and Dealer in Images and Idols; that one day when he went a Journey, he
left _Abram_ to take care of the Shop; but _Abram_ being already
convinced of the Sinfulness of Idols, ask’d all that came to buy
_Idol-Gods_ of him, _How old are you?_ They told him their Age; and he
replied to them, _This God that you would buy and worship, is younger
than you are; it was made but the other day, and of contemptible Matter,
therefore believe what I say, and renounce this vain Worship_. The
_Buyers_ struck with Confusion at these Reproaches, went away without
buying, asham’d of their Stupidity[367].
Footnote 367:
Fa _Calmet_ under _Terah_, vol. xiii.
Q. _What might move Men to the first Idolatry?_
Perhaps it might be a _strong Attachment to the Senses_, which they made
their sovereign Judges in Spirituals: It was hard for vulgar Heads in
those Days of Darkness to elevate their Thoughts above sensible Objects.
Another Reason, may be the _Pride of the human Mind_; that is not
satisfied with rational plain Truths, but will adulterate them with
foolish Imaginations: Hence it was that they would have such Objects of
Worship, as might immediately strike their sensible Powers; nothing
would serve their Turn but a Divinity visible to the Eye, therefore they
brought down the Gods to the Earth, and represented them under certain
Images, which by degrees commenced inferior Deities.
The _Egyptian Priests_ not being able to persuade the _People_, that
there were any _Gods_ or _Spirits_ superior to Men, were constrained to
call down Demons, or Spirits, and lodge them in Statues, and then bring
forth those Statues to be visible Objects of Adoration, and from hence
sprung Idolatry.
Among the Pagans were various Opinions about religious Images. _Some_
looked upon them as only Representatives of the true God, as _Seneca_, a
Stoick Philosopher, and _Plato_ a Native of _Athens_, and a noted
Academick.
_OTHERS_ said, they did not adore material Images, but the Gods in them,
into which they were drawn by virtue of their Consecration, or, in a
more modern Language, their Canonization[368].
Footnote 368:
_Arnobius_, lib. vi.
_SOME_ were of Opinion, that after the Consecration of Images, the Gods
actually incorporated with them, or were animated by them, as Man’s Body
is by the Soul[369]. The vulgar Heathen paid their Adoration to Images
as if they were real Gods; which monstrous Practice was ridiculed by the
most sensible Pagans, as appears farther on[370].
Footnote 369:
_Trismegistus_, a learned _Egyptian_, a great Philosopher, a great
Priest, and a great King.
Footnote 370:
See _Lactantius_, lib. ii.
The Use and Worship of Images has been long, and still is controverted.
The _Lutherans_ condemn the _Calvinists_ for breaking the Images in the
Churches of the Catholicks; and at the same time they condemn the
Romanists (who are professed Image-Worshippers) as Idolaters. The modern
_Jews_ condemn all Images, and suffer no Pictures or Figures in their
Houses, much less in their Synagogues, or Places of Worship.
The _Mahometans_ have a perfect Aversion to all Images. This is it that
made them destroy most of the beautiful Monuments of Antiquity, both
sacred and profane, at _Constantinople_.
The old noble _Romans_ preserved the Images of their Ancestors with no
little Care, and had them carried in Procession in their Funerals and
Triumphs.
SECT. II.
This Part entertains us with various Instances of Pagan Deifications,
_viz._ of Men, Beasts, and Things without Life.
I. _MEN transformed into Gods._
I Begin with their _deified Men_, that is, _dead Men_, who being
canonized, past for _reputed Gods_. Note here, some are of opinion, that
the word _God_, among the Heathen, did not mean the uncreated eternal
Being, but some _most excellent superior Nature_; and accordingly, they
gave the Appellation of _Gods_ to _all Beings_ of a Rank higher, and
more perfect than Man.
The _principal Gods_ among the antient Heathens were _Jupiter_, _Mars_,
_Mercury_, _Neptune_, _Apollo_, _Juno_, _Vesta_, _Minerva_, _&c._ The
_next sort of Gods_ were called _Demy-Gods_, or _Gods adopted_; and
these were Men canonized and deify’d. Now, as the _greater Gods_ had
possession of Heaven in their _own Right_, so these _lesser Gods_ had it
by _Donation_, being translated into Heaven, because they were Men
renowned for their Virtues, and had lived as Gods upon Earth; and these
at first were called _Teraphim_.
The first certain Account of these we have in _Genesis_, where ’tis
said, _Rachel_ had _stoln her Father’s Images_. Chap. xxxi. 19. the
_Teraphim_ of her Father in the _Hebrew_, which _Laban_, (ii. 30.) calls
his _Gods_, Hebr. _Eloha_.
The word _Teraphim_ is _Hebrew_, others say _Egyptian_: Be that as it
will, we find it about thirteen times in our Bible, and is commonly
interpreted _Idols_, _Images_, _sacred_, _superstitious Figures_.
_Spencer_ maintains the word to be _Chaldee_, and that those Images were
borrowed from the _Amorites_, _Chaldeans_, or _Syrians_, and that the
_Egyptian Serapis_ is the same thing with _Teraphim_ of the _Chaldeans_.
A Learned _Jew_ says the _Teraphim_ were in human Shape, and that when
raised upright, they spoke at certain Hours, and under certain
Constellations, by the Influence of the celestial Bodies. _R. David de
Pomis ... Cyclopædia._
This _Rabbinical Fable_ seems to be grounded on _Zech._ x. 2. _The
Idols_ (Hebr. _Teraphim_) _have spoken Vanity...._ Some of the learned
_Jews_ will have it to denote the Knowledge of Futurity, and for this
Signification they quote _Ezek._ xxi. 21. _The King of Babylon stood ...
at the Head of the two Ways ... he consulted with Images_; with
_Teraphim_, says the _Hebrew_.
The same _Rabbi_ adds, that to make the _Teraphim_ they kill’d a
first-born Child, clove his Head, season’d it with Salt and Oil; that
they wrote on a Plate of Gold the Name of some impure Spirit, laid it
under the Tongue of the Dead, placed the Head against the Wall, lighted
Lamps before it, prayed to it, and it talk’d with them.
Others hold, that the _Teraphim_ were brazen Instruments which pointed
out the Hours of future Events, as directed by the Stars.—Some think
that the _Teraphim_ were Figures or Images of a Star engraven on a
sympathetic Stone, or Metal corresponding to the Star, in order to
receive its Influences: To these Figures, under certain Aspects of the
Stars, they ascribe extraordinary Effects.
This Talismanical Opinion, says a Learned Pen[371], appears the most
probable.... All the Eastern People are still much addicted to this
Superstition of _Talismans_. The _Persians_ call them _Telesin_, a Word
approaching to _Teraphim_. In those Countries no Man is seen without
them, and some are even loaded with them. They hang them to the Necks of
Animals, and Cages of Birds, as Preservatives against Evils. Such were
the _Samothracian Talismans_, which were pieces of Iron, formed into
certain Images and set in Rings....
Footnote 371:
Father _Dom. Calmet_.
The _Labanic Images_ are supposed to be the most antient, if not the
first religious Images, made of some precious Metal, and had their Birth
in _Laban_’s Country, that is, _Chaldea_, or _Mesopotamia_.
From _Laban_’s History, it seems as if these _Teraphim_ were Pictures or
Images of certain Persons deceased; that is, they were a sort of Idols,
or superstitious Figures venerated by them as _Demy-Gods_. That they
were such artificial Portraitures of Men, is evident from that Instance
in _Michal_, who, to deliver _David_ her Husband from bloody Assassins
that threaten’d his Life, laid an _Image in his Bed_, a _Teraphim_, says
the _Hebrew_, that is, a material Image, probably a Figure of Wood, or
Sticks hastily made up, drest in Man’s Clothes, to make those sent by
King _Saul_ to apprehend him, believe he was sick.
Why does _Laban_ call them his Gods? Very probably because he believed
they retain’d their Affection for Mankind in the invisible World, and
being rank’d among the Gods, might be serviceable to his Family,
therefore adopted them to be Guardians of his House. They were only his
_domestick Gods_, and not the established Gods of the Country; and ’tis
very likely they might be the Images of _Noah_ and his _Sons_; or some
other illustrious Ancestors, whom he had chosen for his _Tutelary Gods_.
The Scripture mentions another sort of _Teraphim_, sometimes consulted
by the _Jews_ as an Oracle, not imagining that thereby they abandon’d
the Worship of the true God. Such was the _Teraphim_ that _Micha_ made
and set up in his House, and to which he appointed a _Priest_ of the
_Levitical Race_, with an _Ephod_ or Sacramental Garment, by the
Influence of which he flatter’d himself that God would bless his House.
This probably might be some _Hieroglyphical Figure_, to which the
superstitious _Jews_ attributed the Virtue of an Oracle, and the Power
of foretelling Things to come: Hence speaking Teraphims.
From these _Teraphim_ came the _Lares_, or the Household Gods of the old
_Romans_, who before the Laws of the Twelve Tables, used to bury the
Dead in their Houses; from whence arose that great Veneration they had
for their _Lares_ and _Penates_, a kind of domestick Divinities,
worship’d in Houses, and esteem’d Protectors of Families, which were
nothing else but the supposed Ghosts of those who formerly had belonged
to the Family, whom they represented by Images, which they placed in the
Chimney-Corner, or near their Doors.
These were also look’d upon as Guardians of the Highways, near to which
their Images were fix’d for the Benefit of Travellers, therefore call’d
_Dii Viales_, Gods of the Roads. ’Tis said by the Prophet, _The King of
Babylon stood at the parting of the Way_, and consulted _with the
Images_; with the _Teraphim_, says the _Hebrew_, _Ezek._ xxi. 21. which
the _Jewish_ Interpreters say were prophetick Images, endued with the
Gift of Prediction; so far from being mere Idols, that they gave out
Oracles, and foretold Things to come.
Some think _Laban_’s _Teraphim_ to be such, and that _Rachel_, having
observed how her Father did divine by them, and fearing, by consulting
with them, he might know which way _Jacob_ went, and follow after and
murder him; to prevent so fatal a Catastrophe, she took away his
_Oracles_.
Those sacred Images might, at first, be made in honour of departed
Relatives, or illustrious Persons; but by degrees degenerated into
religious Adoration. Thus the _Manes_ of the Dead were worship’d by them
under the Figure of their _Teraphim_, in some place of the House, and
probably where they had deposited the Remains of their Ancestors, as
some think.
The _Lares_ were also called _Penates_: To these they paid religious
Homage with Sacrifices; so the _Roman Satirist_ says, and calls these
images his _dear little House-Gods_; and then observes, that they were
crown’d with Garlands of Flowers in Summer, and in Winter with Shaving
of Horns colour’d. To these _Waxen-Gods_ the _Romans_ addrest themselves
with Offerings of Frankincense and Cakes[372]....
Footnote 372:
Oh parvi nostrique Lares quos thure minuto
Hic nostrum placabo, Jovem Laribusque paternis
Thura dabo, atque omnes violæ jactabo colores
Cuncta nitent——
_Juvenal. Sat._ ix. _v._ 137. & _Sat._ xii. _v._ 89.
They were supposed to be the Spirits of such, who had lived well on the
Earth, and in consequence of it, were happy; so on the other hand, those
who lived ill here, did after Death wander up and down in Horror, and
were supposed, by the Vulgar, to be Hobgoblins, call’d _Lemures_, _i.
e._ restless Ghosts of departed Spirits, who return to the Earth to
terrify the Living.
These are the same with _Larvæ_, which the Antients imagined to wander
round the World, to frighten good People, and plague the bad. All these
were imagin’d to be the Ghosts of the Dead: They pray’d to the Good for
Protection, and sacrificed to the Evil to pacify their Rage: For this
reason they had their _Lemuria_ or _Lemuralia_ at _Rome_, where on the
9th of _May_, a Feast was solemnized in honour of the _Lemures_, and to
pacify the _Manes_ of the Dead, especially those who died without
Burial, to prevent their giving disturbance to the Living.
The first _Men_ that were _deified_, or made Gods, are supposed to be
the Heads of Families, Founders of Empires, and Benefactors of
Provinces——who, after their decease, were highly reverenced. _Noah_ and
his Sons seem to be the first and chief animated Deities of the Pagans,
under the Names of _Saturn_, _Jupiter_, _Neptune_ and _Pluto_; hence
_Demons_, another Name given to Spirits, which were supposed to appear
to Mortals, with intention to do them Good or Hurt.
The first Notion of Demons, ’tis said, sprung from _Chaldea_, thence it
spread among the _Persians_, _Egyptians_.... _Pythagoras_ and _Thales_
were the first that introduced _Demons_ into _Greece_, where _Plato_
fell in with the Notion, which he explains thus, _viz._
... By _Demons_, he understood Spirits inferior to Gods, and yet
superior to Men, which inhabiting the middle Region of the Air, kept up
the Communication between the Gods and Men, carrying up the _Prayers_
and Offerings of Men to the Gods, and bringing down the _Will_ of the
Gods to Men. He allow’d of none but good ones, tho’ his Disciples
(finding themselves unable to account for the Origin of Evil) adopted
another kind of Demons, who were Enemies to Man[373].
Footnote 373:
_Gale_’s _Court of the Gentiles_, part I. chap. viii.
The Apocryphal Book of _Enoch_ abounds with the Names of Angels and
Devils; but that Book is not of any great Antiquity, tho’ the Prophecy
be: it does not appear to have been known by the antient _Jews_. St.
_Jude_ is the first that cited it. The Authority which this spurious
Book of _Enoch_ has received from some of the Antients, is the reason of
our meeting with several of its Opinions, scatter’d in their Writings.
_Ibid._
_LACTANTIUS_, one of the most eloquent Authors of his time, (and
therefore called the _Christian Cicero_) was of Opinion there were two
sorts of Demons, celestial and terrestrial[374]: The _celestial_ are the
fallen Angels, who having been seduced by the Prince of Devils, engaged
themselves in impure Amours; the _terrestrial_ are they who issued from
the former, as Children from their Parents: These last, who are neither
Men nor Angels, but a Medium between the two Natures; were not plunged
into Hell, neither were their Fathers admitted into Heaven: The
terrestrial Angels are impure Spirits, and Authors of all the Evils
committed on Earth[375].
Footnote 374:
_Chambers_’s _Cyclopæd._ _Calmet_’s _Hist. Dict._ vol. i. p. 434.
