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Article OUR ARCHITECTURAL CHAPTER. ← Page 2 of 2 Article CLASSICAL THEOLOGY.—XX Page 1 of 2 Article CLASSICAL THEOLOGY.—XX Page 1 of 2 →
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Our Architectural Chapter.
of the same colour , but spangled with stars and crosses in gold . The seats are open and constructed of oalc , the ends being carved with figures , such as St . Michael destroying the dragon , emblems of the Cross with the rose entwined round the lower limb , and texts of Scripture . The pulpit is of like
character , bearing on it the four evangelical emblems , a man , a lion , an ox , and an eagle . Initially , the lighting is effected by eight brass standards , each having twenty jets of gas ; there are also four similar branches at the entrance beneath the tower . We understand the chief directors in the work of
renovation are Bros . Bailey and Shrewsbury , the churchwardens , and Bro . Hoppe , the vestry clerk , wlio . se united energy and taste have enabled the artistic genius of Mr . G . G . Scott to have fair play .
Classical Theology.—Xx
CLASSICAL THEOLOGY . —XX
VII . VULCAN AXD SEl'TE . IIttEJt . WHY did the god Vulcan become a blacksmith , or how was ho compelled to take up that slavish calling 1 This , to ordinary minds , may be somewhat perplexing to comprehend , particularly as he was enrolled among the small number of the Dii Majores . The explanation lies in this ; of old it was thought that all descriptions of skill in
handicraft and agriculture were ori ginally supernaturally acquired ; and that there was no operative craft unworthy of being taken under the supremacy and manipulation of some tutelar deity—who as an exemplar of traditionary industry held forth a pattern of extraordinary utility and fraternalizing importancedivinely set ( it was intended to be said ) , to
, mankind . According to Hesiod , Lucian , Virgil , and others , Vulcan was either born of Jupiter and Juno ; or by another myth , of Juno only . By this latter is intended to be conveyed the meaning that without a father he realized in himself an unaided conception , conformation , or emanation , solelby natural abilityor as the } ' saidof his mother . He
y , , was fabled to have-had a workshop , and t ) have exorcised his vocation in the island of Leuinos , where he formed thunderbolts for Jupiter , and made armour and arms for the cods .
It was doubtless an accredited idea of the classic ancients that the empyreal body , in order actually to be visible and operative , required a concrete frame or the addition of some substantialized external clothing . This idea —the essential incasing of the spirit , was not likely to escape the quick , keen , universal observation of Shakespeare , and therefore that poetin habiting the ghost of the King of Denmark in
, his wonted suit of armour , not only brought him before , the bodily sight of Hamlet and his companions with the most critical authenticity imaginable , but , as a matter of course , unmistakably identified him as tho returned presence of the murdered monarch .
Readers of Homer mi ght bo inclined to think , could they but rely on the accuracy of his wondrous poem , that the siege of Ilium must have kept Villain and his servants , the Cyclops , in a ten years continued oppression of overwork ; a " nine hours' movement" would not have been uiiuatur .-il on their part , for , set it down day by day , their labour must have occupied the twelve diurnal hoursSundays includedand we
, , arc not fold of any payment on account- of " overtime" or ' expedition money . " When the god fell , on being cast out of heaven , had it not been for the adroitness of the Lemnians , who caught him , we are assured by the famous poet of Corduba , he would " certainly have broken his neck . " In requital for their
kindness ( for the gods , like all noble spirits , are always grateful ) , Vulcan instructed these people in the " multiform adaptations and manifold uses of iron and fire . " From his mastery in the arts of hammering and polishing iron , he received the names of Mulciber and Mulcifer ; he was also
Classical Theology.—Xx
called Lomnius from Lemuos , the scene of his fall and the locality of his recovery . Through the admittance of a plurality of worship under an uncontrolled and interminable system of many heterogeneous gods , the fertile and fervid imaginations of poets , priests , and philosophers , and even of the more sedate sages of history , revelled like the wills of their despotic sovereignsunchecked
, by any bounds of theocratic order or laws enacted in terrorem . A natural phenomenon was to be accounted for , and it was thought by the sages . who undertook the instruction of the gaping crowd , that there was no more value in their crowd of divinities than we practical moderns find in our friends—if they were not made use of . What is there more to resemble
thunder than the subterranean explosions of a volcano ( still sometimes spelt vulcano ); could there be aught more like the smoking aperture of a foundery for thunderbolts , than its fuming , bellowing , and blazing crater ; who would suppose the constructor and superintendent of such fulminant works to be less than a god ? Such an explanation saved the priests
and the philosophers a world of trouble , and was perfectly satisfactory to their ignorant followers ; therefore they built a temple and dedicated it to Vulcan on the mountain JEtna , from which he was called iEtnens . The Romans celebrated the Vulcania , or those feasts in honour of Vulcan , at which living animals were ' thrown into the fire to bo burnt to death . The Athenians also instituted festivals denominated Xnktw , in commemoration of the great benefactor who was the cvod of smiths and tho first who
