fluence on the health of the infant.
In confecrating thefe Heathen Temples to the
Popifh worfhip, that the change might be the
lefs offenfive, and the old fuperfiitien as little
fhocked as pofTible, they generally obferved
fome refemblance of quality and character in the
Saint, whom they fubftituted to the old Deity :
'' If in converting the profane worfhip of
" the Gentiles (fays the Defcriher of modern
" Rome [«]) to the pure and facred worfhip
" of
[a] Si nel revoltare il profano culto de Gentili nel facro
e vero, offerv^rono i fedeli qualche proportione, qui la ri-
trovarono
A Letter from Rome. 121
" of the Church, the faithful ufe to follow fome
" ufe and proportion, they have certainly hit
*' upon it 'here, in dedicating to the Madonna^
" or holy Virgin, the Temple formerly facred
" to the Bona Dca, or good Goddefs." But
they have more frequently on thefe occafions
had regard rather to ^fimilitude of name between
the old and new Idol. Thus in a place formerly
facred to Apollo, there now ftands the Church
of Apollinaris ; built there, as they tell U9, [x]
that the profane name of that Deity, might be
converted into i)\t glorious name of this Martyr:
and where there anciently flood a Temple of
Mars, they have ereded a Church to Martina^
with this infcription :
Martyrii gejians virgo Martina coronam,
EjeUo hinc Martis numine, Templa tenet.
Af^ri hence expell'd ; Martina, m arty r'd maid.
Claims now the worfhip, which to him was paid.
In another place, I have taken notice of an
Altar eroded to St. Baccho [>] •, and in their
trovarono aflai conveniente nel dedicare a Maria Vergine
un Tempio, ch'era della bona dea — Rom. Mod. Gior. ii.
Rion. di Ripa x.
[at] La Chiefa di S. ApolUnari fu fabbricata in quello
luogo d'Chriftiani; affinche il profano nome d'ApolIine
fuffe convertito nel fanto nome di quefto gloriofo Martire.
Ibid. Gio. iii. zi.
0] Ibid. Gior. vi. 37.
ftorics
122 A Letter frcm Rome.
ftorles of their Saints^ have obferved the names
of ^iirinus^ Romula 13 Redempta^ Concordia^
Nympha^ Mercurius \z]: which, though they
may, for any thing that I know, have been the
genuin names of Ckrijlian Martyrs, yet cannot
but give occafion to fufpeft, that fome of them
at leall have been formed out of a corruption
of the old names -, and that the adding of a mo-
dern termination, or Italianizing the old ?iame
of a Deity, has given exiftence to fome of their
prefent Saints : thus the corruption of the word
SoraSfe (the old name of a mountain mentioned
by Horace [<^] in fight of Rome) has, according
to Mr. Addifon, added one Saint to the Roman
Calendar j being now foftened, [^] becanfe it be-
gins -with an S, into St. Orajle ; in whofe honor a
monaftery is founded on the place : a change
very natural, if weconfider that the ////^(?/'6'^z;z^
is never written by the Italians at length, but
expreffed commonly by the fingle letter S. as
.S". Oracle: and thus this holy mountain ftands
now under the protection of a Patron, whofe
being and power is juft as imaginary, as chat
of it's old guardian Apollo :
Sanoli €uJlos Svra^is Jpollo. Virg. Mr. ix.
No fufpicion of this kind will appear extrava-
gant to thofe, who are at all acquainted with
[z] Aringh. Rom. Subter. l.ii. zi.l. iii. 12. 1. iv. 16,22.
I. V. 4.
[fl] Carm. 1. i. 9.
