Class J3L_M

TO THE

REV. WILLIAM CARUS M.A.,

FELLOW AND SENIOR DEAN OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE,

4-c. 4-c.

Rev. and Dear Sir,

The completion of this work, though of
a very unpretending character, affords me, on
many grounds, a pleasure of no common order.
Your permission that it should be dedicated to
you, gives me a public opportunity of thanking
you for many instances of kindness; and chief
among them, that of having opened to me many
important views of Divine Truth. If it seem
strange that I should express my sense of this by
offering you a book which treats of the darkness of
the Pagan world, I would reply, that the know-
ledge of the truth can enable us to extract deep
VI DEDICATION.

and lasting benefit from the errors of the past, and

that a work of this nature, if dedicated at all,
should be dedicated to an accomplished as well as
a profound scholar. It allows me the gratification
of saying, with how much respect, I remain,
Reverend and dear Sir,

Very faithfully yours,

Henry Christmas.
 PREFACE.

There are few subjects which have either deserved

or obtained so much attention as Mythology. The
most eminent scholars, in all ages, have made it
their study, and many profound and voluminous
works have been the result. Of these some are
devoted to the consideration of a single system ;
and others are too scarce, and too expensive,
to be within the reach of ordinary readers. The
work of Creuzer, which, in spite of its defects,
is by far the most valuable modern work on Mytho-
logy, isnot translated, and besides occupies eight
volumes.
The mythology of Greece has been almost exclu-
sively studied ; and this, though neither the most
important, nor the most interesting. The systems
of the East, and of the North, of Egypt, and of
China, would have illustrated the Greek and Roman
fables, have cleared up their difficulties, and ex-
plained their allegories, if they did no more. But
the truth is, that where these are studied, the
theogony of the Greeks sinks into its proper place,
and is considered but as a ramification of the great
stream of fable. The chief end of studying mytho-
logy, should be, not to apply our knowledge merely
to the solution of difficult passages in classical
poetry, but to the moral and mental history of
viii PREFACE.

mankind. This object can only be accomplished

by taking a general view of the subject, by exami-
ning all systems, by tracing their resemblances and
their differences, by investigating the mode of their
propagation, and the identity of their origin. This
has been the object, which, as far as the limits of a
small volume will allow, has been aimed at in the
following pages. To what extent it has been
obtained, is for the public to judge. Some extracts
will be found from Fabers works, which, having
been made some time ago, and the author no longer
having the writings of that eminent scholar at
hand, cannot be marked by references; those so
circumstanced are few and small, and this oppor-
tunity istaken to notice them.
The whole section on Chaldean and Phoenician
Mythology (Section III.) has been furnished by
Mr. C. P. Harris, of Manchester, the greater part
of whose life has been devoted to philological, and
particularly oriental research. While acknow-
ledging this, and many other obligations to that
gentleman, the author congratulates himself on the
great additional value thus conferred on his work.
It will be at once perceived that this volume
is not intended to supersede any treatise on the
Greek and Roman Mythology, but rather to sup-
ply a want that has long been felt, — to introduce,
in fact, a more general and extensive knowledge of
the interesting subject of Universal Mythology.

Colne, Lancashire.
November, 1837.
 CONTENTS.

Section I. — EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

Chap. Page
I. Introductory Chapter 1
II. Of Phta, and his Names or Attributes . 6
III. Of the Second Stage of the Egyptian Religion — Of
Osiris and Isis . . . . 8
IV. Of the Third Stage of Egyptian Mythology, the
Worship of Consecrated Animals . . 15
V. Of the Animal Divinities of Egypt, and the Fourth
Stage of Public Religion in that Country . 24
VI. Of Isis, and the Egyptian Deities typical of the
Moon .... 27
VII. Of the Worship of the Nile, and of the Names under
which it was revered 33
VIII. Of Typhon, his Wife Nephthys, and his Concubine
Aso . . . \ • .37
IX. Of Thoth, or Hermes Trismegistus . . 41
X. Of the Cosmogony, and the Moral Philosophy of the
Ancient Egyptians . . .48
Section II.— HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.
I. Introductory Chapter .... 54
II. Of the Hindoo Triad, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva 57
III. Of the Sactis, or Pervading Energies of the Gods 65
IV. Of Celestial Spirits, and of Demons . .71
V. Of Ganesa, and the other Children of Mahadeva ;
and of Indra .... 77
VI. Of the Genii or Demigods subordinate to Indra . 84
VII. Of the Avatars, or Incarnations of Vishnu . 90
VIII. Of the Avatars, continued ... 97
IX. Of the Effects of the Hindoo Religion and Mythology 101
 // / M
X CONTENTS.

Section III. — MYTHOLOGY OF THE CHALDJEANS

OR BABYLONIANS, SYRIANS, PHOENICIANS,
CANAANITES AND PERSIANS.
Chap. Page
I. Of Chaldsean or Babylonish Mythology . .105
II. Of the Assyrian, Armenian, and Syrian Mythology 116
III. Of the Phoenician Mythology . . 122
IV. Of the Persian Mythology . . .135
Section IV.— GREEK MYTHOLOGY.
I. Introduction .... . 147
154
II. Of the Theogony and Chief Gods of the Greeks
III. Of the subordinate Deities of Olympus . 169
161
IV. Of the Goddesses of Olympus
V. Minor Deities • . 174
181
VI. Of Heaven and Hell ....
VII. Heroes ..... . 187
VIII. Heroic Expeditions .... 195

Section V.— ROMAN MYTHOLOGY.

I. Introductory Chapter . . . .201
II. Of Oracles and Omens ... 207

Section VI.— BUDHUISM.

I. Introduction . . . . .214
II. Introduction, continued . . . 217
III. Of Budhuism among the Burmese and Chinese . 222
IV. Of the Priests and Temples of the Budhuists 225
V. Of the Traditions and Festivals of the Budhuists 229
VI. Of the Jaiuas, Shikhs, and Worshippers of the Lama 232

Section VII.— CHINESE MYTHOLOGY.

I. Introductory Chapter .... 236
II. Of the Religious Sects of the Chinese; and first, of
Confucius .... 239
III. Of the Sect of Lao Kung . . . 243
 CONTENTS. xi
Chap. Page
IV. Of the Sect of Fuh, or Budhuism . . 247
V. Of the Gods of the Chinese . . .251
VI. Of the Spirit and Practice ef the Chinese Religion 253

Section VIII.— MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY.

I.
Introductory Chapter .... 258
II.Of the Mexican Gods ... 262
III.Of the Festivals and Sacrifices of the Gods . 267
IV. Of the Mexican belief in the Immortality of the Soul
and in Heaven .... 272
V. Of the Traditions of the Mexicans . . 274

Section IX. — NORTHERN AND ANCIENT ENGLISH

MYTHOLOGY.
I. Of the Northern Mythology and its Origin ; and of
theEdda . . . . .278
II. Of the Supreme Being, of the Giants, and of the
Cieation of the Gods ... 280
III. Of the Creation of the World, and of Man . 282
IV. Of Heaven and Hell . . . 285
V. Of the Gods; and first, of Odin . . 288
VI. Of Thor and Balder ... 291
VII. Of the other Gods . . . .293
VIII. Of Loke and his Children ... 295
IX. Of the Horse and Ships of the Gods . . 299
X. Of Enchantments and Illusions . . 300
XI. Of the Twilight of the Gods, and the sequel of the
General Conflagration . . . 304
XII. Of the Peculiarities of the Saxon Worship . 307
XIII. Of the Effects of the Religion of Odin on the Minds
of its Votaries . . . .310

Section X.— MOHAMMEDANISM.

I. Of the Birth and Education of Mohammed . 316
II. Of the Political Designs and Pretended Mission of
Mohammed . 322
xii CONTENTS.
Chap. Page
III. Of the Success of Mohammed, and his Reign 327
IV. Of the Conquests and Death of Mohammed . 333
V. Of the Arabian Religion before Mohammed 339
VI. Of the Koran .... 344
VII. Of Death, the Resurrection, and the Judgment . 350
VIII. Of Heaven and Hell ... 355
IX. Of the Mesra, or Night Journey to Heaven . 360
X. Of the Pilgrimage to Mecca . . 368
XI. Of Traditions preserved among the Mohammedans 373
XII. Of the Institutions of Islam ; their Spirit and Effect 379

Section XI.— THE TALMUD, AND THE TRADITIONS

OF THE JEWS.
I. Antediluvian Traditions . . . 385
II. Traditions concerning Moses . . 390
III. Traditions of Abraham and other Patriarchs . 394
IV. Traditions of Solomon ... 398
V. Of the State after Death . . .402
VI. Of the Rabbinical Heaven . . . 406

Section XII. —THE CONNEXION AND COMMON

ORIGIN OF ALL SYSTEMS OF FALSE
WORSHIP.
I. Introductory Chapter . . . .411
II. Of Cosmogony .... 416
III. Of Cosmogony, continued . . . 422
IV. Of the Traditions respecting the Fall of Man 427
V. Of the Traditions concerning the Deluge . . 432
VI. Of the Traditions concerning Noah and his Sons 441
VII. Of the Fates, Fatalism, and Stoicism . . 448
VIII. On the Worship of the Serpent . . 455
IX. The Worship of the Sun . . .461
X. Historical Coincidences . . . 467
XI. Miscellaneous Coincidences . . . 473
XII. Conclusion. ..... 481
 UNIVERSAL MYTHOLOGY.

Section I.
EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

One glance at the physical constitution of Egypt will

lead us to expect that the moral phenomena of such
a country must be interesting: the research amply
justifies the expectation, and repays the labour. At
the time when the earliest books with which we are
acquainted were written, the Land of the Pharaohs had
been many ages a mighty and highly-civilized empire ;
since that period it has passed through many political,
and many moral revolutions : has been alternately the
first of the nations, and the last ; the wisest, and the
most ignorant ; the most virtuous, and the most de-
praved. Yet, in whatever light Egypt be regarded,
the remote antiquity into which its history extends,
the character of mystery and romance which invests
many portions of that history, and the fact that that
country has been the cradle not only of art, but also
of philosophy, make Egypt ever an interesting object
for contemplation.
The earliest notices we have on this subject are, of
course, to be found in the inspired books of scripture ;
and though we find therein many testimonies as to the
prosperity and power of that country, we have no light
B
2 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

thrown upon the system of religion prevailing therein.

That Moses was learned in " all the wisdom of the
Egyptians" we are told ; the attainments of Moses
lead us to think highly of the people among whom he
was educated, and the glances which we ohtain of
Egyptian policy, in the course of the sacred writings,
are calculated to impress us with as favourable an idea
of their political wisdom. The remains of their works
which have reached our time are of so stupendous an
order, as to excite unqualified wonder; and their
wealth, when their empire was flourishing, seems to
have defied calculation. The philosophy, therefore, of
a people in whose wisdom Moses was learned, and
among whom the intellectual Greeks obtained their
systems, cannot be otherwise than highly interesting.
We are naturally inclined to expect much, and to look
with reverence upon that which we find. There are
causes, however, which render it difficult to gratify this
curiosity with certainty, and, in many points, impos-
sible to gratify it at all.
These causes are, first, the great unwillingness which
the ancient Egyptian priests exhibited to spread their
knowledge beyond the precincts of their own temples,
which caused them to invent a system of hieroglyphics
bearing a double or triple signification, in which
hieroglyphics they wrote the doctrines of their philo-
sophy, and the mysteries of their religion. The deci-
phering of these hieroglyphics has been attempted in
all ages by the most learned men, but, to the present
time, without much success. Dr. Young seems to
have done more than ever has yet been done, and had
every reason to be satisfied with the result. If the
efforts of his followers are crowned with complete suc-
cess, the Egyptian antiquities will be rescued from the
uncertainty that has hitherto invested them.
In investigating such subjects as the present,
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 3

we must remember the distinction between my-

thology, religion, and philosophy, — a distinction not
always borne in mind, and which, whenever over-
looked, causes utter confusion, mingling the doc-
trines of religion, and the allegorized facts of philo-
sophy, with the inventions of poetry, and out of the
mixture attempting to make a regular system. The
Egyptian priests, unwilling as they were to communi-
cate even to foreign philosophers their own learning,
were not likely to enlighten, on such subjects, the
people around them. There were many secrets in their
possession which they would divulge to no one, as it
appears from the testimony of Herodotus, and others.
There was very little they allowed to become common
property : they spoke in parables to the multitude, and
those parables were understood only by the initiated.
It becomes necessary, therefore, when we examine the
mythology of a people like this, to scrutinise the mass
of fable lying before us, and ascertain what parts ex-
hibit allegories of philosophy, what parts of history,
what parts of religion, and what parts are merely the
invention of poets. The best mode of doing this will
be to compare the systems of others obtained from that
which we study, with the original, and to notice the
points in which they agree, and those in which they
differ : it will generally be found that they coincide in
the foundations, but that the superstructure is different,
and the differences are usually in those fables which,
being the invention of poetry, are adapted only to the
country in which, and the people among whom, they
took their rise. Continuing the comparison of these
systems, we shall be able to distinguish between the
remaining parts, and to see what allegories contain
religious doctrine, and what serve to illustrate the
philosophy of the times.
The origin of the Egyptian mythology will B 2 be treated
4 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

of when we come to investigate the origin of mytho-

logy generally. The early state of it is enveloped in
great obscurity ; the appearance under which it pre -
sents itself to us is so crowded with absurdities, and
the reputation of its believers so high for wisdom, that
we at once perceive how allegorical its general cha-
racter must be ;— the secret writing, the mystery ob-
served bythe priesthood, confirm this, and the natural
history of the country affords us a clue to a vast
number of the allegories alluded to.
Treating the Egyptian mythology in this light, and
bearing in mind the distinction we have already noticed,
it will appear that the groundwork of their theology
was a belief in one Gocl, counteracted, however, in
many of his operations by a personified principle of
evil. The rest seems to be mere figure, sometimes
astronomical, sometimes historical, sometimes meta-
physical. The Supreme Being appears to have been
anciently recognised under the name Phtah ; the sun
was his symbol, and with that luminary the Deity
himself is made often to correspond. There appears,
however, a deeper meaning than this, for we are told
by the Greeks that Phtah was the element of fire,
pervading all things, and causing by its insensible or
sensible operation all visible changes. Now, of this
element (fire, or caloric,) the sun is an active agent,
and is, of course, very likely to be confounded with it.
But the symbol, in popular worship, is ever apt to be
-taken instead of the thing signified ; and when the
lofty symbol gives place to a lower, popular opinion
still goes with it, till, at last, we can hardly be sur-
prised to find leeks and onions, dogs and crocodiles,
among the ranks of divinities.
Tin; earliest personification which appears, and
begins the work of polytheism, is called Athor. This
divinity was the goddess Night, — not that night which
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 5

results from the diurnal revolution of the earth, but

the thick darkness spread over the universe previous
to creation. This night, animated by the breath of
Phtah, was the origin of all things, and was wrhat
Damascius meant, wrhen, speaking of the Egyptian
mythology, he said, " They established as the first prin-
ciple that darkness which, the human mind is unable
to comprehend, and which they celebrate three times
in their sacred hymns." It was not until some time
after the establishment of this goddess that allegory
began to crowd upon the system, but it appeared at
last ; and this divinity, the mother of all, the origin of
every thing that is, could not be left untouched. Ad-
ventures were soon found, and fitted to the personified
night, and the priests, aware that the minds of the
unenlightened required sensible objects, proposed to
their veneration the moon. It seems that when, at
first, this was done, it was only as a type of night — an
emblem of the deity — who, out of darkness, had formed
the visible creation; but with whatever view it was
done, the effect wTas, that the image superseded the
deity, the people addressed their prayers, and raised
their temples, to the moon.
The next step wras, when the physical circumstances
of the night were made into fabulous adventures, and
the name Athor was bestowed on that period of the
year when the sun, having passed the equator, remains
in the southern hemisphere, the days are short, and
the night is long. Plutarch, in his treatise Of Isis
and Osiris, remarks, " In the month of Athyr the
Egyptians say that Osiris (the sun) is dead : then the
nights become longer, the darkness increases, and the
force of the light diminishes. The priests on this
occasion perform mournful ceremonies : they expose to
the people a gilded ox covered with a black veil, in
token of the grief of the goddess Isis ; for in Egypt the
6 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

ox is the symbol of Osiris, and of the earth." The

unity of this fable with the cosmogony of other people,
we shall have, by-ancl-by, occasion to notice. But
though the goddess Athor might be as purely embla-
matical as figures of vice and virtue in the present day,
the people were far from taking her existence in such
a point of view. Temples were built and cities founded
in her honour, and the name Athar-beki, the city of
Athor, occurs three times on the map of ancient Egypt.

CHAPTER II.
OF PHTA AND HIS NAMES, OR ATTRIBUTES.

Ex nihilO) nihil Jit : certainly out of darkness could

not come light, without some cause ; but out of dark-
ness did the Eternal mind draw the universe, and
place every part thereof in that beautiful order which
we behold. To this presiding spirit was given the
name Phta, to whose being no commencement was
assigned, and no termination expected. Manethon,
speaking of the dynasties by which Egypt was suc-
cessively governed, says that Phta was the first king,
and after him reigned the sun, by which we are merely
to understand that Phta was lord and ruler before all
time. It was, however, literally understood by the
people generally, and the prayer pronounced by the
priests, at the death of each individual, tended not a
little to confirm their opinion. This prayer ran thus :
— "0 sun, and ye other gods who bestow life on
man, receive me : restore me to the eternal gods, that
I may dwell with them." — (Porphyry, lib. iv.) The
l ather of Spirits, as Phta was called, created by an
emanation from his own essence every intelligence, so
 OF PHTA AND HIS NAMES. 7

that the soul of man had been, in the belief of the

Egyptians, a part of the deity, and should be such
again after death. That this mighty and invisible
spirit, the Creator and disposer of all things, was only
worshipped by the priests, is very evident from the
fact that, at Memphis only was there a temple raised
to his honour, and even then the people in general had
not a correct idea of what kind of deity he was; for
Suidas says, "the inhabitants of Memphis adored
Yulcan, under the name of Phta/' The attributes of
the deity were then personified, and two in particular
must be mentioned; his wisdom was figured forth
under the name of a goddess called Neith, and his
goodness under that of a god, Cneph. In fact, Phta,
Phtah, or Phtha, — for it is spelt all ways, — appears to
have been himself not so much the Supreme Being, as
a personification of his power, and hence is really the
same as Neith and Cneph ; nor must the difference of
sex be a drawback, since the Egyptians, pursuing their
allegory, described the creating power of the deity as
possessing two sexes: and the beetle was considered
so sacred among the ancient Egyptians, because they
deemed that insect an hermaphrodite, and so a repre-
sentative ofPhtah.
The Greeks seem to have considered Neith the same
with their Minerva, and give us an inscription on the
gate of her temple : "I am that which is, which shall
be, which has been : no mortal has lifted up my veil/'
Now, this is attributed also to Isis, and we shall see
reason, by-and-by, to suppose Neith and Isis the same,
yet, singularly enough, we find Neith now a god, now
a goddess. Thus much is certain, that in whatever
light Neith be taken, Neith and Phta may be shown
to be one divinity. The same may be observed of
Cneph, by which name was worshipped the goodness
of God. The emblem of Cneph was a particular kind
8 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

of serpent, called after him, and not venomous; this

serpent also revered, as itself a kind of divinity,
and not unfrequently denominated Good Genius. The
worship of these attributes of the Deity was too
recondite to be popular, and accordingly it gradually
disappeared. We have seen a temple to Phta : there
was one in the Saitic prefecture, dedicated to Neith,
and one in the isle of Elephantis to Cneph ; and
further than this we hear of none. The worship of
symbols soon became general ; the sun was regarded
by the people as the chief god : the objects of
religious worship were greatly multiplied, and for ages
prior to Herodotus the whole land was sunk in gross
idolatry.

CHAPTER III.
OF THE SECOND STAGE OF THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION
OF OSIRIS AND ISIS.

When Diodorus Siculus wished to give, in a few

words, an outline of Egyptian worship, he says, " Con-
templating the arch of heaven raised above their
heads, and admiring the marvellous order which
reigned in the universe, they regarded the sun and
the moon as eternal gods, and worshipped them with
a particular worship." We have already seen the sun
first the emblem, then the son of the Supreme Being ;
once established as an existing god, it became neces-
sary to make a type of him. This was soon done, and
the type deified as before. The sun and the moon
were culled the king and queen of heaven, and by the
people worshipped, not as types or emblems of Phta,
but as self-existing deities. The sun was called Phre,
 OF OSIRIS AND ISIS. 9

and it was a daughter of one of his high priests to

whom Joseph the patriarch was married. The ele-
ments, day and night, the sun and moon, the earth and
the sea, — were all severally personified and invested
with the attributes of divinity ; hut the vulgar only
deemed them gods : the initiated knew that they
existed as such only allegorically ; such persons wor-
shipped only the power that made and preserved all
things.
But to return to Phre, or the sun. The Egyptian
astronomers were well acquainted with the phenomena
respecting him. Setting forth these in the usual figu-
rative manner, they gave him the symbolical name
of Osiris, and the astronomical changes that affect
the tluminary were related as adventures of the god.
Here, then, we have a third being, or rather a third
step in the history of the same worship, and we shall
see the same connexion as we descend in the scale.
We shall now attend to the fable of Osiris, pre-
mising that the name was not in use till 320 years
after the departure of the Israelites, previously to
which period he had been called Phre. Plutarch, in
his treatise " Of Isis and Osiris," gives a long account,
from which we may collect that, in the beginning,
Osiris reigned over Egypt : he ruled with great
success, and was universally beloved ; nor did he con-
fine to that country his benefits, but travelled over
all the world to improve the condition of mankind.
While absent, Isis, his wife, so governed Egypt,
that his absence was scarcely felt. Typhon, his
brother, who both envied and hated him, was long
unable to dethrone Osiris ; but at last, while the latter
was in Ethiopia, Typhon organized a conspiracy of
seventy-two members, and, on the return of Osiris,
managed to overpower him. Having joined, with
his seventy-two companions, the feast which was
10 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

being celebrated in honour of the kings return, he

caused a box or chest to be brought in, which had
been made exactly to fit the size of Osiris, and de-
clared that he would give the chest to whosoever could
get into it. The rest tried in vain, but no sooner was
Osiris in it, than Typhon and his companions closed
the lid, and flung the chest into the Nile. The chest
floated down the Nile, and through the Tanitic
branch into the Mediterranean. This was, say they,
on the 17th day of the month Athor. No sooner was
Osiris dead, than sorrow and wailing prevailed through-
out Egypt. Isis, her hair shorn, clothed in black, and
beating her breast, sought diligently for the body of
her husband. At length she found the chest on the
coast of Phoenicia, and brought it back to Egypt,
where, to preserve it more securely, she concealed it
in a wood, but the usurper finding it there, cut the
body into fourteen pieces, and scattered them hither
and thither. Isis had another search, in which she
was not quite so fortunate as in the last ; she found
thirteen pieces, the fishes of the Nile having eaten the
other : this was replaced by sycamore wood, and the
body was again complete.
Temples were ultimately raised wherever a limb of
Osiris was found, and one of surpassing magnificence
at Philce, where the body was finally placed. The
story has a curious episode. When Isis was seeking
the chest, she was materially assisted by Anubis, the
son of Osiris and Nephthys. Nephthys was the wife
and twin-sister of Typhon, as Isis was of Osiris, and
Anubis was the fruit rather of a mistake than an
infidelity, he was represented with a dog's head, and
somewhat of a dogs nature, but he was wise and good
like his father. The search for the chest or coffin was
long in vain, and this was owing to a singular proof of
the divine nature of Osiris. The chest was driven by
 11
OF OSIRIS AND ISIS.

the waves on the coast of Phoenicia, as has been

already mentioned, and there entangled among the
shrubs. One of these, affected by the divine nature of
Osiris, grew so enormously as to enclose the chest in
its trunk, and the king Malkandros passing by, saw
the huge trunk, ordered it to be cut down, and made
it a pillar in his palace. Anubis, and certain conse-
crated birds, informed Isis of this fact, who, in a
slave's habit, went, goddess as she was, and sat down
by the fountain before the walls of Byblos. The
maidens of the queen found her here, and entering
into conversation with them, she bound up their hair.
When they went back to the palace, exquisite odours
filled the atmosphere : then they told of the stranger
who had bound up their tresses. The queen sent for
the stranger, and invited her in ; and as she had a
newly-born son, she laid him in the arms of Isis, and
the goddess became his nurse. Isis gave him not the
breast, but put her finger into the infant's mouth, and
at night, when all slept, then she laid him on the
fire, and purified him from earthly dross in the glowing
flames. The boy grew wonderfully, but the queen
watched one night, and saw the ordeal :— she shrieked
aloud. — Isis appeared in her own celestial shape, amidst
thunder and lightning, so terribly beautiful, that
Maneros, the eldest son of the king, perished for fear.
She gave to the queen the child, and laid her own
hand on the pillar wherein was the chest of Osiris :
the sides of the pillar fell asunder, and the chest ap-
peared; the pillar remained to the king, but the
goddess carried off the chest, on which she gave her
tears full course.
The death of Osiris did not long remain unavenged,
for though, during all this time, Typhon had been un-
disputed monarch in Egypt, he had not slain Horus,
the son of Osiris and Isis, who had been concealed
12 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

from his anger in the city of Butis. Horus became

strong, and, leaving his concealment, proclaimed war
upon his fathers murderer, and vanquished him in a
series of battles. The result of that war was, that
Typhon was delivered up, bound, to Isis by Horus.
Isis, prevailed upon by his prayers and promises, set
him at liberty; whereupon Horus indignantly tore from
Isis the crown, and the head and horns of an ox im-
mediately appeared on the once lovely goddess ; this
was the work of Hermes, or Thoth, of whom we shall,
before long, have occasion to speak. Horus had now
a second war to wage, in which he was again success-
ful ;he slew Typhon, and threw him into the lake
Sirbon.
This will be easily perceived to be a fable of a mixed
nature, partly astronomical, and partly historical ; it
is, however, only with the astronomical part that we
are at present concerned. Osiris is a type of the sun
(and it may as well be noticed that he is represented
as such with one eye and a sceptre), and this will
sufficiently explain his diff using his favours all over
the world, though his beneficence is more particularly
experienced in Egypt. That the absence of the sun is
compensated by the light of the moon, will explain
the next fact, and the journeys of Osiris into other
countries do but exhibit an allegorical picture of the
change in the seasons. Ethiopia is to the south-west
of Egypt, and his return from that country not unaptly
represents the passage of the sun from the tropic of
Capricorn towards the equator. At this period the
south wind, here figured by Typhon, prevails, and it
usually blows occasionally for about seventy- two days,
which number is fixed on as that of the conspirators.
This wind is called Typhon, or rather personified in
him, on account of its noxious effects : were it to con-
tinue, itwould drive back the clouds which cause the
 OF OSIRIS AND ISIS. 13

overflowing of the river, and occasion sterility over all

Egypt. This hot wind, during the continuance of
which fevers and other contagious disorders prevail, is
called in the present day Khamsin : it] seldom lasts
more than three days successively, if it did, the country
wrould hecome uninhabitable. Horus, the son and
successor of Osiris, is, like his father, the lord of day,
and he is here said to have been brought up at the city
of Butis, on account of the lake near it, by which
is meant that the sun, attracting the w7aters, sheds
them again in dews upon the earth. When the
sun enters into the summer signs, his power be-
comes manifest e The northern winds prevail, and
the tempests from the south gradually disappear;
but in the month of June there is not unfrequently
a recurrence of the Khamsin, especially at the full
moon ; and, in the fable, it is Isis . who unbinds
Typhon, who is herself the moon. When the sun has
passed the tropic of Cancer, the north wind again blows,
the air becomes cool, the contagious maladies disappear,
the clouds retire towards Abyssinia, and the Nile over-
flows his banks. This is what is meant by the quiet
and peaceable reign of Horus : his interference with
Isis, by depriving her of her crown, is thus explained,
— that a lunar eclipse occurred. The rest of this fable
is of a historical nature, and its explanation is not
necessary to our subject.
A few remarks of Creuzer on the legend we have
just given will be valuable and appropriate : he ob-
serves that here, as in all systems, good and evil,
blessings and curses, are personified and represented as
enemies ; and he thinks that in this fable is repre-
sented those revolutions by which the Shepherd Kings
were driven out, and the people of Egypt came to the
possession of more knowledge, more civilization, and a
better system of religious worship. There are some
variations which, as they may occasion confusion in
 14 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

reading works in which the Egyptian mythology is

mentioned, we will briefly relate; — first, Diodorus
Siculus tells us that Isis, after she had found thirteen,
and replaced the fourteenth part of the body of Osiris,
caused each part to be separately embalmed ; and to
be so wrapped up as to resemble the whole person, so
that at each of the fourteen places where one part was
buried the priests supposed they had the whole, — as,
indeed, Isis assured them they had, — she commanded
them to worship Osiris as God, to choose out some
beast which should be consecrated and honoured as
much as he was. And, according to the same historian,
a fruitful subject of disputes among the Egyptian
priests in his day, was the question where Osiris was
really buried. It must be observed that, in each diyi
sion, the chosen animal was different, but the ox was
everywhere sacred. Diodorus further notices that
there was a third account of the body of Osiris ; viz.,
that Isis enclosed it in a wooden cow, and carried it
to Busiris ; and that of all the places in which a claim
was made for the honour of Osiris' sepulchre, Philce,
Busiris, Abydus* in Upper Egypt, and the temple of
Phthah, at Memphis, were the most holy.
A fourth account of Osiris we shall see, when
we come to treat of Apis. "We find here," says
Creuzer, "from the circumstances of an allegorical

* The temple of Osiris at Abydus was visited by Savary,

who gives a very interesting description of it. He says,
" The rudeness of the sculpture bespeaks antiquity, and art in
its infancy. The forms, attitudes, and proportions are all bad ;
among these various groups we perceive women suckling their
children, and men presenting offerings to them. The tra-
veller likewise recognises among the designs engraven on the
marble the divinities of India. M. Chevalier, governor of
Chandernagore, who lived thirty years in the East, examined
this ancient monument very carefully on his return from
Bengal, and remarked the gods Jaganaut, Ganesa, and Vishnu,
as they are represented in the temples of Hindustan."
 15
OF OSIRIS AND ISIS.

lesson, through whose help it was that a noble race of

men was raised up in Egypt from shepherds and fishers
to a state of civilization, and to the cultivation of the
land, and with this cultivation there was hound up a
knowledge of indispensable truth. The earth was hal-
lowed by the laws of religion ; and the men of the
earth were enabled to learn, in its culture, not only
their bodily, but their spiritual destination. Where-
soever man dies, there is the seed-land of Osiris, the
first cultivator, — wheresoever the mortal frame falls, his
command is obeyed — there does he cast out the seed,
and on the fertile earth another race springs up in the
place of the old. The body of man suffers a change,
as does the hull that wraps the vegetable seed ; but
the spring of common and individual life is without
change, and without fail."

CHAPTER IV.
OF THE THIRD STAGE OF EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY, THE
WORSHIP OF CONSECRATED ANIMALS.

In the preceding chapters we have noticed the worship

of one God as prevailing in Egypt ; we have seen
his attributes embodied and worshipped separately :
we have seen emblems chosen of his power and good-
ness— have seen those emblems in turn deified, and
types of these newer gods successively raised to the
rank of divinities ; but when the animals consecrated
at the temples of Osiris were themselves regarded with
superstitious reverence, then idolatry had, indeed,
arrived at a pitch to which mythological fable might
add diversity, but could not augment absurdity. The
reasons of the choice which obtained of animals thus
hallowed is involved in great obscurity : some are pro-
16 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

bably connected with the nature of the beasts them-

selves— some with astronomical allegories, and some,
perhaps, with now lost historical facts.
The diversity itself was enough to render almost
every animal sacred, and a few only were of general
account. It will not escape notice that the head of an
ox once appeared on Isis — in fact, she was frequently
represented with that configuration, and this circum-
stance, alone, would suffice to render that animal sacred.
She is said, in one fable, to have enclosed the body of
Osiris in a wooden cow. Apis, Mnevis, and Onuphis
were animals of peculiar sanctity, and these were
bulls ; hence there was no part of Egypt where the ox
tribe was looked upon otherwise than with reverence.
The goat, the cat, and the dog, seem to have shared
this sacred character ; and these, with some others,
had cities set apart as peculiarly their places of
sej)ulture.
A few words from Herodotus will be sufficient on
this point :— " The cats, when dead, are carried to
sacred buildings, and after being embalmed, are buried
in the city Bubastis. Dogs and ichneumons are buried
wherever they happen to die. The shrew-mouse and
the hawk are removed to Butos ; the ibis to Her-
mopolis : bears and wolves are buried in whatever
place they die, but not, like the dogs, in consecrated
chests." Thus much is gathered from Herodotus, who
enlarges upon the subject considerably. Of the animals
we have noticed, the ox and the hawk are sacred to
Osiris and to Horus, who is, in fact, the same — that is,
the sun ; the name by which this divinity (Horus)
was known in Egypt was Arueri, which, according to
Jablonski, signifies active virtue : if this be correct, as
there is reason to believe it is, the efficacy of the virtue
has already been shown in its physical effects on the
climate of Egypt, In addition to these names, the sun
 CONSECRATED ANIMALS.

was personified under those of Amoun and Dsom. In

the latter character they set forth the changing power
of the luminary as he rolled on in his annual course,
and hence they represented him, now as an infant, now
a full-grown man, then as bowed down with age ; but
this picture, making the Deity triple in appearance,
really added, not one, but three objects of worship to
the already numerous idols of the vulgar. Amoun,
whom the Greeks and Romans call Jupiter Ammon,
merely represented the sun when in the sign of Aries,
and commencing the vernal season ; and the closer we
examine, the more convinced shall we be, that for each
phenomenon of the solar course the Egyptians did not,
as other mythologists have done, invent new adven-
tures, and attribute them to the one solar deity, but
they made a new personification to embody the con-
dition of the sun under that phenomenon which was
the object of consideration. In this view it is that we
must contemplate the worship of Serapis, so long pre-
valent in Egypt, but whose origin is not so easy to
determine ; it seems, from the testimony of Pausanias,
that the worship of Serapis was established at Memphis
in times of remote antiquity, and that this was the
name given to the sun during the winter solstice,
" when, remaining long under the earth, he passes
over, and enlightens unknown regions." These are the
words of an ancient writer, explaining the meaning of
his name ; he is called the king of the infernal regions,
and in that character the philosophic emperor Julian
calls him by the same name : he was painted a dark
blue colour, which he also shared with Osiris.
Harpocrates, another name given to the great lumi-
nary at the same time, — viz., the winter solstice, —
coincides also with Dsom, Harpocrates being the name
ascribed to the infant in that series. He was repre-
sented as a child with his two feet joined together so
c
18 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

as to form but one, by which, was typified the slowness

of the sun at the tropic. He was seated on the open
flower of the lotus, a most expressive symbol, for this
flower, the magnificent nilotic lily, does not begin to
blossom till the end of Autumn. This was the real
meaning of the symbols, but the people were deluded
as usual by a legend. Isis brought forth the tender
Harpocrates, who was lame, having his legs joined
together so that he could not walk. Filled with shame
at this deformity, he remained in solitude, till Isis,
affected by his desolate situation, restored him the use
of his legs, by cutting them asunder.
One more solar symbol we must mention here, as
being intimately connected with that worship of animals
which prevailed in ancient Egypt. This was Mendes,
improperly called Pan by the Greeks, since there was
not sufficient resemblance to justify the identification.
Mendes was represented under the figure of a he-goat,
that animal typifying the fruitfulness which prevailed
in Egypt by means of the sun, and, because the most
prolific of quadrupeds, not unaptly chosen.* The wor-
ship of this divinity was conducted in a manner highly
disgusting ; he was in the number of the eight chief
divinities, and, according to Herodotus, the most
ancient of all. In the temples with his statue mys-
teries were celebrated in his honour, in which the
priesthood were first initiated. In one sense only he
has a close approximation with Pan, and still closer
with the Baal Peor of the Syrians.
P>ut this subject will not bear investigation : we will,
therefore, return to the consecrated animals. The
astrotheology into which Egyptian fables are ultimately
resolved having taken animals as symbols, soon elevated
those symbols in the minds of the people at large into
* This is the reason assigned by most ancient writers on
the subject, but it seems to have no foundation in fact.
 CONSECRATED ANIMALS.
19
real divinities. The signs of the zodiac were wor-
shipped, and the constellations not in that important
circle did not go without adoration. Various stars
became noted as rising or setting at particular seasons,
and serving as marks of time ; while the physical cir-
cumstances ofthe animal creation gave an easy means
of naming the stars and constellations, and thus con-
nected natural history with the symbolical theology of
the times. Thus, when the priests, the astronomers of
that day, divided the heaven into regions, they natu-
rally considered the regions of the earth ; and, accord-
ing to some ancient writers, they named the divisions
into which they, for the convenience of their observa-
tions, portioned out the vault of heaven, after animals
abounding in particular parts of the earth. But it
was not to be expected that an arrangement like this
should be understood by an uninstructed people. They
viewed everything in a literal point of view, and in
this particular it was the exact reverse of the truth.
Instead of referring these animals to the deities in
whose honour they were consecrated, those deities to
the heavenly bodies, and those again to the great first
cause of all, they left the Supreme Being out of the
question entirely, and worshipped the heavenly bodies;
the deities, their personifications, the sacred animals,
and the embodied attributes of God, — all at once, and
with the same reverence : this will account for the
number of deities in ancient Egypt, and the paucity of
adventures related of them. In their view the earth
was but a mirror of the heavens, and celestial intelli-
gences were represented by beasts, birds, fishes, gems,
and even by rocks, metals, and plants. The harmony
of the spheres was answered by the music of the
temples, and the world beheld nothing that was not a
type of something divine.
Egypt was, remarks Creuzer, not only the land of
C 2
20 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

the sun, but one vast pantheon. Every region of the

heavens has its peculiar animal, and every province
upon earth its type and temple belonging thereto.
The lowing of the ram in Spring, the roar of the lion,
and the increase of venomous reptiles, during the glow
of Summer ; the course of the gazelle or the goat after
the rainy season, the signs of the water-bearer, and the
fish, — not only prove that care was taken in the due
selection of signs, but thatf they were not confined in
their propriety to the land of Egypt. The nature of
the animals or plants was not overlooked in their con-
secrationin
: the dog was worshipped the vigilance,
watchfulness, and sagacity of Anubis, who was the
god of reason. In the lotus rising from the Nile was
adored the rising sun ; in the power and occasional
violence of the hippopotamus, and in the obstinacy of
the ass, were seen the malignant influence of Typhon,
and these, like Typhon himself, were worshipped
through fear only, in a deprecatory spirit. The sceptre
and the eye are emblems of Osiris, as well as the
hawk, which, from its piercing sight, and swiftness of
wing, is well chosen, and not less from its fondness for
sunshine. The cat, as a nocturnal animal, is not an
unapt emblem of the moon, and of Isis, by its activity
and fecundity. The crocodile, which was supposed to
have no tongue, wras therefore taken as an emblem of
the divine wisdom, which needs not speech.
The sacred bulls, Apis, Mnevis, and Onuphis, deserve
a particular attention among the consecrated animals.
Of these, Apis was the chief : princes did not disdain
to offer sacrifices to him. Alexander the Great, Ger-
manicus, Titus, Adrian, were among the number of
his worshippers, though, undoubtedly, it was in their
case more from political than religious motives. Apis
was, in fact, the same as Osiris, or rather the perpetual
abode of Osiris soul. An animal so holy as this could
 21
CONSECRATED ANIMALS.

not be born like other oxen — hence the priests asserted

that he owed his origin to celestial fire. The marks
by which Apis was known were a white spot resem-
bling acrescent on the right side, and a lump under
the tongue. As soon as a bull thus marked was found,
they built a temple to the new divinity facing the
rising sun, where for four months he was fed with
milk. When this term was expired, the priests re-
paired with great pomp to his habitation, and saluted
him by the name of Apis. The bull was then placed
in a vessel, magnificently decorated, covered with rich
tapestry, and resplendent with gold, and conducted
down the Nile to Nilopolis. During all this period
women only were permitted to salute him. After cer-
tain ceremonies at Nilopolis, he was conducted with
the same state to Memphis, where his inauguration was
concluded, and he became sacred to all the world.
An animal so distinguished as this could not but be as
marvellous in his endowments as in his origin : accord-
ingly every gesture was watched minutely. Pliny says,
" Apis has two temples, called beds, which serve as an
augury for the people, when they come to consult him ;
if he enters into a particular one, it is a favourable
presage, and fatal if he passes into the other. He
gives answers to individuals, by taking food at their
hands. He refused that offered him by Germanicus,
who died soon after/'
Many such events are related by historians who treat
of Egypt, but this example will be sufficient. Once
every year a grand festival was held in his honour, in
which, however extraordinary it may appear, oxen
were immolated to him. During this festival very
great prodigies took place : among other things, Ara-
mianus Marcellinus says, " The crocodiles forget their
natural ferocity, become gentle, and do no harm to
anybody." With these great advantages, Apis had,
22 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

however, some drawbacks : he could not live beyond a

certain period ; and if, when he had attained the age
of twenty-five years, he still survived, the priests
drowned him in the sacred cisterns, and privately let
down his embalmed body into vaults prepared for the
purpose. They then announced that Apis had disap-
peared but
; if before this period he died a natural
death, they proclaimed his death, and bore his body,
sumptuously embalmed, to the temple of Serapis
at Memphis. This temple was entered only by the
priesthood, and by them only when Apis was interred.
The gates were called Sorrow and Oblivion, and, as
Plutarch tells us, made a mournful sound when opened.
On the death of this bull, the wThole land was filled
with sorrow, which lasted till another was found. On
one occasion, Apis came to a violent death : this wras
during the invasion by Cambyses, and it was by the
hand of that furious despot that this insult was offered
to the religion of Egypt. The priests, of course, de-
clared Cambyses under the curse of the gods, and attri-
buted his madness to their vengeance. Previous to
that time dogs had been highly honoured in Egypt, but
they now lost much of the respect that had been paid
to them ; for when the body of the murdered divinity
was cast out into the streets, all other animals reli-
giously abstained, but the dogs sacrilegiously devoured
it. Astronomically considered, Apis is a personage of
some consequence ; the twenty-five years of his life
marked a period of the sun and moon, and it appears
that the worship of Apis commenced in the reign of
Aseth, the thirty-second Pharaoh, before whose time
the year bad consisted of 360 days generally, but
sometimes it had been partially corrected by the inter-
position ofdays at the pleasure of the reigning prince.
In the reign of Aseth five days were added to the 3(>0,
and a bull-calf was placed among the astronomical
 CONSECRATED ANIMALS. 23

symbols to designate the newly-reckoned year. After

this time it was customary to install the kings of
Egypt in the temple of Apis at Memphis. They were
first initiated in the mysteries, and were religiously
invested, after which they were permitted to bear the
yoke of the god to a sanctuary, from which the profane
were excluded. There they were obliged to swear that
they would not insert months or days in the year, but
that it should, as already established, consist of 365
days.
From these facts we learn that Apis was the symbol
of the solar year in its new and more exact form, and
that he was also the emblem of the cyle of twenty-five
years then just discovered. But he also, as is evident
from many ancient historians, typified the increase of
the Nile. The probability is, that by a long course of
meteorological observations, the priests had discovered
the coincidence of the two periods, signified by Apis, to be
productive of abundant harvests, and the anniversary
of the god was always held at the Nile's overflow.
Jablonsky says that the name signifies number and
measure, and if so, it well characterizes an animal
established as the guardian of the solar year, the cycle
of twenty-five years, and the presage of a favourable
inundation; but there is always a doubt upon such
information as is drawn by old authors from hiero-
glyphics.
 24

CHAPTER V.

OF THE ANIMAL DIVINITIES OF EGYPT, AND THE FOURTH

STATE OF PUBLIC RELIGION IN THAT COUNTRY.

In addition to the worship of Apis, there were two other

bulls which received divine adoration in Egypt : one was
called Mnevis, and was consecrated to the sun, and
was lodged in the city of the sun, On. Strabo mentions
both the city and the bull, but further than this we
know nothing of him. Far more ancient than Apis,
the aera of his consecration is now lost, and perhaps for
ever. De Yignolles, in his Chronology, gives it a date,
but the date itself is in a period when nothing is known
to be historically true : it is from this deity that the
Israelites borrowed the worship of the golden calf, and
this is the only circumstance of interest respecting
him : he most probably represents the zodiacal sign.
The worship paid to him, though lasting till the down
fall of the Egyptian hierarchy, gradually diminished
before the more important and popular rites of Apis,
and little is said about him in history. Another bull,
who obtained a share of adoration, was called Onuphis,
like Mnevis, dedicated to the sun. His dwelling was
at Hermunthis, and he was honoured as the symbol of
abundance. It seems that by this bull the height to
which the water reached in the inundations of the
Nile was set forth, and there still exist statues of him
surrounded by women suckling their children. Onuphis
is but little heard of, only two or three writers making
any mention of him.
There is yet another class of gods worshipped in
Egypt which must not be overlooked, while speaking of
 ANIMAL DIVINITIES. 25

the animal divinities : these are those mixtures of the

human and brute shapes which are occasionally seen ;
— Anubis, with the head of a dog ; Isis, with that of a
cow ; and the Sphinx, which to the body of a lion joined
the head of a woman. The first of these beings was
worshipped in a city bearing his name, and not exclu-
sively there, for he had chapels in almost all the
Egyptian temples. His worship was not, however, so
general, for a reason already assigned, after the Persian
invasion, — or, it would rather be correct to say, that
the dog, his emblem, was not so much respected. The
statue of Anubis was generally of massy gold, or, at
least, richly gilded, and so were all the attributes as-
signed to him. These peculiarities are thus explained:
— Anubis, like all other Egyptian deities, is an astro-
nomical personage ; he signifies the horizon, and as the
sun is always visible on the horizon, either as setting
or rising, the statue was golden or gilded. He had the
head of a dog, because that animal watches day and
night ; this is the signification according to Plutarch,
and in which Clement of Alexandria coincides. The
two Anubis', says the latter, are the symbols of two
hemispheres which environ the terrestrial globe. The
statue of this god was always carried in the sacred
processions of Isis and of Osiris ; and on one occasion,
when Commodus thought fit to introduce the Egyptian
worship at Rome, he carried, himself, the dog-headed
deity. As the faithful companion of Osiris and Isis, it
will be observed that the horizon must be ever present
to the sun and the moon, and he (Anubis) is made an
illegitimate son of the former, to account for his not
being himself, like Horus, luminous.
Isis has been already noticed. We now turn to the
Sphinx : a symbol of the sun in a position which could
in no other way be so well explained. This figure,
viz., the body of a lion with the head of a woman, —
26 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

intimates the overflowing of the Nile, which takes

place while the sun is in the signs Leo and Virgo, both
which are therefore united in the solar emblem.
Among the consecrated objects continually recurring
is the lotus ; nor is this the only plant endowed with
sacred properties ; vast numbers of vegetables were set
aside as holy, some for their medical virtues, some for
their poisonous qualities, some for their utility in
ordinary life, some merely for the periods at which they
flourish. To understand this, we must recur to the
presiding spirit, emanations from whom form the
souls of men, the lives of animals, the qualities of
plants and inanimate objects, — in short, that pervading
vital principle by which every existing substance is
what it is.
The Egyptian illuminati taught that everything was
once a portion of this supreme spirit, and should be-
come so again ; but the manner in which earthly objects
were portioned out, as consecrated to his symbolical
representatives, was very differently interpreted by those
wrho wrere not permitted to go within the veil. They
attributed an actual divinity to the lotus and the
onion, as much as to the ox and the hawk, as much
again as to Apis and Osiris, or to Phtha himself. Thus
the Egyptian religion degenerated into a fourth state,
a mere system of fetish worship, like that prevailing
among savage nations. There was a lofty and enno-
bling system of morality and philosophy concealed
under the cumbrous mass of their mythology ; but it
was to the bulk of the people a sealed book : its doc-
trines were conveyed to them in unintelligible stories,
and in many cases illustrated by abominable rites.
The state in which the national worship of Egypt was
in the lime of Juvenal is depicted in no very flattering
colours : at an earlier period there must hove been
more gods thin mem in that country, and the slaying
 ANIMAL DIVINITIES.

of a sacred animal was of far more account in wicked-

ness, than killing a man. An unfortunate Roman who,
in the time of the Ptolemies, killed a cat accidentally,
was torn to pieces by the mob, and that, although the
king's guards were sent to rescue him.

CHAPTER VI.
OF ISIS, AND THE EGYPTIAN DEITIES TYPICAL
OF THE MOON.

In the foregoing chapters the gods have been consi-

dered, and shown to bear universal reference to the
sun. Isis, the sister and wife of Osiris, typifies the
moon, and there are many other female divinities of
Egypt which coincide with her in this particular.
From the most remote antiquity the Egyptians vene-
rated this luminary, and as the sun was adored by the
name Phre previously to being personified under that
of Osiris, so the moon was worshipped by the appella-
tion Ioh. The Greek fables resulting from this worship
will be noticed in their place ; but Ave now must
remark that the priests, soon perceiving the effect of
the moon on the atmosphere, the winds, and the rain,
regarded that luminary, like the sun, as an efficient
cause of the periodical inundation. It was this consi-
deration which induced them to personify the moon
under the name Isis, which, according to Jablonski,
means cause of increase. This embodying and that
of Osiris took place 320 years after the departure of
the Israelites. At the new moon following the Summer
solstice, the Nile begins to swell, and the priests,
regarding Isis as the mother of the winds, and attri-
buting the rise of the river to the northerly winds,
28 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

gave her the credit of this heneficial phenomenon.

She was hence represented as crowned with the crescent,
hearing in her right hand the sistrum, a sort of kettle-
drum, wherewith she announces the rising of the
water ; and in her left hand a vase, to mark the
abundance of which she was the cause. The people,
who took all this literally, were persuaded that the
tears of Isis which she shed for the loss of Osiris, and
still sheds at the remembrance of that loss, caused the
increase of the Nile ; and Savary says that the Copts
are, though professing to be Christians, not yet cured
of this superstition. They say there falls a dew at the
solstice which makes the water of the Nile ferment,
and. thereby causes its overflow.
A little passage from Plutarch will show with what
attention the Egyptian priests remarked every coinci-
dence between the phases of the moon and the circum-
stances ofthe inundation. They say " that the degrees
of the elevation of the waters correspond with the
terms of the planet : thus, at Elephantinos, they rise
to the altitude of twenty-eight cubits, a number equal
to the days of her revolution ; that at Mendes, where
the increase was the least considerable, they arrived
to seven cubits, answering to the number of days in
which she decreases : that the mean term of the inun-
dation at Memphis was fourteen cubits, and was rela-
once tive
seento thethatperiod of the fullis moon."
the coincidence It will bethan
rather accidental at
really caused, as they supposed ; still the passage
shows both their industry and ingenuity. When Isis
had been once designated the cause of abundance, the
transition was easy to the personification of the earth
Under that name, and here again we shall find a few
adventures of the goddess agreeing with the physical
circumstances of the earth. Some of the priesthood
seem to have restricted the name of Isis, when so
 29
DEITIES TYPICAL OF THE MOON.

applied to that part of the Land of Egypt overflowed

by the Nile, and they called the inundation itself the
marriage of Osiris and Isis.
Sacred to the goddess of whom we are now speak-
ing was the brilliant star Sirius, called among the
Egyptians Sothis, and sometimes Isis, and by many
writers, Damascius among the rest, confounded with
her. It was from the rising of this star, on a particular
night, that the civil year of ancient Egypt com-
menced ;at this period they were enabled to tell how
high the waters would rise : and on this account
they called Sothis " the star which makes the waters
increase." Astronomically, this star was made use of
to mark, by its rising, the commencement of two cycles
called Sothic, the former of which comprehended 1461
years, and terminated when the sun was in the same
point of the heavens from which he set out. The
second was the Apis period of twenty-five years, con-
taining 309 lunar revolutions, and at the end of which
the new moons fell precisely on the same days. These
reasons, connecting the star Sothis with the moon and
with the Nile, seem to have been the cause of its dedi-
cation to Isis. A name by which Isis was worshipped,
or perhaps a personification of one of her attributes,
is Bubastis, a very popular deity of ancient Egypt ; her
symbol was the cat, and her worship is accounted for
by theories, some of which are absurd, and some of a
nature on which we cannot enlarge. A city called by
her name was the principal seat of her worship, and
the festival celebrated in her honour at that city was
the first in dignity and importance among those cele-
brated inEgypt. " Those who meet to celebrate this
festival," says Herodotus, " embark in vessels a great
number of men and women promiscuously. During
the passage, some of the women strike their tabors,
and the men play on flutes : the rest of both sexes clap
30 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

their hands, and join in chorus. Whatever city they

approach, the vessels are brought to shore ; of the
women some continue their instrumental music, some
call aloud to the females of the place, provoke them
by injurious language, and dance about in a manner
highly indecorous. On their arrival at Bubastis, the
feast commences by the sacrifice of many victims, and,
on this occasion, a greater quantity of wine is consumed
than in all the rest of the year. The inhabitants of the
city report that no less than 700,000 men and women,
not to speak of children, have been known to assemble
at this solemnity
Bubastis is the same in her office with the Greek
Ilithyia (called by the Romans Lucina), and was accord-
ingly invoked under the same circumstances. Plutarch
says that men were offered up to her in sacrifice :
those men were chosen who had red hair, and they were
called Typhons. After having been burnt alive, their
ashes were thrown to the winds. Porphyry states the
same fact^ but says that Amasis put an end to it, sub-
stituting waxen figures for the human victims. The
same accusation was brought against the Egyptians in
the time of Herodotus, who repels the charge, saying,
" How can we suppose that a people, who can scarcely
prevail on themselves to sacrifice a few animals, shed
human blood on the altars of their gods ?" The testi-
mony is,however, as strong on the other side, and the
question of Herodotus admits of a very obvious reply.
The animals were consecrated and looked upon by the
people as gods, and human life was on many occasions
shown to be less esteemed than the lives of these
beasts. Hence, if they were willing, in Egypt, to
sacrifice a few animals, there is no antecedent impro-
bability intheir being willing to sacrifice as many men.
H uman sacrifices were certainly not common in ancient
Egypt, though not, it would seem, so rare as to warrant
 31
DEITIES TYPICAL OF THE MOON.

the indignant remark of Herodotus. It may be asked

how can Bubastis be the moon, whereas she is the
daughter of Osiris and Isis, and Isis is herself the
moon ; but this does not offer any real difficulty. Horus
and Osiris are both the sun, yet the first is the son of
the latter, — in fact, Isis is the moon and the earth in
general; Bubastis is merely a particular attribute of
Isis, and a particular phasis of the moon ; viz., when
three days old, and on this account it was, that her
festival was celebrated on the third day of the lunar
month. The full moon was personified under another
name, and was worshipped at Butis, Buto, or Butos,
a city called after her and built in her honour ; here
was also an oracle, the most celebrated in Egypt, and
to which the sovereigns of that country had recourse in
times of difficulty.
One anecdote of this oracle is very interesting : it is
found in the second Book of Herodotus. Mycerinus
had been told by the oracle at Butos that he should
reign for six years, and die in the seventh ; this intel-
ligence astonished him, and he sent, in return, to re-
proach the oracle with injustice, for that his father and
uncle, Cheops and Cephren, who had been injurious to
mankind, and impious to the gods, had enjoyed each a
long life, whereas he who had been just and pious, was
threatened with death. The oracle said, in reply, that
this was in consequence of the conduct for which he
commended himself, — that he had not fulfilled the will
of the fates, who had decreed that for 150 years Egypt
should be oppressed, of which determination Cheops
and Cephren had been aware, but he had not. As
soon as the king knew that his death was inevitable, he
caused an immense number of lamps to be made, by
the light of which, when evening approached, he spent
his hours in festal magnificence. By night and day he
frequented the groves and streams, and whatsoever place
32 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

he thought productive of delight. Thus, by changing

night into day, he thought to live twelve years instead
of six, and so convict the oracle of falsehood, but in
the seventh year he died.
There is a legend connected with the goddess Butos,
which is of some consequence. After the death of
Osiris, Isis, to shield Horus from the power of Typhon,
brought him to the lake at the city Butis, and placed
him in the hands of the goddess so called. She
received him, and secured him in a floating island till
he attained the age of manhood, when he left his con-
cealment, and slew the usurper. This fable has been
thus interpreted. It had been early remarked that at
the time of new moon the dews were less frequent,
and that they became very abundant when the moon
was at the full. The moon, therefore, in this position
acquired a new character, and a new name ; a temple
was built to her on the borders of a lake, to designate
the humidity in which she delighted ; and we may see
from hence a cause for the popularity of a divinity so
beneficent, for where there is no rain, the nocturnal
dews were of incalculable service, and they formed the
chief reason for the adoration paid to Butos.
The rest of the legend refers to the hot wind which
prevents the falling of the dews, and the consequent
blessings of fertility when the Summer returned. But
when the sun acts upon the lakes, and raises up the
dews, and^at the same time causes the nortli wind to
blow, then the hot winds are again suppressed, and the
dew descends upon the earth. The shrew-mouse and
the hawk were sacred to Butos, and were, when dead,
embalmed and buried in her city. The reason for the
choice of the former was, that being esteemed blind, it
was an emblem of primaeval night or darkness. Butos,
Isis, and Athor will be now recognised to coincide :
Athor is the darkness that overspread the earth before
 DEITIES TYPICAL OF THE MOON.
33
creation, whereof night is the existing symbol, the
moon a symbol of night, Isis of the moon, Butos of
Isis, and the shrew-mouse of Butos. The ceremonies
in which this goddess, under her general name, Isis,
was worshipped, were celebrated at Busiris : vast num-
bers of victims were sacrificed, and great rejoicings
held. One species of reverence was a little singular;
men and women flogged themselves with great deter-
mination at this city during the festival, and this
flagellation was not unattended with mystery, Hero-
dotus says, he dares not mention in whose honour it was
that the stripes were given; and Yoltaire renders the
passage rather more comically than correctly, that he
does not dare to say how the stripes were laid on. —
" The Carians of Egypt treat themselves with still
greater severity; they cut themselves in the face with
swords, and by this distinguish themselves from the
Egyptian natives. This festival ranked next in dig-
nity to that of Bubastis, already mentioned; those of
Butos, celebrated in that city, were the fifth in rank of
the six great public festivals of ancient Egypt."

CHAPTER VII.
OF THE WORSHIP OF THE NILE, AND OF THE NAMES
UNDER WHICH IT WAS REVERED.

When we reflect on the advantages which the Egyp-

tians derived from the Nile, and take into consideration
the symbolical form of their mythology, we shall natu-
rally be led to expect that this beautiful river would,
in some way or other, be a common object of religious
adoration. We have seen how, by the changes of the
Nile, additions were made to the celestial divinities;
34 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

nor shall we be disappointed when we search for

earthly gods, formed out of the properties and inunda-
tions of this great cause of Egyptian plenty. Osiris
and Isis themselves were chiefly regarded as they
affected the rising of the waters; and this connexion
could not long be remarked without paying something
like the same adoration to the river itself. From the
curious fact that the inundations were called " the
marriage of Osiris and Isis/' it would seem that when
Isis represents the earth, the Nile coincides with
Osiris; and this may be the reason that Osiris is painted
of a deep-blue colour, a hue certainly very proper for a
personification of water, but not very appropriate to
the sun. It became soon a favourite article of the
popular creed, that the gods were born on the banks of
the Nile. Temples were raised to designate this, and
hence the river became the father of a numerous divine
progeny. Shrines were built to his honour, images
erected, victims sacrificed, and the crocodile consecrated
as his emblem ; indeed, the principal occupation of his
priests was, according to Herodotus, to embalm the
bodies of those who had been killed by crocodiles,
or drowned in the waters. His festival coincided with
that of Apis, and both were celebrated with great
magnificence. " This god," says Libanius, " is annually
invited by sacred ceremonies to assist at the splendid
festival, that he may overflow the lands; and if they
who preside over sacred things fail to observe this
solemnity at the appointed time, he would cease to
carry fertility
which was an over the plains
instrument madeof to
Egypt."
measure Athenilometer,
increase
of the river, was another symbol of the god, and a
model of this was carried in procession in his ceremo-
nies. Now this very instrument was consecrated,
according to Jablonski, by the name Serapis, and
wheresoever a nilometer was erected, there was a
 WORSHIP OF THE ]SILE.
35

temple to Serapis. It must not be forgotten, that

there was a celestial Serapis, agreeing with the sun, as
well as this terrestrial god, coinciding with the Nile;
and the wooden pillar which was carried about in the
processions of Apis, soon became endowed, in the
opinion of the untaught multitude, with a divine virtue,
and was deposited in the temples, as itself a god ; thus
then is the Nile adored as a symbol of the great Osiris,
the god Serapis as a personification of the Nile, the
nilometer as an emblem of Serapis, and the wooden
pillar as an emblem of the nilometer; while the croco-
dile was esteemed divine, and a symbol of all. In the
time of Constantine, the nilometer was regularly carried
in procession to and from the christian churches, as a
mark of homage "to him who ruleth the waters:" in
the time of Julian the ancient ceremony was restored,
and Theodosius the Great abolished it altogether.
Pignorius preserves a representation of a medal,
struck at Alexandria, on the obverse of which the Nile
is figured as an aged man, in a recumbent attitude : on
his head is a corn measure, in one hand the cornucopia,
and in the other a roll of papyrus, with an inscription,
" To the holy god Nile." On the reverse is a head of
Serapis, crowned with the corn-measure, round which
is the legend, " To the holy god Serapis."
The most splendid temple of Serapis was at Canopus,
which name seems also to have been given to the
divinity; and there is certainly very great difficulty in
ascertaining how it originated. This temple was
famous for the cures that were there performed, and
the licentiousness that was there permitted. A noted
oracle drew crowds of inquirers; the celebrity of the
priests, the salubrity of the situation, and the splen-
dour of the ceremonies, drew crowds of visiters, so that
there were few temples more popular than this. d 2 Here
36 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

it was that Ptolemy the astronomer made his observa-

tions, and on the columns of this temple his discoveries
were engraved, and here it was that the courtiers of
Alexander the Great wished to transport him when
dying. There is a story, but though worth mentioning,
it is hardly worth investigating for the purpose of refu-
tation, that the name was given to the city from the
pilot of Menelaus, who died here, when that prince
revisited Egypt. There is a more curious tale told by
Rufinus, in his Ecclesiastical History: " How," says
he, " can I paint the crimes committed by superstition
at Canopus ? There, under pretext of studying sacer-
dotal literature, magic was almost publicly professed.
This place, which may be termed the source of demons,
became more celebrated among the pagans than Alex-
andria itself. It will not be improper to unfold the
origin of these monstrous errors. It is said that the
Chaldeans, transporting the fire which was their god
into all the provinces, offered to let him combat those
of other nations, on condition that, if he remained con-
queror, they should adore him. The priest of Canopus
accepted the challenge, and devised this stratagem:
they fabricate in Egypt, pitchers of an extremely porous
earth, through which the water filtrates, and is puri-
fied; he took one of them, stopped up the pores with
wax, and painting it with various colours, filled it with
water: the top he covered with an ancient statue's
head, said to be that of the pilot of Menelaus. This
he declared was his god. The Chaldeans presented
themselves, and the contest began; they lighted a fire
round the vase, the wax melted, the water made its
escape, and the fire was extinguished. The fraud of
the priest gave the victory to Canopus over the Chal-
dean deity. From that moment the image of Canopus
has always been made with very short feet, a narrow
 WORSHIP OF THE NILE.

neck, and the back and belly rounded like a pitcher*

It is under this form that he is worshipped as the van-
quisher ofall the gods."
This tale has crept into several works designed for
the instruction of youth, and therefore requires notice.
It is not true that Canopus, or Serapis, was so repre-
sented, nor did the Egyptians ever worship water,
except in a personification of the Nile, or the dew.
The pitchers in question were emblems of the Nile,,
and so far sacred; and they were peculiarly appro-
priate in the temple of Serapis, at Canopus, because
the earth, out of which they were fabricated, was found
in the neighbourhood of that city.

CHAPTER VIII.
OF TYPHON, HIS WIFE NEPHTHYSj AND HIS
CONCUBINE ASO.

In relating the legends of Osiris and Isis, we have

seen a prominent part performed by Typhon, repre-
sented as the brother of these beneficent divinities.
That Osiris and Isis, the sun, the moon, the earth, the
dew, and the Nile, should be worshipped, is in accord-
ance with the obvious dictates of human nature; but
that Typhon should be worshipped, requires some
explanation.
This adoration was the result of fear, and coincides
strictly with the devil-worship still met with among
some savage African tribes; the malignity of this
being they strove to appease by sacrifices and offerings,
and when he would not be propitiated, they beat and
insulted his statue. The crocodile, from his destructive
character, the ass from his obstinacy, the hippopotamus
38 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

from his fierceness, were sacred to the evil genius; at

least so we are told by Plutarch. Now modern tra-
vellers are unanimous in saying, that the hippopotamus
is, unless provoked, a quiet and stupid animal; and
surely the patient ass does not seem an apt type of the
spirit of violence : there is evidently some reason which
has been withheld, and which we shall perhaps never
know. This remark will apply to many other such
symbols. The goat, for instance, though so proverbial
for its lustful character, is not remarkable for fecundity;
it is by no means equal to the cat or the rabbit; it is
not, therefore, on account of its fruitfulness, that it is
consecrated to Mendes.
But to return to Typhon. The animals sacred to
him were fed in the precincts of his temples, and sup-
posed to be animated by the soul of the demon. " The
Egyptians/' says Plutarch, " when he could not be pro-
pitiated with sacrifices, loaded him with opprobrious
terms, abused him with invectives, and struck his
statue. If any extraordinary heats happened, which
occasioned pestilential disorders, or other calamities,
the priests, holding Typhon in horror, conducted into
some gloomy place one of the animals dedicated to
him. First they tried to terrify them with menaces,
and if the contagion did not cease, they sacrificed him
to the public vengeance." This conduct was politic,
for if the result was successful, the priests had the
glory of overcoming Typhon; and, at all events, it
allayed the fears and raised the hopes of the suffering
people, which alone was likely to have a beneficial
effect.
The adventures of this being have been already
noticed, when speaking of Osiris, and there the mention
was made of his wife and sister, Nephthys, who, by
Osiris, had a son, Auubis; Osiris leaving his crown of
lotos with Nephthys, it became evident who was the
 OP TYPHON. 39

father of the dog-headed deity. Now, in order to

explain this fable, it will be necessary to recollect,
that Isis signified that part of Egypt which was
inundated by the Nile, and Osiris, the river itself.
Hence the overflowing was termed the marriage of
Osiris with Isis. But in years of extraordinary
increase, the waters flowed beyond 'this limit, and
blessed with a temporary fertility the desert plains
beyond the hills. Among the most remarkable of the
plants thus raised would be the lotus, which would
show how it was that the once barren land became so
suddenly fertile. These desert plains, over which the
hot wind (Typhon) blows without interruption, were
soon represented as the wife of that demon, condemned
to perpetual sterility.
Aso, or Thueri, another mythological personage, was
also concerned in the dethronement of Osiris by Typhon ;
and she is merely a personification of the south wind
that blows from Ethiopia, which frequently blows with
the khampsin, and aggravates its mischievous effects.
The sands which are carried over the country by these
storms, offer a very natural explanation of that part
of the fable which makes Nephthys accompany her
fearful spouse on this terrific expedition. In some old
sculptures Nephthys is represented as a frightful figure,
having the head of a crocodile, the body of a swine,
and the hands of a woman. As the crocodile was con-
sidered sacred both to the Nile and to Typhon, this
destructive creature was very carefully tended in many
districts of Egypt; and it will not be foreign to the
purpose to notice the account given us by Herodotus
of this veneration.
" Those who live near Thebes, and the lake Mceris,
hold the crocodile in religious veneration; they select
one, which they render tame and docile, suspending
from its ears golden ornaments, and sometimes gems of
40 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

value. (The crocodile has no external ears, and there-

fore the meaning of Herodotus must be, that the orna-
ments were fixed to two membranes which cover
apertures just below the eyes, and which apertures are
supposed to be ears.) Its fore -feet are confined with a
chain : they feed it with the flesh of the sacred victims,
and with other appointed food. While it lives, they
treat it with unceasing attention, and when it dies, it is
first embalmed, and then deposited in a sacred chest/'
He further remarks, that those who do not consider this
animal sacred, but kill it whenever they can, call it
champsa. Now this word signifies a chest, or ark ; and
this explains why the crocodile should be dedicated to
Typhon; for it appears from Creuzer's remarks, that the
body of Osiris was eaten by a crocodile, and carried thus
to the sea; and hence it is that the animal, being a type of
opposition to Osiris, should be only partially worshipped.
We will close this chapter with an account of the
worship of Papremis, or Mars, at the city so called,
and with a remark concerning Anubis, which was
omitted in its proper place in the fifth chapter.
" At Heliopolis and at Butos, sacrifices alone are
offered, but at Papremis, in addition to the offerings of
victims, other ceremonies are observed. At the close
of the day, a small number of priests are in attendance
on the statue of Mars; a greater number, armed with
clubs, place themselves at the entrance of his temple;
opposite to these may be seen more than a thousand
men tumultuously assembled, with clubs also in their
hands, to perform their religious vows. The day be-
fore the festival, they remove the statue of the god,
which is kept in a small case decorated with gold, to a
different apartment. The priests attendant upon the
statue place it, together with its case, on a four- wheeled
carriage, and begin to drag it along. Those at the
entrance of the temple endeavour to prevent its admis-
 OF TYPHON.
41

sion, "but the votaries above mentioned come to the

succour of the god, and a combat ensues between the
parties, in which many heads are broken, and, I should
suppose, many lives lost, though this the Egyptians
positively deny. The motive for these ceremonies is
thus explained by the natives of the country : the tem-
ple is, they say, inhabited by the mother of the god ;
he coming himself to visit her, and not being known by
the attendants, was roughly refused admission: obtain-
ing proper assistance, he returned, severely chastised
those who had opposed him, and obtained admission
to his parent. From this circumstance the above
combat was every year performed at the festival of
Papremis."
With regard to Anubis, it should have been men-
tioned that his dwelling was supposed to be in the star
Sirius, which was, on that account, called the dog-star,
fcvoov, by the Greeks; Canicula by the Romans; and
the period when it rises heliacally is the first of the
dog-days.

CHAPTER IX.

OF THOTH, OR HERMES TRISME GIST U S.

Hitherto we have seen the Egyptian mythology as

embodying a system of natural philosophy, and for the
most part reducible to astrotheology. We must now
examine it in another point of view, and investigate
the moral philosophy which it taught; for, as has been
before remarked, this and every system has a moral,
as well as a physical and a mythological sense. The
divinity who forms, as it were, a link to connect the
metaphysics with the physics of the ancient Egyptian
42 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

system, is Hermes, or Thoth. On the one hand he is

represented as another name for, or a variety of, Anubis,
whose splendid abode has been just pointed out; and
on the other he leads us, as it were, behind the veil of
mystery, and lays open to our view what were the
opinions of this extraordinary people, as to the nature
and destination of the soul.
It will not be foreign to the subject to show the
chain of ideas by which the dog-headed Anubis becomes
the thrice-great Thoth (Hermes Trismegistus). Astro-
nomically he is the horizon, the watcher, having the
rays of the sun ever shining upon him, the constant
companion of the luminaries. From hence he is mytho-
logically made the companion and faithful guardian of
Isis, the sentinel, ever wakeful, of the Gods, and placed
in the most glorious star to notice all that passes in
heaven and earth ; but a being so placed must be infi-
nite in wisdom; there can be nothing hid from his eye;
the natures of animals, plants and stones, the actions
of men, and the events of kingdoms; he gives notice
to the gods of all that passes, and hence every kind of
knowledge must be referred ultimately to him; but in
this character he is no longer called Anubis, but
Thoth; and this name will require to be examined.
As Anubis he belongs to the material, as Thoth, to the
ideal or metaphysical system, and is, in fact, a perso-
nification ofwisdom.
The sages of ancient times engraved upon pillars,
walls, and altars, the lessons they designed to leave
behind them. On this subject, Josephus has a remark-
able passage, which, whatever degree of credence we
choose to give it, as an historical fact, is yet quite
satisfactory as to proving the custom. "The patriarch
Beth," says he, " knowing that Adam had foretold how
every tiling 0n earth should perish, either by fire or by
a general deluge, and fearing lest philosophy and astro-
 43
OF THOTH.

nomy should be effaced from the remembrance of men,

and be buried in oblivion, engraved his knowledge on
two columns, the one of brick, the other of stone, that
if the waters should destroy the former, the latter
might remain and instruct the human race in astrono-
mical knowledge. This column is still to be seen in
the Siridiac land/'
Now, when we examine the works of Manetho, who
lived 300 years before Josephus, there is the same
column noticed as existing in the Siridiac land, and a
declaration that he (Manetho) had seen it; that the
column was engraved by the first Thoth, in sacred lan-
guage, and in hieroglyphical characters ; that after the
deluge, the son of the second Thoth had translated the
inscription into the language of the priests, and had
written them in sacerdotal characters.
We must go a little lower down, and we shall find
Ammianus Marcellinus speaking of a similar event:
his words are, — " It is affirmed that the Egyptian
priests, versed in all the branches of religious know-
ledge, and apprized of the approach of the deluge, were
fearful lest the divine worship should be effaced from
the memory of man. To preserve the memory of it,
therefore, they dug, in various parts of the kingdom,
subterranean winding passages, on the walls of wrhich
they engraved their knowledge, under different forms
of animals and birds, which they call hieroglyphics,
and which are unintelligible to the Romans."
Now, before we speak further of Thoth, let us exa-
mine alittle these passages ; and first that of Manetho,
which is the most ancient: this was taken from a tra-
dition preserved among the Jews concerning Adam, of
which Josephus gives a more exact account in the pas-
sage quoted, and Ammianus Marcellinus gives one still
more altered from the original tradition than that of
Manetho. We shall have, in another part of this work,
44 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

occasion to show how the Jewish traditions were

altered and adopted in all nations, and in Egypt parti-
cularly, where that people dwelt some centuries, and
with which country they ever kept up a close inter-
course.
Herodotus, in the 141st chapter of his second hook,
gives the Egyptian account of the destruction of Senna-
cherib's army, foisted into their own history, and
ascribed to the prayers of Sethos, their king. This is
a sufficient proof as to what use the Egyptians made
of the history and traditions of the Jews ; but the
passage from Ammianus deserves a little further notice,
because, after having ascribed all the theological know-
ledge to the antediluvian Egyptians, he says, that they
engraved their attainments on the walls of their sub-
terranean temples, to prevent the loss of the sciences ;
this is to state, that the characters were truly hiero-
glyphics, and not confined to any language, which is
not in accordance with the words of Manetho, who
tells us what was the language in which they were
written. The latter omits to say where the Siridiac
land is situated : which was a great oversight, inasmuch
as no other person, ancient or modern, seems to have
known its locality.
But, to leave this digression, the word Thoth, ac-
cording toJablonski, means a pillar, and this explana-
tion makes nearly all the difficulty vanish : it shows us
how persons, separated by many ages, may have been
taught by Thoth : it proves that this personification of
wisdom was not a man, however wise, but the col-
lective discoveries of the wisest of mankind; and it
accounts for three eras in the history of science having
given to this personification the title of Trismegistus,
or thrice-great. We, also, by this explanation can
see why it was that so many books were ascribed to
Thoth, more particularly when we know, which (lalcii
 OF THOTH. 45

expressly asserts, " that the discoveries engraven on

pillars had not the names of the authors." The other
idea, namely, that Thoth was a distinguished man,
who, hy his learning and inventions, first civilized
Egypt, will appear totally impossible, if we reflect on
the discoveries attributed to him ; for Diodorus says,
" All the sciences, institutions, and arts, were invented
by Thoth/' The three Thoths, however, seem to refer
to three eras. The Egyptians placed the most ancient
before the deluge : this marked the infancy of human
knowledge whether it be true that they had monu-
ments which had really survived that tremendous
event, or whether some of their earlier pillars bore
reference to events before the flood, of which the
memory was preserved by tradition. The second
Thoth denotes the attainments of that era when chro-
nology and astronomy began to be studied with success,
when the hieroglyphics were translated into the sacer-
dotal characters, and law and religion became fixed
establishments. The third denotes the perfection of
arts, sciences, and religion, — a state to which the
Egyptians deemed they had attained, and to the per-
sonified wisdom of their own age, they applied the
magnificent epithet, thrice-great. The representations
of Thoth, for the most part, give him the form of
Anubis ; it is thus that he is depicted as the friend
and counsellor of Osiris ; in his hand he holds the
lantern by which he throws the light of philosophy
upon every object, before him is the mirror of the
gods, — the mirror of philosophy, in which, if a man
look, he sees himself as he is,— beneath his feet is the
vessel of water of the Nile, out of which vessel, if any
one drink, he shall be purified from all grovelling ideas,
and his mind shall be set upon science. Of a being so
gifted, Creuzer thus speaks in his mythological work :
" As Osiris, in Apis, is an embodying of that life, that
46 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

principle of vitality which never perishes, but through

generation after generation continues to flourish, so
Thoth, or Hermes, is the personification of mental
power, and is chosen in the semi-human form in which
we see him, on account of its connexion with the
hieroglyphic characters of which he was the inventor :
he is the ever-increasing wisdom of all times."
Finding, then, that abstract truth had a personal
representative among the gods of Egypt, we shall be
induced to expect that, if all beings were emanations
from the Great First Cause, and consequently all
eternal, that the purest of those emanations should be
eternal in one state, such as the soul of man, which
remains, and shall remain, the same thinking spiritual
essence ; that when that spirit is released from those
circumstances, which, however emblematical, are yet
but clogs upon its powers, the soul shall arrive at the
knowledge of truth, which is here impossible. This
expectation is fulfilled by the system under considera-
tion. No sooner is the spirit of man released from the
body, and entered upon that course of existence which
is at length to reunite it with the Supreme Being, than
Thoth becomes its conductor.
The period of wandering assigned to the soul of man,
and indeed to every spiritual existence, is 3000 years ;
during that time the human spirit passes through
various states of existence in other shapes, till the
mystic period arrives, when it is reabsorbed into the
eternal Phtah, and again beamed forth an emanation
of his creating energy as a fresh human soul. Through
all these changes it is led by Thoth; he unites the
spirit to the body, he releases it when struggling to be
free therefrom, he is the inventor of medicine, of em-
balming, he prepared the body of Osiris for the tomb ;
and when the latter is depicted as passing judgment
on the dead, Thoth, in the figure of Anubis, is still by
 OF THOTH.

him, with, his writing-table and scroll, and in a still

higher signification of secret worship was he identified
with Osiris as the ruler of life and death.
It is from the observations on stellar bodies that the
Egyptians derived their natural philosophy — a fact
which naturally led them to say that all learning came
from the stars ; and when the god of wisdom was placed
in the most brilliant of those lights, it is only in con-
formity with their system to say that all moral know-
ledge came thence also ; but that divine wisdom, which
they boasted to receive from above, was not to be
divulged to the profane. That which concerned the
arts, the comfort of life, and the regulation of moral
conduct, they made publicly known ; but that esoteric
philosophy, which taught of the human soul and the
origin of all things, of the mysteries of astronomy and
the system of cosmogony which they had established,
this was considered as consecrated, and as much inter-
dicted to the bulk of the people as the sacerdotal office.
On this account it seems to be, that there were two
kinds of writing among them, one hieroglyphic, which
was rather allegorical than picture-writing, and the
other a species of figures, which may have been picture-
writing reduced to characters, not unlike the Chinese ;
the one could only be understood by the initiated, the
other was allowed to be common property.
 46

CHAPTER X.

OF THE COSMOGONY, AND THE MORAL PHILOSOPHY

OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.

The most important article of the ancient Egyptian

moral philosophy was the belief, among that people, of
the soul's immortality. — a belief that was inculcated by
the priesthood, set forth in allegories of yarious kinds,
typified by many ceremonies, and uniyersally receiyed.
In this respect, the antiquity of the system operated
greatly in its fayour; it was nearer to the fountain-
head, and consequently less corrupted. It was among
this people, too. that the notion of transmigration
seems to haye taken its rise, and was taught in the
way before mentioned to a considerable extent. The
immortality of the soul was set forth by very significant
ceremonies. At the conclusion of a feast, a coffin, with
the figure of a corpse within it, was carried round the
company, and exhibited to the guests, and the epi-
curean maxim repeated, — i: Snatch the enjoyments of
time, for by and by thou shalt resemble this." But
this maxim was held by the better informed to signify,
" Snatch the intellectual enjoyments of time, for they
shall last, while the others will not ayail thee when
thou shalt be like this."
Another ceremony, and a still more significant one,
was that at funerals ; all those who had anything of
which to accuse the deceased were commanded to come
forward and declare it, as he was now to answer for it
before the gods. Porphyry tells us, also, that the
intestines of bodies embalmed were put into a chest,
and the following prayer to the sun was repeated by
 OF THE COSMOGONY. 49

one of the embalmers, — " 0 Sun ! if the dead has in

this life been in any way criminal, we pray thee to
pardon him. seeing that he was guilty only on account
of these." He then points to the chest, which is imme-
diately thrown into the river.
From this passage, and from many others, we may
gather that the Egyptians believed the spirit of man to
be threefold, viz., an intellectual spirit, whose seat was
in the head, — a moral spirit, situated in the heart, —
and a sensual or animal soul, which was lodged in the
bowels. This singular, but ingenious, theory was
borrowed by the Greeks, from them by the Romans,
and maintained its ground a long while.
We must not conclude our notice of Egyptian my-
thology without some account of that wonderful and
interesting statue, so often referred to by poets — the
statue of Memnon. It was said among the Egyptians
generally to be the statue of one of their early kings,
Osymandias. It was of gigantic dimensions, composed
of granite, and had the peculiarity of yielding a sweet
sound at sunrise. This was the contrivance of the
priests, who were capable, as is well known, of far greater
wonders than this.
The name given to it by the Greeks was Memnon ;
but whether Memnon or Osymandias, both Greeks and
Egyptians declared him to have been the son of the
morning. In this light he is spoken of by many Greek
and Latin poets, and it will be worth while to investi-
gate the fables which give him so illustrious a birth.
u Tithon." says a writer but little known, (Isacius
Tzetzes,) " son of Laomedon, was beloved by the
goddess of day, of whom were born Memnon and
Emathion." which passage is thus explained by Dio-
dorus : M Tithon, son of Laomedon, and brother of
Priam, led his armies into the eastern countries of
Asia, as far as Ethiopia, whence arose the fable of
E
50 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

Memnon, born of Aurora." But the Ethiopian Mem-

non, who was spoken of as black, could not have been
that one mentioned by Diodorus in the passage above
quoted, for, in the first place, there is little reason to
suppose the Memnon of Homer a sable warrior, and.
in the second place, his discoveries must have been of
a curious order if he found Ethiopia in the east of Asia.
But this difficulty is removed by another passage of
Diodorus, and a corresponding one of Philostratus.
" Memnon," says the former, " came to the aid of
Troy, commanding the armies of Teutames, emperor
of Assyria, whose assistance Priam had implored, be-
cause Troy was dependent on Assyria. Teutames sent
him 20,000 men, Ethiopians and Susians, and 200 cars,
commanded by Memnon." This warrior, beloved by
the emperor, and then governor of Persia, was in the
prime of manhood, and famous for his strength of body
and mind ; he had built a palace in the city of Susa,
which bore his name till the reign of the Persians,
and was then called, in scripture, Shushan the palace.
Again, Pausanius tells us, that it was from Susa,
and not from Ethiopia, that Memnon came to the siege
of Troy; and Philostratus says, that he was long pos-
terior to the Ethiopian Memnon, whose worship was
established in Egypt.
The true name of the statue was Amenophis, which
signifies teller of good tidings, and by its shadow it
indicated the approach of the equinox. In the time of
Herodotus it did not sound, for Cambyses had muti-
lated it,and it was not restored till the reign of the
Ptolemies. The Romans subsequently bore witness to
its vocal powers, and placed several inscriptions on the
base to that effect.
It appears that this statue, like most other objects of
Egyptian idolatry, was in the view of the priests only
an astronomical symbol. They held that the universe
 OF THE COSMOGONY. 51

was created at the vernal equinox, " that when the

stars began to move in space, Aries was in the middle
of heaven, the moon in Cancer, the sun rose with Leo,
Mercury with Yirgo, Yenus with Libra, Mars in Scorpio,
Jupiter in Sagittarius, and Saturn in Capricornus."
There was also an old Egyptian chronicle, which
stated that, after 36,525 years, the zodiac would be
again in its former position with regard to the planets.
Amour, a god whom we have already mentioned, was
consecrated to the vernal equinox ; Amenophis was
also sacred to the same season, and it was at that
period that the statue was said to utter the seven vocal
sounds which were the symbols of the planets. These
seven sounds, which also constituted the ancient gamut,
explain to us the origin of that most splendid fable, so
fruitful in lofty poetry — the harmony of the spheres.
A treatise on Egyptian mythology cannot be better
concluded than by the beautiful and philosophical
remarks of Savary: — "It was not the intent of the
priesthood at first to enslave their nation to the
wretched superstition that did prevail. The necessity
of expressing themselves by allegorical fables before
the invention of letters, and the keeping of these repre-
sentations intheir temples, accustomed the people to
hold them sacred. When writing became familiar,
and they had wholly forgotten their first meaning,
they no longer set bounds to their veneration, but
actually worshipped symbols which their ancestors
had only honoured. Osiris and Isis became the tute-
lary deities of Egypt. Serapis presided over the inun-
dation Apis
; presaged abundance ; and the evil genius
Typhon menaced destructive evils. Deeply impressed
on their minds, it was difficult to erase these ideas
without overthrowing the national religion. It may
be, too, (for men are ever the same,) that the priests
adroitly profited by this ignorance to make themselves
E 2
52 EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

mediators between heaven and earth, and dispensers of

the divine will, yet we ought to be circumspect in pre-
suming to judge a body of the learned, who published
the laws by which Athens profited, and raised so many
useful and durable monuments.
" "We must be cautious how
priesthood, when we reflect how wetrue blame
it isthe
thatEgyptian
sensible
objects have more power over the multitude than all
the precepts of wisdom ; so much so, that the Hebrews,
though so well instructed, and kept so separate from
the Egyptians, yet profiting by the absence of Moses,
who waited on the mountain to receive the command-
ments, forced Aaron to make them a golden calf.
Reasoning impartially, we must perceive that it is
equally difficult and dangerous to show mankind phi-
losophical truth.
" The greatest men of Greece and Rome, like the
Egyptian priest, acknowledged only one God. Mytho-
logy was to them a chain of allegories, veiling physical
effects and natural causes, yet they bowed before the
shrines of Jupiter, Pallas, and Yenus. Socrates alone
had the boldness to exclaim against these fabulous
deities, and Socrates was obliged to swallow poison.
"We have a later instance in Galileo, who, after being
obliged to beg pardon on his knees for having dared to
speak the truth, and to announce a most important
discovery, was persecuted for the remainder of his life,
and died in exile.
" These facts, with many more that might be cited,
show that, if the Egyptian priests were culpable, we
must not condemn them with too much rigour, for, in
those distant ages, when they spoke but by types,
idolatry took rapid strides, and it was scarcely possible
to destroy it without destroying the national religion.
The gods of Laban, which Rebecca stole, were hiero-
glyphics, the signification of which was probably lost
 53
OF THE COSMOGONY.

to Laban, and he adored these images, because they

descended to him from his forefathers. The same
thing happened in Egypt, where hieroglyphics became
the divinities of the people, when they could no longer
comprehend their meaning. There was, therefore, but
one way to extinguish superstition, and that was by
the destruction of hieroglyphics ; but this sacrifice
would have robbed the priests of their knowledge, as
well as of the absolute empire they held over the mind.
There are individuals sufficiently generous to renounce,
from notions of pure benevolence, the seductive charms
of power, but there never was a body of men capable
of an effort so sublime." — Savory's Egypt^ Letter xxix.
 54

Section II.

THE HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

The acute and highly-civilized inhahitants of India

have heen for many ages in possession of philosophical
and scientific knowledge to a very great extent. This
knowledge, like that of the Egyptians, has heen wrapped
up in a thick envelope of fable, — so thick, indeed, as
to defy the researches of all save the most learned in
oriental manners and languages. Light has, however,
from time to time heen thrown upon this intricate but
interesting subject, and of late years the labours of
Sir William Jones, of Mr. Wilford, Mr. Ward, Major
Moor, and Mr. Colebrook, have rendered it accessible
to the English reader. Still there are obscurities which
remain to be cleared up, and the subject is far from
having received that general attention which its im-
portance demands. The knowledge that we have
obtained of it gives us an additional and most valuable
link in the chain of evidence, — that all systems of
idolatrous religion, from the most elaborate to the most
barbarous, exhibit so uniform an appearance that we
may safely decide them to be branches from the same
root; and what that root was, is an inquiry, whether
philosophically or historically considered, of no small
moment. Major Moor, in his Hindu Pantheon, remarks,
" that it is particularly necessary to distinguish between
the religion and the mythology of Hindustan," — a
remark which, while ajrplicable to every similar sub-
ject, ispeculiarly true in this instance.
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 55

The first impression made on the mind by the con-

templation ofIndian superstition is the incalculable
number of divinities, — they have been said in round
numbers to amount to 30 millions. But when we
reconsider the matter, and allow first for the philo-
sophical doctrines, historical events, and astronomical
facts, from which the poets have compiled their mytho-
logy, representing as gods, abstract qualities, kings,
stars, planets, and inventing for them suitable trains of
attendants, — and when after this we find the same
divinity worshipped under many names, with slight
changes of attribute, and acknowledged to have had
many incarnations, all of which are separately adored,
we shall cease to accuse the Hindoos of worshipping
more gods than other pagan nations.
It is the opinion of the most eminent Eastern
scholars, that there is no part of the Indian mythology
which has not some hidden meaning, either philo-
sophical, astronomical, or historical; and, apart from
this personifying system, they acknowledge but one
god. This great being, who is called Brahm, is never
addressed in prayer or praise. It is to his embodied,
or rather personified, attributes that all religious wor-
ship is due. " Of that being," says the Yeda, " whose
glory is so great, there is no image, — this is that invi-
sible eternal being which illumines all, which delights
all, from which all proceed, by which they live when
born, and to which they must all return." It will be
noticed that in this beautiful passage the supreme
being is not spoken of as " hej" in fact, such an ap-
proximation tohuman nature would seem blasphemy
to the mind of a Hindoo. When speaking of Brahm,
the Indian priests exhibit a more rational and correct
spirit of philosophy than could be expected from men
living in the practice of idolatry. Nothing can be
more strictly in accordance with truth than their doc-
56 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

trine, — " Worship and sacrifice are good, because they

are pleasing to God; it is from this they derive their
goodness; they are not good in themselves, and there-
lore pleasing to him." Saving this article of their
creed, — the belief in the one self-existent eternal Deity,
— the rest is all allegory. The attributes of God are
considered as threefold, — creating, preserving, destroy-
ing ;and from the personification of these three powers
arises the very curious Hindoo Trinity. Of this, the three
persons are Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver,
Siva the destroyer. These have given names to sects,
each placing the object of their own worship in the
chief place, and deeming the others but manifestations
of the divine power. That which took its appellation
from Brahma has long since become extinct; war and
persecution have destroyed his followers, overthrown
his temples, and rooted up his altars; and though a
distinguished object of religious worship, his image is
always placed in the temples of Vishnu and Siva.
The Vaishnava, or worshippers of Vishnu, are now the
most numerous in India; the Saivas (the adorers of
Siva) form, however, no inconsiderable part of the
community.
We shall now, as far as it is possible to consider
them separately, touch on the history of Brahma ; but,
in order to do this, we must first notice that most inte-
resting personage of eastern mythology, Narayana.
It has been already noticed, that of Brahm there are
no images, — no temples: he is considered too awful to
be addressed by mortals, too sacred to be made the
subject of poetical romance. But the Hindoos are too
devoted to allegory to forbear touching in some way
even this forbidden subject; and hence, by a distinction
not easy to be entertained by a European mind, they
have personified " the spirit of God" under the name
Narayana. It is worthy of note, that the name
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

Narayana signifies "moving on the water." While

thus moving upon the water, resting upon the thousand-
headed serpent Sesha, from the navel of Narayana
sprang the lotos, and from the lotos, Brahma. It
seems best to give this fable in a form more unmixed
than it will afterwards appear, because it serves here
to introduce this creating power as an emanation of
the spirit of God, in which light the more enlightened
among the Hindoos wish it to be considered.

