.

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PHILEMON

TO e ^

HYDASPfiS;

RELATING

A CONVERSATION with HORTENSIUS, upon the Subjeft of Fa/fe Religion.

In which is endeavour'd to be ftiewn,

That the beft Key to Men's RELIGIOUS O ECONOMY- is the Obfervation of their Natural Temper j

AND

That every Inftance of FALSE CONDUCT in thenvw, is to be refolved into fome correfponding Peculiarity in the other :

With a more particular Application to the Cafe of an EXTRAVA* CANT DEVOTION.

THE SECOND EDITION,

Sermo oritur, non de villis, domibufve alienis : Nee, male necne, Lepos faltet : fed quod magis ad nos Pertinet, & nefcire malum eft, agitamus - Ho R. Sat. Lib, II, Sat. 6

LONDON:

Printed for M, STEEN, in the Inner -Temple-Lane i MDCCXXXVIII.

PHILEMON

T O

HYDASPES. ftp*.

AM fare, my Hydafpes, I need no Apology for calling off your Attention a while from the gay purfuits of the Town, to give you fome (hare in thofe calmer Pleafures in which Hor ten/ins and I have been in- gaged fi nee I left you. You are not of the Number of too many polite People, who know no Entertainment beyond what Crouds and public Scenes can give them > but ftepping afide fometimesfrom the Noife and Hurry of a more expofed Life, can •with a much truer Relifh of Happinefs en joy yourfelf or your Friend in private. It is your peculiar Felicity to have united two Characters, which many miftakefor Incon- A 2 Jiftent,

* ) _

Ji/lenty becaufe fo rarely found together^ the Pkilojbpbe*) and the Gentleman. This is a part fo natural to you, that whether I have attended you in the mixed and fafhionable Societies of the World, or in the feled: Par ties of Men of Letters and Erudition, I have never been able to determine whether you have better accommodated yourfelf to the Pleafantry of the one, or the Severity of the otherj for indeed you have been uni- verfally carefs'd and applied to as the very Life and Spirit of both. 1 wifh, methinks, for the World's fake at leaft, Hortenjius had a little more of this happy Popularity of Difpofition. 'Tis pity his great Worth fhould be known only within the Circle of a few particular Friends. It feems a kind of public Injury in him to conceal the many valuable Qualifications he is Mafter of in Shade and Obfcurity, which ought rather to be made conipicuous for common Bene fit. But Hortenjius is inflexibly refolved to

purfue his retired Courfe of living and

after all, 'tis a pardonable Fault at leaft, fince it is perhaps the only one to be found in his whole Character, that he is not enough liberal of the good Influences of it.

WHEN! went fome time ago out of Town, it was, as you know, to make this excellent Perfon a Vifit. As you have

often

(s)

often heard me exprefs a more than ordi nary pleafure in his Converfation ; I dare fay you are not without a Curiofity to know upon what Points of any moment it has chiefly turn'd, during my flay with him.

THE firft Evening that I reach'd the agreeable Scene of my Friend's Retreat, I found him fitting at the end of a favourite Walk in his Garden, with a Book in his hand; and fo feemingly intent upon what he was reading, that I had got near enough to fpeak to him, before he difcover'd any thing of me. Upon my calling him by his Name, he rofe up in hafte, and coming eagerly towards me, embraced me with that natural flow of Good-humour, and Opennefs of Soul, which diftinguifhes the genuine Sincerity of the Friend, from the counterfeit Complaifance of the mere 'well- bred Man. As foon as our firft interview was over, what grave Moralift (faid I) Hortenfius^ were you converfing with jufl now, who had fo ingaged your attention, that you faw nothing of me as I came along the Walk, till J difcover'd my felf, by fpeaking to you ?

PERHAPS (return'd he) you will not be of opinion my Studies were fo veiyferious, when I tell you it was a piece of Englijh

Poetry

(6)

Poetry I was perufing, and a late one too, cdntinu'd he, fmiling — •

THE Effay on Man (faid I) asufual, I fuppofe, or fome of the other moral Pieces of the fame excellent Author : for, to fay the truth, there are very few other modern Performances in the poetical kind, which I can imagine a Man of your fedate rational turn of thinking would be likely to beflow fo ferious a review upon. Our lat*fer Poets have feldom rifen higher than bare Amufe- ment at the bed; pure Defcription for the moft part holding the place of Senje with them *, till the celebrated Author of the Effay appear'd on the behalf of the long injur'd Mu/es, and undertook to refcue them from an Imputation too com monly thrown upon them by Men offeve- rer Thought, of being become like too many others of their Sexy little better than agreeable Trijlers. He indeed, 'tis on all hands confefs'd, has abundantly re-efta- blifli'd their finking Reputation ; has rais'd the facred Name and Office of Poet to its original Credit and Dignity; or in his own beautiful way of expreffing it,

tfurrid the tuneful Art From Sounds to 'Things, from Fancy to the Heart -f~.

* Mr. Pope's Epiftle to Dr. Arbutbnot, line i$. 2 f JSfay, Part IV. lin. 3^.

In

( 7 )

In him the Philofopher and the Poet go hand in hand, and you have all the Ufe and InftrudYioaof the beft profe Writing convey'd to you under the additional re commendation of the moft graceful and polifh'd Numbers. Excellent Reflorer of the true poetic Character! which one, who well underftood it, has reprefented to be,

Simul& jucunda G? idonea dicer e vita ^

But a Genius like Mr. Pope's, is one of thofe choicer Bounties of Heaven, which are be- ftow'd only on fome few more exalted 'and favorite Spirits,

quibus arte benignd E meliore lutojinxit prtecordia lit an -fv

HERE Hortenfius interrupted 1 fee,

(fays he) Philemon, you are not yet proof again ft the Enchantment of this Subject; but are running out into your ufual vein of Entbujia/muponit, for which, you know, I have fo often rallied you ; comparing in fome degree the Effect which the fancied Prefence of this Great Man has always upon your Mind and Thoughts, to that wyjlerious Change which is wrought upon the Poet's own in his infpired Moments, when under the propitious Influence of his

* Hor. de Art. Poet. 334.

t Juv. Sat. 14. Lib. 5. v. 34, 35. var.

invoked

( 8 )

invoked Mufe, and in the full Ecflacy of her divine Communications! However, now you are come again to your, felf, and your firft heat and glow of Fancy is pretty well over, I will be lerious in owning to you that it was Mr. Pope's Effay to which I was indebted for my Entertainment when you enter'd the Garden. I had been reviewing a favorite PafTage of mine there, and was purfuing a Train of Reflections which that had fuggefted to me.

PERHAPS (faid I) you will oblige me fo far as to communicate fome {hare of your Garden-Entertainment to your Friend, and to admit me as a Party with you in thefe your Evening Meditations: This will be an effectual means to check any farther Sallies of my Enthujiafm, and to reduce me from thofe irregular Ferments of Imagina tion you are ufed to rally me upon, to the/0- berer Exercifesof Reafoningand Philofophy.

W i T H all my heart, but the Subject I was upon is pretty Ex- tenfive, and we fhall hardly be able to go thro' with it to-night - it will not be long before we fhall be call'd in to fupper : it will ferve to entertain us fome Morning, whilft you are fo good as to flay with me, when we fhall have moreleifure topurfue it.

THIS

((•9)

THIS was a very genteel Rebuke to me for growing ferious, as I dare fay you muft have thought, a little out of feafon ; confidering I had but juft faluted, as it were, my Friend, whom I had not feen fome time. I immediately took the hint, and we fell, as was more fuitable, into fome Topics of a private nature, ufual at firft meeting, which lafled us to Supper- time ; after which the remainder of the Evening was taken up with feveral indiffe rent matters, juft as they happen 'd to arife, without order or connection 5 and at a moderate hour we bad good-night.

B PART

'( 10 )

P ART II.

THE next Morning, the Day proving extremely fine, Hortenfms propofed to me to have breakfaft in the Garden, which I readily came into -, and it was ac cordingly foon after brought to us, in a .little retiring Room, which he had built there for the conveniency of avoiding the Interruptions of his domeftic Affairs, and of enjoying a freer Air, and more extended Profpeft, whenever the Seafpn of the Year, and State of the Weather mould invite to fuch a Retreat. It is here he frequently amufes his folitary Hours, and has gene rally half a dozen of his favorite Authors;

lying about for that purpofe This was.

a fair occaiion to remind him of the Pro- mife he haci made me, of renewing his laft Evening Speculation with me at a fa-? yorable ppportunity, which J accordingly loft no time to do, as foon as Breakfail

was removed — — 'Twa§ but (I told

him) to give his free Thoughts Voice and Accent ; he would, I hoped, be under no upon the account of my being

pre-

prefent ; efpecially, as this would not be the fi.rH time he had made me fo much his Friend, as to initiate me into thefe facred Myfleries of his Retirement.

SINCE you will needs (Philemon, faid he) bear a part with me in thefe my folitary Exercifes, I will introduce them to you in the fame manner as, I told you^ I firft fell into them my felf, by reading to you a Paflage out of Mr. Pope. But I mult firft oblige you to this Condition, that you {hall not run out any more into general Pane gyric upon the Author, (of whofe fuperior Merit nothing can give me an higher e- fteem than I have at prefent) but confine yourfelf intirely to the Matter of his Re flexions--'^ here in the third Part of the EJ/ay on Man, where he is defcribing the firft Openings of Religious Truths upon the fimpler Ages of the World. Societies^ he tells us, were not as yet inlarg'd beyond the Limits of fingle Families : the younger Branches of which look'd no higher in the Chain of Things, than to their Parent, from whofe Loins they were more imme diately propagated : Efteeming him not as the Subftitute of fomefuperior Providence, but as himfelf the very Fouhtain-head, from whence their Being, and all the Advantages of it, were ultimately derived to them. Till at length, the fad Experience of this B 2 their

(( 12 )

their Parent's Mortality, put them upon inquiring after another, and farther Caufe of all thefe things : They concluding with great Reafon, that he could not be the ori ginal Author of Life and Happinefs to o- therst whom they had found fo unable to continue them to him/elf, beyond the Limits affign'd by fome more powerful Superior. Take the Thought in the Poet's own Lan guage

3T/// drooping, Jick'ning, dying, they began. Whom they reverd as God, to mourn as Man. "Then looking up from Sire to Sire, explord One great firji Father, and that Jirji ador'd. Or plain Tradition that this all begun Conveyed unbroken Faith from Sire to Son.

'The Workman from the Work diftintf ivas

i

known,

And fimple Reafon never fought but one. E'er Wit oblique had broke thatjleady Light, Man, like his Maker, faw that all was right. ¥0 Virtue in the Paths ofPleafure trod, And owrid a Father, when he ownd a God. Love all the Faith, and all tti Allegiance then, For Nature knew no Right divine in Men ; No 111 could fear in God : and underftood A Sovereign Being, but a Sovereign Good. — .*'

How amiable a Reprefentation this of the divine Being ! a Being, whofe Worfhip ii-Love and Gratitude! Whofe Service a

* Ejjay on Man, Part III. line 224.

S:ate

( '3 )

State of manly and rational Freedom / Whofe Sovereignty over us but a more in- lirged Power, guided by a never-ceafing Difpofition to do us good ! A God, whofe proper Character is that molt Indearing one of Father ! What a noble Aflemblage of tender and affecting Ideas ! How different from the too ufual Reprefentations of this matter ! By a certain way of thinking, Philemon, that prevails upon this Subject, one would be tempted to imagine, Men were taught to believe in a Manlchean evil God at the Helm of Things, inftead of a kind and benevolent Principle. They never feem to conceive of a Deity, as of an affec tionate Father to the whole Syftem of rati onal Beings that hang upon his Care j whofe only -poffible Motive in bringing them into Exiftence, could be to communicate Hap- pimjs to them -, and difTufe upon them the kindly Influences of his Love and Bounty : But rather paint him to their frighted Ima ginations, with all the Pomp and Terror of dreadful and auflere Majejly ; a kind of Omnipotent Tyrant at the head of an Uni- verfe of Slaves : Who accordingly muft pay their Court to him, if they hope to efcape his Vengeance, or tafte any thing of his Favour, by abjedl Servility, mean A- dulatlon, and forced Reverence. Yet, Phi- lemon, the Language of unprejudiced Rea- fon and Nature fpeaks quite other things

of

(

t>f a fupreme Manager. There we as our Poet has judiciouily obferved, a Jb- vereign Being , and a Jbvereign Good ars equivalent Expreffions. Indeed the two Ideas are fo intimately allied to each other, that fo long as Mankind retained any thing of their firft Simplicity and native Ingenuity of Mind, they could hardly be fuppofed to feparate them. For what Thoughts could Creatures newly become confcious to them- felves of imparted Exiftence and Happi- nefs entertain of the great Author of fuch . unmerited Bleffings, but that He muft be in himfelf a Being of the moft perfect Be nevolence ? Nothing but the extremeft Per- verfenefs, or worfe Ingratitude could pre vent their being led from the manifold ex perience they had of his Goodnefs, to the thankful acknowledgment of it : Or, as our Author beautifully exprefles it, their own ing

a Father, when they owrid a God.

I muft cohfefsj (faid I) Hortenjius, (inter rupting him,) I am very much of your O- pinion as to the firft Rife of Theifm in the world ; fuppofing^ as you do, that Men were ever left to reafon themfelves into the Belief of a God by their meer natural Light, without any originally revealed No tices of this kind conveyed from Father to Son in a way of tradition. For this, you

know,

Jcnow,yS/0* have afferted to be the real truth of the Cafe ; and indeed there is a great deal may be faid for this fide of the Queftion. The Poet bimfelf has a Glance at it in the Paflage you have been reading out of him.

Or plain Tradition that this all begun., Conveyed unbroken Faith from Sire to Son,

However, as I faid before, allowing the truth of your Hypothecs, and that Revela tion had nothing to do in the Aftair, I am, much more inclined to refolve the Belief ojf a Deity, as you have done, into a Princi ple of natural Gratitude, than with Epi curus, and his Followers, into I know not "what Juperftitious Awe and Dread Men are under of ittvifi&le Power.

AT leaft (returned Hortenfms) if I was to admit fuch a natural Jealoufy and Ap- prehenfion of invifible Power, as thefe Gen tlemen contend for, I ihould hardly think of making the ufe they do of it, to difprove the mz/exiftence of any fuch Power. Sure 'tis an odd way of Reafoning Men out of their Belief of a God, to tell them the Fear of him is natural to them. For indeed allowing the Paffion to be natural, I ihould be apt to conclude from the Analogy of all other natural PaiTions, that it muft have a Foundation in 'Nature, fome fuitable

and

( '6 )

and correfpondent Objed; in the Reality and Conjlitution of things.

You know, (faid I) Hortenjius, they pretend to derive this fear and fulpicion of Mankind folely from their Ignorance of the Caufes of . natural Events. So Lucre tius, upon the Principles of the Se£t, ex- prefly tells us. I fee you have the Works of that Poet here, give me leave to turn to the Paflage.

£>uippe ita Formido mortales continet omnes, Quod mult a in Terrisfari, Ceeloque tuentur^ Quorum operum Caufas nulld ratione iiidere PoJ/unf, ac fieri divino Numine rentur*.

And Horace, (you muft remember) men tions it as an inftance of Philofophical Heroifm, which but few could attain to, to be able to contemplate the Grandeur and Regularity of Nature without a little ipice of this popular Superflition.

Hunc So/em, G? S fellas, & decedentia cert is , Tempora Moment is, funt qui Formidine nulld Imbutijfeffent -f-.

But then if the Jlated and ordinary Courfe of Nature is fo apt to infpire z Jiiperftitious Awe and Reverence, the more extraordina ry and unufual Phenomena will have a

* Lib.I. v,i52. Vid.etiamLib.V. v.nSa. Lib. VI. v.49 to 56. f Hor. Epift. Lib.I. Epift.VI. v./j..

much

much ftronger effect this way. For be- fides that the mere circumftance of their being uncommon has a more obvious tenden cy to beget furprifi, many of them may be faid to have, as it were, fomething of natural Pomp) and Terror even in them/elves. As for inftance, Thundrings, Lightnings, various kinds of Meteors, Earthquakes, &c. agreeably to the Obfervation of ano ther Poet of the Epicurean Perfuafion.

Primus in Orbe Deos fecit timor, ardua ccelo Fulmina cum caderent, difcujfaque m&nia

Atque Iffus flagraret Athos-—*

And fo Horace intimates a particular apt- nefs in Thunder to ftrike Men with reli gious Impreilions.

Ccslo tonantem credidimus Jovem Regnare — - -j-

And Lucant I remember, almoft in the fame words

— - per Fulmina tantum Sciret adhuc folum ccslo regnare tonantem ||.

Now with a View to the eradicating thefe popular Superftitions, and to the freeing Men from the flavery of thofe religious Fears which their ignorance of the Caufes

* Pet. Arb. Frag. Sat. p. 524. ed. Mich. Had,

t Hor. OdarumLib. III. Ode 5.

ij Luccn. Lib. HI. Fhar. v. 319, 320, var.

D and

end proceedurc of natural Events had fub- jected them to; Epicurus, as his Interpreter and great Panegyrift Lucretius informs us, undertook to inftrucl them in a more ac curate knowledge of Nature : To ex plain to them her feveral Phenomena, and give a Phyfical Solution of her various operations upon no higher a Principle than mere Matter in motion. Hear how the Poet panegyrizes his Mafter upon this no ble and generous Enterprize. Speaking of that abject flate of Mind to which Su- perftition had reduced Men, Epicurus, he tells us, was the firfl who durft openly attack the flavim Impoliure.

Primum Grams homo mortales toller e contra Eft oculos at/fits, primufque obfijlere contra : Quern nee Fania Deum, nee Fulminay nee

minitanti Murmure comprejjit ccelum ; fed eo magis

acrem

Virtutem mritdt animi> confringere ut arffia Nature primus portarUm claujira cupiret *.

He hoped, it feems, by penetrating into the intimate Reafons of Things, to give a Compleat Key to the feveral Productions of Nature j and that the notion of a fuperin- tending Deity would be effectually banifh'd out of the. world, if he could but perfuade Men to admit that the Courfe of Affairs

-V

might

( 19 )

might go on as fuccefefully without h currence. And after the Poet in the three following Lines has led his Philofopbical Hero thro' the whole compafs of Nature, he goes on to reprefent him returning in a kind of triumph from the fuccefs of his wonderful Difcoveries ; holding out, as it were, to view a Rationale of the Univerfe, and adjufting the full Powers and Extent of natural Mechanifm.

Unde refert nobis ViStor quid pofpt oriri, Quid neqiieat * —

AND yet, (interrupted Hortenfiui) after all this pompous parade of Science, what is the Philofophy of this his boafted Epicurus, even according to his own account of it, but a continued Series of Blunder and Ab* furdity ?

THAT is true, (faid I) but the Poet has certainly embellifhed his pbilofbphical Romance with numberlefs beautiful Turns of Thought, and an uncommon Strength and Majefty of Stile and Expreffion.

AN excellent Poet, (return'd Hcrtenfius) but a wretched Bungler in Reafoning! For not to defcend to the minuter Branches of this Epicurean Syftem, what is the general Foundation which it proceeds upon, the

* Lib. I, v.76.

D 2 Etcr-

(20)

Eternity of Matter in motion, but a mere gratis dittum ? A Notion obftinately taken up againft the inflexible Reafon and Truth of Things? I do not defign to enter into a particular Confutation of it, but mall only obferve, that the Idea of Self-exigence is not only incompatible with feveral known Pro perties of Matter, but repugnant to the^r- neral Nature of it *. And yet if we fhould allow Matter to have been Eternal, we could not admit it to have been eternally in Motion; for that would be to mak&Motion to be of the Effence of Matter, contrary to plain Evidences of Facl: and Experience -f-.

s S o that had the Epicurean Philofophy fucceeded never fo well in the Explication of Nature from thefe Principles, yet the Principles themfelves can never pafs upon Men of Thought and juft Reflection with out , much better Proofs than a bare Ipje dixit. This is an Errror at the firft fetting out, fufficient to blaft the whole Scheme at once. Serioufly, Philemon, one cannot enough wonder at the extreme Folly of all fuch Scbemifts as pretend to account for

* See Dr. Clarke'* Being and Attrib. p. 22, &c. Gordon'*- Beyle's Lett. Serm. 4. Relig. of Nature delin. p.y6,77. Bentl. Boyle's Left. Serm. b. Addit. to Law'* Notes on King'* Orig. Evil, p. 13. Baxter'* Inquiry into the Nat. of the Hum. Soul at large.

t Newton \Optice, Shi. ult. p. 341, 343. Gurdon'j Serm. pag. 169, fcfc. Bentley's Boyle's Left. Serm. 7.

things

21 )

things upon Principles of Mechanifm, when the Origin of that Mechanifm itfelf, upon /^/rHypothefi?, is a greater Difficulty, than any of thoje it is introduced to explain. For deduce one thing from another ever lb long in a mechanical Series, without running up to lifirjl Mover ; what do you, but repeat the old exploded Conceit of the Elephant, and the Tortoife ? All mechanical Solutions of natural Events, tho* never fojuft as far as they go, yet leave us at laft in as great Ignorance as they found us. It may be we are got to ajecondor third Remove, and have mifted the Difficulty from the Elephant to the Torfoi/e. But that fatal Queftion re curring at every turn, " and the Tortolfe " itfeff~ how ?" muft ever flop us in our progrefs, till we have placed feme Immate rial, Intelligent , Self-acJive Principle at the headoi Affairs. Our great Tbeorift^ the ad mirable Sir IJaac Newton, a much better Philofopher, I do not fay, meerly, than Epicurus, or Lucretius, or any of the more modern Retailers of their Blunders; but even than any of the moft celebrated ones, whether of ancient or modern Times ; he, I fay, was well aware of this Truth, and has born full Teftimony to it. For tho' he had abundantly confirmed and eftablifhed his Principle of uniroe rjal Gravity upon the Authority of well-try d Fa els and Experi ments, and afterwards applied it with an-

Jwerable

Jwerable Succcfs to the Theory and Expli cation of the Mundane Syftem ; yet he never confiders it other wife than as a Fatt*^ of which he owns at the fame time the CauJ'e to be wholly unknown to him. And fo far is he from thinking, that becaufe this Principle may ferve to account for other things, therefore it needs no account to be given of itfelf, that on the contrary, he gives hints -j- of fome accounts he had been endeavoring to form to himfelf of it ; and finding none of them anjwer his purpofCj concludes at laft, with refolving it into a divine Energy and Superintendence^ as feeing it utterly irreconcileable with any natural or mechanical Principles ||.

So thatupon the whole, the falfeTriumphs of the Epicureans upon this Article of na-> /Krtf/Caufes amount at laft to a publicTc- jftimony againft themfehes ; and under a pretence of proclaiming their Viftory^ do but more effectually confirm their intire over throw and defeat. For whilft, with a de- fign to explode the Belief of a God, they have gone about to explain Nature without him, the ill Succefs they have met with in their

* Prin. Phil. Schol. gen. fub finem. p

Opt. p. 374-

f Optus, p. 350, and elfewhere.

|j Newton i Opt ice , p. 373. Prin, Phil. Schol . gen. •fub finem, />. 344.

Attempt,

( 23 )

Attempt, is to them at leaft a very convin cing proof how impracticable fuch an Ex plication really is. And thus, by pretend ing to undermine a/>o^///^rSuperftition about a Dezty, they have laid the Ground and Foundation of a rationalPerfuation of Jam ; and fhewn juft enough of the Nature and Powers of jecond Caufes to eftablifh beyond all poffible doubt the Neceflity and Reality of

BUT this is wandering too far from our prefent purpofe. I am not, (you know) undertaking to detect and expofe every Er ror and Inconfiftency in the Epicurean Sy- flem ; my Quarrel at prefent being only with one particular Circumftance of it, the refolving the Belief of a fuperintending Deity into a Principle of Fear. And this, as I faid, feems to me a very unnatural So lution of this Matter. For allowing the general ConRitution of Nature to proclaim never fo loudly the infinite Power of its al mighty Architect, yet the manifold traces of kind and good intention * which run e- very where thro' it, do at leaft as flrongly evidence an infinite Goodnefs to have been concerned in its Contrivance. And there fore, fuppofing Men to be never fo fenfible

* See this Sentiment finely enlarg'd upon in Hutch. Nat. and Cond. of the Pajfans} p. 100, 1 8 1, See alfo p. 182, to 189,

of

( 24 )

of the Power of their Maker, yet they muft at the fame time difcern it to be a Power guided and directed by a Principle of Kind" nejs and Benevolence towards them, and con- fequently an Object of Hope and Confidence, much rather than of Fear, or Difquietude. Who fees not that a great part of Nature minifters diredlly to our U/'e ? A much greater to our Pleafure and Entertain ment * ? If fome few particulars have a different Afpedl, ftill the Balance upon compai ifon turns evidently in our favour ; and a /m contrary Inftances rather con firm than weaken a general Rule. Be- fides, that thefe feemingly natural Evils upon a more accurate inquiry into Na ture, appear to have, even in themfelves, a beneficial Tendency upon the whole, or at leaft to be the neceflary Confequences

* This Thought is m»flE beautifully purfued in the Spectator, vol. V. N°. 387. The following Paflage is fo appofite to our purpofe, that I cannot forbear tranfcribing it — To confider farther this double End in the Works of Nature, and how they are at the fame time both ufeful^ and entertaining, we find the moft Important parts in the vegetable World are thofe which are the moft beautiful. Thefe are the Seeds by which the feveral Races of Plants are propagated and continued, and which are always lodged in Flowers, or Bloflbms. Nature feems to hide her principa/De- fign, and to be indujlrious in making the Earth £tfy, and delightful^ whilft ine is carrying on her great Work, and intent upon her own Preservation, p. 274, 275* Seealfo, N9. 393.

of

: , (25)

^f Tome general Principles that evidently

have *.

A s to what you was obferving, (Phile- inon) that feme of the more extraordinary Appearances in Nature have a kind of na tural Terror in them, it may, I think, be juftly queftioned whether Guilt or Superfti- iion have not been the chief Caufcs of this. At leaft, even by your own account, the Inftances of this kind are unufual and ex traordinary ', and therefore not to be regard ed in agw/fnj/Eftimate. Whereas, on the contrary, the ordinary ft atedCourfe of things is calculated to excite in us a perpetual Train of pleajlng and agreable Senfations. To go no farther than a familiar Inftance:

* See Archbimop King, of the Origin of Evil, tranf- lated by Law, with the Tranflator's excellent Notes — JReL of Nat. delin. under the Art. of part. Prov. — — EJJ'ay on Man, 4. 109. — The Frame of Nature feems, as far as we know, plainly contriv'd for the good of the Whole ; and the cafual Evils feem the necefTary Con comitants of forfie Mechanifm, defign'd for vaftly^r^- pollent Good. — Hutch. Inquiry, p. 275. This Princi ple, eftablifhed with full Evidence by the Writers here referr'd to, and others that might be added, in many ihftances, and which is therefore by the argument of Analogy made fomething more than probable in all ; (fmce Nature, or the Author of Nature, muft be fup- pofed confiftent with himfelf) ftrikes at the very foundation of the Manichean Scheme, and turns the whole force of its Artillery upon it felf ; a Circum- ftance that dcferves to be taken notice of, as pointing out the wretched Weaknefs of its Caufe, which has not now, I would hope, many fsrious Abettors.

E I

( 26)

1 have often been particularly pleafed with •the Obfervation of an ingenious Writer, that tf ajine Day is a kindofJenfualPleajure*? For my own part I always find it fo. 'Tis then that Nature unfolds all her brighter!: Charms to- view,: and opens, as it were, her whole Store^houfe of Bleffings. The ini mitable Beauty, Extent^ and Variety of na tural Pr&/pe£ts, the Verdure of the Fields and Meadows, the agreable Fragrancy of the Air, the Luftre, Mildnefs, and Benig nity of the Heavens ; in a word,, the •whole Scene about us wonderfully co-operates to ©ur Enjoyment -f*. The World feems made for our peculiar Gratification ; our Spirits are chear'd and enliven'd,- our Imaginations warm'd and entertain'd, our rational Fa culties invigorated and exercifed. The whole Man overflows, as it were, with Delight and Complacency. In this agreable Confciouf- nefs, how does every anxious and difquiet- ing Thought vanim! How open is the Soul to every grateful, affectionate., and devout

* Sir IV. Temple, vol. I. fol. 273. Spectator, vol. V. N°. 387. The Sun, which is as the great Soul of the Univerfe, and produces all the NecefTaries of Life, has a particular Influence in chearing the Mind of Many and making the Heart glad.

f Providence has imprinted fo many Smiles on Na- Uire, that it is impoflible for a Mind which is not funk in more grofs and fenfual Delights, to take a Survey of them without feveral fecret Senfations of Pleafurer Sped. vol. V. N°. 393.

Send-

.

Sentiment, towards the great Author of its Happinefs ! With what a generous Indig nation does it reject every unworthy Appre- henfion of fo tranfcendently kind and ex cellent a Nature! How foreign the leaft Sufpicion of Evil, from a Being of fuch ex perienced Bounty and Beneficence !

THESE (Philemon) are obvious Reflec tions ; were I difpofed to be more abjlra&ed and pbilofophical, I might go on to obferve that the very Notion of Power itfelfy that Bugbear in the Epicurean Syftem, (as in deed what will not Guilt and Folly make fuch ?) if we will but purfue it in its juft extenfy implies and leads on to Goodnefs. Let us confider a little — If we look into our- fehes, and examine the State of our own Hearts, (a Pra&ice furely very neceflary, before we afcend^ as a celebrated Author ex- preffes it *, into the higher Regions of Divi nity) fhall we not eafily difcern, that Ma- lice is nothing elfe but Weaknefs, Defeft* and fmpotency -f- ? Should it not therefore E 2 feem

* Charatterijlicks, vol. I. page 41.

•f- The obvious Frame of the World gives us Ideas of boundlefs Wifdom, and Power in its Author ; fuch a Being we cannot conceive Indigent^ and muft conclude happy, and in the bejl Jlate poffible, fince he can Jllll gratify himfelf: the beji Jlatc of rational Agents^ and their greateft, and moft worthy Happinefs, we are ne- ceflarily led to imagine muft confift in univerfal effica cious Benevolence; and hence we conclude the Deity

Bene-

feem to be as necefTarily excluded from arj independent, %&& Jelf-jufficient Principle, as Darknefs is from Light*? " There is an odd " way of Reajoningj fays the Author juft «? now referred to -[-, but in certain Dif- *f tempers of Mind very fovereign to juch as " can apply it -y there can be no Malice but <£ where there is an Oppojition of Interefts; " an TJniverfol. Independent Being can *f have no Inter efts oppofed, and therefore " no Malice" || So wifely did the Poet chara&erife \\isfovereign Being, z fever eign Good.

BUT may there not be conceived fuch a thing, (faid I) Hortenfius, as difinterejled Malice? and abftracling all Arguments from prefent Fatts^ might not an infinite ly powerful Being be at the fame time an infinitely evil one ?

Benevolent, in the moft untverfal^ impartial manner. Hutch. Inquiry ', p. ult.

* This way of thinking is much the fame with that pf the ingenious Tranjlator of Archbifhop King, and ether Writers, who derive the moral Attributes of the Deity by way of Confequence from his natural ones.

•f- Charafl. vol. I. p. 39.

|| It is fcarce neceflary juft to hint here, that this potion will not, as has been fometjmes injuriously charged upon it by the Enemies of this Author, de- ih-oy all right of Punifhment in the Deity towards any humors! Agent, fmce Punifhments may end in {he final Benefit of fuch Agent ; and then they are pot the effeds of Malice, but Qoodnefs.

( 29

T H E Notion, (returned he, with feme warmth,) is as full of Contradiction and Abfurdlty as it is of Horror *.

BUT how think you, (faid I) as to our own Species ? does not Hiftory furnifh us with fome Characters thorowly and delibe rately evil and malicious ?

* If all Malice be, as is here afTerted, JFeaknefs, in finite Malice is Weaknefs heighten'd to an infinite De gree, that is, an infinite Privation, an infinite Nothing. This Point may deferve a more particular illuftration, which it will admit of feveral ways ; as thus — It may be, that all Malice is attended with fome Degree of Pain, and confequently infinite Malevolence muft be attended with an infinite Degree of Pain ; that is, muft be infinitely inconfiftent with infinite Power. — Again, an infinitely malevolent Deity could not pof- fibly communicate any Degree of Power or Know ledge to any Creature, in as much as, it fhould feem. Power and Knowledge are in their own nature good j now to impart any Degree of Good is againft the In-? terefts of a completely malicious Agent. But on the other hand, to deny that any Degrees of Knowledge and Power are actually communicated, is againft all evi dence of Fact and Experience. And indeed were we to abridge the fupreme Being of any Power to com municate thefe Attributes, it would be making fuch inroads upon his Omnipotence, as would render his fuppofed Malevolence as contemptibly weak, as it is in every view mockingly deteftable. Or laftly, mould it be faid, that infinite Malevolence is ftill at full li berty to communicate both Knowledge and Power to it's Creatures, for that an artful Malice might eafily jhrow in along with thefe fuch imbittering Ingre dients, a§ would make them a Punifhmeni; inftead of

3°

I think, (replied he) the incomparably ingenious Mr. Hutchefon * has gone a great way towards proving that Human Nature admits not fo deferable a Principle as a .fettled dijinterejled Malice ; and that thofe Actions which have the ivorfl afpcft this way are to be refolved only into the irre gular and miftaken Application of fome juftifiable Affection -J-. However, allowing there might be fome monjlrous Productions in the moral World, as well as there are in the natural^ yet there is a common Stan dard of true Formation in both: and whatr- ever may be faid of Particulars^ the gene^ rtf/Conititution of Human Nature is plain

ly a Benevolent one. And hence aeain

-r nies

a Blefiing ; I add yet farther, infinite Malevolence cannot produce even Mifery itfelf to any Degree that will anlwer itspurpofes: becaufe univerfal unlimited Mifery cannot take place without univerfal unlimited Malevolence being introduced firft ; and that once fuppofed in any Syftem, it immediately becomes Feh defe, felf-deftru&ive, and an impoffible cafe. ASyftem of Beings univerf.illy and abfolutely malevolent can no more fubfift together, than a Set of abfolutely repelling Particles can form a World. Once more, it may be juft intimated, that it is of the nature of Evil, asjuch, to deftroy itfelf) which makes a perfect malevolent Scheme, if one may ufe fuch an Exprefllon, necefla- rily impracticable.

"* Vide Nature and Conduft of the Pajfions. Inquiry,

f Spectators may thjnk we have pure difwterefted Malice, when it is really only the overgrowth of a juft

natural

rifes a farther very convincing Argument for the great Truth we are contending for $ fmce a Being, not himfelf the molt difin- tereftedly Benevolent^ would never of his own free motion have given fuch a benevo lent Biafs to a whole Species of his Crea tures, as fhould in a manner neceiTarily in- gage them in Offices of mutual kindnefs and indearment : and which is fo deeply rooted in their very Make and Conftitu- tion, that Humanity, a Term expreffive of it's Influence, is by common Language appropriated to the peculiar Dijlinftion of the Kind*.

MOREOVER, Philemon^ for to you I may well appeal in this Affair, (fo he par tially

natural Affe&ion, upon falfe Opinions, or confuted

Ideas, Hutch. Inquiry r, p. 99. Human Nature feems

fcarce capable of malicious, difinterefted Hatred, or a fedate Delight in the Mifery of others, &V. Hutch-

Inquiry, p. 132, 133, 134. It is very probable that

there is no fuch De*gree of Wickednefs in Human Na^ ture, as, in cold Blood, to be pleas'd with the Mifery of others, when it is conceiv'd to be no way ufeful to our Inter ejis, &c. Ibid, p, 157, to 159, fcf pajjint. — • This partial Imagination of Come good moral Qualities in Actions which have many cruel, inhuman, and de~ Jlrutlive Confequences toward others, is what has kept Vice more in countenance than any other Confidera- tion. Ibid. p. 228. Vide etiam Nature end Condutt of the Pajfietts, p. 104, 138, to 141, r~ pajjlm.

* It is not material to our purpofe here, whether thefe benevolent Afftttions be fuppofed, as fame would have it, innate j or, as others, only naturally acquired.

Either

( 32 )

tially addreis'd himfelf to me) who have fa often made the Experiment ; as the having thefe benevolent Affections is the very Badgt and Character of our Nature, fo from the cheriming, and improving thefe natural Seeds of Virtue, refults the Perfection and Happinefs of it. The higheft and moft exquiiite Pleafures we are at any time con- fcious of, arife from a Senfe of our having a<fted in confluence of kind, and good Af- feftion. Whenever we do fo, we feel a fecret Joy and Tranfport difFufing itfelf thro' our Breafts -, and the State of our Souls, like that of a <well-turid Inftrument,

Either way, this Reafoning is equally conclufive. — ^— This moral Senfe, implanted in rational Agents •, to de light in, and admire whatever Adlions flow from a ftudy of the good of others, is one of the ftrongeft Evi dences of Goodnefs in the Author of Nature. Inquiry,-

p. 275. Would we allow room to our Invention,'

to conceive what Constitutions of Senfes or Affections a malicious powerful Being might have formed, we mould foon fee how few Evidences there are for any fuch Ap- prehenfion concerning the Author of this World. — Human Society might have been made as uneafy to us as the Company of Enemies, and yet a perpetual more violent Motive of Fear might have forced us to bear it. Malice^ Rancour, Dijlrufi, might have been our natural Temper. Our Honour and Self- Approbation might have depended upon Injuries ; and the Torments of others might have been made our Delight, which yet we could not have enjoy'd thro' perpetual Fear. Many fuch Contrivances we may eafily conceive,' whereby an evil Mind could have gratified his Malice by our Mifery : but how unlike, &c ? Nat. and Cond. p. 180, 181.

is

( 33 )

is all over Harmony, Sweetnefs, and Com- pofure. Now what is this but the filent TefHmony of our own Hearts that we are then in the befl, the moft perfect ftate of Being, of which our Nature is made capa ble? And fhall we (Philemon] refufe that to the Creator, which we own and feel to be the higheft Excellency, Perfection, and En noblement of the Creature ? Or fhall we not rather acknowledge, that as it is the jlronger or 'weaker ftate of this benevolent Principle in our/ehes that varies the feveral Degrees of Worth and Efteem amongft Men, fo it is the intire prevalency, and z/«- allayed Perfection of it in the fit pr erne Being, that conftitutes a truly divine Character^ gives Grace and Luftre to every other of his Attribures, and make s Deity itfelf properly God-like?

IT is upon thefe grounds, (faid I,) as I fuppofe, that the noble Author, you have more ,than once hinted at, makes it a Qjeftion, " Whether any thing bejides 111 " Humour can be the Cauje of Athei/m * T* There is fomething fo comfortable, fo every way agreable to the Interefts of Mankind in general, and of each individual Man in particular, in the notion of a common Pa rent, and jb<vereign Protestor of the Uni-

* Cbaraff, vol, I. p. 23.

~ F

( 34 )

verfe, that an ordinarily good-natured Mart would be tempted to <wijh there might be a God, even tho' he mould not be able to prove there was one. ttisAjfeffiions would evidently lean this way, whatever might be the Decilion of his Judgment in the Cafe. And therefore it muft argue a very high Degree of Perverfenefs and Depravity, a State of the moft invenom'd Spleen and Morofenefs, to frand out againft fo falu- tary a Truth, in the midft of that abun dant Evidence with which it is at prefent furrounded.

AND yet, (replied Hortenfius) as love ly and beneficial as the Notion of ^fuper- intending Deity is in itfelf, the fame noble Author will tell you, that, (unhappily for the World!) it has been fo difguifed and tampered with, " that as Religion Jiands *"* amongjl usy there are many good People ( c who would be eafier in their minds, if they frc were ajjured they had only mere Chance to " trufl to : Who rather tremble to think ** there Jlmild be a God} than that there " Jliould not be one *.5>

A fad State of Things indeed (return ed I,) when Men entertain fuch hard Thoughts of zfupreme Manager, as would almoft drive them, if they durft, to take

* Charaft. vo1. 1. p. 40.

re*

( 35 )

refuge in Forlorn Nature as the more com fortable Opinion ! *

WRETCHED enough ! (refumed Hor- tenfius) but 'tis an evil for which there can be no Remedy, 'till Men can be prevailed upon to liften more to Reafon in their Re ligion, than, as their too general practice is at prefent, to the SuggefHons of natural temper. For this, Philemon, is the very cafe in the Inftance we are complaining of. Men of dark and gloomy Complexions in vent a Deity \ like themjehes, full of Spleen, Sournefs, and Severity. They bring their 111 Humour with them into their Religion ,

* This is the peculiar Unhzppinefs of Superflition, that it cannot choofe but difapprove and inwardly wifh 3gainft, what yet it is obliged to reverence. Odit^ dnm metuit, is the real truth of its cafe. This made the judicious Plutarch give the preference to Atheifm, as being at leaft the more open and manly, I had al- moft faid, the more religions perfuafion of the two ; it being rather a higher infult upon the fupreme Being to wifh againft his Exiftence, than fimply to disbelieve it.

o TxvroiX^r' UTrtjcJyvai TOV AiOov JTW xx, i «T(^ TOV Oo£ov, coj KX ift

aOf» ftgfictov^ coj £Afi/0£^jav - And thus he excellently fums up the matter - yji/t J1? TW |t*fi»a&jw ft

7) T» aca-Hv ITS pi De Sup, p. 170. Ed. Xyl.

F 2

' (36)

and from the atfual Feeling of thefe evil Difpofitions in their own Breafts, are led to make them the Characters of their £)/- '•Minify.

THAT was meafuring, (I faid) by a very partial and falfe Standard ; and one could not wonder at any Errors they fell into, who fet out with no better a Guide.

A s Irrational a Proceedure, (replied he) as you may efteem it to be, believe me, 'tis a very common one. Serioufly, 'Philemon^ to one who has not well and often conlidered this Subject, 'tis fcarce poffible to imagine how large a Part of what mofl People mijcall Religion, is but the prevailing BiaJ's of their natural Difpofition, fcreening itfelf under that fa- cred Character, and Appearance. And the Misfortune is the greater, as 'tis hardly poffible to undeceive them. Errors in Religion, when once thoroughly imbibed, are the rnoft Jlubborn thipgs in Nature. Nothing is fo inflexible as Confcience, when once it is fet wrong. It darkens the mind to fuch a fatal degree, that Convic tion comes to be dreaded as a Crime, and even Blindnefs itfelf is efteemedy^ra/. If you go about to Jhew thefe deluded People to tkemfehes, they cannot endure the pain of the Reprefentation. They haye been

fo

( 37 )

fo long ufed to confound their own Pre~ judices about Religion with Religion itjelf^ that if you do but touch them in thofe tender Points, immediately they raife a cry and an alarm againft you, as if you was crazing the very Foundations of all Re ligion, and common Morality. And it were to be wim'd, there were not fome ivijer heads, who tho' they have difcern- ment enough to fee thro' the Cheat, can yet bring themfelves for intereft fake to countenance it, and artfully endeavour to fupport and keep up a Jal/e Confcience in the deluded Multitude, the better to in- flave them in a fervile dependance upon tfamfefaes.

I have never (faid I, interrupting Hor- tenfius) been ufed to confider this matter in the light you have now placed it in. I with you would enlarge a little upon it. Jt promifes a good in fight into the various 'Turns of religious Characters ; a Point, I muft own, I have always been at a lofs to account for to myfelf. For Religion is doubtlefs in it's own Nature fimple and uniform : and as it is a Rule of Action e- qually refpecling ^//Men, mufl be fuch an one as is fuited to the general State and Condition of all iMen. But view it in the federal Parties that make equal Profeffion of it, in fome it mail feem to confift ^ wholly

wholly in a reclufe and abftratted Devotion, altogether incompatible with the Duties of focia/L'ife: in others in a frequent and un relenting exercife of Self-Difcipline and Au- Jierity^ as intirely inconfiftent with all Re- lifli and Enjoyment of private Life. A third fort (hall lay all the ftrefs upon hold ing a particular Set of Opinions, with a fierce Zeal again ft all who happen to dif^ fer from them ; a Notion this, again, fo re pugnant to the very Nature of facial Be ings, that it has in fact done more than any other towards eradicating in feveral Jnftances the very facial Inftinct out of Men's Hearts, and turn'd them loofe up on one another to act fome of the blackeft tragedies in Hiftory *, as it is even at this

* The moft pernicious Perverfions of this Defire (of Virtue) are fome partial Admirations of certain moral Species, fuch as Propagation of true Religion, Zeal for a Party ; whilft other Virtues are overlooked, and the very End to which the admired Qualities are fubfer^- vient is forgotten. Nat. and Cond. p. 38. This (viz. • falfe Opinions of the Will and Laws of the Deity] is fo abundantly known to have produced Follies, Superfli- tions, Murders, Devajlations of Kingdoms, from a fenfe of Virtue and Duty, that it is needlefs to mention par^ ticular Inftances. Inq. p. 190. Perfecution appears to the Agent a Zeal for the Truth, and for the eternal Happinefs of Men, which Heretics oppofe. In fuch In ftances Men acl: upon very narrow Syftems form'd by foolifh Opinions. It is not a Delight in the Mifc- ry of others, or Malice, which occafions the horrid Crimes which fill our Hiftories ; but generally an in judicious, unreafonablc Enthufiafm for fome fort of li mited Virtue. Ibid. p. 189.

In flan t

( 39 )

Infant perhaps doing ia fome Btgotfed Countries. There are others who are fcru- puloufly exaB in all the outward Ceremo nials of Religion, at the fame time that they are neglecting Duties of much higher Importance in Life, upon the account of fuch an external Compliance. Others a- gain, place all Sanctity in a contrasted Brow, and a moroje Behaviour, in reprov ing you for any little JLevities of deport ment, without any regard to Times, or Places,, or Perfons 5 as if the want of Spi* rit, or Politenejs, or Difcretion, was any part of religious Obligation ; or the Jbur- ing and Jpoi ling Company, inftead of im proving or entertaining it, could be a Duty upon Creatures evidently formed and de- figned for all the Benefits of mutual Con- verfe and Friendly Intercourfe.

MEAN while, (interrupted Hortenjius) amidft all thefe Extravagancies and Incon- fiftencies of its deluded Votaries, Religion itjelf is quite another thing from what any of them miftake for it. It is a liberal, manly, rational, andfocial Inflitutionj and fuch as, coniider'd in its own genuine ten dency, is calculated as well to promote our common Intereft and Happinefs in the pre- fent Life, as it is to fit us for that better Jlatt of Being which is promifed as its reward in the future, Tis fuch a fervice as is worthy

of

(40 )

of that great and good Being, who is the Object of it, to enjoin ; and of the reafon- able Nature of Man, the Subject of it, to

perform 1 will explain to you the whole

Secret of thefe manifold Inconiiftencies.

You, Philemon, (continued he) are too well acquainted with human Nature, not to fee how infinitely the/^w^Paflions which belong in the groj's to the 'whole Species are diverjified in each Individual of it. Every Man has \i\^> particular ruling PaJ/ion j dif ferent in fome refpect or other from that of every other Man living. 'Tis a great mi£- take to imagine even his Religion itfelf is wholly privileged from \hzlnjluence of this Mafler Principle. Whatever the Advocates of fevere Mortification may fay of the Ne- ceffity of fubduing our reigning Paffion, I have feldom obferved any one fo fuccefsful in this Self-Conflict as to come off with a compleat Victory. Religion itfelf is gene rally fo far from controuling this Mafter Paffion, that it even takes its own rfurn and Denomination from //. At the utmoft, it only diverts it from one Channel to another, varying the Inflames perhaps, but not at all the Degree of its Indulgence. I could illu- ftrate this Remark by numberlefs Exam ples You know the general Character

of Sebaftius.

HE

H E is certainly, (faid I) a Man of great Parts and Genius, but he has unfortunate ly taken a wrong Turn. He is in a great rneafure loft to the World in a Reclufe Monaftic Life j and his natural Good Senje by having been unhappily mifapptied, does but add new Fuel to his Diftemper, and eftablifh him in a more cohfirm'd State of

DID you never hear, (faid Hortenftus) how he firft fell into this Religious Mad- nefs ? An old Acquaintance of his has told me, that tho' he was always a Man of a grave regular Difpofition, even in his youngeft days, yet he did not take this Reclufe Turn till after a Disappointment he met with in Love.

How, (faid I, interrupting him, with fame furprize) Was he then ever in Love ? He is the laft Man in the World I mould have fufpe&ed to have been of an amorous Difpofition.

YET (replied he) his prefent Turn of Character, which you, I iuppofe, look upon as an Argument of the contrary^ gives me the ftrongefl proof and conviction of it imaginable.

G WHAT

, W H A T he might once have been, (re turned I,) I cannot fay ; but certainly he has long iince got the better of himfelf in ibis point. Why he has mortified himfelf, almoft into the Condition of a Skeleton.

THAT may be Philemon^ (faid he) and yet his natural Difpofition is juft where it was, he has only fhifted the Object of his

Paffion.

\

'TwAS ridiculous, (I could not help interpofing) to fuppofe the tender Paflion could have any hold upon /&/>#, who was all over Morofenefs and Severity.

ALL you can fay to bring him off, (re plied he) does but confirm me the more in the Opinion I have of him. The Cir- cumftance you have laft mention'd, in par ticular, evidences beyond all others the Strength of his Attachment to his beloved Object. Can any thing (hew a greater Ex travagancy of Paflion, than to fee him la- crifice, as he does, all the Comforts of Life to the Idol of his captivated Affettions?

I could not but wonder, (I obferved to him) where this Idol was to be found, I was fure not in this World 5 for as to every

thing

. (43)

thing here below y it had long fince ceafed to have any Ingagements with him.

YET cannot you conceive, (faid he) Philemon, that fome fancied Species of Di- •vinity may have ftipplied the abfence of an earthly and fenfible Qbjett^ and fill'd up that Chafm in his Breaft, which the Di/- appointment I was telling you of had left there * ?

YOUR Fancy, (faid I,) is pleafant e-

nough, Hortenfius ; 1 never yet thought

there had been any Alliance between the Paffions of Love and religious Enthiifiajm. I grant indeed there is generally an Enthu- fiafm in Love ; but fure 'tis of a very different kind from what is called fuch in Religion.

'Tis only the fame Paffion, (replied he) differently applied and exercifed. Be-

* 'Tis the peculiar Glory of Man, (fays Mr. Karris] to be an amorous , as well as a rational Being. MifccL 8vo, p. 325. And accordingly he elfewhere com pares this amorous Biafs and Endeavour of the Soul to that flock of Motion, which the French Philofo- pher fuppofes the Univerfe at firft endow'd with, which continues always at the fame rate, not to be abated or increafed ; not that this Equality of Love is to be underftood in reference to particular Objects, any more than that of Motion to particular Bodies j but only, that it gains in one part, as much as it lofes in another. Mij'ceL p. 296.

G 2 lieve

( 44 )

lieve me, Philemon^ Enthufiafm has been, "more indebted for Converts to the Quarter of disappointed Love, than to any other whatfoever. AffeStionate Tempers muft fettle fomewhere. If they find not the expelled Returns of their Paffion upon Earth, nothing more common than for them to take Refuge in Heaven. And if the Expreflion might not be cenfured as too bold, I would add, to follicite the Deity with as much Warmth, and in a great degree of the fame kind, as they did before a Miflrejs *.

* St. Aujlin is by no means a {ingle Inftance of a reformed Debauchee becoming a very eminent Devo- tionalift : magna ex parte atque vehementer Confue- tudo fatiandas infatiabilis Concupifcentiae me captum excruciabat, is his own Account of himfelf in the beginning of Life, (Gonf. lib. 6. cap. 12.) And if we examine him after his Converfion, we fliall nof perhaps find him fo very different a Man, as may be

imagined at firft thought.- Defcendat Domine,

defcendat precor, defcendat in cor meum odor tui fuaviffimus, ingrediatur amor tui mellifiuus, veniat mihi tui faporis mira & inenarrabilis fragrantia, quse ffsmpiternas in me fufcitet concupifcentias— — :And eife- where, ampleftar te fponfe cceleftis, ample<Star te bono, fine quo nihil honum, fruar te optimo, fine quo nihil optimum ; and again, prope efto in corde, quia amore langueo — — quare faciem tuam avertis? eja, Domine,

moriar ut te videam are ftrains of Piety no ways

unfuitable to his original Character. The Devoto^ we fee, need not change either his Style, or his Senti ments, as a Lover j all he has to do is to apply them, anew.

So

(45

So that, you fuppofe, (faid I,) their Inamorato-Char after fubftfts the fame as ever, only it has taken a 'Religious turn. Their Paffion is transferred from mere Mortals to a fpiritual and divine Ob:e6t, and Love in them is fublimated into Devotion.

UNDOUBTEDLY Philemn, (refumed he) that is the very Truth of their Cafe. Their Inamorato-Char a ft er, as you have well obferved, enters into and tinctures their 'Religion itfelf. Their Devotion is only a different Modification of their ruling PaJJion. They cannot be faid to act upon any juft and rational Principle, becaufe their Turn of Character is not confident ^ and of a piece with itfelf. They fubftitutc one Part of Religion for the Whole : And as if all Duties were comprehended in thofe of the Clo/et, fuffer a fond Attach ment to the rapturous Exercifes of a reclufe and folitary Piety to take place to the ex- cluflon of a more active and ufeful Virtue. They fpend fo much of their Time in Prayer and Retirement, as to leave them- felves neither Leifure nor Inclination to attend to the ordinary Offices of civil and focial Life. In fhort, they act as if it was the only genuine Tefl of true Love to God, to affect an intirely iifelejs Character with

regard to Men.

THERE

(46) - %

T ri E R E cannot furely, (I interrupted) be conceiv'd a more unworthy and degra ding Apprehenfion of the Divine Being* than to imagine Him more pleas'd with the ungovern'd Sallies of devout Phrenzy, the wild Tranfports of an heated Enthu- fiafm, than with the rational, fober, and manly Exercife of true and fubftantial Vir tue, Goodnefs, and Benevolence.

I am entirely, (returned he) of your

opinion, Philemon j the only rational way

of recommending ourfelves to the Deity, is

by imitating him as far as we are able ;

and there is nothing by which we approach

to a nearer Refemblance of him, than by an

aft'tve^ and diffujlve Goodnefs. But the

fober Purfuits of an unaffected Virtue are

too remifs and lifele/s an Employment for

fuch warm and fanguine Tempers as we

have been fpeaking of. To ferve God by

doing good to Men, will not anfwer their

Purpofe : Their Paffion is towards an ec-

jlatic Species of Religion, a Religion, like

themfelves, made up of Heat and Flame.

HERE I could not forbear expreffingto Hortenjius how much pleafed I was with the Account he had been giving me of this amorous -Turn in Religion. I had often, (I obferved to him) met with People of a

religious

(47 )

religious Character, who feemed to place all Religion in a particular Warmth, and Striftnefs of Devotion ; but I never yet had traced this over-devout Humour to it's true Source. I never thought of refolving it into a Conftitutional Prejudice, into the particular Make and Caft of their natural Temper.

BELIEVE me, Philemon, (refumed he) the more you reflect upon thefe Devotee - Characters, the more you will be inclined

to do fo Do but confult your own Ob-

fervation and Experience, I dare be confi dent you never knew an Inftance of a thorow Devotee in Religion, whom you had not great reafon to fufpect to be in other refpedts a Perfon of a 'warm and paj- Jionate Difpofition.

FOR my part, (faid I) Hortenfius, I have always avoided, as much as poffible, enter ing into the Familiarities of People of this ftamp. They are generally fpeaking a mo- rofe un traceable Set of Mortals, and 'tis well for the reft of the World that their Princi ple leads them to have but little to do with it. But now that you have fuggefted the Obfervation to me, amongft fuch as I have ever had an Opportunity of knowing any thing of, I really think I have difcovered the greateft part to be People viftrong Paj-

Jions.

(48 } , . ,

fiom. 'Tis a Character one does not often meet with in Men ; it prevails, I have ob- ferved, much more generally in the Female World.

I T does fo, Philemon, (faid he) and from the Principles we have laid down, you cannot but be feniible, if you will re flect a little, how natural it is that it Jhould. Women, you know, 'tis generally agreed, "exceed us in the Strength of their Paffions. What wonder is it then that they are more inclined to the paffionate Species of Reli gion ? That they furpafs us particularly in thcjbfter Paffions is fo notorious, that the Epithet jbft is from thence frequently made ufe of in common Language as Char aft e+ rijlical of the very Sex.

IT is fo, (faid I) and it is remarkable, that this Softnefs is fo eflential an Ingredient in the Female Constitution, that if at any time we difcover an undue Prevalency of the rougher Pafjiom in any particular In- ftance, we are naturally led to take the Odium of it to ourfefoes j endeavouring to difguife, as it were, the T^ruth of the Sex, and ftiling fuch Characters Mafculine.

TH I s is a piece of Complaifance, (faid Hortenjius} for which the Fair Sex is obliged tons; but it evidently proceeds upon this

fettled

( 49 )

fettled Acknowledgment on our parts, that the moft natural and approved ftate of Fe male Minds is to abound with the tenderer Paffions. Now this Point being once ad mitted, 'tis but to give a Religious T^urn to this natural Softnefs, and you have the com- pleat Image of a Female Devotionalifl.

I T is well (I obferved) that you have fe- cured ihejbffer Paffions their Proportion in this fort of Characters, by affigning them their Office in Religion. If you had not contrived them an Exiftence there, it would be difficult for the moft part to find any other Salvo for them.

I am pretty much of your opinion, (re turned he) but 'tis no wonder they who are fo thorowly enamoured of Heaven mould efteem it a kind of Profanation to admit any mere earthly Object into aP^r/- nerfoip in the tender Affections.

BUT how, (I interpofed) do you ac count, Hortenfius, for thejofter Paffions firft taking this Religious T^urn ? You cannot always refolve it, as you did juft now in thelnftanceof Sebaftius, into a Difappoint- ment in Love. I am fure I could mention fome Female Devotees of my Acquaintance who never can have experienced a Difap- point ment of this fort. I am ftrangely H mif-

( 5° )

miftaken if ever they had an Application of this nature made to them. 'The Man Ttiujl have had Parts, as Dr. Toung expreffes it, who could find Deftrutfion there *.

IN ftating your QuefHon, (replied he) Philemon, you have unawares fuggefted the Anfwer to it — that very Circumftance you but now hinted at, the want of timely Ap plication from our Sex, unravels the whole Myflery of the matter at once. 'Tis all one as to the Point I am concern'd to main tain, whether the tender Paffions have ne ver had an Opportunity to fix themfelves, or have been violently torn from the be loved Object after they had once been fixed there. Either way they will be alike re- itrained from their due Scope and Exercife. And if no natural Object prefents itfelf at a proper Seafon, they will be apt to carve out for themfelves an imaginary and arti ficial one -j~.

* Univerfal Paffion, Sat. vi. p. 137.

f Montagne has a Chapter in his EfTays upon this very Topic; " that our Affections difcharge thenv- *' felves upon falfe Objects, where the true ones are f" wanting." One Inftance> which he gives from Plutarch, is of that PaiTion which fome People fhew to Dogs and other Animals. Plutarch dit a propos-, (fays he) de ceux qui s'affedlionnent aux guenons & pctits chiens, que la partie amoureufe qui elt en nous, a faute de prifc legitime, plutot que de demeurer en vain s'en forge ainli une fauffe & frivole, Effais, chap, iv. liv. i,

TH IS

( 5' )

THIS feems to account (faid I) for a Re mark I have fometimes made, that the moil jlanch Female Devotees are to be met with in \hzfmgle State, and that too after fome moderate Advancement in Life.

IT did fo, (he allowed) and it would ac count likewife for another thing which I might poffibly have had occafiori to ob- ferve, that where this Turn of Mind hap pens to prevail, as itfometimes does, in the conjugal Eftate, 'tis generally after that State has proved unhappy. A repeated Series of Injuries and ill Treatment weans the Affec tions of the flighted Party from an Object fhe has experienc'd to be fo undeferving of them j and when once the natural Engage ment is thus forcibly deftroy'd, 'tis odds but fome amorous Species of a higher kind ftrikes in at this critical Conjuncture; the Flame breaks out anew at fome more hal lowed Shrine, and mere human Love refines itfelf mloferaphic Rapture.

I believe, (replied I) in the general you may be in the right. Yet I have known fome Women ftrongly addicted to this de vout Paffion, who have never been driven to take refuge in it by any ill Ufage from the part of their Hufbands. The natural Object, to ufe your Expreiiion, has been H 2 fuf-

S2

fufficiently worthy of their tendereft Af- 'fecl:ions, and yet they have thought fit 'wholly to beftow them upon the artificial. Infomuch that their time has been in a manner divided between the alternate Re turns of Devotion towards Heaven, and of a general Dilplicence and Peevifhnefs to wards every thing bejides. They have been for ever in a fit of Prayert or of Ill-Humour.

I am aware, (refumed Hortenfius) this is a Cafe that does fometimes happen, tho* not fo frequently as thofe others we have memion'd. One may not always be able to diftinguifh particularly from whence the amorous Paffion took the Religious Turn we have been fpeaking of; yet from the gene ral Reafon of the thing one may be very con fident, that, by fome means or other, it muft have done Jo. Perhaps in the particular Cafe lafl given the fair-Inamorato might have imbibed the devout Paflion as it were with her very Mother's Milk. She was bred up to it from her Infancy. The Turn of her Inftrudtion, her Reading, her Con- verfation lay all this way. She was fo early sccuftomed to fee Devotion fubftituted for Religion, that (he has infenfibly catched the fame Spirit and Turn of Thinking. She has praclifed this devotional Habit fo long till fhe is become thorowly mamourcdQi'^j Q it

( 53 )

it is wrought into her very Make, and na tural Conftitution. At leaft it may be af firmed in general, that the Partiality and inconfiftentTurn of ftich devotionalift-Cha- raffers as we have been describing, cannot be any-wife accounted for upon a ratio nal footing. The true Rife and Source of them lies in the Pajfions : They are refol- vible only into the prevailing Influence of the naturalTemper infinuating itfelf, to the deception of the very Parties themfehes, into the Make and Complexion of their Re ligion. Infomuch that whilft thefe rap- tur d Inamoratos imagine they are paying homage to the Divinity, they are in reality but worshipping the Idol of their own In clinations. They are a fort of religious Debauchees, if one may be pardoned fuch an Expreffion, who have found out the Art of reconciling Grace and Nature, Piety and Senfuahty. In the midil of all their Preten- fions to an uncommon StricT:nefs and Sanc tity, they are only exercifing a more re fined, and difguifed fort of Self-Indulgence. Their Religion is only a more fpecions Pre text for the fuller Gratification of fome of their warmeji Appetites, their Devotion but a more exquifite and fpiritualized Concitpi- fcence. To confirm this Account to you yet farther, Philemon, do but confider with your felf in how amorous a Stile moft of

our

„''.-.•* 54-- ..;•...-•'•

our Books of Devotion, as they are called, are written *.

I had often (I faid) obferved it, and had been extremely fhocked at it. It was a manner of Addrefs, I thought, much fitter for a dijj'olute Lover, than for a religious Worjhipper.

THEY are, (returned he) for the moft part the Compofnions of that fort of People we have been defcribing ; and indeed they

* Up my Soul, become an humble Spoufe of the Lord Jefus ; feed thy felf with his Beauty, make him thy Darling, receive him into thy Bofom, quench thy Tlnrfl with his Blood, hold him fajl, do not let him go — Horneck'j Fire of the Altar, p. 33- O lovely Bridegroom of my Soul, wound my Heart, that it may be nek of Love, p. 34. as above.

Let me fray and entertain my longing Soul with the Contemplation of thy Beauty, till thou {halt condefcend to kifs me with the Kifjes of thy Mouth, till thou {halt bring me into thy Banquetting-Houfe. Morris's Mifcel. 12°. p. 358. My God, my Happinefs, who art fairer than the Children of Men, draw me, 'and I will run af ter thee Wound me deep, and ftrike me thro' with

the Arrows of a divine Pajfion, p. 261. as before.

O Banquet of Love, heavenly fweet, let my Bowels be refrejhed by thee, my inward Parts overflow with the Neftar of thy Love. St. Auftin'j Medit. translated

by Stanhope, p. 258, and at large. My deareftLord,

when {hall I enjoy and talk with thee alone, in Language foft and tender, fivect and charming, as the unreferved Retirements, and endearing Whifpers of the moft paf- fionate Lovers ? Thomas a Kempis, tranflated by Stanr- hope, p. 325, and at large Bifhop Taylor's Devo tional Works, at large — Auguftini Confeff. paffim.

carry

(55 )

carry in them too evident Indications of the temper and Character of their Authors, to be fuppofed to come from any other quar ter. What elfe are they, but the wanton Exercifes of a warm Imagination, and a lujcious Fancy ? Such as evidence beyond all other proofs the Genius and Complexion of that Species of Religion, where Warmth of Conftitution, not Reafon, has the chief and fovereign Influence. Inftead of ipeak- ing the Language of a ferious, rational, un affected Piety, they abound wholly with rapturous Flights of unhallowd Love, and Strains of myftical Diffolutenefs. They/>0/- lute the Soul with hijcious Images, warm it into irregular Ferments, and fire it with a falfe Paffion ; diffipating all due Compofure, and Recollection 6f Mind, and laying open the Heart to all the wild Extravagances of frantic Entbu/ia/m. "Tis for this Reafon.

*J *J f •

Philemon, that Women in general are fo much taken with this kind of Writings, that the far greater! part of female Religion is nothing elfe but the multiplied Uje of thefe devout Formularies; they fute, beyond all others, their natural Warmth of Tem per, and Conflitution.

IT is thh way of thinking and talking in Religion (faid I.) that, I fuppofe, has given rife to what is called MjftiCal Theo-

( 56 )

the Teachers whereof have accord ingly been ftiled Myftics.

IT is fo, (replied Hortenjius) the more modern Platonijls *, and fome fanciful Schoolmen feem to have led the way in this Myjlical Syflem ; in which they have been fince followed by too many whimfi- cal enthuiiaftic Writers of later times, as well in our own, as foreign Communions, Papifts, and Proteftants, Churchmen, and DifTenters. A Syftem it is, Philemon, of the mofl lufcious and unintelligible Jargon that even the Wildnejl of Rnthujiafm itfelf could ever devife -j~. The true Spirit of

accep-

* Di<a. de Monf. Bayle, Tom. 3. p. 760. Art. K. quat. Ed. ^.Amfterdam. Ne voila-t'il pas la Voie uni- tive dont les MyfHques nous parlent tant ? ne peut-on par les accufer d'etre plagiaires des Platoniciens ?

•\ The following Scale of the Afcent of the Soul to God, given us from the myftic Writers by no lefs a Perfon than Mr. Norris, is well worth tranfcribing. It confifts of 15 Degrees. The firft is Intuition of Truth. The 2d a Retirement of all the Vigor and Strength of the Faculties into the innermost Parts of the Soul ; the 3d is fpiritual Silence ; 4 is Reft ; 5 is Union ; 6 is hearing of the ftill Voice of God ; 7 is fpiritual Slumber; 8 is Extafy ; 9 is Rapture ; 10 is the corporeal Appearance of Chrift and the Saints ; 1 1 is the imagina ry Appearance of the fame j 12 is the intellectual Vifion of God ; 13 is the Vifion of God in Obfcurity ; 14 is an admirable Manifestation of God ; 15 is a clear and intuitive Vifion of him, fiich as St. Auftin^ ynd Toomat Aquinas attribute to St. Paul,, when he was rapt up into the third Heaven. — Others of them reckon 7 Degrees only, viz. Tafte, Defire, Satiety, Ebriety, Security,

Tran-

( 57)

acceptable Religion, which is in its owri nature a liberal and reasonable Service ; is here made wholly to evaporate in unna tural Heats, and extatic Fervors, fuch as foberer Minds are altogether Strangers to; and which are indeed a Difgrace, and Reproach to the Dignity of a Rational Nature. And yet, Philemon^ fo intoxica ting are thefe fanciful Refinements, that when warm Heads have once given thorow- ly into them, they fondly delude themfelves that they are arrived at the very highefl Degrees of fpiritual Improvement, have reached the Perjetiion and Heroifm, as it were, of Piety } and are in a manner #/- ready inflated in the Joys and Privileges of Heaven, by a kind of prefent Senfe, and Anticipation of them upon Earth *.

THAT

Tranquillity ; but the name of the yth, they fay, is known only to God. Norr. Mifcel. 12°. p. 333, 334. Abfurd and fenfelefs '—The fame Myftic State is thus reprefented by Bifhop Taylor — It is, fays he, a Prayer of Quietnefs and Silence, and a Meditation extraordi nary ; a Difcourfe without Variety, a Vifion and In tuition of Divine Excellencies, an immediate Entry into an Orb of Light, and a Rcfolution of all our Fa culties into Sweetnefs, Affeflians, and Starings upon the divine Beauty; and is carried on to Extafys, Raptures, Sufpenfions, Elevations, Abftradtions, and Apprehen- fions beatifical — Great Exemplar, p. 60. One can un derftand nothing elfe in all this Defcription but the ex* treme Lttfcioufuefs of it.

* Mr. Norris expreffly calls this State of ntjftital and abjlrafted Devotion divine Virtue^ in diftinition from moral, or civil Virtue. The latte r, he fays, is a

I State

THAT they may likely enough be, (in- terpos'd I) according to the gro/s Concep tions they appear to entertain of the Na ture, and Employments of that Place. For by the hifcioiis Defcriptions which they ge nerally give of it, one would rather imagine it to be a fenj'ual^ or Mahometan Paradi/e, than a Heaven of rational Beings *.

You are much in the right, Philemon, (faid he) that fame Myftic Union in which they place the Perfection of all Piety here, and the Completion of Beatitude hereafter, if it was not for that natural Air of Gra-

State of Proficiency ', the former of Perfection ; even the lajl Stage of human Perfettion^ the utmoft round of the Ladder whereby we afcend to Heaven ; one ftep higher is Glory. Mifc. £.331, 332. So alfo, p. 339. a certain Preguftationof Glory, w\ Antepaft of Felicity , the Mount of God's Prejjkce^ the Privilege of angelical Difpofi- tions, and an excellent Religion, a divine Repaft, a

Feajt of lout

* Norr. Mifcel. p. 323, fcfc. " The Fruition of " God is to be refolved, fays this Author, partly into " Vifion, and partly into Love / thefe are the two Arms " with which we embrace the Divinity, and unite our " Souls to the fair-one, and the good" Mifcell. 8vo. p. 412. And accordingly he elfewhere prays to be admitted to this beatific State in thefe Words, " I " befeech tbee jhew ?ne thy Glory ; withdraw thy Hand " from the Clift of the Rock, and remove the Bounds "from the Jfcwtf of thy Prefence, that I may fee " thee as thou art, face to face, and ever dwell in the ** light of thy Beauty" p. 323. Thomas a Keinpis* St. Auft. Med. and Ccnf. at large.

vity

( 59 )

vity with which they always talk of it, might pafs for the mofl wanton and pro fane Drollery *. But as ludicrous an Ap pearance as it carries with it at firfr. fight, it is in reality a very ferious Evil at the bot tom. For it tends to miflead Men's Minds from the true Point both of their Duty, and Happinefs, when they bring them- felves to acquiefce in fuch falfe and mijla- ken Subftitutes of them. And accordingly this we have more than once obferved to be the Cafe in Fa5t of thefe Inamorato s in Religion, that they are fo much taken up with their own fanciful Abstractions, as to regard the whole Circle of civil and focial Duties with great Coofaeff, and Indifferency* Thefe are low, and groveling Purfuits; un worthy the Attention of People fo much better employ'd as they are-f- ! And indeed

how

* In all the Courfe of virtuous Meditation the Soul is like a Virgin invited to make a matrimonial Contract ; it inquires into the Condition of thePerfon, his Eftate and Dilpofition, and other Circumftances of Amabillty and Defere: but when fhe is fatisfied with thefe Inqui ries, and hath chofen her Husband, (he no more con- fiders Particulars, but is moved by his Voice and Gefture^ and runs to his Entertainment and Fruition, a.ndjpe;ids herfelf wholly in Affeffians^ not to obtain, but injoy his Love. Great Exemplar, p. 60.

f As to the focial Duties, 'tis an Obfervation too Common in Experience, that the forwardejl Pictifts are very often People of the weakejl and molt narrow ed Benevolence. A Foreign Author^ fpeaking of certain Religious Perfons who afre&ed a more than ordinary I 2 ft'

60 )

Jiow can it be expected, that fuch whofe fond Imaginations have already exalted them to Heaven, mould condefcend to aft their Part with any tolerable patience upon fo much lower a Scene as this of Earth ? What Motive can they have who are al ready in fome degree admitted to the Bea tific

ftri&nefs and warmth of Devotion, tells us that, among jnany other abfurd and unnatural Refinements they boafted of in their devout Paroxyfms, one was the feel ing of certain Ajpirationes Mijanthropicas : by which, I luppofe, we are to underftand a certzmdi/dainof the/oxu Purfuits and Office^ of a mere human mortal Condition. But I am afraid it would be equally true in another Senfe, that their Flights ofitivine Rapture were attended with thefe Jfpirationes Mijfftithropicas ; meaning thereby a certain Weaknefs of ^natural AffeEtion, a Coolnefs, and Dijplicence of Mind towards their Fellow-Creatures, which Pretences of fuperior Piety do too often betray Men into. See Bayle's Di6t. p. 95. under Art. Rovenius Letter A. vol. IV. See alfo Letters between Mr. Norris^ and the Author of the Propofal to the Ladies concern ing the Love of God, where 'tis a Principle on both fides agreed to, that the Love of Qod ought to exclude all other inferior Complacencies. Now where a Love of Complacency is quite excluded, Love of Benevolence fel- dom operates very Jlrotigly. See this Notion well ex- pofed in Hut chef orfs Illustrations, & c. p 329. to the

end. This unnatural Paradox in Divinity, fo much

a Favourite with Mr. Nor r is, that it is introduced at every turn in almoft all his Writings, was a Confe- quence of his enthufiaftic Philofophy of our feeing all things in God ; a Leffon which he learnt from the celebrated Father Malbrancbe, and very induilrioufly inculcated upon his female Correfpondent, who being of a Temper too fevere to relifli any thing eafy or na tural ; and having ppfiefs'd in an eminent degree the Gifuf Infrigidcition,\y\\&s. Mr. Baylc fomewhere fpeaks

of,

6i

tific Prefence of their Maker *, to endea vour after any farther Qualifications for that purpofe ? at leafl, if any nearer Ad vances were to be made this way, yet how much nobler a Field of Exercife to the devout and afpiring Soul are the /era- pbic Entertainments of Myftici/m and Ex- tajy than the mean and ordinary Practice of a mere earthly and common Virtue -f-.

THESE

of, was well inclined to embrace a Doctrine which dif- avowed all Love to any Creature, under colour of which, fhe could in fome meafure revenge the Difregard {hewn to her by Mankind '; towards whom her Wri tings bear a moft implacable averfion. See particularly her Reflect, upon Marriage. To what an extrava gance of Severity her Temper carried her, let the fol lowing more than Stoical Rant bear witnefs — ' I be- ' lieve 'twere eafy to demonftrate, that Martyrdom is

* the higbeft Pleafure a rational Creature is capable of

* in this prefent State. Letters, page 31. What pity- is it this Advocate for the Pleafure of Martyrdom, did not live in the earlier Ages of the Chriftian Church, when Racks, and Faggots, and Pitch-barrels were no unufual Entertainments ?

* Perfor.s eminently Religious are divlna patientes, Pathics in Devotion, fuffering Ravi/hments of Senfes, tranfported beyond the Ufes pf Humanity into the Sub urbs of beatifical Apprehensions. Great Exemplar, p. 6 1. Thrice happy Soul that canft look thro' the Veil, and notwithstanding that thick Cloud of Creatures that obfcures thy View, difcern him that is invifible, live in the light of his Countenance all the time of thy fojourning here, and at laft, pure and defecate, with a Kifs of thy Beloved, breath out thy felf into his facred Bofom. Letters as above, p. 180.

f This is what Biihop Taylor degradingly calls Virtue and precife Duty, as if thofe Ecftatic and Devotional

Tranfpcrts

THESE are glaring Pretences, Phile mon $ and 'tis no wonder they fhould pafs current with People of weaker Judgments under the facred Stamp of true Piety. But that Men of fuperior Senfe and Difcern- ment in all other refpects, fhould fo far impofe upon themfelves by a Set of pom pous and empty Sounds, would really be unaccountable, but that we have before obferved, that the ground of this Delufion lies not originally in Men's Under [landings, but in their Pafjions; which caft a ftrange Suffufion over the plainefl Truths, and keep them in an intire Ignorance of themfelves, and of the true Motives of their own Actions. For whence elfe can it proceed, that thefe myftical Refiners do not fee thro' the Cheat they are in reality practifing upon themfelves? Whence elfe do they not difcern, that their boafted Exercifes of a more exalted Piety are but the artful Difguifes of their

natural

Tranfports of Zeal were a kind of Supererogation in Piety — and yet tho' this Author feems willing enough to give thefe latter the preference in point of Excel lence and Dignity^ he owns at the fame time that the oreater fafety lies on the fide of a more common and ordinary Virtue. For that " many Ilhtftons have come «' in the Likenefs of yijions, and abfurd Fancies under «•' the pretence of Raptures, &c." And again, " So un- <•<• fatisfying a thing is Rapture and Tranfportation, to " the Soul ; it often diftracJs the Faculties, but feldom «« does advantage Piety, and is full of Danger in th$ »' grsatefl of its Luftre." Great Exemp. p. 61.

63

natural Temper , which indulges it's Warmth under the pretext of devout Fer vours? Whence elfe fhould they not be fenfible, that their Prayers are the very Language of their wantoneft Appetites and Wijhes ? the Effufions of a Breaft heated with extravagant Paffion, and giving vent to Fires of a grofler kind in fancied purer Flames of divine Love, z\\& jpir it ual Rap ture*.

AND

* For a tafte of this Inamorato-Devotion read the following PafTage in the 35th Chap, of St. Aujlirfs Meditations, and thence judge whether he did not borrow many of his devout Ideas from his unregene- rate State ; from anno illo decimo fexto aetatis Carnis mese, (which he himfelf fpeaks of in his Confeflions, Book i. Ch. 2.) cum accepit in me fceptrum, et totas

manus ei dedi vefaniae libidinis O Love of Sweet-

nefs ; O Sweetnefs of Love, that doft not torment, but delight, that doft always burn, and are never ex- tincl:, fweet Chrift, good jefus, my God, my Love, kindle me all over with thy Fire, with the Love of thee, with thy Sweetnefs, thy Joy, thy Pleafure and Concupifcence, that being all full of the Sweetnefs of thy Love, all on fire with the flame of thy Charity, I may love thee, my God, with my whole Hea:\, and with all the Power of my inward Parts, (totis meduilid prae- cordiorum meorum in the original, a much ftronger Expreffion) having thee in my Heart, in my Mouth, and before my Eyes always and every where. Deus Lumen cordis mei, et panis oris intus anims mesr, et virtus maritans mentem meam^ et finum cogltaiionis mece, non te amabam, et fornicabar abs te. Confef- fionuniy Lib. I. cap. 13. May one not apply here what he elfewhere fays, Recordari volo tranfa&as fseditates meas, et carnales corrupticnes, ut amem te, Deus meus. Con. lib. 2. cap. i Sure he has here abundantly tranfcribed from them into his Devotions.

3

64

AND indeed upon better Reflection, "confidering from what Caufes the Diftem- per of Mind we are here fpeaking of, takes it's rife, Men of fuperior Parts, a livelier Imagination , and more refined Genius, ieem of all others to bemofl in danger of it. For they, 'tis well known, are generally ob- jerved to be of that fort of temperament which is the moil natural Soil for Enthu- fiafm to fpring up in. The fuperior Fine- nefs and Delicacy of their Make gives a more than ordinary Edge and KeenneJ's to all their Paffions, thofe efpecially of the tender amorous kind. Now the ecftatic Habit is in a peculiar degree infectious to this fort of Conftitution. Devotion, according to the my flic Notion of it, is a kind of natural Relief to the Cravings and Importunities of fome of theft Men's eagereft Dejires, which they may indulge in the freeft manner without Limit or Reludancy ; not only with no danger to their Innocence, but even with conliderable Advantage, as is imagined, to their fpiritual Eftate. Itdoes, as the ingenious Satiriftyou was quoting not long fi nee, fpeaks upon another Occafion,

Relieve their plants, andjpare their Blujhes too*.

It is admirably contriv'd to allay certain irregular and uneafy Ferments in the Blood

and

* Univerfcfl Pafjion, Sat, 6. page 140.

- , .

and animal Spirits to which this fbrf of Temperament is peculiarly fubjecl, which might otherwife follicit a Remedy of a coarjer kind. Thofe Heats of Paffion which in an inferior Clafs of Senfualifts would ex cite to Amours of a more humble and ordi nary ftrain, in thefe myftic Lovers are thrown off in feraphic Ardors^ and break out in thefe fpiritual Debaucheries *.

A

* Such certainly we muft efleem their Uniones cum Deo, (of which we are told by Rovehius they are ufed to boaft) cum uniantur proprio^ fi non pejori fpi- ritui ; theirTranfubftantiationes myfticas: Cordis con- centrationes : Potentiarum, imoomnis fui efle, anni- hilationem j Connubium efientiae creatae & divinitatis : fpirituale Sacramentum infeparabilitatis : Somnium omnium affe&ionum : Abforptionem & liquefaclionem in amplexu fponft : Triplicem animoe hierarchiam : Orationem in quiete pafliva : Ebrietatem fpiritualem ; cordis filentium : Meditationes negativas : Uniones fuperefTentiales : Puteum & gurgitem annihilationis ; Amorem deificum, transformantem, unientem, ftrin- gentem, amplexaritem ; Suavitatem cor auferentem, iugentern fponfi ubera, ruminantem collum : Abfof- bentem enthufiafmum ; Infenfibilitatem & oblivio- nem omnium inducentem : Abyflalem cum Deo i- dentificationem : Corifricationem deificam, incenden- tem, & confumentem Cor : Elevationem ad fuavita- tem coeleftem ex infernali languore : Introverfionem fuper-coeleftem : Caliginem & umbram Dei : Allocu- tiones internas, Elevationes incognitas, Extenfiones & Applicationes amorofas : Animae fufpenfiones, deliqui- um, fufpiria : Mortem fenfuum & omnium afFec"tuum, ecftafini continuam, juftitium ratiocinii : Cordis con- taclum & patefailionem : liquefa&ionem, influxum", inflammationem : AfTultus qui ferri nequeant : Pene- trationes ad intima : Vulnerationes, conftr;£tione», al- K ligationsf

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A Debauch in Religion, (faid I) is a

I never before heard of j and yet methinks by the help of your Preparations, Hortenfus, I begin to digeft it pretty rea dily. You have taught me, that it is not merely poffible in Idea, but that in Fatt there is as great a Biafs this way in Spiritu als in the Constitutions of fome People, as in others there is obferved to be in com mon Life. But after all, if this myftical kind of Debauchery be rather the more abfurd and extravagant, it is certainly the lefs criminal than that which is more ordi narily practifed in the World *. And to

fay

ligationes infeparabiles : Afpe£tus penetrantes & oblec- tantes, Voces tremulas, Murmura columbina : Guftus fuaviffimos, Odores gratiilimos, Auditus melodise cce- leftis, Hypermyfticas Dei & Animae perichorefes : Im- pudentiam fpiritualem, afpirationes mifanthropicas, ig- nem fine carbone, flammam fine corpore : Holocauf- tum meridianum in vifcerali & medullari penetrabili- tate :. Conta6tum mirabilem & fuaviffimum, obfcurae no£tis gaudia, & caliginem : — haec & fimilia fefquipe- dalia verba in nova Pietatis fchola inter fponte ele<£tos Magiftros, & Difcipulas curiofas, adeo frequenter te- nero proferuntur palato, ut intimis in vifceribus fen- tiantur. Rovenius de Repub. Chriftiana Lib I. cap. 43. p. 278. Bay/is Did. p. 95. Letter A. under Art, Rovtnius, Tom. IV.

* It has fometimes been fo contrived by the more expert Matters in the myftlc Science, that both forts have been pra£tifed at the fame time, the one being made ufe of to introduce or facilitate the Execution of the other. Thofe who have been moft forward to propa gate tliefe tnyjlical Doctrines, have not always been

them-

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fay the truth, confidering that it takes ofF the Mind from much worfe Purfuits, wh'ch the fame natural Warmth of Temper and Constitution would in all probability be tray thefe amorous Devotees into, were it not for fuch a jpirltual Application ; I do not fee but it might pafs without much Cenfure, as rather a Weaknefs, than a Fault in them ; but that, as you have obferved , whilft it reftrains them from fome more vicious ExcefTes, it is too apt to divert their Attention from many more noble and ufeful Virtues, which are the pro per Bufmefs, and I may add, the moil di- ftinguiming Ornaments too, of their pre- fent State *. THIS

themfehes the moftfpiritually minded. The pretences of ^uietifmy and of a more fublime and abjiratted De votion, have fometimes been employ'd to very grofs and carnal Purpofes, and the myjlic Union has brought about a Union not altogether fo myfterious. See Monfieur Eayle's Diet, pag. 300. vol. 3. who there relates at large an Adventure much to our purpofe ; in conclu- fion he has this Reflection — Je me contente d'affurer qu'il y a beaucoup d'apparence, que quelques-uns de ces devots fi fpirituels, qui font efperer qu'une forte Meditation, ravira 1'Ame, & 1'empechera de s'apper- cevoir des Actions du Corps, fe propofent de patiner impunement leurs devotes, & de faire encore pis. C'eft de quoi Ton accufe les Molinofiftes. En general, il n'y a rien de plus dangereux pour 1'efprit, que les devotions trop myftiques, & trop quintefTenciees, & fans doute le Corps y court quelques rifques, & pleu- fieurs y veulent bien etre trompez.

* 'Tis afevere, but I am afraid no unjuft Satire uport this fort of Characters, what Monfieur Bayle obferves

K 2 Of

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THIS is one of its worfl effe&s, (re turned Hortenfius) but it has feveral other very mifchievous ones. Particularly, it gives great and fignal Difcouragement to the general Practice of Piety in the World, by expofing it to Ridicule ', and the Charge of ajfifted Singularity. On the one hand, it throws many honeft and well-meaning, but weaker Minds into a Defpair of ever

fucceedr-

of Mademoifelle Bjaitrirnen, a noted Pretender to a

mere than ordinary Piety in her time Elle a cut

cela de commun avec tous les Devots, qu'elle a ete

d'une humeur falieufo & chagrin- ^Fceminam duram,

immitem, pervicacem, fromachabundam, rixofam, are Compliments Monfieur de Seckendorf makes her upon the Teftimony of her own Writings. She was, as it feems, perpetually changing her Servants ; and indeed well fhe might, for beiides the natural Morofenefs of her Temper, (fo great, as this Author remarks, " ut " nemo morofitatem ejus tolerare poflet, minimeom'- <c nium foeminse quas in fodalitium aut famulitium ad- »' fciverat ; exercebatur nempe in illas, ut lufit Saty- *' ricus, Praefe6tura domus, Sicula non mitior aula") befides this, fhe would hardly allow them common ne-

cefTaries Si ceux qui ont demeure avec elle n'avoient

eu les dents biens fortes pour digerer certaines crour.es biens dures a la nature corrompue, ilsl'auroient quittee

mille fois pour une. Bayles Diet. p. 687. By this

Conduct, 'tis eafy to obferve, fhe gratified at once her Covetoufnefs, (for which fhe was very remarkable) in leflening the ordinary Expences of her Family ; and her Piety in training up her Domefticks to the Prac tice of Chriftian Mortification. Let us proceed upon this Infrance, and fee if it will not account for foms

others of the fame kind 'Tis no unufual thing to

fee People pra£tifing very high Degrees of Dtvotiait

Marti-

69

fucceeding in the Bufmefs of Religion, be- caufe upon Examination they difcover in themfelves little or no Acquaintance with thofe tumultuous Heafs, and ungoverned Sallies of Pajfion, upon which fo great a Strefs is laid by thefe religious Inamorato's : And on the other, it hardens the diilblute and unthinking Part of Mankind into an obftinate Reluctance towards the very firfl Efforts of Reformation, by confirming them in a Prejudice they are of themfelves too willing to entertain againft Religion, that it is a rigorous impracticable Service ; a State of unnatural Refinement, altogether incompatible with the common Meafures of

human

Mortification^ and other fuppofed Inftances of a more eminent Religion, who yet are extremely faulty when confider'd in their facial Chara&er : Bad Parents, Husbands, Wives, Children, Friends, Relations, Go vernors of Families, &c. This inconfiftent Behaviour with fome People makes them pafs for downright Hy pocrites, and acting a mere Farce in ' their greateft Strictnefles. The Cafe is far otherwife; they are very fmcere, but at the fame time very much mif- taken : for they confider Religion as a matter quite diftindT: from, and much fuperior to, focial Virtue ; hence they are fo bufied with the one, that they have no leifure to beftow any care upon the other. — Or pof- fibly after all they may have found out the Art, with our Author's Heroine, offanftifying their own Humours and Tempers under^the name of fome religious Duality ; and then there will' be very little Myftery in the matter. For by this artful way of Self-Delufion (and nothing is fo artful as'Self-Delufion) a fevere Hatred of one's own Species may, a,s was hinted above, be conftruetf

into

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human Life. And after all, Philemon, jfuppofing this devotional and ecftatic Habit were in itfelf barely innocent^ (which yet I dare fay you are convinc'd from what has been juft now faid of it, that it is far from being) ftill it muft be remember'd, that there is a much greater Degree of Refolution fhewn in overcoming Temptations, than in meanly defer ting our Poft, and flying from them. The true Ecroifm of Religion con- fifts in living and acting our part well in the World, not in any fanciful Abftraftion of ourfelves from it. It argues a much greater Strength, and Firmnefs of Mind, a more exalted Pitch of Self-Government, to be able to keep a due guard upon "our Paffions, at the fame time that we leave them to their

jnto a more intire Love of God Natural Severity

.•will be religious Difcipline Anger and Peevifhnefs

Zeal Morofenefs Gravity Weaknefs of Mind

a Tendcrnefs of Confcience— Narrownefs of think ing Orthodoxy Pride a Regard to Things or Per-

fons facred fplenetic Contempt of the World, a

becoming Abftra&ion from it unmanly Tamenefs

of Mind, a Chriftian Poverty of Spirit Singularity,

Conftancy — Warmth of Conftitution, Devotion, J«.

, and perhaps too miftaken Applications, Lrftances,

and Paflages of Scripture, may not be wanting to a willing Mind to fupport itfelf in any of thefe Errors,

. Let us once more have recourfe to our Example —

We are told of Mademoifelle Bourignan, that far from imagining, que fa bile fut un defaut, elle 1'appelloit amour de Jufticcj & foutenoit que la colere etoit une veritable Vertu ; & fe defendoit par les Rigueurs que les Prophetes, & les Apotres ont exercees. Seytis Diet, p. 687. Art. Bourignon. Letter P.

natural

natural Objects and Exercifes, within the facred Verge of Reafon and Religion, than to be driven to take Refuge from their na~ tural Exorbitancies in the Invention of a fecondary and artificial Method of indulg- ~ing them j and that too in a Matter where the Application of them, .to fay no worfe of it, feems beyond all others improper.

