[203]The reason of this will appear hereafter; while in the interim I must observe that this new appropriation of them to Christian purposes was what occasioned that error on the part of a writer some centuries after, whoopinedthat it wasSanctus Patriciuswho first presented one toSancto Kierano. I make no question of thepresent; but does presentation imply invention?
[204]Cambrensis tells rather a curious story about St. Finnan’s bell:—“There is,” says he, “in the district of Mactalewi, in Leinster, a certain bell which, unless it is adjured by its possessor every night in a particular form of exorcism shaped for the purpose, and tied with a cord (no matter how slight), it would be found in the morning at the church of St. Finnan, at Clunarech, in Meath, from whence it was brought; and,” adds he, “this sometimes happened.”
[205]A communication from Mr. Hall himself, just imparted, assures me that,as far as he could judge, the aperture wascoevalwith the instrument, and by no means accidental.
[206]“This word is generally supposed to be derived from Fars or Pars, a division of the empire of Iran, and applied by Europeans to the whole of that kingdom. It is certainly a word unknown, in the sense we use it, to the present natives of Iran, though some Arabic writers contend that Pars formerly meant the whole kingdom. In proof of this assertion, a passage of the Koran is quoted, in which one of Mohammed’s companions who came from a village near Isfahan is called Telman of Fars or Pars. We have also the authority of the Scripture for the name of this kingdom being Paras or Phars. The authors of the Universal History, on what authority I know not, state that the word Iran is not a general name of Persia, but of a part of the country.This is certainly erroneous: Iran has, from the most ancient times to the present day, been the term by which the Persians call their country; and it includes, in the sense they understand it, all the provinces to the east of the Tigris; Assyria Proper, Media, Parthia, Persia, and Hyrcania or Mazenderan” (Sir John Malcolm).
[207]These quotations from the professor’s book are not givenconsecutivelyas he wrote them, butbrought togetherfrom detached sections and chapters.
[208]Pars is the Persian, Fars the Arabic, pronunciation of the word.
[209]I should have observed, that Plato also, speaking of those modern Persians, says: “They were originally a nation of shepherds and herdsmen, occupying a rude country, such as naturally fosters a hardy race of people, capable of supporting both cold and watching, and when needful, of enduring the toils of war” (Plato,De Leg.iii. op. ii. p. 695).
[210]Επεκτεινεται δε τ’ οὔνομα της Αριανης μεχρι μερους τινος καὶ Περσων καὶ Μηδων και ετι των προσαρκτον Βακτριον και Σογδιανῶν. εισι γαρ τως και ὁμωγλωττοι παρα μικρομ (Strabo, p. 1094).
[211]All the other variations are thus similarly accounted for; being but offshoots of the same radix, such as I have already shown (p. 128) in reference to Ireland—while the careful reader will of himself see that the name of that lake in Persia, of which the Greeks and Romans conjointly manufactured Aria Palus, corresponds to our Lough Erne, and must doubtless have been so called in Persia also, forpalusis evidently but the translation of lough.
[212]Zendavesta, i. 14.
[213]“And what would hardly appear possible, as we cannot discover what purpose such a finished fable of idolatrous superstition would be meant to answer” (Sir John Malcolm’sHistory of Persia, vol. i. p. 191).
[214]Yet in Hindoostan, also, as we learn from Major Archer, “anastrologeris a constituted authority in all the villages, and nothing pertaining to life and its concerns is commenced without his sanction.”
[215]“Tout, dans le systême primitif de la religion des Grecs, atteste la transposition des traditions comme des principes; tout y est vague, sombre et confus” (De Sacy).
[216]“The Sabians themselves boasting the origin of their religion from Seth, and pretending to have been denominated from a son of his called Sabius, as also of having among them a book, which they called theBook of Seth” (Prideaux, part i. book iii.).
[217]This is only a corruption from the Irish wordErcol, the sun.
[218]Wisdom of Solomon, xiv. 16, 17.
[219]To this exactly corresponds, as well in import as in appropriation, the name of one of the hills upon which Rome was built, that isPalatinus, which—no doubt, to the amazement of etymological empirics—is nothing less than a compound ofBaalandtinne; that isBaal’s fire—the initialBandPbeing always commutable. AndAven-tinus, the epithet of another of the Seven Mounts, is derived fromAvan, a river; andtinne, fire, meaning the fire-hill, near the river. And as the former was devoted to thesun, so the latter was to themoon; in confirmation of which it got another name, namely,Re-monius, of which the component parts areRe, the moon, andmoin, an elevation.
ThePru-taneion, also amongst the Greeks, was what? Afire-hill. Startle not, it is a literal truth. But the dictionaries and lexicons say nothing about these matters? nay, offer otherexplanations? mystifications, Sir, if you please, whereby they implicate, as well themselves as their readers, in absurdities; which could not be expected to be otherwise uninstructed,as their authors necessarily were, in the elements of that language whence all those words have diverged.
