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Article ¦ .. «¦¦' THE ANCIENT M:tS:TElIlS. ¦ ' ← Page 7 of 7
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
¦ .. «¦¦' The Ancient M:Ts:Telils. ¦ '
horror , I perceived ,-that each successive ' -step , as my foot left it , broke away from beneath me , —leaving' me in mid air , jwith no other alternative than that of still continuing to mount by the same momentary footing , and with
the appalling doubt whether it-would even' endure my tread , a And thus did I for a few seconds continue to ascend , with nothing beneath me but that awful river , in which , —so tranquil had it now become , —I . could hear the plash of the falling fragments , as every step in succession gave way from under my feet . It was a most trying moment , —but even
still worse remained . I now found that the balustrade , by which I had held during my ascent , and which had hitherto remained firm , grew tremulous in my hand , while the step , to which I was about to trust myself , tottered under my foot . Just then , a momentary flash , as of lightning , broke around me , and I perceived , hanging out of the clouds and barely within my reaeli , a huge brazen ring . Instinctively I stretched forth my
arm to seize it , and , at the same instant , both balustrade arid steps gave way from beneath me , and I was left swinging by my hand in the dark void . As if too , this massy ring , which I grasped , was , as by a spring , linked with all the winds in heaven , it seemed to give loose to every variety of gusts and tempests thai ever strewed the sea-shore with wrecks or dead ; and as I swung about , the sport of this elemental strife , every new burst of its fury threatened to shiver me , like a stormsail , to atoms . "
At length ( we will abridge the remainder ) , after being long whirled about , the violence of the motion gradually ceased , and the ring slowly descended , till the victim once more touched terra firina . The idea of Moore ' s tale is , that the chief of the sect of Epicureans , having been told in a dream that the secret of eternal life is to be found on the banks of the Nile , directs his steps to Egypt . Orcus ,
the high priest of Memphis , hearing from the spies continually , in his employ of the renown of the follower of Epicurus , and especially of the boldness with which he indulged his wit at the expense of religion , laid his plans to secure him as a votary of Isis by means of an appeal to his senses , and that , in such a manner , that while he imagined he was seeking the mysteries , he was , in fact ,
involuntarily accomplishing the schemes of Orcus . At length , on the night during which he was to watch alone in the temple of Isis , in front of the veil which concealed the goddess ( underneath which a narrow line of the most brilliant light was suffered to escape ) , Moore , probably
knowing no more than ourselves what the mysteries of Isis really were , skilfully , with the license so justly allowed to authors , changes his ground ; and whereas the novice is led away from before the veils , and conducted by a young priestess who herself wishes to escape , and takes this opportunity of an escort , through an underground passage on to an island on the lake Moeris—he remains under the idea , till he is fairly out of the sacred precincts , that his escape with
the priestess is part of the ceremony . Huch is the best account , with which , from various sources , we are enabled to present our readers of the once celebrated Isiac mys * teries , now happily among the things that were , having given way to a better and a purer form of worship—that of the true Crod : " in whom we live and move , and have our being . " ' X
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
¦ .. «¦¦' The Ancient M:Ts:Telils. ¦ '
horror , I perceived ,-that each successive ' -step , as my foot left it , broke away from beneath me , —leaving' me in mid air , jwith no other alternative than that of still continuing to mount by the same momentary footing , and with
the appalling doubt whether it-would even' endure my tread , a And thus did I for a few seconds continue to ascend , with nothing beneath me but that awful river , in which , —so tranquil had it now become , —I . could hear the plash of the falling fragments , as every step in succession gave way from under my feet . It was a most trying moment , —but even
still worse remained . I now found that the balustrade , by which I had held during my ascent , and which had hitherto remained firm , grew tremulous in my hand , while the step , to which I was about to trust myself , tottered under my foot . Just then , a momentary flash , as of lightning , broke around me , and I perceived , hanging out of the clouds and barely within my reaeli , a huge brazen ring . Instinctively I stretched forth my
arm to seize it , and , at the same instant , both balustrade arid steps gave way from beneath me , and I was left swinging by my hand in the dark void . As if too , this massy ring , which I grasped , was , as by a spring , linked with all the winds in heaven , it seemed to give loose to every variety of gusts and tempests thai ever strewed the sea-shore with wrecks or dead ; and as I swung about , the sport of this elemental strife , every new burst of its fury threatened to shiver me , like a stormsail , to atoms . "
At length ( we will abridge the remainder ) , after being long whirled about , the violence of the motion gradually ceased , and the ring slowly descended , till the victim once more touched terra firina . The idea of Moore ' s tale is , that the chief of the sect of Epicureans , having been told in a dream that the secret of eternal life is to be found on the banks of the Nile , directs his steps to Egypt . Orcus ,
the high priest of Memphis , hearing from the spies continually , in his employ of the renown of the follower of Epicurus , and especially of the boldness with which he indulged his wit at the expense of religion , laid his plans to secure him as a votary of Isis by means of an appeal to his senses , and that , in such a manner , that while he imagined he was seeking the mysteries , he was , in fact ,
involuntarily accomplishing the schemes of Orcus . At length , on the night during which he was to watch alone in the temple of Isis , in front of the veil which concealed the goddess ( underneath which a narrow line of the most brilliant light was suffered to escape ) , Moore , probably
knowing no more than ourselves what the mysteries of Isis really were , skilfully , with the license so justly allowed to authors , changes his ground ; and whereas the novice is led away from before the veils , and conducted by a young priestess who herself wishes to escape , and takes this opportunity of an escort , through an underground passage on to an island on the lake Moeris—he remains under the idea , till he is fairly out of the sacred precincts , that his escape with
the priestess is part of the ceremony . Huch is the best account , with which , from various sources , we are enabled to present our readers of the once celebrated Isiac mys * teries , now happily among the things that were , having given way to a better and a purer form of worship—that of the true Crod : " in whom we live and move , and have our being . " ' X