Caucasus, a chain of mountains beginning above Colchis and ending at the Caspian Sea. Prometheus was chained up there and had his liver torn out by a vulture or an eagle. If we are to believe Philostratus, the inhabitants of this land interpreted the fable literally and made war on eagles, throwing the baby birds out of their nests and piercing the adults with flaming arrows; or, according to Strabo, the Caucasians read the story as the unhappy condition of human beings, and went into mourning at the birth of their children, and rejoiced at their funerals. There is no Christian who is truly convinced of the truths of his religion who should not imitate the Caucasians, and congratulate himself on the death of his children. Death guarantees the newborn eternal felicity, and the fate of the man who seems to have lived in the most saintly way remains uncertain. How consoling, and at the same time how terrible, our religion is!