VI.
MYTHOLOGY.
“What can we suppose to be the cause of this, but that there
is some perverse power, an enemy to truth, whose delight is in
the errors of mankind, whose continual work it is, by pouring
forth darkness, to blind the minds of men, that they may not
behold the light, nor look up to heaven.”
Lactan. Instit, lib. i. De fals. Sap. c. 1.
For since the knowledge of the One Supreme
Was the sole fountain which refresh'd mankind,
And purified and fill'd the inner mind,
To foul the source of that soul-cleansing stream
Did evil spirits labour,—made the theme
Of God and heaven amid the multitude
(Which ever blends with ill essential good)
A worship soul-corrupting; poet's dream,
Or language veil'd in priestly mysteries,
They turn'd to fond idolatry and lies;
On sacrificial victims laid the rod
Of their enchantments, made them deities,
Isis or Apis. Trembling at their nod,
Men worshipp'd some old emblem for a God.
