonius, Vita Aug. cap. 93. T. I. p. 354. Edit. Pitisci,
3714, 4to.
J Aurel. \ T ictor. in Hadr u

" the

SS THE DIVINE LEGATION -[Book IL

* the Duties, secured the pay of the soldiery, which
** arose out of that" fund : and having determined
"" likewise to new model and promulge the imperial
" Institutes, beginning., as they say, from the founda-
* tion, he forbad the celebration of all NOCTURNAL
* ; rites arid sacrifices ; with design to obviate the enor-
* mities which the opportunity of these seasons gave
" birth to, and enflamed. But when Prsetextatus, a
" man adorned with every virtue both -of public and
* private life, who then governed Greece in quality of
* proconsul, had given him to understand that this
" law would occasion great disorders in Greece, and
" even throw the inhabitants into despair, when they
" should find that they were forbidden to celebrate,
" according to ancient custom, those most holy Mys-
" t erics ) which had HOW taken in the whole race of
" mankind, he gave leave to a suspension of his law,
" with regard to These ; on condition, however, that
* c every thing should be reduced to the primitive purity
" and simplicity*." Thus the ELEUSINIAN MYSTE
RIES got a reprieve, till the reign of Theodosius the
elder, when they were finally abolished. The terms
Prsetextatus used to shew the ill consequence of the

fcTW

rt v

yv 7Ti ol JtJ vop&v a&lt;7&lt;&gt;0a? IT^WXEI HTQlljff&fffcu, city \r
oc.;; bco/Xvi -jf&lt;rtsf&lt;j ETrilcAsrcrOjfrt, Ts

ABII7TON roTj
.A?.^^ * xii5"?;a 4v TO^ BION, i pthhoitv y.uht / e&lt;rQcc,i TO, cvffjfltfiot Te

&gt;. iv. Hist. Nova?.

Sect. 4-] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 59

suppression, are very remarkable : he said, the Greeks
would, from thenceforth, lead ABIHTON BICN, a com
fortless lifeless life. But this could not be said, with
any truth, or propriety, of the taking away a mere
religious rite, how venerable soever it was become by
its antiquity. To apprehend the force of the expres
sion, we must have in ruind what hath been said of the
doctrines taught in those Rites, namely, a Providence,
and a future state of rewards and punishments, on
whose sole account the Rites were instituted. Now
these doctrines being in themselves of the most en-
gaging nature ; taught here in the most interesting
manner ; and receiving from hence their chief credit ;
it was no wonder that the Greeks should esteem the
abolition of the MYSTERIES as the greatest evil : the
life of man being, indeed, without the comfort and
support of these doctrines, no better than a living
death : hence it was, that the sage Isocrates called the
MYSTERIES, the thing, human nature principally stands
in need of*. And that Aristides said, the weljare of
Greece was secured by the Eleusinian Mysteries
alone -\, Indeed the Greeks seemed to place their
chief happiness in them : so Euripides makes Hercules
say J, / was blest when I got a sight of the mysteries :
and it was a proverbial speech, when any one thought
himself in the highest degree happy, to say, / seem as
if I had been initiated in the higher mysteries .

i . But now, such is the fate of human things, These
MYSTERIES, venerable as they were, in their first in*

Ov tcrgurov v) Queu; tyvt i^j?dq. Panegyr.
f //&lt;ovo&gt;? EXtyc-mwj vyicuvtf y EXXaj. Eleus.

o/I evTvxno- i&v. Here. furens ; ver. 613.
E7rotrlv.M /^cot ^o.x/y,

stitution,

60 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Bock II.

^titution, did, it must be owned, in course of time,
fearfully degenerate; and those very provisions made
by the State, to enable the Mysteries to obtain the
end of their establishment, became the very means of
defeating it. For we can assign no surer CAUSE of
the horrid abuses and corruptions of the Mysteries
(besides time, which naturally and fatally depraves and
vitiates all things) than the SEASON in which they were
represented ; and the profound SILENCE in which they
were buried. For NIGHT gave opportunity to wicked
men to attempt evil actions ; and SECRECY, encourage
ment to perpetrate them ; and the inviolable nature of
that secrecy, which encouraged abuses, kept them
from the Magistrate s knowledge so long, till it was
too late to reform them. In a word, we must own,
that these Mysteries, so powerful in their first institu
tion for the promotion of VIRTUE and KNOWLEDGE *,
became, in time, horribly subservient to the gratifica
tion of LUST and REVENGE f- Nor will this appear
at all strange after what hath been said above. A like
corruption, from the same cause, crept even into the
CHURCH, during the purest ages of it. The primitive
-Christians, in imitation, perhaps, of these pagan rites,
or from the same kind of spirit, had a custom of cele
brating VIGILS in the night; which, at first, were
performed with all becoming sanctity : but, in a little
time, they were so overrun with abuses, that it was
necessary to abolish them. The account Bellarmine

* -- Toe, tAvrv?ioc, cri Im raiuoc &gt; IwowogQuc-tt ra $ta
vlat TCC.VTOC. VKQ ruy tzrctXaiuv.

t *H ye TexMpo vws TEAETA2, j KPY&lt;J&gt;IA MYSTHPIA, v

Oi rt ]9ia? are y^a? xa
OXHN ANAIPEI, r
, Wisdosa of Soioj^oii, xiv. 23, -24,

gives

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. &lt;h

gives of the matter, is this : " Quoniam occasione
" nocturnarum vigiliarum abusus quidam irrepere
" coeperant, vel potius flagitia non raro committr.
" placuit ccclesias nocturaos convcntus & vigilias
" proprie dictas inter mittere, ac solum in iisdem
" diebus celebrare jejunia*." And the same remedy,
Cicero f tells us, Diagondas the Theban was forced to
apply to the disorders of the Mysteries.

2. However, this was not the only, though it was
the most powerful cause of the depravation of the
Mysteries. Another doubtless was their being some
times under the patronage of those Deities, who were
supposed to inspire and preside over sensual passions,
such as Bacchus, Venus, and Cupid ; for these had all
their Mysteries: And where was the wonder, if the
Initiated should be sometimes inclined to give a loose
to those vices, in which the patron God was supposed
to delight? And in this case, the HIDDEN DOCTRINE
came too late to put a stop to the disorder. However,
it is remarkable, and confirms what hath been said con
cerning the origin of the Mysteries, and of their being
invented to perpetuate the doctrine of a future state,
that this doctrine continued to be taught even in the
most debauched celebrations of the Mysteries of Cu
pid J and Bacchus . Nay, even that very flagitious

part

* De Eccl. Triumph, lib. iii. cap. ult.

t Atque omnia nocturna, ne nos duriores forte videamur, in
media Grsecia Diagondas Thebanus lege perpetua sustulit, De
Legg. lib. ii. cap. 15. Edit. Ox. 4to. Tom. ill. p. 149.

J Ayctvjv ptVy u STaT/re, rrk sv EAt C"*W TeAtlJj? fjt.il a. y^t7y t lyu ot s^u
Toi? EPHTOZ c^/Iara*? *J /4t&gt;rK * v &lt;*** /5tXIa ia [Ao~px.i&gt; Uffav. Plu-
tarchus E^mu.

KeAo- ^ otVJai ys ITT* SoipSzi TUV l^iul

rua.flr.KCCi

62 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

part of the mysterious rites when at worst, the carry
ing the KTEI2 and $AAAO2 hi procession, was intro
duced but under pretence of their being emblems * of
the mystical regeneration and new life, into which the
Initiated had engaged themselves to enter.

3. The last cause to which one may ascribe their
corruption, was the Ilierophanfs withdrawing the
Mysteries from the care and inspection of the civil
Magistrate; whose original Institution they were:
and, therefore, in the purer ages of Greece, the depu

ties

TO*? sv TK BAKXIKA1S TeX/?#iV roc.
Orig. contra Celsum, lib. iv. p. 167. Sp.

Kat yf a,i jsAcw, x roc. &p, roc, raruv i^iv AINITMATA. T*
xle ya p\v v EAvcr;$, % ^?kAa/wyt/8 $1 rov OaAAsy. Theodoret, Thera-
peut. lib. i. Here the father uses the word dtlvifaotla, ironically,
and in derision of the Pagans, who pretended, that these proces
sions were mystical, symbolical, and enigmatical; otherwise he
had used the word improperly; for the xle*? and &lt;pAAoj could
never be the alviypotla of the pollutions committed by them :
amj/aa signifying the obscure imitation of a thing represented by
a different image. So Tertullian against the Valentinians says,
" Virile membrum totum esse MYSTERIU:I?." Jamblichus gives
another reason for these things : &i TTO l TE v.u^u^a,

e re re-?

De mysteriis, i. cap. 11. However, in common life, Jiguram
pudcndi virilis ad fascini omne gtmis expugnaiidiim mitltinn valcre
crederent. A superstition, which, without doubt, arose from its
enigmatic station in the mysteries ; and to this day keeps its hold
amongst the common people in Italy. On les portoit comme des
preservatifs centre les charmes, les mauvais regards & les ern
chantements. Cette practique superstitieuse ne s en est pas moms
conservi&gt;e jusqu a present dans le has Teuple du Royaume de Na
ples. L on m a fait voir plusieurs de ces Priapes, que des gens
ont la simplicite de porter au bras ou sur la poitrme. AY
sur les decpuvertes d Herculaneum, p. 41.

Sect. 4.] OP MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 63

ties of the States presided in them : and, so long, they
were safe from notorious abuses. But in aftertiines it
would happen, that a little priest, who had borne an
inferior share in these rites, would leave his society
and country, and set up for himself; and in a clan
destine manner, without the allowance or knowledge
of the Magistrate, institute and celebrate the Myste
ries in private Conventicles. From rites so managed
it is easy to believe, many enormities would arise.
This was the original of those horrid impieties com
mitted in the Mysteries of Bacchus at Rome ; of
which the historian Livy has given so circumstantial
an account : for, in the beginning of his story, he tells
us, the mischief was occasioned by one of these priests
bringing the Mysteries into Etruria, on his own head&gt;
uncommissioned by his superiors in Greece, from
whom he learnt them ; and unauthorized by the State,
into which he had introduced them. The words of
Livy shew that the Mysteries were, in their own na
ture, a very different affair; and invented for the
improvement of Knowledge and Virtue. " A tjreek
" of mean extraction (says he*) a little priest and
" soothsayer, came first into Etruria, WITHOUT ANY

" SKILL OR WISDOM IN MYSTERIOUS RITES, MA NT
" SORTS OF- WHICH, THAT MOST IMPROVED PEOPLE
" HAVE BROUGHT IN* AMONGST US, FOR THE.
" CULTURE AND PERFECTION BOTH OF MIND,

" AND BODY f." It is farther observable, that this

priest
* Grscus ignobilis in Etruriam primum venit, NULL* CUM

ARTE EARUM, QUA9 MULTAS AD ANIMORUM CORPORUMQU S.
CULTUM NOBIS ERUDITISS1MA OMNIUM GENS INVEX1T, Sed

sacrificulus & vates. Hist. lib. xxxix.

f What Livy means by the culture of the body, will be seen

hereafter, when we come to speak of the probationary and toil-

6 some.

64 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II,

priest brought the Mysteries pure with him out of
Greece, and that they received their corruption in
Italy ; for, as Hispala tells the story to the Consul, at
first WOMEN only celebrated the Rites ; till Paculla
Minia Carnpana became priestess; who, on a sudden,
as by order of the Gods, made a total alteration in
the Ceremonies, and initiated her SONS; which gave
occasion to all the debaucheries that followed *. The
consequence of this discovery was the abolition of the
Ritas of Bacchus throughout Italy, by a decree of the
Senate f .

However, it is very true, that in Greece itself the
Mysteries became abominably abused J : a proof of

which

some- trials undergone by those aspirants to the Mysteries, called

the SOLDIERS OF MlTHRAS.

* Hispala s confession will fully instruct the reader in the na
ture and degree of these corruptions. ** Turn Hispala originein
" sacrorum expromit. Prirno sacrarium id foerainarum fuisse, nee
" quemquam virum eo admitti soli turn. Pacuilam sacerdotem
" omnfS, tanquam Deum monitis, immutasse : nam & viros earn
" primam suos filios initiasse : nocturnum sacrum ex diurno, &
" pro tribus in anno diebus quinos singulis mensibus dies initiorum
" fecisse. Ex quo in promiscuo sacra sint, & permisti viri foimi-
" nis, & noctis licentia accesserit; nihil ibi facinoris, nihil fiagitii
" praetermissum ; plura virorum inter sese, quam fcrmmannr, esse
" stupra. Si qui minus patienles dcdecoris sint, & pigriores ad
" facinus, pro victimis immolari : nihil nefas ducere. Ilanc
" summam inter eos religionem esse; viros velut meute capta cum
* jactatione fanatica corporis vaticinari Raptos a Diis homines
" dici, quos machinae illigatos ex conspectu in nbditos specuft
" abripiant; eos esse, qui aut conjurare, aut sociari facinoribus,
** aut stuprum pati noluerint Multitudinem ingentem, alterum jam
" prope populum esse : in his nobiles quosdam viros, feeminasque.
w Biennio proximo institutum esse, ne quis major viginti anni
** initiaretur ; captari tetaus & erroris & stupri patientes."

t Sec note [N] at the end of this Book.

J See Clemen* Alexandriniis, in his Admonitio ad Gentes.

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 6J

\vhich we have even in the conduct of their Comic
writers, who frequently lay the action of the Drama
(such aa the rape of a young girl, and the like) at the
celebration of a religious Mystery; and from that
Mystery denominate the Piece *. So that, in the time
of Cicero^ the terms mysteries and abominations were
almost synonymous. The Academic having said they
had secrets and Mysteries, Lucullus replies, " Quae
" sunt tandem ista MYSTERIA? aut cur celatis, quasi
" TURPE aliquid, vestram scntentiamf r" However,
in spite of all occasions and opportunities, some of
these Mysteries, as the ELEUSINIAN particularly, con
tinued for many ages pure and undefiled. The two
capital corruptions of the Mysteries were MAGIC and
IMPURITIES. Yet, so late as the age of Apollonius
Tyan ; the Ekus uuan kept so clear of the first impu
tation, that the hierophant refused to initiate that
impostor, because he was suspected to be a Magician J.
And, indeed, their Ions;- continued immunity, both from

one and the other corruption, will not appear extra
ordinary, if we consider, that, by a law of Solon, the
senate was always to meet the day after the celebration
of these Mysteries, to see that nothing had been done
amiss during the performance . So that these were

* See Fabricius s Notitia comicorum deperditorum, in his first
volume of the Bibl. Grcec. lib. ii. cap, 2-2.

t Acad. Quasst. lib. i.

O &lt;$t lfg

o-^la, ^ &lt;i\ rr^v EXivcr^a, ivoi^on- an^uTra ftv xaOa.&lt;y rot

ifj^Hot, Philost. lib. iv. cap. 18.

^ ya^&gt; fluhr, IKC? KO^t^tTifwu E/x-sAAE, v.ara rov "Zo^ui&gt;^ vj/xcv, 2; x.&fvet,
T, vTif.lof-&gt; ruv yuofyiw* *c^-i- tff&lt;n&tv iv ra EAit crtv ^ , Andoc. Orat.

VOL. II. F the

66 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Boofe It

the very last that submitted to the common fate of all
human institutions*.

It is true, if uncertain report were to- be believed,
the Mysteries were corrupted very early : for Orpheus
himself is said to have abused them fv But this was a
figment which the debauched Mystce of later times
invented to varnish over their enormities ? as the
detestable Paederasts of after-age* scandalized the
blameless Socrates. Besides, the story is so- ill laid,
that it is detected by the surest records of Antiquity :
for,, in consequence of the crime which they fabled
Orpheus committed in the Mysteries, they pretended,
that he was torn in pieces by the women : whereas it
appeared from the inscription on his monument at
Dium in Macedonia, that he was struck dead with
lightning, the envied death of the reputed favourites
of the Gods

And here the Christian FATHERS will hardly escape
the censure of those who will not allow high provocation
to be an excuse for an unfair representation of aa
adversary. I say,, they will hardly escape, ccnaure y for
accustoming themselves to speak of the Mysteries as
gross impieties and immoralities in their very original .
Clemens Alexandrinus, in a heat of zeal, breaks out,
" Let him be accursed, who first infected the world
" with these impostures, whether it was Dardanus or
" $c. These I make no scruple to call wicked
" authors of impious tables ; the fathers of an exe-
" crable superstition, who, by this Institution, sowed

* See note [O] at the end of this Book.
f See Diog. Laert. Prooemium, Segm. 5.
I Idem, ibid.
| See note [P] at the end of this Book.

" in

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 6?

&lt;( in human life the seeds of vice and corruption *. 55
But the wisest and best of the pagan world invariably
hold, that the Mysteries were instituted pure; and
proposed the noblest end, by the worthiest means. And
even though the express testimony of these writers,
supported by the reason of the thing, should be
deemed insufficient, yet the character and quality of
their Institutor must put the matter out of all doubt.
This Institutor, as will be seen presently, was no other
than the Lawgiver, or CIVIL MAGISTRATE himself.
Wherever the Mysteries found public admittance, it
was by his introduction ; and as oft as ever they were
celebrated, it was under his inspection. Now virtue
is as essential to the preservation, and vice to the
destruction of that Society, over which he presides,
as obedience and disobedience are to his office and
authority. So that to conceive him disposed to bring
in, and to encourage, immoral practices under the
mask of Religion, is the same thing as to suspect the
Physician of mixing Poisons with his antidotes.

The truth of the matter was this : the Fathers bore
a secret grudge to the Mysteries for their injurious
treatment of Christianity on its first appearance in the
world. We are to observe, that ATHEISM, by which
\vas meant a contempt of the Gods, was reckoned, in
the Mysteries, amongst the greatest crimes. So, in the
sixth book of the JEneis (of which more hereafter) the
hottest seats in Tartarus are allotted to the Atheist,
such as Salmoneus, Tityus, and the Titans, Sec. Now
the Christians, for their contempt of the national Gods,

TT5 yuy uv

Admonitio ad Gentes, pag. 8. A* B.. Edit. Sylburg.

F 2 were,

65 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book If.

tvere, on their first appearance, deemed Atheists by
the people ; and so branded by the Mystagogue, as we
find in Lucian *, and exposed amongst the rest iri
Tartarus, in their solemn shows and representations.
This may be gathered from a remarkable passage in
Origen, where Celsus thus addresses his adversary :
" But now, as you, good man, believe eternal punish-
" ments, even so do the interpreters of these holy
" Mysteries, the Hierophants and Initiators; you
" threaten others with these punishments : THESE, on
" the contrary, THREATEN vonf-" This explains a
pass-age in Jerom s catalogue of ecclesiastical writers ;
and will be explained by it. The Father, speaking of
Quadratus, says; " Curnque Hadrianus Athenis exe-
" gisset hiemem invisens Eleusincm, & omnibus pene
" Grsecks sacris inifiatus, dedisset, occasionem iis, qui
" Christianos oderunt, absque prseceptd Lnperatom
" vexare credentes, porrcxit ei librum pro religione
" nostra. Now what occasion was afforded at this
juncture to the enemies of Christianity, but only this",.
That, the Grecian Mysteries representing the Faithful
in an odious light, the Emperor (who but just then
had been initiated into almost all of them) might be
reasonably thought estranged ad indisposed towards
Christianity ; and so the easier drawn to countenance,
or connive at, any injustice done unto it?

This, without doubt, was what sharpened the Fathers
against the Mysteries ; and they were not over tender

L, rotaim t* TK a9e-, % XPI2TIAN02, %

e^uiv (pevysru Pseudomantis, T. II. pag. -244,
Edit, lleitzii, 410. Amstel. 1743.

f*ey, u j S/Altrf, uc-vrep crv xohafut; Kluvixs viptfaf urn

M lib. viii,

Sect. 4-1 OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 69

in loading what they did not approve. On this account
they gave easy credit to what had been told to them of
the abominations in the Mysteries-, and the rather,
perhaps, on account of the secrecy with which they
were celebrated. The same Secrecy in the Christian
Rites, and the same language introduced by the Fathers
in speaking of them, as we see below, procured as
easy credit to those calumnies of murder and incest
charged upo.n them by the Pagans. Nay, what is still
more remarkable, those specific enormities, in which
their own MysteriesvfexQ known to of lend, they objected
to the Christians. " Alii cos [Christianos] ferunt
" ipsius Antistitis ac Sacerdotis colere genitalia *."
But here comes in the strange part of the story ; that,
after this, they should so studiously and formally transfer
the terms, phrases, rites, ceremonies, and discipline of
these odious Mysteries into our holy Religion; and,
thereby, very early , vitiate and deprave, what a pagan
writer f could see, and acknowledge, to be ABSOLUTA
SIMPLEX, as it came out of the hands of its Author.
Sure then it was some more than ordinary veneration
the People4rad for these Mysteries, that could incline
the Fathers of the Church to so fatal a counsel : how
ever, the thing is notorious j, and the effects have been
severely felt,

We have all along supposed the Mysteries an in
vention of the Lawgiver : and, indeed, we had nothing
to do with them, but in that view. Now though, from
what hath been said, the intelligent reader will collect,
ive have not supposed amiss, yet since the pertinency

* Cascil. apvd Minut. in Octav.

f Amm. Marcellinus, lib. xxi. cap. 16. HisL

J See note [Q] at the end oi tbis Book.

F 3 of

70 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

of the whole discourse, as here applied, depends upon
it, he may perhaps expect us to be a little more par
ticular.

That the Mysteries were invented, established, and
supported by LAWGIVERS, may be seen,

i. From the place of their original; which was
EGYPT. This, Herodotus, Diodorus, and Plutarch,
who collect from ancient testimonies, expressly affirm ;
and in this all Antiquity concurs : the Eleusinian
Mysteries, particularly, retaining the very Egyptian
Gods, in whose honour they were celebrated ; Ceres
and Triptolemus being only two other names for Isis *
and Osiris : as we have seen above from Theodoret ;
and so Tibullus, -

Primus aratra manu sollcrti fecit OSIRIS,
Et teneram ferro sollicitavit humum f.

Hence it is, that the UNIVERSAL NATURE, or the
Jirst Cause, the object of all the Mysteries, yet disguised
under diverse NAMES, speaking of herself in Apuleius,
concludes the enumeration of her various mystic rites,
in these words, " Priscaque doctrina pollentes
" -/EGYPTII, CEREMONIIS me prorsus PROPRIISJ
" percolentes, appellant VRO NOMINE reginam

But the similitude betwen the Rites practised, ancj
the Doctrines taught in the Grecian and Egyptian
Mysteries, would be alone sufficient to point up to their
original ; such as the secrecy required of the Initiated ;

Herodot. lib. ii.
cap. 59. And again cap. 156. AJ?^T*J^ ^ "ler^,
f See note [R] at the end of this Book,
J See note [S] at the end of this Book,
Mctam ? Ijb. xi,

which,

"Sect 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 71

which, as we shall see hereafter; peculiarly characterized
the Egyptian teaching ; such as the doctrines taught of
a metempsychosis, and a future state of rewards and
punishments, which the Greek writers agree to have
been first set abroach by the Egyptians*; such as
Abstinence enjoined from domestic fowl, fish, and
beans f, the peculiar superstition of the Egyptians ;
such as the Ritual composed in hieroglyphics, an inven
tion of the Egyptians J. But it would be endless to
reckon up all the particulars in which the Egyptian and
Grecian Mysteries agreed : it shall suffice to say, that
they were in all things the same .

Again ; nothing but the supposition of this common
original to all theG recian Mysteries can clear up and re
concile the disputes which arose amongst the Grecian
States and Cities, concerning the original of these rites ;
every one claiming to be the Prototype to the rest. Thus
Thrace pretended that they came first from thence;
Crete contested the honour with those barbarians ; and

* Timasus the Locrian, in his book Of tire Soul of tire World,
speaking of the necessity of inculcating the doctrine of future
punishments, calls them TIMI2PIAI HENAI, FOREIGN TORMENTS:
by which name both Latin and Greek writers generally mean,
Egyptian, where the subject is Religion.

t See Porphyrius De Abstin.

I -Benex commissimus ducit me protinus ad ipsas fores redis
amplissima?, rituque solenni aspersionis celebrato mysterio, ae
matutino peracto sacrifkk), de opertis adyti profert quosdam
libros, literis iguorabilibus pncnotatos ; partim FIGURIS cu-

JUSCEMODI ANIMALIUM, CONCEPTI SEUMONIS COMPENDFOSA.

VEREA SSJC.GERENTF.S, partim nodosis, & in modum rota? tortuosis,
capreol&tiiTHjue condensis apicibus. &lt;Apul. Metam. lib. xi.
ripoj OE Tyrol? oti TtXtlcti x fa. ^.ar^* Totvfr^ Tr,$ c^t

Diod. Sic.

fcb.i.

f Athens

72 -THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

Athens claimed it from both. And at that time, when
they had forgotten the true original, it was impossible
to settle and adjust their differences : for each could
prove that he did not borrow from others ; and, at the
same time, seeing a similitude in the Kites *, would
conclude that they had borrowed from him. But the
owning EGYPT for their common Parent, clears up all
difficulties : by accounting for that general likeness
which gave birth to every one s pretensions.

Now, in Egypt, all religious Worship beiug planned
and established by Statesmen, and directed to the ends
of civil policy, we must conclude, that the Mysteries
were originally invented by~ LEGISLATORS-

2. The Sages who brought them out of Egypt, and
propagated them in Asia, in Greece, and Britain, were
all Kings or Lawgivers ; such as Zoroaster, Inachus,
Orpheus f, Melampus, Trophonius, Minos, Cinyras,
Erectheus, and the Druids.

3. They were under the superintendence of the State.
A Magistrate intitled BASIAEYS, or King, presided in
the Eleusinian Mysteries. Lysias informs us, that
this King was to offer up the public prayers, according
to their country Rites ; and to see that nothing impious
or immoral crept into the celebration . This title

Striibo, lib. x. p. 466. D. Edit. Paris.
1620. fol.

t Of whom Aristophanes says, O^-j? /xsy y^ rebeia,*; & r^Ty
Kfltiehtfg, Qouv r avsx,urQi ; Orpheus taught us the Mysteriet t
^ and to abstain from murder," i. e, from a life of rapine and
violence, such as men lived in the state of nature.

% Ka* fiy; a evasion xoldt r* nrxTftz oW f ccv ff^^^f
T E* in Andoc,

given

Sect: 4-] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 73

given to the President of the Mysteries, w as, doubtless,
in memory of the first Founder: to whom were joined
four officers, chosen by the people, called EIIIMEAHTAI
or Curators * ; the priests were only under-ofticers to
these, and had no share in the direction : for this being
the Legislator s favourite institution, he took all pos
sible care for its support; which could not be dono
more effectually, than by his matching over it himself.
On the other hand, his interfering too openly in religious
matters would have defeated his end ; and the people
would soon have come to regard this high solemnity
as a mere engine of State ; on which account he care
fully kept behind the curtain. For though it be now
apparent that the Mysteries were the invention of the
Civil Magistrate, yet even some Ancients, .who have
mentioned the Mysteries, seemed not to be apprized of
it ; and their ignorance hath occasioned great embroil
ment in all they say on this subject. The reader may
see by the second chapter of Meursius s Eleusima, how
much the Ancients were at a loss for the true founder
of those Mysteries , some giving the institution to Ceres;
some to Triptolemus ; others to Eumolpus ; others to
Musaeus ; and some again to Erectheus. How then
shall we disengage ourselves from this labyrinth, into
which Meursius hath led us, and in which, his guard of
Ancients keep us inclosed ? This, clue will easily con
duct us through it. It appears, from what has been
said, that Erectheus, KING of Athens, established the
Mysteries -\ ; but that the people unluckily confounded
the Institute r, with the PRIESTS, Eumolpus and Mus&us,
who first officiated in the rites ; and with Ceres and

* See Meursius s Eleusiriia, cap. xv.

}- And so says Diodorus Siculus, lib. i. Bibl.

Triptolemus,

74 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

Triptolemus, the DEITIES, in whose honour they were
celebrated. And these mistakes were natural enough *:
the poets would be apt, in the licence of their figurative
style, to call the Gods, in whose name the Mysteries
were performed, the Founders of those Mysteries ;
and the people, seeing only the ministry of the officiated
priests (the Legislator keeping out of sight) in good
earnest believed those Mystagogues to be the founders.
And yet, if it were reasonable to expect from Poets
or People, attention to their own fancies and opinions,
one would think they might have distinguished better,
by the help of that mark, which Erectheus left be
hind him, to ascertain his title ; namely, the erection
of the officer called |3a&lt;nAu?, or King.

4. But this original is still further seen from the
qualities required in the aspirants to the Mysteries.
According to their original institution, neither slaves
T&t foreigners were to be admitted into them f. Now if
the Mysteries were instituted, primarily for the sake of
teaching religious truths, there can be no reason given
why every man, with the proper moral qualifications,
should not be admitted; but supposing them instituted by

* They were committed where no Mystery was affected, in
what concerned the open worship of their Gods. Tacitus, speak
ing of the Temple of the Paphian Venus, says, " Conditorem
" Templi Regem Aerian vetus memoria, quidam ipsius Deae no-
" men id perhibent." Hist. lib. ii.

-^ JJxfo [ HgazAris] -srpos Et^coATrov tlq EXfvrfrSdt, /foXo^fi^
pvMtaf l $ x |o SENOIS TOTI /W&lt;70ai Schol, Horn. 11. 0.
It was the same in the Cabiric Mysteries, as \ve learn from Dio-
cjorus Siculus, lib.v. who speaks of the like innovation made there.
_ ox? r $\ clros rpwT^ EENOYZ pviffau. As to slaves, hear Aris
tophanes in his

the

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 75

the State for civil purposes, a very good one may be
assigned ; for slaves and foreigners have there, neither
property nor country. When afterwards the Greeks,
by frequent confederations against the Persian, the
common enemy of their liberties, began to consider
themselves as one people and Community, the Myste
ries were extended to all who spoke the GREEK LA^*
GUAGE. Yet the Antients, not reflecting on the
origin al and end of their institution, were much per
plexed for the reasons of an exclusion so apparently
capricious. Lucian tells us, in The life of his friend
Dcntonar, that this great philosopher had the courage
one day, to ask the Athenians, why they excluded bar
barians from their Mysteries, when Eumolpus, a
barbarous Thracian, had established them *. But he
does not tell us their answer. One of the most judi
cious of our modern critics was as much at a loss ; and
therefore thinks the restraint ridiculous, as implying,
that the Institutors supposed that speaking the Greek
tongue contributed to the advancement of piety f.

5. Another proof of this original may be deduced
from what was taught promiscuously to all the Ini-

as &lt;5rof .J A0&gt;jyaa

rvet, otlrlxv &lt;*wax?istfcr T y ? ctcpW retvrac. ra TJJ
larjcra/x&gt;a Et^otora, ^&lt;x.^d^ xj 0^axo? oj/1-. But
the fact, that they were not a grccian but a foreign, that is, barba
rous invention, is proved by their very name, ^vr^ia, from the
eastern dialect, mist or 9 or mistur 9 res aut locus abscondiius.

f Auctor est Libanius in Corinthiorum actione, rnystagogos
cumma diHgentia initiandos ante omnia monuisse, ut manus puras
animumque eibi servarent purum: xj riv &lt;puw "EAAJV? J&gt;a; fy ut
in voce sive sermone Gricos se prcestarent : hoc quidem profecto
ridiculum, quasi faceret ad veram pietatem, Graeca potius quam
ajia lingua kxjui. Is. Cagauboni Exercit. xvi. ad Annales Eccl.
JBaron,

tiated ;

?6 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

tiated ; which was, the necessity of a virtuous and holy
life, to obtain a happy immortality. Now this, we
fcnow, could not come from the sacerdotal warehouse :
the priests could afford a better pennyworth of their
Elysium, at the easy expence of oblations and sacri
fices : for, as our great Philosopher well observes (who,
Iiowever, was not aware of this extraordinary Institu
tion for the support of virtue, and therefore concludes
too generally) " The Priests made it not their business
" to teach the people virtue : if they were diligent in
* their observations and ceremonies, punctual in their
" feasts and solemnities, and the tricks of religion, the
" holy tribe assured them that the Gods were pleased,
" and they looked no further : few went to the schools
ie of Philosophers, to be instructed in their duty, and
" to know what was good and evil in their actions ;
4C the Priests sold the better pennyworths, and there-
" fore had all the custom : for lustrations and sacrifices
** were much easier than a clean conscience and a
" steddy course of virtue ; and an expiatory sacrifice,
r that atoned for the want of it, much more conve-
V nient tha,n a strict and holy life*." Now we may
bo assured, that an Institution, which taught the ne
cessity of a strict and holy life, could not but be the
invention qf Lawgivers, to whose schemes moral virtue
y/as so necessary.

6. Another strong presumption of this original k
the great use of the Mysteries to the State : so amply
confessed by the wisest writers of antiquity, and so
clearly seen from the nature of the tiling itself.

7. But, lastly, we have the testimony of the know
ing Plutarch for this original ; who, in bis treatise Of

* Locke s Reasonableness of Christianity,

Sect; 4:]- OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 77-

Isi-s and Osiris, expressly tells us, that it fvvas-" a most
" ancient opinion, delivered down, from- LEG i SLA TORS
" and Divines, to Poets and Philosophers, the author
" of it entirely unknown, but the belief. qf it indelibly
" established,- not only in tradition, and the talk of
"" the vulgar, but in the MYSTERIES and in the sacred
" offices of religion, both amongst Greeks and Bar?
" barians, spread all over the face of the globe, That
" the Universe was not upheld fortuitously, without
" Mind, Reason, or a Governor to preside over its
" revolutions*"/

It is now submitted to the candid reader, Whether
it be not fairly proved, that the MYSTERIES were in
vented by the LEGISLATOR, to affirm and establish the
general doctrine, of a Providence, by inculcating the
belief of a future state of rewards and punishments.
Indeed, if we may believe a certain Ancient who ap
pears to have been well versed in these matters, they
gained their end, by clearing up all doubts concerning
the righteous government of the Gods j.

We "have ~ se" en in general, how fond and tenacious
aacient Paganism was of this extraordinary Rite, as
of an Institution supremely useful both to SOCIETY
atvd RELIGIOIS T . But tliis will be seen more fully in

"* Aio x) tffxu.&lt;ir;cX:ci& Q&Ty) kat+fierib ix. te&gt;*yav xj HOMOQETHtf

sif rs trov^jcU x} ^

&lt;wT4rii i?X &gt; v & * Xy a

1 rs TEAETAIS, i

x awiproif avctira.t

&lt; - Edit, Francof, fol. T. II. p. 369. B..

*O $t Toft; p.f5-xc.r? iy%ct;]tc%?.ct-i VTaa.fyfr

TtXelxs airatq ivVtSh &gt;:.9 $fiff&&amp;lt;x,\p.tH

7*5 -^syj I p/sj ^jjcwW.a/A^^oAox. , Sopater in Divi^.-Qua. 5 st,

what

73 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II,

what I now proceed to lay before the Public ; an ex
amination of two celebrated pieces of Antiquity, the
famous SIXTH BOOK OF VIRGIL S /ENEIS, and the
METAMORPHOSIS OF APULEIUS: The first of which
will shew us of what use the Mysteries were esteemed
to SOCIETY; and the second, of what support to
HELIGION.

An inquiry into uEneas s adventure to the Shades,
will have this farther advantage, the ( instructing us in
the shows and representations of the MYSTERIES; a
part of their history, which the form of this discourse
hath not yet afforded us an opportunity of giving.
So that nothing will be now wanting to a perfect know
ledge of this most extraordinary and important Insti
tution.

For, the descent of Virgil s Hero into the infernal
regions, I presume, was no other than a figurative de
scription of an INITIATION; and particularly, a very
exact picture of the SPECTACLES in the ELEUSINIAN
MYSTERIES ; where every thing was done in show and
machinery ; and where a representation * of the his
tory of Ceres afforded opportunity of bringing in the
scenes of heaven, hell, elysium, purgatory, and what
ever related to the future state of men and heroes.

But to soften this paradox all we can, it may be
proper to enquire into the nature of the JEneis.

Homer s two poems had each a plain and entire
story, to convey as plain and simple a moral : and in

* aAV o pin IIAahy? rr&gt;v Ko^v ypvoco-t xj

.tcctrci rets g57/xs? TO reavov I^TM. t TSTOV TOV (AvQov ?? v-^* Jjya/E TO IF
Tvi tsryg. Just. Mart. Orat. ad Grasc. prope init. Arjw ^ xj

uZaxsT. Clemens Alex, in Protreptico,
p. 7. E. Edit. Sylburgh,

this,

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 7$

this, he is justly esteemed excellent. The Roman
poet could make no improvements here: the Greek
was complete and perfect; so that the patrons of
Virgil, even Scaliger himself, are forced to seek for
his superior advantages in his episodes, descriptions,
similes, and in the chastity and correctness of his
thoughts and diction. In the mean time they have aft
overlooked the principal advantage he had over his
great Exemplar.

Virgil found the epic poem in the first rank of hu
man compositions ; but this was too narrow a circuit
for his enlarged ambition : he was not content that its
subject should be to instruct the world in MORALS;
much less did he think of PHYSICS, though he was
fond of natural enquiries, and Homer s Allegorizers
had opened a back-door to let in the Philosopher with
the Poet ; but he aspired to make it a SYSTEM OF
POLITICS. On this plan he wrote the jEnds\ which,
is, indeed, as complete an institute in verse, by EX
AMPLE, as the Republics of Plato and Tully were in
prose, by PRECEPT. Thus he enlarged the bounds,
and added a new province to epic poesy. But though
every one saw that AUGUSTUS was shadowed in the
person of ^ENEAS, yet it being supposed that those
political instructions, which the poet designed for the
service of mankind, were solely for the use of his
Master, they missed of the true nature of the poem.
And in this ignorance, the succeeding epic writers,
following a work whose genius they did not understand,
wrote worse than- if they had only taken Homer, and
his simpler plan, for their direction. A great modern
Poet, and best judge of their merit, assures us of this
fact ; and what has been said will help us to explain
the reason of it ; " The other epic poets (says this

" admirable

8o THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

f admirable writer) have used the same practice [that

* of Virgil, of running two fables into one] but gene-.

" rally carry it so far, as to superinduce a multiplicity

e of tables, destroy the unity of action, and lose their

" readers in an unreasonable length of time V

Such \vasthe revolution Virgil brought about in this
noblest region of poesy; an improvement so great,
that the truest poet had need of all the assistance the
sublimest genius could lend him : nothing less than the
joint aid of the Iliad and Odysses being able to fur
nish out the execution of his great idea : for a system
a/ Politics delivered in the example of a great Prince,
must shew him in every public adventure of life. Hence
JEneas was, of necessity, to be found voyaging, with
Ulysses, and fighting, with Achilles.

But if the improved nature of his subject compelled
him to depart from that simplicity in the fable, which
Aristotle, and his best interpreter, Bossu, find so di
vine in Homer f ; he gained considerable advantages
by it in other circumstances of the composition : for
now, those ornaments and decorations, for whose in
sertion the critics could give no other reason than to
raise the dignity of the Poem, beccvne essential to the
Subject. Thus the choice of Princes and Heroes for
his personages, which were, before, only used to grace
the scene, now constitute the nature of the action ;Jv

and

* Preface to the Iliad of Homer.

t Nous trouverons point, dans la fable de 1 Eneide, cette simpli-
cite qu Aristote a trouvee si divine dans Ilomere. Traite da
poeme epique, lib. i. cap. xi.

J " Le re tour (says Bossu) d un homme en sa maison, & la
". querelie de deax autres, n ayant rieri de grand en soi, deviennent
44 des actions illustres & importantes, lorsque dans le choix des
11 noms, le poete dit que c est 1 Ulysse qui retourne en Ithaque,"&

" qua

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 81

and the machinery of the Gods, and their intervention
on every occasion, which was to create the MARVEL
LOUS, becomes, in this improvement, an indispen-
sahle part of the poem. A divine interposition is in the
very spirit of ancient legislation ; where, we see, the
principal care of the Lawgiver was to possess the peo
ple with the full belief of an overruling Providence.
This is the true reason of so much machinery in the
JEneis : for which, modern critics impeach the author s
judgment, who, in a poem written in the refined and
enlightened age of Rome*, followed the marvellous
of Homer so closely. An excellent writer, speaking
of Virgil in this view, says, " If there be any instance
" in the ^Eneid liable to exception upon this account,
" it is in the beginning of the third book, where JEneas
u is represented as tearing up the myrtle that dropped
" blood. This circumstance seems to have the mar-
" vellous without the probable, because it is represent-
" ed as proceeding from natural causes without the
" interposition of any God, or rather, supernatural
" power capable of producing itf." But surely this
instance was ill chosen. The poet makes JEneas say,
on this occasion,

Nymphas

" que c est Achille & Agamemnon, qui querellent." He goes on,
" Mais il y a des actions qui d elles memes sont tres importantes,
" comme Festablissement, OH la mine d un ctat, on dune religion.
" Telle est done i action de 1 Eneide." lib. ii. cap. 19. He saw
here a remarkable difference in the subjects ; it is strange this
hould not have led him to see that the JEneis is of a different
species.

* Ce qui est beau dans Homere pourroit avoir etc mal reed
dans les ouvrages d un poete du terns d Auguste. Idem, lib. iii.
cap. 8. De I admirable.

f Mr. Addison s Works, vol. iii. p. 316. qnarto edit,

VOL. II. G

82 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

- - - - Nymphas venerabar agrcstes,
Gradivumque patrern, Geticis qui praesidet arvis,
Rite secundarent visus OMENque levarent *.

Now omens were of two kinds f , the natural and super*
natural. This in question, was of the latter sort,
produced by the intervention of the Gods, as appears
by his calling this adventure, MONSTRA DEUM : it was
of the nature of those portentous showers of blood so
frequently occurring in the Roman history. And the
poet was certainly within the bounds of the probable,
while he told no more than what their gravest writers
did not scruple to record in their annals.

But this was not done merely to raise admiration.
He is here (as we observe) in his legislative character ;
and writes to possess the people of the interposition of
the Gods, in OMENS and PRODIGIES. This was the
method of the old Lawgivers. So Plutarch, as quoted
above, tells us, " that with divinations and OMENS,
" Lycurgus sanctified the Lacedemonians, Numa the
" Romans, Ion the Athenians, and Deucalion all the
" Greeks in general; and by hopes and fears kept up
" in them the awe and reverence of Religion." The
scene of this adventure is laid, with the utmost pro
priety, on the uncivilized inhospitable shores of Thrace,
to inspire horror for barbarous manners, and an appe
tite for social life. On this account it is that our poet
here deserts the Mythologists, and makes the age of
CIVIL POLICY, (the time when men were first brought
out of a state of nature) the golden age, and SATURN
to govern in it. Thus Evander says,

* Lib. iii.

f See note [T] at the end of this Book,

Ifcec

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 83

Haec nemora indigenes fauni nymphEeque tene-

bant ---
Queis neque mos, neque cultus erat; neque jungere

tauros,

Ant componere opes norant, aut parcere parto :
Sed rami atque asper victu venatus alebat.
Primus ab cetherio venit SATURN us Olympo
Is genus indocile, ac dispersum rnontibus altis,

COMPOSUIT, LEGESQUE DEBIT *.

Whereas Ovid, who speaks the sense of the Mytholo-
gists, makes the golden age to be the state of nature,
and SATURN to govern there, before the erection of
civil policy.

Aurea prima sata est setas, qua?, vindice nullo,
Sponte sua, SINE LEGE fidem rectumque colebat.
Pcena metusque aberant : NEC VERBA MINACIA

FJXO

JEre legebantur : nee supplex turba timebant
JUDICIS ora sui. - - -

Ipsa quoque immunis rastroque intacta, nee ullis
Saucia vomeribus, per se dabat omnia tellus :
Contentiqtie cibis nullo cogente creatis,
Arbuteos foetus, montanaque fragra legebant,
Cornaque & in duns hserentia mora rubetis,
Et quae deciderant patula Jovis arbore glarides.
Ver erat eeternum - - -

Postquam SATURNO tenebrosa in Tartara misso
Turn primum subiere domos - - -
Semina turn primum longis Cerealia sulcis
Obruta sunt, pressique jugo gemuere juvenci f .

For it served the grave purpose of the philosophic

Poet to decry the state of nature; and it suited the

* Lib. viii. f Metam. lib. i.

&lt;* 2 fanciful

$4 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

fanciful paintings of the mythologic Poet to recom
mend it.

But every thing in this poem points to great and
public ends. The turning the ships into sea-deities,
in the ninth book, has the appearance of something
infinitely more extravagant, than the myrtle, dropping
blood, and has been more generally and severely cen
sured ; and indeed, if defended, it must be on other
principles. The philosophic commentators of Homer s
poem, had brought the fantastic refinement of Allegory
into great vogue. We may estimate the capacity of
Virgil s judgment in not catching at so alluring a bait,
by observing that some of the greatest of the modern
epic poets, who approached nearest to Virgil in genius,
have been betrayed by it. Yet here and there, our
poet, to convey a political precept, has employed an
ingenious allegory in passing. And the adventure in
question is, I think, of this number. By the transfor
mation of the ships into sea-deities, he would insinuate,
I suppose, the great advantages of cultivating a naval
power ; such as extended commerce, and the dominion
of the Ocean ; which, in poetical language, is becoming
deities of the sea.

Mortalem eripiam formam, magnique jubebo.
^Equoris esse Deas - - -

He explains the allegory more clearly in the following
book, where he makes these transformed sea-nymphs
accompany ^Eneas, and his fleet of auxiliaries, through
the Tyrrhene sea.

Atque illi medio in spatio chorus, ecce, suarurn
Occurrit comitum : nymphae, quas alma Cybele
Numen habere maris, nymphasque e navibus esse
Jusserat -
Agnoscunt longe regem lustrantque.chorei s.

This

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 85

This Ministerial hint was the more important and sea
sonable, as all Octavius s traverses, in his way to
Empire, were from his want of a sufficient naval Power;
first in his War with Brutus and Cassius, and afterwards
with Sextus, the son of Pompey the Great. Nor was
it, at this time, less flattering to Augustus; to whom
the Alexandrians erected a magnificent Temple,
Porticoes, and sacred Groves, where he was worshipped
under the title of CJESAR THE PROTECTOR
AND PATRON OF SAILORS. So he became
a Sea-God and at the head of these Goddesses. For
as one of his Flatterers said,

" Preesenti tibi MATUROS largimur honores :

" Jurandasque TUUM PER NOME x ponimus aras."

As the not taking the true scope of the JEmis, hath
occasioned mistakes, to Virgil s disadvantage, concern
ing the plan and conduct of the poem ; so hath it
likewise, concerning the Characters. The PIETY of
^neas, and his high veneration for the Gods, so much
offends a celebrated French writer *, that he says,
the hero was Jitter to found a religion ^ than a monarchy.
He did not know, that the image of a perfect Lawgiver
is held out to us in ./Eneas : and had he known that, he
had perhaps been ignorant, that it was the office of
such a one to found religions and colleges of priests ,
as well as states and corporations. And Virgil tells us
this was the office of his hero :.

* Mons. de St. Evremond. f i. e. a community of monks.

*Oj W^T- nOIHIE nOAElS K} EAEIMATO NHOYS
A0ANATOI2, or? fr- ft *} ANQPnOHN BA2IAET2EN.

G 3 Durn

86 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

- - - Dum conderet URBEM,
Inferretque DEOS Latio - - -

On the other hand Turnus, whose manners are con
trasted with those of our Hero, is, on his very first
appearance, marked out by his irreverence to the
Priestess of Juno. But the humanity of Jineas
offends this critic as well as his* piety; he calls him a
mere St. Swithin, always raining. The beauty of that
circumstance escaped him. It was proper to represent
a perfect Lawgiver as quickly touched with all the
affections of humanity : and the example was the rather
to be inforced, because vulgar Politicians are but too
generally seen divested of these common notices ; and
the habit of vulgar heroism is apt to induce passions
very opposite to them. Thus Virgil having painted
Turnus in all the colours of Achilles, and tineas in
those of Hector (for the subject of the Iliad being the
destruction of a vicious and corrupt Community, the
fittest instrument was a brutal warrior, acer, iracundus,
such as Achilles ; and the subject of the 2Eneid being
the erection of a great and virtuous Empire, the fittest
instrument was a pious patriot, like Hector,) Turnus,
I say, was to be characterized as one delighting in blood
and slaughter.

Srcvit amor ferri, & SCELERATA insania belli,
Ira super*

And, to make this passion the more detestable, the
Poet tells us it was inspired into him by a Fury. But
when he represents /Eneas as accepting the favourable
signs from Heaven, which pushed him on to war, he
draws him, agreeable to such a character, compassion-

* Lib. vii. v. 461.

ating

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 87

ating the miseries which his very enemies, by their
breach of faith, were to suffer in it.

Heu, quantse miseris caedes Laurentibus instant !
Quas pcenas mihi, Turne, dabis ! quam multa per

undas

Scuta virum, galeasque, & fortia corpora volves,
Tibri pater! poscant acies, & foederarumpant*.

But the circumstances of his Mistress, as well as
those of his Rival, are artfully contrived to set off His
PIETY. On excusing his .departure to the enraged
Queen of Carthage, as forced by the command of the
Gods, she is made to answer him with this Epicurean
scoff,

Scilicet is superis LABOR est, ea cura QUIETOS
SOLLICITAT | - - -

very properly put into the mouth of a Woman immersed
in voluptuous pleasures. Yet the Poet takes care to
tell us, that her impiety, like Turnus s delight in blood
and slaughter, was inspired by the Furies.

Heu ! Furiis incensa feror - - -

But there is a further beauty in this circumstance of
the Episode. These two Lovers are made the Foun
ders of the two Hostile States of Rome and Carthage.
So, this was to insinuate (in support of the author s
main purpose) That it was want of religion which
occasioned the Punica Fides ; and the pious culture
of it, which created the

Alfa Moerria Roma*

Again, the Hero was to be drawn no less master of
himself, under the charms of the softer passions, than

* Lib. viii. v, 537. t Lib. iv.

e 4 under

83 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

under the violence of the rougher and more horrid.
M. Voltaire says,

Virgile orne mieux la raison,

A plus d art, autant d harmonic ;

Mais il s epuise avec Didon,
Et rate a la fin Lavinie.

But this ingenious man did not consider, that the Epi
sode of Dido and jEneas, was not given to ornament
his poem with an amusing tale of a love adventure, but
to expose the public mischiefs which arise from Rulers
indulging themselves in this voluptuous weakness, while
they become

Regnorum immemores, turpique cupidine captos.

The Poet therefore had defeated his own design, if
when he had recovered his Hero from this weakness,
and made him say of his destined Empire in Italy,

- hie Amor, haec Patria est - - r

if when he had perfected his Character, and brought
him to the end of his labours, he had still drawn him
struggling with this impotent and unruly passion.

Nor is the view, in which we place this poem, less
serviceable to the vindication of the Poet s other cha
racters. The learned author of the Enquiry into the
Life and Writings of Homer, will allow me to differ
from him, in thinking that those uniform manners in
the JEneis, which he speaks of, was the effect of design,
not, as he would have it, of custom and habit :
" Virgil, says he, had seen much of the splendor of
" a court, the magnificence of a palace, and the
" grandeur of a royal equipage : accordingly his repre-
" sentations of that part of life, are more august and
" stately than Homer s. He has a greater regard to

" decency,

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 89

" decency, and those polished manners, that render
" men so much of a piece, and make them all resemble
" one another in their conduct and behaviour*." For
the ^Eneis being a system of Politics, what this writer
calls the eternity of a government, the form of a ma-
gist rat urei and plan of dominion, must needs \&gt;e familiar
with the Roman poet ; and nothing could be more to
his purpose, than a representation of polished manners ;
it being the Legislator s office to tame and break men
to humanity ; and to make them disguise, at least, if
they cannot be brought to lay aside, their savage
habits.

But this key to the ^Eneis not only clears up many
passages obnoxious to the critics, but adds infinite
beauty to a great number of incidents throughout the
whole poem ; of which take the following instances,
the one, in Religion, and the other, in civil Policy.

i. ./Eneas, in the eighth book, goes to the Court of
Evander, in order to engage him in a confederacy
against the common enemy. He finds the king and
his people busied in the celebration of an annual
sacrifice. The purpose of the voyage is dispatched in
a few lines, and the whole episode is taken up in a
matter altogether foreign to it, that is to say, the sa
crifice, the feast, and a long history of Hercules s
adventure with Cacus. But it is done with great art
and propriety ; and in order to introduce, into this po
litical poem, that famous institute of Cicero, (in his book
Of Lav\ s) designed to moderate the excess of labouring
superstition, the ignota ceremonice, as he calls them,
which at that time so much abounded in Rome

* Page 3-25.

Divos

go THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

" Divos & eos, qui coelestes semper habiti, colunto,

" SC 0110S, QUOS ENDO CCELO MERITA VOCAVEKINT,

" HERCULEM, Liberum, ,/Esculapium, Castorem,
" Pollucem, Quirinurn" Thus copied by Virgil, in
the beginning of Evander s speech to jneas,

Rex Evandrus ait : Non haec solemnia nobis,
Has ex more dapes, hanc tanti numinis aram
VANA SUPERSTITIO VETERUMQUE IGNARA BE-

ORUM

Imposuit. Stevis, hospes Trojane, peridis
Servati facimus, MEHITOSQUE novamus HONORES

A lesson of great importance to the pagan Lawgiver.
This Vana superstitio ignara veterum deorum was, as
we have shewn, a matter he took much care to rectify
in the Mysteries ; not by destroying that species of
idolatry, the worship of dead men, which was indeed
his -own invention, but by shewing why they paid that
worship ; namely, for benefits done to the whole race
of mankind, by those deified Heroes.

Quare agite, o juvenes ! t ant arum in munere lau-
dum, &c.

The conclusion of Evander s speech,

COMMUNEMQUE vocATE DEUM, & date vina vo-
lentes,

alludes to that other institute of Cicero, in the same
book Of Laws. " SEPARATIM nemo habessit Deos;
u neve NOVOS, neve advenas, nisi publice adscitos,
* PRIVATIM colunto." Of which he gives the reason
in his comment, " suosque Deos, aut Novos aut
fc Alienigenas coli, confusionem hubet religionurn, &
ff ignotas ceremonias."

2 Nor

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 91

Nor should we omit to observe a further beauty in
this episode; and, in imitation, still, of Cicero; who,
in his book Of Laws, hath taken the best of the Roman
Institutes, for the foundation of his system : For the
worship of HERCULES, as introduced by Evander, and
administered by the POTITII on the altar called the
ARA MAXIMA, was, as Dion. Hal. and Livy tell us,
the oldest establishment in Rome ; and continued for
many ages in high veneration. To this the following
lines allude,

Hanc ARAM luco statuit, qaae MAXIMA semper, &c.
Jamque sacerdotes, primusque POTITIUS, ibant.

But Virgil was so learned in all that concerned the
Roman ritual, that it was a common saying, (as we
collect from Macrobius) Virgilius noster Pontlfex
maximus videtur : And that writer not apprehending
the reason of so exact an attention to sacred things,
being ignorant of the nature of the poem, says,
MIRANDUM est hujus poeta3 et circa nostra et circa
externa sacra doctrinam *.

2. In the ninth book we have the fine episode of
Nisus and Euryalus ; which presents us with many
new graces, when considered (which it ought to be) as
a representation of one of the most famous and singu
lar of the Grecian Institutions. CRETE, that ancient
and celebrated School of legislation, had a civil custom,
which the Spartans first, and afterwards all the prin
cipal cities of Greece [ , borrowed from them, for every
man of distinguished valour or wisdom to adopt a
favourite youth, for whose education he was answerable,

* Saturn. 1. iii. c. 6.

f Sec note [U] at the end of this Bock.

and

5 2 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II

and whose manners he had the care of forming.
Hence Nisus is said to be

- - - ACERRIMUS ARMIS,

Hyrtacides ;
And Euryalus,

- - COMES Euryalus, quo PULCHRIOR alter
Non fuit ^Eneadum, Trojana neque induit arma;
Ora puER^prima signans INTONSA JUVENTA.

The LOVERS (as they were called) and their YOUTHS

always served and fought together ; so Virgil of

these :

His amor unus erat, pariterque in bella ruebant,
Turn quoque comrmmi portam statione tenebant.

The Lovers used to make presents to their favourite
youths. So Nisus tells his friend :

Si, TIB i, quse POSCO promittunt (nam mihi facti
Fama sat est) &c.

The states of Greece, where this Institution prevailed,
reaped so many advantages from it, that they gave it
the greatest encouragement by their laws : so that
Cicero, in his book Of a republic, observed, " oppro-
* brio fuisse adolescentibus si amatores non haberent ? "
Virgil has been equally intent to recommend it by all
the charms of poetry and eloquence. The amiable
character, the affecting circumstance, the tenderness
of distress, are all inimitably painted.

The youth so educated, were found to be the best
bulwark of their country, and most formidable to the
enemies of civil liberty. On which account, the Ty
rants, wherever they prevailed, used all their arts to

suppress

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 93

suppress an Institution so opposite to private interest
and ambition. The annals of ancient Greece afford
many examples of the bravery of these Bands, who
cheerfully attempted the most hazardous adventures *.
So that Virgil did but follow the custom of the best
policied States (which it was much for his honour to
do) when he put these two friends on one of the most
daring actions of the whole war ; as old Aletes under
stood it :

Di patrii, quorum semper sub numine Troja est,
Non tamen omnino Teucros delere paratis,
Cum tales aniinos juvenum, & tarn certa tulistis
Peetora.

Plutarch, speaking of the Thebans, in the Life of
Pelopidas, says, that " Gorgias first enrolled the SA-
" CRED BAND, consisting of three hundred chosen
" men ; and that this corps was said to be composed
" of LOVERS and their FRIENDS. It is reported, says
" he, that it continued unconquered till the battle of
" Chaeronea; and when, after that action, Philip was
" surveying the dead, and came to the very spot where
" these three hundred fell, who had charged in close
" order so fatally on the Macedonian lances, and ob~
" served how they lay heaped upon one another, he

c was amazed, and being told, that this was the band
" of Lovers and their Friends, he burst into tears, and

c said, Accursed be they who can suspect that these
" men either did or suffered any thing dishonest. But
11 certainly (continues my author) this institution of
" Lovers did not arise in Thebes, as the poets feigned,
" from the PASSION of Laius, but from the WISDOX

* See note [X] at the end of this Book.

" Of

&lt;H THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

" of Legislators*." Such was the Friendship our
poet would here represent, where he says,

Nisus AMORE PIO pueri

and where he makes Ascanius call Euryalus,
VENERANDE puer ,

The one dies in defence of the other ; revenges his
death ; and then falls with him, like the Lovers in the

SACRED BAND I

- - - - moriens animam abstulit hosti.
Turn super exanimem sese projecit AMICUM
Confossus, placidaque ibi demum morte quievit.

And here let it be observed, that, as this episode is
given for a picture of this Institution in it s purity ; so,
in the Enemies quarter, he hath given another draw
ing of it, in it s degeneracy and corruption : for the
SACRED BAND, like the MYSTERIES, underwent the
common fate of time and malice.

Tu quoque flaventem prima lanugine malas
Dum sequeris Clytium infelix, nova gaudia, Cydon,

* Toy y iov Ao%oi&gt;, us &lt;poc.criv, ovvRafcRi To^i^ v^uTos, I| au/tyuv
v T^tascoa-twy, svtot $1 tyucrw l| l^oLruv y^ l^upivuv ysteaQai r%
T&TO. Xey/Lat $1 Siaptfyait f^%^ T^? lit Xcc-ouvsia. ^oe.^^
u$ ot (Asla, TVIV juap^y/v l^Gguy T? vsx^a; g $i}\wjr&lt;&*. trv) xctlcc,
s xtTyQcu rsj r^;a&gt;to(rtaf sv&lt;xfiiv&lt;; a
Iv ToT; fro^ ovAotf, K^ fjt.il
$ o TUV ipa.ruv : TU
A TroXou % K&lt;x.xw&lt;; ol
s TW TJTS^J T
TO Aafe waO-

NOM00ETAI. Tom. I. p. 287. B. etE. Francof. Edit. fol.
. (Vol.11, p. 218, 219. ed. Brian.)

Dardania

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 95

Dardania stratus dextra securus amorum

Qui juvenum tibi semper erant, miserande jaceres*.

The poet hath observed tire same conduct, as we shall
see hereafter, with regard to the pure and the corrupt

MYSTERIES.

Before I leave these previous circumstances, permit
me only to take notice, that this was the second species
of the EPIC POFM; our own countryman, Milton,
having produced the third: for just as Virgil rivaled
Homer, so Milton was the emulator of both. He
found Homer possessed of the province of MORALITY ;
Virgil of POLITICS : and nothing left for him, but
that of RELIGION". This he seized, as ambitious to
share with them in the Government of the poetic
world i and by means of the superior dignity of his
subject, hath -gotten to the head of that Triumvirate
which took so many ages in forming. These are the
three species of the Epic poem ; for its largest sphere
is HUMAN ACTION ; which can be only considered m
a moral, a political, or religious view : and these the
three great MAKERS ; for each of their Poems was
struck out at a heat, and came to perfection from its
first essay. Here then the grand Scene was closed :
and all further improvements of the Epic at an end.

It being now understood, that the . Eneis is in the
style of ancient legislation, it would be hard to think
that so great a master in his art, should overlook a
DOCTRINE, which, we have shewn, was the foundation
and support of ancient Politics; namely a future stale,
of rewards and punishments. Accordingly he hath

L. x. ver. 324.

given

g6 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

given us a complete system of it, in imitation of his
models, which were Plato s vision of Ems, and Tully s
dream of Scipio. Again, as the Lawgiver took care to
support this Doctrine by a very extraordinary Institu
tion, and to commemorate it by a RITE, which had all
the allurement of spectacle ; and afforded matter for
the utmost embellishments of poetry, we cannot but
confess a description of such a Scene would add
largely to the grace and elegance of his work ; and
must conclude he would be invited to attempt it. Ac
cordingly, we say, he hath done this likewise, in the
allegorical descent of ^Eneas into Hell ; which is no
other than an enigmatical representation of his INI

TIATION INTO THE MYSTERIES.

Virgil was to represent an Heroic Lawgiver in the
person of .Eneas; now, INITIATIONS? into the Myste
ries was what sanctified his Character and ennobled his
Function. Hence we find all the ancient Heroes and
Lawgivers were, in fact, initiated*. And it was no
wonder the Legislator should endeavour by his exam
ple to give credit to an institution of his own creating.

Another reason for the Hero s initiation was the im
portant instructions the founders of Empire received
in matters that concerned their office f , as we may see
in the second section of the third book.

At7%tv

efuv, x iTr^av ogya,
Homeri Fragm. Hymn, in Cer. apud Paus. Corinth.

xj KOITCC

roti; rswi * ft* rat $wi TUTM iftcivMw, Diod.
p. 224.

A third

Sect 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 97

A third reason for his initiation, was their custom of
seeking support and inspiration from the God who
presided in the Mysteries*.

A fourth reason for his initiation, was the circum
stance in which the poet has placed him, unsettled in
his affairs, and anxious about his future fortune. Now,
amongst the uses of initiation, the advice and direction
of the ORACLE was not the least : and an oracular
bureau was so necessary an appendix to some of the
Mysteries, as particularly the Samothracian, that Plu
tarch, speaking of Lysander s initiation there, expresses
it by a word that signifies consulting the oracle, Ei/ &lt;T
SajwoO^axjj xpwfia^/x*^, &c. On this account,
Jason, Orpheus, Hercules, Castor, and (as Macrobius
says f) Tarquinius Priscus, were every one of them
initiated into the Mysteries.

All this the poet seems clearly to have intimated in
the speech of Anchises to his son :

Lectos juvenes fortissima corda,
Defer in Italiam. Gens dura atque aspera cultu
Debellanda tibi Latio est. Ditis tamen ante
INFERNAS accede DOMOS
Turn genus omne tuum, &, qua dentur moenia&gt;
DISCES J.

A fifth reason was the conforming to the old popu
lar tradition, which said, that several other Heroes of

* Lib. ii. cap. 4.

t The rhetor Sopater, in his AiaigW? f^/Aa*, makes Pericles
say, ILrti/tf Ta*V

J .En. v. ver. 729, & seq.

VOL. II. H tbt

9 S THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

the Trojan times, such as Agamemnon and Ulysses,
had been initiated *.

A sixth and principal was, that AUGUSTUS, who was
shadowed in the person of ^Eneas, had been initiated
into the ELEUSINIAN Mysteries^.