Pru-taneion, then, is compounded ofBri, a mount, andtinne, fire; theB, as before observed, being commutable withP, particularly amongst the Greeks, who indifferently called Britain Βρετανικη and Πρετανικη (νησος being understood). Every community had, of old, one of thoseBritennes, orfire mounts, natural or artificial. The guardian of the sacred element therein was called,Bri-ses; and the dwelling assigned him, hard by,Astu. The number of those latter Cecrops reduced, in Attica from one hundred and sixty, to twelve. Of these, Theseus appointed theprincipal stationatCecropia, the name of which he changed, byway of eminence, toAstu; and hence this latter word, which originally but represented the abode of theSacerdos, came ultimately to signify acityat large; asPrutaneiondid a Common Council Hall.
[220]To this day, the most kindly wish, and ordinary salutation, of the Irish peasant, continues to beBal dhia duit, Bal dhia ort, that is the god Baal to you, or the god Baal upon you.
[221]The Irish mode of expressing it isSlan fuar tu sin, agus slan adfaga tu sin. The Caffres who reside all round the Cape, pay their adoration to the moon, by dancing to her honour when she changes, or when she is at the full. They prostrate themselves on the ground, then rise up again, and, gazing at her orb, with loud acclamations, make the following address:—“We, thy servants, salute thee. Give us store of milk and honey; increase our flocks and herds, and we will worship thee.”
[222]The word is moremysterious, as I shall explain elsewhere.
[223]Hannah More.
[224]Byron.
[225]“One superstition of the pagans never fails to assert its influence upon spots like this—thegeniusloci is always ascendant” (Deane).
[226]Ab-rochalso, the official title of Joseph, when appointed regent of Egypt, signifies father of theking.
[227]“The Himalaya are the peculiar abodes of the gods of the Hindoos; the rivers, issuing from the eternal snows, are goddesses, and are sacred in the eyes of all. Shrines, of the most holy and awful sanctity, are at the fountain-heads of the Ganges and Jumna; and on the summit of Kedar Nauth, Cali, that goddess of bloody rites, is supposed to have taken up her residence. One among the numerous proceedings of her votaries, is to scramble as high up the mountain as they can attain, taking with them agoatfor an offering: the animal is turned loose with aknifetied round his neck; the belief is, that the goddess will find the victim, and immolate it with her own hand” (Archer).
[228]This adjective I apply indiscriminately to Persia or to Ireland.
[229]It lies in the district ofIns-oin, which means theabodeofMagicians; corrupted now toInis-owen, which would import Eugene’sisland. An aggravated blunder—the place being in thevery centreof the country, with which such an imaginary chevalier was never associated.
[230]
“His tibiGrynæinemoris dicatur origo,Ne quis sit lucus, quâ se plus jactetApollo.”Virg.Ecl.6.
[231]“Granemdixere priores.”—Ovid.
Although those heaps are now but signals of accidental or violent death, for which each passenger bespeaks his sorrow byadding a small stone, yet we see that in their origin they were more religiously designed; and while thislatter practiceis observed also in India, it appears that they have retained there more correctly the primitive idea, as may be inferred from these words of Major Archer:—“On the right and left are several cairns of stones, erected by parties of travellers as they cross, inacknowledgment to the deities or presiding spirits for their protection.”
[232]Ogyg. seu Rer. Iber. Chron.part i. p. 16.
[233]One of the ancient names of Ireland isInis Algan, that is, theNoble Island.
[234]“The children gathered the wood, the fathers kindled the fire, and the women kneaded the dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven” (Jer. vii. 18).
[235]Lettres sur les Sciences, p. 202.
[236]Hist. du Calendrier, Pref. p. 14.
[237]“Obeliscum Deo soli, speciali munere, dedicatum fuisse” (Ammianus).
[238]“Chinenses et Indi, præter imagines in pagodis et delubris, prægrandes aliquando etiamintegras rupes, presertim si naturâ inpyramidalem formamvergebant, in idola formari solebant” (Hyde).
[239]Is it not pitiable, therefore, to hear Mr. Deane, in the last volume of theTransactions of the Society of Antiquaries, London, ascribe the erection of those obelisks which he met in Britanny, to the following text? namely, “Behold Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster” (1 Sam. xxvi. 7).
When Captain Pyke landed in the island of Elephanta, near Bombay, he found in the midst of a Gentoo temple a low altar, on which was placed a large polished stone, of acylindricalform, standing on its base, the toprounded, or convex: they called itMahody,—that the name of the inconceivable God was placed under it aloof from profanation.
