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MAKWR®  TOOWIRilrW.
LIBRARY OF  THE MASS. MED. COLLEGE.
            Rules and Regulations.
   1. Students attending any of the Lectures in the
Massachusetts Medical College  may  take books
from the Library during the  course,  by depositing
Five Dollars with the Dean; and the  students of
any of the Medical Professors may have the  same
privilege on the same terms throughout the year.
   2. The Library shall be open on the afternoon
of every Saturday, from 3 to 5 o'clock, for the de-
livery and return of books.
   3. Three volumes  may be taken at a time, and
kept four weeks, or returned sooner  if desired.—
Twenty-five cents a week will be charged for each
volume that is kept beyond.that time ; and when a
fine is incurred, it must be  paid before any more
books can be taken out.
   4. All the books must be returned  on or  before
the last Wednesday in February, and on or before
the first Wednesday in August, preparatory to the
semi-annual examinations of the Library.
  5. If a volume be lost, or  injured,  the  price of
the book, or  the  amount necessary to repair the
injury, as the case may be, will be deducted  from
the sum  deposited; otherwise  the whole amount
will be returned to the  depositor, when he ceases
to  use the Library. 
 
STUDIES
OF
N   A   T   UR
BY
     JAMES HENRY BERNARDIN

DE  SAINT PIERRE.
MISERIS SUCCURRERE DISCO.
            TRANSLATED BY
     HENRY  HUNTER, D. D.
MINISTER OF THE SCOTS CHURCH, LONDON WALL.
FIRST AMERICAN EDITION.
  IN THREE VOLUMES;'

,ffN^ffRTg^/
                 UPomffcr^y''
Pjiihteb for J. NANCREDE, No. 49. ^ARtBonoucH Street, Boston,

*f&
 
 
CONTENTS
                     OF VOL. III.

                                                   SPage
   EQIJEL OF STUDY XIII. Of Paris.......5
             OfNobility............47
             OfanElyfium...........SP
             Of the Clergy...........75
STUDY XIV. Of Education  ......... ■■-. •  *t
             National Schools  .  .   .  .  .  •  »  •  •  •  l0°
Recapitdlation  .  .  . . /......"'■•,•  •  Ia9
ADVERTISEMENT.............  iSS
PAUL and VIRGINIA...........'•  3Q5
ARCADIA...............• i 333
  Fragment..............• f 337
    Notes to the Fragment..........•   388
  .Arcadia, Book, 1..............395
    Notes to Arcadia ...•■••.......   473
w^trxWlir^^^ 
 
           STUDIES    ;^7      ^^oi.


NATURE.
  SEQUEL OF STUlfr THIRTEENTH.

                     OF PARIS.

      IT has already been obferved, that few Frenchmen
are attached to the place of their birth.  The greateft part
of thofe who acquire fortune in foreign countries, on their
return, fettle at Paris.  This, upon the whole, is no great
injury to the  State.  The {lighter their attachment to
their Country, the eafier it is to fix them at Paris.   One
fingle point of union is necefTary to a great Nation.   Ev-
ery country, which has acquired celebrity hy its patriot-
ifm, has likewife fixed the centre of it in their Capital, and
frequently in fome particular monument of that Capital  ;
the Jews had theirs at Jerufalein, and  its Temple ; the
Romans, theirs at  Rome, and  the Capitol ;  the  Lacede-
monians, theirs at Sparta, and in  citizenfhip.
   I am fond of Paris.   Next  to a  rural  fituation, and a
rural fituation fuch as I like, I give Paris the preference
to any thing I have ever feen  in the World.   I love that
city, not only  on account of  its  happy fituation, becaufe
all the accommodations of human lite are there collected,
from its being the centre of all  the powers of the king-
dom, and  for the other reafons, which made  Michael
Montaigne delight in it, but becaufe it is the afylum and
the refuge of the miferable.  There it is that the provin-
cial ambitions,  prejudices,  averfions,  and tyrannies, are 
*>           STUDIES OF  NATURE.
loft and annihilated.   There a man  may  live in obfcuri-
ty and liberty.   There it is poffible  to be  poor without
being defpifed.   The airlifted perfon is  there decoyed
out of his mifery, by the public gaiety ; and  the  feeble
there feels himfelf ftrong in the ftrength of the multitude.
Time was when, on  the faith of our political  Writers, I
looked  upon that city as too great.  But I am now far
from thinking that it is of fufficient extent, and fufficient-
Jy majeftic, to be the Capital  of a kingdom fo flourifhing.
  I could  wifh  that, our fea ports excepted, there were
no  city  in France but  Paris ; that  our  provinces were
■covered only with hamlets, arid  villages, and fubdivided
into fmall farms ; and that, as there is but one centre in
the kingdom, there might likewife  be  but one Capital.
Would to God it were that of all  Europe, nay,  of the
whole Earth ;  and  that, as men of all  Nations  bring
thither  their induftry,  their paffions, their  wants, and
their  misfortunes, it'fhould give them  back, in fortune,
in enjoyment, in virtues, and in ifublime confolations, the
reward of that afylum which  they there refort to feek !
  Of a truth, our mind, illuminated as it is, at this day,
with  fuch various knowledge, wants the  nobly compre-
henfive grafp which diftinguifhed  our forefathers. A-
midft their fimple and Gothic manners, they entertained
the idea, I believe, of rendering it the Capital of Europe.
The traces of this defign are vifible in the names  which
m«ft of their eftablifhments bear : The Scottifh Colfege,
the Irifh, that  of the Four Nations ; and in the foreign
names of the Royal houfehold troops.  Behold that no-
>ble monument  of antiquity, the church of Notre Dame,
built more than  fix  hundred years  ago, at a time when
Paris did  not  contain the fourth part of the inhabitants
with which it is now peopled ; it is more vaft, and more
majeftic than any thing of the kind which has been fmce
■reared.  I could wifti  that this  fpirit of Phtlxp the Au-
.guft, a Prince too little  known in our frivolous age, might
 ftill prefide over its eftablifhments,  and extend the ufe of
*hem to all Nations.  Not but that men of every Nation 
STUDY  XIII.
are welcome there, for their money ; our enemies them-
felves  may live  quietly there, in  the very midft of  war,
provided they are rich ; but, above all, I could wifh ta
render her good  and propitious to her own children.   I
do not know of any  advantage which a Frenchman de-
rives |from  having been born  within her walls, unlefs it-
be, when reduced to  beggary, that of having it in his
power to die in  one  of  her hofpitals.   Rome bellowed
very  different privileges  on  her citizens ;. the  raoft
wretched among them, there enjoyed privileges and  hon-
ours, more ample than were communicated even to Kings,
in alliance with the Republic.
   It is pleafure which attrafts the greateft part of ftran*
gers to Paris ; and if  we trace thofe vain  pleafures up to
their fource, we fhall find that they proceed from the mifery
of the People, and from the eafy rate at which it is there
poflible to procure  girls of the town, fpeftacles, modifh
flnory, and the other productions,  which minifter to lux*
my.  Thefe means have been highly extolled by modern
politicians.  1 do not deny that they occafion a confider-
able influx of money into a  country ; but, at  the  long
run, neighbouring Nations imitate  them ;  the money of
ftrangers difappears, but their  debauched morals remain.
See what Venice has come to, with her mirrors, her pom-
atums, her courtezans, her mafquerades, and her carnival.
The frivolous arts on which  we now value ourfelves,
have been imported from Italy, whole feeblenefs and rnif-
cry they this day constitute.
   The nobleft fpefclacle which any Government  can cx-
Mbit, is that of a people  laborious, induftrious, and con-
tent.   We are taught to  be well  read  in books, in pic-
tures, in algebra, in heraldry, and  not in men.  Connoif-
feurs are rapt with  admiration at fight of a Savoyard's-
head, painted bv Greitze ; but the Savoyard himfelf is at
the corner of the ftreet, fpeaking, walking, almoft frozen
to death, and  no one minds him.  That mother,  with her
children around  her,  forms a charming group ;  the pic-
ture  is invalunble : The originals arc  in a neighbouring 
8         STUDIES  Of  NAfURt
garret, without a farthing whereupon to fubfift.  Philos-
ophers !  vaare tranfported  with delight, and  well yoa
mav, in contemplating the numerous families of birds, of
fifhes, and  of quadrupeds, the inftinfts of  which are fo
endlefslv varied,  and to which  one and the  fame Sun
communicates life.  Examine the  families of men,  of
which  the  inhabitants  of the capital  confift,  and you
would be difpofcd to fay, that each of  them had borrow-
ed  its  manners, and its induftry, from  fome  fpeeies of
animal ;  fo varied are their employments.
  Walk  out to yonder plain, at the entrance of the city ;
behold that general officer mounted on his prancing courf-
er : He  is reviewing a body of  troops : See,  the heads,
the fhoulders, a:ul the feet, of his foldiers, arranged in the
fame ftraight line ; the  whole embodied corps has  but
one look, one movement.  He makes a fign, and in an in-
ftant a thoufand bayonets gleam in the air ;  he  makes an-
other, and  a  thoufand  fires  ftart from  that rampart" of
iron.  You would think, from their precifion,  that a An-
gle fire had iffued from a fingle piece.   He gallops round
thofe  fmoke .covered regiments,  at the  found  of drums
and fifes, and you have the image of Jupiter^ eagle, arm-
ed with the thunder, and hovering round Etna.  A hun-
dred paces  from  thence, there, is an infeft among men.
Look at  that puny chimney fweeper, of the  colour of
foot,  with  his lantern, his  cymbal,  and  his leathern
greaves : He refembles a black  beetle.  Like the one
which, in Surinam, is called  the  lantern bearer, he fhines
in the night, and moves to the found of a cymbal.  This
child, thofe foldiers, and  that general, are equally  men j
and while birth, pride, and the demands of  facial life ef-
tablifh  infinite  differences among them, Religion places
them on a  level : She humbles the  head of the mighty,
by  fhe\v;!i<2; them  the  vanity  of their power  ; and (he
raifes up  the head of the unfortunate, by difclofing to them
the  profpefts  of immortality : She  thus  brings back all
men to the equality which Nature had eftablifhed at their
birth, and which th? order of Society had difturbed. 
3 T u rj y  x:it.                   g
  Our Sybarites imagine they have exhaufted every poffi-
bte mode  of enjoyment.  Our moping, melancholy old
men confider themfelves as ufelefs to the World ; they
no longer perceive any other perfpcclive before them, but
death.  Ah ! paradife and lite are ftill upon the earth, foi
him who has the power  of doing rTood.
   Had I been bleffed with but a moderate decree of for-
tune, I would have procured for myfelf an endlefs fuccef-
fion of new enjoyments.   Paris fhould have become to me
a fecond Memphis.   Its  immenfe population is  far from
being known to us.   I  would have  had one fmall apart-
ment, "in one of its fuburbs, adjoining to the great road ;
another at the oppofite  extremity, on the banks of the
Seine, in  a houfe fhaded with willows  and  poplars ; an-
other in one of its molt frequented  ftreets  ; a fourth  in
the manfion of a gardener, furrounded with  apricot trees,
figs, colevaorts, andiettuces ;  a fifth in the avenues of the
city, in  the  heart of a vineyard, and fo on.
   It is an eafy matter, undoubtedly, to find,  every where,
lodgings of this defcription, and  at an' eafy rate ; but it
may not be fo eafy to find perfons of probity for  hofts and
neighbours.   There is,  it muft be admitted,  much deprav-
ity among the lower orders ; but there are various meth-
ods which may be employed to find out fuch as  are goo.l
and honeft  : And with them I commence my refearches
after pleafure.  A new Diogenes, I am fet out in' fearch of
men.  As I look only  for the miferable, I have no occd-
fion to ufe a lantern.  I get up at day break, and flep, to
partake of a firft mafs, into a church ftill but half illumin-
ed by the day light : There I  find poor mechanics come
to implore God's bleffing on their day's  labour.  Piety,
exalted above all refpeft to Man, is  oneafTured proof of
probity : Cheerful  fubmiffion to labour is another.   I
perceive, in raw and rainy weather, a whole family fqiu
on the ground, and weeding  the plants of a garden ":f :
   * Perfons employed in the  culture of vegetables are, in general, a better
 fort of people.  Plants have their Theology imprtiTed upon them. 1 one
   VOL. III.                 B 
so
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
Here, again, are good  people.   The night  itfelf  cannot
conceal  virtue.   Toward midnight, the glimmering of a
lamp announces to me, through  the aperture of a  garret,
fame poor widow  prolonging her nofturnal induftry, in-
order to bring up, by the fruits of it, her little ones who
are fieeping around her.  Thefe mail be  my  neighbours
and my hofts.   I announce myfelf to them as a wayfaring
man, as a ftranger, who wifhes to breathe a little  in that
vicinity.   I befcech them to accommodate  me with part
of their  habitation, or to  look out  for an apartment that
will  fuit me, in the neighbourhood,  I offer a good price,
and am  domcfticated  prefently.
   I am  carefully on my guard, in the view of fecuring the
attachment of thofe  honeft people,  againft giving them
money for nothing, or by way of alms ;  1  know of means
much more honourable to gain their friendfhip.   I order
a greater quantity of provifion than is neceffary for  my
own ufe, and the overplus turns  to account in the family ;
I reward the  children for  any  little fervices which they
render me : I carry the whole houfehold,. of a holiday, in-
to the country, and fit down with them to dinner upon the
grafs -r the father and mother return to town in the even-
ing, well refrefhed, and loaded with a fupply for the reft
of the week.   On the  approach of  Winter, I clothe the
children with good woollen fluffs, and their little warmed
limbs blefs their benefaftor, becaufe my haughty, vainglo-
rious bounty, has not frozen their heart.   It is the  godfa-
ther of their little brother who has made them a prefent
of the'clothes.   The  lefs clofely you  twift the bands  of
gratitude, the more firmly do they contract of themfelves,
day, however, fell in with a hufbandman who was  an atheifl.  It  i$ true
he had not picked up his opinions in the fields, but from  books. He
fcemed to be exceedingly well fatisfied with his attainments in knowledge.
I  could not help  faying to  him at parting : «« You have really gained a
«« mighty point, in employing the refearches of your underftanding  to ren-
•' der yourftlf miserable !"
  In the hypothetical examples hereafter adJuced, there is fca"rcelv an
cdc article of invention merely, except the gocd  which I did not do 
STUDY  XIII.                 It
  I enjoy not only the pleafure of doing good, and of do-
ing it in the bed manner ; 1 have the farther pleafure of
amufing and inftrufting myfelf.   We admire in books the
labours of the artifan; but books rob us of half our pleaf-
ure, and of the gratitude whichwe owe them.   They fep-
arate us from the People, and they impofe upon us, by
difplaying the  arts  with  exceflive parade, and  in  falfe
lights, as  fubjefts for the theatre, and for the magic 4an-
tcrn.  Befides, there is more  knowledge in the head of an
artifan than in his art, and more  intelligence in his hands,
than in the language of the Writer who tranflates  him.
Objefts carry their own expreffion upon them : Rem ver-
ba  Jequuntur  (words follow things.)  The  man of the
commonalty has more than one way of obferving and of
feeling, which is  not a matter  of indifference.   While
the Philofopher rifes as  high into the clouds as he poffibly
can, the other keeps contentedly at the bottom of the val-
 ley, and beholds very different perfpeftives in the World.
 Calamity forms him at the length,  as well as another man.
 His  language purifies with years ; and I have frequently
 remarked, that there is very  little difference, in  point of
accuracy, of perfpicuity, and of fimplicity, between the
 expreffions of an aged peafant  and of an  old  courtier.
 Time effaces from their  feveral ftyles of language, and
 from tlreir manners, the rufticity  and the refinement,
 which Society had introduced.   Old age, like infancy, re-
 duces all men to a level, and gives them back to  Nature.
   In one of my encampments, I have a landlord who has
 made the tour  of the Globe.   He has been feaman, fal-
 dier, bucanier.. He is  fagacious as Vlyjfes, but more fin-
 cere.  When I have placed  him  at table  %vith me, and
 made him tafte my wine, he gives me a relation of his ad-
 ventures.  He knows a  multitude of anecdotes.  How ma-
 ny times was he on the very  point of making fortune, but
 failed ! He is a fecond Ferdinand Mendez Pinto.  The
 upfhot of all is, he has got  a  good wife,  and lives con-
 tented. 
18
STUDIES  OF N.ATURK.
   My landlord, in another of my ftations, has lived a very
 different life ;  he  fcarcely  ever was beyond the walls of
 Paris, and but  feldom  beyond  the  precinft of his fhop.
 But though he has not travelled aver the World, he has
 not miffed his fhare of calamity, by  flaying at home.  He
 was very much at his eafe ; he had laid up, by means of
 his honeft favings, fifty good Louis d'or, when one night
 his wife and daughter  thought proper to elope, carrying
 bis treafurc with them.  He had almoft died with vexa-
 tion.   Now, he fays, he thinks no more about it ;  and
 cries  as he tells me  the  ftory.   I compofe  his mind, by
 talking kindly to him ; I give him employment ; he tries
 to diffipate  his chagrin  by labour ; his induftry is an
 amufement  to  me :  I fometimes  pafs complete hours in
 looking at him, as he bores,  and  turns, pieces of oak as
 hard as ivory.
  Now and  then I ftop in the middle of the city before
 the fhop of  a fmith ; and then I am transformed into the
 Lacedemonian Liches,  at Tegeum, attending to the pro.
 ceffes of forging and  hammering iron.   The moment that
 the man  perceives me attentive  to his work, I will faon
 acquire his confidence.  I am not, as Liches was, looking
 for the tomb of Orefles* ; but I have occafion to employ
 the art of a  fmith : If not for myfelf, for the benefit of
 fame one elfe.  I order this honeft fellow to manufacture
 for me fame falid ufeful articles  of houfehold furniture,
 which I intend tobeftow, as a monument to  preferve my
memory  in  fame poor family.  I wifh, belides, to pur-
chafe  the friendfhip of an artificer ;  I am perfectly fure
 that the attention which he fees I pay to his work, will in-
duce him to  exert his utmoft fk.il! in executing it.   I thus
 hit two marks with one ftone. A rich man, in fimilar cir-
 cumftances, would give alms, and confer no  obligation on
 any one.
  J. J. Rovjfeau told me a little anecdote of himfelf, rel-
 ative  to the  fubjeft in hand.  " One day," faid he,  " I
                  * See Htrodotus,  book i. 
                  -STUDY  XIII.                 «3

^happened to be at a village  feftival,  in a gentleman's
" country  feat,  not  far from Paris.  A iter dinner, the
" company betook themfelves to walking up and down the
" fair, and amufed themfelves  with throwing pieces of
" fmall money among the peafantry, to  have the pleafure
■" of feeing them fcranible and fight, in  picking them up.
" For my own part, following the bent of my folitary hu-
" mour, I  walked apart in another direction.   I obferved
" a little girl felling apples, difplayed  on a flat bafker,
" which fhe carried before her.  To no purpofe did fhe
" extol the excellence of her goods; no cuftomer appear-
" ed to cheapen them.  How much do you afk for all
" your apples, faid  I to  her  ?—All my apples ? repli-
" ed fhe, and at the  fame  time began to reckon with her-
" felf.  Threepence, Sir,  faid fhe.   I take them at that
" price, returned I, on condition you will go and diftribute
" them among thefe little Savoyards, whom you fee there
" below: This was inftantly executed.   The children were
" quite tranfported with delight at this unexpected regale,
" as was likewife the little merchant at bringing her wares
" to fa good a market.   I fhould have conferred much
" lefs pleafure on them had I given them  the money.   Ev-
*' ery one was fatisfied, and no one humbled."  The great
art of doing good confifts  in doing it judicioufly.  Relig-
ion inftrufts us in this important fecret,  in  recommending
to us  to do to others what we wish  fhould  be done to us.
  I fametimes betake  myfelf to the great road, like the
ancient Patriarchs, to do the honours of the city  to ftran-
gers who may happen to arrive.   I recolleft the time when
I myfelf was a ftranger in ftrange lands, and the kind re-
ception I met with when far  from home.  I have fre-
quently heard the nobility of Poland and Germany  com-
plain of our grandees.  They allege, that French travellers
of diftin£r.ion are treated in thefe countries  with unbound-
ed hofpitality and  attention ; but  that  they, on vifiting
France, in their turn, are almoft entirely  neglefted.  They
are invited to one dinner on their ai rival, and  to another 
1^           STUDIES OF  NATURE.
when preparing to depart : And this is the whole amount
of our hofpitality.  For my own part, incapable of acquit-
ting the obligations of this kind which 1 lie under to the
Great of foreign countries,  I repay them to their  com-
monalty.
  I perceive a German travelling on foot ; I accoft him,
I invite him to flop and take a little repofe at my habita-
tion.  A good fupper, and a glafs of good wine, difpofe
him to communicate  to me the  occafion of his journey.
He is an officer ; he has ferved in Pruflia and in Ruflia ;
he has been witnefs to the partition of Poland.   I inter-
rupt him to make my enquiries after Marefchal Count
Munich, the Generals de Villebois and  du BoJ'quet, the
Count de Munchio, my friend M. de Taubcnheim, Prince
Xatorinjki, Field Marefchal of the Polifh Confederation,
whofe prifaner 1 once was.  Moft of  them are  dead, he
tells me ; the reft are fuperannuated, and retired from all
public employment.   Oh !  how melancholy it is, I ex-
claim, to travel from one's country, and to make acquaint-
ance with eftimable men abroad, whom we are never  to
fee more !  Oh ! how rapid a career is human life !  Hap-
py the man who has it in his power to  employ it in doing
good ! My gueft favours me  with a fhort detail of his ad-
ventures : To thefe I pay the clofeft attention, from their
refemblance to my own.   His leading objc/Jl was to de-
ferve  well of his fellow creatures, and he  has been reward-
ed by them with calumny and perfecution.   He is under
misfortunes ; he has come to France to put himfelf under
the Queen's protection ;  he  hopes a great  deal from her
goodnefs.  1 confirm his hopes, by the idea which public
opinion has conveyed to me of the character of that Prin-
cefs, and by that which Nature has impreffed on her phvf-
iognomy.  I am pouring the balm of confalation, he tells
me, into his heart.  Full of emotion, he preffes my hand.
My cordial reception of him is a happy prefao-e of the
reft ;  he could have met with nothing fa friendly even  in
his  own country.  Oh ! what  pungent farrow may  be 
STUDY  XIII,
15
foothed to reft by a fingle word, and by the feebleft mark
of benevolence !
  I remember that one day I found, not far from the iron
gate de Caillot, at the entrance into the Elyfian Fields, a
young woman fitting with a child in her lap, on the brink
of a ditch.  She  was handfome, if that epithet may be ap-
plied  to a female overwhelmed in melancholy.  I walked
into the fequeftered alley where fhe had taken her ftation ;
the  moment that fhe perceived me,  fhe looked the other
way : Her timidity and modefty fixed my eyes on her.  I
remarked that fhe was very decently dreffed, and wore very
white  linen ;  but her gown  and neck handkerchief were
fa completely darned over, that you would have faid the
fpiders had fpun  the threads.  I approached her with the
refpecl: which is due to the miferable  ; I bowed to her, and
fhe returned my falute with an air of gentility, but with
referve.   I then endeavoured to engage her in  converfa-
tion, by talking of the wind and the weather : Her replies
confifted of monofyllables only.  At length, I ventured to
afk if fhe had come abroad for the pleafure of enjoying a
walk  in  the country :  Upon this fhe began to fab and
weep, without uttering a fingle word.   I fat down  by her,
and infifted,  with all  poflible circumfpeftion, that fhe
would difclofe to me the caufe of her diftrefs.   She faid
to  me :  " Sir, my hufband has juft been involved in a
" bankruptcy at Paris, to the amount of five thoufand 11-
" vres (^"208 6s. %d.) ;  I have been giving him a convoy
" as far as Neuilly : He is gone on foot, a journey of fixty
" leagues hence, to try to recover a little money which is due
*' to us.  I have given him my rings, and all my other little
" trinkets, to defray the expenfe of his journey ;  and all
" that I have left in the world, to fupport myfelf and my
" child, is a fingle fhillingpiece."----" What parifh doyou
" belong to, Madam  ?" faid  I.  " St. Euftache," replied
Die.   " The Re£tor," I fubjoined, " paffes for a  very char-
" itable,  good man."  " Yes, Sir," faid fhe,  " but you
" need not to be informed, that there is no charity  in par- 
l6         S ■;■ U D I L S  O' I   X A T U R E,

" ifhes for us miferable Jews."   At thefe words, her te'ar.T
began to flow more copioufly, and flic arofe to go on her
way.  I tendered her a fmall  pittance toward her prefent
relief, which 1 befought her to accept, at leaft as a mark o(
my good  will.  She received  it, and returned me more
reverences and thanks, and loaded me with more benedic-
tions, than if  I  had reeftablifhed her huflband's credit.
How many delicious banquets might that man enjoy, who
would thus lay out three or four hundred pounds a year !
  My different eftablifhments, fcattered over the Capital
and  the vicinity, variegate my  life  moft  innocently and
moft  agreeably.   In Winter, I  take up rhy refidence in
that which is expofed completely to the noon day fun ; in
Summer, I remove to that which has a northern afpeft,
and hangs over the cooling ftream.  At another time, I
pitch my tent  in the neighbourhood of the Rue d'Artois,
among piles of  hewn  ftone, where I  fee  palaces  rifing
around me, pediments  decorated with fphynxes, domes,
kiofques.  I take care never to enquire to whom they be-
long.  Ignorance is the mother of pleafure and of admira-
tion.   I  am  in Egypt, at Babylon,  in China.   Today I
fup  under an  acacia, and am in  America :  Tomorrow, I
fliall dine in the midft of a kitchen garden, under an arbour
fhaded with lilach ; and I fhall be in France.
  But, I fhall  be afked, Is there nothing to be feared iri
fuch a ftyle of living ?  May I meet the final period of my
days, while engaged in the practice of virtue ! I have heard
many a hiftory of perfons  who perifhed in hunting match-
es, in parties of pleafure,  while  travelling by land and by
water  ;  but never in  performing  a£ls of  beneficence.
Gold is a powerful commander  of  refpeft with the com-
monalty.  I difplay wealth fufficient to fecure their atten-
tion, but not  enough to tempt any one to plunder me.
Befides, the police of Paris is in excellent  order.   I am
very circumfpeft in the choice of my hofts ; and if I per-
ceive that I  have been miftaken in my feleftion, the rent
ef my lodgings is paid beforehand, and I return no more. 
STUDY  XIII,
1->
  On this plan of life, I have not the leaf! occafion for the
incumbrances of furniture and fervants.  With what ten-
der falicitude am I expecled, in each of my habitations !
What fatisfaclion does my arrival infpire !  What atten-
tion and zeal do my entertainers exprefs  to outrun my
wifhes ! I enjoy among them the choiceft bleffings of So-
ciety, without feeling any of the inconveniences.   No one
fits down at my table to  backbite his  neighbour, and no
one leaves it with a difpofition  to fpeak unkindly of me.
I have no children ; but thofe of my landlady are more
eager to pleafe me than  their own  parents.  I  have no
wife :  The moft fublime  charm of love is to devife and
accomplifh the  felicity of another.   I aflift in the forma-
tion of happy marriages, or  in promoting the happinefs of
thofe which are already formed.  I thus diflipate my per-
gonal languor, I put my paflions upon the right fcent, by
propofing to them  the nobleft attainments at which they
can aim; upon the earth.  I have drawn nigh to the ref-
erable with an intention to comfort them, and from  them,
perhaps, I fhall derive confolation in my turn.
   In this manner it is in your power  to live, O  ye great
ones  of the  earth ! and thus might you  multiply your
fleeting days in the land  through which you are merely
travellers.   Thus it is that  you may learn to know  men ;
and form no longer, with your own Nation, a foreign race,
a race of conquerors,  living on the fpoils of the  country
you have fubdued.   Thus it  is, that, iffuing from  your
palaces, encircled with a  crowd of happy vaffals,  who are
loading you with benediftions, you might prefent the im-
age of the ancient Patricians, a name fo dear to the Roman
people.  You are every day looking out for fame new
fpe£tacle ; there is no one  which poffeffes fo much the
charm of novelty as the happinefs of Mankind.  You wifh
far objefts that are interefting :  There is no one more in-
terefting than the fight of the families  of the poor peafan-
try, diffufing fruitfulnefs over your vaft and falitary do-
mains, or fuperannuated foldiers, who have deferved well of
   VOL. Ill,               C 
flS         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
 their country, feeking refuge under the fhadow of your
 wings.   Your compatriots are furely much better than
 tragedy heroes, and more interefting than the fhepherds of
 the comic opera.
   The indigence of the commonalty is the firft caufe of
 the phyfical and moral maladies of the rich.   It is the buf-
 inefs of  adminiftration to provide a remedy.  As to  the
 maladies of the foul refulting from indigence, I could wifh
 fome palliatives, at leaft, might be found.  For this pur-
 pofe, I would  have  formed at Paris,  fame  eftablifhment
 fimilar to thofe which humane Phyficians and fage Lawyers
 have there inftituted, for remedying the ills of body and of
 fortune ;  I mean difpenfaries of confolation, to which an
 unfortunate wretch, fecure of fecrefy, nay, of remaining
 unknown, might refort to difclofe  the caufe of his diftrefs.
 We have, I grant, confeffars and preachers, for whom the
 fublime function of comfoning the miferable feems to be
 referved.   But confeffars are not always of the fame dif-
 pofition with their penitents, efpecially when the penitent
 is poor, and* not much known to  them.  Nay,  there are
 many confeffars who have neither the talents nor the ex-
perience requifite to the comforter of the afflicted.  The
point is not to pronounce abfalution to  the man who con-
 feffes his fins, but to aflift him in  bearing up under thofe
 of another, which lie much heavier upon him.
   As to  preachers, their  fermons  are  ufually too vague,
 and too injudicioufly applied  to the various neceflities of
their hearers.   It would be of much more importance  to
the Public, if they would announce the fubjefct of their in-
tended difcourfes, rather than difplay the titles of their ec-
clefiaftical dignities.  They will declaim againft avarice
to a prodigal, or againft profufion  to a mifer. They will
expatiate on the dangers of ambition to a young man in
love ; and on thofe of love to an ancient female dovotee.
They will inculcate the duty of giving alms on the perfons
who receive them ; and the virtue of humility on a poor
 water porter.  There are  fame who preach repentance to 
STUDY XIII,
**
the unfortunate, who promife the joys of paradife to vo-
luptuous courts, and  who  denounce the  flames  of  hell
againft ftarving villages.   1  have known, in the country, a
poor  female peafant  driven to madnefs, by a fermon of
this caft.  She believed herfelf to be in a ftate of damna-
tion, and lay along fpeechlefs and motionlefs.   We have
no fermons calculated to cure  languor, farrow,  fcrupu-
loufnefs of confcience, melancholy, chagrin, and fo many
other diftempers which  prey upon the foul.   Befides,
how many circumftances change, to every particular au-
ditor, the nature of the pain  which he endures, and render
totally ufelefs  to him all the parade of a trim  harangue.
It is no  eafy matter to find out, in a foul wounded, and
oppreffed with timidity, the precife point of its grief, and
to apply the balm and the hand of the good Samaritan to
the fore. This is an art known only to minds endowed with
fenfibility, who have themfelves fuffered feverely, and which
is not always the attainment of thofe who are virtuous only.
   The people  feel the want  of this confolation ; and find-
ing no man to whom they can make application for it,
they addrefs themfelves fo ftones*.   1 have fametimes read,
with an aching heart, in  our  churches, billets  affixed by
the wretched,  to the  corner of a pillar, in fome  obfcure
chapel.  They reprefented  the cafes of unhappy women
ahufed by their hufbands ; of young people labouring un-
der embarraffment : They folicited not the money of the
compaffionate, but their prayers.  They were upon the
point of finking into defpair.  Their miferies were incon-
ceivable.  Ah !  if men  who have themfelves been ac-
quainted with grief, of all conditions, would unite in pre-
fenting to the fans and daughters  of affliction, their expe-
rience and their fenfibility,  more than one illuftrious fuf-
ferer would come and draw  from them thofe confolations,
which all the preachers, and books, and  philofaphy in the
World, are  incapable to adminifter.   All that the poor
man needs, in many cafes, in order to foothe his woe, is a
perfon into whofe ear he can pour out his complaint, 
gfr        STUDIES O!  NATURE,
   A Society, compofed of men fuch as 1 have fondly im-
agined to myfelf, would undertake the important tafk of
eradicating the vices and  the prejudices of the populace,
They would endeavour, for example,  to apply a remedy
to the barbarity which  impofes fuch oppreffive loads on
the miferable horfes, and cruelly abufes them in other re-
flects, while every ftreet of the city rings with the horrible
oaths of their drivers.  They would likewife employ their
influence with the rich, to take pity, in their turn, upon the
human race.  You fee, in the inidft of exceffive heats, the
hewers of ftone expofed to  the meridian Sun, and to the
burning reverberation  of the  white  fubfiance on which
they labour.  Hence thefe poor people  are frequently
feized with ardent fevers, and  with difarders in the eyes,
which ifftie in blindnefs.  At  other  times, they have to
encounter the long rains,  and  pinching cold of Winter,
which bring on rheum's and confumptions.  Would it be
a very coftly precaution for a mafter builder, poffeffed of
humanity, to rear in his work yard, a moveable fhed of
matting or ftraw, fupported by  poles, to ferve as a flicker
to his labourers ? By means of a fabric fo fimple, they
might be fpared various maladies  of body and of mind ;
for moft of them, as I have obferved, are, in this refpect,
actuated by a falfe point  of honour ;  and have  not the
courage to employ a fcreen  againft the burning heat of
the Sun, or againft rainy weather, for fear of incurring the
ridicule of their companions.
  The people might further be infpired with a relifh for
morality, without the ufe of much expenfive  cookery.
Nay, every appearance  of difguife renders truth fufpefted
by them.  I have many a time feen plain  mechanics fhed
tears at reading fame of our good romances, or at the repre-
sentation of a tragedy.  They afterwards demanded, if the
flory which had thus affected them was really true ; and
on being informed that it was imaginary, they valued it no
longer ; they were  vexed to think that they had thrown
away their tears.  The rich mult have fiction, in order t« 
STUDY  XIII.                 21-
render morality palatable, and morality is unable to ren*
der fiction palatable to the poor ; becaufe the poor man
ftill expefts his felicity from  truth, and the rich hope for
theirs, only from il'ufion.
   The rich, however, ftand in no lefs need than the popu-
lace, of moral affeclions.   Thefe are, as we have [etn, the
moving fprings of all the human paffions.   To no purpofe
do they pretend to refer the plan of their felicity to phyfi-
cal obje&s ; they faon lofe all tafte for their caftles, their
pictures, their parks, when, inftead of fentiment, they pof-
fefs merely the fenfations of them.   This is fo indubitably
true, that if, under the preffure of their lauguor,  a ftranger
happens to arrive to  admire  their luxury, all their pow-
ers of  enjoyment  are renovated.  They feem to have
confecrated their life to an indefinite voluptuoufnefs; but
prefent to them a fingle ray  of  glory, in the very bofom
of death itfelf, and they  are  immediately  on the wing to
overtake  it.   Offer them regiments, and  they poft away
after  immortality.  It is the moral principle,  therefore,
which muft be purified and directed in Man.  It is not in
vain,  then, that Religion prefcribes to us the practice of
virtue,  which is  the  moral  fentiment by way  of excel-
lence, feeing  it is the road  to happinefs,  both in  this
World, and in that  which is to come.
   The  Society of which 1 have been  fuggefting the idea,
would farther extend its attentions,  into the retreats of
virtue itfelf.   I have remarked that, about the age of for-
ty five, a ftriking revolution takes place in moft  men, and,
to acknowledge the truth, that it is then  they degenerate,
and become deftitute of  principle.   At  this period it is
that women transform themfelves into  men,  according to
the expreffion of a celebrated  Writer, in other words, that
they become completely depraved.  This fatal revolution
is a confequence of the vices  of our education, and of the
manners of Society.  Both of thefe prefent the profpect
of human happinefs, only toward the middle period of life,
jn the poffeffion of fortune and of honours.  When we 
J2
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
Jiave  painfully fcrambled up  this fteep  mountain, and
Teached its fummit, about the middle of our courfe, we re-
defcend with our eyes turned back toward youth, becaufe
we have  no perfpective  before us but death.  Thus the
career of life is divided into two parts, the one confifting
of hopes, the other of recolleftions ; and we have laid
hold of nothing, by the way, but illufions.
  The firft, at leaft, fupport us by feeding defire ; but the
others overwhelm us, by  infpiring regret only.  This is
the reafon that old men are lefs fufceptible of virtue than
young people, though they talk much more about it, and
that they are much more melancholy among us than among
favage Nations.  Had they been directed by Religion and
Nature, they muft have rejoiced in the approach  of their
latter end, as veffels juft ready to enter the harbour.  How
much more  wretched are thofe  who,  having devoted their
youth to virtue,  feduced  by that treacherous commerce
with the World, look backward, and regret the pleafures
of youth, which they knew not how  to prize ! The emp-
ty glare which  encompaffes the wicked, dazzles their
eyes ; they feel their faith  daggering, and they are ready
to exclaim with Brutus : " O Virtue ! thou art but an
** empty name."  Where fhall we find books and preach-
ers capable of reftoring confidence to  them in tempefts,
which have  fhaken even  the  faints  ?  They  transfix  the
foul with  fecret wounds, and torment it with gnawing ul-
cers, which  fhrink from difcovery.  They are beyond all
poffibility of relief,  except from a  fociety of virtuous
men, who have been themfelves tried through all the com-
binations of human woe, and who, in default of the inef-
fectual arguments of reafon, may bring them back to  the
fentiment of virtue, at leaft by that of their friendfhip.
  There is in China, if I  am not miflaken,  an eftablifh-
ment  fimilar to that  which I am propofino-.   At leaft
certain Travellers, and, among  others,  Ferdinand Mendez
Pinto, make  mention of- a houfe of  Mercv, which  takes
up and pleads the caufe of the poor  and  the oppreffed4 
S T U D Y  X111,                25
and which, in an infinite number of inftances, goes forth
to meet the calls of the miferable, much farther than our
charitable  Ladies  do.  The  Emperor has bellowed the
moft  diftinguilhed privileges on its  members ; and the
Courts of Juftice pay the utmoft deference  to their re-
quefts.  Such a Society, employed in afting well,  would
merit, among us, at leaft, prerogatives as high as thofe
whofe attention is reftri&ed to  fpeaking well ;  and by
drawing  forward into view the virtues of our own obfcure
citizens, would  deferve,  at  the  leaft, as  highly of their
Country, as thofe who do nothing but retail the fentences
of the fages,  or,  what  is  not lefs common,  the brilliant
crimes, of Antiquity.
   Scrupulous eare ought to be taken not to give to fuch
an  affociation, the  form  of  an  Academy or  Fraternity.
Thanks to our mode of  education, and to our manners,
every  thing that is reduced to form  among us, corps, con-
gregation, feet, party, is  generally ambitious and intoler-
ant.   If the men which compofe  them draw nigh  to a
light,  which  they themfelves have not kindled, it is to ex-
tinguifh  it ;  if they touch upon the  virtue of another, it is
to blight it.  Not that the greateft part of the members  of
thofe bodies are  deftitute of excellent qualities individual-
ly ; but  their incorporation is good for nothing, for  this
reafon fimply, that  it prefents  to them centres different
from   the  common centre  of Country.  What is  it that
has rendered the word fo dear to humanity, theatrical and
vain ? What fenfe is now a days affixed to the term char-
ity, the Greek name of which, Xexpts, fignifies attraction,
grace, lovelinefs ?  Can  any thing  be more  humiliating
than our parochial charities, and  than the  humanity  of
our Philofophers ?
  I leave this projecl to be unfolded and matured by fome
good  man, who  loves God and  his fellow creatures, and
who performs good  aftions, in the way that religion pre-
fcribes, without  letting his left hand know what his right
Jiand doth.  Is it then a  matter of  fa much difficulty  t$ 
$4          STUDIES  OF NATURE,

