The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1876-01-07
NUMBER 10.

Mithrus. They likewise paid a particu-
lar veneration to fire-being in their
opinion representative of the sun-in-
trusting it to the care of the Magi, who |
jealously guarded it, lest it should by
accident be extinguished. The Persians
likewise honored water, the earth, and
the winds, as 30 many deities, worship
ing in the open air, erecting neither
statues nor temples, Offering their sacri-
fees on high places, and cruelty causing
their children to pass through this ven
Grated fire. The Chaldeans were gov
erned in judicial affairs by astrological
decisions. But their primary gods were
Oromasdes and Arimanius; the former
of whom they regarded the author of
blessings; the latter the author of evil.
Before a prince came to the throne he
was compelled to receive instruction
from the Magi, that he might learn
from them both the art of reigning and
that Of worshiping the gods after the
proper manner. Affairs of state were
decided only with their advice and opin-
ion.
Egypt was the land of wonders and of
art, the renowned seat of learning and
science; where Thebes-the Hecseonpy-
los-spread its 'august" proportions to
the wondering gaze of the ancients,
whose praises of its magni6cence in
paintings and palaces were celebrated
in both poetry and history. The Egyp-
tians, through their works of art and
scientific achievements, proved their ele-
walton in those respects, but these must
all be passed with slight allusion, that
more attention may be devoted to their
religious rites and doctrines. 1.-THE
Egyptians pretend to be the first insti
tutors of festivals and professions in
honor Of the gods"
1t is affirmed that it was from the
Egyptians that Pythagoras imbibed his
idea of the metempsychosis, or transmit
grafton of souls. The Egyptians be-
lieved that the souls of those who had
lived viciously were imprisoned, at
death, in the bodies of unclean beasts to
expiate their past sins, and that after
the lapse of centuries, they again ami
mated human forms. Sphinxes were
placed at the entrance Of all temples,
implying silence. The priests alone
were the depositors of the mysteries Of
worship, which were commonly in
volved in symbols and enigmas. They,
like the Persians, were supposed to wor-
ship the sun and moon under the names
of Osiris and Iris. The OK, the wolf, the
dog, the hawk, the crocodile, the ibis,
and the cat, were objects of veneration
with the Egyptians. For the latter an
imal they entertained a peculiar super
stitious reverence, which was possessed
in such degree that in times of extreme
famine they preferred to eat one an
other, rather than partake of their i'm
agined deities.
"Of all these animals the bull Apis,
called Epaphus by the Greeks, was the
most famous. Magnificent temples
were erected to him; extraordinary
honors were paid him while he lived,
and still greater after his death. Egypt
went into a general mourning. His
obsequies were solemnized with such
pomp as is hardly credible. In the
reign of Ptolemy Sagus, the bull Apis,
dying of old age, the funeral pomp, be-
sides the ordinary expenses, amounted
to upwards of fifty-five thousand dol
lars.n
The golden calf set up near Sinia by
the Israelites, while Moses was absent,
was in imitation of those seen in the
land of their bondage.
Even vegetation came In for a share
? of their religious veneration, and it
seems to those imbued with more ex-
alted faith, impossible that a nation
claiming so vast superiority over other
nations as regards wisdom and learning,
should have abandoned itself to the ven-
Grafton of objects so gross and ridicu-
lous. Plutarch, in his treatise, says
philosophers honor the image of God
wherever they find it, even in inanimate
beings, and consequently more in those
which have life." But are we to sup
pose that Plutarch believed that the
worship thus expressed could be pleas.
,, ing to the "Great Architect of the uni
verse ?" With all his philosophy and
analytic reasoning, he leaves his admir-
ers where he finds them, wandering in
moral darkness and uncertainty. Pau
gives US reason clearly expressed, con-
cerning the course of idolators. "Be-
cause that when they knew God they
, glorified him not as God, neither were
thankful; but because vain in the i'm.
agination, and their foolish hearts were
darkened. Protesting themselves to bG
wise they became fools, and changed
the glory of the incorruptible God into
an image made like to corruptibls man
and to birds, and to four-footed beast:
and creeping things. Who changed the
truth of God into lie, and worshipsd
and served the Creature more than the
Creator" Rom. l: q, 25. o. E. M.
ITO be continued.l
q Let youth beware Of the first false
step. The beginning Of matter may
| II. 81 20 ~, -,