[hi Addlfons Travels from Pcfarc, &c. to Rome.
the
A Letter from Rome. 125
the lUjiory of Popery •, which abounds with in-
ftanccs of the groflcft forgeries both ol Saints
and Reliques, wliich, to tlh? fcandal of many-
even among themfeives [i], have been impofed
for gehuin on the poor ignorant jr-oplc. It is
certain, that in tht carUtr agts of Chrillianity,
x.\\tChriJ}ians often made free with x.\\(i fepulchral
Jicnes of Heathen monuments^ which being ready
cut to their hands, diey converted to their
own ufci aud turning downwards the fide, on
which the old epitaph was engraved, ufed either
to infcribe a new one on tlie other fide, or leave
it perhaps without any infcriptim at all, as they
are often found in the Catacombs of Rome \d\.
Now this one cuftom has frequently been the
occafion of afcribing Martyrdom and Saintjhip
to perfons and names of mere Pagans.
Mabillon gives a remarkable inftance of it in
an old floney found on the grave of a Chrijlian
with this infcription [^],
D. M.
IVLIA EVODIA
FILIA FECIT
MATRI.
[c] Utinam hanc religionem imitarentu:, qui Tanftorum
recens abfque certis nominibus inventorum fidlas hiftorias
comminifcuntur ad confufionem verarum hilloriarum, imo
& qui Paganorum Infcriptiones aliquando pro Chriflianis
vulgant, &c. Mabill. Iter. Ital. p. 225.
[d] Ab immanibus cnim k pervetufUs fuperflitiofe urbis
conftru(5lionibus atqu€ fepulchris ad fuos obtegendos tumu-
los Chriiliani lapides non raro auferre confuevcrant. Aringh.
Rom. Subt. 1. iii. c. 22. [e] Vid. Mabill. Ibid.
A And
1 24 -^Letter from Rome.
And becaufe in the fame grave there was found
likewife a glafs vial, or lacrymatory vejfel, ting-
ed with a reddifh color, which they call [/]
Mood, and look upon as a certain proof of mar-
tyrdom, this Julia Evodia, though undoubtedly
a Heathen, was prefently adopted both for Saint
and Martyr, on the authority of an infcription,
that appears evidently to have been one of thofe
above-mentioned, and borrowed from a heathen
Sepulchre. But whatever the party there buried
might have been, whether Heathen or Chrijlian ;
it is certain however, that it could not be Evo-
dia her/elf, but her mother only, whofe name
is not there fignified.
The fame author mentions fome original pa~
pers, which he found in the Barharins Library,
giving a pleafant account of a negociation between
the Spaniards and Pope Urban the Vlllth, in re-
lation to this very fubjeft [^]. The Spaniards,
it feems, have a Saint, held in great reverence
in fome parts of Spain, called Viar-, for the
farther encouragement of whofe worlhip, they
follicited the Pope, to grant iomt fpecial induL
gencies to his altars -, and upon the Pope's defir-
{/] Si forte rubore quodam in imo tindla vitrea ampulla
fuerit, pro argumento Martyrii habetur. Mont. Diar. It.
J5. 118.
[g] Alterum notatu dignum, quod Urbanus ab Hilpanis
quibufdam interpellatus de concedendis indulgentiis ob cul-
tum Sanfti, cui nomen VIAR, &c. allatus eft lapis in quo
hae literas reliqua: erant S. VIAR, &c. Vid. Mabill. Iter.
Ital. p. 145.
A Letter from Rome. 125
ing to be better acquainted lirfl with his charac-
ter, and the proofs, which they had of his
faintjhip^ they produced ajione with thefe antique
letters S. VIAR. which the antiquaries readily
faw to be a fmall fragment of fome old Roman
Infcription^ in memory of one, who had been
Pr^fe^uS VIARww, or overfeer of the high-
ways.