Launder, in hisVoyage to India, p. 81, saw oneerectedin atankof water. Herodian tells us he saw a similar stone, round at the bottom, diminishing towards the top in a conical form, at Emessa, in Phœnicia, and that the name they gave it was Heliogabalus (Vallancey).
[240]I.e.theGood-Baal-Peor.
[241]Wilford, in like manner, after a more mature acquaintance with the system, says, “I beg leave here to retract what I said in a former essay on Egypt, concerning the followers of Buddha.”
[242]Observations on Drakontia, London, 1833.
[243]The Mexican hierogram is formed by the intersecting of two great serpents, which describe the circle with their bodies, and have each a human head in its mouth.
[244]Ovid.
[245]Gen. xi. 31.
[246]Seepages 503-506for the explication of the serpent and the rest of the allegory.
[247]The Betula, or Birch tree.
[248]Were additional proof required that this is the true solution of the Mosaicmyth, respecting the forbiddenapple, it is irresistibly offered to anyone who will see that relic of Eastern idolatry, presented by Lieutenant-Colonel Ogg to the Museum of the East India Company, London, which consists of a tabular frame of white marble, furnished with a fountain, and emblematically stored with religious devices; the most extraordinary of which is a representation of theLingamandYoniinconjunction, around the bottom of which, in symbolical suggestion, is coiled a serpent; while the top of another Lingam, placed underneath, is embossed towards the termination, which isconicalandsunny, with four heads, facing the cardinal points, andexactly corresponding with those which grace the preputial apexof the RoundTowerofDevenish. Those four heads represent the four gods of the Budhist theology, who have appeared in the present world, and already obtained the perfect state of Nirwana, viz. Charchasan, Gonagon, Gaspa, and Goutama. And the entire coincidence between this Lingam and the characteristics of our Round Towers is such as to convince the most obdurate sceptics, even had I not put the question beyond dispute before, that they wereuniformin design, andidenticalin purpose.
[249]Venus preferred acestus, or a talisman of her own sex, as we are told in the fourteenth book of theIliad, where it is said, that
“the Queen of LoveObeyed the sister and the wife of Jove,And from her fragrant breast the zone unbraced,With various skill and high embroidery graced.In this was every art, and every charm,To win the wisest, and the coldest warm:Fond love, the gentle vow, the gay desire,The kind deceit, the still reviving fire,Persuasive speech, and more persuasive sighs,Silence that spoke, and eloquence of eyes.”—Homer.
[250]The offerings made at the present day are precisely of the same kind. “Boiled rice, fruits, especially the cocoa-nut, flowers, natural, and artificial, and a variety of curious figures made of paper, gold leaf, and the cuttings of the cocoa-nut kernel, are the most common” (Symes).
[251]Gen. iv. 7.
[252]Methinks I hear some wiseacre start up here and say this cannot be, because man in anuncivilisedstate occupies more space than when restricted by social usages. Pray, sir, who told you that man was thenuncivilised? Then, in fact, it was that he may be called truly civilised, as more recent from the converse of his Creator.
[253]In fig. 1, plate 33, of Mr. Coleman’s book, “is a four-headed Linga of white marble, on a stand of the same, surrounded by Parvati, Durga, Ganes, and the Bull Nandi, in adoration. The size of the stand or tablet is about two feet square, and the whole is richly painted and gilt. On the crown of the Linga is a refulgent sun.” In fig. 2 of same “is a Panch Muckti, or five-headed Linga, of basalt, of which the fifth head rises above the other four, surmounted by the hooded snake. Each of the heads has also a snake wreathed around it, as well as around the Argha. The Bull Nandi is kneeling in adoration before the spout of the Yoni.”
[254]AndBacchus, in reality, was but another name for one of the variousBudhas. Even under the name ofDionysoswe find him, to this hour, amongst ourselves. “OnSliabh Grian, or theHillof theSun” says Tighe, “otherwise called Tory Hill, in the county Kilkenny, is a circular space, sixty-four yards in circumference, covered with stones. In this stands a very large one, and on the east side another, reared on three supporters, and containing an inscription, which in Roman letter would exhibit “Beli Dinose.”
[255]“There are in India (also) public women, calledwomen of the idol, and the origin of this custom is this: when a woman has made a vow for the purpose of having children, if she brings into the world a pretty daughter, she carries it to Bod,—so they call the idol which they adore, and leaves it with him” (Renaudot’sAnc. Rel.p. 109).
[256]“It is generally known, that the religion of Boudhou is the religion of the people ofCeylon, but no one is acquainted with its forms and precepts” (Joinville).
[257]Goldsmith.
[258]That is, “abovereason.”
[259]Gen. vi. 2.
[260]Ibid.iv. 26.
[261]Job xxxviii.
[262]“In the beginningGod created” (Gen. i. 1).