While the Mysteries were confined to Egypt, their
native country, and while the Grecian Lawgivers went
thither to be initiated, as a kind of designation to their
office, the ceremony would be naturally described, in
terms highly allegorical. Tiiis was, in part, owing to
the genius of the Egyptian manners ; in part, to the
humour of Travellers ; but most of all, to the policy of
Lawgivers; who, returning home, to civilize a barba
rous people, by Laws and Arts, found it useful and
necessary (in order to support their own characters,
and to establish the fundamental principle of a FUTURE
STATE) to represent that initiation, in which, was seen
the condition of departed mortals in machinery, as

AN ACTUAL DESCENT INTO HELL. This way of

speaking was used by Orpheus, Bacchus, and others ;
and continued even after the Mysteries were introduced
into Greece, as appears by the fables of Hercules,
Castor, Pollux, and Theseus s descent into hell. But
the allegory was generally so circumstanced, as to dis
cover the truth concealed under it. So Orpheus is said
to get to hell by the power of his harp :

Threicia fretus cithara, fidibusque canoris :

* Ayce.fAtp.voyM ct,(ri ^t^Vf^ivov^ tv Tu.pee.xv) ovla&gt;

\v a/&gt;to6pax&gt;} p^p^acrfiat To*

rcnvla,s. Scholia Apollon. Rhod. Arg. lib. i. ver. 916.

rthfcrtpogwcri

f Suet. Oct. c. xciii. Sea note [Y] at the end of this Book.

that

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 99

that is, in quality of Lawgiver; the harp being the
known symbol of his laws, by which he humanized a
rude and barbarous people. So again, in the lives of
Hercules and" Bacchus, we have the true history, and
the fable founded on it, blended and recorded together.
For we are told, that they were in fact initiated into the
Eleu-s&nan Mysteries ; and that it was just before their
descent into Hell, as an aid and security in that des
perate undertaking*. Which, in plain speech, was no
more, than that they were initiated int@ the lesser
Mysteries before they were admitted into the greater,
The same may be said of what is told us of Theseus s
adventure. Near Eleusis there was a Well, called
Cailichorus ; and, adjoining to that, a stojic, on which,
as the tradition went, Ceres sat down, sad and weary,
on her coming to Eleusis. Hence the stone was
named Agelastus, the melancholy stone \. On which
account it was deemed unlawful for the Initiated to sit
thereon. " For Ceres (says Clemens) wandering
about in search of her daughter Proserpine, when
she came to Eleusis, grew weary, and sat down me-
" lancholy on the side of a well. So that, to this very
day, it is unlawful for the Initiated to sit down there,
lest they, who are now become perfect, should seem
" to imitate her in her desolate condition +." Now

Auctor Axiuchi.
t AysAar- weTf*. So Ovid :

Ilic primum sedit gclido moestissima saxo;
Illud Cecropidag nunc quoque triste vocant.

ya.p v) Avu xoja ^^Tq^ll TJJ? Svycclfa T^ xopyj
uvroKoi^viT^ ^ tpgeccli iTrmaMQt XvTr&fABvy. TSro raT&lt;;
ratof ei tlat etVm vvv, I vce. uw SoxoTev ol Tslefao-psvov iuu.iTc$cu
9*1 B^c/Ainjr, Clemens Protrept. pag. 10. A. Edit. S^Iburg.

H 2 let

too THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

let us see what they tell us concerning Theseus s descerit
into hell. " There is also a stone (says the scholiast
l&lt; on Aristophanes) called by the Athenians, Agelastus ;
" on which, they say, Theseus sat when he was medi-
&lt;c tating his descent into hell. Hence the stone had
" its name. Or, perhaps, because Ceres sat there,
" weeping, when she sought Proserpine *." All this
seems plainly to intimate, that the descent of Theseus
was his entrance into the Eleusinian Mysteries. Which
entrance (as we shall see hereafter) was a fraudulent
intrusion.

Both Euripides and Aristophanes seem to confirm
our interpretation of these descents into hell. Euripides,
in his Hercules ftirens, brings the hero, just come from
hell, to succour his family, and destroy the tyrant Lycus.
Juno, in revenge, persecutes him with the Furies ; and
he, in his transport, kills his wife and children, whom
he mistakes for his enemies. When he comes to him
self, he is comforted by his friend Theseus ; who would
excuse his excesses by the criminal examples of the
Gods : a consideration which, as I have observed
above, greatly encouraged the people in their irregu
larities ; and w r as therefore obviated in the Mysteries,
by the detection of the vulgar errors of polytheism.
Now Euripides seems plainly enough to have told us
what he thought of the fabulous descents into hell, by
making Hercules reply, like one just come from the
celebration of the Mysteries, and entrusted with the
airoftvl*. " The examples (says he) which you bring
" of the Gods, are nothing to the purpose. I cannot

* *Er oe *} *A

ogs*. Schol. Equit. Aristoph. 1, 732,

&lt;c think

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 101

" think them guilty of the crimes imputed to them. I
" cannot apprehend, how one God can be the sovereign
" of another God. A God, who is truly so, stands in
" need of no one. Reject we then these idle fables,
" which the poets teach concerning them." A secret,
which we must suppose, Theseus (whose entrance into
the Mysteries was only a fraudulent intrusion) had
not yet learnt.

The comic poet, in his Frogs, tells us as plainly
what he too understood to be the ancient heroes 5
descent into hell, by the equipage, which he gives to
Bacchus, when he brings him in, enquiring the way of
Hercules. It was the custom at the celebration of the
Eleusiman mysteries, as we are told by the scholiast
on the place, to have what was wanted in those rites,
carried upon asses. Hence the proverb, Asinus port at
mysteria: accordingly the poet introduces Bacchus,
followed by his buffoon servant Xanthius, bearing a
bundle in like manner, and riding on an ass. And,
lest the meaning of this should be mistaken, Xanthius,
on Hercules s telling Bacchus, that the inhabitants of
Elysium were the Initiated, puts in, and says, " And
" I am the ass carrying Mysteries! This was
so broad a hint, that it seems to have awakened the
old dreaming scholiast ; who, when he comes to that
place, where the Chorus of the Initiated appear, tells
us, we are not to understand this scene as really lying
in the ELYSIAN FIELDS, but in the ELEUSINIAN

MYSTERIES*.

Here then, as was the case in many other of the
ancient fables, the pomp of expression betrayed willing

g, OTI t X. &lt;x ra$ v

TTJ A&gt;j0ia ^ia Ttr? tv EAsv^m, ivItzvQa, xj ^ato 53 c-xjjyjj T
W ver. 357.

H 3 posterity

102 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book I L

posterity into the marvellous. But why need we wonder
at this in the genius of more ancient times, wliich
delighted to tell the commonest things in a highly
figurative manner, when a writer of so late an age as
Apuleius, either in imitation of Antiquity, or perhaps
in compliance to the received phraseology of the
Mysteries, describes his initiation in the same manner,
" Accessi confinium mortis ; & calcato Proserpina?
" lirnine, per omnia vectus elementa remeavi : nocte
" media vidi solem candido coruscantem lumine, Deos
" inferos & deos superos. Accessi coram, & adoravi
" de proximo *." -ZEneas could not have described
his night s journey to his companions, after he had
been let out of the ivory gate, in properer terms, had
it been indeed to be understood of a journey into
Hell.

Thus, we see, Virgil was obliged to have his Hero
initiated ; and he actually had the authority of An
tiquity to call this initiation A Descent into Hell,
H EI2 A ACT K AT ABA 212. Hence some of the pre
tended Orphic odes, sung at the celebration of the
Mysteries, bore this title, a name equivalent to TEAE-
TAI, or IEPO2 AOFO2. And surely he made use
of his advantages with great judgment ; for such a
fiction animates the relation, w r hich, delivered out of
allegory, had been too cold and insipid for epic
poetry.

We see, from JEneas s urging the example of those
Heroes and Lawgivers, who had been initiated before
him, that his request was only for an initiation:

Si potuit manis arcessere conjugis Orpheus,
Threicia fretus cithara fidibusque canoris :

* Lib. xi. prope finem.

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 103

Si fratrem Pollux alterna morte redemit,
Itque reditque viam toties : quid Thesea magnum,
Quid memorem Alciden? mi genus ab Jove
summo.

It is to be observed, that Theseus is the only one of
these ancient Heroes not recorded in history to have
been initiated, though we have shewn that his descent
into hell was, like that of the rest, only a view of the
Mysteries. The reason is, his entrance was a violent
intrusion.

Had an old poem, under the name of Orpheus, in-
titled, A DESCENT INTO HELL, been now extant, it
would, probably, have shewn us, that no more was
meant than Orpheus s initiation ; and that the idea of
this sixth book was taken from thence.

But further, it was customary for the poets of the
Augustan age to exercise themselves on the subject of
the Mysteries, as appears from Cicero, who desires
Atticus, then at Athens, and initiated^ to send to
Chilius, a poet of eminence*, an account of the
Eleusinian mysteries ; in order, as it would seem, to
insert into some poem he was then writing f. Thus it
appears, that both the ancient and contemporary poets
afforded Virgil a pattern for this famous episode.

Even Servius saw thus far into Virgil s design, as
to say, that many things were here delivered according

* See lib. i. ep. 16. ad Atticum, Edit. Ox. 410. T. III. p. 23.

f Chilius te rogat & ego ejus rogatu EYMOAHIAfiN FIATPIA.
lib. i. epist. 9. ad Atticum, Edit. Ox. 410. T. III. p. 9. On which
Victoriui observes, " wargta fere omnes excusi, queraadmodum est
" in antiquis, habent : ut intelligat ritus patrios & institutions
" illius sacrae familiiE, & augusta mysteria, ut inquit Cicero,
" ii, De legg."

H 4 to

104 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

to the profound learning of the Egyptian theology *.
And we have shewn, that the doctrines taught in the
Mysteries, were invented by that people. But though
I say this was our poet s general design, in this famous
episode, I would not be supposed to mean, that he
followed na other guides in the particular circum
stances of it. Several of them are borrowed from
Homer : and several from the philosophic notions of
Plato : some of these will be taken notice of, in their
place.

The great Agent in this affair is the SIBYL : and, as
a Virgin, she sustains two principal and distinct parts ;
that of the inspired Priestess, to pronounce the
ORACLE (whose connexion with the Mysteries is
spoken of above) ; and that of Hierophant, to conduct
the Initiated through the whole CELEBRATION.

Her first part begins,

Ventum erat ad limen, cum Virgo, Poscerefata

Tempus, ait. Deus, ecce, Deus

O tandem magnis pelagi defuncte periclis, $c.

and ends,

Ut primum cessit furor, & rabida ora quierunt,
Her second part begins at,

Sate sanguine divum,
Tros Anchisiade, $c.

and continues through the whole book. For as we have
observed, the Initiated had a guide or conductor,
called IfpopavTti?, Murrwyo?, Ifpcu?, indifferently of

Multa per altam scientiam theologicorum &lt;&lt;gyptiofum.

either

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 105

either sex *, who was to instruct him in the preparatory
ceremonies, and lead him through, and explain to him,
all the shows and representations of the Mysteries.
Hence Virgil calls the Sibyl MAGNA SACERDOS, and
DOCTA COMES, words of equivalent signification : and
this, because the Mysteries of Ceres were always ce
lebrated in Rome by female priests f. And as the
female Mystagogue, as well as the male J, was de
voted to a single life, so was the Cumaean Sibyl, whom
he calls Cast a Sibylla. Another reason why a
Priestess is given to conduct him, is, because Proser
pine presides in this whole affair. And the name of
the Priestess in the JEkusbaan Mysteries shews that
she properly belonged to Proserpine, though she was
also called the Priestess of Ceres. " The Ancients
" (says Porphyrius) called the Priestesses of Ceres,
" M&io-o-ai, as being the ministers or Hierophants of
* the subterraneous goddess ; and Proserpine herself,

Schol. Eurip.
liippol. MefcWof xtgiws fotq TJJS Av/ijlg itgita? ^530-*. SchoL

Find. Pylhion.

f So the satirist,

Paucas adeo Cereris vittas contingere dignae. Juv. Sat. vi.

t Hierophanta apud Athenas eviratur virurn. & asterna debili
tate fit castus. Hieron. ad Geron. De Monogamia. Cereris
sacerdotes, viveutibus etiam viris, & consentientibus, arnica sepa-
ratione viduantur. Tertul. De Monogamia, sub finein. Ki ro
IEPOOANTHN nj T? IEPO&lt;&gt;ANTIAA2, ^ &lt;ro ^^5 % ov, xj ra? a^ 5
itgticti; pvfpivw %tv ritya.vov ^t a. xj T? A^/x,j]p Erpo-fifcrfiat TUVTW
fieri. Schol. Sophocl. Oedip. Col. v. 674. It was for this reason
that these female Hierophants were called M&io-c-cu, as is well-
observed by the Schol. on Find, in Pyth. the Bee being, among
the ancients, the symbol of chastity :

Quod nee concubitu indulgent, nee corpora segnes
}n V r enerem solvunt.

io6 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II

" Mf&niiif *." And JEneas addresses her in the
language of the Aspirant, to the Hierophant :

Potes narnque omnia : nee te
Nequidquam lacis Hecate pjasfecit Avernis.

and she answers much in the style of those sacred
Ministers,

Quod si tantus amor, fyc.

& INSANO juvat indulgere labori ;
Accipe quae peragenda prius.

For insanus is the same as o^yar*xo?, and this, as we
are told by Strabo, was an inseparable circumstance in
the celebration of the Mysteries f .

The first instruction the Priestess gives JEneas, is to
search for the GOLDEX BOUGH, sacred to Proserpine;

Aureus & foliis & lento vimine ramus,
Junoni inferruz sacer.

Servius can make nothing of this circumstance. He
supposes it might possibly allude to a tree in the mid
dle of the sacred grove of Diana s temple in Greece ;
where, if a fugitive came for sanctuary, and could get
off a branch from the tree, which was carefully guard
ed by the priests, he was to contend in single combat
with one of them ; and, if he overcame, was to take
his place J. Though nothing can be more foreign to
the matter in question than this rambling account, yet

* Ta&lt;;

OC.VTW TE -rrp Kofqv MeXiTw^. De Alltro nymph.
Tr, Ayprfy &gt;r? Aioc, ro OPriASTIKON rSv, xj TO Bax^iy.ov, JtJ T
x^ TO 7g* Ta? TAs]a$ /xyfixo". lib. X. p. 468. B. Edit.
Paris. 1620. fol.
J See note [Z] at the end of this Book.

the

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 107

the Abb6 Banier is content to follow it*, for want of a
better f. But the truth is, under this branch, is figured
the wreath of myrtle, with which the Initiated were
crowned, at the celebration of the Mysteries $. i. The
golden bough is said to be sacred to Proserpine, and
so, we are told, was the myrtle : Proserpine only is
mentioned all the way ; partly, because the Initiation
is described as an actual descent into hell ; but princi
pally, because, when the RITES of the Mysteries were
performed, Ceres and Proserpine were equally in
voked; but when the SHOWS were represented, as in
the first part of this Episode, then Proserpine alone
presided. 2. The quality of this golden bough, with its
lento vimine, admirably describes the tender branches
of myrtle. 3*. The doves of Venus are made to direct
Jineas to the tree :

Turn maxirnus heros
Maternas agnoscit crves.

They fly to it, and delight to rest upon it, as their mis
tress s favourite tree.

Sedibus optatis gemina super arbore sidunt.

For the myrtle, as is known to every one, was conse
crated to Venus. And there is a greater propriety
and beauty in this disposition, than appears at first
sight. For not only the myrtle was dedicated to
Proserpine as well as Venus, but the doves likewise, as
Porphyry informs us .

* Explicat. histor. des fables, vol. ii. p. 133. Ed. 1715.

t See note [AA] at the end of this Book.

^ M.vfa ivr^ ri(p&lt;x.v(t&gt; i^etpoiv^^lo ol fAefA.-vvifji.tvot. Schol. Aristoph. Ranis.

T&gt;ii? c*t &lt;I&gt;pE&lt;paTljj, &lt;G7co. TO &lt;pep^otv TW tpczrlotv, (^ctdiv ol isroAAoi
Tyo//,a ruv SeoAoywy. itpov ya,% UVTW v (parla. Porph.^De Abst.
}ib. iv. 16.

But

io8 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

But the reader may ask, why is this myrtle-branch
represented to be of gold? not merely for the sake of
the marvellous, he may be assured. A golden bough
was literally part of the sacred equipage in the shows y
a burthen which the Ass, who carried the mysteries^
we may be sure, was chiefly proud of. This branch
was sometimes wreathed into a crown, and worn on
the head ; at other times, it was carried in the hand.
Clemens Alexandrinus tells us*, from Dionysius
Thrax the grammarian, that it was an Egyptian custom
to hold a branch in the act of adoration. And of what
kind these branches were, Apuleius tells us, in his de
scription of a procession of the Initiated in the Mys
teries of Isis. " Ibattertius, attollens PALMAM AURO
SUBTILITER FOLiATAM, nee non mercurialem etiarn
CADUCEUM|." The Golden branch, then, and the
Caduceus were related. And accordingly Virgil makes
the former do the usual office of the latter, in affording
a free passage into the regions of the dead. Again,
Apuleius, describing the fifth person in the proces
sion, says, " Quintus aureain vannum AUREIS con-
" gestam RAMULIS^." So that a golden bough, we
see, was an important implement, and of very compli
cated intention in the snows of the Mysteries.

aEneas having now possessed himself of the GOLDEN
BOUGH, a passport as necessary to his descent as a
myrtle crown to initiation^

(Sed non ante datur telluris operta subire,
Auricornos quam quis decerpserit arbore foetus,)

Strom, lib. v. p. 568. p. 414, D. Edit. Sylburg.
J- Metam. lib. xi. p. 383. % Ibid.

carries

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 109
carries it into the Sibyl s grot :

Et vatis portat sub tecta sibyllas.

And this was to design initiation into the lesser Myste
ries : for Dion Chrysostom * tells us, it was performed
b olwpcfa jotjx^, in a little -narrow chapel, such a one
as we must suppose the Sibyl s grot to be. The Im
itated into these rites were called MYITAI.

He is then led to the opening of the descent :

Speluncse alta fuit, vastoque immanls hlatu
Scrupea, tuta lacu nigro nemorumque tenebris.

And his reception is thus described :

Sub pedibus mugire solum juga coepta naoveri
Sylvarum ; visseque canes ululare per umbram,
Adventante dea.

All this is exactly similar to the fine description of the
poet Claudian, where he professedly, and without dis
guise, speaks of the tremendous entry into these mystic
Rites :

Jam mihi cernuntur trepidis delubra moveri
Sedibus, & claram dispergere fulmina lucem,
Adventum testata Dei. Jam magrius ab imis
Auditur fremitus terris, templumque remugit
Cecropium; sanctasque faces attollit E LEU six ;
Angues Triptolemi stridunt, & squamea curvis
Colla levant attrita jugis
Ecce procul ternas Hecate variata figuras
Exoritur |.

Both these descriptions agree exactly with the relations

* Orat. 12.

f De raptu Proserp, sub initio.

no THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

of the ancient Greek writers on this subject. Dion
Chrysostom, speaking of initiation into the Mysteries,
gives us this general idea of it : Just so " it is, as when
" one leads a Greek or Barbarian to be initiated in a
" certain n^stic dome, excelling in beauty and magni-
" ficcnce; where he sees many mystic sights, and
" hears in the same manner a multitude of voices ;
" where darkness and light alternately affect his senses,;
" and a thousand other uncommon things present
tc themselves before him *."

Our poet next relates the fanatic agitation of the
JMysiagogue, on this occasion :

Procul, o procul este, profani,
Conclamat Vates, totoque absistite luco.
Tantum effata furens antro se immisit aperto.

So again, Claudian, where he counterfeits the raptures
and astonishment of the Initiated, and throws himself,
as it were, like the Sibyl, into the middle of the
scene :

_ - . . . Gressus removete, profani,
Jam furor humanos nostro de pcctore sensus
Expulit.

The PROCUL, o PROCUL ESTE, PROFANI of the
Sibyl, is a literal translation of the formula used by the
Mystagogue, at the opening of the Mysteries :

EKA2, EKA2 E2TE, BEBHAOI.

But now the poet having determined to accompany
his Hero through all the mysterious rites of his initiation,

ivct, oizov, VVgQv xaX&gt;.4 Jc

fMit vgvvla pvrw.a. Stciualot, tooXhuv at ax.aovla TOI&TUV (puvuv,
re e^ ^cJJos tvahhai- avrv (paivojAivuv, cihhuy re

Orat. 12.

and

Sect. 4-] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. in

and conscious of the imputed impiety, in bringing them
out to open day, stops short in his narration, and breaks
out into this solemn apology :

Dii, quibus imperium est -animarum, umbrreque

silentes ;

Et Chaos & Phlegethon loca nocte silentia late,
Sit mihi fas audita loqui : sit numine vestro
Pandere res alta terra & caligine mersas

"And here let me observe, that this pretended appre
hension of the Ancients, that they were doing an
unlawful thing when they revealed the secrets of the
Realm of Dis, arose from the custom of the Mysteries,
where these sights were represented. For they had
none of these scruples where they speak of the Habi
tations of the Celestial Gods. Claudian, who (as we
have observed) professes ppenly to treat of the
Eleusiman Mysteries, at a time when they were in little
veneration, yet, in compliance to old custom, excuses
his undertaking in the same manner :

Dii, quibus in numerum, 8$c.
Vos mihi sacrarum penetralia pandite rerum,
Et vestri secreta poli, qua lampade Ditem
Flexit Amor, quo ducta ferox Proserpina raptu
Possedit dotale Chaos ; quantasque per oras
Sollicito genetrix erraverit anxia cursu ;
Unde datae populis leges., et, glande relicta,
Cesserit inventi s Dodonia quercus aristis *.

Had the revealing the Mysteries been as penal at
Rome, as it was in Greece, Virgil had never ven
tured on this part of his poem. But yet it was

* De raptu Proserpina?, lib. i. stfb init.

esteemed

112 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book I L

esteemed impious * ; and what is more, it was infa
mous.

vetabo qni Cereris sacrum

Vulgarit arcana?, sub iisdem

Sit trabibus fragilemque mecurn.

Solvat phaselum Hon.

He therefore does it covertly ; and makes this apology
to such as saw into his meaning.

The Hero and his Guide now enter on their jour
ney;

Ibant obscuri sola sub nocte per umbras :
Perque clomos Ditis vacuas, & inania regna.
Quale per incertarn lunam sub luce maligna
Est iter in sylvis : ubi coelum condidit umbra
Jupiter, & rebus nox abstulit atra colorem.

This description will receive much light from a passage
in Luciari s dialogue of the Tyrant. As a company
made up of every condition of life are voyaging together
to the other world, Mycillus breaks out and says ;
" Bless us ! how dark it is ! What is become of the
" fair Megillus? In this situation, who can tell, whe-
" ther Simmiche or Phryne be the handsomer ? Every
" thing is alike, and of one colour ; there is no room
" for comparing Beauties. My old cloak, which but
" now presented to your eyes so irregular a figure, is
" become as honourable a wear as his Majesty s purple.
" They are, indeed, both vanished f, and retired to-

" gether

* Athenis initiatus [Augustus] cum postea Romae pro tribunal!
de privilegio sacerdotum Atticie Cereris cognosceret, & quaedam
aecretoria proponei entur, dimisso concilio & coronacircumstantium,
solus audiit disceptantes. Sueton. lib. ii. Octav. Aug. cap 93.

f The original has a peculiar elegance. A&lt;J&gt;ANH yot,% a/*&lt;p&&amp;gt;, &c.

alludes to the ancient Greek notions concerning l\& first matter,

A. which

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 113

" gether under the same cover. But my friend, the
" Cynic, where are You ! give me your hand : you
" are initiated in the ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES.
" Tell me now, do you not think this very like the blind
" march the good company make there? CY. Oh 9
" extremely : and see, here comes one of the Furies,
" as I guess by her equipage, her torch, and her ter*
" rible looks*"

The Sibyl, on their approach to the mouth of the
cave, had advised ./Eneas to summon up all his courage,
as being to undergo the severest trial :

Tuque invade viam, vaginaque eripe ferrum :
Nunc animis opus, ^Enea, nunc pectore firmo.

These trials were of two sorts : the encountering real
labours and difficulties; and the being exposed to
imaginary and false terrors. This latter was objected
to all the Initiated in general : the other was reserved

for

which they called *&lt;pa^?, invisible, as being without the qualities
of form and colour. The investing Matter with these qualities,
was the production of bodies, the TO. (pcuvoptvx : and their disso
lution, a return to a state of invisibility. els A$ANE2 x u ^ T&lt; *
^taAvo^a, as the pretended Merc. Trismag. has it, cap. xi. Matter,
in this state of invisibility, was, by the earlier Greeks, called
*AAH. Afterwards, the state itself was so called; and at length
it came to signify the abode of departed spirits.

* MI. H^axAst? rjt $&gt;P* r* vvv o xaX&$ M/yiAXO-, Jj r2 ^ctyvu
Tu; lilotvba. tl xaAAiwy &lt;J&gt;gj/j? Et^ipp), fyciilac. ya^ /era, x^ fyxo^poa, x^
^y T xaAov, re xaMiev* aX\ vi^y x^ TO r&vvw, ttoTtov rew?

, x^ vvo TU avru ffxory Kotlai^vxoret. Kfi/i&lt;rx, au
WOTJ apa uv Ty/p^aygK ; /xaX j^* rviv $s%niv ilvci poi
yag, u KVVJCTXE, TO, EAEYIINIA, ^ OMOIA T&K i*" wQa^e &lt;rot
SvxtT; KTfN. su Xsys^ tJa v nff^oa-s^iloct ^a^^5tra Ti?, ^oepo&gt; T*,
xj awttA^lixoi -zo-^ocrCAcwycra* ^ pa r Ept&gt;jJ? If * * Luciani CatapluS,
T. I. p. 643. Edit. Keitzii, 4, Amstel. 1743,

VOL. II. I

114 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

for Chiefs and Leaders. On which account, Virgil
describes them both, in their order; as they were
both to be undergone by his Hero. The real labours
are figured under these words :

Vestibulum ante ipsum, primisque in faucibus Orci,
Luctus & ultrices posuere cubilia Curae :
Pallentesque habitant Morbi *, tristisque Senectus,
Et metus, & malesuada Fames, & turpis Egestas :
Terribiles visu form ; Lethumque, Labosque :
Turn consanguineus Lethi Sopor, & mala mentis
Gaudia, mortiferumque ad verso in limine Bellum,
Ferreique Eumenidum thalami, Discordia de
mens

To understand the force of this description, it will
be necessary to transcribe the account the ancients
have left us of the probationary trials in the Mysteries
of MITHRAS, whose participation was more particularly
aspired to, by Chiefs and Leaders of armies ; whence
these Initiated were commonly called the SOLDIERS OF
MITHRAS f. " No one&gt; says Nonnus, could be
" initiated into these Mysteries [of Mithras] till he
" had passed gradually through the probationary
" labours [by which he was to acquire a certain apathe
" and sanctity,] There were eighty degrees of these
" labours, from less to greater : and when the aspirant
" has gone through them all, he is initiated. These
" labours are to pass through fire, to endure cold,

* Quint is mistaken in supposing pallentesque, &c. a metonomy.
Had this been the description of an Hospital, he had been
right : For then, indeed, in these words, the cause would have been
put for the effect*

t Erubescite, Romani commili tones ejus, jam non ab ipso judi-
candi, sed ab aliquo MITHR^ MILITJE; (jui cum initiator in spelseo,
&c. Tertull, I&gt;e corona miiiti*,

* hunger,

Sect 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 115

" hunger, and thirst, to undergo much journeyings; and
" in a word, eve.ry toil of this nature *."

The second sort of trials were the panic terrors, of
the Mysteries ; and these, Virgil represents next. And
to distinguish them from the figurative description of
the real labours preceding, he separates the two accounts
by that fine circumstance of the tree of dreams, which
introduces the second sort :

In medio ramos annosaque brachia pandit
Ulmus opaca, ingens : quam sedem somnia vulgo
Vana tenere ferunt, foliisque sub omnibus haerent.
Multaque praeterea variarum monstra ferarum,
Centauri in foribus stabulant, Scylteque biformes,
Et centum geminus Briareus, & bellua Lernae ;
Horrendum stridens, flammisque, armata Chimaera :
Gorgones 7 Harpyiscque, & forma tricorporis umbrae

These terribiles vim jbrmtf are the same which
Pletho, in the place quoted above, calls aAAoxo7 ra?
popp^ paoyxaTaj as they were seen in the entrance of the
Mysteries, and which Celsus tells us, were likewise
presented in the Bacchie rites ; TO?? li/ r*7s

toi

But it is reasonable to suppose, that though these
things had the use here assigned to them, it was some

ttv TJ?

TUV Kohao-wv wa^xoi. ja/*o* E tffi Koho-wv TQV

0a?, tiro, ra$ far wart pecs. J ?& T&&amp;gt; f*iTa TO
aiel &lt;Sfu&lt;ruv TUV ttohcio-iuv, Tore TEAtmtl o Ti^^sv^" al ^
ila-i TO CHX, -cry^o? rapEA0e?*, TE ^c x^ttf?, ^a TW5S
ootwopta? BroAAJj?, ^ wA45 ot ra&lt;7fe;f TWV roTft/v. Nonnus, in
Secundam Nazianz. Steleteuticam. And again he says, *&tV ^i

t Origen, contra Cds. lib. iv. p. 167,

I ^ circumstance

ii6 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

circumstance in the recondite physiology of the East,
which preferred them to this station. We are to con
sider then this dark entrance into the Mysteries^ as a
representation of the CHAOS, thus described :

I bant obscuri sola sub nocte per umbram,
Perque domos Ditis vacuas mama regna.

And amongst the several Powers invoked by the Poet,
at his entrance on this scene, CHAOS is one :

Di, quibus imperium est animorum umbrceque

silentes :
Et CHAOS Phlegethon, loca nocte tacentia lafe.

Now a fragment of Berosus, preserved by George
Syncellus, describes the ancient CHAOS, according to
the physiology of the Chaldeans, in this manner,
" There was a time, they, say, when all was water
" and darkness. And these gave birth and habita-

" tion to MONSTROUS ANIMALS OF MIXED FORMS

" AND SPECIES. For there were men with two wings,

" others with four, and some again with double faces.

" Some had the horns of goats, some their legs, and

" some the legs of horses ; others had the hind-parts

" of horses, and the foreparts of men, like the hippo-

" centaurs. There were bulls with human heads,

" dogs with four bodies ending in fishes, horses with

" dogs heads ; and men, and other creatures with the

" heads and bodies of horses, and with the tails of
" jisJtes. And a number of animals, whose bodies

" were a MONSTROUS COMPOUND of the dissimilar

" parts of beasts of various kinds. Together with

" these, were fishes, reptiles, serpents, and other

" creatures, which, by a reciprocal translation of the

" parts to one another, became all portentously de~

61 formed:

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 117-

" formed : the pictures and representations of which
" were hung up in the temple of Belus. A woman
" ruled over the whole, whose name w r as Omoroca, in
" the Chaldee tongue Thalath, which, in Greek, sig-
" .nifies the Sea.; and (on account of their powerful
&lt;4 connexion) the Moon*," This account seems to
have been exactly copied in the Mysteries, as appears
from the description of the poet:

Multaque pncterea variarum tnonstra fcrarum
Centauri in foribus stabulant, Scylheque biformes,
Et centum geminus Briareus, & bellua Lernae
Horrendum stridens, flammisque armata Chimaera:
Gorgones, Harpyiaeque, & forma TUICOKPORIS
umbra?.

The CANIXE figures have a considerable station in this

region of monsters : And he tells us,

1 1

visa3que CANES ululare per umbram:

which Pletho explains in his scholia on the magic ora-
les of Zoroaster, " It is the custom, in the celebra-

. T? p

ttlyuv crxeA*) x^ Kerala fPCoiHa?, T{ o\ t fnreTrotf af, TH? $1 Tot ovrktru ^\
to, 01

ot x^

r^0y* x. TU* Qirurw pt^uv

x^ avOgwTra?, xj erepa (fiot, y.t$ix,\a&lt;; pi* t crupctlx. I TTTTUV
rxfivvv xj aA^a $1 ^aot, &ra,v]Q$a&gt;?ruv Sy^uv /xo^aj i^oilot. IIpo? ^e

Mi ra? O^CH; u^Xuv e^ofla, uv xj .ra? clxovetj, iv TV r5
vau itiiiuHeu. "A^ ^ TUTWV raa,v\uv yuvaunu, y oyo/xa
. Etyai ^E ryro XaX^aVr* /xf 0aXa0, l^wviF* ^ fttQcfiMivevt-
J/ /JV. Georg. Synctil. Cbronoer.

I 3 " tion

nS THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book It

" tion of the Mysteries, to present before many of the
" Initiated, phantasms of a CANINE figure, and other
" monstrous shapes and appearances *."

The woman, whose name Thalath coincides with
that of the Moon, was the Hecate of the Greeks, who
is invoked by ^Eneas on this occasion :

Voce vocans HECATEN, ccelo Ereboque potentem.

Hence terrifying visions were called Htcatea^. Thc^
reason why Hecate, or the Moon, came to be one of
the Governesses in these rites, was, because some had
placed Elysium in the Moon ; the Elysian fields being
from thence called thefalds of Hecate. The ancients
called Hecate, Diva TRIFORM is. And Scaliger ob
serves that this word Thalath, which Syncellus, or
Berosus, says, was equivalent to the Moon, signifies
TRIA.

And now we soon find the Hero in a fright ;

Corripit hie subita trepidus formidine ferrum
./Eneas, strictamque aciem venientibus offert.

With these affections the Ancients represent the
Initiated as possessed on his first entrance into these
holy Rites. " Entering now into the mystic dome
" (says Themistius) he is filled with horror and amaze-
" ment He is seized with solicitude, and a total
" perplexity: he is unable to move a step forward,
" and at a loss to find the entrance to that road which
" is to lead him to the place he aspires to. Till the
" Prophet [the vates] or Conductor, laying open the

TC&lt;? woXXo? tut TitifAivu* Qumffetk xoat, T*J
*g AA? oMoxolat T5 pofflaq (p

-j- Schol. Apollon. Argon. 1. iii. v. 859.

" vestibule

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 119

" vestibule of the temple*" To the same purpose
Proclus : " As in the most holy Mysteries, before
" the scene of the mystic visions, there is a terror
* infused over the minds of the Initiated, so/* &c f.

The adventurers come now to the banks of Cocytus*
JSneas is surprized at the crowd of ghosts which hover
round it, and appear impatient for a passage. Hid
Guide tells him they are those who have not had the
rites of sepulture performed to their manes, and so
are doomed to wander up and down for a hundred
years, before they be permitted to cross the river:

Nee ripas datur horrendas, nee rauca fluenta
Trans portare prius, quam sedibus ossa quierunt
Centum errant annos, volitantque hcec litora circum.
Turn demum admissi stagna exoptata revisunt.

We are not to think this old notion took its rise from
the vulgar superstition. It was one of the wisest
contrivances of ancient politics; and came originally
from Egypt, the fountain-head of legislation. Those,
profound masters of wisdom, in projecting for the
common good, found nothing would more contribute
to the safety of their fellow citizens than the public
and solemn interment of the dead ; as w ithout this
provision, private murders might be easily and securely
committed. They therefore introduced the custom of
pompous funeral rites : and, as Herodotus and
Piodorus tell us, were of all people the most circuni-

To&lt; aroj

y/ATracryj, ee %! ? AazV9a clef
a* ila-u $tf*&gt;ffn$ ovors $f o

iTv^- aij-aar/Iacra? T vrgoyrvfaua T vtu. Qrat. in Patrem.
f Qcnreg sv TK ctyiuldrcus rthtloiis tfffo rwr

aru. In Plat. Theol. lib. iii. cap. 18.

1 4 stantially

120 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

stantially ceremonious in the observance of them. To
secure these by the force of Religion, as well as civil
custom, they taught, that the deceased could not re
tire to a place of rest, till these rites were performed.
The notion spread so wide, and fixed its root so deep,
that the substance of the superstition remains, even to
this day, in most civilized countries. By so effectual
a method did the Legislature gain its end, the security
of the citizen. There is a circumstance in classical
antiquity which will sufficiently inform us of how great
moment these rites were esteemed. HOMER, SOPHO
CLES, and EURIPIDES, are confessed to be the greatest
masters of their art, and to have given us the best
models of it. Yet, in the judgement of modern critics,
the funeral rites for Patroclus, in the Iliad, and for
Ajax and Polynices, in the Ajax and the Phoenicians,
are a vicious continuation of the story, which violates
the unity of the action. But they did not consider,
that funeral rites were anciently deemed an inseparable
part of the Hero s story : And therefore those great
masters of design could not understand the action to be
complete, till that important office to the dead was
dispatched*. ...Nay so dreadful was the apprehension
of the want of funeral Rites, that the Historians tell
us, it was one of the principal causes of the Spartan
bashfulness, in that War in which Tyrtaus was em
ployed to restore them to their ancient Spirit. Who

tT* TtfTa; TV vofMi) .rovt, TQV oac, TO Xi-i

ot virotiotw TifTo T

irocfeveti TO

UVTU tHt\vU) TiAtfl^cravIt ilvai ra.(prjs wfiacu fAyr Iv

HJ Ta^W, [Ji lT IV CtXhcJ fMOtYl, fi QJ aAAoV fAVlttVOL TQV

^, Herod, lib. ii. cap. 136. Edit, Gale, p. 142.
lin. 8.

wrier*

Sect 4-3 OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 121

when he had dissipated this superstitious terror by the
magic of his martial numbers, they rushed on to the
charge with a resolution to conquer or to die.

But the Egyptian Sage found, afterwards, another
use in this opinion ; and by artfully turning it to a pu
nishment on insolvent debtors, strengthened public
credit, to the great advantage of commerce, an ! con
sequently of civil community. For, instead of that
general custom of modern barbarians to bury insolvents
alive, this polite and humane people had a law of
greater efficacy, which denied burial to them when
dead. And here the learned Marsham seems to be
mistaken, when he supposes; that the Grecian opinion
of the wandering of r unburied ghosts arose from this
interdiction of sepulchral rites *. On the contrary it
appears, that the law was founded on the opinion,
originally Egyptian, and not the opinion on the law ;
for the law had no other sanction than the opinion.

In a word, had not our poet conceived it a matter
of much importance, he had hardly dwelt so long upon
it, or returned again to it f, or laid so much stress on
it, or made his hero so attentively consider it :

Constitit Anchisa satus 3 & vestigia pressit,

MULTA PUTANS.

But having added,

Sortemque animo miseratus iniquam ;

and Servius commented, " Iniqua enim sors est puniri
" propter alterius negligentiarn : nee enim quis culpa

** Ab interdictae apuil ^Egyptios sepulturae pcena, inolevit apud
Graecos opinio insepultorum corporum animas a Charonte non
esse admissas. Canon Chronicus, Seculum xi sec. 3.

t Ver. 373, & seq,

" sua

122 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

" sua caret sepulchre ;" Mr. Bay le cries out *, " What
" injustice is this ! was it the fault of these souls, that
" their bodies were not interred?" But neither of
them knowing the origin of this opinion, nor seeing its
use, the latter ascribes that to the blindness of Religion,
which was the issue of wise Policy. Virgil, by his
sors iniqua, means no more than that in this, as well as
in several other civil institutions, a public benefit was
often a private injury.

The next thing observable is the ferry-man, Charon;
and he, the learned well know, was a man of this
world, an Egyptian of a well-known Character. This
People, like the rest of mankind, in their descriptions
of the other world, used to copy from something they
were well acquainted with in this. In their funeral
rites, which, as we observed, was a matter of greater
moment with them than with any other people, they
used to carry their dead over the Nile, and through the
marsh of Acherusia, and there put them into subter
raneous caverns ; the ferry-man employed in this bu
siness being, in their language, called Charon. Now
in their Mysteries, the description of the passage into
the other world was borrowed, as was natural, from
the circumstances of their funeral rites. So that the
Charon below might very well refuse to charge his
Boat with those whom his namesake above had not
admitted. And it might be easily proved, if there was
occasion, that the Egyptians themselves transferred
these realities into the MTOOS, and not the .Greeks,
as later writers generally imagine.

Charon is appeased at the sight pj the golden bough:

I lie admirans venerabile donum
Fatalis virgse, LONGO POST TEMPORE visurru

* Respons. aux Quest, cl un Provincial, p. iii. cap. 3$.

10 Cut

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 123

But it is represented as the passport of all the ancient.
Heroes who had descended into hell ; how then could
it be said to be Ion go post temper e *cisum, jEneas being
so near the times of these Heroes? To explain this,
we must have in mind what hath been said above of a
perfect Lawgiver s being held out in JEneas, and of
Augustus s being delineated in the Trojan chief. So
that here Virgil is pointing to bis Master ; and what he
would insinuate, is, that the Roman emperor, initiated
in the Eleusinian rites, should, in a later age, rival
the fame #f the first Grecian Lawgivers*

But JEneas hath now crossed the river, and is come
into the proper regions of the dead. The first Apparition
that occurs is the dog Cerberus :

Ilrec ingens latratu regna trifauci
Personal, adverso recubans immanis in antro.

This is plainly one of the phantoms of the Mysterle^
which, Pletho tells us above, was in the shape of a dog,
awaJij TJi&gt;a. And in the fable of Hercules s descent
into hell, which, we have shewn, signified no more than
his Initiation into the Mysteries, it is said to have beeu
amongst other things, for fetching up the dog Cer
berus.

The Prophetess, to appease his rage, gives him a,
medicated cake, which casts him into a slumber ;

Cui vates, horrere videns jam colla colubris,
Melle soporcttam et niedi^atis. frugibusi offaw
Objicit

In the Mysteries of Trophonius (who was .sa|d to be
nursed by Ceres *, that is, as I understand it, to derive

rS TftQuHs W rgotpiv. Fausan. Bceot, c, 39. pag.
790, Edit.Kuhnii, folio, Lips. 1695*

his

124 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

his rites from the Eleusinian) the Initiated carried the
same sort of medicated Cakes to appease the serpents
he met with in his passage *. Tertullian, who gives all
Mysteries to the devil ; and very equitably, as the good
man makes him the author of all that is done there,
mentions the offering up of these cakes, celebrat ct
panis oblationem f. This in question was of poppy-seed,
made up with honey; and so I understand medicdtis
Jrugibus, here, on the authority of the poet himself,
who, in the fourth book, makes the priestess of Venus
prepare the same treat for the dragon who guarded ths
Hesperian fruit :

! Spargens humida mella soporiferumque papaver.

Honey, as we have shewn above, was sacred to Proser
pine, who on that account was called MiAtWiK : and

* * *

the poppy was consecrated to Ceres : " Cereale Papaver,"
says Virgil ; on which words Servius thus comments :
" Vel quod est usui, sicut frumentum, vel quo Ceres
" usa est ad^ oblivionem doloris; nam ob raptuin
" Proserpinae vigiliis defatigata, gustato eo acta est in
" soporem ;{;."

; But, without doubt, the images, which the spissated
juice of poppy presents to the fancy, was one reason
why this drug had & place in the ceremonial of the
SHOWS; not improbably, it might be given to some at
least of the Initiated, to aid the impression of those
mystic visions which passed before them. For that
something like this was done, that is, giving medicated
drugs to the Aspirants, we are informed by Plutarch ;

iv isCtv %tfo?v, ^wXi/jLc-atla IfTrtlvv. Pbilos.

Vit. Apoll. 1. viii. c. 15.
f De praescr. adver. hceret.

| Ad lib. i. Georg. vcr. 21 &.

\vho

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 125

who speaks of a shrub called Leucophyllus used in the
celebration of the Mysteries of Hecate, which drives
men into a kind of frenzy, and makes them confess all
the wickedness they had done or intended. And con
fession was one necessary preparative for initiation.

The regions according to Vergil s Topography, are
divided into three parts : i. PURGATORY. 2. TARTA
RUS. 3. ELYSIUM. For Deiphobus (in the first)
says,

Discedam, EXPLEBO numerum, reddarque tenebris*.
And, in the second, it is said of Theseus,

Sedet, ./ETERNUMque sedebit
Infelix Theseus. - - -

The Mysteries divided them in the same manner. So
Plato, in the passage f quoted above (where he speaks
of what was taught in the Mysteries) talks of souls
sticking fast in mire and filth, and remaining in dark
ness, till a long series of years had purged and purified
them ; and Celsus, in Origen , says, that the Mysteries
taught the doctrine of eternal punishments.

Of all the three States this of Tartarus only was
eternal. There was, indeed, another, in the ancient
pagan theology, which had the same relation to Elysium,
that Tartarus had to Purgatory, the extreme of reward,
as Tartarus of punishment. But then this state was
not in the infernal regions, but in Heaven. Neither was
it the lot of common Men, but reserved for heroes and
demons ; Beings of a superior order, such as Hercules,
Bacchus, &c. who became Gods on their admission

* But the nature and end of this purgatory the poet describes at
large, from ver. 736, to ver. 745. : *

t See note, p. 55, J See note (f) p. 68.

into

126 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

into Heaven, where eternity was the consequence of
their deification.

Cicero distinguishes the two orders of souls, ao
cording to the vulgar Theology, in this manner :
" Quid autem ex hominum genere consecrates, sicut
" Herculem & caeteros coli lex jubet, indicat omnium
" quidem anlmos immortales esse : FORTIUM BONO-

" RUMQUE DIVINGS*."

And here it is to our purpose to observe, that the
Virtues and Vices, which stock these three Divisions
with inhabitants, are such as more immediately affect
Society. A plain proof that the poet followed the
views of the Legislator, the institutor of the Mysteries.

PURGATORY, the first division, is inhabited by sui
cides, extravagant lovers, and ambitious warriors :
And, in a word, by all those who had indulged the
violence of their passions; which made them rather
wretched than wicked. It is remarkable that amongst
these we find one of the Initiated:

Cererique sacrum Polybceten.

This was agreeable to the public doctrine of the Mys
teries, which taught, that initiation with virtue pro
cured men great advantages over others, in a future
state ; but that without virtue, it was of no avail.

Of all these disorders, the poet hath more distinctly
marked out the misery of SUICIDE :

Proxima diende tenent moesti loca, qui sibi lethum
Insontes peperere manu, lucemque perosi
Projecere animas. Quam vellent aethere in alto
Nunc & pauperiem & duros perferre labores !

Here he keeps close to the mysteries; which not
* De Legg. lib.ii. cap. 12,

only

Sect. 4-] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 127

only forbad suicide, but taught on what account it wag
criminal. " That which is said in the MYSTERIES
" (says Plato) concerning these matters of man s
" being placed in a certain watch or station, which
" it is unlawful to fly from, or forsake, is a profound
" doctrine, and not easily fathomed*." Insontes,
says the Poet, to distinguish Suicides (properly so
called) from those whom the Laws condemned to be
their own Executioners : for this inhuman treatment^
was amongst the capital inflictions, in the Criminal
Code of the Ancients.

Hitherto all goes well. But what must we say to
the poef s putting new-born infants, and mm falsely
condemned, into his purgatory ? For though the faith
and inqtiisition of modern Rome send many of both
sorts into a place of punishment, yet the genius of
ancient paganism had a gentler aspect. It is, indeed,
difficult to tell what these inmates have to do here.
Let us consider the case of the infants , and if we
find it can only be cleared up by the general view of
things here given, this will be considered as another
argument for the truth of our interpretation of the
DESCENT:

Continuo auditor voces, vagitus et ingens,
Infantumque anima? flentes in limine primo :
Quos dulcis vita? exortes, & ab ubere raptos
Abstulit atra dies, Stfunere mersit acerbo.

These appear to have been the cries and lamenting*

* *O pcy ir AriOPPHTOIS

TMI $p&lt;* tcr/ufi* o? a^wTro*

AVohogacrKtH, fAfycis 71 T*f /xo Qatwtleii * tf fa

p. 62, Sr. ed. torn, i. See npte [BB] at the end of this Book.

that,

128 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

that, Proclus tells us, were heard in the Mysteries *.
So that we only want to know the original of so ex
traordinary a circumstance. Which I take to have
been just such another provision of the Lawgiver for
the security of INFANCY, as that about funeral rites
was for the ADULT. For nothing could more engage
Parents in the care and preservation of their young,
than so terrible a doctrine. Nor are we to imagine,
that their natural fondness needed no inforcement, or
support : for that most degenerate and horrid practice
among the ancients, of EXPOS ING INFANTS, was
universal | ; and had almost erased morality from the
minds of the best instructed, and instinct from the
breasts of the most tenderly affected^. St. Paul
seems to have had this in his eye, when he accused
the pagan world of being WITHOUT NATURAL AF
FECTION . It needed therefore the strongest and
severest check : and I am well persuaded it occasion
ed this counterplot of the Magistrate, in order to give
instinct fair play, and call back banished nature.
Nothing, indeed, could be more worthy of his care ;
^for the destruction of children, as Pericles, finely ob
served of youth, is like cutting off the spring from
the year. Accordingly we are told by Diodorus,
that the Egyptians had a law || against this unnatural
practice, which law r he numbers amongst the singula
rities of that highly policied nation. " They are

PHNOS

In Comment, in Platonis Remp. lib. x.
f See note [CC] at the end of this Book.
J See what has been further said on this subject, B. I. Sect. 4.
$ Rom. i. 31.
H See note [DD] at the end of this Book.

" obliged

Sect/!.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 129

" obliged (says he) to bring up all their children, in
" order to render the country populous; this being
" esteemed the best means of making states flourish-
" ing and happy *." And Tacitus speaks of the
prohibition as no less singular amongst the Jews:
" Augendae multitudini consulitur. Nam & NECARE

" QUEMQUAM EX GNATIS, NEFAS |."

Here again Mr. Bayle is much scandalized : " The
" first thing which we meet on the entrance into the
" other world, is the station assigned to INFANTS,
" who cried and lamented without ceasing ; and next
" to that, the station of men unjustly condemned to
" death. Now what could be more shocking or

" scandalous than the punishment of those little
" creatures, who had yet committed no sin, or of those
" persons whose innocence had been oppressed by
" calumny Jr" The first difficulty is already cleared
up : the second shall be considered by and by. But
it is no wonder Mr. Bayle cculd not digest this doc
trine of the infants i for I am much mistaken, if it
did not stick with Plato himself; who, relating the
Vision of Er us, the Pamphilian, concerning the dis
tribution of rewards and punishments in another life,

ra, ytijwjburai ttoivltx. rgtytscw If &gt;ayxj{

y? rat/Trig peyircc. (jy/^^Mo/Atr/jj wpo? Et/^
Lib. i. Histor.

t Tacit. Hist. lib. v.

J La premiere chose que Ton rencontroit a 1 entrce des Enfers,
6toit la station des petits enfans, qui ne cessoient de pleurer, $t
puis celle des personnes injustement condamnees a la mort. Quoi
de plus choquant, de plus scandaleux, que la peine de ces petites
creatures, qui n avoient encore commis nul peche ; ou que la
peine de ceux, dont 1 innocence avoit etc opprirnee pur la calomnie.
Eespons. aux Quaest, d un Prov. p. 3. cap, x,xii,

Vot. II, K when

I 3 a THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II,

when he comes to the condition of infants, passes it
over in these words : -- " But of children who died
" in their infancy, he reported certain other things

" NOT WORTHY TO BE REMEMBERED *." ErilS ? S

account of what he saw in another world, was a sum
mary of what the Egyptians taugkt in their Mysteries
concerning that matter. And I make no doubt but
the thing not worthy to be remembered, was the doc-
trine of infants in purgatory : which appears to have
given Plato much scandal, who did not, at that time
at least, reflect upon Its original and use. But here
let us take notice, for the honour of HUMANITY, that
while Pagans both old and new could be shocked at
this punishment, modern papists, to the eternal dis
grace of SUPERSTITION, can condemn unbaptised
Infants, without remorse, to infinitely greater.

But now, as to the FALSELY CONDEMN ED, we
must seek another solution :

Hos juxta, falso damnati erimine mortis ;
Nee vero hae sine sorte datae, sine judice secies*
Quaesitor Minos urnam movet : ille silentum
Consiliumque vocat, vitasque & crimina discit

This designment appears both iniquitous and absurd,
The falsely accused \ are not only in a place of pu
nishment, but, being first delivered under this single
predicament, they are afterwards distinguished into-
two sorts; some as blarneahle, others as innocent
To clear up this confusion, it will be necessary to

* Tuv is tvvvjt yEfQfAtsutiy tC, ihlyot ftpovov @txvlw arept ct
OTK ASIA MNHMH2. De rep. lib. x. p. 615. Serr. edit.

| Servius, on the place, characterizes them in this manner*
" qui sibi per simplicitatem adesse nequiveruut."

transcribe

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 151

transcribe an old story, told by Plato, in his Gorgias :

" This law, concerning mortals, was enacted in

" the time of Saturn, and is yet, and ever will be, in

" force amongst the Gods ; that he who had lived a

" just and pious life, shall, at his death, be carried

" into the islands of the blessed, and there possess all

" kinds of happiness, untainted with the evils of

" mortality : but that he who had lived unjustly and

" impiously, shall be thrust into a place of punish-

" ment, the prison of divine justice, called Tartarus.

" Now the judges, with whom the execution of this

" law was intrusted, were, in the time of Saturn, and

" under the infancy of Jove s government, living men,

" sitting in judgment on the living ; and passing sen-

" tence on them, upon the day of their decease. This

" gave occasion to unjust judgments : on which ac-

" count, Pluto, and those to whom the care of the

" happy islands was committed, went to Jupiter, and

" told him, that men came to them wrongfully judged,

" both when acquitted, and when condemned. To

" which the Father of the Gods thus replied : I will

" put a stop to this evil. These wrong judgments are

" partly occasioned by the corporeal covering of the

" persons judged; for they are tried while living:

" now many have their corrupt minds hid under a

" fair outside, adorned with birth and riches; and,

" when they come to their trial, have witnesses at

" hand, to testify for their good life and conversation ;

" this perverts the process, and blinds the eyes of

" justice. Besides, the judges themselves are encum-

" bered with the same corporeal covering : and eyes

" and ears, and an impenetrable tegument of flesh,

" hinder the mind from a free exertion of its faculties,

c All these (as well their own covering, as the covering

K 2 " of

132 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

" of those they judge) are bars and obstacles to right
" judgment. In the first place then, says he, we are
" to provide that the foreknowledge which they now
1 have of the day of death, be taken away ; and this
" shall be given in charge to Prometheus ; and then
" provide, that they who come to judgment, be quite
" " naked * ; for from henceforth they shall not be
" tried, till they come into the other world. And as
" they are to be thus stripped, it is but fit their judges
" should await them there in the same condition ; that,
" at the arrival of every new inhabitant, soul may
" look on soul, and all family relation, and every
" worldly ornament being dropt and left behind,
" RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT may at length take place.
" I, therefore, who " foresaw all these things before
" you felt them, have taken care to constitute my
" own sons to be the judges : two of them, Minos
" and Rhadamanthus, are Asiatics; the third, ^Eacus,
" an European. These, when they die, shall have
" their tribunal erected in the shades, just in thai
" part of the highway, where the two roads divide,
&lt;e the one leading to the happy islands, the other to
" Tartarus. Rhadamanlhus shall judge the Asiatics,
" and jEacug the Europeans; but to Minos T give
" the superior authority of hearing appeals, when
" any thing obscure or difficult shall perplex the
" others judgments; that every one may have his
" abode assigned him with the utmost equity f ."

The

* This evidently refers to the old Egyptian custom, when the
judges beheld and examined their kings naked; xru xj o

liorapollinis Hierogl. lib. i. cap. 40.
T Hv yj

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 133

The matter now begins to clear up ; and we see
plainly, that the circumstance of the falsely condemned
alludes to this old fable : so that by / a l*o damnati
crimine mortis (if it be the true reading) VIRGIL did
not mean, as one would suppose, innocent es addicti
mortl ob injustcnn calummam, but hcmuies indigne et
perperam adjudicati ; not men falsely condemned, but
wrongfully judged, whether to acquittal or conviction ;
but condemnation being oftenest the sentence of justice,
the greater part is put figuratively for the whole.

TsAEl T Ji/"^, t U-ClKOtCUV V7)O"r3$ aTTlfl^la, DIXE?! \V IROLC"/) EVoOH 6CG!&lt;ia EXTOf

Kccy.jjv TOV oi ot6 ix.6J$ x* otvtctJs, sl$ TO Trjij TiG"t.&s T x^ oix^j otO u.ttlripiQV,
o 06 Ta-r/a^oi/ xaAScrt&gt;, liven. TUTUV $1 ^txarai ITT* K^ovy, xj ET* vsuf-l

i IK iAu.KO.puv vy&uv lovles, thsyov 7&lt;r^o? rov Aia, eirt (floQau cfyl

ivotloti ^uvlss ystp M^itotloH, IIoAAoi x i|x y %? Brovx^a
EtVi c-u^oCioc. TS xaAa, xj ysnj x^ -nrA^ry?* j^ v ivkt^A

55 x^tcrtj ^, I gxovloii ft^ToK nroXAoi ^a^rt^^Ec, [AOigtvpit&lt;rufllS w? okKcti
$&\UV.U,GW, Oi KV (^*^arai t"7ro TE

Ta uvtuv a^^iEcrjW.a. Iiit, x^ Ta TWV KgWQ(JLtV9. Hpurov [^.I

aro jt/.Ei/ ay x^ ^ ?pvflat TIJJ ripOjaujSET, OTTW? av
xpHeoy ctveoivluv TVTUV. TttyvsuTats yap

a, aicpv&gt;3? aTroavovog x.cr&, sgnfAOH zjcx.av ruv
tTTovliif ITT* TJJ? y?? isaivlot, c.x.s~vov Tov xocr/xov, IW otJiaka ^

y. Eyv jucv si/ Ta^Ta iyi/wxw? ST^OTE^- &gt;;

ctvlii. uo [AIV IK Tris Acrta?, Mii/u; TE x^ Paoa i w,aj 6t;j&gt;
Ez;pw7T&gt;3, Ataxoj/" O^fot yi/ ETTEtoa
iv Tr, Tpto^a/, E^ ^$ Deloy

lstKQi;. M.iv&j ot Br^scrCEia oa^crw, 9n^j

lav ^ &9tQfifvio9 Tt TW ST0&lt;y, IW W? ^HMMOTWTIJ ) X^CTJJ if C?sp

i6gwopf. Tom. i. p. 523. berr. Edit.

134 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

He who thinks this too licentious a figure, will per
haps be inclined to believe, that the poet might write,

Hos juxta, falso darnnati T EM PORE mortis :

which not only points up to the fable, but hints at the
original of it ; and besides, agrees best with the context.
But as the words temper e mortis are only to be explained
by this passage of Plato, a transcriber might be easily
tempted to change them to something more intelli
gible.

One difficulty only remains ; and that, to confess
v the truth, hath arisen rather from a mistake of Virgil,
than of his reader. We find these people yet unjudged,
already fixed, with other criminals, in the assigned dis
trict of purgatory. But they are misplaced, through
an oversight of the poet ; which, had he lived to perfect
the -ZEneis, he would probably have corrected : for the
fable tells us they should be stationed on the borders
of the three divisions, in that part of the high road,
which tlividing itself in tw r o, leads, the one to Tartarus,
the other to Elysium, thus described by the poet :
Hie locus est, partes ubi se via findit in ambas,
Dextera, quse Ditis magni sub moenia teridit :
Hie iter Elysium nobis ; at Ineva malorum
Exercet poenas, & ad impia Tartara mittit.

It only remains to consider the origin or- moral of the
fable ; which, I think, was this : it was an Egyptian
custom, as we are told by Dioctoms Siculus, for judges
to sit on every man s life, at the time of his interment ;
to examine his past actions, and to condemn and acquit
according to the evidence before them. These judges
were of the priesthood ; and so, it is probable, taught,
like the priests of the church of Rome, that their decrees
were ratified in the other world. Partiality and cor-
5 ruption

Srct.4-] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 135

ruption would, in time, pervert their decrees ; and
spite and favour prevail over jusitce : As this might
scandalize the people, it would be found necessary to
teach, that the sentence which was to influence every
one s final doom, was reserved for a future judicature.
However, the Priest took care that all should not go
out of his hands ; and when he could sit no longer
Judge, he contrived to find his account in turning
Evidence : as may be seen by the singular cast of this
ancient inscription : " Ego Sextus Anicius Pontifex
" TESTOR honeste hunc vixisse : manes ejus inveniant
" quietem*."

How much this whole matter needed- explaining, we
may see by what a fine writer makes of it, in a discourse
written to illustrate /Eneas s descent into hell : " There
" are three kinds of persons (says he) described as
" being situated on the BORDER* ; and I can give no
" reason for their being stationed there in so par-
" ticular a manner, but because none of them seem to
" have had a proper right to a place among the dead,
" as not having run out the thread of their days,
" and finished the term of life that had been allotted
" them upon earth. The first of these are the souls
" of infants, who are snatched away by untimely ends ;
" the second are of those who are put to death wrong-
" fully and by an unjust sentence; and the third, of
" those who grew weary of their lives, and laid violent
" hands upon themselves f."

After this, follow the episodes of Dido and Dei pho-
bus, in imitation of Homer ; where we find nothing
explanatory of the true nature of this episode, but the

* Fabius Celsus Inscript. Antiq. lib. iii.

f Mr. Addison s Works, vol, ii. p. 300, quarto edit, 1721-

K 4 strange

1 3 6 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

strange description of Deiphobus ; whose mangled
phantom is drawn according to the philosophy of
Plato ; which teaches that the dead not only retain
all the passions of the mind, but all the marks, and
blemishes of the body*. A wild doctrine, which
Lucian agreeably rallies in his Menippus ; who is made
to say, that he saw Socrates in the Shades, busied at
his old trade of Disputation : but that his legs yet ap
peared swelled, from the effects of his last deadly
potion f.

yEneas, having passed this first division, comes now
on the confines of TARTARUS; and is instructed in
what relates to the crimes and punishments of the
inhabitants.

His guide here more openly declares her ofiice of
HIEROPIIANT, or interpreter of the Mysteries :

- - - Dux inclyte Teucrum,
Nulli fas casto sceleratum insistere limen :
Sed ME cum lucis HECATE PR^EFECIT avernis,
Ipsa Deum pcenas DOCUIT, perque omnia DU-
XIT - - -

It is remarkable, that ./Eneas is led through the regions
of Purgatory and Elysium ; but he only sees the sights
of Tartarus at a distance, and this could not well be
otherwise in the shows of the Mysteries, for very ob
vious reasons.

a.1 t lns w, Xj V t^wi t\xf ruv tyhyyuv &gt;.? Iv ra

&gt;) viro pary *v v

ZjuftQ*, x^ rs6 EWT^- rayro. ty^Xa* e&gt;* $1 hoyu oT- tlvou &ragffx.ev tx.ro
ro cuuot C*i2v, ivfiyhx, TAUTCC, ^ rtfafiyravl \v Tfravl
lart rivet, xpovov Georg. p. 524-

f- tri itevloi i jrt(pvo"nl &gt; ot.v ru, x^ ^w^JjxEt Ix. rw&lt;; tpot

f^. 1. i. p. 481. dit. Reitzii, 4, Amstel. 1743,

Sect. 4-] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 137

The criminals destined to eternal punishment, in this
division, are,

i . Those who had sinned so secretly as to escape the
animadversion of the Magistrate :

Gnossius hzec Rhadamanthus habet durissimaregna:
Castigatque anditque dolos, SUBFCITQUE FATERI
Quae quis apud superos, FURTO laetatus inani,
Distulit in seram commissa piacula mortem.

And it was principally on account of such crimes that
the Lawgiver inforced the doctrine of a future state of
punishment. But it is worth while to observe, that,
according to the teaching of the Mysteries, the RACK
TO EXTORT CONFESSION, came originally from THE
PLACE OF THE DAMNED, where only it could be
equitably applied.

2. Those whose principles dissolve the first bonds
of association, and society, the ATHEISTS and dcspiscrs
of God and religion :

Hie genus antiquum terras Titania pubes.

This was agreeable to the laws of Charondas, who
says : "Be the contempt of the Gods put in the
" number of the most flagitious crimes*." The poet
dwells particularly on that species of impiety which
^affects divine honours :

Vidi & crudeles dantem Salmonea poenas,
Dum flammas Jo vis & sonitus imitatur Olympi.

And this without doubt, was an oblique castigation of
the APOTHEOSIS, then beginning to be paid and received
at Rome.

