The ceremonies we have seen were themselves highly poetical, and music entered largely into the composition of them. The imposing spectacle of the Universe, and the great truths which the Creator reveals through it to the earnest soul, furnished the subjects of those scenes, as astonishing as they were varied, which were represented in the sanctuaries of Egypt, Asia, and Greece. Whatever could excite enthusiasm, or appeal strongly to the imagination; all the pomp of festivals, the variety and splendor of decorations and symbols; the majesty of the ritual, and the enchanting force of music, were put in requisition to awaken the moral sensibilities of the people.

It was in this way that Orpheus,* that great enchanter of the old world, drew together the savages which were scattered through the forests of Greece, charmed them by the harmonious sounds of his lyre and by the accents of his voice, and accustomed them insensibly to receive the first lessons of virtue, which is the basis of all society. He felt that Liberty should be founded on and supported by absolute Justice, and those sweet and gentle sentiments which we call humanity; that the equality of rights finds in the law a security against the inequality of force; and that man is happy only so far as he is just, and so far as he unites his own interests with those of his fellow-men.

* Horat, de Art Poetic, 389. Vide Dupuis : Les Mysteres.

The first of the lessons of Orpheus was that which taught men to be strong by their courage, to respect the blood of their kind, and to remember their obligations of fraternity, instead of fighting and devouring each other. Societies were formed, cities arose, and poetry, become the organ of wisdom, taught men to distinguish the public good from particular interests-the sacred from the profane.

The manners and habits of men were gradually purified and refined, and the laws were written upon wood.

This passage or transition from the savage to the civilized state, which Horace here describes, was attributed to the force of harmony, the charms of music, and the power of song, which the chief of the Mysteries of Thrace knew so well how to employ. All other ancient institutions made use of the same means. Strabo observes, with much truth -speaking of the Curetes, the Corybantes, the Telchines, and, in general, of all the ministers of the religious and mystic ceremonies of Crete and Phrygia that they all resemble each other by their enthusiasm and inspiration, and by the employment of music. He asserts that music, by its inspiring influence, elevates the soul to God. He comprehends, in the general idea of music, rhythm, melody, and dancing. He tells us that the first who cultivated this divine art were the same who established the Mysteries, i. e., Orpheus, Museus, and

Eumolpus at least they were the first who introduced it among the Greeks, by the use they made of it in civilizing the people, and in the celebration of the Mysteries, where the chorus played so important a part. He does not separate music from morality, which it served originally to establish, nor from philosophy, which employed it as an instrument. And if sometimes it has been abused and degraded in the theatre and elsewhere, we ought not, on that account, to accuse the art itself, nor forget the nature of the teachings, of which it is the principle and the source. Whatever contributes to man's moral perfection, comes to us from the gods. Strabo cites the authority of Plato, and, before him, that of the Pythagoreans, who gave to music the name of Philosophy. We see, indeed, that among the means of perfecting man, which the ancient sages relied on, music and philosophy are the two to which they attached the first importance.

"Music and philosophy," another ancient writer remarks, "have been established by Heaven for the education and advancement of man. They habituate, they persuade, they compel his irrational and animal powers to obey the nobler impulses of his soul. They curb the passions and tranquilize desire, and restrain both from moving against reason, or from remaining inactive, when reason calls them to act or enjoy. For it is the height of wisdom

to act or restrain one's self according to enlightened

reason.

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'Philosophy, venerable and august, has purged us from our errors, to give us knowledge; it has redeemed our minds from ignorance to raise them to the contemplation of divine things, by which man becomes happy, when he knows how to unite with knowledge, moderation in human things, and a just activity in all the course of his life."*

THE ANCIENTS ALL CLAIMED FOR THESE INSTITUTIONS A DIVINE ORIGIN. Bacchus, in Euripides,† re sponds to the questions of Pentheus, who demanded from whom he received his new worship and his Mysteries, that he received them from the son of Jupiter. All the ancient educators of the race affirmed the same of their teachings. Rhadamanthus says that he received from Heaven the laws that he gave to the Cretans. Minos shut himself up in a sacred cave, to compose his code of laws, which he affirmed were revealed to him by the Divinity. Zoroaster, the Persian Seer, claims also to have been divinely inspired.§ He separated himself from society, and gave himself up to sacred meditations. He invoked the supernal powers, and at length the light of a heavenly inspiration descended upon his soul, and a divine messenger visited him and instructed him in celestial things. Thus, according

*Plato Timeus de Loc., c. vi. Strabo, 1. x. p. 476.

Euripid. Bacch., p 460. § Hyde de vet. Pers., p. 317.

to Chandemir, he received from Heaven the Zend Avezta, that great depository of sublime maxims. so revered by the ancient Persians. Ardheshir, desiring to reform the religious code of his kingdom, appointed one of the sages to accomplish the work. The new reformer, not wishing to make innovations which might not be authorized by Heaven, invoked the aid of the spiritual powers. He sunk away into a mysterious sleep, and experienced an ecstasy, during which his soul seemed to go forth out of his body. At the end of seven days he awoke, and declared that he had been in communication with the unseen world of spirits, and employed a scribe to write the new revelations which he had received from the gods. Pythagoras* also professed to receive the Divine direction in the foundation of his famous society. He affirms of himself what Titus Liviust asserts of Numa, viz., that the secrets of nature, which others knew by opinion and conjecture, were communicated to him by the direct interposition of the gods, and that Apollo, Minerva, and the Muses, had often appeared to him.

Whatever we may think of these professions and claims to a Divine enlightenment, on the part of the ancient reformers, we cannot but respect that faith and piety which always led them to refer all wisdom and virtue to a Divine influence. Their maxim seemed to be, that whatever is useful to men, is + Plut. Vita Numa.

* Phil., 1. i., c. 1. Vit. Apoll.