to all individuals nearly the serences, but in the civilization in its state of progression develops their differences; but in the extreme of civili zation these differences again disappear. The only variation be tween the effect of the extremes is, that what in the first case se was the natural consequence of the circumstances second the result of wilful imitation; and what was uniformity in the one, becomes in the other monotony. society, is in the enoizbol our To these considerations might be added others drawn from o ignorance of the life of Homer. The stories related of his wretched and wandering existence, do not accord with the epoch assigned to him. The Homeric poems do not paint bards in such a state of degradation. Such debasement could only be produced by the decline and the fall of the Greek monarchies. In warlike and barbarous times, such as were the heroic ages of Greece, poets were ever held in the highest consideration, both by the kings and the people. We find a proof of this in all the historical monuments of the Scandiu navians, who, in many respects, resemble the Greeks. But in proportion as civilization advanced, the life led by men becomes more laborious, and ideas of utility acquiring greater empire, poets lose their importance. They themselves are sensible of their dew cline, and they deplore it. Adopting the idea that Homer existed! it is impossible to explain how, in speaking of the minstrels, his predecessors, so well received and so well treated, he did not make some allusion to himself and to the difference of his lot. d) ai No chance never produced, on the precise line which separates two states of civilization, one man capable of painting that which no longer existed, and that which was about to exist. Homer, like Hercules or Buddha, is a generic name. The Homeric poems were the work of several bards, each of whom was the organ and representative of his age. Two, or perhaps three, primitive poems, may have arisen and served for a centre but these poems have undergone several important transformations several episodes have, by degrees, arranged themselves around thein and parts, foreign to them, have been inserted in each; and the date of these parts, of these episodes, and of the two poems, can be determined only by moral proofs. Of such, we distinguish irrefra gable ones in the essential differences which distinguish the Iliad from the Odyssey; and, since these differences would be inexplicable if the two works are to be attributed to the same author, or to the same age, we must regard them as the productions of two distinct authors, and of two different ages, 3550- To bonog odi do sân We do not think, therefore, that, to the picture we have drawn of the first polytheism of the Greeks, the mythology of the Odyssey. can be opposed. This poem belongs to an epoch posterior to polytheism. Generally speaking, we must distinguish in the Homeric poems three sorts of mythology: oft We may remark, in the first line, a popular mythology, such as would be that of a people who freely quitted fetishism.* This mythology is that of the greatest part of the Iliad, and especially that of the first eighteen books, which include and complete the principal action of the poem. In the sequel the same mythology is to be found, but in an improved state; religion having made some progress, and formed a union with morality. In the Odyssey, morality is the prevailing principle; but in this poem, the three first books, in which Ulysses relates his adventures, recede from this moral mythology, and rather belong to that of the Iliad. The description of the condition of the dead is altogether out of character with a religion which has allowed morality to enter into its creed and its precepts. On the other hand, the twenty-fourth book of the Iliad, which many critics regard as supposititious, and the thirty-six last verses of which, on the funeral-games of Hector, are, in truth, unworthy of the Homeric poesy, appear to appertain to the mythology of the Odyssey. It contains ideas on the dignity of the gods, which form a perfect contrast with their preceding conduct, Mercury greets Priam at the entrance of the tent of Achilles, telling him that it did not become the gods to interfere too openly in the transactions of men, This reserve is little in conformity to the habits of the same gods, who, in a thousand other places, did not deem it degrading to mix in the fight, to protect or deceive mortals; and we cannot, therefore, avoid perceiving, in this point, a progress in religious ideas, an elevation in the divine dignity. Priam says to Achilles, Respect the gods, and have compassion on me,' an expression of the Odyssey, rather than of the Iliad. We might be tempted to think, that the advance of civilization having softened the ideas of the Greeks, they felt the necessity, in order to preserve in Achilles their national hero, to present him under traits less savage and less revolting than those which characterise many of his early actions. Hence his tardy pity, and the restoration of the body of Hector to Priam. There are also in Homer traces of a third mythology, cosmogonic and allegorical, and which consists in the mysterious personification of the powers of nature. This mythology is of a different nature to the two other species, which are intrinsically the same, but existing at different periods. It appears altogether a transplantation of foreign origin, and the result of the communications of Greece with Egypt and Phoenicia. It is observable more particularly in the twentysecond book of the Iliad, in the contests of the gods; in the fable of Briareus, which is incompatible with what Homer elsewhere says of the power of Jupiter; in the metamorphoses of Proteus, which Any thing that strikes the irregular imagination of the Negro bes comes his fetish, or the idol of his worship. He adores, and in difficulties consults, a tree, a rock, an egg, a fish-bone, a date-stone, of a blade of grass.'