It lay quiet there, _until those Days, the Children of Israel burnt Incense to it_. That is, from the days _Israel_ began to commit Idolatry, to the days of _Hezekiah_; who, to prevent the Growth of that Serpentine Idolatry, _brake in pieces the brazen Serpent that Moses had made_. 2 Kings xviii. 4. The Sound of the strange Cures done by the _brazen Serpent_, soon spread over the forsaken Nations, who, observing how the Wounded were healed by looking at it, conceived it to be a proper Instrument to be their Mediator, and consequently a fit Object for their Adoration, when even the Wounded in _Israel_, by addressing to its Shadow, were healed. It is most probable, that the Adoration of Serpents by the Pagans, sprung from these two Fountains, The _Wisdom of the Serpent_ in Paradise, and the _miraculous Cures_ done by the _Shadow of a Serpent_ in the Wilderness; which were improved by the Devil to secure his Honour and Interest, who wanted not Priests to display the Glories of their Character, to make the Serpent honourable in the sight of his Vassals. From hence, the _Egyptians_, _Phenicians_, yea most Nations, did imagine the Serpent to have some _Divinity in its Nature_, and for that reason (as hinted before) honour’d it with sacred Homage; this the Devil did, with a view to lessen Men’s Esteem for the Almighty Creator. Hence also some Men of superior Dignity have affected to be esteem’d more than meer Men, making this as an Argument, that they were _begot by Serpents_, as we observed already, therefore I shall only add, _viz._ That _Alexander the Great_, after he had taken _Rhodes_, _Egypt_ and _Cilicia_, addrest _Jupiter Ammon_ to know his Original, for his Mother _Olympias_ had confest to his Father _Philip_, that _Alexander_ was not begot by him, but by a _Serpent_ of _vast Bulk_; whereupon _Philip_ was divorced from his Wife _Olympias_, and _Alexander_ was saluted Son of _Ammon_, and by Order of the Priests, his Companions were enjoin’d to worship him as a _God_, and not as a _King_. _ALEXANDER_, when he had conquer’d _Darius_ III. surnam’d _Codomannus_, and was possest of the _Persian_ Empire, writ to the _Grecians_, that they should _decree him to be a God_. Hereupon several Decrees were made: The _Lacedemonians_ exprest their Compliance in this short Decree, _viz._ _Forasmuch as_ Alexander _would be a God, let him be a God_. Thus with Laconick Brevity, fashionable among the _Lacedemonians_, they humour’d and reproved the Pride of their King at once[427]. Footnote 427: Επειδἡ Αλεξανδρος βουλεται Θεδς ειναι εσο Θεος. Æliani variæ Hist. lib. ii. cap. xix.