of glass, variegated in the most curious manner, of which many are still to be scen. They were worn as we do rings on the finger; and having been consecrated by one of the Druids, they were considered as charins, or preservatives against witchcraft, or all the machinations of evil spirits. From what remains of these amulets, or rings, they seem to have been extremely beautiful, composed of blue, red, and green, intermixed with white spots; all of which contained something emblematical, either of the life of the persons who wore them, or of the state to which they were supposed to enter into at death. The funeral rites according to the Druidical religion, had something in them both majestic and decent. The warlike instruments used by the men, were buried along with them; and along with the women were interred such things as they had considered as objects of worship while alive. Some times stones were set up in order to perpetuate the memory of the deceased, but more commonly a hillock of earth was raised over the grave. There cannot remain the least doubt but they believed in the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, although they had confused notions concerning it; and this should teach us who live in the present age, to bless the Divine Being that the light of the gospel has been made public to us. The barbarous idolatry of the Druids, served only to harden their minds, and deprive the most tender parent of human feelings; but our holy religion, by throwing aside the veil of darkness which overshadowed the eyes of our ancestors, has brought life and immortality to light by the gospel, and pointed out the way to heaven, in such a clear manner, that the weakest may easily discover it. The RELIGION of the ASSYRIANS. N treating of the religion of the ancient Assyrians, we must be partly directed by sacred history; but more particularly by what has been transmitted to us by Pagan writers. It is, in general, allowed that Nimrod, the great grandson of Noah, was the first founder of idolatry; and there remains no manner of doubt but he was the same, who was afterwards worshipped under the title of Belus, which, in the eastern language means strength. He is in scripture called a mighty hunter before the Lord, and different opinions have been formed concerning the singularity of this very extraordinary character, but the whole may be reduced to a very narrow compass. The descendants of Noah soon forgot the knowledge of the true God, and plunged themselves into the grossest idolatries; but as the passions of men are often made subservient towards promoting the ends of Divine Providence, and, as the worst intentions of men often become beneficial in the end, so Nimrod, by his ambition, laid the foundation of an empire, which existed for many years after his death; and, in the end became a scourge to those people whom God made choice of. That he was a mighty hunter, cannot be doubted, and under that character, he displayed his political abilities in two respects. The country in which he lived was in | fested with wild beasts, and therefore he acquired popularity by delivering the people from the ravages made by those furious creatures. And secondly, by hunting, he trained up the youth in all sorts of martial exercises, and inured them to all sorts of hardships. He formed them to the use of arms and discipline, that in a proper time he might make them subservient to his purposes, in extending his power over his peaceful neighbours. That he resided for some time at Babylon, or rather at the place which has since obtained that name, cannot be doubted, but Nineveh was the grand scat of his empire. This city was built on the eastern banks of the river Tigris, and it was one of the largest ever known in the world. It was above sixty miles in circumference, the walls were one hundred feet high, and so broad, that chariots could pass each other upon them. The walls were adorned with fifteen hundred towers, and each of these two hunfeet high, which may, in some measure account for what we read in the book of Jonah, that Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days journey. Her lofty towers shone like meridian beams, Fortified Fortified within such an extensive city, and regardless of the duty he owed to the great parent of the universe, Nimrod gave himself up to all manner of debauchery; and while he continued to trample upon the rights of his fellow creatures, he proceeded to the highest degree of impiety, namely, to set up idols in temples which he had built, and even to worship the works of his own hands. From what we shall learn in the course of this work, it will appear that the most ancient species of idolatry, was that of worshipping the sun and moon. This idolatry, was founded on a mistaken notion of gratitude, which instead of ascending up to the Supreme Being, stopt short at the veil, which both covered and discovered him; had those idolators considered things in a proper manner, they would have been able to distinguish between the great God himself, and such of his works as point out his communicable attributes. Men have, in all ages, been convinced of the necessity of an intercourse between God and themselves, and the adoration of God supposes him to be attentive to men's desires, and, consistent with his perfections, capable of complying with them. But the distance of the sun and moon, is an obstacle to this intercourse. Therefore foolish and inconsiderate men endeavoured to remedy this inconvenience, by laying their hands on their mouths, and then lifting them up to their false