n people. He caused the hollow
figure of an image to be made of perforated earth, with the holes
stuffed with wax, and the large internal cavity filled with water. He
then challenged the god Ur to oppose his god Canopus,--a challenge
which was accepted by the Chaldean priests. No sooner did the heat
that was expected to devour the Egyptian idol begin to take effect,
than, the wax being melted, the water gushed out and extinguished the
fire. Before the Assyrian empire was joined to that of Babylon,
Nisroch was the god worshipped in Nineveh, and it was in the temple of
this idol that the great Sennacherib was murdered. This idol was in
the shape of a bird--a dove or an eagle--made, if we can believe the
Jewish rabbis, from a plank of Noah's ark. The people repented at the
preaching of Jonah, but it was not long before they relapsed into
their former idolatry and general wickedness.

CHAPTER V.

Greek Religion and Superstition--Whence the Greeks
derived their Religion--Jupiter regarded as the
President of the Law and Protector of
Cities--Entertainment of Strangers--Dreams and
Charms--Sacred Stones--Omens of Evil--Sacrificing the
Hair--Flight of Birds--Compassing the Altar to the
Right--Methods of discovering whether a Person was in
Love--Love secured by Magic--Marriage Ceremonies--Most
lucky time for Marriage--Way of protecting a Child
from Evil Spirits--Divers magical Ceremonies--Strange
Laws as to Dead Bodies--Fingers and Toes of Dead Men
worn as Charms to frighten away Ghosts--Preparing a
Body for Burial--Superstitious Customs--Swine and
Swine's Flesh--Drinking Toasts--How Strangers were
expected to behave in a Strange Land--Prophets
consulted before Armies marched to Battle--Certain
words avoided--Sneezing--Evil Omens--Throwing a Person
overboard to save a Ship.

Herodotus was of opinion that the Greeks derived their religion and
superstition from the Egyptians; Plutarch arrived at another
conclusion; while many maintained that Orpheus brought the mysteries
of religion into Greece. Whoever is right, this we know, that the
Greeks became so prone to worship ancient deities, and so anxious to
do homage to all the divinities, that they erected altars to unknown
gods, for fear they would fail in their duty to any power that could
assist them in time of need. Above all gods, Jupiter was held in the
highe