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said to have been described, in the ritual of Zoroaster. The like was mentioned in the octateuch of Ostanes; and, moreover, that in Persis and other parts of the east, temples were erected, and festivals instituted to the honour of the serpent tribe, esteeming "them "the supreme of all gods, and the superinten"dants of the whole world."* The worship is said to have begun in Chaldea, and from thence passed into Egypt. From the banks of the Nile, it seems to have overspread all the shores of the Mediterranean, as well as the islands of that vast sea. Tenos, one of the Cyclades, was once supposed to have swarmed with serpents; and the same legend is mentioned as to Rhodes, Seriphus, Euboea, Crete, and Cyprus. Of what particular species they were, is not specifically mentioned, except that in the last mentioned island, about Paphos, "there was a kind of serpent with two legs." By this, is meant the Ophite race, or colonies who brought the idolatry and traditions connected with it from Egypt. Legendary me

morials, similar to these, prevailed also at Athens and Sparta, at Thebes in Boeotia, at Argos, and Amyclæ, in Italy. Innumerable

Bryant de Ophiolat. vol. ii. et al.,ue W

places intimately connected with them, received of consequence their names from the titles of this monster deity. Hence we hear of cities, hills, rivers, and countries called Opis, Ophis, Ophionia, Ophioessa, Ophiodes, and Ophiusa; also Europus, Ellopus, Oropus, Asopus, Inopus, and Ethiopia. Many more might be added, but in the compass of a single treatise, it is scarcely possible to do more than glance at the subject. All these various places will be found connected with some of the paradisaical traditions;, such as the victory of a divine hero over the serpent, or the like. As death entered the world through his devices, the ancient heathen more especially seem to have made the graves of their great men, the scenes of their symbolic memorials. When, therefore, one of their heroes died, either in battle or otherwise, (and what was very remarkable, there was generally some legend of a conflict with a serpent attached to his history) they enclosed a space of ground of some acres, cast up a mound,* planted certain trees, established rites of fire, and often fabled that either Gryphins, or some other compound

Sometimes a whole society or college of hierophants appears to have resided on the sacred Tumulus. See a curious mention of a place of this sort in Philostratus de Vit. Apoll. lib. i. cap. 24. p. 31. And the iii. lib. passim.

animal figures watched over it; and then called the whole a paradisos. Many ancient temples were, in fact, originally tombs; and the sacred personages to whom they were consecrated, have been represented as there buried; but the origin of the whole superstition is, I think, manifest.

The great promise, first promulgated in paradise, was, "that the seed of the woman should "bruise the head of the serpent;" and vestiges of this precious truth were never entirely erased even from the darkest corners of pagan mythology. Sweet to the soul of man, however lost, however degenerated, was the doctrine of the atonement, which, springing up in Eden, as the source of the only hope of man, found its way, although often, as it were, by subterraneous channels, to every part of the habitable globe. In the volume of revelation, indeed, its mighty tide is seen flowing like a vast river towards the ocean of eternity: how strange, then, must it appear that its very fountain should have been, by some, disputed, the consolitary efficacy of its waters denied, and the history of the scene which beheld its rise, called in question. Let us see, however, whether the earliest voice of mere unenlightened tradition is contrary to that account furnished by inspiration. Im

mediately on the fall of man, certain rights of sacrificature were evidently instituted to keep in mind, by means of outward types and visible signs, this inestimable promise, until the fulness of time should come, and the Desire of all nations be born into the world. It is said, that after their expulsion from paradise, "unto "Adam and his wife, did the Lord God make "coats of skins and clothed them;" a remarkable piece of sacred history, which will come more under our notice shortly. These skins were, most probably, taken from the animals slain in sacrifice.* And shortly after this, we find Abel " bringing of the firstlings of his "flock, and of the fat thereof; and the Lord “ had respect unto Abel, and to his offering ;"t for he seems to have approached Jehovah as a transgressor, bearing, in faith, the constituted emblem of that Lamb of God emphatically said to have been slain from the foundation of the world. Sacrifice, then, was instituted on

* It should be remembered, that it was not until after the deluge, that God said, "Every moving thing that liveth "shall be meat for you; even as the green herb, have I given you all things.” All animals, therefore, legitimately slain previous to that period, must have suffered for the purpose of sacrifice.

+ Gen. iv. 4,

the fall of man, to remind him that without shedding of blood, there could be no remission of sin; and consequently, no return to that gracious communion with his Maker, which he had once enjoyed in paradise; and that the manner of the fulfilment by Jehovah of his promise, would be the offering thereafter of the one great atonement made by Him, who being, according to the flesh, "of the seed of the woman," would effectually "bruise the head of the ser"pent." Example and tradition went hand in hand, and after the flood, when mankind multiplied again, and were dispersed anew all over the world, each family carried with them to their place of destination the symbols they had preserved of what that great propitiatory redemption was to be; and in what manner and by what means it was to be effected. Hence we observe, that about the time of our Saviour's actual appearance upon earth, the advent of some exalted personage was universally expected; not only by the Magi in the east, but even by the Romans in the western quarter of the world.* This circumstance must have had its source (at least among distant heathen nations) from the prevalence of certain traditions.

* Sueton. Vit. Vesp. cap. iv. Tacit. Hist. v. 13.