Classical Theology.—Xltv.

CLASSICAL THEOLOGY . —XLTV .

LONDOW , SATVBDAY , AVG-TJST 17 , 1801 .

X . —TESTA AND DECE - MBEB . Gryges , King of Lydia , is said to liave possessed a ring , so very similar in its properties to the famous signet of Solomon , that it may he fairly doubted whether the same Eastern legend is not the origin of both . He found it on the hand of a dead iantwhose carcase

g , was enclosed in a brazen sarcophagus of the form of a , horse . This strange tomb ( Herodotus tells us ) was discovered by G-yges in a deep chasm of the earth , where it was thought to have lain from the foundation of the world . By turning this ring , as he Avore it , towards the palm of the handhe discovered its magic power of

, making him invisible to those around , vriiile , at the same time , he himself could both hear and see them . Through the aid of this he obtained access to the wife of Candaules , King of Lydia , completing his crime by the murder of his royal master , and the usurpation of his crown .

Enchanted finger hoops , signets , and charm rings were constructed under the influence of their supposed material genius or elementary nature , duly invoked in accordance Avith the position of certain celestial bodies . Divination by rings of this description Avas not the same as by ordinary rings , which were called A B / croAo / tau-re . a This is thought by Photiusin his Bibliotlieeato have

, , been the invention of Helena , the consort of Menelaus , in reference to her having discovered rovSm Sain-iKav n \ ypov the lots consisting of rings . Tet this may be regarded as appertaining more to the hazard of casting lots than as a form of any diA'ination . In these divinations called irijAo . uSyreio ; and y $ po / j . avTiia ,

ly fountain and common water , the celebrants clipped a mirror in one of the two waters , and by the figures exhibited on its surface—caused from the draining and evaporation of the moisture ( someAvhat resembling fortune-telling out of a tea cup)—they predicted the demise or recovery of a sick person or other future

events . Sometimes a ring attached to a thread was let down and poised within the middle of a bowl after prayecs to the gods , embodying Avhat was required to be known , and asking Avhether the wished for 6 A ent would happen ; the ring thereupon , if propitious , of its oivn

accord , struck against the inward side of the A essel a certain number of times . At other times they threw pieces of Avood , slate , or stones , with magical characters or questions Avritten upon them into a basin of waterafter a settled form of adjuration . The invoked demon , if agreeable to the inquiry , ansAvered them out of the water in a IOAV voice . Thus Ave see that in every age there

have been simpletons inviting the pratices of the adepts who live by gulling them . The mysterious divinations we have been describing AA'ere of course produced by legerdemain and ventriloquism of the simplest description , yet they had power to enlist the credulous on their sideancl produce both pelf and privileges to the

, jugglers Avho exhibited them . Let us , however , in this enlightened nineteenth century , not be forward to claim too great a superiority over these benighted ancients , while we find thousands in our own age ready to swallow the frauds and lies of the " spiritualists " and " rapping " humbugs with their bodiless hands and voices .

Wine and oil were sometimes used instead of water , and consequently termed x ^ A-a , in which case plates of silver and gold were substituted for the pieces of wood , slates , stones , & c . The name of this divination , teKavopavThv ., is supposed to be as ancient as the Trojan

war , and to been practised hy Ulysses , in which respect it may afford some explanation of his visit to Tiresias in Tartarus , or some region more Elysian . In the faSjiojuwTCKx , a sounding or voicing out of the belly , large round glasses were filled Avith pure AA ater , and surrounded b y li g hted torches . Set prayers to

summons a demon Avere muttered , and some innocent boy , or a woman near child-bearing , was charged AA'ith the careful observance of the glasses , who all the while was to supplicate the attention and supernatural co-operation of the conjured demon . The friendly assistance of the particular devil requested to officiate

Avas indicated by various cloudy representations occurring in the AA ater contained in the glasses , and the interpretation thereof announced by the boy or woman acting as the organ of the spiritual individual , via deinoniaeus , after the manner of one possessed with a spirit . In Lane ' s Modern Egyptians , is a well-known description of a precisely similar form of conjuring AA hich

obtained m Cairo at the date of his work . There an innocent boy Avas taken by the , seer , into whose hand the magician poured some ink , and after sundry adjurations , called upon the lad to relate Iris visions in answer to the questions of the Europeans present . "What the boy saw in the ink , or at any rate what he described , did not give the listeners a very exalted opinion of the

magic power of the operator . In fact they told him ( as far as we recollect ) that he Avas a humbug , AA hile he attributed his failure to the fact that he had stooped to exhibit his art before infidels . In many faseinalia or magic rites , sculls , and other dead men ' s bones were made use of , and designed into

symbols and descriptive characters to decorate the pall oi" the table , at Avhich , upon occasions , was administered the venerium itself—the BeAexioi / < pi \ rpoy , or Avhat else it may be called . Such Avere the " brewed enchantments " of which Milton , in his Comus , speaks . The same author has described this venrap , not as the feigned drink of the gods , but as a nectar of incantation , eruditely incorporealised as follows : —

" And first behold this cordial julep here , That flames , and dances in his crystal bounds , With spirits of balm , and fragrant syrups mixed . Hot that Nepenthes , which the Avife of Thone , In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena , Is of such power to stir up joy as this , To life so friendly , or so cool to thirst . "

Circe , although a daughter of Sol ( for there is no accounting sometimes for the vices of children , especially amongst the gods ) , is considered the most proficient of all sorceresses ; she was banished b y her subjects , the Sarmafc , for poisoning her husband , the King of Sarmatia , and taking refuge in Italyshe established her seat upon the

, hill Circeiuin . Here she fell wantonl y in love A \ r ith a sea god or hero , called Gflaucus , who at the same time was deeply enamoured of Scylla-, the daughter of Phorcus . This rival , Circe , with certain charms , artfully got rid of by poisoning the water in which she used to wash herselfwhereby she became transformed into a sea

, monster , or the monstrous rock still knoAvn by her name . Indeed , as an enchantress , the skill of Circe was so great thatitis said she drew down the very starsfrom heaven , and coidd call forth the appearance of a blazing or wandering luminary . Marcareus , Polites , Elpenor , and Eurylochus were sent hy Ulysses to Circe , Queen of Circeum * and