1Altar ſix Foot high and twelve Broad; and on
it placed the Statue of their Deity. Whether
or no it be proper to have more Altars for Sa
crifice in a Temple, than one, I ſhall leave to
the Judgment of others. Among our Fore
fathers, in the primitive Times of our Religi
on, the devout Chriſtians uſed to meet toge
ther at the Holy Supper, not to fill their Bodies
with Food, but in order to ſoften and huma
nize their Manners by frequent Converſation
and Communion with each other; and having
filled their Minds with good Inſtructions, they
returned every Man to his own Home, warm
ed and inflamed with the Love of Virtue. For
having rather taſted than eat the moderate
Portion that was ſet before them, they read
and reaſoned upon all Sort of divine Subjects.
Every one burnt with Charity towards his
Neighbour, for their common Salvation, and
for the Divine Worſhip. Laſtly, every Man,
according to his Power, paid a Kind of Tax
due to Piety, for the Maintenance of ſuch as
truly deſerved it, and the Biſhop diſtributed
theſe Contributions among ſuch as wanted.
Thus all Things were common among them,
as among loving Brethren. Afterwards when
Princes conſented that theſe Duties ſhould be per
formed publickly, they did not indeed deviate
much from the Inſtitution of their Forefathers;
but as greater Numbers came in than before,
the Supper was ſtill more moderate. The Ser
mons preached in thoſe Times by the learned
Biſhops, are ſtill extant in the Writings of the
Fathers. Thus in thoſe Ages they had but
one Altar, where they uſed to meet to cele
brate only one Sacrifice in a Day. Next ſuc
ceeded theſe our Times, which I wiſh to God
ſome worthy Man might ariſe to reform, and
be this ſaid without Offence to our Popes, who,
though to keep up their own Dignity, they
hardly ſuffer themſelves to be ſeen by the
People once in a Year, yet have ſo crowded
every Place with Altars, and perhaps too with
-------But I ſhall venture to ſay no more.
This I may venture to affirm, that as there is
nothing in Nature can be imagined more Holy
or Noble than our Sacrifice, ſo I believe no
Man of Senſe can be for having it debaſed by
being made too common. There are other
Sorts of Ornaments alſo, not fixed, which
ſerve to adorn and grace the Sacrifice; and
others of the ſame Nature that embelliſh the
Temple itſelf, the Direction of which belongs
likewife to the Architect. It has been a Queſ
tion which is the moſt beautiful Sight: A large
Square full of Youth employed about their ſe
veral Sports; or a Sea full of Ships; or a Field
with a victorious Army drawn out in it; or a
Scnate-houſe full of venerable Magiſtrates; or
a Temple illuminated with a great Number of
chearful Lights? I would deſire that the Lights
in a Temple ſhould have ſomewhat of a Maje
ſty in them which is not to be found in the
blinking Tapers that we uſe now-a-days. They
might, indeed, have a good Effect enough if
they were ſet in Rows with any thing of a
pretty Regularity, or ſtuck all along the Edge
of the Cornice. But I am much better pleaſed
with the Ancients, who on the Top of their
Candleſticks fixed large Shells in which they
lighted an odoriferous Flame. They divided
the whole Length of the Candleſticks into ſe
ven Parts, two of which they gave to the Baſe,
which was triangular, and longer than it was
broad , and broader at Botton than
at Top . The Shaft of the Candle
ſtick was divided by ſeveral little Pans placed
one above the other, to catch the Drops that
fell from the upper Shell; and at the Top of
all was that Shell, full of Gums and odoriferous
Woods. We have an Account how much
ſweet Balm uſed to be burnt on every Holy
day in the principal Churches by the Emperor's
Order in Rome, at the publick Charge; and it
was no leſs than five hundred and four ſcore
Pounds Weight. And this may ſuffice as to
Lamps: Let us now juſt mention ſome other
Things, which are very noble Ornaments in
Temples. We read that Gyges gave to the
Temple of the Pythian Apollo, ſix great Cups
of maſſy Gold, which weighed thirty thouſand
Pound Weight; and that at Delphos there
were Veſſels of ſolid Gold and Silver, each of
which would contain ſix Amphoras, or about
four-and-fifty of our Gallons, among which
there were ſome that were more valued for the
Invention and Workmanſhip than for the Me
tal. We are told that in the Temple of Juno
at Samos, there was a Veſſel, carved all about
with Figures in Steel, ſent by the Spartans as
a Preſent to Crœſus, ſo large, that it would
hold three hundred Amphoras, or two thou
ſand ſeven hundred Gallons. We read too that
the Samians ſent as a Preſent to Delphos an
iron Cauldron with the Heads of ſeveral Ani
mals finely wrought upon it, and ſupported ſe
veral kneeling coloſſal Statues ten Foot and a
half high. It was a wonderful Contrivance of
Sanniticus the Ægyptian, in the Temple of the
God Apis, which was extremely rich in diffe
it placed the Statue of their Deity. Whether
or no it be proper to have more Altars for Sa
crifice in a Temple, than one, I ſhall leave to
the Judgment of others. Among our Fore
fathers, in the primitive Times of our Religi
on, the devout Chriſtians uſed to meet toge
ther at the Holy Supper, not to fill their Bodies
with Food, but in order to ſoften and huma
nize their Manners by frequent Converſation
and Communion with each other; and having
filled their Minds with good Inſtructions, they
returned every Man to his own Home, warm
ed and inflamed with the Love of Virtue. For
having rather taſted than eat the moderate
Portion that was ſet before them, they read
and reaſoned upon all Sort of divine Subjects.