Erw 3e ptyira a&xjjjwata Seuv H*ltf$g6nw%Si Apud Stobcei
JSerm, xlii. p. 290. lin. 34. Tiguri, fol. 1559.

3. The

138 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book 1 1.

3. The inf ringers of the duties of IMPERFECT
obligation, which crcil laics cannot reach: such as
those without natural affection to brothers, duty to

-parents, protection to clients, or charity to the poor :

Hie quibus invisi fratres, dum vita manebat;
Puisatusve parens ; & fraus innexa client! * ;
Aut qui divitiis soli incubuere repertis,
Nee partem posuere suis ; qua? maxima turba est.

4. Those pests of public and private peace, , the
TRAYTOR and the ADULTERER; with all their various
spawn, of perjury and incest :

Quique ob adulterium caesi, quique arma secuti
Itnpia, nee veriti dominorum fallere dextras
Yendidit hie auro patriam, dominumque potentem
Imposuit ; fixit leges pretio, atque refixit.
Hie thalamum invasit nata?, vetitosque hymena3os.

It is observable, he does not say, simply, adult eri, but
ob adidterium ctesi] as implying, that the greatest
civil punishment pleads for no mitigation of this crime
at the bar of divine justice.

5. The INVADERS AND VIOLATERS OF THE HOLY

MYSTERIES, held out in the person of Theseus, make

the fifth and last class of offenders :

. - - - - Sedet, oeternumque sedebit

Infelix Theseus ; Pblegyasque f miserrimus omnes

* So the law of the Twelve Tables : PATRONUS si CLIENT!

FRAUDEM FECERIT, SACER ESTO.

f The Phlegyaj here mentioned, I take to be those people of
Boeotia spoken of by Pausanias, who attempting to plunder the
temple of Apollo at Delphi, were destroyed by lightning, earth
quakes, and pestilence; hence Phlegyae, I suppose, signified
impious,. sacrilegious persons in general ; and is so to be understood
in .this place.

Admoaet,

Sect 4-] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 139
Admonet, & magna testatar voce per umbras :

DlSCITE JUSTITIAM MONITJ, ET NON TEMNERS
DIVOS.

The fable says, that Theseus and his friend Pirithous
formed a design to steal Proserpine from hell ; but
being taken in the fact, Pirithous was thrown to the
dog Cerberus, and Theseus kept in chains*, till he was
delivered by Hercules: which without doubt means
the death of one, and the imprisonment of the other,
for their clandestine intrusion into the Mysteries. We
have already offered several reasons, to shew that the
descent of Theseus into hell, was a violation of the
Mysteries : to which we may add what the ancients
tell us of the duration of his imprisonment, which was
four years ; the interim between the celebrations of
the greater Mysteries. So Seneca the tragedian makes
him say:

Tandem profugi noctis seternee pi again,
Vastoque manes carcere urnbrantem polum.
Ut vix cupitum surYerunt oculi diem !
Jam QUARTA Eleusis dona Triptolemi secat,
Paremque toties Libra cornposuit diem ;
Ambiguus ut me sortis ignarae labor
Detinuit inter mortis & vitae mala f .

This may reconcile the contradictory accounts of the
fable concerning Theseus ; some of which say he was
delivered from hell; others, that he was eternally
detained there. The first relates to the liberty given
him by the president of the Mysteries at the ensuing

Jo. Tzetzes, C. ii. cap. 51
f Hippol.

celebration :

140 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

celebration : the other, to what the Mysteries taught
he and all would suffer in the other world for violating
them. This leads us to a circumstance which will much
confirm the general interpretation of this famous
Episode. In JEneas s speech to the Sibyl, Theseus is
put amongst those heroes who went to, and returned
from, hell :

- - - - Quid Thesea, magnum,
Quid niemorem Alciden ? - - -

But in the place before us he is represented as con
fined there eternally. Julius Hyginus, in his Com-
mentaries on Virgil *, thinks this a gross contradiction ;
which Virgil would have corrected, had he lived to
finish the poem. But can it be supposed, the poet
was not aware of this, in two passages so near one
another, in the same book? In truth, his employing
these differing circumstances, confirms the general
interpretation; and the general interpretation titles
to reconcile the difference. ^Eneas wanted to be
initiated ; and when he speaks to the Sibyl, or Mysta-
gogite, he enumerates those heroes who had been
initiated before him ; that is, such who had seen the
shows of the Mysteries, of which number was The
seus, though he had intruded violently. But when
Virgil comes to describe these Shows, which were
supposed to be a true representation of what was
done and suffered in Tartarus, Theseus is put among
the damned, that being his station in the other world.

This will remind the learned reader of a story told
by Livy. " The Athenians (says he) drew upon
" themselves a war with Philip, on a very slight oc-
if casion; and at a time when nothing remained of

* A. Gellii Noct. Att. lib. x. cap. 16.

" their

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 141

" their ancient fortune, but their high spirit. Two
*&lt; young Acarnanians, during the days of INITIATION,
" themselves uninitiated, and ignorant of all that
" related to that secret worship, entered the temple
" of CERES along with the crowd. Their discourse
" soon betrayed them ; by making some absurd en-
" quiries into the meaning of what they saw : so
" being brought before the President of the Mysteries,
" altliough it was evident they had entered ignorantly,
" and without design, they were put to death, as
" guilty of a most abominable crime *."

The office Theseus is put upon, of admonishing his
hearers against IMPIETY, could not, sure, be discharged
in these shows by any one so well, as by him who
represented the Violator of them. But the critics,
unconscious of any such design, considered the task
the poet has imposed on Theseus, of perpetually
Bounding in the ears of the damned, this admonition :

DlSCITE JUSTITIAM MONITL, ET NON TEMNERE
DIVOS,

as a very impertinent employment. For though it
was a sentence of great truth and dignity, it was
preached to very little purpose amongst those who
were never to hope for pardon or remission.

Even the ridiculous Scarron hath not neglected to

* Contraxerant autem cum Philippo bellum Athenienses
liaudquaquam digna causa, dum ex vetere fortuna nihil praeter
animos servant. Atfarnanes duo juvenes per initiorum dies, non
initiati, templum Cereris, imprudentes religionis, cum cetera
turba ingress! sunt. Facile eos sermo prodidit, absurde quaedam
percunctantes; deductique ad antistites templi cum palam esset
per errorem ingressos, tanquam ob infandum scelus, interfecti
sunt. Hist. lib. xxxi.

put

142 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book It
put it in this absurd light * ; and it must be owned,
that, according to the common ideas of .ZEneas s de~
scent into hell, it can hardly be seen in any other.

But, suppose Virgil to be here relating the admo
nitory maxims delivered during the celebration of these
MYSTIC SHOWS, and nothing could be more just or
useful : for then the discourse was addressed to the
vast multitude of living spectators. Nor is it a mere
supposition that such discourses made part of these
representations. Aristides expressly saysf, that in
no place were more astonishing words pronounced,
or sung, than in these Mysteries. ,The reason, he
tells us, was, that the sounds and the sights might mu
tually assist each other in making an impression on
the minds of the Initiated. But, from a passage in
Pindar, I conclude, that in these shows (from whence
men took their ideas of the infernal regions) it was
customary for each offender, as he passed by, in ma
chinery? to make an admonition against his own
crime. " It is reported (says Pindar) that Ixion, by
" the decrees of the Gods, while he is incessantly
* turning round his rapid wheel, calls out upon
" MORTALS to this effect, That they should be always
-" at hand to repay a benefactor for the services he
" had done themj." Where the word BPOTOI,

* Cette sentence est bonne & belle,
]Vlais en Enfer de quoi sertrelle ?

f*e

&% rviv cxnrtalir, v /^ccAAc* E?$ Ip^pitaw XftJefJ rcuf.

Toy

2 Pyth.

living

Sect. 4,] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 143

living men, seems plainly to shew that the speech wa*
at first made before men in this world.

The poet closes his catalogue of the damned with
these words :

Ausi omnes immane nefas, AUSOQUE POTITI.

For the antients thought that an action was sanctified
by the success ; which they esteemed a mark of the
favour and approbation of the Gods :

Victrix Causa Diis PLACUIT, sed victa CatonL

As this was a very pernicious doctrine, it was neces
sary to teach, that the imperial villain who trampled
on his country, and the baffled plotter who expired
on a gibbet, were equally the objects of divine ven
geance.

^Eneas has now passed Tartarus ; and here end the
LESSER MYSTERIES. Their original explains why
this sort of shows was exhibited in them. We are
told, they were instituted for the sake of Hercules,
when about to perform his eleventh labour, of fetch
ing Cerberus from hell*, and were under the presi
dency of Proserpine f .

The Hero advances to the borders of ELYSIUM,
and here he undergoes the lustration:

Occupat /Eneas aditum, corpusque recenti
Spargit aqua, rarnumque adverso in limine figit.

46 Being now about to undergo the lustrations (say*

of EAsi&gt;&lt;7iHo If? ecvra) roc.

T N etvrov [ Hgaxte a] Afyo/Av* MIKPA ^vrvfiet. Tzetz.
in Lycoph.

f T* l\ /*x^a fl^c-E^on^- -- Schol, Aristoph. ad Plut. secwnd.

" Sopater)

144 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

" Sopater) which immediately precede initiation into
" the greater Mysteries, they called rne happy *."

Accordingly, ^Eneas now enters on the GREATER
MYSTERIES, and comes to the abodes of the blessed :

Devenere locos laetos, &lt;Sc aincena vireta
Fortunatorum nemorum, sedesque beat us :
Largior hie campos aether, & lumine vestit
Purpureo: solemque suum, sua sidera norunt.

These two so different scenes of Tartarus and Ely
sium explain what Aristides meant, when he called
the shows of Eleusinian Mysteries, that most shocking,
) at the same time, most ravish mg representation f.

The Initiated, who till now only bore the name of
i, are called EnonTAI, and this new vision
ATTOYIA. " The Aurora or the seeing with their
" own eyes (says Psellus) is when he who is initiated
" beholds the divine lights J."

In these very circumstances Thernistius describes
the Initiated, when just entered upon this scene. " It
" being thoroughly purified, he now discloses to the
" Initiated, a region all over illuminated, and shin-

ing

In Divis. Qmrst.

f rSrov &lt;ppntct&gt;tsr$Q T x^ tyou^oroilw. Eleus.

t Avro-^loc, Efiv, OTCX.V ayroj o Th&i*i/&lt;& rot Stfoc. (p^ra. o^a. In
Schol. in Orac. Zoroast.

This which was all over illuminated, and which the priest had
thoroughly purified, was ayaX/*&gt; an image. The reason of trans
ferring what is said of the illumination of the image, to the illu-
ipination of the region, is-, because this image represented the
appearances of the divine Being, in one large, uniform, extensive
light. Thus Jamblichus De mysteriis : Mela $y rcnvrtx, T

Sect 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 145

&lt;c ing with a divine splendor. The cloud and thick
" darkness are dispersed * ; and the mind emerges,
" as it were, into day, full of light and chearfulness ;
" as before, of disconsolate obscurity f."

Let

AYTOYIAFS, lveysrs0t xj

&lt;*Xia&gt;? rs (5WAa/x,7r, xj hnfyupivot, *ap&lt;ff%u&lt;; Expa.rtlat. And again.,
Slo-airus TQIVVV K) ITT* rS &lt;I&gt;fiTOS* roc. f^lv ruv Ssuv AFAAMATA
&lt;pu1o&lt;; -TO-A/OV cirfoi Jrlsi TO plv run Seuv -nrv, aro^ov, ot^sy^lov ixAa//, ( 7ri
xj -or^jjporra oAa /30u r3 XOT/M wypia;?, A* a ort^MiM^iMK. . ii. cap. 4.
He says, too, that it was without Jigurc, i)r^c $* T^? /XEV oAjf, xj y
*^yi TW xara /*- eWfct xat]e%o/xy3? g oparai M^Uboi cap. 7.
To this image, the following lines in the Oracles of Zoroaster
allude :

M^j &lt;piW? xaX/ou? AYTOHTON AFAAMA,

Ou 7p %^ xi&gt;a? trt fthfTTsm rtftv ffu^et TEAE20Hi.

* Invoke not the self-conspicuous image of nature, for thou must
" not behold these things before thy body be purified by initiation,"
This ai/Tovrlov aya.Kp.ot, was only a diffusive shining light, as the
name partly declares, thus described presently after, in the same
Orajjes :

ri? cirtg evfe
a xaroc,

And the g^^ of this divine splendor was what the Mysteries
Called, ATTOTIA.

* Pletho tells us with what these clouds were accompanied, viz.
thunder and lightning, and other meteoric appearances^ T&lt;* ^E
TiXa/x/voK &lt;potii&gt;optvGi f xfyvo&gt; t tsvfy t el TI AAo, ci/[*o\& Mof
lr*&gt;, ^S T? ^tcrf. In Schol. ad Orac. Mag. Zor. He says they
were symbols, but not of the nature of the deity i and this was
true; for the symbol of this Nature was the avrovkv ayatyu*
\vhich fallowed. Hence, as we see above, it was without figure.

BcQo&gt; virippvyvvlo x^ i%t(pal&gt;flo 3 y^ !x Tt /5a9?
T. Orat. in Patrem.

VOL. II.

146 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II
Let me observe, that the lines,

Largior hie campos aether, lumine vestft
Purpureo: soLEMque suum, sua sicfera norunt,

are in the very language of those, who profess to tell
us what they saw at their initiation into the greater
Mysteries. " Nocte media vidi SOLEM candido co-
" ruscantem lumine *," says Apuleius on that occa
sion : for candido and purpureo lumine signify the
very same thing.

Here Virgil, by leaving his Master, and copying the
amiable paintings of Elysium as they were represented
in the Mysteries, hath artfully avoided a fault, too
justly objected to Homer, of giving so dark and
joyless a landscape of \htfortunatammora, as could
raise 110 desire or appetite for them: his favourite
Hero himself, who inhabited them, telling Ulysses,
that he had rather be a day-labourer above, than com
mand in the regions of the dead. Such a representa
tion defeats the very intent of the Lawgiver, in
propagating the doctrine of a future state. Nay, to
mortify every excitement to noble actions, the Greek
poet makes reputation, fame, and glory, the great spur
to virtue in the pagan system, to be visionary and im
pertinent. On the contrary, Virgil, whose aim, in,
this poem, was the service p f Society, makes the love
of glory so strong a passion in the othi r world, that
the Sibyl s promise to Palinurus, that his .;AME should
be affixed to a promontory, rejoices his shade even inr
the regions of the unhappy :

JEtcrnumqtte locus Palinuri nomen habebit :
His dictis cure emotae, -pulusque parumper
Corde dolor tristi ; GAUDET COGXOMINE TERRA.

* Met. lib. xi,

They

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 147

They were the licentious stories of the Gods, and this
ungracious description of Elysium (both so pernicious
to society) which made Plato drive Homer out of his
Republic.

But to return. The poet having described the
climate of the happy regions, speaks next of the amuse
ments of its inhabitants :

Pars in gramineis exercent membra palsestris ;
Contendunt ludo, & fulva luctantur arena.

Besides the obvious allusion, in these lines, to the
philosophy of Plato, concerning the duration of the
passions, it seems to have a more secret one to what
he had all the way in his eye, the Eleusinian Mysteries ;
whose celebration was accompanied with the GRECIAN
GAMES *. On which account too, perhaps, it was
that, in the disposition of his work, his fifth book is
employed in the Games as a prelude to the Descent in
the sixth.

1 . The first place, in these happy regions, is as
signed to LEGISLATORS, and the founders of Society,
who brought men from a savage, to a civil life.

Magnanimi Heroes, nati melioribus annis.

At the head of these is Orpheus, the most renowned
of the European Lawgivers ; but better known under
the character of Poet : for the first laws being written
in measure, to allure men to learn them, and, when
learnt, to retain them, the fable would have it, that

Ej3o|oTo!ot ra7ft&gt;y of xola T^V EAAa^a ayun?
ar^Eobt/Tai- o ruv TIctnx.Griva.iav tl oi /SaAei, o TUV
-Aristides Panath. Mvrfwcu $ |swv wgwra? HgaxAta, x}
ayavot. TS yv^vuiov ytv&rQxi ts-gurov EAfucrm Trff Arhxifc Idem.
Eleusin,

L 2 by

148 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

by the force of harmony, he softened the savage inha
bitants of Thrace :

- - - Threicius longa cum veste sacerdos
Obloquitur numeris septem discrimina vocum.

But he has the first place ; because he was not only a
Legislator, but the Introducer of the Mysteries into
that part of Europe.

2. The next is allotted to PATRIOTS, and those
who died for the service of their country :

Hie inanus, ob patriam pugnando vulnera pass?.

3. The third to virtuous and pious PRIESTS :

Quique sacerdotes casti, dum vita manebat :
Quique pii vates & Phcebo digna locuti.

For it was of principal use to Society, that religious
men should lead holy lives ; and that they should teach
nothing of the Gods but what was agreeable to the
divine nature.

4. The last place is given to the INVENTORS OF
ARTS mechanical and liberal:

Inventas aut qui vitam excoluere per artes :
Quique sui memores alios fecere merendo.

The order is exact and beautiful. The first class is of
those who FOUNDED Society, heroes and lawgivers :
the second, of those who SUPPORTED it, patriots and
holy priests : and the third, of those who ADORNED it,
the inventors of the arts of life, and the recorders of
worthy actions.

Virgil has all along closely followed the doctrine of
the Mysteries, which carefully taught that virtue only
could entitle men to happiness ; and that rites, cere
monies,

Sect. 4-] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 149

monies, lustrations, and sacrifices would not supply the
want of it.

Nor has he been less studious in copying their shows
and representations ; in which the figures of those
heroes and heroines, who were -most celebrated in the
writings of the ancient Greeks, passed in procession *.

But, notwithstanding this entire conformity between
the poet s scenes and those represented in the Mysteries,
something is still wanting to complete the proofs : and
that is, the famous SECRET of the Mysteries, THE
UNITY OF THE GODHEAD, of which so much hath
been said above. Had Virgil neglected to give us
this characteristic mark, though, even then, we could
not but say, his intention was to represent cm Initiation ;
yet we must have been forced to own he had done it
but imperfectly. But he was too good a painter, to
leave any thing ambiguous; and hath therefore con
cluded his hero s Initiation, as was the custom, with
instructing him in the AIIOPPHTA, or the doctrine of
the UNITY. Till this was done, the Initiated was not
arrived to the highest stage of perfection ; nor, in the
fullest sense, intitted to the appellation of EIIOIITHS.

Musreus, therefore, who had been Hierophant at
Athens, takes the place of the Sibyl (as it was the
custom to have different Guides in different parts of
the celebration) and is made to conduct him to the
recess, where his Father s shade opens to him the
doctrine of Truth, in these sublime words :

Principio coelum, ac terras, carnposque liquentes,
Lucentemque globum Lunce, Titaniaque astra

* fea pt.lv $ $10$ ixopu* J&y yttftxl
goff xj ywnaixwv \v TO*? ff9TOK Qeterpaw ??
i, *J AoycTToto* x^ ffyfyqatpsTf vjfifitt; vp.wg-t Aristid.

150 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

SPIRITUS INTUS ALIT, totamque infusa per artus
MENS agitat molem, & magno se corpora iniscet.
Indehominum pecudumque genus, vitaeque volantum,
Et qua? marmoreo fert monstra sub aequore pontus.

This was no other than the doctrine of the old Egyp
tians, as we are assured by Plato; who says they
taught that Jupiter was the SPIRIT WHICH PERVAD-

ETH ALL THINGS *,

We shall shew how easily the Greek Philosophy
corrupted this principle into (what is now called)
SPINOZISM j\ Here Virgil has approved his judgement
to great advantage. Nothing was more abhorrent
from the Mysteries, than Spinozism, as it overturned J
the doctrine of a future state of rewards and punish
ments, which the Mysteries so carefully inculcated ;
and yet the principle itself, of which Spinozism was
the abuse, was cherished there, as it was the conse
quence of the doctrine of the Unity, the grand secret
of the Mysteries. Virgil, therefore, delivers the prin
ciple, with great caution, and pure and free of the
abuse ; though he understood the nature of Spinozism,
and (by the following lines in his fourth Georgic, where
he delivers it) appears to have been infected with it :

- - - - Deum namque ire per omnes
Terrasque tractusque maris, coelumque profundum
Hinc pecudes, armenta, viros, genus omne ferarum
Quemque sibi tenues nascentern arcessere vitas.
Sdl. HUC REDDI DENIQUE AC RESOLUTA REFERRI
OMNJA - - -

ra,

n, &c. KJ AU plv, TO AIA DANTi7N X^POYN ONEYMA.
In Cratylo.

| See Book iii. Sect. 4. $ See Book iii. Sect. 3. & 4.

But

Sect. 4-1 OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED,

But the Mysteries did not teach the doctrine of the
Unity for mere speculation ; but, as we said before, to
obviate certain mischiefs of polytheism, and to support
the belief of a Providence, Now, as a future state
of rewards and punishments did not quite remove the
objections to its inequalities here, the Mysteries added
to it the doctrine of the METEMPSYCHOSIS, or the
belief of a prior state*. And this, likewise, our
poet has been careful to record. For after having
revealed the great secret of the Unity, he goes on to
speak of the Metempsychosis, or transmigration, in this
manner :

Has omnes, ubi mille rotam volvere per annos,
Lethceum ad fiuvium Deus evocat agmine magno
Scilicet immemores supera ut convexa revisant,
Rursus & incipiant in corpora velle reverti.

And thence takes occasion to explain the nature and
use of a Popish PURGATORY, which, in his hero s
passage through that region, had not been done : this
affords him too an opportunity for that noble episode,
the procession of the hero s posterity, which passes in
review before him : And with this the scene closes.
One might well allow Virgil the use of so important a
digression, (considering whom it was he celebrated
under the character of ^Eneas) though it had been
foreign to the nature of the Mysteries he is describing.
But indeed he was even here following their customs
very closely. It was then, and had been for some
time, the practice of the Mysteries, when communicated
to any aspirant of distinguished quality, to exhibit to
him in their shows and representations, something

* Vid. Porph. de Abst. 1. iv. sect. 16. & Cic. Fragm. ex lib. de
Pbilosophia.

L 4 ORACULAR,

152 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

OHACULAR, relating to his own fortune and affairs.
Thus Himerius tells us, that Olympia, on her uprising,
after the birth of Alexander, was initiated into the
Samothracian Mysteries ; Where, in the shows, she
saw her husband Philip, at that time in Potidaea *.

In attending the hero s progress through the three
estates of the dead, I have shewn, at almost every step,
from some ancient writer or other, the exact conformity
of his adventures to those ? of the Initiated in the
Mysteries. We shall now collect these scattered
lights to a point; which will, I am persuaded, throw
such a lustre on this interpretation, as to make the
truth of it irresistible. To this purpose, I shall have
nothing to do, but to transcribe a passage from an
ancient writer, preserved by Stobceus ; which professes
to explain the exact conformity between DEATH, or a
real descent to the internal regions, and INITIATION,
where the representation of those regions was exhibited.
His words are these: THE MIND is AFFECTED AND

AGITATED IN DEATH, JUST AS IT IS IN INITIAr
TION INTO THE GRAND MYSTERIES. AND WORD
ANSWERS TO WORD AS WELL AS THING TO THING :

FOR TEAETTAN is TO DIE; AND TEAEJ20AI, TO
BE INITIATED. THE FIRST STAGE IS NOTHING
BUT ERRORS AND UNCERTAINTIES; LABORIOUS
WANDERINGS; A RUDE AND FEARFUL MARCH

THROUGH NIGHT AND DARKNESS. AND NOW
ARRIVED ON THE VERGE OF DEATH AND INI
TIATION, EVERY THING WEARS A DREADFUL

ASPECT: IT is ALL HORROR, ^TREMBLING, SWEAT*-

* Aeyelui -crols xj OAu/x-Tna^*, rr t v iwl ro?&lt;; A^^xv^8 roy.on; tvo&ipova,

TO.

. Jn Eclog. Declam. apud Photium, Cod. 165. 243.

IJCG.,

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 153

JNG, AND AFFRIGHTMENT. BUT THIS SCENE ONCE
OVER, A MIRACULOUS AND DIVINE LIGHT DIS

PLAYS ITSELF; AND SHINING PLAINS AND FLOWERY
MEADOWS OPEN ON ALL HANDS BEFORE THEM.
HERE THEY ARE ENTERTAINED WITH HYMNS,
AND DANCES, WITH THE SUBLIME DOCTRINES OF
SACRED KNOWLEDGE, AND WITH REVEREND AND
HOLY VISIONS. AND NOW BECOME PERFECT AND
INITIATED, THEY ARE FREE, AND NO LONGER
UNDER RESTRAINTS; BUT CROWNED AND TRIUM

PHANT, THEY WALK UP AND DOWN THE REGIONS

OF THE BLESSED; CONVERSE WITH PURE AND
HOLY MEN ; AND CELEBRATE THE SACKED MYS
TERIES AT PLEASURE*.

To os tffoctT^siv ErccQ ^, oiov ot TAsiJt
eo xj TO py[/.o&lt;, TU pripoui) x^ ro (fyov TU t(&gt;ytf T&
rof, ar^urot xj teEfn^ofA

tiro, -cro r3 WA? O.VTU TU htvae,

^uv* v &lt;p aviate {A.&TUV
o

Sermo cxix. p. 605. lin. 33. Tigori, fol. 1559. The Son of Sirach,
who was full of Grecian ideas, and hath embellished his admirable
work of ECCLESIASTICUS, with a great deal of Gentile learning,
hath plainly alluded, though in few words, to these circumstances
of INITIATION, where encouraging men to seek after wisdom, he
says: &lt; At first she will walk with him by CROOKED ways, and
" bring FEAR and DREAD upon him, and TORMENT HIM WITH
" HER DISCIPLINE, until she may TRUST hie soul, and TRY him
14 by her laws. Then will she return the STRAIGHT way unto
" him, and COMFORT him, and shew him her SECRETS." ^ ra|Lt -
per avTa tv -C^^TOK* *OBON ^ } AEIAIAN" lwa| Iw*
xj BA2ANTI2EI ATTON EN HAIAJA ATTH, fa
avrS xj OEIPASH 0r^ I, ro^ A*,^r, f
xar t^0rv or^o; avrov. xj EY&lt;1)PANI
TO. KPYHTA ^T??, Chap. iv. ver. 17, 18.

154 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

The progress finished, and every thing over, -Eneas
and his Guide are let out again to the upper regions,
through the ivory gate of DREAMS. A circumstance
borrowed from Homer, and very happily applied to
this subject ; for, as Euripides elegantly expresses it,

"TIINOS ret MIKPA ra S-avara MTSTHPIA.
A DREAM is the LESSER MYSTERIES of death.

But, besides this of ivory, there was another of horn.
Through the first issued false visions ; and through the
latter, true.

Sunt gemince Somni portae : quarum altera fertur
Cornea, qua veris facilis datur exitus umbris :
Altera candenti perfecta nitens elephanto ;
Sed falsa ad coelurn mittunt insomnia manes.
His ubi turn natum Anchises, unaque Sibyllam
Prosequitur dictis, portaque emittit eburna.

Servius, with the rank spirit of a grammarian, who
seldom finds any thing to stop at but a solecism in
expression, says very readily, " Vult autem intelligi,
" falsa esse omnia qurc dixit. He would have you
" understand by this, that all he has been saying is
" false and groundless." The following critics give
the same solution. Ruseus, one of the best, may
speak for them all : " Cum igitur Virgilius jEneam
" eburnea porta emittit, indicat profecto, quidquid a
" se de illo inferorurn aditu dictum est, in fabulis esse
" numerandum." This interpretation is strengthened
by Virgil s being an Epicurean ; and making the same
conclusion in his second Georgic :

Felix, qui potuit rerurii cognoscere causas,
Atque metus omnes & inexorabile fatum
Subjecit pedibus, strepitumgue Acherontis avari !
13 But

Sect. 4-] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 155

But Virgil wrote, not for the amusement of women
nd children over a winter s fire, in the taste of the
Milesian fables ; but for the use of men and citizens ;
to instruct them in the duties of humanity and society.
The purpose, therefore, of such a writer, when he
treats of a FUTURE STATE, must be to make the doc*
trine interesting to his reader, and useful in civil life :
Virgil hatti done the first, by bringing his Hero to it
through the most perilous atchie ve merit ; and the se
cond, by appropriating the rewards and punishments
of that state to virtue and to vice only. Now if we
will believe these critics, when the poet had laboured
through a whole book, and employed all his art and
genius to compass this important end, he foolishly
defeats his whole design with one wanton dash of his
pen, which speaks to this effect : " I have laboured,
" countrymen, to draw you to virtue, and to deter you
" from vice, in order to make particulars and societies,
" flourishing and happy. The truths inforced to this
" purpose, I have endeavoured to recommend by the
" example of your ancestor and founder, ./Eneas ; of
" whom (to do you the more credit) I have made an
" accomplished hero ; arid have set him on the most
" arduous and illustrious undertaking, the establish-
" ment of a civil community: and to sanctify his
" character, and add reverence to his laws, I have
" sent him upon the errand you see here related.
" But, lest the business should do you any service, or
" my hero any honour, I must inform you, that all
* this talk of a future state is a childish tale, and
" iEneas s part in it, only a fairy adventure. In a
&lt;c word, all that you have heard, must pass for a lenten
c dream, from which you are to draw no consequences,
J but that the poet was in a capricious humour, and

" disposed

156 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

* disposed to laugh at your superstitions." Thus is
Virgil made to speak in the interpretation of ancient
and modern critics*. And this the conclusion he
was pleased to give to the master-piece of all his
writings.

The truth is, the difficulty can never be gotten over,
but by supposing THE DESCENT TO SIGNIFY AN

INITIATION INTO THE MYSTERIES. This Will Ull-

riddle the enigma, and restore the poet to himself.
And if this was Virgil s purpose, it is to be presumed,
he would give some private mark to ascertain his
meaning: for which no place was so proper as the
conclusion, lie has, therefore, with a beauty of in
vention worthy of himself, made this fine improve
ment on Homer s story of the two gates; and by
imagining that of horn for true visions, and that of
ivory for false, insinuates, by the first, the reality of
another state ; and by the second, the shadowy repre
sentations of it in the shows of the Mysteries: so
that, not the things themselves, but only the pictures
of them, objected to ^Encas, were false ; as the Scene
did not lye in HELL, but in the TEMPLE OF CERES.
This representation being called MT0O2, xar* ifo^i}*
And this we propose as the true meaning of,

Altera candenti perfecta nitens elephanto :
Sed FALSA ad ccelurn mittunt insomnia manes.

For falsa insomnia do not signify lying, but shadowy
dreams. Thus the Roman widow, in the famous se-

* This absurdity did not escape the learned Dacier, who, in his
note on porta fugiens eburna, 1. iii. Od. xxvii. of Horace, says,
Mais ce qu il y a, d etonuant, c est que Virgile fait sortir Anchi&e
par la porte d y voire, qui est celle des faux songes ; par la il de-
truit toutcs les grandes c hoses qu il a dites de Rome & cfAuguste.

pulchral

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 157

pulchral inscription *, begs the Dii manes to be so
indulgent to her husband s shade, that she may see
him in her dreams ; that is, seem to see him, as the
shade of Hector was seen by ^Eneas,

In somnis ecce ante oculos moestissimus Hector
Visus adesse mini - - -

and this, in distinction to what the Roman Widow
makes the other part of her prayer, to be really joined
to him in the other world.

But though the visions which issued from the ivory
gate were unsubstantial^ as being only representative ;
yet I make no question, but the ivory gate itself was
real. It appears, indeed, to be no other than the
sumptuous door of the temple, through which the
Initiated came out, when the celebration was over.
This temple was of an immense bigness, as appears
from the words of Apuleius : " Senex comissimus
" ducit me protinus ad ipsas fores ;LDIS AMPLIS-
" siM^t-" Strabo is more particular: " Next (says
" he) is Eleusis, in which is the temple of the Eleu-
" sinian Ceres, and the mystic cell built by Ictinus,

* IT A PETO VOS MANES

SANCTISSIMI

COMMEXDATVM HABEATIS

MEVM CONIVGEM ET VELL1TIS

HVIC IXDVLGENTISSIMI ES9R

HO UIS NOCTVKN1S

VT EVM VIDE AM

ET ETIAM ME FATO SVADERE

VELL1T VT ET EGO POSSIM

DULCJV9 ET CELERIVS

APVD EVM PERVEJTIRE.

Apud Grut. p. 786.
t Metam. 1. xi. p 996. Edit. Lugel. 8vo, 1587.

" CAPABLE

158 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

f CAPABLE OF HOLDING AS LARGE A NUMBER

" AS A THEATRE*." But Vitruvius s description
of it is still more curious : " ELEUSINJE Cereris Sc
" Proserpinae cellam IMMANI MAGNITUDINE Ictinus
" Dorico more, sine exterioribus columnis ad laxa-
" mcntum u$us sacr ifidorum&gt; pertexit. Earn autem
" postea, cum Demetrius Phalereus Athenis rerum
" potiretur, Philon ante templum in fronte columnis
" constitutis Prostylon fecit. It a aucto vestibulo
" laxamentum initiantibus operisque summam adjecit
" autoritatem \" And Aristides thought this the
most extraordinary circumstance ia the whole affair :
" But the thing most wonderful and divine was, that
&lt;c -of all the public assemblies of Greece, this was the
" only one which was contained within the walls of
" one edifice;)]," Here was room, we see, and so
purposely contrived, for all their SHOWS and REPRE
SENTATIONS.

And now, having occasionally, and by parts only,
said so much of these things, it will not be amiss, in
conclusion, to give one general and concise idea of the
whole. 1 suppose the substance of the celebration to
be a kind of drama of the history of Ceres ; as those
under the patronage of the other Gods represented
their History; so HERCULES and MYTIIRAS, who
protected the oppressed from the ravages of wild Beasts
or more cruel Men, had their labours in war and

xj fcyn? Cronos, ov xcclfc-Kiiiwi-v. 1x1^^, o^av Searpa
inwfAtn. lib. ix. Geog. Edit. Casaub. p. 272. lin. 30.

f De Architect. Praef. ad 1. vii.

J To ^t ov) /xtyirov xj tio?a]oyy /x&pjjy yag ratvTr } v

T^e, Eleusin. Orat.

hunting

Sect 4-] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 159

hunting dramatically held out. The Story of Ceres
afforded opportunity to represent the three particulars,
about which the mysteries were principally concerned.
i. The rise and establishment of civil society. 2. The
doctrine of a future state of rewards and punishments.
3. The error of polytheism, and the principle of the
unity. The Goddess s legislation in Sicily and Attica
(at both which places she was said to civilize the savage
manners of the inhabitants) gave birth to the first *.
Her search for her daughter Proserpine in hell, to the
second ; and her resentments against the Gods for their
permission of, or connivance at, the rape, to the
third f- My supposition, of the dramatic nature of
the shows, is not made without good authority. Lucian,
in his Alexander, where he gives a large account of
the impostures of that false prophet, speaking of the
Mysteries which he instituted^ in honour of his new
found God, Glyco ; says, they were celebrated (after
the usual preparatory rites of torch-bearing, initiation,
and public fiotice to the prophane to keep at a distance)
by a three Days festival : " On the first day was re-
" presented the labour of Latona and the Nativity
".of Apollo ; the nuptials of Ceronis ; and the birth of
" ^Esculapius. On the second, the appearance of
" Glyco, and the generation of the god : and on the
4i third, the marriage of Podalirius .with tlie mother

* Teque, Ceres & Libera, quarum SACRA a quibus initia
alque \ 7 ictus, legum, morum, mansuetudinis, humaaitatis exeiDpla.
hominibus et eivitatibus data, ac dispertita esse diruntur. Cic. in
Verr. T. c. 7-2. Edit. Ox. 4. T. IV. p. 478.

f This circumstance Apollodorus informs us of. His words
are these : MaOScro. &z *&,& s^^.Y,viav^ on TlXwruv uvfw ^oTfotys^
OPTIZOMENH 0EOIS AU2AII1EN OYPANON efecwfcfc-*- ^
-ny.it si$ .B^Wo fcdU

" of

160 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

" of Alexander *." Every thing in these rites being
performed, as the turn of the learned author s relation
necessarily implies, in imitation of ancient usage. But
here let it be observed, that the secrets of the Mysteries
were unfolded both by words and actions: of which
Aristides, quoted above, gives the reason ; * That so
" the sounds and sights might mutually assist each
" other in making an impression on the minds of the
" Initiated? The error of polytheism therefore was
as well exposed by the dark wanderings in the sub
terraneous passages through which the Initiated began
his course, as by the information received from the
Hierophant : and the unity as strongly illustrated by
the auT07r]oi&gt; !yaA|ua, the self -seen image f, the diffusive
shining light, as by the hymn of Orphcm^ t or this
speech of Anchises.

On the whole, if I be not much deceived, the view
in which I place this famous episode, not only clears
up a number of difficulties, inexplicable on any other
scheme ; but likewise heightens and ennobles the whole
poem ; for now the episode is seen to be an essential
part of the main subject, which is THE ERECTION OF
A CIVIL POLICY and A RELIGION ^ custom having
made initiation into the Mysteries a necessary prepa
rative for that arduous undertaking.

But there is no place in this admirable Poem, even
to the SHIELD OF -/ENEAS, which will not instruct us

ev t
&s ^f
^xof, &c. T. II. pg. 245. Edit, Reitzii, Ainstel.

1746. 4.

f See note () pp. 144, 145, J See pp. 45, 46,

how

Sect 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 161

how considerable a station the MYSTERIES held in
public life ; and how necessary they were supposed to
be, to com pleat the equipage of a Hero.

The ornaments on this shield represent two famous
Histories of different periods, and very differently
executed. The first, a loose sketch of the foundation
and early fortunes of Rome; the second, a highly
finished picture of the victory of Actium. These so
dissimilar pieces seem to be as oddly connected ; by a
sudden jump unto the other world.

Hinc procul addit

Tartareas etiam sedes, alta ostia Ditis;
Et scelerum pcenas, & te, Catilina, minaci
Pendentem scopulo, Furiarumque ora trementem ;
Secretosque pios; his dantem jura Catonem*.

But there is more in this disposition than appears at
first sight. The several parts make an uniform and
connected System. The first of the two principal parts,
\ve have observed, is a view of the foundation and first
establishment .of ancient Rome. Now Dionysius of
Halicarnassus tells us, that this city was in nothing
more excellent, or worthy of imitation, than in the
genius of its national Religion ; which was so con
structed, as to be always ready to render service to the
State. Hence, Virgil, when he has brought us to the
time in which their CIVIL establishment was perfectly
secured by the slaughter and dispersion of the Gauls.

(Scutis protect! corpora longis),
goes on to the RELIGIOUS constitution :

Hie exultantes Salios, nudqsque Lupercos,
Lanigerosque apices, & lapsa ancilia coelo

* Lib. viii.

VOL. II, M Excuderat :

162 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

Excuderat : caste ducebant sacra per urbem
Pilentis matres in mollibus - - -

Now Strabo observes, tbat the ancient pagan religion
consisted of two parts, the OPEN and the SECRET *.
The open, Virgil hath given us in the Salian and Lu-
percal rites. What remained was the secret, and this
he presents to us in an oblique description of the
Mysteries ; where (as we have shewn) the scenes of a
future state were exhibited to the Initiated.

I line procul addit

TARTAREAS etiam SEDES, alta ostia Ditis ;
Et scelerum poenas, te, Catilina, minaci
Pendentem scopulo, Furiarumque ora trementem ;
SECRETOSQUE PJOS; his dantem jura Catonem.

So that, as before, a particular INITIATION into the
$fyst$riesws& meant by uEneas s descent to the infernal
regions; here, the general CELEBRATION of them is
to be understood by this contracted view of Tartarus
and Elysium.

As this meaning seems necessary to give common
propriety to the description of the shield, there is
reason, I think, for receiving it. And if we allow,
that the MYSTERIES are here represented under the
idea of the infernal regions, we gain a new argument
in favour of the interpretation of the sixth book.

If it be asked why Cato is put, as it were, in the
place of Minos; and Catiline, of Tityus : the answer
wi\l let us into another beauty. It is a fine insinua
tion, that these foreign rites of Eleusis deserved to be
naturalised at Rome. In which he only followed the
opinion ot Cicero f.

*, Lib. x. p. 467. C. Edit. Paris, 1620. fol. f See p. 54.

Here

Sect. 4-1 OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 163

Here it may not be improper to take notice of a
vulgar mistake, as old at least as Servius, that Cato the
censor, and not Cato of Utica, is meant in this place ;
as if the Court-poet would not dare to celebrate the
professed enemy of the Julian house. This made the
critics seek out for a Cato of a distant age, to brave
Catiline in Hell ; when they might have seen it could
be no other than his great contemporary, who had
before withstood him in Rome. The last line,

SECRETOSQUE pios ; his dantem jura Catonem,

was probably a compliment to Cato in his little senate
of Utica.

All this considered, we see the reason, the great artist
had to call his picture, his portraiture on the shield,

Clypei NON ENARRABILE textum ;

an ^ENIGMATICAL picture.

And now the nature and purpose of the s wth book
being further supported by this collateral circumstance,
it will enable us to discover and explain another beauty
in the seventh ; which depending on this principle,
could not be seen till it was established.

If the recommendation of the Mysteries was of
such importance in an epic poem of this species , and
if, at the time of writing, many of the Mysteries were
become abominably corrupt, we can hardly believe but
that the poet, after he had so largely expatiated in praise
of those that were holy and useful, would take care to
stigmatize such as were become notoriously profligate :
because this tended equally with the other, to vindicate,
what he had in view, the honour of the institution.
And what strengthens this conjecture, is the similar con
duct of another great writer of antiquity upon the same
subject, whom we are now coming to, APULEIUS of

M 2 Madaura,

164 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book III

Madaura, whose Metamorphosis is written altogether in
this view of recommending the Pagan Mysteries ; in
which, as we shall find, he hath been no less circum
stantial in reprobating the corrupt Mysteries of the
SYRIAN GODDESS than in extolling the pure rites of
the EGYPTIAN Isis. A conduct so much alike, that
the two cases will serve mutually to support what is
here said of either.

This then seemed a necessary part in the plan of
Virgil s Poem. But it was no easy matter to execute
it. Another allegory would have been without grace ;
nor was there any repose in the latter part of the
action of the poem, as in the former, to admit a di
gression of such a length. On the other hand, to
condemn all corrupt Mysteries, in the plain way of
a judiciary sentence, did not suit the nature of his
poem : nor, if it had suited, could it have been used,
without hurting the uniform texture of the work : after
the pure rites had been so covertly recommended
under figures and fictions.

The poet, therefore, w ith admirable invention, hath
contrived, in the next book, to render the most cor
rupt of the Mysteries, the secret rites of BACCHUS,
very odious, by making them the instrument to tra*
verse the designs of Providence, in the establishment
of his Hero, and by putting a FURY on the office of
exciting the aspirants, to the celebration of them,
Amata, the mother of Layinia, in order to violate the
league and alliance between JEneas and Latinus,
contrives,, at the instigation of Alecto, to secrete her
daughter ; and to devote and consecrate her to Bac
chus, in an initiation into one of his abominable
rites:

SIMULATO numine BACCIII.

Majus adorta NEFAS, majoremque orsa furorem,

Evolat,

Sect 4-] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 165

. Evolat, Sc natam frondosis montibus ABDIT*;
Quo thalamum eripiat Teucris, tedasque moietur:
Evoe, Bacche ! frernens SOLUM TE VIRGINE DIG-

NUM *

Vociferans - - -

Farna volat : Furiisque accensas pectore matrcs,
Idem ornnis simul ardor agit, nova qua3rere tecta
Deseruere dornos - - -
Clamat : lo, matres - - -
Solvite crinales vittas, capite orgia mecum.
. Talem inter sylvas, inter deserta ferarum

Reginam ALECTO STIMULIS AGIT UNDIQUE
BACCHI )\

The Mysteries of Bacchus were well chosen for an
example of corrupted Rites, and of the mischiefs
they produced ; for they were early and flagrantly
corrupted. But his principal reason for this choice,
I suppose, was a very extraordinary story he found
in the Roman annals, of the horrors committed in
that city, during the clandestine celebration of the
Bacchic rites ; which Livy has transcribed very cir-

* Livy, we have seen, in his account of these rites of Bacchus,
says, " Raptos a Diis homines dici, quos machine illigatos ex
conspectu in abditos specus abripiant."

f Lib. vii. Plutarch describes these corrupt Mysteries, in the
same manner; hut adds, that they were not celebrated in honour
of any of the Gods, but to prevent mischief from EVIL DEMONS,
whom, by such sort of Rites, they would appease and render
innocuous. so^U? Si xj Socna$ ftWeg
fv ai? w/x.oavja4 jt) aiaj Tracr/M.ci, vwrfjai T

&w, AAIMANfiN St OAYAHN,

ixhthQUroTuv p^^r^fwii. Edit.

Prancof. fol. 1599. T. II. B. 417. C.

: &gt;i ; 3 cumstantially

166 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

cumstantially into the thirty-ninth book of his His
tory.

Nor did the poet think he had done enough in re
presenting the corrupt Mysteries under these circum
stances of discredit, without specifying the mischiefs
they produced ; nor that he had sufficiently distin
guished them from the pure, without shewing those
mischiefs to be such as the pure had taken care to
obviate.

The next news, therefore, we hear of Arnata, after
her celebration of the rites of Bacchus, is her SUI
CIDE, and a suicide of the most ignominious kind :

Purpureos moritura manu discindit amictus,
Et nodum mformis leti trabe nectit ab alta.

This disaster, the poet makes Jupiter charge upon
Juno ; who, by the ministry of Alecto, excited Amata
to an initiation :

Terris agitare vel undis

Trojanos potuisti : infandum accendere bellum,
DEFORMARE DOMUM, & luctu miscere hymenaeos.

Suicide, as we learn by Plato *, the holy mysteries
expressly forbad and condemned. On which account
our poet, in his allegorical description of what was
represented in the Eleusinian, has placed these crimi
nals in a state of misery :

Proxima deinde tenent moesti loca, qui sibi le-
thum -

Thus nobly hath Virgil completed his design on the
subject of the MYSTERIES. The hero of the poem
is initiated into the most pure and holy of them ; his

* See above, p. 127.

capital

Sect. 4] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. iG;

capital Enemy, into the most impure and corrupt;
and the schemes and intrigues of each party have a
correspondent issue.

To conclude, the principles here assumed, in ex
plaining this famous poetical fiction, are, I presume,
such as give solidity, as well as light, to what is de
duced from them : and are, perhaps, the only Princi
ples from which any thing reasonable can be deduced
in a piece of criticism of this nature. For, from what
I had shewn was taught, and represented in the Mys
teries, I infer that ^Eneas s DESCENT INTO HELL
signifies an INITIATION; because of the exact con
formity, in all circumstances, between what Virgil
relates of his Hero s adventure, and what antiquity
delivers concerning the SHO\VS and DOCTRINES of
those MYSTERIES, into which Heroes were wont to
be initiated. On the contrary, had I gratuitously
supposed, without any previous knowledge of what
was practised in the Mysteries, that the descent was
an initiation, merely because Augustus (who was sha
dowed under the person of ^Eneas) was initiated;
and thence inferred, that the Mysteries did exhibit the
same scenes which the Poet hath made Hell to exhibit
to his Hero, my explanation had been as devoid of
any solid inference, as of any rational principle.
And yet, if authority could support so impertinent a
conduct, one might have ventured on it. A cele
brated writer * in a tract intitled Reflections on the
character of lapis in Virgil, goes altogether on this
gratuitous kind of criticism. Without any previous
knowledge of the life and fortunes of ANTONIUS

* Dr. Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester. [See lii& Epistolary
Correspondence, 1783, vol. i. p. 329,]

M 4 JMUSA,

t68 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

MUSA, the physician of Augustus, he supposes that
Virgil meant this person by IAPIS, merely because
Augustus was meant by JEneas. And then, from
what the poet tells us of lapis s history, the critic
concludes it must have made part of the history of
Musa; and so, instead of explaining a fable by his
tory, he would regulate history on a fable. Whereas
the principles of true criticism should have directed
him to inquire previously what Antiquity had left us,
concerning the person of Antonius Musa : and if, on
comparing what he found there, with what Virgil has
delivered concerning lapis, any strong resemblance
was to be found ; then, and not till then, his ingenious
conjecture, that lapis was Musa, would stand upon a
reasonable bottom. It was not thus that an able
critic * lately explained Virgil s noble allegory, in the
beginning of the third GEORGIC; where, under the
idea of a magnificent Temple, to be raised t the
Divinity of Augustus ; the poet promises the famous
epic poem which he afterwards erected in his honour ;
or, as our Milton says,

" built the lofty rhime."

But had the existence of such a poem never come to
our knowledge, I am persuaded, this excellent writer
had never troubled the world with so slender a con
jecture that a Temple signified an epic poem ; and
therefore that Virgil executed, or at least intended,
such a work. In truth, Critics should proceed in
these inquiries about their author s secret meaning,
with the same caution and sobriety which Courts of
Justice employ in the detection of concealed criminals;

* See Hor. Ep. ad Augustum, with an English Commentary,
and Notes, p. 36,

who

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 169
who take care, in the first place to be well assured of
the corpus delicti, before they venture to charge the
fact upon any one.

Thus far concerning the use of the MYSTERIES to
SOCIETY. How essential they were esteemed to RE
LIGION, we may understand by the METAMORPHOSIS
OF APULEIUS; a book, indeed, which from its very
first appearance hath passed for a trivial fable. Capi-
tolinus, in the life of Clodius Albinus, where he speaks
of that kind of tales which disconcert the gravity of
philosophers, tells us that Severus could not bear
with patience the honours the Senate had conferred on
Albinus; especially their distinguishing him with the
title of learned, who was grown old in the study of
old wives fables, such as the Milesian-Punic tales of
his countryman and favourite, Apuleius: " Major
" fuit" (says Severus, in his letter to the senate on
this occasion) " dolor quod ilium pro literato laudan-
" dum plerique duxistis, quurn ille naeniis quibusdam
&lt;; anilibus occupattis inter Milcsias Punicas Apuleil
" sid et ludicra literaria consencsceret." That poor,
modern-spirited critic Macrobius, talks too of Apuleius

in the same strain " Nee omnibus fabulis Philo-

" sophia repugnat, nee omnibus acquiescit Pabular,
" aut tantum conciliandse auribus voiuptatis aut ad-
" hortationis quoque in bonam frugem gratia repertas
** sunt, auditum mulcent ; velut comoedias ; quales
" Menander ejusve imitatores agendas dederunt : vel
" argumenta fictis casibus amatorum referta ; quibus
&lt; vel multum se .Arbiter exercuit, vel APULEIUM
" nonnunquam lusisse MIRAMUR. Hoc totum fabu-
" larum genus, quod solas annum ddicias projitetur,
" e sacrario suo in nutricum cunas sapiential tractatus
5 " eliminat?

THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book If.

? However he seems to \vonder that
Apuleius should trifle so egregiously : and well he
might. For the writer of the Metamorphosis was
one of the gravest and most virtuous, us well as most
learned, philosophers of his age. But Albinus ap
pears to have gone further into the true character of
this work, than his rival Severus. And if we may
believe Marcus Aurelius, who calls Aibinus " homo
* c exercitatus, vita tristis, gravis moribus f ," he was
not a man to be taken with such trifling amusements
as Milesian fables. His fondness therefore for the
Metamorphosis of Apuleius shews, that he considered
it in another light. And who so likely to be let into
the author s true design, as Albinus, who lived very
near his time, and was of Adrumetum in the neigh
bourhood of Carthage, where Apulews sojourned and
studied, and was honoured with public marks of dis
tinction J The work is indeed of a different character
fern what some Ancients have represented it ; and
even from what modern Critics have pretended to
discover of it. Those Ancients, who stuck in the
outside, considered it, without refinement, as an idle
fable : the Moderns, who could not reconcile a work
of that nature to the gravity of the author s charac
ter, have supposed it a thing of more importance,
and no less than a general satire on the vices of those
tiroes : " Tota porro haec metamorphosis Apuleiana
" (says Mr. Fleuri J) stylo & sententia, satyricon
** est perpetuum, ut recte observavit Barthius, Ad-
* c vers. lib. ii. cap. IT. in quo magica deliria, sacrifi-
" culorura scelera, adulterorum crimina, furum &

* Lib. i. c. 2.

t Capitolinus, in Claud. Alb,

} Ed. Ap, in us. Delph.

" latronuiu

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 171

" latronum impunitse factiones palam differuntur."
But this is far short of the matter. The author s main
purpose was not to satirize the specific vices of his age
(though, to enliven his fable, and for the better carry
ing on his story, he hath employed many circumstances
of this kind) but to recommend PAGAN RELIGION"
as the only cure for all vice whatsoever*

To give what we have to say its proper force, we
must consider the real character of the writer. Apuleius,
of Madaura in Afric, was a devoted Platonist ; and,
like the Platonists of that age, an inveterate enemy to
Christianity. His zeal for the honour of philosophy is
seen in that solemn affirmation, when convened before
a court of justice, "Philosophic honorem qui mini
" salute mea antiquior est, nusquam minui *." His
superstitious attachment to the Religion of his country,
is seen in his immoderate fondness for the MYSTERIES.
He was initiated, as himself tells us, into almostull of
them : and, in some, bore the most distinguished

offices. In his Apology before the proconsul of
Africa, he says, " Vin dicam, cujusmodi illas res in
" sudario obvolutas, Ian bus Pontiani commendarirn ?
" Mos tibi geretur. Sacrorum pleraque Initia m
" Grcecia participavi. Eorum quaedam signa & mo-
" numenta tradita mihi a sacerdotibus sedulo conservo.
" Nihil insoiitum, nihil incognitum dico: vel unius
" Liberi Patris Symrnistae, qui adestis, scitis, quid
1 domi conditum celetis, & absque omnibus profanis
" tacite Yeneremini. At ego, ut dijci, multijuga sacra
" et plurimos ritus, varias ceremoniaS) STUDIO VERI
" et qfficio erga Deos, didicl Nee hoc ad tempus
" compono: sed abhinc ferme triennium est, cum

* .Apologia, p. 114. Ed. Pricaei ? Par. 1635. 410. in fine.

v " primis

172 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

" primis diebus quibus OEam veneram, ptiblice dis-
" serens de jEscuLAPii MAJESTATE eadem ista prce
" me tuli, & quot sacra nossein percensui. Ea
tc disputatio celebratissima est ; vulgo legitur; in om-
" nium manibus versatur ; non tarn facundia mea,
" quam mentione Jisculapii religiosis OEensibus
* r comrnendata. - Etiamne euiquam mirurn videri
" potest, cui sit ulla memoria religionis, komincm tot
" Mysteriis Deum consciuni qussdam sacrorum ere-
" pundia domi adservare :Xc ?" His attachment to the
open worship of Paganism was not inferior to that of the
secret, as appears by what follows from the same Apo
logy : " Morem mihi habeo, quoquo earn, simulacrum
ic aiicujus Dei inter libellos conditurn gestare : eique
4C diebus festis thure & inero & aliquando victimis
^ supplicare |/ His great devotion to Paganism,
therefore, must needs have been attended with an equal
aversion to Christianity ; and it is more than probable^
that the oration he speaks of as made in honour of
yEsculapiuSy was in the number of those INVECTIVES, at
that time so well received by the enemies of our holy
faith. For, not to insist on the success of his oration,
\vhicu, he tells us, was in every body s hands, a thing
common to discourses on subjects that engage the
public attention, but rarely the fortune of such stale
ware as panegyrics on a God long worn into aa
establishment ; not, I say, to insist upon this, we may
observe that jEsculapius was one of those ancient
heroes- J,. who were employed, by the defenders of

* Apologia, pp. 63 4. t Ibid. p. 72. lin. 5.

Justin Martyr. Apol. 2. * ors

a-vTot voaoitj xeil vtKe&&amp;lt;; civtyt^Tvj re*

- - See Cyriil. coat. Julian. 1. vi..

Paganism,

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 173

Paganism, to oppose to JESUS ; and the circumstances
of /Esculapius s story made him the fittest of any in
fabulous antiquity, for that purpose. Ovid, who lived
before these times of danger to the pagan Gods, and
indeed, before the coming of that Deliverer who gave
occasion to so many impious comparisons, hath yet
made Ochirroe, in contemplation of his future actions,
prophesy of him in such strains as presented to his
excellent Translator the image of the true physician of
mankind ; and thereby enabled him to give a sublime to
his version, which is not borrowed from his original :

Ergo ubi vaticinos concepit mente furores,
Incaluitque Deo, quern clausum pectore habebat ;
Aspicit infantem, totique salutifer orbi
Cresce puer, dixit : tibi se mortalia ssepe
Corpora debebunt : animas tibi reddere ademptas
Fas erit. Idque semel, dis indignantibus, ausus,
Posse dare hoc iterum flamma prohibebere avita :
Eque deo corpus fies exsangue; deusque,
Qui mod6 corpus eras, & bis tua fata novabis.

OVID.

Once as the sacred infant she surveyed,
The God was kindled in the raving maid,
And thus she utter d her prophetic tale :
" Hail, great physician of the world, all hail ;
" Hail, mighty Infant, who in years to come,
u Shalt heal the nations and defraud the tomb ;
" Swift be thy growth, thy triumphs unconfin d
" Make kingdoms thicker, and increase mankind.
" Thy daring art shall animate the dead,
" And draw the thunder on thy guilty head :

" Then shalt thou die. But from the dark abode

" Rise up victorious, and be twice a God."

ADDISON*.
Bat

174 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

But the Reformers of Paganism having lately re
solved all the Popular Gods into the Attributes and
Manifestations of the FIRST CAUSE, JEsculapius bore
a very distinguished rank in this new Model. Pausanias
fells us, that in Phocis there was a celebrated Temple
dedicated to him, where he was worshipped as the
Author and original of all things*.

Having seen what there was in the common passion
of his Sect, and in his own fond mode of superstition,
to indispose Apuleius to Christianity ; let us inquire
what private provocation he might have to prejudice
him against it : for, a private provocation, I am per
suaded, he had ; occasioned by a personal injury done
him by one of THIS PROFESSION; which, I suppose,
did not a little contribute to exasperate his bigotry.
He had married a rich widow, against the good liking
of her first husband s Relations; who endeavoured to
set aside the marriage on pretence of his employing
sorcery and enchantments to engage her affections.
Of this, he was judicially accused by his wife s brother-
in-law, Licinius j^Emilianus, before the Procunsul of
Africa. Now his Accuser, if I am not much mis
taken, was a CHRISTIAN, though this interesting
circumstance hath escaped the notice of his commen
tators. However, let us hear the character Apuleius
himself gives of his Party. " Atqui ego scio nonnul-
los, etcum primis JEmiKanum istum 9 jfocGtue sibi habere
res divinas deridere. Nam, ut audio, percensentibus
iis qui istum novere, NULLI DEO ad hoc avi suppli-

cavit; nuUumtemplumfrcquentavit* Si fanum aliquod
it

V \\\ O / rp ft / /?]} 1 *A &gt; ~*

^ Ap%yTa$. Tipai; $1 vrot^ot, afluv t^ti TiQo^sui, K^ ITT/ITIJC
&gt;.iuv rur oAXwx. Lib. x. c. xxxii. pag. 879. Edit. Kuhnii,
tbl Lips. 1696.

praetereat.

Sect. 4,] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 17.5

prsetereat, NEFAS HABETADORANDI GRATIA MANUM
LABRIS ADMOVEUE. Iste vero nee diis rurationis,
qui eum pascunt ac vestiunt, segetis ullas aut vitis aut
gregis primitias impartit ; nullum in villa cjus delubrum
situm, nee locus aut lucus consecratus. At quid ego
de luco aut delubro loquor ? Negant vidisse se, qui
Juere, unum saltern infinibus ejus aut lapidem unctutn,
aut ramum coronatum. Igitur agnomenta ei duo
indita: Charon, ob oris et animi dint at em: sed alterum,
quod LIBENTIUS AUDIT, ob deorum contemptum,
Mezentius*" And now let us see how this agrees
with what Arnobius tells us, the Pagans objected to
his Sect " In hac enim consuestis parte crimen
nobis maximum impietatis affigere, quod neque tedes
sacras venerationis ad Officia construamus, nee Deorum
aliayus simulacrum constituamus, aut formam : non
alt aria fabricemus, non aras, non cassorum sanguinem
animantium dem.us, non tura, non frugas salsas, non
denique vinum liquens paterarum efFusionibus infera-
mus. Quas quidem nos cessainus non ideo vel
exasdificare, vel facere tanquam impias geramus 8$ see-
lerosas mentes, aut aliquem sumpserimus temeraria in
Deos desperatione CONTEMPTUM: sed quod, &c. f
Again, where Apuleius apostrophises his adversary in
another place, he says, agreeably to the Character

before given of him si QUID CREDIS, jEmiliane !

and again, after explaining a spiritual doctrine of Plato,

he adds with a sneer attainen si audire VFRUM

velis, yEmeliane ! But the repetition of this charac
teristic word with an ironical emphasis in his constant
formula when he addresses ^Emilianus, longe a VE#O

Apol. p. 64, 5. f Arnob. adver. Gentes. L.vii. svjb init.
J P. 26. p. H ,

aberrasse

176 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

aberrasse nccesse habeat confiteri * Immo si

VERUII velisf plane quidem si VERUM velis J.

i. Now, irreligion and atheism, we know, were the
names Christianity at that time went by, for having
dared to renounce the whole family of the gentile Gods
together. To this opprobrium, Origcn alludes, when
he retorts it on Polytheism, in this elegant manner
tl isrsp} &lt;yi&fA*TWf xj rijf A0EOT Ts-oAuOsorrfldf . ^Emilianus
we see had made such clear work, that there was not
so much as an anointed stone, or a tree adorned with
consecrated garlands, to be found throughout his whole
Farm. That the Atheism of ^Emilianus was of this
sort, and no courtly or philosophic impiety, appears
from his Character and Station. He was neither a
fine Gentleman, nor a profound Inquirer into nature ;
characters indeed which are sometimes found to be
above Religion ; but a mere Rustic, in his life and
manners. Now plain, unpolished men, in such a con
dition of life, are never without some Religion or
other : When therefore, we find yEmilianus not of the
established, we must needs conclude him to be a
Sectary and a CHRISTIAN. 2. His neglect of his
country Gods was not a mere negative affront of for-
getfulness. He gloried in being their despiser; and
took kindly to the name of MEZENTIUS, as a title of

honour alterum, quod libentius audit, ob deorum

contemptum, Mezentias, which I would consider as a
further mark of a Christian, convict. 3. He even held
it an abomination so much as to put his hand to his
lips, (according to the mode of adoration in those times)
when he passed by an Heathen Temple ; nefas habet,
adorandi gratia, manum labris admovere, the most
characteristic mark of a primitive Confessor, by which
t P. 77. t P- 98, * P. 108.

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 177

he could never be mistaken ; nor, one would think, so
long overlooked *. 4. By the frequent and sarcastical
repetition of the word verum, Apuleius seems to sneer
at that general title which the Faithful gave their
Religion, of THE TRUTH.

jEmilianus, it seems, had misrepresented a little
image of Mercury, which Apuleius used to carry
about with him, as a squalid magical figure. On
which occasion the Accused, in great rage, deprecates

his Accuser " At tibi, ^miliane^ pro isto menda-

cio, duat Deus iste, Superum & Inferum commeator
utrorumque Deorum malam gratiam, semperqtie ob-
vias species mortuorum, quidquid Umbrarum est
Usqiiam, quidquid Lemurum, quidquid Manium, quid-
quid Larvarum, oculis tuis oggerat : Omriia noctium
occursacula, omnia Bustorum formidamina, omnia
sepulcrorum terriculamenta"~ r l\\\s was the common
curse and supposed to be the common punishment of
impiety and Atheism. But it has here a peculiar
elegance as denounced against ^Emilianus. The
Busta, or Repository of dead bodies, so abhorred by
the Pagans, were the very places in which the Chris
tians assembled for nocturnal Worship.

The aversion, therefore, which Apuleius had con
tracted to his Christian accuser, (and we see, by what
is here said,^ it was in no ordinary degree) would
without doubt increase his prejudice to that Religion.
I am persuaded he gave the Character of the Baker s
wife, in his Golden Ass, for no other reason than to
outrage our holy faith. Having drawn her stained
with all the vices that could deform a Woman ; to
finish all, he makes her a Christian. " Nee eniin

* See note [EE].at the end of this Book.

VOL, II. N " vel

*78 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

" vel unimi vitium nequissimae illi feminas deerat :

" sed omnia prorsus, uf in quandam coenosam latrinam,

(i in ejus animam flagitia conftuxerant, sa?va, viriosa,

" ebriosa, pervicax, in rapinis turpibus avara, in sump-

61 tibus fcedis profusa : inimka fider, hostis pudicitice.

