thousand only, before it came to pass. Divines in India declare that the surest proof of the Divine mission of an Avatar is his coming being foretold; that prophecies concerning a Saviour are often repeated, some very plain, and others rather obscure; that they are, in short, one of the fundamental supports of their religion. It is declared in the Vicrama-Charitra, that the birth of a Divine child from a Virgin had been foretold one thousand years before it happened, nay some say two thousand. The time of his birth is thus ascertained from the Cumarica-Chanda, a portion of the Scanda-Purana. When three thousand and one hundred years of the Cali Yuja are elapsed, then Saca will appear and remove wretchedness and misery from the world. Saca is the title of the Virgin-born Buddha. Whenever, it is added, the Deity condescends to be born of woman, the person is one, but there are two natures. To this distinction we must carefully attend, in order to reconcile many seeming contradictions in the Puranas; and more particularly so with respect to Vaivaswata and Satyavrata, who are acknowledged to be but one person. The Divine nature is an emanation of Vishnon in his character of the sun; and Satyavrata is the human nature.— These two natures often act independently of each other, and may exist at the same time in different places."

We might pursue the subject by showing how even the part of this early prophecy relating to the atoning sufferings and death of this great incarnate Redeemer has been as strikingly preserved,† as in the fable of Prometheus and Hercules, but we pass on to illustrate even in the fabulous legends of Bacchus the preservation, amid the most grievous perversion, of primeval Messianic predictions.

Passing from the original promise and prediction of Christ, we find Abraham assured that the incarnate deliverer should come in his posterity, and that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed. (Gen. xxii. 18.)

The next recorded prophecy respecting the Messiah was given by the patriarch Jacob immediately before his death, which has been thus rendered:*

"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until he come to SHILOH.

†See Faber's Three Dispensations, vol. I. p. 312, and p. 342. *See Lamb's Hebrew Hieroglyphics, Appendix p. 150.

The next prophecy of Christ is that of Balaam, found in Numb. xxiv. 17-19, and which has been thus rendered.†

"I shall see him but not now,

I shall behold him but not soon;
He cometh, a star out of Jacob,
And riseth, a sceptre out of Israel
And trampleth the regions of Moab,

And overthroweth all the children of Seth.

And Edom is a possession,

And Seir is a possession of his enemies;

And Israel doeth valiently,

And he ruleth (a star) out of Jacob;

And he destroyeth the remnant of the city."

Now it would appear as if the personages and rites of the classical God Bacchus had reference to the traditional perversion of these prophecies.

The name Bacchus is from a word signifying a star, and the festivities of Bacchus were probably called the festivities of the Star. Bacchus, therefore, was the personification of the prophetic seed and star. And as it is said "there shall come a star out of Jacob," so Bacchus was said to be born from his father's thigh, and is therefore in the Orphic hymns styled "the child of the thigh."|| Bacchus was always represented with a star on his forehead and a sceptre in his hand. "The Egyptians," says Macrobius, "draw on a sceptre a sort of eye, and by this picture represent Osiris," who is the same as Bacchus. In Grecian mythology he sits upon a celestial globe bespangled with stars. The whole history of Bacchus is full of allusions to the symbol of the bull, the Egyptian representation of the incarnate Deity, and to the serpent. And thus the author of the Orphic hymns* styles him the Deity with two horns, having the head of a bull, reverenced in a double form and adored in conjunction with a beautiful star. Among the Arabs, Bacchus was worshipped under the title of Deis-Ares "the divine Sun."

Now a star or sun in the hieroglyphical system of all pagan nations denoted a God, according to the established doctrine that each star was animated by the soul of a hero who had dwelt incarnate upon earth.**

Bacchus is pictured as the most beautiful and lovely of Gods or men, as enjoying everlasting youth, and yet a venerable father. Ovid, borrowing his description from some Orphic hymn, says,

tIbid. p. 151.

66

tibi enim incorrupta juventa est Tu puer æternus, tu formosissimus alto Conspiceris cœlo."

||Ibid. p. 152.

*Faber's Mysteries of the Cabiri, vol. I. p. 133, where the original is given.

**See quotations from Horapollus and Plutarch, in Faber's Eight Dissertations, vol. I. pp. 301, 302.

He is described coming from the East as a mighty conqueror, riding in a triumphant car drawn by lynxes or tigers, the most savage of beasts, subdued and tamed by him to his yoke.

Qualis ororatis descendens Liber ab Indis
Egit pampineos fraenata tigride currus.

He is then represented as extending his conquests to the West, and subduing every part of the habitable globe; and these conquests are not the fruit of his martial prowess, but of his divine influence and persuasive eloquence. He then went on civilizing the whole earth, not indeed by employing arms, but by bringing into subjection the greater part of mankind, captivated by his persuasive reasoning, accompanied with poetry and music. He was not warlike nor addicted to battles and dangers, but to peace and to the general good of mankind. For these benefits he is esteemed as a God among all nations.

The Greek hymns transmitted to us under the name of Orpheus, are many of them translations from some older language, and were sung at the sacred feasts to the gods. Among these hymns there are nine or ten addressed to Bacchus. One of these hymns is equally curious from its contents and title. It is addressed to him under his title of Baorapoo, and is as follows:

"Come blessed Dionysus, dispenser of light, with the forehead of a Bull; Bessarus, and Bacchus, of many names, almighty;

Who exultest with swords, and with blood, and with inspired priestesses, Shouting down Olympus, loud thundering, furious Bacchus.

