his pupil, triumphantly acquitted. Cicero's oration in his defence is still extant, and is a masterpiece of feeling and eloquence.

Among the tragic dramatists of Rome, a high place must be awarded to Seneca; while Plautus and Terence share the bays of comedy. Plautus was a contemporary of Varro, who wrote an epitaph for his tomb, and, with sarcastic humour, declared that if the Muse could ever be induced to speak Latin, she would use the language of Plautus. As the Roman tongue, however, acquired more purity, many of the expressions of Plautus became obsolete, and though his comedies still charm by their variety of incident, their breadth of character, and their fidelity to nature, they rival those of Greece in vulgarity and coarseness. Terence preserved the same adhesion to nature, without pandering to a low taste; and his comedies stand alone for elevation of sentiment and exquisite purity of diction. Originally a slave, he received his liberty as a reward for his productions, and, despite his humble antecedents, was honoured with the friendship of the elder Scipio. Of his numerous works, few are now extant, but these will always be prized by the admirers of classic elegance and purity.

The drama shared the decline of literature and the other fine arts, and, indeed, preceded it, though long sustaining a feeble existence at Constantinople and in the principal cities of the provinces. Everywhere the brutalizing sports of the arena and the circus contended with it for the popular favour, and with too great success: the spread of luxury and the universal licentiousness, corrupting every class of society, left it no vocation; and a vitiated taste and wide moral debasement indicated the approach of that night which was soon to cast its shadows over the human mind.

VII.

MORAL PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION.

OUR history opened with a brief notice of the various religious systems prevailing among the parent nations, whence it was manifest that the human mind was originally impressed with a pure faith, which could only have been communicated by its Maker. This revealed belief had early become obscured, but its leading tenet, the existence of a Supreme Being-the image of God, so to speak-still loomed up through the myths and shadows in which it was enveloped. At what era such corruptions were introduced it is impossible to say; but it must have been within a short period of the Flood, since, as shown at p. 30, ante, Abraham appears to have been brought up in idolatry, as a worshipper of fire. At the same time, we are led to conclude that the one true God was acknowledged among the Philistines at a later epoch, as Abimelech, King of Gerar, when threatened for the abduction of Sarah,

2

"1

pleaded for his people 'as a righteous nation.' Idolatry is first specifically mentioned in connection with Laban, the father-in-law of Jacob, whose gods were clandestinely carried off by Rachel, whether, as some think, from a secret. leaning to idolatry, or from a desire to remove such objects from her parent's sight, does not appear. Moses plainly intimates that idolatry prevailed in Egypt; and though signs and wonders' may have presented other ideas to Pharaoh, he did not renounce this traditional practice. We may even believe that the Egyptians had by this time forsaken Osiris for Apis, a conjecture which would explain the golden calf of Aaron, otherwise unintelligible. But, supposing that Apis was now worshipped in Egypt, nothing is more natural than that Aaron, when yielding to the popular clamour, should make an image such as the Hebrews had been accustomed to see, and perhaps to adore, in the Egyptian temples. The Apis of Memphis, the principal deity, was sacred to Osiris; that of Heliopolis to Isis. Osiris was supposed to animate the Memphian animal; and his presence was indicated by special marks, which, on the death of each Apis, guided the priests in

1 Gen. xx. 4.

2 Gen. xxxi. 19.

the selection of a successor. The colour of the Apis was black, except on the forehead, where it displayed a square white spot, and on the right side, which was marked by a crescent; the figure of an eagle appeared on its back; its tongue rested on a knot, shaped like a beetle, and its tail was composed of double hairs. These specialities were, of course, imparted by the priests, so that, rare as such animals were deemed, an Apis was never wanting for the sacred stall. When the successive oxen had lived a specified time, they were led with great ceremony to the Nile, and there drowned, when their bodies were recovered from the river, and, after embalmment, solemnly interred at Memphis. The death of Apis, whether by violence, or, as sometimes happened, from natural causes, spread lamentation and grief throughout the land; and every one assumed the emblems of mourning. But all were consoled by the discovery of another animal with the distinctive characteristics, and the new Apis was conducted in triumph from the city of Nile to Memphis, and there, amidst the acclamations of the multitude, installed in the vacant temple.

Apis was awarded an annual festival, which