[263]Gen. vi. 4.
[264]Dr. Gill, veryinnocently, would account for it otherwise, viz. “eitherbecause they made their fearfallupon men,ormen through fear tofallbefore them, because of their height and strength—or rather because they fell and rushed on men with great violence, and oppressed them in a cruel and tyrannical manner”!!!
[265]Philosophers will ultimately repose in the belief that Asia has been the principal foundry of the human kind; andIranorPersiawill be considered as one of the cradles from which the species took their departure to people the various regions of the earth (Dr. Barton,Trans Phil. Soc. Philad.vi. p. 1).
“It follows that Iran or Persia (I contend for themeaning, not the name) was the central country which we sought” (Sir W. Jones,Asiatic Researches).
[266]An edifice of this kind, in which therelicsof Budha were kept, near Benares, is described by Wilford as aboutfifty feet high, of a cylindrical form, with its top shaped like a dome.
[267]
“TuathaHerentarcaintaisDos nicfead sith laitaith nua.”
That is,
Themagiciansof Ireland prophesiedThat new times of peace would come.
I would point your attention to this stanza, not only as confirmatory of the solution above given for the wordTuatha, but as furnishing another link in that great chain of analogy which I have traced between the names of Ireland and ancient Persia.Haran, in Mesopotamia, is but the prefixing of an aspirate toEran, the Pahlavi variation forIran, the original name for thatSacred Land.
[268]General Vallancey was equally ignorant as to the meaning of the additional wordsDe-danaan.
[269]The Lotos was the most sacred plant of the ancients, and typified thetwoprinciples of the earth’s fecundation combined—the germ standing for theLingam; the filaments and petals for theYoni.
[270]ThisPuzzais nothing more than our IrishPish: and, what is miraculouslycoincident, the title of the enthusiast who annually kills somebody in honour of her, under the name of the goddessManepa, at Tancput, isPhut, or Buth; that is, the Budh of the Irish!
[271]“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh” (Gen. xi. 24).
[272]“There is a sect of Hindus, by far the most numerous of any, who, attempting to reconcile the two systems, tell us, in their allegorical style, that Parvati and Mahadeva found theirconcurrenceessential to the perfection of their offspring, and that Vishnu, at the request of the goddess, effected a reconciliation between them; hence thenavelof Vishnu, by which they mean theos tincæ, is worshipped as one and the same with the sacredYoni.”
[273]She “made use of the same artifice the old woman, called Baubo, did to put Ceres in good humour, and showed him the prototype of theLotos. Mahadeva smiled and relented; but on the condition that they should instantly leave the country.”
[274]“But such is the confusion and uncertainty of the Hindu records, that one is really afraid of forming any opinion whatever” (Wilford).
[275]Sir John Malcolm, vol. i. p. 270.
[276]Thomson.
[277]“When history fails in accounting for foreign extraction of any people, or where it is manifestly mistaken, how can this extraction be more rationally inferred and determined, or that mistake rectified, than from the analogy of languages? And is not this at once sufficiently conclusive, if nothing else was left them?” (Eugene Aram).
[278]“The merchants of Magadha formed not only a particular class, but also a particular tribe. It seems that they were bold, enterprising, and, at the same time, cautious and circumspect; hence they are said to be merchants by the fathers’, and warriors by the mothers’ side, according to Mr. Colebrook’s account of the Hindu classes” (Asiat. Res.ix. p. 79).
[279]SeeA Dissertation on the Antiquity, Origin, and Design of the principal Pyramids of Egypt, etc. etc.
[280]Mersennus writes thus:—“I find that the cubit (upon which a learned Jewish writer, which I received by the favour of the illustrious Hugenius, Knight of the Order of St. Michael, supposes the dimensions of the temple were formed) answers to 23¼ of our inches; so that it wants ¾ of an inch of two of our feet, and contains two Roman feet and two digits, and a grain, which is ¼ of a digit.” The Paris foot, with which Mersennus compared this cubit, is equal to 168⁄1000of the English foot, according to Mr. Greaves; and consequently is to the Roman foot as 1068 to 967. In the same proportion, reciprocally, are 23¼ and 2568⁄100. That cubit, therefore, is equal to 2568⁄100unciæof the Roman foot, and consequently falls within the middle of the limits 2557⁄100and79⁄100, with which we have just circumscribed the sacred cubit: so that I suspect this cubit was taken from some authentic model, preserved in a secret manner from the knowledge of the Christians (Sir Isaac Newton).
[281]“And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold aholeinthe wall. Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall; and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door: and he said unto me, Go in and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in, and saw; and, behold, every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about” (Ezekiel).
[282]“Inter omnes eos, non constat à quibus factæ sint, justissimo casu obliteratis tantæ vanitatis authoribus” (Plin).