Smiting with thy sceptre, terrible in thine anger, reverenced by all the gods,

And mortal men, whosoever inhabit the earth;

Come, blessed, leaping in triumph, bringing great gladness to all people."

Among the names given to Bacchus in the Orphic hymns occur the following:*

"The first born.' "Good counsellor." "Indescribable, mysterious." "Father of Gods, and also Son." "Immortal Deity." "King Bacchus." "Sacred cion. Sacred branch." "The holy one. "The medicine." "Mysterious plant of Jove." "The Son." "The child," were common titles of Bacchus.

"The mysteries of Bacchus consisted in part," says Faber,† "of a scenical exhibition of his dilaceration by the Titans, and of his subsequent restoration to life by Rhea.

"The whole indeed of the mystic rites of Osiris were the same as those of Bacchus. Hence we find that he also was supposed to have been torn by the Titans, and to have been restored to life again."

"The mysteries of Adonis were of precisely the same nature, and referred to the very same event. He was first bewailed

*Lamb's Hebrew Hieroglyphics, Appendix pp. 157, 158.

† Mysteries of the Cabiri, vol. II. pp. 331, 334, 335, 337.

as dead; but, in a short time, his votaries forgot their former grief, and with loud acclamations celebrated his supposed revivification."

"The mysteries, indeed, by the name of whatever god they might be called, were invariably of a mixed nature, beginning in sorrow and ending in joy. They described the allegorical death and subsequent revivification of the principal arkite deity."

There is always connected with the history of Bacchus an account of his descending into Hades, and returning thence triumphant over the powers of darkness; to this Horace alludes:

"With golden horn supremely bright
You darted round the bending light,

Far beaming through the gloom of Hell:
When Cerberus, with fear amazed,
Forgot his rage, and fawning gazed,
And at thy feet adoring fell."

Bacchus is termed in the Orphic hymns Tpiouns and Tрiyovos, "of three natures," "thrice born."

Bacchus was always represented as attended by a crowd of followers, singing triumphant songs; and of these the most conspicuous character was Silenus, an aged individual, riding upon an ass, surrounded by nymphs and fawns bearing bowls, in which they crushed bunches of grapes, and with the juice of which his face and garments were sprinkled. He and his attendants were crowned with garlands composed of ivy and vine leaves. As the chief personage, BACCHUS, in these mysteries was a personification of Balaam's prophecy, so SILENUS was the personification of Jacob's prophecy, and the name itself is derived from SHILOH.

"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until he come, SHILOн.

And to him the expectation of nations.
Binding to the vine his colt,

And to the ivy-vine the foal of his ass,

He washes in wine his garments,

And in the blood of grapes his raiment;
Darker his eyes than wine,

And whiter his teeth than milk."

Another part of these ceremonies consisted in a Phallic procession. Was not this a memorial of the covenant of circumcision given unto Abraham and originally a scenic representation of that rite; "This is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you and your seed after thee; every man child among you shall be circumcised-In THY SEED shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."

This was followed by a troop of females bearing baskets of flowers and fruits, in which were live serpents, and part of the

mysteries consisted in putting them into the bosom, and letting them pass through between the body and garments. In an Orphic fragment, among other symbols of the mysteries of Bacchus are given, "beautiful golden apples from the harmonious Hesperides." Here I consider we have a representation of the first promise given unto Eve in Paradise, that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head.

Thus it appears that every ceremony and symbol used at these mysteries can be traced to some prophecy respecting the promised seed, and there cannot surely remain a doubt of their having been instituted to keep alive a memorial of this great event; although the Greeks and Romans so perverted them, as to obliterate all traces of their original meaning.

Those who were rightly initiated into these mysteries were considered as secure of prosperity in this world, and of happiness in another state of existence; but perfect faith was required to entitle an individual to these high privileges, and hence the ancient proverb:

"Many are called but few are chosen."

These sacred mysteries were probably retained and observed in their true character in the East until the christian æra. The Magi who came to worship our Saviour, had seen a remarkable STAR in their own country, which they considered a proof of the advent of the promised king. They immediately, knowing "the star must come out of Jacob," journeyed to Jerusalem, the royal city of the Jews, looking there for him who was born King of Israel. They were thence directed to Bethlehem. And the STAR again appearing pointed out to them the spot where the infant Saviour lay, thus confirming their opinion that now the ancient prophecy was accomplished, and an end was put to those mysteries which were instituted and observed to keep alive among mankind the expectation of the promised seed.

In drawing this analogical proof to a close, we would observe that the mysteries of Bacchus were performed in Palestine among the Canaanites,* and that on one of the sculptured Sarcophagi of the early christians, a bacchanalian scene, as typifying christian truth, is represented.†

It has therefore been well said that mythology is full of the exploits of the Son of God.

FORTH Comes Socinus, pranked in learning's pride,
Prepared the ways of Gon supreme to scan,-
Saying the SAVIOUR, whom men crucified,

Was but a "creature-prophet," but a man

*See Encyclopedia Britannica. 7th ed. vol. xv. pp. 659, 664, 663, and Gales Court of the Gentiles, vol. I.

†See the Church in the Catacombs, p. 183.