THE WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. 35 



other remote nation, though not perhaps in the 

 same climate. 



CCELUM, OR BEGINNINGS. 



We have it from the poets by tradition, that 

 Coelum was the ancientest of the gods, and that his 

 members of generation were cut off by his son Saturn, 

 Saturn had many children, but devoured them as 

 soon as they were born ; Jupiter only escaped, who 

 being come to man s estate, thrust Saturn his father 

 into hell, and so usurped the kingdom. Moreover, 

 he pared off his father s genitals with the same 

 faulchion that Saturn dismembered Ccelum, and cast 

 them into the sea, from whence came Venus, Not 

 long after this, Jupiter, being scarce settled and 

 confirmed in this kingdom, was invaded by two me 

 morable wars : the first of the Titans, in the sup 

 pressing of which Sol, who alone of all the Titans 

 favouring Jupiter s side, took exceeding great pains. 

 The second was of the giants, whom Jupiter himself 

 destroyed with thunderbolts ; and so all wars being 

 ended, he reigned secure. 



This fable seems enigmatically to shew from 

 whence all things took their beginning, not much 

 differing from that opinion of philosophers, which 

 Democritus afterwards laboured to maintain, attri 

 buting eternity to the first matter and not to the 

 world ; in which he comes somewhat near the truth 

 of divine writ, telling us of a huge deformed mass, 

 before the beginning of the six days work. 



The meaning of the fable is this : by Ccelum may 