CHAPTER II.

OF THE HINDOO TRIAD, BRAHMA, VISHNU, AND SIVA.

We shall not be surprised to find these three powers of

the Hindoo triad continually coinciding. That the
same power which in the first instance created the
world, still upholds it, soon appeared to the oriental
philosopher as a necessary truth. Hence they decided
that Brahma and Vishnu are the same person. They
perceived, also, the indestructibility of matter; that
those changes which took place in the visible creation,
were but re-creations under the semblance of destruc-
tion; that the tree died, but that a forest sprung up
from its seed. Aided by the doctrine of transmigration,
they boldly predicated the same of mankind; and de-
claring that destruction was but creation in another
form, determined Brahma and Siva to be the same.
Brahma is likewise considered as a personification of
matter, and of the earth, — Yishnu, of spirit and of
water, — Siva, of time and of fire. As the creator,
Brahma is represented with four heads, with which he
looks over the four quarters of his work, and also
because of the four seasons. Keeping in view this
58 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

manifold character, we shall see how the philosopher

might join with the poet in declaring that all material
forms pre-existed in him : he has also four arms, in one
of which he usually holds a hook, probably one of the
Yedas, — in another, a sacrificial spoon, — in a third, a
rosary, — -and in the fourth, a sacrificial vase. This is
not invariably the case, but so generally as to make
variations rare. His colour is dark-red, typifying the
matter of the earth, and also fire, and the sun, in which
he respectively coincides with Yishnu and Siva. Pro-
ceeding to the creation of the world, he peopled it by
causing the tribe or caste of the Brahmans " to spring
from his mouth, — the chetri, or soldiers, from his
arm, — the vaisya, or mercantile class, from his thigh,—
the sudra, or servile caste, from his foot from his eye
came the sun, from his mind the moon; " he created
all worlds."
The extravagant tales which are to be found in some
books as to the dimensions and shape of the earth, —
its mountains millions of miles high, its seas millions
of miles across, and its inhabitants, some with square
faces, some with triangular faces, and so on, are not to
be considered otherwise than as the fancies of the
authors, as the French would call them, " contes a rire."
The Hindoos have been long aware of the true system
of astronomy: they give the same names to the signs
of their zodiac that we do, and have been very expert
at astronomical observations, from periods during which
science was unknown in Europe.
The sect who worshipped Brahma chiefly have been
long extinct, but Yishnu and Siva are each extolled by
their followers, as being respectively God. All the
divine attributes are ascribed to them, and Brahma is
said to have sprung from Yishnu, as we have already
described him as springing from Narayana; yet, if
pressed on the subject, a Hindoo will acknowledge the
 BRAHMA, VISHNU, AND SIVA. 59

supremacy of Brahm, and that the three whose names

head this chapter are hut his attributes. Of Brahm
the sun is the chief emblem, for he sends light and
warmth through creation, as does Brahm, by sending
forth his animated or vital rays, which rays are the
souls of animated beings, and which will one day all
return to himself. All else that is said of God is but
maya, or delusion. This word maya, delusion, is much
used in Hindoo philosophy, and serves to get rid
of any contradiction or absurdity whatever.
The history of Brahma is so mixed with that of
other divinities, in which he usually plays a subordinate
part, that it will be better treated of under other heads.
He must not be dismissed without noticing that the
tribe or caste of the Brahmans derive their name, not
from Brahma, but from Brahm, and they are so called
because their duties are principally of a religious nature.
A more popular object of adoration is Yishnu, the
second person of the triad, and the personified attribute
of preservation. The act of creation is past, those of
preservation and destruction are still going forward;
from which consideration we derive an additional rea-
son for the comparatively trifling adoration paid to
Brahma. Yishnu, whose avataras, or incarnations, are
the favourite subjects of Hindoo poetry, when repre-
sented in his own person, is depicted with four arms, in
one of which he holds a bow, — in another, an arrow, —
in a third, the chakra, a sort of quoit, — in the fourth,
the chank, a shell of magic power: he rides upon his
peculiar vehicle, Garuda, (a man with an eagle's head,
wings, and claws,) and is generally accompanied by his
consort, the beautiful Laksmi; when thus attended,
the arrow is laid aside, and with the disengaged arm
he presses his companion to his side. As the mytho-
logical representation of water, he is depicted of a
dark-blue colour, gorgeously attired, and majestically
60 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

sailing through the atmosphere over which he presides.

Those who would confound Yishnu with Narayana will
do well to ohserve that the latter is represented with
two arms only, and without any of the usual accom-
paniments ofYishnu; coinciding only in the dark-hlue
colour. With regard to the figure called Laksmi,
sitting at his feet, it will be explained in the succeeding
chapter. Whatever may be said of the paintings in
which the conception is embodied, it is certainly one
of the most sublime efforts of Eastern genius to imagine
the personification of the Infinite Spirit reposing on the
bosom of Eternity, and attended only by his own per-
vading energy, sending forth from the recesses of his
contemplation the fiat of creation.
But if the history and worship of Yishnu be inte-
resting from its romantic splendour, the severe and
awful character of Siva, the third person in this triad,
is not less so. As the destructive attribute exhibited
in a personal form, he shares the general worship paid
throughout India to Brahm, and is himself the object
of especial adoration to a great number of the inha-
bitants of that country. Like Yishnu, he has a thou-
sand names, among which, Rudra, Mahesa, and Maha-
deva, are the chief; and by this last, as his most usual
appellation, he will be called in future, in the course of
this work. He is represented as of a wThite colour,
with light hair, and riding a bull, which is also white ;
his countenance is calm, but severe; and the manner
in which he is adorned, testifies the fearful light in
which he is viewed; round his neck he wears a neck-
lace of skulls; he wields the trisula, or trident, and the
battle-axe ; sometimes he is depicted with eight arms,
and then he bears in one a gory head, said to be a head
of Brahma, — in another, an antelope, — in a third, a
cup filled with blood, — the fourth and fifth bear an
hour-glass, or, perhaps, the Indian sacrificial drum,
 BRAHMA, VISHNU, AND SIVA.
61
which looks very like an hour-glass, — another a flame,
a cluh, a spear, or some warlike instrument, — the trisula
and the battle-axe occupying the other two. This is
not invariable: he is, however, seldom represented
without some of these attributes. But that by which
he may be always distinguished is a third eye placed
vertically in the middle of the forehead. His hair is
usually gathered up in a knot, and from it a fountain
is spouting, from which proceeds the river Ganges,
hence called the daughter of Mahadeva. Snakes are
twined around his arms, legs, and hair, in the shape of
fantastic ornaments; he wears earrings of snakes, and
this even when represented in the mildest form. As
the presiding power of reproduction, he is typified by a
sign called linga. As to this sign, we shall have a few
words to say in another place ; it is here only noticed
as being so universally attributed to Mahadeva and his
consort, Parvati, as to identify their images wherever
found. A very curious mode of representing him is
conjointly with his consort, Parvati, in one person, one
half being male, and invested with the attributes of
Mahadeva, and one half female, adorned with those of
Parvati; this joint divinity is called Ardha-nari. The
third eye of this deity is intended to personate the sun,
with whom, however, Yishnu and Brahma coincide, as
well as Mahadeva.
Parvati is the moon, and a specimen of the manner
in which mythological fables have been framed from
astronomical facts, is shown in the allegory by which
the cause of eclipses is set forth. The intervention of
the moon between the sun and the earth, by which the
light of the former is obscured, is told thus: — Parvati,
on one occasion, placed her hand over the eyes of her
consort, — those eyes from which issued the day.
Wrapped in impenetrable darkness, and deprived of
the genial influence of the sun-beams, the heavens and
62 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

the earth were in consternation, when Mahadeva,

causing a third eye to start from his forehead, removed
the general terror. Parvati withdrew her hands, but
the drops of perspiration which fell from the head of
the agitated divinity caused the sacred river Ganges.
Mahadeva is seldom seen without the river flowing
from his head, and never without the additional eye:
he bears on his forehead a crescent, and is often
crowned with the linga.
We shall close this account of Mahadeva by a relation
of one of his most celebrated exploits, and this because
it will afford an opportunity of introducing a few
remarks as to the principle of Hindoo worship.
A demon named Tarika, who reigned as a sove-
reign upon earth, and from his capital city, Tripura,
was called Tripurasura, (Sura is the Sanskrit
name for a demon hostile to the gods,) compelled
Brahma, by the force of penance and austerities, to
promise him any boon he should demand. The auste-
rities and penances which he performed are thus de-
scribed inone of the Puranas. Each penance lasted one
hundred years. 1. He stood on one foot, holding the
other, and both hands up towards heaven, with his eyes
fixed on the sun. 2. He stood on one great toe. 3. He
took for sustenance nothing but water. 4. He reduced
himself to an aerial diet. 5. He was immersed in the
water. 6. He was buried in the earth. 7« He re-
mained in a fire. 8. He stood on his head, with his
feet upwards. 9. He stood on one hand. 10. He
hung by his hands on a tree ; and lastly, he hung on a
tree with his head downwards. During the eleven
hundred years so employed, he continued in undeviating
adoration.
Now the gods very well knew to what end all this
devotion tended, and they also knew that they could
not hinder its accomplishment, or refuse to grant the
 BRAHMA, VISHNU, AND SIVA. 63

boon, however extravagant, which the devotee de-

manded. They remained, therefore, for ] 100 years in
fear and trembling; and wrhen the period was complete,
Tripurasura demanded unrivalled strength, and an in-
capacity of death, save from the hand of Mahadeva's
son; but in order that there should be such a son, it
was necessary for Mahadeva to become incarnate, an
occurrence not deemed very probable. Trusting that
this would never be the case, Tripurasura became so
arrogant that he caused all the gods to yield up to him
their powers and their treasures,— all save Brahma,
Vishnu, and Mahadeva, who, as personifications of the
three divine attributes, could of course yield to no
created being. The sun gave no heat, the moon re-
mained always at full, the winds blew as the demon
dictated, and, in short, he became lord of the world.
At length, Kartikya, whom some call the son of Maha-
deva, and others an incarnation of Mahadeva himself,
appeared on earth, and, after a terrific conflict of ten
days, destroyed the oppressive daitya, and restored the
wrorld to tranquillity. Kartikya wras thrown from
heaven, while yet imperfectly formed, into the Ganges,
whence he arose after some time, endowed with super-
human beauties. Six daughters of as many rajahs, the
wives it would seem of the Rishis, coming at the time
to bathe, each claimed him for her son, and offered her
breast. Kartikya forthwith assumed six heads, and
wras suckled by them all ; hence he is called the son of
six mothers, whereas in point of fact he never had any
mother at all, being an emanation from Mahadeva.
Kartikya is the god of war, but is seldom represented
with warlike weapons.
To return to the story of Tripurasura: it will be
seen from that anecdote that austerities and penance
have an actual and definable value, independently
of the motives with which they are performed; and
64 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

indeed some of the most remarkable personages in

Hindoo fable are those who have by such means ob-
tained power. We shall see presently a case in point,
in the dwarf avatar of Vishnu ; and, by finding the
supremacy of this triple personification still preserved,
even when some being becomes sovereign of heaven,
earth, and hell, we are led to form some idea of the
spiritual nature of the Hindoo triad ; in fact, it is only
by viewing them as the embodied attributes of the
Supreme Being that they can be supposed exempt from
the power of their own devotees*.
We have noticed that Mahadeva, Vishnu, and
Brahma, all typify the sun, yet, in the fable just re-
lated, we find the sun under the command of Tripura-
sura, and Mahadeva destroying him. The inconsist-
ency arises from this — that having, in accordance with
philosophy, begun an allegory, the poets often finish it
in accordance only with fancy, so that the latter part
does not coincide with the former. Two beings may
be ascertained to have been originally the same, but,
being invested with different attributes, they become
mixed up with different allegories, and are thus brought
into unexpected collision. This subject will be treated
of at greater length when we come to consider the
coincidence of different systems of mythology.
We must not quit this fable and close the chapter,
without noticing that Mahadeva and Kartikya are per-
fectly distinct in other fables ; it is only in this that a
little doubt occurs as to which was the destroyer of
Tripurasura. Southey's Curse of Kehama will be read
with profit and delight by all who wish to know the
* In the tale of Ravana they are, by a singular inconsis-
tency, introduced as slaves under other names, and, conse-
quently, Vishnu, though a slave to the power of Ravana,
descended from glory, and assumed the form of Rama, to
rescue himself and his fellow gods. This is an oversight in
the poet.
 65
OF THE SACTIS.

efficacy of penance and sacrifice in the Hindoo religion.

The notes contain almost a body of oriental mythology,
and the tale is told in such strains as are not easily
forgotten.

CHAPTER III.
OF THE SACTIS, OR PERVADING ENERGIES OF
THE GODS.

Each of the three powers which have been already

mentioned, is figured to have his consort, that is to
say, a personification of his actual power ; for, in some
systems of Hindoo theogony, the consort, sacti, or per-
vading energy, is made to proceed from the body of the
the god, as Eve did from that of Adam. In short, as
Brahma, Yishnu, and Mahadeva, are personifications
of creating, preserving, destroying power, so their sactis
are personifications of the several instances of their
action. This will be found to be a correct account of
their origin, but, having once introduced a person, — no
matter by what process, — the Eastern poets will never
let it go without a string of adventures, by which ad-
ventures itdoes, as has been already noticed, become
mixed with other allegories, and produces difficulties
not to be unravelled.
Of these sactis. there is one only who is not the
consort of a person of the triad ; that one is Aindri, the
sacti of Indra, and it seems probable that Indra is only
so attended when found to coincide with Yishnu.
These sactis, or consorts, are those of Brahma, known
by the names of Brahmini, but chiefly Saras wati ; of
Yishnu, called Laksmi ; of Mahadeva, called, according
as she is considered with regard to the attributes of her
F
66 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

lord, Parvati, Bhavani, Devi, Durga, and Kali. The

name Narayana is fitted with a feminine termination,
and made into a sacti. Saraswati, then, is the spirit
of creation in action, and hence, on account of the
creative genius required, she is the goddess of poetry,
of painting, of sculpture, of eloquence, and music ; she
is the inventress of the Sanskrit language, and of all
those sciences which writing perpetuates. Falsehood
in judicial swearing may be expiated by sacrifices to
her, and to this, Moor attributes the general disregard
of truth prevalent among the Hindoos. Images of
Saraswati are very rare, but in paintings she is usually
represented as riding a peacock, and holding in her
hand a lyre, on which she is sometimes made playing ;
the lotos, and a scroll and cup, are sometimes given
her, and occasionally she is made four-handed, and
displaying them all. She is usually dressed in red, the
colour of her lord, and her peacock is blue.
Like Brahma, Saraswati is not honoured with
temples and altars; her pictures are found in the
shrines of other gods, and, among so intellectual a
people as the Hindoos, meet with great respect.
Laksmi, the consort of Yishnu, the goddess of
beauty, of grace, of riches, and of pleasure, could not
fail of being a popular object of worship ; she is pic-
tured of transcendant loveliness, of a dark blue colour,
like Vishnu, apart from whom she is not often seen.
She is very much adorned, and forms a favourite sub-
ject for Indian painting, as well as poetry. The wor-
shippers of Yishnu consider her as the mother of the
world, and call her Ada Maya, Her history consists
chiefly of her incarnations, in which she accompanied
her lord, and which will be noticed in the proper place.
We now proceed to a goddess of far more conse-
quence, Parvati, by which name she is usually called
when considered as the consort of Mahadcva, and an
 OF THE SACTIS.-

inhabitant of the celestial mountain Kailasa, whereon

Siva dwells. In this character she is the genial god-
dess of fecundity ; exquisite in beauty ; she is wor-
shipped aspresiding over marriage, and (more properly
than Laksmi) as the mother of all created things. It
was in this attractive character that she put her hand
over the eyes of Mahadeva, and caused the eclipse that
occasioned so much consternation. Her exclusive wor-
shippers, (and in this shape she has many, or rather,
worshippers of Mahadeva, who recognise in her the
active principle of her lord,) are called sactas, more
properly yonijas. The worship paid to her is of a
mystic and typical character, and is paid to her only
as the universal mother, and the principle of fecundity.
There is a right-handed mode of conducting it, and a
left-handed, that is, some sects adore her in a decorous,
and others in a licentious, manner. When separated
from her lord, and viewed as the active operation of
divine justice, she assumes a stern and fearful cha-
racter still
; resplendent in beauty, she is invested with
the insignia of destruction, she wears the necklace of
skulls, and the bracelets of serpents ; she rides the
white bull proper to Mahadeva, or sometimes her own
tiger, and has ten arms.
The fable in which her first adventure, and indeed
origin, is given is this : a certain spirit, named Mahi-
shashur, after a fierce contest in the shape of a buffalo
with Indra, defeated him, and expelled him and his
attendant spirits from their paradise. These van-
quished spirits, after walking the earth for awhile,
assemble together, and resolve to lay their grievances
before Vishnu and Mahadeva. Conducted by Brahma,
they were introduced into their presence, and told the
tale of their sufferings: they were heard with com-
passion, and so vehement was the anger of the deities
against Mahishashur, that a flame issued from the
F 2
63 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

mouths of the gods, which joined in forming a goddess of

inexpressible beauty, with ten arms, and in each a diffe-
rent weapon. This was a transfiguration of Parvati,
and was called Durga. This goddess was sent against
the demon, and furnished with a lion to ride on, a
present from the Himmalaya mountain, she attacks
the usurper. Gifted with the power of changing his
form, he long eluded her attacks, till at last, in his old
shape of a buffalo, the new divinity planted her foot
on his head, and severed it at a blow. Immediately, a
human body darted from the headless animal, and
aimed a fearful blow at the goddess ; but the blow was
warded off by the paw of the lion, and Durga put an
end to the combat by piercing the monster to the heart
with a spear.
This is an allegory of no very difficult solution;
Mahishashur is a personification of vice, and that which
conquers vice must be virtue, not contemplative, but
active. Hence Durga, who proceeds from all the
gods, is active virtue. As to the similarity, or rather
identity, of this and other fables with those to be found
in more western systems, this is not the place to con-
sider it,but it will receive due notice in its season.
It is difficult to distinguish between the character
and attributes of Parvati under the name of Durga, and
under that of Devi ; the latter is more common, it
signifies goddess, as Deva does god, and the appellation
Maha is not unfrequently applied. Mahadevi, then,
signifies great goddess, as Mahadeva does great god.
Devi is almost always a terrific deity, sometimes she is
represented with and sometimes without the necklace
of skulls, but rarely without some weapons of war.
She had some peaceful occupations, and, among others,
that attributed by the Romans to Lucina ; but perhaps
this is more proper to Anna Purna or Anpurna, another
form and name of Parvati ; it signifies the dispenser of
 OP THE SACTIS.

food, and she is a common household divinity in the

Mahratta country. She is there represented with a
large spoon or ladle. As Devi, however, she is more
lofty, and in many pictures, Mahadeva, Yishnu, and
Brahma, are adoring her. Devi is the goddess, to
propitiate whose favour the ascetics of India perform
austerities so remarkable.
In the fifth volume of the Asiatic Researches, an
account is given of a person who had made a vow to
continue for twenty-four years with his arms above his
head, but he died before the completion of the term.
Major Moor saw him, and describes him thus :— " His
arms had fallen quite shrivelled on his elbows, the
upper arms being perpendicular, the fore arms horizon-
tal ;his clenched fingers falling on the opposite elbow,
so that the fore arms and the upper arms being nearly
at right angles, they formed three sides of a square
over his head. When I saw him, he had, I think, been
twelve years in that position, and his arms were of
course immovably fixed, but he told me that, at the
expiration of the time of his vow, he expected to
restore their functions by certain medicines and fric-
tions, accompanied by the superior potency of cere-
monies and sacrifices. He was attended by several
disciples and servants, and travelled very respectably
in a palky, with suitable attendants, and was of course
treated everywhere with great attention ; all pious
persons feeling happy to contribute to his conveniences.
His nails were very long and crooked, or spirally
curved ; his hair and beard were also very long, and
were plaited and bound up together on his head. He
wore no clothing, but a slight cloth round his middle,
nor did his disciples, who were mostly very stout hand-
some young men. Others raise their legs over their
heads." " I once," says Moor, " saw a man who had
been in this position many years ; his shrivelled legs
 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.
70
had fallen upon his neck ; his posteriors, if they could
now be called so, were in front under his chin, and he
sat on his curved spine. Such penance, (of which we
have seen eleven other species attributed to the demon
Tripurasura,) are called Tapeswa, and there are in all
eighteen kinds/'
This consideration leads us to another and more
tremendous form of Parvati, namely, that of Kali. Here
she has a great variety of representations, but the em-
blems of destruction are common to all; sometimes as
a most hideous and loathsome, but still terrific, being,
surrounded by serpents, with hair erect, and a circlet
of flames round the head : sometimes fearfully beautiful,
her four hands filled by dissevered heads, which she
holds by the hair, and her tigers looking on fiercely, as
though eager to snatch the prey.
In the present age, human sacrifices are no longer
allowed ; when they were, they were offered to Kali.
Men only, of twenty-five years of age, were offered to
this sanguinary divinity, and before the victim was
struck down, these words are directed to be recited,
— " Let the sacrificer first repeat the name Kali, thrice,
then let him say, Hail, Kali, Kali ! hail Devi, hail god-
dess of thunder, iron-sceptred, hail! fierce Kali, Kali
cut, cut, slay, destroy the hateful, bind, bind, secure,
cut with this axe, drink blood, destroy, destroy. — Salu-
tation to Kali." This sacrifice was called the nera-
medka ; and it is not a little curious, that an enemy
might be immolated by proxy, substituting a bull or a
goat, and calling it by the name of the intended vic-
tim. But Kali has a still further meaning; she is
eternity; as such she is thus described :— " Maha Kali,
black and dreadful, is encompassed by symbols of
destruction ; two of her hands seem employed in the
work of death ; of the other two, one seems pointing
downwards, alluding to the universal havoc which sur-
 OF THE SACTIS.

rounds her, whilst the other, pointing upwards, seems

to promiseson,the regeneration of nature by a new creation."
— Pater
Now this seems to imply Time, not Eternity; nor 71
does it very well agree, except upon this supposition,
with the following remark. When Kal, or Time, shall
have devoured all things, the three personified powers
will cease to exist; and one of the Puranas has the
singular and valuable passage : "Kal, devouring himself,
shall cease to be, and nothing shall remain but Brahm
the eternal one/'

CHAPTER IV.

OF CELESTIAL SPIRITS, AND OF DEMONS.

There are some individuals whose names are so fre-

quently met with in Hindoo mythology, that it will be
necessary, before we pass on to speak of the other gods,
to devote a little time to these spirits. Among these
are eminent, the Bishis, Munis, or Menus, for they
are said to be the same ; they are seven in number, and
are the children of Brahma; from this circumstance
they are called Brahmidicas.
The first in the list of Menus is Swayambhuva, who
seems to have been Brahma in a human form, and is
esteemed as the father of men. In some writings he
is called Adimi, and is said to correspond with the
Adam of the Hebrew scriptures. This subject will be
noticed again in its proper place. Swayambhuva, who
ever, is but a personification of the course of human
life, for he is successively, under various names, ruling
over every age.
 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.
72
From the beginning to the end of time, there will be
five great periods, called Calpas*, each of which is pre-
ceded bya renovation of the world, and a general flood.
Each Calpa is governed by its own particular deity, in
the following order: Devi Surya (the sun), Ganesa,
Vishnu, and Iswara, or Mahadeva: Brahma has no
particular Calpa, his influence extending over the
whole, and preserving it through the power of Vishnu,
as he will finally destroy it through that of Mahadeva.
To Swayambhuva were born three daughters, for whom
Brahma created three husbands, named Oardama,
Daksha, and Ruchi. Cardama is acknowledged to be
Mahadeva, Daksha to be Brahma, and hence it would
seem that Ruchi must be Vishnu; here we have three
other persons filling the places of these deities, and yet
enjoying an independent existence. We shall presently
speak of Daksha; meantime we observe, that as human
life rarely extends to a hundred years, and all mankind
may be supposed to have died off who were alive at
the beginning of that period, some time before its close,
we find Swayambhuva dying every hundred years.
The genealogy of all these persons is involved in
much obscurity, and it is very difficult to say who they
were, or from whom they sprung.
The Hishis were much esteemed for their holiness,
and seem to have a distinguished place among the
immortals. They are adored as the seven bright stars
in the constellation Ursa Major; and there is an astro-
nomical fable connected with them that must not be
omitted; the Hishis were married to seven beautiful
and starry brides, to wit, the Pleiades. Now there
are only six of these, and the business of the fable is
to show that they were once seven, and wbatis become
of the other one. " Agni, the ardent deity of fire," says
* "Wecalpa,
fourth are whereof
now, according
Vishnu istoruler.
Hindoo chronology, in the
 OF CELESTIAL SPIRITS.

Moor, Ci was charitably disposed to communicate some of

his warmth to these ladies, then dwelling with their
husbands in the arctic circle. His addresses were
without the intended success ; for Swaha, his wife,
assuming in turn the shape and appearance of all the 73
Pleiades, listened to Agni's amorous tale. This ma-
noeuvre afterwards reached the ears of the Rishis, who
did not, it seems, credit the ingenious device of Swaha,
for they not only dismissed their wives, but, like great
bears as they were, drove them out of the arctic circle."
What became of them then, " the old books show not,"
but they must have found their way to the earth, for
we afterwards find them nursing young Kartikya when
he came out of the Ganges, as has been already men-
tioned; and he, in gratitude for their services, restored
them to heaven, and gave them a warmer place.
One of the seven, Arundhati, either through her
superior reputation, or the better sense of her husband,
whose name, Vasishta, deserves remembrance, was not
suspected on this unlucky occasion; she remained with
her husband, and makes one of the smaller stars in
that splendid constellation. It is a poetical and a
happy idea of Hindoo poets, to represent these two
stars as presiding over conjugal happiness, and some
very graceful allusions are made to them in the Ra-
mayana.
The first of the Menus has been spoken of as agree-
ing with Adam; the last does with Noah, in the
opinion of Sir William Jones; hence they may be sup-
posed to coincide with the antediluvian patriarchs.
We shall close our remarks on the Menus with
giving an account of the creation preserved in a very
curious treatise. " Rise up, 0 Rudra, and form man
to govern the world. Thus spake Brahma, and Rudra
obeyed; but the men he made were fiercer than tigers,
 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.
74
Laving nothing in them but the destructive quality; so
they soon destroyed one another, for anger was their
only passion. Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra, then
joined their several powers, and created the Munis."
Besides these, we hear of the Pitris, an equally myste-
rious class of beings. One passage touching them is
introduced on account of the astronomical knowledge
it displays; it is from the Institutes of Menu, chap. vi.
v. 66. " A month of mortals is a day and a night of
the Pitris, or patriarchs inhabiting the moon/'
Daksha demands a few words, before we proceed to
the Soors and Asoors. He is Brahma in a human
shape, and had a great dispute with Mahadeva, in his
human shape, but the latter, being of a revengeful
disposition, punished the god Brahma for the faults of
the man Daksha, and cut off one of his heads ; so that
Brahma, who had five heads before, now had but four;
and the severed head is frequently seen in the hand of
Devi, to whom Mahadeva presented it. Throughout
the whole story of the Hindoo deities, Mahadeva and
Daksha are continually quarrelling, and the former has
always the advantage.
The Surs, or Suras, or Soors, are angelic beings of a
benevolent description; they are the children of Diti
and Kasyapa. The Asoors, or Asuras, are malignant
beings of doubtful origin. Danava, or devils, and
Dewtah, or Devata, gods, are terms applied with very
little accuracy.
The Apsaras must not be forgotten; " beautiful
maidens, in number no less than six hundred millions,
of resplendent and celestial form, adorned with glorious
ornaments, and endowed with youth, sweetness, beauty,
and every grace. Their female attendants are innu-
merable, but inasmuch as they had not received legal
purification, neither gods nor danavas received these
 OF CELESTIAL SPIRITS.

damsels in marriage ; and they do not appear to have

been endowed with virtue equal to their beauty and
interesting appearance."
Returning again to the Rishis, we find them the
guardians of a certain cow, named Surabhi, whose 75
o we shall see when we come to discuss the ava-
orio-in
tars of Yishnu. This cow had the power of granting
any boon to the suppliant, and it is on account of her
virtues that her descendants are so much honoured in
India. It is common for Brahmins and others to feed
a cow before they take their own breakfast, and they
ejaculate, as they present her with the food, " Daughter
of Surabhi, framed of five elements, auspicious, pure,
holy, sprung from the sun, accept this food given by
me;" and some writers mention a cow worshipped as
Laksmi, and depicted as white, with a woman's head,
and three tails. She is made in the act of giving suck
to a calf. This will be a little illustrated by another
poetic fiction.
Prithivi is the goddess of the earth. Brahma, under
the name Yiswacarma (the artificer of the universe),
moulded the earth, and it became Prithivi, that is,
conspicuous. Her husband is Yishnu, incarnate under
the name of Prithu. The tale is thus told: Yena, an
impious and tyrannical prince, was cursed by the
Brahmins, and consequently died without issue. To
remedy this, his left arm was opened, and churned with
a stick till it produced a son, who, proving as wicked
as his father, was set aside, and the right arm churned,
which also produced a son ; this son, named Prithu,
proved to be an incarnation of Yishnu (it may be
observed in passing, that the operation of churning has
very extraordinary results when resorted to by the per-
sonages ofIndian fable: we shall have other specimens
of it bye and bye). Gods and men came to make
obeisance to Prithu, and to celebrate his appearance
 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.
76
upon earth. He married Prithivi, who was a form of
the goddess Laksmi, and represents the earth, who
refused to supply man with food; in order to compel
her to do so, Prithu was forced to heat and wound her,
when she, assuming the form of a cow, ascended to
Mount Mem to complain to the gods. When they
heard the whole case, they sided with Prithu: the
earth reluctantly submitted, and since that time man-
kind have been permitted to heat and wound her with
ploughs, spades, and harrows, till she yields them
food. In the form of a cow, Prithivi was milked by
Swayambhuva, who was by Prithu employed to do so.
Now here we have this cow (for Surabhi is the earth,
or at least, in several places of the Puranas is so repre-
sented,) not only coinciding with the earth, but also
with the goddess Laksmi, the divinity presiding over
riches and beneficence. Hence we see the identity of
Prithivi, Surabhi, the earth, Laksmi; and the catalogue
might be extended considerably further.
Alluding to the various beings who have been men-
tioned in this chapter, Moor says, — " Thus we find the
Indian invisible world well peopled; but there are
several other tribes of mythological beings introduced
into the complicated machinery of Hindoo poetics.
There is a race of pigmies, no bigger than a man's
thumb, called Balakelya, of whom sixty thousand were
produced from the hair of Brahma's body; and ano-
ther race of Lilliputian sages that sprung from his
nails. All these beings are, by name, birth, parentage,
and education, — life, death, burial, &c., especially
chronicled in the Puranas; and one!s brain is almost
bewildered in endeavouring, as they ever and anon
recur, to trace their genealogy, character, connexions,
and a long train of et ccteras, combined with their
allegorical
Pan Ui con. origin, progress, and termination." — Hindoo
 4i

CHAPTER V.

OF GAXESA, AND THE OTHER CHILDREN OF 3IAHADEVA,

AND OF INDRA.

Ganesa is the Hindoo god of policy and prudence ; he

is the reputed son of Mahadeva and Parvati, though,
properly speaking, he was the offspring of the latter
only ; he is represented with the head of an elephant,
on account of the sagacity of that animal, and his
vahan, or vehicle, is a rat, a creature deemed in India
peculiarly endowed with prudence. His history is thus
given in the Siv Purana : Parvati framed Ganesa of
fair proportions, at which Mahadeva was jealous and
displeased; Ganesa was his mothers champion, and
always stood forth in her cause against Brahma, Yishnu,
and even Mahadeva himself. On one occasion, Yishnu
and Ganesa fought, and the latter would have been
victorious, but for the interposition of Mahadeva, who
cut off Ganesa's head. Grieved at the loss of her son,
Parvati refused to be comforted, and proceeded to such
austerities, as threatened to derange the destinies of
the universe, 4 when the gods determined to restore
Ganesa, and to place on his body the first head that
could be found; the right one was lost; the head found
turned out to be that of an elephant. Ganesa is repre-
sented as four-armed, and furnished with the trident
of his reputed father: it is to be observed also, that he
is not unfrequently seen with the third eye, perhaps
as often as not.
The adventures of this deity usually partake of
a fraudful character; and it is rather as the god
of cunning than as that of wisdom or sound policy,
that he is represented. He is generally invoked by a
Hindoo, of whatever sect, in the outset of any business;
 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.
78
if lie build a house, an image of Ganesa is set up near
the spot; if he write a book, he invokes Ganesa at the
beginning; the same at the top of a letter; he is
addressed before a journey, and for the protection of
travellers, a stone, representing an elephant's head,
rudely carved, is frequently set up where cross-roads
meet: oil and red ochre is daubed over it, and it is
considered an act of piety to deck it with flowers. In
or over bankers' shops, the god of prudence is seen,
and India has few divinities so much worshipped. In
the Carnatic he is called Pollear.
Major Moor, in the Asiatic Researches, gives an
account of a hereditary avatar of this god; this living
deity resided at Chichur, near Poona. " Ganesa,
pleased with the piety of a certain Gussayn, named
Muraba, rewarded him by incarnating himself in his
person, and covenanting that the divinity should
descend in his children to the seventh generation, em-
powering them to work miracles, and, in a limited
degree, to look into futurity : with this divine patrimony
is inherited the guardianship of a sacred stone, a type
of the deity. At the period of my visit to this holy
person, five generations had passed away; the sixth
inheritor, Gabagi Deva, has since died, and it is agreed
by the Brahmins that the avatara will end with the life
of the present piece of inspired carnality, unless perpe-
tuated or renewed by a further manifestation of the
divine will."
The history of Kartikya, the younger brother of
Ganesa, has been already related. Kartikya is the
generalissimo of the celestial armies, and rides a pea-
cock; he is called the brother of Ganesa, though the
latter is the offspring solely of Parvati, the former of
Mahadeva alone.
Bhairava is either a son or an incarnation of Maha-
deva; the word Bhairava signifies terrible, and this
 OF GANESA.

personage, and Yira Bhadra, another son or incarna-

tion of Mahadeva, are much spoken of as great con-
querors. The former is painted of a dark-blue colour,
that of Vishnu, not white, the colour of Mahadeva ; 79
but there does not seem much similarity in the fierce
and vindictive Bhairava with the gentle and beneficent
Yishnu; nor can he be an incarnation of Vishnu, who,
when incarnate, does not preserve his dark-blue colour.
The history of Mahadeva's family cannot be better
concluded than by an anecdote of Ganesa, which serves
at once to illustrate his character and the reputation of
the Rishis. These distinguished personages had a
quarrel among themselves, and six of them conspired
to ruin the seventh, Gotama. Ganesa lent himself to
this not very brotherly design, and appeared before
Gotama in the shape of a cow, animated by the most
minute spark of life. In this shape the god of pru-
dence so conducted himself as to induce Gotama to
strike him; the cow immediately fell dead, though the
blow was given with no heavier weapon than a blade
of grass, and Gotama and his family were involved in
the greatest distress. The six brothers repented of
their unkind deed, and interceded with Mahadeva for
Gotama. So great was their influence, that the deity,
in order to purify the Rishi from his involuntary fault,
disharged the Ganges from his own head, in order that,
bathing in the sacred stream, Gotama might be restored
to his former sanctity'"".
We pass now to the consideration of a powerful and
important race of beings usually considered as gods,
and worshipped as such. These are the rulers of the
elements and the heavenly bodies, and of these we
shall notice in order, 1. Indra, their king. 2. Pa van,
the lord of the winds. 3. Hanuman, his most extra-

* Another account of the origin of this river is given above.

80 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

ordinary son. 4. Surya, the regent of the sun.

5. Chandra, the regent of the moon. 6. Agni, the
god of fire. 7- Yaruna, the ruler of the ocean.
8. Yama, the king of hell. 9. Sani and Yirispati, the
respective rulers of the planets Saturn and Jupiter.
First, then, of Indra, a most important personage in
Indian fable, being no less than lord of the elements.
His abode was a most delightful paradise, not much
unlike that described by Mohammed: it is called the
" Swerga," and is situated on the top of Mount Meru,
that is, the North Pole, where the gods frequently
assemble, and are solaced with nectar and ravishing
music. In this Swerga is the city Amravati, wherein
is the garden Nandana: in this garden is placed the
palace of Indra: it is called Yaigayanta, and is sur-
rounded bydelightful trees, three of which produce
fruit of every description. Here likewise is the eight-
headed horse Oochisrava, which is appropriated to this
deity, and the cow Surabhi. He is fabled to ride a
gigantic elephant, Iravaty, and to Avield the thunder-
bolt, which is called Yagra. The water-spout is said
to be the trunk of his elephant drawing the water into
the clouds, and the iris is his bow. It is deemed par-
ticularly unlucky to point at the rainbow, as this potent
and irascible deity is always displeased on such occa-
sions. In his wars, which are very numerous, as king
of the firmament he employs hosts of elephants: these
are the clouds, and the chief of them is Iravati, the
vahan of Indra; his consort or sacti is called sometimes
Aindri, and sometimes Indrani. We shall just give
the manner in which the government of the firmament
is subdivided, and then pass on to the history and
adventures of Indra himself. Each point of the com-
pass has its own lord, and, strange to say, Mahadeva
appears among the vassals of Indra in two points, under
the names Rudra and Isani, — Vishnu in one, as Yayu
 OF GANESA.
81
or Pavana, — and Brahma in one, under his own. The
list is as follows: —
E Indra.
S.E Agni.
S Yama.
S.W Nirit.
W. .... Varuna.
N.W. . . . Vayu, or Pavana, or Vishnu.
N Cuvera, the god of riches.
N.E. . . . Isani.
The zenith . . Brahma.
The centre . . . Rudra.
The nadir . . . Naga, or Seshnaga, or Vasoky.
Over all these Indra is prince, and as such rules the
East, which is the most dignified point of the compass,
and his Paradise or Swerga is, as has been mentioned,
on the summit of Mount Meru, a mountain of gold
and gems, at the North Pole. Hence, when giving
and receiving evidence, the Hindoo witness and magi-
strate turn to the East or to the North. Though called
prince of the beneficent genii, his character is very
equivocal, and his adventures seem generally to make
him more deserving his name Sakra, or counsellor of
evil. He has many names, and among them one which
signifies destroyer of towns. This appellation is ex-
plained bythe following relation: — Mr. Hunter, in the
sixth volume of the Asiatic Researches, gives an account
of the modern city of Ougein, or Uijaini, called also
Avanti. About a mile distant is the ancient city,
which is buried in the earth at a depth of from fifteen
to eighteen feet; but on digging, all its walls, pillars,
and buildings, are found entire. Mr. Hunter searched
diligently for volcanic indications, but in vain. There
are no traces of volcanic action in the neighbourhood,
and he thinks the state of the city is such as to pre-
clude the idea of its destruction having been the work
of an earthquake. The city is situated in the imme-
G
82 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

diate vicinity of the river Sippara; the soil on the

hanks is said to he particularly yielding and hoggy;
and as the whole plain in which the city stands is liable
to frequent inundations, it may have been forsaken,
and-gradually sunk in the soil. However it is no longer
on the surface, and afforded too good an opportunity
of making a mythological tale to be lost. This is the
Hindoo account of the matter.
A certain deity named Gundrussein was, for some
insult to Indra, obliged to be born on earth in the shape
of an ass; but on his making very great submissions,
the sentence was so far commuted, as to require the
asinine shape only during the day, allowing him at
night that of a man. This disastrous incarnation took
place at Ougein, and the ass feeling himself a very dis-
tinguished person, though an ass, very coolly demanded
the daughter of the sultan, or rather rajah, Sundersein,
in marriage. The rajah demurred, as was natural, but
being informed of the ass's divine origin, he was brought
to see the propriety of the match: he knew nothing of
the nightly transformation, which might have recon-
ciled him; " but difficulties soon abate," when a Hindoo
poet has to tell a tale, and a god is the hero. The
marriage was accordingly celebrated, for in those happy
days the ladies were not consulted till all the pre-
liminaries had been settled, and therefore we are not
informed whether she were pleased or displeased with
her semihuman lord. All clay Gundrussein lived in
the stables like an ass, but when the shades of evening
fell, he left his skin in the stables, and assuming the
form of a handsome and elegant man, presented himself
before his princely bride. Circumstances at last arose
which rendered it advisable for the princess to tell her
father of the advantages which her husband enjoyed,
and the rajah accordingly, watching his opportunity,
stole into the stables during the night, and burnt the
ass's skin. Gundrussein could now no longer take
 OF GANESA. 83

this degrading shape, at which he was, as might be

expected, much delighted; but he warned his father-
in-law of the inevitable vengeance of Indra, and
advised him and his daughter to quit the city : they did
so, and Indra immediately destroyed the city by a
shower of earth. Some say that the princess only fled,
and that the rajah perished, which is a more consistent
story. She gave birth very soon to a son, who was
named Vikramaditya. This prince was a great king,
and a no less great astronomer: his sera is much used
in India, and hence we have the date of this cata-
strophe, namely, b. c. 56."
Another adventure of Indra is beautifully told by
Sir William Jones, in an ode to that divinity. The
anecdote is briefly thus :— Indra assumed the form of a
shepherd boy, in order to steal some beautiful pome-
granate blossoms, wherewith to deck the hair of his
lovely consort, (who seems somewhat improperly called
a sacti, inasmuch as she does not possess the power of
her husband.) The peasant to whom the flowers be-
longed, ignorant of the robber s rank, bound him to a
tree, whereupon the demigods subordinate to Indra
came to his rescue.
They with the ruddy flash that points his thunder,
Rend his vain bands asunder;
The exulting god resumes his chosen eyes,
Four arms divine, and robes of changing dyes*.
These robes of changing dyes are the variable clouds
which adorn the firmament, and the eyes refer to the
legend that Indra was covered with eyes. The general
character of his doings are not very creditable to his
habits, and some evince no great love for the other
gods. He has been already mentioned as the coun-
sellor ofevil, and he seems to have been considered as
jealous of honours paid to other deities: not unfre-
* Sir William Jones.
G 2
84 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

quently he stole the horse which was to he solemnly

sacrificed. One of his appellations is Dyupetir; and
when it is considered that he was the king of the fir-
mament, that he dwelt on a lofty mountain, where he
entertained the gods, and that his earthly adventures
were hy no means distinguished for moral rectitude,
we shall seem to have a much closer etymology for
Jupiter than Juvans pater, or Dies piter, or even Zeus
pater, which is better than either of the others. Of
the other demigods, all of whom are the subjects of
Indra, we shall treat in the next chapter.

CHAPTER VI.
OF THE GENII OR DEMIGODS SUBORDINATE TO INDRA.

Of these spirits Pavan, or Pavana, the lord of the

winds, comes first in the list given in the last chapter.
His history is but short, and of no great importance.
The few anecdotes related of him are by no means cre-
ditable tohim. One tale, in which he is said to have
made an offer of marriage to a hundred young ladies at
once, is rather peculiar, inasmuch as the name Hari is
applied to him, and he is thereby made the same as
Vishnu. The sequel of the story tells us that when
the young ladies referred him to their father, he was
so incensed that he afflicted them with crookedness,
from which deformity they were afterwards delivered
by the influence of brahmins. Pavana is more remark-
able for being the father of Hanuman, or rather being
called so, than for any deed of his own. This Hanuman
was born certainly by some extraordinary influence of
Siva, and Pavana seems to have nothing to do with
his parentage, otherwise than by conveying to his
mother, a mortal woman of the Brahmin tribe, a cake,
after eating which she gave birth to Hanuman. His
 DEMIGODS SUBORDINATE TO INDRA. 85
form was that of a monkey, and from the moment of
his birth he gave proof of his descent from the deity of
destruction: not content with such food as is usual for
infants, he determined to devour the sun, and, taking
a flight, we are not told exactly how, he put Surya in
such fear that he fled to Indra for aid, and Indra lifting
his thunderbolt, struck the young devourer to the
earth. After this we hear abundance of boisterous
doings from this son of the wind, and at last he raised
an army of monkeys, many of them like himself of
divine origin, to assist Rama in his war with Havana.
This will be spoken of when we come to treat of the
incarnations of Yishnu, when the monkey-divinity will
have occasion to be frequently noticed.
Surya, the regent of the sun, is of course a popular
divinity. And in every system of mythology which
has passed under the notice of the learned, they seem
to agree in referring almost every object of worship
ultimately to the sun, as the most glorious and appro-
priate type of the Creator. By making separate per-
sons of his properties, and finding them suitable adven-
tures, in accordance, first, with astronomical fact, and
lastly, with poetical fancy only, the poets soon raised
a system of mythology, which must be ever distin-
guished from the more rational systems of the philo-
sophers. Their understandings were, as Sir William
Jones remarks, too strong to admit the popular belief,
but their influence was too weak to reform it. To
return to the regent of the sun. He is represented in
a resplendent car, drawn either by seven horses, or by
one horse with seven heads, and is driven by Arun,
(the dawn,) who is made with the legs cut off just
below the knee*. He is believed frequently to have
* It will be remembered that Horus, the corresponding
Egyptian divinity, was born with his legs so twisted together
as to be unable to walk.
86 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

descended to the earth, and to have left a race as

renowned in Hindoo storj as are the Heliades in
Greece. His two sons, called Aswina, are depicted
like Castor and Pollux,
While speaking of the sun, it may be as well to
mention that the signs of the zodiac (the same as
among us,) and the planets are his constant attend-
ants, and in many pictures he is represented in the
midst of them. He is not unfrequently invested with
the attributes of Yishnu. Among the planets, there
are two figures well known by those read in astrology,
called Ketu and Rahu, the dragon's head and tail ; but
there is seldom any dragon-like appearance in painting
or sculpture, Rahu being the body of a dark-coloured
man, riding some animal, generally a tortoise, and Ketu
his head, borne by a frog. The story of Eahu-Ketu is,
that he, being an adviser of mischief, fraudulently
swallowed some of the amrita, or beverage of immor-
tality, bywhich he became, like the gods, deathless.
He was, however, while drinking it, cut in half by
Yishnu, and he fell to the ground: the two halves
were severally adopted by two Brahmins, who at last
persuaded Yishnu to re-admit them to the firmament,
where they now are. Ketu is the father of water-
spouts, Rahu of crocodiles. Surya presides over one
day of the week, the others being governed by the
other planets, according to the annexed table: —
Governed by English name of the
Called Deity or Planet.
Sunday . . Surya . Aditvar . . Sun
Monday . Chandra Somvar . Moon.
Tuesday . . Mangala Mongalvar . Mars.
Mercury.
Wednesday Budha . Budvar . .
Thursday . Yirispati Yirhaspetvar
Friday . . Sukra . Sukervar Jupiter.
Yenus.
Saturday . Sani . . Sanivar . . Saturn.
The names of the two first days will be better under-
 DEMIGODS SUBORDINATE TO INDRA.

stood when it is known that Surya is the son of Aditi,

and that Soma is another name of the moon. Chandra,
the lunar regent, is sometimes a god, sometimes a god-
dess, and is represented in a beautiful car drawn by
antelopes, and himself invested with the attributes of
Vishnu. Agni, the god of fire, is always depicted of a
deep and dull-red colour, clothed in a yellow pitamber
or waistcloth; he has two faces, three legs and seven
arms ; a forked flame issues from his mouths, and on his
head are two horns; he rides a ram of a dark-blue
colour, with red horns. Yaruna, the ruler of the ocean,
is not, strange as it may appear, a person of much con-
sequence inIndian fable. Vishnu himself being the
personification of water, the allegorical legends seem
to have attached to him rather than to Varuna, who is
consequently but little noticed. In the first volume of
the Asiatic Researches, Sir William Jones gives a plate
of him, riding a monstrous fish, but without anything
to distinguish him from a mere man. Very different
is the case with Yama, the lord of hell: he is a deity
of great power and celebrity: he is figured as having
two shapes ; under the one he is called Dhermer Rajah,
or king of justice, and as such he has a benevolent and
mild aspect; this is called his divine countenance, and
is beheld only by the righteous. His servant is named
Karmala, and he brings the righteous on " celestial
self-moving cars" to the king of judgment. His other
form is called Yama, and it is fierce and terrible; the
wricked only can see it. The Hindoo hell is called
Patala, or Padalon; but the government of Yama is over
the dead, whether in Swerga or Padalon. His own
abode is in a gorgeous city called Yamapury, situated in
hell, to which city the Hindoos believe that every soul
repairs immediately after death; and after receiving
sentence from Yama, is, if abounding in virtue, caused
to ascend to Swerga, the Paradise of Indra; if mode-
88 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

rate, has another life on earth, which may be in a

human, an animal, a vegetable, or a mineral state, as
the vices of the individual may have prevailed over his
virtues ; but if the character has been very bad, he is
plunged into Naraka, the snaky hell. The servant of
Yama who attends on the wicked, is named Kashmala ;
he drags them, with ropes round their necks, over
rough places, till at last he casts them into Naraka.
One of the Puranas says, " Yama, the regent of hell,
has two dogs, one of them called Cerbura, who is also
distinguished by the appellation Trisiras, or three-
headed, the other Syama, or black." Yama coincides
with Yishnu, with Mahadevi, and with Brahma, but
more particularly with the second. Hence we find his
consort Pataladevi, but another name for Parvati.
Sani, the regent of Saturn, and Yrihaspati, of Jupiter,
require each a few words. The sun is the peculiar
station of Yishnu, though it seems that every other
divinity of great note may be made to coincide with
that luminary ; yet as Surya is always invested with the
attributes of Yishnu, so is Yrihaspati with those of
Mahadeva, and Sani with those of Brahma. Sani,
however, is described as wearing a dark turban, loosely
twisted round his brows ; his aspect hideous, and his
brows knit with anger. He has the trident of Maha-
deva, and the scimitar, with the bow and shaft. He
is mounted on the raven, as his vahan, a choice which,
as he is a personification of time, is peculiarly appro-
priate, since the raven destroys its young, and time
destroys all its productions.
These are all reasons for supposing Sani and Maha-
deva to be the same persons, but as there is strong
proof of his coincidence with Brahma, it will only serve
as another proof of the mode in which the attributes
of the Hindoo divinities are often interchanged. Yri-
haspati isremarkable for giving his name to an astro-
 89
DEMIGODS SUBORDINATE TO INDRA.

nomical cycle, and being, as it were, the hinge on

which many important calculations turn. Mytholo-
gically considered, he was the preceptor to the gods,
and the messenger from one to the other.
There are two personages whose names appear
among the genii subordinate to Indra, who have not
as yet received notice ; these are Cuvera and Nirit.
Cuvera is the Hindoo god of riches ; he resides in a
splendid city, called Alaka, and rides through the air
in a car of gold and gems ; it is named Pushpaka. His
servants and companions are the Yakshas and Guk-
yakas, spirits like himself, of foul appearance and
sordid inclinations ; the spirits of men who, in their
lives, resemble them, pass into them after this life.
Cuvera, though god of wealth, is not much worshipped.
Prayers for riches are addressed, not to him, but to
Laksmi. He has a consort, named Cauveri, from
whom the river so called derives its appellation. He
is the half brother of Havana; whose history we shall
soon investigate.
Nirit is a god of purification, but his, name is not
often met with, and images or pictures of him are
exceedingly rare. He is also called Yirupaksha, a
word which signifies having a disagreeable counte-
nance. His consort is called Niritti, and they seem to
rule jointly over the south-west point of the compass.
 90

CHAPTER VII.
OF THE AVATARS, OR INCARNATIONS OF VISHNU.

It will have been remarked, that a great number of

distinguished persons, of whom we have had occasion
to treat, and not a few of the inferior divinities them-
selves are only incarnations or avatars of some superior
god. The term avatar, or avatara, properly signifies
descent, and, although correctly used in all those cases,
it is principally employed to denote those ten incar-
nations of Vishnu, which are of the greatest conse-
quence. Of these we shall now proceed to give a brief
account ; their importance will be best understood
when it is known that in them the principal philoso-
phical and astronomical allegories of the Hindoos are
contained.
The first, then, of these avataras is that of the fish,
called Matsyavatara, and has been decided by Sir
William Jones to bear reference to the deluge, and in
fact to be merely a relation of the same fact disguised
in mythological language. In the reign of Satyavrata,
the seventh Menu, the whole world became corrupt,
and the deity accordingly sent a flood to destroy man-
kind, but, among the universal degeneracy, the prince
himself, the seven Rishis, and their wives, were deemed
worthy of preservation, and accordingly, by command
of Vishnu, they, accompanied by all the several ani-
mals in pairs, entered an ark prepared for the occasion,
called Cahitra. Vishnu took on himself the form of a
fish of stupendous dimensions, to which the ark was
moored by a vast serpent (Vasoky), of whom we shall
hear more hereafter. Fastened to the horn of Vishnu,
the Cahitra rode securely through the flood. No
 OF THE AVATARS.
91
sooner was the deluge subsided, than Vishnu, with
Brahma, slew a huge monster, named Hyagriva, (the
horse-necked,) which demon had taken the opportunity
while Brahma slumbered at the end of a calpa, to steal
the vedas, which, it will be remembered, proceeded
from Brahma's mouth.
While the vedas were lost, (that is, before the flood,)
mankind was in a state of ignorance and barbarism,
but when they were recovered, the human race became
just and pious again. In the flood, however, those
comforts and conveniences which had been previously
enjoyed, were lost ; the life of man was saved ; but
not being artificers, the remnant of the human race
was deplorably destitute of those advantages which
make life desirable.
To restore them to these, or rather to restore these
to them, Yishnu proceeded to churn the sea, and the
history of this churning is that of the second avatara,
called the Kurmavatara. Yishnu, in this incarnation,
assumed the form of a tortoise, which is, in the Sanskrit
language, Kurma, and thus gives a name to the avatara.
In this shape he bore on his back the mountain Man-
dara, which was made to revolve by having the serpent
Yasoky turned round it. On one side the gods, and
among them Yishnu in his own character, pulled by
the tail of the serpent, and on the other side the Dana-
vas, or evil genii, pulled by the head, and thus gave a
rotatory motion to this huge mountain.
In the pictures representing the Kurmavatara Yishnu
is seen, not only as the tortoise and in his own shape,
but likewise standing on the top of the mountain, so
that he has a threefold existence ; but this is not un-
common in other instances.
This churning of the ocean was not without its
effect. Fourteen most valuable articles were obtained
by means thereof, commonly called the fourteen gems,
92 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

the " chowda ratny :" 1 . The moon Chandra ; 2.

Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune and beauty ; 3. Sura,
or Suradevi, the goddess of wine ; 4. Oochisrava, the
eight-headed horse of the gods; 5. Kusthubha, a jewel
of inestimable value ; 6. Parijati, a tree that sponta-
neously yielded everything desired; 7° The cow Su-
rabhi ; 8. Dan whan tara, a physician; 9. The three-
trunked elephant of Indra; 10. Shank, a shell which
had the power of conferring victory on the warrior
that should sound it ; 11. Danusha, an unerring bow;
12. Bikh, medical drugs; 13. Rhemba, the apsara, a
beautiful woman ; and lastly, that for which the ope-
ration had been chiefly performed, viz., the amrita, or
water of immortality.
Now, on these fourteen gems it will be necessary to
say a few words. There seems to be a great inconsist-
ency in several of them. In the first place, we have
Laksmi and Rhemba as separate persons, whereas they
are evidently the same; and next, it appears absurd to
introduce Laksmi at all, for the pervading energy of
the preserving attribute must be co -eternal with that
attribute, and in other places is so represented.
Chandra and Surabhi are also spoken of as existing
long before this churning ; this, therefore, will serve as
another instance of the difficulties met with in inter-
preting mythological fables, and will likewise point out
the general cause; viz., the liberty taken by poets to
invent adventures for the allegorical personages who
form, as it were, the framework of mythology.
In addition to these fourteen gems, there were
()()0,000,000 apsaras churned out of the sea at the
same time, who are frequently met with in Hindoo
poetry. The third incarnation is called the Vaharava-
tara, from the Sanskrit Yahara, a boar, and has two
legends, one which makes it refer to the general deluge,
like the two former. In the pictures representing it
 93
OF THE AVATARS.

Vishnu lias four arms and the head of a boar, bearing

on his tusks a crescent, containing in its concavity a
picture of the earth, which he descended into the great
deep to bring up, after it had been plunged there for
the wickedness of the inhabitants.
The other gives a reason for the assumption of this
singular form, and tells us that a certain daitya, named
Hirana Yatsha, (or the golden-eyed,) having performed
certain acts of devotion, and indeed spent a life in
religious austerities, demanded, as usual, a boon of
Brahma, and, like all the other devotees of his class,
he modestly asked for universal empire, and freedom
from danger through noxious animals, which, to make
assurance doubly sure, he enumerated one by one ; he
however forgot the hog. Brahma granted the prayer,
which he had no right to deny, and made the ambitious
daitya almighty.
The demon accordingly acted as such a being might
be supposed to act ; he seized upon the earth, now
become his own, and carried it with him into the
depths of the sea. Vishnu, willing to preserve the
earth, took the form of a boar, and, descending into the
abyss, had a contest with the daitya, which lasted a
thousand years ; eventually he slew him, and rescued
the earth on the point of his tusk.
A Brahmin was once asked by a Christian mission-
ary, "What was the ark moored to while the boar
was bringing up the earth?" to which the following
answer was given, — " That is a wrong view of the
case; they were at two different times." It is evident
that the first fable involves an astronomical theory,
and that the latter was invented to obviate the incon-
sistency just alluded to.
The fourth incarnation is the Narasinghavatara, or
man-lion, the story of which closely resembles the last,
though adorned with a piece of poetical invention for a
94 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

preface. Laksmi was desirous of seeing a battle ; she

expressed her wish to Vishnu, who, to gratify her,
determined to cause his servants to insult the holy
Hishis, who were approaching to render homage to the
god. This he did by inspiring their minds with a spirit
of insolence, and then banished them from his pre-
sence. He told them that their crime might be ex-
piated by seven transmigrations into the persons of
faithful vaishnavas, or by three into those of daityas.
They, as was foreseen, chose the latter alternative, and
in one of those transmigrations, one of them, Hiranya-
kasipu, was slain by Vishnu, incarnate for that purpose
in the form of a fearful monster, half-man, half-lion.
The Hiranyakasipu above mentioned, after spending
10,000 years in acts of religious austerity, claimed at
the hands of Brahma the usual boon, universal empire,
and the customary request of exemption from danger
lie framed in such a way as to secure himself from the
mischiefs that had befallen other daityas equally potent
with himself. He demanded that he should be ex-
empted from death, from the hands either of god or
man, that no noxious animal should hurt him ; and
this charter was to be valid by night or day, within
doors or without, in heaven or on earth.
Now, considering himself safe, he began to imitate
the manners of his race, rather than those which the
habits of 10,000 years might be supposed to have made
jDleasant ; in short, his behaviour became so arrogant
that it was no longer to be borne, and Vishnu descended
to the earth in the shape Narasingha, to gratify at once
the desires of Laksmi, and to rescue mankind from the
tyranny of Hiranyakasipu.
Paraladha, the virtuous son of this most impious
father, reasoned with him one day on the wickedness
of his conduct, and called his attention to the omni-
presence ofthe Deity. " "What \" exclaimed the daitya,
 OF THE AVATARS. 95

" do you mean to say that God is in this pillar V

" Yes," replied Paraladha, with reverence, " I would
say so/' The daitya drew his sword, and smote the
pillar in hlasphemous defiance. It was now evening ;
the time could be called neither night nor day. The
pillar suddenly burst asunder, and exhibited the fearful
form of Narasingha, who, throwing himself upon
Hiranyakasipu, commenced a dreadful combat, which
lasted an hour, at the end of which, Xarasingha, who
could not exactly be called God, man, or beast, but a
marvellous compound of all three, dragged the daitya
to the pillar, which being on the threshold, was nei-
ther within doors nor without, and lifting him from the
ground, between earth and heaven, tore him to pieces.
Thus Yishnu eluded the covenant which Brahma had
made, and rescued the world from the tyrant.
Not unlike this story is the popular Welsh legend
of Owain Glendwyr, who is said to have covenanted
with Satan to yield up his soul after death, on condi-
tion of receiving supernatural aid from the spirits of
evil during his life; this covenant was to take effect
whether he were buried in a church or out of a church,
and he accordingly evaded it, by using satanic aid all
his life, and at last causing himself to be buried under
a church wall, but neither within nor without the
consecrated building.
These four avatars took place in the Satya Jug, the
earliest and happiest age of man: the fifth, which is a
more important one, took place in the second age, the
Tirtya Jug.
Mahabeli, a mortal, but who had obtained freedom
from death, and universal empire, by the ordinary
means, was a gentle and virtuous monarch, yet, elated
with his grandeur, he forgot the devotion due to the
gods. To check the force of his example, which was
getting general, Yishnu determined to inflict some
96 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

signal punishment on its author, and was accordingly

incarnate in the person of a miserable dwarf of the
Brahmin caste. In this state he was the son of Kasy-
apa and Aditi, and the incarnation itself is called
Yamanavatara, from the Sanskrit Yamana, a dwarf.
Prostrating himself before the king, and representing
his Brahmin extraction, he demanded a boon, which
being without inquiry granted, the dwarf asked so
much of Beli's dominions as he could step over in
three strides. These dominions were the kingdoms of
heaven, earth, and hell. Beli requested him to choose
something more worthy, promising, however, to con-
firm the boon demanded, if he persisted in his request.
Indra, in his character of Sakra, or evil counsellor, now
stepped forward, dissuaded Mahabeli from fulfilling his
promise, and assured him that he had pledged his
kingdom. The monarch was too lofty-minded to listen
to the insinuation, and demanding the vessel of water,
proceeded to pour it upon the hands of the dwarf, by
which rite the promise became irrevocable. Sakra,
finding that his remonstrances had no effect, changed
himself into a mosquito, and, entering the spout of the
vessel, endeavoured to prevent the passage of the water.
Yishnu, not sorry for the opportunity, took a reed to
clear the spout, and in so doing, thrust out Sakra's right
eye, a defect which Sakra ever after retained. The
water now had free passage, and as it fell on the hands
of the dwarf, his form expanded, and the attributes of
Yishnu became visible. At two steps he deprived the
unfortunate Mahabeli of heaven and earth ; but, as he
had been by no means either vicious or tyrannical, he
left him the government of hell. By this we may sup-
pose that Beli and Yama are the same; and we shall
have occasion, in another part of this work, to note
their sameness. In the character of Yamana, Yishnu
is generally called Trivikrama, the thrice-strider.
 97

CHAPTER VIII.

OF THE AVATARS, CONTINUED.

The remaining Avataras of Vishnu were all in the

hnman form. Parasu Rama, Rama Chandra, Krishna,
and Budha, are the names of distinguished individuals
in "whose shape he deigned to visit the earth; there
appear to have heen several incarnations named Rama,
and, unfortunately, two existing at once.
The history of Parasu Rama will be briefly told: his
parents were Brahmins; indeed his father was one of
the Rishis ; and they had in their keeping the wonderful
cow, Surabhi. A certain rajah, who naturally desired
to possess an animal so valuable, slew the Rishi, and
attempted to seize the cow, which, however, disappeared.
The mother of Parasu burnt herself on the pile of the
Rishi, first praying to the gods for revenge. They
listened to her request. Vishnu became incarnate, in
the person of Rama, and, after a long war, overcame
and slew the Rajah Diruj: this rajah had twenty
arms, as had Ravana, the opponent of Vishnu in his
next transformation. The remainder of his life was
spent in holy deeds, and, according to some poets, is
not yet finished.
The seventh incarnation is called Rama Chandra,
and is detailed at great length in the Ramayana, a
poem in which all the adventures of all the Ramas are
given. This was undertaken to deliver the world from
the monstrous tyranny of Ravana, King of Lanka, or
Ceylon, a being with twenty hands, and universal em-
pire. Laksmi was incarnate at the same time in the
person of Sita, to whom Rama Chandra was married.
Ravana seized upon this lady, and carried her off, after
II
98 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

he had failed in bending the bow, which was instituted

as a trial for the lady's hand. Rama was aided by
Hanuman, or Maruti, as he is sometimes called, with
an army of apes, who built for him a bridge from the
continent of India to Ceylon. Over this bridge the
army of Rama passed, and, after a fierce contest, over-
came and slew the tyrant. Hanuman acted in a great
variety of characters; and among others, that of am-
bas ador, inwhich capacity he sat upon his tail, and
caused it so to elongate itself, that its folds lifted him
above the head of Ravana. When Sita was rescued
from the bands of Ravana, it became necessary to
ascertain whether she had been subjected to any insult;
for the wife of Rama, like Csesar s, must not only be
pure but unsuspected. She therefore underwent the
ordeal of fire, with the most perfect success, and was
re-united to Rama amidst the congratulations of
Hanuman and his army.
Hitherto we have seen the deity only partially incar-
nate; the next avatar, that of Krishna, is said to have
contained the plenitude of Vishnus power and glory.
He was born of Yasudeva and Devaky, but his birth
exciting a great terror in the mind of Kansa (the bro-
ther of Devaky), a sovereign of great might at the
time, Kansa ordered all newly-born infants to be slain.
Krishna, however, escaped by being carried over the
river Yamuna, conveyed by his father, and protected
by the serpent Sesha, or immortality. Many modes of
killing him were devised, without success, by Kansa.
He spent his youth among cowherds and gopias (milk-
maids), from among whom he selected nine as his
favourites, who constantly followed him. At the age of
seven years he uplifted on his little finger the moun-
tain Goverdhen, his favourite resort, to shield his
followers from the wrath of Indra, who, angry at the
increasing worship of Krishna, attempted to destroy
 OF THE AVATARS. 99

them by a deluge. After this, his whole life is a scene

of extravagant fable, many parts of which are too
absurd, many too offensive, to be repeated; and when
we have him at one time represented as the meekest,
chastest, most benevolent being, and yet know that he
is the divinity called Jaganath, or Jaganaut, whose
rites are most sanguinary and most impure, we shall
have no desire to dive into the recesses of his character.
It must, however, be allowed, that his worship is not
generally bloody; and the philosophy and astronomy
connected with the earlier part of his history, and some
of his subsequent adventures, is worth investigating,
and we shall do this when we notice the origin of
mythology generally.
The ninth avatara is the incarnation of Yishnu in
the person of Budha, and is the most important of all,
since Budhuism has become a separate religion, and is
more extensive in its reception than that of which it
is here considered as a separation. Speaking, however,
of [Budha as an avatar, we hear of him that he was
born to rectify the voluptuous character of the times;
he ^required celibacy from his priesthood, and absti-
nence from animal food from his followers : the sera of
this avatar was, according to Sir William Jones, about
544 b. c. In the first century of our aara, the religion
of Budha was introduced into China, and it now pre-
vails in that empire, as in Japan, Tibet, Siam, Ceylon,
and the Birman empire. In China he is called Fo, or
Fohi, and in the other kingdoms and empires, the name,
though differently modified, is nearer the Sanskrit
Budha, or Boodh. Moor remarks, that a Vaishnava,
or a Saiva, becoming a follower of Budha, need not do
any great violence to his own sect; for, in fact, he may
recognise in him half the mythological personages of
his scarcely rejected Pantheism.
The doctrines and history of Budha will require a
H 2
100 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

more attentive consideration than can be given them as

merely emanating from an avatar, however important,
of Vishnu. Those who worship Budha, look upon
him as God, and are most indignant if it be said that
he is but a personage, and not the most eminent per-
sonage, ofanother system. In the Budha who is by
the Brahmins adored as an incarnation of Vishnu,
there is one little peculiarity which his priests are
unwilling to comment upon, or to explain; that is, he
is represented with the woolly hair of a negro, and
occasionally with the thick lips that betoken African
descent. This is an indication of connexion between
African and Indian superstition that has already been
noticed in the section on Egyptian mythology.
"VVe have thus passed through a brief account of
nine of the ten avatars. There is one yet expected: it
is called the Kalki avatar. Kalki signifies a horse;
and at the terrific period to which it refers, Vishnu
shall appear in his own person, blazing like a comet,
and mounted on a white horse. In his hand he will
bear a drawn scimitar, and his object will be to put an
end to the present age, — the Kali Yug. The creation
is then expected to be renovated, and an age of purity
will succeed. At the end of that age, all intelligences
Will be reabsorbed into the essence of God. Time shall
be no more; the inferior beings, who, as personifica-
tions of the Divine will, have managed the world, will
cease to exist, and " nothing will remain but Brahm,
the Eternal One." This is the sentiment of the most
enlightened among the Brahmins; and this absorption
into the essence of the Supreme Being they declare to
be the highest happiness; all the rest is, they say,
mayay or delusion.
 101

CHAPTER IX.

OF THE EFFECTS OF THE HINDOO RELIGION AND \

MYTHOLOGY.

The conclusion of the last chapter gives an appearance>

of rational theism to the religion of the Hindoos, which
could hardly fail to he extremely beneficial (in default
of better light,) to a nation among whom it prevailed;
but it is a lamentable fact, that though the mythology
may, by the aid of philosophy, be so explained, it never
was presented in this light to the multitude. Tothemr
the fables under which astronomical facts, historical
events, or philosophical theories, were propounded,
were as literal truths. The learned might procure a
glimpse of the truth, — the unlearned must take up with
the falsehood.
Now the effect of this upon society is twofold, and
in both its operations mischievous. In the first place,
it sets apart a race of men as the sole depositories of
religious truth, not only without command, but without
recommendation to disperse it; and allows them to
make the form and substance of popular opinion what-
ever they please. In the next place, after having shut
out the little glimmering of truth their system con-
tained from the mass of the people, it furnished them
with a high heap of undigested fables, few of which
bore reference to the moral duties, and some were not
of a very correct nature.
The frauds, the voluptuousness, the violence, that
appears in the conduct of deities, if not held up as a
model for imitation, cannot be the mark of very severe
reprehension; and though it might occasionally be
remarked that it was all may a, delusion, still nothing
102 IIINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

was implanted in its stead; and we find, consequently,

a considerable laxity of morals prevailing at all times
throughout India.
It is a great honour to the Hindoos, that decorum
generally prevailed in their worship. The adoration
paid to the powers of nature, typified by the Linga and
Yoni, was, save among certain sects, perfectly inoffen-
sive; aspecies of praise which cannot be bestowed on
the similar worship of the Greeks and Romans. The
mildness peculiar to this people (the Hindoos) can
hardly be the effect of their religion, and is, indeed,
to be sought rather in physical causes.
With regard to the customs of this interesting
nation, a few particulars may be observed, because they
are generally misrepresented. As to eating flesh, it is
not at all forbidden. For a Brahmin, some defilements
of a ceremonial nature would be contracted by eating
food cooked by one of an inferior tribe, or by partaking
of the same dish with him : and though it would be a
disgrace to see a Brahmin intoxicated, yet they do not
abstain from wine ; and the lower classes of the Hin-
doos are, it seems, from the testimony of Major Moor,
as much given to drunkenness as those of any other
nation.
This subject will find an apposite conclusion, from a
few remarks on the sects and castes of the Hindoos.
The sects are those divisions occasioned by worshipping
one deity as the chief, in some instances the only,
object of religious worship. Those of the Yaishnavas
and Saivas have been already mentioned, but these are
considerably subdivided. Many of the former worship
some particular avatar of Yishnu, as Rama, or Krishna ;
others the sacti of Yishnu, or Mahadevi, and these are
called Sactas ; these again are subdivided into right-
handed and left-handed, the meaning of which has
been already explained. All these sects are distin-
 ITS EFFECTS. 103

guished by marks on their foreheads, save the last-

mentioned, who, not caring to avow what they are,
usually put some other sign. Generally, the followers
of Yishnu are known by vertical lines on the forehead,
and those of Siva by horizontal lines. The most com-
mon distinctions of the former are two upright marks,
black, with a black dog or open circlet between or just
below them ; that of Siva's followers is generally three
horizontal red lines, with a red circlet in the centre.
These sects have no bigotry one among another, though
there are many who do not scruple to express strong
opinions on the subject of the worship of others. Thus
the Saivas, speaking of Krishna, say that he was a
demon, and is now suffering in hell the penalty of his
misdeeds; but all this seems to excite no quarrels. A
man may leave one sect and join to another; he has
little to do but to alter the mark on his forehead.
Very different is the case with the castes ; these are
hereditary distinctions, and well calculated for the
object at which they were intended to aim: they exalt
the dignity of the Brahmin tribe above all others, it
matters not how situated, and portion out honours and
reverence in exact proportion to the proximity to that
favoured tribe. Many books are prohibited to all but
the Brahmins; others are allowed to the Chetri, others
to the Yarsya also; but the Sudra are confined to
hearing, and there are some which none may even
hear, but the first class. The distinction is known to
those who look on the dress, by the difference in the
zennaar, or sacred thread, of which a Brahmin wears
four, and puts them on at eight years of age; a Chetri
three, from that of eleven ; and a Yarsya two, from the
period of twelve. It must be made by a Brahmin, and
is composed of three threads twisted together, then
folded thrice, and twisted again; these are now placed,
without further twisting, so that the zennaar itself con-
104 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.

sists of twentj^-seven threads: of these the Brahmin

wears four, and the other classes as has been already
mentioned. The mode of wearing it is to pass it over
the left shoulder next the skin, and let it fall on the
opposite side, as far as the hand can reach: no indi-
vidual isconsidered fully a member of his tribe till he
have received it.
A few passages from the Institutes of Menu will
show in what light the Brahmins are regarded: " A
twice-born man, who barely assaults a Brahmin, with
intent to hurt him, shall be whirled about for a cen-
tury in the hell called Tamisra. Never shall a king
slay a Brahmin, though convicted of all possible crimes ;
let him banish the offender from his realm, but with
all his property secure, and his body unhurt. No
erime is greater on earth than slaying a Brahmin; and
the king, therefore, must not form in his mind the idea
of killing a priest. A Brahmin, whether learned or
ignorant, is a powerful divinity, even as fire is a
powerful divinity, whether consecrated or popular.
Thus, though Brahmins may employ themselves in all
sorts of mean occupations, they must ever be honoured,
for they are something transcendently divine/'
These extracts show the light in which this favoured
tribe is beheld, and point pretty strongly as to who
were the law-makers. The same authority tells us, that
theThe
" natural duty ofofthetheSoodra"
subdivisions is servitude.
tribes are some hundreds in
number, of the sects, some thousands; but these are
not to be collected with accuracy, and scarcely at all
by name.
 105

Section III.
MYTHOLOGY OF THE CHALDEANS OR BABYLO-
NIANS, SYRIANS, PHCENICIANS, CANAANITES,
AND PERSIANS.

CHAPTER I.
OF CHALDjEAN OR BABYLONISH MYTHOLOGY.

In order to gain a clear view of the mythology of these

early eastern nations, who may be considered as the
well-springs, or fountains, whence first arose those
corrupt streams of idolatry, which, receiving number-
less accessions in their onward course through Egypt
and Phoenicia, deluged Greece and Rome, and all the
heathen world, with myriads of false gods, it will be
necessary to go back to the origin of idol-worship,
among the immediate descendants of the sons of Noah.
It would seem, from sacred history, that these had
begun to corrupt their ways, even with the completion
of the first century after the flood, as we see from the
impious attempt to construct that tower, or great thing,
(piyt2) whose top was to be in heaven, and that under
the eyes of those very men who had seen God's wrath
so fearfully poured out upon a sinful world, and who
had themselves floated upon the shoreless waters of
the deluge, amidst the bloated carcasses and horrible
debris of that world, submerged for mans iniquity.
Indeed the crime appears little at a transient view,
that when the descendants of Noah, who as yet formed
but one great family, in their journey ings from the
east, (their descent from the chain of Ararat,) fell in
with the beautiful champaign country or Shinar, so
106 CHALDEAN MYTHOLOGY.

admirably suited to the wants of a pastoral people,

they should feel anxious to form there a permanent
society, and to perpetuate the brotherly community in
which they had hitherto dwelt. But a moment's
reflection will show us, that the crime was no less than
that of determined rebellion against the Most High.
When God blessed Noah and his sons, he said, " Re-
plenish the earth ; and we can by no means doubt,
that Noah, that preacher of righteousness, who with-
stood so long the iniquity of the antediluvians, with
his righteous children, Shem and Japheth, also with-
stood this impious attempt to contravene the plain will
of the Lord, which pointed to the necessary dispersion
of the Noacida3 over the face of the whole earth. To
prevent which known will of God, doubtless often
expressed to them by their great progenitor, was the
declared reason for building the city. "And they said,
Come now, let us build us a city and a tower, with its
top in heaven. And let us make us a name, lest we
be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth/'
Thus idly imagining, that they might set at nought
the decrees of Jehovah.
This view of the dispersion is confirmed by the
learned Perizonius. It is not improbable, also, that,
in their rebellious folly, they may have looked upon
their monstrous tower as a refuge from any future
flood, as some celebrated authors have suggested.
Although their faithful preachers must have set before
them the everlasting covenant between the Elohini
and every living thing, in which he expressly declared,
that he would not bring another flood upon the earth
to destroy all flesh ; while, in confirmation of his eter-
nal truth, they would point to the splendid bow in the
heavens, the appointed sign of God's remembrance of
his promise to man, whenever his mercy brought a
cloud over the earth to refresh the thirsty ground, and
 CHALDiEAN MYTHOLOGY

to cause it to bring forth abundantly for the support of

his renovated creatures.
With this dispersion of mankind throughout the
east, consequent upon the confusion of tongues, and
the necessary separation of the descendants of the
three several sons of Noah, began, no doubt the prac-
tice of idolatrous worship. To which of the sons of
Ham the bad eminence is to be assigned, is of little
consequence, but we are of opinion, that it began in
the family of Cush, the father of Nimrod, and pro-
genitor ofthe Babylonians, Assyrians, and Ethiopians;
although most of the ancient historians and poets,
as Herodotus, Lucian, Diodorus, and others, ascribe the
invention of false gods entirely to the Egyptians, (the
descendants of Mizraim,) who undoubtedly had, in
after-times, a greater multitude of deities than all other
nations, and became indeed the great storehouse whence
the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans, drew their
inexhaustible pantheism.
Quis nescit, Vohisi Bytliinice, qualia demens
iEgyptus portenta colat, &c. — Juvenal Sat. xv.
But our business is not now with the sons of
Mizraim, but with the Babylonians, the immediate
descendants of Cush, the first-born of Ham, the repro-
bate son of Noah. The book of Genesis, which is
undoubtedly the oldest of all existing histories, gives
us plainly to understand, that, on the dispersion of the
Noacidse, Nimrod, with the descendants of Ham, re-
tained possession of the mighty city, and thus became
the founder of the Babylonian empire. This opinion
is confirmed by Josephus, who, in relating the dispersion
of mankind, says of Nimrod, that, virofjueivas, remain-
ing, while the others departed in various directions, he
obtained the kingdom of the Babylonians. " And the
beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and
Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."
108 CHALDyEAN MYTHOLOGY.

"Man," it has been somewhere pertinently observed,

" is a religious animal." And when debarred from the
knowledge of the one true God, his ever creative
imagination frames to itself objects of adoration, in
accordance with the physical and moral circumstances
in which he is placed. Thus the dwellers in the plain
of Shinar, following the occupation of hunters and
shepherds, in a delicious climate, and under a cloudless
sky, and seeking for objects of worship on whom their
imaginations might fix as the dispensers of the various
blessings which they enjo}Ted, or as deities to whose
invisible power they might recur for success in their
hunting or predatory expeditions, would naturally turn
their attention to the heavenly bodies, and especially to
the sun. And seeing it to be the great fountain of light
and heat, and that its fructifying rays caused the earth
to bring forth abundantly, that all nature seemed to
rejoice at its daily return, and that the blaze of its
unutterable brightness was too great for man to look
upon: moved by these manifestations of divine power,
and discerning no other object in nature which laid
such powerful claims to adoration, as a present deity,
they fell down and worshipped it as God.
To the worship of the sun as supreme, that of the
moon and the planets as subordinate deities naturally
succeeded; to which was added, fire-worship, the
invention of which has been attributed to Nimrod
himself; and, if we may hazard a conjecture, was,
most probably, fire obtained from the sun, and there-
fore held sacred as the gift of their great god. From
this sacred fire was named the city or territory of
Ur (T)^) of the Chaldees, the primitive meaning of
*V)N being a blazing fire. Though the Vulgate trans-
lates "ex Valle Chaldaeorum," and the Septuagint
€/c TrjS ^oop<29, "out of the region or country;" the
Targum, however, has N"Y)ND tnus marking it as the
 CHALDEAN MYTHOLOGY. 109

proper name of the city or territory where Abraham

was born. And the Targum Jerosol speaks very plainly,
*N*7t£DT ftlJIND "out °f tne furnace of fire of
the Chaldees." And this meaning is fully borne out by
Joshua, who says (xxiv. 2), " Your fathers dwelt
on the other side of the flood in old time, Terah the
father of Abraham^ and the father of Nachor, and
they served other gods." This, then, appears to be a
sufficient answer to those writers who suppose that
Nimrod and his immediate followers did not practise
idolatry, but adopted it afterwards from the Egyptians.
Having thus taken a hasty view of the origin of
idolatry among the ancient Babylonians, and which
was probably the source whence flowed the mythology
of all the eastern nations, it remains for us to give an
idea of their religion at the time when their empire
was overthrown by Cyrus the Mede, a. m. 3466.
Babylon, and the land of Chaldeea, was at that time,
by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures, the very chief
seat and stronghold of idolatry. The Holy Spirit, by
the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah, not only denounces
it as "a land of graven images, and mad upon idols %
but intimates that they had made all the surrounding
nations drunken with their idolatry. Therefore did
God, according to the denunciation of his prophet,
entirely destroy that great and mighty city, from off the
face of the earth, so that it lies utterly waste unto this
day. So fully, indeed, has the prophecy been accom-
plished, and so utter is her desolation, that the most
intelligent modern travellers have sought in vain to
determine the actual site of the ancient city.
It is impossible now to trace the degrees by which
they descended from the worship of the heavenly
bodies to that of graven images, but no doubt the
descent was rapid. Their first and greatest god was
Belus, who is also called Bel, Baal, and Pul. He is
110 CHALDJ3AN MYTHOLOGY,

generally supposed to be the same -with Belus, whose

image was set up for worship by his son Ninus ; hut
we are rather inclined to agree with those who affirm
that he was a personification of the sun, the rather as
his name Pul, Pal, or Paal, is pretty evidently the
original of the Pol or Apollo of the Greeks and Romans.
The temple of Belus was the pride of this gorgeous
city; according to Herodotus, it lay on the eastern
side. Until the time of Nebuchadnezzar, it contained
no more than the tower, and the ample space within
was entirely dedicated to the worship of Baal; but
this monarch caused large buildings to be erected
around it, enclosing the whole in a quadrangle, of
which each side was two stadia, about a quarter of a
mile, and consequently enclosing about forty acres of
ground within a lofty wall, with gates of fine brass,
reported to have been made out of the brazen sea, the
brazen pillars, and other furniture and utensils of this
metal, which had been brought by him as spoil to
Babel from the temple of Jerusalem. The riches of
this temple were enormous ; there were in it several
statues or idols, of solid gold, besides tables, bowls,
censers, and other sacred vessels innumerable, all of
pure gold. One image of gold, (no doubt that of Bel
himself,) was forty feet in height. And this has been
conjectured, with great probability, to have been the
same image which Nebuchadnezzar caused to be set
up and worshipped in the plain of Dura ; it is true,
that was three-score cubits, or ninety feet high, being
more than double the height of this in the temple ;
but it is suggested, with great propriety, that the base
or pillar on which it was elevated, so as to be visible
to the surrounding multitudes, was included in the
sixty cubits. Herodotus speaks of this great idol
as being still there in his time; and Diodorus estimates
it at one thousand Babylonish talents: and the whole of
 CHALDiEAN MYTHOLOGY. Ill

the gold in this temple, if we can credit the accounts

of the various authors whom we have consulted,
amounted to the enormous sum of twenty-one millions
sterling.
But in all this mighty temple, that ancient and won-
drous tower, which occupied the centre, seems most
worthy of a particular notice. We have already stated,
that, until the time of Nebuchadnezzar, this formed
the whole of the Temple of Beius. According to the
general opinion, this was the same tower which the
immediate descendants of Noah erected in the plain of
Shinar. In describing this tower, we will give the
very words of Herodotus, as being the testimony of an
eye-witness. " In the midst of the temple is a solid
tower, of a stadium in length and breadth, upon which
is placed another tower, and upon this another, to the
number of eight. The ascent into these was on the
outside, by a circle carried round each tower; in the
last tower is a great temple, in which is a couch, or
bed, splendidly covered, and placed beside it a golden
table; nevertheless there is no image there, nor does
any man lie there by night, but one woman only of
that country, whom the god shall have chosen out of
all, as the Chaldasans, the priests of this god, relate.
They also say (but these things I do not believe,) that
the god himself both comes to her in the temple and
lies with her in the bed ; as he does in the temple of
the Theban Jupiter in Egypt : so the Egyptians in like
manner assert. Besides this there is another lower
chapel (sacellum) in the temple of Babylon, in which
is a great image of Jupiter, of gold, with a great golden
table before him, his throne and the steps of it being
also of gold; so that the Chaldaaans estimate it as worth
eight hundred talents of gold. Outside the chapel is a
golden altar, and besides that another large altar on
which full-grown sheep are immolated; for on the
112 CIIALDvEAN MYTHOLOGY.

golden one it is not permitted to offer, except sucking

lambs. On this altar also the Chaldseans every year
burn a thousand talents of frankincense, when they
celebrate the feast of this god."
Another Babylonish idol, as we learn from the
prophet Jeremiah, was called Merodach; he is also
generally considered to have been an ancient Chaldcean
king, who received divine honours after his death.
It is certain they paid great honours to their Venus,
whom they called the daughter of the sun and the
heavens, under the names of Succoth-Benoth and
Mylitta. Of such authority was this goddess among
them, that every woman, whatever her rank or station,
was obliged once in her life to offer herself in the
temple of this divinity, nor was she freed from this
obligation until she had admitted some stranger resorting
thither to her embraces. The young maidens consi-
dered itas no slight distinction when they were selected
to fulfil this duty before their companions; an honour
which those deficient in personal charms were fre-
quently obliged to sigh for year after year. They
sat before the temple girded with slender cords, and
brought various fruits for offerings ; when a stranger
passing by approached, and took one of them away with
him, she was so proud of her good fortune, that she
reproached her companions, casting up to them that no
man had thought them worthy to unloose their girdles.
The Babylonian ladies of rank and fortune were by no
means excused from the performance of this religious
duty; nevertheless a certain modesty and delicacy of
feeling, which in all nations distinguishes those of
exalted rank, prevented them from offering themselves
so openly. They caused themselves to be brought into
the temple in a covered chariot, in which they remained
for a short time, meanwhile they had a gallant awaiting
them near at hand. Also when the high feast of this
 CHALDEAN MYTHOLOGY. 113

goddess was celebrated, a number of the most beautiful

women of Babylon, with elegantly braided hair, and
crowned with garlands, placed themselves at the door
of the temple. Here they stood on either side in a
row, so that the male worshippers who passed in or
out might select from among them her who took his
fancy. No woman, who thus exposed herself, could
return with honour to her house, until a stranger had
flung some money into her lap or bosom, and taken
her aside with him. The lover on presenting the
money, usually added these words, " I implore the
goddess Mylitta for thee." So perfect was this self-
dedication, that these women dared not refuse a lover,,
however little to their taste, who thus addressed them ;
and the money, however small, being considered as a
sacred offering, might not therefore be despised. When
these and some other ceremonies were accomplished, these
women returned home, and thenceforward dared upon
no terms to admit any suitor whatever to their favour.
Of the ceremonial of the Chaldaean worship, we
learn from the works of the ancients which have
descended to us, little more than has been noticed
above. : That they made use of all sorts of musical
instruments then known, in their religious festivals,
is plain from the /book of Daniel ; where, at the dedi-
cation of the enormous golden Baal on the plain of
Dura, was heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp,
sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music.
In concluding this sketch of the Babylonian idolatry,
it will be necessary to say something of the Chaldeans,
as a race distinct from the other inhabitants of Baby-
lon. The office of the priesthood, with the whole
direction of the religious affairs of the empire, was
entirely confided to them. They were the only
learned men among the Babylonians, and deducing
their origin from the earliest antiquity, they are gene-
i
114 CHALDEAN MYTHOLOGY.

rally said to be descended from the race of Shem, and

to have derived their national cognomen from Chesed,
the son of Nahor, (DHttO a *7£0) ; but we are in-
clined toyield to them a higher antiquity, as, more than
a century before the birth of Chesed, we are told that
Haran died in Ur of the Chaldees, St. Jer-
ome interprets this word, " like Deemons, from Jj sicut,
and *7f# dcemon" They gave themselves up entirely
to study, making the acquisition of knowledge their
whole business, that they might make themselves
thereby more fit for the service of their gods. The
fathers instructed their sons in their sacred knowledge,
and thus kept it9entirely confined to their own peculiar
race. Thus, free from every other occupation, and
entirely devoted to the acquisition of knowledge, which
they transmitted from father to son, they could scarce
fail of bringing their peculiar sciences to great per-
fection.
Their discipline was very strict ; the sons were on
no occasion permitted to oppose the maxims or opinions
of their fathers ; nevertheless, divisions arose among
them, as among the learned of all ages. These Baby-
lonian philosophers were divided into two sects, the
Orcheni and the Borsippeni ; but there is little doubt,
the former derived their appellation from an ancient
city in the land of Shinar, called Erech, and which is
reckoned as next to Babel, in the kingdom of Nimrod.
The prophet Daniel speaks of them under four dif->
ferent denominations, namely, the magicians, the
astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldaeans ; whence
some have conceived that the latter were a separate
sect, which had gained a deeper insight into the secrets
of nature than all the others. One thing is certain,
from the testimony of the prophet above-quoted,
— that is, that the Chaldaeans were soothsayers.
They applied themselves assiduously to the study of
 CHALDEAN MYTHOLOGY. 115

augury, or divination. They foretold future events

from the observation of the flight of birds, and of the
entrails of victims. They believed that matter existed
from eternity, was self-engendered, and indestructible.
But the government of the world and worldly afiairs
they ascribed to a divine being, so that of all that went
forward in heaven or on earth, nothing was the work
of a blind fatality, but all was directed and controlled
by divine wisdom.
Astronomy and astrology were the sciences rto the
cultivation of which, the Chaldeeans chiefly devoted
themselves ; and of the latter science, considered in its
judicial character, they are generally considered as the
inventors. Callisthenes, who was with Alexander the
Great when he took Babylon, found there astronomical
observations for 1903 years, that is as far back as the
115th year after the flood, or to the fifteenth year after
the building of the tower of Babel. Of their superior
knowledge in these sciences, however, the Chaldaeans
seem to have availed themselves only for the purposes
of their false religion, as the predicting future events,
and otherwise imposing on the credulous multitude.
That this unlawful use of astronomy among the
Babylonians must have been one great means of sink-
ing them into superstition and idolatry, will scarcely be
doubted. Their idolatry, as we have before stated,
began with fire-worship, that is to say, the worship of
the sun, moon, and planets, which were by the ancients
considered as fiery bodies. At what period image-
worship was introduced among them, it is quite im-
possible toascertain; probably, however, not until they
came under the Assyrian yoke, which was as early as
a.m. 2284. After which, they seem to have rapidly
declined into the grossest idolatry, and, not content
with their own peculiar divinities, to have adopted
most of those of the neighbouring nations. Even the
I2
116 CHALDEAN MYTHOLOGY.

most deformed of the Egyptian monsters adorned their

temples and streets, and the more senseless and ugly
these monstrous idols appeared, the more were they
honoured and adored.
We shall conclude this sketch of the Chaldsean
mythology hy remarking, that the names or titles of
their kings were compounded from those of their idols,
as Pilesar, Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar, Nabonassar,
and the like *.

