Gods, Goddeffes, Nymphs, &c. as Mofes had done with Men, Beafts, Fowls and Fishes. So that 'tis to me evident that the beginning of Hefiod's Theogony is no other than a Poetical Imitation of Mefes's Cofmogony, or Creation of the World.

THE Fable of Saturn, as before related, may The Fable of be interpreted (1.) In a Philofophical Senfe: For Saturn exby Saturn is meant Time; Saturn in Greek is plain'd. call'd Cronos, and Time Chronos; the difference is cal Senfe. The Philofopbibut one Letter. Saturn devour'd his Children, fo Time devours and confumes all things it has produced. Or elfe, the Years, Months and Days are the Children of Time, which he devours and again produces anew. Laftly, Saturn had his Scythe, fo has Time wherewith he mows down all things; and Saturn's Serpent biting his Tail is a proper Emblem of the endless Circulation of Years, Ages, and other Periods of Time.

Secondly, Saturn in an Hiftorical Senfe is Noah: The Hiftorical For 'tis faid in his Time there was but one Lan- Senfe; Saturn guage, which was common to Men and Beasts; is Noah. fo in Noah's Days the whole Earth spake but one Tongue. Saturn's Wife was Tellus, or Rhea, or Ops, all which fignify the Earth: And Noah, in the Original Hebrew, is faid to be a Man of the Earth, or an Husbandman. Saturn is faid to have found the Art of cultivating Vines and Fields, and by Scripture we find Noab the first Planter of Vineyards. Again, Noah was overcome with Wine, fo Saturn protected drunken Men. Noab curfed Ham for feeing his Nakednefs and not hiding it; fo Saturn made a Law to punish those who should look on the Gods naked. Noab and Saturn both foretold a Flood and the Building an Ark, &c. Saturn devour'd all his Son's but three; fo Noah left all the old World behind him, dead and devour'd as it were, whilft

The Golden,
Silver,
Brazen and

he with his three Sons escaped with Life; with many other parallel Cafes.

IN Saturn's Reign was the Golden Age, which the Poets magnify the Happiness of to that DeIron Ages gree, that they would perfuade us the Earth moralized. Spontaneously brought forth its Fruits without Man's Labour; that all things were common to all; that there were no Quarrels nor Contentions among any; but that all the Earth enjoy'd a perfect Scene of uninterrupted Eafe, Peace, Saturity, and Delight. The Moral of which is, that in the priftine State of the World, Men's Reason, Natures, and Manners were more perfect, and conformable to the Rules of Juftice and Equity; and according as this their original Moral Reftitude declined, and gradually became deprav'd and corrupted in fubfequent Ages, fo the Poets on that fcore made the Silver, the Brazen, and the Iron Age to fucceed in order; and thereby beautifully reprefented the fatal Gradation from primæval Virtue to modern Vice. 'Tis fuppofed this excellent Fiction took its Rife from Nebuchadnezzar's Dream.

The Hiftorical

Meaning of Jupiter, Pluto, and Neptune.

JUPITER, according to Hiftorians, was King of Crete; and having depofed his Father, afterwards divided the Kingdom by Lot with his two Brothers Neptune and Pluto; and because the Eaftern Part fell to Jupiter, the Western to Pluto, and the Maritime to Neptune, from thence they took Occafion to feign, that Jupiter was King and God of Heaven, the Sun firft rifing on his Dominions; that Pluto was the Sovereign of Hell, because the Sun going beneath his Territories, left the Earth in Gloomy Darkness; Neptune alfo muft needs be God of the Seas, whofe Jurifdiction lay bordering upon them. Again, in a PhilofophiThe Philofophi cal Senfe, Jupiter is taken for the Air and HeaMeaning ven, and therefore commands the Thunder, Lightning,

piter.

Lightning, &c. Some by Jupiter understand Fate, the Stoical Caufe of all Things. Others fay by Jupiter is meant the Soul of the World, or that Principle which actuates the World, and renders it prolific and productive of all Things.

Sun.

