Worship of the Serpent: Chapter V. Heathen Fables Illustrative of the Fall of Man

HEATHEN FABLES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE FALL OF MAN.

HAVING shown that THE SERPENT, as an emblem of divinity, as a charm, as an oracle, or as A GOD, entered into the worship of almost every considerable nation of the ancient world, I proceed to consider what traditionary evidence to the seduction of our first parents, by the serpent, is afforded in the remains of their respective mythologies.

In the progress of corrupt religion, whatever was originally a pure patriarchal tradition became gradually less pure, not only by the addition of circumstances entirely fabulous, but also by the admixture of other patriarchal traditions, so blended together, that every fable into which they entered became still more obscure and marvellous. The inquirer into truth is, therefore, frequently encumbered with the antecedent

res ipsas gestas finxerunt poetæ, sed rebus gestis addiderunt quendam colorem," is the shrewd observation of Lactantius 1; and the more we read, the more convinced are we of its correctness.

One of the most remarkable of these compound heathen fables is that of TYPHON. And this has been made subservient to several explanations, more or less satisfactory as the writer has approached, or receded from, the only test of truth--the Scriptures.

Bryant and Faber have determined that the

I. TYPHON.

An Egyptian fable; chiefly preserved by Plutarch, in his dissertation on Isis and Osiris; noticed also by Hyginus, fab. 152, and by Apollodorus, lib. i. c. 6.

The fable of Typhon may have been embellished by the traditions of the deluge; but for its origin we must look higher. All tradition cannot be supposed to have centered in the deluge; for it is not probable that the sons and daughters of Noah, who survived the flood, would have been silent about the stupendous events which preceded it.

The creation of the world and of man; his happiness in paradise, and his expulsion from

1,"--would form natural and interesting subjects for the paternal instruction of these elders to their children. Is it surprising, then, that their children should preserve as sacred those oral traditions, from the recital of which they had received both instruction and amusement; and the remembrance of which, probably, formed part of their religious service of praise and thanksgiving? Is it not rather probable that they would themselves transmit them to their children's children? And if, in the lapse of ages, a poetic imagination, or a desire to excite astonishment, should envelope these truths in the robe of fiction, can we wonder at the circumstance? We have much more reason for wonder that so little fiction, rather than so much, has obscured the truth.

There are some circumstances interwoven with the attributes of Typhon, which would lead us to conjecture, that the first interference of this monster, in mundane affairs, was his

1." The history of this dæmon will be found to be parallel with that of Satan in Scripture.

Hyginus informs us, that Typhon was the son of Tartarus (Hell) and the Earth: that he made war against Jupiter for dominion, and, being struck by lightning, was thrown flaming to the earth, where Mount Ætna was placed upon him. Tartarus ex Terrâ procreavit Typhonem, immani inagnitudine, specieque portentosa, cui centum capita draconum ex humeris errata erant. Hic Jovem provocavit, si vellet secum de regno certare. Jovis fulmine ardenti pectus ejus percussit. Cui cum flagraret, montem Ætnam, qui est in Siciliâ, super eum imposuit: qui ex eo adhuc ardere dicitur.--Hyginus, fab. 152.

Pindar tells us, that "Typhon, the hundred-headed

1."

The war in heaven, for dominion, is evidently a version of the patriarchal tradition recorded by St. Jude, of which a vision was subsequently revealed to St. John. "There was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought, and his angels, and prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him 2."

Under the same character, of a rebel against the gods, Typhon is celebrated in Grecian mythology by the name of Typhoeus 3 and in the Syrian by the name of Ophioneus. The latter is the same as the serpent-god Ophion or Obion, whose worship we have traced in the preceding pages.

This remarkable tradition, of "a war in heaven," is preserved also in the mythologies of the Persians, Hindûs, and Celts.

1:" and our Lord informs us, that the devil "was a murderer from the beginning 2." This, of course, alludes more particularly to the spiritual murder of Adam; but his loss of immortality, in consequence of following the suggestions of the devil, might very naturally form the foundation of a fable, in which things spiritual would be accommodated to things temporal, in accordance with the genius and practice of mythology. All that we can therefore reasonably expect, in tracing an agreement between history and fable, is a common cause assigned by each to a fact which each professes to record; and a few leading characteristics, relative to the transaction and the agents, common to both the historical and mythological tradition.