CHAPTER II.

OF THE ASSYRIAN, ARMENIAN, AND SYRIAN MYTHOLOGY.

Of the mythology of the Assyrian empire, founded hy

Ashur,1 we have no record before their conquest of>
and union with, Babylon, to which state we haye
already suggested that they brought their idols, as we
find no distinction afterwards made in their religion,
either in sacred or profane history. &.---v> *
Of the religion of the Medes, the descendants of
Madai, the third son of Japheth, who, under the great
Cyrus, put an end to the Babylonian empire, we need
not to treat separately, as it was in all respects the
same with that of the Persians, with whose religious
customs we shall conclude this section. Save that the
Medes had also the custom of ratifying their covenants
with blood : which custom they are generally supposed
to have borrowed from the Israelites.
Of the idolatry of the neighbouring nations of Meso-

* Nebo, or Nabo, is mentioned along with Bel, by the

prophet Isaiah, chap. xLvi. 1 ; but he is supposed to be an
Ammonitish idol : and we have no account of any particular
honours paid to him in Babylon.
 SYRIAN MYTHOLOGY.

potamia, as distinct from that of the Assyrians or

Babylonians, we have no records. Moses, who is our
only authority in this case, plainly shows that they
were far gone in idolatry, by the gods which Rachel stole
from her father Laban. This country was first
inhabited by Aram, the youngest son of Shem, by
whose name it is called in Hebrew, and its inhabitants
Aramites.
Looking still farther north from Babylon, towards
and between the Caspian and Black Seas, we find the
Armenians, descended from another Aram, a grandson
of Togarmah. Of the ancient mythology of these
people, as distinct from that of their neighbours, we
know little, except that they were most devoted wor -
shippers of their goddess Ananitis, and maintained for
her a multitude of priests and priestesses. So high,
indeed, was the honour in which this goddess was held
by the Armenians, that the very chiefest among them
devoted their daughters to her service. She had the
power of cleansing them from all impurity. They
could permit themselves to be violated, and no man
dared to reproach them with their prostitution as any-
thing indecent or derogatory to their honour. Even
in marriage, they were held as worthy as the purest
virgins. It is easy to believe, that this gracious and
accommodating goddess had no lack of worshippers.
We next come to Syria, comprising all that large
tract of country bounded on the north by the moun-
tains of Amanus and Taurus, on the south by Arabia
Petrea, on the east by the Euphrates, and on the west
by the Mediterranean sea. This land, although it fell
under the dominion of the cursed race of Ham, and
consequently into the grossest idolatry, was originally
peopled by the descendants of Aram, the youngest
son of Shem, and throughout the sacred history it is
called after his name ; Mesopotamia being distinguished
118 ASSYRIAN, ARMENIAN,

from it by the addition of Naharajim, or as Aram of

the two rivers.
We learn from the sacred history, that one of the
chief gods of the Syrians was called Rimmon, and that
he had a temple in their chief city of Damascus.
Naaman the Syrian confesses to the prophet Elisha,
that he worships other gods, and more particularly
Rimmon. " And Naaman said, Thy servant will hence-
forth offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice uiito
other gods, but unto the Lord. In this thing the Lord
pardon thy servant, when my master goeth into the
house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on
my hand, and I bow down myself in the house of
Rimmon ; when I bow down myself in the house of
Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing."
The idol Rimmon is generally, and not without pro-
bability, considered to have been the same with Baal,
or the sun. Grotius is, however, of opinion, that he
represented the planet Saturn, which held the highest
rank among the planets. All these consider the name
of this idol to be derived from the Hebrew word rhum
(D-n)? high or exalted; but as the word rimmon
(pDl) ^self signifies a pomegranate, and this fruit
was sacred to Yenus, so Rimmon has by some been
considered to have been the Syrian Yenus. It is
also worthy of remark, that this Rimmon is the only
deity of the name whom Ave find mentioned in
antiquity.
It has been asserted by Selden, and other learned
"writers, that among the earliest of the divinities of this
land, we must reckon Gad; although they seem to
have no other ground for it than what is afforded by
Moses in the 30th chapter of Genesis, verse 11, and
the comments of some rabbins on this passage, who ex-
plain the words of Leah, "bagad," as (the planet) aGad
comes/' thus inferring a lucky nativity to her young
 119
AND SYRIAN MYTHOLOGY.

son, from the appearance of this star at his birth : so

early is this superstition, from which the world is by
no means as yet free, which leads men to look to that
planet for their destiny, under whose presiding influ-
ence they first saw the light. The Jews called this
planet Masol Tob, that is, good luck, and considered it
astrologically as of good augury at the birth of a child ;
and were therefore accustomed at the marriage of their
daughters to present them with a ring, in which were
engraven the words Masol Tob (3^ Hence it is
conjectured, with the greatest probability, that Gad
was the same with the planet Jupiter.
In the city of Hamath, they worshipped an idol
called Asimah, but the learned are very divided in
opinion concerning this divinity, and the rabbins have
hazarded as many improbable dreams concerning it, as
the heathen poets concerning their Pan. Some have
attributed to him the figure of an ape, others a lamb,
others again a satyr, or he-goat. All, however, seem
to have an idea of a male divinity. If we dared,
among so many more learned, to hazard a conjecture,
we should be for a goddess ; the Hebrew name has a
feminine termination, and this idol is named in con-
junction with the Chaldsean Succoth-Benoth, or Yenus.
We also find Adad numbered among the gods whom
the Syrians worshipped ; nevertheless we find but
little concerning him, and that little obscure and un-
satisfactory, either in ancient or modern writers. Ma-
crobius says, " The Assyrians, or rather the Syrians,
give the name Adad to the god whom they worship,
as the highest or greatest and adds, that the signifi-
cation of this name is the One, or the Only. This
writer also gives us clearly to understand, that the
Syrians adored the sun under this name ; at least, the
surname Adad, which was given to the sun by the
natives of Heliopolis, makes them appear as one and
120 ASSYRIAN, ARMENIAN,

the same. This name Adad, or Hadad, was very com-

mon among the ancient Idumsean and Syrian kings,
even as common as that of Ptolemy among the Egyp-
tians. This deity appears to be the same called in
Scripture Achad, where he seems to be a sort of
Priapus, or god of the gardens.
Elagabalus was principally worshipped by the people
of Emesa, (the ancient Hamath,) and appears to have
been a very ancient divinity. His name is variously
written; by the Phoenicians, Elseagabalus, and by the
Greeks, who altered all foreign names to suit their
own ideas of euphony, Heliogabalus. The image
under which he was adored, is evidence of his great
antiquity, being merely an unhewn black stone, of a
conical shape, said by the tradition of that people to
have fallen from heaven. Upon it were various circu-
lar projections and other nondescript figures, which
were held as hieroglyphics of the sun, but which were
never traced by the hand of man; and these capricious
sports of nature were regarded, by their rude and
depraved imaginations, as signs and characters of the
divinity.
The emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus II., took
the name of this divinity, to whom he officiated as
high-priest before his election to the imperial dignity,
an office to which he was far better suited than to fill
the throne of the Csesars ; seeing that he himself per-
formed the ridiculous mummeries of the priesthood
when he transferred the worship of this god to Rome.
The people of Palmyra are supposed to have wor-
shipped the sun and moon, under the names of Agli-
bolus and Malachbelus, as we find from that beautiful
monument preserved in the gardens of the Prince
Justiniani, near St. John de Lateran, at Rome. This
elegant ex voto bas-relief represents the facade of a
temple resting on two Corinthian columns, above which
 AND SYRIAN MYTHOLOGY. 121

are represented two youths on either side of a palm-

tree. The youth on the right represents the god
Aglibolus : the robe which he has on, and which reaches
to the knee, is fastened with a girdle ; over this he
wrears a kind of mantle : in the right hand he holds a
short round staff : the right arm is unfortunately muti-
lated. On the left side of the tree stands the god
Malachbelus, who is also represented as a young man,
and is habited as a warrior. A mantle hangs on his
shoulders, and on his head he wears a radiated crown ;
behind him is a crescent moon. There is a double
inscription, in the lost tongue of Palmyra and in Greek,
of which latter the following is a translation: —
Titus Aurelius Heliodorns Adrianus, by birth a
native of Palmyra, the son of Antiochus, has at his
own cost erected and dedicated to Aglibolus and Ma-
lachbelus, the gods of his native land, this marble and
an offering of silver, for the preservation of himself
his wife, and children, in the year five hundred and
forty-seven, in the month Peritius*"
That Aglibolus represented the sun, is universally
the opinion of the learned, as also that he is the Baal,
Belenus, or Bel, of the Syrians. That he is the same
as the Elagabalus of the Emesans, we think there can
be no doubt. The opinion that Malachbelus repre-
sented the moon, we think, notwithstanding the pre-
sence ofthe crescent, not so quite well-founded. Malach
means a king; this idol, therefore, is King Belus, who
was undoubtedly worshipped as a god, both by the
Chaldaeans and Assyrians. Herodian relates, that the
Emperor Aurelian caused a beautiful temple to be

* This date
Seleucidso, givesbeing" reckoned
the year of ouraccording
Lord 234,to towards
the era theof end
the
of the reign of Sevems. The Macedonian month Peritius
answers to February.
122 ASSYRIAN, ARMENIAN,

erected at Rome for the reception of the spoils of

Palmyra, and among other trophies placed therein,
were the images of the snn and of Belus (Aglibolus and
Malachhelus).
That the Syrians, as well as the surrounding nations,
had fallen into the gross absurdity of deifying and
worshipping their early kings, we are certain, from their
having conferred this blasphemous honour on Ben-
hadad II., and his successor Hazael, his unprincipled
and treacherous murderer. They carried about their
images in processions, and boasted through ignorance
of their high antiquity. Some modern writers have,
indeed, confounded the deified Benhadad with Adad,
the first and oldest of the Syrian gods : but, besides
that Josephus is explicit in his account of the apo-
theosis ofthis monarch, his very name of Benhadad, or
the son of Hadad, proves him to have been named
from their ancient deity.
If we seek to know with what degree of splendour
the Syrians honoured their false gods, we need only to
glance at the ruins of Balbec, or Heliopolis, the city of
the sun, named after Baal ; and those of Tadmor, or
Palmyra, whose wondrous temples, astonishing even in
their ruins, we find described by all modern travellers
as among the most stupendous and gorgeous remains
of antiquity.

CHAPTER III.
OF THE PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY.

We now come to the Phoenicians, a people whose

commercial greatness raised them to so exalted a
station, that the inspired prophet calls Tyre " the
crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose
 AND SYRIAN MYTHOLOGY. 123

traffickers the honourable of the earth." This small,

but rich and powerful nation, occupied a portion of the
coast of Syria, between the mountains and the sea.
The inhabitants traced their descent from the eldest
son of Canaan, who gave his name to their ancient
capital of Zidon.
The principal gods among the Phoenicians were
Astarte and Adonis. According to Cieero, they
reigned together in Syria, and were so beloved by their
subjects, that they were worshipped by them after their
death : and as men in the early ages were of opinion
that the departed souls of heroes, and more especially
of the benefactors of the human race, were translated
to the stars : so they thought they could bestow no
greater honour on this beloved prince and his spouse,
than that of assigning the sun and moon as their
eternal habitations, and thus associating their worship
with that of these already long- adored luminaries.
Adonis was the son of Myrrha, the daughter or
grand-daughter of Cinyras. This princess fled from
Cinyras, and betook herself into Arabia, where she
brought up her son Adonis, until he was old enough
to appear at the court of Byblis, in Phoenicia, and to
do honour to his mother. His further adventures are
thus related by the poets: "Astarte, whom they call
Yenus, became so desperately enamoured of him, that
she quitted her accustomed retreats in Cythera, Ama-
thonta, and the Isle of Paphos, to follow him into the
deserts of Mount Libanus, wThere he amused himself
with hunting. Mars, who felt no slight mortification
at the preference shown by Yenus for this young
prince, besought the assistance of Diana, who to satiate
his revenge sent a wild boar, which killed Adonis ;
and Yenus gave way to all the transports of the most
impassioned grief."
" The youthful Adonis now descended to the regions
124 PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY.

of Pluto, where he was soon deep in the good graces

of Proserpine. Venus meanwhile betook herself to
heaven, to petition her father Jupiter for his return to
«arth. But the goddess of hell would not suffer the
beautiful Adonis to leave her, which threw Jupiter
into the greatest perplexity. He could not resist the
tears of his daughter, nor was he willing to incur the
enmity of the infernal goddess. At length, by the
advice of Calliope, it was agreed that Adonis should
dwell with both by turns. The Hours were therefore
despatched to the dominions of Pluto, to bring back
Adonis. Since which time, he spends six months of
the year with his beloved Venus, and the remaining
six with Proserpine in hell,"
The worship of Adonis soon grew into credit among
the superstitious. Near Byblis was a river, which bore
the name of Adonis ; it was there believed that the
wound which he received from the boar was washed
therein, because its waters ran red at certain seasons
of the year. By this circumstance the feast of Adonis
was regulated.
At this solemn festival every one in the city was
clothed in mourning and exhibited publicly their sorrow
and compassion. Nothing but sighs and lamentations
were heard on every side : women, selected for this
service, ran through the city with their heads shaved,
beating their breasts, and howling piteously. On the
last day of the feast all this mourning was turned into
joy, and every one rejoiced as though they had received
Adonis again from the dead. The beginning or mourn-
ful part of this solemnity was called Aphanismos, the
end Heuresis, or the finding. The whole lasted eight
days.
The worship of Adonis was by no means confined to
Phoenicia and Syria, but spread itself through all the
neighbouring nations, especially in Egypt and Assyria.
 PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY. 125

Even the Jewish women were tainted with this ido-

latry. From Syria and Palestine the worship of Ado-
nis was carried into Persia, to the island of Cyprus, and
at length into Greece. In Athens especially this feast
was celebrated with great pomp.
The worship of Astarte is said to have been at first
pure and public, as became the memory of a princess
who, from the death of her husband, had reigned with
mildness and wisdom; but in the course of time it
became defiled with such impurities as must be passed
over in silence.
This goddess was for the most part worshipped in
sacred groves; though she had her peculiar temples in
other places, as at Ascalon, which is considered as the
most ancient, .in the islands of Cyprus and Cythera^
and doubtless in many other places. She is con-
tinually mentioned in the Bible under the name of
Ashtaroth; and we find a melancholy record therein
of the deceitfulness of the human heart, in the case of
the wisest of mankind, who was drawn away to the
worship of this lascivious deity.
As Astarte represented the deity of the moon, we
find her worship continually joined with that of Baal,
or the sun. What a rage the Israelites had for these*
gross superstitions, we learn from the fact that Ahab
entertained in Samaria four hundred and fifty priests
of Baal, and his wife Jezebel four hundred priests of
the groves, or of Astarte. The secret groves of Ash-
taroth were beside the temples of Baal, and when,
cattle were offered to this god, they brought cakes and
drink-offerings and incense to the goddess. To these-
they added the practice of those shameless vices which
they considered as acceptable service to this divinity,,
in bowers entwined for that purpose in her sacred
groves, or, as the scripture hath it, " under every
green tree." The worshippers of this goddess caused
126 PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY.

themselves to be marked or tattooed on the skin -with

the figure of a tree, whence they received the name of
Dendrophorse, or tree-bearers.
It was also the custom to place tables on the roofs
of the houses, in the vestibules, at the doors, and in
the cross- ways, on which, every new moon, they spread
a feast in honour of Astarte, This was among the
Greeks called the feast of Hecate. A like feast was
also held in honour of Adonis. -
Baal and Astarte were differently represented ac-
cording to the fancy of the various people by whom
they were worshipped. Sometimes Baal or the sun
was clothed as a woman ; on the contrary, Astarte or
the moon appeared in complete armour, with a beard,
but generally under the form of a woman, who, for
head-gear, wore an ox's head with the horns, like the
Egyptian Isis. On the Tyrian coins of Demetrius the
Second, king of Syria, we see the Tyrian Yenus, or
Astarte, in long clothes, over which she has a mantle
thrown back over her left arm: she stretches out one
arm in the posture of command, and in the other holds
a short cruciform staff.
The rose, among flowers, was sacred to this goddess,
for they believed that it was dyed red with the blood
of Adonis. Finally, this goddess, who is called by
Sanconiathon, and after him by Porphyry, Baaltis, or
the queen, represented the divinity of the moon, as did
the Alilat, or Alitta, of the Arabians, and the Isis of
the Egyptians ; whence we may see how widely the
worship of this planet was spread among the eastern
nations.
Adonis, in Hebrew Adonai, in Greek Kurios, lord,
seems every way adapted to the sun, who appears as a
chief or lord among the heavenly bodies. As regards
Adonis and Astarte, as well as Isis and Osiris, it is
necessary to distinguish between their double divinity.
 PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY. 127

According to the one they were monarchs in Phoenicia

and Egypt, to whom the superstition of their subjects
had assigned a place among the gods ; according to
the other they were the sun and moon, whose worship,
with that of the other planets, we have shown to be
far more ancient than that of dead heroes, although
their worship became afterwards so mingled as to cause
great confusion in ancient mythology.
Among all the idols of the eastern nations we find
none whose worship was so universal and renowned as
that of Baal ; his name in the east was, like that of
Jupiter in the west, the general appellation for their
gods.
Priapus was worshipped among the Phoenicians and
Canaanites under the name of Baalpeor and Beelphe-
gor, which signifies a naked or a stone god.
As the worship of the Cabiri took its origin among
the Phoenicians, we shall here give a short account of
it. The name of these deities is from the Hebrew or
Arabic ; in both these languages Cabir signifies great
and mighty. Under this designation were worshipped
the deities who have charge of the dead, and in parti-
cular Ceres, Proserpine, Pluto, and Mercury. By
Ceres was represented the earth, which receives the
dead, by Pluto and Proserpine the infernal regions, and
Mercury was considered as their conductor thither. •
The Greeks called the Cabiri the Samothracian gods,
because their worship, in spreading from Phoenicia to
the western nations, was first received in the islands
of Samothracia and Imbros. The worship of these
deities came first into great credit, after that Orpheus,
Hercules, Castor and Pollux, with other of the Argo-
nauts, had gone there to sanctify themselves for the
fulfilment of a vow, made in a great storm at sea.
Agamemnon, Ulysses, and the other heroes who had
been with them at the siege of Troy, afterwards repaired
128 PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY.

hither for the same honour. Philip of Macedon, the

father of Alexander the Great, as well as many other
princes and great men, were admitted and initiated
into these mysteries. The Athenians sent their chil-
dren thither to assist at them, and others of the Greek
nations followed their example.
Among the reasons why the favour of the Cabiri
was so anxiously courted was the following. It was
universally believed that in all perilous undertakings,
even in the most dreadful storms at sea, they afforded
a marked support and protection to their worshippers.
To have been initiated into their mysteries was an
honour, which caused a man to be considered as more
holy, and altogether superior to other men. At his
initiation, the aspirant was seated on a throne, crowned
with a crown of olive leaves, and girded with a purple
scarf ; while the other initiated danced around him.
None, however, but the priests were permitted to enter
the penetralia, or sanctum, of their temples. They
took the greatest care to keep the images of these
deities from the eyes of the profane. In the island of
Samothracia was a cavern called Zerynthus, sacred to
the Cabiri, in which they sacrificed dogs to Hecate.
The priests of this religion, who were called Koes,
from the Hebrew coken, a priest, made use in their
solemnities of the ancient Phoenician language. No-
thing was held in higher estimation among the ancients,
than the mysteries of Samothracia, or of the Cabiri, as
is clear from the eagerness with which the honour of
initiation was contended for. This ceremony took
place in secret and in darkness, and the things acted
there cannot be thought on without blushing • for
human nature, nor mentioned without offence to
common decency.
We cannot conclude this sketch of the Phoenician
mythology, without noticing their Hercules. This hero,
 129
PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY.

who was called Melcartus, or Melicertus, that is, King of

the City, is the most ancient of all those to whom the
discovery of the art of navigation has been ascribed.
His name of Hercules, is derived from the Phoenician
word harokel^ which means a merchant. And he
gained for himself a never-dying reputation as a suc-
cessful navigator, having penetrated through the Straits
of Gibraltar, from which circumstance, the mountains
on either shore bear his name to this day, and are
called the Pillars of Hercules.
In the city of Tyre was a superb temple erected to
his honour, and adorned with numberless costly gifts.
Among the rest were two images of this god, one of
gold, and the other of a precious stone, which in the
night emitted a resplendent light. The priests of this
temple gave out that it was as old as the city itself.
In this city was another temple dedicated to this hero,
under the name of the Thasian Hercules. The wor-
ship of the Tyrian Hercules was carried by Dido to
Carthage, and from thence along the African coast as
far as Gades, or Cadiz, where a magnificent temple was
erected to him, with two wonderful pillars, in memory
of his having passed the Straits, and as they reported,
visited their city.
We must now turn from Phoenicia, whose mytho-
logy, were we to enter into a history of it, would of
itself fill a large volume, as in it is involved the origin
of nearly all the gods of Greece and Rome, and take a
glance at the more familiar idols of Canaan and Philistia.
And first of Beelzebub, the god of Ekron. This god is
frequently mentioned in Scripture. His name signi-
fies a god, or lord, or governor of the flies. It is
doubted by many, however, whether the Ekronites
called their god originally by this name, or whether it
was bestowed on him by the Jews in mockery ; as the
prophet changed the name of Bethel, which signifies
K
130 PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY.

the house of God, into Beth-avon, which signifies the

house of sin, on occasion of Jeroboam's setting up
there the golden calf for worship. But why should
not the Philistines have their fly-god, as well as the
Greeks, who had their Jupiter and Hercules Myodes,
or Myagron, which has the same signification?
Beelzebub is called in Scripture the prince of the
devils, which gives us to understand, that he was chief
among the gods of the Canaanites. This god was
indeed sometimes represented under the form of a
large fly, to which divine honours were paid at Ekron ;
at others, under the form of a man with a fly on his
head, or in his hand. That all sorts of animals, even
the most contemptible and the most disgusting, were
deemed by the heathens worthy to be exalted into
gods, we have already shown in treating of the Egyp-
tian mythology. The oracle of Beelzebub was very
famous for its supposed omniscience. It was therefore
much consulted by those who wished to pry into
futurity. We find Elijah thus reproving the mes-
sengers of Ahaziah, king of Israel, whom he had sent
to this oracle to inquire the event of his illness; —
" Because there is no God in Israel, go ye to inquire
of Baalzebub the god of Ekron?" Finally this god
was called in contempt, Beelzebub, the dirty god.
The goddess Derceto, who was also called Atergatis,
had a celebrated temple in the famous city of Ascalon,
of which she is said to have been the queen. She was
worshipped under the form of a woman, ending in a
fish from the waist downwards. Near the city was a
deep pond, very full of fish, consecrated to this god-
dess. Her worshippers abstained from eating these
fish, for they believed that this goddess had once
resided in this tank, in the form of a fish. In the
names Derceto and Atergatis, seem to be compounded
the words dag, a fish, and addir, glorious or terrible.
 PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY. 131

The heathens were fond of giving the title Addir, to

their gods and kings, as we find in the name Adra-
melech, or Adarmelech, that is, "the glorious or
terrible king." This adjective is also frequently applied
to the only true God in the Hebrew Scripture.
The goddess Derceto was not worshipped in Ascalon
alone, but throughout Syria, under this mermaid form,
and was doubtless the original of the Nereids or sea-
nymphs of Greek poets, as well as of their goddess
Eurynome, the daughter of the Ocean, mentioned by
Pausanias as worshipped in Arcadia, and having a
temple in the city of Phygale.
The following adventure is related of Derceto :—
a Yenus being once highly offended with this goddess,
caused her to fall desperately in love with a young
and handsome priest. When she had borne a daughter
to him, she conceived against her lover such an aver-
sion, on account of her former weakness towards him,
that she caused the poor priest to be made away with,
and having carried the child into a rocky wilderness,
she cast herself into the sea." The daughter thus
exposed by Derceto, became afterwards the celebrated
Semiramis.
As Derceto was represented by an idol whose form
was half- woman and half-fish, so Dagon, whose splendid
temple was in the city of Gaza, was " upwards man,
and downwards fish." This immense temple was
nearly destroyed by Samson, at his heroic death, when,
by tearing away the pillars which supported it, he
buried beneath the ruins more than three thousand of
the Philistines. That the Egyptians also had deities
formed like Dagon and Derceto, we find by some of
their coins.
Jupiter was also worshipped by the inhabitants of
Gaza, under the name of Marnas, which signifies in
the Syrian tongue, " The Lord of Men." k2The learned
132 PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY.

are generally of opinion, that under this name the

Philistines adored the Cretan Jupiter, the same who
stole away Europa. That Marnas was formerly
adored with distinguished honours in the city of Gaza,
we not only learn from the splendid temple here erected
to him, but from their having also instituted solemn
games, with chariot races, &c., to his honour: they
also associated his name with that of their city on
some of their coins. Gaza worshipped many other
gods, and had many other temples besides that of
Marnas, which was called Marnion, as that of the Sun,
of Yenus, of Proserpine, and Hecate, called Herion.
But the great fame of Marnas has nearly thrown all
the rest into oblivion. His temple, which they con-
sidered asthe finest in the world, was a circular build-
ing, rich with costly marble, surrounded by a double
ornamented colonnade leading from one into the other.
The centre was open towards the north, to let out the
smoke of the sacrifices.
The inordinate zeal of this people in the service of
their false gods, is clearly shown in the holy Scriptures.
They placed the fullest reliance in the power of these
gods, to defend them from their enemies. In this idle
confidence, they carried their images with them in their
wars. David, however, took some from them when he
defeated them, and burned them. After the battle
on Mount Gilboa, where Saul was slain, and his army
cut to pieces, by the Philistines, they sent messengers
to publish the victory in the house of their idols, and
they placed the armour of Saul in the house of Ash-
taroth. Besides this gross idolatry, this people were,
like the other heathen nations, greatly addicted to
witchcraft, soothsaying, and the like arts. We find
in the Bible far more numerous and more circum-
stantial details of the superstitions of the Philistines,
than of the other nations of Canaan. They were even
 PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY. 133

in the time of Abraham an idolatrous nation, but the

long-suffering of God bore yet a long time with them,
till at length their shameless lusts, their uncleanness
and cruelty, grew to such a height, that the land was
altogether polluted by them, and they were rooted out
as inhuman monsters, as Moses circumstantially re-
lates. And as one thing cited against them is the
worship of Moloch, we will here say something of the
cruelties practised in the service of this god.
Moloch was, as is wrell known, worshipped under
the form of a calf or an ox, and represented the sun,
the king of heaven ; Moloch signifying a king. Under
which name, the Canaanites, in very early times,
adored this luminary, and suffered their children, as
soon as they were born, to be exposed to the
scorching heat of his fiery rays. They looked on
this custom as a purification, which was not only
holy, but also healthy. But as superstition, w7here it
once gets the upper hand, knows no bounds, so the
priests of Moloch were ever adding new ceremonies
to these. They kindled two fires before the image of
this god, through which they caused the children to
pass. Nor did they stop here ; it followed by degrees,
that children, especially where there happened to be
many in a family, were sacrificed to the great tutelary
god Moloch, and actually burnt in honour of him.
And that these unfortunate and miserable burnt-offer-
ings might not move the bystanders to pity by their
dreadful cries, the inhuman priests made use at these
hellish ceremonies of trumpets and drums, and other
deafening noises, so that the despairing shrieks and
piteous moans of the wretched children could not be
heard. From this noise and clamour, the valley in
which these inhuman cruelties were perpetrated, was
called " the Yale of Tophet," which is as much as to
say, " the Yale of the sound of drums and cymbals."
134 PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY.

This idol was provided with seven recesses or cup-

boards in the image itself, to receive the various offer-
ings of his worshippers. In the first was placed the
meal, in the second the doves, in the third a sheep, in
the fourth a ram, in the fifth a calf, in the sixth an ox,
and in the seventh a child, which, according to most
writers, was burnt therein.
It has been conjectured, and with the greatest pro-
bability, that Moloch and Saturn were the same deity.
Saturn, whose worship was most renowned among the
Carthaginians, a people of Phoenician descent, was
represented by a metallic idol, whose hands were
stretched out together, with a downward inclination ;
so that when the customary offering of a child was
placed in the arms, it fell into a pan or brazier of glow-
ing charcoal, which stood at the feet of this cruel idol,
and was quickly consumed. There is nothing more
certain or more famous in all antiquity than the human
sacrifices offered to Saturn, not only in Carthage, but in
many other places.
We shall conclude this part of our subject by refer-
ring the testimony of the holy writings for a proof,
that among the Canaanites, the most horrible abomina-
tions and sins, at which nature's self shudders, were
practiced as acceptable service to their gods; and that
on this account the pious patriarchs were not per-
mitted to form any marriages or alliances with them.
Moses also gave this command : M Thus shall ye deal
with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break
down their images, and cut down their groves, and
burn their graven images with fire."
Having thus given a short view of the mythology of
Syria, and the nations immediately surrounding it, we
turn to that of Persia, with which we shall conclude
this section.
 135
PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY.

CHAPTER IV.

OF THE PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY.

The Persians were the descendants of Elam, the son of

Shem. We cannot say when they first fell into the sin
of idolatry ; it is clear that from their descent, they
must have been originally worshippers of the one true
God ; yet we find them in after times practising the
grossest idolatry. *
Mithras was certainly one of their principal gods.
Plutarch, in speaking of their two chief deities, Oroma-
zus, or Oromastes, and Arimanes, of whom the one,
according to the doctrine of the Persian magi, was the
author of all good, and the other the author of all
evil, assures us, that the Persians worshipped Mithras,
and adored him as a mediator between these two op-
posite deities.
There can be no doubt, from the testimony of all
the ancient historians, that the earliest kind of idolatry
among the Persians, as among the Chaldeans and other
eastern nations, was the worship of the sun, which
continued in all after times to be their highest god, and
was adored under the name of Mithras. Of the form
under which this god was worshipped in very early
times, we have no record ; but he is found, on ancient
monuments, represented as a young hero, with a high
Persian cap, with his knee on a prostrate bull, whom
he holds by the horn, and plunges a poniard into its
throat. Chardin, and after him Le Brun, and other
travellers, have copied some figures from the ruins at
Chilimear, supposed to be the ancient Persepolis, which,
they call Mithras, but which we are more inclined to
consider as those of priests. They are three, in the
 PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY.

act of immolating a lion, an unicorn, and a griffin ;

they have low caps, or turbans, and long beards. The
sun was to be seen everywhere represented on linen
and on the shields of the Persians. Among those ho-
nours which they paid to the sun, were certain horses
and chariots, which, in allusion to his rapid course,
they consecrated to him ; and the chiefest and most
acceptable offering which they, according to their
opinion, sanctified to their god, the sun, was a conse-
crated white horse, superbly harnessed. That the
kings of Judah fell into this peculiar idolatry, as well
as that of the surrounding nations, we find recorded in
their history.
Next to the sun, fire held a distinguished rank
among the Persian gods. It appears very probable
that the sun, the sacred fire, and Mithras, were only
representations of the same godhead. Isidore indeed
asserts, that the Persians worshipped the sun under
the form of fire. The fire was therefore, in that
country, the holiest of all things : it was always car-
ried about with their kings wherever they went;
they addressed their prayers chiefly to it ; and even
when they attended the service of any other god, they
first offered up a prayer to the fire.
The testimonies which we have hitherto cited, that
the ancient Persians worshipped the sun as their high-
est god, under the name of Mithras, or Mitras, are, for
the most part, drawn from the Greek historians. It
was, however, asserted by the magi, that in early times,
before they fell into the absurdity of deifying the fire,
as well as afterwards, when this idolatry was again
abolished, they by no means prayed to the fire itself,
but to God in it ; because the sun being the perfection
of fire, God had there established the throne of his
glory, and the seat of his Divine presence in a more
eminent degree ; and after this, in the elementary fire
 PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY.

on earth. For this reason the Persians, in their devo-

tions to God, turned their faces originally towards the
sun, and afterwards towards their holy fire, and, finally,
worshipped both.
A request made for the fire's sake, was of such
power among the Persians, that a man might be
almost sure of meeting with no denial. When one in
a pressing necessity went to another with a fire-brand
and water, with the threat that if his request was re-
fused he would cast the fire into the water and quench
it, he was quite sure to gain his point, but was equally
sure of punishment for his presumptuous threat.
The ever-burning fire was perpetually kept up by
the Persians. There were certain places consecrated
to it, called, by the Greek writers, P}a*athea, where it
burnt on altars spaciously enclosed with gratings,
within which none but the magi, wTho had the sole
charge of these fires, were permitted to enter. They
must go in every day to tend the everlasting fire, be-
fore which they must remain a whole hour, repeating
certain invocations, with a bundle of rods in their
hands.
Besides the sun and the fire, the Persians paid
divine honours to the moon and to Yenus. It is most
probable that these two deities were originally one.
They are said to have borrowed this worship of Venus
or Urania, from the Assyrians and Arabians. We
have elsewhere noticed this Yenus under the Baby-
lonian name of Mylitta.
The Persians also adored the wThole expanse of the
heavens, and offered sacrifice to it on the highest
mountains. In their most solemn processions a
sacred chariot was paraded in honour of it. Cyrus
was accustomed, at all times, before he mounted his
horse to implore Jupiter, (so the Greeks named this
Persian deity,) as the god of his people, for grace to
138 PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY.

be their commander and ruler. The succeeding mo-

narchs of Persia imitated Cyrus in this custom.
The Persians, in the extravagance of the superstition
into which they gradually fell, not only worshipped the
sun, or Mithras, the moon, or Venus, and the whole
expanse of the heavens, but also, along with the fire,
the other elements of air, earth, and water. They
looked upon the elements as the original source of all
things, and were therefore most cautious to preserve
them in their original purity. With this view they
prevented, as far as possible, the air from being con-
taminated with any foul odours. In like manner that
the earth should receive no defilement, they would not
bury their dead in it, but exposed them as a prey to
the birds and beasts, conceiving that their bodies were
thus much more readily resolved into their original
elements. Streams, rivers, and brooks, they held so
pure and holy, that they would neither wash them-
selves in them nor spit in them, much more throw any
thing unclean into them. It was doubtless for this
reason that they were forbidden to extinguish fire with
water, but instead thereof made use of earth for this
purpose. Beside all these, it is certain that they paid
divine honour to heroes or demigods. Xenophon re-
presents Cyrus as sacrificing to the Median heroes as
tutelary divinities of their nation.
As regards the religious ceremonies of the more
ancient Persians, they not only permitted no temples
or altars, but, contrary to the customs of the other
heathen nations, they held in abhorrence all painted or
graven images of their gods, and looked upon those as
senseless who made and worshipped idols.
The burning of the temple at Athens by Xerxes,
doubtless proceeded rather from religious zeal than
merely out of revenge against the Greeks, and mere
especially the Athenians, who, without the least pro-
 PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY. 139

vocation, had burned the city of Sardis, with its temple

to the goddess Cybele, The magi would not have
spared, on this occasion, to incite the Persian conque-
ror to reduce the Grecian temple to ashes. They laid
it to the charge of the Greeks as a fearful impiety,
that they shut up their gods in their temples, like
puppets in a chest, when, in reality, all was open to
them, and the whole wide world was their temple.
The ancient Persians, as we have shown, having no
temples, offered their devotions to their gods under the
open heavens, upon high hills and mountains. They
made use of various ceremonies, and brought different of-
ferings totheir several gods. To Jupiter, or the heavens,
they offered oxen, to Mithras, or the sun, horses; and
it was ordained that these sacrifices should be entirely
bumed to powder. To the fire they offered dry wood
after they had stripped it of its bark, smeared it with
lard, and poured oil over it. Their offerings to the
water were made in the following manner: — when
they were come to the sea, river, or fountain, to which
they intended to make an offering, they dug a trench
by the side of it, in which they slaughtered the victim ;
they were obliged to take the utmost care, lest the
least drop of the blood should spurt into the water, as
such an accident would have defiled the whole. The
priest then strewed branches of myrtle and laurel over
the carcase, and burnt it altogether ; and, finally, when
they had offered up certain prayers, they poured oil
and milk mingled with honey, neither into the fire or
the water, but on to the earth. While the priest
offered up the prayer, he held in his hand a bough of a
tamarind tree.
The Persian kings made a daily offering to the gods
of a thousand head of cattle, including oxen, goats, and
asses, at which they usually themselves made a short
oration, which generally treated of the fear of the gods.
140 PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY.

The solemn march of the king to the celehration of

this offering, as described by Xenophon, is very im-
posing. The streets through which the procession
moved were lined with soldiers on both sides. Before
the gates of the royal palace were drawn up the spear-
men to the number of four thousand, in double lines
on either side of four deep, facing inwards, with all
the cavalry dismounted. As soon as the gates of the
palace were thrown open, there were first led forth four
beautiful bulls dedicated to Jupiter and the other god,
according to the directions of the magi. After these
came the horses devoted to the sun. Then a chariot
drawn by white horses, crowned, and with a golden
yoke, sacred to Jupiter ; then another chariot similar
to the first, sacred to the sun. Then followed another
chariot whose horses were clothed with purple hous-
ings, and this was followed by men who carried the
sacred fire on a large hearth. Then came the king in
his chariot, with the tiara on his head, with a white
and purple tunic, and a robe entirely purple; he wore
also a diadem around his tiara. He was accompanied
by the princes of the blood royal, distinguished in the
same manner, but that the king's hands were uncovered.
When the march began, the four thousand spearmen,
of whom we have before spoken, marched before the
king's chariot, and two thousand marched on either
side of the chariot ; then came his sceptre bearers with
javelins on horseback, about three hundred. Then
wrere led the king's stud of horses in striped clothing,
with golden bridles, about two hundred. Then fol-
lowed the whole Persian cavalry ; and the march closed
with the Median, Armenian, and Hyrcanean horse, to
the number of many thousands.
The sacrifices, as well as those who offered them,
were crowned with garlands. The cattle were slaugh-
tered in common, and when the magi had cut them
 PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY. 141

up, the pieces were roasted and laid upon the tenderest
grass, generally on trefoil. The presiding magian then
sung a hymn, concerning the origin and genealogy of
the gods. After these ceremonies were finished, those
who had brought the offerings, took the flesh and ate it,
or distributed it according to their pleasure. The
magi merely threw the caul and a portion of the fat
into the fire ; for the Persians believed that the gods
were satisfied with the souls of the victims and desired
nothing more.
The Persians also offered incense and wine to their
gods. Some sprinkled them on the fire, others offered
them in a china bowl which they called kondy. Before
Xerxes passed over into Greece with his mighty army^
he invoked the gods in the following manner :— as
soon as the sun arose he offered up a prayer to it, for
preservation from all evil accidents ; he then poured a
libation into the Hellespont from a golden flask, and
flung in the flask, together with a bowl of the same
precious metal, and a Persian scimitar. The super-
stitious piety of the Persians reached so far, that at
their solemn feasts they consecrated the first of the
meats to the gods. Cyrus considered it his duty, at all
times, before he ate, to set apart something on the
table for the gods, and to give it to those whom he
considered as most in need of it. When about to
drink, he tasted the wine, at the same time offering up
a prayer ; he then drank with those who sat at table
with him.
We will now say something of the festivals and holy
days connected with the worship of the ancient Per-
sians. Among the annual festivals which they cele-
brated with the greatest solemnity, was that which
they named Magophonia. This took place in memory
of the seven brave Persians who freed their country
from the tyranny of the false Smerdis, who was a
142 PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY.

magian, and had usurped the throne. The birth-days

of their kings were celebrated with great magnificence ;
and every private Persian held it as a solemn duty to
celebrate his own birth-day ; and from a most ancient
and solemn usage they felt obliged to eat twice as much
that day as on any other. The rich placed on the
table oxen, camels, horses, and asses, roasted whole.
The poor, however, satisfied themselves with smaller
animals. On certain days of the year the feast of
Mithras was celebrated, at which feast it was permitted
to the king to drink to excess7 but he was not allowed
on any of these feast days to dance.
One festival among the Persians especially worthy
of notice, was that which was called the sack-feast.
We will give it in the words of Dio Chrysostom. He
introduces Diogenes in conversation with Alexander.
" Have you never noticed the sack-feast which they
celebrate among the Persians ? On this day they take
a malefactor, who has deserved death, and seat him on
the kingly throne ; in short, they play the game of
king with him. They attired him in kingly robes, and
suffered him to take his fill of all kinds of pleasures ;
he was not even withheld from taking his pleasure with
the kings concubines. But as soon as this game was
finished, they scourged him severely with rods, and
ended by hanging him up." This feast was conducted
exactly like the Saturnalia of the Greeks and Romans.
The Persians arrayed their slaves in the richest robes,
and gave them the command of the house for five days,
themselves obeying them for that time. We find
many other festivals of the Persians recorded in the
Greek historians, but we have not space to describe
them.
Jt is certain that the Persians were at all times ex-
ceedingly zealous and devoted to their religion. They
believed that men were unable of themselves to do any-
 PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY. 143

thing well, without the assistance of God: all under-

takings were therefore begun, with invoking the gods
of their country ; and we have seen that their greatest
and best monarchs, as Cyrus and Xerxes, set an example
in this to their people. It was also permitted to no
Persian to make an offering for himself alone; he must
include in his prayers his king and all Persians.
As we have shown in treating of their deities, that
the Persians worshipped all nature, we need hardly
add that they were seized with great dread, when they
perceived any apparent disorder in the natural bodies.
An eclipse of the sun or moon, an extinguished fire, or
the like, filled all the nation with terror and awe ; for
none but the Magi were acquainted with the causes of
such phenomena. These clever priests knew very well
how to turn these things to their own advantage.
They were well acquainted with the motions of the
heavenly bodies, and could calculate eclipses to a
minute, and knew how to explain them in such dark
and mysterious language, that it was received and
revered by the common people, as oracular. They
were regarded with great veneration among the Per-
sians, and no offering could be made to the gods, or no
act of public worship be performed, without the pre-
sence of one of them. They were the privy-councillors
of their kings, and the instructors of their princes.
They wore white garments, the earth was their bed,
and bread, vegetables, and cheese, their food ; for a
walking-staff they used a reed, with a cheese stuck on
it, of which cheese they occasionally ate. Their conse-
cration tothe service of Mithras, was accompanied with
barbarous ceremonies. It was decreed that he who
would be received as a priest of Mithras, must first
endure patiently twelve torments, as hunger, thirst, fire,
cold, stripes, &c. The novices were constrained to
labour severely many days in digging trenches, then
144 PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY.

were made to pass through fire, then to dwell in perfect

solitude, to fast for fifty days, abstaining from all food
whatsoever. After this they were scourged, for two
whole days, and obliged to lie twenty days and nights
in the snow, and so forth. He who endured all these
things manfully, and had the good fortune to come
through them hale and sound, was held worthy to be a
priest of Mithras.
Dio Chrysostom gives us the following sketch of the
origin of the magi. " At first," he says, " Zoroaster,
from whom the magi derive their origin, on account of
his ardent love for wisdom and righteousness, withdrew
himself from the society of men, and for many years
passed his life in solitude on a mountain. He after-
wards re -appeared from this solitude, but still occupied
himself in continual meditation, and in contemplation
of the heaven-descended fire; nor did he hold converse
with any but those who were best adapted by nature
to receive the knowledge of truth, and of the Godhead,
whereby he most skilfully laid the foundation of the
Persian magi."
That the magi were the inventors, or at least the
ablest masters, of those occult sciences to which they
have bequeathed a name, and with which, the world has
been cheated in all ages, we find numerous testimonies
among the authors of antiquity. Of their prophesying,
JElian says, "The wisdom of the magi is so great, that
among the rest, they can foretel future events." Strabo
says, that among the Persians, the magi were called magi-
cians, sorcerers, interpreters of dreams, and water-pro-
phets. Pliny adds, that they always drank of the herb
Thcangclis when they prophesied, and of the herb
Aglaophontis when they invoked spirits. Velleius
Paterculus asserts that they practised physiognomy
and palmistry. And Valerius Maximus, among
others, gives the following account of their divination :
 PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY. 145

Before Xerxes destroyed Athens, and while he was

taking counsel about falling upon the Lacedaemonians,
an extraordinary sign manifested itself to him ; the
wine with which they had filled the king's cup, was
thrice changed into blood. This was without doubt
the work of the magi, who then addressed the king, to
turn him from his undertaking.
Antiquity speaks loudly of the singular temperance and
continence of the magi. Clemens Alexandrinus says,
"They impose upon themselves a strict abstinence from
wine, flesh, and women." He is of opinion also, that
from this cause, they generally lived to a great age.
Eubulus, in his history of Mithras, says that there
were three orders of magi among the Persians ; and
that the highest order, which was the most learned and
eloquent, made use of no other food than meal and
vegetables.
The greatest and most famous philosophers of anti-
quity made it their occupation to visit the Persian
magi, to learn from their conversation the true happi-
ness of a contented life, after which they all so eagerly
sought. Pliny assures us, " that Pythagoras, Empe-
docles, Democritus and Plato, had taken this journey,
which might rather be called going into voluntary
banishment, than travelling, to learn this art of content-
ment. And on their return, they had exalted this wis-
dom with great praise, and preserved it as a great
mystery." Apollonius Tyanseus freely declares that
his principal view in journeying into India, was to see
the king, and to find out whether the wisdom taught
by the Persian magi came up to the report everywhere
made of it. Having thus related all which appears to
be necessary concerning the magi, we will say a few
words concerning Zoroaster, whose name makes so con-
siderablefigure
a in Persian history.
Zoroaster, or as the Persians call him, Zerduscht, or
L
146 PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY.

Zarduscht, is by many considered as the founder of the

magi, but to speak with more propriety he was the
improver and perfecter of their doctrine ; for this sect
existed in Persia long before the time of Zoroaster,
who, according to the general opinion, lived in the
reign of Darius Hystaspes, king of Persia, and had, in
his youth, acquired some knowledge of the true religion
from some of the prophets or learned men of Israel,
perhaps from Daniel himself, who was constituted
chief over all the wise men, at the time of the
Babylonish captivity. He is supposed, also, to have
first commenced his improvement of the magian
religion among the Medes. The magi before his
time, acknowledged two separate first causes, — the
light, whom they worshipped under the name of the
good God, from whom came all good; and the dark-
ness, or the evil God, who produced all the evil in the
world ; and they believed that all things were produced
by the admixture of these two opposite principles.
Zoroaster made them acquainted with a great first
cause, far above both these, namely the God who
created both the light and darkness* ; and afterwards,
out of these, according to his own good pleasure, made
the world, and all things therein. Moreover, wherever
he came, he caused them to build temples for the holy
fire, which before his time, stood on altars in the open
air, merely enclosed with gratings, and was subject to
be frequently quenched by rain and storms.

* Zoroaster appears to have learnt this from the prophet

Isaiah. See chap. xlv. 5 and 7.
 147

Section IY.

GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION'.
After examining the mythology of Egypt, of Indiar
and of Persia, that of Greece seems of a totally new
kind ; ideas are presented to us of a more brilliant
nature, and in the place of gloom and dimness, all is
light, gay, and sparkling. Greece, by the splendour of
her ancient literature, exerted an influence upon the
world, which, considering the size and real importance
of the country, seems little short of miraculous. All
that we know of ancient history, save that which we
derive from the Scriptures of truth, comes down to us
through the medium of this cultivated and intellectual
people, and as they deemed themselves the only en-
lightened nation upon earth, so they have taken but
little pains to make us really acquainted with the his-
tory, the religion, and the customs of foreign lands.
Their writers had to please a people who were fully
convinced of their own immeasureable superiority —
they were not a little tinctured themselves with the
same feelings of national vanity, and accordingly they
praised or blamed, as the institutions of other lands
did or did not correspond with their own. A spirit
like this, rendered them very careless in examining the
monuments of antiquity, unless they referred to Greece
or her people.
The gods of those whom they called barbarians,
were denominated after such Greek divinity as they
l2
148 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

seemed to resemble, and their adventures, if they had

any, passed over as not worth relating. Herodotus is
one instance in point. It is true, that he says some-
what about the mythology of Egypt, but were his
pages the only depository of knowledge concerning it,
all its most important tenets would be lost to the
world. The Greeks hellenised every subject upon
which they treated ; their philosophers, if they obtained
their system from Egypt, propounded it as their own,
and they claimed a priority of origin, as well as a
priority of dignity, for everything connected with
themselves. This is, however, not the only point in
which the writings of ancient Greece tend to mislead
ns with regard to their mythology ; they were peculiarly
a poetical people, and exercising their poetical talent,
as they did, upon their history and their mythology, it
at last reached so great a pitch of corruption, as to be
more than half the invention of the poets. The philo-
sophers on the other hand, attained very early a know-
ledge of one only God, but the declaration of this
truth was so ill-received, and accompanied with so
much danger to him who promulgated it, that few
were found who dared openly to brave the powers of
opinion; and philosophers took refuge in legends by
which they might allegorize their views to the public,
while in private they made their disciples acquainted
with a purer theology than that which prevailed among
the people.
Cosmogony was the first science which called the
powers of the poets into action ; the allegories in which
former times had hidden the history of the world were
susceptible of numberless variations. As natural phi-
losophy became gradually cultivated, new facts were
elicited, which required to be allegorized, to make com-
plete the schemes already established ; discrepancies
were to be reconciled, and thus, as the reconcilements
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 149

so made, were often more specious than solid, the num-

ber of discrepancies soon excited a doubt in the minds
of those who studied the system, whether it was not
resting altogether upon a foundation of falsehood.
True, or false, however, it answered the ends of govern-
ments, and they supported it ; it answered the ends of
poets, and they used it ; it answered the ends of philo-
sophers, and they each interpreted it according to their
own schemes.
With regard to its origin, it is wrapped in impene-
trable darkness. We know, by its general resemblance,
and by its unity in important points with other systems,
that it is a branch of the same idolatry, and derived
from the same source, but through what nation it was
derived, and when it branched off, is a matter of which
little or nothing is known.
" Man," says Keightley, " knows no form so perfect
or so beautiful as his own, or so well adapted to be the
vehicle of mind. He naturally, therefore, fell into the
habit of assigning a human form to his gods, — but a
human form divested of weakness and imperfection,
and raised to his highest ideal of beauty, strength, and
power, yet still varying according to the character and
occupation of the deity on whom it was bestowed.
Thus the Grecian votary received manly strength and
vigour as the leading attributes of the god who pre-
sided over war, and inspired daring thoughts, while in
the god of archery and music, beauty and strength
appeared united. Dignity, and majesty of mien and
countenance, distinguished the Father of gods and men,
the ruler of heaven."
This eloquent paragraph stops short, however, of the
truth ; the knowledge that God had made man in his
own image, was not confined to the chosen people,
it spread with the first corruption, and made a part of
every mythology.
150 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

The difference between the Greeks and other nations

was, that the former were a nation of better taste, and
of more cultivated imagination. The Egyptians ex-
pressed the power and character of their gods, by com-
pounding the human with the brute form ; the Indians,
by the preposterous multiplication of heads and limbs ;
the Greek sculptors were too well versed in anatomy,
to perpetuate such monsters as these: they knew that
power was not so obtained, and they invested the crea-
tions of poetic fancy with the perfections of mortal
beauty. The mysteries which derived their origin from
Egypt and India, had some effect in reconciling the
mythology of the poets with the cosmogony of the
philosophers. By these, which on account of their
secresy could be altered and modified at the discretion
of the hierophants, causes could be assigned for known
effects, explanations could be given of popular fables,
and if the reconcilement offered involved any diffi-
culty, itwas charged upon the imperfection of allegory,
and the infancy of science. The gods which had been
worshipped in the early times, were now invested with
the attributes, and decorated with the glories, of deities
taken from other lands, two or three gods were amal-
gamated into one, and a new state of Greek mythology
presents itself to the observer.
This stage, in which poetry and sculpture, were the
agents of change, gives us that picture of Hellenistic
Pantheism, in which it shone with the greatest lustre.
All the gods were at the service of all the poets, and
all the sculptors ; and these men, the most eminent in
their departments, that the world ever saw, considering
the pantheon but as materials for their use, worked it
up into those gorgeous productions of genius which
live and burn, even in our day. But that state of
cultivation which could produce an iEschylus and a
Phidias, a Sophocles and a Praxiteles, was not likely
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 151

to be without philosophers, who would regard mytho-

logy, partly as the allegorical representation of facts
physical and ethical, and partly as the work of the
poetic genius of Greece. It was not, however, till the
time of the Ptolemies, that there existed a focus of learn-
ing, bright enough, and powerful enough, to converge
into itself the scattered literature of the then semi-
civilised world. The library at Alexandria had this
effect, and mythology wTas now openly examined by
philosophy, as well as greatly adorned by genius. The
allegorical and the historical modes of explaining it
rose at once. Of these, we shall have occasion to treat
in the last section of this work, and we have already
incidentally touched upon them. They both very rea-
sonably explain some fables, and very unreasonably
others — they should be taken together, and the primae-
val traditions] of mankind will, with their help, ex-
plain all the mass of fable, which must otherwise
remain in the chaos which it at first presents. The
principal advocate of the historical mode of explana-
tion, isEuhemerus, and there is in Keightley's wrork so
good an analysis of his book, and so brief a one, that
the reader will not be displeased to see it here :—
" Euhemerus asserted, that having occasion to make
a voyage in the Eastern Ocean, in the service of Cas-
sander, he came, after several days' sail, to an island,
named Panchaea. The inhabitants of this happy isle
were distinguished for their piety, and the isle itself
for its fertility and beauty, in the description of which,
the writer exerted all the powers of his imagination.
At the distance of several miles from the chief town,
he says, lay a sacred grove, composed of trees of every
kind, tall cypresses, myrtles, palms, and every species
of fruit tree, among which ran rivulets of the purest
water. A spring within the sacred district poured
forth water, in such abundance, as to form a navigable
152 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

river, named the Water of the Sun, which meandered

along, and fructified the whole region. It was shaded
by luxuriant groves, in which, during the days of sum-
mer, dwelt numbers of men, while birds of the richest
plumage, and most melodious throats, built their nests
in the branches, and delighted the hearer with their
song; verdant meads adorned with various flowers,
climbing vines, and trees loaded with every kind of
delicious fruit, everywhere met the view in this para-
dise.
f The inhabitants of this island were divided into
priests, cultivators, and warriors. All things were in
common, except the house and garden of each. The
duty of the priests, was to sing the praises of the gods,
and to act as judges and magistrates. A double share
of every thing fell to them. The task of the military
was to defend the island against the incursions of
pirates, to which it was exposed. The garments of all
were of the finest and whitest wool, and they wore
rich ornaments of gold. The priests were distinguished
by their raiment of pure white linen, and their bon-
nets of gold tissue. They derived their lineage from
Crete, whence they had been brought by Zeus, after he
had succeeded his predecessors, Uranus and Kronus,
in the government of the world. In the midst of the
grove already mentioned, and at a ^distance of sixty
stadia from the chief town, was a magnificent temple,
sacred to Tryphylian Zeus, erected to the god while
he was yet among them; and on a golden pillar, in the
temple, the deeds of Uranus, Zeus. Artemis, and Apollo,
had been inscribed by Hermes, in Panchaeic characters,
which, says the relater, were the same with the sacred
characters of the Egyptian priests. Zeus had, accord-
ing to this monument, been the most potent of monarchs.
The chief seat of his dominion had been Crete, where
he died, and was buried, after having made five pro-
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 153

gresses through the world, all whose kings feared and

obeyed him/'
" The object of Euhemerus," continues Keightley,
" in inventing this Utopia, which, by the way, many
navigators sought after, but no one ever found, was
evidently to give a blow to the popular religion, and
even to make it ridiculous; for, though he seems to have
treated some of the higher gods, as Zeus, for example,
with some degree of respect, he was less particular
with the inferior ones, and with the heroes. Thus, of
Aphrodite, he says, that she was the first who reduced
gallantry to an art, and made a trade of it, that she
might not appear more wanton than other women. Cad-
mus was cook to a king of Sidon, and he ran away with
Harmonia, a female flute player. The work of Euhe-
merus was vehemently attacked by all who retained a
veneration for the old religion, and the writer himself
stigmatised as an atheist; but it exerted a great influ-
ence over the subsequent historians, as we may perceive
in the case of Diodorus of Sicily."
A few remarks on the nature of the gods will be
requisite, before we proceed to those fables in which
they are the actors. The pure monotheism which is at
the bottom of all mythology, is, of course, the less to
be perceived, in proportion as the mythology itself con-
sists of the inventions of poets, and as the Greek
mythology is peculiarly in this condition, so the traces
of that more rational creed are lighter than in any
other system. In fact, it is in the writings of pro-
fessed philosophers alone, that we can find it distinctly
avowed.
The gods whose history and adventures we are now
about to investigate, are but a loftier kind of men,
having the same form, and subject to the same passions.
They were liable to pain and sorrow, and deception
and disappointment ; they were, many of them, grossly
154 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

licentious, and even disgustingly filthy in their sup-

posed habits, and though called immortal, were only
beings of a longer duration than the men who wor-
shipped them.
In this section, the Greek names will be used instead
of the Latin ones — a method adopted by Thirl wall and
Keightley, and recommended by its accuracy and pro-
priety. Zeus and Jupiter were not the same divinity ;
nor were Artemis and Diana, Ares and Mars, Hera
and Juno. The Roman deities will be considered
separately, and their difference explained. Homer and
Hesiod give that view of Greek mythology which will
generally be kept in sight in the following pages. This
is at once the most pure, the most simple, and the
most elegant scheme which it ever displayed, and
consequently the most worthy the attention of the
reader.

CHAPTER II.
OF THE THE0G0NY AND CHIEF GODS OF THE GREEKS,

From the marriage of Uranus and Gaia, (Heaven and

Earth,) sprang Kronus, (Time,) — that is, Time com-
menced when the Heavens and the Earth being united
in one universe, the creation was complete. Time
flowing on, Kronus was married to Rhea, (flowing,)
and subsequently destroyed all his children, saving
three sons and three daughters, who were preserved by
the art of Rhea. It seems that the oracle of some
elder god had declared that Kronus should be dethroned
by o7ie of his sons; and he, willing to avert, or at all
events to delay the fulfilment of this prediction, caused
his newly-born children to be brought to him, and
 OF THE THEOGONY.

swallowed tliem. Grieved at the destruction of her

offspring, Rhea determined to cheat her husband, when
next he intended to indulge this carnivorous propen-
sity. At the birth of Zeus, she presented him with a
stone wrapped up in the swaddling-clothes of an infant,
and Kronus, who seems never to have attempted any
investigation, swallowed the cheat and the stone toge-
ther, and the infant Zeus was sent to Crete, to be edu-
cated bythe nymphs on Mount Ida. A second recourse
to the same artifice saved Poseidon, and a third, Hades.
Hera was subsequently born ; and was, perhaps, as a
daughter, acknowledged; but on this topic we are
told nothing. Demeter and Hestia were the other
daughters.
Zeus being come to man's estate, discovered the
secret of his birth, and prayed to be received as the
son of Kronus; the latter, dreading the fulfilment of
the prediction, refused, and a war ensued, in which the
Kronides, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, defeated Kronus
and the Uranides, or Titans, and divided the empire of
the world among them. Zeus claiming heaven and
earth, Poseidon becoming the ruler of the sea, and
Hades assuming the government of hell. Under this
government it is that we shall contemplate the celestial
hierarchy of Greece, just observing that Chaos was the
first divinity, whose offspring were Gaia, Tartarus, and
Eros — that is, Earth, Hell, and Love, — Erebus, and
Nyx, (Darkness and Night.) These two latter, were
the parents of Hemura (Day) and (Ether, of Death,
Sleep, and Dreams, and many allegorical beings. Gaia
produced Uranus, and by their marriage were born the
Titans, twelve in number, the Cyclops, and the Hun-
dred-handed. These were all objects of dislike to
Uranus, who shut them up in the centre of the earth;
Gaia pitying their condition, furnished them with iron,
with which they made a sickle, and determined to rebel
156 GREEK MYTIIOLOGY.

against their unnatural father, but when the time for

action came, all save Kronus were seized with fear,
and he, the youngest of the Titans, deposed his sire,
and took upon himself the government of the universe,
only to he, in his turn, deposed by Zeus.
Recurring to the occasion of the monarchy of Zeus,
it may be observed, that, not only is the triad of the
Kronides to be found in holy writ, in the persons of
Shem, Ham, and Japheth, but the whole episode of the
oracle seems to bear a reference to another event re-
lated in Scripture, and to bring the account still closer
to its origin than the more ancient Indian legend of
Kali.
The prediction that time should be destroyed, and
the prince of this world overthrown by him who
should appear as one of time's offspring, was well
known, though in a corrupted form, by the heathen ;
it formed a part of every scheme, and was more or less
clearly noticed in proportion to the purity or corrup-
tion of the system ; it is, therefore, a matter of sur-
prise to find it so plainly indicated in a mythology
which owes so much to the embellishments of poetry.
Zeus, the chief of the divinities, and who was called
by Homer the king and father of gods and men, had
pre-eminence over his' brothers, Poseidon and Hades.
His abode was on the summit of Olympus, where he
held his divine court with all imaginable splendour.
A few lines from Homer will be more to the purpose
here than any long and laboured description :
"Thus spake Hephaestus, and the white-armed goddess
Hera smiled, and smiling she took from her son s hand
the goblet, and he, beginning at the right hand, poured
out for all the other gods, from the bowl pouring sweet
nectar ; but there arose an irrepressible laugh among
the blessed gods, when through the palace they beheld
Hephaestus waiting on them. And thus all the day
 OF THE THEOGONY.

till the sunset they feasted, nor was aught wanting to

the sufficient banquet — not the beautiful lyre which
Apollo held, nor the Muses, responding one to another
with a sweet voice. But when the glorious light of
the sun went down, each one went to his rest in his
own abode, which Hephaestus, the skilful architect, had
contrived for each ; and Zeus went to his own couch
on the starry Olympus, where before-times he reclined
when soft slumber seized upon him ; thither ascending,
he slept, and near him, the golden-throned Hera/' In
this blessed abode the deities lived, as the Greek chief-
tains of the period did on earth ; they had their cabals
and their quarrels, and Zeus, though generally an easy
monarch, was sometimes compelled to assert, in pretty
strong terms, his own sovereignty. His offspring by
Hera was small; Hephaestus, the celestial architect,
Ares, the god of war, and the Eileithyise, comprise the
whole catalogue. The amours of Zeus with other god-
desses, with nymphs, and with mortal women, which
are^ almost innumerable, produced half the heroes of
the fabulous ages. Euronyme was the mother of the
Graces ; Mnemosyne, of the Muses ; Leto, of Apollo
and Artemis ; Demeter, of Persephone ; Io% of Epa-
phus ; Semele, of Dionysus ; Dione, of Aphrodite ;
Maia, of Hermes ; Danae, of Perseus ; and Alcmena,
of Hercules.
To relate the history of these adventures would com-
port neither with the intention nor the limits of this
1 * Io, the daughter of Inachus, and the mother of Epaphus,
was changed into a cow by Zeus. Now Epaphus was an
Egyptian deity, for we find from Herodotus, that bulls in that
country were sacred to him. Io was also of Egyptian origin,
but there is a further proof of this in the fact, that before the
adoption of the name Isis, that goddess was called I oh ; this
name, with the story of her having her head changed into that
of a cow, gives a resemblance to the Greek Io, too great to be
merely accidental.
158 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

work ; a short account of Semele will be sufficient.

Zeus, to obtain lier love, took the shape of a man, and
not the slightest reason for this disguise was that he
might the more readily escape the jealous eye of Hera.
He did not, however, conceal from Semele his name
and rank. The precaution he had taken was in vain :
Hera suspected, and soon discovered the intrigue, and,
well knowing how vain it would be to make any at-
tempt upon Zeus himself, she determined to punish
him through the medium of her rival. Assuming the
form of an old woman, Seraele's nurse, she instigated
her to demand as a favour from Zeus, the next time
he visited her, a manifestation of his glory as the thun-
dering god. Zeus, who saw the influence as well as
the object of Hera in this request, endeavoured in vain
to dissuade Semele from her demand, but he had in-
cautiously sworn by Styx, and this was an oath which
not Zeus himself dared to break. He accordingly ar-
rayed himself in his robes of light, grasped the thunder
in his hand, and displayed himself to the astonished
Semele as the Olympians were accustomed to behold
him. But no mortal could gaze on the glory of the
deity and live. Semele was consumed to ashes in the
too-fearful blaze, and Zeus enclosed the yet unborn
Dionysus in his own body.
The weapons with which this mighty divinity was
usually represented, are the thunderbolt and the aegis,
a shield which struck terror into all who beheld it, and
which was rendered yet more dreadful by having fixed
in its centre the gory head of Medusa. At his feet
stood the eagle, his favourite bird, and, not unfre-
quently, the sceptre is placed in his hand. The coun-
tenance ofZeus is depicted as mild but grave, and very
dignified. The oak among trees, as the eagle among
birds, was consecrated to him. His chief temple was
at Olympia, in Elis, his chief oracle at Dodona; and
 159
OF THE THE0G0NY.

the principal games established in his honour were the

Olympic, which were celebrated at the city of Olympia
every fourth year.
Poseidon, the majestic god of the sea, next claims
our attention. He was represented of a mild and se-
rene countenance, of great strength and dignity. In
his hand is placed the trident, the symbol of his ma-
rine empire, and around him are generally seen dol-
phins and other productions of the sea. His queen,
Amphitrite, was celebrated for her beauty, and by her
he had Triton and Rhode. His amours, like those of
Zeus his brother, were numerous, as were his issue by
them. Pelias and Neleus were the most remarkable.
At the bottom of the sea, near iEgee, he had a splen-
did palace, and here he held a sort of submarine court,
as the sea Zeus, but he was generally to be found in
his place on Olympus.
This god and Apollo were once banished together
from the divine abodes, and compelled to dwell for a
hundred years among men. While on earth they
built the walls of Troy for Laomedon, having first
agreed at what rate they were to be paid ; but Laome-
don, who was no regarder of treaties, not only refused
to pay what he had agreed, but even went the length
of declaring that he would cut off the ears of the two
gods, and tie them together hand and foot. In revenge
Apollo sent a pestilence, and Poseidon a sea monster,
who carried off the Trojans by scores. The oracle de-
clared, that until Hesione, the daughter of Laomedon,
was offered to it, the monster would never cease its
devastations. A fresh treaty, in which Hercules was
the assisting party, secured the destruction of the mon-
ster; but when this treaty was also broken by the
faithless monarch, his own life, and the lives of all his
family, save Hesione and Priam, were exacted as the
forfeit of his perjury.
160 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

Hades, the third .brother of this divine triad, was

the king of the infernal regions; he is described as
severe and stern in aspect, inexorable in disposition,
and disliked by every being. This latter misfortune
prevented his suit to all the goddesses in succession
from being successful, and it was only by the forcible
abduction of Persephone that he obtained a consort for
his gloomy life. Of his amours, besides this, we are
told nothing, nor of his offspring. The rape of Perse-
phone is the only adventure related of this fearful
divinity which approaches him to the gay and profli-
gate spirits of Olympus. Her he seized on while ga-
thering flowers with her companions, and carried her
off to his subterranean palace.
We shall, in another place, relate some particulars
of the search after her, instituted by her disconsolate
mother Demeter ; here it will be sufficient to say, that
she remained with her ghastly lord, and soon partook
of that cold sternness which characterised his rule.
They are represented generally together, and sculpture
as well as poetry delights in exhibiting the gay and
laughing maiden, whose joy was in the flowery plains
of Sicily, changed into the stately and severe queen of
the infernal Zeus. Hades is represented as crowned,
and holding in his hand the sceptre ; sometimes he is
in a chariot drawn by sable horses ; sometimes on the
throne of his dark dominions. His hair is black, his
complexion dark, his aspect severe, and his eyes flash-
ing ;he is frequently seen with a two-pronged fork in
his hand, and his helmet (which rendered the wearer
invisible) on his head.
 161

CHAPTER III.

OF THE SUBORDINATE DEITIES OF OLYMPUS.

The list commences with Ares, the god of war, the son
of Zeus and Hera, or, according to others, of Hera
alone. As might he expected, his character was fierce
and intractable, brute valour being his chief distin-
guishing attribute. This is finely represented through
the Iliad, as opposed to the calm deliberate courage of
Pallas-Athena, and, in fact, the two deities seem to be
but personifications of those qualities.
Ares fled sometimes even from men in the battle,
and, when wTounded, is made to roar in a most appalling
manner. He appears in Homer rather stupid, and is
more than once made a butt for the practical jokes of
the other deities ; in these cases he is, by his violent
and: testy temper, ever made the more absurd. "When
the Greek sculptors had occasion to represent him,
which was not often, he appears dressed in armour, of
an aspect rather fierce than stern, and not unfrequently
standing in a war chariot.
A more important personage, is the lame deity of
fire, Hephaestus ; he was the architect of the gods,
a sort of celestial Tubal Cain, from whose history his
own is probably derived. In his images he appears as
a man of mature age, in the habit and about the work
of a smith ; the Cyclops, his companions, are frequently
placed near him. His lameness is accounted for in
two ways. Some writers speak of him as having been
born so, and that Hera, disgusted with the defect of her
son, flung him over the threshold of heaven. Others
relate a legend far more creditable, viz. ; that Zeus
and Hera having had a very severe quarrel, Zeus sus-
pended his queen by the feet from Olympus, and He-
M
162 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

phrestus incurred the anger of Zeus for having relieved

his divine mother from this eminently disagreeable
situation. Taking him by the feet, the Olympian ruler
flung him down to the earth. After a fall of nine
days, he pitched on the isle of Lemnos, when he broke
his leg, and was ever after lame. Lemnos became his
favourite abode on earth, and Etna was spoken of as
his chief forge.
When it is recollected that the early poets invariably
speak of him as making all the wonders of celestial
machinery with his own hand, it will be plain, that
some such forge as this, and some such assistants as
the Cyclops, were necessary for the divine workman.
Some of these performances will be briefly noticed.
The houses, arms, chariots, and ornaments of the gods
were all his work, as well as those golden soles by
which they walked without fatigue and without diffi-
culty through the air, over the water, and over the
earth. The brazen-footen bulls of GEetes, and the
brazen-footed horses of the gods, were evidences of his
skill in farriery ; while the golden dogs which guarded
the treasures of Alcinous, and the golden maidens who
waited on himself, equally prove his talent in the for-
mation of automata. The brazen man Talus, whom
he gave to Minos, king of Crete, to guard the shores of
that island, wras, however, the most remarkable effort
of his power in this department. Talus had but one
vein in his body, which reached from his neck to his
heels, and this was filled with ichor, the fluid which
circulated instead of blood in the veins of the immor-
tals ;in the neck was a brazen stopper, by which it
was prevented from escaping ; and by means of this
liquor he lived, moved, spake, and reasoned. When
the Argonauts came to Crete, Talus pelted them with
stones, and prevented their landing; but at last Medea
cajoled him as she did Pelias, and under the pretext of
 DEITIES OF OLYMPUS. 163

making him immortal, she drew out the stopper, and

the mystic fluid ran out.
Hephaestus, the most ungainly of the gods, obtained
the hand of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, but was
by no means happy in his domestic relations.
We pass to Apollo, the presiding deity of music and
poetry, of medicine and archery, and who is also the
same as Helius, the god of the sun.
It is curious that all sudden deaths should be attri-
buted to the god of medicine ; but so it was, and the
usual manner in which he visited a people with his
displeasure, was by sending among them a plague. In
the first book of Homer, he is thus magnificently intro-
duced as answering the prayers of Chryses, his priest.
" Thus he (the priest) prayed, and Phoebus Apollo heard
him ; and he went down from the peaks of Olympus,
angry in his heart, bearing on his shoulders his bow
and his well-guarded quiver ; but as he descended, the
arrows rattled upon the shoulders of the angry god,
and he came on like the night. Then afar from the
ships he sat down, and shot forth his arrow, and ter-
rible was the twanging of the silver bow ; first, indeed,
he smote the mules and the fierce dogs ; but then,
sending forth his deadly arrow upon (the Greeks)
themselves, he struck them, and even the pyres of the
dead flamed frequent."
The circumstances of his birth will be related when
we come to speak of Leto, and we shall now consider
him as the acknowledged son of Zeus, and the ruler of
the day. His principal exploit was the slaying of the
great serpent Pytho, which was devastating the neigh-
bourhood ofCrissa; here he erected a temple by the
aid of Trophonius and Agamedes, and changing him-
self into a dolphin, he got on board a Cretan ship,
which he brought to Crissa, and consecrated the cap-
tain and mariners as priests of the new M temple. 2 Of
164 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

his offspring, Asclepius (or, as the Romans called him,

iEsculapius, who was peculiarly the god of medicine,)
and Phaeton were the chief. Orpheus and Aristaeus
were also his sons.
The adventure of Phaeton is one of the most inte-
resting preserved hy the poets. The claim which he
made to a divine origin was disputed hy Epaphus, the
son of Zeus ; and Phaeton, anxious to clear up the
matter, applied to his mother Clymene, she referred
him to Apollo, and to Apollo accordingly he went.
His kind and flattering reception emboldened him to
make a request, which Apollo, as a proof of his pater-
nity, incautiously swore to grant. Phaeton now de-
manded that he might guide ^he car 0f the sun for a
day, to which Phcebus was obliged, though reluctantly,
to agree. The consequences were as he anticipated.
The fiery steeds felt they were no longer under the con-
trol of their master, became totally unmanageable, and
rushed down towards the earth. Universal destruction
would now have ensued, had not Zeus, at the prayer
of the earth, launched his thunderbolt at the too as-
piring youth, and cast him into the river Po. Grieved
at the loss of his son, Apollo refused any longer to
drive the chariot of the sun, nor was it until Zeus had
amply apologized, and all the gods had soothed him,
that he resumed his important office.
Homer makes a difference between Helius, the sun-
god, and Apollo, the deity of prophecy and poetry ;
afterwards they were united in the same person.
Apollo, an object of such general adoration through-
out Greece, was often represented by the sculptors, as
well as celebrated by the poets. He is then made to
appear as a young man of more than mortal beauty,
holding in his hand his bow, with his quiver on his
shoulder, and his hair bound with laurel.
Another son of Zeus, Hermes, the offspring of Maia,
 DEITIES OF OLYMPUS. 165

is a more remarkable personage even than Apollo. It

is yery difficult to say at what time the character of
this deity became fully formed, out of those several
parts "which compose it: one part is derived from the
Egyptian Anubis, and one part from an old divinity of
the Pelasgians. His birth and adventures are very
pleasingly told in the Homeric Hymn ; he there appears
well entitled to be called the god of theft, of cunning,
of eloquence, of barter, and of cattle, and wealth. No
sooner was the new-born god laid in his cradle on
Mount Cyllene, than he arose for the purpose of stealing
the oxen of Apollo in Pieria. As he went on to put
this intention in practice, he saw a tortoise with whom
he held a long conversation, and having at last fully
succeeded in persuading the tortoise that it would be
greatly for the benefit of the world at large that the
tortoise should die, and a phorminx, or lyre, be made of
his shell, the tortoise exhibited a most laudable spirit
of -universal philanthropy, and submitted to the knife
of Hermes, who made the lyre, and by his perform-
ances attracted the applause of all things animate and
inanimate around him. He now proceeded on his
expedition, bound twigs around his feet to disguise his
footsteps, and having made choice of fifty beautiful
cows, dragged them backwards to a cave. Apollo,
however, was a difficult god to deceive, and he, sus-
pecting the infant Hermes, taxed him with the theft.
The precocious robber innocently asked what cows
were ; but his cunning availed him nothing, for he was
taken from his cradle and carried before Zeus to answer
for his deeds. When he began to play on his tortoise-
shell lyre, the heart of Apollo was softened, and he
gave up the oxen to Hermes, together with his divine
cattle whip, and ample instructions for their manage-
ment, in exchange for the lyre. To this Hermes con-
sented, and both parties remained satisfied.
166 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

The chief offices of this god were to be the messenger

of Zeus, and to conduct the souls of men to their des-
tination in another world. In this particular he is
merely a hellenized Anuhis. As the symbol and in-
strument of this office, he bears a rod twined round
with serpents, and having wings at the top. By this,
which is called the caduceus, he commands the dis-
embodied spirits; he causes sleep to fall on the body,
and separates the soul from its material dwelling.
When we come to consider the origin and spread of
serpent-worship, we shall have occasion to quote such
writers as will show the introduction of this reptile to
be never a mere accident, and in the present instance
there seems every reason to believe that we have a
modified copy of the rod of Moses.
Hermes was the favourite companion of Zeus in his
incognito visits to the earth. A pleasing example is
found in the history of Baucis and Philemon, a good
old couple, who retained their virtue when all around
were sunk in profligacy. The gods above mentioned
being inhospitably repulsed by the richer and more
powerful, took shelter in the humble cottage of Phile-
mon, who set before them such fare as his simple style
of living permitted. The divine nature of his visitants
was soon evinced by the undiminished quantity and
improved qualit}T of the wine in the pitcher out of
which they drank. The old man and his wife were
anxious to pay them the honours due to their rank,
but they were prevented from so doing by the ven-
geance which the gods immediately took on the de-
praved and inhospitable city. When the aged couple
looked for it, they saw only a stagnant lake, beneath
the dead waters of which were plunged its domes and
palaces ; their own cottage was changed into a temple,
themselves appointed priest and priestess; and, after a
long life, they were at once changed into trees, which
 DEITIES OF OLYMPUS,

overshadowed the porch of the sacred structure. This

tale is hut a variation of the history of that fearful
visitation by which Sodom and Gomorrha were plunged
beneath the waters of the Dead Sea : Zeus and Hermes
fill the parts of the two angels; Philemon and Baucis
those of Lot and his wife; perhaps also the change
into trees may he hut another version of that change
which Lot's wife underwent.
Hermes is represented by the sculptors as a beau-
tiful young man, naked, with the caduceus in his hand,
wings on his feet, and a cap with wings on his head ;
this cap was called petasus, and the wings on the feet
talaria; sometimes he is dressed in a sort of cloak.
By Aphrodite he became the father of Hermaphroditus ;
and by Herse, of Cephalus. Some writers also make
him the father of Pan and Terminus.
Dionysus, the god of wine, whose birth has been
already mentioned, was brought up by the nymphs in
tibe island of Naxos. Struck with his beauty, some
pirates landing on that island carry off the divine
infant; and, after some attempts at soothing him in
vain, laugh at his distress. The mast of their vessel
suddenly assumes the appearance of a vine, while its
tendrils take the place of cordage; the mariners are
changed into tigers and leopards, the monsters of the
sea come round in joy and adoration, and, attended by
this retinue, Dionysus returns to Naxos. After this,
we find him conquering all India; his exploits in which
expedition form the subject of a long and interesting
poem by Nonnus, called the Dionysiacs. This deity
was represented as a young man, beautiful but effemi-
nate, crowned with vine-leaves and ivy, and having a
panther at his feet. His festivals, called the Dionysia?,
will be noticed in another place, as will the labours of
Hercules, with whose name we close this chapter.
He was considered as the god of strength, and repre-
sented accordingly: on his shoulders he bore the skin
1G8 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

of the Nemaean lion, which he had slain, and in his

hand a club: he was the son of Zeus by Alcmena, the
wife of Amphitryon, whose form Zeus assumed, to
deceive Alcmena. The amours of Hercules were more
distinguished by sincerity than by prudence, and it
seems that the character and exploits of Samson have
not been much altered in the case of the Greek divinity.
He first married Megara, the daughter of Creon, but
of her we hear no more, save that, in a fit of madness,
Hercules threw the three children he had by her into
the fire. He was afterwards attached to Omphale,
queen of Lydia, to whom he was sold as a slave by
Hermes, and in this situation he was set to work at
spinning among the handmaids of that queen. After
this he married Dejanira, the daughter of iEneas, king
of Calydon. Having to cross a river in her company,
he was met by the centaur Nessus, who offered his
assistance in carrying Dejanira. Hercules confided his
wife to the centaur, but before they reached the other
side of the river, the centaur offered violence to his
charge. Hercules slew him with an arrow dipped in
the blood of the Lernsean hydra, and this action was
ultimately the cause of his own death. Nessus had
assured Dejanira that should the affection of her hus-
band ever waver, she had only to cause him to put on
that shirt which he (the centaur) then wore, and his
love would immediately be made stronger than ever.
This shirt was, however, tinged with the poisonous
blood of the hydra, and certainly fatal to whom-
soever should wear it. At a period considerably sub-
sequent, Hercules having taken prisoner a princess of
great beauty, was about to offer sacrifices to the gods
for his victories. He sent for a splendid robe; Deja-
nira sent him the fatal shirt, which he put on, and
when he felt his end approach, cast himself on a fune-
ral pyre, and was burnt: he then ascended to heaven,
and was married to Hebe, the goddess of youth.
 GODDESSES OF OLYMPUS. 169

CHAPTER IV.

OF THE GODDESSES OF OLYMPUS.

Of the Greek goddesses, Hera, the sister and queen of

Zeus, is of course the chief. The personification of
chaste and matronly dignity, she is usually represented
as seated on a throne, or in her chariot drawn by pea-
cocks, stately and majestic in person, and unblemished
in character. In consequence of this, there are com-
paratively few adventures in which she bears a part.
The side she took in the siege of Troy will be noticed
in another chapter; and, besides this, the only circum-
stance worth recording is the birth of Ares. Hera
was jealous that Zeus had become the sire of Pallas-
Athena without her aid, and complained to Chloris,
the flower-goddess; that divinity pointed out to her a
flower, by touching which she became a mother, and
gave birth to Ares. Wearied, however, at last with
the continued infidelities of Zeus, she determined to
separate altogether from him, and accordingly retired
to Eubcea. Zeus now dressed a statue as a princess,
and pretended that it was to her that he was about to
transfer the dignity of being his consort. Hera, enraged
to the last degree, rushed upon her supposed rival, and
tore away the ornaments which adorned her; but when
she found that her suspicions had no foundation in
fact, she became once more reconciled to Zeus, and
their differences were less violent in future. Hera was
very extensively worshipped in Greece, and at the
time of Homer Seems to have been considered as the
tutelary spirit of that country.
Deineter was another sister and wife of Zeus.
Little is said of her by the poets, save in connexion
with her daughter Persephone, the bride of Hades.
J70 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

While wandering abont in search of her lost child, an

adventure occurred to her, which identifies her with
the Egyptian Isis, — an hypothesis still further strength-
ened by the fact that Demeter is but a corruption of
Gemeter, and signifies Mother Earth. In the shape
of a nurse, (a form taken by Isis when searching for
the mangled remains of Osiris,) Demeter sat down be-
neath the shade of an olive at Eleusis. While there,
she was accosted by the three daughters of Keleus the
king; they tell her that their father, with four others,
governed that city, and finally take her to their mother,
Metaneira, who engages her to nurse her infant son,
Demophoon. The child ate no food, but Demeter
breathed upon him as he lay in her bosom, and anointed
him with ambrosia. At night, when all else were
locked in sleep, she placed him in a purifying flame,
which was gradually consuming all the baser particles
of his nature. By this means he would have been
immortal, but Metaneira watching one night the pro-
ceedings ofthe goddess, was so frightened at this fiery
ordeal that she shrieked aloud. Demeter cast down
the child, and told the mother who she was, and what
had been her intention. A temple was erected to her
honour by the Eleusinians, and mysteries sacred to her
subsequently instituted in the same place. A treaty
was entered into among the immortals, by which it
was provided that Persephone should return and spend
a part of every year with her mother. She would have
been entirely rescued from the power of Hades, had
she not incautiously swallowed a few grains of a pome-
granate. Demeter is usually depicted of a milder
appearance than Hera, but resembling her in gravity
and dignity: she is crowned with poppies, and some-
times with wheat.
Hestia, the personification of fire, sacrificial and
domestic, was by an obvious allegory the sister of
 GODDESSES OF OLYMPUS. 171

Hera, (the air,) Demeter, (the earth,) Zeus, (the

heavens,) Hades, (the state of disembodied spirits,)
and Poseidon, (the -water.) She is the subject of one
only legend, — that when sought in marriage by Poseidon
and Apollo, she placed her hand on her head, and de-
manded ofZeus that she might ever remain a virgin.
Zeus acceded to her request, and assigned her in return
a high place of honour, and perpetual sacrifices. She
was represented as a veiled female, holding in her hand
a censer.
The next female divinities that claim the notice of
the student are the daughters of Zeus, viz., Pallas-
Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis, and Persephone. Of
these, the last has been already considered in connexion
with Demeter and Hades.
Pallas-Athena, the goddess of skill and foresight,
sprang fully armed from the head of Zeus, without the
intervention of a mother. She is represented with a
thoughtful and somewhat severe countenance, with
large blue eyes, a helmet on her head, and attired in a
breastplate, on which, or on her shield, (the celebrated
aegis,) is placed the head of Medusa. She was the
patroness of all female accomplishments, and was very
jealous of her superiority in this respect. Arachne, a
maiden who by the instructions of Athena had arrived
at great eminence in embroidery, was so elevated with
her skill, as to challenge her instructress to a compe-
tition with her. Athena assumed the form of an old
woman, and endeavoured to dissuade her from the
attempt. Her efforts were in vain, and the trial of
skill commenced. The inferiority of Arachne was,
however, so evident, that when reproached for her
temerity, she hung herself in despair. Athena changed
her into a spider, declaring, that as a punishment, she
should now labour in the production of works which
no one would regard.
172 GREEK MYTHOLOGY,

At Athens this goddess was regarded with peculiar

veneration ; her temple, called the Parthenon, was the
most remarkable edifice of ancient Greece, for its
grace and beauty ; and she is reported to have given
her name to the city itself, which was placed under
her especial protection, on the following occasion.
Poseidon and Athena disputing as to whither of them
should name and defend the city of Cecrops : Poseidon
struck the ground with his trident, and a beautiful
horse, the first ever seen, sprang forth. Athena in her
turn caused the olive to arise. The twelve gods who
sat in judgment to decide which was the better gift to
man, unanimously declared in favour of the olive, and
the city was called Athenae.
Artemis, the virgin goddess of the chase, was the
daughter of Zeus and Leto. She made the same
demand from Zeus as Hestia had done, and it was
granted. Her adventures are not very numerous. She
was worshipped as the moon under the name of Selena,
and as the patroness of witchcraft and sorcery under
that of Hecate. It was Artemis, who, when Acta3on
came with his hounds past a fountain where she was
bathing, changed the unfortunate huntsman into a stag,
that he might not boast of what he had accidentally
beheld ; his hounds pursued him and tore him to
pieces. It was Artemis, however, under her name of
Selena, who came down by night to visit her beloved
Endymion. Niobe was a victim of the anger of this
goddess; she had in the pride of her heart declared
herself the mother of a more noble progeny than Leto.
One by one the children of this princess were struck
down by the arrows of Apollo and Artemis, and Niobe
at last became insensible through grief, and was changed
into stone.
Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, is one
of the most captivating, perhaps the most captivating,
 GODDESSES OF OLYMPUS.

of the Greek divinities. There are many accounts of her

birth ; some saying that she was the daughter of Zeus
and Dione, (of which goddess little more is known :)
others, that she sprang from the blood of Uranus,
dropped on the sea foam. As soon, however, as she
appeared, the gods all demanded her in marriage. She
accepted of the lame Hephaestus, but Ares, Dionysus,
Hermes, and Poseidon, sought, and not without suc-
cess, her love. Nor were her irregularities confined to
the'celestials ; Anchises and Adonis*, who were mortals,
were equally distinguished. Aphrodite possessed an
embroidered girdle, which had the effect of making
the wearer lovely in the eyes which she wished to
please. Her adventures were numerous, but scanda-
lous ;and we shall conclude this chapter with a few
remarks on her son Eros, (Love,) who is depicted as a
beautiful youth bending his bow.
This divinity, the object of so many poetic tales,
was struck with the beauty of Psyche, a royal, but
earthly maiden. Aphrodite, who was jealous of her
charms, commanded her son to cause Psyche to be
enamoured of some disgusting object : he, however,
turned her attachment upon himself, carried her off to a
lonely place, where he prepared a stately palace for her
reception. Moved by her entreaties, he at last suffered
her sisters to visit her, and they soon inspired her with
distrust of her celestial bridegroom. Expecting to
find some monstrous deformity, she took a lamp and
went to the couch of the sleeping Eros, fully determined
to destroy him if it should so prove. How great was

* Though spoken of as a mortal by the Greek poets, Adonis

was a Syrian deity and represented the sun. At the period
of his supposed death, an annual celebration of that mournful
event took place, much resembling that which in Egypt
marked the time of the decease of Osiris. Both divinities
were personifications of the same luminary.
174 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

lier delight when she beheld the beauty of the youth-

ful god : but her delight was of short continuance ; a
drop of oil from her lamp fell on the shoulder of Eros ;
he awoke, and at once the god, the palace, and the
splendours vanished, and Psyche was left alone on the
naked rock. She went mourning through the world,
till Aphrodite, not yet weary of persecuting her, sent
her on a message to Persephone. On her return she
met with an accident which turned her black. Eros
found her in this state, resumed his protestations of
love, and Zeus finally consented to their union. The
other adventures of Eros, (who is better known by his
Latin name Cupid,) are not numerous ; they will be,
most of them, touched on in the course of the follow-
ing chapters.

CHAPTER V.
MINOR DEITJES.

The Greeks, above all people, were inclined to multiply

their divinities ; they had, however, a due regard to
variety, in the additions which from time to time were
made to the national Pantheon ; and hence, while the
Hindoos swelled the number of divine essences, by
reckoning millions of the same kind, the Greek poets
had something like a separate history for each object
of their worship.
After those chief gods which have been already
mentioned, come the Muses, the Graces, the Fates, and
the Furies. The first were nine in [number, the
daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne : their names were
Calliope, the epic muse, who is represented by the
sculptors with a roll of parchment and a trumpet ;
Clio, the historic muse, who has an unfolded roll;
 175
MINOR DEITIES.

