might see what his thoughts were, whether he designed some trick, or whether he intended what he spoke. The parents of Momus were Nox and Somnus. It is a sign of a dull, drowsy, sottish disposition, when we see a man satirizing and censuring the actions of all other men, because none but God is wholly perfect some imperfections attaches to every other be ing, so that every thing is defective and liable to blame. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. What does the name of Momus signify? How is he employed? For what did Neptune, Vulcan, and Minerva contend? What was the decision of Momus with respect to their several performances? Who were the parents of Momus? What does a satirical temper indicate CHAPTER VI. OF THE TERRESTRIAL GODDESS VESTA VESTA, whom you see sitting and holding a drum is the wife of Coelum, and the mother of Saturn. She is the eldest of the goddesses, and is placed among the terrestrial goddesses, because she is the same with Terra, and has her name from *clothing; plants and fruits being the garments of the earth. Or, faccording to Ovid, the earth is called Vesta from its stability, because it supports itself. She * Quod plantis frugibusque terra vestiatur. Fast. 6. sits, because the earth is immoveable, and was supposed to be placed in the centre of the world. Vesta has a drum, because the earth contains the boisterous winds in its bosom; and divers flowers weave themselves into a crown, with which her head is crowned. Several kinds of animals creep about and fawn upon her. Because the earth is round, Vesta's temple at Rome was also round, and some say that the image of Vesta was orbicular in some places, but *Ovid says her image was rude and shapeless. And hence round tables were anciently called vestæ, because, like the earth, they supply all necessaries of life for us. It is no wonder that the first oblations in all sacrifices were offered to her, since whatever is sacrificed springs from the earth. And the Greeks both began and concluded their sacrifices with Vesta, whom they esteemed as the mother of all the gods. er. There were two Vestas, the elder and the youngThe first of whom I have been speaking was the wife of Coelum and the mother of Saturn. The second was the daughter of Saturn by his wife Rhea. And as the first is the same with Terra, so the other is the same with Ignis: and her power was exercised about altars and houses. The word vesta is often put for fire itself, for it is derived from a Greek word which signifies a chimney, a house, or household goods. She is esteemed the president and guardian of houses, and one of the household deities; not without reason, since she invented the art of building houses; and, therefore, an image of Vesta, to which they sacrificed every day, was placed before the doors of the houses at Rome: and the places where these statues were set up were called vestibula, from Vesta. Effigiem nullam Vesta nec ignis habet." No image Vesta's shape can e'er express, Or fire's This goddess was a virgin, and so great an admirer of virginity, that when Jupiter, her brother, gave her liberty of asking what she would, she begged that she might always be a virgin, and have the first oblations in ali sacrifices. She not only obtained her desire but received this further honour among the Romans, that a perpetual fire was kept in her temple, among the sacred pledges of the empire; not upon an altar, or in the chimnies, but in earthen vessels, hanging in the air; which the vestal virgins tended with so much care, that if by chance this fire was extinguished, all public and private business was interrupted, and a vacation proclaimed till they had expiated the unhappy prodigy with incredible pains; and if it appeared that the virgins were the occasion of its going out, by carelessness, they were severely punished, and sometimes with rods. In recompense for this severe law, the vestals obtained extraordinary privileges and respect: they had the most honourable seat at games and festivals the consuls and magistrates gave way whenever they met them: their declarations in trials were admitted without the form of an oath; and, if they happened to encounter in their path a criminal going to the place of execution, he immediately obtained his pardon. Upon the calends of March, every year, though it was not extinguished, they used to renew it with no other fire than that which was produced by the rays of the sun. It has been conjectured, that when the poets say that Vesta is the same with fire, the fire of Vulcan's forge is not understood, nor yet the dangerous fiames of Venus, but a pure, unmixed, benign flame, so necessary for us, that human life cannot possibly subsist without it; whose heat being diffused through all the parts of the body, quickens, cherishes, refreshes, and nourishes it; a flame really sacred, hea |