Footnote 375:
_Lactantius_, lib. ii. cap. 14. _Lugd._ _Bat._ 1652.
Many of the Antients have allotted to every Man an Evil Angel, who is
continually laying Snares for him, and inclining him to Evil, as his
Good Angel does to what is Good. The _Jews_ have still the same
Sentiments at this day. Another _Father_ thinks, that every Vice has its
Evil Angel, presiding over it; as the Demon of Avarice, the Demon of
Pride, of Uncleanness[376]....
Footnote 376:
_Origen._ Homil. xv. in Josh. _Calmet._ ibid.
In _Pagan Theology_, nothing more common than those good and evil Genii,
and the same superstitious Notion got among the _Israelites_, by
Commerce with the _Chaldeans_; but I don’t apprehend that by Demon, they
meant the Devil, or a wicked Spirit, tho’ it be taken under that Idea by
the Evangelists, and also some modern _Jews_[377].
Footnote 377:
_Cyclopædia._
We are not without some Remains of those antient Representations: Among
the various Rarities in the _Musæum_ at _Leyden_ in _Holland_, is the
Effigies in Sculpture of _Osiris_, the _Egyptian God_; ’tis made of
Wood, and now almost consum’d with Age: There are three other _Egyptian_
Idols of Stone; an Image of _Isis_ (who married _Osiris_, King of the
Country) giving suck to her Orr. Another Effigies of _Isis_, the
_Egyptian Goddess_, upon a little _Egyptian_ Coffer, containing the
Heart of an _Egyptian_ Prince embalm’d therein.
The antient Pagans, had almost as many _Goddesses_ as _Gods_; such were
_Juno_, the _Goddess of Air_, _&c._ Queen of Heaven, and of the Gods;
was represented sitting on a Throne with a Crown of Gold on her Head:
This was the Patroness of the female Sex. Every Woman had her _Juno_, or
Guardian; as every Man had his _Genius_. She was the Goddess of
Marriages, which were not deem’d lawful without the Parties first
addrest her. One Branch of her Office was to attend them in Labor, when
they pray’d, _Help, Juno Lucina_[378].
Footnote 378:
_Juno Lucina fer opem._
She was ador’d by all Nations; her Temple was open on the Top and had no
Doors, it being impious to think of confining the Gods to a narrow
Inclosure. Yea, many of the Antients would erect no devotional Temples,
from a Persuasion that the whole World is the Temple of God. The
_Sicyonians_ would build no Temple to their Goddess _Coronis_: Nor would
the _Athenians_ erect a Statue to the Goddess _Clemency_, who they said
was to live in the _Hearts of Men_, not _within Stone-Walls_. The
Goddesses were numerous, but I shall add no more.
They did not only enroll _Men_ and _Women_ among their Gods, but they
had also _Hermaphrodite-Gods_. Thus _Minerva_, according to several of
the Learned, was both Man and Woman, and worshipped as such under the
Appellation of _Lunus & Luna_. _Mithras_, the _Persian Deity_, was both
God and Goddess; there were Gods of Virtue, Vice, Time, Place, Death ...
Infancy. Not Men only, but every thing that relates to Mankind, has also
been deified, as Infancy, Age, Death, Labor, Rest, Sleep, Virtues,
Vices, Time, Place.... Infancy alone had a numerous Train of Deities.
They also ador’d the Gods of Health, Love, Fear, Pain, Indignation,
Shame, Renown, Prudence, Art, Science, Fidelity, Liberty, Money, War,
Peace, Victory....
Thus we have seen, that nothing more common among Pagans, than to place
Men among the Number of Deities; yea, some of them would not wait for
their Deification till Death. Thus _Nebuchadnezzar_, King of _Babylon_,
procured his _Image to be worshipped_ while he was living. Thus
_Augustus_ had Altars erected and Sacrifices offered to him while alive.
He had Priests called _Augustales_, and Temples at _Lyons_, and several
other Places. He was the first _Roman_ who carried Idolatry to such a
pitch: Having in a most respectful manner view’d the embalm’d Body of
_Alexander the Great_, was ask’d, if he would see _Ptolemy_’s also? he
answer’d, _His Curiosity was to see a King, not a Man_. His Favourite
Poet complements him with the Title of God[379]. Yea, the _Ethiopians_
deem’d all their Kings _Gods_.
Footnote 379:
——Deus nobis hæc otia fecit.
II. _Inanimate Things turn’d into Gods._ Things without Life were made
into Gods by the Heathens: The Sun, Moon, and Stars seem to be the first
Idols, or false Gods, to whom they paid a divine Regard. _Possidonius_
defines a _Star_, a _divine Body_. The _Zabii_ erected Images to the
Stars, which they fancied to be so many Gods, and that they influenced
the Images consecrated to them; yea, and communicated the prophetick
Spirit to Men.
The _Sun_ and _Moon_ were by the idolatrous _Israelites_ called the
_King_ and _Queen_ of Heaven, and the Stars were supposed (as it were)
to be their Militia, form’d for their Guards, with which they were
always surrounded.
_PHILO_ of _Alexandria_, (called _Philo_ the _Jew_, a _Platonick_
Philosopher) imputes to the Stars a great part of whatever happens on
the Earth; and says, they are not only Animals, but even most pure
Spirits; that our Air is replete with Animals and Spirits, which are
continually descending to animate Bodies. He had borrow’d these odd
Notions from his Master _Plato_, Chief of the Academicks. _Origen_ one
of the Fathers, who flourish’d in the third Century, was guilty of the
same Mistake[380].
Footnote 380:
_Philo Leg. Alleg. Origen._ t i. _Maimon. in Calmet._ under the word
_Star_.
The sacred Books, in some places, seem to ascribe Knowledge to the
_Stars_, when they praised God at the beginning of the World, _Job_
xxxviii. 7. but the Stars were not then created, therefore it’s
generally supposed they were _Angels_. Since then the Sun, Moon and
Stars are excited to praise the Lord; the Moon withdrew its Light, and
the Sun stopt its Course at the Command of _Joshua_ ... and perhaps one
reason of their strange Opinions about the heavenly Bodies, might be
owing to these and the like Expressions; not knowing that these Words
were meerly popular, and not to be understood literally, for then we
must say that the Earth, the Trees, the Waters, are animated, since we
find in Scripture some Expressions that would insinuate as much.
The _Arabians_ who sprung from _Ishmael_, worshipped the Sun, Moon and
Stars, in which they were conducted by their Priests who were cloathed
in white Vestments, wearing Mitres and Sandals, which at first were only
Soles tied to the Feet with Strings. In Authors that speak of
ecclesiastical Rites, and Ornaments, we find the word _Sandals_ to
signify a valuable kind of Shoes, worn by the _Prelates at
Solemnities_[381].
Footnote 381:
_Benedictus Baudovinus de Calceo Antiquo._
We find _Sandals_ also used by the Ladies, very different in form: When
_Judith_ went to the Camp of _Holofernes_, she put _Sandals_ on her
Feet, at the sight of which he was captivated; for ’tis said, _Her
Sandals ravish’d his Eyes_. These were a magnificent sort of Stockens,
like Buskins, of an extraordinary Beauty[382], and were proper only to
the Ladies of Condition, who generally had Slaves to carry them.
Footnote 382:
_Judith_ x. 4.
_N. B._ The real _Buskin_ was the _Cothurnus_, a very high Shoe rais’d
on Soals of Cork, wore by the ancient Actors in Tragedy, to make them
appear taller, and more like the Heroes they represented, most of whom
were supposed to be Giants.
The _Persians_ had no Temples, Altars, nor Images, holding such little
Things improper for the high Gods. Therefore they worshipp’d upon the
Top of Hills, where they offer’d Sacrifices to the Sun, Moon, and Stars.
The _Babylonians_ adored the Sun, to which the King offer’d every Day a
white Horse richly furnish’d: The Sun was in high Esteem among the
_Phenicians_, whose Priests were crown’d with Gold. The _Tartars_ and
_Cathaians_ worship the Sun, and Stars, to which they offer the first
Fruits of their Meat every Morning before they eat and drink themselves.
They have divers Monasteries of Idols, to whom they dedicate their
Children.
In _Nova Zembla_ there is no Religion prescrib’d by Law, but they
worship the _Sun_, so long as ’tis with them, and the Moon and
North-Star in its absence. In _China_ are great Numbers of sacred
Temples, where the Priests have so much Power over their Gods, that they
may beat them when they don’t answer their Expectation: Their _chief_
Gods are the _Sun_, _Moon_, and _Stars_, where they are not
christianis’d.
In the _Philippine Islands_, the Natives worship the _Stars_, which they
hold to be the _Children_ of the _Sun_ and _Moon_: Their Priests, for
the most part, are Women. The _Japonians_ worship an Image, with three
Faces, by which they mean, Sun, Moon, and the elementary World[383].
Footnote 383:
_Acosta_, and _Jesuits_ Ep. in _R. Oliver_. _Noort_’s Navigation.
In _America_ their chief Deities are the Sun and Moon; which they honour
with Dances and Songs. In _Virginia_ and _Florida_, when they eat,
drink, and sacrifice, they use to throw up towards the Sun, some part of
their Food: The _Spaniards_ taking Advantage of this Superstition, made
the poor ignorant People believe they were Messengers sent to them from
the Sun; whereupon they submitted to the _Spanish_ Yoke. _Hacluyt_,
_ibid._ At _Mexico_, when they sacrificed a Man, they pull’d out his
_Heart_, and offer’d it to the _Sun_.
In _South-America_, they worship evil Spirits in various Forms, and Sun
and Moon. When it thunders, and lightens, they say the _Sun_ is angry
with them: When the Moon is eclipsed, they say the _Sun_ is angry with
her.
In _Peru_, next to their chief God, they worship’d the Sun, and after
it, the Thunder. They took Sun and Moon for Husband and Wife. In the
seventh Month they sacrificed to the Sun, and in the tenth to the Honour
of the Moon.
The same Paganism was profest among the _Europeans_; yea the _Greeks_
and _Romans_ that were the most knowing and polite Nations, their chief
Gods were Sun, Moon, and Stars.
The Air, and Meteors in it, were made into Gods: Thus the _Persians_
ador’d the Wind; Thunder and Lightning were honour’d under the Name
_Geryon_. Comets and the Rainbow also have been prefer’d from _Meteors_,
to be _Gods_. _Socrates_ deify’d the Clouds, if Credit may be given to
_Aristophanes_.
Their high Veneration for _Water_ was such, that to spit, to urine, or
wash in a River was made a high Crime; perhaps, the _Water of Jealousy_
that determin’d the Case about the _Jewish_ Women, suspected of
Adultery, might heighten their Veneration for this Element.
In _Sicily_, Rivers were worshipped by the _Agrigentes_ (in the shape of
a beautiful Boy) to which they sacrificed.... The _Cathaians_ worship
Earth and Water.
The _Indians_ count the River _Ganges_ sacred, and to have a Power of
expiating their Sins. When the Idolaters wash in it, they cry, _Oh
Ganges, purify me!_ And when any are sick, they dip them in it, in order
to recover their Health. The Water of this River is convey’d to such as
live at a distance, and are not in a Capacity to travel; so that they
ascribe as much Virtue to this River, as the Papists do to their holy
Water, and chief Relicks.
The People of _Bengal_ don’t only worship the River _Ganges_, but give
Divine Honours to its Image. _Bernier_ says, that Kingdom is well
water’d by Channels cut out of the _Ganges_, which is visited by many
Pilgrims, who think themselves happy if they can wash in it. There is
also a Well in that Country, which they adore, and think, by washing
therein, they are purify’d from their Sins. Their _Priests_ travel about
with the _Water_ of the _Ganges_, which they sell at vast Prices;
because the poor ignorant People are made to believe, that by drinking
this Water, they obtain Pardon of their Sins.
The Inhabitants of _Peru_ in _America_, fling the Ashes of their
Sacrifices into the River, follow the same six Leagues, and pray the
River to bring that Present to _Virachoca_, a superior Deity. _Acosta._
The _Persians_ and _Chaldeans_ express their God by _Fire_, to which
they perform Adoration, and bring it Food, crying to it, _Eat, Oh my
Lord Fire!_ To throw dead and dirty Things into the Fire, yea to blow it
with their Breath, was High Treason.
The _Magicians_ say, that this _Fire_ was convey’d to them from Heaven;
and that it was for this Reason that they kept it so religiously. That
they preserve a constant Fire on their Altars, is evident from History.
They are said to have Fires still subsisting, which have burnt above a
thousand Years. We read of such Fire kept up with superstitious Care in
the Temple of _Jupiter Ammon_, and in that of _Hercules_ at _Gades_. So
it is in _Egypt_, and in most of all the eastern Countries, and _Virgil_
tells that _Iarbas_ the _Getulian_ could boast of a hundred Temples he
had erected with Altars, blazing with perpetual Fire, the eternal Guard
of the Gods[384].
Footnote 384:
Centum aras posuit, vigilemque sacraverat ignem,
Excubias divûm æternas.
VIRG. Æneid. 4.
That which gave occasion to perpetuate the Fire in Pagan Temples, might
be from the perpetual Fire kept in the Temple at _Jerusalem_, which
descended from Heaven upon the first Victims sacrificed by _Aaron_ and
his Son. Hence the _Vestals_ were appointed express, to keep up the
sacred Fire of the _Romans_.
The Kings of _Persia_ never went abroad without having some Portion of
the sacred Fire carried before them: The Historian giving an Account of
the March of _Darius_’s Army,—says, that they carried Fire upon Altars
of Silver, in great Ceremony,—that they had it in great Veneration,
calling it the _sacred and eternal Fire_, and that the _Magi_ came
after, singing Hymns according to the _Persian Mode_[385].
Footnote 385:
Quint. Curtius, lib. 1. Hyde de Pers. Relig. c. iii. p. 69.
God appear’d to _Moses_ under the Form of a Fire burning in a Bush. The
Camp of _Israel_ in the Wilderness was conducted in the Night by a
Pillar of Fire. Now God having made several Revelations of himself,
under the Appearance of Fire, might give occasion to the _Chaldeans_ and
_Persians_ to entertain such enormous Veneration for Fire, which is a
Symbol of the Deity: _The Lord thy God_, says _Moses, is a consuming
Fire_. At their high Solemnities they set several Trees (hung with
diverse Sorts of Beasts for Sacrifice) on fire; this they did after they
had carried about these Fires in Procession.
