of the whole discourse, as here applied, depends upon it, he may perhaps expect us to be a little more particular.

That the Mysteries were invented, established, and supported by LAWGIVERS, may be seen,

1. From the place of their original; which was EGYPT. This, Herodotus, Diodorus, and Plutarch, who collect from ancient testimonies, expressly affirm; and in this all Antiquity concurs: the Eleusinian Mysteries, particularly, retaining the very Egyptian Gods, in whose honour they were celebrated; Ceres and Triptolemus being only two other names for Isis* and Osiris: as we have seen above from Theodoret: and so Tibullus,

Primus aratra manu sollerti fecit OSIRIS,

Et teneram ferro sollicitavit humum t.

Hence it is, that the UNIVERSAL NATURE, or the first Cause, the object of all the Mysteries, yet disguised under diverse NAMES, speaking of herself in Apuleius, concludes the enumeration of her various mystic rites, in these words, Priscaque doctrina pollentes EGYPTII, CEREMONIIS me prorsus PROPRIIS percolentes, appellant VERO NOMINE reginam "ISIDEM"

But the similitude betwen the Rites practised, and the Doctrines taught in the Grecian and Egyptian Mysteries, would be alone sufficient to point up to their original: such as the secrecy required of the Initiated;

* Ἴσις δέ ἐσι κατὰ τὴν Ελλήνων γλῶσσαν Δημήτηρ. Herodot. lib. ii. cap. 59. And again cap. 156. Δημήτηρ δὲ Ἴσις.

+ See note [R] at the end of this Book,

See note [S] at the end of this Book.

§ Metam, lib. xi.

which, as we shall see hereafter, peculiarly characterized the Egyptian teaching; such as the doctrines taught of a metempsychosis, and a future state of rewards and punishments, which the Greek writers agree to have been first set abroach by the Egyptians *; such as abstinence enjoined from domestic fowl, fish, and beans †, the peculiar superstition of the Egyptians; such as the Ritual composed in hieroglyphics, an invention of the Egyptians t. But it would be endless to reckon up all the particulars in which the Egyptian and Grecian Mysteries agreed: it shall suffice to say, that they were in all things the same §.

Again; nothing but the supposition of this common original to all the Grecian Mysteries can clear up and reconcile the disputes which arose amongst the Grecian States and Cities, concerning the original of these rites; every one claiming to be the Prototype to the rest. Thus Thrace pretended that they came first from thence; Crete contested the honour with those barbarians; and

Timæus the Locrian, in his book Of the Soul of the World, speaking of the necessity of inculcating the doctrine of future punishments, calls them TIMPIAI ZENAI, FOREIGN TORMENTS: by which name both Latin and Greek writers generally mean, Egyptian, where the subject is Religion.

+ See Porphyrius De Abstin.

Senex commissimus ducit me protinus ad ipsas fores ædis amplissimæ, rituque solenni aspersionis celebrato mysterio, ac matutino peracto sacrificio, de opertis adyti profert quosdam Fibros, literis ignorabilibus prænotatos; partim FIGURIS CUJUSCEMODI ANIMALIUM, CONCEPTI SERMONIS COMPENDIOSA VERBA SUGGERENTES, partim nodosis, & in modum rotæ tortuosis, capreolatimque condensis apicibus. Apul. Metam. lib. xi.

5 Πρὸς δὲ τέτοις αἱ τελεταὶ καὶ τὰ μυτήρια ταύτης τῆς θεῖ [Δήμης τότε κατεδείχθησαν ἐν Ἐλευσῖνι, τά τι περὶ τὰς θυσίας καὶ τὰς αρχαιότητας ὡσαύτως ἔχειν ̓Αθηναίας και τις Αἰγυπτίας, Diod. Sic. lib. i.

Athens claimed it from both. And at that time, when they had forgotten the true original, it was impossible to settle and adjust their differences: for each could prove that he did not borrow from others; and, at the same time, seeing a similitude in the Rites*, would conclude that they had borrowed from him. But the owning EGYPT for their common Parent, clears up all difficulties: by accounting for that general likeness which gave birth to every one's pretensions.

Now, in Egypt, all religious Worship being planned and established by Statesmen, and directed to the ends of civil policy, we must conclude, that the Mysteries were originally invented by LEGISLATORS.

2. The Sages who brought them out of Egypt, and propagated them in Asia, in Greece, and Britain, were all Kings or Lawgivers; such as Zoroaster, Inachus, Orpheus †, Melampus, Trophonius, Minos, Cinyras, Erectheus, and the Druids.

