ancient Athenian, is reported by Suidas to have made a collection of his works *. The poem of the Argonautæ, which describes the expedition, in which Orpheus is related to have borne his part with Hercules and other heroes; and the hymns which are ascribed to Orpheus, are represented byStobæus to have been composed by Onomacritus, or Pythagoras; and even the Orphic verses, which are cited by Justin and Clement of Alexandria, are considered by many writers as forgeries, as works of popular estimation cited by the Fathers for the purposes which they might answer, but without design to establish their credit; other writers consider these works as the production of Cercops, the Pythagorean, though they contain possibly some of the opinions of Orpheus. If we are to form our opinion of Orpheus from a collective view of what is quoted of him by ancient writers, and without attempting to discriminate what is genuine from what is spurious, we may look to him as having discovered and published some intimations of revealed truth, amidst the delu • Vid. Fabric. in Orph. et Eurip, in Rhes. lib. 943. + Lactant. de falsâ Religione, lib. iv. c. 5. 13. Jortin's Remarks upon Eccles. Hist. vol. i. p. 300, 301. sions of polytheism. Just sentiments are to be found in the fragments which are preserved, and indications of his knowledge appear in the fables recorded of him. Thus, for instance, it is related, that he found out expiations for sin, and shewed how the divine wrath might be appeased; discoveries which possibly might have some reference to the revealed doctrine of propitiation*. He was charged with disclosing mysteries; and as his doctrines were probably much misconceived by the vulgar, it is not impossible that the tales of his having obtained the release of Eurydice from hell, and of his being torn in pieces by women, might bear allusion to the opinions which he divulged. The instructions which he communicated, if they explained only the Egyptian hieroglyphics, could have contained but little to enlighten his countrymen, since these were the rude inventions of a people not much advanced in real knowledge; and they probably gave rise to much superstition and idolatry +. • Vide Fabricium. Pausan. lib. ix. p. 586. + See Marsham's Canon. Chron. 38, and Ant. Univ. Hist. vol. i. p. 223. Some principles of the patriarchal faith had, however, spread and been preserved in the traditions of Egypt, and though there was darkness in the houses of the Egyptians, some divine knowledge had been occasion. ally imparted to the Israelites when abiding among them, glimmerings of which continued perhaps to shine long after the sun of revelation had set in their country with the departure of the chosen people of God. Plato mentions the hymns of Orpheus*, and Suidas speaks of his discourses concerning the knowledge of God. In some lines preserved by Clement of Alexandria, Orpheus describes the Creator of the world as one perfect Being, by whom alone all things were made †, or from whom they sprung, and by whose presence all things are governed, whom no mortal has seen, and who sees all men. He is reported to have said at his death that there is but one God+; and he affirmed, that all things arose from De Legib. Suidas Voce Orpheus. John Malala Chronograph. p. 89, 90. Cedren. Hist. Compend. p. 46. Jackson. Chron. p. 16. + Εἰς ες ̓ αὐτοτελης, ενός έκγονα πάλα τέτυκται, ή πεφυκεν. Clem. Alex. Strom. lib. v. c. 250. p. 693. Euseb. Præp. Evan. lib. xii. c. 12, 13. ↑ Theophil. ad Autolyc. lib. iii. water*. He distributed, however, a multiplicity of subordinate divinities through the universe as appears from a cosmogony ascribed to him by Timotheus. There are other particulars consistent with the Mosaic account of the creation, and which seem borrowed from the Phoenician theology, representing the creation of all things from a dark chaos, which was illuminated by the Supreme Being, called Wisdom and the Giver of Life. Clement, of Alexandria, and Eusebius have preserved some Orphic verses, which seem evidently to apply to Moses, who is styled the "Water-born†; and to Abraham, who is called the " Only-begotten;" in reference, probably, to what is said in Isaiah, " for 1 called him alone, and blessed "him." These verses, however, are considered as spurious by Cudworth. In another place, Orpheus attests the divine voice, or word uttered by the Father, when he established the world §. We may attribute too much or too little to these passages; but let their authority or their importance be what * See Athenæ. 38. & Pindar Ode 1st. tidge. Cudwerth, Book i. c. 4. p. 300, Isaiah li. 2. • Auture Su. it may, it is not reasonable to undervalue the broken characters of remote antiquity, or to consider all that the Fathers have transmitted to us, as the result of credulity, and all the doubtful works which they have bequeathed to us, as necessarily spu rious. Still adhering to the rule of Cudworth, however, who insists only upon those passages which are attested by Heathen writers, we may refer to another extract from Orpheus, which is mentioned by Proclus upon Timæus, in which the universe, whatsoever hath been, is, or shall be, is said to have been all contained in the fecundity of Jove, one self-originated deity. Cudworth states, that Proclus understood this of "the idea of all things 65 being in God, before the world was pro"duced *." The learned writer also quotes other passages of similar authority, and to the same effect, tending to shew that in the Orphic theology, though there were many gods and goddesses, there was one original supreme deity above them all; and the opinion of Orpheus seems to have corresponded upon the subject of the divine nature with |