the village, which is at some distance. A respite from fish, sea-weed fried in batter, and the like fare, was not unacceptable.

CHAP. XL.

OF THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES-OF ELEUSIS-OF THE MYSTIC TEMPLE AND THE MINISTERS OF THE SECRECY OBSERVED BY THE INITIATED-AN HYPOTHESIS CONCERNING THE DESIGN OF THE MYSTERIES-ACCOUNT OF THE CEREMONY OF INITIATION-THE FOUNDATION OF THE MYSTERIES.

66

66

CERES," says an Athenian orator, “ wandering in "quest of her daughter Proserpine, came into Attica, "where some good offices were done her, which it is "unlawful for those, who are not initiated, to hear. "In return she conferred two unparalleled benefits; "to wit, the knowledge of agriculture, by which the “human race is raised above the brute creation, and "the mysteries, from which the partakers derive "sweeter hopes than other men enjoy, both as to "the present life, and to eternity." It was the popular opinion, that the Eleusinian goddesses suggested prudent counsel to their votaries, and influenced their conduct; that these were respected in the infernal regions, and had precedence in the assemblies of the blessed; while the unhallowed were in utter darkness, wallowing in mire, or labouring to fill a leaky vessel. The Athenians were solicitous to secure these advantages to their children, by having them initiated as soon as was allowed. Diogenes the cynic was more sensible. He asserted it was ridiculous to imagine that Agesilaus and Epaminon

das were existing in filth, or that any person from the sole merit of initiation would obtain a place in the islands of the happy.

Ceres was supposed to be particularly partial to Eleusis and its vicinity. There were the memorials of her presence and of her bounty; the well named Callichorus, by which she had rested, in the reign of Erechtheus; the stone, on which she sate, named the Sorrowful; the Rharian plain, where barley was first sown; and the threshing-floor and altar of Triptolemus, a herdsman, whom she instructed in the culture of that grain, the use of which succeeded to acorns. There also the grand mysteries were celebrated. This exhibition enriched Eleusis, which had increased to a city. The Athenians reduced it to the rank of their demi, or towns, but still the reputation of the goddess was unsullied. Her mysteries continued to possess a preeminence in holiness, and to be accounted as much superior to all other religious festivals as the gods were to the heroes. Even the garments worn at the solemnity were supposed to partake of their efficacy, and to he endued with signal virtues. It was usual to retain them until they were perishing, and then to dedicate them in the temple, or to reserve them for the purpose of enwrapping newborn children.

The mystic temple, as it was called, provided by Pericles for the solemnity, created such awe by its sanctity as could be equalled only by the effect of its beauty and magnitude, which excited astonishment in every beholder. The profane, or uninitiated, were forbidden to enter it on any pretence. Two young Acarnanians happened inadvertently to mix with the crowd at the season of the mysteries,

and to go in; but the questions suggested by their ignorance presently betrayed them, and their intrusion was punished with death. The chief priest, hierophant, or mystagogue, was taken from the Eumolpidæ, a holy family flourishing at Athens, and descended from Eumolpus, a shepherd and favourite of Ceres. He was enjoined celibacy, and wore a stole, or long garment, his hair, and a wreath of myrtle. The grand requisites in his character were strength and melody of voice, solemnity of deportment, magnificence, and great decorum. Under him, besides many of inferior station, was the daduchus, or torch-bearer, who had likewise his hair, with a fillet; the priest, who officiated at the altar; and the hiero-ceryx, or sacred herald; all very important personages. The latter was of a family which claimed the god Mercury, and Aglauros, the daughter of Cecrops, for its ancestors.

The secrecy in which the mysteries were enveloped, served to enhance the idea of their consequence, and to increase the desire of participation. It was so particular, that no person was allowed even to name the hierophant by whom he had been initiated. Public abhorrence and detestation awaited the babbler, and the law directed he should die. Augustus Cæsar dismissed his council and all the assembly, when a cause respecting the privileges of the priests of Ceres came before his tribunal at Rome. Pausanias declares, he was forbidden by a dream to describe what was contained within the sacred wall; and adds, that as it was unlawful for the profane to be present, so it was for them even to hear the mysteries revealed. The violating this inveterate taciturnity, and the removing of the barrier,

was reserved to a later age, when uniformity in religion had ceased, and the civil power was weak, or divided by jarring parties; the various sectaries striving to procure or retain their proselytes, and mutually struggling for superiority. The dark transactions of that once impenetrable rite were then disclosed; and the information which has reached us, if it be not sufficient to gratify a minute curiosity, yet contains more than is well worth knowing.

It has been asserted, that the mysteries were designed to be a vehicle of sublime knowledge, and represented, in a kind of drama of the history of Ceres, “the rise and establishment of civil society, the doc"trine of a future state of rewards and punishments, "the error of polytheism, and the principle of unity, "which last article was their famous secret." But this weighty superstructure is not reared on the solid basis of antiquity. It is certain, that the story of Ceres, which was the groundwork of the mysteries, besides its absurdities, was both ludicrous and indecent. Let Orpheus and Baubo silence the advocate for their dignity and purity. But the author of this hypothesis perhaps intended his dissertation on the sixth book of the Æneis as a piece of solemn irony; and probably has laughed at its success.

The grand mysteries were quinquennial. When the season approached, the mystæ, or persons who had been initiated only in the lesser mysteries, repaired to Eleusis to be instructed in the ceremonial. The service for the opening of the temple, with morning sacrifice, was performed. The ritual was

r See a treatise of the learned Meursius entitled Eleusinia, p. 137. in the collection of Grævius, and his Atticæ Lectiones, p. 1786.

then produced from the sanctuary. It was enveloped in symbolical figures of animals, which suggested words compendiously, in letters with ligatures, implicated, the tops huddled together, or disposed circularly like a wheel; the whole utterly inexplicable to the profane. The case, which was called Petroma, consisted of two stones exactly fitted. The mysterious record was replaced after the reading, and closed up until a future festival. The solemnity began on the fifteenth of the month Boedromion, and ended on the twenty-third. The principal rite was nocturnal, and confined to the temple and its environs. The myste waited without, with impatience and apprehension. Lamentations and strange noises were heard. It thundered. Flashes of light and of fire rendered the deep succeeding darkness more terrible. They were beaten, and perceived not the hand. They beheld frightful apparitions, monsters, and phantoms of a canine form. They were filled with terror, became perplexed and unable to stir. The scene then suddenly changed to brilliant and agreeable. The propylæa, or vestibules of the temple, were opened, the curtains withdrawn, the hidden things displayed. They were introduced by the hierophant and daduchus, and the former shewed them the mysteries. The splendour of illumination, the glory of the temple and of the images, the singing and dancing which accompanied the exhibition, all contributed to soothe the mind after its late agitation, and to render the wondering devotee tranquil and self-satisfied. After this inspection, or, as it was called, the Autopsia, they retired, and others advanced. The succeeding days were employed in sacrifice, in pompous processions, and spectacles, at

CHANDLER, GREECE.