Well therefore did the antique world invent
That Justice was a God of sovereign grace,
And altars unto him, and temples lent,
And heavenly honours in the highest place ;
Calling him great Ofiris, of the race
Of th' old Ægyptian kings, that whilom were;
With feigned colours fhading a true cafe:
For, that Ofiris, whilft he lived here,
The justeft man alive, and truest did appear.

In Plutarch, De Ifid. p. 355. Ofiris is called uéyas Baos deus eteggérns. Magnus rex beneficus, Bxσιλεύονlα δε "Όσιριν Αιγυπτίες μεν ευθύς απόρε βία και θηριώδες απαλλάξαι, καρπός τε δείξανία, και νόμες θέμενον αυτοίς, και θεές δείξανία τιμών • ύςερον δε γήν πάσαν ημερέμενον επελθείν. Jam Ofirin regno inito ftatim Ægyptios inopi et belluina vi&tus ratione solvise, cum et fruges iis ostenderet, et leges poneret, et deorum cultum præciperet. Poftmodo universam obivisse terram hominesque manfuetos redegisse. P. 356. 'Oyee "Origis ázatonovís. Eft enim Ofiris beneficus.

Britomartis enters the temple of Isis : There she received was in goodly wise of many priests, that duly did attend, -

All

All clad in linen robes, with silver hem'd;
And on their heads, with long locks comely kem'd,
They wore rich mitres.

The Priests of Ifis wore STC Novénv usun, veftem tantummodo lineam, fays Herodot. II. 37. and hence are called Linigeri by many writers. Their heads were close shaved, though Spenser gives them long locks.

I BI D.

To Thew that Ifis does the moon portend;

Like as Ofiris signifies the sun. So Plutarch, De Ilid. p. 372.

The image of Isis was

clothed all in garments made of line.

She is called Linigera by Ovid, and by others.

Britomartis sleeps in the temple of Isis, and has vifions of what should befall her. It was not unufual for those who consulted the Gods, to sleep in their temples; where, as we are informed, they used to have their fortunes told them.

Virgil,

Virgil, Æn. VII. 86.

Huc dona facerdos
Cum tulit, et cæsarum ovium sub noéte filenti
Pellibus incubuit stratis, Jomnosque petivit,
Multa modis fimulacra videt volitantia miris :
Et varias audit voces, fruiturque deorum
Conloquio, atque imis Acheronta adfatur Avernis.

Servius : “Incubare proprie dicuntur hi, qui dor. miunt ad accipienda responsa: Unde eft, Ille incubat Jovi ; id est, dormit in Capitolio, ut refponfa poffit accipere.

The Nafamones flept at the tombs of their ancestors, in order to be informed of what they wantod to know.

Herodot. IV. 172.
Μαυλέυονίαι δε επί των προγόνων φοθέονlες τα σήματα :

say καιευξάμενοι, επικοιμώναι. το δ' αν ήδη εν τη όψει ενύπνιον, rółw zewolas. Divinant, ad majorum accedentes monumenta, et illis ubi preces peregerunt, indoriniunt : ubi quodcumque per quietem infomnium viderunt, eo utuntur. Tertul. de Animâ. p. 365.

“ Nafamonas propria oracula apud parentum fepulchra mansitando captare, ut Heraclides fcribit, vel, Nympbodorus, vel Herodotus: Et Celtas apud virorum fortium buffa eâdem de caufâ abnoëtare, ul Nicander affirmat."

I BI D.

I BI D.

.

Her helmet fhe unlac'd,
And by the altar's side her self to lluniber plac'd.

For other beds the priests there used none,
But on their mother Earth's dear lap did lie,

And bake their lides upon the cold hard stone*. So the Selli, in Homer, II. 11. 233.

Ζεύ άνα Δωδωναίε, Πελασγικέ, τηλάθι ναίων,
Δωδώνμς μεδέων δυχειμέρα αυφί δε Σελλοί

Σοί ναίεσ' υποφήται ανιπτόποδες, χαμαιεύναι.
Júpiter rex Dodonæe, Pelasgice, procul habitans,
Dodona præsidens hiberno-frigore-infesta i circum au-

tem Selli Tui habitant interpretes pedibus-illoti, bumi cubantes.

S T A N Z.

X, XI.
Speaking of the priests of Isis :

Therefore they mought not taste of fleshly food,
Ne feed on ought the which doth blood contain,
Ne drink of wine ; for wine they say is blood,
Even the blood of Giants, which were slain
By thund'ring Jove in the Phlegrean plain :
For which the Earth (as they the story tell)
Wroth with the Gods, which to perpetual pain

Had damn'd her fons, which’gainst them did rebel, With inward grief and malice did against them swell, * Quare? “ And brake their fades, &c. Hor. Epod. XI, 31.

Limina dura, quibus

Lumbos et infregi latus.
See also Hor. L. III. Od. X. 19. Ovid, Kem. Amor. L. II.

And of their vital blood, the which was fhed
Into her pregnant bosom, forth the brought
The fruitful vine; whofe liquor, bloody red,
Having the minds of men with fury fraught,
Mought in them stir up old rebellious thought
To make new war against the Gods again.

Concerning the temperance requisite in the Priests of Ifis, fee Plutarch, De Ilid. "Hočavto de wives átà Ψαμμητίχε, πρότερον δε εκ έπινον οίνον, και δε έσπενδον, ως φίλιου θεούς, αλλ' ως αίμα των πολεμησάνων σονέ τους θεούς, εξ ών οΐουλαι πεσόνων και τη γη συμμιγέλων αμπέλες γενέθαι. διο και το μεθύειν έκφρoνας σοιει και παραπληγας, άτε δη των προγόνων το αίμα εμπιπλαμένες. Βibere autem ceperunt a Pfammeticho, cum neque bibisent ante, neque diis libassent vinum, non id gratum diis rati, sed sanguinem eorum qui aliquando bellum diis intulisent : ex quorum cadaveribus terræ permixtis putant vites effe ortas. Itaque etiam ebrietas infanos facit et abalienat mente, impletis hominibus sanguine suorum majorum. Ibid., p. 353. To this fable (as a friend of mine thinks) Androcydes in his letter to Alexander may allude: Pliny XIV, 5.

Androcydes sapientia clarus ad Alexandrum Magnum scripsit, intemperantiam ejus cohibens : Vinum poturus, rex, memento te bibere fanguinem terræ. Where Harduin has a' note that seems little to the purpose. I add here a passage, which I met with in the Chevræana, vol. I. p. 284. where Chevreau says of the Manichæans, Ils rejettoieni le Vieux Testament, La Loy de Moyse, comme

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