Wo u L D you then, (faid I, interrupting him,) allow no Scope to the Pajjions in Re ligion ? That will indeed effectually purge it of it's unnatural Heats ; but will it not be running too far back into the chilling Extreme ? Our Paffions are the Springs of Action in our ordinary Concerns, without which Life itfelf would be apt to ftagnate ; may not fome fuch quickening Influence be equally neceflary in our religious ones ? Our Prayers particularly, if they be not warm'd and inliven'd with fome Degrees of 'Fer vency and Inten/enefs, (the Helps towards which feem to me to lie moftly in the Paf- Jions,) will they not degenerate into a mere lifelej's Indifferency, a cold and formal Lip- Service ? You know a certain great Man was once pretty feverely treated for defi ning Prayer to be a calm, undijlurbed, Ad- dr&j's to God. A Doctrine, it (liould feem, very near of kin to yours in what you jult now advanc'd *.

* Bifhop ofBangor's Sermon before tbe King in 17 17 .

IF

IF this, (replied Hortenjius) had been the only Offence of that Gentleman in the Difcourfe you refer to, I am apt to be lieve his Adverfaries had afforded him bet ter Quarter. But the main Quarrel againft him fprung, as I take it, from other Mo tives j and this Circumftance came in chiefly to aggravate and inflame theg^mz/Charge. And indeed the Rancour of Controverfy itfelf durft not attack him upon this Arti cle, till, by an Artifice very familiar to expert Difputants, it had firft difguifed and thrown afide it's natural and obvious Mean ing ; explaining away calm, and unfa* fturbed, into cold and unconcerned, contrary to all Rules of common Language. Whereas, take the Paflage in the plain received Senfe and Intention of it> and it is fo far from miniftring any reafonable grounds of ex ception, that for my part, I cannot conceive, how a jufter or truer Account of Prayer, within the compafs of fofow Words, could pofiibly have been devifed. This, I think, muft appear to any one, who, difliking the Definition here given of Prayer, mail be pleafed, for experiment fake, to reverfe it; fubftituting the contrary Epithets of troubled, and tumultuous, inftead of calm and itndifturbed. Such a Defcription would, I imagine, have a pretty odd Sound in the Ears of moft People ; and hardly be

thought

th6ujght to convey a veryjujt Idea of Kature and Genius of it's Subject.

THAT, (faid I3) would be running out of one Extreme into another. But certainly fome Degrees of Warmth and Earneftnefs, beyond what is exprefled by the Words calm, and uridifturbed, feem neceflary to give Life and Spirit to our Devotions*, Such a feeble Attack as this amounts to, can never be called with any tolerable Propriety of Speech a taking the Kingdom tf Heaven by Violence * ; a Notion under which, if I miftake not, our Divines do not unfrequently reprefent this Duty of Prayer.

You miftake the Point, (returned he) Philemon. Warmth and Earneftnefs in any good fenfe are by no means inconfiftent with being calm, and undifturbed; which is op- pofed, not to having a fixed rational Infen- tion of Mind in our Religious Exercifes, a ferious recollected Frame of Spirit ; but to the artificial Heats and Tranfports of a wanton Imagination, and an Enthufiaftic Fancy j that gro/s, and mechanical fort of Devotion, which Writers of the my flic Claf?, who no doubt are them felves well acquainted with it, defcribe as accompanied with " a * fenjible Commotion of the Spirits^ and E-

* St. Mat. xi. vdr. 12. / L " filiation

74) . f '

" filiation of the Blood * :" An excellent, -and doubtlefs an indi/penfable, Ingredient this, in the Service of him who has de clared, he is to be worjhipped by all true Worfoippers in Spirit and in Truth rj- / Thofe who think calm and undifturbed in Prayer to mean the fame with lifelefs, and indiffe- rent, feem to me to forget that there are any fuch Principles in human Nature as pure Affeftions, diftincl: from thofe Jupple- mental Forces which they may fometimes receive from certain Ferments in the animal Qeconomy, defign'd by the Wifdom of Providence to excite or quicken their Influ ence upon emergent Occaiions, and which are, properly fpeaking, Paffions [| . And in deed

* 'Norris'j Mifcell. 12°. p. 335. 'Tis faid alfo to be pajffionate, and even wonderfully fo, and exceeding the Love of Women. And accordingly Men of the moft warm and pathetic Tempers, and affe&ionate Com plexions, (provided they have but Conlideration enough \vithal to fix upon the right Object) prove the great "eft Votaries in Religion, ibid. 335, 336. — A Joy whofe perpetual Current always affords a frefh Delight, and yet every drop of it fo entertaining, that we might Jive upon it to all Eternity : whilft our Souls are in ebriated with its Pleafures, our very Bodies partake of its Sweetnefs. For it excites a grateful and eafy Mo tion in the animal Spirits, and caufes fuch an agreable Movement of the Paffions, as comprehends all the De- iight abstracted from the Uneafmefs which other Ob jects are apt to occafion. Lett. cone, the Love of God, p. 86, 87.

f St. John iv. ver. 23.

ijj When the word Paffton is imagin'd to denote any

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deed thefe latter have fo plain a reference to the Ufes of the animal Life, that were not the Fact too common, one would won der how they mould ever get footing in Spi rituals, to which they feem not to have the leaft Relation *. In our ordinary Concerns the Connexion between the Affettions and Pa/Eons is often too f'ecret. the mutual Tran-

•x/ j *

Jitions from one to the other, often too

quick

thing diftincT: from the Afftftions, it includes a confufed Senfation either of Pleafure or Pain, occafion'd or at tended by fome violent bodily Motions^ which keeps the Mind much employ'd upon the prefent Affair, to the exclufion of every thing elfe. Nat. and Conduct of the PaJ/ions. p. 28, 29.

The Author of Nature has probably formed many aftive Beings, whofe Defires are not attended with con- fufedSenfa tion s, raifing them into Pajfions like to ours. ibid. p. 50.

Beings of fuch Degrees of Under/landing, and fuch Avenues to Knowledge, as we have, muft need thefe additional Forces, which we call PaJJions> &c. ib. p. 51. and to the end of the Sect.

When more violent confufed Senfations arife with the Affetiitn, and are attended with, or prolonged by bo dily Motions, we call the whole by the Name of Pajjion. ibid. Sect. 3. p. 60.

* Thofe who would fee a Defence in form of this fort of paffionate Devotion, may find it in Mr. N&rris's

Mifcel. p. 423. and following ones. It may not

be amifs to infert here his Anfwer to a very important Objection to his favourite Scheme of a (enfitive Love of God. " Some, fays he, I know are of opinion, " that 'tis not poflible for a Man to be affected with " this fenfitive Love of God, which is a PaJJlon, be- " caufe there is nothing in God which falls under our *' Imagination j. and confequently (the Imagination L 2 " beinec

(76)

quick and fudden to admit of an accurate 'j~>ffiixftton. And here the Mifchief of con founding them is not great. But in Reli gion 'tis far otherwife : there, however jufl an Application there may be for our pure rational Affections, the Subject is ioofacred for our Paffions to intrude, without profa ning it. No one will imagine our Affec tions are lefs real for being purged of all grofs and corporeal Mixtures j and certain it is, they are hereby rendered much more fure, and confequently more fuitable to a Jpiritual and divine Object. Now this Di- mnction being kept in view, 'tis eafy to fee,

how

f being the only Medium of Conveyance) it cannot f« be propagated from the intelle&ual Part to thefenfi- t( tive : whereupon they affirm, that none are capable *' of this fenjitive pajjionate Love of God but Chriftians, *' who enjoy the Myjiery of the Incarnation. But 'tis f « not all the Sophiftry of the cold Logicians that {hall «c work me out of the Belief of what I feel and know, " and rob me of the fweeteft Entertainment of my

tc Life, the pajffionate Love of God"- Thus far

we fee he only enjoys himfelf in his Delufion ; how

'he defends it, will next appear. After triumphing

a little longer, " As to the Objection, fays he, I an- " fwer, that altho' in God, who is the Obje£b of our *' Love, we can imagine nothing, yet we can imagine f ' that cur Love ; which confifts in this, that we "• would unite ourfelves to the Objeft beloved, and *' confider ourfelves as it were a part of it ; and the " fole Idea of this very Conjunction is enough to ftirup *' a Heat about the Heart, and fo to kindle a very ve- ". hement Paffion : to which, I add, that altho' Beauty <c in God be not the fame as in corporeal Beings, yet 1' it is fomething analogous to it, and^ that very Ana-

( 77 )

how needlefs it is to have recourfe to our Paffions in order to give life and vigor to our religious Exercifes, when our calm ra tional Affeftions, a much nobler Part of our Composition, are abundantly fufficient to all •wt/e and good Purpofes of doing this. The/e will infpire Warmth without Flame, and •Strength without Rage and Violence. So that we mail be able to pray at once with the Spirit, with all the earneftnefs of a de vout Recollection, and as the fame infpired Perfon fpeaks, with the Under/landing alfo * ;

*' logy is enough to excite a Paffion." We have

been feveral times obliged to this Gentleman for af- certaining to us the Faff of this Inamorato- Devotion ; here we have him condefcending to explain the Phi- fafophy of it. It feems, we are to fet our Spirits at work about fomething, we know not what, and when we have Jlirrd up a fufficient Heat about the Heart (which by the way is rather felt than to fee imagined) we are to fall in love with this very Heat, and make an Idol of our own Paffion. Con-' junction is the Word of Command, and inftantly all the tender Paffions are called to exercife. Let thofe who can make Senfe of fuch a Religion, enjoy it as they pleafe. 'Tis to be hoped after all, a little So briety of Thought does not incapacitate a Man to be a religious Agent; and that People may ferve God accep tably without turning Vifionaries, and Enthufiafts.

* i Cor. xiv. ver. 15, <&c.

How different this from what CaJJian reports of Anthony the Hermit, who uied, it feems, to fay, that is not a perfect Prayer^ in which the Votary does either tinder/land himfelf or the Prayer! See Great Exemplar \ p. 60. This is being, as the fame Author has it, Pathics in Devotion with a witnefs. •

with

with a due Senfe of that aweful Pre- fence we are at fuch Seafons more imme diately furrounded with, and which we may be very fure is much better pleafed with the Worfhip of a pure Heart, and of well-or- derd Affections, than with all the wild and wanton Ecftajies, that even the moft lufcious Enthujiaft can boaft of. In {hort, Paffion is but the mere Mechanifm of Devotion ; and in proportion as that prevails, it lofes fo far its true Nature and Dignity, and ceafes to be a reafonable Service *. This We may fafely affirm, Philemon j that the facred Scriptures know nothing of thofe pajjionate Heats, and Paroxyfms of devout Phrenzy which fome Men are fo fond of. Thefe my flic al Refinements owe not their birth to the rational Simplicity of the Gofpel, but to the fond Conceits of Men in After- Ages departing from thence, to introduce their own vain Imaginations, and Syftems of Will-Worjhip -in its ftead. Where do we read of Ecflajies, Raptures, Sufpenfions, ofjiarings upon the divine Beauty., expiring in the Embraces of our Maker -f-, and I know not what other Flights of enthujiaftic jargon, in the infpired Pages? What men tion is there ever made of the refined Tranf- ports of Jiraphic Lovey the myjlic Union,

* Rom. xii. ver. I.

f Taylor'* Great Exemplar, p. 60. Norris'j Mifcd.

334-

and

( 79 )-

and all the other fanciful Abfi raft ions of Monaftic, and Reclufe Pietifts? Thefe aie the Dreams and Inventions of Men, not the Doctrines of Chrift and his A^oflles. Re ligion in the New Teftament is often re- prefented as the proper Difcipline of the Paffions, but never once, that I know of, as the Bufinefs, and Exercife of them. Prayer is often mention'd, and commanded; but not a word is faid of thofe ecftatic and artificial Commotions which the my- ftical Divinity is fo full of. When thou pray eft) fays our Lord, enter into thy Clofet, and when tbou haft fout thy Door, to avoid all vain Oflentation, pray to thy Father which is in fecret. And after this manner •pray ye, Our Father , &c *. Words of fuch amazing Force, and Ccmprehenficn, and at the fame time of fuch a wonderful, and inartificial Simplicity, as mufl convince the moft harden'd Infidel, would he give himfelf leave thoroughly to attend to them, of that divine Spirit and Wifdom by which the Author of them moft unquestionably fpake. This excellent Form of Prayer, Phi lemon, was, we know, intended as a Model for all fucceeding Ages to copy after in theip devotional Compofitions j and how little does it favour of thofe ajj'cfted Strains with which later Compilers of devout Formula ries £> generally abound ? The truth is, it

* Mat. vi. ver. 6. aod 9.

is

Js not, like theirs, conceiv'd in the Heat of an enthufiaftic Fancy, or fet off with the falfe Glare of human Eloquence, but with a Spi rit and Language much fuperior to both ; even with that powerful Energy of Thought, and that zffz&mgPlainnefs of Expreffion, as fhews Devofiort, in the Intention of that pure and fpiritual Being who is the great Object of it, to be a very different thing from what thefe Men's miftaken Zeal would reprefent it. An Exercife of our rational Nature, not of our fenjitive ; the dutiful Homage of intelligent Spirits, not the wan ton CareJ/ings of amorous Voluptuaries; a kind of myftical Intriguing, and fanftified Gallantry.

THERE is certainly, (faid I) nothing of this kind appears in the admirable Form of Prayer you have been fpeaking of. It is compofed in a quite different Stile, and gives one a very noble and exalted Idea of the rational and manly Genius of tmeDevo-* tion. It is ftrange the devotional Writers of later times mould have fo generally a- greed to deviate from the Simplicity of fa' divine and excellent a Model ; but Men have a wonderful Aptnefs to refine upon plain Inftitutions, and in nothing more than in the Bufinefs of Religion.

WHEN

WHEN one confiders, (interrupted Hortenfius,} how ftrongly this over-refining Biafs operates in moil other devotional Com- pofitions, it muft greatly recommend the public Offices of our Church^ that they are fo unexceptionable upon this Article. No thing can equal the Wonder that they fhould fo intirely efcape a Contagion of fo infmuating a nature, except the Pleafure it muft give every rational Worjbipper that they have done it. For fuch, it muil: be confefs'd, was the Judgment and Temper of the firft" Compilers of our public £,/- turgy^ our never to be forgotten Reformers, that in the juft and beautiful Ddcription which the reverend Hiftorian of the Re formation gives of it, It has brought cuf Worfoip to a Jit Mean between the Pomp of Superftition, and naked Flatnefs *. Here, Philemon, are none of thofe Fiighrs and Extravagancies which fo much abound, in more private Formularies ; all is grave, manly, and rational.

I was of his Opinion in the main, (I own'd) but at the fame time I could not but think there was room for feveral Amend ments in our publick Service, which I wifhed the Wifdom of our Governours would take into their ferious Confideration.

* Bp. Stfrw/'sAbr.oftheHift.oftheRef. 8vo.p.59« M WAS

WA s there ever any mere human Com- polition (anfwer'd Hortenjius) wholly free from Faults ? Certainly our Church Liturgy is as much, or more fo, than any other j efpecially confident! g how long a time it has now flood without undergoing any Alteration, as Occafions and Circumjlances may have requir'd *. For my part, I am much more inclined to rejoice that it is no isoorfe, than to complain that it is no bet ter. I wifh our private Forms, were but half as unexceptionable as our public ones.

WHAT think you, (faid I) of thofe Heads of private Prayer which the excel lent Author of the Religion of Nature de lineated has offer'd, under the Article of Truths relating to the Deity -f- ? I do not remember to have met with any private Form that has pleafed me fo well, or which I have thought fo every way con formable to that divine Standard of Devo tion we were mentioning juft now.

* The laft public Revifal of our Liturgy was made and fubfcribed by the Convocation on Friday the 20th of December 1661, and palled both Houfes of Parlia ment the March following. Wkeatly's Append, to Introd. to rational Illuirration of the Book of Corn- anon Prayer, p. 31.

f See Wollaflails Rel. of Nat. del. p. 120, 121.

83

I am glad, (replied He,) Philemon, you are fo much a Friend to this Author's Me thod of Devotion, which certainly is al together of the calm, and undifturbdk\n&; tho' at the fame time it is fo far from being lifelefs, and indifferent, that on the contrary it is ivarmd and animated with every rational and affectionate Sentiment, that can awaken a devout Attention -, fuf- ficient, one would imagine, to infpire tf bought fulnefs into the moft dijjohtte Breafr, and awe even the Wildnefs of ILnthufiafm itfelf into fome Degrees of rational Com- pojure. 'Tis true, this excellent Writer rather fuggefts to his Readers feveral Ar ticles, as Heads, or Hints of Devotion, as you rightly term'd them, than gives them the direct Form of a Prayer. But 'tis eafy to reduce them to a dfrt& and regular Form, by a few flight Alterations j and that too conformably to the Chriftian Syftem, tho' at prefent they are rather drawn up upon the Plan of natural Religion. To thofe who are deflrous of a more lengthen'd, or more explicite Ritual, I fhould recommend thofe admirable Forms of Prayer which have been lately made public at the end of a celebrated Treatife upon the Sacrament, fuppofed to have come from the fame worthy Hand with the Doctrine of the calm and undijlurbed M 2 Addrefs,

(84) '.-•'

Addrefs *. They are indeed drawn up with -an excellent Spirit, and great Judgment; full of warm and animated Sentiments of Piety towards God, exprefTmg kfelf chiefly and principally, (2,^ true Piety will always do) in Strains of mofl inlarg'd and affectionate Charity, and Benevolence towards Men. A Devotion thus temper'd and conducted is certainly one of the noblefl Employments of a rational, andfocial Nature. It is not to be confider'd as a bare Difcharge of one Aft of our Duty, but as an excellent Means of forming our Minds to Habits of univerfal Virtue, and Goodnefs. For it calls forth every nobler and more generous Principle within us, cultivates and cherimes thefe na tural Seeds of Worth and Excellency in our Hearts which will gradually ripen into Action, and lay the fure Foundations of ai virtuous and exemplary Character. In a word, Philemon, it raifes and exalts the Soul far above the utmofl Refinements of the Closer, or the mofl ecftafyd Heats of mcnaflic Vifionaries ; for it does in rea-

%' {Jccompliffj, what thole do but in vain J, */ * J

pretend to, the fafhioning our Souls into a Divine LikeneJ's j by exercifing them in all thofe truly Godlike Affections, which are the diflinguijhing Marks and Features

* Plain Account of the Nature and End of the Sacrament, bV.

of

( 85 )

of Divinity *. I the rather mention this Authors Forms of Devotion, as they may help to reconcile you to his Definition of Prayer, about which you feem'd to have fome Diftruft. For certainly if his Practice may be allow'd to be a good Comment upon his Sentiments, they are perfedy juft, and rational in this point.

YET there are thofe, (faid I) who find great fault with this Author's devotional Forms, as indeed with the whole Doftrine of the Treatife to which they are annex'd.

As

* When I fpeak here of the natural good Tenden cies of Prayer rightly circumftanced, I would not be underftood to exclude any fuperior Helps, and Afiiftances to Virtue, which may be promifed to it in Scripture. Something of this kind we are there fufficiently war ranted to expect from it. Mean while, as to theprecife Nature, and Degree of thefe Afliftances, that is no where fpecially determin'd. From the Comparifon our Lord makes ufe of to lllujlrate this matter to us, that of the Wind' 's blowing -where it lifteth^ from Caufes to us fe- cret, and imperceptible, we are inilrucled to think, that the Workings of the divine Spirit are by us undiftin- guijhable from thofe of our own proper and natural Fa culties. See John iii. ver. 8. — And' indeed were the Scripture -wholly J: lent in the Cafe, the plain " Reafon ** of the Thing would teach us, that the Benefits re- " ceiv'd by reafonable Creatures from any Perfor- " mances, muft, as cur Author fpeaks, be received in " a reafonable Way. No Duties, hew well foevcr *' perform'd, can be fuppofed to operate as Charms, " nor to influence us as if we were only Clock-work, " or Machines to be acted upon by the arbitrary " Force of a fuperior Being. In the natural and rea-

" fonable

A s to the Treatife, (replied he) no one can, I think, doubt, as well from the Na ture of the Work itfelf, as from the known Character of its prefumed Author •, but that it was wrote with a moft excellent Defign. Every body knows, who has at all conli- der'd the Subject, or made any Obfervation upon the Conduct of moft People in ordi nary Life in relation to the Sacrament, with what a multitude of abfurd Super- ftitions this Inftitution of our Lord's, ori ginally plain, and fimple in itfelf, has been incumber'd by the Weaknefs, or Cor ruption of fucceeding Ages of Chriftians. Sometimes it has been fet forth to view with fo thoroughly forbidding an Afpecl,

as

" fonable Tendency of them we ought to found our " main Expectations." Natttre and End of the Sacra-

ment, p. 154, 155. This by the way may fuggeft

to us how neceffary a thing a dlfcreet and well-order' d Choice is in the Matter of our Devotions. The Senti ments to which irt farpiKarife our Minds by the con- Jlant Returns of our Devotional Exercifes^ will not fail to have a great Influence upon the Conduct of our Lives in general; efpecially, as they come always at tended with a religious Imprejjion. Particularly, we •(hould do well to 'feleft for our Purpofe fuck Forms chiefly as are moft apt to improve our Virtue, and to in- fpire us with an inlargd^ and afiive Benevolence. The contrary whereof is fo vijible in the narrow and con- traEied Sentiments of too many Religionifts^ that one cannot help fufpecting their Devotivn is formd upon quite other Principles. P'or my part, I am verily per- fuaded, that, as nothing haiVmffrr EffecJ upon the na tural

87

as a matter of fuch infinite Hazard, and Difficulty p, that weak and honeft Minds have been difcouraged from it by the unnatural Terror of its Appearance ; and fo a plain Command has been neglected, for fear of an unworthy Performance of it. At others, it has been reprefented fo much in the nature of a religious Charm, that many have been brought to lay an unwarranted Stre/s upon this one Aft of Religion, to the prejudice of tf//befides j and fo a punctual Difcbarge of their Duty in this one refpeft has been abufed into a liberty of violating it in every other. Now the undeceiving People of both thefe Prejudices is certainly a Delign which every good Man muft rejoice to fee well executed. And this is the very Point our Author la bours

tural Temper, than a manly, rational, benevolent Devo tion, fo nothing does To effectually four and fpoil it, as that illiberal, narrow, and ungenerous fort of Devotion which is too commonly taught and praclifcd by People of a Religious Turn. Far from opening and inlarging the Mind to Views of impartial, and unlimited Benevolence^ it infpires in it's ftead, as a polite Author has well ex- prefs'd it, "a fort of fnpernatural Charity, which con- " Jiderir.g the future Lives and Happimfs of Mankind " in/lead of the prefent, and extending itjelf wholly to a- " nother world, has made us leap the Bounds of natural " Humanity in this ; has raised Antipathies which no *' temporal Inter ejl could ever do, and taught us the way *' of plaguing one another mo/? devcutly" Charadt. vol. 1.

p. 1 8. It may not be amifs to obferve here, that this

way of thinking is not a little countenanced by the very Turn and Compofttion of that excellent Form of Prayer which was recommended to us by the divine Author of

our

( 88 )

hours in the Performance we are fpeaking of. And indeed as he undertook it with a truly Rational and Chriftian Intention, he feems to me to have difcharged it with admirable Succefs. Thus much, I think, muft be faid; that fo long as Men are con tent to take their Notions of this Inftitution from the Inftitutor bimfelf, and not from the Comments of Men in after-times pre tending to be. wife above that which is twrittent our Author'.? general Doffrine at

our Religion bimfelf. The Lord's Prayer,' 'tis well known, runs throughout in the plural Number. We are in- ftructed to fay, Our Father, Give Us this day, Forgive Us, Lead Us not, Deliver Us, &c. all of them Peti tions of univerfal Extent and Comprehenjion, to be made in the behalf of all Mankind, as well as of our/elves. Should not this teach us, that an inlarged, unlverfal Benevolence ought ever to accompany our religious Ad- drejfes ? And indeed, to confider a little the plain Rea- fon of the thing, when can we fo properly awaken in our Souls a ftrong Senfe and Conviflion of our common Alliance to one another as Bangs of the fame Nature and Species, as when we are in a more cfpccial Manner prefenting ourfelves before that great Bcirg who is the common Parent of our Species ? who has fignified to us his good Pleafure, in a Language far more emphatical and exprejfive than any external Declaration, even the Language of our own Heart s, that univerfal unlimited Benevolence fhould be as much the Jianding Law of the moral World, as Gravitation is of the natural? and that the Body-facial mould be as firmly knit toge ther in Love by the Cords of a Man, as the Scripture elegantly fpeaks, the Ties of mutual Kindnefs and good Affection, as natural Bodies are held together in their refpe&ive Cohefions by the mutual Attractions of their feveral Parts ?

leafl

89)

leafl muft ftand clear of all reafonable ception. And as to any other Points of Controverfy, lying out of the Compafs of his general Defign, which he may have inci dentally touched upon in the Courfe of his Writing, he has delivered his Sentiments of them fofparingly, and in fo general a way, that the moft that can be made out of them will amount to nothing more than Conjee-* ture. And therefore it mould feem, that the attacking him in this indirect Method favours a little of a Difpofition to fupply the Defect of a more explicite Charge againft the main Body of the Work, by blowing up Prejudices againfl the perjbnal Reputation of the Author j an Artifice certainly moft ungenerous, however common with the Writers in religious Controverfies ! The foftejl that can be faid of fuch fort of At tacks upon him, is, that they are wholly foreign to the Purpofe.

A N D as the Diflike which fome People have mewn to the Treatife itfelf, feems to have arifen rather from uncertain Sujpicions of the Author's general way of thinking, than from any fuppofed falft Doctrines he has direttly afoted in itj fo I am inclined to think, this has been full as much the Cafe in refpect to the devotional Forms. This I am pretty fure of, Pbikmw , that if they N discover

( 9°

difcover lefs of partial Regards to parti" cular Syftems, than futes the narrowed Ge nius of fome Men's Religion, they breath a much diviner Spirit, even that of univer~ fal Charity y and Forbearance. If they af ford lefs Scope to the irregular Sallies of the Paflions in Religion, than futes the Warmth ef fome Men's Tempers, they give abundant Exercife to the nobler Principles of Reafony and Social-Affeftion. And let Men refine as much as they pleafe, whatever goes be yond tbeje, under the Pretext of a more ex alted Devotion, it is not, as we have feen, Piety ', but Enthujiafmy of which, I hope, you are by this time made fufficiently ac quainted with the true Original, and Li neage.

I was fo, (I confefs'd) and I thought myfelf much obliged to him for leading me fo agreably into the Difcovery of it. You have (faid I) abundantly convinced me of what I did not fufpect before, that it has its Foundation in a certain Make and Constitution of Men's Bodies ; and after all the pompous things that are faid of it by Men of Fancy and Imagination, is at the bottom only a more dijguifed way of In dulging a very ordinary natural Pajjion. Tis in fliort little elfe but being very reli- giwjly in love, a fort of " hot Devotion,

*c reliding,

<c refiding," as a lively Writer exprefTes it, " altogether in the Blood *."

";•• *f/i >w

AFTER you have given up this devotio nal Habit (interrupted Hortenjjus) to be nothing more than a particular Effect of a Reigning PaJJlon ; need I put you in mind of purfuing the fame Principle throughout, in order to account for thofe other religious Extravagancies you was complaining of fome time ago ?

I fee what you are driving at, (returned I :) As I agreed to refolve the devotee Cha racter in Religion into an amorous Conftitu- tion, fo you would have me refolve ths hermitical and auftere Character into a fi» inorous, gloomy, and phlegmatic one.

WHEN Calidus, in the Violence of his At tachment to particular Modes of Opinion^ is denouncing Wrath and Deftruftion a- gainft all who have the misfortune to dif fer from him, and with a kind of ma* licious Pleafure hurling the Thunderbolts of divine Vengeance upon many wifer and foberer Heads than his own ; his exce/five Zeal, you would have me believe, is no thing elfe but a mvrefantfified fort of Cbo- ler. Pride, Spleen, Luft of Power and Do minion, with all the blacker Tribe of

* Independent Whig, i2mo. p. 204. 6 Ed, vol.r. N 2 fons9

. ( 92 )

are the Springs that fet his orthodox Refentments at work. The Reverend Fu- 'riofo would, as a ludicrous Author has it, -'be as peevifh at his Table, as in his " Pulpit;" and <c would certainly quarrel, <c and kick over his Claret, as well as over

" his Cufhion *."

i

WHEN Flavia betrays fuch an intem perate Fondnefs for all the outward Cere monials of Religion, that (he will needs practife them over with a moft fcrupulous Exadnefs, tho' at the expence of many 'weightier Duties ; I am to look upon her •Religion as one Species of her natural Pre- ci/enefs. She has an infignificant PuncJua^ lity in her Temper ', which enters into her religious Oeconomy. She is in fhort the fame Trifer, and For ma lift in her fpiritual Concerns, that fhe is in thofe of her ordi nary Life.

*•£ V , ', * ' v i '. ' v ' - \ \ "'• t '

.YiSEFERUS therefore places all Santfity in a contracted Brow, and a moroje Behaviour; 'becaufe he has a natural Rejerve, and Sul* lennefs in his temper.

WHEN Semproma darts about her in- difcreet Reproofs j and lectures and mora lizes upon the mofh improper Occaiions, \vithout any regard to 'Times, Places, or

* Indep, Whig, p. 204,

Perform ;

( 93 )

Perfons j fhe is only proving how fecretly and fecurely a moft inordinate Vanity and Affectation can run it's utmofl lengths, un der the artful Cover of religious Pretences.

. " IN mort, wherever there is any thing <e overftrain'd, unnatural, or extravagant in ct Religious Life, the true Ground of it al- <e ways lies in the prevailing Biafs of Men's <c natural 'Tempers, difguifing itlelf, as you " obferved at our firft Entrance upon this " Topic, under a Religious Appearance, <f and Application."

You take my meaning perfectly right, (replied Hortenjius-,) and the natural Con- clulion which arifes from the whole is this ; " That Religion jtfelffaould ever be care- " fully diftinguifh'd from the Conduft of <f particular Religionifts ; and not re- " proach'd, as it too often happens, with " thofe adulterous and foreign Mixtures " which have fo large a fhare in many " fuppofed Religious Characters." Theje are Matter of private and perfonal Charge only, which it lies upon the feveral inte- rejled Parties to anfwer to. Mean while, how nearly it concerns thofe who have a real Regard for the Interefts of Religion, to wipe off any unjuft Afperfions to which it may have been expofed upon their account, let themfehes be J udges.

AND

( 94 )

AND thus, Philemon, I have complied with your Requeft, in laying before you

my laft Night's Train of Thought. By

this time, I dare fay, you have enough of an out-of-the-way Speculation— —let us now break loofe from thefe ferious Ingage- ments, and return to the ordinary Affairs of Life.

FINIS.

Miftakes of the Prefs.

PA G E 6. line 10. latter, for later, p. 24. 1. 1. in the Note moji for 'very. p. 35. J. 14. in the Note-m^o^votf for 7ni£o<j.t:o{- alfo line 16. u&vot,%*u for ft«y rt,^«. p. 6j. 1. 5. in" the Note&w, for breathe, p. 68. 1. 4. in the Note, chagrin, for chagrine. alfo 1. 1 6. demeure, for demeure. p. 84. 1. 19, 20. the Sentence, and lay the fare Foundations of a •virtttoui and exemplary Charatter, is defired to be changed into, and abound to all tlje Graces of a perfeS Cbarafltr.

PHILEMON

RELATING

^SECOND CONVERSATION with HORTENSIUS upon the Subjed; of FALSE RELIGION.

In which is aflerted

The GENERAL L AW FULNESS of PLEASUREj

">% AND

XT RAVAG ANT SEVERITIES of fomC

gious Syftems are fhewn to be a dired: JNTRADICTION to the Natural Appoint- nent and Conflitution of Things.

Pint. con. fep. Sap. Ed. Xyl. p. 158.

LONDON:

t nted for M. S T E E N, in the Inner-Temple Lane. M.DCC.XXXVII.

(Price i s. 6 d.}

PHILEMON

TO

HYDASPES,

c.

SHOULD have imagined, my Hydajpes, had I not known you to be very different from the ge- 9JSS& nerality of polite People, that

you would have been fufficiently tired with fo grave a Topic as Religion, after the Re cital I had made you of an intire Morning's Converfation carried on profefledly upon B that

that Subject. Men of Spirit and Vivacity can feldom relifti any thing ferious long together. A Reflection or two in paffing is the moil they are ordinarily willing to fubmit to. I have often been inclin'd to think the awkard Solemnity, with which we are commonly taught Religion makes the thought of it fo unpleafant to us ever afterwards. Jufl as fome People contract a Diftafte to Letters from illiberal Impref- fions of the Harmnefs and Severity of School 'Difcipline. Could we but once free Religion from this over-folemn Air, and diiperfe the fal/e Gloom, which our Nur- Jeries have thrown about it, we might poffibly procure it a freer Reception, and more frequent, and familiar Entertainment in the World. It might then be no longer confined to the RecefTes of the Cloyfter, the Seats of Mopifhnefs, Superflition, and Bigotry ; but be fometimes permitted to make its appearance even in good Company j and be brought into fome degree of Credit and Reputation amongft the polite and fafliionable part of Mankind. It was thus, Hydajpes, that I endeavoured lately to in troduce Religion to your Thoughts, in that freer Air, and more liberal Manner, in which me had been pourtray'd to me by the excellent hand of Hortenfius* ; a Man,

* See a Pamphlet intitled Phil, to Hyd, 1736.

who,

( 3 )

who, as I have often reprefented him to you,

always fpeaks his thought, And always thinks the very thing he ought *.

It feems, you are fo far from being dif- pleafed with the report of our Conference, that you have ingaged me to recollect any farther particulars that might afterwards pafs between us, in purfuance of the fame Argument. For it could not be, you are of opinion, that a fingle Morning fhould have fufficed me to have difcufied fo co pious a Theme, and of which you know me to have fo remarkable a Fondnefs.

YOUR Conjecture is not ill founded. Having gone fo far into the Subject, I was not eafily difingag'd from it. I was ever and anon lelapiing infenfibly into the fame train of Thought ; purfuing and apply ing the Principles we had already efta- blifhed ; and could fcarce converfe with any thing fo intirely foreign to it, but ferved in fome way or other to renew the Impreffion.

ONE Afternoon, as Hortenfius and I were taking the air on horfeback, What think you, (faid he) of our making a vifit to my Neighbour Clito? you will find him

* Mr. Pope's fecond Sat. of Hor. im. lin. 135.

B 2 a

U)

a very fenfible agreable man ; I fhall be glad to introduce you to his Acquaintance. Betides, you will be much pleas'd with a fight of his Villa ; he has been at a confi- derable expence in the Improvement of it ; in which he has fhewn hirnfelf to be Mailer of a very polite and genteel Tafte. You are a fort of Connoi/feur this way, you will have an opportunity of paffing your own Judgment upon it.

I could have no Objection (you will i- magine) to fo agreable a Propofal. About an Hour's ride thro' a very pleafant Coun try brought us thither. We were receiv'd by Clito with an eafy Civility, the genuine refult of true Politenefs. Hortenfms would have excus'd the liberty of introducing an intire Stranger, but Clito would hear no thing of that fort : You cannot (faid he) oblige me more, Hortenfius, than by bring ing me into an acquaintance with any Friend of yours,

OUR firft Ceremonies being over, I foon took occalion to fay fomething of the A- greablenefs of the Place and Situation, which was fuch as to ftrike one at firft fight. It was an Inftance (I obferved) of that good Tafte, which feemed indeed to dif- cover itfelf on all hands, that Clito had made choice of fo beautiful a Spot to build

on;

{ 5 )

on ; where, without being too much ex- pofed, he had the Command of fo fine a Country.

I have often (laid he) been furprifed, Philemon, coniidering how much depends upon a good Situation, to find fo little re gard had to this, where even a prodigal Expence feemed to have been imployed to make every thing elfe as complete as pof- fible.

'TWAS not (obferved Hortenfius) in e- very body's power to command equal Ad vantages this way. Nature might be faid to have her favorite fpots, to which me was more than ordinarily liberal of her Bounties ; and which did, as it were, be- Jpeak Improvement by leaving, if the Pa radox might pafs, fo little room for any.

WERE one to judge (returned I) by the Practice of fome People, who yet would not be thought to want Tafte, one would i- magine the reverje of this Rule was to take place. They pitch upon the moil barren and defolate Spots to build on, as if the Perfection of Art were to crofs Nature ; and are at infinitely more Expence to make a bad Situation tolerable^ than would anfwer to make a more advantageous one

delightful.

IT

(6)

IT is this Vanity of Expence, (replied Hortenfius) that puts People upon fuch un natural Projects.

POSSIBLY (laid Clito) they are of opi nion, that they have more of the Merit of their Defigns to themjehes, the lefs they are beholden for any Hints of them to Nature. To cultivate a bleak barren Scene, and give Beauties where Nature feems to have been more than ordinarily fpuiing of them, they may efteem a fort of volun tary Creation, in which the force of the Artift's own Genius is at full liberty to di£. play itfelf: whereas in a more advanta geous Situation, much of his work is done beforehand, and Art has little elfe to do but to affift Nature^ to proceed upon thofe Hints which me fuggefts, and to follow where me points out the way.

AND to do this with any competent Ef- feff, (faid I) may fufficiently exercife the Invention of the mofl ingenious Defigner. Nay, I queflion whether it be not in fome Cafes a greater trial of Skill not to deftroy^ or 'weaken a natural Beauty, than it can be in others to introduce an artificial one. This I am very fure of, that there is no hope of any confiderable Succefs, where Nature and Art do not go hand in hand.

Without

,(7)

Without this, whatever other Beauties there may be, a main one will ftill be wanting ; a certain eafy Simplicity of Man ners, which Nature only can give.

'Tis this (interpofed Hortenjius) that I have always thought the great Recom mendation of my Friend Clitds Method of defigning. Here, Philemon, is none of that fludied Regularity, which dif- pleafes by a perpetual Samenefs and Re petition of

Grove nods at Grove, each Ally has a Br other > And half the Platform jn ft refle&s the other*.

The poor refult of a confined Tafte, and a Littlenefs of Defign ! But a certain agre- abk Wildnefi prevails thro the whole, which as it refembles Nature in its Beauty, refem- bles it alfo in its Ufc, (a fure mark that it is natural !) by luting itfelf to the unequal Temper of our Climate, and varying with all the Varieties of our Seafons.

You are very obliging, (faid Clito) but take care that by railing your Friend's Ex pectations too high, Hortenjius, you do not prepare him to be more eminently difap- pointed. Something, 'tis true, of the kind you have been defcribing is attempted here in little, and indeed the Nature of our *Mr. Pepis Epift, to my Lord Burlington, 115.

Englijh

(8)

Englijh Climate, as you rightly obferv'd, where a Man may often go to bed in June and rife in December, makes it not only agreable, but neceflary. How well this purpofe is really anfwer'd, Philemon will be belt Judge for himfelf, if he will be at the trouble of looking a little about him.

WITH all my heart, (faid I) Clito, it will be a very particular Pleafure to me.

. — Accordingly, having firft taken a

view of the Houfe, in which a general Neatnefs, Ufefulnefs, and elegant Simpli city, feem'd to have taken place of opero/e Grandeur, and a Profufion ofjtudiea Or naments and incumberd. Magnificence, we were conducted into the Gardens, where I foon found what Hortenfius had been ^faying of them, was much more than a Compliment. The Difpofition was eafy and natural, arifing wholly out of the Ge nius of the Place; and the feveral Beauties feem'd not fo properly brought into it, as refulting from it. The Interchanges of Shade and Opening, level and raifed Ground, Garden and Foreil, were adjufted with great Art, fo as befl to relieve and fet off

O * , **J

each the other ; and withal to take in or exclude the view of the Country about us, as either was judged moil agreable in the general Plan. Whilft the Eye was taken up with the various Forms of beautiful

Objects,

(9 )

Objects that presented themfelves in their refpedive Alignment 'j, fuch as Theatres, Temples, Statues, Urns, Obelijks, the other Senfes were as agreably entertained with the multiplied Fragrancies of natural Scents, the warbling Mufic of Birds, or the footh- ingSoftnefs of aquatic Murmurs. In fhort, HydaJpeSy I never faw a more delightful Scene. I was fo much taken with it, that we palTed the intire remainder of our Vifit in rambling there from place to place, 'till the Evening infenfibly came upon us.

IN our return home, Phi lemon -, (faid Hortejifius to me) I hope you do not think we have difpofed of our Afternoon amifs.

FAR from it, (returned I) I never pafTed one more to my fatisfadtion. You know I am a great lover of all natural Improve ments. Clito has really an excellent turn this way. You are very happy, Horten- Jius, in fo agreable a Neighbour. He is a Man of ftrong Senfe, and a very polite and improved Converfation.

I have fometimes thought, (replied he) Philemon, there is a fort of natural Con nexion between what is called &fine Tafte of the politer Arts of Life, and a general Polijhednefs of Manners, and inward Cba- raffer. Men of a refined Imagination have C ufually

ufualiy a larger way of thinking than o- thers. They difcover a Delicacy of Senti ment ', and Generojity of Spirit, which lefs improved Minds are wholly ftrangers to. Should it not fcem, Pbiltrfton, that being perpetually converlant in the Ideas of na tural Beauty, Order, and Proportion, their

'Tempers infeniiblv take a Polifh from the

fj j -'

Objects of their Studies and Contemplations? They tranjcribe, as it were, fomething of that Grace and Symmetry they are fo fond of in external Subjects into the inward Frame and Difpoiition of their own Minds *,

THE

* As foon, fays the Author of the Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue, as a Heart, before hard and obdurate, is foftcned in this Flame, (he is (peaking of Benevolence) we ihall obferve, a- rifing along with it, a Love of Poetry, M.ufic, the Beauty of Nature in rural Scenes, a neat Drejs, a hu mane Deportment, a Delight in, and Emulation of every thing which is gallant, generous, and friendly. Inquiry p. 258. May not the reverfe of this Obferva- t:on be equally true ? This is certain, fays an eminent Writer, that the Admiration, and Love of Order, Har mony, and Proportion, in whatever kind, is naturally- improving to the Temper, advantageous to focial Af- feclion, and highly affiftant to Virtue ; which is itfelf no other than the Love of Order and Beauty in So ciety. Charafleriftics, vol. 2. p. 75. Whoever,

fays another approved Author, find themfelves infen- fible to the Charms of Poetry and Mufic, would, I think, do well to keep their own Counfel ; for fear of reproaching their own Temper, and bringing the Goodn«fs of their Natures, if not of their Under- ftandings, intoqueftion. Sir J7^ 7fw/»/?'sMifceL vol. 2.

P-

THE Virtuofi) (faid I) Hortenjius^ are much obliged to you. I wilh they were always careful to make good an Obferva~ tion fo much in their Favour. I am afraid t he polite Arts are fometimes cultivated by Men, who have no great Toitc of moral Accompli foments.

THEN they are by no means the Vir- tuofi they wouldbe efteemed, (return'd he.) No man has a jail Claim to this Character, in whom faz.rirtuofo-Paffion, the Love of Beauty, Order, Proportion, does not pre vail throughout, and influence his general

p. 62.—' — Were we to extend ' this Obfervation even to the inferior Elegancies of Drefs, as inilgnirlcant a Particular as it may feem to fome People, we (hould not want a very good Authority in our favour ; the polite and philofophic Poet in his Epiftle to Maecenas 9 having given a fufiicient Sanction to this way of rea- foning

Si curtatus intequali tonfore capillos Occurri, rides\ ft firte fubucula pexee Trita fulejl tunic ce^ vet ft toga dijfidet inipar. Rides: quid mea cum pugnat ferrtentia fcaim ?

Hor. Epift. lib. I. Epift. I. v. 94, and upon the

fame Principle Seneca mentions it as a very ftron^ Proof of Depravity in certain effeminate Characters of his time, that they were oftended at little Irregula rities in the Oeconomy of their Pcrfcns at the lame time that they had no Senfe of much worfe Disorders in real Life and Manners. Quomodo irafcun.tur, fa)-s he, fi tonfor paullo negligentior fuit ? quis eft iftorum, qui non malit rempublicam fuam turbari, quani c<;- mam ? qui non comptior eiFe -malit, quam 'hoiiefiior ? — L, A. Sen. de Brev. Vit. lib. p. 505, 506.

C 2 Conduct.

Conduct *. For let us confider, Philemon. Having once eftablifh'd a CorreStnefs of Tafte and Elegance of Fancy in the things of outward Grace and Ornament, {hall we be {uchpoor "m&fcanty Thinkers, as to give it nofcope in Subjects of a nobler kind ? {hall we be fo little confident with curfelves, as to be inamour'd of the Harmony of Sounds, and have no Senfe of inward Numbers, the measures of ABHtM^ the nicer 'Tones of Paffion and Sentiment ;-j~? Being Matters of

* 'Tis upon this Principle the noble Author be fore referred to fays, He is perfuaded that to be a Vir- tuofei fo far as befits a Gentleman, is a Step towards the becoming a Man of Virtue, and good Senfe. Cha- ratt. vol. i. 333. And again, 'Tis impoilible we can advance the lead in any Relim or Tafte of out ward Symmetry and Order, without acknowledging that the proportionate and regular State is the truly profperous and natural in every Subject. Should not this, one would imagine, be ftill the fame Cafe, and hold equally as to the Mind ? Vol. 3. 180, 181. and elfewhere.

f Nan verla fcqui fidilus modulanda Latinis;

Sed vera numerofque, modcfque^ edifcere vitee.

Hor. Epift. Lib. 2. Epift. 2. v. 143. 'At

(fays Mncfipbilus in Plutarch) TrtzvT&Trctinv ypon;

T^CtlVTOy £1 WpU^OfAtV O.VTUV £pr/OV tlVMt XlQ(X,pO(.V XKl K'J-

Axf, aXXot, [J.7] TO ircuaivtw ret r^r,^ xxi Troccri'yoptiv TO, TraS-Jl ruv %gu[t£vuv jixfAfcrt xxi a,p[*ovia,t$. Con. fep. Sap. 156.

How four fweet Mvfic is, When 'Time is broke^ and no Proportion kept ? So is it in the Mufic of Merfs Lives. And here have I the Daintinefs of Ear

Tc

a judicious Eye in the Works of Painting and Statuary, fhall we be blind to all the Charms of moral Limning^ the Proportions of real Life and Manners ? Whilft we are ftruptiloujly ex aft in the Models of our Houfes, the Dijpqfttion of Ornaments, the Ordering of Gardens, Avenues, Planta tions, fhall we have no regard to the living Architecture of our own Minds? no thought of inward Imbellijkment ? no tafte of the more beautiful O economy of a human Heart, the Order and Difpofjion of its Affedtions? Never furelv can our Imagination reft

j D

wholly in the mere mechanic and fenfibk Forms of Beauty ; feeing there is provided for it a far more refined Entertainment in the Theory of moral Excellence. For no where, Philemon, does the Charm of Beauty fo forcibly prevail as in the moral Species. 'Tis to this the Virtuofo muft have lecourfe for the highcjl Gratifications of his own favorite Paffion. Virtue alone is the Truth and Perfection viVirtuoJo/hip. And as ab- ftracled a way of reafoning as it may be thought, 'tis however a very jufl one ; that a correct Imagination and a dijfolutt Cha racter are the greatefl Contradictions in

To bear Time broke In a d'ifordcrd String : But for the Concord of rny State and Tim Had riot an Ear to bear ?ny true 'Time brake f Sbakefpcar'sLife and Death cf Richard the iecond. A very juft and pathetic Reproach this to hun.ldf !

the

( 14 )

the World*. Tis thus, Philemon,' that I have fometimes been led to confider the Virtuojb-Arts as a more refined and dij- guij'ed fort of moral Difcipline ; by which Men of freer Spirits are fometimes una-> wares trained up to a fenfe of Duty and inward Worth^ who would never be pre vailed upon to liften to a more direft and formal method of Inftruction.

A happy way of moralizing this indeed, (faid I) Hortenfius ! to learn our Duty in our very Pkajures, and extract Wtfdom and Virtue even from the Luxuries and Elegancies of Life! But how then is it that we often find the Matters of Morality re- prefenting theft things in fo very different a Light? They are fq far from confider- ing them as Means or Helps to Virtue^ that they will not even allow them to be fo much as compatible with it j a great part of our Duty confiding, as they tell us, in

* Let fuch Gentlemen as thefe (of Tafte) be as extravagant as they pleafe, or as irregular in their Morals, they muft at the fame time difcover their In- confiftency, live at variance with themfelves, and in contradiction to that Principle, on which they ground their higheft Pieafure or Entertainment. CharaS.

Vol. I. 136. For all Vice is Diforder, Confufion,

and a perpetual Difcord of Life JEJluat, £ff vita

difconvenit ordlne tote is its true Character. In

vain is the Love of Order, Proportiqj;, Symmetry, pre tended in the midft of fuch flagrant Incongruities.

the

( '5 )

the abfolute Contempt and Denunciation of them.

I know no Authority they have to fay fo, (replied Hortenfms :) there is certainly nothing in the nature of the things them- fefoes, that determines the U/e of them to 'be unlawful That it may be fo in parti cular Cafes is owing to accidental Circum- ftances j and is no more than may be faid of the beft and moil innocent things in the World. The moft improved Elegancies of Life are no more immoral in them/ehes than its cheapeji and coarfefl Accommodations. There is as little Crime in building a Pa lace to fome People, as there is to others in railing a Cottage. Painting and Gilding and other ornamental Arts are as allowable in their own nature, as the ufe of Dirt or Stones. For " what greater Immorality is <c there, as an ingenious Author exprefles it, ^ in the Work of the fineft Chizel, or the " niceft Plane, than in that of an Ax, or a " Saw * ? " Moreover, to what purpofe can we imagine the Skill and Capacity of Man kind to improve and better their Condition of Being to have been given them, if they are not at liberty to make ufe of it? In fhort, Philemon^ there can be no Argu-

* Inquiry whether a general Practice of Virtue tends to the Wealth or Poverty of a People. Se£h 3. P. 36-

ment

f i6

ment of the ahfolute Unlaivfulnefs even of what you call the Luxuries of Life, but may be urged with equal Force againft the moil ordinary Comforts, I had almoft faid the very Nccejfarics of it. For thefe can only differ in Degree, not in Kind-, and if it be allowed us to provide for the Happi- nefs of our prejent Being in a I'fs degree, it will be difficult to give a Reafon why we fhoald not do fo in a greater, even in the great eft we are capable of. I fpeak in general, and not of particular Cafes and Circumftances.

I am glad, (luid I) Hortefifius, to find you of opinion that Plea/ure and Virtue are fuch good Friends. I thought they had been always reprefentecl, as in the Grecian Fable, drawing quite different ways *. I arn fare I could mention fome Writers in Morality, who lay as great a ftrefs upon Self-denial^ as if it was indeed the very Effence of all Virtue. And yet when one coniiders the Matter clofely, one cannot but fufped: there mutt be (bine Er ror in the Account; for if Self-denial, as fitcb, have any Merit in it, the Confe-

* EVVOEJ? w rjoaxAfi?, v xr.Kix. uTroAabSfTiX E^TTEV,

xxt [J.y>x.30(,v o<Joi> £?Ti Ta? eu^^Ofruvaf y yvvn crot ziTOu. E^co (Js ^aJ»*v x«i Sp^eiay oc^ov £7rt sv$xi[AWiav otfa cf. Xen. de Mem. Soc. lib. 2.

quence

( '7 )

quence is unavoidable, that the greater Self-denial, the greater Degree of Virtue. But this is more than they themfelves will admit of; and indeed it is a Notion that leads to infinite Abjurdities.

NOT greater (faid Hortenjius) than have been affually practiced in many parts of the World upon this very Principle. The Aufterities to which People have fub- mitted upon a falfe Perfualion of Reli gion are almoft as incredible, as they are Shocking.

I could wim (faid I) we might examine a little more particularly into the Merits of this Queftion ; and inquire upon what foundation a Perfuafion fo extravagant in itfelf, and fo mifchievous in its Confe- quences to the Peace and Happinefs of Mankind, mould yet have fo commonly prevailed in the World.

AT prefent (replied tiortenjius) we are too near home to enter upon fo large a Topic. We will adjourn it, if you pleafe, till to-morrow Evening; when, if the Weather prove favourable for our walking as ufual, it may afford us no unufeful mat ter of Entertainment.

D PART

PART II.

AS ::eat a Friend as you know me to be, Hyda/f>ts> to fair Weather and Supine, believe me I never gave it a more Jbtcert welcome than upon looking out the next Morning. The greateft part of the Day we were obliged to attend fome Com pany that came in upon us. But the In terruptions of cfber Subjects could not keep my Thoughts from glancing often upon that which we had lo lately entered upon, and which was by agreement to imploy our Evening's Speculation : infomuch that I was ibmetimes, I am afraid, lefs atten tive to the general Conversation that was carrying on, than I could well juilify to mylelf in point of Good-Breeding and Ci vility. When the Afternoon was pretty far advanced, our Vifitants, who came from fome diftance, were obliged to leave us. Hortfnfius had little more than time to give lome neceflary Orders in his Family, before the Heat of the Day was enough worn off to invite us abroad in one of the moft delightful Evenings I have ever

( '9 )

I was going to remind him of the Point he had ingaged to fpeak to, when I found mvklfverv agreablv prevented bv his break-

• j **J - * •* ^_

ing into it or, his own accord in the fol lowing manner. Tbc&jlkefi of the £-

vening, (laid he) Philemon , is at all times a very coniiderable Help to lerious Reflec tion. \tjaath and compofts our Thoughts, and throws the Mind into a State of Peace and 'Tranquillity analogous to that of itfelf. But never furely can the Ad vantages of it be more csnfpicutms than in the Difquiiition we are now to enter upon concerning the general Lawfulnefe of Plea- jure j feeing it does itj'elf abound with ib many refined and exquijite E,ntertainmentz necellariiy offering themlelves to our Senje, as may in great meafure decide the Point to oar hands, and render all other Proofs fuperfluous. How charming, Phikmon^ appears the whaLi Face of Nature about us ! What an uniform Variety in thole natural Landfcapes ! what a delightful Malady in the Woods ! what an agrtable Verdure in the Meadows ! what a coding Fr*(bnejs in the Air ! what an exquijite Fragrancy in the mingled Scents of Shrubs and Flowers \ whilir, as Milton elegantly fpeaks,

gentle Gales fanning their oJsrtfinm Wings dijpenfi

D 2 Native

( 20 )

Native Perfumes^ and whifper whence they

Jtole 'Their balmy Spoils*.

Above all, Philemon , what an inimitable Scene of Beauty is now offering itfelf to our Obfervation in the View of yonder fetting Sun innobled with all that diver- fity of linely painted Clouds, which, as if defirous to continue his Prefence amongft us, feem, as it were, to retard the parting Ray, and give it back again to our Sight in thofe multiplied Reflexions, which a- dorn the Weftern Horizon! At the fame time, behold there in the Eaft the Moons more fob er Light -J- beginning to difclofe it felf! See her rijing, as the fame divine Milton has it, in clouded Majefly \\ ! And, as the Strength of Day-light gradually wears away, preparing to introduce the milder Graces to the Evening! Who can reflect on the delightful Vicijjitude, and not feel a fecret Tranfport fpringing up in his Bread, the Expreffion of a devout Gratitude to wards the beneficent Author of his Happi- neis ? But how, Philemon, does the Rap ture yet grow upon us, when, borrowing Helps from a more improved Philofophy, we confider the Glories we are now fur-

* Par. Loft, Book IV. 155.

t Mr. Pope's Epitt. of the Char, of Women, 158.

U Par. Loji. B. IV. 606, 7.

veying,

( 21 )

veying, not as confined to the little Globe of our Earth, to the Obfervation of a few retired Specu/atijh here like ourjehes ; but that a Scene of the fame kind may probably in every conceivable Moment of Duration be presenting itfelf to fome or other of the rational Inhabitants of thofe numberlefs Worlds which lie diffufed in the wide Ex- panfes of flLther \ and be entertaining the curious Speffiator of Nature in Regions of fo immenfe a Diflance from our own, that the Imagination turns giddy at the very thought of it ! For who (hall prefume to fet bounds to the Productions of infinite Power actuated by infinite Benevolence ? Who mall circumfcribe the theatre upon which an Omnipotent Goodnefe may think proper to difplay itfelf? Queftionlefs thofe Iparkling Fires which are preparing to roll over our Heads have a nobler Ufe than barely to fpangle our particular Hemifphere ; a Benefit which every pajjing Cloud can de prive us of! How much more rational

is it to confider them as the feveral Suns of different Syftems of Planets, difpenfing to them the invaluable Comforts of Light, and Heat, and refrefhing Influences ; and in particular affording them the grateful Returns of Day and Night, whofe mutual Interchanges may contribute, as they do with us, to relieve and recommend each the other ?

I

( 22 )

I am entirely of your opi-nion, (faid I) Horten/lits -, the Contemplation of Nature in rural Scenes is one of the mod delightful Entertainments that the Mind of Man is capable of. Pleafures of this kind, if they have not fo much of 'Tumult in them as the fprightlier Joys of the mif-named Volup tuous, have much more of real Satisfaction. Moreover, they leave a good Relifh he- hind them when they are part ; and, which is of much higher Confideration, are cal culated to improve, as well as entertain our Thoughts. They rejine our Spirits, and humanize our Tempers ; foften the Mind into a Forgetfulnefs of Wrath, Ma- lice^ and every turbulent and dijquieting Paflion *j give amiable Impreffions ofNa-

* What Anger, Envy, Hatred, or Revenge, can long torment his Breaft, whom not only the greatelt and nobleft Objects, but every Sand, every Pebble, every Grafs, every Earth, every Fly can divert? to •whom the return of every Seufon, every Month, e- very Day, do fuggeft a Circle of moll; pleafant Reflec tions? If the Ancients prefcribed it as a fufficient Re medy againft fuch violent Pafiions only to repeat the Alphabet over, whereby Leifure was given to the Mind to recover itfelf from any fudden Fury, then how much more effectual Medicines againft the fame Diftempers may be fetched from the whole Alphabet of Nature^ which reprefents itfelf to our Confideration in fo many infinite Volumes ! S.prafs Hift. of the Royal Soc. p. 345.

ture,

( 23 )

ture, Mankind, and a Deity * j infpire an inlargd Senfe of public Good, an exquifite Tafte of Liberty, Humanity, and private Friend/hip. They put us in ^W Humor with ourjehes, and with the general Scheme and Conftitution of things -(-.

OF all natural Speculations (refum'd Hortenjius) there is none more calculated to refine and humanize the Mind, to give

* Thofe who have a Relifh of the Beauties of Na ture feem to converfe, as it were, with Deity in its kindej} and moft ingaging Appearances ; not fo much in the Majejly of Omnipotence, as in the Mild- nefs of Love and Benignity.

•f- 'Tis obfervable, we are never fo well inclined to wards other People, as when we are mofl in humor with ourfelves. In refpecl of this happy Frame of Mind, the Man of polite Imagination has great Ad vantages. He injoys a much larger Range of innocent Pleafures than lies within the ordinary Compafs, He has Satisfactions of the moft exquiiite kind, with which the Vulgar, great and fmall, are wholly unacquainted. He looks upon the World, as it v/ere, in ano ther Light, and difcovers in it a multitude of Charms, that conceal themfelves from the Generality of Man kind. Speff. Vol. VI. N°. 411. If we caft an

eye on all the Tempefts which arife within our Breafts, we {hall find that they are chiefly produc'd by Idlene(s. Whatever mail be able to bufy the Minds of Men with a conftant Courfe of innocent Amufements, or to fill them with as vigorous and pleafant Images, as thofe ill Impreflions by which they are deluded, it will certainly have a furer eftecT: in the compofmg and purifying of their Thoughts, than all the rigid Pre cepts of the Stoical, or the empty Diftin&ions of the Peripatetic Moraliits. Sprat's Hift. R. S. 343.

it

( 24 )

it an inlarged and liberal Senfe of Things^ than the Theory of the heavenly Bodies, as it is opened to us by the modern Philo- fophy *. How does it beat down the little Pride of Conqueji, the Triumphs of Ambition, the Glories of Empire, tho' we were Matters of them to a far greater de gree than ever fell within the compafs of any human Prowefs, to confider, that not this or that particular Spot or Country only, but the whole Earth itfelf, the mofl ex tended Scene of fublunary Greatnefs that even the Wantonnefs of Imagination can figure to us, is no more than a Jingle Point in the Immenfity of the Univerfe "J- ! And that an Alexander, or a Cafar, after all the

* What room can there be for low and little things in a Mind fo nobly imployed ? What ambitious Dif- quiets can torment that Man, who has fo much Glory before him ? Sprat's Hift. 345.

f We are told by Plutarch that it had this Effect upon Alexander^ when he heard the Philofopher rea- foning concerning a Plurality of Worlds.

MWTWVTWV o, rt TrlTTOvw, oux ajov f(rj

it 3tOT(U£OV OVTWU aTTflflOJUj Iv^1 O'J^fTTW KU^lOt

De An. tranq. p. 466.

His Conduft upon this Occafion is well expofed by the Satirift -

Units Pellieo juveni non fufficit orbh .' MJiuat infelix angujti limite mundi, Ut Gyara daufus jcopulis^ parvaque Seripho. - And the Reflection he makes upon it is very moral und judicious. Juv. Sat. X. lib. 4. 168.

t*

fine

fine things that are faid of them by Poets and Htftorians, the one with all Greece at his Devotion, and the other, as Mr. Pope fomewhere excellently paints him, with a "Roman Senate at bis heels , in all the Pageantry of Victory, the Exultation of flattered Succefs, might yet appear to the Eye of juperior Intelligences as really low and tittle, with regard to the fcope of their Ambition ; as if, like Children, they had been all the while laying out them- felves in purfuit of a rich Plume of Fea thers, or inamoured of the Mufic of a Raffle* ! Alas that being full as idly im- ployed, they mould not have been likewife as innocently Jo -j- !

BUT

* The Poet thought he had fufficiently reproached this Hero-Madnefs, when he upbraidingly addrefled himfelf to one of great Chara&er that way in this very

fevere Sarcafm ' —

I demens, & favas curre per Alpeis

Ut pueris placeas, & declamatio fias. Ibid. 1 66.

•f- This thought is finely touched by Seneca in his

firft Book de dementia, Quod iftud, Dii boni,

malum eft, occidere, faevire, deleclari fono catenarum, & civium capita decidere, quocumque ventum eft multum fanguinis fundere, afpeclu fuo terrere, ac fu- gare? quae alia vita eflet, fi leones urfique regnarent? fi ferpentibus in nos, & noxiofiflimo cuique animali daretur poteftas ? ilia rationis expertia, & a nobis immanitatis crimine damnata, abftinent fuis; & tuta eft etiam inter feras fimilitudo : horum ne a necefla- riis quidem rabies temperat fibi, fed externa, fuaque in sequo habet, quo poflit, exercitatior a finguloram cae- dibus, deinde in exitia gentium ferpere. jiullum orna- E mentum

( 26 )

BUT not to infift, Philemon, upon the many excellentMoralities to which Thoughts of this nature evidently lead us, (tho' this, it mufl be owned, is no inconfiderable fupport of our main Principle, by repre- fenting to us fome of the nobleft Satisfac tions of Life, as connected with the high- eft moral Improvements of it * ) let us con-

iider

mentum Principis faftigio dignius pulchriufque eft, quam ilia corona ob cives fervatos. Non hoftilia arma detra&u vidtis ; non currus barbarorum fanguine cru- enti ; non parta bello fpolia. Haec divina potentia eft, gregatim ac publice fervare : multos autem occidere, & indifcretos, incendii, ac ruinas potentia eft. Sen. de dementia Lib. I. ap. finem A very good mo dern Author has adopted this humane Sentiment, and

given it a very beautiful Turn thus

The Grecian Chief \ Enthufiaji of his Pride^ With Rage and Terror Jl diking by his fide , Raves round the Globe ; he foars into a God! Stand faji Olympus, andfujlain his Nod. The Peji divine in horrid Grandeur reigns^ And thrives on Mankind's Miseries and Pains. And cannot thrice ten hundred Years unpraife The boijfrous Boy, and blajl his guilty Bays f Wliy want we then Encomiums on the Storm9 Or Famine, or Volcano ? they perform Their mighty Deeds ; they Hero like can Jlay, Andfyread their ample Dcfarts in a Day.

Univ. Paflion, Sat. VII. p. 163, 4. * The Antients plainly had this Notion of natural Contemplations, and confider them as having a moral Ufe and Tendency. So Tully tells us, that the Order and Regularity of external Nature is intended as a Model for the Imitation of Mankind in their private particular Syftem. Jpfe autem Homo ortus eft

ad

iider the Conftitution of Things in its more obvious Appearance, merely as a na tural Foundation of Pka/itre to us. A Man mufl have loft his very S:n/es, and become a piece of uninformed Mechanifm, before he can behold the chcarful Face of Nature with Coldnefs and Indifferency. No fooner does he open his Eyes, but numberlefs gay Scenes immediately difplay themfelves to his view ; the various Forms, the Arrangements, the Colourings of fur- rounding Objects inftantly ftrike his At tention j and all Nature appears to him, as was faid of the Author of it, in perfect Beauty *. Whilft his Hearing continues unimpaired, he will be often very agreably entertained with grateful Sounds in the natural Mufic of Birds, the Fannings of Woods, the Purling of Streams, or the Falls of Water. In Ipight of the mofl fullen Sanftity, which would deprive him

ad mundum contemplandion & imltandum. De Nat. Deorum. Lib. II. p. 142, 3. ed. Dav. - Parallel to that Paflage in his Treatife de Scncffute — Credo Decs immor tales fparfifle animos in corpora humana, ut oflent, qui cseleftium ordinem contemplantes, imlta- rentur eum vitse modo atque conjlantia — ed. Grecv. p. 448. 21. To the fame purpofe M.. Antoninus advifes,

TV ^a,«ai f3»». Lib. 8. 47. Ibid. Lib. n. 27. * Pfalm. 50. i.

E 2 of

28 )

of the innocent Comforts of his Being, he will be fometimes unavoidably refrelhed with cooling Breezes, or cheared with de licious Odours. The Benefits of Light, and Sunmine, healthful Air, anil kindly Seafons, mud force many vetyfefifibk Sa- thfaStions upon him, whether he will or not -, and by a merciful Violence often con- ftrain him to be happy *. Even the ap pointed means of preferring Life itlelf muft let in upon him many comfortable Senfa- tions; nor can he fatisfy the necelTary De mands of his animal Nature, without a Confiderable Indulgence and Gratification of it -j-. So largely has an all-bountiful Cre ator

* Non dat Dens beneficia. Unde ergo ifta quaa poflides ? quse das ? quas negas ? quse fervas ? quae ra-» pis? unde hsec innumerabilia, oculos, aureis, animum

mulcentia ? Si domus tibi donetur, in qua mar-

moris aliquid refplendeat, & tedtum nitidius auro aut coloribus Tparfum, non mediocre munus vocabis : \\\-. gens tibi domicilium, fine ullo incendii aut ruinae metu, ilruxit, in quo vides non tenues cruftas, fed integras lapidis pretiofiffimi moles, fed totas variae diftin6taeque materiae, cujus tu parvula frufta miraris; tedtum vero aiiter nocte, aliter interdiu fulgens. Sen. de Ben.

Lib. 4. cap. 5. 6. It is very manifeft, that the

Author of Nature is fo far from forbidding us Enter tainments, that he has put it out of our power not to enjoy them in great plenty and variety, by making almoft every thing about us fo gay and delightful. Campbell APETH-^AOFIA, p. no. and elfewhere.— Spe£t Vol. 5. N°. 387. 393.

•f Unde ilia luxuriam quoque inftruens copia ? ne- que enim iieccilitatibus tantumaiodo noltris provifum

eft;

ator provided for the Happinefs and Good of every jenfiti've Being, that no Efforts of moroje andpeeyifo Virtue can entirely over rule the Benevo/enf Conftitution of Nature, but even the moft ingenious Artificers of their own Mifery (hall be often unavoidably difappointed *.

eft : ufque in delicias amamur, tot arbufta, non uno mode frugifera, tot herbae falutares, tot varietates ci- borum per totum annum digeftas, ut inerti quoque fortuita terrae alimenta praeberent. Jam animalia omnis generis - ut omnis rerum naturae pars tributum a- liquod nobis conferret — unde ifta palatum tuum fapo- ribus exquifitis ultra fatietatem laceffentia ? unde haec irritamenta jam laffe voluptatis r Sen. ubi fupra. - Neverthelefs the fenfual Pleafures of Tafte are the leaft part of that Happinefs to which our Appeiitu; of Hunger and Thirft are intended to lead us. They are the Foundation of many focial Exercifes, and mo ral Entertainments. Cb 'yy-P w? otFyetov r,x.n xo/xj^wy £W7rA>i(r«t TTOO? TO $znrwu o uxy E^COV, aAAai xzi

,o3,y.y,Asi T

o-sc-S-at. Plut. con. fept. Sap. 147. - O -xw icyov STI T» Aswjtra ^xtS-ii KXI on;!^, aAA* r-j

CtUX. TKTWV (ptAo^^OT'JVTJV, V.y.\ 7TO$OVj K%i 0[Al-

cxt iTVlH&SKitV TTooq aAA>iAKf. ibid. 156. As a Proof of this, could any Man be pleafed with a Company of Statues furrounding his Table fo artfullv contrived as to confume his various Courfes, and in- fpired by fome Servant, like fo many Puppets, to give the ufual trifling Returns in praife of their Fare? /«- quiry into Orig. &c. p. 236.

* This Profufion of the fineft Delights fpread all over the Heavens and the Earth can never be counted vicious or criminal, fince the Author of Nature has made it plainly inevitable. APETH- AOTIA, p. no.

ONE

(30)

ONE would think, (interpofed I) Hor- fiuSy that Happinejs was not fo very un inviting a Form,, that Men fhould need to be thus over-ruled, as it were, to imbrace it. Yet fuch is the perverfe Blind nefs of Superftition, that it even takes a Merit to itfejf in rejecting, as far as may be, the of fered Goody and throwing back the Favours of indulgent Heaven upon its hands as not worth acceptance. A ftrange way of re commending itfelf to the Deity , by right ing as it were continually againft him * ! Whilft, as you rightly have obferved, if there be any Meaning in natural Language, the whole Voice of things univerfally re~ claims to the prepofterous Devotion.

WE may imagine (replied he) that the kind Author of the Univerfe, forefeeing what uncouth Pains fome gloomy Spirits would take to bring Mifery upon them- felves under a fond Perfuafion of doing him fervice by it, has, in pity to their de luded Apprebenfions, constituted almofl

* Superftitio error infanus eft : amandos timet, quqs colit, violat. Sen. Epift. 123. ap. finem. For what elfe is it but to affront and injure the Deity, for the Super flit ious to imagine, as Plutarch fpeaks, fceCs^OT TO TroiTpixov j x«t ^AaSscov

De Super. 167.

every

(3' )

every thing about us a necefiary Source of Pleafure to the human Breaft, on purpofe in fome degree to counterbalance the Effects of fuch unnatural Perverfenefs : infomuch that a Man muft throw up his very Being it- felf, who would intirely exclude everyjoyous fenfation. And thus does the Afcetic-Prm- ciple at laft defeat its own ends -, fince it can no otherwife fill up the Meafure of our Mortification, than by depriving us of the very Capacity of it. The fame extravagant Self-denial that gives t\\e final Stroke to our Happinefs, by a fortunate Inconfiftence with itfelf, determining our Virtue like- wife.

BUT we are by no means got to the bottom of this Argument. Hitherto we have dwelt only on the Surface or Outfide of things. If we defcend a little into the Philofophy of thofe feveral delightful Per ceptions which Nature fo liberally admi- nifters to us, we mall difcover a more exquifite Apparatus in the O economy of our fenfible Pleafures than is generally, I believe, apprehended. There is no one of our Senfes that affords us fo large a Variety of pleafing Ideas as our Sight. 'Tis to this we are indebted for all that abundant Pro- fufion of natural Beauty that adorns the whole vifible Creation. Now what are the feveral Colourings of outward Objects,

thofe

( 32 )

thofe magnificent Shews and Apparitions that on all hands prefent themfelves to our View ; thofe Lights and Shades of Nature's Pencil, that fo agreably diverjjfy the gene ral Face of the Univerfe? what, I fay, are they, Philemon^ but a fet of arbitrary Mo difications of the perceiving Mind, to which the feveral Objects themjehes have not the leaft Re/emblance* * For what Agreement is -there in the nature of the thing between a certain particular Bulk, Figure, or Mo tion of the infenfible parts of external Matter, the only real Qualities of the fe veral vilible Bodies that fo varioufly enter tain our Sight, and our Ideas of Light and Colours? and yet what a joylefs and un comfortable Figure would thefe things make to us, if we faw them in their naked a.nd philofophic Realities ! What a large field of Pleafure and Admiration would be loft to us, were all the majlerly Touches of na tural Painting, the variegated Scenery of Heaven and Earth, at once to difappear, and an undijlinguifoed Blot to overfpread the univerjal Syftem ! To what purpofe then fuch a prodigal Expence of Art and Ornament in the Furniture of this ftupen- dous Theatre of Nature, but to charm the ravijhed Senfe of the intended Spectator by

* See Locke $ EfTay con. Hum. Und. chap. 8.

the

(33)

the profpect of thefe imaginary Glories * ? We may purfue this Speculation yet far ther The Perceptions of our Tafte and

Smell, the Ideas of Sounds, from which are derived all the inchanting Powers of Harmony, an Entertainment which fome have thought worthy of Heaven itfelf, the Senfations of Heat and Cold, and divers o- ther Affections of our Touch, are quite o- ther things in our Minds from what they are in the feveral exciting Objects. Provi dence, as if the real Qualities of Bodies were toofcanty a Foundation of Pleafure to the human Senfe, has fuperadded to to them many imaginary Properties and Powers of affecting us, in order to inlarge the Sphere of our Bleffings, and in a more eminent Degree to indear to us the Relifh of our prefent Being -f-.

T o take the matter,.- Philemon, in a dif ferent light, it is obfervable that fome of

the greateft Beauties of Nature are at the fame time the greateft Benefits of it. Fruits which are moft agreabk to the Eye, are often the pleajante/i to the Tafte likewife. There is nothing that affords a greater

* Speft. Vol. 6. N°. 413. Our Souls are at prefent delightfully loft and bewilder'd in a pleafing Delufion, and we walk about like the Hero of a Romance. Alfo NQ. 387. Vol. 5.

f Lock, Sptft. as before.

F

( 34)

fupply of Comforts to human Life than the Improvements of Agriculture j and at the fame time there is not a finer piece of Landfcape than the View of & fertile Coun try richly diver/iff d with the feveral Pro- duels of natural Grain ; whofe agreable Waving* add Novelty to their other Charms, and entertain us no lefs with the Variety of the Scene, than with the inimitable Beauty of it. The feveral kinds of Plantation are at once ujeful and entertaining to the Owners of them. They not only throw a Mans whole Eftate into a Garden, as the Spectator fpeaks, but by a happy Union of the agreable and beneficial improve his foffeffions, as well as his Projpetf. Who fees not, as the fame Author, I remember, goes on, that a Mountain Jhaded with Oaks, or a Marjh overgrown with Wil lows, are both more advantageous and more beautiful^ than either of them in their un cultivated State * ?

AND yet (I could not avoid interrupt ing) Hortenjius, fo careful has the great Difpofer of things been that no part of his Works mould pafs unrecommended to us, that even the feeming WildneJJes and Im- perfections of Nature, as Marfhes, Defarts, Rocks, Precipices, are not withouf their

. Vol. 6. N°. 414.

Charms $

( 35 )

Charms ; they entertain us with their No velty, and Magnificence at leaft, if not Xvith their Beauty *. And moreover they may be conlidered as Foils to the more graceful parts -, or as Di/cords happily in* terfperfed in the Compofition of things, to render the general Harmony of Nature more exquifite and inchanting.

IT may be added, (returned he) that not only Irregularities and Jeeming Imper* feffiions, but even Horrors themfelves, when Reafon or Experience has removed the firfl Impreflions of our Fear, are no fmall Foundation of Pleafure to us : as Fire± Rui?is, Hurricanes, a Jiormy Sky, a trou bled Ocean, a wild Bea/i in chains, or a dead Monfter -f- : either from the natural Magnificence, or Novelty of the Objects that excite them, as in the laft Article ; or from the agreable Contemplation of our own perfonal Safety ; whilft they are con- fidered by us as at once dreadful and harm-

* Sptff. Vol. 6. 412. 5. 387. •f- Hutch. Inquiry, p. 72.

\\{Spetf. Vol. 6. Nc. 418. Lucretius was well ac quainted with this Source of Pleafure, as may be feen in his fecond Book :

Suave marl magno, turbantibus aquora ventis, E terra alter lus magnum fyett are laborem: Non qula vexari quemquam eft jucunda voluptas, Sedj quibus Ipfe mails (areas, quia (ernerefuave eft.

Lib. II. i.

F 2 WHAT

( 36 )

WHAT an amiable Scene of things, (faid I) do thefe Reflections open to our View ! thofe parts of Nature which are more im mediately adapted to our Entertainment or our U/e, are as common* as they are benefi cial. The feeming Deviations from either, (befides that it is probable they have a raz/, tho' more remote Connection with both) are not only few, and extraordinary^ but moreover this very Circumftance of their be- ingyp, by gratifying our Tafte of Novelty, gives them a fort of relative Agreablenefs.

IF the feeming Imperfections of exter nal Nature (refumed Hortenfius) are thus beautifully inftrumental to our greater Plea- fure, much more may this be faid of thofe of our own private and perjbnal Syftem, the Imperfections of our Senjes and Powers of Perception. It has been often, and very juflly, obferved by Writers in behalf of a Providence, that a more improved State of our bodily Organs would in the prefent Situation of things not only deprive us of feveral Advantages we are now poffeffed of, but convert fome of our greatefl Pleajures into the moft exquiiite Torments. Whilft, as it is admirably reprefented by the in comparable Author of the Eilay on Man, were our feeling increafed to a more delicate Senfe, we mould only become

tremblingly

C 37 )

tremblingly alive all o'er, To fmart and agonize at ev'ry Pore. Or quick Effluvia darting thro' the Brain, Die of a Roje in aromatic Pain *.

What a delightful and entertaining Scene, Philemon, is even now difplaying itfelf to our Obfervation, in this fpacious Canopy of Heaven inriched with an Infinity of foining Orbs that fhed their benign In fluences upon our heads, and make Night aufpicious! and yet we are indebted for all this beautiful Reprefentation of things to the Imperfection of our Sight in difcerning Diftances. How elfe could we delude ourfelves with imagining the feveral Bodies that compofe it, Bodies of fuch infinitely varied Magnitudes, and Diftances from each other, to be as fo many lucid Points in the Circumference of a great concave Sphere -j- ? But however we are deceived

* Pope's Eflay on Man, I. 189. How, fays an e- minent Writer, could we fuftain the PrefTure of our very Clothes in fuch a Condition ; much lefs carry Burthens and provide for Conveniences of Life ? we could not bear the AfTault of an Infect, or a Feather, or a Puff of Air without Pain. There are Examples now of wounded Perfons, that have roared for An- guim and Torment at the Difcharge of Ordnance, tho' at a very great diftance : what infupportable Tor ture then fhould we be under upon a like Concuffiou in the Air, when all the whole Body would have the Tendernefs of a Wound ? Bent/ey's Boyle $ Led. Serm 3. p. 99.

f Hutch, Inquir. p. 20,

by

( 38 )

by this Appearance, 'tis a Deception great ly in our favour -, and whoever fhould in- large the Sphere of our Vifion, would lefTen that of our Entertainment *.

To

* This Obfervation may be carried much farther ; 'tis to the Imperfection of our Sight that a great deal of that Beauty we difcern in outward Objects is ow ing. If our Eye was fo acute as to rival the fineft Microfcopes, it would make every thing appear rugged and deformed : the moft finely polifhed Cryftal would be uneven and rough ; the Sight of our own felves would affright us. Bent. p. 97. — So likewife was our Hear ing increafed proportionably, every Breath of Wind would incommode us : we mould have no Sleep in the filenteft Nights and moft folitary Places : we muft in evitably beftruck deaf or dead with theNoife of a Clap of Thunder. Bent. p. 98. — Nay the Author of the excellent Effay goes yet farther, and fays of Man, If Nature thunder' d in his opening Ears, Andftunrid him with the Mufjc of the Spheres^ How would he wijh that Heav'n had left him ftill The whifp'ring Zephyr, and the purling Rill?

I. 194.

There is a very material Ufe of the prefent Conftitu- tion of our Senfes yet behind. Had we a microfcopic Eye, we could not fee at one view above the Space of an Inch, and it would take a confiderable time to furvey the mountainous Bulk of our own Bodies. Bent. p. 97. We mould be literally, what a ludi crous Author makes his fabulous Voyager to have ap peared to the Inhabitants of a certain Ifland, to our- felves and one another, fo many Men-Mountains. We might infpeff a Mite with great Curiofity, but could neither comprehend the Heavens^ nor any other Obje6ts of our prefent Sight. Or if our Hearing were more exquifite, what Confufion and Inconvenience would it introduce into civil Life ? Whifpers might then be as juftly criminal, as they have been made fo

bv

( 39 )

T o pafs on to another Topic.—— We have already, Philemon , confidered the Love of Novelty as it is calculated to give pleafure to certain Objects, that have other- wife little or none in themfelves * > let u^ inquire next how it feems to affect fuch as confefledly have the greateft. JTis a well- known Truth, that the Eye is not fatisfied with feeing, nor the Ear with hearing •f-. Pofleffion foon cloys and fatigues the Senfe, and Change is a neceflary Requifite to laft- ing Satisfaction, Nay fo intoxicated are we often with this fickle Pallion, as to give up a greater good in purchafe of a left, meerly becaufe it is an untried one. In the mean while, however we may per vert the Paffion to our detriment in par ticular Inftances, the general Ufe and De- iign of it is remarkably beneficial to us. Providence, having made every thing in feme way or other the means of Good to Man, forbids him to dwell long upon the Jame Ohje&s, in order that he may more •fully experiment this comfortable T^ruth^ and by different Applications tafle the •va ried Good that is fo liberally provided for him.

by fome mercilefs Tyrants. — What Affairs that moil require it, could be tranfa&ed with Secrecy ? Bent, Pope-t as before.

* Spe£l. Vol. 6. N°. 412.

f Ecclef. ch. I. v. 8.

You

(40)

You was hinting, (faid I) Hortenfius, fome time ago at the fingular Kindnefs of our Creator in annexing a fenfible Delight, Refrefhment, and Complacency, to the Ufe of thofe ordinary Means of Subfiftence, by which particular and individual Life is appointed to be fuftained. The Obferva- tion is yet more eminently true of thofe more myfterious ones by which is provided for the Continuance and Propagation of the Species of Mankind. Nature has given a very high Relim of Pleafure to the Con currence of the Sexes, in order, no doubt, to counterbalance the unavoidable Incon veniences of Marriage ; to fweeten the Pangs of Child-birth, to recommend the Fatigues of domeftic Concerns, of the Care of Offspring, of the Education and Settle ment of a Family ; and moreover to be the Foundation, and the Cement of thofe num- berlefs tender Sympathies, mutual Indear- ments, and Reciprocations of Love be tween the married Parties themfehesy which make up not the Morality only, but even the chief Happinefs of Conjugal Life * j and at the Envy of which, in fo remarkable an Exemplification of it, as the Condition of the firft Parents of Mankind is reprefented to have been by the tender and paffionate Milton, 'tis no wonder their great Enemy

* Hutch. Inquir. 256, 257.

fhould

( 4* )

ftiould turn afide from beholding their mu tual CarefTes, as unable to indure the Pain of his malicious Refentment at fachjupe- rior Delicacy of Injoyment.

Afide the Devil turiid

For E?2vy, yet with jealous leer malign Efd them ajkance *.

An Image of fuch exquifite Force and Beauty this, that the fondell Lovers of Antiquity may be challeng'd to produce its Parallel in the moil approved Writers of any Age or Country !

AND yet, Philemon^ (replied he) as care ful as our Creator has been to keep off any unjuft Stain from an Inilitution fo wifely adapted to all the Purpofes of human Condition, and which draws us no lefs forcibly by the Charm of the higheft moral, than fenfible Pleafures, he has not been able to fcreen it from the Reproaches and Ca lumnies of fuperftitious and enthufiaftic Zealots in all Ages, who have done their utmoft to depreciate Marriage as a low and carnal State, unworthy the pious He- roifm of thole refined Spirits, who fcorn- ing to act their part well as mere Meny af- pire to the Life of Angels; and renouncing the dull zn&fottijh Pleafures of Senfe, af- fecl: a more acceptable Obedience to Heaven

f Milton's Par. Loft. B. IV, 1. 502.

G in

( 42 )

in imaginary Exercifes of greater Purity. and Perfection *.

OUR

* This Notion feems to have been pretty general amongft the earlieft Chriftian Writers : at leaft this is the moft favorable Conftru6lion one can put upon many of their very harfh Expreffions upon this Sub ject. Thus Juftin Martyr calls Marriage rov $i err&v- pizc &wtj.Gv ytzuov. Spicileg. Tom. 2. p. 180. And again tells us, xzi o Kvpj^ ?i r.pw I/KTK?

Ji aAAo Tl SK TraS-fVJ* rrrS-TI aAA' MX

vjj? owotrov suzi rw 0.:uj rriv ay Ibid. p. 180, 181. & alibi. - Irentsus fpeaking of the Law of Divorce amongft the Jews as a matter indulged them, becaufe of the fiardnejS of their Hearts, not limply right in itfelf, confiders Marriage under the new Teftament in the fame light. - Et quid dicimus de Veteri Teftamento haec ? quandoqui- dem & in novc Apoftoli hoc idem facientes invenian- tur propter praedicl:am caufam, flatim dicente Paulo ; btfc autem ego dico, ncn Dorpinus. Et iterum. hoc au- tem dicofecundum indulgenham, nonfecundum pr&ceptum ? Lib. 4. cap. 15. (vulg. 29.) to the fame purpofe A- ihenagoras. To £v wap^fvja Y.OU tu £uv»^ia [AUVZI px'A- Xou 7n-apjf-»J(rt TU 0;co. Legat. Cap. 29. ed. Qxon. Methodius in his Banquet of Virgins finds this Senti ment in the very Word which in Greek fignifies Vir ginity (Trap&tvia) by a very flight Alteration ; as does 'Jerom afterwards in the Latin Word c celeb 3. - Cce- libes (fays he) unde & ipfum nomen inditum eft, quod coelo digni fmt, qui coitu careant. Hieron. Op. Tom. 4. p. 228. ed. Par. both probably with equal Authority, that of their own extravagant Fancy only. • - Of the fame Opinion was T'ertidllan. Nihil tale Paulus indulfit, (fays he) qui totam carnis neceffita- tem de probis etiam titulis obliterare conatur. indulget nuptias, parcit fane matrimon'iis. ' hoc ei fupererat,

carnem

( 43 )

OUR Poet, (faid I) than whom no one feems to have had a tenderer fenfe of the more improved Felicities of wedded Love, has painted, I remember, thefe fantaftic Refiners in their proper Colours in . the following Lines of the fame incomparable Poem •

-Hypocrites aufterely talk

»/ J. *S »'

Of Purity, and Place ', and Innocence ', Defamifig as impure, what God declares Pure, and commands tofome, leaves free to all. Our Maker bids increaje — who bids abftain,

But our Deftroyer Foe to God, and Man ?

Hail wedded Love

Founded in Re a/on, loyal, jujl, and pure, Far be it, that IJhould write thee Sin, or

blame !

Or think thee unbefitting holiejl Place, Perpetual Fountain of dome/lie Sweets * /

VERY different (returned he) was the Opinion of fome grave Fathers of the Church, who were for banifliing the Rites

carnem vel a fordibus purgare, a maculis enim non po- teft. De Pud. 568, 569. ed. Load in 1689. The Diftinction, it muft be owned, is fomewhat nice, but the comfort is, 'tis Tertullians Diftin6lion, and not St. PauFs. The falfc Reafonings, as well as grofs Mifapplications of Scripture, to be met with in the generality of the Fathers upon this Article, are end- kfs. * Milton's Par. Loft. B. IV. 744,

G 2 myfterious

( 44 )

myfterious of connubial Love*9 as our Au thor calls them, from the State of primi tive Innocence -j~ ; and fuppofe, that if Man had preferved the original Perfection of his Nature, Providence would have found out fome purer way of propagating the Species than hy the grofs Senje of Touch \\ ; a Happinefs vouchsafed to the Brute Cre-

* Par. L. B. IV. 742.

•f So St. Bajil. Et Jit jw») ?x •nrapjpJ'S xat XOC.TCX, TOV

T»IV

8XW/w<rtv T» TH-apa^tio-y, TOTE TTIU De vera Virginitate. p. 771. ed. Par. Of the fame Opinion was St. John Chryfoftom.

o a^u., »x au fntrs TXTJ<. xat at TO<rauT«j jtAUpiajff fywovro ; — EJTE

»X fW AfEiV. TO a

5/n? av3-pw7r«?. D^ ^?r£. p. 331. ed. Par. vid. & p. 328. So St. Jerom writing to Eujiochtwn, Eva in Paradifo virgo fuit: poft pelliceas tunicas initium fumpfif nup- tiarum. p. 35. And in his firft Book againft Jovi- 'n'tan. Ac de Adam quidem & Eva illud dicendum, quod ante offenfam in Paradifo virgines fuerint ; poft peccatum autem, & extra Paradifum, protinus nup- tiae. Lib. I. p. 160. If this Father ever commends Marriage 'tis upon this very indirect view of it. Laudo nuptias, laudo conjugium, fed quia mihi virgi nes generant. (Epift. ad Eujl. ub. fup.) lego de fpinis rofam, de terra aurum, de concha margaritam. || Milton, B. VIII. 579.

3 ation,

C 45 )

ation, in common with ourfelves, as a Mark of its pretended Unwofihinefs ; where as the Angels, a nobler Clafs of Beings, and to whom it is faid we are one day to be equal, are reprefented to us neither to marry y nor be given in Marriage * j as an inftance of their fuperior Perfection and Dignity.

ADMITTING it to be fo, (interpofed I) I fee no Merit in our afpiring to be as the Angeh before our time ; 'tis rather a Defer- tion of our proper Poft and Duties, and a kind of breaking in upon the natural Order of things -j-.

THAT (returned Hortenfius) is the ob vious Tendency of all fuch fanciful Re-

* Mai. 9. 30. Luk. 20. 36. f This {hews the Weaknefs of St. Eafd'^ Reafoning upon this Point. E* ^ap sv -r/i avxTcta-H «re ycn^.v^t XTE iya,[Ai(^MTa^ aAA et<ny w? a^fsAoj, xai ci rr,v Tr^p- «y a<rx»VT£f af^Aci f«rtv, su £u(p3-aproi? crap^i TOV av3"pw7rwv Sjoy iD'£p»7roA»VTEf. xai afyiXoi ovx ct-

aveu (rapxojy xara roy oupauov TTIV a'ap-rtay, T&TTCJ

<riAei r *)Jbweif

TW inroj?iT>i

-. p. 767. And yet this is a very com mon Topic amongft the Fathers in commendation of Virginity, that, quod alii poftea in ccelis futuri funt, hoc virgines in terra efle cceperunt. S. Hier. adv. Jw.Lib. I. 178.

finements.

