M E R C U R V. 
140 
brimmed beaver with wings. He had a general power de¬ 
legated to him by Jupiter, of conducting the fouls of men 
to their proper place, after their parting from the body 5 
and re-conduCting them to our world again, when there 
was any particular occafion for it. He was, moreover, the 
god of ail gainful arts; whence the proverb xonoc 
i. e. commune lucrum, efpecially of things found by chance; 
the inventor of the lyre, and of the exercile of wreltiing. 
He was the patron of thieves, having himfelf been expert 
that way 1 ; and the guide of travellers, for which reafon 
he had ltatues four-iquare fet up to him in crofs-roads. 
{See Terminus.) There are feveral marks whereby Mer¬ 
cury may be known ; among which we may reckon the 
lightnefs and agility of his perfon as the chief; but the 
moll; remarkable of his diltinguilhing attributes are his 
petajus, or winged cap ; the talaria, or wings to his feet; 
and his wand, with two ferpents about it, which they 
call his cailuceus. Sometimes he is alfo reprefented with 
the chlamys , faftened over his Ihoulders on his breafl, 
and floating behind him in the air. He is likewile diilin- 
guilhed by his fword, with which he killed Argus, called 
harpe. 
It has been faid, and not without reafon, that the Mer¬ 
cury of the Latins was the fame deity with the Hermes of 
the Greeks, the Theutat of the Gauls, and the Thoth of 
the Egyptians, from whom fome have thought they were 
derived. See Hermes, vol. ix. His name Hermes figni- 
fied Interpreter, or, according to Prcclus, Melfenger; or, 
if we trace it to a Celtic original, it was the fame with 
urines, which fignifies divination, a character which be¬ 
longed by way of eminence to Mercury, who was diftin- 
guiflied by his knowledge and practice of this art. The 
Latin appellation was derived, according to Feftus, from 
a term denoting merchants, or rather merchandile, i. e. 
Mercurius a mercibtts ; and among the Celts he obtained 
the name of Merk-ur, on account of his introduction of 
traffic among them. LaClantius, the grammarian, reckons 
four of this name, and according to Cicero there were five. 
Banier allows of none but the ancient Mercury, (the 
Thoth of the Egyptians,) and the Mercury who, accord¬ 
ing to Heflod, was the fon of Jupiter and Maia. To this 
deity temples were built, and altars ereCted. He became 
famous among the Titan princes; and took pofi'effion of 
Italy, Gaul, Spain, and Mauritania in Africa. This 
prince is laid to have travelled more than once into Egypt, 
in order to acquaint himfelf with the arts and fciences, 
the manners and cuitoms, and particularly the theology 
and magic, of that country. He was thus enabled, upon 
his return, to inftruCt his own lubjeCts, and to acquire that 
high reputation for which he was diltinguifhed, by exhi¬ 
biting thole qualities, and performing thole fervices, which 
we have above recited. After various contefts with the 
other fons of Jupiter, by whom he -was repeatedly van- 
quilhed, he is laid to have retired into Egypt, where he 
died ; though others fay he ended his days in Spain, where 
his tomb was to be feen. Such, lays Banier, is the liiftory 
of Mercury the Titan prince, which has been much dil- 
guiled by the Greeks, and blended with feveral fables. 
Mercury was worfliipped by the Gauls, as C as far informs 
us ; but, as we learn from Kircher, (CEd. TEgypt.) in 
Egypt, where the prielts confecrated to him the ltork, the 
animal molt renowned among them next to the ox. It 
was chiefly in the month of May that his feftival was ce¬ 
lebrated, and the moll folemn parts of his worlhip were 
performed. 
The learned Bochart (Phaleg. 1 . i. c. 2.) traces the hif- 
tory of Mercury to that of Canaan. Both, he fays, were 
the fons of Jupiter, or Ammon, who was the fame with 
Kam ; one taking his name from mercatura , merchandile ; 
and Canaan, he lays, had in Hebrew the fame fignification. 