Melpomene, the tragic muse, veiled, and leaning on a

club, with the tragic mask in her hand ; Euterpe, the
muse of music, who holds two flutes ; Erato, the muse
of lyric poetry, who has in her hand the lyre ; Terpsi-
chore, the muse of dancing, who is known by her
position; Urania, the muse of astronomy, distinguished
by the globe and a rod which she uses to trace astro-
nomic diagrams ; Thalia, the comic muse, who holds
in one hand the comic mask, and in the other a crooked
staff ; and Polymnia, the muse of eloquence, who has the
forefinger of her right hand on her mouth. Pieria was
the birthplace of the Muses, on which account they
are frequently called Pierian goddesses, and anything
which is connected with them, Pierian. Aganippe,
Helicon, Castalia, and Hippocrene, are fountains sup-
posed peculiarly sacred to them : some held, indeed,
that drinking their waters had the effect of inspiration.
Parnassus was their favourite resort, and the Corycian
cave served as a retreat from the too vivid beams of
Phoebus- Apollo, their prince.
The offspring of the Muses were, like themselves,
highly gifted. Linus, Orpheus, and Hyacynthus, were
beloved by Apollo, and, particularly the two former,
eminently skilled in music. Orpheus, the first of
poets and the first of musicians, a strange mixture of
truth and fable, was the husband of Eurydice, who
died by the bite of a viper. Orpheus went to Hades,
and entreated him to allow the return of Eurydice to
the upper world : the request was at first refused, but
the lays of Orpheus put an end to the punishments
of hell, and diffused a yet unknown delight over the
gloomy realms of Hades. Alarmed at this, the sub-
terranean Zeus relented, and Eurydice was allowed to
accompany her husband, on condition of his not look-
ing back while on their way. Ere they reached the end
of their journey, Orpheus stopped to listen if Eurydice
176 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

were following. He heard no footsteps ; she had

stopped also. He incautiously looked round, and
Eurydice, once more a shadow, flitted from his sight.
He returned to the earth, and because he refused to
join in the orgies of the Thracian women, he was by
them torn to pieces.
The Syrens and the Coryhantes wrere the children
also of the Muses.
The Graces, three in number, were the constant
attendants of Aphrodite. They seem to be allegorical
representations of glory and elegance ; they were the
children of Zeus and Euronyme, and their names were
Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia. They are usually
represented as naked, and dancing together.
The Fates were also three in number ; their names
were Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. Severe in aspect
and inexorable in character, they wTere much venerated,
and considered as naturally influencing the fortunes of
men. Some looked upon them merely as personifi-
cations of that overruling power, which, according
to the Stoics, governed the world, and caused every
event. Others considered them as tutelary divinities,
presiding over the destinies of particular persons.
Their abode wras a cavern, in which they spun the lives
of men ; Clotho holding the distaff, Lachesis spinning
the thread, and Atropos cutting it off with her shears
when the sufficient length had been spun.
The Furies, Erinnys, or Eumenides, were goddesses
of a more gloomy, though less awful character. They
were the avengers of guilt, and as their habitation was
in Tartarus, wre shall consider them more fully when
we speak of that terrific abode : their names were
Alecto, Megaira, and Tisiphone, for they, like the Fates
and the Graces, formed a triad.
Themis, the personification of justice ; Iris, the
messenger of the goddesses, and the peculiar attendant
 MINOR DEITIES.

of Hera, and who was also a personification of the

rainbow ; Hypnus, (sleep,) and Thanatos, (death,)
together with Pceon the physician of the gods, and
Momus the god of ridicule, appear among the Greek
divinities.
In addition to these, there were many deities of
evidently foreign origin, worshipped by this people.
Isis from Egypt, and Cybele from Phrygia, were among
the number. This latter goddess was soon confounded
with Rhea, and called therefore the mother of the
gods ; the name Cybele was retained, and that of
Rhea gradually allowed to drop into disuse. She is
represented with that staid and dignified air which
distinguishes Hera ; her head is crowned with turrets,
and lions are either sitting by her side, or drawing
her car.
Pan, the son of Hermes, was a rural deity, repre-
sented with the lower parts of a goat and horns on his
head. Pie was the hero of many adventures among
the nymphs, by whom he was much feared. He was
the inventor of the syrinx, a pipe made of seven reeds;
for when pursuing a nymph so named, she was changed
by Artemis into a reed ; and Pan taking the reed, and
cutting it into seven pipes, made the instrument as a
memorial of his fruitless love. Pan was the chief of a
race of rural gods like himself : they were called Satyrs,
and the idea probably arose from the shepherds, who
wore skins, supposing these rustic divinities to resemble
themselves. Their leader was Silenus, Pan's lieutenant,
and the foster-father of Dionysus. Priapus, the son
of Aphrodite and Dionysus, was the god of gardens
and of fruitfulness in general ; he usually bears a scythe
and a horn of plenty.
The next class of superhuman beings whom it will
be necessary to notice, are the Nymphs. These beau-
tiful and interesting deities were of various orders,
N
178 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

according to the place of their habitation. There were

the Oreiades, who dwelt among the mountains ; the
Dryades, whose abode was the woods ; the Naiades,
who lived in caves at the bottom of clear waters; the
Hamadryades, who had the charge of particular trees,
and died when the tree perished ; and many others.
These were all divine in nature, and gifted with super-
human power ; in fact, they occupied exactly the same
rank which fairies did in the eastern romances.
Their amours are frequently the subject of poetry,
and their offspring were among the most renewed of
warriors. Thetis, the Nereid, (a sea-nymph,) was the
mother of Achilles. The tale of Alpheius and Are-
thusa is worth preserving : this nymph being one day
heated with the chase, threw herself into the clear stream
of the river Alpheius. The river-god beheld and loved
her, but Arethusa would not listen to his suit ; she hastily
fled from his presence, naked as she was; and finding
that Alpheius still pursued her, she besought Artemis
to interpose, and was accordingly turned into a fountain,
and plunged beneath the earth ; Alpheius again be-
coming ariver, rushed down the chasm and sought to
mingle his waters with hers. The attempt was in vain ;
through the earth and under the sea, the fountain, and
the river rolled unmixed, till the former rose again at
Orfcygia, opposite Syracuse; the waters of Alpheius rose
at the same place, but unmixed ; and the poets did not
fail to assert, that any offerings thrown into the waters
of the river Alpheius, would reappear in Ortygia.
The cruelties which the nymphs exhibited towards
their lovers were sometimes retaliated upon themselves.
Echo was an instance of this ; she more than once
detained Hera by her conversation, when that goddess
was in search of Zeus, so that Zeus, who was prose-
cuting some intrigue, had time to baffle the quick-
sightedness of his consort. Angry with the conduct
 MINOR DEITIES. 179

of Echo, Hera declared that henceforth she should

lose the power of speaking for herself, and be only
able to repeat such words as she heard. At length
she became enamoured of Narcissus, the beautiful son
of Cephissus and Leiriope. After watching for some
time an opportunity of accosting him, she was enabled
to do so : but Narcissus did not return her love, and
the unhappy nymph pined away till her yoice alone
wras left. Narcissus met with a similar fate through
love for his own image, winch he beheld in a fountain ;
he was at last changed into the flower that bears his
name.
The Oceanides and the Nereides wrere sea-nymphs,
and these at last were represented as mermaids, with
green hair, and terminating in a fishy shape. This
was also the case with the Tritons, wrho were the
attendants of Poseidon, and the chief of whom was the
son of that god and Amphitrite.
Proteus was a. god who is chiefly known on account
of his power of changing himself into every kind of
shape, (a faculty wilich, by the bye, he seems to have
possessed in common with every other deity,) and there
are several accounts of heroes having seized upon him,
and confined him, in spite of his repeated changes, till
he told them what they wanted to knowr, for he was as
wise as he was changeable. He was so treated by
Aristagus; and Virgil, in his fourth Georgic, gives a
beautiful account of the transaction. Proteus is there
described as of a deep-blue colour : he, wiien caught,
took the form, in tutns, of a fire, a monster, and a
stream ; but when he saw that the attempt was vain,
he gave Aristseus the required information. Homer
speaks of him as an Egyptian, and Herodotus says that
the Egyptians claim him as one of their kings, and
assign his reign to the era of the Trojan war. When
Paris and Helen were driven on his coast, he detained
N2
180 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

Helen, and gave her back to Menelaus, on his return

from Troy.
Glaucus was another sea-god, who, according to
Ovid, was once a fisherman, and having seen some fish
which he caught bite the grass and jump back into the
sea, tasted, like them, the grass, and sprang into the
sea after them. He was, by Oceanus and Tethys, made
immortal, and endued with a spirit of prophecy.
The Gorgons were once beautiful maidens, but
Pallas- Athena, being offended with them, changed their
beautiful tresses into snakes. Perseus afterwards cut
off the head of Medusa, and Pallas fixed it on her
aegis: it had the property of turning into stone all who
looked upon it. There were three Gorgons, — Medusa
was one, the other two were Stheino and Eur vale.
Besides the Gorgons there was, from the same
parents, sprung another triad, viz., the Grseae, Enyo,
Pephredo, and Deino, who were aged in appearance
even when born: they had but one eye and one tooth
among them, which they used by turns, and when not
in use, those parts were kept in a box. This box was
seized on by Perseus, when he wanted to discover the
abode of the Nymphs, and only restored when the
required information was given. The Hesperides have
been already mentioned.
The Harpies were a singular race of beings, who,
though of divine origin, and prophetic, were yet odious
monsters, having the forms of vultures, with the faces
of women, and infecting every place they dwelt in,
and everything they touched, with their own loath-
some odour. The winds were also deified, and fur-
nished with adventures. Boreas, Zephyrus, Notus,
and Eurus, (the North, West, South, and East,) were
of course the chief. They were under the peculiar
government of iEolus, who had his dwelling in a cave,
and there kept his stormy subjects confined.
 MINOR DEITIES. 181

Circe, a goddess whose dwelling was in a small

island named iEsea, deserves some notice. She wras
a daughter of the sun, and resided, with four nymphs,
alone in this island, changing all who came to her into
swine. Odysseus, who was driven upon the island,
was made aware of this circumstance by Hermes, who
also told him that a plant which he showed him, called
Moly, would prevent the charm of Circe from taking
effect. Circe treated Odysseus with considerable atten-
tion at first, but when he had tasted of the charmed
cup, and she commanded him to take the form of a
swine, he drew his sword, and threatened to kill her.
She was so terrified as not only to swear to do him no
hurt, but to release all those whom she had changed.
At the end of a year she dismissed them with Odysseus.
Calypso, the daughter of Atlas, was a deity of a similar
class. She, too, received the same hero, and wished
to make him immortal, to retain him with her, but
Zeus ordered otherwise, and she accordingly gave him
materials and tools to build a raft, a stock of pro-
visions, and dismissed him.

CHAPTER YI.
OF HEAVEN AND HELL.
The heaven and hell of the Greeks were both situated
under the world. The sybil to whom iEneas applied
for direction notices thus the way from this upper
world: — "Easy is the descent to Avernus, night and
day stands open the gate of gloomy Dis, but to retrace
the steps and to return to the upper air, this is the
labour, this the difficulty. Forests occupy all the inter-
mediate space, and the gliding Cocytus with its dark
wave surrounds them." Animated, however, by the
182 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

liope of beholding his father Anchises again, he deter-

mined toundertake this perilous journey, and is directed
to search for a tree in the thick wood of Avernus
■which had a golden branch; this was to be the pass-
port to the kingdom of Hades. Pie finds the branch,
and, accompanied by the sybil, goes boldly on. " Sor-
row and Avenging Cares have placed their couch before
the very vestibule at the first entrance of Orcus, and
there pale Diseases dwell, and sad Old Age, and Fear
and Famine, the Evil Counsellor, and squalid "Want,
forms terrible to the sight, and Death and Labour, then
Sleep, the brother of Death, and the wicked joys of the
mind, and destructive War on the opposite threshold,
and the iron beds of the Furies, and mad Discord, her
snaky hair bound up with gory fillets. In the midst
a thick vast elm spreads its branches and its aged
boughs, which it is commonly reported the vain Dreams
hold as their seat, and cling under all the leaves.
Besides these, there were many forms of various mon-
sters,— Centaurs stable in the gates, and the double-
formed Syllae, and the hundred-handed Briareus, and
the hydra of Lerna, horribly roaring, and Chimsera,
armed with flames, and Gorgons, and Harpies, and the
form of the triple-shaped shadow."
Through these fearful groups iEneas proceeded;
" and here, the whirlpool thick with mud, and a vast
eddy, rolls on, and casts all its sand into Cocytus.
Charon, the ferryman, dreadful from his horrid squalid-
ness, guards these streams and waters. On his beard
the thick hoary locks stand neglected; his eyes flash;
his sordid dress hangs down from his shoulders in a
knot; he with a pole urges on the vessel, manages the
sails, and, though now aged, carries over the applicants
in his dusky bark, for strong and green is the old age
of the gods. Hither rushed all the crowd congregated
on the shore, mothers and men, bodies devoid of life,
 HEAVEN AND HELL. 183

— of magnanimous heroes, boys and enamoured girls,

and youths placed on the funeral pile before the eyes
of their parents. And like the many leaves that fall
in the woods at the first cold of Autumn, so nume-
rous they stand, praying first to be carried over." This
eagerness arises, first, from the miserable state in which
they were till they had crossed the stream ; and next,
because they were anxious to have their state decided.
Those, however, who had not received the rites of
sepulture, were not allowed to cross till they had wan-
dered about on this side for a hundred years. The
river which was thus crossed is generally called Acheron,
but Yirgil calls it alternately Cocytus and Styx: these
were all rivers of hell, and there were also two more,
Phlegethon and Lethe : they are all introduced in
Milton in the following magnificent passage. The
infernal spirits
bend
Four ways their flying march along the banks
Of four infernal rivers, that disgorge
Into the burning lake their baleful streams, —
Abhorred Styx, the flood of deadly hate ;
Sad Acheron, of sorrow black and deep ;
Cocytus, named of Lamentation loud
Heard on the rueful stream ; fierce Phlegethon,
"Whose
Far off from waves these,
of torrent
a slowfireandinflame
silent with rage.
stream,
Lethe, the river of oblivion, rolls
Her watery labyrinth, whereof who drinks
Forthwith his former state and being forgets,
Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain.
The quotation need not stop here. What follows
is in exact accordance with the highest classical
authorities:
Beyond this flood a frozen continent
Lies dark and wild, beat with perpetual storms
Of whirlwind and dire hail, which on firm land
Thaws not, but gathers heap, and ruin seems
184 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

Of ancient pile, or else deep snow and ice.

A gulf profound as that Serbonian bog
Betwixt Damiata and Mount Casius old,
Where armies whole have sunk, the parching air
Burns froze, and cold performs the effect of fire.
Milton, Paradise Lost, book ii.

One of these rivers, Styx, is that by which the gods

swear their irrevocable oath, and if any one should
break it, he would be deprived of his divinity for a
hundred years.
iEneas, with his companion, now approach Charon,
who at first repels them, but on being assured of their
authority to proceed, he gives up his opposition, and
admits them into his bark, which, though old and
crazy, and fit only for the transportation of ethereal
beings, takes them safely to the other side. Here, by
flinging a medicated sop to Cerberus, the three-headed
dog of hell, they escape his jaws, and proceed. " Forth-
with voices are heard, and a shrill wailing, and the
spirits of infants weeping, in this first region, whom a
dark fate has taken away, deprived of sweet life, and
snatched from the breast, and plunged into an untimely
grave." This first region was not a state of punish-
ment, but was yet, because those who were condemned
to dwell in it had performed no good actions, a dreary
and sorrowful abode.
Virgil proceeds — " Next to these are those con-
demned to die through false accusation. Nor are their
places assigned them without a decree, without a judge.
Those sorrowing spirits hold the next regions, who,
though innocent of crime, have by their own hands
hastened death, and, hating the light, have flung away
their lives. How would they wish now, in the upper
world, to bear poverty or hard labour; but justice
opposes, and the unlovely wave of the gloomy marsh
binds them in, and Styx, nine times flowing between.
 HEAVEN AND HELL. 186

restrains them." Beyond these regions lies that portion

of Erebus which Virgil calls " the sorrowing fields;" in
them those who died from unrequited love endeavour
in vain, beneath the shade of myrtle-groves, to forget
their sorrows.
Further on are the shades of fierce warriors, and
while conversing with some among these, iEneas be-
holds, on the left hand, the towers of Tartarus, " sur-
rounded with a triple wall, which Phlegethon, the
infernal river, rapid with burning flames, rolls around.
Opposite him is the gate, vast in itself, and flanked by
columns of solid adamant, so that no power of men,
nor even the celestials themselves, could overturn it
with steel. An iron turret raises itself into the air,
and on its summit Tisiphone, sitting clad in a gory
robe, guards the entrance night and day with sleepless
eye. Hence were heard groans and fierce lashes to
resound, the clash of iron and the dragging of chains/'
./Eneas being not allowed himself to see the interior of
this fearful city, the sybil tells him somewhat of the
horrors within. Among those condemned to be its
inhabitants, are those who have deferred repentance
for their crimes till the hour of death. Then follows a
list of dreadful punishments and dreadful offenders.
They hasten their steps, and passing through the gates
fabricated by the Cyclops, go on to Elysium.
Before we follow him thither, we will let an elder
poet, Homer, say somewhat of the state of the dead.
In the eleventh book of the Odyssey, Odysseus, having
gone to Erebus, and made the required sacrifices, the
spirits of the dead come flitting around him ; and
among them that of his mother. 4i My mother," says
the hero, " why dost thou not remain with me, since I
am so eager to embrace thee, in order that, even in
Hades, we may solace ourselves with bitter lamenta-
tions, casting about each other our loving hands, or
186 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

lias the glorious Persephone sent but an empty form to

me in order that I may the more bitterly groan, being
grieved. Thus I spake, but immediately my venerable
mother answered me : Alas ! my son, most unfortunate
of all men, Persephone, the daughter of Zeus, has not
deceived thee, but this is the nature of mortals when
they die, that they have no more fibres, bones, nor
flesh, but the strong rage of devouring fire overcomes
them, when their life leaves the white bones, but the
soul, like a dream, having escaped, flies away." After
this, Odysseus beheld the state of many of his own
contemporaries, and many celebrated characters of for-
mer times. " There arose then a terrible clamour from
a thousand nations of the dead, and pale fear seized
me lest the chaste Persephone should send out of
Hades the gorgon head of the terrible monster." He
then returned to his ship, and sailed back to the abodes
of mortals.
To recur to Virgil : iEneas soon arrives at the
abodes of the blessed ; they inhabit a beautiful coun-
try, and occupy themselves about those pursuits which
most delighted them on earth. " "We," said Anchises,
" have no fixed abode, we dwell in the thick groves,
we make our beds on the banks, and in meadows fresh
wTith streamlets."
Pindar, in his second Ode, gives the following ac-
count of the islands of the blest : the exquisite version
that I subjoin appeared in the Cambridge University
Magazine, for April, 1835.
The islands of the blest — they say,
The islands of the blest,
Are peaceful and happy, by night and day,
Far away in the glorious West.
They need not the moon in that land of delight,
They need not the pale, pale star ;
The sun he is bright, by day and night,
Where the souls of the blessed are.
 HEROES.

They till not the ground, they plough not the wave,
They labour not — never ! oh, never I
Not a tear do they shed, not a sigh do they heave,
They are happy for ever and ever.
Soft is the breeze, like the evening one,
When the sun hath gone to his rest ;
And the sky is pure, and clouds there are none,
In the islands of the blest.
The deep clear sea, in its mazy bed,
Doth garlands of gems unfold ;
Not a tree but it blazes with crowns for the dead,
Even flowers of living gold.

CHAPTER YIL
HEROES.

The heroes of Greek fabulous history are so closely

connected with the gods, both in blood and adventures,
that any treatise which touched on the one, would be
incomplete without some notice of the others.
CEdipus, Tantalus, Sisyphus, Ixion, Theseus, and
Perseus, are among the most remarkable, and a slight
sketcb of their history is offered here.
CEdipus was the son of Laius, king of Thebes, and
descended, through Cadmus, from Poseidon. An oracle
had declared that Laius should be slain by his son ; as
soon, therefore, as CEdipus was born, his heels were
pierced, and a string being run through them, he was
dragged away to the mountains, and there left to
perish. Long afterwards, when considered as the son
of a shepherd who had saved and adopted him, he had
reason to think that his lineage was higher than was
acknowledged ; he went to Delphi, and consulted the
oracle ; he was recommended to keep away from his
native land, lest he should slay his father and become
188 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

the husband of his mother. Accordingly, thinking

Corinth his country, (for he had in infancy been carried
to Corinth, and kindly received by Polybus, the king,)
he abstained from returning thither, but took the road
to Phocis ; here he met Laius, with whom he had a
trifling dispute, which, however, ended in the death of
the Theban monarch.
CEdipus went on to Thebes, and found that city in
great distress, not only on account of the death of
Laius, but also because Hera had sent a monster to
afflict the nation. This was the celebrated Sphynx,
who had the head of a woman, the body of a lion, and
the wings of an eagle. This creature propounded a
riddle to the Thebans, and knowing that they would
not be delivered from her presence till the enigma was
solved, they frequently met to offer an answer. Every
time, however, they failed, and every time the Sphynx,
by waynumber.
their of punishment, carried off' and devoured one of
Creon, who had succeeded Laius, and had lost by
the monster his only son, Hsemon, now made a public
proclamation, that he would resign his throne, and
bestow the hand of his sister, the queen dowager, on
that man who should solve the enigma, and thus rid
the city of this plague. CEdipus came forward, the
riddle was propounded : 4i What animal is that, which
having but one voice, goes on four feet in the morning,
on tw o at noon, and on three in the evening ?" " It
is," replied CEdipus, " a man ; for in the morning of his
days he walks on his hands and feet, a helpless infant ;
in the noon of manhood, he walks erect, and in the
evening of old age, he is fain to lean on a staff." The
Sphynx threw herself from the top of the Acropolis, and
perished. CEdipus assumed the royalty of his native
city, married his mother, and thus completed the pre-
diction of the oracle.
 HEROES. 189

Afterwards, when he discovered what he had unwit-

tingly clone, he abdicated his throne, put out his eyes,
and wandered about till he came to the grove of the
Eumenides, at Colonos, near Athens, where at last he
perished. His two daughters, by J ocasta his mother,
followed him in his miserable pilgrimage ; his two sons,
Eteocles and Polynices, fell in wrar one against the
other ; his daughter Antigone was buried alive by
Creon for giving the rights of sepulture to her bro-
thers ;and the unhappy J ocasta hung herself in
despair.
Tantalus was the son of Zeus and of a nymph named
Pluto. No man wras ever so much favoured by the
gods as he was ; he wTas permitted to be present at the
banquets of the immortals, and they honoured his
table with their presence. He stole some of that am-
brosia and nectar which had made him immortal, and
gave it to some of his friends. This proceeding incur-
red the displeasure of the gods; but he,] anxious to
know if they really were omniscient, slew his own son
Pelops, and served him up to the assembled deities at
a banquet. Zeus restored him to life, and because
Demeter, grieved with the loss of Persephone, which
had but recently occurred, had been so absent in mind
as to eat a piece of the shoulder, they replaced it writh
one of ivory. The next thing was to punish Tantalus,
and he was placed in hell, when his punishment is thus
described by Homer : " And I saw," says Odysseus,
" Tantalus suffering grievous torments, standing in a
lake, and the water dashed against his chin, out he
resembled one thirsty, and could not take any to drink,
for as often as the old man stooped eager to drink, so
often the water disappeared, being absorbed; and
about his feet the black earth appeared, for a divinity
withheld him ; and above his head lofty trees, pear
trees, and peach trees, and apples, with their beautiful
190 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

fruit, and sweet figs and flourishing olive trees hung

their fruit, which, when the old man straightened
himself to reach with his hands, the wind dissipated
them into dark clouds."
Pelops, his son, was the father of Atreus and Thy-
estes, who re-enacted the fearful banquet of their
grandfather. Atreus was the father of Agamemnon,
who wras chief of the Greeks during the Trojan war.
The death of Niobe, the daughter of Tantalus, has
been already related.
Sisyphus was the son of iEolus, arid the founder of
Corinth ; he was noted for his cunning, and exemplified
it in many amusing ways. Having betrayed some
secrets of the gods, Zeus sent Death to punish the
informer ; Sisyphus, however, bound Death and kept
him in durance, to the great satisfaction of the human
race, who were now exempt from his power. Hades,
however, set Death at liberty, and gave up Sisyphus
into his hands. In hell, where Sisyphus ultimately
found himself, he was condemned to a singular pe-
nance, which Homer mentions as seen by Odysseus:
" And I beheld Sisyphus, with his great woes, heaving
up with both hands a monstrous stone ; but he, labour-
ing with his hands and feet, drove the stone up to the
summit, but when it was about to pass over, then some
strong power drove it back again; then down once
more to the plain rolled the immense stone/'
Ixion, the son of Phlegyas, and king of Thessaly,
was the father of Centaurus, from whom sprung the
Centaurs. Ixion boasting of the love of Hera, whereas
he had been deluded by a cloud in the shape of that
goddess, wras punished by Zeus by being fastened on
an ever-revolving wheel in hell. The Centaurs, his
descendants, were a remarkable race, half man and
half horse. They were destroyed partly by the Lapi-
thie, a race of men who inhabited a region near to
 HEROES.
191
their own, and partly by Hercules, who was attacked
by them when entertained by Pholus, one of their
number; the chief of this singular race were Chiron,
the tutor of Achilles, Nessus, whose death has been
already alluded to, and Pholus the host of Hercules.
Theseus was the son of JEge&s, and descended from
Cecrops; his mother, iEthra, was the daughter of
Pittheus, the son of Pelops. iEgeus charged iEthra
not to let Theseus know whose son he wTas, but wdien
he could lift a stone under which he had placed his
sword and shoes, to send him to Athens. He accord-
ingly set out, and took a wray which was known to be
infested by robbers, with a view of destroying them.
In this attempt he was eminently successful. Among
those whom he overcame was Damastes, generally
called Procrustes, who had two bedsteads of iron, to
one of which he led every guest that came to him. If
he were a short man he led him to the long bedstead,
and stretched him on it till all his bones w^ere dislo-
cated, and he was made, as Procrustes facetiously ob-
served, tofit. If he were a tall man he wTas laid upon
the short bedstead, and so much cut off as made his
length equal to that of his intended couch. Theseus
treated him as he had treated others. On his arrival
at Athens, he found great disorder prevailing. The
nephews of iEgeus expected to succeed him, and
Medea, who had become his wife, was jealous of the
anticipated influence of the newly-arrived prince.
iEgeus, however, recognised and acknowledged his
son, who, after killing a cow which Hercules had
brought from Crete, and which was then wasting the
country about Marathon, set out for Crete on a more
important and more perilous enterprise.
The event of a war with that country had given
Minos, the Cretan king, the power of exacting what
satisfaction he pleased from the Athenians; he de-
192 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

mandcd annually seven youths and seven maidens, who

should he given up to the Minotaur, a monster half
man and half hull, the offspring of Pasiphae, the wife
of Minos, and a hull.
This creature was confined in a labyrinth built for
that purpose by the celebrated artist Daedalus. Re-
solved to deliver his country from so oppressive a tri-
bute, Theseus offered himself as one of the victims,
and in spite of his fathers entreaties persisted in his
intention. When the captives were brought before
Minos, Ariadne, the daughter of that prince, became
enamoured of Theseus, and offered him the means of
escape if he would marry her ; he accepted the offer,
slew the Minotaur, and, guided by a clue which Ariadne
had given him, escaped from the labyrinth. He now
left Crete accompanied by the princess and his former
companions. But, alas for Ariadne ! she was aban-
doned bythe way, and left at Naxos.
When Theseus left Athens the ship sailed with black
sails, which he promised his father, if successful, to
change for white ones. He forgot his promise, and
iEgeus, who watched the return of the ship from the
top of a tower, thinking that his son had perished,
threw himself into the sea. Theseus became king, and
raised the Athenian state to a high pitch of prosperity;
he contracted an intimate friendship with Peirithoiis,
and like him determined to marry a daughter of the
gods. Theseus pitched upon Helen, the daughter of
Leda, and his friend aided him in carrying her off, but
they afterwards restored her to her family. She mar-
ried Menelaus, and was the cause of the Trojan war.
Peirithoiis determined to carry away no less a person-
age than Persephone herself; and Theseus, after a
vain attempt to dissuade him from the enterprise, felt
himself bound to accompany him in his expedition.
Hades disconcerted the attempt, and placed both the
 HEROES. 193

heroes on a rock at the entrance of Erehus, where he

fixed them, and commanded them there to remain for
ever. Hercules, however, liberated Theseus, hut
Peirithoiis, whose impiety was the more daring,
was left to his fate. After his return from this
mad expedition, Theseus married Phaedra, the sister
of Ariadne, and this princess was struck with a
deeply-rooted love for Hippolytus, the son of Theseus
by a former wife, Antiope. Finding her love unre-
quited, she accused him of having attempted her
honour ; Theseus put his son to death, and discovered
the crime of his wife too late. Phaedra fell by her
own hand.
Like all great benefactors to Athens, Theseus suf-
fered exile; he retired to the court of Lycomedes, king
of Scyros, and in that island he died. He met his
fate either by accident or treachery ; for his host
carried him to the top of a high rock, and from thence,
Theseus either fell, or was pushed down. He is, per-
haps, the most interesting hero of the heroic age ; he
is a favourite object of Athenian panegyric, and makes
a pleasing figure in the Athenian drama.
Perseus was the son of Zeus, by Danae, the daughter
of Acrisius, king of Argos. The history of the hero
commences, like that of many others, with the decla-
ration of an oracle, that Acrisius should be slain by his
grandson. Determined to prevent this prediction from
being fulfilled, Acrisius enclosed his daughter Danae in
a brazen tower, with her nurse ; but Zeus had already
beheld her with the eye of love ; he came, in the shape
of a golden shower, through the roof of her prison;
and Danae became the mother of Perseus. Acrisius
enclosed her and her son in a chest, and committed
them to the mercy of the waves. They were drifted to
the island of Seriphus, and there hospitably enter-
tained; the king, Polydectes, fell in love with Danae,
o
194 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

and anxious to get rid of Perseus, whom lie considered

as very much in the way, he took advantage of a
thoughtless promise of the hero, and despatched him
to fetch the Gorgon's head. Guided by Hermes and
Athena, he went on his errand, and taking possession
of the one eye and one tooth of the Graeae, compelled
them, on pain of losing these treasures, to direct him
to the abode of those nymphs who possessed the magic
wallet, the winged shoes, and the helmet of Hades,
WThich made the wearer invisible. Hermes gave him a
sword of adamant, and Athena a reflecting buckler.
Thus armed and conducted, he attacked the Gorgons,
and looking on their images in his shield, he cut off' the
head of Medusa, and put it in the wrallet, (for Medusa
alone wTas mortal, of these three dreadful sisters,) then,
protected by the helmet of Hades, he escaped the other
Gorgons, and flew to ^Ethiopia.
On the sea-coast of this country, he beheld Andro-
meda, the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, bound
naked to a rock, and exposed to a sea-monster. She
was thus condemned, to propitiate the wrath of Poseidon,
who was angry because Cassiopeia had extolled her
own beauty above that of the Nereides.
Perseus promised Cepheus to deliver her if he
would give her to him in marriage; the offer was
joyfully accepted, the sea-monster slain, and Andro-
meda married to Perseus. They went together to
Seriphus. Polydectes, who had by his violence com-
pelled Danae to fly to an altar for protection, was in-
dulged with a sight of the Gorgons head, which turned
him and his whole court to stone.
Perseus then gave it to Athena, who fastened it on
her shield, and returned the wallet, shoes, and helmet
to Hermes, who took them to the nymphs. The
oracle was not, however, to be avoided ; Perseus play-
ing at quoits, struck an old man accidentally on the
/
 HEROIC EXPEDITIONS. 195

foot ; this old man was Acrisius, who had left Argos,
and lived at Larissa. The wound was mortal, and
Perseus succeeded to his kingdom. When he cut off
the head of the Gorgon, Chysaor and the winged horse
Pegasus sprung from her blood.

CHAPTER VIII.
HEROIC EXPEDITIONS.

The first expedition which the fables of Greece relate,

is that of the Argonauts; Jason, the son of iEson, deter-
mined to go and obtain the golden fleece which was at
Colchis, guarded by a dragon ; he called around him
the most celebrated heroes of the day. Hercules,
Theseus, Castor, and Polydeukes were among the
number. They came and sailed with him in a ship
which Argus, the son of Phryxus, had built by the
direction of Athena; at the stern, was a plank from
the sacred oak of Zeus, at Dodona, by which the
ship was enabled on emergencies, to speak. This ship
was named after its builder, Argo. They passed, as
might be expected, through many strange adventures,
in their voyage. First, they landed at Lemnos, where
they found all the men of the island slain, through the
jealousy of the women ; but these latter, tired of their
solitary life, eagerly received and entertained the Argo-
nauts. Then they delivered Phmeus, the king of
Salmydessus, from the harpies, and he in return taught
them how to avoid the Symplegades, or clashing rocks,
which crushed all the ships that attempted to pass into
the Euxine. They now reached Colchis, informed
JEetes, the king, of their object, and begged him to
give up the golden fleece. iEetes said that they should
o2
X
196 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

have the fleece, if they could yoke the hrazen hulls

which Hephaestus had given him. They did so,
ploughed a piece of land, and sowed it with serpent's
teeth, hy direction of the king. This was to be done
in the sacred grove of Ares.
Jason knew the danger of these tasks, for Cadmus
had performed the same exploit before; and from the
serpent's teeth sprung a complete army, all ready to
attack him ; besides this, the brazen bulls breathed
flame, and destroyed all who approached them. Medea,
however, had seen Jason, and had fallen in love with
him. She therefore furnished him with an ointment
which would defend him both against fire and steel,
and by this aid, he performed the task required.
Medea had not given her assistance for nothing;
Jason had promised to marry the Colchian princess,
and when JEetes refused to give up the golden fleece,
Medea led her lover to the place where it was guarded,
laid the watchful dragon to sleep, and delivered up the
treasure into the hands of Jason.
Absyrtus, her brother, accompanied her, and they
now escaped from Colchis with the Argonauts. iEetes
of course pursued them ; and Medea, to avoid his over-
taking them, cut her brother Absyrtus in pieces, and
threw him overboard. The Colchian king took up
the mangled remains of his son, went back to bury
them, and sent out many of his subjects with orders
not to return without his unworthy daughter. Mean-
time, the Argo spoke, and directed her own course, so
that, though several times nearly captured, she escaped
every danger, and arrived safe, after an absence of four
months, at Iolcos.
The events of the Theban war may be very briefly
recounted. On the abdication of CEdipus, his two
sons, Eteocles and Polynices, agreed to reign year by
3 car, in turns. When Eteocles had reigned his year,
 197

HEROIC EXPEDITIONS.

he refused to give up the kingdom, and Polynices accor-

dingly had recourse to foreign aid. Adrastus, king of
Argos, was the prince to whom he applied; and at his
court he met with the celebrated Tydeus, who like
himself married a daughter of the Argive prince.
Seven chiefs associated themselves together, to wrest
from Eteocles the sceptre which he usurped. Three
have been already mentioned; the other four, were
Amphiaraus and Capaneus, from Argos, with Hippo-
medon, and Parthenopaeus, an Arcadian. Amphiaraus
was bound by treaty to go, if Eriphyle, his wife, should
so decide, and as he knew that he was destined to
perish if he did go, he was anxious to remain behind ;
but Polynices bribed Eriphyle with a collar, and she
gave her decision that Amphiaraus should attend the
expedition. The result was, that Eteocles was slain,
as well as Polynices, and all his allies, save Adrastus.
The two brothers were burnt on the same pile, but the
flames from their bodies turned different ways. Creon
succeeded. Ten years afterwards, another war was
carried on against Thebes by the sons of those heroes
who had besieged the city before ; and Thersander, the
son of Polynices, was placed on the throne.
The most interesting, as well as the most important
expedition of the heroic age, was the siege of Troy, of
which a condensed account is, all that our limits will
allow.
Leda, the daughter of Thestius, king of iEtolia,
was beloved by Zeus, who, taking the form of a swan,
obtained her love. Leda was the wife of Tyndareus,
king of Sparta, who was descended from Lacedamion,
the son of Zeus. Leda laid two eggs; from one of
which sprung Helen and Polydeukes, and from the
other, Castor, and, according to the Odyssey, Clytem-
nestra ; the two sisters were married to Menelaus and
Agamemnon, who were kings, one (by adoption) of
198 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

Sparta, the other (by inheritance) of Argos. Castor

and Polydeukes, of 'whom one only was immortal,
were joined in the closest friendship, and Castor being
killed in a skirmish, Polydeukes obtained leave from
Zeus to share his immortality with him; and they alter-
nately lived and died. They were called the Dioscuri
(the sons of Zeus).
In the mean time, Priam was reigning at Troy, in
the place of Laomedon, his father, and was married to
Hecuba, the daughter of Cisseus^ By her he had
many children, of whom Hector, Paris, and Cassandra,
were the most noted. The birth of Paris was pre-
ceded bya dream, in which Hecuba saw herself the
mother of a lighted torch. The augurs declared, that
the signification of this was, that the child to which
she was about to give birth would cause the burning
of Troy. Priam directed the child to be exposed, but
a bear suckled him, and he was afterwards brought up
by a shepherd,
While these things were going on in this lower
world, Discord took a golden apple, on which was in-
scribed, "To the fairest/' Hera, Athena, and Aphro-
dite, all laid claim to it, but none of the gods would
decide between them. Paris was chosen, because the
most beautiful man existing ; and to him, accordingly,
did the rival goddesses unveil their charms, each pro-
mising him all that she deemed the most tempting, if
he would decide in her favour. Hera offered empire,
Athena, wisdom ; but Aphrodite, who had, no doubt, a
right to the prize, promised him the most beautiful
woman in the world for his wife. Aphrodite carried
off the golden apple, and Paris by her aid, soon carried
oft' Helena, the consort of the Spartan monarch. The
retreat of the fugitive queen was soon discovered; she
was demanded in vain from the Trojans, and Avar was
consequently decided upon. When Helen accepted
 HEROIC EXPEDITIONS. 199

the hand of Menelaus, all the rival suitors swore to

secure him against the attempts of any disappointed
lover, and the oath, which was intended to restrain the
passions of their own number, was now to be fulfilled
by war against a foreign and powerful city.
The Greeks met at Aulis, where a vast fleet was
soon congregated ; Agamemnon was chosen comman-
der-in-chief, and the armada prepared to set sail.
Now, however, a fresh difficulty arose. The winds
were contrary, nor would they, said Calchas, the sooth-
sayer, permit the departure of the fleet, till Agamemnon
had sacrificed his daughter Iphigeneia on their altar.
The princess was accordingly bound and laid on the
altar, but Artemis carried her off in a cloud, and left a
hind in her place. The whole episode is but an imita-
tion of that most affecting passage of Holy Writ, the
intended sacrifice of Isaac by his father, — or rather, it
is the Greek version of that event. The fleet sailed,
and a war of ten years ensued ; the result, however,
was the destruction of Troy, and the death of Priam
and all his children, save Helenus.
Achilles was the principal hero on the side of the
Greeks, and the siege was so long protracted, only by
reason of his secession; he fell by the hand of Paris,
who in turn was slain by Philoctetes.
The destruction of Troy was dearly purchased, by
the desolation of Greece. Usurpers took possession of
the deserted thrones, and but few of the lawful princes
succeeded in reinstating themselves in the kingdoms of
their forefathers. Agamemnon perished by the hand
of his wife ; she was slain by their son Orestes, and he
was driven over the world by the Furies. It fared
little better with Diomedes; Aias, Patroclus, and many
others perished in the war; and the Greeks, as a
nation, suffered almost as much as the conquered
Trojans.
200 GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

Virgil continued the splendid fable ; iEneas, the

son of Anchises, and son-in-law of Priam, after exhi-
biting all the qualities of a hero during the siege,
conducts a small band of Trojans safely from the
burning city, and in spite of many misfortunes, and
through many wanderings, he lays the foundation of
an empire, which subsequently swallowed up the
Greek states, and, indeed, almost all the known world.
To the mythology of that empire, we shall in the next
section turn.
 201

Section Y.
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY.

CHAPTER I.
Of the early state of Italy but little is known with
certainty. A cloud seems to hang upon the annals
of the people, and of that obscurity mythology has its
full share. It is evident, however, that, from whatever
cause, the Italian nations had a higher idea of their
deities than the Greeks entertained of theirs. They
were more completely separated from mankind, more
exempt from the passions, the desires, the crimes of
man. When the Italian states were all swallowed up
in the growing empire of Rome, their various religions
were blended into one; and as the Greek mythology
became more known and more cultivated, all its fables
were engrafted on the Roman stock, and nothing of the
Italian systems remained save the names of the Roman
gods. These were chiefly of Latin origin, and the
adoption of Greek fable is rendered a matter of less
surprise by the fact that the Latins themselves were of
Pelasgian origin. To these were added the augury
of the Tuscans or Etrurians, which was taught them by
a dsemon named Tages, who was a babe in form, and an
old man in wisdom. The Lares and Lemures, formed
a part also of the Etrurian system, and its sedate and
somewhat melancholy character tempered the Roman
mythology, and took off from it the too great vividness
which characterized that of Greece. The Sabines also
contributed their quota, and from the union of all these
arose the form of religion and mythology which ex-
isted in ancient Rome. The deities of that people were
202 ROMAN MYTHOLOGY.

divided into classes, the higher and the lower. In the

former (Dii Majorum gentium) were placed twenty
deities, of whom twelve were called Consentes. These,
which were the chief, were Jupiter, Neptune, Apollo,
Mars, Mercury, and Vulcan, with the goddesses Juno,
Minerva, Yenus, Vesta, Ceres, and Diana. The re-
maining eight were Saturn, Pluto, Bacchus, and Janus,
with the goddesses Tellus, Latona, Luna, and Flora.
Jupiter, who, though originally distinct, soon became
confounded with the Greek Zeus, had of course all the
attributes and adventures of the latter assigned to him.
As a Roman deity, his name is generally coupled with
some epithet, as Jupiter Capitolinus, Jupiter Stator, &c.
His temple on the Capitol was the chief in Rome ; his
title was Optimus Maximus, and his priest was called
the Pontifex Maximus.
Ovid gives an interesting story of the mode of
propitiating this deity, adopted by Numa, wrhich is
admirably related by Keightley: — " In the time of
Numa there occurred great thunder-storms and rain,
the people and their king wrere terrified, and the
latter had recourse to the counsel of the nymph
Egeria. She informed him that Faunus and Picus
could instruct him in the mode of appeasing Jupiter,
but that he must employ both art and violence to ex-
tract the knowledge from them. Accordingly by her
advice he placed bowls of wine at a fountain, whither
they used to come to drink, and concealed himself in a
neighbouring cavern. The rural gods came to the fount,
and finding the wine, drank very copiously of it. They
immediately after fell asleep, and Numa quitting his
retreat, came and bound them. On awaking, they
struggled, but in vain, to get free, and the pious prince,
apologizing for what necessity had obliged him to do,
entreated that they would inform him how Jupiter was
to be appeased.
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 203

" Tliey yielded to his prayer, and on his loosing them

drew down Jupiter hy their charms. He descended
on the Aventine hill, which trembled beneath the
weight of the deity. Numa was terrified, but recover-
ing, he besought the god to give a remedy against the
lightning. The ruler of the thunder assented, and in
ambiguous terms conveyed the relief: — 'Cut ahead,'
said the god, — c of an onion from my garden,' rejoined
the king. 4 Of a man,' said the god, — 4 the topmost
hairs,' quickly added Numa. 4 I demand a life,' said
the god, — 4 of a fish,' Numa promptly added. Jupiter
smiled, said that by this sacrifice his weapons might be
averted, and promised a sign at sunrise the following
morning.
44 At dawn, the people assembled before the doors of
the king. Numa came forth, and seated on his maple
throne, looked for the rising of the sun. The orb of
day was just wholly emerged from the horizon, when
a loud crash was heard in the sky. Thrice the god
thundered without a cloud — thrice he sent forth his
lightnings. The heavens opened, and a light buckler
came gently wafted on the air and fell to the ground.
Numa having first slain a heifer, took up the shield
and called it Ancile. He regarded it as the pledge of
empire, and having had several made like it by the artist
Mamurius, to deceive those who might attempt to steal
it, committed them to the charge of a college of priests,
called the Salii."
The name Jupiter has been derived from Dies-pater
(Father of Day), or Zeus-pater (Father Jove) ; but it
seems still more probably derived from the Dyupiter of
the Hindus, which divinity has, like Jupiter, the em-
pire of the atmosphere, being another name for Indra.
Neptunus is merely the Greek Poseidon, with a Latin
name. Mars is Ares; and Roman fable claims him
as the sire of the founder of their city. They say that
204 ROMAN MYTHOLOGY.

Rhea Sylvia, a yestal virgin, being beloved by this god,

gave birth to Romulus and Remus. Rhea was buried
alive, and the twins exposed. They were intended to
be drowned, but the waters receded from them by the
ebbing of the tide, and a wolf finding them, gave them
suck. They were subsequently educated by a herds-
man named Faustulus, came to know their royal
origin, and Romulus succeeded in due time to the
throne of Latium.
Mercury was the Greek Hermes; Yulcan, Hephaes-
tus; and Apollo had not even changed his name.
Yulcan was reputed to be the father of Servius Tul-
lius, and the fire accordingly spared his wooden statue
when the temple in which it was situated was burned
down.
The goddesses were in like manner the same as
the corresponding divinities of Greece. Juno an-
swered to Hera, Minerva to Athena, Yesta to Hestia.
There was a Roman institution relating to this god-
dess which cannot be passed over without notice ; that
is, the order of Yestal Yirgins. They were six in num-
ber, and their office was to watch the sacred fire in the
temple of their goddess; if they suffered it to go out,
or if they violated the laws of chastity, they were
buried alive. In case of the fire becoming extinguished,
it was rekindled from the rays of the sun. The temple
contained no statue; the fire was considered as the only
image of Yesta. These vestals were not restricted to
perpetual virginity; after the age of thirty-six they
were at liberty to marry.
Ceres answers to the Greek Demeter, and Diana to
Artemis. Yenus is the same as Aphrodite, and all
the same adventures are related of her.
These twelve deities were called Consentes, and we
shall now proceed to notice the remaining divinities
whose names have been mentioned. Saturn, the
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 205

Greek Kronus, was the god of time. When cast down

from heaven by his son Jupiter, he took refuge in
Latium, where he reigned, and his government was the
scene of so much felicity as to he called the golden
age. He taught the arts of tillage, and was accord-
ingly represented as holding in his hand the sickle.
The feast celebrated in his honour at Rome, and called
Saturnalia, was a period of unbounded riot ; all busi-
ness, public and private, was stopped, and every one
gave himself up without restraint, to jollity.
Janus was a god to whom no counterpart is found in
the mythology of Greece. He was variously repre-
sented, sometimes as a personification of the year, with
four heads or faces, each looking a different way, under
which form he corresponds with the Hindoo Brahma,
or with two faces, which form seems to denote the
union of the Roman and Sabine people under their two
heads, Romulus and Tatius, in whose time, according
to Servius, the worship of Janus was first introduced.
The gate on which this image was placed was open in
time of war, aud shut in time of peace, and subse-
quently the same regulation extended to his temple.
His festival was in the first month of the year, hence
called January.
Pluto and Bacchus are the same as the Hades and
Dionysus of Greece.
The goddesses may be treated in the same way,
viz., by referring them to the corresponding deities
of Greek fable. Tellus answers to Rhea, and she
is also called Tellumo (by which she is known to
be masculine and feminine), Ops, and Bona Dea; under
the latter name her festivals were privately celebrated
by matrons alone, first with propriety, but afterwards
with every species of profligacy. Latona was the Greek
Leto; Luna answered to Selena; and Flora to Chloris.
The festivals of the latter were celebrated with extra-
ordinary licentiousness at Rome; to so great an extent
206 ROMAN MYTHOLOGY.

was open vice carried, that it was considered disgrace-

ful for a person of character to be present, and when
Cato the Censor by chance entered the theatre during
the festival, the abominable exhibitions were imme-
diately suspended.
The gods of the lower class (Dii Minorum gentium)
were very numerous. When Romulus was deified, he
was called Quirinus, and a senator received a large
sum for swearing that he saw him ascend into heaven.
' Bellona was the goddess of war: her temple was
without the city, and in it ambassadors from foreign
powers were received. When war was declared against
any people, a javelin was hurled against one of its
pillars. Libitina was the presiding deity of funerals, —
Consus of counsel, — and Laverna of thieves, — Terminus
of boundaries, — Bonus Eventus of good luck, — and
Pales of shepherds and cattle.
Pomona, the goddess of orchards, was beloved in
vain by many deities. Yertumnus, the god of mer-
chandize, was among the suitors, but she rejected them
all. Yertumnus assumed every shape that occurred
to him to obtain her love, but without effect. At last
he changed himself into an old woman, and seeking
Pomona, held forth to her about the comparative misery
of a single life, enlarged upon the virtues and the love
of Yertumnus, and when the goddess began to relent,
suddenly appeared before her, radiant with youth,
beauty, and immortality. He was successful, and
Pomona became his bride.
The domestic gods of the Romans must be noticed.
These were the Penates, who were worshipped in a part
of the house called the penetralia, and were chosen by
each family at their own option. Jupiter anc\ Mars
were frequently selected by families of distinction, but
in general they were private deities, and their names
not known. The Lares were the happy souls of de-
ceased ancestors: they guarded the families of their
 207

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

descendants, and protected them from disunion; wine,

incense, and food, were offered to them. The Lemures
can hardly he called gods at all: they were a kind of
spectres, whose appearance was much deprecated, and
supposed by some to he the night-wandering spirits of
those who had offended the gods in their mortal career.
The Romans also believed, like the Greeks, that
every man was under the direction and guardianship
of two spirits, one called his good genius, and one his
evil genius ; to both of whom sacrifices were made.

CHAPTER II.
OF ORACLES AND OMENS.

Among those principles of human nature which most

tended to foster and encourage superstition, may be
reckoned that eager desire to pry into futurity, which
in all ages and under all circumstances has charac-
terized the human race; for "if a God there be, that
God how great," is the unsophisticated language of
nature. The present and the future are alike before
the eyes of the immortals; to the omniscient, it was
natural that man should apply for the knowledge of
his fate ; to the all-wise, for the means of avoiding mis-
fortunes. Itseemed, too, but natural to expect that
the gods would give mankind some intimations of their
will, some directions for their own conduct. The
oracles, therefore, which were responses given to ques-
tions, and supposed to come from the deities themselves,
were consulted on all occasions of importance, both
public and private. Their ambiguity served to make
them the more awful, and the ceremonies performed
before consulting the divinity were of a solemn and
208 ROMAN MYTHOLOGY.

imposing character. The influence which, from the

nature of things, was possessed by those who presided
at the oracles, soon reached a degree so great as to be
almost boundless. The institution served at once to
gratify the prevailing curiosity of the people, and as a
powerful engine of civil and religious government.
Accordingly we find scarce a state of ancient Greece,
scarce a country in the known world, that had not its
oracle. Sixty-eight have been named by ancient
writers, of which those of Apollo at Delphi, of Jupiter
at Dodona and in Libya, and of Trophonus in Bceotia,
were the principal.
The oracular response was given sometimes by the
mouth of the officiating priest or priestess, sometimes
by casting lots, sometimes by omens ; and many volumes
have been written on the question whether the whole
was an imposture, or whether supernatural influence
was really permitted to act. The question is now
generally decided in favour of the former explanation,
and the circumstances attending the recorded answers
generally admit of their being resolved into imposture.
The first peculiarity in these responses is, that, what-
ever was the event, the prediction was right. Croesus,
when about to attack Cyrus, consulted the oracle at
Delphi. The reply was, that Croesus, by passing the
river Halys, should overturn a great empire. He pro-
ceeded in his design, thinking to overturn the empire
of Cyrus: the oracle was right, but the empire he over-
turned was his own. A similar reply was that given
to Pyrrhus, when about to attack the Romans:
"Credo te CEacide, Romanos vincere posse," which
may mean, " I believe thee able, O (Eacides, to over-
come the Romans," or, " I believe the Romans able to
overcome thee, O (Eacides." Pyrrhus understood it in
one sense, the event justified the prediction in another.
A more remarkable instance of sagacity is exhibited
 ORACLES AND OMENS. 209

in the answer given by the oracle of Serapis at Alex-

andria to the messengers of Alexander the Great. The
king "was lying ill at Babylon, of that fever which
proved fatal. Seme of his conrtiers hasted to Egypt,
to consult the oracle whether Alexander should be
brought there. " It is better," was the reply, "for the
king to remain where he is." The policy of this is
obvious. Had Alexander gone and died in the temple,
the non-recovery of the king would have been charged
as a failing of prophecy in the god ; whereas had he
recovered, the credit would have been no greater than
to have predicted his recovery at a distance.
A circumstance not dissimilar is told of the emperor
Trajan, who attempted to cheat the oracle at Heliopolis,
to which the inquirer had only to send a note sealed.
Macrobius, who tells the story, represents Trajan as no
believer in oracles, and he sent a blank note: he had
a blank note in answer, which convinced him that the
oracle was no imposture. This matter wants a little
explanation; for, knowing the splendid abilities of the
Homan sovereign, the inquiry will very naturally be
made, Why was Trajan so easily satisfied by a circum-
stance so much to be expected? It was the custom of
this oracle to cast the note down a crevice of the earth;
where it went the inquirer knew not, but the officiating
priest was supposed to reply as he was inspired by the
deity. Trajan did not suspect the priest, but the god,
and thought the note actually perished. He probably
imagined that the inspiration of the priest might arise
from some species of excitement, which might cause a
sort of intoxication, and it never seems to have occurred
to him that a person might be so placed as to receive
the note and convey its contents, by some channel un-
perceived by the inquirer, to the priest.
The emperor was about to march against the Par-
tisans, and he now fairly put the question in the note,
p
210 ROMAN MYTHOLOGY.

what would be his success. This time the priest led

the messenger into a garden, and cut to pieces a vine,
desiring him to take the fragments to his master. He
did so, and Trajan understood the oracle to mean that
as the priest had cut in pieces the vine, so should he
cut in pieces the Parthians. The event fully answered
his expectations, hut the emperor died during the
campaign, and his victorious army brought back to
Rome the bones of their commander. This was the
meaning, said the priests, of the dismembered vine.
It would, however, have been equally correct had the
Parthians routed and cut to pieces the Roman army.
Another circumstance worthy of note is, the pre-
diction being very often the cause of its own fulfil-
ment. The history of the heroic ages, and even of the
gods themselves, is full of such events. The pre-
servation of Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto, from the
jaws of Saturn, and his dethronement in consequence,
— the tales of Perseus, Paris, and CEdipus, will serve
as instances of this.
To come a little nearer to historical times. It is
said of iEschylus, the great light of the Greek drama,
that he was warned by his oracle of his death, which
was to be caused by the falling of a house upon him.
He withdrew himself from among men, and lived in
caves and forests. Here an eagle flying above him
with a tortoise in her talons, mistook the bald head of
the aged dramatist for a stone, and let fall the tortoise
accordingly. iEschylus was of course killed. This is,
however, a not very well authenticated anecdote; but
perhaps as much so as any which were very accurate
in their predictions.
There is a story told by iElian of Xerxes, which will
do well to connect the subject of oracles with that of
omens. Before he undertook that expedition into
Greece, which has placed his name on a pinnacle of
 ORACLES AND OMENS.
211
unhappy renown, Xerxes ordered the tomb of Belus
to be opened, expecting to find great treasures there.
The workmen dug very deep before they came to the
body of the deified monarch. At last they came to a
cavern, in which was a glass urn, containing the body
of Belus, and nearly filled with oil. Near it was a
pillar, on which wTas engraven the astounding inscrip-
tion, "Woe unto him who having opened this cavern
filleth not up the urn." The king ordered it to be
immediately done. About a hand's breadth remained
to be filled up, but vessel after vessel were poured in
in vain, and after many days' fruitless labour the
attempt was given up. Terrified with the prodigy, the
king retired mournful and dejected, and ordered the
sepulchre to be closed. Had we all the circumstances
which attended this wonder, it might cease to be so.
It is probably not destitute of truth, for there were
some about the king who well knew what was the pro-
bable result of his undertaking, and endeavoured by
every means to dissuade him from it. One day the
wine in his cup was suddenly changed into blood, and
Artabanus, who was suspected not to have been igno-
rant of the cause of the phenomenon, drew from it an
augury inauspicious to the king's design: he, perhaps,
who was noted for his wisdom, might have had some
share in the wonders of the cave. Xerxes, however,
persisted, with the pomp and splendour of a monarch
absolute over half the globe. He led ten times five
hundred thousand human beings to swallow up the
little country of Greece, bridged the sea itself, and
passed from Asia into Europe, at the head of the
greatest host the world ever saw. At the end of a few
months he had been repeatedly and shamefully de-
feated; thousands upon thousands of his troops had
been cut down; his hopes were blasted; Phis2 treasures
drained; and his glory annihilated. He was compelled
212 ROMAN MYTHOLOGY.

to recross alone, and in an open fishing-boat, that Hel-

lespont which he had so proudly passed before, and at
last was murdered on his return by his own sons.
Oracles are said by some writers to have become
silent on the coming of Christ, and on this supposed
fact has been grounded an argument for their super-
natural origin. It may be answered that they did not
cease, for we have just seen Trajan consulting them
long after the death of our Saviour. Their gradual
cessation may without doubt be ascribed to the spread
of Christianity, which so diminished the patronage
which the oracles met with, as to render them, in mer-
cantile phrase, no longer a profitable speculation.
Omens form the next subject which courts our in-
quiries. The origin of these has been thus explained.
Persons mentally putting up a prayer to the Deity
agreed to accept some particular sign as a token of
the divine will; the priests were occasionally called
in to assist in the choice of such signs, and a regular
system of omens was thus established. Many instances
of this practice may be found in the pages of holy writ,
and the Jews had an omen based expressly upon it,
called Bath- cool. Having thus an accidental origin,
but a regular and systematic arrangement, we shall see
something like a reason for the adoption of the signs
which were chosen. When omens were drawn from
birds, (and by this omen was a name given to the city
of Rome,) it was considered fortunate to see them
in the East, or flying towards that quarter, because the
sun, the great fountain of light and heat, and the cause
of fertility and animal life, rises in that quarter; simi-
larly, because he sets in the West, omens in that
direction portended ill success, the loss of fame, or
even of life itself. The chief omens were, however,
drawn from inspecting the entrails of victims offered to
the gods, and the task of so doing was the office of a
 ORACLES AND OMENS. 213

class of priests educated for the purpose. Sneezing

was ominous ; if on the right fortunate, — if on the left,
otherwise; and it is said that by a sneeze on the right
hand Xenophon was elected to the command of the
ten thousand, during their celebrated retreat; an event
which disappointed the malice of the Persians, and
enabled the Greeks to revisit in safety their beloved
land.
It often happened that an omen which at first seemed
unlucky, might by the presence of mind of him who
observed it be construed into a lucky one. When
Julius Cassar landed in Africa, he stumbled and fell
down; his soldiers deemed the omen unlucky, but
Cassar soon reassured them, for, spreading out his
arms, he exclaimed, " I take possession of thee, O
Africa!" Augustus, on the other hand, was exceed-
ingly superstitious, and particularly dreaded the ill
omen derived from putting on the left shoe before the
right; a dread which was much increased, when, having
done so one day, he nearly fell a victim to a tumult
among the soldiers.
To detail the various omens which were observed
among the Greeks and Romans, would require a
volume. They maintained their ground when the
religion of which they formed a part was no longer
existing; and, though somewhat changed, they yet
remain even in the present day. Among the better
informed, they are now gradually wearing away, and
with them in civilized countries the last relics of
paganism may be said to be vanishing.
 214

Section VI.
BUDHUISM.

CHAPTER I.
In that part of the present work which treats of Hin-
doo mythology, we have seen that the last incarnation
of Vishnu was called Budha, or Boodh. It has,
however, been always a matter of dispute, whether
Brahminism or Budhuism were the most ancient ;
which, in fact, was the ancient religion of India. This
much, however, is certain, that in the first century of
our aera, the professors of Budhuism were driven out
of India, by a fierce and general persecution, and took
refuge in other lands. The nations into which they
retreated, and which almost immediately accepted
their doctrines, were, the Birman Empire, Siam, Cey-
lon, Cochin China, Tonquin China, and China Proper.
There can, therefore, be no doubt, but that whichever
be the more ancient, Budhuism is by far the more
extensive, and therefore the more important.
It appears, however, certain, that the appearance of
Budha was in the sixth century before our a?ra, and
that those peculiar doctrines which characterize his
sect, were well known in India before that period.
If we follow the most generally approved opinions, we
shall be led to consider Budha as the son of Maha-
patie, one of the most powerful Hindoo sovereigns of
the time. The tenets already noticed were those of
Ms family ; and knowing how comparatively easy it
was for a popular prince, by placing himself at the
head of a sect already flourishing, to increase its power
and influence, and to make himself its idol, we shall
 INTRODUCTION. 215

cease to wonder at the rapid spread of Budhuism in

India. Such a person would receive the support, not
only of the common people, but also that of the
reigning monarchs, who held the same philosophical
opinions, and were attached to him by the ties of
blood.
The character given of Budha is that of an ascetic,
a character of all others the most likely to gain credit
with the generality of the people in India. All the
personages of their multifarious worship, have been
noted for austerity ; and in spite of the foul impurities
of Hindoo sects, those deified persons whom they
most esteem, have obtained their high station by
penance and mortification. Such persons as submit to
severe discipline of this nature, are their only saints,
and these they consider as representatives of the
Divine Being, and as endowed with a portion of his
wisdom and power. No sooner was Budhuism settled
in Hindoostan, than a rigid persecution took place of
the Brahmins, and all who held their doctrines ; till
at last, a prince of the old religion, Dhurandara, put
to death Aclitya the last Budhuist king, and assumed
himself the sovereignty. The religion which he pro-
fessed gradually recovered its ground, and, at the
period already mentioned, the followers of the rival
sect were driven from their seats, and compelled to
find refuge in other kingdoms.
The history of Budha, as taught in the Jatas, is
this : his father, a king of Benares, was anxious, by
his prayers and sacrifices, to cause his son, whose birth
was shortly expected, to be free from all faults. It is
worthy of note, that this was the only son of the king,
who had sixteen thousand wives, and his birth was
miraculous. Chundra, his mother, herself of royal
descent, was so holy, and so u perfect in her rites,"
that a saint of great glory consented to be again in-
2J6 BUDHUISM.

carnate, to be born of her, and to restore the pure

form of worship. This saint, whose name was Bud-
hasatwa, had been before on earth twice. Once, as king
of Varanasi, over which he had reigned twenty years,
and for his crimes in that station, he had been 80,000
years, in a state of torment. After this, he had been
permitted to be born again in an earthly shape, in Ta-
vatingsa, where he lived a holy and irreproachable life,
and at his death, passed to the abodes of the gods. It
was proposed to him to be again incarnate, and pro-
mised that if he agreed, five hundred sons of the gods
would be incarnate with him. Budhasatwa consented,
and was accordingly born as the son of Chundra ; the
five hundred gods were born on the same day, in the
houses of the chief nobles of Benares. At the period
of this auspicious birth, the king sent round to know
who were born on that day, that they might all be
brought up with the royal infant ; and great was the
astonishment and delight of the king, to find that his
son would have a guard of five hundred nobles.
Clothes and nurses were provided at the royal expense
for each of the five hundred, and two hundred and
forty nurses were chosen with great care and anxiety
for the infant Budha ; those only were selected who
were perfect in shape, features, complexion, condition,
constitution, and family. On the day when the cere-
mony of naming the child was gone through, the
prognosticating Brahmins declared, after an attentive
examination of the marks on his body, that his destiny
would be perfect and glorious. The name given was
Temee, but as he is always known by the name of
Budha, we shall so designate him.
When a month old, he was formally presented to
the king, and laid in his lap ; and while so placed,
four culprits were brought before the monarch, who
inflicted upon them severe punishments. The follow-
 217

INTRODUCTION.

ing day, when placed under the white umbrella, (the

ensign of royalty,) he observed the regal decorations
about him, and perceived that he was the son of a
king : remembering his former royalty, and the long
punishment which he had suffered for the crimes then
committed, he became very anxious about his fathers
safety, and not less so for his own. Pie thought of the
severe punishments which the king had the day before
inflicted, and deemed them too severe ; then pondering
on the consequences of such deeds to the king and to
himself, he seemed suddenly to wither away. While
in this state of affliction, his goddess mother appeared
to him, and instructed him not to fear, for that he
might avoid the power and temptations of a kingdom,
by feigning deafness, lameness, and dumbness. To
this the infant promised consent, and acted accordingly.
The five hundred infants who were brought up with
him, cried for food ; but Budha frequently fasted the
whole day rather than utter any sound. At length
Chundra, perceiving that for want of crying the child
was neglected by the nurses, suckled him herself, but
without understanding his intentions. From this we
find, that Budha had two mothers, one a goddess, pro-
bably his mother in a former state, now deified, and
Chundra ; the former of whom had advised this strange
conduct, which the latter did not comprehend.

CHAPTER II.

When the king found that this son, so miraculously

born, and of whom so many wonders were predicted,
was lame, and deaf, and dumb, he considered these
evils as only of a temporary character, and had recourse
to every means which he could devise to excite the
218 BUDHUISM.

child's attention, and make him remark what was

passing around him, which he never did. For sixteen
years they tried this plan, each year varying the means
used. When one year old they tried him with
sweatmeats, when two with fruits, at three with toys,
and at four with feasts. Finding that he was not by
gentler means to he induced to break his apathetic
silence, they next tried fear for three years, employ-
ing first fire, then elephants, then serpents, but this
plan proved as unsuccessful as the other. They then
had recourse to the lively spectacle of dances, and
then for four years more, tried fear, by means of
swords, shells, drums, and fires by night, but all was
in vain.
They were now almost in despair, but thought that
stronger means than fear might prevail, and accordingly
they now had recourse to actual torment, wThich they
continued for three years more, first by covering him
WTith molasses and letting the flies torment him, next
by almost suffocating him with offensive smells, and
lastly by actually scorching him for a year. This
proving ineffectual, they deemed the case hopeless; but
as the youth had now arrived at the age of sixteen
years, they thought that love might perhaps do what
fear and pain had failed to effect. They therefore
introduced the most beautiful virgins, accompanied by
dances, perfumes, and every incitement that might
most captivate the youthful mind ; and this, though
continued twelve months, had no better issue than the
former trials. They now considered the case desperate,
and accordingly told the king, that unless the youth
wTas buried, some evil would certainly happen to the
king, the white umbrella, or the queen.
The king, therefore, ordered the unfortunate horses
to be yoked to the unfortunate chariot, and the unfortu-
nate prince to be placed therein, and to be thence
 219
INTRODUCTION.

carried out through the western gate to the burying-

ground, and there to be slain and buried. As soon as
this order was given, the queen made her appearance,
and preferred the extraordinary request, that the
king, instead of ordering the death and burial of the
prince, would resign the crown in his favour. When
this was refused, she petitioned for a reign of seven
years for him, and this not being granted, she lowered
her petitions, till at last she reduced it to seven days,
which was granted. The youthful Budha was now
proclaimed and installed as king ; but in spite of this,
and his mothers repeated prayers, he persisted in ap-
pearing deaf, dumb, and lame, and accordingly, at the
expiration of seven days, the king resumed the empire,
and, in compliance with the injunction of the Brahmins,
ordered the instant death and burial of Budha.
The ominous chariot and horses were accordingly
prepared, and the journey commenced ; but the gods
deluded the charioteer, so that he went through the
east gate, and was carried onwards twenty miles with-
out his perceiving it. Seeing before him a large forest,
he concluded that he was in the burial-ground, and
accordingly commenced digging a grave. While thus
employed, Budha assumed his divinity, gave proofs of
his infinite power, and was arrayed by the immortals
in the garments of a god. The charioteer supposed
that the glorious appearance before him was some other
being, and not the lame, deaf, and dumb prince whom
he came to bury. But when Budha told him of his
former existence, and his desire to avoid a similar
punishment, and added that he intended to become a
mendicant, the charioteer was convinced of the truth of
his assertions, and the wisdom of his choice ; he event-
ually offered to join him in the life which he proposed
to lead. Budha, however, insisted that the charioteer
should first take home the chariot and horses, and in-
220 BUDHUISM.

form the king and the queen of what he had witnessed.

This command was obeyed, the charioteer first receiv-
ing an assurance, that Budha would remain where he
was, if his father came to see him.
The charioteer returned to Varanasi, and relating
what he had seen, the king and queen became very
anxious to see the wonders which had been clone, and
to converse with their celestial offspring. Taking with
them an army of about four millions strong, they left
the city after three clays* preparation, and set out to
the desert, accompanied by all the king's concubines,
the white umbrella, the golden shoes, the diadem and
sceptre, and all the royal paraphernalia.
Meantime, Budha had not been left to the chances
of accommodation in the desert. The gods, who de-
lighted in him, sent Yishwa-carma to build him a
hermitage, which was thus accomplished. The archi-
tect of the gods dug a pool and a well, formed a
delightful residence, created trees which bore beautiful
fruit out of their season, and near the hermitage of
leaves made a beautiful walk, twenty-four cubits long,
and strewed it with crystalline sand. He then fur-
nished him with all the implements necessary for
sacrificial and domestic uses, and having driven far
away all noxious reptiles, and all birds of unpleasant
voice, departed. Observing what Vishwa- carina had
done, and knowing that this delightful retreat was
intended for him," Budha took immediate possession of
it, dressed himself in a hermit's garments of bark and
leopard's skin, performed all the necessary ceremonies,
and then declared that he was perfectly happy. In
the evening, he seated himself at the head of his
walk, partook of some of the fruit of the miraculous
trees, boiled in plain water without salt or acid, and
then again went to meditate on the doctrines of
J 5 rah ma.
 221
INTRODUCTION.

When the king with his company arrived, Budha

again resisted the temptations of empire, and spoke
in so sublime and effectual a manner, that the
king, with all his attendants, embraced the same life
with Budha, and continued with him in the wilder-
ness. At that time, a neighbouring monarch, hearing
that Yaranasi was left destitute, went himself to take
possession of that splendid city ; but hearing why the
former king had left it, he was induced to pay Budha
a visit himself. He did so, and the same arguments
which had prevailed with the former king were effi-
cacious with him; he joined Budha in his forest resi-
dence, with all his army. Two other kings with their
armies, who left their countries with the same design,
concluded in the same manner, and Yaranasi remained
without a sovereign.
The story concludes in this remarkable way: f The
elephants and horses became wild, the chariots fell to
pieces, the coin of the treasuries mingled with the sand
of the hermitage became earth, and the whole concourse
of people, having accomplished their austerities, went
to heaven. The elephants and horses, having had
their minds enlightened in the society of the sages, were
reproduced in the six abodes of the gods. At that
time, the daughter of the goddess who guarded the
white umbrella, and the charioteer, were reproduced.
The angel became Anirudha. The father and mother
were reproduced in an illustrious family. The remain-
ing multitude were reproduced as the assembly of Budha.
c I,' says he, ' the lame, the deaf, and the dumb, am
declared to be God/"
They believe that, after this, the spirit of Budha
passed through all the gradations of perfection, till, in
the year 1842, as the Singalese priests informed some
Christian missionaries lately, he will enter into Nirvara,
or absolute perfection. What this is, we shall see in
the next chapter.
222 BUDnUISM

CHAPTER III.
OF BUDHUISM AMONG THE BURMESE AND CHINESE.

It will be necessary to treat of Chinese mythology in a

separate section, but we will here just notice the doc-
trines of Fuh, who is known to be the same person
with Buclha. The following passage is taken from the
writings of Full s followers, as translated by the Abbe
Grosier.
" Nothing is the beginning and end of everything
that exists. From nothing our first parents derived
their existence, and to nothing they returned after
their death. All beings are the same; they only differ
in their figure and qualities. A man, a lion, or any
other animal, may be formed of the same metal: if
these different pieces are afterwards melted, they will
immediately lose their figure and qualities, and toge-
ther form only one substance. Such is the case with
all beings, whether animate or inanimate: though
differing in shape and qualities, they are still all the
same thing, sprung from the same beginning, which is
nothing. This nothing, — this universal principle, is
extremely pure, exempt from all change, exceedingly
subtle and simple. It remains continually in a state of
rest, has neither virtue, power, nor intelligence ; besides,
its essence consists in its being free from action, without
knowledge, and without desire.
" To obtain happiness, we must endeavour, by con-
tinual meditation and frequent victories over ourselves,
to acquire a likeness to this principle; and to obtain
that end, we must accustom ourselves to do nothing,
to will nothing, to feel nothing, to desire nothing: when
Ave have attained to this state of happy insensibility,
 AMONG THE BURMESE AND CHINESE. 223

we have nothing more to do with virtue or vice,

rewards or punishments, providence, or the immortality
of the soul. The whole of holiness consists in ceasing
to exist; in heing confounded with nothing. The
nearer man approaches to the nature of a stone, or a
log, the nearer he is to perfection: in a word, it is
indolence and immobility, in the cessation of all desires
and all motion, that virtue and happiness consist. The
moment that man arrives at this degree of perfection,
he has no longer any occasion to dread changes, futu-
rity, or transmigrations; because he hath ceased to
exist, and is become perfectly like the god Fuh."
That this perfectly agrees with the notions of the
Burmese, may be gathered from Mr. Ward's admirable
book on Hindoo mythology, where he says, " The
Budhuists do not believe in a first cause ; they consider
matter as eternal, — that every portion of animated
existence has in itself its own rise, tendency, and desti-
nation,— that the condition of creatures on earth is
regulated by works of merit and demerit, — that works
of merit not only raise the individuals who practise them
to happiness, but, as they prevail, raise the world itself
to prosperity; while, on the other hand, when vice is
predominant, the world degenerates till the universe
itself is destroyed. They suppose that there is always
some superior deity, who has attained his elevation by
religious merit; but they do not regard him as the
sovereign of the wexUL"
To the present period, including all the time reckoned
in a kalpa, they assign five deities, of whom four have
already appeared, and Budha is the fifth. When his
exaltation is merged in Nirvana, then some other saint
will occupy the station which he now holds. Six hun-
dred millions of saints are said to be canonized with
each deity, though Budha only took twenty-four thou-
sand to heaven with him. The lowest state of existence
224 BUDIITJISM

is in hell; the next is that in the forms of hrutes: both

these are states of punishment. The next ascent is to
that of man, which is probationary. The next degree
includes many states of honour and happiness, up to
demigods, which are states of reward for works of
merit. The ascent to superior deity is from the state
of man.
There are, they say, four superior heavens, which
are not destroyed at the end of a kalpa; below these
there are twelve other heavens, followed by six inferior
heavens, after which follows the earth, then the world
of snakes, and then thirty-two chief hells ; and besides
these, there are one hundred and twenty hells of
milder punishment. The highest state of glory is
absorption. The person |who is unchangeable in his
resolution, who has obtained the knowledge of things
past, present, and to come, through one kalpa, — who
can go where he pleases, make himself invisible, and
who has attained to complete abstraction, — will enjoy
absorption.
Now the Hindoo idea of absorption is, that the soul
is received into the divine ersence ; but in the Budhuist
acceptation it must mean, that the soul is received into
the essence of Budha ; for the divine essence is nothing.
Now, as Budha advances to a state of perfection, those
absorbed into his essence will advance with him, and
be annihilated with him.
This frightful doctrine is in perfect accordance with
the Budhuist maxim, — u It is better to walk than to
run ; it is better to stand than to walk ; it is better to
lie down than to stand; it is better to sleep than to
wake ; it is better to die than to sleep/'
There was a remarkable illustration of this given by
a Singalese priest to a learned missionary, a few years
ago, and communicated to the author by the missionary
himself. He pressed the priest very strongly to say
 AMONG THE BURMESE AND CHINESE. 225

what would become of Budha at the end of the kalpa.

" He will be in Nirvana/' was the reply. " But what
do you mean by Nirvana, or absolute perfection ?" The
priest took a lamp that was burning before him, and
placing it on the ground, extinguished the flame by
treading upon it,— " That," replied he, " is Nirvana."

CHAPTER IV.
OF THE PRIESTS AND TEMPLES OF THE BUDHUISTS.

The temples in the Burmese empire, where this wor-

ship is in its greatest purity, are of many different
shapes; but the round ones are only permitted to be
built by imperial authority. An elevated spot is usually
chosen; but if this cannot be the case, they content
themselves with building on two, three, or more terraces
of earth, so as to raise the temple itself from the ground
to a considerable height. These terraces are for the
most part mounds of earth, faced with brick- work; and
as all temples are built by individuals, they vary in
splendour with the rank of the builder, and his wealth.
The rich frequently have the whole exterior gilded,
which is done by covering the plaister with a black
varnish, and then laying on the gold-leaf; and this has
a very splendid appearance: but in all cases, an iron
umbrella is fixed on the top, to which bells are some-
times attached, which, when swung by the wind, pro-
duce a very pleasing sound. Bells are also hung near
the temples, to give notice when strangers arrive; and
the brick- work facings of the terraces, which are always
made to face the cardinal points, are adorned with images
of lions and monsters of every species.
In the neighbourhood of the temples, houses are
Q
226 BUDHUISM.

erected for the use of strangers, in which images of

Budha are placed, and umbrellas and stone pots, in
imitation of those said to be used by Budha in his
desert retreat. Some of these temples, particularly
those in Ceylon, are very large, capable indeed, in some
cases, of holding three thousand people: many of them
are surrounded by virandahs. The hall containing the
image is very spacious.
At these temples, the priests make, or should make,
offerings every day: they consist in flowers, incense,
rice, betel, and in repeating certain forms of prayer.
The temples are kept clean, and the lights are preserved,
by the priests, who likewise receive the offerings;
though it is not indispensable that he should present
them, as the worshipper may do this himself if he know
the proper formula. Another part of the priestly office
consists in the daily repetition of the five command-
ments of Budha to the people: they are, first, a pro-
hibition to destroy life; second, a prohibition of theft;
third, of adultery; fourth, of falsehood; fifth, of spiritu-
ous liquors. The priests themselves live in celibacy,
and the more religious classes abstain from dancing,
songs, festivals, music, perfumes, and many other things
of like nature.
Among works of the highest merit, one is the feeding
of a hungry, infirm tiger, with a person's own flesh.
When a temple is to be founded, there are many
festivals held, as well as during its progress, and at its
completion. These feasts sometimes continue four or
five days, when musicians and dancing-girls are em-
ployed, and a great concourse of people entertained.
The priests then, taking a text from the apophthegms of
Budha, preach a discourse on the merit of founding
temples. Budha himself, as seen in many temples,
appears seated upon a throne, placed on elephants, or
encircled by a hydra; or in the habit of a king, acccm-
 227

PRIESTS AND TEMPLES.

panied by his attendants. In many of the modern

images, however, he is represented in a sitting pos-
ture, with his legs folded, his right hand resting upon
his right thigh, and his left upon his lap. A yellow
cloth is cast over his left shoulder, which encircles his
right arm. His hair is short and woolly, like that of
an African, and he is not unfrequently represented
with the thick lips which characterize the negro race.
This, which seems to indicate an African descent, is a
subject upon which the priests are unwilling to com-
municate information, and are always displeased wThen
the subject is brought before their notice. The ears
of Budha are long, as if distended by heavy ear-rings.
The statue is generally placed in the centre of the
temple, under a small arch prepared for the purpose,
or under a small porch of wood, neatly gilt. Images
of celestial attendants, male and female, are frequently
placed in front of the image; and in some places, the
image of Jivanakara, a mendicant who had four hun-
dred thousand disciples, and who foretold the deifica-
tion of Budha, is to be seen in an erect posture, having
four mendicants behind him, with begging-dishes in
their hands, and Sumedha, a form of Budha, lying
prostrate before him in a posture of reverence.
The ancient religion of the Burmans consisted prin-
cipally inausterities: when a person becomes initiated
into the priesthood, he immediately renounces the
secular state, lives on alms, and abstains from food till
noon has passed. The ancient writings of the Bur-
mans mention an order of female priests, but these
were probably only female mendicants. The priests
were not only bound to celibacy, but also to poverty:
they are to possess only a girdle, a razor, a begging-
dish, a needle, three garments, and ,a cloth to strain
the water which they drink, in order that they may
not devour insects.

Q 2
228 BUDIIUISM.

They are the schoolmasters, and perform that office

gratuitously, esteeming it a work of merit. If a pupil
aj>pear to be of bright parts, they persuade the parents
to make him a priest ; but "when he has been some
time in the college, if he prefer a secular life, he is at
liberty to embrace it. They are admitted into this
college at five years of age. At their initiation the
parents give a feast, which sometimes lasts three or
four days. When this is over, the youth is clothed in
the most costly manner the parents can afford, and led,
with corresponding magnificence, on horseback, amidst
ahe large
arrives retinue,
there,tohetheis college
strippedof ofhishis
preceptor. "Whena
gay clothing;
begging-dish is put into his hand, a yellow garment is
thrown over his shoulders, and his head is shaved: he
then begins his noviciate, which is to last twenty years,
during which time he is to abstain from all that has
been mentioned as prohibited to the religious classes.
If he be obedient in this noviciate, he is qualified for
admission into the order of priests.
His initiation into that order is a very important
ceremony. It is necessary that it should be performed
by a priest who has been twenty years in orders, and
in the presence of at least five priests who have been
in orders ten years each. No spectators are allowed to
be present, for which reason it is frequently performed
in a boat on the river, surrounded by a screen of mats.
At the commencement, a priest gives out whether they
have any objection to the youth becoming a priest. If
they answer in the negative, he is presented to the
chief priest, and asked many questions, as, if he be free
from disease, — if he be perfect in his elementary know-
ledge,— if he have obtained consent of his parents.
After many formula are repeated, he is clothed in
white, and the eight articles, comprising the whole
property of a priest, are hung about him: he is at length
 229
PRIESTS AND TEMPLES.

clothed like an old priest, and led to some college,

where he remains for three years, under the instruction
of an aged priest, until completely initiated into the
duties of the priesthood. Two hundred and twenty-
seven precepts are then given him, the observance of
which for ten years makes him a priest of the first
rank, and empowers him to have disciples.
The Burmese colleges are built like palaces, by
wealthy individuals : the more ancient ones were merely
caves; but besides these colleges, there are buildings
enclosed by a wall, and built for the accommodation of
learned men who meet to consult about religion. In
some cases, an image of Budha is set up in a conspi-
cuous part of the building.
The houses of the priests are built as works of merit,
and offered to them. A temple and a house for priests
are commonly built at once, and it is a law in these
houses, that a priest shall always give his bed to a priest
who is a stranger, if necessary; but the common people
are never suffered to sit or lie on a priest's mat.

CHAPTER V.

OF THE TRADITIONS AND FESTIVALS OF THE EUDHUISTS.

Among the traditions preserved in the Burman empire,

there is a very remarkable one concerning the Deluge,
of which Chevalier Ramsay gives an account.
" Their writings/' remarks that author, " afford
three remote causes for the destruction of a world, —
luxury, anger, and ignorance. From these, by the
power of fate, arise the physical or proximate causes, —
fire, water, and wind. When luxury prevails, the
world is consumed by fire; when anger prevails, it is
230 BUDIIULSM.

dissolved in water; when ignorance prevails, it is dis-

persed bywind. A thousand years before the destruc-
tion of the world, a certain being descends from the
mountains of the superior abodes; his hair is dishe-
velled, his countenance is mournful, and his garments
are black. He passes everywhere through the public
ways and streets, with piteous voice, announcing to
mankind the approaching dissolution. When water
destroyed the world, there fell at first very gentle rains,
but these by degrees increasing, soon came to be of a
most prodigious magnitude. By such rain the abodes of
men are entirely dissolved, and after the greater part
have perished, another heavy rain follows, and sweeps
away into the rivers the unburied bodies. Then fol^vs
a shower of flowers and sandal-wood, to purify the earth,
and all kinds of garments fall from above. The scanty
remains of men who had escaped from destruction, now
crept out from caverns and hiding-places, and repenting
of their sins henceforth enjoy longer life/'
They say also that the age of man does not continue
the same ; but at the beginning of a kalpa, it is extended
to an almost immeasurable length; then, in proportion
as virtue declines, and the human race becomes cor-
rupted, the length of life dwindles down even to ten
years ; but when vice has so shortened the age of man-
kind as this, the universe is destroyed, and a new kalpa
commences. The Cingalese have this comparison to
convey some idea of what the length of a kalpa must be.
If a man were to ascend a mountain nine miles high,
and to renew these journeys once in a hundred years,
till the mountain were worn down by his feet to an
atom, the time required to do this would be nothing
compared to the fourth part of a kalpa. Budha, before
his exaltation, told his followers that after his ascent
his body, his doctrines, and an assembly of his disciples,
were to be equally respected with his glorified spirit.
 TRADITIONS AND FESTIVALS.
231
When a Cingalese, therefore, approaches an image of
Budha, he says, " I take refuge in Buclha, I take refuge
in his doctrine, I take refuge in his disciples."
According to this religion, there is no distinction of
castes. Polygamy is not forbidden, and hence it is not
uncommon for the followers of this doctrine to have a
plurality of wives. They burn their dead with many
ceremonies, especially the bodies of the priests. With
regard to the Hindoo deities, they also believe in their
power and existence, but not as immortals, still less as
gods. They have an idea that they reward their fol-
lowers, and that Brahma, whom they consider as the
chief, resides with his people in one of the higher
heavens. Next to Brahma they consider Indra the
most important, and Vishnu, Siva, and Kartikya, with
twenty-eight more deities, to be servants to Indra, An
intelligent native of Ceylon assured Mr. Ward that they
hated the Hindoo religion still more than they do the
Mohammedan. Among the Cingalese the four quarters
of the moon are festival days. A shed being erected
on these occasions near a temple, the people bring their
offerings and present them to two priests employed in
instructing the multitude. The one speaks in the Pali
language, and the other explains what he says in Cin-
galese; drums are beaten at intervals, and the temple
is illuminated. Formerly it would seem that among
the Burmese monthly feasts were held ; these wrere, in
;he first month, the water feast, — in the second, that
:or presenting drink-offerings to the images of Budha, —
In the third, that for watering the trees of the ficus
[ndica, — in the fourth, the interrogatory feast, — in the
Sifth, one in honour of the priests, — in the sixth, one
n honour of Ganesa, — in the seventh, the boat fes-
tival,— in the eighth, the feast of alms, — in the ninth,
;he candle feast, — in the tenth, the feast of giving
ilothes to the priests, — in the eleventh, the lot festival,
 232 BUDHUISM.

— in the twelfth, the festival for placing fire near the

images of Budha. Feasts are only held at the full and
change of the moon. At these times all business is
suspended. The people pay homage to Budha in the
temples, presenting to the image rice, fruits, flowers,
candles, &c; and though festivals, yet the aged fre-
quently fast during the whole day; some repair to the
colleges, and there employ themselves in listening to
the Budhuist writings publicly read on those occasions
by the priests.

CHAPTER VI. 4
OF THE JAINAS, SHIKHS AND WORSHIPPERS OF THE LAMA.

It appears the more probable conclusion that Budhuism

is a secession from the Brahminical religion, and as
there are several other sects which have seceded in a
similar manner, it will be necessary to make some
mention of these before proceeding to the notice
of the Chinese mythology. Among those sects the
most important is that of the Jainas, whose chief,
Reshabha, is supposed to have become incarnate in a
manner very similar to Budha. At the time of his
appearance, men were in an uncivilized state, supported
not by their labour, but by the fruits of trees, which
spontaneously supplied all their wants, and under
which they dwelt, having no houses. At the birth of
Reshabha, the gods descended, and when he was grown
to maturity, Indra descended from heaven to give him
in marriage. At his installation, also, as king, Indra
was present, and gave him a celestial throne. On this
monarch the following titles of honour were conferred,
— the great king, — the great beggar, — the great jaina,
 233
JAIN AS AND SHIKHS.

— the perfect saint, — the paragon of virtue. This

prince taught mankind the art of cultivating the earth,
and, according to a custom very frequently mentioned
in Hindoo mythology, he took a spiritual guide, re-
nounced his kingdom, and went to live in a forest,
where for a thousand years he continued the devotions
of a hermit, and refined all his powers. To the her-
mits dwelling near him in the forest he explained the
principles of religion, hut he appointed twelve persons
as his chief assistants, and sent out eighty-four to
instruct the ignorant in other countries. With him
were 1,200,000 disciples, of whom 800,000 were
females. But after having resided many million years
in this forest, at the close of the third kalpa he obtained,
with 1000 of his disciples, absorption. The sect which
he is said to have founded still exists: its chief pro-
fessors have been gloomy ascetics, assuming the rights
of deity, and denying the authority of God ; and among
those who now follow the sect a sovereign contempt of
the Creator, of a future state, and of religious cere-
monies, is observable. The earth, say they, is formed
by its own inherent properties. " As the trees in an
uninhabited forest spring up without a cultivator, so
the universe is self-existent, and as the banks of a river
fall of themselves, so there is no supreme destroyer.
The world, in short, like the spiders web, is formed
out of its own bowels/' They believe, however, in a
heaven for those who are addicted to austerities, and
they are very particular in the distinction of castes.
Another remarkable sect, which seems to have made
a compromise between the atheism of the Budhuists
and the Jainas and the polytheism of the Hindoos,
was that of the Shikhs. The founder of this sect was
Nanaka, a Hindoo of the Kshetrya caste, who was bom
in the year 1-469, in the Punjab. He maintained the
doctrine of the divine unity, which he very probably
234 BUDI1UISM.

learned from the Moslem mendicants, with whom he

was very familiar. Next, that God dwells in the devout,
and that this divine inhabitation renders the ascetic an
object of reverence, and even of worship. Hence it
became a point of duty to seek the society of devout
mendicants. The other two points most insisted upon
by him were devout attachment to the Deity, and a
harmless behaviour towards all creatures. To promote
the spirit of devotion, Nanaka composed a number of
sacred hymns, which are still extant. The Shikhs are
now known rather as a military tribe than a religious
sect: each of their leaders added to their power and
consequence, till, under Govinda Singha, they became
a formidable nation. This man was a political leader
rather than a religious guide, and he introduced a
number of accommodating rules into the system of his
predecessors, to meet the circumstances of a people who
were to acquire and support their independence by the
sword. The Shikhs of the present day conceive them-
selves at liberty to worship Durga, and generally pile
a number of weapons together as her representative.
There is one more sect worthy of a place, though but
a few words can be said of it; it is, in fact, only
mentioned as forming a link in religious opinions
between the Shikhs and the Hindoos; it is that of the
Chitanyas, a sect who worship all the Hindoo gods,
but reject castes. This is a sect increasing daily, as it
opens a door to the practice of mendicity, which the
Hindoos prefer to labour, encourages an indiscriminate
and most licentious profligacy, and emancipates its fol-
lowers from the yoke of caste without incurring any
disgrace.
The only other branch of religion which bears any
relation to these sects is that of the Delai Lama, the
sovereign of Thibet, in whom the Deity is supposed
personally to reside ; so that the same person is at once
 THE DELAI LAMA. 235

god and king: he enjoys perpetual youth, and if he

attains beyond a certain age, the priests privately
destroy him, and then declare that the Lama has dis-
appeared. The next thing is to procure secretly some
infant, in whom they say the deity has been transmitted,
and whom they prepare for his ceremonious and secluded
life.
Captain Turner, when in that country, saw the then
Lama, and observed the dignity with which he, though
as yet an infant, received the strangers. The whole
system so much resembles the ceremonies attending the
finding, the life, and the death of the Egyptian Apis,
that we can scarcely deem them mere casual coin-
cidences.
 236

Section VII.