3. They were under the superintendence of the State. ·A Magistrate intitled BAZIAETE, or King, presided in the Eleusinian Mysteries. Lysias informs us, that this King was to offer up the public prayers, according to their country Rites; and to see that nothing impious or immoral crept into the celebration . This title

Καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ τρόπον τινὰ κοινοποιεῖσθαι· ταῦτά τε, καὶ τῶν Σαμοθράκων, καὶ τὰ ἐν Λήμνῳ, καὶ ἄλλα πλείω· διὰ τὸ τὰς προσπόλεις λέγεσθαι τὰς αὐτές, Strabo, lib. x. p. 466. D. Edit. Paris, 1620. fol.

+ Of whom Aristophanes says, Ορφεὺς μὲν γὰρ τελειὰς θ' ἡμῖν καλέδειξε, φόνων τ' ἀπέχεσθαι· “ Orpheus taught us the Mysteries, "and to abstain from murder," i, e. from a life of rapine and violence, such as men lived in the state of nature.

† — Καὶ εὔχας εὔξεται καλὰ τὰ πάτρια - όπως ἂν μηδείς, εἰδικῇ, μηδὲ ἀσεβῇ περὶ τὰ ἱερά và — in Andoc.

given to the President of the Mysteries, was, doubtless, in memory of the first Founder: to whom were joined four officers, chosen by the people, called EIIIMEAHŢAI or Curators *; the priests were only under-officers tó these, and had no share in the direction: for this being the Legislator's favourite institution, he took all possible care for its support; which could not be done more effectually, than by his watching over it himself. On the other hand, his interfering too openly in religious matters would have defeated his end; and the people would soon have come to regard this high solemnity as a mere engine of State; on which account he carefully kept behind the curtain. For though it be now apparent that the Mysteries were the invention of the Civil Magistrate, yet even some Ancients, who have mentioned the Mysteries, seemed not to be apprized of it; and their ignorance hath occasioned great embroilment in all they say on this subject. The reader may see by the second chapter of Meursius's Eleusinia, how much the Ancients were at a loss for the true founder of those Mysteries; some giving the institution to Ceres; some to Triptolemus; others to Eumolpus; others to Musæus; and some again to Erectheus. How then shall we disengage ourselves from this labyrinth, into which Meursius hath led us, and in which, his guard of Ancients keep us inclosed? This clue will easily conduct us through it. It appears, from what has been said, that Erectheus, KING of Athens, established the Mysteries; but that the people unluckily confounded the Institutor, with the PRIESTS, Eumolpus and Musæus, who first officiated in the rites; and with Ceres and

* See Meursius's Fleusinia, cap. xv.

And so says Diodorus Siculus, lib. i. Bibl.

Triptolemus,

Triptolemus, the DEITIES, in whose honour they were celebrated. And these mistakes were natural enough*: the poets would be apt, in the licence of their figurative style, to call the Gods, in whose name the Mysteries were performed, the Founders of those Mysteries; and the people, seeing only the ministry of the officiated priests (the Legislator keeping out of sight) in good earnest believed those Mystagogues to be the founders. And yet, if it were reasonable to expect from Poets or People, attention to their own fancies and opinions, one would think they might have distinguished better, by the help of that mark, which Erectheus left behind him, to ascertain his title; namely, the erection of the officer called ßariùs, or King.

4. But this original is still further seen from the qualities required in the aspirants to the Mysteries. According to their original institution, neither slaves nor foreigners were to be admitted into them t. Now if the Mysteries were instituted, primarily for the sake of teaching religious truths, there can be no reason given why every man, with the proper moral qualifications, should not be admitted: but supposing them instituted by

*

They were committed where no Mystery was affected, in what concerned the open worship of their Gods. Tacitus, speaking of the Temple of the Paphian Venus, says, "Conditorem Templi Regem Aërian vetus memoria, quidam ipsius Deæ no#5 men id perhibent." Hist. lib. ii.

+ ἦλθε [Ἡρακλῆς] πρὸς Εὔμολπον εἰς Ἐλευσῖνα, βελόμεν μυηθῆναι· ἦν δὲ ἐκ ἐξὸν ΞΕΝΟΙΣ τότε μυεῖσθαι —Schol. Hum. 11. Θ. It was the same in the Cabiric Mysteries, as we learn from Diodorus Siculus, lib.v. who speaks of the like innovation made there. -δοκεῖ δὲ οὗτος πρῶτο ΞΕΝΟΥΣ μνῆσαι. As to slaves, hear Arise tophanes in his Θεσμοφοριαζ

σὺ δ ̓ ἄπιθ ̓ ὦ Θρᾶτι ̓ ἐκποδὼν ΔΟΥΛΟΙΣ γὰρ ἐκ έξες ̓ ἀκέειν τῶν λόγων.

the