gods, in order to testify that they would be glad to unite themselves to them, notwithstanding their being so far separated. We have a striking instance of this in the book of Job, which properly attended to, will throw a considerable light on ancient Pagan idolatry. Job was a native of the confines of Assyria, and being one of those who believed in the true God, says, in his own vindication, "If I beheld the sun while it shined, or the moon walking in brightness: and my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand, &c." Job xxxi. 26, 27. This was a solemn oath, and the ceremony performed in the following manner: The person who stood before his accusers or before the judge's tribunal, where he was tried, bowed his head and kissed his hand three times, and looking up to the sun, invoked him as an Almighty Being, to take the highest vengeance upon him, if he uttered a falsehood. As the sun, moon, and other heavenly bodies were the first objects of worship among the Assyrians, so, inconsistency with the corruption of human nature, they adored the fire as their substitute, and that sort of adoration was common among the Assyrians and Chaldeans, as will appear from the following passage in Eusebius, who lived in the fourth century. "Ur, which signifies fire, was the idol they worshipped, and as fire will, in general, consume every thing thrown into it, so the Assyrians published abroad, that the gods of other nations could not stand before theirs. Many experiments were tried, and vast numbers of idols were brought from foreign parts; but they being of wood, the all-devouring god Ur, or fire, consumed them. At last, an Egyptian priest found out the art to destroy the reputation of this mighty idol, which had so long been the terror of distant nations. He caused the figure of an idol to be made of porous earth, and the belly of it was filled with water. On each side of the belly, holes were made, but filled up with wax. This being done, he challenged the god Ur, to oppose his god Canopus, which was accepted of by the Chaldean priests; but no sooner did the wax which stopped up the holes in the belly of Canopus begin to inelt, than the water burst out and drowned the fire." Adremelech was another idol belonging to the Assyrians: but his supposed power seems to have been confined to some of the more distant provinces ; for we read, that when Salmanessar took captive the greatest part of the ten tribes, he sent in their room the inhabitants of a province called Sepharvaim; and these people were most horrid and barbarous idolators, for they burnt their children alive, and committed such other abominations as are not proper to be mentioned. In the latter times of the Assyrian empire, before it was joined to that of Babylon, Nisrock was the god worshipped in Nineveh; and it was in the temple of this idol, that the Great Sennacherib was murdered by his two sons, Adramelech and Shanezzar. Both the ancients and the moderns agree, that this idol was represented in the shape of a fowl, but they differ much concerning the species; some think it was a dove, and others an eagle. The Jewish Rabbies tell us, that it was made of a plank of Noah's ark, which had been preserved on the mountains of Armenie. Our great poet Milton considers this idol as one much esteemed among the heathen nations, and as a principal speaker in the council of the rebel angels: -In the assembly next upstood Among the Assyrians, as well as many other eastern nations, some worshipped the fire, and some some images; but both agreed in sacrificing their children to their idols. In time, the number of their idols increased, till at last Esrahaddon removed the seat of empire to Babylon; soon after which the city and temples of Nineveh were neglected, and their magi, or wise men, who had been long in esteem among them, followed the court. As it was the universal practice of the ancient heathen nations to worship their idols in groves before temples were erected, it may be proper here to enquire what gave rise to that notion? It is a principle acquired by experience without reading, that in every act of deyotion the mind should be fixed on the grand object of worship. Every one who has walked in a grove, will acknowledge, that there was more than a common reverential awe upon his mind, which must be owing to the small number of objects that presented themselves. We may justly call them the haunts of meditation; but still, it cannot be denied, that many abominable crimes were committed in them some parts near their altars were set apart for secret lewdness, and even for such unnatural practices as ought not to be related. Strange, that men cannot use things properly without abusing them; or, as the poet says, -Ah! how basely men their honours use, And the rich gifts of bounteous heaven abuse: How better far to want immoderate store Of worldly wealth, and live serenely poor; To spend in peace and solitude our days, Than be seduc'd from sacred virtue's ways. Mitchell's Jonah. It is remarkable, that none of those eastern nations burnt the bodies of their deceased relations, although they offered in sacrifice those of their living ones. They buried the dead bodies in the earth; and this they did in consequence of a tradition common among them, that the first man was buried. Their marriages were civil contracts between the parties, and polygamy, or a plurality of wives, were universally allowed. In their temples, discourses were delivered after the sacrifice was over, consisting chiefly of explanations of some of their mysteries, and exhortations to the