I Shall add here, a remarkable Contest that happen’d between the
_Chaldean_ and _Egyptian_ Priests about the _Superiority of their
Gods_.... In the time of _Constantine_ the _Chaldean Priests_, to prove
that _Fire_, which was their God, excell’d all other Gods in Power,
travell’d over the Earth, carrying _Fire_ with them, which soon consum’d
all the Statues and Images of other Gods; whether of Brass, Silver,
Stone or Wood, says _Suidas_[386], who gives a large Account of it,
under the Word κανωπος. At length coming into _Egypt_, and making this
Challenge; the _Egyptian Priests_ agreed upon a _Battle of the Gods_,
and immediately brought into the Field one of their Idols, which was a
large Statue of _Nilus, full of Water_, and full of little Holes, which
they stopt with Wax not discernable, and so artificially, that the Water
was kept in.
Footnote 386:
Vol. I. pag. 1368.
The _Chaldeans_ (not aware of this Device) begun the Action, with much
Assurance, and with Eagerness put Fire around the _Egyptian Statue_,
which soon melted the invisible Wax, and the Water gushing forth from
all Parts, immediately put out the Fire, and drown’d the hitherto
_invincible Deity_ of the _Persians_; the Tragedy ended in a triumphant
Shout of Laughter among the Spectators: And I might add[387] how the
_Arabians_ and _Indians_, _Peruvians_, _Lithuanians_, and _Vandals_
worship’d Vegetables,—the _Scythians_ Iron. Trees and Plants have been
made Gods. Leeks and Onions were Deities in _Egypt_. The ancient _Gauls_
and _Britons_ bore a particular Devotion to the _Oak_; from which their
Priests took their Names. _Ceres_ and _Proserpina_, worship’d by the
Ancients, were no other than Wheat, Corn, Seed.—The _Syrians_ and
_Egyptians_ ador’d Fishes. What were _Tritons_, _Nereids_, _Syrens_, but
Sea-Gods? Insects, as Flies, and Ants, had their Priests and Votaries:
Yea, _Minerals_ were erected into _Deities_. The _Finlanders_ ador’d
_Stones_. I don’t see what can be said for such an Instance of
Stupidity. To say the Practice took its rise from _Abram_’s anointing
the _Stone_ that he made use of for a Pillow, when he went to
_Mesopotamia_, does not lessen the Reproach. The _Mahometans_ think that
_Jacob_’s Stone was convey’d to the _Temple at Jerusalem_; and is still
there in a _Mosque_ or _Turkish_ Temple, where the Temple at _Jerusalem_
stood before the final Desolation. The monstrous Stupidity of Pagans in
their Devotions will further appear in the Close of this Performance.
Footnote 387:
_Ruffin._ Hist. Ecclesiastica, lib. 2. _Stanley_’s Lives of the
Philosophers, part 16. chap. 8. page 28.
Now among all these Instances of Idolatry, the Adoration of the _Sun_
was the most excusable; for, who can behold that stupendous Globe of
Fire and Light in perpetual Motion, Splendor, and universal Usefulness
to Mankind, without awful Admiration, and warm Emotions of Mind? No
wonder then to find that it has been the Object of Adoration so long,
and in so many Places. It was the Sun very probably that was worship’d
by the _Phenicians_ under the Name of _Baal_, by the _Moabites_ under
the Name of _Chemosh_, by the _Ammonites_ under the Name of _Moloch_; by
the degenerated _Israelites_ by the Name of _Baal_, the King of the Host
of Heaven, to whom they join’d the Moon, whom they called _Astarta_ or
Queen of Heaven.
This Worship was perform’d upon high Places, in Groves, and upon the
Roofs of their Houses, which in those Countries, were flat. It was
against this kind of Worship that _Moses_ warn’d the _Israelites_, and
threatens the Transgressors with Death. _Deut._ iv. 19, ’tis said
_Josiah_ King of _Judah took away the Horses_, that his Royal
Predecessors had given to the Sun, and were fix’d at the Entrance into
the House of the Lord, and _burnt the Chariots of the Sun with Fire_.
III. _Animal Gods._ In the next place, I shall briefly touch upon some
Brutes and Birds, _&c._ that received Divine Honours from the Pagan
People, and even from those who were supposed to excel their Neighbours
in Understanding and Wisdom.
Thus _Crocodiles_, _Serpents_, _Eagles_, _Dogs_, _Cats_, _Wolves_,
_Oxen_, were worship’d by the People of _Egypt_, those celebrated Sons
of Wisdom; but their greatest Solemnities were consecrated to the God
_Apis_, or _Serapis_, under the Image of an Ox or Bull.
They had an Ox consecrated to the Sun, which they fed at _Heliopolis_ in
_Egypt_: They had another called _Apis_, dedicated to the Moon, and fed
at _Memphis_, (for some time, the royal City) where he had his Temple,
and the Devils gave out their Oracles. In the time of St. _Jerom_, who
flourish’d in the fourth Century, they worshipped here a brass Bull as a
God.
The famous God _Osiris_ was adored under the Figure of this Beast, and
when dead, it was buried with great Solemnity and Mourning: And ’tis
observable, that his Birth-day was celebrated thro’ the whole Kingdom.
_N. B._ ’Tis very probable, that the _Israelites_ worshipped the golden
Calf in the same manner as the _Egyptians_ did their Bulls, their Cows
and Calves.
Before I proceed, give me leave to speak something of this golden Idol,
which was the Figure of a Calf, which the _Israelites_ cast, and set up
to worship in _Moses_’s Absence; who, upon his return from the Mount,
burnt the Figure, ground it to Powder, and made the People drink it mixt
with Water, _Exod._ xxxii. The Learned are divided in their Sentiments
on this Article; that is, the golden Calf, that was burnt and
pulverized.
To pulverize Gold and render it potable, is an Operation in Chymistry of
the last Difficulty; and ’tis hard to conceive how it should be done at
that time, before Chymistry was heard of, and in a Wilderness too, where
they had no proper Instruments. Many therefore suppose it to be done by
a Miracle. But the chymical Art seems to be of greater Antiquity, and
was very probably practised in the antediluvian World by _Tubal Cain_.
_Moses_ is the next Chymist mention’d in the Bible, whose Skill in
chymical Operations, in pulverizing the golden Calf, seems to be
incontestable, and artificial.
The Art is now much improved. Bid a Chymist convert Gold into Glass; and
by means of a burning Concave, or otherwise, he presently does it: Ask
him to Shew you Gold in Powder, and by mixing a little _Antimony_ with
that Metal, he will soon render it pulverable[388].
Footnote 388:
_Boerhaave_’s _new Method. Proces._ 268, 317.
But to return: Among other living Creatures, the _Egyptians_ also paid a
great Devotion to _Dogs_ and _Cats_. We read of a certain _Roman_
Soldier, that was like to be torn to pieces by the People, for having
_kill’d a Cat by Accident_; and that when a Dog happen’d to die, the
whole House went into Mourning[389]: Yea, in case of a great Famine,
they would eat Man’s Flesh, before they would touch their sacred
Animals; _ibid._ The Stork, Raven, Eagle, Hawk, Ibis, and other Birds,
have had divine Honours paid them in _Egypt_ and other Places....
Footnote 389:
_Diodor. Siculus, Herodot._
The City of _Mendez_ in _Egypt_ worshipped a _Goat_; the City of _Mira_,
the _Crocodile_. In other Provinces they erected Altars to Lions,
Baboons, Wolves.... The _Hog_ was ador’d in the Island of _Crete_ (now
_Candy_) in the Mediterranean. Bats and Mice had Altars consecrated to
them in _Troas_ and at _Tenedos_.
Nothing can be supposed more ridiculous than the Adoration given by the
_Egyptians_ to their brutal Deities, which were either within or near
their Temples; had Tables with delicious Meats and Beds prepared for
them, and when any of them died, they went into Mourning, prepared
sumptuous Funerals and magnificent Tombs for them, as may be seen at
large in _Diodorus Siculus_, _Herodotus_, and others[390].
Footnote 390:
_Plut. Herodot. Jurieu’s Critical History._
Some indeed ridiculed their senseless and stupid Neighbours, tho’ they
themselves were not Masters of superior Sense in their Devotions.
_Anaxandrides_ reproaches the _Egyptians_ for their wretched and foolish
Idolatry; but after all, this was only one Idolater deriding another.
_Dionysius_ was the most notorious this way: And most knavish in this
kind was the _Painter_, who, when he should have drawn the Picture of
_such a Goddess_ for a _Grecian_ City, drew the _Picture of his own
Mistress_, and so made her to be adored by the Citizens.
What Man could have forbore laughing, said the _Greek_ Poet above, to
see an _Egyptian on his Marrowbones, praying to an Ox as to a God, or
howling over a sick Cat, fearing lest his scratching God should die_?
Upon the whole, ’tis no easy matter to discover the real Sentiments of
the Heathens about their Gods: they admitted so many superior and
inferior Deities, who shared the Empire, that all was full of Gods.
Some of the Antients say, that a certain _subtile Matter_ that made
Stars _intelligent_, did reside in their sacred Animals, Plants and Men,
and escaped Death: And this made them fit to partake of such Worship, as
they gave to the Stars.——_Sanchoniatho_ meant only, that the celestial
Bodies are intelligent, and see what is done here below, and therefore
were to be adored as Gods[391].
Footnote 391:
_Sanchoniatho’s Phœnician Hist._ by the Learned Bp. _Cumberland_, vol.
i. p. 20, 21.
SECT. III.
_Adoration of_ SERPENTS.
The next thing that comes under Consideration is, the _Worship of
Serpents, which is observed thro’ all the Pagan Antiquity_. The Devil,
who, under the Shape of a Serpent, tempted our first Parents, has, with
unwearied Application, labour’d to deify that Animal, as a Trophy of his
first Victory over Mankind. The Conquest made by the _old Serpent in
Paradise_, and the wonderful Cures made by the _Shadow of a Serpent in
the Wilderness_, contributed very much towards making that hateful
Creature so venerable in the Eyes of so many Nations.
God having past Sentence upon the Serpent, Satan _consecrates that Form_
in which he deceived the Woman, and introduces it into the World as an
Object of religious Veneration: This he did with a view to enervate the
Force of the divine Oracle, the Seed of the Woman. Scarcely a Nation
upon Earth, but he has tempted to the grossest Idolatry, and in
particular got himself to be worshipped in the hideous _Form of a
Serpent_.
The Almighty foreseeing this general Delusion, guarded the World against
it, by inspiring Men with the greatest Aversion to that venemous
Creature, and yet was the Tempter ador’d in most places under the
Appearance of a Serpent. If you say, that Men worship other Creatures; I
answer, Those are beneficial to Mankind, and not so odious and hurtful
as those who carry Poison in their Tails and Teeth.
How surprizing this! that a Serpent, a Beast to which Mankind has a
strong natural Aversion, should be _ador’d by Creatures of Reason_, and
yet _nothing more common_, as will appear by the following Instances
from Antiquity.
_EGYPT_ was a Country that abounded with Variety of Serpents, and where
they were generally held in the greatest Veneration. The supreme God was
represented by them in the _Form_ of a _Serpent_ with a Hawk’s Head,
because of the wonderful Agility of that Bird. We see no Table of
_Osiris_ and _Isis_, two _Egyptian Idols_, without a Serpent joined to
them[392]. This _Isis_ married _Osiris_, King of that Country, and
govern’d with so much Wisdom and Gentleness, that the _Egyptians_ paid
divine Honours to them, who had been such Blessings to the Land.
Footnote 392:
_Macrobii Oper. Sat._ cap. xx.
In _Egypt_ is a Serpent of the Aspick Kind, called _Thermutis_, to which
they gave divine Worship; therefore crown’d with it the Statue of their
Goddess _Isis_. In the Corners of the Temples, they built little Chapels
under ground, where they carefully fed this _Thermutic Serpent_, as a
_sacred Genius_[393].
Footnote 393:
_Ælian de Animalibus_, lib. x. _Conrad. Gesner. de Serp._ p. 32.
The _Egyptians_ also paid divine Honours to the _Crocodile_, that
monstrous kind of Serpent, particularly the Inhabitants of _Arsinoë_,
and they who dwelt in the Neighbourhood of _Thebes_, and the Lake
_Mæris_; among whom ’twas fed by their Priests with Bread, Wine, Flesh,
and diverse Rarities[394].
Footnote 394:
_In Jonstonus de Quadruped_, cap. viii. p. 142.
_THÆAUTUS_, so often mentioned by _Sanchoniatho_, attributed some Deity
to the Nature of the Serpent; an Opinion approved by the _Phenicians_,
therefore look’d upon as holy and immortal, and comes into the sacred
Mysteries[395].
Footnote 395:
_Euseb. Præp. Evangel._ l. i. c. 10. from _Philo Biblius_, the
Translator of _Sanchon_.
They represented the World by a Circle, in the middle of which was a
Serpent, representing the good Demon, or Genius of the World, by which
’tis animated, and is a _Symbol_ of the Almighty Creator. Behold here
the Blasphemy of Satan, in giving to God the Form of a Serpent, which he
had borrow’d himself to make war against God in Paradise. They sometimes
represented their Gods with the Bodies of Serpents, and honour’d those
odious Animals with divine Worship, as Symbols of _Apollo_, of the
_Sun_, and of _Medicine_, and were put into the Charge of _Ceres_ and
_Proserpine_.
_HERODOTUS_ observes, that in his time, near _Thebes_, there were to be
seen tame Serpents, adorn’d with Jewels, and consecrated to _Jupiter_,
which did no harm to any body: When they died, they were buried in
_Jupiter_’s Temple[396]. _Ælian_ speaks of domestick Serpents, that were
in the Houses of the _Egyptians_, and look’d upon as _household Gods_;
and of another Serpent worshipped in a Tower at _Melitus_ in _Egypt_,
that had a Priest and other Officers attending it, and served every day
upon an Altar with Meal kneaded up with Honey, which the next day was
found to be eaten. _In Melite Eg. Draco divinis honoribus afficitur in
turri quadam_ ... _adsunt ei sacerdotes & ministri; mensa_ ... _ex
farina subacta_.... Herod. lib. ii. cap. 17.
Footnote 396:
_——Ex Crocodilis alunt. appendentes auribus vel gemmas—sacris in arnis
sepeliant._ _Euterpe_, lib. ii. p. 186.
The _Phenicians_ also sacrificed to _Dragons_, calling them their _good
Angels_, their propitious and kind Spirits. Nothing more common in the
Heathen Religion, than the Appearance of a Serpent in some Form or
other.
