. τα او او او They had a statue of Apollo, differing from the Græcian images of that god in two things: he was represented with a beard, and he was clothed, and he delivered his oracles thus : Μαντήια πολλὰ μὲν παρ' Ἕλλησι, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ παρ' Αἰγυπτίοισι. τὰ δὲ καὶ ἐν τῇ Λιβύῃ, καὶ ἐν τῇδε Ασίῃ πολλά ἐστι. ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν οὔτε ἱρέων ἄνευ οὔτε προφητέων φθέγγονται, ὅδε δὲ αὐτός τε κινέεται, καὶ τὴν μαντηίην ἐς τέλος αυτουργέει. τρόπος δὲ αὐτῆς τοιόσδε. εὖτ ̓ ἂν ἐθέλησι χρησμηγορέειν, ἐν τῇ ἕδρῃ πρώτα κινέεται. οἱ δέ μιν ἱρέες αὐτίκα αείρουσι. ἢν δὲ μὴ δε αείρωσι, ὁ δὲ ἱδρώει, καὶ ἐς μέσον ἔτι κινέεται. εὖτ ̓ ἂν δὲ ὑποδύντες φέρωσι, ἄγει σφέας, πάντη περιδινέων, καὶ ἐς ἄλλον ἐξ ἑτέρου μεταπηδέων. τέλος ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς ἀντιάσας, ἐπερέεται μιν περὶ ἁπάντων πρηγμάτων· ὁ δὲ ἤν τι μὴ θέλῃ ποιες εσθαι, ὀπίσω ἀναχωρέει. ἢν δέ τι ἐπαινέη, ἄγει ἐς τὸ πρόσω τοὺς προσφέροντας, ὅκωσπερ ἡνιοχέων. οὕτω μὲν συναγείςουσι τα θέσφατα, καὶ οὔτε ἱρὸν πρήγμα οὐδὲν, οὔτε ἴδιον τούτου ἄνευ ποιέουσι. λέγει δὲ καὶ τοῦ ἔτεος πέρι, καὶ τῶν ὀρέων αὐτοῦ πασέων, καὶ ὁκότε οὐκ ἔσονται. λέγει δὲ καὶ τοῦ Σημείου πέρι, κότε χρή μιν ἀποδημέειν, τὴν εἶπον ἀποδημίην. Ἐρέω δὲ καὶ ἄλλο τὸ ἐμεῦ παρεόντος ἔπρηξε. οἱ μέν μιν δρέες αείροντες ἔφερον, ὁ δὲ τοὺς μὲν ἐν γῇ κάτῳ ἔλιπε, αὐτὸς δὲ ἐν τῷ ἠέρι μοῦνος ἐφορέετο. • Oracula apud Græcos multa, multa apud Ægyptios. Verum etiam in Libya et in Asia multa sunt. Sed alia non sine sacerdotibus vel prophetis respondent: at hic movetur ipse, et divinationem ad finem usque solus perducit. Modus hic est. Cum vult reddere oraculum, in sede primum sua movetur. Sacerdotes vero ipsum continuo tollunt. Si vero non tollant, ille sudat, et versus medium adhuc movetur. Cum vero subeuntes onus ipsum ferunt, agit illos usque quaque in orbem, et in alium ex alio transilit. Tandem obsistens sa. cerdotum princeps interrogat illum de rebus omnibus. Isque si nolit fieri, retrocedit ; si vero probet, antrorsum agit suos bajulos, tanquam habenis auriga. Ita colligunt oracula, et neque rem sacram ullam neque privatam sine hoc faciunt. Prædicit etiam de anno omnibusque illius tempestatibus, et quando non futuræ sint: item prædicit de Signo, quando eam, quam dicebam modo, profectionem suscipiat. Narrabo etiam aliud, quod me præsente egit. Sacerdotes sublatum ferebant. At ipse illos humi reliquit, sublimis ips: solus ferebatur.' Ib. § 36, 37. This author says here, that he saw the image suspended and moving along in the air; upon which La Croze and Guietus observe that he is a liard. They did not consider that feats as surprising as this have been performed by ma chinery assisted with legerdemain; and that Christian monks, as well as Pagan priests, have been eminent in such arts. We are obliged to the writer for not omitting a remarkable circumstance, that the image was adorned with a fine robe the cloak was not put on for nothing, and served, in all probability, to conceal some knavery. The tricks of the Egyptian priests were not to be compared to this: their little gods, when they were carried in procession, did not sweat like these statues, but only made the porters sweat: ❝sic numina Memphis In vulgus proferre solet: penetralibus exit Effigies; brevis illa quidem: sed plurimus infra Testatus sudore Deum.'