MYRTO-CISTUS. See HYPERICUM. MYRTLE (Dutch). See MYRICA. MYRTUS; myrtle. In botany, a genus of the class icosandria, order monogynia; calyx four or five-cleft, superior: petals four or five; berry two or three-celled; seeds numerous, gibbous. Twenty-eight species, often, however, made more numerous from the introduction of plants that belong to other genera. These are uniformly natives of warm climates, and for the most part indigenous to India, South America, the West Indies, or the Cape. The three following are those mostly entitled to attention.

1. M. communis. Common myrtle. Flowers solitary, with a two-leaved involucre. It is a native of Asia, Africa, and the south of Europe, and the parent of all the common varieties of myrtle we meet with in our gardens and green-houses. Of these varieties the chief

are:

&. Common broad-leaved or Roman myrtle. 6. Box-leaved myrtle.

y. Common Italian or upright myrtle, "of which the nutmeg myrtle is a subvariety.

Orange, or bay-leaved myrtle. 1. Portugal myrtle.

g. Broad-Jeaved Dutch myrtle. Double-flowering myrtle.

. Rosemary, or thyme-leaved myrtle. All these varieties are constant; but there are others which are far less marked and more fugitive; as, for instance, the gold-striped, broad-leaved myrtle; broad-leaved Jews myrtle; gold-striped orange-leaved myrtle; silverstriped Italian myrtle; striped box-leaved myrtle; coxcomb, or birds-nest myrtle, &c.

These are all easily propagated from cuttings. The best season for this is July; and the straitest and youngest vigorous shoots are to be chosen. These should be cut off about eight inches long, and the leaves of the lower part stripped off to two inches high, and that part of the stalk twisted which is to be placed in the ground; they are to be planted in pots of light rich earth, at about two inches distance from each other, observing to close the earth very well about them, and give them a gentle watering. They are then to be removed into a moderate hot-bed, and shaded and watered once in two or three days till they have taken root. In about a month's time they will be rooted, and will begin to shoot, and must then be inured by degrees to the air; and in August they should be removed into the

open air, but placed in a warm situation, and sheltered from the winds; they should stand here till October, and then be removed into a green-house, where they should be placed so as to have as much air as possible. In the March following they should be removed into separate pots of rich earth, and in May set out to the open air in a warm and well-defended place. They will require in the summer frequent waterings, and the dead leaves should be carefully picked off. As they advance in growth, they are to be shifted at times into pots of a larger size; and this should be done either in April or in August; and towards the end of October they should always be removed into the green-house.

2. M. pimenta. Pimento myrtle. A tree about fifty feet high; leaves alternate, elliptic, veined; flowers panicled on trichotomous peduncles; calyx four-cleft; petals four. The branches on the top are much divided, and possess a rich foliage, the perpetual verdure of which always gives the tree a very high degree of beauty. It is a native of New Spain and of the West-Indies. In Jamaica it grows very plentifully; and in June, July, and August, puts forth its flowers, which, with every part of the tree, breathe an aromatic fragrance. The berries, when ripe, are of a dark purple colour, and full of a sweet pulp, which the birds devour greedily. It is these dried berries that are denominated pimento, allspice, or Jamaica pepper. For their medical properties, see PrMENTO.

3. M. caryophyllata. Clove myrtle. Peduncles trichotomous, terminal; calyx undivided; leaves obovate, not dotted, slightly petioled. The bark of this tree has a considerable resemblance in smell and taste to the clove-spice or fruit of the eugenia caryophyllata, and are often recommended in the dispensatories on this account, under the name of CASSIA CARYOPHYLLATA, which see. It is a native of Ceylon.

MYRTUS BRABANTICA. Gaule. Sweet willow, or Dutch myrtle. The leaves, flowers, and seeds of this plant, myrica gale of Linnéus, have a strong fragrant smell, and a bitter taste. They are said to be used amongst the common people for destroying moths and cutaneous insects, and the infusion is given internally as a stomachic and vermifuge.

MYSELF. s. (my and self.) 1. An emphatical word added to I: as, I myself do it; that is, not I by proxy; not another. 2. The reciprocal of I, in the oblique case.

