Classical Theology.

CLASSICAL THEOLOGY .

II . —VENUS ASD APRIL . TJIE classical celestial of this month is the world famed beautiful Venus . As soon as she was born , or had sprung from the froth of the sea , the Nerinre , that is , mermaids or marine nymphs , laid her , like a pearl , in a shell in the place of a cradle ; and Zephyrus came and gently wafted her upon the island of Cyprus , or rather Cythera .

Hence she gained her name of Cytherea , as she did afterwards that of Venus from her beauty , or , as Tully says , from love , " because all things are subject to the laws of love . Bo that as it may , the daughters of the sun , the sweet and smiling Hora , tenderly received her , placed her in their bosoms , nursed , educated , and adorned her ; andon her attaining her adolescencecarried her into heavenand

, , , presented her before the gods , who at first were so much enamoured and enraptured with her beauty , that they all wanted to marry her . Howbeit let none be over vain of their personal charms . She was at last betrothed to Vulcan , who was cast out of heaven for his ugliness , and afterwards became his wife . This but too often is the sorrowful fate of some belle , coquette , or arrogant beauty ; she is

abandoned by her honourable lovers ; she has made her " beauty to be abhorred ; " sooner or later she is even glad among the deformed and the wicked to find one who will have her ; yet , nevertheless , it

likewise shows that love pays no regard to persons . Let us take a glance at Venus as she is represented with two cupids by her side , and the handsome youth Adonis supporting the train of her royal purple mantle all glittering with , diamonds . Docs she not , as the very personification , nay , indeed , as the very same , remind us of the lady " arrayed in purple and scarlet colours , and decked with

gold and preeious stones and pearls , " described in the Apocalypse ? And , furthermore , this too may be said of her , exactly as it was against Aholibah , " As is the mother so is the daughter . " For certainly the sea , of which the goddess of love was born , has never shipwrecked men and their estates to the extent that Venus has done . Throughout the Scriptures there is one continuous warning voice raised

terribly denouncing her . She was one of the bright host of heaven , so called , whose image was graven . But , whether in the high place , or in the valley , or wherever else—at the corner of every street , or under every green tree—the idol and its worshippers were to be found—they called forth the wrath of that warning voice . Not more certainly did the eloquent lyre of Arion accomplish its

object than has the silent tear of beauty gained its cuds . It is related of the emperor Augustus ( more wise than gallant [ of soul ) that he was more afraid to encounter Venus in the charms of Cleopatra than to meet death face to face on the battle field . Ho refused to see her when