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materials by which we are nourished; and if so, there is no good reason why it should be more mysterious than any of the other phenomena of

nature.

It was remarked by Cicero, that "to be ignorant of what has been done before our time, is ever to remain in a state of childhood;" and Lord Bacon observes, that "whoever undertakes to investigate the first principles of science, should know the opinions of the ancients concerning the foundations of nature." Coinciding with these views, and having often felt the want of such information, I shall give a brief outline of the leading doctrines which have come down to us from a remote antiquity, in regard to the primary cause of motion and life throughout nature.

From the earliest dawn of civilization, men sought to resolve this great problem: and there is nothing more remarkable in the history of mankind, than the universal consent with which they regarded elementary fire as the organizing principle; a doctrine which, although but vaguely understood by the ancients, was the basis of all their physical theories; and which, when clearly unfolded, is destined to survive all the more elaborate systems of later ages, because it was the result of observation, experience, and the dictates of common sense. Yet as it was mingled with many superstitious and fabulous traditions of the ancient paganism, it has been almost wholly disregarded by the moderns: the con

sequence of which has been that not one of their philosophical systems has been able to gain a permanent footing in the world, nor to resist the force of that universal common sense by which all partial and contradictory theories are, sooner or later, swept away.

It was from beholding everywhere the transforming and life-giving power of the sun, as displayed in the generation and growth of organized bodies, that all the early nations of the earth were led to regard that glorious luminary as the supreme Lord of creation, and as the special object of religious adoration. In accordance with the views of Macrobius, it has been fully established by the learned researches of Bryant, Dupuis, Sir William Jones, and many other distinguished oriental scholars, that all the deities. of the ancient world are resolvable into the powers of nature, and that they were mythological personations of the sun or solar fire, by which everything is produced.*

*The primitive solar worship is strikingly illustrated in the following passage, (translated from one of the Vedas, or ancient Hindoo scriptures, by Sir W. Jones,) which also contains the germ of what is called the oriental theory of emanations, referred to in a note to page 105, b. i.: "Let us adore the supremacy of that divine sun, the god-head who illuminates all, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, whom we invoke to direct our understandings aright, in our progress towards his holy seat." (Asiatic Researches, vol. i.)

It may also be worthy of notice, that in the ancient Sanscrit, the seven days of the week are called after the heavenly bodies; Sunday after the sun, to which that day was consecrated; Monday after the moon, Tuesday after Mars, Wednesday after Mercury,

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It was because the old Sabeans regarded fire as the universal spirit or soul of nature, that they worshipped the sun, moon, and planets, with all the host of heaven, which they represented as the body of God. It was the sun that was adored as the fountain of light, life, wisdom and goodness, in ancient India, under the titles of Boodh-ha and Chreeshna; which, in the old Celtic language of Ireland, also signify the sun, according to Higgins. (Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 159.) The Baal and Belus of the early Chaldeans were names of the solar orb, which they represented as the seven-rayed god that fills the planets with life, power, and harmonic motion. Nor is it less certain, that under the various titles of Saturn, Jove, Osiris, Vulcan, Hercules, Molech, Elion, Adonis, Jupiter, Apollo, Pan, Dionusus, Esculapius, and a multitude of other appellations, the worship of fire was practised for thousands of years in Egypt, Phoenicia, Arabia, Persia, Greece, Italy, and among all the ancient tribes of Europe.* Nor is it sur

Thursday after Jupiter, Friday after Venus, and Saturday after Saturn, as in several of the more modern languages, including French and Italian.

* Under the mythological titles of Boodh and Fo, the sun has been worshipped from the earliest ages to the present time, in the vast empire of China, where elementary fire is still regarded as the formative principle, which was called Tien by the great Confucius and his disciples. Nor is it unworthy of notice, that the ancient Persians represented light as the source of all good, and darkness as the evil principle, which according to Bishop Theodorus, they termed Satana, or Arimanius. (Enfield's Hist.

prizing, that in the absence of revelation, all the religious and philosophical systems of mankind should have been founded on the sensible operations of the material universe.

The truth is, that all the names of the Supreme Being in the ancient Hebrew, as in every other written language, seem to have been originally derived from the operations of the sun, light, or fire, as we learn from the researches of Bryant, Parkhurst, and other learned etymologists.

Innumerable passages might be quoted from both the Old and New Testaments, in which the Creator of all things is represented by the brightness of the sun, and under the similitude of light or fire, as in the burning bush, the lightnings of Sinai, the pillar of fire, the vision of Ezekiel, who beheld brightness and flashes of lightning; that of Daniel, to whom the throne of God appeared like a fiery flame; the representation of angels as fiery spirits or seraphs; and the cloven tongues of fire that appeared on the day of Pentecost. There are also many

of Philosophy, vol. i. p. 64.) We also learn from Macrobius, that in Egypt, as in several other oriental countries, the sun was worshipped under the symbol of a bull, which, like the ram, the serpent, and many other animals dedicated to the sun, were regarded as sacred by the vulgar. And so deeply rooted was this superstition among the Israelites, that they made them a golden calf in the wilderness. We further read in the books of the Kings, Chronicles, and Prophets, that under the titles of Baal, Moloch, and Chemosh, the Chaldean and Phoenician worship of the sun was almost constantly practised by the Jews in groves and high places.

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other passages in the sacred writings in which the Deity is more especially described as residing in, and operating through the agency of light or fire: "who dwelleth in light inaccessible and full of glory-who is clothed with light as with a garment-who maketh his ministers a flaming fire," &c.

Whatever may be the true interpretation of such language, it clearly shews how exalted were the views of the inspired writers in regard to the agency of light in the work of the universe. The plain matter of fact is, that there is nothing in nature so divinely pure, spiritual, and beautiful as light. By means of this ætherial medium, we hold communion with the starry worlds, and journey as on the wings of imagination, through the celestial plains. The health and spirits of all animated beings are awakened to renewed energy by the solar rays; but languish in their absence, or when intercepted by mists and clouds. When surrounded with cold and darkness, the brightness of fancy, like the external colours of creation, is quenched, and all the energies of life are brought low.

The unsophisticated language of mankind, in every age and country, has been obviously founded on the intuitive belief, that fire is in some way immediately connected with all the operations of life, sensation, and thought. The following expressions are not merely metaphorical, but vivid and faithful representations of nature,