CANTO VII. 2.

Well therefore did the antique world invent
That Juftice was a God of fovereign 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 case :
For, that Ofiris, whilft he lived here,
The jufteft man alive, and trueft did appear.

In Plutarch, De Ifid. p. 355. Ofiris is called μέγας βασιλεὺς εὐεργέτης. Magnus rex beneficus, Baσιλεύοντα δὲ Οσιριν Αιγυπτίας μὲν εὐθὺς ἀπόρε βία καὶ θηριώδες ἀπαλλάξαι, καρπός τε δείξαντα, καὶ νόμος θέμενον αὐτοῖς, καὶ θεὸς δείξαντα τιμῶν· ὅσερον δὲ γῆν πᾶσαν ἡμερέμενον ἐπελθεῖν. Jam Ofirin regno inito ftatim Egyptios inopi et belluina victus ratione folviffe, cum et fruges iis oftenderet, et leges poneret, et deorum cultum præciperet. Poftmodo univerfam obiviffe terram hominefque manfuetos redegife. P. 356. Ὁ γὰρ Όσιρις ἀγαθοποιίς. Eft enim Ofiris beneficus.

STANZ. IV.

Britomartis enters the temple of Ifis: There the received was in goodly wife Of many priefts, that duly did attend,

All

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

The Priefits of Ifs wore ἐπῆτα λινέην μένην, veftem tantummodo lineam, fays Herodot. II. 37. and hence are called Linigeri by many writers. Their heads were close shaved, though Spenfer gives them long locks.

IBID.

To fhew that Ifis does the moon portend;
Like as Ofiris fignifies the fun.

So Plutarch, De Ifid. p. 372.

STANZ. VI.

The image of Ifis was

-clothed all in garments made of line.

She is called Linigera by Ovid, and by others.

Britomartis fleeps in the temple of Ifis, and has vifions of what fhould befall her. It was not un-. ufual for those who confulted the Gods, to fleep in their temples; where, as we are informed, they ufed to have their fortunes told them.

Virgil,

Virgil, Æn. VII. 86.

Huc dona facerdos

Cum tulit, et cæfarum ovium fub no&te filenti
Pellibus incubuit ftratis, fomnofque 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 dormiunt ad accipienda refponfa: Unde eft, Ille incubat Jovi; id eft, dormit in Capitolio, ut refponfa poffit accipere.

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

Herodot. IV. 172.

Μαλέυονται δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν προγόνων φοιλέοντες τα σήματα· καὶ κατευξάμενοι, ἐπικοιμῶναι. τὸ δ ̓ ἂν ἴδῃ ἐν τῇ ὄψει ἐνύπνιον, Túly xelas. Divinant, ad majorum accedentes monumenta, et illis ubi preces peregerunt, indormiunt : ubi quodcumque per quietem infomnium viderunt, eo

utuntur.

Tertul. de Animâ. p. 365.

Nafamonas propria oracula apud parentum sepulchra manfitando captare, ut Heraclides fcribit, vel, Nymphodorus, vel Herodotus: Et Celtas apud virorum fortium bufta eâdem de caufâ abnoctare, ut Nicander affirmat."

IBID.

Her helmet fhe unlac'd,

And by the altar's fide her felf to flumber plac'd.
For other beds the priests there used none,
But on their mother Earth's dear lap did lie,
And bake their fides upon the cold hard ftone*.
So the Selli, in Homer, II. II. 233.

Ζεῦ ἄνα Δωδωναῖε, Πελασγικές τηλόθι ναίων, Δωδώνμς μεδέων δυχειμέρα· ἀνφὶ δὲ Σελλοί · Σοὶ ναίεσ ̓ ὑποφῆται ἀνιπλόποδες, χαμαιεῦναι. Jupiter rex Dodonae, Pelafgice, procul habitans, Dodona præfidens hiberno-frigore-infefta: circum autem Selli

Tui habitant interpretes pedibus-illoti, bumi cubantes. STANZ. X, XI.

Speaking of the priests of Ifis:

Therefore they mought not tafte 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 flain By thund'ring Jove in the Phlegrean plain : For which the Earth (as they the ftory tell) Wroth with the Gods, which to perpetual pain Had dann'd her fons, which 'gainft them did rebel, With inward grief and malice did against them fwell.

* Quære?“ And brake their fides, &c. Hor. Epod. XI, 34. Limina dura, quibus

Lumbes et infregi latus.

See alfo Hor. L. III. Od. x. 19. Ovid, Rem. Amor. L. II.

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

Concerning the temperance requifite in the Priests of Ifis, fee Plutarch, De Ifid. "Havlo de wivelv åπò Ψαμμητίχε, πρότερον δὲ ἐκ ἔπινον οἶνον, δὲ ἔσπενδον, ὡς φίλιον θεοῖς, ἀλλ' ὡς αἷμα τῶν πολεμησαν]ων πονὲ τοῖς θεοῖς, ἐξ ὧν οἴονται πεσόντων καὶ τῇ γῇ συμμιγέντων ἀμπέλες γενέθαι. διὸ καὶ τὸ μεθύειν ἔκφρονας ποιει καὶ παραπλῆγας, ἅτε δὴ τῶν προγόνων τε αἷμαις ἐμπιπλαμένος. Bibere autem ceperunt a Pfammeticho, cum neque bibiffent ante, neque diis libaffent vinum, non id gratum diis rati, fed fanguinem eorum qui aliquando bellum diis intuliffent: ex quorum cadaveribus terræ permixtis putant vites effe ortas. Itaque etiam ebrietas infanos facit et abalienat mente, impletis hominibus fanguine fuorum 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 fapientia clarus ad Alexandrum Magnum fcripfit, intemperantiam ejus cobibens: Vinum poturus, rex, memento te bibere fanguinem terræ. Where Harduin has a note that feems little to the purpose. I add here a paffage, which I met with in the Chevræana, vol. I. P. 2846 where Chevreau fays of the Manichæans, Ils rejettoient le Vieux Teftament, La Loy de Moyfe, comme l'ouvrage

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