﻿8 
  JET. 
  A. 
  Newton 
  — 
  The 
  Worship 
  of 
  Meteorites. 
  

  

  in 
  its 
  various 
  forms 
  points 
  toward 
  a 
  stone-fall 
  as 
  its 
  basis. 
  One 
  

   form 
  of 
  it 
  runs 
  thus 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  Pallas 
  and 
  her 
  foster 
  sister 
  Athena 
  were 
  wrestling 
  with 
  each 
  

   other, 
  when 
  Pallas 
  was 
  accidentally 
  killed. 
  In 
  grief 
  Athena 
  

   made 
  an 
  image 
  of 
  Pallas 
  and 
  set 
  it 
  up 
  on 
  Olympus. 
  When 
  

   King 
  Ilus 
  was 
  about 
  building 
  his 
  city 
  on 
  the 
  Trojan 
  plain 
  he 
  

   prayed 
  for 
  a 
  favorable 
  omen. 
  In 
  response 
  to 
  his 
  prayer 
  Jupiter 
  

   cast 
  this 
  image 
  down 
  at 
  the 
  feet 
  of 
  the 
  suppliant 
  king. 
  In 
  the 
  

   new 
  city 
  it 
  was 
  set 
  up 
  in 
  a 
  temple 
  specially 
  erected 
  to 
  con- 
  

   tain 
  and 
  protect 
  it. 
  So 
  long 
  as 
  Troy 
  could 
  keep 
  safely 
  this 
  

   image, 
  the 
  city, 
  it 
  was 
  firmly 
  believed, 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  taken 
  by 
  

   its 
  foes. 
  

  

  According 
  to 
  one 
  story 
  the 
  Greeks 
  stole 
  the 
  image 
  before 
  

   capturing 
  the 
  city. 
  As 
  many 
  cities 
  afterwards 
  claimed 
  to 
  pos- 
  

   sess 
  the 
  treasure 
  as 
  claimed 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  birthplace 
  of 
  Homer. 
  

   According 
  to 
  the 
  Romans, 
  Aeneas 
  carried 
  the 
  Palladium 
  to 
  

   Italy, 
  and 
  the 
  image 
  was 
  regarded 
  as 
  the 
  most 
  sacred 
  treasure 
  

   of 
  the 
  Roman 
  State. 
  For 
  centuries 
  even 
  in 
  historic 
  times 
  it 
  

   was 
  so 
  carefully 
  kept 
  by 
  the 
  Yestal 
  Virgins 
  that 
  the 
  Pontifex 
  

   Maximus 
  was 
  not 
  allowed 
  to 
  see 
  it. 
  

  

  We 
  naturally 
  have 
  doubts 
  about 
  the 
  nature, 
  or 
  even 
  the 
  

   existence, 
  of 
  an 
  object 
  so 
  kept 
  out 
  of 
  sight. 
  What 
  it 
  was 
  that 
  

   the 
  Yestals 
  thus 
  guarded, 
  or 
  whether 
  they 
  had 
  anything 
  to 
  

   represent 
  the 
  image 
  of 
  Pallas, 
  will 
  probably 
  never 
  be 
  known. 
  

   But 
  it 
  is 
  far 
  otherwise 
  with 
  another 
  famous 
  object 
  of 
  Roman 
  

   worship. 
  To 
  the 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Trojan 
  plain 
  on 
  which 
  the 
  Pal- 
  

   ladium 
  fell 
  rise 
  the 
  mountains 
  of 
  Phrygia 
  and 
  Galatia. 
  In 
  

   Pessinus, 
  near 
  the 
  border 
  line 
  of 
  these 
  two 
  countries, 
  and 
  in 
  

   the 
  caves 
  and 
  woods 
  near 
  Pessinus, 
  the 
  goddess 
  Cybele, 
  the 
  

   mother 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  gods, 
  Jupiter, 
  Neptune, 
  and 
  Pluto, 
  was 
  

   specially 
  worshiped. 
  This 
  worship 
  may 
  not 
  have 
  been 
  more 
  

   degrading 
  than 
  the 
  worship 
  of 
  many 
  other 
  Asiatic 
  divinities. 
  

   But 
  it 
  was 
  wretched 
  and 
  unmanly 
  almost 
  beyond 
  our 
  possible 
  

   conception. 
  It 
  furnished 
  to 
  Catullus 
  the 
  theme 
  for 
  the 
  most 
  

   celebrated 
  of 
  his 
  poems, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  strongest 
  pictures 
  in 
  all 
  

   literature. 
  The 
  Grecian 
  t 
  athlete 
  entered 
  her 
  service 
  with 
  joy- 
  

   ful 
  music 
  and 
  dancing. 
  Too 
  late 
  he 
  looks 
  back 
  from 
  the 
  

   Asiatic 
  shore, 
  out 
  of 
  his 
  hopeless 
  degradation, 
  on 
  the 
  noble- 
  

   ness 
  of 
  his 
  former 
  Grecian 
  life. 
  The 
  lion 
  of 
  Cybele 
  drives 
  

   him 
  in 
  craven 
  fear 
  again 
  into 
  the 
  wild 
  woods, 
  to 
  spend 
  his 
  days 
  

   in 
  the 
  menial 
  servitude. 
  The 
  Roman 
  poet 
  exclaims, 
  " 
  O 
  god- 
  

   dess, 
  great 
  goddess 
  Cybele, 
  goddess 
  queen 
  of 
  Dindymus 
  ; 
  far 
  

   from 
  my 
  house 
  be 
  all 
  thy 
  frenzies 
  ; 
  others, 
  others, 
  drive 
  thou 
  

   frantic." 
  

  

  At 
  some 
  unknown 
  early 
  time 
  a 
  meteoric 
  stone 
  fell 
  near 
  to 
  

   Pessinus. 
  It 
  was 
  taken 
  to 
  the 
  shrine 
  of 
  Cybele 
  and 
  there 
  set 
  

   up 
  and 
  worshiped 
  as 
  her 
  image. 
  This 
  image 
  and 
  its 
  worship 
  

  

  