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an exceptionally busy one owing to the interminable ritual he imposed on himself; for, in fact, he declared himself to be the "priest of all religions,"^[1] and he laboured incessantly to act up to that character. As a teacher he was indefatigable, lecturing five times daily, apparently to crowded audiences in a theatre, whilst his evenings were devoted to philosophic colloquies. He was, of course, reputed to be highly favoured by the gods, and his biography is almost as full of marvels as a Christian Gospel. Celestial visions were frequently vouchsafed to him, especially on the occasion of the sacrilegious removal of the statue of Athena from the Parthenon by order of the state officials. The goddess incontinently appeared to Proclus and announced that henceforth she would dwell with him in his own house.^[2] He was an adept at incantations, by means of which he procured a rainfall in time of drought and arrested the progress of an

↑ Or literally, "the hierophant of the whole world."
↑ Marinus also informs us that he was on terms of great cordiality with Pan, but according to another authority this god had died some centuries previously. Plutarch (De Defect. Orac., 17) tells us, on the report of "a well-known man of very sound character," that a vessel sailing in the Ambracian Gulf touched one evening at the Isle of Paxae. Shortly, a voice from the land thrice summoned Thames the Egyptian, one of the crew, and gave him the injunction, "When you come to Paloda, announce that the Great Pan is dead." The mandate was obeyed, they put in at a deserted spot, and Thames, standing in the bows, shouted the required information. Immediately the whole ship's company heard "a deep groan, proceeding as it were from a multitude of men." The news was carried to Rome, and Tiberius, after interviewing Thames, decided to hold an inquest. All the savants of the Court sat on the deceased, and, without viewing the body, pronounced him to be Pan, the son of Hermes and Penelope. The witness in this case was doubtless of the same class as those who from time to time contribute marvels to the reports of the Psychical Society and the Occult Review.

[1] Or literally, "the hierophant of the whole world."

[2] Marinus also informs us that he was on terms of great cordiality with Pan, but according to another authority this god had died some centuries previously. Plutarch (De Defect. Orac., 17) tells us, on the report of "a well-known man of very sound character," that a vessel sailing in the Ambracian Gulf touched one evening at the Isle of Paxae. Shortly, a voice from the land thrice summoned Thames the Egyptian, one of the crew, and gave him the injunction, "When you come to Paloda, announce that the Great Pan is dead." The mandate was obeyed, they put in at a deserted spot, and Thames, standing in the bows, shouted the required information. Immediately the whole ship's company heard "a deep groan, proceeding as it were from a multitude of men." The news was carried to Rome, and Tiberius, after interviewing Thames, decided to hold an inquest. All the savants of the Court sat on the deceased, and, without viewing the body, pronounced him to be Pan, the son of Hermes and Penelope. The witness in this case was doubtless of the same class as those who from time to time contribute marvels to the reports of the Psychical Society and the Occult Review.

[1]

[2]