do good ? Let us purfue the oppofite fcent to that which
is followed by the  ambitious  and the  malignant.   They
employ fpies to furnifh them  with all the  fcandalous an-
ecdotes of the day ;  let us employ  ouiis  in  difcovering,
and bringing to  light, good works  performed in fecret.
They advance to meet men in elevated fituations, to range
themfelves under their ftandards, or to level them with
the ground ; let  us go forth in queft of virtuous men in
obfcurity, that we may make them our models.  They are
furnifhed with trumpets to proclaim their own actions, and
to decry thofe of others ;  let  us conceal our own, and be
the heralds of other mens' goodnefs.  There is fuch a thing
as refinement in vice ;  let us  carry  virtue to perfection.
  I am fenfible  that I may be apt to  ramble a little  too
far.   But fhould I have been fo happy as to fuggeft a fin-
gle good idea to one more enlightened than myfelf ; fhould
I have contributed  to prevent, fome day in time to come,
one poor  wretch, in  defpair,  from going to  drown him-
felf,  or, in a fit of  rage, from knocking out his enemy's
brains, or, in the lethargy of languor, from going to fquan-
der his money and his health among loofe women ; I fhall
not have fcribbled over a piece of paper in vain.
  Paris prefents  many a retreat to the miferable, known
by the name of hofpitals.  May Heaven reward the char-
ity of thofe who have founded them, and the ftill greater
virtue of thofe  perfons  of both faxes who fuperintend
them  ! But firft, without adopting the exaggerated ideas
of the populace, who are under the  perfuafion that thefe
houfes poffefs immenfe revenues, it is certain, that a per-
fon well known, and an adept in  the faience of public fi-
nance, having undertaken to furnifh the plan of a recep-
tacle for the fick, found, on calculation, that the expenfe
of each of them would not exceed eight pence halfpenny a
day :  That they  might be much better provided on thefe
terms, and at an eafier rate, than in the  hofpitals.   For
my own part, I am clearly of opinion, that thefe  fame
pence, diftributed day by day, in the houfe of a poor fick 
STUDY  Xllf.
*5
hlan, would produce a ftill farther faving, by contributing
to the  fupport of his wife and children.   A fick perfon
of the commonalty has hardly need of any thing more than
good broths ; his family might partly fubfifi. on the meat
of which they were made.
   But hofpitals  are  fubject to many other inconvenien-
cies.   Maladies  of a particular character are  there gener-
ated, frequently  more dangerous than thofe which the fick
carry in  with them.   They are  futficiently known, fuch
efpecially as are denominated hofpital  fevers.   Befides
thefe, evils  of a much more feriotfs nature, thofe which
affect morals, are there communicated.   A perfon of ex-
tenfive knowledge and experience has affured me, that moft
of the criminals who terminate their days on a gibbet, or
in the galleys, are the fpawn of hofpitals.  This amounts
to  what has been  already afferted,  that a corps, of what-
ever defcription, is always depraved, efpecially a corps of
beggars.  I could wifh, therefore, that fo far from collect-
ing, and crowding  together, the miferable, they might be
provided for, under the infpection of their own relations,
or entrufted to poor families, who would take care of them.
   Public prifons are neceffary ; but it  is furely defirable
that the unhappy creatures  there immured, fhould  be lefs
miferable while under confinement.  Juftice, undoubted-
ly, in depriving them of  liberty,  propofes  not only  to
punifh, but  to reform, their  moral character.   Excefs  of
 mifery and evil communications can change it only from
 bad  to  worfe.    Experience farther demonftrates, that
there it is the wicked acquire the perfeclion of depravity.
One who went  in only feeble and culpable, comes out an
accomplifhed villain.  As this  fubject has been  treated
profoundly by  a celebrated Writer, I fhall purfue it no
 farther.  I fhall only beg leave to obferve, that there is
 no way but one to reform men, and that is to render them
 happier.  How many who were living a life of criminal-
 ity in Europe, have recovered their character in the WelL-
 india  Iflands, to which they were tranfported !  They -te
    VOL. III.                D 
 ft6         STUDIES  O-F  NATURE.

 become honeft men there, becaufe they have there fourrl
 more liberty, and  more happinefs, than they enjoyed in
 their native country.
   There is another clafs of Mankind ftill more worthy of
 compaffion, becaufe  they are  innocent-:. I mean  perfons
 deprived of the ufe  of  reafon.  They are  fhwt up ; and
 they feldom fail, of confequence, to  become more infane
 than they  were before.  I fhall, on this occafion. remark,
 that I do not believe there is through the whole extent of
 Afia, China however excepted, a fingle place of confine-
 ment  for  perfons of this  defcription.   The Turks  treat
 them with  Angular refpect ; whether it  be that Mahomet
 himfelf was*occafionally fubjecl to mental derangement,
 or whether from a religious opinion they entertain, that
 as foon as a madman  fets his foot into a houfe, the bleffing
 of God enters it with him.   They delay not a moment
 to fet food before him, and carefs him in the tendereft
 manner.   There  is not an inftance known of their having
 injured any one.   Our madmen, on the contrary, are mif-
 chievous, becaufe they are miferable. As foon as one appears
 in the ftreets.the children, themfelves already rendered mif-
 erable  by  their education, and delighted to find a human
 being, on whom they can vent their malignity with fafe-
 ty, pelt  him with ftones, and  take pleafure in  working
 him up into a rage.   I muft  farther obferve, that there
 are no madmen among favages ; and that I could not wifh
 for a better proof that their political conftitution renders
 them more happy than polifhed Nations are, as mental.de-
 rangement proceeds only from exceffive chagrin.
   The  number of infane perfons  under confinement is
 with  us, enormoufly great.  There is not a  provincial
 town, of any confiderable  magnitude,  but what contains
 an edifice deftined to this ufe.  Their  treatment in- thefe
is  furely an object of commiferation, and loudly calls for
the attention of  Government, confidering that if  after all
 they are no  longer citizens, they are ftill men, and inno-
 cent men too.   When I was purfuing my ftudics at Caea, 
STUDY  XIII.
*7
I recdlle£t having feen, in the madman's  ward, fome fhut
up in dungeons, where they had not feen the light for fif-
teen years.   I one  evening accompanied  into fome  of
thofe difmal caverns, the  good Cure de S. Martin, whofe
boarder I then was, and who had been called to perform
the laft duties of his office to one of thofe poor wretches,
on the point o'f breathing his laft. He was obliged, as well
as I, to flop his nofe all the time he was by the dying man ;
but the vapour which exhaled  from his dunghill  was fo
infectious, that my clothes  retained the fmell for more
than two months* nay, my very linen, after having been
lepeatedly fent  to the waffling.  I could quote  traits of
the mode of treatment of thofe miferable objects, which
would excite horror.  I fhall relate  only  one, which  is
ftill frefh in my memory.
  Some years ago, happening  to pafs through l'Aigle, a
fmall town in Normandy, I ftrolled out about funfet, to
enjoy a little frefh air.  I perceived, on a rifing ground, a
convent moft delightfully fituated.   A monk, who flood
porter, invited me in to fee the houfe.  He conduced me
through an immenfe court, in  which the firft thing that
ftruck my eye, was a man of about forty years old, with
half a hat  on his head, who advanced directly upon me,
faying, " Be fo good as ftab me to  the heart ;  be fo good
" as ftab  me to the heart."   The monk, who  was my
guide, faid to me, " Sir, don't be alarmed  ; he is a poor
" captain, who loft his reafon, on account of an unmilita-
" ry preference that paffed upon him in his regiment."
  " This houfe, then," faid I to him, " ferves as a recep-
" tacle  for lunatics  :" "  Yes," replied he, " I am Supe-
" rior of it."  He walked me  from court  to  court, and
conducted me into a fmall enclofure, in which were fever-
al little cells of mafon work, and where we heard perfons
talking with a good deal of earneftnefs.   There we found
a canon in his fhirt, with his fhoulders quite expofed, con-
verfing with a man of a fine figure, who was feated by a
fmall  table,  in  front of one of thofe little  cells.  The 
Sfc         STUDIES  OF NATURE.

monk went up to  the  poor canon, and, with  his  full
ftrength, applied  a blow of his fift to the wretch s naked
moulder, ordering him, at the fame time, to turn  out.
His comrade inftantly took up the monk, and cmphatical..
ly faid to him : " Man of blood,  you are guilty of a very
" cruel action.   Do not  you fee that  this poor  creature
" has loft his reafon ?"  The monk, ftruck dumb for the
moment,  bit his lips, and threatened him with  his eyes.
But the other, without being difconcerted, faid  to him :
" 1 know I am your victim ; you may do with me what-
" ever you pleafe." Then, addreffing himfelf to me, he
ihewed me his two wrifts, galled to the quick by the iron
manacles with which he had been confined.
   " You fee, Sir," faid he to me, " in  what manner I am
" treated !"  I turned to the monk, with an expreffion of
indignation at a  conduct  fa barbarous.  He coolly repli-
ed  : " Oh f  I can put an  end to all his fine reafoning in a
moment."   I addreffed, however, a few words of confo.
lation to the unfortunate man, who, looking at me with an
air of confidence, faid, " I  think, Sir, I have feen  you at S.
" Hubert, .at the  houfe  of M. the Marefchal de Broglio."
" You muft be  miftaken, $ir," replied I, " I never had
" the honour of being  at the Marefchal  de Broglio's."
Upon that  he inftituted a  procefs  of recollection, refpeft.
ing the different places where he thought he had  feen me,
with  circumftances fo accurately detailed, and  clothed
with fuch appearances of probability, that the monk, net-
tled at his well merited  reproaches, and at the good fenfe
which he difplayed, thought proper to interrupt his con-
verfation, by introducing  a  difcourfe about marriage, the
purchafe of horfes, and fo  on.   The  moment  that the
thord of his infanity was touched, his  head was gone.
On going out, the monk  told me, that this poor lunatic
was a man of very confiderable birth.   Some time after-
ward, I had the pleafure of being  informed, that he  had
found means to efcape from his prifon, and had  recover-
ed the ufe of his reafon.
__ 
STUDY XIII.
*9
   A great many phyfical remedies are employed far  the
ture of madnefs ; and it frequently proceeds from a mor-
al caufe, for it is produced by chagrin.  Might there not
.be a poffibility  to employ, for the reftoration of reafon to
thofe disordered beings, means  directly  oppofed to thofe
which occafioned the lofs of reafon ; I mean, mirth, pleaf-
ure, and, above all, the pleafures of mufic ?  We fee, from
the inftance of Saul, and many others of a fimilar nature,
what influence mufic poffeffes for reeftablifhing the  har-
mony of the foul.   With this ought  to  be  united  treat-
ment the moft gentle, and care to place the unhappy pa-
tients, when vifited with paroxyfms of rage,  not under the
reftraint of  fetters, but in an  apartment matted round,
where they could do no mifchief, either to  themfelves or
others.  I am perfuaded that, by employing fuch humane
precautions, numbers might be reftored, efpecially if they
were under the charge of perfons who had no intereft in
perpetuating their derangement;  as is but too  frequently
the cafe, with refpect to families who are enjoying their
eftates, and houfes of reftraint, where a good board is paid
for their detention.   It would likewife be proper, in my
opinion, to commit the care of  men  difordered  in their
underftanding, to females, and that of females to men, on
account of the mutual fympathy of the two faxes for each
other.
   I would not  wifh  that  there fhould be  in the kingdom
any one art, craft, or profeffion, but  whofe final retreat
and recompenfe fhould be at Paris.  Among the different
claffes of citizens who praftife  thefe, and of whorr>  the
greater part is  little known in  the capital, there is one,
and that very numerous, which  is not known at all there,
though one  of  the moft miferable, and that to which, of
all others, the rich are under the ftrongeft obligations ; I
mean the feamen.  Thefe hardy and unpolifhed beings are
the men, who go in queft of fuel to their voluptuoufnefs
to the very extremities of Afia, and who are continually
expofing their lives upon our own coafts, in order to find 
$0         STUDIES  OF   NATURE.

a fupply of delicacies for their tables.  Their converfa-
tion is at leaft as  fprightly as that of our peafantry, and
incomparably more  interefting, from their  manner of
viewing objects, and from the fingularity of the countries
which they  have vifited in the courfe of their voyages.
At the recital of their many formed difafters, and of the
tempefts which threatened them, while employed in con-
veying to you objects of enjoyment, from every region of
the Globe, ye happy ones of the earth !  your own repofe
may be rendered more precious  to  you.   By contrafts
fuch as thefe, your felicity will be heightened.
   I know not whether it was for the purpofe of procur-
ing for himfelf a pleafure of this nature,  or to give an en-
livening fea air to the park of Verfailles,  that Louis XIV.
planted a colony of Venetian gondoliers on the great ca-
nal which fronts the palace.   Their defcendants fubfift
there to this day.  This eftablifhment, under a better di-
rection, might have furnifhed a very defirable  and ufeful
retreat to our own feamen.  But that great King, frequent-
ly mifled by evil counsellors, almoft always carried the
fentiment of his own glory beyond his own people.  What
a contraft would thefe hardy fons of the  waves, bedaubed
with pitch, their wind and  weather  beaten  faces, refem-
bling fea calves, arrived  fome from  Greenland, others
from the coaft of Guinea, have prefented, with the marble
ftatues, and  verdant  bowers of the park of Verfailles !
Louts  XIV. would oftener than once have derived  from
thofe blunt, honeft fellows, more ufeful  information, and
more important truth, than either books, or even his ma-
rine  officers of the higheft rank, could have given him ;
and, on the other hand, the novelty of their characteriftic
fingularity, and that of their refleftions on  his own great-
nefs, would have provided for  him fpeaacles much more
highly amufing  than  thofe which the wits of  his Court
devifed for him at an enormous expenfe.  Befides,  what
emulation would not the profpea of fuch  preferments
have kindled among our failors ? 
STUDY  XIII.                 31
   I afcribe the perfeaion of  the Englifh Marine, in part
at leaft, fimply to the influence of their Capital, and from
its being inceffantly under the eye of the Court.   Were
Paris a feaport, as London is, how many ingenious inven-
tions, thrown away upon modes and operas, would be ap-
plied to  the improvement  of navigation !  Were failors
feen there even as currently  as foldiers, a paffion for the
marine fervice would be more extenfively diffufed.  The
condition of the feaman, become more  interefting to  the
Nation, and to its rulers, would be gradually meliorated;
and, at the fame time, this would have a happy tendency
to mitigate the brutal defpotifm of thofe who  frequently
maintain their authority over them,  merely by  dint of
fwearingand blows.  It is a good, and an eafily praaica-
ble piece  of policy,  to enfeeble vice, by  bringing men
nearer to each other,  and by rendering them more happy.
Our country  gentlemen did not give over beating their
binds, till they faw that this  ufeful part of Mankind had
become interefting obfeas in books, and on the theatre.
   Not that I wifh for our feamen, an eftablifhment fimilar
to that  of the Hotel des Invalides.   I am  charmed with
the architeaure of that  monument, but I pity  the condi-
tion of its inhabitants.   Moft of them are diffatisfied, and
always murmuring,  as any one  may be convinced, who
will take the trouble  to converfe with them : I  do not be-
lieve there is  any foundation for this ; but experience
demonftrates,  that men, formed  into a  corps, fooner or
later, degenerate,  and are always unhappy.   It would be
wifer to follow the Laws of Nature, and to affaciate them
by families.   I could wifh that the praaice of the Englifh
were obfcrved and copied, by fettling our fuperannuated
feamen  on the ferries  of  rivers, on  board all  thofe  lit-
tle barges which traverfe Paris, and fcatter them along the
Seine,  like tritons, to adorn  the plains : We  fhould fee
them ftemming the tides of our rivers, in wherries under
fmack  fails, luffing  as  they go  ; and  there they would
introduce  methods  of Navigation  more  prompt, and 
32         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

more  commodious,  than  thofe  hitherto  known  and
praaifed.
   As to thofe whom age,  or  wounds, may have totally
difabled for fervice, they might be fuitably accommodated
and provided for, in an  edifice fimilar to that which the
Englifh have reared at Greenwich, for the reception of
their  decayed feamen.  But, to  acknowledge the truth,
the State, I am perfuaded, wowld find it a much more eco-
nomical plan, to allow them penfions, and that thefe very
feamen would be much better difpofed of in the bofom of
their feveral  families.  This, however, need not*prevent
the raifing, at Paris, a majeftic and  commodious monu-
ment, to ferve as a retreat far thofe brave veterans.   The
capital fets little value upon them, becaufe it knows them
not ;  but there are fome among them who, by going over
to the enemy, are capable of conduaing a defcent on our
colonies, and even upon  our own coafts. Defertion is as
common among  our mariners, as among our foldiers, and
their defertion is a much greater lofs to  the State, becaufe
it requires more time to form them, and becaufe their local
knowledge is of much higher importance to an enemy than
that of our cavaliers, or of our foot foldiers.
  What I have  now taken the liberty to fuggeft, on the
fubjea of our feamen, might be extended to all the other
eftates of the  kingdom, without exception.   I could wifh
that there were not a fingle one but what had its centre at
Paris, and which might not find there a  place of refuge, a
retreat, a little chapel.  All thefe  monuments of the dif-
ferent claffes  of  citizens, which communicate life to the
body politic, decorated with the attributes peculiar to each
particular craft  and profeffion, would  there figure  with
perfaa propriety, and  with moft powerful effea.
  After having rendered the Capital a refort of happinefs,
and of improvement, to our own Nation, I  would allure
to it the men of foreign Nations, from every corner of the
Globe.   O !  ye Women, who regulate our deftiny, how
touch ought you to contribute towards uniting Mankind, 
                   STUDY  XIII.                 33

in a City where your empire is unbounded !  In miniftring
to your pleafures, do men employ themfelves over the face
of the whole Earth.   While you are engroffed wholly in
enjoyment,  the  Laplander iffues forth in  the midft of
ftorm and tempeft, to pierce with his  harpoon  the enor-
mous whale, whofe beard is  to  ferve for fluffing to your
robes :  A man  of China puts into  the oven  the porce-
lain out of which you  fip  your coffee, while an  Arabian
of Moka  i» bufied in  gathering the berry for you : A
young woman  of Bengal, on the  banks of the Ganges,
is fpinning your muflin, while a Ruffian, amidft  the
forefts of Finland, is felling the tree which is  to be con-
verted into a mall for the  veffel  that is to bring it home
to you.
  The glory of  a great Capital  is to affemble, within its
walls, the men of all Nations who contribute to  its pleaf-
ures.   I fhould  like to fee at Paris,  the Samo'iedes, with
their coats of  fea calf  fkin, and their boots of ffurgeoifs
hide ;  and the black Iolofs, dreffcd in their waift attire,
ftreaked with red and blue.  I could wifh to fee  there the
beardlefs Indians of Peru, dreffed in feathers from head to
foot, ftrolling about  undifmayed,  in our public fquares,
around  the ftatues of our Kings,  mingled with  ftatcly
Spaniards, in  whifkers, and fhort cloaks.   It would give
me pleafure to fee the Dutch making a fettlement on the
thirfty  ridges of  Montmartre ; and, following the bent of
their hydraulic  inclination, like the beavers,  find  the
means  of there  conflicting canals  filled  with water ;
while  the inhabitants of the banks  of  the Oroonoko
fhould  live comfortably  dry, fufpended over the lands
inundated by the Seine, amidft the foliage -of willows  and
alder trees.
  I could wifh  that Paris were as  large, and of a popula-
tion as  much diverfified  as thofe  ancient  cities of Afia,
fuch as Nineveh and Suza, whofe extent was fo vaft,  that
it required  three days  to  make the tour of  them, and in
Which Akafuerus beheld two hundred Nations bending bc-
   VOL. in,-                E 
 g;j           STUDIES  OF   NATURE.

 fare his throne.  I could wifh that every people on  the
 face of the Earth kept up a correfpondence with that city,
 as the members with the heart in the human body.  Wha*
 fecrets did the Afiatics poffefs, to raife  cities fa vaft and
 fa populous ? They are, in all refpeas, our elder broth-
 ers.  They permitted all Nations to  fettle  among themj
 Prefent men with liberty and happinefs, and you will at-
 traa them from the ends of the Earth.
    It would be much to the honour of fiis ^humanity, if
 fome great Prince would propofe this queftion to the dif-
 cuffion of Europe : Whether the happinefs of a People
 did not depend upon that of its neighbours ? The affirm-
 ative, clearly demonftrated, would level with the duft the
 contrary maxim, that of Machiavel, which  has too long
 governed  our European politics.  It would be  very eafy
 to prove, in the firft place, that a good underftanding with
 her neighbours would enable her confidently to  difband
 thofe land and naval forces, which are fo burdenfame to a
 Nation.  It  might be demonftrated, fecondly, that every
 people has been a partaker in the bleffings and the calamities
 of their neighbours, from the example of the Spaniards,
 who made the  difcovery of America, and have fcattered
 the advantages, and the evils of it, over all the reft of Eu-
 rope.   This  truth may be farther  confirmed, from the
 profperity and gr-eatnefs  attained by thofe Nations, who
 were at pains to conciliate the good will of their neigh-
 bours, as  the  Romans did, who extended farther and far-
 ther the privileges of citizenfhip, and  thereby, in procefi
 of time, confalidated all the Nations of Italy into one fin-
gle State.  They  would, undoubtedly, have  formed  but
one fingle People of the whole Human Race, had not their
barbarous cuftom of exa6Hng the  fervice of foreign flaves*
eounteraaed a policy fo humane.  It  might, finally, be
made apparent, how miferable thofe Governments  were
which, however well conftituted internally, lived in a ftate
of perpetual  anxiety, always weak and divided,  becaufe
thry did not extend humanity beyond the bounds  of their 
STUDY  XIII.
35
own territory.  Such were the ancient Greeks : Such is,
in modern times, Perfia, which is funk into a ftate of  ex-
treme weaknefs, and  into which it  fell  immediately after
the brilliant reign of Scka Abbas., whofe political maxim
it was to furround himfelf with deferts ;  his own country
has, at length,.become one, like thofe of his neighbours.
Other  examples, to  the  fame purpofe, might be  found
among the Powers  of Afia, who  receive the Law from
handfuls of Europeans.
   Henry IV. had formed the celeftial projea of engaging
all Europe to live in peace ; but his projea was not  fuf-
ficiently extenfive to  fupport itfelf :  Warmuft have fallen
upon Europe from the other quarters of the World.  Our
particular deftinies are conneaed with thtffeof Mankind.
This is an homage  which the Chriftian Religion juftly
challenges, and which it alone merits.  Nature fays to you,
Love thyfelf alone ;  domeftic education fays, Love your
family ;  the  national, Love  your country ; but Religion
fays, Love all Mankind,  without exception.  She is bet-
ter acquainted with our interefts, than our natural inftin6l
is, or our parentage, or our politics.  Human facieties are
not detached from >each other, like  thofe of animals.  The
bees of France are not in the leaft affe61ed by the deftruc-
tion of the hives in America.  But the tears of Mankind,
fhed in the New World, caufe ftreams of blood to flow in
the  ancient Continent ; and the  war whoop of a Savage,
on the bank  of a  lake, has  oftener than once reechoed
through  Europe, and difturhedthe repofe of her Poten-
tates.  The Religion which condemns love of ourfelves, and
which enjoins the love of Mankind, is not felf contradic-
tory, as certain fophifts have alleged ; fhe exaas the fac-
rifice.-of our paffions only to direa them toward the  gen-
eral felicity ;  and by inculcating upon  us the obligation
of  loving all men,  fhe furnifhes us with  the  only  real
means of loving ourfelves.
   I  could wifh, therefore, that our political relations, with
all the Nations of the World, might be direaed toward J 
36         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

gracious reception of their fubjefts in  the Capital of the
kingdom.  Were  we to expend  only  a part of  what we
l,iy out on foreign communications, we fhould be no great
Jofers.  The Nations of Afia fend no Confuls, nor Minif.
ters, nor Anibaffadors, out of the Country, unlefs in very
extraordinary cafes : And all the  Nations of the  Earth
feek to them.  It is not by fending Ambaffadors, in great
ftate, and at a vaft expenfe, to neighbouring Nations,  that
we conciliate, or fecure their friendfhip.   In many cafes,
our oftentatious magnificence becomes a fecret faurce of
hatred and jealoufy among their grandees.   The point is,
to give a kind reception to their fubjecls, properly fo call-
ed, the weak, the perfecuted, the miferable.   Our French
refugees were the men who  conveyed part of  our fkill,
and  of our  power, to Pruffia, and to Holland.  How
many  unfeen  relations  of commerce, and of  national be-
nevolence, have been formed upon the  foundation of fuch
gracioufnefs of  reception ! An  honeft German, who re-
tires into Auftria, after  having made  a little fortune in
France, is the means of fending to us a hundred of his
compatriots, and difpofes the whole canton,  in  which he
fettles, to wifh  us  well.  By bonds like  thefe, national
friendfhips are contraaed, much better than by diplomat-
ic treaties ;  for the opinion of a Nation always determines
that of the Prince.
   After having rendered the city of men wonderfully hap-
py, I would direa my attention to the embellifhment and
commodioufnefs of the city of ftones.  I would  rear in it
a multitude  of ufeful monuments : I would extend along
the houfes, arcades as in Turin, and a raifed  pavement as
in London, for the accommodation of foot paffengers ; in
the ftreets, where it was praaicable, trees and canals, as in
Holland, for the facility of carriage ; in the fuburbs, car-
avanfaries, as in the cities of the Eaft, far the entertain-
ment,  at a  moderate expenfe, of  travellers  from foreign
lands ; toward the centre of  the city, markets of vaft ex-
tern., and furrounded with houfes fix or feven ftories high, 
STUDY  XIII.                §7
jfor the reception of the poorer fort, who will foon be at a
Jofs for a place where to lay their  head.   I  would intro-
duce a great deal of variety into their plans and decora-
tions.   In  the circular furrounding fpace, I would difpofe
temples, halls of juftice, public fountains  ;  the principal
ftreets fhould terminate  in them.   Thefe markets, ihaded
with trees, and divided  into great  compartiments, fhould
difplay, in  the moft beautiful order, all the gifts of Flora,
of Ceres, and of Pomona.  1 would erea in the centre the
ftatue of a good King ;  for it is impoffible to place it in
a fituation  more honourable to his memory, than  in the
midft of the abundance enjoyed by his fubjeas.
   I know of no one thing which conveys to  me an idea
more precife of the police of a city, and of the felicity of
its  inhabitants, than the fight of its markets.  At Peterf-
burg, every market is parcelled out into fubdivifions, def-
tined to the fale of a fingle fpecies of merchandife.   This
arrangement pleafes at firft glance, but  foon fatigues  the
eye by its uniformity.   Peter the Firft was fond of regu-
lar forms, becaufe  they are favourable to defpotifm.   For
my own part, I fhould like to fee the moft perfea harmo-
ny  prevailing among our merchants,  and  the moft  com-
plete contrafts among their wares.   By removing the ri-
valities which arife out of commerce in the fame fort of
goods, thofe jealoufies,  which are produaive of fo many
quarrels, would be prevented.   It would give me pleafure
to behold Abundance there, pouring out the treafure of all
her horns,  pell mell ;  pheafants, frefh cod,  heath cocks,
turbots, pot herbs, piles of oyfters, oranges, wild ducks,
flowers, and fo on.   Permiffion fhould be granted to ex-
pofe to fale  there, every fpecies  of  goods whatever ; and
this privilege alone would be fufficient to deftroy various
fpecies of monopoly.
  I would erea in the city but few temples ; thefe few,
however, fhould be auguft, immenfe, with galleries on the
outfide and within, and capable  of  containing, on feftival
days, the third part of the population of Paris.  The more 
38         STUDIESOFNATURE.