-Malte-Brun, b. lxviii. Diodorus declares to be copied from those of an Egyptian god; in the marriage of Jupiter and Juno, in which the same Diodorus recognizes a part of the cosmogony of Egypt; lastly, in the island inhabited by Eolus, with his sons and daughters, twelve in number. But this third mythology shows itself in the Homeric poems in a very incomplete and broken manner... For the rest, we relinquish these conjectures to those who are accustomed to reflect on matters of this kind, and who take delight in such an exercise. What concerns us, and what we pretend to have proved is, that there are essential differences between the religion of the Iliad and that of the Odyssey, and that these two poems cannot be attributed either to the same author or to the same age.' We may be asked, perhaps, why, since the Odyssey belongs, according to our opinion, to a more advanced period of polytheism, we have sometimes appealed to citations from that poem to support our assertions with regard to primitive polytheism? We answer, because, when we have observed in some passages of the Odyssey, and they are in very trifling number, the same opinions which are to be found in the Iliad, we have concluded that some fragments of the last-mentioned work may have glided into the other. When, on the contrary, we have found in the Odyssey notions different from those of the Iliad, as those differences bespoke an advance, we have recognized the effects of time on the necessary progress of ideas. When opinions inconsistent with one another are to be found in a poet, it must not be concluded, on that account, that they were originally co-existent. The poet has made use of the one or the other, in their turn, according as they promoted the effect he desired to produce, or as they furnished him beauties with which he might enrich his poem. But when, in a long and vast poem, such as the Iliad, which embraces a full generation of man's existence, we find one simple doctrine, compact and uniform, contradicted at most in a few short and widely scattered details, it is evident that that opinion reigned alone and paramount at the period described by the author. That which the poet omits to say, may, in this sense, afford a much stronger proof than what he says. In matters of chronology, the proof positive is often much less strong than the proof negative, We conclude, then, that the Iliad and the Odyssey are of different epochs. During the interval which separates them, the state of society had undergone a change; manners had become softened; knowledge had increased; and religion, for those reasons, had also been necessarily modified. The objections which seemed to overthrow our system confirm it. The system of religion which had been imposed on the Greeks by their early warlike and fierce civilization, was not suited to their descendants, less warlike and more polished. The sentiment of religion continued to labour on, grew, purified its system, and connected itself with the new state of society. 96 ANCIENT SONG OF VICTORY.* 'Fill high the bowl with Samian wine, Io! they come, they come ! Garlands from every shrine! Through the blue, triumphal sky! With the offering of bright blood, They have ransomed hearth and tomb, Vineyard, and field, and flood Io! they come, they come ! Sing it where olives wave, Mark ye the flashing oars, ; And the spears that light the deep? How the festal sunshine pours Where the lords of battle sweep! Each hath brought back his shield ;- Io! thy son is come! Who murmured of the dead? Hush, boding voice! We know That many a shining head Lies in its glory low. Breathe not those names to-day! They shall have their praise ere long, And a power all hearts to sway, In ever-burning song. But now shed flowers, pour wine, By Mrs. Hemans.-From the Literary Souvenir,' for 1828. Rajah of Courg-Indian Hunting-Hindoo Palaces-Women-Architecture Animals Night Travelling-Burning Forests. I ROSE at half-past six, and perceived, as on the preceding day, that a thick fog had settled on the whole of this mountainous district.. I strolled into the garden, (where, for the first time in India, I saw some flourishing young oaks,) and should have liked to extend my walk into the country, but I found that being a great man was much more dignified than entertaining, for I could not stir without the attendance of a couple of armed guards, and a servant with an umbrella; so that after moving in state once or twice round the walks, it became so unpleasant, and at the same time so ridiculous, that I was under the necessity of re-entering the house,' to get rid of my attendants. As soon as they were gone, I mounted by a ladder to the terrace-roof, and walked for half an hour, enjoying the coolness of the morning, and the beauty of the view which began to appear as the fog vanished, but unfortunately, by its dispersion, my retreat was discovered, for some one spying me from below, half a dozen lacqueys were at my side in an instant. my com Whilst at breakfast, a message came from the Rajah of Courg to say that he was going out hunting, and would be glad of pany. An elephant and palanquin were of course in waiting, the former of which I mounted, and proceeded to the palace. On eutering the square, I perceived the Rajah seated on the neck of a huge elephant, very handsomely caparisoned, with gold rings round his tusks, and it seemed to have been his Majesty's amusement to ride this animal at full speed, using, as a goad, the arrow mentioned to be on the table the night before. We made towards him, when he courteously commanded his elephant to kneel down-my driver did the same, and we both dismounted and shook hands. The Rajah was accompanied by his son, who laid hold of my hand with much affability, and we all walked together towards an apartment where a couple of lionesses were kept for show. This was floored, and divided into two compartments by strong wooden partitions breast high, and in the middle of each there was a thick wooden post, to which the animals were fastened by an iron chain and brass collar. They were both very savage, growling and springing at us with all their might; and, unaccustomed as I was to see wild beasts so secured, I could not help looking to the links with some anxiety. From hence we passed to the palace, which was about fifty yards long and two stories high. In the centre a portico covered the main entrance, and served at the same time as the foundation of a projecting window above; while two colonnades or piazzas were Oriental Herald, Vol. 16. H |