The _Babylonians_ worshipped a _Dragon_, which the Prophet _Daniel_, by
a Commission from the King, killed; which, one would think, was
sufficient to convince the Royal Idolater of his egregious Stupidity in
worshipping a Creature as Conservator of Mankind, that could not
preserve its own Life. They represented the World by a Circle in the
Form of a _Greek Theta_ Θ, and the _good Demon_, by a _Serpent_ in the
midst of it; under which Figure, the Protectors of Countries and Cities,
called tutelary Gods, were worshipped.
The _Arabians_ reputed Serpents _sacred Beings_, and therefore would
allow no Violence to be offered to them; and this Superstition yet
remains among those People, according to _Veslingius_, says my Author.
They take them into their Houses, feed and worship them as the _Genii_,
or Guardians of the Place: Not only Men, but every kind of Things, had
its peculiar _Genius_. Two were assigned to each Person, a good and evil
Genius, and those were thought to attend them from the Cradle to the
Grave. We read of a sacred Dragon that was kept in _Phrygia_ in _Asia
Minor_, whose Residence was in a Wood, dedicated to _Diana_, Goddess of
the Woods.
Among other strange Animals in the _East-Indies_, _Alexander_ found in a
Cave, a _monstrous Dragon_, which the Inhabitants counted sacred, and
was adored by them, and daily supplied with Food: The poor, ignorant,
superstitious People, humbly addrest the _Conqueror_, not to attack that
_holy Place_, and disturb the Repose of their God. The victorious Army
hearing its hideous and dreadful Roarings, were not a little terrify’d;
they only saw its monstrous Head, when stretch’d out of its Mansion, and
its Eyes appeared to them to be as big as a large _Macedonian Buckler_,
a Species of defensive Armour[397].
Footnote 397:
_Conrad. Gesner._ p. 44, 45. _Gyllius._
The King of _Calicut_ (in the _East-Indies_, the most powerful of all
the _Malabar_ Princes) causes little Cottages to be erected for sacred
Serpents, to guard them against the Inclemency of the Weather, and ’tis
made Death to hurt them, being they are look’d upon as heavenly Spirits;
and they believe them to be such for this Reason, because _they kill Men
so suddenly by the Wound they give, which is only a little Puncture, and
would not prove fatal if given by other Creatures_.
It is observed by some, that Serpents at this day are highly honour’d in
the Kingdom of _Calicut_, on this side the _Ganges_, where the
Inhabitants call their King _Samori_, or _Zamorin_, that is, Sovereign
Emperor, and God upon Earth. The Dragon being a Serpent of the vigilant
Tribe, was constituted and made Guardian of their Houses, of their
oracular Temples, and of all their Treasures.
These Protectors of Places and Possessions, they call’d Tutelary Gods,
and were worshipp’d by them under the Symbol of _Serpents_, without
whose Sanction no Methods of Protection were available.
It is remarkable, that where the Figure of two Serpents was erected in
any place, it was look’d upon as a Sign of consecrated Ground; that is,
that the Place was holy, being dedicated to some God; for which
Superstition they are ridiculed by one of their own Writers, _viz._
_Persius_ the Satirist, that lived under _Nero_, who tells us, that
Children were forbid to empty themselves in those Places, and not so
much as make-water, for the Place is holy, as appears by the _Picture of
the two Serpents_; the Language of which is, Profane not holy Ground.
Would you, Sir, have your Poem pass for a sacred Composure, then paint
two Serpents in the Front of it.
Behold here the Original of that Popish Superstition, which forbids Men
to make-water in the Church-Yard[398].
Footnote 398:
Pinge duos angues, pueri, sacer est locus, extra
Meite——
_Satir._ i.
At _Alba_, in a Wood not far from _Juno_’s Temple, is a Dragon
worshipp’d by the Inhabitants, and for their greater Honour, fed by
Virgins, thereby intimating, that Innocence was a proper Attendant on
the Gods.
In _Epirus_, south of _Macedonia_, is a certain place sacred to
_Apollo_, and wall’d about, within which are kept _sacred Dragons_, fed
likewise by a Virgin Priestess, uncloathed, which they believe to be
most acceptable to their idol Gods[399]; called by _Juvenal_, one of
their own Poets, _wenching Gods_.
Footnote 399:
Ælian. lib. ii. cap. 2. ἱερεια γυμνη παρθενος.
The _Epiroticks_, who highly venerated _Apollo_, honour’d his Temple
with a _consecrated Dragon_, which they worshipp’d in solemn remembrance
of his killing the _Pythonic Serpent_. It were well if the same Spirit
of Gratitude reign’d amongst _Britons_, towards the Heroes that
deliver’d their Country from the great Ecclesiastical Dragon, by the
glorious Revolution.
Near _Lavinium_ was a Grove of serpentine Gods, dedicated to _Juno_ of
_Argos_, which was a City in _Peloponnesus_ (famous for the Shrine of
_Æsculapius_) now the _Morea_, one of whose Rivers is called _Styx_; or
rather a Well, whose Water is so cold and venemous, that it often kills
such that drink thereof; and therefore design’d by the Poets, to be a
River of Hell: ’Tis said by some, that _Alexander_ was poison’d with it.
It’s well known what Worship was paid to the Serpent at _Epidaurus_, a
_Peleponnesian City_, and the Manner how ’twas pretended that Serpent
was brought to _Rome_, which is as follows, _viz._
The _Romans_ being sorely distrest by a Plague, they sent a _Galley_
with Ambassadors to _Epidaurus_, to bring the Serpent consecrated to
_Æsculapius_ to _Rome_, which of its own accord went aboard the Galley,
and which was landed in the Isle of _Tyber_, where divine Honours were
paid to it; upon which the Plague ceased.——Take it as represented by the
Historian, who says, ... That the Plague raging terribly at _Rome_, and
in the Vicinity, above three Years, did not abate, by any divine or
human Remedy, tho’ Men had tried both; therefore by the Counsel of the
_Delphic Oracle_, ten Ambassadors were sent to fetch the Statue of
_Æsculapius_, that was ador’d in the Body of the great Serpent;
hereupon, a very strange thing ensued, and manifestly true, both from
many faithful Historians, and building the _Temple_ (dedicated to it) in
the _Isle of Tyber_.
When the _Roman Ambassadors_ had delivered their Commands to the
_Epidaurians_, who brought them into the Temple of _Æsculapius_ ...
while they were admiring a huge Shrine, a great Serpent sliding of a
sudden from the _Adytum_ (which was a Place of Retirement in the Pagan
Temples, where Oracles were given, into which none but Priests were
admitted) upon sight of it the Priests, in a devout Posture, said to the
Company, _that the Deity shrouded itself in that Form_, and when it
appear’d in this _Fashion_, ’twas look’d upon as a _happy Omen_.
The Serpent was seen for two Days in the Temple, and afterwards
disappeared, but on the third Day it past thro’ the Croud (which gazed
on and worship’d) and went directly to the Port where the _Roman Galley_
stood; and having enter’d into it, laid itself down in the Cabin of _Q.
Ogulnius_, the chief Ambassador. They set sail from thence ... and soon
arrived at _Rome_. The whole City came out to see this wonderful
Thing——Altars were built, Incense burnt, and Sacrifices offer’d. The
Serpent swam over to the _Isle of Tyber_, (which afterwards was called
_Æsculapius_’s _Isle_) and since was never seen.
The Senate concluding this Island to be the Place chosen by the God,
decreed that a Temple should be built for _Æsculapius_ there—whereupon
the Plague ceased. The Temple grew famous for rich Offerings, in
Consideration of their Deliverance from the Plague by that Deity[400].
Footnote 400:
_Livy._ lib. xi. _Quære_, Whether the Historian’s Faith kept pace with
his Pen?
_VALERIUS MAXIMUS_ says, that the Priests looking into the _Sibyls
Books_, observed there was no other way to restore the City to its
former Health, but by bringing the Image of _Æsculapius_ from
_Epidaurus_ ... upon which Ambassadors were sent[401].
Footnote 401:
_Val. Maxim._ lib. i. cap. 8. See _Ovid. Metamorph._ lib. 25.
The Poets and Mythologists, in order to shew there was no Distemper but
_Æsculapius_ could cure, said, he raised the Dead. Thus at the Request
of _Diana_, he restor’d _Hippolytus_ to Life, who had been torn to
pieces by his Horses. We can’t doubt of the Credulity of the People in
thinking him rank’d among the Gods, after so many Temples, Inscriptions,
and Medals dedicated to his Memory.
The most famous Temples consecrated to _Æsculapius_, were that of
_Epidaurus_[402], that in the Isle of _Co_, that of _Cyrene_, that of
_Pergamos_, that in the Isle of _Tyber_[403].
Footnote 402:
_Pliny Nat. Hist._ lib. 4. c. 5.
Footnote 403:
For these, see _Strabo_, _Val. Maximus_, _Herodot., Livy_.
As to the Inscriptions in honour of _Æsculapius_, _Gruterus_ has these
following, _viz._
_Æsculapio, Hygeæ, & ceteris Diis & Deabus._
_Deo Æsculapio, & Hygeæ, conservatoribus._
_Deo Æsculapio, & Deæ Hygeæ._
_N. B._ The Title of Conservator, or Saviour, was the ordinary Elogium
of _Æsculapius_.
In the Isle of _Co_, there was a Coin whereon _Æsculapius_ was called
the _Saviour_; and so on a Coin of _Ancyra_. Games are also mentioned,
instituted in honour of him as Saviour. The Symbol of _Æsculapius_ was a
_Serpent_, or _Dragon_, about a _little Rod_, as may be seen in several
Medals, and by the Testimony of the Poet[404]. Wherever he was worship’d
in Statues of a _human Figure_, a _Staff was put into his Left-hand,
with a Serpent about it_.
Footnote 404:
_Ovid. Metam._ lib. 5. Qualis in æde.... Esse solet, baculumque tenens
agreste sinistra.
This seems to be the reason why Antiquity represents the first Masters
of Physick (as _Hermes_, _Æsculapius_, _Hippocrates_, in their Statues
and Medals) with a _Viper_ added to their _Figure_; and also why they
worship’d those _Physicians under the Form of Serpents_[405].
Footnote 405:
_Salomonis Cellarii—Origines & Antiquitates Medicæ._ Printed at _Hall_
in _Saxony_.
The Serpent of _Æsculapius_, the reputed God of Physick, had its Rise
from the miraculous Cures done by _Moses_’s _Serpent_ in the Camp of
_Israel_. Serpents of bright and golden Colour were all counted sacred
to _Æsculapius_, and were cicur’d, or made tame by human Arts. A
_Dragon_ was usually annex’d to his _Image_, and to that of _Health_,
nothing being thought _available_ without the _Presence of a Serpent_.
At _Pella_ in _Macedonia_, the Royal Seat, and _Alexander_’s
Birth-place, were _Dragons_ of a large Bulk, but of a gentle Nature,
maintain’d at the Expence of the Government, as Creatures bearing a
_sacred Character_, and worthy of the publick Regard. Because many tame
Serpents were kept in that Place, the fabulous Poets said, _Alexander
was born of a Serpent_.
The People of _Argos_ in _Greece_, had Serpents in such great
Veneration, that nobody was suffer’d to kill them with impunity[406].
The _Pagan Temples_ were wont to be haunted with Serpents, in so much
that it grew into a Phrase of Speech, the _sacred Serpent_[407]. And
thus Serpents are deified and solemnly enrolled among the Gods.
Footnote 406:
_Ælian._ lib. xii. cap. 34.
Footnote 407:
Sacer anguis.
_SANCHONIATHON_, a _Phœnician Historiographer_, and _Philo Biblius_, who
translated his Antiquities, have left us a full Account of the Origin of
the _Apotheosis_, or _Canonization of Serpents_[408]; which leads me to
say something of what the Ancients called _Apotheosis of departed
Souls_, and the Strange Ceremonies used in the _Apotheosis_ or
_Deification_ of the deceased Emperor, who had deserved well of their
Country.
Footnote 408:
_Sanchoniathon_ is supposed by some to be cotemporary with _Gideon_.
_APOTHEOSIS_ among the Ancients was a Pagan Ceremony whereby Emperors
and great Men were placed among the Gods, called also _Deification_, and
_Consecration_: Temples and Altars were erected to the new Deities,
_viz._ Serpents and Men, Sacrifices offered to them; and for that end,
Colleges of Priests were instituted for the Honour of these Demi-Gods.
It was one of the Doctrines of _Pythagoras_, which he borrowed from the
_Chaldeans_, that useful and virtuous Persons, after their Death, were
raised into the _Order of the Gods_. Hence the Ancients _deified_ all
the Inventors of Things that were beneficial to Mankind, and those who
had done Services of Importance to their Country.
By degrees these _new Gods_ grew very numerous. One of their own Poets
rallying them for frequent Deifications, introduces poor _Atlas_, who is
said to _bear the Heavens on his Shoulders_, complaining, that he was
ready to sink under the Number and Weight of so many _new Gods_, as were
every day coin’d, and added to the Heavens, which made his Shoulders to
warch. _N. B._ _Atlas_ in Anatomy is the Name of the first _Vertebra_ of
the Neck, which supports the Head, and is the highest, so called in
allusion to the famous Mountain _Atlas_ in _Africa_, suppos’d to be the
highest in the World, so that it seems to hold up the Heavens; and also
to the Fable that makes _Atlas_ King of _Mauritania_ in that Country, to
bear up the visible Heavens. I now proceed to the Description which we
have in _Herodian_, a _Greek_ Historian in the third Century, who in
speaking of the _Apotheosis_ of the Emperor _Severus_, gives us a very
full Account of that strange Ceremony, _viz._
... After the Body of the deceased Emperor had been burnt with the usual
Solemnities, they placed an Image of Wax perfectly like him, but of a
sickly Aspect, on a large Bed of Ivory, covered with Cloth of Gold,
which they exposed to publick View at the Entrance of the Palace-Gate.
The greatest Part of the Day the Senate sat ranged on the left side of
the Bed, drest in Mourning Robes; the Ladies of the first Rank sitting
on the right side, in plain and white Robes, without any Ornaments....
This lasted for seven Days successively; during which, the Physicians
came from time to time to visit the Sick, always making their Report
that he grew worse, till at length they publish’d it, that he was dead.