that temples are multiplied in a State, the more is Relig-
ion enfeebled.   This  has the appearance of a paradox ;
but look at Greece and Italy, covered with church towers,
while  Conftantinople  is  crowded with Greek  and Italian
renegadoes.   Independently of the political, and even re-
ligious, caufes, which produce thefe national depravations,
there is one which is  founded in  Nature,  the effeas  of
which we have already recognifed in the weaknefs of the
human mind.  It is this, That affaaion diminifhes, in pro-
portion as it is divided among a variety  of objeas.   The
Jews, fo aftonifhingly attached to their  religion, had  but
one fingle temple, the recoileaion of which excites their
regret to this day.
   I would have  amphitheatres conftruaed  at Paris, like
thofe at Rome, for the purpofe of  affembling  the People,
and of treating them,  from time to  time, with  days of fef-
tivity.  What a fuperb fite for fuch an  edifice is prefent-'
ed in the riling ground at the entrance  into  the Elyfian
Fields !  How eafy would it have been, to hollow it  down
to the level of the plain, in form of an amphitheatre, dif-
pofed  into  afccnding  rows of feats,  covered  with  green
turf fimply, having its ridge crowned with great trees, ex-
alted on an elevation of more than four fcore feet !  What
a  magnificent fpeaacle would it have been, to behold an
immenfe people ranged round and round, like  one great
family, eating, drinking, and rejoicing  in the contempla*
tion of their own felicity !
   All thefe edifices fhould be conftruaed of ftone ; not
in petty layers, according to our mode of building, but in
huge blocks, fuch as  the Ancients employed*, and  as be-

  * And fuch as Savages employ. Travellers -are aftonifti-d when they furvey,
in  Peru, the monuments of the ancient Incas, formed of vaft irregular ftones,
perfeaiy fitted to each other.   Their conflruaion prefents, at firft  fight,
two great difficulties : How could the Indians have tranfported thofe huge
maOes of ftone ; and how did they contrive to adapt them fo exaaiy to each
other, notwithftanding their irregularity ? Our men of Science have firft Cup-
■pofed a machinery proper for the tranfportation of  them ; as if there could
be aoy machine mare powerful than the arms of a whole  people exerting 
STUDY  XIII.                    39
 comes a city that is to laft forever.   The  ftreets, and the
 public fquares, fhould be planted with  great  trees of va-
 rious forts.   Trees are the  real  monuments  of Nations.
 Time, which fpeedily impairs  the  Works of  Man,  only
 increafes the beauty of thofe of Nature.   It is to the trees,
 that our favourite walk, the Boulevards, is indebted for
 its principal charm.   They delight  the eye by their ver-
 dure ;  they elevate the foul  to Heaven, by the loftinefs of
 their ftems ; they communicate refpea to the monuments
 which they fhade, by the majefty of their  forms.   They
 contribute, more than we are aware of,  to rivet our attach-
 ment to  the places which we have inhabited.   Our mem-
 ory fixes on them, as on points of  union, which have fe-
 cret harmonies  with the  foul  of Man.   They poffefs a
 commanding influence over the events of our life, like thofe
 which rife by the fhore of the Sea, and which frequently
 ferve as  a direaion to the pilot.

 themfelves in concert.  They next tell us, that the Indians gave them thefe
 irregular forms by dint of labour and induftry.  This is a downright infult
 to the common  fenfe of Mankind.   Was it not much eafier to cut them into
 a regular, than into an irregular,  fhape ? I myfelf was  embarrafled in at-
 tempting a  folution of this problem.  At length, having read in the Memoirs
 of Don Ulloa, and likewife in fome other travellers, that there are found  in
 many places of Peru, beds of ftone along the furface of the ground, feparated
 by clefts and crevices, I prefently comprehended the  addrefs of the  ancient
 Peruvians.   All they had to do was to remove, piece  and piece, thofe hori-
 zontal layers of the quarries, and to place them in a perpendicular dire&ion,
 by moving  the detached pieces clofe to each other.   Thus they had a wall
 ready made, which coft them nothing in the hewing.   The natural genius is
 poflcfTcd of refources  exceedingly fimple, but  far fuperiour to thofe of our
 arts.   For example, the Savages of  Canada had no cooking pots of metal,
 previous to the arrival of the Europeans-.  They had, however, found means
 to fupply this want, by hollowing the trunk of a tree with fire.  But how did
 they contrive to fet it  a boiling, fo as to drefs a whole ox, which they fre-
 quently did ? I have applied to more than one pretended man of genius for
 a folution of this difficulty, but  to  no purpofe.  As to myfelf, 1 was long
 puzzled, I acknowledge, in devifing a method by which water might be made
 to boil, in kettles made of wood, which were frequently large enough to con-
tain fcveral  hundred gallons.  Nothing, however, could be eafier to Savages :
They heated pebbles and flints till they were red hot,  and call them into the
 water ia the pot, till it boiled.  Confult Ckimfrlain. 
40          STUDIES  OF  NATURE.-

  I never fee the linden tree, but I feel myfelf tranfport-
ed into Holland ; nor the fir, without reprefenting to my
imagination the forefts of Ruffia.  Trees  frequently at-
tach us  to Country, when the other ties which united us
to it are torn afunder.   I  have  known more than one ex-
ile who in  old age, was brought back  to his native vil-
lage, by the recolleaion of the elm, under the fhade of
which he had  danced when a boy.  I have heard  more
than one inhabitant of the Ifle of France fighing after his
Country,  under the fhade of the banana, and who faid to
me :  " I  fhould be perfeaiy tranquil where 1 am, could
" I but fee a violet."   The trees of our natal  foil have a
farther, and moft powerful attraaion, when they are blend-
ed, as was the  cafe among the  Ancients, with fome relig-
ious idea, or with the recolleaion of fome diftinguifhed
perfonage.  Whole Nations have attached their patriotifm
to this  objea.  With  what veneration did the  Greeks
contemplate, at Athens, the olive tree which Minerva had
there caufed to fpring up, and, on Mount  Olympus, the
wild olive with which Hercules had  been crowned ! Plu-
tarch relates, that, when  at Rome, the  fig  tree, under
which Romulus and Remus had  been fuckled  by a wolf,
difcovered figns of decay  from a lack of moifture, the firft
perfon who perceived it, exclaimed, Water ! water ! and
all  the people, in  confirmation, flew with pots and pails
full of water to refrefh it.  For my part, I am  perfuaded
that, though we have already far degenerated from Nature,
we could  not without emotion behold the cherry tree of
the foreft, into  which our good King Henry IV. clamber-
ed up, when he perceived the army of the Duke of May-
enne filing off to the bottom of the adjoining valley.
  A city,  were it built completely of marble, would have
to me a melancholy appearance, unlefs I faw in it tree*
and verdure* :  On the other  hand, a landfcape, were  it

 * Trees are, from their duration, the real monuments of Nations ; and they
are, farther, their calendar, from the different feafons at which they fend forth
thcif leaves, their flowers, and their fruits. Savages have no other, and ou» 
STUDY  XIII.                  4<
Arcadia, were it along the banks of the Alpheus, or did it
prefent the fwelling ridgesof Mount Lyceum, would appear
to me a wildernefs, if I did  not fee in it, at leaft, one little
cottage.  The works of Nature, and thofe of M*n, mutually
embellifh each other.  The  fpirit of felfifhnefs has deftroy-
ed among us a tafte for Nature. Our peafantry fee no beau-
ty in our plains,  but there  where they  fee  the return of
their labour.  I one day met, in the vicinity of the  Abbey
of la Trappe, on the flinty road of Notre Dame d'Apre, a
countrywoman walking along, with two large  loaves of
bread under her arm.  It  was in the month of May ; and the
weather inexpreflibly fine.   " What a charming feafon it
" is !" faid I to  the good  woman :  " How beautiful are
" thofe apple trees in bloffom ! How fweetly thefe night-
" ingales fing in  the woods !"...." Ah !"  replied fhe, " I
" don't mind nofegays,  nor thefe little fquallers !  It is
" bread  that we want."  Indigence hardens the heart of
the  country people,  and fhuts  their eyes.   But the good
folk of the  town  have  no greater relifh  far  Nature, be-
caufe the love of gold regulates  all  their other appetites.
If fome of them  fet a value on the liberal arts, it is not be-
caufe thofe arts imitate natural objeas ; it is from the price
to which the hand of great mafters raifes their produaions.

own  peafantry make frequent ufe of it. I met one day, toward the end of
Autumn, a country girl all in tears, looking about for a handkerchief which
ihe had loft upon the  great road.   *' Was your handkerchief very pretty ?"
faid I to her.  " Sir," replied fhe, " it was quite new ; I bought it laft b?aa
" time."  It has long been my opinion, that if our hiftorical epochs, fo loud-
ly trumpeted, were dated by thofe of Nature, nothing more would be want-
ing to mark their injuftice, and expofe them to ridicule.  Were we to read,
for example, in  our books of  Hiftory, that a  Prince had caufed part of his
fubje&s to be maffacred, to render Heaven propitious to him, precifely at the
feafon when his kingdom was clothed with the plenty ®f harveft; or were we
to read the relations of bloody engagements, and of the bombardment of cit-
ies, dated with the flowering of the violet, the firft cream cheefe making, the
fheep marking feafon ; Would any other contraft be ncceffary to render the
perufal of fuch  hiftories deteftable  ? On the other hand, fuch  dates would
communicate immortal graces to the aftions of good Princes, and would con-
found the bleffings which they bellowed, with thofe of Heaven.    ,
   VOL.  Ill,                     ? 
4»          STUDIES OF  NATURE.
    That man gives a thoufand crowns for a  pifture  of  th-
    country painted  by Lorrain, who would not take  the
    trouble to put his bead out of the window to look at  the
    real landfcape :. And there is another,  who oftentatioufly
    exhibits the huft of Socrates in his ftudy, who would  not
    receive that Philofopher into his houfe, were he in  life,
    and who, perhaps, would not fcruple to concur in  adjudg-
    ing him to death, were he under profecution.
      The tafte of our Artifts has been corrupted by that of
    our trades people.  As they know that it is  not  Nature,
    but their  own fkill, which is prized, their great aim is" to
    difplay  themfelves.  Hence  it is, that  they  introduce a
   profufion of rich acceffories into moft of owr monuments,
    while they frequently omit altogether the principal objeft.
    They produce, far inftance, a3 an embellifhment for gar-
   dens, vafes of marble, into which it is impoffible to  put
   any vegetable ;  for apartments, urns  and pitchers, into
   which you cannot pour any fpecies of fluid ;  for our cit-
   ies, colonnades without palaces, gates in places  where there
   are no walls,  public fquares fenced with barriers,  to pre-
   vent the people from affembling- in them.  It  is, they tell
   us, that  the grafs may be  permitted  to flioot.   A fine
   projea truly ! One of  the heavieft curfes which the an-
   cients pronounced againft  their enemies  was, that they
   might fee the grafs grow in their public places.  If they
   wifh to fee verdure in-ours,  why do they not plant trees
   in  them, which would give the people at once fhade and
   fhelter ? There are fome who introduce into the trophies
   which ornament the town refidences of our grandees, bows,
   arrows, catapults; and whohave carried the fimplicitv of the
   thing to  fuch a height, as to plant on them Roman ftand-
   ards, infcribed with  thefe  charaaers, S. P. Q. R.  This
   may be feen in the Palace de Bourbon.   Pofterity will be
   taught to believe,  that the Romans were, in the eighteenth
   century, mafters of our country.   And in what eftimation
   do we  mean, vain as we  are, that our memory fhould be
,   held by them, if our monuments, our medals, our trophies, 
STUDY  XI n.
•43
aur dramas, our infcriptions, continually hold out to them,
Grangers and antiquity ?
  The Greeks and  Romans  were much more confiftent.
Never did they dream of conftrufcling ufelefs monuments.
Their beautiful vafes of alabafter and calcedony were em-
ployed,  in feftivals, for holding wine, or perfumes ; their
periftyles always announced a palace ; their public places
were deftined only to the purpofe of affembling the peo-
ple.   There  they reared the ftatues of their great men,
without enclofing them in rails of iron, in order that their
images might ftill be within reach of the miferable, and be
open to  their invocation after death, as they themfelves
had been while they were alive.   Juvenal fpeaks of a ftat-
ue of bronze at Rome, the hands of which had been worn
away by the kiffes of  the People.  What glory to the
memory of the perfon whom it reprefented !  Did it  ftill
exift, that mutilation would render it more precious than
the Venus de Medicis, with its fine proportions.
  Our populace, we are told, is deftitute of patriotifm.  I
caneafily believe it, far every thing is done, that can be done,
to deftroy that principle in them.  For example, on the ped-
iment of the beautiful church which we are buildingin hon-
our of Saint Genevieve, but which is too fmall, as all our mod-
ern monuments are, an adoration of the crofs  is reprefented.
You fee, indeed, the Patronefs of Paris inbas reliefs, under the
periftyle, in the midft of Cardinals ; but would it not have
been more in charaaer, to exhibit to the People their hum-
ble Patronefs in her habit of fliepherdefs,  in a  little jacket
and cornet, with her fcrip, her crook, her dog, her fheep,
her moulds for making cheefe, and all the peculiarities of
her age, and  of her condition, on the pediment of the
church  dedicated to her  memory ? To thefe might  have
been added a view of Paris,  fuch as  it was in her time.
From the whole would have refulted contrails, and objecb
of comparifon of the moft agreeable kind.   The  People,
at fight  of this rural fcenery, would have called to memo-
ry the days of old.   They would  have conceived efteeni 
 44         6TUDIES  OF  NATURE.

 for the obfcure virtues which are neceffary to their happi-
 nefs, and would have been uimulatedto tread in the rough
 paths  of  glory which their lowly Patronefs trod  before
 them,  whom it is now impoflible for them to diftinguifh
 in her Grecian robes, and furrounded by Prelates.
   Our Artifts, in  fame cafes, deviate fa completely from
 the principal objea,that they leave it out altogether. There
 was exhibited fame years ago, in one of the workfhops of
 the Louvre, a monument in honour of  the Dauphin  and
 Dauphinefs,  defigned for the cathedral of the city of Sens.
 Lvery body flocked to fee it,  and came away in raptures
 of admiration.  I went with the reft ; and  the firft thing
 I looked  for was  the refemblance of the Dauphin  and
 Dauphinefs,-to whofe memory the monument had been
 ereaed.   There was no fuch thing there, not even in  me-
 dallions.  You faw Time  with  his  fcythe, Hymen with
 urns, and  all the threadbare  ideas of allegory, which fre-
 quently is, by the way, the genius of thofe who have none,
 In order to complete the elucidation  of  the fubjea, there
were on the  panels of a fpecies  of altar,  placed  in the
midft of this group of fymbolical figures, long infcriptions
in Latin, abundantly foreign to the memory of the great
Prince who was the objea of them.  There, faid I to my-
felf, there is a fine national monument ! Latin infcriptions
for French readers, and pagan fymbols  for a cathedral !
Had the Artift, whofe chifel I in  other refpeas admired,
meant to difplay only his  own talents, he ought to have
recommended to his fucceffor,  to  leave imperfeft a fmall
part of the bafe of that monument, which death prevented
himfelf from  finifhing, and  to  engrave thefe words upon
it:  Coustou morien facie bat *  This confonance of
fortune would have united  him to the royal  monument,
and would have given a deep impreffion to the refleaions
on the vanity of human things, which the Oght of a tomb
infpires.
* The work of C«ujliut left unSnilhed by death, 
STUDY  XIII.
AS
   Very few  Artifts  catch the moral obje&s ; they aim
only at the piaurefque.  '' Oh,  what a fine  fubjea for a
"  Belifanus /" exclaim they, when the converfation hap-
pens to turn on one of our great  men, reduced to diftrefs.
Neverthelefs, the liberal arts  are deftined  only to revive
the memory of Virtue, and  not  Virtue  to give employ-
ment to the fine Arts.  1 acknowledge, that  the celebrity
which they procure is a powerful incentive to prompt
men to great aaions, though, after all, it is  not the true
one ;  but though it may not infpire the fentiment, it fame-
times produces the aas.  Now a  days we go much farther.
It is no longer the glory of virtue which affociations and
individuals endeavour  to merit ; it is the  honour of dif-
tributing it to others at which they aim.   Heaven knows
the ftrange confufion which refults from this  ! Women of
very fufpicious virtue,  and kept  miftreffes, eftablifh Rofe
feafts :  They difpenfe premiums  on virginity !  Opera
girls crown  our viaorious  Generals ! The Marefchal de
Saxe, our Hiftorians tell us, was crowned with laurels on
the national theatre : As if  the  Nation  had confifted  of
players, and as if its  Senate were a theatre  ! For my own
part, I  look on Virtue as fo refpeaable, that nothing more
would be wanting, but a fingle  fubjea, in which it was
eminently confpicuous, to overwhelm with ridicule thofe
who dared to difpenfe  to it  fuch vain and contemptible
honours.  What ftage dancing  girl,  for example, durft
have had the impudence to crown the auguft forehead  of
Turenne, or that of Fenelon,
   The French Academy would be much more fuccefsful,
if it aimed at  fixing,  by the  charms of eloquence, the at-
tention of the Nation on our great men, did it  attempt lefs,
in the  elogiums which  it  pronounces, to panegyrize the
dead, than to fatirize  the living.  Befides,  pofterity will
rely as little on the language of praife, as on that of cen-
fure.   For,  firft, the very  term  elogium  is fufpeaed
of flattery : And farther, this fpecies of eloquence  char-
acterizes nothing.  In  order to paint virtue, it is neceffa- 
 jfi         STUDIES OF  NATURE.

 ry to bring forward defaas and vices, that conflia and tri-
 umph may be rendered confpicuous.   The ftyle employ.
 cd in it is full  of pomp and luxuriance.  It is crowded
 with refleaions, and paintings, foreign, very frequently,
 to the principal objea.   It rcfembles  a Spanifh horfe ; it
 prances about wonderfully, but never gets forward.  This
 kind of eloquence, vague and indecifive as it  is, fuits no
 one great  man  in particular, becaufe it may be applied,
 in general, to all thofe who have run the fame career.   If
 you only change a few proper names in the elogium of a
 General, you may comprehend  in  it  all  Generals, paft
 and future.  Befides, its bombaft tone is fo little adapted
 to the fimple language of truth and virtue, that when a
 Writer means to introduce charaaeriftical traits of his he-
 ro, that we may know at leaft of whom he is  fpeaking, he
 is under the neceflity of throwing them into notes, far fear
 of deranging his academical order.
   Affuredly, had Plutarch written the elogium only of
 illuftrious  men, he would have had  as few readers at this
 day as the Panegyric of Trajan, which coft  the younger
 Pliny fo many years labour.   You  will never find an aca-
 demical elogium in the hands of oneof the common People.
 You might fee them, perhaps, turning  over thofe of Fonte-
 nelle, and a few others,  if the perfons celebrated in them,
 had paid attention t6 the People while they  lived.  But
 the Nation takes pleafure in reading Hiftory.
   As I was walking  fame time ago, toward the quarter of
 the  Military School, I perceived at  fame  diftance, near a
 fand pit,  a thick eolumn of finoke.  1  bent my courfe
 that way, to fee what  produced it.   I found, in a very
 falitary place, a good deal refembling that  which  Shake-
/pear makes the fcene where  the three witches appear to
 Macbeth, a poor and aged  woman  fitting upon a ftone.
 She was deeply engaged in reading  in  an old  book, clof'e
 by a great  pile  of herbage, which fhe had  fet on fire.  1
 firft afked her for what  purpofe fhe  was  burning thofe
 herbs ? She replied, that  it was for the fake  of the afhes, 
STUDY  XIII.
47
which fhe gathered up and fold to the  laundreffes ; that
for this end fhe bought of the gardeners the refufe plants
of their grounds, and was waiting till  they were entirely
confumed, that fhe might carry off the afhes, becaufe they
were liable to be ftolen in* her abfence.   After having thus
fatisfied my curiofity, fhe returned to her book, and read
on  with deep attention.   Eagerly  dcfirous to know what
book it was with which fhe filled up her hours of languor,
I took the liberty to afk the title of it.   " It is the Life of
" M. de Turenne," fne replied.   " Well, what do you
" think of him ?" faid 1. " Ah!" replied fhe, with emotion,
" he was a very brave man, who fuffered much uneafinefs
" from a Minifter of State, while he was alive \" I with-
drew, filled with  increafed veneration for  the memory of
M. de Turenne, who  ferved to confale a poor old woman
in diftrefs.  It is thus that the virtues of the lower claffes
of faciety fupport themfelves on thofe of great  men, as
the feeble plants, which, to efcape  being trampled under
foot, cling to the trunk of the oak.


                     OF NOBILITY.

  The ancient Nations of Europe imagined, that the mofii
powerful ftimulus to  the praaice of  virtue, was to enno-
ble the defcendants of their virtuous  citizens.   They in-
volved themfelves, by this, in very great inconveniences.
For, in rendering nobility hereditary, they precluded, to
the reft of the citizens, the paths which lead to diftinaion.
As  it is the perpetual, exclufive, poffeffion of a certain
number of families, it ceafes to be  a national recompenfe,
otherwife, a  whole Nation  would confift of Nobles at
length ; which would produce a lethargy fatal to arts and
handicrafts ;  and this  is aaually  the cafe in Spain, and in
part of Italy.
  Many other mifchiefs neceffarily refult  from heredita-
ry nobleffc, the principal of which is, the formation, in a 
48           STUDIES  OF  NATURES
State, of two feveral Nations, which come, at laft, to haVf
nothing in common between them ;  patriotifm is annihi-
lated, and both the one and  the other haftens to a ftate of
fubjeaion.  Such has been, within  our recolleaion, the
fate of Hungary,  of Bohemia, of Poland, and even of part
of the provinces of our  own kingdom,  fuch as Britanny,
where a Nobility, infufferably lofty, and multiplied beyond
all bounds, formed a clafs abfolutely dillinfct from the reft
of the citizens.  It is well worthy of being remarked, that
thefe countries, though republican, though fo powerful, in
the opinion of our political Writers, from the freedom of
their conftitution, have been very eafily fubjeaed by  def-
potic Princes, who were the mafters, they tell us, of flaves
only.  The reafon is, that the People, in every country,
prefer one Sovereign to a  thoufand tyrants, and that theii
fate always  decides the fate of  their  lordly  oppreffors,
The Romans faftened the  unjuft and odious diftinaions
which exifted between Patricians and Plebeians, by grant-
ing to thefe laft, privileges and employments of the high*
eft refpeaability.
  Means, in my opinion, ftill more effeaual,  were  em«
ployed by that People, to bring the two claffes  of citizens
to a ftate of clofer approximation ;  particularly the prac-
tice of adoption.  How many great men ftarted up out of
the mafs of the People, to merit this kind  of recompenfe,
as illuftrious as  thofe which Country  beftows, and  ftill
more addreffed to the  heart ! Thus did  the  Catos and the
Scipios diftinguifh themfelves, in  hope of  being ingrafted
into Patrician  families.  Thus  it was  that  the Plebeian
Agricola obtained in marriage the daughter of Augujlus,
I do not know, but, perhaps, I am only betraying my  own
ignorance, that adoption ever was in ufe among us, untefi
it were between certain great Lords, who, from  the failure
of heirs of blood, were at a  lofs how to difpofe of their
vaft poffeffions when they died.   I  confider adoption as
much preferable to Nobility conferred  by the  State. It
might be the means of reviving  illuftrious families, the 
STUDY  xifr.
49
descendants of which are now languishing in the moft ab-
jea poverty.   It  would endear the Nobility to the Peo-
ple, and the People to the  Nobility.  It would be proper
that the privilege  of  bellowing  the  rights of adoption,
fhould be rendered a fpecies of recompenfe to the Nobleffe
themfelves.   Thus, for  example, a poor  man of family,
who had  diftinguifhed himfelf, might be  empowered to
adopt one of  the commonalty, who fhould acquire emi-
nence.  A man of birth would be on the look out for vir-
tue among the People ;  and a virtuous  man of  the com-
monalty,would go in qoeft of a worthy Nobleman as a patron.
Such political bonds of union appear to me more powerful,
and  more honourable, than  mercenary matrimonial  alli-
ances, which, by uniting two individual citizens of different
elaffes, frequently alienate their families.  Nobility, thus ac-
quired, would appear to me far preferable to that which pub-
lic employments confer ; for thefe, being entirely  the pur-
chafe of fo much money, from that very circumftance  lofa
their refpeaability, and, eonfequently, degrade the Nobili-
ty attached to them.
   But, taking it at the  beft, one difadvantage muft  ever
adhere to hereditary Nobility, namely, the eventual excef-
five multiplication of perfons of that defcription.  A rem-
edy for this has been attempted among us, by adjudging No-
bility  to various profeffions, fuch as maritime commerce.
Firft of all, it may be made a queftion, Whether the fpirit
of commerce can  be perfeaiy confiftent with the honour
of a gentleman ? Befides,  What commerce fhall he can v
on, who  has got nothing !  Muft  not a premium be paid to
the merchant for admitting a young man into his  counting
houfe, to learn the firft principles  of trade ?  And where
fliould fo many poor  men, of noble birth, find the means,
tvho have not wherewithal to clothe their children ? I have
feen  fome of them, in  Britanny, the defcendants of the
moft  ancient families of the  province, fo  reduced, as to
earn a livelihood by mowing down the hay of the peafan-
 try for fo much aday.
   YOL.  Ill,-             G 
£r>         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

  Would to God, that all conditions  were nobilitated,.
the profeflion of agriculture in particular ! for it is that,
above all others, of which every function is allied to vir-
tue.   In order to be a hulbandman, there is no need to de-
ceive, to flatter, to degrade one's felf, to  do violence to-
another.  He is not indebted, for the profits of his labour,
to the vices or the luxury of his age, but tothe bounty of
Heaven.  He adheres to his  Country, at leaft, by the lit-
tle corner of it which he cultivates.  If the condition of
the hufbandman were ennobled, a multitude of benefits, to
the inhabitants  of the  kingdom, would  refult  from it.
Nay, it would be fufficient, if it were not confidered as ig.
noble.  But here is a refaurce  which the State might em-
ploy, for the relief of the decayed Nobility.   Moft  of the
ancient feignories  are purchafed now  a days, by perfons
who poffefs no other  merit but that of having money ; fo
that  the honours of thofe illuftrious houfes have fallen to
the fhare of men who, to confefs the truth, are hardly wor-
thy of them.  The King ought to purchafe thofe  lordfhipj
as often as  they come to market ; referve to himfelf the
feignorial rights, with part of the lands, and form, of thofe
fmall domains, civil  and military benefices, to be bellow-
ed as rewards on good officers, ufeful citizens, and noble
 and  poor families, nearly as  the Timariots are in Turkey.
                  OF AN ELYSIUM.

  The hereditary tranfmiffion of Nobility is fubjea to a
farther inconveniency ; namely this, Here is a  man, who
fats out with the virtues of a Marius, and finifhes the ca-
reer, loaded with all his vices.   I am going to  propofe a
mode of diftinguifhing fuperior worth, which fhall not be
liable to the dangers of inheritance, and of human inconr
ftancy:  It is to withhold the rewards  of virtue till after
death. 
STUDY  XIII,                £V
  -Death affixes the laft feal to the memory of Man.  It
is well known of what weight the decifions  were, which
the Egyptians pronounced upon their  citizens, after life
was  terminated.  Then,  too, it was, that the Romans
fometimes  exalted theirs  to  the  rank of demigods, and
fometimes threw them into the Tiber.  The People, in
default of priefts and magiftrates, ftill exercifes, among us,
a part of this priefthood.   I have oftener than once  flood
ftill, of an evening, at fight of a magnificent funeral pro-
ceffion, not fa much to admire the pomp of it, as to  liften
to the judgment pronounced by the  populace on the high
and puiffant Prince, whofe obfequies were celebrating.  I
have frequently heard the  queftion afked, Was he a  good
mafter ? Was he fond of his wife and children ?  Was he
a  friend to  the poor ?  The People infift  particularly
on this laft  queftion ; becaufe, being continually influ-
enced by the principal call of Nature, they diftinguifh, in
the -rich,  hardly any other virtue  than beneficence.  I
have often heard this reply given :  "Oh ! lie never did good
"  to any one : He was  an unkind  relation,  and a  harfh
" mafter."   I have  heard  them fay, at the interment of a
Farmer General, who left behind him more than twelve
millions of  livres, (half a million  fter-ling) :  " He drove
"•  away the country poor  from the gate of his caftle with
"  fork and flail."  On fuch occafions, you hear the fpec-
tators fall a fwearing, and  curling the  memory of  the de-
ceafed.   Such are, ufually, the funeral orations of the rich,
in the mouth of the populace.  There is little doubt, that
their decifions would produce confequences of a certain
kind, were the police of Paris lefs ftria than it is.
   Death alone can enfure  reputation, and nothing fhort of
religion can confecrate it.  Our grandees are abundantly
aware of this.   Hence the fumptuoufnefs of  their monu-
ments, in owr churches.    It is not  that the  clergy  make
a point of their being interred there, as  many  imagine.
The clergy would equally receive their perquifites, were
the interment in the country : They would take care, and 
£8         STUDIES OF  NATURE.

 very juftly, to be well paid for fuch journies ;  and they
would be relieved from breathing, all the year round, in
their flails, the  putrid exhalations of  rotting carcafles.
 The principal obftacle to this neceffary reform in our po.
jice, proceeds from  the great  and the rich, who, feldonj
difpofed to crowd the church in their  life time, are eager
 for admiflion after their death, that the people may admire
 their fuperb maufolea, and their virtues portrayed in brafs
 and marble.  But, thanks to the allegorical reprefentationi
 of our Artifts, and to the Latin infcriptions of our Litera.
 ti, the  People know nothing about the matter ;  and thej
 onlyrefleaion which they make, at fight of them, is,'that
 all this muft have coft an enormous fum of money ; and
that fuch a vaft quantity of copper might be converted, to
advantage, into porridge pots.
   Religion alone has the power of confecrating, in a man-
ner that fhall laft, the  memory of Virtue.  The  King of
Pruffia, who was fo well acquainted with the great mov-
ing fprings of politics,  did not overlook this.   As the
Proteftant Religion,  which is the general profeflion of his
kingdom,  excludes from the churches the images of the
Saints, he fupplied their place with the  portraits  of the
moft diftinguifhed officers who had fallen in  his.  fervice,
The firft time I looked into the churches at Berlin, 1 was
not a  little aftonifhed to fee the walls  adorned with the
portraits of officers in their  uniform.  Beneath, there was
an infcription indicating their names, their age, the place
of their birth, and the battle in which they had been kill-
ed.  There is likewife fubjoined, if my recolleaion is ac-
curate, a line or two  of elogium.   The military enthufi-
afm kindled by this fight is  inconceivable.
  Among us, there is not a monkifh order  fo mean, as
not to exhibit in their cloifters, and in their churches, the
maures of their great men, beyond all contradiaion more
refpeaed, and  better  known, than thofe of the  State,
Thefe  fubjeas, always accompanied  with  piaurefque
#nd interefting  circumftances, are the  moft powerful 
STUDY  XIII.
63
jneans which they employ for attraaing  novices.  The
Carthufians already perceive,  that the  number  of their
novices is diminifhed,  now  that they have no longer, in
their cloifters, the melancholy hiftory of S. Bruno, paint-
ed, in a  ftyle (o mafterly, by Le Sueur.  No one order of
citizens prizes die portraits of men who have been ufeful
only to the Nation, and to Mankind ; printfellers  alone
fometimes  difplay the images  of them,  filed on  a  firing,
and illuminated  with blue and red.  Thither the People
refart to look for them among thofe  of  players and opera
girls.  We fhall foon have,  it is faid, the exhibition of a
mufeum at the Tuilleries ;  but that  royal  monument  is
confecrated rather to  talents than to patriotifm,  and like
fa many others, it will, undoubtedly, be locked up from
the People.
   Firft of all, I would have it  made a  rule, that no citi-
zen whatever fhould be interred in  the church.  Xeno-
phon relates that Cyrus, the favereign Lord of the great-
eft part  of Afia, gave orders,  at his death, that his body
fhould be buried  in the open country, under the  trees, to
the  end  that, faid this great  Prince, the  elements of  it
might be quickly united to thofe of  Nature, and contrib-
ute anew to the formation of her beautiful Works.   This
fentiment was worthy of the fublime foul of Cyrus.  But
tombs  in every  country, efpecially  the tombs  of great
Kings, are  the moft endeared of all monuments to the Na-
tions,   The Savages confider thofe of their anceftors as
titles to the poffeflion of the lands which  they  inhabit.
" This country is ours," fay they,  " the bones of our fa-
" thers  are here laid  to reft."   When they are forced to
quit it, they dig them up  with tears, and carry  them off
with every token  of refpea.
  The Turks erea their tombs by  the fide of the high-
ways, as the  Romans did.  The Chinefe make theirs en-
chanted fpots.  They place them in the  vicinity  of their
cities, in grottos dug out of the fide of hills  ; they deco-
rate the entrance into them  with pieces of  architeaure, 
14         STUDIE-SOF  NATURE.