taught to men the use of brass and the mysteries of metals . It will be seen the name of the solemnity itself was obtained from X «\ K-OC , brass ; originally it was held in memory of the invention of working in that metal , which Athens claimed , says Suidas , as her own . At first , however , b TTUQ Snfwc , the festival , went hy the name of HarSefiov , because , as shown , it
was presumed that the whole nation of the Athenians met at Athens to celebrate it . Also , sometimes , it was called ' AOiiraia in consequence of it being kept in honour of ' A O V / JO / , who ( Minerva ) , as the contriver of many of the arts , had given her name to the city , and was its patron goddess . These great ' AOf / vcua were only recognized at last as a holiday for
handicraftsmen , especially of cordwainers and farriers . In our travels , as in books , we are often brought to notice temples dedicated conjointl y to Vulcan and Minerva , This is accounted for by some nations considering Minerva to be the same as Venus , while others even went so far as to unite ( hem as one goddess . Tho scholiasts in profane
history more frequently coincide in the view taken by the Mantuan bard who has fancifully represented Venus with Mars caught in adultery under the chain nets of Vulcan . Soon after this affair , and while vet in tho full zenith of their
honeymoon , Vulcan neglectful of Venus , his bride , strove hard to espouse Minerva , and to have nothing more to do with Venus , excepting to divorce her . . But the convenient resort of Sir Cresswell Cresswell ' s court had not yet come into vogue , and Minerva ' s modesty , wisdom , or disinclination resisted all attempts and inducements . Despite his ardent assaults and flaming accounts of his passion and powerthe
, god of fire could not warm her heart . Jupiter , be it understood , in yielding his consent to the espousal of his daughter with the grimy god , could not well do otherwise , since he had promised Vulcan , in recompense for his engineering and military outfitting services , to give him the choice of a wife amongst the goddesses . At the same time the father of gods
and men admonished his firstborn daughter to be guided b y her own chaste discretion and all superior judgment . Vulcan must be allowed credit for his selection , although the tryingrefusal of the goddess showed his inward character to be as lame and ill-favoured as his outward deformity of person aud expression . His malice matured depravity and gave birth to an abominable progeny , long after allegoricall y known as Pandora ' s g ift—deceit , fraud , theft , envy , hatred , inhumanity , and all uiicharitableness , typified by the . Empusaj , the Chi-,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Architectural Chapter.
of the same colour , but spangled with stars and crosses in gold . The seats are open and constructed of oalc , the ends being carved with figures , such as St . Michael destroying the dragon , emblems of the Cross with the rose entwined round the lower limb , and texts of Scripture . The pulpit is of like
character , bearing on it the four evangelical emblems , a man , a lion , an ox , and an eagle . Initially , the lighting is effected by eight brass standards , each having twenty jets of gas ; there are also four similar branches at the entrance beneath the tower . We understand the chief directors in the work of
renovation are Bros . Bailey and Shrewsbury , the churchwardens , and Bro . Hoppe , the vestry clerk , wlio . se united energy and taste have enabled the artistic genius of Mr . G . G . Scott to have fair play .
Classical Theology.—Xx
CLASSICAL THEOLOGY . —XX
VII . VULCAN AXD SEl'TE . IIttEJt . WHY did the god Vulcan become a blacksmith , or how was ho compelled to take up that slavish calling 1 This , to ordinary minds , may be somewhat perplexing to comprehend , particularly as he was enrolled among the small number of the Dii Majores . The explanation lies in this ; of old it was thought that all descriptions of skill in
handicraft and agriculture were ori ginally supernaturally acquired ; and that there was no operative craft unworthy of being taken under the supremacy and manipulation of some tutelar deity—who as an exemplar of traditionary industry held forth a pattern of extraordinary utility and fraternalizing importancedivinely set ( it was intended to be said ) , to
, mankind . According to Hesiod , Lucian , Virgil , and others , Vulcan was either born of Jupiter and Juno ; or by another myth , of Juno only . By this latter is intended to be conveyed the meaning that without a father he realized in himself an unaided conception , conformation , or emanation , solelby natural abilityor as the } ' saidof his mother . He
y , , was fabled to have-had a workshop , and t ) have exorcised his vocation in the island of Leuinos , where he formed thunderbolts for Jupiter , and made armour and arms for the cods .
It was doubtless an accredited idea of the classic ancients that the empyreal body , in order actually to be visible and operative , required a concrete frame or the addition of some substantialized external clothing . This idea —the essential incasing of the spirit , was not likely to escape the quick , keen , universal observation of Shakespeare , and therefore that poetin habiting the ghost of the King of Denmark in
, his wonted suit of armour , not only brought him before , the bodily sight of Hamlet and his companions with the most critical authenticity imaginable , but , as a matter of course , unmistakably identified him as tho returned presence of the murdered monarch .
