benefits on his own fubjects, committed the regency of his kingdom to Ifis; and, with a large body of forces, fet out in order to civilize the rest of mankind. This he performed more by the power of perfuafion, and the foothing arts of mufic and poetry, than by the terror of his arms. He marched first into Ethiopia, thence to Arabia and India; and, returning to Egypt, was flain by his brother Typhon, and buried at Memphis, the chief city of Egypt.

Ifs afterwards vanquished Typhon, reigned happily in Egypt to her death, and was alfo buried at Memphis.

ORUS, fon of Ofiris and ifis, fucceeded to the government. The Egyptians deemed him the protector of the river Nile, the averter of evils, governor of the world, and the author of plenty.

Thefe deities of the Egyptians were held in the greatest veneration. Temples were erected, and divine honours paid to Ofiris under the figure of an ox; and the prietelles of Ifis facrificed to that goddefs under different fhapes, according to the purposes for which they were intended. And, as fable is faid to take its origin from the Egyptians, it will appear, from their intercourfe with the Jews long refident in Egypt, that a mixture of true religion and error increafed that falfe worfhip, which first prevailed in that country, and afterwards ipread into Rome, and the more diftant parts of the world. Thefe gods of the Egyptians were worshipped under various names and characters, according to the prevailing opinion of different countries, or fome other incident. Thus, according to Herodotus, Ofiris and Bacchus are the fame; according to Diodorus the hiftorian, Ofiris is Sol, Jupiter, &c. and Plutarch fays, Ofiris, Serapis, and Apis of the Egyptians, are Pluto, Oceanus, &c. in the Roman mythology.

Ifis is faid to be the fame with the Roman Cybele, Ceres, Minerva, Luna, &c. and was called the mother of the gods. Orus alfo was the fymbol of light, and was figured as a winged boy. He was named the Hermes of the Greeks, and the Apollo and Cupid of the Romans.

Both in Egypt and Rome, each deity had his peculiar temple, where the most folemn facrifices were made to them, according to the prevailing notion of their power and influence. The worship of thefe gods fo far prevailed among the Komans, that they erected to their honour

a public edifice named the Pantheon, in which, as a general repofitory, were placed the ftatues of their feveral deities, with their refpective fymbols: Jupiter was dif tinguifhed by a thunderbolt: Juno by a crown; Mars by a helmet; Apollo, or the Sun, by its beams; Diana, or the Moon, by a crefcent; Ceres by a cornucopia, or hom of plenty, or an ear of corn; Cupid by a bundle of arrows; Mercury by wings on his feet, and a caduceus, or wand, in his hand; Bacchus by the ivy; Venus by the beauty of her perion; and the rest had the like diftinguishing characters placed above their ftatues, or in their hands, according to the received opinion of the people, or the ingenuity of the artist.

Of ORACLES.

The ORACLES of the ancients were deemed the predictions, myfterious decla. rations of the will of the gods: it may, with a kind of certainty, be admitted, that the natural bent of the mind of man to fearch into futurity gave rife to this inftitution.

To whatever caufe, however, the origin may be ascribed, the inftitution of oracles became general, among the idolatrous nations, and increased over the face of the whole earth. Not to mention other nations, the oracles of the Egyptians and Greeks were numerous, especially of the latter people, at least we have a more full account of them. The oracle of Dodona, a city of Epirus in Greece, was facred to Jupiter; the oracle of Jupiter Hammond was alfo of ancient date, and famous in Lybia; the oracle of Apollo at Heliopolis was of great note; the oracle also of Apollo at Delphi, if not the most ancient, was the most celebrated of all Greece, infomuch that it was called the oracle of the whole earth. And, indeed, fo established was the credit of thefe oracular declarations, that the enacting laws, the reformation of government, alfo peace or war, were not undertaken by ftates or princes, but even in the more common concerns of life, no material bufinefs was entered upon without the fanction of the oracle. Each oracle had its prieft, or prieftefs, who delivered out the anfwers of the gods. Thefe anfwers, for the most part, were in verfe, and couched under fuch myfterious terms, that they admitted of a double interpretation; infomuch, that whether the prediction was completed, or the expectation of the fupplicant difappointed, the oracle was