and plant before them, and all around, groves of cyprefs,
and of firs, intermingled  with trees which  bear flowers
and fruits.   Thefe fpots infpire a profound and a delicious
melancholy ;  not only from the natural effecl of their dec-
oration, but from the moral fentiment excited  in us  by
tombs, which are, as we have  laid in another place,  mon-
uments ereaed on the confines of two Worlds.
   Our great ones, then, would lofe nothing of the refpecl
which they wifh to attach to their memory, were  they to
be interred in public receptacles of the dead, adjoining to
the Capital.   A magnificent  fepulchral  chapel might be
conftruaed in the midft of  the  burying ground, devoted
folely to funeral obfequies,  the celebration of which fre-
quently difturbs the worfhip of God in parifh  churches.
Artifts might give full fcope  to their imagination, in the
decorations of fuch a maufaleum ; and the temples of hu-
mility and truth would no longer be profaned, by the van-
ity and falfehood of monumental epitaphs. .
   While each  citizen fhould be  left at liberty to  lodge
himfelf, agreeably to his own fancy, in  this  laft and lafl-
Ing abode, I  would  have  a large  fpace  feleaed,  not far
from  Paiis, to be confecrated by every folemnity of Relig-
ion, to be a general receptacle of the afhes of fuch as may
have  deferved well of their Country..
   The fervices which may  be rendered to our Country,
are infinite in number, and very  various in  their nature.
We hardly acknowledge any but what are of  one and the
fame  kind, derived  from formidable  qualities, fuch as val-
our.   We revere  that only which terrifies us.   The  to-
kens  of our efteem are frequently teftimonies of our weak-
nefs.   We are brought up to  fenfe of fear only, and not
of gratitude.   There is no modern Nation fo  infignirkunt,
as not to have its Alexander and  its Cefar to commemo-
rate, but no one its Bacchus and its Ceres.  T\\e.  Ancients,
as valiant, at leaft, as we are, thought incomparably better.
Plutarch obferves famewhere, that Ceres and Bacchus, who
were  mortals, attained the fupreme rank of Gods, on  ac- 
                   S T U D Y  XIII.                0£

 count of the pure, univerfal, and lafting bleffings which
 they had procured for Mankind ; but that Hercules, The-
feus, and  other Heroes, were raifed only to the fubordi-
 nate  rank of demigods, becaufe  the fervices which  they
 rendered to men, were tranfient, circumfcribed, and  con-
 tained a great mixture of evil.
   I have often felt aftonifhment at our indifference about
 the memory of thofe of our Anceftors who introduced ufe-
 ful trees into the country, the fruits and  fhade of which
 are to this day fo delicious.  The names of thofe benefac-
 tors are, moft of them, entirely unknown ; their benefits are,
 however, perpetuated to us from age to age. •  The  Romans
 did not aa in this manner.  Pliny  tells us, with no fmall
 degree of  felf complacency, that of the eight  fpecies  of
 cherry known at Rome in his time, one was called the Pli-
 nian, after the name of one of his relations, to whom  Italy
 was indebted for it.   The  other fpecies of this very fruit
 bore, at Rome, the names of the moft illuftrious families,
 being denominated the Apronian, the Aaian, the Caecili-
 an, the Julian.  He informs us that it  was Lucullus who,
 after the defeat  of  Mithridates, tranfplanted, from the
 kingdom of Pontus, the  firft cherry trees  into Italy,  from
 whence they were propagated, in lefs than a hundred and
 twenty years, all over  Europe, England not excepted*
 which was then peopled with barbarians.   They were, per-
 haps, the firft means of the civilization of that Ifland, for
 the firft laws always  fpring up out of agriculture :  And
 for this very reafon it is, that the Greeks gave to Ceres the
 name  of Legiflatrix.
   PUny, in-another  place, congratulates Pompey and Vef-
 pafian on  having difplayed, at Rome, the ebony tree, and
 that of the balm of Judea, in the midft of their triumphal
 proceflions, as if they had then triumphed, not only over
 the Nations, but over  the very nature  of  their countries.
 Affuredly, if I entertained a wifh to have my name perpet-
 uated, 1 would  much rather  have  it affixed to a fruit  in
 France, than to an ifland in America.   The People, in the 
tfl         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

feafon of that fruit, would recal my memory with token*
of refpea.  Mv  name, preferved in  the  bafkets of the
peafantry, would endure longer, than if it were  engraved
on columns of marble.   I know of no monument, in the
noble family of Montmorenci, more durable, and more en-
deared to the People, than the cherry which  bears its
name.   The Good  Henry, otherwife lapathum, which
grows without culture in the midft of our plains, will con-
fer a more lafting duration on  the memory of Henry IV,
than the ftatue of bronze placed on the Pont Neuf, though
proteaed by an  iron rail and a guard of foldiers.  If the
feeds,  and the heifers, which  Louis  XV, by  a natural
Movement of humanity, fent the I Hand of Tai'ti, fhould
happen to multiply there, they will  preferve his memory
much longer, and  render it much dearer, among the Na-
tions of the South Sea, than the pitiful pyramid of bricks,
which  the fawning Academicians attempted to rear in hon-
our of him at Quito, and, perhaps, than the flatues ereft-
ed to him in the heart of his own kingdem,
  The benefit of a ufeful plant is, in my opinion, orte of
the moft important fervices, which a citizen can render to
his Country.   Foreign plants  unite  us  to  the Nations
from whence they come ; they convey to us a portion of
their happinefs, and of their genial Suns.   The  olive tree
represents to me the  happy climate of Greece, much bet-
ter than  the book of Paufanias ; and I find  the gifts oi
Minerva more powerfully expreffed in it, than  upon me-
dallions.  Under a great cheftrrut in bloffam, I feel myfelf
laid to  reft amidft the rich umbrage of America ; the per-
fume of a citron  tranfports  me to Arabia ; and I am an
inhabitant of voluptuous Peru,  whenever I inhale the em-
anations of the heliotrope.
  I would begin, then, with ereaing the firft  monuments
of the  public  gratitude  to  thofe who have introduced
among us the ufeful plants ; for this purpofe, I would fe-
lea one of the iflands of the Seine, in the vicinity of Par-
is, to  be converted into  an Elyfium.   I would take,, for 
                   6TUDY Xlll.                 fif

example, that one which is below the majeftic bridge o!
NeuLlly, and which, in a few years more, will aaually be
joined to the fuburbs'of Paris.   I would extend my field
of operation, by taking in  that branch of the Seine which
is not  adapted  to the  purpofes of navigation, and a large
portion of the  adjoining Continent.   I  would plant this
extenfive  diAncf" with the trees, the  fhrubberv, and the
herbage, with which France has been enriched far feveral
ages part.   There  fhould be affembled the great Indian
cheftnut, the tulip tree, the mulberry, the acacia of Amer-
ica and of Afia ; the pines of Virginia  and Siberia ; the
bearfear of the  Alps ;  the tulips of  Calcedonia, and fo
on.  The fervice tree of Canada, with its fcariet clufters;
the magnolia grandiflora of America,, which produces the
largeft and moft odoriferous of flowers : The  ever green
thuia of China,  which puts forth  no  apparent  flower,
fhould interlace their boughs, and form, here  and  there,
enchanted groves.
   Under their fhade, and amidft carpets of variegated ver-
dure, fhould be reared the monuments of thofe  who tranf^
planted them into  France.  We fhould behold,  around
the magnificent tomb of Nicot,  Ambaffador from France
to the Court of Portugal, which is at prefent in  the church
of  St. Paul, the famous tobacco plant fpring up, called at
firft, after his name, Nuotiana, becaufe he  was the man
who firft  diffufed  the knowledge  of  it   over  Europe.
Tfiere is not a  European Prince but what owes him a ftat-
ue  for that fervice, for there is  not a vegetable in the
World which has poured fuch fums into their treafuries,
and fa many agreeable illufions into the minds of their
fubjeas.  The nepenthes of Homer is not once to be com-
pared to it.   There might be engraved on a tablet of mar-
ble, adjoining to it, the name of the Flemifh Auger de
Bufbequius, Ambaffador from Ferdinand the  Firft, King
of the Romans, to the  Porte, in other refpeas fa e'ftima-
ble, from the charms of his  epiftolary correfpondence  ;
and this fmall monument might be placed under the fhade
    vol. in,                H 
58            STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

of the lilach, which'he transported from Conftantinople,
and  of which he  made a prefent to  Europe,* in 1562,
The lucern of Media fhould there furround,  with its flioots,
the monument dedicated to  the memory of the unknown
hufbandman, who firft fowed it on our flinty hillocks, and-
who prefented us with an article of pafture,  in parched fitu.
ations, which renovates itfelf at leaft four times a year. At
fight of the foianum of America, which produces at its root
the potatoe, the poorer part of the community would  blefs
the name of the man'who fecured to them a fpecies of ali-
ment, which  is not liable, like  corn, to fuffer by the in-
conftaney of the elements, and by the granaries of monop-
olizers.   There too fhould be difplayed, not  without a
lively intereft, the  urn of  the* unknown  Traveller  who
adorned,  to endlefs generations,  the  humble window of
his obfcure habitation, with the brilliant colours of Auro-
ra, by tranfplanting thither  the nun of Peru.+
   On advancing into this delicious fpot, we fhould behold,
under domes and porticos, the afh.es and the bufts of thofe
who, by the invention of ufeful arts, have  taught us to
avail ourfelves of the produaions of Nature, ajfd who, by
their genius, have fpared us  the ncceffity of lofig and pain-
ful  labours.   There would  be no  occafion far epitaphs.
The figures of the implements employed  in weaving of
ftockings ; of thofe ufed  in twifting of  filk, and in the
conftruction of the windmill, would be monumental in-
fcriptions as auguft, and as  expreflive, on the tomfys of
their inventors, as the fphere infcribed in the cylinder on
that of Archimedes.  There might, one day, be traced the
aeroftatic globe, on the tomb of Mongolfcr ; but it would

  * See Msithiela on Dhfcorides.
  \ For my own part, 1 would contemplate the rnonumenc of that man, were
it but a fimple tile, with more refpeft than the fupeib maufolca which have
been reared, in many places of Europe, and of America,  in honour of the in-
human conquerors of Mexico and Peru.  More Hiftorians than one have given
i:s their elogium ; but divine Providence has done them jutticc. They all di-
ed a violent death, and moft of them I7 the hand of the executioner. 
                   STUDY  XIII.                 £9

"be proper to know beforehand, whether that ftrange ma-
 chine, which elevates men into the air, by means of  fire,
 or gas, fhall contribute to the happinefs of Mankind ; for
 the name of the inventor of gunpowder himfelf, were we
 capable of tracing it,  could not  be admitted into the re-
 treats of the benefaaors of Humanity.
   On approaching toward the centre of this Elyfium, we
 mould meet with monuments ftill more venerable, of thofe
 who, by their virtue, have tranfmitted to  pofterity, fruits
 far more delicious than thofe of the vegetables of Afia,
 and who have called into exercife the moft fublime of all
talents.  There fhould be placed the monuments, and the
 ftatues of the generous Duquefne, who himfelf fitted out a
 fquadron, at his  fale expenfe, in the defence of his  Coun-
 try :  Of the fage Catinat, equally tranquil in  the  moun-
 tains of Savoy, and in the humble retreat of St. Gratian ;
 and of the heroic Chevalier d'AJJas,  facriiicing himfelf by
 night, for  the prefervation of the French army,  in the
 woods of Klofterkam.
  There, fhould  be the illuftrious Writers, who inflamed
 their compatriots with the ardor of performing great ac-
 tions.   There we fhould fee  Amyot, leaning on the  buft
 of Plutarch; and Thou, who haft given, at once, the  the-
 ory, and the example of virtue, divine Author of Telema-
 chus ! we fhould revere thy afhes, and thy image, in an
 image of thofe Elyfian Fields, which thy pencil has delin-
eated in  fuch glowing colours.
  I would likewife give a place to the monuments of  em-
inent women,  for Virtue knows no  diftinaion of fax :
There fhould be  reared the ftatues of thofe who, with all
the charms of beauty, preferred a laborious and obfaure
life,  to the vain delights of the World ; of matrons who
reeftablifhcd order in a deranged  family ;  who, faithful to
the  memory of a hufband, frequently  chargeable with in-
fidelity, preferved  inviolate the conjugal vow,  even after
death had cancelled the obligation, and devoted youth to
.the education  of the dear pledges of an  union now no 
<5d           STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

more : And, finally, the  venerable effigies of  thofe  who
attained  the higheft  pinnacle of  diftinaion, by the  very
obfcurity of their virtues.   Thither fhould be tranfported
the tomb  of a Lady of Lamoignon, from the poor church
of Saint Giles,  where it remains -unnoticed ;  its affeaing
epitaph  would render it ftill more worthy of  occupying
this honourable flation, than the chifel of Girardon, whofe
mailer piece  it is  :  In it  we read  that a defign  had  been
entertained to bury her  body in another place ; but the
poor of  the parifh, to whom fhe was a mother all her life
long,  carried it off  by  force, and  depofited  it  in  theii
church :  They themfelves  would, undoubtedly, tr;anfport
the  remains of their  benefaarefs,  and refort to this  hal.
lowed fpot, to difplay them to the public veneration.

       Hie mantis ob Patriam, pugnando vulnera pafli;
       Qnique  Sacerdotes cafti, dum vita manebat;
       Clique  pti Vates, & Phcebo digna locuti;
       Inventas aut qui vitam excoluere per artes ;
       Qukiue fui memores alios fecere merendo.*
                                          jfENEiD. Book  vi.

                     * Thus imitated :
       Here, Patriot bands, who for their Country bled ;
       Prielis, who a life of pureft virtue led :
       Here, Bards fublime, fraught with ethereal fire,
       Whofe heavenly ftrains outvied Apollo's lyre :
       Divine Inventors of the ufeful Arts :
       All thofe whofe generous and expanfive hearts,
       By goodnefs fought to purchafe honeft fame ;
       And, dying, left behind a deathlefs name.

Had St.  PUrrt, in  the courfe of his travels, come over to this Ifland, and vifii.
cd Stowe, he would have found his idea of an  Elyfium anticipated, and uptfl
no mean fcale, by the great Lord Cobham, who has rendered every fpot, of
that terreftrial Paradife,  facred to the memory of departed excellence.   Whit
would have given our Author peculiar fatisfaftion, the Parifh  Church ftardl
in the centre of the Garden ; hence the People have unreftrained accefs to it i
the monuments are, for the moft part, patriotic, without regard to the  diftinc-
tions of rank and  fortune, except as allied to virtue ; and the beft infcriptioDi
are in plain Englifh, and humble profe.  In a beautifully folemn valley, wa-
|e;cd by a filent ftream, and (haded by the trees of the Country, flands the 
STUDY  XIII.                    6l
   "  Here  inhabit the  heroic bands  who bled in fighting
 " the battles of their Country ;  the facred minifters of re-
 " ligion, whofe life exhibited unfullied purity ; venerable
 " bards,  who uttered ftrains not unworthy of Apollo him-
 " felf; and  thofe, who, by the  invention of  ufeful  arts,
 " contributed to the comfort of human life  ;  all thofe, in

 Temple of the Britifh Worthies.  The decorations, and the arrangements are
 fimple : Only that there is mythological Mercury peeping over in the centre, to
 contemplate the  immortal fhades  whom he has conducted to the Elyfiaa
 Fields.  Were I  Marquis of BucKiN*HAM,the wing heeled God, with his
 eaduceus, and Latin motto, fhould no longer disfigure the uniformity and fim-
 plicity of that enchanting fcene ; and  if Charon's old crazy barge, too, were
 funk tothe  bottom, the place and the idea would he greatly improved.
  To thofe who have never been atStowe,  it may not be unacceptable to read
the Names ; and the charafteriftic Infcriptions, of this lovely  retreat,  confe-
 crated to Patriot'worth, exalted genius, and the love of the Human Race.

                  SIR THOMAS GRESHAM,

 Who, by the honourable profeffion of a Merchant, having enriched himfelf,
 and his Country, for carrying on the Commerce of the World, built the Roy-
 al Exchange.

                        IGNATIUS JONES,

 Who, to adorn his Country, introduced and  rivalled the Greek and Roman
 Architefture.

                        JOHN MILTON,

 Whofe fublime and unbounded genius equalled a fubjeft that carried him be-
 yond the limits of the World.

                  WILLIAM SHAKESPEAR,

 Whofe excellent genius opened to him the whole heart of Man, all the mines
of Fancy, all the ftores of Nature ;  and gave him power,  beyond  all  other
Writers, to move, aftonifh, and delight Mankind.

                        JOHN LOCKE,

Who, beft of all Philofophers, underftood the powers of the  Human Mind ;
the nature, end, and bounds of Civil Government; and, with equal courage
and fagacity, refuted the. flaviih fyftems of ufurped authority over the rights,
the confciencej, or the reafon of Mankind, 
6*
STUDIES   OF   NATURE.
 " a word, who, by deferving  well of Mankind, have pur.
 " chafed far themfelves a deathlefs name."
   There I would have, fcattered about, monuments of ev-
 ery kind, and apportioned to the various degrees of merit:
 Obelifks, columns, pyramids, urns, has reliefs, medallions,


                    SIR ISAAC  NEWTON,

 Whom the God of Nature made to comprehend his Works :  And, from firt>
 pie principles, to difcover the Laws never known before, and to explain
 the appearances, never underftood, of this ftupcndous Univcrfe.

         SIR FRANCIS BACON, (Lord Verulam.)

 Who, by the ftrength and light of a fuperior genius, rejecting vain fpeculation,
 and fallacious  theory, taught to purfue truth, and improve Philofophy by the
 certain method of experiment.

                        KING ALFRED,

 The mildeft, jufteft, moft beneficent of Kings ; who drove  out the Danes, fe.
 cured  the Seas, protected  Learning,  eftablifhed Juries, crufhed Corruption,
 guarded Liberty, and was the Founder of the Englifh Conftitution.

              EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES,

 The terror of  Europe, the delight of England ; who preferved, unaltered, in
 the height of Glory and Fortune, his  natural Gentlcnefs and Modefty.
                     i
                    QTJEEN ELIZABETH,

 Who confounded the projects, and deftroyed the Power that threatened to op.
 prefs the Liberties of Europe ; fhook off the yoke of  Ecclefiaftical Tyranny ;
 reftored Religion from the Corruptions of Popery ; and, by a wife, a mod-
erate, and a popular Government, gave Wealth, Security and Refpect to En-
gland.

                    KING WILLIAM III.

Who, by his Virtue and Conftancy, having faved his Country from i foreign
Mafter, by a bold and generous enterprife, preferved the Liberty and Relig-
 ion of Greatbritain.

                  SIR  WALTER RALEIGH,

 A valiant Soldier, and  an  able Statefman ; who, endeavouring to  roufe the
 fpirit of his Mafter, for the  Honour  of his Country, againft the ambition of 
study  xirr.                  63
 ftatues, tablets, periftyles, domes ; I would not have them
 crowded together, as  in a repofitory, but difpofed with
 tafte ; neither would I have  them all of white marble, as
 if they came out of the fame  quarry ;  but of marbles, and
 ftones, of every colour.  There  would  be no  occafion,
 through the whole extent of this  vaft enclofure, which I
 fuppofe  to be, at leaft, a mile and a half  in diameter, for
 the application of the  line, nor for digging up  the ground.,
 nor for grafs plots, nor for trees  cut into fhape,  and fan-
 taftically trimmed, nor for any thing refembling what is
 to be feen in  our gardens.  For a fimilar  reafon, I  would
 have no Latin infcriptions, nor mythological expreffions,
 nor any thing that favoured of the  Academy.   Still lefs
 would I admit of dignities, or of  honours, which call  to
 remembrance the vain ideas  of the  world ; I would  re-
 trench from them all the qualities which are deftroyed by
 death -,  no importance fhould there be afligned but  to
 good actions, which furvive the man and the citizen, and
 which are the only titles that pofterity cares for, and that
 God  recompenfes.   The infcriptions upon them fhould
 be  fimple, and  be  naturally fuggefted by each particular
 fubjecl.   I would not  fet the living a talking ufelefsly to
 the dead, and  to inanimate  objecls, as is the cafe in our
 epitaphs ; but  the  dead, and  inanimate  objects, fhould
 fpeak to the living, foi their inftruction, as among the An-

Soain, fell a facrificc to the influence of that Court, whofe arms he had vaa-
quifhcd, and whofe defigns he oppofcd.

                SIR  FRANCIS DRAKE,
Who, through many perils, was the firft of Britons  that adventured to fail
round the Globe ; and carried into unknown Seas and Nations, the  knowl-
edge and glory of the Englifh Name.

                   JOHN HAMPDEN,
Who, with great fpirit, and confummatc abilities, begun a noble oppofition ta
an aibitraiy Court, in defence of the Liberties of his Country ; fupported
them in Parliament, and died for them iu the Field. 
$4         STUDIES  OF NATURE.

cients.   Thefe correfpondencies of an invifible to a vifi-
ble nature, of a time remote to the time prefent, convey
to the foul the celeftial extenfion of infinity,  and  are
the  fource of  the  delight  which ancient  infcriptions
infpire.
  Thus, for example, on a rock planted amidft a tuft of
ftrawberry  plants  of Chili,  thefe words might  be  in-
fcribed :

           I WAS UNKNOWN TO EUROPE ;
                       BUT,
                 IN SUCH A YEAR,
   SUCH A PERSON, BORN IN SUCH A  PLACE,
            TRANSPLANTED  ME FROM
     THE  LOFTY MOUNTAINS  OF CHILI,
                     AND NOW
           I  BEAR FLOWERS  AND  FRUIT
      IN THE HAPPY CLIMATE OF FRANCE.

   Underneath a bas relief  of  coloured marble, which
 mould reprefent little children eating,  drinking, and play-
 ing, the following infcription might appear :

WE WERE EXPOSED IN  THE STREETS TO THE DOGS,
              TO FAMINE AND COLD ;
     SUCH  A COMPASSIONATE  FEMALE,
                OF  SUCH  A PLACE,
LODGED US, CLOTHED US, AND FED US WITH THE MILK
     WHICH  OUR OWN MOTHERS HAD DENIED.

   At the foot of a ftatue of white marble, of a young and
 beautiful woman, fitting, and wiping her eyes, with fymp-
 toms of grief and joy ; 
STUDY  XIII.
ta
                   I WAS ODIOUS         '
                         IN
        THE  SIGHT OF GOD  AND  MAN;
                         BUT,
             MELTED INTO PENITENCE,
   / have made my Peace -with Heaven by Contrition,
                      AND HAVE
REPAIRED THE MISCHIEF WHICH I HAD DONE TO MEN,
                         BY
              Befriending the Miferable.

   Near this might be infcribed,  under that -of a young
 girl, in mean attire, employed with  her diftaff and fpindle,
 and looking up to Heaven with rapture :

              I HAVE LEARNED TO DESPISE
       THE VAIN DELIGHTS OF THE WORLD ;
                      AND  NOW
               I ENJOY  HAPPINESS.

   Of thofe monuments, fome fhould exhibit no other elo-
 gium, but  the  name  fimply :  Such fhould be, for exam-
 ple, the tomb  which contained the afhes of the Author of
 Telemachus ; or, at moft,  1  would engrave  on it the fol-
 lowing words, fo expreflive of his affe&ionate and fublime
 character :

 HE FULFILLED  THE TWO GREAT PRECEPTS OF THE LAW:
          HE LOVED  GOD  AND MAN.

   I have no need to fuggeft,  that thefe infcriptions might
 be conceived in a much happier ftyle than  mine ; but I
 would  infill  upon this, that in  the  figures introduced,
 there fhould be difplayed no air of  infalence ; no difhev-
 elled locks flying about in the wind, like thofe of the An-
 gel founding the refurrection trumpet, no theatrical grief,
 and no violent tofling  of the  robes, like the Magdalene of
 the Carmelites ; no mythological attributes, which con-
   VOL. III.               l 
66         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
vey nothing  inftruaivc to the People.  Every perfonagr
fhould there  appear with his  appropriate badge of diftinc
tion : There fhould be exhibited the fea cap of the failor,
the cornet of the nun,  the ftool of the Savoyard, pots  for
milk, and pots for faup.
   Thefe ftatues of virtuous  citizens ought to be  fully as
refpe&able as thofe of the Gods of Paganifm, and unquef-
tionably more interefting than that of  the antique grinder.
or gladiator.   But it would  be  neceffary that our Artifts
fhould ftudy  to convey, as the Ancients did, the characlers
of the foul in the attitude of  the body, and in the traits of
the countenance, fuch as  penitence, hope, joy, fenfibility,
innocence.   Thefe are the peculiarities of Nature, which
never vary, and which always pleafe, whatever be the dra-
pery.  Nay,  the more contemptible that the occupations
and the garb of fuch  perfanages  are,  the  more  fublime
will appear the expreflion of  charity, of humanity, of in-
nocence, and of all their virtues.  A young and beautiful
female, labouring  like Penelope at her web, and modeflly
dreffed in a Grecian robe, with long plaits,  would there,
no doubt, prefent  an object pleafing to every one : But I
fhould  think her a thoufand  times  more interefting than
the figure of Penelope herfelf, employed in the fame-la-
bour, under the tatters of misfortune and mifery.
   There fhould be on thofe  tombs,  no fkeletons, no  bats
wings, no Time with his fcythe, no one of thofe terrifying
attributes, with which our flavifh education  endeavours to
infpire us with horror at  the thought  of death, that laft
benefit of Nature ;  but we  fhould  contemplate on them
fymbols, which announce a happy and immortal life ;  vef-
fels, fhattered by the tempeft, arriving fafe in port  ; doves
taking their Sight  toward Heaven, and the like.
   The facred effigies of  virtuous citizens, crowned with
flowers, with the characters of felicity, of  peace, and of
confolation, in their faces, fhould be arranged toward the
centre of  the ifland, around a vaft nioffy down, under the
trees of the Country, fach as flately beech trees, majeftia 
'S T U D Y  XIII.
67
pines, cheftnut trees loaded with fruit.  There, likewife,>
fhould be feen the vine wedded to the elm, and the apple
tree of Normandy, clothed with fruit of all the variety of
colours which flowers difplay.   From the middle of that
down fhould afcend a magnificent temple in farm of a ro-
tundo.  It fhould be furrounded with a periftyfe of majef-
tic columns, as was formerly at Rome the Moles Adriani.
But I could wifh it to be much more fpacious.  On the
irize thefe words might appear :

                         TO
     THE LOVE OF THE  HUMAN RACE.

  In the centre, I would have an altar fimple and unorna-
mented, at which, on certain days of the year, divine fer-
vice might be celebrated.  No production of faulpture,
nor of painting, no gold, nor jewels, fhould be deemed,
worthy of decorating the interior of this temple ;  but fa-
cred infcriptions fhould announce the kind of merit which
there received the  crown.  All thofe who might repofe
within the precinfts, undoubtedly would not  be  Saints.
But over the principal gate, on a tablet of white marble,
thefe divine words might meet the eye :

      Her Sins, which are many, are forgiven ;
                        FOR
               SHE LOVED  MUCH.

  'On another part  of the frize, the fallowing infcription,
which  unfolds the nature of our duties, might be dif-
played :

  VIRTUE IS AN EFFORT MADE UPON OURSELVES,
                        FOR
              THE GOOD OF MEN,
                   IN  THE  VIEW OF
             PLEASING GOD  ONLY, 
6fj         ST U DIES OF  NATURE.

  To this might be fubjoined the following, very mufifc
calculated to reprefs our ambitious emulations :
               THE SMALLEST ACT
                        OF
         VIRTUE IS  OF  MORE VALUE   '
             THAN THE EXERCISE OF
          THE GREATEST TALENTS.

  On other tablets might be  infcribed maxims of trufl in
the divine Providence, extracted from the Philofaphers of
all Nations ; fuch as the fallowing, borrowed  from the
modern Perfians :

     WHEN AFFLICTION IS AT THE  HEIGHT,
                       THEN
• We are tht moft encouraged to look for Confolation.
    THE NARROWEST PART OF THE DEFILE IS
                        AT
            The Entrance of the Plain*,

And that other of the fame country :

  WHOEVER HAS CORDIALLY DEVOTED  HIS SOUL
                   TO GOD,
HAS EFFECTUALLY SECURED HIMSELF AGAINST ALL THE ILLS
                WHICH CAN BEFAL HIM,
 BOTH IN THIS WORLD, AND IN THE NEXT.

There might be inferted fame of a philofophic caft, on the
vanity of human things,  fuch as the following :

         ESTIMATE EACH OF YOUR  DAYS
By Pleafures,by Loves, by Treafures, and by Grandeufs;
                 THE LAST WILL
      ACCUSE THEM ALL  OF VANITY.
* Chardin't Palace of Ifpahaa. 
                    STUDY  XIII.                6g

 Or that other, which opens to us a perfpective of the life
 to come :

            HE WHO  HAS  PROVIDED
    LIGHT FOR THE EYE OF MAN, SOUNDS FOR HIS*EAR,
  PERFUMES FOR HIS SMELL, AND FRUITS FOR HIS PALATE,
                      WILL KINO
     The Means of One Day replcnifhing his Heart,
       WHICH NOTHING HERE BELOW CAN SATISFY.

 And that other, which inculcates Charity toward men from
 the motives of felf intereft :

           WHEN  A MAN STUDIES THE WORLD,
       He prizes thofe only who pojfefs Sagacity ;
                         BUT,
            WHEN HE STUDIES HIMSELF,
     He efleems only thofe who exercife Indulgence.

   I would have the following infcribed round the cupola,
 in letters of antique bronze :

 Mandatum novum do  vobis, ut diligatis invicem fcut di-
          lexi vos, ut et vos diligatis invicem.
                                Joan, cap xiii. v. 34.

A NEW COMMANDMENT I GIVE UNTO YOU, THAT YE
    LOVE ONE ANOTHER; AS I HAVE LOVED YOU,
        THAT YE ALSO LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

  In order  to  decorate this temple externally, with a be-
coming dignity, no ornament would be neceffary, except
thofe of Nature.  The firft rays  of the rifing, and the laft
of the fatting Sun, would gild its cupola, towering above
the  forefts :  In the day time, the fires of the South, and
by night, the luftre of the Moon, would trace its majeftic
(hadow on the  fpreading down :  The Seine would repeat 
 fO          STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

 the reflexes of it in its flowing ftream.   In vain would the
 tempeft rage around its enormous vault ;  and when the
 hand of Time fhould have bronzed it with mofs, the oaks
 of the Country fhould iflue from its antique cornices, and
 the eagles  of Heaven, hovering round and round, would
 refart thither to build their nefts.
   Neither talents, nor  birth,  nor  gold, fhould  cortftitute
 a  title for claiming the honour of a monument in this pa-
 triotic and holy ground.  But it will be afked, Who  is to
 judge, and to decide, the merits of the perfons whofe afh-
 es are to be there depofned ? The King alone fhould have
 the power of decifion, and the People the privilege of re-
 porting the caufe.   It fhould not  be fufHcient  far a  citi-
 zen, in order to his obtaining  this  kind  of diftinclion, that
 he had cultivated a new plant in a hot houfe, or even in his
 garden ; but it fhould be requifite to have it  naturalized
 in the open field, and the fruit of it carried for fale to the
 public market.  It ought not  to be deemed fufficient, that
 the model of an ingenious  machine was preferved in the
 collection of an Artift, and approved by the  Academy of
 Sciences ;  it fhould be required to have the machine itfelf
 in the hands of the People, and converted to their ufe. It
 ought by no means to fuffice, in  order to eftablifh the
 claim of a literary Work, that the prize had been adjudg-
 ed to it  by the French Academy ;  but that  it fhould be
 read by that clafs of men for  whofe ufe ij; was  defigned.
 Thus, for example,  a patriotic Ode  fhould be accounted
good for nothing, unlefs it were fung about the ftreets by
the common people.  The merit  of a naval   or military
 Commander fhould be  afcertained, not by the report oi
 Gazettes, but by the fuffrages  of the failors or foldiery.
   The People, in truth, diflinguifh hardly any other  vir-
tue in the citizen except beneficence :  They  confult  only
their own leading want ; but their inftincr, on this article,
is  conformable to the divine Law : For all  the virtues ter-
 minate in that, even thofe which appear the moft remote
 from  it ; and fuppofing there  were rich men  who meant 
STUDY  X 11 r.
7*
to captivate their affections, by doing them good, that  is
precifely the  feeling with  which we propofe to infpire
them.   They would fulfil their duties, and the lofty and
the low conditions of humanity would be reduced  to a
ftate of approximation.
   From an Inftitution of  this  kind  would  refult the
reeftablifhment  of  one  of the Laws of Nature,  of all
others the moft important to a Nation ;  I mean an inex-
hauftible perfpective of infinity, as neceffary to the happi-
nefs of a whole Nation, as to that of an individual.  Such
is, as we have caught a glimpfe in another place, the na-
ture of  the human mind ; if  it  perceives not infinity in
its profpefts, it falls back  upon itfelf, and  deftroys itfelf
by the   exertion of its  own  powers.  Rome  prefent-
ed to the patriotifm of  her citizens the conqueft of the
World  :  But that  objecl  was  too limited.   Her  laft
victory  would  have proved the  commencement of  her
ruin.   The eftablifhment which I am now  propofing, is
not fubjected to this inconveniency.   No object can poffi-
bly be propofed to Man more unbounded, and  more pro-
found, than that  of his  own latter end.   There are no
monuments more varied, and more agreeable,  than thofe
of virtue.  Were there to be reared annually, in  this
Elyfium,  but a  fingle tablet  of the  marble of Britan-
ny, or of the granite of Auvergne, there would always be
the means of keeping the People awake, by the fpe&acle
of novelty.  The provinces of the kingdom would difpute
with the Capital, the privilege of introducing the monu-
ments of their virtuous inhabitants.
  What an auguft Tribunal might be formed, of Bifhops
eminent for their piety, of upright Magiftrates,  of cele-
brated Commanders of armies, to examine  their feveral
pretenfions ! What memoirs might one day appear, prop-
er to create an intereft in the  minds  of the People, who
fee nothing in  their library, but  the fentences of  death
pronounced on illuftrious criminals, or the lives of Saints,
which are far above their fphere.  How many  new fab-- 
yd           STUDIES  OF  NATURE-