In the history, and in the fable, "Envy" was the cause of the spiritual or the carnal murder. The same being, who made "a war in heaven," and was cast down "from thence upon the earth," was the agent in each: and in either case he is represented in a dracontic form. The

1, "an hundred serpents' heads issued from his hands, and his legs 'terminated in two enormous snakes." Hyginus tells us, that "an hundred serpents' heads issued from his shoulders." The figure, therefore, was partly human, and partly dracontic; and in such we should have expected that the genius of mythology would clothe the serpent-tempter. For the tradition of the serpent, speaking with a human voice, would very naturally adorn the serpent of the fable with a human body 2.

The being, therefore, who deprived Adam and Osiris of life, was THE EVIL SPIRIT, and he was corporeally united with the serpent.

It should not be concealed, however, that Jablonski does not think that the Egyptian

1. It is a singular part of the fable, that Osiris, when restored to life, was restored in a mutilated condition; which may be an allusion, not obscure, to the imperfection of the redeemed man, compared with his perfection before the fall. The nature of the imperfection mentioned in the fable, may have been suggested by a corrupt tradition of the first consequences of the fall, as stated in Genesis iii. 7. Plutarch informs us, that when Orus was contending with Typhon, Thueris, the concubine of the latter, went over to the former, but was pursued by a serpent, which was, however, destroyed by the attendants of Orus. So that throughout the whole of this confused, but remarkable legend, THE SERPENT seems to be most singularly involved, as allied to TYPHON.

Putting all these facts together, I cannot but be persuaded that the original characters of the fable were historical persons, and that these were no other than ADAM and EVE, represented by OSIRIS and ISIS; the SERPENT-TEMPTER, by TYPHON; and the victorious ''WOMAN'S SEED," by ORUS. A conclusion

1; and Apollo, it is well known, was the destroyer of the serpent Python, which had persecuted his mother Latona. Whether with Gale, therefore, we derive ORUS from אור, (LIGHT); or with Jablonski, from the Coptic U-er, (THE CAUSE), the result will be the same; a correspondence with a title or an attribute of the "woman's seed," as "a Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world 2;" or as "the Word by whom all things were made, and without whom was not any thing made that was made 3."

Orus, after his victory over Typhon, is said to have reigned "happily," and was the last of the Egyptian dæmon kings 4; thus in every respect fulfilling the attributes of THE MESSIAH, who, having bruised the serpent's head, shall reign for ever and ever, when "all enemies are put under his feet."

Further, it is to be observed, that Plutarch calls Typhon "an enemy to Isis;" affirming that

1 What is this but a Pagan version of the Scripture truth, that "the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty 2;" and that "he who taketh the word out of the hearts of men, lest they should believe and be saved 3," is THE DEVIL?

Plutarch, with the vanity so conspicuous in Grecian writers of referring the origin of every thing to their native country, says, that Isis, as well as Typhon, is a word of Greek derivation, from ἴσημι--scio. The error is too preposterous to require a serious refutation--suffice it to say, that the Greek language, people, theology, and manners, were, for the most part, derived from Egyptian colonies. The derivation of Isis, approved by Jablonski, is I-SI, abundantia permanans; from a notion that Isis was the personification of nature. This idea is suggested by the following inscription, copied by Plutarch

I am all that hath been, and is, and shall be; and my veil no mortal hath ever removed."

But we may observe, that the Isis of Egypt is to be recognised in the ISI of Hindûstan 1: the name of her consort is ISA. May not these two names have been originally derived from איש and; אשה, the names of Adam and Eve in the second chapter of Genesis? The transposition of the words does not militate against the hypothesis--such permutations being allowed to mythology. These words are derived from the root ישה, signifying abstract existence 2--an idea which is not repugnant to that of I-si, abundantia permanans. The transition of ideas from "the mother of the human race," to the mother of the terrestrial globe--from the "abundantia permanans" of the habitable world, to the "abundantia permanans" of the universe, is in accordance with the genius of mythology.

When we are informed, therefore, by Faber 3, and other learned men, that Osiris and Isis are the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE, under the mystical character of husband and wife--"The

Osiris and Isis were originally Adam and Eve. On the contrary, we may conjecture that the intimate union of Adam and Eve, and the mysterious creation of the latter from the former, might have suggested the notion of the father and mother of the universe in mystical union and separation. It is but the substitution of the father and mother of all things for the father and mother of all men.

