OF SERPENTS. 



down — ^^And when they faw ?io harm come to hlm^ they changed 

 their Minds, and /aid he was a God. How came they to alter their 

 Opinion ? Becaufe, apcording to their Divinity, none elfe could 

 thus command, and cc^ntroul a venemous Serpent, which was one 

 of the Me[fengers of the Gods. 



** No venemous Beafts, according to the fabulous Tradition, 

 ** will live in the Ifland, which they afcribe to St. Paul's Blelling, 

 *' when he was fhipwreck'd there/' They fliew the Cave where 

 they pretend he refided, and reckon the Earth of it, an Anti- 

 dote againfl Poifon, 



From this hiflorical Paflage, 'tis evident, that thefe Barbarians 

 did believe a Providence, and the Do(^bine of Divine yujlice, 

 which yujlice they openly adored, under the Name of VindiBa,Qi 

 Nemejis, which was the Goddefs of Revenge, whofe Province was to 

 infpedl the moral Condud: of all Men, and diflribute Rewards 

 and Punifliments as the Cafe required. It was painted in the fame 

 manner as Jufiice^ with a Pair oi Scales in one hand^ and a Sword 

 in the other. 



In Ethiopia, v/e read of a large Country, this fide the Cyna- 

 molgi, that was laid wafle, and entirely depopulated by Scorpions, 

 before whom, the Inhabitants not being able to fland, fled for 

 their Lives. The fame Defolation was made by Scorpions ai- 

 Salamin, an Ifland not far from Athens, called the IJland of Dra- 

 gons, for which Lycophron is quoted *. 



The InhabitantG of Amycla, a Town in Italy, were deflroyed 

 by Serpents, being, as 'tis faid, of the Pythagorean Race, whofe 

 Laws forbid to kill Animals, and by fuffering thefe venemous 

 Creatures, to multiply without Controul, they became infuiFe° 

 rable -f-. 



The Inhabitants of Pefcara, an antient City m Africa, were 

 conflrained to forfake their Habitations in Summer^ by reafon of 

 Scorpions that were very numerous, and in thai Seafon, their Sting 

 moft dangerous: In Winter, when their Wounds v/cre leis dan- 

 gerous, the Refugees returned to their Houles \, 



DIODORUS SICULUS obferves how many Regions Lave 

 been deferted, for this reafon j both People and Cattle b ing 

 driven away by an Army of Scorpions^ and their Allies, 



In 



"^ Conrad. Gefnerds Scorp. i Ibid: ^//, G?5^r. p. 3 i g 



3 



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