jecls for our men of letters, who have nothing for it, fcpf
to trudge eternally over the beaten ground of  the age  of
Louis  XIV? or to prop up the reputation of the Greeks
and Romans ! What curious  anecdotes  for our wealthy
voluptuaries ! -They pay a very high price for the Hi ftp-
ry of an American infe£l, engraved in every poflible man-
ner, and ftudied through the microfcope, minute by min.
ute,  in all the phafes  of its exifience.   They would not
have lefs pleafure  in  ftudying the  manners  of a poor
collier, bringing up his family virtuoufly in the forefts,  in
the midft of fmugglers and banditti; or thofe of a wretch-
ed fifhermart, who, in finding delicacies for their  tables, is
obliged to live, like a heron, in the midft of tempefts.
   I have no doubt that thefe  monuments, executed with
the tafle which we are capable  of difplaying, would attract
crowds of rich ftrangers to Paris.  They refart  hither al-
ready to live in it, they  would  then flock hither to die
among us.   They would endeavour to deferve well of a
Nation become the  arbiter of  the virtues of Europe, and
to acquire a laft afylum, in the holy land of this Elyfium;
where all virtuous and  beneficent men would be  reputed
citizens.  This eftablifhment,  which might be  formed,
undoubtedly,  in  a  manner  very fuperior to the feeble
fketch which I have prefented of it, would ferve to bring
the higher conditions of  life into contacT with the lower,
much better than our churches themfelves, into which av-
arice and ambitipn frequently introduce among the citi-
zens, diftinctions  more humiliating, than are  to be  mel
with even in Society.   It would allure foreigners to the
Capital, by holding out to them the rights of a citizenfhip
illuftrious and immortal.  It would unite, in a word, Re-
ligion to Patriotifm, and Patriotifm to Religion, the mu-
tual bonds of which are on the point of being torn afunder.
   It is not neceffary for me to fubjoin, that this  eftablifh-
ment would be attended with no expenfe  to the State.   It
might be reared, and kept up, by the revenue of fame rich
abbey, as it  would be confecrated to Religion, and to the 
STUDY  XII r.
7%
rewards of virtue.  There is no reafon why it fhould be-
come, like the monuments of modern  Rome, and even
like  many of our own royal monuments, an object of
filthy lucre to individuals, who fell the fight of them to
the curious.   Particular care would be  taken not to ex-
clude the  People, becaufe  they are meanly  habited; nor
to hunt out of it, as we do from our public gardens, poor
and honeft artifans in jackets, while well dreffed courte-
fans  flaunt about with effrontery, in their great alleys.
The loweft of the commonalty fhould  have  it in their
power to enter, at all  feafons.   It  is to you, O ye mifer-
able  of all conditions,  that the fight of the friends of Hu-
manity fhould of right appertain  ; and your  patrons are
henceforth no where but  among the  ftatues of virtuous
men !  There, a faldier, at fight of  Catmat, would learn to
endure calumny.  There, a girl of the town, fick of her
infamous  profeffion, would,  with a  figh,  caft  her  eyes
down to the ground, on beholding the ftatue of Modefty
approached with honour and refpect : But at. fight of that
of a female of her own condition, reclaimed to the paths
of virtue, fhe would raife them toward Him who prefer-
red repentance to innocence.
   It may be objefted  to me, That our poorer  fort would
very foon fpread deftruclion over all thofe  monuments  ;
and it muft, indeed, be admitted,  that they  feldom fail to
treat in this manner, thofe which  do not  intereft  them.
There fhould, undoubtedly, be a police  in this place ; but
the People refpect monuments which are deftined to their
ufe.   They commit ravages in a park, but do not wanton-
ly deftroy any thing in the open  country.   They would
foon take the Elyfium of  their Country under their own
protection, and watch over it  with zeal much more ar-
dent than that of Swifs, and military guards.
   Befides, more than  one  method might  be  devifed,  to
render that  fpot refpe&able and dear to them.  It ought
to be rendered an inviolable afylum to the unfortunate of
every defcription ; far example,  to fathers who have m-
   VOL. Ill,              K. 
 73          STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

 curred the debt of the month's nurfing of a child ; ari
 to thofe who have  committed venial and  inconfiderate
 faults ;  it would be proper to prohibit any arrcfl taking
 place there,  upon any one's  perfon, except by an exprefs
 warrant from the King, under his own fignature.  This
 likewife fhould be the place to  which laborious  families,
 out of employment,  might be  direcTed to addrefs them-
 felves.  There ought to be a flrift prohibition to make it
 a place of almfgiving, but  an unbounded permifiion to do
 good in it.  Perfons  of virtue, who underftand  how to
 diftinguifh,  and to employ men, would refort thither in
 queft  of proper objecls, in whofe  behalf they might em*
 ploy their credit ; others,  in the view of  putting refpect
 on the memory of fome illuftrious perfonage, would give
 a repaft, at the foot of his  ftatue, to a family of poor peo-
 ple.   The State would fet the  example of this, at certain
 favourite epochs, fuch as a feftival in honour of the King's
 birth dav.   Provifions might then  be diftributed among
 the populace, not by  toiling loaves  at their heads, as in
 our public rejoicings ; but  they  might be  claffed, and
 made to fit down on the grafs, in profeflional affemblages,
 round the ftatues of thofe who invented, improved, or per-
 fefted the feveral arts.  Such repafts  would  have no re-
 femblance  to thofe which the rich fometimes give to the
 wretched, out of ceremony, and in which they refpeclful-
 ly wait  upon their  humble gueils, with napkins, under
 their  arm.   The perfons who gave the  entertainment
 fhould be obliged to fit down at table with their company,
 and to eat and drink with them.  It would be needlefs to
 impofe on them the tafk of waffling the feet of the poor;
 but they might be admonifhed of rendering to  them a fer-
 vice of  much  more  real importance, that of fupplying
 them with fhoes  and ftockings.
   There the man of wealth would  be inftru£lcd really to
 praftife virtue, and the People to  know it.   The Nation
would  there  learn their  great  duties, and  be aflifted  in
forming a juft idea of true greatnefs.   They would behold 
"STUDY  XIII.
75
the homage prefented to the memory of virtuous men, and
the offerings  tendered to  the  Deity, ultimately applied
to the relief of the miferable.
   Such repafts would recal to our remembrance the love
feafts of  the  primitive Chriflians, and the Saturnalia of
death, toward which -every day is carrying us forward, and
which, by fpeedily reducing us all to an eftate of equali-
ty, will efface every  other  difference among us,  except
that of the good which we fhall have done in life.
   In the  days of other times,  in order to do honour to the
memory of virtuous men, the faithful affembled in  places
confecrated by their actions, or by their fepulchres, on the
brink of a fountain, or under the fhade of a  foreft.  Thith-
er they had provifions carried, and invited  thofe who had
none, to come and partake with them.  The fame cuftoms
have been common to all religionc.   They ftill fubfift in
thofe of Afia.  You find  them prevailing among -the an-
cient Greeks.  When Xenophon had accomplifhed that
famous retreat, by which he  faved  ten thoufand of his
compatriots,  ravaging, as  he went, the territory of  Perfia,
he deftined part  of the booty  thus obtained, to the found-
ing of a chapel, in Greece, to the honour of Diana.  He
attached  to it a  certain revenue, which fhould annually
 {apply with  the amufement of the chace, and with a plen-
 tiful repaft, all perfons who fhould repair  to  it on a par-
ticular day.
                  OF THE CLERGY.

  If our poor are fometimes partakers of fome wretched
ecclefiaftical difhibution, the relief which they thence de-
rive, fo far from delivering them out of their mifery, only
ferves  to continue them in it.   What landed property,
however, has been bequeathed  to the  Church, exprefsly
for their benefit ! Whv, then,  arc  not  the  revenues dif- 
76         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

tributed,  in  fums fufficiently  large, to  refcue  annually
from indigence, at leaft a certain  number of  families t
The Cluyv  allege, that they are the adniiniftrators of the
goods of the poor : But the poor are  neither  idiots nor
madmen, to  ftand in need of admiriiftrators :  Befides, it
is impoflible to prove, by any one paffage  of either the
Old or New Teftament, that this charge  pertained to the
priefthood :  If they really  are  the adminiftrators  of the
poor, they have, then, no lefs than feven  millions of per-
fons, in the kingdom, in their temporal adrniniftration.  I
fhall pufh this reflexion no farther.   It is a matter of tin-
changeable obligation to render to every one his due : The
priefts are, by divine right, the agents of the poor, but the
Kinp alone is the natural adminiftrator.
   As indigence  is  the principal caufe of the vices  of the
People, opulence may, like it, produce, in its turn, irreg-
ularities  in the  Clergy.  I fhall not avail myfelf here of
the reprehenfions  of St. Jerome, of St.  Bernard, of St.
Auguflin, and of the other Fathers  of the Church, to the
Clergy of their times, and of the Countries in which  they
lived ; wherein they predi&ed to them  the total deflruc-
tion of Religion, as a neceffary confequence of their man.
ners and  of their riches.   The prediction of  feveral of
them was fpeedily verified in Africa, in Afia, in Judea,
and in the Grecian Empire, in which not only the relig-
ion, but the very civil government  of  thofe Nations, to-
tally difappeared.  The avidity of moft ecclefiaftics  foon
renders the functions of  the  Church fufpicious : This is
an argument  which ftrikes all men.   I  believe  witneffes,
faid  Pafcal, who brave death.   This reafaning, however,
muft be admitted, not without many grains of allowance ;
but no objeftion can be offered  to this : I diftruft  wit-
neffes Who are enriching themfelves  by their  teftimony.
Religion, in truth, has proofs natural and fupernatural, far
fuperior  to thofe which men  are capable of furnifhing  it
with.  She is independent of our  regularity, and of our
irregularity j  but our Country depends  on thefe. 
6 T U D Y XIII.
71
  The World, at this day, looks on moft priefts with an
-eye of envy—Shall  I  fay  of  hatred ? But they are the
children of their  age, juft like other men.  The vices
which are laid to their charge, belong partly to their  Na-
tion, partly to the times in which they live, to the politi-
cal conftitution of the State, and to their education.  Ours
are  Frenchmen, like  ourfelves ; they are  our  kinfmen,
frequently facrificed to our own fortune, through the  am-
bition of our fathers.  Were  we charged  with  the  per-
formance of their duties, we fhould frequently acquit our-
felves worfe than they do.  I know  of  none fo painful,
none fa worthy of refpect, as thofe of a good ecclefiaftic.
   I do  not fpeak of thofe of a Bifhop, who exercifes a
vigilant care  over his diocefe, who  inflitutes judicious
feminaries of  inftru6lion, who maintains  regularity  and
peace in communities, who refills the wicked, and fupports
the weak, who is always ready to  fuccour the miferable,
and who, in this age of error, refutes the  objections of the
enemies of the faith, by his own virtues.   He has his re-
ward in the public efteem.  It is  poflible to purchafe, by
painful labours, the glory  of being a Fenelon, or a Juigne.
I fay nothing of  thofe of a parifh minifter, which, from
their importance, fometimes attracl the attention of Kings;
nor of thofe of a miflionary, advancing to  the crown of
jnartyrdom.   The conflicts of  this laft frequently endure
but  far a fingle day, and  his  glory is immortal.  But I
fpeak of thofe of  a fimple and obfeure parifh drudge, to
whom no one pays any manner of attention.  He is under
the neceffity, in the firft place,  of facrificing the pleafures,
and the liberty, of his juvenile days, to irkfame and pain-
ful ftudies.  He is obliged to  fupport, all the days of his
life, the exercife of  continency, like a cumberfome  cui-
rafs, on a thoufand occafions which endanger the lofs of
it.  The World honours theatrical virtues only, and  the
viaories of a fingle moment.   But to combat, day after
day, an enemy lodged within the fartrefs, and who makes
his approaches under the difguife of a friend ; to repel in- 
78           STUDIESOF  NATURE.

ceffantly, without a witnefs, without  glory, without ap,
plaufe, the moft impetuous of paffions, and the gentleft of
propenfities—this is not eafy.
   Conflifts of another  kind  await him,  from  without.
He is  every day called upon  to expofe his life to the at-
tack of epidemical diftempers.  He is obliged to confefs,
with his head on the fame pillow, perfons attacked  with
the fmall pox, with the putrid and the purple fever.  This
obfcure  fortitude appears to me  very far fuperior  to the
courage of a foldier. The military man combats in the view
of armies, animated with the noife of cannon and drums ;
he prefents himfelf to the flroke of death as a hero.  But
the prieft devotes himfelf to it as a victim.   What fortune
can this laft promife himfelf  from his  labours ? In many
cafes,  a precarious fubfiftence at  moft ! Befides, fuppof-
ing him to have acquired wealth, he cannot tranfmit it to
his defcendants.  He beholds all his temporal hopes ready
to expire with him.  What  indemnification does he re-
ceive from men ? To be called upon, many a time, to ad-
minifter the  confolations of Religion, to perfons who do
not believe it ; to be the refuge of the poor, with nothing
to give them ; to be fometimes  perlecuted  for his  very
virtues ; to fee his conflicts treated with contempt, his belt
intentioned aftions mifinterpreted  into artifice, his virtuei
transformed into vices, his  religion turned into  ridicule,
Such are  the  duties  impofed, and fuch the  recompenfe
which the World beftows on the men whofe lot it envies.
   This is what I have affumed the courage to propofe, for
the happinefs of the People, and of the principal orders of
the State, in fo far as I have been permitted to fubmit my
ideas to the public  eye.   Many Philofophers  and Politi-
cians have declaimed againft the difordcrs of Society,  with-
out troubling themfelves to enquire into their caufes, and
ftill lefs into the remedies which might be applied. Thofe
of the greateft ability have viewed our evils  only in de-
tail, and have  recommended  palliatives merely.  Some
have profcribed luxury ; others give  no quarter to celi* 
                   STUDY  XIII,                 j§          11

bacy, and would load with the charge of a family, perfons          ; Jl
who have not the means of  fupplying their perfonal  ne-           ;
ceflities.   Some are for incarcerating  all  the  beggars ;          ijjljfy
others  would prohibit the wretched women of pleafure to          jW<
appear in the  ftreets.   They  would  aa in  the manner
which  that phyfician does, who, in order to  cure the pim-
ples on the body of a perfon out of order, ufes all his fkill
to  force back the humours.  Politicians, you  apply  the
remedy to  the head, becaufe the pain is in  the forehead ;
but the mifchief is in the nerves  : It is for the heart you
muft provide a cure ; it is the People,  whofe health you
muft endeavour to reftore.
   Should fome great Minifter, animated with  a noble am-
bition, to procure for us internal happinefs, and to extend
our power externally, have the courage to undertake a re-
eftablifhment of things, he muft, in his courfe of proce-            j
dure, imitate that of Nature.  She aas, in every cafe, flow-
ly, and by means of reaftions.   I repeat it, the caufe of
the prodigious power of gold, which has robbed the Peo-
ple at  once of  their morality, and of  their fubfiftence, is
in the  venality of public employments.   That of the beg-
gary, which, at  this day, extends to feven millions of fub-
jefts, confifts in the enormous accumulation of landed and
official property.  That of  female proftitution, is to  be
imputed, on the one hand, to extreme indigence ; and on
the other, to the celibacy of two millions of  men.  The
unprofitable  fuperabundance of the idle and cenforious-
burghers in our fecond and third rate cities, arifes  from
the imports which degrade the inhabitants of the country.
The prejudices  of the Nobility are kept  alive by the  re-
fentments of thofe who want the advantage of birth  ; and            :
all thefe evils, and others innumerable,  phyfical and  intel-
leftual, fpring up out of  the mifcry of  the  People.  It is
the indigence of the People  which produces fuch fwarms
of  players., courtefans,  highwaymen, incendiaries,   licen-
tious faholars, calumniators, flatterers, hypocrites, mendi-
cants,  kept  miflrcffes, quacks of  all conditions, and that           [
                                                                 i 
So
STUDIES  Or NATURE.
infinite  multitude of corrupted wretches, who, incapable
of coming to any thing by their virtues, endeavour to pro-
cure bread and confidcration by their vices.  In vain will
you oppofe to thefe, plans of finance, projects of e ,iulua-
tion of taxes and tithes, of ordonances of police, of arrets
of Parliament;  all your efforts will be fraitlefs.  The in-
digence of the People  is a mighty river, which  is, every
year, colleaing an increafe ot ftrength, which is fweeping
away before it every oppofing mound, and which will if.
fue in.a total fubverfion of order and government.
  To this phyfical caufe of our diftreffes, muft be added
another, purely moral ; I mean our education.  1 fhall
venture to fuggeft a few refleftions on this fubjeft, though
it  far exceeds my higheft powers : But if it be the moft
important of  our abufes, it appears to me, on the other
hand, the moft eafily fufceptible of reformation ; and this
reform appears to me fo abfolutely neceffary, that, with.
out it, all the reft goes far nothing.
* 
ITUDY  XIV.                8j
STUDY  FOURTEENTH.
                 OF EDUCATION.


  1 O what higher objeft," fays Plutarch* " could Tta-
" ma have direfted his attention, than to the culture of
" early infancy, and  to uniformity  in the  treatment of
" young perfons ; in  the  view of preventing the col-
" lifionof different manners, and turbulency of fpirit arif-
11 ing from  diverfity of nurture ? Thus he propofed to
" harmonife the minds of men, in a ftate of maturity, from
" their having been, in childhood, trained in the fame hab-
" its of order, and caft into the fame mould of virtue.
" This, independent of other advantages, greatly contrib-
" uted, likewife, to the fupport of the Laws of Lycurgus ;
" for refpecl to the oath, by which the Spartans had bound
" themfelves, muft have produced a much more powerful
" effeft, from bis having, by early inftruftion and nurture,
u died in the wool, if I may ufe the expreflion, the morals
" of the young, and  made them fuck  in, with the milk
" from their nurfe's  breaft, the love of his Laws and In-
" ftitutions."
  Here is  a decifion, which  completely condemns  our
mode of education, by pronouncing the elogium of that of
Sparta.   I do not hefitate a fingle  moment to afcribe to

             * Comparifon of Numa apd L\(itrgus,
   VOL. nr.              L 
8*
STUDIES  OF  NATURE..
 our modern education,  the reftlefs, ambitious,  fpiteful,
 pragmatical, and intolerant fpirit of moft Europeans.  The
 effeas of it are vifible in the miferies of the Nations.   It
 is remarkable, that  thofe which have been  moft agitated
 internally and externally, are precifely the Nations among
 which our boafted  ftyle of education has flourifhed the
 moft.  The truth of this may be ascertained, by  ftepping
 from country to  country, from age to  age.  Politicians
 have imagined', that  they could difcern the caufe of public
 misfortunes in the different farms  of Government.  But
 Turkey is quiet, and England is frequently in a ftate o£
 agitation.   All political forms are  indifferent to  the hap-
 pinefs of a State, as  has been faid, provided the Peoplftre
 happy.  We might  have added,.and provided the children
 are  fa likewife.
   The Philofopher  Lalouberl, Envoy from  Louis  XIV.
 to Siam, fays,  in the account which he gives of  his mif.
 lion, that the Afiatics laugh us to fcorn, when we boaft to
 them of the excellence of the Chriftian Religion, as con-
 tributing to the happinefs of States.  They afk, on read-
 ing  our Hiftories, How  it is poflible that our  Religion
 fhould be fo humane, while we wage war ten times  more
 frequently than they do ? What would  they  fay, then,
 did they fee  among  us our perpetual law fuits, the mali-
 cious cenfarioufnefs  and calumny of our focieties, the jeal-
 oufy of corps, the quarrels of the populace, the duels  of
 the better fart,  and our animofities of every kind, nothing
 fimilar to which is to be feen in Afia, in Africa, among the
Tartars, or among Savages, on the teftimony of mifhona-
ries  themfelves ? For  my own- part, I difcern the caufe
of all thefe particular and general difarders,  in our ambi-
tious education.   When a man has drunk, from  infancy
upward,, into the cup of ambition, the thirft of it cleaves
to  him all his life long, and it degenerates into a burning
fever at the very feet of the altars.
  It  is not Religion, affuredly,  which  occafions this.  I
cannot explain how it comes to pafs, that kingdoms, caJLL 
STUDY  X IV.                 '$3
'•rng themfelves Chriftian, fhould have adopted ambition as
 the bafis of public education.   Independently of their po-
 litical conftitution, which  forbids it to all  thofe of their
 fubjeas who have not money, that «s  to the greateft part
 of them, there is no paffion fo  uniformly  condemned  by
 Religion.  We have obferved,  that there are but two paf-
 fions in the heart of Man, love and ambition.  Civil Laws
 denounce the fevereft punifhment againft  the exceffes of
 the firft :  They reprefs, as far as  their power-extends,  the
 more violent emotions of it.  Prostitution is branded with
 infamous penalties ; and,  in fome countries, adultery is
 punifhed even  with death.  But  thefe fame Laws meet
 the fecond  more than half way ;  they, every where, pro-
 pofe to it prizes, rewards, and  honours.  Thefe opinions
 force their way, and exercife dominion, in cloifters them-
 felves.   It is avgrievous fcandal to a convent, if the am-
 orous intrigues of a monk  happen  to take air ; but what
 elogiums are beftowed on thofe which procure him a car-
 dinal's hat 1  What raillery, imprecation, and malediaion,
 are the portion of imprudent weaknefs! What gentle and
 honourable epithets are applied to  audacious craft ! No-
 ble emulation, love of glory, fpirit, intelligence, merit re-
 warded ; with how many glorious appellations do we pal-
 liate  intrigue, flattery, fimony, perfidy, and all the vices
 which walk, in all States, in the train  of the ambitious !
   This is  the way in which the World  forms its judg-
 ments ; but Religion, ever conformable to  Nature, pro-
 nounces a very different decifion on the characters of thefe
 two paffions.   Jesus invites the  communications of  the
 frail Samaritan woman, he  pardons  the adulterefs, he ab-
 folves the  female offender  who  bathed his feet with  her
 tears  ; but hear how he  inveighs againft the ambitious  :—
 "  Woe unto you, faribes and  pharifees, for ye love  the
 "  uppermoft feats in the fynagogues, and the chief places
 "  at feafts, and greetings in the markets, and to  be called
 "  of men  Rabbi ! Woe unto yos, alfa, ye  lawyers ;  for
 c'  ye lade men with burdens grievous  to be borne, and ye 
$4         STUDIES OF  NATURE.

" yourfalves touch  not the burdens with one of your fin-
*' gfers !  Woe unto you,  lawyers, for ye have taken away
" the key of knowledge :  Ye entered not in yourfalves, and
" them that were entering  in, ye hindered* !" and fo on.
He declares to them that,  notwithstanding their  empty
honours in this World, harlots fhould go before them in-
to the kingdom of God.  He cautions us, in many places,
to be on our guard againft them ; and intimates that we
fhould  know them by their fruits.  In pronouncing de-
cifions fa different  from  ours, He judges our paffions ac-
cording to  their natural adaptations.   He pardons profti-
tution, which is  in itfelf a  vice, but which, after all, is a
frailty only, relatively to the order of Society ; and He
condemns,  without mercy, the fin of ambition, as a crime
which is contrary, at once, to the  order of Society, and to
that of  Nature.  The firft involves the diftrefs of only-
two guilty perfons,  but the fecond affaas the happinefs of
Mankind.
   To this our doaors reply, that the only objea pui fued
in the education of children, is  the  infpiring them with
a virtuous emulation.  I do not believe there  is fuch a
thing in our Colleges, as  exercifes of  virtue, unlefs it be
to prefcribeto the ftudents, on this fubjea, certain themes,
or amplifications.   But  a real ambition is taught, by en-
gaging them to difpute  the firft  place in  their  feveral
claffes, and to adopt a thoufand intolerant fyftems.  Ac-
cordingly, when they have once got the key of knowledge
in their pocket, they refolutely determine, like their maf-
ters, to let no one enter but by their door.
   Virtue and ambition are abfolutely incompatible.   The
glory of ambition is to mount, and that of virtue is  to de-
scend.  Obferve  how Jesus Christ  reprimands his
difaiples, when they afked him who fhould be the firft
among them.  He takes a little child,  and places him in
the midft :  Not, furely, a child  from our fchools.   Ah !
• Luke xi. 43, &e. 
S T U D V XIV.
«5
vhen He recommends to  us  the  humility  fa  fuitable to
our frail and miferable condition, it is becaufe He did not
confider that power, even fupreme, was capable of confti-
tuting our happinefs  in this World ;  and it is worthy of
being remarked, that He  did not conter the fuperiority
over  the reft on the difaiple whom he loved the moft ; but
as a reward to the  love ot  him who had been faithful unto
death, He bequeathed to  him, with his dying hreath, his
own mother as a legacy.
   This pretended  emulation, inftilled into  children, ren-
ders them, tor  life, intolerant,  vainglorious, tremblingly
alive  to the flighteft cenfure, or the meanelt token of ap-
plaufe from an unknown perfon.  They are trained to
ambition, we are told,  for their  good,  in  order to their
profpering in the World ;  but the cupidity natural to the
human mind is more than  fuflicient  for  the attainment of
that objeft.  Have merchants, mechanics, and  all the lu-
crative profeffions, in other words, all the  conditions of
Society ; have they need  of any other ftimulus ? Were
ambition to be  inftilled  into the mind of only one child,
deftined, at length, to fill  a flation of high importance,
this education,  which is by no means exempted  from in-
conveniences, would  be adapted, at  leaft, to  the  career
which the young man had  in  profpea.  But by  infufing
it into all, you  give each individual as many opponents as
he has got companions ; you render the whole unhappy,
by means of each other.  Thofe who are incapable of rif-
ing by their talents, endeavour to infinuate themfelves in-
to the good graces of their  mafters by flattery, and to fup-
plant  their equals by calumny.   If thefe, means  fuGceed
not, they conceive an averfion for the objeas of their em-
ulation, which,  to their comrades, has all the value of ap-
plaufe, and becomes, to themfelves, a  perpetual fource of
depreffion, of chaftifement, and of tears.
  This is the reafon that fo many grown men endeavour
to banifh from their memory, the times and the objeas of
their  early ftudies, though it be natural, to the  heart of 
86
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
 Man,  to recollea  with  delight the epochs  of  infancy.
 How many behold, in the maturity  of life, the bowers of
 ofiers, and the ruftic canopies, which ferved for  their in-
 fant fleeping and dining apartments, who could not look,
 without  abhorrence, upon a  Turfelin or a Defpauter ! I
 have no doubt that thofe difgufts, of early education, ex-
 tend a moft baleful influence to that love with which we
 ought to be animated toward  Religion, becaufe its  ele-
 ments, in like manner, are difplayed only through the me-
 dium of gloom, pride, and inhumanity.
   The plan of moft mailers confifts,  above all, in com-
 pofing the exterior of their pupils.  They  form,  on the
 fame model, a multitude of charaaers, which Nature  had
 rendered effentially different.  One will have his to be
 grave and ftately, as if they were fo many little prefidents;
 others, and they are the  moft numerous,  wifh  to make
 theirs alert and lively.  One of the great burdens of the
 leffan is, an inceffant fillip of : " Come on, make haftc,
 w don't be lazy."  To this itnpulfion limply, I afcribe the
general giddinefs of our youth, and of which the Nation
 is accufed.   It is the impatience of  the  mafter which, in
 the firft inftance, produces the precipitancy of the fcholars.
 It, afterwards, acquires ftrength, in the commerce of the
 World, from the impatience of the women.' But, through
 the progrefs of human life, is not reileclion of much high-
 er importance than promptitude ? How many children are
deftined to fill fituations which require ferioufnefs and fo-
 lemnity ? Is not refleaion the bafis of prudence, of temper-
ance, of wifdom,  and of moft of the other moral qualities ?
 For my own part, I have always feen honeft people abun-
dantly tranquil, and rogues always alert.
  There is, in this refpea, a very  perceptible difference,
between two children, the  one of whom has  been educated
 in his Father's houfe, and  the  other, at a public  fahool.
 The firft is, beyond  all contradiftion, more polite, more
 ingenuous, lefs jealoufly difpofed ;  and, from this fingle
 circumftancc, that he has been brought up without the de- 
study  xrv.                 87
fire of excelling any one, and ftill lefs of furpaffing him-
felf, according to our great  fafhionable  phrafeology, but
as deftittite of common fenfe as many others of the kind.
Is not a child, influenced by the emulation of the fchools,
under the neceflity of  renouncing it, from the very firft
ftep he makes in the World, if he means to be  fupporta-
ble to his equals, and to himfelf ? If he propofes to him-
felf no  other objeft but  his own advancement, Will he
not be affliaed at the profperity of another ?  Will he not,
in the courfe of his progrefs, be liable to  have his mind
torn with  the averfions,  the jealoufies, and  the  defire«,
which muft  deprave it,  both  phyfically and  morally*?
Do not  Philofophy and  Religion impofe on him the ne-
ceflity, of exerting himfelf, every day of his life, to eradi-
cate thofe faults of education ?  The World itfelf  obliges
him to mafk their hideous afpea.  Here is a fine perfpec-
tive opened to human life, in which we are conftrained to
employ  the half of our days, in deftroying, with a thou-
fand painful efforts, what had been railing up in the other,
with fo many tears, and fo much parade.
   We have borrowed thofe vices from the Greeks, with-
out being aware, that they  had contributed to their perpet-
ual divifions, and to their final  ruin.  The greateft part,
at leaft, of their exercifes, had the good of their Country,
as the leading objea.   If there were propofad among the
Greeks, prizes far  fuperiority in wreftling, in boxing, in
throwing the quoit, in foot and chariot races, it was be-
caufe fuch  exercifes had a reference to the art of war.  If
they had others eftablifhed for the reward of fuperior elo-
quence, it was becaufe that art ferved to maintain the in-
tereftsof Country, from city to city, or in the general Affem-
blies of  Greece.   But to what purpofe do  we employ the
tedious and painful ftudy  of dead languages, and of cuf-
toms foreign  to our Country ?  Moft of  our inftitutions,
with relation  to the Ancients, have a ftriking refemblance
to the paradifa of the Savages of America.   Thofe good
people imagine that, after death, the fouls of their compa* 
88         STUDIESOFNATURE.
triots migrate to a certain'country, where they hunt down
the fouls of beavers with the fouls of arrows, walking over
the foul of fnow with the foul of rackets, and that they
drefs the foul of their game in the foul of-pots.   We have,
in like manner, the images of a Colifeum, where no fpec-
tacles are exhibited  ;  images of periftyles and  public
fquares, in which we are not permitted to  walk ;  images
of antique vafes, in which it is impoffible to put any liq-
uor, but which contribute largely to our images of gran-
deur and patriotifm.  The real Greeks, and the real Ro-  •
mans, would  believe themfelves, among us, to be in  the
land of their  fhades.  Happy for  us, had we borrowed
from them vain images only, and not naturalized in  our
Country their real evils, by tranfplanting thither the jeal-
oufies, the hatreds, and the vain emulations which render-
ed them miferable.
  It was  Charlemagne, we are  told, who  inftituted  our
courfe of  ftudies ;  and fome fay  it was in the  view of di-
viding his fubjeas, and of giving them employment.   He
has fucceeded  in this to a miracle.   Seven years  devoted
to Humanity, or claffical learning, two to Philofophy, three
to Theology : Twelve years of  languor, of ambition, and
of felf conceit; without taking into the account the years
which well meaning parents double  upon their children,.
to make fure work of it, as they allege.   I afk  whether,
on emerging thence, a ftudent is, according to  the denom-
ination of thofe refpeaive branches of ftudy, more humane,
more  of aphilofopker, and believes more in God, than an
honeft peafant, who  has not been taught to read  ? What
good  purpofe, then, docs all this anfwer to the  greateft
part of  Mankind ? What benefit do the majority derive
from this irkfome courfe, on mixing with the World, to-
ward perfaaing their own intelligence, and even  toward
purity of diaion.  We have  feen, that the claffical Au-
thors  themfelves have  borrowed their illumination only
from  Nature, and that thofe of our own Nation who have
diftinguifhed themfelves the moft, in literature and in the 
                    studt  xiv.                89

 faiences, fuch as Defcartes, Michael Montaigne, J. J. Rouf-
feau, and others, have fucceeded only by  deviating from
 the track which their models purfued, and frequently by
 purfuing the direaiy oppofite  path.  Thus it was that
 Defcartes attacked and  fubverted the philofophy of Arif-
 totle : You would be tempted to fay, that Eloquence and
 the  Sciences are completely out of the province  of  our
 Gothic  Inftitutions.
   I acknowledge, at the fame time, that  it is a fortunate
 circumftance for many children, who have wicked parents,
 that there are colleges ;  they are lefs miferable there than
 in the father's houfe.  The faults of mafters, being expof-
 ed to view, are in part repreffed by the fear of public cen-
 fure ; but it is not fa, as to thofe ot their parents,  tor
 example, the pride of a  man of letters is  loquacious, and
 fometimes  inftruaive ;  that of an ecclefiaftic is  clothed
 with diflimulation, but flattering ; that of a man of family
 is lofty, but frank ;  that of a clown is  infalent, but natur-
 al : But the pride of a w£rm tradefman is fallen ahq1 ftu-
 pid ; it  is pride at  its  eafe, pride  in a night gown.  As
 the cit is never contradiaed, except it be by his wife, they
 unite their  efforts to render their children unhappy, with-
 out fa much as fufpeaing that they do fo.   Is it credible
 that, in a fociety, the men of which all moralifts allow to
 be corrupted, in which the citizens maintain their ground
 only by the terror of the Laws, or by the fear which they
 have of each other,  feeble and defencelefs children fhould
 not  be abandoned to the discretion of  tyranny ? Nothing
 can  be  conceived fa ignorant, and fo conceited, as the
 greateft  part of tradefmen ;  among thenr^t is that folly
 Ihcots out fpreading and profound roots.  You fee a great
 many of this clafs, both men and women, dying of apoplec-
 tic  fits,  from a too fedentary mode of life ; from eating
 beef, and fwallowing ftrong broths, when they are out of
 order, without fufpeaing for a moment that fuch a regi-
 men was pernicious.  Nothing can be more wholefome,
 fay  they ;   they have  always  feen their Aunts do fo>.
   VOL. III.              M 
pO          STUDIES  OF NATURE.
 Hence it is that a multitude of falfe remedies, and of ri-
 diculous fuperftitions, maintain a reputation among them,
 long after they have been exploded  in the World.  In
 their cupboards  is ftill  carefully trcafured up the cafjis, a
 fpecies of poifon, as if it were an univerfal panacea.  The
 regimen of their unfortunate children, refembles that which
 they employ where their own health is concerned ; they
 form them to melancholy habits; all that they make them
 learn, up to the Gofpel itfelf, is with the rod over their head;
 they fix them in a fedentary pofture all the day long, at an
 age when Nature is prompting them to ftir about, tor the
 purpofe of  expanding their form.  Be good children, is
 the perpetual injunaion ;  and this goodnefs confifts in
 never moving a  limb.  A woman of fpirit, who was fond
 of children, took notice one  day, at the houfe of a fhop-
 keeper, in St. Dennis ftreet, of a little boy and  girl,  who
 had a very  ferious air.   " Your children are very grave,"
 faid fhe to the mother...." Ah ! Madam," replied the faga-
 cious fhop  darne, '* it is  not for want of whipping, if they
 " are not fa."
  Children rendered miferable in their fports, and in their
 ftudies, become hypocritical and  referved before  their fa-
thers  and mothers.   At length, however, they acquire
 ftature.  One night, the  daughter puts on her cloak, un-
der pretence of going to evening prayers, but it  is to  give
her lover the meeting :  By and by, her fhapes divulge the
 fecret ; fhe is driven from  her father's houfe, and  comes
upon the town.  Some fine morning, the fan enlifts far  a
foldier.  The father and mother are ready to go diftraaed.
We fpared nothing, fay  they, to  procure them the beft ot
education : They had mafters of every kind : Fools !  you
 forgot the effential point -r  you  forgot to teach them to
love  you.
  They juftify their  tyranny by that cruel adage : Chil-
dren  mufl  be  corrected  ;  human nature is corrupted.
They  do  not perceive  that they themfelves,   by their
 exceflive feverity,  ftand chargeable  with  the cojrup- 
STUDY  XIV.                     gi
 tion,* and  that in  every country where fathers are good,
  the children  refemble them.
    I could deinonftrate,  by a  multitude of  examples, that
  the depravation of our  moil  notorious  criminals, began
 with the  cruelty of their education, from Guillery down to
  Defrues.    But, to take  leave, once for all, of this horrid


