virgin is also Andromeda, delivered by Perseus from the whale that pursues her (pro-sequitor.)

Note (b 6,) page 248.-By a chaste virgin. Such was the picture of the Persian sphere, cited by Aben Ezra, in the Calum Poeticum of Blaeu, p. 71. "The picture of the first decan of the Virgin,” says that writer, 66 represents a beautiful virgin with flowing hair, sitting in a chair, with two ears of corn in her hand, and suckling an infant, called Jesus by some nations, and Christ in Greek."

In the library of the late king of France was a manuscript in Arabic, marked 1165, in which is a picture of the twelve signs: and that of the Virgin represents a young woman with an infant by her side: the whole scene, indeed, of the birth of Jesus is to be found in the adjacent part of the heavens. The stable is the constellation of the charioteer and the goat, formerly Capricorn; a constellation called præsepe Jovis Heniochi. stable of Iou; and the word Iou is found in the name Iou-seph (Joseph.) At no great distance is the ass of Typhon, (the great she bear,) and the ox or bull, the ancient attendants of the manger. Peter the Porter, is Janus with his keys and bald forehead: the twelve apostles are the genii of the twelve months, &c. This Virgin has acted very different parts in the various systems of mythology; she has been the Isis of the Egyptians, who said of her in one of their inscriptions cited by Julian, the fruit I have brought forth is the sun. The majority of traits drawn by Plutarch apply to her, in the same manner as those of Osiris apply to Bootes; also the seven principal stars of the she bear, called David's chariot, were called the chariot of Osiris, (see Kirker ;) and the crown that is situated behind, formed of ivy, was called Chen-Osirie, the tree of Osiris. The Virgin has likewise been Ceres, whose mysteries were the same with those of Isis and Mithra; she has been the Diana of the Ephesians; the great goddess of Syria, Cyble, drawn by lions; Minerva, the Mother of Bacchus; Astræa, a chaste virgin taken up into heaven at the end of the golden age; Thems, at whose feet is the balance that was put in her hands; the Sybil of Virgil, who descends into hell, or sinks below the hemisphere with a branch in her hand, &c.

Note (c 6,) page 248.-Revived and rose again in the firmament. Resurgere, to rise a second time, cannot signify to return to life, but in a metaphorical sense; but we see continually mistakes of this kind result from the ambiguous meaning of the words made use of in ancient tradition.

Note (d 6,) page 249.-Chris, or the Preserver. The Greeks used to express by X, or Spanish iota, the aspirated ha of the Orientals, who said hâris. In Hebrew heres signifies the sun, but in Arabic the meaning of the radical word is, to guard, to preserve, and of hâris guardian, preserver. It is the proper epithet of Vichenou, which demonstrates at once the identity of the Indian and Christian Trinities, and their common origin. It is manifestly but one system, which, divided into two branches, one extending to the east, and the other to the west, assuming two different forms: Its principal trunk is the Pythagorean system of the soul of the world, or Iou-piter. The epithet piter, or father having been applied to the demi oargos of Plato, gave rise to an ambiguity which caused an inquiry to be made respecting the son of this father. In the opinion of the philosophers the son was understanding, Nons and Logos, from which the Latins made their Verbum. And thus we clearly perceive the origin of the eternal father and of the Verbum his son, proceeding from him (Mens Ex Deo nata, says Macrobius :) the anima or spiritus mundi, was the Holy-Ghost; and it is for this reason that Manes, Basilides, Valentinius, and other pretended heretics of the first ages, who traced things to their source, said, that God the Father was the supreme inaccessible light (that of the heaven, the primum mobile or the aplanes;) the Son the secondary light resident in the sun, and the Holy-Ghost the atmosphere of the earth, (See Beausob. vol ii, p. 586 :) hence, among the Syrians, the representation of the Holy Ghost by a dove, the bird of Venus Urania, that is, of the air. The Syrians (says Nigidius de Germanico,) assert that a dove sat for a certain number of days on the egg of a fish, and that from this incubation Venus was born: Sextus Empiricus also observes (Inst. Pyrrh. lib. 3. c. 23,) that the Syrians abstained from eating doves; which intimates to us a period commencing in the sign Pisces in the winter solstice.We may farther observe, that if Chris comes from Harisch by a chin, it will signify artificer, an epithet belonging to the sun. These variations, which must have embarrassed the ancients, prove it to be the real type of Jesus, as had been already remarked in the time of Tertullian. "Many," says this writer, "suppose with greater probability that the sun is our God, and they refer us to the religion of the Persians;" Apologet. c. 16.

See a

Note (e 6,) page 249.-One of the solar periods. curious ode to the Sun, by Matinus Capella, translated by Gebelin.

Note (f6,) page 257.-Human sacrifices. Read the cold declaration of Eusebius (Præp. Evang. lib. 1. p. 11.) who pretends that, since the coming of Christ, there have neither been wars, nor tyrants, nor cannibals, nor sodomites, nor persons committing incest, nor savages destroying their parents, &c. When we read of these fathers of the church we are astonished at their insincerity or infatuation.

