THE FIRST OBSERVATION.
IT is a saying of an ancient Writer,* 1.1 that As our attire doth cover the body, so it doth uncover the nakedness of the mind. Whereupon it is, that men have found means to sute themselves upon occasion, according to the disposition of their in∣ward affections, as they are either, dilated with joy, or contracted with sorrow, lifted up with weal, or humbled with affliction. And according∣ly these Marseillians, in token of their humili∣ty and submission, came out, wearing an attire here called Infula;* 1.2 which Servius describeth to be a kind of Coife, made after the form of a Dia∣deme, with two pendants on each side, called Vittae.
Those which the Romans used of this kind, were fashioned like a Pyramid: the point whereof did signifie the* 1.3 Elements, ascending upwards in such a pointed fashion; and by the two pendants or bands, were denoted the Water and the Earth. They were made wholly of wooll, as Festus wri∣teth, Infulae sunt filamenta lanea, quibus Sacer∣dotes, host••ae, & templa velabantur; Infulae are certain ornaments and tappets made of wool, wherewith the Priests use to be clad, the Sacrifices to be covered, and the Temples to be hanged: to shew humblenesse and simplicitie, whereof wool is a Hieroglyphick; for no kind of beasts have more need of aide and succour then Sheep: and thereupon it was, that all Supp••••ants were attired with tresses of wool. Or otherwise, as some will have it, that the habit of the Petitioner might call to remembrance the flexible disposition, which is well-beseeming those that have power and means to give help and relief: according to the use of Heathen ages,* 1.4 wherein their Images of then Idols had their feet tied with cords of wool; to shew the mildness and easiness which upon devote supplica∣tions was found in divine Powers, whereof wool was a Symbolum.