68 SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS. marble sarcophagus, which was deposited in the tomb of the Roman emperor, Alexander Severus. You must not confound the name of this prince with that of another Roman emperor, also called Severus, a man of very different character, a stern, ambitious, veteran soldier, who was raised to empire by the Pannonian army under his command. His name was Septimius Severus: he came into Britain, which was then a Roman province, in order to quell a revolt; and he built, or, according to some, repaired and strengthened by new fortifications, a wall previously erected by Adrian, between the rivers Forth and Clyde, to restrain the incursions of the Caledonians. After this he died at York; and some hills in the neighbourhood of that city are still known by the name of Severus's hills. Some of you have probably heard of or read, the Poems of Ossian; and you may associate the name of Septimius Severus with that of Fingal, the father of Ossian, and the chief of his heroes, who commanded the Caledonians at that period. Fingal is said to have eluded the power of Severus, ALEXANDER SEVERUS. 69 and to have gained a complete victory over his son Caracalla, which is celebrated in one of the poems of the Scottish bard.* It was about twelve years after the death of Septimius, that Alexander Severus, at the age of seventeen, succeeded his cousin Heliogabulus in the government of the Roman empire. The character of this young prince appears more amiable, from the striking contrast it presents to the sensual, dissolute tyrants who reigned before and after him. He was blessed with an excellent understanding, and a good education, and soon perceived the advantages of virtue, the pleasures of knowledge, and the necessity for cultivating habits of industry. He rose early, gave his first thoughts to religion, and then devoted himself to the duties of his high station. Bodily exercises, elegant literature, and the conversation of men of learning and virtue, filled up the remainder of the day. Plain and modest in his dress, courteous and affable in his manners, he merited and enjoyed the love and gra * Gibbon, i. 181-209. Tytler's Chron. Tab. Hume, i. 10 70 ALEXANDER SEVERUS. titude of his subjects, who were freely admitted to his palace at proper hours, under one restriction: an officer was appointed to proclaim in a loud voice," Let none enter these holy walls, unless he is conscious of a pure and innocent mind."* These words were borrowed from the Eleusinian Mysteries, a religious festival of the ancient Athenians, in which the same admonition was publicly repeated. The figures which adorn the urn that was so carefully deposited in the tomb of this youthful emperor, are believed to be allegorical, and to have a reference to those mysteries. Alexander Severus could not have been wholly ignorant of Christianity, since its doctrines were openly professed, and its worship practised by some of his household; but he seems to have been, like many of the ancient Romans, more inclined partially to adopt a new religion, than to relinquish the old one. Hence the temple consecrated to his private devotions, was ornamented with the statues of Abraham, *Gibbon, i. 224-246. PAGANISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 71 of Orpheus, of Apollonius, and of Christ, all of whom he honoured, as persons who had instructed mankind in different modes of worship.* A certain degree of truth always appears to have been blended with ancient fables, and also with the religious opinions of the best and wisest men among the heathens; particularly some obscure, imperfect notion, that man is to live again after death. This great truth was possibly handed down, by tradition, from the first patriarchs, and became gradually mingled with many errors and superstitions. The Eleusinian Mysteries are said to have been designed to teach this doctrine, by a succession of scenic representations, so contrived as to impress the minds of those who witnessed them with awe and terror. There are two striking points of contrast between false and true religion. First, Paganism was the religion of fear.--Christianity is the religion of gratitude and love. Second, the truths preserved by tradition, and taught among the ancient heathens, were imparted only * Gibbon, vol. ii. 441. 72 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES. to a favoured few; and carefully guarded from all but the initiated:-the truths revealed by Christianity, are "glad tidings for all people;" and every one who will receive them, may freely partake of the glorious hopes and unspeakable consolations they impart. The most careless observer may perceive these opposite characteristics of Heathenism and Christianity. Persons who desired to be admitted to the Eleusinian Mysteries were obliged to purify themselves by bathing in the river Ilissus, and offering up certain prayers and sacrifices. When the ceremony of initiation was performed, they were admitted into the temple during the night. The solemnity of darkness and silence, the knowledge that they were about to see and to hear things which the laws of Athens forbad them to reveal, under penalty of death, must have excited the imagination, and rendered the judgment less capable of detecting the various artifices by which the priests imposed upon the senses. Suppose a young Athenian, educated in the superstitions of his country, ignorant of the true |