Classical Theology.—Xvii.

tically to wash their minds and keep their thoughts undefiled , without which , on being presented , they would by no means be accepted . The divine mysteries were then unfolded to them out of a book that derived its name from a certain stone , Awirerri , sent from heaven , orTJerpa , that is " rock , " because the tablet was two stones fixed together . The archpriest questioned then of their fasting , cleanlinessand proper

pre-, 2 > aration . They were then passed on , enjoined to keej ) silence , and conducted to their place . These preliminaries ended , strange objects presented themselves before their sight ; sometimes the edifice shook as it were with thunder : there was amazing darkness , which gave place suddenly to resplendent , radiant and vivid light . Sometimes there were

heard in the darkness terrible bowlings ancl whispering voices ; or a lurid glimmering arose by which became visible dismal appalling shapes and shadowy apparitions , dreadfully affrighting ancl confusing the astonished and trembling beholders . At other times were seen the forms of those beings that were thought to be of the bright

Elysian shades , and sometimes the Pasithea , 'Ceres , and Despoina , " the Lady , " made their appearance . The mysteries commenced on the fifteenth of tho month Boedromion . Upon the first day the worshippers met ; tho second day they were commanded to purify themselves by bathing in the sea ; because the ancients considered , as did the Jews , that for the purpose of purification there was

greater virtue in salt water than in fresh . On the third day they offered sacrifices , chiefly of millet and barley , on account of such grain being thought to have been the first sown , and held so sacred in that respect that the priests were not suffered to partake of it . The fourth day was devoted to solemn processions , wherein the holy basket of Ceres was carried in a cardecorated with the emblems of the goddess

, , tlie people shouting— " Hail , Ceres ! " The basket was made of reeds , sti-aw , and flowers , ancl contained , as did other baskets borne by women following the car , seeds , salt , wool , a serpent , pomegranates , poppies , pulse , and a sesamium or cake made of sesamin , virgin honey ancl oil , called by the Greeks tydols . The fifth was known as the torch day . The sixth

had its name from Iacchus ( laitxoe ) , the hero having accompanied the goddess in her search after Proserpina , who some say was his sister . Upon the seventh day were sports ; the prizes were simply oaken crowns and measures of the sacred barley ; the fame of the victors was the great reward . The eighth was in honour of iEsculapius coming to Athens and

being initiated . Upon the ninth and last clay of the festival , although wine was forbidden to its votaries , two earthen vessels filled with ifc were placed one towards the east , the other towards the west , and after some repetitions of occult forms aud mystical words , they were both poured out upon the ground as an offered libation to _\ vf . igrgp quasi r ?; u ? jrr , ) p , or Terra Mater , the earth mother .

Although by the Athenians the Eleusiiiian festivals or sacrifices were celebrated every fifth year , by others they were variously kept . To publish any of the secrets concerning them was a crime ; whence the saying levelled at the close and silent Attica Eleusinia . The garments worn at initiation were supers ' titiously esteemed sanctified , and efficacious against evilsspellscharmsand incantations therefore they

, , , ; were never cast off until they were in tatters , nor even then thrown away , bufc converted into swaddling-bands to avert ailments and the effects of witchcraft on their children ; or they were reserved for wounds , or else as we have previously mentioned , were consecrated to Ceres and Proserpine . There Were the XXoua , Fylaia , Flavalia , and many other festivals in

honour of Ceres . In the city of Patras , on the coast of Achaia , not far from a grove sacred to Apollo , there was a temple dedicated to Ceres , in ivhich were three statues , one of Proserpina , and one of Vesta , standing on either side of Ceres sitting upon a throne . _ This temple had a fountain , by whose aid oracles concerning the sick were delivered and considered famous for

Classical Theology.—Xvii.

their truthful predictions . A mirror , suspended by a string , was lowered till its face just touched the surface of the water . Prayers and incense were then offered to the enthroned goddess ; this done , the votaries looked upon the glass , ancl from the aspects of the images therein represented , prognosticated concerning the fate of the patient .

Masterpieces Of The Architecture Of Different Nations.

MASTERPIECES OF THE ARCHITECTURE OF DIFFERENT NATIONS .

BY J . G . LEGRAND . THE entablature ivith which the doors of the edifices oi Persepolis are decorated , prevails not only on their openings , but also on their exterior sides , as may be seen ; these doors have , consequently , never been attached to the parts in immediate contiguity with them ;* they are generally isolated and detached from the walls in whicli are found kinds of

windows ; people entered on all sides as by the bay of these doors ; accordingly the doors formed a kind of singular portico , open on all sides , + ancl without any other shelter from the rain and the sun than the thickness of the fabrics themselves , which is frequently six or seven feet . The windows seem everywhere to have been equally as useless as the doors ; ancl if , in some places , recesses were contrived from six to seven feet in size , they were , perhaps , intended to serve as a retreat for those to whom was confided

the guardianship of those places , ivhere everything appears to contradict the usages elsewhere employed . These ancient edifices are of the same kind as that of which the remains are still subsisting in Media , where the construction jiasses as the work of the Kaous , or Giants . J This latter structure is formed of enormous stones arranged on a circular planlike those of Stonehenge , § in the county

, of Wiltshire , in England , both no less different , in their distribution , from the edifices of Persepolis , whicli are upon a quadrilateral plan , than resembling them , inasmuch as , like them , they were open on all sides , ancl without any kind of covering . The art employed in somethe sumpfcuousness of their

, marbles , the richness of their sculptures , and the variety of their inscriptions contrasting with the rudeness ancl simplicity of others , announce them to be the work of a time less ancient than that in which were raised the monuments

of Stonehenge ancl of Media . The majestic uniformity of the latter , dating back to the night of those ages , in which existed the cradle of the arts , has , in that aspect , something more imposing than all the grandeur with which pride has decorated these great edifices . The buildings of Persepolis not having been constructed to be inhabited , ]] cannot be the palace built in the time ot

Cambyses , 1 T which Alexander destroyed about three ages after . This is , by itself , quite enough to get them recognized as temples , if the ornaments , which have been preserved along with them , did not attest still more conclusively this important fact . Of about thirteen hundred figures which have been counted in these ruins by Corneille le Bruyn , there is