One of the epithets by which Isis was known in Egypt was Muth, which Plutarch (rightly, according to Jablonski,) interprets "Mother." The word Muth, מות, in Hebrew, signifies death; and the coincidence is not a little remarkable, when we remember that it was EVE who introduced "death" into the world.

The Phœnicians taught that MUTH was a

1." DEATH, the offspring of THE SERPENT, is thus an epithet to designate the woman "by whom came death!" Can there be a closer affinity between truth and fable, or a more illustrative commentary of mythology upon Scripture? It is true, that for this illustration we have had recourse to Phœnician and Egyptian fable; but it should be remembered that Thoth, the author of Egyptian learning, was likewise the founder of Phœnician theology.

"Muth," signifying in the Egyptian language "Mother," is probably the parent of our English word expressing the same idea: and if ever there was a period in the primitive language 2, in which the word Muth signified both mother and death, how elegant is the combination, and how expressive its simplicity! "Mother" is a sound which brings with it the remembrance of affectionate solicitude from the

II. PYTHON.

A Grecian fable--noticed by Hyginus, Fab. 140, Ovid, Strabo, Pausanias, and Lucan.

"Python, Terræ filius, Draco ingens. Hic ante Apollinem, ex oraculo in monte Parnasso responsa dare solitus erat. Huic ex Latonæ partu interitus erat fato futurus. . . . . . . Python ubi sensit Latonam ex Jove gravidam esse, persequi cœpit ut eam interficeret. . . . . . Latona oleam tenens parit Apollinem et Dianam. . . . . . Apollo Pythonem sagittis interfecit." Hyginus, Fab. 140.

In this fable we recognise some remarkable features corresponding with the Fall and Redemption of mankind: the persecution of the woman by the serpent; his predicted destruction by "the woman's seed;" the olive branch of peace held in the hand of the mother who gave birth to "the Prince of Peace;" and, what is not the least significant portion of the legend, the heavenly extraction of the promised Avenger, uniting the divine nature of the Father with the human nature of the mother.

In the history of Python, his antiquity is to

1. This was an origin naturally enough attributed to him by the poets; for in heathen mythology the deluge was supposed to have been caused by the evil spirit, of whose dracontic form the legend of Python preserved the memorial. "Plutarch supposed that the serpent Python typified destruction; Adamantius conceived that he represented a race of demons to whom dragons and serpents perform the part of ministering attendants. Pierius teaches us, that by the serpent the ancients symbolized destruction, misfortune, and terror; and Diodorus Siculus asserts, that a serpent twisted in spiral volumes was the hieroglyphic of evil 2. All these symbolizations of Python intimate his connexion with the evil spirit.

The whole story of Python and Apollo is surprisingly parallel with that of the serpent-tempter and his conqueror, CHRIST. "It was ordained," says Cleombrotus, (Plutarch de defectu Orac. cited by Gesner, p. 92,) "that he

Here is intimated, in terms not very obscure, the death of "the woman's seed," who should "bruise the serpent's head;" his perfect righteousness; and his second advent, as the Lord of the universal temple.

2. THE DRAGON OF THE HESPERIDES.--Hyginus, Fab. 30.--Apollodorus--Ovid Met. Hesiod, &c.

That the events in paradise must have left a deep and indelible impression of their reality upon the minds of mankind, is apparent from the number and mutual independence of the fables into which they enter. The dragon which kept the garden of the Hesperides forms another legend allusive to the paradisiacal serpent; but it relates more particularly to the victory of the Redeemer. The garden of the Hesperides, and its forbidden fruit, have long been considered as the mythological memorials of the

the offspring of Typhon 1, was slain by Hercules, the son of Jupiter and Alcmena; that is, by a hero uniting in his person the divine and human natures. Being a servant of Juno, the slain dragon was translated into a constellation of the northern hemisphere, where he appears, in astronomical mythology, between the greater and lesser bear. Hercules is depicted upon the sphere as pressing the dragon's head with his left foot--"Sinistro autem toto caput draconis opprimere conatur 2"--while the mouth of the dragon is represented in the act of "bruising his heel."