This done, the _young Senators_ and _Roman Knights_ took the Bed of
State upon their Shoulders, carrying it thro’ the _Via sacra_ to the old
_Forum_, where the Magistrates used to divest themselves of their
Offices: There they let it down between two kinds of Amphitheatres; in
the one, were the Youth, and in the other the Maidens of the first
Families in _Rome_, singing Hymns set to solemn Airs in praise of the
Deceased.
Those Hymns ended, the Bed was carried out of the City into the _Campus
Martius_, in the middle of which Place was erected a kind of square
Pavilion; the Inside thereof was full of combustible Matter, and the
Outside hung with Cloth of Gold, and adorned with Figures of Ivory, and
various Paintings.
Over this Edifice were several others, like the first in Form and
Decoration, but less; always diminishing, and growing slenderer towards
the Top, and a great many aromatick Perfumes, and odoriferous Fruits and
Herbs were thrown all around: After which, the Knights made a Procession
in solemn Measures about the Pile; several Chariots ran round it, those
who conducted them being clad in purple Robes, and bearing the Images of
the greatest _Roman_ Emperors and Generals.
This Ceremony ended, the new Emperor came to the _Catafalco_ or Pile
with a Torch in his hand, and at the same time Fire was put to it on all
sides by the Company, the Spices and all Combustibles kindling all at
once. While this was doing, they let fly from the Top of the Building an
_Eagle_, which mounting into the Air with a Firebrand, carried the Soul
of the dead Emperor along with it into Heaven, as the _Romans_ believ’d;
and thenceforward _he was ranked among the Gods_. ’Tis for this Reason
that the Medals wherein the _Apotheoses_ are represented, have usually
an Altar with Fire upon it, or however an Eagle taking its Flight into
the Air, and sometimes two Eagles[409].
Footnote 409:
_Herodian_, who writ his History in 8 Books, from whom we have the
Ceremonies of the Apotheosis of the _Roman_ Emperors, lib. 4.
A certain Emperor being asked, what he had done to merit an
_Apotheosis_? He answered, _He had always studied to resemble the Gods_.
And being asked again, In what did he endeavour to be like them? He
answered, _In having as few Wants as possible of my own, and doing good
in the most extensive Way to others_.
There is no Place so remote in the World, but has been polluted with
this monstrous Idolatry, _of worshipping Serpents_. The northern
Historians tell us, the People of _Lithuania_ in _Poland_ worship’d
Serpents; and ’tis not long ago, since that gross Idolatry was
abolish’d, of which _Sigismund_ Baron of _Herberstein_, gives us this
memorable Story, _viz._
——Returning, says he, from _Massovia_ near _Wilna_, my Host
acquainted me, he had bought a Hive of Bees, from one of these
_Serpent-Worshippers_, whom with much ado he had persuaded to kill
the Serpent, and worship the true God: Within a while after coming
that Way, he found the poor Fellow miserably tortured and deformed,
his Face wrinkl’d and turn’d awry; and demanding the Cause of it, he
answer’d, _viz._
_THAT this Judgment was inflicted upon him for killing his God_, and
that he was like to endure heavier Torments if he did not return to his
former Worship. Which brings to my Mind a Passage in one of the Fathers,
relating to the _Carthaginians_, who having been compelled by
_Agathocles_ King of _Sicily_ to leave off those horrid Sacrifices of
human Victims to _Saturn_, forbore them a long time: But a great
Calamity being brought upon them for disusing those human Sacrifices;
and to atone for their Neglect, _they sacrificed at once two hundred
Children of the noblest Families in_ Carthage[410].
Footnote 410:
Cum victi essent ab Agathocle rege Siculorum, iratum sibi Deum
putavisse, itaque ut diligentius piaculum solverent ducentos nobilium
filios immolasse. Lactantius. Lib. 1. Sect. 21. p. 67. _Lugd. Batav._
But to return to the _Baron_ of the North, who adds, That in his Time,
the People in _Samogitia_, East of the _Baltick_ Sea, did still pay
_divine Honours to a Serpent as a Deity_.... Some of those that inhabit
the Deserts, adore a _four-footed Serpent_, under the Name of _Givosit_.
Few Families there, are without _Serpents_, for their _Domestick Gods_,
to whom they give more than ordinary Veneration, tho’ at the same time
they profess the Christian Faith[411], which _Jagello_ their Prince
received _Anno Domini_ 1386. _ibid._
Footnote 411:
Atlas _Europe_, p. 261.
The _English_ Cosmographer accounts for them thus, _viz._ “The People
anciently had _Fire_ and _Serpents_ for their Gods, nourishing the last
in their Houses, and keeping the other continually burning; the Priests
of the Temple always adding Fuel, that it might not fail. The Vestal
Fire was not kept more carefully at _Rome_, nor with greater
Ceremony.... To this God, (whom they call’d, Lord of the _Smoke_,) they
used to sacrifice young Pullets, to the other their Cocks[412].” The
Seed of this Idolatry is so implanted in them, that ’tis said, that in a
Village of the King’s, called _Lovaniski_, their chief City, they do, to
this day _worship Serpents_. _ibid._
Footnote 412:
_Heylin_’s Cosmogr. lib. 2. _Poland_ p. 143.
The _Lithuanians_, ’tis said, ador’d three Gods, _Fire_, _Wood_, and
_Serpents_. These last were counted their _Guardian Gods_. And according
to a certain Historian, this kind of superstitious and diabolical
Worship continues yet in some Parts of the Kingdoms of _Norway_ and
_Vermolandia_[413].
Footnote 413:
_Olaus Magnus_, Archbishop of _Upsal._ History of the _Goths_.
The Inhabitants of _Prussia_ were barbarous and wild in the highest
degree, having of old no manner of Religion, or next to none, and first
began _with the Worship of Serpents_[414]. There are Countries in the
_Indies_, says _Jurieu_, where Serpents are worship’d to this day.
Footnote 414:
_Erasm. Stella_ in the Antiquities of _Prussia_. Lib. 1.
_ARISTOPHANES_, in the Comedy entitled _Plutus_, observes that the Deity
gave the Sign, _viz._ by _hissing_; upon which two monstrous Dragons
skip’d out of the Temple[415].
Footnote 415:
Δυω δρακοντ’ εκ του νεω. Fragmenta p. 52.
Dixerat hæc adytis cum lubricus anguis ab imis.
When _Æneas_ sacrificed to the _Manes_, (the departed Soul) of his
Father _Anchises_, he saw a _Serpent_ come out of his Grave, which he
concluded to be either the _Tutelar God_ of his Father, or of that
Place, which was counted a good Omen. We have an Account of some Priests
in _Asia_ that expose to publick View a Serpent in a brazen Vessel,
attended with a great Variety of Musick. The Serpent appears in an erect
Posture, opens its Mouth, and instead of a forked Tongue, appears the
Head of a beautiful Virgin[416].
Footnote 416:
_Phil. Melanchton._
_NICHOLAS de Lyra_ makes mention of such another idle Conceit, _viz._
That the Serpent assumed the Face of a beautiful Maid, when it tempted
_Eve_. _N. B._ In the _German Bibles_ printed before _Luther_, among
other Figures may be seen that of a Serpent with the Face of a very
handsome Maid.
In short, so great was the Devotion paid to Serpents, that Persons and
Things were denominated from them: Yea, some would be thought to proceed
from Serpents, as the highest Degree of Honour. _Cadmus_’s Companion was
called a _Serpent_, so the Giant in _Homer_, and a certain Prophet in
_Pausanias_.
In the Primitive Church were an heretical Sect, called _Ophites_, that
is Serpents. In _Cyprus_, and about the _Hellespont_, were a certain
People that went by the Name _Serpent_. So a Soothsayer in _Messenia_,
_&c._ But these came short of _Alexander the Great_, and _Scipio
Africanus_, who were said _to be born of Serpents_, which they look’d
upon to be the _brightest Insignia_ in their _Escutcheon_; but more of
this _Serpentine Pride_ in the next Chapter.
In such wonderful Esteem were _Serpents_ among them, that all manner of
Creatures were called by their Name, as Stars, Animals, Plants, Trees,
Herbs, Rivers, Stones, Islands, Proverbs.... Nothing was accounted
Divine and Grand, unless graced by a Serpent[417]. From this _Divinity_
ascrib’d to Serpents, _Pherecides_ took occasion to make a Dissertation
concerning the Deity called _Ophion_, from Οφις, a Serpent[418].
Footnote 417:
Conradus Gesner.
Footnote 418:
Euseb. Præparat. Evang.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER V.
CONTENTS.
_Reasons for worshipping Serpents, seem to rise from Misapplication of
some Scripture Passages: But especially, 1. From the Triumphs of the
Paradisaic Serpent. Pagan History from_ Moses. _In the primitive
Church, a Sect of Christians worship’d Serpents, and said the
Serpent in Paradise was a good Creature. 2. From the miraculous
Cures done by the brazen Serpent._ Alexander _affected the Honour of
being begot by a Serpent, ador’d as a God, by a Decree of the
Priests._
_WHAT Reason can be assigned for giving religious Worship to Serpents?_
I answer,
It is no easy Matter to find out the Original of Pagan Idolatry, having
no authentick Records of those remote Times, therefore Conjectures, or
nothing must content the honest Enquirer: Something may be offer’d,
without going beyond our Depth. Before I proceed, it may be proper to
observe, _viz._ That Knowledge sprung from the Sons of _Noah_, who
doubtless instructed their Successors in the History of the Creation,
the Conquest of Paradise by a Serpent, that introduced the Knowledge of
Good and Evil upon Earth.
Those whom we call _Heathens_, at first were Members of the true Church;
the further Men went from the Spring, the Streams grew more muddy, and
strange Constructions were put upon the History of _Adam_ and _Eve_,
_Noah_, and his Progeny, which in process of Time was metamorphosed into
a Narrative of Fooleries and fabulous Gods.
So the _Mosaick_ History of their Travels thro’ the Wilderness, and the
Promulgation of the Law upon Mount _Sinai_, were strange and stupendous
Events, that soon spread over the Nations in some Shape or other.
In the _Phœnician Theology_, we find the Creation described, almost in
the Terms used by _Moses_. _Diodorus Siculus_ says, the Antients liv’d
upon Roots and Fruits. The _Phœnician_ Records mention _Ujoris_, _i. e._
_Adam_, the first that wore Garments made of Animal Skins. The _Vulcan_
of the Heathen was the _Tubal-cain_ of _Moses_, (_Gen._ iv. 22.) the
first Artificer in Brass and Iron: _Plato_’s _Atlanticus_ is a Fable
founded upon the History of _Noah_’s Flood: The Fable of the Giants
storming Heaven, is taken from the Builders of the Tower of _Babel_, as
before: Yea, says a Learned Father (after _Numenius_, the celebrated
_Pythagorean_ and _Platonist_) what is _Plato_ but _Moses in an Athenian
Dress_[419]? But to be more particular,
Footnote 419:
Τι γαρ εστι Πλατων η Μωσης αττικιζων. _Quid enim est Plato, nisi Moses
qui loquitur Atticè?_ Or, _Quid enim aliud est Plato, quam Moses
Atticissans_? Clementis Alexandrini Opera, Strom. lib 1. _Coloniæ_ p.
342.
1. _SATAN_, who conducted the War in _Eden_, display’d his Art under the
Form of a Serpent, which _Moses_ represents as a Creature of superior
Wisdom, and Illuminator of Mankind. Now the Tradition, that the _first
Serpent_ had not only the Gift of speaking, but of communicating
Science, and had held a Conference with the first Woman, to the vast
Increase of her Knowledge, might at last swell to such a degree, that
ignorant People might attribute to that Serpent, and her Race, a kind of
Divinity; and for this Reason also, because in the Perfections of the
Mind she exceeded our first Parents, who being constituted Governors of
the Earth, must be supposed to be furnish’d with extraordinary
Accomplishments: But, says Tradition, here is one who infused greater
Knowledge into them, and made them more wise; and they, for contesting
with the _Wisdom of the Serpent_, were turned out of Paradise, and
ordain’d their Dwelling to be among the Beasts of the Field.
Surely, might the People say, so great a Being as this Serpent merits
our awful Regards. Now, how far such Thoughts might operate in those
early days of Ignorance and Superstition, I determine not: The Serpent
indeed, is said to be more subtle than the Beasts of the Field, but not
more wise than _Adam_ and _Eve_.
It is more strange, to think that in the primitive Church there were
certain Hereticks call’d _Ophites_, took their Name from _Ophis_[420],
who worshipped the Serpent that betray’d _Eve_, and ascribed all sorts
of Knowledge to that Animal, maintain’d ’twas a good Creature, and that
our first Parents were instructed by it to know Good and Evil. Yea, they
believed, “the Serpent that tempted _Eve_ was the _Christ_, who
afterwards came down and was incarnate in the Person of _Jesus_: That it
was _Jesus_, but not the _Christ_, that suffer’d; for which reason they
made all Proselytes to their Sect, to renounce Jesus[421].” If a Sect of
Christians speak after this manner, what Ideas must the Heathen form of
things?
Footnote 420:
A _Greek_ word that signifies _a Serpent_.
Footnote 421:
_Calmet._
One of the Fathers speaking of these Hereticks, observes how they
affirm’d,——_That Wisdom made itself a Serpent_——had given Knowledge to
Man, and that the Position of Man’s Bowels, winding about like Serpents,
shews that there is in us a hidden Substance that engenders the Figure
of Serpents[422]. Surely those Fathers of the Church were Children in
Understanding, that gave way to such mystical Conundrums. Call them no
more Fathers, but Children of Antiquity.
Footnote 422:
_Irenæus adv. Hæres._ (lib. 1. cap. 34.—_sophiam serpentem factam_—)
who flourish’d in the close of the 2d Century.
These Hereticks, in the Consecration of the Eucharist, always had a
Serpent ready in a Box, which they produced on that Occasion, making it
come out by certain Charms, and lick the Bread, and having kissed the
same, they eat it[423]. Another Historian expresses it thus, _viz._
“When their Priests celebrated their Mysteries, they made one of these
Creatures to come out of his Hole, and after he had roll’d himself upon
the Things that were to be offer’d in Sacrifice, they said _Jesus
Christ_ had sanctified them, and then gave them to the People to worship
them[424].” _N. B._ I don’t apprehend how the _Learned Abbot_ makes them
bring in the Name _Jesus_ here, a Name which in the same Page he says,
they obliged their Proselytes to renounce.
