leges on hills, called by them Caph: and these being facred to the Sun, they called Caph-El, Caph-Aur, and Caph-Arez. The term Caph-El, the Greeks uniformly changed to Kepaλn; and fo from Cahen-Caph-El, the facred rock of Orus, they formed Ķuroxipaños, which they fuppofed to relate to an animal with the head of a dog: whereas it was a feminary where novices were bred up to fupply their colleges and temples.

It is faid of the Cunocephali, that when one part was dead, the other remained alive. The meaning is, there was a conftant fucceffion in the Priesthood; when fome died others .fucceeded.

Herodotus tells you of Cunocephali, likewife Dog-headed men in Lybia; nay and of Anspaλo, men that had no heads at all! Both of these were in truth denominated from their place of refidence; yet one from Cahen-Caph-El; the other from Ac-Caph-El; both denoting the facred rock of the Sun.

By a fimilar blunder the Greeks often reprefented Apollo and Bacchus gaping. The miftake arofe hence: both there being the fame with Orus, were ftiled in Egypt, Cahen-On; , Rex, Sol, out of which the Greeks made the word xabar gaping. In fhort, the Cahen, of Egypt, were no more dogs, than the Patera of Amon, were bafons. Abundance of odd ftories that occur in the ancient writers may be explained hereby.

But whence came the fable of Cerberus, the dog of hell? Probably hence. Many of the ancient temples were fituated near vaft caverns. These temples were often called Kir-Abor, and the deity Chan-Ades, out of which the Greeks formed Κερβερον xvva ade, thus degrading Kun-Ades, or Apollo, the god of light, to the regions of darkness. 4

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Among the different branches of the Amonian family which spread themselves abroad, the fons of Chus were most confiderable. These spread far and wide into many countries. But in the hiftories of them, the Greeks have constantly changed Chufos into Chrufos, and Chus-Or, into Chuforus: and

in confequence, they introduce in their account of those places, fome legend about gold. Hence it is that they call his fubftitute Apollo, the god of the golden fword, or of the golden harp. Hence the river Pactolus, dedicated to him, was faid to have golden fands: although there never was, a grain of gold there yet.

[To be continued.]

An Extract from a Book entitled, FREE THOUGHTS on the BRUTE-CREATION: by John Hilldrop, D. D.

29.

[Continued from page 427.]

FTER all this appearance of abfurdity, it is more than probable that this great variety of immaterial fouls, both in nature and degree, for infects, fishes, birds, and beafts, ought to be regarded as a fingular article in the harmony and beauty of the creation, in the rifing fcale of immaterial beings, When we obferve fuch a wonderful gradation of beauty, form, perfection and proportion, in the feveral parts of matter, through the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, through all the species of foffils, plants, and animals, up to the human body, it must appear to a rational mind, to be a wide and unnatural chafm in the nature of things, if there were nothing between dead matter and the human foul. Let us not then embarrass ourselves with doubts and enquiries about the purposes of infinite Wisdom, in the creation of fuch a wonderful and beautiful variety of animals, through all the regions of Nature; but fatisfy ourselves, that as nothing less than infinite. Power could produce the leaft and moft contemptible into being, fo nothing lefs than infinite Wisdom has formed and directed them to answer the feveral purposes of their creation, and fill their different ranks in the scale of being; and

that

that the fame infinite Wisdom will not fail to difpofe of them hereafter in the most proper manner, to answer the original purposes of their creation.

30. Thus much we may pronounce, it is by no means inconfiftent with Reafon, that there may be feveral degrees and orders of immaterial beings, with different powers and faculties, according to their different ends: and that fuch of thefe as are capable of actuating bodies, may be disposed of in different bodies, according to their different capacities: and when the immaterial beings are separated from these bodies, no man can presume to say that it is impoffible for omnipotent Wisdom to continue them in being, and difpofe of them in such a state as he fhall fee fit. And if partial human Benevolence, if limited human Understanding, could conceive any poffible reason, or contrive any poffible means to continue their being, and their happiness in a state of separation, then it is neither an abfurd thought, nor impious hope, that the Almighty and moft merciful Creator, whofe compaffions are over all his works, may effect both; fince nothing lefs than both could at first move him to bring them into being, in fuch a flate as the harmony of Nature required, and infinite Wisdom faw fit for them.

