Ulysses was come into his dominions, it was Chryses' place to offer the sacrifice, and not Ulysses'. There were in ancient times many little islands, and small tracts of land, where civil government was not set up in form; but the inhabitants lived together in peace and quiet, by and under the direction of some very eminent person, who ruled them by wise admonitions, and by teaching them religion; and the governors of these countries affected rather the name of priests than kings. Thus Jethro is called by Moses not the king, but the priest of Midian; and thus Chryses is called the priest of Apollo, at Chrysa, and not the king of Chrysa; though both he and Jethro were the governors of the countries where they lived. If at any time they and their people came to form a political society, upon more express terms and conditions; then we find these sort of persons called both priests and kings; and in this manner Melchisedec was king of Salem, and priest of the most high GOD, and Anius was king of Delos, and priest of Apollo. These small states could have but little power to support themselves against the incroachment of their neighbours. Their religion was their greatest strength; and it was their happiest circumstance, that their kings or governors were conspicuous for their religion, and thought 'sacred by their neighbours, being reputed in an eminent sense to be high in the favour of the GoD, whom they particularly worshipped; so as to render it dangerous for any to violate their rights, or to injure the people

Gen. xiv. 18.

d

d Virgil. Æn. 3, ver. 80.

under their protection, as the Grecians are said to have experienced, when they refused to restore Briseis to her father.·

It is thought by some very judicious writers, that the word Lapsus is sometimes used for a person, who was not, strictly speaking, a priest, but a diviner from the entrails of victims. Thus Achilles in Homer, when the pestilence raged in the Grecian camp, advised

τινα μαντιν ερειομεν η εργα

Η κι ονειροπόλον "

to send for either a uals or Prophet, or an geus, or an oveρomoλos, a diviner by dreams, to inform them how to appease Apollo. But I imagine that the Igaus here mentioned, was some one of these insular priests or kings, of whom all their neighbours had a high opinion, for their great skill in matters of religion; upon which account they used to be frequently sent to, or sent for, as the occasion of their neighbour-states required the assistance of their advice and direction. Such a king and priest was Rhamnes in Virgil,*

Rex idem, et regi Turno gratissimus augur.

Amongst the true worshippers of GoD, some persons were very signally distinguished from others by extraordinary revelations of GoD's will made to them. Abraham was received by Abimelech as a Prophet;

e Homer II. 1.

Gen. xx. 7.

VOL. II.

N

f En. 9, ver. 327.

and Gon was pleased to make his will known to these persons by visions or by dreams," and sometimes by audible voices and divine appearances. And when any persons were known to be thus highly favoured of GOD; kings and great men paid regard to them, and were willing to consult them upon difficulties and emergent occasions; and were glad to have them, not to sacrifice for them, which there was no occasion they should do, but to pray for them; for their prayers were thought more than ordinarily available with GOD; and this order of men, namely the Prophets, are frequently mentioned in Scripture. Now, as GoD was pleased to distinguish his true servants by the gifts of prophecy; so in all the heathen nations divers persons intimated these powers, and made it their business in various manners by art and study to qualify themselves to know the will of their gods, and to discover it to men. Persons, thought to be thus qualified, were in every kingdom retained by kings and rulers; of if they had them not at hand, they sent for them upon occasion to direct in emergent affairs, and difficult circumstances. Balaam the son of Beor had the character of a Prophet, in the nations round about the place where he lived; and therefore Balak, in his distress about the Israelites, sent for him to Pcthor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, and when Balaam was come to Balak, Balak was ordinarily the sacrificer; and Balaam's em

Numb. xii. 6. Numb, xxii.

⚫ Gen. xx. 7.

m

ployment was, to report to him any revelation which GoD should please to make him about the Israelites.' Thus when the chiefs of Greece offered their sacrifices, Calchas attended, and explained an omen, which put them in great surprise. " In length of time, the number of the heathen prophets encreased greatly; there were many of them iu Egypt in the days of Moses, and of several orders;" and there were four orders of them at Babylon, in the time of Daniel, namely, the Chartummim or magicians, the Ashapim or astrologers, the Chasdim or Chaldeans, and the Mechasépim or sorcerers. But they were not numerous in Greece until after the times, which I am to treat of; for when Agesilaus was made king of Sparta, about A. M. 8600, which is above three hundred years after the building of Rome, and near as much later than the time where I am to end this undertaking; when Age silaus was to offer the sacrifices for the city, he had only one alis or Prophet attending to inform him of what might be revealed to him at the time of his sacrifices, as Agamemnon in Homer is described to have had at the Trojan war. There was another sort of officers attending upon the sacrifices, called the xngxes, or in Latin Præcones; whose business was to call together the people, when assemblies were appointed, and they were frequently sent ambassadors, or rather as heralds from state to state; and they assisted at sacrifices in dividing the victims, and dis

1 Numb. xxiii. 30.

1

in II. 2.

Exod. vii. 11.

• Dan. ii. 2.

posing the several parts of the offering in due form upon the altar," before the priests kindled the fire to burn it. But I cannot find any reason to think that the Greeks had, at the time when Rome was built, so many persons set apart to attend upon the religious. offices, as even Romulus appointed at the first building of his city.

If we go into Asia: as men were planted there, and cities built, and governments established earlier than in Greece; so we find, as I just now hinted, that the wise men of Babylon were numerous in the days of Daniel. When they began there, I cannot say; but I am, apt to think their first rise was from Belus the Egyptian, the son of Neptune and Libya, who travelled from Egypt, and carried with him a number of the Egyptian priests, and obtained leave to sit down at Babylon, where the king, who then ruled there, gave them great encouragement upon account of their skill in astronomy. Of this Belus I shall speak more hereafter. His coming to Babylon was about the time of Moses: but I would observe, that the kings of these nations had not parted with their priesthood in the days of Cyrus; for Xenophon is very express in his accounts of that prince's performing the public sacrifices, in many places. '

Egypt was the parent of almost all the superstitions which overflowed the world; and it is particularly remarked that the priests in the most ancient times were more numerous here, and far more magnificently

P Homer. Il. in loc. var.

9 See book viii. Lib. de Cyropæd. lib. 2. lib. 3, lib. 8, &c.