[283]
[284]Exod. ii. 3.
[285]The Septuagint translators, not perceiving any difference, rendered all, similarly, by the word κιβωτός!
[286]As does alsoTha,To,Ti,Tho,Thu, with their several commutables, derivatives, formatives, etc.
[287]And theValley of To-phith, in which human victims were sacrificed, thus discloses, in thesymbolic secret of its shape, that the propitiation of thisinstrumentwas the grand object of the sacrificers.
[288]Virgil.
[289]Gen. vi. 9.
[290]Gen. vi. 12.
[291]Rom. i. 20-24.
[292]Gen. vi. 8.
[293]The-bith.
[294]Gen. ix. 1.
[295]“This king is stated to have reclaimed his subjects from astateof themost savage barbarity. He was, we are told by our author, the son of Yussan-Ajum, while others call him the grandson of Noah;all agree in acknowledging him as the founder of a dynasty, which are known in history as that of the Paishdadian” (Sir John Malcolm).
[296]The Irish name for aboatisbaudh, which is only a formative ofpith.
[297]Gen. v. 29.
[298]If the reader will now turn to p. 223, will he not think it probable that thesymbolcontained on the broken-off portion of the stone, there represented, must have been the phallus?
[299]Who can forget the fable in Ovid,de jactibus lapidibus?
[300]“But as his descendants gave him his right as to the title of Deva, and decreed divine honours to be paid to him, we shall henceforth call him Deva-cala-Yavana; or, according to the vulgar mode of pronouncing this compound word, Deo-cal-Yun, which sounds exactly likeDeucalionin Greek” (Wilford).
[301]Fielding.
[302]Isa. viii. 7, 8.
[303]Gen. vii. 2.
[304]Gen. viii. 10, 11.
[305]The following is an abstract of the Hindoo version of this allegory, as copied from their Puranas:—“Satyavrata, having built theark, and the flood increasing, it was made fast to the peak of Nau-baudha, with a cable of a prodigious length. During the flood, Brahma, or thecreating power, wasasleepat the bottom of the abyss: thegenerative powers of nature, both male and female, were reduced to their simplest elements, theLingaand theYoni. The Yoni assumed the shape of the hull of aship, since typified by the Argha, whilst the Linga became themast. In this manner they were wafted over the deep, under the care and protection ofVishnu. When the waters had retired, thefemale powerof nature appeared immediately in the character ofCapoteswari, or thedove, and she was soon joined by her consort, in the shape ofCapoteswara.”
[306]See p. 63.
[307]Acts vii. 22.
[308]Thedateof those Uksi was not the only misconception this historian has committed. He was equally in the dark as to theplacewhence they came, and, for want of a better name, called them, at a venture, Arabians!
[309]See p. 64.
[310]Most of theoraclesin the ancient world were butpersonificationsof this influence—thegoddessinvariably being the sacred Yoni. And the priestesses so far prevailed upon the credulous worshippers as to make them believe thatsheactually spoke! The oracle ofDelphi, the most venerable in all Greece, obtained its name from thevery thing—the first syllableDe, signifyingdivineorsacred; and the secondphi,i.e.phith,yoni: the letterlhaving been inserted only for euphony. Even in theGreeklanguage this import is not yet lost.
[311]AsNoahwas himself named from thesymbolical boat, so was his eldest sonJapheth, from its sanctifiedprototype.Ja-Phithsignifiesconsecrated to Pith, or theYoni. And again,hisson’s name,Ja-van, meansconsecrated to woman.
[312]“In the city of Babylon there is a temple with brazen gates, consecrated to Jupiter Belus, being four square; and each side being two furlongs in length. In the midst of this holy place there is a solid tower, of the thickness and height of a furlong; upon which there is another tower placed, and upon that another; and so on, one upon another, insomuch that there are eight in all. On the outside of these there are steps or stairs placed, by which men go up from one tower to another. In the middle of these steps there are resting-places; and rooms were made for the purpose, that they who go to the top may have conveniences to sit down and rest themselves” (Herodotus).
“’Tis a tower exactly round, in form of a cone, or round pyramid; the diameter, or thickness at the base, being 81 feet; the circumference, or way round, 254½ feet; the height perpendicular likewise 81 feet, equal to the diameter; the height likewise, oblique, 90½ feet; and the angles of the sides equal to those of the former design: the whole likewise a mass of brick and bitumen work, amounting to 140,589 cubic feet, upon 5207 square” (Mark Gregory).
[313]Gen. xi. 4.
[314]Spenser’sFaërie Queene.
[315]Shilohis anIrishword, literally meaningseed, and additionally showing that it was in oursacredlanguage all those occurrences wereoriginally named.
[316]Both words equally signify thehappy countryor thesacred land.
