228 A NATURAL fl I S T O R Y 



CHAPTER V. 



Contents. 

 Reafons for worjlnpplng Serpents^ J'eem to rife from Mf application 

 offome Scripture PaJJ'agei : But efpecially, i . From the Tri- 

 lanphs of the P ar a dJfaic Serpent. Pagan Hiftory prom Mofes. 

 In the primitive Church, a Sedl ofChrifians ivorfoifd Serpents, 

 and faid the Serpent in Paradife was a good Creature, z. 

 Fro7n the miraculous Cures done by the brazen Serpent. Alexan- 

 der affeSied the Honour of being begot by a Serpent, adord as a 

 God, by a Decree of the Priefs. 



WHAT Reafon can be afigned for giving religious Worf.ip 

 to Serpents ? I anfwer, 



I T is no eafy Matter to find out the Original of Pagan Idola- 

 try, having no authentick Records of thofe remote Times, there- 

 fore Conjedlures, or nothing muft content the honeft Enquirer : 

 Something may be ofFer'd, without going beyond our Depth. 

 Before I proceed, it may be proper to obferve, viz. That Know- 

 ledge fprung from the Sons of Noah, who doubtlefs inftruded 

 their Succeffors in the Hiftory of the Creation, the Conquefl of 

 Paradife by a Serpent, that introduced the Knowledge of Good 

 and Evil upon Earth. 



Those whom we csW Heathens, at firft were Members of the 

 true Church ; the further Men went from the Spring, the Streams 

 grew more muddy, and ftrangc Conftrucftions were put upon the 

 Hiftory of Adam and Eve, Noah, and his Progeny, which in pro- 

 cefs of Time was metamorphofed into a Narrative of Fooleries and 

 fabulous Gods. 



So the Mofaick Hiftory of their Travels thro' the Wildernefs, 

 and the Promulgation of the Law upon Mount Si?rai, were ftrange 

 and ftupendous Events, that foon fpread over the Nations in fome 

 Shape or other. 



In the Phenician Theology, we find the Creation defcribed, 

 almoft in the Terms ufed by Mofes. Diodorus Siculus fays, the 

 Antients liv'd upon Roots and Fruits. The Phenician Re- 

 cords mention XJjoris, i. e. Adam, the firft that wore Garments 

 made of Animal Skins. The Vulcan of the Heathen was the 



Tubal- 



'■""V 



