was vowed to celibacy and required to devote himself entirely to divine things. The festival was observed every five years and continued nine days. On the last day, the candidates for initiation, having gone through a probation of fasting, purification, sacrifices, and prayers, were admitted for the first time to the mysteries. What these were is unknown, but some of the external circumstances are recorded. At eventide the

priest led them to a vast edifice called the Mystical Temple. At the entrance they washed their hands in consecrated water, being admonished to present themselves with pure minds, without which external cleanness would be of no avail. With a loud voice the priest warned all the profane to retire, and the worshipers remained alone. Thunders rolled around them, lightning flashed across the thick darkness, and revealed startling apparitions as it passed. At last the inner doors were opened. The interior of the temple burst upon them in a blaze of light, and strains of ravishing music floated through the air. The statue of Ceres stood in the midst, splendidly adorned. On her head were the horns of the lunar crescent, and her robe was covered with shining stars. In one hand she held a basket of grain, in the other the Egyptian musical instrument called a sistrum. One foot rested on the ocean, the other rested on the earth. At the foot of this statue the priests crowned the novitiates with garlands of sacred myrtle. Then followed a series of stately pageants, which, it is supposed, were intended to represent the creation of the world, the progress of society out of barbarism, the passage of the soul through death, frightful pictures of tortures in Tartarus, and enchanting visions of the Elysian Fields. Whatever might have been the purport of these things, the writings of the ancients indicate that they made a profound and solemn impression on those who witnessed them. The garments worn at initiation were deemed very sacred. They were never laid aside till much worn, and then they were preserved as swaddling clothes for their chil dren, or consecrated to Ceres. The unity of God, the immortal progress and destiny of the soul, and other secret doctrines, were taught in the sanctuary to an initiated few; but else. where they were veiled in symbols. Nearly all the religious

hymns and odes used on this and similar occasions are entirely lost. The sublimity of their character may be inferred from the following prose translation of a hymn to Jupiter, written by Cleanthes, a stoic philosopher, who died 240 B. C.:

"Hail, Great King and Father of the gods! Thou who hast many names but who art one, sole, omnipotent virtue, Jupiter, author of nature, who governs all things by thy wisdom! allow mortals to call upon thee, for all things that exist are thy offspring, images of thy being, echoes of thy eternal voice. I will sing to thee, and exalt thy power without end. The whole universe moves by thy influence. The infinite variety of souls that inhabit earth, sea, and the ethereal spheres are subject to thy wise control. The lightnings are thy ministers. They flash from thy powerful hand, and all nature trembles. Thus thunder-armed thou guidest creation by an unerring law, and through the present admixture of evil thou guidest all to good. Thou curbest all excesses, and wilt oause all confusion to result in universal.and eternal order. Unhappy are mortals ignorant of thy law, which, if they obeyed it, would lead them into a virtuous and happy life. In blind frenzy they stray from the chief good, tempted by thirst of glory, or shameless avarice, or voluptuous pleas ures. But, O Great Jupiter, giver of all good, who dwellest with lightnings in the clouds of heaven, save mankind from these dreadful errors! Remove all shadows from our minds, and enable us to understand thy pure and righteous laws. Thus honored with a knowledge of thee, we shall be fitted to return the gift in praises of thy mighty works; and neither mortal nor immortal beings can be more blest than in singing thy immutable, universal law with everlasting hymns.'

"In the early rude times of Greece they had neither statues aor temples, but only upright stones or wooden blocks, with the name of some deity inscribed thereon. To these were added simple altars of turf or stone, over which small chapels were first erected, and afterward temples. Mountains, groves, and grottoes were all favorite places of worship. In a dark, rocky ravine, overshadowed by gloomy groves and frowning crags, was a deep subterranean recess called the Cave of Tro

phonias. Oracles were uttered there, whence worshipers always returned very pale and dejected, doubtless owing to the chemical properties [carbonic acid gas] of the atmosphere. On the southern slope of Mount Hymettus is a grotto hung with stalactites. Engraved on a rock at the entrance is an inscription in verse, announcing that Archedemus, a native of Thessaly, formed this cave by counsel of the Nymphs. In the interior his figure may still be seen rudely sculptured on the rock in his shepherd's frock, with a hammer and chisel in his hand. Various inscriptions are scattered about, one of which speaks of a garden planted there in honor of the Nymphs. In ancient times, when the poetic faith of Greece was living in the souls of men, this place was filled with images of sylvan deities, and the walls covered with votive offerings, shepherds' pipes and reeds, basins of stone, and wooden cups carved with animals and flowers. Here peasants brought oblations of first flowers, grapes, and sheaves of grain. This is supposed to be the grotto where Plato, when a young child, was led by his parents with offerings to Pan, the Nymphs, and the Pastoral Apollo, to whom the place was consecrated. While they sacrificed, the boy slept on the grass, and bees left honey on his mouth, which was considered a presage of his future eloquence.

