from the account of this in the Purans, from the use of the 
emblems, in the idolatrous times, by the kings of Israel or 
Judah, and the sad degradation that it underwent in later 
times, in Greece, Rome, Pompeii, &c, as also from the 
remains of customs that until late years (if, indeed, it is yet 
extinct) existed in Scotland and in Brittany. 
It is possible that the symbol may have originated from 
the worship of a tree itself. A learned Rabbi makes a 
curious suggestion, viz., that when Adam and Eve were 
driven from Paradise, in which was the " Tree of Life," they 
sought for a similar place in which they might worship 
God, on which account they considered trees to be worthy 
of veneration, as being the seat and habitation of God, and 
the instruments of life, even if they did not actually wor- 
ship them. Accordingly, in eveiy country certain trees 
have been regarded as sacred, and as emblems, or rather the 
dwelling-place of their deities. The constant mention of 
" oaks " in Scripture, and these often connected with 
" pillars," shews that the idea was not strange to the 
patriarchs. The tree, however, soon became idolatrous. 
Whether or no the pillar was thus derived from the trunk 
of the trees, it became an idol, or statue, or symbol, 
from the earliest times, and very soon acquired a new 
signification. 
There can be no doubt at all as to the meaning of the 
Indian " Lingham," and its corresponding emblem the 
" Yoni." Its present use, and the impure ceremonies often 
attending it, make this a matter of no doubt; and the 
Purans state that such was its signification at the time 
that they w r ere written, whenever that w T as. 
The emblems were (p<x,\\o; a^sv xai StjXv, " Simulacrum 
Priapi," not erected at first with any impure or obscene 
intention, but as representing life, vigour, reproductive 
power, and thus eternal life, and as such it readily became 
