2 VIEWS OF THE ANCIENTS. 



ence or being. It has been amply proved by 

 Bryant, Calmet, and other learned etymologists, 

 that the Greek e*l, and the Latin csse, to be, like 

 our words essence and essential, were derived 

 from the Hebrew tPK Esh or Es, the fire ; and 

 that Vesta, the goddess of that element, had her 

 name from the Chaldee Nn&>N Eshta or Esta. 

 They have also shown that the word Dtf Am de- 

 noted both heat and existence, among the early 

 Egyptians ; who, believing it to be the cause of 

 motion and organization throughout nature, in- 

 scribed it on the great door of one of their temples. 

 We are further informed by the learned and 

 philosophical Parkhurst, that the sacred mystical 

 letters In Ie, which were inscribed over the door 

 of the temple at Delphi, dedicated to Apollo, (who 

 was a mythological personation of the sun or solar 

 fire,) were taken from the Hebrew IT Yeh or 

 Yah, signifying existence or being. Nor is it 

 unworthy of notice, that the Greek irvpfire, was 

 derived from the Hebrew "-ns pur, to break, dis- 

 solve, and separate; actions which clearly imply 

 mechanical and material agency. So much for 

 the primitive meaning of words employed by the 

 ancients to represent the essential nature of what 

 is called heat, but which I shall generally de- 

 nominate caloric, for the purpose of distinguishing 

 the cause from the mere sensation of heat. Let 

 us now examine the views which have been enter- 

 tained by the moderns on this important subject. 