Another version of the fable is, that this dragon, in the war of the giants against the

1'."

It is obvious, that in these two versions of the legend, the two great events in the history of Satan--his destruction by the woman's seed, and his overthrow by the archangel--are described. A proof that this celestial dragon was a representation of the serpent Satan, may be seen in Job xxvi. 13, as illustrated by the Septuagint. Speaking of the omnipotence of God, the prophet says, "By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens: his hand hath formed THE CROOKED SERPENT:" which expression is thus most remarkably paraphrased by the Septuagint. "By his hand he has slain THE APOSTATE SERPENT 2."

There can be no doubt, therefore, but that the seventy-two translators of the Hebrew Scriptures identified the dragon of the fable with the evil spirit who "kept not his first estate."

That Hercules was a personification of the Messiah, has been shown by several writers: but I do not recollect to have seen it observed, that his history is most surprisingly interwoven

1: while, to denote his connexion with the mystic serpent, he bore upon his shield the Ophite hierogram of THE SERPENT AND CIRCLE 2.

All these coincidences can hardly have arisen from the unmeaning imagination of mythologists. The appearance of Satan in a dracontic form is clearly recognised in the fable of the dragon of the Hesperides; and his dialogue with the woman seems to be remembered in the traditionary property attributed to this dragon--ἐχρῆτο δὲ φωναῖς παντοίαις--so says Apollodorus 3:--"He used all hinds of voices;"--of which, in

1, who, discoursing of the primitive condition of mankind, informs us, that at that time "they lived naked, in a state of happiness, and had an abundance of fruits, which were produced without the labour of agriculture; and that men and beasts could then converse together. But these things," he says, we must pass over until there appear SOME ONE meet to interpret them to us." Here is evidently a fragment of an original tradition of Adam in Paradise, in a state of happy innocence; and not an obscure recollection of the conversation of Eve with the serpent. For the philosopher confesses that the tradition involves a mystery; and intimates that there must come some highly-gifted person into the world to elucidate it.

It is not then too much to assume, that in this relic of tradition are involved and confused--the state of man in paradise; his fall through the serpent; and his future and final redemption.

3. The conversation of Eve with the serpent,

an insight into futurity, by means of serpents. Melampus having preserved two snakes from destruction, was one day asleep beneath an oak, when the reptiles crept up and licked his ears. When he awoke from sleep, he found himself able to understand the chirping of birds; and discovered, moreover, that he was gifted with prophecy.

Helenus and Cassandra were asleep in the temple of Apollo 1, when they acquired the power of prophecy--"the passages of their senses being cleansed by the tongues of serpents." The same, says the scholiast on Euripid, Hecuba, that "serpents approaching and licking their ears, made them so sharp of hearing, that they alone, of all men, could understand the counsels of the gods, and became very excellent prophets 2." To these we may add the case of Plutus, mentioned by Aristophanes, p. 76. Two serpents licking the eyelids

1."

Those who ate serpents' flesh were also supposed to acquire the gift of understanding the languages of the brute creation--consult Philostratus de vitâ Apollonii, lib. iii. c. 3,--wherein he says, that the Paracæ, a people of India, are said to have "understood the thoughts and languages of animals, by eating the heart and liver of serpents." The same author (lib. i. c. 14) says the same thing of the Arabians.

4. The story of Ceres and Proserpine is evidently a corruption of the events in paradise. Proserpine is deceived by Jupiter in the form of a dragon, or great serpent; but the prurient imagination of the Greek mythologists gave a colour to the tale suited to their licentious superstition. Subsequently, Pluto, the god of hell, becomes enamoured of Proserpine, and carries her off with him to Tartarus. Her mother Ceres obtains permission to see her, and is carried thither in a car drawn by serpents. For "Jupiter," in the first instance, substitute "Pluto," and the story will be scarcely fabulous.

1. The transformation of heathen deities into serpents, for the purpose of deceiving women, is of constant occurrence in mythology, and alludes to the deception of Eve by A SPIRITUAL BEING, who assumed for that purpose the dracontic form.