&lt;c Tune spretis atque calcatis dioinis nujninibus, IN

" VICEM CERf JE RElIGIONIS MEN TITA SACRILEGA
" PR^ESUMPTIONE DEI, QUEM PR^DICARET UNICUM,
" CONFICTIS OBSERVATION! BUS, VAC U IS, fallens

" omrres homines/ 8$c *. So again in the fourth
book, describing certain magmfic Shows exhibited to
the people by one Demochares ; when he coiiaes to
speak of the criminals thrown to wild-beasts, he

expresses himself in this manner: Alibi noxii,

PKRDITA SECURITATE,- suis epulis bestiaiTirn saginas
rnstruentes [p. 72.] The Oxf. MS. for securitate reads
xrccritate : on which Price observes, ego nee hoc nee
ill ud uil dlectum habco. Apuleius by noxii apparently
meant the condemned Christians ; and pcrdita securi-
tdtc, which is the true reading, censures either their
reasonable hope of a happy immortality, or their false
confidence that the beasts would not hurt them.

Let us see now how this would influence his writ*
ings. There was nothing the PHILOSOPHERS of that
time had more at heart, especially the Platonists and
Pythagoreans, than the support of sinking Paganism,
This service, as hath been occasionally remarked,
they performed in various ways and manners : some
by allegorizing thejr Theology ; some by spiritualizing
their Philosophy ; and some, as Jamblicus and Phi-
lostratus, by writing the lives of their Heroes, to op
pose to that of CHRIST ; others again, as Porphyry,
with this view collected their oracles ; or as Melan-

* Met, 1, ix, p. 186, Ed. -Pricfci,

thius,

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 179

thius, Menander, Hicesius, and Sotades, wrote de
scriptive encomiums on their MYSTERIES. Which
last, as we shall now shew, was the province under
taken by Apuleius ; his Metamorphosis being nothing
else but one continued RECOMMENDATION of them.

But to give what we have to say its proper force ;
let us, i . enquire into the motives our Author might
have for entering at all into the defence of Paganism :

2. His reasons for choosing this topic of defence, the
recommendation of the Mysteries,

1. As to his defence of paganism in general, we
may observe, i. That works of this kind were very
much in fashion, especially amongst the Philosophers
of our author s Sect. 2. He was, as we have seen,
most superstitiously devoted to pagan worship : and,

3. He bore a personal spite and prejudice to the
Christian profession.

2. As to his making the defence of the Mysteries
his choice, still stronger reasons may be assigned.
i . These were the Rites to which he was so pecu
liarly devoted, that he had contrived to be initiated
into all the Mysteries of note, in the Roman world ;
and in several of them had borne the most distin
guished offices. 2. The Mysteries being at this time
become extremely corrupt, and consequently, in dis
credit, needed an able and zealous Apologist : both of
which qualities met eminently in Apuleius. The
corruptions were of tv* o kinds, DEBAUCHERIES and
MAGIC. The l)ebauchcries we have taken notice of,
above: their Magic will be considered hereafter.
But, 3. Our author s close attachment to Mysterious
rites was, without question, the very thing that occa-
?- a N 2 sioned

i8o THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II,

sioned all those suspicions and reports, which ended
in an accusation of Magic: And, considering what
hath been said of the corrupt state of the Mysteries,
the reader will not wonder that it should.

Such then being the general character of the Mys
teries, and of this their great Devotee, nothing was
more natural than his projecting their defence ; which,
at the same time that it concurred to fhe support of
Paganism in general, would vindicate his own credit,
together with an Institution of which he was so immo
derately fond. And the following considerations are
sufficient to shew, that the Metamorphosis was writ
ten after his Apology: for, i. His accusers never
once mention the fable of the Golden A&s to support
their charge of Magic, though they were in great
want of proofs, and this lay so ready for their purpose.
For, we are not to suppose that he alludes to the Me*
tamorphosis in the following words of the Apology,

Aggredior enim jam ad ipsum erimen Magi& 9

quod ingenti tumultu, ad invidiam mei, accensum,
frustrata expectatione omnium, per nescio quas anileis
fabulas deflagravit. pp. 29, 30. The idle tales here
hinted at, are the gossiping stories which went about
of him, and which he afterwards exposes in the course
of this defence. 2. He positively asserts before the
tribunal of Maximus Claudius, that he had never
given the least occasion to suspect him of Magic:
" Nusqtiam passus sum vel exiguam suspicionem
" magia consistere *."

Now Antiquity considered INITIATION INTO -THE
MYSTERIES as a delivery from a living death of vice,
brutality, and misery, and the beginning of anew life

* P. loo, lin. 11.

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 181

tf virtue, reason, and happiness *. This, therefore,
M r as the very circumstance which our Author chose
for the subject of his recommendation.

And as in the Mysteries, their moral and divine
truths were represented in shows and allegories, so,
in order to comply with this method of instruction,
and in imitation of the ancient Masters of wisdom f,
who borrowed their manner of teaching from thence,
he hath artfully insinuated his doctrine in an agree^
able Fable ; and the fittest, one could conceive for
his purpose, as will be seen when we cpme to exa
mine it.

The foundation of this Allegory was a Milesian
Fable, a species of polife trifling then much in vogue,
and not unlike the modern Arabian tales. To allure
his readers, therefore, with the promise of a. fashionable
work, he introduces his Metamorphosis in this man
ner : At ego tibi sermone isto Milesio varias fabidas
conseram, AURESQUE TUAS benevolas lepido susurro
PERMULCEAMJ plainly intimating that there was
something of more consequence at bottom. But the
fashionable people took him at his word; and, from
that day to this, never troubled their heads about a
further meaning. The OUTSIDE engaged all their at
tention, and sufficiently delighted them; as we may

teries.

See what hath been said above, in the discourse of the Mvs

f Strabo acquaints us with the inducements which the ancients
had to practise this method of Instruction. "Or** 7* -arpo^ ^

T? favftMrOf X.J TO Tt0,TU$S&lt;; , twflwtl T&gt;2 q^OVW, TJ7TS ff] rS ftaV0ytkF

T?? yfamcti; ITT* T^v rut Q!\UV pa&yffy ayetv, r^n Tyq ^a,vcikct$ tfpupsvriS,
pvflun $0(4fiiY)&lt;; KoXattuv. Kai lhurv}&lt;; $e &gt;&,&lt;; &gt;c uv^at-Sloq, roncf

, ,

^j er, fyfajivfot rt v&lt;ravTa&lt;;. Geog. 1. i. p, 19. A. Edit

Paris, fol. 1620,

N 3 gather

i82 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II,

gather from the early title it bore of ASINUS AUREUS.
And, from the beginning of one of Pliny s epistles, I
suspect that AURE^E was the common title given to
the Milesian, and such like tales as Strolers used to
tell for a piece of money to the rabble in a circle.
Pliny s words are these assein para, et accipe AU-
REAM fabulam*. Unless we will rather suppose it
to have been bestowed by the few intelligent readers
in the secret; for, in spite of the Author s repeated
preparation, a secret it was, and so, all along conti
nued.

Upon one of these popular Fables, he chose to in
graft his instruction ; taking a celebrated Tale from
the collections of one Lucius of Patrse ; who relates
his transformation into an Ass, and his adventures
under that shape. Lucian has epitomised this story,
as Apuleius seems to have paraphrased it : and the
subject being a METAMORPHOSIS, it admirably fitted
his purpose; as the METEMPSYCHOSIS, to which that
superstition belongs, was one of the fundamental doc
trines of the fyfysteries. But from Photius s account
of Lucius Patrencis one would be inclined to rank
him amongst those who composed books of Metamor
phosis [see B. iii. Sect. 3.] according to the popular
Theology, rather than a writer of Milesian fables.
He entitles Lucius s work pija/^pcw-w Xoyot &foi*i.
And after having said that Lucian borrowed his Ass
from thence, to ridicule pagan religion, he goes on f ;
" but Lucius giving a more serious turn to his Meta-

* L. ii. Ep. 20.

f o ^ As*^ cr-jraooifyv rt, xj rra? vopl
J.X?i&gt;;Xtfc /x/]^,o^a;&lt;T&lt;, Tciq rs 1% uhoyav a? ct
ov ruv I1AAAI17N MY0S2N t/0Aoy xj Q

xj crt/y^atyov, BibL Ed. Gen, p. 311.

morphosisj

Sect. 4-] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 183
jmorphosis, and treating as realities these changes of
Men into one another, of Men into Beasts, and so .on
$he contrary, hath weaved together these and many
pther of the trifles and absurdities of the Ancient
Mythology, and committed them to writing for the
.entertainment of the Public." This will account for
the oddness of Apuleiujs s expressions, with which he

.introduces his Fable Et figuras fortunasque ho-

jninuni in alias imagines conversas t in se rursurn

MUTUO NEXU refectas, ut rnireris, exordior, -

words by no means suiting with the single transforrna-
jtion, and story of the golden ass, but very expressive
,of the nature of such a work as that of Lucius Pa-
trensis, according to the idea which Photius gives us
of it. From whence I conclude, that Apuleius might
translate these very words from his original author.

J O

The Fable opens with the representation of a young
pnan, personated by himself, sensible of the advantages
of virtue and piety, but immoderately fond of PLEA
SURE, and as curious of MAGIC, Apuleius takes care
to keep up the first part of this character as he goes
along, fa? ni Harts CURIOSITATIS admonitus, 1. \\\.J ami*
liari CURIOSITATE attonitus, 1. ix. And Curiosus
and Magus were used by the Antients as Synonymous.
So Apuleius himself At ego CURIOS us alioquin, ut
primum ART is MAGICS semper optattum nomen audivi,
p. 24. Hence it is that he is represented as having
been initiated in all the corrupt Mysteries, where Ma
gic was professedly practised. Foils, the inferior
Priestess irj the magic rites of the Inchantress, Pam?
phile, enjoining him silence, says, sacris phiribus mi-
tiatus, profecto nosti sanctam silentii fidem^. As to,
^he second, we have his adventure with Byrrhena and

* P. 53-

N 4 Pamphile,

i4 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

Pampkile, which seems to be borrowed from Prodicus s
fable of the contest between Virtue and Pleasure for
the young Hercules. Byrrhena meets our adventurer,
pretends to be his relation *, and tells him that she
brought him up from his infancy : by which is intimated
that virtue was most natural to him. She leads him
home to her house, which is described as a magnificent
palace : one of its principal ornaments is the history of
Diana j- ; where the punishment of Actaeon is not
forgotten J, as a seasonable lesson against vicious cu
riosity. And to keep him to herself, she promises to
make him heir of all her fortunes. Then tajcing him
apart, she warns him to beware of the mischievous
practices of his hostess Pamphile. " Per hanc, inquit,
" Deam (Dianam) 6 Luci carissime, ut anxie tibi
" metuo, et, utpote pignori meo, longe provisum cupio,
" cave tibi, sed cave fortiter, a malis artibus, et
" facinorosis illecebris Pamphiles illius, MAGA
" primi nominis, et omnis carminis sepulcralis magistra
" creditor : quag surculis et lapillis, et id genus frivolis
" inhalatis, omnem istam lucem mundi sideralis imis
" Tartari, et in vetustum chaos submergere novit.
" Nam cum quemquam conspexerit speciosas fonnae
" juvenem, vermstate ejus sumitur : et illico," &?c.

But Lucius makes a choice very different from that
of Herculesl He had promised to observe Byrrhena s

* Ego te, o Luci, meis istis manibus educavi: quidni ? parentis
luce non modo sanguinis, verum aiimoniarum etiam socia fui,
P- 23-

t Ecce lapis Parius in Dianam factus tenet libratum totius loci
medietatern, signum perfecte luculentum, introeuntibus obvium,
& majestate numinis venerabile, &c. p. 22.

J Inter medias frondes lapidis Actaeonis simulacrum, curioso
obtutu in dorsum projectus, &c. p. 23*

; I admonitions,;

Sect. 4-] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 185

admonitions, and to return to her again : but a cir
cumstance of immoderate mirth intervening, he found
in himself a more than ordinary aversion to keep his
word. Ad haec ego formidans et procul perhorrescens
tiam ipsam domum ejus, c. * This is a fine cir
cumstance, nothing being so great an enemy to modesty
and chastity (figured in the person of Byrrhena) as
immoderate mirth. He gives a loose to his vicious
appetite for Pleasure and Magic : and the crimes and
follies into which they lead him soon end in his trans
formation to a BRUTE.

This contrivance of the introductory part is artful;
and finely insinuates the great moral of the piece,

THAT BRUTALITY ATTENDS VICE AS IT S PUNTSH-

MENT : and punishment by actual transformation was
keeping up to the popular opinion |. Uis making a
passion for Magic contribute to this dreadful change
is no less ingenious, as it cleared both himself and the
Mysteries from that imputation ; for it appeared that
Magic was so far froiii being innocent, that in his
opinion, it was attended with the severest punishment ;
so far from being encouraged \)j the Mysteries, that
they only could relieve men from the distresses which
this vicious curiosity brought upon it s votaries ; as is
shewn by the catastrophe of the Piece.

St. Austin permitted himself to doubt whether
Apuleius s account of his change into an ASS was not
a true relation. Sicut Apuleius, in libris tjuos Asinl
aurei titulo mscripsit, sibi ipsi accidis.se, ut accepto
veneno, humano ammo pennanente, asinus jicret, AUT

I shall say nothing to so

P. 51- t See B, iii. Sect 3.

Civ, Dei, 1. xviii, c. 18,

extravagant

*86 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

extravagant a doubt, but only observe, that it appears
from hence, that St. Austin esteemed Apuleius a pro
fligate in his manners, and addicted to the superstitions
of Magic. And yet it is by no means credible, that
he who took so much pains, in a very serious and
public way*, to free himself from these imputations,
should afterwards wantonly undo all he had so success
fully performed in support of a doubtful reputation,
by an unnecessary narrative of his own carjy debau
cheries. But it may be said&gt; that all this happened
in his youth ; and that his subsequent Initiations had
purified his manners : But neither will his APOLOGY
admit of this supposition ; for there he expressly insists
pn the virtue of his youth. " De eloquentia vero,
" si qua mini ftiisset, neque mirum, ncque inyidiosiun
tfc deberet videri, si ab ineunte &vo unis studiis littera-
rum ex summis viribus deditus, omnibus aliis spretis
" voluptatibus ad hoc &lt;zvi, haud sciarn anne super
" omneis homines Impenso labore, diuque noctuque,
" cum despectu et dispendio bonre valetudinis, earn
" qusesissem Quis enirn me hoc quidem pacto
" eloquentior vivat ? quippe qui nihil unquam cogitavi
" quod eloqui non auderem. Eundein me aio facun-
Ci dissimum ; nam omne peccatum semper nefas habuL
" Eundem disertissimum ; quod nullum meum factum
4i vel dictum extct, de, quo disserere publice non.
* possim f." What have we then to conclude but
that the representation of himself in this Fable, under
a debauched character, is entirely feigned ? Yet still it
would be as absurd to imagine that a grave and moral
Philosopher should chuse to exhibit himself to the
public in the odious, and false light of a Magician and

* His Apology, f P. 6. lin. 10.

Debauchee i

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 187

Debauchee ; and take a pleasure in dwelling upon the
horrors of so detestable a Character, for no other pur
pose than to amuse and entertain a set of dissolute
readers. We must needs therefore go a step further,
and conclude that he assumed it only for the sake of
the GENERAL MORAL, and the better to carry on his
Allegory ; which was, to recommend the MYSTERIES
as the certain cure for all the DISORDERS OF THE

WILL.

This being his end, he was but too much encouraged
by the example of the most moral of the ancient Sa
tirists, to particularize the various maladies to which he
was applying a remedy. Let this, and his copying only
what he found in his original Author, stand for some
kind of excuse in a wretched Pagan ; and it is the best
we have, for all the obscenities with which his Fable
abounds.

But to proceed with his plan. Having now shewn
himself thoroughly brutalized by his crimes ; he goes
on to represent at large the miseries of that condition,
in a long detail of his misadventures ; in the course of
which he fell, by turns, under the dominion of every
vicious passion ; though the incidents are chiefly con
fined to the mischiefs of unlawful love : And this, with
much judgment, as one of the principal ends of the
Mysteries was to curb and subdue this inordinance,
which brings more general and lasting misery upon
Mankind than all the other. And as it was the great
jnoral of his piece to show that pure religion (such as
a platonic Philosopher esteemed pure) was the only
remedy for human corruption ; so, to prevent the abuse
or mistake of this capital Principle, he takes care to
inform us, that an attachment to superstitious and
corrupt Religion ekes but plunge th& wretched victim

into

188 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II,

into still greater miseries. This he finely illustrates,
in the history of his adventures with the BEGGING
PRIESTS OF CYBELE, whose enormities are related in
the eighth and ninth books; and whose CORRUPT
MYSTERIES are intended as a contrast to the PURE
RITES OF Isis: With which, in a very studied de
scription and encomium, he concludes the Fable.

In the mean time, matters growing from bad to worse,
and Lucius plunged deeper and deeper in the sink of
vice, his affairs come to a crisis. For this is one great
beauty in the conduct of the Fable, that every change
of station, while he remains brute, makes his condition
still more wretched and deplorable. Arid being now
(in the ninth book) about to perpetrate one. of the most
shocking enormities; NATURE, though, so deeply
brutalized, REVOLTS ; he abhors the idea of his pro
jected crime ; he evades his keepers ; he flics to the
sea-shore ; and, in this solitude, begins to reflect more
seriously on his lost condition. This is finely imagined ;
for we often see men, even after a whole life of horrors,
come suddenly to themselves on the hideous aspect of
some Monster-vice top frightful even for an hardened
Reprobate to bear. Nor is it with less judgment that
the Author makes these beginnings of reformation con
firmed by solitude ; when the unhappy victim of
PLEASURE hath broken loose from the companions
and partakers of his follies.

And now, a more intimate acquaintance with his
hopeless condition obliges him to fly to Heaven for
relief. The MOON is in full splendour; and the aw
ful silence of the night inspires him with sentiments
of Religion. " Video pnemicantis Lunae candore
" nimio completum orbem, nactusque opaca? noctis
" silentiosa secreta, certus etiam SUMMATEM DEAMC

" pnecipiu\

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 189

" praecipua majestate pollere, resque prorsus humanas
" ipsius regi providentia" etc*. Pie then purifies
himself in the manner prescribed by PYTHAGORAS f ;
the Philosopher most addicted to Initiations of all
the early Sages, as Apuleius, of all the later ; and so
makes his prayer to the Moon or Isis; invoking her
by her several names of the Eleusinian Ceres., the
celestial Venus, Diana and Proserpine : when betaking
himself to repose, she appears to him in a dream .
This was not a circumstance of the Fabulist s mere
invention. Pausanias tells us " that in Phocis there
" was a Chapel consecrated to Isis, of all the places
" of worship, which the Greeks erected to this Egyp-
" tian Goddess, by far the most holy : that to this
" sacred place it was not lawful for any to approach,
" but such whom the Goddess had invited, and ap-
" peared to, in a Dream, for that purpose ." Here

* P. 238.

f meque protinus, purificandi studio, marino lavacro trado :
septiesque submerse fluctibus capite, quod eum numerum prascipue
religion! aptissimum divinus ille Pythagoras prodidit p. 238.

I Artemidorus says, that for a man to dream that Ceres, Pro
serpine, or Bacchus appears to him, betokens some extraordinary
good fortune to happen to him. Au/^TJSf ^ Ko ^ xj o htyoptvss
Io.%X i & TOK; [/,[j,vvi[/.vois Ta?V Sta?? otyuQov TI ) a TO Tu^or t&opivov
cypxivovo-i. 1. iv. c. 44. The ancient ONIROCRITICS, as we have
observed, B. iv. Sect, 4. were not founded on the arbitrary fancies
of the impostors who professed that art, but on the customs and
superstitions of the times, and with a principal reference to th
Egyptian HIEROGLYPHICS and MYSTERIES.

TS o\ Ao~x.hv)7rix / ETpi T&lt;T&lt;7a^a&gt;to/Ia 9rep r^^itfi Ctffpi woAoj, x^
ctotflov iigov Icrifro; ccyiuralGy OTTOPOI, v AA&gt;jv; Qev Tn Alyvjfliix SftTrdr^lui.
Ourt yxp V9ft9UUtt iflav$a&gt; ol T0opai&lt;V vojAtfyvcrtv, T fa"o^o&lt;; 1{ ri
tzovlov .?^VOK yt y xt;voK sr^? y? v entire Zofo/Yx.Jjo aaat 59 "lo jf xctXecri}

c&lt;pz&lt;; &lt;V itvir/w. Lib. x, c. 3-2. p, 880. Edit. Kuhaii, Lips, fol,
1696.

she

igo THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

she appears under the SHINING IMAGE so much spoken
of by the Mystics, as representing the divine nature
, in general*. " Necdum satis conniveram : et ecce
" pelago rnedio, venerandos Diis etiam vultus attol-
" lens, emergit dvoina fades, ac dehinc paulatim toto
" corpore PER LUCIDUM SIMULACRUM, excusso pe-
" lago, ante me constitisse visum est. Ejus miran-
" dam speciem ad vos etiam referre connitar Corona
" multiformis, variis floribus sublimen distinxerat
^ verticem : cujus media quidem super fronte plana
" rotunditas, candidurn lumen ernicabat. Dextra
" laevaque sulcis msurgentium viperarum cohibita,
" spicis etiam Cerealibus desuper porrectis. Et quae
" longe longeque etiam meum confutabat obtutum,
" palla nigerrima, splendescens atro nitore; qua?
" circum circa remeans, per intextam extremitatem,
" et in ipsa orae planitie, stelltf dispersae coruscabant:
" earumque media semestris Luna flammeos spirabat
" ignes. Dextera quidem ferebat ccreum crepitacu-
" lum: cujus per angustam laminam in modum bal-
" thei recurvatam, trajectae mediae paucae virgulaa,
". crispante brachio tergeminos jactus, reddebant, ar-
" gutum soniturnf." These several symbolic Attri
butes, the lucid Round, the snakes, the ears of corn,
and the sistnmi, represent the tutelar Deities of the
Hecatcean, Bacchic, Ekusinian and Isiac MYSTERIES.
That is, MYSTIC RITES IN GENERAL; for whose sake
the allegory was invented. As the black Palla in
which she is wrapped, embroidered with a silver
moon, and stars, denotes the TIME, in which the
Mysteries were celebrated, namely the dead of NIGHT;
which was so constant and inseparable a circumstance,
that the author calls initiation, NOCTIS SOCIETAS.

* See above, p. 144. note (). f P. 239, 240.

Sect 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 191

In her speech to Lucius she gives this extraordinary
account of herself, " En assum, tuis commota Luci
" precibus, RERUM NATURA PARENS, elementoruui
" omnium Domina, saeculorum progenies initialis,
" Summa numinum, llegina manium, Prima ccelitum,
11 Deorum Dearumque facies uniformis : qurc coeli
" luminosa culmina, maris salubria flamina, inferorum
" deplorata silentia nutibus meis dispenso. Cujus
4C numen unicum, multiformi specie, ritu vario, nomine
" multijugo totus venemtur orbis priscaque doctrina
" pollentes ^EGYPTII, ceremoniis me prorsus PRO-
" PRIIS percolentes, appellant vero nomine reginam
" ISIDEM*." This was exactly adapted to the de
sign of the Mysteries ; and preparatory to the com
munication of the AIIOPPHTA. It had likewise this
further use, to patch up and recommend the PAGAN
RELIGIONS; by shewing that their Polytheism con
sisted in nothing else than in giving the SUPREME Goi&gt;
various NAMES, merely expressive of his various
ATTRIBUTES. This was the fashionable colouring,
which, after the appearance of Christianity, the advo
cates of paganism employed to blanch their IDOLA
TRY. I will only observe further, that the words,
JEgyptii ceremoniis me prorsus propriis pcrcolentes,
insinuate, what was true, that all MYSTERIOUS WOR
SHIP came first from ./EGYPT; this people having
penetrated furthest into the nature of the Gods: As
the calling HER, who represents the Mysteries in gene
ral, RERUM NATURA PARENS, shews plainly what
were the AIIOPPHTA of them all.

PARENT NATURE then reveals to Lucius the means
ef his recovery. Her festival was on the following
day; when, there was to be a Procession of her Vota*

* P. -241,

lies.

192 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book li
nes. The Priest who led it up (she told him) wotila
have a chaplet of ROSES in his hand, which had the
virtue to restore him to his former shape, But as
breaking through a habit of vice is, of all things, the
most difficult; she adds encouragements to her pro
mises, " nee quidquam rerun* mearum reformides,
" ut arduumv Nam hoc eodem momento, quo tibf
" venio, simul et ibi PRJESENS, quae sunt consequentia
" sacerdoti meo per quietem facienda praecipio*."
Alluding to what was taught in the Mysteries, that
the assistance of Heaven was always present to second
the efforts of virtue. But in return for the favour of
releasing him from his brutal shape, i. e. of reforming
his manners by Initiation, she tells him she expected
the service of his whole life ; And tins, the Mysteries
required ; Nor should her service (she said) go unre
warded, for he should have a place in ELYSIUM
hereafter; And this, too, the Mysteries promised.
" Plane mernineris, et penita mente conditum semper
" tenebis, mi hi reliqua vit& tute curricula, ad usque
" terminos ultimi spiritus vadata. Nee injuriumy
" cujus benencio retlieris ad homines ei totum debere
" quod vives. Vives autem beatiis, vives, in mea
44 tutela, gloriosus : et cum spatium seculi tui per-
" mensus ad inferos demearis; ibi quoque in ipso
" subterraneo semirotundo, me, quamvides Acherontis
" tenebris interlucentem, stygiisque penetralibus reg-
" nantem, CAMPOS ELYSIOS incokns ipse, tibi pro-
" piliam frequens adorabis j ."

Lucius is at length confirmed in his resolution of
aspiring to a life of virtue. And on this change of
his dispositions, and intire conquest of his passions,
the Author finely represents all Nature as putting on

* P. 242. f Ibid.

anew

Sect 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 193

a new face of chearfulness and gaiety. " Tanta hila^
" ritudine praeter peculiarem meam gestire mihi
" cuncta videbantur; ut pecua etiam cujuscemodi,
" et totas domes, et ipsum ,diem serena facie gaudere
" sentirem *." And to enjoy Nature, in these her
best conditions, was the boasted privilege of the
Initiated^ as we may see from a Chorus in the Frogs
-of Aristophanes f.

And now the Procession, in honour of Is is, begins-
Where by the way, we -must observe, that the twojirst
days of the -celebration of the Eleusinian Mysteries
are plainly described : the one called AFTPMO2, from
the multitude assembled ; the other AAA2E MT2TAI,
from the Procession made to the sea-shore. " Tune
" influunt Turba sacris divinis initiates J jam ripam
" marls proximamus ." The Priest or Hierophant
of the Rites leads up the train of the Initiated with
a garland of Roses in his hand. Lucius approaches^
-devours the Roses, and, according to the promise of
the Goddess, is restored to his native form : by which,
as we have said, no more was meant than a change of
Manners, from vice to virtue. And this the author
plainly intimates by making the Goddess thus address
Mm under his brutal Figure, " pessimoe mihique de~
" testabilis jamdudum belua? istius coj io ie protinus
^ exue ||." For an Ass was so far from being detest-
able, that it was employed in the celebration of her
rites; and was ever found in the retinue of Osiris or
Bacchus. The garland plainly represents that which

* P. 243. $ P. 245.

f Me iwj yap YIIMV YI AI-.
Kat ^77^- b*tf& trot
"Otrot ^(j.w^ Act. i.
P. 249. j| P, 242,

VOL. If. O the

194 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

the aspirants were crowned with at their initiation:
just as the virtue of the Roses designs the Mysteries.
At his transformation he had been told, that ROSES
were to restore him to Humanity : so that, amid all
his adventures, he had still this remedy in view.
Particularly in a circumstance of great distress, he
met with a species of them called rosa laurea ; but on
examining its properties, he found that, instead of a
restorative, it was a deadly poison to all kind of cattle
- " quarum cuncto pecori cibue lethalis est." Who
can doubt then, but by this rose-laurel was meant all
debauched^ magical, and corrupt Mysteries, such as
those of the SYRIAN GODDESS, whose ministers he
represents in so abominable a light *; in opposition
to what he calls " sobrise religionis observatio :" and
in those Rites, initiation was so far from promoting a
life of virtue, that it plunged the deluded Votary into
still greater miseries. These emblematic Roses were
not of our author s invention. For the ROSE, amongst
the Ancients, was a symbol of SILENCE, the requisite
quality of the Initiated. And therefore the statues
of Isis or Diana Multimammea,- (images consecrated
to the use of the Mysteries) are crowned with chaplets
of Roses; designing what we now mean, when we
say, in proverbial speech, UNDER THE ROSE.

Our Author proceeds to tell us, that the people
wondered at this instantaneous Metamorphosis. Po-
puli mirantur, religiosi venerantur tarn evidentem
maximi numinis potentiam~et facilitatem reforma-
tioms-\. For the Mysteries boasted the power of
giving a sudden and entire change to the mind and
affections : And the advocates of Paganism against

* L. viiL p. 174. t P. 247, 248.

Christianity

Sect 4-1 OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 195

Christianity used to oppose this boast to the real and
^miraculous efficacy of GRACE.

As soon as Lucius had recovered the integrity of
his nature, by initiation, the Priest covers him, naked
;as he was, with a LINEN garment*: A habit always
:bestowed upon the Aspirant, on his admission to the
Mysteries , the rationale of which, Apuleius himself
.gives us in his Apology -\\

When all was over, the Priest accosts his Penitent
in the following manner : " Multis et variis exantlatis
" laboribus, magnisque Fortunae tempestatibus, et
" maximis actis procelHs, ad portum quietis et aram
" Misericorditf tandem, Luci, venisti : nee tibi na-
" tales, ac ne dignitas quidem vel ipsa, qua florea,
" usquam doctrina profuit : sed lubrico virentis aeta-
" tuke, ad serviles delapsus voluptctt.es, CURIOSITATIS
" IMPROSPER.E sinistrum prsemium reportasti. Sed
" utrinque Fortunae caecitas dum te pessiinis periculis
" discrutiat, ad religiosam ixtam habit udinem impro-
^ vida produxit malitia. Eat mine, et summo furore
" sasviat, et crudelitati suae ma teriam qujerat aliam.
-" Nam in eorurn vitas, quorum sibi servitium Dec?
" .nostr& majestas vindicavit, non habct locum cams
" wfestus. Quid latroncs, quid ferae, quid servitium,
" quid .asperrimorum itinerurn ambages reciprocal,

* Sed -sacerdos, utcunque divinomonitu cognitis aborigine. cimct-is
*fladibiis meis, quamquam et ipse insigui permotus miraculo, nutu
significato prius prajcipit, tegeudo mihi LIXTEAM dari LACINJAM.
-P. 248.

t Lana segr.issimi corporis excrementum, pecori detracta, j^m
4nde Orphei et Pythagorce scitis, profanus vestitus est. Sed ^nirn
jiiundissima LINI seges, inter optimas fruges terrae exorta nou
modo indutui et amictui tanctisshnis lEgypt46rwm tacerdotibus, sed
opertui quoque in rtbus sacris usurpatur. Apol. p. 64. 1. 17.

O 2 " quid

196 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

" quid metus mortis quotidianae nefariae Fortunas pro-
" fuit ? in tutelam jam receptus es FORTUNE, sed
" yjpExxis; qua SU/E LUCIS SPLENDORS ceteros
" etiam deos illuminat. Sume jam vultum laetiorem,
" candido isto habit u tuo congruentem ; comitare
" pompani Deae SOSPITATRICIS innovanti gradu;

" VIPEANT IRRELIGIOSI : VJPEANT, ET ERROREM

" SUUM RECOGNOSCANT. En ecce pristinis aerumnis
" absolutus, ISIPIS magnce PROVIPENTIA gaudens
" Lucius de sua fortuna triuwphat *."

Here the MORAL OF THE FABLE is delivered in
plain terms ; and, in this moral, all we have advanced,
concerning the purpose of the work, fully confirmed.
It is expressly declared, that VICE and inordinate
CURIOSITY were the causes of Lucius s disasters ; from
which che only relief was INITIATJON into the MYS
TERIES. Whereby the Author would insinuate, that
nothing was more abhorrent from those holy rites than
DEBAUCHERY and MAGIC ; t ;e two enormities they
were then commonly suspected to encourage.

It hath been observed above, that by Lucius s
return to his proper Form, was meant his initial ion ;
and accordingly, that return is called (as initiation was)
the being born again ut RENATUS quoclanunodo,
and sua providentia quodammodo RENATOS; but
this was only to the LESSER, not the GREATER mysteries,
TLe first was to purify the mind : hence it was called
by the Ancients, Jiajc*a? aqxiiptriv, a separation from
evil : the second was to enlighten it, when purified,
and to .bring it to the knowledge of divine secrets, as
Hierocles speaks, ivifa TU&gt; t7rahXti TY\ ruv Sii6?^wv
Hence they named the one JCA0AP2IN, and

* p. 248, 249.

the

Sect. 4-1 OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED.

the other TEAEIOTHTA, PURIFICATION" and PER
FECTION. Thejirst is here repiesented in the incident
of Lucius s being restored to humanity by the use of
roses : The second, as the matter of chief importance,
the Author treats more circumstantially.

He begins with making the Priest take occasion, from
the benefit already received, to press Lucius to enter
into the GREATEPV MYSTERIES of lsis&lt; " Quo tibi
" tamen tutior sis, atque munitior ; da nomen huic
sanctce militia, cujus olim sacramento etiam lasta-
" beris; teque jam nunc obsequio religionis nostras
dedica, etministerii jugum subi voluntarium. Nam,
{ cum cwperis Deae servire, tune magis senties
41 fructumtuce Kbertatis*" But at the same time makes
him inform the Candidate, that nothing was to be pre
cipitated : for that not only many previous Rites and
Ceremonies, concerning religious diet, and abstinence
from prophane food, were to be observed ; but that the
Aspirants to these higher Mysteries were to wait for
A CALL. " Quippe cum aviditati contumaciseque
" summe cavere, et utramque culpam vitare, ac neque
u vocatus morari, nee non jussus festinare deberem;
" Nee tamen esse quern quam de suo numero tarn
" perclitas mentis, vel immo destinatas mortis, qui non
" sibi quoque seorsum, jubente Domina, temerarium
" atque sacrilcgum audeat ministerium subire, noxam-
" que letalem contrahere. Nam et inferum claustra,
&lt;c et salutis tutelam in Dese manu posita ipsamque
" traditionem ad instar voluntaries mortis et preecariiB
4&lt; salutis celebrari f/ Accordin^y, he is initiated into
the GREATER MYSTERIES. The ceremony is described
at large J ; and we find it to agree exactly with what,

* P- 249. f p. 253, 254- I P. 255, 256, 257.

O 3 we

ig8 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Rook II.

we have shewn, other ancient writers more professedly
deliver concerning it.

The Author, by the doubts and apprehensions whicfo
retarded his initiation, first gives us to understand,
that the highest degree of sanctity was required of
those who entered into the Mysteries :. " At ego,.
" quamquam cupienti voluntate praeditus, tamen
" religiosa formiciine retinebar. Quod enim sedulo
" percontaveram, difficile religionis obsequium, et
" castimoniorum abstinentiam satis arduam y cautoque
" circumspectu vitam, quce muttis casibus subjacet,
" esse muniendam*" These difficulties now sur
mounted, he is initiated with the accustomed Ceremo
nies. He then makes his Prayer, in which the grand
AnoPPHTA of the Mysteries is still f more plainly
referred to. " Tu quidem sancta et humani generis
" SOSPITATRIX perpetua, semper fovendis mortali-
" bus munifica, dulcem matris affectionem miserorum&lt;
" casibus tribuis. TE SUPERI COLUNT; OBSERVANT

" INFERi; TU ROTAS ORBEM ; LUAIINAS SOLEM ;
" REGIS MUNDUM ; CALCAS TARTA.RUM ; TIBI.

"RESPONDENT &IDERA- Jr GAUDENT LUMINA ;
" REDEUNT TEMPORA; SFRVIUNT ELEMENTA; TUO
" NUTU SPIRANT FLAMINA; NUTRIUNTUR NUBILA ;
" GERMINANT SEMINA ; CRESCUNT GERMINA ;

" TUAM MAJESTATEMPERHORRESCUNT AVES COELCK
" MEANTES^ FER. ; E MONTIBUS ERRANTE& -; SEK,-

x * T. 252.

t See ihe quotation abo\e. Fortunes Videntis, qua suce
splendor e ceieros ctiam Decs illuminat.

J Respondent sidcra. This, I suppose, relates to the music of-
the spheres. The image is noble and sublime. It is taken frorrL
the consent in the lyre, to answer to, and obey the hand of the
Master who had put them into tune.

" PENTES-

Sect. 4.3 OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 199

" PENTES SOLO LATENTES ; BELU^ PONTO NA-
" TANTES*."

The affair thus over, and the honour attendant on
initiation into the greater Mysteries being marked out
in the words commabar sacrarium , tot& civitati
notus ac cotispicuus, digitis hominum nutibusque nota-
bilis \ ; the A uthor, in the next place, takes occasion,
agreeably to his real practice and opinions, to recom
mend a MULTIPLICITY OF INITIATIONS. He tells US

how Isis counselled him to enter into the Mysteries
of Osiris : how, after that, she invited him to a third
initiation : and then rewarded him for his accumulated
Piety with an abundance of temporal Blessings.

All this considered, we can no longer doubt but that
the true design of his work was to recommend

INITIATION INTO THE MYSTERIES, IN OPPOSITION

TO THE NEW RELIGION. We see the Catastrophe of
the piece, the whole Eleventh Book, entirely taken up
with it ; and composed with the greatest seriousness
and superstition.

And, surely, nothing could be better conceived, to
recommend the Mysteries, than the idea of such a
plan ; or better contrived than his execution of it. In
which he omits no circumstance that might be plausibly
opposed to CHRISTIANITY ; or that might recommend
the MYSTERIES with advantage to the Magistrate s
protection : as where he tells us, that in these Rites,
they prayed for the prosperity of all Orders in the
STATE " fausta vota praefatus principi magno, sena-
tuique et equiti, totique populo Romano."

This interpretation will throw new r light on every
part of the GOLDEN ASS. But I have been so long

* P. 057,258. t P. *49.

O 4 upon

200 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

upon the subject, that I have only time to give one
instance ; and this, chiefly because it reflects light back
again on my general interpretation of the Fable.

In the fifth and sixth books is the long episode of CU
PID and PSYCHE ; visibly allegorical throughout ; and
entirely foreign to all the rest of the work, considered
as a mere Milesian fable ; but very applicable to the
Writer s purpose, if he had that moral to inculcate
which we have here assigned unto him.

There was no man, though he regarded \h^ golden Ass
as a thing of mere amusement, but saw that the story
of CUPID and PSYCHE was a philosophic allegory of
the progress of the soul to perfection, in the possession
of divine love and the, reward of immortality. The
Amour of Cupid and Psyche was a subject which lay
in common amongst the Platonic writers. And though
originally founded on some obscure tradition of the
Fall of Man, yet every one fashioned this agreeable
fiction (as our Author has done here) according to the
doctrines he had to convey under it. By this means it
could not but become famous. The remaining monu
ments of ancient sculpture convince us that it was very
famous ; in which, nothing is so common as the figures
of CUPID and PSYCHE in the various circumstances of
their adventures. Now we have shewn at large, that
the professed end of the Mysteries, in the later ages
of their celebrity, was to restore the soul to it s ORI
GINAL RECTITUDE, and, in every age, to encourage
good men with the promises of happiness in another
life. The fable, therefore, of Cupid and Psyche, in the
fifth and .sixth books, was the finest and most artful
preparative for the subject of the eleventh, which treats
professedly of the Mysteries.

But

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 201

But if we look more nearly into this beautiful Fable,
we shall find that, besides its general purpose, it has
one more particular.

We have observed that the corrupt stale of the Mys
teries, in the time of Apuleius, was one principal
reason of his undertaking their apology. These cor
ruptions were of two kinds, DEBAUCHERIES and MAGIC.
Their debaucheries have been taken notice of above.
Their MAGIC was of three sorts ; i . The Magic of invo
cation or NECROMANCY. 2. The Magic of transforma
tion or METAMORPHOSIS. 3. And the Magic of
divine communication under a visible appearance or
THEURGY. The ORACULAR RESPONSES, introduced
late into the Mysteries, seem to have given birth to
the first: The Doctrine of the METEMPSYCHOSIS
taught therein, to the second : and the AIIOPPHTA
concerning the DIVINE NATURE, to the third. The
abomination of the two first sorts was seen by all, and
frankly given up as criminal : but the fanatic Plato-
nists and Pythagoreans of the latter ages, espousing
the third, occasioned it to be held in esteem and reve
rence. So that, as Heiiodorus tells us, the Egyptian
priests (between whose fanaticism and that of the
Platonists there was, at this time, a kind of coalition*)
affected to distinguish between the MAGIC of Necro
mancy and the magic of Theurgy, accounting the
first infamous and wicked ; but the last very fair, and
even commendable. For now both those philosophic
Enthusiasts had their mysterious Rites, which con
sisted in the praetice of this TIIEURGIC MAGIC. These
were the Mysteries, to observe it by the way, of which
the Emperor Julian was so fond, that lie placed his

* See Book iii, Sect. 4. towards the end.

principal

202 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

principal felicity (in what the Christians placed his
principal crime) their celebration. But our Author,
who had imbibed his Platonism, not at the muddy
streams of those late Fanatics, but at the pure foun
tain head of the Academy itself, well understood how
much this superstition, with all it s plausible pretences,
had polluted the Mysteries ; and, therefore, as in the
course of the adventures of his golden Ass, he had
stigmatized the two other kinds of Magic, he com
posed this celebrated tale (hitherto so little understood)
to expose the Magic of THEURGY. It is, as we said,
a philosophic Allegory of the progress of the Soul to
perfect ion , in the possession of Divine Love and the
reward of immortality, delivered in the adventures of
PSYCHED or the Soul: whose various labours and
traverses in this Progress, are all represented as the
effects of her indiscreet passion for that species of
magic called THEURGY.

To understand this, we must observe, that the fa
natic Platonists, in their pursuit of the SUPREME
GOOD, the Union with the Deity, made the comple
tion and perfection of it to consist in the Thciirgic

Vision Of the Au rowlev "Ay^A/xa Ol* SELF-SEEN IMAGE,

i. e. seen by the splendour of its own light. Now the
story tells us, there were three Sisters, the youngest of
whom was called PSVCIJE; by which we are to un
derstand, the three peripatetic souls, the sensitive, the
animal, and the rational , or in other words, sense,
appetite, and reason.

That the two elder Sisters, Sense and Appetite, were

soon disposed of in marriage ; but that the younger,

PSYCHE or the rational Soul, was of so transcendent

and divine a beauty, that though men forsook the

1 3 altars

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 203

altars of the Gods t fallow and worship her*, having
paid her their full homage of admiration, not so much
as one aspired to a closer union with her : intimating
the general preference given to temporal things above
spiritual :

Virtus laudatur & alget

However, amidst this neglect, she is happily contracted
to, and possesses, the celestial Cupid, or DIVINE LOVE,
who cohabits with her INVISIBLY amidst a scene of
paradisaical pleasures and enjoyments. But is warned
by Cupid not to hearken to the pernicious counsel of
her sisters, whose envy at her happiness, from their
own choice of husbands diseased and avaricious f&gt;
the lot of those under the dominion of their appetites,
would soon bring them to attempt her ruin, in per
suading her to get a sight of her invisible spouse.
Against which SACRILEGIOUS CURIOSITY, as what
would deprive her of all her happiness J, and to which
her sisters would endeavour to inflame her mind, he
carefully warns her. By all which the Author would
insinuate, that they are the irregular passions and the
ungovernable appetites which stir up men s curiosity
to this species of magic, the THEURGIC VISION.
However, Psyche falls into the snare her sisters had

* Apuleii Met. ed. Pricsei, p. 85. Interea Psyche, cum sua sibi
praecipua pulchritudine nullum decoris sui fructum percipit.
Spectator ab omnibus ; laudatur ab omnibus, nee quisquam cu-
piens ejus nuptiarum petitur accedit.

t P. 94-

J Identidem mono-it, ac scepe terruit, ne quando sororum per-
niciobo consilio suasa, de forma Mariti quserat : neve se SACRI-
LEGA CURIOSITATE de tanto fortunarum suggestu pessumdejiciat;
nee suum postea contingat amplexum. P, 92.

laid

304 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book It
laid for her, and against the express injunction of the
God, sacrilegiously attempts this forbidden sight;
though he assured her *, that if she kept the religious
secret, the child to be born of them should be immor
tal; but if she prophaned it, the child would be
mortal, intimating, that Theiirgic Magic was so far
from rendering the participants divine, that it loaded
them with impiety. In a word, she indulges her in
ordinate appetite, and is undone: Divine Love for
sakes her ; the happy scenes of her abode vanish ;
and she finds herself forlorn and abandoned, surround
ed with miseries, and pursued with the vengeance of
heaven by its instrument the Celestial Venus.

In this distress she first comes to the temple of
CERES for protection ; by which is meant the custom
of having recourse to the Mysteries against the evils
and disasters of life, as is plainly intimated in the
reason given for her application " nee ullam vel du-
" biam SPEI MELIORIS viam volens ornittere f."
Spes melior being the common appellation for what
was sought for in the Mysteries, and what they pro
mised to the participants. With these sentiments she
addresses Ceres in the fallowing observation : " Per
" ego te frugiferam tuam dex train istam deprecor -
" per tacita sacra cistarum per per, et cetera qua!

" silent io legit Eleusinis Atticce sacrarium J"

But Psyche is denied any protection both here and
at the temple of Juno : for the purer Mysteries dis
couraged all kind of magic, even the most specious.
However, she is pitied by both. The reason Ceres

* Infantem si tcxeris nostra secreta silentio, divinum ; si
profanaveris, mortalem, P. 96.

t P. 112. I P. 111.

gives

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 205

gives her for not complying with 1 er request is re
markable. She had entered, she said, into an ancient
league with Venus, which she could not violate*,
By which is intimated, that all the Mysteries had one
and the same end. And Psyche, she said, had reason
to thank her that she did not seize on her and detain
her prisoner f ; alluding to the obligation that all
were under to bring to punishment the violators of the
Mysteries.

Juno excuses herself, from imparting any assistance,
" out of reverence to the Laws, which forbid any
" one to entertain another s runaway servant J."
For those who had violated the Mysteries of one God
could not be admitted to those of another.

In this distress PSYCHE resolves at last to render
herself to the offended Parties, and implore their
pardon. Venus imposes on her a long and severe
penance ; in which the author seems to have shadowed
out the trials and labours undergone by the aspirants to
the Mysteries, and the more severe in proportion to
the delinquencies of the aspirants, intimated in the
words of Venus to her Sed jam mine ego sedulo
periclitabor an oppido forti aniirip, singularique pru-
dentia sis praedita .

During the course of these trials, PSYCHE falls
once more into distress by her rash curiosity ||, and
would be undone but for the divine assistance, which

* cum qua etiam antiquum foedus amicitioe cplo. P. 111.
f quod a me rttenta custoditaque non fueris optimi consule.

f. 112.

J tune etiam Legibus, quae servos alienos profugos, invitis
Pominis, vetant suscipi, prohibeor, P. ij2,
P. 118,
I) Mente capitur TEMERARIA CURIOSITATJE, p. 123,

all

THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

all along supports and aids her in her difficulties.
In which the Author hints at the promises made
to the aspirants on these occasions : Nee Pro-
videntiae bonas graves oculos innoeentis anima latuit
cerumna. In her greatest distress, in the repetition
of her first capital fault, she is relieved by Cupid
himself; intimating, that nothing but the divine aid
can overcome human weakness; as appears from
these w r ords of Cupid to his spouse Et ecce, inquit,
rursum perieras misella simili curiositate^ Sed interim
quidem tu provinciam, quse tibi matris meae precepto
mandata est, exequere gnaviter : cetera egomet videro*.
When in these trials the aspirant had done his best,
the Gods would help out the rest

With this assistance, she performs her penance, is
pardoned, and restored to favour; put again into
possession of DIVINE LOVE, and rewarded with IM
MORTALITY, the declared end of all the MYSTERIES.

There are many other circumstances in this fine
Allegory equally serving to support the system here
explained : as there are others which allude to divers
beautiful Platonic notions, foreign to the present dis
course. It is enough that we have pointed to its chie
and peculiar purpose ; which it was impossible to see
while the nature and design of the whole Fable lay
undiscovered.

But now perhaps it may be said, " That all this is
very well. An Allegory is here found for the GOLDEN
ASS, which, it must be owned, fits the Fable. But still
it may be asked, Was it indeed made for it ? Did
the Author write the tale for the moral ; or did the
Critic find the moral for the tale? For an Allegory

* P. 123,

may

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 207

may be drawn from almost any story : and they have
been often made for Authors who never thought of
them. Nay, when a rage of allegorizing happens to
prevail, as it did a century or two ago, the Author
himself will be either tempted or obliged, without the
Commentator, to encourage this delusion. Ariosto
and Tasso, writers of the highest reputation, one of
whom wrote alter the Gothic Romances, as the other
fefter the Classic Fables, without ever concerning them
selves about any other moral than what the natural
circumstances of the story conveyed ; yet, to secure
the success of their poems, they submitted, in com-
pliance to fashion and false taste, to the ridiculous
drudgery of inventing a kind of posthumous Allegory,
and sometimes more than one ; that the reader himself
might season their Fables to his own taste." As this
has been the case, To shew that I neither impose upon
myself nor others, I have reserved the Author s own
declaration of his having an Allegoric meaning, for
the last confirmation of my system. It is in these
woroX

At ego tibi sermone isto Milesio
Varias Fabulas conseram, auresque tuas
Benevolas lepido susurro permulcearn ;

Modo Si PAPYRUM ^GYPTIAM ARGUTIA

NJLOTICI CALAMI INSCRIPTAM, non spreveris
Inspicere* -

A direct insinuation of its being replete with the pro
found ^Egyptian wisdom ; of which, that Nation, by
the invention of the MYSTERIES, had conveyed so
considerable a part to the Greeks.

* In hut. Fab,

Before

208 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

Before I totally dismiss this matter it may not be
improper to observe, that both VIRGIL and APULEIUS
have represented the genuine MYSTERIES, as Rites of
perfect sanctity and purity ; and recommended only
such to their Countrymen ; while they expose impure
and impious Rites to the public execration ; for it was
their purpose to stigmatize the reigning corruptions, and
to recommend the ancient sanctity. On the other
hand, a man attached by his office to the recommenda
tion of the Mysteries, as then practised, was to do
the best he could, when deprived of the benefit of this
distinction; and was to endeavour to give fair colours to
the foulest tlrings. This was the case of JAMBLICHUS.
His friend Porphyry had some scruples on this head.
He doubts whether those Rites could come from the
Gods, which admitted such a mixture of lewdness and
impurity. Such a mixture Jamblichus confesses;
but, at the same time, endeavours to account for their
divine original, by shewing, that they are only the
emblems of natural Truths ; or a kind of moral pur
gation of the inordinate passions*. You will say, he
might have given a better answer; That they were
modern abuses and corruptions. He asks your pardon
for that. Such a confession would have been condemn
ing his own Platonic fanaticism ; that very fanaticism
which had brought in these abominations. He was
reduced therefore to the necessity of admitting that
they were no after-corruptions, but coeval with the Rites
themselves. And this admission of so learned a
Hierophant, is, as far as I am able to collect, the only
support which any one can ROW have for saying, that
the Mysteries were impure and abominable, even from
their jirst Institution.

* De Mysteriia, Sect. i. cap. xi&gt;

Ijitheno

Sect. 4.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 209

Hitherto we have considered the Legislator s care in
perpetuating the doctrine of a FUTURE STATE. And
if I have been longer than ordinary on this head, my
excuse is, that the topic was new *, and the doctrine
itself, which is the main subject of the present inquiry,
much interested in it.

A very remarkable circumstance (for which we are
indebted to the observation of modern travellers) may
convince us, that Rulers and Governors cultivated the
belief of this doctrine with a more than common
assiduity. Many barbarous nations have been dis
covered in these later times, on the coasts of Africa,
which, in the distractions of Government, and trans
migrations of People, have, it is probable, fallen from
a civilized to a savage state of life. These are found
to have little or no knowledge of a God, or observance
of Religion. And yet, which is a surprising paradox,
they still retain the settled belief and expectation of a
FUTURE STATE. A wonder to be accounted for no
other way than by what hath been said above of the
Legislator s principal concern for the support of this

* A well-known writer, Mr. Jackson (not to speak at present
of Others of a later date) who had long and scurrilously railed
at the author of the D.L. in a number of miserable pamphlets,
hath at length thought fit in a Thing, called Chronological An
tiquities, to borrow from this book, without any acknowledgment,
all he had te give the public concerning the pagan MYSTERIES;
and much, concerning the HIEROGLYPHICS and origin of idolatry.
But this is the common practice of such sort of writers: and is
only mentioned here to shew the reader to what class they belong.
The treatment these volumes have met with from some of the
most worthless of my Countrymen, made me think it expedient
to contrast their behaviour with that of the most learned and
respectable foreign Divines and Critics of France, G -..many, and
Holland, in their animadversions on this Work, occasionally in
serted in the notes.

VOL, II, P Doctrine ;

THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

Doctrine ; and of the deep root, which by its agreeable
nature, it takes in the Mind wherever it has been once
received. So that though, as it hath been observed, no
Religion erer existed without the doctrine of a future
State, yet the doctrine of a Future State hath, it seems,
sometimes existed without a Religion.

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. &lt;m

APPENDIX

BOOK IL

TlfE have seen with what art) and care in con
trivance, the Sages of the GENTILE World
endeavoured, by the intervention of the MYSTERIES,
to prevent the memory of THE FIRST CAUSE of all
things from being totally obliterated from the minds of
men ; while the perverse constitution of the National
Idolatries prevented the true God s being received
into any PUBLIC Worship. To the SECRET of the
Mysteries it was, that these Pseudo-Evangelists in
vited their more capable Disciples, awfully admonish
ing them to give heed unto it, as unto a light shining
in a dark place. For it was no more than such a
glimmering, till the rising of the day -star of the Gos
pel, in the hearts of the Faithful.

But if the late noble Author of THE FIRST PHILO
SOPHY deserves credit; all this care was as absurd as
it was fruitless.

The Institutors of the Mysteries imparted this
SECRET, as the true and only solid foundation of RE
LIGION ; for the FIRST CAUSE was, in their ideas, a
God whose ESSENCE indeed was incomprehensible,
but his ATTRIBUTES, as well moral as natural, disco-
rerable by human reason. Such a God was wanted

P 2 for

*i2 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

for that foundation : for unassisted reason taught them,
as, in its most assisted state, it had taught St. PAUL,
That he who comet h to God, must believe that he is ;
and that he is a REWARDER of them who diligently
seek him. Thus Plato, in his Book of Laws, speaking
of Religion, and it s use to civil Society, says, " It is
" not of small consequence, that what we here reason
c&lt; about the Gods, should, by all means and methods,
" 1x3 made probable; as that they ARE, and that they
" are GOOD *." Hence, though their mistaken mode.
of teaching, deprived the pagan world of the fruit of
the Doctrine, the purpose however was laudable and
rational.

But now comes a modern Sagef PHILOSOPHER.
and STATESMAN like the Ancient, (in all things else
how unlike !) who tells us " that they made the Basis
of Religion far too wide ; that men have no further
concern with GOD than TO BELIEVE THAT HE is^
which his physical Attributes make fully manifest;
but, That he is a rexcarder of them who diligently seek
him, Religion doth not require us to believe, since this
depends on God s MORAL ATTRIBUTES, of which we
have no conception." In this manner, by the turn of
a hand, hath our Noble Philosopher changed Natural
Religion into NATURALISM; and made this care of
the ancient Sages as ridiculously conceived as it was
ineffectually prosecuted.

But to do justice to thte weak endeavours of those
Friends and Servants of mankind, who surely deserve &gt;
a grateful memory with Posterity, I shall take the
liberty to examine his Lordship s reasoning on this .

fc&gt;; Stot, T* ejVt,

Lord Bolingbroke,

branch

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 213

branch of his FIRST PHILOSOPHY; which casts so
malignant a shade over the whole religious World.

He pretends to prove That we have NO ADEQUATE
ideas of God s moral attributes, his GOODNESS and
JUSTICE, as we have of his natural, his Wisdom and
Power. Here let me observe, that his Lordship uses
the words, inadequate ideas, and, no ideas, as terms of
the same import And I think, not improperly. I
have therefore followed him in the different use of
either expression. For the reason of his calling our
ideas of God s moral attributes UN ADEQUATE, is,
because he denies, that goodness and justice in God,
and goodness and justice amongst Men, are the same
IN KIND. But if not the same in kind, we can have
NO IDEA of them; because we have no idea of any
other kind of goodness and justice,

He lays down these three propositions :

1. That, by METAPHYSICS, or by reasoning a priori^
we pan gain no knowledge of God at all ;

2. That our knowledge of his Attributes is to be
acquired only by a contemplation on his WORKS, or
by the reasoning a posteriori ;

3. That in this way, we can only arrive at the know
ledge of his NATURAL Attributes, not of his MORAL.

It is from the CONSTITUTION OF THE WORLD

" ALONE (says his Lordship) and from the state of

1 mankind in it, that we can acquire any ideas of the

" divine attributes, or Bright to affirm any thing about

" them*?

The knowledge of the Creator is, on many ae-
counts, necessary to such a creature as ruan : and

f Vol. Y. p. 331.

? 3 " therefore

2H THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

&lt;; therefore we are made able to arrive by a proper
6 exercise of our mental faculties, from a knowledge

* of God s works to a knowledge oj his existence, and
of that infinite POWER and WISDOM which are
demonstrated to us in them, OUR KNOWLEDGE

" CONCERNING GOD GOES NO FURTHER*."

fe Artificial Theology connects by very problemati-
&lt;c cal reasoning a priori, MORAL ATTRIBUTES, such
" as we conceive them, and such as they are relatively
" to us, with the physical attributes of God; though
" there be no sufficient foundation for this proceeding,
" nay, though the phenomena are in several cases re-

Having thus assured us that the ideas of God s
moral attributes are to be got by no consequential
reasoning at all, either a priori or a posteriori, the
two only ways we have to knowledge ; He rightly con
cludes, that if Man hath sucli ideas, they were not
FOUND but INVENTED by him. And therefore, that
nothing might be wanting to the full dilucidation of
this curious point, he acquaints us who were the Au
thors of the FICTION, and how strangely the thing
came about,

&lt;; Some of the Philosophers (says his Lordship)
" having been led by a more full and accurate con-
" temptation of Nature to the knowledge of a supreme
" self-existent Being of infinite power and wisdom,
" and the first Cause of all things, were not contented
" with this degree of knowledge. They MADE A
^ SYSTEM of God s MORAL as well as physical AT-

" TRIBUTES, BY WHICH TO ACCOUNT FOR TH.|}
" PROCEEDINGS Of HIS PROVIDENCE^/

* Vol. IV. p. 86, f Vol. V. p. 316. : Vol. IV. p. 48.

ThesQ

Appx,] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 215

These Philosophers then, it seems, invented the sys
tem of God s moral attributes, in order to account
for the difficulties arising from the view of God s
moral government* If the World till now had been
so dull as to have no conception of these Attributes ;
his Lordship s Philosophers, we see, made amends ;
$vho were so quick-witted to conceive, aijd so sharp*
sighted to find out, the obliquities of a crooked line
jbefore they had got any idea of a straight one. For
just to this, neither mqre nor less, does his Lordship s

pbservation amount, that they made a System of

(rod s moral attributes, by which to account for the
proceedings of his Providence. Till now, none of us
could conceive how any doubts concerning moral Gor
vernment could arise but on the previous ideas of the
moral attributes of the Governor. This invention of
his Lordship s old Philosophers puts me in. mind of
an ingenious Modern, the curious SANCIIQ PAX?
CHA ; who, as his historian tells us, was very inquisitive
to discover the authqr of that very useful invention
we call SLEEP : for, with this worthy Magistrate,
Sleep and good Cheer were the FIRST PHILOSO*
PHY. Now the things sought after by Sancho and
his Lordship, were at no great distance; for if
Sleeping began when men first shut their eyes, it is
certain the idea $f God s Goodness appeared as soon
as ever they opened them.

Dr. Clarke s Demonstration of the moral attributes
a priori, I shall leave, as his Lordship is pleased to
do, in all if s force. If the Doctor s follo\yeva think
their Master s honour concerned, wter$ his ^rgur
ments are not, they have a large field and a safe
to shew their prowess. I rather choose to under
take the NOBLE PHILOSOPHER on his own. termjs,

p 4 \\ithout

2i 6 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

without any other arms than the arguments a poste
riori. For he is such a Champion for the good
Cause, that he not only appoints his Adversaries
the Field, but prescribes to them the use of their
weapons.

But his Lordship, like other great men, is not easily
approached ; and when lie is, not always fit to be
seen. You catch his FIRST PHILOSOPHY, as Butler s
Hero did Aristotle s FIRST MATTER, undressed, and
without a rag of form-, however flaunting and flutter
ing in FRAGMENTS. To speak plainly, his Lordship s
entire neglect or ignorance of Method betrays him
into endless repetitions: and, in these, whether for
want of precision in his ideas, propriety in his terms,
or art in his composition, the question is perpe
tually changing; and rarely without being new-co
vered by an equivocal expression. If you add to
this, the perpetual contradictions into which he falls,
either by defect of memory, excess of passion, or
distress of argument, you will allow it to be no easy
matter to take him fairly, to know him fully, and to
represent him to the best advantage : in none of which
offices would I bq willingly defective. Indeed, when
you have done this, the business is over; and his
Lordship s reasoning generally confutes itself.

When I reflect upon what this hath cost me, the
reading over two or three bulky volumes to get pos
session of a single argument; which now you think
you hold, and then again you lose ; which meets you
full when you least expect it; and slips away from you
the very moment it promises to do most : when, I say,
I reflect upon all this, I cannot but lament the hard
luck of the English CLERGY, who, though apparently
least fit, as being made Parties ; certainly the least
j i concerned^

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 217

concerned, as there is nothing that can impose on a
Scholar, though a great deal that may mislead the
People, are likely to be the men most engaged with
his Lordship in this controversy. Time was/ when
if a Writer had a disposition to seek Objections
against Religion, though he found them hardly, and
urged them heavily, yet he would digest his thoughts,
and methodize his reasoning. The Clergy had ther*
nothing to do but to answer him, if they found them
selves able. But since this slovenly custom (as Lord
SHAFTESBURY calls it) has got amongst our Free
thinkers, of taking their physic in public, of throwing
about their loose and crude indigestions under the name

ct&gt;

of FRAGMENTS, things which in their very name imply
not so much the want, as the exclusion of all form, the
Advocate of Religion has had a fine time of it : he
must work them into consistence, he must mould them
into shape, before he can safely lay hold of them him
self, or present them handsomely to the Public. But
these Gentlemen have provided that a Clergyman
should never be idle. All, he had of old to attend,
was the saving the souls of those committed to his care.
He must now begin his work a great deal higher; he
must first convince his flock that they have souls to be
saved. And the spite of all is, that at the same time
his kind masters have doubled his task, they appear
very well disposed to lessen his wages.

We have observed, that the DENIAL of God s moral
attributes is the great barrier against Religion in general :
but it is more especially serviceable in his Lordship s
idiosyncratic terrors, the terrors of a future State.
To these we owe his famous book of FRAGMENTS,
composed occasionally, and taken as an extemporaneous
cordial, each stronger than the other, to support him
self

si 8 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

.self under his frequent paroxysms. For, set the moral
attributes aside, and we can neither form any judge
ment of the end of man, nor of the nature of God s
government. All our knowledge will be confined to
our present state and condition *. It is by the moral
attributes, we learn, that man was made for happiness:
and that God s dispensation to us here is but part of
a general system : This naturally extends our views
to, and terminates our knowledge in, Futurity.