( 4-6 )

finements. They remove us out of our appointed Province, and put us into a dif ferent Clajs of Being from that which God and Nature have defigned us for. And where can be the Excellence of thus in truding ourfelves into a Character that does not belong to us ? In reality, Philemon^ I fee not how it can be faid to be a Perfec tion in Angels to live above thofe Injoyments of Senje for which they have neither Ca pacity ', nor Inclination: at the moft, it is rather a Privilege or Confequence of their incorporeal Nature, than any meritorious Act of their Will *. Certainly however it

cannot

* For that the Angels py T«I, St. Chryfoftom gives a very fufficient Reafon, (ais different as his Application of it may be) when he adds that an EKH GVfji.'n-sTrXs'y^syoi votpxi xat

. DeFirg. p. 322. Tho' indeed to reconcile this with the Sentiments of another more antient Fa ther I cannot fo well undertake, who explains a Paf- iage in the fourth Chapter of Genefis, and another in St? Paul's Epiftle to the Corinthians, of Angels enter taining a Pafiion for Women. Si mulier, fays Ter- tullian, poteftatem habere fuper caput debet, ( I Cor. n. v. 10.) vel eo juftius virgo, ad quam pertinet quod in causa eft. ft enifn propter arigelos, fcilicet quos legimus a Deo & ccelo excidifle ob concupifcentiam fee- minarum ; quisprasfumerepoteft tales angelos, maculata jam corpora, & humanse libidinis reliquias defideraffe, ut non ad virgines potius exarferint, quarum_^w etiam humanam libidinem excufat? nam & fcriptura fie fug- gerit, &c. Tertutt. de Virgin, veland. 177. The Fa ther, we fee, has a very refined Notion of angelical

In-

( 47 )

cannot be fuch in Man to forego any of thofe natural Pleafures which his Creator has marked out for him in the very Con dition of his Being, as proper Means of his prefent Happinefs ; and accordingly has made his Duty to confifl not in the Re nunciation of his Senfes, but in the regular life and good Government of them. 'Tis the Excellence of any Being not to foar above its natural Sphere, but to act well and wifely within it. Human Perfection is the Perfection of a Man, and not that of an Angel. Had Men fufficiently at tended to this plain and obvious Diftinction, what a Multitude of illiberal Superftitions, and uncouth Practices in Religion, had ne ver been heard of? but the quite contrary Notion has generally prevailed where Re ligion has been any part of Men's Concern; and accordingly the World has been pretty much divided between fuch as have had too much Religion, and fuch as have had none at all* ; the latter of thefe Charac ters being indeed a natural Confequence of

Intriguing. Serioufly, I know not whether it be more abfurd, thus to bring down the Angels to the level of human PafKons, or to affect to exalt the human Na ture into the State and Condition of Angels : both, I am fure, are without the leaft Foundation either in Reafon or Scripture. But Fathers are net always the beft Friends to either of thefe.

* It was the juft Complaint of Plir.y in his time, aliis nullus eft deorum refpectus, aliis pudendus. Nat. Hifl. Lib, III. cap. 7.

the

(48 )

the former * : for whatever an over-for ward Zeal may fuggeft to People of more Piety than Under/landing, all Attempts to raife any part of Duty too high are in effect fettino- the whole much too low,

o

whilft by indeavouring to fetter Men with too great Reftraints, we only provoke them to throw off all-, and fly to abfolute Irreligion, as the only Security againft the Incroachments of Bigotry.

THE Exchange ({aid I) is very ram and unwarrantable. Neverthelefs, fuch are the Abfurdities of fome religious Syftems, that one cannot wonder that a ftrong Difguft to thefe mould fometimes tranfport Men of freer Spirits too far, whilft by a hafty Affociation of Religion itfelf with their own nurfery Prejudices concerning it, they are led to difcard both at the fame timer]-. Upon

any

* 'H Js &i0>i&ijuovi& rr, aS-so-rnr; y.xi 'yevstr&oti Trot,-

ay. Plut.de Sup. p. 171.

f Whilft fome Opinions and Rites (fays an excel lent Writer of our own) are carried to fuch an im moderate Height, as expofes the Abfurdity of them to the view of every body but them who raife them, not only Gentlemen of the Belles Lettres, but even Men of common Senfe, many times fee thro' them ; and then out of Indignation, and an exceflive reni- tence, not feparating that which is true from that which is falfe, they come to cbny both, and fall back

into

(49 )

any other Hypothecs it feems difficult to account for fome men's irreconcileable En mity to Religion, whofe natural Difpofi- tions are fuch as might incourage one to hope much better things from them. But the miftaking Reverje of wrong for right is a very common Deceit; and Men have need of great Caution and Sobriety of thinking to keep clear of it.

For what tojhun will no great Knowledge

needt But what to follow, is a Tajk indeed *,

'Tis this (returned Hortenjius) that is the very Delufion of thofe Refiners we were fpeaking of. Becaufe they are not left at liberty to purfue all the Extrava gancies of their natural Appetites, therefore they will not allow of any innocent Gra tifications of them: as if there was no middle way between Voluptuoujnefe and In- fenfibility \ and a Man muft either renounce his animal Nature, or be a Slave to it. What is this, Philemon, but to miftake re- ver/e of wrong for right in the moft glaring inftance ? and for fear of degenerating into Brutes, to difdain to act in Character as Men ? For certainly if there had been any

into the contrary Extreme, a Contempt of all Religion in general. Rel. of Nat. del. p. 60, 61.

* Mr. PopSs Epift. to my Lord Eathurjl, 20 1.

H Crime

Crime in Senfuality as facb, our Creator would never have placed us in fuch Cir- cumftances, as to fall under inevitable Guilt this way, by the neceffary Condition of our very Being, every moment of our Lives : a Confideration which fome rigid Affertors of Mortification would do well to attend to, before they impofe their own Vifions upon the World under Pretences of fuperior Sanctity.

I fuppofe (faid I) they are only fome particular kinds of Senfuality, which are ufually taxed as immoral; for otherwife the neceffary Condition of our very Being itfelf were a State of perpetual Immorality. An Imputation that would reflect no fmall Dishonour upon the Author of it !

THEY are fo, (replied he) but 'tis the Effect of a very fhort and fcanty way of thinking. For fince thefe particular Spe cies of Senfuality are condemned as immo ral, without any regard to civil, orfoczal, or perfonal Inconveniences that may arife from them, it muft be only as they have the Nature of Jenfual Indulgences. And then what hinders but every other Indul gence of this fort mould be equally con demned with thefe ? And thus we are re duced to this unavoidable Dilemma Ei ther there is no Evil in Senfuality as fucb,

or

(sO

or there is— —If the former be true, then we rnuft give fome other Account of the Immorality of the forbidden kinds, than what arifes from their Senfuality ; and fo indeed we mall have a fair way open to proceed in 5 but withal fuch an one as muft intirely deftroy the Foundation of thefe pretended Refinements in Morality. —If the latter, then will it become us to take care, left by indeavouring to throw off an imaginary Blemifo from ourjehes, we caft a real one upon the Purity and Perfection. of our Maker.

WHAT think you (faid I) of the Paf- fion of Shame , that is an Attendant upon Jbme kinds of fenfual Indulgences ? Does not this feem to argue an intrinfic Turpitude in the Acts themfelves ? a fort of confcious fenfe of fome moral Incon~ gruity in the very Nature of the particular Pleasures ? And yet Grotius^ I remember, Ipeaks of the Pudor circa Res Veneris^ as one of the moft general Principles in our Nature*. And indeed the Character of Senfuality feems to have been in a peculiar degree appropriated to Pleafures of this kind ; and they are ufually branded by moral Writers with fuch particular Epi thets of Infamy r, as if they were of a more

* De ver. Re!. Cbrijt. Lib.. I. Se&. 7.

H 2 grofs

( 52 )

grofs and debating nature than any of the other Pleafures of Senfe.

WITHOUT entering (faid Horten/ius) into the Original of this Paffion of Shame, or determining whether it be natural, or acquired, a Queftion, as I apprehend, not without its Difficulties; the U/e of it, I think, in Society is very evident. It lays a commodious Reftraint upon a violent Paffion, the public Gratification of which would be attended with many civil Incon veniences; whilft, inftead of participating of the Myfteries of Love, as the incompara ble Mr. Wollajlon fpeaks, 'with Modefty, as ivithin a Veil or facred Inclojure *, we fhould be in the Situation of thofe de- fcribed by the Poet,

H$uos Venerem incertam rapientes morefe~

rarum Tiribus editior ctedebat -j-.

A Circumftance happily prevented by the means of this ufeful Paffion.

You are not then of the Opinion of that learned Cafuift, (returned I) who accounts for the Shame attending thefe Pleafures of Senfe, as he is pleas'd to call them,

~* Rel. of Nat. p. 180,

t Hor. Sat. Lib. I. Sat. 3. 109.

from

(53 )

from their difangelical Nature. Not that they have any intrinjic Turpitude in them ; but being below the Dignity of the Soul of Man defigned for an angelic Life, u Na^ <c ture, fays he, has taught her tojheak, f * wheny/6^ being Heaven-born demits herfelf " tofuch earthly Drudgery *.

IP I was to give any further Account of this matter than I have already done, (re plied Hortenftus] I mould think the Hy- pothefis of the very ingenious Mr. Hutcbe- Jbn the moft natural : who fuppofes that an Opinion of the Selfijhnefs of thefe In dulgences, ariling from their confined Na ture, is the Ground of our being amamed of them } and that this Jirft introduced I- deas of Modefty into polite Nations -f- : but however they firft came there, certain it is, they deferve the Incouragement of every Society ; nor can the Public be too cau tious in keeping up a tender fenfe of them in the Minds of Men, as a Guard to their Virtue j and in difcountenancing whatever Difcourfes, Books, Reprefentations, &c. are found to have a contrary Effect But this, as I before obferved, upon a merely civil or focial Account j the only juft Ground, as I apprehend, of the Unlawful-

* Letters Phil. & Mor. between Mr. Norris and Pr. Mort, p. 153, 168. t Hutch. Inq. 3*57 Sea. 5.

nefs

( 54- )

nefs even of \h^ forbidden Species of Senfu- ality. It being better upon the whole, that particular Men mould be under Jbme Reftraint in the Gratification of their na tural Appetites, than that much greater Mifchiefs fhould happen to Society, in Confequence of a general Licentioujhefs. For as to the dijangellcal Nature of thefe particular Pleasures, befides that it muft hold equally of the moft allowed Instances of them, as of the prohibited ones, it is with me, I mult own, of very little weight againft any cf them , and that for this plain Reafon, becaufe Men are not Angels ; and therefore no fuppofed Perfections of their State of Being can be proper Matter of Example to us, who are placed in quite different Circumftances *. The Cafe is

the

* It feems a very odd way of depreciating the Plea- fures of the fixth Senfe, as they are called, to fay they are dif angelica I: for is not this as true of thofe of the other five Senfes? Whatever the learned J)o£lor may think of the Food of Angels , which he fomewhere fpeaks of as literally fuck, or the fragrant Odours of Paradifet (p. 169.) we have the Authority of a reverend Father of the Church to produce againft him in this Point. Speaking of the Angels, «<& wr* (fcoyrai (fays he) Y.M

a-jT , ,

AaaTrpa, v$s aAAo rwy TOIXTWV xoev,

x<*; A*/*7rp«?. S^Cbryfoft. de Virg,

P«

(55 }

tlie fame in the moral World, as it is ex cellently reprefented by the Poet to be in the natural -,

On fliperwr Powers

Were ive to pref's, inferior Might on ours ; Or in the full Creation leave a void, Where, one Step broken, the great Scale's de~

ftrofd. From Nature's Chain whatever Link you

ftrike, tfenth, or ten tkoufandth, breaks the Chain

alike *.

As to thofe reproachful Epithets with which, as you obferve, moral Writers af fect to ftigrviatize fenfual Pleafures, as if the fault lay in the things themfehes, and not rather in the Degree, or other Circum- ftances of them : I anfwer with the inge nious Mr. Norris in his Theory and Re-

p, 322. The great Pagan Poet had likewifc jufter Notions of Immateriality.

Ou J'ap (TJTOV EcW » Trtvatr ai3"OTa oivov, TVi/EJt avoMjuoyj? £i<n, jtai K&a,votroi jcaAsoyraj. Hem. II. IV. 341, was his Account of his Heathen

Divinities. So that were we to indeavour after a

Lifey?n'#/y angelical, (and if we are required to do fo in one Inirance, why not in another ?) we muft be come in very truth like the Idols of the Heathen (Let ters as before) have Eyes and fee not, Ears and hear not, Nofes and fmell not, Palates and tafte not, Hands

and handle not A Scheme of Perfection I am not

enough fpiritualiz'd to envy any Man, * E-Jfey on Man, I. 233.

gulation

(56)

guktion of Love, that " herein is theif " Mi flake. And if Men will talk con- " fuiediy of things, and affignjfa^?Caufes " for true ones, who can help it * ?

I am glad (interpofed I) you have the Authority of ib approved a Divine to bear you out in this Notion ; otherwife was you to communicate your Thoughts to many People I could name, you muft expecl: to be charged with the moil abandoned Epicurifm.

I hope (returned he) I have a better Authority for my Opinion than that of any great Name whatfoever, the Autho rity of Truth and good Senfe. For to go a little farther into this Subject— — Who ever will be at the pains of examining in to the Nature and Reafons of moral Obli gation, may, I think, foon fatisfy himfelf, that the proper Duty of any moral Agent is nothing elfe but its proper Happinefs. The Terms are convertible, and imply each the other. If with this view we confider Man, as he is in himfelf, a Crea ture of a mixed Conftitution, made up of zfenjible, zfocial, and a rational Principle, 'tis obvious that the proper Happinefs or Good of fuch a Being, or which is the fame thing, the greateil Perfection of his

&c. P. 98. - N

(57 )

Nature, muft arife out of fome certain Scheme of Action at once fuited to all the parts of this compound Character. Here, Philemon, commences the general Reafon of all human Morality and Religion. It is not, as we are too often taught to think it, a fet of arbitrary Injunctions impofed upon us at the mere voluntary Appoint ment of a capricious Superior : but a Rule of Conduct founded in our very Je hes, and refulting out of the Make and Con ft i tut ion of our Nature. Away then with all thofe viiionary and fantaftic Refinements which Would teach us to build our Virtue upon the Ruins of our Itumanity^ and eradicate one of the effential Parts of our Nature to ac- complim the other. 'Tis in fome juft Ba lance of our whole Conftitution, not in the Deftructioh of any Branch of it, that our main Perfection, becaufe our main Happi- nefs, confifts. The Gratification of our .Senfes and Paffions, merely asjuch, is no more a Crime, than the Exercife of our Reafon, or the Offices of focial Affection * : for each of thefe were alike given us by the great Author of our Faculties, as fo

* Even the Defire of public Good may be too ftrong in fome heroic Tempers, whilft the Agent ne ver thinks he can do enough to promote it, but with out reflecting upon his paft Conduct, like the ambi tious, goes on

Nil aftum ffputanS) ft quid fuperejfet agendum.

Lucan.

I

(58 )

many diflintt Principles of A&ion, fo many jeveral means of Happinefs -y and, Philemon,

What compofes Man, can Man dejlroy * ?

It then only becomes wrong, when either from an undue Meafure, or improper Cir- cumftanceSj it breaks the Harmony of our internal Frame j and by too great an In dulgence of one of thefe Principles offers violence to either of the other. We are not, as the incomparable Mr. Wollajlon fpeaks, to " give up the Man to humor " the Brute, nor to hurt others to pleafe " ourjehes -f- $" but where we can keep clear of fuch accidental Inconveniences, there the Pleafures of Senfe are as allowable, as they are made necerTarily grateful to us. They are, like the Trees of Paradife, not only fair to the Eye, but good for Food. For indeed, as Mr. Norris, I remember, very juftly ftates the Point ; " Where " there is no Malice in it either againil <c God, Himfelf, or his Neighbour, I can- <{ not imagine how it fhould be at all a " moral Incongruity for a Man to pleaje " bimjelf\\.

BUT

* EffaymMan, II. 164. t Rel* of Nat. del. p. 180.

II Letters Phil, and Mor> p. 149. Excellent are the Sentiments of the Author before-cited upon this

Head,

( 59 )

BUT does not Scripture itfelf (faid I) feem to authorife a different way of Rea-

foning

Head. Temperance^ fays he, permits us to take Meat and Drink not only as Phvf ~ for Hunger and Thirft, but alfo as an innocent Cordial and Fortifier againft the Evils of Life, or even fometimes, Reafon not refufmg that Liberty, merely as matter of Pleafure. Cbafiity does not pretend to ext'tnvuifa our tender Paflions, or cancel one part of our Nature, it only bids us not in dulge them againft Reafon and Truth. Frugality in deed looks forward, and round about ; but ftill it for bids no Inftance cf Genero/ity, or even Magnificence ', which is agreable to the Man's Station and Circum- ftances. Rel. of Nat. del. p. 179, 1 80. as before. Within thefe juft, and neceffary Regulations, founded in our very Nature and Conftitution, we may admit the Pleafures of the Senfes to be really defirable, with out that falfe Confequence in 'fully of wifhing in vo- luptate maxima, nullo intervallo interjecto, dies, noc- tefque verfari ; cum omnes fenfus dulcedine omni quafi perfufi moverentur : for, as the PafTage goes on, quis eft dignus nomine hominis, qui unum diem totum velit efle in ifto genere voluptatis ? de Fin. Lib. II. p. 1 88. ed. Dav. Such a Happinefs as this is the Happinefs of a merely fenfible Being only, not of a focia^ or a rational one. How contemptible an Idea does the Pagan poetic Theology give one of the fu- preme Jupiter^ when it reprefents him, as Seneca has it, voluptate concubitus delinitum duplicafle no&em ! De Beat. Vit. 516. It was the want of this Diftinc- tion that gave rife to the different Extravagancies of the Stoics and Epicureans, upon this Article of fenfible Pleafure. " Neither fide confidered Men, as Men, " but as it were divided human Nature between them. " The latter, forgetting themfelves to be moral A- " gents, regarded only Senfibility ; the former, for- '* getting themfelves to be fenfible Beings, regarded I 2 " only

.6o

foning upon this Queftion ? does it not frequently charge Immorality upon fome kinds of fenfual Pleafure, as /itch, without any mention of Confequences ? and acr cordingly fpeak of them in terms that car ry an Imputation of Bajenejs and Turpitude in the very Nature of the Acts themjefoes, as if they were not fo much Offences a- gainft the focial Interefts of Mankind, as againft the perfonal Dignity of human Na ture? Thus they are repreiented under the Character of Lufts which war again/I the Soul*, tfflthy Lufts -|-, of vile Afj'ettiom |, and the like. And Fornication is fliled the Sin of Unchannefs^ and treated as a. Dejilement cf a Man's Jelf, rather than as an Injury done to his Neighbour J.

WHERE

" only Morality.'' J5^«/s Trafts, p. 204. A wife Man may very well be of that noble Sentiment in Tully^ ne malum quidem ullum, nee fi in unum lo cum conlata omnia fmt, cum turpitudinis malo com- paranda, (T'ufc. Dif. ed. Dav. 132.) without carrying the Point to fuch an extreme as that, laetetur in per- ierendo; or thinking there is no Difference between being in Phalaridis Tauro, and in Le<5tulo. Ibid. p. 121, Plutarch., with his ufual Good Senfe, has excellently- decided this matter, 'H$o

cv £O, •ar xzi TjavTw? ayaicr-iTov. Con. fep. Sap. 150.

*

-j~ MoAu<ru» trapx^. 31 Cor. 7. I. Rom. I. 26.

f 61 )

WHERE this is the Cafe (replied Uor- tenfius) we muft always fuppofe the Cafe of inordinate Affeffiion* to fenfual Pleafure to be taken into the Account j and fo the fault will lie not in the Kind of Indulgence, but in the Meafure of it. For otherwife the fame kind of Pleafure could not be lawful under any Circumftances, and Mar* rtage itfelf would be as immoral as Forni- cation^ contrary to an exprefs Precept of one of the infpired Writers -jr. Unlefs it may rather be thought, that the facred Writers fpeak of thefe Matters, as they are known to do of many others, with Accom modation to popular Ufage, and common ways of Expreffion j being more follicitous to guard Men againfl the Breach of their Duty, than to inftruct them in the pre-

OIVTUV. Rom. I. 24. - Hop~ x,p<rKz. Eph. 5. 3.' $.-u- ytTt TW •zsropwtay. o -sropveuuv «j TO tJioy vupot, apotp- TXVU. i Cor. 6. 1 8.

* See Norris's Theory and Reg. p. 99. t For fo, I think, that Paflage in the Hebrews (hould be rendered, ri^t©- o yot,^ tv ra-ao-i, Ut Marriage be honourable in all Men ; with Analogy to the preceptive Stile of the whole Chapter. Thus it begins, « (piWsApia JUEVCTW TJJJ (p*Xe|«i«? /*») tizr^ S-e. v. i, 2. and fo it goes on throughout. 13. v. 4.

Ctfi

(62 )

rffeReaJonsofit*. And indeed to inforce the Practice of Morality was a bufinefs of

much

* It muft be owned there is a very great Autho rity, that of the able and judicious IVtr. Locke in his Comment upon the following Words of St. Paitly I Cor. 6. 1 8. o •nropvEuwv fi? TO fjtov (rco//.a a|W,apTaujj, againft this Opinion. He fuppofes the Apoftle to make ufe here of an Argument againft Fornication to Chriftians, taken from their particular Relation to Chrift, confider'd in his glorified State. His Expofi-

tion is this " He who committeth Fornication

" fmneth againft the end for which his Body was " made; namely, to be a Member of Chrift, and to 44 be raifed to the fame Power which he has now in " Heaven," (Locke's Works, Fol. 2 vol. p. 168.) for fo he underftands the fourteenth Verfe, xa» u'wa? E£-

f^epH <J»a T»J? Juva/AEw? aur*.- But if this be a

good Argument to Chriftians againft Fornication, It muft be fo too againft Marriage : for the mere Aft of corporal Indulgence is the fame in both States, and there is only a Difference in the Circumftances of it, •which is here no part of the Apoftle's Confutation. He reafons upon the Nature of the A61 itrelf ; but 0 xoAAco (j.zv(& T'/I •srcflVTi tu (TWjua £r~jv» is as true or 9 * TJ) j/'juatxt j fo that in both Cafes it is ra. ptXv\ T« Xpif~« xrA equally ; if this be indeed the true Ground of the Accufation. But with all due Deference to fo judicious an Interpreter in moft Cafes, I think he has here miftaken the Apoftle's Meaning. I fhould rather incline to underftand by Body, the Body of Chri/lians, the myjlical Body of Cbrifti fo often mention'd in Scripture; againft which Fornication is in a peculiar fenfe a Crime from its near Connexion with the impure Services of Pagan Idolatry; into many of which it had been, as it were, incor porated. So fays Tertullian, who introduces Idolatry thus reporting of herfelf, Ego quidem Idololatria fae-

piflime

(63 )

much greater moment to them, thatl nicely to adjufl the T'heory of it. This was rather the Province of Philofophy, and improved Reafoning ; and had accor dingly given Imployment to the feveral eminent Matters of it in different Ages and Countries ; but the other was a Point of too great difficulty for any human Au thority to compafs; and therefore was the peculiar Affignment of thofe who flood inverted with divine : who came not, as they themfelves inform us, with the Arts of Eloquence, the inticing Words of Mans Wifdom, but with Signs, and Wonders, and divers Miracles, Detnonftratious of the Spi rit, and of Power *. But this is a mat ter that will fall more immediately under Confideratioh in the Sequel of this Argu ment 5 for the prefent it may fuffice to

piffime moechiae occafionem fubminiftro ; fciunt luci mei, & mei monies, & vivae aquae, ipfaque in urbibua templa, quantum evertendae pudicitiae procuremus. De Pud. p. 557. It was yet more eminently crimi nal in this view, when pra&ifed, as we are informed it too often was, by Chriftians, in their religious Af- femblies themfelves, in their Night-Meetings at the Tombs of their Martyrs ; infomuch that an. early Council thought fit to injoin, t4 that Women fhould *' not frequent thefe Coemeteries by Night ; eo quod faepe fub obtentu orationis latenter fcelera commit- tantur. 35 Can. Cone. Elibs •• But if this be not ad mitted, we muft, I think, have recourfe to popular Accommodation in this Paflage.

* i Cor. ch. 2. v. i. & 4. Heb. 2, 4. * ; have

have juft hinted at it in paffing, in bar to fuch Objections as might be fuppofed t6 arife from the Quarter of Revelation againft the main Tenor of thefe Reflections.

T o proceed to fome farther Obferva- tions that more directly confirm it. We have already confidered the State and Con- ftitution of Nature, as it is an immediate Occafion of many pleaiing Perceptions to the human Senfe. Nevertheless the Pleafures of the Senjes are by no means the only ones to which it is fubfervient 5 there are others of a more elegant kind, that a- rife out of thefe, and open a ft ill wider field of Entertainment to us; the Pleafures, I mean, of the Fancy or Imagination. Under this Head I comprehend thofe fe- veral delightful Perceptions which arife from the Contemplation of either natural, or artificial, or even imaginary and ideal, Objects, confider'd as beautiful^ regular^ harmonious. That thefe are fomething very different from the fimple Senfations of our Sight, or Hearing, is generally, I believe, acknowledged; infomuch that a celebrated Writer upon the Subject is for confidering them as a dijiinft Clafs of Per-* ceptions ; and calling our Power of re ceiving them an internal Senfe *. Thus much is certain, that a Man may enjoy

* Hutch. Inq. p. 17,

all

65

all his ordinary Senfes in great Perfection without any of thofe tranfporting Pleafures that gratify a refined Imagination. In Mufic we feem to admit a Diftinction of this fort in our common Language ; by fliling a Capacity for the Pleafures of Har mony, a good Ear. And yet the Organs of Hearing feem to be by no means lefs perfect in People of no Genius for Mufic, than in others of the greateft and moft im proved Fancy this way. And why a good Eye might not found full as well of a Judgment in Painting, Statuary, Archi tecture, or natural Landfcape, I can fee no reafon but want of Ufe and Cuftom. Doubtlefs thefe are as diftindl Ideas from the fimple Perceptions of Colour, Figure, and particular Extenfibn, as the others are from the particular Tones of Jingle Notes. A Man may be able to diftinguifh thefe with great Accuracy, may know all the Varieties of harfher, fofter, higher, lower, flatter, fharper, when dilHnclly founded to him, and at the fame time have no Ear for good Compofition in Mufic. In like man ner he may know with fufficient Accuracy the particular Dimenfions of any Body, its Length, Breadth, Height, Bale, Surface, Angles, Circumference, and yet have no Relifli of that general Proportion which is the Refult of the. whole, and charts the Virtuofo Spectator without any previous K Inquiry,

( 66 )

Inquiry. So again in a Piece of Painting he may difcern all the feveral Objects, their diftinct Figures, their Attitudes, their Colourings, with the different Boundaries and Degrees of Light and Shade ; and yet have no Senfe of its general Beauty. It is this that fets the Man of Tafte in the fe veral polite Arts fo much above the mecha nic Performer. Both of them may have the fame number of feparate Ideas from the feveral Parts of any Object ; and yet the former {hall have a quite different Per ception of the Whole -, from what the latter has any notion of. As to the Foundation of this Senfe of Beauty, 'tis obferved, I think, very juftly by the ingenious Mr. Hutchejon to be " Uniformity amid ft Fa- <c riety" or the Contemplation of an Ob ject as at once regular, and diver fified. Whether there be any real Excellency in the particular Forms we call regular to. the Eye of a fupreme Intelligence is not fo eafy to determine ; tho' was I to declare for either fide of the Queftion, I mould rather do it for the negative. Thus much however is very certain, that the Conftitu- tion of Nature is every way as much ac commodated to the Entertainment of our internal Senfe of Beauty, as it has been Ihewn under a former Article to be to that of our ordinary Senjes. The Univerfe, as its very Name imports in the Language of

the

67

the Antients, is a Syftem of Beauty, Regu larity > and Order *. But the Pleafures of Imagination are of a much wider extent than the real Compafs of external Nature 5 for having once received the Ideas of Beauty and Proportion from the feveral Objects of immediate Senfe, it finds with in itfelf a Power of inlarging, compound ing, and altering them at pleafure to any affignable Degree, and of figuring to itfelf new Combinations and Forms of beautiful Objects, to be as fo many Models of Prac tice in the different Branches of Art, which not only adminifter freih Acceffions of Delight to the Imagination of the Curious, but alfo contribute much to the better Ac commodation, or Imbellimment of human Life. And here again, Philemon^ as if Providence could never enough manifefr. its kind Intentions for our Happinefs, it has net only form'd an intire Univerfe with reference to our Tafte of Beauty, and put us into a capacity of multiplying the Sources of this Pleafure to ourfelves by numberlefs artificial Combinations, and Models of our own Invention ; but more over, by a flill more complicated Benevo-

* So Pliny tells us in his fecond Book of Natural Hiftory, chap. 4. Equidem & confenfu gentium mo- veor, nam quem xo<ru.ov Graeci, nomine ornament?, appellaverunt, eum nos, a perfe&a abfolutaque ele- gantia, mundum.

K 2 lence,

( 68 )

lence, has fuperadded to the feveral Objects of original Beauty, neceflarily agreable to us in their own Nature, a power of be coming yet farther/0 by after Defiription; and made the apt Reprejentattons of pleafing Forms a diftintf Ground of Entertain ment from the Pleafure of the Forms themfelves. Tis to this we owe much of the Entertainment of Poetry, painting, Sculpture, Statuary, and other defcriptive Arts *.

very remarkable, (faid I) that this comparative Beauty from the Aptnefs of 'Defcription is no fmall Foundation of Plea fure to the Imagination, even where the Objects defcribed are rather difagreable, or even terrible, in themfelves. Thus parti cular Deformities either of Perfon, or in natural Objects ; the decrepit Figure of Old Age, rude Rocks, Mountains, Precipices, Tempefts, may by a good Representation be turn'd into very confiderable Beauties in Painting, however otherwife in their Re alities. And no one, I believe, ever read Virgil's Defcription of Mneas his Defcent to Hell without a very fenfible Delight, tho' the feveral Scenes he was to pafs thro' in his Paflage thither were confidered by his Conduftrefs as ib full of Horror, that ihe would not permit him to ingage in the t See Hutch. Inq, Sett 4.

unpa-

69

unparallel'd Enterprize, 'till flie had given him this very feafonable piece of Caution along with him

^uque invade viam, vagindque eripeferrum*, Nuncanimisopus, Mneay nunc peftorefirmo *.

Tho' it muft at the fame time be owned, the Pleafure is ftill greater, when we at tend him to the

Locos Itetos, G? amcena vireta Fortunatorum nemorum. ledefcue beatas 4-.

' c/ J J.

Becaufe there the Obje&s themfehes are no lefs agreable to the Imagination, than the Poet's fingular Happinefs in reprefenting them. The Speftator, I remember, has the fame Obfervation of our own divine Countryman Milton ; f £ that his Defcrip- " tions of Hell and of Paradife are both, " perhaps, equally perfeft in their kind ; " but in one the Brimflone and Sulphur <c are lefs refrefhing to the Fancy, than a the Beds of Flowers, and Wildernefs of " Sweets in the other ||.

How inlarged and amiable an Idea (in- terpofed Hortenftus) does this give us of the beneficent Contrivance of the Author

* Mneld. Lib. VI. 260.

f Ibid. 638.

j| Vol. VI. N°. 418. The intire Eflay on the Plea- fures of the Imagination is well worth perufing upon this Subject.

of

of our Faculties ? that in the Syftem of the Univerfe he fhould have obferved the fame Rule which we ourfelves do in re gard to our own perfonal Syflem : having give?i, as an infpired Writer has it, ncr-e abundant Honour to that part which lacked ? infomuch that even thofe Objedts in Na ture, which <we think to be left beautiful, upon theje are be/lowed an adventitious kind of Beauty y and its uncomely Parts have thus a relative Comelinejs *.

BUT is not this after all (obferved I) as rnuch as can be faid, according to your Hypothefis, of the mod confeffedly beau tiful Objeds in Nature ? for you fcemed unwilling, I remember, to admit of any fuch thing as abjblute intrinfic Beauty j and were for refolving all into a certain arbitrary Accommodation of things to our particular manner of Conception : fo that what I have fometimes heard remarked of a par ticular Species of Beauty, that of Face, or Perfon, is as true, I perceive, of every ci ther kind of it j and our Men of Gallantry are better Philofophers, than they them- felves are generally aware of, when in de fence of fome fmgular Paffion they tell us, that " all Beauty is Fancy." But furely, Hortenfms, this cannot be the Truth of the Cafe j that there mould be no fettled Cn-

* i Cor. 12, 23, 24.

terion of Beauty, Order, Proportion, in the Nature of things themfelves, indepen dently of fomejpecial Appointment. Who can imagine, that a rude Heap of Stones confufedly thrown together fhould, to the Eye of any Being, appear equally beauti ful with a fine piece of Building, the Pro portions of the moft regular Architec ture ?

THIS is a mere Prejudice of our Ima gination, (returned Hortenfius.} Can you feparate all Thoughts of U/e from the par ticular Models of Architecture, which you call beautiful ? or is not this latter Con ception a Confequence of the former, in fome fecret Method of Aflbciation ?

BY no means, (faid I) as I apprehend. How often do we commend an Object as beautiful, where Ufe is quite out of the queftion ? where there is not any Appea rance of this kind to determine our Appro bation ?

NOR any Comparifon (replied he) made •with fome other Object of like Beauty, that is confeffedly ufeful ?

I think not, (faid I) at leaft I have often done fo, without being aware of any fuch Comparifon.

PERHAPS

(72 )

PERHAPS fo, (returned Hortenfius.) But this is not the only Inftance, in which Comparisons are formed by the Mind without any immediate Attention to its own Act in doing fo. What think you, Philemon, of that Propeniity we all natu rally have to run to the Affiftance of Peo ple in any fudden and immediate Circurri- jftance of Danger or Dirr.refs ? Could you fee a Man accidentally falling into the Fire, or down a Precipice, in danger of Drown ing, Suffocation, Strangling, or the like, and not mechanically indeavour to refcue him ? And yet, perhaps, this piece of ne- ceffary Compaffion may be only a more difguifed Inflance of Self-Love grounded upon a fudden, and therefore uribbfertied Subflitution of oitrfehes into his Place and Circumftances. 'Tis the Quicknefs of the Tranfition in fuch Cafes that makes us overlook it. And hence probably feveral other acquired Propenfities in our Nature either to perform certain Actions, or to re- lifh certain Objects, without a formal At tention to the precife Reafons of either, have been diftinguimed by the Name of Injlinfts, whereas in truth they are only Habits. Tho' at the fame time it mufl be acknowledged, that they have all the Ufe and Force of fo many feveral Inftincts; and therefore the particular Facts that

arife

f 73 )

hrife out of them are not affected fjy anj£ difference in accounting for the Original of the things themfelves. May not this explain in fome meafure your approving certain Objects as beautiful, where you can fee no Ufej namely, from fome un= obferved Comparifon with like regular Forms, which are experienced to have a very manifeft one? For indeed, Philemon^ to talk of abftracl Order and Proportion is to me very unintelligible Language. As far as Order and Proportion are real Ra tifies of Bodies, and not arbitrary Modifi cations of our Senfe, they belong equally to all poffible Combinations of Matter. For the moft deformed irregular Objects have a certain Order and Relation of their Parts to one another, as well as the molt beautiful and uniform ones. Let a heap of Stones be thrown together never fo con- fujedly as to our Apprehenfion, there will yet, as an ingenious Writer expreffes it *$ " be as real a Proportion in their Sizes " and Diftances, as if they had been " ranged by the niceft hand ;" and the Reafon why they appear confufed to us is not becaufe they want Order and Propor tion in them/elves, but becaufe they have hot that particular Order and Difpofition. of Parts that is accommodated to our par-

* Author of a Pamphlet, intitled, Divine Benevo lence, in 1731, printed for /. Noon, p. 46.

L ticular

( 74 )

ticular manner of Conception. "Tis not Order and Proportion as fuch that confti- tutes Beauty 3 for then all Objects that may be compared as to Situation and Quan tity muft be beautiful ; and there could be no fuch thing as Deformity in the World. We are indeed apt to pronounce of certain difagreable Objects, that they want Order and Proportion 5 but the ExprelTion isjuft as improper, as the fore-mention'd Author obferves, as when we fay a Body is fhape- lefsy which appears to us ill-Jhaped*. If you was to invert the Pofition of the beft- proportioned Door-Cafe , and make its Perpendicular its Bafe, would it not ap pear extremely awkard and unnatural ? Now what is it that is here changed, but its particular Relation to the human Stature ? the fame Number of Parts, and the fame Order and Proportion of one of its Di- menfions to the other, fubfifts as before -, Upright and Parallel are mere Prejudices of our Senfe. The only thing that is really affected by this Alteration is its Ufe or Con venience -, and yet when it lofes this it is no longer beautiful : a Circum fiance that feems to make Beauty and Ufefulnefs more nearly allied to each other, than you are willing to allow. And, to fay the truth, Philemon, I am of opinion this way of Reafoning holds equally good of the fe-

-* Div. Ben. p. 47.

veral

75 )

veral Forms of Beauty in Nature, as in the Combinations of Art. The wife Ar chitect of the Univerfe has framed every part of it with exquifite Contrivance tQ promote the general Good of the whole. The Configurations of the heavenly Bo dies, their Order, Magnitudes, Diflunces, Revolutions, are all of them accommodated to their refpective Ufes in the Creation. The Structure of Plants, Trees, Animal Bodies, &c. is fuch as their feveral Na tures require it mould be. Were we let into the whole Secret and Oeconomy of Nature, we lliould find none of them could be altered but for the worfe. Our Reajon> and our Intereft, from a general View of the Cafe, would approve their prefent Constitution, tho' we had no Senfe of Beauty in any particular Mechanifm more than another. And yet fuch is the Abundance of Divine Goodnefs, that not fatisfied, as it were, to have formed things for the beft in a rational Eftimate, it has given them a /'upermtmerary Recommen dation to us from a Principle of Beauty ; and made the Contemplation of fuch Forms, Orders, and Difpofitions of Bodies, as would mofr, approve themfelves to our Rea- fon as t/Jeful, an immediate Source of Plea- fure to our Imagination as beautiful. For this I take to be the real State of the Caiej and it is an effectual Anfwer to thofe who L 2 tell

( 76 )

tell us, that upon fuppoiltion there is nq intrinfic Beauty in the Nature of Things themfelves, but all is matter of arbitrary Appointment, the Profufion of Art and Skill obfervable in the Mechanifm of the Univerfe is a mere Wajle of Workmanfhip-, and a Chaos would have anfwered the Cre ator's Purpofe as well as a regular Syftem * ; a Notion that can never be maintained, 'till it can be proved that all Conftitutions of Things are as indifferent in refpect of their U/es and Applications, as I have been indeavoring to mew they are, in refpect of the particular Confukration of their Beauty.

BUT will not this way of Reafoning, (faid I) Hortenfius, lead us to fome very odd Concluiions? particularly, if there be no Reality in Beauty, and nothing can appear to the diyine Mind otherwife than it really is in itfelf, will not this feem to caft a made upon the univerfal Syftem in tht ^ye of its own Maker ? Shall then the lovely Face of Nature, fo liberal of its Charms to the human Senfe, appear not- withilanding to its Author, the only un erring 'Judge of it, without Form or Come- llnefs -j- ? A {hocking Reflexion this on that Divine Geometrician, as an ancient

* Divine Rectitude, by Mr. Balguy* p 16.

t-rr • i ' J * J ' *

liaiah 53. 2.

Author

( 77 )

Author calls him, who has ever been con- iidered by the wife and thoughtful of all Ages, as eftabliming the Univerfe in Num ber, Weight^ and Meajiire ; and who tells us of himfelf, by a more authentic De claration, that upon a deliberate Review of the Works of his Hands, newly gone out of them, he found reafon to pronounce of every thing he had made, that it was very good*. And indeed I have always been uied to conceive of the Beauty, Or der, and Regularity of external Nature, as the Production of thofe perfect Models of Beauty, Proportion, and Symmetry into actual Exiftence, which before fubfifted in the divine Ideas from all Eternity. But you, it feems, will neither allow them to fubfift there, nor any where elfe, but in the deluded Apprehenfions of weak Mor tals.

MAY I ever be thus agreably deceived, (refumed Hortenjius /) and with Gratitude, inftead of repining, fubmit to a Deluiion of fo great Confequence to my Happinefs! For what is Happinefs, Philemon, but Idea ? and if unbracing a Cloud can give me equal Satisfaction, need I complain of its being jubjlitiited in the room of the Queen of Heaven ? But to come more di rectly to the Point : You are concerned,

* Genefis i. 31,

it

it teems, that the Works of the Deity fhould appear to him without that parti cular Relation we call Beauty. But do they not likewife appear to him without the relation of Deformity ? and does not that in fome meafure fatisfy you ? Should I tell any of the Vulgar, that there is no

j O '

fuch thing as Colour to the divine Appre- henfion, would not their Prejudices rife ftroog ag-ainft the Truth of this Affertion? and yet you and I are perfuaded of this, and think it no Diminution of the divine Happinefs, however the contrary may be an Improvement of our own. Do but con- ilder Beauty, as you are ufed to do Colour, Philemon^ and you will be as little con cerned to defend the Reality of one, with regard to the Deity, as you are of the other *.

BUT not to urge you with lefs impor tant Objections, (replied I) Hortenfius, I have one which ftrikes deep at your main Principle, taken from Fact ; namely, that the Constitution of Things is itfelf Juch as plainly fpeaks the Deity to have had a re gard to the greater Order and Harmony of the World, as a diflinft End from the Happinefs of its. Inhabitants. What elfe, as a very ingenious Writer upon this Sub ject reafons, means that Scale and Subor-

* Div. Ben. p. 45.

dination

f 79 )

dination of Beings eftablifhed in the Uni- verfe, " afcending from inanimate and " flupid Matter to Human-Kind, and <c reaching beyond it higher and farther " than our Faculties are able to follow " them * r" A more nearly equal State of their Powers and Perfections would have been more conducive to their common Happinefs, but would at the fame time have deftroyed that Order and Regularity which prevails in the prefent Syftem j ail End too f acred for the Deity to break In upon for any other Confederations -f-! Had Happinefs been the only Defign of the Creator, whence that mighty Difference to be obferved in the Capacities and In- joyments of the feveral Ranks of fenfitive Beings ? why were they not all placed in the bigbeft Degree of Perfection ? why not •3\\ intelligent? why not indued with the Powers and Faculties of Angels? but the eternal Laws of Order and Proportion forbid fuch an unvaried Difpofuion of Things |J.

THIS (returned Hortenfius) would be an infuperable Difficulty indeed, were it but built upon any folid Foundation in point of Fact : but what if the quite

* Div. Retf. p. 13. f Div. Refl. p. 22. | Div. Rttf. p. 15, 22, 23.

contrary

8o

contrary be true ? What if the fame Confli- tution and Oeconomy of things ihat makes them thus beautiful and regular to our I- magination, be at the fame time calculated to ferve the Purpofes of the greateft pof- fible Happinefs upon the whole ? How do you know but the higheft Order of intel ligent and happy Beings may in the pre- fent Syftem be as full, as the Nature and Circumftances of fetch Beings can admit of? Would you then have no inferior Degrees of Happinefs communicated to other ClafTes of Beings, becaiife a jarther Communica tion of that which is moft perfect is alto gether impracticable ? Surely this would be to break in as much upon the Happi nefs of the Univerfe, as it can be fuppoied to be upon its Order and Regularity. Se- rioufly, Philemon, I am fo far from think ing the Scale of Beings you mention ari Objection to the Creator's Goodnefs, that to me it appears to be the noblen: Difplay and Confirmation of it; inafmuch as it feems probable the Sum total of Happinefs is much greater in this Conftitution of things, than it could have been in any other * : efpecially if this very Circum-

ftance

* This Notion is well explained and defended by the learned and thoughtful Archbifhop King, in his Treatife of the Origin of Evil ; and his Reafonings upon this Subjeft have been ftill farther inforced by his very ingenious Translator; who in this, as, I think,

in

ftance of a regular Subordination in the Univerfe, at the fame time that in the na ture of the thing itfelf it is productive of more general Happinefs, be likewife calcu lated to give Pleafure in its Contemplation from a Sen/e of Beauty to other parts of the rational Creation, as we experience it to do our/elves in particular; a Notion which I do not think improbable: however, it muft be owned, the Conftitution of our Senfe of Beauty may feem to have been in many reipefts more peculiarly accommodated to

in many other Inftances, has greatly improved upon ah excellent Original. See Chap. 3, 4, 5. Subfeft. 5. with the Notes ; from which I will take the liberty

of tranfcribing the following Paffage " From the

" foregoing Obfervation, that there is no manner of u Chafm or Vold^ no Link deficient in this great Chain " of Beings, and the reafon of it, it will appear ex- " tremely probable alfo, that every diftincl: Order, " every Clafs, or Species of them, is as full as the " Nature of it would admit, and God law proper. *' There are perhaps fo many in each Clafs as could *' exift together without fome Inconvenience or Uneaji- " ncfs to each other. This is eafily conceivable in " Mankind, and may be in fuperior Beings ; tho' for " want of an exacl: Knowledge of their feveral Na- " tures and Orders, we cannot apprehend the man- *' ner of it, or conceive how they affect one another ; « only this we are fure of, that neither the Species, *' nor the Individuals in each Species, can pollibly be *' infinite; and that nothing but an bnpoffibility in *' the nature of the thing, or fome greater Inconve- <c nlence^ can reftrain the Exercife of the Power of *' God; or hinder him from producing ft ill more and " more Beings capable of Felicity." Laufs Tranflat. p. 95. Note 35. at the end.

M Creatures

( 82 )

Creatures of our particular Make and Cir- cumftances. Thus the Manner of know ing by general Theorems, and of operat ing by general Principles, or Caujes, as 'tis well obferved by Mr. Hutchejbny as far as we can attain it, muft be moft fuitable to Beings of limited Understanding, and Powers of Action ; the one preventing Diftra6tion to their Minds by a Multipli city of particular Proportions, and the o- ther Toil and Wearinefs to their active Faculties from a Variety of feparate Ap plications *. Now 'tis obvious that our Senfe of Beauty coincides intirely with what a rational Conviction of Intereft would re commend to our Choice in both thefe In- ftances. Again, the Comprehenfion of re gular and uniform Objects is much eafier than of irregular ones j inafmuch as here a Know ledge of one or two parts leads us into that of the whole -, whereas the Ideas of con- fufed Heaps, and difuniform Combinations are neither afcertained to the Imagination, nor retained in the Memory, without coniiderable Difficulty -f-. And yet here likewife a Senfe of Beauty comes in, and determines us in favour of Uniformity, Regularity, and Order in the Difpofition

* Hutch. Inq. p. 98. f Hutch, p. 99.

of

of Objects previoufly to all Reafons of Convenience *.

IT may be obferved here, that however it mufl be acknowledged that none of thefe Reafons have any Force as to the fupreme Being himjelf^ fince all ways of knowing

are

* The Meaning here is, that from an actual Ex perience of the Benefits of Order, Uniformity, Re gularity, in many particular Inftances, wo are led to place a kind of Value in regular Objects as fuck, in the way of Habit and AfTociation. For that this is the very truth of the Cafe in natural Objects we may reafonably conclude from the Analogy of artificial ones ; in which it is very evident that Beauty is no thing elfe but experienced Ufefulnefs. Many of the Ornaments in the different Orders of Architecture were at firft only very fimple Contrivances for the conve nient Adjuftment of Beams, Rafters, Props, and o- ther neceffary Materials in building ; as may be feen in Fitruvius^ and other Writers of Architecture : by decrees Ufe came to be converted into Beauty ; and indeed the latter feems now wholly to ingrofs the Paf- fion of the Firtuo/i, as it were for its own lake. Thus the Corona or Cornljh particularly was at firft only an Invention to keep off Wet from the Sides of Walls, or Bodies of Pillars; and yet we fee it is now eftablim'd into an Ornament : fed projeftura Coronarum rejiciet extra perpend iculum ftillas, & ea ratione fervaverit integras laterit!orum parietum ftrucluras. Fitruvii de Architectura Lib. 2. Cap. 8. So again the Pro portions between the Bales of Pillars and their Heights were at firft adjufted from that of the Foot to the in-* tire Stature in the human Body. Cum voluiflent co- lumnas collocare (fays Wtrnvius} fpcaking of the firft Inftitution of the Doric Pillar, non habentes fyrnme- trias earum, & qucerentes quibus rationibus efficcre poffent, uti & ad onus ferendum effent idonese, & in M 2 afpeclu

(84)

are equally eafy to an infinite Comprehen- fion, and all ways of ading to infinite Power; neverthelefs, he having determined for the Reafons already mentioned to con- ftitute our Senfe of Beauty Jiich as in fad: it is, an Accommodation of external Nature to it is what might reasonably be expedled

from

afpe&u probatam haberent vcnuftatem (a manifeft Conlequence this of the other] dimenfi funt virilis pedis veftigium, & cum invenifTent pedem fextam partem eife altitudinis in homine, ita in columnam tranftule-

runt. The Proportions of the Ionic and Corinthian

Pillar were adjufted much upon the fame Principle.

Fitrnv. Lib. 4. Cap. I. de Gen. Columnartim. And

in another Place he tells us, that all Proportion in Build'ng is relative to that of the human Figure. Non potefr sedes ulla fine fymmetria atque proportione ratio- nem habere compofitionis, nifi uti ad hominis bene fi- gurati membrorum habuerit exaftam rationem. Lib. 3. Cap. i. And indeed that the Ancients were wholly governed by the Views of the greateft Ufe or Con- veniency, when they, omnia certa proprietate, & a veris naturae de:!ucl:is moribus, traduxerunt in operum perfcdiic/nes, (Vhruv. Lib. 4. Cap, 2.) appears from hence, fhat later Architects have in vain attempted to reniic upon their Models, or to introduce any new Orders of Building. The French King, we know, was very defirous to have had the Reputation of bring ing fome new Order into ufe ; but it was found im practicable without manifjft Inconvenience. 1 may

here juft note by the way, that what has been faid of natural Beauty, that it is all relative to fome Ufe, is as true of moral, or the Beauty of Actions. Some Scheme of Action there is which anfwers all the Pur- pofes of fetch a Creature as Man ; which accomplishes every Point he can be fuppofed to aim at. This is what is called moral Virtue, and it is the Duty of every Man, bccaufe it is his true Inter cjl upon the whole, to

act

Ms )

from his Goodnefs *. Accordingly we find the Univerfe has been a perpetual Source of Delight and Entertainment to the Imaginations of the Curious in all Ages.

act in Conformity to this Rule of Life and Conduct, eftablifhed in the neceflary Relations and Habitudes of things. The Senfe of Beauty in Actions is nothing elfe but their apprehended Subfervicncy to this great End ; which, according as it is jufl or dthepw'ife, con? ftitutes (as the Senfe of external Beauty does like wife in natural Objects) a true or a falfe Tafte of Life, This accounts for the many otherunfe unaccountable Perverjions both of the internal and moral Senfe ob- fervable in Fact and Experience ; as it likewife points out the true Remedy for them, namely to confider impartially the real Nature and Confequcnces of Things, to inlarge the View of the Mind, to take in many more Particulars into the Account, and by that means correct the vicious Relifh, or Gothic Taftc. Thofe who cannot give up the favourite Terms of abftratt Beauty, and abftrafl Fitnefs, may poflibly have lefs Prejudice to this way of thinking, when they are pleafed to obferve, that what they call beau- tiful, or foy and the like, that I only defire leave to call ufcful, or convenient ; we mean the very fame things, and differ only in Expreffion : a Circumftance I chufe to mention, in regard to the many excellent Writers who have feemed to oppofe the inter ejted Scheme of Morality. I have as great a Contempt for what is commonly underftood by Selfjhnefs^ as they can poilibly have ; and I am lefs inclined to differ from them, be- caufe, I take it, it is the Excefs of their Genercfity a- lone that, to my Apprehenfion, mifleads them ; this having been the Error, if fuch it is, of fome of the moft valuable Perfons in the World of Letters ; as no one can doubt, who confiders that Dr. Clarke^ Mr,. IVollaJlon, Mr. Hutchcfon, Mr. Balguy, and others of great Merit have declared for this Opinion. * See Hutch. Inq. p. 102.

That

( 86 )

That admirably Jimple kind of Mechanifm, by which are brought about fome of the moft confiderable Effedls in Nature is ex- quifitely adapted to our Tafte of Beauty in 'Uniformity amidft Variety. Such are the Principles of Gravitation, of Heat, of Elafticity; the feveral Operations of which, befides their numberlefs good Ufes in the Creation, have moreover a peculiar rela tion of Accommodation to the human Mind, from their obferved Agreement in one general Caufe of their Production. The obvious Face of the World, Phile-* mon, is beautiful and regular $ the Forms of the heavenly Bodies, their Difpofition in an imaginary concave Sphere, their Pe riods, and Revolutions in equal Times j the Returns of Day and Night, Seed-time and Harveft, Summer and Winter 3 the Ar rangements of natural Objects; the gra dual Riling of Hills, their extended Ranges with regularly interfperfed Valleys ; the beautiful Level and polifhed Surface of Rivers , the uniform Majefty of the Ocean ; the fimilar Structure and Configuration of the parts of Flowers, Plants, Trees, and above all of animal Bodies, are Inftances of a governing Order in Nature equally no torious and agreable. But this beautiful Simplicity, Regularity, and Order in the Constitution of things is not intended merely to indulge us in the lazy Pleafure of Con templation,

temptation, but to fuggeft to us many ufe- ful Principles of Adlion and Imployment. The feveral kinds of natural Forces above- mentioned by a dextrous Application are made fubfervient to various good Purpofes in the Accommodation of Life*. To them we are indebted for the Cohefion of the feveral Parts of artificial Compofitions of Bodies ; for the Theory and Application of the me chanic Powers ; for many ufeful Operations in Chymiftry, Phyfic, Surgery ; the feveral Engines imployed in the raifing, projec ting, or drawing off Water and other Fluids ; the Invention of Clock-work, and the different Ufes of Springs ; with feveral other Particulars too numerous to be here

* It is to be obferved here, as I find it well repre- fented by Mr. Campbell, that we do not in fuch Ap plications create to ourfelves any new Powers or Fa culties, which we had not before from the Author of our Being ; nor do we furnifh external Objects with other Qualities, than what they have from the firft Caufe of all things. And where is the Crime of my collecting and difpofmg particular things together, fo as to gratify my Mind with greater Variety of plea- fmg Perceptions than can be had in common thro' the World ? All thefe things are fitted and appointed by the Author of Nature to entertain me with fuch Gra tifications : and, I hope, there is no Guilt in exerting my natural Powers, and making ufe of my own La bour, Skill, and Induftry, in procuring for myfelf thofe Pleafures which I have a natural Tafte to injoy ; or in applying things to thofe Purpofes, to which, not finful Man, but the Deity himfelf has fo well adapted them. APETH-AOFIA, p. 111,112.

diftindly

(88 )

diftinclly infifted on *. Our Tafte of Beauty in the Order and Regularity of na tural Objects is the Foundation of all that Pleafure we receive from the more elegant Devices of Art ; fuch as Architecture, Ma fic, Gardening, Painting, Statuary ; to which we may add likewife the Pleafures of Drejs, Equipage, Attendants, Furni ture. Without fome or other of which Purfuits, Life would want many of thofe Conveniences, and moft of thofe Amufe- ments, for which alone it is chiefly valu able, in the Opinion of fuch as would be efteemed to have the trueft Relifh of it. Strike off the artificial Improvements of Life, and you leave little or no Advantage in a great Fortune above a very fmall one. The Beauties of Nature lie open to all in common : the fubflantial part of all fen- fual Gratifications is attainable by a very moderate mare of Wealth and Power: nay, even Scarcity often recommends thefe things to us much more than Abundance. Would we refine upon the common Satif- factions of Life, and ftrike out into a

* The Appointment of general Principles in Na ture is farther ufeful in a higher ', a moral Account. For were there no general Laws eftablifhed, " there " could be no Prudence or Defign in Men, no ra- " tional Expectation of Effects from Caufes, no " Schemes of Action projected, nor any regular Exe- " cution." Hutch. Inq. p. 103.

more

more varied Scene of Injoyments than lie within the reach of the Vulgar, we muft call in the Improvements of Fancy, as what alone can compafs this Point for us. Accordingly, if we look abroad into the World, arid reflect a little what it is that fo attracts our Eyes and our Envy in the higher Stations of Life, mail we not find it to be only the iliperior Capacity they give to People of more diftinguim'd Rank for injoying the feveral Pleafures of De cency, Regularity, Beauty ? Why elfe is the Pride and Magnificence of a Palace preferred to the Humility of a plain and cleanly Cottage? a Piece of Painting to an ordinary Sign-Pofl ? a Suit of Em broidery to a Covering of Prize ? a Service of Plate to a Set of earthen Dijhes ? a nu merous Attendance to a rfable, or a Dumb- Waiter'? a Concert of Mujic to a Company of niftic Scrapers ? an Opera to a Village- Wake ? If you fay that Confideratlons of Property determine our Choice here, I an- fwer, Property alone cannot do it; for then a Mijer would be thought equally harpy with a Man of the moil accomp/tjbcd T^e. it muft be Property applyed to fome- thing we efteem Happinefs. Even the Mifer himfelf, tho' at prefent by a ftrange Infatuation in the PafTion of Avarice his Thoughts look no farther than Poflefiion, commenced fuch probably at firft from a' N Profpea

(90 )

Profped of Happinefs. 'Twas the Ap- prehenfion of Want, that is, of not having the Means of injoying Life in his power, that ingaged him in this facing Regimen : unlefs we may fuppofe that even yet he has an eye to the making a Family, as 'tis call'd -y that is, laying a Foundation for o- thers to tafte thofe very Pleafures of Or der, Regularity, Beauty, from which the Wretch himfelf is eternally precluded from a cherimed Horror of Expence *.

WHETHER this be any part of his In tention or not I cannot tell, (interpofed I) but it certainly often fucceeds fo in Fact. Profufion in the fubfequent Generation is generally a fort of Retribution to the Pub lic for the Mifchiefs of Avarice in the pre cedent one. I remember Mr. Pope in his Epiftle to my Lord Bathurft has given this Thought a very beautiful Drefs in the fol lowing Lines

Riches, like Infeffs, when conceal* d they lie, Wait but for Wings, and, in their Seafon,

'

Who fees pale Mammon pine amidft his

Store, Sees but a backward Steward for the Poor;

* See this Subjeft well treated in Hutch. Inq.Sea.8. P- 93> &c.

This Year a Rejervoir, to keep, andfpare; The next, a Fountain fronting thro his Heir*.

But after all, (continued I) Hortenjjus, if Self-Denial be fo neceflary a Token of Virtue as 'tis fometimes reprefented, who knows but the Mifer^ as deteftable a part as he is generally efteemed to act, may yet have a fort of Claim to the Character of the moft conjummate Virtue? a ftrange Paradox this ! But yet it is certain he practifes as high a Degree of Abflinence from all the Comforts of Life, as the moft mortified Afcetic can pretend to. He fa- crifices his a/I, Hortenjius, and can the o- ther boaft of doing more ? nay, in one re- f peel, he is even the greater Rigorift of the two ; for he facrifices at leaft one Pleafure more than the Afcetic himfelf does ; the Pleafure, I mean, of Liberality.

As far as Intention is concerned (faid Hortenfius) I am of opinion he may do fo. Neverthelefs, Philemon, the Conjequences both of the Mifer, and the AJcetic-P of- fion, are nearly the fame j both thefe forts of People may be faid to leave their Wealth to others -J-, and give up their own Right in their PofTem*ons, that fomebody elfe may be the better for them. How different are

* Epift. of the Ufe of Riches, 1. 170. f Pfalm. 49. 10.

N 2 the

( 92 )

the Caufes that may thus bring about the fame Effects? No one is apt to fufpect a Mifer cf Liberality, or an Afcetic of Cove- toufnefs j and yet they both ad: the very fame part in Life, tho' upon quite con trary Principles ; they both deny themjehes in the very fame Inflances. To fuffer Want thro' the Fear of Want, which is the Cafe of the former, is, it may be, the more flagrant Abfurdity ; but to imbrace it voluntarily, and for its own fake, as does the latter, is furely no inconfiderable one; efpecially in a Conftitution of things, as has been mewn, no ways favourable to funh an auftere Sentiment of religious Per fection.

BUT would you carry this Notion fo far, (laid I) Horte?ifiusy as abfolutely to condemn the forward Zeal of thofe mor tified Pietifts, who taking the evangelical Precept of Jelling all ive have, and giving to the Poor *, in a ftrictly literal Senfe, imbrace the Severities of voluntary Poverty, as if it was as formally impoffible, as it is fomewhere by a ftrong proverbial Expref- lion in Scripture declared to be extremely difficult, in certain Circumftances, for a rich Man to enter into the Kingdom of

TT " L9

Heaven y?

* Mat. 19. 21. compare with Mark 10. 21. f See as before.

INDEED,

( 93 )

INDEED, (faid he) Philemon, I would. There cannot be a greater Injury to the Honour of the facred Writings than to fup- pofe them capable of an Interpretation, in any particular Pafiage, fo repugnant to Common Senfe, no lefs than to the general 'Tenor of thofe very Writings themfelves.

BUT may not this, and other like Places of Scripture (I interrupted) be un- derftood as certain Counjeh of eminent Per- fetfion to Jome People, no ways obligatory as matter of ft r 151 Duty upon all? I think I have fomewhere met with this Diftinc- tion in religious Writers.

POSSIBLY you may, (replied he) but 'tis a Distinction without the leaft Founda tion of Reafon to fupport it. Whatever the Scriptures propofe as a Counfel of real Perfe&ton, muft, to all who believe them, be matter of ftricl: Duty, for all Chriftians are bound to become as perfeffi as they can. Admitting then that volun tary Poverty is any part of Chriftian Per- fettion, there will be a real Obligation upon all Chriftians to fubmit to it *. And thus

muft

• The learned Barbeyrac obferves well upon this point, Chretiens, comme tels, ne pourront qu' afpirer a une telle perfe&ion. Us le devront meme, centre ce

que

( 94 )

mufl: the whole Chriftian World be re duced to a level, all obliged to a State of Beggary j and the feveral Diftm&ions of Civil Society, with the relative Duties a- rifing out of them, mufl intirely vanifh wherever the Gofpel is once introduced. A ftrange Reprefentation of things, Phi lemon, and moft unworthy the fuppoied Au thor of Revelation ! And yet unlefs this be al lowed, I fee not how it can be any Merit in People to whom Providence has allotted the Diftindions of Birth and Fortune to quit their proper Poft and Duties, and beg gar themjehes, in order to adminifter to, what upon their own way of Reafoning they mufl needs think, the fuperfluous In dulgences of other People. I remember to have read of a very rigid Pietift, the cele brated Mademoijelle Bourignon, who upon this very Principle, tho' me made little ufe of her Wealth in her own Perfon, would never be prevailed upon to diftribute it in Charity to any body elfe. She could find no Jit Objects upon whom to beftow her Liberality ; none who would not make an ill ufe of it in adminiftring to their Idk- nefs, or their Vices-, " nullos adhuc inveni

que Ton fuppofe. car toutes les exhortations des Ecri- vains facrez tendent a impofer 1'obligation indifpenfable de fe perfe&ioner, & de fe rendre chacun de plus en plus agreable a Dieu. Traite de la Morale des Peres, chap. 8. feft. 15.

" vere

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" vere pauperes," was her conftant Reply to all Requefts of this nature *. Tho' the Principle me went upon, as indeed moft of her other Principles, was extremely wrong, yet fhe certainly reafoned right in conference of it. For what it becomes me to renounce myfelf, I can have no Autho rity to transfer to other People. And yet certainly, Philemon, this is not the Mean ing of the Apoftle, where he exhorts, that to do good) and to communicate, <we Jkwld forget not*\ : nor in another of his Epiftles, where he charges them that are rich in this. World, that they do good-, that they be rich

in good Works-, ready to diftribute\\.

So different is the Morality of the Gofpe) from the Refinements of fanciful Enthu- fiafts.

BUT to go a little farther into this Point. Admitting that the only lawful Ufe of Riches is, as our Apoftle fpeaks, to do good, to be rich in good Works, I fuppofe it can be no Diminution of any Act of Be-

: Vellem ut occafiohem haberem bona mea ad glo- riam Dei impendendi j tune ne uno quidem die retine- rem ; fed nullam hucufque inveni : multi funt qui ea acciperent, fed non impenderent ad gloriam Dei, ut ego facere deftino. ap. Seckend. Apobg. Relatio. p. 78, 79. See Bayle's Dift. Vol. i. under the Article Bou- rignon, Remark M.

f Heb. 13. 1 6.

11 i Tim. 6. 17, 18.

neficence,

(96 )

neficence, that it is contrived fo as to be at once a Benefit to the Author, no lefs than to the ObjeEl of it. If at the fame time that I am fupplying the Wants of others, I can fo order the Matter as to an- fwer many good Purpofes to myfelf in the way of private andjperfonal Accommodation, is the Charity of fuch a Proceedure at all lefTened by its thus turning to a double Ac count ? Surely, Philemon, there can be no Pretence to think fo. Now 'tis in this View that I would look upon Men of Rank and Fortune in Life, as Inftruments in the hands of a kind and good Provi dence to adminifter to the Neceffities and Occasions of tbofe who move in a lower Sphere, from the united Principles of Ge- nerojity and private Interejl. Their perfonal Recreations and Amufements, the Ex- pences of their Station and Circumftances in the World, their very Luxuries, and moft elegant Superfluities, (if you will needs call every thing by that Name, that is not immediately neceffary to our very Be ing) tho' they are far from what a celebrated Author calls them, private Vices , zsfuch, do anfwer however to the other part of his Defcription of them, and both are, and ought to be imployedas, public Benefits *.

They

* Fable of the Bees, or private Vices public Benefits* This falfe Notion of confounding Superfluities and Vi ces,

I

( 97 )

They are the proper Incouragements of boneft Induftry ; a kind of Tax upon the Liberality of thofe who are exempted by their fuperior Situation in Society from the Drudgeries of its more fervile Offices. They find Work and Maintenance for the labouring Poor, fo neceflary in all Com munities ; are the Support of many ufeful Trades and Imployments in the middle Stations of Life; the Foundation of a more extended Commerce both at home, and with foreign Nations; of that general Cir culation of Property, by which, in the wife Appointment of things, the Abun dance of a few is made fubfervient to the Exigencies of the many. Where this View takes place, fuch 2. generous O economy of our Pleafures fanffiifies, as it were, the very Nature of them : it adds a Merit to Ex- pence, converts Ornament into U/e, and Elegance into Charity. For my part, Phi- lemony I know not a more enviable Cha racter than that of a. truly great Man who, by a Generofity of thinking anfwerable to his fuperior Capacity of doing good, im- ploys his Fortune to all the Purpofes of a magnificent Liberality ; like a good Angel, a kind of guardian Deity, to his Fellow- Creatures, diffuiing Happinefs far and wide

ces, is what runs thro' that whole Piece ; otherwife, (as all that Author's Pieces are) very ingenioufly written.

O thro'

( 98 )

thro' a numerous Circle of grateful Depen- pendents j whilft, at the fame time, by a wonderful Provilion in Nature to reward fo ferviceable a Benevolence, the very Ob- jefts of his Bounty, are the Inftruments of his moil valuable Gratifications. There is nothing, Philemon, I have obferved to be more generally miftaken in a religious Account than the Notion of Charity : many People feem to confider Alms as what alone deferves that Name. As if it was not a greater, a more godlike Bene volence, to put the fame Perfons above the hard Neceffity of afking our Alms, than it is to relieve them upon their actual Application for them *. To be touched with the imwediafeSymptomsof Wretched- nefs is no very high Degree of Excellency : he is a Scandal to his Kind who is not fo. But to concert calmly zn&fedately the moft

effectual

* The humane Moralift Seneca was of a very dif ferent opinion Optimum eft, fays he, antecedere

defiderium cujufque : proximum fequi. illud melius, occupare antequam rogemur : cjuia cum homini probo ad rogandum os concurrat, & iuffundatur rubor, qui hoc tcrmentum remittit, niultiplicat munus fuum. Nontu lit gratis, qui cum rogafiet, accepit. De Ben. lib. 2. cap. I. And again, cap. 2. Moleftum verburq. eft, onerofum, oc demiflb vultu dicendum, rogo. Hu- jus facienda eft gratia amico, & cuicunque, quern a- micum fis promerendo faciurus. fero beneficium dedit?

qui roganti dedit. It may perhaps be, that that very

circumftance is the chief Recommendation of this kind £f Charity, which with many People is made an Ob jection

(99 )

effectual Meafures of doing good, as it were, before it is even fought for, to cherifh the fair Idea in our Minds, and by friendly Pre cautions of Benevolence to hinder, as far as may be, the very Entrance of Mifery into the World, this is indeed a truly heroic In- ftance of Virtue. And yet this is the very part which every Man of Diftinction and Affluence is called upon to act, if he does but rationally confult his own greateft En-^ tertainment and Happinefs. Such is the Morality even of Plea/ure, Philemon, in a true Eitimate of things ! fo wonderfully are Virtue and Self-Gratification complicated together ! I might add here, what has been already obferved more at large, that the very Purfuit of Pleaiiue itfeli in the In- ftances now fuggefted, in the ieveral Ob jects of Decency, Beatify, and Order, is not

jeff ion to it, " that ic does not appear to be fuch." It puts People upon acquiring for themfelves a comfortable or convenient Subfiitence, which, becaufe it is the Re- fult of their own Labour and Induftry, they confider as a Reward not of Grace, but of Debt. (Rom. 4. 4.) A very con/iderabie Inhancement this of the Value of it ! To be the Authors of our own Happinefs, being a much greater Pleafure to us, than to receive the fame Proportion of Good at the arbitrary Will of an other. We may add, that this is therefore the

true/} kind of Goodnefs, becaufe it is indeed the Me thod of the Deity himfelf to all his Creatures, He gives them the Capacities of Happinefs and of Virtue, and leaves the aflual Acquifition of both in a great mea- fure to themfelves, that they may fet the greater Value upon them.

O 2

only convertible in the Method already propofed into an atfual Exercife of Virtue, but moreover has a natural Tendency to carry us on to ftill higher Degrees of it: it being fcarce poffible but that to a confide- rate Man the fame Principle of good 'Tofts which regulates his Amufements muft ir- refiftibly make its way into the Oeconomy of his Mind and Temper ; and lay the Foundations of folid Worth in his inward and moral Character *.

I am afraid, (interpofed I) Hortenfius, this is too liberal a Method of Inftruction, thus to recommend Virtue as the Perfec tion of good Tafte, and fend us to the School of our moil refined Pleafures to learn it in, ever to pafs with our rigid In- ftructors in Morality for a right one : Im- pofition, Command, and arbitrary Ap pointment are the Leffons they choofe to teach us 5 and indeed they are the only ones that can be at all fitted to introduce the Rigors of their extravagant Syftems. Submiffion and Reftraint is with them all in all; and there is always the more of Grace in any Practice, the lefs there is of Nature. To cultivate a Tafte of moral Worth and Excellence from a Principle of

* See this Notion treated with the ufual Elegance of that noble Author, in the Chara&eriftics, Voi. III. Mifcel. 3. Chap, i, 2.

Decency,

( 101 )

Decency, Proportion, ?aid Beauty in AcYions, is a Piece of rank philojbphic Pridey rather than of religious Humility. Our Conduct is then moft valuable in itfelf, when there is the lead Ground to think it fo in our Apprehenfion of it. This Pride of Vir tue is the Ruin of it j they can allow no thing to be fuch, that flows from fo cor rupt a Principle.

YET the Principle of Reverence to a Man's Jelf * (returned Hortenfms) was thought fit to be inculcated by one of the wifeft Moralifts of Antiquity ; and it will ever be a very juft Foundation of moral Merit, in fpight of all the vifionary Con ceits of fpiritual Mortification. Pride, Phi lemon, is one of thofe Qualities in our Na ture that is either good or bad> according as it is applied. To be -proud of, or ap prove in ourfelves, what is really excellent, is only to form a true Eftimate of things : and can there be any Merit, as Mr. Norn's, I remember, fomewherc obferves, in being miftaken-^? 'Tis then only wrong, when it is placed upon wrong Objects ; when

Was one of the capital Precepts of Pythagoras^ Mo rals, and perhaps (Skys Mr. Norris] one of the beft too that ever was given to the World. Nor. Mifcel. 8vo. 351.

f Acr. as above, p. 346.

we

we conceit ourfelves of imaginary Worth, and neglect what is real and genuine. If it be faid that every Degree of Pride is cri minal in the prefent imperfect State of human Nature, what is this but to fay that it is impoiTible for Man to arrive at any Degree of moral Worth ? an Opinion which, as fallen as he is reprefented to be, cannot be maintained without a manifeft Dijkonour to his Maker. But to flate this

Matter yet more clearly If Compuljion

be of the ElTence of Virtue, as it is inii- nuated in the Objection you mention, the Conduct of the fupreme Being himfelf has much \Q& Merit in it than that of the mofl difingenuous of his Creatures j other wife, what is a Perfection in the Deity, cannot but be fuch in Man too, as far as he is able to imitate it. Now to practife Virtue, the higheft Degrees of Virtue, without Conftraint; to purfue it upon a Principle of free Choice, for the mere Pleafure and Approbation of the thing itfelf, as his Glory r, and his Happinefs, is what confti- tutes our Idea of the divine Perfection : and ihail the fame thing which gives fuch a fu- perlative Grace and Luftre to the divine Char after, caft a Shade upon the human ? So that after all, Philemon^ Conftraint and Self-Denial is fo far from being necejjary to Virtue, that 'tis mere Weaknefs and Want of Virtue that gives them either Ufe or Ex pediency.

103

pediency. They are a Derogation from the true Merit of Virtue, as far as they are fhevvn to take place in it : and the higbeft State of moral Excellence is that where there is nothing of Diflatisfatfion, nothing of Difficulty ; where Virtue is, as it ever ought to be, a Service of perfect Freedom, generous Aff'effiion, and unallaytd Complacency. But this perhaps may be

thought refining Enough however has

been argued from other lefs abftracted To pics to eftablijfli this general Conclulion upon the whole, " that however the " Purfuits of Pleajure and Virtue are " often reprefented as inconfiftent, the na- l-f tural Conftitution of things, a moft " certain Teftimony of the Intention of " their Author^ is fuch as never can be re- " conciled with this gloomy Principle/' Providence, which does nothing in vain, would not have fo exquifitely adapted the Works of his hands to the Entertainment and Service of Man, if Mifery of any kind had been his determined Portion and Af- fignment in the prefent Life. The Dif- cipline of Virtue is then an eafy and a li beral Difcipline. They are Strangers to the lovely Form, who reprefent her to our view with a forbidding Afpecl:, with no thing but Clouds and Frowns upon her Brow. The Practice of our Duty is in the ftrieteft Senfe to follow Nature : and

the

the way to recommend ourfelves to a kind and good Deity is not to hara/s and ajjtiffi that Being he has in his gracious Bounty beflowed upon us; but, upon a rational and judicious Eftimate of things, to con- fult in the moil effectual manner at once the greateft Ea/e, Happhiefs, and Improve ment of it. How different, Philemon, has been the general 'Turn of Religion in the World !

You promifed, (faid I) Hortenjius, to give me fome Account of this Matter: but we have dwelt fo long upon fome previous Points, that we are got, I perceive, almofl to the End of our Walk ; and the Evening^ is too far advanced upon us to think of

flaying abroad any longer.- 1 hope,

however, you will be as good as your word at fome other Opportunity.

WHENEVER you pleafe to call upon me, (returned he) I mall be ready to an- fwer my Ingagement. We have efla- bliflied a good general Foundation to pro ceed upon in this Queftion ; and may re- lerve the farther Difcuflion of it to our fu ture Leifure or Inclination.

AND thus, my Hydafpes, I have brought you to a very commodious Refling-Place in this Argument : and fhall accordingly

take

•take my leave of you for the prefentj with a Promife of continuing my Re port of our farther Conference, if you {hall think it worth your while to require it of me.

FINIS.

.

t i w a

/5 /

PHILEMON tof HYDASPES -, rekting Converfation with Hortenfius on th« Subieft of FALSE RELIGION. PART I.

PHILEMON.3

T O

HYDASPES;

RELATING

A Third CONVERSATION with HORTENSIUS, upon the Subject of Falje Religion.

IN WHICH

Some GENERAL ACCOUNT is indeavoured to be given of the Rife and Conftitution of Falfe Theory in Religion in the earlier Pagan World.

tv Trotvtv ovroe,

, xat TOUTOW ftxorw? Atcr rcoy AfJ'Ji- Eufeb. Praep. Evan0", lib. 7. cap. 13.

LONDON:

Printed for M. STEEN, in the Inner -Temple-La^. M.DCC.XXXIX.

V

ERRATA 3 i-L

PA G E 5. line 6. firjl Origin, for Origin. P. i r . 1. 10. ganeral, for general. P. 14. 1. 16. ordinary* for ordinarily. P. 25. 1. 2. 6/»/j, fur bint. P. 30. 1. I. againtt for again/I. P. 32. 1. 8. at Empire, ; for . P. 33. in the Note, 1. i. TfAsus'rti'rai') forTtAev<ravT«!'. P. 34* in the Note, 1. 2. eoadita, for conditu. P 38. in the Note, L 3- w;0«po$> for Ovewjos. P. 49. in the Ref. to Sbuftforefo Cotv. ^90^ 4. at large, for 5a^ 5. />. 3.19, and foil. P. 52. in the Note, I. 3. A. M. 2267, for 2276. P. 62. in the Note, 1. 8.. fixth Krng, forfixth Pa/tor King.

P. 63. in the Note, 1. 16. after Matter, the Reader is de- fired to go on thus — Determines the fuppofed requifite Ad dition to the original Egyptian Year to be juft a feventy fe- cond Part of it. That is, five Days only, without a quarter of -a Day over

P.' 63. in the Note, 1. 24,10 iG<frfjwx.Q<rw> add cfct"7T#»'. I- 25»T£iajwc76«i for. Te*aKoerr«<f. P-/H in the Note, 1. forraT&'V. P. 85. I. 2. diftinfion,

PHILEMON

T O

HYDASPES.

HAVE been doubting, Hydafpes, with my felf, confidering the very favourable Reception you have given my two late Addrefles to

D »

you in this moral kind, whether it was re ally fafe for me to proceed any farther with them. The moral Relim, as itfeemed, was gaining too faft upon you. A certain Habit of more than ordinary Serioulhefs towards which J could not but obferve you inclining, however it might improve you as a Philofo- pher, would go near to fpoil you as a Man B of

( 2 .)

jof the World j as threatning to difturb that jeary Infignificance of Manner, and Relax- lation of Thought and Temper, which is the 'admired Excellency and Distinction of that : Character. But here, methought, the Scru ple began to remove, when upon Recollec tion it appeared, that the whole Foundation of it was laid in a grofs Fallacy and Miftake. " That Solemnity is a neceffary Branch of , " true Serioufnefs" For if indeed the two Ideas were perfectly different, there could be no occalion for your renouncing any part of theagreable Sprightlinefs of your Polite Cha racter, in order to fave the Dignity of your Philosophic one. They might yet, for any thing I could difcern to the contrary, main tain with perfect Confidence their diftinct Provinces, and each have its Privilege of Turn. In many Cafes it might even be ne- ceflary they mould unite in one common Caufe and Intereft j and, with equal Propri ety, and Advantage to each other, demand a joint Interpofition and Authority in the very fame Article of Life. The Caution of the Philofopher might fometimes be of fingular Ufe to reftrain the Indecencies of a too licen tious Freedom 5 and the Sprightlinefs of a well conducted Freedom, to temper the Ri gors of a too fcrupulous Philofophy. Par ticularly, if, in thecourfe of feverer Thought, Religion mould fometimes fall under con- fideration, there feemed here aft indilbenfa-

ble

(3 )

ble NecefTity for playing certain fprighttier Fancies, and Ideas of a more cheerful Aipeft, again ft the varioufly difqideting Phantoms 'of devout Jealoufy ; and fuch morofe and un friendly Exhibitions of Divinity, as a melan cholic Imagination might be apt to form to itfelf from a Nature, powerful, but imper fectly comprehended. Religion, in plain Truth, from the mere Weight and Impor tance of its Subject runs fo naturally into the tragic Vein, that we muft arm ourfelves with a competent Pleafantry of Difpolition, and Stock of good Spirits, before we fet about it, or we mail certainly make a thorow Tragedy of it in the End. Thus indeed it has too often ended in Fact ; as the Poet long ago complained*, and you will have too fre quent Examples in th#t Report of itsHiftory, which, Hor ten/Ius, if you continue to require it, has inftructed me to make to you. What you have now before you, is a kind of ge neral Introduction to this Subject. In which, Hortenfms, by way of Key to the more con- iiderable Articles, he had, you know, in- gaged himfelf to fpeak to, offalfe Praffii.ee, has examined briefly into the Origin, and primitive Conftitution of ' falj'e Theory in jRp- ligion, in the Pagan World. The particular Occaiion of which Difquilition was, Ihaflen to acquaint you, as follows.

* Tantitm Relligio potult fuadere malorum.

Lucret. lib. r.

B 2 PART

(4)

PART II. ;

FI N D I N G my felf, one Morning, after Breakfaft, alone in the PofTeffion of Hortenfius in his Study j we have now (faid I to him) an excellent Opportunity, if you have no particular Engagement of your own upon your hands, to refume the Subject of our Converfation the other Night *. You then abundantly convinced me of the wretched Abfurdity of Falje Religion j I wifhyou would now proceed to the Execu tion of your Promife to me in conclufion, of running over with me the general Hiflory of it in the World.

THE Hiftory ofFalJe Religion (faid he) Philemon, is the Hiftory of all thole num- berlefs Mifapplications to which the Appre- henlion of fuperior invifible Agency in the Univerfe ; as reafbnable, as it is natural, to precarious and dependent Humanity ; is lia ble, from the ignorant and cowardly Credu lity of one Part of our Species ; and the fub- til enterprizing Sagacity, and Invention of

the

* See a Pamphlet intitled, Phil, to Hyd. Part II.

( 5 )

the other. 'Tis a Subject of equal Extent, in the religious Confideration of Mankind, with all that Folly has ever been weak e- nough to fubmit to ; or Knavery artful e- nough to authorize. To trace it back to its J»ft Origin in the World, is, in a manner, to trace back human Abfurdity and Corrup tion to a firft Period. It is to detect all the multiplied Delufions of the Miftaken ; and the Stratagems of the Defigning : To difclofe all the fecret Occafions of Mifappre- henfion to the Simple ; all the correfponding Opportunities of Impofture to the Crafty. Such in general is the Hiftory of Falfe Reli gion a Hiftory, I need not obferve to you,

fo connected with that of Mankind in gene ral, that an accurate Delineation of the one preiuppofes an exact Knowledge of the other. Nor need I fuggeft to you the neceffary Con- fequence of this Obfervation ; the Allowance required to be made in a Re-fearch of this Nature for, what you are too well acquainted with, to be here informed of, the doubtful and defective State of more ancient and re mote Hiftory. The truth is, a great part of the Ritual of ancient Superftition lies bu ried in impenetrable Obfcurity. An At tempt to explain it would now-a-days be as fruitlefs, as of old it would probably have been held irreverent or criminal. But not- withftanding in the Progreftive Advance ments of its Empire, we may be too often at

(6)

a lofs to adjuft the true Reafon and Meaning of particular Ihftitutions, we may, I think, diicern enough of its more general Scope and Tendency, to fatisfy ourfelves upon competent Evidence and Obfervation in this regard, *c that however, in the variety of Seafons, " and Circumftances, the Engines of itsTy- " ranny have been almoft infinitely diverii- <£ fied, the Spirit of it has been always one " and the fame." It has, in fhort, been ever doing juft what it is at this day ; in- flaving the Minds, perverting the Affections, haraffing the Perfons, and ingroffing to its felfthe Properties of Mankind.

- Servatur ad imum £>ualis ab incepto procejjerit - To fix fome Method to oar Inquiry, Phi- lemon, you muft give me leave to tranlport you for a while, from the <nore familiar Scenes of European Slavery of this fort, to that favourite Realm, and if not originally Parent-Soil of Superftition (as it was by fome of its own fanciful Naturalifts faid to be of the Species of Mankind *,) yet doubtlels 'wonderfully fuccefeful one in the univerlal Culture and Improvement of it j Egypt -)*.

If

zvxpatnav TJJC p/wpa?, jcai ix -mvpWrt TOD

Diod. Sic. Bib. Lib. I. p. 9. •f* AjJ'UTrltoi Ssovtfiteg $s T3-£(>Kr<rcas wAs? Av9^w7rwv. Herod. Lib, 2. cap. 37*

(7)

If {lie had not in ftrict Truth the proper Merit of original Invention y me has engrofled to herfelf however, almoft the whole Glory of Example in the kind j having by early Ex- portations of her Natives to foreign Coun tries, efpecially to Greece, and the Afiatic Iflands, circulated her Superftitions together with her Difcoveries of a happier Influence, as her own proper Growth and Produce, thro' the far greateft Part of the weftern World. We have moreover, by means of the frequent Communications of Greece with Egypt, in the more advanced Periods of Gre cian Literature, an Opportunity afforded us of knowing much more of the religious Cu- ftoms of Egypt, than of any other Nation of equal Antiquity. Her Reputation was very high for Wifdom, both in facred and profane Eftimation, from the earlieft Monuments we have of either. And one great Inftance of this Wifdom me fo much excelled in, we have good reafbn to believe, was the Science of Religion apply'd, as (he thought, tothePur- pofes of 2j more improved Legiflation. It was the Credit oitbis, together with that of her Philofophy in general, that drew over the more inquilitive Wits of Greece to a Par ticipation of her important Secrets in both kinds. Her Colleges were efteemed the great Repoiitories of ufeful Knowledge. And Travelling was in thofe times, as it is flill in

our

(8)

our own, Philemon, reputed the finishing Article of a refined Education.

THERE cannot be a flronger Image of Ridicule, (I could not help here interrupting) Hortenfms, than arifes from the Companion of certain modijh Travellers of later Ages, with the traveled Literati of Antiquity. Methinks, 'tis great pity we mould frill re tain a Reverence for the mere outward Cere mony of this Practice, whilft, as it is too of ten managed, it ferves little other purpole, than to reproach us with having altogether forgot, or miftaken the main End and Rea- fon of it. It was the Improvement of the Mind, not barely the forming a Perfon, or acquiring only a little fprightly Impertinence, and modim Addrels, that was thought worth travelling for in the Judgment of ancient Wifdom. Had any of the Travelled of thofe Days been found to have returned to their own Country with the Importation only of foreign Vice, Folly, and Extravagance, in- ilead of ufeful Information, improved Cud- ofity, and real Knowledge j they would have been efteemed to have done fomething much worfe than barely making a foreign Tour ridiculous.

THEY certainly would ib, (returned Hor~ tenfius) but the mifchief is, we are come to look upon Travelling as an Accomplishment

merely

(9)

merely of the polite Kind, inftead of what the Ancients did, as, principally at leaft, of the learned one. And as both our Notion of, and Preparation for it, are extremely dif ferent from theirs, 'tis no wonder our Suc- cels in it mould be Ib too. They fet out, as you have rightly obferved, upo» quite other Views than a bare famionable Ramble, or Opportunity of genteel Expence. If they vilited an Egyptian Convent, it was not only to be able to report \\$>Situation>Gt \teArchi- teffure, but to learn its Myfteries, To ac quaint themfelves with the Subftance and Hiftory of its Difcoveries either in Science or 'Religion ; and obferve the real Ground and Foundation of that awful Reverence from the Populace of its particular Diftridt, which fupported both its Wealth and Dignity. This was penetrating into the intire Secrets of the Order j and would, if comparTed, as it was only to be, by certain preparative Difciplines of Sacerdotal Appointment, and fometimes very tedious Applications to the Interefts, or Vanity of the Priefthood, afford them that Light into the general Theory and Conllitution of the popular Wormip of the Country, which, with due Referves to the .profound Sa?iffity of the important Subject, in many Cafes to be ado? -ed only, v/ithout be ing publickly comprehended ; they have feve- ral of them transmitted to Pofterity.

C IT

(.10 )

IT was a remarkable Inftance (faid I) of this referred Manner , and uncommunica tive Clofenefs of the 'Egyptian Hierarchy, ._ what Strabo relates of Plato and Eudoxus j that in a flay nf-*1miy Years in Egypt, " and a cou/fe of coriftant Application and " Obfequioufnefs to the Prieils o£Heliopolisy " they at length with great Difficulty extort- " ed from them the Difcovery, that the true " Meafure of the Yearconfifled of fix Hours " over and above the common Reckoning " then ufed.in Greece *." One would have thought, the Reputation of being the Dif- ccverers in this Cafe, mould have inclined them to a readier Communication of what could not but heighten their learned Character, If they elteemed the Oblervation, as it cer tainly was, a very important one to the Service of common Life, it was furely a nioft unbe- nevolent Policy in them to affect to make a Myftery of it ; a Narrownefs of Thinking not eaiily to be forgiven in fuch knowing ^vAj acred Characters.

AN

try' -STipcr/cu? y&y ov1«? xofltz TW iK\Ty\[j.ry

o( SXrfi niitic fuv

T//K

Geog. Lib. 17. p. 806.

AN Affectation ofMy/tery (returned Hor~ tenjius] even in Subjects where one would leaft expert it, was the prevailing Charafte- rift ic of Egyptian Literature, as well as Re ligion. I believe" the fingular Ule they ex perienced it to be of in the Purpofes of the one, introduced the Practice of it into the other. They had /<? many Occalions for the referred Manner in their Theological Con cerns, that the Habit by degrees became ga- neral, and extended it felf to their Conduct in other matters. The Difficulty with which Pythagoras ^ long before the Times you have been {peaking of, obtained the Honour of Admittance to the Arcana of the facred Tribe, is at large related by Porphyry from Anti- phon *. Even with the Recommendation of a royal Mandate for the Purpofe, obtained at the Reqneft of Polycrafes from King A- mafis, he could hardly at laft fucceed in the Execution of his Defign ; but was turned over from one College to another, upon cer tain Punctilio's of Ceremony between the le- veral Eftablimments ; from Hdiopolis, to Memphis, and from thence again to Thebes ; where, when for fear of incurring the Dif- pleafure of the King, the Priefts -durft not trifle with him any longer; they hoped how ever to difcourage him from his Purfuit, by the barbarous Severity of their preparatory C 2 Dif-

* Porph.de Vita Pythag. p. 183,

( '2 )

Difciplines, and Rites .of Initiation *. But finding him itill refolute and perfevering, they at length fairly took him into their Se cret ; and, as appears by his After- Conduct, made a thorow My flic of him. But in truth, Philemon, they had a better Reafon than merely an ajequired Morofenefs, or Referve becoming the Statelinels of a more raijed and dignified Character, for adopting this foy Manner, and cautious Ceremony into their Pbilofophic teaching ; iince in reality, the very foundation of their injlituted Religion, and all its important Myflerics was laid in certain Dogmata or Principles of their Phi- lofophy. *' It was theWorlhip of the feveral <e Powers, and Pa/flons of external Nature " exemplified by an artificial Accommoda- ic tionin theHiftory, Adventures, and SuiFerr- <£ ings, of certain of their ear liejl Heroes, and <c great Men of Antiquity j whole Benefac- £< tions to their Country and commoneft Paf- " Higes of Life, were by Time, and a fuc- *£ ceiTively heightened Tradition, wrought ce up to that critical Meajure of Obfcunty, " which in the Language of a late polite *c Author of your Acquaintance, is tbe be/I " Light to place a Wonder in -J- : that in the

"due

rr.g

Ubi fupra. f The Life of Homer, p. 277.