Footnote 423:
_Bingh. Index Heret._
Footnote 424:
_Calmet_’s _Histor. Dict._ vol. ii. p. 668.
This strange Superstition seems to be derived from the Heathen, who at
the Feasts of _Bacchus_, used to carry a _Serpent_, and to cry, _Evia,
Evia_[425]: And _Evia_, says _Clemens Alexandrinus_, if it be asperated,
_Hevia_, signifies in the _Hebrew_, a _female Serpent_. Dr. _Lightfoot_
observes, that there being no such Word in the _Hebrew_, _Clemens_ must
mean the _Chaldee_, in which _Hivia_ signifies a Serpent.
Footnote 425:
Ευια, ευια.
2. The Reputation gain’d by the Serpent in Paradise, was heighten’d by
the wonderful Cures done by the brazen Serpent in the Wilderness. As
this strange Occurrence was capable of various Glosses, so it must
undergo different Constructions. The _Brazen Serpent_ was brought to
_Canaan_, where ’twas kept in remembrance of the miraculous Cures their
Forefathers had received from it in the Wilderness; and, ’tis probable,
the _Israelites_ themselves were the first that paid divine Honours to
it, and the Idolatry might begin in the days of the Judges; others say,
under the Kings of _Judah_[426].
Footnote 426:
_Jurieu_, vol. ii. from _Rabbi Kimchi_, who says they burnt Incense to
it, from the time the Kings of _Judah_ had corrupted themselves ...
_in locum_.
It lay quiet there, _until those Days, the Children of Israel burnt
Incense to it_. That is, from the days _Israel_ began to commit
Idolatry, to the days of _Hezekiah_; who, to prevent the Growth of that
Serpentine Idolatry, _brake in pieces the brazen Serpent that Moses had
made_. 2 Kings xviii. 4.
The Sound of the strange Cures done by the _brazen Serpent_, soon spread
over the forsaken Nations, who, observing how the Wounded were healed by
looking at it, conceived it to be a proper Instrument to be their
Mediator, and consequently a fit Object for their Adoration, when even
the Wounded in _Israel_, by addressing to its Shadow, were healed.
It is most probable, that the Adoration of Serpents by the Pagans,
sprung from these two Fountains,
The _Wisdom of the Serpent_ in Paradise, and the _miraculous Cures_ done
by the _Shadow of a Serpent_ in the Wilderness; which were improved by
the Devil to secure his Honour and Interest, who wanted not Priests to
display the Glories of their Character, to make the Serpent honourable
in the sight of his Vassals. From hence, the _Egyptians_, _Phenicians_,
yea most Nations, did imagine the Serpent to have some _Divinity in its
Nature_, and for that reason (as hinted before) honour’d it with sacred
Homage; this the Devil did, with a view to lessen Men’s Esteem for the
Almighty Creator.
Hence also some Men of superior Dignity have affected to be esteem’d
more than meer Men, making this as an Argument, that they were _begot by
Serpents_, as we observed already, therefore I shall only add, _viz._
That _Alexander the Great_, after he had taken _Rhodes_, _Egypt_ and
_Cilicia_, addrest _Jupiter Ammon_ to know his Original, for his Mother
_Olympias_ had confest to his Father _Philip_, that _Alexander_ was not
begot by him, but by a _Serpent_ of _vast Bulk_; whereupon _Philip_ was
divorced from his Wife _Olympias_, and _Alexander_ was saluted Son of
_Ammon_, and by Order of the Priests, his Companions were enjoin’d to
worship him as a _God_, and not as a _King_.
_ALEXANDER_, when he had conquer’d _Darius_ III. surnam’d _Codomannus_,
and was possest of the _Persian_ Empire, writ to the _Grecians_, that
they should _decree him to be a God_. Hereupon several Decrees were
made: The _Lacedemonians_ exprest their Compliance in this short Decree,
_viz._ _Forasmuch as_ Alexander _would be a God, let him be a God_. Thus
with Laconick Brevity, fashionable among the _Lacedemonians_, they
humour’d and reproved the Pride of their King at once[427].
Footnote 427:
Επειδἡ Αλεξανδρος βουλεται Θεδς ειναι εσο Θεος. Æliani variæ Hist.
lib. ii. cap. xix.
_VARRO_ was of Opinion, that all gallant and heroick Men should believe
themselves, tho’ falsly, to issue from the Gods ... that upon this
Supposition, they might attempt great things with more Courage, and
prosecute them with more Ardency; and tho’ the Motive was but imaginary,
yet might produce glorious Effects[428]. When _Varro_ writ this, ’tis
probable he had _Alexander the Great_ in his view.
Footnote 428:
Ex Diis genitos—_Aug. de Civitate Dei._ cap. 4.
Such is their Opinion of their King in _China_, that they think he is
descended from the Race of some Demi-God, and so adore him accordingly.
They believe there is some Divinity in his Blood, in so much that he
never marries any but his next Relatives, for fear of staining the Royal
Blood[429].
Footnote 429:
_Howel_’s _Londinopolis_. p. 384.
Among the Antients, Serpents were Emblems of Power; therefore
_Epaminondas_, the brave _Theban_ General, to encourage his Army against
a powerful Enemy, _bruised the Head of a Serpent_ before them as a
Prognostick of Victory.
Thus King _James_ I. tho’ the _Dupe of all Christendom_, says a certain
Gentleman, yet was the grand Idol of the Court-Clergy. That Pedantry
which would have brought a School-Boy under the just Discipline of the
Rod, in him was represented by his parasitical Preferment-hunting
Ecclesiasticks, as divine Eloquence, and the Inspiration of the
Almighty....
CHAPTER VI.
_Reasons for worshipping hurtful as well as useful Creatures, founded on
a Notion of two eternal contrary Principles: They believe God was
good, and could not be the Author of moral Evil, therefore fram’d
the Ditheistical Doctrine; an Error, espoused by some primitive
Christians, confuted by the Sentence past upon the Serpent. Reasons
for worshipping different Species of Animals by the_ Egyptians.
Whence arises the Honour given by Heathens to different Species of
Beings, to the noxious and hurtful, as well as to the salutary and
beneficent Tribe?
Probably, it might be from their observing the _Mixtures of Good and
Evil_ in the visible Creation, when as yet in their infantile State of
Knowledge: The reason of this they could not otherwise account for, but
by giving into the Notion of _two distinct independent governing
Powers_; the one a good, the other an evil Genius: accordingly they
worshipped Creatures that were useful, as being the Ministers of the
good Genius; and those that were hurtful they paid Homage to, out of
servile Fear, and to ingratiate themselves into their Favour. In the
Morning they worshipped the _celestial Gods_; in the Evening, the
_infernal_: On the Plain they worshipped the terrestrial Gods, on Hills
the supernatural; in Grotos and Caves, the infernal.
Hence it is they asserted a Duplicity of Gods, _viz._ Two perceptive
self-existent Beings, one the Principle of Good, and the other of Evil.
This Opinion originally sprung from a strong, firm Persuasion, _That God
was invariably Good, and therefore could not possibly be the Author of
the Evil upon Earth_. Nor could they otherwise solve the Difficulty
about the Entrance of moral Evil into our World, but by supposing
another eternal self-existent evil Cause.
Yea, some among the primitive Christians fell into the Error of
asserting this _Ditheistical_ Doctrine; that is, two self-existent
Principles in the Universe, to wit, a _good God_, and an _evil Demon_.
Thus the _Cerdonites_, an heretical Sect, that sprung up in the second
Century, held there were two Gods; one, the Author of all good, the
other, of all evil Things. So the _Marcionites_ held two contrary Gods;
and in the third Century, the _Manichees_ did the same.
Perhaps, this might be one reason why God past Sentence upon the Devil
in the Serpent, in the presence and hearing of our first Parents, _viz._
to prevent the Error of imagining that there was any Principle of Evil,
which was independent upon the Almighty. The Sentence past upon Satan in
the Curse upon the Serpent, was a Conviction to _Adam_ and _Eve_ of his
Dependency upon the Almighty Creator, before whose Tribunal he now was
constrained to appear, to receive the Sentence merited by those, who
make a Lye, and tempt their Fellow-creatures to rebel.
_REASONS about the Adoration of different kind of Animals by the_
Egyptians.
If you ask, that if they worshipped a Serpent, why did they pay
religious Honours to so many other Beasts? I answer, This monstrous
Idolatry begun in _Egypt_, and the first occasion for it seems to be
this, _viz._
_OSIRIS_, a certain King of _Egypt_, who reign’d with great Equity and
Mildness, having divided his Kingdom into several distinct Provinces,
appointed Presidents over them, and in their Banners he placed the
Figures, or Pictures of certain Animals, that bore some Similitude to
the Peculiarities of those Countries, over which they were to preside:
Thus to the Governor, whose Land was proper for Tillage, he design’d an
_Ox_ in his Standard, to which the Inhabitants of that Place paid a
particular Veneration, which in process of time was worshipped by the
whole Nation, for its Usefulness, and as the Symbol of Agriculture:
Hence the Image of _Osiris_ is set off with Horns.
The _golden Calf_ which _Aaron_ made in the Wilderness, and the Calves
set up by _Jeroboam_ to be worshipped in his Kingdom, were an Imitation
of the idolatrous Adoration, which the _Egyptians_ paid to their _Bull
Apis_.
That part of the Country, in which was abundance of Water, the King set
a _Crocodile_ (an amphibious Animal) in his Banner, that was to govern
there, which was had in high Veneration, especially in the City of
_Mira_; and at last the _Crocodile_ was worshipped all over _Egypt_.
Where the Country abounded with Wood, a _Dog_ was fixt in the Governor’s
Standard, to which the _Egyptians_ gave no little Veneration, especially
Sportsmen ... as the Poet observes[430].
Footnote 430:
_Oppida tota canem venerantur, nemo Dianam._
The Dog whole Towns, _Diana_ none implore.
Juvenal. Satir. xv.
That which gives some colour to this Partition of _Osiris_’s Kingdom,
is, “that God ordained very near the same thing to be observed in the
Encampments of the _Israelites_, when he divided the twelve Tribes into
four Bodies, and allotted to one of the three Tribes, belonging to each
Body, _the Figure of an Animal to be placed in the Banner_: Thus, that
of _Reuben_ carried the Figure of a _Man_; that of _Judah_, a _Lion_;
that of _Dan_, an _Eagle_; and that of _Ephraim_, an _Ox_[431]”.
Footnote 431:
_Jurieu’s Crit. Hist._ vol. ii.
After this manner the _Egyptian_ Monarch did place in their Banners the
Figures of certain Animals, which by degrees were usher’d into their
Religion and Temples. _N. B._ These Banners thus painted with different
Animals, were fixt upon Poles, between their several Provinces, by which
their Bounds were determined. _Semiramis_, being conquered by
_Staurobates_, Antiquity feign’d she was changed by the Gods into a
Dove, the Bird of _Venus_, which is the reason why the _Dove_ was
worshipped by the _Babylonians_, and why they gave it in their Ensign.
I Conclude this Part with some Instances, that are given of the
Sottishness of _Pagans_ in what they called religious Worship, which
indeed is almost incredible, if they were not common, and well
attested.—— The _Egyptians_ did not only worship variety of Beasts, but
also the Figures of them, as the Representatives of their Gods: Each
City and District entertain’d a peculiar Devotion for some particular
Beast or other, in honour of which they built Temples; yea, every one of
the _Pagan Deities_ had his own Beast, Tree and Plant consecrated to
him. Thus the _Pigeon_ was consecrated to _Venus_; the _Dragon_ and
_Owl_ to _Minerva_; the _Eagle_ to _Jupiter_; the _Cock_ to _Æsculapius_
and the _Sun_. This, says _Jurieu_, is the true Origin of the _Egyptian
Idolatry_. _Ibid._ Who adds, The _Egyptians_ assign’d to their Gods
certain Animals, as their Representatives, and being introduced into the
Temples, as the Images were in some Christian Churches, they at last
began to worship them. This points out the Impiety of admitting any
symbolical Representations of Divinity into Places of publick Worship.
Nothing more monstrous than the _Divinity_ of the _Pagans_; their Gods
were innumerable. Every thing on _Earth_, in the _Sea_, in the
_Heavens_, yea, and in _Hell_, had their _peculiar Gods_. If
_Egyptians_, who past for the wisest of Mortals, paid religious
Adoration to _meer Animals_, not only to Serpents, but Apes, Wolves,
yea, Dogs, Cats, ... and to Vegetables, as Onions, Garlick ... what
shall we think of stupid Nations, who had no Claim to Wisdom?
Even in _Athens_ (that celebrated Fountain of Light) were more Idols
than in all _Greece_; yea, so numerous were their Idols, that they had
almost as many Gods as Men[432].
Footnote 432:
Facilius possis Deum, quam hominem invenire.
_STRABO_, _Procopius_, and _Ben Jonas_ say, the antient _Persians_ kept
and worshipped their _perpetual Fire_ on Mount _Albors_, a Branch of
_Caucasus_. The _Japonese_ worship the Devil, and the Head of their
Religion is called _Dair_, whom they worship as a God. _Atlas._
I Should rather think the _Persians_ ador’d the supreme God, under the
Image of _Fire_, by reason ’tis Fire gives Motion to every thing in
Nature, and therefore they made it an Emblem of Divinity.
The _Hebrews_ kept up the _holy Fire_ in the _Temple_, and the _Vestals_
were appointed to keep the sacred Fire of the _Romans_.
_VULCAN_ was worshipped among the Antients, and particularly the
_Egyptians_, as the _Inventor of Fire_.
The People of _Egypt_ exceeded most Nations in depreciating Divinity by
gross Superstitions and Idolatry; they did not err in worshipping
Mortals only, but they gave Reverence to Beasts, Birds, Insects, Winds,
Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Plants, _&c._ whom _Rhodius Anaxandrides_, one
of themselves, derides in this manner:
_I sacrifice to God the Beef, which you adore;
I broil th’_ Egyptian _Eels, which you as God implore_.
_You fear to eat the Flesh of Swine, I find it sweet:
You worship Dogs, to beat them I think meet,
When they my Store devour.[433]_——
Footnote 433:
Bovem colis, ego Deis macto Bovem;
Tu maximum anguillam, Deum putas: ego,
Obsoniorum credidi, suavissimum,
Carnes suillas, tu caves, at gaudeo
His maximè. Canem colis, quem verbero.
Edentem, ubi deprehendo, forte obsonium.