CHINESE MYTHOLOGY.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

If the importance of any nation, or of any sect of re-

ligion, were to be estimated by its supposed antiquity,
all must bow down before tbe claims of China. They
pretend in that country to trace back their authentic
records to a period considerably beyond the European
era of creation, and if they are not so minute in the
earlier portions of their history, it is because, they say,
that one of their princes destroyed every historical
document he could seize upon. The acknowledged
difficulty of obtaining information on subjects con-
nected with this remote and jealous empire has occa-
sioned much discrepancy between the accounts given
at various periods and by different individuals. The
Jesuit missionaries, skilful and learned as they were,
have given us but a very imperfect picture of Chinese
mythology. It is, however, from them that we must
expect the most full information ; but a greater mis-
fortune is,that they have not been, as it appears, fail-
witnesses ; their hatred to the Chinese priests has
made them often misrepresent both their opinions and
conduct. With these imperfect and often suspected
lights, we must compare the casual notices of travellers
occupied by state and mercantile affairs, and ready, in
matters such as those of which we are treating, to take
up with any accounts which those about them offered.
Bearing in mind these disadvantages, the reader will
 237

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

not expect to find an account of Chinese mythology as

complete and circumstantial as we are able to give of
Egyptian or Hindoo fable.
We shall first notice some of the traditions of the
Chinese bearing on cosmogony, and commence with
the few notices found in their legendary lore, of the
creation and of the deluge. These we shall find very
brief. They set forth that chaos, before the creation,
existed in the shape of a vast egg, in which were con-
tained the principles of all things. From this egg, in
the deep gloom of primaeval night, proceeded first the
heavens, which were formed of the shell ; secondly, the
air, which proceeded from the white; thirdly, the
earth, from the yolk ; lastly, from the earth man was
created. This was the first age of the world, or, as
the Chinese books phrase it, " the first state of heaven."
" While it lasted/' they continue, " a pure pleasure
and a perfect tranquillity reigned over all nature; there
was neither labour nor pain, nor sorrow nor criminal-
ity. Nothing made opposition to the will of man ; the
whole creation enjoyed a state of happiness, everything
was beautiful, everything was good, all beings were
perfect in their kind. In this happy age, heaven and
earth employed their virtues jointly to embellish na-
ture. There was no jarring in the elements, no incle-
mency in the air ; all things grew without labour, and
universal fertility prevailed. The active and passive
virtues conspired together, without any effort or oppo-
sition, to produce and perfect the universe. In this
state of the first heaven, man was united inwardly to
the supreme reason, and outwardly he practised all the
works of justice. The heart rejoiced in truth, and
there was no mixture of falsehood. The four seasons
of the year succeeded each other regularly and without
confusion. There were no impetuous winds, nor ex-
cessive rains ; the sun and the moon, without ever
238 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY.

being clouded, furnished a light purer and brighter

than at present. The five planets kept on their course
without any inequality ; there was nothing which did
harm to man, or which suffered any hurt from him,
but an universal amity and harmony reigned over all
nature."
This passage, which is taken from the works of the
Chevalier Ramsay, and which I quote at length, on
account of its conformity with the scriptural account,
portrays the Chinese golden age, — an age which, how-
ever, did not long continue.
The commencement of the second heaven is thus
described in the book Li-ki :— " The pillars of heaven
were broken, the earth shook to its very foundation,
the heavens sunk lower towards the north ; the sun,
the moon, and the stars, changed their motions, the
earth fell to pieces, and the waters, enclosed within its
bosom, burst forth with violence, and overflowed it.
Man having rebelled against heaven, the system of the
universe was totally disordered ; the sun was eclipsed,
the planets altered their course, and the grand harmony
of nature was destroyed. All these evils arose from
mans despising the supreme power of the universe.
He would needs dispute about truth and falsehood,
and these disputes banished the eternal reason. He
then fixed his looks on terrestrial objects, and loved
them to excess. Hence arose the passions ; he became
gradually transformed into the objects which he loved,
and the celestial reason entirely abandoned him. Such
was the source of all crimes, and hence originated
those various miseries which are justly sent by heaven
as the punishment of wickedness. "
Now, in the first age, or rather previously to this
flood, the Chinese believed that the life of man was
much longer than at present. Some of their patriarchs
they suppose to have attained the age of eight or ten
 239
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

thousand years, and some survived the age of a million.

The emperor Hoang-Ti, who seems to have lived about
seven hundred years after the flood, mentions that in
his time men lived between two and three hundred
years, and proposes in a medical work an inquiry into
the causes by which the ancients lived so long in com-
parison with the men of his own era ; the age which
he assigns to the people of his time agrees with that
given in the book of Genesis of the patriarchs at that
period.

CHAPTER II.

OF THE RELIGIOUS SECTS OF THE CHINESE; AND

FIRST, OF CONFUCIUS.

In speaking of the religious sects of the Chinese, we

shall confine our attention to those three which at
different periods have become the prevailing religion :—
1, those of Kung-foo-tse, commonly called Confucius ;
2, of Laou Kung; 3, of Budha, or Fuh; though at
present all these seem to be blended with each other,
and with a strange and irreconcilable sort of idolatry.
Kung-foo-tze, whom the best chronologers make a
far more modern person than he is generally supposed,
appears to have been about contemporary with Hero-
dotus. The system of religion and morals which he
taught cannot, if it date its birth from him, be con-
sidered as very ancient, and all before him is involved
in obscurity. He maintains, in his works, that, out of
nothing nothing can be produced, and that therefore
matter must have been eternal ; that the cause or prin-
ciple of things must have had a co-existence with the
things themselves; therefore, this cause is also eternal,
240 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY.

infinite, indestructible, without limits, omnipotent, and

omnipresent ; that the central point of influence from
whence this cause principally acts is the blue firma-
ment, from whence its emanations spread over the whole
universe ; that it is therefore the supreme duty of the
prince, in the name of his subjects, to present offerings
to heaven, and particularly at the equinoxes, the one
for obtaining a propitious seedtime, and the other a
plentiful harvest.
It does not appear that Confucius attached any idea
of personality to the Deity, much less that he directed
any images or representations of him to be made. He
seems to have worshipped him rather as a power or
principle pervading all nature, and acting by means of
the sun, the moon, the elements, and the firmament ;
to these second causes he ordered adoration to be paid,
joining them ail in one under the name Tien (heaven).
The most remarkable part of the philosophy of Con-
fucius ishis opinion respecting the immortality of the
soul, a doctrine which he took every occasion of in-
culcating. Even in his time the Chinese never men-
tioned the word death, nor do they at the present day.
The expression which they use to mark a persons
decease
will is, that understood
be better " he is gonewhen
home weto his
see family."
in what This
this
philosopher supposed the happiness of the departed to
consist. He taught that the human body was com-
posed oftwo material parts, the one light and invisible,
the other of a gross and earthy character; that the
union of these two constitutes human life, and their
separation death ; that at this period the lighter part
blends with the air, and the grosser crumbles into dust.
Now, though the human frame be thus resolved into
its original elements, yet he supposed that the spirits
of such as had been attentive to their duties in life
were permitted to visit their ancient habitations, or
 OF CONFUCIUS. 241

such places as might be appointed for receiving the

homage of their descendants.
The souls of the deceased were thus converted into
a kind of divinities, and were considered to possess
powers of blessing those who duly attended to their
worship. The duty of paying this homage is one of
the most important in the Chinese ritual. It was in-
cumbent on the rich and the poor alike, and the penalty
denounced against those who neglected it was, that
they should be excluded from the veneration of their
descendants, that their spirits should not be allowed ta
visit the consecrated places.
This system could not fail of growing into a belief
in the influences of good and evil spirits, of tutelary
genii, of families, houses, cities, and individuals, being
protected by the spirits of those who, when living,
delighted in them, and we cannot wonder at those who
had long forgotten their mortal history, considering
them as really gods, and reverencing them accordingly.
There was in almost every city in China, as Barrow
tells us, a building used to examine candidates for
office, and this is called the house of Confucius.
" Here, on appointed days, the learned congregate to
pay respect to the memory of their great philosopher.
In the great hall appointed for this ceremony a plain
tablet is erected, on which, in golden characters, is
written, — c O Kung-foo-tse, our revered master, let
thy spirit descend, and be pleased with this our respect,
which we humbly offer thee!'" Fruit and wine, cakes,
flowers, perfumes, and other articles, are placed before
the tablet, during which time are also burning various
kinds of scented gums, frankincense, tapers of sandal
wood, and gilt paper. This, which is the same cere-
mony used towards the spirit of their ancestors, was
supposed to delight those to whom it was addressed ;
R
242 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY.

they were deemed to come and hover over the smoke

of the sacrifice, and to contemplate with pleasure the
piety of their descendants."
It was not long before the use which could be made
of all this was perceived, and the priests having once
established, as a religious duty, the offerings of fruits
and wine, found but little difficulty in persuading the
multitude that the tutelary spirits could eat as well as
smell, and that animal sacrifices and meat offerings
would be acceptable to the gods. Corn, rice, and even
the precious metals, soon made their appearance on
the altars. There was a sect among the followers of
Confucius who declared that the doctrines of that phi-
losopher were misunderstood, that, in fact, he incul-
cated abelief in the being of one god, from whose
essence all created things were but emanations, and
into whom they would all at last return. This was,
without doubt, a sublime doctrine, but it was the
doctrine of Boodh, Budha or Fuh, and probably not
introduced till that system became the prevailing creed
in China ; this was in the first century of our era, and
should not be attributed to Confucius. Pure as were
the moral, and refined as were the metaphysical specu-
lations of this philosopher, they were not adapted, in
their simple state, to the minds of his countrymen ;
they required some visible objects of adoration, and in
order to make the souls of their ancestors fit objects of
worship, they were invested with visible forms ; images
were made of them, and priests appointed to them.
In process of time, some particular persons continued
to be revered when the rest were forgotten, and of
these the worship grew general. Such were warlike
and successful princes, who were supposed to have
power to preside over battle, of discoverers and navi-
gators, who were deemed to have influence and autho-
 OP CONFUCIUS. 243

rity over the waters, and others according to their

earthly pursuits ; thus out of a system apparently so
simple and so pure, the Chinese did not fail to erect as
absurd a polytheism as their neighbours.

CHAPTER III.
OF THE SECT OF LAO RUNG.

Scarcely had Confucius begun his exertions for the

benefit of his countrymen, when he met with a rival,
a man named Lao Kung, who seeing that the intellec-
tual nature of the religion proposed by Confucius
would not suit the prevailing taste of his countrymen,
contrived one somewhat like the worship of the Grand
Lama of Thibet, with which he seems to have been
acquainted. Desirous of acquiring a great reputation,
he boldly commenced operations at once, by founding
a new sect, which he named Tao Tzee, or, " Sons of
the Immortals/'
The system of moral philosophy which he adopted
was that of Epicurus, taken however, in its most usual
and least elevating sense ; uLet us eat and drink, for to-
morrow we die;" in fact, that the full enjoyment of the
present, regardless alike of the past and the future, was
the only proper business of life. But to this seductive
philosophy, he added the power of making deities of
ancestors, and a still more captivating doctrine, viz.,
that immortality was to be attained on earth. This
item in his creed he drew from the fable of the Delai
Lama ; viz. that he never dies, but that the soul of one
Lama passes into the body of his successor. This, as
Barrow justly remarks, is but a branch of the metem-
psychosis; but Lao Kung conceived that if his supposed
immortality were put within the reach of anv one who
244 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY.

cliose to aspire after it, the number of aspirants would

be very great. There is some reason to believe that
some of their modes, or pretended modes, of preparing
their universal remedy, which they called the beverage
of life, would be found similar to those used by the
alchemists in Europe ; and the appearance of this sin-
gular but philosophical delusion in so remote an empire,
and at so early a period, cannot but be considered as
an interesting phenomenon. The faculties of the body
were to be renewed by means of certain preparations
from the three kingdoms of nature.
' No sooner was this discovery announced, than thou-
sands flocked to partake of it. Mandarins and em-
perors joined the Taou sect, and, in spite of the deaths
of those who like themselves had hoped to obtain im-
mortality, still preserved their faith. It was asserted,
that those who died, died through their own fault, and
not by any defect in the magic draught. Numerous
instances are said to be on record, in which the sove-
reign was prevailed on by the eunuchs to swallow the
immortal liquor, which never failed to despatch him.
Thus much is the opinion of Barrow, but it appears
more like a copy of the Hindoo amrita, or beverage of
immortality, which was churned from the ocean at the
Kurmavatara of Vishnu.
Father Trigualt, who was in Pekin when the Tar-
tars took possession of it, says that it was believed in
even then, though the sect of Fuh had long been pre-
valent; and that there was no want of professors.
Barrow remarks of it, " that the preparation of the
liquor of life was their philosophers' stone, and in all
probability it consisted, (and consists, for it is still
made,) of opium and other drugs, which by increasing
the stimulus, causes a temporary exhilaration of the
spirits ; the languor that succeeds, must be dissipated
by a fresh dose, till at length, the excitability being
 SECT OF LAO KFNG. 245

entirely exhausted, the patient puts on immortality."

The same writer remarks, " consistently with the prin-
ciple of taking no thought for the morrow, the priests
of Lao Kung devoted themselves to celibacy, as being
more free from cares than the incumbrances which
usually attend a family connexion ; and the better to
accomplish this end, they associated in convents. Here
they deal out to their votaries the decrees of the oracle,
according to the rules prescribed by Confucius, and
they practise also a number of magical rites, incanta-
tions, invocations of spirits, and the like ; which they
probably understand as little themselves, as the gazing
multitude do."
In performing these ceremonies, they march in pro-
cession round the altar, on which the sacred flame is
kept perpetually burning, with a composition of wax
and tallow, mixed up with sandal wood shavings, and
other perfumes ; they chant together in recitative, and
bow their heads every time they pass the altar. At
intervals, the great gong is struck, and tinkling sounds
are emitted, by small plates of metal suspended in a
frame.
These temples are crowded with monstrous figures,
some of clay, daubed with paint, and varnish; some of
wood, and some of stone ; these are sometimes gilt. To
such figures, however, they do not seem to pay homage.
They are intended merely to represent the good and
evil genii, under the various passions to which human
nature is liable. The good genii, or pleasing affections,
are placed on one side the temple, and their opposites
on the other. Thus, the personifications of love and
hatred, mirth and melancholy, pleasure and pain, are
contrasted together. The conditions of men are also
represented, and their figures opposed one to the
other.
" In this light," says Barrow, " they appeared to us,
but the priest at Tong-Tchoo informed us that they
246 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY.

■were meant to portray the different characters of the

monks that had belonged to the monastery. In some
temples are met with the statues of such emperors or
ministers as had favoured any particular convent. If,
for instance, a great man should occupy the apartments
of a temple, and at his departure, leave a considerable
sum of money, the priests out of gratitude would place
his image in a niche of the temple/'
From other parts of the same work, we learn, that
all these temples are dedicated to some god or god-
dess, but only in the way in which Catholic churches
are dedicated to saints. The divinities were, by this
sect, regarded as mediators and intercessors, by whom
the one Supreme Being was to be addressed.
There was one declaration they made, which, though
it procured them great applause at the time, tended
eventually to their downfal. They gave out that they
had discovered an island in the Indian Sea, where the
genii lived; to this isle they caused more than one ex-
pedition tobe fitted out, that they might consult these
mighty and mysterious agencies. Those who returned,
never failed to deal largely in the marvellous ; and
stated invariably that the high-priest of the Taou sect
was an object of especial regard to the genii and their
prince.
At one period, they caused large vessels to be placed
on the tops of high buildings, to collect celestial dews,
in which the emperor might bathe, to preserve him
from disease.
Affairs went on in this way for some time, till the
head of the sect was, by the reigning sovereign, raised
to a rank equivalent to that of duke among us. This,
together with his rapacious conduct, exasperated the
nobles ; a charge was preferred against him of deceiving
the emperor, and he was, in consequence, beheaded.
The sect was then persecuted in every way. Its total
downfal, which soon after happened, removed innu-
 247

BUDHUISM.

merable obstacles to the spread of Budhuism, or the

sect of Fuh, as it is called in China., which, with its
splendid temples and solemn processions, soon came
into favour both with the conrt and the people.
"When we speak of the total downfal of the sect of
the Taou-tsee, we would be understood as speaking of
its political consequence only; as a religious sect it still
extensively exists.

CHAPTER IV.

OF THE SECT OF FUH, OR BUDHUISM.

Fuh, or, as Europeans generally term him, Fo, was the

same person as Budha ; some of his priests came over
from Hindoostan, in the first century of our era, and
coming by invitation of the court, were well received
by the people. The tenets of this philosopher have
already been examined ; we have only to add, that the
priests who introduced them into China, did not in any
way corrupt them; yet without corrupting the doctrines
of Budha, they brought with them much of the Hindoo
mythology ; and many, if not most, of the idols now
worshipped in China, are little more than adaptations
of Indian deities. They began by representing their
ancestors with the attributes of Hindoo gods ; they then
gradually assigned to them peculiar dominions, and at
last merged the ancient idea of ancestry, in the new
one of presiding spirits. The Budha of the Hindoos
was the son of Maya, and one of his epithets is Amita;
and in Japan he is worshipped under the same name ;
the Chinese have corrupted it to Ometo.
248 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY.

When Barrow wished to ascertain what was the

proper meaning of this word Ometo, the Chinese exhi-
bited great reluctance to tell him, nor could he ever
obtain its precise signification. He gathered, however,
from what he saw, that it was merely used as an eja-
culation in the same way that many Europeans are
accustomed to make a light and profane use of the
name of God — and he thinks it probably derived from
the Hindoo mystic word, Om.
Since the accession of the Tartar princes to the
throne of China, the court religion has been that of
Fuh.
The priests, who are very numerous, dress in loose
yellow gowns, and inhabit monasteries called Poo-ta-la;
this word is derived from Budhalaya, " the dwelling-
place of Budha," the Chinese not being able to pro-
nounce the original word. The priests are bound to
celibacy here, as in the Burmese empire, and round
their necks they wear a chaplet of beads. On some
solemn occasions they walk round the altars with a
slow measured pace, and repeat at every bead the word
O-me-to-fo, respectfully bowing the head. When the
string of beads is thus gone through, they make a
mark signifying how many ejaculations they have
made. The Romish missionaries observing this, and
noticing the great similarity between some of the rites
of the Chinese sects and those of their own church,
were much exasperated, and, in consequence, have
given us, in many instances, incorrect accounts of their
worship. They have accused them among other things
of atheism, which is as unjust an accusation as could
be brought against them ; for though the doctrines of
Fuh do teach this fearful creed, or rather, no creed,
when pure, yet we find, that by a strange inconsistency,
the priests of Budha, without mixing Budhuism with
 249
BUDHUISM.

the gods of Brahminism, have taught them hoth at

once, and the Chinese have accepted hoth at once,
and this without renouncing the tenets of Confucius.
The religion of China, therefore, as at present existing,
may be said to he a worshipping of the person of
Budha, or Fuh, without much attention to the doctrines
which he taught ; a belief in the tenets of Confucius,
and a reverence to the spirits of ancestors ; adoration
to Hindoo deities under other names, and an addiction
to magic, alchemy, and divination of all kinds. As
these last, though supported by the writings of Con-
fucius, are yet common to all sects, it will be well
briefly to notice them.
Astrology may, perhaps, have been indigenous ; al-
chemy, in all probability, came from India ; but there
was- a kind of geomancy, called the mystical lines of
Fohi ; by the union of this with astrology, Confucius
made a species of divination which became very popu-
lar, and at the same time he was cautious enough to
envelope the whole in mystery, and to make his pre-
dictions so ambiguous that they could hardly be con-
victed of falsehood. He can hardly be suspected of
believing this absurdity, but being prime-minister to a
Chinese emperor, he might conceive it necessary to
flatter the superstitions of the people, and to turn
them to political uses.
, The Chinese government grant annual licenses to
certain astrologers, whom they call astronomers, to com-
pose the national almanac, which predicts, just in the
style of " Francis Moore, physician/' all the changes,
moral, meteorological, and political, that are to happen.
These persons have also the exclusive right of casting-
out evil spirits, and of preventing accidents by charms.
These charms are, for the most part, long strips of
paper, printed with certain characters, and folded be-
250 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY.

tween two pieces of sandal wood. The writer had one

to prevent accidents to the legs, which was given him
by Mr. P. P. Thorns, the translator of the Hua-tseen.
The offerings of the Chinese to the deities were ori-
ginally offered on large heaps of stones, and generally
on the summits of high mountains, as they seemed
there nearer to heaven, to the majesty of which they
"were to be offered. These altars were called Tan, and
at the present day they have four loose stones placed
on the corners of the altars, though the altars them-
selves are adorned with every kind of magnificence.
The tans are not now on the summits of mountains,
but yet to preserve the memory of their original posi-
tion, they are not unfrequently placed on artificial
mounds. This is the case with the three principal
altars at Pekin; viz., the lien-tan, or altar of heaven;
the tee-tan, or altar of the earth ; and the sien-nong-
tan, or altar of agriculture. On these the emperor
alone sacrifices, as being the only person in his empire
worthy to intercede for his people. This is in strict
accordance with the injunctions of Confucius, who
says, that the prince is the father of his people, and is
therefore entitled to filial respect and love from them ;
and he declares filial piety and unlimited obedience to
the emperor, the greatest of moral duties. The adora-
tion paid to the emperor was much encouraged by
Kien-Long, who, though a wise and good prince,
deemed himself a fit object of religious worship, be-
cause the deity had made, as he thought, an incarna-
tion in his person, and to this it was that he attributed
the length and prosperity of his reign.
 251

CHAPTER V.

OF THE GODS OF THE CHINESE.

We have before observed that the divinities of the

Chinese were borrowed from the Hindoos, and though,
perhaps, the similarity would be better investigated
when we come to speak of the common origin of ido-
latry ;yet in a case of such evident importation, the
argument would be of little value.
The chief god of the Chinese is Lui-shin, the
thunderer, who will be seen to be the vehicle, or
Vahar, of Vishnu, furnished with the attributes of
the god ; like Garuda, he is a man with an eagle's
face and claws ; he is usually surrounded with kettle
drums, to signify the noise of the thunder ; and he
bears in his hands, like Vishnu, the chakra and the
flame.
They give as a reason for picturing this god with
the semi-aquiline figure, that the eagle is never de-
stroyed by thunder ; and it is remarkable that the
same reason is assigned by Pliny for the consecration
of that bird to Jupiter.
The fertile imaginations of the Greeks separated the
emblem from the god, as also did the Indians ; for we
find Vishnu riding upon Garuda, while the Chinese
united them under one symbol. Another common ob-
ject of worship, is Men-shin, " the guardian spirit of
the door," who, though not with the same figure, has
some of the offices of Ganesa ; his name or his figure
is painted on the door of every new house, and fixed
over the temples, as those of Ganesa are in Hincloo-
stan ; he is depicted with a key in one hand and a club
in the other.
252 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY.

Hal-Yang, the god of the sea, is represented as re-

posing on the waves, and holding a fish in his hand.
There is a Chinese idol with a hundred hands, whose
images are of a colossal size, sometimes even eighty feet.
In addition to these, there is a class of deities of an
inferior rank, called Poo-sa. The meaning of the
word is " supporter of plants f and these are consulted
on all trivial occasions, being a sort of presiding spi-
rits over domestic affairs. One of this tribe is the
most huge of idols. Yan Braam mentions his having
seen a statue of this goddess ninety feet high, with four
heads and forty-four arms. This goddess, who appears
to be a personification of nature, is modelled in a great
variety of ways; sometimes, like Brahma, she is made
with four heads, each looking towards a different car-
dinal point of the compass ; sometimes in each of her
forty or fifty arms she holds some natural production of
the earth, subservient to the use of man; sometimes
each arm produces several smaller arms, and on the
head stands a pyramidal group of smaller heads. Some-
times these monstrous figures are found entire among
the ruins of temples, and exposed to all the effects of
the weather ; for when the ill effects of some public
calamity do not cease after repeated prayer, the people
bear the ill-behaviour of the gods no longer, but pull
their temples down, leaving them sitting in the open
air.
But the most remarkable as well as the most com-
mon female divinity in China, and one which particu-
larly offended the Jesuit missionaries, is called Siring
Moo, the holy mother. They considered that in her
the devil had taught the Chinese after some perverted
manner to worship the Yirgin Mary ; and on this we
shall make some observations at the close of this work.
They observed that she was generally placed in a niche
behind the altar, and veiled by a screen from vulgar
 CHINESE GODS. 253

gaze ; she had an infant sometimes on her knee, some-

times in her arms, and her head was circled with a
glory. When they came to know the history, their
former opinion was confirmed, for the legend runs
thus : after bathing in a river, she found on her
clothes a flower of the Lien-hwa, which she ate, and
then, although a virgin, she conceived and bore a son;
this child was the founder of the Chinese monarchy ;
his name was Fo-hi, or Fo-shee ; he was a great astro-
nomer, and had the power of working miracles. The
child was, in the first place, nourished and brought up
by some poor fishermen, and discovered his heavenly
origin by the miracles which he wrought.
"When the statue of Shing Moo is placed in a recum-
bent position, she is always made to sit upon the large
leaf of the Lien-hwa, the sacred lotos of the Egyp-
tians |with this plant her image is in all states con-
nected. Sometimes, in addition to this, she holds the
cornucopia, filled with all kinds of seed, to typify that
such articles of food should be in general use.
It is a very singular coincidence, that the Man-tchoo
Tartars, have a very similar tale of the founder of their
monarchy. His mother was a virgin, and she became
a parent by eating the flower of the lotos.

CHAPTER VI.

OF THE SPIRIT AND PRACTICE OF THE CHINESE RELIGION.

The practical part of religion in China, may be said to

consist in divination. For this purpose it is not neces-
sary to consult a priest, as the temples and the means
of augury are open to all without fee.
In every temple before the altar is placed a cup full
254 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY.

of small sticks, marked at the end with certain charac-

ters. The inquirer takes this cup and shakes it, till
one stick falls on the ground ; he then examines the
character, and finds the corresponding one in a book
placed on the altar for that purpose. If one stick in
three is favourable, he is well satisfied, and if not he
takes some other time for the undertaking desired.
This ceremony is gone through before building a house,
going a journey, purchasing a wife, or, above all, bury-
ing arelation. To be able to read is all that is neces-
sary, and if the enquirer should not be so accomplished,
he takes with him a friend who can.
It is usually considered right, though not absolutely
necessary, to return to the temple to burn a few sheets
of painted or gilt paper, and to place on the altar a
few pieces of copper money, but this is at the option
of individuals.
They have no public worship, no division of their
time into weeks, no day of rest nor any sort of ritual ;
in fact, a Chinese can never be said to pray; he endea-
vours by means of the gods, to find out what events
he may expect; he is complacent towards them if
affairs turn out as he wishes, and petulant if they do
not; sometimes he offers his thanks for benefits re-
ceived and
; Barrow has preserved a curious document,
published in the Pekin Gazette, which adds a title to a
particular temple, on account of the emperor's prayers
having been accepted ; it is subjoined as a curiosity :
IMPERIAL EDICT.
" The gracious protecting temple of the king of the
dragons, on the mountains of Yu-chun, has, on every
occasion of drought, proved favourable to our prayers
offered up there for rain, as duly observed in our sacred
registers. From the summer solstice of the present
year, a great want of rain has been experienced, on
 CHINESE RELIGION. 255

which account we were induced, on the 17th of this

moon, to offer up our prayers and our sacrifices at this
temple. During the same day a fall of small rain or
dew was observed, and on the day following the coun-
try was relieved by frequent and copious showers.
This further proof of efficacy in granting our requests,
augments our veneration ; and in testimony thereof we
direct that the temple of the propitious deity shall re-
ceive an additional title, and be styled, on all future
occasions, ' The gracious-in-protecting and efficacious-
in-preserving temple of the king of the dragons/ Be
our will obeyed. — Pekin Gazette, 23 > day, 5 moon,
6 year of Kia King."
This was, of course, wrritten over the temple. Those
of Shing Moo have frequently this inscription :
" To the Holy Mother, queen of heaven, the goddess
of peace and power, descended from the island of
Moui-tao, who stills the waves of the sea, allays
storms, protects the empire." Others have, " The an-
cient temple of the goddess of the golden flower,
through whose influence fields are green and fertile
like a grove of trees, and benefits are diffused as the
frothy wave of the sea that shines like splendid

pearls."
The inscriptions on dragons must not be passed by
without some notice of the imperial dragon. This
favourite symbol of Chinese majesty is invariably re-
presented with five claws, and is intended to picture
forth a vast dragon, " whose dwelling," says Le Compte,
" is in heaven and on earth, on the waters and on the
mountains, and whose power is sovereign." Repre-
sented with five claws, he is the standard of the empe-
ror; with four, he makes the symbol of the mandarins;
and with three, that of the literati ; when painted on
the property of the common people, he has two claws.
 256 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY.

The information in this section is for the most part

derived from Barrow's excellent and interesting account
of China ; the deficiences have been supplied by the
works of the Jesuits.
We shall close the chapter and the section with an
account of Paradise according to the Taou sect * it is
an extract from a Chinese tale, translated by Mr. P. P.
Thorns, and published, with some remarks by the author
of this work, in Frasers Magazine for May, 1835.
A certain bird, called Fung, makes its appearance, a
certain youth gets astride, and the tale, like the hero,
proceeds. " The bird expanded beneath him ; the
boy seated himself behind, and with a low cry the bird
spread his broad wings, soared majestically upward,
and in a few moments the earth and all terrestrial
things were far beneath, too far to be any longer visible.
After sailing along thus some time, they arrived at a
red door where the boy alighted, and assisted Woo-
tsing-yen to alight also. ' Where am IV exclaimed
he ; c This is the gate of heaven,' was the reply. The
astonished student looked around, and with dread be-
held ahuge tiger lying at his ease. The youth saw
his alarm, and instantly placed himself before the
tiger. And now was Woo-tsing-yen able to behold
the beauties of heaven, extending its glories all around
him, brighter and very different from this world. The
boy went on, and he followed into the palace of
Kwang-han, paved with crystal, and on all sides ap-
peared the glorious inmates, seeming as if walking
upon diamond ; around them grew the lofty trees of
% fragrant oil, with their luxuriant branches meeting at
the top, and loading with perfume the breezes that
here suffer no interruption. Red were the windows of
the buildings, beautiful the countenances of the mai-
dens, and slender their forms, that in these groves
wander for ever ; in this world are none such to be
 CHINESE RELIGION.

found. ' In the palace of String Moo, the imperial mo-

ther/ said the youth, addressing Woo-tsing-yen, 6 the
ladies are far more lovely. Hasten, for my lord is
waiting/ So saying, he seized the hand of the lin-
gerer, and drew him out of the red door." This is
from a collection entitled Kin-koo-ke-kwan ; the story
is wild and beautiful, and throws much light on the
doctrine of immortality, as given out by the priests of
the Taou sect, which we have before noticed.
 258

Section VIII.

MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

Hitherto we have seen those forms of worship, and

those systems of religious philosophy only, which pre-
vailed in the old world. It was reserved for Columbus
and Cortez to open a new field for investigation, and
to show us the superstitions of a race cut off by a wide,
and, until that time, untraversed ocean, from European
commerce. The Spaniards who discovered America
were far from expecting so splendid a result to their
endeavours. They were men seeking gold, and their
object was to find a western passage to India. We
are not, therefore, to expect among men so employed,
and belonging likewise to the most bigoted nation and
the most exclusive church existing, a spirit of philo-
sophical inquiry. They were predisposed to seize on
the treasures, and to condemn the opinions, of those
whom they visited; and, like Omar, they would say of
books and systems, " If they teach the same things as
the church, they are superfluous; if others, they are
I mischievous."
Among the American discoverers, however, there
were men of acute minds and habits of investigation,
men who, though bigoted and biassed, were yet too
observant to let what they saw pass without comment.
Their remarks afford us, of course, the earliest, and, in
some respects, the most valuable notices of Mexican
mythology. The value of their observations consists
in this, — that they saw the system in its purest state,
 259
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

and their minds were not attached to any particular

species of philosophy which might have induced them
so to colour what they saw as to render it in many
respects false.
When the reports of the discoverers became known,
and it was well ascertained that a large continent had
been discovered, inhabited by a people considerably
advanced in arts and science, dwelling in splendid
cities, and worshipping in stately temples, it became a
matter of interest to the learned and the speculative to
examine the mythology and traditions of so singular a
nation. The first impression made on the mind by a
view of Mexican superstition is gloomy and repulsive.
There is no account of any system containing so much
to disgust, and so little to attract; yet when this feeling
of repugnance is overcome, and we are led to contem-
plate itmore accurately, we shall find that the creed of
this remote people was very nearly the same with that
of the more ancient and more agreeable schemes of
Europe and Asia.
The great doctrine of Azteck belief was that there
existed a Being, lord and creator of all. This intelli-
gence, whom they did not worship, conceiving him too
holy and lofty to be addressed in prayer, or represented
by images, was named Ipalnemoani, " He by whom we
live/' — Teotl, " God," — and Tloque Nahuaque, " He
who has all in himself." This mighty and self-existent
Being was deemed invisible: he had no temples, no
altars; but the other gods were considered as emana-
tions from him; and one, the chief object of worship,
Huitzulupuctli, Vitzilipuctli, or Mexitli, was an incar-
nation of the Supreme Being.
The Azteck or Mexican cosmogony, like their his-
tory, ismade known to us by their picture-writing, or
hieroglyphics, like that of the ancient Egyptians, and
it is very remarkable. They believed that previously
S2
260 MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY.

to the present age there had been four races of men,

and four suns, each of which had been successively
destroyed; that in each case two individuals had been
preserved to become the founders of a new human
family.
The first of these visitations of divine wrath de-
stroyed the world by famine; and the event is thus
pictured in the hieroglyphical painting: — A malignant
spirit is seen ascending to the earth to root up the grass
and the flowers ; near him are seen three human figures,
the sole remainder of the millions of mankind ; each of
these holds in the right hand a sharp cutting instru-
ment, and in the left, a fruit or ear of corn. There
was a race of giants then inhabiting the earth, and
those among them who escaped death by famine, were
destroyed by tigers.
The second age was closed by a still more terrific
calamity, and the second world was destroyed by fire.
The termination of this cycle is pictured by the descent
of the god of fire, as the agent of destruction; and
since the birds alone could escape the general con-
flagration, we are told by the tradition attached to the
painting that all mankind were turned into birds,
whose descendants fill the forests of our own age; but
again one man and one woman were preserved in a
cave, to be the parents of a new progeny.
The third age was closed, and the third world de-
stroyed, byQuetzalcohuatl, the god of the winds. This
exterminating deity came down upon the earth armed
with a sickle, and either swept away all the nations of
the earth with the hurricane of his breath, or turned
them into apes. As before, however, in order that the
race of mankind might not be totally exterminated,
two persons were protected from the hurricane in a
cavern.
The fourth age was terminated by a flood of water,
 261
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

and since this no further manifestations of such fearful

destruction have been made. We have already seen
how the air was peopled with birds, and the forests
with apes; we shall not be astonished to find that, when
at the close of the fourth age a mighty inundation
swept from the earth all the generations of men, these
men, or at least a part of them, were preserved under
another form, and became fishes. One man and one
woman were once more the objects of the divine pro-
tection: they saved themselves in a boat made from
the trunk of a tree, and as the waters subsided, they
landed on the peak of Mount Colhuacan. The world
was not, however, reinstated so soon this time as before ;
for twenty-five years the sun continued uncreated, and
it was during this gloomy period, and ten years before
the appearance of the fifth sun, that mankind were for
the last time regenerated.
The name of the man thus preserved was Coxcox,
or Tezpi ; his wife's name was Xochiquetzal ; and there
exists a piece of Mexican picture-writing, which relates
the history of their preservation. They are both repre-
sented as recumbent in the bark above-mentioned, and
sailing towards a mountain-peak, which rises from the
waves, and is crowned with a tree. This is Colhuacan,
the Ararat of the Mexicans. The tradition tells us,
that when the deluge overwhelmed the whole earth,
Tezpi embarked in a spacious bark with Xochiquetzal,
his children, and a great store of provisions ; with them
were a variety of animals, and every sort of grain, in
order that the future inhabitants of the new world
might not be in want of necessaries. In this vast
receptacle the privileged family sailed over the great
deep. All other animals were drowned, and all other
men became fish. At length Tezcatlipoca, the youngest
of the deities, ordered the waters to withdraw, and
Tezpi then sent out a vulture in order to ascertain in
262 MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY.

•what condition the earth was. The vulture, however,

feeding on dead flesh, did not return, for the shores of
the sea were lined with the carcasses of animals. Tezpi
was therefore obliged to send some other messenger;
and, after dismissing several, the humming-bird alone
returned, bearing with it a branch covered with leaves.
Perceiving from this circumstance that the waters were
considerably abated, and that verdure was re-covering
the earth, Tezpi left his bark, and took up his station
near Mount Colhuacan. This story is found in Hum-
boldt's Researches, vol. ii. p. 64.

CHAPTER II.
OF THE MEXICAN GODS.
The principal in rank among the Mexican divinities
was Tezcatlipoca, whose name was mentioned in the
last chapter as having commanded the withdrawal of
the waters. He was, as there stated, the youngest of
the gods, and thence became also incapable of growing
old: he was called Telpuctli, the youth. He was a
favourite object of Mexican worship, and was believed
frequently to visit their city incognito. At each divi-
sion or crossing of a street in the ancient city, a stone
seat was placed, called Monomotzli, or Ichialoca: this
last word signifies " the place where he may be ex-
pected/' These seats were always hung with fresh
garlands. On one particular occasion, when a festival
was annually held, called the feast of the arrival of the
gods, he was supposed to visit Mexico in a more solemn
manner; the threshold of his temple was strewn with
maize, and he, invisible to mortal eyes, passing over it,
left the mark of his footstep. As soon as the officiating
priests saw this footstep, they made great shouts, and
 OF THE GODS. 263

the whole city commenced their rejoicings. The rest

of the gods all followed him into his temple, where a
banquet was prepared.
A devout worshipper of this deity once set out, ac-
cording toAzteck tradition, to see if he could find
him. He reached the sea coast, and there the god
appeared to him, and commanded him to summon into
his presence the whale, the mermaid, and the tortoise.
These three creatures came at his command, and made
a bridge, by which he passed to the house of the Sun;
from thence he was ordered to bring instruments of
music to celebrate the festivals of Tezcatlipoca. As he
passed over the bridge, he continued singing a song
which the god had taught him. As soon as the Sun
heard this song, he cautioned his servants and people
not to answer to the song, for all those who answered
would be obliged to abandon that glorious abode, and
so to follow the singer. There were some, however,
who could not resist the voice of the charmer, and
these he brought with him to earth, together with the
drums called Huahuneth and Tepunaztli. Tezcatli-
poca was represented of a dark blue or black colour,
with a shield on his arm, and a spear in his uplifted
right hand; he sits on a throne of skulls. His festivals,
which we shall notice in the next chapter, were cele-
brated with great carousing and drunkenness, particu-
larly among old people, who said that the liquor which
they drank went to wash the feet of the god on his
arrival after his long journey. " And I say," remarks
Torquemada, in his extraordinary book, " that this is
a great mistake ; and the truth is, they washed their
own tripes, and filled them with liquor, which made
them merry, and the fumes got up into their heads, and
overset them, with which fall it is not to be wondered
at that they fell into such errors and foolishness."
Next in rank, and far more extensively worshipped,
264 MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY.

W8S Huitzulupuctli, Vitzilipuztli, or Mexitli, who,

though not called the Creator, as Tezcatlipoca was, was
yet deemed an incarnation of the Supreme Being.
According to the legend, Coatlantona was a priestess
of Tezcatlipoca. Walking one evening in the temple
grove, a beautiful plume of feathers came down from
heaven, and after floating about her for some time,
settled in her bosom, where it disappeared. She felt
another life within, and knew that in this mysterious
manner she should become a mother. Her situation
soon became known, and for her the punishment was
death. Already was the pile prepared, and the sacri-
ficial knife sharpened, when Mexitli, fully armed,
leaped from her bosom to save his mother, and to de-
stroy those who would have slain her.
The mode in which Vitzilipuztli was pictured or
represented, may be learned from Bernal Dias del
Castillo, who accompanied Cortez in his expedition.
" When we had ascended to the summit of the temple,
we observed on the platform as we passed, the large
stones whereon were placed the victims to be sacrificed.
Here was a great figure which represented a dragon,
and much blood spilt. Cortez then addressed Monte-
zuma, and requested that he would do him the favour
to show us his gods. Montezuma, having first con-
suited the priests, led us into a tower, in which was a
kind of saloon; here were two altars, highly adorned
with richly wrought timbers on the roof, and over the
altars gigantic figures representing fat men. The one
on the right was Huitzelopochtli, their war-god, with
a great face and terrible eyes. This figure was entirely
covered with gold and jewels, and his body bound with
golden serpents/' — " This god," says Herrera, " held in
his right hand a staff cut in the form of a serpent, and
the four corners of the arc in which he was seated each
with a carved representation of the head of a serpent.
 OF THE GODS. 265

Mexitli himself was an azure figure, from whose sides

projected the heads of two serpents/'
Another deity of great repute was Tlaloc, god of the
waters, or, as he was also called, Tlalocatechuhlti, the
lord of paradise. He was the oldest of the gods, as
Tezcatlipoca was the youngest; he was depicted as a
man sitting on a square seat, with a vessel before him,
in which a specimen of every kind of grain was offered
in sacrifice, together with fruits and flowers. His
image was of a kind of pumice-stone, and, according
to tradition, had been found upon the mountains. One
of the kings of Tetzcuco ordered a better image to be
made. This, however, was soon destroyed by light-
ning, and the original replaced with fear and trembling.
As one of the arms had been broken in removing, it
wTas fastened by three golden nails, but Tumaragna, the
first bishop, drew out the nails and destroyed the idol.
Tlaloc, as the god of the waters, was at the head of a
great number of inferior gods. His usual residence
was supposed to be among the mountains, where he
collected the vapours and distributed them in rain and
dew.
After Tlaloc, in point of rank, comes Quetzalcohuatl,
god of the winds. Gomara thus describes his temple
in Mexico: " It was circular, for even as the air goeth
round about the heavens, even for that consideration
they made his temple round. The entrance to that
temple had a door made like unto the mouth of a ser-
pent, and was painted with foul and devilish gestures,
with great teeth and gums wrought, which was a thing
to fear those that should enter thereat, especially the
Christians, unto whom it represented very hell, with
that ugly face and monstrous teeth."
Virichoca was another god, to whom considerable
worship was paid. Mictlanteuctli, the prince of hell,
and his consort Mictlancihuatl, were objects also of
266 MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY.

great veneration; they were called after Mictlan, or hell,

in which they reigned. Mictlanteuctli was described
by Bernal Dias as being placed in the same temple with
Mexitli : " He had the face of a bear, and his body was
covered with figures like devils, with tails of serpents."
Bullock gives a relation of a goddess whom he calls
the Goddess of War, and thus describes hor image: —
" This monstrous idol is, with its pedestal, twelve feet
high and four wide; its form is partly human, and the
rest composed of rattlesnakes and the tiger. The head,
enormously wide, seems that of two rattlesnakes united,
the fangs hanging out of the mouth, on which the
still palpitating hearts of the victims were rubbed, as
an act of the most acceptable oblation. The body is
that of a deformed human figure, and the place of arms
supplied by the heads of rattlesnakes placed on square
plinths, and united by fringed ornaments. Round the
waist is a girdle, which was originally covered with
gold, and beneath this, reaching nearly to the ground,
and partly covering its deformed cloven feet, a drapery,
entirely composed of wreathed rattlesnakes, which the
natives call a garment of serpents. Between the feet,
descending from the body, another wreathed serpent
rests his head upon the ground."
Coatlantona, the mother of Mexitli, was by him en-
dowed with power over herbs, plants, and flowers, with
offerings of which she was consequently presented.
We shall close the catalogue of Mexican deities with
Nahuatzin, or the Sun. His history is curious. We
have already noticed that for twenty-five years after
the close of the deluge, there was no orb of day. The
fourth sun had perished, and the gods, when they
framed a new world, assigned it to a race of demigods
for their dwelling-place. These demigods, finding the
earth untenantable for want of the solar warmth, lifted
up their prayers to the gods. By the command of
 OF THE GODS.

Tezcatlipoca they kindled a vast fire, and circled round

it. No sooner did the flames ascend to heaven than
the voice of Ipalnemoani was heard, declaring that
•whoever should leap into the fire should ascend to
heaven, and there shine forth as the god of day. The
race of the demigods shrank from the trial, hut a
mortal named Nahuatzin possessed more courage than
the heaven-born; he leaped into the fire, and immedi-
ately arose in his new and glorious form to heaven.
Incensed that a mortal should thus attain a rank and
felicity so much greater than their own, the demigods
attacked him with arrows and every kind of weapon;
but Nahuatzin, with the glory, had also attained the
power, of a god, and he soon destroyed all his enemies.
To mortals, as having been himself a mortal, he was
esteemed kind and propitious. His worship was con-
sequently very popular.

CHAPTER III.
OF THE FESTIVALS AND SACRIFICES OF THE GODS.

Mexico was the chosen land of human sacrifices ; the

temple of Mexitli had its walls and floor all caked and
smeared with putrid blood, so that the " stenching of
the black gore" was intolerable. Bernal Dias, whose
description of the god and temple we have before
quoted, says, that when he visited the idol, there was
a pan of incense, with three hearts of human victims,
which were burning, mixed with copal. The heads of
the persons sacrificed, says the same writer, were strung
up in the temple. The limbs were eaten by the priests
at the banquet ; the hearts burned before the idol ;
their bodies given to the wild beasts which were kept
268 MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY.

within the temple circuits. " Moreover, in that accursed

house, they kept vipers and venomous snakes, who had
something at their tails, which sounded like morris-
bells, and these are the worst of vipers. These were
kept in cradles, and in barrels, and in earthen vessels,
upon feathers, and there they laid their eggs, and
nursed up their snakelings ; and they were fed with
the bodies of the sacrificed, and with dogs'-flesh.
" We learned, for certain, that after they had driven
us from Mexico, and had slain above eight hundred and
fifty of our men, and of the men of Narvaez, these beasts
and snakes, who had been offered to their cruel idol, to be
his companions, were fed upon their flesh for many days.
When these lions and tigers roared, and the jackals and
foxes howled, and the snakes hissed, it was a grim thing
to hear them, and it seemed like hell." — Bernal Diaz.
The principal festival of Tezcatlipoca was thus con-
ducted. A young man of noble family, and usually
chosen for his personal beauty and mental endowments,
was selected to be the annual victim ; for twelve
months before the time of sacrifice came, did the
priests keep around him, offering incense, and worship-
ping him morning and night ; his place of abode was
in the temples, and wherever he went, troops of adorers
followed and surrounded him, making every species of
frantic gesture. Twenty days before his death, four of
the loveliest maidens that could be obtained, were pre-
sented to him as his brides. He was habited like the
god, and considered as his living representative.
This was not the only occasion on which human
sacrifices were offered to Tezcatlipoca ; they were,
however, more frequent to Tlaloc, and most frequent
to Mexitli, because, as the god of war, the hearts of
those taken in battle were offered to him ; piles and
towers were built with skulls and bones thus obtained.
"There/' says Bernal Diaz, "in the great Cu or tern-
 269
FESTIVALS AND SACRIFICES.

pie, at Mexico, they had an exceeding large drum, and

when they heat it, the sound was such, and so dismal,
that it was like an instrument of hell, and was heard
for more than two leagues round. They said that the
cover of that drum was made of the skins of huge
serpents."
After Cortez had heen defeated, he always heard
this drum when they were offering up the reeking
hearts of his men. The account given by Bernal Diaz
of this sacrifice, performed by torchlight, and in sight
of the Spanish army, is truly terrific.
A great festival to Mexitli was held on the last day
of the first month, of which Gomara gives us a fearful
account. "On this day, a hundred slaves were sacri-
ficed ;this done, they plucked off the skins of a cer-
tain number of them ; the which skins so many ancient
persons put on immediately, on their naked bodies, all
fresh and bloody as they were taken from the dead
bodies ; and being open at the back part, and at
the shoulders, they used to lace them, so that they came
fit upon the bodies of those that ware them ; and being
in this order attired, they came to dance, among many
others. In Mexico, the king himself did put on one of
these skins, being of a principal captive, and danced
among the other disguised persons, to exalt and honour
the feast ; and an infinite number followed him to be-
hold his terrible gestures, and to contemplate his great
devotion. After the sacrifice ended, the owners of the
slaves did carry their bodies home to their houses, to
make of their flesh a solemn feast to all their friends,
leaving their heads and hearts to the priests, as their
duty and offering; and the skins were filled with cotton,
wool, or straw, to be hung in the temple and king's
palace, for a memorial."
- We have already noticed the great festival of
the arrival of the gods in the temple of Tezcatli-
270 MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY.

poca ; on that occasion, human sacrifices were offered.

Those to Tlaloc we shall now proceed to describe.
These were at three separate seasons ; at the first, two
children were drowned in the lake of Mexico, but in
the provinces they killed them on the mountains; they
were a boy and a girl, from three to four years old.
In this last case, the bodies were preserved in a stone
chest. At the second, four children, from six to
seven years of age, (who were bought for the purpose,
the price being contributed by the chiefs,) were shut up
in a cavern, and there left to die with hunger, as the
cave was never opened till the next festival. The third
continued for three months during the rainy season,
and while this lasted, children were offered up every
day on the mountains ; these also were bought ; the
hearts and the blood were given in sacrifice ; the
bodies were feasted on by the chiefs and the priests.
Human sacrifices were offered occasionally to the
Sun, to propitiate his favour, and to prevent his being
annihilated, as the four former suns were. On this
occasion, the victim was burnt to death.
Acosta tells us, also, that men were also sacrificed to
Virichoca, and that the head of the unhappy victim
was held back in a wooden collar, wrought in form
of a snake. And the huge serpent composed of stones
and bitumen, which Pietro Martire saw at Campeachy,
and which was made in the act of devouring a marble
lion, was then warm with the blood of recent human
victims.
The dress of the priests is thus described by Gomara.
"After this, came all the religious men, the priests,
and ministers to the idols, who were many, and strange
to behold, all clothed in white, like unto surplices, and
hemmed with cotton thread. Some brought instru-
ments of music, like unto cornets, &c."
Their temples were, for the most part, huge mounds
 FESTIVALS AND SACRIFICES. 271

of earth, made square, and faced with stone ; a flight

of stone steps led up to them, and surrounded them to
the summit, where was the altar of the god. The
great Cu, or temple, at Mexico, was reached by one
hundred and fourteen steps ; that of Tezcuco, one
hundred and sixteen ; that at Cholula, one hundred and
twenty. Gold, jewels, the different seeds of the coun-
try, and human blood, were thrown in at the foundations.
When the Spaniards rased the great Cu at Mexico, to
make way for a church to Santiago, they found trea-
sure more than sufficient to build and decorate the
church. Before the temples were courts, kept very
clean, "and planted with the trees called Ahuchuetl,
which are evergreens, and which give a pleasant shade.
In the comfort of this shade, the priests sat, and awaited
those who came to make sacrifices or offerings to the
idol.
Among the Mexican priests, there were many species
of penance observed, such as watching and fasting,
but the most painful was that performed every four
years in honour of Quetzalcohuatl. They sat round
the walls of the temples, each holding a censer in his
hand, nor were they permitted to move from this pos-
ture, except to obey the calls of nature. They were
allowed two hours sleep after the commencement of
night, and half that time at sunrise. At midnight,
they bathed, smeared themselves with a black unction,
and pricked their ears, in order to offer the blood ; the
remaining twenty-one hours they sate incensing the
idol, and in that posture took the little sleep permitted
them. This continued sixty days; if any one slept out
of his time, his companions pricked him: the ceremony
continued twenty days more, but they were then
allowed more sleep.
 272

CHAPTER IV.
OF THE MEXICAN BELIEF IX THE IMMORTALITY OF THE
SOUL, AND IN HEAVEN.
The Mexicans, like most, if not all idolatrous nations,
had preserved the notion of the soul's immortality, and
distinguished three places of abode for the soul, when
separated from the body. Those of soldiers who died
in battle, or in captivity among their enemies, and
those of women who died in labour, went to the house
of the Sun, wThom they considered as the Lord of Glory,
and there they led a life of endless delight; where
every day at the appearance of the sun's rays, they
hailed his birth with rejoicings and with dances, and
the sound of voices and instruments accompanied him
to his meridian ; there they met with the souls of the
women, and with the same festivity accompanied hirn
to his setting. They next supposed that these spirits,
after four years of this glorious life, went to animate
clouds, and birds of beautiful feather and sweet song,
but always at liberty to rise again to heaven, or to
descend upon the earth, to warble and suck the
flowers.
The souls of those who were struck by lightning, of
those who died by disease, went, with the souls of the
children sacrificed to Tlaloc, to a place called Tlalocan,
the paradise of that god. This was a cool, shady
place, where they had the most delicious repasts, and
every other kind of pleasure. Lastly, those who suf-
fered any other kind of death, went to Mictlan, or
hell, which they considered to be a place of utter dark-
ness, in the centre of the earth, but where, however,
there was no other kind of misery than the darkness
just mentioned. All those entitled to a place in Tla-
 IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. 273

locan were buried, and a rod or bough was placed in

their hands, that in that beautiful paradise it might
bloom again. The spirits of all those children who
had been offered to Tlaloc, were believed to be present
at all after sacrifices, under the care of a large and
beautiful serpent, called Xiuhcoatl. This serpent was,
at other times, supposed to inhabit a cave, sacred to the
water-god, in the country of the Mistecas. The en-
trance was concealed, and the sanctuary was conse-
quently known but to few ; it was necessary first to
crawl the space of a musket-shot, and then to walk
through a path, sometimes broad and sometimes nar-
row, for a mile, before the great dome was reached ;
this was seventy feet long, and forty feet wide; here
were the idol and the altar; the former was merely a
rude column of stalactite, and the other a rock of the
same material. The ways of the cave were so intri-
cate, that many who had unwarily bewildered them-
selves init, perished, and were said to have been eaten
by the serpent.
It was not without some dangers that the first-named
spirits arrived at the mansion of the Sun, where their
celestial happiness was to begin. In their hands, when
dead, the priest of Mexitli placed six aloe-leaves,
marked with mystic characters. One of these was to
be their passport through the six perils that awaited
them.
The first was that of the fighting mountains, between
which those who passed would be, if not superna-
turally protected, crushed to pieces ; through these
the road lay, and also through the path of the great
serpent. This was the second trial ; darting lightning
from his eyes, and vibrating a tongue of fire, he seized
on, and devoured, all who were not provided with the
mystic aloe-leaves. The next danger was, from crossing
the river of the crocodile, where that monstrous animal
T
274 MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY.

was as dangerous as the great serpent ; the fourth was

the passage of the eight deserts ; the fifth, that of the
eight hills; and the sixth, the windy plain, in which
the mountains were blown up by the roots ; after this,
the way was plain, and the temple of the Sun open to
receive the happy conqueror.
There was one article of their belief, which is some-
times mentioned ; it is, that kings and nobles have
immortal souls, but that slaves' souls are not immortal
unless they make them so by a voluntary death with
their chiefs. This opinion did not prevail every where,
but it seems to have been a universal article of belief
among the Tlascallans, that the souls of chiefs and
princes became clouds, or beautiful birds, or precious
stones ; whereas those of the common people would
pass into beetles, rats, mice, and all kinds of vermin.
Oviedo tells us, that having opened a grave, he
found a small iron instrument, and some maize, in the
tomb of a labourer. Oviedo asked what it meant, and
was told that the tomb was that of a man who had
killed himself with his chief, and the maize was to sow
in paradise, that neither chief nor man might want
food. Oviedo replied, that had their creed been a true
one, the man would have fetched the maize, and taken
it to paradise, whereas, now it was spoiled, and good
for nothing ; it was answered, that doubtless he would
have done so, but that he found plenty there.

CHAPTER V.
OF THE TRADITIONS OF THE MEXICANS.

The traditions of this people seem principally derived

from, and reducible to history. There is a legend con-
cerning Quetzalcohuatl, which is a very fair instance
 TRADITIONS. 275

of history made mythology. This god, whose name is

too difficult to be often repeated, was the chief of a
band of strangers, who landed at Panuco, coming from
the north; their dress was long, loose, and black, like
the Turkish, open before, without hood or cape; the
sleeves full, but not reaching quite to the elbow. Such
dresses were worn by the people in their sacred dances
in honour of this event.
The leader was a white man, florid, and having a
large beard. At first he settled in Tullan, but left
that province in consequence of the vices of its lords,
Huemac and Tezcatlipoca, and removed to Cholullan.
He taught the natives to cut the green stones called
Chalchihuites, which were so highly valued ; and to
work silver and gold. Everything flourished in his
reign ; the head of maize was a man's load, and the
cotton grew of all colours; he had one palace of
emeralds, another of silver, another of shells, one of all
kinds of wood, one of turquoises, and one of feathers ;
his commands were proclaimed by a crier from the
sierra of Tzatzitepec, near the city of Tullan, and were
heard as far as the sea-coast, and for more than a hun-
dred leagues round. Bernardino de Sahagun heard
such a voice once in the dead of the night, far exceed-
ing, as he said, the power of any human voice ; he was
told that it was to summon the labourers to the maize
fields; both he and Torquemada, however, ascribe it
to infernal agency.
Notwithstanding his power, Quetzalcohuatl was
driven out by Tezcatlipoca and Huemac. Before his
departure he burnt or buried all his treasures, converted
the cocoa trees into others of less worth, and sent off all
the sweet singing birds, who had before abounded, to go
before himtoTlapallan,thelandof the sun, whither he had
himself been summoned. The Indians always thought
he would return, and when first they saw the Spanish
T 2
276 MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY.

ships, deemed that their god was come to them in

floating temples. They worshipped him for the useful
arts which he had taught, for the tranquillity they had
enjoyed under his government, and because he never
suffered blood to be shed in sacrifice, but ordered bread,
and flowers, and incense, to be offered up instead.
Thus much may be legitimately deduced from the
legend; viz., that Mexico was civilized by a foreign
adventurer, who, it seems, attempted to destroy the
sanguinary superstitions of the country, but was him-
self driven out by the priests.
We close the account of Mexican tradition with a
notice of that interesting painting still preserved in
the Vatican, which bears too strong a resemblance to
the history of the fall of man to be supposed acciden-
tal. It would seem that the Aztecks had traditions
which had come almost pure from their Asiatic birth-
place. The painting in question represents a woman
in conversation with a serpent, erect ; this female is,
we are told, the mother of mankind, called by the
Mexicans, "Woman of our flesh ;" she is always repre-
sented as accompanied by a serpent. This serpent is
the genius of evil, and is sometimes represented as
crushed and cut to pieces by the great spirit Teotl.
Now, if it be said that the painting has been made by
those who knew the Christian religion, and after the
arrival of the Spaniards, it will be sufficient to observe,
that the first bishop of Mexico destroyed all the paint-
ings and all the images which he could, and was far
from allowing mixtures to be made of the Christian
faith and the Azteck mythology; that such a spirit
did not exist in any of the Roman Catholic missiona-
ries, or discoverers ; that, so far from finding similari-
ties between their own creed and that of the Mexicans,
they invariably made the religious system of the latter
as diabolical as possible, comparing it only to hell and
 TRADITIONS.

the devils ; and truly there was but too much reason
to do so. Lastly, if those who first investigated the
subject had been liable to a suspicion of this kind of
literary forgery, the present painting is borne out by a
colossal figure representing a serpent swallowing a
woman, and to which nearly the same legend is
attached ; and, as Mr. Deane justly remarks, in his
treatise on Serpent Worship, the agreement of sculp-
ture and painting, among an unlettered people, may be
deemed a testimony equivalent to written history.
 278

Section IX.

NORTHERN AND ANCIENT ENGLISH

MYTHOLOGY.

CHAPTER I.
OF THE NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY, AND ITS ORIGIN; AND
OF THE EDDA.

Among the systems of mythology, or false worship,

which at various periods have prevailed in the world,
not the least remarkable is that which obtained among
the ancient Scandinavian nations. To the English
reader it is peculiarly interesting. It was the religion
of his Saxon ancestors, — it was that of the Danes,
who, for a considerable period, held possession of the
kingdom, — and had, at no very remote period, been that
of the Normans, who afterwards obtained the sove-
reignty over Britain. The descendants of these na-
tions, with those of the Roman invaders, form the
bulk, nearly the whole, of the English people ; and as
the Roman worship totally disappeared in this country
long before the final establishment of Christianity,
there are no originally English families whose fore-
fathers did not profess the religion of Odin. It is also
worthy of attention on account of the sublimity of its
philosophy, the splendour of its poetry, and the light
it casts on the history and antiquities of the time in
which it flourished.
This system of mythology was, according to the best
authorities, brought into the North during the war
 THE EDDA. 279

carried on by Pompey against Mithridates ; deriving

its origin from Asia, from thence spreading into Cini-
bria immediately, and, in the course of about a cen-
tury, into Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and
Iceland. Here it continued to subsist until about the
year 980, at which time the last remnants of it had
disappeared, and those countries had all acknowledged
the truth of Christianity. It was first introduced into
England by the Saxons, who, called in to defend the
Britons against the Picts and Scots, soon became them-
selves the masters of the country. As the arms of the
Saxons prevailed, so this creed also advanced, until the
completion of the Heptarchy, in the year 580, from
which time it was the national religion ; nor was any
other tolerated till Ethelbert, king of Kent, embraced
Christianity in the year 630. This monarch, one of
the greatest kings of the Heptarchy, had married
Bertha, daughter of Caribert, king of Paris, by whom
being converted to the truth, he, assisted by the monk
Augustine and other missionaries from Gregory the
Great, who was then pope, easily persuaded his sub-
jects to follow his example. From this time the reli-
gion of Odin gradually, but steadily, declined in this
country, and may be said to have finally disappeared
during the reign of Alfred.
The knowledge we possess of this system of mytho-
logy is derived principally from a work of Snorro
Sturleson*, an illustrious Icelander, of the thirteenth
century, who, from the songs of the scalds or bards, and
an ancient sacred poem called the Edda, compiled a
full account of it. Snorro, though himself a Christian,
called his work " The Edda," from the poem above
mentioned. The word signifies Grandmother, and was

* Snorro was one of the greatest men of his age ; he was

equally eminent as a statesman, a historian, and a legislator.
280 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

applied to the poem in question to denote its antiquity

and its sanctity ; it was, in fact, used in the same
figurative sense in which we use the phrase, " Mother
Church," and had that meaning long before the intro-
duction ofChristianity into these regions.
This work, which is written in the ancient Icelandic
or Eunic language, is in the form of a catechetical
conversation between a king of Sweden, named Gang-
ler, and three mysterious persons, called Har, Jafnhar,
and Thridi.

CHAPTER II.

OF THE SUPREME BEING, OF THE GIANTS, AND THE

CREATION OF THE GODS.

The first thing which strikes the reader of the Edda,

is the lofty and sublime manner in which the Supreme
Being is there spoken of ; he is termed, " one and in-
divisible,"— " governing all things," — " omniscient,"
and " omnipotent," — " the Creator," — " the Preserver,"
— " the Destroyer," — " the Eternal." He has twelve
names, all expressive of his attributes ; but that by
which
of all. he is generally known is " Alfader," or, Father
This great Being was not, however, the object of re-
ligious worship, which was only paid to the subordi-
nate deities ; nor must he be confounded with Odin,
the chief of the gods.
It may be useful to point out the difference, by ob-
serving, that at the time of the creation Odin had no
existence, whereas Alfader was himself the Creator ; he
was also believed to be eternal, and dwelt in an ever-
lasting habitation called Gimle, to which none were
 THE SUPREME BEING. 281

admitted but those whose lives had been pure and

just. Whereas the Hall of Odin, named Valhalla,
"was open to warriors exclusively, without regard to
their conduct in other respects ; it was, however, not
eternal, but destined to perish with Odin, at a period
of which we shall speak hereafter, called the twilight
of the gods.
There is much reason to believe that the Northern
philosophers wished to represent fate under the name
of Alfader, and that the materials from which the
Edda is derived form one grand and consistent scheme
of fatalism. The cosmogony of these philosophers is
thus set forth in a very ancient sacred poem, called the
Yoluspa, the coincidence of which, in parts, with the
first chapter of Genesis, cannot fail to strike the ob-
server:— " In the beginning there was neither shore
nor sea ; the earth was not to be found below nor in
the heavens above ; all was one vast abyss ; to the
north was Nifleheim, (or Evil-home,) a frozen wild, and
to the south Muspelsheim, a world glowing and lumi-
nous, not to be dwelt in by strangers. Here abideth
Surtur the black*/' The Yoluspa then proceeds to in-
form us that the icy vapours of the north were melted
and run into drops by the fiery vapours of the south ;
and that from these drops was formed an immense
giant, named Ymir ; while Ymir slept, a son and a
daughter sprang from his arm-pits, and another son
from his feet. These were the ancestors of a race
called, from their origin, the giants of the frost. They
subsisted on the milk of the cow CEdumla, which
flowed from her in four rivers. The cow was formed
in the same manner as Ymir, and supported herself
by licking the hoar frost and salt from the rocks of ice,

* Surtur was an evil spirit, expected to act a prominent

part in the universal destruction.
282 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

But these rivers of milk were far from being the most
important production of the cow GEdumla ; on the
first day of her creation, there arose from her the hair
of a man, on the second day the rest of the head, and
on the third, the entire form, endowed with beauty,
agility, and power. He is called in the Edda, Bure,
and was the father of Bore, who, marrying a daughter
of one of the giants, had three sons, Odin, Vile, and
Ve. Odin, whose descent is thus related, was the
principal divinity ; the Edda gives the words of Har
on the subject, thus: " And Har said, It is our belief
that Odin, with his brothers, ruleth heaven and earth/'
After this mention of the triad, we hear no more of
Yile and Ye, save in one other passage of the Edda,
where they are mentioned as having assisted at the
creation of man. They were not worshipped, nor
were they ever spoken of in the songs of the scalds.

CHAPTER III.

OF THE CREATION OF THE WORLD, AND OF MAN.

The events related in the preceding chapter, are all

supposed to have taken place before the creation of
this world. What the Northern philosophers call
" the creation," is the creation of Ymir, and that of
the gods.
The giants and the gods, now the joint possessors of
the abyss, did not long continue in amity ; the latter
prevailed in the contest, slew Ymir, and out of his
body made the heavens, that is, the firmament, and
the earth. The mode in which this was done was,
first dragging the body of Ymir into the middle of the
 CREATION OF THE WORLD. 283

abyss, they cut it in pieces, and the flesh mouldering

away, formed the earth, his blood formed the sea, in
which, as it flowed from his wounds, all the giants of
the frost, save one named Bergelmer, were drowned ;
he escaped in his bark, and his descendants were the
giants who were afterwards at war with the gods.
To return, however, to the creation of the world:
each part of the giant's body formed a corresponding
part of the new world ; his bones became mountains ;
his teeth rocks ; his hollow bones the bed of the sea ;
his skull the arch of heaven ; with his eyebrows the
gods formed the city Midgard, and his brains they tossed
into the air, where they became clouds.
The world being thus made, the gods next took fire
from Muspelsheim, which they scattered in the firma-
ment to enlighten the earth ; but in order to regulate
the course of the two greater luminaries, Alfader
placed in the heaven, Night and Day. Night was the
daughter of the giant Nor, who, marrying into the
family of the gods, had, by Daglingar, a son, who was
named Day.
There is a peculiarity in the Northern mythology
that has, according to some writers, occasioned in the
German, and all Gothic languages, the sun to be called
feminine, and the moon masculine. The cause of this
choice has never been satisfactorily explained, but the
fable is thus related :— " There was," says the Edda,
" formerly a man who had two children, who were so
beautiful, that he called his son Mane (the moon), and
his daughter Sunna (the sun) ; but the gods, offended
at his presumption, carried off his children, and com-
pelled them, under the direction of Night and Day, to
guide the course of those luminaries after whom they
had been too arrogantly named."
It is very probable, however, that the fable owes its
origin to the grammatical peculiarity, rather than that
 284 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

to the fable, and the superior beauty of the sun might

be the reason of its being called feminine, more parti-
cularly as the female sex was held in high veneration
among the Northern nations. The children Mane and
Sunna were thought to be represented by the spots on
the moon, in which poetic fancy discerned the figures
of a boy and a girl carrying a pitcher suspended be-
tween them on a stick. The children, it may be re-
marked, were carried off while bringing water from a
fountain. The eclipses of the sun and moon were
supposed to be caused by two wolves, one of which
followed each luminary ; these wolves sprang from the
giants, and, therefore, hostile to the gods, continually
endeavour to swallow the sun and the moon ; in this
attempt they are sometimes partially, sometimes en-
tirely successful, but they are never able to retain
their prey.
Shortly after the creation of the world, the gods,
walking by the side of the sea, found two pieces of
wood washed up by the waves ; of these they made a
man and a woman. Odin gave them life and soul ;
Vile, reason and motion ; Ye bestowed on them the
senses, clothing, and a name ; they were called, the
man Aske, and the woman Emla, and the city Mid-
gard was assigned to them by the gods as their resi-
dence.
Besides gods, 'men, and giants, there were three
classes of beings much spoken of in the Northern my-
thology,— these were Fairies, Dwarfs, and Genii. The
Fairies, or Nornies, who were some the offspring of the
gods, and favourable to mankind, others sprung from
the Dwarfs and Genii, and, like their progenitors,
wicked and malicious, were a race of beings more
powerful than man, and presiding over his destiny ;
the principal among them were three of divine origin,
whose names were Urda, Yerdandi, and Skulda, (Past,
 CREATION OF THE WORLD. 285

Present, and Future). The Dwarfs were a tiny race of

beings, inhabiting clefts of rocks, caverns, and subter-
ranean recesses ; they were particularly skilled in the
mechanical arts, and possessed of considerable power,
but were esteemed cunning and malevolent. They
were, in the first place, merely the worms or maggots
engendered in the body of the slain Ymir, but the gods,
knowing that they would be afterwards serviceable,
bestowTed upon them reason, speech, and an approach
to the human shape. They were not objects of wor-
ship, for the warriors of the North looked upon this
pigmy race with the most supreme contempt ; while,
on the other hand, they paid devotion to the Nornies,
and the Good Genii, on account of their power, and sup-
posed influence in human affairs; these good genii,
called luminous, inhabited cities in heaven ; while the
evil Genii of Fire inhabited the burning globe called
Muspelsheim, with Surtur, their prince, under whose
command they wTere, at the twilight of the gods, suc-
cessfully to attempt the destruction of heaven and
earth, and the gods themselves. There were, also, the
Black Genii, who dwelt beneath the earth, and who
were powerful and malevolent.

CHAPTER V.
OF HEAVEN AND HELL.

The heaven of the Northern nations was supposed to

be in the highest parts of the earth ; it was repre-
sented as a vast plain of perpetual beauty, varied with
splendid and innumerable cities, some of gold, others
of fine silver, and others of materials yet more costly.
Of these cities, four are remarkable.
286 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

1. Asgard, which is the metropolis ; this is, as its

name imports, the residence of the gods. In it is the
Hall of Judgment, the Palace of Gladheim, (Glad-
home), the Hall of the goddesses called Vinglod, or
the Palace of Love, and Valhalla, the Hall of Odin.
2. Alfheim, the abode of the luminous genii.
3. Glitner, the city of gold and silver.
4. Valascialf, which is built of pure silver, and con-
tains the royal throne of Odin.
This is a brief description of the heaven of the
Scandinavians, to which, the only approach was over
the bridge Bifrost (the rainbow).
The city Asgard is overshadowed by the sacred ash,
Ydrasil, whose branches reach far above heaven, while
its roots extend deep beneath the earth ; under them,
are the foundations of hell. Beneath one of its roots,
which stretches far into the country of the Giants, is
the Spring of Wisdom ; but the principal glory of this
celestial city is Valhalla, the Hall of Odin, in which
that deity receives all those who died fighting, or by
violence, (suicide was a sufficient title for entrance
here.) " The heroes," says the Edda, " who obtain
this reward, have every day the pleasure of arming
themselves, of passing in review, ranging themselves
in order of battle, and joining in the fight ; but as
soon as the hour of repast arrives, they return unhurt
to the Hall of Odin, where they crowd around the
banquet. Here, though their numbers cannot be
counted, the flesh of the boar Serimnar is sufficient
for all; every day is it served up at table, and every
day is its life and flesh renewed. Here they drink
mead and beer from the skulls of foes whom they have
themselves slain in battle ; one single goat, whose milk
is mead, furnishes daily enough of that liquor to in-
toxicate all the heroes ; a crowd of beautiful virgins,
called Valkyruir, wait upon the heroes, and fill their
 HEAVEN AND HELL

cups ; while Odin, to whom alone wine is served, sits

apart, and looks with stern satisfaction on the banquet."
But this scene of fierce revelry was not the only
heaven of which the Northern nations had any idea.
The Voluspa informs us that beyond the clear blue
there is another heaven called the boundless, and in
this is situated the glorious city Gimle, the eternal and
unchangeable. Into this incorruptible abode of felicity
those were admitted, and those only, whether warriors
or not, whose lives had been pure, just, and holy.
This double system, if it may be so called, extends
to punishment, as well as to reward; and as we find
two heavens, one perishable and one eternal, so we
shall see that there were two places of punishment ;
one, Nifleheim, (or Evil-home,) will be destroyed with
Valhalla ; and one, Nastrond, (the Shore of the Dead,)
wrhich shall endure for ever. In Nifleheim are punished
all who die by old age or disease, all cowards and fugi-
tives in battle. The Runic bards have done their
utmost to represent the terrors of this abode. " Hela,
or Death," says the Edda, " holds absolute sway over
the nine worlds, called Nifleheim. Grief is her hall,
Famine her table, Delay, her servant ; her gate is Pre-
cipice, her porch, Faintness ; Leanness, her bed ; Cur-
sing and Howling her tent. One half of her is blue,
and the other half the colour of dead flesh ; her glance
is dreadful and terrifying, and by this alone it were
easy to know her,"
At the last day, the dwellers in Valhalla and Nifle-
heim will come forth, and be tried, no longer by the
rule of warlike achievements, but by that of moral
justice ; those who, however unwarlike, have been good
and just, Avill be admitted to the endless glories of
Gimle, while those who, though valiant, have been
cruel, unjust, and rapacious, will be thrust down to
Nastrond.
288 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

One quotation will suffice to show the manner in

which this place of despair was represented by the
poets. " Nastrond is far below Nifleheim ; it is a
dreary plain, of boundless extent, on which stands a
colossal structure, fearful in appearance, composed of
the carcasses of serpents with their heads turned to the
inside ; from them flow so much venom as to form a
long black river, in which float the souls of the damned,
while a wolf, an all-devouring monster, torments them
as they roll along." From this dreadful punishment,
the heroes in Valhalla were only exempt, if their vir-
tues could secure them entrance into Gimle, as their
valour had into the Hall of Odin.

CHAPTER V. i

OF THE GODS ; AND FIRST, OF ODIN.

Alfader, the Supreme Being, not being considered an

object of religious worship, the chief of the divinities
so honoured, was Odin, the king of the world, the
ruler of gods, men, fairies, dwarfs, and luminous genii.
As might be expected from the fierce and intractable
nature of the Northern warriors, their principal deity
was the god of war, and as such, he is usually called
in the Edda, u Odin, King of men, Father of slaughter,
the terrible and severe god, the active and roaring
deity." He is described as tearing and breaking the
ranks of warriors, carrying among them desolalion and
fire ; disconcerting his enemies with a look, and making
their swords fall from their hands ; as giving victory
and reviving courage, and naming those who were to
be slain. He was usually attended by the Valkyruies,
 289
ODIN.

wlio have been already mentioned, and who flew about

the field of battle, to bring the spirits of the slain to
Valhalla. Odin was also the god of poetry, and
thence called the father of verses. It should be
remarked that the poetry of the North was conversant
only with war and enchantment, over which Odin pre-
sided ;he gave the runic characters their magical
power, by virtue of which, some, called bitter runes,
when used in incantation, were supposed to cause evil
to be inflicted on enemies; and others, called fortunate
runes, were believed to exert a beneficial influence
over those in whose favour they were evoked. The
origin of this seems to have been, that Odin, who was
of oriental birth, introduced written characters among
the rude inhabitants of the North, and nothing could
possibly have a greater semblance of magic than this,
among an uncultivated and superstitious people, to
whom writing was before unknown ; and who, besides,
entertained the most exalted ideas of their leader.
The characters of the ancient Icelandic language were
called runes, and the language itself, runic, on account
of their having been cut into rocks, at a time when no
other mode of perpetuating them existed.
Frigga was the wife of Oclin, and the gods and god-
desses were, for the most part, his children. Of these,
twelve were particularly distinguished ; the number is
remarkable, from its coincidence with the Greek
mythology. The names of the other eleven are, Thor,
Balder, Niord, Frey, Tyr, Brage, Hoder, Vidar, Uller,
Forsette, and Yali.
Heimdall, the sentinel of the gods, and the son of
nine virgin sisters, was a deity of considerable conse-
quence he
; was qualified in an extraordinary manner
for his office of sentinel, "for he sleeps," says the Edda,
66 less than a bird ; can see a hundred leagues by night
and day, and so acute is his sense of hearing that he
290 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

hears the grass growing in the earth, and the wool on

the sheep's hacks. His duty is to prevent the giants
from forcing their way over the bridge Bifrost, at the
end of which is the celestial fortress, the castle of
Heimdall." For the purpose of alarming the gods in
cases of danger, he possesses a trumpet, the sound of
which is heard over all creation. He is likewise dis-
tinguished bygolden teeth.
Of the gods above-mentioned, Odin, Frigga, and
Thor, were peculiarly distinguished ; they formed the
triad worshipped with so much ceremony all over the
North, particularly at Upsal. They correspond with
the Egyptian Osiris, Isis, and Orus. Frey, Tyr, and
Balder, were also eminent for their power. Of the
goddesses, Frigga, (the Earth,) the goddess of prophecy,
was the chief; after her were Saga; Eica, the goddess
of medicine; Tylla, of beauty, secresy, and chastity;
Freya, the wife of Hoder, and goddess of love ; Siona
and Soona, presiding over love and marriage ; Vora,
Synia, and Snootra, over wisdom and discretion ; Vara
over truth ; and Lyna, the goddess of preservation.
Gna, the messenger of Frigga, was also considered a
goddess, as were the Yalkyruies. Such was the family
over whom Odin ruled ; the chief members of which
will be separately described. Of himself, it will be
sufficient to add, that he was represented in a standing
posture, in complete armour, with a crown on his
head, and a drawn sword in his right hand. The fourth
day of the week, called Odinsdaeg, by the Saxons
Wodensdseg, and by us Wednesday, was sacred to his
worship.
 291

CHAPTER VI.
OF THOR AND BALDER.

Thor, the god of the elements, and the eldest son of

Odin and Frigga, was esteemed next to them among
the gods. He was usually called Asa Thor, the Lord
Thor, or Ake Thor, the Active Thor, on account of
his power, dignity, and great exploits, in which he
exceeded all the gods save Odin. His palace, situated
in the air, had in it five hundred and forty halls, and
was called Thriidwanger, though the name is some-
times applied to his kingdom.
The power and greatness of this deity seem to have
mainly depended on his arms, which are much celebrated
in Northern poetry. It will be sufficient to mention his
chariot, drawn by he-goats, his mace and gauntlets,
and his belt of prowess, which endues him with un-
limited strength. By means of these, he obtained
repeated victories over the giants, and these he used in
his still more renowned combat with the great serpent
Midgard.
The particulars of this last-named conflict are as
follows :— Midgard, the son of Loke, by Angerbode
(the messenger of evil), was an evil spirit in the shape
of a huge serpent, who lay at the bottom of the sea,
where he had been cast by the gods; his size was so
enormous, that he coiled himself round the world, and
took his tail in his mouth. Thor, going out fishing
with a giant, tore off the head of an ox, and having
fixed it on a hook, threw it into the sea. The serpent
took the bait, and Thor dragged his head out of the
water. In the combat which ensued, Thor, in spite of
the resistance which he experienced, and the venom
which the serpent poured forth at him, would u 2 infallibly
292 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

have gained the victory, had not the giant, in whose

boat he came out, cut the line, and the serpent plunged
to the bottom. Thor, in revenge, killed the giant,
whose name was Heymir, with a blow of his fist,
threw him into the sea, to be food for the serpent,
stamped the boat to powder, and, dilating himself to a
colossal stature, waded to land. Many other adven-
tures of this deity will be noticed in the present work
under other heads.
Thor was represented as a gigantic young man, fully
armed, sitting on a throne, and crowned with seven
stars. The fifth day of the week, called Thorsdseg,
by the Saxons Thunresdeeg, and by us Thursday, was
sacred to his worship.
Balder, his brother, the second son of Odin and
Frigga, the god of justice and mercy, did not dwell
in heaven with the other gods, for he suffered
death, and remained, therefore, in hell, where he
resided in great magnificence. The circumstances
under which these events took place deserve relating,
not only for their curiosity, but because they prove the
liability of the gods to death. Balder dreamed one
night that his life was in danger; and telling his dream,
the gods took an oath of all things, animate and inani-
mate, not to touch him to his hurt; being obeyed, they
amused themselves by cutting at him with swords, and
discharging stones, javelins, and other weapons against
him, without occasioning him any injury, — all things
being mindful of the oath. Loke, the spirit of evil
and contradiction, changing himself into an old woman,
demanded why Balder remained unhurt. The cause
was related by Frigga, who also added, that, deeming
the misletoe too insignificant to do harm, they had
omitted to take an oath from the misletoe. Loke
immediately retired, made a dart, which he pointed
with misletoe, and returned to the assembly; he now
 /
(
THOR AND BALDER.

addressed Hoder, who was blind, offering to direct his

hand, that he, too, might join in the prevailing amuse-
ment. Hoder, ignorant of what weapon he was about
to use, suffered Loke to direct his hand, and launched
the dart against Balder, who immediately fell dead.
He was burned on a funereal pyre, with great pomp ;
his wife, who died for grief, and his horse, were buried
with him.
After a fruitless attempt of the gods to restore him
to life, Hermode, another brother of Balder, went, by
desire of the gods, to entreat Hela to allow the latter to
return, assuring her that he was beloved by all things.
She agreed, on condition that all things should weep
for him. At the command of the gods, all things
animate and inanimate wept, save Loke, who assumed
the shape of a witch : Balder, therefore, still remained
among the dead. His ordinary appellation was Balder
the Good.

CHAPTER VII.
OF THE OTHER GODS.

Next in rank to those already mentioned were Niord,

and his son and daughter, Frey and Freya. Niord was
not a son of Odin, but was adopted from the Vanes, a
tribe of fairies, into the family of the gods, in exchange
for Haner, a son of Odin. Niord was the god of the
sea, of navigation, of hunting and fishing, and chiefly
worshipped by persons engaged in those occupations.
Hence his importance among the piratical nations of
the North. His worship consisted in praying to him,
and casting precious things into the sea, by way of
offering. This tribute was always supposed to reach
his palace, called Noatun, which was built of pearl,
294 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

coral, and other costly marine productions: it was situ-

ated at the bottom of the sea. Niord was esteemed
powerful, but irascible and impetuous, and prone to
take vengeance on those who neglected his worship.
Frey, his son, was one of the most popular divinities :
he was the god of rain and fertility, was brave, and
celebrated for his exploits ; but the glory of this family
was Freya, the goddess of love, the northern Venus.
Her history is, however, unstained by the scandalous
intrigues which distinguish the more southern divinity,
with whom in other respects she corresponds. Freya
may be said to be the Venus Urania of the other sys-
tem. Among her privileges may be reckoned that of
entertaining in her palace at Asgard half the slain in
every battle. She is, of course, celebrated for her
beauty, and is usually represented as sitting in a chariot
drawn by two cats. She sheds silver tears on account
of the absence of Hoder, her husband, who was banished
from among the gods on account of his being the cause
(though innocent,) of Balder' s death. Her name sig-
nifies lady, and from it is derived the term for lady in
the German and other northern languages. The fifth
day of the week, called Freyasdaeg, now Friday, was
consecrated to her.
Tyr, the god of might, pictured as a strong man
armed, and having only one hand, was a deity of great
power and consequence, presiding over contention; and
being noted for sagacity, he was especially invoked
in combats and in warlike councils. There appears
strong reason to believe him to be the same as the
ancient German Tuiston, or Tuisco. The third day of
the week, called Tyrsdaeg, by the Saxons Tiwsda3g, and
by us Tuesday, was appropriated to his worship.
The other sons of Odin were, Vali, the god of
archery, — Vidar, the god of silence, who was almost
equal in strength to Thor, and possessed thick shoes
 THE OTHER GODS. 295

of so wonderful a texture that by means of them

he could walk on the water, — and Brage, the god
of eloquence. There was also Uller, the son-in-law
of Thor, the god of skating and single combat, to
whom all persons about so to contend offered devotion :
he was also remarkable for his beauty.
Forsette, the son of Balder, filled his fathers place
among the gods, as presiding over judgment. His
palace, where he decided all disputes, whether among
gods or men, was in that celestial city called Glitner.
Among the goddesses, Iduna, the wife of Brage, must
not be forgotten. She had possession of those mystic
apples, which, when the gods felt themselves growing
old, they ate, and were thereby restored to youth.
The custody of a treasure so important made Iduna
much respected among the gods.

CHAPTER VIII.
OF LOKE AND HIS CHILDREN.

In the preceding chapters a brief account has been

given of the gods, their powers and history. The
giants, who lived apart, and who were always hostile
to the gods, numbered among their descendants Loke,
the spirit of mischief. It does not appear how Loke
became so intimate and so well received by the family
of Odin; but the fact was so evident, that many of the
poets rank him among the gods: he was never much
trusted, however, and was called the artificer of fraud.
Surpassing most created beings in skill and beauty, and
all in inconstancy and perfidy, he remained on indif-
ferently good terms with the gods, sometimes at peace,
sometimes at war, but always escaping punishment, till
296 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

the death of Balder, at which they were so exasperated

that he was obliged to fly and hide himself in the moun-
tains. Here he built a house open on all sides, (supported
by pillars,) from which he could see whatever took place
in the world; and by means of his cunning he pre-
vented the frequent searchirigs and stratagems of the
gods fromintotaking
himself effect.
a salmon, and "When
secretedpursued,
himself heamong
changed
the
stones at the bottom of deep rivers, and of the sea.
One day while he was amusing himself with making
some nets to catch fish, the gods came upon him sud-
denly. Loke at once sprang into the river, having first
thrown the net on the fire; but Kuaser, one of the
gods, traced out the vestiges of the net in the hot
ashes, and, making a similar net, used Loke's invention
against himself. Thor took hold of the net by one
end, and all the rest of the gods by the other; but
Loke hid himself between two stones, and the net
passed over him.
A second trial was more successful ; for though Loke
leaped over the net, yet when he attempted the same
again, Thor caught him by the tail while leaping, " which
is the reason," says the Edda, " why salmon have ever
since then had tails so fine and thin." Once secured,
they compelled him to resume his proper shape, and
dragged him to a cavern, where they bound him with
the intestines of his sons, Vali and Nari, whom they
slew for that purpose: he was, besides, tied with three
cords, which were afterwards changed into iron chains.
Over his head Skada suspended a serpent, the venom
of which falling on his head, drop by drop, caused him
unutterable agonies, till Siguna, his wife, sat by his
side with a basin, in which she caught the drops as
they fell. He did not, however, entirely escape this
part of his punishment; for as soon as the basin was
filled, Siguna was obliged to pour out the contents.
 29/

LORE AND HIS CHILDREN.

During this time the drops from above fell on his face
as before, which made him howl and writhe with
anguish. " This," says the Edda, " causes what men call
earthquakes/' In this state Loke was supposed to be,
and destined so to remain, till the twilight of the gods,
at which period he was expected to burst his chain,
and fight with success against them. His wives were,
first, Angerbode, the giantess, afterwards Siguna: by
the first he had Hela, the goddess of death, (whom the
gods in fear cast down to hell, of which, however, they
permitted her to take the government,) the great ser-
pent Midgard, and the wolf Fenris; by the second,
Siguna, he had Yali and Nari. As to the wolf Fenris,
" the gods/' says the Edda, " brought him up among
themselves, Tyr only venturing to give him his meat ; yet
seeing him daily increasing in size and strength, and
being warned by the oracles that he would one day be
fatal to their power, they determined to confine him."
To this end they made chains and fetters of iron, which
they persuaded the wolf to put on; but these he
snapped to pieces immediately. After this they made
stronger chains, which the wolf was at first unwilling
to put on; but at length, considering his power, and
the glory he should get by foiling the gods, he suffered
himself to be bound, and, after great exertion, burst
the fetters, and made the pieces fly about him. The
gods now plainly saw that no bands they could make
would confine the monster. They accordingly applied
to the black genii, who soon furnished them writh a
string, apparently like a common string, but of won-
derful strength. The materials of which this cord wrere
made were very singular, for among them wTe find the
breath of fishes, the noise made by a cat's feet in walk-
ing, the roots of mountains, the beards of women, the
spittle of birds, and the nerves of bears. Armed with
this chain, the gods took the wolf into an island in a
298 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

certain lake, where they showed the chain, assuring

him that it was very strong, that they could not break
it, and that none but he could, and entreating him to
allow it to be bound round him. At first he objected
that no glory could accrue to him from breaking so
slight a string; but when he was repeatedly told that
it was much stronger than he thought, he began to
suspect it to be enchanted, and absolutely refused.
The gods ridiculed his fear, and at last he was per-
suaded tobe bound: he insisted, however, that one of
them should put his hand in his (the wolfs) mouth,
as a pledge that they intended no treachery. The gods
looked wistfully one at another; at last Tyr complied
with this extraordinary demand, put his hand into the
wolfs mouth, and the chain was put on. The monster,
finding escape impossible, bit off the hand of Tyr, and
the other gods, moved by his vain struggles, burst into
loud fits of laughter. One end of the cord was then
made fast to a rock, through which the gods bored a
hole on purpose, and sunk it deep in the earth; the
other end they attached to a stone, which they sunk
yet deeper. It was not without an attempt at revenge
that Fenris thus lost his liberty. Opening his tre-
mendous jaws, he attempted to devour the gods, but
they thrust a sword into his mouth, so as to prevent
its closing. The ravings he then made were horrible,
and since that time the foam has continually run from
his mouth in a river called Yam, or the Yices. Thus
he will remain till the twilight of the gods. It may-
seem strange that the gods did not destroy both Loke
and Fenris ; but the answer is thus given: " The blessed
abodes of the gods may not be .stained with blood;
hence, though they know that these will one day be
fatal to them, they content themselves with thus con-
fining their enemies. "
 299

CHAPTER IX.
OF THE HORSE AND SHIPS OF THE GODS.

The history of Sleipner, the horse of Odin, is thus

given in the Edda. The gods, wishing to build a city
where they might be secure from the giants, an archi-
tect offered to build one, but demanded for his reward
the sun, the moon, and the goddess Freya. To these
terms the gods, by the advice of Loke, agreed ; for he
assured them that the contract could not be fulfilled,
and hence they would get a part of the work done for
nothing. The time was therefore limited to one Win-
ter; and if on the first day of Summer the city were
not complete, the architect was to lose his reward. On
the last day of Winter the city was complete, save
putting up the gates. This speed the architect had
been enabled to make by the help of his horse, which
did as much work as its owner; but the gods, seeing
the work so nearly completed, and considering the loss
they should suffer if the sun, the moon, and Freya,
were carried off, seized upon Loke, the author of the
advice, and threatened to put him to death unless he
extricated them from the dilemma into which he had
brought them. Loke, in obedience to their will, caused
a mare to leap from the forest, and allure the horse of
the architect by her neighings. The architect, left to
his own strength, and finding himself unable to finish
his work alone, resumed his original stature, which
wras that of a giant. He had disguised himself as long
as it was possible, because he would not have been safe
among the gods had they known to what race he be-
longed. As soon as they discovered it, they no longer
held themselves bound by their agreement; and Thor,
running up to the giant, dashed out his brains with his
mace. Loke afterwards brought to the gods a foal,
300 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

-which had eight feet, to which the mare had given

birth: this was called Sleipner, and is the horse of
Odin.
The ships of the gods were two, — Nagelfara and
Skidbladner, — of which the former was the largest, but
the latter the best. The distinguishing excellencies of
Skidbladner were three. First, It was so large as to
contain all the gods armed. Secondly, When they
were on board, a favourable wind would arise, and
carry it into the destined port. Thirdly, When the
voyage was completed, it might be taken to pieces, and
would go into a very small compass. This ship was
built by the dwarfs, who presented it to the god Frey.
The history of the other ship is of a more fearful
character. It is composed of the nails of dead men,
and is not to be set afloat till the twilight of the gods,
when the giant Rymer will be its pilot. Caution is
given in the Edda not to die with unpared nails, as he
who does so contributes to the building of this ship,
which gods and men would wish to delay as long as
possible.

CHAPTER X.

OF ENCHANTMENTS AND ILLUSIONS.