MYSIA, a country of Asia Minor, generally divided into Major and Minor. Mysia Minor was bounded on the north and west by the Propontis and Bithynia, and Phrygia on the southern and eastern borders. Mysia Major had Æolia on the south, Ægean on the west, and Phrygia on the north and east. Its chief cities were Cyzicum, Lampsacus, &c. The inhabitants were once very warlike; but they greatly degenerated; and the words Mysorum ultimus was emphatically used to signify a person of no merit. The ancients generally hired

them to attend their funerals as mourners, be cause they were naturally melancholy and inclined to shed tears. They were once governed by monarchs. They are supposed to be descended from the Mysians of Europe, a nation who inhabited that part of Thrace which was situated between Mount Hamus and the Danube.

MYSON, a native of Sparta, one of the seven wise men of Greece. When Anacharsis consulted the oracle of Apollo, to know which was the wisest man in Greece, he received for answer, he who is now ploughing his fields. This was Myson.

MYSORE, a province of Hindustan, which takes its name from a town situated about ten miles south from the river Cauvery, formerly governed by an Hindu prince. What is called the kingdom of Mysore, includes, besides the Mysore Proper, the countries of Bednore, Coimbetore, Canara, and Dindigul, with some others, the whole forming an extent near 500 miles, from north to south, and near 300, where broadest, from east to west, though in some places it is hardly 100, and, towards the south, narrowed almost to a point. Mysore, on the north, is bounded by the countries of Visiapour and Golconda, on the east by the Carnatic, on the south by Madura Travancore, and Cochin, and on the west by the Indian Sea. On the death of the last Hindu king, Hyder Ally, a soldier of fortune, declared himself regent, and imprisoned the young prince, who was to have succeeded his father. Hyder had risen from a low rank, to the supreme command of the army. On a complaint that the English had not kept their treaties with him, he made an irruption into the Carnatic. The war continued with various success, during the years 1767, 1768, and part of 1769; when Hyder, with a strong detachment of chosen troops, chiefly horse, giving the British army the slip, came within seven miles of Madras, and dictated a peace to the government of that place. Some years afterwards hostilities were again cominenced, and successively renewed, till the death of Hyder Ally, and even after his death, by his son Tippoo; till, in the year 1792, after several defeats, Tippoo was compelled to make peace, on the humiliating terms of surrendering great part of his dominions to the English and their friends, and the payment of thirty lacks of rupees; and for the due performance of the articles of the treaty, two of the sultan's eldest sons were sent as hostages to lord Cornwallis, the commander of the British army. The gross revenue of Tippoo has been stated at four crores of rupees, or as many millions sterling. His military establishment was very great, being no less than 72,800 regulars, including 740 Europeans, under the command of French officers: besides troops in the frontier garrisons to the amount of 49,000. The remainder of his force consisted of irregulars of various descriptions, and amounts to 33,000, and upwards; so that the whole force of Tippoo was reckoned at 155,000, of which near 73,000 were of a class much superior to

any troops that have ever been raised and dis ciplined by a native of India.

MYSORE, a fortified town of Hindustan, anciently the capi al of the country so called : ten miles S. Seringapatam.

MYSTAGOGUE s. (μvçayuyòç.) One who interprets divine mysteries; also one who keeps church relics, and shows them to strangers (Barley).

MYSTAX. The hair which forms the beard in man, on each side the upper lip. MYSTERIARCH. s. (μusigion and ex) One presiding over mysteries.

MYSTERIOUS. a. (mysterieux, French.) 1. Inaccessible to the understanding; awfully obscure (Denham). 2. Artfully perplexed (Swift).

MYSTERIOUSLY. ad. (from mysterious.) 1. In a manner above understanding. 2. Ob. scurely; enigmatically (Taylor). MYSTERIOUSNESS. s. (from myste rious.) 1. Holy obscurity (Taylor). 2. Artful difficulty or perplexity. To MY'STERIZE. v. a. (from mystery.) To explain as enigmas (Brown).

