72 Rev. Mr Wixt1ams on the Force of the prefix Ve or Ve 
the mind: hence men are called vecordes, eacordes, concordes ; 
and Scrrro Nasrca acquired the surname of Corculum from his 
prudence *.” On the same principle, the great wisdom of Soxo- 
mon is described as “ a large heart },” the contrary to which 
would of course be expressed, as in the Latin vecordia, by small- 
ness of heart. We have no right to blame the ancients for 
making the heart the organ of intellect, as we are ourselves, 
equally unphilosophically, in making that powerful but senseless 
muscle the source and seat of all our benevolent and malignant 
emotions : while those among us who pride themselves on as- 
signing the several faculties of the mind to their respective or- 
gans, are relapsing into the interminable circle of human errors, 
and make our sense and folly, our benevolence and malignity, 
dependant upon the proportional magnitude of the supposed or- 
gans. 
Vedius, * Pluto, called also Dist,” as we are informed by Mar- 
tianus Capeiya||. One of the most difficult tasks that a scho- 
lar has to perform, is to acquire a distinct idea of the Latin my- 
thology in its pure state, before it was intermixed, and conse- 
quently corrupted, by the wilder and more imaginative inven- 
tions of the priests and poets of Greece. In the hands of the 
latter, Dis, Dios, or Zeus, became exclusively the god of thunder. 
Among the earlier Latins, we find his duties confined to the ope- 
rations of light, and that only during the day. “ The ancients,” 
says Festus, “ called day-lightning Dium fulgur, because they 
attributed it to Jupiter, as night-lightning was attributed to 
* « Aliis cor animus videtur, ex quo vecordes, excordes, concordesque dicuntur, 
et Nasica ille prudens Corcutum.”—Tusce. i. 9. 
+ * And the Lorp gave Soromon largeness of heart.” 
+ Avs, dius, dies, day (originally light); hence daze, dazzle, dawn, longer form 
Dianus, pronounced and written at a later period Janus. 
|| * Vedius, id est Pluton, quem etiam Ditem dixere.”—Lib. ii. p. 40. 
2 