The gods of the Northern nations, terrible as they were

in their attributes, were yet liable to the frailties of
humanity ; they were not only subject to death, and
fated to be at last destroyed, but their wisdom was
often but superficial, and left them exposed to the
superior cunning of their enemies, the giants.
Of the manner in which they were cheated, some
curious instances occur in the history of Thor, one of
 ENCHANTMENTS AND ILLUSIONS. 301

which deserves attention, were it only from the circum-

stance, that its principal features are preserved in the
popular tale of Jack the Giant Killer. It is the his-
tory of Thor s journey into the country of the giants.
Accompanied by Loke, he proceeded in his chariot, till
on the approach of night, they went into the house of
a shepherd to rest. Here Thor killed the goats by
which his chariot was drawn, and causing them to be
dressed for supper, he invited the shepherd and his
family to partake the repast. They then retired to
sleep. The next morning Thor put the bones of the
goats into their skins, and waving his mace over them,
they resumed their original shape ; but one of the
animals proved lame, and in answer to inquiries, it
appeared that Thialfe, the shepherd's son, had, contrary
to the express orders of Thor, broken the bones of his
share in the repast of the preceding evening. Thor,
though greatly enraged, contented himself by taking
with him Thialfe and his sister Raska, making the
former carry the wallet. They now proceeded on foot,
and swimming over an arm of the sea, entered the
country of the giants. At nightfall they found a large
house open on one side, in a chamber of which they
passed the night; but, awakened by a frightful noise,
they left the house to ascertain its cause; they soon
found that it was the snoring of a huge giant who lay
on the ground. Thor put on his belt of prowess, but
the giant having now awaken, Thor was fearful of at-
tacking him. A little conversation now ensued, in
which the giant signified his knowledge of the god,
and informed him that his own name was Skrymer.
Thor now found, to his utter astonishment, that the
house he had entered was but the glove of the giant,
the chamber in which he and his companions slept
being only the hnger. Skrymer now offered to con-
duct them ; and the next night, while resting beneath
302 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

a tree, Thor was told to help himself out of Skrymer s

wallet while the latter slept. Finding some difficulty
in untying the knot of the wallet, Thor became indig-
nant, and struck the giant on the head with his mace ;
the monster awoke, and asking if a leaf had not fallen
upon him, fell asleep again ; another unsuccessful at-
tempt to open the wallet provoked Thor a second time
to strike the giant with his mace ; he again woke, and
after complaining of the fall of the leaves from the
tree, re-composed himself to sleep ; a third time Thor
attacked him, and buried the mace up to the handle in
the giant's forehead ; this time he thought that a fea-
ther had tickled him : Thor, therefore, desisted from
any further attempts, and the next day they arrived at
Utgard, the capital city of the giants. Here, after
many jokes upon their diminutive stature, they were at
last admitted; the gates were not opened, but they
were permitted to creep through the bars.
Utgard is described as being a city so lofty, that the
eye could only discern the towers by leaning the head
back on the shoulders.
The king, whose name was Utgarda Loke, having
at length discerned Thor and Loke, informed them
that they must support their rank as gods by great
deeds ; he asked for some specimens of their power,
and inquired in what they excelled. They replied, they
could challenge competition in eating, drinking, run-
ning, lifting, and wrestling. The challenge was ac-
cepted by five of the gianfs court, and the contest
began accordingly. Thor undertook the trials of
drinking, lifting, and wrestling ; Loke that of eating;
and Thialfe, though a mortal, was permitted to under-
take that of running. A vast tub of provision was
now placed before Loke and his competitor Loge ; the
two combatants devoured their way through, and met
at last in the middle ; but the victory was Loge's, for
 ENCHANTMENTS AND ILLUSIONS. 303

he had consumed hoth flesh and bones, whereas Loke

had only eaten the flesh of his portion. In the second
trial, that of running, Thialfe was opposed on the part
of the giants by Hugo, who was the conqueror, run-
ning twice the space in the same time. The third
trial was that of drinking ; a horn was offered Thor
which he could not drain. The fourth trial was that
of lifting ; the giant's cat was brought into court, but
all Thor s efforts could only lift one foot. The fifth
trial was that of wrestling ; an old and apparently
decrepit woman appeared on the part of the giants,
with whom Thor for some time declined to contend ;
at length moved by arguments similar to those which
he had employed with the wolf Fenris, he engaged in
the struggle, and only succeeded so far as to bring the
old woman on one knee.
After these unsuccessful trials, the king of the giants
gave Thor and his companions a magnificent entertain-
ment, and before bidding them farewell, acknowledged
that he had used every kind of enchantment against
them ; he stated, that he himself was Skrymer, that on
the way he had changed a mountain into his own
shape, and beheld with horror the blows inflicted on it
by the mace of Thor. He told the latter, that these
were yet visible in the shape of three valleys, and that
the slightest blow of Thor's mace would have been
fatal had it reached its destination. He further said,
that Loge, with whom Loke had contended in eating,
was no living being, but a devouring flame, which, by
the power of incantations, he had caused to assume a
human figure, and which, therefore, consumed all it
touched ; that Hugo, who had vanquished Thialfe in
running, was but a personification of thought or
spirit, with which no created being could keep pace ;
and that the horn which Thor had been unable to
304 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

drain, contained the sea, of which he had drank so

deeply, that many fleets were stranded. He also re-
marked that the cat, which Thor had in vain endea-
voured tolift from the ground, was the great serpent
Midgard; and that the old woman, whom he had hut
partially overcome, wTas Hela, or Death, to whom gods,
men, and giants, were alike subject. He concluded by
saying, that had he known the immense strength of
the gods, he would never have admitted them into his
kingdom, nor would he do so in future.
Thor at this declaration was highly enraged, and
angry also at the tricks that had been put upon him
and his companions ; he hurled his mace at the head
of the giant, who, avoiding the blow, immediately
vanished, and with him, the city and its inhabitants, in
the place of which nothing was visible but vast plains
of verdure. Thor, with his companions, now returned
home.
It will be observed, that throughout this story, Loke
is considered as a god.

CHAPTER XL

OF THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS, AND THE SEQUEL OF

THE GENERAL CONFLAGRATION.

The destruction of the visible heaven and earth, of

gods and men, and the temporary places of reward
and punishment, viz., Valhalla and Nifleheim, was an
article of the Northern creed, often referred to, and
strongly insisted on. It was spoken of under the
highly poetical name of the twilight of the gods.
This event, which was described in the loftiest
 TWILIGHT OF THE GODS. 305

strains of poetry, was not to be without its forerun-

ners. Before its approach, an universal winter of six
years shall prevail ; during which, according to the
Voluspa, mankind shall become fierce, barbarous, and
licentious ; shall shake off all the restraints of natural
affection and moral feeling. The wolf Fenris shall
break his chain, and devour the sun ; another monster
shall carry off the moon. " The stars shall fall from
heaven, the rocks shall melt away, and trees and
mountains shall be torn up by the roots/' — " Lo ! the
sea rushes impetuously over the earth, because the
great serpent, now become a spectre, gains the shore.
The ship Nagelfara is set afloat. The wolf Fenris,
with fire flashing from his eyes and nostrils, breaks his
chain, and the serpent pouring forth venom joins him;
they take their station in the centre of the earth. In
this confusion, the heavens cleave asunder, and
through the breach the genii of fire appear on horse-
back, commanded by Surtur the black ; passing over
the bridge of heaven, Bifrost, they stamp it to pieces,
and proceed to join Fenris and the serpent, forming a
brilliant and burning squadron, a hundred degrees on
every side. Then comes the giant Rymer, in the bark
Nagelfara, and all the other giants, commanded by
Loke."
We are now told of the mode of defence adopted
by the gods. " Heimdall with the golden teeth awa-
kens them with his trumpet, and Odin consults the
fountain of Mimis, under the ash Ydrasil; he arms
himself and leads on the other gods."
The combat that ensues is one of the favourite sub-
jects of Northern poetry. Odin opposes himself to
Fenris, who swallows him, but is in turn killed by
Vidar. Thor attacks and slays the serpent Midgard,
but is himself suffocated by the venom. Heimdall and
x
306 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

Loke, Tyr and the dog Garmer, fall by mutual

wounds. Surtur destroys Frey, who opposes him, and
immediately darts flames over the whole visible crea-
tion and consumes it. All the gods, save Yidar and
Yali, together with all the giants, genii, and evil
spirits, perish in the combat, or the conflagration that
ensues.
After this, the Edda proceeds to say : " The univer-
sal Father will cause a new heaven and a new earth to
arise from the sea. An earth lovely and delightful,
wherein is constant verdure and pleasant fields, and
where the grass and fruits shall spring up without cul-
tivation. Here shall abide Yidar and Yali, who shall
escape the conflagration; Mode and Magne, the sons
of Thor ; Balder and Hoder, from the mansions of the
dead. They will spend their time in conversing, and
recalling their past sorrows, to compare them with
their present happiness. This new world shall be en-
lightened with a new sun, a daughter of that devoured
by Fenris, who shall continue the bright path of her

The human race shall not be wanting in this new

parent.''
world, for a man named Lif, and a woman named Lif-
thraser, shall be concealed under a hill ; these, feeding
on the dew, shall be the parents of a race who shall
speedily people the new earth ; and, finally, the souls
of the dead will be called up for judgment; the pure
and virtuous shall be admitted to eternal happiness " in
the glorious city wherein is the palace Gimle," while
the violent and licentious will be consigned to ever-
lasting punishment in Nastrond.
 307

CHAPTER XII.

OF THE PECULIARITIES OF THE SAXON WORSHIP.

Having now gone briefly through the contents of the

Edda, before we proceed to remark on its philosophy,
and the effect it had upon the manners of the age in
which the system therein contained was prevalent, it
will be necessary to note a few points wherein the
Anglo-Saxons differed from the more northern nations
professing the same creed. These difference appear to
consist chiefly in relics of Roman and Celtic supersti-
tion, engrafted upon the system of the North. They
worshipped Odin, whose name they changed to Woden ;
Thor, whom they called Thunre; the Sun and the
Moon, to whom the first two days of the week were
respectively dedicated; Tyr, Frey, Freya, Frigga,
Heimdall, and Forsette. Of the other gods, we find few
or no traces among them.
On the other hand, they had divinities named Irmin-
sula, Helensted, Prono, Fidegast, and Flynt, but of
these, Irminsula seems but another name for Odin,
and Helensted, Prono, and Fidegast, are but other
names for some of the subordinate deities of the
Edda.
Among goddesses not mentioned in the Edda,
Rheda, Eostre, and Hertha, were the chief worship-
ped by the Anglo-Saxons.
They preserved the history and adventures of Loke,
under the name Faul, and they acknowledged some
female evil power, which they called Elf.
But the most important addition to the Saxon Pan-
theon, was the Roman Saturn, whom they called Se-
terne, or Seater ; him they worshipped as the god of
time, and represented him with a great number of
x2
308 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

emblems. They seem to have made him the type of

their nation, for they pictured him as standing on the
prickly back of a perch, to show that by worshipping
him the Saxons should pass unharmed in the most peri-
lous circumstances ; he was bare-headed and bare-
footed in
; his right hand he held a pail of water, with
fruits and flowers, to denote his presiding over hus-
bandry :in his left hand he held a wheel, to show the
unity of the Saxons ; round his waist, a girdle, to sig-
nify their freedom. The seventh day of the week,
called Seternesdseg, or Seatersdaeg, was sacred to
him. At what time the worship of Saturn was intro-
duced among the Anglo-Saxons, it would be impossible
to say.
Another instance of the admixture of Eoman mytho-
logy with that of the North, is afforded by the in-
stance of Irminsula. That he was the same with Odin
is evident, from his being the god of war, and from
prisoners and cowards being offered to him in sacrifice.
By a rather curious anomaly, he is made the god of
justice and mercy. But the warlike character shines
out again, and identifies him with Mars, in the circum-
stance ofthe cock being offered to him in sacrifice, and
placed upon his crest.
From the corruption, therefore, of the worship of
Odin, a new deity was formed, esteemed a different
person, and adored separately. This is a case very fre-
quent, and is a mistake, so far from being confined to
mythology, that parallel cases frequently occur in the
earlier parts of authentic history, creating difficulties
which sometimes all the researches of subsequent
times can never elucidate.
Flynt was a god, so called because he is represented
as standing on a flint, and the only circumstance
worthy of note connected with this deity is, that Flint-
shire, in Wales, is said to take its name from him.
 PECULIARITIES OF THE SAXON WORSHIP. 309

/ Of the goddesses, Rheda was worshipped in March,

hence called Rhedmonath, and Eostre in March and
April. Her name signifies "from the east," and her
worship is of Oriental origin. Hence the anniversary
of our Lord's resurrection is called hy the English,
Easter, hecause the festival of this goddess corre-
sponded with it in point of time.
Hertha was merely a personification of the earth,
the same as the Tellus of the Romans, and in this
respect she corresponds with Frigga, as Irminsula does
with Odin. Hertha was worshipped by the ancient
Germans in the time of Tacitus ; her rites are, there-
fore, of more ancient date than the entry of the Saxons
into Britain, and they afford a proof that other super-
stitions, aswell as Roman relics, were blended with
the Northern mythology, to form the Saxon system of
divinities.
The Sun and Moon were represented in a very
singular manner. The former as the bust of a man,
or more probably a woman, without arms or legs,
having on the breast a burning wheel, and round the
head a glory. The moon as a man habited in a short
cloak or tunic, and a hood over the head with two
long ears ; in his hands he held a crescent moon.
The days of the week, which were named among
the Saxons after the principal divinities, were as
follows :—

Sunday . . Sunsdseg, or the Sun's day.

Monday . . Moonsdseg, or the Moon's day.
Tuesday . . Tiwsdseg, or the day of Tiw (Tyr.)
Wednesday . Wodensdseg, or the day of Odin.
Thursday . . Tliunresda3g, or the day of Thor.
Friday . . Freyasdaeg, or the day of Freya.
Saturday . . Seternesdaeg, or the day of Seterne.
These days were among other nations called respect-
ively after the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter,
310 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

Venus, and Saturn ; an arrangement not very different,

but these ought to coincide exactly, for the same dis-
tribution prevailed among even the most distant nations.
Here it appears that Thor, being the king of the elements,
and frequently called the Thunderer, was supposed the
same with Jove, while Odin was replaced by Mercury,
the latter being among the Celts the principal object
of adoration. Had it not been for this confounding of
the Northern and Celtic creeds, the concidence would
have been made exact.
"With regard to the religion of the Celts, of whom
the Druids were the priests, little is known with cer-
tainty. The few notices found in the works of Tacitus
and Caesar on this subject, inform us, that Mars and
Mercury were the chief gods, that the general aspect
of the religion was fierce and gloomy, that human
sacrifices were among the horrors of its rites, that
nights were reckoned before days, and give us some few
particulars as to its effects. Bryant endeavours to
show, that the sun was the principal object of worship,
and deduces the system established among the Druids
from the Persian magi. It appears to have been totally
distinct from the mythology of the North, though it
may have mingled with the latter some of its tenets.

CHAPTER XIII.

OF THE EFFECTS OF THE RELIGION" OF ODIN ON THE

MINDS OF ITS VOTARIES.

Paley remarks of the Mohammedan religion, that its

chief objects were, to make proselytes, and to make
those proselytes soldiers. The same remark will apply
to the system under consideration, and so well-adapted
 EFFECTS OF THE RELIGION OF ODIN.
311
was it to this purpose, that its votaries were men
whose sole aim was warlike renown, whose sole fear,
that of so dying as to forfeit admittance into Valhalla.
Like every other idolatrous worship, it was in the
highest degree intolerant ; it was propagated hy the
sword, and life, if ever spared to captives, was spared
only on condition of embracing the faith of Odin.
This spirit was fostered, as well as demonstrated, hy
the whole tenor of the laws, customs, and principles,
prevalent among the Northern nations. Their fondness
for war, their enthusiasm for death when captives, their
contempt of life when unaccompanied hy martial dis-
tinctions, was matter of notoriety ; and this spirit was
supported by laws well calculated for the purpose.
Among these, were the institution of trial by single
combat, which established the principle, that power,
being a visible mark of Divine approbation, gives
indisputable right.
The punishments inflicted upon such as fled in
battle were dreadfully severe. Sometimes a pit of soft
mire was prepared, into which the fugitive was allowed
to fall, after being tossed up into the air, and then
left to suffocation. Sometimes he was cut in pieces
before the altar of Odin. Customs of this kind, with
the expectation of future misery in Nifleheim, were
sufficient to render flight in battle an event of rare
occurrence ; and an indifference to pain in themselves
and others, was both inculcated by precept and en-
couraged byexample.
The most hideous tortures were inflicted upon
prisoners, and borne with invincible courage and
constancy. One instance worthy of note, occurred in-
the case of Ragner Lodbrok, king of Denmark, who,
taken prisoner by iElla, king of Northumberland, was
cast into a dungeon filled with adders, where he
perished. While dying, he composed an ode of great
312 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

power and splendour, which is still extant ; in it he

expresses his contempt of pain, his satisfaction at the
approach of death, and his anticipations of his future
reward in Valhalla. This prince was amply revenged
by his sons Ubba (or Hubba,) and Ingwar, who were
remarkable, particularly the former, for the figure
they made in England, during the contests which agi-
tated the earlier part of the reign of Alfred the Great.
The domestic manners of the age operated as
powerfully as the laws, in this respect. By an edu-
cation entirely martial, by ranks and distinctions,
attained solely by military achievement, the same
warlike spirit was sustained: nor was the influence of
women wanting, who, in the true spirit of chivalry,
refused marks of favour and attachment to all who had
not proved their merit by valour and military skill.
Hagnar Lodbrok, the king of Denmark before-men-
tioned, obtained his queen, Aslauga, the most cele-
brated beauty of the North, by a series of adventures
which might challenge comparison with any in the
volumes of knight-errantry. This spirit survived
many ages the religion to which it owed its rise.
The institutions of chivalry bear many marks of
Northern origin. The substitution of tilts and tourna-
ments for gladiatorial shows, the trial by combat and
ordeal, the respect paid to the female sex, were all so
many remnants of an earlier system. It existed
among those to whom chivalry was scarcely known,
while the religion of Odin had already given way to
Christianity.
Siward, earl of Northumberland, who is more
known as having commanded the English auxiliaries
of Malcolm Canmore, king of Scotland, against Mac-
beth, than for anything else, furnishes an example to
the point. Siward, though a Christian, was so deeply
tinctured with the spirit of which mention has been
 EFFECTS OF THE RELIGION OF ODIN. 313

just made, that finding himself at the point of death,

he commanded his armour to be buckled on, declaring,
that though he died not in battle, he would die as a
warrior.
Fierce and passionate as were the votaries of this
religion, it must not be supposed that they were desti-
tute of virtues. They were eminent for justice ; they
were hospitable, generous, and honourable ; adultery,
and theft, save that wholesale robbery, called sackage
and piracy, were unknown among them. But it must
be acknowledged, that temperance and sobriety were
virtues little cultivated in the North; feasting and
drinking were the principal enjoyments in the Hall of
Odin, and in these it is natural to suppose that his
worshippers would indulge as much as possible on
earth.
A few remarks on the philosophy of the Edda, will
conclude this chapter. By the philosophy of such a
work, is meant those principles which, deducible from
its doctrines and fables, make known to us the opinions
of the best informed among its believers concerning
nature, or the laws and powers by which the universe
is governed, and the condition, moral and intellectual,
of mankind. The reader of Greek philosophy will
not fail to recognise, in the leading features of the
Northern system, a striking coincidence with* that of
the Stoics. This analogy will be traced in the estab-
lishment ofa belief in one Eternal and Omnipotent
divinity, pervading all nature ; also in certain subor-
dinate intelligences, who govern the world under the
immutable decrees of the great First Cause, which
decrees were termed by the Stoics, Fate. The resem-
blance does not end here, for in both systems these
subordinate deities were considered as merely tempo-
rary, and destined, finally, to be absorbed into that
great Being from whom they were originally emana-
314 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.

tions. At the same time, the principle of evil was to

be finally destroyed; and it is not a little singular, that
this destruction is predicted, both in the Edda and in
the works of the Stoics, as to be accomplished by fire.
The latter tell us, that the world had been once de-
stroyed by water, and here also the Edda has a corre-
sponding passage.
But the! most important point of coincidence is the
assertion of the immortality of the soul, and its future
abode in a new creation. The words of the Edda
have already been quoted; those of Seneca are so
similar, as to make it appear doubtful, whether one
may not be a copy of the other.
The differences in other parts are only such as may
be referred to the different allegories and images which
would naturally suggest themselves to the mind of a
Greek and a Dane, an Asiatic and a Norwegian; they
must, then, be traced to a common origin, and this is
afforded us in the doctrines of Zoroaster, or Zerdusht.
This philosopher, the chief of the Persian magi,
taught, that the combat between the good and evil
principles will be deferred to the last day ; that then
the evil principle shall be destroyed, and the earth,
purified by a general conflagration, shall become a
shining and glorious abode, into which evil shall never
be permtited to enter.
To account for this similarity between the philosophy
of the Edda and that of the Stoics, and to prove their
Persian origin, it will suffice to show, that Odin, whose
eastern descent has been already mentioned, came from
the borders of the Caspian Sea. He was king of a
nation called the Ases, and introduced into Europe the
worship of a god named Odin, with whom the chief
himself was afterwards confounded. This is shown,
not only indirectly by passages in classical writers, but
by the circumstance of the word Asa being applied
 EFFECTS OF THE RELIGION OF ODIN. 315

only as a mark of homage to the gods. Berosus, as

cited by Syncellus, gives us an account of the
Chaldaean mythology, which closely agrees with that
of the Edda; so that it will no longer excite wonder to
find the doctrines of Zoroaster propagated in the
North.
To conclude : it may be remarked, that there is no
system of religion which ever was broached in the
world, that does not contain some glimmerings, how-
ever feeble, of the truth. Of this there is but one
source, and however it may be corrupted by mixture
with the conjectures of man, it must have been handed
down from the earliest period, and must be Divine in
its origin.
 316

Section X.

MOHAMMEDANISM.

,CHAPTER I.
OF THE BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF MOHAMMED.

It is a melancholy reflection, that even after the advent

of our Saviour, false worship should not only have
continued to exist, and to exist in many countries as
the prevailing religion, and that this should be the
case at the present day, hut that since that period man-
kind should have been presented with a new religion,
deriving its origin, not from the corruptions of many
ages, but from the daring and blasphemous invention
of one man.
"With regard to Mohammed himself, it has been with
many a question whether he were really an impostor,
or merely an enthusiast; but there is too much method
in his madness, and too many signs of subservience to
his own sensuality, to allow us, when we seriously con-
sider the case, to doubt his consciousness of imposture.
It may be, however, that having told the same story
so many times, as he had done, he at last believed it ;
and the enthusiasm which he pretended himself, and
excited in his followers, could hardly leave his mind,
at the close of so long, stirring, and energetic a career
as his, quite at liberty to judge dispassionately, even of
his own pretensions. His continued success, and the
veneration which he received, must have had some
effect on a mind so passionate as that of Mohammed ;
 BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF MOHAMMED. 317

and it is hence very probable, that having begun, as he

undoubtedly did, in imposture, he ended with an en-
thusiastic confidence in his own miraculous mission.
If the greatness of a man be measured by the im-
pression which he makes on the world, and the changes
which he works in society ; then there are no personages
of antiquity save Moses and Julius Caesar, who can be
brought into comparison with the Arabian impostor.
At the present time, Turkey, Persia, Arabia, all the
north of Africa, many of the Asiatic islands, a large
portion of India, and much of the interior of Asia,
together with Asia Minor, are possessed by the fol-
lowers of the false prophet. At a period only distant
from our own by four centuries, Spain and Portugal
were in the same condition.
Of a 'creed which is so widely spread, the history
must be interesting, and the personal story of its foun-
der in particular, as developing the true principles of
the system, and the circumstances by which it rose to
so much importance.
Mohammed, Mahomet, or Mahommed, for his name
has been spelt in all these manners, and many more,
was born at Mecca, in Arabia Felix, in the month there
called the month of Mary, in the year of our Lord
571 . His family was very noble, for he could trace his
descent, in a right line, from Pher Koraish, the founder
of the tribe of the Koraishites, which tribe was not
only the most ancient and the most dignified, but also
the most powerful among the Arabs. The list is thus
given by Abul Feda : Pher Koraish — Galeb — Lawa —
Caab — Morrah Chelab — Cosa — Abd Menaph — Hassan
— Abdal Motalleb — Abdallah — Mohammed.
Of these persons, there is one who deserves some
particular notice, inasmuch as it was from him that the
tribe of the Koraishites first derived their political
consequence. The Caaba, at Mecca, was, long before
 318 MOHAMMEDANISM.

its sanctification by Mohammed, an idol |temple, and,

as such, an object of the greatest veneratioli to the
Arabs. The presidency of this temple, which included
also the government of the city of Mecca, had been,
for a considerable period, in the tribe of the Cozaites ;
and when in the hands of Abu Gabsham, of that tribe,
Cosa, the ancestor of Mohammed, induced him, while
in a drunken fit, to surrender to him the keys of the
temple, and with it the government of the city. Tra-
dition says, that the price paid for these advantages
was a bottle of wine.
Abu Gabshani s vain repentance became afterwards
proverbial, and the phrase, " More vexed with late re-
pentance than Abu Gabsham," is still used by the
Arabs, to denote the feelings of one, who, to use Dr.
Franklins proverb, has given too much for his whistle.
The former possessor was not disposed quietly to
acquiesce in the right of Cosa, and accordingly attempted,
by the aid of his own tribe, to reinstate himself in his
former dignity. The Cozaites fully entered into his
feelings, and promised him ample support ; but Cosa
hearing of this, sent privately to the Koraishites, who
were dispersed abroad among the neighbouring tribes,
to come to his assistance. Obedient to this summons,
they repaired in a body to Mecca, where, under the
command of Cosa, they not only made him the gover-
nor, but themselves the possessors of the city ; they
expelled the Cozaites, and kept both the town and
temple to themselves.
The eldest son of Cosa has already been named,
Abd Menaph ; his second son was called Abd Uzza ;
and from him descended Khadijah, the first wife of the
prophet. Abdal Motalleb, his grandfather, was a prince
of no mean talent, for he successfully defended Mecca
against Chosroes, king of Persia, and Abraham, king
of ^Ethiopia.
 BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF MOHAMMED. 319

The attempt of the latter gave rise to that era called

the era of the elephant, and involves many curious
particulars. To the south of Mecca, there was a tribe,
or ratjier nation, of Arabs, called the Homerites, who
had long been Christians, but during the reign of Abdal
Motalleb, at Mecca, a prince named Du Nawas suc-
ceeded to the throne of the Homerites ; he became a
convert to Judaism, and very fiercely persecuted the
Christians. Among other modes of death, he caused
a furnace to be made in the earth, in which he cast all
Christians who would not like himself embrace the
religion of the Talmud.
A story is related, that to this furnace a Christian
woman was brought, with her infant in her arms, to be
burnt, and shrinking back when she saw the fire, the
child cried out, " Fear not, mother, to die for your reli-
gion for
; after this fire you shall never feel any other/'
The woman immediately was so strengthened, that she
went on and perished in the furnace. The Christians
made an application to the king of Ethiopia, or rather
Abyssinia, who was a Christian, and who, sending his
uncle Aryat, with an army of seventy thousand men,
overthrew the government of the Homerites, and made
Aryat king. Du Nawas, with his troops, were literally
driven into the sea, where they perished.
After a reign of twenty years, Aryat was succeeded
by Abraham Al Ashram, who built at Sanaa so large
and magnificent a church, that many of the Arabs
resorted to it, though a place of Christian worship,
rather than to the Caaba at Mecca.
A circumstance like this could not but be highly
offensive to the inhabitants of Mecca, and the more so,
since that city was almost entirely supported by the
influx of strangers and pilgrims. To express their
indignation, several Arabs from Mecca went to Sanaa,
and getting privately into the church, so disgracefully
320 MOHAMMEDANISM.

defiled it, that the king, indignant at what had "been

done, vowed, in return, to destroy the Caaba. To
effect this purpose, he marched with a large army into
the territories of Mecca, but not being able in that
desert region to procure subsistence for his troops, he
retired, without having accomplished his object.
This failure was subsequently attributed to Divine
interference ; and though the chapter of the Koran in
which it is related did not probably come out till the
edition of Othmar, yet it is to this day looked upon as
a special providence, to save the Caaba, which was des-
tined to be so holy. This event occurred in the year
in which Mohammed was born ; and because the city
was so wonderfully saved, the Arabs used that period as
an era, and called it the era of the elephant, on account
of the elephants in the army of Abraham. Abdal
Motalleb was one hundred and ten years old at his death;
his eldest son Abdallah died before him, or Mohammed
would have succeeded regularly to the supreme power,
but his father dying before his grandfather, and the
rules of succession requiring a son rather than a grand-
son to reign, Mohammed was not only deprived of
sovereignty, but was likewise poor in his own circum-
stances*.
Abdallah, supposing that the succession would of
course be his, appears never to have applied himself to
commerce, so that when he died, which was during the
infancy of Mohammed, five camels, and one female
slave, comprised the whole of the property which he
left for the support of his widow and infant son.
* Sale contradicts this, and says, that Abu Taleb was the
eldest son, and Abdallah the eleventh. This is certainly more
probable than Prideaux's account, which is given in the text.
Boulanvilliers, in his Life of Mohammed, says that he was the
youngest son of Adal Motalleb, or Abdal Motalleb. It is
quite certain that no one disputed the succession of Abu
Taleb.
 BIRTH AMD EDUCATION OF MOHAMMED. 321

Till the eighth year of his age, Mohammed was edu-

cated byhis mother, if that can be called education, in
which no species of instruction is included. At her
death, which then happened, he was taken by his
grandfather, and when, at the end of another year,
Abdal Motalleb also died, he left the young Mohammed,
with particular recommendations, to the care of Abu
Taleb, who, though not the eldest of his sons, yet seems
to have, by common consent, succeeded him.
It was, perhaps, fortunate for Mohammed, that Abu
Taleb was not only a prince, but a merchant also, for
being thus associated with his uncle in commerce, he
had an opportunity of seeing foreign nations, an advan-
tage which his penetrating genius enabled him pro-
perly to appreciate. His remarks on the institutions
of other lands, were eminently useful to him, in re-
modelling those of his own ; and the knowledge which
he acquired of human nature, while engaged in traffic,
as a merchant, wras not forgotten wdien he became a
potentate, and a conqueror.
But though thus taken up by Abu Taleb, he does not
appear to have reaped any other advantage than those
just mentioned, for we find him in the twenty-fifth year
of his age, entering the service of an opulent widow,
at Mecca, and carrying on for her the mercantile con-
cerns of her late husband. After three years of faithful
and successful service, this lady, whose name wras
Khadijah, raised the future prophet to an equality with
the greatest men at Mecca, by giving him her hand in
marriage, and making him the master of her person
and estate. This occurred when she was forty, and he
twenty-eight years of age.

Y
322 MOHAMMEDANISM.

CHAPTER II.
OF THE POLITICAL DESIGNS AND PRE TENDED MISSION
OF MOHAMMED.

From the time of Mohammed's marriage with Kha-

dijah, his history becomes nearly a blank for fifteen
years: it is, however, probable that his active and
aspiring mind contemplated raising himself to the
same eminence as that possessed by his grandfather;
when, however, the first idea of establishing a new
religion first occurred to him, is a question of great
obscurity. He had seen the Roman empire shaken to
its very foundations, the Persian monarchy split with
intestine divisions; and while a daring adventurer
could scarcely have chosen a more opportune moment
for establishing a new empire, the state of religion
offered but too many inducements to the formation of
a new system. Paganism was but feebly supported by
those who still pretended to countenance it; Chris-
tianity was in a very corrupted state, at least in Arabia;
and the Jews were, as now, derided and despised by
all. A religion which avoided the grosser absurdities
of paganism, while at the same time it required not
the spiritual devotion of Christianity, could not fail of
being received with toleration; and if it flattered the
prejudices of all parties, and admitted the Jews on easy
terms, it was still more likely to meet with a favourable
reception.
Considerations of this nature seem to have weighed
much with Mohammed in modelling his design of
sovereignty, and the peculiar circumstances of his
countrymen forwarded greatly the execution of his
design. Their commercial habits had enlarged their
knowledge, and given many of them an opportunity of
 DESIGNS AND MISSION OF MOHAMMED. 323

looking beyond the pale of their own land. This act-

ing upon their acute comprehensions made them look
with indifference upon the barbarous idolatry in which
they had been brought up, and at the same time gave
them but little preference for the corrupted worship
around them. The Christians, on the other hand,
disunited and degenerate, were already prepared to
embrace any doctrines which might be grafted upon
their own religion, as on a stock; while from the Jews
no opposition could be expected to a scheme which, in
many respects, fell in with their own ideas, and which
gave them equality with the proudest of their op-
pressors.
Considerations of this nature appear to have deter-
mined Mohammed to make a new religion the stepping-
stone to power and conquest; nor was it without a
just reliance on his skill and talent that he ventured to
make the attempt. Aware how much would be lost
by a too hasty declaration of his intentions, he took on
himself the character of an ascetic, retired much from
among men, and spent no inconsiderable portion of his
time in a cavern near Mecca, called the cave of Hira.
Here, where he was supposed to spend all his time in
prayer and fasting, he, in fact, with able assistance,
formed the plan of his extensive imposture. The chief
person who is charged with this aid was Abdiah Ben
Salon, a Persian Jew, who, becoming a favourite with
Mohammed, and being much spoken of by Arabic
writers, is generally called Abdallah Ebn Salem. He
was a man of great learning, and particularly versed in
the Talmud and the cabalistic studies so patronized by
the Jews of that age. From him it was that so many
passages, either borrowed or imitated from works
of this description, were obtained, and foisted into the
Koran; and from his assistance was it that that re-
markable book took that general tone
Y 2of cabalistic
324 MOHAMMEDANISM.

learning and rabbinical casuistry that so much distin -

guishes it.
Another of the assistants of Mohammed in the
Koran was a Nestorian monk, named Sergius, and
called in Arabic, Bahira. He communicated all those
parts which treat of the Christian religion, and of these
there are not a few. His talents, however, which were
of a high order, wTere but indifferently recompensed.
Mohammed first became acquainted with this man on
one of his commercial visits to Syria, and, deriving
from his knowledge much assistance in acquiring a
competent acquaintance with the Christian religion, he
soon contracted an intimate friendship with him. For
some crime not now known, Sergius was expelled from
the monastery of which he had been a member, and he
now, knowing Mohammed to be a rich man, and
perhaps suspecting somewhat of his design, took refuge
with him. Being introduced to the friends and con-
fidants of the impostor, he palmed upon them a minor
species of imposture himself, declaring that the expul-
sion from his monastery was a distinguished honour
conferred upon him, and compared himself to a camel
which, having been a certain period in service, is
allowed to go free, and to feed wherever he pleases;
such a camel is called Bahira, and in token of its free-
dom it has its ears slit. Sergius took from this cir-
cumstance his name Bahira, and is called by that name
in all Arabic works.
No sooner was the Koran finished, than Mohammed
felt Sergius to be a burden to him, a useless depository
of an important secret, and accordingly, in the true
style of an Eastern despot, he put him to death.
Besides these, it does not appear that he had any other
assistants, and these were quite sufficient to write a
book so entirely an imitation as the Koran.
While thus employed in forgery and meditation in
 DESIGNS AND MISSION OF MOHAMMED. 325

the cave, he was careful not to lose any opportunity of

facilitating his views out of it. Every night he came
home with some monstrous tale of visions, and voices
in his retirement. To all these Khadijah turned a
deaf ear, treating them as the offspring of a distempered
imagination. But Mohammed continued the same
course, taking care also that his conduct should be
scrupulously correct, his charities very extensive, and
his devotions remarkably ardent. He knew that by
first securing his own family he should obtain in Kha-
dijah an admirable coadjutrix among the Arab women,
many of whom possessed wealth, power, and influence.
In the design of converting his wife he was much
assisted by Sergius, who was then residing in their
house ; and at last, after relating many conversations
with the angel Gabriel, she declared herself a convert.
His servant, Zayd, or Seyd Ebn Hareth, soon joined
the new creed, being, it is suspected, as much moved
thereto by the offer of freedom as by any other con-
sideration. The promise was faithfully performed, and
from that time it has been customary with Moham-
medans to liberate their slaves when they embrace the
faith of Islam. A more important convert was Ali,
the son of Abu Taleb, his uncle, a youth but thirteen
years of age, but of a keen, ardent, and enterprizing
spirit. He, looking with some contempt on the other
two, called himself the first of believers.
After spending two years in the silent conversion of
these three persons, and in acquiring a reputation for
sanctity, he at length, in the fortieth year of his age,
boldly announced himself as the prophet sent from
God, gave himself the title of apostle, and began to
propound those doctrines which he had been so long
considering. The first great doctrine of his religion,
viz., that there is but one God, was one well calculated
to attract the Jews and Christians, particularly as he
326 MOHAMMEDANISM.

fully allowed the divine authority both of Moses and

of Christ. To the Arabs he declared, which was in
fact the truth, that their ancient religion consisted in
the worship of the one Supreme Being, and that there-
fore they could only look on him as a restorer of their
primitive creed. He reminded the Jews and the Arabs
of their common descent from Abraham, — the one
through Isaac, the other through Ishmael, — and thus
he conciliated the former. By inveighing against
idolatry, he gratified the Christians; while he con-
ciliated the good will of all, by declaring that his only
aim was to restore the universal religion, which, through
the wickedness of men, was lost, and to purge away
the corruptions which the devices of men had intro-
duced.
He allowed both the Old and New Testament, de-
claring that God had sent four prophets, viz., Noah,
Moses, Jesus, and himself; and that the three former
having failed to convert the world, he was, by the
divine appointment, sent to finish that which the wick-
edness of men had prevented the others from accom-
plishing; he therefore commenced the publication of
the Koran.
This extraordinary work, which was not put forth to
the world at once, but piece by piece, as the circum-
stances ofthe author rendered it necessary, is in every
respect a wonderful book. It has, it is true, been much
overrated by the followers of its composer, and has but
slender claims to the merit of invention and judicious
arrangement; still, after making all due allowances on
this score, enough remains of beauty and sublimity to
excite our wonder, and to call forth our admiration.
After what we know of its origin, we have no longer any
veneration for its miraculous composition; a theme
much dilated upon by Mohammedan doctors. Its
history is too clearly investigated to admit of doubt.
 327

DESIGNS AND MISSION OF MOHAMMED.

and it would require a faith ample enough to credit

the contents, to enable any one to believe the Moham-
medan account of its authorship. Mohammed declared
that it was given to him by the angel Gabriel, and, as
so given, claimed for it all the merit of a divine reve-
lation. Limiting himself at first, as he wisely did, to
the declaration of his own prophetic character, and to
something like a reasonable account of the creation,
and the ultimate destiny of mankind, his publication
contained nothing to disgust, and much to attract his
followers. He was subject to attacks of catalepsy,
which he called trances, and declared that during them
his soul departed from his body, and held conferences
with the angel Gabriel. It was at such times that he
pretended to have received various parts of his Koran;
and as he promised believers prosperity in this life and
everlasting happiness according to their own taste in
the next, on the moderate condition of believing impli-
citly in him, he was well calculated to be the head of
a predatory, ambitious, and voluptuous nation.

CHAPTER III.
OF THE SUCCESS OF MOHAMMED, AND HIS REIGN.

In spite of the many circumstances which favoured his

design, Mohammed was at first very ill received by his
countrymen. His mission was treated, for the most part,
with contempt, and his preaching with ridicule. His per-
severance was, however, dauntless ; and accordingly, in
the fifth year of his pretended apostleship, we find him
with thirty-nine disciples. Among these, were many
persons of wealth and influence ; and his own family,
though they continued attached to the paganism in
328 MOHAMMEDANISM.

which they had been brought up, were yet far from
withdrawing their support and countenance. A notable
proof of this was soon given by Abu Taleb ; for when
a party at Mecca, seeing the designs which Mohammed
had in view, and the talent he displayed in furthering
them, conspired to put him to death, on the first pub-
lication of the Koran, Abu Taleb not only prevented
the design from being put into execution, but declared
that he would stand by, and protect his nephew against
any opposition. Yet, in spite of this most powerful
aid, his scheme advanced but slowly, and one of the
most frequent objections made was, that he performed
no miracles. Their demands are given in the Koran,
thus : " For Moses and Jesus, and the rest of the pro-
phets, worked miracles to prove their mission from
God ; and therefore, if thou be a prophet, and greater
than any that were sent before thee, as thou boastest
tlryself to be, do thou work the like miracles, to mani-
fest it unto us ; Do thou make the dead to rise, the
dumb to speak, and the deaf to hear ; or else, do thou
cause fountains to spring out of the earth, and make
this place a garden, adorned with vines and palm-trees,
and watered with rivers running through it in divers
channels : or else let us see some of those punishments
come clown from heaven which thou threatenest us
with ; Or do thou make thee a house of gold, adorned
with jewels and costly furniture, or let us see the book
which thou wouldest have us to believe to come from
heaven, descend down to us from thence legible in our
eyes ; or the angel which thou tellest us doth bring it
thee, and then we will believe in thy word."
This objection, so often urged, was attempted to be
answered thus : First, that Mohammed was but a man,
sent to declare to them the joys of paradise, and the
torments of hell ; secondly, that their ancestors had
despised the miracles of Moses and Jesus, and that
 REIGN OF MOHAMMED. 329

hence, God did not intend to send them another pro-

phet to work miracles ; and thirdly, that those who
were ordained to believe, would do so without miracles,
and that those who were not so ordained, would dis-
believe in spite of them.
But these replies, however ingenious, did not satisfy
his followers ; they seemed to imply, that Mohammed
had not the same power as those who had gone before
him, and therefore, so far from being superior, he was,
in fact, less distinguished.
It was not until circumstances had placed the sword
of conquest in his hand, that he ventured to cut the
Gordian knot, which no sophistry could have enabled
him to untie ; the answer which he then made to these
objectors, will be related in its proper place.
From the time of these thirty-nine disciples having
openly joined him, his party began to grow formidable,
so much so, that in three years, the government of
Mecca passed a decree, forbidding any persons to attach
themselves to the new prophet. This, however, like
most similar measures, was of but little use ; and,
indeed, by the active support of Abu Taleb, Mohammed
gained, rather than lost, by the decree. Hitherto,
though advancing but slowly, the sect had met with no
effectual opposition ; it was reserved for persecution to
do that for Mohammed, which it has never failed to do
for Christianity.
In the course of two years, Abu Taleb died, and the
government of the city passed into the hands of Abu
Sophian, the most determined opponent that the im-
postor had hitherto encountered. The party of Moham-
med was soon suppressed at Mecca, and the leader,
finding no hopes remain of successfully prosecuting his
scheme in that city, began to look around for some
other place, from which he might organize his opera-
tions.
330 MOHAMMEDANISM.

He had before often declared that his religion was

to be propagated by the sword, and now it seemed in
danger of perishing by the sword. But Abbas, his
uncle, who had become a believer, invited him to Tayif, a
small town about sixty miles east of Mecca, and thither,
with the hopes of obtaining many followers, he went.
After a month's residence there, he returned to Mecca,
without having made a single proselyte ; and with the
bitter reflection that he had wasted his time, and
lowered his reputation at so critical a juncture. He
embraced, however, every opportunity of strength-
ening himself, and for that purpose, Khadijah being
now dead, he married the daughters of three of the
principal people at Mecca; these were, Ayesha, the
daughter of Abu Beker, Jewda, the daughter of Zama,
and Haphsa, the daughter of Omar ; and these men,
Abu Beker, Zama, and Omar, immediately espoused
the cause, and embraced the religion of their son-in-
law. Ayesha was then but six years old.
Two years after these alliances, he announced to his
people that extravagant fiction, the Mesra, or Night
Journey to Heaven; and this, which at first seemed
the most unfortunate action of his life, soon proved to
be the most fortunate. He seems to have intended it
to answer a twofold purpose. It was a reply to those
who asked for a miracle, and it acted also as a touch-
stone of faith — a test whereby to ascertain the calibre
of that credulity which existed among his party ; cer-
tainly those who could believe so wild a tale as this,
must have had an intellectual digestion of a very strong
order.
The immediate effects of this absurd fable, were
such as might be expected; many of his followers left
him, and more would have followed their example, had
not Abu Beker come forward, and vouched for the
truth of the whole. For this act of unquestioning
 REIGN OF MOHAMMED. 331

faith, he received the title of Assadick, or the Just,

but his attestation, though very valuable, did not seem
sufficient, for we afterwards find God himself, as swear-
ing by the stars, that the whole of what Mohammed
had related was true.
Another, and more important use to wrhich Moham-
med put this night journey, was, that having once pre-
tended so near an access to the Divine Being, and so
close a communion with him, there would be no diffi-
culty in future, to assert, when necessary, that his
projects, however newly conceived, were especially
commanded by God at that time ; in short, to claim
inspiration for whatever he chose to assert.
The defection of so many among his followers,
though painful in its immediate consequences, led to
that resolution which eventually placed Mohammed on
a throne. Finding that the absurdity of this new re-
velation had not only alienated the minds of many who
had espoused his cause, but had also added vigour to
the resentment of his already numerous enemies; he
anxiously wished for an opportunity to change his resi-
dence and his plan of operations at once. An oppor-
tunity soon offered.
About two hundred and seventy miles from Mecca
was a city called Yathreb; now better known by the name
of Medina. This place, inhabited by a turbulent and
distracted set, part Jews, and part nominally Christians,
seems to have been peculiarly unsettled at this time ;
there were two parties, who not agreeing, were inclined
to choose some common arbitrater. One party having
heard of the new prophet, whose religion was now making
so great a commotion, sent a deputation to Mohammed,
who swore fealty to him, and invited him to come and
take up his abode among them. He chose twelve out
of the number, and sent them to be his apostles, and
these having succeeded in proselyting a large portion
332 MOII AM M EDA N ISM .

of the inhabitants, Mohammed finally joined them,

and was received as their chief.
This event, which occurred on the 24th of Septem-
ber, was not unattended with danger, for the chief
men of Mecca, when they found that the party of
Mohammed could not be altogether suppressed, deter-
mined to crush it. and him together. He discovered
this plot, and hastened his departure ; sending first all
his disciples ; then when they were all gone, following
with Abu Beker, and leaving Ali behind, to arrange
what remained for them to do.
It would seem that those friends in Medina who so
well received him were Christians ; for, from this time
forward, Mohammed expressed a violent hatred against
the Jews, and expresses the favourable sentiments
which he felt towards the Christians, thus : " Thou
shalt find the Jews to be very great enemies to the
true believers, and the Christians to have great inclina-
tion and amity towards them. For they have priests
and religious that are humble ; that have eyes full of
tears when they hear mention of the doctrine that God
hath inspired into thee, because of their knowledge of
the truth ; and say, c Lord, we believe in thy law, write
us in the number of them who profess thy unity. Who
shall hinder us from believing in God, and the truth
wherein we have been instructed. We desire with
passion, O Lord, to be in the number of the just.'"
Indeed, from the very nature of that dispensation, of
which Mohammed announced himself as the chief, we
may see every reason why he should have preferred
the Christians ; they acknowledged Christ, whom the
Jews rejected. Llence, in declaring the divine authority
of Jesus, he tacitly reproved the Jews for their
unbelief.
The flight of Mohammed from Mecca to Medina,
gave rise to that era by which his followers reckon at
 REIGN OF MOHAMMED. 333

this day; it is called the Hegira, or "the Flight/*

The institution of this era is said to have been occa-
sioned by a dispute between two merchants, one of
whom declared that a debt was due on a particular
day in the preceding year, while the other declared
that it would not be due till the corresponding day
next ensuing. This dispute was brought before the
celebrated Caliph Omar, who decreed, that in order to
prevent such disputes in future, merchants should date
their bills with the year as well as the day, and should
reckon from the flight of the prophet, which may, in
fact, be called dating from the first year of his reign.

CHAPTER IY.
OF THE CONQUESTS AND DEATH OF MOHAMMED.

Mohammed being now at the head of a small but

independent state, began to exemplify those maxims
of military government which he had before only
preached. It is said that he built his first mosque at
Medina, by dispossessing some poor orphans of their
inheritance ; but this tale seems to have been taken up
rather hastily by Prideaux. He now openly professed
that he did not possess the power of working miracles;
he was sent, he observed, with the power of the sword,
not so much to induce as to compel men to believe;
and accordingly he brought forward in quick succession
all those chapters of the Koran in which he particularly
insists on this tenet, and holds out such inducements
as few Arab warriors would be able to resist. He
gave them permission to marry four wives, with the
liberty of divorce whenever they pleased : he gave them
the persons of all their female captives; and, at the
334 MOHAMMEDANISM.

same time, that his dispensation might not appear a

dispensation of mere licence, he strictly forbade wine
to his followers. This prohibition he well knew would
be received with but little discontent; but the per-
mission which we have just noticed would be of all
others the most captivating to his disciples.
We shall now have to contemplate Mohammed as
the sovereign of an empire, small indeed at first,
but every day increasing; as the commander of an
army, almost universally successful. His first step in
this capacity was to denounce the punishment of death
against all those who even doubted the truth of his
mission, and strictly to prohibit the discussion of points
of faith at all. This was an energetic measure, and,
like most energetic measures, successful; and accord-
ingly now that his disciples were fully informed that
their duty was, not to dispute but to fight for their
religion, we have a succession of the most brilliant
military achievements till the death of the impostor.
These are for the most part matters only of history, and
no otherwise concern the system of wThich he was
the author, than as they paved the way for its success.
One of them, trifling in itself, was made very useful
by its consequences. At Beder he, with three hundred
men, attacked Abu Sophian with a thousand: he was
successful in his object, which was to plunder the
caravan which Abu Sophian conducted; but having
done so in spite of Abu Sophian's superior force, he
said that he had been assisted by troops of angels, three
thousand in number, invisible to every eye but his
own: he also said that God caused his enemies to
see double, whereby they supposed his army to have
been twice its real strength.
During the same year he altered the Kebla, (the
place towards which believers looked when praying.)
At first Jerusalem had been the chosen city, and this
 CONQUESTS AND DEATH OF MOHAMMED. 335

was also the place to which he directed pilgrimages to

be made ; hut when he found the Arabs equally favour-
able to Mecca, and averse to Jerusalem, he altered the
sacred spot accordingly. This was not done without
offence: many forsook a religion which seemed so given
to change, and the faith of others, though they still
remained, was weakened. His chief reason, however,
seems to have been to conciliate the people of Mecca,
who were still unfavourable generally to his cause.
Another circumstance which may have weighed a little
with him Avas, the hatred which he seems to have con-
tracted against the Jews, partly because they embar-
rassed him with questions about religion in general,
and his own mission in particular, which he felt un-
willing to answer, and partly because they had not been
willing to acknowledge him when he went from Mecca
to Medina. This also determined him to alter the
great fast from the tenth day of the first month, where
he at first fixed it, and which corresponded with the
great fast of the Expiation, held on the tenth of Tisri,
to the month Ramadan, which, in imitation of the
Christian Lent, he made a month of fasting. The year
in wrhich this occurred, Lent and the fast of Ramadan
coincided; but the reason given for the change was,
that Ramadan was the month in which the Koran, that
is, the first published chapter, came down from heaven.
Shortly after this, Abu Sophian, to avenge the affront
which he had suffered the year before at Beder,
marched against Medina with an army of three thou-
sand infantry and two hundred cavalry; and though
Mohammed was not driven from Medina, yet, having
only one thousand men, he was not so fortunate as
to escape injury both to his person and cause: he
would, indeed, have been killed in the action, had
not Telha, the nephew of Abu Beker, come to his
aid and rescued him. The cause of the impostor
336 MOHAMMEDANISM.

suffered still more than his person, for his people

began to inquire how it could be that a prophet
sent of God was overthrown by infidels. This he
answered by saying that the misfortune happened
through the sins of some who followed him, and did
not fail to instance the case of Achan, as related in our
Scriptures ; but he never investigated the affair so as to
bring the supposed offender to condign punishment; on
the contrary, he preached the doctrine of fatalism, for
which the believers in his system have ever been noto-
rious. He asserted that the space of every man's life
being marked out by the Divine providence, those who
were predestinated to die, would die, wherever they
were ; that had they not gone out to battle, their houses
■would have fallen and crushed them; but that as they
perished fighting for the true faith, everlasting felicity
would be their portion. Thus he quieted the fears of
those who deemed success the only token of Divine
approbation, and at the same time calmed the sorrow
of those who lost their friends and relatives in the
battle; and though many fell away from his standard,
yet in this case, as in most others, the ultimate conse-
quence of his sophistry overcame the prejudicial in-
fluence ofthat circumstance which called it forth.
After this circumstance the arms of Mohammed were
generally prosperous. One tribe after another of the
Pagan and Jewish Arabs submitted to his sceptre, and
it was in the midst of these successes that he forbade
wine to his people, and commanded the pilgrimage to
Mecca. In consequence of a battle fought near Mecca,
in which, however, neither party obtained a victory, a
truce was agreed upon between Mohammed and the
government of his native city. It was resolved that
Mecca should be open to the prophet and his followers,
and that any of the inhabitants of Mecca might, if they
pleased, join themselves to him, having first obtained
the consent of the governor.
 CONQUESTS AND DEATH OF MOHAMMED. 337

Now it was that Mohammed, having long enjoyed

the power and authority of a sovereign, took upon him-
self the title of king, and was crowned under a tree
near Medina. It is probably true, because acknow-
ledged byMohammedan writers, that the tree imme-
diately withered away and perished: they, however, de-
clare that the tree was typical of the prophet's enemies.
During all this time he had been accustomed to be the
leader of their devotions, and their preacher; nor did
he relinquish this practice when he became so powerful
a monarch. In his mosque, at Medina, he had used a
beam to lean upon when preaching and praying, and
now that sumptuous edifice was completed, and the
dignity of the officiating minister required some further
support, a pulpit was erected, which he afterwards
used. The beam which he had before used appeared
deeply affected by his desertion of it, and accordingly
groaned bitterly over its departed glory.
His career was now drawing to a close. Among the
cities marked for conquest and plunder was Chaibar,
a place inhabited by Jewish Arabs, which, after a short
but vigorous resistance, he reduced, and took up his
quarters in the house of a man of consequence, named
Hareth, whose daughter, Zainah, resolved to put the
inspiration of the prophet to a severe test. She accord-
ingly poisoned a shoulder of mutton, which she set
before the party at table. And now we are told that
this plot was defeated by the joint speaking to Moham-
med, and telling him what had been done. The mut-
ton, however, delayed the information till the prophet
had eaten a portion, which, though it did not cause
immediate death, (which was the fate of Basher, his
friend, who did not, it seems, hear the observation
made by the shoulder of mutton,) did yet exert so
violent an effect on his constitution, that he was never
in health again, and died from the effects of it in three
z
338 MOHAMMEDANISM.

years. This period was not passed in inactivity. City

after city was taken, till at length, falling suddenly on
Mecca, he compelled Ahu Sophian to embrace his
religion, put to death all those who had violently op-
posed him, and made himself master of the place.
He now set to work to purge the Caaba of its idols,
and converted it into a mosque for his disciples.
"When arrived at this power, it seemed necessary that
the independent part of Arabia should either rise in a
body, and destroy the usurper, or else quietly submit
to his government. They chose the former, and were
entirely defeated; so that, from being sovereign of
Mecca and Medina, he became the ruler of all Arabia.
He still continued to reside at the last named city,
occasionally passing to Mecca; but in the eleventh
year of his reign and of the Hegira, he began to decline
perceptibly from the effects of the poison which he had
taken at Chaibar, till on the twelfth day of the third
month, a. D. 632, he expired, after a sickness of thir-
teen days. His death was followed by vehement dis-
putes among his followers ; first, as to whether he was
really liable to death; and next, when that point was
settled, where he should be buried. These disputes
were finally adjusted by the wisdom and presence of
mind of Abu Beker. Mohammed died in the sixty-
third year of his age, and, according to his own
account, in the twenty-third of his apostleship. But
as the character of this extraordinary man will be
best appreciated from a view of the Koran, we shall
defer noticing it till we have briefly reviewed that
work, and observed the effect which his imposture had
on the condition, civil, moral, and political, of his
countrymen.
 339

CHAPTER V.
OF THE ARABIAN RELIGION BEFORE MOHAMMED.

The greater number of the Arabs, when Mohammed

first made public his pretended mission, were pagans.
The worship common among them, was a corrupted
form of Sabianism, which, when pure, was the most
rational form of religion made by the uninspired mind
of man. It consisted in the worship of one supreme
God, to whose ministers, the planets and the angels,
an inferior degree of worship was paid. These were
supposed placed in their several stations of government
by God himself, and ruled, under him, the world, and
the elements. A more beautiful illustration of this
creed could hardly be given, than that splendid passage
in Atherstone's Fall of Nineveh^ in which Belesis, the
royal priest, addresses the stars :—
Look down upon us from your spheres of light,
Bright ministers of the Invisible !
Before whose dread supremacy, weak man
Dare not appear ; for what are we, earthworms,
That the All-Holy One to us should stoop,
From the pure sanctuary where he dwells,
Throned in eternal light. But ye his face
Behold, and in his presence stand, and hear
His voice divine, and his commands obey ;
Vicegerents of the sky, upon your priest,
Look down, and hear his prayer; and you, the chief
Bright mediators between God and man,
"Who in your round,
In ceaseless burningSaturn
chariots
and path the Sol,
mighty heavens
Though absent now, beyond the ends of earth,
Yet hearing human prayer. — Great Jupiter —
Venus — and Mars — and Mercury — 0 ! hear,
Interpreters divine ; and for your priest
Draw the dark veil that shades the days to come.
Fall of Nineveh, Book I.
z 2
340 MOHAMMEDANISM.

In a note upon this passage, Mr. A. makes the fol-

lowing extract from the Universal History, vol. iv. p.
238. " The religion and hoasted learning of the Chal-
daeans are so blended together, that we hardly know
how to separate them into distinct heads. For the
Chaldees, properly so called, were not only their priests,
hut their learned men ; whose whole science seems to
have been subservient to the purposes of superstition
and infatuation. The Chaldseans, as distinguished
from the Babylonians, were in some sort distinct from
those people, and rather more so than the clergy from
the laity with us. These Chaldasans were as much
revered in their country, as the Egyptian priests were
in theirs ; and are said to have enjoyed the same
rank and degree in the kingdom. They were wholly
devoted to the business of their superstitious religion,
and pretended to prophecy, and the gift of prediction,
by the rules of augury, the flight of birds, and the in-
spection ofvictims ; they professed the interpretation
of dreams, and to explain all the extraordinary acci-
dents and phenomena of nature, as portending good or
evil, to men or nations ; and were thought, by their
enchantments and invocations, to affect mankind either
with happiness or misery. Having by their situation
been early addicted to celestial observations, they,
instead of conceiving, as they ought to have done,
concerning the omnipotence of the Creator and ruler
of the heavenly bodies, and of being confirmed in a
due belief and practice of what had been handed down
to men by tradition, from Noah and his sons, fell into
the impious error of esteeming them as gods and gover-
nors of the world, in subordination, however, to the
Deity, who was invisible but by his works, and the
effect of his power. They concluded, therefore, that
God had created the stars and luminaries for the gover-
nance of the world; that he had accordingly placed
 ARABIAN RELIGION BEFORE MOHAMMED. 341

them on high, and made them partakers with him, and

substituted them his ministers, and that it was but
just and natural that they should he praised, and
honoured, and extolled, and that it was even the will of
God that they should he feared and magnified, and
worshipped, just as a king desires his servants should
be respected, in honour of himself. Persuaded of this,
they began to build temples, or sacella, to the stars, to
sacrifice to them, to praise them, and to bow down
before them, that through their means they might
obtain the favour and good will of God, so that they
esteemed them as mediators between God and them.
For that there was a necessity of a mediatory office
between God and man, is observed to have been a
notion that generally obtained among mankind from
the beginning. Conscious of their own meanness, vile-
ness, and impurity, and unable to conceive how it was
possible of them for themselves alone to have any
access to the all-holy, all-glorious and supreme Governor
of all things, they considered him as too high and too
pure, and themselves too low and too polluted, for
such an intercourse, and therefore concluded there
must be a mediator, by whose means only they could
make addresses to him, and by whose intercession
alone their petitions could be accepted of. But na
clear revelation being then made of the Mediator
whom God had appointed, because he had not yet been'
manifested to the world, they took upon themselves to-
address him through mediators of their own choosing ;.
and their notion of the sun, moon, and stars, being
that they were the habitation or tabernacle of intelli-
gences which animated those orbs, in the same manner
that the soul of man animates his body, and were the
causes of all their motions, and that those intelligences
wrere of a middle nature, between God and them ; they
thought these the properest beings to become the
342 MOHAMMEDANISM.

mediators between God and them ; and therefore the

planets being the nearest to them of all the heavenly
bodies, and generally looked on to have the greatest
influence in this world, they made choice of them in
the first place for their gods mediators, who were to
mediate for them with the Supreme God, and procure
from him the mercies and favours which they prayed
for ; and accordingly, they directed divine worship to
them as such, and here began all the idolatry that has
been practised in the world."
This passage is taken from Dean Prideaux (Con-
nexion), and he took it from Maimonides, in whose
words the passage will be repeated in the beginning of
the next section. The difference is merely that Pri-
deaux has interpolated the words of Maimonides with
those reflections that naturally occur to a Christian,
when treating on such a subject ; but the true impor-
tance of the passage is, that it sets forth the great
antiquity of this form of religion, since Maimonides
expressly refers it to the time of Enos, the son of
Seth. A form so pure as this could hardly be expected
to be preserved, among an ignorant and barbarous
people; and we find, accordingly, that the Arabs soon
degenerated from their early faith, and became gross
idolaters.
There was a sect, however, among them, who, by
means of compounding Judaism and a little Chris-
tianity with this ancient religion, made a religion far
better than that of Mohammed. These persons, who
were sometimes called Christians of St. John the Bap-
tist, fasted three times in the year, the first time thirty
days, the second, nine, and the third, seven ; they
offered sacrifices, like the Jews, and prayed three times
a day. Virtue was, they deemed, the principal object
to be sought after by man ; and they believed that the
wicked would be punished for nine thousand ages, but
 ARABIAN RELIGION BEFORE MOHAMMED. 343

would afterwards be received to mercy. They had the

Psalms, and a book which they attributed to Seth, and
used a sort of baptism.
This sect, who were tolerated by Mohammed, were
not very numerous, and the major part of the Arabs
worshipped idols, and acknowledged, at the same time,
the Supreme Being. These idols were, for the most
part, female figures, and were thought to represent
angels. Allah Al Uzza, and Manah, were the chief
so honoured, but there were many more, which, though
not worshipped so universally as these, were not left
without followers. The Supreme Being they called
Allah Taala, the Most High God ; whereas the others
were simply called Ilahat, goddesses. This, as Sale
observes, accounts for the Greek account of the Arab
idolatry, for that people, always resolving every form of
worship into their own, tell us that the Arabs adore
Bacchus and Urania, calling the one Orotalt, and the
other, Alilat.
The other deities mentioned in the Koran are, Wada,
Sarva, Yaguth, Yawk, and Nasr ; these are all said to
be antediluvian idols, worshipped respectively under
the shapes of a man, a woman, a lion, a horse, and an
eagle. Against these idols it was, they asserted, that
Noah preached, and for the worshipping of which, the
deluge was sent upon mankind.
In the Caaba, at Mecca, there were three hundred
and sixty idols, and among them, all the patriarchs and
prophets of the Jews ; one of them called Hobal, sup-
posed to be the image of Abraham, was made of red
agate, but the hand being broken off, the Koreish
replaced it with a hand of gold. One tribe, that of
Hanisah, worshipped a lump of dough, which, in times
of scarcity, however, they scrupled not to eat.
The religion of the magi was not unknown among
the Arabs, especially among those bordering on Persia,
344 MOHAMMEDANISM.

and one tribe, that of Tamin, was composed entirely

of the followers of this system; indeed Mohammed
himself borrowed many of his institutions from the
magi, as will be shown before we quit the subject.

CHAPTER VI.
OF THE KORAN.

It was in the twenty-third night of the month Rama-

dan, according to his own account and the belief of his
followers, that the angel Gabriel came down from the
presence of God, and opening the breast of Mohammed,
took therefrom his heart ; he then wrung out of it the
black drop of original sin, washed it with pure water,
and restored it to its place. This night the Koran, or,
as it is very improperly called, the Alcoran, came from
the highest to the lowest heaven, that it might be
ready for revelation to the prophet, as the exigences of
world might require. We can hardly too much admire
the consummate skill displayed by the impostor in this
arrangement. Had the Koran been published all at
once, the author would have had to trust to his own
authority for answers to all objections; circumstances
might arise, which might have rendered part of the
previous revelations inexpedient, and, finally, he would
have had to wait a long time before the book appeared,
and he obtained the celebrity which it procured him.
As it was, all these inconveniences were provided
against; he was able always to appeal to divine
authority to justify any doctrine he thought proper,
to promulge any measure which he determined to
adopt. He made a natural infirmity, to which he was
subject, serve the place of a miracle, he kept up the
attention of his followers by a continuation of reve-
 THE KORAN. 345

lations, and he obtained immediately the glory of being

the sole new
in this depository of God's will to man, as displayed
institution.
The Koran thus revealed, generally by a few verses
at a time, deserves much of the encomiums which it
has received. Its beauties are, much sublimity while
speaking of the Divine Being, a great deal of elegance
in its composition generally, and a system of ethics
and jurisprudence, much better and purer than
Christians are generally willing to allow. Its defects
are, a great want of arrangement and order, a bare-
faced plagiarism of the most extravagant tales of the
Talmud, and many absurd and minute observances
commanded, which were copied from the traditionary
law of the Jews.
The Mohammedan opinion of it is, that it is of divine
origin; that it is eternal and uncreated, and that the
first transcript is by the throne of God, on a table of
vast dimensions, called the preserved table. On this
are also written the divine decrees, past, present, and
future; and if any one object to the eternity of the
Koran, that much of it was adapted to the circum-
stances of Mohammed's times, and not a few passages
to the gratification of his private wishes, it is answered,
that these things were predestinated from all eternity.
The revelation, or pretended revelation, of the Koran
extended over a period of twenty-three years, during
which time, as soon as a chapter had been collected
from a number of separate revelations, which were
taken down by amanuenses, it was read over to the
followers of the prophet, till the whole was committed
to memory; the original was then thrown without order
into a chest, called the chest of revelation, and com-
mitted to the care of Haphsa, one of the wives of
Mohammed: it was, however, they say, by the direction
of the angel Gabriel, that the arrangement of the
verses in each chapter was made. The great table
346 MOHAMMEDANISM.

which stood by the throne of God, was not that which

came down to the lowest heaven, hut a copy on
paper, hound in silk and adorned with pearls. This
precious volume was shown once a year to Mohammed,
but in the last year of his life he saw it twice.
The words first revealed are the five first verses of
the ninety-sixth chapter, and run thus :— a Read, in the
name of thy Lord who hath created all things, who
hath created man of congealed blood. Read by thy
most beneficent Lord, who taught the use of the pen,
who teacheth man that which he knoweth not." The
meaning of this phrase, " congealed blood," after which
the chapter is named, refers to the tradition that all
human beings, save Adam, Eve, and Jesus, were so
created. The next chapter is entitled Al Kadr, and
the whole is subjoined. " In the name of the most
merciful God. Verily we sent down the Koran in the
night of Al Kaclr, (the night of power.) And what
shall make thee understand how excellent the night
Al Kadr is ? The night Al Kadr is better than a thou-
sand months. Therein do the angels descend, and the
spirit Gabriel also, by the permission of their Lord,
with his decrees concerning every matter. It is peace
until the rising of the dawn." This night, twenty-
third of Ramadan, is holy on another account than the
descent of the Koran; for, as the chapter just recited
informs us, the divine decrees for the year following
are on this night taken from the preserved table, and
given to the angels to be executed. The Koran, as
we now have it, is divided into one hundred and four-
teen chapters, called each after the first word of note
which it contains, and because some parts were revealed
at Mecca, and others at Medina, this circumstance
forms a part of the title of each chapter.
Such care has been taken to keep pure the text of
the Koran, that the number of words and letters
therein has been computed, — the former amounting to
 347

THE KORAN.

seventy-seven thousand six hundred and thirty-nine,

and of the latter three hundred and twenty- three thou-
sand and fifteen. They have even calculated the num-
ber of times each particular letter occurs; in this imi-
tating the Jews. After the title come the words called
the Bismillah, which are, " In the name of the most
merciful God," and then comes the chapter itself.
There are twenty-nine chapters of the Koran which
have this peculiarity, that they commence writh certain
letters standing alone, some with a single letter, others
with more: these are by many Mohammedan doctors
thought to express the most profound mysteries, which
have been fullj revealed to none save the prophet.
"With regard to the style of this extraordinary book,
it is generally beautiful and fluent, and though written
in prose, yet the sentences conclude with a long-con-
tinued rhyme, which is to this day the most popular
ornament of Arabic composition. The book now ex-
tant was compiled from the existing copies in the reign
and by the order of the Caliph Othman, in the thirtieth
of the Hegira, by four of the most learned Arabs then
living: they reconciled the various readings, and the
old copies were then burnt and suppressed. The Koran
is held in the greatest possible respect among the
Mohammedans. They never touch it without being
first washed, or legally purified; and lest they should
inadvertently do so, they put an inscription on it,
" Let none touch it but those who are clean." They
swear by it, consult it on weighty occasions, by dipping
into it, and taking as an omen the words that first
occur % carry it with them to war, write sentences of

* Al Walid, the caliph, who was a person of no religion,

dipping thus into the Koran, found the words, " Every rebel-
lious perverse person shall not prosper;" whereupon he stuck
the book on. a lance, and shot it to pieces with arrows, saying,
"Dost thou rebuke every rebellious perverse person? behold
I am a rebellious perverse person."
348 MOHAMMEDANISM.

it on their banners, and adorn it with gold and precious

stones, and suffer it not knowingly to be in the hands
of an infidel.
The first chapter is esteemed as one of the most
holy; and, as it very short, it is subjoined. The Arabs
call it the quintessence of the Koran, and repeat it
often at their devotions, whether public or private*
" Praise be to God, the Lord of all creatures, the most
merciful, the King of the day of judgment. Thee do
we worship, and of thee do we beg assistance. Direct
us in the right way, in the way of those to whom thou
hast been gracious, not of those against whom thou art
incensed, nor of those that go astray."
The first principle of Mohammed's religion was one
which argued a truly philosophical mind, and which
was based upon a solid and important truth. It was
that there was and had been but one religion given to
the world under the various dispensations which God
had at different times promulgated. This religion he
called Islam, which signifies obedience to the divine
rule, and this is the name peculiar to his own dispen-
sation. They divide Islam into two parts, viz., faith
and practice; the one referring to a correct belief in
the six tenets, viz., the being of a God, — of his angels,
— of his scriptures, — of his prophets, — in the resurrec-
tion and day of judgment, — and in predestination:
this faith is called Iman, and the practice Den ; this
has respect to prayer, alms, fasting, and the pilgrimage
to Mecca. They believe that there were one hundred
and four books containing the revelation of God's will,
and given to several prophets ; that these were deli-
vered to the patriarchs in the following manner: ten
to Adam, fifty to Seth, thirty to Edris, or Enoch, ten
to Abraham; and that these are all entirely lost; that
the next three are still in existence, but too much cor-
rupted to be useful; these are, the Pentateuch to
Moses, the Psalms to David, and the Gospel to Jesus.
 THE KORAN. 349

The last revelation which is to be expected is the

Koran, which was given to Mohammed, and the list of
prophets is now closed. They speak of two hundred
and twenty four thousand prophets, of whom three
hundred and thirteen were apostles sent to recover
mankind from their ignorance and depravity, and six,
viz., Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Moham-
med, were founders of new dispensations.
The Koran insists on a firm belief in Angels, of
whom Gabriel, the angel who gave the Koran to
Mohammed, — Michael, the guardian of the Jews, —
Asrace, the angel of death, — and Israfil, who, at the
day of judgment, will sound the trumpet, are the chief:
it also speaks of Devils, whose chief is Eblis, and of
Genii, or Gins ; these beings, who are somewhat between
men and angels, are in a state of probation like men,
and therefore Mohammed claimed to be sent for their
conversion, as well as that of the human race. These
spirits are supposed to have inhabited the world many
ages before the creation of Adam, and to have been
governed by a long succession of princes, who all bore
the name of Solomon, but at last a general profligacy
obtained among them, and Eblis, before his fall, was
commissioned to drive them into a remote corner of
the earth; some who remained were made war upon
by Tahmuras, one of the ancient monarchs of Iran,
and these wars and successions form the subject of
many legends among Mohammedans.
Peris, Dives, who were gigantic beings hostile to
man, and Tacwins, spirits like the Valkyruir of the
Northern mythology, make a great figure in Oriental
romance. The Gins were driven into the mountains
of Kaf by Tahmuras. An opinion prevails among the
disciples of Islam that every man has two guardian
angels, who watch over him and write down all his
actions : these, which are changed every day, are called
350 MOHAMMEDANISM.

Moakkibat, and they pretend that the same opinion is

expressed in the New Testament, in those words of
onr Lord, " for in heaven their angels do behold the
face of my Father." In addition to these topics, the
Koran contains the moral, civil, and ceremonial law of
Islam, provisions for many cases of difficult determina-
tion, and for the peculiar circumstances of the author
and his disciples at the time of its publication.

CHAPTER VII.

OF DEATH, THE RESURRECTION, AND THE JUDGMENT.

When the body of a man is laid in the grave, the

Moslem doctors say that he is received by an angel,
who gives him notice that the two examiners, Monkir
and Nekir, are approaching. These are angels of a
dark and terrible appearance, who command the de-
ceased to sit upright, and then question him concerning
his creed. If he reply, " There is no God but God,
and Mohammed is his prophet," they suffer the airs of
Paradise to blow on the body, and leave it in peace ;
but if the man hesitate or prevaricate, they beat him
on the temples with iron maces, till he cries out loud
enough to be heard by all beings save men and genii.
They then press the earth on the corpse, which is
gnawed and stung till the resurrection, by ninety-nine
dragons having seven heads each. Some say that the
sins of the wicked will become serpents and scorpions,
and will come and torment them while lying in the
grave. These, however, are subjects upon which all the
Moslems are not agreed; some rejecting altogether the
examination in the tomb. But in the eighth chapter of
the Koran occur these words, which seem to refer to
 THE RESURRECTION AND THE JUDGMENT. 351

it : " And if ye did behold when the angels cause the

unbelievers to die, they strike their faces and their
backs, and say unto them, 6 Taste ye the pain of burn-
ing; this shall ye suffer for what your hands have sent
before you, and because God is not unjust to his ser-
that the vants/ " souls
Those ofwho
the believe
wicked this examination,
remain suppose
united to their
bodies, Others distribute these and the souls of the
righteous in various places of abode.
The day of judgment, which, according to one pas-
sage of the Koran, is to last one thousand years, and,
according to another, fifty thousand years, is to be pre-
ceded bymany greater and lesser signs; but the time
of its approach is known only to God. The lesser
signs are, the decay of faith among men, the advance-
ment of mean persons to dignity, great sensuality,
tumult, and sedition, distress, famine, and rebellion.
The greater signs will require to be more particularly
described. The first of these is the rising of the sun
in the west. The second, the appearance of the beast
which rises out of the earth, but the learned are not
agreed as to the particular spot. This monster, whose
head alone will fill the space between earth and heaven,
is described as composed of the parts of many beasts.
She has the head of a bull, the eyes of a hog, the ears
of an elephant, the horns of a stag, the neck of an
ostrich, the breast of a lion, the colour of a tiger, the
back of a cat, the tail of a ram, the legs of a camel,
and the voice of an ass. This creature, which is to
surpass all created beings in swiftness, will bring with
her the rod of Moses, and the seal of Solomon, and,
appearing in three several places, she will mark be-
lievers and unbelievers in the forehead, so that they
may at once be distinguished. One great object of her
coming will be to demonstrate the vanity of every
religion save Islam, and of all other languages save
Arabic.
352 MOHAMMEDANISM.

The third sign will be a war between the Greeks

and the Jews, and the taking of the city of Constan-
tinople byseventy thousand of the latter people, who
shall cease from dividing the spoil at the coming of
Antichrist. This coming will be the fourth sign. He
will be followed by seventy thousand Jews, and will con-
tinue on earth one year, one month, one week, and thirty-
seven days. During his continuance in the world he
will lay waste all places but Mecca and Medina, which
will be guarded by angels, and at last will be slain in
battle by Jesus, who will encounter him at the gate of
Lud. The fifth sign will be the second coming of
Christ, who will descend at Damascus, embrace the
Mohammedan religion, marry a wife, and have chil-
dren. In his reign, which will last forty years, there
will be perfect security and peace, from the time that
Antichrist has been killed to the death of Jesus him-
self. The sixth sign will be a war against the Jews,
who will nearly all be exterminated. The seventh will
be the irruption of Gog and Magog. Their armies
will be so vast, that their bows, arrows, and quivers
will be fuel for the faithful for seven years. Then
comes the smoke, which shall fill the whole earth, and
be the eighth sign of the approaching judgment. The
ninth sign will be a wonderful eclipse of the moon; and
the tenth the return of all the earth to idolatry. The
eleventh, the discovery of a vast heap of gold, by the
reflux of the Euphrates, which will be the destruction
of many. The twelfth, the demolition of the Caaba,
or temple of Mecca, by the Ethiopians. The thir-
teenth, the speaking of beasts and inanimate things.
The fourteenth, the breaking out of fire in the province
of Yaman. The fifteenth, the appearance of a man of
the descendants of Kahtan, who shall drive men before
him with his staff. The sixteenth, the coming of
Al-Mohdi, or the dictator. Mohammed prophesied
 THE RESURRECTION AND THE JUDGMENT. 353

that the world should not have an end till a descend-

ant of his own should govern the Arahs, whose name
should he the same as his own, and their father s name
the same. The person answering this description was
born at Sermanrai, in the two hundred and fifty-fifth
year of the Hegira: he is believed by the Shiites to be
still alive, but concealed, and from this tradition arises
the report among Christians, that the Mohammedans
expected a return of their prophet. The seventeenth,
a wind which shall sweep away the souls of all who
have but a grain of faith in their hearts.
These seventeen signs shall indicate the approach of
the day of judgment, but shall not make certain the
precise time of its arrival; this will be done by the
three blasts of the trumpet, each of which will take
place forty years after the preceding. The first is
called the blast of consternation; then the earth shall
be shaken, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and
men shall forget their riches, and women their chil-
dren, and all the beasts of the earth shall be congre-
gated together. All this is magnificently described in
the eighty-first chapter of the Koran. Then cometh
the second blast, the blast of examination, at the sound
of which all beings save God alone, shall perish, with
paradise and hell, and their inhabitants; the throne of
glory, and the preserved table, and the pen with which
it was written, >vill be also among those things exempted
from the common fate. Azrace, the angel of death,
will be the last that will die. At the third blast,
called the blast of resurrection, (to blow which Israfil
shall be raised, who at the second blast had died with
all angels,) the dead, small and great, shall stand
before God, Mohammed himself rising first. The pious
shall find white-winged camels, with saddles of gold,
prepared for them to ride on; the less worthy among
believers will walk on foot, while unbelievers will
2 A
354 MOHAMMEDANISM.

appear with their faces on the earth, grovelling in the

dust, blind, lame, and deformed. The great multitude
of the dead shall assemble on the earth, renewed to
receive them: they will be judged one by one, and
while the judgment is going on the angels will keep
them in their proper ranks and orders. All this time^
while the pains of hell are already beginning to take
hold on the wicked, the just will suffer a species of
purgatorial torment, light, however, in comparison of
that which the wicked will undergo.
When the risen have waited a certain time, God, say
the Mohammedan doctors, shall appear in the clouds,
and surrounded by angels. Then the books will be
produced, and the office of mediator, successively de-
clined byAdam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus,
will be undertaken by Mohammed. All will then be
strictly judged, save seventy thousand of Mohammed's
first disciples, who will be permitted to enter paradise
without examination. Then the good and bad deeds
of each individual shall be compared; a portion of his
good deeds attributed to each person whom he has
injured, and of his bad actions to each who has injured
him. If there remain the weight of an ant in good
works over evil ones after this, the person is admitted
to paradise, and the wicked are punished according to
the measure of their transgressions.
They then pass over the bridge Al Sirat, in their
way to the bliss or torture to which they are doomed.
This bridge, which is laid over the midst of hell, is
said to be finer than a hair, and sharper than the edge
of a sword, so that it seems very difficult to imagine
how any one can stand upon it; but yet, though some
few reject it, or consider it as allegorical, the greater
number firmly believe it in a literal sense. This bridge
is beset with briars and thorns, but these will not hin-
der the passage of the faithful; for they, headed by the
 THE RESURRECTION AND THE JUDGMENT. 355

prophet himself, shall pass over with wonderful rapid-

ity, whereas the wicked, embarrassed with the diffi-
culties of the path, and the want of light, shall fall
down into hell, which lies stretched out beneath them.
Those who aver the literal truth of this article of
their creed, contend that Mohammed's words are all
literally true, for that he could not tell a falsehood.

CHAPTER VIII.
OF HEAVEN ASTD HELL.
On passing the bridge Al Sirat, the road divides, one
path leading to the right, which is the celestial road,
and one to the left, which goes to the abodes of per-
dition. Hell is divided, according to the Mohammedan
doctors, into seven regions, one below another, and
appropriated to sinners of various grades. The first is
called Gehenna, and is the receptacle of those who
acknowledged one God, but whose wicked works pre-
vailed over their good ones: these are all Moham-
medans, and they are to be released from their suffer-
ings when, by their torments, they have expiated the
crimes they committed on earth. The second, called
Ladha, is assigned to the Jews. The third, named
Hotama, to the Christians. The fourth, Sair, to the
Sabians. Sakar, the fifth, to the Magians. Al Jahim,
the sixth, to the idolaters; and Hawiyat, the lowest
and most dreadful, to the hypocrites, — that is, to such
as have professed religion, of whatever sect, and have
not really possessed it.
Hell having seven gates, one to each division, a
company of angels will be placed as a guard over each
gate, to whom the damned will acknowledge the jus-
2 A 2
356 MOHAMMEDANISM.

tice of God, and whom they will pray to intercede with

God for them, that they may be released or annihilated.
The punishments of hell are rather alluded to
than fully described in the Koran; but in the tra-
ditions they are depicted very much in detail, and
certainly display some ingenuity. The praise of
much invention cannot, however, be given them, as
they are very closely copied from similar traditions in
the Talmud. The lightest punishment consists in
wearing shoes of fire, the heat of which causes the
skull to boil like a caldron. Here, in a state not
properly either life or death, must the infidel remain
for ever, but the Moslem only a certain limited period.
When the skins of these persons are burnt and scorched
black, then they shall, after a punishment in ice
or freezing water, be admitted to paradise, but the
inhabitants of that blissful region will receive them
with contempt, and call them infernals, till God shall,
on their prayers, take from them that odious appel-
lation. Some believe that while those persons remain
in hell who have embraced the true faith, but who
acted wickedly, they will be deprived of life, and shall
not feel pain; but when they return to paradise then
they shall be washed with the water of life, and so
recover their consciousness. Such shall continue in
hell not less than nine hundred nor more than seven
thousand years. The angels who will be sent to deliver
them from hell will know them by the marks of pros-
tration on those parts of their bodies which used to
touch the ground in prayer; for these the fire had no
power over; these will therefore remain white when
the flames and smoke of hell hath blackened all the
rest; so when they are released by the angels at the
intercession of Mohammed and the faithful, they are
plunged in the river of life, which makes them whiter
than pearls.
 357

HEAVEN AND HELL.

Between heaven and hell is the wall Al Araf, which

is very broad, and upon it are placed those whose good
and evil works so exactly balance, that they are worthy
neither of heaven nor hell. At the last day, however,
these shall all go into paradise, for they shall then per-
form an act of adoration which shall be considered as
meritorious, making the scale of their good works pre-
ponderate. This wall, Al Araf, is not so broad as to
hinder the blessed and the damned from talking one to
the other.
Those who go by the other path, and are permitted to
enter paradise, will be refreshed by drinking at the pond
of the prophet, which is an exact square of thirty days'
journey in compass ; round it are cups, seventy thousand
in number, like the stars of heaven ; and whosoever
drinks of this water shall never thirst again; its taste
is sweeter than honey ; it is more odoriferous than
musk, and whiter than silver ; it is supplied from Al
Cawthar, one of the rivers of paradise, and is the first
taste the righteous obtain of the delights which await
them.
Paradise is, according to the orthodox, placed above
the seven heavens, and immediately under the throne
of God ; its soil is of musk and saffron, its pebbles
are gems, its buildings are enriched with gold and
silver, and the trunks of its trees are of gold. Among
these trees, the most remarkable is the Tuba, the tree
of life and happiness. This grows in the palace of
Mohammed ; but a branch of it reaches into the
pavilion of each believer ; it is loaded with every kind
of fruit, of surprising size, and of tastes unknown to
mortals ; indeed, if a man wish for any particular
description of fruit, the bough will bend down, and
present it to him. Nay, should he choose flesh, it
will be brought ready dressed, and in dishes of gold,
according to his wish. More than this, costly robes,
358 MOHAMMEDANISM

and horses ready saddled, will issue from the fruits, if

it be desired ; and so large is the tree, that a horseman
mounted on a fleet horse, could not ride round it in a
hundred years.
There is another legend, which is given merely on
account of its absurdity. The fruit of this tree, say
some, is of ten thousand different sorts, and the leaves
are like elephant's ears, the shape of the fruit is that
of a waterpot, and so vast is its size, that the smallest
wrill be sufficient for the food of all living beings for
ever.
The rivers of paradise are among its greatest beauties;
some of these rivers flow with water, some with milk,
some with honey, and some with wine ; there are a
great number of fountains and springs, whose pebbles
are rubies and emeralds, their earth camphire, their
beds musk, and their sides saffron.
But all these delights are insignificant, when com-
pared with the beautiful Houries, or Hur-al-ayun, the
dark-eyed damsels of paradise. These were created,
not of clay, but of musk, and are free from all the
defects incidental to earthly women. They are secluded
from sight in pavilions of hollow pearls, each of which
is sixty miles long, and as many broad.
As soon as a believer arrives at the gate of paradise,
he is met and saluted by the beautiful youths appointed
to wait upon him. Angels will come also to serve
him, one running forward and acquainting his wives,
one bearing the presents sent him by God, one putting
a ring on his finger, which is to point out the happi-
ness of his condition, and one investing him with a
garment of paradise.
When the blessed are all received into paradise, then
the earth will become one vast loaf of bread, which
the hand of the Almighty will hold out to them like a
cake ; for meat, they will have the Ose Balam, and for
 HEAVEN AND HELL. 359

fish, the liver of the fish called Nun, which will be

sufficient for seventy thousand men ; this latter is
intended only for those who entered paradise without
examination. Tents of pearls and emeralds, wines of
the most delicious flavour, and without any inebriating
properties, magnificent garments and furniture, crowns
and bracelets, of unrivalled beauty, are to be, also, the
lot of the faithful; their wives are admitted to the
same felicity ; and in addition to these, they will have
seventy-two of the girls of paradise, and eighty thou-
sand servants.
The music of paradise is much spoken of in the
Koran, and we are told that the angel Israfil, who has
the most melodious voice of all created beings, will
sing praises to God in paradise ; the houries will also
be gifted with sweet voices, and will play on many
instruments ; but, besides these, the very trees, with
their pearly fruits and golden trunks, will celebrate the
divine praises, with a harmony beyond the conceptions
of mortals. But though this be the only view of para-
dise which the common people take, there is yet a
higher and more spiritual view in which the more
devout receive it, deeming all these descriptions of
felicity to be mere figures of speech ; it is said that
they shall behold the face of God morning and evening,
and this is the additional or superabundant recom-
pense promised in the Koran, which will give so exqui-
site delight, that all the other pleasures of paradise
shall be little thought of in comparison; audi this, say
they, is but reasonable, for every other enjoyment is
equally tasted by the brute who is turned into an abun-
dant pasture.
This is a full confutation of the commonly-received
opinion, that Mohammed admitted no spiritual plea-
sures, but made the happiness of the blessed to consist
wholly in corporeal enjoyment.
360 MOHAMMEDANISM.

There is another common opinion which needs to be

refuted: which is, that Mohammed did not acknow-
ledge the souls of women. It will be seen, by the
fact that the wives of believers accompany them to
paradise, that the contrary is the case ; and the com-
nion notion is also confuted by the reply which he
once made to an old woman, who asked him how she
might be admitted into paradise; to which he replied,
that no old woman would go there at all. Seeing,
however, that the old woman was much grieved by
this, he explained himself much to her satisfaction,
by declaring that God would restore them all to
youth.

CHAPTER IX.
OF THE ME SUA, OR NIGHT JOURNEY TO HEAVEN.

The most extraordinary of all the traditions connected

with Mohammed is the Mesra, or Night Journey to
Heaven, which thus related ; it is alluded to in the
seventeenth chapter of the Koran; but the whole
history is preserved in the Sonna. The account here
given is taken for the most part from Prideaux.
As he lay in bed, one night, he heard a knocking
at the door, whereon arising, he found there the angel
Gabriel, with seventy pair of wings expanded from his
sides, whiter than snow, and clearer than crystal, and
by his side the beast Al Borak, which they say is the
beast on which the prophets used to ride, when they
were carried from one place to another, in the execu-
tion of any divine command. Mohammed describes
it as a beast white as milk, and of a nature between
the ass and the mule, and of a swiftness equalling that
of lightning, and hence it is that he is called Al Borak,
 THE MESRA. 361

that word signifying lightning in the Arabic tongue.

As soon as Mohammed appeared at the door, the angel
kindly embraced him, and, with a sweet and pleasant
voice, saluted him in the name of God, telling him
that he was sent to bring him unto God in heaven,
where he should see strange mysteries, which are not
lawful to be seen by any other man; and then bade
him get on Al Barak ; but it appears that Al Borak,
having been idle from the time of Christ till that of
Mohammed, since there had been no prophet in the
interim, had grown restive and unruly, and would not
stand still to allow Mohammed to mount. But when
Gabriel told him who it was who was about to ride,
and said that for his reward he should have a place in
paradise, Borak was quiet, and having taken the pro-
phet on his back, the angel took the bridle, and in the
twinkling of an eye, the party found themselves at
Jerusalem.
As soon as they arrived at the temple, they found
all the prophets and saints of time past, who came to
salute Mohammed, and having accompanied him into the
principal oratory, there left him, begging him to pray
for them. Mohammed and the angel Gabriel having
departed thence, found a ladder of light prepared for
them, which they immediately ascended, without the
least fatigue, leaving Al Borak tied to its foot, till they
returned. This ladder reached to the first heaven,
which when they had attained, Gabriel knocked at the
gate, and being answered from within, and asked who
he was, and whom he brought, he replied that he was
Gabriel, and had brought Mohammed, the friend of
God, and that he had done this by the divine command.
While this was being done, Mohammed looked around,
and saw the stars hanging from this heaven by chains
of pure gold, each star of xhe bigness of Mount Nobo,
in Arabia. In the stars he observed angels watching,
362 MOHAMMEDANISM.

as the guard of heaven, to prevent the devils from

approaching, and overhearing what was done there.
On first entering into this heaven, which was com-
posed entirely of fine silver, he met a decrepit old man,
who told him that his name was Adam, tenderly em-
braced him, and gave God thanks for so great a son,
fervently recommending himself to the prayers of the
prophet. As he advanced, he saw a great number of
angels, in all shapes, some in those of men, others in
those of birds, others in those of every species of
quadrupeds. Among those which appeared in the
shape of birds, was one in the appearance of a cock,
white as snow, and of so prodigious a size, that though
his feet stood upon the first heaven, his head reached
to the second ; which, according to human computation,
at the rate men travel at on earth, was distant five hun-
dred years' j ourney . There are not wanting those, am ong
Arabian divines, who make this cock much bigger, and
say that he reached from the floor of the first heaven
to the top of the seventh, which would be a distance
of three thousand five hundred years' journey, and give
a very magnificent description of him ; saying that his
wings are all glittering with gems and carbuncles, and
he stretches them, one to the east, and the other to the
west, proportionally to his height.
When Mohammed asked who were all these crea-
tures, and what was their office, he was told by the
angel that they were mediating angels between God
and the creatures whose shapes they bore ; that those
who interceded for men had the shape of men ; those
who interceded for beasts, the shape of beasts ; and
those who interceded for birds, the shape of birds,
according to their several kinds. That the great cock
was the angel of the cocks, and every morning, when
God sung a holy hymn, this cock constantly joined in
it by his crowing, which is so loud, that all creatures
 THE MESRA. 363

in the universe hear it, save men, genii, and fairies.

