Another collection of philosophical conferences of the French virtuosi upon questions of all sorts for the improving of natural knowledg made in the assembly of the Beaux Esprits at Paris by the most ingenious persons of that nation / render'd into English by G. Havers, Gent. & J. Davies ..., Gent.

CONFERENCE CCXIV. Of the Sibyls. (Book 214)

THough it be generally acknowledg'd that there were Si∣byls, yet as to their Names, their Number, their Country, and their Works, nay, the whole story of them, all is full of doubts and uncertainties. The Etymology of the Greek word signifies as much as the Will or Counsel of God; the Aeolick Dialect saying Siou instead of Theou. The Chaldeans call'd them Sam∣betes. They are cited, and consequently acknowledg'd by Justin Martyr, Theophilus of Antioch, Athenagoras, Clemens Alexandrinus, Tatian, Lactantius, and other ancient Authors. Varro, and Dio∣dorus Siculus, call them Women fill'd with divinity, fore-telling things to come, whence they came also to be call'd Prophetesses. Some conceive that they were before the War of Troy, and re∣ferr all their predictions only to one of them, imagining that the same thing happen'd to them as had done to Homer, who, for his great reputation, gave occasion to several Cities of Greece, to attribute his birth to them: in like manner as a great number of Cities and Countrys; as for instance, Erythrae, Cumae, Sardis, Troy, Rhodes, Libya, Phrygia, Samos, and Aegypt, desirous to attribute to themselves the Birth of that Sibyl, it came to be be∣liev'd, that there were many of them. Amongst whom, Marti∣anus Capella, grounding his assertion upon very probable con∣jectures, acknowledges but two, Erophila, the Trojan Sibyl, whom he affirms to be the same that others call the Phrygian and Cumaean, and the others Symmagia, call'd also Erythraea, at the place of her birth. Pliny affirms, that there were at Rome three Statues of the Sibyls, one erected by Pacuvius Taurus, Aedile of the people; the other two by Marcus Valerius Messala, the Au∣gur. The first of these three, according to the relation of Solinus in his Polyhistor, was call'd Cumana, who prophesy'd at Cumae in the fiftieth Olympiad, and had still her Temple at Pouzols, about a hundred years since, but was burnt in a general confla∣gration that happen'd there in the year MDXXXIX. under the ruins of which it was then buried; so that there remains now only some subterraneous places, into which a man cannot go upright, yet still express a certain divinity, inasmuch as those re∣liques of a vast and spacious structure, seem to be all cut out of one stone. The second was call'd the Delphick Sibyl, and liv'd before the Wars of Troy. The third is that Eriphyla of Erythrae, who prophesy'd at Lesbos. Aelian affirms, that there were four, to wit, the Erythraean, the Samian, the Aegyptian, and that of Sardis. To that number others add two, the Judaick and the Cumaean; but Varro, desirous to have yet more of them, adds four, and makes them up ten; of which opinion is also Onuphrius. They are dispos'd into this order.

The first and most ancient is the Delphick, of whom Chrysippus speaks in his Book of Divination, by the Ancients called Artemis, born at Delphi, and it is conceiv'd that Homer inserted many ver∣ses of this Sibyl in his Works. Diodorus Siculus calls her Daphne, and sayes she was the Daughter of Tiresias, of whom she had not learnt the Art of Divination, when the Argians having taken the City of Thebes, sent her to Delphi to pay their vows, where having learnt to divine by the inspiration of Apollo, she spoke Oracles to those who consulted her.

The second is the Erythraean, as is affirm'd by Apollodorus, a Native of the same Country: And yet Strabo sayes, that she was a Babylonian, and had only given her self the name of the Ery∣thraean, whom Eusebius affirms to have liv'd in the time of Romulus.

The third is the Cumaean, or Cimmerian, so call'd from the Cimmerian Town near the City Cumae in Italy, whom some call Deiphobe; to this Sibyl it was that Aeneas address'd himself when he made his escape from Troy.

The fourth is the Samian, otherwise called Phyto, of whom Eratosthenes sayes, that she was mention'd in the Annals of the Sam••ans. Eusebius is of opinion, that she flourish'd in the time of Numa Pimpilius, and that she was called Heriphila.

The fifth is the Cumaean, otherwise Amalthaea, or Demophila, and called by Suidas, Hierophila. Of this Sibyl is related the story of the nine Books, and according to others of the three, (not of the Cumaean, whom some unadvisedly confound with this, though they were different) which she presented to Tarquinius Superbus, as it is affirmed by Varro, Solinus, Lactantius, Servius, Suidas, and several others. And Solinus gives this further ac∣count of her, that, in his time, her Sepulchre was shewn in Sicily.

