£74 0N THE TRANSMIGRATION OP SOULS. 



foal free courfe ; but previcufly gave his fervant ftricl: 

 charge carefully to watch his body till he fhould be re- 

 turned to himfelf. This done, he foftly faid his prayer, 

 and his' foul, being got loofe from the body, made large 

 cxcurlions all around, and afterwards returned. Once, 

 as the fervant was watching the body of his prince, 

 the thought came into his head to repeat the prayer ; 

 and. his foul, diflodged from his body, immediately 

 conceived the refolution of paffing into the body of the 

 prince. The firft thing this falfe prince did, was to 

 cut off the head of his former body, that it might not 

 occur to his mailer to animate it. Thus was the foul 

 of the real prince compelled to animate the body of a 

 poppinjay, with which he returned to his palace # . 



When men are once fo far confufed in their ideas as 

 to believe thefe circumvagations of the foul even in the 

 life-time of the man, they have only a fhort ftep to 

 amake to the tranfmigration of fouls after death. Two 

 caufes appear to have given rife to this : firft, the me- 

 tarnorphofes of their gods ; and fecondly, the refem- 

 blance that fome hearts bear to fome men. 



I. The metamorphofes of their gods. Thofe nations 

 that believe the tranfmigration of fouls, affirm alfo that 

 their gods difguife themfelves in the forms of beafts. 

 Of the old ^Egyptians it is faid, that they maintained 

 there had been a time, in which all the gods, for 

 avoiding the perfecutions of the giants, had changed 

 themfelves into certain animals ; and the whole aegyp- 

 tian animal-worfnip feems to reft on the principle that 

 divine beings lie concealed in the forms of beafts. 



* Lettres cdifiantes, rec. xiii. p, 114, 



That 



