In raptur'd strains thy praise was hymn'd of old,* 

 And still resounds on Ganges' faithful shores. -j- 



Within thy fair corolla's full-blown bell:|: 

 Long since th' immortals fix'd their fond abode ; 



There day's bright source, Osiris,^ lov'd to dwell; 

 While by his side enamour'd Isis glow'd. 



saitli he often did eate of the fruite of a certaine herbe growing in a great brooke or lake, two or three courses or miles lono, on the north- 

 west side of Fettipore, which is about twelve courses from Agra, in the dominions of the great Mogoll, called Surrat or Guzurrat, in the East 

 Indies, which the people call Camolachachery, describing it to be like a goblet, flat at the head, containing divers nuts or akornes within it. 

 I have here set downe these things, as well to show you mine owne observations after Clusius and otheis, that assuredly this is the true Faha 

 Mgyptica of the ancients, as to provoke some of our nation to be as industrious as the Hollanders, by whose care in their travels this was first 

 made known to us, to search out such rare fruites as grow in the parts of their abode, and either communicate them to such as are expe- 

 rienced, or having penned them to publish their labours in print, if it may be, which I hold to be better, according to Mr. Fincham's example, 

 whose observations ha v^e given so great an illustration in this matter, as well as in other things, by me also remembered elsewhere in this 

 worke." 



* Paganism at first arose from gratitude, and the adoration of this flower, as will be presently shown, proceeded chiefly from this cause. 

 Among the Egyptians, animals as well as flowers, which were useful, were among the objects of worship. Cicero judiciously remarks, " that 

 no animals were held sacred by the Egyptians, but such as merited regard from their extraordinary utility." The same sentiment holds ex- 

 actly with regard to their sacred plants. 



" iEgyptii nullam belluam, nisi ob aliquam utilitatem quam ex ea caperent, consecrarunt velut Ibes, maximam vim serpentium confici- 

 unt, cum sint-aves excelsae, cruribus rigidis, corneo proceroque rostro; avertunt pestem ab iEgypto, cum volucres angues, ex vastitate Lybiaj, 

 vento Africo invectas, interficiunt atque consumunt, ex quo fit ut illse nee morsu vivae noceant nee odore mortuae; eam ob rem invocantur ab 

 ^gyptiis Ibes." Cic. de Nat. Deor, lib. 1. 



The idols belonging to the aborigines Egyptians were birds, and beasts, and plants, which the Phoenicians altered, by adding a man's head 

 or body, and thence formed those motley deities, commonly considered as the Egyptian deities. Vide Origin of Hieroglyphics and the My- 

 thology of the Ancients, by the Bishop of Clogher, p. 14. 



The only objection urged against this opinion, so favourable to the ancient Egyptian superstition, is the worship of the crocodile. " The 

 inhabitants of Thebes consider the crocodile as a sacred animal. One of these creatures is rendered tame, and attended with the greatest care 

 and veneration. His food is prescribed and regulated according to the directions in their sacred books. He is adorned with earrinos made of 

 gold, and precious stones, as well as a sort of bracelet upon his fore feet," &e. Herodotus. But it is probable he was w^orshipped as the great 

 Typhon, or emblem of destructive power; and it is to be observed, that this superstition was peculiar to Thebes; whereas the Lotos, the 

 Ibis, the Ichneumon, the Cow, &c. were held in superstitious veneration in every part of Egypt. 



•f* When Sir Wilham Jones was at dinner on the borders of the Ganges, some of his people, at his desire, brought him the Nelumbium, 

 when all his Indian attendants immediately fell upon their faces, and paid adoration to this plant. 



J The flower of the Nelumbium is bell-shaped, somewhat resembling our Water Lily, and its flowers are in circles, which as these expand 

 emit a most agreeable odour. 



§ The ancient Egyptians, like the primitive Persians, worshipped the sun and moo7i, or rather their deities, whence so many benefits issued 

 to mankind. We are almost tempted to forgive that superstition which could believe these planets the abodes of a god and a goddess, whom 

 they denominated by the names of Osiris and Iris. They sometimes quitted their supreme abodes, and came down upon earth and enjoyed 

 themselves, by riding on a stately flower above the waters, blown about by the zephyrs ; nor can we much wonder at such superstition, since 

 we have had our fairies, and Anacreon the Greek poet describes Cupid alike diminutive. 



As late I sought the spangled bowers, 

 To cull a wreath of matin flowers, 

 Where many an early rose was weeping, 

 In one I found the urchin sleeping: 

 I caught the boy, a goblet's tide 

 Was richly mantling by my side; 

 I caught him by his doAvny wing, 

 And whelm'd him in the racy spring. 

 Oh! then I drank the poison'd bowl, 

 And love now nestles in my soul; 

 Yes, yes, my soul is Cupid's nest, 

 I feel him fluttering in my breast. 



MooRE. 



Thus the Roman poet Virgil invokes the sun and moOn as deities: 



Vos, O clarissima mundi 



Lumina, labentem coelo qui ducitis annum, 

 Liber, et alma Ceres. 



Lycaon, whose wickedness was fabled to have hastened the destruction of the old world, was the father of Callisto. Her charms engaged 



the affections of Jupiter, but his jealous consort having discovered the amour, changed her into a bear, in which shape she is placed by 



Jupiter 