But we have in England an inftance ftill more
ridiculous, of a.Ji^itious faintjbip, in the cafe of
a certain Saint, called Amphibolus •, who, ac-
cording to our Monkifh Hijlorians, was Bifhop of
the ijle of Man, and fellow Martyr and difciple of
St. Alban : yet the learned Bifhop Ufher has
given good reafons to convince us, that he owes
the honor of his faintfnp^ to a miftakcn paflage
in the old a£ls or legends of St. Alban [/.?] : where
the Amphibolus mentioned, and fmce reverenced
as a Saint and Martyr, was nothing more than
the cloak, which Alban happened to have at the
time of his execution : being a word derived
from the Greek, and fignifying a rough fhaggy
cloak, which ecclefiajlical perfons ufually wore in
that age.
They pretend to fliew us here at Rome, two
original impreffions of our Saviour's Face, on two
different handkerchiefs ; the one, fent a prefent
[^] Uffer. de Britan. Ecclef. primord. c. xiv. p. 539. 41°,
It. Ep. Lloyd's Hillor. Ace. of Ch. in Gr. Brit. c. vii.
p. 151.
by.
126 y^LiTTER from Rome.
by himfelf to Agbariis Prince cf Edejfa, who by
letter had defired a pidlure of him ; the other,
given by him at the time of his execution, to a
Saint^ or holy woman named Veronica, upon a
handkerchief which Ihe had lent him to wipe
his face on that occafion : both which handker-
chiefs are ftill preferved, as they affirm, and
now kept with the utmoft reverence ; the firft
in St. Silvejier^s Church -, the fecond in St.Peter''s',
where in honor of this facred relique, there is a
fine altar built by Pope Urban the Vlllth, with
the ftatue of Veronica herfelf, with the follow-
ing infcription [i] :
SALVATORIS IMAGINEM VERONICAE
SVDARIO EXCEPT AM
VT LOCI MAIESTAS DECENTER
CVSTODIRET URBANVS VIII.
PONT. MAX.
MARMOREVM SIGNVM
ET ALTARE ADDIDIT CONDITORIVM
EXTRVXIT ET ORNAVIT.
But notwithftanding the authority of this
Pope, and his infcription, this VERONICA,
as one of their bell authors has Ihewn [^,] like
[/] Vid. Aringh. Rom. Subterran. torn. ii. p. 453.
There is a prayer in their books of offices, ordered by
the rubric, to be addreffed to this facred and miraculous
pifture, in the following terms — Conduil us, O thou hlejfed
figure, to our proper home, ivhere
Chr'tji. — See Conform, of Anc. &Mod. Ceremonies, p. 158-
[/^] Hsc Chrifti Imago a reeentioribus VERONICiE
dicitur : imaginem ipfam veteres VERONICAM appel.
labant, &c. Mabill. Iter. Ital. p. 88. .
Amphibolus^
A Letter from Rome. 127
Amphiholusy before- mentioned, was not any real
-perfony but the name given to tlie -piElurc itfelf
by the eld writers^ who mention it •, being
formed by blundering and confounding the
words VERA ICON, ot true Image, the title
infcribcd perhaps, or given originally to the
handkerchief, by the full contrivers of the im-
pofture.
Thefe ftorics however, as fabulous and
childifh as they appear to men of fenfe, are yet
urged by grave authors in defence of their
Image-'-JcorJhip, as certain proofs of it's divine
crigi?iy and fufficient to confound all the impious
cppofers of it [/].
I Ihall add nothing more on this article, than
that whatever worfliip was paid by the ancients
to their heroes or inferior deities^ the Rcmanifls
now pay the fame to their Saints and Martyrs ;
as their own infcriptions plainly declare ; which,
[/] Imaginem hanc ab Edcfienorum civitate tranflatam,
condigno ad hxc ufque tcmpora venerationis cuitu in
D. Silvcllri ecclefia, vclutl divimim quid &: perenne facra-
rum imaginum monumcntum, paiitcr ac propugnaculum
adverfus infanos Iconoclallas aflervari, & fufpicicndam iide-
libus adorandamque proponi.
Sacroi'an
fauris qiiibufquc longe antefercnda, in Vaticana Bafilica,
quo par eft venerationis cuItu aflcrvatur, Aringh. Rom.