Gabriel also informed him, that when this cock crowed,
then all cocks on earth crowed also, and all angels
bearing that shape in heaven. But when the day of
judgment draws nigh, then God shall command him
to fold his wings, and to crow no more : and this shall
be a sign of the coming of that great day, only men
and fairies, who hear not the crowing, will not be sen-
sible of the silence from it.
This cock is reputed to be in such favour with the
Supreme Being, that it is a common saying among the
Mohammedans, "There are three voices to which God
ever inclines his ear : To the voice of him who is con-
stant in reading the Koran ; to the voice of him who
early every morning prayeth for the pardon of his sins ;
and to the voice of the great cock, which is ever most
acceptable to God."
From the first heaven they proceeded to the second,
which is distant from it five hundred years' journey.
Here he saw many wonderful angels, and their number
was twice that in the first, and among them one of a
size so prodigious, that, standing as he did upon the
second heaven, his head reached to the third. When
the gates were opened to him, which they did of their
own accord by the divine command, he was saluted by
Noah, who greatly rejoiced at seeing the last of the
prophets, and recommended himself to his prayers.
This heaven was made entirely of pure gold.
From hence they ascended to the third, which was
composed of precious stones, and in which he met
Abraham, who, like Adam and Noah, recommended
himself to the prayers of the prophet. Here he saw
twice as many angels as in the second, and among them
one so great, that the distance between his eyes was
seventy thousand days' journey; "in which," Prideaux
observes, " Mohammed was out in his mathematics,
364 MOHAMMEDANISM.

for the distance between a mans eyes being in propor-

tion to his height but as one to seventy-two, the whole
height of the angel, at this rate, must have been nearly
fourteen thousand years' journey, which is four times
as much as the height of all the seven heavens toge-
ther, and therefore it is impossible that such an angel
could ever stand in any of them." To which a Mo-
hammedan would reply, that it is not said he was con-
tained in any one, but as the cock lifted his head to the
top of the seventh heaven, so did this angel also, and
much higher. This hugest of created beings was
Azrace, the angel of death, and before him was a tablet
in which he was continually writing and blotting out.
On Mohammed asking what was the meaning of this,
Gabriel informed him that into the table which he had
before him, he was writing the names of those who
should be born, and when they had fulfilled the number
of days allotted to them, he then blotted out their
names, and they immediately die.
After observing thus much, they again proceeded,
and ascended to the fourth heaven, where they found
the number of angels still progressively increasing. In
this heaven, which was composed of emerald, they
found Joseph, the son of Jacob, who, like the rest,
recommended himself to his prayers. The only angel
which here attracted his notice was one whose head
reached to the fifth heaven, and who was continually
weeping and making great lamentation and mourning;
and this was, as Gabriel said, for the sins of mankind,
and the certain destruction which they were bringing
upon themselves thereby.
In the fifth heaven, which was made of diamond, he
found Moses, who recommended himself to his prayers,
and a number of angels still increasing.
The same was the case in the sixth heaven, which
was composed of one perfect carbuncle, and in which
 THE ME SUA. 365

John the Baptist recommended himself to the prayers

of Mohammed.
In the seventh heaven, which was' composed entirely
of divine light, he found Jesus Christ, who, saluting
him, Mohammed recommended himself to his prayers,
thereby reversing the style which he had hitherto used.
In this heaven there were twice as many angels as in
all the heavens beside, and one, perhaps, the most
extraordinary creation of fancy that the realms of fiction
can show. This angel had seventy thousand heads, in
each head seventy thousand faces, in each face seventy
thousand mouths, in each mouth seventy thousand
tongues, and with each tongue he spoke seventy thou-
sand languages at once, with which he praised God day
and night.
So far did Gabriel bring Mohammed; but now he
told him that he must leave him, and that he must go
the rest of the journey by himself to the throne of God.
This journey, he says, he performed with great diffi-
culty, passing through waters and snow, and many
dense clouds, till at last he came where he heard a
voice say to him, "Mohammed, salute thy Creator!"
Ascending a little higher, he saw a vast expanse of
light, of so vivid a brilliancy that he could not bear to.
look thereon. In this light was the habitation of the
Deity, and in it his throne was visible: on the right
side of this awful throne were the words, in Arabic,
" There is no God but God, and Mohammed is his
prophet." These words form the creed of the impos-
tors followers, and these were also written on the gates
of the seven heavens through which he passed.
Being now advanced into the divine presence as near
to the throne as within two bow-shots, he says that he
saw God sitting on his throne, with a covering of
seventy thousand veils before his face, and then the
Supreme Being put forth his hand in token of his great
 366 MOHAMMEDANISM.

favour, and laid it upon Mohammed, and it was so cold

that he could not bear it; he then declares that God
entered into familiar converse with him, and showed
him many mysteries, and made him understand all his
law, and gave him many things in charge concerning
the new dispensation, of which he was the chief; and,
in conclusion, endowed him with many great and im-
portant privileges. These were, that he should be the
most perfect of God's creatures; that at the day of
judgment he should ride on the beast Borak, and be
much distinguished beyond the rest of mankind; that
he should be the redeemer of all who believed in him ;
should have the knowledge of all languages, and the
spoils. of all captives; that he might take women as
wives and concubines as many as he pleased, and under
whatever circumstances ; that he, with seventy thousand
of his people, should enter paradise without having a
question asked them; and lastly, that the angel of
death should not take away his soul without first asking
his permission. He also says that he saw on the right
hand of the throne of God, the lote tree, beyond which
none ever passed but himself; and under it he saw all
the host of angels worshipping. Some writers apply
to this tree the extravagant description given of the
tree of life in paradise, namely, that one of the smallest
of its fruits would be amply sufficient for all the living
beimrs in heaven and earth for ever, and that this
wonderful fruit is shaped like a waterpot.
"While Mohammed was engaged in surveying these
wonders, a hand came from the cloud and proffered to
his choice two cups, one filled with milk and one with
wine. Mohammed took the former, on which a voice
exclaimed, "O Mohammed! thou hast chosen wisely;
now shalt thou prosper in thine undertakings; whereas,
hadst thou taken the wine, they would assuredly have
all come to nought." This was the reason for which
 367

THE MESRA.

some say that he forbade wine to his disciples. But

the most extraordinary part of his conversation with
God is, that he was told to command his followers to
pray fifty times a day.
When he had got as far on his return as the third
heaven, and was relating to Abraham the wonders he
had beheld, and among other things repeated this com-
mand, Abraham objected that it was impossible that it
could be fulfilled; and Mohammed says that he went
back into the divine presence to complain that an im-
possibility had been commanded him. The impossi-
bility was acknowledged, and the number of prayers
reduced to five.
Returning to the seventh heaven again, he found the
angel Gabriel waiting for him, and they traversed toge-
ther once more the seven heavens. When they reached
the first, they saw the ladder of light by which they
had ascended, and making their descent the same way,
the prophet mounted Al Borak, the angel took the
bridle, and at once, in the twinkling of an eye, the
trio were at Mecca.
By way of showing the extreme rapidity with wrhich
this journey had been performed, it is said that, on his
return to his chamber door, Gabriel pointed out to
Mohammed a pitcher which Al Borak had kicked over
when they started, and the water was not yet all run
out of it. The more sober writers who record this
marvellous transaction say, that it occupied the twelfth
part of the night, while some treat it altogether as a
vision; but the orthodox believe this, as everything
else which their prophet spake, is to be taken literally,
and accordingly they firmly believe it.
368 MOHAMMEDANISM.

CHAPTER X.
OF THE PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA.

Of all those parts of the Moslem code which are allowed

to be merely ceremonial, the most important is the pil-
grimage to Mecca, a duty of so great moment, that the
prophet is reported to have said, " lie who dies with-
out performing this pilgrimage, may as well die a Chris-
tian or a Jew." The Caaba, which is a square stone
building, of considerable height, is situated in the centre
of that celebrated temple so highly venerated by the
Mohammedans. This Caaba is called Beit Allah, or the
House of God, and though probably only an idol temple
at first, is yet said to be almost coeval with the world ;
for when Adam was in paradise, they tell us of a cer-
tain oratory, or house of prayer, which he had there,
and that when he was, in consequence of his trans-
gression, driven out from thence, he petitioned God
that he might have a house of prayer like to the former.
Then the Almighty let down from heaven, in curtains
of light, a representation of that house, and commanded
Adam always, when he prayed, to turn towards it.
This building was placed in Mecca, under the place in
paradise where the original is supposed to stand.
A similar tradition prevailed in the early Christian
church as to the relative locality of the earthly and
heavenly Jerusalem. At the death of Adam, this house,
it appears, was taken up again into heaven, for we find
Seth building another on the same plan, and in the
same place, and this being destroyed by the Flood, was
rebuilt by Abraham and Ishmael, at Gods especial
command, and after the model of the antediluvian
temple, which was shown them by inspiration. The
Caaba, as left by these patriarchs, is said to have been
 PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA. 369

repaired from time to time till the vera, of the Koreish,

who, a few years after the birth of Mohammed, rebuilt
it on the old foundation. This edifice did not bear the
ravages of time so well as the former, for it was not
only thoroughly repaired by Abdallah Ebn Zobeir, the
caliph of Mecca, but entirely rebuilt in the seventy-
fourth year of the Hegira, in the form in which it now
exists. The celebrated Haroun Al Rashid wished to
restore it to its primitive form, which it is not now
thought exactly to preserve, but was prevented by his
priests, who said that if the sacred building became a
sport for princes it would lose somewhat of its ancient
sanctity. The traditions say that it will remain in its
present state till the signs shall appear which denote
the coming of the day of judgment; then it shall be
attacked by the Ethiopians, and destroyed ; after which
it shall never again be rebuilt.
The Caaba being the most holy part of the temple,
and reputed to have been the work, in the first place,
of Abraham, it is natural to expect that there should
be preserved here some relics of this eminent patriarch.
Accordingly, in the south-east corner is a black stone,
set in a frame-work of silver, and placed so as to look
towards Basra: it is about a yard and a quarter from
the ground, and is considered the most holy thing in
existence, some calling it the right hand of God on
earth. It was, they say, one of the precious stones
of paradise, and fell down to the earth with Adam;
but when the flood came it was taken out of the Caaba,
and preserved till the rebuilding of it by Abraham, to
whom it was brought by the angel Gabriel. It was at
this time whiter than milk, but has since become black,
some say by some ceremonial defilement, others by the
sins of the world, and others say that it is yet white in
the inside, but that the touches and kisses of so vast a

2 B
370 MOHAMMEDANISM.

concourse of pilgrims have in the course of ages made

it black, and this appears to be the truth.
The temple of Mecca has shared in the fortunes of
the city, and when the latter was in the possession of
the Karmatians, they, among other sacrilegious con-
duct, carried off this sacred stone, nor could the Meccans
reobtain it till they offered five thousand pieces of gold
for it. It appears that the Karmatians considered it
as a source of wealth, supposing that it was this which
attracted the crowds of pilgrims to Mecca, and that if
they kept it the pilgrims would come to them. Find-
ing this not to be the case, they, after having kept it
twenty-two years, sent it back unasked, but declared
at the same time that it was not what the Meccans
took it for, but only a counterfeit. It was, however,
soon shown to be genuine, by a property which no
other stone possesses, — that of floating on water.
This black stone, though the chief, is not the only
relic of Abraham preserved here. They show a stone
on which is the print of a foot, said to be Abraham's;
saying that on this stone he stood when he built the
Caaba, and that it served him as a scaffold, rising and
falling of itself when necessary. Another tradition
says that he only stood upon it once, when the wife of
his son Ishmael, to whom he paid a visit, washed his
head. This stone is kept enclosed in an iron chest,
out of which the pilgrims drink the water of the well
Zem-Zeni, and by it they are ordered by the Koran to
pray. When the Karmatians carried off the black
stone, this was carefully hidden b}r the officers of the
temple. The chest is not kept in the Caaba, but in
the station of Abraham. On the east side of this
building there is a small square edifice covered with a
cupola, under which is the celebrated well Zem-Zem.
This is, they say, the spring which gushed out in the
wilderness for the relief of Hagar, when, with the
 PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA. 371

infant Ishmael, she fled from her enraged mistress.

The water of this well is accounted peculiarly holy; it
is sent in bottles to every part of the Mohammedan
dominions, — believed to have wonderful virtue in curing
diseases, — and, according to Abdallah al Hand, has
the gift of conferring a strong memory. There is
another point of belief with many which is worth notice
with regard to this well; it is, that the spirits of be-
lievers reside in it from their death to the day of judg-
ment, while those of infidels will be thrust into a well
in a distant part of Arabia, the name of which well is
Al Borhut.
The Caaba has a double roof, supported within by
three octagonal pillars of aloes wood, between which,
on a bar of iron, hang silver lamps. The exterior is
covered writh rich black damask, adorned with an em-
broidered band of gold, which is changed every year:
it used, in the first place, to be provided by the caliphs,
then by the sultans of Egypt, and is now furnished by
the Turkish sultan. At a little distance on the north
side, within a circular enclosure fifty cubits long, lies
the white stone said to be the sepulchre of Ishmael.
On this, the water that is collected on the roof of the
Caaba is allowed to fall by a golden spout : this was at
first a wooden spout, but the present was supplied by
the caliph Haroun Al Rashid. The Caaba is in length
thirty-six feet from north to south; its breadth from
east to west thirty-four feet and a half; and its height
forty feet. The door is on the east side, and is six
feet from the ground, the floor being level with the
bottom of the door. The sacred building is surrounded
at some distance by a circular enclosure of pillars,
which are joined at the bottom by a low balustrade,
and towards the top by bars of silver, from which lamps
are hung. Just without this inner enclosure, on the
south, north, an I west sides of the Caaba, are three
372 MOHAMMEDANISM.

buildings, which are the oratories or places where three

of the sects among the faithful assemble to perform
their devotions; the fourth, which is on the east side,
being called the station of Abraham, and used by the
sect of Al Shafei. To the south-east stand the well
Zem-Zem, the cupola of Al Abbas, and the treasury.
All these buildings are enclosed at a considerable
distance by a magnificent colonnade, or piazza, like
that of the Royal Exchange in London, but much
larger: it is covered with small cupolas, surmounted
by crescents, and having minarets at the four corners,
with double galleries, and adorned with spires and
crescents, which are gilded, as well as the crescents on
the small cupolas. All the spaces between the pillars
of this enclosure, like that of the inner one, are hung
with silver lamps, which at night are kept constantly
lighted. This outward enclosure, which was at first
only a bare low wall to mark the precincts of the tem-
ple, was built by Omar, and it has been raised to its
present lustre by a long succession of princes and great
men.
This temple, though peculiarly holy, is not so exclu-
sivelythe
; whole territory of Mecca, for ten miles round
the city, being considered so sacred that it is not allowed
to hunt, or to shoot, or to cut even a branch from a
tree within it. This holy spot is marked by a line of
turrets at equal distances. Pilgrims who arrive at
Mecca, having scrupulously abstained from destroying
life on their pilgrimage, when they reach the sacred
territory, put on the sacred habit which distinguishes
them as such: these consist of two woollen wrappers,
one bound round the loins, and one thrown over the
shoulders; then, with the head bare, and the feet in a
kind of slippers, they enter the holy enclosure.
When at Mecca, the ceremonies begin, which consist
in going seven times round the Caaba, and seven times
 PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA. 373

kissing the black stone, — running seven times between

the hills Safa and Menva, — praying one day on Mount
Arafat, and one night at Mozdalifa, — throwing three
stones at a pillar in the valley of Mina, which repre-
sents the devil, whom Abraham is said to have met
there, and driven away with stones, — slaying in the
same place certain victims, and shaving the hair, and
cutting the nails, burying them on the spot where
they were cut, — and paying a farewell visit to the
Caaba. These ceremonies being finished, the pil-
grimage iscomplete, and the person who has performed
it takes the title of Hadsfi in addition to his name.
None of these ceremonies are originally of Mohammed's
appointment ; he found them adopted by the pagan
Arabs, and knowing how enthusiastically they were
attached to those relics of paganism, he, though well
aware of their inutility, yet preserved them to gain
popularity, only altering some points in which the old
forms were very reprehensible. Thus the Arabs, before
his time, compassed the Caaba naked, alleging that
this was significant of their throwing aside their sins:
but this Mohammed reformed, saying at the same time,
that in the presence of God all ornaments should be
laid aside, in token of deep humility. It is observed
in the Koran, that all these rites are only valuable as
tests of the obedience of mankind, and not on account
of any intrinsic worth.

CHAPTER XL
OF TRADITIONS PRESERVED AMONG THE MOHAMMEDANS.

In the traditions, and in the Koran, are preserved ac-

counts of all those great events which we find in the
Jewish Scriptures ; they are, for the most part, taken
374 MOHAMMEDANISM.

from the Talmud, and foisted into the Koran or adopted

in the traditions, hy the Jewish assistant of the pro-
phet. A few of these, by way of specimen, will form
the subject of the present chapter.
Their history of the creation of Adam is very
singular. God, say they, sent four of his angels in
succession, Gabriel, Michael, Israfil, and Azrace, to
fetch seven handsful of earth, from different depths
and of different colours, that he might make man
therewith; but the earth remonstrating and saying,
that the being so created would rebel against God, the
three first came back without executing their com-
mission. Azrace, however, performed it, and was
appointed as the angel of death. The earth thus
taken, was carried to a place between Mecca and
Tayef, where, after having being kneaded by the angels,
God fashioned it himself into a human form, and left
it for forty years to dry. The angels, during this
period, often visited it, and Eblis, then one of the
loftiest of archangels, knowing that it was intended to
be superior to them, and that they would be required
to worship it, kicked it till it rung, and secretly resolved
never to acknowledge it as his superior. After this, it
was animated by the breath of God, and the angels
were called on to do homage to it. They were un
willing at first to do so, but on being convinced that
Adam was wiser than they, they (with the exception
of Eblis and one-third of the angels,) did the required
homage. Eblis and his companions were immediately
driven out from the presence of God, avowing their
determination to ruin this new work of his hands.
Accordingly, we have the history of the fall, given with
but little variation, in the Koran.
There is a Gospel of St. Barnabas, which the Mo-
hammedans accept as of divine origin, which is a
forgery of some early Christians, with many Mohani-
 TRADITIONS. 375

medan interpolations. From a Spanish version of this

book, some other particulars are deduced'"".
Enoch is spoken of in the Koran, under the name
of Edris, and his translation is not obscurely hinted
at ; but a very full account is given of Noah, who is
regarded as one of the six great prophets, though no
written revelation was given to him. There are, how-
ever, not a few, who pretend that Noah was only sent
to Zohak, a king of Persia, who refused to hearken to
him ; and that then he openly declared God's unity, for
the world was then deeply sunk in idolatry, and that
was the evil against which Noah preached.
There were two other prophets sent to particular
people, subsequently; Saleh to the tribe of Thamud,
and Hud to the tribe of Ad. The people of Thamud
proposed to Saleh, that the god who answered by a
miracle, should be considered divine. This condition
being accepted, they requested him to call forth a she-
camel from the rock before them, solemnly engaging
if he did so, they would believe in God alone. Saleh
called to the rock, and a she-camel came forth exactly
answering to the description given by the Thamudites,
and she immediately gave birth to a young camel, who,
to complete the miracle, was as big as herself. This
people then became true believers, warned both by
this miracle and the awful destruction which had
befallen the tribe of Ad, who had possessed that
territory before them.
* Y 11am o Dios a la serpiente y a Michael aquel tiene la
espada de Dios y le dixo, Aquesta sierpe es acelerada echala
la primera del Parayso y cortale las piernas y si quisiere
caminar arrastrara la vida por tierra, y 11am d a Satanas el qual
vino riendo y dixole. Porque tu reprobo has enganado a
aquestos y los has hecho inimundos ? Yo quiero que toda
immundicia fcuya y de todos sus hijos en saliendo des sus
cuerpos entre por tu boca porque en verdad ellos haran peni-
tencia y tu quedaras harto de immundicia.
376 MOHAMMEDANISM.

"When Hud was sent to the Adites, they refused to

believe, whereupon God afflicted them with a drought
for three years. They then sent two of their principal
people, Kail and Morthed, with a large deputation to
Mecca, to inquire at the temple. This city was then
in the possession of a prince whose name was Moawi-
yah Ebn Beer, and he being without the city when the
ambassadors arrived, entertained them for a month in
so hospitable a manner, that they would have quite
forgotten the business about which they came, if the
king had not reminded them of it ; this he did, not
himself, lest it should seem that he wanted to get rid
of them, but by the mouth of a singing- woman. At
this, being roused from their lethargy, Morthed told
them, that the only way to obtain favour from God,
would be to obey their prophet; but this advice was
far from pleasing the rest; they with one accord went
to Moawiyah and begged him to imprison Morthed,
which being done, Kail and the rest went on to Mecca,
and entering into the temple, begged that rain might
be sent to the people of Ad. Whereupon, three
clouds appeared, of which Kail was permitted to take
his choice. One was white, one red, and one black.
Kail chose the last, and went home with his companions
rejoicing, but the cloud was brought over their city
and burst upon it; it proved to be fraught with the
divine vengeance, and a tempest broke forth from it
which destroyed the whole tribe.
The history of Moses is preserved without much
corruption: a few efforts of fancy have been allowed
to amplify his miracles. Such is the account of the
serpent, into which the rod of Moses was turned,
which, according to them, was of so vast a size, that
when he opened his mouth his jaws were eighty cubits
(one hundred and twenty feet) asunder, and that when
he lay down, his upper jaw reached to the top of the
 377

TRADITIONS.

palace. At the siglit of this monster, Pharaoh, as was

but reasonable, was so terrified, that he and all his
court took to their heels, and twenty-five thousand of
them perished in the press. He assured Moses that if
he would but remove that fearful serpent, he would
certainly let the Israelites go, and become a proselyte
himself: but when the serpent became once more a
rod, he hardened his heart as before. One of his
miracles, that of the leprosy on his own hand, is a
little altered in the Mohammedan version. It is there
said not to have become leprous, but only so white
and brilliant, that the sun in the firmament was dim
when compared to it.
Their fables concerning Abraham, whom they regard
as the great father of their race, are many and various.
They have a tradition that he was an idolater in his
youth, as was his father; and being by the angel
Gabriel converted to the knowledge of the true God,
he one day got into an idol temple and broke all the
idols, putting the mallet with which he did it into the
hands of the largest idol, and afterwards taxed the
idol with having broken all the rest; but when he
found the worshippers of the idols unwilling to believe
this, he reproved them for worshipping things which
they knew incapable of motion, and thus led them to
the knowledge of the true Gocl. After this, he was
called upon by Nimrod to bow down and worship him,
that prince having made himself the only object of
adoration to his subjects. On Abraham's refusal, he
was bound and flung into a fire so vast and fierce, that
twenty-two thousand of the idolaters around it were
destroyed by the heat. However, to Abraham it did
no hurt, merely burning the bands with which he was
confined, and appearing to him only as an odorous
wind, which fanned him while he walked through a
pleasant garden. Nimrod himself was soon punished for
378 MOHAMMEDANISM.

his calling himself the lord of all creatures, for God

sent a gnat, which was one of the smallest of them,
and it got up the nostrils of Nimrod, and so penetrated
to his brain, where growing bigger every day, it caused
him so much pain, that he was obliged to have his
head beaten with mallets for four hundred years, and
so he died.
An extract from the Gospel of St. Barnabas, will
conclude this chapter. It is said, that when the Jews
were about to apprehend Jesus in the garden, he was
taken from them and carried up to the third heaven
by four angels, namely, Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and
Uriel, and that thus he was rescued; nor will he die
till the end of the world: but that the Jews seized
upon Judas, who was miraculously made to assume
the appearance of Christ, took him before Pontius
Pilate, scourged, mocked, and crucified him. So great
wTas this resemblance, that even the Virgin and the
Apostles were deceived by it; but that Jesus after-
wards appeared to these and comforted them. Barna-
bas asking him, why he had suffered the world and his
followers to suppose that he had died an ignominious
death, Jesus replied, "O Barnabas! believe me that
every sin, how small soever, is punished by God with
great torment, because God is offended with sin. My
mother, therefore, and faithful disciples, having loved
me with a mixture of earthly love, God has punished
them with this present grief, that they may not be
punished for it in hell; and as for me, though I have
been blameless myself, yet because others have called
me God, and the Son of God, therefore God alloweth
me to be mocked by this death of Judas, that I may
not be mocked by the devils at the day of judgment;
and hence it is, that this mocking is still to continue
till the coming of Mohammed, the messenger of God,
who coming into the world, will undeceive every one
 TRADITIONS. 379

who shall believe in the law of God from this mistake."

The Mohammedans entertain the greatest horror for
the character of Judas, and the greatest hatred of his
conduct. There is, near Jerusalem, a heap of stones,
which they call the sepulchre of Judas, and on which
every Moslem throws one as he is passing, spitting
towards it at the same time, to mark his detestation of
the traitor.

CHAPTER XII.

OF THE INSTITUTIONS OF ISLAM; THEIR SPIRIT AND

EFFECT.

Mohammedanism is to he viewed not only as a scheme

of religion, but as a civil code ; for the laws of all coun-
tries professing Islamism are referable to the Koran as
the source from which they are all taken, and to which
there always lies an appeal. The civil law, then, which
Mohammed propounded, law by law, at various times,
and at considerable intervals, was one which has many
excellences, and, comparatively speaking, few defects.
There are few countries in which justice is more rigidly
administered than in those which profess Moham-
medanismand,
; making due allowance for the indulg-
ence granted to his conquering Arabs, as a lure to the
acceptance of his doctrine, it may be said that he looked
to the interests of posterity, and gave them a system of
jurisprudence which was well calculated to promote
their happiness. That this is the case, is evident from
the long continuance of his system, the vast countries
in which it prevailed, and the mental as well as poli-
tical prosperity enjoyed by many of them. It is but
to refer to the princes of the caliphate, to the Aben-
380 MOHAMMEDANISM.

cerages in Spain, and to the empire of Saladin, to con-

vince the most prejudiced that Islamism did not neces-
sarily foster ignorance. Poetry, painting, the mecha-
nical arts, architecture, medicine, astronomy, and mathe-
matics, were understood by these people far better than
by the Christians of their time; the germs of romance,
properly so called, and the rudiments of a better school
of poetry, were brought back by the crusaders on their
return from the East; and if Europe did lose some
thousands of men who would otherwise have perished
in petty quarrels among their own princes, she gained,
in return, arts, science, military tactics, a high chival-
rous feeling, and a knowledge of the world at large,
which would else have remained shut up among their
Eastern possessors.
But though the effect of the crusades might be to
disseminate good in Europe, it does not therefore follow
that the effects of Mohammedanism were also good.
It is true that a valuable code of laws was given, and
after a while the throne of the caliphate was filled
vvTith a succession of active and enlightened princes;
but though their reigns were, without a doubt, imme-
diately beneficial, the system of which they were the
supporters was only calculated, for the beginning of
mental cultivation. The tales which the Mohammedan
doctors told their disciples had been before published
by the Talmudists; and Mohammed, when he acknow-
ledged the truth of the Mosaic dispensation, added
weight and authority to his own. That which men
have believed in times past they will be willing to
believe again; and, while the Jews were attracted by
finding the mission of Moses declared, and the traditions
of the Talmud repeated, the pagans were induced to
look on the prophet only as a reformer of that religion
from which themselves had but half departed.
To a nation, warm, impetuous, and highly ima-
 INSTITUTIONS OP ISLAM. 381

ginative, the circulation of legends, poetical in character,

and clothed in the most sublime and nervous language,
must have been peculiarly pleasing : it would be exactly
in accordance with their tastes, for the barbarity of a
nation has never been a bar to the production of the
most finished poetry, or to its favourable reception
when produced. Homer lived when the first rudi-
ments of civilization were scarcely known, and he has
never been surpassed, perhaps never equalled, by the
poets of a more polished age. Accordingly we find
the Koran read with avidity, and its author implicitly
obeyed; but an age like that of which we have been
speaking, will ever be void of reflection, more prone to
act than to deliberate, and totally averse from abstruse
metaphysical speculations. To men of this class, and
to such an age as this, was the Koran addressed. Its
author was noble, popular, fascinating in manner, rich,
and endowed with talents the most splendid and the
most consummate; he had travelled and thought much,
and though, in the usual acceptation of the word, un-
learned himself, he knew how to use the powers of
those who were not so. He adapted his scheme for
the people to whom he offered it. He called an active,
ardent nation to war; he proposed an exaggerated, but
poetical picture of religion, to an imaginative race of
men; they were unreflecting, and he required no study;
they were voluptuous and he promised them an eternity
of sensual pleasures. He flattered their prejudices; he
allowed them to retain the most popular parts of their
pagan ceremonies; and, since there was nothing in
his system to disgust them, and everything to allure
them, he boldly demanded an implicit faith and an
implicit obedience from his followers.
Conquest to an Arab, under the command of Mo-
hammed, was not an empty glory; a due share of the
spoils and the persons of all his female captives was a
382 MOHAMMEDANISM.

bribe strong enough to induce the most undaunted

perseverance; and, when to this was added the cer-
tainty of paradise, and such a paradise! to all who
fell in battle, we need no longer wonder at the spread
of Islam. The more obvious objections to his scheme
he contrived to answer in his life by the successive
revelations of his Koran; and the more abstruse ones,
wdiich would require a deeper examination or more
attentive thought, his immediate followers had no time
to make. But the system of implicit faith, as well as
implicit obedience, making the mind, as it were, sta-
tionary, could only act beneficially for a certain time.
So long as the revelations of Mohammed were beyond
his sera, or rather in advance of the conceptions of his
followers, the result was beneficial to their social and
political state; but directly they arrived at that period
of civilization when the powers of abstract reasoning
become drawn out, and men contemplate the nature,
bearings, and metaphysical results of every question
laid before them, then they felt that their reason or
their religion must one of them be wrong, or, at least,
the aspect of the case gave them a yet undefined sus-
picion that it might be so, while the awful denun-
ciations ofthe prophet upon those who doubted, recurred
to their minds with all the prejudices of habit and
education, and, to escape the dilemma, they determined
not to reason upon it at all; but he who reasons
weakly, or refuses to reason at all, on one point, is but
too likely to do so in others ; and if we take that for
granted of the truth of which we have misgivings in
one case, we shall soon lose the power of resistance to
prejudice, and our mind will become little more than
a mere memory of events.
Under circumstances such as these, it is fortunate
for a nation when the power of imagination is common
among them. Poetry, romance, and the fine arts, but
 INSTITUTIONS OF ISLAM. 383

especially the former, may perhaps flourish while phi-

losophy lies in the dust; and if commerce and war be
successful, the start which such a nation has taken
before others may continue even when those other
nations have begun steadily to act upon a more
rational and a more intellectual system. This has been
the case with the Mohammedan countries; they ad-
vanced almost at once to a pitch of refinement which
made them the wonder and the envy of their Christian
contemporaries; but, when arrived there, they remained
stationary, while those whose religion would bear the
test of reason were encouraged to use that reason in
other pursuits. Among them, science and philo-
sophy are in the same state in which they were ten
centuries ago ; among us, they are being still further
prosecuted, and it seems as though it were but just
discovered to what a boundless treasury of knowledge
the human mind may have access.
Another principle which was necessary at the time
for the existence, and has since been eminently ser-
viceable in the propagation, of Islam, is the fatalism
which it avowed. The baneful effects of this belief
were not felt while each man thought himself predes-
tinated to conquer, and felt only anxious to distinguish
himself; but now that those ages of excitement have
for the most part passed away, that the arms of Islam
are more often unfortunate than prosperous, it has
induced an indolence of body and mind which is the
melancholy characteristic of the Mohammedan nations
in general. Their seclusion of women has greatly
tended to encourage this state of mind. There is
perhaps nothing so likely to enliven the faculties, and
to polish the mind, as cultivated female society, and
to this the Mohammedan nations are almost totally
strangers.
It is a very curious fact, that the doctors of this
384 MOHAMMEDANISM.

religion say that its efficacy is at an end, — that the

external observances remain, but there is no longer any
power; and, indeed, when we see the improvements
w7hich are being now introduced into Turkey, and will
be from thence disseminated into other countries pro-
fessing the same creed, we may give credit to the doc-
tors who thus speak; for the improvements and insti-
tutions of a Christian country, which arise from, and
stimulate in return a free use of, the reasoning powers,
cannot consist with the earnest and ardent belief of a
religion which suppresses them. Mohammedans may
remain such in name, under new and intellectual insti-
tutions; but, like the Jews who were of the sect of
the Sadducees, the name will be all of their religion
that they will retain*
 385

Section XI.

THE TALMUD, AND THE TRADITIONS

OF THE JEWS.

CHAPTER I.
ANTEDILUVIAN TRADITIONS.

It is among the chosen people that we must expect to

find the most extensive knowledge, and the most un-
mixed purity of tradition; and so far as the writings
of Moses go, this will be at once acknowledged: but,
by a singular perversion of mind, the Jews seem, of
all nations, to have wandered farthest from the truth,
and most to have corrupted the oral traditions which
they received, This people appear to have had a
strong bias towards idolatry ; even when Moses, their
prince and lawgiver, was in the mount communing
with God, they made a golden calf, (in imitation of
the Egyptian idol, afterwards called Apis,) and fell
down and worshipped it. Their frequent relapses into
idolatry, in spite of the most astounding miracles and
the most awful judgments, give us but too much
reason to believe, that there was among them a deep-
seated ignorance, producing then, as it does now, and
ever will produce, a strange and debasing mixture of
superstition and infidelity.
That all systems of religion have been based upon
patriarchal traditions, we shall soon attempt to show;
but those traditions were preserved afterwards 2 C in the
386 THE TALMUD.

Mosaic writings, and thus presented to us without any

mixture of human invention. Had they not been so
preserved, we should have been as much in error about
antediluvian history, cosmogony, and revelation, as
were the Greeks, the Hindoos, or the Chinese. Those
events which have come down to us only by tradition,
appear, after coming out of the rabbinical alembic,
so distorted and disguised, as to be perfectly useless,
and for the most part of doubtful authority.
The great reservoir of Jewish tradition is the book,
or rather the books, called the Talmud. Of these
there are two, one called the Babylonish, and one
called the Jerusalem Talmud: the former is now about
fourteen hundred, the latter about sixteen hundred
years old. This is also so difficult and obscure, that
the Babylonish Talmud is that generally implied, when
the Talmud is mentioned. This book, which is full of
nonsense and impiety, is yet considered necessary to be
known, understood, and believed; and certainly if any
one can pretend to understand it, he may without
much difficulty believe it also. The nature of the
book will be best understood from an account of its
origin.
At the time of the Christian sera, the traditions, as
they were called, of the law, (by >which was meant
the decisions of the doctors on disputed points of the
Mosaic code, and the extravagant fables with which
they adorned their comments,) had attained so great a
bulk and so high a degree of veneration, as quite to
supersede the law itself in the common estimation.
These traditions, which were supposed to have been
handed down, some from the sera of Moses, and some
from a period far anterior, were, for the most part,
mere directions for ridiculous ceremonies, questions of
stupid casuistry as stupidly decided, and fables which
by their absurdity alone would have disgusted any
 387

ANTEDILUVIAN TRADITIONS.

other nation*. Some of these, in the course of this

section, we shall consider.
The effect of these traditions could only be to call
off the attention from those broad and unvarying
principles of moral rectitude, which formed the basis
of the Mosaic law. These observances, questions,
legends, and philosophical treatises, which had then
become so numerous, were at last collected by one
Rabbi Judah, who called his collection Mischna. On
this book, which was held, of course, in equal veneration
* It is only due, however, to the Jews to state, that the
well-informed among them have in all ages received these
fables in an allegorical sense, and have considered those as
much mistaken who have understood them literally, as were
the monks of Doberan, when they understood our Saviour's
miracles to be relations of facts, and showed accordingly
among their relics, "a piece of the apron which the butcher wore
when he killed the calf on the return of the prodigal son."
Some of the explanations they give, are very pertinent. When
the Talmud speaks of the great size of Hell in comparison
with Paradise, the meaning is (say these commentators) that
but few shall be saved in comparison with those who, through
the wickedness and unbelief of the world, shall be lost ; on
this ground they urge us to earnest endeavours after salvation.
Again, when the Talmud informs us that Hell and Paradise
are parted only by a wall, the breadth of three fingers, we
are to understand, that many who think to enter Paradise
will be refused, being found wanting, though perhaps but a
little, and that this is revealed in order that we should not
deceive ourselves, but be zealous in good works. The most
remarkable of these allegories, is that which inculcates the
doctrine of innate ideas and a natural conscience. In the
Talmud treatise, Hakkodesh, is the assertion that a before a
child is born, one cometh, having a candle lighted, which he
putteth on the child's head, and then taketh him from one end
of the earth to the other ; that an angel cometh and taketh
the child in the morning into Paradise, and in the evening into
Hell, every day, that he may see the righteous and the wicked,
with their rewards and punishments, in order that the child
seeing these things, may be exhorted to live well when he
shall be born."
2 c 2
388 THE TALMUD.

•with the separate traditions, many learned men wrote

comments; and after some time, a selection of the
most valuable of these being made, they were called
Gemara: and thus the Mischna or text, and the
Gemara or comment, making one book, received the
name of the Talmud.
A specimen of the questions discussed will show
the importance of the book, and a specimen of the
veneration in which it was held, will show its probable
effect upon Jewish society. Whether it be lawful to
ride an ass to water on the Sabbath-day, or whether he
must be led by the halter ? Whether it be lawful on
that day, to write as many letters of the alphabet as
will make sense? Whether it be lawful to walk over
newly-sown land, lest peradventure any grain sticking
to our feet, we may sow it again ? Whether, [in puri-
fying ahouse from the old leaven, it be necessary to
begin again, if a mouse be seen running across it with
a bit of bread in his mouth? Such are some of the
questions agitated ; now, for the estimation in which
these things were held. " The law," says a talmudic
treatise, " is like water, the world cannot subsist with-
out water; the Mischna is like wine, but the Gemara
is like
It is spiced wine,
with the firstwhich
of menis better than either
the romances ." book
in this
begin, and Adam, of whose knowledge we can hardly
form too high an idea, was said to be endued with
magic. " God," say the talmudists, " gave him a
precious jewel, the very sight of which would cure all
diseases; this came afterwards into the possession of
Abraham, but after his death, because by reason of its
exceding brightness it was likely to be worshipped,
God hung it on the sun." Our first parents wrere, ac-
cording torabbinical tradition, of a gigantic stature ;
and this legend has been borrowed and improved by
the Mohammedans, who have it, that when Adam and
 ANTEDILUVIAN TRADITIONS. 389

Eve were expelled from Paradise, they went to Ceylon,

and there, on the Pico d'Adarna, is a print of Adam's
foot; which proves the truth of their account.
The transmigration of souls is insisted upon much
in this book, and the soul of Adam is said to have
passed successively into the bodies of Noah and
David; it will also pass into the Messiah. This doc-
trine they took from the Egyptian mythology, and it
is still more ancient than their residence in Egypt.
Abraham was the person to whom, they say, it was
first revealed, and he taught that the souls of men
passed into women, beasts, birds, and even reptiles,
rocks and plants. The spirit of a man was punished
by passing into a woman, received a still greater
punishment by being made a beast, and if the conduct
of the man had been very atrocious, it took some
reptile or inanimate form; and if a woman act
righteously, she will, in another state, become a man.
Thus the ass that carried Balaam, the ravens that fed
Elisha, the whale that swallowed Jonah, are all sup-
posed to have possessed reasonable, transmigrated souls.
This transmigration gives an opportunity of display-
ing some of that logic for which the Talmud is peculi-
arly celebrated. An instance occurs in the case of Cain
and Abel. " Cain carried off the twin-sister of Abel,
wherefore, the soul of Cain went into Jethro, and the
soul of Abel into Moses, and Jethro gave Moses his
daughter Zipporah to wife."
390 THE TALMUD.

CHAPTER II.
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MOSES.

We have, in the section on Mohammedanism, given

an account of the night-journey to heaven, performed
by the prophet. We shall now give that rabbinical
fiction from which it is copied, namely, the ascent of
Moses from Mount Sinai into heaven, to fetch the law.
" When Moses was about to ascend, a cloud descended
and placed itself before him; but Moses, our instructor,
not knowing whether he was to get upon or lay hold
of it, hesitated: then the cloud was rent asunder, and
he went into it and walked about, as a man walks
about on the earth, as it is written in the Law, 6 and
Moses went into the midst of the cloud ; but when
the door-keeper, Kemuel, (the angel that is set over
the twelve thousand angels of destruction, that stand
before the gates of destruction,) met him, he angrily
asked, Whence, son of Amram, this desire of thine to
pass into the place of fiery angels? Moses answered,
I am not come of myself, but of the holy and blessed
God, to receive the law, and carry it down to the
Israelites. Notwithstanding this, the angel opposing
his passage, Moses fell upon him and gave him such
blows, that he wounded and overcame him, and would
have destroyed him from the creation. Then went
Moses straight into the firmament, where he met the
angel Hadarniel. Now this angel is sixty thousand
leagues higher than his companion, and with every
word he utters, there issue from his mouth twelve
thousand darts of light. He on beholding Moses, thus
roughly accosted him : Son of Amram, what hadst thou
to do in the place of the exalted saints ? Then Moses
was struck with fear; but God pitied him, and rebuked
 TRADITIONS CONCERNING MOSES.
391

Hadarniel. Now -when Hadarnicl heard this, lie was

grieved, and walked before Moses as a servant walks
before his master, till he came to the fire of the angel
Sandelson. Then spake he to Moses and said, Go
back, for I dare not tarry lest the fire of Sandelson
consume me. Then when Moses saw Sandelson, he
quaked with exceeding fear, so that he wras ready to
fall from the cloud to the ground, and he prayed for
mercy, and was heard for the love God bore to Israel ;
so the Lord descended from the throne of his glory,
and came down, and stood before Moses, till he had
passed the fire of Sandelson ; and this is that which is
spoken of in the Book of Exodus, c and the Lord
passed before him/ When Moses was thus safely
passed by Sandelson, he came towards Rig jon, the fiery
river, which is set and kept in a flame by ministering
angels, and in which they all bathe themselves; its
source is under the throne of glory.
" Presently after God led Moses from this river, they
passed the angel Galieyer, who is surnamed Rasiel, at
the sight of whom Moses trembled, but God protected
him ; and afterwards he met a great company of angels
of dreadful aspect, wTho surrounded the throne of glory,
and who were the most mighty of created beings;
these angels opposed him by the fiery breath which
issued in flames from their mouths, and were ready to
consume him because he was come to cany away the
law, which they wished to keep in heaven to them-
selves but
; the Lord, at that moment, clothed Moses
with the brightness of his glory, and said to him, Since
they insist on keeping the law to themselves, give
them an answer.
" Then Moses showed them that the law was not ne-
cessary for them as it was for men, inasmuch as it did
not apply to their condition. Then the ministering
spirits gave up their mistaken pretensions, and yielded
 £92 THE TALMUD,

to the words of Moses, praising the Lord. So the

Lord taught Moses the law in ten days.
" Then Moses descended again to the earth, full of
terror and astonishment at the dreadful appearance
which the angels made ; to wit, the angels of fear and
of fire, and of quaking ; hut he forgot all in an hours
time. And the Lord spake unto Jefifiah, the angel of
the countenance, who, thereupon, delivered the law
unto Moses in order and well secured, and all the an-
gels were instantly his friends, and every one presented
him with some medicine. They also communicated
to him the division of names arising from every pa-
rascha of the law, showing him likewise the usefulness
of the law, and in what manner it was to be under-
stood. For it is said, c Thou hast led captivity captive,
thou hast received gifts for men also the angel of
death delivered something unto him ; for it is written,
' and he put on incense and made atonement for the
sins of the people/
" This glorious use of the names arising from the use
of each parascha of the law, was communicated by
Jefifiah, the angel of the countenance, and Metatron, the
prince of the law ; Moses communicated it to Aaron,
he to Eleazar, and he to Phinehas, who was a good
and excellent priest. Likewise all the law and all the
prophets did Moses learn, in the seventy ways of the
seventy languages, in forty days, but forgat it all in one
hour : wherefore the Lord sent Jefifiah to instruct him

again/'
And here, before we proceed any further, we will
just notice that this fable seems to have been conjoined
with that of Jehoscha ben Levi, to form*, first, the
* The ascent of Mohammed is first mentioned, because it
is more evidently borrowed from the ascent of Moses, but
that of Gangler is prior in time, as it appears to have existed
before the era of lslamism.
 TRADITIONS CONCERNING MOSES. 393

ascent of Mohammed, and next the adventures of

Gangler in the Northern mythology; of this hero it
will be sufficient to say, that he went to the gods, and
was by them instructed in all those fables which form
the Edda, and which are supposed, in the work itself,
to be spoken by him.
The history of Surtur, as related by him, will be
found to bear no slight analogy with that of Sandelson,
and if it be divided into two parts, Surtur will be
found in the one part to coincide with Sandelson, aud
in the other with Gog and Magog.
Another ascent of the same nature, is related of
Woo-tsing-yen, and is given in the section on Chinese
mythology ; this person, on his return to earth, became
an eminent saint, and was transported to Paradise
without tasting death.
There are many more tales about Moses ; two will,
however, be enough, by way of specimen.
When an infant, and brought up as the son of Pha-
raoh's daughter, he was frequently caressed by that
monarch himself, who, on one occasion, having the
infant Moses in his arms, was suddenly seized by the
beard by him, and that so roughly, as to put him to
much pain. Enraged at this, he commanded his
daughter to put Moses to death, but she replied, " He is
but an infant, he knows not the difference between a
hot coal and a ruby/' " Try him," said the king, and the
two were placed before him accordingly. Moses im-
mediately took the hot coal and put it into his mouth,
by which he ever after had an impediment in his
speech. It is this, they say, to which he alluded
wrhen he said, " I am slow of speech, and of a stam-
mering tongue/' Another talmudic fiction says, that
when he slew the Egyptian, who was striving with a
Hebrew, he was seen and seized by some of the king's
officers, tried, and brought on the scaffold to be deca-
394 THE TALMUD.

pitated, but his head and neck became hard as ivory,

so that the sword of the executioner rebounded from
the stroke.

CHAPTER III.
TRADITIONS OF ABRAHAM AXD OTHER PATRIARCHS.

The account of Abraham's conversion from idolatry,

and, indeed, all the most interesting accounts of this
eminent patriarch, are Moslem traditions as well as
talmudic fables ; and, as we have already noticed them
in our account of the Koran, it would be but a waste
of time to insert them here.
One circumstance which is not given by the Moslem
writers is curious, and quite in the spirit of the Tal-
mud. It is this : " When Abraham had left his fathers
house, and was journeying wherever the spirit of the
Lord led him, he came to a brook, and, being tired and
heated, was about to bathe, but he was stopped by a
voice from heaven, which said, Abraham ! Abraham !
and Abraham said, Here am I ; so the voice answered
him out of the cloud, Abraham, behold I have taken
thee from thy father s house to make of thee a great
nation; go not into this water, for seven years ago, a
carpenter dropped his axe in, and it hath not yet
reached the bottom." Now, Abraham saw a bird wading
about in the water," which led him to suppose the
water not very deep, hut he never thought of consider-
ing how long the bird's legs might be, and would have
certainly been drowned had it not been for this mira-
culous warning.
Og, the king of Bashan, was the servant of Abra-
ham, under the name of Eliezer, and as his story con-
 TRADITIONS OF ABRAHAM. 395

cerns Nimrod, Noah, and many other persons of note,

it will be worth, some little notice.
Og was the son of the angel Schamchiel, and the
brother of Sihon, king of the Amorites ; hence these
potentates derived their origin from the fallen angels.
As to his size, some of the Talmud writers say, that
the soles of his feet were forty miles long; he was born
before the flood, and feeling convinced that so vast a
being as himself could never be drowned by a deluge
ever so extensive, he laughed at Noah, and derided his
undertaking. When the flood came, and only reached
up to Og's knees, finding that he still laughed, God
caused the water to boil, and now the giant changed
his tone, and gladly made peace with Noah. He was
accordingly taken up and made use of as a covering
for the ark ; Noah giving him his food out of the win-
dow every day, — to wit, one thousand oxen, one thou-
sand head of game, and one thousand barrels of liquor.
In return for this, Og became servant to Noah, then
to Ham, then to Nimrod, and Nimrod gave him to
Abraham.
This account is calculated to give us a very great
idea of the capacity of the ark, as well as of the bulk
of Og; indeed, he was accustomed to hide Abraham
in the hollow of his hand, and one day, being severely
rebuked for some negligence, one of his teeth fell out,
by reason of his terror, and of this tooth did Abraham
make an easy chair, and used it as such all the days of
his life.
Now if the history of the giant Bergelmer, as pre-
served in the Edda, be compared with this talmudic
legend of the deluge, it will appear that, as Surtur is a
compound of Sandelson, Gog, and Magog ; so Bergel-
mer is a compound of Noah and Og, the king of
Bashan. While in the service of Abraham, he so well
acquitted himself in his expedition to Bethuel, as to
396 THE TALMUD.

obtain his freedom. " For when Laban, moved by

covetousness, sought to slay him, he, by means of the
holy word Shemhamphorasch, caused the camels to rise
into the air, and he stood himself upon the camels,
"which, when Laban saw, and his face beaming with
brightness, he took him for Abraham, and said, Come
in, thou blessed of the Lord, but meant all the while
to slay him; so he prepared poison, and set it before
Eliezer, but God, out of his great love to Abraham,
changed the dishes, so Eliezer escaped, but Bethuel,
who ate thereof, died." On his return to Abraham,
his reward was freedom and a kingdom ; but no sooner
was this monster placed on the throne of Bashan, than
that hatred to Abraham and his seed which he derived
from his demon father, broke out, and during that war
of extermination which the children of Israel carried
on against the Canaanites, Og was one of those who
made the most desperate resistance. Some of his ex-
ploits in the war, and the manner of his death, are
thus told in the Talmud :
- When Moses with the children of Israel sat down
before the city of Edrei, " Moses said, To-morrow will
we enter the city ; and on the morrow, before it was
well light, before the people were come nigh unto the
city, Moses opened his eyes, and beheld Og sat upon
the walls of the city, but Moses wist not what it was ;
and Moses said, Lo, now, the people have built a new
tower in one night ; but the Lord said to Moses, It is
Og whom thou seest, and his feet are eighteen ells in
length. So Og went forth, and built sixty cities, and
the smallest of them was sixty miles high."
This remnant of the Antediluvian Nephilim, was,
however, now approaching the termination of his
career. His opposition to the Israelites was doomed to
be fatal to himself. Inquiring what was the extent of
the camp of Israel, and being told six miles, he " plucked
 TRADITIONS OF ABRAHAM.

up a rock six miles in extent, being minded with it to

crush the camp of Israel, and put the same rock on his
head. But God caused ants to come upon it, and they
made a hole in it, so that it fell about his neck, for the
hole was directly over his head ; and when he tried to
remove it, God caused his teeth to grow into it, so that
he could not disengage his neck. Now when Moses
saw him thus encumbered, he took an axe, the handle
whereof was ten ells long, and leaped ten ells high,
and then, as Moses was himself ten ells in stature, he
could reach to the height of thirty ells, so he struck
Og on the ankle bone, and he died."
After this, we shall be prepared for the story in the
treatise Nidda, of a hunter, who, having pursued a
buck into the shin bone of a man, which was lying on
the ground, followed her for three miles inside, and
then, not finding any end to the bone, returned disap-
pointed. Nor shall we feel at all surprised at this,
when we know that it was one of the bones of a leg of
Og, the king of Bashan.
None of these dimensions agree ; his foot must have
been eighteen ells, forty miles, and one hundred and
twenty yards long, according to these three different
computations ; and the tooth out of which Abraham
made an easy chair, was far too small for the size at-
tributed toOg in the same tale.
Mr. Deane, in his Treatise on Serpent Worship, sup-
poses this sovereign to have been the Oghan or Ogmius-
of the ancient Irish mythology.
398 THE TALMUD.

CHAPTER IV.

TRADITIONS OF SOLOMON".
The tales of the Talmud continue, after the history of
Og, the king of Bashan, to detail the same sort of ad-
ventures, and to display the same blind and tasteless
love of the marvellous. At the time of Solomon, a new
asra opens itself, a new character is brought forward,
on which all the poets and romancers of the East have
ever loved to dwell. Pre-eminently wise, and highly
favoured by the Supreme Being, he stood alone among
the potentates of his age; his fame filled the civilized
world, and princes from the furthest regions thronged
round his throne, to offer their choicest treasures, to
acknowledge his immeasurable superiority, and to learn
those lessons of wisdom, which, like a stream of honey,
fell from his inspired lips. On account of this uni-
versal fame, the legends of other lands are as full of
his power and greatness as those of Judaea.
The peculiar circumstances in which Solomon was
placed, and the fact of his wisdom being not the pro-
duct of experience but the express gift of the Deity,
cast round him an undefined awe. A great and learned
man, is but a man after all; Solomon seemed some-
what more; and the cold sternness of his character
added to the distance which his greatness placed between
him and other men. The influx of treasure, and of
those luxuries which are ever the most costly, was so
great, and their effects so remarkable, as to invest the
earlier portion of his reign with the character rather
of a gorgeous vision than of a story of real life.
A prince so situated could not fail of becoming the
object of many legends, and we wonder not at being
told that fairies, demons, and spirits of every rank,
 TRADITIONS OF SOLOMON. 399

were subject to his sway; and, in the tales told of Iiim,

we find him ruling the elements and their spiritual
inhabitants with the same cold, proud, severe control
which he exhibited among men.
The real and the fabulous character of Solomon
strikingly coincide, and there is no action related of
him, either in history or tradition, that can be called
amiable. His fall, and the dimmed glory of his reign
before its close, the removal of God's favour, the com-
plaints ofhis oppressed people, and the successful hos-
tilities of his warlike neighbours, are passed over
lightly in the pages of fable. He was a favourite hero,
and the writers have been tender of his fame, and
hence we find in such works only the bright side of
his reign and eharacter. These legends have a cha-
racter more like those of Persia and Arabia; they are
poetical and connected, and therefore more worth pre-
serving as compositions, though, because of a date
more modern, they throw light rather on romance than
on mythology. They are here introduced because they
occupy not a small part of the Talmud. The mode by
which he became possessed of his celebrated signet ring
by which he governed the spirits, and the tale how,
by magic, he built the temple, and how, for his sins,
he was cast out of his kingdom, and after three years
restored, are so curious, that we shall make no apology
for inserting them.
This signet ring came down to him in a cloud, and,
having the mystic word Shemhamphorasch engraved
upon it, enabled the wearer to rule all spirits. Pos-
sessed of this talisman, Solomon summoned the spirits
of good and evil, and commanded them to aid him in
building the temple : they told him that in order that
the stones might be split without iron tools, it
would be necessary for him to obtain the wonderful
insect called Shamir, at the approach of which that
 400 THE TALMUD.

which was desired would divide just as was required.

4'By this," said they, "Moses made the tunic and breast-
plate." There was but one being who knew where this
Shamir was, and this was Ashmedai, the prince of the
devils. After a long search, Ashmedai was found, and
Benaiah, who acted as provost-marshal, fell upon Ash-
medai, as he had done upon Joab, and, after great
resistance, bound him; the demon, however, was cun-
ningly first intoxicated, and then brought bound to
Solomon. When the fumes of the wine evaporated,
he informed Solomon that the Shamir was entrusted
to the angel of the sea, and gave directions how it
might be obtained. In this Benaiah was also success-
ful, and now possessed of this insect, (which, to increase
its importance, was fabled to have been created on the
first Sabbath,) aided by the powers of light, and served,
though reluctantly, by those of darkness, the zenith of
Solomons glory drew nigh; he built that sublime and
stupendous temple upon which the world gazed in
wonder, and even Deity condescended to dwell visibly
within it.
And now comes a tale which will indeed vie with
any of the Arabian Nights Entertainments. In the
treatise Emek Hammelek is preserved the story which
I now quote. " Daily did the king convey himself at
noon into the firmament, to hear the secrets of the
universe from the spirits Asa and Asael, and no fear
was on him. At length did Ashmedai obtain liberty,
and persuade Solomon to grant him possession of the
ring which had the name Shemhamphorasch engraved
upon it. No sooner was the fiend possessed of this
talismanic signet, which had been to Solomon the
instrument of his supernatural power, than he changed
his tone, and, dilating himself to an immense magnitude,
swallowed the too-late repentant Solomon. Spread-
ing his broad wings, he flew two hundred leagues in a
 TRADITIONS OF SOLOMOX. 4*1

moment of time, and spat out the king in a distant and

idolatrous country. He then took the signet and flung
it into the sea, where it was swallowed by a fish.
Before he left Solomon, he told him that these judg-
ments had been inflicted upon him because he had
broken three commandments, and had multiplied unto
himself horses, wives, and treasure, which he had been
forbidden as king of Israel to do/'
Ashmedai now, in likeness of Solomon, returned to
Jerusalem, and sat on the throne of Israel for three
years ; (the rabbis admit that it is impossible to say
which were the three years in which the devil ruled
over Israel, while Solomon was an exile and a wan-
derer.) In the course of the deposed king's pere-
grinations, hepassed through the land of the Ammon-
ites, begging from door to door, till he came to
Maschkemen; here he was hired as an assistant to a
pastry-cook, and was soon, for his skill in the culinary
art, transferred as an assistant to the chief cook in the
king's palace. The skill which had procured him
entrance, soon obtained him advancement, and he
gained the favour of the king. The chief cook was
obliged to yield to a superior in gastronomic science,
and the once mighty monarch of Jerusalem was made
cook to a petty tributary prince. At length, Naama,
the king's daughter, saw Solomon, and soon became
deeply enamoured. Her passion was discovered, and,
as may be expected, met with no small opposition.
Solomons story was, of course, disbelieved, and though
Naama was allowed to become his wife, they were both
driven into the desert, and left without food, tent, or
water. Aided by unseen spirits, and supported by
mutual love, they reached a city by the sea coast, and
Solomon became a fisherman.
The denouement of the story is quite according to
rule, and will easily be anticipated. Solomon catches
2 d
402 THE TALMUD.

the fish that had swallowed his ring, and again recovers
his power and kingdom. After the conviction and
expulsion of Ashmedai, he sends for the king of
Ammon, and proves his identity with the late chief
cook, by introducing Naama to her father as queen of
Israel.
This tale has been repeated in so many legends, that
it cannot be other than interesting to see it in its ori-
ginal shape. One of the most pleasing copies of it is
that given in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments. It
is that in which a young man is carried to a city of
enchantment, and marries Labe, the Circe of the place.
After defeating her plots against him, he turns her
into a mare, and takes her to a distance ; there she is
restored to her own shape, and, by the assistance of
her mother, turns the tables upon the young prince,
and changes him into an owl ; but, after some adven-
tures, he escapes their vengeance.

CHAPTER Y.

OF THE STATE AFTER DEATH,

" When a man is carried to his grave," say^the rabbis,

" all his works which he hath done go before him, and
if he hath not kept the law, three heralds, one before,
one on the right hand, and one on the left, proclaim, —
c This man hath been rebellious, it were better for him
that he had never been born/ Then come his evil
works, and trample upon him. The angel Duma also
riseth, and with him, the angels under his command,
who go to perform the Chibbut Hakkefer. Then the
soul entereth into the body, and standeth upright;
then cometh the angel with a chain half of iron and
 STATE AFTER DEATH. 403

half of fire, (a red hot chain,) and with this he beateth

the deceased, and the first time he beateth him behold
all his joints are torn asunder; at the second beating
they are scattered hither and thither, and the angels
come and set them together again. The third time he
beateth the transgressor, he falleth to dust and ashes."
Rabbi Meir says that the righteous, as well as the
wicked, suffer this judgment, and even infants at the
breast. " Now there are," say the same authorities,
"seven judgments for the wicked. The first, when
the soul departeth from the body; the second, when
the evil deeds of the dead go before him and accuse
him; the third, the laying of the body in the grave;
the fourth, the Chibbut Hakkefer; the fifth, the judg-
ment of the worms, for when the wicked hath been
laid in the grave three days, then the body is ripped
up, and becometh a prey to destruction ; for thirty days
he receiveth judgment on his eyes, his hands, his feet,
&c, which have committed iniquity ; and all this time
the soul remaineth with the decaying body, and thus
the gnawing of the worm is as painful as the sticking
of a needle in the flesh, when alive/'
All these are also tenets of Mohammed, which he
borrowed from the Jews, and among both people are
some very curious legends of those who have heard the
conversation of the dead. One will be here given from
the Talmud. " A certain just man relieved a poor
man, and gave him alms, whereat his wife being greatly
offended, he went and tarried all night among the
tombs ; and it came to pass while he tarried that the
angel opened his ears, and he heard the conversation
of the dead; and one young girl said unto another that
was buried beside her, Come, and let us roam about,
and hearken behind the veil what punishment will
come upon the world. Then, said the other, I cannot,
I am buried beneath a covering of reeds. But go thou,
2 d 2
404 THE TALMUD.

and tell me what thou nearest. Then went the other,

and came back, and said, Behold I have hearkened
behind the veil, and I have heard that this shall come
to pass: that the hail shall destroy all that is sowed in
the former rain. So that just man went and sowed in
the latter rain, and his crop was not destroyed like
that of his neighbours. Wherefore, the next year, on
the same night, he went again, and listened, and heard
as before, and they said that the fire should destroy all
that was sowed in the latter rain; so that just man
sowed in the former rain, and his crop was saved, but
the fire burned the crop of his neighbours. So his
wife said, Why hath all the corn been destroyed these
two years save thine? and he told her. And after-
wards there was a quarrel between this woman and
the mother of that girl who had been buried under a
covering of reeds, and the wife of that just man said,
Come, and I will show thee thy daughter who is under
a covering of reeds. And afterwards, when on the
same night, as before, the just man went and tarried
all night among the tombs, one girl said to the other,
as aforetimes; but she who lay under the reeds, said,
Nay, my companion, but let us remain at peace, for
the things which have passed between us have been
heard by the living."
As, with the exception of this last story, this chap-
ter turns upon the state of the wicked, we will add to
it the rabbinical description of hell. It is divided into
seven parts, like that of the Mohammedans, which was
copied from it, each part containing its peculiar inha-
bitants, its angel to guard it, and its appropriate gate.
It may just be observed in passing, that though there
are many Israelites said by the rabbis to be in hell,
such as Jeroboam, Ahab, Absalom, Korah, and others,
yet over these the fire has no power, because they were
descended from Abraham: indeed, a consanguinity
 STATE AFTER DEATH. 405

ever so remote with the children of Israel, if it can be

fairly traced, is sufficient to save the most notorious
offenders. Thus Doeg, the Edomite, we find in hell,
but exempt from punishment.
One or two more passages will be sufficient on this
subject. u In the lowest part of hell is Avaddon; this
is a dark dwelling ; therein floweth the poison of ser-
pents, foul and corrupted, and therein float the souls of
the damned/' This is almost word for word the same
with the Scandinavian Nastrond ; but there is a place
described in the great Jalcut Rubeni, in which all the
horrors of hell are multiplied in the manner of the
Koran. "Scheol," says that treatise, "is half fire and half
hail, and in it are fourteen rivers, to wit, seven of hail
and seven of fire, in each division. Now there are
seven divisions, each one sixty times larger than the
preceding. In each division are seven thousand ca-
verns; in each cavern seven thousand clefts; in each
cleft seven thousand scorpions; each scorpion with
seven stings; and each sting as bitter as seven thou-
sand barrels of gall. In this are punished the wicked,
some for one period, some for another; he who causeth
shame to his neighbour is to be punished in hell for
an hour and a half." Others are punished for twelve -
months, but it is a matter of doubt with them whether
any are punished for ever.
There is one tradition which shows that the rabbis
were willing to take the doctrines, as well as the de-
scriptions, ofthe New Testament, if, with a little
alteration, they could make them seem original. " At
the end of every Sabbath, the judges behold whose sins
are forgiven, to the end that such persons may not
again be cast into hell; and he whose sins are forgiven
is conducted by Elias to those with whom he is to re-
side in Paradise, and when any of the righteous happen
to transgress in some things, for which, at the end of
406 TIJE TALMUD.

the Sabbath, they may be again cast into punishment,

Elias protects them, for he laketh upon himself their
punishment. But on the Sabbath, those in hell do
rest, even as Rabbi Akkiva knew, when he talked with
that wicked man Turnus Rufus. 6 Get thee/ said he,
c to the diviners and soothsayers, for on every other
day do they work wonders, but on the Sabbath-day
they work them not. Get thee to thy fathers tomb,
for he being a wicked man, is tormented with fire, and
the smoke ariseth from his tomb, but on the Sabbath
none ariseth, for then he hath rest/
" So Turnus Rufus went and saw even as the rabbi
had said. So he went and called the necromancers to
take from the tomb his father, and to make his spirit
return to him again; and he asked his father, 6 How
art thou become a Jew? thou didst not in thy life-time
keep the Sabbath, but now thou observest among the
dead/ Then answered his father, ' My son, on the
Sabbath we have rest ; on the eve of the Sabbath there
cometh a voice from the heaven, and sayeth, Blessed
be the Sabbath! let the wicked rest. But when the
Sabbath is past, the voice cometh again, saying, Cursed
be the wicked, because they obeyed not the command-
ment of the Lord! So the angel that is over us, and
that had ceased to scourge us when the Sabbath began,
doth now scourge us again with fire/ "

CHAPTER VI.

OF THE RABBINICAL HEAVEN".

Moses, in his ascent to heaven to fetch the Law, was
so much embarrassed by fears for his personal safety,
that he had no time to make observations on the nature
of the places through which he passed. It was re-
 407

THE RABBINICAL HEAVEN.

served for a saint of later times to map out, as it were,

Paradise, and to give us a full description of the delights
therein to be found. Accordingly, the Talmud says,
" Our rabbins of blessed memory observe that Jehosha
ben Levi was a perfectly righteous man, and that when
he was about to die, the Holy Creator said to the angel
of death, Comply with all that he desireth. Then said
the angel, Jehosha, the time draweth nigh when thou
art to be gathered to thy fathers ; I will grant thee all
that thou requirest. Then Rabbi Jehosha said, I be-
seech thee show me my seat in Paradise. Then the
angel said, Come, and I will show it thee ; but Jehosha
said, Give me thy sword, that thou surprise me not
therewith. So the angel gave him the sword. Then
went they till they came to the walls of Paradise, and
when they came there the angel lifted up Jehosha that
he might see over the wall, but he leaped over, and so
got into Paradise. So the angel took Jehosha by the
skirt, and cried, saying, Come out; but Jehosha swore,
by the great name, that he would not come out, and
the angel had no power to enter in. Then the minis-
tering angels presented themselves before the throne of
glory, and said, Lord, thou seest this rabbi, and how
he hath taken his seat in Paradise by force; then the
Lord said, Go now, and see if he hath ever broken his
oath ; so they said, No, he never hath broken an oath
all the days of his life. Then said the Lord, Neither
shall he do so now.
" So when the angel of death saw that Jehosha was
to remain in Paradise, he obtained back his sword, and
the angel said, See thou tell Rabbi Gamaliel a true
account of what place Paradise is. So Rabbi Jehosha
searched out Paradise, and he found there seven houses
or dwellings, each one hundred and twenty thousand
miles square ; the first house fronts the first gate of Para-
dise, and is inhabited by those who of their own accord
403 THE TALMUD.

embraced the Jewish faith, not having been brought up

therein. The walls thereof are of glass, and the timber
work of cedar. Over them is the prophet Obadiah. The
second house fronts the second gate of Paradise; the
walls are of fine silver, and the roof of cedar. This is
the habitation of those who have repented; and Ma-
nasseh, the son of king Hezekiah, is placed over them.
The third house is opposite to the third gate of Para-
dise; itis built of silver and fine gold. In it are all
the Israelites, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, David,
Moses, and Aaron. All the furniture of this house is
of fine gold, and adorned with jewels.
" Then Jehosha asked, For wThom are these things
prepared? But David replied, For the children of the
world, from among whom thou earnest. And Jehosha
asked, Are there any Gentiles here? and David said,
No ! for God giveth them a reward in their life for their
good deeds, but afterwards they are tormented in hell;
likewise, also, he punisheth the evil deeds of the chil-
dren of Israel on earth, but after their death they obtain
the life to come, and this is the meaning of these words,
He repayeth them that hate him, but the righteous
hath life everlasting.
" The fourth house fronts the fourth gate of heaven.
It is built beautifully as the first man wras made. The
timbers are of olive wood; in it dwell the perfectly
righteous. The fifth house is built of silver and fine
gold, of precious stones, and of crystal; through the
midst thereof flows the river Gihon. The frame-work
is of gold and silver, with an odour far exceeding that
of the woods of Lebanon. There are beds of gold and
silver, of spice and blue cloth, and of fine scarlet, which
wras wroven by Eve ; couches also of crimson silk and fine
linen, and of cloth of goats' hair woven by angels. In
this house dwellcth the Messiah, the son of David, and
Elias of blessed memory; and therein is an apartment
 THE RABBINICAL HEAVEN. 409

made of wood from Mount Lebanon, with pillars of

silver, and on the floor a carpet of scarlet. Here
dwelleth the Messiah, the beloved of the daughters of
Jerusalem; it is inlaid with love, and there Elias of
blessed memory lifteth up the head of the Messiah, and
comforteth him, saying, Be at ease, the end is at hand
when thou shalt redeem Israel. Thither also, every
second and fifth day, every chief man of Israel goeth;
David and Solomon, Moses and Aaron, and all the kings
of Israel, go thither, and say unto him after the same
manner. And when Jehosha approached, the Messiah
said unto him, What do the children of Israel? Then
said the rabbi, They are in hourly expectation of thy
coming; whereat the Messiah cried aloud and wept.
" In the sixth house dwell those who walked in the
way of the commandment; and in the seventh those
who died of sickness on account of the sins of the
Israelites."
Now there are, it seems, two Paradises. One the
upper, which has just been described; and a lower one,
which Habbi J ehosha thus speaks of :— " There are in
Paradise two gates of rubies, and over each six hun-
dred thousand angels, each of whom hath his face
shining like the sun in his strength ; and when one of
the righteous arriveth here, they clothe him with eight
garments made of the clouds of glory, and on his head
they place two crowns, one of pearls and precious
stones, and one of fine gold, and putting into his hand
a branch of the myrrh plant, they say unto him, Go
eat thy bread with joy. They then conduct him to a
spring, on the banks of which grow eight hundred dif-
ferent kinds of myrrh and roses. To each righteous
man is assigned a tent or canopy, answering to his
degree of honour. Through these tents flow four
rivers that have their source in the spring of roses, and
over each tent a vine bearing pearls, each glistening like
410 THE TALMUD.

the planet Venus. There every righteous man in three

watches suffereth three changes ; in the morning he be-
cometh a child, and goeth where children are, and re-
joiceth as they rejoice; and at noon he becometh a
youth and rejoice th where and how youth rejoice; and
at eventide he becometh an aged man, and goeth into
the assembly of aged men, and rejoiceth in their joy.
The meanest of them are like Joseph and like Johanan,
for the path of the just is as the shining light ; and the
rivers are of wine, and of milk, and of honey, and of
balsam. Their tents are adorned with the sun, the
moon, and the stars, and the breezes that shake the
branches of the tree of life shed its fragrance all over
the gardens. On it are fruit which have four hundred
different tastes, and under it sit the disciples of the
sages divided by a curtain of light."
This book is more remarkable for being the source
from which at least half Islamism was drawn, than
for its connexion with other systems. The traditions
from which the Gentiles formed their schemes of cos-
mogony and mythology were much older than any con-
tained in the Talmud; they were many of them ante-
rior to the time of Moses, and handed down in a state
of increasing corruption from the survivors of the flood.
It will not, therefore, now be worth while further to in-
vestigate the Talmud, especially as Lightfoot, Buxtorf,
and Stehelin have done so to a very great extent.
 41 L

Section XII.

THE CONNEXION AND COMMON ORIGIN OF ALL

SYSTEMS OP FALSE WORSHIP.

Introductory Chapter.

That man, in his present state, is not the being whom

his Maker pronounced to be very good, is a fact which
the depravity of our own hearts, as well as the corrup-
tions of society, set forth in the strongest light. That
knowledge of God which was at first bestowed upon
Adam, and continued to a great extent even after the
veil of a carnal nature was drawn between him and
his Creator, soon became neglected, and, consequently,
corrupted, as sin advanced in its devastating course.
About five centuries after the creation, even during
the life of Adam, we are led to believe, from the short
notices found in the sacred records, idolatry commenced
to be practised. Tradition speaks more clearly, and
with great probability on this awfully interesting sub-
ject ;and^the remarks which Maimonides, one of the
most learned of Jewish rabbis, has left on this topic,
are too important to be omitted : " In the days of
Enos, the son of Seth, the sons of Adam erred with
great error, and their error was this ; and the counsel
of the wise men became brutish, and Enos himself
was of them that erred; they said, 6 Forasmuch as God
hath created these stars and spheres to govern the
world, and hath set them on high, and imparted honour
unto them, and they are ministers that minister before
412 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

him, it is meet that men should laud and glorify and

give them honour ; for this is the will of God, that we
magnify and honour whomsoever be magnifieth and
honoureth, even as a king would honour them that
stand before him, and this is the honour of the king
himself/ When this thing was come up into their
hearts, thay began to build temples unto the stars, and
to offer sacrifice unto them, and to laud and glorify
them with words, and to worship before them with
words, that they might, in their evil opinion, obtain
favour of their Creator. And this was the root of idola-
try ;for, in process of time, there stood up false pro-
phets among the sons of Adam ; which said, that God
had commanded and said unto them, AVorship such a
star, or all the stars, and so sacrifice unto them thus
and thus ; and build a temple for it, and make an
image of it, that all the people, men, women, and
children, may worship it ; and the false prophet showed
then the image that he had feigned out of his own
heart, and said that it was the image of that star
"which was made known to him by prophecy ; and they
began after this manner to make images in temples
and under trees, and on the tops of mountains and
hills, and assembled together and worshipped them ;
and this thing was spread through all the world, to
serve images writh services different one from another,
and to sacrifice unto and worship them. So, in pro-
cess of time, the glorious and fearful name was forgot-
ten out of the mouth of all living, and out of their
knowledge, and they acknowledged him not. And
there was found on earth no people that knew aught
save images of wood and stone, and temples of stone
which they built; which they had been trained up
from their childhood to worship and serve, and to
swear by their names, and the wise men that were
among them. The priests, and such like, thought
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 413

there was no God save the stars and spheres, for whose
sake and in whose likeness they made these images ;
but as for the Rock Everlasting, there was no man that
did acknowledge him or know him, save a few persons
in the world, as Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, Shem, and
Heber ; and in this way did the world walk and con-
verse, till that pillar of the world Abraham, our father,
was born.' "
In accordance with the doctrine laid down by Mai-
monides, we find, that some of the most eminent scho-
lars who have treated on this subject, have referred all
worship to that of the sun. This was the theory of
Faber, of Bryant, and, with a little variation, of Deane,
who, in his Treatise on Serpent Worship, has thrown a
new and valuable light on the subject.
But if every system of ancient mythology had one
origin, they must have had one birth-place, and we
may, therefore, trace them all to the East. This is
really the case, and as they diverged from the cradle
of superstition, so we find them varying more and
more, and becoming more and more mixed with the
inventions of poetry, the discoveries of philosophy, and
the records of history. To these every age added, so
that at last the original system was so enveloped in
more modern additions, that it was at last scarcely
perceptible, and, in many cases, totally lost sight of.
Among the various solutions which have been given
of the origin of Pagan idolatry, not the least curious is
that given by the writer of an anonymous work, " De
diversorum Populorum, numinibus Cultuque." " But
man," says this author, " forgat God, and worshipped
all those things which he considered great and glorious;
first, because they were above him, and he reverenced
them ; next, because they were dreadful, and he feared
them ; but, because storms, and mountains, and light-
ning were not easily supposed endowed with sensa-
414 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

tion and volition, he feigned nnto himself that there

were lofty, invisible spirits presiding over all these, and
bearing rule by reason of their might in the universe.
So when he had thus departed from the true faith,
and, instead of one true God, did adore many false
gods, deeming them, altogether, such as himself; he did
greatly deliberate about what were the gods employed.
" Then arose poets who declared, ' What is so delight-
ful as war ? Do not all men war one with another,
delighting therein, and stirring up their spirits to
fights and victory ? Thus also do the gods ; they too
fight valiantly/ But, against whom could these the
immortal gods fight ? Then answered the poets, and
feigned giants, and evil spirits, genii and titans. Now
these brought evil upon mankind, whom the gods
loved, and afflicted them with all kinds of plagues,
casting fear upon them, and sought also to draw them
from their allegiance, thus counteracting the will of
the ever-blessed gods ; and this is the cause why the
gods fight, and these are the enemies against whom
they fight. But when these enemies did prevail, not
against the gods but against man, they gave rewards to
such as exceeded in wickedness, communicating unto
them a part of their own power, and made them rulers
over the elements, and over trees, and stones, and
drugs, and the bodies of men ; and these became
wizards, witches, sorcerers, and enchanters, having
great power and being greatly depraved. And because
they believed that the soul was immortal, and that
after death it wandered hither and thither about the
world; hence came divers legends, touching spectres
and apparitions, some of which things may indeed be
found in the scriptures of truth, but others are the in-
ventions ofsubtle men, and all so changed by the long-
lapse of time, that we know not whereunto it was like
in the beginning."
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 415

There is more ingenuity and more reflection displayed

in these few words than in many a learned quarto, but
yet it is too regular, too systematic, to be altogether
true, though the ideas upon which it is founded, arc
certainly correct.
Another account is given by that celebrated but in-
famous character, Petronius Arbiter,5 and I give it as
much as a specimen of his writing, as an ingenious
version of the origin of idolatry.
The works of Petronius are happily alike untrans-
lated and untranslatable, but among the foulness of his
conceptions, there are sometimes gleams of that intel-
lect which gained him the name of a philosopher, and
of that elegance of which he was called arbiter. I
offer a poetical translation :
Fear made the first divinities on earth,
The sweeping flames of heaven ; the mined tower,
Scathed by its stroke. The softly setting sun,
The slow dechning of the silver moon,
And its recovered beauty. Hence the signs
Known through the world, and the swift changing year,
Circling divided in its varied months.
Hence rose the error. Empty folly bade
The wearied husbandman to Ceres bring
The first fair honours of his harvest fields,
To gird the brow of Bacchus with the palm,
And taught how Pales, 'mid the shepherd bands,
Stood and rejoiced ; how Neptune in the flood
Plunged deep, and ruled the ever-roaring tide ;
How Vallas reigned o'er earth's stupendous caves
Mightily. He who vowed and he who reaped
With eager contest, made their gods themselves.
Now, in all these several solutions there is much that
is true, but none of them reach the whole truth. The
truth is, that all the mythological schemes which have
appeared in the world, are but corruptions of those tra-
ditions which were handed down from the times of the
patriarchs, and which, prior to the era of Moses, were
416 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

the only relics of divine revelation. In order to demon-

strate this, we must first show that every system is in-
trinsically alike ; the varieties of clime and of history
may array it in a different dress in different lands, but
the basis is universally the same. To use the elegant
illustration of Mr. W. J. Thorns*, it is the same with the
traditions of a country as it is with its natives ; there
may be differences of feature and expression, but take
away that which is external, and the skeletons will be
found all alike.

CHAPTER II.
OF COSMOGONY.

Referring the reader back to the introductory chap-

ter on Egyptian mythology for an account of the prin-
ciples on which an inquiry like the present should be
conducted, we shall proceed to remark that the first
great principle of religious worship is found to have
been invariably inculcated in all nations, from the most
barbarous to the most refined. This one principle, is
the acknowledgment of a Supreme Being infinite, and
omnipotent, the creator of all things, and who will
judge all men. It is not less extraordinary, that of
this one supreme God, they have never attempted any
images or pictures, but have declared him to be spiritual,
invisible, and too holy to be approached but by media-
tors. An idea of this nature, which is by no means
an obvious one, when found in China, in India,
in Egypt ; among the philosophers of Greece and
Borne; in Africa, in the North, and in Mexico; could

* Lays and Legends of different Nations.

 OF COSMOGONY.

not be so widely spread by a mere fortuitous coinci-

dence of ideas in those nations ; when, therefore, we
find other points of resemblance equally strong, and
still less likely to be the fruit of mere chance, we shall
not hesitate to say that the more modern and recent,
was borrowed from the more ancient system, and the
nearest to the spring of fable. The readiest way to
show this, will be to take the pagan cosmogonies one
by one, and show in what manner they correspond
with that given in our Scriptures, and we cannot better
commence than with that of the Chaldseans. Their
knowledge of the creation, was said to be derived from
an amphibious monster, called Oannes, who, like the
fabled merman, was depicted with the body of a man,
terminating in the tail of a fish. By day he ascended
from the caves of the Red Sea, and, assuming a human
voice, taught the multitudes on the shore ; but at night
be again sunk to the recesses of the deep. There was a
time, he said, when all things were darkness, and water,
and confusion. In the midst of this chaotic fluid existed
various monsters, of horrid forms, and over them pre-
sided the demon giantess, Omoroca. Belus, the one
god of the Chakhcans, at length proceeded to the work
of creation ; annihilated all the monstrous animals of
the deep, and having slain Omoroca, formed from her
body the earth, and from her skull the arch of heaven.
He next divided the darkness from the light, the earth
from the sea, and placed in the heavens the starry host,
the sun and the moon. The human species was created
out of the dust of the earth, mixed with the water of
the ocean; this was the work of inferior deities, and
man was endowed with intellect, and became a par-
taker of the divine reason. Oannes, was, however,
careful to tell them, that all the part of his doctrine
which related to Omoroca, was to be understood, not
2 E
418 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

literally, but figuratively, and by this admission, he

made his system almost the same with that of Moses.
We find in this fragment, a statement of a watery
chaos, — of the separation by divine power, of earth,
from sea, and of darkness from light, — we find the
divine intellect recognised in man, and the divine
power, in the creation of the heavenly bodies. Now,
the coincidence of this tale of Omoroca with the fable
of Ymir, the giant in the Edda, is so striking, that it
will but need the re-perusal of the latter, to convince
the most inattentive reader; and did there remain a
doubt, it can be shown that the Northern system was
carried by its founder from the neighbourhood of the
Chaldesans, of which vicinity he was a native, to the
North.
Odin, according to Snorro and Torfseus, came from the
countries eastward of the Caspian Sea ; he was the king of
the Ases, and he introduced the worship of a god named
Odin, with whom he soon became himself confounded.
This account is indirectly, though powerfully, con-
firmed bypassages in the works of Strabo, Pliny, and
Ptolemy. But the coincidence of mythology in so
singular a particular, is a proof convincing enough. In
the North, however, by a very natural transition, that
was taken literally, which the more acute and cultivated
Chaldaeans took only in an allegorical sense.
The next cosmogony to which we shall turn our
attention, is that of the Egyptians; and without going
over again any ground which we have already occupied,
we may remark that there were two cosmogonies pre-
vailing in that country. One, the atheistical system of
the shepherd kings — the other, that which they received
from Thoth, or Hermes Trismegistus; in a book ascribed
to the latter, occurs the following passage : — " In the
beginning, there was a boundless darkness in the abyss,
but water, and an intelligent ethereal spirit, acted with
 4J9
OF COSMOGONY.

divine power, in the midst of chaos. Then a holy

light issued forth, and the elements were compacted
together, with sand of a moist substance. Lastly, the
whole frame of productive nature was by all the gods
distributed in proper order."
Faber, in his Bampton Lectures, commenting upon
this interesting passage, remarks, that not only are the
events here related, the same, and in the same order,
with those related by Moses, but that the whole is
attributed to a spirit which brooded over it, as we find
in Genesis : " And the Spirit of God moved upon the
face of the waters."
" It is not impossible," he says, " that as the
Egyptians learned their atheistical scheme from the
royal shepherds, so they may have received a correc-
tion to it from those other shepherds, who are said by
Manetho to have likewise dwelt as strangers in the
country, and who, from his description of them, were
plainly the children of Israel. Moses was learned in
all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and as he frequented
the schools of their philosophers, so we may easily con-
ceive that in his turn, he afforded to them some portion
of his own divine and better wisdom/'
The Phoenician shepherds, who were an eminent
branch of the daring house of Cush, had left their
early settlements by the banks of the Indus and the
Ganges. They, while they encouraged only their own
atheistical worship, (that of Buclha, which has been
fully discussed,) could not prevent the truth from occa-
sionally breaking through the darkness even of their
creed, and while they despised the worship and de-
stroyed the idols of the Egyptians, they have left on
record, proofs that there were those among them, who
saw through the folly of worshipping a man like Budha,
and who knew that the principle of Egyptian mytho-
logy was the worship of the one ever-living God.
2 E 2
420 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

It is a fact, and one which the Budhuists of the

East try in vain to invalidate, that tradition gives to
Budha an Ethiopian origin ; and accordingly, he is
frequently represented with a countenance indicating,
by its lips, nose, and hair, his African descent.
Passing over the systems of Persia and Phoenicia,
of which we have already given a detailed account,
we turn to that of India, and extract from the Insti-
tutes of Menu, the following account of the creation :
" Menu sat reclined, with his attention fixed on one
object, the Supreme God, when the divine sages
approached him, and, after mutual salutations in due
form, delivered the following address : Deign, sove-
reign ruler, to apprize us of the sacred laws in their
order ; for thou, Lord, and thou only among mortals,
knowest the true sense, the first principle, and the pre-
scribed ceremonies of this universal, supernatural veda,
unlimited in extent, and unequalled in authority/ He
whose powers were measureless, being thus requested
by the great sages, saluted them all with reverence,
and gave them a comprehensive answer, saying, c Be
it heard ! This universe existed only in the first
divine idea yet unexpanded, as if involved in darkness,
imperceptible, undefinable, undiscoverable by reason,
and undiscovered by revelation. Then the sole self-
existing power, himself undiscerned, but making this
world discernible, appeared with undiminished glory,
dispelling the gloom. He whom the mind alone can
perceive, whose presence eludes the external organs,
who has no visible parts, who exists from eternity; even
He, the soul of all beings, whom no being can compre-
hend, shone forth in person. He having willed to pro-
duce various beings from his own divine substance, first
with a thought created the waters, and placed in them
a productive seed'; the seed became an egg, bright as
gold, blazing like the luminary with a thousand beams ;
 OF COSMOGONY.
421
and in that egg lie was born himself in the form of
Brahma, the great forefather of all spirits. The waters
were called Nara, because they are the first production
of Nara, or the Spirit of God; and since the}' were his
first ayana, or place of motion, he is thence named
Narayana, or Moving on the Waters. From that which
is the first cause, not the object of sense, existing every-
where in substance, not existing to our perception,
without beginning or end, was formed the divine male
famed in all worlds under the appellation of Brahma.
In that egg the great power sat inactive a whole year
of the Creator, at the close of which, by his thought
alone, he caused the egg to divide itself, and from its
two divisions he framed the earth beneath, and the
heaven above. In the midst, he placed the subtle
ether, the eight regions, and the permanent receptacle
of waters. From the supreme soul he drew forth
mind, existing substantially, though unperceived by
sense ; immaterial and before mind, or the reasoning
power, he produced consciousness, the internal monitor,
the ruler. Thus, having at once pervaded with emana-
tions from the supreme Spirit the minutest portions of
six principles, immensely operative, consciousness, and
the five perceptions, he framed all creatures. lie, too,
first assigned to all creatures, distinct names, distinct
acts, and distinct occupations. He, the supreme ruler,
created an assemblage of inferior deities, with divine
attributes and pure souls, and a number of genii exqui-
sitely delicate, and he prescribed the sacrifice ordained
from the beginning, lie gave being to time, and the
divisions of time; to the stars also, and to the planets ;
to rivers, oceans, and mountains, to level plains and
uneven valleys ; for he willed the existence of all those
created things. For the sake of distinguishing actions,
he made a total difference between right and wrong,
and inured these sentient creatures to pleasure and
422 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSIIIP.

pain, cold and heat, and other opposite sensations. He

whose powers are incomprehensible, having thus created
both me and this universe, was again absorbed in the
supreme Spirit, changing the time of energy for the
time of repose/"

CHAPTER III.
OF COSMOGOXY, CONTINUED.
After the cosmogony of India, we shall naturally turn
to that of China; and here we find an account of the
creation, not indeed so diffuse, but still sufficiently
near to this general system, to be worth noticing. The
first of men was named Peon-Ku, and he sprang from
the chaotic egg. From the shell of this egg, in the
deep gloom of night, were made the heavens, from the
white the atmosphere, and from the yolk the earth.
The order of creation was as follows ; first the heavens,
next the foundations of the earth, then the atmosphere,
and lastly, man.
Passing over the Gothic mythology, which we have
already detailed at some length, we proceed to that of
the Etruscans, of whose system we find an account in
Suidas. "God," says a philosopher of that nation, "cre-
ated the universe in six thousand years, and appointed
the same period of time to be the extent of its
duration. In the first period of a thousand years,
God created the heavens and the earth ; in the second,
the visible firmament; in the third, the sea and all the
waters that are in the earth; in the fourth, the sun,
the moon, and the stars; in the fifth, every living
soul of birds, reptiles, and quadrupeds, which have
their abode either in the land, the air, or the waters;
and in the sixth, man alone. Now, God had employed
 OP COSMOGONY. 423

six thousand years in the creation, and meant the

world to last the same period ; so that the age of the
world, from its commencement to its termination, will
be twelve thousand years." On this cosmogony, so
simple and yet so exact, we must pause a little. From
whatever source the Etruscans derived their system,
we know that it must ultimately be traced to the ark,
and from Noah to Adam. Now the order of creation
here, is the same as that given by Moses; and it has
the rare merit of being free from those notions of the
mundane egg and the succession of worlds, which
deform the cosmogonic schemes of most, if not all
other nations.
The Scriptures assure us, " that one clay is with the
Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one
day;5' and as a great part of the creation took place
before the globe was made to revolve, or, in the phrase
of Moses, before the creation of the sun, the period
called a day in those passages, could not have been one
of twenty-four hours, or, at least, we have no reason to
believe that it was. Now, the discoveries of modem
geologists (among whom, Sedgwick and Buckland
stand conspicuous, in their treatment of the point in
question,) tend to show us that the Mosaic day was a
very long period, not improbably amounting in extent
to a thousand of our years. And when we find an
ancient tradition, undoubtedly genuine, asserting the
same thing, or, we may say, putting the same construc-
tion on the Mosaic account, at a time too when geology
was as much unknown as the steam-engine, we
cannot fail to perceive the strong confirmation it gives,
both to our Scriptures and to the geological theory.
Another curious particular, in which it coincides with
rabbinical tradition, is the extent of duration ascribed
to the world, that of six thousand years; and since the
coming of Christ, many of the learned have revived
424 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

this tradition, and announced their belief, that the

world was intended to last two thousand years before
the flood, two thousand years before Christ, and two
thousand years after him.
Passing into America, we shall first find the Mexican
cosmogony, which has been already noticed ; next the
Peruvian, which asserted, that at the beginning, there
came from the north a being named Con, who levelled
mountains and hills solely by the word of his mouth,
that he filled the earth with men and women whom he
had created, giving them fruits and bread and all
things necessary for their subsistence, but that being
offended by their transgressions, he deprived them of
the blessings which they had formerly enjoyed, and
afflicted their lands writh the curse of sterility. The
Virginians also had a legend not very dissimilar; they
however, with many other nations, believe that God
delegated to other deities the office of creation, and
that all things were first formed out of water.
If we turn from the cosmogonies of nations to the
cosmogonies of philosophers, we shall find the same
system more or less distinctly appearing in each. The
writings attributed to Orpheus tell us, that in the
beginning, chaos and thick darkness covered all things ;
that beneath this, the earth lay for a season invisible;
that afterwards light burst forth and illuminated the
hitherto obscure globe of the earth, and that this light
was the greatest of all beings; that from the mass of
chaos were formed, by the fiat of that primal light,
the sun, the moon, the earth, and the stars ; and lastly,
that man, formed out of the dust, was endued with
a rational soul by the supreme God. Linus, Zeno,
Anaxagoras, and Thales, all taught nearly the same
thing, and Aristophanes, in his comedy of The Birds,
has given us a theory, ancient in his days, which is not
widely different. " Chaos, Night, black Erebus, and
 OF COSMOGONY. 425

wide Tartarus, first existed; there was neither earth,

nor air, nor heaven, hut in the bosom of Erebus black-
wTinged Night produced an aerial egg, from which, in
due time, was born the golden-pinioned Loye, and he,
the great universal father, begot our race out of dark
Chaos, in the midst of wide-spreading Tartarus, and
called us into light ?*'
At a period much later, Ovid, the most philosophical
poet of Rome, save Lucretius, gives us the following
account :— " Before the sea, and the earth, and the sky
which covers all, the face of nature was uniform over
the universe, which they called Chaos, a rude and un-
digested mass, nothing but a lifeless weight, and heaped
together in it, the discordant seeds of things not well
mixed together." This last may indeed be considered
as the recapitulation of the rest. It was written at a

* I cannot refrain from quoting the beautiful, but somewhat

ludicrous version of this legend, by Andrew Crosse, Esq., of
Broomfield, the Electrician and Geologist.
He sang, how first 'twas jumble all,
Earth, water, mixed together ;
Spread out beneath the clouds like soup,
Or a sea of liquid leather.
How light arose amidst the storm,
And flashed upon the ocean,
And from the mass huge globes shot off
At once in wild commotion.
How earth was crusted o'er with good,
Rich vales, stupendous mountains,
Birds flew to fill the groves with song,
Beasts came to sip the fountains.
The fish to wallow in the seas,
Insects to suck the flowers,
And man to rule the mighty whole,
Endued with godlike powers.
426 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

time in which the traditions of the Jews, if not well

known, were yet of easy access, and in which the
philosophers of the day had seen so much of true light
reflected upon them, that they had gradually reformed
their cosmogonies.
Faber, in his Horse Mosaicse, notices three other
points of resemblance, which run through nearly all
systems, and are found in nearly all climates. The one
is the division of time into weeks, the next the sanctity
of the seventh day, and lastly, the reckoning by nights
instead of by days. These, particularly the first, are
all arbitary divisions of time; it does not result from
any apparent or real motion of the heavenly bodies,
and can only be referred to the earliest records for
authority, and the space of time employed in creation
for its origin. Where we find the mark of a foot in
the sand, we know that man has been there, and
where we find this weekly division of time, there we
know, that, however perverted to atheism or corrupted
by fable, the religion of that people has been derived
from a source originally pure.
Traces of the weekly sabbath are also widely scat-
tered. The ancient Greek poets assert its sanctity; it
was in use in Arabia before the sera of Mohammed;
the natives of Pegu and of Guinea at the present
time, those of Persia and Etruria in more early periods,
have all observed the seventh day as a day of rest and
devotion.
The reckoning of time by nights and not by days,
according to the words of Moses, " and the evening
and the morning were the first day," has been pre-
served almost in the same manner. The words fort-
night and sennight among us, derive their origin from
those who, in Caesar's time, " conceived themselves
sprung from Dis, and they affirmed this to have been
 427

OF COSMOGONY.

handed down to them from the druids ; for this reason,

they measure, not by the number of days, but of
nights. Accordingly, they observe their birth-days,
and the beginning of months and years, in such a
manner at to cause the days to follow the night."

