Virgin is carried in procession for rain, so did the Romans, under the like circumstances, parade about a certain stone, called the Lapis Manalis, which was kept in the Temple of Mars on the outside the Porta Capena. On days of popular joy the Romans were accustomed to decree to their gods a Lectisternium; whereupon their statues were taken down from their pedestals and laid upon couches before the altars, which were loaded with offerings. It is not improbable that this ceremony has been in some degree preserved in the festivals of the saints; when their figures, after having been carried in procession, are often deposited on a bench in the naves of their respective churches, where they remain several days, during which the people make their prayers and oblations. Again, the familiarity with which the Romans treated the effigies of their gods is not less remarkable with respect to those of our Saviour and the saints, in the present Italians and Sicilians. I have seen them expostulate with an image in a church in a half whisper, with as much emphasis and expression as if an answer had been forthwith expected to have issued from its lips. In like manner it is recorded of Caligula, that he conversed in secret with Jupiter Capitolinus, sometimes whispering, and listening in his turn; sometimes audibly, and in terms of reproach: for he was overheard to threaten that he would send him about his business to Greece; until softened by the entreaties of the god, and invited, as he declared, to an intimacy with him, he built a bridge which connected his palace with the Capitol.' (Sueton. Calig. 22.) It is to a custom of this kind generally prevailing in the approaches of the Romans to their gods, that so much of the second satire of Persius alludes: Non tu prece poscis emaci Quæ nisi seductis nequeas committere Divis. Haud cuivis promptum est, murmurque humilesque susurros Tollere de templis. It is not yours, with mercenary prayers, To ask of heaven, what you would die with shame, And again still more explicitly: Gifford. Hoc igitur quo tu Jovis aurem impellere tentas, Good! now move The suit to Staius, late preferr❜d to Jove: 'O Jove! good Jove!' he cries, o'erwhelm'd with shame, And must not Jove himself, O Jove!' exclaim? Gifford. Nor is this all. When disappointed by his tutelary saints, an Italian or Sicilian will sometimes proceed so far, as to heap reproaches, curses, and even blows, on the wax, wood, or stone, which represents them. The same turbulent gusts of passion displayed themselves in the same way amongst the Romans, who scrupled not to accuse their gods of injustice, and to express their indignation against their faithless protectors by the most unequivocal signs: Injustos rabidis pulsare querelis Cælicolas solamen erat. Stat. Sylv. v. 22. To him who smarts beneath the heavenly rod, Upon the death of Germanicus stones were cast by the populace at the temples in Rome; the altars were overturned, and in some instances the Lares thrown into the streets. (Sueton. Calig. 5.) And Augustus thought proper to take his revenge upon Neptune for the loss of one of his fleets, by not allowing his image to be carried in procession at the Circensian games which followed. (Suet. Aug. 16.) 127 CHAPTER VII. OF THE MENDICANT MONKS. I AM not fanciful enough to imagine that a regular system of monkery can by any ingenuity be proved to have existed in the classical ages; but this I think I may venture to assert, without fear of contradiction, that many distinguishing features of the present mendicant orders are primarily derived from the priests of Isis and Serapis. That such resemblance between these two descriptions of persons should exist, will seem less remarkable when we recollect that the country to which the worship of Isis and Serapis peculiarly belonged, was that in which the monastic life originated, and that this happened before divine honours had ceased to be paid to those Egyptian deities. It was about the |