Thus _Juvenal_, another Heathen Poet, ridicules their religious
Fooleries:
_Oh happy Nations! which, of their own sowing,
Have store of Gods, in ev’ry Garden growing.[434]_
Footnote 434:
Porrum & cæpe nefas violare & frangere morsu,
Oh sanctas gentes quibus hæc nascuntur in hortis
Numina!——
_Sat._ xv. _l._ 8, 9, 10.
The Images of the Gods, says _Seneca_, are worshipped; these they pray
unto and adore, and while they greatly admire them, at the same time
despise the Workmen that made them[435]. Which also _Sedulius_ their
Poet scoffs at, saying,——Who worship Vanities ... despise their own
Maker ... fear the Works of their own Hands.... What Madness! that Man
should ugly Shapes adore, of Bulls, Birds, Dragons, the vile Half-Dog,
or Half-Man, on Knees for Aid implore[436].——
Footnote 435:
Simulachra Deorum venerantur——fabros qui ilia fecêre, contemnunt.
Footnote 436:
Heu miseri vana colunt——ut volucrem, turpemque Bovem, torvumque
Draconem, sem-hominemque canem supplex homo pronus adoret.
Yet among the Nations were some who thought it Impiety to represent
their Gods by Images, as the _Persians_, _Indian Brachmans_, _&c._[437]
Yea, the _Romans_, for 170 Years, would not allow Images in their
Temples, observing the Law of _Numa_. It was _Tarquinius Priscus_ that
followed the Vanity of the _Grecians_ (a Nation of all others, excepting
_Egypt_, most deluded by the old Serpent) set up the Images of their
Gods, which even the Learned _Varro_ bewailed and condemned. The
_Mahometans_ have a perfect Aversion to Images. The _Jews_ hate all
Images, will not allow any in their Houses, much less in Places of
Worship. But to proceed:
Footnote 437:
_Hospinian. de Origine Imaginum._
The apostate _Indians_ worship both Gods and Devils, over which they
acknowledge a Supreme, who sends forth other Deities as his Deputies;
which they think to be the Souls of good Men; and Devils, the Souls of
the Wicked.... They imagine the Sun and Moon to be Gods; their Idols are
represented as Monsters of the kind[438].
Footnote 438:
_Atlas Asia._ page 662.
“In the Kingdom of _Pegu_ in the East, the People are exceeding
superstitious, and scruple not to worship the Devil, whom they reckon
the Author of Evil; as they do God, of Good: And in all Calamities,
their first Addresses are to the evil Spirit, for Deliverance; and they
make Vows to him, which they perform upon their Recovery, with the
Assistance of their Priests, whom they call the Devil’s Father, and he
directs them to make sacred Feasts with Musick.” Many of them run about
in the Morning with a Torch in one Hand, and Rice in the other;
pretending to give the Devil his Breakfast, that he may not hurt them
that Day. Others at their Meals, throw part of what they have over their
Shoulders, to feed him, before they eat any themselves. _Ibid._ p. 662.
At _Tavay_ in that Country, they replenish their Houses with Victuals,
and leave them for three Months, that the Devils may dwell and feed
there, and be favourable all the rest of the Year. _ibid._ They have a
sort of Monks called _Talapoins_, who endeavour to root out this Devil
Worship, but without effect.
The _Aruspices_, were an _Order_ of _Priests_ among the antient
_Romans_, who pretended to foretell Events, chiefly by inspecting the
Entrails of Beasts killed in Sacrifice ... Birds, and celestial
Appearances. _Cato_, who was one of the _Augurs_, conscious of their
impious Politicks, used to say, _He wondered how one Priest could look
at another without laughing in his Face_. These Augural Priests made a
College, or Community; they bore an Augural Staff or Wand, called
_Lituus_, made in form of a _Crozier_, or a Bishop’s Staff, or
Shepherd’s Crook, as the Ensign of their Office and Authority—— And what
is most ridiculous is, that no Affair of Moment could be resolved upon,
without first consulting these holy Cheats; and their Advice, be what it
would, was by a Decree of the Senate appointed to be exactly and
religiously observed. _Ornithomancy_, or Divination by Birds, was, among
the _Greeks_, the same with _Augury_ among the _Romans_.
At _Angola_ and _Congo_ in the _East-Indies_, wooden Idols, resembling
Negroes, are erected in the midst of their Towns, which they daily
worship. ’Tis their Belief they are never sick, but when their Idols are
angry with them; therefore to appease them, they pour at their Feet the
_Wine of Palms_. They wash, paint, and new cloath their Dead, and bury
with them Meat, Drink, and some of their Goods, and sprinkle the Grave
with the Blood of Goats. Their Priests are in such high Esteem, that
they think Plenty and Famine, Life and Death, are in their power[439].
Footnote 439:
See _Purchas_.
The old Inhabitants of _Virginia_ believed many Gods, but one
principally, who made the rest ... and that the Woman was made before
the Man, and propagated by the Help of one of the inferior Gods. The
Natives are _Anthropomorphites_, giving to their Gods the Forms of
Men.... When they go abroad, they carry their Gods about with them, and
in Matters of Doubt ask Counsel of them. Much of their Devotion consists
in howling and dancing about Fires, with Rattles in their Hands.
_Quære_, Whether this Custom be not the Original of Castanets or
Snappers in Dancing[440]?
Footnote 440:
_Hackluit in Purchas._
Another Instance of monstrous Degeneracy, we have among the
_Phenicians_, who offer’d yearly Sacrifices to _Saturn_ of young
_Infants_; and in the Temple of _Venus_, practised not only Whoredom,
but the most unnatural Sin of Sodomy also; yea, by the Laws of their
Religion, were bound to prostitute their Daughters to _Venus_, before
they married them: In their Temple the Women who refused to be shaved,
were obliged to yield up their Honour to Strangers for one day.
In the Country, now called _New Spain_, the old Inhabitants would
neither eat nor drink, till they had cast towards the Sun, some part of
their Food; nor would they smell a Flower, without throwing up in the
Air some Leaves of it, thereby acknowledging the Gods to be their great
Benefactors: Tho’ this be ridiculous, yet having an Air of religious
Gratitude, it is commendable. Among other Idols ador’d at _Mexico_, they
had one called _Vitziliputzli_, placed in an azure colour’d Chair, with
_Serpent’s Heads_ at each Corner.
Yea the Pagans, to authorize their own Crimes, and justify their vicious
Lives, have constituted licentious, drunken, vicious Gods, _&c._
Instances of this kind we have in their religious Institutions, as the
_Saturnalia_ of the _Romans_, which were Feasts sacred to the God
_Saturn_: This Feast was observed in _December_, at first kept for one
day, then for three days, and afterwards for seven days. So sacred was
this Festival, that while it lasted, no Criminals were to be executed,
no War to begin.... And yet at the same time, a Sanction was given to
universal Debauchery; all Rules of Virtue and common Decency were
intirely banished, and all things run into a wild Scene of Distraction
and Lewdness, and all this under the Umbrage of doing Honour to their
Gods[441].
Footnote 441:
Uno die ... trium dierum ... septem dierum ... Bellum fumere nefas
habitum——_Macrobii opera_, _Londini_, A. D. 1694. p. 155, 160, 168.
The same Game was acted in the _Lupercalian_ Feasts, instituted in
honour of the God _Pan_ (under the shape of a _Goat_) whose Priests, on
the Morning of the Feast, ran naked thro’ the Streets, striking the
married Women they met, on the Hands and Belly with _Straps_ cut out of
_Goats Skins_, which was held an Omen, promising Fruitfulness, and happy
Deliveries.
I shall only add the _Bacchanalian_ Feasts, celebrated in honour of
_Bacchus_, the God of Wine, and Master of the Revels; sometimes called
_Orgia_[442], from a _Greek_ Word that signifies Anger and Rage, because
in the Celebration of it, People acted in so raging and furious a
manner, as if they had been absolutely distracted. These religious
Feasts were not only encumber’d with a great number of Ceremonies, but
attended with most notorious Dissoluteness; for Men and Women met at
them, all naked, except their Heads and Hips, that were shaded with Vine
Leaves.
Footnote 442:
Οργη
The Women, who were installed Priestesses, during this Feast, ran thro’
the Streets, and other Places, cover’d with Tyger’s Skins, Scepters in
one Hand, and Torches in the other, howling and roaring out the Praise
of _Bacchus_, with Hair dishevell’d, dangling about their Shoulders.
They were call’d _Mœnades_ from their Madness, _Thyades_ from their
Rage, _Bacchæ_ from their Intemperance.
The Poets tell us, that in the _Bacchanalian Train_, were a Croud of
_Nymphs_ and _Naiades_, a sort of Heathen Divinities; some crown’d with
Ivy, their Hair loose, and intermix’d with Snakes, clothed with the
Skins of Beasts, and girt about with large Serpents, and running
frantick in the Woods and Mountains.
In short, their sacred Games, Festivals, and Sacrifices, were little
more than drunken Banquets, nocturnal Revels, tumultuous Dancings, all
wild, ridiculous and extravagant.
_F I N I S._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration]
INDEX
A.
_ACONTIA_ Serpent, (the Figure, Plate 4;) why call’d a flying Serpent,
81
_Adam_, why not made impeccable, 171
—— Converse betwixt him and Angels, 173
—— in Innocency put in mind of Death, 181
—— his Fall described by _Pagans_, 182, 3
—— —— —— —— by _Mahometans_, 184
_Adder_; see _Viper_. (the Figure, Plate 1)
_Agnasen_ Serpent, 132
_Air_, ador’d by _Pagans_, 210
_Alexander the Great_, and _Alexander the Little_, 140
_Amodytes_ Serpent, describ’d, 53, 4
_Amphisbæna_, a two-headed Serpent, describ’d, 72
—— Instances of one in _Oxfordshire_, and in _Chiapa_ in _America_,
[TN]
_Ambua_ Serpent, 107
_Ameiva_ Serpent, 122
_Americina_, 122
_Anacandia_ Serpent, [TN]
_Ants_, their Penetration, 8
—— in _America_ great Master-Builders, 8, 132
—— Remarkable Sorts in the _East-Indies_, 8
_Anguis laqueus_, or the Ensnaring-Serpent, 136
_Animals_, turn’d into Gods by _Pagans_, 213
—— Their Adoration ridicul’d by some of themselves, 215, 236, 237
_Apollo_, catechis’d for his dubious Answers, 77
—— His She-Priest, _ibid._
_Apotheosis_, or Deification describ’d, 223
_Asp_, (the Figure, Plate 2,) described, 59
—— Its Foresight, 60
—— A Poem on the Asp and its Poison, 61
—— Highly venerated among the _Egyptians_, 70
_Attaligatus_ Serpent, 134
B.
_Basilisk_ Serpent, (the Figure, Plate 3) describ’d, 78
—— why call’d King of Serpents, 79
—— (_African_, Plate 3)
_Battle_ of the Gods, 212
_Bees_, (the Figure, Plate 5) their Sagacity, great Geometricians, 8
—— Their Sting describ’d, 148
_Birds_, why some here only in Winter, and others only in Summer, 7
_Biobi_, or green Serpent describ’d, 103
_Bibera_ Serpent, 107
_Bitin_ Serpent, 137
_Blowing_ Serpent, 130
_Boignacu_ Serpent, very beautiful, 106
_Boytiapua_ Serpent, 108
—— An Instrument of Conjuration, 109
_Bomsnake_ Serpent, 109
_Boicupecanga_ Serpent, prickle-back’d, 110
_Boitiapo_ Serpent, 117
_Brochet de Torre_, or Land-pike, 124
_Brimstone_ Snake, 130
C.
_Cabiri_, characteriz’d, 81
_Caudisonant_, or Rattle-Snake, (the Figure, Plate 7) describ’d, 91
—— Its Wounds and Cures, 92
_Cameleon_, (the Figure, Plate 5) describ’d; the reason why it appears
in a change of Colours, 96
—— Why call’d a living Skin, 97
_Canina_ Serpent, describ’d, 103
—— A Domestick Animal, 104
_Camruana_ Serpent, 108
_Carapobeba_, 122
_Cæcilia_ Serpent describ’d, why call’d blind, 80
_Cencris_ Serpent describ’d, why call’d miliary, 80, 1
_Cerastes_, (the Figure, Plate 1) describ’d, the Executioner of
Justice, 54, 5
_Ceylon_, a Land of Delights, 113
_Ceylonic Hotambæia_ Serpent, 115
_Chickens_, produc’d by artificial Heat, 6, 147
_Chastity_ conjugal, how try’d, 55
_Charming_ of Serpents, various Instances, 62, 3
—— of Rats, a remarkable Instance in _Germany_, 65
—— of Serpents, by a Wand, 65
_Cheese_, an odd Custom in Antiquity about it, 129
_Chicken_ Snake, 131
_Cherubims_, Emblems of Mercy and Justice, 175, 6
_Christ_’s Death, publish’d before that of _Adam_, 180
_Cleopatra_, her own Executioner by a Serpent, 34, 60, 61
_Cloth_, wash’d in Fire, 95
_Cobres Capellos_ Serpent, describ’d, 90
_Colour_ Green, why hated by the _Turks_, 108
—— Blue, why hated by the _Persians_, 109
_Cordylus_, a noxious Reptile, 121
_Corn_ Snake, 129
_Crocodile_, (the Figure, Plate 5) describ’d at large, 118
—— eats Stones, _ibid._
—— venerated in _Egypt_, _ibid._
—— the occasion of a War, _ibid._
—— a Judge of Controversies, 119
—— the manner of destroying it, 120
—— Symbol of the Deity, 178
_Creation_, a Poem, 162
_Cuckold_, its Origin, 54
_Cuckow_ Spittle, Grashoppers hatch’d in it, 108
_Cucurijuba_, a Serpent monstrous, 110
D.
_Darkness_, the Destruction of Colours, 71
_Dæmons_ explain’d, 205
_Devil_ ador’d, 236, 238
_Distempers_ cur’d by manual Touch, 56, 7
_Dipsas_ Serpent, describ’d; its Wounds bring incurable Thirst, 85
_Dogs_, superiour to Men in the Sense of Smelling, 66
—— the manner of Sensation philosophically explain’d, 67
—— Providence vindicated in that matter, 68
_Dopon_ Serpent, 133
_Dragons_ describ’d, various Sorts and Forms, 74
—— monstrous one slain by _Gozon_, Knight, by a strange contrivance, 75
—— another slain by the _Roman_ Army, 76
_Dragon_, _Pythian_, Guardian of the _Delphick_ Oracle, _ibid._
_Dragons_, Guardians of Treasures, 78
—— winged, describ’d, (the Figure, Plate 2), 192
—— _Æthiopian_, (the Figure, Plate 2)
_Druina_ Serpent, describ’d, 83
E.
