THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 53 



all the evils incidental to man flew out, and only by quickly shutting 

 down the lid did she manage to retain and prevent the escape of 

 Hope. The promise of recovery, through the destruction of the 

 serpent, may be traced in various legends, classical and eastern, 

 where the serpent or dragon is introduced. Hercules slaying the 

 dragon in the garden of the Hesperides, and Apollo killing the 

 python, may have derived their origin from this source. The Per- 

 sian sacred books, the Zendavesta, contain so similiar an account to 

 our own, of the Fall of Man, that it is generally conceded that 

 Zoroaster, the compiler of them, must have derived it from Moses. 

 Connected doubtless with the Bibical legend of the Fall of Man, 

 serpent worship took its rise, and it seems to have been one of the 

 most universal as well as mysterious superstitions among the prime- 

 val religions of the world. The Phoenicians adored this reptile as 

 the genius of beneficent knowledge, the Chinese use it to this hour 

 as a symbol of wisdom, and paint their Kings of Heaven — the Tien 

 Hoangs — with snake bodies. As the sign of the sun, of eternity, 

 and of the art of healing, we encounter the serpent in Arabic, Chal- 

 dean and Roman lore. The woman at Endor is called in Scripture, 

 " Ob," that is the serpent ; and the name Endor itself, means " the 

 oracle of Ador," who was identical with the Canaanite snake-god 

 Addir. Evoe, again the classic cry of the Moenad priestesses, 

 whose heads were wreathed with snakes, is thought to be derived 

 from Ophis, the Greek word for the creature. At Colchis, at Thebes, 

 at Delphi, we have stories of sacred serpents ; the Greeks called 

 Apollo himself " Python," and before the days of the Greeks, the 

 Egyptians carved the asp upon their temples, embalmed it and 

 ornamented the tiara of Isis with it. The priests also wore the 

 reptiles upon their officiating hats ; and indeed, Thermuthis, the 

 snake-god of the Nile, amid the sacred figures of the hieroglyphics 

 is everywhere great and revered. The Chaldeans built the snake 

 city of Ophis or Oubis upon the river Tigris. The Ethiopians are 

 thought to derive their name from " Ath-opes," /. e., worshippers of 

 the serpent. Euboea means " snake island," and one of the earliest 

 heresies of the Christian Church was that of the Ophites. In a word,, 

 look where we will, historical vestiges occur of this intense and 

 venerating worship of what we regard as the most base and malig- 

 nant thing in nature. 



Among the Hindoos, the king of evil demons is called the King 



