Romans; for men, having once imagined the existence of supernatural agents, knew not where to stop, but kept on peopling the earth, the air, and the heavens, with the creations of their fancy. Jupiter was supposed by the Greeks to be supreme master of all other divinities. 66 "Zevs touched the mountains, and made them quake for fear." A thousand arguments might be adduced, tending to prove that some of the ancient heathens, amid all their idolatries and mummeries, believed in the existence of one supreme Numen, to whom all the inferior divinities, who were supposed to preside over the respective departments of nature, were subordinate. The tutelary deities of the ancient pagans appear to have occupied the same places in the world of speculation, as are now occupied by the angels and archangels, saints and martyrs, cherubim and seraphim, of the professors of the Christian faith. No argument can, therefore, be drawn from the multitude of ancient gods and goddesses, against the supposition that some of the ancients acknowledged the unity of the deity; for though they personified the causes of almost every phenomenon, they nevertheless believed these deities to be inferior to Zevs, or Jupiter," the one first, one greatest, only lord of all.” It is almost certain that the Greeks borrowed many of their notions from the Egyptians; and a story related by Herodotus seems to indicate that the Egyptians possessed some knowledge of, or rather belief in, an invisible spirit. "Those who worshipped at Thebes, sacrificed a ram; and they say the rite originated from the following incident. The Egyptian Hercules, according to tradition, was very anxious to see Jupiter, who was for a considerable time averse to his petition; but at length, Hercules being very urgent, Jupiter skinned a ram, and, putting on the skin, exhibited himself to Hercules under that form; whence the statues of Jupiter were carved with a ram's head.": This tradition probably originated in some enthusiast conceiving, in a moment of ecstacy, that the divinity had exhibited himself in the form of an animal. (To be continued.) *Herod., lib. ii., chap. 42. Greg. Hist. Mor. Ess., p. 89. * A DISSERTATION ON THE DOCTRINE OF ABSOLUTE CREATION AS TAUGHT BY MODERN CHRISTIANS, PRIESTS, AND THEIR ABETTORS. Further Proof that the Doctrine of Creation is to be found among all Nations. (Continued from page 166.) WE have, in the preceding papers, given many proofs of the antiquity of the doctrine of creation. Since these were written, several papers in the fifth and sixth volumes of Valpy's Classical Journal, have fallen under our review. These papers confirm some of the opinions we have already mooted. Trusting, therefore, to the accuracy of the quotations contained in that celebrated work, we add the following extracts to our preceding remarks. From these extracts we learn that the notion was not only credited in some form or other by the Greeks and Egyptians, but has been cherished by almost all nations. The advocates of the doctrine contend, from this circumstance, that it must have some foundation in fact; and that because all nations believe it, it must therefore be true. But no criterion of truth can be adopted of a more variable and uncertain character than that of opinion. We shall, however, endeavour to account for these traditions when we come to discuss the question metaphysically. At present, our only object is to prove that the notion either is or has been universal (i. e., that with a few exceptions all tribes of men have entertained it); and to infer from this fact that Moses, supposing he taught the doctrine, cannot (even though inspired) claim the merit of originality. That this curious notion prevailed all over the world will, I think, be evidenced by the following quota tions: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth: "And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters," &c. Genesis i. 1, 2, to 25. * In the beginning, says Orpheus, the heavens were made by God, and in the heaven there was a chaos, and a terrible darkness was in all the parts of this chaos, and covered all things under heaven. Orpheus, however, did not conceive the heavens and the earth to have been in one mass; for, as Shuckford quotes from Syrian, the heavens and the chaos were according to Orpheus the principia out of which the rest were produced. Anaxagoras, as Laertius informs us, began his book; all things were at first in one mass, but an intelligent agent came and put them in order; and Aristotle gives us as his opinion that all things remained in one mass for a great length of time, but an intelligent being came and put them in motion, and so separated them one from another. In the beginning of time all things were in a state of confusion, heaven and earth were in a shapeless mass, and had one and the same form. But when corporeal beings were created, the world appeared in the order and harmony