The monstrous Stupidity of Pagans in their Devotions will further appear in the Close of this Performance. Footnote 387: _Ruffin._ Hist. Ecclesiastica, lib. 2. _Stanley_’s Lives of the Philosophers, part 16. chap. 8. page 28. Now among all these Instances of Idolatry, the Adoration of the _Sun_ was the most excusable; for, who can behold that stupendous Globe of Fire and Light in perpetual Motion, Splendor, and universal Usefulness to Mankind, without awful Admiration, and warm Emotions of Mind? No wonder then to find that it has been the Object of Adoration so long, and in so many Places. It was the Sun very probably that was worship’d by the _Phenicians_ under the Name of _Baal_, by the _Moabites_ under the Name of _Chemosh_, by the _Ammonites_ under the Name of _Moloch_; by the degenerated _Israelites_ by the Name of _Baal_, the King of the Host of Heaven, to whom they join’d the Moon, whom they called _Astarta_ or Queen of Heaven. This Worship was perform’d upon high Places, in Groves, and upon the Roofs of their Houses, which in those Countries, were flat. It was against this kind of Worship that _Moses_ warn’d the _Israelites_, and threatens the Transgressors with Death. _Deut._ iv. 19, ’tis said _Josiah_ King of _Judah took away the Horses_, that his Royal Predecessors had given to the Sun, and were fix’d at the Entrance into the House of the Lord, and _burnt the Chariots of the Sun with Fire_. III. _Animal Gods._ In the next place, I shall briefly touch upon some Brutes and Birds, _&c._ that received Divine Honours from the Pagan People, and even from those who were supposed to excel their Neighbours in Understanding and Wisdom. Thus _Crocodiles_, _Serpents_, _Eagles_, _Dogs_, _Cats_, _Wolves_, _Oxen_, were worship’d by the People of _Egypt_, those celebrated Sons of Wisdom; but their greatest Solemnities were consecrated to the God _Apis_, or _Serapis_, under the Image of an Ox or Bull. They had an Ox consecrated to the Sun, which they fed at _Heliopolis_ in _Egypt_: They had another called _Apis_, dedicated to the Moon, and fed at _Memphis_, (for some time, the royal City) where he had his Temple, and the Devils gave out their Oracles. In the time of St. _Jerom_, who flourish’d in the fourth Century, they worshipped here a brass Bull as a God. The famous God _Osiris_ was adored under the Figure of this Beast, and when dead, it was buried with great Solemnity and Mourning: And ’tis observable, that his Birth-day was celebrated thro’ the whole Kingdom. _N. B._ ’Tis very probable, that the _Israelites_ worshipped the golden Calf in the same manner as the _Egyptians_ did their Bulls, their Cows and Calves.