5. Though mythology has preserved more memorials of the seduction of Eve than that of Adam; yet the fall of Adam is not without its witness in heathen fable. Such a witness is the story of the deception of SATURN by his wife OPS. Saturn was deceived by OPS, who gave

the woman and the serpent, such as could not have occurred but by corrupting the truth: and on that account we may consider it as one of the most valuable records of heathen mythology. The name of the wife and deceiver of Saturn is Rhea, or Ops--that is, OPH, the SERPENT-GOD of antiquity. The deception is therefore remembered, and the agents in the transaction; but true religion having withdrawn her discriminating light, the truth is discerned only "as through a glass, darkly:" and in the dimness, the serpent being

The ABADIR-stone was regarded as the symbol of the solar deity, whose most favourite emblem was THE SERPENT; and as such assumed a conical figure to represent a sun's ray. The historical facts are sufficiently confused to create an agree-able fable; and the fable retains sufficient marks of its origin to show that it is a corruption of historical facts.

III. AHRIMAN.

A Persian tradition, preserved in the Zendavesta, from which Faber derives the following account.

1. "After the world had been created in the course of five successive periods, man himself is said to have been formed during a sixth. The first of the human species was compounded of a man and a hull; and this mixed being was

1."

In this legend we have, in fact, but one fabulous circumstance--the compound character of the first man: all the rest is a correct picture of the Fall, and of its consequence--corruption through Satanic agency; until the waters of the

2. The "war in heaven" is also remembered in Persian mythology, and appears, as in the fables of all other Gentiles, in the celestial signs. "The Polar Dragon" they denominated, (according to Dr. Hyde,) AZACHA.--"The serpent who devours men and beasts 1" The contention of the Archangel with Satan is probably shadowed out in the hierogram of the two serpents, representing the good and evil genius contending for the mundane egg, the symbol of the universe. The constellation serpentarius, to which Ahriman was exalted under the name of Azacha, is described in the hand of a human figure called Ophiuchus, which is the same as the Ophioneus of Syrian mythology, the rebel against the gods.

IV. THE ARABIAN TRADITION.

Respecting the seduction of our first parents, by the serpent, the Arabians have a tradition to

1."

Hence probably was borrowed the rabbinical conceit, that "when Sammael (i.e. the devil) wished to deceive Eve, he entered Paradise riding upon a serpent, who was at that time shaped something like a camel 2."

V. CRISHNA.

A tradition of the Brahmins of Hindûstan.

The two sculptures of CRISHNA suffering, and CRISHNA triumphant, of which beautiful engravings are given by Maurice 3, are evident records of the fall and redemption of man. In the former, the god (a beautiful youthful figure,) is represented enfolded by an

1. He defeats also Kalli Naga, (the black or evil spirit with a thousand heads,) who, placing himself in the bed of the river Jumna, poisoned the stream, so that all the companions of Crishna, and his cattle, who tasted of it, perished. He overcame Kalli Naga without arms, and in the form of a child. The serpent twisted himself about the body of Crishna, but the god tore off his heads, one after the other, and trampled them under his feet. Before he had completely destroyed Kalli Naga, the wife and children of the monster (serpents also,) came and besought him to release their relative. Crishna took pity on them, and, releasing. Kalli Naga, said to him, Begone quickly into the abyss; this place is not proper for thee.

the water which had been infected by his poison became pure and wholesome 1.

At another period of his history we discover Crishna destroying the dæmon Sanchanaga, the serpent-king of Egypt, and his army of snakes 2. Crishna was vulnerable only in the sole of his foot 3. Similarly the hero Achilles was vulnerable only in the heel. The idea was probably borrowed from the tradition of "the woman's seed," whose "heel should be bruised" by the serpent Satan.

In corroboration of this inference we may adduce No. CLIV. of the Etruscan Vases, described in the Canino catalogue, in the Archæologia, vol. xxiii. p. 140. Here is represented the abduction of Thetis by Peleus. The goddess is defended by a serpent. The connection, to say the least, is curious, and may have arisen from some garbled tradition of the woman, the serpent,

Greek, and that the Apostles, being Jews, were not likely to talk of the Messiah by his Grecian appellation, in a country of Hindûs. It was much more likely that they would have preached JESUS, that word being one in their native language: and yet the word JESUS is not interwoven with Hindû mythology.

In the traditions of the wars of Crishna and Budh, the eagle of the former is represented as pursuing the serpent of the latter, to recover the books of science and religion with which he had fled 1. The same serpent is also said to have

Takshacs, Nagas, or Serpents, introduced letters into India 1."