clear

clear from blame. The oracle of Apollo at Delphos, being in the greateft reputation, was reforted to from all parts. The prieftefs of Apollo was named Pythia, from the ferpent Python, killed by that god, as is before mentioned. The offerings to the gods on these applications were liberal, according to the ability, or the importance of the answer required by the fupplicant; and, it is faid, the temple and city of Delphos efpecially, was, by thefe means, filled with immenfe treasure.

The principal oracle of the Egyptians was at Memphis, a royal city of Egypt, where they erected an altar, and worshipped their god Apis, under the figure of an ox. His wife is had alfo worship, and her priests were called Ifiaci.

The SYBILLINE ORACLES were certain women, whom the ancients believed to be endued with the gift of prophecy. They are faid to be ten in number, and were famous in all lands. They had no fixed refidence, but travelled into different countries, and delivered their predictions in verfe in the Greek tongue. One of thefe Sybils, named Erythraea, or Cumea, from Cuma, a city in the lonian fea, according to Virgil, came into Italy, and was held in the higheft efteem by the Romans, who confulted the oracle of the Sybil on all occafions that related to the welfare of the republic.

AUGURY, or the art of divination by birds, the meteors of the heavens, or the entrails of beafts, was held in the highest veneration by the idolatrous nations. The people of God, the Jews, were not free from idolatry in the time of Mofes; and we read alfo in holy writ, that Saul, being vexed in fpirit, applied to the feers, or perfons killed in the knowledge of futurity. But not to go fo far back, Romulus and Remus confulted the Auguries before they built Rome; and the foundation of that city was determined by the flight of birds. Numa eftablifhed a college of Augurs, and confirmed his regulation of the Koman ftate by their fanction. It appears alfo, in the hiftory of that people, that no national concern was entered upon, without first confulting the Auguries; and, according to the propitious or bad omen, they made peace or war, and appointed magiftrates. Indeed the Augurs, and their declarations, were held in fo high regard by the Romans, that whoever contemned them was accounted impious and pro

phane. To conclude, divination, or the fpirit of prediction, made a confiderable part of the Pagan theology, especially among the Romans, thofe lords of the world, who fell into the general delusion, and adopted almost all the gods of every people they fubdued.

CONCLUSION. Of fabulous Hiftory. Notwithstanding the origin of fable feems uncertain, and to be loft in antiquity, it may be faid to take its rife from truth, or facied hiftory. And in the foregoing relation of the Heathen deities, it is evident, many particulars correfpond with the hif tory of the most early tranfactions, as they are recorded by Mofes in holy writ. The golden age of Saturn, the wars of the Giants, the deluge of Deucalion, and the repeopling of the earth, declare their origin from divine truth, as received and delivered down by the patriarchs.

On the confufion of tongues at the building of Babel, and the difperfion of mankind, the tradition of the patriarchs became fubject to variation; and, as is obferved by the learned Rollin, the change of habitation, and diverfity of language, opened the door of error, and introduced an alteration in worthip, agreeable to the foil, or rather according to the humour, or fome accidental event of the respective co

lonies.

However confufed and erroneous the general worship of man became, it is evident, from every circumstance, that, in the first ages of the world, mankind knew but one Deity, the SUPREME GOD, and Creator of the universe; but afterwards, when men abandoned themselves to vice, and, as is faid in Scripture, "went a whoring "after their own inventions," and departed from the purity of their forefathers, their ideas of the Divinity became weakened, and instead of the worship of the only TRUE GOD, they substituted other deities, or objects of worship, more agreeable to the comprehenfion of their own cepraved nature. Thus, by a mixture of truth and fable, one deity became productive of another, till at last the inventive fancy gradually gave life to every visible object, both in the heavens, and on earth. Thus,