Subt. t. ii. ]. V. c. 4.
Effigie pia d'ogni altra fublime e adoranda, par e/Ter non
futtura di mnno Angelica o'd'humana, ma del Fatter me-
difimo dcgli Angeli & dcgli huomini. Rora. Mod. Gior. i.
Rion. di Bor.
like '
128 y^LETTER from Rome.
like thofe mentioned above of St. Martina., and
the Pantheon^ generally fignify that the honorSy
which of old had been impioufly given in that place
to the falfe God, are now pioufly and rightly tranf-
f erred to the Chrijiian Saint : or, as one of their
celebrated Poets exprefles himfelf in regard to
St. George^
Ut Martem Latii, fic nos TV, Dive Georgi,
Nunc colimuSy &c, Mantuan.
As Mars our Fathers once ador'd, fo now
To thee, O George, we humbly proftrate bow.
And every where through Italy, one fees their
facred infcriptions fpeaking the pure language
of Paganifm, and afcribing the fame Powers,
Characters, and Attributes to their Saints, which
had formerly been afcribed to the Heathen Gods j
as the few here exhibited will evince.
Popifh Infcriptions. Pagan Infcriptions.
r«l MARIA ET FRANCISCE MERCVRIO ET MINERVAE
TVTELARES MEI. DIIS TVTELARIB. [;;]
DIVO EVSTORGIO DII QVI HVIC TEMPLO
QVI HVIC TEMPLO PRAESIDENT.
PRAESIDET.
NVMINI
NVMINI MERCVRIl SACR.
DIVI GEORGII HERCVLI VICTORI
POLLENTIS POTENTIS POLLENTI POTENTI
INVICTI. INVICTO
PRAESTITI lOVI
_S._
DIVIS DIIS.
PRAESTITIBVS IVVANTIBVS DEABVS
GEORGIO STEPHANOQVE QVE. CVM
CVM DEO OPT. MAX. lOVE.
[ml Vid. Boldonii Epigraphica, p. 439. It. p. 348. It.
p. 422. It. 649.
[«] Gruter. Corp. Infcript. p. 50. It..Cic. Or. pro Lege
Ji^an. 15. It. Grut.p. 54. It. p. 50. It. p. 22. It. ib. p. 2.
Boldonius
A Letter from Rome. i 29
Boldonius cenfures the author of the laft in-
fcription, for the abfurdity of putting the Saints
before God himfelf\ and imitating too clofeiy
the ancient infcription, which I have fet againft
it, where the fame impropriety is committed in
regard to Jupiter,
As to that celebrated a5l of Popifh Idolatry,
the Adoration of the Hofl^ I muft confefs, that
I cannot find the leaft refemblance of it in any
part of the Pagan IVorfhip : and as oft as I have
been (landing by at Mafs, and feen the whole
congregation proflrate on the ground, in the
humbleft pofture of adoring, at the elevation of
this confecra ted piece of bread; I could not help
reflefling on a paffage of Tully, whefe fpeaking
of the abfurdity of the Heathens in the choice of
their Gods^ But was afiy man^ fays he, ever fd
mad as to take that which he feeds upon for a
God [^] ? This was an ejitravagance referved
for Popery alone •, and what an old Roman
could not but think too grofs, ev£n for Egyptian
Idolatry to fwallow, is now become the princi^
pal part ofworfhip^ and the diftinguifhing ^r/i-
cU of Faith -i in the Creed of modern Rome.
But their temples are hot the only places
v/here we fee the proofs and overt-a<5ls of their
fuperfiition : the whole face of the country has
[0} Scd ecqucm tarn amcntem cfTe putas, qiii illud, quo
Tcfcatur, Deum credat effc ? Cic. de Nat. Dcor. iii.
Vol. V. 1 the. •
[30
A Letter from Rome.'
the vifible charaSlers o^ Paganifm upon it; and
wherever we look about us, we cannot but find,
as St. Paul did in Athens [^], clear evidence of
it's being poffeffed by a fuperjiiiious and idola-
trous people..