"It was a common opinion that some of the gods peculiarly delighted in mountains, others in forests, valleys, fields, or rivers; and it was customary to build temples in places supposed to be most agreeable to the deities who were to inhabit them. The people considered them a blessing wherever they stood; and thought they owed health and abundant harvests to their protecting influence. In cities they built temples. near common houses, but elsewhere they sought for the loveliest and most secluded places, and generally surrounded them with stately groves. The ground was previously consecrated with many prayers and ceremonies, and sprinkled with holy water. Temples always faced the east to receive the rays of the rising sun. They contained an outer court for the public, and an inner secret way for the priests, called the Adytum. Near the entrance was a large vessel of stone or brass filled with water, made holy by plunging into it a burning torch

from the altar. All who were admitted to the sacrifices were sprinkled with this water, and none but the unpolluted were allowed to pass beyond it. In the center of the building stood the statue of the god on a pedestal raised above the altar, and inclosed by a railing. On festival occasions the people brought laurel, olive, or ivy to decorate the pillars and walls. Before they entered they always washed their hands as a type of purification from sin. Sometimes they crawled up the steps on their knees, and bowing their heads to the ground, kissed the threshold. Always when they passed one of these sacred places they kissed their right hand to it in token of veneration. All classes, including foreigners and slaves, were free to enter, either from curiosity or devotion; but it was ordained that no unclean action should be committed within the consecrated precincts. There was a law that no person should be forced away from the altars or stat ues, or be subject to any violence there; and it was believed that such an action would bring down certain vengeance from the gods. The princess Laodamia fled to Diana's altar for protection, during a sedition of the people, and was killed in the tumult. A terrible famine and civil wars followed, which were all attributed to this circumstance. The institution was intended to protect abused slaves and persecuted debtors; but in process of time all sorts of knaves and criminals took refuge in the temples, and no authority could expel them. The vil finally became so great that only one or two were allowed to be places of protection for offenders, and those under certain regulations.

"In Athens was a large edifice called the Pantheon, because it contained statues of all the gods. One on the same model, and with the same name, was afterward built at Rome. That city alone was said to contain a thousand temples. Every part of Greece abounded with monuments of religious reverence. Gracefully ornamented or severely simple in their grandeur, they crowned every city, gleamed through the foliage of every valley, and often on the summit of solitary hills refreshed the traveler with a vision of unexpected beauty."

"The earliest of the Grecian teachers of whom we have

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any record is Orpheus. The general testimony is that he was a native of Thrace, who, some twelve hundred years before Christ, founded a colony in Greece, and spent most of his life there. Being well acquainted with the religious tenets and ceremonies of his own country, he traveled into Egypt, where he obtained some knowledge of their religious mysteries, and became skilful in music, poetry, philosophy, astrology, and medicine. Thus accomplished, he returned to the Greeks, who were at that time in such a rude condition that any man of moderate attainments would have seemed a prodigy. Accordingly he became as famous among them as was Hermes among the Egyptians. It was said his music allured birds, tamed wild beasts, calmed whirlwinds, and drew rocks and stones after him. When his wife, Eurydice, died, he descended into Tartarus, charmed by his music the threeheaded dog that guarded its gates, melted the heart of grim Pluto, and obtained leave to have his beloved wife follow him back to earth, provided he did not look behind him till he arrived in upper air; but in his eagerness to see Eurydice, he looked too soon, and she disappeared forever. It has been suggested that this merely siguified his great skill in medicine, whereby he secured his wife from dangerous illness and afterward lost her by a relapse. He brought from Egypt the doctrine that stars were animated by spirits and the world hatched from a mundane egg by rays of the sun. He taught, there was one invisible God, who contained within himself the germ of all things, and was alternately active and passive. In his active state successive grades of being emanated from him by virtue of an inherent necessity. All partook of his divine nature in different degrees, and all would return to him after successive purifications. The universe would be destroyed by fire and renewed. He is said to have been the first who taught the Greeks that the soul lived after death, and would suffer or be rewarded according to deeds done in the body. It is recorded that he introduced a triform image of deity. It was a serpent, with the head of a lion, the head of a bull, and in the center, the head of a majestic man with golden wings upon its shoulders."