having changed the glory of the uncor

ruptible God, into an image made like "corruptible man, and to birds, and four"footed beafts, and creeping things, and 66 ferving the creature more than the Cre"ator," not only Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and

other

other falfe deities, but ftars, rivers, and fountains, animals, reptiles, and plants, received divine adoration. At length, great men and heroes, who excelled in any ufetul fcience, or became famous by conquets, or a fuperior conduct of life, by an eafy tranfition from admiration to a fuperftitious refpect, were deemed more than human, and had divine honours paid to them alfo under different names, in different countries; or, probably, prompted by ambition, they allumed to themfelves the homage and adoration that was due only to the Divine Creator, the ALMIGHTY LORD, and Governor of the world. This accounts for that multitude of deities, both in heaven and on earth, which makes the marvellous part of antient fic tion, and became the object of Pagan divinity, when the earth was overwhelmed with darknefs, and, as is expreffed in holy writ," the hearts of men went after their "idols."

The fertile imagination of the poets, who celebrated the exploits of the ancient heroes, and expreffed the common actions of life in figurative characters, joined to the extravagance of priests and orators in their panegyrics on the living and the dead, greatly forwarded the work of fable: and in time, learning being obliterated, their writings were looked upon as registers of facts. Thus the world, grown old in error, by the folly and credulity of mankind, fiction got admiffion into hiftory, and became at lalt a neceffary part in compoting the annals of the early ages of the world.

For this caufe, an acquaintance with fabulous hiftory, as is before obferved, is become a neceifary part of polite learning in the education of youth, and for the due understanding the Greek and Roman authors; alfo the paintings, ftatues and other monuments of antiquity. By this knowledge, the tender mind will moreover be inspired with an early abhorrence of the abfurd ceremonies and impious tenets of the Heathen mythology; and, at the fame time, be imprefied with the deepeft fenfe and veneration for the Chriftian religion, the light of the Gospel in CHRIST JESUS, who, in the fulnets of time, through the tender mercies of God, difpelled thofe clouds of darkness, ignorance and folly, which had long debafed human nature, and spread over the face of the earth the greatest and most abfurd fuperftitions, as is before related, and will father appear

from many incidents in the hiftories of Greece and Rome.

$237. Concerning the Neglect of Oraterical Numbers.-Obfervations upon Dr. TILLOTSON's Style.-The Care of the ancient Orators with respect to Numerous Compchtion, ftated and recommended. In a Letter. The paffage you quote is entirely in my fentiments. I agree with that celebrated author and yourself, that our oratory is by no means in a state of perfection; and, though it has much ftrength and folidity, that it may yet be rendered far more polifhed and affecting. The growth, indeed, of eloquence, even in thofe countries where the flourished moft, has ever been exceed. ingly flow. Athens had been in poffeffion of all the other polite improvements, long before her pretenfions to the perfuafive arts were in any degree confiderable; as the earlieft orator of note among the Romans did not appear fooner than about a century before Tully.

That great mafter of perfuafion, taking notice of this remarkable circumftance, affigns it as an evidence of the fuperior difficulty of his favourite art. Pofibly there may be fome truth in the obfervation: but whatever the caufe be, the fact, I believe, is undeniable. Accordingly eloquence has by no means made equal advances, in our own country, with her fifter arts; and though we have feen fome excellent poets, and a few good painters, rise up amongst us, yet I know not whether our nation can fupply us with a fingle orator of deferved eminence. One cannot but be furprifed at this, when it is confidered, that we have a profeffion fet apart for the purpofes of perfuafion, and which not only affords the most animating and interesting topics of rhetoric, but wherein a talent of this kind would prove the likelieft, perhaps, of any other, to obtain thofe ambitious prizes which were thought to contribute fo much to the fuccefsful progrefs of ancient eloquence.

Among the principal defects of our English orators, their general difregard of harmony has, I think, been the leaft obferved. It would be injuftice indeed to deny that we have fome performances of this kind amongst us tolerably musical: but it must be acknowledged at the fame time, that it is more the effect of accident than defign, and rather a proof of the power of our language, than of the art of our orators.

