intelligent animals were produced; and these were called Zophasemin, that is, the overseers of the heavens; and they were formed in the shape of an egg: and from Môt shone forth the sun and the moon, and the less and the greater stars.

"And when the air began to send forth light, by its fiery influence on the sea and earth, winds were produced, and clouds, and very great defluxions and torrents of the heavenly waters." After this our author proceeds to say: "These things were found written in the Cosmogony of Taautus, and in his Commentaries, and were drawn from his observations and the natural signs which by his penetration he perceived and discovered, and with which he has enlightened us."

He further states: "Of the wind Colpias, and his wife Baau, which is interpreted night, were begotten two mortal men, Æon and Protogonus, so called: and Eon discovered food from trees."

It is remarkable that this account is said to have been obtained from the records of Taautus; and, according to this same author, Taautus was the son of Misraim, the son of Ham, who first occupied and peopled Egypt after the flood. Eusebius says that "he took the greatest pains in searching the records of Taautus, but some later writers had corrupted his remains by their allegorical interpretations and physical additions: for, says Philo, the more modern priests or explainers of the Sacra had omitted to relate the true facts as they were recorded; instead of which they had obscured them by invented accounts and mysterious fictions, drawn from their notions of the nature of the universe; so that it was not easy for one to distinguish the real facts which Taautus had recorded from the fictions superadded to them. But he, (that is, Sanchoniatho,) finding some of the books of the Ammonai, which were kept in the libraries or registries of the temples, examined everything with the greatest care, and, rejecting the allegories and fables which at first sight offered themselves, he at length brought his work to perfection. But the priests that lived after him, adding their comments and explications to his work, brought all back to mythology again."-Eusebius, Præp. Evang., lib. i, cap. 9, ad fin.

There can be little doubt that this has been the fate alike of history and theology in heathen nations: facts and doctrines have been so obscured by fiction and fable, that, although when we have an authentic record we may be able to detect in the cor

rupted picture an outline of truth, still it must be evident that those who had no other guide could not have any correct apprehension of certain fact or sound doctrine.

This is precisely the case with the extract just given from the Phenician historian. We have here the chaos of Moses buried in the darkness of night; the waters, their action and separation from the earth; the sun, moon, and stars; the creation of a first human pair. Hence we find Porphyry arguing in favor of his agreement with Moses, and Philo Biblius, Eusebius, Pliny, Curtius, and Lucan, supporting the credibility of his history.

We next adduce the account of the origin of all things, furnished by Berosus. He wrote from records preserɣed in the temple of Belus, at Babylon.

"There was a time," he says, "in which there existed nothing but darkness and an abyss of waters, wherein resided most hideous beings which were produced of a twofold principle." After describing several monstrous shapes, and observing "that of all these were preserved delineations in the temple of Belus, at Babylon," he proceeds: "The person who presided over them was a woman, named Omoroca; which, in the Chaldean language, is Thalatth, in Greek, Thalassa, 'the Sea;' but which might equally be interpreted' the Moon.' All things being in this situation, Belus came and cut the woman asunder; and of one half of her he formed the earth, and of the other half the heavens; and at the same time destroyed the animals within her, or, in the abyss. All this," he says, "was an allegorical description of nature. For the whole universe, consisting of moisture, and animals being continually generated therein, the deity above mentioned took off his own head upon which the other gods mixed the blood as it gushed out with the earth; and from thence were formed men. On this account it is that they are rational, and partake of divine knowledge. This Belus, by whom they signify Jupiter, divided the darkness, and separated the heavens from the earth, and reduced the universe to order. But the animals, not being able to bear the light, died. Belus upon this, seeing a vast space unoccupied, though by nature fruitful, commanded one of the gods to take off his head, and to mix the blood with the earth; and from thence to form other men and animals, which should be capable of bearing the air (light.) Belus formed also the stars, and the sun, and the moon, and the five planets."-Cory's Fragments, P. 26.

The cosmogony of the Hindoos is equally striking, and affords similar points of coincidence with the Mosaic narrative.

This information is obtained from various sources, many of the ancient sacred writings of the Hindoos affording references to this subject. From the "Laws of Menu," one of the oldest oriental records, we extract the following:

"The universe existed only in the first divine idea yet unexpanded, as if involved in darkness, imperceptible, undefinable, undiscoverable by reason, and undiscovered by revelation, as if it were wholly immersed in sleep." Chap. i, 5.

"Then the sole self-existing Power, himself undiscerned, but making this world discernible, with five elements and other principles of nature, appeared with undiminished glory, expanding his idea, or dispelling the gloom." Chap. i, 6.

"He whom the mind alone can perceive, whose essence eludes the external organs, who has no visible parts, who exists from eternity; even He, the soul of all beings, whom no being can comprehend, shone forth in person." Chap. i, 7.