VI. THE TEUTONIC FABLES.

In the Teutonic mythology the assumption of the serpentine form by the devil is poetically described by representing THE GREAT SERPENT as an emanation from the evil spirit LOKE.

In the rebellion of Loke against the universal father, the serpent being overcome was thrown down into the ocean, where he encompasses the whole earth with his folds.

The evil principle of the Scandinavians is called in the Edda--"THE CALUMNIATOR OF THE GODS; THE GRAND CONTRIVER OF DECEITS AND FRAUDS; THE REPROACH OF GODS AND MEN." "He is beautiful in figure, but his mind is evil,

1."

This intimate connexion, between the EVIL SPIRIT, THE SERPENT, and DEATH, immediately suggests the conclusion, that the whole legend is but the original patriarchal tradition fabulized.

"Thor was esteemed A MIDDLE DIVINITY--A MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. He is said to have bruised the head of the great serpent with his mace. It was further believed of him, that in his final engagement with the same serpent he would beat him to the earth and slay him; but that the victory would be obtained at the expense of his own life, for that he himself would be suffocated by the floods of poison

1."

The superstition of "the serpent in the sea" was known to the Chinese, as we observed in the chapter on the Serpent-worship of China. But it was, doubtless, at one time, a very general superstition among the heathen, for we find it mentioned by Isaiah, chap. xxvii. 1--"In that day the Lord, with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish Leviathan, the piercing serpent, even Leviathan that CROOKED SERPENT: and he shall slay THE DRAGON THAT IS IN THE SEA 2."

The prophet here represents, as I conceive, the triumph of the Messiah over Satan, who is pre-eminently THE SERPENT; and who, through

VII.

Hence the superstition in MEXICO and PERU, where the serpent was adored with the most revolting worship, and where even the memory of the fall of man by the instrumentality of the serpent was preserved.

Baron Humboldt, in his "Researches concerning the Antiquities of America," gives an engraving of a very interesting hieroglyphic painting of the Aztecks (the original possessors of Mexico) which is preserved in the Vatican; and which, if genuine, is decisive of the long disputed question, "whether or not the Mexicans retained any tradition of the fall of man."

In this painting is described a female in conversation with a serpent who is erect. This female, we are assured, is called, by the Mexicans, "woman of our flesh," and is considered as "THE MOTHER OF THE HUMAN RACE." She is always represented with a great serpent 1. The serpent represented in the company of 'the mother of men' is the GENIUS OF EVIL; and is also described as 'crushed,' and sometimes

1."

In two of the paintings, preserved by M. Aglio 2, is seen a figure destroying a great serpent by smiting him on the head with a sword. In one of these pictures the figure is human, in the other a GOD.

A similar, but still more expressive, painting occurs in plate 74 of the Borgian Collection 3 in which we distinguish a deity in human form contending with a dragon. The god is victorious, and in the act of thrusting a sword into the dragon's head, while, singular to relate, the dragon has bitten off his foot at the heel!

The serpent, or dragon, are also, frequently seen, either as symbolical of the months, or of the signs of the zodiac. In one corner of two of these paintings, in vol. ii. is a dragon swallowing a man. There are also representations of gods encircled in the folds of a serpent; and, indeed, so many, and so various are these dracontic emblems, that the most casual observer would discover, at a glance, that serpents and dragons were grand symbols of the Mexican gods, and

1." It is probable, therefore, that the Mexicans did the same. Besides, we are informed by Robertson 2, that Zummaragua, the first bishop of Mexico, destroyed every Mexican painting he could discover, because he regarded them as fuel to keep alive the superstitions of the people. It is not very probable, therefore, that any future Spanish priests would be permitted to deck out Christian doctrines in the garb of the ancient idolatry. Until proof can be adduced that such a practice prevailed, we are authorized to believe that the traditions of the old world were not forgotten in the new.

The spiritual destruction of the woman by the serpent in Paradise is the great truth preserved in the memorial of the sculpture; while her previous conversation with him is depicted in the painting. The "crushing" of the serpent by Teotl is the victory of "the woman's seed;" and the blood of HUMAN VICTIMS, shed before the dracontic and serpentine idols in the great temple, is commemorative of "THE BLOOD"

1 the serpent," and redeemed mankind.

