NOTES TO CHAPTER 1

1. EUSEBE SALVERTE, Des Sciences Occultes, p. 259.

2. GEBELIN, Monde Primitif, vol. iv. p. 319.

3. See SALVERTE, pp. 258, 259.

4. AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, lib. xiv. cap. 6, p. ad. 26, and lib. xxiii. cap. 6, pp. 371, 374, compared with JUSTINUS, Historia, lib. i. cap. 1, p. 615, and EUSEBIUS'S Chronicle, vol. i. pp. 40, 70, &c. Eusebius says that Ninus and Semiramis reigned in the time of Abraham. See vol. i. p. 41, and vol. ii. p. 65. In regard to the age of Semiramis, see further in note 10.

5. Chronicon Paschale, vol. i. p. 65. IT HESIOD, Theogonia, v. 453, p. 36.

6. The shape of the cup in the woman's hand is the same as that of the cup held in the hand of the Assyrian kings; and it is held also in the very same manner. See VAUX, pp. 243, 284.
[A correspondent has pointed out a reference by Pliny to the cup of Semiramis, which fell into the hands of the victorious Cyrus. Its gigantic proportions must have made it famous among the Babylonians and the nations with whom they had intercourse. It weighed fifteen talents, or 1200 pounds. PLINII, Hist. Nat., lib. xxxiii. cap. 15.]

7. HERODOTUS, Historia, lib. i. cap. 199, p. 92; QUINTUS CURTIS, v. 1.

8. For evidence on this subject, see Appendix, Note A.

9. Elliott's Horae, vol. iv. p.30. [This is quoted by M. See BB 2:173.]

10. For the age of Shem see Genesis xi. 10, 11. According to this, Shem lived 502 years after the flood, that is, according to the Hebrew chronology, till B.C. 1846. The age of Ninus, the husband of Semiramis, as stated in a former note, according to Eusebius, synchronised with that of Abraham, who was born BC 1996. It was only about nine years, however, before the end of the reign of Ninus, that the birth of Abraham is said to have taken place. (SYNCELLUS, p. 170. Paris, 1652.) Consequently, on this view, the reign of Ninus must have terminated, according to the usual chronology, about BC 1987. Clinton, who is of high authority in chronology, places the reign of Ninus somewhat earlier. In his Fasti Hellenici (vol. i. p. 263) he makes his age to have been B.C. 2182. Layard (in his Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 217) subscribes to this opinion. Semiramis is said to have survived her husband forty-two years. (SYNCELL., p. 96.) Whatever view, therefore, be adopted in regard to the age of Ninus, whether that of Eusebius, or that at which Clinton and Layard have arrived, it is evident that Shem long survived both Ninus and his wife. Of course, this argument proceeds on the supposition of the correctness of the Hebrew chronology. For conclusive evidence on that subject, see Appendix, Note B.

11. That which I have rendered "and" is in the authorised version "or," but there is no reason for such a rendering, for the word in the original is the very same as that which connects the previous clause, "and my heart," &c.

12. It will be seen by-and-by what cogent reason there was, in point of fact, for the profoundest secrecy in the matter.—See Chapter II.

13. EUSEBE SALVERTE, Des Sciences Occultes, passim.

14. Dr. MAITLAND'S Church in the Catacombs, pp. 191, 192.

15. For Babylonian origin of these Mysteries, see next chapter, first two sections.

16. EUSEBE SALVERTE, Des Sciences Occultes, chap. xxvi. p. 428.

17. POTTER, vol. i. Eleusinia, p. 356.

18. For the arbitrary prohibitions, in consequence of which guilt might be contracted, see POTTER, vol. i. p. 356, a few sentences before the last quotation.

19. DUPUIS, De tous les Cultes, vol. iv. Part I. p. 312. Paris. L'an III. de la Republique.

20. See particularly JUVENAL, Satires, vi. 535, p. 129.

21. WILKINSON'S Egyptians, vol. v. pp. 335, 336.

22.  BISHOP HAY'S Sincere Christian, vol. ii. p. 68. In this work, the following question and answer occur: "Q. Is this confession of our sins necessary for obtaining absolution? A. It is ordained by Jesus Christ as absolutely necessary for this purpose." See also Poor Man's Manual, a work in use in Ireland, pp. 109, 110.

23. Light of Prophecy, Appendix, Note C.

24. Even among the initiated there was a difference. Some were admitted only to the "Lesser Mysteries"; the "Greater" were for a favoured few. WILKINSON'S Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. pp. 266, 267.

25. Romans 1:18. The best interpreters render the passage as given above. It will be observed Paul is expressly speaking of the heathen.