_Eagles_, how they take their Prey, 145
_Ecatoth_, or Serpent-of-the-Wind, 135
_Eggs_, the reason of Propagation by them, 5
—— the Method wonderful, _ibid._
_Egg_, Symbol of the World, 6
_Eggs_ hatch’d in Ovens, the Young ones generally imperfect, _ibid._
—— mysterious Egg.
_Egg_, a surprizing Compound, 128
—— the White of it a most singular Menstruum, _ibid._
—— how reduc’d to the likeness of Poison, _ibid._
_Egyptians_, a People of Contradiction, 60
—— whipp’d their inattentive Gods, 60
_Elephantia_ Serpents, why so call’d, 86
_Elops_ Serpent, (the Figure, Plate 3) describ’d, 84
_Elephants_, Creatures of great Bulk, 86
—— subject to Resentment, Instances of it, 87
—— a Battle betwixt them and Serpents, 91
_Ethetulla_ Serpent, 113
_Eve_, how she came to converse with the Serpent, 174
—— her Converse with it before the Account of _Moses_ very probable,
177
—— a Negative would have preserv’d her Innocence, 179
F.
_Faith_, the Magnet of Magicians, 64
_Fascinating_ Eyes, 41
_Fish_, how they breathe in Water, 1
_Fire_, ador’d, 211, 236
_Funerals_, their first Institution, 181
G.
_Generation_ equivocal exploded, 4
_Ghalghulawa_ Serpent, 114
_Giraupiagara_ Serpent, 108
_Gobe Moujes_, 124
_Gods_, Men transformed into them, 201
—— inanimate Things turn’d into them, 207
_Goddesses_, Women transform’d into them, 206
_Golden_ Calf, 214
_Grotto di Cani_, a particular Account of it, 25, 6
—— —— Experiments made in it by Mr. _Addison_, 26
_Grotto de i Serpi_, a remarkable subterraneous Cavern, and Hospital
for particular Diseases, 38
_Ground_ Rattle-Snake, 125
_Griffin_ describ’d, 145
_Guaku_, or _Lyboya_ Serpent describ’d, one of the most monstrous, 102
H.
_Harus_ Serpent, 138
_Heathens_, their Fictions about Punishments in Hell, 49
—— their Opinion about Heaven, 50
_Hereditary_ Right, the Title, how try’d, 56
_Hemorrhous_, (the Figure, Plate 1) describ’d; its Wounds force the
Blood out thro’ every Pore of the Body, 57
_Horse_-Tail, a _Turkish_ Standard, the Original of it, 81
_Hooded_, or Monk Serpent, 115
_Horn_ Snake, 126
_Hornet_, (the Figure, Plate 7) describ’d, 148
_Hydrus_, or Water-Snake, 126, 141, 2
I.
_Japonians_, their way of punishing Christians, 47
_Jararaka_ Serpent, describ’d, 103
_Jacore_ Lizard, [TN]
_Ibiara_ Serpent, describ’d, 99
_Ibitobaca_ Serpent, (the Figure, Plate 4) describ’d, 102
_Ibiboboca_ Serpent, describ’d.
_Ibizacoan_ Serpent, Cure of its Wound very singular, 106
_Idolatry_, the Original of it, 197
—— more ancient than Image-Worship, 198
—— the Incentives to it, 199
_Jeboya_ Serpent, 108
_Images_, why _Laban_ call’d them Gods, 203
_Inchantment_ by noxious Herbs, _&c._ 47
_Indian_ Prince, a very remarkable Saying of his about _Spanish_
Cruelty, 133
_Insects_, little, great Executioners, 139
—— various Instances, _ibid._
_Iquanna_ Serpent, describ’d, 102
_Iron_, one of the hardest Metals, yet the most brittle, 130
_Israel_, why punish’d by Serpents, 188
—— why punish’d by fiery Serpents, _ibid._
K.
_Kakaboya_ Serpent, 106
_Kingdom_ won by an Heroick Answer, 58
_King_ Snake, 129
—— Sashes made of its Skin, _ibid._
_Koko_ Serpent, a Representation of the _French_ Monarch, 58, 9
_Kukuruki_ Serpent, describ’d, 99
L.
_Lancashire_ Beauties, 69
_Lacertus viridis_, or green Lizard, 121
_Les Anoles_ Serpent, 123
_Les Roquet_ Serpent, _ibid._
_Light_, how the Sensation of it is produc’d, 71
—— all Colours depend upon it, 71
_Long_ black-Snake, 127
M.
_Magical_ Balls, 46, 7
_Magick_ Art, the Original of it, 68
—— its Degeneracy, 68, 9
—— surprizing Instances of magick Wit, 69
_Magick_ Egg, _ibid._
_Magicians_, St. _Matthew_’s wise Men in their time, 70
_Manima_ Serpent, monstrous, 111
_Malcarabeta_ Serpent, 113
_Malpolon_ Serpent, _ibid._
_Manballa_ Serpent, 114
_Maboujas_, 123
—— , an Emblem of the old Serpent, 124
_Macacoatl_, an horned Serpent, 132
_Marine_ Dragon, or Serpent, 143
_Men_, Giants and Pygmies among ’em, 16
_Mexico_, two unparallel’d Instances of Cruelty, one by the _Mexican_,
the other by _Spanish_ Priests, 100, 1
_Milk_, its wonderful Nature describ’d, 128
_Mithridate_, the Original of its Name, 40, 5
_Monoxillo_, or Mucronated-Serpent, 137
_Musk_ Serpent, 116
_Musk_ Rats, and Musk Cats, _ibid._
_Musk_, a short Account of it, 116, 17
_Musick_, its wonderful Effects on the Mind and the Body in several
remarkable Instances, 156 to 160
—— Conjectures about medicinal Cures by it, 164
N.
_Natrix-Torquata_ Snake, (the Figure, Plate 5), 142
_Nintipolonga_ Serpent, 114
_Noya_ Serpent, 90
O.
_Obsidian_ Stones, Looking-Glasses made of them, 105
_Opium_, the Darling of the _Turks_, 21
_Orators_, as well as Poets enthusiastical, 64
_Oracular_ Answers, various Opinions about them, 77
_Otus_ Serpent, 133
P.
_Pareas_ Serpent describ’d, 84
_Paper_, that is incombustible, 95
_Parrot_, a rational Dialogue betwixt it and Prince _Maurice_, 144, 5
_Parthians_, the best Fighters when retreating, 132
_Paradise_, Self-denial a Duty there, 180
—— Threatnings necessary there, 181
_Pagan_ Fables founded on the Writings of _Moses_, 182
_Persian_ Kings, their _Recipe_ for an easy Death, 70
_People_, without Fraud, 125
—— have no Name for it, _ibid._
_Pimbera_ Serpent, describ’d, 90
_Pluto_, his Attendants and Executioners cover’d with Snakes, as the
_Harpies_, _Furies_, _Cerberus_, _Chimæra_, 47, 48, 49
_Poison_, vegetable Instances of it, 19, 20
—— Mineral, various Instances in Damps from Copper, Mercury, Tin, Lead,
22, 23
—— Animal, Debates about the Seat of it in Serpents, 26, 7
—— various Remedies for it, as Oil, experimented on one _William
Oliver_, bit by a Serpent; _Lichen Cinereus Terrestris_, _Venice_
Treacle, and several Vegetables, _&c._, 29, 30, 31, 145
—— one Drop of it a Match for a Sea of Blood, 32
—— when not dangerous, 33
—— exhaustible in Serpents by quick repeated Acts, but soon recruited,
35
_Poetical_ Apology for a Sot, 73, 4
_Polonga_ Serpent, describ’d, 90
_Priests_, their Genius for Cruelty. See _Mexico_.
_Prussians_ and _Lithuanians_, Serpent-Worshippers, 226
R.
_Rattle_-Snake. _Vid._ Caudisonant.
_Red_-belly Snake, 126
_Red_-back Snake, 127
_Rivers_ ador’d, 210
_Rubetarian_ Serpent, 143
—— —— loud and pretty, _ibid._
S.
_Sandals_, used by the Ladies, 208
_Salamander_, (the Figure, Plate 5,) described, 92
—— how said to live in the Fire, 93
—— _Corvini_’s Experiment upon one, 94
_Salamander’s-Wool_, 95
—— —— Shrouds made of it for Kings, 95
_Satan_, why punish’d under the Figure of a Serpent, 185
_Scorpions_, (the Figure, Plate 7,) Countries destroy’d by them, as in
_Æthiopia_, _Amyclæ_ a Town in _Italy_, _Pescara_ an ancient City in
_Italy_, _India_, 45, 6
—— their various Kinds, Sizes, and malignant Nature, 87, 8
—— the _Persians_ curse by them, 88
_Scytale_ Serpent, (the Figure, Plate 2,) described, 70
—— —— an Aggregate of charming Colours, 71
_Scolopendra_, (the Figure, Plate 5,), 151
_Serpents_, general Description of them, 2
—— their Mode of Propagation viviparous and oviparous, 4, 5
—— their Sagacity, with regard to their different Lodgments, 6, 7, 172
—— during Winter, sleep with open Eyes, 7
—— their Enemies, _viz._ Eagle, Hawk, Stork, Ibis, Ichneumon, Magaure,
and some Vegetables, 10, 11
—— Dust, not their original Food. A moral Reflection upon it, 12
—— their Food, which they swallow whole, 12, 13
—— their Size, some monstrous, others remarkably small, 13, 14, 15, 16,
146
—— their Apparatus for Motion curious, 17
—— their Skin an elegant Composition, 18
—— of special Service to Mankind, of great Use in Physick, various at
home and abroad, 36, 7
—— the common Food of many Nations in _Europe_, _Asia_, _Africa_,
_America_, 38 to 40
—— Instruments of divine and human Vengeance, 44
—— _Jewish_ Camp infested with them, 44
—— Victory gain’d by them on Sea and Land, 46
_Serpent_, its Contest with St. _Paul_, 44
_Seps_, (the Figure, Plate 1,) why call’d the putrid Serpent, 58
_Serpens Indicus Coronatus_, 112
_Serpens Putorius_, 113
The Sea _Serpent_, (the Figure, Plate 6)
_Serpent_ de Boa, 144
Mistress of _Serpents_, (the Figure, Plate 6)
_Serpent_, an Account of a remarkable one in _Lancashire_, 144
_Serpent_ in Paradise, various Opinions about it, 168
_American_ Serpent, (the Figure, Plate 3)
_Serpent_ brazen, 191, 2
—— prefigur’d Christ, 194
—— _Israel_, why cured by it, 195
_Serpents_, the Adoration of them, 216 to 227
—— Reasons for that Worship, 228
—— Worshippers of ’em among Christians, 229
_Shrew_-Serpent, 151
_Shekina_ describ’d, 187
_Silence_, a Pythagorick Rudiment, 112
—— the Safety of _Venice_, 112
_Sin_, its first Entrance, 168
_Sleep_, a living Death, 70
_Snake_ common, (the Figure, Plate 4) describ’d, 85
_Spiders_, (the Figure, Plate 5)
—— Black, (the Figure, Plate 4,) their various Kinds, 149
—— their Autumn Webs, 150
—— _American_, 150
_Stellio_, 123
_Stupid_ Serpent, 136
—— —— a living Loadstone, as describ’d by some, 136
_Sun_ and Moon, chief Deities of the _Pagans_, 209
_Swamp_ Snakes, 126
T.
_Tarciboya_ Serpent, 106
_Tapayaxin_ Serpent, 121
_Taraguira_, 121
_Taraquico Aycuraba_ Serpent, 122
_Tapayaxin_ Serpent, 137
_Tapayaxin_ Serpent, the Friend of Man, 137
_Tamacolin_ Serpent, of the Toad kind, 138
_Tame_ and tractable Serpent, 140
_Tarantula_, (the Figure, Plate 7,) its Poison and Cure by Musick; the
Manner how, 151 to 155
_Teuthlacokauqui_ in _Mexico_, call’d the Fortress of the Serpents,
describ’d, 100
_Tetzawhcoatl_ Serpent, 104
_Terpomongo_ Serpent, 111
—— —— a Symbol of Friendship, _ibid._
_Tejuguacu_, 121
_Tejunhana_ Serpent, 122
_Tetzaucoatl_, or the rare Serpent, 139
_Teraphim_, explain’d, 202
_Tleoa_, or _Tetloa_ Serpent, 140
—— an Inhabitant of the Mountains, 141
_Toads_, as large as Cats and Dogs, 138
_Tzicatlinan_ Serpent, 132
—— —— the Darling of the Ladies, _ibid._
V.
_Vegetation_, none without Air, 3
_Vegetables_, sleep in Winter, 7, 8
—— worshipped, 212
_Vectis_, 131
_Vipers_, different from the Snake, 52
—— a Battle betwixt one and a Magpye, 52
—— Battle betwixt one and a Dog, 53
—— don’t eat after they are taken, 53
_Vipera Indica Tricolor Major_, 112
_Vipera Zelanica Minor, Maculis eleganter Variegata_, 112
_Unison_, its Wonders, 160, 1
W.
_Wasps_, (the Figure, Plate 7,) describ’d, 148
_Wepelon_ Serpent, 115
_Woman_ with two Horns, 54
_Women_ warlike, 129
—— the hard Condition of their Marriage, _ibid._
_Words_, their Efficacy, Instance of it in _Cæsar_, 63, 4
_Worms_, Instances of Execution by them, 134, 5
_Worship_ of hurtful Creatures, why, 233
—— of different Animals in _Egypt_, the Reasons, 234
Y.
_Yellow_ Snake, 130
_F I N I S._
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
● Transcriber’s Notes:
○ There are several index entries that have no page reference
attached to them.
○ There is a missing footnote here.
○ These corrections have been made to this text when the target
could be unambiguously identified.
○ The heirarchy of the different divisions (Part, Section, Chapter)
is not clear. They have been marked up to (more or less) match
their text attributes in the book.
○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only
when a predominant form was found in this book.
○ Text that:
was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).
○ The use of a caret (^) before a letter, or letters, shows that the
following letter or letters was intended to be a superscript, as
in S^t Bartholomew or 10^{th} Century.