   * To certain fpecies of chaftifement, I afcribe the phyfical and moral cor-
 ruption, not only  of children, and of feveral orders of  monks, but of the
 Nation  itfelf.   You cannot move a ftep through the ftreets, without hearing
 nurfes and mothers menacing their little charge with, 1 Jhallgive you a flogging.
1 have never been in England, but I am perfuaded, that the ferocity imputed
 to the Englifh, mull proceed from fome  fuch caufe.  I have indeed heard it
 affirmed,  that punifhment by the rod was more cruel, and mere frequent,
 among them, than with us.   See what is faid on this fubject by the illuftrious
 Authors of  the SpeBator, a Work which  has, beyond  contradiction,  greatly
 contributed  to foften both their manners and ours. They reproach the En-
 gbfh Nobility, for permitting this character  of infamy  to be impreffed on
 their children.  Confult, particularly, No. CLVII, of  that  Collection, which
 concludes thus : '* I would not here be fuppofed to have faid, that  our learn-
 " ed men of either robe, who have  been whipped at fchool, are not Aill'men
 " of noble and liberal minds ; but I am fure  they had been much more fo
 '• than they are! had they never fuffered that infamy."
  Government ought to profcribe this kind of chaftifement, not only in  the
 public fcbools, as  Ruffia  has done, but  in  convents, on fhipboard,  in private
 families, in boarding houfes :  It  corrupts, at once, fathers, mothers, preceptors,
 and  children.   I  could quote tciiible  reactions of it, did  modefty  permit.
 Is it not very aftonifliing, that men, in other refpects, of a ftaid and ferious ex-
 terior, fhould lay down, as the  bafis of a Chriftian education, the obfervance
 of gcntlenefs, humanity,  chaftity ; and punifh timid and  innocent children,
 with the mod barbarous, and the moft  obfecneof all chaftifements ? Our men
 of letters,  who have been employed  in  reforming abufes, for more than a cen-
 tury paft,  have not attacked this, with the feverity which it deferves.  They
 do not  pay  fuffictent attention  to the  miferies of the lifmg generation.   It
 would be  a queftion of right, the difcufljon of which were  highly  interefting
 and  important, namely, Whether the State could permit the right of inflict-
 ing infamous punifhment, to perfons  who have  not  the  power of  life and
death ?  It is  certain, that the infamy of a citizen produces reactions more dan-
geious to  Society, than his own death  merely.  It is nothing at all, we  are
told,  they are but children ;  but for this  very reafon, becaufe they are chil-
dren, every generous fpirit is  bound to  protect them, and becaufe every mif-
erable child becomes a bad man.                                      .
  At the fame time, it is  far from being  my intention, in what I have faid
refpefcting  mailers in general, to render the profeffion  odious.   I only mean
to fuggeft to  them, that thofe chaftifements^ the practice  of which thej have 
gZ          STUDIES  OF   NATURE.
 perfpeaive, I conclude with a fingle refleaion : Namely,
if human nature were corr upted, as is alleged by thofe who
arrogate to themfelves the power of reforming it, children
could not fail to add a new corruption, to that which they
find already introduced into the World, upon their arriv-
al  in  it.  Human Society would,  accordingly,  fpeedily
reach the term of  its diffolution.  But children, on  the
contrary, protraa,  and put off that fatal period, by the in-
troduaion  of new and  untainted  fouls.  It requires  a
long apprenticefhip to  infpire  them with a tafte for  our
paffions and  extravagancies.   New generations  refemble
the dews and the rains  of Heaven, which refrefh the wa-
ters o»f rivers, flackened in their courfe, and tending  to
corruption :  Change the fources of a river, and  you will
change it in the ftream ;  change the education of a Peo-
ple, and you will change their charaaerand their manners.
  We fhall hazard a few  ideas  on  a fubjea of fo much
importance, and fhall look for the indications of them in
Nature.  On examining the  neft of a bird, we find in it,
not only the  nutriments which  are  moft  agreeable to the
 young, but, from the foftnefs of the downs with which  it
is lined ; from its  fituation, whereby  it is ftieltered from
the cold, from the rain, and  from the wind  ; and from a
multitude of other precautions, it  is eafy to difcern that
 thofe who conftruaed it, colleaed around their brood, all

borrowed from the corrupted Greeks of the Lower Empire, exercife an influ-
ence much more powerful than they are aware of, on the hatred which is
borne to them, as well as to the other minifters of Religion, monks as well
as the regular clergy, by a peaple more enlightened than in former times.
After all, it muft be granted, that mafters treat their pupils as they themfelves
■were treated.  One fet of miferable beings are employed in forming a new
fet,  frequently without fufpccting what they are doing.  All I aim at prefent
 to eftablifh is this, That man has been committed to his own forcfight ; that
 all the ill which he does to his fellow creatures, recoils, fooner or later, upon
 himfelf.  This reaction is the-only counterpoife capable of bringing him back
 to humanity.  All the Sciences are ftill in a ftate of infancy ; but that of ren-
 dering men happy has not, as yet, fo much as feen  the light, not even in Chi.
 r?, whofe politics are fo far fuperior to ours. 
ST U D Y XtV.                $3
the intelligence, and all the benevolence,  of which they
were capable.  The father, too, fings at a little diftance
from their cradle, prompted rather, as I fuppofe, by the
falicitudes of paternal affeclion, than by  thofe of conjugal
love; for this laft fentiment  expires, in moft, as foon as
the procefs of hatching begins.   If we  were to examine,
under the fame afpea, the fchools of the young of the hu-
man fpecies,  we fhould have a very indifferent idea of the
affeaion of  their parents.  Rods, whips, ftripes, cries,
tears, are the firft leffons given to human life : We have
here  and there,  it is true, a glimpfe of  reward, amidft fo
many chaftifements ; but, fymbol of what awaits them in
 Society, the pain is real, and die pleafure only imaginary.
   It  is worthy of being remarked that,  of all the fpecies
of fenfible beings, the human fpecies  is the only one,
 whofe young are brought up,  and inftruaed, by dint of
 blows.  I would not wifh for  any other  proof, of an orig-
 inal  depravation of mankind.   Fhe  European brood, in
this refpea,  furpaffas all  the  Nations of  the Globe ; as
they likewife do in wickednefs.  We have already obfarv-
ed, on the  teftimony of miffionaries themfelves, with what
gentlenefs  Savages rear their  children, and what affeaion
 the children bear to their parents in return.
   The Arabs extend  their humanity to the very horfes ;
they never beat them ; they  manage them  by  means of
 kindnefs and careffes, and render them fa docile, that there
are no animals of the kind, in the whole World, once to
be compared With them ii* beauty and in goodnefs.  They
do not fix  them to a ftake in the fields, but fuffer them to
pafture at  large  around  their habitation, to  which they
come running the moment that they hear the found of the
mafter's voice.  Thofe traaable animals refort at night to
their tents, and lie down in the midft of the children, with-
out ever hurting them in the flighteft degree.   If the rider
happens to fall while a courfing, his horfe  ftands ftill in-
ftantly, and never ftirs till he has mounted again.  Thefe
jieople, by means of the irrefiftible influence of a mild ed- 
 94         STUDIESOFNATURE.

 ucation, have  acquired the art of rendering their horfes
 the firft courfers of the univerfe.
   It is  impoffible to read, without being melted into tears,
 what is related on  this  fubjea, by  the  virtuous Conful
 d'Hervieux, in his journey to Mount  Lebanon.   The
 whole flock of a poor Arabian of the Defert confifted of
 a moft beautiful mare.   The  French Conful at Said of-
 fered to purchafe her, with an intention to fend her to
 his mafter Louis XIV.  The Arab, preffed by want,  hefi-
 tated a  long time ; but, at length confented, on condition
 of  receiving a very confiderable fum, which he named.
 The Conful, not  daring, without inilru6iions, to give fo
 high a price, wrote to Verfailles for permiffion to cloie the
 bargain  on the terms ftipulated.  Louis XIV gave orders
 to pay the  money.  The Conful immediately fent notice
 to the Arab, who foon after made his appearance, mount-
 ed on his magnificent courfer, and the gold  which he had
 demanded was paid down to him.   The Arab, covered
 with  a  miferable rug, difmounts, looks at the  money ;
 then,  turning his eyes to the mare, he fighs, and thus ac-
 cofts her :  " To whom am I going to yield  thee up ? To
 " Europeans, who will tie thee clofe, who will beat  thee,
 " who will  render thee miferable :  Return  with me, my
 " beauty, my darling, my  jewel ! and rejoice  the hearts
 " of my children !" As he pronounced  thefe words, he
 fprung upon her back, and fcampered off toward the  Def-
 ert.
  If, with us, fathers beat their children, it is becaufe they
 love them not  ; if they fend them abroad to  nurfe, as foon
as they come into the World, it is becaufe they love them
not ;  if  they place them, as foon as they have acquired a
 little  growth,  in boarding  fahools and colleges, it  is be-
caufe they love them not ; if they procure for them fitu-
ations out of their State, out  of  their Province, it is be-
 caufe  they love them not :  If they keep them at a diftance
 from themfelves, at every epoch of  life, it muft undoubt-
 edly be, becaufe they look upon them a«  their heirs. 
STUDY XIV.
95
   I have been long enquiring into the caufe of this unnat-
ural fentiment, but not in our books ; for the Authors of
thefe, in the view of paying court to  fathers, who  buy
their Works, infill only  on the duties  of children ;  and
if, fometimes, they bring  forward thofe of fathers, the dif-
cipline  which they recommend to them, refpeaing  their
children, is fo gloomy and fevere, that it looks as if they
were furnifhing  parents with  new  means of rendering
themfelves hateful to their offspring.
   This  parental apathy is to be imputed to the disorderly
ftate of our manners, which  has ftifled  among us all the
fentiments  of Nature.   Among the Ancients, and  even
among Savages, the perfpeaive  of focial life prefented to
them a feries of employments, from infancy up to old  age,
which, among them, was the era  of the higher magiftracies,
and of the priefthood.   The hopes  of their  religion, at
that period, interpofed to terminate an honourable career,
and  concluded  with rendering the plan  of their life  con-
formable to that of Nature.  Thus it was that they always
kept up in the foul of their  citizens, that perfpeaive of
infinity  which is fa natural to the heart of Man.  But ve-
nality, and debauched manners, having  fubverted, among
us, the order of Nature, the only age of human exiftence
which has preferved its rights, is that of youth and love.
This is the epoch to  which  all the citizens direa their
thoughts.   Among the Ancients, the aged bare rule ;  but
with us, the young people affume the government.   The
old are conftrained to retire from all  public employment.
Their dear children then  pay them back the fruits of  the
education which they had received from them.
   Hence, therefore, it comes to pafs, that a  father and
mother rcltriaing, with us, the epoch of their felicity to
the middle period of life, cannot, without  uneafinefs, be-
hold their children approaching  toward  it, juft in propor-
tion as they themfelves are withdrawing from it.   As their
faith is almoft, or altogether extinguifhed, Religion admin-
iftcrs to them no confalation.   They behold nothing but

     t 
tj6         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

death clofing their perfpeaive.   This point of view ren-
ders them fallen, harlh, and, frequently, cruel.  This  i*
the reafon that, with us, parents do not love their children,
and that our old  people affea fa many frivolous taftes,  to-
bring themfelves nearer to a generation which is repelling
them.
  Another  confaquence of  the fame ftate of manners  is,
that we have nothing of the fpirit of patriotifm among us.
The Ancients, on  the  contrary, had  a great deal of  it.
They propofed to  themfelves a noble recompenfe in the
prefent, but one ftill much more noble in the future.  The
Romans, for example, had oracles which promifed to their
City that fhe fhould become the Capital of the World, and
fhe aaually became fa.  Each citizen, in particular, flat-
tered himfelf with the hope ofexercifing an influence over her
deftiny, and of prefiding, one day, as a tutelary deity, over
that of his own pofterity.  Their higheft ambition was to
fee their  own age honoured  and diftinguifhed above every
other age of the Republic.   Thofe, among us, who have
any ambition that regards futurity, reftria it to the being
themfelves  diftinguifhed by the age in which  they  live,
for their knowledge or their philofophy.  In this, nearly,
terminates our natural ambition, direaed, as it is, by our
mode of education.
   The Ancients employed their thoughts in prognofticat-
ing the cbaraaer  and  condition of their pofterity ; and
we revolve what our Anceftors were.   They looked for-
ward,  and we look, backward.   We are, in the State, like
paffengers embarked, againft their will, on board a veflel;
we  look toward the poop, and not to the prow ; to the
land from which we are taking our departure, and not to
that on which we hope to arrive.  We colfea, with avid-
ity, Gothic manufcripts, monuments of chivalry, the me-
dallions  of Childtric ; we  pick up, with ardour, all  the
worn out fragments of the ancient fabric of our State vef-
 fel. We purfue them in a backward direaion, as far as
 the eye  can  carry us. Nay, we  extend this falicitude 
S f U D Y XIV,
97
about Antiquity, to monuments which are foreign to us j
to thofe of the Greeks and  Romans.  They are, like our
own, the wrecks of their veffels, which have perifhed on
the  vaft Ocean of Time, Without being able to get forward
to us.   They  would have  been  accompanying us, nay,
they would have been outfailing us, had fkilful pilots always
ftood at the helm.  It is ftill  poflible to  diftinguifh them
from their fhattered fragments.  From the fimplicity  of
her  conftruaion, and the lightnefs of her frame, that muft
have been the Spartan Frigat.  She was made to fwim eter-
nally ; but fhe had no bottom j fhe was overtaken by a dread-
ful  tempeft ;  and the Helots were  incapable of reftoring
the  equilibrium.   From the loftinefs of her quarter galle-
ries, you there  diftinguifh the remains of the  mighty
firft rate of proud Rome.   She was unable to fupport the
Weight  of  her unwieldy  turrets ; her cumberfome and
ponderous upper works overfet her.  The following in-
fcriptions might be engraved on the different rocks againft
Which they have made fhipwreck ;

                LOVE OP CONQUEST.

  Accumulation of Property.   Venality of Employments*
                    AND, ABOVE ALL,
         CONTEMPT OF THE PEOPLE,

  The  billows of Time  ftill  roar over their enormous
Wrecks, and  feparate from them detached planks, which
they faatter among modern Nations, for  their inftruaion.
Thofe  ruins  feem to  addrefs them thus : " We  are the
" remains of the ancient  government of the Tufcans, of
" Dardanus,  and of the grandchildren of Numitor.  The
" States which they have tranfmitted to their defcendants
" ftill fupport Nations of  Mankind ; but they no longer
" have the  fame languages, nor the fame religions, nor the
" fame civil  dynafties.  Divine Providence, in order  to
   VOL. III.             N 
98         STUDIES OF  NATURE-

" fave men from  fhipwreck, has drowned  the pilots, ami
" dafhed the fhips to pieces."
  We admire, on the contrary, in our frivolous Sciences,
their  conquefts, their vaft and' ufalefs  buildings,  and all
the monuments of their luxury, which are the very rocks
on  which they perifhed.   See to what our lludies, and
our patriotifm, are  leading us.   If pofterity is taken up
with the Ancicntsyit is becaufe the Ancients laboured for
pofterity : But if we do nothing for ours, affuredly they
will pay no attention- to us*  They will talk inceffantly,
as we do, about the  Greeks and Romans, without wafting
a fingle thought upon their fathers.
  Inftead of falling  into  raptures, over Greek and Roman
Medallions, half devoured by the teeth of Time, would it
not be fully as agreeable, and much more ufeful,. to direct
our views, and  employ our conjeawres, on  the fubjea of
our frefh, lively, plump children, and to try to difcover,.
in their feveral  inclinations, who are to  be the future co-
operators in the fervice  of their  Country ? Thofe who-,
hi their childifh fports, are fond of building, will  one day
rear her monuments.  Among  thofe who take   delight
in managing  their boyifh fkirmifhes, will  be farmed the
Epaminondafes  and  the  Scipios of future  times.   Thefe
who are feated upon the  grafs, the calm fpeaators of the
fports of their companions, will,  in due time, become ex-
cellent Magiftrates, and Phtlofophers, the complete mafters
of their own paffions.  Thofe who, in their reftlefs courfe,
love to withdraw from  the reft,  will  be noted  travellers,
and founders of  colonies, who  fhall carry the manners,
and the language, of France, to the Savages of America,
or into the interior of Africa itfelf.
  If we are kind to  our children,  they will blefs our mem-
ory ;  they will tranfmit, unaltered, our  cuftoms, our fafh-
ions, our education,  our government, and every thing that
awakens the recolleaion of us, to the very lateft pofterity.
We fhall be to them beneficent deities, who have wrought
their  deliverance  from  Gothic barbarifm.  We  fhould: 
STUDY  XIV.
99
^gratify the innate tafte of infinity, ftill better, by launch-
ing our thoughts into a futurity of  two thoufand  years,
than into a retrofpea of the fame diftance.  This man-
ner of viewing, more conformable  to our  divine nature,
would fix our  benevolence on  fenfible objeas which do
exift, arid which ftill  are to exift.*   We fhould fecure to
ourfelves, as  a  fupport to  an old age of fadnefs and ne-
glea, the gratitude of the generation which is advancing
to replace  us ;  and, by providing for their happinefs and
our own, we  fhould combine all the means in our power,
toward promoting the good of our Country.
   In order to contribute my little mite toward  fo bleffed
a revolution,  I  fhall hazard a few more  hafty  ideas.   I
proceed on the  fuppofition, then, that I  am empowered to
employ  ufefully a part  of the  twelve  years, which our
young people wafte at fahools and colleges.    I reduce the
whole time of  their education to three  epochs, confifting
of three  years each.  The  firft fhould  commence  at the
age of faven years, as among the Lacedemonians, and even
earlier :  A child is fufcepfible of a patriotic education, as
faon  as  he  is able to fpeak, and to  walk.   The fecond

  * There is a fublime character in the Works of the Divinity .   They are not
only perfect in themfelves, but they are always in a progreffive ftate toward per-
fection.  We have fuggefted fome thoughts refpecting this Law, in fpeaking of
the harmonies of plants.  A young plant is of more value than the feed which
produced it; a tree bearing flowers and fruits is more valuable than the young
plant.; finally, a tree is never more beautiful than when, declined into years,
it is furrounded with a foreft of young trees, fprouted up out of its feeds.  The
fame thing  holds good as to Man.   The  ftate of an embryon is fuperior to
that of a nonentity ;  that of infancy to the embryon : Adolefcence is prefera-
ble to infancy ; and  youth, the feafon of  loves, more important than adolef-
cence.  Man, in a ftate of maturity, the head of a family, is preferable to a
young man.  The old age which encircles him with a numerous pofterity ;
which, from its experience, introduces him into the counfels of Nations ; which
fufpcnds in him the dominion  of the  paffions, only  to give more energy to
that of reafon : The old age which feems to rank  him among fuperior beings,
from the multiplied hopes which the practice of virtue, and the Laws of Prov-
idence, have bellowed upon him, is of more value, than all the other ages of
life put  together.  I could wifh it  were fo with  the  maturity of France, and
that the age of Louis  XVI might furpafs all that have preceded it. 
loo
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
 fhajl begin with the period .of adolefcence ; and the third
 end with it, toward the age of fixteen, an age when a young
 man may begin to be ufeful to his Country, and to affume
 a profeffion.
   I would begin with difpofing,  in a central  fituation, in
 Paris, a magnificent edifice, conftruaed internally in form
 of a circular  amphitheatre,  divided  into afcending rows.
 The mafters,  to be entrufted with the  charge of the  na-
 tional education, fhould be ftationed below, in the centre ;
 and above, I would have feveral  rows of galleries, in or-
 der  to multiply places for the  auditors.  On the outfide,
 and quite round the building, I would have  wide porticos,
 ftory above  ftory, for the reception and accommodation
 of the People.  On a pediment,  over the grand entrance,
 thefe words might be infcribed ;


              NATIONAL SCHOOLS,

   I  have no  need to mention, that  as  the  children pafa
 three years in each epoch of their education, one of thefe
 edifices would be requifite for the inftruaion  of the gen-
 eration  of  the year, which reftrias to nine the number of
 monuments deftined to the general education of the Cap-
 ital.
   Round each of thefe amphitheatres, there  fhould be a
 great park, ftored with the plants and trees  of  the Coun-
try, fcattered about without artificial arrangement, as in
 the fields and the woods.   We fhould  there  behold   the
primrofe and the yiolet fhining around the root of the oak ;
the apple and pear tree blended with the  elm and the beech.
The  bowers of innocence fhould be no lefs interefting than
the tombs of virtue.
   If I have expreffed a wifh, to have monuments  raifed
to the glory of thofe by whom our  climate has been en-
riched with exotic plants, it is not that I prefer thefe  to
 the plants of  our own Country, but  it is in the view  pf 
STUDY  XIV.
101
 rendering to the memory of thofe citizens, a part of the
 gratitude which we owe to Nature.  Befides, the molt
 common plants  in our plains, independent  of their util-
 ity, are thofe which recal to us  the moft agreeable fenfa-
 tions :  They do not tranfport us beyond feas, as foreign
 plants do ;  but recal us home, and reflore us to ourfelves.
 The feathered fphere of the dandelion brings to my recol-
 leaion  the places where, feated on the grafs with children
 of my  own age, we endeavoured to fweep  off, by one
 whiff of breath, all its plumage, without leaving a fingle
 tuft behind.  Fortune, in  like manner, has blown upon
 us, and has  fcattered abroad our downy pinioned circles
 over the face of the whole earth.   I call to remembrance,
 on feeing certain gramineous plants in the ear, the happy
 age when we conjugated on their alternate  ramifications,
 the different tenfes and moods of the verb aimer (to love).
 We trembled at hearing  our companions finifh, after  all
 the various  infleaions, with,/<? ne vous aime plus,  (I no
 longer love  you).  The fineft flowers arc not always  thofe
 far which we conceive the higheft affeaion.   The  moral
 fentiment determines, at the long run, all our  phyfical
 taftes.  The plants  which feem  to me the moft unfortu-
 nate, are, at this day, thofe which awaken in me the moft
 lively intereft.   I frequently fix  my  attention  on a blade
 of grafs, at the top ot an old wall, or on a fcabious, toffed
 about by the winds in the middle of a plain.   Oftener
 ihan once, at fight, in a foreign land, of an apple tree with-
 out flowers, and without fruit, have I exclaimed : " Ah !
 "  why has Fortune denied to thee, as fhe has done to me,
 "  a little earth in thy native land ?"
   The plants of our Country, recal the idea of it to us,
wherever we may be, in a manner ftill  more affeaing than
its monuments.  I would fpare no coft, therefore, to col-
lea them around the  children of  the Nation.  I would
make their fahool a fpot charming afonieir tender age, that
when the injuftice of their patron^ ot their friends, of their
relations, of fortune, may havexrufhed to pieces in  their

                     w 
102        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
hearts  all the ties  of Country, the place  in which their
childhood had enjoyed felicity, might be ftill their Capitol.
  I would decorate it with piaures.   Children, as  well as
the vulgar, prefer painting to  fculpture, becaufe this  laft
prefents to them too many beauties of convention.   They
do not  love figures  completely  white, but  with  ruddy
cheeks and blue eyes, like their images in plafter.   They
are more ftruck with colours than with forms.  I could
wifh to exhibit to them the portraits of our infant  Kings.
Cyrus,  brought up with the children of his own age, form-
ed them into heroes ; ours fhould be educated, at leaft,
with the images of our Sovereigns.  They would affume,
at fight of them, the  firft fentiments of  the attachment
which  they owe to the Fathers of their Country.
  I would prefent  them with piaures after religious fub-
jeas ;  not fuch as are terrifying, and which are calculuted
to excite Man to repentance ;  but thofe which have a ten-
dency to encourage innocence.  Such would be that of
the Virgin, holding the infant Jesus in her arms.   Such
would  be that of Jesus himfelf in the midft of children,
difplaying in their attitudes, and in their features, the fim-
plicity and the confidence of their age,  and fuch as Le
Sueur would  have painted them.   Beneath, there might
be infcribed thefe words of Jesus Christ himfelf :

            Sinite parvidos ad me venire.
    SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN TO COME TO ME.

  Were it  neceffary to reprefent, in this  fchool,. any aa
of juftice, there might be  a painting of the fruitlefs  fig tree
withering away at  his command.   It would exhibit the
leaves of that tree curling up, its branches twifting, its
bark cracking,  and the whole plant, ftruck  with  terror,
perifhingunder the malediaion of the Author of Nature.
  There might be  inferted fome fimple and  fhort infcrip-
tion, from the Gofpel, fuch as this : 
STUDY XIV-
»°3
              LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

 Or this :

 COME  UNTO ME, ALL YE THAT ARE HEAVY LADEN,
                         AMD
            I  WILL GIVE YOU REST.

 And that maxim already neceffary to  the infant mind :

                VIRTUE  CONSISTS
                    IN PREFERRING
      THE PUBLIC GOOD TO  OUR  OWN.

 And that other :

            IN ORDER TO BE VIRTUOUS^
                      A MAN
 Muft refifl his Propenfities, his Inclinations, his Tafies,
                    AND MAINTAIN
        . An  inceffant Conflict with himfelf.

   But there are infcriptions to which hardly any attention
 is paid, and the meaning of which is of much higher im-
 portance to children ; thefe are their own names.  Their
 names are infcriptions, which they carry with them wherev-
 er they go.  It is impoffible to  conceive the influence
 which they  have upon their natural charaaer.  Our name
 is the firft and the laft poffeffion which is at our own dif-
 pofal ; it determines, from the days of infancy, our incli-
 nations ; it employs our attention through life, nay^tranf-
 ports us beyond the grave.  I have ftill a name  left, is the
jefleaion.   It is a name that ennobles, or difhonours the
 earth.  The rocks of Greece, and of Italy, are  neither
more ancient, nor more beautiful, than thofe of the other 
IO4        STUDIES  OF  N A T U R F..
parts of the World ; but we efteem them more, becaufe
they are dignified by more beautiful names.  A medal is
nothing but a bit of  copper, frequently eaten  with ruff,
but it acquires value  from being decorated by  an illuftri-
ous name.
  I could wifh, therefore, to have children  diftinguifhed
by  interefting names.  A lad  fathers  himfelf  upon  his
name.   If it inclines toward any vice, or if it furnifhes
matter far ridicule, as many of ours do, his  mind takes a
bias from it.  Bayle remarks, that a  certain  Inquifitor,
named Torre  Cue mad a, or the Burnt  Tower, had,
in his lifetime, condemned I know not how many heretics
to the flames.   A Cordelier, of the name of Feu  Ardent,
(Ardent Flame) is faid to have done as much.  There is
a farther abfurdity, in giving children, deftined to  peace-
ful  occupations, turbulent and ambitious  names, fuch as
thofe of Alexander and Cefar.   It is ftill  more dangerous
to give them ridiculous names.  I  have feen poor boys fa
tormented on this  account, by  their companions,  and
even by their own parents, from the filly  circumftanee of
a baptifmal  name, which implied fome idea  of fimplicity
and  good nature, that they infenfibly acquired  from it an
oppofite charaaer of malignity and ferocioufnefs.  In-
ftances of this are numerous.  Two of  our moft fatirical
Writers, in  Theology  and Poefy, were  named, the  one
Blaisb, Pafeal, and  the other Colin  Boileau.  Colin
implies nothing fareaftic, faid his father.  That one word
infufed the fpirit of farcafm into  him.  The  audacious
villany  of James Clement, took its birth, perhaps,,
from fome jeft that parted upon his  name.
  Government, therefore, ought to interpofe in the bufi-
nefs of giving names to children, as they have an influ-
ence fo tremendous on  the charaaers of  the citizens.  I
could wifh, likewife, that to their baptifmal name might
be added a furname of  fome family, rendered  illuftrious
by  virtue, as  the  Romans did ; this fpecies of adoption
would attach  the little to the great, and  the great  to the 
                    STUDY  XIV;               105

little.  There were, at  Rome,  Scipios without  number,
in Plebeian families.  We might revive, in like manner;
among our commonalty, the names of our illuftrious fam-
ilies, fuch as the  Fenelons, the Catinats, the Montaufiers^
and the like.
   I would not make ufe, in this fchool, of noify  bells, to
announce the different exercifes,  but of  the found  of
flutes,  of hautboys, and of bagpipes.  Every thing they
learned fhould be verfified, and fet  to nrufic.  The influ-
ence of thefe two  arts united is beyond all conception.  I
fhall  produce fome  examples of  it, taken  from the Le-
giflatiort  of a' People, whofe  police was  the beff, per-
haps, in the World ; I mean that of Sparta.  Hear what
Plutarch  fays on the  fubjea,  in his Life of Lycurgus.
" Lycurgus, then, having taken leave  of his  Country,"
(to efcape the calumnies which were  the reward of  his
virtues) " direaed hrs courfe, firft, towards Candia, where
" he  ftudied the Cretan laws and government, and made
" an acquaintance with the principal men of the Country.
" Some  of their laws he much approved, and refalvcd to
'* make  ufe of them in his own Country ;  others he re-
" jeaed.   Amongft the perfons there, the moft renowned
" for ability and  wifdom, in political affairs, was Thales,
" whom Lycurgus, by  repeated importunities, and affur-
" ances of friendfhip, at laft perfuaded to go over to Laccde-
" mon.   When he came thither, though lie profeffed on-
" ly to be a lyric poet, in reality he performed the part
" of the  ableft legiflator.  The very fangs which he com-
" pofed,  were pathetic exhortations to obedience and coii-
" cord ;  and the fweetnefs of the mufic, and the cadence
" of the  verfe, had fo powerful, and fa pleafing an effeff,
" upon the hearers, that they were infenfibry fattened and
" civilized ; and, at laft, renouncing their mutual feuds
'•* and  animofities,  united in  the love of humanity  and
" good order.  So that it may  truly be faid, that Thales
" prepared the way  far Lycurgus,  by difpofing  the Peo-
" pie to  receive his i'nftitutions."
   VOL. III.             0 
ro6        STUDIES of  nature