MYSTERY. s. (μusipiov; mystere, French.) 1. Something above human intelligence; something awfully obscure (Taylor). 2. An enigma; any thing artfully made difficult (Shakspeare). 3. A trade; a calling: in this sense it should, according to Warburton, be written mistery, from mestier, French, a trade (Shakspeare).

MYSTERY, mysterium, something secret or hidden; impossible or difficult to be comprehended. The word comes from the Greek

unpiov; and, that according to some etymologists, from vw, claudo, taceo, I shut, I am silent, and sou, mouth; but then whence comes the r? Must the m in be convert. ed into an r? The word seems derived, with more propriety, from the Hebrew sator, to hide; whence is formed mistar, a hidden thing.

Mystery is primarily used in speaking of certain truths revealed in scripture, into the full understanding whereof human reason cannot penetrate. Such are said to be the doctrines of the trinity, the incarnation, &c. We have an epitome of the mysteries of faith, or the mysteries of christianity, in the symbols or creeds, compiled by the apostles, the council of Nice, and St. Athanasius. (See CREED.) In some of these mention is made of the mystery of the trinity; the mysteries of the incarnation of the Son of God, his death and passion, and his descent into hell, for the redemption of mankind; of his resurrection the third day, his ascension into heaven, his sitting on the right hand of God, and his coming again to judge the world; of the divinity and coequality of the Holy Ghost with the Father and the Son; of the unity of the church; of the com munion of saints; the participation of the sa craments; and the general resurrection.

It is very customary with unbelievers to affirm that they will believe nothing which they cannot comprehend, and thence to reject the

As the theology and mythology of the ancients are almost inseparably connected, it will be impossible for us to develope the latter, without often introducing some observations relating to the former. We must therefore intreat the indulgence of our readers, if upon some occasions we should hazard a few strictures on the names, characters, adventures, and functions of such pagan divinities as may have furnished materials for those fabulous narrations which the nature of the subject may lead us to discuss.

With respect to fable, it may be observed in general, that it is a creature of the human imagination, and derives its birth from that love of the marvellous which is in a manner congenial to the soul of man. The appearances of nature which every day occur, objects, actions, and events, which succeed each other, by a kind of routine, are too familiar, too obvious, and uninteresting, either to gratify curiosity or to excite admiration. On the other hand, when the most common phenomena in nature or life are new-modelled by the plastic power of a warm imagination; when they are diversified, compounded, embellished, or even arranged and moulded into forms which seldom or perhaps never occur in the ordinary course of things; novelty generates admiration, a passion always attended with delightful sensations. Here then we imagine we have discovered the very source of fiction and fable. They originated from that powerful propensity in our nature towards the new and surprising, animated by the delight with which the contemplation of them is generally attended.

Many circumstances contributed to extend and establish the empire of fable. The legislator laid hold on this bias of human nature, and of course employed fable and fiction as the most effectual means to civilize a rude, unpolished world. The philosopher, the theologist, the poet, the musician, each in his turn, made use of this vehicle to convey his maxims and instructions to the savage tribes. They knew that truth, simple and unadorned, is not possessed of charms powerful enough to captivate the heart of man in his present corrupt and degenerate state. This consideration, which did indeed result from the character of their audience, naturally led them to employ fiction and allegory. From this was derived the allegorical taste of the ancients, and especially of the primary sages of the east.

Though almost every nation on the face of the globe, however removed from the centre of population, however savage and averse from cultivation, has fabricated and adopted its own system of my thology; the Orientals, however, have distinguished themselves in a peculiar manner, by the boldness, the inconsistency, and the extravagance of their mythology. The genial warmth of those happy climes, the fertility of the soil, which af forded every necessary, every conveniency, and often every luxury of life, without depressing their spirits by laborious exertions; the face of nature perpetually blooming around them, the skies smiling with uninterrupted serenity; all contributed to inspire the orientals with a glow of fancy and a vigour of imagination rarely to be met with in less happy regions. Hence every object was swelled beyond its natural dimensions. Nothing was great or little in moderation, but every sentiment was heightened with incredible hyperbole. The magnificent, the sublime, the vast, the enormous, the marvellous, first sprung up, and were brought to maturity, in those native regions of fable and fairy

land. As nature, in the ordinary course of her ope rations, exhibited neither objects nor effects adequate to the extent of their romantic imaginations, they naturally deviated into the fields of fiction and fable. Of consequence, the custom of detailing fabulous adventures originated in the east, and was from thence transplanted into the western countries.