Readers of Homer mi ght bo inclined to think , could they but rely on the accuracy of his wondrous poem , that the siege of Ilium must have kept Villain and his servants , the Cyclops , in a ten years continued oppression of overwork ; a " nine hours' movement" would not have been uiiuatur .-il on their part , for , set it down day by day , their labour must have occupied the twelve diurnal hoursSundays includedand we
, , arc not fold of any payment on account- of " overtime" or ' expedition money . " When the god fell , on being cast out of heaven , had it not been for the adroitness of the Lemnians , who caught him , we are assured by the famous poet of Corduba , he would " certainly have broken his neck . " In requital for their
kindness ( for the gods , like all noble spirits , are always grateful ) , Vulcan instructed these people in the " multiform adaptations and manifold uses of iron and fire . " From his mastery in the arts of hammering and polishing iron , he received the names of Mulciber and Mulcifer ; he was also
Classical Theology.—Xx
called Lomnius from Lemuos , the scene of his fall and the locality of his recovery . Through the admittance of a plurality of worship under an uncontrolled and interminable system of many heterogeneous gods , the fertile and fervid imaginations of poets , priests , and philosophers , and even of the more sedate sages of history , revelled like the wills of their despotic sovereignsunchecked
, by any bounds of theocratic order or laws enacted in terrorem . A natural phenomenon was to be accounted for , and it was thought by the sages . who undertook the instruction of the gaping crowd , that there was no more value in their crowd of divinities than we practical moderns find in our friends—if they were not made use of . What is there more to resemble
thunder than the subterranean explosions of a volcano ( still sometimes spelt vulcano ); could there be aught more like the smoking aperture of a foundery for thunderbolts , than its fuming , bellowing , and blazing crater ; who would suppose the constructor and superintendent of such fulminant works to be less than a god ? Such an explanation saved the priests
and the philosophers a world of trouble , and was perfectly satisfactory to their ignorant followers ; therefore they built a temple and dedicated it to Vulcan on the mountain JEtna , from which he was called iEtnens . The Romans celebrated the Vulcania , or those feasts in honour of Vulcan , at which living animals were ' thrown into the fire to bo burnt to death . The Athenians also instituted festivals denominated Xnktw , in commemoration of the great benefactor who was the cvod of smiths and tho first who
taught to men the use of brass and the mysteries of metals . It will be seen the name of the solemnity itself was obtained from X «\ K-OC , brass ; originally it was held in memory of the invention of working in that metal , which Athens claimed , says Suidas , as her own . At first , however , b TTUQ Snfwc , the festival , went hy the name of HarSefiov , because , as shown , it
was presumed that the whole nation of the Athenians met at Athens to celebrate it . Also , sometimes , it was called ' AOiiraia in consequence of it being kept in honour of ' A O V / JO / , who ( Minerva ) , as the contriver of many of the arts , had given her name to the city , and was its patron goddess . These great ' AOf / vcua were only recognized at last as a holiday for
handicraftsmen , especially of cordwainers and farriers . In our travels , as in books , we are often brought to notice temples dedicated conjointl y to Vulcan and Minerva , This is accounted for by some nations considering Minerva to be the same as Venus , while others even went so far as to unite ( hem as one goddess . Tho scholiasts in profane
history more frequently coincide in the view taken by the Mantuan bard who has fancifully represented Venus with Mars caught in adultery under the chain nets of Vulcan . Soon after this affair , and while vet in tho full zenith of their
honeymoon , Vulcan neglectful of Venus , his bride , strove hard to espouse Minerva , and to have nothing more to do with Venus , excepting to divorce her . . But the convenient resort of Sir Cresswell Cresswell ' s court had not yet come into vogue , and Minerva ' s modesty , wisdom , or disinclination resisted all attempts and inducements . Despite his ardent assaults and flaming accounts of his passion and powerthe
, god of fire could not warm her heart . Jupiter , be it understood , in yielding his consent to the espousal of his daughter with the grimy god , could not well do otherwise , since he had promised Vulcan , in recompense for his engineering and military outfitting services , to give him the choice of a wife amongst the goddesses . At the same time the father of gods
and men admonished his firstborn daughter to be guided b y her own chaste discretion and all superior judgment . Vulcan must be allowed credit for his selection , although the tryingrefusal of the goddess showed his inward character to be as lame and ill-favoured as his outward deformity of person aud expression . His malice matured depravity and gave birth to an abominable progeny , long after allegoricall y known as Pandora ' s g ift—deceit , fraud , theft , envy , hatred , inhumanity , and all uiicharitableness , typified by the . Empusaj , the Chi-,