  Lycurgus farther introduced among them the ufe of mu-
fic, in various fpecies of exercife, and, among others, in-
to the art  of  war*.  "  When their  army was drawn up,
" and the enemy near, the King facrificed a goat, com-
" manded the foldiers  to  fet their garlands  upon their
" heads, and the muficians to play the  tune of the Hymn
" to Caflor, and he himfelf advancing  forwards, began
" the Paean,,  which  farved far  a  fignaL  to fall  on.   It
" was at  once  a  falemn and  a  terrible  fight,  to  fee
** them march on to the combat, cheerfully and fedately,
" without any diforder  in their ranks, or difcompofure in
" their minds, meafuring their fteps by the mufic ot their.
" flutes.   Men in this temper were  not likely to be  pof-
" faffed with  fear, or  tranfported  with  fury ; but they
" proceeded with a deliberate  valour, and confidence of
" fuccefs, as if fame divinity had fenfibly aflifted them.,r
  Thus,  confidering the difference of modern Nations,.
mufic would  ferve to reprefs their courage, rather than te<
excite it ; and they had no occafion, for that purpofe, of
bearfkin capsr nor of brandy, nor of drums.
  If mufic and poetry  had fo much power at  Sparta, to
recal corrupted men to  the praaice of virtue, and after-
wards to  govern them, What influence would they not
have over our children in the age of innocence ?  Who
could ever forget the facred Laws of Morality, were they
fet to mufic,  and in verfes as enchanting as thofe of  the
Devin du  Village ? From fimiiar inftitutipns, there might
be produced, among us, Poets as fublime as the fage Thales,
or as Tyrt&us, who cempofed  the Hymn of Caflor.
  Thefe arrangements being  made  for our childien, the
firft  branch of their education  fhould be Religion.  I
would  begin  with talking to  them about God, in  the
view of engaging them to fear and  love Him, but to  fear
Him, without making  Him an obje& 6f  terror to them.
Terrifying views of God generate fupeiftitioa, and  ia-
• PlvUnh's Lif<.of L)cvr?iu, 
STUDY  XIV.                r©7
Ipire horrible apprehenfions of priefts and of death.   The
firft precept of Religion is to love God.   Love, and do
what you will, was the faying of a Saint.  We are en-
joined by Religion to love Him  above all  things.   We
are encouraged to addrefs ourfelves to Him as to a Father.
If we are commanded to fear Him, it is only with a rela-
tion to the love which we owe Him ;  becaufe  we  ought
to be afraid of offending the -perfon whom we  are bound
to  love.  Befides, I am very far from thinking, that  a
child is incapable of having any idea of God before four-
teen y^ars of age, as has been advanced by a Writer whom,
in other refpefcls, I love.  Do we not convey to the young-
eft children, fentiments of fear, and of averfion, far meta-
phyfical  objtas,  which have  no  exiftence ?  Wherefore
mould they not be infpired with confidence and  love for
the Being who fills univerfal Nature with his beneficence?
Children  have not the ideas of God fuch  as are taught
by  fyftems of Theology  and Philofophy ;  but they are
perfeaiy capable  of having  the fentiment of him, which,
as we have feen, is the reafon of Nature.  This very fen-
timent has been exalted  among them, during the time of
the Crufades, to fuch a height of fervor, as to induce mul-
titudes of them to affume the Crofs  for the conqueft of
the Holy Land.  Would to  God 1 had  preferved the fen-
timent of the exiftence of the Supreme Being,  and of his
principal  attributes, as pure as 1 had it in my earlieft
years ! It is the heart,  ftill more  than the underftanding,
that Religion demands.  And which heart, I befeech you,
is moft filled with the  Deity, and the moft aoreeable in
his fight ; that of the  child who, elevated with the  fenti-
ment of Him,  raifes his innocent  hands to Heaven, as he
ftammers Out his  prayer, or of the fchoolman, who pre-
tends to explain His Nature.
   It is very eafy to  communicate to  children ideas of
Go d, and of virtue.   The daifies  fpringing up among the
grafs, the fruits fufpended on the trees of their enclofure,
fhould  be their firft leffons  in Theology, and their firff 
fO.8         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

exercifes of abftinence, and of obedience  to the  Laws.
Their minds might be fixed on the principal  objea of
Religion, by the pure and fimple  recitation of the life of
Jesus  Christ in  the  Gofpel.   They  would learn in
their Creed, all that they can know of the nature of God,
and in the Pater nofier, every thing that they can afk of
Hirn.
   It is  worthy of remark, that of  all the Sacred Books,
there is no one  which children take in  with fo much fa-
cility as the Gofpel.  It would  be proper to  habituate
them betimes, in a particular manner, to perform the ac-
tions  which are there enjoined, without  vain glory, and
without any refpea to human obfervation or  applaufe.
They ought to  be trained up, therefore, in  the habit of
preventing each other in aas of friendfhip, in mutual def-
erence, and in good offices of every kind,'
   All the children of citizens fhould be admitted into this.
National School, without making a fingfe exception.  I
would infift only on the moft perfea  cleanlinefs, were
they, in other  refpeas, dreffed but  in patches  fewed toT.
gether.  There you might fee the child of a man of qual-
ity, attended by his governor, arrive in an  equipage, and
take his place by the fide of a peafant's phild,, leaning on
his little  ftick, dreffed in canvas, in the very middle of
winter, and  carrying,  in a fatchel, his little  books, and his
flice of brown bread, for  the  provifion of the whole  day.
Thus they would both learn  to know each other, before
they  came to  be feparated far ever.   The child of the
rich man would be inftruaed to impart of his fuperfluity,
to him who  is frequently deftined to fupport the  affluent
put of his own neceffary pittance.  Thefe children, of all
ranks, crowned with  flowers, and diftributed into choirs,
would affift in our  public  proceffions.   Their  age, their
order, their fangs, and their innocence, would prefent, in
thefe, a fpeaacle more auguft, than the  lackeys  of the
preat bearing the coats of arms of their mafters palled to
 vvax tapers,  and beyond all contradiaion, much more af-. 
                   S T U BY  XIV,                iC<f
                                                      4
feaing than the hedges of foldiers and bayonets with which,
on fuch occafions, a God of t'eace is encompaffed.
  In this fchool, children might be taught to read and to
cipher.   Ingenious men have, for this  effea, contrived
boards,  and methods fimple, prompt, and  agreeable  ; but
fchoolmafters have been at great pains to render them ufe-,
lefs, becaufe they deftroyed their empire,  and  made edu-.
cation proceed fafter than was confident with their emol-
ument.   If  you  wifh  children to learn quickly to  read,
put a fugar plum over each of  their  letters ; they will
foon have their alphabet by heart; and it you multiply or
diminifh the number of them, they will foon become arith-
meticians.  However that may be, they fhall have profit-
ed wonderfully in this fchool of their Country, IhouJd they
leave it without  having learned to read, write, and cipher ;
but  deeply penetrated with this  one truth, that to read,
Write, and cipher, and all the Sciences in the World, are
mere nothings ; but that to  be  fincere, good, obliging ;
to love God and Man, is the  only  Science worthy of the
human  heart.
   At the fecond era of education, which I fuppofe  to be
about the age of from ten to twelve, when  their intelk-au-
al powers  reftlefsly ftir, and prefs  forward, to the imita-
tion of every thing that they  fee done  by  others, I would
have them  inftruaed in the means  which men employ in
making provifion for the  wants of Society.   I would not
pretend to teach them the five hundred and thirty arts and
handicrafts which are carried  on  at Paris, but thofe  only
which are fubfervient to the firft neceffities of human life,
fuch as  agriculture, the different  proceffes  employed  in
making bread, the arts which, in the pride of  our hearts,
we denominate mechanical, fuch as thofe of fpinning flax
and hemp, of weaving thefe into cloth, and that of build-
ing  houfes.  To  thefe I would join the elements  of the
natural Sciences, in which thofe various handicrafts orig-
inated, the elements of Geometry, and the experiments of
Natural Philofaphy, which have  invented nothing in this 
I I'd        STUDIES OF  NATURE-
 refpea, but which  explain  their proeeffes  with much
 pomp and parade.
   I would, likewife, have them made acquainted with the
 liberal arts, fuch as  thofe of drawing, of architeaure, of
 fortification, not in the view of  making painters of them,
 or architeas, or engineers, but to fliew them in what man-
 ner  their habitation is conftruaed, and how  their Country1
 is defended.   I  would make them obferve,  as an antidote
 to the vanity which the Sciences infpire, that Man, amidft
 fuch a variety of arts and operations, has imagined no one
 thing; that he has imitated, in all his produaions,either the!
 fkill ot the animal creation, or the operations of Nature; that
 his  induftry  is a teftimony of the mifery to which he is
 condemned, whereby he is laid under the rieceflity of main-
 taining an  inceffant  conflia againft the  elements, againft
 hunger and thirft, againft his fellow  men, and, what is
 moft difficult of all, againft himfelf.  f woiild make them'
 fenfible of thefe relations of the truths of  Religion, with
 thofe of Nature  ; and I  would thus difpofe them to lovd
 the clafs of ufeful men, who are continually providing  for
 their wants,
   I would always endeavour, in  the courfe  of this educa-
 tion, to make the exercifes of the body go hand in  hand
 with  thofe ef the mind.  Accordingly,  white they  were
acquiring the knowledge of  the ufeful arts, I would  have!
 them taught Latin.   I would not teach it them metaphyf-
 ically and grammatically, as in our colleges, and wbieh is
 forgotten much fafter than it  was attained ; but they fhould
 learn it pra&ically.  Thus it is that the Polifh  peafantry'
 acquire it, who fpeak it fluently all their life time, though
 they have never  been at  college.  They fpeak it in a ver/
 intelligible manner, as 1  know by experience, having trav-
elled  through their Country.  The ufe ot  that languagfe
 has been, I imagine, propagated  among  them, by certain
exiles from ancient Rome, perhaps Ovid, who was fent in-
 to banifhment among, the Sarmatians, their Anceftors, and
 far the memory of which Poet they ftill prefarve the high* 
STUDY  XIV.
Iff
eft  veneration.   It  is not, fay our Literati, the Latin of
Cicero.  But what is  that to  the purpofe ?  It is  not be-
caufe thefe peafants have not a competent knowledge of
the Latin tongue, that they are incapable of fpeaking the
language of Cicero ; but becaufe, being flaves, they do not
underftand the language of liberty.   Our French peafants
would not comprehend the befl tranflations which could be
made of that Author,  were they the produaion even of
the Univerfity.   But a Savage of Canada would take them
in perfeaiy, and better than many Profeffors of eloquence.
It is the tone of foul of the perfon who liftens, which gives
the comprehenfion of the language of him who fpeaks. A
projea  was once formed, I think  under  Louis XIV, of
building a city, in which no  language but Latin was to-
have been fpoken.  This muft have inconceivably facili-
tated the  ftudy of that tongue ; but the Univerfity, un-
doubtedly, would not have found its account in it.  What-
ever may  be in this, I am  well affured, that  two years, at
moft, are fufficient for the children of the National School,
to learn the Latin by praaice, efpecially if, in the feaures
which they attended, extraas  were given from the lives of
great men, French and Roman, written in good Latin, and
afterwards well explained.
   In the third period of Education, nearly about the age
 when the paflions begin to take flight, I would fhew, to
 ingenuous youth, the  pure and gentle language of them, in*
 the Eclogues and Georgics of Virgil;  the philofaphy of
 them, in  fame of the Odes of Horace ;  and piaures of
their corruption, taken from Tacitus  and Suetonius.   I
would fiaifh the painting of the hideous exceffes into which
they plunge Mankind, by exhibiting paffages from  fame
Hiftorian ot the Lower Empire.  I would make them re-
mark how taleuts, tafte, knowledge, and eloquence,  funk
 at once among the Ancients, together with  manners and
 virtue.   I would be very careful not to fatigue my pupils
 with reading of this fart ;  I would point out to them only
 the more poignant paffages, in order to excite in  them  a 
ii7>         Studies  of   nature.
defire to  know the reft.   Mv aim fhould  be, not to  lead-
them through a courfe of Virgil, of Horace, and of Taa-
ttts, but a real courfe of claffical  learning, by uniting  in
their ftudies whatever men ot genius have confidered  as
beft adapted to the perfeaing of human nature.
  I would likewife have them praaically inftruaed in the
knowledge of the Greek tongue, which is on  the point of
going into  total  difufe among  us.   1 would  make  them
acquainted with Homer, principiumfapienha.  &'fons, (the
original fource of Wifdom) as Horace, with  perfaa pro-
priety calls him ; with Herodotus, the  father  of Hiftory ;
with fome maxims from the fublime book of Marcus Au-
relius.  I would endeavour to  make them fenfible  how,
at all  times, talents, virtues, great men, and States, flour-
ifhed together, with confidence in the Divine  Providence.
But, in order to communicate greater weight to thefe eter-
nal truths, I would intermingle with them, the enchanting
ftudies of  Nature, of which they had hitherto feen only
fame faint fketches in the greateft Writers.
  I would make them remark the difpofition of this Globe,
fufpended, in a moft ineomprehenfible manner, upon noth-
ing, with an infinite number of different Nations in mo-
tion over its folid, and over its liquid furface.  I would
point out  to them, in each climate, the  principal plants
which are ufeful to human life j the animals  which ftand
related to thofe  plants, and to their fail, without extend-
ing farther.  I would then fhew them the human  race,.
who alone, of all fenfible beings, are univerfally difperfed,
mutually to aflift each other, and to gather, at  once, all the
produaions of Nature.  I would let them fee, that the in-
terefts of Princes are not different from thofe of other men ;
and that thofe of every Nation are the fame with theinterefts
of their Princes.   I would fpeak- of the different Laws by
which the Nations are governed ; I would lead them  to
an acquaintance with thoteof their own Country, of which
moft of our citizens are entirely ignorant.  I would give
them an idea of the principal  religions which divide  the" 
                    STUDY XIV.               Jf£

 Earth ; and I would demonftrate to them,  how  highly
 preferable Chriftianity is to all the political Laws, and to
 all the religions of the World, becaufe it alone aims at the
 felicity of the whole human race.   I would make them
 fenfible, that it is the Chriftian Religion  which prevents
 the different ranks of Society  from dafhing themfelves  to
 pieces by mutual  collifion, and which  gives them equal
 powers of  bearing  up under the  preffure of unequal
 weights.  From  thefe fublime  confiderations, the love  of
 their  Country would be kindled in thofe youthful  hearts,
 and would acquire increafing ardor from the fpeaacle of
 her very calamities.
   I would intermix thefe affeaing fpeculations  with ex-
 ercifes, ufeful, agreeable, and adapted to the vivacity of
 their  time of life.   I would have them taught to fwim,
 not fo much by way of fecurity from danger, in the event
 of fuffering fhipwreck, as in the view of affifting perfons,
 who may happen to be in that dreadful fituation.  What-
 ever  particular advantage  they might  derive from their
 ftudies, 1  would never propofe to them any other end,
 but the good of their fellow creatures. They would make
 a moft wonderful progrefs  in thefe, did they reap no other
 fruit except that of concord, and the  love of Country.
   In  the beautiful  feafon of the  year,  when the corn  is
 reaped, about the  beginning of September,  I would lead
 them out into the country, embodied under various ftand-
 ards.   I would prefent  them  with the image of war.  I
 would make them lie on the grafs, under the fhade of for-
 efts :  There, they  fhould  themfelves prepare their own
 viauals ;  they fhould learn to attack,  and to defend a poft,
 to crofs a river by fwimming ;  they  fhould  learn the ufe
 of fire arms, and, at the fame time, to pra&ife the evolu-
 tions  borrowed from the taaics of the  Greeks, who  are
our mafters in every branch of knowledge.   I would bring
into difrepute, by means of thefe military exercifes, the
tafte for fencing, which renders the foldicry formidable only
to citizens, an art ufclefs, and even- hurtful in war, repro-
   VOL. III.              v 
 »l,j          STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

 bated by all great  Commanders, and  derogatory to cour-
 age,  as  Philopxmen  alleged.   " In  my  younger days,"
 fays  Michael  Montaigne,  " the nobility  difclaimed the
 " praife  of being fkilful  fencers,  as injurious  to  their
 " charaaer, and learned that art by Health, as a matter of
 " trick, inconfiftent with real native valour*."   This art,
 generated in the fame fociety, of the hatred  of  the lower
 claffes to the higher,  who opprefs them,  is an importation
 from Italy,  where the  military  art exifts  no longer.   It
 is this which keeps up the  fpirit of  duelling among us.
 We have not  derived that fpirit from the Nations of the
 North, as fa many Writers have taken  upon them to af-
 fert.   Duels are hardly known  in Ruflia and in  Pruflia ;
 and  altogether unknown  to  the Savages ot the North.
 Italy is their native foil, as may be gathered from  the moft
 celebrated treatifes on fencing, and  from the  terms of that
 art, which are Italian, as tierce,  quarte.  It has been nat-
 uralized  among us, through the weaknefs  and corruption
 of many women, who are far from being difpleafed  with
 having a bully for  a lover.   To thofe  moral  caufes, no
 doubt, we  muft afcribe that ftrange contradidiion in  our
 government, which prohibits duelling, and, at the  fame
 time, permits the public exercife of an art, whieh pretends
 to teach nothing elfe but how to fight duelst.   The pu-
 pils trained in the National Schools  fhould  be taught to
 entertain a very different  idea ot courage  ; and in the
 courfe of their ftudies, they fhould perform a  courfe of hu-
 man  life, in which they  fhould be inftruaed in what man-

  * F.ffays of Michael Montaigne.  Book ii. chap. 27.
  + Fencing mafters tell us that their art expands ihe body, and teaches to
walk gracefully.  Dancing mafters fay the fame thing of theirs.  As a proof
thai they are miftaken, both  thefe claffes of gentlemen are reariily difhnguifh-
cd by their affefted mnnner of walking.  A citizen ought to have neither the
attitude nor the movements «f a gladiator.  Butifthea.it of fencing be necef-
fary, duelling ought to be permitted by public  authority, in older to  iclieve
peifons of character from the cruel altcrnatire of equally difhononring them.
fclves, by violating the Laws of the State and of Religion, or by obfervir.g
tbem.  In truth, worthlefs people are, amcrtg us, very much at their cafe. 
STUDY  XIV.                 li£
ner they  ought one day to demean themfelves toward a
fellow citizen, and toward an enemy.
  The  feafon of youth would glide away agreeably and
ufefully,  amidft fuch a  number of employments.   The
mind and the  body would expand at one  and the fame
time.   The natural talents, frequently unknown  in moft
men, would manifeft themfelves at fight of the different
objeas  which  might  be prefented to them.   More than
one Achilles would feel his blood all on fire on beholding  ■
a fword : More than one Vautan/bn, at the  afpea of a
piece of machinery, would begin to meditate on the means
of organizing wood or brafs.
  The  attainment of  all  this various knowledge, I  fhall
be told, will require a very confiderable quantity of time :
But, if  we take into confideration that which is fquandered
away in our colleges, in the tirefome repetitions of  leffons;
in the grammatical decompofitions and explications of the
Latin tongue,  which do not  communicate to  the faholar
io much as  facility in fpeaking it ; and  in the dangerous
competitions  of a vain ambition, it  is  impoflible not  to
admit that we have been  propofing to make  a much bet-
ter  ufe of it.   The fcholars,  every  day,  faribble  over, in
them, as much paper as  fo many attorneys*, fa much the
more  unprofitably, that,  thanks to  the printing of the
books,  the verfions, or  themes, ot which they copy, they
have no  occafion  far all this  irkfome  labour.   But on
what fhould  the Regents themfelves  employ their own
time, if the pupils did not wafte theirs  ?
  In the National Schools, every thing would  go  on after
the academic  manner of  the Greek Philofophers.  The

  •lam perfuaded, that if this plan of education, indigefted as it is, were to
be adopted, one of the greateft obftacles to the univerfal renovation of our
knowledge and  morals would be, not Regents, not academical Inftitutions,
net Univerfity Privileges, not the fquare caps of Doftors.  It would come
from the  Paper Merchants, one of whofe principal  branches of commerce
would thereby be reduced to almoft nothing.  There might be devifed happy
and glorious compenfations for the privileges of the Mafters : But a money
objection, in this venal age, teems to me abfolutely unanfwerable, 
txS
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
pupils fhould there purfue their ftudies, fometimes feated,
fometimes ftanding ;  fometimes in the fields, at other times
in the amphitheatre, or in the park which furrounded it.
There  would be no occafion  far either pen, or paper, or
ink ; every  one would  bring with him only the claflical
book which might contain the fubjea of  the leffon.  I
have  had frequent experience that we  forget  what we
commit to writing.  1 hat which I have conveyed  to pa-
per, I difcharge from  my memory, and  very foon from
my rccolleaive  faculty.  I have  become fenfible of this
with refpea to complete  Works, which  I had fairly tran-
fcribed, and which appeared to me afterward as ftrange, as if
they had been the production  of  a different hand from my
own.  This does not take place with regard  to the im-
preflions which the converfation of another leaves upon
our  mind, efpecially  if  it be accompanied  with link-
ing  circumftances.  The tone of voice,  the  gefture, the
refpea due to the orator, the  refleaions  ot the company,
concur in engraving on the memory the  words of a dif-
courfe.much better than writing djoes.  I  fhall again quote,
to this purpofe, the authority of Plutarch, or  rather that
of Lycurgus.
   " But it is  carefully  to be remarked, that  Lycurgus
*■ would never permit any one of his Laws to be comrnit-
" ted to writing ; it is accordingly exprefsly enjoined by
" one of the fpecial ftatutes, which he calls prirpai (oracu-
" \ax,pa£la conventa, Inftitutes) that none of his Inftitutes
" fhall be copied ; becaufe whatever is of  peculiar force
" and efficacy toward rendering a city happy and virtuous,
" it was  his opinion, ought to be impreffed  by habitual
" culture on  the hearts and manners of men, in order to
'* make the charaaers  indelible.  Good will is  morepow-
" erful than any other mode  of  conftraint to which  men
" can be fubjeaed, for by means  of it, every one becomes
" a Law unto himfelf*."
* Pltfanh's Life of Ljcurgus, 
                   STUDY XIV.        t        117

  The heads of our young people fhould not, then, be op-
preffcd, in the National Schools, with an unprofitable and
prattling Science.  Sometimes they fhould defend, among
themfelves, the caufe of a citizen ;  fometimes they fhould
deliver  their  opinion refpeaing a public event.  They
fhould purfue the  procefs of an  art through its whole
courfe.   Their eloquence would be a real eloquem e, and
their  knowledge real knowledge.   They fhould employ
their minds on no abftrufe Science, in no  ufelefs refearch,
which are ufually the fruit of pride.  In the ftudies which
I propofe, every thing fhould bring us back to Society, to
Concord, to Religion, and to Nature.
   I have  no need to fuggeft, that thefe  feveral Schools
fhould be decorated correfpondently to their ufe, and that
the exterior of them all fhould ferve as walking places and
afylums  to  the  People, efpecially during  the  long and
gloomy days of Winter.   There  they fhould every day
 behold fpeaacles more proper to infpire them with virtu-
ous  femiments, and with the love of their country, I do
not fay than thofe of the Boulevards, or than the dances
of Vauxhall, but even than the  tragedies  of Corneille.
   There fhould be among  thofe young  people, no fuch
 thing as reward, nor punifhment, nor emulation, and, con-
fequently, no envy.  The only  punifliment there infliaed
fhould  be, to  banilh from  the  affembly  the perfon who
fhould  diflurb it, and even  that only for a time propor-
tioned to the fault of the offender :  And,  withal, this
fhould rather be an aa of juftice than a punifhment ; for
I would have  no manner of fhame to attach to that exile.
But, if you wifh to form an idea of fuch an affembly, con-
ceive, inftead of  our young collegians, pale, penfive, jeal-
ous, trembling about the fate of their unfortunate compo-
fitions, a multitude of young perfons gay, content, attraa-
ed by pleafure to vaft circular halls, in which are ereaed,
here and there, the ftatues of the  illuftrious men of An-
tiquity, and of their own Country :  Behold them all at-
tentive to the matter's leffons, aflifting each other in  com- 
Il8        STUDIES OF  NATURE.
prehending them, in retaining them, and in replying to his
unexpeaed queftions.   One tacitly fuggefts an anfwer to
his neighbour :  Another makes an excufe for the  negli-
gence of his abfent comrade.
   Reprefent to yourfelf the rapid prog re Es of ftudies elu-
cidated by intelligent mafters, and drunk in by pupils who
are mutually aflifting each other in fixing the  impreffion
of them. Figure to yourfelf  Science fpreading  among
them, as the flame  in a pile, all the pieces of  which are
nicely adjufted, communicates  from  one to  another, till
the whole becomes one blaze.   Obferve among them, in-
ftead of a vain emulation, union, benevolence,  friendfhip,
for an anfwer feafonably fuggefted, for an apology made
in behalf of one abfent by his  comrades, and  other little
fervices  rendered and repaid.   The recolleaion of thofe
early intimacies will farther unite them in the World, not-
withllanding the prejudices  of their various conditions.
   At this tender age it is that gratitude and refentment be-
come engraved, for  the reft of life, as indelibly as the ele-
ments of Science and of Religion.   It is not fa in  our
colleges, where every  fcholar  attempts to fupplant his
neighbour.  I recollea that one exercife day, I found my-
felf very much  embarraffed, from having forgotten  a Lat-
in Author, out  of which 1  had a page to tranflate.  One
of my neighbours obligingly offered  to dictate to me the
verfion which he had made from it.   I accepted his  fer-
vices, with many expreffions of acknowledgment.   I ac-
cordingly copied his verfion, only changing  a  few words,
that the Regent might not perceive it  to be the fame with
my companion's ; but that which he  had  given  me  was
only a falfe copy of his own, and was filled with blunders
fa extravagant,  that  the  Regent was aflonifhed at it, and
could not believe it, at firft, to be my produaion, for 1
was a tolerably  good fcholar.   I  have not loft the recol-
leaion of that aa of perfidy, though, in truth,  I have for-
gotten others  much  more cruel which  I have encountered
fince  that period ; but the  firft age of human life is the 
STUDY  XIV.
119
feafon of refentments, and of grateful feelings, which are
never to be effaced.
  I recollea periods of time ftill more remote.   When I
went  to  fchool in  frocks, I fometimes loft my  books
through heedleffnefs.  I had a nurfe named Mary Talbot,
who bought me others with her own money, for fear of
my being whipped at fchool.  And, of a truth, the recol-
leaion of thofe petty fervices has remained fo  long, and
fo deeply imprinted on my heart, that I can truly affirm,
no  perfon  in the World, my mother excepted,  poffeffed
my affeaion fo  uniformly, and fo conftantly.  That good
and poor creature frequently took a cordial intereft in my
ufelefs projeas far  acquiring a  fortune.  1  reckoned on
repaying her with ufury, in her  old  age, when fhe was in
a manner deftitute, the tender care  which fhe took of my
infancy ; but fcarcely has it been in my power to give her
fame trifling and  inadequate tokens of my good  will.  I
relate thefe recolfeaions, traces of which every one of my
Readers probably poffeffes,  fomewhat  fimilar,  and ftill
more interefting, relating to himfelf^and to his own child-
hood, to  prove  to what  a degree the early feafon  of life
would be naturally the era of virtue and of gratitude, were
it not frequently  depraved among us, through the faulti-
nefs of our inftitutions.
  But, before we could  pretend to eftablifh  thefe Nation-
al Schools, we muft have men formed to prefide in them.
I would not have them chofen from among thofe who are
moft powerfully recommended.   The more recommenda-
tions  they might  have,  the more would they  be given
to intrigue, and, confequently, the lefs would be their vir-
tue.  The enquiry made concerning them ought not to be,
Is he a wit, a bright man, a Philofopher ? But, Is he fond
of children ? Does he frequent the unfortunate rather than
the great ? Is  he a  man of fenfibility ? Does  he  poffefs
virtue ? With perfons of fuch a charaaer, we fhould be
fnrnifhcd with mafters proper for conduaing the  public
education.  Befides, I could wifh to change the appella- 
 t20        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

tion of  Mafler and Doaor, as harfli and lofty.  I would
have their titles  to import the friends  of  childhood, the
fathers of the Country ; and thefe I would have cxpreff-
ed by beautiful Greek names, in order to unite to tire re-
fpea due to  their funaions; the   myfterioufnefs of their
titles.  Their condition, as being deftined to form citizens
for the Nation, fhould be, at leaft, as noble, and as diftin-
guifhed-, as that of  the Squires who manage horfes in the
Courts  of Princes.  A titled  magiftrate  fhould prefide
every day in each  fchool.  It would be very becoming,
that the magiftrates fhould caufe to be trained  up, under
their own eyes,  to  juftice, and to the Laws, the children
whom they are one day to judge and to govern  as men.
Children, likewife, are  citizens in miniature.   A noble-
man of the higheft rank, and of the moft eminent accom-
plifhments, fhould have the general fuperintendence  of
thefe National Schools, more important, beyond all  con-
tradiaion, than that of the ftuds of the  kingdom j and to
the end that  men of  letters, given to low  flattery, might
not be tempted to infert in the public papers, the days on
which he was to  vouchfafe to make his vifits to them, this
fublime duty fhould  have nd revenue annexed to it, and
the only honour  that  could poffibly be claimed, fhould be
that of prefiding.
  Would to God it were in my  power to conciliate the
education of women to that of men, as at Sparta ! But our
manners forbid it.  I do not believe, however, that there
could be any great  inconveniency  in affaciating, in early
life, the children of both faxes.  Their fociety communi-
cates  mutual grace ; befides, the  firft elements of civil
life, of religion,  and  of virtue, are the  fame for the one
and  for  the other.   This firft epoch  excepted,  young
women fhould learn nothing of what men ought to know ;
not that they are to remain always in ignorance of it, but
that they may receive inftruaion  with increafed pleafure,
and one day  find teachers in their  lovers.   There is this
moral difference  between man and woman; that the man- 
STUDY XIV.               /2f
Owes himfelf to his country, and the woman is devoted to
the felicity of one man alone.  A young woman will nev-
er attain this end, but by acquiring a relifh for  the em-
ployments fuitable to  her  fax.  To no  purpofe would
foil give her a complete courfe of the Sciences, and make
her a Theologian or a Philofapher : A hufband does not
love to find either a rival or an inftruaor  in  his  wife.
Books  and mafters, with us, blight betimes, in a young fe-
male, virgin ignorance, that flower of  the  foul,  which a
lover takes  fuch  delight  in gathering.  They rob a huf-
band of the moft delicious charm of their union, of  thofe
intercommunications of amorous faience, and native ig-
norance, fo proper for filling up the long days of married
life. They deftroy thofe contrafts of charaaer which
Nature has eftablifhed between the  two faxes,  in order to
produce the moft lovely of harmonies,
   Thefe natural  contrafts are fa neceffary to love, that
there is not a fingle female celebrated  far the attachment
with which  fhe infpired her  lovers, or  her hufband, who
has been indebted for her empire to any other attraaions
than the amufements or  the occupations  peculiar to  her
fex, from  the age of Penelope down to  the prefent.   We
have them of all ranks, and of all charaaers, but not one
of them learned.   Such of  them as have merited this de-
fcription, have  likewife been, almoft all of them, wnfortu-
nate in  love, from Sappho down to Chrifiina, Queen  of
Sweden, and even ftill nearer to us.   It fhould be, then,
by the fide of her mother, of her father, of her  brothers
and  lifters, that a young  woman ought  to derive inftruc-
tion refpeaing her future duties of mother and wife.  In
her  father's  houfe it is that fhe ought to learn a multitude
of domeftic arts, at this day unknown to our highly bred
dames.
  I have oftener than once, in the courfe of this  Work,
fpoken in high terms of the felicity enjoyed in Holland ;
however, as I only paffed through that country, I  have
but  a flight  acquaintance with  their domeftic manners*
   VOL. III.              c> 
f£«2        STUDTES  OF  MATURE.
 This much, neverthclefs, I know, that the women there
 are conftantly  employed in houfehold affairs, and that the
 moft undifturbed concord reigns in families.   But I  en-
joyed, at Berlin, an image of the charms which thofe man-
 ners, held in fuch contempt among us, are capable of dif-
 fufing over domeftic life.  A friend  whom Providcnce-
 raifed up for me in that city, where I was an entire ftran-
ger, introduced me to a fociety of young ladies ; for, in
Pruflia, thefe affemblies are held, not in the apartments of
the married women, butof their daughters.  This cuftom
is kept up in all the families which have not been corrupt-
ed by the manners of our French officers, who  were prif-
oners there in the laft war.  It is cuftomary, then, for the
young ladies of the fame fociety to  invite each other, by
turns, to affemblies, whichthey call coffee parties.   They
are generally kept  on Thurfdays.  They  go, accompani-
ed by their mothers, to the apartments of her who has giv-
en the invitation.  She treats them  with creamed coffee,
and every kind of paftry and comfits, prepared by her own
hand.  She prefents them, in  the very depth of Winter,
with fruits  of  all forts, preferved  in fugar,  in colours, in
verdure, and in  perfume, apparently as frefh as if they
were hanging  on the tree.   She receives from her com-
panions thoufands  of  compliments,  which fhe  repays
with intereft.
  But, by and by, fhe difplays other talents. Sometimes
me unrolls a large piece of tapeftry, on which fhe labours
night, and  day, and  exhibits  forefts of willows, always
green, which fhe herfelf has planted, and rivulets of mo-
hair, wKich flie  has  fat a flowing with her needle.  At
other times, fhe weds her voice  to the founds of a harpfi-
chord, and  feems to have colleaed into  her chamber all
the fangfters of the grove.  She requefts her companions
to  fing in their turn.   Then it is you hear elogium upon
elogium.  The mothers, enraptured with delight, applaud
themfelves in fecret, like Niobe, on  the praifes given  to
their daughters :  Pertentant guadia peclus : (The bofaai 
•S T U D7 XIV.
*23
 glows with joy.)  Some officers, booted, and in their uni-
 form, having flipped away by Health from the exercifes of
 the parade, flep  in to enjoy, amidft this lovely circle, fome
 moments of delightful tranquillity ; and while each of the
 young females hopes to find in one of them her proteaor
 and her friend, each of the men fighs after the partner who
 is one day to foothe, by the charm of domeftic talents, the
 rigour of military labours.  I never faw  any country, in
 which the  youth of both fexes difcovered greater purity of
 manners, and in which marriages were more happy.
  , There is no occafion, however, to haverecourfe to ftran-
gers, for proofs of the power of love over fanaity of man-
ners.   I afcribe  the innocence of  thofe of our own peafan-
try, and their fidelity in wedlock, to their being able, very
early in life, to give themfelves up to this honourable fen-
timent.  It is love which  renders them content with their
painful lot : It even fufpends the miferies  of  flavery.   I
have frequently  feen, in the Ifle  of France, black people,
 after being exhaufted by the fatigues of the day, fet off, as
the night approached, to  vifit their miftreffes, at the dif-
tance of three or four leagues.   They keep their affigna-
tion in the midft of the woods, at the foot of a rock, where
they kindle a fire ; they dance together a great part of the
night, to the found of their  tamtam, and  return to  their
labour before day break, contented, full of vigour, and as
frefh  as thofe who  have flept foundly all night long : Such
is the power poffeffed by the moral affeaions, which com-
bine with this fentiment,  over the phyfical organization.
The night of the lover diffufes a charm over the day of the
 flave.
   We have, in  Scripture, a very remarkable inftance  to
this effca ; it is in the book of Genefis : " Jacob," it is
there  written, "  ferved feven years for Rachel; and  they
"  feemed unto him but a few days, for the  love he  had to
^' her*."   I am  perfeaiy  aware that our  politicians, who
Genefis, chap. xxix. ver. a®. 
*«£
STUDIES OF  NATURE.
fet no value on any thing but gold -ad t;tles, have no con-
ception of  all this ; but I  am happy in ocing able to in-
form them, that no one ever better underftood  the Laws
pf Nature than the Authors of the Sacred Books, and that
on the Laws  of Nature only, can thofe of happily ordered
Societies be eftablifhed.
   1  could  wifh, therefore, that our young people  might
have it in  their power to cultivate the fentiment of  love,
in the midjft of their labours, as Jacob did.  No matter at
what age j  as foon as we are capable of feeling, we are ca-
pable of loving.   Honourable love fufpends pain, banifh-
es languor, faves from proftitutjon, from the errors and the
reftleffnefs of celibacy : It fills life with a thoufand deli-
cious perfpeaives, by difplaying, in futurity, the moft de-
firable of unions : It augments, in the heart of two youth-
ful lovers,  a relifh for ftudy, and a tafte for domeftic em-
ployments.   What pleafure muft it afford a young  man,
tranfported with the faience  which he has derived  from
his mafters, to repeat the leffons of it to the fair one whom
he loves !  What delight to a young and  timid female, to
fee  herfelf diftinguifhed amidft her  companions, and to
hear the value, and the graces, of her little  fkill and  induf-
try, exalted by the tongue  of her lover !
   A young man, deftined one day to reprefs, on the tribu-
nal,  the injuftice of men, is enchanted, amidft  the  laby-
rinths of Law, to behold his miftrefs embroidering for
him, the flowers which are to decorate the afylum of their
union, and to prefent him with  an image of  the beauties
of Nature,  of which the gloomy honours of his ftation are
going to deprive him  for life.  Another, devoted to con-
dua  the flame of war to the ends of the Earth, attaches
himfelf to  the gentle fpirit of his female friend, and flat-
ters  himfelf with the thought that the mifchief  which he
may  do to mankind,  (hall be repaired  by the bleffings
which fhe bellows on the miferable.   Friendfhips multiply
in families ;  of  the friend to the brother who introduces
him, and  of  the brother to  the filler, The  kindred are 
STUDY  XIV.
1*5
mutually attraaed.  The young folks  farm their man-
ners ;  and the happy perfpetlives which their union  dif-
clofes,vcherifh in them the love of their feveral duties, and
of virtue.  Who knows but thofe unconftrained choices,
thofe pure and tender tics, may fix that roving fpirit, which
fome have fuppofed natural to women ? They would re-
fpea the bands  which  they themfelves  had  formed.  If,
having become wives, they aim at pleafing every body,  it
is, perhaps, becaufe, when they were fingle, they were not
permitted to be in love with one.
   If there is room to hope for a happy revolution in  our
Country, it is to beeffeaed only by calling back  the wom-
en to domeftic manners.   Whatever fatire may have been
levelled againft them, they are lefs culpable than the men.
They are chargeable with hardly any vices, except thofe
which they receive from us ;  and we have a great many
from which they are free.  As to thofe which are peculiar
to themfelves, it may be affirmed, that they have retarded
our ruin, by balancing the vices of our political confuta-
tion.   It is impoffible to imagine what muft have become
of a ftate of Society abandoned to all the  abfurdities of our
education, to all the  prejudices of our various conditions,
and tothe ambitions  of each contending party, had not the
women croffed us upon the road.  Our Hiftory prefents
only the difputes of monks with monks, of doaors with
doaors, of grandees with grandees, of nobles with the bafe
born ; while crafty  politicians gradually lay  hold of all
our poffeffions.   But for  the women,  all thefe parties
would  have made a defert of the State, and led the com-
monalty, to the very  laft man,  to the {laughter, or to mar-
ket, a piece of advice which was aaually given not many
years  ago.  Ages  have  elapfed, in  which we fhould all
have been Cordeliers, born and dying encircled with  the
cord of St. Francis ; in others, all would have taken to
the road in the charaaer of knights errant, rambling over
hill and dale with lance in hand ;  in others, all penitents,
parading through the  ftreets of our cities, in  falemn pro- 
Y2&
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
 ceflions, and whipping ourfelves to fome purpofe ; in oth-
 ers, quifquis or quamquam of the  Univerfity.
   The women, thrown out of  their natural ftate, by our
 unjuft manners, turn every thing upfide down, laugh  at ev-
 ery thing, deftroy every thing, the great fortunes, the pre-
 tenfions of pride, and the prejudices of opinion.  Women
 have only one paflion, which is love, and  this paffion has
 only one objea ; whereas men  refer every thing to  ambi-
 tion, which has  thoufands.  Whatever be the irregulari-
 ties of  women, they are always nearer to Nature than we
 are,  becaufe their  ruling paflion  is inceffantly impelling
 diem in that direaion, whereas ours, on  the contrary, is
 betraying us into  endlefs deviations.   A Provincial, and
 even a  Parifian, tradefman, hardly behaves with kiirdnefs
 to his  children, when they are fomewbat grown up  ;  but
 he bends with profound reverence before thofe of  ftran-
 gers, provided they are rich, or of  high quality  : His wife,
 on the contrary, is regulated in her behaviour to them by
 their figure.  If they are homely, fhe negfeas them  ;  but
 fhe will carefs apeafant's  child, if it is beautiful ; fhe will
 pay more refpect to a low born man with  gray hairs, and
 a venerable head, than to a counfellor  without a beard.
 Women attend only to the advantages which  are the gift
 of Nature, and men only to thofe of fortune.   Thus  the
 women, amidft all  their irregularities, ftill  bring us back
to Nature, while we, with our affeaation of  fuperior wif-
dom, are in a conftant tendency to deviation from her.
  I admit, at the fame  time, that they have prevented the
general  calamity only by introducing among us an infinite
number of  particular evils.  Alas J as  well  as ourfelves,
they never  will find happinefs  except  in the  praaice of
virtue.  In all countries where  the empire of  virtue is at
an end, they are moft miferable.  They were formerly ex-
ceedingly happy in the virtuous Republics of Greece and
of Italy : There  tlvey decided the  fate of States : At this
day, reduced to the condition of flaves, in thofe very  coun-
tries, the greate-ft part of  them are under the neceffuy of 
STUDY  XIV.
127
fubmitting to proftitution for the  fake of a livelihood,
Ours ought not  to defpair of us.   They poffefs over Man
an empire absolutely inalienable* ;  we know them only un-
der the appellation of the fex, to which we  have given the
epithet of fair by way of excellence.   But how many other
defcriptive epithets, ftill more interefting, might be added
to this, fuch as thofe of nutritive, confolatory !  They re-
ceive us on our  entrance into life, and they clofa our eyes
when we die.   It is  not to  beauty,  but to  Religion, that
our women are  indebted far the greateft part of their in-
fluence ;  the fame Frenchman who, in  Paris, fighs at the
feet of his miftrefs, holds her in fetters, and under the dif-
cipline of the whip, in St. Domingo.  Our  Religion alone
of all, contemplates  the  conjugal union in the  order of
Nature :  It is the only Religion, on  the  face of the Earth,
which  prefents  woman to  man  as a companion ; every
other abandons her to him as a flave.  To  Religion alone
do our women owe  the  liberty which they enjoy in Eu-
rope ; and from the  liberty of the  women it is that  the
liberty of Nations has flowed, accompanied with the pro-
fcription  of a multitude of inhuman ufages,  which have
been diffufed over all the other parts of the World, fuch as
llavery, feraglios, and eunuchs.   O charming fex ! it is
in your v irtue that your power confifts....Save your Coun-
try, by recalling to the  love of domeftic  manners your