The old Romans^ we know, had their Gods^
who prefided peculiarly over the roads, Jlreets,
and highways, called Viales, Semiiales, Compi-
tales: whofe little temples or altars decked with
flowers, or whofe Jiatues at leaft cparfly carved
of wood or Hone, were placed at convenient
dillances in the public ways, for the benefit of
travelers, who ufed to ftep afide to pay their
devotions to thefe rural Shrines, and beg a prof-
perous journey and fafety in their travels [^].
Now this cuftom prevails ftill fo generally in
all popijh countries, but efpecially in Italy, that
one c ;n fee no other difference between the old
and prefent fuperjiition, than that of changing
the name of the Deity, and chriftening as it were
the old Hecate in triviis, by the new name of
Maria in trivio -, by which title, I have obferved
one of their Churches dedicated in this city: [r] :
[p] ASt. Apoft. xvii. 17.
[^] Ut religiofis viantium moris eft, cum aliquis IucuSj>
aut aliquis locus fanclus in via oblatus eft, votum poftulare,
donum apponere, paulifper aflidere.
Nequejuftius religiofam moram viatori objecerit aut ara
fioribus redimita — aut truncus dolamine effigiatus, kc.
Apuleii Florid, i.
Invoco voj, Lares viales, ut me bene juvetis.
Plaat. Merc. v. 2,
[r] Rom. Modern. Gior. Rian. diColojina, c xi.
1 and
A Letter frotn Rome. it
iind as the Heathens ufed to paint over the c:
dinary Statues of their Gcd:^ with ;>'r/ or forPLC
fuch gay color [j], fo I have oft ubferved the
coarfe Images of thefe Saints fo daubed over with
a gaudy red, as to refemble exadly the defcrip-
tion of the God Pan in Virgil j
Sanguinis ebuli baccis minioque rubentem. Eel. x.
In pafTing along the road, it is common to
fee travellers on their knees before thefe rujiic
altars •, which none ever prefume to approach
without fome ad: of reverence ; and thofe, who
are moft in hafle, or at a diftance, are fure to
pull off their Hats at leaft, in token of refpedl :
and I took notice, that our poflilions ufed to
look back upon us, to fee how we behaved on
fuch occafions, and feemed furprized at our
paffmg fo negligently before places efteemed fo
facrcd.
But befides thefe Images ind Ahars, there are
frequently erefled on the road huge wooden
crojfes [^], dfeffed out with flowers, and hung
round with the trifling offerings of the country
people -, which always put me in mind of the
fuperjlitious veneratiott, which the Heathens ufe
[;] FifUlem fuilTe k idco miniari folituni. Plin. Hill. N.
1. XXXV. 12. & a Ccnforibus Jovem miniandum loc:;.
Ibid. 1. xxxiii. 7. It. Paufan. ii. 2.
[f\ Sand^ap Imagines & Cruces in viis publicis enj>;-.-,"jrj
& nos proptet Deum, & puram erga fanftos ejuf .'idLrii,
fanfta cjufmodi ubique ereda adoramus jc falutam^ Da-
rant, de Riiib. 1. i. c. 6.
I 2 to
A Letter from Rome?
. ^. . • to fome old trunks of trees or pofts, fetr
up in the highways, which they hddfacred [u],
or of that venerable Oak in Ovidy covered with
garlands and votive offerings :
Stabat in his ingens annofo robore quercus ;
Una nemus : Vitta mediam, memorefque tabella
Sertaque cingebant, voti argumenta potentis.
Met. viii.
Reverend with Age a (lately Oak there flood.
It's Branches widely ftretch'd, itfelf a Wood,
With Ribbands, Garlands, Pi6liires cover'do'er.
The Fruits of pious Vows from Rich and Poor.