( '3 )

<c due Progrefs and Refinement of Regal and *c Sacerdotal Politics, made up \hsjlanding *l Body and complete Syftem of Egyptian au- " thorized Theology*." It was a Work of much time, Philemon, and required no or dinary Reach of Thought, and Subtilty of Invention to bring it to that approved Per- feftion in the kind, as to give the Law to all fucceeding religious Eftablifhments of Pagan Antiquity ; and having drawn over the Wif- dom of Greece to an Examination of its Con- dutt and Genius, to fend them back to their own Country refblved within their refpective Influences to introduce its Praffiice. The Origin of all this Parade of elaborate, and too often barbarous Heroe-fiby/io/ogic Super ftition, was, if you will take the word of a Right Reverend Gm^Hiftorian ofChriftian times, fupported, \ijlich a Character can need a Sup port, in his Affertion by the unanimous Suf frage of the befl Pagan Authorities in the Point, extremely fimple and popular. Be ing indeed nothing elfe but the artlefs De motion which Minds naturally apprehenlive of piperior aflive Power in the Universe, ^nddefirousat the fame time, for the eafe both of Conception and Addrefi, to affign it ibme particular vifible Refidence, could not avoid

paying

* QyipPe Sacerdotes Hiftoriae, ac Naturae gnari, at- tendebant in re Gefta quid fimile foret in Natura : ac pro utroque formabant facra fua. Faff", de Idol. Lib. 2. -Cap. 56. p. 617. 4to.

'paying to the moft ftr iking, operative , and ufefui Objects they had any acquaintance with, the Sun, Moon, and Hofl gf Hea

ven

*

OF all the various kinds of idolatrous Wor- 'fhip (interpofed I) this furely, Hdrtenfius, is the moft innocent, or at leaft excufable one. *Tis well for us, even in thefe Ages of im proved Light and Information, that the Fa miliarity of thefe Objects has a natural Effect to abate the Wonder, and awful ImprerTion of them; or I queftion, whether our Reli gion itfelf would be fometimes found a fuf- ficient Check to prevent our relapfmg into Paganifm in this Article. Scrioully, Hor- tenjius, a Man had need be of a more than ordinary cautious and philofophic Make, or ail infinitely ftupid and infcnfibic one, to at

tend

AAA' on ftsvoi •srpo.'Tot xxi -sr ovls VSLUV ot OUTTW roll

owe

., . ' 1

ciu.y.i OV.oyiCdptvto oVrAty Etvat* CUT ovv TIJ ^v uvlotc

Z?v?, ou Kpovoc, ou rioa-£i^wj, c'jx ATr^AAwv, OVK 'HpJi,

ovjc A6w-'#, cu Aioi/vcro?, cuJ1; T;C trfpo? SrjAEia T? x«* ojot (Mt1a raula jaypio; •srapa T£ BzpjSapcjj- 'EAArcrtv' aAA' ouJ's (Jatftwv rt? aJ/jsOo?, ?] lp«uXoy n'C!? fSau^a^flo* juova ^f ra (paivojM.£va TWV o-j- af-pwv, israpa Toy 3-ffiy, tTTEp so rp?^av, S-fwv TE 7«rpo(r*i7/op*a»f, «? 'avloi (pacrjv, /L'^avE. . Eufeb. . Evang. p. 30.

( 15)

tend the illuftrious Solemnities of opening Sunfhine, without fome -warmer Emotions than a merely fpecuiative Admiration ! Struck with the furpafling Splendor and Ma- jefly of the Appearance, and cheared by the gladfome Influences, and intimate Refrefh- ment of the all-inlivening Beam, how hard is it to fupprefs the riling Tranfports of a too eager Gratitude, and guard againft the Incli nation to fomething of immediate Devotion, ! How difficult, even with the Help of his Phyfics, as well as of his Creed, to repel the Infection of that univerfal Chorus of Joy, and Ieemingly-rai]g702w Acclamation of the aiifyicious Prejence, of which all inferior animated Nature affords him the inticing Example ! But happily for the Faith of the politer World, Hortenfius, who, it mu ft be own'd, are moft in Danger from Tempta tions to renounce it, they are in no peril of being flagger'd in it from this Quarter. A certain falfe Refinement of Living, fuppofed the Privilege of higher Birth and Education, has thrown a Difcrea"it upon the Entertain ment of this imbellijhed earlyScene, as being

in the Poet's Language, Uju plebcio frit a

voluptas * a Species of Pleaiure difgraced

by vulgar Ufe ; and its being acceilible to all who have Senfe enough, or Nature e- npugh left in them, to partake of it ! a Scene, Hort.cnfim^ which, becaufe it affords

the .* Petrott. Arb".

( 16 )

the commoneft, 3oes for that very Reafon, in the beneficent Appointment of Things,, afford likewiie the moft exquifite Entertain ment ! an Entertainment of fuch unparallel'd Beauty, Delicacy, and Magnificence, that the moft elaborate Refinements of human Art and Elegance ; the heighten'd Orna ments and auguft Grandeurs of a Palace j the glittering Oeconomy and wanton Luftres of an AfTembly ; the ftudied Pageantry and Decorations of a Theatre j hrde their dimi- nijhed Heads, and ihrink into nothing upon the Comparifon ! I am fallen, Hortenjiusy as you fee, into a kind of natural Enthufi- afm. But really the Image here is fo tranf- porting, even to us who view it in the mild Lights of a Pbilofophy, no lefs than a Reli gion, confpiring to weaken the Force of it ; that in Ages far lefs improved in both, I fee not how it was poffible not to be milled by it, without ibme fupernatural Affiftance to that Purpofe. Nor can I well conceive it within the Capacity of more ignorant and uninformed Simplicity,* in the firft Ages of Mankind, to withftand, without fome pre vious Guard from immediate Revelation, the Seducements of fo /pecious an Idolatry. How naturally would the inquiiltive Curi- oiity of recent and wondering Mortals, e- qually unfurnifhed with the Materials, and unpniclifed in the Arts of more correffi and philofophic Reafoning, not only addrefs itfelf,

as

( 17 )

as our Poet Milton defcribes Adam to have done, for the Refolution of this important Queftion,

How came I thus, how here ?

Not of myjelf *

To that moft probable Author of Informa tion in this Affair,

'The golden Sun — —

In the Judgment of one who was Well ac quainted with the great Object he compared him tOj

In fplendor Ukeft Heaven, -f-

Equally fuited to allure both their Eyes, and their Adoration : But even prefume it' had received a very fathfaffiory Anfwer in the Point ; when it had afcribed the Ori* gin of its own Exiftence, and the whole World's about it, to this feemingly adequate Caule, and genial Power of the Syftem ! Especially, would it be inclined to do fo, when having firft experienc'd the Horrors of his Abfence, and in the Gloom and Sad- nefs of the Night defpaired of any lajling Continuance of Being, it difcovered him at his appointed Seaibn returning again in the Eaft -, the Reftorer of Light, and Comfort, D and

* Par /*/?, BookS. 273,277—8. i Book 3. 572—3.

_ ( .18 )

and Renewer of a fuj'peffied perifiing World! when, as our Pott ipeaks ;

Fir ft in the Raft his glorious Lamp was feen, Regent of Day ; and all th' Horizon round, Irruejled with bright Rays-—' *

Under thefe Circum fiances, Hortenfius, I can think of no expedient to prevent Men's inftantly falling down and worihipping him, but an authoritative Interpofal and Prohibi tion from His, and 'Their, immediate Maker. In (hort, Hortenfws, the Temptations in new-formed and uninrlrucled Man to a wrong Religion feem to be fo powerful, that I cannot imagine he could of himjelf\\\ many Ages reafbn out a right one.

You have given the Reins to your Fancy, (refumed Hortenjlus, with his uiual Com- plaiiance) very entertainingly, Philemon. I was unwilling to interrupt your Flow of Thought, and check your agreable Enthu- fiafm, or I could have told you I- was fully pofTeii of your Sentiment fome time ago. You would have the firft Man fapernatur al ly let into the true Notion of a Deity, not fb properly to preclude his rational Inquiries con cerning One, as to direct them. To prevent the Delulions of a too hafty Imagination ; and put him upon a right Scent and Train of

Thinking,

* Par. loft, Book j. 370 — I..

( '9 )

Thinking. Rather to guard him againft Error, than to -teach him poiitive Truth. Religion, the great Lines of it, were un doubtedly intended to be the Deductions, as they are fairly within the compafs, of found Reafon. If any fitptr natural Difcovery of them was at nrft made, it was, we may ima gine, however, of the moft general Kind ; and defigned only to fupply the Place of that Reafoning and Philofbphy, which as yet was necerTarily of impracticable Attempt, thro' the Defect of thole requtftte Materials to it, a previous competent Acquaintance

with, and Obfervation of Things : How-

* *~>

ever, in its proper Seafon and Opportunities of Exercife, it was manifestly ordained, as it is thorowly qualified, of Heaven, to be the Inftrument to Mankind, of afTuring to themfelves the fame important Truths upon Principles of a rational Conviction.

I would not be underftoood (laid I) Hor- tenjius, in any wife to undervalue the Evi dence and Authority of Reafon. Nor can I, indeed, fee any Difparagement to it in fuppofing, that it could not go to work without necefTary Inftruments; or that a Faculty of Judging upon examined Evi dence could not exert itfelf, 'till fuch Evi dence was laid before it : any more than I can difcover the Juftnefs of that Concluiion which fome would eftablifh from hence ; D 2 that

(2°)

that Reafon, new in its Maturity of Age and Qbj foliation , is no lafe Guide, no pro per Arbitrator in Matters of Religion. It feerns to me to be averting, that becaufe Reafon cannot proceed without Ideas j there fore it cannot afterwards with them. Be caufe a Man has no Ufe of his Eye-fight in the Dark, therefore he is to diftruft the Reports of it in open Day. A Difingenuity .of Thinking, which mews either a very weak Caufe, or a very injudicious, as well as unfair Management of it.

ONE may, I think, from hence difcern pretty clearly (reply'd Hortenfitis) the high Ridicule and Abfurdity of thole pompous Representations which are fometimes given us of the Juperior Wifdom, and almoft An gelic Penetration, of the Jirji Parent of Mankind, upon his new Introduction into jthe World. And with how unwarrantable a Civility he is by fome Writers of his HL- ftory complimented into a Degree of Under- flanding, and Force of Genius, fo much be yond the utmoil Reach and Comprehenfion of his Poflerity. * He had, it mould feerh,

little

. o Tr

(TO^OC, ttq TTGfJTUV TWV

KXI Tra^ra, Ka^caoce, KM aKi^r,Xst, TS xzi

xou tveffltiuv Tr'^yjaai, X,XTO.

little Caufe to be conceited of the Privilege, however he had done well to have thank fully fubmitted to the Authority of a fuper- natural Guidance and Direction ; of which, we fee, the whole Reafon, Opportunity, and Expedience, arofe meerly from his own per- jbnal Incapacity, and natural Ignorance.

IF the intellectual Advantages of our firft Parent (interpos'd I) had been really fo much fuperior to thofe of all his Defcendents, as they are fometirnes faid to have been ; me- thinks all who have any 'Tendernefs for his Reputation mould choofe rather to conceal the Superiority of his Talents, than display them to the fo much greater Reproach of his fhameful Negligence and Mifconduct in the Uje and Application of them ; for which,

If

fjo-rrpfX0" (5u(r*v. Suidas voce Adam. Upon which the learned Editor very juftly remarks, Au6lorem hunc anonymum exiguo Judicio praeditum fuifle, et vere de eo dici potuiile proverbiale illud, " Flumen verborum, et gutta Mentis" ex tota hac de Adam"

Ecloga fatis apparet. It was, no doubt, in

Virtue'of thefe fuperior Talents, that upon a very flight Experience in the Kind, he was never thelefs able to write, as the Rabbins inform us he did, de omnibus et fingulis Mundanarum rerum virtutibus, — Unlefs thefe, tqgether with the feveral Revolutions of Nature, were part of thofe Inftruclions from above, which the fame Authors relate to have been the Sub ject of the Book of the Generations of Adam ; men- tion'd Gen. 5. I. and in which, it feems, were ex plained, omnia a Principle Mundi ufque ad confum- mationem Ejus. Vld, Kirclieri Obel. Pamph. Lib. J. Cap. j .

if it be true, that he was indeed the wifefl, I am fare it is much more fo, that he was in comparably the iveakeft, as well as wi eke deft of his whole Kind. But after all, Horten- fmSj I think we ' have no Reafon to fup- pofe that he was at all different from the Generality of his Species, either in his na tural or moral Accomplimments j farther than what the neceflary Difference of his Situation and Circumffonces made him. Which, if they might be in fome refpeds perhaps rather more favourable to the latter, as adminiftringy^tc'cr Opportunities of Temp tation within the few Relations he could then be fuppoied to act under; (tho' the Event ihews he yet found Means to tranf- grefs even them) were certainly far lefs fo to the former ; his natural Indowments ; than thofe of any of his Pofterity. Inafmuch as it was his peculiar Difad vantage, a Di fad- vantage arifing out of the very NecefTity of his Condition j to want all thofe Helps to his Judgment of Things, from the Expe rience, "Obfervation, and Reafoning of pa ft Times, which are in a manner hereditary to later Ages, and fet them much forwarder in Informations of all forts neceffary to the Condud of Life, almoft in the/r^ Article of it, than & jingle Individual could be fup- pofed to be at the conclufion of a very con- fiderable old Age. But to leave our venera ble Progenitor to the quiet PoiTeflion of all

that

(23 )

that really is his due, of whatever Kind ^ let us purfue our main Subject of Inquiry, Hortenjius -, in which, I fuppofe, he is very little concerned. For whatever other Faults he may be charged with, I imagine he was fcarcely guilty of Superftition.

HAVE a care of being toofanguine, Phi lemon (returned Hortenfnts) I doubt I could difprove your Conjecture, if I was fo di£- pofed ; and produce Evidence, fuch as it isy of his being not only infected with, but even Author of a very prevailing Superftition in all Antiquity ; the religious Adoration of the Moon. 'Tis true, the fame Authorities tell us, that he had received 'Obligations from her as his native Soil and Country ; where, prepared with requifite Instructions for the Ceremony of her Apotbeojis, he was fent down to the Earth to appoint in due Time her facred Ritual and Liturgy; in a Cha racter he was to fufbin from her previous Designation, of the EmbaJJador or Apoftle of this <j$ueen of Heaven. * His Son Setb indeed was daggered at this new Doctrine, and Inftitution j and could not be prevailed

upon

* It was Part of the Zabian Creed, derived to them, as we learn from Kircher, from the Family of Cham ; to wit, Chus^ Phut) and Canaan^ the Peoplers of dfia and Africa ; Adamum e Luna prodiifle. Prophe- tam inibi ex mafculo et faemina procreatum ; atque in hunc mundum venientem primum cultum docuifle. Vid. Oedip. .#!gypt. />. i66.

'. . (24)

upon to admit the Credentials of his Father's Miffion * > but Cain was of a lels fcrupulous Make, and paid all due Reverence to this Lunar Envoyjkip ; and has accordingly the honor in fome Writers I could name, of {landing fecond in the Lift of Antediluvian Idolaters, -j-

I HOPE (faid I) Hortenjius, this lunar Apoftlefhip and Defignation of our firft Pa rent was no Part of thofe Revelations madd to him when he fell into a deep Sleep ; which, if I miftake not, I have fomewhere read, he is mentioned by one of the Fathers, J as being reported to have himfelf committed to writing ; to the, no doubt, wonderful Information of his Pofterity, if we had but been fo fortunate as to have this important paradijiacal Viiion conveyed fafely down to us.

IT might, I think, be more naturally re corded (replied Hortenfms) in another Com- pofitionof this truly original Author's, men tioned by St. Aujlln^ The Book of his Peni tence.

FROM whence (faid I) as a Pattern of Right-primitive Difcipline, who knows,

but

* Seth contradixit opinion! patris fui in fervitie Lunae — Ub. Sup.

f See Biftiop Cumberland's Sanchonjatbo,

£ Epiphanius.

- .

but the Father himfelf might take the ufeful Hints of his own Confeffions ? as, to carry the Analogy a little farthet, from the Tra dition I was fpeaking of, of the Protoplaft's being himfelf fo powerfully Vifwh-flruck' it may poffibly have come to pafs, that moli of thofe Writers who have attempted his Hiftory, hive thought it necefTary to obtain a proper Touch of the Vifionary-pafiion.

THESE Inftances (refum'd Hortenflus) of Conceits about our fir ft Parent, to which numberlefs others might be added from, Chriftiari Fathers, as well as Jewim Rab bins, or Arabic Legendaries j if they are at firft fight more obvioufly ridiculous^ are^ believe me, full as well-grounded, as fome Imaginations ofjt ftmchfoberer Afpecl, that have been indulged by better Authors, upon the fame Subject. Serioufly, Philemon, when one confiders the Volumes that have been here filled with Romances, both of the grave, arid the lighter kind, it might almofh incline 'one to fufpe6t fomething more than a mere Arabian Whimfy in the Hypothefis of the lunar Apoftolate, and that the great Prophet of the Moon had really made very free with certain Influences of his principal Deity, in diftempering the Minds of his inlpired Train j were it hot, that avoiding all unhandfome Reflections either on the Goddefs, or her Minijler^ one E can

(26)

can pretty eafily fblve the Problem another Way ; without fUrring a Foot from the Surface of our Mother Earth. In fhort, Philemon, Men will be concluding without Premifes. They firft devife, each according to his particular Genius, a Syflem of Opi nions ; and then torture both Fact and In vention to furnifh out Proofs. They in- throne an Idol Pre fence in the Court of their own Brain, and then induftrioufly caft about for Evidences to make out the Phantom's Title to Adoration.

• •• . !*

AND they had need have tint Lynx's Beam, (I interpofed) to difcern any Countenance to fome Idol-Theories I could name, from the only Authority they have any Right to appeal to in the Cafe -, the few imperfect Hints afforded us of the Hiftory and Cir- cumftances of the new Creation, within the compafs of three Chapters only of our Bi ble, and thofe perhaps of more intricate and di{putable Interpretation, than any others in the whole facred Collection.

THE more obfcure the better, (returned Jlortenfius ;) Are not you aware, Philemon, that there is always mofr, room for Con jecture, where there is leait certainty of Fact ? and 'tis that after all that furnifbes Materials to the endlefs Volumes we have been Ipeaking of j and gives, as an excellent

Writer

.

Writer has it, fuch a Roundnefs to ibmd

favorite Syftems of Divinity *. A few Hints well managed, with an Invention to fupply Chafms, and help out Deficiencies, will work Wonders in the kind.

FOR our Comfort (replied I) we have at prefent no concern with thefe Syftematic Gentlemen. 'Tis true, I have carried up your Thoughts to a firfl Man, whom I have fuppofed both fupernaturally produced, and instructed. But I have no defire to ingage you in any of the Jubjequent Perplexities of the paradiliacal State. I am for leaving the Solution of thefe Difficulties to more autho rized Expofitors -, who can talk as * fami liarly both of the natural^ and moral Hi- flory of that State, as if they themfelves had been of the Party with their venerable Pro genitor ; or the feveral Transactions fuppofed to have paffed there, were Matters of every Day's Occurrence. The Principle I am pleading for neither requires their AfTiitance in its fupport, nor ftands charged with any of their Abfurdities. 'Tis fuch a one as meie good Senfe would lead us to acquiefce in, if an injpired Hiftorian had not autho rized it to us. The Species muft have had a beginning ; and an Effect of this Nature could not have been produced without fome adequate Caule ; and what fo fuitable Agent E 2 caa

* War bur -tons Div. Leg. of Mofss, />. 402.

( 28 )

pan we imploy here, as an omnipotent and infinitely benevolent Deity ? Then as to a di vine InftrucYion, it feems as neceffary to the right Inftitution of the infant moral World, as a divine Agency to the Being of the natural, One. In both Cafes, I think, we do not bring in a Deus ex Machind only j the In troduction of him feems equally unavoidables as it is important.

\ AM in the number of the moil con firmed Believers (return'd Hortenfius) as to the firft of thefe Articles ; and I think there is a ftrong probability of the fecond. Yet, rnethinks, I am a little daggered to reconcile fuch a feeming tendernefs and concern of Heaven in the Caufe of true Religion, with that early Introduction, and almoft bound- lefs confequent Empire, of which \ am going to give you in fome fort the Hiilory, of Falfe.

HOWEVER early it came into the World, (replied I) Hortenfius^ notwithftanding the fcind Caution I am pleading for, it would certainly have come in earlier without it. It muft indeed n\ this Cafe, as it mould ieem, have been flriftly coeval with the Species of Mankind. And furely fuch an; apparent neceflitating Men to a wrong Wor- ihip, is at leaft a harder Thought of infinite \Viidorn and Veracity, than a mere Per-.

miffign

miffion of them, in the neglect or abufe of their natural Underftanding and Liberty, to fall off from a prefcribed right one. We are apt, it may be, to over-rate both the Meafure, and the Force, of thefe original Suggeftions ; as much as fome have done the natural Powers of the nrft Man. As if all fupe- rior Interpofition muft either be extended to the eftablilhing a complete Syftem of ipecu- lative Religion , or prevail to the ablblute Determination of the human Will to that which is ' practical. Doubtlefs the Voice of Heaven in thefe early Notices to its infant Creature was altogether of the Jlill fmall Kind. The Irnpulfe Was, as it ought to be, extremely gentle, fjited to the natural Free dom of the interefted Party. And the Ef fect of it, we may imagine, was like that of the fam'd Socratic Genius, chiefly of the retraining fort : calculated more to pre vent a milapplied Devotion, than to inftitute a perfectly rational One. Perhaps a more forcible Application, or a fuperior Degree of infufed Light, would have been incornpatir ble with that rational Liberty of Man, which is the valuable Diilinction of the Ho mage of an intelligent moral Creature, from the implicit Subrniiiion, and over ruled Obedience of a mere fenfelefs Inftru- ment, or Machine. Upon the whole, whatever be the right Determination of this Point, there is, I am fenjible, no difputing

agajnft

. ( 3° )

agaihct Fact. But pray, how foon do you fuppofe, a falfe Religion to have actually taken place in the World ?

I WAS for giving the Difficulty (return'd he) its utmoft force 5 in order to hear what you would find to fay in extenuation of it. For to deal ingenuouily with you, Philemon , I do not believe the Introduction of falj'e Religion was near fo early as it has been fome- times reprefented ; or that indeed there w^s any fuch Thing in Being within the fixteen hundred Years of the Antediluvian World. I am fenfible, if I was difpofed to pay any great Deference to a Fragment of Phoenician Hiftory, the Credit of which has been fo zealoufly alTerted by a great Writer of Epif- copal Dignity in our own Country ; I could fix the Date of falfe. IVorfhip very high even in that Period. For the immediate fecond Generation of our Kind is faid in this Account to have been guilty in a 'Time of Drought of direct Idolatry to the Sun *. And our learned Voucher for the Pb&ni- dan's Authority in the point, fuppofes Cain to have been fo effectually confirm'd in this idolatrous Difpofition, before the time of that firfl Innance of external Devotion in the World, which our iacred Hillory has

recorded,

* This is reported of Genus, the*Son of Protogomis, -in Sanckoniatko, whom the Bifhop makes to be Galny the Son of Adam.

recorded, the Sacrifice of the .two original Brothers ; that the fecret Apoftacy of his Heart from the orthodox Belief of his Fa mily, was the true Ground of that fignified Difapprobation of his Offering, which in the Event proved fo fatal to his Fellow- worfhipper. He was, it feems, an Infidel of the true modi ft modern Stamp j who in his Heart laughed at thofe weak SuperiHtions, which in his Practice he thought it prudent to comply with. Is not this, think you, a very extraordinary Piece of Refinement for that Age of primitive Simplicity ?

HE was a Genius of the higher Order, (faid I) I fuppoie ; and of a much forwarder Apprehenfion of Things, than his more pious and orthodox Relative j and by a deeper Penetration of Thought, law quick ly thro' the Weaknefs of his nurfery Preju dices ; and the Fallacy of \hzpopular Syjiem of his Time. I wonder, coniidering how ilrong an Inftance he might be made of the Hazard of Free-thinking ; and the dark Stain that is fixed by die facred Hiftorian upon his fubfequent moral Character ; we have not feen him produced in this View by the warmer Advocates for Syjiem in the World, to the Terror and Reproach of his Followers in later Ages ; who to the unpar donable fcandal and difquiet of thefe good

Men,

( 32 )

Men, have prefumed to diflent from certain £ refcribed Opinions of the eafieft Digeftion, and moft unqueftionable Evidence, under ihtjhameleft Pretence of thinking for them-' lelves.

falfe Religion (refumed Horten- fus} had thus early got footing in the World, it foon, you will imagine, found Means to inlarge its malignant Empire ; for the great Luminary of Heaven, the Sun, being once exalted into the Character of Jupreme Lord of it, by this fecond Genera^ tion of Mankind j there fucceeded only two more complete ones, before a new Species of Idolatry was introduced, the Wormip of Fire, and a Windy or ^Cempcft^ that had occafioned the accidental breaking out of it* The Celebration of which, we are told, was performed by fetting up Pillars^ or rather rude unwrought Stones, to the honor of the novel Deities ; and paying a religious Homage^ accompanied with janguinary Li- bations, at thcfe their Altars *. This hap pened in the Jifth Age of the World ; and was thought fuch a Refinement, we may fuppofe, upon the Idolatry of the preceding ones, that the Survivers of thefe Element ary- Hierophants complimented them after their deceafe, with ibme of the Honors of their own devifing j in a grateful return for the

Benefits

* Cumb. Sanch, p. 236,

( 33 )

Benefits of their new Infthution : confecra- ting to them Pofts and Pillars, after the example of thofe they had themfelves erected to the two natural Deities ; and celebrating anniixrfary Fefli'vals to their Memory*. And now the Idol-Intereft was confiderably advancing : For Chryfor, or Vulcan, who lived, in this Account, in the next Age but one, having invented Iron, and the uie of the Forge, with fome other Accommoda tions of Life, was, after his death, admitted by the Men of the immediate fucceeding Generation to the Honors of a more explicate Religion, and direff Apotheojis ^. A De gree of Guilt, fays our above-cited Com-* mentator on the Fragment, which even this wicked Brood, of Cairn 'te Extraction, " fell " not into till the eighth Generation j till " more than a thoufand Years had harden'd " them; and divine Vengeance in the De~ " luge was drawing near in the next Gene* " ration but one." A Judgment againjl the Jirft Deifiers of Men, which he thinks wor- tby to be remark WJ. Sp important an In- ftance of the Corruption of the Antediluvian World has our infpired Hiftory of this Pe riod altogether palled over in filence ; and F left

TOUTCOU JE Tf^sucmTc'.', 'TOV?

x«i TOUTCJ? EoaTctf a^itv HXT' frsj. Ubi fup. *f" 'jfi? Stcv aurov t«€atfl^k^»ii. Ubi fup, $ Cumb. Sanch, p, 245.

( 34);

left to be afcertained to us by a Phoenician Supplement ; of an Age, doubtful indeed, but, paft controverfy, much Inferior to its own * : of which moreover the original Au thorities are more to be fufpeded than the Age;, and the genuine Conveyance, thro* the Hands of a right-reverend Father, from thofe of a very late Pagan Tranflator -fy more juftly queftionable ftill than either.

^fcxirnoia.ft. it>d?o - .»v . ££&**• -*iJ

, ONE need not (interpofed I) go any far ther, I think, for a full Justification of the divine Nemefa in. the Deftruclion of the primitive World by the Flood, fuppofing the Fact to have been as it is ufually apprehended ; than to that incorrigible Depravity, and infa- rhous Corruption of Manners in thofe early £te,ys 3 which the f acred Hiftorian points' Out to us, as its immediate Provocation. Y<jo{ence^? Iniquity, profligate and unpa-

rallel'd

* Au£lor Vetuftiffimus, faj's the learned Marjham9 fd Sanchomatho, fedTyfi condita, Trojanifque Tem- poribus longe Inferior. Can. Chron. p. 234. Bo- chart gives this Character of him — Nomen, aut Cog- noraen^ inde fortitus, ex quo animam ad fcribendum appiilit, hoc ipfo figniflcabat fe veritatis efle afleclain, ct exquifitioris doclrinae curiofum indagatorem ; quod ytinam tarn re praeftitiflet, quam nomine profiteba.tur. (Canaan lib. 2. cap. 17.

•f- Phllo B'ibliuS) in the time of Adrian.

j We have it reported of Seth's Family, that in the days of Enos his Son, in diftindtion from the- i they called themfelves by the name of the

•t ,d*n, Sons

(35)

rallel'd Debauch, the reigning Chara&erifto, as it appears, of the more advanced Antedi luvian Age ; if they had not drawn down the Severity of a fupernaturally intorpofing Vengeance, to the extin&eonofihe abandoned. Race ; muft in the natural Tendency of the Things themfelves have fbon accomplilhed the univerfal Mifery of it. A Deluge might, for aught I knpw, be a very defirable Refcue F 2 from

Sons of God, Gen. 4, 26. So Aquila's Verfion ren«- ders the Place. Torf y^Sn TOU xaAety n owpxri K'^jo-j, And the marginal fearing in our Bibles is agreable hereto. This PafTage, however, has been fometimes quoted in proof, that the very worft fort of Idolatry, the human Apotheofis, began as early as the days of Enos. But this Notion is intirely built upon a wrong Senfe of the Words in the original. The motive to the Diftin&ion here aflumed in Setb's Line was not, fo far as appears, the Idolatry of the Cainites, but their ill Lives. Cain himfelf was of a violent and refentful Difpofition, and his Family feem, many of them, to have been of a like Temper and Complexion. For we read, there were Giants, or$ as Le Clerc underftands the Hebrew Word, Nephellm^ Robbers, or Men of Violence^ in the Earth in thofe days. Such as afterwards by the mixture of Setb's Family with Cain's, the whole Earth, except Noah's Family, was become, Gen. 6. li. This, with the fevere Law againft Murder to Noah after the Flood^ makes it probable that Violence was the reigning Vice of the Antediluvian World. And whereas in the permiflion of Animal Food, care is taken to for bid the eating of Blood ; Gen. 9. 3, 4, 5. poffibly, the tofAotycfyia^ or feeding upon raw Flefli with the Blood in it, might have been practifed before the Flood ; and helped to lharpen the Spirits of Men in earlier Days.

, from the more dreadful Overflowings of fach

jncreafing Wickednefs. It might be even a kind Interpolition in fach Circumftances, to difpeople a World of Beings fo refolute in their own undoing ; and by a decifive Stroke of inftant Ruin to prevent the lengthen'd Pains of a more gradual Execution. But Ib it fhould leem (Hortenjius] in our Au thor's account, that thefe Enormities in An tediluvian Practice were not fully ripe for Punfthment, without the finifoing Aggra vation of a confirmed fpeculative Mif-belief. Nor is it indeed any new Doctrine in Syfte- matic Theology, " That Errors in point of " Opinion, are of a more heightened Guilt, " than any Failures in Conduct." The condemning Duality is by many of our Di vines fb emphatically afcribed to an erroneous Faith^ that one would think there were no Condemnation to a corrupt Morality. And truly, if the fatal Diftributions of Heaven were at all to be eftimated from ^.temporary ones of Ibme who boaft themielves its com- mifTion'd Embaflador^ a Man would run far lefs rifque of his Salvation, who mould break even the plaineft of the Command ments ; than fcruple the moft intricate Ni cety of an authoritatively impofed Creed, merely becaufe he had not an Understanding^ to make either Scripture or Senfe of it.

ONE

( 37 )

ONE would have hoped, however (pro ceeded Hortenfms) that the memory of ib iignal an Interpofition of Heaven againft the jfirft Deifiers of Men, mould have given an effectual Check to the Practice for fome con- fiderable Time in the fucceeding World. At leaft, that the chofen Family of Noab^ who were themfelves Eye~witneiTes to the Fad:, and owed it to an efpecial Providence on their behalf, that they furvived the ge neral Ruin j mould have been too fenfibly convinced of the fatal Confequences of it in the preceeding Generations, to have ventured fettingthe example of it to After-Times. The Event however was, as we are told, quite different. For they were no fooner almoft preferved from the common Fate, to be the Seed of a renewed World, but they became likewife the Seed of a renewed Idolatry. For Cronus^ or Ham, one of the immediate Pro geny of Noah, who had been partaker with him in the affecting Providence of the Ark, after a Series of many other Violences to his Family ,having at length arrived to the complete Infamy of moil unnatural Parricide, had fcarce accomplimed the favage Purpofe of his Father's Murder, but he proceeded to the impious Ceremony of his Apotheofis. He deify'd him, we are told, upon the very

Spot

( 38 )

Spet where lie had difpatched him *. And to eftablifh the credit of that Divinity he had raifed him to, as well as to provide for his own perfonal Advancement to the fame Honors after death, he contrived to charge him with a Peftilence that foon after raged in his Kingdom ; and to appeafe this pretended punijhing Daemon^^ the Author of the then inftant Calamity, poured out the Blood of bis only Son in Sacrifice to the Manes of his murdered Parent J : To fuch an height of favage Impiety was this imme diate

* Oupavov TOV Trotrtpot, Pta£wv (Kaovo?) £7np£a0iov tx

'T£/AVE» CtVTOV TX KlOOilX. <jVVc'yy\J$ TTrfyuiV T£ XflU TTOTa^AWV*

tvSot a(fittPU$"yi ovotawq^ xat tzTntoTisSri aiirou TO TTDEU- pa,' Eufeb. praep. p. 38. fv3-« «<pie£w37i, fays Bi- Ihop Cumberland, cc He was confecrated forthwith, <c upon that very fpot of ground. Cronus was of his *e mind, who faid, fit Divus, modo ne fit vivus. He knew it would be honourable to himfelf to be bcliev'd the Son of a Deity ; and that it might make way to his own Confecration when he ftiould die. And when he had thus deified him, nothing could fix his confe- cration more, than that his Son, now a great Prince, fhould facrifice to him. Cumb. Sanch. />. 146.

-f- Ti^io^e,- A^a^wv, fo O^avoj is here confidered by Porphyry in Eufeb. Book I. p. 40.

J AotjW-ou JV ^eyo/Asyou y,xi ty$QjPOt.$9 rev laiiToy uou p.ovo'ytM Kooyo? Ovpavw Trccroi oXoxxoiroi. Eufeb. prsp. lib. i. />. 38. So confirmed an Idolater indeed was Cronus, in our Author's Account, that the End of his Deification of Oupvc? , or AW;, was, we are told, to make Pofterity believe Noah approved of Daemon- Worfhip himfelf; and by that means blot out the remembrance of his Piety. Gumb. Sanch* p. 147-

(39)

diate Spe&ator of a fo late delug'd World, for Crimes of the very fame complexion with his own, already arrived ! But, it feems, however he had efcaped the penalty of An tediluvian Corruption, he had been a confi- derable Sharer in the guilt of it. For he not only himfelf gave into many fuperftitious, magical, and ajlrologic Practices before the Flood ; but plotted the fuccefsful propagation of them after it. " He was unwilling, " we are told by fome Writers, that Pofte- " rity mould lofe the Benefit of Antedilu- " vian Ingenuity, in thele kinds ; and ac- " cordingly as the Deluge approached, ha- <£ ving formed a Syftem of what Knowledge 11 himfelf was matter of this way, he f£ infcribed it on Plates of different Metals, " and the hardest Stones he could meet with " for the purpofe. And knowing there " would be no admifiion for Doctrines of " this fort into the Arkt he repofited thefe " valuable InfHmtes in the fafefl Places he " could think of out of itj and when the 11 Flood was over, went in fearch of them Cl with the diligence fo important a Difco-" ** very required ; till having fortunately got <c them again into his poflefTion, he from *<• henceforward profefled a Mafterfhip in <c his Art j and diftinguimed himfelf as the J< great Magician and AJlrologer of the rifmg

" Gene-

(40)

" Generation of Mankind *." An Author, Philemon, who could thus furviiie the Ruins of an univerfal Deluge, might well be ex empted from thofe lefTer Injuries of Time* and vulgar Accidents, which have been fo fatal to many Writers of a much inferior date. Nor are we, I think, to wonder, if after fb fignal an efcape of this firft Sketch of his Antediluvian Magics, fucceeding im proved Editions of the fame Work fliould be extant as late as the learned Bockart's Age 5 who tells us of an impious Treatife of the Elements and Praxis of Necromancy, then in being, under the Title of, T^he Scripture cf Cham the Son of Noah -f-.

THIS

* Quantum itaque antiquae traditiones fcrunt, Cham filius Noe, qui fuperftitionibus illis et facrilegis arttbus Infe&us fuit, fciens nullum fe pofle fuper his librum in Arcam prorfus inferre, in quam erat una cum patre jufto, ac fan&is fratribus ingrcfTurus ; fee- leftas ^rtes, ac profana commenta diverforum metal- lorum laminis, quas fcilicet non corrumnerentur in- iuria, ct duriffimis lapidibus infcu]pfit. Quae, diluviQ peradto, eadem qua ilia celaverat curiofitatc pcrqui- rens, facrilegiorum, et pcrpetuae nctjuiti^ feminarium tranfmifit in pofteros. Caffian. Coll. 8. cap. 21. Kirch. Ob. Pam. lib. i. p. 4. Dico igitur fieri non potuifTe, fays the laft mention'J Author elfewhere, ut Cham peritiffimus Aftrologia^, acuniverfas naturae confultus, ad inftantiam fuorum filiorum Chus, et Mifrpim, non aliqua fcripferit. Ciun, ut per regulas et praecepta in magica arte operand! lahili filiorum memoriae confultret ; turn, ut ad fui nominis Fa- mam, &c. .Ob. Pain. cap. 2. p. 18. compare .Qeu\ JEg. p. 84.. alfo 245.

•f- Invaluit opinio Cbnmum fuifTe Magum, et car-

(4! )

THIS was probably a Copy only of the Work (faid I) Hortenfius. I wonder what is become of the true origmalMa- nufcript ? Happy the Virtuofo Antiquary, if any fuch there be, who has the PofTeffion of ib choice a piece of antique Literature ! how effectually would it fhame fome valued Treafures of Antiquarian Curiofity^ mere Novelties in comparifon !

You are not, I think (returned Ho fins) over fond of Domeftic-Hiffory, Pbi~ lemon^ or I could let you into the true Se cret of this Cronus § very early and ilngular Apoftacy from the Religion of his Parents and Brethren. It was all owing to an un fortunate Alliance he had made by Marriage with a Branch of the Cainite Family. His Wife was of idolatrous extraction ; being Naamah, the Daughter of Lantech, Sifter to ^ubal-Cam. The fame Perfon, whom Plu tarch in his Egyptian Antiquities calls Ne- mausy Queen of Byblus in Phoenicia * ; G who

mine magico pattern^ dum dormiebat nudus, ita devotafle, et obligafTe, ut deinceps ad mulierem non potuerit affe&ari ; et magicos Libros fcripfiflej nam hodieque extat impium opus, continens elementa et praxim artis necromanticae, fub titulo, fcripturse Cha* mi, Filii Noae. Bocbart. Phaleg. lib. 4. cap. I.

* If {he was one of Ham's Wives, we may give a very probable reafon for his falling into Idolatry, tho' his Father was fo free from it. Cumb. Remarks onSancb./>. 107 — 8*

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who being the only Female mentioned by Mofes in his Genealogy of Cain's Line *, muft be conceived, it is conjectured, to be a Perfon of very diftinguifhed Confequence-f-. Tho' methinks, her memory is not much beholden to the Civility of thoie Writers, who, from this paffing notice of it, traduce her as the inticer of her Husband into the

bafeft

* It has occafioned much Speculation amongft Commentators, what fhould be the reafon of Mofes his making ten Generations horn Adam to the Flood, in Seth"& Line, and feven only in Cains. Saint Au- Jtin's Obfervations on this Queftion are very curious, and may ferveto raife our Idea of Fatherly Interpreta tion of Scripture — Illud mihi nullo pa&o praetereun- dum filentio videtur, quod cum Lamecb feptimus ab Adam fuiflet inventus, tot ejus annumerati funt nlii, donee undenarius numerus impleretur, quo fignifica- tur Peccatum. Quoniam Lux denario numero prae- dicatur, profe&o numerus undenarius, quum tranf- greditur denarium, tranfgreftionem legis fignificat. Progenies ergo ex Adam per Cain fceleratum numero undenario finitur, quo peccatum fignificatur. Et ipfe numerus a Ftzmina clauditur ; a quo fexu initium faclum eft peccati, per quod omnes morimur. Com- mifTum eft autem, ut et voluptas carnis, quae fpiritui refifterit, fequere'tur. Nam et ipfa filia Lamecbr Noema, id eft, Voluptas, interpretatur. Per Setb autem ab Adam ad Noe denarius infmuatur legitimus numerus. Cui Noe tresadjiciuntur filii: unde, uno Japfoi duo benedicuntur a patre ; ut remoto reprobo, ct probatis filiis ad numerum additis, etiam duodena- rfus numerus intimetur; qui et in Patriarcharum, et Apoftolorum numero infignis eft, propter feptenarit partes, alteram per alteram multiplicatas. Nam ter qtiaterni, vel quater terni, ipfum faciunt, De Civ, Dei Lib. 15. cap. 21. ap. ^ftn.

•f See Cumb, as above.

(43 )

bafeft Idolatries ; nor to others of a like con- jeftural Stamp, who gather from the fame Circumftance, that (lie was herfelf the ori ginal Subject of an Apotheqfis the moft infa mous in all Paganifm, the Apotbeofis of /#/?- ful Beauty *. But whatever was the ground of Ham's religious Misbehaviour before the Flood, the Rabbinic Authors are no very reputable Expofitors of Scripture, if he was not under a fatal Devotion to Offences of this fort after it. For fuch, it feems, is in their opinion the import of that Denun ciation which his indecent Levity extorted from his affronted Parent, upon an occafion well known, againfl himfelf and his Proge ny ; " That they mould not only be in " Slavery to their collateral Kindred j but to " a Dominion of a more debafing and op- " probrious kind, the Tyranny of the moft " execrable Superftition -f-."

G 2 I HOPE

* NoemZ) Filia Lamechi^ Mofi memorata praeter morem Scripturae, quas non folet in genealogiis referre faeminas. Alii, quia Noema venuflum notat, eo ar- bitrantur efie Venerem Gentium. Tantam enim ve- nuftatem fuifle unius Naama przedicant, ut duo An- geli Dei, y/ztf, et A%ael, ejus forma capti, concubuer- rint ; et ex ea Daemones genuerint, qui Be dim appel- lantur. Alii Adamum ipfum, illis centum et triginta annis quibus ab Eva fuit feparatus, fuifle cum Naama. VoiT. de Orig. Idol. lib. I. cap I".

•f Gen. 25. Et vidit Cham pater Chanaan verenda patris fui ; Gen. 9. 22. To which Rabbi RaJJt adds, it was believed, quod caftraverit ipfum, et concubue-

nt

(faid I) our venerable Anceftor fpoke here by a prophetic Spirit, declaring what in the natural courfe of things 'would come to pafs in this Branch of his Posterity ; and not intimating any diipoiition of his own what Jhonld. Otherwise his Anathema feems much too fever e for the provocation that drew it from him ; nor could he, I think, have well recovered his temperance, when he uttered fo mercilels an Impreca tion.

Fo R the credit of his fobriety, Philemon, (replied he) I dare fay the good Man, nei ther in Prophecy, nor Refentment, had any Thought of what he is here charged with. The Denunciation had quite another Afpedt, and was accomplished after a very different manner *. Nor was indeed the fpiritual Slavery here understood at all peculiar to Ca naan 's Pofterity -3 having, as it mould feem, equally prevailed within the JLine of Shew,

when

rit cam eo — Cufii, fays Abenezra on the Place, cul- tores fuere Idolorum, eo quod Noe C/wwmaledixit — We muft judge, fays Bifhop Cumberland, that even this worft part of Idolatry (human Sacrifice) was re ceived and continued by Ham in Canaan, and Egypt, and the reft of his Dominions. Cumb. Sanch, /. 147-8.

* NM Cbamum execratus pncdixerat fore, ut ejus pofteri fervi elTent fervorum. Atque id impletum in Chananaeis turn, cum fubire coacli funt Ifraelitarum jugum. Bccbart. Phalcg. lib. I. j>- 3.

(45)

when a particular Family of that Line was diftinguifhed by a fpecial Privilege in the Cafe ; and feparated from its idolatrous Kin dred by an immediate interpolation of Hea ven for that purpofe. And thus, Philemon, by running over with you feveral imaginary Eftabliihments of Idolatry in the World, I have, I am afraid, infeniibly brought down your Thoughts to the times of a real one. The particular Seat of it, I have in view, is the Chaldean, or ancient Aflfyrian Empire. From a City of which, Ur of the Cha/dees> Terab, the Father of the Patriarch Abra- bam, fome time before his death, which happened in the feventy-nfth Year of Abra hams Age, removed with his Family to Haran in Mefopotamia j upon a diflenfion from the Urite Eftablifhment in Religion *. What this was, may be probably conjectured from the Alexandrian Chronicle; which records of Ninus the SuccefTor of Nimrod in the Affyrlan Empire, and who reigned 'till the ninth Year of Abraham^ Life, that he taught the AJJyrians to ivorftiip Fire -j-. He introduced, I would underltand the Chronicle, the Worfhip of. artificial Fire, as a Symbol of the Fires, or Lights of Hea ven-, which, if the Origin of Chaldean Ido latry may be judged of from that of all other Nations, were, doubtleis, as the nature of

the

* Compared. 1 1. 31,32. I2.4.vrith Judith 5-7,8. f Chron. Alex. />. 64.

(46 )

the thing feems to point out, the firft Ob jects of a miftaken Worfhip in the World. •Ninus, we may imagine, thought to pro vide a remedy againft the frequent abfences, 2nd difappearings of the heavenly Bodies, by appointing a medium of Adoration to them, which might be always at hand, and ready to receive the honours of thofe primary Divinities. Or, poffibly, fome farther In novation here in Abraham's Time might occaiion the Rupture between his Family and their Fellow-Citizens. For it does not appear that 'Terah^ or Abraham, were at this time adherers to the true Worfhip, tho' they •are mentioned as Separatifts from a particular mode Qijalje *. Whatever was the ground of their Diflenfion from the Urite Religion, the ye-wt/h Authors inform us the quarrel in Abraham's Cafe ran fo high, that he had inevitably fallen a Martyr to his particular

Scruple,

* Mr. Locke in his Comment on Rom. 4. 5. -

TOV ao-f 6n, Xoyi^rai 4 Trtf <» EJ? Jj«a»o<ruv»iy — obferves, that by thefe Words Saint F^/J plainly points out Abra- ham, who was,afftS.»]s-, ungodly^ that is,a Gentile, not a Worfhipper of the true God, when God called him, •which he explains by the Word Ka-eZtixv, being ufed by the Apoftle to .exprefs the State of the Gentile World as to their Atheifm, Polytheifm, and Idola try, at the Revelation of the Gofpe-1. - «wix»A(/7i- IZTXI yxp oeyri S'fou *T ou/>avou e^r* 7r5;cray acrsbtiat* *W^WTWI— Rom. I. 18. See his- Com. on the Places. As alfo, more at large on Rom. 5. v. 6 and 8.

( 47)

Scruple, but that an efpecial Providence in- terpofed in his Refcue. For the Chaldeans } it feems, were fo refblute in their demands of Conformity to their authorized national Religion, that Fire-Worfoip, or Fire-Di- fcipline were the fettled Alternatives with them ; and the latter having been the Lot of our Patriarch, he had certainly perifhed in it, had not a Miracle been wrought for his deliverance. It was thought neceflary he fhould at leaft feel the Vengeance of that Element, of which he would not acknow ledge the Divinity *. \&

THE Element (I interpofed) had fome pretence for aiTerting its own Apotheofis. But lure the zeal of later Ages for eftablifhments of a different Genius greatly exceeds its bounds, when it catches the red-hot Spirit of thefe Chaldean Inquifitors ; and proceeds to the Dijbipline of Fire, without the previous Ceremony of its Deification.

WHAT-

* Pro eo quod legimus, in regione Chaldaeorum, (fv TTJ p£W|oa TWV X*A<Ja»wv) in Hebr«eo habetur, Ur Chafdim, id eft, in igne Chaldseorum. Tradunt autem Hebroei ex hac occafione, iftiufmodi fabulamj quod Abraham in ignem miflus fit, quia ignem adorare noluerit, quem Chaldaei colunt, et del auxiiio libera- tus, de Idololatrise igne protu^erit. Quod in fequenti- bus fcribitur, egreffurn efle Tharan cum fobole fua de regione Chaldasorum : pro eo, quod in Hebrseo ha betur, de incendio Chaldssorum : quod videlicet, ig nem nolens adorare, igne confumtus fit. Vid. Hieron. Tradit, in Gen, n. 28, 31.

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WHATEVER was the particularity (re- fumed Hortenfius] of the Patriarch's Reli gion at his departure from the City of his Nativity ; a farther reform was, we find, thought necelTary to be made in it, at fome diftance of Time from that period; when, by a fpecial Deiignation from Heaven for the Purpofe, he was to enter upon the illuftrious Character vouchfafed to him in Haran of Mefopotamla ; of being from thenceforward not only the Head or Father of a great and chofen Nation ; that of the yews, the immediate Dependents of Abra ham after the Flefh ; but of a more honour able, however figurative Progeny j of the Faithful to the end of World *. About two Years after this very important Inftitu- tion, we find him driven by diftrefs of a Famine in Canaan, the Country of his ap pointed Refidence under it during that Inter val, into Egypt -f-. The Scripture which records to us his having ibjourned there upon this occafion, about the fpace, as is

con-

* 7&<? Lato, according to St. Paul, Gal 3. i^ was 430 Tears after the Abrahamic Covenant. The Law was given A. M. 2513. counting back 430 Years from hence, we come to 2083, the 75th Year of Abraham's Life ; or the Year of his departure from Haran ; at which time, according to Rcm. 4. v 5. as above, he was justified by Faith, being acrstu?, ungod ly, or an idolatrous Gentile. Compare Gal. 3. 8. With Gal. 12. 2, 3.

f Gen. 12. 10.

( 49 ) •

conje&ured, of three Months *, makes no mention of his having differed at all from the People of the Land in the matter of Re ligion. However {crapulous he had not long fince been as to the Urite Ritual an4 Liturgy, we have no Intimation given us, but that he was now an. intire Conformift to the Egyptian. Nor would he, 'tis con ceived, have been fo we II intreated •)- of the Pharaoh in whofe Dominions he took refuge, as we are informed he was, upon any other Terms. Unlefs indeed the Spi rit of Egyptian Idolatry was far lefs bigot- ted than that of Chaldean ; and that Zeal for national Ceremonies, fo powerful in J3- gypt in later Ages, had not as yet begun to operate. An Argument this, in the opinion of a very confiderabk Writer j, that the Egyptians were not at the time we are here ipeaking of materially^ if indeed in any degree^ corrupted in their public Faith and Worfhip ; fince other wife our Patriarch could neither have conformed to their Efta- blifliments with innocence, nor yet in all ap pearance have difTented from them $ con- iiftently with the only motive of his Jour ney; the obtaining for himfelf and Houfe- hold that commodious Subfiftence in a fo- H reign

* See Marfliam's Can. Chron. p. 72.

t Gin. 12. 1 6.

t Mr. Shuckford, Vol. I. of Con. Book IV. at

Urge.

( 5° )

reign Land, which the inclemency of the Seafon would not afford him in his own. Our Author concludes therefore, that the Egyptians were as yet adherents to the tra ditional Religion of Noah ; and Worihip-? pers in common with their patriarchal So- journer, of the one true God *.

.

THE Scripture (interrupted I) Hortm*-. Jiusy is altogether iilent in this matter. It neither determines one way, nor the other. From whence, confidering the Genius of the Mojaic Hillory upon many parallel Oc- cafions, little, I mould imagine, can be concluded with certainty for either Side of the queftion. There is one Circumflance of the Relation to be conlidered, that feems, if any thing, rather to make againfr, this Gentle maris Conclulion ; fince it may pofii- bly help us to account for the Patriarch's hofpitable Reception at the Egyptian Court ', even allowing him to have been ever fo fcru- pulous a Separadft from the eftablifhed Church. He had with him, we are in formed, a fair Companion of his Travels, whofe Beauty foon drew upon her the Re gards of the intriguing Princes^ or great Of ficers, of Pharaotis Houfhold ; and, upon a report of it from them to their Matter, procured the admired Stranger an Admiffion into his Palace, and an intire accommodation

at

* See as above.

(.5')

at the royal Expence *. In fuch a fituation ihe muft have been Mifrrefs of very little Addrefs, iffhe could not obtain for herfelf and Family the privilege of a Toleration in a feparate Worfhip and Communion ; and the liberty of a private Confidence. Nor did the Patriarch, fo far as appears, in the leaft diftruft the Succels of fo powerful an Apologifl for his Religion -, all his Care feems to have turn'd upon concealing the real nearnefs of her Relation to his Perfon. A Difcovery of which, he conceived, misht fubjecl: him to the hazards of Violence from a voluptuous People ; and deprive him at the fame time both of his Confort and his Life -j whereas under the diflembled Cha racter of a Sifter, inftead of the genuine one of a Wife, he could fecurely truft her Vertue amidil: the Intrigues of a Court, nor rifque his own perfonal Safety amidft the Licence of it -f-. When therefore we are ac quainted by the facred Hiflorian, that he was well intreated of Pharaoh for the fake of his female counterfeited Correlative J, might not a Toleration of him in a foreign Worfhip be one inftance of this kind Intreat- ment ? And how then will it follow from Abrahams being at this lime a Servant of the true God, that the native Egyptians had H 2 not

* Gen. 12. 14, 15, 16. f Gen. 12. v. II, 12, 13. Gen. 12. 16.

not before his days apoftatized to the Service of falfe ones ?

Tho' I have all imaginable regard (re turned Hartenjius] to the Opinion of the very knowing Writer, whofe Sentiments in this Matter I have been reporting to you , I do not indeed fee but the Suppofition of a Toleration is full as allowable in the Cafe of Abraham, as in that of Jofepb, a little more than two Centuries kter in the Egyptian Hiftory *, it appears unavoidable. For we have the Authority of the facred Text itfelf for thinking Jojeph,. even in the height of his Egyptian Advancement ; at a time when he not only flood before Pharaoh, but had enter'd into an Alliance by Marriage with a Family of the national Priefthood -j- ; ta have yet been all the while of a different Religion from that of the Eftablifhment. For in the account given us of his entertain ing his Stranger-Brethren3fent by their Father to buy Corn in Egypt :, in a general Failure of it in their own Land t -, we are informed, the native Egyptians, who were of the Invi tation, might not eat Bread 'with the He brew, but were accommodated under a

feparate

* Abraham fojourned in Egypt A. M. 2086. Jofeph \vas fold into- Egypt at 17 Years of Age, Gen. 37. 2, ?8. A. M. 2267. in 13 Years after which, or at 30 Years of Age, >He flood before Pharaoh, Gen, 41. [46, A. M. 2289.

-}- Gen. 41. iy. 45, 46.

1 Gen. 43. i, 2.

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feparate Oeconomy j the fcrupulous Genius of their national Religion, even in thefe early days, admitting none to a common Table, who were not Partakers of a com mon Altar *; Our Author notwithftanding is fo far from thinking the Egyptians to have been actually corrupted in their Reli gion at the time of Abrahams fbjourning amongft them, that he makes the Patriarch himfelf to have been innocently the oceafion of their firft becoming fo not long after wards. This, in his account, was brought about by the artifice of Supbis, a Prince of Memphis j the tenth in that Govern ment from Menes, or Mifraimy its Founder ; who came to the Crown about nine Years before the death of Abraham ; and above fourfcore after his departure from Egypt -f-. The Reputation of our Patriarch for parti cular Revelations, and a more diftinguiihed Intercourfe with Heaven, was at this time, it is fuppofed, exceeding liigh with the Egyptians. And gave Supbts an opportuni ty to innovate in the Sacra of his Country under the Patronage of fo reverenced an Ex ample. He pretended therefore, in affecta tion of the patriarchal Fame and Character., to be himfelf a @MTTJJ? • favour'd with a

more

* Gen. 43. 32.

f Abraham fojourned in Egypt A. M. 2086. Supbh began his Reign A.M. 2174. or An. JErx Theb. 293. 88 Years after Abrahams being in Egypt. Abraham died in 2183, t^)e ™ath Year of Supbis at Mempbj:.

( 54 )

more intimate accefs to, and nearer afpect of Divinity. Upon the credit of v> bich, he loon contrived to overturn the hith- <•» o tra- dlt tonal Belief and Worfhip of his Subjects j propagating in its Head a Syftem of his own private Inftitutions j and infinuating nimlelf by -this means into the future fupreme Di rection of the publick Faith and Confcience *.

THE Pretence, (&id I) HortenfMS, was doubtleis a very good one for the Purpofes of an intriguing Politician. But methinks I would not readily charge the Abrahamic Difpenfation with the Odium of giving the firft hint to fo mifchievous an Artifice of Prieftcraft. Befides that had the Circum- fiances of Abrahams Life and Character at this time been fo well known in Egypf, as this account feems to fuppofe ; he muit Ral ly have been a Politician of no ordinary Ge nius, who could wreft fucb an Example to the Purpofes of a national Idolatry.

THE Egyptians (replied Hortcnfius) might poffibly have heard of the general Fame of Abraham's Revelations, and yet not have been apprized of the particular Sub ject and Contents of them. A report thus popularly current, without being accurately examined, might lead Supbis into the con ceit of this Fallacy, at the feme time that it

would

* See Sbuckford's Con. Vol. I. Book V. p. 319, and foil.

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would not at all interfere either with the Intention, or the Succefs of it. Abufes of the beft Things are, you know, often un avoidable in the natural courfe of human Liberty. Appointments the moft ufeful in themielves, and the moft beneficially in tended, are yet open to the grofTeft Mifap- plications by the perverfe, the felfely-intereft- ed, the difingenuous. However, to deal fairly with you, Philemon, fince I find you are fcrupulous of making the Patriarch at all a Party in this Affair > I fee not but we may well enough difcharge him j and fix the blame, where perhaps it is only due, upon the enterprizing Spirit of the deiigning Mem- phite. His eegTna, in this view, might pof- fibly be nothing more than the boafted Pre tence of a more improved Speculation, and profounder Theory, in Subjects of Religion. The Subftance of which, in the Opinion of an Author of firft regard in the Antiquities of Egypt, was the projecting the famed Symbolical Theology, and Embkm-Worflnp of this Country *. An Hypothecs, which he grounds upon a Pailage in the Chronology of the Kings of This, anfwering to about the

twentieth

* Sane ex hac Regis (Suphidis] QIOTTTHX, nova in ./Egypto Religionum ludibria excogitata funt ; et facris tradita commentariis. Nam ex Thinitarum Synchro- nidno manifeflum eft, Bouum, Hircique aTroS-fwo-ty eo ipfo tempore initium habuifle. Marjbarn Can. Cbron. p, 54.

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twentieth Year of Suphis at Memphis j " That in the Reign of Ceachos, the tenth " Thinite King, the Apis at Memphis , Mnevif " at Heliopolis, and the Mendefian Goat, " were received into the number of the " Egyptian Gods *." A difcernment in this Symbol-Science was ever, we know, efteemed by the Egyptians a very high in- ftance of facred Wifdom-j-. And the difco- very, or firft inftitution of it, if generally afcribed to Suphis , would naturally intitle him to that honourable Diftinction paid to- his Me mory in the Memphite Records ; " That he " was a Prince eminent for a more particular " Infight into the Natures of the Gods £." He left behind him, we are farther inform ed, a facred Book, or Treatife of divine Subjects ; the Elements, we may fuppofe, of this emblematic Doctrine, and Animal- Apotheofis || . Which, if it owed its birth to the Speculations of this Memphite Prince, mightjbefore the Age ofjofeph's Advancement in a neighbour Kingdom, near a Century be

low

* Sub hoc, Apis in Memphi, Mnevis in Heliopoll^ et Mendefius Caper Dii funt habiti. Marjh, Tab. artic. Ceach.

TO <rt «? fAftv /cat ruv -f i>i av a^ywjixwv

Porph. de Abft. Lib. 4. Sett. 9.

^ O^TOJ -arjcK/Trlt; f»? Sfouj JJ/EVETO. Syncell. Chron.

p. 56.

^ 'I«as {ruvf^at^5 i^'^Aov., Ibid.

( 57)

low the Times we are here fpeaking of, have been fufficiently fpread, and improved upon in Egypf, to account fully for that re ligious Diilintftion in the accommodation of his Egyptian and Hebrew Guefls, obferved in his Entertainment above-mentioned *. Nor will the Province here affigned to the Refinements of Suphis appear, I think, at all unfuitable to his Genius and Character, when it is remembered, that he is delivered down to us in the Chronology of Egypt, as the reputed Founder of the celebrated great Pyramid -f*. An Edifice, whatever other Ufes it might be applied to, in its firft In tention, there is great Reafon to think, of the IJieroghphic kind. The Figure of the Pyramid and Obeli/k in general being, we are allured, in the Egyptian manner of Ex- prerTion, emblematical of the Nature and Properties of Fire J ; as was, I conceive, this

I par-

* Jofepb Jlood before Pharaoh A.M. 2289 — Suphis died A.M. 2237, or 52 Years before Jofepb's Ad vancement — Suph;s reigned 63 Years ; beginning to reign A. M. 2174, or according to Afar/bam'tTudOi An. JEr. Theb. 293— The Worfhip of the Apis, &c. as above, ftands recorded pretty early in Suphis his Reign ; Ib that it came in, probably, near a Century before yofep'Ss Jlanding before Pharaoh.

f Hie ( Suphis ) maximam erexit Pyramidem. M.arfl). Can. Chron. p. 47.

Pprph. ap. Eufeb. Praep. Evang. p. 60. The Egyptian Obelifk at Alexandria had not a Square Bafe, lilce thofe we fee at Rome i but an Hemi-

fpherical

(58 )

particular Structure, (what I have thq pleafure to find confirmed to me, by the Judgement of a late very learned and inge nious Traveller, who had examined it upon the fpot) . both defigned for the Reprefenta- tion, and dedicated to the Idolatry, of the chief Fire of the Syftem, the Sun *. But,

not

fphcrical one, that was received into a correfpoftdent Cavity in the Pedeftal. It is certain, that thefe Pil lars, by being thus rounded at the Bottom, would bear a nearer refemblance to Darts^ and mijjlve Wea- pons, than if they were fquare. And confequently would be more exprej/ive of the Rays of the Sun j which they were fuppofed to reprefent ; as it was the Sun itfelf to which they were dedicated. Shaw's Travels, or Obfervations, &c. p. 411. Trabes ex eo fecere Reges quodam certamine, Obelifcos vo- cantes; folis numini facratos. Radiorum ejus Argu- jnentum in Effigie eft. Plin. Hift. Nat. lib. 36. cap. 8.

* As the Pyramids, which are Obelifks only in obtufer Angles, were equally emblematical of Fire, fo they may be coniidered under the fame religious View, to have been no Icfs confecrated to the fame

Deity. Shaw's Travels, as above. If Cheops, Su-

pbis, or whoever was the Founder of the great Pyra mid, intended it only for his Sepulchre, what Occa- fion was there for fuch a narrow crooked Entrance into it ? For the Well, as it is called, at the end of the Entrance ? For the lower Chamber, with a large Nitch or Hole in the eaftern Wall of it ? P'or the long narrow Cavities in the Wall of the upper Room ? Or for the two Anti-Chambers, and the lofty Gallery, with Benches on each Side, that in troduce us into it ? As the whole of the Egyptian Theology was cloathed in myfterious Emblems and Figures, it fecms reafonable to fuppofe, that all thsfe

Turnings,

( 59 )

not to amufe you any longer, Philemon, with Conjectures, either as to the ./Era, or Authors of the Egyptian Idolatry; it will be more to our Purpofe to turn our Inquiry to the general Theory, Genius, and Conftitu- tion of it. Nor can we, I believe, here fet out with a better Guide, than the knowing and inquiiitive Sicilian, Diodorus ; who in the firft Book of his general Hiflory has re- prefented to us the Sentiments of the earlier Egyptians upon the Matter of Religion, to

effear, as follows " The firft Men, who

" had their rife in Egypf, true born Sons

" of their Mother Earth, furveying the

I 2 " State

Turnings, Apartments, and Secrets in Architecture, Were intended for fome nobler purpofe ; (for th? Catacombs are plain vaulted Chambers hewn out of the Rock) and that the Deity rather, who was typi fied in the outward Form of this Pile, was to be wor- fhipped within. The great Reverence and Regard which Suphis, one of the reputed Founders is faid to have paid to the Gods, will, perhaps, in the firft Place, not a little favour fuch a Suppofition. Yet even ii this at laft fhould not be granted, no Places certainly could have been more ingenioufly contrived for the Adyta^ that had fo great a Share in the Egyptian My- fteries. Shaw's Travels, p. 417, 418. And indeed I am apt to think, that there are few, who attentively confider the outward Figure of thefe Piles ; the Struc ture and Contrivance of the feveral Apartments in the infide of the greateft, together with the ample Provifion that was made on each fide of it for the Reception, as may be fuppofed, of the Priefts ; bat will conclude, that the Egyptians intended the latter for one of the Places, as all of them were to be the Objects at leaft, of their Worfhip and Devotion, Shatu's Travels, p. 420.

( 6° )

" State of the World about them, and con- " templating, not without a fecret Awe, t£ and Reverence, the Contents of the won- " derful Machine, concluded for the Divi- " nity of the two mo ft confiderable, and " commanding Appearances of it, the Sun, " and Moon. Thefe, they conceived, " were the great Principles of Life and Be- *' ing ; the difpenfing, and fuftaining Pow- " ers of the intire Syftem *." A Conclu- fion fb natural to fuch early and unexpe rienced Realbners as are here fuppofed, that you have been driven, you know, to the Hypothefis of a Miracle to prevent their making it. But whatever was the effect of original Revelation in firft eftablifhing a right Religion, fubfequent Tradition was by no means iufficient to perpetuate and maintain it in the World. For before the times we are now arrived at in the courfe of this Speculation, Mankind had almoft univerfally broke their guard ; and, as if wholly loofe and uncau- tioned in die point, were with very little ex ception, running as greedily into the Infatu ation

Toy? Jf oyy xar' At^UTrroy a'.>3^

"«?, xai S'av^atravraf, JTTO £»:/#* ODO ^toiij ajjjou? rs KO.I Trpwrcur,

TCV <ru^7ravTa Kocrpov Moutciv, Tottyovrxf xoti

^ /\

• Trairra'xai o»a rourwy irxvrx Jfsvet<r!jau x«i Tps(£ Diod. Sic. Bib. Lib. i, p. 10, n. Ed. Rhod.

ation of Sabiifm, or the Idolatry of the bright Hoft of Heaven j as if in the infant Simplicity, and ignorant Admiration of a rifing World, they were now firft opening their Eyes upon the affecting Spectacle. The Egyptians, we may conceive, were the more eafily feduced to the Worjhip of the heavenly Bodies, as by the nature of their Climate, and circumftances of their Situa tion, they feemed to have enjoyed a more un interrupted and advantageous DifpUiy of them, than their neighbour Nations *. They led moreover in earlier times, for the moft part, 'tis probable, a rural and much expofed Life. And, in the imperfection of their Aftronomy, having for many Centuries no true meafure of a folar Year -j-, were obliged

to

* /Egyptii in camporum patentium sequoribus ha- bitantes, cum ex terra nihil emineret quod comtem- plationi caeli officere poflet omnem curam in fiderum cognitione pofuerunt. Cic. de Div. lib. i. cap. 41, Ed. Davies - Nam, ut re&e de his (jEgyptiis) La&antius Firmianus, cum cselo fruerentur iereno, ono ad haec, et deliciis, quibus univerfa ./Egyptiorum. Tellus fcatebat, torpefcerent, decoram ca?li faciem, cum reliquo ftellarum ordinatiflimo exercitu confide- rantes, &c. Kirch. Ob. Pamph. p. 157 — O,a

Trap auroK TTJIUTOH;

ts-pof TO TrAau^ij-Jpov ooov ra?

ac-^sov. Diod. Sic. Eib. lib. I. p. 46. f The Egyptians afcribe the Correction of their Year to Mercury. Avxr^iatn & ru

to efrimate the Returns of their Seafons, and adjuft the varying expediences of Hufbandry,

and

TIJV TCjauTw ffotyictv. Strab. Geog. lib. 17. p. 816. This Mercury was undoubtedly Siphoas, thirty-fifth King of Egyptian Thebes ; who, from parallel Cir- cumftances in his Hiftory and Character to thofe of Taautus, Thotb, or Mercury the Son of Menes, or Mifrairri) obtained this Name. Syncellus records the Addition of the five Days to have been made to the Egyptian Year by AJJis, fixth King of Tanis^ or the lower Egypt. OJTO? TrpocrfS'^xf ruv tviavruv TO,?

TTMTt fl4Ujf& 0 AtjAITTnaXO? fVjatlTO? *

tfystowx, [AO'tiuv r^^^-o •STCOTOVTOU n/,£Tpou|M.£vo?. Chron. />. 125. But this y^7j being one of the Paftor Kings, who were, in Jofephus his account, av3-cw7roi TO 5/fi/oj ao-JijWoi, an obfcure ignoble Race ; Sir John Marfoam very reafonably conjectures, that Syncel/us, in remarking, as above, to this King's Name, means only to fix the Correction of the Year to the Time, not to the Perfon of djjis. Which agrees very well with what has been already faid of its being really in troduced by Siphoas) or the fecond Mercury — Chro- nologise noftrae competit id quod Georglus Syncellus Sexto Tanitarum Regi fubjicit. OJTO? Trcoo-fS-wf H.T.A. In poftrema hujus Regis tempora initia Mercurii in- cidunt ; ita ut huic ille fit fatis aequalis. Can. Chron. p. 235. The five Days then were added in the 34th Year of d/fts, the fixth Paftor King of the lower Egypt. The moft probable Time of the Irruption of the Paftors is the Year of the World 2420. About 209 Years from hence by Sir John Mar/ham's Table began the Reign of AJfis. Whofe 34th Year is there fore the 243d from the Paftor Invafion ; or the Year of the World 2663. This was 720 Years from the Time of Menes his Death, who firft peopled Egypt , and founded the Yheban Government. And in about 15 Years from hence, began Sipboas to reign at "Thebes.

So

(63 )

and Agriculture, by looking conftantly up to thefe fair Deceivers j and remarking, as

accu-

So that the Corre&ion might very eafily belong to him. Siphoas began to reign near a Century after Jo/huci's Death ; who died in 2578. The Egyptian Year was not corrected 'till above fourfcore Years after the Death of Jojhua. 'Tis remarkable that Herodotus fpeaking of the corrected Meafure of the Egyptian Year, mentions only an Addition of five Days, to the number 360, without any Intimation of a quarter Part of a Day more being to be added to the reckoning ; whereas Diodorus^ and Strabo both mention the fix Hours ; which fhews they were a later Improvement than the five Days. Afyvsmoi & T^UXOVT^JUE^OU? a^ov- T£f TOUf eJuJfxa [Ar.vxf £7raJ/ou<rt civy.'Trotv ETC? TTIVTS ^u,£- pct$ irocpffc ray ap»3-/xou. Herod, lib. 2. cap. 4. and indeed the Fable in Plutarch^ which relates to this Matter, fuppofesj$W-D<^ the exa& feventy-fecond Part of the Year ; as it is of 365 Days, without the quarter of a Day over. AcytToii Jf o /Au3-o? O'UTC? iv wg fvfo, f^OiXifx. Trig Pw, (pa<rt,

ocvrn aUTf /ixrjvi /ATJTE fwaurw TEXSJV. EOWVTX, je TOV 'Ep/xw TI^ S-fou (ruvfAS-fju. Eira 7r«t^avT« Trnrrioc. Trpo? rr/y (7£ArjVJiu} xat a^fAoyra TWS; (pwrcov fjc*j~ou ra

i^ptovrae xa» T(naxo<noi? E7ra)/£n/? a; just/a? Ai^uTrrtot x»Aou(r<. Plut. de Ifide, et Ofiridc, p. 355. Ed. Xyl. 'Tis probable fome general Report of the Egyptians having corrected their Year prevailed in Greece^ before the true State of the Fact came to be known there, by means of iTjales his intercourfe with the Egyptian Priefts ; as we learn from Diogenes Laer~ tins. Tx$ -rs waa? TOU fwaurou,

TJ auro'J xaS'rjJ/jjiraTo, TrArv or ft? iVptvir* <rw?»«TPitJ/sv, Diog, Laert. lib. i. p. 7.

in

accurately as they could, the diverfirled par ticularities of their Relations and Alpecls *.

This

in Thalete. - For Herodotus reprefents Solon a con-« temporary with Tha/es^ in a Conference with Crcefus^ to have confidered the true folar Year as confiding of 375 Days. For he fays it was neceifary to intercalate every other Year a whole Month, or 30 Days, Con- fequently the common Reckoning of 360 Days muft have been 15 inftead of 5 Days, fhort of Truth. So lon, it fhould feem, was aware the common Reckon ing was wrong; but was not Matter of the precife Reformation required in it. The Converfation is very remarkable. In the Conclufion of it Solon reckons up to Crcefus the fum of Days in feventy Years to be 262*50, which is at the Rate of 375 Days to each Year. The Computation is made by way of anfwer to Crcefus hjs very hafty and refentful Expostulation with the Sage upon his feeming to have but a degra ding Opinion of Crcefus his Happinefs. n %sivs

OUTO) TOJ

upon which Solon lays before him the Meafure in Days of human Li;e at an Eftimate of feventy Years - TO'JTov Tojy 'enrot&arj ypsptav TUV £? TX, t&fbfj-fxavrot trstx,

TO

isv -argoo-afyti irgrtypet,. In which length of time, and variety of Events, 'tis impofiible, he con cludes, to determine rightly upon the Subject of :i Man's Hanpinefs, 'till the whole date is run out. Herod, lib! I. cap. 32. Ed Steph.

* Cum veterum anmis parum cum mptu folis appa- rente congruebat, ex dato die menfis quo fa&um ali- quod notabant rion ftatim exindc patebat qua anni fempeftate illud cvenit. Igitur quando Agricolae in Re Ruftica aliquod faciendum in ftatp tempcjre praa- cipiebant, tempus illud non per diem Kalendarii civil is indicabant j quippe eadem dies menfis non temper

quolibet

.

This gave them high imprefTions of the Dignity of thefe Objects in the mun dane Constitution ; and their importance to the Oeconomy of Life. Which would be ftill increafed, by obferving* as to the princi pal of them in particular, the Sun, how in- tirely the regular, profperous, and flouriming Eftate of all inferior Nature feemed to de pend upon his difpenfing Authority, and genial Influence. How the unnumber'd varieties of vegetative Being, the feveral Spe cies of Herbs, Grain, Plants, Flowers, Trees, and Fruits ; at once the Ornaments of the Earth's own Form, and Support of thofe of its animated Inhabitants ; were the effects of his prolific Virtue, and fecret Operation, upon the differing contents of her internal Subftance. That the whole Scenery 'of the Univerfe— ^-But I forbear, Philemon^ confidering that you have been before-hand with me upon this Argument ; and have made any thing I could fay here as comparatively weak and degrading ; as it is fortunately at the fame time made fuperflu- ous and unneceffary. '

Hor-

:or your

I WOULD very gladly (returned I) tenfius, exchange your Compliment fc Defcription. Tho', to fay the truth, by K the

quolibet anno in eodem anni tempofe incidebat. Sed certioribus opus fuit Chara6teribus ad tempera diflm- guenda. Itaque Agricol* tempora per ortus et occa- fus ftellarum diftinguebant, Ktil. Aftron. />. 264.

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the flight hint you have here given, you have recalled to my thoughts an Image, which mufl have pleaded fb flrongly with our Egyptian Ruralifls for a dire£ly and un qualified Adoration of the folar Orb ; as in great meafure to preclude the Apology I was thinking to have made for their fnil addrefles to it of a religious kind ; by fug- gefting, that poffibly nothing more might be intended by them, than the Worfhip of the tranjcendent Majefty of the invifible Creator, under the Symbol of his moft ex cellent, and feemingly nearefl refembling Creature. They might the readier err this way, if they had yet fubfifting amongft them fome imperfect Tradition of the divine Being's having vouchfafed to converfe with, and inftrucl: the Men of elder Times, by an Angcl^ a Glory t fome vifible Exhibition of his more diftinguifhed Prefence. A man ner of Communication, which the facred Accounts feem, I think, to fuppofe j and which might be very fuitable to the Condi tion of the more early Ages, however ge nerally difcontinued in fucceeding ones. I pretend not, with fome modern Vifionaries, to afiert any thing of the precife Form of thefe Appearances ; or to enter into a dif- quifition of the Nature, and myitical in- tendments, of the Paradlfiacal Cherubim *.

The

* See a very ingenious Treatife upon the Principles

of

( 6? )

The Fact in general is all I am concerned for. Of which, if Mankind, the bulk of them, had now by degrees, either thro' neg ligence, or difperfions, loft all correct Ac counts j retaining ftill a confufed Tradition of Manifestations of Divinity made to their Fore-fathers under •, and Worfhip practifed by them towards, a jenfible Prefence j might not this lead them into an opinion of the law- fulneis and expediency of religious Symbols in general ? Of having before their Eyes fbme vifible Object of Adoration ; fomething to ftrike the Attention, and ingage the Senfe of the devout Wormipper ? Now this Point once fixed, nothing in Nature furely fo proper for the Purpofe, fo every way worthy of the DiftinStion required j as the lignificant Luminaries of Heaven : The two greater Lights of it in particular j in fome Views of which, the moft chaflifed Philofophy of thefe c older northern Climes, can fcarce forbear breaking out into unhal lowed Reverence. Confecrated thus fpe- cioufly to the Imagery and Reprefentation of their Maker, they ibon, no doubt, be came the Rivals of his Honours j and by a gradation as natural, as it has been common K 2 in

of the late Mr. Hutchinfen, intitled, Ghrlftianity al- mo/f as old as the Creation. It muft be owned, this Author has at leaft made Mr. Hutc/iin/on's Scheme in telligible : And has fhewn he has no want of any thing, as a Writer, but a more reafonable and better Caufe.

(68)

in the Cafe, from being applied to at firft as Helps only to Devotion, were quickly after wards advanced into the fupreme Objects of it.

I WILL notanfwer, (replied Horten/ius) how far any fuch mifconjirued Tradition as , you have been pleading for, might contri bute to the Introduction of thefe firil- practifed Idolatries 9 but I am very fure, the popular Artifices of an accommodating Philofophy, deviled in its excuie and vindi cation by the more forward Mailers in reli gious Politics,, did very much tp its fupport, and growing Interefl in the World. The importance in general of Jbme Religion to the Purpofes of Society and Government, could not but ilrike the moil unpractifed Thinker. Whilft more improved Reflection would be apt to fuipect the HopeleiTnefs, and Policy to fuggeft the inexpedience, of an Attempt to retain the Bulk of Mankind in a perfectly rational One. The wifefl would find it extremely difficult , to the Vulgar it might be preiumed little Ihort of impoffible ; tp jaife their Thoughts above their Senfes \ or to any requifite degree conceive, what they were not at liberty to imagine *. Hence that favorite Doctrine in all learned Paga-

nifm;

* Permoleftum enim compluribus videbatur, In- telleftu tantummodo Deum perveftigare, nonetiana vifu ufurpare. Kirtb. Ob. Pam. p. 159.

nifm -, no where more fo, than, where it was probably firft contrived, in Egypt $ of Divinity, as it were, partially imbcdied, and made vifible to outward View, in the varied Species of its own Workman (hip *. A Dodlrine, I am inclined to fuipeA, which fhe indeed Weaknefs of popular Simplicity

firft

* This is what the Stoic in Cicero's fecond Book of the Nature of the Gods, exprefles by Trafta ratio a Phyficis Rebus ad commenticios et fi£ros Deps. Which however open to Abufe in the popular and fa bulous way of treating it ; as when the Matters of this Theology, to explain the Powers and Paffions of the Univerfe, talk of the Formas Deorum, et States, et Veftitus, Ornatufque ; genera praeterea, conjugia, cognationes, omniaque tradu&a ad fimilitudinem im- becillitatis humans ; nam et perturbatis animis inr ducuntur ; accipimus enim Deorum cupiditates, ae- gritudines, iracundias; nee vero, ut Fabulae ferunt, Di bellis praeliifque caruerunt : yet was capable of a very good Meaning, when considered as expreffing, Deum pertinentem per naturam cujufque rei j per terras Cererem, per maria Neptunum ; alios per alia : qui, qualefque funt, quoque eos nomine confuetudo nuncupaverit, venerari, et colere debemus. De Nat. Dear. lib. 2. cap. 28. The Pagans feemed to appre hend a kind of neceflity of worfhipping God thus in his Works^ and in the vifible Things of this World ; be- caufe the generality of the Vulgar were then unable to frame any Notion of an in vifible Deity 5 and, un- lefs they were detained in away of Religion by fuch a Worfhip of God, as was accommodate and fuitable to the lownefs of their Apprehenfions, would unavoid ably run into Atheifm. Nay, the moft philofophical Wits amongft them, confeffing God to be incompre- henfible to them, feemed themfelves alfo to ftand in need of fome fenfible Props to lean upon. Cudworth's Intel. Syftem, chap. 4. />. 510.

_,_ ( 7° )

firft recommended to the Adoption o fophic Syftem j and Men were praftically convicted of, before they were taught fpe- culatively to entertain. The Biafs of the many drew ftrongly, we may imagine, to wards a fenfible Object of devout Worfhip ; a Deity accommodated to their Apprehen- fion ; and indulged to their View. Ajprt&jng Prefence was of fmgular Efficacy in fug- sefting to them a divine one *. And when

O J? ' ' '

by this means the aEtual Idolatry of the Sun and Moon was growing into an Ufage, the Learning of the Times foon fet itfelf to work to authorize it as an Eftablijhment j under pretence, that the Benefits of Providence difpenfed to Mankind by the Means of thefe important Luminaries, could not be better acknowledged, than by a Devotion to their immediate Beam. The feveral Qualities and Powers of which being only fo many Deri vations from the firft Cauje^ the Worfbip of them was in truth no other, than the Worfhip of that Cauje under- a particular C'onfideration of its Agency and Effect -f.

The

* Cum Solem in medio veluti vivificum mundi Oculum, ac harmonic! ordinisChoragrum, immorta- lem ilium Jovem virtutis fuae figillo Ujiiverfa tempe- rantem confpicerent, (^feypjtiij cum aliquid iupra jiaturam cxcellentius, ni minim ro ©.-tsy, quod virtu- te fua omnia moveat, mota diftihguat, diftindta ornet, galore veluti amore qtiodam fymnathetico dirtinita uniat,.arbitrati funt. Kirch. Ob. Pain. />. 157.

f The Truth ef this whole Biifinels feems to be

The Plea was artfully calculated ; at once to humour the Inclination, and palliate, as it might feem, in fome degree, the abfurdi- ty of popular Thinking. Whilft, in this way of Reafoning, new Forms of Worfhip were continually arifing j and Deity became every Day more and more eafy, both of Comprehenfion, and Accefs*. For the

Sun,

this; That the ancient Pagans did phyfiologize in their Theology ; and, whether looking upon the whole World animated, as the fupreme God\ and confequentiy the feveral Parts of it as his living Mem bers ; or elfe apprehending it at leaft to be a Mirror, or vifible Image of the invifible Deity, and confe- quently all its feveral Parts, and Things of Nature, but as fo many feveral Manifestations of the divine Power and Providence ; they pretended, that all their Devotion towards the Deity ought not to be huddled up in one general confufed Acknowledgment of a fu preme invifible Being, the Creator and Governor of all j but that all the feveral Manifeftatiom of the Deity in the World, confidered fmgly, and apart by them- fehes, fhould be fo many dijlinft QbjcEls of their de vout Veneration. Cudworth's In tell. Syft. p. 228.

* By means of what the laft cited very leaxncd Author calls, " Breaking or crumbling as it were " of the limple Deity ; and parcelling out of the ** fame into many particular Notions and partial Con- " fiderations, according to the various Manifeitations *c of its Power and Providence." />. 531. - It is not improbable, what our Author obferves, p. 309. That the Infcription mentioned by Plutarch to the GoddeG Neitb, or Minerva at Sai s in Egypt - : — . TTOIV TO 'ye'yovo^ xzi cv x»i eG-0'j.swv xxt

TOV fj«.oy TfTrXou outJ'fjj' TTW fiyjjroj oi7r£H«AtixJ/fv. DC Ifide et Ofir. p. 354 - -might be intended to ex- prefs the " Mind or Wifdora of the Deity diffufmg

" itfclf

( 72 )

Sun, and Moon once conceived of, as the •oifible- Exhibitions of Divinity in the Syftem,

the

<c itfelf thro' all Things ; or the Perfections of God *' made vifible in the feveral Manifeftations of his " Power, Wifdom, and Goodnefs in the material *' Univerfe. And that the Veil here faid to be <c thrown ove*1 this Goddefs might be a Symbol of " the more recondite, and arcane Theology of the £"- " £yp**ans* which confidered this zs a Jimple Principle, «c or Attribute of the Deity; tho' for the Eafe of ** vulgar Conception confidered thus partially in its " Effects." And this may give us the ground of the Orphic Doctrine amongft the Greeks of the, 'Ev n roc, itatvTOi. The Hermaic Books, 'tis more than proba ble, by whomfoever forged, are in the main formed upon the Principles of the ancient Hermetic, or Trif- megijlic Theology, preferved in traditional Memory in Egypt i and in the Rituals of her popular Superfti- tion. And thefe Books are full of this Doctrine. From their being the late Forgeries of Pythagorean, or Platonic Sophifts, and full of the Characters of thefa Sects of Philofophy, it will not be evinced, that they are of a Genius jntirely different from the ancient Egyp tian one ; feeing the Founders of both thefe Sects bor rowed the main Principles of their Phjlofophy from Egypt ; as did the Greeks in general all their Learning. So that as Jamblichus obferves (and Cudworth ap proves the Obfervation) they may

i. - -For in the Language of the incomparably ingenious, and entertaining Author of the Archaeolog* Phil. lib. i. /». 77. 410. Revera quae fuerint Mgyp- tiorum Dogmata, et quid alios docuerint, ab eorum difcipulis, Philofophis Grtscis, refciendum efTe vide- tur ; qui ut notum eft, dEgyptum petere folebant ad adipifcendas literas altiores-- - and elfewhere, Nort aliunde repetenda eft fapientia &gyptiorumy quam ab eorum Difcipulis, Philofophis Gratis, idque potiffi-

mum

( 73 )

the feveral inferior Orders of celeflial Lights* of which it was obvious to think, that they were in general of the fame Nature with, and Partakers in degree of the leveral Powers and Virtues of, the fuperior ones; would fbon demand in their Place and Proportion a like honourable Confideration. At the lame Time that, their number not admit ting feparate Applications, and Philofophy,'tis probable, not as yet fufficiently entring into their particular Diftinctions, to appoint them particular Services; they could not well be otherwife adored, than either inclu/rvely in their Principals ; or elfe in Sum, as it were, together with them ; by way of comprehen- ftve Addreis to that magnificent Concave, in which both were alike feemingly difpofed. Such, Philemon, I take to have been the original Idolatry of the World. Whether Egypt, or Chaldea, were properly the Au thors of it, would, I am fure, be a fruitlels, and is, I conceive, a very needlefs Difquiii- tion. Both of them, we are certain, before the Times we are now arrived at, were no- torioufly guilty in the kind ; and from them the Pradice was too foon propagated to all the various Difperfions of Mankind.

L OF

mum ab entlqulfftmis ; nempe Orpbich, lonicis^ Py- thagoricis, Platonicifque. Patrum imagines in filiis et nepotibus intuemur. Et ab his Alumnis Difciplinae JRgyptiacte ipfius effigiem qualitercunque licet depin- gcre vel adumbrare. Ibid. p. 99.

(74)

OF this fort (I interpbfed) was, I ima gine, Hortenjiits, the greatefi Part of thofe Idolatries mentioned in the earlier Scriptures ; to have been practifed fo univerfally, where- ever the Jewifi People had any Communi cation. And to which, we find, even the chojen *Sm/themfelves had fuch an untoward Propenfion, that not all the Policy of a di vinely fuggefled Difcipline for the Purpole, exercifed upon them for a fucceflion of forty Years, would, in the opinion of their wife and provident Legiilator, a little before his Death, prove a fufficient check upon them in this Regard : But, even in polTerTion of Promifes, whofe very tenure was a total For bearance in this kind, they would yet, he very juflly fufpecled, be here perpetually tranlgreffing ; and in defpight of the moft affedting Mementos both in their Hiltory, and Ordinances, of Power fuperior to the Heaven:, would be tempted by the momen tary Argument of a fingle Glance to com pliment them ever and anon with fupreme* 3

mistaking

* Dent. 4. v. 15, 19. Take good heed, (fays Mo- ffs, to Jfrael] left thou lift up thine Eyes unto Heaven, and ivhen thou feeft the Sun, and the Moon, and the Stars, even all the Hoft of Heaven, Jhouldeji be driven to zuorflnp them, and fcrve them, which the Lord thy God bath divided (or as the marginal Reading has it, imparted) unto all Nations under the -whole Heaven. Ne toi te eleves oCulos tuos in ca?los, et videas Solem, "ct Lunam, atque ftellas, cum univerfo exercitu rum, et Impulfus -adores atque colas ea.

(75)

mifraking thefe ufeful Inftruments of divine Providence, for the exhibited Splendors of divine Majefty. So much, it fhould feem, was this the prevailing Doctrine, and gene ral Infatuation of thefe Times.

I A M afraid, (replied Hortenfius) the Idolatry of this Age did not by any means flop here ; as you will find in the iequel of our Inquiry. But a part of it this undoubted ly was j and one moreover, as appears from our facred Accounts themfelves, of by no means recent Eftablifhment. For in the Book of yob, (who lived, 'tis probable, fome Centuries before the j^Era of that Paf- fage of Mofes's Hiftory you have been hint ing at *) where the illuftrious Sufferer is in troduced, as appealing to the Sentence of Heaven itfelf for the general Integrity of his Character ; his innocence as to the parti cular Corruption of Sabiifm as an impiety exceeding common in his time, is diftin&ty infixed on : The very Ceremony of its Practice, namely that of Adoration, or the Idolater's applying his Hand to his Mouth, in token of his religious Reverence to the heavenly Luminaries, being particularly pointed out to us : And the true Atbeiftic Conftruction of it in all Reafon, and fober Confequence, at the fame time very remark- L 2 ably

* He was probably contemporary with the Patri arch Ifaac.

( 76 );

ably afferted ; in oppofition, no doubt, to all fuch unavailing Refinements, as we have above fuppofed (and are here, I think, au thorized to fuppofe) the politic Learning of accommodating Hierarchs, or Statefmen, had propagated in its Apology, and Incou- ragement *. When by thefe means how ever, as has been faid, the Idolatry of the Heavens was become generally authorized ; the next Step in the Progrefs of Apotheofis, was, I imagine, for Reafons above occa- fionally hinted to you, the Confecration of artificial, or common Fire-^. This, 'twas obvious to think* was both an immediate Communication from, and moft expreffive, as well as permanent Symbol of the Sidereal Splendors. But its chief Recommendation was, its proceeding yet a Degree lower in the levelling Scheme of popular Divinity ; and bringing down the Gods, as it were, to the Earth j to the very Habitation, Fami liarity, and, in fome meafure, the good Of fices, of their Worfhippers J.

I AM

* Si vidi Solem, quando fplendebat, et Lu- nam incedentem clare, et feduxit fefe, (aliter) Laeta- tum eft, in abfcondito cor meum, et ofculatum eft manum meam os meum, etiam hoc fuiflet iniquitas judicata j quia Abnegah'em Deum Defuper. Job, lib. i. cap. 31. 26, 27, 28.

