ground for man's fake, tho' the imagination of man's beart is evil from his youth; because he will not hearken to the voice of reason, and with the greatest ardor and contention of mind, labour to attain a conformity to the divine nature in the moral perfections of it; which is the true dignity of man, and the utmost excellence of human fouls. Neither will I again fmite any more every living creature as I bave done. While the earth remaineth, feedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and fummer and winter, and day and night fall not cease.

Thus did God enter into a covenant with Noah, and his fons, and their feed; and as the late amazing occurrences muft incline the fpectators of the flood to piety and goodness; and the fathers of the poftdiluvian world were careful to inftruct their children in the several parts of the ftupendous fact, and from the whole inculcate the Being and Perfections of God, his univerfal dominion and actual providence and government over all things, his love of virtue and goodness and infinite deteftation of all fin; to which we may add, that the imitation of God is not a new principle introduced into religion by revelation, but has its foundation in the reason and nature of things; we may from hence conclude, that the rifing generation were perfons of confpicuous devotion, and followed

after

after the moral virtues, the holiness, justice and mercy which the light of nature difcovers. They were, I believe, most excellent mortals for fome time. They obeyed to be fure every dictate of reafon, and adored and praifed the invisible Deity; the Supreme immutable mind.

But this beautiful scene had an end, and man once more forgot his Maker and himself. He prostituted the honor of both, by robbing God of the obedience due to him, and by fubmitting himself a slave to the elements of the world. When he looked up to the heavens, and faw the glory of the fun and stars, instead of praifing the Lord of all, he foolishly faid, Thefe are thy Gods, O Man! A universal apoftacy from the primitive religion prevailed. They began with the heavenly bodies, or fydereal Gods, and proceeded to heroes, brutes, and images, till the world was overflowed with an inundation of idolatry, and fuperftition; even fuch superstition, as nourished under the notion of Religion, and pleafing the Gods, the most beftial impurities, the most inhuman and unnatural cruelties, and the most unmanly and contemptible follies. Moral virtue and goodness were totally extinguished. When men had loft the fenfe of the fupreme Being, the Creator, Governor, and Judge of the world, they not only ceased to be righteous and holy, but became

neceffarily

neceffarily vitious and corrupt in practice; for iniquity. flows from corrupt religion, as the waters from the fpring. The principles and ceremonies of the established idolatries gave additional strength to mens natural inclinations, to intemperance, luft, fraud, violence, and every kind of unrighteousness and debauchery. Long before the days of Mofes this was the general cafe. Idolatry had violated all the duties of true religion, and the most abominable practices by constitution were authorised. The Phalli (11) and the Mylli (12), rites that modefty forbids to explain, were efteemed principal parts of their Ritual; virgins before marriage were to facrifice their chastity to the honor of Venus; (13)

(11) Ex ea re tum privatim tum publicè, lignea virilia thyrfis alligata per eam folemnitatem geftabant, fuit enim Phallus vocatum, membrum virile. Schædius de diis. p. 130.

(12) Heraclides Syracufius libro de vetuftis & fancitis moribus fcribit apud Syracufios in perfectis thermophoriis, ex fefamo & melle fingi pudenda muliebria, quæ per ludos & fpectacula circumferebantur, & vocabantur Mylli. Athenæi. Deipnof. 1. 14. p. 647.

(13) This is taken notice of by the prophet Jeremiah.

"The women alfo with cords about them, fitting The ranges ❝ in the ways, burn bran for perfume; but if any of in the tem “them, drawn by fome that paffeth by, lie with her, ple, "the reproacheth her fellow, that she was not thought "as worthy as her felf, nor her cord broken. Baruch

6.43

Herodotus

men were offered upon the Altars for Sacrifices; and children were burnt alive to Moloch

Herodotus explanes this paffage of the Prophet. "Every woman at Babylon, fays the Hiftorian, was "obliged, once in her life, to fit down openly in the "temple of Venus, in order to proftitute her felf to "fome ftranger: They enter into the temple, and fit "down crowned with garlands, fome continually going "out, and others coming in: The galleries where they fit are built in a ftrait line, and open on every fide, "that all ftrangers may have a free paffage to chuse "fuch women as they like beft. Those women who "excel in beauty and shape are foon difmiffed; but the "deformed are fometimes neceffitated to wait three or "four years, before they can fatisfy the law. The "men declared their choice by throwing money into "the lap of the woman they moft admired, which'fhe "was by no means to refuse, but inftantly retire with "the man that accofted her, and fulfil the law.

Wo

men of rank (for none were dispensed with)_might "fit in covered chariots for the purpose, whilft their fervants waited at a diftance till they had done." Herodot. l. 1. c. 196. 198. and 199.

Strabo likewife gives us an account to the fame purpofe. 1. 16. p. 745.-And Justin gives this reafon for this cuftom,--left Venus alone fhould appear lascivious. Ne fola impudica videretur. 1. 18. c. 5.

As to the breaking of the woman's cord, Dr. Hyde fays, their lower garments were tied with fmall and weak cords made of rufhes, qui ad congrediendum erant frangendi.-Purchas pilgr. l. 1. c. 12. p. 65. confirms this notion; having feen the thing practifed in his travels in the east. But Grotius on Baruch fays, the meaning was, the women had cords given them, as a token that they were under the vow of proftitution, which when they had performed, the cord was properly faid to be broken; for every vow may be called vinculum, or a cord. As I take it, the cafe was both as

Hyde

loch and Adramalech. In a word, the most abominable immoralities univerfally prevailed; with the encouragements of religion, men were led into intemperance, uncleanness, murders, and many vices, inconsistent with the prosperity and peace of fociety, as well as with the happiness of private persons; and that fuch iniquities might have a perpetual fource, the most shameful Idolatries were preserved in opposition to the knowledge and

L 2

worship

Hyde and Grotius relate it. I was in company with a phyfician, who had spent many years of his life in the Eaft, and he affured me, he had seen both circumstances practised in the kingdom of Cranganor.

As to the woman's burning incense or bran for a perfume, it was the custom before coition, by way of charm and incentive. When a Babylonian and his wife had a mind to correfpond, they always firft lit up the fuming pan, imagining it improved the paffion. So in the Pharmaceutria of Theocritus. p. 33. we fee Simatha is ufing her Incantation, nunc furfures facrificabo, Tirupa the word made ufe of in Jeremiah's Epifle.And as if all this had not been luft enough in their religion, it was farther declared in their Ritual, that those were beft qualified for the facerdotal function, who were born of mothers who conceived them of their own fons.

In refpect of human facrifices, if you would have a full account of them, confult the following autors, and you will find that the Canaanites were far from being the only Pagans who were guilty of this unnatural bar barity-Selden de diis Syris. Segort. 1. c. 6. and all the autors he quotes. Grotius on Deut. 18. Ifaac Vof. de orig. Idol. 1. 2. c. 5. Dion. Voffius on Maimon de Idol. c. 6. Lud. Vives notes on St. Aug. de Civit. Dei. 1. 7. c. 19.Ouzelius & Elmenhorftias notes on Min. Felix. Spencer de Leg. Hebr. 1. 2. c. 13. And Fabricius, Bibliographia. c. 9.