which now prevails. The air was convulsed and agitated, its lighter and its fiery particles ascended, and became the receptacle for the sun and the starry host of heaven. The gross and material parts adhered together, and formed the earth, which is continually whirling about. The moisture exuded and became the sea. For a time, the ground was unfit for tillage or any purposes of life, but the warmth of the sun soon invigorated the soil, which became rich and fertile : : as the poet says, "Of one vast form, confused and uncreate, Was once the Universe. The earth and heavens, *Shuckford Con. vi. Pref. + Aristot. Metaph., p. 2. Aristot. Phys. Ausc., lib. viii., c. 1. The Sintosju, or adherents of the Sinto religion, the most ancient system of sacred worship in Japan, pay such respect to the last article of their religious creed, which relates to the beginning of all things, that they take special care not to reveal the same to their disciples, till each hath obliged himself by an oath, signed with his hand and seal, not to profane such sacred and sublime mysteries, by discovering them to the ignorant and credulous laity. The translation from the original text of this mysterious doctrine is contained in the following words, taken out of a book which they call Odaiki. "In the beginning of the opening of all things, a chaos floated, as fishes swim in the water for pleasure. Out of this chaos arose a thing like a prickle, moveable, and transferable. This thing became a soul or spirit; and this spirit is called KUNITOKODATSNO-MIKOTTO." Kampher's Japan, vol. i., p. 208. The third volume of Pezron's Zendavesta, contains the following curious account of the creation from the Cosmogony of the Parses. "We are informed that when the deity Ormisda set about the production of things, the whole was performed at six different intervals. He first formed the heavens; at the second period the waters; and at the third the earth. Next in order were produced the trees and vegetables; in the fifth place were formed the birds and fishes, and the wild inhabitants of the woods; and in the sixth and last place he created man; this was the most honourable of all his productions. "The notion which the Chepewyan Indians entertain of the creation, is very singular. They believe that at the first the globe was one vast and entire ocean, inhabited by no living creature, except a mighty bird, whose eyes were fire, whose glances were lightning, and the clapping of whose wings were thunder. On his descent to the ocean and touching it, the earth instantly arose, and remained on the surface of the waters. This omnipotent bird then called forth all the variety of animals from the earth, except the Chepewyans, who were produced from a dog, and this circumstance occasions their aversion to the flesh of that ani mal, as well as to the people who eat it. The tradition proceeds to relate that the great bird having finished his work, made an arrow which was to be preserved with great care and to remain untouched; but the Chepewyans were so devoid of understanding as to carry it away, and the sacrilege so enraged the great bird that he has never since appeared.-Carver's Travels, p. 143. In the poem of the Voluspa, which forms part of the Edda, we find the following description of chaos and the creation. "In the day-spring of the ages, there was neither sea nor shore, nor refreshing breezes, there was neither earth below, nor heaven above, to be distinguished. The whole was only one vast abyss, without herb and without seeds. The sun had then no place, the stars knew not their dwelling places, the moon was ignorant of her power. After this there was a luminous, burning flame towards the south, and from this world flowed out incessantly into the abyss, that lay towards the north, torrents of sparkling fire, which, in proportion as they removed far away from their source, congealed in their falling into the abyss, and so filled it with scum and ice. Thus was the abyss, by little and little, filled quite full; but there remained within it a light and immoveable air, and thence exhaled icy vapours. Then a warm breath came from the south, melted those vapours, and formed of them living drops, whence was born the giant Ymer.-Mallet's North. Antiq., vol. i., p. 105." Mr. Maurice,* in his Dissertations on Indian Antiquities, asserts it as his opinion, that it is from some perverted notion of the spirit of God moving on the face of the waters, that in all the engravings, descriptive of the Indian Cosmogony, Brahma is represented · floating on the abyss, upon the leaf of the sacred Lotos. Thus, in that spirited and beautiful ode of Sir William Jones to Narayena, which, literally translated, he observes, means the Spirit moving on the water, we find the following remarkable stanza. will be remembered that Sir William, in this passage, professes to give the principles of the Indian Cosmo *Vol. iv., p. 69. It |