The sixth is the Hellespontick, born in the Trojan Country, at the Town of Marmissus, near the City of Gergithium, whom Heraclides of Pontus affirms to have liv'd in the time of Solon and Cyrus, that is, in the L X. Olympiad.

The seventh is the Lybian, of whom Euripides speaks in the Prologue before Lamia, which he writ in the LXXX. Olympiad.

The eighth is the Persian, of whom there is mention made by Nicanor, in the History of Alexander the Great. Justin Martyr calls her also the Chaldaean, in his Admonition to the Gentiles; and she is conceiv'd to have been the Daughter of the Historian Berosus, and Erimantha. She liv'd in the CXX. Olympiad.

The ninth is the Phrygian, who prophecy'd at Ancyra.

The tenth is the Tiburtine, called Albunea, who was worship∣ped as a Goddess on the shores of the River Anienus, in which her Statue was found.

All these ten Sibyls are represented by a Picture hanging up as it were in the Clouds, having their Heads encompass'd with

Light, as our Saints commonly have. But the first holds a Hunter's Horn in his right Hand; the second, a Sword; the third, a Torch; the fourth, a Cross; the fifth, a pair of Gloves in the left Hand; the sixth, a Cradle on her right Hand; the seventh, holds a Lanthorn; the eighth, a branch of a Rose-bush; the ninth, hath a loaf of Bread on one side of her; the tenth, hath a small Wand or Rod. The Painters have presum'd to add two others, to wit, the Europaean, holding a Crown of thorns; and the Agrippinean, who holds a banner fasten'd to a Cross; but they do it not by any other Authority, than that They and the Poets assume to themselves to attempt any thing. According to which priviledge, there are yet divers others, to wit, one named Elissa, who prophesy'd in verse: Whereto may be added Cassandra, the Daughter of Priamus, the Epirotick Sibyl, the Thessalian Manto, Carmenta the Mother of Evander, Fatua the Wife of King Faunus, Sappho; and, upon a better title than any of the precedent, Deborah, Miriam, the Sister of Moses, and the Pro∣phetess Huldah.

The most famous of all, and she to whom the Ancients gave greatest credit, was the Cumaean, who, under the form and ha∣bit of an old woman not known to any, came to Tarquinius Su∣perbus, to whom she presented nine Volumes of Oracles, which she said he should have for three hundred philippus's; whereat the King took occasion to laugh, as if the old woman were grown a child again, to ask so great a summ for such inconsiderable Books: Which she perceiving, went away and burnt three of them; and coming again to make him a second proffer of the six remaining, demanded the same price she had ask'd for all the nine; and the King having laugh'd at her as before, and being confirm'd in his conceit of her being distracted, she burnt three more of them; but returning the third time, and asking of him the first mention'd summ for the three that were left, Tarquin astonish'd at that perseverance, consulted the Augurs what he should do; whereto their Answer was, that, in all liklihood, they were some Counsells sent by the Gods to the City of Rome for the well∣fare of it, which he should not any longer refuse. Accordingly he order'd her to have what she demanded; and having advis'd him to be very careful in the keeping of those Books, she vanish'd, and was never after seen either in that King's Court, or any where else, which much heightned the opinion already conceiv'd of her Divinity. Tarquin recommended these Books to the keeping of two persons of good repute, which number was afterwards mutiply'd to ten, elected one half out of the people, the other out of the Senate: And afterwards it came to fifteen, and so in∣creas'd till it rose to sixty, but still kept the name of the Quin∣decim viri, which receiv'd their period with all the other hea∣thenish ceremonies in the time of Theodosius. Only those per∣sons were permitted to read the Books of the Sibyls, and their superstition came to such a pitch, that there was not any thing so

holy and sacred in Rome, as those Books; insomuch that when any thing occurr'd, wherein the Roman State was highly con∣cern'd, as the Pestilence, civil War, or when their forreign Wars were not carry'd on with the success they had promis'd themselves; their recourse was to those books of the Sibylls, whence they pump'd out the remedies and advices which they had to give the Senate and People. This was observ'd till the time of the Social War, when, Cains Norbanus and Publius Sci∣pio being Consuls, the Capitol was burnt, and with it all the sacred things, and among them the Books of the Sibylls. But soon after the reparation of the Capitol, Scribonius Curio and Cneus Octavius being Consuls, there came out an Edict from the Senate, that three Deputies should go, as they did, to Erythrae, and other Citties of Italy, Greece, and Asia, whence they brought to Rome about a thousand Verses written by divers per∣sons, with the names of the Sibylls to whom they were attribu∣ted. And it is from the ignorance of so many hands, as had been employ'd in the writing of those Verses, that the many faults found therein proceeded; as being such as oblig'd Tiber, to correct those errours, and distinguish the supposititious verses from the true ones, to order that every one should bring in to the Praetor, of Rome whatever he had of them, with a prohibition that any should retain Copies thereof save only the Quindecim viri, whose Office and Name receiv'd its period at the last con∣flagration of the Sibylline Books made by the command of Stili∣co, Father-in-law to the Emperor Honorius, thinking by that means to raise a sedition against his Son-in-law, and so to transfer the Empire to his own Son Eucherio.

