Chapter IX: Section VIII

_That venemous Creatures have been made Instruments of divine and human Vengeance, is most evident._ The romantic Account given in Antiquity, of strange Feats done by a poisonous Breath—does not affect the Truth of this Proposition.

The Antients divided Serpents, into good and evil Ministers; thus the _Egyptians_ looked upon some of them to be Administrators of Mercy, and others to be Messengers of Justice. _Osiris_[85] one of their Gods, is said to send out Serpents, to chastise Evil-Doers[86].

Footnote 85:

——δρακων επι νωτα δαφωινος
Σμερδαλεος, του ῥ’ αυτος ολυμπιος ηκε φοως δε.
Hom. Iliad. B.

Footnote 86:

_Ælian. Hist. Animalium._

When the Church of _Israel_ murmured against God in the Wilderness, and censured the Conduct of Providence, he employs an Army of Serpents as his Agents, to correct the Rebels.——Plagues, and other pestilential Diseases, were, in old times, reputed to be the Messengers of the Gods, and commissioned by them, to execute Wrath upon the Wicked.

Some of the Heathens had exalted Notions of Virtue, and believed Men of Virtue to be the Favourites of the Gods, and that a vicious Life, being opposite to the Sanctity of their Nature, they could not let it pass with Impunity.

An Instance to this purpose we have in the History of the Apostles, _Acts_ xxviii. 1-6. The _Island_ was called _Melita_. _And when Paul had gathered a Bundle of Sticks, and laid them on the Fire, there came a Viper out of the Heat, and fastened on his Hand. And when the Barbarians saw the venemous Beast hang on his Hand; they said among themselves, No doubt this Man is a Murderer, tho’ he has escaped the Sea, yet Vengeance_ (δικη, _Justice_) _suffers not to live——They looked when he should have swoln, or faln_ _down—And when they saw no harm come to him, they changed their Mind, and said he was a God._ _How_ came they to alter their Opinion? Because, according to their Divinity, none else could thus command, and controul a venemous Serpent, which was one of the _Messengers of the Gods_.

“No venemous Beasts, according to the fabulous Tradition, will live in the Island, which they ascribe to St. _Paul_’s Blessing, when he was shipwreck’d there.” They shew the Cave where they pretend he resided, and reckon the Earth of it, an Antidote against Poison.

From this historical Passage, ’tis evident, that these Barbarians did believe a _Providence_, and the Doctrine of _Divine Justice_, which _Justice_ they openly adored, under the Name of _Vindicta_, or _Nemesis_, which was the _Goddess_ of _Revenge_, whose Province was to inspect the moral Conduct of all Men, and distribute Rewards and Punishments as the Case required. It was painted in the same manner as _Justice_, with a Pair of _Scales_ in one hand, and a _Sword_ in the other.

In _Ethiopia_, we read of a large Country, this side the _Cynamolgi_, that was laid waste, and entirely depopulated by Scorpions, before whom, the Inhabitants not being able to stand, fled for their Lives. The same Desolation was made by the Scorpions at _Salamin_, an island not far from _Athens_, called the _Island of Dragons_, for which _Lycophron_ is quoted[87].

Footnote 87:

_Conrad. Gesner. de Scorp._

The Inhabitants of _Amyclæ_, a Town in _Italy_, were destroyed by Serpents, being, as ’tis said, of the _Pythagorean Race_, whose Laws forbid to kill Animals, and by suffering these venemous Creatures to multiply without Controul, they became insufferable[88].

Footnote 88:

_Ibid._

The Inhabitants of _Pescara_, an antient City in _Africa_, were constrained to forsake their Habitations in _Summer_, by reason of _Scorpions_ that were very numerous, and in that Season, their Sting most dangerous: In Winter, when their Wounds were less dangerous, the Refugees turned to their Houses[89].

Footnote 89:

_Atl. Geogr._ p. 319.

_DIODORUS SICULUS_ observes how many Regions have been deserted, for this reason; both People and Cattle being driven away by an Army of _Scorpions_, and their Allies.

In the _Canary-Islands_, these venemous Animals are more dreaded than the Pestilence. ’Tis said they are hunted and taken by the _Turks_, who prepare the _Oil_ of _Scorpions_ from them[90]. In _India_, about the _Arrahban-Lake_, the Country has been intirely dispeopled by these mischievous Creatures. _Ibid._

Footnote 90:

_Conrad. Gesner._ p. 29.

