t

would be trifling to endeavour to refute this opinion; for no one, acquainted with Sir John Marsham's way of thinking, can suppose that he believed it. I dare say, he thought a charm for the bite of a serpent as ridiculous on the one hand, as the opinion of some learned commentators is on the other; who, in order to make the miracle appear the greater, contend that brass is of a virulent nature, and that the looking upon a serpent made of that metal, would by way of sym pathy add rancour to the wounds, instead of curing them. To a reasonable enquirer, the brazen serpent cannot appear to have been, of itself, of any effect at all. This unquestionably was Sir John Marsham's opinion; and what he cites from heathen writers was intended by him to prove, not that charms had ever been a real cure for the bite of serpents, but that the world had been amused with such fancies. And he cites the sacred writers in order to hint, that they admitted and countenanced these popular superstitions ; but his real thoughts about Moses and the Israelites in the case before us appear to me to have been, that the bite of the serpents with which the Israelites were infested, were not mortal; that Moses set up the brazen serpent to amuse the people, that those who were bitten might make themselves easy by looking at it, in hopes of a cure, until the poison had spent itself, and the inflammation ceased; that when they grew well, Moses might teach them to ascribe their cure to a secret efficacy of the brazen serpent, in order to raise

Vid. Pol. Synops. Crit. in loc.

and support his credit among them. This must be our learned writer's sentiment, in its full strength and latitude; to which I answer,

x

I. There were indeed serpents of divers sorts in many parts of the world; and some not so venemous, but that their bite was curable. Diodorus Siculus informs us, that in the Island Taprobane, now called Ceylon, there were serpents of a large kind, of no noxious quality;" and Herodotus mentions a lesser sort as free from venom in the parts near Thebes, in Egypt. The inhabitants of Epidaurus in Greece, were well acquainted with these sorts of serpents,' and such abounded in Ethiopia. Pausanias was of opinion, that the same sort of serpents would not be equally venemous in different countries; for that a different pasture may add to, or diminish the virulence of their poison. And thus it may be true in fact, that there anciently were, and now are in the world, many sorts of serpents not thought capable of biting mortally; but that a little time and patience, without much help of medicine, might heal the wounds received from them. And we may suppose, that the nature of the more noxious sorts might be mitigated by removing them into a climate, or managing them with diet not apt to supply them with too potent a poison. And physic and surgery are now brought to

"Diodor. Sic. lib. 2, p. 99.

* Herodot. lib. 2, c. 74: Id. lib. 3, c. 109.

y Pausan in Corinthiac. c. 28.

2 Herodot. 1. 4, c. 183.

h Diodor. 1. 3, p. 119.

such perfection, that perhaps there is no poison of serpents so deadly, but that if application be made in due time, a sufficient remedy may be had for it. But though we allow all this, let us observe,

d

C

II. That as Moses represents that the serpents which bit the Israelites, had caused a great mortality; so the heathen writers concur in testifying, that the desarts wherein the Israelites journeyed, produced serpents of so venomous a kind, that their biting was deadly, beyond the power of any art then known to cure it. The ancients observed, in general, that the most barren and sandy desarts had the greatest number, and most venomous of serpents. Diodorus makes this remark more 'particularly concerning the sands of Africa; but it was equally true of the wilderness wherein the Israelites journeyed. Serpents and scorpions were here, according to Moses, as natural as drought and want of water. And Strabo's observation agrees with Moses; and both Strabo and Diodorus concur that the serpents which were so numerous here, were of the most deadly kind, and that there was no cure for their biting. Some writers have supposed that the serpents which bit the Israelites, had been of the flying-kind. Herodotus informs us, that Arabia produced this sort; and the time of

• Numb. xxi. 6.

Deut. viii. 15.

f

h

d Diodor. lib. 3, p. 128,

1 . . πολυ το των ερπετων εν αυταίς πληθος. Strab. Geog. 1, 16. p. 759. Strab. 1. 16. Diodor. 1. 3.

Herodot. 1. 3, c. 109.

k

i

year in which the Israclites were under this calamity, was in this season, when these serpents are upon the wing, and visit the neighbouring and adjacent coun. tries; so that these might at this time fly into the camp of the Israelites in great numbers. But Moses does not hint that they had been flying serpents, he calls them ha Nechashim haserapim; had he meant flying serpents, he would have said, Nachashim Serapim Menopepim; for they are so described, where they are mentioned in the Scriptures. Strabo has taken notice of a kind of serpents produced in or near the parts where the Israelites journeyed, which might be called fiery from their colour," and both he and Diodorus were of opinion, that the bites of these were incurable; " of which sort probably were those, which assaulted the Israelites. But whether we can fix this point, is not very material; it is enough for our pur. pose, that from what has been offered it may be ob served; that after all the knowledge which the heathens had of cures and enchantments for the bites of serpents, yet they would not have judged any of their arts sufficient to have recovered the Israelites, whose malady was occasioned by a sort of serpents, against whose venom they had no remedy. But,

1 Λογος δε εστι αμα τω εαρι πλερώτες οψεις εκ της Αραβίης πετεσθαι. Id. 1. 2, c. 75. Numb. xxi. 5.

I See Isaiah xiv. 19. xxx. 6.

m Opris Qoivinoi the Xpoxy Strab. Geog. l. 16, p. 778. - Το Δήγμα εχονίες ανηκεσίον. Strabo ibid. Diodorus says, Δήγματα ποιονίας παντελως ανίατα. Hist. lib. 3, p. 126.

III. Let us see what charms the heathens pretended to have to cure the bite of serpents. The profane writers indeed celebrate the Marsi, a people in Italy, the Psylli in Africa, and the Ophiogenes in lesser Asia, as very eminent for their abilities against the poison of serpents, and they give us many wonderful stories about each of them. But we may remark upon their performances, as Strabo does upon Alexander's curing the wounds of Ptolemy; and it will appear, that the persons of whom we have such marvellous accounts, were perhaps possessed of some physical recipes for the venom of serpents, and that the mythologists, as was their usual way, invented fables to raise their fame, instead of recording their skill in a true narration. It is remarkable, that the persons above-mentioned are acknowledged by those who speak most fabulously of their art, as having used external and medicinal applications. The Psylli began the cure by anointing the wound with their spittle,' which was thought no mean medicine both by Varro and Pliny; and it might have more effect, than we

Virg. Æn. 7, v. 750. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 7, c. 2. ▸ Plin. ibid. Pausan. in Baotic. Strab. Geog. lib. 17. Strabo lib. 13, Plin. ubi sup.

*.... τρωθενία δε Πτολεμαιον κινδυνεύειν. εν ύπνω δε παραςανία τινα τω Αλεξάνδρω δείξαι ρίζαν... και χρησασθαι. . . . ιδονίας δε της βαρβαρος ευρημενον το αλεξημα, υπηκους γένεσθαι τω βασιλεί. Εικος δε τινα μηνύσαι των ειδότων. το δε μυθώδες προσετέθη κολακείας χαριν. Strabo lib. 15, p. 723.

Lucan. Pharsal. I. 9.

'Plin. Nat. Hist. 1. 7, c. 2.