And this is all we have of certainty concerning the History of the Sibylls, who may be probably conjectur'd to have prophe∣cy'd by a certain Enthusiasm and divine inspiration, which was granted them according to the acknowledgment of the Fathers, as a reward of their Virginity; it being not imaginable, that the many noble things they have foretold, even to the highest myste∣ries of our Salvation, should proceed from the evil Spirit, much less from the motion of Nature, the strength whereof is not able to come up to Prediction.

The Second said, That the vain desire, which men of all times have been inclin'd to, of knowing things to come, having put them upon an unprofitable consultation of Heaven, Earth, and Waters, to find out whatever might bring them any tidings thereof, they have not let slip any occasion which they conceiv'd might inform them; their superstition being come to that height as to draw consequences and presages from all things, and ob∣lige them to search into the very entrails of Beasts, and the se∣pulchres of the Dead: Nay, what is yet more, if they have deriv'd a certain divination from the very chirping of Birds, whence their Augurs receiv'd their name, it is not to be won∣dred, they should give credit to the Discourses and Songs of

young Maids and Women. For, among those who were called Sybills, there were some married, especially she who writ the first book of the Oracles attributed to them; which Sibyll says she had been in Noah's Ark, with her Husband, her Father-in-law, her Mother-in law, her Brothers-in-law, and her Sisters-in law, who consequently had not the gift of Prophecy be∣stow'd on them, upon the account of their Virginity: And though, according to the testimony of Eusebius, and most of the other Ecclesiastical Authors, there was not any Sibyll more an∣cient then Moses; yet does the Sibyll before-mentioned foretell the coming of Moses, and the Deluge, at which by that means she could not have been present; for things present are never fore-told. But what brings the credit of their Works into grea∣ter suspicion, is, that those Verses do themselves discover, that they were written fifteen hundred years after the beginning of the Grecian Empire, and consequently, whatever they tell us of Moses, the raign of Solomon, and the Empire of the Lacedaemo∣nians, all which preceded that time, are Histories, which they obtrude upon us for Prophecyes. And all the Mysteries of our Salvation contain'd in the Sibylline Verses, are, in all probabili∣ty of the same Nature. And, in the fifth Book of the Sibylline Writings, the Sibyll says, that she had seen the second confla∣gration of the Vestal's Temple; which, according to Eusebius, happen'd in the year of our Lord CXCIX. under the Emperour Commodus. And then it was indeed, that those Verses first ap∣pear'd in the World, nor were they seen before, nor cited by any one, and the Prophecies contain'd in them, have not ought to say of what should come to pass after that time, inasmuch as they could not have done it with any certainty. As to her say∣ing, That there should be three Emperours after Adrian, to wit, the two Antoninus's, Pius, and the Philosopher, and the Empe∣ror Commodus, and then the times should end, being found false in respect of what was to happen afterwards, as being things absolute besides her knowledg, it was not to be imagin'd, she should set down the names of the Emperors, or given the first Letters thereof, as she had done those of the fifteen, who pre∣ceded, of whose History she gives as particular an account as those Authors who speak affirmatively thereof, and with all cir∣cumstances after their death. Add to this, the erroneous opi∣nions of some Christians of that time, which are inserted into their Works; as for instance, that the damned should be de∣liver'd after certain Ages; and that Nero should remain con∣ceal'd to be Antichrist in the last times. Besides, the too exact observance of order in those Writings, is an argument that they were not the productions of persons subject to Fanaticism, such as some would have the Sibylls to be, who writ upon the leaves of Trees, the Verses which their Enthusiasm dictated to them. And to conclude, there is no probability, that the Prophet E∣say, who hath spoken more clearly of the Incarnation than

any other, should think it enough to say, A Virgin should bring forth a Son; and that the Sibyll should say, before the thing came to pass, The Virgin Mary shall bring forth a Son named Jesus in Bethleem: there is no probability, I say, that God should be∣stow greater illuminations on those Women, whom Antiquity ranked among the Priestesses of Bacchus, than on the most in∣spir'd among his Prophets. Whence it is to be justly imagin'd, that some Christians were the Authors of those Verses, who piously thought to make some advantages thereof against the Pagans, who gave credit to other Writings which were then in vogue and repute under that name: as there are some in our days who father on Nostradamus such things as he never thought of, and that after they are come to pass; under pretence that there is some mention made thereof in that confusion of matters, where∣of he treats. This will not be thought strange by those, who considering the multitude of accidents, which that Author hath shuffled into his Centuries, whereof the varieties are so great, that it is no hard matter to find therein most occurrences of hu∣mane life; as we see that in syllables diversly transpos'd and put together, all things in the world may be found.