"He, having willed to produce various beings from his own divine substance, first with a thought created the waters." Chap. i, 8.

"The waters are called nárá, because they are the production of NARA, or 'the Spirit of God;' and, since they were his first ayana, or place of motion,' he thence is named Nára yana, or, 'moving on the waters.' Chap. i, 10.

From THAT WHICH IS, the first cause, not the object of sense, existing everywhere in substance, not existing to our perception, without beginning or end, was produced the divine male." Chap. i, 11.

He framed the heaven above, and the earth beneath: in the midst he placed the subtil ether, the eight regions, and the permanent receptacle of waters." Chap. i, 13.

"He framed all creatures." Chap. i, 16.

"He, too, first assigned to all creatures distinct names, distinct acts, and distinct occupations." Chap. i, 21.

"He gave birth to time and the divisions of time; to the stars also, and to the planets; to rivers, oceans, and mountains; to level plains and uneven valleys." Chap. i, 24.

"Having divided his own substance, the mighty power became half male and half female." Chap. i, 32.

The accordance which exists between the general tenor of

these passages and the Scripture account, is rendered still more remarkable by the following text from the Vedas, which is selected for special use in devotional exercises :

"The supreme Being alone existed; afterward, there was a universal darkness; next, the watery ocean was produced, by the diffusion of virtue; then did the Creator-Lord of the universe rise out of the ocean, and successively framed the sun and moon, which govern day and night, whence proceed the revolutions of years; and after them he framed heaven and earth, the space between, and the celestial regions."-Asiatic Researches, vol. v, p. 361.

It is not so easy to select passages capable of conveying an intelligible account of the opinions held by the ancient Persians, although the records of no people contain matters of deeper interest.

Their system of theology begins by declaring the existence of a great first principle which it calls Zerwan, a term which is understood to mean "Time"-time without beginning and without end. This incomprehensible Being is author of the two great active powers of the universe-Ormuzd, the principle of all good; and Ahriman, the principle of all evil. This latter, being, although frequently spoken of as having been always essentially evil, is, at other times, referred to as having been originally a pure and holy spirit, who had fallen into sin, and thus become evil.

These independent powers are represented as being actively opposed to each other. Ormuzd created pure spirits or angels; Ahriman meets this by the creation of equally active and powerful spiritual agents.

Afterward the god Ormuzd created the world, not indeed in six days, but, what is very similar to it, at six different intervals. Each of these periods comprehended a considerable number of days, though not an equal one; yet, in the sum total, the six times amounted exactly to a whole year. During the first period were created the heavens; during the second, the waters; the third was allotted to the production of the earth; the fourth, to the formation of trees and vegetables. During the fifth, the various tribes of animals, aërial, sylvan, and aquatic, received their existence; and the sixth space of time, in almost exact conformity with the sixth day of the Mosaical cosmogony, was devoted solely to the creation of man. This was the most honorable of all the productions of Ormuzd. (See Faber's Origin

of Pagan Idolatry, vol. i, p. 232; Fraser's History of Persia, pp.

150-153.

We now proceed to notice the allusions to this subject which are found among the ancient remains of the Gothic or Scandinavian mythology. In the Edda, and other old works of this class, we have the following information :

"At the beginning of time," (so it is said in the poem of the Voluspa,) "when nothing was yet formed, neither shore, nor sea, nor foundations beneath; the earth was nowhere to be found below, nor the heaven above; all was one vast abyss, without plant or verdure. Yet, before all things, there existed what we call Muspelsheim. It is a world luminous, glowing, not to be dwelt in by strangers, and situate at the extremity of the earth. Surtur holds his empire there. In his hand there shines a flaming sword. He shall come at the end of the world; he shall vanquish all the gods; he shall give up the universe a prey to the flames.

"But what was the state of the world before there were families of men upon the earth, and before the nations were formed?

"The rivers, called Elivages, flowed so far from their sources, that the venom which they rolled along became hard, like the scoria of a furnace when it grows cold. Hence was formed the ice; which stopped and flowed no more. Then all the venom that was beginning to cover it also became frozen: and thus many strata of congealed vapors were formed, one above another, in the vast abyss. By this means that part of the abyss which lies toward the north was filled with a mass of gelid vapors and ice; while the interior parts of it were replete with whirlwinds and tempests.

"A breath of heat spreading itself over the gelid vapors, they melted into drops; and of these drops was formed a man, by the power of him who governed. This man was named Ymer; the giants call him Amgelmer. From him are descended all the families of the giants. He was wicked, as were all his posterity. While he slept, he fell into a sweat; and from the pit of his left arm were born a male and a female. One of his feet begot upon the other a son, from whom is descended the race of the giants. Immediately after this breath from the south had melted the gelid vapors, and resolved them into drops, there was formed out of them a cow named Oedumla. From her there sprung a man, who was endowed with beauty, agility, and power. He was