In Times of War, Serpents have been prest into the Service. Thus _Heliogabalus_ (Emperor of _Rome_, so called because he was _Priest_ of the _Sun_ before his Election) having, by his _Sacerdotal Incantators_, or sacred Conjurers, gathered together several Serpents, contrived a Method to turn them loose, before day, among his Enemies, which soon put them into a terrible Hurry, and a Motion, that was a Trial for their Lives; the Sight of the crooked Serpent being far more dreadful, than the Whizzing of a straight Arrow[91]. The same Author informs us of Snakes thrown by a Sling-Staff into the Camp of the Barbarians, which did great Execution.

Footnote 91:

_Gesner. de Scorp._

King _Prusias_ being overcome by King _Eumenes_, by Land, and intending to try his Fate by Sea, _Hannibal_, by a new Invention, made him victorious. The Stratagem was this: _Hannibal_ having procured a great Number of Serpents, put them into earthen Vessels; and by another Device, and in midst of the Engagement, convey’d them into _Antiochus_’s Fleet, which proved more dreadful than Fire-balls, and feather’d Weapons, that flew amongst them. At first, it seemed ridiculous to the _Romans_, that they should arm themselves, and fight with _earthen Pots_; but when they were broken, an Army of Snakes rush’d out, which so terrified the Marines, that they immediately yielded the Victory to _Prusias_, the _Carthaginian_ Hero’s Friend[92].

Footnote 92:

_Justini Hist._ lib. xxxii. ad finem.

We read in History, how _Juno_, out of her hatred to _Hercules_, sent two dreadful Serpents to devour him in the Cradle, which he soon crush’d with his Infant-Hands.

It was common among the _Antient Swedes_, to send out certain Flies (which they pretended to be their Familiars) to plague their Enemies. They also made _Magical Balls_ for the same purpose, boasting how they thereby conveyed Serpents into their Enemies Bodies.

The _Laplanders_ had their _Magical Tyre_, which was a Ball about the Bigness of a small Apple, (made of Moss, or Hair of Beasts) which, they say, is quickned and moved by a particular Art; they persuade themselves, that by this _Tyre_, they can send Serpents, or what they please, into any Man, to torment him. When this _Ball_ is thrown, it goes like a Whirlwind, and as swift as a pointed Arrow[93].

Footnote 93:

_Schefferus_’s History of _Lapland_, cap. xi. p. 60.

In the Book of _Daniel_, mention is made of several kinds of Magicians in _Chaldea_, under King _Nebuchadnezzar_; one is _Mecasphim_, a word which by St. _Jerome_, and the _Greeks_ is translated _Malefici_, _Inchanters_, such People as make use of noxious Herbs and Drugs, the Blood of Victims, and Bones of the Dead, for their superstitious Operations[94].

Footnote 94:

_Calmet_’s Hist. Crit.—Dictionary.

“The Tyrants of _Japonia_ invented a strange Punishment for
those who confessed Christ.——They hung them with their Heads
downwards, half their Bodies into a large Hole digged in the
Earth, which they filled with _Snakes_, _Lizards_, and other
poisonous Vermin; but even those (says my Right Reverend Author,
the learned and pious Bishop _Taylor_) were better Companions
than those infernal Dragons in the Pit of Hell[95].”

The _Romans_, when they punish’d any for _Parricide_, to express their Abhorrence of so heinous a Murder, they shut him up in a Sack, with a Serpent, an Ape, and a Cock.

Footnote 95:

_Contemplations_, Book ii. chap. 6.

To these Instances, I shall add, that the Attendants of _Pluto_, Prince of the Infernal Regions, are represented in a _Serpentine Habit_, viz. the _Furies_, _Harpies_——

In his Train, are three _Diræ_, _Eumenides_, or Furies, _viz._ _Alecto_, _Megæra_, and _Tysiphone_, whose Heads are covered with long and dreadful Snakes, instead of Hair, with Whips, Chains, and flaming Torches, in their Hands, to punish the Guilty. These also attended the Throne of _Jove_, and were accounted to be Messengers of the Gods, whose Office it was to execute their Decrees in the Infliction of Calamities upon Mortals.

These _Furies_ had their Temples and Worshippers, and were described in Figures of so frightful a Form, that they durst scarce mention their Names without Horror.

