a daughter of As{=o}pus, there buried, but anciently _Drep{)a}num_, from
the sickle used by the goddess in reaping, which had been presented her
by Vulcan. Thence she removed to Sicily, where the violence of Pluto
deprived her of Proserpine. Disconsolate at her loss, she importuned
Jupiter for redress; but obtaining little satisfaction, she lighted
torches at the volcano of Mount AEtna, and mounting her car, drawn by
winged dragons, set out in search of her beloved daughter. This
transaction the Sicilians annually commemorated by running about in the
night with lighted torches and loud exclamations.

It is disputed, by several nations, who first informed Ceres where her
daughter was, and thence acquired the reward, which was the art of
sowing corn. Some ascribe the intelligence to Triptol{)e}mus, and his
brother Eubul{)e}us; but the generality of writers agree in conferring
the honor on the nymph Areth{=u}sa, daughter of Nereus and Doris, and
companion of Diana, who, flying from the pursuit of the river
Alph{=e}us, saw Proserpine in the infernal regions.

It must be owned that Ceres was not undeserving the highest titles
bestowed upon her, being considered as the deity who had blessed men
with the art of cultivating the earth, having not only taught them to
plough and sow, but also to reap, harvest, and thresh out their grain;
to make flour and bread, and fix limits or boundaries to ascertain their
possessions. The garlands used in her sacrifices were of myrtle, or
rape-weed; but flowers were prohibited, Proserpine being carried off as
she gathered them. The poppy alone was sacred to her, not only because
it grows amongst corn, but because, in her distress, Jupiter gave it her
to eat, that she might sleep and forget her troubles. Cicero mentions an
ancient temple dedicated to her at Catania, in Sicily in which the
offices were performed by matrons and virgins only, no man being
admitted.

If to explain the fable of Ceres, we have recourse to Egypt; it will be
found, that the goddess of Sicily and Eleusis, or of Rome and Greece, is
no other than the Egyptian Isis, brought by the Phoenicians into those
countries. The very name of _mystery_, from _mistor_, a _veil_ or
_covering_, given to the Eleusinian rites, performed in honor of Ceres,
shows them to have been of Egyptian origin. The Isis, or the
emblematical figure exhibited at the feast appointed for the
commemoration of the state of mankind after the flood, bore the