[317]Gen. iii. 15.
[318]See chap. xvii. p. 229.
[319]Gen. iii. 15.
[320]Gen. xix. 31-34.
[321]Asiatic Researches.
[322]Job xix. 25.
[323]John viii. 56.
[324]Rev. xiii. 8.
[325]Appeal to Common Sense, p. 45.
[326]See chap. xvi. p. 224.
[327]De Morib. German.xxiv.
[328]Western Islands, vol. i. p. 184, etc.
[329]Highlands, vol. iii. p. 236.
[330]“I inquired,” says Mr. Martin, “of the inhabitants, what tradition they had concerning these stones; and they told me, it was a place appointed for worship in the time of heathenism; and that the chief Druid stood near the big stone in the centre, from whence he addressed himself to the people that surrounded him.”
[331]United at the feet in this manner. The jewel in the freemasons’ royal arch is thus formed. Noah was a freemason; and being the inventor of thatmysteriousandsacredly-religious ceremony, called theDeluge, we may be satisfied that all thesecretsof that body bear reference to my developments. I look upon their institution as mostsolemnandmajestically sublime.
[332]In the accounts transmitted to us of the variousBuddhas, no term occurs more commonly as descriptive of their innocence and their meekness than that oflamb.
[333]Gen. iii. 15.
[334]Luke iii. 39.
[335]See p. 132.
[336]Indian Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 361.
[337]See chap. xvi. p. 221.
[338]Matt. xxii. 29.
[339]Vol. i. p. 308, on the article “Fine Arts.”
[340]The initial subscribed to the article.
[341]See Appendix.
[342]Like the two former effigies, at pp. 138 and 140, it is made ofbronze, and found in Ireland after the Tuath-de-danaans. Those found after their brethren in the East are made of the same metal. “Sometimes,” says Archer, “theimagesare ofwoodorstone, but these, unless possessing the rarity of some monkish legend, are not in such repute as their brothers ofbrass.”
[343]This is the onlypeculiarmonogram of Jesus Christ—I. H. S. belonging originally to Budha, though appropriated afterwards tohim, Υ Η Σ was its proper form, and it comprehended a mysterious number, as follows:—
Another monogram of Budha was Φ Ρ Η. It composed the same numerical enigma, viz.—
Salvo vera Deum facies, vultusque paternæ,Octo et sexcentis numeris, cui litera trinaConformet sacrum nomen, cognomen et omen.Martianus Capella.
[344]Arch. Soc. Ant. Lond.vol. ii. p. 83.
[345]Asiatic Researches.
[346]“He has a separate apartment, shrouded from vulgar eyes by a black velvet curtain, richly embossed with gold, in a splendid palace at Ummerapoor: and his whole residence is as dazzling and sumptuous as gold and silver can make it. He is furnished with a silk bed, adorned with gold tapestry, hangings, and jewellery, and has his gold appurtenances. Foreign ministers are introduced to his sacred person, and he ranks before every member of the royal court except the king” (Symes).
[347]It was only as anepithetthat the titlesacredcould apply to Samothrace: and as such, every other locality, wherein those mysteries were commemorated, shared it in common. But inthis our island, to which Artemidorus above alludes, and where superior solemnity attended the celebration, the name ofsacredwas no adventitious clause, but,par excellence, theconstituent essenceof itsproper appellation(see pp. 128, 129).
[348]Μυστηρια δε δυο τελειται του ενιαυτου; Δημητοι Κορη; τα μικρα και τα μεγαλα· και εστι τα μικρα ωσπερ προκαθαρσις και πραγνέυσις των μεγαλων.
[349]Lib. x. p. 474.
[350]εις την Πολιτ. Πλατ. p. 380.
[351]See the article under her name in theClassical Dictionary, with all the authorities there adduced.
[352]Clem. Alex. Strom.ii.
[353]Mihi cum multa eximia divinaque videntur Athenæ tuæ peperisse—tum nihil melius illis mysteriis quibus agresti immanique vitâ exculti ad humanitatem mitigati sumus: initiaque, ut appellantur, ita revera principia vitæ cognovimus: neque solum cum lætitiâ vivendi rationem accepimus, sed etiam cum spe meliori moriendi (De Legibus, 1. i. c. 24).
[354]Pope.
[355]Luke xix. 20.
[356]“TheBulbul of Iranhas a passion for the rose, and when he sees any person pull a rose from the tree he laments and cries” (“Persian Poem,” quoted in Ouseley’sOriental Collections).
[357]Basnage, bk. iii. ch. xix. s. xix.
[358]That phenomenon in the heavens, called the “Southern Cross,” appears to me so associated with themysteryof redemption, in all ages, that I cannot forbear drawing attention to the sign. The following is Captain Basil Hall’s description of this curious constellation.
