38 1 Holy Trinity, in a manner that exceeds the mere Ca, pacity of Man. * t Who does not fee, in this Defcription, the great Out- line of the Philofophy, which afterwards prevailed in Greece, concerning the felf-moving Power of the Hea- vens, * Ka it CH. Ohel. Pamph. l: v. c. 3. t it may be proper to obferve, that, though fome very learned Men have expreffed their Doubts upon the genuine Prefervation and even Authenticity of the Books of the fecond Hermes, who is faid to have lived long after the Time of Mofes, and even after Chrifi, and who tranfcribed the Doetrines, contained in the Hieroglyphics of Thoth, or the frti Hermes, into Words ; the Evidences hereoffered are through Men, who were no Friends to the true Religion, and certainly could have no View, in the prefent Cafe, but to relate a plain Matter of Fait. Sanchoniathan in particular, was not only an Idolator, but is faid to have written his Phoenician Wary with a View to inculcate and apologize for Idolatry; fo that to infer the Anti- quity of the Dottrine of a Trinity in Unity from him, is deducing it through a very unexceptionable Channel: For, Fas eft, et ab h9e eloceri. Nor are thefe Citations merely fromWords or ,gooks, which either might have been interpolated or have their Ideas changed but from Hieroglyphics and Pidlures of Things, engraven too upon Co- lumns of Stone, which do not eafily admit of Forgeries; and, ifthey did admit of them, and the Execution was done by fo nice a Hans} as to elude Deteétioñ (which is perhaps impoffible), íìi11 thefe For- geries could not have been the Work of Chriflians or yews, frnce the learned Heathens themfelves, of the Ages before Chrifi as well at after, were Eye-Witneffes of their Authenticity and Prefervation. Add to this, if aferny Columns might have been abufed, it is infi- nitely improbable that all íhould, and without the Knowledge of others. The following Extra& from the Ancient [Iniv. HzII. (Vol. i. p. io5.) deferves Attention. " The moll famous of all others [Me- morials] were the Columns of Hermes in Egypt, mentioned by feve- ral credible Authors: Upon them he is reported to have infcribed his Learning; which was afterwards explained more at large by the fe- pond Hermes in feveral Books. It is certain at lean, thatfrom theft PILLARS the Greek Philofophers and .(ìgyptianHiftorians took many things. Pythagoras and Plato both read them, and borrowed their Philofophy FROM THENCE: Sanchoniatho and Manetho [the laft wrote about z6qYears before Chrift] likewife made ufe of the SAME Mo- p, uMENTS, which were fill remaining in the Time of Preclus, or not long before." Proclus, the Platonic Philofopher, lived about A. D. soo. yamblichus hath a remarkable Paffage to this Effe& in his Book of the Egyptian Myfleries: " If (fays he) you would propofe of any Difficulty in Philofophy[ofwhich theReligion of the Heathens
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