year, but in the time of Hefiod, the Greeks had no less than thirty thousand divinities. The Romans in the time of Varro had three hundred Jupiters, that is, the fame god was worshipped under fo many different titles, under which he was fuppofed to poffefs different powers; and fome have reckoned no less than two hundred and eighty thousand gods.

The Egyptians, from whom the Greeks. originally received their religion, imagined that-particular animals were the favourites of particular deities, and communicated their powers to them. At least, they confidered their feveral qualities as fymbols of divine power, and at length paid a proper worship to them. Plutarch expressly fays, that "the

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greater part of the Egyptians worshipped "the animals themfelves, which," he faid, "led fome to the most extravagant supersti❝tion, and precipitated others into atheism." Cotta, in Cicero, fays, that "though there "have been many inftances of temples plun"dered, and the images of the gods carried

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away, by the Romans, it had never been ❝ heard that a crocodile, an ibis, or a cat, had "been ill treated by the Egyptians," so far E 4

did

did they carry their fuperftitious respect for

them.

Another fource of the multiplication of deities, was an idea that particular fuperior beings prefided over particular circumstances relating to men and their affairs, so that they had gods correfponding to many abstract ideas. Thus the Romans had temples and altars dedicated to the fever, and ill-fortune, and the Athenians to contumely and impudence. At length, after deifying all the parts of nature, and many of the qualities and properties of things, they deified particular men, and worshipped them after their death. Nay, the Romans, in the time of the emperors, carried their adulation fo far as to pay divine honours to fome of them, and those the very worst of them, while they were alive.

The heavenly bodies being fometimes invisible, the heathens had recourse to some fymbols of their power, or fome visible object, to which they imagined their powers were in fome way or other attached, and to which they could always have recourse, These were at first pillars, or only large stones, confecrated in certain positions of those heavenly bodies, which they wanted to reprefent. Re

fining upon this, they afterwards made use of the forms of men and animals for that purpose. The forms of fome of their deities being altogether unknown, they made ufe of fuch figures as they conceived to be proper fymbols of their powers. The idols of the Egyptians had the heads of particular animals, as that of a dog, on the body, or part of the body, of a man. At Rome the god Janus had two faces; and the idols of Indoftan have a great number of arms, &c. Hence Varro, fpeaking of these images, fays, that "if they had life, and any person should "meet them unexpectedly, they would pafs "for monsters." He alfo cenfures the cruel and lafcivious rites that were introduced into the worship of feveral of their gods, especially of Cybele; yet he fays, that "a wife man ❝ will obferve all these things, not as accept"able to the gods, but as commanded by the "laws;" and speaking of the "ignoble rab"ble," as he calls them," of the gods, which," he fays," the fuperftition of ages has heap"ed together," he adds, "we fo adore "them, as to remember that this worship is "rather matter of cuftom, than founded on "nature and truth." So far were the hea

then

then philofophers, who were fenfible of the abfurdity and pernicious tendency of this worship, from being difpofed to reform it. It was a maxim with them, as with the generality of modern unbelievers, to think with the wife, and act with the vulgar. But had Christ and his apostles acted on this principle, we should now have been worshipping Thor and Woden, and imbruing their altars with human blood.

The moft horrid of all the rites of the heathen religion was that of human facrifices, which, however, were univerfal in ancient times, and efpecially among the Canaanites, and in the countries that bordered upon Paleftine, as, indeed, the hiftory of the Carthaginians, who were defcended from the Tyrians, abundantly proves.

We shall not much wonder at the introduction of this rite, fhocking as it is to humanity, when we confider the deftruction of life, and other evils occafionally produced by natural causes, as by heat, drought, lightning, earthquakes, &c. These the heathens, of course, afcribed to the agency of their gods. They would, therefore, imagine that they were sometimes very angry, and that great

facrifices

facrifices were neceffary to appease them. Apprehenfive, then, of greater evils, they willingly fubjected themselves to those that were lefs.

In general, the heathens thought the facrifice of flaves and captives would fatisfy the blood-thirsty appetites of their gods; but on particular occafions, fearful that this would not be deemed fufficient, they facrificed the children of the most distinguished persons in the state, as those of their kings themselves. The Carthaginians, after fome great difafter in war, facrificed at one time three hundred young men of the first families in their commonwealth. In this the Ifraelites, during their apoftacy from their own religion, imitated their heathen neighbours, as we read Pfalm cvi. 37. They facrificed their fons and their daughters to demons, and fhed innocent blood, even the blood of their fons and daughters, whom they facrificed to the idols of Canaan. Jer. vii. 31. They built the high places of Tophet which is in the valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their fons and their daughters in the fire. They built alfo the high places of Baal, to burn their fons with fire for burntofferings unto Baal. This place was called

Tophet,