-Claudian iv. Cons. Hon. 569. Observe that this statue did not speak, and that when the writer says aéyai teos népi, he only means that it indicated or declared. From his account we may collect, that when any question was put to it, if it retired and drew back, that was as much as to say, No: if it advanced, the meaning was, Yes. TO We have accounts very like this from other authors, of other statues and oracles. Diodorus Sic. xvii. says of Jupiter Ammon: Τὸ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ ξόανον— τὴν μαντείαν ἰδιάζουσαν παντελῶς ποιεῖται. ἐπὶ νεῶς γὰρ περιφέρεται χρυσῆς ὑπὸ ἱερέων ὀγδοήκοντα. οὗτοι δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων φέροντες τὸν θεὸν, προάγουσιν αὐτομάτως ὅπου πότ ̓ ἄν ἄγοι τὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ νεῦμα τὴν πορείαν. Simulacrum Dei-peculiari novoque plane vaticinandi genere oracula edit. In aurea enim navi a sacerdotibus octoginta circumfertur; qui humeris Deum gestantes eo tendunt, quo forte fortuna Dei nutus eos agit.' Compare with this Q. Curtius iv. 7. Macrobius, i. 23. says, Hujus [Heliopolitani] templi religio etiam divinatione præpollet, quæ ad Apollinis potestatem refertur, qui idem d Cicero mentions the old story of the wooden lituus' of Romulus, which was not consumed in a fire, and treats it as a fable, De Divin. ü. 38. and yet it might possibly be true; for incombustible woo dhas been discovered. P atque sol est. Vehitur enim simulacrum Dei Heliopolitani ferculo,-et subeunt plerumque provinciæ proceres, raso capite, longi temporis castimonia puri; ferunturque divino spiritu, non suo arbitrio, sed quo Deus propellit vehentes: ut videmus apud Antium promoveri simulacra fortunarum ad danda responsa.' Strabo says from Callisthenes, that Ammon delivered his answers, ou dia λóywv, ἀλλὰ νεύμασι καὶ συμβόλοις τὸ πλέον· ' non verbis, sed ut plurimum nutu et signis.' See Van Dale De Orac. p. 210. who produces these passages of Diodorus, Macrobius, and Strabo, and adds some from other authors. The writer De Dea Syria tells us, that the beasts which were kept in this sacred place lost their natural fierceness. Ἐν δὲ τῇ αὐλῇ ἄφετοι νέμονται βόες μεγάλοι, καὶ ἵπποι, καὶ ἀετοὶ, καὶ ἄρκτοι, καὶ λέοντες, καὶ ἀνθρώπους οὐδαμᾷ σίνον ται, ἀλλὰ πάντες ἱροί τε εἰσι, καὶ χειροήθεις. * In aula soluti pascuntur boves magni, et equi, et aquila, et ursi, et leones, qui nequaquam nocent hominibus, sed sacri omnes sunt, et mansueti.' 41. The city and temple also, as he informs us, swarmed with "Galli,' or 'castrated priests,' who perhaps performed the same operation upon these wild beasts which they had performed upon themselves; and this, together with due correction administered from time to time, and a good education, and seeing much company, and proper food, and a full belly, and three meals a day, would make these lions and bears as tame as lambs. The μeyano Boss were probably oxen, who grow to a much larger size than bulls and a bull is a surly animal, with whom it is hard to cultivate any friendship. Van Dale observes from Theophrastus, that cedar, and those sorts of wood which contain an oily moisture, will have a dew upon them in damp weather; and that statues made of them will sweat; which passed for a prodigy with silly people. He mentions this, as illustrating what is said in the book De Dea Syria concerning sweating images: but I rather think that the priests there had some surer contrivance to bring about this miracle, and could make their images sweat when they thought it proper. The book De Dea Syria is very entertaining, and composed elegantly, and in the Ionic dialect: the author seems to have been a Pagan who gave credit to prodigies, oracles, and the power of the gods; which was not Lucian's case. If Lucian wrote it, to whom it is ascribed, one might suspect that, as he proposed to follow Herodotus in style and manner, so he affected to imitate him in gravely relating marvellous and strange things. But, if this were his design, it was of too refined a nature; and by the seriousness which runs through the whole composition, the jest has been hitherto lost. Lucian, Ver. Hist. ii. 31. banters Herodotus as a liar, though unjustly I