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the Elder, the most learned, and beft-informed of all the Romans whofe writings are handed down to us, concludes the uncertainty of human knowledge with, "Conftat igitur inter tanta in

certa, nihil effe certi; præterquam hominem, nec miferius quicquam nec fuperbius.”

Let us turn our attention towards the different parts of the globe, even among the most civilized people, as well as among the most barbarous, and examine their history, from the earliest ages, and fee if we shall not find the opinion of those great heathen philofophers verified; and whether those presumptuous men, who would attempt to unfold all the myfteries of the Supreme Being, after fo many ages of fpeculation are not at prefent as much in the dark refpecting this matter, as the uninformed Indian, or African.

IN the early ages of the world, when mankind were in a state of ignorance and barbarity, those men who were endued with a greater degree of reafon and reflection than their fellow-creatures, applied themselves to the invention of arts, and to the forming of laws and regulations for civil fociety; and were not only honoured during their lifetime, but, after their death, were worshipped as 'gods; as almost all mankind, of whom we have any particular history, were in those days in a state of the groffeft idolatry. They supposed that the greatest honour, and even adoration, was due to those who had been the firft authors

B 4

thors of any good and well-established civil govern ment, whereby the native inhabitants of the country were drawn from a favage and brutal manner of living, to the fafety and conveniency of civil society, to the enjoyment of property, and to the obfervance and obedience of laws and orders; which were followed by fecurity, civility, induftry, riches, and many kinds of arts. Such perfons in those ages, who, excelling in thofe virtues, were attended by these fortunes, and left their respective countries under good conftitutions of laws, and civil government; or who inftituted excellent and lafting orders and frames of any political ftate, in what extent foever of country, or under what name foever of civil govern ment, were obeyed as princes or lawgivers, during their lifetime, and afterwards were adored as gods, -It does not appear that they aspired after any thing more, or that they had any idea of a future ftate, or even of the existence of a great and Supreme Being, who created, and who governed all things.

From these fources, I am perfuaded, may be deduced all the fyftems of theology, or idolatry, of the ancient Pagan world; at leaft, of all that part thereof which we find recorded in hiftory: for, from taking a furvey of ancient ftory, I think we may justly conclude, that Saturn was a king of Crete, and that he was driven out of that kingdom by his fon. That Jupiter, after he had dethroned his father, conquered a great part of

Greece; and having introduced the use of agricul

ture,

ture, of property, and civility, and established a juft and regular kingdom, was by them adored as the chief of their gods. That his brother, sisters, fons, and daughters, were worshipped likewise for the inventions of things ufeful, neceffary, or agreeable to human life. Neptune was worshipped for having invented the art of navigation; Vul, can, for that of forging brass and iron; Minerva, of spinning; Apollo, of mufic and poetry; Mercury, of manual arts and merchandize; Bacchus, for the invention of wine; and Ceres, of corn. But we have no hiftory, at prefent, which informs us in what age this race of Saturn flourished in the world, although it is generally fuppofed, that it was foon after the peopling of this country by the defcendants of Noah. The fame divine honours were rendered by the Egyptians to Ofyris; in whose temple was infcribed, on a monument, that he had traversed the greatest part of the then known world, and every-where taught men all that he found neceffary for the common good of civil fociety; by the Affyrians to Belus, the great founder of that kingdom, and the inventor of aftronomy among the Chaldeans; by the original Latins to Janus, who introduced agriculture into Italy; and these three were worshipped as Gods, by those ancient and learned nations.-The next two, of the human race, whom we find displaying their talents upon the great theatre of life, and who were afterwards deified, were the Theban Hercules, and Thefeus; both being greatly re

nowned,

nowned, throughout all Greece, for having freed their country from fierce and wild beafts, from robbers and spoilers, or from cruel and lawless tyrants. Thefeus was also honoured as the founder of the more civilized state of Athens; which city began to flourish and grow great by his inftitutions; although his father had been before king of the scattered villages, or inhabitants of Attica. In the fame age likewife lived Minos, king of Crete, who, for the juftness of his laws, and the greatness of his reign, gained the repute of being a fon of Jupiter.-After the Trojan wars, Æneas having employed his utmost strength and abilities, in the defence of this famous city, faved his father, and the Trojan gods, gathered up the remains of his ruined country, failed to Italy, and there founded a kingdom, which gave rise to the greatest empire in the world.-In the third century after this æra, Lycurgus formed the civil government of Sparta upon laws and orders fo very different from those which were then practised in Greece, that there appeared to be more than human authority neceffary to establish them; fo that the Pythian priestess told him, that she was at a lofs to know whether she fhould call him a god or a man, Indeed his civil and political inftitutions have been particularly celebrated by almost all the learned authors of antiquity.-The next great reformers of mankind, which we find recorded in the Pagan hiftory, were Romulus and Numa; the firft of

whom

whom founded the Roman city and ftate; and the second polished the civil and religious orders of both to fuch a degree, that the original inftitutions of these two lawgivers continued as long as that state retained its luftre and government.Cyrus was the next great reformer which we find appearing upon the ftage of life; who not only freed his country from their fervitude to the Medes, and erected the Perfian empire upon the ruins of the Affyrian, but he adorned it with most excellent laws and conftitutions. If we may judge from the portrait which Xenophon has given of this great man, he was a phænomenon in the Heathen world; and it is certain, that his memory was always celebrated among the Perfians, though not profecuted by divine honours; because that nation, even in those days, adored one Supreme God, without any representation or idol; and in the next place the Sun, to whom alone they offered facrifices. It is generally supposed, that they received their ideas of a Supreme God from the Indians; who, at that time, followed the precepts of their great lawgiver, and the founder of their fyftem of theology, Brachmah, because all their neighbouring nations, even the Ifraelites themselves, were, in those days, in a state of the groffeft idolatry.

Although the scene of action, whereon those princes and lawgivers flourished, was confined to a very small part of the world; yet, as it was the

then

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