The Ancient Mysteries.

" they ought to be considered as the fatal deposit of tho relig ious melancholy of the first men . " Although the nature of this Avork does not permit us to enter into all the details which a matter of such importance Avould require , yet as we are to go over tbe same ground Ave shall take advantage of the discoveries and the great labour of those who have preceded us . Perhaps , by following their footsteps Ave shall succeed in forming a more exact idea of a religion too

long misunderstood and too often ignorantly insulted . But let us enter the sacred recesses of her temple . There , truly august , we shall behold her shining Avith unborroAved lustre , joining to the pomp of ceremonious observance the practice of the austere virtues , and entitled by ber morality to command tbe minds of enlightened nations .

We haA'e already distinguished two kinds of worship m the ancient relig ion . The first , called Popular , consisted chiefly in outAvard forms . " It presented to its votaries , " says Freret , " a wide but fertile field , Avhich every one was at liberty to appropriate , and where each roamed at pleasure ivithout subordination , ancl Avithout the mutual co-operation or consent that produce uniformity . " The history of those gods that have just come under our review has furnished us Avith more than one example of this ; ancl oftenin spite of

, all our endeavours , it has heen difficult for us to discover the primitive idea of AA'hich they were originally the image . This is not the case Avith the other species of worship : in it all is connected and concatenated ; it rests on a sacred basis ; it presents a system all tbe parts of Avhich correspond with each other ; ancl , far from permitting any capricious innovation , it firmly withstood every attack on the most unessential points of its doctrines . Tbe preparations

it exacted contributed to maintain its purity . It was enveloped in respect ancl silence as with an impenetrable veil . Thus , while the people in crowds frequented the porticos of the temple , and , prostrate before tbe altars of Jupiter , adored that powerful deity AAIIOUI they had been taught to revere but whose essence Avas unknown to them , a small number only were admitted into tlie sanctuary : these enjoyed the actual presence of the god ; they arose by degrees to comprehend the principles of things ; ancl , contemplating the spectacle of the universe , subject to invariable laAvs , tbey did homage to him who is the oria'in of all .

The second worship differed not essentially from the first , of AA'hich indeed it was symbolical , but it had a more direct tendency . While it attracted regard by the commanding magnificence of its exterior , it Avas still more respectable by its doctrines . The initiated , that is , such as bad undergone certain preparatory trials , alone were permitted to celebrate this worship . It was designed by a name expressive of its nature . The Mysteries , or the

concealed part of the ancient Religion , contained its most august and most sacred doctrines . We shall begin with investigating the origin of those Mysteries , and their object . Afterwards , as Ave describe the ceremonies Avith Avhich they were accompanied , Ave shall chiefly endeavour to unfold their spirit ; and having shewn their importanceand demonstrated what were tbe opinions with respect to

, them among the Ancients , Ave shall , in a few words , attend to the revolutions which an institution so celebrated ancl so universally adopted was in the end exposed to . Indeed , this institution was by no means peculiar to the Greeks , butexisted among all the nations of the earth . Religion in every country concealed herself under a veil : in the general opinion she descended from heaven ,

AA'here she had received divine illumination , ancl therefore perhaps she thought it necessary to accommodate herself to the weakness of our organs by concealing a part of ber splendour ; or perhaps , by promulgating incomprehensible dogmas , she meant to avoid the inquisitive research of idle curiosity . For the most part , instead of persuasion she made use of authority , and led captive tbe senses , that she might the more easily bring reason under subjection . Hence