The fate of all Religion therefore being included in
the question of God s moral attributes, I hold it of much
importance to prove against his Lordship, that MEN

3IAY ACQUIRE ADEQUATE IDE AS, OF THEM in the

tame way, and with equal certainty, in which they
acquire the knowledge of God s natural attributes ;
And the knowledge of these latter his Lordship deduces
from its original in the following words :

" All our knowledge of God (says he) is derived
* from his works. Every part of the immense Unir
" verse, and the order and harmony of the Whole, are
&lt;f not only conformable to our ideas or notions of
" WISDOM and POWER, but these ideas and notions
" were impressed originally and principally by them,
46 on every attentive mind ; and men were led to con?
" elude, with the utmost certainty, that a Being of
" infinite wisdom and power made, preserved, and go-
" verned the system. As far as we can discover, w
" discern these in all his works ; and where we cannot
* discern them, it is manifestly due to our imperfec*
" tion, not to his. This now is real knowledge, or

* One of his Lordship s Corollaries therefore from the Propo-
fition of no moral attributes, is this, " Our Knowledge concerning
" God goes no further than for the necessary use of human life,**
Vol. IV. p. 486,

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED.

V there is no such thing as knowledge. We acquire
? it immediately in the objects themselves, in God,
" an J in Nature, the work of God. We know what
" wisdom and power are : we know both intuitively,
^ and by the help of our senses, that such as we con-
V ceive them to be, such they appear in the Work :
? and therefore we know demonstratively that such

" they are in the Worker *."

AH this is mighty well : an/1 on these very grounds
I undertake to prove that men may get as clear and
precise ideas of God s GOODNESS and JUSTICE.

But, to prevent, or, indeed, now things are gone
thus far, rather to redress all ambiguity iu the terms,
and equivocation in the use of them ; it will be proper
to explain what TRUE PHILOSOPHY means by GOD^
WORKS, whether physical or moral.

Now, it means, if I am not much mistaken, that
CONSTITUTION OF Tiiixcs which God hath cstablislied,
and directed to a plain and obvious end : no regard
being had to those impediments or obstructions in it s
course, which the Author of nature hath permitted to
arise from any part of the material, or intellectual
Creation.

Thus, when we consider his physical works, in order
to make our estimate of his wisdom and power, we con
ceive them as they are in themselves; and in the
perfection of their first constitution ; though the greater
portions of the physical system may, from the intrac
tability of Matter, he subject to some inconsiderable
irregularities ; which, as the TRUE PHILOSOPHER t
observes , will, be apt to increase till this System wants
a reformation : and though the. smaller Portions of it,

* Vol. V. p. 52^, f Newton,

such

220 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II,

such as the bodies of animals, may, from various acci
dents in their conception and birth, often want that
convenient form in the adaption of their parts, from
the wonderful contrivance of which, in the various
bodies of animals in general, arises so illustrious an
evidence of the wisdom and power of the Creator.

Surely then, common sense guided by equitable
measure requires us to estimate God s moral Works
on the same standard ; to consider what the moral
constitution is in itself: and (when the question is of
God s goodness and justice) to keep that consideration
distinct ; and not suffer it to be disturbed by the view
of any interruptions occasioned by the perverse influence
of the passion or action of material or immaterial
Beings. For, here, Both concur to violate the Con
stitution : In the natural system, man s Free-will hath
no place : in the moral, the abuse of Free-will occasions
the greatest of it s disorders.

In prosecuting this question, therefore, As, in order
to acquire and confirm our ideas of God s wisdom and
power, we consider the natural system so far forth only
as it s order and harmony is supported by the general
Laws of matter and motion ; so, in order to acquire
and confirm our ideas of his goodness and justice, we
should regard the moral system so far forth only as it s
order and harmony is supported by that GENERAL
LAW, which annexes happiness to virtue, and to vice,
misery, and ruin.

Thus much, and only thus much, is God s Work in
either system : and it is from God s Work, he tells us,
\\e are to demonstrate his Attributes.. The rest
(where disorders real or apparent obtrude themselves
to obstruct our views in these discoveries) proceed from
Matter and Mind.

And

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 221

And it is not to be forgotten, that the conclusion,
Religionists draw from hence, in support of their
adequate ideas of God s moral attributes, hath the
greater strength upon his Lordship s own principles ;
who holds, that this Constitution arises solely from the
WILL of God : For then we are sure that the WILL,
which annexes happiness to virtue, and misery to vice,
must arise from God s moral rather than from his
physical nature.

Having premised thus much ; no more, indeed, than
necessary to obviate one continued SOPHISM, which
runs through all his Lordship s reasonings, against the
moral attributes (where, the course and operation of
that moral Constitution, as it appears under the dis
turbances occasioned by man s free-will, is perpetually
put for the Constitution itself) I now proceed to shew,
that, from GOD S WORKS, we have as precise ideas
of his GOODNESS and JUSTICE as of his power and
wisdom.

His Lordship observes, tlmtfrom every part of the
immense Universe, and from theharmony of the Whole,
men are led to conclude, with the utmost certainty,
that a Being of injinite WISDOM and POWER made,
preserved, and governed the System. This, he observes
in favour of the natural attributes. And what should
hinder men from making the same observation in favour
of the moral ; viz. That the happiness and misery by
the very constitution of nature, attendant on Virtue
and on Vice, lead men to conclude, with equal cer
tainty, that a Being of infinite GOODNESS and JUSTICE
made, preserves, and governs the system ?

The existence of this moral Constitution in the
natural connexion between vice and misery, virtue and
happiness, his Lordship amply acknowledges. Let us"

consider

222 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.
consider it, there! ore, both as it respects BODIES of men,

and INDIVIDUALS;

That Communities are always happy or miserable in
proportion as their Manners are virtuous or vicious,
his Lordship himself is, on all occasions, ready to de
monstrate. If such a Constitution of things do not
bespeak the Author of it, good and just, how is it pos
sible to conclude any thing of the character of the
Creator, from his WORKS ? liis Lordship thinks, " that
from the marks of wisdom and power in the physical
system, we learn with the utmost certainty that God is
wise and powerful; and he says, that we acquire this
knowledge immediately, as it were, by our senses."
Are there not the self-same marks of goodness and
justice in this part at least of the moral system, which
respects Communities ? And do not we come to know
as immediately by our senses, and as certainly by out
reason, that God is good and just ?

If we consider the moral Constitution, as it respects
Particulars, we see virtue and vice have the same
influence on our happiness and misery. Here, indeed,
tve find more interruptions, in the means to the end,
than in the other part. Our material and our intellec
tual Natures are here of more force, to disorder the
harmony of the System. In Communities, it can rarely
be disturbed, but by a Pestilence, or that other, moral,
Plague, a Hero or a Conqueror. Amongst Particulars,
indeed, physical evil and the abuse of free-will operate
more strongly: But when once the demonstration
of the moral attributes is clearly made from that part
of the Constitution which regards Communities, it
can never afterwards be shaken by the disorders in
that other part which regards Particulars. The esta
blished truth is now a principle for iurther discoveries ;

and

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 223

and all we can fairly deduce from these disorders ia
the CERTAINTY of a future State. But this by
the way.

What I insist upon at present is, that, to decide the
question concerning God s Attributes, we are to con
sider the Constitution of things, as it is in itself. This
is, properly, God s Work. The disorders in it, occa
sioned by the abuse of uio.nsjrce^will, is not his work,
but man s. This, his Lordship too, upon another
occasion, namely, when he combats the argument of a
future state, from an unequal Providence, is perpetually
repeating. So that these disorders must, even on his
Lordship s own principles, be excluded from the ac
count, when we estimate God s Nature and Attributes,
from his Works.

" But we see not those disorders in the natural world,
which we both see and feel in the moral." This would
be some objection, did God in the moral, as in the
natural system, direct immediately, or constitute things
mechanically ; or had Free-will the same influence on
the natural as on the moral system. Did God
direct, immediately or mechanically in both Consti
tutions, or did he direct immediately and mechanically
in neither, and that yet the moral remained more sub
ject to disorder than the natural, it might indeed follow
that we had not so clear ideas of God s goodness and
justice as of his wisdom and power : But since he has
thought fit to leave man, FREE ; and hath been pleased
to suffer the abuse of free-will to affect the moral
system, and not the natural , as this, I say, is the case,
the greater irregularities in the one do not take off
from the equal clearness of the demonstration, which
results from the nature of both om and the other Con
stitution^ This difference is not to be ascribed to a

contrary

224 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

contrary conduct in the Governor of the two Systems,
but to the contrary natures of the Subjects. Passive
matter being totally inert, it s resistance to the Laws
impressed upon it, must be extremely weak: and
consequently the disorders arising from that resistance,
proportionably slow and unheeded : while that active
self-moving principle, the Mind, flies out at once from
the centre of its direction, and can every moment
deflect from the line of truth and equity. Hence
moral disorders began early, became excessive, and
have continued, through all ages, to disturb the har
mony of the System.

What is here said will, I suppose, be sufficient to
confute the following assertions; and to detect the
mistake on which they arise.

" Every thing (says his Lordship) shews the wisdom
" and power of God conformably to our ideas of
" wisdom and power in the physical world and in the
" moral. But every tiling docs not shew in like man-
" ner the justice and goodness conformably to our
" ideas of these attributes in either. The physical
" attributes are in their nature more glaring and less
" equivocal*"

And again ; " There is no sufficient foundation in
" the phenomena of Nature to connect the moral
" attributes with the physical attributes of God. Nay,
" the phncEomena are in several cases repugnant f."

But since he goes so far as to talk of the want of a
foundation, and even a repugnancy , Before I proceed
with the main branch of my reasoning, I will just
urge one single argument for the reality and full evi
dence of the moral attributes : and it shall be taken

* Vol. V. p. 524. f Vol. V. p. 316.

from

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 225

from his own concessions, and shall conclude on his
own principles.

He tells us, that such as he, " who apply them-
" selves to the first Philosophy, apply themselves to
" the noblest objects that can demand the attention
" of the mind To the signification of GOD S WILL,
" concerning the duties we owe to him, and to one
" another*."

And again, " It is sufficient to establish our moral
" obligations that we consider them relatively to our
" own system. From thence they arise : and since
" they arise from thence, it must be the WILL of that
" Being who made the system, that we should ob-
" serve and practise them f ."

Let me ask then, Whence it is that we collect this
WILL from the objects which his Lordship allows us
to contemplate, namely, his WORKS in this system?
He will say from certain qualities in those objects
What are those qualities ? He will reply, the fitnesses

of means to ends. Who was the Author of these

fitnesses? He hath, told us, the God of native It
was God s will then, that we should use the means, in
order to obtain the ends. Now, in the moral System,
the means are virtuous practice ; the end, happiness.
Virtue therefore must needs be pleasing to him ; and
Vice, as its contrary, displeasing. Well, but then, as
to this approbation and dislike; it must be either
capricious, or ir must be regulated on the nature of
things. Wisdom, which his Lordship condescends to
give his Maker, will not allow us to suppose it capri
cious. It is regulated therefore on the nature of
things : But if the nature of things be, as his Lord-

* Vol. V. p. 447. f Vol.V. p. 452.

VOL. II, Q ship

226 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II..

ship holds it is, the constitution of God, and depen
dent on his will, then he who is pleased with virtue,
and displeased with vice, must needs be himself
good and just.

To proceed now with the principal branch of our
reasoning. His Lordship goes on thus: But men
not only might collect God s natural attributes from
the physical system, but in effect they did; and all
men, at all times, had these notions so strongly im-
pressed on them, that they were led to conclude with
the utmost certainty for a Being of injinite power and
wisdom.

I desire to know in what time or place it ever hap-,
pened, before his Lordship philosophised at Battersea,
and could Jind no foundation, in the phenomena of
nature^ to connect the moral with the physical attri
butes of God, that a Man, who believed God s infinite
wis^\om and power, did not with equal confidence be
lieve his infinite goodness and justice ? In truth, these
two sets of ideas, the physical and moral attributes of
the Deity, were equally extensive, they w*ere equally
steddy, and, till now, they were always inseparable.

He says, that as far as we can discover, we discern
injinite wisdom and power in all God s works: and
where we cannot discern them, it is manifestly due to
our imperfection, not to his.

What his Lordship here says will deserve to be con
sidered. A comparison is insinuated between *our
discovery of infinite power and wisdom from the phy
sical work? of God ; and our discovery of infinite
goodness and justice from his moral works ; in which,
the advantage is given to the former. Now, in order
to come to a just decision in this point (omitting at
present the notice of his general Sophism, which ope
rates-

App*.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 227

rates in this observation, as in the rest) we must dis
tinguish between the means of acquiring the knowledge
of God s Attributes, and that knowledge when ac~
quired.

As to the first (the means of acquiring) there seems
to be some advantage on the side of God s PHYSICAL
works. For, as his Lordship rightly observes, where
we cannot discern wisdom and power in the.physical
works, it is due to our imperfection, not to his : for as
men advance in the knowledge of nature, we see more
and more of wisdom and power. And he insinuates,
we cannot say the same concerning the difficulties in
the moral system. It is true, we cannot. But then
let me tell him, neither can we say the contrary, The
reason is, The physical system lies open to our en
quiries ; and by the right application of our senses
to well-tried experiments, we are able to make consi
derable advances in the knowledge of Nature. It is
riot so in the moral system ; all we know here area
few general principles concerning its Constitution;
and further than this, human wit or industry is unable
to penetrate. These general principles are, indeed,
amply sufficient to deduce and establish the moral
attributes from the moral system-^ but not sufficient
to remove all difficulties that arise from what we see
of the actual administration of that System. So that,
though we cannot say, that as we advance in the know
ledge of the moral system we see more and more of
goodness and justness ; So neither can his Lordship
say (though his words seern to insinuate he could)
that as we advance, we see less and less. Whereas
the truth is, beyond those general principles, we cannot
advance at all.

But

228 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

But then, as to the second part in the distinction
(the knowledge of the attributes, when acquired) I
hold the advantage, and a great one it is, lies altogether
on the side of the MORAL. And thus I argue:
Though the idea of God s natural attributes be as
clear in the abstract, as that of his moral, yet the
idea of his moral attributes is, in the concrete, more
adequate than that of his natural. The reason seems
convincing. The moral relation in which we stand to
God, as free agents, is just the same whether man
exists alone, or whether he be but a link in the chain
of innumerable orders of intelligences surrounding
the whole Creation. Hence we must needs have a
full knowledge of our duty to him, and of his dispo
sition towards us : on which knowledge is founded the
exactness of our conceptions of his moral attributes,
his justice and goodness. But the natural relation in
which we, or any of God s creatures, stand towards
him, as material Beings, is not the same when consi
dered simply, as when considered to be a portion of a
dependent and connected Whole. Because, whenever
such a Whole exists, the harmony and perfection of it
must first of all be consulted. This harmony ariseth
from the mutual subserviency and union of its parts.
But this subserviency may require a ministration of
government, with regard to certain portions of Matter
thus allied, different from what might have followed
had those portions stood alone, because that precise
disposition, which might be fit in one case, might be
unfit in the other. Hence we, who know there is a
Whole, of which our material system is a Part ; and
yet are totally ignorant both of its nature and extent,
can have but a very confused idea of that physical
relation in which we stand towards God : so that our;

conceptions

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 229

conceptions of his natural attributes, his power and
wisdom, which are founded on that idea, must in the
concrete be proportionably vague and inadequate.

But it may be asked, perhaps, Whence arises this
reciprocal advantage which the moral and the natural
attributes have over one another, in the means of ac
quiring the knowledge of the Attributes, and the
precision of that knowledge when acquired? I will tell
the Reader in two words. Of our own physical sys
tem, we know many particulars (that is, we discover
much of the means., but nothing of the end), and of
the universal physical system we are entirely ignorant.
On the other hand, we know but few particulars of
our own moral system (that is, we discover only
the end, and not the means)-, and of the universal
moral system we understand the general principles.

His Lordship proceeds. This now [the knowlege of
God s natural attributes] is real knowledge ; or there
is no such thing as knowledge. We. acquire it imme
diately in the objects themselves, IN GOD, and in nature
the work of God.

What his Lordship means by, in God, in distinction
from the work of God, I confess I do not understand :
Perhaps it may be intended to insinuate, in honour of
the natural attributes, that they may be even proved
a priori ; for this is not the first time by many, when,
after having heartily abused a thing or person, he has
been reduced to support himself on the authority, or
the reasoning they afford him. Or perhaps, it was
only used to round the period, and set off his eloquence.
However, I agree with him, that this is real knowledge.
And so too, I think, is the knowledge of the moral
attributes, so gained. Why truly, says his Lordship,
/ do allow just so much goodness and just ice in God as

Q we

230 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

we see in that CONSTITUTION, which annexes happiness
to virtue, and misery to vice. But this, says he,
/ think, had better be called WISDOM. I think so too,
if by so much, he means no more than what concerns
God s natural Government: and that he means no
more is plain from his making the natural consequence
of vice and virtue the only sanction of the moral Law.
But I will venture to go further, and say, that, from

what we see in this Constitution, we mav collect

PERFECT GOODNESS AND JUSTICE. Matter and
man s free-will disturb the System : But if the con
stitution be the effect of God s will, as his Lordship
holds it is ; and the mark of his wisdom, as all Mankind
hold with him ; Does not that wisdom require that his
will should not be defeated? Would it not be de
feated, if the disorders occasioned by the perversity
of his creatures were not remedied and set right?
And is not A REMEDY the clearest mark of perfect
goodness and justice?

Take it in another light. Free-will crosses that
Constitution, which God, by establishing, shews he in
tended should take place. This present disturbance
could not have been prevented, because, according to
my Lord and his ill-used Poet, it was necessary to the
schemes of divine wisdom, that there should be such q,
creature as MAN :

" For in the scale of reasoning life tis plain

" There must be, somewhere, such a rank as man.
The consequence is ? that the disorder will be hereafter
rectified.

Had Man indeed been made unnecessarily ; and had
this Man broke in upon God s general System, his
Lordship might have had some pretence to say, as he
, that GOD MEANT THE SYSTEM SHOULD NOT

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 231

SE FURTHER PURSUED $ that is, that the scheme which
annexes happiness to virtue, and aiiscry to vice, should
remain in its present condition of an incomplete
Dispensation, to all eternity. But since Man is ac
knowledged to be a necessary part of a general System,
complete in all its Members, it is nonsense to talk of
God s not meaning the particular System should be
further pursued, when that further pursuit is only to
bring it to its natural period ; short of which, it would
remain unfinished, nay, unformed.

He goes on. We know what WISDOM and POWER,
are. JVe know both intuitively, and by the help of our
senses, that such as we conceive them to be, such they
appear in the WORK ; and therefore we know demon"
stratively that such they are in the WORKER.

And do we not know what GOODNESS and JUSTICE
are? And by the very same means? Do we not
intuitively, and by the help of our semes know, that
such as we conceive them to be, such they appear in
the WORK, namely, in that constitution of things,
which, his Lordship tells us, annexes happiness to
virtue, and misery to vice ? And may we not demon
stratively collect from thence that such they are in the
WORKER? since this Constitution, his Lordship tells us
again, is the effect of God s WILL. On his own
principles, therefore, applied to his own state of the
reasoning a posteriori, it appears, that God is of infinite
goodness &ud justice, as well as of infinite wisdom and
power.

Eut to give AUTHORITY to his partial reasoning
(the usual support of all partialities), he makes
Anaocagoras instruct us, what we are to think of this
matter. " Should you ask Anaxagoras (says he)
" what goodnesses, or justice? He might bid. you,

$ 4 " perhaps,

232 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

c perhaps, turn your eyes inward, first ; then, survey
mankind ; observe the wants of individuals, the
" benefits of society, and, from these particulars, frame
" the general notions of goodness and justice. He
" might go a step further : and add, this is human
" goodness and human justice, such as we can com-
" prehend, such as\we can exercise, and such as the
" supreme mind has made it both our duty and interest
" to exercise, by the constitution of the human system,
" and by the relations which arise in it : from all which
" our notions of goodness and justice result, and are
" compounded."

We know then, according to our mock Anaxagoras,
what goodness and justice are, as certainly as what
Wisdom and Power are : Since this quaternion of
Attributes are all known by the same means and by no
other: we know both intuitively and by the help of our
senses, that such as we conceive them to be, such they
appear in the work. For he bids us turn our eyes
inward; then survey mankind ; and lastly, observe
how reason, from the constitution oj human nature^
confirms our intuitive knowledge, and that which we
gain by the help of our senses. But what does all this
signify, if Anaxagoras or his Lordship be in an humour
of concluding against their own premisses ? Hear then
how the speech ends " Of divine goodness and divine
" justice, might this Philosopher conclude, I

UNABLE TO FRAME ANY ADEQUATE NOTIONS*/

What ? Unable to frame those notions which God, by
his moral Constitution, has put into our hands and by
the declaration of his WILL has taught us to apply ?
Yes, he bids us conclude, that we are unable to frame
any adequate notion of divine GOODNESS and JUSTICE,

* Vol. IV. p. 116, 117,

and

App*.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 233

and yet, on the force of the very same reasoning, to
conclude as steddily, that we are able to frame an
adequate notion of divine WISDOM and POWER. This
old Philosopher, I suppose, was not brought in to be
laughed at 3 like his drunken Church-IlELOTEs*; yet,
he plays the fool to admiration. We DO KNOW, says
Anaxagoras, what Goodness and Justice are: we know
both intuitively, and by the help of our senses, that
such as we conceive them to be, such they appear in the
WORK; and THEREFORE we DO NOT KXOW that sucty
they are in the WOUKER.

Might I be permitted to address myself to this
Renegado Sophist, I would say, Your brethren, the
ancient Philosophers, reasoned a posteriori in this
manner, " Can you think there is wisdom and power
in you, and none in your Maker? 1 By no means.
They reasoned well. Let me ask you then, is there
goodness and just ice in you, and none in your Maker?"
His answer, I suppose, would be the same. But,
prompted by his Lordship, into whose service he is
now entered, he adds, That, from human goodness and
justice we cannot come to the NATURE of the divine*,
What should hinder us, I pray you ? Is it not from
our intuitive conception of our own wisdom and power
that we gain an adequate idea of God s ? Are wisdom
and power MORE PERFECT, as they are found in man,
than goodness and just ice ? If therefore the IMPERFEC
TION of these attributes in Mim hinder our acquiring an
adequate idea of those in God, we can have no adequate

* " far be it from me to wish (says his Lordship) that tha
?&lt; race of Metaphysicians and Casuists should increase. But since
" there will be such men, it is very reasonable to wish that they
" may serve to the same good purpose that the Helotes, the
# drunken slaves, did at Sparta/ &c. Vol. V. p. 446.

idea

234 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book It,

idea of his wisdom and power : If the IMPERFECTION
does not hinder, then we may have an adequate idea of
his goodness and justice.

But, the inference to God s power and wisdom, his
Lordship says, is supported by what men see of tire
effects of them, in his Works ; the order and harmony
of the physical System. Do \ve not see likewise the
effects of God s goodness and justice, in the order and
harmony of the moral, in the happiness that naturally
attends virtue, and the misery consequent on vice?
And is not the moral System as much God s JVork &gt; as
the physical ?

Thus, \ve see, that by the very reasoning, his Lord
ship EMPLOYS to prove the natural attributes, and by
the very method he PRESCRIBES to us for proving the
moral attributes, we have demonstrated the moral with
a precision and a certainty, at least equal to the natural.
His Lordship seems to have been aware of the event;
and therefore when he had set us at defiance, he tried
to put the change upon us, under pretence of reminding
us, that the moral attributes should be examined by, or
applied to, THE CONSTITUTION OF THE WORLD AND

THE STATE OF MANKIND IN IT *. I had full QB

much reason to be aware of his Lordship. And there
fore in stating the question, at my entrance on the
Subject, I obviated this miserable Sophism. I call it
by no better name, because it is not the constitution of
the world or the state of mankind in it, but the CON^
STITUTION OF THE MORAL SYSTEM, or the nature
of Virtue and Vice as they naturally operate to produce
happiness and misery, by which God s moral attributes
are to be tried and ascertained. But this, which, by
a stecldy light ; gives us an uniform view r , he would

* VoLV. p. 331.

have

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 235

have us turn from ; to contemplate that obscure, dis
turbed, and shifting scene, the actual state of vice and
virtue, of misery and happiness, amongst men. That
is, he would have us conclude concerning God s na
ture, not from his VOLUNTARY CONSTITUTION of
things, but from the BREACHES in that Constitution
made by the abuse of man s free-will : which yet
(when he is arguing for an equal providence) he again
and again confesses ought not to be charged upon
God ; and declaims violently against the folly of those
who impute the effects of that abuse to him. Though
here (in his various attempts to blot out ihe idea of
God s moral attributes) he be full of the disorders of
the moral System, considered as part of God s design.

But since I have mentioned his arguments for an
equal providence , I should be unjust to my argument,
if I concealed from the Reader, another of his contra
dictions. He had Man s future State as well as
God s moral attributes to throw out of the religious
World ; or, to speak more properly, he had RELI
GION to overturn, by taking away its very ESSENCE :
and as the irregularities in the present administration
of God s moral Providence stood in the way of his
first attempt; and the consistency of the moral System
itself in the way of the other; when he argues against
a FUTURE STATE, You would think there were no
irregularities ; and when he argues against the MORAL
ATTRIBUTES, You would think there was no con
sistency.

We now come to his Lordship s particular objec
tions against the moral attributes. One of them is
that they are BOUNDED.

" They [the Divines] go further. As God is per-
* feet, and man very imperfect, they talk of his infi*

" nite

236 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

" nite goodness and justice, as of his infinite wisdom
" and power; though the latter may preserve their
" nature without any conceivable bounds, and the
" former must cease to be what they are, unless we
* c conceive them BOUNDED. Their nature implies
" necessarily a limitation in the exercise of them.
" Thus then the moral attributes, according to this
" Theology, requires infinitely more of God to man
" than men are able, or would be obliged if they were
" able, to exercise to one another : greater profusion
" in bestowing benefits and rewards, greater rigour in
* punishing offences *."

You have here his Lordship s own words ; and no
thing less could induce any one to think so disadvan-
tageously of this Philosopher of the first head, as
they necessarily imply. Let us consider the premisses,
and examine the inferences both implied and &r-
fre&sed.

He says, i . That the moral attributes are bounded ;
2. That the natural are not bounded. Let us see to
what the first proposition amounts ; and how much
truth there is in the second.

i. The moral attributes are considered by us as
relative to intelligent creatures : The natural are not
so considered. Thus, the goodness and justice when
relative to man, are greatly bounded , a certain low-
degree of reward suffices for his good, a certain low
degree of punishment for his evil actions. Let God s
goodness and justice respect a higher rank of intelli
gent Beings, and they will be then less bounded , for
greater rewards and punishments will be required:

* Vol. V. p. 528.

and

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 237

and so on, to the highest rank of intelligent creatures.
Yet as the highest is at infinite distance from the
Creator, the exercise of the moral attributes, as they
bear relation to his intelligent creatures, must be still
bounded.

2. His second proposition is, that the natural at
tributes arc not bounded. It is true, these cannot be
considered as relative to God s intelligent creatures ;
yet since, in their exercise, they must be considered as
relative to his Creation at large ; and since Creation,
however immense, is not infinite, the natural attributes
so considered are not infinite : but if not infinite, they
are bounded. There is no difference therefore, in the
exercise of God s attributes, between the moral and
the natural^ save only in the degree.

But if we consider God s moral and natural attri
butes more abstractedly, not as they are in the exer
cise, and relative to intelligent Beings, and to actual
Creation, but as they are in his nature, then they are
both unbounded. Thus we see his Lordship s notable
distinction is both imaginary and useless.

However, let us give him all he asks ; and then see
what he will be able to infer from it,

i. His first inference seems to be this: " As the
moral attributes are bounded, and not infinite like the
natural, our idea of them must be obscure and inade
quate." What! because they are better adapted to
human contemplation ? as things bounded certainly are
better adapted than things infinite. Our idea of such
of God s attributes as bear relation to a Being, whose
nature and properties we know, namely MAN, must
needs be more, adequate and better defined than the

idea

238 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book It

idea of such attributes as bear relation to Beings,
whose nature and properties we know not, namely the
gross of those which make up the UNIVERSE.

2. His other inference, is expressed in these words :
Thus then the moral attributes, according to this The-
lgy&gt; require infinitely more of God to man than men
are able, or would be obliged if they were able, to
exercise to one another. To say, the moral attributes,
according to Christian Theology, or, as he is pleased
to call it, artificial Theology, requires INFINITELY
more, is an extravagant hyperbole. To say, it re
quires more, is true. And for this plain reason : the
relation between Creator and Creature is much more
intimate than that, between Fellow-creatures; there
fore the divine goodness is more abundant : The rela
tion between Lord and Servant is more appropriate
than that between Fellow-servants ; therefore the di
vine justice is more severe. And had it not been
deemed too presuming to refer his Lordship to Scrip
ture for instruction (especially in a matter where the
abuse of Scripture was chiefly intended) I might
there have pointed to a Parable which would have set
him right: and has always kept artificial Theology,
whatever he might think, from going wrong. But
bijimte, when applied to the exercise of a moral at
tribute in reference to Man, is his Lordship s nonsense,
with due reverence be it spoken, not the nonsense of
artificial Divines. They were not ignorant, that the
rule infirmiorem vel deteriorem partem scquitur come-
quentia, held as well in Morals as in Logic. Though
God be infinite, man is finite; and therefore, with
respect to man, the exertion of a moral attribute is
finite, not infinite. His Lordship himself saw some^
1 2 thing

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 239

thing of this, as appears by his own words. The
nature of the moral attributes implies necessarily a
limitation in the use of them. And why would he
suppose, Divines could not see as far into this matter
as himself?

But if there be an error in artificial Theology, he is
as sure, at one time or other, to espouse it ; as he is
ready at all times to calumniate the Divine who holds
it. Men, in their ill-advised zeal to defend the Scrip
ture doctrine of the Son s Divinity, were not always
sufficiently careful in selecting their arguments*
Amongst such as had perhaps been better let alone,
they employed this ; That as man s offence was against
an infinite Being, it required an infinite satisfaction ;
which none but such a Being could give. Now his
Lordship, we see, espouses this very principle to dis
credit God s moral attributes, and the artificial Theo
logy of Jesus Christ; which speaks, indeed, oi injinitz
rewards ; but not as matter of due, but of grace.

As the being bounded is one of his Lordship s ob
jections against the moral attributes, so the being
merely HUMAN, is another.

" After Dr. CLARKE (says be) has repeated over
" and over, that all the moral attributes are the same
" in God as in our ideas ; and that he, who denies
" them to be so, may as well deny the divine physical
66 attributes, the Doctor insists . only on two of the.
* former, on those of justice and goodness. He w r a$
" much in the right to contract the generality of his
* assertion. The absurdity of ascribing TEMPE*
" RANGE, for instance, or FORTITUDE, to God, would
" have been too gross, and too visible even to eyes
u that prejudice had blinded the most. But that, of

" ascribing

THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

ascribing justice and goodness to him, according to
our notions of them, might be better covered, and
was enough for his purpose, THOUGH NOT LESS

REALLY ABSURD *."

Which shall we most admire : His Knowledge or
his Ingenuity 9 Or shall we follow the advice of his
own Motto f, and Wonder at nothing ?

When men contemplate what they call, moral virtue,
or the attributes of Humanity, they divide them into
two classes, perfectly distinct from one another. In
the first are comprized those which belong to man
under the idea of a free intelligent Being, such as
goodness and justice : in the second, those which be
long to him under the idea of a creature of his own
frail species, such as temperance and fortitude. The
first belong to all free intelligent Beings ; the latter,
only to such a Being as man : Those arise out of the
nature of free intelligence, and so are common to all :
These, from the imperfections of a very inferior crea
ture, and so are peculiar to Humanity ; for we easily
.conceive a higher Order of free created Intelligences,
in which the moral virtues of the second class have
no place. They are superior to the impressions of
fear, and so have no room to exert fortitude : They
are removed from the temptation of excess, and so
have no need to exercise temperance. Now when
CLARKE, after other Divines, had said that the moral
attributes are the same in God as in our ideas, What
Attributes could they possibly mean but those of the
first class ; those which belong to Beings under the
idea of free Intelligences? STUPID as his Lordship
is pleased to make Divines, they could never blunder at

* Vol. V. p. 311, f Nil admirari.

such

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 241

such a rate as to conceive, that those virtues or moral
attributes, which proceed from the Imperfection of the
Creature, might belong in any manner to the Creator,
whom they supposed to be all perfect. They held,
with his Lordship, and they will hold without him,
that the great God is infinitely wise and powerful. -
Were they then in any danger to give him temperance,
which implied his being obnoxious to folly ; or for*
titude, which argued impuissanct? Infinite wisdom,
therefore, and infinite power, exclude from God the
very ideas of temperance and fortitude. But do in
finite wisdom and infinite power exclude from God the
ideas of goodness and justice ? On the contrary, his
Lordship, as we shall see presently, is reduced to the
poor shift of owning goodness and justice to be con
tained in infinite wisdom and power ; after he had said,
as here he does, That the ascribing gocdness and just ice
to God is NO LESS REALLY ABSURD than the ascribing
temperance and fortitude to him.

- But CLARKE contracted the generality of the
assertion to serve a purpose. I think he did : and for
one of the best purposes in the world, that of COMMON*
SENSE. Had his Lordship been pleased to contract
himself on the same principle, he might have passed,
perhaps, for a greater Philosopher; though he had
certainly been a less Writer.

But then, if you ask, What purpose his Lordship
had to serve, when he used the equivocal word ALL,
(which may signify either all of one kind, or all of
every kind) where he observes, Clarke holds, that ALL.
the moral attributes are the same in God, &c. ?
I answer, it was to give himself the poor pretence to
say, that Clarke afterwards contracted his generality,
pr, in other words, that lie contradicted himself.

VOL. II. R A third

242 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

A third objection against the moral attributes is,
" That PASSIONS and AFFECTIONS mix with our
goodness and justice ; which therefore cannot be sup
posed to be the same in kind with GOD S ; though our
wisdom and power, with which no passions or affec
tions mix, must be the same in kind with his."

Were passion and affection inseparable from human
goodness and justice, the objection might seem to have
some force ; indeed, not much even then. But how
miserable must the objection appear to those who see,
as all men may, that they are separable? Separable, I
mean, in practice as well as speculation : (Of which we
have at present* one great Example at least, in a high
Tribunal where they shine the most.) So that the
true idea even of human goodness and justice excludes
all passion and affection. What hinders then our
rising, from that idea, to Divine goodness and justice,
any more than our rising, from the idea of human
wisdom and power, to the Divine wisdom and power ;
and from perceiving, that as well the moral, as the
natural attributes, are the same in kind, both in God
and man?

But this is not all that may be fairly said in favour
of our adequate idea of God s moral attributes^ when
compared with the natural. For though PASSION
mixes not with the human attributes of wisdom and
power, yet something else does, much more difficult
to be separated than passion, from the human attri
butes of goodness and justice, I mean the INSTRU
MENTALITY OF MATTER. We can conceive nothing
of human power without the use of such an instru
ment : yet this, by his Lordship s own confession, does
not hinder us from rising from the idea of our own

* 1765.

wisdom

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 243

wisdom and power, to the wisdom and power of
God ; nor from seeing that they are the same in
kind. Why then should the other foreign combination
hinder us from seeing that goodness and justice are
the same in kind ?

Still, further. The MANNER of knowing in God,
on which depends his natural attribute of WISDOM, is
confessedly different from what it is in man ; and, at
the same time, is a thing of which we have no concep
tion : yet this, according to his Lordship s account,
does not hinder our attaining to an adequate idea of
divine wisdom, though it rises only from what we see
of the human.

How happens it then, that, in both these cases, not
withstanding the foreign mixture of the instrumentality
of matter , and the manner of knowing, we attain an
adequate idea of God s wisdom and power? His
Lordship will tell you, it is by separating what is
foreign, from what is native to the ideas of wisdom and
power. And shall not I have as much credit with
my Reader, when I tell him, we acquire an adequate
idea of God s goodness and justice, by separating from
the idea of human goodness and justice the foreign
mixture of passion and affection ?

But his Lordship has a greater quarrel than all this,
with the MORAL ATTRIBUTES. They give rise to
embarrassed questions, dishonourable to God, and
mischievous to Religion.

" As they [the Divines] modeled God s government
" on a human plan, so they conceived his perfections,
" moral as well as physical^ by human ideas. Thus
" God was said to be the FIRST GOOD : but then the
" general notion ort ^stract idea of this good was not
" only taken from human goodness, but was considered

B 2 " tOO

244 THE DIV r INE LEGATION [Book II,

" too with little or no other relation than to man
" A question arose therefore on these hypotheses,
" How could evil come into a system of which God was
" the author? this question made a further hypo-
" thesis necessary ; another first God, another co-
" eternal and coequal principle, was introduced to
" solve it; a first cause of all evil, as the other
" was of all good-."

The false representation of this fact I reserve for
another occasion : the false inference from it is what
I now propose to consider.

His Lordship supposes, that the notion of God s
moral attributes gave birth to an insoluble question
concerning the origin of evil; and that this occa
sioned the invention of the mischievous hypothesis of
the two Principles. Who would have suspected all
this evil to arise from the FIRST GOOD! Yet so it
was : And therefore the notion of such a GOOD must
be false ; or at least, very hurtful.

I. As to the first, if his Lordship s inference be
risht, it will unsettle all useful knowledge; because
there is no great principle, either in physics, or in
-natural Theology, but which, if we be not on our
guard, and wise enough to stop at the extent of our
ideas, will lead us into inextricable difficulties : As
one might instance in a point that arises out of both the
?^ciences, physics and morals together The agreement
between free-will and prescience. This is a well-known
case : And as his Lordship pretends to untie this knot,
which hath so long kept the learned world intangled, let
us examine his great talents on what is worthy of them.
;; Our ideas (says he) of divine intelligence and wisdom

* Vol. IV. p. 88,

" may

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 245

" may be neither fantastical nor false, and yet God s
" MANNER of knowing may be so different from ours,
" that fore-knowledge, as we call it improperly in him,
" may be consistent with the contingency of events ;
" although that which we call properly fore-knowledge
" in ourselves, be not so *."

I have two or three remarks to make on these
words.

1. Our ideas of God s moral attributes, his good-
ness -and justice, he makes ja?itast iced andjfa/&lt;?e, on ac
count of difficulties arising from them: yet God s
natural attributes, his intelligence and wisdom, may, he
says, be neither fantastical nor false, though a difficulty
as great arises from them; namely, the apparent
discordancy between free-will and prescience.

2. My second remark is, that his solution is more
fantastic and false than the wildest chimera of School-
metaphysics. The difficulty m reconciling God s
prescience to man s free-will does not arise from our
ignorance in God s MANNER OF KNOWING, but from

God s ACTUAL KNOWLEDGE,

3. My third remark is, that his Lordship, who is
here so penetrating, that he can easily reconcile pre
science andjree-zvill, is yet, in another place, so cloudy,
that he cannot see how an " equal providence, and
"free agency may stand together f."

4. My last remark is (and it rises out of the fore
going) that where Religion is not concerned, his Lord-

* Vol. V. p. 525.

f See my observations on this Proposed difficulty in the Appen
dix to the Fifth Book of the Divine Legation.

R 3 ship

246 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

ship sees no difficulty in any part of the system of
Creation : But as soon as ever Religion appears, then
difficulties start up by dozens. Of this, take an in
stance from, as it will lead us back to, the case in
hand. Our ideas of God s moral attributes, he says,
must needs be false, because the conceiving of them
by human goodness and justice raises up the question
of the origin of evil, considered morally. "Well.
And does not the conceiving of God s physical attri
butes, by human wisdom and power, lead to the
question of the origin of evil, considered naturally ?
Yet our ideas of the physical attributes are neither
false nor fantastical. But to this, his Lordship re
plies, Evil, considered naturally, is not real, but ap
parent only. Why so ? Because it contributes to the
greater good of the whole. May not the same thing
be said of Evil, considered morally ? Nay, hath it not
been actually said, and proved too, on the same prin
ciples ? It follows then, that they are either both real,
or \&gt;Q\h fantastic.

In a word, the truth is no more than this, Presump
tuous man knows not where to stop : he would pene
trate even to the Arcana of the Godhead :

" For Fools rush in, where Angels fear to tread."

And this impious humour it was which gave birth to
the absurd hypothesis of TWO PRINCIPLES. But is
the folly to be charged upon our idea of the moral
attributes ? Ridiculous ! We see it s cause is in vanity
and self-conceit : passions that operate alike on all
Systems ; and find materials to gratify their extrava
gance, equally in the physical as in the moral attri
butes of the Deity.

II. As

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 247

II. As to his Lordship s second inference, that this
idea is at least productive of much mischief, and
therefore it would be better to have none at all ; Let
me observe, that the idea of God s very existence is
productive of much mischief, even all the mischiefs of
Superstition. Is it therefore better to be without a
God? Who besides his Lordship would say so*?
Why then should we think it better to be without the
idea of the moral attributes, even though the evils it
produced were necessary? But that is not the case.
They are casual only: the issue of pride and pre
sumption ; which the idea of the moral attributes does
not at all influence.

III. HOWEVER, these, if not hurtful, are USELESS;
and this is his next cavil. " Infinite wisdom and
" power (says his Lordship) have made things as they
" are : how goodness &&& justice required they should
" be made is neither coramjudice, nor to any rational
" purpose to enquire f." To inquire how the universe
of things should be made, which refers to God s
power and wisdom, serves indeed to no reasonable pur
pose. But to inquire concerning our own state and
condition in this Universe, which refers to God s
goodness and justice, is either coram judice, or we
were sent into the world to no purpose. His Lord
ship s sophistry seems to confoun4 two things that
plain sense hath always distinguished ; viz. our own
business from other meris. When the King holds a
Session of justice, tis not for every Particular to

* He indeed says, he had rather be an Atheist
the Christian Theology ; and we may believe him. See vol. iv,
P-34-

t Vol. V. p. 363.

, R 4 inquire

248 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

inquire into all his measures ; but every Particular,
who is summoned to attend the Court, is much con
cerned to know how he himself shall be dealt with.
His Lordship, indeed, is ready to say, We are not
summoned ^ that is, we are not accountable creatures.
But this is begging the question.

Again, to inquire, much more to prescribe, how
things should be. made, in any particular System, has
ail the folly, presumption," and impiety, which his
Lordship charges upon it : Because the Parts having
a relation to the Whole, an ail- wise Architect makes
them in conformity to that Whole, of which, we know
nothing; and therefore our only conclusion should be,
that the Part we do know, is constituted for the best.
Eut it is another thing to say (which is all that Di
vines have said, how differently soever his Lordship is
pleased to represent the matter) that God will act
equitably with his rational Creation, by distributing
good and evil to them according to their deserts;
because this does not depend upon any Whole, of
which we know nothing, but on his attributes of good
ness and justice, of which, we know enough to deter
mine with certainty concerning his final dealing with
every rank of free and reasonable Beings. In this
case to pass our judgment is so far from folly or im
piety, that not to do it would be stupidity or hypocrisy.
To call this proceeding, as his Lordship does, the
patching or botching up one System with another, is a
gross misrepresentation.

AT LENGTH, he ends just where he set out, That
we have xo IDEAS of the moral attributes at all.
" v pon the whole matter ^says he) we may conclude
" safely from error, and in direct opposition to
** Ci A (K.E, that goodness and justice ui God cannot
4 " be

Appx.] OT MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 249

" be conceived, without manifest presumption and im-
" piety, to be the same as in the ideas we frame of
" these perfections when we constaer them in men, or
" when we reason about them abstractedly in them-
" selves^ but that in the supreme Governor of the
" World they are something TRANSCENDENT, and of
" which we cannot make any true judgment, nor
" argue with any certainty about them *." It was for
jargon like this that a famous Schoolman got the
name of the TRANSCENDENT DOCTOR. Yet he as
sures us that he is ju c titi jd by the authority of
St. PAUL and Dr. BARROW. These two -great Divines
(says he) are on my side f. Two noble supporters,
(it must be confessed) to his Lordship s Atchieve-
ments ! One thing I have observed, which may be
worth reflecting 1 on A strange propensity in FREE
THINKERS to mistake their enemies tor their friends,
and as strange a propensity in the CLERGY to mis
take their friends for their enemies. This different
turn is odd enough: and, at first view, seems a little
mysterious ; when, perhaps^ there may be no more in
it than this Free-thinkers have invented the trick, to
amuse the Clergy, in order to raise their suspicions,
and excite their jealousy against their best Friends :
And, unhappily, the Clergy have, now and then, fallen
into the snare.

But, after all, who would expect that the leather -
dressing Pontiff^ of all men should have been thought
worthy to support the Jirst Philosophy! What has
St. PAUL done at last to deserve this honour? Why,

* Vol. V. p. 359. f Vol. V. p. 36-2.

J This is the title with which he dignifies SAINT PAUL, in hij
JVth vol. p. 423. What Pity was it, his Lordship did not know
that Tkeodoret had called hinp a downright COBBLER.

250 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

in answer to the objections against God s dispensations
in the religious World, the Apostle refers us, " for
" intire satisfaction to the incomprehensible wisdom of
ic God, who frequently in the course of his providence
" ordereth things in methods transcending our abilities
&lt;f to discover or to trace *." This solution, which is
here extolled for its great modesty, is referred to, in
another place, for it s greater IMPUDENCE |.

But St. PAUL says, we must have recourse to the
incomprehensible wisdom of God. In good time. But
how does this prove that, in Paul s opinion, we have no
adequate idea of the moral attributes ? Unless the
quality of an Agent, and his action, be one and the
same thing,

Dr. BARROW, I presume, will stand his Lordship in
no better stead than St. Paul. " As* the dealings of
" every wise man (says the Doctor) are sometimes
" founded upon maxims, and admit justifications not
u obvious or penetrable by vulgar conceit; so may
" God act according to rules of wisdom and justice
" which it may be quite impossible by our faculties to
" apprehend, or with our means to descry. As there
" are natural modes of Being and operation, so there
" may be prudential and moral modes of proceeding,
" far above our reach, peculiar objects of divine wisdom
" not to be understood by any creature, especially by
" creatures who stand in the lowest form of intelli-
" gence; one remove from beasts. In fine, those
" rules of equity and experience which we in our
" transactions with one another do use, if they be
" applied to the dealings of God will be found very
* incongruous or deficient, the case being vastly altered

* Vol. V. p. 360. f Vol. III. p. 307.

" from

Appx,] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 251

" from that infinite distance in nature and state between
" God and us, and from the immense difference which
" his relations towards us have from our relations to
" one another *." What now has all this (which re
lates only to the incomprehensible nature of God s
providence) to do with our inadequate ideas of his
moral attributes? At least, if his Lordship will
contend, that the man who thinks God s providence
incomprehensible, must needs think our ideas of his
moral attributes inadequate, he must go a step further,
and confess, that -Barrow supposed our ideas of the
natural attributes to be inadequate likewise ; for he
puts both on the same footing. As there are NATURAL
modes of Being and operation (says the Doctor), so there
may be prudential and MORAL modes of proceeding
far above our reach. But as this would be going
too far; farther than the FIRST PHILOSOPHY will
allow of, I suppose his Lordship would be content to
give up this quotation from Barrow, as nothing to
the purpose.

AT LAST, and when you would least expect it,
Common-sense and Common-sentiments return. And
God s moral attributes, after much ado, are allowed to
be in Nature. " Where Religions (says his Lordship)
" which pretend to be revealed, prevail, a new charac-
" ter of God s goodness arises an artificial goodness
" which stands often in the place of the NATURAL f."
And this, after he had so often told us, that we have
no adequate idea of any goodness at all. Well, but s
aukwardly as God s natural goodness comes (and, in
every sense) a posteriori, yet it comes, and deserves to
be made welcome. " All the knowledge (says he)

* Vol. V. p. 361, 362. t Vol. V. p. 431.

" that

252 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

" that God has given us the means to acquire, and
" therefore all he designed we should have of his phy-
" sical and MORAL nature and attributes, is derived
" from his works, and from the TENOUR OF THAT
" PROVIDENCE by which he governs them */ You
will observe the words the tenour of that Providence

1 have detected the sophistry of them before,

where I have stated the meaning of the terms, God s
works. I bid you observe them now, to judge of the
following climax (if I may so call it), or his walk
down stairs. The wisdom " is not so often discernible
" by us [in God s works] as the power of God, nor
" the goodness as the wisdom f." As scanty and
slender as the knowledge is of God s moral attributes,
which his Lordship here allows us to collect from his
works, yet it flatly contradicts what his System had
obliged him over and over to maintain ; particularly
in the following words Of divine goodness and divine
justice (says his Lordship in the person of Anaxagoras)
/ am unable to frame any adequate notions $, from
God s works.

This Mock-concession is again repeated, and as
carefully guarded. " By natural Theology (says his
" Lordship) we are taught to acknowledge and adore
" the infinite wisdom and power of God, which he has
" manifested to us in some degree or other in every
" part, even the most minute, of his Creation. By
" that too, we are taught to ascribe GOODNESS and
u JUSTICE to him, wherever he intended we should so
" ascribe them, that is, wherever either his works, or the
" dispensations of his providence, do as NECESSARILY

* Vol. V. p. 523, 524- t Vol. V. p. 335-

J Vol. IV. p. 116, 117.

" communicate

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 253

" communicate these notions to our minds, as those of
" wisdom and power are communicated to us, in the
" whole extent of both *."

What his Lordship would have you infer from this
is, that we are NO WHERE taught to ascribe goodness
-and justice to God ; since the dispensations of his pro
vidence do NO WHERE, in his Lordship s opinion,
NECESSARILY communicate these notions. But allow
him his premises, that neither God s Works nor Dis
pensations do NECESSARILY communicate to us the
notions of God s goodness and justice ; Would his
conclusion follow, that therefore we are no where
taught in these works and dispensations to ascribe those
attributes unto him? Suppose these works and dispen
sations did only PROBABLY communicate these notions
to our minds; will not this probability teach us to-
ascribe goodness and justice to him ? God hath so
framed the constitution of things, that man, throughout
his whole conduct in life, should be necessarily induced
to form his judgment on appearances and probable
arguments. Why then not in this, as well as the rest?
or rather, why not in this, above the rest ? if so be God
indeed had not (as I have shewn he hath) necessarily

communicated these notions But still, what is this

to our adequate idea of the moral attributes, the point
in question? God s not necessarily communicating,
affects only the reality , not the precision of the idea.
All therefore we learn by the observation, which would
thus put the change upon us, is, that his Lordship has
a very strong inclination, that God should have neither
goodness UOY justice ; so far as they carry with them any
PISPOSITION to reward or punish. For as to the

Vol. V. p. 527.

Attributes

254 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

Attributes themselves, divested of their consequences ;
and undisturbed by our IMPIOUS IMITATION*, he
has little or no quarrel with them. His Lordship cer
tainly never intended to teach the common Reader
more of the secrets of his Philosophy than what
NECESSARILY arises from his professions. But to
make God treat Mankind in this manner, to commu
nicate to their minds the appearance of Attributes
which he has not, is drawing an image of the Deity
from his Lordship s own likeness ; the very fault he so
much censures in Divines. But if it must needs be,
that God is to be represented either after Them, or
after his Lordship, I should chuse to have the Clergy s
God, though made out of no better stuff limn ARTI
FICIAL THEOLOGY (because this gives him both
goodness &nd justice}, rather than his Lordship s God,
which has neither; although composed of the more
refined materials of the FIRST PHILOSOPHY. In the
mean time, I will not deny but He may be right in
what he says, That men conceive of the Deity,
more humano ; and that his Lordship s God and the
Clergy s God are equally faithful copies of them
selves.

In a word, if God teaches, whether clearly or b-
scurely, he certainly intended, we should learn. And
what we get even by appearances, is real knowledge,
upon his Lordship s own principles. For if TRUTH
be, as he assures us it is, of so precarious a nature as
to take it s Being from our own System, it must be real
as tar as it appears. " Our knowledge (says this great
" Philosopher) is so dependent on our own system,

* OUR OBLIGATION TO IMITATE GOD IS A FALSE AND PllO-
FANE DOCTRINE. Vol. V. p. 65.

" that

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 255

" that a great part of it would not be knowledge
" perhaps, but error in any other *."

It is thus he involves himself in perpetual contra
dictions : And it will be always thus, when men dis
pute (for believe they cannot f) against common
notices, and the most obvious truths ; such as liberty
of will; the certainty of knowledge ; and tiiis, which
(I reckon) obtrudes itself upon us as forcibly as either,

the MORAL ATTRIBUTES OF THE DEITY.

But the game is now on foot, let us follow it close*
We have unravelled him through all his windings ; and
we may soon expect to see him take shelter in the
thick cover of God s incomprehensible Nature ; and
rather than allow (more than in jest) the moral attri
butes of the Deity, ready to resolve all his Attributes,
both natural and moral, into one INDEFINITE PERT
FECTION.

But soft. Not yet. We must come to it by de
grees and regular advances. First, the moral attributes
are to be resolved into the natural.

" If they [the natural and moral attributes]

" may be considered separately, as we are apt to con-
" sider them ; and if the LATTER, and every thing w^
" ascribe to these, are not to be RESOLVED rather into
" the former ; into his infinite intelligence, wisdom,

" and power J." It is yet, we see, but a question ;

and that only, whether the moral attributes are not to
be resolved into the natural. In the next passage the
matter is determined. &lt;c I think (and what he thinks,

* Vol. iii. p. 356.

t Hear what he himself says of FREE-WILL. The frse-vill of
man no one can deny he has, -without LYI^G, or renouncing his
intuitive knowledge. Vol. V. p. 406.

{ Vol. V.p.-53

256 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

" he holds it but reasonable we should all think) that
" the moral attributes of the Supreme Being are ab-
" sorbed in his whdom, that we should consider them
" only as different modifications of this physical
" attribute*."

We are not yet near the top. However, before we
go any higher, let us settogetner his INCONSISTENCIES,
as they appear in this sitiicttion. Sometimes the ideas
of divine wisdom are better determined than those of
divine goodness \ : Sometimes we have no ideas at all
of divine gcodtms \. : And sometimes again (as in the
place before us), the divine goodness is the same as
wisdom, and therefore, doubtless, (notwithstanding his
Lordship) the idea of it as well defined. Now, of all
these assertions, to which M ill he stick ? To which, do
you ask ? To none of them, longer than they will stick
to him : And straggling, undisciplined Principles,
picked up at adventures, are not apt to slick long to
any side : As soon as they begin to incline towards the

enemy, he has done with them. Come, if you will

needs have it, you shall. The secret is this. The
attributes are mere NAMES; and there is an end of
them. All that remains, worth speaking of, is one
undefined ETERNAL REASON : and so the Farce con
cludes.

" The moral ATTRIBUTES (says he) are barely
" NAMES that we give to various manifestations of
" the infinite wisdom of one simple uncompounded
" being ."

" Of divine goodness and divine justice I am unable
^ to frame any adequate notions; and instead of con-

Vol. V. p. 335. f Vol. V. p. 341. 526.

t Vol. IV. p. 116, 117. Vol. V. p. 453.

" ceiving

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 257

" ceiving such distinct moral attributes in the supreme
" Being, we ought, perhaps, to conceive nothing more
" than this, that THERE ARE VARIOUS APPLICATIONS

u OF ONE ETERNAL REASON, WHICH IT BECOMES
(l US LITTLE TO ANALYZE INTO ATTRIBUTES *."

To this miserable refuge is his Lordship reduced, to
avoid DIVINE JUSTICE. But why, the Reader will
say, did he not speak out at first, and end his quarrel
with the moral attributes at once ? Your humble ser
vant for that. Barefaced NATURALISM has no such
charms as may make her received when and wherever
she appears. There is need of much preparation, and
not a little disguise, before you can get her admitted

even to what is called good company. But then,

you will say, after he had resolved to speak out, Why
did he stop again in his career ; and, when his premisses
are general against all attributes, his conclusion became
particular, against the moral only ? Not without rea
son, I assure you. He had need of the natural
attributes, to set up against the moral; and therefore
had himself analyzed this eternal reason into the spe
cific attributes of wisdom and power. But when he
saw his Adversaries might, by the same way, analyze
it into goodness and justice, he then thought fit to pick
a quarrel with his own method : But it was to be done
obliquely. And hence arises all this embarrass and
tergiversation. He .would willingly, if his Readers
would be so satisfied, analyze the eternal reason into
wisdom and power : but there he would stop ; and
leave the other side of the eternal reason, unanalyzed :
and if goodness and justice should chance to start out,
he has a trick to resolve and absorb them into wisdom

* Vol. IV. p. 117.
VOL, IL S and

258 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

and power, as only different modifications of the phy
sical attributes. But if this should revolt his Readers,
and they expect equal measure; then, rather than
give them back the goodness and justice which he has
been at all this pains to proscribe, he will throw wis
dom and power after them, and resolve all into the

ONE ETERNAL REASON.

Bashful NATURALISM has now thrown aside her
Veil ; and is, we see, ready to face down and defy her
Rival ; whom till now she was content to counterfeit.
Give me leave, therefore, to repress this last effort of
her insolence and of his Lordship s superior Wisdom.
He now tells us, " that these pretended attributes, as
they are commonly specified, and distinguished into
natural and moral, are a mere human fiction ; invented,
by aid of analogy from the actions, passions, and
qualities observable in man : and that the simple na
ture of Deity is one uniform perfection ; of which,
Infinity being the base, we can have no distinct idea
or conception."

To this I reply, that it is indeed true, that these
specific attributes, from which we deduce all our
knowledge of the nature and will of God, are formed
on analogy, and bear relation to ourselves. But then
we say such attributes are not on that account the less
real or essential. The light of the SUN is not in the
orb itself, what we see it in the RAINBOW. There it
is one candid, uniform, perfect blaze of glory : here
we separate it s Perfection into the various attributes
of red, yellow, blue, purple, and what else the subtle
optician so nicely distinguishes. But still the solar
light is not less real in the Rainbow, where it s rays
become "thus untwisted., and each differing thread
distinctly seen, in its effect, than while they remained

united

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 259

united and incorporated with one another in the Sun.
Just so it is with the divine Nature : it is one simple
individual Perfection in the Godhead himself: but
when refracted and divaricated, in passing through the
medium of the human mind, it becomes power, jus
tice, mercy; which are all separately and ADEQUATELY
represented to the understanding. But that his Lord
ship so frequently discards his own principles, I should
hope he would submit to this illustration, since he
owns that we sec the Deity in a reflected, not in a di
rect light*.

It is a true light then, and not a false : and the know
ledge which it conveys is real, not fantastic : For
mirrors are not wont to reflect the species of the
mind s visions, but things exterior and substantial. To
turn us, therefore, from God s attributes, (though the
indirect, yet the well-defined, Image of him) because
they discover something to us we may not like, a HELL
and a FUTURE JUDGMENT, to turn us, I say, from
these, to the undefined eternal reason, is doing like
certain French Philosophers, who, when they quar
relled with Newton s Theory of light and colours,
contrived to break the Prism by which it was demon
strated.

And now, Reader, let me ask, Who is there that
deserves the name of MAN, and will not own, that they
are the MORAL ATTRIBUTES of the Deity which make
him AMIABLE ; just as the natural attributes make
him revered? What is his Lordship s quarrel with
the God of MOSES and PAUL, but that he is made
unamiable, and represented without goodness or jus
tice ? Their God, therefore, he expressly tells us, shall

* Vol. V. p. 524.

s 3 not

260 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

not be his God*. Well then : He has his God to
make. And who would not expect to find him, when
made by such a Workman, a God of infinite goodness
and justice? No such matter: These qualities come
not out of his Lordship s hands ; so, cannot enter into
the composition of his God : They are barely MAMES
that men give to various manifestations of the infinite
wisdom of one simple nncompounded Being. The pre
tended want of them in the God of the Jews afforded
his Lordship a commodious cavil; for he had RELI
GION to remove out of his way: But when he came
to erect NATURALISM in it s stead, it had been very
inconvenient to give them to his own Idol.

Honest Plutarch, though a Priest, was as warm an
enemy to PRIESTCRAFT as his Lordship. He derives
all the evils of Superstition from men s not acquiring
the idea of a God infinitely good and just. And pro
poses tins knowledge as the only cure for Superstition.
This is consistent. But what would the ancient
World have thought of their Philosopher, had his re
medy, after hunting for it through a hundred volumes^
been a God without any goodness and justice at all ?

NATURE tells us, that the tiling most desirable is
the knowledge of a God whose goodness and justice
gives to every man according to his works. His
LORDSHIP tells us, that REASON or NATURAL RELI
GION discovers to us no such God. Now, if both
speak truth, How much are we indebted to REVELA
TION ! Which, when natural Religion failed us, brings
us to the knowledge of a God infinitely good and just ;
and gives us an adequate idea of those attributes ! I

* " Can aliy man presume to say, that the God of Moses or
the God of Paul is th true God?" &c. Vol. V. p. 567.

say

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 261

say no more than his Lordship has confessed. Chris
tianity, says he, DISCOVERS the lone of God to man;
his infinite JUSTICE and GOODNESS*.

Is this a blessing to be rejected ? His Lordship has
no room to say so, since the discovery is made in that
very way, in which, upon his owuJPrinciples, it only
could be made. He pretends, " We have no other
natural way of coming to the knowledge of God, but
from his works. By these, he says, we gain the idea
of his physical attributes ; and if there be any thing
in his works which seems to contradict those attributes,
*tis only seeming : For as men advance in the know
ledge of nature, the difficulties vanish. It is not so,
he says, with regard to the moral attributes. There
are so many phenomena which contradict these, and
occasion difficulties never to be cleared up, that they
hinder us from acquiring an adequate idea of the moral
attributes" Now admitting ail tiiis to be true (for
generally, his Lordship s assertions are so extravagant,
that they will not even admit a supposition of their
truth, though it be only for argument s sake), What
does it effect but this, the giving additional credit to
Revelation ? The physical difficulties clear up as we
advance in our knowledge of Nature, and we advance
in proportion to our diligence and application. But
the moral difficulties never clear up, because they rise
out of the Whole System of God s moral dispensation ;
which is involved in clouds and darkness, impenetrable
to mortal sight : and all the force of human wit alone
will never be able to draw the veil. The assistance
must come from another quarter. It must come, if it
comes at all, from the Author of the Dispensation.

* Vol.V. p. 532.

S3 Well;

262 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

Weil ; Revelation hath drawn this veil, aiad so, removed
the darkness which obstructed our attaining an adequate
idea of the moral attributes. Shall we yet stand out ?
And, when we are brought hither upon his Lordship s
own principles, still withhold our assent ? Undoubtedly
you must. Beware (says he) of a pretended Reve
lation. Why so ? " Because the Religion of nature is
" perfect and absolute : and therefore Revelation can
" teach nothing but what Religion hath already
taught *." Strange ; Why, Revelation teaches those
moral attributes ! which you, my Lord, own, natural
Religion does not teach Here we stick.

" Die aliquem sodes, die, Quintiliane, colorem :

Haeremus "

And here, we are like to stick. His Lordship leaves
us in a Riddle. Will you have the solution ? It is
foolish enough ; as the solution of such kind of things
generally are. But if the Reader hath kept his good
humour, which, I confess, is difficult amidst all these
provocations of impiety, it is enough to make him
laugh. I said before, that his Lordship borrowed all
his reasoning against Revelation, from such as Tindal,
Toland, Collins, Chubb, and Morgan. This solemn
argument particularly, of the PERFECTION OF NA
TURAL RELIGION, and the superseded use of Reve
lation, he delivers to us just as he found it in Tindal.
Now Tindal, who pretended to hold that natural
Religion taught both the moral attributes and aj uture
state, had some pretence for saying that it was perfect
and absolute. But what pretence has his Lordship to
say it after him, who holds that natural Religion taught
neither one nor the other ? The truth is, he refused no
arms against REVELATION ; and the too eager pursuit
* Vol. V. p. 544-

Appx.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 263

of this his old enemy through thick and thin has led
him into many of these scrapes.

To see his Lordship use TINDAL S ARGUMENTS
a gainst Revelation, and for the perfection of Natural
Religion., along with his OWN PRINCIPLES of no moral
attributes and no future state, must needs give the
Reader a very uncommon idea of his abilities : for the
first of these principles makes one entire absurdity of
all he borrows from Tindal against Revelation ; and the
second takes away the very pretence for perfection in
natural Religion.

His Lordship s friend, Swift, has somewhere or other
observed, that no subject in all Literature but Religion
could have advanced TOLAND and ASGILL into the
class of reputable Authors. Another of his friends
seems to think that no subject but Religion could have
sunk his Lordship so far below it: IF EVER LORD

BOLINGBROKE TRIFLES (says Pope), IT WILL BE
WHEN HE WRITES ON DIVINITY*. But Such is the

fate of Authors, when they chuse to write upon subjects
for which they were not qualified either by nature or
grace. For it is with authors as with Men : Who can
guess which Vessel was made for honour, and which
for dishonour? when sometimes, one and the same is
made for both. Even this choice Piece of the FIRST
PHILOSOPHY, his Lordship s sacred pages, is ready to
be put to very different uses, according to the different
tempers in which they have found his few Admirers on
the one side, and the Public on the other; like the
china Utensil in the DUNCIAD, which one Hero used
for a p pot, and another carried home for his Head
piece,

* Pope s Works, V. IX. Lett, xiy.