By Apollo is meant the Sun, as is evident, fince The Fable of he was the God of Prophesy and Divination, as the Apollo exSun by his luminous Beams difpels Darkness, and plain'd of the brings conceal'd and hidden Things to Light. Apollo prefided over the Art of Medicine; thus the Sun by its falutary and balmy Rays gives Natural Life to all Things, and caufes the Plants and Herbs to grow for the Purposes of Health and Medicine. Apollo's Darts are an apt Emblem of radiating Beams of Light, which the Sun as it were darts or shoots upon the Body of the Earth. Laftly, Apollo prefided over Mufic; and is not the Sun the true Caufe of the Harmony of the Spheres? And does not his Harp of feven Strings represent the seven planetary Orbs, wherein they dance about the Sun perpetually?

moraliz'd;

By Mercury is meant the Faculty of Eloquence, The Fable of or Ufe of Speech; his Name in Greek (Hermes,) Mercury being compofed of two Words, fignifying to Mercury Speak. Hence he is call'd the Nuncio of the means ÉloGods, becaufe by Speech we are able to com- quence. municate our Thoughts to others, and make our Words the Meffengers of our Minds. Mercury was allow'd Wings; fo our Words fly fwiftly through the Air: He held a Golden Wand, to fhew the Excellency of feasonable and friendly Admonition; he was the Interpreter of the Gods, as Words and Language are of our Minds to one another; he was the God of Merchandife, fince all Commerce is tranfacted by means of the fociable Faculty of Speech. He conducted the Souls of the Dead to the Shades below, either to Hell or the Elyfian Fields; which fhews how much a I 3 Man's

By Mars is

Bacchus is

Mofes.

The Moral of bis Fable.

Man's future State depends upon the Nature and
Tenor of our Speech and Difcourfe: Thus our
Lord fays, By thy Words thou shalt be justified,
and by thy Words thou fhalt be condemn'd. He
ftole Vulcan's Tools, Venus's Girdle, and at-
tempted Jupiter's Thunder; all which fhew the
thievifh Power of Eloquence, which steals from
us our very Senfes, and difarins us of our Rea-
fon in the Attacks of Love and Sophistry.

THE Fable of Mars holds forth the Nature of
War: His Countenance and Actions before re-
lated are all correfpondent thereto; and all fo
eafy to be interpreted and apply'd, that the Fable
itfelf is its own Mythologist.

BACCHUS is faid by fome to reprefent NimNimrod, or rod, by others Mofes; there being many Circumftances in which he may be thought to resemble both, too tedious here to enumerate. But as to the Moral Senfe, 'tis obvious Bacchus means Wine among the Poets. Thus Jupiter is faid to bear Bacchus in his Thigh, and thereby to go limping; which fhews how we reel to and fro, and stagger through the Influence of too much Wine. Bacchus is always a Boy, fo the oldest Men when drunk are as filly as Children. Bacchus is naked; and does not Wine divest Men of their Reafen, and make them lay open all the Secrets of their Minds and Bodies too? Bacchus has Horns; and how many does Wine occafion to be crown'd with thofe Enfigns of Cuckoldom? Bacchus was inflam'd with the Love of Venus and Ariadne; thus Wine is a never-failing Provocative to Venery and Debauchery; befides abundance of other parallel Cafes.

By Juno is By Juno, the Confort of Jove, is meant the meant the Air. Air: She was both Sifter and Wife to Jupiters fo the Air was produced at the fame Time as the Sky, and was clofely conjoin'd therewith.

And

by

1

by the Commixture of the Influences of the Heavens, and the Vapours of the Earth in the Air, they fuppofed all things almost were produced; according as the most numerous Iue of Gods and Goddeffes fprang from the Embraces of Jove and Juno.

74

don and Vi

- MINERVA is fuppofed by fome to perfo- Minerva is the nate Eve in the Mask of Fable; but be that as it Symbol of Wif will, 'tis certain fhe was the Symbol of Wisdom tu. and Chastity. For Minerva was born of Jupiter's Brain; thus true Wisdom is the Offspring of Heaven, and Chastity the moft heavenly and godlike Virtue. She was born armed; fo a wife Man's Soul is arm'd with Wisdom and Virtue, and is thereby render'd invincible. She was always a Virgin, as the wife and virtuous Perfon is often reprefented as cloathed with Virgin Innocence and Purity. Minerva has a fevere and stern Countenance, for nothing renders a Man more awful and truly great and noble, than Sagacity, Prudence, and a blooming Virtue. She was the Inventress of many noble and useful Arts; and truly most Arts and Sciences have owed their Original to Wildom and Learning. Minerva's Spindle and Diftaff teach an excellent Leffon of Industry to every virtuous and difcreet Woman. When

Tirefias faw Minerva naked, he lost his Sight indeed, but became a Prophet inftantly; fnewing that Wisdom and Virtue infinitely recompenfe all the Labour, Hardships and Damage we fuftain in acquiring them. The Owl was sacred to Minerva, to fhew that a wife Man can fee where others are stark blind. Minerva bore in her Shield the fhocking Head of Medufa, to intimate nothing is more formidable than the Weapons of Wisdom and Virtue even in martial Affairs.

THAT Venus is the Emblem of Love is well The Fable of known; the Manner of her Birth declares her to Venus morabe carnal Luft; her Companions fhew the wanton z d.

I 4

Difpofitions