31. And now, I appeal to every impartial Reader, what poffible ill consequence can be drawn from the supposition of their Immortality; or what poffible advantage to Religion can arife from denying it? The infidel will be pleased to hear of the poffibility of a material foul, and comfort himself with the hope that he with the rest of his reasoning fellow-animals may be of the fame make, have nothing in them fuperior to Matter, no Principle of Immortality, nothing capable of eternal Rewards and Punishments. On the other hand, if we could prove to his fatisfaction, that every kind of life through the univerfal Syftem, muft neceffarily be immortal, it would prove ftrongly upon him the neceflity of his own immortality, and quite deftroy the feeble, the terrible hope of annihi

lation,

lation, or utter extinction of his being. It would show him in a ftrong and amazing light, the abfolute impoffibility of evading the punishment of a wicked life, the unavoidable confequences of brutish and vicious habits, debafing the soul, degrading it from its proper rank, corrupting all its faculties, and rendering it uncapable of thofe divine communications which are the only real felicity of human fouls. [To be continued.]

An Anfwer to Mr. Madan's Treatife on Polygamy and Marriage: in a Series of Letters to the Rev. J. Welley: by J. Benson.

4.

I Do

[Continued from page 431.]

Do not mean to reft the weight of my arguments against Polygamy on the reprefentations above given of its confequences, though I believe them perfectly just. But they are a fufficient anfwer to the difplay which Mr. Madan gives of the advantages of his fcheme. There is a paffage of scripture which intimates the fame mischievous effects of Polygamy, and feems to ground a prohibition of this practice on one of those effects. The marginal reading of Lev. xviii. 18, is, Thou fhalt not take one wife to another, to vex her in her life-time. This tranflation is quite as proper as that which our translators have put into the text, Thou shalt not take a wife to her fifter —as the learned reader may fee by confulting the following paffages in the original, Gen. xxvi. 31. Exod. xxvi. g. Ezek. i. 9, and iii. 13, and Joel ii. 8. And the reafon of the prohibition holds equally good in both cafes, or rather it concludes more strongly in the former than in the latter; as it is probable two fifters would live together upon better terms than two entire ftrangers. This fenfe of the paffage feems to be confirmed by the Chaldee Paraphraft, who comments as follows on Ruth iv. 6. "It is out of my power to redeem it, VOL. VI. because

because I have a wife already, nor is it lawful for me to marry another, left ftrife fhould arife in my family, and my poffeffions be injured. Do thou therefore redeem it fince thou haft no wife. I am unable to redeem it."- -Selden's Uxor. Heb.

5. As to what Mr. Madan fays, that to render the paffage thus "would entirely difunite the eighteenth verfe from the preceding to which it belongs," it is a mere begging of the queftion, because he cannot fhew that this verfe belongs to the preceding, without first establishing the meaning of the original to be as it is rendered by our tranflators. For any thing that he can fhew to the contrary, the fubject refpecting the unlawfulness of marrying within certain degrees of confanguinity, may be quite finished at the 17th verfe, and the 18th may treat of another matter, as the marginal reading supposes, and as it is certain all the following verses do, to the end of the chapter. If it be objected, that it is hardly to be supposed fo express a prohibition of Polygamy, should be given in the books of Mofes, which in many places seem to allow it; I answer, Mofes as a faithful historian has not only recorded many things concerning the ancient Patriarchs which are worthy of praife, but alfo many that deferve blame, and Polygamy among the rest. And I will venture to affirm, there is not in the whole law of Mofes any one express allowance of it.

6. Yes (fays Mr. Madan) Deut. xxi. 15, &c. is an exprefs demonftration of God's allowance of Polygamy, If a man have two wives, one beloved and another hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated.-In anfwer to this, permit me to afk Mr. Madan whether he does not think that Deut. xxiv. 1, contains an exprefs allowance of divorce for every caufe? When a man hath taken a wife and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, then let him write her a bill of divorcement and put it into her hand, and fend her out of his houfe. He will say, “No:

the