in the Sound of the first Syllable; and Vitium might be interpreted to imply a Fault in what they were about. And fo* Agnus and Anus were too much alike, and fignified Folly and Abfurdity, or might be fo unluckily interpreted, in their Sacrifices. But there is no End of fuch Superftitious Follies or Imaginations; nor is there any account to be given of their Effects, when Once they have taken poffeffion of a Mind tinctured with fuch Notions.

6. In their Sacrifices, They made use of what They called, Good Prayers, i. e. Solemn Prayers, wishing for, and asking all good things; and in order to obtain them, they gave to the Deity what they thought might make him Friendly and propitious. If the Sacrifice appeared to the Priest, or to him that offered it, or to him who understood and interpreted the Appearances, (according to their feveral Rites and Cuftoms,) not fuch as they ought to be, Then they added ftill fresh victims, till they

Anus dicta eft-quod jam fit fine fenfu, qui [1. quod] græce dicitur aus. Feftus.

hap

happened on fuch as were exact, as they ought to be; or elfe they defifted from their defigns, concluding that they should not fucceed, or be profperous in them.. Thus Juvenal,

Et aperta palluit Agna.

Sat. vi. 1. 392.

She dreaded for fear left the Entrails should indicate ill Success. If the Sacrificer brought a Second Victim, and in That all was found to be right, and no ill portended, then it was concluded that the God was propitious, and that he fhewed himself no longer difpleafed, but fully reconciled to him that brought the Sa crifice.

7. The Fratres Arvales, it is certain, were sometimes employed in luftrating people's Lands. But yet Countrymen themselves, who understood what was to be done, made thefe Prayers, and these Sacrifices without them. It was true of them, what Horace fpeaks on Another occafion,

Agricola

Agricola prifci, fortes, parvoque beati, Condita poft frumenta, levantes tempore fefto Corpora, et ipfum animum fpe finis dura fe

rentem,

Cum fociis operum et pueris, et conjuge fida, Tellurem porco, Sylvanum lacte piabant, Floribus et Vino genium.

Hor. I Ep. /. ii.

So here the direction is given by Cato to the Mafter of the Family; and he is made to deliver it to his Steward; and he is to take care that every thing is done punctually. See Tibullus, who has likewife elegantly defcribed the Ambervale Sacrificium.

Lastly, It is remarkable that the Sacrifices were, in general, of fuch Animals as were thought to be most agreeable to the God, or most likely to make or to keep Him propitious and kind. Bacchus was the God-Protector of Vines: Now becaufe a Goat by its Bite of the Vine did irretrievable mischief to it,

Non aliam ob caufam Baccho Caper omnibus Aris

Caditur,

Virg. Georg. l. ii. v. 380.

For

For this reafon That Animal was Sacrificed to him. The people were ready on his Altars to kill an Animal, that was pernicious to that Tree which that God had discovered to be fo useful to Mankind. They had other reasons, why they never would facrificeta Goat to Minerva, notwithstanding the Bite of a Goat was as deftructive to the Olive Tree, as it was to a Vine. It would have been an Affront to that Maiden Deity to have offered her fuch a Sacrifice.

To return now from this digreffion.

There were from the earliest times, even from the Flood, Burnt Offerings: and probably Peace Offerings were added to them. For as the Burnt Offerings were

*Sic factum ut Libero patri, Repertori Vitis, Hirci immolarentur, proinde ut Capite darent pœnas. Varrs de R. R.

Baccho,

Lancefque et liba feremus

Et ductus cornu ftabit facer hircus ad Aram.

Virg. Georg. 1. ii. 394:

+ Contra ut Minervæ caprini generis nihil immolarent propter Oleam, quod eam quam læferit fieri dicunt fteri. lem. Ejus enim Salivam effe fructui venenum. Varro. ibid.

totally

totally confumed, the party facrificing could not eat of them: They joined therefore to them, or had in use as early as Jacob's days at leaft, Sacrifices, of which they partook, and thus did eat with God. When we defcend a little lower, to the Times of Mofes, there were not only Burnt Offerings and Peace Offer ings, but there were added Two other Sorts of Sacrifices, viz. Sin Offerings and Trefpafs Offerings. And " befides "thefe Four, there was no other, either "Public, or Private." It is plain from hence that they ranked the Paffeover under the genus of Peace Offerings, however it might in fome circumftances differ from what was generally called fo. I fhall therefore now enquire into the nature of each of these Sacrifices. And,

*

Firft, The Paffeover feems to be the reverfe of the Burnt Offering, fince the

*Præter hæc quatuor nullum licet in noftra lege reperire Sacrificium, neque publicum neque privatum. Abarb. in Levit. Exordium. c. 2.

Maimonides fays the fame. aliud in tota lege occurrit

Præter hæc quatuor nullum Sacrificii genus, five in pri

vatum, five in publicum offeratur commodum. Præfat.

Mina. de Sacrificiis.

whole