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THE SATYRS, FAUNS, AND EGYPANS.

These were all rural Deities or Demi-gods, said to inhabit forests and mountains. They were represented as half men and half goats. It is supposed, they owed their divinity to the fear and astonishment occasioned on the first appearance of apes.

FLORA.

Flora was the wife of Zephyrus and the Goddess of Flowers: she was worshipped at Rome, where feasts and games were celebrated to her honor, called Floralia.

PALES.

Pales was the Goddess of shepherds and the protectress of flocks. Her festivals, called Parilia or Palilia, were celebrated in the month of April; on which occasion no victims were

slain, and the only sacrifices offered were the

fruits of the earth.

POMONA.

Pomona was the Goddess of orchards, and the wife of Vertumnus or Proteus. The skill of this Goddess, in the cultivation of fruit-trees and gardens, procured her so great a reputation among the Romans, that they honored her with a place in the Pantheon. She was represented under the form of a beautiful young woman, sitting upon a basket of fruit; and near her stood Vertumnus in the figure of a young man, holding fruit in one hand, and in the other, the horn of plenty.

ECHO.

Echo was the daughter of the Air and the Earth. She fell in love with the beautiful Nar

cissus, a vain youth, who, seeing his own image in a fountain, was so captivated with it, that he continued gazing on it till he languished and died. Echo, inconsolable for his loss, pined away with grief; but being immortal, she retained her voice, which she exercises in repeating all the sounds which reach her.

THE LARES AND PENATES.

These Gods presided over empires, cities, highways, houses, and individuals. Their numbers were prodigious, and they were chosen at pleasure. The souls of those who had served the state faithfully, and the spirits of departed friends and relations, were placed among them. They were worshipped under the figure of small images of human form, which were kept in the most retired part of their houses, called Lara

rium. Dogs were sacrificed to them, and the lamp, as a symbol of vigilance, was consecrated to them.

GENII.

The Genii were likewise ranked among the number of domestic Deities. To every person an evil and a good Genius were assigned; the former prompting him to all kinds of evil, and the latter exciting him to the practice of virtue. They were represented as young men, holding in one hand a drinking vessel, and in the other, a horn of plenty. The ancients believed that the universe abounded with spirits presiding over all nature. Plato speaks of Gnomes who inhabited the earth, Sylphs who sported in the air, and Salamanders who lived in fire.

TERRESTRIAL NYMPHS.

Though these Divinities derived their origin from the water, being descended from Nereus and Doris, yet, as they presided over forests, trees and meadows, they more properly belong to this division. Those who lived in the woods were called Dryads, from a Greek word which signifies an oak. The Hamadryads had their fate attached to a particular tree, with which their life commenced and ended. The Oreades presided over mountains, and the Napaa dwelt in the groves. Milk, honey, oil, and sometimes goats, were sacrificed to their honor.

REFLECTIONS.

Though the bounded faculties and blinded reason of these ages of superstition could not