Classical Theology. Apollo And May.

nations , near and far , resorted to him , until , we may truly say , all called him " the oracle of all the earth . " This was the state of things when Augustus Ctesar was the second Eoman en ^ eror , and Herodes Magnus , who slow the infants , was King of Juctaa , when tyrants could torture and murder whom they desired out of spite or at their leasure

p , ancl there was no real jurisdiction that could save the innocent from their passions , nor any religion that was a check upon those passions , no visible aid , no Almighty hand ancl outstretched arm—till there arose one who was to be the Saviour

ol mankind m more ways than one , through whom , from age to age , the human race is becoming more and more harmonized by his beautiful laws , ancl more like the angels which regeneration will make us—Jesus hominum Salvator . There is an old Latin saying , quot hominesiot sententice , which , to our ideas , has some general and particular truth in it , for

with many men there are certainly very often many opinions —none more striking ancl various than those respecting religion and politics . As to the first , this would not be the case were it not mystified b y its exponents ; as to tho second , it must always be so while men and times continue to alter . In the former we see progressin the latter we find change

, ; fc ) that improved ancl great end we must till come at last as ive survive the refining , purifying , and momentous translations which must and can be acquired if they are wished to be attained and if we are determined to have them .

Some etymologists derive the word Pythia from the serpent Python ; others from the Greek verb , to consult , irvOeaOcu , or which is perhaps more correct , from llvQw , a name of the city of Delphi . But be its origin what it may , this oracle was very ancient ; it was established at least a hundred years prior to the Trojan Avar , when the goddess Themis first gave ihe here

responses , but afterwards resigned that privilege to Apollo . In early times the Pythian games were celebrated every nine years ; eventually they took place every five years . In the contest of the flute , which was instituted by the Amphictyons , they played the JlvOimt VOJWL in memory of Apollo ' s famous victory over the serpent of TivOto—according

to some antiquarians , this mode had six parts . Their dance was divided into five parts , regulated by the lyre . Combats , horse racing , and chariot racing , formed a conspicuous part of these games , part of which took place in April , and part in May . . Che prize of the musical performances was cither in silver or gold . But at the gymnastics , the conqueror considered his

crown of simple laurel or branch of palm the greater prize . Also , at the Pythian games there wero prizes for intellectual merit . It will be seen that these games must have been spectacles of great utility and interest . The oracles were not all delivered in anything like the same manner ; in some places they were by interpretation

or dreams , or by events , or the answer was written in verse or in prose , that is , at first mostl y in verse , as a poet was a synonymous appellation for a prophet ; at other times the gods themselves revealed their decrees by voice , or as wc should say by simulated voices , after tho manner of the false

prophets . Those who consulted the Del phic oracle wero obliged to bring great and costly presents , and therefore , as we have implied before , this temple was richer than any other , whence the ' < wealth ^ of Apollo" became a saying . They also offered sacrifices . The care of these sacrifices was nuclei- a committee of live priests , called " Oo ™ ., which means " The Holy ; " who Avere ministers of tho Pythoness , of whom wo read that she

only fell asleep near it . On the cover of the tripod , which was placed close to the mouth of the cave , the Pythia usually sat ; but if so , she could not havo been in that state of fury , with "dishevelled hair and foaming mouth , " occasioned by the intoxicating nature of the air damp , or gas , emitted from the cave ' s mouth , as some writers have stated . ISTo modern

traveller has discovered this chasm and vapour . Besides the Delian oracle was only one of the five celebrated oracles mentioned by Herodotus , which wero consulted by Croesus iu preference to many others , aud we read not of any intoxicating exhalations in their temples . But to those who know what " reading thoughts" meanour explanation of a

, Pythonissa as a woman possessed with a spirit of soothsaying , or of a familiar spirit , as the word implied , will go far to elucidate the thorough particulars of the case , ancl of the theosophy we have in review . We give to Tally the honour of having " supposed the vapour ; " his followers " saw it . "

was not sometimes above a bribe . However , these oracles wcre _ deemed proverbiall y infallible . They tell us of old that in the PyUdum or sanctuary of this temple there was a deep well or cavern , from which issued a thin , pale vapour , that rose high into the air . The cave was on Mount Parmissus ; those who breathed its exhalations were suddenl y seized with poetic rapture or a divine enthusiasm , futurity opened to their view ; they were among the poets if they

The Family Of The Guns.

THE FAMILY OF THE GUNS .

THE interesting but unainiable individuals indicated by the heading of this paper , are of insatiable appetite , have been concerned in many evil designs , and have been by turns the agents of monarch and conspirator . They assume various forms , but are charged with inborn wickedness . The very birds of the air start with instinctive dread as they passnor

, is the eagle less terrified than the vagrant crow in . the fallow . They cat up every green thing , every living thing , every monument , every memorial of virtue or honour . They break into the house of pieace , destroy the firstborn of domestic love , corrupt the-springs of human action , and stamp ont under their remorseless tread the sacred flame that feeds the lamp

of charity . The name of the father of these fiends is War ; and we cannot do better than turn our attention to his ancestors , who are well known and very much prized by his regal and plebeian clients . When the ancient of the human race invoked the aid of this terrible ally , he was by no means so dangerous as he has

since become . Men were first prone to carry out his behests with their fists , ancl nothing much camo of such operations beyond rather copious , but comparatively harmless , bloodletting . The use of clubs , spears , stone throwing , and other malignant innovations was not long in becoming pretty general . But these were not sufficient to satisfy the genius of destruction . He must have weapons that should strike his foe

to death at a distance . Ihe sling , tho dart impelled by tho hand , the long bow and the cross bow , directed b y the practised eye and worked hy strong arms , gifted with deadly aim , soon became the favourites of the war demon , ancl he was pleased that his pupils were no longer content with doingbodily injury to their nei ghbours , but succeeded in killing

them outright . That grim ascetic , old Eoger Bacon , will have a great deal to answer for , Ave fancy , when as wc arc told , ancl firmly believe , the spirits who repose from the battle of life before they shall be summoned to receive the award due to their actions hero beloAV , will bo again living witnesses of the

consequences of that unlucky combination of chemicals which goes to make up what iu our days is known as gunpowder There Avas a Bartolomco Schwartz too , another monk , who first suggested tho application of this trinity of destruction against human beings . The learned have not very faithfully chronicled the progress which this discovery made , but thoy

are pretty well agreed upon certain main facts . Thus it seems to be generally thought that the great cam or cannon , as ho is frequently called ( for he deli ghts in a plurality of names like many others of our time ) became the object of special attention somewhere about the year 1535 , in the reign of the good Queen Bess , who patted him with her white hand more frequently than it has been customary for ladies of her rank to do since , or had ever been before . It