it was even contrived that the name of the new divinity should as much as possible resemble the old one. Thus the saint Apollinaris was made to succeed the god Apollo, and St. Martina the god Mars. It was farther contrived that, in some cases, the same business should continue to be done in the same place, by substituting for the heathen god a Christian saint of a similar character, and distinguished for the same virtues. Thus, there being a temple at Rome in which sickly infants had been usually presented for the cure of their disorders, they found a Christian saint who had been famous for the same attention to children; and consecrating the same temple to him, the very same practices are now continued as in the times of Heathenism.' Farther, as it had been customary to hang up in the heathen temples, particularly those of Esculapius, pictures of scenes in which persons had supposed they had been relieved by the interposition of their gods, and especially of limbs that had been diseased, and were afterwards cured, &c., the same custom, as I have hinted already, was very early introduced into the Christian churches; and in later ages, I doubt not, these exhibitions were more numerous than they had ever been in the times of Heathenism.

Dr. Middleton, who observed the present popish worship with this view, mentions other points of resemblance, so numerous, and so little varied, that he says he could have imagined himself present in the ancient heathen temples; and he is confident that a considerable knowledge of the ancient heathen ritual might be learned from them. Candles are continually burn

1 Middleton's Letter, p. 167. (P.) Works, III. pp. 88, 89.

2 "Nothing, I found, concurred so much with my original intention of conversing with the ancients, or so much helped my imagination, to fancy myself wandering about in old heathen Rome, as to observe and attend to their religious worship; all whose ceremonies appeared plainly to have been copied from the rituals of primitive Paganism; as if handed down, by an uninter

ing in the present churches as in the former temples, incense is always smoking, many of the images are daubed with red ochre, as those of the heathen gods often were, their faces are black with the smoke of candles and incense, people are continually on their knees, or prostrate before them; and, according to the accounts of all travellers, the prayers that are addressed to them are of the same nature, and urged with the same indecent importunity. They are also followed by the same marks of resentment, if their requests be not granted, as if they hoped to get by foul means what they could not obtain by fair. Mr. Byron informs us that, being in danger of shipwreck, a Jesuit who was on board brought out an image of some saint, which he desired might be hung up in the mizen shrouds; and this being done, he kept threatening it, that if they had not a breeze of wind soon he would throw it into the sea. A breeze springing up, he carried back the image with an air of great triumph.3

As the Heathens had gods of particular countries, so the Christians of these ages imagined that one saint gave particular attention to the affairs of one country, and another saint to those of another. Thus, St. George was considered as the patron of England, St. Denis of France, St. Januarius of Naples, &c.

In all countries different saints were supposed to attend to different things, each having his proper province. Thus, St. George is invoked in battle, St.

priests of new Rome; whilst each of them readily rupted succession, from the priests of old, to the explained and called to my mind some passage of a classic author, where the same ceremony

was described, as transacted in the same form and manner, and in the same place, where I now saw it executed before my eyes: so that as oft as I was present at any religious exercise in their churches, it was more natural to fancy myself looking on, at some solemn act of idolatry in old Rome, than assisting at a worship instituted on the principles and formed upon the plan of Christianity." Middleton's Letter. Works, III. pp. 68, 69. See also the Strictures of Warburton, Div. Leg. Pt. i. (Works, 8vo. IV. p. 126), and Middleton's Postscript, Works, III. p. 120. 3 Voyage, p. 207. (P.)

Margaret in childbearing, St. Geneviève for rain, and St. Nicholas, or St. Anthony, by seamen, &c.

Also, as with the Heathens, the same god was thought to be worshipped to more advantage in one place than another, this was imagined to be the case with respect to the new divinities. For, as there was a Jupiter Ammon, a Jupiter Olympius, and a Jupiter Capitolinus, so the Papists have one Virgin Mary of Loretto, another of Montserrat, &c. And though there be a church dedicated to the Virgin in a town where a person lives, yet he will often think it worth his while to make a pilgrimage of some hundreds of miles to worship the same virgin in some other place, which she is supposed to honour with more particular attention, and to have distinguished by more miracles, &c.

So many persons had acquired the reputation of saints in the ninth century, that the ecclesiastical councils found it necessary to decree that no person should be considered as a saint, till a bishop in the province had pronounced him worthy of that honour; and the consent of the Pope was likewise generally thought expedient, if not necessary. No saint, however, was created by the authority of any pope before Udalric, bishop of Augsburgh, received that honour from John XV. in the tenth century; though others say it was Savibert who was first canonized by Leo III. after his life and pretensions had been regularly examined.1 At length, Alexander III., in the twelfth century, asserted the sole right of canonization, to the Pope. This business of canonization was also copied from Paganism, the senate of Rome having taken upon it to pronounce what persons should be deified, and having decreed that honour to several of their emperors, to whom temples were consequently erected, and worship regularly paid. Also the title of Divus, which had been given by the

1 Mosheim, II. p. 219. (P.) Cent. x. Pt. ii. Ch. iii. Sect. iv. Basnage, Histoire, II. p. 691.

decree of the senate to deified men, was now adopted by the Christians, and given to their canonized saints. The consequence of a regular canonization was, that the name of the saint was inserted in the calendar in red letters; he might then be publicly invoked and prayed to, churches and altars might be dedicated to him, masses might be said in his honour, holidays might be kept in his name, his image also might be set up and prayed to, and his relics might be reverently laid up and worshipped.

