nto men not only the use of fire,
but _perpetual youth_ also, a boon most acceptable and desirable. They
being as it were overjoyed, did foolishly lay this gift of the gods
upon the back of an ass, who, being wonderfully oppressed with thirst
and near a fountain, was told by a serpent (which had the custody
thereof) that he should not drink unless he would promise to give him
the burthen that was on his back. The silly ass accepted the condition,
and _so the restoration of youth_ (_sold for a draught of water_)
_passed from men to serpents._"--_The Wisdom of the Ancients_
(Prometheus, xxvi.).

That this, as well as the whole of the legend relating to Prometheus, is a
confused account of an early tradition relative to the Fall of Man, and his
forfeiture of immortality, is obvious to any {41} unprejudiced mind. Lord
Bacon's explanation shows that he has been overreached by his fancy and
ingenuity.

In all the ancient mysteries, the serpent was more or less conspicuously
introduced, and always as a symbol of the invigorating or active power of
nature. The serpent was an emblem of the sun. _Solar_, _Phallic_, and
_Serpent_ worship, are all forms of a single worship.[8] The Hindu _Boodh_,
Chinese _Fo_, Egyptian _Osiris_, Northern _Woden_, Mexican _Quetzalcoatl_
(feathered serpent), are one and the same. (See the _American
Archaeological Researches_, No. 1.; _The Serpent Symbol, and the Worship of
the Reciprocal Principles of Nature in America_, by E. G. Squier: New York,
1851.)

In Hindostan, to this day, we have the _Chaudravanasas_ and the
_Snaryavanasas_, worshippers of the moon, the aqueous or female; and of the
sun, the igneous or male principle. The _Saivas_ conjoin the two. Clemens
Alexandrinus has a curious remark, referring to the calling on _Evoe_ or
_Eva_ in the orgies of Bacchus; he says:

"The symbol in the orgies of Bacchus is a consecrated _serpent_; and,
indeed, if we pay attention to the strict sense of the Hebrew, the name
_Evia_, aspirated, signifies _female serpent_."

In my list of saints who are represented with a dragon or serpent beneath
their feet, I omitted St. Hilary:

"He is usually represented with three books. In Callot's _Images_ he is
treading on serpents, and accompanied by the text Numb. xxi. 7. Both
these emblems allude to his opposition to Arianism; the books
signifying the treatises he wrote against it, and the serpents