This defcription of the Pagan Oak puts me in
mind of a flory, that I have met with here, of
a Popifh Oak very like it, viz. how a certain
perfon, devoted to the worfhip of the Virgin^
hung up SLpi^ure of her in an Oak^ that he had
in his vineyard, which grew fo famous for ifs
miracles^ that the Oak foon became covered with
votive offerings., and rich prefents from diflant
countries, fo as to furnifh a fund at lall for the
building of a great Church to the miraculous
piEliire ; which now ftands dedicated in this city,
under the title oi St. Mary of the Oak \x\
But
\u\ Nam yeneror, feu ftipes habet defertus in agris,
Seu vetus in trivio florida ferta lapis.
Tibul. El. i. II.
\x'\ Effendo egli divotiffimo della Madonna, fece di-
plngere rimagine di lei, e I'appefe ad una Quercia — dove
commincio a manifcdarfi con molti miracoli, intanto che
fino dair Africa, e da Conftantinopoli I'crano mundati voti
in
A Letter from Rome. 3 ^ .
But what gave me^ ftill the greater notion of
the fuperflition of thefe countries, was to fee
thofe little Oratories, or rural Shrines, fome-
times placed under the cover of a tree or grove -^
agreeably to the defcriptions of the old :dolc:try^
in the facred as well as profane writers [j ] ; or
more generally raifed on fome eminence, or, in
the phrafe of Scripture, on high places ; the con-
ftant fcene of idolatrous ivorfhip in all ages ; it
being an univerfal opinion among the Heathens,
that the Gods in a peculiar manner loved to
refide on eminences or tops of mountains [z] :
which Pagan notion prevails ftill fo generally
with the Papip, that there is hardly a rock or
precipice, how dreadful or difficult foever of ac-
' ccfs, that has not an Oratory, or Altar, or Crucifix
at leaft, planted on the top of it.
Among the rugged mountains of the Alps in
Savoy, very near to a little town called Modana,
there ftands on the top of a rock, a chapel, with
a miraculous Image ol our Lady, which is vifited
with great devotion by the people, and fom^-
times, we were told, by the King him f elf ; be-
ing famous, it feems, for a miracle of a fingu-
lar kind, {viz.) the rcftoring of dead-born chil-
dren to life ; but lb far onely, as to make them
io tanta quantita, che vi fi fece una gran Cliicfa.— Rom.
Modern. Gior. iii. c. 30. Rion. della Reg.
[^] Lucus & Ara Dian.-c. Hor.
I 3 capable
134 y^ Letter from Rome.
capable of Baptifm, after which they again ex-
pire : and our landlord aflured me, that ther^
was daily proof of the truth of this miracle^ in
children brought from all quarters to be pre-
fented before this Shrine ; who never failed tp
jfliew maiiifell tokens of life, by Jlretching out
their arms^ or opening their eyes^ or even fome-
times making water^ whilll they were held by
the prieft in prefence of the Image. All which
appeared fo ridiculous to a French gentleman,
who was with me at the place, but had not
heard the ftory from our landlord, that he looked
upon it as a banter or ficlion of my own, till I
brought him to my author, who with his wife,
as well as our Voiturins, very ferioufly teftified
the truth of it ; and added farther, that when
^ the French army paffed that way in the lafl war,
they were fo impious, as to throw down this
[acred Image to the bottom of a vaft precipice
hard by it, which, though of wood only, was
found below entire and unhurt by the fall, and
fo replaced in it's Shrine^ with greater honor
than ever, by the atteftation of x\\is new mira^
cle.