•j" ToVTCis ya^ (TO<? (£>ctiijofA.£VOi<; ovpavioig S'sci?) xai

TO ISVp aSoLVKTOV tyvi^OUflQfieV fV TOtf /ffOlC, 0V [AOtXlfCt

oiuTiZTGY. Porph. de Abft. lib. 2. p. 53. % Vulcani claudicatio, fays a learned Writer, n<}-

tat

( 77 )

I A M afraid (faid I) it was bringing them a good deal nearer in effect, than they had any reafon to defire to be brought. For fo ftriking an Object as the jacred Fire once placed before Men's Eyes, as a direct Dif- cerplion from the celeftial-, and fo commo- dioufly withal for their religious Applications ; 'twas ,but to compliment the Subftitute, (what Senfe and Imagination would very readily come into) with being too faithful to the Honors of its Principals, ever to think of intercepting them, however unguarded in their Paffage ; and thus, that uneafy Check upon all zealous Devotion, a confcious ReJ cr eation in the exercife of it, might loon be thrown off, as a Reftraint not more incon venient, than really unneceilary in the Caie: And the Mind, with the Eye, would be at the trouble of looking no farther, than to the immediate Exhibition, and nearefc Species.

A N D if the Subftitute in this Inftance. (refumed Hortenfius] did thus eafily iniinuate itfelf into the Honours of its Principals ; it had at leaft their own Example to plead in its excufe ; they having before, by a like arti fice, diipoileiled of all religious Regard and

Reverence

tat ignjs noftii irnperfe&ionem. As fancifi.il as the Analogy here may be thought, the Fa& \vijl not be difputed, that, Niii ligna ac materiem appofuen's, perbrevi temporc extinguitur, f'off] de Ong. Cxjk-. lib. 2. p. 659.

Reverence the only juft Object of any: And, under colour of affifting Men to a readier contemplation and fervice of their Maker, well nigh banimed him from among them. For thus indeed flood the Matter with our Egyptian Speculates ; that, from the times we are now fpeaking of, being ever at work to exhibit T)eity to the Multitude in new Forms of its Effects, they by degrees quite confounded it with them. At leafl to vul gar Apprehenfion j to which God, and Na ture, foon became the very fame Idea * ; and the World, which ought only to have been regarded, as the magnificent Theatre of divine Perfections, was itfelf blajphe- moujly adored, as the independent Proprietor of them. The Doctrine of Vifible-Apo- theoiis once believed in Egypt -, and all Senfe and Obfervation agreeing to direct her, for thejirft Examples in the kind, to the hea venly Regions ; the Refidence, 'twas obvious to imagine, of the chief active Powers of the Syftem ; the neceffity of fome conve nient Receptacle for the celeftial Influences, and Subjefl of their genial Agency and Operation ; and the manifeft Accommoda tion in Nature of the Earth for this Pur- pofe j in the Progrefs of her levelling Theo-

logy>

* They were in the Error mentioned by Plutarch; and did, l^-iot, Y.M xaAou? xxi a'yxvgocv rfyusSai >tu?^u» xi xpox.x<; Jcpaimiv, >c<x» (rsrovofiov xat

^rV »«TpCV. De Iflde, &C. p. ^77'

(79)

logy, foan drew down her Attention, and her Homage, to this great paffii}^ Subftance j as to the next chief Interefl in the mundane Oeconomy *. She accordingly confidered the Heavens, and the Earth, under the re lative Characters of Male and Female -f-. A Relation, which her Matters of the Mytbo- logic Profopoptea exprefled, we may fuppofe, by giving them in Marriage to each other : Since from hence, 'tis highly probable, the Greek, and Roman Theogonifts, learnt to do fo, under the Titles correlponding in their refpective Languages to their original Egyp tian ones ; of Ovf «vo?, and IX or Gwttf, and Tellus ; the Parents of Kpow?, Saturn, or the whole regular Oeconomy of the viiible World J.

TH E

* Ex Elementis ante alia, ut arbitror, Tellus divi- nos obtinuit honores. Idque laxe ea voce accepta, ut fignat hunc globum terrae et aquas, qui opponitur

caelefti, hoc eft jEthereo et Aereo Corpori Nee

mirum, ft ab ^Ethe'reis corporibus prolapfi etiam fint ad cultum Telluris : quando poft caslos ea princeps eft mundi Pars. Etiam uti in caelis fol et fidera, continuo fe ingerunt in fenfus : ita in partibus mundi inferiori- bus primo oculi§ et corporis et mentis, Telluris fe bona ofFerebant. Voff. de Orig. &c. lib. 2. cap. 51.

f Denique prope omnium ea eft veterum opinio Terram efte antiquam matrem, quam caelo nuptam dixere, quia ut in rerum generatione caelum refert marem ; fie in eadem Tellus efTet alma Mater. VoJT.

ub. fup. Principes Dei Cselum et Terra. Varr'a.

4. de L. L.

\ S^turnus quem Caelu' genit. Ennius. r. Anna!. Saturnus ipfe « cum tradatur ordo Elemento-

rum,

(So)

THE delation, (faid I) feems in fomc meafure to have been approved by the facred CofmQgonifl himfelf ; who in entring upon the important Tranfaclion of Creation ; or a Univerfe riiing into Being at the efficacious Fiat of its Maker ; gives us his firft general PiSture of it, tinder the two comprehenfive Diftindtions, of Heaven, and Earth *. 'Does not this Agreement in the Jewtfoy and Egyptian Phyliology of this matter, incline one to think, they were both derived from one common Stock of original Tradition in the Point ? tho' the latter had fraudulently funk one main Article of the primitive Ac count, in accommodation, as you have ob- ferved, to popular Prejudice ; or as finding it, perhaps, agreeable to the Sentiments of a corrupt religious Policy, to conceal one Part of the Truth, in order to a more convenient Application of the other -(-.

THE

aim, ternporum Numerofitate diftin&us, luce pate- fa£lus. Macrab. Sat. lib. I. cap. 22.

* Imo Deus die prima fecifle dicitur Cselum et

Terram, ut plane his debeatur principatus Caeli

ac Terras nominibus etiam in facris literis rcrum in- telligitur univerfitas. Vofl". de Orig. &c. lib. 2. cap. 51. Gen. J. I.

-f- In the beginning God created the Heaven,and the .Earth. Gen. I. I. They failed in common with the earlier Grecian Theologers in a very important Article, of which Anaxagoras is faid to have been the firftReftorer. 'OJTO? Jrj TTCWTO? <5j*icS-ow5-E TOV ou 'yzp pww

8i

THE obvious appearance of the Thing itfelf, (returned Hortenfius) may, I think, fully account for the Diftinclion fuppofed, without any Intimation from a Tradition on its behalf. I am fenfible, fome more recon dite Articles of the Egyptian Phyfics, as par ticularly, their early acquaintance with the true Syitem of the World > could be no other than wwT^oira^a&Ta •> Doctrines of Inhe ritance j whofe Age, and Authorities were, it may be, equally obfcure. Inafmuch as, the national Acumen in Matters of more elaborate Miyfical Reiearch, was by no means equal to the Difcovery of them. But for an accurate Obfervation of, and Familiarity with, the more obvious Phenomena of Na ture, exclufively of any nice Difquilition of the remoter Caufes of them ; the Egyptians were at all times exceedingly remarkable : as, probably, for other Reafons that might be mentioned • fo efpecially upon a religious Account • both the 'Theory and Services of their Worfhip obliging them to a very regu lar Diligence in this kind. We have already, Philemon, (continued he) attended them in the Courie of their Phyfiologicai Theology to the Apotheofis of the two great Inftru- merits of all natural Generation ; the opera tive Influences of the Heavens, and the pa£- M live

o, wj 01 &OQ aurou, aAAa xa» Trip* rou xwouv- <»<T»OV. tufeb. praep, lib. 10. cap, ult«

(82)

five Subject of them, or grofi terreftrlal Mafs. From whence, in their Doctrine of honoring Caufes in their Effects, they were eafily led to deify the IJJue of this important Congrefs ; fyww9 Saturn, the ™ ?rav) or col lective Contents, and Apparatus of the in- tire mundane Machine j as the next Article of their increafing Polytheifm *. But the Object here, taken at large, being of fome- what difficult Comprehenfion, and a Con- lideration of it in Parts , not only confirm ing its general Divinity, but even multiply ing, as well as greatly aflifting the particular Offices of its Worfhip ; 'twas foon agreed, to branch it out, for the convenience both of common Conception, and Addrefs, into the feveral more confiderable Divi/ions^ Members, or conftituent Principles, of which it was efteemed to be compofed. And thus we come to thofe five primary Articles of the intire natural Compages, or Ingredients

of

*\ ^ . ,

* Hunc (Saturnurn) aiunt abfcidifle Call Patris

pudenda Cum Semina rerum omnium poft caelum

gignendarum de caelo fluerent ; et elementa univerfa, quae mundo plenitudinem facerent, ex illis Seminibus funderentur ; ubi Mundus omnibus fuis partibus membrifque perfedlus eft, certo jam tempore finis faftus eft procedendi de caelo femina ad elementorum conceptionem ; quippe quse jam plena fuerant Pro-

creata Propter abfciflbrum pudendorum fabu-

lam, etiam noftri eum Saturnurn vocitarunt : Trxget TW <ra,Qr,v9 quod membrum virile declarat, velutt Sathunum. Macrob. Sat. lib. i. cap. 8. To TOO M(r[Aov TTKV, Diod. Sic. lib. I. p. II.

of the unlverial Compound ; mentioned by Diodorits, as fo many Deities of Egypt; namely, Spirit, or a foft, invifibly active, and fubtil Flame, the fuppofed Matter of die ./Ether, or heavenly Regions ; and imme diate Instrument of particular animal, and intelligent Life. Elementary, or fenfible Fire. Grofs dry Subftance, or Earth. Wa ter, or Humidity. And laftly, the Air, or Atmofphere *. Under each of which Head- Divifions of Nature, thus feparately, and at large, inverted with a divine Character, in numerable Orders uf inferior Divinities by Degrees {prang' up ; as the feveral diftincl: Properties, Effects, and relative Confidera- tions of each came to be more minutely exa mined: To fuch fucceffive Inlargements of

M 2 the

* Aio x$a TO j.£v otTTixv troja TTJJ ruv

TO T£ TTVf^aa, X<Z» TO T (?£ TO 'JpOV XiKi TP TtAfUTaiOV TO

xa»

5f*vat xam TO oixsioy* TO jufu ouu mtvpot Aia •STtfotraj/opfuirat x. T. A. Died, Sic. lib. I. ^>. u. Rhod. Chryjtppus Mundum Deum dicet efle, ignem pneterea, et ^Ethera, Aquam, Terram, et Aera; Solem, Lunam, Sidera, Univerfitatemque Rerum. Cic. de Nat. Dear. Hb. I. cap. 15. Daviest— - - 'Tis in the Conception here noted of the ^Ethereal Matter, that in the Greek Mythology Jupiter is ftilecf, froirno fcvjjnim S-JWVT? , 5^^ Father of Gods and Men ; or in other Wcrds, the univerfally Life-giving and. informant Principle, as well to the feveral deified He- rces of the firft Ages, as to all the fubfequent Gene- rations of lefs diftinguifhed Mankind,

( 84)

the Syftem of natural Apotheofi^ as it would be quite endlefs to reprefent to you.

You need not, (I interpofed here) be at the trouble, Hortenfius, of treating this Subject any farther in detail. The Founda tion Principles of Error, and falfe Worihip, once laid, as you have determined j the Su- perftructure, I am fenfible, might be in- creafed to any requifite Degree at pleafure. The Mailers of fuch a Theology could ne ver want a Pretence to inlarge the Subftance of it ; whenever, in the courfe of religious Politics, the quantity of national Superftition fhould be thought proper to be augmented -, as long as there was any fuch Thing as Fan cy or Invention fubfifting in their Order. A pregnant Imagination might, in the way of Thinking here fuppofed, devife as many different Species of Divinity, as there were of diftincl: Beings ; or, I may add, as there could be conceived diftincl: Powers or Affec tions of thofe Beings, in the World.

F o R a view of this Scheme of multiplied and particularized Apotbeojis literally made Fact, (returned he) one need but run over the Lift of Grecian^ and more emphatically /till, of Roman Deities. In the mean while, to return to our Egyptian confeffed Leaders in the kind ; whilft they were fo religioufly attentive to the whole Conduct, and Ap- i pearances

pearances of Nature, as has been reprefented j Ib obvious, as well as important a Diftinftion in it, as that of Goo/l, and Evil, could not, you may be fure, efcape their Notice. They accordingly deified each Branch of this Difl inction in their two oppofitely perfonated Characters of Typhon and Ofiris * 5 the In<- famer, and the blacky er muddy River -(-.

Expreffing

* O'j 'yap otM'/jpw cuJE ayfjwcy, ouJV S-aAarlav, oude C>CCTOC, aAAa Trav orou 'f\ G>\j<rit; CAaSf^ov x** f^S-acTi- KOV f%fi ^/.ofljov, TOU TV(pwvc£ ?ov. P/zrf. J<r ^/^ rf •OJir. p. 369. He is called alfo S^-91, fignifying, lays $he fame Author, TO xo.ra^uv«r-fuov KOU xaTabja^o. yxfyov and to exprefs his general Character they con- iecrate to him, TWV yptpuv Ltwv TQV ajuaS-f s~arov cv&v, TWV cTe aj/pjwv S'rj^iwJ'ir'aTa, x^oxo^iAof, xat Toy

/• 37 '* U^' ^UP* T° ^£

ovx au <x.p/zgTO!,voi[j.£v. Ubi fup. />. 377. f Quemadmodum vero Nilus Hebreeis ob nigrf- cantes aquas, et quia Terram humedans earn reddet nigram, SfcBfT, five 5-/V, hoc eft, Niger diclus eft; (7/i. 23. v. 3. y^. ii. v. 18.) ita et Greeds eadem de Caufa vocatus eft MsAa?, Plutarcbo, et Eujiatbio, teftibus. Indeque et Latinis veteribus appellatus eft Mflo, ut Feftus, et Servius^ tradidere. Ex quibus etiam cognofcere licet, cur Mgyptii, Plutarcho tefte, Oftrin effingant nigrum, nempe nigrum NiK colo- rem attenderunt. Et quid (i dicamus, ipfum nomen Ofiris efle ex Schichor, live, ut mollius pronunciant, Star ? Nam S/or, trajeclis literis, fit OJir ; unde, ter- minatione addita Giaecanica ac Romana^ Ofiris. Jam ante in Vocabulis Ps;<? x;u 'Hp^i?, oftendimus, Gen tiles in Deorum nominibus iftiufmodi traje6lione

gavifos,;

(86)

Expreffing thus the general Interefts of Mlf- chief, and Beneficence in Nature, by a par ticular local Exemplification in each kind in their own Country : The former Character being, " Properly that of the Sun, confider- <e ed as bringing on yearly the intenfe Sum- " mer Heats in Egypt * ; the latter of the " Nile, confidered in his annual overflow " there during the chief part of the Summer " Seafon, as an erpecial Provifion in Nature " on its Favour, on that Regard." For this was, I need not inform you, the Fact here, Philemon ; that at what time the folar In fluences were moft afflicting to the Egyp tians, and feemed to threaten the intire Defolation of their Country by exceflive and increafing Drought ; the Nile, in a kind of Patron Character to a Land he had himfelf given being to as fuch, by repeated Spoils from a neighbour Diftrict -j~ 5 increafed by the continual Rains which had for fome Weeks been falling in Ethiopia • regularly deluged a great Part of its Surface : Hereby

not

gavifos ; ne, fi vulgata eorum rctinerentur vocabula, haut aliud viderentur, quam Elementa. I/off, de Orig. et Prog. Idol. lib. 2. cap. 74.

* It was in this view that they reprefented Tru^cv ytyowzi rov Tu^coya, x;:; ovu$r, rrjy p^^oau. Pint, di I/id. p. 262.

•f- E?r4XT>iTOf Tf yv\, x«j (J'copov Tou TTOTa^tov. Herod. Euterpe, cap. 5. K.a3oAou yac TW vuv teyova-iv ou x,wg ay, Sic. lib. 3. j>. 144.

(87.)

not onjy abating in a very fenfibk Manner the inftant Diftrefsj but likewife, by the. fame Methods he had gradually accumulated, ftill continuing to inrich the Egyptian Soil j and preparing it for an eafy and fuccefsful Culture for the Service of the infuing Year, upon the Recefs, or drying off of the Flood.

I ALWAYS underflood (faid I) Ofiris to be the Egyptian Character of the Sun, in quality of his being, as they reprefented him, many-eyed *, or overlooking the whole extent of the Univerfe. I am fur-e, I have fomewhere met with this account of the name.

THE other I have been giving you, (re plied Hortenfius) is, I think, the truer ; that it denotes, in rtridt Acceptation, the muddy River j or the Nile. Tho', in compliment to this fo friendly Stream to Egypt, the Founder, as well as Guardian, and annually improving Power of the Country ; the Egyp tians make ufe of this ExpreiTion to charac terize the 'whole friendly Intereft in Nature. As on the other hand, Syphon is for a di rect contrary Reafon, made the general Cha racter of Defetf, Diforder, and Mif- chiefin. the Syftem. In this way of Think ing, the Sun, in different Views of his Ope

raton,

fo Diodorus interprets the name, Multoculum, lib. i. bib. p, u.

(88)

ration, either in Egypt, or in Nature, may, you will obferve, be both Typhon, and Ofi- ris. Typhon, as the Caufe of intenfe fcorch- ing Heat ; Ofiris, as the Principle of kindly and genial Warmth ; the inlivening, and fertilizing Power of the whole Univerfe *. Tho', as Fear is ever a more powerful Mo tive to Obfervation than Love, he was, I believe, more generally regarded in the Egyptian Worfhip under his fyphonic Cha- rafter. Inafmuch as we learn from Plu tarch, they were ufed to reprefent mild, moderated, and generative Light, or Heat, as the more peculiar Difpenfation of theyS- ber and qualified lunar Orb > as if it were neceffary, me mould firft receive, and tem per the Sun's Beam, before it could be com municated with any beneficent Effect to the Earth -f. Agreeably to which Notion, of

the

* Cum duo olim ftatuerentur principia rerum vowny.x, unum boni omnis, alterum omnis mali j ^Eo-yptii in fole ipfo utrumque fpeclrarunt. Ac a bono quidem principio efie dixerunt vim beneficam, quii Lunam illuminat, ac vitalem animantibus infmuat Calorem. A malo autem principio efle crediderunt vim maleficam ; quando fuo ftirpes ardore exficcat, animantibus etiam peftilitatem, et exitium, nimio inducit aeftu. Quatenus igitur efltt beneficus, OJiri- dcm vocarunt ; at quatenus idem foret maleficus, no- minarunt eum Typbona. Voff. de Orig. lib. 2^ cap.

24.

OIOVTO.I rov

W /x,?v y&{>

the more immediate Agency of the Moon in the Operations of a kindlier Warmth in Na ture, they celebrated an annual Feilival upon the opening of their vernal Seafon, to the hopes of the Year, calling it the Entry of O/irisy or benign and generative Virtue, into that Luminary *. In this Suppofition, you fee, the Moon becomes Ofiris. As is fome- times, with more particular Diftinclion frill, the Full-Moon -3 or the moft perfect Exhi bition of the Lunar Phafis -f-. In. oppofition to which, Typbon is either an Echpje hap- pening at that Infiant J ; or the fucceeding Stages of the Moon's Wane ||. Sometimes

Ofiris

3-aATTEjyTS xsti xotTotvowen TO,

X.XI TO TTOA'J

TToisiv ocownrov , Plut, de IJide^ p. 367 '• * E(a€x<7tu Qriptfa ft? rrjv fftXww. Ubi fup. 'Tis in this differenced Character of the folar and lunar Orbs, that the Mythologifts make Hercules, or Brutal Force, to have its Residence in the one, and Mercury, or Counfel, in the other. K%i TO ptv 'vlXia rov

rat T»I$ (TgAwiif, Ta ^'EV iiAjw 7r\vi'yxtf wr aii;0j0i£v»i?. P/af. //f //?</?, />. 367.

E7TJ (Tf>C« T»U OrtfUO^i ^EVEf^WM TE

Ey r\. ^uaAjra ^JVETAI TrAMpo'jv.fi/n ^to xai oAw? TOV cce&pun Ubi fup.

Pint, de Ifid. p. 367.

U In ttiis way of Thinking, OJirit is faiJ to have N reigned

( 9° )

Ofiris is Humidity in general, confiderd as a neceflary Condition to animal or vegetative Generation, and Life ; as oppofed to which, Typhon is Drought ; or whatever tends to deftroy, or diminim from, the due Propor tion of genial and radical Moifture in Na ture *. Sometimes Ofiris is the Nile con- fidered as, by its yearly Precipitations of an earthy Sediment collected in Ethiopia upon the Spot, having gained Egypt from the Sea ; and Typhon is here the ' previous Pro perty of the Ocean in thefe Parts -f-. Some times Ofiris is the Nile, as in its yearly Overflow inriching the Land of Egypt, and Typbon the Sea, as abforbing that River at feveral Mouths on the northern Side of

it.

reigned 28 Years. And to have been torn by Typbon into fourteen Parts ; the number of Days from the Full-Moon to the New ; or the Time of the Moon's Wane.

* 'Oi Si (rc^wTfpoi TUV lipsitv Ocripw ptv aTrAco?

KOH Trupcot^fc, KX.I £ri(>(x,'vTix.ov oAw?, KKI T» fyfttijn. Pint, de Ijide. p. 364. This was the Foundation of the Mythology, that the Phal lus of Ofiris was by 'fypkon thrown into the Nile, and devoured by Fifh. The Meaning here being, doubt- lefs, to exprefs the fertilizing Quality of Water.

f 'Tis in this Senfe, that, as Plutarch informs us, the Egyptians celebrated the Vi&ory of Or us over Typhon, or the Expulfion of the Sea from their Coun try, by the annually increafmg Sediment of the Nile.

it *. Sometimes in a more refined, and highly philosophic Senfe, OJiris is the whole a5ii<ve Force of the UniverSe, coniidered as having a Prepollency of good in its Effects ; and Syphon the feveral partial and Jlibordi- nate Workings of a malicious Power in the SyStem -f-. In all which feveral Views of Ofiris, Philemon, the particular pafiive Sub- je5l upon which he is, in the Egyptian Me thod of Representation, fuppoSed to operate in accomplishment of the Effect afcribed to him under each of them ; is called I/h. As

N 2 is

' ' if '

* 0a/\.a<7<ra yxp riv YI AiVuTrlo?, o N.-iAo? rvtv $a\ot<riTKv avsfyiwe TO vt&ot, xat Pint, de JJide. p. 367.

rot TV 5/*j, Tu(p&)y« JV TW

5/A7ri7r7wi/ a^a'jj^JTat xat ^ao-'sraTaj. P/w/. de Ifide.

P- 363-

f Ac ex eorum Sententia, (Egyptiorum} in hac Rerum abutroque principio miftura, praevalet facultas rnelioris numinis : attamen non in tantum ut deterioris opus aboleat prorfus : quippe et vis ifta deterioris principii penitiflimis ihhaeret corporibus, faltem illis Tub Luna conftitutis : atque inde eft, quod meliort Temper repugnet Facultati. faff, de Orig. et Prog. Idol. lib. I. cap. 5. In this View, the Egyptians ufed to reprefent Typbon under the Figure of a River- Horfe, v/ith a Hawk and Serpent fighting upon his Back. The meaning was, that the evil Principle in Nature, tho' continually oppofed, never gives way wholly to the good One. To Signify, however, that in fome Inftances he fubmits for a Time, the People of Hermopolisi had a Feftival to Ifis returning out of Phoenicia with the Body of Q/5m, upon which occa- fion they figured Typhon as bound upon their Cakes.

(9* )

is the refult of their mutual Congrefs, Orus. Thus Ifis is fometimes the Moon, as paffrve to the Light of the Sun -, and Orus, the Computation of Time as effected by the Revolutions of thefe Orbs. Sometimes Ifis is the Air, or Earth, as paffive to the kind lier Influences of the Heartens in general; or at other Times, to thofe of the Moon in particular; and the Effect of thefe two Po'vers, called Or us, is a general Clemency of Seafon, and confequent Plenty of all ve getative Productions. Sometimes Ifts is in a diftinguimed Regard, the Land of Egypt watered and inriched into an efpecial local Fruitfulnefs by the Overflowing of the Nile. Sometimes {be is the intlre pajjfae Nature of Things in the abftract ; and Orus, the Off fpring of her Communication in this Senfe with the nniverfal active Nature, is the lame with the whole Conftitution of the fenfible World. Each of which different Confiderations of thefe deified Characters of active and paffive Power in the Univerie, and numbeiiels others that might be added to them *, are the Foundation of diftinct Ceremonies in the Egyptian Religion.

A N D now, Philemon, having, I think, taken a general View of the chief Articles of the original Idolatry of the Egyptians, the Worfhip of Nature 5 we are next, to in quire ' * Vicl. Plut. de Ifide et Gfiride. Libellum pafliro.

( 93 )

quire a little into the Grounds of that bol-Science in Religion, by which they were led to reprefent thefe feveral Natural Divi nities we have been fpeaking of, under cer tain animal or artificial Figures, confecrated to this Purpofe. But as I would not tire your Thoughts with too continued an At tention to the fame Subject, and our Morning, I believe, is already pretty far fpent , we will referve this, if you pleafe, together with the ftill farther and finifhing Improvement of their phyfical Theology, by the Introduction of the human Apotbeofis^ or Hera-WorJhip into it ; for another Day's Speculation.

F I N 1 S.

Jufl pu&lijhed,

A New Eflay on Civil Power in Things Sacred^ or an Inquiry after an efta- blimed Religion, confident with the iuft Liberties of Mankind, and pra&icable under every Form of Government.

Render unto Caefar the Things that are Ca3-

far'j, and to God the Things that are

God's. Mat. xxii. 12. And all Things ivbatfoever ye would that

Men Jhould do unto you, do even fo to

them. Mat. vii. 12.

Printed for M. STEEN, in the Inner- Temple Lane.

PHILEMON

T O

HYDASPES;

RELATIN G

A Fourth CONVERSATION with HORTENS ius, upon the Subjedl of Falje Religion.

IN WH ICH

A farther GENERAL ACCOUNT is endeavoured to be given of the Rife and Conftitution of Falfe Theory in Religion in the Earlier Pagan World.

rr/? a9-ava<r»a?. Diod. Sic. Bib. Lib. I. p.

Ed. Rhod,

L O N D 0 N:

Printed for M. STEEN, in the Inner -Temple -Lane. M.DCC.XLI.

n v

The Reader is defired to corre& the following Miftakes.

PAGE 9. in the Note, 1. 4. for BtSXtoj?, read Bu- GXion;. P. 26. in the Note, 1. u. after -srooffofyXov- TE ?, inftead of a full Point read with a Comma, and read the next Line as a Verfe, ending it with etirtirjav. P.30. in the Notes, 1.2. for ^iyo/*fya, read £^»vo(a«u«-- and in 1. 32. for uvxXrjtiv., read ai;aAv«y, and in J. 33. for v.Xr^icx.Sot,^ read xAj<na<5a?. P. 42. 1. 17. for the Egyptians, read ^ earlier Egyptians. In the laft line of the Notes, p. 44. for fyei*9 read J}^cfavt and in the next line, for Eupfrnv, read fjperjy. P. 46. in the Notes, 1. 13. for <T'JV £7rjS-f^f;o;i!, read O-JVE- 7r&£[j.EiJuv. In the Note, p. 71. for par ta, readpartu. In Note, p. 78. 1. 2. for p^-mov, read pjiTEov. In the Notes, p. 84. 1. 6. for ETrsvTxppevyV} read P. 86. 1/2. for j read

PHILEMON

T O

H V D A S P E S,

c.

HERE is not, I have often thought, Hydafpes, a more ef fectual Prefervative againft th£ Pride of Learning, than to re flect a little on the Materials of which a great part of it eonfifts. What, for exam ple, is the whole Science of more ancient Hiftory, even in the moft favourable View of it, but tracing back Human Nature to its State of Infancy, and greatefl Imper fection ? and converfing with it in fuch low and childiili Particulars, as can alone B receive

t . ' '•">"VH-rf

receive a Merit from being confidered a£ the firft weak E flays of Improvement, the Principles of higher Attainments, and the Introduction to a better and more intereil- ing Scene of Affairs ? For thus it is, Hy- da/peSy we muft undoubtedly bring our- felves to conceive of primitive Antiquity, or we mall never arrive at any ufeful Ac quaintance with it. Modern Notions are the fame abfurd Comment upon the Senti ments and Practices of the firfl Ages of Mankind, that the correct Judgments of our advahc'd Life would be upon the raw Apprehenfions of our Childhood. And yet, ridiculous as fuch a Procedure may appear, it has the Credit at leaft of Numbers on its Party. For, whether it be, that the Reverence Men are ufually taught to pay to Antiquity, really blinds their Judgment of it ; or that we are all of us too much interested in the Portraiture of our Kind, not to prefer at all times a flattering, to a real Likenefs j or whether after all the mere Prejudice of Cuftom, and the Diffi culty there experimentally is in exchanging Habits of manly, for th'ofe of childifli Thinkiug, is itfelf a fufficient Solution of the Point ; the Fa6l however is too noto rious : " That in no Subject has Truth fuf- <c fer'd more by an over-fond Mixture oi' tc Imhellifhment, than in that of Primitive

u Hiftorv." Writes, the molt cold and

tv.-j ..j •- . '

unenter-

( 3 )

unenterprifing in other matters, have here for the moft part arTumed the Sprightlinefs of Romance ; and made a general Sacrifice of Certainty to Fiction, Credibility to Or nament. How much this complimenting Antiquity into Attainments it certainly had not, tends to perplex the Difcovery of thofe it really had, there needs but little Reflec tion to conceive. Total Darknefs being, I had almoft faid, a fafer Guide, than a falfe Light, as the one at worft but leaves us in Ignorance, the other necerTarily leads us into Error. A wide Field, Hydajpes, where is fcarce any end of wandering ! Wit- nefs the numberlefs contradictory Syftems of Pagan Superflition, that fwell fo many labour'd Volumes in the learned World ; of which 'tis hard to determine, whether they have more embarrafs'd themielves, each other, or the Caufe in general. Out of whofe multiplied and various Intricacies however, I know of no Clue which will fo commodiouily lead our Thoughts, as the Application of that lowering Regimen above mentioned, A Remedy perhaps, like many others, therefore only fo generally over looked or neglected, becaule it is indeed the moft eafy, natural, and obvious one. For, amidft all the Pains that have been taken to perplex this Subject under colour of refining it, the native Meannefs of its Original is yet too vifible to an. unpreju- B 2 died

(4)

dic'd Eye, to fufter one to doubt its being indeed the Product of Ages, \vhofe Ac quirements may better excite our Compaf- fion, than our Envy. A Point, Hyda/bes.

* J * * J L *

you will, I dare fay, think fufficiently eflablimed, when you mall have perufed the Recital I am going to prelent you with, of the Continuation of Hortenfius"s Difcourfe to me of the Genius and Conftitution tiffalfi theory in -Religion in the earlier Pagan World.

YO U will fuppofe us met, and uninterrupted, as in my lalt Re port: when Hortenfms, knowing the Biafs of my Inclinations this way, thus volunta rily refumed the Subject of our Inquiry.—- We had, (faid he to me) I think, pretty well gone through the Head of the natural Theology of the Antients; * and were next to examine a little into the Grounds and Constitution of their Symbolic, and Heroic Wormip. But before we go any farther, Philemon, 1 have a previous Point or two to mention to you, which has lirice our

laft

* See a Pamphlet intitled, Philemon to Hydafpest &c. Part III. »

( 5 )

Jaft Conference occasionally ftruck me irj my private Thoughts upon this Subjed:.' 'One is, to give you a Caution in regard to that part of our Inquiry which is pail ; the other, to propofe an Amendment orAltera- tion of Method, which I have recollected with myfelf to be neceflary, in what is yet to come. For the former, Philemon , be pleafed then to obferve, that, though under the Head of the pbyjicaivt natural Theology of ancient Paganifm, I chofe, as Well for Clearnefs as Difpatch, to throw all the feveral more diftinguimed Articles of it into one general View, as Parts of an intire Syftem ; yet it was by no means my Intention to reprefent them to you as be ing all of equal, or nearly equal, Antiquity with one another ; or to have you imagine, that many of them were not even of a later Date in Hiftory, than fome parts both of the Symbolic and Heroic Worfhip : how ever thefe, as you have heard, are ranked laft in the general Divifion of our Subject.

I AM oblig'd to you (faid I) Horfenfius, for your Care to prevent Mi (takes j though I muft at the fame time think your Cau tion here rather fcrupulous, than neceffary. Every one muft be aware, that fuch a Theology as you defcribed could only be the Work of Time, and fucceffive Im provement. Common Senfe teaches one,

that

(6)

that Sy items, as the Proverb tells us of Cities, are not built in a Day. All I un- derflood you to mean was, that fuch, as you reprefented it, was, fboner or later, the na tural Worfhip of Paganifm ; your Point jbeing all along to mark out the feverai more dilHnguimed Stages of its Progrefs, not to fettle the exact Chronologic Periods of it,

I AM glad (return'd he) Philemon^ to find you are fo fully pofieft of my Mean ing ; which I muft attribute, however, more to your good Judgment in the Cafe, than to my own Accuracy. But though my paution, as I perceive, was needleis, the Amendment I have to propofe in our Scheme of future Inquiry is, I arn fure, a very neceflary one. Which, in few words, Phi lemon, is this : That, in reverie of the Order hitherto affigned to the two remaining Articles of our Refearch, we firit take into Confideration the Heroic Worihip of the Egyptians, and then proceed to their Symbolic. For this, upon better Reflection, I find to be the real, hiiloric Order of them. Their Symbols, as will appear in its Place, upon the united Evidence of Fact and Rea- fon, owe the whole of their prepoflerous Divinity to that of their Heroes ; nor would ever probably have been taken into the number of the Gods, but upon the pre- Lib.biifh'd Apotheofis of certain Deities of

Human

( 7)

Human Kind. An Hypothecs, which, he- fides the Merit of being founded in Hifto- ric Truth, has moreover the additional Re commendation of promiling us a more na tural Account of the Rife and Pfogrefs of the filmed Hieroglyphic-Science of Egypt in general, and of that very remarkable Con- lequence hereof, its Brute- Worfhip in par ticular, than any of thofe fo differently refined Hypothefes in the Point, which with an equally greater mew of Subtilty, and lefs Juitnefs of Information, have been generally offered to the World in its ftead.

You are doubtlefs, (interpos'd I) Hor- tenjius, the beft Judge of the Propriety of youf own Method j and have fo much a more comprehenfive Knowledge of our prefent Subject than I can pretend to, that I mould have no Objection to hearing you in any way you might choofe, even tho* I could not enter into the particular Rea- fons of it. But in the Cafe now before us i can very evidently difcern thus much at leaft, that one well-attefted Fact in Anti quity is worth a Volume of plaufible Con jectures about it, I am moreover in gene ral, you know, no great Lover of Re finement ; and rather, it may be, too apt to fufpect Delufion, where I meet with over-much Subtilty. But more efpecially and in tire ly am I for baniming it in Que-

fliona

8 .

ftions of more ancient Hiftory ; where in~ deed it carries its Confutation in its own Face j and has too ftrong Marks of Time, and of fucceffive Induftry, as well as Ac- quifition, upon it, to be admitted with any tolerable Grace and Probability.

FROM the Worihip then, (refumed Hor- tenfius) of the more illuilrious Parts of Na ture, let us proceed in the Hiftory of Pagan Apotheofis to that of Heroes., A Title, Phi lemon, of which I am afraid^ we mufl not a little humble the ufual Loftinefs of our modern Conceptions, or we {hall greatly exceed the true antique Standard and Qua lity of it. The very Sound of Heroifm to moil Ears carries in id fomething great and venerable -f and, if it does not imme diately hurry our Thoughts into all the fond Extravagancies of Romance, at lead engages them in fome of the more jhlning Periods of Hiftory. The Founders of improved Policy j the great Mailers of Arts, or Arms ; the triumphant Invaders of foreign Liber ties ; or the more enviable Guardians, or Reftorers of their own national ones ; thefe are fome of thofe glittering Images which in our advanc'd Days generally form the Character of an Hero. Hardly indeed mail we be brought to enter into fo diiparaging an Idea of it, as yet Antiquity afTures us to have been the true original one : in

which

(9)

which the Occupation of an ordifiary Hufe bandman, Thatcher, Huntfman *, or Me chanic of the moft fordid Clafs; a mere com mon Blackfmith, as Lucian has it, " paffing *' all his Days amidft Sparks and Smoke-)- ," was a fufficient Recommendation toHeroifrn in his Life-time, and to Deification after- Wards. For this, Philemon^ was the gene ral Practice of the ruder and more barba rous Ages ; that, in the eagernefs of a too forward Gratitude to thofe firft Benefactors to their Kind< who had in any Degree con tributed to the better Accommodation of Life, they no {boner law them remov'd by Death from the Society and Commerce of Men, but they exalted them to that of C the

* ATO TOUTWV eysiovTO Irfiotj wv c? pM A'ypo; fy.oc.- AE~TO, « eJs AT'po'jJ'ieo? v\ A^OTJJ?, tu y.xi fcoxvov

' — Eira (PTKT* TOV Til/oupavtoy otxyitrai Tucov, >ca- af T? eTrtvojjirai a?re xaAajtAuv xai d'puuv x«t •zja- ww' crT«<na:<rai cfe tzrxio? TOI/ a^A^ou Outraov, 05 7r)]v TW <rcojt*atTt ^wrov £>c OfffJuatTUV wv i<rp^u£ (ruA. v ewe* TOUTWU & TfAfutravrwy TOO? a?ro- p»j<r» paSJouj auroi; «{pitpwir»<; Eufeb* Praep. Evang. Lib. I. p. 35. Ed. Parif. "f" cO|tA3t<x <5s Touroi? xat zj£o< T»IJ 'Hpa?

«V£U Tt]f TTpOf TOJ Ky^pOi O^UjAia

^a yevyirou TOW 'H^aj^rsv, ou jtxaAa aAAa B^vauo-ov, xast XaAxsa, xai ITu^Trjy^ xat fv xa?rvco TO 73-av BiouuTa, x«* (TTrjvS'^wu avaTrA-scov, Ota* <5Vi Ka^ivrjTiiv, Vid, Lucian. Op* Edit. Bourdeloj. p. 184.

the Gods.* Nor was indeed the Gradation at all unfutable to the Genius of thofe Times ; that having firft worshipped, as we have feen, their natural Benefactors, the Sun, Moon, and Stars, in gratitude for the feveral natural Benefits derived to them from their Agency and Influence, they mould next pay the fame Compliment to their Civil ones : who had, as it were, improved upon what the others had began ; had carried their firft beneficent Defign into ftill farther Execution 5 inlarg'd the Sphere of human Happinefs 5 and inftructed their Contemporaries at once to multiply the Comforts of Life, and guard againft the Inconveniencies infeparable from a merely natural State of it.

You are for making the moft (I inter- pos'd) Hortenfius, of your Heroes Merits, I perceive, and dilplaying them to the greateft Advantage. Tho' after all, the Temple of Fame was, it fhould feem, of much eafier acceis in ancient, than it is in modern Times ; the fame humble Attain ments being then fufHcient to raife a Man to the higheft Clafs of his Species, which now would fcarce efcape Contempt, even in the lowefL

So

TI ?TJ, KXI (.'.trot. TJ--

©jov; £ Ti-c-^/juKrav. Eufcb. ^PriPp. Lib, II. cap. 5. paj. 70.

S o much (returned he) Philemon, does a difference of Circumftances in Things alter the real Moment, and Quality of them. We who are full of modern Ideas, and ekted with the Privileges of a more ad vantageous Situation in Life, equally diftant in Age, and Simplicity from the Period we are fpeaking of, are apt to undervalue thefe ruder Beginnings, and firft Efforts of Human Art, and Induftry ; as being our- felves arrived at much fuperior Refine ments in the Kind. But a Merit they certainly had with thofe who were Mailers of nothing better ; and fuch an one, as, if it was indeed greatly over-rated in the Ado ration of paft Times, would be full as much undervalued in the Contempt of the pre- ient. And to fay the truth, Philemon^ I know not, but the firft Step gain'd from nbfolute Ignorance and Barbarifm is in itfelf a Point of higher Importance to Mankin4 than any of the fubiequent Stages of Im provement. It is perhaps a ftronger Proof of Genius and Sagacity to have been the Authors of the firlt coarfe Accommodations of Life, than to have polifhed and refined them by After-thought and Skill into much higher Degrees of Ufefulriefs and Elegancy. The one is intirely matter of original Inven tion; the other only improving upon Notices already received in part from without ; and profiting by the Skill and Capacity of thofe C 2 who

who have lived before us. But whatever be. the Merit of thefe firfl rude Artifts with regard to later Times, they had, doubtlefs, as. has been obierv'd, a very confiderable one in their own. Having indeed railed Life, if not to that Perfection of Accom modation it has fince received, yet certainly to a much more commodious and comforu able State than they found it in ; and this too at a time, when Art and Invention were Talents equally uncommon and ad-, vantageous. A Senfe of which was then fo ftrong upon the Minds of Men, that Apo- theofis after Death was thought but a futa- ble Recompence to Perfons of fuch extra-, ordinary Eminence and Ufefulnefs whilft living. Gratitude for Benefits receiv'd, Phi lemon, is a natural Refult of that inborn Self-Love which is the great ruling Principle of Human Adion. And would operate, we may eafily imagine, with a Force un known to us of later Days in thofe Ages of rude undif gulfed Nature, the Simplicity of which could only be equalled by their extreme Helpleffneis. Under fuch Circum- ftances, the flighteft Services to the Public would be received with all the Rapture of the moft important Obligation j and raife the Reputation of their Author to an Height ibmething more than mortal : As indeed they might well do, coniidering the low Standard of ordinary Attainments in the

fame

( '3 )

lame earlier Times. For 'tis in this view I cannot, I muft confefs, help looking upon the renowned Labors of the Heroic Ages, tho' generally reprefented to us by Ancients, as well as Moderns, with a Pomp of De- fcription, which might even do honor to a much more advanc'd and imbellilh'd Pe riod of Affairs. But the Truth is, being complimented with Divinity by tlie grate ful Weaknefs of their own Times, they had both the natural Uncertainty of Tradition, and the Difpolition which moft People have to heighten what they do not underftand, to exalt them into Wonders^ I had almoft (aid, worthy of Divinity, in fucceeding Ages. Whilft the few, who were wife enough to fee through the Delufion, were at the fame time crafty enough to let it pa(s with the reft of the World ; till they had by degrees extracted a Syftem of refm'd and gainful Politics, out of what was at firft mere artlefs Admiration, and ignorant Amazement.

THIS is a much more rational Account (faid I) Hortenfms, I think, of the Intro duction of the Human Apotheoiis, than theirs,who are for refolving it into the imme diate Artifice of Priefts, or Politicians. And indeed, befides that the Reafon of the Thing jtfelf fpeaks it to have been the Creature of Ignorance and Barbarifm j the other Opi nion

( 14

nion feems to me not very agreable to matter of Fad: and Hiftory. Every body knows, how very difadvantageouily the Divinity of Alexander and Cczfar ftands differenced from that of the more antient Heroes of the fabulous Ages. And yet furely the Merits of thefe two celebrated Perfons were every way as equal to the Dig nity of the complete Apotheofis, as thole of any of their PredecefTors in Heroifm can be pretended to be. Nor were, I think, the Arts of Prieftcraft and Policy ever in a more improv'd State than at the Periods here mentioned. What then is the natural Con {fruition of this fo remarkable an Infe riority on their Part, but plainly, I think, this ? That the Times of Alexander and C&far were too much heightened to autho- rife anew, in its full Latitude, fo grofs an Abfurdity in their Religion, as the Wor- ihip of a Fellow-Creature. I fay to autho- rife it anew, Hortenfius. For, that they kept to a Worfhip of the fame kind deli vered down to them from their Anceftors, was purely an Accommodation to popular Weaknefs and Prejudices ; from a Senfe of the Hazard there is in undermining Foun dations long laid, and a Fear of throwing the Multitude out of all Religion, by en deavouring to refcue them from the Re proach of an irrational one. But whilii they durft not venture to reform the popur

lar

kr Syftem of Superftition, they Were fcfu- pulous however of adding more Articles of Error to it. And tho' they were tender of difgracing the Divinity of their old He roes, they were not, it fhould feem, for making the fame ram and unwarrantable Compliment to new ones *.

Youfe

* With how little Succefs the Affectation ander to be efteemed a God Was attended, even in the height of his Fame and Viftories, we have abun dant Evidence in Antiquity. It flood him in the Fatigue of a long and troublefome Journey, befides the Expence of feveral coftly Donations to the Tem ple, and Priefts of the Libyan Jupiter, to be nomi nally proclaimed for fuch j the ferious Belief of his Divinity was what he was by no means able to efta- blifh — Igitur Alexander cupiens divinam Originem acquirere, (fays Jujlin] fimul et Matrem infamia liberare, per praemiffos fubornat Antiftites, quid fibi refponderi velit. Ingredientem Templum ftatim Antiftites, ut Hammonis Filium falutant. Comiti- bus quoque fuis reponfumj ut Alexandrum pro Dtoy non pro Rege, colerent. Juftin. Lib. xi. cap. II. How {lender a regard was paid to the Mercenary, not to add (what appears both from Diodorus's and Plutarch's Account of the Matter) equivocal Conv- pliment of the Oracle upon this Occafion, appears from our Heroe's own Account of the Anfwer he had received from Pbilotas, upon firft giving him notice of it — Hie qaum fcripfiflem ei, pro jure tarn familiaris amicitiae, qualis fors edita eflet JovisHam- monis Oraculo, fuftinuit refcribere mihi, fe quidem gratulari quod in numerum Deorum relatus eficm ; ceterum Mifereri Eorum quibus vivendum eflet fub eo, qut modum hominis excederet. Quint. Curt. Lib. vi. 27. The fame Author informs us of the flinging Reproach offered to Alexander, upon his affecting Divine Honors, by Hermolam, in the fol

lowing

16

YOUR Obfcrvation (return'd he) Phik-* mon, is certainly a very juft one. Priefts

and

lowing Words -- -Tu Macedonas voluifti genua tibi ponere, venerarique te ut Deum. Tu Pbilippum ratrem averfaris, et ft quis Deorum ante Jovem haberetur, faftidires etiam Jovem. Miraris, ft liberi homines fuperbiam tuam ferre non poffumus? Quint. Curt. Lib. viii. cap. 26. They had (till lefs reafon to indure the Vanity of Alexander here, if they were aware, ai> Plutar-cb tells us fome repre- fented the Cafe, that the whole Pretence upon which he founded his Title to Adoration was a miftaken Pronunciation of the Greek Language by the Prieft who prefided at the time of his Libyan Expedition in the Temple of Jupiter. — ETJ-SK& ^f£eA9wy T*JV f^n-

TS^oXtV, 0 JJ.BV oTCo|>}lT^f «UTOV 0 A//- &1t9 TOO S-fcW ^JKJCSiy^ WiJ K 0 J"f fTTnoiTO a»1TJs Oi'JTW IIY)

a-jrw) ^XE-

£7nju9av£To y. r A — twoi Jf (p«(Tjy,- TOV /^£'/ EAAnviffri Bo'jAo^afvoy 7rf9T£t7Te»v^ /x£ra rt- .vof il^»Ao^co<rui'»iC, Xi 73raK?K3v^ tv TW TfAfurajiw TWV (^fio^fwv JTTO BxoSapi/TjU,ou Wc'oj TO s-iy^a, £'£tv£%fir}~ vat, xa-t £»7T£»v, 'H T^aj^jiyg1, avrt TOO y TO <r ^orj-Tiic- ct<r[j.&'j) $£ TV AAH^a.vJ'paj TO (rtp&Xpx Tng (pw- V£!rS-ai, xat (J'taK^osriuat Ao^ov, wj TSCU^X Atoj TOU ^£ou -5T£0!7£»7rovTO?" Plut. in Alex* p. 680. Ed. Xyl. What the wifer, and difmterefted Part of the Romans, thought of Cesfar's Divinity, the following Paflages will fufBcientiy inform us — Prae- gravant tamen caetera Fatta, ut abufus Domina- tione, et jure Caefus exiftimetur. Non enim hono- res modo nimios recepit, fed et ampliora humane* faftigio decernt fibi patl'us eft. Sedem auream in curia, et pro Tribunal!. Thenfam et Ferculum Circenfi Pompa. Templa, Aras, Simulachra juxta

Deos,

( '7 )

and Politicians have both of them real Cor ruptions enough to anfwer for, without being charged with imaginary ones. 'Tis a great Miftake to think, that they firft taught Men Superftition. That would probably have been a Strain of Art beyond the Compafs of their moft refin'd and fub- til Politics. Nor was it any way to their purpofe to attempt this, when they could carry their Point full as fuccefsfully, and much more eafily with Mankind, by deal ing with them as already mjlrutted to their bands. They indeed found them abun dantly Jelf-taught in the Bufinefs of Super ftition. The Seeds of Religiqn were either D by

Deos, Pulvinar, Flaminem, Lupercos, appellatio- nem Menfis e fuo Nomine. Suet, in Jul. Cxf. cap. 76. —To the fame purpofe//W; — Itaqiie non ingratis Civibus omnes honores unum in principem congefti. Circa Templa imagines, in Theatro diftinfta radiis Corona, Suggeftus in Curia, P'aftigium in Domo, Menfis in Crcio — quse omnia velut infulse in defti- natam Morti viclimam congerebantur, Flor. Lib. iv. cap. 2. Cicero fpeaks yet more plainly theSenfe of his Time as to this Point — An me cenfetis, Patres Confcripti, quod vos inviti fecuti eftis, decreturum iuiile, ut Paientalia cum Supplicationibus mifceren- tur ? Ut inexpiabiles Religioncs in Rempublicam in- ducerentur? ut decerncrenturSupplicationesMortuo? nihil dico Cui. fucrit ille Lucius Brutus, &c. — > Adduci t^men non poflum, ut quenquam Mortalium conjungerem cum immortalium Religione. Phil, j. 6. Ed. Grjev. and elfewhere, Eft ergo Flamen, ut Jovi, ut Marti, ut gbmno, fie Divo Julio M. Antcnius? — Quaeres placeatne mihi Pulvinar Eflc, Faftigium, Flaminem ? milii vcro nihil iftorum pla cet. Phil. ii. 43.

by the Hand of Nature or Tradition fown thick in the Breaft of every Man. And though for want of proper Care and Cul ture they might not yield the good Pro duce they were intended to do, they would not however fail to fpring up in fome wilder Species of a lefs valuable Fruitfulnefs ; as was, it muft be confefs'd, too generally the Cafe. Now here properly came in the Art and Addrefs of the Hierarch, and the Statefman. He was to fall in with the par ticular Vogue and Call of popular Delufion in this kind ; to cheriih the prevailing Weaknefs of the Multitude ; and by a dexterous Conduct and Application of pub lic Failings to turn the Biafs of them to his own private Ends and Interefts. And ac cordingly, as under the Head of the natu ral Theology we had occafion, you may remember, to obferve the Courfe of Super- ilition in that Channel, advancing gradually from popular Weakneis into Philofophic Syftem ; ib here again we (hall obferve a parallel Gradation in the Progrels of He roic- Worfhip : in which, as will be fhewn, what began in the Simplicity of a few artlefs funeral Ceremonies, and more ob vious Tokens of Concern for the Lofs of a late departed Benefactor, was in a Succef- fion of Time and Politics wrought up into all the gainful Intricacies, and elaborated Horrors, of a periodical, and more fokmnly

( 19 )

Religious, Myflery. And here, Philemon^ we may in paffing take notice of the very different Turns of Error in the fame Sub ject. By one Set of Men, whatever was amifs in Religious Paganifm, the Priefthood in thofe Days is immediately charged with being the Authors of it. Whilfl by thofe of another Stamp the Priefthood is mads to have no fhare in thefe Corruptions^ but the whole blame is full as unjuftly placed to the account of Pbilojbpby. And, for fear we mould be too free with Reafon in Subjects of Religion, we are told, that from thisfole Principle fprang all the Abfurdities of a religious kind that ever prevailed in Antiquity. They had their Birth in the Refinements of conceited Rationalifts 5 were the Product of pretended Speculation ancj Philofophic Inquiries into the Nature of Things j and aroie from a certain Infidel Humor, as prevalent in antient as modern Times, of oppofing Science to Faith, and Reafoning to Tradition*. It was a great Ge- D 2 mus

*If we examine, we {hall fee, that from the Begin ning to the prefent Times, it has always been a vain Philofophy, and an Affectation of Science falfcly fo called-, that has corrupted Religion. Shuck. Con. Vol. I. p. 318. Compare with this, Con. Vol. II. p. 290, 291. They (Men of the firft Parts) fell into thefe Errors, not by paying too great a Defe^ rence to Tradition, and pretended Revelation, but even by attempting to fet up what they thought a reafonable Scheme of Religion, diftin<5t from, or in oppofvtion to, what Tradition had handed down to them. Shuck, Con. vol. II. p. 30^. See alfop. 306.

Their

( 20 )

nzus and Aftronomer amongft the 'Egyptians y 'tis faid, <c thinking to fpeculate, and hap- <£ pening to think wrong," who firft feduced his Countrymen into the Infatuation ofSa- biifm. And in confequence of his Aftro- nomic Science taught them that Worihip upon Principles of Art, which they were, I mould think, fully qualified to learn, with out his Inftruftions, from the Simplicity of Rude Nature *. And the fame fruitful Source of Error and Mifbelief, purfued yet farther in After-Ages, gave rife, it is maintained, to all the fubfequent Ar ticles of their increafing Polytheifm -(-. In order to make out which Hypothefis, P/6/- lemon, Syftems of Philofophic Refinement even of the loweft Date in Pagan Antiquity mall be made the Ground-work of Idola tries of the highefl:. Salvos and Apologies for eftablifh'd Errors mall be confidered as the original Caufes and Reafons of their Eftablimment. Palliating and Accommo dation be ilrain'd into Proofs of ftrift Philo fophic Sentiment. Tolerating interpreted to mean the fame thing with Inftituting.

Till,

Their great and learned Men erred not for want of .Free-thinking, fuch as they called fo; but their Opinions were in direct oppoiition to the true Revelations which had been made to the World, and might he called the Deifm of thofe Ages. Shuck, vol. II. p. 460.

* Sec Shuck. Con. vol. I. p. 318.

t Sec Shuck, Con. vol. II, p. 278-9, and following ones.

( 21 )

Till, as if there wa$ nothing of Policy in the Cafej but all was genuine Miftake and Delufion, it fliall at laft be afferted, " that " there never was any thing fo extrava- " gant or ridiculous in Religion, but Men " of the firft Parts, and eminent for their " natural Strength of Underftanding , " when left wholly to themfelves, have <c been deceiv'd to imbrace and defend it*." Such merely /plendid Weaknefs, it feems, was the mofi improved State of natural Reafon, unaffifted by the additional Gui dance of Revelation. And founcandid&Cen- furer was the great Apoftle of thefe Gentiles, when he reproached them with a Criminal Neglect, or Suppreilion of that which ivasy in tliis account, not to be known by them of God, previouily to any fupernatural Dif- covery of him-f-. But in Truth, Philemon, and Syftems apart, neither Priefls, I believe, nor Philofophers, were properly the Au thors of the Pagan Superftitions. They were the genuine Offspring of popular Rude- nefs and Ignorance. And if Philofophy did not do all it might have done towards giving Men jufter Appreheniions of things, it was, becaufe it either wanted Courage to oppofe the Cheat, or was often adminifler'd by hands too deeply interested in it ; and affords us, I am afraid, a much more jufti-

fiable

* See Shuck. Con. "vol. II. from p. 278, to 307. t See Rom* i. v. 19.

( 22 )

fiable Prefumption of Cowardice, or Cor ruption in the Hearts of its Profeffors, than of any Want of competent Information in their Undefltandings.

IF Accommodations (I interrupted) Hor~ tenfius, to popular Prejudices are any Proofs of being onefelf in the common Delufion, even the Light of Revelation haS been of no very eminent Advantage in point of Religious In- ftruftion to a great part of the more know ing Chriftian World. For are not Chrifti- ans at this day, in a certain Communion \. could name, tolerated in Superflitions, which might have almofl contefted the Preeminence of Abfurdity with the grofleft Pagan ones ? To fay here that many things are not fuffered to pafs with the Multitude, of which the Learned evidently perceive the Ridicule, is making a Compliment to their Sincerity, at a much greater Difgrace to their Penetration, than they theinfelves would generally, I believe, be thankful for. And thus without doubt flood the Fact in Philofophic Antiquity. For the Nature of Mankind, and Reafons of Policy, have been always, I fuppofe, pretty nearly the fame, Seriouily a Man muft read the Writings of the antient Theiftic Philoibphers (and fuch only can this Queftion concern) with a very perverfe Comment, who does not fee, that they knew much better, than they fbme-

times

times found it prudent to teach ; and were every way qualified to have given the World a competently rational Theory of Religion, if they had not found them al ready in poffeffion of a traditionary one of a very different Genius ; and from the Dan ger of unfettling Eftablifhments, and letting in Light upon weak Eyes, been led to turn their Thoughts rather to the palliating, than the Reforming Side in this Affair. And indeed were not the moft undoubted Pa trons of Revelation fo fond of this Hypo- thefis, Hortenfius, one would wonder what poffible Advantage to their Caufe they could propofe from it. To me it feems to be not more undermining the Principles and Foundation of natural Religion, than it is thereby taking away the only fure Teft and Criterion of the Merit of Revealed. For if Men have no previous natural Notices of a Supreme Being by which to judge of what may, or may not, be fuppofed to come from him in a way of more extraordinary Communication, the Credit of all pretended Revelations is manifeftly put upon the fame Footing. Every thing is to be received as a Revelation, which a confident Enthufiaft or Impoftor may call fuch : or rather the very Suppofition itfelf of any fuch thing is render 'd abfurd and ridiculous.

IT

IT would carry us (return'd he) too much out of our way at prefent, Philemon, to enter into a more particular Cenfure of this Hypothefis. Its Aim doubtlefs is to inhance the Value of Revelation, by evin cing the abfolute NeceJ/ity of it. But, be- fides that Men mould be cautious how they compliment Revelation into this fuppofed Neceffity at the Expence of its own pro per Evidences ; the Term Neceffity here is, I think, toojirong an one. Expediency is all that is wanted in the Cafe, and all that either Reafon, or indeed Fact, feems to juftify the AfTertion of. For look into the fubjecl: Matter of the Revelation contended for, and you will find, that the greateft part of what are properly new Discoveries in it are rather Inforcements of natural Re ligion, than Additions to it. For the reir, it teaches little more than what had been taught before. But then it has the Ad vantage of teaching it with an Authority peculiar to itfelf ; and in a manner fo much more futable to the Ends of popular Im provement, as to giye it an undifputed Su periority to every human Method of Initru- dtion. But this, as I iaid, is a matter be yond our prefent Compafs. Nor need we indeed entertain fo raifed an Idea of Phk lofophic Antiquity, as is here contended for, to fatisfy ourfelves, that the particular Er ror in Religious Paganifm we are now con-

fidering

fidering, the Worfhip of the antient He roes, was not instituted from that Quarter. It had in truth fo very little of Philolbphy in it at its firfl Appearance in the World, that the fubtile Induftry of Mythologifts, exercifmg itielf probably for Ages together to this end, could with Difficulty form it to a Philofophic Air and AfpecT: even in its lateft Periods. No, Philemon ; the Workings of undifciplined Nature are a much better Ac count of the Origin of Hero- Worship, than any Stratagems of Art or Politics. Phiio- iophy of the humbleft kind could not but have remonftrated to fuch a palpable Ab- iiirdity j and muft have been too fenfibly {truck with its Confutation, to have projected its Eftablifhment. The moil that Policy could accomplilh in the Cafe was, as appears from the Hiftory of later Deifications of this kind, to extort a formal Teftimony of Apotheofis from the conftrained and flat tering Voices of the People, not to procure a real and affectionate Adoration from their Hearts *. And to compliment its Heroes E into

* Jamque omnibus praeparatis, Ratus (Alexander) quod olim prava mente conceperat, tune efle maru- rum, quonarh. modo ccelefteS honores ufurparet coepit agitare. Jovis filium non tantum dici fe, fed etiam credi volebat. Tanquam perinde avimis impetare poflet, ac Linguh. Itaque more Perfarum Macedonas venerabundos ipfum falutare profternentes humi cor pora juflit. Non deerat taJia concupiicenti perniciofa adulatio, perpetuum Malum Regum, quorum opes fepius affentatio quam Hoftis evertit. Qyinc. Curt. Lib. VIII. cap, i;.

( 26 )

into the empty Title of Divinity, without obtaining for them either the hearty Per- fuafion, or the more fubftantial Honors of it. Thefe had been long appropriated to thofe Heroes of remoter Antiquity, who lived in happier Times for an Advancement of this nature *. For that their Advance

ment

* Kai TO» sothoa u,£y Uuvouyrat -sraij £v A<r-

, oAj)/ou n> fTTi -srE^a? mf ^n

^ov* aAAa ovo/Aa xai /AU»JJM,»]V B»(T»Afwv

; <p»i(nu o TlAarwu, a^xa vforrjTt xat a^voia, r»iy x/uv

5t£vor?3Ta, xat a?, xat tzrafiavO|M,j«?,

^a.7T£Ta(, TWV JEOWV xat TWV Bco- i;> OU^EV «AA « ra [MnptzTat KOCI- <rtv. Plutarch, de Ifide & Ofi- ride, pag. 360. We have a remarkable Example of this in the Inftance of Semiramis recorded in Lu^ fiah's Treatife of the Syrian^Goddek. Ev

TOU V£W 2£/<ttpa£/,lOJ ^OavOV ETTJIXf, EU <^£^J>] TOV

Tri^EtKuwJirv;?' av£0"T»i & ^i' anwv roinuJ'f' av

(T», 0X0(701 SUOIW 0*X£OUffl, VO/AOV £7TO»££TO EWUT^U jl*£U

TWV aAAwu, xa< au- E fc$ o't

a(pixoyro vouiroi re, xjit fi^u^opv^ xat

ft.cx.viYi/; |W,£y fx£ur>i; a7r«7ra'j<raTO, x.^t S^mi c^toAo^Ef, xai TOKTJ UTT^XOOICTJ auS'if EXfAEUEV ff HfW

r TO'JfcXa <?11 £TJ TOJJl^E aVfTTflXf TOJCTJ «-

cux rwvT»Vj aAA' exejvjjv o//.oAoj/jcu(ra^ Lucian.

de

f 27 )

ment was indeed the immediate Rtcom- pence after Death of their well-timed La bors and Services to their Contemporaries in the Courfe of their Lives is with me, I muft confefs, a matter beyond all reafon- able Doubt or Contradiction. Nor can I ever bring myfelf to fubfcribe to their Hy- pothefis, who contend, that the firft Hero Gods of the Egyptians, (the great Leaders, you know, in Theologic Paganifm) were not deified upon their Deceafe by the warm Gratitude of their furviving Countrymen ; but by the Artifice of intriguing Statefmen many Centuries afterwards *.

THIS is furely (faid I) a very unnatural way of thinking, to place the Recompence of their Benefactions in an Age fb much below the Date of them. When the very Memory of what they had performed muft E 2 have

de Syr. Dea, p. 1072-3. Lyjippus fpoke the Senfe of many People as well as his own, when he pro- fefled to defpife Alexander as a God, though he ho nored him as a Man. Eu Ss xai Auo-iTTffo? o ?rAa- j-tOiTO rov cco'paov on rrtv A-

r; T»JV oozv ovf £»f at IJIAV ou<rav. Plut. ub. fup. p. 360. * In time they (the Egyptians) looked over the Catalogue of their Anceftors, and appointed a Wor- fhip for fuch as had been more eminently famous in their Generations. Shuck. Con. Vol. I. p. 336. The fame Thought is purfued and explained more at large in vol. II. from p. 281, to 292.

( 28 )

have been in a great meafure extinguiflied, or retained only in fuch a confufed and general way, as to be but a weak Foun dation for that Perfonal Regard and Grati- tude,without which, Politicians would fcarce have been able to have procured them fuch high Marks of Honor and DiftindYion. Befides that, had their particular Services been ever fo well remembered, ftill it mould be confidered, that Life had now been long improving ; and the fuperior Skill and Re finements of fucceeding Ages muft have in a great Degree eclipfed the Merit of their weaker Obligations.

o

To what different Conclufions, I cannot help remarking here (returned Hortenji.us) will the very fame Principles lead Men, ac cording to the different Views they have in applying them ? Time, Philemon, which you efteem fo much an Enemy to our He roes Glory, is in the Conftrudion of this Hypothecs made to have been the chief Friend to it. And inllead of erafing, as yoa ieem to apprehend, their Memory, becomes the immediate Inftrument of their Apotheofis. For whilft indeed it pre- krved but little of their true Character, it infinitely over-paid their Lofs in the fupe rior Advantages it gave them of an imagi nary Reputation. Improving the want of authentic Records of real Benefactions into

a pompous Regifter of fabulous ones ; and railing at once the Credit of their Services from Fact to Fiction, and of thcmfelves from Earth to Heaven *. For thus only, we are told, could they ever have arrived at this Advancement. <( The Fame of ," deceafed Perfons" being, it feems, a Plant of fuch flow Improvement, that it <c muft " have Ages to grow up to Heaven : And <c Divine Honors being not with any tole- " rable Decency to be given to them, but " but by a late Pofterity -fr."

A

* See Shuck. Con. Vol. II. p. 286.

f See as before, p. 287. The Learned Writer upon this Oceafion fupports his Hypothefis by the Teftimony of Plutarch in the feveral Cafes, as above reprefented, of Semiramis, Sefojlris, Cyrus, and Alex ander. Upon which he obferves, " that whenever ** any of thefe Perfons affected Divinity, they funk " inftead of raifing their Character by it ; their *c Story was too modern to permit them to be Gods." It had not enough of Extravagancy and Romance in it to raife them to the Dignity of the Apotheofis \ a fabulous Fame being fuppofed here a neceflary Condition to a divine one. And accordingly Plu tarch is introduced contending that the feveral Hero Gods of the Egyptians were Genii, and not Men, as conceiving them to have been of a Power and Na ture more than Mortal. B«*TKW ow o'i TO. -srepi TCV Ty^cova, x«» O<r*p»y, xai Itriv, wr«pou/MW», ^»irf ^iwv av«< vo/xt£ovT£?, |M,?iT£ av.9-^wwwv, aAAa Aa»- uovuv jwt^aAwv £»vat vo(«.»^vT£f* Concerning whom it is afterwards obferved, that they wereefteemed to be,

jtXKTO

( 3° )

A SIMILE (faid I) Hortenfius, is, you know, with many People a much more

dif-

oci<T$"n<r£V$ c-

x«i ; otra, TOC.VTOUI;

•STa^ TOU? fJ^fv ju.a-.AAoi'j TOU? < Jirl Plut. de Ifide et Ofiride, p. 360. But whoever takes in the Context in this Place, and attends to the full Scope and Purport of Plutarch's Reafoning here, will find, that the true Motive to his making Demons or middle Natures of the Egyptian Heroes was not their being reprefented to have a6ted above the ordinary Powers of Men, but below all rational Conceptions

Of Gods - Ei TXVTCl -STEflJ T7!f [AtX,XX,pHX,<; XtXl a^>0«£-

.TOJ {pufTfajf, xx.5' ?iu juaAnrra uosirai TO Ghicv, wj

Plut. ubi fup. p. 358. This was the Difficulty on one Side of theQueition. And on the other, 'to go into the Scheme of Euhemerus the Mef- fentan, and reduce the whole Syftem of Hero-Gods to certain mere common Men of the firft Ages, after they had been long in poileffion of a much higher "Character; this, it was thought, was making too free with cftablifhed Opinions, and, as moft Men were apt to confound their own educational Prejudices about Religion with Religion itfelf, might be open ing a Door to Atheifm — Qmo cs pi TOUTO n rx x-

on TW >ov

/^.ovov, -s-oAAcjr cs A xctro^ois JTTO TV; -crpo? TO-JJ S'JO'J? TOUTOV?

TOV £? OVCX'JO'J

The Medium therefore approved by our Philofopher upon this Occafion was, as we fay, that of confider-

ing

difpatchful Method of Conviction, than a dry Piece of Reafoning. And yet, methinks, to purfue a little the Comparifon before us,. could we but happily find out a proper Soil and Seafon for the Purpofe, the Plant we are fpeaking of might have a much quicker Growth than is here fuppofed. For, may we not confider Fame in the intelligent World as in fome refpects of the Nature of what are called Annuals in the vege table? 'tis not perhaps a common Culti vation that will produce it. Happier Sea- Ions, a more improved Receptacle, and much additional Power of Sunil^ine are necefTary to its fuccefsful Propagation. But under thefe Advantages it is much fooner railed to its Perfection than many a Plant of an humbler Species. And thus, Hortenjitis^ with your leave, I would anfwer, as I think is the mod fuitable way, one Simile with another. For the more ferious Part of tho Argument, the greater Decency here afcriT bed to a late Deification j that, I muft own>

ing the feveral Divinities of the Meroic Clafs as fb many middle Natures between Gods and Men. BrXTioi/ QUV xrX- See Plutarch de Ifide, &c. p. 359, 360. The Embarafs which the wifer Antiems \vere under as to tins Matter fs"th'j«'excdlentty reprefent- ed by our Author in the Sequel of thisTreatife. - i n eo-Ti rxic .<r/c^.9-pw7rot?,

:;p?»v rxt

wrr&purl&v virtue ^ • 'Je, p. 378.

( 32 )

ieems to ihe to lie wholly on the fide of art early one. For furely they who lived under the actual Senfe and Feeling of our Heroes Benefactions had a much better Apology to offer for the Wormip of them, than fuch as were fituated in Life equally below the Reach, and the Memory, of the firft He roic Labors. And who therefore to the Guilt of authorifing, as is here fuppofed, the Practice of the human Apotheofis, muft have added the Aggravation of truft-^ ing altogether to fabulous Tradition, and the doubtful Reports of common Fame^ for the very Reafons of it.

WE will then proceed (refumed Hor- tenfius) upon this Point as fufficiently con firmed to us both from Reafon and Hiftory j that the proper Inftitution of Heroic- Wor- ihip was the Work of remoter Antiquity. For theparticular Modification, and Conduct of this kind of Wormip, we muft have re^ courfe to the£^/»^/««Formularies. Hiftorians are, I think, univerfally agreed, that " the " Egyptians were the firft of Mankind who " were known to have been acquainted " both with the Names and Hifrories of the " chief Hero-Gods of Paganifm *." As

indeed

*

uv av'-wTrwv rwv

y\)7r\ioi heyovrizt S"fwv re cvmrtv AajScif* — ri^wroi JE

xai Xoyo-jg oov$ i Afav* Lucian

( 33 )

indeed they might very naturally be, con- fidering that the original Subjects of them were themfelves Egyptian?; had been perfo- nally refident in Egypt ; and, in the feveral Cities to which they had given both Being and Names, left many ilanding Monuments of their once more immediate Power and Prefence in this Country *. In confequence of which fo near and national a Relation to Divinity, the Egyptians are faid to have been the Original Authors of a public Di vine Wormip: To have inftituted from the earlieft Memory amongft themfelves the Practice of ftated Meetings, Proceffions, and Solemnities of a Religious kind 5 and to have given the Example of fuch perio dical Observances, and more pompous and iplendid Superftitions, to moil other Parts of the Pagan World -f. To them there- F fore

Lucian de Syr. Dea, p. 1057. ^X,e^°'J ^ K3ii ^oivra, tot. ovopocTX ruv Sewv s£ Afy'Jirlov tXyXvSt fj T»iv 'EAAatJa. Herod. Lib. 2. cap. 50. Ed. Steph.

* T-/jf Tffx<Tri? oixo'jjUfur:? (tyxviv Ai^uTrJioi) xxroc u.o\wv TW AiJ'VTn

Diod. Sic. Bib. Lib. I. p. 12.

"j" Ilay^upia? $e upct xoti -srb^iTra? xa» yx,<; TTpcoroi avS'pwTrcou AfyvTrlici ti7i o't urowyoc jWJvoi* xat Tffoiox ro'JTwv 'EAAw;; |uf|uaS-*)x«(Tt* Herod. Lib. 2- cap. 42. IltfWToj /xjy cov avS"pWB-wv, TWV »)

xa» Tz-ctvnyvpL&s aTro^f^^i* Lucian. de Syr. Dea, p. 1057.

( 34)

fore let us here apply ourfelves, Philemon ; and from a careful Attention to what they are reported to have pra&ifed in the Wor- ihip of their two principal Hero-Deities, Ofirisy and Ifisy form a kind of Theory, or general Idea in our Minds of the Qua lity of Hero-Worfhip at large. For which Antiquity gives us, I may obferve, a fuf- ficient Warrant, when it informs us, as its own Judgment in the Cafe, that fome of the moft celebrated Inftances of Heroic Superftition in different Ages, and Countries, were but the adopted Rites of the two Di vinities juft mentioned * : An Evidence this, in the lowed Conftruclion of it, that they were at leaft the fame in kind, if not ilricHy fuch in Subftance. All of them, (what, I believe, we might venture to af- fert of every Inltance of Heroic- Worfhip without referve) founded in the fame gene ral Reafons and Principles, and partaking upon the whole of one common Purpofe, Defign, and Sentiment. The Character which Antiquity has preferved to us of the Egyptian Ofiris and IJis is, that they were

a

Tw jusy yy,o Ocrtp^bf TtXerw r-n Aiouucw rtiv

TWV oyOjixaTuu /wovou Diod. Sic. Lib. i. p. 86. E»<rt <T« svtoi BV£AUOV, o't

rov Owtu TOD

•nov* K«J rx. uTfy^ca, x«t roe, oc^/m, onx £? AJ'covjv, ctXX f? Oo-i^tv Tzravrac 'sr^'/iirfreo'^a}. Lucian. de Syrc Dea, p. 1058.

( 35 )

a very early King and Queen of whofe Reign was one continued Series of public Benefactions, and Services both to their Kingdom, and Neighbourhood *. Or, what is probably the more literal Truth of their Cafe, they were two very active, benevolent, and public-fpirited Perfons at the Head of a Colony in Egypt, at the Time of its firft Peopling; who taught many ufeful Inventions and Accommoda tions of Life, as well to thofe who were immediate Sharers with them in the Occu pation of their new Territory, as to fuch of the neighboring Clans, and alike recent Settlements round about them, as either wanted, or would partake of their Affiftance. I pretend not to adjuft the precife Chro nology of our Egyptian Heroes, Philemon ; or to enter into a Queftion, the Intricacies of which have long baffled the Induftry of the ableft Inquirers to determine : and which perhaps is bed determined after all, if one may be allowed to fpeak fo, by being left to that impenetrable Obfcurity it is found in. For fuch Barely muft be thought itsCafe,when the Times and Characters of the two cele brated Perfons we are fpeaking of have been F 2 as

TW I<nv) J/rj^avT* TCV O-

£rpo; tvtp'yssixv rev xoivou |3>ov. Diod. Sic, Bib, . I. p. 13*

< 36)

as confidently, as feverally, contefted to fall in with all thofe of Ham *, Mifralm -{-, Efou J,

and

* See Marjham's Chron. Can. p. 30. 31.

f See Shuck. Con. Vol. I. p. 205, and following ones.

% See Reflexions Critiques fur les Hiftoires des an- eiens Peuples par Mr. Fourmont, Vol. I. Liv. 2. chap. 13. Je dis done, et je foutiens ce que touts la terre a ignoree, qu'il n'y a jamais eu d'autre OfirtSi qu' Efau, Fils de Sadid, c'eft a dire de Afuf, ou d'Ifaac. p. 104. La Montagne de Seir, ou il fit fa demeure particuliere lui donna le nom de Hofcheiri ou Ofiri, Phabitant, <t'eft a dire le Prince de Seir. p. 107. This Author is a great Clearer of Difficul ties in the Chronology of the Heroic Ages. He has an Art of reducing almoft all the Hero Gods of the Pagan World to the Family of Abraham. He is fo fond of this Hypothefis, that he knows not how fufficiently to applaud himfelf for the Invention of it. On trouve bien, fays he, que Jupiter eft fils de Kronos, que Kronos etoit fils d'Ouranos, et celui ci fils d'Ac- mon. Mais, une chafe etonnante, jamais aucunMytho- logifte a-t-il ofe dire qu'il favoit la Caufe de ces de nominations ? Je dis mot que les void decouvertes^, et de plus Hiftoriquement. Thare a eu plufieurs noms; entre autre celui de Thare, celui d'Azar, &c. Son nom patronimique eft Oypaves, Ouranos ; c'eft en Syrien Ourano, Ourien, ou Thomme de Our. -Rien de plus fenfe, il y habitoit. Reflex. Crit. p. 63. Kronos ) mot que les Latins ont traduit par Saturnus^ en Chaldeen et en Syrien ne fignV^e-t-il pas encore 1'homme de Cbaran^ ou le Charanien ? et ce Cha- xanien eft 13 autre qu' Abraham ? Voila done encore 1'origine, & Vorlgine indubitable du nom de Kronos. Reflex, p. 64. Les Interpretes conviennent prefque tous que c'eft le veritable nom de Sara, (Ifkah,) ce riom eft il bien eloigne de celui d'Ifis ? p. 88. Lorf- que Abraham cut voulu facrifier fon fils, ^hiftoire^ fcue dans toute la contree le fit appeller Sadid, en

Araba

( 37 )

Sefoftrh *. Whilft an Hypothefis more mcxlern than all of thefe, and full as fanguine as any of them, denies both our Heroes themfelves, and the whole Family of He roic Divinities from them,, to have had any real hiftorical Age, or even Exiftence at alf. Gives them neither a higher, nor a more fubftantial Pedigree, than the mere Cor ruptions, and Miftakes of the Hieroglyphic Language of Antiquity. Degrades them from once living and human, into a Set of merely ideal and figurative Perfonages. Makes them the Characters not of Men, but

Things :

Arabe & en Phenicicn ligatus. Mais Zsu? eft il Sadid ? oiii : & ccci meme devient un denouement pour 1'Hifloire du Monde la plus Embaraffante. Juf- qu'ici on a tire Zeus de Z--« brouillir, ou de Zww vivre. Mais enfin il reftoit un fcrupule ; Pour Zrjf les anciens difoient auffi, Sosv?, ou meme Aft^. Et ce AEUC pouvoit venir egalement de <&w ligo. Une marque meme que £sw dans les premiers terns de la Grece fignifioit Her, c'eft que de ce verbe inufite etoit defcendu le diminutif £w«, d'ou ^wij ^uvwu ceindre, en Latin Zona. // eft dune clair ccmme le Jour, que <&y? a fignifie ligatus, conftrictus. Reflexi ons Grit. Vol. I. p. 96. The feme Author proves in much the fame manner that Typbon is Jacob, and CVm, Keturah, and Proferplne^ a JDaughtet of Abra ham by Keturah, fo called becaufe her Mother was of Bterjfheba — la Berfebonienne ou la Perfephonienne — • Perfephone ou Proferpine eft une femme prife dans le pais de Berfabee. Quoi de plus admirable! p. 82, 83. Nothing, we fee, can exceed the Saga city of our Etymologift, except his Confidence.

* See Sir Ifaac Newton's Chron. p. 192, 193, and elfewhere.

Things: Expreffions only either of the Courfe of Time, and of certain annual Oc currences and Ceremonies amongft the Egyp tians ; of the Order of public Feftivals and religious Solemnities ; of the Regulations of civil Policy ; or the mere Courfe of hu man Labour and Induftry in the Accommo* dation of common Life *.

I

* Toute la Societe ayant un befoin extreme de regler 1'ordre de fes jours, & de convenir des terns ou il faut s'aflembler, fe repofer, ou travailler en commun, 1'ecriture Symbolique fut tout particuliere- ment utile a cet egard, par la commodite de quel- ques marques qui etant expofees en public, annon- ^oient les Fetes & les Travaux d'une fa^on fimple & uniforme. Hiftoire du Ciel. Tom. I. p. 60. On nommoit le foleil Ofiris. Ce mot fignifioit Tin- fpecteur, le Cocher ou le Conducleur, le Roi, le Guide, le Moderateur des aftres, 1' Ame du Monde, le Gouverneur de la Nature. Et c'eft parce qu'on don- noit ce nom & cette Fonction au Soleil, qu'on exprima par la Figure d'un homme portant un Scep tre, p. 61, 62. & fuiv. Ce Gouverneur purement Figuratif a etc prispour un homme qui avoit vecu fur la terre, & eft pris pour un Dieu dans 1'ecriture qui refte fur les Monumens, p. 63. Quand on vou- lut fignifier la terre qui enfante & nourit toute chofe, on choifit 1'autre Sexe. La Femme qui eft mere & nourice etoit une image naturelle de la terre. Celle- ci fut done peinte avec fes Productions fous la forme d'lfha, oud'Ifis. Ce Symbole etoit commode, parce que les changemens de la Nature, & les diverfes pro ductions de la terre, qui etoient fans doute le fujet des communes Actions de Graces, pouvoient aiie- ment etre exprimees par les divers Ornemens qu'on donnoit a cette femme, p. 68, & fuiv. LesEgyp- tiens defignoient le Travail par la Figure d'un Enfant, .qu' Ofiris & Ifis affec^ionnent, d'un fils bien-aime

qu'ils

( 39 )

I REMEMBER (faid I) to have heard fbmer thing of fuch an Hypothecs as you defcribe being lately published to the World by a French Author j which, with Allowance for that {training Humor which is infepara- ble from Syftem, is not, I am told, ill de- Fended. But pray what is the Foundation of this Scheme ? for the Author, I fuppofe, would not oppofe his fingle Judgment to the unanimous Senie of Mankind in this Affair, without ibme cogent Reafons for doing fo, Let me hear what is his No-

ftrum,

qu'ils fe plaifent a combler de biens. Enfuite par les t'iffe rentes formesqu'ils faifoient prendre a cet enfant, jls exprimoient ingenieufement la Conduite, les opera tions fucceflwes, les traverfes, & ksSuccesdu labourage. Hift. du Cicl. p. 75. & fuiv. — La pai x & la police parmi les citoiens apres les recoltes, & dans la joye qu' infpirele repos de 1' hyver — voila le vrai fens de notre Symbol d'Harpocrate. Hift. p. 92. Le Peu- ple Egyptien prit peu a pen 1' Ofiris pour ce qu'il pre- fentoit a 1' oeil, c'cft a dire pour un homme. Us prirent Ifis pour une Femme j & 1* Enfant qu'elle nourit pour un Enfant, pour le fils d'Ofiris & d'lfis. '• — Prenant done ccs Figures au pic de la lettre, ils les regarderent comme des Monumens de leur Hiftoire Nationale. Hift. du Ciel. p. 133, 134. Apres avoir trouve dans 1'abus des Figures fymboliques prifes pour des Objets reels, 1'origine des habitans que 1' Egyptc a imagines & places dans le ciel, s'il fe trouve encore que les Dieux des autres Nations, & les autres fuper- ftitions dont nous n' avons point parle, foient une propagation fenfible des Idees &: des pratiques Egyp- tiennes, la Facilite de rappeller tant d' egaremens a un principe fort fimple, fera voir de nouveau la ju- ftefTe du principe, quoique des a prefcnt il paroifFe fuffifamment demontrc. Hift. p. 146.

( 40 )

ftrum, Hortenfius, and upon what Princi ples does he erect his very new Explication of Theologic Antiquity ?

UPON a Piece of falfe and exploded Phi- lofophy (replied he) in the firft Place, Phi lemon * ; then a Series of his own Vilions ; and laftly a forced Testimony of feveral tortured Fads. But the whole, I fhould confefs to you, fupported by a copious Set of Eaftern Etymologies, correfponding fo exactly to his Purpofe -f, that one fhould hardly know how to withstand fuch a Weight of Evidence, were not the Nature of it a little fufpicious, as having been fometimes known to prove equally on both fides of a Queilion J. But notwkhftand- ing all I have been faying, Philemon^ if you would coniider this Author's Perfor mance

* On a un afTez bon nombre de preuves qui ten- dent a faire voir, quc la raifon naturelle pour la- quelle la vie des hommes d'avant le Deluge etoit beaucoup plus longue que la notre, venoit de ce que le foleil ne quittant point alors 1'Equateur, c'etoit une fuite necefl'aire que la temperature d'air fut uni- forme, & la fecondite de la terre non-interrompue. Hift. p. 10.

f See Hiftoire du Ciel at large.

\ Compare this Author's Derivation of the Name O/?m, from Ocboft-erets Dominium Terrse, with Monfieur Fourmmt's as above from Hofcheiri^ 1'habi- tant de Seir. Both different from the learned ^ojjlu3\ from Schicbor^ or Sior, one of the Scripture Appel lations of the River Nile. See VolT. de Orig. & Prog. Idol. Vol. I. p. 692.

4i

mance as> what it in ftritfl Truth is, a mere ideal Amufement, or more learned kind of Romance, the Perufal of it, I be lieve, would not be unentertaining to you at fome Leifure Hour. The Scheme is prettily enough fancied, and the Execution of it is conducted with a good deal of Art and Ingenuity.

So much the worfe, (faid I) Jiertenfius, in myOpinion. Art and Ingenuity, tho' they are no where perhaps better ihewn, than in the Support of Paradoxes, are yet certainly moil unpardonably mifemployed, when they are exercifed to fuch a purpofe. One would wifh every Author to be a dull one, whom one finds ingaged in a falie Caule ; fince going ingenioufly wrong is too feldoin found to be going fmgly fo. But what, in the Name of Wonder, could tempt our Au thor, Hortenfms, upon no better Grounds than you have reprelented, thus to fet himfelf to refine away one of the feemingly plainefl, and moft ftrongly attefled Facls in Anti quity ? Surely a Man muft have an uncom mon Love of Paradox, to fuppofe the Pa gan Altars were thus univerfally creeled to unknown Gods *. Or, that the Egyptians in particular could fo far lofe the Meaning of a Language of their own compoling, and which always continued to be in fome G degree

* A£b xvii. 23,

( 42 )

cbgree of Uie amongft them, as to miftake a Set of Hieroglyphical Reprefentations, for fo many proper historic Characters. A Syftem of Emblems, Creatures altoge ther of their own Imaginations, for a Genealogy of Heroes ; of whom they had both circumftantial Records, and alibj as you was obferving, many vifible Memorials in the feveral Cities called after their Names in Egypt, that they were all, as an inge nious Writer fpeaks upon a like Occafion, <c once fairly exifting in this World *."

THERE is moreover (returned he) this very unfortunate Circumftance for this Gen tleman's Hypothefis, preferved to us by fome of the antient Writers, in the religious Hifrory of Egypt ; that the Egyptians were wholly Strangers to Images of human Form in the Furniture of their Temples, or Places of Worfhip -j-. From whence tis obvious to remark, that it could not be fuch an Hieroglypbical Oftris and I/is as is here fup- pofed that gave Birth to the Hiftorical ones.

But

* Author of the Inquiry into the Life, &c. of Ho mer.

f Meroe, Js rce, Tuoo-rrvhoua o NEW?' %oxvov $ t%uy oyJsv^. n ovx a.vQsu-7ropop(poV) aX\a, TWU aAoj/wy ^wwtf TWOS' Strab. Geograph. lib. 17. p. 805. Ed. Cafaub.

^(tivO((rpevof' EyJbv TT.I/J v I3j?, »j Lucian. Imag. p. 592. Edit. Bourd

( 43 )

But that the 0 fir is and^//> whom •tiam worshipped muft have been originally two proper hijlorical Perfonages ; whom they were ufed, as will be fhewn more at large in its Place, to reprefent by Animal- Symbols, and not by human Figures. Till, in a Courfe of Time, Mythology, having inverted them with many phyfical or natu ral^ over and above their biftoric Characters, gave occafion to thofe Grotefque Reprefen- tations of them in human Form, which •occur fo frequently in the Egyptian Monu ments ; and from whence our Author, I believe, took the Hint of his whole Hiero glyphic Syftem. An Hypothecs, I may juft obferve, which he was the readier to efpoufe, as it flattered his over-great De licacy in the Problem of the human Apo- theoiis, by affording him a lefs grofs and offenfive Solution of it, than that which is generally received. He could not think of letting Men run direclly and all at once into fo palpable an Abfurdity in their Religion, and was therefore for bringing them about to the fame End with fomewhat more of Compafs and Ceremony. And now, Pbi- lemon^ having I think, in paffing fliffici- ently eflablifhed the general Hi iloric Truth of our Heroes Characters, let us proceed, as we had began, with the more remarka ble Particulars of them. They are recorded by the Egyptians to have been the firft Ci- G 2 vilizers

( 44 )

vilizers of their Country both in a moral and natural Account. They reduced the favage Barbarity of their Times to a Senfe of Humanity, Difcipline, and public Order. They taught the Practice of Building, Agri culture, and Plantation, with the Preparation and Ufe of Bread-Corn, Wine, and Medi cine, before unknown in Egypt. They made Laws for the Alignment of Property amongft their Countrymen, and for the Reflraint of mutual Violence and Injuftice, which they took care to have inforced by Hiitable Penalties annexed to the Breach of them. They were the general Promoters, or Incouragers of mechanic Ingenuity, and manual Arts j and of whatever had the Ap pearance in any Degree of a public Im provement *. At the fame time their

Views

£y y-cco fQotfn rov Oripw) Tzraucrai r»?f

C7

w' Diod. Sic. Bib. lib. I. p. 13. 'H? Jf T>J

iVlwi TOUTW TW •nr^wTw j/ryo/xfvij B^o-iAfi ^IOC-Q-J yi- yo'Jtvsn TO UTrtip'yfj.i-jyj' TO-JTOV pey ev KVTU voXtv xn- v&i T«UTW, i)TK vuv Me^iff x»Ae£T«j. Herod . lib. 2. cap. 99. K;JT&J of f^acrt TOU? TTf^t TOV Orjpjy

Tovf Je jUfT

ewo-j? <Tf 0.>icar. Diod. Sic. lib. I. p, 14..

T?iv Icny ^f3Maxu;y TE ursAAa'y TET^)?

( 45 )

Views were not confined to Egypt alone ; but whilft IJis, with the Afllftance of Her mes, or Mercury ', a Perfon in great Efteem with them both, was appointed to prefide in the Direction of Affairs at home, OJiris, with a Party of his Friends and Adherents, travelled much into foreign Parts 5 every where, as he palled, circulating ufeful Arts, and Inventions for the Service of common Life ; leaving Traces behind him of his Hu manity and public Spirit, and introducing a general Poliih and Civility *. One would

think,

xaj T»I? l y s^vinnoc,y. Ibid. p. 22. Otiuai os

TW ICTJV,

TOU? av-fWTro'jj TO ix.aiov, nat T*if

ix. TOV CX.TTQ r y. Ibid. p. 13. Fcvcrd'ai ^ (piApj/ewpj^v TOU On-

TO'J TXVTn; KCCOTTCV Trpc

KOH fifafai ro-jg aAAon? v rr]j aaTTi'Ao'j, xat TW %t>y<nv TOV o;uou, x»< TW <ruJxoj!AiJf]ti au-rou x«i T>ip>jT<y* Diod. Sic. Bib.

lib. I. p. 14. r[fiOT;W^!r3-a( J'e uTaoa TO) OiTJpJOJ X»t

? Ti TWU

txv £up£.9-£i/Ta!y xJit ^ytracov, OTrAa TE x wu Ta S^Jipja xlfiVOWTaf, xai TW (^AoT»/*wf E^r^epw^at T-/IV pawpaw. Ibid. p. 14. Confer Pint, dc Ifide & Ofuide p. 356.

r Toy <ravTa, xxi T^y ruy oAwy

Toy Ea^W Ibid. p. 15. Toy 4£ Or»;;y Asj'oviru1, wo--

i

(46 )

think, a Perfon of this Character mould meet with no Enemies. But the Event proved otherwife. For after OJtns had go verned fome time in Egypt to the Satisfac tion of all who wimed well to their Coun try, his Brother Typhon^ a Perfon of an un- difciplined and turbulent Spirit, either thro* Envy of his Reputation, or upon fome private Quarrel to his Perfon, formed a Delign upon his Life; which, through the Help of a Faction he had ingaged to his Purpofe, he foon found Opportunity to accomplifh *. The Conduct of the Mur der is fomewhat differently related by Hi- florians ; but in all Accounts it ftands at tended with many aggravating Circum- ftances of additional Inhumanity -}-. The

Lofs

"7T£3 svsp'yiTixov CVTK Ktxi ^iAoJb^oy (rrKTOTrsoov

v.y.\. cx-i TO 'ysvog rwv av-pwTrwv TJJV T£ TV; Cpuretav, HOU TOV GTropov TOU TE TS-VOIVOV xtxt xe&ivov xapTTou' J6oAa(aGai/fjv 'ya.o txurov on coc,<; TV? a^iOTflTOf TOUJ aucoTrou?, xai

. Ibid. p. 15.

