80 



It would seem, however, that this extension of the Olympian my- 

 thology, was but an import of short and partial fashion, and that sun- 

 worship, the purest and most justifiable species of Heathenism, as we 

 have seen it had previously attached peculiar sanctity to Ireland, at 

 a period when it was exclusively known to the Phoenicians, 



{Sacram sic insulam 

 Dixere Prisci,*) 



was again triumphant over the idolatry, into which politer nations 

 were plunged. The following testimony of Diodorus Siculus would 

 seem to go far towards confirming this : *' Among the writers of an- 

 tiquities, Hecateus-f and some others allege, that there is an island in 

 the ocean, over against Gaul, to the North, and not inferior in size 

 to Sicily ; that the Hyperhorei inhabit it, and that the soil is so rich 

 and fruitful, and the climate so congenial, that they mow there twice 



*^ji/e, p. 31. 



•}- " Hecateus et nonnulli alii trad unt, contra GalUam in oceano insulam esse non minorem Sicilid, 

 Arctis subjectam, quainHyperhoreiincolunt. * * * Solum hie optimum esse acfructuosumopti- 

 meque temperatum, ac propterea bis in anno messem fieri. Latonam hie natam fabulantur. Ideo- 

 que ApoUini prae diis aliis cultum deferri, et quia Deum hunc quotidie perpetua laudum decan- 

 tatione celebrant, et summis persequuntur honoribus, homines illos velut sacerdotes Apollinis 

 esse perhibent, cujus lucus ibi magnificus, et templum insigne rotunda forma donariis multis ex- 

 Ornatum. (vasn a.\ttXtyti ict»6tifc»s-i TTsAAei; KiKtirnrifiifct r^ai^itixt tu <r;^it^«Ti.) Urbs quoque Deo 

 huic sacra. Civium plerique citharista (xf^ajfo-ras,) qui citharis in fano pulsantes sacros Deo 

 hymnos cuntant, quibus gesta ejus honorifice prsedicantur. Lingua Ilyperboreis propria, {I'Sicv 

 rifx hit>.iKTov,) et singulari Graecis benevolentia ex antiquis inde temporibus confirmata ad- 

 dicti sunt, in primis Atheniensibus et Deliis. Quum Graecorum nonnullos ad Hyperboreas 

 trajecisse, et donaria reliquisse Grsecis literis inscripta, fabulantur. Sie et Abarin quondam in 

 Groeciam inde profectum, pristinae cum Deliis amicitiae et cognationis necessitudinem reno- 

 vasse. Hoc insuper memorant Lunam ex hac insula ita conspici ut parum a terra distet, et 

 terrestres quosdam tumulos in facie representet. Deumque Apollinem undevigenis annis 

 semel insulam adire, quo spatio Astrorum in pristina loca revolutiones perficiantur; ideoque 

 xix annorum circuitum magnum a Grajcis annum vocari. In hac Deum apparitione cithara 

 psallere nocte et choreas agitare continue ab a;quinoctio verno ad Pleiadum usque exortum, 

 buorum se laudibus successuum oblectantem." — Died. Sic. torn. 1. p. 158-9. It seemed pre- 

 ferable to give this long extract from the Latin version. 