5 4

264 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

CONTINUATION OF BOOK II.

SECT. V.

HITHERTO we have shewn the Magistrate s
care in PROPAGATING the belief of a God of
his Providence over human affairs and of the way
in which that Providence is chiefly dispensed ; namely,
by rewards and punishments in a future state. These
things make the essence of Religion, and compose the
body of it.

His next care was for the SUPPORT of Religion, so
propagated. And this was done by UNITING it to the
State, taking it under the civil protection, and giving
it the rights and privileges of an ESTABLISHMENT.
Accordingly we find that all states and people, in the
ancient world, had an ESTABLISHED RELIGION;
\vhich was under the more immediate protection of the
civil Magistrate, in contradistinction to those which
were only TOLERATED.

How close these two Interests were united in the
Egyptian Policy, is well known to all acquainted with
Antiquity. Nor were the politest Republics less soli
citous for the common interests of the two Societies,
than that sage and powerful Monarchy (the nurse of
arts and virtue) as we shall see hereafter, in the con
duct both ol Rome and Athens, for the support and
preservation of the established worship,

But

Sect. 5.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 265

But an established Religion is the voice of Nature ;
and not confined to certain ages, people, or religions.
That great voyager and sensible observer of men and
manners, J. Baptiste Tavernier, speaking of the king
dom of Tunquin, thus delivers himself concerning
this universal policy, as he saw it practised, in his
time, both in the East and West : " I come now to
" the political description of this kingdom, under
" which I comprehend the religion, which is, almost
" every where, in concert with the civil government,
"for the mutual support of one another*."

That the Magistrate established Religion, united it
to the State, and took it into his immediate protection
for the sake o,f civil Society, cannot be questioned ;
the advantages to Government being so apparent.

But the necessity of this union for procuring those
advantages, as likewise the number and extent of them,
are not so easily understood. Nor indeed can they
be understood without a perfect knowledge of the na
ture of an ESTABLISHED RELIGION, and of those
principles of equity, on which it ariseth. But as this
master-piece of human policy hath been of late,
though but of late, called in question, after having
from the first institution of Society, even to the pre
sent age, been universally practised by the Magistrate,
and as universally approved by philosophers and di
vines; and as our question is the conduct of Law
givers, and legitimate Magistrates, whose institutions
are to be defended on the rules of reason and equity ;

* Je viens a la description politique de ce royaume, dans la-
quelle je comprens la religion, qui est presqve en tons lieux de
concert &lt;ivec le gouvernement civil pour I appuy reciproque de Vun et
de Fautrc. Relation nouvelle du Royaume de Tunquin, c. x. k
la fin,

not

266 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II,

not of Tyrants, who set themselves above both ; it
will not be improper to examine this matter to the bot
tom; especially as the enquiry is so necessary to a
perfect knowledge of the civil advantages, resulting
from an established religion.

We must at present then lay aside our ideas of the
ancient modes of civil and religious societies; and
search wiiat they are in themselves, by nature ; and
thence deduce the institution in question.

I shall do this in as few words as possible ; and re
fer those, who desire a fuller account of this matter,
to a separate discourse, intitled, THE ALLIANCE

BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE*.

In the beginning of the first book, where we speak
of the origin of civil Society, the reader may re
member we have shewn the natural deficiency of its
plan ; and how 7 the influence and sanction of Religion
only can supply that defect.

Religion then being proved necessary to Society;
that it should be so used and applied, and in the best
way, and to most advantage,needs no proof. For it
is as instinctive in our nature to improve, as to investi
gate and pursue Good : and with regard to the im
provement of this in question, there is special reason
why it should be studied. For the experience of every
place and age informs us, that the coactivity of fwil
Laws and Religion., is little enough to keep men from
running into disorder and mutual violence.

But this improvement is the effect of art and con
trivance. For all natural Good, every thing constitu
tionally beneficial to man, needs man s industry to
make it better. We receive it at the provident hand

* See Vol. VII.

Sect. 5.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 267

of Heaven, rather with a capacity of being applied to
our use, than immediately fitted* for our service. We
receive it indeed, in full measure, but rude and unpre
pared.

Now, concerning this technical improvement of
moral good, it is in artificial bodies as in natural*
two may be so essentially constituted, as to be greatly
able to adorn and strengthen one another : But then,
as in this case, a merejuxta-position of the parts is not
sufficient ; so neither is it in that : some union, some
coalition, some artful insertion into each other will be
necessary.

But then again, as in natural bodies the artist is
unable to set about the proper operation, till he hath
acquired a competent knowledge of the nature of those
bodies, which are the subject of his skill ; so neither
can we know in what manner Religion may be best
applied to the service of the State, till we have learned
the real and essential natures both of a State and a
Religion. The obvious qualities of both sufficiently
shew, that they must needs have a good effect on each
other, when properly applied ; (as our artist, by his
knowledge of the obvious qualities of two natural bo
dies, we suppose, may make the like conclusion)
though we have not yet got sufficient acquaintance
with them to make the proper application.

It behoves us therefore to gain a right knowledge of
the nature both of a civil and of a religious Societv.

I. To begin with civil Society : It was instituted
either with the purpose of attaining all the good of
every kind, it was even accidentally capable of pro
ducing; or only of some certain good, which the
Institutors had in view, unconcerned with, and unat-

tentive

2 68 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

tentive to any other. To suppose its end to be the
vague purpose of acquiring all possible accidental
good, is, in politics, a mere solecism ; as hath been
sufficiently shewn by the writers on this question*.
And how untrue it is in fact, may be gathered from
what hath been said in the beginning, of the origin of
Society. Civil society then, I suppose, will be allowed
to have been instituted for the attainment of some
certain end or ends, exclusive of others : and this im
plies the necessity of distinguishing this end from
others. Which distinction arises from the different
properties of the things pretending. But again,
amongst all those things, which are apt to obtrude, or
have, in fact, obtruded upon men, as the ends of civil
government, there is only this difference in their pro
perties, as ends ; That, one of them is attainable by
wcil Society wily, and all the rest are easily obtained
without it. The thing then with that property or
quality must needs be the genuine end of civil Society.
And this end is no other than SECURITY TO THE

TEMPORAL LIBERTY AND PROPERTY OF MAN. For

this end (as we have shewn) civil Society was in
vented ; and this, civil Society alone is able to pro
cure. The great, but spurious rival of this end, the
SALVATION OF SOULS, or the security of man s fu
ture happiness, belongs therefore to the other division.
For this not depending on outward accidents, or on
the will or power of another, as the body and goods
do, may be as well attained in a state of nature, as in
civil society; and therefore, on the principles here

* See Locke s Defences of his Letters on Toleration. This-
appears to have been Aristotle s opinion &lt;ppcre fax v &*frt

TO Sfav, x TO ^Ao&gt;* U&V yap V) (pvdS -BTOtEt TOlTOV, 010V ^aXxOTUVW

*M v$t "&gt; &C. Pol. 1. i.e. 2.

delivered,

Sect. 5.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 269

delivered, cannot be one of the causes of the institution
of civil government ; nor, consequently, one of the
ends thereof. But if so, the promotion of it comes
not within the proper province of the Magistrate.

II. Secondly, as to religious Society, or a Church.
This being instituted to preserve purity of faith and
worship, its ultimate end is the SALVATION OF SOULS :
From whence it follows,

1. That the religious Society must needs be SOVE
REIGN, and INDEPENDENT ON THE CIVIL. Natural
dependency of one Society on another, arises either
from the law of nature, or of nations. Dependency
by the law of nature, is from essence or generation.
Dependency from essence there can be none. For this
kind of dependency being a mode of natural union
and coalition ; and coalition being only where there is
an agreement in eodem tertio; and there being no
such agreement between two Societies essentially dif
ferent, as these are, there can possibly be no depend
ency. Dependency from generation is where one
Society springs up from another ; as corporations, col
leges, companies, and chambers, in a city. These, as
well by the conformity of their ends and means, as by
their charters of incorporation, betray their original and
dependency. But religious Society, by ends and means
quite different, gives internal proof of its not arising
from the State; and we have shewn by external
evidence*, that it existed before the state had any
being. Again, no dependency can arise from the law
of nations, or the civil law. Dependency by this law
is, where one and the same people composing two
different Societies, the imferium of the one clashes with

* See Book III. sect. 6.

the

270 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

the imperium of the other. And, in such case, the
lesser Society becomes, by that law, dependent on the
greater ; because the not being so, would make that
absurdity in politics, called imperium in imperio. But
now civil and religious Society, having ends and means
entirely different; and the means of civil Society being
coercive power, which power therefore the religious
hath not; it follows, that the administration of each
Society is exercised in so remote spheres, that they
can never meet to clash : And those Societies which
never clash, necessity of state cannot bring into de
pendency on one another.

2. It follows, That this independent religious Society
hath not, in and of itself, any coactive power of the
civil kind: Its inherent jurisdiction being, in its nature
and use, entirely different from that of the State. For
if, as hath been proved, civil Society was instituted for
the attainment of one species of good (all other good,
requisite to human happiness, being to be attained
without it) and that civil Society attains the good, for
which it was ordained, by the sole mean of coercive
power ; then it follows, that the good, which any other
kind of Society seeks, may be attained without that
power ; consequently, coercive power is unnecessary to
a religious Society. But that mean, which is unneces
sary for the attainment of any end, is likewise unfit ;
in all cases, but in that, where such mean is rendered
unnecessary by the use of other means of the same kind
or species. But religious society attains its end by
means of a different kind ; therefore coercive power is
not only unnecessary, but unfit. Again, Ends, in their
nature different, can never be attained by one and the
same mean. Thus in the case before us : coercive

power

Sect. 5-] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 271

power can only influence us to outward practice ; by
outward practice only, is the good which civil Society
aims at, immediately effected; therefore is coercive
power peculiarly fit for civil Society. But the good,
which religious Society aims at, cannot be effected by
outward practice; therefore coercive power is altogether
unfit for this Society.

Having thus by a diligent enquiry found,

I. First, That the care of the civil Society extends
only to the body, and its concerns ; and the care of the
religious Society only to the soul : it necessarily follows,
that the civil Magistrate, if he will improve this natural
influence of Religion by human art and contrivance,
must seek some UNION or ALLIANCE with the Church-
For his office not extending to the care of souls, he
hath not, in himself, power to enforce the influence of
religion : and the Church s province not extending to
the body, and consequently being without coactive
power, she has not, in herself alone, a power of ap
plying that influence to civil purposes. The con
clusion is, that their joint powers must co-operate
thus to apply and inforce the influence of religion.
But they can never act conjointly but in union and
alliance.

II. Secondly, having found that each society is
sovereign, and independent on the other, it as neces
sarily follows, that such union can be produced only

by FREE CONVENTION AND MUTUAL COMPACT :

because, whatever is sovereign and independent, can.
be brought to no act without its own consent : but
nothing can give birth to &free convention, but a sense
of mutual wants, which may be supplied ; or a view of

mutual benefits, which may be gained by it.

Such

272 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

Such then is the nature of that Union which pro-
duceth a RELIGION BY LAW ESTABLISHED : and
which is, indeed, no other than a public league and
alliance for mutual support and defence. For the State
not having the care of souls, cannot inforce the in-

O ty

fluence of religion ; and therefore seeks the concurring
aid of the Church : and the Church having no coercive
power (the consequence of its care s not extending to
bodies) as naturally flies for protection to the State :
this being of that kind of Alliance which Grotius calls

FCEDUS IN^EQUALE " Innequalc foedus (say she)

" hie intelligo quod ex ipsa vi pactionis manentem
" pralatiomm quandam alteri donat : hoc est, ubi
" quis tenetur alterius imperium ac majestatem con-
" servare UT POTENTIORI PLUS HONORIS, INFIRMI-

" ORI PLUS AUXILII DEFERATUR*."

An Alliance, then, by free convention, being in its
nature such that each party must have its motives for
contracting ; our next enquiry will be,

I. What those motives were, which the State had
for seeking, and the Church for accepting, the offers
of an union : And,

II. The mutual benefts and advantages thereby
arising.

The motives the Magistrate had to seek this alliance,
were these :

I. To preserve the essence and purity of religion ;

II. To improve its usefulness, and apply its influence
in the best manner ;

III. To prevent the mischief which, in its natural
independent state, it might occasion to civil society.

* De Jure Belli et Pac. 1. 1. c, 3. si.

I. The

Sect 5-] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 273-

1. The Magistrate was induced to seek it, i. As the
necessary means of preserving the being of religion.
For though (as hath been shown in the treatise of
the Alliance *) religion constitutes a Society ; and
though this Society will indeed, for some time, sup
port the existence of religion, which, without it, would
soon vanish from amongst men ; yet, if we consider
that religious Society is made up of the same individuals
which compose the civil; and destitute likewise of all
coercive power; we must needs see, that a Society,
abandoned to its own fortune, without support or
protection, would, in no long time, be swallowed up
and lost. Of this opinion was a very able writer,
whose knowledge of human nature will not be dis
puted :

" Were it not, says he, for that sense of virtue,
" which is principally preserved, so far as it is pre-
" served, BY NATIONAL FORMS AND HABITS OF
" RELIGION, men would soon lose it all, run wild,
" prey upon one another, and do what else the worst
" of savages doj~."

2. But of whatever use an Alliance may be thought,
for preserving the being of religion, the necessity of it,
for preserving its purity, is most evident: for if truth,
tmd public utility coincide, the nearer any religion ap-
proacheth to the truth of things, the fitter that religion
is for the service of the State. That they do coincide,
that is, that truth is productive of utility, and utility
indicative of truth, may be proved on any principles,
but the atheistic ; and therefore we think it needless,

*. Book I. Chap. V.

t Wollaston s Religion of Nature delineated, p. i 24. Quarto
Edit. 17-25.

VOL. II. T in

274 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book TL

m this place, to draw out the argument in form* :
Let us then consider the danger religion runs of de
viating from truth, when left, in its natural state, to
itself. In those circumstances, the men of highest
credit, are such as are finned for greatest sanctity.
This sanctity hath been generally understood to be then-
most perfect, when most estranged from the world,
and all ite habits and relations. But this being only to
be acquired by secession and retirement from affairs ;
and that secession rendering man ignorant of civil
Society, and of its rights and interests ; in place of
which will succeed, according to his natural temper,
the destructive follies either of superstition or fanaticism,
we must needs conclude, that religion, under such
directors and reformers, (and God knows these are*
generally its- lot) will deviate from truth ; and conse
quently from a capacity, in proportion, of serving civil
Society. I wish I could not say, we Jiave too many
examples to support this observation. The truth is,
we have seen-, and yet do see religious Societies,
some grown up, and continuing unsupported by, and
nnunited with the State ; others, that, when supported
and united, have by strange arts brought the State into
subjection, and become its tyrants and usurpers ; and
thereby defeated all the good which can arise from this
Alliance ; such Societies, I say, we have seen, whose
religious doctrines are so little serviceable to civil

Government, that they can prosper only on the ruin
and destruction of it. Such are those which teach.
the holiness of celibacy and asceticism, the sinf illness of
defensive war, of capital punishments, and even of civil
magistracy itself.

See Book III. - 6.

Oil

Sect 5.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 275

On the other hand, when religion is in Alliance with
the State, as it then corned under the Magistrate s di
rection, those holy leaders having now neither credit
nor power to do mischief, its purity must needs be
reasonably well supported and preserved ; for truth
and public utility coinciding, the civil Magistrate, as
such, will see it for his interest to seek after, and pro
mote truth in religion : and, by means of public utility,
which his office enables him so well to understand, he
will never be at a loss, where such truth is to be found :
so that it is impossible, under this civil Influence, for
religion ever to deviate far from truth ; always sup
posing (for on such supposition this whole theory pro
ceeds) a LEGITIMATE Government, or civil policy,
established on the principles of the natural rights and
liberties of man : for an unequal and unjust Govern
ment, which seeks its own, not public utility, will al
ways have occasion for error : and so. must corrupt
religion both in principle and practice, to promote its

own wrong interests.

II. Secondly, the Magistrate was induced to seek
this Alliance, as the necessary means to improve the.
usefulness, and to apply in the best manner the influence
of religion for his service. And this an Alliance does
by several ways.

i. By bestowing additional reverence and venera
tion on the person of the civil MAGISTRATE, and on
the LAWS of the State. For, in this alliance, where
the religious Society is taken into the protection of the,
State, the supreme Magistrate, as will be shewn here
after, is acknowledged HEAD of the religion. Now
nothing can be imagined of more efficacy for securing
the obedience of the people. Those two great mas-

T 2 ters

276 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II,

ters in politics, Aristotle and Machieval, as we have
eeii, thought it of force enough to gain reverence and
security to a tyrant. What then must we suppose its
efficacy in a legitimate Magistrature ? The same vene
ration will extend itself over the Laics likewise : for
while some of them are employed by the State for the
support of ike Church, and others lent to the Church,
to be employed in the sei~cicc of the State, and all of
them enacted by a legislature, in which churchmen
have a considerable share (all these things being
amongst the conditions of Alliance*) laws under such
direction, must needs be regarded with the greatest
reverence,

2. J3y lending to the CHURCH a coactive power.
It may be remembered, that, in speaking of the innate-
delects of civil Society, we observed, that there were
several sorts of duties which civil laws could not in-
force; such as the duties of IMPERFECT OBLIGATION ;
which a religious Society, when endowed with coercive
power, to invigorate the influence of religion, is capa
ble of exacting: and SUCH likewise of the duties of
PERFECT OBLIGATION ; whose breach is owing to the
intemperance of the sensual appetites; the severe
prohibition of which threatens greater and more enor
mous evils : for while these unruly passions overflow,
the stopping them in one place is causing them to
break out with greater violence in another ; as the ri
gorous punishment of fornication hath been generally
seen to give birth to unnatural lusts. The effectual
correction therefore of such evils must be begun by
moderating and subduing the passions themselves.

* See Vol. VII. " Alliance between Church and State," Book IL
Cbap. III.

But

Sect. 5.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 277

But this, civil laws are not understood to prescribe*;
as punishing those passions only when they proceed to
act ; and not rewarding the attempts to subdue them :
It must be a tribunal regarding irregular intentions as
criminal, and good desires as meritorious, which can
work this effect; and this can bo no other than the
tribunal of religion. When that is once done, a coac-
tive power of the civil kind may be applied to good
purpose ; but not till then : and who so fit to apply
it as that Society, which prepared the subject for its
due application and reception ? f Again, it hath been
observed [;, that the State punishes deviations from
the rule -of right as crimes only ; and not as such de~
vi at ions, or as sins ; and, on the idea of crimes, pro
portions its punishments ; by which means some very
enormous deviations from the rule of right, which do
not immediately affect society., and so are not consi
dered as crimes, are overlooked by the civil tribunal :
yet these, being, though mediately, very pernicious to
the state, it is for its interests they should be brought
before some capable tribunal. But, besides the civil,
there is no other than the ecclesiastical, endowed with
coactive power. Hence may be deduced the true, ami
only, end and use of SPIRITUAL COURTS. A church

* See note [FF] at the end of this Book,

f A jurisdiction somewhat resembling this we find in the fa
mous court of AREOPAGUS at Athens: which city was once the
model of civil prudence as well as of religio?i, to the improved
part of mankind. Isocrates speaking of this branch of jurisdic
tion in the Areopagus, says, " it was not exerted to PUNISH
crimes, but to PREVENT them -- a raro
us ei&gt;cQ&[jiylu$i a^A l uv

Jgyo nfvon. APEIOFI. AOF.

J See the Alliance, BooK I. Chap. IV.

T 3 tribunal

278 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

tribunal then, with coactive power, being necessary in
all these cases ; and a religious Society having, in it
self, no such power, it must be borrowed from the
State : but a State cannot lend it, without great danger
to itself, but on the terms of an Alliance ; a State
therefore will be induced to seek this Alliance, in order
to improve the natural efficacy of religion.

3. By conferring on the State I he application of the
efficacy of religion, and by putting it under the Ma
gistrates direction.^- There are certain junctures,
when the influence of religion is more than ordinarily
serviceable to the State : and these, the civil Magi
strate only knows. Now while a Church is in its
natural state of independency, it is not in his power to
improve those conjunctures to the advantage of the
State, by a proper application of religion: but when
the Alliance is made, and consequently the Church
under his direction, he hath then authority to prescribe
such public exercises of religion, and at such times,
and in such manner, as he finds the exigencies of State
require.

4. By engaging the Church to apply its utmost
endeavours in the service of the State. For an Al
liance laying an obligation on the State to protect and
defend the Church, and to provide a settled mainte
nance for its ministers, such benefits must needs pro
duce the highest love and esteem for the benefactor :
Tunica will be returned, out of motives both of grati
tude and interest, in the most zealous labours for the
service of civil Government.

III. Lastly, the State was induced to seek this Al
liance, as the only means of preventing the mischiefs,,
5

Sect 5.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 279

which the Church, in its natural independent condition^
might occasion to civil Society. For, in this state the
Church having, of itself, a power of assembling ior
religious worship, factious men may corns nodiously,
imckv that cover, hatch and carry on designs agyinst
the peace of civil Government : and the influence
\vhicli popular and leading men gain over the consci
ences of such assemblies, by the frequency of occasional
harangues, may easily ripen these contrivances into
act, when strengthened with the specious pretext of
religion : all which evils are effectually remedied by
this Alliance. For then, the civil Magistrate being
become protector of the Church, and, consequently,
supreme lit AD and director of it, the ministry is mostly
in his power; that mutual dependency, between the
clergy and people, being, by means of a settled revenue,
quite broken and destroyed. He admits and excludes
to the exercise of their function, as he sees fit ; and
grants it to none, but such as give a previous security
for their allegiance to him : by uhicn means, all that
influence, which the ministers and leaders in a Church
had over it before the Alliance, as the protectors of
religion, is now drawn off from them, and placed solely
in the civil Magistrate.

Another mischief there is in this imaUied condition
of the Church, still as certain and fatal, whenever more
than one religion is found in a State. For in these
latter ages, every sect thinking itself the only true
church, or, at least, the most perfect, is naturally
pushed on to advance its own scheme upon the ruins
of the rest : and where argument fails, civil power is
brought in, as soon as ever a party can be formed in
the public administration : and \\ e find, they have been
but too successful in persuading the Magistrate that

T4 ^is

2So THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

liis interests are concerned in their religious differences.
Now the most effectual remedy to the dangerous and
strong convulsions, into which States are so fre
quently thrown by these struggles, is an Alliance,
which establishes one church, and gives a full toleration
to the rest ; only keeping sectaries out of the public
administration : from a heedless admission into which.,
these disorders have arisen.

Having now shown the principal motives which en^
gaged the State to seek an Alliance with the Church ;

I come, in the next place, to consider the motives
which the Church had to accept of it. For this being,
as is observed, a FREE CONVENTION, unless the Church,
as well as State, had its proper views, no Alliance
could have been formed. To discover these motives,
we must recollect what hath been said of the nature
and end of a religious Society: for the benefits adapted
to that nature and end, must be her legitimate motive :
but if so, this benefit can be no other than SECURITY*
FROM ALL EXTERNAL VIOLENCE. The State indeed
.could not justly offer it, had no Alliance been made;
but this is no reason why the Church should not think
it for its interest to secure its natural right by compact ;
any more than that one State should not stipulate with
another not to clo it violence, though that other was
under prior obligations, by the law of nature and na
tions, to forbear.

Eut by this Alliance between the two Societies, the
State does more : it not only promises not to injure the
Church confederated, but to serve it ; that is, to pro
tect it from the injuries of other religious Societies,
which then exist, or may afterwards arise in the State,
How one religious Society may be injuriously affected

Sects-] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 281

by another, hath been shown just before ; how great
those injuries may prove, will be shown hereafter. It
must needs then be the first care of a Church, and a
reasonable care, to preserve itself, by all lawful ways,
from outward violence. A State then, as hath been
said, in order to induce the Church s acceptance of this
offer, must propose some benefit by it : and because
this is the only legitimate benefit the Church can receive,
it must propose this: which, therefore, being consi
derable, will be the Church s motive for Alliance.

There are only two other considerations that can be
esteemed motives: the one, to engage the State to
propagate the established religion by force: and the
other, to bestow honours, riches, and powers upon it.
Now, on recurring to the nature and end of the two
Societies, -the jirst motive will be found unjust ; and
the second, impertinent. It is unjust in the Church to
require the engagement; because the performing it
would he violating the natural right every man hath
of worshipping God according to his own conscience.
It is unjust in the State to engage in it ; because, as
we have shown, its jurisdiction extendeth not to
opinions.

It is impertinent in a Church to aim at riches, ho
nours, and powers, because these are things which, as
a Church, she can neither use nor profit by ; for they
have no natural tendency to promote the ultimate end
of this Society, salvation cf souls \ nor the immediate
end, purity of worship. " Nihil ecclesia sibi nisi fidetn
" possidet *," says St. Ambrose. We conclude,
therefore, that the only legitimate motive she could
have, was security and protection from outward vio
lence.

* Epist. contra Syramachum.

THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

On these mutual motives was formed tills FREE
ALLIANCE : which gave birth to a CHURCH BY LAW

ESTABLISHED.

Now as from the nature of the two Societies is dis
covered what kind of union only they could enter into ;
so from that consideration, together with the motives
they had in uniting, may be deduced, by necessary
inference, the reciprocal TERMS and conditions of that
onion.

From the mutual motives inducing thereunto, it ap
pears, that the great preliminary and fundamental
article of Alliance is this, THAT THE CHURCH SHALL

APPLY ITS UTMOST INFLUENCE IN THE SERVICE OF

THE STATE; AND THAT THE STATE SHALL SUPPORT

AND PROTECT THE CHURCH.

But in order to the performance of this agreement,
there must be a mutual communication oj their respcc-
tive powers : for the province of each Society being
naturally distinct and different, each can have to do in
the other s, but by mutual concession.

But again, these Societies being likewise as naturally
independent one on the other, a mutual concession
cannot bo safely made, without one of them, at the
same time, givingup its IN DEPENDENCY : from whence
arises what Grotius, we see, called MANENS PRJE-
tATio: which, in his Fccdus m&quale, the more
powerful Society hath over the less,

Now from these two conclusions, which spring ne
cessarily from the great jundamental article of union,
we deduce all the terms, conditions, mutual grants,
and concessions, which complete this Alliance.

For, from this obligation on the Church to apply its
influence in the service of the State, arise a SETTLED

MAINTENANCE FOR THE MINISTERS OF RELIGION ;

and

Sect. 5.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 283

and an ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION with coactive
power : which things introduce again, on the other
side, the DEPENDENCY OF THE CLERGY ON THE
STATE. And from the State s obligation to support
and protect ike Church, ariseth the ECCLESIASTIC AI,

SUPREMACY OF THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE; which

again introduceth, on the other hand, the right of

CHURCHMEN to PARTAKE OF THE LEGISLATURE.

Thus are all these Rights and Privileges closely in
terwoven and mutually conncected by a necessary
dependence on each other.

But to be more particular in the grounds and
reasons of each grant and privilege, we will now, in
a different and more commodious order for this pur
pose, examine,

I. What the Church RECEIVES from the State.

II. What the Church GIVES to it.

Which will present us with a new view of the two
Societies, as they appear under an Establishment ; and
leave nothing wanting to enable us to form a perfect
judgment of their natures.

I. What the Church receives from the state by this
Alliance, is,

i. First, A public and settled endowment for its
ministers. The reasons of it are, i. To render the
religious Society, whose assistance the State so much
\vants, more firm and durable. 2. To invite and en
courage the clergy s best service to the State, in
rendering those committed to their care, virtuous. But,
3. and principally, in order to destroy that mutual
dependency between the clergy and people, which
arises from the former s being maintained by the vo
luntary

284 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

lantary contributions of the latter ; the only maintenance
the clergy could have, before the two Societies were
allied ; and which dependence, we have shewn to be
productive of great mischiefs to the State. Add to
all this, that as the clergy are now under the Magi
strate s direction, and consequently become a public
Order in the State, it is but lit and decent, that
the State should provide them with a public main
tenance.

2. The second privilege the Church receives from
this Alliance is, a place for her representatives In the
Legislature. For, as it necessarily follows, from that
fundamental article of Alliance of the States support
ing and protecting the Church, that the Church must,
fek return, glee up its Independency to the State-,
whereby the State becomes empowered to determine
ih ail church-matters, so far as the Church is considered
tinder the idea of a Society ; as this, I say, necessarily
follows, the Church must needs have its representatives
in the Legislature, to prevent that power, which the
State receives in return for the protection it affords,
from being perverted to the Church s hurt: for the
giving up its independency, without reserving a right
of representation in the legislature, would be making
itself, instead of a subject &gt; a slave to the State. Be
sides, vuthout these representatives no laws could be
reasonably made concerning the Church ; because no
free man, or body, can be bound by laws, to which
they have not given their consent, either in person, or
fey representative. So that, as the Church when she
entered into alliance, cannot justly^ we may presume
she did not wfliflghf, give up her independency without
the reservation of some such prerogative.

3. The

Sect, 5,] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 285

3. The third and last privilege is, a jurisdiction,
inforced by civil coact rce poiccr, FOR REFORMATION
OF MANNERS. It is one of the preliminary articles
of this Alliance, that the Church should apply its best
influence in the service of the State. But there is no
way in which it can be so effectually inforced as by a
jurisdiction of this kind. It hath been shewn above ?
that there area numerous set of duties, both cf imperfect
obligation, which civil laws could not reach ; and
several of perfect obligation, which, by reason of the
intemperance of the sensual passions &gt; from whence the
breach of those duties proceeds, civil laws could not
effectually inforce ; as their violence yielded only to the
influence of Religion ; both which, however, the good
of the Community requires should be inforced ; and
which an ecclesiastical tribunal, intrusted with coactive
power, is only able to inforce. And, indeed, the sense
of those wants and defects, which these courts do
supply, was the principal motive of the State s seeking
this Alliance. On the other hand, the Church having
now given up her supremacy, she would without the
accession of this authority, be left naked and defenceless,
and reduced to a condition unbecoming her dignity,
and dangerous to her safety.

II. Let us now see, what the Church gtves to the
State. It is, in a word, this : The resigning up her
independency ; and making the civil Magistrate her
SUPREME HEAD, without ichose approbation and allow
ance she can administer, transact, or decree nothing in
quality of a policied Society. For as the State, by
this Alliance^ hath undertaken the protection of the
Church ; and as no Society can safely afford protec
tion to another over which it hath no power, it neces
sarily

286 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

sarily follows that the civil Magistrate inmt be wprcwe.
Besides, when the State, by this convention, covenanted
to afford protection to the Church, that contract Mas
made to a particular Church of one denomination,
and of such determined doctrine and discipline. But
now, that protection, which might be advantageous to
the State in union with such a Church, ini^ht be dis
advantageous to it, in union with one of a different
doctrine and discipline : therefore, when protection is
given to a Church, it must be at tie same time provided,
that no alteration be made in it, wit ; ;u:ii the Stare s
approbation and allowance. Fa thrr, the State having
endowed its clergy, and bestowed upon them d jurisdic
tion with coact iv e power ^ these privileges might create an
imperium in imperio, had not the civil Magistrate, in
return, the supremacy of the Church. The necessity of
the thing, therefore, invests him with this right and title.
Thus have we shewn the mutual privileges given and
received by Church and State, in entering into this
famous convention : the aim of the State being, agree
ably to its nature, UTILITY ; and the aim of the
Church, agreeably to its nature, TRUTH. From
whence we may observe, that as these privileges all
took their rise, by necessary inference, from the fun
damental article of the convention, which was, that
the Church should serve the State ; and the State pro
tect the Church ; so they receive all possible addition
of strength from their mutual connection with, and
dependency on, one another. This we have cause to
desire may be received as a certain mark that our
plan of Alliance is no precarious arbitrary hypothesis,
but a theory, founded in reason, and the invariable
nature of things. For having, from the real essense
of the two Societies, collected the necessity of allying,

and

Sect. 5.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 287

and the freedom of the compact ; we have, from the
necessity, fairly introduced it ; and from its freedom^
consequentially established every mutual term and con
dition of it. So that now if the reader should ask,
where this charter or treaty of convention for the
union cf the two Societies, on the terms here delivered,
is to be met with ; we are enabled to answer him. We
say, it may be found in the same archive with the fa
mous ORIGINAL COMPACT between magistrate and
people, so much insisted on in the vindication of the
common rights of sulyects. Now, when a sight of this
compact is required of the defenders of civil liberty,
they hold it sufficient to say, that it is enough for all
the purposes of fact and right, that such original com
pact is the only legitimate foundation of civil Society :
that if there were no such thing formally executed,
there was virtually : that all differences between ma
gistrate and people, ought to be regulated on the sup
position of such a compact ^ and all Government
reduced to the principles therein laid down : for, that
the happiness, of which civil Society is productive,
can only be attained, when formed on those principles*
Now something like this we say of our ALLIANCE

BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE.

Hitherto we have considered this Alliance as k pro-
duceth an establishment, under its most simple form ;
i.e. where there is but one Religion in the State : but
it may so happen, that, either at the time of convex
tion, or afterwards, there may be more than one.

\ . If there be more than one at the time of conven
tion, the State allies itself with the largest of the
religious Societies. It is Jit the State should do so,
because the larger the religious Society is (where there

288 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Dock It;

is an equality in other points) the better enabled it
will be to answer the ends of an Alliance ; as having
the greatest number under its influence. It is scarce
possible it should do otherwise ; because the two So
cieties being composed of the same individuals, the
greatly prevailing religion must have a majority of its
members in the assemblies of State; who will na
turally prefer their own religion to any other. With
this Religion is the Alliance made; and a full TOLE
RATION given to all the rest; yet under the restriction
of a TEST-LAW, to keep them from hurting that which
is established.

2. If these different religions spring up after the
Alliance hath been formed ; then, whenever they be
come considerable, a test-law is necessary, for the
security of the established church. For amongst di
versities of sects, where every one thinks itself the
only true, or at least the most pure, every one aims at
rising on the ruins of the rest; which it calls, bringing
into conformity with itself. The means of doing this,
when reason fails, which is rarely at hand, and more
rarely heard when it is, will be by getting into the pub
lic administration, and applying the civil power to the
work. But when one of these Religions is the esta
blished, and the rest under a toleration ; then envy, at
the advantages of an establishment, will join the tole
rated churches in confederacy against it, and unite
them in one common attack to disturb its quiet. In
this imminent danger, the allied church calls upon the
State, for the performance of its contract; which
thereupon gives her a TEST-LAW for her security:
whereby, the entrance into the Administration of
public affairs (the only way, the threatened mischief

Sect 5.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 289

is effected) is shut to all but members of the establish
ed church.

Thus a TEST-LAW took its birth, whether at or
after the time of Alliance. That the State is under
the highest obligations to provide the Church with
this security, we shall shew,

1. By the Alliance, the State promised to protect
the Church, and to secure it from tiie injuries and
insults of its enemies. An attempt in the members
of any other church to get into the administration, in
order to deprive the established church of the cove
nanted rights wiiich it enjoys, either by sharing those
advantages with it, or by drawing them from it to
itself, is highly injurious. And we have shewn, that
where there are diversities of religions, this attempt
will be always making. The State then must defeat
the attempt : but there is no other way of defeating
it, than by hindering its enemies from entering into
the Administration : and they can be hindered only by
a test-law.

2. Again, this promise of protection is of such a
nature as may, on no pretence, be dispensed with.
For protection was not simply a condition of Alliance
but, on the Church s part, the only condition of it.
We have shewn, that all other benefits and advantages
are foreign to a Church, as such, and improper for it.
Now, not performing the only condition of a contract,
virtually breaks and dissolves it : especially if we con
sider that this only condition is both necessary and

just. Necessary, as a free convention must have r/m-

tual conditions ; and, but for this condition, one side

would be without any : Just, as the convention itself

is founded on the laws of nature and nations; and

VOL. II. U this

2 go THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II,

this the only condition which suits the nature of a
Church to claim. If it be pretended, that debarring
good subjects from places of honour and profit, in the
disposal of the Magistrate, is unjust ; I reply, that the
assertion, though every where taken for granted, is
false ; it being founded on the principle, that reward
is one of the sanctions of civil laws, which I have
shewn to be a mistake * ; and that all, a member of
Society can claim, for the discharge of his duty, is
protection. So that, farther reward than this r no sub
ject having a right to, all places of honour and profit
are free donations, and in the absolute disposal of the
Magistrate.

3. But again, the Church, in order to. enable the
State to perform this sole condition of protection, con
sented to the giving up its supremacy and indepen
dency, to the civil Sovereign : w hence it follows, that,
whenever the enemies of the established Church get
into the magistrature, to which, as we have said, the
supremacy of the Church is transferred by the Alliance,
she becomes a prey, and lies entirely at their mercy ;
being now, by the loss of her supremacy, in no condi
tion of defence, as she was in her natural state, unpro
tected and independent; so that the not securing her
by a test-law, is betraying, and giving her up bound
to her enemies,

4. But lastly, had no promise of protection been
made, yet the State would have lain under an indis
pensable necessity of providing a test-law, for its own
peace and security. It hath been observed, that
wherever there are diversities of religion, each sect,

See Book I. sect. 2.

believing

Sect. 5-1 OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 231

believing its own the true, strives to advance itself on
the ruins of the rest. If this doth not succeed by dint
of argument, these partisans are apt to have recourse
to the coercive power of the State : which is done by
introducing a party into the public administration. And
they have always had art enough to make the State
believe that its interests were much concerned in the
success of their religious quarrels. What persecu
tions, rebellions, revolutions, loss of civil and religious
liberty, these intestine struggles between sects have
occasioned, is well known to such as are acquainted
with the history of mankind. To prevent these mis
chiefs was, as hath been shewn, one great motive for
the State s seeking Alliance with the Church : for the
obvious remedy was the establishing one church, and
giving a free toleration to the rest. But if, in admi
nistering this cure, the State should stop short, and not
proceed to exclude the tolerated religions from entering
into the public administration, such imperfect applica
tion of the remedy would infinitely heighten the dis
temper : for, before the Alliance, it was only a mistaken
aim in propagating truth, which occasioned these dis
orders : but now, the zeal for opinions would be out
of measure inflamed by envy and emulation ; which
the temporal advantages, enjoyed by the established
church, exclusive of the rest, will always occasion :
And what mischiefs this would produce, had every
sect a free entry into the administration, the reader
may easily conceive. If it be said, that, would men
content themselves, as in reason they ought, with en
joying their own opinions, without obtruding them
upon others, these evils, which require the remedy of
a test-law, would never happen. This is very true:
and so ; would men but observe the rule of justice in

u 2 general,

292 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

general, there would be no need to have recourse to
civil Society, to rectify the violations of it.

In a word, an ESTABLISHED RELIGION WITH A
TEST-LAW is the universal voice of Nature. The
most savage nations have employed it to civilize their
manners ; and the politest knew no other way to pre
vent their return to barbarity and violence.

Thus the city of ATHENS, so humane and free,
exacted an oath of all their youth for the security of the
established religion : for, Athens being a democracy,
every citizen had a constant share in the administration.
A copy of this oath, the strongest of all tests, is pre
served by Stobasus, who transcribed it from the writings
of the Pythagoreans, the great school of ancient po
litics. It is conceived in these words : " I will not
" dishonour the sacred arms *, nor desert my comrade
" in battle: I will DEFEND AND PROTECT MY
" COUNTRY AND MY RELIGION, whether alone or in
" conjunction with others : I will not leave the public
" in a worse condition than I found it, but in a better :
" I will be always ready to obey the supreme magis-
" trate, with prudence ; and to submit to the established
" laws, and to all such as shall be hereafter established
" by full consent of the people : and I will never
" connive at any other who shall presume to despise
" or disobey them ; but will revenge all such attempts
" on the sanctity of the republic, either alone or in
" conjunction with the people : and lastly, I WIHL

" CONFORM TO THE NATIONAL RELIGION. So

t the sacred arms, by what follows, seems to mean
those which the lovers presented to their favourite youths.
Concerning this institution, see what is said in the explana
tion of Virgil s episode of Nisus and Euryalus, in sect, iv. of thii
book.

" help

Sect. 5.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 293

" help me those Gods who are the avengers of per-
"jury*."

Here we see, that after each man had sworn, to
defend and protect the religion of his country, in con
sequence of the obligation the State lies under to protect
the established worship, he concludes, I will conform to
it ; the directest and strongest of all tests.

But a test of conformity to the established worship,
was not only required of those who bore a share in
the civil administration, but of those too who were
chosen to preside in their religious rites. Demosthenes
hath recorded the oath which the priestesses of Bacchus,
called rffctiftx}, took on entering into their Office.
" I observe a religious chastity, and am clean and pure
" from all other defilements, and from conversation
" with man: AND i CELEBRATE THE THEOINEIA

" AND IOBACCHIA TO BACCHUS, ACCORDING TO
" THE ESTABLISHED RITES, AND AT THE PROPER
" SEASONS f."

Nor were the ROMANS less watchful for the sup
port of the established religion, as may be seen by a
speech of the consul Posthumius in Livy, occasioned

Ov icotlenc^vvu o7rA TO, w^a, a

W AMYNI1 AE KAI YIIEP lEPftN, xj Mp ocr xj
xj /*e1a tsrpAAwy. TW ivofi^et, &lt;& ax.

otv tffct.^ot^Q^a
x TK o-/xorij TOK fyvf&wt zrturapccv, x

fyvo"Aoti opotpgovas xj av TK avoufi T8? ^tcr^ln;
ax vTrflgQu, oc^vvu 1 xj jixovoj, xj pilot, Grccfiav xj

IEPA TA IIATPIA TIMHEH* roge? 0o* TUTUV. Joan. Stobaei de
Rep. Serm. xli. p. 243, Lugd. Ed. 1608.

f- Ayirsvu, xj tip] Jta9g, xj a,yrri ccvo ruv aX^wv xct,Qct(&gt;eVQ*lvv,
xj ot,TC av^po? crvvaaiod^^ xj TO, totna, xj lobaxp^eTa ytgoe. tfu rca
Awvo-u KATA TA IIATPIA, xj iv rot s
. Ncceram.

v 3

294 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

by some horrid abuses committed, through the clandes
tine exercise of loreign worship. " How often, says he,
" in the times of our fathers and forefathers, hath this
" affair been recommended to the Magistrates ; to
" prohibit all foreign worship ; to drive the priests and
" sacrifices from the cirque, the forum, and the city ;
" to search up, and burn books of prophecies ; and to
" abolish all modes of sacrificing, differing from the
" Roman discipline ? For those sage and prudent men,
" instructed in all kind of divine and human laws,
" rightly judged that nothing tended so much to
" overthrow religion, as when men celebrated the
" sacred rites, not after their own, but foreign
" customs*."

But when I say all regular policied states had an
established religion, I mean no more than he would do,
who, deducing Society from its true original, should,
in order to persuade men of the benefits it produceth,
affirm that all nations had a civil policy. For, as this
writer could not be supposed to mean that every one
constituted a free State, on the principles of public
liberty (whicli yet was the only Society he proposed
to prove was founded on truth, and productive of
public good) because it is notorious, that the far
greater part of civil policies are founded on different
principles, and abused to different ends ; so neither
would I be understood to mean, when I say all nations

* Quoties hoc patrum avorupaque a?tate negotium est magis-
tratibus datum, ut sacra exieiua sieri vetarent; sacrificulos,
vatesque foro, circo, urbe prohiberent; vaticinos libros con-
quirerent, comburerentque ; oirmem disciplinain sacrificandi, prae-
terquam njoie Romano, abolerent? Judicabant enim prudentissimi
viri omms divini huir.auique juris, nihil sque dissolvendae religioniq
csse, quaiii ubi nou patrio, ged externo ritu sacrificaretur. Hist.
Jib. xxxix,

concurred

Sect 5.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 295

concurred in making this UNION, that they all exactly
discriminated the natures^ and fairly adjusted the rights
of BOTH SOCIETIES, on the principles here laid down;
though an ESTABLISHMENT resulting from this dis
crimination and adjustment, be the only one I would
be supposed to recommend. On the contrary, I know
this union hath been generally made on mistaken prin
ciples ; or, if not so, hath degenerated by length of
time. And, as it was sufficient for that writer s pur
pose, that those Societies, good or bad, proved the
sense, all men had of the benefits resulting from
civil policy in general, though they were oft mis
taken in the application ; so it is sufficient for ours,
that this universal concurrence in the TWO SOCIETIES
TO UNITE, shews the sense of mankind concerning the
utility of such union. And lastly, as that writer s
principles are not the less true on account of the
general deviation from them in forming civil Societies ;
so may not ours, though so few states have suffered
themselves to be directed by them in practice, nor any
man, before, delivered them in speculation.

Such then is the Theory here offered to the world ;
of which, whoever would see a full account, and the
several parts cleared from objections, may consult the
treatise mentioned before, intitled, The Alliance between
Church and State : in which we pretend to have dis
covered a plain and simple truth, of the highest
concernment to civil Society, long lost and hid under
the learned obscurity arising from the collision of con
trary false principles.

BUT it is now time to proceed with our main subject.
We have here given a short account of the true nature
of the Alliance between Church and State ; both to

u 4 justify

.296 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

justify the conduct of the ancient Lawgivers in establish
ing religion ; and to shew the infinite service of this
institution to civil Society. Another use of it may be
the gaining an exacter knowledge of the nature of the
established religions in the pagan world: for, having
the true theory of an Establishment, it serves as a
straight line to discover all the obliquities to which it
is applied.

I shall therefore consider the causes., which facilitated
the establishment of religion in the ancient world : and
likewise those causes which prevented the establishment
from receiving its due form.

I. Ancient pagan religion consisted in the worship
of local tutelary Deities ; which, generally speaking,
were supposed to be the authors of their civil Institutes.
The consequence of this was, that the State, as well as
particulars, was the SUBJECT of religion. So that
this religion could not but be national and established \
that is, protected and encouraged by the civil Power.
For how could that religion, which had the national
God for its object ; and the State, as an artificial man,
for its subject, be other than national and established ?

II. But then these very things, which so much pro
moted an established religion, prevented the union s
being made upon a just and equitable footing, i. By
giving a wrong idea of civil Society. 2. By not giving
a light form to the religious.

i. It is nothing strange, that the ancients should
have a wrong idea of civil Society ; and should suppose
it ordained for the cognizance of religious, as well as
of civil matters, while they believed in a local tutelary
Deity, - by whose direction they were formed into

Community ;

Sect. 5.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 297

Community ; and while they held, that Society, as
such, was the subject of religion, contrary to what has
been shewn above, that the civil Society s offer of a
voluntary alliance with the religious, proceeded from
its having no power in itself to inforce the influence of
religion to the service of the State,

2. If their religion constituted a proper Society, it
was yet a Society dependent on the State, and therefore
not sovereign. Now it appears that no voluntary
alliance can be made, but between two independent
sovereign Societies. But, in reality, Pagan religion
did not constitute any Society at all. For it is to be
observed, that the unity of the object of faith, and con
formity to a formula of dogmatic theology, as the terms
of communion, are the great foundation and bond of a
religious Society*. Now these things were wanting
in the several national religions of Paganism : in which
there was only a conformity in public Ceremonies.
The national Pagan religion therefore did not properly
compose a Society ; nor do we find by Antiquity, that
it was ever considered under that idea ; but only as
part of the State ; and in that view, indeed, had its
particular Societies and Companies, such as the col
leges of Priests and Prophets.

These were such errors and defects as destroyed
much of the utility, which results from religious
Establishments, placed upon a right bottom. But yet
religious Establishments they were; and, notwith
standing all their imperfections, served for many good
purposes : such as preserving the being of Religion :
bestowing additional veneration on the person of the,
Magistrate, and on the laics of the State : giving

* See The Alliance between Church and State, Book I. Ch. 5.

the

THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II

the Magistrate the right of applying the civil efficacy

of religion : and giving Religion a coactive powtr

for the reformation of manners. And thus much for

ESTABLISHMENTS.

SECT. VI.

THE last instance to be assigned of the Magis
trate s care of religion, shall be that universal practice,
in the ancient world, of religious TOLERATION ; or
the permitting the free exercise of all religions, how
different soever from the National and Established.
For though the very nature and terms of an Established
religion implied the Magistrate s peculiar favour and
protection ; and though in fact, they had their Test-
laws for its support, wherever there was diversity of
worship ; yet it was ancient policy to allow a large and
full TOLERATION. And even in the extent of this
allowance they seem generally to have had juster
notions than certain of our modern Advocates for
religious Liberty. They had no conception that any
one should be indulged in his presumption of extending
it to Religious Rites and practices hurtful to Society,
or dishonourable to Humanity. There are many
examples in Antiquity of this sage restriction. I shall
only mention the universal concurrence in punishing
Magical Rites, by which the health and safety of par
ticulars were supposed to be injuriously affected.
And Suetonius s burning the sacred grove in Anglesea*,

* " Presidium posthac impositum victis, excisique Luci,
SJEVIS superstitionibus sacri. Nam cruore captivo adolere aras,
ct hominum fibris consulere deos fas habebant." Tac. Ann.
1. xiv. c. 30. Superstition amongst the Greeks and Romans

Sect. 6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 299

in which human sacrifices were offered up by the
Druids, was but the beginning of what those modern
Advocates, above mentioned, would call a Persecution
against the Order itself, whose obstinate perseverance
in this internal practice could not be overcome but by
their total extirpation.

Two principal causes induced the ancient Lawgivers
to the sage and reasonable conduct of a large and
full toleration :

I. They considered that Religion seldom or never
makes a real impression on the minds of those who
are forced into a profession of it : and yet, that all
the service Religion can do to the State, is by working
that real impression*. They concluded, therefore,
that the profession of Religion should be FREE.

Hence may be understood the strange blindness of
those modern Politicians, who expect to benefit the
State by forcing men to outward conformity ; which
only making hypocrites and atheists, destroys the sole
means religion hath of serving the State. But here,
by a common fate of Politicians, they fell from one
blunder into another. For having first, in a tyrannical
adherence to their own scheme of Policy, or supersti
tious fondness for the established System of Worship,
infringed upon religious Liberty; and then beginning

had its free course. But the scevx superstitiones, the savage and
cruel Rites, injurious and dishonourable to human nature and
civil Society, were rigorously forbidden.

* In specie autem ficta? simulations, sicut reliquae virtutes, ita
PIETAS inesse non potest ; cum qua simul et sanctitatem et reli-
gionem tolli necesse est: quibus sublatis, perturbatio vita? sequitur
ct magna confusio. Atque baud scio, an FIETATE adversus deot
sublata fides etiam, et societas human! generis, et una excellentis-
Einaa virtus, justitia tollatur. Cic. De nat. deor. 1. i. c. 2.

300 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II,

to find, that diversity of Sects was hurtful to the
State, as it always will be, while the rights of Religion
are violated ; instead of repairing the mistake, and
restoring religious Liberty, which would have stifled
this pullulating evil in the seed, by affording it no fur
ther nourishment, they took the other course; and
endeavoured, by a thorough discipline of Conformity,
violently to rend it away ; and with it they rooted up
and destroyed all that good to Society, which so natu
rally springs from Religion, when it hath once taken
fast hold of the human mind.

II. This was the most legitimate principle they
went upon, and had the most lasting effect. They
had another, which, though less ingenuous, was of
more immediate influence ; and this was the keeping
up the warmtli and vigour of religious impressions, by
the introduction and toleration of new Religions and
foreign Worship. For they supposed that " piety
" and virtue then chiefly influence the mind, while
" men are busied in the performance of religious
" Rites and Ceremonies * ;" as Tully observes, in the
words of Pythagoras, the most celebrated of the pagan
Lawgivers. Nor does this at all contradict the Ro-

man maxim, as delivered by Posthumius in Livy [see
p. 294.] For that maxim relates to public Religion,
or the Religion of the State ; this concerns private
Religion, or the religion of Particulars. Now vulgar
Paganism being not only false, but highly absurd, as
having its foundation solely in the fancy and the pas
sions; variety of Worships was necessary to suit

* Siquidem et illud bene dictum est a Pythagora, doctissimo
viro, turn rnaxime et pietatem et religionem versari iji animis,
cum rebus divinis operam daremus. De Leg. 1. ii. c. 1 1.

every

Sect. 6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 301

every one s taste and humour. The genius of it dis
posing its followers to be inconstant, capricious, and
fond of novelties ; weary of long- worn Ceremonies,
and immoderately fond of new. And in effect we see,
amongst the same people, notwithstanding the univer
sal notion of tutelary Deities, that, in this age, one
God or mode of worship, in that, another mode had
the vogue. And every new God, or new ceremony,
rekindled the languid fire of Superstition : just as in
modern Rome, every last Saint draws the Multitude
to his shrine.

For, here it is to be observed, that in the Pagan
world, a tolerated Religion did not imply dissent ion
from the established, according to our modern ideas
of toleration. Nor indeed could it, according to the
general nature and genius of ancient Idolatry. Tole
rated Religions there are rather subservient to the
established, or supernumeraries of it, than in opposi
tion to it. But then they were far from being on a
footing with the established) or partakers of its privi
leges.

But men going into Antiquity under the impression
of modern ideas, must needs form very inaccurate
judgements of what they find. So, in this case, be
cause few tolerated Religions are to be met with in
Paganism, according to our sense of toleration, which
is the allowance of a Religion OPPOSED to the national-,
and consequently, because no one is watched with
that vigilance which ours demand, but all used with
more indulgence than a Religion, reprobating the esta
blished, can pretend to; on this account, I say, a
false opinion hath prevailed, that, in the Pagan world,
all kinds of Religion were upon an equal footing, with
regard to the State. Hence, we hear a noble Writer

perpetually

302 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book It

perpetually applauding * wise Antiquity, for the full
and free liberty it granted in matters of Religion, so
agreeable to the principles of truth and public utility ;
and perpetually arraigning the UNSOCIABLE HUMOUR
OF CHRISTIANITY for the contrary practice; which,
therefore, he would insinuate, was built on contrary
principles.

On this account, it will not be improper to consider
a little, the genius of Paganism, as it is opposed to,
what we call, true Religion : Which w ill shew us how
easily the civil Magistrate brought about that Tolera
tion, which he had such great reasons of State to pro
mote ; and at the same time, teach these objectors to
know, that the good effect of this general tolerance,
as far as the genius of Religion was concerned in its
promotion, was owing to the egregious falsehood and
absurdity of Paganism : and that, on the other hand,
the evil effects of intolerance under the Christian reli
gion, proceeded from its truth and perfection ; not the
natural consequence, as these men would insinuate, of
a false Principle, but the abuse of a true one.

Ancient Paganism was an aggregate of several dis
tinct Religions, derived from so many pretended reve
lations. Why it abounded in these, proceeded, in
part, from the great number of Gods of human in
vention. As these Religions were not laid on the
foundation, so neither were they raised on the destruc
tion of one another. . They were not laid on the
foundation of one another ; because, having given to
their Gods, as -local tutelary Deities [*, contrary na
tures and dispositions, and distinct and separate inte
rests, each God set up, on his own bottom, and held

* See the Characteristics, passim.

\ See note [GG] at the end of this Book.

4 little

Sect 6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 303

little in common with the rest*. They were not
raised on the destruction of one another-, because, as
hath been observed, the several Religions of Pa
ganism did not consist in matters of belief, and dog
matic theology, in which, where there is a contrariety,
Religions destroy one another ; but in matters of prac
tice, in Rites and Ceremonies ; and in these, a contra
riety did no harm : For having given their Gods
different natures and interests, where was the wonder
if they clashed in their commanded Rites ; or if their
worshippers should think this no mark of their false
pretensions ?

These were horrible defects in the very essence of
Pagan theology : and yet from these would necessarily
arise an universal toleration : for each Religion admit
ting the other s pretensions, there must needs be a
perfect har-fiapny and INTERCOMMUNITY amongst
them. (\Julian y makes this the distinguishing character
of the pagan Religion. For the imperial Sophist,
writing to the people of Alexandria, and upbraiding
them for having forsaken the religion of their country,
in order to aggravate the charge, insinuates them to be
guilty of ingratitude, as having forgotten those happy-
times when all Egypt worshipped the Gods IN COM
MON, xj sx l*&lt;T^p/I#J (Atmpn T?J sraAata? J/*oV MEUM
fufai/gtrMKj VMNjfli ?v KOINHNIA p,lv -argos ? AlyvTrlw
T? &lt; 5T&lt;n/, zjoAAwy ^ cnrsXavofAtv ayaOwi/. And, in his

book against the Christian Religion, he says, there
were but two commands in the Decalogue, that were
peculiar to the Jews, and which the Pagans would
not own to be reasonable, namely, the observation of
the Sabbath, and the having no other Gods but the.

* See note [HH] at the end of this Book.

Creator

304 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

Creator of all things, now 0j/- In (says he)
T, Ou -Er/Jocrxtij/nVftf o*V irf/soifj *
(raaTtt&gt;/, o JUT) ra? aAAaf oi /Ja*

. The first Cause of all things, we
see, was acknowledged by the Gentile Sages: what
stuck with them was the not worshipping other Gods
IN COMMON. For according to the genius of Pa
ganism, as here explained, no room was left for any
other disputes, but whose God was most powerful;
except where, by accident, it became a question, be
tween two nations inhabiting the same country, who
was truly the TUTELAR Deity of the place. As once
we are told happened in Egypt, and broke out into a
religious war :

Inde furor vulgo, quod numina vicinorum

Odit uterque locus, cum SOLOS CREDIT HABENDOS

Esse deos, quos ipse colitf.

Here the question was not, which of the two worship
ped a Phantom, and which a God, but whose God
was the tutelar God of the place. Yet to insult the
tutelar Gods of the place was a thing so rare, and
deemed so prodigious, that Herodotus thinks it a
clear proof of Cambyses s incurable madness that he
outraged the Religion of Egypt, by stabbing their God
Apis and turning their monkey Deities into ridicule .
Notwithstanding a late noble writer, from this account
of Juvenal, w ould persuade us , that intolerance was
of the very nature and genius of the Egyptian theo-

Ap. S. Cyril, cont. Julian. 1. v.
f Juvenal, Sat. xv.

TO
Thalia, c. 30. in initio.

Characteristics, vol. iii. Miscel. 2.

logy,

Sett 6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 305

logy, from whence all Paganism arose. " The com-
" mon heathen religion (says he) was supported
" chiefly from that sort of enthusiasm, which is raised
" from the external objects of grandeur, majesty, and
" what we call august. On the other hand, the Egyp-
" tian OR SYRIAN religions, which lay most in mystery
cc and concealed rights, having less dependence on the
" Magistrate, and less of that decorum of art, po-
" liteness, and magnificence, ran into a more pusilla-
" nimous, frivolous, and mean kind of superstition ;
" the observance of days, the forbearance of meats,
" and the contention about traditions, seniority of
" laws, and priority of godships.

- - - - - - " Summus utrimque

" Inde furor vulgo *," fyc.

Well might he say, he suspected " that it would be
" urged against him, that he talked at random and
" without book^" For the very contrary of every
thing he here says, is the truth. And his supposing
the Egyptian and Syrian religions had less dependence
on the Magistrate than the Roman; and that the
Egyptian, and Syrian (as he is pleased to call the
JcwisK) were the same, or of a like genius, is such an
instance of his knowledge or ingenuity, as is not easily
,to be equalled. However, since the noble writer hath
made such use of the Satirist s relation, as to insinuate
that the Ornbites and Tentyrites acted in the common
spirit and genius of the Egyptian theology, and became
the" model of intolerance to the Jewish arid Christian
world, it may not be amiss to explain the true original
of these religious squabbles, as Antiquity itself hath

* Vol.111. P . 41. t p. 82.

VOL. II. X told

3o6 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

told the story : whereby it will appear, they had their
birth from a very particular and occasional fetch of
civil policy, which had no dependence OH the general
Superstition of the Pagan world.

The instance stands almost single in Antiquity.
This would incline one to think that it arose from no
common principle : and if we enquire into the nature
of the Egyptian theology, it will appear impossible to
come from that. For the common notion of local and
tutelary deities, which prevents all intolerance^ was
originally, and peculiarly, Egyptian, as will be seen
hereafter. It may then be asked how this mischief
came about ? I believe a passage in Diodorus Siculus,
as quoted by Eusebius, will inform us. A certain
king of Egypt, finding some cities in his dominions
apt to plot and cabal against him, contrived to intro
duce the distinct worship of a different animal into-
each city ; as knowing that a reverence for their own,
and a neglect of all others, would soon proceed to an
EXCLUSION ; and so bring on such a mutual aversion,
as would never suffer them to unite in one common
design. Thus, w ? as there at first as little of a religions
war on the principles of intolerance in this affair of
the Gmbites and Tentyrites, as in a drunken squabble
between two trading Companies in the Church of
Rome about their patron saints. But Diodorus de
serves to be heard in his own words : who, when he
had delivered the fabulous accounts of the original of
brute-worship, subjoins that which he supposed to be
the true. " But some give another original of the
" worship of brute animals : for the several cities
" being formerly prone to rebellion, and to enter into
" conspiracies against Monarchical government, one
" of their Kings contrived to introduce into each city
4 " the

Sect. 6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 307

" the worship of a different animal : so that while
" every one reverenced the Deity which itself held
f sacred, and despised what another had consecrated.;
" they could hardly be brought to join cordially toge-
" ther in one common design, to the disturbance of
" the Government *."

But to return : such then was the root and founda
tion of this SOCIABILITY of Religion in the ancient
world, so much envied by modern Pagans. The effect
of their absurdities, as Religions ; and of their imper
fections, as Societies. Yet had universal custom made
this principle of INTERCOMMUNITY, so essential to
Paganism, that when their Philosophers and men of

Alricu; $1 ^ aAAa? tyxcri rm? TJK TUV aAoywv ^uuv rt/-*.??? r5 yaci
TO isa. honov afyratfUftt ruv ftat-c-ihiuv, xj crv^pov^vl^ tig TO
/3ao-At;scr6t, Ifi-jyorfo-at rivot hcitpo^ct, fftteuyfuQa avroTt; rwv va;j&gt;

v. Euseb. Praep. Evang. p. 3-2. ed. Rob. Steph.
Plutarch gives us an account of another of these squabbles (if
indeed it was not the same with Juvenal s) which happened much
about the same time, between the Oxyrynchitae and the Cynopo-
litae ; and confirms what is here said of the original of this mutual

o* ctrotf v
ruv a S

ro$y)v irsgatv sr^aq arpo-itffQcti atipvxorets, upwovrets, ecst ToTq
Kio ? eWr* *ej ^aAsTrw? u^UfAtm (pspofof, fruvQaw -TV T

vvv Alyv^iuv AvtuKotfreu rgoCIoir IcrfiWty, In si xj At x^-, o v
rrj xa9* ia

HVVX&lt;;

xj v

H.^1 IS. *) OS. 676, 677, bteph. ed.

x 2 learning,

308 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

learning, on the spreading of Christianity, were become
ashamed of the grossness of Polytheism, and had so
refined it by allegorical interpretations of their My
thology, as to make tlie several Pagan deities but the
various attributes of the one only God; they still
adhered to their darling principle (for Paganism still
continued to be without a dogmatic theology, or for
mulary of faith) and contended, that this diversity was
harmony, a musical discord, well pleasing to the God
of heaven and earth. " It is but reasonable for us
" (says Symmachus *) to suppose, that it is one and
" the same BEING whom all mankind adores. We
" behold the same stars ; we live under the influence
" of one common heaven ; we are incompassed by
" the same universe. What matters it, what device
" each man uses in his search after truth? ONE road
" is plainly too narrow to lead us into the initiation
" of so GRAND A MYSTERY." Elegantly alluding to
the secret of the greater Mysteries, where, after the
History of the Popular theogony had been delivered
to the Initiated, the orphic Hymn, revealing the doctrine,
of the Unity, concluded the entertainment. " The
" great lord and governor of the earth (saysThemistius)
" seems to be delighted with these diversities of Re-
" ligions. It is his Will that the Syrians worship him
- * one way, the Greeks another, and the Egyptians
" yet another f ." The reader sees that the foundation

* ^quum est, quiequid omnes colunt unum putari; eadem
spectamus astra ; commune ccelum est; idem nos mundus involvit:
Qu-d interest qud quisque prudentid verum requirat ? UNO itinerc
non potcat perveniri ad tarn GRANDE SECRETUM, Lib. x. Ep. 61.
ad Valcnt. Theod. et Arcad^Augg.

f Tat/Tv vofj.^z ycivvuo-Qxi rr, GffomiXiee. rov T tffotvroi;

Orat. xn.