CHAPTER IV.
Or THE TRADITIONS RESPECTING THE FALL OF MAN.

There are few truths more generally acknowledged,

than that man is in a depraved and degraded state.
This degeneracy of mankind is spoken of by most of
the Greek and Roman philosophers, but these do but
exhibit to us the corrupted systems of Egypt and
India; and if we desire to see the same opinions in a
nearer light, we must look at those ancient traditions
from which the Greeks framed their own; and among
these, the legends which relate to the serpent are at
once the most important and the most interesting.
And here a few words from that work which I have
already mentioned, Deane's Treatise on Serpent Wor-
ship, will be both useful and appropriate.
Dr. Adam Clarke, whose immense learning did not
always prevent his giving the reins to fancy, even in
matters of criticism, has laboured very hard to prove,
that the Nachash, the instrument of temptation which
Satan used against Eve, was not a serpent, but an
animal of the ape kind. The arguments he uses need
not be repeated, because, should they spontaneously
occur to any one, the explanation given by Mr. Deane,
will be sufficient to vindicate the received opinion.
" The seduction of Eve by the serpent, is as far
from being allegorical as the other circumstances of
the fall. Satan had determined to bring about the
428 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

destruction of man, and would therefore approach to

the accomplishment of it in the most subtle manner.
For this purpose, we are taught to believe, that he
assumed the form of a serpent, probably because the
nature of that animal most nearly resembled his own;
1 for the serpent was more subtle than all the beasts
of the field/ His own form was spiritual, he could
not, therefore, have shown himself to Eve as he really
was; he appeared to her, therefore, under a disguise
to which she had been accustomed, and at which she
would not be startled. A beautiful, but mute animal
crossed her path, ascended the tree of knowledge, and
plucked its fruit, and in an instant appeared gifted
with the powers of reason and of speech. He spoke
to her, desired her to taste the same fruits which had
opened his mind; and when at length, having over-
come her first astonishment, she refused, on the plea
that God had forbidden her to touch it, he said unto
her, c Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every
tree in the garden?' If such should appear to have
been the nature of the temptation which assailed Eve,
who shall deny, that it was the most powerful which
could be presented to the human mind ? A mute and
irrational creature having tasted the fruit of this for-
bidden tree, became gifted with speech and reason,
and how surpassing must be the knowledge which
they would acquire by following the same course.
Well then might she believe that they would be as
gods, knowing good and evil. Such an interpretation
of the temptation of Eve, appears not only the most
reasonable which can be offered to our belief, but it is
probably the most correct, from the very language of
the Scripture which describes the fall. The third
chapter of Genesis opens in an abrupt manner, and the
first words of the serpent induce the inference, that
something had previously passed between him and
 TRADITIONS OF THE FALL OF MAN. 429

Eve, which is not mentioned in the narrative. The

■words, 6 Yea, hath God said/ appear to he the con-
tinuation ofa conversation already hegun. This will
explain the reason why the woman expresses no sur-
prise in hearing, for the first time, a hrute animal
speak with the voice of a man. When Eve was
questioned hy her Creator, 'What hast thou done?'
she answered unhesitatingly, 4 The serpent beguiled
me, and I did eat;' a reply which amounts to conclu-
sive evidence, that she believed the tempter to be a
real serpent. As a terrestrial animal, the deceiver is
cursed; c Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt
thou eat all the days of thy life ;' this curse applies
not to a spiritual being. There is ground, therefore,
for accepting the temptation and fall of man, in the
literal sense of the Scripture which reveals them to
our faith."
It seemed necessary to quote this beautiful and im-
pressive passage at length, because if we receive any
other account than that literal one which is given us
by Moses, we lose a most important link in that chain
of evidence by which we arrive at the identity of all
heathen systems. If we show that there is one foun-
tain from which a hundred streams proceed, we shall
not wonder at their being all tinged with the same
colours, and impregnated with the same minerals; but
if there be no common fountain from which they
spring, then the coincidence must be accidental, and
we can no longer trace them by their similarity.
The theory of Dr. Clarke is more likely to be fol-
lowed, because it is put forth with that modesty which
always accompanies talent and learning such as his;
but, philosophically speaking, it is an important error,
and therefore, because his much-read Commentary may
be familiar to the reader, the words of Mr. Deane are
used, that the author may not appear to rely on his
own judgment.
430 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

Speaking of the worship of the serpent, he remarks:

-— " But how an object of abhorrence could haye been
exalted into an object of veneration, must be referred to
the subtilty of the arch enemy himself, whose constant
endeavour has been rather to corrupt than to obliterate
the true faith, that in the perpetual conflict between
truth and error, the mind of man might be more surely
confounded and debased. Among other devices, that
of elevating himself into an object of adoration has ever
been the most cherished. It was this which he pro-
posed to our Lord :— 6 All these things will I give
thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me/ We
cannot, therefore, wonder that the same being who had
the presumption to make such a proposal to the Son of
God, should have had the address to insinuate himself
into the worship of the children of men. In this he
was unhappily but too well seconded by the natural
tendency of human corruption. The unenlighened
heathen, in obedience to the voice of nature, acknow-
ledged his dependence upon a superior being. His
reason assured him that there must be a God; his con-
science assured him that God was good; but he felt
and acknowledged the prevalence of evil, and attri-
buted it naturally to an evil agent. But, as the evil
agent seemed as omnipotent to his unillumined mind as
the good agent, he worshipped both, — the one, that he
might propitiate his kindness; the other, that he might
avert his displeasure.
" The great point of devil-worship being thus
gained, namely, the acknowledgment of an evil spirit
as God, the transition to idolatry became easy. The
mind once darkened by the admission of an allegiance
divided between God and Satan, became gradually
more feeble and superstitious, until at length sensible
objects were called in to aid the weakness of the de-
graded intellect, and from their first form as symbols,
 TRADITIONS OF THE FALL OF MAN. 431

passed rapidly by the successive stages of apotheosis,

until they were elevated into gods.
" Of these the most remarkable was the serpent ;
upon the basis of tradition, regarded first as the symbol
of the malignant being, subsequently considered talis-
manic and oracular, and lastly venerated and wor-
shipped as divine."
We shall, in a future chapter, have to speak of this
worship; but we now pass on to notice those coin-
cidences of tradition which relate to the fall of man,
and its immediate consequences. The first disobedi-
ence was a precedent but too soon followed. The first-
born man was the first murderer, and consequently the
first fratricide. We have but to look to the mytholo-
gical schemes in order, and we shall see this awful event
declared with great distinctness. "Brahma," says one of
the Puranas, u becoming incarnate, produced the first
woman, Satarupa, or Iva, out of one half of his body;
and the first man, Swayambhuva, or Adima, from the
other. From this pair were born three sons, Dachsha,
Cardama, and Ruchi. These quarrelling, Dachsha
wished that Cardama might ever remain a wanderer on
the face of the earth, whereon Cardama slew Dachsha
with a club, while performing a sacrifice."
This legend has been noticed before, and also the
singular coincidence of these three brothers with
Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, so that the latter is often
represented with a gory head in his hand, which head
turns out, on examining the legend, to be that of
Brahma.
The fable of the Atlantians is the next that claims
our notice ; they tell us that Uranus was their first
sovereign, and the first civilizer of men ; his eldest son
was Hyperion, but his other children, moved with
envy, slew Hyperion, and took his dominions to them-
selves. This is less satisfactory, but still sufficiently to
432 ORIGIN OF FALSE W0RSIIIP.

the point to deserve attention ; but the most remarkable

of such legends is that preserved among the Iroquois.
That a wild tribe, in so remote a country, should have
a very exact account, not only of the fall, but of the
first murder, is a coincidence which almost goes the
required length ; it does much to prove that the truth,
more or less corrupted, was spread all over the world,
and is to be found as the basis of every mythological
system.
This tribe believe that the first woman was seduced
from her allegiance to God, and on this account ba-
nished from heaven. Afterwards she bore two sons,
one of whom, in consequence of a quarrel, took a club
and slew the other. But from the same woman sprang
many men and women, who were the progenitors of
the whole human race.
To return to Greece : we have a not dissimilar fable
concerning the Corybantes ; indeed, it is almost certain
that this last was borrowed from the Indian legend
before related. It is a tale of three brothers, one of
whom was murdered by the other two. In many of
these cases, the murdered person was elevated to the
rank of a god, and worshipped accordingly.

CHAPTER V;

OF THE TRADITIONS CONCERNING THE DELUGE.

The Deluge, and the causes for which the world was
afflicted with so severe a visitation, are explicitly de-
clared in every system of mythology which has reached
our times. We have noticed it in India, in Greece, in
China, among the Burmese, the Persians, the Syrians,
the Chaldieans, and the Mexicans. Several circum-
 4&
TRADITIONS CONCERNING THE DELUGE.

stances preceding it have been also retained with the

same fidelity. Such is the translation of Enoch, a fact
too remarkable to be forgotten, and too susceptible of
poetic illustration to be handed down without corrup-
tion. The Hindoos have the tradition thus :— The third
in descent from Adima and Iva was Dhruva, who,
retiring to a forest by the banks of the Jumna, devoted
his whole time to the contemplation of the Deity, and
to acts of religious austerity. Unlike the demons who
at times took the same course to obtain empire, he was
free from ambition, and inculcated a blameless life and
conversation upon mortals. His virtues so pleased the
gods, that they exempted him from the common lot of
mortals, and removed him to heaven without death ;
he is now visible as the polar star.
Enoch was the seventh from Adam, but the third
from Adam was Enos ; and in all probability the simi-
larity of these names gave rise to the chronological
mistake. This is also the probable reason why it was
in his third visit to Ceylon, that Budha, according to
the Singalese legend, ascended to the top of that moun-
tain which is called the Peak of Adima, and thence
being translated to heaven, was no more seen in this
world.
The Calmucs, who do or did worship Budha under
the name of Xaca, have the same legend. Yon Strah-
lenberg says, " Among other idols, they worship in a
peculiar manner one which they call Xaca, or Xaca-
muni. They say that four thousand years ago he was
only a sovereign prince in India, but that, on account
of his unparalleled sanctity, God had taken him up into
heaven alive.*1
Another version of the same fact is that which gives
us the translation of Hesperus. He was the son of
Atlas, and eminent among all his brethren for justice
and piety. 2 F studies,
Being devoted to astronomical
434 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

he was once on the top of Mount Atlas, making obser-

vations, when he was caught up by a whirlwind into
heaven, and became the evening star.
Another point of similarity between the fables of
mythology and the records of Moses, is the great age
assigned to the antediluvian patriarchs. This was
noticed by Josephus, who says, — " All those persons,
whether Greeks or barbarians, who have written on the
subject of antiquity, agree with me in this point. For
Manetho, who wrote an account of the Egyptians, and
Berosus, who compiled a narrative of the affairs of
Chaldaaa; and Mochus and Hestiaeus, and Jerome the
Egyptian, who were the authors of different histories
of Phoenicia ; all these bear testimony to my veracity.
Hesiod, likewise, and Hecatseus, and Hellanicus, and
Acusilaus, and Ephorus, and Nicolaus, relate that the
ancients lived a thousand years."
The Burmese and Chinese held, as has been already
shown, the same belief, with the important addition
that the curtailment of man s life wras the consequence
of his moral depravity and continued degeneration.
The Roman philosophers, who are chiefly valuable as
epitomizing all that had been before published, had a
tradition concerning Japetus, which is thus given by
Horace :— " After fire was brought down (by Japetus)
from the heavenly dome, consumption and a new host
of diseases swept over the earth, and the approach of
death, always inevitable, but once far remote, was
quickened."
Now this is in exact accordance with the scriptural
account. At the period when Japheth flourished, the
span of mans life was first shortened ; and from that
time forward it experienced a gradual diminution, till
it reached the present standard. But not only was the
life of man longer, but in those early ages his stature
was greater. This is the decision of universal tradi-
 TRADITIONS CONCERNING THE DELUGE. 435

tion, and the more ancient the record, the more holdly
is it pronounced. Moses says, " And there were giants
in the earth in those days."
Homer speaks with comparative contempt of the
diminutive race of men in his day, and makes his
heroes pronounce a similar judgment upon their con-
temporaries.
Sanchoniatho mentions the huge sons of Genos (the
Cain of the Scripture) ; he says that their names were
given to the mountains upon which they seized, and
speaks of them as having sprung up during a period of
universal depravity. Hesiod. and, after him, Ovid, tell
the same tale ; and in the far North we find the only
inhabitants of the universe before the flood a race of
iniquitous giants, who all, save one, perished therein.
We now pass to the unity of fable concerning the
Flood itself, just observing that the period in wThich it is
said to have happened will be generally found to cor-
respond very nearly, if not exactly, with that assigned
to it by Moses.
Of the flood, we have already seen many versions.
Plato, in his Timaeus, gives an Egyptian account, and
after discussing the destruction of the earth by fire,
he proceeds to discourse of its dissolution by a mighty
flood. "The gods," says he, "now wishing to purify the
wrorld by water, overwhelmed it with a deluge. On
this occasion certain herdsmen and shepherds were
saved on the tops of the mountains, but they who
dwelt in the towns of Egypt were swept away into the
sea by the rising of the waters."
After this Egyptian legend, we will take a passage
from Davies Mythology of the British Druids, in which
the sum of the Bardic traditions on this subject is
given. " The profligacy of mankind had provoked the
great Supreme to send a pestilential wind upon the
earth; a fierce poison descended, every blast was death.
2 f 2
436 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

At this time the patriarch, distinguished for his inte-

grity, was shut up, together with his select company,
in the inclosure with the strong door. Here the just
ones were safe from injury. Presently a tempest of
fire arose ; it split the earth asunder to the great deep.
The lake Llion hurst its bounds. The waves of the
sea lifted themselves on high round the borders of
Britain. The rain poured down from heaven, and the
waters covered the earth ; but that water was intended
as a lustration to purify the polluted globe, to render it
meet for the renewal of life, and to wash away the
contagion of its former inhabitants into the chasms of
the abyss. The flood which swept away from the sur-
face of the earth the expiring remains of the patriarch's
contemporaries, raised his vessel on high from the
ground, bore it safe upon the summit of the waves, and
proved to him and to his associates the water of life and
renovation/'
Nor is a knowledge of this awful visitation confined
to the old world. In the section on Mexican mytho-
logy afable was related, referring to the same cata-
strophe. The Peruvians had the following account
current among them. They believed, by old tradition
from their ancestors, that it once rained so violently as
to deluge all the lower parts of the country. In con-
sequence ofthis, an universal destruction of the human
species took place, a few persons only excepted, who
escaped into caves in the top of the mountains. Into
these elevated retirements they had previously conveyed
a sufficient stock of provisions and living animals, lest,
when the waters abated, the whole race should have
become extinct. As soon as the rain ceased, they sent
out two dogs, which returned to them covered with mud
and slime. Hence they concluded that the flood had not
subsided. After a certain interval they sent out two
more dogs, which coming back dry, they concluded
 7

TRADITIONS CONCERNING THE DELUGE.

that the earth was now habitable. Upon this they left
the places into which they had retired, and became the
progenitors of the present race of men: they were seven
in number. Faber, from whose Horce Mosaicce several
of these legends are taken, reconciles the number seven
to the eight of Noah, by the frequent omission of
Noah's wife in the oriental legends; this was done
because she was, as the great universal mother, mys-
tically identified with the ark itself, and as the goddess
of the ship she was still identified with the consort of
the great father, and the mother of his children.
The Brazilian tradition states that the world, with
its inhabitants, were once destroyed by water, save one
man and his sister, who escaped on a raft; these mar-
ried, and from them the Brazilians deduced their
descent. Lerius relates that he was present at one of
their solemn assemblies, when, in general chorus, they
chaunted a sort of requiem to the souls of their an-
cestors. In the course of the song they did not fail to
notice the catastrophe of the deluge, in which the
whole world perished, save a few of their ancestors,
who escaped by climbing trees. Pietro Martin also
relates that when the Spaniards discovered Nicaragua,
they attempted to persuade the reigning prince to
become a Christian. His first question was, whether
the Christians knew anything of that great flood which,
according to their ancestors, had once covered the
whole earth, and had destroyed both man and beast.
The missionaries who first visited the islands in the
Pacific Ocean found traces there of the same event in
the traditions of the people. In Otaheite they were
told that the gods had broken up the whole world, and
the islands were but fragments of a vast continent
which was now plunged beneath the waters.
In Owhyhee, there was a more distinct legend, for
the inhabitants of that cluster said, that Etoa, their
438 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

god, who had created the world, had subsequently

destroyed by a deluge; that all the earth had been
cohered by the water, save the peak of Mowna Eoa,
on which one pair had saved themselves from destruc-
tion, and that from them had sprung all the race of
mortals now existing.
There are many circumstances connected with the
ark which will be found running through the whole
circle of mythological learning. A few of these will
be briefly noted. The eight principal gods of Egypt
were represented as sailing over the sea in a ship : this
ship was also called Argo, as well as Baris and Theba,
and from the Egyptian legend arose the Greek fable
of the ship Argo, which was always represented as the
first ship. The Greeks, in their anxiety to dress the
tale in the ornaments of romance, forgot that the ship
Argo was the first ship, and represented the king of
Colchis as possessing a navy when Jason landed on his
coast. Circumstances like this make the Greek my-
thology of comparatively little value in an inquiry like
the present; for whereas other nations, the Egyptians,
the Indians, and barbarians, preserved their traditions
as they were handed down to them from antiquity, the
lively and poetical Greeks never ceased adorning and
illustrating them.
One of the most singular modes in which the ark of
Noah has been made an object of veneration may be
seen in the Indian argha. This consists of the linga,
placed upon the yoni: these are the symbols of
Mahadeva and Parvati, and very few who behold
the argha know that it has anything to do with the
ark at all, or with any kind of ship. They are
considered as the signs of reproduction, and of the
active and passive powers of nature: there is, however,
a Hindoo fable which throws a light on this subject,
and explains its name and nature at once.
 TRADITIONS CONCERNING THE DELUGE. 439

During the time when the earth was plunged be-

neath the waters, and just before the Matsyavatara, or
the Yaharavatara, (for it is not quite certain which,)
Parvati transformed herself into a ship, of which
Mahadeva became the mast; when the earth was
brought up from the waters, they flew away in the
shape of doves. Now Parvati, Isis, the Derceto of the
Syrians, and the Aphrodite of the Greeks, are all but
different names of the same goddess, and may there-
fore all be traced to the ark. Typical of the productive
energies of nature, the symbols of Mahadeva and Par-
vati may be easily referred to the first parents of the
second world; and when we find Yenus, Derceto, and
Isis, each made to animate the form of a ship, and the
two latter containing each eight gods, the reference to
the ark is too palpable to be mistaken. It is allowed
on all hands that the argo of the Greeks is a mere copy
of the Egyptian argo ; and this, if we assume the supe-
rior antiquity of Indian mythology, which there are
many reasons for doing, will appear to be a copy in its
turn of the Hindoo argha.
This chapter will be concluded in the words of Faber
(Horce Mosaicci*, vol. i., p. 131.) Noticing the sin-
gular manner in which the history of the deluge seems
to be portrayed on the southern hemisphere of the
celestial globe, he says, u The greater part of this divi-
sion of the sphere is occupied by various aquatic
animals, and water is represented as streaming upon it
in almost every direction. In the midst of the waves
appears the ship Argo; near it is a dove which seems
to be flying towards it, and at a small distance from it
is a raven perched on the back of a sea-serpent. Fur-
ther on, as if he had just left the ship, is the fabulous
centaur, who, with his lance, pierces an animal, and
bears it as a victim towards a smoking altar. The
Argo thus depicted on the sphere, is claimed by the
440 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

Greeks as the vessel of Jason, which bore him from

Pagasse to Colchis, in quest of the golden fleece. The
centaur is equally claimed by them, and the whole
body of constellations is said to relate to a pretended
expedition conducted by a petty Thessalian chieftain.
It is not difficult, however, to show that such a claim
was purely the result of national vanity, united with a
love of poetical romance.
Ci With respect to the constellation, its position alone
may prove that the story attached to it was not of
Grecian origin. Canopus, the principal star, is only
thirty-seven degrees from the south pole, and a great
part of the constellation lies yet nearer to it. But the
course of the fabled argonautic voyage from Pagasce to
Colchis lay between thirty-nine and forty-five degrees
north latitude; the constellation Argo is alike, therefore,
invisible both at Pagasas and at Colchis; hence it is
sufficiently manifest that the history attached to that
constellation cannot relate to the pretended Thessalian
expedition; for if the Greeks had been the persons
who placed first the Argo in the sphere, we may be
morally sure that they would have placed it in the
northern hemisphere, where they could have seen it
themselves, and not in the southern, where they could
not see it. Such being the case, the catasterism of
the ship must have been originally arranged by a nation
which lay far to the south of Greece, and which could
behold it from their own settlements. Consequently,
to whatever history it may relate, it clearly cannot
refer to the voyage of a Thessalian galley from Pagasce
to Colchis. With this conclusion all that we are told
of the Argo perfectly agrees. Though it is said to have
been the ship of Jason, and though the poets largely
describe its structure of Thessalian timber, we are
nevertheless assured that it was the identical vessel in
which Danaiis sailed from Egypt to Greece, many
 TRADITIONS CONCERNING THE DELUGE.
441
years before the alleged epoch of Jason. Nor is this
all; we are further taught that the Argo of the sphere
is the sacred ship of the Egyptian Osiris, into which
he was compelled to enter by Typhon; and we are
informed that Typhon * was a mere personification of
the sea, which therefore constrained the hero-jrod
Osiris to take refuge in the ship named Argo.
"But the knowledge of the Argo was by no means
peculiar to the Egyptians, or the Greeks ; we find this
famous ship equally familiar to the Hindoos. As the
Osiris or the Isiris of the former enters into the Argo,
so the Isawara (Mahadeva,) of the latter enters into
the Argha; and as the navicular goddess of Egypt was
called Isis, so the navicular goddess of Hindoostan still
bears the name of Isi (Parvati). But the Argha of
India is manifestly the ark, for it floats upon the waters
of the deluge, and afterwards flies away in the shape
of a dove. Hence we may be sure, that that Argo
which, from its position, could only have been placed
in the sphere by a nation much more southern than
the Greeks, is no obscure Thessalian galley, but a ship,
the history of which was well known from Egypt to
Hindoostan ; a ship which every particular attached to
it proves to have been the ark of Noah."

CHAPTER VI.
OF THE TRADITIONS CONCERNING NOAH AND HIS SONS.

It has been very frequently attempted to prove the

doctrine of the Trinity by a reference to the tritheisni
* This is to be taken only as a Greek fable ; the Egyptian
accounts of him will be found in the first suction of this work,
but, as a Greek fable, it is of sufficient authority to refute
another Greek fable.
442 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

prevailing in almost every nation whose mythology has

excited the attention of mankind; but a little further
examination would have convinced the inquirers that
they might as well have argued for the truth of justi-
fication byfaith, or any other scriptural doctrine, from
the same circumstance. It may be very easily shown
to refer to the three sons of Noah, who were the pro-
genitors of the present race of mankind. We may
just mention a few of these triads, and note the dif-
ferences which prevail among them. They are —
1. The triad of the Hindoos, Brahma, Yishnu, and
Mahadeva. 2. The triad of the Egyptians, Osiris,
Isis, and Orus. 3. The triad of the Greeks, Jupiter,
Neptune, and Pluto; or, rather, Zeus, Poseidon, and
Hades. 4. The triad of the North, Odin, Frigga, and
Thor. 5. The triad of the Scythians, Lipoxais, Ar-
poxais, and Colaxais. Besides these there is a triad of
the Germans, triads of Graces, Furies, Gorgons, Fates,
and many others similar. That which is the most cele-
brated ofthese triads is the Greek, the sons of Kronus,
or, as the Romans called him, Saturn.
Now, if once we establish the identity of Noah and
Saturn, we have proved the identity of the sons of the
one with the sons of the other; and to this, therefore,
our attention should be in some measure first directed.
The driving of Saturn from heaven to earth is an apt
representation of Noah's passage from one world to
another, — from the antediluvian world, which the poets
universally represent as a golden age, to an earth, now
doubly cursed, — cursed, in the first instance by sterility,
and again by the flood. Saturn was the ruler of the
golden age, but the period immediately before the
deluge was that in which Noah had just succeeded to
the patriarchal government, and was therefore the lord
of the golden age. Saturn's devouring his children is
but a disguised mode of telling us how all the sons of
 TRADITIONS CONCERNING NOAII AND HIS SONS. 443

time were prematurely destroyed when that general

and awful visitation took place; three escaped the rage
of the one, three escaped the judgment of the other.
Saturn was the god of hushandry, and as such, as much,
as because a personification of time, he bore the scythe
or the sickle in his hand: he taught men to plant
vines, and was seldom represented without the flowers
and fruits of the earth in his aged hands.
All this corresponds exactly with the history of
Noah ; " and Noah began to be an husbandman;" he
planted the vine, and to his cost drank its produce ; he
was rightly spoken of as an old man, for, at the time
of the flood he was six hundred years old, and lived
to an age much greater than any of his descendants.
The very name of the mountain upon which the
ark rested, gives us a further reason for the identity
of Noah and Saturn. Har-irad, the mountain of
descent, would well apply to the residence of a god,
who, cast down from his celestial dominions, became
a monarch upon earth.
These reasons seem sufficient, but if not, it may be
added, that a ship in which he had made a wonderful
voyage, wTas, by no means, an unfrequent symbol of
Saturn. The sons of Saturn, then, are the sons of
Noah, and in exact accordance with this hypothesis,
we find them dividing between them the whole earth.
Japetus, king of heaven and earth, who answers to
Jupiter in a later mythos, bears in his name a simi-
larity to that of Japheth, too close to be overlooked.
One of the sons of this same being, under another
name, was called by the Egyptians, Hammon, or,
Amoun, and we shall presently show the identity of
Ham and Pluto. Neptune, or Poseidon, seems to have
no other resemblance to Shem, than that which is de-
rived from bein£ the son of Saturn. The division
444 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

among the brothers of Saturn s dominions, seems to

have been conducted in such a manner, that heaven
and earth fell to the eldest, Jupiter, Zeus, Japetus, or,
Japheth ; the sea to the second, Poseidon, Neptune, or
Shem ; and hell to the youngest, Hades, Pluto, or
Ham; but there appears no other reason to make Shem
the ruler of the sea, than this, that there was no other
domain left for him. The appointment of Ham, whose
sons, Cush and Misraim, Phut and Canaan, were the
colonizers of Africa and the Asiatic countries adjacent,
was much more appropriately imagined. If Saturn be
Noah, Pluto was one of his sons ; and, it is said, in a
very ancient tradition, that Ham was a black man.
Now, whether this legend be true or not, is not of the
slightest consequence; opinions were built on tradi-
tions as well as on facts, and the blackness of the
African races might be thought, perhaps, derived from
their great ancestor. But by the old geographers the
central parts of Africa were not only supposed to be
very hot, but, actually, in a state of combustion ; and
we are gravely assured by some of the philosophers of
antiquity, that it is impossible to pass the equator for
the whole earth is there on fire.
We have every reason to believe, that the ancients
circumnavigated Africa ; but since they have left no
very exact documents on the subject, we are hardly
qualified to speak with certainty, but this much is cer-
tain, that the fables of the actual combustion of the
earth, at the regions of the equator, existed in the
fifteenth century.
When the first Portuguese discoverers, under the
patronage of that accomplished prince, Don Henry,
sailed along the western coast of Africa, with a view
to find a naval passage to India, and observed the in-
creasing heat and the deepened complexions of the
 TRADITIONS CONCERNING NOAH AND HIS SONS.

natives as they proceeded, they not only felt, but ex-

pressed their apprehension of coming to a land a\ here
the very air would he flame, and the inhabitants, de-
mons ; nor was it at all an easy matter to induce them
to advance. One expedition was actually given up
through this terror. .All that the better-informed
among them had read or heard on this subject, now
came back to their minds with the conviction of truth,
and they totally abandoned the idea of circumnavi-
gating so perilous a coast. Yasco de Gama dissolved
the charm, and laid the first stonA of the temple of dis-
covery. Itwas not, then, without reason that the lord
of so flaming a territory was fabled to be the prince of
hell.
An instance of this coincidence is found in the iden-
tity of Amoun, Ham, and Osiris ; for, as we shall have
occasion presently to observe, there are few objects of
worship that may not at last be resolved into the
sun, or the moon. Osiris we have already seen to be
the sun, and we must expect that every other character
made from the sons of the patriarch, and elevated into
the rank of divinities, will be capable of the like
solution.
The great triad of the North, Odin, Frigga, and
Thor, like that of the Egyptians, Osiris, lsis, and Orus,
seems to relate to an earlier period than that of the
deluge, for these are not triads of three brethren, but
composed of a father, a mother, and a son, represent-
ing respectively, heaven, earth, and the sun. But
there is a Northern tradition, agreeing precisely with
the Xoetic account, and which, in the section on Nor-
thern mythology, was fully related. It is that Bore,
the son of Bure, ^vas the father of Odin, Vile, and Ve.
This legend is remarkable, because, in the subsequent
pages of the Edda, we meet only once more with Vile
and Ye ; they are the heroes of no fables, and seem
 446 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

only mentioned in the passage quoted above, to show

that Odin was but one of a triad of brethren.
In the Asiatic Researches, there occurs a passage
concerning the last of the Menus ; that he was the
father of three sons, Sham a, Charma, and Iyapati,
who, with her, were saved in the deluge.
Upon these Indian accounts we have been told not
to place too strong a reliance, for that some of them
have been invented for the sake of the coincidence.
The history of the Scythian triad is thus given by
Herodotus : " When this region," says he, " was in its
original and desert state, the first inhabitant was named
Targitaus, a son, they say, of Jupiter, by a daughter
of the Borysthenes. This Targitaus had three sons,
Lipoxais, Arpoxais,
possessed the country, and, there
lastly,fellColaxais. "Whilst
from heaven into they
the
Scythian district, a plough, a yoke, an axe, and a gob-
let, all of gold ; the eldest of the brothers was the first
who saw them, who, running to take them, was burnt
by the gold. On his retiring, the second brother ap-
proached, and was burnt also. When these two had
been repelled by the burning gold, last of all, the
younger brother advanced ; upon him the gold had no
power, and he carried it to his house. The two elder
brothers observing what had happened, resigned all
authority to the youngest. As this region is extensive,
king Colaxais divided the country into three parts,
which he gave to his three sons, making that tthe
largest in which the gold was deposited."
In this tradition we may observe the character of
Noah hinted at in the instruments of husbandry and
the cup, while, as Faber justly remarks, in the superi-
ority of the youngest brother over the other two, we
are led to recognise the usurpation and tyranny of the
line of Ham in the person of Nimrod, the founder of
the only universal monarchy.
 TRADITIONS CONCERNING NOAH AND HIS SONS. 447

In the traditions of the Germans, vre recognise the

same triad, in the three sons of Mannus, the son of
Tuisto, himself sprung from the earth. ""
* Herodotus, from whose fourth book the history of the
Scythian triad is taken, gives another very extraordinary ver-
sion of it, as repeated to him by the Greeks of Pontus. " Her-
cules," said they, " having slain Geryon, drove away Ins oxen ;
while wandering about the country, he lost his horses, and,
after some circumstances, not necessary to repeat, he came to
a female of very uncommon appearance, resembling a woman
as far as the middle, but having the lower parts like a serpent.
Hercules beheld her with wonder, as well he might, but was
not deterred from asking after his horses. The serpent lady,
whose name was Echidna, answered that she had them but
that she would not give them up unless he would marry her.
Hercules, whose notions on the subject of matrimony were
none of the most correct, made not the least objection, and,
accordingly, the union took place. When the horses were
produced, the owner felt desirous to go ; his wife, naturally
enough, wished him to stay ; but his departure was already
resolved on, for this great hero was (like many other great
heroes) of a wandering and unsettled character, and by no
means fond of domestic tranquillity. Before his departure,
Echidna addressed him, and told him, that their union would
be blest with three sons. c I wish you to say how I shall dis-
pose of them hereafter, whether I shall detain them here,
where I am the sole sovereign, or whether I shall send them
to you.' The reply of Hercules was to this effect : ' As
soon you
and as they cannot shallerrbe ;grown up to ofman's
whichever them estate, observe
you shall this,
see bend
this bow, and wear this belt as I do, him detain in this country;
the others, who shall not be able to do this, you may send
away, and, by minding what I say, you will have pleasure
yourself and will satisfy my wishes.' Having said this, Her-
cules took one of his bows, for thus far he had carried two,
and showing her also his belt, at the end of which a golden
cup was suspended, he gave her them and departed. As soon
as her three sons grew up, she called the eldest Agathyrsus,
the second, Gelonus, and the third, Scytha. She remembered
also the injunctions she had received, and two of her sons,
Agathyrsus and Gelonus, who were incompetent to the trial
which was proposed, were sent away by their mother from the
448 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

There are two triads worthy of notice, and of which

very little is known. One is the hundred-handed off-
spring of Ccelus and Terra, or Uranus and Gcea, whose
names were Cottus, Briareus, and Gyges ; the other is
the triad mentioned in a Koman legend preserved by
Appian. Polyphemus and Galatasa had three sons,
Celtus, Illyrius, and Gallus, and these were the fathers
of great nations. Now, if there be any truth in ety-
mology, then the Illyrians, the Celts, and the Gauls^
must be these nations. But Caesar, in the first sen-
tences of his Commentary says, that the Gauls and
Celts are the same people, and if we suppose Celtus and
Gallus to hare been friends and neighbours, as well as
brothers, and their descendants intermingling, formed
afterwards only one people, still it is difficult to ac-
count for this location of the sons of Polyphemus, and
the legend is a proof of a general tradition running
through all nations, which the more enlightened have
skilfully wrought into their own histor}r, and the more
barbarous have indicated in a more rude and unsatis-
factory manner.

CHAPTER VII.

OF THE FATES, FATALISM, AND STOICISM.

Among the triads of Greek and Roman mythology, we

find the Graces, the Furies, and the Fates : the former
two have been already considered; the last have been
country. Scytlia, the youngest, was successful in his exer-
tions and remained. From this, Scytlia, the son of Hercules,
the kings of Scythia are descended, and from the golden cup,
the Scythians have, to this day, a cup at the end of their
belts."
 THE FATES. 449

reserved to this place with a view to remarks on the

spread and nature of fatalism. There were, as we have
already seen, the Fates and the Destinies, of which the
latter only will he here considered ; their names were
Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, and they were depicted,
Clotho as holding the distaff, on which is wound the
thread of human life and fortune, Lachesis as spinning
it, and Atropos as standing ready with the shears or
scissors, and cutting it off at the destined length.
Now, the first* idea that will strike the mind on
beholding this picture, is, that she who holds in her
hands the great mass of life and lot, from whom it is
all derived, must he no other than the creating power ;
that she who spins it out, and continues for ever so
doing, must be the preserving power ; and that she
who with the fatal scissors cuts off the thread of life,
is the embodied principle of corruption and destruction.
To this scheme we have already a parallel in the Hindoo
triad, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva ; and if we search fur-
ther, we shall find historical as well as philosophical
evidence of their identity.
Reverting to the Vamanavatara of Yishnu, we find
that deity superior in power to him who was the lord
of heaven, earth, and hell. This same fact is evident
in the Narasingha, and in the destruction of many other
asuras, who had by their austerities and devotions thus
made themselves omnipotent; the avatar mentioned
above, is chosen from the character of the then ruler,
Mahabeli; that is, Beli, Bel, or Belus the Great, was
no other than the Belus so worshipped in Assyria.
Nimrod, we are told by the books of Moses, was the
first universal monarch, and he built the city and tower
of Babel. But the mycologists tell us, that Belus
built this tower and city; and add to it that he was a
great astronomer ; we are at no loss, then, to prove the
identity of Belus and Nimrod, nor to account 2 g for the
450 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

fable that lie was lord of heaven and earth, for that
man, who was really the first and only universal
monarch, and who also investigated with success, or
was said to do so, the phenomena of the heavens, might
well be so called in so early and allegorizing an age.
But Belus was the lord of hell, and Nimrod was de-
scended from Ham, who has been already identified
with Pluto ; it was natural to suppose that the empire
of Ham would descend to this, his mightiest descendant ;
and there therefore appears no difficulty whatever, in
acknowledging Belus and Nimrod to be the same per-
son. The palace of Mahabeli was said to be at the
bottom of the sea, which gradually advanced and
swallowed up the stately city which it adorned. This,
though somewhat different from the account of Babel,
gives us yet a clue to another fact, which is no less
important, viz., that Belus himself was at once, Jupiter,
Neptune, and Pluto. In the Hindoo account, the flood
is brought in in a more indirect manner, and we have
not the triad of gods, from the sons of Noah ; but in
the more western legends, the one ruling god, Belus,
(the Sun, as we shall by-and-by show) was, as it were,
split into three, to be assimilated with the diluvian
patriarchs. But as there was a divinity superior to
Mahabeli, so there must be, if the origin of the fable
be correctly given, a divinity superior to the western
triad, Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto ; accordingly, we
find these gods, like men, subject to the Parcae, or
Fates ; that these are three in number, and may be
shown, as the creating, preserving, and destroying
powers, to be supreme over all ; and lastly, that the
Hindoo triad, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, answers in
every respect to these mighty and mysterious goddesses.
There is one more point of resemblance, which com-
pletes the parallel. It is, that as the Eastern triad was
but a subordinate set of deities, and all subject to the
 THE FATES. 451

eternal Brahm, who was too holy to be approached by

man in worship, so the western Fates were also said,
by some vague legends, to be subject to a dim and
awful personification of omnipotence, who was not
worshipped, of whom little was said, and little pro-
fessed to be known. This awful being was called
Demogorgon, but he was far from being so distinctly
recognised as the Brahm of the Hindoos, and from
this vagueness arises the more decided fatalism of the
European systems.
Pausanias, in his remarks on the chest of Cypselus,
says, among the figures, there was one with a wild and
savage air, great tusks, and crooked hands. Now, we
have already shown the coincidence of the Fates in
general with the three divinities of the Hindoo triad,
and the coincidence of this figure with Kali, the sacti, or
pervading energy of Mahadeva; this will not be thought
fanciful, when we find that by its inscription it was
known to be one of the Parcoe. Clotho then will coin-
cide with Brahma, and Lachesis with Vishnu ; but as
these personages are found in the Yalkyruies of the
North, as wTell as in the East and West, we shall expect
to find fatalism more or less prevalent, as the relative
position of these goddesses was more or less dignified.
We shall first see how the Latin Stoic philosophers
treated the subject, premising that the differences be-
tween them and their Greek predecessors are of no
consequence to our question, and that the latter are
more explicit, as well as more intelligible.
L, A. Seneca, in his Consolation to Marcia, thus ex-
presses himself :— "A time shall come, when the world,
ripe for a renovation, shall be wrapped in flames ; when
the opposite powers shall naturally destroy each other,
when the constellations shall dash together, and the
whole universe, plunged in the same common fire, shall
be reduced to ashes/'
2 G 2
452 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

In his Questions on Natural History, he says, " The

world being dissolved and re-entered into the bosom of
Jove, the god continues for some time totally con-
centred inhimself, and remains concealed as it were,
and totally immersed in the atmosphere of his own
thoughts. Afterwards we see a new world spring from
him, perfect in all its parts; animals are produced
anew, an innocent race of men are formed under more
favourable auspices, in order to people this earth, the
worthy abode of virtue ; in short, the whole face of
nature becomes more pleasing and lovely ."
Again, in the writings of Seneca the tragedian,
occurs the following passage. {Here, (Et. v. 1102.) He
thus apostrophises the end of the world: —
DayWhen
of nature's
her end fear
the and
worldwonder,
appals,
When the southern pole shall thunder,
Crushing Afric as it falls,
When the northern heavens are sinking,
Crumbling all the icy ground,
And the frighted sun is shrinking,
And his light hath terror bound,
Then
Yieldshallat heavens'
once both high
deathpalace failing,
and life ;
Ruin o'er the gods prevailing,
Sinks them in chaotic strife.

This doctrine is of course derived from Zeno, the

founder of the Stoic sect : he was born of Persian
parents, in the isle of Cyprus ; and hence, we wonder
less at finding his doctrines -deduced from those of
Zoroaster and his magi. Brucker, in his Crit. Hist.
Phil., gives, as the tenets of this great man, that the
world, purified by an universal devastation, should be-
come a luminous and shining abode, into which evil
would never be permitted to enter. Now, if all this
be compared with the Northern philosophy, as depicted
 THE FATES. 453

in the section allotted to it, we shall see other traces of

the eastern origin of Odin's religion.
In the Edda, and in the Voluspa, will he found the
same events as those just mentioned, and related, or
rather prophesied, in words nearly the same. Seneca
says, " the opposite powers shall mutually destroy each
other." The Voluspa exhibits them in actual contest,
and as perishing by mutual efforts. Thor and Mid-
gard, Loke and Heimdall, Tyr and Garmer, reciprocally
slay each other. Afterwards, we have the same beau-
tiful renovation of heaven and earth, the same absorp-
tion of the inferior deities, the same new and innocent
race of men. The followers of the Edda, of the Magi,
of the Stoics, were not the only persons who held
these singularly interesting opinions. " When, at the
end of this age," say the Hindoos, " Vishnu shall come
in his tenth avatar, the Kalkiavatara, seated on a white
horse, and having his sword in his hand, blazing like a
comet, he will put an end to this era, and renovate the
world, previous to an age of absolute purity. Kali, or
the destroying energy, will prevail at his coming ;
Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahadeva will fall into the jaws
of non-existence; Kal, or Time, shall destroy himself;
and nothing will remain but Brahm, the eternal one."
Kal signifies black, and is here placed in the same con-
dition with Surtur the black, in the Northern system.
In the twenty-first chapter of Revelation, we have this
awfully sublime passage : " And I saw a new heaven and
a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were
passed away, and there was no more sea : And I heard
a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the taber-
nacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them,
and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be
with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe
awray all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no
more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall
454 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

there be any more pain, for the former things are passed
away ; And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I
make all things new, And he said unto me, Write, for
these words are true and faithful."
This doctrine was not new to the Jews. It is true
that they had never heard it asserted so distinctly, or
expressed so sublimely before, but still the Pharisees
had similar traditions. They believed in the resurrec-
tion and restoration, and in the spiritual inhabitants of
the celestial world. These traditions were handed down
to them from the time of Adam, and from their disse-
mination originated that foundation of truth on which
the Gentile nations erected so extensive a superstruc-
ture of error.
On examining the records of mythology again, we
shall see that the gods were often, nay generally, re-
presented with the frailties, the passions, and the short-
sightednes ofmen. Mrs. H. More well observes,
that the best of the Greek gods would have been trans-
ported byan English jury, and the most excellent of
the goddesses committed to the house of correction.
A specimen from the North, one from the East, and one
from the "West, will suffice; and as their vices are too
gross to be here spoken of, the selected fables will show
their follies only.
First, then, it is said of Prometheus, that he killed
two bullocks, and having put the fat in one skin, en-
closed in the fat the offal and and the bones, while the
available part of the two bullocks was put into the
other skin. Prometheus now called Jupiter, to say
which bullock he would take, observing, that one was
to be sacrificed to him. Jupiter, deceived by the ap-
pearance ofthe fat, chose the worthless lot.
The history of the Rishis and the Pleiades is a
similar tale, from the Hindoo mythos ; and in the
Northern system we have only to look at the manner
 THE FATES. 455

in which the giants deceived Thor, in his memorable

excursion against them.
The importance of the coincidence is in showing the
human nature of all these objects of adoration. Fatalism
is the creed of the Budhuist ; it is the creed of the
Mohammedan; it is the creed of the Pagan; it forms
one of those links by which all systems are connected
together, and one of those clues by which they may all
be traced to the same source.

CHAPTER VIII.
ON THE WORSHIP OF THE SERPENT.

" The worship of the serpent," says Deane, in his ad-

mirable work on the subject, " may be traced in almost
every religion through ancient Asia, Europe, Africa,
and America. The progress of the sacred serpent from
paradise to Peru is one of the most remarkable phe-
nomena in mythological history, and to be accounted
for only on the supposition that a corrupted tradition
of the serpent in paradise had been handed down from
generation to generation.
" The serpent is the symbol which most generally
enters into the mythology of the world. It may, in
different countries, admit, among its fellow-satellites of
Satan, the most venomous or the most terrible of the
animals in each country, but it preserves its own con-
stancy as the only invariable object of superstitious
terror throughout the habitable world. c Wherever the
devil reigned,' remarks IStillingfleet, 6 the serpent was
held in some peculiar veneration.' "
The universality of this worship is what Mr. D.
showed in his work, and having done so, he feels
456 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

"justified in drawing the conclusion, that the narrative

of Moses is powerfully corroborated by the prevalence
of this singular and irrational, but natural superstition.
Irrational, for there is nothing in common between
deity and a reptile to suggest the notion of serpent-
worship ; and natural, because, allowing the truth of
the events in paradise, every probability is in favour of
such a superstition springing up ; for it is more than
probable that Satan would erect, as the standard of
idolatry, the stumbling-block ascertained to be fatal
to man. By so doing, he would not only receive the
homage he so ardently desired from the beginning, but
be also perpetually reminded of his victory over Adam,
than which no gratification can be imagined more fas-
cinating to his malignant mind. It was his device,
therefore, that, as by the temptation of the serpent man
fell, so by the adoration of the serpent he should con-
tinue to fall."
That Mr. Deane has amply succeeded in his inten-
tion, no one who has read his work can doubt; but
the universality of serpent-worship may be used to
establish a further point, namely, that the history
given by Moses is not only true itself, but that this
history, and those traditions which prevailed among
the Jews, and which they received from the patriarchs,
are the basis of every system of mythology and cosmo-
gony. The worship of which we speak is distinctly
traced by this author through Asia, in Babylon, Persia,
Hindoostan, Ceylon, China, and Japan, Burmah, Java,
Arabia, Syria, Asia Minor, and the islands of the
Archipelago.
The serpent, in some of these countries, has been
considered in the course of this work, and a few re-
marks here will be sufficient on the others.
" In the temple of Belus," according to Diodorus,
" was an image of the goddess Rhea, sitting on a golden
 WORSHIP OF THE SERPENT.

throne ; at her knees stood two lions, and near her very
large serpents of silver, thirty talents each in weight.
There was also an image of Juno, holding in her right
hand the head of a serpent.''
Living serpents were also kept at Babylon as objects
of adoration ; and this does not rest merely on the
apocryphal story of Bel and the Dragon; so that, whe-
ther we regard that history as true or fabulous, it is
quite certain that the religion of the country is not
much misrepresented. All through the East, and, in-
deed, more or less, all through the world, ran the
hierogram of a circle with wings, and a serpent passing
through it. It has been found chiefly in sacred build-
ings, and is supposed to be a symbol of consecration,
the circle signifying the world, the wings the moving
or penetrating power of the Deity, and the serpent the
Deity himself. It seems to signify that it is God by
whom the universe proceeds in its circle of motion, and
that it is God who is adored under the symbol of the
sacred serpent. This circle, when filled up with a human
face, became the Medusa, and had a separate legend
applied to it by the imaginative power of the Greeks.
In Hindoostan, a custom prevails to this day, not
much unlike that spoken of in the tale of Bel and the
Dragon. The natives of some parts have a festival
which they call the festival of the serpents, at which
every man sets by a portion of his rice, and offers it to
the hooded snakes, leaving it outside for that purpose.
This is intended to propitiate these reptiles.
A circumstance which must not be passed over is, that
the cobra de capello is the sacred serpent of India.
Now if we examine the Egyptian sculptures, Ave shall
find that the same snake is there represented as sacred ;
it is called the asp ; not the asp by which Cleopatra
destroyed herself, but the cobra de capello. But the
cobra de capello is an Asiatic, not an African, snake ;
458 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

nor is it ever found in Egypt; hence we have a proof

that part, at least, of the Egyptian system was borrowed
from India.
In the chapter on Egyptian mythology is an account
of some very ancient sculptures, far older than any
other relics of Egyptian antiquity with which we are
acquainted. Here are figures of the Indian deities ;
among them Vishnu and Ganesa are conspicuous,
affording us another proof of the Indian origin of
Egyptian mythology. The god of health and medicine
is always distinguished by serpents. The Greek
Asclepias, the Roman Esculapius, have many legends
connected with them, all in some way or other con-
cerning serpents. This may easily be referred to the
Jewish idolatry of the brazen serpent. This serpent,
to look on which gave health to those bitten by its
living image, might, by a natural transition, be wor-
shipped asthe god of health ; but the general idea of
the serpent's sanctity is too ancient to be supposed to
originate in any circumstance of Jewish history. Nor
can it be very obviously accounted for by the effect
produced on Adam and Eve, when, by the instigation
of the serpent, " they took and eat," and " their eyes
were opened." We are to look to the mythology of
the serpent in a philosophical view, and find what
natural events are allegorized in the tales of this being,
for a resolution of the problem.
Now these will be found quite sufficient. Krishna
slew the great serpent Kaliyah ; Apollo slew the great
serpent Python. Games were instituted in India and
in Greece to commemorate so glorious an event; and
if we may credit Clement, the serpent, as well as the
god, was worshipped in the Pythian festival.
In the Edda, we find Thor suppressing and casting
down to the bottom of the sea the great serpent Mid-
gard ; and be it remembered that Kaliyah, and Python,
 W0RSIIIP OF THE SERPENT. 459

and Midgard, are the same. The meaning of the fable

will be obvious. Krishna and Apollo each typify the
sun, Thor typifies the temperature of the air, and the
serpent those pestilential effluvia, winds, &c., which, in
certain countries, and at certain seasons, prevail. It is
natural that they should, on this account, receive the
grateful adoration of men. When they were repre-
sented in this character, as the givers or restorers of
health, it would be expected that the serpent would be
given as a symbol, and soon, by the common, almost
invariable corruption of mythology, the symbol would
be worshipped first with, and afterwards instead of, the
god.
In the East, brazen images of Kaliyah are often in-
voked in sickness ; this is evidently an adaptation of
the worship taken from that image which Hezekiah
emphatically called Nehustan. In Ireland, also, as we
may collect from the valuable work so often referred to,
the worship of the serpent was not without its vota-
ries, and there are some magnificent monuments re-
maining which attest the truth of this observation.
The system of the ancient Irish was a bardic or druid
superstition, but more assimilated to those of Britanny
and Gaul than to that of Britain,
Ogmius, or Ogham, was the chief object of Celtic
worship in this island ; he was depicted with a
huge club with serpents twined around it, and sur-
mounted with wings like the caduceus of Mercury,
with the staff terminating in a ring. The remains of
this worship, though decisive, are but few, and there is
perhaps more truth in the legend of St. Patrick than is
generally allowed. The prevailing idea among the
more superstitious Irish is, that St. Patrick banished,
by his prayers, all snakes and venomous reptiles from
the island which he loved. May not this imply
460 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

merely, that, by disseminating the doctrines of Chris-

tianity, he overthrew the worship of the serpent?
This species of idolatry was extant, more or less, in *
every country of Europe, Africa, and America, as well
as in the East, nor is it yet wholly suppressed. That it
does not now prevail, is to he attributed, first, to the
constant opposition of the sun worshippers, who,
though generally victorious, were yet necessitated, in
many cases, to allow the mixture of the two religions,
and thus to perpetuate the remembrance of that system
whose power and supremacy they had suppressed; the
next cause of its decline was the preaching of Chris-
tianityand
; the last cause, which in many countries
destroyed that which had been left by the others, was
the sword of the Mohammedan conquerors.
We conclude this chapter in the words of Deane :
" The Mohammedans in the East, and the Christians in
the West, completed what had been begun by the chil-
dren of Surya, and carried on by the votaries of
Krishna and Apollo, the adventurers of the heroic
ages, and the arms of the host of Joshua, so that few
and imperceptible are the traces of an idolatry which
once called the world its own. The subjects of the
poetical apostrophe of Lucan,
Yos quoque cunctis innoxia numinae terris
Serpitis aurato nitidi fulgore dracones*,
are now coiled obscurely in the woods of the Abyssi-
nian Shangalla, or the almost inaccessible mountains
of central Africa, protected only by the impossibility or
the inutility of the pursuit/'
* " You, also, auspicious deities, serpents sparkling with
golden lustre, who glide over all the earth."
 461

CHAPTER IX.

THE WORSHIP OF THE SUN.

This worship, which, according to Bryant, was the most

ancient and universal form of idolatry, must be divided
into two kinds ; first, that devotion which was paid to
the sun as the emblem of the Creator ; and, secondly,
that which was considered due to him as the chief and
source of fire. These distinct branches will be found
in remote antiquity to coalesce, and from that original
worship, to have branched off with many less-impor-
tant systems.
Bryant shows how most of the chief gods of all
nations are found to coincide with the sun, and we
have seen, in the course of our inquiries, that many
gods in the same system, prove, on examination, to be
the same.
This subject has been incidentally treated of in
every section of the present work, and there remains
now but little, save to present the reader with some
remarkable instances of the coincidences mentioned.
One such, or rather, a series of such, is afforded by the
mythos of Hercules. His great exploit, viz., the per-
formance of the twelve labours imposed on him by
Eurystheus, his cousin, to whom he was subject, are
but an allegorical representation of the course of the
sun through the twelve signs; this will be shown by a
reference to Dupuis*, whose work is full of learning,
but equally full of inaccuracy, violence, and blasphemy.
In the present instance, he will be found right ; that
is, he has taken up a false theory, and endeavoured to

* Dupuis' work, Vorigine de tons les Cultes, is a learned but

futile attempt to prove, that Christianity is a forgery of com-
paratively late times, and is but a form of solar worship.
462 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

defend it by adducing facts which are undoubtedly

correct. We grant the premises, while we deny the
conclusion. The following is the parallel which is
there instituted :—
Astronomy. Mythology.
First Month of the Ancient
Calendar. First Labour of Hercules.
Passage of the sun into the Conquest and destruction
sign Leo, which the Greek of the Nemaean Lion, which
astronomers called the Ne- was the offspring of Typhon,
msean Lion, which period is and which conquest occupied
fixed by the setting of the the hero thirty days.
constellation Hercules at] sun-
rise.
Second Month. Second Labour.
Passage of the sun into the Hercules slays the Lerngean
sign Virgo, marked by the Hydra, of which two heads
total setting of the constel- spring up for every one which
lation Hydra, called by the he cuts off. The Hydra is
Greeks, the Lernaean Hydra, aided by a crab, which Her-
and the head of which rises cules also destroys.
again with the sign Cancer in
the morning.
Third Month. Third Labour.
Entry of the sun into the Hercules being hospitably
sign Libra, at which time the entertained by a centaur, and
Centaur rises heliacally. (This afterwards, a quarrel arising
centaur afforded hospitality among the centaurs, about a
to Hercules.) The constella- jar of wine, Hercules killed
tion was represented in the some and drove all from their
sphere with a sack filled with country; he then slew the
wine, and a thyrsus adorned Erymanthian boar, which had
with branches and grapes, as ravaged those fertile plains.
an image of the productive-
ness of the season. In the
evening the Erymanthian
boar, as the Greeks some-
times called the constellation
Ursa Major, rises.
 WORSHIP OF THE SUN. 463

Fourth Month, Fourth Labour.

Entry of the sun into the Hercules takes alive a hind
sign Scorpio, marked by the with golden horns, sacred to
heliacal setting of Cassiopeia, Diana. This labour occupied
in which constellation the the hero a year; and meeting
earlier Greek astronomers de- Diana, while he had on his
picted ahind. shoulder the sacred hind, he
excuses himself to her.
Fifth Month. Fifth Labour.
The sun passes into the'sign Near Stymphalis, in Arca-
Sagittarius ; (a character con- dia, Hercules destroys the
secrated tothe goddess Diana, Stymphalian birds, three in
whose temple was at Stym- number, which ■were water-
phalis. In this temple were fowl, and kept down in the
the Stymphalian birds.) This lake for fear of wolves.
period is marked by the rising
of the Vulture, the Swan, and
the Eagle, pierced by the ar-
row of Hercules.
Sixth Month. Sixth Labour.
The sun enters the sign Hercules cleared out all
Capricorn ; according to some the dung from the stables of
my thologists, Capricornus was Augeas, king of Elis, son of
a son of Neptune; accord- Neptune, as some say, or of
ing to others, a grandson of the Sun, according to others.
Apollo. This period is fixed This he did by making the
by the setting of the constel- river Peneus flow through
lation Fluvius, which flows be- them.
neath Capricornus, and is de-
picted as taking its rise from
the hands of Aristoeus, son of
the river Peneus.
Seventh Month. Seventh Labour.
Entry of the sun into the Hercules arrives in Elis,
sign Aquarius, and in that mounted on the horse Arion;
period of the year when oc- he brings with him the Cretan
curred the full moon which bull, which had been beloved
served as the signal for the by Pasiphae, and which had
celebration of the Olympic afterwards ravaged the plains
games. This season was of Marathon. Here, (at Elis,)
464 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

marked by the Vulture, placed Hercules instituted the Olym-

by the constellation Prome- pic games, at which he com-
theus, and by the culmination bated the first, and after-
of the sign Taurus at the wards destroyed the vulture
same time with the setting of which preyed on the liver of
the constellation Arion, or Prometheus.
Pegasus. The bull spoken
of here, was called by the
Greeks, the Bull of Pasiphae,
or, of Marathon.
Eighth Month, Eighth Labour.
Passage of the sun into the Hercules brings the horses
of Diomedes, the son of Ares
sign Pisces, fixed by the ris- and Cyrene, to Eurystheus.
ing of the Horse, whose head
is over Aristseus, or over
Aquarius, the son of Cyrene.
Ninth Month. Ninth Labour.
The sun enters the sign Hercules sets out in the
Aries, consecrated to Mars, ship Argo, to bring to Eurys-
and which is yet called the theus the golden fleece. On
Bam with the Golden Fleece. his way he meets with the
At this season of the year the Amazons, and, having slain
constellation Argo rises; An- many of them, takes the gir-
dromeda, who is distinguished dle of their queen Hippolita,
by her girdle, sets, and the which had been bestowed
Whale does so witli her ; Me- upon her by Mars. He after-
dusa rises, and the Queen wards delivers from a sea
Cassiopeia sets. monster a young girl who had
been exposed to it, as was
Andromeda, the daughter of
Queen Cassiopeia.
Tenth Month. Tenth Labour.
The sun quits the Ram of Hercules, after the acqui-
Phryxus, and enters the Bull. sition of the Ram with the
At this time sets Orion, who golden fleece, which, together
was a lover of the Atlantides, with the Argonauts, he had
or Pleiades ; the Oxherd also effected, returns into Hes-
sets (who was the conductor peria, to drive away to Eurys-
of the oxen of Icarus). The theus the oxen of Geryon ;
Atlantides set, and also the being successful in this at-
 WORSHIP OF THE SUN. 465

She-goat, who was the wife of tempt, he slew a prince who

Faimus. At this time also had pursued the Atlantic
sets the constellation Eri- and arrived in Italy to the
danus. abode of Faunus, at the rising
of the Pleiades.
Eleventh Month. Eleventh Labour.
Entry of the sun into the Hercules brings from the
constellation Gemini, indicat- lower world the dog Cerbe-
ed by the setting of the star rus, whose tail was that of a
Procyon ; by the cosmical ris- dragon, and along whose back
ing of Sirius, by the side of were the heads of serpents.
which is the Hydra ; and by He also defeated Cygnus, at a
the evening setting of the time when the Dog-star was
Swan. just about to scorch the
earth with his fires.
Twelfth Month. Twelfth Labour.
The sun enters Cancer. Hercules travels to Hespe-
The constellations Fluvius ria, to gather the golden fruit
and Centaurus set, and those from the gardens of the Hes-
of the Shepherd and the perides. After this, he was
Sheep arise. The constella- disposed to offer a sacrifice,
tion Hercules now descends and a shirt tinged with the
towards the Southern regions, blood of the Hydra was sent
called Hesperia, followed by him by his wife Dejanira.
the Serpent of the pole, guar- This robe occasions his death,
dian of the golden apples of and he is taken up to heaven,
the Hesperides ; this serpent resumes his youth, and enjoys
he tramples under his foot in immortality among the gods.
the sphere, and it falls near
him towards the West.

This singularly interesting fable is given differently,

in many respects, by ancient writers, and a few of the
discrepancies deserve consideration. First, then, the
order of these labours is not the same ; the order
which Dupuis assumes, compared with that of other
authors, is thus : 1, 2, 4, 3, 0, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 11, and
there is some difference as to what the2ntasks were;
thus, the ninth is generally considered to have been
466 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

undertaken solely with a view to obtain the girdle of

Hippolita, and to have had no connexion whatever
with the argonautic expedition ; but it may be observed
that these different versions are all authorized by
writers to whom credit is due as to the reception of the
tale in their age and country ; and lastly, that in a case
of an astronomical legend, the astronomical proof is of
course much more important than any others.
The Dionysiacs of Nonnus may be analysed in the
same way, and with the same success. Bacchus is the
hero, and the course of the sun exemplifies the alle-
gories ofthe poem.
Another instance of a similar astro-mythological poem
is the Argonautics of Apollonius Rhodius.
One form under which the sun was worshipped was
that of a pyramid, or of a cone. Of such a shape was
the black stone at Edessa, of which Elagabalus was
priest. Such a stone was that " image which fell down
from Jupiter" at Ephesus; such an one was the sacred
image of Diana in her Taurian temple; and this will
supply us with one, among many, reasons why, in the
Northern mythology, the sun was made feminine. The
true cause of this shape seems to be that it was esteemed
a fit type of flame, and in India water was typified by
the same form reversed; hence the upright cone was
consecrated to Mahadeva, (the sun,) and consequently
to Parvati, and we are now no longer excited to sur-
prise byfinding this peculiar form of sun-worship con-
nected with many abominable rites and many abo-
minable mysteries. The black stone at Mecca, in the
Caaba, seems to be a relic of this species of idolatry,
and the shield which fell down from heaven in the
time of Numa, merely a variation of the same general
superstition. Of the solar-ophite emblem we have
already spoken, and we shall see some other coin-
cidences inanother chapter.
 467

CHAPTER X.
HISTORICAL COINCIDENCES.

By historical coincidences are here meant such por-

tions of history, real or legendary, in one country, as
are evidently taken from mythology or its source, and
which coincide with similar portions of the records of
other lands. An apt illustration is afforded us in the
history of Herodotus, book ii., chap. 141; in which the
history of the destruction of Sennacherib's army is given
in an Egyptian dress, and ascribed to an Egyptian god
defending an Egyptian king. In the nineteenth chap-
ter of the second Book of Kings we have the scripture
account; and after the letter of Sennacherib had been
received and laid before the Lord, the sacred historian
adds, — " Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the
king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor
shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with a shield,
nor cast a bank against it. By the way which he came,
by the same shall he return, and shall not come into
this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this city to
save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant Davids
sake. And it came to pass that night, that the angel
of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the
Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand:
and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they
were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria
departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
And it came to pass as he wTas worshipping in the
house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and
Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they
escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his
son reigned in his stead."
Herodotus gives the history which follows.
2 ii 2 " The
468 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

successor of this prince (Anysis,) was Sethos, a priest

of Vulcan. He treated the military of Egypt with
extreme contempt, and as if he had no occasion for
their services. Among other indignities, he deprived
them of their arurae, or fields of fifty feet square, which
by way of reward his predecessors had given each
soldier. The result was, that when Sennacherib, king
of Arabia and Assyria, attacked Egypt with a mighty
army, the warriors whom he had thus treated refused
to assist him. In this perplexity the priest retired to
the shrine of his god, before which he lamented his
danger and misfortunes. Here he sank into a pro-
found sleep, and his deity promised him in a dream
that if he marched against the Assyrians he should
suffer no injury, for that he would furnish him with
assistance. The vision inspired him with confidence:
he put himself at the head of his adherents, and
marched to Pelusium, the entrance of Egypt. Not a
soldier accompanied the party, which was entirely
composed of tradesmen and artisans. On their arrival
at Pelusium, so immense a number of mice infested by
night the enemies' camp, that their quivers and bows,
together with what secured their shields to their arms,
were gnawed in pieces. In the morning the Arabians,
finding themselves without arms, fled in confusion, and
lost great numbers of their men. There is now to be
seen in the temple of Vulcan a marble statue of this
king, having a mouse in his hand, and with this in-
scription,— 4 Whoever thou art, learn from my fortune
to reverence the gods.' "
Now, upon these two accounts, it may be remarked,
first, that they very nearly correspond in point of time;
for the next king of Egypt of whom the sacred records
give us any account was Necos, called Pharaoh Necho;
he overcame Josiah ; and between Sethos and Necos is
the reign of Psammetichus, a reign of fifty- four years;
 HISTORICAL COINCIDENCES. 469

and from the time of the destruction of Sennacherib's

army to the death of Josiah, is one hundred and one
years; and this may very well agree with the Egyptian
chronology.
The next thing to he observed is the divinity to
whom Sethos was priest, — not Osiris, or any god of the
second stage of idolatry, hut Phta, whom Herodotus
calls Yulcan, a mere personification of the power of
God. Something also may he learned from the situation
of the place where the battle was fought, viz., Pelusium,
a place, as Herodotus says, " on the confines of Egypt,"
and towards Judaea. It is possible, too, that as the
cities of the Philistines were then under the Egyptian
government, at least in the reign of Psammetichus, the
successor of Sethos, that a knowledge of the plague of
mice on the Philistines at a still earlier period of
Jewish history may have been mingled with this legend.
At all events, it will he evident that the Egyptian
story is but a corrupted version of that awful event so
graphically described in holy writ.
Another coincidence of the same kind will be found
in the history of Philemon and Baucis, who, hospitably
entertaining two gods who visited them at a time of
universal degeneracy, were preserved when the vile
race who inhabited their city were plunged beneath the
surface of a stagnant pool. What is this but the story
of Lot and his family, who, when he had been warned
by the two angels who visited him in Sodom, removed
from that devoted city, which, with Gomorrah and its
dependencies, was destroyed by fire from heaven, and
sunk beneath the surface of the Dead Sea.
Another is preserved among the Mexicans, and bears
a reference to the building of Babel. Its distance from
its origin makes it a very interesting relic, and, after
considerable examination, it has been decided not only
genuine, but free from the conjectural corruptions of
470 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

Spanish Catholicism. "Before the great inundation,

the country of Anahuac was inhabited by giants.
When the waters subsided, Xelhua, surnamed the
Architect, went to Cholula, where, as a memorial of
the mountain Tlaloc, which had served for an asylum
for himself and his six brethren, he built an artificial
hill in the form of a pyramid. He ordered bricks to
be made in the province of Tlamanalco, at the foot of
the Sierra Cocotl, and to convey them to Cholula, he
placed a file of men, who passed them from hand to
hand. The gods beheld with wrath this edifice, the
top of which was to reach the clouds. Irritated by
the daring attempt of Xelhua, they hurled fire on the
pyramid. Numbers of the workmen perished, the
work was discontinued, and the monument was after-
wards dedicated to Quetzal cohuatl, the god of the air."
A legend of a similar character will give us a fabu-
lous person to whom the actions of Joseph are attri-
buted, or,it would be perhaps better to say, will give
us the history of that patriarch in an Egyptian dress.
Asarsiph, or Sar Asiph, (the prince Joseph,) married
a daughter of the Heliopolitan priest On, and his his-
tory isexactly in accordance with the scriptures. This
person was the second Hermes. It is said of him that
he was envied by his brethren, who were continually
laying snares for him, and plotting how they might
destroy him; that on this he went to Egypt to the
tribe of Cham, by which tribe he was received with
great honour; that he became the first man of that
country, and was arrayed by way of eminence in a robe
of gold; that he was both a philosopher and a poet;
that he foretold many things, and interpreted those
oracles which the Egyptians had received from heaven;
that he was the cause of vast wealth to their nation,
and was styled by them the giver of riches; that on all
these various accounts he was reverenced as a god, and
 HISTORICAL COINCIDENCES. 471

received from them the sacred appellation of Thoth,

or Hermes.
One more such coincidence will close this chapter.
It is the account of the exodus of Israel from Egypt,
as related hy pagan historians. Manetho says, " There
was formerly a trihe of leprous shepherds in Egypt,
who by extraction were foreigners, who rapidly in-
creased from a small number to eighty thousand, and
"who were put to hard labour in the quarries on the
eastern side of the Nile. These had a particular dis-
trict assigned to them, and they neither adored the
gods of the country, nor abstained from any of those
animals esteemed sacred. This pastoral race formed
themselves into a commonwealth under the authority
of one Asarsiph, an Ilieropolitan priest of Osiris, who,
when he became their legislator, changed his name,
and was afterwards called Moses. Proving, however,
very dangerous to the Egyptian government, and hav-
ing succeeded in one of their grand revolutionary pro-
jects, they were at length forcibly expelled by Ameno-
phis, who pursued them with his army to the borders
Syria."
of Another account says, that in the reign of Bocchoris,
the nation of the Jews fled for food to the temples;
being afflicted with a grievous leprosy, many died, and
a great famine took place. The king inquired of the
oracle of Hammon, and was charged to purge the land
and the temples from the unclean race which had taken
refuge in them, and polluted them. He accordingly
collected all the impure persons, and causing his soldiers
to fasten plates of lead to their breasts, had them cast
into the Ked Sea; but Moses their leader, taking the
rest under his guidance, led them into the desert, from
which, after suffering many hardships, they at length
emerged, and seized upon the land of Judiea. In
these accounts, it is the Jews who are visited by the
472 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

gods with leprosy, and by the counsel of an oracle

drowned in the Red Sea.
Tacitus gives us another account nearer to the truth:
-— " Most authors," says he, " agree, that a cutaneous
disorder breaking out among the Egyptians, King
Bocchoris, who sought a remedy from the oracle of
Hammon, was informed by the god, that he must
purge his kingdom by expelling that race of men (the
Jews), who were hateful to the gods, and transport
them to other lands." Tacitus then goes on to state,
how they conducted themselves under their leader,
Moses; speaks of the law which he gave them, asserts
that they worshipped an image of an ass, and in the
next chapter says, that their notions of the Deity were
so high, that they esteemed it profane to revere him,
even under the image of a man.
It will be observed, that the history of the world, and
of the chosen people, as given to us by the sacred wri-
ters, is,in the hands of Gentiles, corrupted and made
matter of mythological tradition. It is this preserva-
tion of mythological character, that entitles the extracts
just given to a place here; they are narratives of
deeds done by, or at the command of, the gods.
The history of Moses might be, were it fully inves-
tigated, shown to be divided among many imaginary
deities, his miracles and conquests attributed to them,
and thus a train of coincidences might be pointed out,
which would be found in almost every mythological
system.
 473

CHAPTER XI.
MISCELLANEOUS COINCIDENCES.

Under this head, we shall reckon all such coincidences

as cannot he ranged with those we have been hitherto
considering; such are: —
1. The identity of the Hindoo Karlikya and the
Greek Bacchus.
Referring to the story of the Kritika in the section of
Hindoo mythology, we shall find them all driven from
their heavenly abode, by their husbands, the Rishis,
who suspected their fidelity, one only retaining her
place in heaven; these six, therefore, transmigrated
into the forms of mortal maidens, and were born as
the daughters of six rajahs. They were present on the
banks of the Ganges when Kartikya arose from that
river, and each immediately claimed to receive and
protect the beautiful infant. Kartikya, however, un-
willing tobe the cause of dispute, assumed six heads,
and presented one to every breast which was offered
him; they therefore acknowledged his divinity, and
educated him among them. In return for this service,
the god placed them again among the stars, and gave
them a more glorious station: he assigned them a place
in the zodiac, and they now shine as the Pleiades.
A Greek legend tells us, that the Pleiades were
once seven in number, and they were lovely earthly
maidens; but one of them being beloved by an immor-
tal, was placed in heaven, alone, and the other six had
the charge of educating Bacchus, or some say Mars;
and that Bacchus placed the other six, in gratitude,
where they now appear.
474 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

This fable is one proof, among many, of the eastern

origin of Greek mythology. Kartikya is the god of
war, and is the son of Mahadeva, without a mother;
Bacchus was a great conqueror in India, and may be
said to have been, in one respect, the son of Jupiter
without a mother; at all events, Mars was the son of
Juno without a father, a circumstance, in either case,
worth notice.
2. The Chawdra-ratana.
When Vishnu descended in the form of a tortoise
to churn the sea, there were fourteen articles obtained
therefrom, and on these we shall comment in order: —
1. The Amreet, amrit, or amrita, the beverage of
immortality. This was by no means confined to India.
The water of life, and the tree of life, spoken of in
Scripture, were known by tradition before the Mosaic
sera, and the knowledge of them was, therefore, dis-
persed among all nations. The Chinese, as we have
seen in our account of the sect Taou-tsee, boasted of
a similar beverage, and more than one of their empe-
rors were victims to the cheat. The apples of Iduna,
in the system of the North, by which the gods renewed
their youth, when they found themselves growing old ;
the apples of the Hesperides, and the water of life in
the Mohammedan writings, are all variations of the
same tradition ; and of these, as well as of the amrita,
the source is to be found in the records of the ante-
diluvian patriarchs.
2. The Moon, which is of course an object of vene-
ration in every system, and here, as in that of the
North, is ruled by a masculine spirit, Chandra.
3. Beauty: this will of course coincide, in one
respect, with Venus, Aphrodite, or Rhemba ; but it
may be appropriately said in the abstract, to arise
from the union of the informing Spirit with the yet
chaotic mass of creation.
 MISCELLANEOUS COINCIDENCES.
473
4. The tree Parayata. This tree had the wonderful
quality of hearing every kind of fruit which might he
desired, and it has hut one parallel, namely, that of
the tree of life which adorns the Islam paradise: yet
the ash Ydrasil, in the city of the gods, hears some-
what of an analogy to it, and adds one more to the
many coincidences which exist between the systems of
the East and the North; hut these all had their origin
in the trees of life and of knowledge, in the earthly
paradise of Adam.
5. The goddess of wine, or rather wine itself.
6. Oochisrava, the eight-headed horse of the gods.
Sleipner, the horse of the Northern gods, is represented
with eight feet, and there are not wanting some of the
scalds, who give him likewise eight heads. It is just
possible, that this number eight, may have some refer-
ence to the arkite traditions, particularly as it is told of
a vehicle or conveyance for the gods.
7- The cow Surabhi, from which is produced, as
from the tree Parayata, every thing desired. This cow
is shown, by the legends connected with her, to be the
earth, as Prithu, her master, is the first man. And as
the common mother of all beings, she strikingly agrees
with the Northern cow, (Edumla, from whom sprang
Bure, the father of Bore, and the grandfather of Odin,
Yile, and Ye, by whom all things else were made.
The man-bull of the Chaldaeans, bears an evident re-
ference tothe same period.
8. The goddess Rhemba, the personification of grace
and loveliness. To her, Venus arising from the sea
in all the lustre of her beauty, affords a fit parallel.
She is the same as the Freya of the Edda, who was
the daughter of Niord, the ocean-king. Another
coincidence is furnished by the government exerted
by Freya over the moon. Now Aphrodite (Yenus)
and Astarte, or Ashtaroth, were evidently the same;
476 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

and Ashtaroth, therefore, will be made identical with

Rhemba.
9. Iravat, the elephant with three trunks, upon
which Indra rides. This is no other than the clouds,
and the elephant is fabled, therefore, to draw up the
water, and so to cause water-spouts, — -to cast it down,
and so to cause showers. Under this view, many
similarities will occur to the mind of the inquirer, but
which our limits will not allow us to pursue.
10. The Physician, or god of physic.
11. The jewel Kustubha, which in subsequent
periods was celebrated as the ruby of Giamshid, the
king of the genii, the signet-ring of Solomon, by
which he held his power over spirits, and which was
the arch-talisman in all legendary traditions. The
tales of this jewel are rather to be sought in romance
than in mythology, as are those of the two following.
12. The bow Danusha, which never erred. This
will recal to the classical reader the elegant fable of
Cephalus and Procris, in which the unerring bow, pre-
sented bythe latter, won the love of Cephalus, who
knew not his wife under her disguise, and which
finally was the instrument of her death. The dog
which also figures in the Greek fable, as one who never
failed to secure his prey, has a place in a still later
corruption of the tale, the legend of the fairy Manto,
which is to be found in Ariosto.
13. The Shell which conferred victory. This treasure,
together with the former, seem to have some connexion
with the arms of Thor, but the shell is certainly the
original of those magic horns which proved so useful
in the lays of minstrelsy and the tales of chivalry.
Some of these would fill the enemies of him who
bore it with terror; others would set them dancing;
but in all cases, it had some supernatural power.
14. The drug Bikh. Whether this be medicine,
 MISCELLANEOUS COINCIDENCES. 477

poison, a philtre, or poetry, seems in doubt; if the

last, there is a curious tale told in the second part of
theEdda, which maybe worth repeating. The god* of
the North had formed a man, much in the same man-
ner as the divinities of the Greeks formed Orion.
This man was named Kuaser; he was a prophet, a
philosopher, and a poet; but the dwarfs, envying his
merits, slew him, and mixing his blood with honev,
formed from it a liquor, which made all those who
drank of it poets. These dwarfs being afterwards
attacked by a giant, who demanded the blood of
Kuaser, were obliged to resign the treasure, and the
giant committed it to the keeping of his daughter
Gunloda, and placed her with it in a cavern, closed
round on all sides with rocks. Odin, taking the form
of a worm, bored through the rocks, and assuming his
own shape, presented himself before the astonished
Gunloda. It was no difficult thing for the god to gain
the love of the solitary maiden, and he soon persuaded
her to let him drink three drops of the liquor entrusted
to her charge. As soon, however, as he touched the
vessel with his lips, he drew up all the contents, and
then changing himself into an eagle, flew towards
Asgard. The giant, who was a magician, soon per-
ceived the theft, and flew in, a similar shape after the
god. Odin, however, escaped with his prize, and threw
up from his beak the poetic fluid. " This," says the
Edda, " he bestows only on his favourites, and when
others apply, he gives them as much as they want, but
of a less pure fluid."
3. The coincidence of Rama, Bacchus, and Moves.
In extracting from M. Huet his proofs of the iden-
tity of Bacchus and Moses, we shall merely state the
arguments which he adduces, and leave them without
comment. "Bacchus," says this eminent but fanciful
 478 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

scholar, in his Demonstration Evangelique, "and Moses,

were both born in Egypt ; they were both cast into the
river, both educated in Arabia, (that is, both resided a
considerable time in that country,) both went to Mount
Sinai, both were exiled; Bacchus was ever accompanied
by a dog ; the companion of Moses was Caleb, which
signifies a dog." "Therefore," says M. Huet, "the iden-
tity of Bacchus and Moses is sufficiently proved." The
Ramayana gives an account of the conquests of Rama,
and incarnation of Yishnu, and the particulars of these
conquests seem very much like those of Bacchus, as
given in the Dionysiacs of Nonnus. Both of these
were great conquerors, and the scene of their operations,
in both cases, was India. Both had auxiliary armies
of a very extraordinary character, the one of monkeys,
led by Hanuman. the other of Satyrs, led by Pan.
Now, the coincidence between Pan and Hanuman is
singular ; both were heroes of nearly the same shape,
both divine, and both musically inclined, and inventors
of musical instruments. Now, from these coincidences,
there seems some reason to think that the Indians have
foisted into their mythology some of the exploits of
Moses, and have considered him as an incarnation of
Yishnu. An instance of very close agreement with a
very remote superstition, is found in the names of
Rama, and his wife Sita ; Rama, in his mortal charac-
ter, isdescended from the Sun, and the Incas of Peru,
who boasted the same descent, called their chief fes-
tival, Rama-Sitoa. The Egyptians had a festival of the
same nature, in honour of the sun, which festivals they
called Rayni and Situa.
4. Identity of Ham, Pluto, Mahabeli and Duma.
These personages have been all treated of in the
former part of this work, and the identity of the three
former spoken of somewhat at large. The history of
 MISCELLANEOUS COINCIDENCES. 479

Duma, an angel of the Jewish scheme, is this : he was a

prince of Egypt, just and beneficent, and so worshipped
as a god. " So when God determined to punish the
host of the high ones, and ordered Moses to proclaim
his judgments against the gods of Egypt, Duma retired
four hundred miles up the country; howbeit, the Lord
said unto Duma, This have I resolved on, so Duma was
deprived of his kingdom ; howbeit, the Lord made him
the prince of hell." This is evidently only another
version of the history of Mahabeli, as told in the Vama-
navatara.
5. The cause of Eclipses.
In China, when the sun or moon is eclipsed, the
people beat drums, and clash cymbals, and make many
other species of noises, to frighten away the dragon
which they think is then consuming the luminary. In
the Edda occurs the following passage :— " ' But,' inter-
rupted Gangler, ' the sun runs very swiftly, as though
she were afraid some one would overtake her/ 6 So
she well may/ replied Har, c for there are very near
her two wolves, ready to devour her. One of them
closely pursues the sun, who is afraid of him because
he will one day swallow her up. The other, as eagerly
follows the moon, and will make him, one day or other,
undergo the same fate. Sometimes he swallows up
the moon, and stains the heavens and the air with
blood. Then the sun is also darkened/ "
6. Vam pyres.
The Eastern superstition of the vampyre, which
comes and sucks the blood of mortals, is also to be
found in the Edda. " This old sorceress is the mother
of many giants, who are all shaped like savage beasts.
From her also sprung these two wolves. One in par-
ticular of that race is said to be the most formidable
480 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

of all; he is called Managarmer, a monster that fattens

himself with the substances of men that draw near
their end." There does not appear to have existed
among the votaries of this system, any fear of persons
so dying becoming similar devourers themselves, as the
victims of the vampyres were said to do, or any fear of
lycanthropy.
7. The Misletoe.
This plant, which was considered sacred among the
Celtic nations, was held in detestation by the Scandi-
navians. The former thought it good against all
diseases, repelling poisons, and curing ulcers ; on this
account it was called among them, All Heal, and cut
with many ceremonies. In the Edda, it is spoken of
as a little insignificant shrub, and only remarkable for
being an instrument of evil. Mallet thinks this a
proof, that the Gothic and Celtic nations are the same;
but the English translator of the Northern Antiquities
considers it as a proof that they were not so observing ;
" they, (the Gothic tribes,) in their incursions into the
Celtic territories, had remarked the reverence paid to
this plant, and their own modes of thinking and wor-
shipping being so different, they therefore held it in
contempt and abhorrence."
8. Rest to the Damned.

"There is rest to the damned on the Sabbath day," say

the rabbinical doctors, and the Mohammedans suppose
that there is one day in the year when they so rest, not
every Sabbath (Friday). On the night following this
day, the heavens are opened for one moment only, and
all spirits behold the glory of the Lord. Men might
also see it, did they know when to look ; and when
any human being does obtain this beatific vision, he
may pray for any thing that he wishes, with the full
 MISCELLANEOUS COINCIDENCES.

assurance that his prayer shall he granted. A comical

story is told on this suhject by an Indian writer — h«»u
that a certain servant girl sedulously watched for this
opportunity, determined to ask for a fine head of hair ;
when at last, she saw the heavens opened, she asked
for what she wanted in the idiom of her country, and
her request was, " Lord ! make my head big." The
prayer was granted in a literal sense, and her bead
became so big, that it was found impossible to remove
her from the room, so she died.
9. The Metempsychosis.
Among the Mohammedans, the doctrine of transmi-
gration isnot quite unknown; it was implanted in their
system by Mohammed's Jewish adviser. They have a
tradition of a mighty and holy prophet, whom they
callKedher; they say that this spirit animated Phi-
nehas, Elijah, and St. George, and that he shall come in
the last days to preach the doctrines of Islam.

CHAPTER XII.
CONCLUSION.

Keightley, at the commencement of his work on

Greek and Roman mythology remarks, that the systems
which have been most prevalent in modern times, in ex-
plaining mythology, may be divided into three classes,
viz. the Historic, the Philosophic, and the Religious.
1. " The Historic, according to which all mythic
persons were once real human beings, and the Legends
are merely the actions of these persons poetically repre-
sented. The chief maintainors of this hypothesis, are
Bochart in his Canaan and Phaleg, and Bryant, in his
432 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

Analogy of Pagan Mythology, who see in the Grecian

mythi, the true history of the personages of Holy
Scripture ; Rudbeck, in his Atalantica, who regards
them as being drawn from the history of the north of
Europe; and Banier, who sees in them the annals of
Grecian and Egyptian affairs.
2. u The Philosophic, which supposes mythology to
be merely the poetic envelope of some branch of human
science. This concealed wisdom is ethics, according to
Natalis Comes; politics according to Lord Bacon; che-
mistry according to Tollius, in his Fortuita Critica ;
and, according to Dupius and his school, it is astro-
nomy/5 Mr. Keightley might have added, that, accord-
ing to Ashmole and his school, it is alchemy.
3. 44 The Religious, which assigns mythology a higher
rank, regarding it as the theology of polytheistic na-
tions, and seeking to reduce it to harmony with the
original monotheism of mankind. Vossius endeavours
to show, that the fables of heathenism were only distor-
tions of those revelations made to man by the true
God."
" Of these three classes, the last alone is peculiar to
modern times. The two former theories were familiar
to the ancients, but all are true to a certain extent.
Some mythi are historical, some physical, some moral,
some philosophical, some theological; but no one of
them will account for the whole body of the mythology
of any people. Some of them, too, apply to one sys-
tem more than to another. The Scandinavian mytho-
logy is of a more physical character than the Grecian,
the Indian more metaphysical than either."
There are many parts of the remarks on this
topic purposely omitted, because, in attacking some of
the errors of Creuzer and his followers, Mr. K. seems
to attack their grand scheme, viz., that of proving the
essential identity of all systems of mythology and cos-
 CONCLUSION. 483

mogony; of tracing their origin to the East, and of

finding in their rites and ceremonies proofs of this
origin. Yet he is himself an advocate, and ;i powerful
one, for the truth of this hypothesis. lie observes, —
"Man commencing -with the knowledge of one God,
gradually hecame a polytheist, and philosophy, dowll
retracing the steps of error, returned to the truth which
had been lost."
Philosophy, however, returned to the truth but par-
tially; cosmogony, which in the beginning, so far ;is it
was understood at all, must of necessity have been brae,
soon became corrupted, and put on an appearance so
absurd, that philosophy, for the most part, Hung tradi-
tion aside altogether, and invented schemes apparently
more rational, but containing still less of real truth than
the legends she despised.
Unfortunately for our knowledge of this interesting
science, the greater part of our information has been
obtained through the Greeks, a lively and imaginative
people, whose own mythology wras more than half com-
posed of the fictions of their poets, and whose chief
endeavour inwTiting about that of other nations seems
to have been to Hellenize it as much as possible. So
remarkable are these facts, that the system of their
theogony was in a state of continual change. The
deities of other lands were incorporated into it ; the
deeds of foreign heroes attributed to their own; Greek
legends invented to suit the attributes of imported
deities, and finally the whole reduced to some sort of
harmony. This was so managed as to give ample scope
for the elevation of other beings to the divine rank, if
such a course should be thought necessarv.
The allegories of physical and metaphysical poets
were admitted by the vulgar as truths, while die en-
lightened deemed for the most part that the whole
svstem was false. Hence there were but two daam 3

-°
 I
484 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP.

of thinkers on mythology, viz., those who believed the

whole, and those who gave credit to no part whatever.
Hence was it that, from the time of Anaxagoras, the
philosophic creed seems to have been a belief in the
unity of God, and in some sort of cosmogony that suited
the taste of the believer.
We commenced this work with a few remarks as to
the mode of investigating this vast mass of fable. We
conclude by remarking, that it is only the student who
examines the whole surface of the country, who can
properly understand its bearings. He who examines
the Greek or Roman system only, is like one who in-
vestigates asmall branch of a mighty river. That
river as it rolls on from its source, may take its cha-
racter from the countries through which it passes. One
branch will be clear and beautiful, its banks crowned
with verdure, and its bed glittering with gold and
gems ; another will be dark and deep, winding through
gloomy forests, and exhaling pestilential vapours ; here
it will be a broad and mighty stream, there a babbling
brook ; the traveller on the banks may see the pecu-
liarities of that before him, but the geographer who
surveys the whole land, marks their identity, and traces
the various branches to the same source. That source,
then, is the traditional knowledge derived from Adam
through Noah, and increased as it descended by the
revelations made to the patriarchs. Mankind corrupted
it as it descended further and extended wider ; but
whatever truth there is, or ever has been, in the world,
connected with religion, we are indebted for it solely
to the revelations of God.

FINIS.

London :— Jo::n W. Parker, St. Martin's Lank.

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