fwers; the other, the pure artifice and cheat of the priests of falfe divinities. As to the oracles given out by demons, the reign of Satan was deftroyed by the coming of the Saviour; truth fhut the mouth of lies; but Satan continued his old craft among idolaters. All the devils were not forced to filence at the fame time by the coming of the Meffiah; it was on particular occafions that the truth of chriftianity, and the virtue of chriftians impofed filence on the devils. St. Athanafius tells the pagans, that they have been witneffes themselves that the fign of the crofs puts the devils to flight, filences oracles, and diffipates inchantments. This power of filencing oracles, and putting the devils to flight, is alfo attefted by Arnobius, Lactantius, Prudentius, Minutius Felix, and feveral others. Their teftimony is a certain proof that the coming of the Meffiah had not impofed a general filence on oracles. The emperor Julian, called the Apoftate, confulting the oracle of Apollo in the fuburbs of Antioch, the devil could make him no other anfwer, but that the body of St. Babylas, buried in the neighbourhood, impofed filence on him. The emperor transported with rage and vexation, refolved to revenge his gods, by eluding a folemn prediction of Christ. He ordered the Jews to rebuild the temple of Jerufalem; but in beginning to dig the foundations, balls of fire burft out, and confumed the artificers, with their tools and materials. These facts are attefted by Ammianus Marcellinus, a pagan, and the emperor's hiftorian; and by St. Chryfoftom, St. Gregory Nazianzen, and Theodoret, Sozomen and Socrates, in their ecclefiaftical hiftories. The fophift Libanius, who was an enemy of the chriftians, confeffed alfo that St. Babylas had filenced the oracle of Apollo, in the fuburbs of Antioch. It Plutarch relates, that the pilot Thamus heard a voice in the air, crying out: "The great Pan is dead" whereupon Eufebius obferves, that the accounts of the death of the demons were frequent in the reign of Tiberius, when Chrift drove out the wicked spirits. The fame judgment may be paffed on oracles as on poffeffions. was on particular occafions, by the divine permiffion, that the chriftians caft out devils, or filenced oracles, in the prefence, and even by the confeffion of the pagans themselves. And thus it is we fhould, it seems, understand the paffages of St. Jerom, Eufebius, Cyril, Theodoret, Prudentius, and other authors, who faid, That the coming of Chrift had impofed filence on the oracles. As to the second fort of oracles, which were pure artifices and cheats of the priests of falfe divinities, and which probably exceeded the number of thofe that immediately proceeded from demons, they did not cease till idolatry was abolished, though they had loft their credit for a confiderable time before the coming of Chrift. It was concerning this more common and general fort of oracles, that Minutius Felix faid, they began to difcontinue their refponfes, according as men began to be more polite. But, howfcever decried oracles were, impoftors always found dupes, the groffeft cheats having never failed. Daniel difcovered the impofture of the priests of Bel, who had a private way of getting into the temple, to take away the offered meats, and who made the king believe, that the idol confumed them. Mundus, being in love with Paulina, the eldest of the priesteffes of Ifis, went and told her, that the god Anubis, being paffionately fond of her, commanded her to give him a meeting. She was afterwards fhut up in a dark room, where her lover Mundus, whom fhe believed to be the god Anubis, was concealed. This impofture having been difcovered, Tiberius ordered thofe deteftable priests and priefteffes to be crucified, and with them Idea, Mundus's free-woman, who had conducted the whole intrigue. He alfo commanded the temple of Ifis to be levelled with the ground, her ftatue to be thrown into the Tiber, and, as to Mundus, he contented himfelf with fending him into banishment. Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, not only deftroyed the temples of the falle gods, but difcovered the cheats of the priests, by fhewing that the flatues, fome of which were of brafs, and others of wood, were hollow within, and led into dark paffages made in the wall. Lucian, in difcovering the impoftures of the falfe prophet Alexander, fays, that the oracles were chiefly afraid of the fubtilties of the Epicureans and Chriftians. The falfe prophet Alexander fometimes feigned himself feized with a divine fury, and by means of the herb fopewort, which he chewed, frothed at the mouth in fo extraor dinary a manner, that the ignorant people attributed it to the ftrength of the god he was poffeffed by. He had long before prepared a head of a dragon made of linen, which opened and shut its mouth by means of a horfe's hair.-He went by night to a place where the foundations of a temple were digging, and, having found water, either of a spring or rain that had fettled there, he hid in it a goofeegg, in which he had inclosed a little ferpent, that had been juft hatched. The next day, very early in the morning, he came quite naked into the street, having only a fcarf about his middle, holding in his hand a scythe, and toffing about his hair as the priests of Cybele; then getting a-top of a high altar, he faid that the place was happy to be honoured by the birth of a god.