Hercules and Romulus, and others, f because they were now become Immortal. And though he seems, in fome measure, to condemn the vulgar Superftition of great folly and credulity, 8 because from this Physical or Natural Theology, and the Deifying of deceafed Heroes, they had taken occafion, not only to introduce a multitude of fictitious Gods, which produced many fabulous and superstitious opinions among them; but likewise, by degrees, to afcribe all forts of human paffions and vices to their Gods; yet he concludes, that, setting fuch fables afide, the Divinity, which pervades through all nature, might be taken for feveral Gods in the several parts of it, and ought to be worship'd as fuch. Sed tamen his fabulis fpretis ac repudiatis, Deus pertinens per Naturam cujufque rei, per Terras Ceres, per Maria Neptunus, alii per alia,

f Quorum cum remanerent animi atque æternitate fruerentur, Dii rite funt habiti, cum & optimi effent & æterni. 1b. cap. 24.

Videtifne igitur ut à Phyficis rebus, bene atque utiliter inventis, tracta ratio fit ad commentitios & factos Deos? quæ res genuit falfas opiniones, errorefque turbulentos & fuperftitiones pæne aniles, &c. -Accipimus enim Deorum cupiditates, ægritudines, iracundias, &c.

Hæc & dicuntur & creduntur ftultiffime, & plena funt futilitatis, fummæque levitatis. ib. cap. 28.

alia, poterunt intelligi qui qualefque fint, quoque eos nomine confuetudo nuncupaverit, quos Deos & venerari & colere debemus. Now here is certainly foundation enough left for justifying the worship of a multitude of ancient Deities, and even for forming new ones upon occafion.

As for the Academics, though they could not entirely come into the Stoical way of defending all this Superftition by reafon and argument, yet they justified it by authority and ancient establishment. For fo Cotta, in return to that advice which Balbus had given him, h to be, as became his office of Pontif, a Champion for the ancient opinions about the Gods and their Worship, Ceremonies and Religion; tells him, that he will always defend them to the laft, as he had ever done, though he went upon other principles, and that nothing which any man could fay fhould ever move him from this refolution. Ego vero eas defendam femper, femperque defendi: Nec me ex ea opinione, quam à majori

bus

Non enim mediocriter moveor auctoritate tuâ, Balbe, Orationeque ea, quæ me in perorando cohortabatur ut meminiffem me & Cottam effe & Pontificem; quod eo, credo, valebat, ut opiniones quas à majoribus accepimus de Diis immortalibus, facra, cæremonias, religionefque defende

rem.

bus accepi de Cultu Deorum Immortalium ullius unquam oratio, aut docti aut indocti, movebit. He was refolved to hear no reason against the doctrine of his Ancestors. Nay, the very Epicureans themselves, whofe great pretence was to cure men of Superftition, by running into another extream, and destroying all belief of Providence, yet not only in publick fell, most of them, in with the vulgar Superftition, for fear of cenfure, but were many of them really, in their very hearts, as fuperftitious as other people, however they pretended fometimes to over-act the contrary. For Tully, in the person of Cotta, tells us, i he knew some of them fo ftupidly fuperftitious as to worship every little image that came in their way; and that Epicurus himself, (though fome, by his incorrect manner of writing, concluded that he defigned to conceal his true opinion, and that as he denied a Providence, fo he really had no belief or fear of any Gods at all, yet) was really at the bottom more afraid of those invifible powers, than those who never formally denied their Influence. Thus in fact confuting his own pre

tended

i Novi ego Epicureos omnia figilla numerantes, [al. venerantes, al. inhiantes] Cic. de Nat. D. lib. 1. cap. 30.

k

tended opinion, by a moft flavish and abject fear of, what he denied to have any matter of terror in them, * Death and the Deity. Now as we may from hence juftly observe, that the belief or fear of a Deity is fo deeply engraven upon the Mind of man, and as it were woven into human nature, that no affumed principles of Philosophy can ever be able totally to efface it: So we may likewife conclude, that none of all these Sects of Philofophers were capable of leading men back to the original truth of Religion, after it had been once fo miferably corrupted, as it was in the Heathen world: And confequently that a Divine Revelation was neceffary, to reform mens notions, and to reduce them to the true practice of Religion. But

5. It is farther to be observed, that divers of the wisest Philofophers, did themselves confefs, that they wanted a divine Revelation to fet them right, even in matters which were of the utmost confequence. They were fenfible that all the establish'd Religions, which they knew in the world, were exceedingly corrupted:

k Ille vero Deos effe putat ; nec quemquam vidi, qui magis ea, quæ timenda effe negaret, timeret; Mortem dico &

4

Deos. ib. cap. 31.

corrupted: And yet owned, that they faw no human way of reforming them; the little that was true, being mix'd with fo much falfhood, that they knew not how to distinguish them. And therefore Plato, fuppofing Religion to be the foundation of all good Government in his Commonwealth, plainly acknowledges the neceffity of a Divine revelation, to establish such a worship as might be acceptable to God, and render him propitious; and he remits every wife legiflator to the divine Oracles for direction. He speaks indeed of the Delphic Oracle, either as knowing no better, or perhaps as not daring openly to contradict a vulgar opinion: But the foundation of his Argument manifeftly fhews his opinion of the neceffity of fomething more than human, to`fettle matters upon a right foot ; and the

reafon

1 Τῷ μθύ τοι ̓Απόλλωνι τῷ & Δελφοῖς τά τε μέγισα καὶ κάλλιςα, τα πρώτα τα νομοθετημάτων ------Ἱερῶν τε ἱδρύσεις καὶ θυσίας καὶ ἄλο και Θεῶν τε καὶ δαιμόνων καὶ ἡρώων θεραπείαι, τελούζησάντων τ' αὖ θῆκαι, καὶ ὅσα τοῖς ἐκεῖ δὲν ὑπερητόντας ἵλεως αὐτὸς ἔχειν τὰ δ ̓ δὴ τοιαῦτα ἔτ ̓ ἐπισάμεθα ἡμεῖς, οικίζοντές τε πόλιν ἐδενὶ ἄλλῳ · πεισόμεθα, ἐὰν νὲν ἔχωμεν, ἐδὲ χρησόμεθα ἐξηγητῇ, ἀλλ ̓ ἢ τῷ πατρίῳ· τα δὲ δή πε ὁ Θεὸς περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐξηγητής. Plato de Repub. lib.4. pag. 427.

η Τέτων πάντων νομοθέτης, ὅσις τῶν κέκλη) καὶ τ βραχύτατον, ἔποτε μὴ τολμήσις καινοτομῶν, ἐπὶ θεοσέβειαν, ἥτις μὴ σαφὲς ἔχει τις τρέψει πόλιν ἑαυτῆς· καὶ μίω είδ ̓ ὧν ὁ πάτρια νόμο

ἄρακε