As the allegorical taste of the eastern nations had sprung from their propensity to fable, and as that propensity had in its turn originated from the love of the marvellous; so did allegory in process of time contribute its influence towards multiplying fables and fiction almost in infinitum. The latent import of the allegorical doctrines being in a few ages lost and obliterated, what was originally a moral or theological tenet assumed the air and habit of a personal adventure.

The propensity towards personification, almost universal among the orientals, was another fruitful source of fable and allegory. That the people of the east were strongly inclined to personify inanimate objects and abstract ideas, we imagine will be readily granted, when it is considered, that in the formation of language they have generally annexed the affection of sex to those objects. Hence the distinction of grammatical genders, which is known to have originated in the eastern parts of the world. The practice of personifying virtues, vices, religious and moral affections, was necessary to support that allegorical style which universally prevailed in those countries. This mode of writing was in high reputation even in Europe some centuries ago; and to it we are indebted for some of the most noble poetical compositions now extant in our own language. Those productions, however, are but faint imitations of the original mode of writing still current among the eastern nations. The Europeans derived this species of composition from the Moorish inhabitants of Spain, who imported it from Arabia, their original country.

The general use of hieroglyphics in the East must have contributed largely towards extending the empire of mythology. As the import of the figures employed in this me:hod of delineating the signs of ideas was in a great measure arbitrary, mistakes must have been frequently committed in ascertaining the notions which they were at the first intended to represent. When the development of these arbitrary signs happened to be attended with uncommon difficulty, the expounders were obliged to have recourse to conjecture. Those conjectural expositions were for the most part tinctured with that bias towards the marvellous which universally prevailed among the primitive men. This we find is the case even at this day, when moderns attempt to develop the purport of emblematical figures, preserved on ancient medals, intaglios, &c.

The wise men of the East delighted in obscure enigmatical sentences. They seem to have disdained every sentiment obvious to vulgar apprehension. The words of the wise, and their dark sayings, often occurred in the most ancient records both sacred and profane. The sages of antiquity used to vie with each other for the prize of superior wisdom, by propounding riddles, and dark and mysterious questions, as subjects of investigation. The contest between Solomon and Hiram, and that between Amasis king of Egypt and Polycrates tyrant of Samos, are universally known As the import of those enigmatical propositions was often absolutely lost, in ages when the art of

writing was little known, and still less practised, nothing remained but fancy and conjecture, which always verged towards the regions of fable. This then, we think, was another source of mythology.

The pagan priests, especially in Egypt, were probably the first who reduced mythology to a kind of system. The sacerdotal tribe, among that people, were the grand depositaries of learning, as well as of religion. That order of men monopolised all the arts and sciences. They seemed to have forined a conspiracy among themselves, to preclude the laity from all the avenues of intellectual improvement. This plan was adopted with a view to keep the laity in subjection, and to enhance their own importance. To accomplish this end, they contrived to perform all the ministrations of their religion in an unknown tongue, and to cover them with a thick veil of fable and allegory. The language of Ethiopia became their sacred dialect, and hieroglyphics their sacred character. Egypt, of course, became a kind of fairyland, where all was jugglery, magic, and enchantment. The initiated alone were admitted to the knowledge of the occult mystical exhibitions, which, in their hands, constituted the essence of their religion. From these the vulgar and profane were prohibited by the most rigorous penalties. The Egyptians, and indeed all the ancients without exception, deemed the mysteries of religion too sacred and solemn to be communicated to the herd of mankind, naked and unreserved; a mode by which they imagined those sacred and sublime oracles would have been defiled and degraded. Procul, o procul este profani -Odi profanum vulgus et arceo. Egypt was the land of graven images; allegory and mythology were the veil which concealed religion from the eyes of the vulgar; fable was the ground-work of that impenetrable covering.

la the earliest and most unpolished state of society we cannot suppose fable to have existed among men. Fables are always tales of other times, but at this period other times did not reach far enough backward to afford those fruits of the imagination sufficient time to arrive at maturity. Fable requires a considerable space of time to acquire credibility, and to rise into reputation. Accordingly, we find that both the Chinese and Egyptians, the two most ancient nations whose annals have reached our times, were altogether unacquainted with fabulous details in the most early and least improved periods of their respective monarchies. It has been shown almost to a demonstration, by a variety of learned men, that both the one and the other people, during some centuries after the general deluge, retained and practised the primitive Noachic religion, in which fable and fancy could find no place; all was genuine unsophisticated truth.

