Note FF — PREFACE TO THE EDITION OF 1814 (continued 2)
Reading edition
The reference here is still apparently to the "planetary Five," which are all described as "radiant Mercuries" (although one of them was Mercury), because they all—
seemed to move Carrying through ether, in perpetual round, Decrees and resolutions of the Gods; And, by their aspects, signifying works Of dim futurity.
This astrological allusion makes it clear that the reference is to the supposed "planetary influence," and to the movements of these bodies—controlled by the gods—with which the fate of mortals was believed to be upbound. For an account of the Gods of the Five Planets, see Chaldean Magic, by François Lenormant, pp. 26 and 118.—ED.