Sect. 6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 309

of this way of thinking, was the old principle of inter
community in the worship of local tutelary Deities.
But, what is remarkable, it appears even to this day,
to be essential to Paganism. Bernier tells us, that the
Gentiles of Hindoustan defended their religion against
him in this manner : " They gave me (says he) this
" pleasant answer ; that they did not at all pretend that
t their Law was universal that they did not in the
" least suspect that ours was false : it might, for what
" they knew, be a good Law for us, and that GOD
* MAY HAVE MADE MANY DIFFERENT ROADS TO
* LEAD TO HEAVEN ; but they would by no means
u hear that ours was general for the whole world, and
" theirs a mere fable and invention *." Bernier indeed
speaks of this as a peculiar whimsey, which had en
tered the head of his Braehman. But had he been as
conversant in history and Antiquity, as he was in
modern philosophy, he would have known that this was
a principle which accompanied Paganism through all
its stages.

Let us now see the nature and genius of those Re
ligions which were founded, as we say, in TRUE
REVELATION. The first is the JEWISH^ in which
was taught the belief of one God, the Maker and
Governor of all things, in contradistinction to all the
false gods of the Gentiles: This necessarily introduced
a DOGMATIC THEOLOOY. So that the followers of this
Religion, if they believed it true, in the sense it was
delivered to them, must needs believe all others to be
false. But it being instituted only for themselves, they
had, directly, no further to do with that falsehood, than
to guard themselves against the contagion of it, by

* See note [II] at the end of this Book.

x 3 holding

3 io THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

holding no fellowship or communion with the Gen
tiles.

Yet so strong was this general prejudice of INTER
COMMUNITY, that all ;the provisions of the Law could
not keep this brutal people from running into the ido
latries of the Nations : For their frequent defections,
till after the Babylonian Captivity, were no other than
the joining foreign Worship to the Worship of the God
of Israel.

After this Religion, comes the CHRISTIAN, which
taught the belief of the same God, the supreme Cause
of all things : and being a Revelation, like the other,
from Heaven, must needs be built upon that other ; or
at least on the supposition of its truth. And, as this
latter was not national, like the other, but given to
all mankind, for that reason, but especially for some
others, which will be fully considered in their place, it
had a MORE COMPLETE system of dogmatic theology.
The consequence of this was, that its followers must
riot only think Paganism false, and Judaism abolished,
and so refuse all fellowship and communion with both ;
but must endeavour to propagate their Religion through
out the world, on the destruction of all the rest. And
their dogmatic theology teaching them that TRUTH
(and not UTILITY *, as the Pagans, who had only
public Rites and Ceremonies, supposed) was the end
of Religion ; it was no wonder, their aversion to
falsehood should be proportionably increased. And so
far all was right. But this aversion, cherished by-
piety, unhappily produced a blind, ungovernable zeal;
which, when arguments failed, hurried them oa to all

* For this the reader may see Dion. Halicarnasseus s dis
course of the religion which Romulus introduced in his republic ;
#i)(J for his reason, see Books III. and IV,

the

Sect. 6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 311

the unlawful use of force and compulsion. Hence the
evils of PERSECUTION, and the violation of the laws
of humanity, in a fond passion for propagating the Law
of GOD *.

This is a true representation of the state of things,
both in the Pagan, and in the Believing world. To
give it the utmost evidence, we will next consider the
reception true Religion met with amongst idolaters.

The Pagan world having early imbibed this inveterate
prejudice concerning intercommunity of worship, men
were hut too much accustomed to new Revelations,
when the JEWISH appeared, not to acknowledge its
superior pretences. Accordingly we find by the
history of this People, that it was esteemed a true one
by its neighbours. And therefore they proceeded, in
their usual way, to join it, on occasion, to their own :
as those did, whom the king of Assyria sent into the
cities of Israel in the place of the ten Tribes. Whereby
it happened (so great was the influence of this Prin
ciple) that in the same time and country, the Jews of
Jerusalem added the Pagan idolatries to their Religion;
while the Pagans of Samaria added the Jewish religion
to their idolatries.

But when this people of Cod, in consequence of
having their dogmatic Theology more carefully incul
cated to them after their return from the Captivity,
became rigid in pretending not only that their Religion
was true, but the only true one ; then it was, that they
began to be treated by their Neighbours, and after
wards by the Greeks and Romans, with the utmost
hatred and contempt for this THEIR INHUMANITY
AND UNSOCIABLE TEMPER. To this cause alone we

* See note [KK] at the end of this Book,

x 4 are

312 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

are to ascribe all that spleen and rancour which appears
in the histories of these latter Nations, concerning
them. Celsus fairly reveals what lay at bottom, and
speaks out, for them all : " If the Jews, on these ac-
" counts, adhere to their own Law, it is not for that
" they are to blame : I rather blame those who forsake
* their own country religion to embrace the Jewish.
" But if these People give themselves airs of sublimer
&lt;c wisdom than the rest of the world, and on that
" score refuse all COMMUNION with it, as not equally
" pure; I must tell them that it is not to be believed
" that they are more dear, or agreeable to God, than
" other nations *," Hence, amongst the Pagans, the
Hebrew People came to be distinguished from all
others by the name of GENUS HOMINUM INVISUM
DEIS f, and with good reason J.

This was the reception the Jews met with in the
world : but not pretending to obtrude their Religion
on the rest of mankind, as it was given properly to the
Posterity of Abraham, they yet, for the most part,
escaped persecution.

When CHRISTIANITY arose, though on the foun
dation of Judaism, it was at first received with great
complacency by the Pagan world. For they were
such utter strangers to the idea of one Religion s
being built, or dependent on another, that it was a long
time before they knew this connection between them,

El piv $n %a,ra, TCCVTCC. vre^irshhoitv lyaToi; rov twv vapor, y

oc, CtV7COV IxiiVUV OB //,AA&y TOfV KOUOtJ^WMlUV TCL

ra, lu^ciiuv tEr^oc-Trc/ta/x/ya/y* tl $ uq rl &lt;ro(pvTov e^ors
T6, n^ TYIV aAAa-f y.ou/vvlocv ax 1% iVy y.Qt&ot,(&gt;uv a7ror^^oi/!ai y
3$ su^ti/M.rj( ra^. TW Ssu ^ FtpyfffQm fri&tpopus T ruv otAAwv
fJxo ?. Or.g. cont. C elsutn, 1. \. p. 259.

f Tacit. Hist. 1, v, J See note [RR] at the end.

Sect. 6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 313

Even Celsus himself, with all his sufficiency, saw so
little how this matter stood, that he was not satisfied
whether the Jews and Christians worshipped the same
God ; was sometimes inclined to think they did not.
This ignorance, which the propagators of our Religion
were not too forward to remove *, for fear of hindering
the progress of the Gospel, prevented the prejudice
which the Pagans had to Judaism, from indisposing
them to Christianity. So that the G ospel was favourably
heard. And the superior evidence, with which it was
inforced, inclined men, long habituated to pretended
Revelations, to receive it into the number of the
Established. Accordingly we find one Roman em
peror introducing it amongst his closet Religions f;
and another proposing to the Senate J, to give it a
more public entertainment . But when it was found
to carry its pretensions higher ||, and to claim, like the
Jewish, the title of the ONLY TRUE ONE, then it was
that it began to incur the same hatred and contempt
with the Jewish. But when it went still further, and
urged a necessity for all men to forsake their national
Religions, and embrace the Gospel, this so shocked fl"
the Pagans, that it soon brought upon itself the bloody
storms which followed. Thus you have the true origin
of persecution for Religion (though not of the intolerant
principle, as we shall -see before we come to the end

* See note [LL] at the end of this Book,
f Alexander Severus. Lampridii, G. 29.

J Tiberius retulit ad senatum ut INTER CETERA SACRA reci^
peretur. Hier. See note [MM] at the end of this Book.
See note [NN] at the end of this Book.
|f See note [OO] at the end of this Book.
H See note [PP] at the end of this Book.

314 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

of this section). A persecution not committed, but
undergone, by the Christian Church.

Hence we see how it happened, that such good
Emperors as Trajan and M. Antonine came to be
found .in the first rank of persecutors. A difficulty
that hath very much embarrassed the enquirers into
ecclesiastical antiquity ; and given a handle to the
Deists, who empoison every thing, of pretending to
suspect that there must be something very much amiss
in primitive Christianity, while such wise magistrates
could become its persecutors. But now the reason is
manifest*: the Christian pretences overthrew a fun
damental principle of Paganism, which they thought
founded in nature ; namely, the friendly Inter community
of worship. And thus the famous passage of Pliny
the younger becomes intelligible. u For I did not in
" the least hesitate, but that whatever should appear
" on confession, to be their faith, yet that their fro-
" wardness and inflexible obstinacy would certainly
" deserve punishment f." What was this inflexible
obstinacy ? It could not consist in professing a new
Religion : that was a thing common enough. It was
the refusing all communion with Paganism ; refusing
to throw a grain of incense on their altars. For we
must not think, as is commonly imagined, that this
was at first enforced by the Magistrate to make them
renounce their Religion : but only to give a test of its
social and hospitable temper. It was indeed, and right
ly, understood by the Christians to be a renouncing
pf their Ileligion ; and so, accordingly, abstained from.

* See note [QQ] at the end of this Book.

f Neque enim dubitabam, qualccunque esset quod faterentur,
certe, pertinaciam. et injlexibikm obstinatio?icm debere puniri,
J-jb. x. Ep. 97.

The

Sect. 6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 315

The misfortune was, that the Pagans did not consider
this Inflexibility as a mere error, but as an immora
lity likewise. The unsociable, uncommuni cable temper,
in matters of religious worship, was esteemed by the -
best of them, as a hatred and aversion to mankind.
Tacitus, speaking of the burning of Rome : " Haud
" perinde in crimine incendii quam ODIO HUM AN i
" GENERIS convicti sunt* [Christiani]." Convicted,
he says, of hate to all mankind. But how? The con
fession of the Pagans themselves, concerning the purity
of the Christian morals, shews this could be no other
than a conviction of their rejecting all intercommunity
of Worship ; which, so great was their prejudice, -they
thought could proceed from nothing but hate to
mankind. The like character the same historian gives
of the Jews: " Apud ipsos FIDES OBSTINATA, sed
" ad versus omnes alios HOSTILE ODIUM f." Now the
Jews and Christians had nothing in common but this
unsociable and iincommunicable temper in religious
matters, this obstinatajides which gave so much offence
to Paganism. We are not to imagine, these excellent
Pagan moralists so blind as not to see all the merit of
a firm and fixed resolution of keeping a good conscience.
They did see and own it, as appears by the famous
a Justum et tenacem propositi virum," &c. of one of
their moral poets. But, unluckily for truth, they did
not see the pervicacia et injlevibiUs obstinatio of the
Christians in that light. Though it was nothing more
than such & fixed resolution, as one who most severely
censured them for it, the good emperor Marcus An
toninus, fairly confesses. In his book of Meditations,
speaking of a wise man s readiness to die, he says, " Ho

* Ann. xv. Sect. 44.

f See note [RR] at the end of this B ook,

" should

3i6 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

should be so prepared, that his readiness may be

* seen to be the effect of a well-weighed judgment,
" not of MERE OBSTINACY, like that of the Chris-

tians *." This is a very heavy charge on the primi
tive Martyrs. But he himself removes it in his
Constitution to the Community of Asia, given us by
Eusebius. " I know, says he, the Gods are watchful

" to discover such sort of men, For it is much more
" fit that they themselves should punish those who
* c REFUSE TO WORSHIP THEM, than that we should
" interfere in itf." Why then was it called mere ob
stinacy ? The reason is seen above : universal preju
dice had made men regard a refusal of this intercom
munity as the most brutal of all dissociability. And
the emperor Julian, who understood this matter the
best of any, fairly owns, that the Jews and Christians
brought the execration of the world upon them by
their aversion to the Gods of Paganism, and their
refusal of all communication with them J.

On this occasion, it may not be improper, once for
all, to expose the ignorance and malice of those, whom
the French call PHILOSOPHERS, and we English,
FREE-THINKERS; who, with no more knowledge of
Antiquity, than what the modern sense of a few Latin
and Greek words could afford them, have this odium
humani generis perpetually in their mouths, to dis~

See note [SS] at the end of this Book/
ey ol^ OT x ro~&lt;; $o

yap

32 *//.%. Eu.seb. Eccl, Hist. 1. iv. c. 1 3.

?
aty

y. Apud Cyrill. cont.

Jul, 1. v.

grace

Sect. 6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 317

grace the chosen People of God, or rather the Author
of their Religion. Their favourite author, Tacitus
himself, by extending the abuse, discountenances it.
He makes this odium humani generis the characteristic
both of Jews and Christians ; and by so doing, shews
us, in what it consisted. Nor do the Ancients in ge
neral, by affixing it as the common brand to these two
inhospitable Religions, contribute to this calumny, any
otherwise than by the incapacity of our Philosophers
to understand them. Diodorus Siculus, speaking * of
Antiochus s profanation of the Jewish Temple, and his
contemptuous destruction of the Sacred Books, ap
plauds the Tyrant s exploits, as those Books contained
Toi fjt,i&lt;ro%tvot, vopipu, Laws, which bore hate and enmity
to all the rest of Mankind. This pretended odium
humani generis , we find then, was not any thing in the
personal temper of the Jews, but in the nature and
genius of their LAW. These Laws are extant and lie
now before us ; and we see, the only hate they contain
is the hate of Idols. With regard to the race of Man
kind, nothing can be more endearing than the Mosaic
account of their common original , nothing more be
nign or salutary than the legal directions to the Jews
concerning their treatment of all, out of the COVE
NANT. Whatever there might be of this odious tem
per fairly ascribed to the Jews, by our Philosophers*
it received no countenance from the LAW, and is ex
pressly condemned by the Almighty Author of it,
when it betrayed itself amongst certain corrupt and
apostate members of that Nation. These, indeed, the
Prophet Isaiah describes, as saying to all others, &gt;
Stand by thyself, come not near me ; for I am holier

* Eclog. I. ex Diod. Sic. 1. 31.

than

3i 8 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

than thou *. And lest this should be mistaken for the
fruits of the unhospitable genius of the Law, lie takes
care to inform us that these men were the rankest and

most abandoned Apostates. A rebellious People

who sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense upon Altars

of Brick who remain amongst the graves, and

lodge in the monument s, wliich eat swine s flesh ^, c,
that is, a People thoroughly paganized.

Thus have I endeavoured to explain the true origin
of that universal TOLERATION (as far as Religion
influenced it) under Paganism; and the accidental
causes of its violation under Christianity. The ac
count will be further useful to many considerable pur
poses, as will be seen hereafter. At present I shall
only take notice how well it obviates ne specious
objection against Christianity. " If this Religion, say
the Deists, were accompanied with such illustrious
and extraordinary marks of truth, as is pretended;
how happened it, that its truth was not seen by more
of the best and wisest of those times ? And if it were
seen (as it certainly was), how could they continue
Pagans? The answer is easy. The conviction of

the truth of a new Religion was not deemed a suffi
cient reason, by men, overrun with the general preju
dice of INTERCOMMUNITY, to quit their old ones.

The case indeed was different in a Jew, who held
none of this intercommunity. If such a one owned
the truth of Christianity, he must needs embrace it.
We conclude, therefore, that the passage of Josephus
(who was as much a Jew as the Religion of Moses
could make him) which acknowledges, Jems to be

* Isai. Ixv. 5, t Ver. 2, 3, 4.

THE

Sect. 6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 319

THE CHRIST*, is a rank forgery, and a very stupid
one too f. But it hath been said, that Josephus was
a Jewish Convert. If so, it must be to Judaism, and
not from it. For where he affirms, against Apion,
that there ought to be but one Temple for on& God^
he speaks the very spirit of the LAW.

We have now seen the motives the civil Magistrate
had to tolerate: Of what nature that toleration
was : And how easily it was brought about.

But then, lest the People should abuse this right of
worshipping according to their own will, to the detri
ment of the State, in private and clandestine conven
ticles (which right the Magistrate supported for the
civil benefit of it), he took care that such worship
should have the public approbation and allowance,
before it was received on the footing of a tolerated
Religion. So, by the laws of ATHENS, no strange
God, nor foreign Worship was permitted, till approved
and licensed by the Court of AREOPAGUS. This is
the reason why St Paul, who was regarded as the
bringer in of foreign Gods, EENHN AAIMONIIiN,
was had up to that Tribunal. Not as a criminal ,
but rather as a public benefactor, who had a new
Worship to propose to a people, religious above all
others, n% AEI2IAAIMONE2TEPOI; most addicted,
as Strabo tells us, to the recognition of foreign ior-

* ifiorvs, cro$o&lt;; Kv/tf e?y "Avfyoe. ett/roy hiyew %(&gt;vi w
$o%&&amp;gt; "pyat/ woiij&t* A;^c7&gt;t-A^ ai/O^wTT^K, ruv yfravY) -retA^fijj
O XPI2TOS OYTOS HN. Epanj y avroTs rfrw

v ruv tu*
otvre sigwaruv. Antiq. xviii. 3. 3.

f See a further proof of it, Book V. sect. 4.

J Lib. II.

See note [TT] at the end of this Book,

ship ;

3 2o THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book It

skip * ; and " of all the Greeks, as Julian observes^
" most devoted to Religion, and most hospitable to
" strangers f." Tully J makes Solon the founder of
this Court. But the Arundel marbles, and Plutarch
in his life of that Lawgiver , contradict this opinion ;
and the latter, in support of his own, quotes a law of
Solon s, which makes mention of the Areopagus as
already existing. The difficulty is how to reconcile
these accounts. I imagine this might be the case :
Solon, we know, was employed by the Athenians to
new- model their Commonwealth, by reforming the ill
Constitutions, and supplying such as were defective.
So that in the number of his regulations, this might
be one ; The adding, to the Court of Areopagus, the
peculiar jurisdiction in question ; as of great moment
to public utility. And having thus enlarged and en
nobled its Jurisdiction, he was afterwards regarded as
its founder. A passage in ./Eschylus seems, at first
sight indeed, not to favour this opinion ; but to insi
nuate, that this Jurisdiction was coeval with the Court.
In the fifth act of his Eumenides, he makes the wor
ship of the Furies, or the venerable Goddesses, as they
were called, to be received and recognised in Athens,
by a decree of Minerva, as head of the college of
Areopagus, which the poet feigns she had just then
instituted. But this plainly appears to have been
contrived only for the sake of a poetical embellish
ment : and YEschylus seems to employ one circum-

* AQwafoi uaisiQ tzre^i r aAAa (piAofsvSi/le? ^alsAecnjs uru
ruv Zevixav i*pu* *ttgf&f&u Geogr. 1. X.

Misopog.

J De Officiis, lib. i. c. 22.

$ Vitae parall. vol. i. p. 194. edit. Bryan.

stance

Sect. 6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 321

stance in this scene, designedly to inform us of the
order of time, in which the Court received its two
different jurisvlictions. It is, where he makes the cri
minal cause of Orestes, the first which was judged at
that Tribunal ; and the religious one, of the reception
of the Eumenides, but the second. However this be,
the Areopagus was, by far^the most formidable judi
cature in the republic. And it is observable, that
Aristophanes, who spares neither the fleets, the armies,
the Courts of justice, the person of the supreme Ma
gistrate, the Assemblies of the people, or the Temples
of the Gods themselves, does not dare to hazard the
least injurious reflection on that venerable body.

The ROMANS had a law to the same purpose ; which,
as often as it was violated, was publicly vindicated by
the authority of the State : as appears from the words
of Posthumius in Livy, quoted in the last section :
" Quoties hoc patrum avorumque setate negotium est
" magistratibus datum, ut sacra externa fieri vetarent,
" sacrificulos vatesque foro, circo, urbe prohiberent,
" vaticinos libros conquirerent * ? " &c. Which shews
their care to have all tolerated religions under the
Magistrate s inspection. And, if I am not much mis
taken, Tully, in his Book of Laws, the substance of
which is taken from the Twelve tables, gives us that
very law ; whereby, as we said, all foreign and clan
destine worship, unauthorized by the civil magistrate,
was forbid. SEPARATIM NEMO HABESSIT DEOS :

NEVE NOVOS, NEVE ADVENAS, NISI PUBLICE

ADSCITOS, PRIVATIM coLUNTo f . " No man shall
" worship the Gods clandestinely, or have them se-

* Lib. xxxix. Hist.

f See note [UU] at the end of this Book.

VOL. II. Y " parately

322 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.
" parately to himself: nor shall any new or foreign
" God be worshipped by particulars, till such God
hath been legally approved of, and tolerated by the
" magistrate." The comment, as concise, and con
sequently as obscure as the text, follows in these
words: SUOSQUE DEOS, AUT NOVOS, AUT ALIENI-

GENAS COLI, CONFUSIONEM HABET RELIGIONUM,
ET IGNOTAS CEREMONIAS : NON A SACERDOTIBUS,
NON A PATRIBUS ACCEPTOS DEOS, ITA PLACERET
COLI, SI HUIC LEGI PARUERANT IPSI *. " For

" each man to have his Gods in peculiar, whether
" new or stranger Gods, without public allowance,
" tends to defeat and confound all religion, and intro-
" duce clandestine worship : and had the priests and
" our forefathers had a due regard to this law, we
" should never have approved of that kind of worship
" which we now pay to the Gods they introduced
c amongst us."

But notwithstanding all this, Mr. Bayle, from the
words above quoted from the speech of Posthumius
in Livy, would persuade us f, that the Romans did not
admit or tolerate foreign worship ; and that the care
of the Magistrate, there taken notice of by the Consul,
was to prohibit all religions, but the established: an
opinion which the whole Roman history discredits;
where we find the Magistrate, from time to time,
tolerated all foreign religions with the utmost facility.
The care then, which Posthumius meant, was surely
that of preventing all clandestine worship, unlicensed
by the Magistrate : This appears even from that other
passage brought by Mr. B. from Livy to support his
assertion : " Nee corpora modo affecta tabo, sed

* See note [XX] at the end of this Book.
f Pens. div. c. 221. *.

anmos

Sect. 6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 323

" animos quoque multiplex religio et pleraque externa
" invasit, novos ritus sacrificando, vaticinando infe-
" renlibus in domos, quibus qu&sttd sunt capti super-
" stitione animi * :" But more particularly from the
very affair, Posthumius was here engaged in. At this
juncture, the State was above measure exasperated by
the monstrous enormities committed in the clandestine
rites of Bacchus : yet it is observable, that in the edict
passed in the very height of their resentment, the right
of toleration was preserved inviolate : the Decree of
the Senate forbidding " any celebration of the Bac-
" chanals either in Rome or Italy. But that if any
" one should be possessed with a belief that this sort
" of rite was due by custom, and necessary ; and that
" he could not omit the celebration of it without
" irreligion and impiety, he should lay his case before
" the city Pretor; the Pretor should consult the
" Senate, when there was not less than an hundred
" in council, to know if they approved of it. These
" cautions observed, the rites might be celebrated,
" provided that not more than five assisted at the sa-
" crifice, that they had no common purse, no priest,
" nor a master of the solemnities f."

As here, the Magistrate s care, in expelling foreign
religions, was to prevent clandestine worship amongst
the tolerated ; so at other times, the same care was

* Lib. iv. Hist.

t Ne qua Bacchanalia Roma?, neve in Italia essent. Si
quis tale sacrum solenne et necessarium duceret, nee sine religione
et piaculo se id omittere posse apud Prastorem urbanum profi-
teretur ; Praetor senatum consuleret, si ei permissum esset, quum
in seiiatu centum non minus essent. ita id sacrum faceret, dum
ne plus quinque sacrificio interessent, neu qua pecunia communis,
neu quis magister sacrorum, aut sacerdos esset. Lib. xxxix.

y 2 employed

324 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

employed in preventing those foreign religions from
mixing with the established, as we are informed by
Valerius Maximus *. Bat neither in that case, nor
in this, was the liberty of particulars, to worship as
they thought fit, at all infringed, or impaired.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus plainly distinguishes
between their established and tolerated religions. The
passage is curious ; and will not only serve to confute
Mr. B. s notion, but will afford us an opportunity of
explaining what is further necessary to clear up this
embarrassed subject. The words of this diligent
enquirer into the Roman Constitution are these :
" What, above all things, raised my admiration was,
" that, notwithstanding the vast multitudes which
" throng from all parts to Rome, who must there,
" consequently, worship their own country Gods, ac-
" cording to their country rites ; yet the city never
" adopted any of these foreign worships into the PUBLIC
" religion ; as hath been the custom for many other
" states to do |\" Whence it appears, i. That all
strangers might freely worship in Rome according to
their own way; the being debarred of that liberty, was
not deemed, by him, a conceivable case : That such
particulars as were so disposed, might join with them;
and that, besides these tolerated religions, there was
one public, and established, which admitted of no
foreign mixtures. 2. Vie are not to understand the
author as if his wonder was caused by the Romans
having an established religion distinct from the tolerated;

* Lib. i. c. 3.

f KCC* o iBavluv /xaAr* tyuyt rsQuvpouta, Y.u, \itt% pv^u* offuv s c

ruv UHKUV ttrv^a,TU 19
, Autiq. lib. II,

but,

aect.6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 325

but, for that they mixed, or introduced into the
established few or no foreign rites; which was the custom
in the cities of Greece : for these are the other states,
which the historian hints at. But modern writers not
adverting to this, when they read of the Roman prac
tice of admitting no foreign worship into their public
religion, concluded wrongly, that they allowed no
toleration : and when they read of the Greek practice
of naturalizing foreign religions, by adopting them
into their public worship, concluded, as wrongly, that
they had no establishments. 3. The words H ITOAP2
AHMO2IA, are remarkable : He does not say, the
city rejected foreign worship, but, that it admitted not
of it PUBLICLY; that is, did not bring it into the
public religion of the State. For, as we observed
before, Paganism had two parts, the one public, the
other private : the State, as such, was the subject of
the one ; and Particulars, as such, of the other. But
they admitted of foreign rites privately ; that is, allowed
particulars to use them, after the Magistrate s licence
had been obtained for that purpose. So that the
established religion, every where, related to the public
part of Paganism ; and the tolerated, to the private
part. 4. The historian observes, that, in this conduct,
Rome differed from many other cities, meaning the
Grecian. And indeed, it was less a wonder than he
seems to make it : For Rome, rising on her own
foundation, independent on, and unrelated to any other
State, and early possessed with the high enthusiasm
of distinction and empire, would naturally esteem her
tutelary Gods as her own peculiar; and therefore
would reject all foreign mixtures. On the contrary,
the Grecian States, related to, and dependent on one

y 3 another,

326 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IT.

another, would more easily admit of an association and
combination amongst their national Deities.

Such was the nature of TOLERATION in the Pagan
world ; and this the wise provision of ancient Policy,
while Civil liberty could keep its own. But when now
Government began to degenerate, and ALL, preposte
rously to submit to the will of ONE; when the
Magistrate came to have a good, distinct from that
of the People ; and civil peace was estimated, not by
the blessings it produced, but by the degree of sub*
jection it was able to inflict; then the fashionable
scheme of Politics began to turn solely on the main
tenance of a Tyrant s power : and He having observed,
that, though the toleration of religion, under the
regulations above described, was evidently for the
advantage of Society ; yet, as those regulations were
too apt to be neglected, he thought it best, by an ab
solute intolerance^ and a thorough uniformity, to
cut off all occasions and opportunities of mischief
to himself, from private conventicles and conven
tions.

Agreeably to this system of power, we find Maecenas,
in Dion Cassius *, dissuading Augustus from allowing
any toleration of religion -at all : as, an indulgence in
this matter, would indispose men towards the Magis
trate, and make them less fond of the civil and religious
Constitutions of their country ; from whence factions,
and confederacies against the State, would unavoidably
arise, He concludes his advice against toleration in
these remarkable words : AIIEP HKI2TA MONAPXIA
TM$EPEJ ; " as a thing by no means agreeing with

* Lib. Hist. 5*.

" arbitrary

Sect. 6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 327

" arbitrary power." And Tacitus informs us *, the
usurper followed it. Thus, we see, that the famous
declaration of, ONE KING AND ONE RELIGION,
is not a new maxim, for which we are indebted to
French Politics.

So noble an original had the principle of INTO
LERANCE: and so iniquitous are the adversaries of
our holy religion, -to throw it upon the Christian Faith ;
when it appears to have been the pure offspring of
civil Tyranny ; how well soever it may have been
afterwards nursed and fondled by some Fathers of tlie
Church.

Thus have I attempted to give a plain account of
the general methods used by ancient Policy to incul-
cate and support Religion. Were I to speak, as I once
intended, of those which particular Lawgivers and
Magistrates employed for the use of their proper So
cieties, I should have it in my power to throw great
light upon the argument. But this, though the most
curious part of all, must be omitted at present, by
reason of its length. In the mean time, I presume,
more than enough hath been said, even in those places
which only shew the Legislator s care for religion in
general, to prove the truth of the proposition, That, in
the opinion of * ancient policy r , the doctrine of a future
state of reward* ami punishments was indispensably
useful to mil Society: For having shewn that the
doctrine of a future state was an inseparable part of

* Actum et de sacris Jigyptiis Judaicisque pellendis ;
que patrurn consultum, ut quaiuor millia libertini generis ea
superstitions infecta, quis idonea astas, in insulam Sardinian}
veherentur, coercendis illic latrocjniis, et si ob grayitatem cceli
interisse-nt, vile damnum : ceteri cederent Italia, nisi, certain ante
diem profanos ritus extiissent. Tac. Annal. 1. II. c. 85,

y 4 Pagan

328 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

Pagan religion, and indeed the sole support of it, the
proving their care for religion in general, proves their
care for this doctrine in particular. Where, it is worth
observing, that, though the ancient Lawgivers deviated
from truth, and differed from one another, even in the
most important points, concerning property, marriage,
dominion, 8$c. yet they unanimously agreed in owning
the use, and propagating the belief of a future state of
rewards and punishments : And what stronger proof
would any one desire of the necessity of that doctrine
to RELIGION and SOCIETY?

We now see the close connexion between Civil
government and Religion. The following observation
will still further explain the necessity of this union.

That benevolent spirit of Antiquity, described above,
which set their Heroes upon polishing the barbarous
manners of their fellow-creatures, and imparting to
them the blessings of CIVIL LIFE, as divine as it ap
pears, hath yet been far exceeded by the charity of
these later ages, which sends MISSIONARIES into the
furthest regions of the east and west, with the inesti
mable blessing of the glad tidings of the Gospel.
But nothing is matter of more grief to serious men,
than the constant ill success of so charitable. an under
taking. Something sure must have been greatly
amiss, to defeat a design which all nature conspires
to advance. This would be accounted for. Catholic
(as they call themselves) and Protestant Missionaries
go promiscuously to either India. The Catholics
have laboured most in countries civilized ; but, giving
a commentitious system for the Gospel of Christ, it is
no wonder the Pagans should not be greatly disposed
to change old fables for new. And though the pro*
test ant Missionaries carry the genuine Gospel with

them.

Sect. 6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 329

them into America, yet they preach it to Savages, with
no better success. The reason seems to be, because
they are Savages, without Government or Laws ; and
consequently of very rude, uncultivated minds. Now
Christianity, plain and simple a~s it is, and fitted in it$
nature for what it was designed by its Author, re
quires an intellect above that of a mere Savage to
understand *. Something then must be previous to it.
And what is that something but CIVIL SOCIETY?
This is not at all to its dishonour. And if it hath
sometimes happened, through the indefatigable labours
of these Missionaries, both of the one and the other
Communion, that numbers of savage converts have
been made, they could never long preserve, or propa
gate amongst their tribes, the Christianity they had
been taught : but their successors have always found
the work was to begin anew, and in a little time, no
thing left of the others labours to advance upon. And
if what we have said in this book be true, That religion
cannot long subsist without the aid of civil govern*
went, we are not to wonder at it : for, from hence, we
conclude, they began at the wrong end ; and that to
make our holy religion rightly understood, much more
to propagate and perpetuate it, they should first have
taught these Savages the arts of life : from whence
(besides the benefit of that previous knowledge above-
mentioned) would have resulted this further advantage,
that men so sensibly obliged, would have given a more
favourable attention to their benefactors. As it is, I
am afraid, these Savages observing in the Missionaries
(and they have sense enough to observe that the
Europeans keep many things from them which it

* See note [YY] at the end of this Book.

would

330 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

would be useful for them to know) a total disregard
of their temporal concerns, would be hardly brought
to think the matters pressed upon them of much im
portance, or the teachers greatly in earnest. The
civilizing a barbarous people is in itself a work of such
exalted charity, that to see it neglected when a far no
bler end than the arts of life may be procured by it,
is matter of the utmost astonishment*. But it is
partly owing to this, that many of both missions have
had too much of that fanaticism in their temper,
which disposes men to an utter contempt of worldly
things : they are therefore so far from preaching up
the advantages of Society, and recommending civil
Manners, that they are more disposed to throw aside
their own ; and have recourse to the dried skins and
parched corn of the Savages. While others of them,
of a colder turn, and lower form of superstition, hav
ing taken it into their heads, that the vices of improved
life would more indispose the Indians to the precepts of
the Gospel, than their present brutality incapacitates
them from comprehending the doctrines of it, have
concluded it best, upon the whole, to keep their eyes
shut to the advantages of civil lifef. But without
doubt so fatal a conduct arises chiefly from the false
and inhumane policy of the European Colonies, a
policy common to every sect and profession, which
makes them do all in their power to keep the natives
jn a savage state ; as suspecting that the neighbour
hood of a civilized people would be too unfriendly to
their private interests. However, this policy, as bad
as it is, has yet something less diabolical in it than
that other part of COLONY-RELIGION, which robs

* See note [ZZ] at the end of this Book.
f See note [A A A] at the end of this Book,

the

Sect. 6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 331

the opposite Continent of so many thousands of our
species, for a yearly sacrifice to their great idol, Mam
mon, THE GOD OF GAIN. These Colonists, indeed,
pretend to observe a kind of aversion in the savages
to a civilized State. And it is no wonder if they
should not be very forward to imitate the manners of
their oppressors. But this is not the natural condition
of things. Barbarians are never backward to partake
of those advantages of civil life which they under
stand ; except where ill usage has given them an ab
horrence for their Instructors. The Goths and Vandals
in Europe, together with the other benefits of their
Conquests, joyfully embraced the Christian Faith:
And the Turks in Asia, and other clans of Tartars in
China, readily received Religion and Civility from the
conquered nations. On the whole, however, I dare
venture to foretel, that no great good will ever come of
these Missions, till the two projects of civilizing and
saving be joined in one.

As the matter stands at present, the forests of North
and South America are good for little but to be made
nurseries for PHILOSOPHERS and FREE-THINKERS,
The inhabitants, by following simple nature, are al
ready in possession of that blessing, which these
illustrious Instructors so vainly wished for at home ;
namely, the removal of all RELIGIOUS PREJUDICES
from the education of their children. A learned voy
ager, who has been lately on a mathematical mission
to the Equator, describes this happy and envied con*
dition in very emphatic terms ; which the reader may
find below *, What crops of Free-thinking may not

* J ai cru reconnoitre dans tous [leg Indiens Americaips,

ijuoique differences ea langues, rapeurs, et cotit*mes] un mme fbndt

4 4c

332 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book If.

be expected from so happy a climate ! But our Philo
sophers perhaps, on reflection, may think their favour
ite maxim here pushed a little too far. However,
this freedom from religious prejudices, in the purity of
its state here, may be of use, in disposing our Philo
sophers to review their favourite maxim ; and to con
sider whether they be well founded, in recommending
it in that extent in which it is here practised. It is
true, a superstitious education is productive of great
evils. But what then ? If, through these prejudices,
the Omaguas of the southern continent think it piety,
at the birth of their children, to flatten their heads,
like a cheese, between two boards, that their faces may
resemble their Deity, the full moon ; Should the ridi
cule of this custom make it thought absurd in us, to
bring up our children in the love of justice, of purity,
and benevolence, that they may resemble the God of
the Christians, whom we adore? Our Philosophers will

say,

de charactere. L insensibilite en fait le base. Je laisse a decider
si on la doit honorer du nom d apathie; ou Favilir par celui de
stupidite. Elle nait sans doute du petit nombre de leurs idees, qui
he s etend pas au dela de leurs besoins. Gloutons jusqu a la vora-
cite, quand ils ont de quoi se satisfaire ; sobres, quand la necessitc
les y oblige, jusqu a se passer de tout, sans paroitre rien desirer;
pusillanimes et poltrons a 1 exces, si 1 ivresse n* les transporte
pas ; ennemis du travail, indifferens & tout motif de gloire, d hon-
neur, ou de reconnoissance ; nniquement occupes de 1 objet present,.
et toujours determines par lui ; sans inquietude pour Tavenir j in-
capables de prevoyance et de reflexion ; se livrant, quand rien ne
les gene, a une joie puerile, qu ils manifestent par des sauts et des
eclats de rire immoderes, sans objet et sans dessein ; ils passent
leur vie sans penser, et ils vieillissent sans sortir de Tenfance, dont

ils conservent tous les dcfauts on ne peut voir sans humiliation

combien Fhomme abandonne a la simple nature, prive d education
ct de sociele, differgpeu dela bete. Relation d un voyage dans
TAmerifjue meridionale, par M. de la Condamine^ p. 51, et seq.

Sect. 6.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 335

say, So far they are not unwilling to go. What they
would have is, that the infant-mind be kept free from
the deformed impressions of POSITIVE RELIGION.
But they must pardon us if we think, that in such
minds, precepts are best enforced by example ; and
that the best example is that of the Deity in his dis
pensations to mankind, as delivered by positive re
ligion.

Was the full definition of man, a GOOD PHILOSO
PHER, and his only business, speculative truth, some
thing might be said in favour of preserving his mind,
a rasa tabula, till he was himself able to judge what
was fit to be written on it. But as he was sent into
the world to make a GOOD CITIZEN, in the observance
of all the relations of civil, social, and domestic life ;
as he was born for practice and not for speculation ;
I should think that virtues, so necessary for the dis
charge of those relations, could not be insinuated too
soon, or impressed too frequently; even though the
consequence might happen to be, the acquiring an
obstinate and unconquerable prejudice in favour of
RELIGION.

On the whole, then, we see, that the ancient Law
givers were ag much superior to the modern Mission
aries iu the execution, as These are, to Them in the
design. Those Sages saw plainly that religion and
civil policy were inseparable; and therefore they
always taught them together. The experience of
all ages justified their conduct; and the truth, on
which they acted, gives us the most transcendent
idea of Divine goodness, which hath so closely
united our temporal to our spiritual happiness. The

sum

334 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IT.

sum of all is this, that whoever would secure CIVIL
GOVERNMENT, must support it by the means of
RELIGION; and whoever would propagate RELI
GION, must perpetuate it by the means of CIVIL.
GOVERNMENT.

END
OF THE SECOND BOOK.

NOTES

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 335

NOTES

APPERTAINING TO

THE FOURTH, FIFTH, AND SIXTH

SECTIONS

BOOK U.

P. 29. [D].

PAUL ERNEST JABLONSKT, a learned German
Divine, in his book called Pantheon JEgyptwrwm,
sive de Diis corum Comment arms, having taken it
into his head, for some reason or other, to contend
that the ^Egyptian Gods were not dead men deified,
thought rightly that this account of the Mysteries
stood in his way. " Inter omnia argamenta (says he)
quibus utuntur viri docti, ad probandum, ^Egyptios
coluisse homines, post mortem divinis honoribus, do-
natos illud sine dubio primum meretur locum, quod
ex MYSTERIIS Graecorum et ipsorum quoque ^gyp-
tiorum petitum est. Observavit nempe Theologus
Anglus praestantissimus, omnique doctrinae genere
cultus, in Mysteriis Grsecorum, hanc etiam initiatis
doctrinam tradi consuevisse, Deos illos, quos vulgo
adorarent omnes, re ipsa mortales extitisse homines,
idque testimoniis quibusdam e CICERONE perquam
opportune allatis demonstrasse, et extra omnem dubi-
tationis aleam posuisse videtur. He then quotes this
passage of the Tusculan questions, and the following
from the first book, Of the Nature of the Gods: and

thus

336 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

thus proceeds Cui quidem loco ex priori, lux est
accendenda. Jubebantur ergo omnes, initiati Grascorum
Mysteriis, credere Deos quos Graecia coleret cunctos,
in lucem hanc aliquando editos fuisse, inter homines
vixisse et tandem mortem quoque oppetiisse. All
this is said with the candour of a true scholar. How
unlike to that miserable chicane lately published at
home on this question ! Where things are denied no
less incontestible than that two and two make four.
However the learned Doctor Jablonsld must not desert
his System. His first evasion therefore of the force
arising from my account of the Mysteries is this,
I had represented them as the invention of Legislators ;
and had shewn that it was the practice of ancient Law
givers and Philosophers to teach one doctrine openly and
another secretly. Having got me at this advantage, Who
knows then, says he, Whether these Institutors of the
Mysteries believed what they taught ? But hear him
in his own words " At qureri non immerito potest,
fuerintne Legislators & Conditores Mysteriorum, de
eo, quod credere volebant alios, ipsi certo persuasi.
Docere nos voluit ingeniosus ille Auctor, qui arcana
Mysteriorum Eleusiniorum nobis non sine successu
explicare conatus est, Legislatores et Philosophos
veteres permulta suis inculcasse, et vehementer com-
mendasse, quse credebant horninibus fore utilia, etiamsi
ea reipsa judicarent esse falsa. Quid vetat nos credere
ex illorum numero fuisse etiam doctrinam in Mysteriis
traditam de mortalibus ad honores divinos evectis
Prolegom. Sect. xii. Nay I know of nothing that
hinders us from believing, but common sense : Which
assures us, that if these men practised the method of
the double doctrine, one set of opinions taught publicly
to all, and another secretly to a few select Auditors, in

whom

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 337
whom they could particularly confide, the opinions
believed by them were certainly the latter. But he has
another evasion, in support of his System. Though
the Grecian Mysteries taught the human nature of the
National Gods, how does it appear that the Egyptian
Mysteries taught the same ? I answer, From the
Grecian Mysteries being borrowed from the Egyptian,
and from a thousand testimonies besides ; particularly
from the famous transaction between Alexander the
Great and Leo the Egyptian priest. This the learned
Writer considers as a fable ; a very ready way of getting
rid of difficulties which obstruct our Systems. He
endeavours to prove, that in the accounts which
Minutius Felix and Athenagoras give of this matter,
there were some circumstances inconsistent with the
avowed history of Alexander : and from thence he con
cludes " Ita ad constituendam illam Fabellarn,
mendaciis merisque figmentis opus erat." Sect. xv.
But ,if this be sufficient to convict the adventure of
imposture, the best attested facts of Antiquity will be
in danger ; such, for instance, as the defeat of Julian s
impious purpose to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem ;
to the true circumstances of which defeat, the Relators
of it have added many very fabulous and absurd.
However he acknowledges, that if Alexander did write
such a Letter to his mother, the Fact will admit no
further controversy. But the Letter, he says, was a
forgery of some indiscreet Christian Writers, who being
notorious Tricksters, and at the same time got into
the general Opinion that the national Gods of the
Pagans were dead men what then ? " Estne igitur
inirurn Tenebrionem nescio quern, in eorum gratiam
talem Alexandri Epistolam confinxisse, eamque postea
certatim alios in usum suum convertisse." Sect. xvi.
II, Z Falsarys,

338 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

Falsarys, of whatever time or profession, I suppose
never forge but to supply some imaginary or real want
Thus these Christian Falsarys (as this learned writer
observes) forged some Sibylline Oracles and books of
Hermes Trlwieglstus. But why did they so ? Because
they foolishly imagined the FAITH wanted some sup
port from the Prophecies and doctrines of the Pagans
themselves. But with regard to the Opinion, that
their Gods were dead men deified, the Profane Writ
ings of best Authority were now full. Nothing
therefore can be less founded than this suspicion.
His next argument against the authenticity of the
EPISTLES is indeed a pleasant one. If, says he, the
ancient Philosophers had known any thing of this
Epistle, their eternal disputations concerning the
essence, nature and origin of the Egyptian Gods must
have been at an end. " Si Epistola ilia, quam Patres
laadant, genuina esset, turn qua3Stio de essentia, natura,
& origine Deorurn JEgyptioruni qua3 veteres Philo-
sophos tantopere exercuit, sic decisa et penitus fmita
fuisset, ut nemmi amplius dubium superesse potuerit."
Sect xvi. Did not the ancient Philosophers dispute
full as much concerning the essence, nature and origin
of the Grecian Gods? And yet this learned Writer
confesses that the G redan M ysteries taught that they
were dead men deified. He must know little of the
temper of the ancient Philosophers, who supposes that
even an ORACLE, whether without or within the walls
of the Mysteries (for oracular Responses were given*
there as well as at Delphi), could stop them in the
career of Disputation. Cicero (we know), who is the
Representative of them all, did not suffer his know
ledge of what the Ekusinian Mysteries taught, to
debar Mm froniadvandnga hundred different tenets and

conjectures

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 339

conjectures concerning the essence, nature and origin
both of the Egyptian and Grecian GODS.

But, continues the learned Doctor, " none of the
profane Writers, Greek or Roman, ever mention
this Epistle." " Non certe videmus unquam aliquem
ad hoc oraculum confugere, aut ejus vel levissimam
mentionem facere ; non Varronem non Ciceronem
non Diodorum Siculum rion Plutarchum" Sect. xvi.
Nothing indeed is more common, yet nothing is more
sophistical, than to argue against a fact recorded by
one single Ancient, or by one set of Ancients, because
we cannot find it in any other. As if we had all
Antiquity before us, and did not know that a few
fragments only of that rich Cargo remain, of the Wreck
of Barbarous Times. Beside, the silence (on this
head) in those fragments we have gathered up, may
be naturally accounted for. What the Mysteries every
where taught, was so well known to the Learned, from
numerous and authentic testimonies, concerning the
Eleusinian and others, that it was nothing strange that
neither Varro, Cicero, nor Diodorus Siculus should
take any particular notice of this EPISTLE. I do not
put Plutarch into the number of the silent, because
the learned Dr. himself is forced to confess that, in
the opinion of some learned men, this Ancient hath
alluded to the Epistle in question. The words of
Plutarch quoted above run thus, Alexander in his
, Epistle to his mother says, that there were certain
Oracular Mysteries imparted to him, which, on his
return, he would communicate to her under the same
seal of Secrecy. Our learned Dr. thinks otherwise ;
and that what is said, in the Epistle quoted by Plutarch,
means the response of a Common Oracle ; while the
Epistle mentioned by the Christian Writers refers to

z 2 what

340 HIE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

what Alexander learnt in the Mysteries. " Verum
an dices, obsecro, hanc esse Epistolain iliam, quam
Patres iaudant? Sed in hac agebatur de doctrims
Mysticis Theologize JEgyptiorum, ante non auditis, in
ilia, Senno tantum est de divmitionibus et prediction!-
bus sibi dhnnitus fact is" &c. Sect. xvi. This slender
reasoning, is spun out of his ignorance, that the words,
fta&w ci-irififos, here used by Plutarch, can only sig
nify Oracles delivered in tht celebration of the Mys
teries. The case was this, The Hierophants of the
Mysteries had by this time, to invite custom, erected their
Oracles also, Irke to those at the other public Shrines of
the Gods : Of which, an account is given elsewhere.

P. 30. [E] The words that follow, are, " Quibus
** explicatis ad radonemque revocatis, rerum magis
** natura cognoscitur, quam Deoruin." Which
3VL Pluche, in his Hisioire da Gel, brings to prove,
that the purpose of tlie Mysteries was not to explain
the nature of the Gods ; and translates thus, " Quand
" ces mysteres sont expliqu^s & ramenes a leur vrai
" sens, il se trouve que c est moins la nature des
" Dieux, qu on nous y apprend, que la nature des
" choses m^mes, ou des verites dont nous avons be-
" soin." P. 4 01. I list, da Ciel, seconde edit. But
had he attended to the dispute carried on in the dia
logue, from whence these words of Cicero are quoted,
he could hardly have thus grossly mistaken the sense
of his author. The reader has now the whole pas
sage before him ; in which it is said, that Euhemerus
taught the nature of the Gods; that they were dead
men deified : and in which, it is clearly enough inti
mated, that the Eleusinian and Samothracian Myste
ries taught the same doctrine. Yet, according to this

translator,

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 34*

translator, Tully immediately adds, that, " when these
" Mysteries are explained and brought back to their
." true sense, it is found, that not so much the nature
" of the Gods is taught in them, as the nature of
" things, or those truths which our wants require os
" to be instructed in." That is. the Mysteries did,
and they did not teach the nature of the Gods. But,
it is not for such kind of prate that Cicero has been
so long admired. The words, quibus evplicatu, ad
rationemque revocatis&gt; &c. have a quite different
meaning. Vclleius, the Epicurean, had undertaken
to explain the nature of the Gods. Cotta&gt; the Aca
demic, shews, in his answer, that, tinder pretence of
teaching the nature of the Gods, he, Velleius, took
away all Religion ; just as those did, who said, the
notion of the Gods was invented by Politicians, for
the use of Society ; just as Prodicus Chius did, who
said, men made Gods of every thing they found be
neficial to them ; just as Euhemerus did, who said,
they were dead men deified : I forbear (says Cotta) to
speak of what is taught in the Mysteries: and&lt;theu
follow the words in question : " Quibus explicatis, ad
rationemque revocatis, reruns magb natura cogno-
" scitur quan) deorunok" That is, " If yon will
" weigh (says Cotta) and consider all these opinions,
" so like your own, they will lead you to the know-
* ledge, not of the nature of the Gods, which yoo,
" Velleius, proposed to discourse of, but to. the aa-
" ture of things, which is, quite another considera-
^ tion," Or, in clearer terms, it was, he tells us,
Yelleius s drift to bring men from Religion to Nairn*
rati&m. This observation, is to the purpose;
$hews that Velleius had deviated from his
But what M. Pluche makes him say, is to uabody*s

2 3

342 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

purpose but his own. In a word, quibus explicatis,
&c. relates to all that Cotta had said of the Epicu
reans of those who made religion the invention of
Statesmen of Prodicus Chius of Euhemerus, and
of the Mysteries. But M. Pluche makes it relate
only to the Mysteries. It had hardly been worth
while to mention this M. Pluche, had it not been evi
dent, that his purpose in this interpretation of Cicero
was to disguise the liberty he took of transcribing the
general explanation of the MYSTERIES, as delivered
in the first edition of this volume, printed in 1738,
into the second edition (for when he published thejirst,
he knew nothing of the matter) of his book, called
Histoire du Ciel, printed 1741, without the least no
tice or acknowledgment. But for a further account
of this piece of plagiarism, I refer the reader to a
discourse, in titled, Observations sur V explication que
M. tAbbe Pluche donnc des mysteres &; de la mytho-
logie des payens dans son Histoire du Ciel, written
with much judgment and solidity, by M. de Silhouette :
tvho has intirely subverted M. Pluche s fanciful sys
tem, as well as proved, that he took his idea of the
Mysteries from the Divine Legation. It is in the
fifth dissertation of a work, intitled, Dissertations sur
V union de la religion, de la morale, de lapolitique.

P. 34. [F] Eusebius says, Scripture tells us this,

T8TO 31 K&I ol Itpoi KO$ ipMS $i$oi&lt;TKxa i Xoyoi. And SO

indeed it does even in the general tenor of its history.
But I am persuaded this learned writer had his eye on
some particular passage ; probably on the xlvth chap
ter of Isaiah, where the prophet, foretelling the con
quests of Cyrus, and the exaltation of his Empire,
apostrophises .the God of Israel in this manner :

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED, 343

Verily thou art a God THAT HXDEST THYSELF, O
God of Israel, the Saviour, ver. 15. This was said
with great propriety of the Creator of all things, the
subject of the AHOPPHTA, or Secret, in all the Myste*
rks throughout the Gent tie World; and particularly
of those of .Mithras, in that country which was the
scene of the prophecy. That this is the true sense of
this obscure passage, appears from the following w r ords
of the same chapter, where God himself addresseth
the Jewish people: I have not .spoken IN SECRET, IN
A DARK PLACE of the earth: I said not unto the seed
of Jacob, Seek ye me IN VAIN. ver. 19. This was
said, to shew that he was taught amongst them in a
different way from that participation of his Nature to
a few select Gentiles, in their Mysteries; celebrated
in secret, and in dark subterraneous places ; which not
being done in order to give him glory, by promoting
his public and general worship, was done in vain.
These were the two "places (explained by one another)
which, I presume, furnished Eusebius with his obser
vation, That for the Hebrew people alone teas reserved
the honour of being initiated into the knowledge of God
the Creator of alt Things, and of being instructed in
the practice of true piety towards him. This naturally
leads us to the explanation of those oracles of Apollo,
quoted by Euscbius [Prcep. Ewtng. L ix. c. x.] from
Porphyry ; the sens,e of which neither those ancient
writers, nor our Sir John M&r$h(fi&gt;&gt; seem rightly tgr
have understood. The first is in these Words,
At7TJi/i yoip oo jwjtna jpwy, t^n^aaj rs

Oi T

a 4 3Vw

344 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

The Way to the Knowledge of the Divine Nature is
extremely rugged, and of difficult Ascent. The En
trance is secured by brazen gates, opening to the ad
venturer ; and the winding roads, to be passed through,
impossible to be described. These, to the vast benefit
of mankind, werejirst marked out by the EGYPTIANS.

The second is as follows :

True wisdom was the lot only of the CHALDEANS and
HEBREWS, who worship the Governor of the world,
the self -existent Deity , with pure and holy rites.

Marsham, supposing after Eusebius, that the SAME
THING was spoken of in both the Oracles, says, Ccrte
nulla est controversia quin wipl pwagw*s, de unius
regimine sive de unico. Deo, reveremjuerit 8$ rectis-
sima Ebrdorum, non item recta Egypt wrum existi-
matio. And again, -Verum Apollo parum sibi
constans [Canon. Chron. pp. 255, 256. edit. JPV.], be
cause in the one Oracle, Hie Egyptians are said to be
the jirst ; and in the other, the Chaldeans and Hebrews
the only People who knew the true God. But they
are very consistent; they treat of DIFFERENT
THINGS : The first, of the Knowledge of the true
God ; and the second, of his public Worship. This
appears by the different terms in which the Oracles
are delivered : The Hebrews, whom the Oracle calls
ChaldtfaiiSt were well known to be the @nly people
who publicly worshipped the true God. But the
knowledge of him being likewise taught, though to
few, all over the Gentile world, and only in the Mys
teries, and the Mysteries coming, as we have shewn,

originally

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 345

originally from Egypt, the Oracle says, that the
Egyptians first taught mm the knowledge of the di
vine Natures. But that it was in this way, his words
plainly intimate :

which exactly describe the embarrassed and perplexed
condition of the Initiated before they came to the
participation of this knowledge. But when the same
Oracle speaks of the Hebrews knowledge of God, he
uses a very different language.

evidently respecting the calm and settled state of pub
lic worship. 1 will only observe, that the frights and
terrors to which the initiated were exposed, gave birth
to all those metaphorical terms of Difficulty and
Danger so constantly employed by the Greek writers,
whenever they speak of the Communication of the
true God.

P. 36. [G] What hath been said will give light to a
strange story told by Thucidides, Piutarch, Cornelius
Nepos, Justin, and others, of a debauch and night-
ramble of Alcibiades, just before his expedition to Sy
racuse. In which, they say, he revealed to, and acted
over with, his companions, the Mysteries cj Ceres : that
he assumed the office of Hierophant, and called some of
those he initiated MuVai, and others, ETroVIat : and that,
lastly, they broke all the statues of Hermes. These are
mentioned by the Historians as distinct actions, and
unconnected with one another. But now we see their
relation, and how one arose from the other : for Alci
biades having revealed the origin of Polytheism and

the

THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book It

the doctrine of the Unity to his companions, nothing
was more natural than for men, heated with wine, to
fini forth, in a kind of religious fury, and break the
Statues of their idols. For, what "he acted over, was
tfie celebration of the greater Mysteries, as appears
frona Plutarch s calling them the Mysteries of Ceres,
she presiding in the greater, as Proserpine presided
in the lesser, and from Alcibiades s calling some
"ETTOTrlxt, the name of those who participated of the
greater Mysteries.

P. 45. [H] A criticism of that very knowing and
sagacious writer, Father Simon of the Oratory, will
shew the reader how groundless the suspicions of
learned men are concerning the genuineness of this
Fragment, Father Simon imagines that Porphyry
forged the history of Sanchoniatho, under the name
of a translation by Philo Byblius ; and conjectures
that his purpose in so doing was to support Paganism ;
by taking from it, its Mythology and Allegories*
which the Christian writers perpetually objected to it.
a II se pent faire pour repondre aux objections
" qu on leur faisoit de toutes parts, sur ce, que leur
" Theologie etoit une pure Mythologie ils rernonte-
" rent jusques aux terns qui avoient precede les
** allegories & les fictions des sacrifkateurs." Bib.

Crit. vol. i. p. 140. But this learned man totally
mistakes the matter. The Christians objected to vul
gar Paganism, that the stories told of their Gods,
were immoral. To this their Priests and Philosophers
replied, that these stories were only mythologic Alle
gories, which veiled all the great truths of Theology^
Ethics, and Physics. The Christians said, this could
not be ; for that the stories of the Gods had a sub
stantial

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 347

stantial foundation in fact, these Gods being only dead
men deified, who, in life, had like passions and infir
mities with other mortals. For the truth of which they
appealed to such writers as Sanchoniatho, who had
given the History both of their mortal and immortal
stations and conditions. How then could so acute an
adversary as Porphyry, deeply engaged in this contro
versy, so far mistake the state of the question, and
grounds of his defence, as to forge a book in support
of his cause, which totally overthrew it?

P. 51, [I] Some modern Critics think, with Tkco-
philus, that Euheinerus was rightly charged with
ATHEISM ; some think, with Clemens Alex, that he
was not There is a circumstance in the case, which
seems to me decisive, and would incline one to con
clude, concerning him, with the generality of the
Ancients : It is this, that the earlier policy of the
Mysteries and the later of the Philosophers concurring
to think it expedient for the sake of Religion to keep
that truth a secret which Euhemerus divulged, He
who, by divulging it, overthrew Paganism, and never
troubled himself to substitute any other scheme of
Public Worship in its room, might fairly be supposed
Jo intend the destruction of Religion in general.

P. 54. [K] The celebrated French Poet, in a late
work, intitled, La Philosophic de riiistoire, c. 37.
Des Misteres de Ceres Eleusine, hath done me the
honour of giving his Reader an exact abridgement of
all that is here said on the subject of the Mysteries :
not as collected from the Divine Legation, but as
the result of his own researches in Antiquity; save
that when he speaks of the Sixth Book of Virgil, he

says:

THE DIVINE LEGATION [Rook IL

fays: " De tres savants hommes ont prouv que le
** skierne livre de TEneide n est que la pemture de
* ee qui s pratiquait dans ces spectacles [des Misteres
* de Ceres Eleus.] si secrets & si renomrnes :" and
when he speaks of the unity of the Godhead revealed
HI these Mysteries he says, " Le savant Eveque War-
* burton, quoique trcs injmte dans plusieurs de se&
K decisions audacieuses, donne beau coup de force &
" tout ce que je viens de dire de la necessite de cacher
" le dogme de runite," &c.

My audacious decisions, I suppose, are nothing else
than my unmasking the ignorance and ill faith of those
moderns, which he and his Colleague D Alembert
constantly call THE PHILOSOPHERS, meaning thereby
all kind of Unbelievers whatsoever.

P. 56. [L] The common reading, in which all the
MSS. agree, is, Quid mihi displiceat, INNOCENTE&
$oet&lt;z indicant comicL Vietorius conjectured, that,
instead of innocentes y Tully wrote IN NocxuRNiSy
which is certainly right. By the poet ce comici, I suppose,.
Cicero meant the writers of the NEWCOMEDY. The
abuses he hints at, as perpetrated in the Mysteries*
were of a libidinous kind : which occasioned an in
trigue proper for the new comedy. And we may see
by Fabricius s Notitia comicorum deperditomm, BibL
Gr&c. lib. ii. cap. 22. how frequently the writers of
the new comedy laid the scene of their plots in a re
ligious festival or Mystery. Plautus, who copied from
them, opens the subject of his Auhdaria in these
words,

Senex

Is adolescentis illius est avunculus,
Qui earn stupravit noctu Cereris vigilik

P. &

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 349

P. 56. [M] By ilk is here meant P. Clodius, the
mortal enemy of Cicero. So that his reasoning seems
to stand thus " I allow an exception for the Eleusiniaa
mysteries, on account of tueir great use to civil life,
But yet their celebration in the night is attended with
strange inconvenlencies, as appears from the comic
poets. And had this liberty of celebrating nocturnal
rites by men and women promiscuously, as in the
Eieusinian Mysteries, been practised in Rome, what
enormities must we believe such a one as Clodius
would have committed, who contrived to violate the
nocturnal rites of the GOOD GODDESS, to which only
women were admitted ?" For that the Grecian Mys
teries were thus promiscuously celebrated, appears
from what Dionysius Halicarnassensis observes of the
purity of the early Roman worship ; where no noc
turnal vigil {says he) was kept promiscuously by men
and women, in the celebration of their Mysteries.

& tfof tun, avw &lt;ni/

P. 64. [N] After I had thus distinguished, as here,
and elsewhere (in rny discourse on the Sixth JZiieis
and on the Golden Ass of Apuleius) the PURE from
the CORRUPT Mysteries, the reader will be surprised
at the following passage of the very learned and candid
Chancellor Mosheim " Pererudite non ita pridern^
quanquam non tarn semper feliciter quam ingeniose, de
MYSTERIIS disputavit Wilhelmus Warburtonus libro
eeleberrimo, The Divine Legation of Moses demon
strated. Censet vir eruditissimus, ad humanarum
mentium immortalitatem docendam omnia instituta
fuisse MYSTERIA. Dederim, in nowmllis religionis
illius, quam recta ratio tradit, praecepta inculcata, &
publicarum religionum vanitatem patefactam fuisse:

omnium

350 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book It

omnium vero hanc rationemfuisse, nunquam sibipersua-
debit, qul vd BACCHI HYSTERIA cogitaverit, qua
teste LIVIO Roman! ferre nolebant. De rebus Chris-
tianorum ante Const antinum ]\1 Commcntarii. Cap. i.
Sect. 13. not. (***). But as to the pure and uncor-
rupt Mysteries of Bacchus, authorized by the ma
gistrate, the learned Writer might have seen, pag. 4,
note (J), that Celsus expresly affirms, even these
taught a future state; \vhich truth his adversary
Origen confesses.

P. 66. [O] This short historical deduction of the
rise and fall of the Mysteries will afford much light to
the following passage of St. Paul, speaking of the
leaders and instructors of the Gentile world, " So
" that they are without excuse : because that when
" they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither
" were thankful, but became vain in their imagina-
" tions, and their foolish heart was darkened.
" Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools:
" and changed the glory erf the uncorruptible God, into
" an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds
" and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Where-
" fore God gave them up to unc leanness, through the
" lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own
" bodies between themselves: Who changed the
" truth of God hit o a lie, and worshipped and served
" the creature more than the Greater, who is blessed
" for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up
" unto vile affections" 8$c. Rom. i. 20, 8$ scq. In these
words, the holy apostle evidently condemns the foolish
policy of the Gentile sages, who, when they knew God
(that is, discovered God, as Paul intimates, by the
light of nature) yet glorified him not &$ God, by preach-
2 ing

OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 35 1

ing him up to the people; but, carried away, in the
vanity of their imagination, by a mistaken principle
of politics, that a vulgar knowledge of him would be
injurious to society, shut up his glory in their MYS
TERIES, and gave the people, in exchange for an
uncorruptible God, an image made like to corruptible
man and birds, 8$c. Wherefore God, in punishment
for their thus turning his truth into a lie, suffered even
their Mysteries, which they erected (though on these
wrong principles) for a school of virtue, to degenerate
into an odious sink of vice and immorality ; giving
them up unto all unc leanness and vile affect mis. Thai,
this was the apostle s meaning, appears not only from
the general tenor of the passage, but from several
particular expressions ; as where he speaks of changing
the glory of God to birds t beasts, and creeping things:
for this was the peculiar superstition of Egypt ; and
Egypt we have shevi n to be the first inventress of the
Mysteries. Again, he says, they worshipped and served
the creature more than the Creator, TZOC,?V. r$&gt; jtli oW?*,
This was strictly true with regard to the MYSTERIES:
the CREATOR was there acknowledged by a small and
select number of the Participants ; but the general and
solemn worship even in these celebrations was to their
national idols. In the OPEN worship of paganism,
either public or particular, it was not at all true, for
there the CREATURE was the sole object of adora
tion,

P. 66. [P] What hath been said above, shews that
M. Le Clerc hath gone into the other extreme of
party prejudice, when he contends (ElbL Unvo. torn,
vi. p. 73.) that the Mysteries were not corrupted at all
I can conceive no reason for so violent, a paradox, but

352 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

as it favoured an accusation against the Fathers, who
have much insisted on the corruption of them " Les
" peres ont dit qu on commettoit toute sorte d ordures
" dans ces ceremonies : mais quoi qu ils disent, il nest
" pas croiable que toute la Grece, quelque corrurnpue
" qu elle ait ete, ait jamais consenti que les filles & les
" femmes se prostituassent dans les mysteres- -Mais
* c quelques auteurs Chretiens n ont fait aucune difficulte
" de dire mille choses peu conformes a la verite, pour
" difFamer le paganisme : de peur qu il n y eut que les
" payensaquiouputreprocherleurcalomnies." Bibl.
Univ. torn. vi. p. 120.