Every one burnt with Charity towards his
Neighbour, for their common Salvation, and
for the Divine Worſhip. Laſtly, every Man,
according to his Power, paid a Kind of Tax
due to Piety, for the Maintenance of ſuch as
truly deſerved it, and the Biſhop diſtributed
theſe Contributions among ſuch as wanted.
Thus all Things were common among them,
as among loving Brethren. Afterwards when
Princes conſented that theſe Duties ſhould be per
formed publickly, they did not indeed deviate
much from the Inſtitution of their Forefathers;
but as greater Numbers came in than before,
the Supper was ſtill more moderate. The Ser
mons preached in thoſe Times by the learned
Biſhops, are ſtill extant in the Writings of the
Fathers. Thus in thoſe Ages they had but
one Altar, where they uſed to meet to cele
brate only one Sacrifice in a Day. Next ſuc
ceeded theſe our Times, which I wiſh to God
ſome worthy Man might ariſe to reform, and
be this ſaid without Offence to our Popes, who,
though to keep up their own Dignity, they
hardly ſuffer themſelves to be ſeen by the
People once in a Year, yet have ſo crowded
every Place with Altars, and perhaps too with
-------But I ſhall venture to ſay no more.
This I may venture to affirm, that as there is
nothing in Nature can be imagined more Holy
or Noble than our Sacrifice, ſo I believe no
Man of Senſe can be for having it debaſed by
being made too common. There are other
Sorts of Ornaments alſo, not fixed, which
ſerve to adorn and grace the Sacrifice; and
others of the ſame Nature that embelliſh the
Temple itſelf, the Direction of which belongs
likewife to the Architect. It has been a Queſ
tion which is the moſt beautiful Sight: A large
Square full of Youth employed about their ſe
veral Sports; or a Sea full of Ships; or a Field
with a victorious Army drawn out in it; or a
Scnate-houſe full of venerable Magiſtrates; or
a Temple illuminated with a great Number of
chearful Lights? I would deſire that the Lights
in a Temple ſhould have ſomewhat of a Maje
ſty in them which is not to be found in the
blinking Tapers that we uſe now-a-days. They
might, indeed, have a good Effect enough if
they were ſet in Rows with any thing of a
pretty Regularity, or ſtuck all along the Edge
of the Cornice. But I am much better pleaſed
with the Ancients, who on the Top of their
Candleſticks fixed large Shells in which they
lighted an odoriferous Flame. They divided
the whole Length of the Candleſticks into ſe
ven Parts, two of which they gave to the Baſe,
which was triangular, and longer than it was
broad , and broader at Botton than
at Top . The Shaft of the Candle
ſtick was divided by ſeveral little Pans placed
one above the other, to catch the Drops that
fell from the upper Shell; and at the Top of
all was that Shell, full of Gums and odoriferous
Woods. We have an Account how much
ſweet Balm uſed to be burnt on every Holy
day in the principal Churches by the Emperor's
Order in Rome, at the publick Charge; and it
was no leſs than five hundred and four ſcore
Pounds Weight. And this may ſuffice as to
Lamps: Let us now juſt mention ſome other
Things, which are very noble Ornaments in
Temples. We read that Gyges gave to the
Temple of the Pythian Apollo, ſix great Cups
of maſſy Gold, which weighed thirty thouſand
Pound Weight; and that at Delphos there
were Veſſels of ſolid Gold and Silver, each of
which would contain ſix Amphoras, or about
four-and-fifty of our Gallons, among which
there were ſome that were more valued for the
Invention and Workmanſhip than for the Me
tal. We are told that in the Temple of Juno
at Samos, there was a Veſſel, carved all about
with Figures in Steel, ſent by the Spartans as
a Preſent to Crœſus, ſo large, that it would
hold three hundred Amphoras, or two thou
ſand ſeven hundred Gallons. We read too that
the Samians ſent as a Preſent to Delphos an
iron Cauldron with the Heads of ſeveral Ani
mals finely wrought upon it, and ſupported ſe
veral kneeling coloſſal Statues ten Foot and a
half high. It was a wonderful Contrivance of
Sanniticus the Ægyptian, in the Temple of the
God Apis, which was extremely rich in diffe