On the top of Mount Senis, the higheft moun-
- tain of the Alps^ in the fame pafiage of Savoy,
covered with perpetual fnow, they have ano-
ther Chapel^ in which they perform divine fer-
vice once a year, in the Month of Augujl ; and â–
fometimes, as our guides informed us, to the
deftruction of the whole congregation, by the
accident
A Letter from Rome. ij^
accident of a fudden temped in a place fo ele-
vated and expofed. And this furciy comes 'm
to the defcription of that worfhip,. which the
Jews were commanded to extirpate from the
face of the earth : '* Ye fhall utterly deftroy
*' the places wherein the nations fervcd their
*' Gods, upon the high mountains and upon
" the hills, and under every green tree : And
*' ye fhall overthrow their altars, break their
*' pillars, burn their groves, and hew down
" the graven Images of their Gods [«]."
When we enter their towns, the cafe is fllll
the fame, as it was in the country ; we find
every where the fame marks of Idolatry and the
fame realbns to make us fancy, that we are
ftill treading Fagan ground-, whilfl at every cor-
ner we fee Images and Altars^ with lamps or
candles burning before them; exa(ftly anfwering •
*o the defcriptions of the ancient writers [^] ;
and to what Tertullian reproaches the Heathens
with, that their Jlrcets, their markets^ their baths
were not without an idol [c']. But above all,
in the pomp and fokmnity of their Holy-days, and
efpccially their religious procejfwns^ we fee the
[a] Deutcron. xii. 2, 3.
[^] 'Ayxh^x Ti!v It u-)-c^x ^iiij¥. Xenoph. I. iv. It. Eurlp.
Elec. 387. Mira* Oi Aio; 'srayaj (/.iv aynxi, d'C. Lucian. in
Prometh.
Omnibus vicis Statua;, ad cas Th.us & Cerei. CicOff.
iii. z6.
[< ] De Spedac. c. viii,
I 4 genuin
1 36 y^ .L E T T E R from Rome;.
genuin remains of Heathenifm, and proof enougli
to convince us, that this is ftill thz fame RomCy
which old Numa firft tamed and civilized by the
arts of religion: who, as Plutarch fays [^],
" by the inftitution of fuppHcations and pro-
" cefTions to the Gods, which infp^re reverence,
*' whilft they give pleafure to the fpeflators,
5' and by pretended miracles, and divine appa-
" ritions, reduced the fierce fpirits of his fub-
!" jeds under the power of fuperftition,'*
The defcriptions of the religious pomps and
proceffions of the Heathens come fo near to
what we fee on every feflival of the Virgin or
other Romifh Saint^ that one can hardly help
thinking thefe Popifto ones to be ftill regulated
by the old ceremonial of Pagan Rome. At thefe
folemnities the chief magijlrate ufed frequently
to aflift in robes of ceremony \ attended by the
Priejls in furplices \_e], with wax candles in their
hands, carrying upon a pageant or thenfa the
Images of their Gods, drefled out in their beljt
\_d\ Toe yCvj 'z:o>^.c(, ^va\cu<; xj 'tso^Ttcuc; 1^ p^o^Eiai; a-^ct a-ijxioT^t
&c. ibid. Plutar. in Numa, p. 16.
[e] Antiftites facrorum candido linteamine — ad ufque
veftigia ftrictira inje£li. Deum proferebant infignes exu-
vias, quorum primus lucernam prxmicantem claro porrige-
l^at lumine. &c. — Eas amoenus ledliffimas juventutis, vefle
jiivea prEnitens fequebatur chorus, carmen venuftum ite-
rantes. Iviagnus prreterea fcxus utriufque numerus, lu-
fcrnis, taidis,' cereis, &c. Apul. Ibid. Vid. Paufan. ii. 7,
cloaths ;
ji Letter from Rome. 137
cloaths : thefe were ufually followed by the
principal youth of the place, in while linen vejl-
ments or furplices^ fi^g^^^Z h^^^^^ ^^ honor of the
Godt whofe fejlival they were celebrating •, ac-
companied by crouds of all forts^ that were ini-
tiated in the fame religion, all with flambeaux or
wax candles in tlieir hands. This is the account
which Apuleius, and other authors give us of a
Pagan proceffion \ and I may appeal to all, who
|iave been abroad, whether it might not pafs