*

rr,i;

TOV Oa-jfliv uVo TU^WDO? etvou£t&nyo» TO-J a^A^ou, B*- xai a<r£j3o'j? OVTOJ* Diod. Sic. Bib. lib. I. p. i8«

f AieAovra C(pa<ri TOV Tv(pava) TO a-upx, TOV (povsu-

TOU xcet A a TO'JTO vOtAoyra <yo va^awoTa? e^£jy xat

rr; Bxo-iAeiK? B;j!wy . Ibid. p. 18. Toy

Lofs of a Perlbn fb valuable to Egypt as Ofiris raifed a public Concern amongft the Egyptians, with a futable Refentment againffc the guilty Inftruments of his Death. Ifis immediately formed a Party on the behalf of herfelf, and her Son Horus, for the re venging her deceafed Hufband's Murder 5 and, having greatly the Advantage of Num bers in her Caufe, brought Typbon and his Faction to their deferved Punifhment *. Ofiris, as the beft Teftimony of their Re- fpect the Egytians could now offer him, had Funeral Honors decreed him by the common Voice of his People ; which were performed with all the Demonftrations of a national unfeigned Mourniner. In the

O ^_>

Celebration whereof, the Tranfports of public Reverence and Affection to his Me mory ran fo high, that the Ceremony of his Obfequies was concluded in that of his

Apo-

X&Sptx, TO <rw(ua, xat Soi; hxpvaKCt. xaAw xa; x£»v fi? TO

.s og KM

i aurw TX/U Aa^vaxa' EjU-Sairra O- Piut. de If. £c Od. p. 356.

T^J AiJ-^Trroy. Died, Sic. Bib. Lib. i. p. 1 8.

(48 )

Apotheofis *. For from an unwillingnefi to relinquish all Intereft at once in their favourite Hero, added, it may be, to fome confufed Tradition they had amongft them of a Life after Death, the Egyptians per- fuaded themfelves upon this Occafion, that Ofiris might yet have it in his Power (and then they could not doubt its being in his Inclination) to be propitious to his late-loved Country, in fome fecret way of Communi cation with it. They accordingly con verted ^ as we may fay, his Sepulchre into hisAltar-f-.

And

' Tw Jf I<nv ((patn) ava^n-mv TO <ro>/xa, fx TOU- TOU Je xat -nroAAaf ra^as Onpi^og tv AiJ'UTr'lw }/£- V£<r6»i* 01 Jf o-j (fi(X,<riv' aAAa fiJtfAo. -sroioUjaEuriv A Jo- vat xaS" £Ha<rT>)y TiroAiv eo? TO ira^a J'lJ'ouirav, OTTWC f^?j Tipa?. Plut. de If. p. 358. T^atri TW Itrtv) TW T avJpoj T«^J;I» » Tipuptvrjv T&OCOOC. -nrafrt T»JV At- <ruvT£A£(rai TO jToav TOJOUTW TJVI

TWV pepwv TrfoiTrAairat auTtiv TUTTCV au-

tx.cwy.xruv

Jt)Au«rcitf T>;y ^bS'JjirOjtAevtju auToij WKTTJV' xar OT»

TO (Tw/xa, T^an wj S~£ov TOV Onpiv. Diodor. Sic. p. 1 8. EX auS-^wTrcoy fi? 3-fouj psrotiTTXVTX TOV OTIPIV ((pa<ri) TU^IV UTTO ItriJ'o? xa» E^/uou 3"j<riwy xai Twy aAAwv TW» £7ri!pay£0'TaTwy S-^WP Ti/x-wy. Died. loc. cit.

"j~ E-;3-£v auToi; x^i 01 Twy ^Eajy oixoj VEXCCOV £»y«» Ta^ot [Awpovtvovrxi. Eufeb. Praep. Evang. lib. 2. cap. 5. p. 70.

( 49 )

And having made him the Offering there of their moft affectionate Acknowledgments for his pad Services, intreated of him the Continuance of his Favour towards them in fuch future Inftances of his Affiftance, as the Interefts of Egypt might require. And as a farther Ingagement upon him to this purpofe, they agreed to meet annually at his Tomb, at each periodical Return of the Seafon of his Interment j and to per form the like public Lamentations, as up on the prefent Occafion, to his injured Manes ; renewing at the fame time upon their Minds, by certain expreffive Ceremo nies, the Memory both of his Sufferings and Benefactions ; and recognizing him for their Patron or Tutelar Demon by more folemn and explicite Acts of national Wor- lliip *. I/is lived fome time after the Dc- H ceafe

* Plutarch informs us, that in the Ifland Ni- ftitane^ one of the Places which laid claim to the In terment of OJirisy 'Evi >ca»pu roy? uottf £IX.£OUVOVTZ,<; ivz.'y^iiV) xz.1 KZTOKTTffyuv TO cyf/,01 urJiKr,; (purou •n-s£Krx»a£o//,£iW De If. & Of. p. 359. j&gypti Incolae in adytis habent Idolum Ofiridis fepultum hoc annuis luftibus plangunt. Jul. Firmic. de Error, prof. Rel. Cap. 2. K*» jiAvrjjiAW TOU 7ra3-£o? (Afuwfa) ryTrlov-

TZl TE EXaCTTOU £T£OJ (oi BUoAjO») KXl S'pWEOUTJ, X<X|

c(pi(TJ //.fJ/'aAa TrtvQstz avoc TTW ^wpr,v *<rraTa»*— -

E«7I Of £1/101 BybAjWW C/J A£j/0'J(Tt "STOipOf, (T^HTl T£-

Sa^Sai TOII Onpii/ TOD Afyvrrliov' xaj roe, vtv^ex oux «? AfuWj *AA' iq Oo-ipjy trffiHwtyQotti Lucian, deSyr. Dea, p. 1058.

{ 5° )

ceafe of Ofiris j and, continuing to indear herfelf all along to the Egyptians by a Series of repeated Kindneffes towards them, was upon her Death admitted to a Parti cipation with him in his Divine Honors *. And from henceforth the annual Celebra tion of the funeral Rites of thefe two De ified Heroes became a {landing Solemnity of the Egyptian Religion. This was the true Meaning and Origin of that ajtuGpw- ?raa>i@-j as Plutarch very fignificandy terms it, gloomy and difmal Air, which fome of the chief religious Ceremonies of Egypt carried with them -j- ; and of the Egyptians performing many things in honor of their Gods refembling the common Prac tices at a Funeral J. Of which, when the once proper Humanity of thefe Divine Perfons was thought neceiTary to be dif- owned or concealed, the Alleeorifts of An-

o

tiquity were put to fo many Shifts and Re finements, to give any paffable Reafon and

Solution,

V ITJV (5a<rt jUf-ra TTJV TOV Aoi7r-;y TOV Si

KCtt TOi^ £1? TOU? Kp')(Op.£<}QVq f

' f Js xat

Diod.Sic. Lib. i.p. 18, 19.

'f' Kat JjJwiTiti o xajpo? uVovojav £?rt TWV TIJ onroxgu^tj 3/svf<r9tei TOV txuSwirKppJN' Plut. de If. & Of. p. 378.

'£ rioAAa ^airTouff-JV opojflf xa; 7rfv6o'j<7iU ETrpalrov. PJut. de If, & Of. p. 379,

Solution, as the Times grew more know ing and fceptical *.

FOR their Comfort however (faid I) Hortenfms, they could frame no Solution fo little defenfible, as the true one, of this Matter. In which, by a kind of judicial Infatuation, as one might be almoft tempted to fufpect in the Cafe, upon the Inftitutors of the human Apotheofis, the Divinity of the two Heroes who were the molt con- fiderable Subjects of it, flood effectually difproved by the moft important Article of their own Worfhip.

MOST evidently (returned he) h did fo. And had the human Apotheofis been the Work of political Art and Contrivancej the Ritual of this Hero-worfhip would, no doubt, have been more happily conftituted, But as it took place firft in rude and unin- lightened Ages, the Simplicity of thofe Times deified its Heroes, juffc as it found them, with all the Circumftances of their Humanity about them j and had no fuipi- cion of Confequences. But to proceed, Philemon , with the Hiftory of our two Deified Heroes j it being a general Perfua* H 2 lion

EV xicwnw irtg(fytf9ff.tyM cux

\)7TQ[JI.Virit/.Ol TOU TTtpl QjTtpiJ'o? TraS'OUf, «AA'

wu? •nrapaxaAsjv aurouf ^prff0*» rot? irxgrnirw KSU

wj OTavraf aurtxa i*&\& TCJoyrcuf f. Plat, delf, & Of p. 357.

( 52 )

lion in Egypt, as has been obferved, that they had yet Jomewhere a more fubftantial Being, than in the Breafts of their Survivers, Curiofity naturally put the Egyptians, fond of dwelling as much as poffible upon a favourite Subject, upon conjecturing where. And the Refult of this Speculation was, to affign them their Refidence in the two greater Lights of Heaven ; thefe being, not only in themfelves the nobleft Scenes of Action they could imagine for them, but likewife, as might be thought, the moft fuitableones at the fame time to their diftinct perfonal Characters *.

THIS was rather a piece of Compli ment, (faid I) I mould think, at nrft, tho' afterwards it might by degrees grow up Into ferious Belief. It was a natural Topic of Panegyric, to fay of Ofiris and Ifis, that they had been,- as it were, another Sun and Moon to Egypt-, had held forth in their Conduct a kind of reflex Image of the beneficent Virtues of thoie divine Lumi naries. I am fenfible Companions of this Nature will not relifh in our modern Days, as having been the (rale Subject of Com pliment to confiderable Perlbns with every

cold

:uu eTriyuuv evioiip a<n xxi xotTSt rrj'j &fy\)ii\tfH' TIUHS Je aurwu j(/,fv o- ^irx.^i'.v TiJif o'j^avj3»>* xoti zzr^WToy psv cra* TWU >:ar' Ai^uTrloy o^awvy^cv wroe. X&T tvoavev aerfu' Diod. Sic. Lib. X. p. 12.13.

( 53 )

cold Invention from the mod diftant Me mory. Mr. Addifon^ with his ufual Deli cacy of Ridicule, prettily rallies this trite Style of panegyrizing, in his fecond Dia logue of the Ufefulnefs of antient Medals. " There is fcarce a great Man", (fays he) in that incomparably entertaining Piece, " whom the Sun has fhone upon, that <£ has not been compared to him. I look " on Similes as part of his Productions. I " do not know, whether he raifes Fruits " or Flowers in greater Number" *. But when the Simile was new, Hortenfius, it was by no means, I think, inelegant. And the confidering our Heroes in fuch a Cor- refpondency of Character, as is here fup- poied, to the two principal Luminaries of Heaven, might ealily be improved into giving them a local Refidence in them, as the Reward of their analogous Services to

Egypt-

YOUR Fancy is not amifs (replied Hor- tenfius) though, I muft own, I chufe rather to abide by my own Account of this Mat ter. The Egyptians^ I believe, ufed more the Language of the Eyes, than that of the Ears, for the Vehicle of their Heroes Praifes. Their Mode of panegyrizing their deceafed Benefactors feems rather to have been a kind of Dramatic Reprefentation of their Services, than a Rhetorical Defcrip-

tion

* Addifon's Works, 4(0. Ed. Vol. I. p. 492.

(54 )

tion of them. To fignify, for example, that I/is was the Inventreis of Bread- corn in Egyfif, they ufed to invoke her every Year over the firft Reapings of their Har- veft *. And in their devotional Solemni ties to her Honor they mewed a Specimen of the Grain (he had difcovered for them, as theRegifter of their Obligations to her up on this account -f-. In the fame dramatic Turn of Thinking, when they celebrated Annually the Obfequies of 0//m, they car ried about a Cheft, the Reprefentation of their Heroe's-Coffin J ; as alfo certain Sym bols of Hufbandry and Plantation, to fignify his having been the Introducer of thele ufeful Arts among them ||. A Cere mony which fubiiited in the Rituals of

antient

TWV

xa^Trwy TO TT.po'jfAevov Tyae ainroi? s% u

^XOU* £TJ 'yOC.O Y.OU yt/'V, XXTK TOV 3-£Ol(7jU,oy, TOUf TTpW

TOU? Oif^ri^svTxg <rrap£u? S-ZVTOCI; TOU? av0cw7rouf, XOTT TftrSai •nrAixrtov TOD Spx.'ypcx.Tos, xzi TYTJ Itriy av« xaAno-Qat' Diod. Sic. Bib. Lib. I. p. 13.

•f- Hap' tviciig 3s TWV TiroAfcov KXI rot; ITEJOJ? i

T71 WCW-TDJ ^UETa TWV aAAwV (p£5£<r9at TC'UiS/^El'a? 'CT'J

pwy x«i xotS'&JV, onrop,wfj.cx.-ra, TWV e^ acp£"0£ T^ ^s

* Diod. loc. cit.

>tat TO J'civci/i'/j.evsv auto;? fjJw

Ar/v auS-pwsro'j TE^v/pcorof ey xtSwTjw 7a-£ot!^£po/x£vc/v K T A. PJut. c!e Ifid. & Of. p. 357. Kai TW I^

TV?. £^o^<rav xiSuTtcu, Ibid. p. 366.

|| Tiie Van, and the Thyrfus ufed in the Bacchic Rites, which were originally the Egyptian ones to Ofiris. See Flat, de Ilide & Of. p. 3^4-5.

(

antient Paganifm to its lateft Periods ; tho\ when the real Intendment of it was thought advifeable to be fuppreffed, it was contrived to refolve it into a myftical one. From which dramatic Manner of the Egyptians in the chief Offices of their Heroic Worfhip, it came to pafs, as I conceive, that all the Capital Services of the antient Heroic Su- perftition in fuch other Pagan Nations as we are beft acquainted with, were of the nature of a Religious Drama ; con- fifting for the mod part of certain jjuu.*- fj.oc.Taj J'enftble Rcprefentations of particular more remarkable PaiTages in the Hiftory and Adventures of the Patron Hero *. Of this kind, for example, were the Rites performed by the Phoenicians to Adonis and Venus ; by the Phrygians to Attis and Cybele ; the Tbracians to Bacchus j the Cretans to Jupiter j the Inhabitants of Sam of brace and Lemnos to the Dii Cabiri ;

and

'H $£ TiAWo? OTJOJ^O? a$eX(n y.y.\ 'vvri ou TZTf-

o'jr ao'j? xat TOD? •zrAavaj aurr?, xxt zroAAa ^tr./ fo^a <roJp»5i?, »roA- Aa J*f auoja? KAwifTioiv uVoAa?ouff-a xai

uTrovoja?, xat jtxiju^ua TWV TOTS Z7ix^]u£trwv xas- J* Plut. de If. & Of. p. 361. Trjy ds jU7]T£- pa TOUTWW ( HAto'j xa; SfA^vrj?) TO-J? oj^Aou? S'EOV rf ai Bwjtxaf »c?pii(rao'S«i, xaj ratj ^<oj TUB xat xu^ujSaAwv £Vf^£»«»f, xai TO»? aAAoif- opiu.w(A£vov$ tot, ft^i ai)T»y o-u^SavTa, Su- <r»a? xat ra? aAAa? rtjW-a? CLTrompW Diod. Sic. Bib. Lib. III. p. jgo. 191.

( 56 )

and by the People of 'Sicily znddtfica to the fame divine Perfons under the more diftin- guifhed Appellations of Ceres, Pluto, and Proferpme.

You are then of opinion (interpofed 1) Hortenfius, that the Mode of Worihip with all thefe Countries was indeed Egyp tian, but the Objects of it certain of their own, local Gods.

I AM fo, (refumed he) Philemon; and the general Account I would give of the matter is in few Words this. The feveral Nations we are here fpeaking of were, there is great Reafon to think, at different times the Seats of certain originally Egyptian Colo nies. Thefe Colonies, no doubt, carried along with them the Religion of their Mo-

O C-'

ther Country throughout the whole Courfe of their Migrations into foreign Parts. The Rites of Ofiris and Ifis, being a principal. Article of this Religion, would of conle- quence be punctually obferved by them, wherever they might chance to reiide at the ftated Periods of their Celebration. Now thefe Rites, as has been {hewn, ran much upon the dramatic Strain. A Circumftance, which would naturally draw the Attention of fuch foreign Spectators of them, amongfl whom they might at any time happen to be performed. The Novel Appearance of

thefe

(57 )

thefe Solemnities would raife a ftrono; Cu-

O

rioiity in their Obfervers to know what was the meaning of them. And being told, that the Celebraters of them came from Egypt, a Country, as they might have heard, much famed for the Wifdom of its Infti- tutions ; and that the Defign of them was to do Honor to certain Egyptian Gods, by a dramatic Reprefentation of the chief Paf- fages of their once Mortal Hiftory ; they would from hence probably take the Hint of this Religious Mimickry themlelves, and dramatize, if one may fo call it, after the Egyptian Mode, in the Worfhip of their own national Divinities.

BUT how (faid I) do you reconcile this Account of things, Hortenjlus, which you have been here giving, with what you obferved fome time ago, of the an- tient Hiftorians being unanirnaufly agreed, that as well the chief Gods, as Worthip of Paganifm, came originally from Egypt ?

I AM not aware (returned he) Philemon, that I have any fuch Aikrtion as this to aiv fwer for. What I obferved to you upon the Teftimony of the antientHiftorians was, ttat the Egyptians were efteemed the firfl of Mankind whoiifed the Jacred Names , ruv Sreuv oyofjiacToc, or, as it is elfewhere exprefled by the fame Author, (Herodotus] the I

( 58 )

s, ufual characleriftic Appellations under which the Pagans vvorfhipped moil of their chief Gods * ; and who did more over, as Luclan tells usr relate fayovs ip»vs *f Hiftories of Divine Perfons. " And this they might very naturally be in -as- much as they were a People policied, and accommodated with the more neceffary Arts of Life, (the Inventors whereof they had characleriftically deified for their Re- compence) from the molt diftant Memory of things in Pagan Antiquity. But it will by no means follow, that, becaufe the Egyp tians were for the moft part the original Proprietors of the received CbaraStenftic Appellations of the chief Pagan Gods, they were fo likewise of their feveral Perfons ; Thefe Appellations being rather fpecifk than individual ; Titles, as one may fay, of Office, not merely Names of Men; and what might therefore be applied in common to different Perfons, who in different Ages and Coun tries of the Pagan World had acted under a competent Analogy of Hiftoric Character-)-.

To

xat 'EAATjvaf 9rap<* <r^fw!/ £EJV. Herod. Lib. II. cap. 4.

f Nam Joves plures in prifcis Grsecorum literis invenimus. ap. Cic. de Nat. Deorum Lib. 3. cap. 16. Volcaci item Complures. ibid. cap. 22. Mercurius unus Coelo patre, Die Matre naeus. Alter Valentia ct Coronidis Filius. Tertius Jove tertio natus et JVIaja. Quartus Nilo patre. Quintus, quem cotunt

f 59)

To illuftrate this Matter, Philemon, by a particular Inftance — One of the Chara&e- riftic Appellations under which the Egyp tians deified their favourite Goddefs IJis^ was that which the Greeks have pretty nearly preferved to us in their Demeter, and anfwers in our Language to the Mother of Plenty *. The Reafon of giving this Appellation to her was her having taught the Egyptians the Art of fowing their I 2 Lands.

Pheneatse, qui /Egyptiis dicitur Leges et Literas tra-

didifle. ibid. cap. 22. Dianre item pJures Venus

Prirna Ccelo et Die nata. Altera Spuma procreata. Tertia Jove nata et Diona. Quarta Syria Tyroque concepta, qua? Aftarte vocatur, quam Adonidi nup- fifle proditum eft — Minerva prima, quam Apolltnis Matrem fupra diximus. Secunda orta Ni!o quam /Egypt ii Saitoe colunt. T'ertia ilia, quam Jove gene ra tarn fupra diximus. Quarta Jove nata et Cory* phe. Qiiinta Pallantis >ilia, 5cc. De Nat. Deor. Lib. 3. cap. 23. Jupiter igitur general! Regum omnium nomine accipitur. Voff. de Orig. & P-'og. Idololatriae, Lib. I. cap. 14. Poftea tot prope Nep- tuni, quot Principes Infulares: quod ex Poetarum fabulis, fi ad hiftoriam eas referamus, non obfcure cogncfcitur. Ac prseter iftos et Continenti fuere Neptuni fui: in his principes, qui arte equeftri excel-. Icrcnt. VofT. Lib. I. cap. 15, Saturnos didlos, qui nobilium Regum Vetuftiffimi condiderunt Urbcs et Populos. Ac proinde non unum fed Plures fuifle Saturnos ; quorum Patres Coeli, Filii vero Joves.

Nomina igitur hsec fuerunt dignitatis Analogs,

potius quam ^iquivoca. Xen. de Equivoc. ap. Kirch. CEd. /Egypt. Vol. i. p. 180. Hinc tot Coeli, Sa- turni, Joves, Kercules, Rhe3e,Tellures,VefTae, Juno- iaes, ob facinorum quae perpetrarunt Similitudinem. Kirch. CEd. Agypt. p. 180, 181. * Dimitir.

(60

Lands. Some Ages afterwards Ceres, hav ing dene the fame thing to the People of Attica in Greece, when me came to be deified there, went under the fame common Denomination with the 'Egyptian Ifis. And this is what the Greek Writers mean, when they fpeak of Ifis and Ceres as the fame Goddefs *. Not perfonally fuch to be fure, for in this refpedt, their Hiftories, as re lated by the fame Writers, put a notorious Difference between them -f- : But merely (to fay nothing here of their united Phyjical Characters in Antiquity) in a 'Theological Conception of them ; as being worshipped by the different Countries in which they lived upon the fame common Reafons of Apotheofis ; the one, as has been already obferved, having introduced into Attica, what the other had before into Egypt, the three invaluable Bleffings of Corn, Property, and Lcgiflation. S o

* Jr.? cc £<TTI X.OITX Try EAAvjvw./ 'yXuvvotv Afl- p'f-'f,%. Herod. Lib. II. cap. 59. K>.» TO-J fj.iv Or <rr.iv §a.n [A&tpfj.ifJt'JOfJ.E'jm fivai AiGi/UffW, rr,y Si I- <su s"y&<7Tx iru? &r,y.r,Tcx.-j. Diod. Sic. Lib. I. p. 13.

f-x-j pr, e-sjxy.vw £U«ty rw

aj £X Ti.'V KU.TZ TY.'J A.WIW XOaT'/!pi,"j OfjXy(Z~

), £7r£A6fn/ £?Ti TroAAa M.£p») T*;; ctJisyafvr;?' Twv Qauiruv TO-J? ^aAi<rr« Ta'^mj TrpoT^cZx.^?*; fj-

TO

Died. Sic. Lib. 5. p. 288. The Diftrefles we ' find, gt Crr^ were wholly occafioned by the Rape of a favorite Daughter ; Whereas thofe of Ifis were all upon account of the Murder of her H-ufbamJ.

f 61 )

So that upon the whole (faid I) the frrwupiai, or Head-Characters only, of the Heroic-Theology of the Greeks, was all that was properly Egyptian ; the Subjects of the Apotheofis with them being no other, for the moft part, than fuch of their own Heroes, who had taught them the firft fimpler Arts and Accommodations of Life.

UNLESS (returned he) to their logic-Characters borrowed, as we fay, from their fynonymous Egyptian Predeceffors in the Apotheofis, we may add fometimes a few Circumftances of Hiftory derived to them from the fame Quarter. For the Greeks, we know, were not over-nice in the Chronology of their Heroic-Divinities 5 but in order to do honor to their Reputa tion would plunder any Age or Country for the Materials of it *. In the mean time, to return once more to the f acred Af - fairs of Egypt — The Dcmonijm, as has been related, of OJiris and IJis, or in other Words their pofthumous Superintendence over the Interefts of their Country, being once believed and eftablimed there ; a like Perfuafion would foon come to obtain of

fuch

* Hie enim veterutn mos erat, quo magis admi- randae eflent Virtuteseorum quos in Decs retuliflent, varios Eximix Virtutis in unum conflare, unique omnium Gefta attribuere, quod difficile non erat in rebus ab yEtate fua remotis, et geftis in Terra longe diflitis. VofT. deOrig. et Prog. Idol. Lib. i. cap. 19.

( 62 )

fuch other departed Perfons, as had been of any confiderable Eminence in their Ge nerations. And Death, as we have ieen in the Cafe of their two principal Heroes, be ing looked upon by the Egyptians as a Change of Scene only, not of Manners or Diipolition ; hence it became a general Practice with them to deify their favorite Dead under that particular Character of Ufefulncjl which they had furTained whilft living. And accordingly the ieveral deified Inventors of the more neceffary Arts of Life were confidered by them after their D^ccafe as the efpecial Patron Gods of their own perfonal Inventions, As in the Cafe. of tine Egyptian Vulcan^ Vefla, Diana, Mercury and almoft every other principal Character of the Heroic Divinity; except ing that of Neptune, as Herodotus feems to have thought ; a Deity, to whom from their religious Averfion to the Sea, and being, in the ttrft Settlement of their Empire at leaft, no great Sailors, they gave little or no Share of their devout Regards. And indeed ib prevailing was the Opinion with them, of the chief Qualities of the Hero fubfilling in the Demon, that even Typbon himfelf had by this means a Place in their Syftem of Deity ; the Egyptians^ tho' they hated his Memory, yet dreading his Malice, and accordingly indeavoring to divert or appeafe it by fuch deprecatory Rites of Worlhip,

as

as they conceived moil fuitable to the pofed peftilent Humor of this miichievous Divinity.

'Ti s upon thefe Grounds (laid I) Hor- tenfms, as I fuppofe, that the Antients have been led to exprefs their Idea of SuperfHtion under the Word £eiyi£ctip.ovi<x, difidemc- «///;/, as we may call it, or the unreafon- able and extravagant Fear of Demons.

UNDOUBTEDLY; (replied he) and when you confider, Philemon, that the Heroic Apotheofis with the antient Pagans was indeed nothing more, than tranflating in any particular Inftance the human CharaSler into the Divine one j you will from hence eafily obferve, that as well the Faults, as Excellencies, of every fuch Character, would naturally accompany the Proprietor of it into his Deified^ or Demon-State ; and the Imperfections of the Man make a Part of the Idea of the God. From which low and groveling Conception of their Divinities, fuch abject and illiberal Services mull of courfe, with all weaker and more devout Tempers efpecially, enter into the Worship of them, that one cannot wonder the An tients Ihould make that their Head Charac ter of falfe Practice in Religion, which

O *

they would neceflarily find to be one of the

capital

( 64 )

capital Sources of it ; Dijidemonifmy as yoiw Expreffion is, or an anxious Sollicitude to pleafe certain fuppofed Demon Powers.

Now we are upon this Subject (inter rupted I) Hctrtenfius, there is a favorite PafTage of mine in Lucian's Treatife of Sacrifices, which owes, I have often thought, its chief Force and Elegancy to a kind of Ltijus upon this antient Character of Su- perftition. <£ There is fcarce any Man, " (lays the Author) to be met with, I " mould imagine, fo thorowly difinclined " to Mirth, but muft be provoked to laugh " at fome of the popular Ceremonies of " Religion. But before he would venture " to laugh in a Subject fuppofed fo ferious, " he would be apt to afk himfelf, whether " it really was fitch ? and whether the <c Zealots in thele unworthy Sacra could *c deferve to be called guo-e£$K, Pious Per- fc fons^ or were not more properly, S-go/s <C ZX^PM* ^at JcaxocTaijU-otas ? riot in an atfive Uie of the Words here, as his Tranflator coldly reprefents him, <c Diis <c inimicos, atque infelices ac Genios Ma- <c los ;" but in a much more emphatical and paj/ivt? one-, " Perfons under the Dif- <c pleafure and judicial Infatuation of the <c Gods, rather than ingaged in the Wor- of them ", or, as we might fay,

<l Demo-

( 65 )

tf Demoniacs inftead of Demoni/ls in the tf Offices of their Devotion." For this I take to be the true Idea of the Place ; which I the rather incline to elpoufe, as it gives a more pointed and ludicroufly fatiric Turn to the whole Sentiment, agreably to the known Manner of this witty and fcep- tical Writer *.

K YOUR

: A |W,£y yxp £y T«IC SwtCUJ' OJ

TOIKTI, xat TOCIS looT«i?, xat 7roo<ro^&ij TWV ot, atTOUfn, xoti a, fv^oyrat, x^t a oux «»Ja, ft TJ? OUTU

O'J

Trpo, e«UTW E^Erairft, Trorgaov £U(r£|3ft5 «!>-

TOU? ^J) JC«A5i'J, » TO'JVai/TJOV ^£0^ ^6^0L»f, X£t X«- lJ/c OUTW T«7T£JVO^ XXt aJ^£i/£? TO 3"£jOy

WOT* ftvat atScwTrwu £V^££f. xat xoAa- «<, xa» aj'scvaxlfiy oi^s^ov^svov ; Lu- cian de Sacrificiis, p. 182. Edit. Bourd. — Compare with this Pafiage from Lucian the following ones from Arijlopbanes.

&not. In Nub, p. 160. Edit. Bifet. Blepfid. Mwu o-j >i£^AoCpa?, aAA fyftOtis& Chremyl. K*xoJlKtjU,OB«f. In Plut. p. 40. Chremyl. '.Q? /x£» '/^o vvy iiji/ju o Bio? rot?

Tt? ay oux JIJ/OIT' ftvat jt*avifltv, In Plut. p. 52.

I

( 66 )

YOUR Correction here, (refumed Hor~ tenjius) may very probably be a juft one ; the Thought is certainly improved by it. Bat at prefent we have other Affairs upon our hands, than critical Difquifitions. We have already, you know, .confidered the fame Tkeologic -Character as fubfifting in very different Perfons ; let us now, in paf- fing, turn the Tables a while, and confider the Jame Perfon, as fometimes vefted with very different Tbeologic-Cbaratiers. We have the Teflimony of Plutarch, that the Minerva of Sais in Egypt, where was her Temple, you know, with the fo much famed Inscription, was efteemed to be the fame Perfon with IJis *. And we are told by Herodotus, that the chief Feflival of this Minerva was that of the Xu%voK<x.iny the Feftival of Lamps ; celebrated by a public Illumination of the City of Sais by VefTels of lighted Oil -J-.. If we lay thefe Qbfervations together, and withal recollect what has been remarked of the generally dramatic Turn of the Egyptian Sacra, we mall perhaps find Reafon to conclude, that the Minerva we are fpeaking of was only JJis under a more detached and particula

rized

* To cT ev Sa< T>

Ej^W fJUf K* T

JPiut. de If. & Of. p. 354.

f Vide Herod, Lib. II. cap. 62.

67

rized Idea of her ; as the Perfon who taught the Egyptians the Plantation of the Olive Tree, and the ufe of Oil for Artificial Lights to fupply the Abfences of the Sun. And as I/is is thus abundantly confirmed to us to have been the Minerva of the Egyptians^ I have fometimes been inclined to fufpect fhe was their Venus like wife. Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, and Plutarch all agree to inform us, that the Egyptians were no Strangers to this Goddefs. Plutarch repre- fents her as the Wife of TypbonJ But had fhe really flood in this Relation to a Per fon fo generally hated in Egypt, the Egyp tians^ I am apt to think, would hardly have afforded her fo mild a Character of Divinity^ as is here fuppofed. I am rather therefore for confidering Venus^ as I have faid, as the divine Character of Ifis, in quality of the great Mother of her Country ; or as the Perfon, who by her Affiftance to Ofiris in forming the Egyptians into So ciety, and giving them falutary Laws and Difcipline, had laid the Grounds and Foun dation of their national Strength and Popu- loufnefs : As, in the fame way of Think ing, her Hufband, I perfuade myfelf, was confidered by the Egyptians, as the leather of his Country, in the obfcene Ceremony of the Phallephoria ; a Practice probably, in its firfl Inftitution, emblematically com memorative of Ofiris, the great Founder of K 2 the

(68 )

the Egyptian Polity, under this diftinguifhed Notion or Regard *.

Is then (faid I) the chafl and continent I/is, the very Model, as {he is ufually re- prefented, of conjugal Affection and Fide lity, reduced at laft to the Diflblutenefs of a Venus^ one of the loofcft Characters in all Sacred Antiquity, and chief Scandals of Religious Paganifm?

POSSIBLY (returned he) the Character might not originally be fo fcandalous as you feem to apprehend. How do you know, but the more difreputable Parts of it may have been the Additions of After- Ages, and owing to the Mifconducts of ibme later Subjects of it, than the Perfon we are at prefent concerned with ? thor, mould you infill upon it after all, Phile mon, that a certain Mixture of Intrigue is abfolutely neceflary to the Idea of a Venus ^ a Critic in Reputations might, for aught I know, find Grounds of Sufpicion even againfl Ifis herfelf. This at leaft is pretty remarkable in her Hifiory, that during the Abfence of OJirh from his Kingdom, a Seafon, one would think, of all others the fitten: for a Rebellion againfr. him to break

out

o'j A.io;vcrov TOIUO^OC, xzi rnu w TOU tpaAA&y. Herod. Lib. II. cap. 144..

( 69)

out in, we hear nothing of Typhon and feis Faction. All, it feems, went well and peaceably in Egypt, fo long as I/is was the fupreme Manager there *. Might not one be tempted to fufpect here, that the Charms of her Perfon were the Security of her Government ? and that Love was the great foothing Power which could thus effectually compoie the reftlefs. Turbulency of Ambi tion? a Sufpicion, which is increafed by what Plutarch reports to us, of the un- juftifiable Partiality of I/is towards lypbon, even after his having been the Murderer of O/irhi when, upon Horus^s delivering hfm up to her as his Captive, me was prevailed upon to give him his Liberty -j~. You fee, Philemon y there is need of fome Candor to believe, that even the continent Ifisy as you call her, was wholly proof againft cer tain tender Failings ; and, however affec tionate me is reprefented to have been to the Memory of her Hufband, had not taken fome modifli Freedoms in his Life- time.

BUT

TO TW Iciv fj Atzhcx, (-jXarlia-QM KCU Tzroeo-fEjv ef-

PJut. de If.& Of. p 356.

"|" TV; (afy ovv jW.«p^iiu fTr crfiaj, xat xp2mi<7»i rov 'fl^ov TCV TvQuvx oe ovx ayjAeiv, «AA» x

•/.*.!.

(70 )

BUT the Egyptians (faid I) I were not over-fcrupulous in Chambers: or at leaft their Gratitude was too ftrong for their Cenforioufnefs ; and they could eafily overlook a few Slips in Conduct, in a Perfon of Ifis's extraordinary Ufefulnefs and Beneficence.

I S E E (refumed he) Philemon, you are no Friend to I/is in the Capacity of a Venus ; I will therefore change the Scene for you, and introduce her to your Acquaintance under a Character, you will probably have lefs Exception to, that of the Egyptian Rhea, or Mother of the Gods. The Man ner of reprefenting this Divine Perfonage in a neighbouring Country to Egypt , was, as we learn from Lucian in his Account of the Goddefs of Hierapolis in Syria, under the Image of a Woman wearing a Turret, or Crown refembling the Fafhion of a Tower, upon her Head j and fupported by Lions*. Virgil's Cybeley you know, is alfo turrita^ and feated in a Chariot drawn, we are to fuppofe, by the fame kind of

Ani-

Jf '

OV OU

TO B*tr*A£io-/ Plut. de Ifid. & Of. p. 358.

*

ff tj

5/afl jitiv (peooufl"*, xat ETTI TIJ Hc^p«A>j •mio'yo- (pop££t, oxoinu Psw AV^<" WOIOIKTJ. Lucian. de Syr. Deap. 1062.

Animals *. Whoever was the ibid: Per- fbnal Subject of this Reprefentation, I can not help being of Opinion, the Thought of it, as one may fay, was altogether Egyp tian : And that the Turret and Lions were Emblems firft made uie of in Egypt, as often as I/is was confidered there as a Pa- tronefs of Building and political Aflbcia- tion ; one very important Confequence whereof to Mankind was, either taming the Fiercenefs, or guarding againft the In juries, of the more dangerous Species of Wild Beafts. That {he fhould be ftyled a Mother of Gods can be no Myftery, if we refledt that fhe feems to have led the Way in thofe Inventions of more civilized Life, which gave the firft Grounds of Apotheofis to their feveral reputed Authors. Not to add, that fome of thefe Deifted Ar tills were probably in a literal Senie her Chil dren. So that the Idea which Ifis gives of hcrfelf to Lucius in jdpukius, upon his ad- : dreffing her to reftore him to his Humanity, has poffibly a great deal of Theological, though but little Hiftoric Truth in it ; wfreja fhe tolls him, " She is that God- '•' defs, whom all Nations worfhip under <e different Views of her Character. That <c the original Natives of Phrygia called her " Pejfimmtica, and the Mother of the

<c Gods.

* Qualis Berecynthia

Invehitur Curru Phrygias tti.rrita per Urbes Deura Parta«

"

Gods. Thoie of Attica^fas, Cecropian Minerva, The People of Cyprus., the c: FenustfPaphos. Thofe of Crete, Diana " DiffymWj or the Inventrefs of the Hunt- " ing-Net. TY&Siciliam^Proferpine. The " Eleufmians , Ce res. Others, ,juno. Others, " Bellcna. Thofe, Hecate. Theie, Rham- *.c mifia. But the Egyptians only had her true " Name,whicb was that o£ the 0%ueen Ifis* " To coijflder her again, Pbikmon^ under which her more afcertained Appellation — , We left her, you know, in her departed or Demon-ilate, removed by the fond Gra titude of her Survivors from Earth to Hea ven, and reading in their Imaginations in the Orb of the Moon ; vvhilft the Soul of OJiris was received, it was conjeclured, into that of the Sun. Afterwards, when tire Egyptians had applied themfeJves to aflronomical Obiervations, and it was re marked by them, that the Heliacal riling of the Star Sot.bisy which the Greeks called by the Name of Aflrocyon^ or the Dog-Star, uivvays preceded, and ieemed, as it were,

to

* Cujus numen unicum muk'forrai Specie, ritu vario, totus vencratur orbis. Me primigenii Phry- ges Peinnunticam .nominant Deum Matrem. Hinc Antofthones Attici Cecropiam Mineivam. Illinc fiu£luantes Cyprii Paphiam Venerem. Crates Sagit- tiferi Diftymiiam Dianam. Siculi trilingucs Stygiam Proferpinam. Eleufmii Vetuftam Deam Cererem. Junonem alii. Bellonam alii. Hccatem ifti. Rham- jiufiam illi. Egyptii vero nomine appellant Regi- r.am Indem. Apul. Met. Lib. 11. prop. Init.

( 73 )

to announce to them,the approaching annual Increafe of their Nile, they made IJis the Compliment of fuppofing her to refide in Sotbis, as well as in the Moon ; and to be the influencing Caufe of that kind Admonition, which they yearly received from this ufe- ful Luminary *. Diodoru* informs us, that fome of the antient Greek Mytholo- gifts called Ofiris by the Name of Sirius, or the Dog Star ; from whence 'tis not im probable, but the Egyptians had given him, as well as his Confort, a Part in the good Offices of this their Celeftial Monitor -j-. And in general, we may obferve here once for all, that the Deification of the antient Heroes ufually parTed under the Notion of their inhabiting particular Stars J; whofc L Names

* Ln? Si T£XO auroij ETTIV atm^a, AtyuTrfjOTt xaAcvjtxEvof Sa^j?, EAX*)VWTJ St Aoritxuuy' Horap. Hierogl. Lib. i. Hierog. 3. Asywinv ol Ispstg xx~ AfjcrOat Kova |W£i> TT/V l<nfog (vp'^rv) uV 'EAA^vwv, JTT* Aiywirltuv & 2w9w Plut. delf. & Of. p. 359. 'Orc- apa 71 jUfy auarf A^EJ TO ourrpov o xvwv, (n-'vavijr^ej ap* J'f aurw rpcTTcv TIVX KXI o NfiAo?, xaj «yap£etTa» ty^i ra? otgo-jgots. JElian. Hifl. Animal. Lib. X.

Cap. 45. TwV T£ Ctfl-TfpWV TOW (TflpJOV IfTtJof VOUt^O'-O-J,

J^SK^^ov ovra' Plut. de If. & Of. p. 366.

"|" Twu Je TffOO 'EAArjffjy -zc-aAajwy jW.uS'oAoJ'wv Ti- »f? roy Oirtpty (Tfjpidv tKnofAizlwffi' Diod. Sic. Bib. Lib. I. pag. ii.

£ Cb ]wovov Jg ro'JTwy ot /ipct? At^cucrty, aAAa x.«4 Twy aAAwy ^fwy rx j-iv (rwara ura;o ««T8i; X€i<r9dft

«(TTP«. Plut. de If. & Of. p. 359.

( 74 )

Names they from thenceforth took them- felves, and often returned the Favour in kind, by giving them their own perfonal ones, whilft upon Earth, in requital. And thus Hero-worfhip became as k were in grafted upon Luminary- worfhip ; which in time produced frequently, as will here after be explained, fuch a total Confufion of the civil, with the natural Gods of the antient Pagans, as to make it extremely difficult to determine with any Degree of Satisfaction to onefelf what Part of their religious Ritual had relation to one Sort of Divinities, and what to the other. Of which no one can want a fufficient Con viction, who will be at the pains of in forming himfelf, with what puzzled Induf- try VoJfiuS) and other learned Writers upon the Theology of the Antients, have labored

in this imbarafled Subject. But here,

Philemon^ let me prepare you a little for a very confiderable Change of Scene, which in the Courfe of our Speculation you are now to expect from me. Inafmuch as, from having carried up your Thoughts to the celeftial Regions, as the happy Reli- dence of the departed Ofiris, and I/is, I am next to bring you acquainted with them under a Conception more degrading, than even their late human State ; 1 mean, <c as inhabiting the Forms of certain " Brute-Animals, fomeof the leafl honor-

" able,

(75 )

*c able, and reptile Species themfelves, in " time not excepted *."

A CHANGE of Scene, (interpofed I) it i-nuft be owned, not a little disadvantageous this to the Parties concerned in it. But whatever Objections they might have to make to fuch a reduced Situation of Divi nity, I affure you I have none to attending them in it ; as it promifes to lead you into the Article of the Symbolic-Theology of the Egyptians; under which Head, you know, you are to let me a little into the general Notion of their celebrated Hiero glyphics. A Point, I am impatient to have you fpeak to.

As far (replied he) as we have at prefent any concern with this Matter, that is, as far as the Hieroglyphics rtand connected with the fymbolic or animal Worfhip of Egypt , I will give you the beft Account of them that I can. For a nice and critical Dif- quifition of the Hieroglyphic Science, befides that the Subject itielf is not a little dark and perplexed, and would moreover too much divert our Thoughts from what they L 2 are

* When Oftris and Ifis came to be confounded with the Sun and Moon, which gave them an Tn- tereft in all thofe different kinds of confecrated Ani mals which were confidered as Symbols of theis Luminaries.

2

(7*)

are here principally ingaged in j I have the lefs Reafon, as well as Inclination to attempt this, as I have good Grounds to believe it has already fallen into much abler Hands j and makes part of a Work fhortly to be expected from the Prefs, the Second Volume of lf the Divine Legation of " Mofes demonftrated, &c." For our pur- pofe then, Philemon, I begin with obferv- ing to you, that, before the Introduction of Alphabetic Characters into the World, the beft way Men could think of to fignify to each other their Thoughts in Writing was, either " by a direct Picture, wherever that " was practicable, of the Object they had " occalion to defcribe," or in other Cafes <c by fubjftituting vifible Objects for invifible " ones, in the way of Emblem or natural " Symbol/' For the Practice of writing by immediate Picture, the bare mention is a fufficient Explication of it. For the other Method, I know not how better to reprefent it to you, than by reading you a ParTage out of Diodorus Siculus upon this Subject, if you will trouble your felf to reach me down that Author from behind

you. 'Tis here in the fourth Book of

his Htftorical Library. " But now (lays

t: he) I am to take notice of the Etbiopic " Characters, called by the Egyptians, ec Hieroglyphics* For the Make or Faihion

" of

( 77 )

" of them, they referable the Forms of all " forts of Animals 5 certain of the Parts " or Members of the human Body -y as " likewife different kinds of Mechanical <c Inftruments. For the Manner of Writ- " ing with the People I am fpeaking of is <c not by Words, but Things , which have " their tropical Senfes habitually affixed to " them in the Memory. Thus they de- " lineate a Hawk, a Crocodile, and a Ser- " pent ; A Man's Eye, Hand, and Face ; " With other Reprefentations of a like " nature. By a Hawk, which is a Bird " of remarkably fwift Flight^ they fignify " Svnftne/s, or Expedition at large. Which cc Quality, in the Thing or Perlbn under " Confideration with them, is by Ufe al- a mod as readily fuggefted to their Minds <{ by the Figure of this Animal, "as if it " had been exprelTed to them in Words. <c So a Crocodile is the Emblem of Ma-? tc lice. The Eye of Juftice and Vigilance. <c The Right Hand with the Fingers ex- " tended of Gain. The Left Hand clofed <c of Frugality. And the like is to be un- " derftood of all their other Marks. For " following with the Mind the natural <c Significancy of each Object, and having " their Memory and Attention well exer- <c cifed to this purpole, they come by de- *l grees to a re^dy and immediate Appre-

" henilon

e£ henfion of whatever is this way expreffed cc to them * ". You cannot but remark here, Philemon, (continued he) that the Hiftorian all along reprefents it as the Work of Time and Pains to acquire a Fa cility at Understanding this Emblem Lan guage. And indeed the obvious Imper fection in every refpect of the emblematic Character, compared with the way of Writing by Letters of an Alphabet, is to jne fuch a natural Demonstration, that Hieroglyphic sy as I faid before, " were both " prior in the Order of Time to Letters,

" and

sgi E ruv

uOij xaAou//.£y&cy iepQyXvfyixuiv pyj-njov*

TOWJV TOVS (A£V TUTTOUf UTTOCpyttV KVTUV

Sj xon otxporyoioti; avdpwTTWV,

CC TE/CT<m3tOI?' OH

TWV cruAAa|3wv ffwfi^erewf ^ 'yptx,y.[jtctTM'4 TOV VTroKtiptvov Xoyov aTToJi JWiv, aAA*

o?jv, xaj TOW fx TOU (rw/xarof TWV |«,oy, xat

o psy ouy

10 TO wOV TO'JTO TtoV T& T£ 0

^ea;, xat TSJ TOUTOJJ jis TOJ? uoyiwis - T»<s

Diod. Sic. Bib. Lib. III. p. 145.

( 79 )

" and introduced at firft merely for want " of them," that did not the wildeft Whimfies fometimes find their ferious Abet- ters, even amongft Perfons otherwife of good Underftanding, I mould be tempted to wonder, how the contrary Opinion to this could ever have met with any fenfible Ad vocate. Yet fo it has proved, Philemon ; " and the comparative neceffary Imperfec- " tion of Picture, to literary Characters— • " their want of Verbs and connective Par- " tides — - the fuppofed inaccurate Way of " writing them in the firft Ages, eafily " open to Miftakes of their Meaning — <f the obferved Intermixture of both forts " of Characters in remaining Egyptian " Monuments, the one inferted to help " out the defective Senfes of the other — . " (all of which I cannot but think ftrong " Arguments of Letters being lefs antient, " becaufe fo much more uj'eful than Hie- " roglyphics") are by an Author of no lefs Distinction than the knowing and ingenious Mr. Shuckford, in his " Connection of the " Sacred and Profane Hiftory" produced as Evidences on the quite oppofite fide of this Queftion *. In fuch very different Lights do different Perfons fee the fame Objects ! One farther Inftance of which, with regard to myfelf and this Writer, (for whom neverthelefs I have a juft Efteem)

I * See Shuck. Con. vol. II. p. 295-6.

1 cannot help remarking here, becaufe it feerns to me a very extraordinary one. " The Men of the firft Ages (fays he) " could much fooner invent and learn a " rude Character, than they could acquire ei Art enough to draw Pictures. And fc therefore fuch a Character, 'tis moft pro- <e bable, was firft invented and made ufe " of *." As if the mere Eafmefs of the Writing or Figuring part was all that was here to be confidered, and not rather, and principally, the Eafmefs of the Underftand- ing. For in this View furely, the Picture of an Animal diftinguimed by fome remark able Quality, tho' ever fo /'// drawn, would at leaft bid fairer to fuggeft to Mens Minds the Idea of that Quality, than a merely arbitrary Mark of the fame Quality can be fuppofed to do : The one kind of Subftitute relying wholly for its interpreta tion upon unaffifted Memory ; the other, (though I deny not but it was liable to be fbmetimes miftaken) having generally, as we may fay, Nature, as well as Art, on its fide ; fomething of an inherent Signi~ ficancy in it j an Aptnefs of itfelf to point out its particular Meaning.

TH is is a flrong Inftance (I interrupted) Hortenfius, of what I remember to have often heard you complain of, " Mens in-

" terpreting

* Sec Shuck. Con. vol. II. p. 296.

" terpreting Antiquity by modern Ideas.'* And it mews evidently the falfenefs of this Rule of Interpretation. The Author pro bably had his Eye upon Alphabetic Wri ting in his own time; of which though the Ufe be wholly founded in Memory, yet we are apt to think but meanly of a Man's Attainments, who is at a lofs to read and underftand his own Mother Tongue at leaft. And yet when one con- fiders how much time it actually takes up to teach a Child, or an abfolutely ignorant grown Perfon, the due Ufe of his Letters, even now that the Marks of them are ready

4

formed to his hands, with a Compendium which fome have thought fuper-natural — • that Instruction this way is reduced to Rale and Method — and moreover that Language itfelf is contrived with much arti ficial Affiftance to the Memory in the me chanical Structure and Competition of it — If this, I fay, be well confidered, Horten- JiuSj one {hall have but little to expect from an artlefs Multiplication of rude Cba- rafters, in equally rude Ages, towards car rying on any competent degree of literary Commerce amongft Mankind. In which way of Thinking one is not a little con firmed by reflecting, that in China, where this fort of rude Character is made ufe of, a Man is ranked, as we are informed., amongft the Learned, who under (lands a M moderate

( 82 )

moderate Proportion of Words only in the vulgar Language of his Country*. There is no quefHon therefore, I think, to be made, but that Hieroglyphics were the firfl Step Mankind gained towards Writing : Or, that the Original Way they had of commu nicating with one another at a diftance was, either by fuch a Picture, or Emblem-Cha racter, as you have reprefented.

NATURE (refumed he) Philemon •, the fureft Guide in all Queftions of Antiquity, if I have any Judgment this way, would fuggeft to them a Communication of this kind previoufly to any other. A Senti ment, which is confirmed by Fad:, as well as Reafon, if it be true, what fome Wri ters upon this Subject have alTerted to us, " that the original Famion of Letters with " the Egyptians" (a People amongft the firfl who ufed, if they did not invent an Al phabet)

* By all I can gather out of fo many Authors as have written of Cbina^ they have no Letters at ail, but only fo many Characters, expreffing fo many Words j thcfe are faid by fome to be Sixty, by others Eighty, and by others Sixfcore Thoufand. The Learning of China therefore confifts firft in the Knowledge of their Language. Sir W,Templi^ Works, Fol. p. 20 1. The Number of Letters they (the Cbi- nefe] ufe is excefiive — It is true he who can make good ufe of Twenty Thoufand is a good Scholar. Navarfttf's Account of the Empire of Ch'ina^ Book III. chap, ii. In Collect, of Voyages, &c. Vol. I. p. 131.

phabet) " was taken from the Forms, Mo- " tions, or Poftures of Animals before ap- Ct plied to Hieroglyphical Reprefentation *". Thus, for Inftance, the firit Letter of their Alphabet, 'tis faid, is only the Beak of the Ibis placed crofs-wife upon its two Legs : As their Delta is the Legs of the fame Ibis confidered together with the Line of the Earth which they include in ftanding upon it -(-. But to let this pafs, as a matter per haps more curious, than certain ; and with out entering farther into the Age of Hiero glyphic Writing 5 the Grounds of it, we have feen, are laid in " the practicable Sub- <c ftituticn of one Thing, for another, upon <c the account of a certain Similitude or " Analogy of their refpective Qualities : <c Of prelent, and vifible Objects for paft, " or diftant ones : Or, more comprehen- " fively, of Ideas of the Senfes, for thofe " of Memory or Underftanding." In which View of the matter, Philemon, the natural Conception, I think, which offers itfelf is, that in the Hieroglyphic, as in every other Species of Art, the eaiieft Productions were doubtlefs the firft : Or, that the moft firn- M 2 pic

* Invenimus primam literariim Egyptiarum <TTOI- %£iw<ny ex quatuordecim literis fuifle concinnatam, ut re&e quoque Clemens, Euftbius, caeterique tradunt, ^x facrorum Animalium forma, inceffu, aliarumquc corporis Partium fitibus defumptam. Kircher. Obe- life. Pamph. p. 125.

f See Kircher, as before.

( 84)

pie kinds of fymbolical Reprefentation are, generally fpeaking, to be efteemed the moil antient ones. Thus, of two of the Repre- fentations which the Egyptians are related to have made of a Month, the one " by *' a Moon with the Horns turned down- " wards, and the other by a Branch of the " Palm-Tree * -," that of the Moon, one cannot avoid thinking, muft have been firft brought into Ufe : It being much more obvious to obferve, " that the Moon to- " wards the end of her Period always ap- " pear'd in fuch a manner," which was the reafon of this Symbol 5 than, " that it was " the Nature of the Palm-Tree to put out a '• new Shoot precifely every Month," which was the Foundation of the other. So again, a Mole might much more eafily come to fignify Blindnefs -f- — Two Men joining Hands, Concord J — A Man armed, and (hooting Arrows, a Riot || — -Feet walking

upon

TO xarw

am«f ^«p»y (<Tta TO

OtpcOV TOV73 UOVC'V TxU ixAAcOV, XfliTOi T7jV tX.VXTOA.1ty TJ]f

c-fAjji1^;, ^u«y lU.y iysvy:-iy. Florap- Hierog. Lib. I. Hierog. 3.) SsA^vjjy Js iTrsc'Ttx.^ivriv £i? TO

fTTiihy (fijUlVj £V T>5 «V«TOAri TcTpOf TO aVCO TOiJ (TiU £7^rV'^Tir6iXl, £U C^f TH a/TO>i.pU-]/£<, £JC T

TO;? x£,5«j-i v.-ffiv. Horap. Hierog. lib. I. Hierog. *h Horap. lib. 2. Hierog. 63. t Lib. 2. Hierog. u. fj Ibid. Hierog. 12.

upon Water, an Impoffibility * — A Hog, a Perfon transformed by his Debaucheries into a Beaft -f- — or a Hawk upon the Wing, the fwift Courfe of the Wind J . — The Analogies in all thefe Inftances being of the moil iimple and ftriking Kinds — Than the the Number 1095, the Complement of Days to the Term of three Years, could come to fignify Silence, " becaufe a Child M which does not get the ufe of its Speech " in that time, never afterwards obtains " it ||." Or, a She-Panther to ftand for a concealed Villain, " becaufe that Animal <c hunts for its Prey fecretly, and keeps in (£ the Scent of its Breath, to avoid giving " the Creature it has a Defign upon any " fufficient notice of its Approach §." Or again, than a Man's never itirring out of his own Doors could be expreffed by an Ant, and the Wings of a Bat, " becaufe the

" Feathers

* Horap. lib. i. Hierog. 58. f Horap. Hierog. lib. 2. Hierog. 37. Lib. 2. Hierog. 15.

£V£V»>COI:T*

f(TTJ

7plCtXO'jl(j)V ttr'/lXOVTOt TZTEVTE ri[S.£C'jJV TQ'J fTO'Jf

TQq' t(p' ov %povov jwrj AaA^o-OT TO

wV •srctgonrsTrohcrfj.svov TJJ 3/Aw<r<nj. Horap. Hierog.

Lib. I. Hierog. 28.

§ AU^WTTOV £,w,(^wAfjovTa la-j-rw x«x»av, xat a?ro- laurov

xara^jc«JXTix.>iy ovtrav TWV aAAwv Horap. Lib. IL Hierog. 90.

( 86 )

*c Feathers of a Bat placed at the Entrance tl of an Ant's Neft keeps all the Ants ftricTty " confined there *." — Or laftly, than the Cucuba could be made the Emblem of Gratitude " becaufe it was obferved of " that Bird, that it took -a very particular <c Care of its aged Parents ; building them " a Neft in the fame Place where it had « been hatched and brought up itfelf ; " affifting them with its Beak at the time " of lofing their old Feaihers ; and fur- " mining them with Food till that Seaion " was over, and they were again able to " fuppoit themfelves -j-" — And yet, Phi- lemoji) the Analogies here concerned, are not, I afTure you, a fiftieth part fo refined, as numberleis others I could mention to you, upon which much of this Hierogly phic Language was founded. But I the rather inftance in the Particulars before us, becaufe they relate altogether to common

Life,

vgutrov ocirporov o

uwu T(£\> Ts-spuv ft? T'/JU v£o<r<riu.v TUM p'jgpv\KUV) ou -srco - ip%iTcii auTwi/ Tif. Horap. Hierog. Lib. 2. Hie- rog. 64,

•j" E'jp^aflKTTtay ypvtywris, xoux&'j?asy ga^Vfl^iUffk'

TOUTO jWOVOy TWW fi&AoJ'WV ^WW« STTHjJ'ay UTTO TWV

%apiy* «y w J^osp UTT aurwy tfcsTpottyri TOTTU VSOT- v aural? -nra;*i8-«?, TiAAsi aurwv ra wTipat^ rpofyxs rs fAEXfi? (^u TO-l£^o(|5u>i(ravT£? ot ^ov^ ftrSwfrw. Horap. Lib. i. Hierog. 5«[.

Life ; which was unqueftionably the firft Subject Mankind had occafion to write about.

So that (I interrupted) in the times we are fpeaking of, to be able to write and read well, Hortenjius, a Man muft have been a very tolerable Naturalift. Methinks, I cannot help obferving here, the learning one's Letters in thefe Days muft have been a far more agreable, as well as uieful Im- ployment, than it is in our modern Ages j fmce inftead of going to one's Horn-Book, or one's Primmer •, for the Character and Competition of A's and B's, the Scholar had the far nobler Volume of Nature before him ; and could not improve in Words without a correfpon- dent Progrefs in Things. 'Tis pity this double Improvement is not a little more con- fulted in modern Education. Language, we are very truely told, is the great Key to Knowledge 5 but as the matter is too com monly managed with us, 'tis really a great while before it opens any part of it to our Minds. How much time is by moft Peo ple in their Youth fpent in mere mecha nical Reciting, before any farther ufeful Information is fo much as thought of for them ! whereas, there is fomething of Fancy and Ingenuity in the firft Afpecl of the Hie-- roglypbic Science : in being able to improve every Object one meets with into an Inftru-

3 meat

( 88 )

ment of mutual Correfpondence -y and to make the mute, and even inanimate part of the Creation, thus fignificantly exprefs our Minds for us. I think this Art is now loft to the World. We hear indeed fome- times of Letters conveyed to Perfons at a Diftance by certain feathered Meffengers ; And a Dog, if I miftake not, in a late cele brated Inftance, was thought to fignify a Treafonable Correfpondence : But neither of thefe Cafes are at all equal to the Point in queftion. We feem to coniider the1 World of Animals as defigned wholly for grofTer Purpofes, than thofe of converfing by them ; unlefs now and then we fet them on talking and moralizing in a human Voice and Accent, and think proper to give a Lecture to our own Species under fome or other of their borrowed Forms.

THE Ingenuity, (returned Hortewfius] Philemon ', of the Hieroglyphic Art was in time the Ruin of it ; as it gave occafion to that total Abufe of the Inftitution of Sym bolic Writing, by which, what was intended to explain Mens Thoughts, became the moft effectual Means of perplexing them ; and what began in eafy and familiar Ufe, degenerated in conclusion into unintelli gible Myliery : inafmuch as Men of a more thoughtful and fpeculative Complexion grew by degrees to write fo much a&trve the com mon

( §9 )

won Level, as to be underilood by no body but themfelves. Which was more efpecially the Cafe, after the Hieroglyphics, as we thall fee, became facred ; and, from being practifed at firft in the humble Concerns of ordinary Life, were applied moftly to the higher Subjects of Science or Divinity. In the mean while, one Inconvenience which foon attended this Hieroglyphical way of Writing, and which doubtlefs affifted to the Abufe I have been mentioning, was the Number of equivocal Sen fes which the fame Word often had, grounded upon the diffe rent Qualities or Conceptions of the lame fenfible Reprefentation. Thus, as we learn from the fixth Hieroglyphic in the Collec tions of Horapolht " a Hawk was either '< the Sun, or Exaltation, or fome extraor- " dinary Fall, or Preeminence, or Blood, " or Vidlory. The Sun ; r;S being an Ani- " mal remarkably prolific, and long-lived ; " and moreover from its great Strength of " Sight feeming to be a kind of natural " Image of him. Exaltation; becaufe the " Hawk by his perpendicular Flight eafily <c rifes above any other Bird. Falling ; " from the quick and immediate Defcents " he is obferved to make from the greateft " heights. Preeminence; becaufe he is of a " fuperior Nature to other Animals of the " Feathered Kind. Blood ; becaufe that " is thought to be his Drink and Nourifli- N ment.

(C

(90 )

merit. Victory 5 becaufe he has the Art " to overcome any Bird who encounters ee him, though fuperior to him in Strength, " by turning himfelf upon his Back in the " Air, whenever he is in danger of being " worded by his Antagonift." So again the Hieroglyphic of the Beetle flood " for " any thing produced from a fingle Caufe ; " for Birth ; or the beginning to exift ; <c for the World ; a Father 5 and a Man." The Reafons may be feen in the tenth Hieroglyphic of the Author juft mentioned. In like manner the Vidtur was made to iig- nify " a Mother ; or Sight ; or a Boundary " of Land j or Prefcience ; or a Year ; or " the Heavens ; or Mercy ; or Unity j" as the fame Writer informs us in his eleventh Hieroglyphic.

THE being fometimes thus equivocal (faid I) is but a Defect which the Hiero glyphic Language has in common with moft other Languages ; efpecially, if the Orien- talifts are to be relhd on in this matter, with the more Antienc and Eaftern ones ; in v/hich, I am lure, the fame Word has often as many feveral, and fometimes widely different Meanings, as the moft complicated Hieroglyphic you can pitch upon. But the Context in fuch Inftances of both kinds is the Rule by which to alcertain the Senie : and in moft Cafes, I mould think, would

3 da

( 9' )

do it with tolerable Exactnefs. But after all, Hortenfius, it was but an idle fort of Oeco- nomy in the Coiners of this Hieroglyphic Language, to be thus frugal of their Words, when they had the whole compafs of Na ture in their power* to furnifh themfelves with a fufficiently copious Expreffion.

THEY were like other Framers of Lan guages, (replied he) more ftudious of Abridg ment than Perfpicuity ; and willing more over, I fuppofe, to fave the Trouble of writing more than was abfolutely necelTary. Tho', on the other hand, Philemon, if one confiders, a little Parfimony here is at leaft more excu fable than in Alphabetic Lan guage ; fince it was a far eafier matter for them to acquaint themfelves with the united Properties of the fame Objects, than to diftinguim to a fufficient Degree the appro priated Peculiarities of different ones. And yet again, upon fecond Thoughts, I know not, but it had flood them in almoft as lit tle Expence of Time and Obfervation, (and I am fure it had been a far more ufeful Application of both) thus to have inlarged in many Cafes their Stock of Words in this Emblematic Language, as it muft have done to contract them in the Method they have taken, by attending to fuch nice and intri cate Analogies of Objects to one another, as are the Ground of thefe Hieroglypbical N 2 Equi-

( 92 )

Equivocations *. Bat this, tho' it would have added greatly to the Uiefulnefs of Hi* eroglyphical Writing, would haven taken off much from the Myftery of it : An End, to which the Hieroglyphics came in time to be fo almoft univerfally applied, that many People have been led to believe they were originally invented for this very Pur- pofe j and that the Progrefs of them was not, as I have repreiented it, from common Life, into Subjects of Religion, but, on the con trary, from Religion, into common Life.

THE Courfe you have afligned them, ({aid I) is, I think, both the moft natural

in

*

vK; uty, on cc'jro'yfvs; I<TTI TO w0v

rrju 'yivta-w tirojeiTat'— — irsav o otp<rr,v n:ou$07roiri<raa'Qcut Eooq a.'

*yas XTTOU TO TOU

oejrog ^ap «TTO TOU a?rr/AiwTO'j gtf ' o Jt TWJ tzrriguv $fO[4W XTTO Ai,3o? ft? Ta'JT'/;v ouv T'^V atyevpow KXTOpvfcatf EIJ Ta;i f?rj Jiafjaj £jxo<r» ox/Co, fv oVaif xat

<T£Ar;i*>) ^UEai? ra <Jw&x«

B»AAf»* TauTnu 5^*^ T^

xa» JIAJOU, m ^e x«» J'c'Vti

' Horap.

Hierog. lib, I, Hierog. 10,

(93 )

in itfelf, and the moft fuitable to the known referred and involved Manner of the Egyp tian Priefthood ; who, had the Hierogly phics been originally a learned or facred Character only, would hardly, I perfuade myfelf, have fuffered them to be afterwards proftituted to common and ordinary Sub jects.

AN D yet, (returned he) in the Accounts we have of the Obelifks of Sefoftris and Rameffes, Perfbns who lived long after the Introduction of Symbolic, or Animal Wor- fhip into Egypt, we meet with Hierogly phics applied to very different Purpofes from Religious ones. Of two of thofe of the for* mer of thefe Princes, we are informed, that their Infcriptions fet forth, " the Extent of " his Power, the flouriming Condition of his " Revenue, and the Number of his Vic- <f tories-f-. " And, wherever he made any Conqueft, we are told, his Practice was to erect Pillars, upon which, together with o- ther Infcriptions proper to the Occafion, he left behind him, " certain obfcene Em- " blems of the manly or effeminate Tem- " per of the conquer'd Nation *." For

the

"t Ton fj.iryiQog Ttt

v. Diod. Sic. Bib. Lib. I. p 37. * Diod. Sic. Bib. Lib. I. p. 35,

(94)

the Infcriptidn of the famed Obeliik of* Rameffftj now ftanding at Rome, you are" not to be informed, Philemon, that it is of the Kind we are now fpeaking of; and yet we know from Hermapiorfs Tranf lation of it, that it is a mere Piece of ful- fome Panegyric to that vain Monarch ; fuch as gives one, I have often thought, a much more contemptible Idea of his Sub jects, than it does a great one of himfelf*. I am fenfible the learned Kircher condemns Hermapion's Tranflation here, as contrary to the whole Tenor and Genius of the Hie roglyphic Character ; which, as he tells us, " was never uled to record the Praifes " and Victories of Kings, but confined " wholly to ideal and intellectual Mat- " ters -(•." But Antiquity, a much better Judge doubtlefs in the Cafe, is unanimous in thinking otherwife : And this Author, 'tis well known, has his head fo full of the myfterious Wifdom of the Egyptians, that he will needs wreft every thing to fome recondite Meaning with them. As if a Darknefs, like that which was once provi dentially brought upon their Country, had univerfally fpread itfelf over their Under- ftandings ; and becaufe their Hieroglyphics

had

* Vide Am. Marcell. Lib. 17.

f Kirch. Obelifc. Pamphyl. p. 151, Doclrinam Hieroglyphicam, non Reg.um laudes & vi&orias concinere, fed folas res ideales & intelledtuales.

( 95 )

had too often an intricate In tendment, there fore they could never poffibly have an obvious one. But 'tis amuling enough to obferve, how Men will labor for a Favorite Hypothefis.

As the learned Author ( interpofed I) was fo determined, it feems, to afTert the every where high and important Con- ftrudtion of the Hieroglyphic Writing, I think he had fully anfwered his pur- pofe here, by confidering the Infcription we are fpeaking of as of a more raijed and dignified kind, from its relation to the Subject and Conduct of Majefty ; inftead of going thus again ft the Senfe of Antiqui ty, no lefs than that of the Tranilator, to fupport his recondite Syftem.

To fay the Truth, Philemon, (returned he) I have often thought the Monument in queftion, with thofe other Egyptian Monuments which remain to us, inscribed in the Hieroglyphic Character, to be fo far from Evidences of the univerfally fublime and myfterious Senfe of the Egyptian Hie roglyphics, that I would not deiire a Wron ger Evidence of the contrary : Inafmuchas they give us good Reafon to believe, that Hieroglyphics in their firft Inftitution in Egypt, were, as has been faid, nothing more than the Original Character, or com mon Writing of the Country ; which, ha ying obtained a Reverence from this very

Cir-

(96 )

Circumftance of its Antiquity, was for this reafon ufed in all Public Infcriptions, even after the Introduction of Alphabetic Wri ting for more ordinary and familiar In-* tercourfe. But however the Hieroglyphics may have been fometimes indifferently ap plied to Civil, or Sacred, fo they were but Public Ufes, 'tis time for us to confi- der them under the more diftinguimed Notion of a Religious Character or Expref- lion ; the only one, as has been before ob- ferved, in which they properly relate to our prefent Speculation. And here, amidft the leveral ridiculous, inadequate, or unna tural Accounts which have been given us of the Origin of Symbolic Worfhip in E- gypf, the Principles we have been eftablifh- ing will afford us, I think, the only true, however iimple a Solution of this Problem.

THE fimpler, (faid I) Hortenfms, cer tainly the more probable. The beginnings of Science never lie very deep : Subtilty and Refinement are laborious Operations, and require Time and repeted Thought for their Production.

You will obferve then, (proceeded he) that as Hieroglyphics with the Egyptians were the Original Writing of common Life, one of the Subjects, which would often occur to be expreffed by them, would be

Perfonal

( 97 )

Per 'final Characters. Accordingly in the * Collection of them by Horapollo^ we find certain char act eriftic Emblems appropria ted to exprefs almoit all the more common and ordinary Turns of the human Temper, and Paflages of human Conduit. Thus to lignify a Woman's continuing in her firft State of Widowhood, the Egyptians de- feribed a particular kind of a black Pidgeon *;' as they did a Swallow for a Man who had left all his PorTeffions to his Children -js To have been naturally of a meek and com- poled Difpofition, but provoked by ill Ufage, was reprefented by the Emblem of a Pid geon with its Tail erected J. To have deferted one's Family thro' Want, by that of a She- Hawk which had juft laid its Eggs || . The attempting things beyond a Man's Ability, was fignitied by a Bat **. The having brought Inconveniences upon himfelf, by a Beaver *-J4. The being ir- refolute and unequal to himfelf, by an Hyaena * J. When they would characte rize any Perfon who had never been out of his own Country, or District, they figured O him

* Horap. Hierog. Lib. 2. Hierog. 32.

f Ibid. Hierog. 31.

% Ibid. Hierog. 48.

|| Ibid. Hierog. 99.

** Ibid. Hierog. 52.

*f Ibid. Hierog. 65.

*t Ibid. Hierog. 69*

him with the Head of an Afs *. When a Fuller, two Feet ftanding in Water -j*, The being of a morofe, unfociable Spirit, was emblematically expreffed by an Eel J. The having lived to a good old Age, by a dead Raven ||. A reformed Debauchee, by a Bull tied to a wild Fig-tree **. A gluttonous Perfon, by a Scare-nm *•)-. A Murderer brought to Repentance by Punimment, by a Fork-fim taken with a Hook * J. This Article, Philemon, might be infinitely in- larged, and the Analogies in every In (lance dif tinclly noted and explained ; but it would take up too much of our Time, and is the lefs needful, after what has been already difcourfed of the general Nature of the Hieroglyphic Writing.

You may proceed in your own Method (faid I) Hortetifius 5 I cannot but fay I could have ibme Pleafure in having thefe feveral Analogies pointed out to me ; but perhaps this is not the place for them : And I would not give you more Trouble than is necef- fary, or divert you too much from the principal Scope of our Inquiry.

THE

* Horap. Hierog. Lib. I. Hierog. 23.

t Ibid. Hierog. 65.

j Lib. II. Hierog. 103.

il Ibid. Hierog. 89.

** Ibid. Hierog. 77.

*f Ibid. Hierog. 109.

*J Ibid. Hierog. j 12.

f 99

THE Emblems (refumed he) I have hi therto mentioned, might be applicable to many different Perfbns, as relating all along more to the Character concerned, than the particular Subject of it. Perfbns However of more eminent Rank and Confideration with the Egyptians, had, we mutt fuppofe, as the Reafon of the Thing required, their more diftinguijhing and fdf -appropriated Emblems affigned them. Thus, Taau- tusy or the Egyptian Mercury, is by San- chviatbo faid to have exprefied the Cares ana Vigilance of Magistracy, in the Perfon cr j> ;<••», " by an Image of him with ^ it r Eyes, two before, and two behind, <f tis like wife two clofed, and two open, in *' his H-ad ; and with four Wings, two <c expanded, and two lying flat upon his " Shoulders : The Symbol of the Eyes " fignifying, that Saturn in the Admini- ** ftration of his Authority, was often to fee, *' what he appealed not to fee ; and often

<c to wink at whac he manifeftly faw

" That of the Wings ; that Saturn was <c often to have Intelligence of what paf- " fed, even where he could not be pre» <c fent at it ; and often to feem ignorant " of what he was nevertheless fully ao *' quainted with * ". I am aware, Phile mon, you may think this Reprefentation a C 2 little

* Eufcb. Praep. Evangel. Lib. I. p. 39. Ed. Par.

( 100 )

little too refined for fo early an Age as that of 'Taautus. I do not therefore infill here on its being litterally his Invention ; (for I am fenfible he has the Credit of many In ventions afcribed to him, which were none of his) but mention it only as an liluftra- tion of the more confined perfonal Hie roglyphic. Poffibly, the Symbol of Mer cury himfelf, which was that of the Dog, was of an earlier Introduction, as it is a much fimpler Inftance in the fame Kind : " Not, ' *c fays Plutarch upon this Occaiion, that the " Egyptians efleemed Mercury to refemble " a Dog in any proper Senfe of the Word, *£ but their Meaning here was only to ap- " ply to him the guardian, watchful, and <c diiiinguiihing Quality of that Animal," founded upon certain analogous Circum- jdances of his Hiftoric Character -J-. In the fame way of thinking, we find that Pan^ one of the Companions of OJiris in his foreign Expedition, was reprefented by a Goat J ; as was Jupiter •, the Father of

OfiriSt

TO 'jAaxuxov, v.xi TO a'ypwTrmv^ x«t TO

^VW<T£» KOil OfyWiZ TOV QiXo'J 'AOil TO f^-

o IlAaTwv, TW Aoj/iwTaro) 3"?uv <TLDo»>cs(OU(r(' Plut. de If. & Of. p. 355. TruQo-j<ri $£*c!7i xai j/Au^pu^i 01 ^wJ/^aCpoi xat TOD fla/jo?, y.ctTxtrtp EAAljBlf, TW- f^. Herod, lib. 2." cap. 46.

Ofiris, by a Ram * ; and Tyfhon, his pro-. feiTed Adverfary and Murderer, by an Afs, a Crocodile, and a River or Sea-Horfe : The firft, as Plutarch's Remark in the cafe is? the moft ftupid of all the tamer Animals ; the other two, the fierceft and moft mif- chievous of all the wilder ones -f-. For the original Grounds of the two Symbols of Jupiter and Pan, Antiquity has not, that I know of, fatisfactorily explained them to us. Our great Countryman Sir I/aac New ton is of opinion, that the one only Signi fied Jupiter to have conquered Libya, a Country abounding with Sheep + ; and the other, that Pan was a Perfon much ad dicted to Dancing ||. But from the After- Application we meet with both of the Symbol and Character of Pan in the My- thclogic Ages, I have been Sometimes tempt ed to fufpeft, that the Goat, in his Cafe, had, even from the firft Ufe of it, a quite other Intendment than is here reprefented ; and either Signified him to have been of a

very

* Kcio7rpo<7W7rov rw^atyta TCU AJOJ uToifJcrt Ai- J/u7r7ioj. Ibid. cap. 42.

f A7rOV£/XO'J(T*V K'JTU ^TW Tu(f>WVl) TWV ?ljU,££>WV ^WWV

roy ajj.xQsvrx.TOv ovcv, TWV <5f a.'yfiuv 3"//pico^ETTaTa, jMOXb^wAov, xai TOV 7zrcTa(«»oy t'mrw. Plut. dc If. & Of. p. 371,

J The Chronology of ancient Kingdoms amend- pd, p, 226.

|| The Chron. &c. p. 227.

f 102 )

very faladous Complexion, or the Father of a very numerous OrTfpring *. Such however being the general Practice of the Egyptians, " to fignify as well Men, as " Things, under certain Jenftble Emblems, " you will eafily conceive how Ofiris, the great Father of Agriculture to the Egyp tians, ihould come to be reprefented by them, as we find he was, under the Fi gure of a Bull or an Ox, the very Animal he had firfl; made ufe of for this valuable Purpofe -f- : As aifo how Ifes fhould be fig- nified by the Figure of a Cow J ; boi:h for the part fhe had contributed towards Agri culture in the firfl diftinction of Grain •, as like wife more emphatically, 'tis probable, for her having taught either the^fr//, or the more improved Ufe of theCo w's Milk : Which

I

" Grru J; £!y£>:a rotsuTov J'p&^ovm etvrov {rov ITava} o'j ju.o» ri?',w fxr* Af^fiv. Herod. Lib. II.

* rr* $ ^

t'.io jo. I O'J ft Tftwyov apitnitoffttv CIXTO 'yijimx.oj

» «»|X. 4^ ._ / /

^XOCJOV* TO tS fJ-O^iO'J TO'J 6.,fAU.TO$ TO *"/)? y>£^f(7£WJ GtllWJ

vvj rrtg Tio f :.\'-:v (pvwaj- Diodor. Sic. B.b. 1. I.

-j- Tsu? os Ttsuaovj TOV^ Jcoouf TijtAiSitrQat •arapaTrA)}- <rtcof TO;; S'joj-;, Qjiwtc'oj' xaT^Jfi^avrsf, a^os jf x<a:t

r;f KvowTx TO-J KMvx.. Diodor. Sic. Bib. Lib. L

P- 79-

t Vid. Plut. de If. & Of. p. 372.

I collecl: from one of thofe Dramatic Ce remonies we were (peaking of, in the £- gyptian Religion, inftituted, I perfuade myfelf, in honor of this Invention, which is mentioned by the Sicilian Hiftorian, to have been pradifed in a certain Ifland of the Nile ; where the Priefts, as he tells us, appointed to this Service, " filled every " Day three hundred and fixty VeiTels with " Milk, near one of the fuppofed Places " of Interment of OJtris and Ifis, lament- <e ing, and calling upon their Names * ". And now, Philemon, we are upon the ve ry Confines of a Symbolic Theology. For the Figure of a Ball, as we fay, having been the Egyptian Emblem of their beloved OJiris, a Proportion at leaft of the regard due to himjelf\ would, even in his Life

time,

roc.

T« TOUTWV TWV -fCOV, aAA £7TJ TWU OfUV T»f

y.xt TK AtywrrloVy X&TK rnv ey TWU NftAw

T«UTTJ

TOLITOV x£j^-v3? ftViovTot, xou TpiaxocTiaf ^oa;* ^ xaS-' Ixatrrw npc^xv )/aAax7o? TOUTOI? T»^9fUTaj «p£J?, xai S^ufi ra TWV 5fwy ovof4ccrx. Diod. Sic. Bib. Lib.

I. p. 19. TOVS & T&vfovs rovg «^ou?, rov re

fAtvov Aww, xa< TO; M^uv, Oj-j^tJ

xat Tourouf (Tf^fo-flat xaOaTr^ 5«ouf, xojv?

*** 3r#c-»v A»^u7r]io;f. Diod, Sic. Bib, Lib, I. p. 19.

104

tinle, doubtlefs, devolve upon this his pri- vileged Subftitute. But when, after his Death, he came to be Deified^ the Mat ter foon took a much higher turn : What before was grateful Refpedt, now grew up into Religious Reverence. His Symbol was no longer that of a Man, but a God-, till, by degrees, the Devotion of weak Minds e- ver inclining towards a fenfible Prefence, and Ofiris having left nothing fenfible behind him, upon Earth at leaft\ but his Benefac tions, and his Symbol, the vifible Repre- fentation took place of the invifible De mon-, and what had been for ibme time the Standing Expreffion of his Character, became at length the favourite Instrument of his Adoration. You fee, Philemon, e- ven yet, tho' there was too much of Reli gion in the Cafe, there was nothing of My- itery ; the Matter was neither more, nor lefs, than what the moil vulgar Romanlfts pradtife at this very Day, when to do ho nor to a fuppofed tutelar Saint, they ig- norandy fall proftrate before his Image. But tho' the Foundation of this Symbol- woriliip was not originally laid in any my- fterious Speculation, it gave birth however in time to a great deal ; inafmuch as the Hiftoric Gods of the Egyptians were by no means the only ones, who had the Privi lege of this Reprefentation by Animals 5 but the Notion was by degrees extended to all

their

their various Syftem of Phyfical Divinities. In the mean while, is it not, think you, the more natural Progrefs of things in this, as in all parallel Subjects, from what is eafy and obvious, into what is abftrufe, and recondite, than, on the other hand, from difficult and myfterious, into fimple, and familiar Principles ?

UNDOUBTEDLY (faid I) Hortenjius. 'Tis one of the moft felf-evident Things imaginable. I am really furprifed you mould afk me the Queftion. No Man in his fober Senfes can think otherwife.

You are too apt (returned he) to judge of other Peoples way of Thinking by your own. What fay you to Mr. Shuckjord's Authority in this point ? He is both a Scho lar, and a Man of Senfe : and yet he is clearly againft us in this whole matter ; and has publickly declared for the direct con trary Opinion. But this is not the only Inftance in which this Author has facrificed Probability to Syftem, and given up Na ture, in order to fervc, as he imagines, the Qauie of Revelation.

BUT how (I interrupted) is that at all

mterefted in the matter we are confidering ?

It feems to me a mere Point of Antiquity,

or Curiofity, in which mQdtrn Syftems of

P Belief

196

Belief at leaft can have no manner oi Cpncerri.

I WILL expla,ne this Affair to you, (laid he) Philemon. You 'know it is a favorite Topic with many of our Divines to depre ciate Reafon^ the better to eftablim the NecefTuy of what is called Faith with them. Now nothing can caft a greater Reflection upon Reafon, than to fuppofe that fo wild and extravagant a Doctrine as that of the

v ' i " ' * *

Emblematic Theology had its immediate Rife from this Quarter 5 or that the origi nal Practice of Brute- Worfhip in Egypt was a Refult of pretended Speculation, and a more refined Philofophy. Accordingly, our Author would perfuade us to think, that the Origin of paying Religious Wor fhip before fome Animal Reprefentation in Egypt was fo far from having any Rt> ference to O/iris, or the other Hiftoriy Deities of the fame Age, (for they had all of them, I would pbferve here once for all, their confecrated Symbols, as we'll as he) that it was a Practice with the J$fflpti$n% Ages before the Deification of thele Heroes vvas fo much as thought of. Nay, that the very Grounds of their applying religious Symbols to their Hero-Deities were laid in a p'reeftablifhed Ufage of this kind with regard to their natural ones. " The firft ^ Step (fays he) the Egyptians took, aftt^r

" " they

io7

" they worfhipped the Luminaries of itea- c< ven, was to dedicate fome living Crea- " ture to each particular Deity, and to <c worfhipthat Deity before fuch Creature^ " of the Image of it *." If you afk, how they fell into this Practice, which to our Apprehenfion feems, it is confeffed, odd and hiimonrfome , the Anfwer is, " Their " Speculation and Philofophy led them into " it." When had they deferted the fure Guidance of Tradition, " they quickly fell " from one Fancy to another." And hav ing once thought the Lights of Heaven to b'e the Gods th'at governed the World, " they <c in a little time apprehended thefe Gods " to have made the living Creatures of " the Earth more or lefs Partakers of IC their Divinity and Perfections;" in order to convey a Knowledge of themfelves to Mankind -f-. I know not, Philemon, had our Author lived in Egypt in the Ages we are fpeaking of, in how little a time he might have come to apprehend this ; but I am fure it would have coft me a great deal to do it : fince, in the Light it is here placed in, it appears, I muft confefs, to me, one of the leaft obvious Apprehen- iions imaginable. For,- as the Qneftion is well put by the learned Writer himfelf,-

P 2 « Of

-,j(--V • fr!v* fjv/n •j**j->'i

* Skuckfonrs Con. Vol. II. p. 278, 279.

t Shuck. Con. Vol, II, p. 279, 280,

" of what ufe can the Figure of a Beaft " be, to raife in Mens Minds Ideas of the " fidereal Deities * ? " Or, if on the other hand the PafTage from Luminary to Brute- Worlhip be indeed fo quick an one, as was juft now reprefented, it will ever be a De- fideratum with me to conceive, whence it came to pate, that no other Nation we are acquainted with befides the Egyptians, how much foever it might rival them in one of thele Articles of their Idolatry, ever did fo in the other 2 But their Philofophy, it ieems, was as fingular in this Cafe, as their Practice j neither of which could enter into the head of any People but themfelves. \\

i'j i- y}!j5*1/;fl <-i" " 'J OX-'.} i"'iliV'{ 3'i' '

IT was a kind of local Infatuation (laid I) I fuppoie, with them j a Diftemper of their Soil and Climate j a Species of Delu- iion which could only have its Production in this chpfen Land of abject Superftition. Or, poffibly, after all, it was fome Influ ence of their Stars tbemjehes : fome fingu lar Afpeet.jof thefe Luminaries, which never took place but this once, and that only within the Horizon of Egypt, that gave birth to this wonderful Phenomenon -t and by certain fecret Intimations to their Worshippers fuggefted this unufual Mode of their own Idolatry. You

* Shuck. Con. Vol. II. p. 279; .

iO9

You would have made an excellent Egyptian, (returned he) Philemon, to have talked at this rate of occult Reafons, and fecret Communications. You have here, I believe, ftruck a Note of Refinement in behalf of Animal- Worfhip beyond any of its profeffed Apologifts in Antiquity. Had you hit off fuch a Defence of it in Egypt, in the Times of this Superftition, I almofl fancy you would have had a whole College of her Priefts to wait on you with the Compliment of Initiation, even without tha Trouble of its preparatory Ceremonies. In the mean while, I, who love Nature much better than Viiions, am for acquitting both the Country and the Stars of Egypt in this Matter, and for tracing out the Source of Brute- Worfhip in the Egyptians themfelves. It had its Derivation, I make no queftion, from the Practice of their common, and above all their perfonal Hieroglyphics : and > mftead of faying with Mr. Shuckfcrd here, " that the Ufe of Animals amongft the " Egyptia?is for Images of their Deities " introduced an analogous Practice in their " Pictures of Men * ;" I would fay rather (and with much greater Probability, I think) w that their Hieroglypbical Manner of re- " prefenting to one another the Perfons and " Characters of Men gave Rife to an ana-

" logous

I Shuck. Con» Vol. II» p. 308, 309.

f

" logous Ufage with relation to their Gods." For, to mention; Philemon, fome few of their Reprefentations in each kincU-Was it not a much more eafy and natural Thought, for them to fignify Ofiris, the Father of Tillage, by the Figure of a Bull — Or Ifisy who taught them either the firfl Ufe, or the Improvement of Cows Milk, by that of a Cow— -Or Mercury the faithful Friend, and prudent Counfellor of them both, by the Watchful nefs and Sagacity of the Dog ? — Than it was " to fancy the " Hawk paid a natural Homage to the Sun, " and was an appofite Symbol of him, be-' " caufe it is the only Bird, which can in- " dure a ftrong Light without Pain ; can " foar directly againft the Sun-beams ; and <c is obferved fometimes to fly in a fupine " Pofture, looking freely and {readily to- " wards Heaven, and towards the Eye of « him who fees all Things * ? "—Or, to think of reprefenting the Moon by a Cat,

" becaufe

rov uetxa A^oX^wjiri^v toi>i!z<rt'

«£t, EV T^.IJ «>tTKrt ro'j yXkQ'j ^ai'iw? *.&(

XXI (LtTWTrOVUEl'OJ TJXKTTfit* 7TO-

CtUM Ti TW KVUTOiTU *«0"i, X.«l aoTOU1? '/) £i

yjfi/' xat av«7raA»v xsu TO* sr£T£<r9at row tf-

caxa oi iWs," (pacrtu wj £ ujaj nfoirra' fva TOI Tiroo? rov bupavcv opa, x^j izrcoj rbv •sr

Animal, Lib. X. cap. 13.

( III )

" becaufe of the fpotted Skin of this Animal ; " its imploying itfelf moftly in the Night- " time j and haying the Pupil of its Eye " inlarged, or contracted, according to the " IVJoon's Increafe or Wane*?" — Or again, to image the fame Luminary by a Dog, " becaufe the young ones of this Species <c are blind thirteen Days from their Birth, <c which is the exa<5t Number of the Days " in a Year, on which the Moon gives <e abfolutely no Light -J- ? " I might go on to inftance in the Rams being he!4 facrcd totheSiun, as the great Lord of Life, " from '< its being obferved tp reft the fix Winter ',' Months of the Year, upon its left Side, " and the other fix" (the Seafon in which both the animal and vegetable World is in its moft profperous and flourishing State) " upon Jts r^ght j changing its Pofture pre- */ cifely at the time of the autumnal and

u vernal

' Tw fe atXc^w amirlovTs; Trp ff'fAriviiu fi& r6 ov, KXI wxrovc'o'j KHI svtxoy TW ev T6

sv ratj |W,fj^<rftri Toy aoTcoii* IMut. de If. & Of. p. 376.

•" T« <rxuAaxta TjXx, Ttx.Tfraj, xa» o-Jx ooa rr;

TW •sra'fj rwf^ orav xai )7 <re-

ou ^aiu'fi vntluQ* ^ian. Hi ft.. Animal. Lib. X. cap. 45.

( "2 )

et vernal Equinoxes *."• — Or, in the Ape's being confecrated to the Moon, as " having ct a natural Sympathy with her ; inat " much as at the time of her Congrefs with ** the Sun," the part of her Period in which with refpecl to the Earth me is totally dark, " the Male Ape becomes blind ; refufes " its Food ; and hangs down its Head to- " wards the Ground, as regretting the tc Abfence of the Moon's Light ; the Fe- u male Ape at the fame Seafon, betides all " this, fuffering a peculiar and periodical c< Infirmity of her own -j-." — Or, I might take notice to you of - ^But the mat ter is, I dare fay, already too evident, to need any farther Illuftration..

As

* Axo'Jw ran xptoy TO t^uov tfc pyvuv rctv fttiu.spm- TM? acKTTSfce,; -s:\s'jox,q y.it7$oti xat xa-

itucwv, QTXV auToy ctioii y.xi -srsoiXxx'jsi wuo;' tx. TTO. til TY,; tapjvr,? icrr,utct»s E^

lian. Hift. Animal Lib. X. cap. 18.