people to be obedient to their sovereigns. That the idolatry of the Assyrians had been great, we have the evidence of many of the prophets, and all these prophets have been literally fulfilled. It is true they repented, for some time, at the preaching of Jonah, but they soon relapsed into the practice of their former enormities; and God has now, in his infinite justice, left nothing of them besides the name. So true are the words of sacred scripture, namely, that "righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." Let the following considerations, therefore, sink deep into the hearts of our readers: First, that the least deviation from the truth is dangerous; for such is the corruption of human nature, such the propensity of man, to every thing. evil; that he seldom knows where to stop. All idolatry was originally simple, but its professors soon. added to it rites of the most odious and horrid nature. Secondly, let every person learn to form worthy notions of the Divine attributes; for the want of that is one of the causes of idolatry, and of false religion. in general. Let us once imagine God to be such a being as ourselves, and then we shall assuredly offer him up such sacrifice as is unworthy. Lastly, while we bless God for the purity of religion, let us fear to offend him, lest he should deprive us of the many privileges we enjoy. No. 2. L The THE The RELIGION of the BABYLONIANS. HE city of Babylon owes it origin to the vanity | and madness of those people who built a tower on the spot, and not to Nimrod, as many ancient. heathen writers would have us to believe; for Nimrod was alive at the time when the confusion of languages took place, and therefore, we cannot reasonably imagine, he would boldly set himself at defiance against heaven, after he had seen such a signal instance of the Divine displeasure. Thus we may naturally conclude, that what was left of the tower, was some years after enclosed within a wall, but the exact time of its being enlarged, so as to deserve the name of a city, cannot now be known. In time, however, it rose to grandeur; but idolatry encreased so fast in it, that many of the prophets denounced the most dreadful judgments upon it. Like the Assyrians, they worshipped the fire and images, of which we have a striking instance in the book of Daniel, chapter iii. Like most other ancient nations, the Babylonians had strange notions concerning the origin of their empire, and likewise concerning the first promulgation of their religion. Whether they worshipped fire or images, yet they indiscriminately gave the names of Bell, or Belus, to their deities. This idol was the same with what is called Baal, in the old testament, and always signifies strength. Some are of opinion that it was Nimrod, but more probably his son Ninus, who, according to ancient testimony, founded the city and kingdom of Babylon. Berosius, a very ancient writer, tells us that the god Belus having but the chaos of darkness, divided the heaven and earth from each other, and reduced the world into proper order; but seeing that there were no people to inhabit it, he commanded one of the gods to cut off his own head, and mix the earth with the blood, from whence proceeded men with the several species of animals, and Belus regulated the motions of the sun, moon, and stars, with all the rest of the heavenly bodies. This idol, Bell, was of such repute among the people of Babylon, that a most magnificent temple was erected for him on the ruins of the famous tower, which was built by the descendants of Noah, in order to perpetuate their name upon the earth. This, we are told by Herodotus, was one of the most magnificent temples in the world. It was adorned with many curious statues; among which was one of gold, forty feet high, and the rest of the furniture of the temple amounted to eight hundred talents of gold. It is probable, nor indeed has it ever been disputed amongst the learned, that this famous image was the same which king Nebuchadnezzar set up in the plains of Babylon, and commanded all his subjects to worship it. It is not our intention to consider any of the books called Apocraphycal, as written by Divine inspiration; and yet we cannot see why the same degree of credit should not be paid to them as to other human compositions, if the evidence, by which they are supported is rational. And let us now appeal to every unprejudiced person, whether the history of Bell and the Dragon has not a more rational appearance than some things related by the best heathen authors. Nothing was more common than for the Pagan priests to make their votaries believe, that all the sacrifices offered in their temples, were eaten up by their idols, although the priests sold them in the mar kets. The story of Bell and the Dragon is as follows Cyrus, having taken Babylon, like most of the ancient conquerors, worshipped Bell, or Belus, the god of the country; but the rites and ceremonies not being so simple as those in Persia, where he had been educated, he began to entertain some doubts concerning them. Daniel being, without dispute, at that time, prime minister to Cyrus, and the king, being a man of an inquisitive turn of mind, naturally entered into conversation with Daniel, concerning the religion of the Jews. In this, there is nothing at all surprising; for first, the Jews were a people different in their manners, customs and religion, from all others in the world; and secondly, they were then about to return from captivity. The great fame of Daniel had undoubtedly procured him admittance into the temple of Belus, not to