think; for in this charming historian there are some marks of credulity, but none of dishonesty. Whosoever made the book, and with whatsoever intent, his narration seems to be historically true; and much of it is confirmed by other writers. We are informed by Fabricius, Bibl. Gr. iii. 501. that Jurieu, in his History of the Jewish Rites and Doctrines, has concluded that Lucian was not the author of this treatise, because it is written in the Ionic dialect. The argument proves nothing: for Lucian was an ingenious monkey, who could imitate what he would, and throw himself into all shapes; and he might affect this sweetly-flowing style for several reasons, or out of mere fancy and Arrian, as Fabricius observes, wrote his Indica in this dialect, though he composed his other works in the Attic diction. I have not Jurieu's book to consult, and perhaps it is not worth the seeking. Jurieu made a figure in his time, and had more zeal than discretion. He wrote some tracts of devotion; and he was remarkable for two things: first, for misinterpreting the Apocalypse, and thence foretelling what never came to pass; secondly, for publishing idle stories against Grotius and other learned men, in a book called L'Esprit de Monsieur Arnauld. The book at first had a run, for censure is of a healthy complexion, and thrives better than panegyric; and, as it has been said of a hoge, that his soul is given him instead of salt, to keep him from stinking, so what is called 'secret history' will preserve even a slovenly performance from decaying longer than one would imagine: but now this work would be little known, if Bayle and Le Clerc and others had not chastised it; in which perhaps they did it too much honour. Jurieu, by treating Grotius as an infidel, went to work like a bungler; for, est ars etiam maledi. e Cicero De Nat. Deor. ii. 64. cendi,' as Joseph Scaliger said upon a like occasion, and it requires something of a hand to throw dirt. Bossuet, though he did not fight with such weapons as Jurieu, yet attacked Grotius as a dangerous author and a Socinian; and made remarks upon him, which are mere declamation and verbiage. It is one thing to be Bishop of Meaux, and another thing to be Hugo Grotius: Calmet, if I remember right, has also treated Grotius in the same manner. Grotius was inclined to think and to judge rather too favourably than too hardly of the church of Rome; for which some of the ecclesiastics of that communion have repaid him with the gratitude that was to be expected, and have taught by-standers, that he who endeavours to stroke a tiger into good humour, will at least have his fingers bitten off in the experiment. Herodotus is of opinion, that divination and oracles had their rise in Ægypt, and thence came into Afric and Greece; and that the oracle at Dodona was the most antient in Greece. 1. ii. The opinion is very probable; for Ægypt was the nursery of idolatry and superstition. Homer mentions the temple of Jupiter at Dodona, and that of Apollo at Pytho, or Delphi, as being illustrious in the time of the Trojan war; and represents the latter as immensely rich. II. II. 233. I. 404. Herodotus shows us the great authority of oracles, from antient times down to 'his own, by which kingdoms were disposed of, and war and peace were made. He relates, that the Heraclidæ, who, before Gyges, reigned in Lydia, at Sardes, obtained the kingdom by an oracle; and that Gyges, who slew his master Candaules, had the kingdom adjudged to him by the Delphic oracle; which favour he rewarded by sending thither large gifts. Herodotus every where speaks of oracles, divination, and prodigies, as one who firmly believed in them, and who was displeased with those that slighted them. See viii. 77. He gives us there an f Non enim in medio jacent |