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St. Christopher, and a company of fictitious saints, Venus to the Lady of
Loretto. And as those old Romans had several distinct gods, for divers
offices, persons, places, so have they saints, as [6376]Lavater well
observes out of Lactantius, _mutato nomine tantum_, 'tis the same spirit or
devil that deludes them still. The manner how, as I say, is by rewards,
promises, terrors, affrights, punishments. In a word, fair and foul means,
hope and fear. How often hath Jupiter, Apollo, Bacchus, and the rest, sent
plagues in [6377]Greece and Italy, because their sacrifices were neglected?
[6378] "Dii multa neglecti dederunt
Hesperiae mala luctuosae,"
to terrify them, to arouse them up, and the like: see but Livy, Dionysius
Halicarnassaeus, Thucydides, Pausanius, Philostratus, [6379]Polybius,
before the battle of Cannae, _prodigiis signis, ostentis, templa cuncta,
privates etiam aedes scatebant._ Oeneus reigned in Aetolia, and because he
did not sacrifice to Diana with his other gods (see more in Labanius his
Diana), she sent a wild boar, _insolitae magnitudinis, qui terras et
homines misere depascebatur_, to spoil both men and country, which was
afterwards killed by Meleager. So Plutarch in the Life of Lucullus relates,
how Mithridates, king of Pontus, at the siege of Cizicum, with all his
navy, was overthrown by Proserpina, for neglecting of her holy day. She
appeared in a vision to Aristagoras in the night, _Cras inquit tybicinem
Lybicum cum tybicine pontico committam_ ("tomorrow I will cause a contest
between a Libyan and a Pontic minstrel"), and the day following this enigma
was understood; for with a great south wind which came from Libya, she
quite overwhelmed Mithridates' army. What prodigies and miracles, dreams,
visions, predictions, apparitions, oracles, have been of old at Delphos,
Dodona, Trophonius' den, at Thebes, and Lebaudia, of Jupiter Ammon in
Egypt, Amphiaraus in Attica, &c.; what strange cures performed by Apollo
and Aesculapius? Juno's image and that of [6380]Fortune spake, [6381]Castor
and Pollux fought in person for the Romans against Hannibal's army, as
Pallas, Mars, Juno, Venus, for Greeks and Trojans, &c. Amongst our
pseudo-Catholics nothing so famil]]>
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