cooling wine. Young men, of more mature years, now fucceed, carrying pots of gold and filver. Next a train of nymphs, fporting around an artificial cave, drawn along in a car, appeared in crowns of gold, while Mercury waved over their heads a gold caduceus, that is, in fact, a thyrfus encircled with ferpents. Bacchus now re-entered the plain with the fame gigantic form, but exalted upon an elephant; a radiated crown of gold encircled his temples, and he wielded in his hand a gold thyrfus of confiderable magnitude. Another elephant followed, upon whofe neck rode a fatyr, having on his head a crown of gold; the elephant also had a gold crown, and his harnefs and caparisons were entirely of that metal. Five hundred young virgins followed, all decked with crowns of gold; after them, one hundred and twenty fatyrs in complete armour, fome of filver and others of brafs; and thefe, to render the fcene as varied and diverting as poffible, were fucceeded by fixe troops of affes, glittering in gold and filver trappings, with fileni and fatyrs mounted on their backs. Next came fixty Ethiopian favages, carrying vafes full of gold and filver coin, and loaded with the gold-duft which

their country fo abundantly produces. Priapus was too important to be excluded from a Phallic feftival, and therefore he appeared confpicuous with a brilliant diadem of gold. The city of Corinth, then the centre of luxury and voluptuoufnefs, was reprefented by a female of great majefty and beauty, and wore a diadem of equal brilliancy. Alexander himfelf conjured up from the fhades of Erebus, accompanied by Ptolemy and his other favourite generals, was feen ftalking among the motley croud, admiring the magnificence of his new-built city, and iffuing orders for the conqueft of new worlds. Before him, was carried a monstrous vafe of gold, poffibly in allufion to his death by the Herculean cup, and it was full of fmall golden cups, by which the ftream of intemperance flowed among the individuals present at the fatal banquet. But now a ftill more fplendid and crowded scenery took place, and the great diftinguishing pageants of the pomp were ufhered in by a vaft and beautiful train of women, reprefenting the cities of Tonia and the Grecian iflands, all bearing crowns of gold, infcribed with the name of each city, reprefented and decorated with a profufion of golden ornaments allufive

to

to its peculiar hiftory and commerce. They moved on majestically, with measured step, before a four-wheeled car, bearing an immense thyrfus of gold, ninety cubits long; and by its fide a filver lance of the length of fixty cubits. On another fuperb car was elevated a PHALLUS of gold, one hundred and twenty cubits in length, and of the circumference of fix cubits; crowned on the fummit with a radiated ftar that blazed in gold. Three hundred youths followed this ftupendous enfign of Bacchus, wearing on their heads crowns of gold, and carrying, in their hands, guitars overlaid with plates of that metal, which sounded forth fymphonies that waked the transported foul to the pleasures of love and the festivities of wine. The proceffion, in honour of Bacchus, closed with a proceffion of no less than two thousand bulls, the animal facred to that deity, each wearing a frontlet of gold, furmounted with a golden crown; and alfo adorned with a collar and AGIS of gold. — Bacchus, under the terrestrial name of Ofiris, being the god-king of Egypt, and the founder of its most ancient dynafty, the reader will scarcely be surprised, that, in the celebration of his rites, all the treafures of that kingdom should

be

be, difplayed, and that it even furpaffed in fplendor the pomp of Jupiter and other deities, which now took place, but which can only be curforily noticed.

As Alexander was the fon of Jupiter, his statue, in mafly gold, appeared confpicuous in that proceffion, and, after them, were borne feveral royal thrones, fabricated of gold and ivory, (among them, probably Solomon's,) to mark his fubverfion and feizure of the imperial thrones of Afia. All these thrones bore crowns of gold, and golden cornucopia, a fymbol which we fee conftantly impreffed on the coins of the Ptolemies. Nothing, however, could equal in value or luftre the gorgeous throne of Ptolemy Soter himself, fet with jewels, and decorated with a crown; in making which, our author informs us, were expended ten thousand pieces of gold, though of what weight he does not specify. Then followed three hundred cenfers of gold, in which were burned the richest perfumes of Egypt and Arabia, and which wafted around the affembly thofe exquifite odours fo neceffary to relieve the spirits, that began to be wearied with a proceffion fo prolonged, though fo brilliant. After the cenfers, were borne fifty gilt altars,

with crowns of gold on each, and on one of which were fixed four torches cased with gold, fix cubits in height; twelve gilt hearths, of vaft dimenfions, for the facred fires; nine Delphic tripods of folid gold, four cubits in height; eight others, fix cubits high; another, worthy of Apollo himself, thirty cubits in height, adorned with animals, wrought in gold, each five cubits high, and circled with a chaplet of gold, formed to refemble vineleaves. Befides thefe, there was an infinite variety of veffels richly gilt, which it is beyond our purpose to enumerate; but the hiftorian, fumming up the number of gold crowns, exhibited in the pomp of Jupiter alone, makes the whole amount to three thoufand and two hundred, independent of a moft magnificent one, of the height of eighty cubits, which was placed over the portal of the temple of Berenice, the wife of Ptolemy, but taken down to increase the unequalled fplendor of this festival.

The most remarkable articles exhibited the pomps of other deities were a great ægis of gold; the innumerable crowns of gold worn by the virgins that contributed to form thofe pomps; a gold thorax of twelve cubits; another of filver, eighteen cubits high; a peculiarly

fplendid