had charge of the gates of Heaven, and hence, too, all gates, Janua, were called after him, and supposed to be under his care. Hence, perhaps, it was, that he was represented with a staff and key, and that he was named the Opener (Patulcius), and the Shutter (Clusius).

The Janus Geminus, or Janus Quirinus, was the celebrated gate (not temple) which stood on the way leading from the Palatine Quirinal, and which was to be open in time of war, and shut in time of peace. To understand this much mistaken subject (for nothing is more common than to speak of opening or shutting the temple of Janus), we must go back to the early days of Rome.

The temples of Janus Quadrifrons were built with four equal sides, each side containing a door and three windows. The doors were emblematic of the four seasons, and the windows of the three months belonging to each.

Comus, the god of gay humor and merry jests, presided at banquets, and in general at all social feasts.

Hymen, the god of marriage, presided at all nuptial feasts.

Plutus, the god of riches, was represented by the ancients as blind, and as bestowing his favors indiscriminately upon the good and the bad.

Libertas (Liberty) was a goddess of Rome. She is represented in the figure of a woman, holding in one hand a rod, and in the other a cap. This cap was a badge of liberty used on all occasions.

Vertumnus presided over the growth of Spring, the crops of Summer, and the fruits of Autumn.

Terminus was worshipped at Rome as the guardian of landmarks.

Pales, the goddess of shepherds, presided over cattle and pastures.

Flora, the goddess of flowers, is fabled to have married Zephyros.

Pomona, the wife of Vertumnus. presided over fruit

trees.

Feronia was the guardian deity of woods and groves.
Victory attended the conquests of all heroes.

Fortuna, the goddess of fortune, was supposed to distribute riches and poverty, blessings and misfortunes, pleasures and pains.

Fortitudo (Fortitude), a deification of courage and bravery, was one of the moral deities of the Romans. Veritas (Truth) is said to be the parent of Justice and Virtue.

Virtus (Virtue), daughter of Truth, is represented as clothed in white, as an emblem of purity.

Honos (Honor) was worshipped as a virtue at Rome. Pax (Peace) wears a crown of laurel, and holds in her hand the branch of an olive tree.

Fidelitas (Fidelity) presided over the virtues of men, and the conduct of human life.

Felicitas (Felicity) was a symbolical, moral deity of the Greeks and Romans. She was the goddess of happiness and prosperity.

Amicitia (Friendship) was represented by the Greeks in a clasped garment, her head bare, her dress open near the heart, holding in her left hand an elm around which a vine is clinging, filled with clusters of grapes.

At Rome she was represented as a young maiden with a white robe, her bosom partially covered, her head adorned with myrtle and pomegranate flowers intermixed. On the border of her tunic was written "Death and Life;" on her front, "Summer and Winter." Her side was open, and her heart visible, bearing these words, "Far and near."*

• For a full account of these deities see large edition.

PART FOURTH.

DEMI-GODS AND HEROES.

In the assembly of the gods, Jupiter is represented as ruling supreme. He frowns and Olympus trembles; he smiles, and the sky brightens. But heaven is not his only theatre of action; enveloping his deity in illusive forms, he descends to earth to propagate his power in a race of heroes.

From his seat on high, he descends to Danaë in the form of a golden shower, and the valiant Perseus springs forth; who, with powerful arm, subdues monsters.

In the form of Amphitryon he appears to Alcmena, and makes her the mother of Hercules.

With the majestic neck of a swan, he clings to Leda for protection, and she becomes the mother of the mag nanimous Pollux, and the god-like Helena, the most beautiful woman that earth ever produced.

In the strength of a mettled bull, he invites the virgin Europa to mount his back, and carries her through the floods of the sea to the shores of Crete, where she brings forth Minos, the wise and powerful law-giver of nations.

In these fictions all nature is deified; even animals are considered as sacred beings. Thus nothing mean or abject lies in the idea of representing the supreme divinity in any form that is offered by all-comprising nature. As the wind