The Third said, That the Ancients are not be thought so cre∣dulous, as to attribute such authority to the Sibylls, if there had not been some young Maids and Women, who had effectually fore-told things to them. True it is, chance may be fortunate in one or two cases, as a blind Archer may casually hit the mark; but it is very unlikely, that one who cannot shoot at all, should have the reputation of a good Archer all the world over. And yet Authors are full in asserting the authority, wherein the answers made by those women were. Virgil grounding his di∣scourse on that common perswasion says,

Ʋltima Cumaei venit jam carminis aetas:

And the Satyrist confirms what he had said, with another verse, to wit,

Credite me vohis folium recitare Sibyllae.

And it was ordinary to inscribe on Monuments the names of those who were appointed for the keeping of those books of the Sibylls and took care for the Sacrifices, which the Romans offered up, to appease the wrath of the Gods, according to the counsel, which, as occasion requir'd, they took from their verses. Nay, there was such a strict prohibition that any should have them in their private Libraries, that one of those who were entrusted with the custody of the Sibylline Books, named Marcus Atilius, was sown up in a bag, and cast into the Sea, for lending Petroni∣us Sabinus one of those Books to be transcrib'd, or, as some af∣firm, only their simple Commentary, containing the secrets of

the Sacrifices which were made according to them. Upon the same consideration that it pleas'd God to sanctifie Job, though out of the Judaick Church, the only one wherein salvation was then to be found, I may say, there is no inconvenience to ima∣gine, that he might as well bestow the Spirit of Prophecy, on those Virgins at least commonly accounted such. And conse∣quently, what is said to the contrary, deserving rather to pass for adulterate and supposititious, then that there should be any question made of what divers of the holy Fathers have affirmed of them: the gift of Prophecy having been communicated also to Balaam, and God having miraculously opened the eyes, and unloos'd the tongue of his Ass. What remains to this day im∣printed in the minds of a great number of persons, concerning Merluzina, and other Fairies, contributes somewhat to the proof of what hath been said; some illustrious Families deriving their origin thence. For, as to the inserting of some supposititious verses into the body of their Works, it should be no more pre∣judice to them, then it is to those of the most excellent Authors, among which the spurious productions of others are sometimes shuffled in. And if it be true, that Homer's Verses were at first confusedly pronounced by him, and that it hath been the em∣ployment of others, to reduce them into that noble order, wherein we read them, Why should the same observance of or∣der be censur'd in the disposal of the Sibylline Verses? Plato, in his Theagines, affirms, That Socrates acknowledged them to be Prophetesses; and in his Phoedon, the same Socrates shews, by their example, That extravagance or distraction of mind does many times bring great advantages to Mankind. Aristotle, in the first question of the thirtieth Section of his Problems, affirms, That Women become Sibylls, when the brain is over-heated, not by sickness, but through a natural distemper. And else∣where he describes the subterraneous Palace of a Sibyll, whom he affirms, according to the common report of her, to have liv'd a long time, and continu'd a Virgin. Plutarch, in his Treatise, Why the Prophetess Pythia renders not her Answers in verse, af∣firms, that, by a particular favour of God, a Sibyll had spoken things during the space of a thousand years; and elsewhere, that she foretold the destruction of several Cities that were afterwards swallow'd up, the fire of Mount Gibel, and divers other things, setting down near the time when what she had said should come to pass. Pausanias affirms, that the Sibyll Herophila, had cer∣tainly foretold the bringing up of Helen at Sparta, and that it should occasion the destruction of Troy. Justin, having related what account Plato made of persons who foretold things to come who he says, deserve the name of Divine, though they do not themselves comprehend the great and certain things which they predict, says, That that is to be understood of the Sibylline Verses: the Writers whereof, said he, had not the same power as the Poets have, to wit, that of correcting and

polishing their works; inasmuch as the inspiration ceasing, they do not so much as remember what they had said, though some have been of opinion, that the agitation of Mind, wherewith they have prophesy'd, seem'd to be the Effect of the evil Spirit; producing, as a confirmation of this opinion, one of the Sibyls, who sayes of her self, that, for her enormous crimes, she was con∣demn'd to the fire. Yet allowing these Verses to be ranked among the supposititious, there is still a greater probability incli∣ning us to judge otherwise of them, when we consider the good instructions given us, and the mysteries of our Salvation contain'd therein; it being not the function of Devils and evil Spirits to encourage us to piety. But however it be, this is clearly evinc'd, that there have been Sibyls, and that they fore-told things to come.