Note (g 6,) page 258.-Sect of Hermetics and Samaneans. The equality of mankind in a state of nature and in the eyes of God, was one of the principle tenets of the Samaneans, and they appear to be the only ancients that entertained this opinion.

Note (h 6,) page 259.-Sworn to perpetuate, &c. The oath taken by the knights of the Order of Malta, is to kill, or make the Mahometans prisoners, for the glory of God.

Note (i 6,) page 260.—Perverted the consciences of men. As long as it shall be possible to obtain purification from crimes, and exemption from punishment, by means of money and other frivolous practices; as long as kings and great men shall suppose that building temples and instituting foundations, will absolve them from the guilt of oppression and homicide; as long as individuals shall imagine that they may rob and cheat, provided they observe fast during lent, go to confession, and receive extreme unction, it is impossible there should exist in society any morality or virtue; and it is from a deep conviction of truth, that a modern philosopher has called the doctrine of expiations la verole des societes.

Note (k 6,) page 261.-Has carried its inquisition even to the sacred sanctuary of the nuptial bed. The Mussulmen, who suppose women to have no souls, are shocked at the idea of confession, and say; how can an honest man think of listening to the recital of the actions or the secret thoughts of a woman? May we not also ask, on the other hand, how can an honest woman consent to reveal them ?

Note (16,) page 261.—That every where they had formed secret associations, corporations of individuals enemies to the rest of the society. That we may understand the general feelings of priests respecting the rest of mankind, whom they always call by the name of the people, let us hear one of the doctors of the church. "The people," says Bishop Synnesius, in Calvit. page 315, are desirous of being deceived, we cannot act otherwise respecting them.— The case was similar with the ancient priests of Egypt, and for this reason they shut themselves up in their temples, and there composed their mysteries out of the reach of the eye of

the people." And forgetting what he had just before said, he adds: "for had the people been in the secret they might have been offended at the deception played upon them. In the mean time how is it possible to conduct oneself otherwise with the people so long as they are the people? For my own part, to myself I shall always be a philosopher, but in dealing with the mass of mankind I shall be a priest."

"A little jargon," says Gregory Nazienzen to St. Jerome (Hieron. ad Nep.)" is all that is necessary to impose on the people. The less they comprehend, the more they admire. Our forefathers and doctors of the church have often said, not what they thought, but what circumstances and necessity dictated to them."

"We endeavour," says Sanchoniaton, "to excite admiration by means of the marvellous." (Præp. Evang. lib. 3.)

Such was the conduct of all the priests of antiquity, and is still that of the Bramins and Lamas, who are the exact counterpart of the Egyptian priests. Such was the practice of the Jesuits, who marched with hasty strides in the same career. It is useless to point out the whole depravity of such a doctrine. In general every association which has mystery for its basis, or an oath of secrecy, is a league of robbers against society, a league divided in its very bosom into knaves and dupes, or in other words, agents and instruments. It is thus we ought to judge of those modern clubs, which, under the name of Illuminatists, Martinists, Cagliostronists, Freemasons and Mesmerites, infest Europe. These societies are the follies and deceptions of the ancient Cabalists, Magicians, Orphics, &c. who, says Plutarch, led into errors of considerable magnitude, not only individuals, but kings and nations.

Note (m 6,) page 262.—They had made themselves by turns astrologers, casters of planets, augurers, magicians, &c. What is a magician, in the sense in which people understand the word? a man who by words and gestures pretends to act on supernatural beings, and compel them to descend at his call, and obey his orders. Such was the conduct of the ancient priests, and such is still that of all priests in idolatrous nations, for which reason we have given them the denomination of magicians.

And when a Christian priest pretends to make God descend from heaven, to fix him to a morsel of leaven, and to render, by means of this talisman, souls pure and in a state of grace, what is all this but a trick of magic? And where is the difference between a Chaman of Tartary, who invokes the genii, or an Indian Bramin, who makes his Vichenou de

scend in a vessel of water to drive away evil spirits? Yes, the identity of the spirit of priests in every age and country is fully established! Every where it is the assumption of an exclusive privilege, the pretended faculty of moving at will the powers of nature; and this assumption is so direct a violation of the right of equality, that whenever the people shall regain their importance, they will for ever abolish this sacriligious kind of nobility, which has been the type and parent stock of the other species of nobility.

Note (n 6,) page 262.-Who paid for them as for commodities of the greatest value. A curious work would be the comparative history of the agnuses of the pope and the pastils of the grand Lama. It would be worth while to extend this idea to religious ceremonies in general, and to confront, column by column, the analogous or contrasting points of faith and superstitious practices in all nations. There is one more species of superstition which it would be equally salutary to cure, blind veneration for the great; and for this purpose it would be alone sufficient to write a minute detail of the private life of kings and princes. No work could be so philosophical as this: and accordingly we have seen what a general outcry was excited among kings and the panders of kings, when the Anecdote of the Court of Berlin first appeared. What would be the alarm were the public put in possession of the sequel of this work? Were the people fairly acquainted with all the crimes and all the absurdities of this species of idol, they would no longer be exposed to covet their specious pleasures, of which the plausible and hollow appearance disturbs their peace and hinders them from enjoying the much more solid happiness of their own condition.

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