P. 69. [Q] The reader will not be displeased to
find here an exact account of this whole matter, ex
tracted from a very curious dissertation of Is. Casaubon,
a great and unexceptionable writer, in his Sixteenth
Exercitation on the Annals of Earonius. " Pii patres
" quum intelligerent, quo facilius ad veritatis amorern
" corruptas superstitione mentes traducerent ; verba
" sacrorum illorum quamplurima, in SUQS usus trans-
" tulerunt ; & cum doctrina? verae capita aliquot sic
" tractarunt, turn ritus etiam nonnullos ejusmodi
" instituerunt ; ut vicleantur cum Paulo dicere gentibus

Hinc igitur est, quod sacramenta patres apellarunt
rAil^?, T&tuiffut, &r*rli{&f f sive
interdum etiam op Ha, sed rarius :
&lt;c peculiariter vero eucharistiam r&fluv r&Elw. Di-
" citur etiam antonomastice TO ^vr^ftoi , aut numero
- multitudinis T& n*uruV. Apud patres passim de
" sacra communione leges (ppixrx. pvs-ypioc, vel TQ
&lt; iuTTopptiloy ^ufjjpioj ; Gregorio Magno, magnum fy
" pavenclum ysterium. Mvf?cr6a in veterum monu-

" mentis

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 353

" mentis saepe leges pro ccenas dominicne fieri parti-
" ceps; pvwiv pro ipsa actione; /EAUHJ? cst sacerdos,
" qui etiam dicitur o pvrafayuv & o hffl&me* In
" liturgiis Grcecis & alibi etiam u c *%/&gt;* TAK, & r! *ft$&
" j^l tTriQoG* TfXwii, est eucharistia. Quemadmodum
" autem gradus quidein in mysteriis paganicis servati
" stint, sic Dionysius universam TUV TthtTuv TW isoxpyiuv,
" traditionem sacramentorurndistinguitintres actiones,
&lt; quoe & ritibus & temporibus erant divisae : prima
&lt; e&t*a&ap*t( r pwgatiQ; altera juunc-tf, initiatio ; tertia,
" TXg/wo-t?, consummation quam & l^o^ian saepe no-
" minat. Spem meliorem morientibus attulisse
" mysteria Attica dicebat paulo ante M. Tullius.
u Patres contra, certam salutem & vitam aeternam
" Christ! mysteria digne percipientibus afferre, con-
" firmabant : qui ilia contemnerent, servari non posse :
te finem vero & fructum ultimum sacramcntorum
" 3-(T*v, ckl/icationem, dicere non dubitarant, quum
" scirent vanarum superstitionum auctores, suis epoptis
" eum honorem audere spondere. Passim igitur
" legas apud Patres, TK Isgas fHirc&fi*c rix* ttvxi
" &eu&lt;riv t finem sacramentorum esse, tit qui vera fide
" ilia perciperent, in futura vita dii evadant. Athana-
" sins verbo Stoiroi~&lt;rQxi in earn rem est usus ; quod
" mox ab eodem explicatur, participation^ spiritus
" conjungimur deitati. De symbolis sacramentorum,
" per quae divinse illae ceremoniae celebrantur, nihil
" attinet hoc loco dicere ; illud vero, quod est & ap-
" pellantur fidei symbolurn, diversi est generis, &
" fidelibus tesserae usum prasstat, per quam se mutuo
" agnoscunt, qui pietati sacramento dixerunt ; cujus-
modi tesseras fuisse etiam in paganorum mysteriis
" ostendimus. Formulas illi in mysteriis pera^endis
" usurpata?, Procul este projam, respondet in liturgia
VOL. 1L A A " haec

354 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL
* haec per diaconos pronuntiari solita ; foot xofa;^fw

"crpctXofif y velj tw uripiTTurti Ti o&lt;roi wipytsfAHoty ocot

" afytuVIo* ; omnes catechumen ^ foras discedite, omnes
" possessi, omnes non initiati Noctu ritus multi in
" mysteriis peregebantur ; noctu etiam initiatio
" Christianorum inchoabatur : Gattdentio nominatur
" splendldisslma nox vigiliarum. Quod autem dice-
" bamus de silentio in sacris opertaneis servari a
" paginis solito, id institutum veteres christiani sic
" probarunt, ut religiosa ejus observatione mystas
" omnes longe superarint. Quemadmodum igitur
" dicit Seneca, sanctiora sacrorum solis initiatis fuisse
" nota, & Jamblichus de Philosophia Pythagoreorum
" in roi uTroppifloc,, qure efferri non poterant, & roi Jx^o^a,
" qua3 foras efferre jus erat; ita universam doctrinam
lt christianam veteres distinguebant in roi cpop, id est,
* ea quae enuntiari apud omnes poterant, & roi drift fa
* arcana temere non vulganda; roi Wy/**Ia, inquit
BasillUS, ffiwironcu roi $t xygvfyoiloc, ^n/AWruufJ^i, dvg~

" mat a silentio premuntur; prteconia publicantur.
16 Chrysostomus, de iis qui baptizantur pro mortuis :
" Cupio quidem perspicue rem dicer e; sedpropter non
" initiatos non audeo: hi interpret at ionem reddunt
" nobis difflciUorem ; dum nos cogunt, aut perspicue
non dicere, aut arcana, quce taceri debent) apud
u ipsos efferre. Atque ut f^o^tr&lt;rfi roi purifix
" dixerunt pagani, de iis qui arcana mysteriorutn
" evulgabant ; ita dixit Dionysius, Vide nc enunties,
" aut parum r ever enter habeas sancta sanctorum.
" Passim apud Augustinum leges, Sacr amentum quod
" nor unt Jideles. In Johannem tract, xi. autem sic;
" Omnes catechumeni jam credunt in nomine Christ?,
" SED JESUS NON SE CREDIT EIS. Mox Interro-
" gtnwscatechumenum, Manducas carnemjilii hominisf

" nescit

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 355

" nescit quid dicimus. Iterum, Nesciunt catechumeni
" quid accipiant christiani : erubescant ergo quia nes-
" cluntT But the worst part of the story is still
behind, which the concluding words of the quotation
will not suffer me to pass over in silence. These Fa
thers used so strange a language, in speaking of the
last Supper, that it gave occasion to a corrupt and bar
barous Church, in after-times, to ingraft upon it a
doctrine more stupendously absurd and blasphemous
than ever issued from the mouth of a Pagan Priest.
What is further to be lamented in the affair is this,
that the Fathers, who so complaisantly suffered them
selves to be misled by these Mysteries, in their repre
sentation of the Christian Faith, would not suffer the
Mysteries to set them right in the meaning of a term
frequently found in the New Testament, and borrowed
from those Rites, namely, the very word itself, MYS
TERY : w hich, amongst the men from whom it was
taken, did not signify the revealing of a thing incom
prehensible to human reason ; but the revealing of a
thing kept hid, and secreted, which yet, in its nature,
was very plain and intelligible.

P. 70. [R] Mr. Le Clerc owns, that Plutarch,
Diodorus, and Theodoret, have all said this ; yet the
better to support his scheme in the interpretation of
the history of Ceres, he has thought fit to contradict
them ; but his reason is very singular : " C etoit la
" coutume des payens de dire que des divinitez
" etoient les rn^rnes, lors qu ils avoient remarque
" quelque legere ressemblance entre elles, dans la
" fausse pensee oii ils etoient que les plus grands de,
" leurs dieux s etoient fait connoitre dam toute la
" terre ; au lieu qu il n y en avoit aucun que ne fut

A A 2 *J TOPIQUE,

35&lt;3 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

" TOPIQUE, c cst a dire particulier a un lieu On en
" trouvera divers exemples dans le petit traite De la
" dcesse de Syrie." BM. unro. torn. vi. p. 121. It is
very true, that the Gods of the Pagans were local
deities ; but to think the Ancients could be ignorant
of this, when it is from the nature and genius of Pa
ganism, as delivered by them, that we come to know
it, is a very extraordinary conceit. Indeed the Mo
derns, possessed with their own ideas, were and are
generally unattentive to this truth ; and so have com
mitted many errors in their reasonings on the subject
But that principle of the intercommunity of worship
in ancient paganism (explained in another place)
would have the same effect in spreading the worship,
as if their Gods were universal and not local ; which
shews the Ancients not mistaken in the point in ques
tion. Yet Mr. Le Clerc, in another place, could see
that Astarte was certainly Isis, as Adonis was Osiris;
and this, merely from the similitude, or rather, iden
tity of their ceremonies.

P. 70. [S] There is a remarkable passage in Syncellus
relating to this subject, which loath been little understood.
This Writer speaking, from Africanus, of the very early
Egyptian King, Suphis, says, sro? $\ xc&i nEPIOIITHS !*$
Szxt; iyivtro ?cal T-*TV Itfiv rvtfffttafyt (3/Xojr, This King WCIS

a Contemplator of the Gods, and wrote a sacred Book.
The Reader may see, by what Sir J. Marsham hath
said on this passage [(Jan. Chron. p. 53.] how much
it wants explaining. What increases the difficulty is
the contrary account, which Eusebius, in Syncellus,
gives of this matter. He says that this King was a
Contemner of the Gods, and that on his repentance he.
wrote a sacred book; S ff x*l rnEPOnTHD ^

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 357

Jj^yem, to? jUjfepO&rctyfe oiCrov rr,v Isgxv &lt;rvyfy&gt;z,$j&lt;xi jSt bAc*.

These obscure and inconsistent tracts of History can
be only explained and reconciled by what is here de
livered concerning the Mysteries (originally Egyptian)
which had for their grand secrets or AITCPPHTA the
detection of Polytheism, and the doctrine of the first
Cause. I regard therefore this passage of Africanus,
as a remarkable piece of history, which conveys to
us the memory of the first Institutor of the AIIOPPH-
TA of the Mysteries The term -ar^ oAf peculiar to
these Rites, and the Is?* j3* Ao?, the name of that book
which was- read to the Initiated, very much support
this interpretation. To which let me add this further
circumstance: Suphis, according to Marsham, died
about forty years after Abraham. The Patriarch
without question instructed the idolatrous Egyptians
in the knowledge of the true God. Suphis therefore
might take advantage of that knowledge (which he
found amongst the priests, with whom Abraham, as
Damascenus in Eusebius informs us, had many dis
putes and conferences about Religion) and apply it to
this purpose : And then Eusebius s account, that Su
phis was a ccntemner of the Gods, will be so far from
giving us any trouble to reconcile it to Africanus s,
who calls this same Suphis a Contemplate of them,
that they jointly tend to elucidate the general subject.
For if Suphis instituted aw-o^a in his Mysteries,
which exposed and disgraced Polytheism, he certainly
would be esteemed, by all those who had heard it, as
an ATHEIST or Contender of the Gods; the character
given to all who opposed Polytheism, both in the
earlier and later times of Paganism. Now Eusebius
finding this charged upon Suphis, by the same autho
rity which says he wrote a sacred Book, not appre-

A A 3 bending

358 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

bending to what the thing referred, and not conceiving
how a profane man should be disposed to write a
sacred Book or a Ritual of Worship, he tried to re
concile matters, by supposing that the Monarch re
pented of his impiety before he wrote his book.
Lastly, to confirm all that hath been here said, we may
observe, that the mode of speech here used concerning
Suphis, is the very same which the Egyptian Chroni
clers employ when they speak more plainly of the
INITIATIONS of their succeeding Kings. Josephus
from Manetho, speaking of Amenophis, hath a re
markable passage to this purpose.
wv ytvivQoii 0EATHN, we

vrcv {3a&lt;TiAUX&Ti/ oivwifxtiv JE TW tTriQupioiv QJ

Iv aurw

Tf ffotpi&v xa TzrpoyvooG-iv
QV
IAEIN, It x^Oapav a?ro

i\7rtiv zit oivIS TXTQV rov QtUWW on

/. \Cont.

Aplon. 1. i. c. 26.] " He says, that Amenophis desired
" to be made a Contemplator of the Gods, as was
" Orus, one of his Predecessors in the Kingdom : and
" that he communicated this desire to his namesake
" Amenophis, the son of Papis, who, by his wisdom
" and prescience of futurity, was understood to have
" participated of the Divine Nature. His namesake
" hereupon told him, that he might have the Privilege
" of seeing the Gods, if he would purge the whole
" country from leprous and unclean persons." We
see plainly that what was here desired by Amenophis,
of his namesake, was an INITIATION. This son of
Papis appears to have been the HIEROPHANT of the
Mysteries, and under that character celebrated for his
skill in divining. The request is enforced by the

favour

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 359

favour granted to his Predecessor, Orus, as JEneas s
request to the Sibyl, that he might visit the infernal
Regions, by the example of Orpheus, Hercules, &c,

" Si potuit Manis arcessere conjugis Orpheus," &c.

The proposed adventures are related in the high terms
of seeing the Gods, and visiting the infernal Regions,
agreeably to what has been, and will presently be fur
ther explained concerning this sublime phraseology,
arising partly from the high veneration paid to initia
tion into the Mysteries, and partly from the amaze
ment occasioned by the Shows and the Machinery
exhibited in the celebration of them. The Aspirant
is required by his namesake the Hierophant, to purify
the land from the unclean , in conformity to those
previous ceremonies of lustration which we hare
shewn were to be performed before admission to the
Mysteries. And now we see of how little avail, to
the service of infidelity, that Parallel is, which Sir
J. Marsham has drawn between all these passages
from Africanus and Manatho, and Moses s Visions of
God at the Bush and in tlie Mount.

P. 82. [T] Ulysses, in Homer, mentions both these
sorts in the following lines,

Ziu

The word omen in its proper sense signifies^/i/tara ra
signum, quod ex sermone loquentis capitur. Tully
ays, lib. i. Divin. " Pythagorei non solum voces
" deorum observarunt, sed etiam hominum, quae vo-
" cant omina." This sort of omen was supposed to

A A 4 depend

360 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IL

depend much upon the will of the person concerned
in the event. Hence the phrases accepil omen, arri-
pidt omen. This, as we say, was its first and proper
signification. It was afterwards applied to things, as
well as words. So Paterculus, speaking of the head
of Suipicius on the rostrum, says it was velut omen
imminentis proscription^. And Suetonius of Augus
tus : ** Auspicia qucedam & omina pro certissiniis
" observabat Si inane sibi calceus perperam, ac
" sinister pro dextero induceretur, ut dirum." It was
used still in a larger sense to signify an augury, as by
Tully, De Div. lib. i.

Sic aquilae clarum firmavit Jupiter omen.

And lastly, in the most general sense of all, for a por
tent or prodigy in general, as in the plac before us.

P. 91. [U] The Etrusci seem to have had the
same custom, in which the public reposed its last con
fidence. Livy tells us, that in the 444th year of Rome,
when the affairs of this people were grown desperate
by the repeated defeats of their armies, they had re
course to the kx sacra, as their last refuge. Of which
the historian gives this succinct and obscure account,
" ad Vadimonis lacum Etrusci lege sacrata coacto
" exercitu, quurn vir virum legisset, quantis nunquam
" alias ante simul copiis, simul animis dirnicarunt,"
&c. lib. ix. The commentators are at a loss for the
meaning of this sacred law, in raising an army where
every soldier wag to chuse his fellow. I certainly think
it to be the Institution in question : the Etrusci were
descended from the Pelasgi, and had afterwards civi
lized and polished themselves by Grecian customs, as
one may well suppose from the character Livv gives

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 361

of them in this book " Casre educatus apud hospites,
" Etruscis inde literis eruditus erat : habet autores,
" vulgo turn Romanos pueros, sicut nimc Grsecis, ita
" J^tntscis literis erudiri solitos." But, in general,
the giving a traditive original even to the most charac
teristic customs, is very fallacious. MAHOMET, who
certainly did not BORROW from the ancient Grecian
practices, yet established the same kind of I Yaternity
amongst his followers, in the first year of the Hegira.
See Abul-feda De vita Mahommedis, cap. 26. ioit. De
Frat emit ate instituta inter Mosltmos. And, what is
still more extraordinary, the Missionaries assure us,
that it is one of the most sacred Institutions amongst
the warrior- nations of the free people in North Ame
rica. Which, because it so exactly resembles the
Grecian in all its circumstances, I shall give, as I find
it described by one of their best writers. " Chacun
" parmi eux a un ami a pen pres de son age, auquel
" il s attache, et qui s attache a lui par des liens indis-
" solubles. Deux hommes ainsi unis pour leur inter
" ret comrnun, jloivcnt tout faire & tout risquer pour
" s entr aider, & se secourir mutuellement : la mort
" meme, a ce quils croyent, ne ks scpare que pour un
" terns: Us comptent bien de se rejo mdre dans fautre
" monde pour m se plus quitter, persuades qu ils y
" auront encore besoin Fun de 1 autre. On ajoute,

( que ces amis, quand ils se trouvent eloignes les uns
41 des autres, s invoquent reciproquement dans les
" perils, ou ils se recontrent; ce qu il faut sans doute
" entendre de leurs genies tutelaires. Les PRES ENS
" sont les noeuds de ces associations, 1 interet & le

besoin les fortifient ; c est un secours siir lequel on
" peut presque toujours compter. Quelques tins
" pretendent quils s j/ glisse du desordre ; mais j ? ai

" sujet

362 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book IT.

" sujet de croire qu au moiens cela n est pas general."
Journal d un Voyage dans 1 Amerique Septentrionale
par le P. de Charlevoix, tome vi. p. 14.

P. 93. [X] One can hardly account for that strange
mistake of the Abbe Velly, in his elegant History of
France, where, speaking of these fraternities in arms
amongst the Northern Nations (for nature dictates
the same practice to all, in the same circumstances),
he says " On n en trouve AUCUN VESTIGE chez ces
" fieres Republiques qui s etoient attribue 1 esprit et
" la politesse a. 1 exclusion de tout autre Peuple :
" mais elles sont de toute anciennete chez les Nations
" Septentrionales, que la Grece et 1 Italie plutot civi-
" lisees out juge apropos de noinmer Sauvages et
Barbares." Tom. v. p. 5 8.

P. 98. [Y] Hence the reader will be able to judge
of the delicacy of taste, and accuracy of discernment,
in a late Writer ; who, in a book called Elements of
Criticism, corrects Virgil s want of judgment in this
part of the JE-mis, after having given instances of de
fects full as notorious, in the Georgics. " An Episode
" in a narrative Poem (says this Man of Taste)
" being, in effect, an Accessory, demands not that
" strict union with the principal subject, which is re-
" quisite betwixt a whole and its constituent parts.
" The relation, however, of Principal and Accessory
" being pretty intimate, an Episode LOOSELY con-
" nected with the principal subject will never be
" graceful. I GIVE FOR AN EXAMPLE the descent
" of JEneas into Hell, which employs the Sixth Book
" of the JEneid. The Reader is NOT PREPARED
" for this important event No CAUSE is ASSIGNED

" that

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 363

" that can make itappear NECESSARY, or even natural,
" to suspend, for so long a time, A the principal action/
&c. &c. vol. i. p. 38. The Critic having told us that
a strict union is not required between the Principal
and Accessory, finds fault with the Acessory, that no
cause is given to make it appear, that it is NECES
SARY to the Principal. However, I ought not to be
too severe on this great Critic, since the Observation
was certainly made on purpose to recommend my inter
pretation of this descent into Hell; which shews, if not
the necessity, yet the infinite grace and beauty of this
noble Accessory, and the close and natural connexion
it has with its Principal.

P. 106. [Z] But Servius, in his explanation of the
branch, went upon the absurd supposition that JEneas s
descent into hell was the same with that of Ulysses, in
Homer, a necromantic incantation by sacrifice, to call
up the shadows of the dead. " Ramus enim necesse
" erat, ut & unius causa esset interitus, unde & statim
" mortem subjungit Miseni : & ad sacra Proserpina
" accedere, nisi sublato ramo non poterat. Inferos
" autem subire, hoc dicit sacra celebrare Proserpinae."
And again, ad ver. 149. " Prcetereajacet exanimum
" tibi corpus amid. Ac si diceret ; Est & alia op-
c&lt; portunitas descendendi ad inferos, id est, Proserpinee
" sacra peragendi. Duo enim horum sacrorum genera
" fuisse dicuntur ; unum NEKYOMANTI/E, quod Lu-
" canus exsequitur; & aliud SCIOMANTIJS, id est,
" divinationis per umbras ; o-x^ enim umbra est, &
1 pocflfia, vaticinium, quod in Homero, quern Virgilim
" sequitur, lectum est/

P. 107. [AA] The learned Selden, in his comment
on the ninth book of Poly-olbion, seems to approve

the

364 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

the absurd conjecture of P. Crinitus, that the golden-
bough signifies misletoe : and would confirm it by that
very reason, which absolutely overthrows it ; viz. that
Virgil COMPARES it to the misletoe: for it is contrary
to all the rules of good writing, whether simply figu
rative, or allegoric, to make the comparison to the cover,
the contents of the cove?-, a COMPARISON necessarily
implying, that the thing, to which another is compared,
should be different from that other.

P. 127. [BB] The very learned Mr. Dacier trans
lates lv a7Topp*Toi$, clans les Mysteres ; and this
agreeably to his knowledge of Antiquity. For aVop/r/i?*
was used by the Ancients, to signify not only the grand
secret taught in. .the Mysteries., but the Mysteries
themselves ; as appears from innumerable places in
their writings. Yet the celebrated French translator
of Puflfendorf s Law of Nature and Nations, lib, ii.
cap. 4. 19. note (i), accuses him of not understanding
his author : " Mr. Dacier fait dire a Platon que Ton
" tenoit tons les jours ces discours au peuple dans les
" ceremonies $$ dans les Mysteres. II seroit a souhaiter
&lt;c qu il eut allegue quelque autorite pour etablir un
" fait si remarquable. Mais il s agit ici manifeste-
* rnent des instructions secretes que les Pythagoriciens
" donnoient a leurs initiez, & lesquellesils decouvroient
" les raisons les plus abstruses, & les plus particuliers
" des dogmes de leur philosophic. Ces instructions
" cachees s appelloient ciir&lt;Sfpift* Ce que Platon dit
&lt;f un pen auparavant de Philoi^us, philosophe Pytha-
* goricien, ne permit pas de douter que la^ raison,
" qu il rapporte ici coraine trop abstruse & difficile a
" comprendre, ne soit celle que donnoient les Py-
14 thagoriciens." He says, it were to be wished Dacier
3 had

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 365

had some authority for so remarkable a fact. He hath
this very passage, which is sufficient ; for the word
uTroppifloi can mean no other than the Mysteries. But
those who want further authority, may have enough of
it, in the nature and end of the Mysteries, as explained
above. He says, " It is evident, Plato is here talking
fl of the secret instructions which the Pythagoreans
" gave to their Initiated, in which they discovered
" their most abstruse and particular doctrines." This
cannot be so, for a very plain reason. The philosophy
of the Pythagoreans, like that of the other sects, was
divided into the exoteric and esoteric ; the open, taught
to all ; and the secret, taught to a select number. But
the impiety of suicide was in the first class, as a doc
trine serviceable to society : " Vetatque Pythagoras
" injussu imperatoris, id est, Dei, cle praesidio &
" statione vitoe decedere," says Tully, in his book
Of old age ; who, in his Dream of Scipio, written in
the exoteric way, condemns suicide for the very same
reason ; but in an epistle to a particular friend, which
certainly was of the esoteric kind, he approves of it ;
" Ceteri quidem, Pompeius, Lentulus tuus, Scipio,
" Afranius, foede perierunt. At Cato PR^CLARE.
" Jam istuc quidem, cum volemus, licebit." lib. ix.
ep. 1 8. It could not be, therefore, that the impiety of
suicide should be reckoned amongst the aVe /Jpula of phi
losophy, since it was one of their popular doctrines.
But this will be fuller seen, when we come to speak of
the philosophers, in the next book. Mr. Barbeyrac
concludes, that, " as Plato had spoken of Philolaus a
" little before, it cannot be doubted but that he speaks
( of the reason against suicide, as a doctrine of the
" Pythagorean philosophy." What has been said
above, utterly excludes this interpretation. But though

366 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II,

it did not, there is nothing in the context which shews,
Plato thought of Philolaus in this place. It is allowed,
this was a doctrine of the Pythagoric school, though .
not of the esoteric kind. The Mysteries, and that
School, held a number of things in common; this has
been shewn, in part, already : and when we come
to speak of Pythagoras, it will be seen how it hap
pened.

P. 128. [CC] We may well judge it to be so, when
we find it amongst the CHINESE (see M. Polo, lib. ii.
cap. 28.) and the ARABIANS, the two people least
corrupted by foreign manners, and the vicious customs
of more civilized nations. The Arabians, particularly,
living much in a state of nature, where men s wants are
few, and consequently where there is small temptation
to this unnatural crime, yet were become so prone to
it, that their lawgiver Mahomet found it necessary to
exact an oath of the Arabian women, not to destroy
their children. The form of this oath is given us by
Gagnier, in his notes on Abel-feda s Life of Mahomet,
and it is in these words ; " Ne deo rem ullam asso-
" cient; ne furentur; ne fornicentur; NJE LIBEROS
" suos OCCIDANT [metu paupertatis uti habetur,
" Survi. v. 151.] neque inobedientes sint Apostolo
" Dei, in eo quod justum est." p. 41. n. (a\

Ibid. [DD] The Egyptian laws were said to have
been of Isis s own appointment. This will shew us
with what judgment and address Ovid has told the
tale of Lidgus the Cretan, in his Metamorphosis ; (of
the nature and art of which Work more will be ob
served hereafter). Lidgus (in the ixth book, fab. 12,)
is represented as commanding his pregnant wife,

Telethusa,

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 367

Telethusa, to destroy the expected infant, if it proved
a female. Yet is this Cretan thus characterized,

- - - vita fidesque
Inculpata fuit - - -

in a word, just such another as Terence s man of
universal benevolence, (mentioned above) the Author
of the famous maxim, homo su?n, liumanl nihil a me
alienumputo, and of the very same command of infan
ticide to his Wife ; who for not obeying it is reckoned
by him, amongst those, qui nequejus neqice bonum atque
tfquum sciunt. Telethusa, however, as common as
such a command was, and as indifferent as it was
esteemed, is much alarmed with the apprehension of
falling into the cruel situation of being obliged to
execute it. In this distress, Isis appears to her in a
dream, promises her asisstance, and orders her to de
ceive her husband, and bring up whatever the Gods
should send :

Pone graves curas, mandataque falle mariti ;
Nee dubita, cum te partu Lucina levant,
Toilere quicquid erit - - -

Ovid s moral of his tale is this, " That Egypt had
" opposed very wise and humane laws to the horrid
" practice of INFANTICIDE, now become general, and
" continuing unchecked by all other civil institu-
" tions."

P. 177. [EE] On what is here said concerning the
Character of ^Einilianus the most learned Chancellor
Mosheim observes as follows : " Platonicis Christianam
Religionem astu subvertere studentibus, APULEIUM
non ita pridem addidit vir ingenio aeque magnus atque

doctnna&gt;

3 6S THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

doctrina, Gull. Warburtonus in Demonstrations divines
Legationis Mosis. liunc enim in notissima ilia de
aureo Asino fabula sen Metamorphosi id egisse putat,
ut Mysteria Deorum summa virtute ad sanandas &
purgandas hominum inentes esse praedita, sacrisque
Christianis idcirco longe ateferenda, demonstraret,
hominem nempe imprimis supers titiosum, Christianis-
que et publico Sectae, quam probabat, & private
nomine inimicum. Observavit Vir egregius qua est
sagacitate, rer unique veterum peritia, in Apuleio non-
nulla nemini ante ipsum pbservata : in quibus id placet
maxime^ quod LICINIUM ^EMILIANUM, quid APU-
LEIUM apud African Proconsul Magia accusaverat
CHRISTIANUM fuisse ex Apologia, quas extat, accusati,
non sine magna veri specie suspicatur. De cnsilio
vero Fabula de Asino, quod commentationem Mys-
teriorum et Christianas Religionis contemtionem vir
doctissirnus esse conjicit, dubitare mihi liceat, quum
nihil afFerri videatn ex ea, quod difficulter in aliani
partem accipi possit." De rebus Christ, ante Constant.
M. Commentarii Seculum tert. Sect. 21. not. (***).
The English of which conclusion amounts to this,
" That another interpretation might be given of the
Golden Ass" I believe so. It might be. shewn to
contain a process for the discovery of the Philosophers
Stone. And a certain German Chymist, if I be not
mistaken, has extracted this secret out of the Fable.

P. 277. [FF] These were the considerations, doubt
less, which induced the excellent author De I" esprit des
loix to say, " II est aise de regler par des loix ce
qu on doit aux autres ; il est difficile d y comprendre
tout ce qu on se doit a soi-meme," Vol. I. p. 167.
4to.

P. 302.

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 369

P. 302. [GG] See Book IV. Nay, so fond were
they of this notion of local tutelary Deities, that they
degraded even JUPITER himself, their Father of gods
and men, into one of them, as appears by his several
appellations of Jupiter Ammon, Olympicus, Capitolinus,
etc. This deceived Dr. Bentley, who finding Jupiter,
in the popular theology, to be a local Deity, concluded
him not to be one but many. So that in the last
edition of his excellent Remarks on that foolish book,
called A discourse of free-thinking, he reproves the
translator of Lucan for calling Jupiter Ammon, this
greatest of the Gods, this mighty chief:" A Roman
" would never have said that Juppiter Ammon was as
" great as Juppiter Capitolinus ; though the translator
" took it for granted that ail Juppiters must needs be
" the same. But a known passage in Suetonius may
" correct his notion of the heathen theology. Augustus
" had built a temple to Juppiter Tonans, within the
" area of the capitol : whereupon he had a dream, that
t; Capitolinus Juppiter complained his worshippers
* were drawn away : Augustus, in his dream, an-
" swered, that he had dedicated Tonans there, only as
" the other s porter : and accordingly, when he waked,
" he hung (as a porter s badge) that temple round
" with bells. Now if Capitolmus would not bear the
" very Thunderer by him, but in quality of his porter ;
" much less would he have suffered poor beggarly
" Ammon (for all he was his namesake) to be styled
" the mighty chief p. 281. Here he had one pnet
to contradict ; who " thought" (he says) " ail Jupiters
the same." When he wrote his notes on Milton he
had another on his hands, who, it seems, did not think
them to be the same, and he chuses to contradict him,
likewise.

VOL. II. B B " Ammonian

370 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

" Ammonran Jove, or Capitoiine, was seen

" He with Olympias, this with her who bore

" Scipro " Par. Losfc, Book rx. 508.

On which, the Critic observes with some contempt
" Then- he brings more stories and (something
" strange) TWO Jupiters." However, in his former
humour he will have it, that according to the_ popular
theology, " all Jupiters were not the same." This will
deserve to be considered. The PEOPLE of Antiquity,
in excess of folly and flattery, were sometimes wont to
worship their good kings and benefactors under the
name of Jupiter, the Father of Gods and men., who f
by thus lending his titles, received, in a little time, from
posterity, all that worship which was first paid to the
borrowers of his name ; all their particular benefactors
being swallowed up in him. And this- was one prin
cipal reason of Jupiter s being a tutelary deity. But
their PHILOSOPHERS, searching into the original of the
Pagan theology, found out this lost secret, That their
kiags had given occasion to the worship of this local
tutelary Jupiter ^ whom, therefore, they regarded, as
different Jupiters ;; that is, as so many kings who had
assumed his name. Hence Varro in Tertallian reckons-
up no less than three hundred. The result of all this
was, that in the popular theology there was but ONE
Jupiter ; in the philosophic theogony there were MANY.
Just as, on the contrary, in the popular mythology
there were many Gods ; in the philosophic physiology,.
but one.

What shall we say then to the story from Suetonius^
which is brought to prove that, according to the po
pular theology, allJupiters were not the same? For
surely the Romans regarded the Capitoiine Jupiter
6 and

Notes.] OF MQ^S DEMONSTRATED. 3/1

and the Thunderer as the same person : If it be asked,
Why then, had they different names? Suetonius \viil
inform us : who relates that Augustus consecrated this
temple to Jupiter Tonans, on his being preserved from
a dreadful flash of lightning, in his Cantabrian expe
dition. And so Minucius Felix understood the matter,
where he thus addresses the Pagan idolators Quid
ipse JUPITER vester! modo imberbis statuitur, modo
barbatus locatiir : et cum HAMMON DICITUR, habet
cornua; et cum CAPITGLINUS, tune gerit fulmina.
Cap. 2 1 . And Eusebius, who was perfectly well ac
quainted with the pagan theology, says expressly, that
Ammon was one of the Surnames of Jupiter IT* $\

A/a rov VTTO rwuv AMMI2NA &lt; sj&gt;o&lt;rayopUG j ufvoj/. PrtZp.

Evang. 1. iii. c. 3. And Cicero, in his book of the na
ture of the Gods, makes Cotta take it for granted, that
the Capitoline and the Ammonian Jupiter were one
and the same ; for, speaking of the form and figure of
the Gods against Velleius, he sajs, Et quidem alia
[species] nobis Capitolim, alia Afris, Ammonis Jovis :
Where all the weight of the observation consists in the
supposition, that the Capitoline and Aiiwwnlan Jupiter
were one and the same God. However, this must be
confessed, that Capitolinus and Tonans appear to Au
gustus in a dream, as two different persons, and are
so considered by him when awake. The true solution
of the difficulty is this : The Pagans worshipped their
Gods under a material visible image. And their
Statues, when consecrated, were supposed to be in
formed by an Intelligence, which the God, to whose
worship they were erected, sent into them, as his
Vicegerent. This general notion furnished Lucian
with a pleasant incident in his Jupiter Tragicus, who,
calling a grand synod of the Gods, is made to sum-

B B 2 mon

THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

mon all those of gold, silver, ivory, stone, and copper.
Now, in Augustus s dream ; nt was the Intelligence, or
Vicegerent, in the statue of Jupiter Capitolinus, who
complained of his new brother, in that of Tonans, as
getting all the custom from him. This being the
whole of the mystery y Jupiter s popular unity remains.
unshaken.

But what shall we say to the Critic ? He censures-
Rowe, for not saying what Milton had said ; and af
terwards censures Milton for not saying what Howe
had said ; and is yet so unlucky as to be doubly mis
taken. The case is this, Where Milton speaks of two
Jupiters, he is delivering the sense of the Philoso
phers ; where Howe says there was but one, he is
delivering the sense of the people , and both were
right. But the Critic, being in a contradicting hit-
will have both to be in the wrong..

P. 303. [HH] Denique et antequam commerciis
orbis pateret, & antequam gentes ritus suos moresque
miscerent, unaquaeque natio conditorem suum, aut
dueem kiclytum, aut reginam pudicam sexu suo for-
tiorem, aut alicujus muneris vel artis repertorem vene-
rabatur, ut civem bona? memoriae. Sic et defunctis
praemium, et futuiis -dabatur exemplum. Mimic. Pel.
c. xx. Hence may be seen the falsehood, both in fact
and right, of the foundation principle of the book
called - The Grounds and Reasons of the Christian
Religion ; that " it was a common and necessary me
41 thod for new Revelations to be built and grounded
" on precedent Revelations." Chap. iv. pp. 20, 26.
See this position confuted more at large in the Divine

Legation, Book vi. sect. 6.

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 373

P. 309. f II] Us me donnoient cette response assez
plaisaiite ; qu ils ne prctendoient pas que leur Loi fut
.universelle qu ils ne pretenuoient point que la n6tre
fut ta*isse ; qu il se pouvoit faire qu elle fik bonne
;pour nous, et que DIEU POUVOIT AVOIR FAI-T PLI?~

SIEUKS CHEMIN-S DLFF ERENS POUR ALLER AU CIEI/;

jnais ils ne veulent pas entendre que la notre tant
.generale pour .toute la -tcrre, la leur ne pent etre que
fable et que pure invention, tfoyages.de Fr. Bernier,
torn. ii. p. 138. Friar William de Rubruquis, a
French Minorite, who travelled into Tartary in the
year 1253, tells us, c. xliii. that Maiagu Chan, Empe-
jror of Tartary, talking to him of religion, said, " As
" God hath given unto the hand divers fingers, so he
" hath given many ways to men to come unto him ;
" he hath given he Scriptures unto you ; but he hath
" given unto us soothsayers, .and we do that which
" they bid us, and we live in peace." The Jesuit
Tachard tells us, that the king of Siam made much
the same answer to the French embassador, who moved
him, in his master s name, to embrace the Christian
religion Je m etonne que le roy de France mon boa
ami sjntresse si fort dans une affaire qui regards I&gt;ieu,
ou il semble que Dieu meme ne prenne aucune inte
rest, et qu il a entierement laisse a sotre discretion.
Car ce vray- Dieu, qui a cree le ciel et la terre et
toutes les creatures qu "on y vok, et qui leur a donne
des natures et des inclinations si differentes, ne pou-
yoit-il pas, s il eut .vowlu, en donnant aux liammeS des
corps jet des avnes semblabes, leur inspirer les memes
sentimens ,pour la religion qu il faloit suivre, et pour
le culte qui luy etoit le plus agreable, et faire riaitre
itoutes les nations dans une meme loy? Get ordre par-
mi les homines N et cette unite de religion de}&gt;endant

# B 3 absolumeat

374 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

absolument de la Providence divine, qui pouvoit aussi
aisement introduce dans le monde que la diversite des
sectes que s y sont etablies de tout terns; ne doit on
pas croire que le vray Dicu prend autant dc pUmir a
estre honor & par des cultes et des certmomts diffe-
rentes, qu a estre glorifie par une prodigieuse quantite
de creatures qui le loiient chacune a sa maniere?
Cette beaute et cette variete que nous admirons dans
1 ordre naturelle, seroient elles moins admirahles dans
1 ordre surnaturel, on moins dignes de la sagesse de
Dieu? Voy&gt de Siam, 1. v. pp. 231, 232. Amst ed.
1688. The Abbe de Ghoisi, a coadjutor in this em
bassy, tells us, that the people were in the same way
of thinking with their king Jusques ici ils [Ics mis-
sionnaires] n ont pas fait grand chose dans le royaume
de Siain. Les Siamois sont des esprits doux, qui
n aiment pas a disputer, et qui croyent la plitpart dc
toutes les religions sort bonnes. Journal du Voyage
dc Siam-y p. 200. ed. Amst. 1688.

P. 311. [KK] M.Voltaire, in his Le Sleek de
Louis xiv. having spoken of this persecuting spirit
amongst the followers of Christ, and observed that it
was unknown to Paganism, says very gravely, that
" after having long searched for the cause of this dif
ference between the two religions, both of which
abounded with dogmatists and fanatics, lie at length
found it in the REPUBLICAN SPIIUT of the latter."
This was only mistaking the effect for the cause ; and
was no great matter in a writer, who in the same place
can tell us, not as problematical, but as a known and
acknowledged truth, that the JEWS as well as Gentiles
offered HUMAN sacrifices. Cette fureur fut inconnue
au Paganisrne. II couvrit la terre de tenebres, rnais

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 375

il ne 1 arrosa guerres que du sang des animaux ; et si
quelquefois CHEZ LES JUIFS et chez les Paiens on
deooua des victimes humaines, ces devouemens, tout
horribles quils 6taient, ne causerent point de guerres
civiles. J AI RECHERCHE LONGTEMS comment et
pourquoi cet esprit dogmatique, qui divisa les ecoles
de 1 antiquite payenne sans causer le moindre trouble,
en a produit parmi nous de si horribles. Ne pourrait-
on pas trouver peut-tre 1 origine de cette nouvelle
peste qui a ravage la terre, BAX-S-L E-SPRIT REPUBLI-
CAIN qui anima les premieres eglises? Tom. ii.
chap. 32. Du Caiiinisme, p. 23. Strange 1 that he
should mistake thus, when he had the true cause
.almost in view, as he had when he made the following
observation : La religion des Paiens ne consistait que
dans la morale et dans des fetes. And again, in his
Abregi de CHistcire Univtrsdle la raison en est,
que les Payens dans tears -erreurs grossieres ricrcokiit
point ck -dogmes, p. 63. The first question is, How
he came by his observation ? That it was no deduction
of his own, appears from his not seeing the conse-
.quence of the fact contained in it, which was great
indifference in Religion : for he goes on with that old
encomium on Paganism, which our Free-thinkers (who
did not see from whence the indifference arose) are
always ready to give unto it. See p. 1 64. vol. i. of
the Abrege. The second question is, How the Chris
tians came by their republican spirit ? And this only is
worth an answer. Without doubt it was the SPIRIT
OF THEIR RELIGION which gave it to them, when
the followers of Paganism had it not. Christianity
consists in the belief of certain propositions necessary
to salvation; which peculiarity virtually condemns ail
-other Religions. So that these other having the civil

B 4 power

376 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

power on their side, would endeavour to suppress so
inhospitable a. Novelty. And this directly violating
conscience, produced the Republican spirit, or the
spirit of resistance ; whose natural aim goes no further
than Liberfy\ not to Dominion. Agreeably hereto,
as is observed above, the first persecution for Religion
,was borne, not itifticted, by the Christian Church.

P. 313. [LL] To this old Pagan blindness, some
modern Christians seem to have succeeded. They
pretend, that what is said in Scripture of the depen
dency and foundation of Christianity on Judaism, is
said by way of ACCOMMODATION to the prejudices of
the Jews ; but that when the preachers of the Gospel
applied themselves to the Gentiles, they preached up
Jesus simply, as a divine Messenger, omitting the
Jewish characters of the Messiah. Now, though no
thing can be more false, or extravagant ; yet the me
thod employed by the first Preachers of the Gospel,
to introduce Christianity amongst the Gentiles, gives
this foolish Doctrine the little countenance it hath.

^-3^3- [MM] This, the Father says on the autho
rity of Tertullian and Eusebius. M. Le Clerc, in his
Hist. Eccl. ami. xxix. rejects the whole story, though
it be as strongly supported as a civil fact can well be.
What he urges against it is fully obviated by the prin
ciples here delivered. Indeed the chief force of his
objection arises from several fake additions to the fact ;
A circumstance, which may be found in, and hath
been brought to the discredit of, the best attested facts
of antiquity ; such as the defeat of Julian s attempt
to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem. See my Discourse
pn tjiat subject.

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 377

P. 313. [NN]*The not attending to the genius of
Paganism, hath misled some of the best Critics into

o 7

a very lame judgment on the first Apologists ; who,
they pretend, have unskilfully managed, in employing
all their pains to evince what was so easy to be done,
the falsehood of Paganism, rather than to prove the
truth of their own ileligion. For, say these critics,
were Paganism proved false, it aid not follow that
Christianity was true; but were the Christian Religion
proved true, it followed that the Pagan was false. But
the matter, we see, was just otherwise; and the Apo
logists HCted with much good judgment. The truth
of Christianity was acknowledged by the Pagans ;
they only wanted to have the compliment returned.
As this could not be done, thcy*e was a necessity to
assign the reasons of their refusal. And this gave
birth to so many confutations of idolatrous Worship.
It is true, when their adversaries found them persist
in their unsociable pretences, they paid this harsh
treatment in kind ; and accused Christianity, in its
turn, of falsehood : but this was not till afterwards,
and then faintly, and only by way of acquit. For
want of due reflection on these things, both FABRI-
cius and L KNFANT have been betrayed into this
wrong judgment. Faciiius subscribe (says the first)
juciicio viri ceJeberrimi atque eruditissimj Jacobi L en-
fant, in Diario Londiniensi, HisL of I lie Jf r orks of the
Learned, A. 1709. p. 284. II y a long terns, qu on a
cu lieu de remarquer, que la religion Chretienne est
une bonne cause, qui de tout terns a ete sujette a etre
aussi mal defendue, que mal attaquee. Ses PREMIERS
APOLOGISTES la southirent mieux par leur zele, par
Jeur piete ; et par leurs soufrances 3 que par les Apolo^

gies,

373 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II..

gies, qu ils nous en ont laissees. Delectus argum. ct
syllabus script, qui relig. Christ, asser. p. 209.

P. 313. [OO] This was not understood immediately
by the Pagans, as appears from a remarkable passage
of Lampridiiis in his life of Alexander Severus
Christo tern plum facere voluit [Alex. Severus] cumque
inter deos recipere Sed prohibitus est ab iis qui, con-
sulentes sacra, repererant omnes Chris tianos futures si
id optato evenisset, et ternpla reliqua deserenda. Now
those who rested this conclusion on an oracle, or divine
premonition, could have no knowledge of the nature
of Christianity,

P. 313. [PP] Tire reader will not be displeased to
hear a curious story, from the life of St. Anscharius,
which tends much to illustrate what we say, concerning
the genius of Paganism, and the reason of its aversion
to Christianity. This Saint travelling amongst the
people of the North, fell into the following adventure :
Pervenit ad Byrcam, ubi invenit regem et multitu-
dinem populi niniio crrore confusam. Instigante enini
Diabolo, contigit, eo ipso temporc, ut quidam illo ad-
veniens dice ret, se in conventu clcorum, qui ipsani
terrain possldcre crcd^bantur adfuisse, et ab iis rnissum,
ut haec regi t populis nuntiaret: Vos, inquiunt, nos
vobis propitios diu habuistis, et tcrram incolatus vestri
cum muita abundantia nostro adjutorio in pace et
prosperitatc longo tern pore tenuistis. Vos quoque
nobis sacriticia et vota dcbita persolvistis. At nunc
et sacrificia solita subtrahitls, et *cota spontanca segnius
vffertis, et, quod magis nobis displicet, allenum Deum
super vos introiluckis. Si itaaue nos vobis propitios

haberc

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 379

habere vultis. sacrificia omissa augete, et vota majora
persolvite. Al terras quoque Deiculturam, quce contrana
nobls docetur, ne apud vos recipiatis, et ejus servitio
ne intendatis. Porro si etiarn plures Deos habere
desideratis, ct vobis non sujjidmus^ Ericum quondam
regem vestrum nos unaiiimes in collegium . nostrum
adsciscimus, ut sit units de numero Dtorum. Mabil-
Ion, Act. SS. Ord. S. Bened. Saec. iv. p. 2. And how
little these Pagans doubted of Christianity s being a
real Revelation from a God, we may see in another
place of the same Life, where one of their piratical
kings proposes, according to their custom, to enquire
by divination what place they should next invade :
Interim rex prsefatus cum Danis agere ccepit, ut forte
perquirerent, utrum voluntate deorum locus ipse ab
eis devastandus esset. Malti, inquit, ibi sunt Dii
potentes et magni, ibi etiam olim ecclesia constructa
est, et cultura Christi a multis Christianis ibi excolitur,
qui fortlsslmus est Deorum, et potest sperantibus in
se quomodo vult auxiliari Qu^situm est igitur ^or-
tibus, etc. Cap. xvi.

P. 314. [QQ] The very learned and acute M.
MOYLE says, it was the greatest misfortune that could
have befallen the Christians to be persecuted by so great
and good a man [M. ANTONINE.J Posth. Works, v. ii.
p. 274. And Lord SHAFTESBURY observes, that
nothing could have been a greater honour or advantage
to Christianity than to be persecuted by a NERO.
Letter con. Knthus. Sect. 3. We shall know what
to think of these observations, when we have con
sidered how the case stood with regard to persecuting
Emperors. In this class we find, on one side, Nero,
Domitian, and the Maximiani \ on the other, Trajan,

the

THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II..
the Antonines, and Valerian. Had the Persecutors
been all like the first set, Unbelievers would have said,
&lt;( No wonder that force and violence failed to root
out the Christian sect, when employed by such Mon
sters as were hated by Gods and Men." Had the
Persecutors, on the contrary, been all of the other
kind, Unbelievers would then have said, " There must
needs have been something very wrong in the Christian
practice, or very impudent in the imposture of their
pretences, to provoke the sanguinary resentments of
Emperors so wise and clement." But now, to see
CHRIST r A NITY persecuted indifferently by the Good
and Bad, is sufficient to reduce the enemies of Reve
lation to silence upon this topic : and is enough to
satisfy unprejudiced men, assisted in their judgment by
what has been said above, that Providence appeared
anxious (as it were) to shew, by this disposition of
things, that matters very foreign to the merits of the
vase set this violent machine agoing ; whose issue, it
was decreed, should convince the World that all it s
Power was weakness, when opposed to the progress of

the GOSPEL.

P. 315. [RR] St. Paul tells us in what this hostile
odium consisted, where, speaking of their obstinate
adherence to the Law against all the conviction of the
Gospel, he says, And they pleased not God, and are
CONTRARY TO ALL MEX, i Thess. H. 15. They were
not contrary to all men in their having different Rites ;
for each nation had rites different from one another:
but in their condemning and reprobating all Rites but
their own : which being (till the coming of Christianity)
peculiar to themselves, was ascribed to their hatred of
mankind.

P. 316,

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED.

P. 3l6. [SS] TO $1 ETOijUOJ/ TTO, iW #7TO I(?i)CJ

"p Xflv i) jwi? Jtara \}/iAiii Tzrapara^u/, wf ct XfkfKiVo( t Lib*

xi. 3. But by this mere obstinacy, no more possibly
might be meant than a rigid adherence to truth, whicir
was not one of the distinguishing virtues of this royal
Philosopher, as appears even from these Meditations.
He represents L. Verm, his Colleague in the Empire,
as a pattern of vigilance, sobriety and decency ; and
his Wife Faustina, as exemplary for her conjugal ten
derness and fidelity. Might not then the same STOICAL
PRIDE which thought fit to cover Luxury and Lust
under the names of Temperance and Chastity, be ready
to call the divine Heroism of the Christian Martyrs a,
brutal obstinacy ?

P. 319. [TT] St. Chrysostom supposed the Apostle
was convened before the Areopagus as a CRIMINAL r
and his Authority hath made it the general opinion :
From whence, the learned Author of a Tract in titled,
Observations on the Conversion of St. Paul, hath re
ceived it. I would rather think, that the Philosophers
who encountered him, invited him thither as a PUBLIC
BENEFACTOR, who had a new Worship to propose tq
the people. My reasons are these :

i. St. Paul was taken up to this Court by the PHI
LOSOPHERS. Acts xvii. 19. But the Philosophers, of
that time, abhorred the character of delators or per
secutors for Religion : this was a temper which sprang
up amongst them with the progress of Christianity.
The worst opinion they had of Paul was his being a
babbler, as the Epicureans called him ; though the
Stoi.C3" thought more reverendly of his character, as
a setter forth of strange gods, tym Ja/*oHv xalaJV
vV ? a discoverer of some foreign Gods; for their

hospitality

THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

hospitality extended to all strangers, (as Julian tells
us) whether Gods or Men ; and this could not but be
a welcome office to a people disposed to raise altars
even to Gods unknown, ver. 23.

2. Their address to him, when they had brought
him thither, \way we know what this doctrine, whereof
tliou speakest, is, ver. 19.] implies rather a request to a
Teacher, than an interrogatory to a Criminal.

3. At least, the reason they give for their request
goes no further than to imply a desire of satisfaction
concerning a doubtful matter For thou bringest cer
tain strange things to our ears, ver. 20. fatfyvlci rim,
certain foreign ceremonies or customs. And Strabo,
as we see, teils us, the Athenians were most addicted
to foreign worship.

4. But the very words of the historian fully explain
the whole matter; for having told us that these Philo
sophers took Paul, and brought him to Areopagus, he
subjoins the motive of their proceeding in these words,
For all the Athenians, and strangers which were
there [i.e. such as resided there for education, or out
of love for the Athenian manners] spent their time in
nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.
Now had the writer understood the citation to be of
the criminal^/orwz, he would have given a more pertinent
reason for their conduct; such as jealousy of danger
to the State, or the established Religion.

5. St. Paul s speech to the Court hath not the least
air of an apology suiting a person accused; but is one
continued information of an important matter, such as
befitted a Teacher or Benefactor to give.

6. Had

Notes.] Ol&lt; MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 385

6. Had he appeared as a Criminal, the charge
against him would have been simply, The setting forth
qf strange Gods. Now this charge of less importance
he declines to answer; and yet confesses a much
greater crime, of which he was not accused, namely, a
condemnation of their established Worship And the
times of this ignorance God winked at, etc. ver. 30.

7. The behaviour of the Court towards him shews
he was not heard as a Criminal. He is neither acquitted
nor condemned : but dismissed as a man, coram non

judlce. And when they heard of the resurrection of
the dead, some mocked: and others said, Ifazcill hear
thee again of this matter, ver. 32.

8. He left the Court, as- one thus dismissed. So
Paul departed from amongst them, ver. 33. A strange
way of intimating a juridical acquittal : but very na
turally expressing a resentment for a slighted mission.
For as some mocked, and others referred him to an
indefinite time of audience, nothing was left him but
to depart, and, according to his Master s .direction,, to.
shake the dust from off his feet.

9. The historian s reflection on the whole supports
all the foregoing reasons, Howbeit, certain men clave
unto him, ami believed, etc. ver. 34. A very natural con
clusion of the story, if only a transaction within the
sphere of his Mission ; for then, having related its ill
success in general, some mocking, find others putting
off the hearing, he adds, that however it was not
altogether without effect, for a few converts he did
make, etc. But if we suppose it a narrative of a ju
ridical process, we shall not find in it one circumstance
of a proper relation. We are not so much as told
whether lie was acquitted or censured, or gave caution

for

3S4 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

for a new appearance : But, as if so illustrious a pro
secution (where the most learned of the Apostles was
the Criminal, the Greek Philosophers Ms Accusers,
and the Court of Areopagus his Judges) was below
the historian s notice, we are told a thing quite
foreign to the matter, That he made hut few con
verts.

In a word, take this history in the sense here ex
plained, and the whole narrative is simple, exact, and
luminous : Take it in the other, and it scarce affords
us one single quality of a pertinent relation, but is
obscured from one end to the other, both by redundan
cies and omissions.

But had the interpreters not overlooked a plain fact,
they would have given a different sense to this adven
ture. When Christianity first appeared, its two enemies,
the Jews and Gentiles, had long administered their
superstitions on very different principles. The Jews
employed persecution ; but the Gentiles gave a free
toleration. And, though, soon after, the latter went
into the intolerant measures of the other, yet, at this
time, they still adhered to the ancient genius of
Paganism. So that, of the many various persecutions
of the Christian Teachers, recorded in The Acts of the
Apostles, there is not one but what was begun and
Carried on by Jewish Magistrates, or at least excited
by their emissaries ; if we except that at Philippi, which
too was on pretence of an injury to private property.
But the good Father, like more modem Interpreters,
was full of the ideas of his own times, when the Perse
cution of the Christian Faith was far advanced, rather
than those of St. Paul, when it was not yet begun. And
so I leave it (as it is a mistake) to be obstinately per-^,
sisted in f

P. 3 2i.

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 385

P. 321. [UU] Lib. ii. c. 8. Thus, I think, the
words ought to be read and pointed. The common
reading is, separatim nemo habessit deos neve novos : scd
ne advenas, nisi publice adscitos, privatim colunto:
which is absurd and unintelligible. The manuscript
quoted by Manutius reads, neve novos sive advenas.
In a word, this Law seems not to have been understood
by the critics, from their not apprehending the nature
of Paganism, and the distinction between their tolerated
and established religions. By the first branch, separatim
nemo habessit deos, is meant that the Gods in general
should not be worshipped in private CONVENTICLES,
or be had, as it were, in propriety ; (Suos deos, says the
comment) but lie in common to all the Citizens. And
by the second branch, neve novos, neve advenas, nisi
publice adscitos, privatim colunto, is meant that PAR
TICULARS should not worship any new or foreign god
without licence and authority from the State. For we
must remember what hath been said, in the first section
of this book, concerning the two parts of Pagan religion;
the one public, and the other private ; the one which
had the State for its subject ; the other, particulars.
Now the State, as such, worshipped only the country
gods ; and this was properly the established religion.
Particulars, as such, frequently grew fond of new and
foreign gods, and modes of worship : and these, when
allowed by the state, were their tolerated religions.
Privatim therefore signifies [by particulars] not
[privately], which latter sense would make a contra
diction in the sentence : Nisi publice adscitos, privatim
colunto: " Let them not worship them PRIVATELY,
" unless they be PUBLICLY allowed." For how could
those be said to be privately worshipped, that were
publicly owned ? By deos NOVOS, both here and in the
VOL. II, C c comment.

386 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

comment, I suppose, is meant gods newly become such :
which in another place he calls quasi NOVOS et ad
script itios cms in ccelum receptos. De nat. deor.
1. iii. c. 1 5. For the dii minorum gentium were a kind
of every-day manufacture : such as Tully in the words
immediately following thus describes : Olios quos endo
ccelo merit a vocaverint ; or, those who had newly dis
covered themselves to men. And by ADVENAS, the
known local gods of other countries.

P. 322. [XX] Lib. ii. c. 10. Thus I venture to
correct the passage. The common editions have it
Non a sacerdotibiis, -non a patribus acceptos deos f ita

PLACET C0ll } Si huiC kgl PAKUERUNT ip& l. Gruter

says : Ita me Deus amet, vix intelligo : hasreo, adhuc
htereo. And none of the critics have pretended to
make sense of it, but Petit, in his comment on the
Attic laws : De advenis Diis (says he) sibi facit objici
Tuliius, an non liceat acceptos a sacerdotibus aut a
patribus alienigenas Deos colere ? Respondet Cicero,
licere, si, prout hac cavebatur lege, publice sint adsciti,
non privata patrum aut sacerdotum auctoritate. Hie
igitur verborum Tullii sensus est, qui latet et lectores
Jugit, qui excidit interrogationis nota, loco suo resti-
tuenda et reponenda ad hunc modum. Sitosque deos,
aut novos aut alienigenas coli, corifimonem habet reli-
gionum, et ignotas ceremonias. Non a sacerdotibus,
non a patribus acceptos deos ? Ita placet coli, si huic
legi PARUERINT ipsi. But as plausible as this ap
pears, it cannot, 1 think, be the true interpretation.
Cicero is made to object impertinently : for who, from
the words neve novos, neve advenas, nisi publice adscitos,
privatim colunto, could form any suspicion, that, by
this law, the gods received by the priests or their fore
fathers

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 387

fathers (which certainly had long enjoyed the public
allowance) were forbid to be worshipped ? And those
not publicly allowed, were forbid, from whatever quar
ter they were brought in. On the other hand, the
propriety of the sense, given above, is seen from
hence : i . That the observation is of the nature of an
example to a precept. He delivers a law concerning
the licensing new religions by the Magistrate; and
then takes notice that, had it been well observed in
Rome, it had prevented a great deal of superstition.
2. The frequent breach of this law in Rome was a
notorious fact ; as appears by the speech of Posthu-
mius in Livy, quoted above; and therefore very
likely to be taken notice of by Tully, when he was
upon this subject. And what St. Austin says, in his
second book of the City of God, concerning the ac
tions told of the gods in their public worship at Rome,
and the lubricity of that worship, shews the season-
ableness of this animadversion. Further, as the ge
neral sense of the law justifies the emendation in the
Comment ; so the words, aut novos } aut alienigenas, in
the Comment^ confirm the correction in- the law. By,
confusionem religionum, I suppose Tully meant, suclj
a confusion of ceremonies, as w r ould leave no distinc
tion between the established and the tolerated worship ;
and thereby reduce Religion to so impotent a state, as
to render it useless to civil Society : And by, ignotas
ceremonias, rites, which the Magistrate, by reason of
their celebration in private conventicles, could not take
cognizance of : which might hurt the morals of society,
by their lewdness, as happened in the Bacchanals at
Rome ; or endanger its peace by cabals and factions,
supported and encouraged by the, secrecy of their ce
lebration. In the remaining words, Cicero gives a

c c 2 plain

388 THE DIVINE LEGATION [Book II.

plain intimation, that, had this law been observed, many
superstitions both in the established and tolerated reli
gions had been avoided ; which he hints had been in
troduced, without warrant from the State, by an
interested Priesthood and an ignorant Ancestry. To
condude, the neglect of this law in Rome was very
notorious : and, probably, owing to their having no
standing judicature, as at Athens, for that purpose.

P. 329. [YY] An intelligent missionary seemed to
see where the thing stuck, when he says, Pour ce qui
est des conversions, qu on peut faire de ces gens-lilt
touchant 1 Evangile, on ne sauroit faire aucun fond
sur eiu\ Ces sauvages, de meme que tous ceux de
l Amenque, sont fort peu disposez aux lumieres de la
foi, parce qu ils sont brutaux et stupides, et que leurs
wceurs sont extreme-went corrompues, et opposees au
Christianisme. Nowcdlt Decouv. clans CAmeriq. Sept.
par le R. P. Louis Hennep m Missionaire Recollect et
Notaire A post clique, a Utr. 1697. p. 221. The cor
rupt manners of the savages here complained of, as
indisposing them to the Gospel, we find, from this
writer and others, are of such a kind as arise only
from the want of civil government ; and which civil
government every where rectifies; such as rapine,
cruelty, and promiscuous mixtures. Hans Egede, a
Danish missionary, who had been five and twenty
years in Greenland, in his description of that country,
speaks to the same effect : " It is a matter which can-
" not be questioned (says this sensible writer) that, if
" you will make a man a Christian out of a mere
" savage and wild man, you must first make him
" a reasonable man. It would contribute a great
" deal to forward their conversion, if they could, by
10 " degrees)

Notes.] OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 389

" degrees, be brought into a settled way of life." &c.
pp. 211, 212.

P. 330. [ZZ] This justice is due to the JESUITS,
That they have been wiser in their attempts on PARA
GUAY, and on the coast of California; where they
have brought the savage inhabitants to a love of agri
culture and the mechanic arts. The mission in Cali
fornia was founded at the ex pence of a certain marquis
de Valero ; for which the reverend person, whose name
was permitted to be put to the Account of Lord
Ansoris Voyage round the World, has suffered the
Marquis to be called a most magnificent Bigot.

P. 330. [AAA] This is the system of Charlecolx
in the following passage; which is well worth the
reader s notice : After having spoken of the shocking
miseries attending the uncivilized condition of the
Canadian savages, he goes on thus : II faut neamnoins
convenir que les choses* out un peu change sur tous
ces points, depuis notre arrivee en ce pays ; J en ai
meme vii chercher a se procurer des commodites, dont
ils auront peut-etre bientot de la peine a se passer.
Quelques-uns commencerent aussi a prendre un peu
plus leurs precautions pour ne pas se trouver au de-
pourvu, quand la chasse leur manquera ; et parmi
ceux, qui sont domicilies dans la colonie, il y a bien
peu a ajouter pour les faire arriver au point d avoir
un necessaire raisonnable. Mais qu ii est a craindre
que, quand ils en seront la, ils n aillent bientot plus
loin, et ne donnent dans un superflti, qui les rende plus
malheureuX encore, qu ils ne sont presentement dans
le sein de la plus grand indigence. Ce ne sera pas au
moms les missionnaires, qui les exposerent a ce danger ;

persuades

390 DIVINE LEGATION OF MOSES.

persuades qu il est moralement impossible de bien
prendre ce juste milieu, et de s y borner, ils ont beau-
coup mieux aiine partager avec ces peuples ce qu il y
a de penible dans leur maniere de vivre, que de leur
ouvrir ks yeuj? sur les moyem (Ty trouver c/es adoucis-
semens. Aussiceux-memes, quisont tousles jours temoins
de leurs souffrances, ont-ils encore bien de la peine a
comprendre comment ils y peuvent resister, d autant
plus qu elles sont sans relache, et que toutes les saisons
ont leurs incommodites particulieres. Journal Histor.
un VoyagedansFAmeriq. Septent. vol.vi. pp. 57, 58.

EKD OF THE SECOND VOLUME.

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