P:

Dr. Tillotfon, who is frequently mentioned as having carried this fpecies eloquence to its highest perfection, feems to have had no fort of notion of rhetorical numbers and may I venture to add, without hazarding the imputation of an affected fingularity, that I think no man had ever lefs pretenfions to genuine oratory than this celebrated preacher? If any thing could raise a flame of eloquence in the breaft of an orator, there is no occafion upon which one should imagine it would be more likely to break out, than in celebrating departed merit; yet the two fermons which he preached on the death of Mr. Gouge and Dr. Whichcote, are as cold and languid performances as were ever, perhaps, produced upon fuch an animating fubject. One cannot indeed but regret, that he, who abounds with fuch noble and generous fentiments, fhould want the art of fetting them off with all the advantage they deferve; that the fublime in morals should not be attended with a fuitable elevation of language. The truth however is, his words are frequently ill-chofen, and almot always ill-placed: his periods are both tedious and unharmonious; as his metaphors are generally mean, and often ridiculous. It were eafy to produce numberleis inftances in fupport of this affertion. Thus, in his fermon preached before queen Anne, when fhe was princefs of Denmark, he talks of fqueezing a parable, thruiting religion by, driving a ftrict bargain with God, fharking fhifts, &c.; and, peaking of the day of judgment, he defcribes the world as cracking about our ears. I cannot however but acknowledge, in juf tice to the oratorical character of this moft valuable prelate, that there is a noble finplicity, in fome few of his fermons; as his excellent difcourfe on fincerity deferves to be mentioned with particular applaufe.

But to show his deficiency in the article I am confidering at prefent, the following tricture will be fufficient, among many others that might be cited to the fame purpofe." One might be apt," fays he, "to think, at firft view, that this parable "was over-done, and wanted fomething * of a due decorum; it being hardly cre"dible, that a man, after he had been fo mercifully and generously dealt withal, "as upon his humble request to have fo "huge a debt fo freely forgiven, fhould, "whilft the memory of fo much mercy "was fresh upon him, even in the very

next moment handle his fellow-fervant,

This whole period (not to mention other objections which might justly be raised againftit) is unmufical throughout; but the concluding members, which ought to have been particularly flowing, are moft miferably loofe and disjointed. If the delicacy of Tully's ear was fo exquifitely refined, as not always to be fatisfed even when he read Demofthenes; how would it have been offended at the harfhnefs and diffonance of fo unharmonious a fentence !

Nothing, perhaps, throws our eloquence at a greater distance from that of the ancients, than this Gothic arrangement; as those wonderful effects, which fometimes attended their elocution, were in all probability, chiefly owing to their skill in mufical concords. It was by the charm of numbers, united with the ftrength of reafon, that Tully confounded the audacious Cataline, and filenced the eloqueut Hortenfius. It was this that deprived Curio of all power of recollection, when he rofe up to oppofe that great mafter of enchanting rhetoric: it was this, in a word, made even Cæfar himself tremble; nay, what is yet more extraordinary, made Cæfar alter his determined purpofe, and acquit the man he had refolved to condemn.

You will not fufpect that I attribute too much to the power of numerous compofition, when you recollect the inftance which Tully produces of its wonderful effect. He informs us, you may remember, in one of his rhetorical treatifes, that he was himself a witness of its influence, as Carbo was once haranguing to the people. When that orator pronounced the following fentence, Patris dictum fapiens, temeritas filii comprobavit, it was astonishing, fays he, to obferve the general applaufe which followed that harmonious clofe. A modern ear, perhaps, would not be much affected upon this occafion: and, indeed, it is more than probable, that we are ignorant of the art of pronouncing that period with its genuine emphafis and cadence. We are, certain, however, that the mufic of it confifted in the dichoree with which it is terminated: for Cicero himself affures us, that if the final measure had been changed, and the words placed in a different order, their whole effect would have been absolutely deftroyed.

This art was firft introduced among the
Greeks