•\ SfArjww 'ypxtpwTs; ( At^'jT ypa,(&ov<ri' ETrsuJV) TO ^woy Tovro (rviAiratux.* TIVCC

TOTS 0 (J.VJ KfWJ XWOXi^Otof OU |3AE7Tf»,

T?)j CTtATj-jy;; aoTraJ/jp* 51 <£ -»jA£»a jtxfTa rou

Jtat TauT« TW «5«yj urao'^jtv, fTt «Jf xai ft

TTJ? itTt^; (pjo-fwj a^aac-o-£T«i' Horap. Hierog. Lib. I. Hierog. 14.

A s much a Myftlc (interpofed I) Hor~ tenfitts, as you was pleafed jufl now in Rail lery to paint me to yourfelf, believe me, I am very ready to defcend with you out of the airy Regions of Fancy into the fafer Paths of plain Nature ; and can without difficulty give up both my Hypothefis, and Initiation, to enter into fuch a rational and fatisfactory Sentiment of Things, as you have here laid before me.

THERE is (refumed he) this farther Argument for the prior Date of Heroic Symbols to Phyfical ; that the firfl natural Divinities of the Egyptians, the Sun, Moon, and Stars, were all of them Objects capable of a direct Reprefentation to Senfe by way of Pitiure, or pi^cris of the Things them- felves : which, as it is in itfelf the moil obvious kind of Reprefentation of any Ob ject, would doubtlefs take place with the Egyptians, wherever it was practicable : aCircumftance, which muft have precluded, it mould feem, the Ufe of Symbols with regard to their natural Gods, till fuch time as, from the Application of them in the Worship of their civil Gods, the emblematic Turn of Thinking in Religion was grown to be the popular and prevailing one. And indeed, to (hut up this Subject, Pbilemony had the Symbolic Worfhip of Nature been introduced in Egypt, as Mr. Sbuckford

ever

( "4 }

every where maintains it was, before either {\\cjymbolic, or the proper Worihip of her antient Heroes, I queilion much,, whether this latter Species of her Idolatry had ever been heard of. For it feems to me a little unlikely, that, after the Egyptians had ac quired fuch an exquifite Sagacity in Think ing, as to be able to represent to themfelves, as we may fay, the whole Creation in Em blem, they mould find any Temptation to idolize fuch comparatively low and humble Efforts of human Genius, as the Invention of the firft fimpler Arts and Accommoda tions of Life.

THE true Rife therefore of Animal- Wormip in Egypt was, doubtlefs, of a much humbler Kind than Mr. Sbuckford has re- prefented. <c It was originally only the %{ Worlliip of the antient Heroes of the " Egyptians, exalted by them after their u Deceafe to the Character of Gods, thro' " the Medium of that particular Animal-' " Reprefentation, which had been ufed in <{ Hieroglyphic Writing to diftinguifh their " feveral Perfons as Men." But the mat ter, however it might begin, did not, we ffod, reft here j for the Idea of a certain Divine Prcfmce having once grown into an eftablimed Connexion with the Image or Portrait of a certain Animal^ it was eafy Superftition or Artifice to improve upon

this

( "5 )

this Hint -j and to have it believed, that the God, who was thus conceived of as my- ftically prefent to his Worfhippers in the dead Image, might fometimes vouchfafe to become fubftantially fo in the living Animal in Kind : a Notion, which accordingly pre vailed in time with the Egyptians to fuch an extravagant degree, that there was fcarce a Species of Animals in their Country, ibme Individual whereof had not Divine Honors paid it, as the Temple of fome or other of their Gods *. One of the moil celebrated of thefe Brute-Divinities was the Apis : " A God," as Lucian humoroufiy defcribes him, " from out of the Herd-f- ;" Or, in other Words, a Bull confecrated to O/insj whofe firft Diftindion from his Fel lows was probably nothing more, than his fuperior Size or Beauty ;£ ± though it was afterwards improved into his having a fupernatural Conception, together with feveral Myflie Enjigm of a Divine Charac- Q_2 ter,

*

rcc

'

TtTECl TtX «0«, Xa> ('/) KM TXUi' AtyW I1)? O'J p.O.\O, S'?)-

piw^r)? ETTJ, rot, Jf foira o~(pj aTravra >p« vsyoa.Krrat* Herod. Lib. II. cap. 65.

•f- Ea-rt ^£ o ATTK t% oc'y^.ric Stec" Lucian. de Sacrif. ap. Fin.

^ IIoAu xaAAjcop xat ctpvoTfoog TWJ I$MTUV Bscev". Ibid. *O <?£ 'HAiw avaxEi^evo? vj 'HAjo-j aroAft xa- Ao'jjt/.fvo? MvfJtr, Bouv ftrrj fj.fyivTGf, cfyoopoe, /AfAa--. 3Porph ap. Eufeb. Praep. Evang. Lib. 111. cap. 13.

ter,- to the Number, in flLliaris Time, of twenty-nine: in virtue whereof, he was conftituted not only, what we fometimes find him called by the Egyptians, (and what alone, I perfuade my felf, was their firft Idea of him) " the beautiful Image " of the Soul of Ofiris * ;" But, by a flili higher Privilege, the Image of the greateft part of their natural Deities at the fame time -f-. But thefe, Philemon, I pafs over at prefent, both, as they belong rather to the fubfequent part of our Inquiry ; and, as they were, pail queftion, Appendages to the original Superftition of the Apis j a mere Contrivance of the Egyptian Prieft-

hood*

ii; rjuoslo-j twjcc ^e^ vopiiiv T»J£ i^yog xj^p^';' Plut. de If. & Of. p. 362. -f '©fcj Ai}<J7r1i3tJ tvz.e'ytGTtx.To; o ATTJ? uv<xi jcrt- vsrui' 'ywzrzi as ex. Boo? £t? "M cupayiov

(TTt TW

V OTO-J a,£j 1

7Zl IKZVOl' V.UA "yOif TCI KM T'ffJ (ZVOJGV Ty\> TOU

vVo^Aouy o"^£K>y (pa<7J, K*t TO TOU aAA' oi^£i Tt xat (ru^QoAov, cJj tscsiv

oVspO'JV Gd'JirllT&l TOU dpcOTO? £lVOSt TO

TO pwoitStq rris (reX

aAAo* 3c«i aAAa 'E ETTJ TOU- T£ x

Hift. Auimal. Lib. II, cap. io.

hood, to get the Times of his Appearance, (for, I mould obferve to you, he was not always fuppofed to be prefent in Egypt) into their own hands $ and to have the making, as occafion might offer, of one of the chief Objects of Worfhip in their Country.

AND a very artful Contrivance too, (faid I) Hortenfius, for the Ends of Prieftly Ambition and Emolument 5 as we have but too good Proof iii the Hiftory of modern Superftition : whofe Matters, you know, throughout great part of Cbrijlendom, have adopted this God-making Policy of the old Egyptian Hierarchs; which they accord ingly practife frequently with equal Impu dence, and Succe£>, in the Face of devout Multitudes, who, from an aweful Senfe of their high Prerogative in this matter, are inflaved into a blind Submiflion to their Authority in every other.

BEFORE we have fini (lied our prefent Subject, (returned he) Philemon, you will find this is by no means the only Inftanee of Plagiarifm in modern Superftition, from antient. Prieftcraft, it mould feem, was a Sci ence very foon brought to its Perfection in the World. It is obierved of Arts in general, you know, that they never fail to flourifh under a proper Incouragement : a Hap-

pinefs,

( "8 )

pinefs, which the Art we are fpeaking of in particular could never want, as far back wards in Hifrory as there was any fach thing as devout Weaknefs in human Nature. It carries indeed, in distinction from all other Arts, its immediate Recompence in its own hands : fince, whoever has Addrefs enough to cheat People of their Liberties and their PofTeffions by applying himfelf to their Fears is fure of being a fufficient Gainer by his Profeffion. But, to return from the political Application of Brute- Worfhip, to the original Institution of it ; for the pre- cife ^ra of thefe Animal-Gods in Egypf, we have little more than Conjecture to truft to in this matter. The Egyptian Chro nology, you may remember, fecms to have determined the time of the Coniecration of the Apis to the Reign of GeacboSt the tenth Succefibr in th^ T-kiriite Government. If the ApH WdP, as I am much inclined to believe, the fir ft Inftance of a Brute-God amongjflt the Egyptians^ the time here fixed for his Confecration falls in, as I ob- ferved to you in our laft Converfation, with the Age of Suphis at Memphis ; whole general Character may make it not improbable, that he was the Author of this Fancy. Whether Suphis was more a Devotionalift, or a Politician, I know not ; but he had, we find, a Head much turned to Religious Subjects : and, from the extra- i ordinary

Ordinary Acquaintance he is faid to have had with the Gods, muft have understood, no doubt, beyond any of his Contemporaries^ the Modus of their Divine Prefence.

WHICH was the Secret, (faid I) I fup- pofe^ he delivered down to his SuccefTors in Religious Politics in that Sacred Book

\j

you mentioned him to have been the Au-

J

thor of, a Depofitum, it feems, whereby his Memory became fo fingularly indeared to them, that they could not let it pafs through their hands to After- Ages without entering a particular Teftimony of their Obligations to him upon this account.

yet perhaps (returned he) the Se^ cret, Philemon , was all this while nothing more, than that of humoring the Bials of popular Weaknefs ; fubmitting to govern the Multitude upon their own Terms > and leaving them to the Impreflions of a falie Species of Religion, as thinking them not fit to be trufted. with the Principles of a truer one. I inquire not into the Merits of fuch a way of Thinking; all I ob- ferve is, that it feems to have been the general Sentiment of more knowing An tiquity in the Point. And of this kind, I make no queftion, was the Egyptian Brute- Worfhip : not originally a Deduction of their Philofophy ; (for then the Greeks,

who

( iao )

who learnt to Philofophize in Egypt, would have fallen into the fame PraSice) but a mere local Accommodation to vulgar Pre judices 5 which, when they had taken too deep Root to be removed without hazard, as might be apprehended, to better Things, the Learned, as their manner feems to have been in all parallel Cafes, endeavoured to jufl tify as well as they could 3 and to give them the beft Colorings they were capable of. For indeed the Belief of Animal-Gods in Egypt was an Error of too great Confequence to the Priefthood, not to deferve all the Countenance they could give it -, nor need we doubt, but the Wifclona of this Order would find fomething to fay for itfelf upon fo intere fling an Occafion. And here, as I take it, came in firft the Phikfopby of reprefenting, as Mr. Shuckford well exprefles the matter for us, C£ the Gods to have made " the living Creatures upon Earth more or " lefs Partakers of their Divinity and Per- <c feclions, in order to convey a Know- "' ledge of themfelves to Mankind : " a Notion, which, as the fame learned Writer remarks, " Men of the niceft Inquiry pre- " tended to fupport by many curious Ob- " fcrvations upon particular Kinds of Ani- <£ mals*:" inibmuch, that Porphyry affures us, it came in time, upon this Principle, to be afTerted l>y them, " as from a more

" intimate * Shuck. Con. Vol. II. p. 279, 280,

*: intimate Knowledge of Divine Matters,

fc that fdme Animals had fo near a rela-

tf tion to certain of the Gods, as to be

<{ even dearer to them than Mankind itfelf ;

" as Was (they maintained) the cafe of the

" Havvk in refpedt to the Sun, from a

"" fuppofed Analogy of its Temperament

" to that of the Sun's Body *.'*

THIS was a Strain of Refinement indeed (faid I) Hortenfius. But after all I do not much wonder to find the human Species in Egypt funk fo low in the Eftimation of their fpiritual Matters, confidcring that they converfed with Mankind altogether in their Foibles 5 and found them capable of being made Tools to their feparate Intereft and Ambition, by entering into fuch abject and illiberal Sentiments of Things.

THE ftanding fo high (refumed he) in the Favor of Heaven, as in the Inftance here mentioned, was the Lot only of fome few privileged Animals : or rather, proba bly, was an occafional Compliment in the hands of the Prieithood, to be beftowed R

* Ex r»if treat TO S'tio

rwu ctv

Porph, de Abftinentia, Libk IV,

here and there, upon certain fpeciaj Emer* gencies. However this might be, the ge neral Plea for Animal-Worfhip, as ibon as the Learning of Egypt had ingaged in the Patronage of it, was> as has Ipeen faid, <c the relation which the feveral kinds -of " confecrated Animals had to fome or other " of the Gods, in quality of Emblems, or " Jenfible Reprefentations, of their divine " Powers and Properties: " feveral alledged Examples whereof having been occafionally produced, whilft we were difcourfing at large of the Hieroglyphic-Science, I mall prefume upon this matter, Philemon, as already fufficieatly illuftrated to you. But when, upon the Principle here fuppofed, the Number of Divine Symbols was fo much increafed in Egypt, that the precile Reafons of them in each particular Inftance were in a manner endlefs to be diftinctly infifted on ; and when moreover the gene ral Subject-Matter of the Egyptian Theo logy itfelf waSj in a Cpurfe of Time and Speculation, become more refinedly Philo- Jophical j a ftill higher way of Thinking was authorized in the Point ; which at once apologized for every poflible Cafe of Animal-Superftition, without defcending to the more intricate Minute of any. Thus it was maintained, " that the Worihip " feemingly paid to particular confecrated " Animals did not terminate in the Arii-

" mals

I 123

cc mals themfelves, as a fuperncial or pro- " fane Obferver might imagine ; but had " for its ultimate Object the Divine Power, " which actuates all things, as displaying it- <£ felf in thofe Animals * : for that it was ** not in Man alone that the Divinity ofFer- " ed itfelf to oiir Obfervation, but in almoft ** every kind of animated Nature j where- <l fore, it was thought good to take in every ^ fuch -Nature into the Syflem of Deity -j-." Nay, it was even aflerted, as we find in Plutarch, £C that Animals were the moft <c perfect and natural Specula in which the ' c human Mind could con template the God-

: hdad : inafmuch as being indued with

Life, and Senfe, and Self-motion, and

tc having a Faculty of diftinguiming difte-

<f feht Obtjects from each other for their

<{ own Ufe and Prefervation, they were to

: be conceived of as fo many feveral Streams {{ inkling from the great common Fountain *e ef Life and Intelligence : and had there- <£ fore a much nearer Affinity to the Di-- cc vine Being, than any Images of human R 2 u Device,

: TffJ fTTj OTaUTWU JWOCfJUV TOU •S'fOU SlOt. TtoU CTUPO- Wy, cJ'J W5C7T09 TOD &£OV TffXpltT^'J^

Porph. de Abf. Lib. IV. Sek 9.

j O'j <fj' 7,v$pu7ro\j y.ovo'j TO p/£^ov tTiz •sravrwy TOJV <w«v, oio «ij u7#c£Aaj3ov way ^wo'/ Pp^ph. de Abf, P. 154.

( 124)

'? Device, the uninformed Workmanship " of the Sculptor, or the Statuary *."

IN Confequence of which way of think ing (faid I) our Apologifts for Brute- Wor- fhip might with ftill greater Reafon have demanded Divine Honors to their own Per- Jons ; and have pronounced themfelves to be in right, what they were too much in fact, fo many Gods to the People : unlefs indeed they were apprehenfive, the People might upon the fame Principles commence Gods, as well as their Matters ; or were after all honeftly confcious to themfelves that, what ever the Argument might feem to prove for them, they could indeed have but lit tle Title to a Divine Character, who had fo far debafed the human one, as to en ter ferioufly into the Defence of fuch a ridiculous Theology.

FOR the Confequences of Opinions (re turned Ifprtenfius) People are by no means

always

* hyy-wny) ouv ou roura -n^uiVTaf, aXAa 3ist TZVTOC, TO ©ciov, wf evfcyeorepcotf ecroTrlcwv, x«f ^uir£» TI QC ^W(7«, xai j3Afsro'J(ra, xat xuijxrjw;- lairrc. touira x«j 'vuiriv Oixetwv xat «A-

pav fx TOU (B«pveurro? oV«o? JcujSjovaTai ra TE

.,?r«v o9fu ou p££jpov ^^ TOUTOJ? ftxa^ETat TO

xai Ai3-4;^j nptWfyHfytrw* Plut. de Jf,

p. 3^82,

125 ;

always true to them; inafmuch as they may either not fee, or not acknowledge, or, which is more to our prefent Purpofe, not want them. For this was certainly the Cafe of our Egyptian Apojogifts in the Subject before us : They framed their Hy- potbefis with an Eye to a particular Point, only-, and therefore purfued it no farther than the Interefts of that, Point required : or, in other Words, as has been intimate4 above, they found their Countrymen, for Reafons already mentioned, actually ingaged in the Worfhip of certain Brute- Animals, and then inftituted a kind of Mock-Philo- fbphy, which mould authorize fuch a Wor- fhip : their Speculation in this matter tak ing its rife from their JYactijce, and not their Practice from their Speculation, And here, Philemon, at parting with the Subject of the Sacred Animals, I may obferve to you, that the Doctrine pf the Mctempfychofis, fuppofed by the Greek Writers a Native of Egypt, is by many People believed to owe its Birth to this Article of her Theology. Indeed the learned FoJJius is of opinion, that it was a Corruption of fome traditionary Notices in Antiquity concerning a general Refurrection *. But, as ho. Teds his Opi-

nioa

* Imo non animas modo fuperefle poft mortem, confenfus gentium fuit : fed apud multas etiam re liquiae fuere de nova cum corporibus conjunftione, <jiram Refurreftionem dicimus. Se^ foede earn cor-

fuperurvj

rjicn here upon mere Authority without Reafons, we are certainly at liberty to dif-, fent from him, if a more probable Account of the matter may be found to ofTer itfelf; as, I muft own, I am inclined to think there may yet be given of it, than either of the Accounts hitherto mentioned. Whe ther Reafon, or Revelation, firft taught Men the Belief of the Soul's Immortality, either way the Notion itfelf appears to have been a very antient one in the World.

.i •

As, without any thing fupernatural in the Cafe, (interrupted I) -ve may well rup- pofe it muft have hem: both, as the- Doc trine df a future Exiftence is a very impor tant Engine of civil Policy ; and as it is at the fame time an Hypothefis extremely flattering to private Intereft ; a kind of na* tural Dictate of the human Heart. The Love of Being as iuch, and Defire of its Continuance, is infeparable from every Con- /cious PoiTefTor of it. In this re^becl: the intriguing Statefman has one common

Feeling

ruperunt in illam, quam dixere 'ptrtp-yvjOufctt quafi dicas tranfanimationem : item wm^o-a^aminy, hoe eft mlgratlonem de corpore in ccrpus: ctiam 5raAiJ"^/m- (riav, five regenerationem. Quae non Pythagore- orum duntaxat, fed multarum tiiam gentium opinio fuit, &r ;idmodum difiitarum. De Ejyptiis, teftis Herodotus ; a quibus etiam id haufilfe P"tHap:oram, idem tradit. Voff. de Grig. & Prog. Idol. Lib. I. p. 70, 71.

I27

Feeling with the humbleft Inftrument of his Ambition : and having once learnt the j^ia/s of Human Nature in this Point from hi?}ifelfy we cannot imagine he would long be at a. Lois to make ufe of it in other People.

•*• .V

I N order to which End ({aid Hortenfius) his Buiinefs would certainly be, to reprefent to Mens Thoughts the State of their future Exigence under fuch particular kinds of fenfible Images, as he mould conceive moft agreable to the popular Relifh in his Coun try. Now, do but fuppofe, Philemon^ our Statefman here to be an Egyptian one,, and you will, I dare lay, be of opinion with me, that a better Mode of Reprefentation in the Cafe before us could hardly have been de- vifed, than that of a Metempjycbbjis ; a No tion, which, befides the Countenance it might receive from the Superftition of the Egyptians, as above mentioned, had a fingu- lar Accommodation to their national Ufage of Hieroglyphic Writing : for> whereas in the Cburfe of this Practice they had been accuftomed from the moil diftant Antiquity tofubftitute Animals for perfonalCharaclxrs of the Living, they would eaiily, we may imagine, enter into a -Sentiment of Things^ which mould reprefent thefe Animals .s the peribnal Refidencfe of the Dead. :. this, being only to conceive of Death, as changing the

( 1 28 )

Emblematic State of Affairs with Mankind into a real one j and allotting them that particular Province of Action In a literal Senfe, in which they had acted throughout Life in a figurative one *. But be this/ P bile mm, as it may— I have now led you through the three principal Stages of the 'Egyptian Idolatry— The Worfhip of the

feveral

* It muft be owned that, as Herodotus reprefents this matter to us, there feerris to be nothing of moral Deiignation in it, (the only View in which it can be fuppofed to anfwer the Ends of civil Go vernment) iince according to his Account of it the States of all Men after Death are fuppofed the fame —

£<rrt°

TffXVTOL TiX *^fO!7ai«, XXI TV, "a-

xat -rot, Ts\-rtmy aurif £5 av^^wro-j ffufj,tx, yuo- £o-Juv£iy' Herod. Lib. II. cap. 123.— — —But, v^hen it is considered, that Philofbphy in Egypt was too good a Friend to Legiflation, not to turn every Point of Doctrine to fome political Account ; that the Doctrine of Pythagoras and Plato., (both of whom were for fome time under an Egyptian Tutorage, and who, as Philofophers, had a nearer Intereft in a Queftion of this Nature, than a mere Hiftorian can be conceived to have had) puts a manifeft Dif ference between good and bad Men in the future State ; and rroreover, that Diodorus exprefsly informs us that the Egyptians themfelves did the fame, in his Account of their Funeral Ceremonies, ; when this, I fay, is confideredj it may incline one to fufpecl; He rodotus' s Reprefentation of the Cafe here to be rather inaccurate, and that the Metempfychojis of the Egyp tians was always intend«d to carry with it the Idea, of a certain moral Difcipline.

( 129 )

feveral Parts and Powers of Nature — Of Certain deified Heroes of very remote An tiquity, the Founders of Society, and In- ventersof the more neceffary Arts of Life— And of the Animals confecrated to thefe fuppofed Deities of both Kinds, as Emblems of their Divinity and Perfections — It re mains however that I give you fome fhort Account of that induftrious Confufion of the natural with the civil part of their The ology intimated, you may remember, during bur laft Conference, to have been introduced amongft the Egyptians, in the fucceffive Refinement of their Religious Politics j and which is to be confideredj I think, as the finifhing Improvement of their fpeculative Superftition. For the Grounds of this Con- fufion, you are to obferve, that, whereas the Foundations of their Heroical Theology were laidj as has been all along faid, in the very Depths of Barbarifm, the Credenda in this Syftem were for the moft part fuch^ as could only pafs upon a rude and ignorant Generation j and were found liable to infi nite Cavil and Exception, as Mankind im proved in rational Thinking. The Tradi tions, for Example, received by the Egyp tians, concerning the Birth and Genealogy of their antient Heroes — Their Courfe of Imployment through Life the Particu larities, and even fometimes Defects, of their S Per-

Perfons *— -Their Intrigues and Love-Ad ventures - Their Factions and mutual Violences — Above all, that moft inhuman one committed by Typhon upon the Life of the Beneficent O/?m— - -Thefe were all of them Accounts of things fo little agreable to the Conceptions which more improved Reafon taught the Egyptians to entertain of

p C_V/

Divine Beings ; fuch glaring Difproofs of all juft Title to their Reverence in fome of the chief prefcribed Objects of it ; as mutt upon Examination have brought a thorow Difgrace upon the whole Syflem of their heroical Divinity, had pot the Wifdom of the Sacred Order, evef tenacious of efta- blimed Principles^ found out an Expedient to fcreen in all thefe Cafes the manifeft Ab- furdity of the literal Doctrine under the Pretext of an allegorical Interpretation. The Expedient was that of Phyfical Mythology : a Reprefenting the feveral Powers and Paf- fions of external Nature under the Idea of fo many confcious Perfonages ; to whom, when the Mythologifts had given the Names of their feveral Deified Heroes, and placed them in futable Circumftances of Relation to one another, they contrived in fome meafure to accommodate the intire Adven

ture?

uH row ,usv p(u.>iv T TOW JV Tu^wva T»J . x«j (uf?,alp^cocv T'W »' Plut. dc If. & Of.V 35Q.

tures of the Perfons whofe Names they bore : in order that all exceptionable Occurrences in their heroic or Demon-Hiftory might be capable of an innocent Explication into certain correfpondent Articles of natural *.

I ALWAYS thought (interrupted I) Hor- tenfius, the Powers and Pafiions of inani mate Nature had been firft raifed into con- fcious Perfonality by the mere wanton Ge- nerofity of Poets ; and had received it as a voluntary Donation at the liberal hand of the Mufes, inftead of being thus forced into it to ferve a Turn in the Politics of an in triguing Hierarchy. But methinks, I want much to know how they fuftained the feve- ral Characters here afiigned them ; and with what Succefs they acquitted themfelves in the different Provinces of the Heroic Hiftory,

TRUST the Egyptian Priefthood for this, (returned Hortenfius ;) they had fluidied the

S 2 Buiinefs

c Toe, XE

i" Ap. Eufeb. Prsep. Evang. Lib. I, p. 32- Taura zsravra o ®af3»«wo$ ruv O.TT aiuiwq 'yfyovoTuv ^•opiicrafj Tpjf TE (puinxotf xait jtxi^a?, cra^Jlwxt TOJ? op^iwo-j, xaj TEXETWW

TOIJ aurwv wiaJsyca; 'srccoEJcoo'av xaj TOI? Ibid. p. 39.

( 132 )

Bufmefs of Analogies in things too much in other Subjects, not to be able to make fome- thing of it in this, where their Craft was fq deeply interefted. What think you of re- folving the whole Hiftory of Syphon and OJlris into the fucceffive Stages of the Lunar Period ? You perhaps, who are unufed to Speculations of this kind, may not im mediately difcern the Parallel here; but the Mythologifts are ready to warrant the juftnefs of it to a Nicety. O//m, they will tell you, fignifies the Orb of the Moon : and, whereas it is related of QJiris in the Sacred Traditions that he lived, or as others will have it, reigned in Egypt twenty-eight Years, the Number of Years, fay they , an- fwers to that of the Days in which the Moon completes her Revolution round the Earth. If OJiris reigned for fome time in perfect Tranquility, the Affairs of his Go vernment going on profperoufly, and him- felf daily incrcaiing in Reputation, this, they may obferve, is fully explaned by the Moon's receiving perpetual Acceflions of Light during the firfr, half of her Courfe. For the Faction headed by Typhon againft this excellent Peiibn, they will inter'pfet it of that fecret Caufe in Nature which con- itantly diminiihes the Moon's Luftre after a certain Stage of her Progrefs. That Of- Hs is faid to have been murdered by Tv- fhon on the feventeenth Day of the Month,

3 they

they will account for by informing you, that the feventeenth Day of the Moon's Age is that on which her Decreafe becomes firft fenfible to Sight *. The Report of the Difcerpfion of OJiris's dead Body into four teen Parts by his relentlefs Adverfary they will refolve into the fourteen Days continu ance of the Moon's monthly Wane. And, whereas Typbon is faid to have diftributed a Part to each of his Accomplices in the Murder of OJiris, they will explane this of each Day of the Moon's Wane taking away an equal Proportion of her Light. If fome Traditions reprefented Ofiris to have been murdered not fo much by Violence, as Stra tagem, Typhon having, at an Entertainment to which he had ingaged him, firft artfully indeed him into a Cheft of the exact Mea- fure of his Body, and then, by the Affirmance of his Confederates, carried him out into the Sea j to this Relation, they will contend, exactly correiponds the hollowed Figure of the Moon's Orb previouily to its total Dif- appearance -j~. But, I dare fay, you have full enough of this Matter.

MUCH more (faid I) than I expected could have been made of it at your firft

fetting

E£Jcyx» ETTJ Jfxa ryu OTJp»Jo? "ytvwQoci rthtvTw a, "yiverou TO-Afisov/xnuj xa-

Plut. de If. & Of. p. 367 t Plut. de If. & Of. p. 367, 368.

fettingout upon the Companion. Mythology^ I perceive, was an excellent Defence againft the Attacks of Pagan Sceptifcifm. But pray what becomes of the widowed and difcon- folate I/is in the Courfe of this Parallel ? She had, doubtlefs, too much Concern in the original Hiftory here, not to find a Cor- refpondent Part in the Fable. I will fup- pofe therefore, that (he is one while the Earth regretting the dark and comfortlefs Condition of her Nights during the feem- ing Abfences of her Celeftial Aflbciate ; and another while the Operation of that friendly Power in Nature, by which the gradual Decays of the old Moon are conftantly re paired every Month in the proportionable Increafes of the new one.

I s E E (faid Hortenjius) you would foon come, Philemon, to be a very notable My- thologift. That you may have an Opportu nity, if you think fit, of improving your Talent this way, I will leave it with you to imagine how the fame Piece of Sacred Hiftory in Egypf, which we have here only confidered in its Accommodation to the Moon, may admit of different Explications into the Phenomena of Eclipfes — The rjfings and fettings of the Stars — The Vicif- iitudes of Day and Night- — The annual Courfe of the Sun — The feveral Accidents of the Nile — and the Oeconomy and Pro cedure

cedure of certain of the natural Fruits of the Earth *. — Not to mention here the abftrad: Conceptions of Drought and Moi£ ture - or, the two contrafted Interefts of Good and Evil in the Univerfe, about which fo much, you will recollect, was difcourfed upon a former Occafion- - 'And, when you have well fettled this Matter with your- felf, I mall look upon you as fully prepared to deicend with me from the Confideration of Falje Theory y into that of Falje Prac tice in Religion in the Pagan World — — of which at fome other Time.

* Ewpa "yxf> TOU? TOV 'HAiov >ovf , xa» TX Tyegi TOV OTJ^U x«t raj TOU? JE^arixo'j? juud'^Uf, ~r\ fig f, xat xpi/xj;£jf, xat

£i? roy HAjou wo^fjav, *j TO ^e uuJc/*piVOT >) TO *ijix£^yov, ?j TOV }/£ woTajtAov, x«» O'AW? Tsocjlx in; rot, tpv<TMx' Ap. Eufeb. !*raep. Evang. Lib. 3. c.- 4. OUTW (?E x«» TOi

a" wpav [At £»Ta Tai? TWV xapTrcoy ^£Uc<7£0'*, xat (nroox^j xat apo-

TOif p^at«OU(T», Ta Wfpt TO'JJ S"£O

TEC, x«* AfJ'ovTfj 3-a7r7£(r0at |tx£y TOV TJJ? n? (77r£»ox£i/cj o x«p7ror

Plut. dclfide &Ofiride, p. 377.

FINIS.

jfujt P-ulliJhedy

Printed for M. STEEN, in Inner-tfemplt Lane ;

FUTURE REWARDS and PUNISHMENTS believed by the Ancients^ particularly the Philofophers. Wherein fome Objections of the Rev. Mr. War burton, in his Divine Legation ofMofest are confidered. To which is added,

An ADDRESS to FREE-THINKERS.

•Petit hinc, Jwoenefque Senefque

Finem animo certum mijerifque Viatica Cams. Perf. 5 Sat.

PHILEMON

T O

HYDASPES;

RELATING

A Fifth CONVERSATION with HORTENSIUS upon the Subjed: of Falfe Religion.

IN WHICH

The ORIGIN and PROGRESS of the Rite of SACRIFICE in Antiquity is particularly confidered.

Unde igifur fiuxit opinionum h#c pravltas f Ex eo

fclhcet maxime^ quod nequeuntfs homines quidnamfit

Deus fcire m eas funt opinatioius lapfi, ut Deos ex

Je finger ent, & quails fibl natura eft^ b5 u'lis idem darcnt aflionum^ rerum, voluntatumque tiaturani. ^uod fi animal cernerent nullius.fe e/Je prtiii, • nee inter formicidam plurimum, fique^ dijcriminh, profeflo definerent arbitrari quldquam fe habere commune cum fnperis, & intra fuos fines humilitatis fiia; modcftiam tsntinerent. Arnob. adverf. Gentcs. Lib. 7.

LONDON:

Printed for G. HAWKINS, at Milton1 s-Head, between the Two Temple-gates, in Fiect-ftreet. M.DCC.XL.IV,

Miftakes of the Prefs.

P. 6. Jine 12, of the Notes, r£00f», for P. JO. Jine ii, of the Notes

for

P. 29. line 20, Sead, for Seed. And in the isotes, Jine r, Behoroth, for Bchoroth.

P.. 32. Jine 5, at Kind, read with: inflead of. P. 53. in fecond Ref. ReyntUfs, fa Reynolds^., P. 65. Notes, Jine 10, ^«», for wa'. P. 79. Notes, Jine 6,

•?• ^3« ^fAoio-;,, for

^.,9^. line 15,.

T O

HYDASPES,

| T would have been matter of fome Amufement to you, Hy- dafpes, to have furprized me, as of late you might eafily have done, fitting down in good earneft to an Imploy- ment, which Hortenfius, you may remem ber, had ludicrouily recommended to me in the Clofe of our laft-related Converfation, and running over all the vifionary Refine ments of the ancient physical Mythology.

B As

As uninterefting a Subject as you may efteem this to be, I cannot fay I have found it altogether an unentertaining one. The Fancy of the Mythos is many times inge- nioufly enough conceived, and the Execu tion of it carried on at an Expence of Art and Subtilty, which one is forry to think mould have been no better applied. With regard to the Age, or Author of this Inven tion, it may be fafer, I believe, to tell you, it is of very great Antiquity, than to deter mine ftrictly of what. There is a PafTage in the Phce?iician Hiftory of Sanchoniatho relating to this matter, which, however little it may afcertain the true ^Era of Phy- liologic Allegory, gives us at leaft fuch an Hint concerning the great Scene of its Application amongft the Ancients, as may make it worth tranfcribing. He in forms us, " That certain Scribes of 'Taan- " tus, or Mercury, had, at his Appoint- " ment, drawn up an hiftorical Commen- <c tary of the Tranfaftions of the firft Ages " of Mankind ; but that a Son of T^habion^ " the firft Hierophant of the moft ancient 4C Phcenicians^ had taken upon him to al- <c legorize away the whole Series of Facls " contained in that Record into certain Phy- " fical AiFedlions of the material Univerfe ; " and that he delivered them down in this " allegoriz'd State to his SucceiTors in the <{ Conduct and Explication of the Phceni- 2 " dan

(3 )

" clan Myfteries *." The Hiftorian, you find, reprefents the firft Allegorizer of the facred Traditions amongft the Phoenicians to have been likewife their firft Hierophant, or Expounder of religious Myfteries. From whence, I think, 'tis natural to infer, that Allegories and Myfteries were probably co eval Inftitutions : which agrees very well with what Antiquity every where fuggefts to us of certain phyfical Speculations making a great part of what was taught in the chief Myfteries of Paganifm-j-; and is moreover not a little countenanced by the general Reafon

B 2 of

* TV/la of, (pr.tn, BTfwJoi vjKvluv vvi

w? aiiTOt? ftiiitX&Vo S'Js? Ta*ute>?' TWV <MF cetiovo r<*<, rctc 7£

xaj jiOT|W,i>ioif •cra&fTjv avaai^ac, TTK^SCOXE TO*,- o^jicotri, x»j TfXfTcov X3rta(>wjrri isr^^Tflur . an. Eufeb. Prsep." Evang. Lib. i. Cap. 10. p. 39. Ed. Vig. Par. f OmittoEleufmam fanftam iliam & auguitam,

Ubl initiantur gentes orarztm ultimas. Praetereo Samothraciam, eaque, • - qua Lemn'i

Nofturno adliu occulia cclnntur, Sihcjlribus fccpibns dcnja \

quibus explicatis, ad rationemque revocatis, rerutn magis natura cognofcitur, quam l)cci:um. Cic. tie Nat. Deor. Lib. i. Cap. 42. Davies - KifcwXou yzo

U 7TO TCOV Kp%&lUV TuGiriTXV K-Xl [A\jQofyx&UV ?r,V Afl'-'^TCaV

tiuiot c"s TOVTCI; £t;a*

wo^ttritp/tACTas xara ray X£T«f . Diod. Sic Lib ? p. 196. Ed. Rhod.

of the thing itfelf ; it being obvious to imagine, that, at what time the Mailers of the Pagan Superftition were become wife enough to be afhamed of fome of the prin cipal Doctrines of their Religion, they mould be defirous to draw a Veil of Secrecy over the correfponding Services of it.

IN the mean time, Hydafpes, what has been obferved to you of our Uncertainty as to the real Age of mythologic Allegory mews it to have been a very early Invention in the World. Agreeably whereunto we meet either with Inflances, or Intimations, of it in the moil ancient Writers we have any Acquaintance with. Orpheus was unque»- ilionably a great Mafler in this Art. Homer, and Hefiod, have both of them, we are fure, delivered feveral things to us in the way of Allegory, without running into the Extravagance of fuppofing with fome of his Commentators, that the former of them in particular has fcarce delivered any thing otherwife. Herodotus, if I miflake not, gives fome Hints at this Ufage in his Ac count of the Egyptian Ceremonies of Reli gion *. Plato has entered an exprefs Ca veat againil it, unlefs under much Regu

lation,

.ju vjv a.XXoia-1 SEOIC-J 3"j£;'j v; ou

T:UJ if ev [Afy rr,rri aAA>?Tt OOTY^I aTrsrTjjiijxOKW, (V Js Ta-jT'/i 3-i<?-.<r», es~» {ASV Xcwj1 •ZDV^

Herod, Lib. 2. cap. 47.

m

lation, in the Laws of his projected Repub lic *. The Stoic Philofophers, as we learn from Cicero^ were great Allegorizers in their Theology -)-. And in Cicero'?, own Age we find Farro^ one of the moil ingenious and learned Romans of the time ||, giving much into the fame way of thinking J. But the Seafon of all others in which the Practice of Allegory in Religion moft prevailed with the Pagans was in the earlier Ages of Chriilianity j a Seafon, in which all Arts were indeed wanted to fupport their fink ing Caufe, and this in particular was moft induftrioufly employed by them to that purpofe ; the Advocates thereof in thofe Days conftantly having recourfe to their Phylics, for the Solution pf Objections to

their

* Koti TO'JS TZCWTXI; tn/lv<; Tourwy Kvxfx.y.r'tov TTOISIV' *Hoa? <Tf JWjW-ouj iiro ujew?, xxi ' JTTO 'craTcof, jU£AAon7o? rn /x»r^i tufrityxs tytoy.ot.'/j.ct.i; o<raf 'O^r^c? TZtTrctrixfv, ov

TW JTiAjy, OUT tV UTTO'JOIOUS Tfft'n'QWfJi-SVOtC } OUT aV'ZU U7TO-

v:im. Plat. deRepub. Lib. 2. p. 378. Ed. Serran,

f Magnam moled iam fufcepit, & minime necefr 'fariam, primus Zeno, poft Cleanthes, deindeChryfip- pus, commenticiarum fabularum reduere rationem — quod cum facitis, illud profedto confitemin: — Eos, qui Di appeliantur, reruni naturas effe, ncn figuras Deo- rum. Cic. de Nat. Deor. Lib. 3. cap. 24. Dav.

|| Ut in Lihris Academicis dicat earn quse ibi verfa- tur difputationem fe habuiflc cum Marco Varrone, homine, inquit, omnium facile acutiffimo, & fine uila dubitatione dociiflimo. Auguft. de Civ. Dei Lib. 6. cap, 2.

J Vid. Aiiguit. Lib. 6. de Civitate Dei paflim.

(6)

their Faith *. But fo forced a Solution was it in itfelf -}-, and fuch a Difagreement was there amongft them in the Management of it ||, and, even after the utmofl that could be made of it, fo little better did it leave things, in any rational Eftimate, than it found them J, that the Chriftian Writers have no where fo great an Advantage over

their

*

vtoi TW?, rtcov T£ <

-z«ravT7) TWU TO au •sraAH) T»y

u7ro^£»vavT£j. Eufeb. Praep. Ev. p. 74. Vio".

xoci 'ytvvx.Hx.v (putrtoAoufliy

rt

v. Eufeb. Praep. p. 92.

|| Mupioi? |W.£y ouy aAAotj ruy vwv ziroAuf "arEfii TOUTWV furnxraj •croyoj, TTETroi^fvot?, x«t TO TOUT' £tyo;i TO Eufeb. Prjep. p. 82.

J Kaj T&VTi) Toty&povv vi 'ytvvzia TWV EAAwwv (Totyux. u; Six, (jw%a,ws 7r£(p-/iujy, ftf ilu/q; jwfv av

7»Jl» STTK'yftXlXll

TW aj<r6»)Tr,y x^

tro^wv ^iJ5V6j«», Eufeb. p. 96. Ipfas Phyfiologias cum confidero - Nihil video nifi ad temporalia terre- naque opera, naturamque corpoream ; vel etiam fi in- vifibilem, tamen mutabilem, potuifle revocari, quod nullo modoeft verus Deus. Auguft. de Civ. Dei. Lib. 7. cap. 7.

(7)

their Pagan Adverfaries, whether in point of Raillery or Argument, as when they are attacking them upon this very Article *. In Teftirnony of which, HydafpeS, as little a Friend as you are to the Writings of the Fathers, I could undertake to produce you foine Paflages from them, which you mould own yourfelf to be pleafed with, but that I have at prefent another Deflgn upon you, which will be a fufficient Exercife of your Attention ; I mean, to introduce to you the following Converfation with Hortenjius, upon the Subject of practical Superftition in the Pagan World.

* Vos Jovis & Cereris coitum Imbrem dicitis dictum telluris in gremium lapfum. Poteft alius aliud & ar- gutius fingere, & veri cum fimilitudine fufpicari. Po teft aiiud tertius, poteft aliud quartus ; atque ut fe tu- lerint ingeniorum opinantium qualitates, ita fingulse res

poflgnt infinitis interpretationibus explicari

Moil ft rate quid pro rebus fingulis quas unaquseque elo-

quitur fabula, fupponere debeamus, & promere

nifi forte dicetis non toto in hiftoriae corpore allegorias has efle, caeterum partes alias efle communiter fcriptas, alias vero dupliciter, 6f ambifaria obtentione velatas. Uibana eft ifta fubtiljtas. Arnob. adverfus Gentes, Lib. 5. p. 227, &feq. Herald. Par.

PART

(8)

PART II.

A Few Days fince, as we were fitting careleffly together, after fome little Paufe in Difcourfe, (faid Hortenfius to me) you have been of late, Philemon, fo much taken up with the Writers of the old phy- fical Mythology, that I begin, methinks, to look upon you as a complete Allegorift.

IF you really think (faid I) I have made fo good ufe of my time that way, you mull give me leave to remind you of a Claim you lately gave me upon you, fo foon as I mould have made a competent Progrefs in that Affair, the ingaging you to proceed with me from the Confideration of falfe Theory, to that of falfe Practice in Religion in the Pagan World. We are alone, Hortenfius — you feem to be quite at leifure this Af ternoon When can you have a bet ter Opportunity for this purpofe ?

You do not expect (faid he) I dare fay, Philemon^ that, in fo wide a Range of Error and Abfurdity, as the fpeculative Sti- perflition of the Ancients, fuch as it has

been

( 9 )

been lately reprefented to you, evidently gave to their practical, I Ihould diftinctly infill on every minute Article of their reli gious Ceremonial. The Talk, you cannot but be feniible, would be almofl endlefs ; belides that it is moreover no ways neceiTary to the main Scope of our prefent Difquift- tion. All I would propofe therefore is, to lay before you fome of the more ftriking Particulars of the Pagan Worfhip j which, when I mall have explained to you, in the belt manner I am able, either from tr^ ge neral Reafon of the things themfelves, or the Lights Antiquity has afforded us con cerning them, I mail look upon myfelf as having fully difcharged the Promife you lay claim to from me. In the purfuit then of this Deiign, Philemon, I know not where more defervedly to befpeak your Attention in the firft place, than to the Rite of Sacrifice : a Practice, as we learn from the moft an cient Hiftory extant in the World, which commenced almoft from the Foundation of it ; and which has ever lince univerfally prevailed, as to its more general Notion, whillt the frivolous Caprice of Superftition has in nothing, perhaps, more fignally dif- played itfelf, than in the almofl: infinite Va riety of DilHnctions introduced into the par ticular Exercife of it.

THE Practice itfelf (interrupted I) Hcr- j is to me a Matter of much greater C Em-

EmbaraiTment, than any of the different Modifications of it : For that indeed once admitted, the particular Character or Con ception of the Divinity, to whom at any time Sacrifice was to be performed, would naturally enough fuggeft fome fuitable Par ticularities to be obferved, both in the Mat ter and Manner of it. In the mean while, the Thought of facrificing at large, the ge neral Notion of the thing itfelf, is to my Apprehenfion, in every View of it, fo glar ing an Abfurdity, that I am amazed it fhould ever enter into the Head of any ra tional Creature. For the very Idea of a Divine Being implies in it fuch a fuperior Excellency of Nature, as to be wholly out of the reach of our good Offices : And, as Socrates, I remember, in Plato, fomewhere prettily obferves, he muft know very little of the Art of giving, who makes a Prefent to any Perfon of what he has no want of *. But even could it be fuppofed, either that

the

* Ap GUV ro ys opw> atTEiy «« £*n, uv v, (TWV Seuv) rocvroc, aurouf amiv ; AAAo TJ ; Swjf KXI a-jTO odovou 0£>£w?, wv ex«vo»

i •&&£ v^wv, TO.VTO, fxsjnojf au otrrtlu- o -STO-J TE^VJHOV y <*v f«»i ougoQogiiv SiSdvloe, TW raura w« o\,&v &ITO,I . Plat, in Euthyphrone, p. 14. Serr. The Philofopher's Reply, when he was accufed of not fccrificing to Minerva^ was a very juft one. Ml OaUUacrrjTe t^l w

Lucian. in Demon, p. 380. "a voi. Amft. 410.

( II )

the Gods wanted any Acceflion to be made to their original Happinefs, or that it was in any wife within the Power of Man to give it them, flill furely the very loweft pomble Conception of their Divinity muft, one would think, have placed them above the mean Tribute of a little Barley, or Frankincenfe, the Steams of a Victim, or the Fumes of a Libation, for this purpofe. And yet, it feems, fo very differently were they ufed to be thought of by the greater part of their deluded Votaries, that a polite and knowing Ancient has reprefented them to us, upon the Syftem of popular Ap- prehenfion in the Cafe, as intent upon fcarce any thing befides : Eternally looking about after the Smoke of fome Altar, to the ut ter Neglect of the great Concerns of Pro vidence ; and, as often as they had the good Fortune to catch the leafl Scent of a Sacri fice, defcending eagerly to their Banquet, gaping over the Steam, and fucking in the Blood, of the poor Animal that was the Subject of it, with the Greedinefs of fo many Flies *. Agreeably to which Cha racter, we find Jupiter in the fame Author,

Ca in

xat uoi firrautfa, w Z/£'J, (f*W

01 jU£T aA^OJta?, ft 770TE ^Oi E £f TO(70JTiV TWU fU TJ1 ^>J, Wf ££iT»7CU Ot TjWif

ot Tii/ff oj "X^P^foi lunv ; AAA OOH av £i y_p») T « An 6)1 Amiv, K«9'^ae9a, TSUTO JIA»-

Vi»

( 12 )

in one place expreffing his Apprehenfions for his Fellow Gods in general, left they fhould all of them, in a fhort time5 come to be quite famimed, by the growing Suc- cefs of Eficums'sPhilofophy in the World *; and in another, complaining to Menippus, upon his own account in particular, that,

through

xai

p'ouv (pfprrai

. Lucian. Jup. Trag. 2 vol. 4to. p. 666, 667. Ed. Amft. 'O* OE S-EOI -nra^ Z»KJ x«0n/*fV5i f""^- OVTO. WEfaAjifoiOft!/ avrocrxoTrouo-JV ff T»II>

xat TO «j;/-a Trjuovrff roig

ai ^ujai.Luc. de Sac. p. 533. vol. I. Ed. Amft. * O ptv oiiv wjiflwv xatoo?1, w ®£OJ, ^iftf, on rojy •srapoi/Tw — £vpi(rxw Js Toy ETTixou^ioy Aaw;y, Toy xat Tt//.cxA£^ TOV 2/rc •sra;u jai^ovlaf— — w <?£ a^Jt 'nrf^i >7/Awy o' ois' o u,w ya.o itoc,rof,oy,ro<; Aa^K, own TUV avOflwTrcov, OUTE ETrttrxoTTfty ra o'JiJsv aAAo, » ju.JiJ'? O/.MJ *i/u,af "sreeeofAdtffltiv TOJ? -sroAAojf ETT^XOUOV, fs.fra?v a-

MXA0(| •ET.XP aUTOVf ETTflUVOlVTCOV T£S TO'J

» re^Ji Tzoioa. woAu ajpoUjMEycoy Ta EXEtvou* — Taur

' o'tf '^aa? Puv(XdcXf(T«' &y jafx^a, w Ofo;, ei

11 T^^Ta jtxjy tf^ctty Ttaij, xxt ^o£a, xa» TrpocroJb;, 01

«?rcovo^Toii? Eivai trwv avTWi>, r«* T» EX

through the fuperior Vogue fome of the other Gods had been in for fome time pail upon Earth, his Altars, which had ufed to be the moft frequented ones, were become colder than Plato's Laws, or Chryjippus's Syllogifms *. I might go on to obferve here the extreme Folly of fuppofing, that the Gods mould ever be pleafed with the mere ufelefs Wafte of their own Productions -, or, in the Cafe of Animal-Sacrifice in par ticular, mould confider, as an Act of ac ceptable Religion, the Deftruction of a Life, of which they had fo exquifitely provided for the Continuance. I might take notice of the very degrading Idea it gives one of their Goodnefs, to confider

them

tv ovgxw xetsovpsot AJ/AW e^o^fvoj, oprwu t- xat»wv, xaj Trctvyyvgiuv, xat aj/wvwv, xai S"u<nwv, xat •zzravvu^KJwv, xaj Tiro^Trwy, f-igovfjitvoi. Jup. Trag. p. 658 - 663. *Ot ^f fa xat uSpjf-a* *KH, • — cT<OTj r,v dc.7rz,% OUTOI TreuTou TOV (3iov <Ju!;»)0co<r*v, ou juc- T^»HJ? 7»re»y»iffjTf . Icaromen. p. 788, 789.2 vol. 410.

11 E£ 0 U $£ £V AfA^OIf jtX£V ATTOAAWV TO jUaUTf 101> X«T£-

, £y TIip'yxfA.u 3s TO KX.TOIICV o A<rx.hv7rto$y xat TO fytvsro sv ®pax>i, xat TO Avw^f^Mi tv AJ-

«» TO AgTSfAUTlOV fJ E^f'TW, £7Tt T«'JTa |U£W

xa» Ixa-

tv OAtyxTna' Tojj'apouv xj/up^poTfflovf au

Tflff (Sw^O^f J Jot? TWV IlAaTWVOf VO^WV, >J TWV

o-uAAoj/jo-^wv. Icaromer. p. 780, 781. 2 vol. Ed. Amft.

them as entering into a kind of Merchan-* dize with Mankind in the matter of their Favours ; The ill Ufe natural to be made of fo venal a Conception of them ; and the Difficulty which muft often arife to Beings of fuch a mercenary Difpolition from rival Applications to their Interefts, on both fides of a Petition : A Circumflance, un der which, in the Writer but now men tioned, we have the great Father of Gods and Men introduced upon a certain Occa- iion, as fo cruelly embararTed, that He even fuffered all the Perplexity of a Phi- lofopher of the Academy 5 was unable to determine on the behalf of either Party in the Suit ; and, like Pyrrho, from the equal Moment of contrary Reafons in the Point, ftood reduced to a State of abfolute Sufpepfe and Scepticifm *. But there is indeed no Meafure, Hortenjius, {0 the Ridicule of this Subject.

I AM very ready to agree with you, (faid he) that the general Notion of facrificing is altogether as extraordinary, as it appears to

have

* ETT* //-KB? jf T4UO? supcn? Jcan a7r<woui/la aurov cOfa- <ra ,«,»)•/ Juo 2/«£ cevJ^a* rdvxvlnx. evxpfAfvuv, KJO.C Svcrixi; JarMFp^wyjifciww, GVK fi^su OTTOT^W tmei* avruti' uirre £w TO Axa^MUMpji fJC , x^t ovdsv Tt a7ro(p»5(X<r6«; ^uDaro? rv, aXA , o Iluppwy, tTTgixev £T» x<%( ^i0XE>9cT«. Icaromen. p. 783. Amft.

( '5 )

have been univerfal in the World. There is indeed fo little feeming Foundation in any juft Reafoning for a Practice of this Nature, that many Writers have been for refolving the Original of it into a poiitive Inftitution from Heaven.

A s if ( faid I ) the Circumftance of a Command in this Cafe made any Diffe rence as to the intrinfic Nature of the thing ; or, what were juft Exceptions to Sacrifice, before it was appointed, were not equally fuch afterwards. This puts me in mind of the Conduct of a Debate in Plutarch about the poetic Talents of the famed Pythian Oracle. Some Friends were accompanying a young Stranger they had with them to a Sight of Apollo's Temple at Delphi ; the Perfons who ufed to attend upon fuch Oc- cafions in mewing the Temple had, in the Courfe of their Office, recited a certain Ora cle of their God's, delivered, as was his more ancient way of delivering his Oracles, in Metre. The Stranger hereupon could not help expreffing fome Surprife, thai: the Poetry of Apollo^ the great Patron of the Art itfelf, mould fall fo much below that of Homer and Hefiody in die Beauty and Elegance of its Composition. Upon which Serapiont one of the Party, and himfelf a Poet, obferved to him, that, as the Oracle came from Apollo, the Drcfs of it muft

needs

( 16 )

needs be unexceptionable, however other- wife it might appear, through the Prejudice of a vicious Cuftom of judging in that Af fair. Divine Compolitions were not to be meafured by human Standards ; and it was much rather to be fuppofed, that Men might have made a falfe Eftimate of what was Excellent in Poetry, than that the God of Verfe himfelf mould not excel in it *, So {launch, you fee, was Serapion's Orthodoxy in the Point, that he chofe rather to re nounce his very Senfes upon the Hypothecs of an Infpiration, than, as was the more natural Proceeding, to give up the Hypo- thefis of an Infpiration to the clear Evi dence of his Senfes. Now, is it not, think you, a way of arguing, in the Writers you was fpeaking of, fomewhat like to that of

Sera-

TJVOJ

o ioj'svtavof, iv xi rr,v euTeAstav

o S-foj, xat TTJ? teyopivvs ^o'yiorr^lo^ oup^ mlov TO >caXov, » TUJ 73-^1 jtA£A»i KXk uiJ'af, xa» tu^wvia? xai 75-0X0 rov 'H<rtoJov £b£7r£ta xai TOV 'O

i' TOUJ Je TroAAou? TOJV %cr,G[j.uv o^ajjutu xat TOK j",£TfOK, xai Tojf ovo(w.acrt, -srAtijUiUfAfta? xat TJJTOJ avaTreTrAe^/xfyouf zsra^u ouv A9w»9£v o'

raura

TO a<rw^ou ouu cr»A<v, cof Ae^eraj, xaAAft TWV -j x»i 'Htnosou Afj/fn;, ou

ot,pi$~oi, xat xaAAifa 7i!7£7ro»>i|U£iioij, fTravoAouwsvot TW aurwu xot-TkV zcr^cxaTftA^^smv JTTO Plut. de'Pyth. Orac. p. 396. Xyl.

( i?)

Serapion here, that thsy mould urge, as a fatisfa&ory Solution of the Problem of Sa crifice, its being inflituted at the Command of God, when they have before pronounced it to be unworthy even of the weak and de praved Reafon of Man * ?

I HAVE a better Opinion (reply 'd Hor- ten/ius) of the Pleafantry of this Reprefen- tation, Philemon, than, I muft own, I have of its Juftnefs. When the Writers, I was fpeaking of, condemn Sacrifice as a very abfurd Practice, they confider it, you are to fuppofe, as abftracted from wrhat they conceive to have been the true Reafon of it. This, they contend, is only to be learnt from Scripture, v/hich affords us the only unexceptionable Account of the Origin of this Rite, when it gives us to underftand, it was immediately ordained of God, with a View to a particular Purpofe of his Pro vidence.

I THOUGHT ( faid 1)1 had been no Stranger to the fourth Chapter of Genefis^ where the firft Mention is made of Sacri fice in the Sacred Writings. I do not re in ember any thing there, which mould feem to countenance fuch a Notion : The Hifto- rian is indeed careful to acquaint us with

D the

* See Revelation examined with Candour, vol. 1. p. 125, and following ones, particularly p. 131.

( i8 )

the very different Acceptance of the Sacri fices of Cain and Abel-, but obferves, fo far as I recoiled:, a profound Silence, as to the particular Motives of them.

BUT another infpired Author, they fay, (returned He) has abundantly fupplied that Omiffion; the Author, I mean, of the Epiftle to the Hebrews. He informs us, that it was by Faith Abel -offered unto God a more acceptable Sacrifice than Cain * : By which is to be underflood, they tell us, a Faith in fome pofitive Revelation, in con- fequence whereof he performed an accept able Sacrifice to his Maker, which, other- wife, he could not have done -f-.

I SHOULD be glad to know here (faid I) to whom the Revelation pretended was firft made ? Whether to Abel himfelf, or, be fore his time, to Adam ? For, if the In junction of facrificing was firft given to Adam^ there can be no Doubt, I fuppofe, but he would take care to communicate it equally to both his Sons: And thus, it would feem, that the Merit both of Cain and Abel) fo far as their particular Action of facrificing only was concerned, mull have been altogether the fame in the fight

of

* Heb. xi. ver. 4.

rf- See Shuckford's Connection, &c. vol. I. p. 86, 87.— —Rev. Ex, voK i. p. 133 — 4—5.

( 19 )

of God, inafmuch as they both afted in that Affair upon the fame common Principle of Obedience to his pofitive Inftitution. Or if, on the other hand, the Command of Sa-. crifice was a perfonal one to Abel, (not to obferve, that the Reafon of fuch Command, whatever it might be, can hardly be thought not to have extended to Cain, as well as Abel) a Difficulty fure will arife upon this View of the Cafe, whence it came to pals, that Cam was fo much furprifc.d, as he ap pears to have been, at the different Recep tion his Offering met with from his Bro ther's *, when he could not but reflect there was fo very good a Reafon for it, as that the latter was made at an exprels Warrant from the Receiver, whereas, the former was the unauthorized Refult of his own of ficious Inclination ?

THE Advocates for the divine Origin of Sacrifice (returned He) have a Diftindtion here, which you have overlooked. They contend, that the fir ft Command of Sacri fice, to whomlbever addreffed, was of an animal, or bloody Sacrifice only; the De- fign thereof being to exhibit to Mankind a Memorial of Death's being the appointed Punimment of the firft Man's Tranfereffion,

O

and at the fame time to give them Hopes of fome future Releafe from that Punifh-

D 2 ment

* Gen. iv. ver. 5.

( 20 )

ment to be abteined through the Mercy of their Creator; to neither of which Ends, you will obferve, had Cam's Offering of the Fruits of the Ground any manner of Sub- ferviency. His Fault therefore lay, not in the unwarranted Ufe of Sacrifice, as fuch^ but In the Choice of an unwarranted Sub ject for it *.

THE Difficulty (I interpofed) about Cain's Surprife and Difsppointment is not in the leaft better folved upon this Hypothecs, than the former. But to let that pals, Horten- JluSj the Demand, methinks, of the Life of a perfectly innocent Creature, to be offered up in Sacrifice upon this Occalion to God, could give but fmall Encouragement to hope, that God intended to favour a guilty one. Then, as to Sacrifices, being instituted in Memory of Death's being the Punifh- ment of Sin, there feems to have been but little need of appointing the Slaughter of other Animals as Monuments to Mankind of a Fact, which, in the courfe of things, every Man would be but too frequently re minded of in Subjects of his own Species, and of which he was one day to make the fital Experiment himfelf in his own proper Perfon.

You

* See Shuck. Con. Vol. r. p. Si -2—to 88. Rev. Exam. Vol. i. p. 135 — 6. 140 — 1—2 3.

( 21 )

You feem to have forgot (faid Hortenfius) to what a* Number of Years the Life of Man was extended in the firil Ages of the World : a Circumftance , it has been thought, which made it neceffary to our firft Parents to have fome nearer Informa tion, what Death, the Penalty of their Tranfgreffion, was, than by waiting for the Execution of it upon themfelves, or fome of their Pofterity ; otherwife, their Idea of the Punimment of Sin would come too late, to give them a proper Senfe of the Evil of it. You cannot conceive, Philemon, with what a pathetic Eloquence this Subject is treated by a modern Author. The Groans, the Struggles of the poor expiring Animals deftined to give Adam and Eve their firft Lectures of Mortality.* • Their Contem plation of thefe Animals in their dead Eyes, zndi c o Id Car cajjes, before they were placed upon the Altar — and in the fad Reduction of their Beauty and Excellence to an Handful of Duji afterwards • Under a Refle ction all this while, that the melancholy Spectacle before their Eyes was an Effect

of their unhappy Mifconduct and that

they themfelves were one day to follow the fame odious Steps to Deftruffion are paint ed by him with all the Heightenings of the moft tender Imagery *. And if the Scene

could

* Rev. Exam. Vol. i. p. 144—5—6.

( 22 )

could be thus affecting in its Pi&ure only, whatanexquifiteDiftrefs mufthave attended it in its original Exhibition ? So exquifite indeed, in our Author's Conception, that it would have gone nigh to have evacuated the very End of its own Appointment • and, inftead of acquainting our firft Parents with the Nature only of their Doom, have driven them to a violent Anticipation of it upon themfelves, if, at the fame time that it was- fuch a Lecture of Terror to them, it had not likewife been a Lecture of Mercy j as impreffing them at once with the Idea of their Punifhment, and with the Hope of being fome way, or other, to be finally dif- charged from it *.

WITH regard (faid I) to the firfl of thefe Ufes of Sacrifice, it would have been better fuited to that Part of its Intendment, if it had been inftituted before the Fall, ra ther than after it. For never furely did it fo much import Mankind to have a due Ap- prehenfion of the Miferies of Death, as be fore they had incurred the Sentence of it. Then, indeed, a Reprefentation of it to their Minds, in all its moft aggravated Hor rors, midit have been a very ufeful Piece

J

of Caution to them : But when once the irrevocable Decree was pafTed againft them, Duft tbou art, and to Ditji Jlalt thou re~

tunn,

* See as before, p. 146 — 7.

_ ( 23 )

turn *, the Information fuppofed could ferve only to inhance the Wretchednefs of their Condition ; as giving them a more ex- quifite Dread of their Sentence, when it was wholly out of their power to efcape the Execution of it. And, as to the other Ufe of Sacrifice, its conveying Hopes of Pardon, and Mercy to fallen Mankind, I am altogether, as I before hinted, to feek, Hortenfius, for the Grounds of fuch an In terpretation of it. There is at leaft, I think, nothing of this kind implied in the Nature of the Rite itfelf.

THE Foundation of this Hypothecs (re plied He) is laid in the Sentence pronounce^ by God upon the Serpent immediately after the Fall of our firft Parents : A Seafon, you know, in which they had but juft re* ceived a moft fatal Mifchief from himj under which it could be but a cold Confo- lation to them to be told, that they, and their Poflerity, mould every now and then give him an accidental Eruife upon the Head, and that too frequently at the Ex- pence of being Sufferers themfelves in the very Act of doing it -J-. Interpreters there fore, in mere Good-nature to the two un^ happy Delinquents upon this Occalion, have thought it neceilary to give this Sentence

an,

* Gen. iii. ver. 19. t Gen. iii. ver. 15.

(24)

an higher Meaning : Some fuppofing it to contain a general Promife only of Mercy to Man -j whilft others have gone fo far as to contend, that the gracious Wifdom of God fo ordered this Affair, as, under the very Penalty denounced againfl the hated Inftru- ment of Man's Ruin, to afford him a kind of myflic Intimation of the particular Means of his Recovery. Of the former of thefe Opinions is the Author I laft mentioned to you; who, having difcovered a general Covenant of Mercy in the Sentence before us, finds fo fingular an Aptnefs in the Rite of Sacrifice, fpoken of almoft immediately afterwards in the Mofaic Hiftory, to become the Seal of this Covenant, that he will not fuffer you to make the leaft doubt, but that it was inflituted for that purpofe. I will read you a few of his own Words, Phile mon ;— • " That God entered into a Cove- <c nant of Mercy with Man, immediately <c after the Fall, is evident from, the Sen- " tence paffed upon the Serpent : in which " a Covenant of Mercy is neceffarily im- " plied. And can we doubt, that Sacri- <e fices were the Seal of that Covenant ? <c Efpecially, when Mercy is fo plainly im- " plied in the very Nature of the Inflitu- " tion ; which teaches, that tho' Life be " the Forfeit of Sin, yet God will in <c mercy accept another Life in lieu of the " Offender's?"— "We find that God's ufual 3 « Way

( 25 )

" Way of ratifying Covenants of Mercy " with Mankind, in After-Ages, was by " Sacrifices ; and can we imagine, that he " failed to do fo, when fuch Mercy was <f more wanted, than ever it was fince the " Foundation of the World ? and wThen <f fuch an Eftablifhment is demonjlrably one " main Reafon of the very Inftitution of " Sacrifices ? Is it to be imagined, that " God mould take care of the Health of " our Parents Bodies on this Occanon, " and take none of the Peace of their " Minds ? Is it to be imagined, that God " mould, foon after this, mew fo much " Solicitude for an hardened Murtherer, for <c fo vile a Wretch as Cain ; and take none " now about two unhappy Delinquents, " opprefTed with Mifery, and at the very " Point of Defpair? Had he fo much <f Mercy foon after upon one Man ; and " would he have none now upon the whole " Race of Mankind, yet in Adam ?" — - Thus our Author — than v/hom, I believe, it will not be eafy to find a Man of a happier Talent at realizing his own Fancies. But I could foon forgive him this, if he was not altogether as impoling, as he is fanciful. The truth is, the Candour he promifes us in his Title-Page feems, in a manner, to have evaporated there, by the little we meet with of it in his Performance.

E

I KNOW not (interrupted I) Hortenfius, whether you will allow me the Expreffion, but I have often thought, there is a fort of Perfecution in Logic, as well as in Religion : When Men of a warm and dogmatic Tem per have no fooner pafled off a weak Argu ment upon themfelves under the Conceit of a Demonftration, but, with the idolatrous Prince we read of in Scripture, they imme diately make a Decree to all People, Nations, and Languages, that, at what time they hear the Sound of their peremptory Decilions, they fall down and <worfhip the Golden Image, which thefe Tyrants in Speculation, have fet up *. But to return from this Digreffi- on, Hortenfus — If Men muffc fet themfelves to interpret fo very obfcure a Text of Scrip ture, as that of the Sentence pafled upon the Serpent, they do, however, I think, act with more Modefty, when they confider it as a general Covenant of Mercy only, than when they decypher it of the more explicit Promife of a Redeemer : Surely, this is by much too precife a Determination in a Que- ftion of fuch notorious Uncertainty.

HERE likewife, ( refumed Htirtenfius) as

in the Hypothecs of a general Covenant of Mercy, Philemon, the Inftitution of Sacri fice is brought upon the Stage, to confirm

the * Dan. Chap. iii. vcr. 4, 5, 10.

(27)

the Truth of the Interpretation ; it being, as is pretended, a fymbolical Exhibition of the Subject of the Prophecy fuppofed, a Figure of the true Offering which was after wards to be made for the Sins of Men *. If you are not difpofed to acquiefce in the ob vious Fitnefs of the Rite of Sacrifice in its own Nature to typify this Offering, but require fome pofitive Proof from Scripture, that it did fo, you will be told, that a typi cal Reference to Chrifl is at large afTerted by the Apoftle to the Hebrews in certain of the legal Sacrifices. Now, Sacrifices 'Were not a new Injlitution at the giving of the Law, and the Rules which Mofes gave about Sacri- jices and Oblations were, 'tis probable, only a Revival of the ancient Injlitutions in that matter ~j~. But then, you are to obferve, that the fame Writer, who fays this, fays alfo, that there were fome few Additions or Improvements made to them under the Law, which God thought proper for the State and Circumftances, through which he dejigned to carry the 'Jewifo Nation J. And what if the flrongeft Articles of Reference to the Mejfiah were of the number of thefe Ad ditions and Improvements ? A very preca rious Inference fure it muft be, from the typical Reference of Sacrifices under the

E 2 Law

* Shuck. Con. vol. i. p. 84. t Shuck, p. 84, 85.

Law to Chrift, to the typical Reference of Sacrifices before the Law, when all the more empbdtical Circumfiances of this Re ference, in the former Cafe, appear to have been wanting in the latter *. And yet it happens ftill more unfortunately for this Theory of typical Reference, that it is doubt ful, at leaft, whether the very Sacrifice moft infifled on in this Argument, fo far from being a figurative Shedding of the Blood of Chriit, was fo much as a real Shedding of that of an Animal. This however is worth our Notice, that the contrary Sentiment has been efpoufed by Commentators of the firft Clafs in biblical Criticifm : Grotius under- ftanding the Account of Abel's Sacrifice in Gene/is of an Oblation of Wool and Cream from fome more dijlingulfoed Animal of his Flock -j-j and Mr. Le C/erc3 fall more pro bably,

* Neque tufo afTeritur Abelern, Noachum, aliof- que Mo!e priores, in Sacrifices fuis Chrifti facrincandi prophetiam quandam realcm exhibere ftuduifle ; cum hoc Scriptura nufquam dixcrit, & Sacrificia Patriarcha- Jia circumllantii.s quibufdam emphatic! s, Lcge poftea prcEicriptis, deftituta fuerint. Spencer, de Leg. He- braeorum,TonV. 2. p. 772. -Ed. Chanpel. Conf. Outram. tic Sac. cap. i. p. 18.

f Cum nihii Deo facrari folcat, nifi quod in ufu Fit hominum, Anim.intibusautem vcfci ante Diluvium, ut prcbabilior fert fententia, pci'mifTum non fuerit, dici pallet, oblatam Lanam & Lac pinguiiJimum, quod

hie pinguedo vocetur. Primogenita autem quae

iiic dicuntur, ex Hebr^eo iiceat interpretari ea quse exi- aii;se erant Magnitudinis ac Formac. — Hsec probabili- ter uici pofFunt. Grot. Annot. ad Gen. ciip. 4. Com* 3* 2

( 29 )

bably, I think, of an Offering of Cream only from a Firftling of it J. Should we take the Senfe, Philemon, of thefe Gentle men in the Point (and none, I am fure, have a better Title to our Submiffion) what a Multitude of fine Speculations about the Reafons and Intendments of Abets Sacrifice might we compendioufly difpatch, by a new rendering only in our Bible of two or three Words in a Sentence ! Particularly, what will become, in this view of things, of a learned Author's Account of the fupe- rior Acceptablenefs of Abel's Sacrifice to Cam's, as being founded upon the Expeffia- tion of a Mejfiah ? Upon his believing what God had promifed, that " the Seed of the (c Woman Jhould bruife the Serpent's Head;" and in confequence offuch Belief offering fuch a Sacrifice for his Sins, as Goo1 had appointed to be offered, " until the Sead Jhould come*?" Or, of the Solution of this Problem pro- pofed to us by the candid Examiner of Re velation, now before me, to the following

EffecT: ? That " Abel, tho* a better Man,

" offered fuch a Sacrifice as plainly implied " a Confcioufnefs of Guilt which called for " Atonement ; and confequently his was a $t Sacrifice of Repentance -, confeffing Guilt,

"and

% Mallem vocem Behoroth fenfu interpretari pro- prio, ut fit hie w <T»« Juoiv, de prlmogenitis pecudumfua- rum, & de Adipe earum, <*I*TI TOD de Adipe, aut de Lafiti primogenitarum pccudum. Cleric. Comment, in Gen. Cap. 4. Com. 3.

* Shuck. Con. Vol. I. p. 85—87.

( 3° )

* and imploring Pardon -, and asfuch was ac- " cepted of God — whereas Cam,tho' aworfe " Man, expected to be accepted without " Repentance or Atonement — And this " feems very clearly implied in God's An- " fwer to him ; tc'lf thou dofl well, fhalt " thou not be accepted ? and if thou doft " not well, Sir. lieth at the door ;" that is, " if you are righteous and unfinning, you " fhall be accepted as fuch without Sacri-

" fice but if you are unrighteous, Sin

1<c lieth at your door, and mufl lie there, " till it is removed by Repentance and A- " tonement, (doubtlefs fuch Atonement as <c God himfelf had before appointed * ?")

I ALL along thought (interrupted I) that the Sin which introduced Death into the World, and Sacrifice by way of Memorial of it, had been that of our firft Parents in Paradife. Now, methinks, it was fome- what needlefs for Abel to offer a Sacrifice of

**S fc/

'Repentance for a Crime which he had never committed in his own Perfon, and with which he became chargeable by Imputation only ; a kind of Guilt, which could give him, furely, but a moderate Degree of Contrition j at leaft not a fufficient one, to keep him at fuch an awful Diftance from his beneficent Creator, as, that he mould not dare to approach him with Thanks for the common Eleffings of his Providence,

till

* Rev. Exam. Vol. i. p. 136,

till he had firft expiated an Offence foi; which he flood fo improperly accountable *» An Offence, indeed, whereof both he, and his Brother, had fo much lefs an In- terefl in the Demerit, than they unfortu nately were to have in the Penalty, that I can fcarce imagine the latter of them would ever have been reproached with doing ///, if he had not fome other way tranfgreffed, than in the Loins of his Father. And yet again, HortenJiuS) if our Author fuppofes here, that both Cain and Abel flood obnoxious to Death, in confequence of their own perfo- nal Tranfgreffions, we mufl then defire him to explain to us, what St. Paul means by afierting, that Sin is not imputed^ is not valued at any certain, determinate Price (as a great Commentator interprets this Place) 'where there is no Law -j~ : Or elfe, to mew us fome other Law, betides thofe to Adarn^ or Mofes, which had the Penalty of Death pofitively annexed to it. But there is indeed little Occafion to prefs this matter any far ther, as the Account you have been giving me of the Subject of Abel's Sacrifice ftrikes equally at the Expiatory, as at the Typical Quality of it.

NOR will the Probability of that Ac count (faid He) be at all weakened by what is fometimes urged as an Objection

to

*Rev. Exam. p. 136.

f Mr. Locke's Paraph, and Notes on Rom, v, ver. 13. Locke's Works, FoJ. Vol. 3. p. 281 — 2.

to it, that the Apoftle to the Hebrews, in fpeaking of Abel's Offering, calls it S-ucr/a, and not •rarfoc-tpo £& or <f w^p?, as he would ra ther, it is argued, have done, had it been of an inanimate Kind *. It being notorious, that the word 3-uorto, is feveral times ufed in Scripture of an inanimate Oblation -f* ; not to obferve, that with regard to the parti cular Sacrifice in queftion, the fame Apoftle, who calls it 3ru<na, in one Claufe of the Paf- fage referred to, calls it fwpov in another ||. Tho' after all, Philemon, mould it be al lowed, that the Sacrifice we are fpeaking of was really an Animal-one, even yet it may be queftioned, whether it had the Na ture of an Expiation : Seeing we have it upon the Authority of a learned Divine, who had confidered well this whole Sub ject of Sacrifices, that the very next Inftance of Animal-Sacrifice which occurs in the Mofaic Hiftory, the Burnt -Offer ings which Noah offered unto the Lord upon his going forth out of the Ark, was a Sacrifice, not

of

* Shuck. Con. Vol. I. p. 81, 82. •- Exv

TO

ETT' O.DTO Atavcw 3"j(rta£r"i. Levit. Cap. 2. Com. I. Ha? 'yag •srugi dx^rifTirxi' xaj •nratra 3-j- o-ja aAi aAjo-O^io-Erat. Marc. ix. 49. Vid. Grot, in Epift. ad Heb. cap. viii. 3. cap. v. I.

X£ TW «W, f

€7TJ T9t? JwOJf aVTOV TOU 0E2V.

( 33 )

of Atonement, but Eucharifl * : a Tefli- mony of his Thankfulnefs to Heaven, on the behalf of himfelf and his Family, for their privileged Exemption from a Fate, which had involved all the reft of Man kind -j-.

A SACRIFICE of Eucharifl (faid I) was really the only one that could be at all fuit- able to the prefent Occafion. For, with regard to the exclufive Body of Mankind, they had already perifhed for their Sins, beyond the power of an Atonement to avert their Condemnation ; and, with re gard to Noah and his particular Family, they had, methinks, already fo fenfible a Con- viclion afforded them of their paft Sins be ing remitted to their utmoft Wifh, that they had little need to think of expiating them any farther. Gratitude to their De liverer, and Joy in their Deliverance, were the only Affections of Mind which their prefent Situation called for : unlefs we may add now and then a compaili- onate Retrofpect to the Cafe of their loll Contemporaries, at once to inhance to them the Value of their Refcue, and to reftrain

F them

* Gen. viii. ver. 20.

f Noas enim Deogratias agens de fulute fibi, fulfque data, cum reiiquum omne mortalium Genus aquarum diluvio periiilet, Holocaufta D~o immolab.it. Outruin. de Sac. p. no.

( 34 )

them from a too licentious Exultation under the Scnfe of it.

BEFORE we quit this Topic (refumed Hor ten fius) of the Institution of Sacrifice at the Command of God, befides the particu lar Arguments hitherto alledged againft it, I mufl not omit a very ftrong prefumptive one in general, which arifes from the con- ftant Silence of the Mofaic Hiflory as to any fuch Command, notwithftanding the frequent Occafions which offer themfelves there for the Mention of it, if indeed a Command of this nature had ever been given. I will propofe this Argument to you in the words of the Author fo often already quo ted, to mew you how much better he can flate a Difficulty for us, than, you will 'find,

he has anfwered it. " if Mofes knew

" that Sacrifices were originally instituted " by God, with Marks of Acceptance, as " in the Cafe of Abel -• — why did he not " give a clear, diftinct Account of the In- " ftitution , and the Manner of Accep- " tance *?" — The Anfwer, it feems, is — <c Becaufe fuch a Relation was unnecelfary. " The Jews, to whom he wrote, knew " very well, that their own Sacrifices were " of divine Inftitution, and that God had " manifested his Acceptance of them, upon " the firil Iblemn Oblation after their In-

<c flituticn

* Revelation Exam, p, 136.

(35)

" ftitution, by a miraculous Fire from the " Divine Prefence ; and they could have no <c Reafon to doubt, that they were fo in- " ftituted, and fo accepted, from the Begin- <c ning. Nor needed they to be informed of a <c Truth, which, doubtlefs, a clear, uninter- " rz^/WTradition had long made familiar to " them*."— What a flowing Solution, Phile mon^ is here ! how flriking upon the whole ! and how unexceptionable in every diftinct Part of it! Should not an Infidel, who had any Re mains ofModeJty, blujh to oppofe his vain and fcepticalSurmifmgstothe rational Deductions of fuch a Matter in Argument ? An Au thor, every Stroke almoft of whofe Pen is the Decilion of fome Controverfy, and who fcarce writes a Sentence, but it comprifes a Demonstration ? Was not his Character, think you, happily drawn by an elegant and acute Writer of our Acquaintance, when he defcribed him to us, as the very Hero of Modern Orthodoxy ; the Scourge of Infidels ; allowed to have a better Fancy for tngemotu Solutions, than all *he other Vindicators of Scripture put together -j- ? Should we how ever afk this Gentleman here, upon what Grounds he fo confidently alTerts an uni- verfal Perfualion in the Jewiih Nation of the divine Original of Sacrifices, or where Fa he

* Revelation Exam. p. 137.

f Remarks on fome Obfervations addrefled to the Author of the Letter to Dr. Waterland, p. 10.

( 36 )

he meets with that clear uninterrupted Tra dition of this Fadt amongft them, which he delivers with fuch an Air of Certainty and Afftirance, he would be at a lofs, I am apt to think, to give us an Anfwer to this Queftion, without having recourfe to fome new Con jectures for that purpofe. Mean while, if there really fubfifted amongft the Jews fuch a clear uninterrupted 'Tradition of Sacrifices being originally of Divine Appointment to their Fore-fathers, at the time of Mofes's writing his Hiftory of thofe Perfons, is it not very extraordinary, Philemon, that, in all the Accounts he gives of their Sacri fices, a Notion fo familiar to him mould never once have efcaped him? that not fo much as an Hint of this matter mould have ever dropped from his Pen, from the mere fettled Impreflion of the Fact itfelf upon his own Mind in writing ? But we are told farther, that Sacrifice, at its fecond Inftituiion under Mofes, was loaded 'with many additional Ceremonies : and it might not be proper for Mofes to point up to it in its fimpler and primitive State, for fear of prejudicing the yews againft it, upon the footing it was from thenceforward to be

eftablifhed amongft them *.— ' • Here

again, Philemon, as before, if there fob-, fifted fo clear and uninterrupted a Tradi tion of the Origin and primitive Acceptance

of

* Revelation Exam. p. 137,

( 37 )

of Sacrifice, as is pretended, is it not hard to conceive, that the Tradition mould have flopped there, and not have brought down fome Notices of the Manner and Circum- flances of the Rite, as well as of the Rite itfelf ? Is it not very happy for our Au thor, that the Tradition fhould be clear and uninterrupted jufl fo far as it fuits his pur- pofe to have it fo ; and dark, and broken in all other refpects ? Or mall we fay indeed, that he has the befl Right to adjufl for us the Contents of a Tradition, which feems indebted wholly to the Fruitfulnefs of his Imagination for its very Being ? But let us admit the two Parts of our Author's An- fwer to the Queflion before us to be ever fo confiftent with each other, ftill I mult obferve, that the latter Part of it appears to me to be founded upon a falfe Thought ; and that the Reafon he gives for Mofes's avoiding to fuggeft any Comparifon to his Countrymen "between the firfl Inflitution of Sacrifice, and the fecond, might more na turally have led him to direct contrary Mea- fures. For the Jews, at this fecond Injlitu- tion, as 'tis called, of Sacrifice, were but newly come out of Egypt* a Land, you know, of Superflition and Ceremonies ; where they had contracted fuch a Fondneis for the more operofe Modes of Egyptian Worfhip, that the Simplicity of the firfl Ritual of Sacrifice would probably have

been

(38 )

been fo far from giving them any Prejudice againft the more encumbered State of the fecond, that it would rather have recom mended it to them upon the Comparifon, as being more in the prevailing Tafte of the then prefent Times. Upon the whole, therefore, for any thing here advanced, we may Ml, I think, urge the Silence of Mo- fesy as to the divine Inftitution of Sacrifice, as a ftrong general Prefumption againft fuch Inftitution. Nor let the concife Turn of the Mofaic Hiftory, and its bearing a prin cipal Reference to fome particular Points only, be admitted in bar to this Prefump tion : It being evident from the Prohibition to Noah of eating Flejh with the Blood there- cf, fo circumstantially delivered in the Book of Genefa *, that, notwithftanding the Cir- cumftances but now mentioned, the Hi- ftorian can fometimes particularize a Fact, not related to his principal Purpofe in wri ting, when it is of fuch a nature as to de fers his Notice : And I cannot but think the Command of facrificing, if fuch Com mand had indeed ever been given by God, was as likely to have found a place in the Mofaic Hiftory, as the Prohibition to Noah of eating Blood. But here, Philemon, to look back a little to our firft fetting out in the prefent Argument, it may naturally enough be inquired, if Sacrifice was origi nally

* Genefis ix. ver. 4, 5. J

(39)

nally a mere human Inftitution, and Abel's Offering, fpoken of in Gene/is, a matter of Will-Worjhip only, why is his Faith, as te- ftified by his voluntary Adi of facrificing to God, fo celebrated in the eleventh Chapter of the Epiftle to the Hebrews, where the Author of that Epiftle is treating altogether of Inftances of Faith in fome exprefs and po- fitive Revelation ? So, I am aware, he is fometimes faid to be *j with what Juftnefs will be beft feen, by examining a particular Cafe or two, which we find there recorded. To mention, for example, the Cafe of £- mch. — The Faith of this excellent Perfon, in virtue whereof he obtained the efpecial Privilege of a cTranJlation^ is by the Apoftle exprefily defcribed to have been a Faith in fome future Recompence of Reward, in con- fequence of his walking with, or pleafing God, throughout the whole Tenor of his Life -j- : An Expectation, which there is not a word faid, either by Mofes, or the Apoftle, of his having had fupernaturally communicated to him ; and which we may therefore, I think, fairly prefume to have been the rational Refult of his own con- fcious Virtue. In like manner, the Faith of Rahab, celebrated in the fame Chapter, whereby foe received the Spies of Ilrael with

Peace,

* See Shuck. Con. i. p. 86, 87. Rev. Exam.

*• P- !33— 4-5- f Heb. xi. ver. 5, 6. Gen. v. ver. 24.

(4° )

Peace *, was not a Faith or Belief in any pofitive Revelation fhe had received from. Heaven for that purpofe ; but the Effect of her own Reafoning upon the Accounts fhe had heard of certain extraordinary Interpo- fitions of divine Power on the behalf of the Jfraelites -, from whence having inferr'd, that the future Succefs of their Affairs would prove agreeable to the paft, fhe was led to make a timely Provilion for the Security of herfelf, and her Family, againft the Profpect fhe entertained of the approaching Ruin of her Country J. And why now, I would gladly know, might not the Faith of Abel be celebrated by our Apoftle upon the fame grounds with that of Enoch, or Rahab ; not, you fee, as a Belief in any explicite Reve lation, but as a Principle of general Truft only in the Goodnefs and Power of God ? Sure I am, the great Purpofe of the facred Writer, in the Chapter we are fpeaking of, is fully anfwered by this Explication.

THAT Abel might deferve (I interpofed here) to be commended by the Apoftle for his general Faith only, or religious Truft in God, is much eaiier to be admitted, than it is to conceive, whence he came to think of expreffing that Faith by the particular Action of facrificing to him. For what

could

* Heb. xi. ver. 31.

\ Jofh. vi. ver. 9, to 14.

could indeed induce him to imagine, that he was paying a becoming Honour to his Creator, when he was offering to him a little Wool or Cream from a Firftling of his Flock ? Things which, he could not but obferve, derived their whole Value, with regard to himfelf, from a certain relative Accommodation to his perfonal Ufe and Convenience, and could therefore have none at all, with regard to his Maker, in whom this Ufe and Convenience had no Place ?

THIS would have been very good Reafon- ing, (replied He) Philemon-, but whymufl you fuppofe Abel to have thought as juftly upon this matter, as you do ? Might he not be a very good Man, without being a good Reafoner ? A Piety of Intention, you know, is not necefTarily connected with a Soundnefs of Judgment : You muft have met with many Inftances, befides this, of a very honeft Meaning in Religion, where there has not always been an equal Depth of Understanding. It is a very natural Pre judice in all rude and untutored Minds to fancy every thing they are concerned writh thinks and feels in the fame manner, which they themfelves do. Whence elfe was it, Philemon, to reafon with you Lorn your own Experience, that, during the earlier Years of your Childhood, you fcarce ever, I dare fay, got a Blow, or a Fall, but the G thing

. (40' ;

which {truck, or hurt you, was the im mediate Object of your Difpleafure, how ever infenfible in itfelf of the Injury it had done you ? Infomuch that many times a By-ftander has been obliged to take up your Quarrel againft your fuppofed Enemy, and pacify your Refentment, by giving you a fictitious Revenge ? Whence again was it elfe, that, if at any time you was in a more than ordinary good Humour, or had en tered into a particular Fondnefs for certain of the Perfons intrufted with the Care of you, you was continually almoft imparting to them a Share of whatever you took de light in ; which you therefore prefumed upon their being pleafed with, becaufe you was firft fo yourfelf ? Now, what is thus the Foible of each individual Man, in his own particular State of Infancy, why may we not fuppofe to have been the Foible of Mankind, under the general Infancy, if I may fo call it, of the human Species ? Why ihould not a Generation of Children (Chil dren, I mean, in Understanding) act the fame abfurd Part towards their great com mon Benefactor, which we can each of us remember formerly to have done towards our particular and private Ones, that is to lay, Mealure his Difpofition by their own ; and attribute to him an efpecial Intereft in thofe things, in which they were moil in- terefted themfelves ?

You

( 43 )

You know (faid I) Hortenfms, I never had any great Idea of the intellectual State of Affairs in the firft Ages of Mankind. Neverthelefs, this, I muft own, is fo very difparaging an one, that nothing, I believe, would prevail with me to enter into it, but my not being able to account for the origi nal Motives of their facrificing upon any Other.

THE Reludiance (replied He) you feem to exprefs to come into this Reprefentation of the primitive Times proceeds altogether from your happening to live in more im proved ones : and you are yourfelf at this inftant an Example, in fome degree, of the very Foible charged upon the firfl Ages of the World, whilfl you thus transfer to them the Sentiments of your own. But this is after all a very natural Prejudice ; and I can much fooner excufe it in you, Philemon, than in a certain Writer upon our prefent Subject; who, whilfl he makes great De mands upon the Powers of unaffifled Rea- fon in the Cafe of Sacrifice in particular, af- fefts to entertain the moil flighting Con ceptions of them, as to all other religious Purpofes. " Reafon, fays He, if it led " Men to any, would lead them to a rea- " fonable Service, But the Worfhip of Cf God in the way of Sacrifice cannot, I

G 2 think,

( 44 )

" think, appear to be of this fort, if we ct take away the Reafon that may be given

<c for it from Revelation *." Again, " It

" can never be made out from any natural " Notions of God, that Sacrifices are a " reafonable Method to obtain, or return C£ Thanks for, the Favours of Heaven. The ft Refult of a true rational Enquiry can " be this only, that God is a Spirit, and <c they that worjhip him muft isoorjhip him in tc Spirit and in Truth -J-." — Would you expect from hence to find the fame Writer, in a place I am going to read to you, after a Recital of fome of the principal Abfur- dities of the Theology of the earlier Ages of Mankind, making this Obfervation ? that " If we look back, and make a fair Inqui- " ry, we muft certainly allow, that Reafon " in thefe early Times, without the^ affi- " ftance of Revelation, was not likely to of-' " fer any thing but fuperftitious Trifles ||"? And accordingly, you have him delivering it as his confirmed Judgment, <c That there *c never was any thing fo weak, extrava- " gant, or ridiculous, but Men eminent for " their natural Strength of Underftanding " have been deceived to embrace and de- ' fend it," as often as they pretended to rhinking for themfelves in Religion, and

*c attempted

* Shuck. Vol. i. p. 82.

* Shuck, p. 83.

* Shuck. Vol. 2. p. 305.

(45) *c attempted to fet up what they thought a

(' reafonable Scheme of it J." Is not this

a Ijttle extraordinary, Philemon ? For why, it may be afked, might not the fame Per- fons reafon ill in the matter of Sacrifices, who did fo in every thing befides ? But here, quite contrary to our Author's gene ral Tenor of thinking, Reafon, you find, if it leads Men to any, muft lead them to a rea fonable Service. — : — Nothing weak, nothing extravagant, nothing ridiculous, nothing of fuperftitious 'Trifling, is to be admitted into this one Article of the ancient Religion, al- tho' there is fcarce any thing, but what is fo, to be met with in all the others. Such a Juftnefs of Thought, it feems, was there in the World at the time when Sacrifice made it's firft Entrance into it, that nothing would then go down with Mankind, but what was " the Refult of a true rational " Enquiry."

You know (faid I) Horte?2/ius, this was during the Antediluvian Age. Poffibly the intellectual World might be as great a Suf ferer by the Deluge, as, we are told, I think, was the natural one ; and Mens Ideas of divine Matters might be fo totally difcompofed during the Courfe of that Phe nomenon, that they could never afterwards

recover

j Shuck. Vol. 2, p. 305.

(46 )

recover their firft Rightnefs of Apprehenfioui. in them.