-Afterwards, running down to the place where he had hid the goofe-egg, and going into the water, he began to fing the praises of Apollo and Efculapius, and to invite the latter to come and With these fhew himself to men. words he dips a bowl into the water, and takes out a mysterious egg, which had a god inclosed in it, and when he had it in his hand, he began to fay that he held Efculapius. Whilft all were eager to have a fight of this fine myftery, he broke the egg, and the little ferpent ftarting out, twisted itself about his fingers. Thefe examples fhew clearly, that both chriftians and pagans were fo far agreed as to treat the greater number of oracles as purely human impoftures. Table Table of the quantity of fine filver in a fhilling, from the year 1300 to the year 1695, from a book lately published, intitled, An Hiftorical and Chronological Deduction of the origin of Commerce, &c. Anno 2500 Grains. 1300-XXVIII. Edward I. 1345-XVIII. Edward III. 1354-XXVII. 1421-IX. Henry V. 1422-I. Henry VI. 1509-I. Henry VIII. 1426-IV. 1461-XXXIX, 1543-XXXIV. 1545-XXXVI. 1546-XXXVII. 1550-III. Edward VI. 1552-V.. 1553-VI.. 1601-XLIII. 1560-II. Elizabeth. VOL. VI. Literary and Miscellaneous Effays. Some account of the first inftitution of land. THE of thefe performed any great ex ploits, they made them prefents. From this cuftom the flate reaped many advantages. Thus far this excellent writer; and, I think, we may add, that we had anciently an inftitution of much the fame nature in England, which fully anfwered all the above purpofes. The origin of Knights and their Efquires in this country must be accounted of this fort. They were united by the ftri&teft rules of friendship and affection, they ferved and fought together, and prefents were made from the In the beginning of this differ- Knight to the Efquires, upon pertation his lordfhip introduces the forming fome gallant action. Thus affecting episode of Nifus and Eu- for inftance, out of many examryalus, Vir. Æn. b. 9. and, in ples that might be brought. At his masterly manner, proves their the famous battle of Poitiers, zoth mutual friendship and affection to Edward III. the Black Prince, his have been an ancient civil inftitu- fon, defeated the enemy, though tion, of great utility to the pub- much fuperior in number, and lic, derived at firft from Crete, took the king, the dauphin of and afterwards adopted by all the France, and many of the nobles principal cities of Greece. It was prifoners. James, lord Audley. the custom for every man of diftin- and his four efquires were very inguifhed valour or wisdom to adopt ftrumental in obtaining this victory. fome favourite youth, whofe man- My lord acquainted the prince with ners he took care to form. Thefe the vow he had made to be the first were the great ornaments and fup- in the battle, and defired he might port of their respective cities and have leave to accomplish it. The countries, by introducing fuch a prince confented, and begged, laudable fpirit of emulation. Thefe That God would give him the Lovers, as they were called, and grace to be that day the beft knight the young men, that were formed of all others." Upon this he deunder them, always ferved and parted with his four efquires, broke fought together. And when any through the thickest of the enemy, and and caufed a prodigious flaughter, The prince, charmed with his valour and conduct, fettled upon lord Audley an annual revenue of 500 marks in England, which this lord immediately fettled upon his four efquires. The prince expoftulated with my lord upon his giving away the eftate, and afked him, whether he liked not his bounty, or thought the reward not fufficient. To which this lord replied, "That they all deferved as well as himself, without whofe affiftance, fays he, I, a fingle man, could have done but little." The prince was fo pleased with this anfwer, that he gave him 600 marks per annum more for himself. The names of three of thefe efquires were Mackworth, Delves, and Hawkefton. This proves, that this valiant knight, lord Audley, and his four efquires, were, like Nifus and Euryalus, united by the ftrongest ties of love and friendship, and determined either to live or die by each other. Juftly therefore may Virgil's account of Nifus and Euryalus be applied to them, and it ought to be looked upon as the fame civil inftitution. His amor unus erat, pariterque in bella ruebant. Nifus promifes the whole reward of the adventure to his friend Euryalus; lord Audley gives the whole to his four efquires. This, I think, undeniably proves the inftitution to have been the fame in England as it was in Greece; and I leave it to the officers of our regiments to confider, how far fuch a friendship and attachment, and fuch a strong defre of mutual fupport and aflistance, would contribute to keep up our prefent national spirit of bravery, There is no occafion furely to remark how far our prefent knights and efquires are changed from their original inftitution, when every man that carries up an unmeaning addrefs is dubb'da Knight, and every man that happens to poffefs two or three hundred pounds per annum, expects the mifapplied title of Efquire. W. W. Rife and progress of the English ftage. TH was revived by Shakespear, Fletcher, and Johnfon; and many of Shakespear's and Johnfon's pieces were firft acted by thefe companies. Befides thefe, the queen alfo, at the request of Sir Francis Walfingham, established HE true drama in England Si tibi, quæ pofco, promittunt (nam twelve of the principal players of mihi falti Fama fat eft) &c. &c. Lord Audley would take his four efquires along with him, because that time, with handfome falaries, under the name of her majefty's company of comedians and fervants. There were the common players, who exhibited at the places N 2 already |