Excerpt from A Dissertation on the Ancient Pagan Mysteries: Wherein the Opinions of Bp. Warburton and Dr. Leland on This Subject, Are Particularly Considered To prevent or rectify mifiakes, I (hall add, that the Pagan Theology prefents us with two forts of Deities, who had their original here below, and were advanced from the condition of mortality into Gods the one were denominated Dii majorum, the other D11 minorum, gentium. The firft, or the Celefiials, were not generally conceived to have been deceafed mortals, but originally beings of the higheft rank: and order, or true and real Gods in their own right, and not in virtue of any deification, which had mifed and exalted them to this Rate; foch were Ju piter, Saturn, Neptune, Vulcan, and many others. As for the Dii minorum gentium; thefe were known to be only deceafed mortals, deified for their public benefaetions and fervices: they were often called Heroes and Dzmons: they were held the proper objects of divine worlhip and adoration, but a wor filip and adoration far fubordinate and' inferior to that, which was paid to the fovereign and fupreme Gods, or the Diir majorum gentium. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.