Considering who they were that directed this business of canonization, and what kind of merit weighed most with them, it is no wonder that many of these canonized persons were such as had little title to the appellation of saints. They were generally miserable enthusiasts, some of them martyrs to their own austerities, and sometimes men who had distinguished themselves by nothing but their zeal for what was imagined to be the rights of the church, and their opposition to the temporal princes of their times; such as Thomas à Becket of this country.

As many of the persons to whom divine honours are paid in catholic countries began to be distinguished in this manner before there were any regular canonizations, and in times of great ignorance, we are not surprised, though we cannot help being amused, at the gross mistakes that were sometimes made in this serious business; several of the names, the most distinguished by the honours that are paid to them, being those of persons altogether imaginary, so that the object of their worship never had any existence. Such is St. Ursula and the eleven thousand virgins. This woman is said to have been a native of Cornwall, who with her virgins travelled to Rome, and in their return through Germany, accompanied by Pope Cyriacus, suffered martyrdom at Cologne. Baronius himself says, there never was any pope of that name.

In this class also we must put the

seven sleepers, who are said to have slept in a cave from the time of Decius to that of Theodosius, or, as they reckon it, 162 years; and who, to the confutation of some who denied the resurrection, awakened after that interval, and looked as fresh as ever. No better claim has St. George, the patron of this country, or St. Christopher, who is said to have been twelve feet, or twelve cubits high, and to have carried our Saviour over an arm of the sea upon his back. From the words Vera Icon, or the true image, meaning that of our Saviour, impressed upon a handkerchief, they have made Saint Veronica, and supposed this handkerchief to have been given to her by our Saviour himself.

Several mistakes have been made by supposing that words beginning with an S were intended to express the name of some saint, and from the remainder of the word they have accordingly composed the name of an maginary person. Thus, in all probability, from Soracte, the name of a mountain, they have got the name of St. Oreste, softening the sound after the Italian manner; and what is more extraordinary, from a fragment of an inscription, which, in all probability was originally præfectus viarum, the S only remaining of the word præfectus, and viar of the word following, they have made St. Viar; and the Spaniards, in whose country this inscription was found, fancying that this new saint had distinguished himself by many illustrious miracles, solicited Pope Urban to do something to his bonour. In England particular honour was paid to St. Amphibolus, which appears to have been nothing but a cloke that had belonged to St. Alban.

1 Middleton's Letter, pp. 173, 174. (P.) On Soracte, Addison says, "In my way to Rome, seeing a high hill standing by itself in the Campania, I did not question but it had a classic name, and upon inquiry, found it to be Mount Soracte. (Hor. Carm. L. i. 9.) The Italians at present call it, because its name begins with an S, St. Oreste." Remarks on Italy, 1705, p. 164. On St. Viar, see Mabill. Iter. Ital. p. 145, quoted in Middleton's Works, III. p. 91.

Besides particular festivals for particular saints, the Papists have a festival for the commemoration of all saints in general, lest, as we may suppose, any should have been omitted in their calendar. This was introduced by Gregory IV.

These new objects of worship presently engrossed almost all the devo tion of the vulgar, who think they may make more free with these inferior divinities than they can with the Supreme Being; so that the name of the true God the Father is seldom made use of by them. And those persons who have attached themselves to any particular saint have become most passionately fond of them, and have been led to magnify their power to a degree which excites both our pity and indignation. There is a book entitled The Conformity of St. Francis, intended to show how nearly he approached to Christ, in his birth, miracles, and all the particulars of his life. But nothing was ever so extraordinary as the accounts of Ignatius, by his followers the Jesuits; and it is the more so, as he lived in modern times.

Some of the Jesuits have said, it was no wonder that Moses worked so many miracles, since he had the name of God written upon his rod; or that the apostles worked miracles, since they spake in the name of Christ: whereas, St. Ignatius had performed as many miracles as the apostles, and more than Moses, in his own name. Others of them have said that only Christ, the apostle Peter,

2 Mr. Brydone says, he "remarked with how little respect the people of Sicily passed the chapels that were dedicated to God. They hardly deigned to give a little inclination of the head; but when they came near those of their favourite saints, they bowed down to the very ground." Travels, II. p 127. (P.)

3 Mr. Swinburne says, that from what he saw, he is" apt to suspect, that the people in Spain trouble themselves with few serious thoughts on the subject of religion; and that, provided they can bring themselves to believe that their favourite saint looks upon them with an eye of attention, they take it for granted that, under his influence, they are freed from all apprehension of damnation in a future state, and indeed," he adds, "from any great concern about the moral duties of this life." Travels, p. 174. (P.)