_TYSIPHONE_, one of them, enraged at an innocent Youth, pluck’d off one of her Snakes, and threw it at him, which wound about his Body, and immediately strangled him. Some say, that we see these three Furies on a Medal of the Emperor _Philip_, struck at _Antioch_, on whose Reverse are represented three Women, arm’d with a Key, burning Torches, Poniards, and Serpents.

The Daffodil was sacred to the Furies, and such as offered Sacrifice to them were crowned with it[96].

Footnote 96:

From _Eustathius_, on the first Book of the _Iliad_.

As soon as departed Souls had been examined by _Minos_, _Radamanthus_, and _Æacus_, and found guilty, and Sentence past, they were delivered to the Furies, who cast them down headlong into _Tartarus_, the Place of Torment,—and all those who had lived well, were conducted to the _Elysian_ Fields.

_HOMER_ speaks of them as the Executioners of Justice upon false Swearers, among other Instances:

_Infernal Furies, and Tartarean Gods,
Who rule the Dead, and horrid Woes prepare
For perjur’d Kings, and all who falsly swear._

The _Harpies_[97] were monstrous and cruel Birds describ’d with Women’s Faces, and _Dragons Tails_, to render them more formidable to Mankind: The Ancients looked upon them as Dæmons or Genii, which last _Homer_ calls _Podarge_. About _Kaskan_ in _Persia_, is a fine and fertile Country, but plagued with Multitudes of _Scorpions_, which haunt the Inhabitants, especially in that Town (one of the most populous and eminent Marts in that Empire) where the Inhabitants, for fear of that venemous Animal, dare not sleep upon the Floor (as in other Places, where they only throw a Quilt upon the Tapestry) but have light Couches, hanging down from the Roof, like Seamens Hammocks, or hanging Beds on ship-board.

Footnote 97:

_Aello_, _Ocypete_, and _Celæno_, Virg. Æneid. lib. 3.

They have indeed a ready Help against its venemous Wounds, which is made of the Filings of Copper, tempered with _Vinegar_ and _Honey_, which proves a speedy Cure; but if neglected, the Patient is in danger of his Life. This, says the Historian, I presume, has been first found out by the antipathetick Quality, which seems to be between _Scorpions_ and _Copper_; for not far from the City is the Copper-Mine, where, as before, if one of these Animals be brought, it dies immediately. _Q. Whether this be not_ Herbert_’s_ Parthian?

Yea, to render a future State terrible to Mortals, the Heathens, speaking of departed Souls, feigned, that at their Descent from _Charon_’s Boat (who was the Ferryman of Hell) they met _Cerberus_, a monstrous Dog, with three Heads, who was covered all over with _Serpents_, instead of Hair. There was the Monster _Chimæra_ that vomited Fire, her Head like a _Lion_, Middle like a _Goat_, and her Tail like a furious _Dragon_; so sings the Poet:

——Cerberus, _who soon began to rear
His crested Snakes—he gapes with three enormous Mouths_.

Dryden’s Virgil.

So another:

_For as the_ Pope _that keeps the Gate
Of Heaven, wears three Crowns of State;
So he, that keeps the Gates of Hell,
Proud_ Cerberus, _wears three Heads as well.
And, if the World have any Troth,
Some have been canoniz’d in both_.

Hudibras.

But further, we may observe, that besides this frightful Appearance of Serpents to salute their Entrance into Hell, there was Variety of Punishments for them when there. Thus the _Danaides_ were condemned to _Tartarus_ by the Poets, to be continually employed in filling a Cask perforated at the bottom; _Phlegas_, condemned by _Apollo_ to Hell, where he sat upon a rolling Stone, in constant danger of falling into a Pit of greater Misery; _Tityus_, adjudged to Hell, where a Vultur feeds on his Liver, and the Liver always grows with the Moon: Nay, such were the horrible Preparations in Hell, that _Virgil_[98], after a Survey of it, declares, that had he a hundred Mouths and Tongues, they would not suffice to recount all the Plagues of the Tortured: so that it is no wonder to see them represent the infernal Prison in Figures the most frightful.

Footnote 98:

_Æneid._ lib. vi. ver. 638.

And as the Heathen had their terrible Place for bad Men, so, to prompt them to Virtue, they had their _Elysium_, i. e. a Place of Pleasure in _Hades_, furnished with most pleasant Fields, agreeable Woods, Groves, Shades, Rivers; whither the Souls of good People were supposed to go after this Life. These are finely described by the Poet:

——_locos lætos & amœna virenta
Fortunatorum nemorum sedesque beatas_.

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