“Of all the antarctic constellations, the celebratedSouthern Crossis by far the most remarkable; and must in every age continue to arrest the attention of all voyagers and travellers who are fortunate enough to see it. I think it would strike the imagination even of a person who had never heard of the Christian religion; but of this it is difficult to judge, seeing how inextricably our own ideas are mingled up with associations linking this sacred symbol with almost every thought, word, and deed of our lives.
“The three great stars which form the Cross, one at the top, one at the left arm, and one, which is the chief star, called Alpha, at the foot, are so placed as to suggest the idea of a crucifix, even without the help of a small star, which completes the horizontal beam. When on the meridian, it stands nearly upright; and as it sets, we observe it lean over to the westward. I am not sure whether, upon the whole, this is not more striking than its gradually becoming more and more erect, as it rises from the east. In every position, however, it is beautiful to look at, and well calculated, with a little prompting from the fancy, to stir up our thoughts to solemn purposes.
“I know not how others are affected by such things, but for myself I can say with truth, that during the many nights I have watched the Southern Cross, I remember on two occasions, when the spectacle interested me exactly in the same way, nor any one upon which I did not discover the result to be somewhat different, and always more impressive than what I had looked for. This constellation, being about thirty degrees from the South Pole, is seen in its whole revolution, and accordingly, when off the Cape of Good Hope, I have observed it in every stage; from its triumphant erect position, between sixty and seventy degrees above the horizon, to that of complete immersion, with the top beneath, and almost touching the water. This position, by the way, always reminded me of the death of St. Peter, who is said to have deemed it too great an honour to be crucified with his head upwards. In short, I defy the stupidest mortal that ever lived, to watch these changes in the aspect of this splendid constellation, and not to be, in some degree, struck by them” (Fragments of Voyages).
[359]Isa. liii. 4, 5.
[360]Isa. liii. 3.
[361]Asiatic Researches.
[362]Matt. x. 26.
[363]This will explain a text in Scripture never before understood, namely, “Son of Man, when the land sinneth against Me by tresspassing grievously, then will I stretch out Mine hand upon it, and will breakthe staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and cut off man and beast from it” (Ezek. xiv. 13).Foghis another term equivalent to this.
[364]This will at once appear from Varro, who, in Nonus Marcellinus, is made to say, “We are barbarians, because that we crucify (in gabalum suffigimus) the innocent; are you not barbarians, when you acquit the guilty?” Compare also Selden,Syntagm.ii. c. 1.
[365]Mithra signat illic in frontibus milites suos (Tertullian,de Præscrip.cap. xi.).
[366]Ezek. ix. 4, 5, 6.
[367]John iii. 10. The omission of thiscrossfrom the text of our translation may afford some handle to the enemies of religion.
[368]Matt. vi. 27.
[369]CunniDiaboli.
[370]Therosarywas also anterior to Christianity.
[371]John i. 29.
[372]John i. 30.
[373]John i. 31.
[374]Isa. xlii. 9.
[375]Temora.
[376]“And thisstone, which I have set for apillar, shall beGod’s house” (Gen. xxviii. 22).
[377]It is fit I should advertise that Mr. Hamilton spoke of the individual merely as a figure, without professing to identify him in name or history either withThot,Budha, oranybody else.
[378]Introduction, p. xciii.
[379]Cowper.
[380]From the Brahma-vawartta, section of the Crishna-janma—c’hand’a.
[381]Much, mugh, mughsaine tra ainm sain delias do dheadh (Cormac’sGlossary).
[382]Thelocaleof thatboar, as well as themysteryof its meaning, which Plutarch transmitted in his allegoricalwarbetween Osiris and Typhon, is now no longer ambiguous (see p. 327).
[383]I have before explained that theserpent Pyth-onmeans theseductionof sensuality—Pithitself signifyingyoni, theboat, orserpent, the finalonbeing nothing but a Greek termination.
[384]Isa. liii. 7.
[385]“The gods,” said the Budhist priest to the Catholic bishop before alluded to, “who have appeared in the present world, and who have obtained the perfect state, niebau, ordeliverance from all the evils of life, are four, Chanchasam, Gonagom, Gaspa, and Godama” (Syme’sEmbassy to the Court of Ava).
[386]I shall give you mydefinitionfor this word by and by.
[387]1 Cor. xv. 51.
[388]It will be perceived, that I do not mean this to be an exactcopyof the Knockmoy Crucifixion—orvice versâ.—The general idea is, what I mean to substantiate, and the identity of design cannot well be gainsaid. This remark applies also to the kings about to be introduced by and by.
[389]“We saw,” says Colonel Symes, alluding to the imperfect shell of aBudhisttemple, in the Burman Empire, “several unfinished figures ofanimalsandmeningrotesque attitudes, which were designed as ornaments for different parts of the building” (Embassy to the Court of Ava).
