From this, says Dr. A. Clarke, the ancient heathens borrowed their ideas of the gardens of Hesperides, where the trees bore golden fruit; the gardens of Adonis, a word which is evidently derived from the Hebrew עדן Aden; and hence the origin of sacred gardens, or inclosures, dedicated to purposes of devotion, some comparatively innocent, others impure. From the holiness of the garden of Eden, says Faber, the Pagans probably borrowed their ancient custom of consecrating groves to the worship of their various deities. The description given by Quintus Curtius of the sacred grove of Jupiter Hammon is singularly beautiful, and almost presents to the imagination the deep shades and the crystal streams of Eden. “At length,” says he, “they arrived at the consecrated habitation of the deity, which, incredible as it may seem, was situated in the midst of a desert, and shaded from the sun by so luxuriant a vegetation, that its beams could scarcely penetrate through the thickness of the foliage. The groves are watered by the meandering streams of numerous fountains; and a wonderful temperature of climate, resembling most of all the delightful season of spring, prevails through the whole year with an equal degree of salubrity.”
This golden age is described by Plato, in a manner which, independently of his confession (namely, that he gained his information from the Phœnicians, who received it from their ancestors,) proves him to have derived it, not from written records, but from traditional reports. His mansion of primeval bliss was not in this dark, diminished, and deformed, this corrupted globe, but in a pure, ethereal, and lucid orb of unlimited extent, where men breathed, not air, but light, drank nectar, and partook of fruits spontaneously produced. The inclement seasons were unknown, raiment was not yet invented, and nakedness produced no distress. When weary, the inhabitants reclined to sleep on soft herbage, which received the influence of one eternal spring. In these delightful regions no stormy winds interrupted their calm repose; no evil passion disturbed their serenity of soul; and reason, guided by benevolence, bore a universal sway. Whilst this state continued, man conversed freely with those animals, which, now wild, avoid his presence, and fly at his approach.
Virgil was no stranger to a golden age; and Seneca has well described the peaceful state whilst Saturn reigned. But of all the representations, that which we find in Ovid is the most beautiful, and, allowing for poetic imagery, is accurately just.
“The golden age was first; when man, yet new,
No rule but uncorrupted reason knew,
And with a native bent did good pursue.
Unforc’d by punishment, unaw’d by fear,
His words were simple, and his soul sincere.
Needless was written law where none opprest:
The law of man was written in his breast.