The conversation of Eve with the serpent seems to have made more impression upon the memory of man than almost any other event in primeval history: as from the singularity of the circumstance we might expect. It is remembered in the mythologies of Egypt, Greece, Syria, Hindûstan, Northern Europe, and North and South America. And it is one of the very few rays of truth discoverable in the darkness of the NEW ZEALANDER'S mind; for "these people have a tradition, that THE SERPENT ONCE SPOKE WITH A HUMAN VOICE 2!"

Footnotes

312:1 De falsâ relig. lib. i. c. 2.

314:1 Gen. xlviii. 16.

315:1 De Iside et Osiride, p. 380.

316:1 Pythia, 1.

316:2 Rev. xii. 7, &c.

316:3 Hesiod. Theogon.

318:1 Wisd. ii. 24.

318:2 2 John viii. 44.

319:1 Lib. i. c. 6. s. 3.

319:2 Thus in a Mexican painting, in the Borgian Collection, there is a god with two heads: one human, and the other a serpent's.--Aglio. Mex. Ant. vol. iii.

321:1 Herodot. ii. 156.

322:1 Herodot. ii. 144. Plutarch, Diodorus, &c.

322:2 John i. 9.

322:3 John i.

322:4 Jablonski, Panth. Æg. l. ii. p. 204.

323:1 De Isid. et Osirid. in principio.

323:2 2 Cor. xi. 3.

323:3 Luke viii. 12.

324:1 Faber's Pagan Idol. i. 167.

324:2 Parkhurst.

324:3 Pag. Idol. i. 165.

326:1 Euseb. Præp. Evang. i. 38.

326:2 In the Coptic language, the words which express "mother," and "to die," approach very near each other.

330:1 Ovid, Met. i. 438.

330:2 Faber, Pag. Idol. i. 441, who cites Olaus Wormius de aureo cornu.

332:1 Hygin. Fab. 30.

332:2 Hygin. Poet. Astron. 122.

333:1 Hygin. Poet. Astron. 362.

333:2 "Δράκοντα ἀποστάτην."

334:1 Montfaucon, i. plate 64.

334:2 Stukeley, Abury, 69.

334:3 Lib. ii. s. 2.

335:1 Polit. fol. 272. Edit. Steph.

336:1 Homer, Iliad, H. Scholiast.

336:2 Bochart. Hieroz. lib. i. fol. 21.

337:1 Spanheim, 212.

338:1 Cerberus himself, the watch-dog of Tartarus, had a dragon's tail, and his skin was studded with serpents' heads *.

338:* Apollod.

341:1 Faber, Hor. Mos. i. 72.

342:1 Maurice, Hist. of Hind. i. 315,

343:1 Sale's Koran, ch. ii. note.

343:2 Maimonides, More Nevoch. 281.

343:3 Hist. Hind. vol. ii.

344:1 Maurice, Hist. Hind. ii. 272.

345:1 Maurice, Hist. Hind. ii. 276.

345:2 Ibid. ii. 89. 140.

345:3 Ibid. iii. 88.

346:1 Tod, Rajasthan i. 537.

347:1 Asiatic Transactions, vol. ii. p. 563.

348:1 Mallet, Northern Antiq. i. 100. Bishop Percy's translation.

349:1 Faber Pag. Idol. i. 442, citing the Edda; and Hor. Mos. i. 77.

349:2 The translation of Bishop Lowth is somewhat different; but the variation is immaterial.

"In that day shall Jehovah punish with his sword,
His well-tempered, and great, and strong sword,
Leviathan the rigid serpent,
And Leviathan the winding serpent:
And shall slay the monster that is in the sea."

The word here rendered "monster" is תנין, which may mean a whale, or a sea serpent. I follow the Septuagint.

351:1 Humboldt, Res. vol. i. p. 195.

352:1 Humboldt, Res. vol. i. p. 228.

352:2 Mex. Ant. vol. iii.

352:3 Mex. Ant. vol. iii.

354:1 Purchas, Pilgrims, pt. iv. p. 1478.

354:2 America, vol. iii. p. 5.

355:1 "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb."--Rev. xii. 11.

355:2 Faber, Pag. Idol. i. 274, citing Marsden in the Chr. Obs. Nov. 1810, p. 724.