[390]1 Cor. i. 12.
[391]Asiatic Researches.
[392]The name ofSulivanin Ireland, than which there is no one more common, is unquestionably but the perpetuation of the aboveSulivahana. And I can give a proof of the fact,independently of its derivation, which will scare ridicule into defiance. It is that a particular branch of that family called the O’Sulivans, of Tomies, have been ever looked upon with a feeling ofreverenceby the natives, almost approaching to veneration. I have in vain striven to ascertain from them the origin of this indefinable sense of sanctity. It was like magic upon their minds: they half-worshipped them, and knew not why. There were buttwo individualsof this stock remaining when I was a schoolboy, a few years ago, at Killarney.
[393]“That is,” says Keating, “the neighbouring country”!!! as if a country would call itself by such a name! Vallancey ridicules, but bungles himself still more. And while reminded by this circumstance, I had best note, that what this last-mentioned writer elsewhere translates as “thetopographicalnames of Ireland” (Ainim abberteach an n’ Eirean), should have been “theappellativenames of Ireland”: they are thetitlesof theislanditself, notdescriptionsof the severallocalitieswithin it.
[394]Gen. xlix. 10.
[395]Asiatic Researches.
[396]Asiatic Researches.
[397]Isa. xlii. 2, 3.
[398]Retiring into a still more solitary place,Gautamaand his disciples sustained triumphantly an argument with two of their bitterest enemies. But a severer trial exhibited his righteousness in a yet clearer light. Four young and beautiful sisters, burning with unholy love, presented themselves naked before him, and besought him to comply with their desires. “Who, O Gautame!” said they, in the rage of their disappointment, “who is the lying witness who dares attest that the virtues of all the former saints are concentrated in thee?” “Behold my witness,” said the sage, striking the ground with his hand, and at the moment Okintôngu, the tutelar genius of the earth, appeared, proclaiming, with a loud voice, “It is I who am the witness of the truth!” The young women then fell upon their faces and adored Gautama, saying, “Opureandperfect countenance, wisdom more precious than gold! majesty impenetrable! honour and adoration to thee,thou source of the faith of the three epochs of the world!” (Abridged fromKlaproth).
[399]Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal, October 12, 1833.
[400]This is the exact rendering of the name by which they called it: viz.nua vreith, orthe being born anewby the operation of grace.
[401]It is still practised in the East.—“For the purpose of regeneration it is directed to make an image of pure gold of thefemalepower ofnature, in the shape either of a woman or of a cow. In this statue the person to be regenerated is inclosed, and dragged out through the usual channel. As a statue of pure gold, and of proper dimensions, would be too expensive, it is sufficient to make an image of the sacredYoni, through which the person to be regenerated is to pass” (Wilford).
[402]See pp. 3-78 and 162.
[403]Be it remembered, that it was in consequence of his ignorance of the principle of regeneration that our Saviour addressed Nicodemus in these cutting words, viz. “Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?” thereby recognising the existence of the doctrine before His own manifestation to that people.
[404]“Enter ye in at thestrait gate: forwideis the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth todestruction, andmanythere be which gointhereat, becausestraitis thegate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth untolife, andfewthere be that find it” (Matt. vii. 13, 14).
[405]“The dome [of this, what he calls a cemetery] springs at various unequal heights, from eight to nine and ten feet on different sides, forming at first a coving of eight sides. At the height of fifteen or sixteen feet, the north and south sides of this coving run to a point like a gore, and the coving continues its spring with six sides; the east side coming to a point next, it is reduced to five sides, the west next; and the dome ends and closes with four sides; not tied with a key-stone, but capped with a flag-stone of three feet ten inches, by three feet five. The construction of this dome is not formed by key-stones, whose sides are the radii of a circle, or of an ellipsis converging to a centre. It is combined with great long flat stones, each of the upper stones projecting a little beyond the end of that immediately beneath it; the part projecting, and weight supported by it, bearing so small a proportion to the weight which presses down the part supported; the greater the general weight is which is laid upon such a cove, the firmer it is compacted in all its parts” (Pownall).
[406]“The eight sides of this polygon are thus formed: the aperture which forms the entrance, and the three niches, or tabernacles, make four sides, and the four imposts the other four” (Pownall).
[407]This word I have already derived, after the example of other writers, frompeutgeda, orhouse of idols, so misnamed by Europeans. I must state, however, that another explication is also assigned thereto, and that is, a perversion of the termbhaga-vati, orholy house. But with great respect to the gentlemen who incline to the latter opinion, I have to observe thatbhaga-vati, properly signifies thesacred Yoni; and, therefore, that however applicable to asubterraneous temple, orcave, it could by no means represent anerect building.