worship, but to discover the knavery of the priests. Zealous to promote the worship of the true God, he mentioned to the king, the circumstance of his being imposed on by the priests, and pointed out the way to detect them; namely, by causing the floor of the temple to be sprinkled with ashes. The priests, who were seventy in number, desired the king to seal up the door, which was done; but they had a private passage under the table or altar, through which, they, with their wives and children passed, and and eat up the provisions set before the idol, and what was not eaten up, they carried away. In the morning, the king, accompanied by Daniel, went to the temple, where he found the door scaled, but on going in, saw the marks of feet on the pavement The king being much incensed, ordered the priests to shew him the privy door, and as soon as he had extorted from them a confession of their guilt, he ordered them all to be massacred, with their wives and children; a practice very common in that age, and in other periods of time, of which many examples will be given. But Nor is the account of the Dragon less probable; for, besides Bell, the Babylonians had many other idols whom they worshipped; and what serves most to support the truth of the narrative, is, that a great insurrection took place in Babylon, on account of the king's partiality to the Jews. It is true, Cyrus was prophesied of, above two hundred years before he was born, as a great prince, who was to deliver the Jews from captivity; but the means to be used by him were not pointed out. God, in his all-wise government of the world, often produces great events from causes which we look upon as trifling. here we meet with something striking and natural, and consistent with all those rules by which the evidence of history has, in all ages, been regulated. Cyrus had not been brought up in the religion of the Babylonians; and although as a political prince, he complied with their outward form of worship, yet no sooner had he discovered the tricks practised by their priests, than he let loose his vengeance upon them, and granted many privileges to the Jews. The only objection that can be brought against any part of this narrative is, that the author mistakes some names and facts, which is not to be wondered at, when we consider that the best historians of antiquity have done so. The Babylonians had a most horrid practice with respect to the promiscuous use of women; and prostitution was not only tolerated, but enjoined as an article of religion. The temple of Mylitta, a goddess resembling Venus, was a common brothel. On a certain festival, once in every year, all the young women in the city were obliged to attend in the temple, and submit to public prostitution; and not only in their temples, but likewise in the streets and on the highways. Baruch says, (chap. vi. 43.) "The women also, with cords about them, sitting in the ways, burn bran for perfume: but if any of them, diawn by some that passeth by, lie with him, she reproacheth her fellow, that she was not thought as worthy as herself, nor her cord broken." Well might the poet say, Here adoration to the stones is paid, Another idol worshipped in Babylon, was called Merodach; of whom we read, "Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces, her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces." Jer. 1. 2. It is not certain who this Merodach was; but probably he was an ancient king of Babylon, who having performed some wonderful exploit, was afterwards considered as a deity; as was common among other heathen nations. Several of their kings seem to have been named after him; such as Evil-Meradach, and Merodach-Baladan; which last began to reign about seven hundred and seventeen years before the birth of Christ. Succoth-Benoth, was another idol worshipped by the Babylonians, as is evident from what we read in 2 Kings xvii. 29, 30. "Howbeit, every nation made gods of their own, and the men of Babylon made Succoth-Benoth.' The Babylonians who worshipped this idol, were a colony sent to Samaria; and the image represented a hen and chickens, thereby pointing out fertility. There was a temple erected for this goddess, where all the young women were obliged to submit to prostitution once every year: for the truth of which we have the testimony of Herodotus. The Babylonians buried their dead in the same manner as the Assyrians, namely, by laying the bodies in the earth; and dark and confused as their notions were in many respects, yet they believed in a future state of rewards and punishments. This is the more to be wondered at, when we consider that their religion was little more than a system of crimes; but then let us reflect, that the people knew no better: they had forgotten even tradition itself, and were become slaves to the worst of all passions. Having said this much concerning the religion of the antient Babylonians, we shall now proceed to describe in what manner that magnificent city was destroyed; which, were we to omit, would be utterly inconsistent with the plan we have laid down. This, indeed, is one of the most remarkable events upon record, and serves to point out the wisdom and justice of the Divine Being. Here let the profligate tremble, and the deist hide his face! That the children of Israel should be taken captives to Babylon, was foretold long before the event took place; but the same prophets, who pointed out their afflictions, predicted at the same time, the fate of this haughty city. Nay, it was promised, that at the end of seventy years, the Jews should be de livered, |