As soon as the authentic tradition concerning the origin of the universe was either in a good measure lost, or at least adulterated by the inventions of men, fable and fiction began to prevail. The Egyptian Thoth or Thyoth, or Mercury Trismegistus, and Mochus the Phoenician,

undertook to account for the formation and arrangement of the universe, upon principles purely mechanical. Here fable began to usurp the place of genuine historical truth. Accordingly, we find that all the historians of antiquity, who have undertaken to give a general detail of the affairs of the world, have ushered in their narration with a fabulous cosmogony. Here imagination ranged unconfined over the boundless extent of

the primary chaos. To be convinced of the truth of this assertion, we need only look into Sanchoniathon's Cosmogony, Euseb. Præp. Evang. 1. 1. sub init. and Diodorus Sic. 1. 1. From this we suppose it will follow, that the first race of fables owed their birth to the erroneous opinions of the formation of the universe.

Having now endeavoured to point out the origin of mythology, or fabulous traditions, we shall proceed to lay before our readers a brief detail of the mythology of the most respectable nations of antiquity, following the natural order of their si

tuation.

According to the Chinese accounts, Fohe or Fohi laid the foundation of that empire about 4000 years ago. This emperor, according to the Chinese, was conceived in a miraculous manner. His mother, say they, one day as she was walking in a desert place, was surrounded by a rainbow; and, being impregnated by this meteor, was in due time delivered of that celebrated legislator. This personage, like the Athenian Cecrops, was half a man and half a serpent. His intellectual powers were truly hyperbolical. In one day he discovered 50 different species of poisonous herbs. He taught his countrymen the whole art of agriculture in the space of a very few years. He instructed them how to sow five different sorts of grain. He invented boats and nets for fishing, the art of fabricating porcelain, the management of silk-worms, the manufacturing of silk, &c. In a word, that wonderful personage was inspired by Heaven with knowledge, which qualified him for composing that incomparable body of laws which are even at this day the wonder of the world. Our readers will admit, that this whole detail is fabulous and chimerical. The most learned part of them will readily observe, that the Chinese, in ascribing the invention of all the useful arts to their Fohi, are perfectly agreed with almost all the other nations of antiquity. The Indians ascribe every invention to Budha, or Vishnou, or Foe; the Persians to Zerdusht or Zoroastres; the Chal. deans to their man of the sea, whom they call Oannes; the Egyptians to Thoth or Thyoth; the Phoenicians to Melicerta; the Greeks to the family of the Titans; and the Scandinavians to Odin; &c.

About 551 years before the Christian æra, appeared the famous Chinese philosopher Con-fu-tse, or Confucius. Concerning the birth of this prince of philosophers, the Chinese have propagated the following legendary tale. His mother walking in a solitary place was impregnated by the vivifying influence of the Heavens. The babe, thus produced, spake and reasoned as soon as it was born. Confucius, however, wrought no miracles, performed no romantic exploits, but lived an austere ascetic life, taught and inculcated the doctrines of pure morality, and died, remarkable only for superior wisdom, religious, moral, and political.

About the year of Christ 601, flourished the sectary Laokiun. His mother carried him 30 years in her womb, and was at last delivered of him under a plum-tree. This philosopher was the Epicurus of the Chinese. His disciples, who were denominated Fao-sse, i. e. heavenly doctors, were the first who corrupted the religion of the Chinese. They were addicted to magic, and introduced the worship of good and bad dæmons. Their doctrine was embraced by a long succession of emperors. One of these princes, called You-ti, had been deprived by death of a favourite mistress, whom he loved with the most extravagant passion. The