T793' observatioHt on the EdJa, i^ 



fables and extravagant stones hinted at in the foregoing 

 abridgement of the Edda, bear such a similarity to the my- 

 thological fables of the Hindus, and other Asiatic nations, 

 many of which have been lately brought to light by the re- 

 searches of the Europeans in Asia j and these are so like to 

 the fables of the Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Greeks, 

 as to give a strong indication that they must all 

 have had one common origin. To discover the origin of 

 this universal coincidence in such a seemint^ly unnatural 

 jibcrration of the human mind, would afford matter for a very 

 curious investigation. By the foregoing very brief analysis 

 of the Edda, wh$n compared with other early tales of na- 

 tions, the fact is incontestibly proved ; and it appears to be 

 one of the most singular facts respecting man that has 

 yet been brought to light. 



Let us not, however, plume ourselves with the notion 

 that the natural faculties of man, at a distant period, 

 were weaker than those we now enjoy, although many of 

 the writings that have been preserved to us appear absurd. 

 Wc all know that certain moral causes have a power of 

 influencing the mind to an astonlfhing degree, and of 

 over ruling its natural powers at certain times, so as to 

 induce peculiar modes of thinking and of reasoning, even 

 among the wisest men, that at another period appear to 

 have been the most childifh and absurd imaginable. Per- 

 haps few of the human race was ever endowed with natu- 

 ral faculties of superior energy to those of Duns ScJtuj ; 

 yet his finest reasoning wc now deem but quibbles : and 

 what can appear to be more absurd than the reveries of 

 Swedenburgh, who was allowed to be a man of talents far 

 exceeding those of the common race of men. These are 

 proofs that the human mind is at the present day equally 

 liable to err as in former times j and the Proverbs of So- 

 lomon afford a clear incontestible evidence that 