As Canaan was the fervant of his brethren, Mercury was 
the melfenger of the gods. This deity had the charge of 
the highways, becaul'e the Phoenicians or Canaanites of 
the race of Canaan were great travellers, and fettled co¬ 
lonies wherever they migrated. The wings of this god 
are the fails of the Phoenician vefiels. He was the god of 
eloquence, and the inventor of letters, becaufe the Phoe¬ 
nicians brought the ufe of them into the weft. Others re- 
prelent Mercury as the fame with Mofes, and compare the 
miraculous rod of that legiflator to the caduceus of this 
god. Such is the opinion of Huetius. 
This pagan divinity had two very diftinCl names and 
characters : the Egyptian, known by the title of Hermes, 
a grave and venerable perfonage, who received divine ho¬ 
nours on account of his ufeful and extenfive talents for 
every thing that was conducive to the good of fociety ; 
the Mercury of the Greeks, on the contrary, was a profli¬ 
gate character; the god of thieves, the intriguing mefl’en- 
ger of Jupiter, and ufeful to him in all his amours. 
Ol the Grecian Mercury, Horace, Odex. lib. 1. gives us 
the belt part of the character : 
Thou god of wit, from Atlas fprung, 
Who by perfuafive power of tongue, 
And graceful exercile, refin’d 
The lavage race of human kind, 
Hail ! winged melfenger of Jove, 
And all th’ immortal powers above. 
Sweet parent of the bending lyre. 
Thy praife lhall all its founds infpire. 
Artful and cunning to conceal 
Whate’er in fportive theft you fteal. 
When from the god who gilds the pole, 
E’en yet a boy, his herds you Hole ; 
With angry voice the threat’ning pow’r 
Bade thee thy fraudful prey reltore ; 
But, of his quiver too beguil’d. 
Pleas’d with the theft, Apollo linil’d. 
You were the wealthy Priam’s guide, 
Whenfafe from Agamemnon’s pride, 
Through Iioftile camps, which round him fpread 
Their watchful fires, his way he 1 'ped. 
Unlpotted fpirits you conlign 
To blil’sful feats and joys divine, 
And, powerful with thy golden wand, 
The light unbodied crowd command ; 
Thus grateful does thy office prove 
To gods below, and gods above. Francis. 
This ode contains the fubftance of a very long hymn to 
Mercury, attributed to Homer. Almoft all the ancient 
poets relate the manner in which the Grecian Mercury 
difeovered the lyre ; and tell us that it was an inftrument 
with feven firings ; a circumftance which makes it efl'en- 
tially different from that faid to have been invented by 
the Egyptian Mercury, which had but three. However, 
there have been many claimants befides Mercury to the 
feven-ftringed lyre. See LyRE, vol. xiii. p. 839. 
Amphion is laid, by Paufanias, to have been the firjt. 
that ereCted an altar to this god ; who, in return, inverted 
him with fucli wondrous powers of mufic (and mafonry), 
as to enable him to fortify the city of Thebes in Bceotia 
by the mere found of his lyre. But his molt magnificent 
temple was on Mount Cylene, in Arcadia. He is de- 
feribed by the poets as a fair beardlefs youth, with flaxen 
hair, lively blue eyes, and a fmiling countenance. He 
has wings fixed to his cap and fandals, holding the cadu¬ 
ceus (or ftaff furrounded with ferpents, with two wings 
on the top) in his hand; and is frequently reprefented 
with a purfe, to fliow that he was the god of gain. The 
animals l'acred to him, were the dog, the goat, and the 
cock. In all the facrifices offered to him, the tongues of 
the victims were burnt; and thofe who efcaped imminent 
danger facrificed to him a calf with milk and honey. 
MER'CURYjy! [from the Grecian Mercury.} Sprightly 
qualities: 
Thus the mercury of man is fix’d. 
Strong grows the virtue with his nature mix’d ; 
The drofs cements what elie were too refin’d. 
And in one int’reft body acts with mind. 
Pope.. 
A news» 