RATHER, Philemon ; (returned He) let us fay here, that the divine Origin of Sa crifice was, for Reafons, I think, not dif ficult to be conceived, a favourite Point with this learned Gentleman ; and therefore every thing was to be kept out of view, which might reconcile us to it, as of human. A Conceffion, upon the prefent Qccafion, in behalf of Reafon, was as neceflary to our Author's particular Purpofe of Argument, as thqfe difcrediting Reprefentations, he is fo fond of making of it, in the courfe of his Connections at large, are to his general one,

THE more'(interpofed \}HortenJius, I re flect on what you have been difcourfing, con cerning the weak and infant State of think ing in more remote Antiquity, the more I find myfelf difpofed to acquiefce in it. I will fuppofe then, that the Gratitude of the firft Ages towards their Creator was of a like injudicious kind, with that of Children, within our own Obfervation, towards the favourite Objects of their Affections. But here, a Difficulty, I think, arifes to be ac counted for, which is not without its weight. For does it not put a material Difference between the two Cafes here fuppofed, that, in the one, the Object of Gratitude is like-

wife

( 47 )'

wife one of Sight and Senfe ; admits of an immediate Application to its Interefts ; and by certain vifible, however feigned, Ex- preflions of its good-liking of what is given to it, condefcends ufually to flatter and en courage the credulous Generoiity of the Giver ? Whereas, in the other cafe, the Benefactor concerned is a remote and invi- fible one ; no certain Accefs is to be had to his Prefence ; no flattering Tokens are afforded of his Approbation ? Would it not then greatly check the officious Zeal of the firfl Sacrificer, that he could neither know in what manner he might beft addrefs his intended Oblation, nor, after he had made choice of any particular Manner of doing it, have any fatisfactory Affurance that he had chofen rightly ?

73733' . i -'I lit Ojfll qt; 'I

You are Hill (anfwered He) Philemon^ relapfing into your old Prejudice, of confi- dering him as an exact and fcrupulous Rea- foner. On the contrary, the Fact probably would be, that having once formally fet apart from his own Ufe the Matter of his Offering, and upon Examination afterwards finding it to have been confumed or dif- pofed of in fome way or other which had efcaped his Obfervance, he would from hence fondly delude himfelf, that it had in fact been applied that way, which he in imagination had defigned it fhould be. There

would

would be the greater Colour for fuch a be-* lufion, as the Being to whom he had ad- dreffed his Oblation was by Suppofition an invifible one, of whofe Acceptance of it therefore he would not expect to be con vinced by any direct and fenfible Proofs, Something of this kind feems to have been the Reafoning of the Scythian Sacrificers mentioned by Herodotus ; who, when they had duely prepared and dreffed their Victim, ufed, it feems, no other Ceremony in af- ligning the Gods their Portion of it, than that of the Offerer's calling it down before him in the Temple *. And in their Sacri fices to Mars, of every hundredth Captive they had taken in War, their Practice was, to cut off the right Arms of the un happy Subjects of this Cruelty, and throw them up into the Air, to fall wherever Chance might direct them -j~. What I have been nere faying, Philemon, you will

obferve,

St s^yQri -roc, xgtxy o 3u<ra? ruv X^EWU xai

TCOV o-7rAa^vwv azJo^ajwEUO?, £»7rJ« ff TO Herod. Lib. 4. cap. 61. Ed. Gale. -f- ETTI TOUTOU 3e TOU o^xou axn>«x»i?

oKr*' xai TOUT' Eft TOU Afros TO a) Sri xxt toicS £Tt -srAfw 3uou<rt »i TOHTI

<J' ay TUV •nroAe^twu ^aj^n(rw(rt, OLTTO TUV IX.XTOV av<Jfwy avopoe, ivot, Sucum, TOOTTU ov TW a'JTw w xai

TWB

X3JI fTTfiTCt, «V£V£»X«VT£? flSVU £7Tt TOV Oj/XOy TWI>

H>*u-

(49)

obierve, fuppofes that the moft ancient Sacrifices were performed without Fire : as indeed, from the Accounts we have of the Perjian^ Scythian, and fome of the Greek and Roman Sacrifices being at all times per formed in this manner, feems to me ex tremely probable *. I am aware, in the mean while, that the common Opinion in this matter is againft me 5 and that the Sa crifice of Abel in particular, as recorded in the Mofaic Hiftory, is generally thought to have been of the burnt, no lefs than the bloody, Kind : Inibmuch that fome Wri ters have afTerted, that, whereas God is re- prefented in the Book of Genefis to have had Refpeff unto Abel and his Offering^ the manner of fignifying this Refpect was, by his fending down a miraculous Fire from

Heaven

xaTap££ou<n TO aj/xa TOU (£>0£>£ou<n TOUTO* xarw Jf TS&^O. TO /^oy Troifuo-; TaJf' ruv

V avJjowv TO'JJ 0f£t0u? Wjuou? Travraf aTro- vv rrxn "Xfoy^ ss rov ctspoi ttt-jj - . -yno us av -crew xtfrat, nat Xw^t? ° vsx^og. Ibid. cap. 62. * ®'Jo-j» <Je

OIT£ TffU/0 aurX-

Herod. Melp. cap. 132. vid. &Strab. Geogr. Lib. 15. p. 732. Ed. Cafaub. Herod. Melp. cap. 61. Aw-fAft xat B»j««i zsr^oc-x-. AnAco Tfv ATroAAcovo? TO'J

TO

TtOf<rS«t ETT' ajlov a.vev TTU^. D\og. Laert. in Pythag. Lib. 8. Segm. 13. Paufan. Arcad. p. 237. 272 — 3. Xyl. Ed. Francof. Diod. Sic. Lib. 5. p. 328. DIonyf. Hdicarn. Ant. Rom. Lib. 2. p 07

H

( 50

Heaven to confume it *: whilft others have admitted, that the Fire upon this Occafion was of the Sacrificer's own kindling, but feem at the fame time to have thought, that the particular Mode of facrificing by Fire was in fome fort fuggefted to him from above, by the Divine Being's having made ufe of it as the ordinary Symbol of his Pre- fence in thofe infant Ages of Mankind J, You are no Stranger, Philemon^ to part at leaffc of this Hypothecs : I remember you gave fome Intimations of an Acquaintance with it in one of our former Conferences |[.

You will remember too (faid I) that I conlidered it there as an Hypothecs only, and laid no ftrefs upon it, as indeed I would never allow myfelf to. do upon what is thus entirely conjectural. But as to the Supreme Being's fignirying an Approbation of Abel's Offering in any fupernatural manner, that, I mufh own, I mould very unwillingly fub- fcribe to : inafrnuch as I would not readily conceive of him as giving fuch lignal Coun tenance to the original Practice of a Rite fo

un-

• Vid. Grot. Anriot. ad Gen. iv. Com. 4. Conf. Cleric, in Gen. iv. Com. 4.

• J Nee abfurda forfan conje&ura eft Patriarchas eo- rum dona libcntius igni tradidifTe, quod Deus, aut An- gelus Dei, fub ignis fiammantis ipecie fe vifendum pr^buifiet. Spenc, de Leg.. liebrseorum, Vol. 2. p. 772. Ed. Chappelow.

H'See Philemon to Hydafpes, Part 3. p. 66.

( 5' )

unfuitable to him in itfelf, and fo liable to be abufed to the moil unworthy Purpofes in Religion. And tho' I am not altogether of Opinion with the learned Writer but now q -otjd by you, that the firft Reafoners concerning a God muft neceflarily have concluded him to be a Spirit, yet I mould bs forry, methinks, to have them furnimed by himfelf with fo good a Pretence, as is here fuppofed, for thinking otherwife. In (/hort, Hortenjms, a mere Connivance or Condefcenfion in this matter is with me, I confefs, Difficulty fufficient, without load ing it with the additional Weight of an ac tual and explicit Encouragement.

WITHOUT entering into this Argument (refumed Hortenfius) which is beyond our prefent Purpofe, now we are agreed con cerning the Origin of Sacrifice in the World, let us attend a little to the hirlorical Progrefs of it; and fee how far the Courfe of Fa£t in this Article correfponds to our general The ory. It is the more common Opinion of Writers, who have treated of the Antedi luvian Age of the World, that Mankind were then wholly Strangers to the Ufe of Animal-Food j: If this Account be true, it affords us, I think, a very ftrong Pre- 11 2 fumption

J Vide Grot. Annot. ad Gen. ix. Com. 3. Cleric, in Gen. i, Cora. 29. Shuck, Connect. Vol. I, p. 90,

( 52 )

fumption, contrary to what is as commonly fuppofed by moft of the fame Writers *, that they were no lefs Strangers to the Uie of Animal-Sacrifices. For, as Porphyry, I remember, fomewhere very juftly obferves, the Idea of a Sacrifice being that of an Ac knowledgment made to the Gods of the good things provided by them for the Sup port and Service of Life, it would be both abfurd and impious for fuch Perfons to fa- crifice Animals, whofe Practice it was to abftain from the eating of them -J-. 'Tis true, the Writers I am fpeaking of deny the euchariflical Nature of the Antedilu vian Sacrifkes, in which alone, it may be faid, confiffo the Abfurdity, and Impiety here fuggefted by our Philofopher. But whatever may be thought of the Sacrifice of 'Abe^ that of Noah^ we have agreed, will not eafily be proved to have been of the propitiatory Kind : and yet this, wre know, was offered by the Patriarch, previoufly to his having received the Grant fuppofed to have been made to him of Animal-Food ; from which, according to thefe Gentlemen, is originally to be derived the Liberty Man kind

* See particularly Shuck. Conne£l. p. Sc, 81.

•f 'Of? dv ft TO ir,c $\J>TI<X,$ O.TT «,:>%*$ ep/ej a£«*8 xaj rjp^afif-»ay t^\> ts&pa S'ft/ :v tyj)tAtv tic ra? ^nxc9 f./.o^wlx' (>]> ay f t»j avrojf c. •Ktyfv.iwx TW EJU^U^CA*, TO,,- S-fOu; TOVTWV c-.Texfr'^y.i. Porph. de Abft. Lib. £• p, 77. £'-', Molften.

( 53 )

kind have fince taken in this Article, and by which alone it can be defended -f-.

S o (interrupted I) is often, I have ob- ferved, arTerted : and accordingly the Deift, if I miftake not, has been fometimes pub- lickly challenged to make good his Claim to a Flefh-diet exclufi vely of the Authority of his Bible *, and charged in the mean time with an unwarrantable Infringement herein upon the Believer's Privilege. But furely, without calling in the Affiftance of Revelation upon this Occaiion, his Practice may be abundantly juftified from the Nature of things. At leaft, Hortenfius^ if it can not, and he is in no cafe at liberty to eat, but where he can be fecure not to kill, I know not from whence he is to be fupplied with the neceflary Means of his Subliftence in Life ; now that Microfcopes are every where at hand, to convict him of number- lefs inevitable Murders in the Ufe even of a vegetable Diet : Infomuch that the moil fcrupulous Conformift to a Regimen of this fort, who, in the Tcndernefs of his regard to the Prefervation of Animal-Life, mould, with the Mifer in the Poet, live altogether Herbis & Urtica J, would yet be in fad: all this while committing as real, tho' unfuf-

pected t See Revelation Exam. &c. Vol. 2. p. 10. and p.

3°-

b See Reyntlds's Three Letters to a Deift, Lett. I. \ Horat. Epift. Lib. i. Epift. 12. ver. 7, 8.

(54)

peeled, Violence upon it, as the Epicure he would be the forwardeit to charge with fo doing.

THAT the Deift (replied Hortenflus} has a very good Title to Animal-Food, with out producing his Warrant for it from the Bible, is a Point he mail never hear me dif- puting with him. Had he no other Plea to offer for his Practice, the Example of it afforded him throughout the whole Animal World around him might, I think, be ad mitted as a very plaufible one. To fay the truth, Philemon, the ftriking Notoriety of the Fact I am here hinting at mufl ever, it Ihould feem, have fuggefted to Mankind fo ftrong a Prefumption of their Liberty to eat Flefh, that I can fcarce conceive the World to have continued in Being for above lixteen hundred Years together before the Flood, and Men all this while to have religioufly abftained from the Ufe of Animal-Food, merely becaufe they had never received an efpecial Grant of it from Heaven : Unlefs it be, that we are to credit what the Poets fable of their Golden Age, and what has indeed hem fometimes thought to be coun tenanced by Scripture itfelf, that the Inftinct we now find in Animals, to prey upon one another was no Part of their original Con- ftitiition, but an Article rather of that uni- verfal Depravation of Manners, which over-

fpread

(55)

fpread no lefs the animal, than the rational Creation, when all Flefh had corrupted his 'way upon the Earth *. And agreeably to this Notion, the PafTage of Scripture, we are generally taught to look upon as an original Grant to Mankind of the Liberty of a Flelh-Diet, may poffibly, I have often thought, be nothing more than a Regula tion there firft introduced into a preceding Practice of this kind : not fo properly a Warrant to them to eat Flefh, as a Reftric- tion from a particular Manner of eating it, the eating it with the Life thereof t which is the Blood -j-.

You would confider then (faid I) Hor- tenjius, what is ufually called the Grant in this Cafe as a kind of Preamble, if I may fo fpeak, to the fubfequent Prohibition ; or, in other words, when Mofes in the Book of Gene/is, now before me, reprefents God as faying to Mankind, in the Perfons of Noah and his Sons, " Every moving thing that " liveth mail be Meat for you ; even as the " green Herb have I given you all things: " but Flefh with the Life thereof, which, is " the Blood thereof, {hall you not eat." The Senfe, you conceive, may be-- — Whereas

in

* Non ergo ab initio animantia animantibus vefce- bantur, fed turn demum id cccptum fieri, cum noil homines tantum, fed £c alia animantia viam fuam cor- ruparunt. Gror. Annot. ad Gan. i. Com. 70.

•f Gen. ix. ver. 3, 4.

( 56 )

in the Courfe of my natural Providence I have permitted you to acquire for yourfelves the Ufe as well of Animals, as Vegetables^ for your Food, I have only one Reftrainf,' which I think proper to lay upon you in this matter, and that is, the requiring you from henceforth never to eat the Flefli of any living Creature, without firft carefully draining it of its Blood.

You have exprefTed my Meaning very fully (faid He) Philemon : The Creator here, as you have well diftinguifhed, not intend ing to convey to Man any new Right over the inferior Animals, but rather to tie up his hands, in the Exercife of a Right he flood already porTeft of, from any wanton and unneceffary Acts of Cruelty : Upon Occa- fion, 'tis probable, of fome unwarrantable Liberties of this kind, which had prevailed in the Antediluvian World.

THE Paflage, (returned I) confidered in this view, ftandsas a very appofite Preface to that folemn Prohibition of Ihedding; human

t_?

Blood, which is immediately fubjoined to it || . For the Pythagorean Doctrine, how ever overftrained in its Application, was cer tainly

|| Videtur ergo Deus, veluti per Gradus quofdam, ad homicidium vetandum procedere, quorum primus hie eft ; nimirum licitam quidem hominibus Brutorum caedem, nee carnibus vefci vetitum, fed prius elle ef-

fundendum

_( 57)

tainly a. very rational one in itfelf, that a tender and compaffionate Treatment of in ferior Animals is a natural Means of form ing Mens Hearts to Habits of Kindnefs and Good-Affe£tion towards one another : And he, who mould not think himfelf at liberty wantonly to give pain even to the moil con temptible living Creature, would not, I imagine, be very forward to lift up his hand againft the Life of a Man like him felf*.

I F this, (refumed Hortenjlus) as I think is no ways improbable, was the humane

Defign

fundendum fanguinem. Sic enim Deus homines fine immanitate brutis utendiun docuit ; nam cum effundi eorum fanguis nequeat fine celeri morte, per exquifita veluti fupplicia non effe occidenda oftendit ; ne homi nes primiim brutis vefcentes, . permiiTione a Deo ac- cepta crudeliter forte abutcrentur, & fasviti?e afiuefie- rent. Eo ergointerdt£to, ad feritatem hominum inter fe impediendam, viam fibi flernit Deus. Cleric, in Gen. ix. Com. 4.

• O» nuSafoptxot Try TS-^O<; rot. rriv £7rcni(ra.UTo •arcc; TO (piAai r> y&^ fyvrfttHx, $nv;i TOO; xotrtx, Sfcrt u:ofcu Tzzsy.yoJuv TCV av9ow7roy. Plut. de Solert. Anim. p. 959 - 60. Ed. Xyi.

.wtv av* o<? yow > crtavrT;? TO-J run ccTrlfcrOai ^ww* «7rixAt;£v, TO-JTCOU c vo-j? o/xo^uAww a£c-£c,«j;'o,-. Porph.de Abft. Lib. 2. p. 76 1 -

» ^ Plut. de Efu Cam. p. 996.

( 58}

Defign of the Precept we are fpeaking of, one cannot but regret, that the Obfervance of it, in the Ages fucceeding the Difper- (ion of the human Race from Shinaar, mould have been confined wholly to a final! Proportion only of Noah's Defcendents ; whilft the far greater Part of Mankind, finking, as fhould feem, from thencefor- \vard into a long and abfolute Barbarifm both of Thinking and Manners, lived, there is great reafon to apprehend, for a conii- derable time, in the moil infamous Breach of it. For in the Accounts delivered to us by Antiquity of the firft civilizing of parti cular Countries by Perfons here and there of a more improved Turn happening to viiit, or fettle in them at different Seafons, one Circumflance of their Hiflory conftantly infifled on is that of their introducing into thofe Countries a general Reformation of Diet -y or perfuading the Natives to live firft * upon the wild, and afterwards upon the more cultivated Produce of the Earth j as if before they had led the Lives of wild Beafts, feeding, as they had Opportunity, on the crude Flefli of other Animals, if not even on the more helplefs Part of their own Species *. The Picture here, Philemon, I am fenfible, muft be mocking, to a degree

perhaps

J.M 'yof.^ '•nrayirai (rov Ortfiv) T»J TWV OM»7£&Jwwii JTJO;, fvflov(r*ij jU» KX.I rr,$ y.o^;:(; xaTov, rou si Q

< S9 }

perhaps of appearing even Romantic, to a Perfon of your improved and delicate Hu manity. But the Hiftory, I muft obferve, of modern Barbarians does but too amply confirm the Probability of what is here fuggefted of ancient ones. And, if this was really their Cafe, the Age, in which they firft made the happy Exchange of barbarous, for civil, Manners, could fcarce fail of being celebrated by them every where in Terms pf the moil heightened Panegyric ; which, as meanly accommodated, in every refpect, as it may appear to have been with regard to later times, they might have reafon to efteem a Golden Age to thofe which had gone before it. Now the Matter of Mens Diet, in thefe firft Ages of reftored Civility and focial Manners, being thus confined to things without Life, their Sacrifices, we are naturally led to infer, muft have been fo I 2 likewife.

trxy.svo'j rw TO'JTWV % XT s(>'y ix. <Tt xv TWV xaoTrwv 11 JEW? <Js pktrofltttM zrotvlois rnv TgoQwy $ix T? rr,v rjovriv rr:$ (pu- etwq TWU f9M$iV?eJ*, xat A a TO (fieiniuQett avpfyspoy VTTOC,:- "Xtw aTTE^fffGai T»J? X»T' aAAriAwv W^OTJJTOJ. Diod. Sic. Lib. i. p. 13. Ed. Rhodoman. Toy f-w wv K«voy OVTSX, 'cveTOaj, x«t TOU? X^;T'

Dtod. Sic. Lib. 5. p. 334.

Sihcftres homines facer interprcfqnc Dcorum C&dibus & viftufaedo dctcrruit Orpheus.

Horat. de ArtePoet. v. 391—2. Lucret. Lib. 5. Ovid.

Faft. Lib. 2. v. 289 — 302. Metamorph. Lib. 5. v.

89, & fecj.

2

(60 )

likewife. And agreeably hereunto Wri-' ters, who have traced back the Hiftory of Sacrifices to more remote Antiquity, ac quaint us, that the firft religious Offerings to the Gods were only "green Herbs, the Down, as it were, of fruitful Nature, which Men plucked up by the Roots with their Hands, and burned in Sacrifice to the celeftial Dei ties." After this they proceeded to offer Acorns, and Oak-Leaves ; then Nuts ; then whole Barley j and, upon the Invention of the Grinding-Mill, Meal ; then again a kind of Meal-Cake ; and laftly, as they became in time acquainted with the Ufes, and Pre parations of them, all forts of Fruits, and Grain, accompanied with choice Perfumes, fuch as they efteemed worthy to entertain the Senfes of Divine Beings -j~. In like manner, the ancient Libation, or Drink-

Offering,-

fct; ">/£rj, ou

0\JO£ KOiCiXf^ X.XI fa*><XJ'j)fVj XClXU jUi^O*»T #AA« V/'-O''!?? 0*5V f.i TJVJl TV/J J/CVfUOU ^MT

Jf?j.3-jwfva. Porph. de Ab'l. Li:h. ?.. p. 53. A:uo; >:»p- 7ro^>a]*KTafTS?, TTJJ (v.jy T^t(pr,<; viz WJ (TTTC'.'JW fj.iy.otXj T-S.-J c: {tvA/.a-c aVTOic •£•/{»« TOK 3*o*? e<T ^a? 3i-o-.cc?

( 6i )

Offering, was, as the fame Writers inform us, of Water ; then it came to be of Ho ney ; next of Oil ; and laft of all of Wine *. Milk likewife was fometimes ufed as a Drink-Offering : Thus, not to repeat what has been already fuggefted in the Cafe of Abel's Sacrifice, the Perpans, when they facrificed to the Element of Water., are by Strabo related to have poured forth upon the Ground a certain Mixture of Oil, Milk and Honey -j~. And a very great Matter of An tiquity gives it us as his Opinion, that the Ceremony performed daily toO/£m,and Ifisy in one of the Iflands of the Nile, of filling feveral VefTels with Milk at one of the pre~ {ended Places of their Interment, as men

tioned

<X.TT

V.O.TK TX; •STOUTOt.S SviTlZ.? TO TWV KVVCW7TUV

ji0f. — roj • FxhYites-pfvou /3jou Trotox TO srfww p.a:xaci dfvToc, a,7rr,s^ex,-jli} TE TJJJ faueQttiHf reofynt; •GTPUTQV wo rets Sso»?' - y.1^ coy apjKu^nvQMl (Mev — — zsroc TiSfVTO •5TfAa«co» Ti^r; xaj rwa AOITTWU aira^ruv O.TT ZL^'/ TOI? 3"£oii £4? Taj S'va';^' •croXAa |y.eu ctwaAfl^tfUVTW, 9'jji £>.»T!W ^ TO'JTwy jM-ij/uvvTwu TOTE n n xaAcu fi^cu £u ]3tw, >cx( •srotTTov Q<ru.r, trjo; S'ctav «Kr9v/a*u. Porph- de Abft. Lib. 2. p. 53—4—5. * Toe, UEU ctaj^xix rxv ftfift

»JV' V>lJp«Atai £ £5~<y Ta lloQ

xa* i--Atj.yj TC-V u«ov XZTTW' HT

vmnrei^tK. Ibid. p. 66. O/AOV "yxXoixli xat

JtJXpa/Jt'vsy, O'JX f? Tfva, o^* JJlu^, «AX* «f Toj S.trab. Gcog. Lib. 15. p. 733.

(62)

tioned in our laft Converfation, was a daily Libation of Milk to the Manes of thefe twq deified Egyptians ||. And as we find the Sacrifice of inanimate things only thus fpo- ken of by the Pagan Writers, as of a fupe-r rior Antiquity to that of Animals, fo it feems in all Ages to have been confidered by thenr, as of a fomewhat fuperior Sanc tity.

THIS (faidl) it might very naturally bef "Hortenfats, fuppofing it, as in your Account, to have been every where introduced and eftabliihed by the Heroes of the Golden Age: For thefe Heroes having been all deified upon their Deceafe, it was to the fucceed- ing Ages of the Pagan World in a literal Senfe the Inftitution of the Gods themfelves. And indeed, befides that it had thus the immediate Sanction of their divine Autho rity, it had, methinks, upon Pagan Prin ciples a more particular Accommodation to, their Natures. For they are feveral of them delivered down to us, you know, in the Pagan Records of Antiquity, as the Per- fons who firft taught Men, whilft they were as yet living upon Earth, the Arts of Plantation and Agriculture j and agreeably to this Notion of them, they were con ceived of after Death, as Demons, a great

Part

JJ CIcr. in Gen. Cap. iv. Com. 4. Diod. Sic. Lib. i+ P- T9-

Part of whofe Employment it was providen tially to fuperintend the profperous Event of thefe Arts. Thus He/tod reprefents them to us, according to the current Theology of his Times, as

<c cloathed with an aerial Vehicle, ranging at pleafure throughout the Earth, the Pro moters of its Fruitfulnefs." To Gods of this Character a Sacrifice of the Fruits of the Earth might well be efteemed of all others the moft acceptable one, as it not only pointed back to one of the chief origi nal Reafons of their Deification, but was moreover peculiarly adapted to their fup- pofed Office and Employment under it.

WHETHER (refumed Hortenfius) it was an Effect of this Principle, or of mere Ac cident, I will not venture to fay j but the Practice of offering unbloody Sacrifices only was at fome Altars religioufly obferved, even to the lateft times of Paganifm. Of this kind were thofe appointed by Cecrcps in the City of Athens to Jupiter, to whom he is faid to have firft erected an Altar under the

Character

t Hef. Op. & Di. v. 125, 126. Ed. Cleric. Vid,.& Hemfii Not, in Loc.

(64 )

Character of the Supreme God *» So againj at the Altar of Ceres near Phigalia in ^r- ttft///z, confecrated to her by the Epithet of Ceres the Mourner, in memory of the Af fliction fhe was in for the Rape of Prefer- pine, the only Sacrifices allowed to be offered were certain cultivated Fruits, in particular Grapes, together with Honey-combs, Wool, fuch as it was taken from the fiody of the Sheep which bore it, and Oil -j-. The fame Writer, who mentions this Altar of Ceres, tells us alfo of a little one near the Tomb of Neoptolemus at Delphi, where an Oblation was every day made of Oil, and upon extra ordinary Solemnities, of uncombed Wool. The Tradition, it feems, concerning this Al tar was, that it was the Stone which Saturn }iad fwallowed in the place of his Son Ju

piter ^

* CO ft-wyctA (KttC4o40 Ai* TE v.y.\ oVocra f^a ^"/J^'t TOUTWV ij.it n£iufftv ouJifv 3-ucraj, znu,[ji.a,TGt $t nr\yj*.p\,y. nri TOU (3wf/.ou KtAuwnv, a, isrtXa. • jouy x.aAo-j(T» trt xc/.t t; %{*&( ASr,vatot. Paufan. Arcad, p. 237. Ed. Cafaub.

f Txvrvq c£ y.z.}.t~<z fyu TV;

VQWcov<rw* ow&v* TO. J1! «7ro

I >

ra T^ aXAa, trav TS x/fjcr, xaj rciccv ra ]itri

ft A A' e~» avojTrAEss TSU oitr'jTrou, a Tj6E3<r» ETT* TSV

avrcov sAaicv* rayra i'wTa;? T; avcWKTj xa» a»a fro- TU y.jf.'M x7J*rrx£v E? Try SiTi.'ty. Paufan. Arcad. P. 272-3.

ptter, and had afterwards brought up again -f-. Both Diogenes Laertius, and Porphyry ac quaint us, that in the liland of Delos was an Altar of Apollo, furnamed Genitor, or Father, at which it was held abfolutely un lawful tofhed Blood j aCircumflaace, which^ Laertius obferves, particularly recommended this Altar to the Philofopher Pythagoras^ and which, according to Porphyry, occa- fioned it to be emphatically flyled the Altar of the Pious J. What has been remarked here of fome of the Grecian Sacrifices, a celebrated Ro?na?: Hiftorian informs us was fometimes the Gale, even in his time, of the Roman ones. He had himfelf, he fays, been a Spectator of fome Offerings made to the Gods altogether in the old Taftej which confirmed wholly of certain Preparations of Barley, and Wheat, of Fruits, and fuch like fimple Ingredients, without any of that ridiculous Extravagance introduced in later times into their Worfhip, and which were

placed

£(>xi xara^£0'vO"<, xat xar« rex. y-ffys.' eo & KX.I So^y, I; aurcv, Jo6r(v«t Kocvw roi AtOov «VT* TOU &&l06ft xjst w; *jju£7Jv aurov J Koo-;0f. Paufun. Phoc. p, 341. J Aj^eAfi xat p«j&0li IT^oTxi.'.'TjTin /xovov Il r; A?jAw TOV ATOA^WVC? TOL- 3/fieTCflof x r A, Diog. Laert. in Pythag. Lib. 8. Segm. 13. (Sixewxi & trw tx rcy v.v <rwco/-t£vou jT?i;(uo;, wjcj cv o'jSfvsf «rpo-

» aVTOif, OUdf S'UOWIVOV ITT «VT6U ^WOU, J.C-1-

rai /3w,ao,-. Porph. de Abil. L'b. z. p. 73.

K.

( 66 )

placed on Tables of Wood, in Plates of Potter's Earth ; the Libation too being mixed up, not in VelTels of Silver, or Gold, but in Cups of the fame humble Compofition : and wherever he had met with Practices of this kind, he could not but greatly applaud the Obfervers of them, for adhering fo ftrictly to the Ufages of their Forefathers, and not exchanging the frugal Simplicity of the an cient Oblations, for the oftentatious Coftli- nefs of modern ones *. It was upon this Principle, no doubt, that the Pythia at Delphi affected upon feveral Occafions to prefer the more cheap and ordinary kinds of Sacrifice to thofe of the greateft Expence and Magnificence. Thus, we are told, af ter a Defeat of the Carthaginians by an ad- verfe Power, when the Heads of the con quering Party were prefenting their refpec- tive Hecatombs to Apollo >, and ftriving each to excel the other in the Choice and Value of his Oblation, upon inquiring of him with

which

'yovv esxTO.^]/ w spzis otxjaj? SITTVX fv r^a-Trs^an; £yAn>a«f

Y.CH . xai ov>c FU ap^ypoj? K&I ^pvtTcu; aj/fftriv, «AA tv

x.a.1 rstuQm ruv »WpW OTJ

KPWH fif TJJI; aAa^ova zzroAuTtAfjav. Dion, Hah Ant. Rom. Lib. 2. p. 93. Ed. Sylburg. 2

( 67)

which of their Offerings he was befl pleafed, the Anfwer he returned was, that the two or three handfuls of Meal, which one Z)c- cimus^ an Inhabitant of Delphi^ and the Owner of a little barren and rocky Piece of Ground there, had that day ftrewed upon his Altar, were of more worth to him than them all -(-. In like manner, when a cer tain rich Magnefian^ who ufed every Year to perform a very coftly Sacrifice at Delphi, came thither one Year for this purpofe, and, in expectation of fome high Compliment to himfelf upon the Occaiion, defired of the Pythia to be informed, who was the moft zealous and favourite Worfhipper of the Gods; Her Reply to this Queftion was, That it was Clearchus of Methydrlum^ a lit tle Village in Arcadia ; the Sum of whofe religious Merits, when the Magnefian had inquired of him what his particular Manner of Worfhip was, appeared to be, that he was a very punctual Obferver of all flated Feftivals ; that once every Month he adorned K 2 Mer-

"f" Tlzpi EVJCff $ ifoorrzi ruv czvvu'J, tto, TO

iv rr.v -croc? aAAnAo'j? cv; (try.

t w

TOU J££t>£

nrr^x; run ot

TfOlJ/«r TOV S'ECV TWV

. Porph.de Abft. Lib. 2. p, 63. ,

( 68)

Mercury, Hecate, and the Shrines of the other Gods of his Ancestors with Garlands, and prefented before them Frankincenfe, Meal, and Cakes ; that on all their Feaft- Days he made an Oblation to them, not of any living Creature, but of the Fruits of his Ground, whatever kinds were then at hand; and laftly, that of the whole yearly Produce thereof he religioufly confecrated to them the firft Gatherings in their proper Seafon*.

THERE

* 'O'JTW Js

IXOcopvW TM fO), X«» TJJtAfl-

[/.£lyxXo7rpi7T(>:s Toy A^oAAcova, Tzocpihviiv £j? TO

rovf S'fouj, tzaQoci IV\M TLvQixv rov

TO

raj, UTTsjAaja^avovTa J'o9ri|TEO'6«J auTM TO TrpwTfjoy* T»JV ^E fffjjetzv a7rox2iy:i<r9a:i -nravTajv aptfa Sff^toiig TOV?

TOV cxira^svTa rxTOTrw? IT^j^tfi(r(Kl TOV ccvov-

iiv' - o^wf ^ °'Jf ^VTy^ovra TCO ae^M agtwffai

aura OVTJU* TpOTrou TOUJ Seou> Tja» ; TO'J ft KAf-

fyxvxi eT»T£Atjy xai cTTroJo^aiw? S'jstv ey TCI? 'arfo-

TOW p.aiiy x«t TW

raw ifpwu a ^ TC/U? •sr.c&j/ovou?

S-JCTJO? InaoTfAfjf

TOU? 'tov? O'J o'jyTc-'jra, * itonx aXX* o' T» ay •sraiarj/r fWtffuovwe <rrc.~

a 55i t^.'yif,? ^aiijtat TO»? fOK TXC ov. Porph. de Abft.' Lib. « p. 62, 63.

69

THERE was fomething (faid I) very par? ticular fure in the Circumstances of the Cafes you have now mentioned, that could make the Oracle all on a fudden fo wonder fully difmterefted. For it was not by any means, I apprehend, the common Style of Divinity at the Delphic Shrine, that the more frugal the Gift, the more acceptable the Giver, There was fome latent Policy, I make no queftion, in all Anfwers of this kind, if we were let into the true Secret of them ; they were calculated for fome pre- fent Turn of the Prief|s who dictated them.

As to the particular right-timing (re turned He) of a Dodtrine of this nature, for that we may fafely trufl the long-ap proved Wifdom of Apollo'?, Prieilhood. In the mean while, the general End they might propofe to ferve, by giving it out now and then, as a fit Opportunity offered, to the Public, might be occalionally to refrefn upon Mens Minds that univerfal implicit Reverence for Antiquity, upon which they well knew, not only the Succefs of their feparate Craft, but of the whole Pagan Su- perftition at large, was altogether fufpended. For the Grounds thereof being laid in the rude Simplicity of the lefs enlightened Ages of the World, it would not endure the Tell of a free and rational Scrutiny, but was to

be

( 7° )

be upheld merely by a blind and bigotted Attachment to Authority and Prefcription. The Oracle therefore might manifeftly find its Account in here and there declaring it- felf to the Effect but now reprefented, if by fo doing it helped to fupport and encourage the Principle here fuppofed, and under an Appearance of Difregard to an immediate and particular Intereft, was ferving all the while a much more important and general one. Thefe Oracular Decifions, Philemon , to mention it here in paffing, in behalf of inanimate Sacrifices as preferable to bloody ones, adcled to the Tradition upon which they were founded, of their being indeed the primitive Ufage of Mankind, gave great Advantage to the Pythagorean Platoni/h in defending their Doctrine of Abftinence from Animal-Food, (grounded chiefly upon their Belief in the Metempfychoiis) agairut an Objection frequently made to it by their Adverfaries in this Point, from the Pracr tice of bloody Sacrifice as an eftablifhed Article of Pagan Worfhip *. 'Tis true in deed, they fometimes upon this Occafion affect to difpute the Confequence from fa-: jjrificing living Creatures, to feeding on

them:

r,i> xa» ci -£6t uwa£i? re

t-JSKOt AsSuXXO-iV T'/l? £H S-/!2i&JV' XOU

w; O!,-JTOI TXPocttst.fcy.v fieri Y.CCI qVflt «UTOJ; xw tji{iAa,l tw TufrfpTcov. Porph, de Abft. ^ib. I. p. -19.

( 7' )

them * : But this way of Reafoning could no ways effectually ferve their purpofe, as it was only applicable to certain myftic, or expiatory, or to human Sacrifices, and could not be extended to thofe of the more com mon and honorary kind j the matter of which, by the very nature of the Rite, and their own confeffed Judgment concerning it, was to confift of fuch things as were in ufe with the Offerers for Food •}-. Their only pertinent Anfwer in this cafe was, as has been faid, that it appeared from univer- fal Tradition, and the occafional Declara tions of the Gods themfelves by their Ora cles, that the primitive, and moft accept able Oblations to them were of things with out Life only ; but that the wanton Appe tites of Men in After- Ages, lufting after Animal-Food, and feeking fome plaufible Pretence to introduce it, they had contrived to make the Gods appear to be the Patrons of this inhuman Piece of Luxury, and to fon&ifyjas it were, their defigned Innovation

upon

f HAw « via eg o-tyflt sXf^o^fV py wa» avod'xxiov wr, ii Sulsov £co*, xat PguTtov -sravTw?. porph. de Abft. Lib. 2. p. 87.

f Kai 3-uousy y>ty e$riv, w f^y.tioisi; »^9u«? £i» run 3-i/trnwf w; ITTTTOV Pu^snoi' us Tc-oAAa xxt

50 TWV TOU erovr aAA* oux *v raj

wv /AOVOV xo;vwvfiu a^jov xa< rpinrfguv flfoif. Julian. p. 331. Paris 1630, Perph. de Abft. Lib. 2. p. 77.

(7* )

upon the Diet of their Forefathers by the Pre tence of an Improvement upon their Sacri fices J. And the Fact here, Phi lemon., is, I be lieve, very rightly ftated for us, that the Prac tice of offering Animals infaeriiicetotheGocls commenced with their being ferved up for Food at the Tables of their Worfhippers : And both of thefe Practices were a Depar ture from the Ufages of more early times, eftablifhed by the nrft Civilizers of the Pa gan World in different Countries, that is, in Pagan Language, eftablifhed by the Gods themfelves. But then the Reafon of their being fo was not, as our Philofophers .would have it thought, that they held the killing Animals for Food a thing in its own nature criminal, but only, as I apprehend, that in order to the more effectual Security of civil and focial Manners amongft Man kind, they had every where abolifhed the favage Cuflom of feeding on the crude Flefh of Animals, and Men in this infant State of Society had not as yet arrived at the Art of preparing them for ufe by Fire.

THE Greeks ( faid I ) who have, you know, their Inventors for every thing, afcribe,

I

^ TGOV (?£ TW? (3tOi? itfAtib PO-fi^v T»va Tzra^atr^ojwr."..^, 7i x«» TJ £tj a7sroA«vcr»v tv aurojf t%ovTuv ouOfvo? Kirtyji- mGa, £(par1omc, w? aA-fiOco?1, xzi JE^OVTS? £TT< •sr^cr^- <na? TOU S-fio'j' x«» S-jc^wey CI'JTKV TUV S"J<TJW'<:V ou

(73 )

I think, this Art to their Prometheus ||. If he was the Inventor of a Practice, in the Eftablifhment whereof amongft Mankind the Gods in general had fo evident an In- tereft, methinks it is fomewhat hard upon him, that his Character on all Occaiions mould be drawn to us as a Perfon remarkably odious to them. For tho' he is faid to have acted a little penurioufly by Jupiter in the Af fair of the old Sacrifice at Sicyon Jj yet in the main furely he was no bad Friend to the Altar of this God, if the Steam of all thofe rmmberlefs Victims, which in later times afcended to bim from thence, was a Con- fequence of that Fire which Prometheus had firft taught to be kindled upon it. Had Jupiter exerted a little of his divine Pre- fcience in the Cafe before us, and, inftead of dwelling wholly on a prefent Difappoint- ment, extended his Views to the Advantage he was fure to reap in Futurity, from the

L Art

TE

roig Ssoa; x&i j. Porph. de Abft. Lib. 2. p. 70.

o-jv TO

ij $1015 TCCV >car>7rwy, KXI TOJU efjrflsp^tfev o<rnxv E^'javr/Tc, ovr;o TWU ^wwv raurou rj^o-jvro Jstv TCUTO ^av. Ibid. p. 71.

j| Fifth. Mo'.'ov 5"tojv ^a^i Jiaj (r'Awavfl^aja^Qfittf. Ariiloph. $v. p. 611. Bifet. vid. Schol. & Not Ed. in Loc. J Hef. The^g. v.535? & feq.

(74)

Art which Prometheus was now firfl teach-* ing his Contemporaries, he would probably have behaved under it with more Temper than he is reprefented to have done, and not have fet himfelf " to confound," as Lu- clan has it, " Earth with Heaven, and think of nothing but Chains, and Crucifixion, and Caucafus, and Eagles," to revenge himfelf upon the unhappy Author of it *. To me, I confefs, as the matter is generally faid to have ftood with Prometheus^ he feems to have had a much jufter Caufe of Quarrel againft Jupiter, than Jupiter againft him. And therefore I do not at all wonder to find him glorying fo much in Ariftophanes, in the Comedy of the Birds, in his fettled

Principle

*

igi TWV X^EWV* xa» TO; vn TOV oupavov, xat vvv AE^WW TOLVTK TOU Aio?, ft OUTW pixpoXo'yoi; xai j«£]!xij/»jao»^oj fO», ofow EV TIJ jwspj^i £t>£Ei> •sraAatov OUTW S-EOV — —

IV ur^aiav £Tt eo^u TOV A»a, oux OTTCOJ xa» fTr* au-roif ayavax7^(T£*v, xat

TO

TW d, T»)V < oA^V UrjOJKrat* T» OUV

TO'JTO £>'y T0 TO'J ^°/oy T71 i T01/ ovcocvov ava-

xat asTou? xaTa7r«/A7reiv, x«i TO a y&i> fA,n TsroAAr/v Taura xoirri'yoprt TOU aiiTou ^ix^o^vp^iai!;, xat a^EVE*«u T»jf

^TIV £u^«a». Lucian. Prometh. p. 192 — . Ed. Amftelod. 1743. 410. i Vol.

(75)

Principle of Enmity to all the Gods, and profeffing himfelf a very Timan in every thing which concerned their Interefts *j-. And indeed his whole Bufinefs in this Co medy is very agreeable to fuch a Profeffion ; for, upon Piftbeterus's having finifhed his whimfical City in the Air, deiigned for a Kingdom of Birds, which intercepted the ufual Communications between Heaven and Earth, Prometheus introduces himfelf to him, and acquaints him, to what an extreme Diftrefs he had reduced the Gods by the Execution of his late Project, through a Fai lure of their accuftomed Sacrifices from Mankind ; fuggefting to him at the fame time, that if he and his Fellow Birds would but refolve never to facrifice to them on their part, they might in a fhort time ftarve Jupiter by this means out of his fupreme Government of the World |j, and get the

L 2 univerfal

•f- Prom. MKTW JaTravra? TOVJ

Pifthet. Nn TOU A»' «»?» far*

Prom. Tiufcv naSa^or — Ariftoph. Av. p. 61 1. jSifct.

U Prom. AXS'JC Je vjy. Pjft. uq otxovovlos fays.

Prom. AKohxXn o Zc.vs. Pift.

Prom. E^ owru UjWfjj wxj(rarf rev

K7TQ

( 76 )

univerfal Empire of things reftored again to the Nation of the Birds f, who, in the Doc trine of this Play, were the original, and only rightful Proprietors of it *.

THE

Et jtx-Ji •nrapE^u T

Arift. Av. p. 610, n. TW&IO^' f To GM\ir\DW o Zc

Ibid.

* Plft. 'O'JTWf U

J j Pift. «

ouJ"*' xa{ TOU

Kat y»if. C'hor. xat ^j; Pift. Ghor. TOVTI ^ua Ai' C-JH

Pift. A,w-a6»)? j/ap E^L-'f

Xlgortsav T7,q yw. Epops. Oujiovv cTrir' Et •srooTEaoj JM.EV J/r^ Tp-^ors^oi dt

EJ/EVOVTO

Arift. Av. p. 563 — 4. Chorus. X#s? rv xa; uu? E^Soj TE y,iXa,v -&OUTO-J xat

>5 o> *nl a^p, ouJ1 ovoavs? w*«p«*euf $ iv ZTTEI-

txrFi vpuTtfov vvipiepim wj% »j psACt

KO'J .

t 77 )'

THE Accounts (faid Hortenfms] which Antiquity has given us of Prometheus are fo full of fabulous and romantic Extravagance, that one knows not well what to make of him. In a Tragedy of Mfchylus upon his Subject, he is complimented with Inven tions of fo many different kinds as could fcarce, one would think, fall within the Compafs of any lingle Genius 5 and looks more like a poetic Profopopaea of the Pro- grefs of human Art in general, than the Cha racter of any particular Artift. If this was the Light in which he was confidercd by the Ancients, they might naturally enough reprefent him to us as a Perfon hated by the Gods -j-, whofe Deification, you know, was the Creature altogether of the abfolute Bar-.

barifm

E£ o-j —itniXh.otj.evotis uaais ScAafEW Eous o

fl££^feUT«7oi uTZVTUV [AKXStouV.

Arift. Av. p. 273 — 4.

Toy AJO? fp^ rov

OTTOITQI

barifm of the times they lived in, an Ho nour they would never have arrived at, but thro' the intire Ignorance of their Contem- poraries in all the common Arts of fodal Life. And indeed that the Courfe of Im provement herein was for fome time after wards no very expeditious one, we may collect from the Account which our Poet makes Prometheus give of this matter to the Chorus of this his Tragedy : the Amount whereof is, that when Jupiter had defeated the Titans, and was quietly fettled in his Throne, he employ' d his Thoughts fo wholly on appointing to the other Gods their feve- ral Honours and Offices under him, as in- tirely to neglect the Care of Mankind ; info- much that the Species mufl foon have come to an End, for want of the common Comforts and Conveniencies of Life, if himfelf had not on this Occafion taken pity upon them, and opened to them a more hopeful Profpect of Affairs. He found them, he fays, rather fo many Figures in human Shape, than properly fpeaking Men; living under Ground like Ants, in Holes and Caves of the Earth ; unacquainted with Building; without any Knowledge of the Seafons, by which to re gulate their Agriculture ; without the Ufe of Numbers, Writing, or any public Re cords

TV; Aio? erjAvjy suroi%vevffi

«v fythoi'nTet BaoTtn^ • 4r JEfchyl. Prom. Vinft. v. 12 1, 124.

(79)

cords of time and things ; without any No tion of ferving themfelves of the Strength or Speed of other Animals for the purpofes of Draught or Burden ; wholly ignorant of the Cure either of inward Diftempers, or external Wounds ; of Divination in any of its Forms ; of the Kinds and working of Metals. In one word, he affirms, that all Arts whatfoever, which Mankind were then poffefTed of, for the better Accommodation or Embellifhment of Life, were originally derived to them from Prometheus *. Now the hiflorical Ground-work of this Repre- fentation I conceive to have been that, in

the

AAAo»<rt aAAa, tcxi ^isroi^t

& rcav TU-Xcttiruguv

ral) aAAo (pirvcou vtov* Kat TOKTJV ouJfj? avlsfcouvi ZD-ATJV e/xou*

r? £^£Autrajw,?iv jS^ Tav

V. 329, 335

A**/D>*. xf JX'J^^

Axo'J<ra9 co^ C,(f>a? ujjmoy? ov/a? TO zzriw

xa*

*Oi TV/sulx p.£v

TJXOUOV, -aAA rov

x' OI»TE ou wj T

Hv ^' cyiJsv ay-rojf OUT;

the Ages immediately fucceeding the Reflo- ration of Civility in Greece, the Minds of Men were fo wholly taken up with con triving fuitable Expreffions of their Grati tude to the Reflorers of it (who yet had hitherto taught them only the bare Rudi ments of more accommodated Life) that in- flead of profiting, as they might have done, by their Infractions, they contented them- felves with idolizing their Memories ; and were employed for fome time more in re joicing that they had by their means gained the firft Step from Brutality and Barbarifm, than in endeavouring to gain any farther ones of the jnf elves : till at length fome more enterprising GeniurTes arofe in the World, who, conceiving a Paffion for Reputation, and itruck with an Ambition to difKnguim themfelves to future Ages from the common Herd of their Contemporaries, (called in mythologic Language " Prometheus' s haV- ing given them Fire from Heaven, as the great Inftrument of various Arts, and by means of infufing into their Minds, TtxpAas *, blind Hopes, contrived to remove

from

V. 441—457. vid, et v. 458 ad 467. 475 ad 505. BIX^I ^ jiwww •nraifTas

7 O

from before their Eyes the immediate Pro- fpecl: of Death *) fet themfelves to the flili farther Improvement of the feveral infant Arts ; refined upon the rude Inventions of their Forefathers j and by degrees added the Conveniencies and Ornaments to the mere Neceffaries of Life.

AND if Prometheus, (faid I) Hortenjius, did thus in a Courfe of time intirely new mould, as it were, the human Species from what it was when it came, as we may fay, immediately out of the hands of the Gods, it was a very pardonable Liberty which the Mythologies took in this matter, when they faid of him, that he made Men -f-.

I AGREE

* Chor. Ml "5roy T; •urco'j&ys rwv^e xat

Prom, ©iwo-j? r eTraixra:

Chor. T ° 'SJOi0y fy£wv •«]? (Kguotxov votrov ;

Prom Tu^Aa? £u auro»f

Chor. MfJ^' wtpjAyjwoc TOUT' £<Jw£>r)cra)

Prom, fleog TOKT^ ^EVTOJ Tsr-jp sj'u o-

A^' ouj'f TiroAAaf f^aaOnTOVTXt rs%vx;.

V. 246, 254. •f" IIf£>i J'E T»I?' -arAaox*)?, xat cm

isi TO'JJ fl«;9flW7rfllif) TO o'joacvjov 5^£yoj — Ej/w J's—

TOU

. /.

Prometh. p. 194, 195. Vol. I. 410. Ed. Amftelod. J743«

M

( 82 )

I AGREE with you, (returned He.) But then, if the State of human Life, fuch as it came in your Expreffion out of the hands of the Gods, wanted fo much the inventive Genius of a Prometheus, to bring it to any tolerable Degree of comfortable Accommo dation, as the whole Ground of the My- thos here fuppofes, the Mythologifts muft excufe us, if we take leave to qualify a little their ufual Reprefentations of the Age of thefe Gods upon Earth ; and whenever here after we find itfpoken of as an Age of Gold, to underftand this of its being fuch only in comparifon with the more barbarous Ages preceeding it. And indeed, however little poffibly it might be their Intention, under the very Ornaments of the Fable in this cafe they many times lead our Thoughts into the literal State and Circumftances of the Hiftory. Thus, when Heftod fays of the Heroes of this pretended golden Age, " that they lived altogether without Care, Labour, or Anxiety, abounding in delicious Fruits, and fupplied by the fpontaneous Produce of the Earth with all things requifite for their liberal Suflenance *:" - And in another ' place, after complaining of the Avarice of

his

UtV TZTGUTkS~Ot yi\><j$ fActOTTUV aySpWffWV

o

his own times, " in which Men were Stran gers to the Doctrine, how much better in many cafes half is than the whole, and knew not what Happinefs was contained in a Diet of Mallows and Afphodel," when he tells us, " that the Gods had hid from Mankind the true Means and Manner of living ever iince Prometheus had deceived them ; otherwife, a Man might have ga thered as much of the Fruits of the Ground in one Day, as would have fupplied his Neceffities for a Year, tho' he mould all the Remainder of that time have been in- tirely idle ; he would have had no Occafion either for Sailing or Agriculture •{-." — Does he not to an attentive Obferver fuggefl here,

M 2 that

fit; Tf Sect £ E^WOV, ax^Jeas S"J^ov

xat o»£uo?— - i, (pjAoi fAaxaog<r<n £<r0Aa

swy xxpTTOV tf

TE XXl Ot,oVOV.

Op. & Di. v. 109, 119.

KToctnv ow .

oacv tv fj,xXoc,^n Tf, xat

? T? <T£ xfjj jyjauTov fXE'v xat afpou eovra*

ju xs TzniJaAK)'.) jafu uVfo xaTruo ^a (Sowy j" uiroXoiro xzi ifftiOMM

r<rjy

Op, et Di. v. 39, 49.

that the Men of the times he is celebrating were in reality no better than a Set of fim- ple and ill-accommodated Rovers upon the Face of the Earth, taking their temporary Settlements here and there, as their Necef- fities prompted them fo to do, in different Parts of it ? Depending altogether for their Subfutence on the Bounty of uncultivated Nature, and either living fucceffively on the feveral wild Productions of the Ground, as they offered themfelves in their refpedive Seafons, or at beft, it may be, where they found more of any particular Kind of them, than would immediately anfwer their pre- fent Occafions, making fome little Referve thereof againft future ones ? And does he not on the whole of his Account put us ra ther upon conndering it as the great Infeli city of their Age, that they wanted thus all the more improved Arts of Life, than any enviable Privilege of it, that they lived with out them ?

S o that after all (faid I) the Image, as I perceive, which Homer gives us of the Gods, when they are defcribed by him as ftux, £uovT*sy " living wholly at their eafe ||," however defigned by him as a high Com pliment to the Felicity of their Condition, if traced to its hiftorical Original in the Cir-

cumflances

t Iliad. 6. 138.

cumftances of the times they lived in, has no more honourable a Foundation, than the extreme Indigence of it : and their being Strangers to all the Cares of Life proceeded only from their being fuch to all its more valuable Enjoyments.

UNDOUBTEDLY : (replied Hortenjiui) But Homer, you know, lived at a time, xvhen all fober Hiftory of the firft Ages of Civility in Greece had given place to panegyrical Romances concerning them. And accord ingly we find Hefiod, a Writer, if not, as fome have thought, Contemporary with Homer , yet in all Accounts of an Age not much inferior to him, fo ftrenuoufly af- ferting the abfolute Felicity of Saturn's days, in difparagement of all which had fince fucceeded them, that he makes Pro- metbatt) in giving rife to the feveral later Im provements upon Life, to have given rife at the fame time to all the Evils of it : which he exprefles under the Mythos of Jupiter's fending down Pandora (the Profopopaea, it mould fcem, of more refined and artificial Manners in the World) to the Earth, im mediately upon Prometheus' s having flolen Fire from Heaven for the Ufe of Men, who had no fooner arrived amongft them, but uncovering a certain Veffel me had brought with her in her hands, fhe difperfed around her its mifchievous Contents, which were

nothing

3

( 86 )

nothing lefs than the feveral Difeafes, Cares, and Miferies which had ever fince been the Portion of Human Kind *. The truth is, the Heroes of more remote Antiquity ftand- ing to our Poet in the Relation of fo many eftablifhed Divinities of his Country, he was to lofe no Advantages which either prece dent Tradition concerning them, or the Heightenings of his own Fancy, could give him, towards fpeaking of them in a manner becoming the prefent Dignity of their Cha racter : Not to fuggeft, that the whole of his Acquaintance with Society having been formed in its maturer Age, he might pof- fibly overlook in a great meafure the feveral Infirmities neceflarily connected with its in fant State ; and, being full of the Evils of his own times arifing, as he might have obferved, moftly from the more improved Luxuries of Life, forget to reflect on the many which would arife in thofe he figured to himfelf as golden ones, from a direct

contrary

ETiifJW , aw90a>7roj<n d Mouwt? £ auToOi EA7n? ED ee

F.V^SW t[Jt.lfJI.V£ UT100U U7TO

AXX-z 01 fj.vpux.X'j'ypce, xar

"yxix, xaxwv,

tOr VOOV f

Op. ct Di. v, 94, 103,

contrary Quarter, the want of its moft ordi nary Accommodations. But not to dwell any longer, Philemon, on Reflections of this kind, which, however juft and ufeful in themfelves, are in great meafure foreign to our prefent Defign — if, on the whole of what has been now reported to you concern- hig Prometheus, it feems probable, as I think it does, that he is only the mythologic Pro* fopopaea of Invention in ancient Greece, confidered as having gradually improved the feveral rude Arts of focial Life originally introduced there by its firft Civil izers, his being delivered down to us, as the Author of roaftmg Animal Flefh for Food, gives us no certain -/Era of this Practice amongft the Greeks j the* at the fame time, from its being left thus of undecided Antiquity with them, we may in general infer that it was of very great. And this perhaps is what the Comedian Anthenio is to be underflood to mean, when, in a Fragment preferved to us of his Comedy of the Samothracians, he reprefents the Invention of the Art of Cookery amongft. Mankind as what origi nally drew them off from a Life of Bruta lity and Barbarifm. " It is to this Art, fays he, we are indebted for abolifhing in the World the favage Practice, which of old prevailed, of Mens feeding on one another : In the times of this Practice fome Perfon of a happier Turn of Thought, defigning to

ilicrihee

( 88 )

facrifice a certain Animal to fome of the Gods, contrived to roaft it for that pur- pofe j and having on this Occaiion tailed its Flefh, and reporting it to be of a more agreeable Relim than that of Man, from henceforth the feeding on human Flefh be came generally difufed, and that of other Animals was fubftituted in its place, as the ordinary Diet of Mankind -j-." But when ever, or by whomfoever, the Practice of dreffing Animal Flem for Food was firft introduced, either into Greece, or any of the other civilized Countries of the ancient Pa gan World, with it ftands every where con nected the Practice of offering it to the Gods in Sacrifice : whilfl yet in the very Conduct of this Rite of bloody Sacrifice, as

it

•f* A. QJX oi<r9' o'rt 7«ravTwi> y poi'yiifi n^? £'j<r£b£iay wAEif-a: BTfOiTfvqi

B. ToiO'JTOV £J~» TOUTO; A. TZXVJ ^S (

Tou 3"yi5twJ0'j?, xai •afctaoicrirbvfov 'H//-a> yo^e aTrostAufraera, v.on T A&XMXo^AJtfcfj r.yy.'y si; TctZiv TIV«,

oiiTovt Ts-esw^/tv ov v~vi (3*ou iiij.iv, B. ri-jo, rtoTTOv ; A. TT^oszyj y.x'yu

v.y.i y.y.wv ovruv

Ex Anthen. apud Grct. Excerpt, p. 893.

(89 )

It took place in the different Countries we are acquainted with, there appear evident Marks of its not having been the original Practice of Mankind from the time of their firft Entrance into Society : For whence elfe was it, but from a Reverence to inani mate Sacrifice^ as of prior Inftitution to ani mal, that, where the latter ever fo generally prevailed in Antiquity, the former was thought neceffary, to be, as it were, incor porated with it ? Thus in Herodotus's Ac count of one of the principal Feftivals of the Egyptians, celebrated to I/is, they filled, he tells us, the Body of the Bull ufed to be fa- crificed to her upon this Occafion with Cakes of pure Wheat, Honey, dried Grapes> Figs, Frankincenfe, Myrrh, and other Perfumes *. And in the Greek and Roman Sacrifices, the Victim, you know;, was always fire wed over with Barley i Wheat, or Meal, before it was permitted to be {lain j certain Molse alfo, or Meal-Cakes, were to be prefented upon the Altar, not only before the Portion N of

* ETTW •nr£o<ii5r£'J<rw<r» -ni Icrt, xxi STT',;V xaTfUrwvlcu, TTJU j3wv xai airo^tigavTss xciAw fj.iv y.t>vw ts0^- £u £jA&v, QTTXK^VX £e ct'jrcv AuTrovtri sv -rx <r:o- >:at TW •sriMfAnv* trxsAfat as aTroTa^vaytrj, xzi t/p axw, x*j TOUJ cootot1? re x*i rov i; e

TO ao ufJ.» TOU (oC?

xzi ^ufAjTOf, xxi afa^i^oj, -SMI Qxuv, xxi xxi CY*v£Vfl,-, xxi ruv aAAwi;

Herod. Euterp. cap. 41.

(9°)

of Flem afiigned to the Gods was cafl into the Fire, but likewife afterwards, as the concluding Article of the Sacrific Ceremo ny -(-: the Ancients feeming to have held of the Meal in this Cafe, what Antiphanes in his Myftis obferves of Frankincenfe under the like Application of it, that even a He catomb itfelf would be a mere vain Obla tion in the Sight of the Gods, unlefs it came recommended to their Acceptance by this cheap, but, it feems, important Addi tion to it J.

AN excellent Contrivance this, (faid I) Hortenfius, of the Pagan Priefts, as I ima gine, to keep up in Mens Minds a proper Reverence for the facrifical Inftitutions of more remote Antiquity, at the fame time that they feem every where to have almoft univerfally departed from thence in their Practice, from the earlieft Accounts we have of their Proceedings in this Affair of their

Sacri-

STt X«l VUU "EPOS TW TEAft TWV SllTjAtoU TOlf

W Tr^ar- Porph.

de Abft. Lib. 2. p. 55.

J -Tasif £UTeAe»atf ol

aurwv '!'» JV w.(x--9y ayro, TO'JT' KOSTOV rot? SEOI?.

Apud Grot. Exc. p. 617.

Sacrifices. For tho', 'tis true, we hear much in ancient Writers of a Tradition that in animate Sacrifice only was once the general Ufage of Mankind, yet the Sacrifices which we find any where defcribed by thefe Wri ters, as in fact fubfifting amongft them, within their own Knowledge, are in a man* ner all of the animal Kind.

THEY are fo, (reply'd He 5) and this under fuch a whimfical Variety of Pre- fcriptions as to the Species, Sex, Age, Co lour, and other Qualities of the Animal re quired to be facrificed to this or that parti cular Deity, as likewife with regard to the time and manner of facrificing it, that in nothing, as I obferved in the beginning of this Converfation, has Superftition exercifed a more wanton Tyranny over the Minds of its deluded Votaries in the ancient Pagan World, than in the Article now before us. I fhall forbear however to enter into Parti culars here , Philemon : You have already yourfelf hinted at the Reafon of thefe Di- ftinctions ; and the circumftantial Hiftory of them is at large collected in almoft all the Writers of Pagan Antiquities. What will be of more Ufe, I apprehend, to our prefent Defign is to obferve, how the fame mifta- ken way of thinking concerning the Gods, in the ruder and more ignorant Ages of Mankind, which led them to offer Sacrifice N 2 to

to them at ftrfr, as we have all along fup- pofed, in the way of Gratitude for paft Fa vours, would in time naturally put them upon doing fo too in order to obtain future ones 5 as likewife to deprecate the Effects of their Difpleafure, as often as they efteem- ed themfelves to have offended them . Now thefe, you know, were the three great Mo tives to all the Pagan Sacrifices.

AND they have all of them, (faid I) I fee very clearly, their Foundation in that Prejudice you have fuppofed natural to thofe weak and injudicious Reafoners, who were the Authors of the Rite under Confidera- tion, of fancying the Objects of their Wor- fhip to be altogether of like Paffions with

themfelves.

• "'*•• •

THIS (reply'cl He) was moil unquefti- onably the Original of the whole Practice of facrificing in the World. Neverthelefs what began in mere Ignorance and Miftake was afterwards greatly forwarded amongft Mankind by Craft and Impofture. The Priefts who ferved at the Pagan Altars every where encouraged, as they had a great In- tereft to do, the fond Prejudice we are fpeaking of, till by degrees they had refined Sacrifice into a regular Art, and adjufted (he precife Terms of Negotiation between

Heaven'

(93 )

tleayen and Earth under almoft all the pof- fible Exigencies of Human Affairs.

THIS Notion (faid I) is finely raillied by Lucian in his Difcourfe of Sacrifices. Give me leave to turn to the Place. " The Gods, then, fays He, it feems, do nothing for Mankind of their own free Grace and Boun ty, but fell all their Favours to them at a fet Price. Thus, it may be, a Man mall buy Health of them for a iingle Heifer ; but if he would be rich, the Terms are four Oxen ; if he afpires to Empire, an Heca tomb. The Purchafe of a fafe Return from 'Troy to Pyle is nine Bulls ; but that of a fair Wind from Aulis to Ilium a King's Daughter, It flood Hecuba once in the Expence of twelve Oxen, and a rich Veil, confecrated to A&nerua, to prevent the tak ing of her Capital by Diomed. And there are, I fuppofe, many things to be obtained of the Gods for the Confederation only of a Cock, a Garland, or a little Frankincenfe*."

THIS

'

wj foiKfu, astern TSTOJOUCT;, wv .<riv* aAAa IIct;Ao'j(r» TOIJ np»<£T0a» "Hup ocjruv TO |U£ii TO Jf •srAojTfju, Bttu\i rsrlxouv^ TO rpfti^iK' TO Jf (^woy Ewai/fAOfiy f? lAtou f? H'jAou, twia' Jta* TO fx r»if A'jAiJ'o? c? lAiov 6<you j3o«nA»JCJ!$ • 11 |W5V }/«^ 'Ej£3i£n TO T»?» IIoAiv eirnxTo -sragx Trig A0DMH 3

(94 )

THIS Perfuafion (faid He) of the Gods being no otherwife to be kept upon any to-, lerable Terms of Friendmip with Mankind but by certain feafonable Applications to. their Jnterefls, prevailed fo much, we find, in Homer's Days in the Pagan World, that if at any time they fell into any unlooked- for Calamity, they were wont to afcribe it to the Chaftifement of fome Deity, whofe Altar had been defrauded by them of its due Complement of Victims. Thus, you know, upon the Plague's breaking out in the Gre cian Camp in the firft Iliad, when Achilles had called a Council of Greeks to enquire concerning the Caufe of, and Means of a- verting it, his firft Thought is, that it was the Infliction of Apollo for fome Breach of Vow they flood guilty of towards him, or the Failure of fome expected Hecatomb : and the moil likely Method of removing it he fuggeils to be, that they mould forth with celebrate a folemn Sacrifice to this in- cenfed Divinity -f-.

THE Hiftory, (faid I) Hortenfiusy of this Peftilence is fo humouroufly reprefented by

the

zxi $~tQavov, V.QU XtCavwrou juovou Tffoto aurotj Lucian. de Sac. p. 527. 528. Vol. i. 410. 1743. •f EJT' up* iy t'J^coAr? fTri^j At XEV Zirci)? ccpvwv xvj(r<r7i?,

II, I. v. 65—6—7*

(95)

the Author but now quoted, in the very next Paflage to that I was reading to you, that I cannot forbear going on with him. " This Doctrine," (of the Gods doing no thing for Mankind but for Interest) " was, no doubt, well underftood by Chryfes^ he being of the Priefthood, a Perfon of Age, and one much experienced in facred Mat ters : For, no fooner had he applied with out Succefs to Agamemnon for the Reftora- tion of his Captive Daughter, but, being confcious to himfelf that he had eftablifhed a good Fund of Intereft in Apollo, he im mediately calls upon him for Revenge ; de manding it at his hands as a Debt dueto him in confideration of the many Services he had done this his Patron God, and fcarcely indeed containing himfelf on this Occafion within the Bounds of Decency. Good Apollo ! fays he, here have I be- ftowed fo many Garlands upon your Shrine, which till my time ufed to ftand unorna- mented, and burnt the Thighs of fo many Bulls and Goats upon your Altar, and you now fit wholly unconcerned to fee me thus ill treated by the Grecian Chief, and make no account of your old Friend and Bene-, factor ! Whereupon, fo utterly did he put the God to fhame by thefe Remonftrances, that having fnatched up his Bow and Ar rows, and taken a convenient Station over the Greek Fleet, he fell to mooting every

thing £

(96 )

thing He could meet with in the Camp of the Grecians^ not fuffering their very Mules and Dogs to efcape his Vengeance *."

* T&vrz &, otjwat, xat X^txnK £frir"«jtA£vo?, art JUKI 'yiguv, xat ra $1101 (rotyos, tiredy a7r^«x7o? Tzapot, TOO Aiy&(*t{*Mvo;9 w? ay xat srWavEtiraf TW Xa?'v> ^xaioAo^Eirat, xat aTrairf* T»J» ou>c ovft^j^fi, AEJ/WV, w 'J TOV vscov, TEW?

xat -srao' ou^v Tiffrat TOV OUTCO x«T£<J>j(rw7rrj(7£u aurw £X rot, ro£a, xat y?r£^ TOU voc-j laurov, xaT£To£fjfl-£ TW Aoijtxu TOU? Amatol;?, r'.atcvotj xat xuo-tv. Luc. de Sac. p. 528.

The Allufion here is to the following Paflage of Homer.

TE tt

TOt p^afllEUT* £7Tt

H it <!>} ZETOTE TO« xara -sriovot [AYIOI' v, *)<?' at^wv, TO^E /*ot Aavaoi faa J'axcua C 'iif f(par' fj^oafvof TOU <?' fxAuf B>! oe xar'

Tc w/Aottriv f^wv,

ExAa^av ^V.fl' c/r~ot ETT

Aurou xiv^SfVTo?1 o ^'^JE yuxlt fotxw?

ETZ-HT «1T*viu

Ov^iaf |W,£y •sTflwroy ETTW^ETO, xat xuva? apio'Jf * Aurao ETTEJT' avroja-j |3fAo? EP^ETTEUXE? ftptEtj I/EXUWV xaioylo S-ajU,£iaj. Iliad, i. v. 37 - 52.

THE;.

( 97 )

THE frequent Occurrence (refumed Hor- tenjius) of the Doctrine we are here fpeak- ing of in the Writings of the ancient Greek Poets was doubtlefs amongft the Reafons which induced Plato to banifh the reading;

\j

of them from his Model of a Common wealth, as tending to poiTefs Men's Minds with Opinions concerning the Gods fubver- five of all Juftice and Honefty in their mu tual Intercourfes. For thus he introduces Adimantus reafoning on this Subject, in the fecond Book of his Republic. After plead -^ ing for fome time in behalf of Fraud, as a more eligible Scheme of Conduct to Man kind than Fair-dealing, when he comes to urge an Objection to this Doctrine from the Consideration, that, however the Villain might elude the Eye, or refift the Courfe of human Juftice, he had yet every thing to apprehend from Divine, he anfwers it in

the following manner. " If itbe true that

there are Gods, and that they intereft them- felves in human Affairs, I would afk, how is it we come to know this, but from the facred Traditions, and the Genealogies which

^7

the Poets have given us of thefe Gods? Now the fame Authorities tell us, that the Gods are of fuch a Nature, as to be capa ble of being influenced by Sacrifices, and Vows, and Prefents from Mankind: We muft then believe both Parts of the Account

O here,

( 98 )

here, or neither -y if we believe both, then the Confequence is, we may commit what Acts of InjufUce we pleafe, for any thing which mould reftrain us on the part of the Gods, feeing they may at any time be brought over to our iide by giving them a fufficient Portion of the Fruits of our Vil lainy *."

THIS (laid I) was fo obvious a way of reafoning upon the eftablimed Principles of the Pagan Theology, that our Philosopher mould have banimed the Gods themfelves, as well as the Poets,, from his Republic, if he meant effectually to guard againft it. For upon no other Footing could he pom- bly maintain the Doctrine which he makes Socrates deliver in a Difcourfe with Alci- biadesr {< that it would be a Thought moil unworthy of the Gqds, to conceive of them as regarding only what Gifts and Sacrifices mould be offered to them by any Perfon3 and not attending to the Difpofition of his

Mind,

* AAAos $n 3"£OV? oim auauftv cure ' ' u Js ft<ri « xaj fTrusAoi/la* oux aAAoOfy rot

Oi $£ a'JTOl OVTOl

re x.ix,i sup^wAajg ayavjjfri,. xat ava- «* avonruQopwoi' o'j? TJ Kfyorzx, n

ft $ OVV

avro ruv otJwjiMruv. plat, de Rep. Lib. 2. p. . Serran,

( 99 )

Mind, whether all was holy and upright there ; a Matter they certainly laid a greater Strefs upon, than the Coftlinefs of folemn Proceffioris and Sacrifices, which there was nothing to hinder the very worft and wic keder!, whether of private Men, or Commu nities, from performing every Year with great Punctuality. But the Gods, being above the Temptation of a Bribe, defpifed allthefe things f."

VERY different Reafoning this (faid Hor- tenfius] from what he puts into the Mouth of Glauco^ another of the Speakers in the Second Book of his Republic, who there argues, " that the Villain had it in his- power to make himfelf dearer to the Gods than the honeft Man, by being, as might naturally be expected of him, more profufe and mag nificent in his Sacrifices and Donations to them, and a more exact Obferver of all re ligious Forms and Ceremonies*." But this

O 2 after

ocrio? xxi jx«»of wv T[ 'Grgos TO,; z^c/A T€ xat "Uff»a at; ov&v x/oAtm

T«70AJV, «%£»V «» DMn fTOf Tt'AEiU' 01 ^f, »TJ CJ (wfO-

cbxot O>T£?, wrjB/Qfpwo. dv»nw rwTWr Plat. Alci- biad. 2. p. 149, 150. Serran.

( 100 )

after all is true orthodox Paganifrn, and what the Bulk of Mankind in the Pagan World lived and a£ted upon J j and that to a degree which made our Philofopher en- ad: it as a Law of his imaginary Common wealth, c c that no Perfon mould be at liberty to have any private Chapel within his own Houfe, .but whoever was minded to facri- fice mould do it publickly ; for this, a- mongft other Reafons, that evil Men mighl; not be encouraged to proceed in their Wic- kednefs by having it in their power, when ever they had committed any dimoneft Adt, to run immediately to fome private Altar, and there expiate the Guilt of it in fecret *."

CICERO

TOU Ct)(TT£ Xa» ^/£O^J-

'jrtoM eivx-i yM^Xov T&cow/.tiv £x TWV ejxoTwv r, TW

De Rep. 2. p. 362. Ser.

I; tTTi Tsrho'jffi'jav Svas io>r<f

fj T« xai ftzrct-o'ajf, fjrs rt et&KUfMt ro'J «jTO-j, '/i urfo^ovav, axeicrOat jWf9' r^wdcy rz x

aAAa

De Rep. p. 364, 365. Serran.

"*

( 101 }

CICERO (faid I) in his excellent Treatife of Laws expreffly forbids wicked Perfons to bring Gifts to the Altars of the Gods under a Notion of atoning thereby for their Crimes, directing them to conlider what Plato had delivered upon this Subject, who argues, that as no good Man would fuffer himfelf to accept a Prefent at the hands of a known Villain, much lefs could this be fup- pofed concerning the Gods J.

THE more wife and thinking Pagans (faid I) were doubtlefs all of them of this Opinion, as indeed it was fcarce poflible for them to be otherwife. But the popular and philofophic Creed in this matter was of a very different Stamp. In the vulgar Eftima- tion of things, fupported but too much by thofe who mould have taught Men better, the

Gods

yaw <>! Tivi, TX-OOS roe, ayv.o<rix ITU Swojv - uv P£c»i T&OCVTUV uroifju wry. rov vvv Afj/opsvov vouoi*

TO'JTOJ? eJf, £V£X« TUV a.<Tl£oVVTU'J9 l\ttt, [A?) KXl

TS xy.i uovs sv

TOU? S-fovj faug oioptvoi •ETOIEIV

Y. T Plat, de Leg. 10. p.

| Donis impii ne placare quidem audeant Deos. Platonem audiant, qui vetat dubitare qua fit mente fu- turus Deus, cum nemo vir bonus ab improbo fe donari velit. De Leg. Lib. 2. cap. 16. Davies. Uxoa, Je aSov, O\JTB $tov £?-< TZTOTE -srept Siovg o iiroAu? fo Plat. Leg. Lib. 4. p. 716. Serrajv.

( 102 )

Gods were considered as entirely governed by Intereft in their Conduct towards Man kind, independently on all fcrupulous Re gard to perfonal Merit. A private Man, or a Community, might purchafe any Favour they mould requelr, of them by coming up to its Price ; and if either the one, or the other, had incurred their Difpleafure, a Pardon might be obtained, and their Re- fentments entirely pacified, by a proper Sa crifice of Expiation. Sometimes a fingle Victim would ferve the Turn : at others, it was necefiary to offer feveral of the fame kind : at others, the Sacrifice was to confift of a certain Number of Animals of a diffe rent Species : at others, laftly, nothing was to be done but at the Expence of fhedding human Blood. Ancient Hiftory is full of dreadful Examples to this purpofe : at fome Altars it was even a periodical Practice ; at great Numbers an occafional one. We have Accounts of it, in one or the other of thefe ways, in Egypt, Arabia, Phoenicia, Syria, Perjia-, in the Iflands of Cyprus, Rhodes, Chios, T'enedos, and Crete ; in Ionia, Scythia, Thrace-, at Carthage, Sparta, Athens, and according to Phylarchus, an Hiftorian re ferred to by Porphyry upon this Subject, all over Greece; in Britain, Gaul, Germany, Spain, Sicily, and Italy -, not excepting, as ^crtullian fpeaks, " The pious Defcendents

of Mneas, in the moft religious City of

A PRACTICE of this nature (faid I) could never, I mould think, be at all fami liar with the Romans, hov/ever they might be driven to it upon fome extraordinary Emergencies. Plutarch, I remember, in his Life of Marcel/us, where he gives us an Account of their burying alive four Perfons, a Greeky and a Gaul of each Sex, in the Forum Boarium, upon the Irruption of the Gauls into Etruria, reprefents them as fub- mitting to this cruel Rite with Reluctance, and in obedience merely to an Order to this purpofe from the Sibylline Books -f-. And -Lruy, in like manner, when he tells us they

did

* Vid.Porph. de Abft. Lib. 2. p. 93—4—5. Grot. Op. Theolog. Tom. 3, p. 335, 336. Remitto Tauricas fabulas theatris fuis. Ecce in ilhi religiofiffima urbe ^neadarum Piorum Jupiter eft quidam, quern ludis fuis humano proluunt fanguine. Tertull. Apologet. p. 9. Edit. RigauJt.

" EJViAou JE KOU TOV (ooow XJTUV v\ re •nr

f §o£oii<; EAAwtxw? $i<x.YMfAWHt x*» -or pot us TTCOJ TO, a, TOTE TOU •z3-oAE,aoij (^\)u.-mcnro^ rwa,'yy.y,<r§nvo(.\i u^cti T»<r»y EX rwy SiSuAAsia;';, Juo jwsw 'EAA^vaj,

ot? ETJ xa;t vuv £V TW 'EAA?i(ri xxj FaAaraij awcppj;- wjff xat «0e«rou; iej-ou^«f. P{ut. in Marceilo. p. 290, Xyl. Edit.

C 104 )

did the fame thing after the ill Succefs of their Affairs at Canna, ftyles it, " Sacrum " mini me Romanum" a Ceremony of Re ligion by no means in the Roman Tafte *.

You are aware (replied He) of the an* ttual Cuftom at Rome, obferved there with great Solemnity, of throwing thirty Figures • in human Shape into the 'Tiber, in the place of fo many living Men, who ufed of old to be facrificed in that manner to Saturn J. And Macrobius relates, that when Tarquin

the

* Q^Fab. Piflor Delphos ad Oraculum miffus eft, fcifcitatum quibus precibus fuppliciifque Deos poffent placare, &: quaenam futura finis tantis cladibus foret. Interim ex fatalibus libris facrificia aliquot extraordi- naria fafta : inter quje Gallus & Galla, Grsecus & Graeca, in foro Boario fub terra vivi demiffi funt in locum faxo confeptum, jam ante hoftiis humanis, mi- iiime Romano facro, imbutum. Liv. Lib. 22. cap,

£ Ae^ofo-j $s v.y.1 Ttx-q S-utruf czrjTfAfty TW Kgovw TCUJ TiraAatouf, UGTTSP sv Kacp^jjJoi/i, TJCOJ. ?j iroAi? mfpsvi, xoti Tzraaa Kf Arcij £j? rofe Xgwov "yi'.ETx^ xcci sv aAAo<?

Tl(7i TWV tffTTtoiuv fGliWV, OUI$M$09WSt 'H^OiKXtX 3t uTav-

cxi TOW vojt/ow ir^ 3u<rjaf (3eyA»)(/£yTa, TOU rs j3o.'p.oy iJcu-

xat JtaOa^co Tirufli «^o//«Da,'y' j'va Jie /

TOU?

T&jy

TOV

the Proud renewed the Ludi Compitaks, a FefHval firft inftituted by Servius Tullius, to the Honor of the deceaied Anceftors of the Roman People, for the Safety of the feveral Families in Rome, an Oracle of Apollo di rected that an Offering fhould be made to the Gods called Lares, and their Mother Mania, of a certain Number of Heads, in order to render them propitious to the fe veral Heads, or Perfons, in each Family: But that, upon the Expullion of Tarquin, Brutus the Conful, taking advantage of the equivocal Senle of the word Heads in the Oracle, inftead of the Heads of Children, who hitherto had been put to Death upon this Occalion, ordered the Sacrifice to con- fill: for the future of certain Heads of Garlic only and Poppies j. Moreover, P//«y acquaints us, that, in the Year of Rome fix hundred and

fifty-*

o T» ) TJOTS fly sv T«I? j£«{oe9n, TUV fjxoyww TOV TOUTO $i KOU jw-fJ^ TJ P.MOOV vfipu tzivw »<r>i,afia? iv txwt Matw

Dionyf. Hal, Ant. Rom. Lib. I. p, 30. J Hie A 1 bin us Cecinna fubjecit : qualem nunc per- mutationem facrificii praetextate memorafti, invenio poftea compitalibus celebratam, cum Ludi per urbem in compitis agitabantur, reftituti fcilicet a Tarquinio Superbo Laribus ac Maniae ; ex refponfo Apollinis, quo prseceptum eft ut pro capitibus fupplicaretur. Id- que aliquandiu obfervatum, ut pro famiiiarium fofpitate pueri mactareiUur Manias Dene, matri Larium. Quod.

P facri-

fifty-feven, a Decree patted in the Senate hibiting human Sacrifice ; which till then, he obferves, had been openly practifecl there -f~.

THIS however, fhews, (faid I) it was abolifhed at Rome long before the time of clertullian^ who lived fome Centuries after the paffing of the Decree here fpo ken of. Nor can it be imagined, that Cicero in his Oration for Fonteius, "accufed," fays the late learned and polite Writer of the Life of Cicero, " by the Province of Narbonefe Gaul, where he had been three Years Praetor, of great Op- prefllon and Exactions in his Government," Have urged it in Exception to the Credit of the WitnefTes againfl his Client in this Caufe, that they were of a Nation infamous for 'polluting the Altars of the Gods 'with hu man Sacrifices, and thinking they were to be appeafed by, Cruelty and human Blood ||, if the Romans at this time had not been them- felves entirely reproachlefs upon that Head,

YET

facrific'u genus Junius Brutus ConfulTarquinio pulfo aji- fercenftituit celebrandum : nam capitibus allii & papa- veris fupplicari jufiit, ut refponfo Apollinis f^tisfieret de nomine capitum, remoto icilicet fcelere infauftae fig- njficationis. Macrob. Saturnal. Lib. I. cap, 7.

t Anno urbis 657, Corn. Lentulp & Licinjo CrafTq CofT. Senatus confultum fa£lum eft, ne homo immola- jretur, palamque in illud tempus facra prodigiofa cele- jbrata. PJin. Lib. 30. cap. i.

'jl Hiftdry of the) Life of Cicero, Vol. I. p. 115^

1 1 6,

fc \

YET, 'tis remarkable, ( returned He ) Tertullian is by no means fingle in his Tef- timony to the medding of human Blood at Rome, as an Ad: of Religion, during the Celebration there of the Feria Latintfi Thefe, you may remember, were a Fefti- val inftituted by Tarquinius Superbus, upon a League of Amity's being formed between the Romans, and their Neighbours the La- tines, Volfci) and Hemictans, to Jupiter, under the Epithet of Latialis, or the Pro- te&or of Latium * : And here, as I faid, 'Tertullian is by no means the only Writer, who fpeaks of Homicide as making part of the Worfhip of this Deity : Minucius Felix ^ Arnobius, and Laffantius all fay the fame thing £ -, as does moreover Porphyry , a Pa gan

1 1 6. GiCi Orat. pro M. Fonteio. Quis enim ignorat, eos ufque ad hancdiem retinere illam immanem ac barbaram confuetudinem hominum immolandorum ? quamob- rem, quali fide, quali pietate, exiftimatis eos efle, qui etiam Decs immortales arbitrentur hominum fcelere et fanguine facillifne pofie placari. Cum his vos tef- tibus veftram religionem conjungetis ? ab.his quidquarit fan«Ste aut moderate diftum putabitis ? cap. ii.

* Dionyf. Hal. Lib. 4. p. 250.

J Hodieque ab ipfis Latiaris Jupiter homicidio coli- tur. Min. Fel. p. 365. Paris. Quid ipfe Jupiter ndfter ?

cum Latiaris cruore perfunditur. Ibid. 351. Ar-

nob. adverf. Gentes. Lib. 7. — Nee Latini quidem

hujus immanitatis expertes fuerunt, fiquidem La-

tialis Jupiter etiam nunc fanguine colitur fiumaDo

de barbaris non eft adeo mirandum, quorum religio moribus congruit. Noftri vero qui fernper man- P a fuetudini?

gan Writer, in his fecond Treatife of Ab- mnence from Animal-Food, and this in very ftrong Terms -J-. What I fuppofe may be the truth of the Cafe here is, that the Prac tice complained of was not fo properly a Sacrifice as an Execution : A Punifhment inflicted at the time of thefe Ferice upon fome Criminal or Malefactor, who was condemned to be put to Death by wild Beafts, as a part of the Shews ufed to be exhibited upon this Occalion ; fome Por tion of whole Blood however was probably carried to the Statue of the Latian Jupiter, and poured forth upon it *. And thus, Philemon, you have heard what was the Rife and Progrefs of Sacrifice in Pagan An tiquity. It began in the Oblation of inani mate Things only, whilft fuch only were

in

fuetudinis & humanitatis gloriam fibi vindicarunt, nonne facrilegis his facris immaniores reperiuntur? La&ant. de falsa Religione. Lib. I. cap. 21.

"f" AAA* m xa» vuv, ng aj/voEj, xara ryv fj-fyctXr,* •croAjv, rrj TOM AZTIXOM Atof to/flr), <r(pix,£o[s.£vw ai/0cco7rov; Porph. de Abft. Lib. 2. p. 95.

* Ecce in ilia religiofifrimi urbe jEneadarum Pio- rum Jupiter eft quidam quem ludis fuis humano pro-

luunt fanguine. Sed Beftiarii inquitis Hoc opinor

minus quam hominis : an hoc turpiusquod malihomi- nis? certe tamen de homicidio funditur. Tertull. Apologet. p. 9. Rigault. Hodieque ab ipfis Latiaris Jupiter homicidio colitur ; & quod Saturni Filio dig- num eft mali & noxii hominis fanguine fagmatur. Min. Fel. p. 365 — 6. Cum Latiaris cruore perfundi- tur. ibid. 351. Et Latio ad hodiernum diem Jovi media in urbe humanus fanguis in>gultatur. Tertul, Scorpiace. p. 493. Rigauh.

in ufe with Mankind for Food j from thence it proceeded to the offering up the Flem of Animals ; and by degrees in many Cafes to that of Men. The Grounds of this Prac tice in general we have agreed to be laid in Mens thinking their Gods to be altogether

Cv C*

of like Pailions with themfelves. And that this is the very truth of the Cafe may, I think, be ftill farther confirmed to us by obferving, that the Hiflory of modern Pa- ganifm in the Article before us is altogether analogous to that of ancient. " The things'* fays Gafeilaffo de La Vega^ in a Paffage of his Peruvian Commentaries now before me, " which the Indians offered to the Sun were of divers forts. The chief and principal Sacrifice was that of Lambs ; but betides they offered all forts of Cattle, and Birds which were eatable, the Fat of Beafts, Pulfe, all forts of Grain, the Herb Cuca, even Cloaths of the beft and fineft forts: all which they burnt in the place of In- cenfe, rendering Thanks and Acknowledg ments to the Sun, for having fuftained and nouriihed all thofe things for the Ufe and Support of Mankind. They ufed alfo Drink-Offerings, which were made of Wa- 'ter and Mayz, which is their fort of Wheat j and at the End of their ufual Meals, when Drink was brought, (for they did never uie to drink between their Eatings) at their foil Draught they dipped the Tip of their

Finger

3

Finger in the Middle of the Cup, and looking up to Heaven with great Reverence,- with a Fillip they fpirted off the Drop of Water which wetted their Finger, which was by way of Acknowledgment for it to the Sun, rendering him Thanks for the Water they drank ||."-« — In another place he tells us, that the Inca Viracocha after obtaining a certain Victory over the Cbancas, fent no tice of it to the Sun ; " for tho', fays he, they efteemed the Sun for a God, yet in all refpects they treated him as a Man, and as one who had need of Intelligence and Information of Matters which fucceeded : betides which, they formed other grofs Conceptions of him j as to drink to him j and that he might pledge them again, on their Feftival-Days they filled a golden Cup with Liquor, which they fet in a Part of the Temple, which was moft open to the Sun-Beams, and what was exhaled by that Heat they judged to be drank by the Sun ; they alfo fet Meat for him to eat." — J And that, agreeably to what has been faid con cerning the ancient Pagans, thofe of Peru, at leaft before the Days of their Incas, and thofe of Mexico, even at the time of the Spaniards conquering their Country, prac-* tiled human Sacrifices of the moft execrable Kind, is a Matter of Fact univerfally agreed

to?

|| Royal Commentaries of Peru of Garcilaffb de La Vega tranflat. by Sir Paul Rycaut, Book 2. Chap. 4. $ Roy. Cora. Book 5. Chap. 19.

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to by the Writers of American Hiflory -f- . The like Accounts to thefe are given us of fome other Parts of the World, where Paganifm

yet

f Roy. Com. Book i. Chap. 4. Book 2. Chap. 4. Acofta's nat, and mor. Hift. of the Indies, Book 5. Chap. 4. Book 7. Chap. 6. alfo Chap. 13. and 19, They of Mexico have exceeded them (the Peruvians) yea all Nations in the World in the great number of Men which they have facrificed, and in the horri ble Manner thereof. — The Manner of thefe

Sacrifices to Vitzliputzli was, they affembled fuch as ftiould be facrificed within the Pallifado of Skulls. — A Prieft came from the Temple, and getting upon a Stona in the Court of it, (hewed the Idol to the Vic tims, faying, This is your God! There were fix

Sacrifices appointed to thefe Dignities j four to hold the Hands and Feet of him that was to die, a fifth to hold his Head, and a fixth to open his Stomach and pull out his Heart. This was efteemed the Sove reign Prieft and Bifhop.— — The High Prieft opened each of the Perfons Stomachs with a Knife, with a ftrange Dexterity and Nimblenefs, pulling out the Heart, which he fhewed fmoking unto the Sun, to whom he did offer this Heat and Fume of the Heart, and prefently he turned towards the Idol, and did caft the Heart at his Face. Then they caft away the Body of the Sacrificed, tumbling it down the Stairs of the Temple with a Spurn of their Foot. In this fort, one after another, did they facrifice all that were appointed. Acofta5. 20. fee alfo 21, 22. Some Nations of thefe (the Indians of Peru] offered not only their Enemies, but on fome Occafions their very Children to thefe Idols. The Manner of thefe Sacrifices was to rip open their Breafts whilft they were alive, and fo tear out their Heart and Lungs, with the Blood of which,

whilft warm, they fprinkled their Idols then they

burnt the Entrails, and eat the Flefh themfelves with great Joy and Feftivity, tho* it were of their own Child, or other Relation of the fame Blood. Royal Comment. Book I. Chap. 4. See alfo Book 6. Chap. 30, and 31,

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yet takes place, by Perfons who have had

Opportunity to vifit them. As to the

Dedication of what the Ancients call ava- S'WjU.aTa, facred Prefents of various kinds to the "Gods, fuch as Crowns, Garlands, Veft> ments, Plate, Pieces of Painting, Statues, Sculptures, and the like, the Reafon of this whole Practice is in general fo much the fame with that of the Rite of Sacrifice we have been difcourfmg of, that I fhall content myfelf with juft hinting this Obfer- vation thus at large to your Thoughts, and leave it to you to apply it, as you may have Opportunity or Difpofition for fo doing. And here we might change the Scene, Philemon^ and, from the Confideration of Sacrifices, proceed to that of fome other Articles of practical Superftition in the an cient Pagan World. But enough at one time of this Subject.

FINIS,

•