OLYMPIC DIALOGUE* 23^ 



\brandijhing his cluf] they fhould not have behaved fo 

 to me with impunity ! 



Jupiter. ~] Gently, Hercules ! — Then Jupiter opti- 

 mus maximus, capitolinus, feretrius, ftator, &c. has 

 played out his part ? 



Mercury ] Thy ftatue is pulled down ; and they are 

 now at work in deftroying thy very temple. The fame 

 tragc iy is acting in all the provinces and corners of 

 the roman pire. Whole legions of goat-bearded 

 fellows are every where running about with torches, 

 pickaxes, hammer-: wrenching- irons and other inftru- 

 ments of deftruclion, in fanatical fury to demolifh the 

 venerable obje-^ts of the old popular belief. 



Serapis.] Alas, alas ! what will become of my gor- 

 geous temple of Alexandria, and my proud colloffal 

 ftatue ! If the thebaic wildernefs mould vomit forth 

 again ft them but half its facred dryads, there is no 

 deliverance. 



Moraus^] Oh there is no need of that, Serapis, in 

 behalf of thee. Who would dare to lay hands on thy 

 ftatue, when at Alexandria it is an unci ifpu ted truth, 

 that on the flighteft infult committed on it by any fa^ 

 crilegious hand, heaven and earth would fall to ruin, 

 and all nature return to antient chaos ? 



^uirinus.] One cannot always rely with fafety on 

 fuch notorious reports, my' good Serapis. It may happen 

 to thee as to the ftatue in mafiive gold of the goddefs 

 Anaitis at Zela, of which it was univerfally believed, 

 that the firft who mould attempt any injury to it 

 would infallibly be ftruck dead upon the fpot. 



Serapis*'] And what became of that ftatue ? 



3 



