But a pure and spiritual worship, abstract ideas, and the exclusion of every material object from our view, is a difficult exercise of the mind, and requires a higher tone of exertion, than could be easily maintained in more rude and corrupt times. To aid the imagination, and cherish the devotional affections, emblems, or sym bols, of the divinity were admitted into the worship of the Deity. An unformed mass of stone was probably the first memorial of the divine presence ; and it is said, that there are African tribes who still worship such massy blocks. Perhaps the large stones which have raised so many conjectures in our own country, may have been objects of worship in the time of the Druids, or at a more early and less informed season. In this state of the human mind, more striking appear ances of nature would naturally attract the notice of men, and be viewed as appropriate memorials of the divine perfections. Hence, the sun, the moon, and the stars, held their station in the list of those objects which suggested religious ideas ; and we know, that those parts of nature were much and generally worshipped in the East.
Taught to consider every thing as coming from the Deity, his presence would naturally be acknowledged in every operation and blessing of nature ; and hence the woods and the streams became sacred ; vegetables and plants were deified ; and, in Egypt, divine honours were paid to some of the brute creation. We can ea sily see how the hosts of heaven, which commanded admiration, might be objects of divine regard ; we can feel how the shady grove, or the deep forest, might ex cite veneration in a sultry climate ; we can figure to ourselves, how a spring of water might raise grateful emotions in a thirsty land ; or how copious rivers, like the Nile and the Ganges, might be worshipped, and washed in, as agreeable services to the munificent Au thor of such delightful streams ; but we cannot easily comprehend how the bull and the cow, or such animals as the crocodile, the ichneumon, the cat, and the ibis, could command such reverence and solemn rituals as they did in Egypt.
It is difficult to comprehend how Osiris, whether the representation of a hero or the sun, should be worship ped under the figure of an ox; but we may suppose, that such sacrifices as these were offered for the boun tiful supplies of nature, in yielding the means of sub sistence, and even the lnxuries of life. The cow, and other animals, in one period of the Egyptian history, were common sacrifices ; and it may be difficult to chew, how this animal, as well as others, became after wards so sacred, that to take away their life was the highest crime. It is generally understood, that the
earlier race of men subsisted solely on the fruits of the earth, and that the use of animal food was introduced at a much later period. It would appear, that a reli gious sect had sprung up in Egypt, as well as in In dia, to counteract this innovation in point of food-; and as religious scruples take the most lasting as well as firm hold of the mind, the prohibition to use animal food would naturally be extended to the taking away of the life of the brute creation, excepting in cases which cir cumstances, or ascertained forms, would prescribe. L. is probably on this account that the Hindoos confine themselves to vegetable food.
The people, in the early improved countries of the East, appear to have had many sentiments and manners in common; and we presume, that the Egyptians, at one period, had their manners and habits similar to those of Hindostan. Each of them were divided into different casts ; both of them venerated the ox and the copy; and the same superstition, with respect to this worship, is found in Thibet. The consecrated bull, which was most venerated in Egypt, was distinguish ed by many peculiar marks, and of a fine figure. It was called Apis, and was worshipped at Memphis. The other bull was black, was denominated Mucirs, and kept at Heliopolis. These animals were treated with much pomp, and maintained at great expence. Their death was lamented with bitterness, and observ ed with many marks of public mourning. Various ceremonies were observed in finding a successor ; and the consecrated calf was introduced into its situation with much pomp, and certain ceremonies not to be com mended.
Osiris was said to represent the sun, and Isis the moon. If the cow and the bull were sacred to Isis and Osiris, the ram was worshipped at Thebes in honour of Jupiter Ammon ; and the sheep were considered as sacred animals. Pan was venerated at Mendis by the symbol of a goat. Mathis was painted with a dog's head, and accounted the divinity of sagacity and watch fulness. In short, there were a diversity of divinities under different appearances, and honoured with diffe rent sacrifices, but all of them alluding to the bounty and productive qualities of nature. To these we must oppose the worship of Typhon, who was considered as the author of evils and misfortunes. Like the foun tain of good, the source of evil was described by diffe rent names ; and to these beings the crocodile, and other forbidding animals, were devoted. Different ci ties had peculiar divinities, who were worshipped there, and under whose protection the people were supposed to be placed.