  * It defcrvcs to be  remarked, that moft of the names of the objects of Na-
ture, of  morals, and  of metaphyfics, arc feminine, efpccially in the French
language.  It would afford nutter of curious refearch, to  enquire, whether
mafculine names have been given by the women, and feminine names by the
men, to  objects which aie moft particularly fubfervient  to the ufes of each
fex ; or  whether the  firft have been made of the mafculine gender, becaufe
they prefented characters of energy and force, and the fecond of the feminine
gender, becaufe they difplayed characters of grace and lovelinefs.  I am per-
fuaded, that  the men having given names to the  objects of nature, in general,
have lavifhed  feminine  defignations upon them, from that fecret  propenfity
which attracts them toward the fex :  This obfeivation is fupported by the
names affigned to  the heavenly  Conftellations, to the four quarters of the
Globe, to by far the greateft part tf livers, kingdoms, fruits, trees, virtues,
aud fo on. 
J28         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

lovers and your hu(bands, from a difplay of your gentle
occupations  : You would reflore Society at large  to  a
fenfe  of duty,  if each of  you brings back one fingle man
to the order of Nature.   Envy not the other fex their au-
thority, their magiftracies, their talents, their vain glory ;
but in the midft of your weaknefs, furrounded with yout
wools and your filks, give thanks to the Author of Na-
ture, for having conferred on you alone, the power of be-
ing- always good and beneficent.
t 
RECAPITULATION.          12$
RECAPITULATION.
      1 HAVE prefented, from  the beginning of this
Work, the  different paths of Nature which I propofed to
purfue, on purpofe to form to myfelf an idea of the order
which governs  the  World.  I  brought forward, in  the
firft  place,  the  objections which have,  in all  ages, been
raifad againft a Providence ; I have exhibited them  as ap-
plied to the feveral kingdoms of Nature, one after another ;
which furnifhed me with  an  opportunity, in  refuting
them, of difplaying views entirely new, r^fpeaing the dif-
pofition, and the ufe, of the different parts of this Globe :
I have, accordingly, referred the direaion of the chains of
Mountains, on the Continents, to the regular Winds which
blow over the Ocean ; the pofition of Iflands.to the con-
fluence of its Currents,  or of thofe of  Rivers ;  the con-
ftant fupply of  fuel to  Volcanos,  to the bituminous de-
pofits on its fhores ; the  Currents of the Sea, and the
movements of the Tides, to the alternate  effufions of the
Polar Ices.
   In the next place, I have refuted, in order, the other
objeaions raifed on the fubjea of the vegetable and ani-
mal  kingdoms, by demonftrating, that thefe kingdoms were
no more governed by  mechanical Laws than the foflil
kingdom is.  I have farther demonftrated, that the greateft
part of the ills which opprefs the human race,  are to be
afcribed to  the defeas of our political Inftitutions, and not
to thofe of  Nature ; that Man  is the only Being  who is
   VOL. HI.              R 
igo        STUDIES OF  NATURE.
abandoned to his own Providence, as a  punifhment for
fome original tranfgreflion ; but  that the fame Deity
who had given him up to the direaion of  his own intelli-
gence, ftill watched over his deftination ; that he  caufed
to recoil on  the Governors of the Nations the miferies
with  which  they overwhelm the  little  and the weak ;.
and  I have  demonftrated the  aaion of a Divine  Provi-
dence from the very calamities of the Human Race.   Such
is the fubjea of my firft Fart.
  In the opening of my fecond, I have attacked the prin-
ciples of our Sciences, by evincing, that they miflead us,.
either by the boldnefs of thofe  fame  principles,  from
whence they  would foar up to the  nature of the elements
which elude their grafp, or, by the infufficiency of their
methods, which  is capable of  catching only one Law of
Nature at once, becaufe of the weaknefs  of our under-
ftanding-,.and of the  vanity  infpired by  our education,
whereby we are  betrayed into the belief, that  the little
paths in  which we tread, are the  only roads leading to
knowledge.   Thus it is that the natural Sciences-, and even
the political, which are refults  from them, having been;
with us, feparated from each other, each  one, in particu-
lar, has  formed,  if I may ufe the expreflion, a lane, with-
out a thoroughfare, of the  road  by which it entered.
Thus it  is that the phyfical  caufes  have, at the long run,
made us- lofe  fight of intelleaual  ends in the order of Na-
ture, as  financial caufes have ftripped us of the hopes of
Religion, and of Virtue, in the facial order.
  I afterwards fet out in queft of a faculty better adapted
to the difcovery  of truth than our reafon, which, after all,
is nothing but our perfonal  intereft merely.  I flatter my-
felf I have found.it in that, fublime inftina caMcdfntiment,
which-is in us the expreflion of natural Laws, and which
is invariable among all nations.  By means of  it, I have
obferved the Laws of Nature, not by tracing them up to
their  principles, which are  known to  God only, but  by
defcending into  their refults, which are deftined to. tha 
              RECAPITULATION.          t3l

 ufe of Man.   I have had the felicity, in purfuance of this
 track, to perceive certain principles of the correfponden-
 cies, and of the harmonies, which govern the World.
   I cannot  entertain a fhadow of  doubt, that  it was  by
 proceeding in this fame track, the ancient Egyptians dif-
 tinguifhed  themfelves fa highly for  their attainments in
 natural knowledge, which they carried incomparably far-
 ther than we have done.   They ftudied Nature in Nature
 herfelf, and not by piecemeal, and with machines.  Hence
 they farmed a moft wonderful Science, of juft celebrity
 all over the Globe, under the name of Magic.   The ele-
 ments  ot this Science are now unknown ;  the name of it
 alone is all that remains, and is, at  this day, given  to ope-
 rations, the inoft flupid in which the error and depravity
 of the  human heart can be employed.  This was not the
 charaaer of the Magic of the ancient Egyptians, fo much
 celebrated by the moft  refpeaable Authors of  Antiquity,
 and  by the  Sacred Books  themfelves.  Thefe were the
 principles of correfpondence and of harmony,  which Py-
 tliagoras derived from their ftores, which he imported in-
 to Europe, and which there became the fources of the va-
 rious  branches of Philofaphy that appeared after his time,
 nay,  the fource of the Arts likewife, which did not begin
 to flouriih there  till that period ; for the Arts are only-
imitations of the proceffes of Nature.
  Though  my incapacity  is very great, thefe harmonic
 principles are fo luminous, that they have prefented to me,
not only difpofitions of the  Globe entirely  new  ; but they
have, befides, furnifhed me with the means of diftinguifh-
 ing the charaaers of plants on the firft infpeaion, fa as to
 be able to fay, at once, This is a native of  the mountains,
 That is an  inhabitant of the  fhores.  By them, I have
demonftrated the ufe of the leaves of plants, and have de-
 termined by the nautical, or volatile forms of their grains,
 the relations  which they have to the places where they
 are deftined to grow.  I have obferved that the corolla: of
their flowers had relations, pofitive or negative,  to the rays 
132
6TUDIES OF  NATURE.
 of the Sun, according to the difference of Latitude, and to
 the points of elevation at which they are to blow.  I have
 afterwards remarked the charming contrafts of their leaves,
 of their flowers, of their fruits, and of their flems, with
 the fail and  the fky in which they grow, and thofe which
 they form from genus to  genus, being, if I may fay fo,
 grouped by  pairs.   Finally, I have indicated the relations
 in which  they ftand to animals,  and to Man ; to fuch a
 degree, that, I am confident to affirm, I have demonftrated,
 there is not a fingle fhade of colour impreffed by  chance,
 through the whole extent of Nature.
   By profecuting thefe views, 1 have fupplied the means
 ot forming  complete chapters of Natural  Hiftory, from
 having evinced, that each plant was  the centre of  the ex-
 iftence of  an infinite number of animals, which  poffefs
 correfpondencies with it, to us ftill unknown.   Their har-
 monies might, undoubtedly, be extended much farther ;
 far, many plants feem to have relations  not only to the
 Sun, but to  different conftellations.  It is not always fuch
 an elevation of  the Sun above the Horizon which elicits
 the vegetative powers of plants.  Such a one flourifhes in
 the Spring,  which would not put out  the fmalleft  leaf in
 Autumn, though it might then undergo  the fame  degree
 of heat.  The  fame thing is obfervable  with refpect to
 their feeds, which  germinate and  fhoot at one feafop, and
 not at another, though the  temperature may be the fame.
  Thefe celeftial relations were known to the  ancient
Philofophy  of the Egyptians, and of Pythagoras.  We
find many obfervations on this fubjea  in Pliny ; when he
 fays, for example,  that toward the rifing of  the Pleiades,
the olive trees and vines conceive their fruit; and, after
 Virgil, that wheat ought to be fawn immediately on there-
 tiring of this conftellation ;  and lentils  on that of Bootes ;
 that reeds  and willows fhould be planted,  when the  con-
 ftellation of  the Lyre is fatting.   It was after thefe rela-
 tions, the caufes of which are unknown to us, that  Linnae-
 us farmed, with the flowers of plants, a botanical almanac, 
RECAPITULATION.
*33
of which Pliny fuggefted the firft idea to the  hufbandmen
of his time*.  But we have indicated vegetable harmonies
ftill more  interefting, by demonftrating, that the time of
the expanfion of every plant, of its flowering, and of the
maturity of its fruit, was connected with  the expanfions,
and the neceffities, of the animal creation, and  efpecially
with  thofe  of Man.   There is  not a fingle one but what
poffeffes relations of utility to us, direa or indirea : But
this immenfe and myfterious part of  the Hiftory of Man
will,  perhaps, never be known, except to the Angels.
  My third Part, prefents the application of thefe harmon-
ic principles to the nature of Man himfelf.  In it I  have
fhewn,  1 hat he is farmed of two powers, the one phyfical,
and the other intelfeaual, which affea him perpetually
with  two contrary fentiments, the one of which  is that of
his mifery,  and the other that of his  excellence.  1 have
demonftrated, that thefe  two powers  were moft happily
gratified in the  different periods of  the  paffions, of  the
ages,  and of the occupations to which Nature has deftined
Man, fuch as agriculture, marriage, the fettlement of pof-
terity, Religion.
  I have dwelt, principally, on the affaaions of the intel-
leclual  power, by rendering it apparent, that every thing
which has  the femblance of delicious and tranfporting in
our pleafures, arofe from the fentiment of infinity, or  of
fome  other attribute of Deity, which difcovered itfelf to
us,  as the termination of our perfpeaive.   1 have demon-
ftrated,  on  the contrary,  that the  fource of our  miferies,
and of  our errors, might be traced up to this, That, in
the facial ftate, we  frequently  crofs thofe natural fenti-
ments, by the prejudices  of education and  of fociety : So
that, in  many cafes,  we make the fentiment of infinity to
bear upon the tranfient objeas of this World, and that of
our frailty  and mifery, upon the immortal plans of Na-
ture.  I have only glanced at this rich and fublime fub-
Confult his Natural Hiftory, Book xyiii. chap. 28. 
*34
studies  of N A T U R *..
 }z& ;  but I affert with  confidence, that by purfuing thr*
 track  limply, I have  fufhciently proved the necefhty of
 virtue, and that I have indicated its real fource, not where
 our modern  Philofophers feek for it, namely, in our po-
 litical inftitutions, which are often diametrically oppofite
 to it, but in the natural ftate of Man, and in his own heart.
   I have afterwards applied, with what ability I poffefs,
 the aaion of thefe two powers to the happinefs of Socie-
 ty, by  fhewing, firft,  that moft of  the  ills we endure are
 only facial reaaions, all of which have  their grand origin,
 in overgrown property, in  employments,  in  honors, in
 money, and in land.  I have proved  that thofe enormous
 properties produce the phyfical and moral indigence of a
 Nation ; that this indigence  generated, in its turn, fwarms
 of debauched men, who employed all the refources  of
 craft and  induftry  to make  the rich refund the portion
 which  their neceflities demand ;  that  celibacy, and  the
 difquietudes  with which  it  is attended, were, in a  great
 many citizens, the effeas of that flate of penury and  an-
 guifh to which they found themfelves reduced ;  and  that
 their celibacy produced, by  repercuflion, the pioflitution
 of women of the town, becaufe every man who abflains
 from marriage, whether voluntarily or from neceffity,  de-
 votes a young woman to a fingle life, or to proftitution.
 This effea neceffarily refults from one of the harmonic
 Laws of Nature, as every man  comes  into the World,
and goes out of it, with his female, or, what amounts  to
the fame thing, the males and females of the human fpecies
are born and die  in equal  numbers.  From thefe princi-
ples I have deduced a variety of important  confequences.
   I have,  finally, demonftrated,  That  no  inconfiderable
part of our phyfical and moral maladies proceeded  from
the chaftifements, the rewards, and the vanity of our ed-
ucation.
   I have hazarded fundry conjeaures, in the view of fur-
nifhing to the People  abundant means of fubfiftence and
of population, and of reanimating in them  the  fpirit of 
RECAPITULATION.
*35
 Religion and  of Patriotifm, by prefenting them with cer-
 tain perfpeftives of infinity, without which the felicity of
 a Nation, like that of an individual, is negative, and quick-
 ly exhaufted, were we  to form plans,.in other refpecfs, the
 moft advantageous, of finance, of commerce, and  of agri*
 culture.  Provifion  muft be made, at once, for  Man, as
 an animal, and as an  intelligent being.  I have terminated
 thofe different projeas, by prefenting the flcetch of a Na*.
 tional Education,  without which it is impoflible to  have
 any fpecies  of Legiflation, or of Patriotifm, that  fhall be
 of long duration.   I have endeavoured to unfold  in it, at
 once, the two powers, phyfical  and intelfeaual, of Man,
 and to  direa them toward the love of Country and Re-
 ligion.
   I muft, no doubt, have frequently goneaftray in purfu-
 ing paths fa new, and fo intricate.  I muft have,  many a
 time, funk far below my fubjea, from the conftruaion of
 my plans, from my inexperience, from the very embarraff-
 ment of my ft) le ; but, I repeat it, provided my ideas fhall
 fuggeft fuperior  conceptions to others, I am well fatisfied.
 At the fame time, if calamity be the road to Truth, I have
 not been deftitute of means to direa me toward her.  The
 diforders of which I have frequently been  the witnefs, and
 the viaim, have fuggefted to me ideas of order.  I have
 fometimes found upon  my road, great perfonages of  high
 repute,  and men  belonging to refpeaable  bodies, who had
 the  words Country  and Humanity continually in their
 mouth.   I affaciated with them, in  the view of deriving
 illumination from their intelligence, and of putting myfelf
 under  the proteaion of their virtues ; but I difcovered
 them to be intriguers merely, who had no other objea in
 view but  their perfonal fortune,  and who began to perfe-
 cute me the moment that they perceived I  was not a prop-
er perfon to  be either the  agent of their pleafures  or the
 trumpeter of their ambition.   I then went  over to the fide
of their enemies, promifing  myfelf  to find among them
the love of truth,  and of the public good ; but however 
ig6           STUDIES   OF   NATURE.
 diverfified our feas, our parties, and our  corps, may be,
 I every where met  the fame  men, only clothed in  differ-
 ent garbs.   As  foon as the one or the other found that  I
 refuted to enlift as a  partifan, he calumniated  me,  after
 the perfidious manner  of the age, that is, by pronouncing
 my panegyric.   The times we  live in are highly extolled ;
 but, if we have on the  throne a Prince who emulates Mar-
 cus Aurelius, the age rivals that of Tiberius.
   Were I to publifh the memoirs of my own life*,  I could
 wifh  for no  ftronger proof of the contempt which the glo-


  * It would be, I acknowledge, after all, a matterof very fmall importance;.
 but however retired, at this day. my condition of life may be, it has bten inter*
 woven  with revolutions of high moment  I prefented, on the fubject of Po-
land, a  very circumftantial memoir to the Office for Foreign Affairs, in which
J predicted its partition by the neighbouring Powers, feveral  years before it
was actually accomplifhed.  The only miftake I committed was in going oo
the fuppontion, that  the partitioning Powers would  lay hold of it entirely ;
 and I am aftonifhed to this hour that ihey did not.   This memoir,  however,
has been of no utility either to that country or to myfelf. though I had expofed
myfelf to very great rifks in it, by throwing myfelf, when 1 quitted the Ruf-
fian fervice, into the party of the Polifh Republicans, then under the protec-
tion of Fiance and Auftria,   I was there  taken prifoner in 1765, as I was go-
ing, with the approbation of the Ambaffador of the Empire, and of the French
Minifter at Warfaw, to join the army commanded by Prince Radjivil.  Thi»
misfortune befe!  me about three miles from Warfaw, through the indifcretion
of my guide.  I was carried back to that city,  put in prifon and threatened
■with being delivered up to the Ruffians, whofe fervice I had juft quitted, unlefs I
acknowledged that the Ambaffador of the Court of Vienna, and  the Minifter
ef France, had concurred in recommending this ftep to me.  Though I had
every thing to fear on the part of Ruffia,  and had it  in my  power to involve
in my difgrace, two  perfonages in illuftrious fituations, and, confequently, to
render  it more confpicuous, I perfifted in taking the whole upon myfelf.   I
likewife did my utmoft to exculpate the guide, to whom I had given time to
burn the difpatches with which  he was entrufted, by keeping back with my
 piftol in my  hand, the Houlands, who had juft furprifed us, by  night, in  the
poft houfe, where we made our firlt encampment, in  the midft of the woods.
  I never had the leaft fhadow of recnmpenfe for either of thefe two pieces
of fervice, which coft me a great deal of both time  and money.  Nay, it is
not very long fince I was actually in d< bt, for part of the expenfe of my jour-
ney, to my friend M. Hennin then Minifter of France at Warfaw, now Firfi
 Commiffary  for Foreign Affairs at Verfailles, and  who has given himfelf
 much fruitlefs trouble on the fubject,  Undoubtedly, had  M. the Count  de 
                   RECAPITULATION.             toy

 ty of this World merits, than to hold up to view the per-
 fons who are the objeas of it.   At  the time when, uncon-
 faious of having committed the  fligbteft injury to any one,
 after an infinity of fruitlefs voyages, fervices, and labours,
 I  was preparing, in folitude, thefe laft fruits of my  expe-
 rience and  application, my fecret enemies, that is, the men
 under whom I faorned to enlift  as a partifan, found means
 to intercept a gratuity which  I annually received from the
 beneficence of  my Sovereign.   It was the  only  fource  of
 fubfiftence to myfelf, and the only means I enjoyed of aflilU


 Vergenncs been at  that time Minifter for Foreign Affairs, I fhould have  been
 fuitably rewarded, as he has procured for me fome flight gratuities.   I ftand,
 however, to this hour, indebted to  the amount of more than four thoufand
 livres (£"166 131. ±d. ftcrl.j on that account, to different friends in Ruffia, Po-
 land, and Germany.
   I have not been more fortunate in the Ifle of France, to which I was fent
 Captain Engineer of  the Colony ; for,  in the 6rfl place, I was perfecuted  by
 the ordinary Engineers, who were ftationed there, becaufe I did not belong to
 their corps.  I had been difpatched  to that Country, as to a fituation favour-
 able to making a fortune, and  I muft have run condderably in debt, I ad I not
 fubmitted to live on herbs.  I pafs over in  fi]ence.all the particular diftreffes I
 had there to undergo.  I fhall only fay, that I endeavomed  to  d.ffipaie the
 mortification which  they coft me, by employing my mind on the fubject of
 the ills which oppreffed the ifknd in general.   It was entirely in the  view of
 remedying  thefe, that  I publifhed, on  my return from thence, in 1773, my
 Voyage to the  Ifle of France.   I confidered myfelf, firft, as lendcring an  ef-
 fential fervice to my Country,  by making it apparent, that this'ifland, which is
 kept filled with troops, was, in no refpect,  proper for being the ftaple, or the
 citadel of oar commerce with  India, from  which it is more than fifteen hun-
 dred  leagues diftant.  This I have even proved by the events of preceding
 wars, in which Pondicherry has always been taken  from us, though the Ifle of
 France was  crowded with foldiers.  The  late war has confirmed anew  the
truth of my obfervations.  For thefe fervices, as well as for many others, I
have received no other recompenfe fave indirect perfecutions, and calumnies,
on the part of the inhabitants  of that ifiand, whom I reprehended for their
barbarity to their flaves.  I have not even  received an adequate indemnifica-
tion for a fpecies of fhipwreck I underwent, on my return, at the lfland  qf
Bourbon, nor for the fmallnefs of my appointments, which were not up tothe
half of thofe of the ordinary Engineers of my rank.  I am well allured, that,
under a Marine Minifter, a* intelligent,  and as equitable as M. the Marefchal
de Cajlries, I fhould have reaped fome  part of  the fruit of my literary and
military fervices.
    VOL.  III.                  S 
 1$         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

 ing my familv.  To this cataftrophe were added the loft
 of health, and domeftic calamities, which  baffle all the
 powers of defcription.  I  have haftened,  therefore,  to
 gather the fruit, though ftill immature, of the tree which I
 had cultivated with fuch unwearied perfeverance, before
 it was torn up by the tempeft.
   But, I bear no malice  to any one of my perfecutors.  If
 I am, one day, laid  under the neceflity of  expofmg  to the
 light  their fecret praaices  againft me, it fhall only be in
 the view ot juftifying my  own condua.   In other re-
 fpeas, I am  under  obligation to them.  Their perfecu-
 tion has proved  the caufe of my repofe.   To their dif-
 dainful ambition I  am  indebted for a liberty, which I
 prize far above their greatnefs.  To them I owe the de-
 licious  ftudies to which I have  devoted my attention.
 Providence has not  abandoned me,  though they have.  It
 has raifed up friends, who  have ferved  me,  as opportuni-
 ty offered, with my  Prince ;  and others will arife to rec-
 ommend me to his favor, when it may be neceffary.   Had
 I rcpofed in God  that confidence which I put in men, I
 fhould have always enjoyed undifturbed tranquillity  : The
 proofs of his  Providence, as affeaing myfelf, in  the pafl,
 ought to fet my heart at  reft about futurity.   But, from a
 fault  of education, the opinions of  men ftill exercife too
 much dominion  over me.   By  their  fears, and not my
 own,  is my mind  difturbed.  Xeverthelefs, I fometimes
 fay to myfelf, Wherefore be embarraffed about what is to
 come ? Before you came into the World, were you dif-
 quieted with anxious thoughts about the manner in which
your members were to be combined, and your nerves and
your  bones to expand ? When, in  procefs  of time, you
emerged into  light, did you ftudy optics, in order to  know.
bow you were to perceive objeas ;  and anatomy, in  order
to learn how to move about your body, and how to pro-
 mote  its growth  ?  Thefe operations of Nature, far  fupe-
rior to thofe  of  men, have taken place in  vou, without
your  knowledge, and  without any  interference of your 
-RECAPITULATION'.
*S9
«wn.  If you difquieted not yourfelf  about being born,
Wherefore  fhould you, about  living, and Wherefore,
about dying ?  Are you not always in the fame hand ?
   Other fentiments, however, natural to the mind of Man,
have filled me with dejeaion.   For example, Not to have
acquired, after fo many peregrinations and  exertions, one
little rural fpot,  in which I could, in the bofom of repofe,
have arranged  my obfervations on Nature, to me of all
others the moft  amiable and interefting under the Sun.
I  have another fource of regret,  ftill more  deprefling,
namely, the misfortune of not having attached to my lot a
female mate,  fimple, gentle, fenfible,  and  pious,  who,
much better than Philofaphy, would have foothed my fo-
licitudes, and  who, by bringing  me children like herfelf,
would have provided me with a pofterity,  incomparably
more dear than.a vain reputation.  I had found  this re-
treat,  and this  rare felicity, in  Ruffia, in  the  midft  of
honourable employment ; but I renounced  all thefe  ad-
vantages, to  go in  queft, at  the inftigation of Minifters,
of employment, in my native Country, where  1 had noth-
ing  fimilar,  after  which to  afpire.  Neverthelefs, I am
 enabled  to fay,  that my particular ftudies have  repaired
 the  firft privation, in procuring for me the enjoyment not
 onlv of a fmall  fpot of ground,  but of  all  the  harmonies
 diffjfed  over the vaft garden of Nature.  An eftimable
 partner for life  cannot be fo eafily replaced ; but  if I have
 reafon to flatter myfelf that this  Work is  contributing to
 multiply marriages,  to render  them more happy, and to
 faften the education of children, 1  fhall  confider my own
 family as perpetuated in  them, and I fhall look on  the
 wives and children of my Country,  as, in  fome fenfe,
 mine.
   Nothing is  durable, virtue alone excepted.   Perfonal
 beauty pafles quickly away ;  fortune infpires extravagant
 inclination^ ; grandeur fatigues ; reputation is uncertain ;
 talents,  nay, genius itfelf, are liable to be  impaired :  But
 \irtue is ever beautiful, ever  diverfified, ever equal, and 
Ho
studies of  mature.
 ever  vigorous, becaufe it is refigned to all events, to pri-
 vations as to enjoyments, to death as to life.
   Happy then, happy beyond conception, if I have been
enabled to contribute one feeble effort toward  redreffing
 fame  of the evils which opprefs my Country, and to open
 to it  fome new  profpea of  felicity ! Happy, if  I have
 been  enabled to wipe away, on the one hand, the tears of
 fame  unfortunate wretch, and to recal, on the other, men
 miffed by the intoxication of pleafure,  to the  Divinity,
 toward whom  Nature, the  times, our perfonal miferies,
 and pur  fecret  affeaions, are attraaing us with fo much
 impetuofity !
   I have a prefentiment of fame favourable  approaching
 revolution.   If it does take place, to the influence of lite-
 rature we fhall be indebted for it.  In modern times, learn-
 ing produces little folid benefit to the  perfons  who culti-
 vate  it ; neverthelefs, it  direas every thing.   I  do  not
 fpeak of the influence which letters poffefs, all  the Globe
 over,  under the government of books,  Afia is  governed
 by the maxims of Confucius,  the Korans, the  Beths, the
 Vidams, and the  reft ; but, in  Europe, Orpheus was  the
 firft who affociated its inhabitants,  and allured them  out
 of barbarifm by his divine poefy,   The genius  of Homer,
 afterwards, produced the  legiflations and  the religions of
 Greece.   He animated Alexander,  and fent him forth on
the conqueft of Afia.  He extended his influence to the
Romans, who traced upward, in his fublime poetical  ef-
fufions, the genealogy of the founder, and of the  favereigns
of their Empire, as the Greeks had found in him the ru-
diments of their Republics,  and of their Laws.   His au-
guft fhade ftill prefides over the poetry, the  liberal Arts,
the Academies,  and the Monuments of Europe : Such is
the power over the human mind, exercifed by the perfpec-
tives of Deity which he has prefented to it !  Thus, the
Word which created  the  World ftill governs it ; but
 when  it had defcended itfelf from Heaven, and had fhewn
 to Man the road  to happinefs  in  Virtue alone, a light 
recapitulation.           141
more pure than that which  had fhed a luftre  over the
iflands of  Greece, illuminated the  forefts of Gaul.  The
Savages, who inhabited them, would  have been the hap-
piell of Mankind,  had they  enjoyed  liberty  ;  but they
were fubjeaed to tyrants, and thofe tyrants plunged them
back into a facred barbarifm, by prefenting to  them phan-
toms fo  much the  more  tremendous,  that the objetls of
their confidence were transformed into thofe of their terror.
   The caufe of human felicity, and of Religion  herfelf,
was on the brink of defperation, when  two men of letters,
Rabelais, and Michael Cervantes, arofe, the one in France
and the other in Spain, and fhook, at once, the foundations
of monaftic  power* and that of chivalry.  In  levelling
thefe two Coloffufes  to  the ground,  they employed  no
other weapons but ridicule, that natural contraft of human
terror.   Like to  children, the Nations of Europe laugh-
ed,  and refumed their courage :  They no  longer felt any
other impulfions toward happinefs, but thofe which their
Princes  chofe to give them, if their Princes  had then
been capable of  communicating fuch impulfion.  The
Telemachus made its appearance, and  that Book brought
Europe back to the harmonies of Nature.   It produced a
wonderful  revolution in  Politics.   It recalled Nations
and their Sovereigns  to the ufeful  arts, to  commerce, to
agriculture,  and, above all, to the fentiment of Deity.
That Work united, to the imagination of Homer the wif-
dom of Confucius.  It was tranflated into all the languages

  * Goo forbid that I fhould be thought to intinuate an invective againft per-
fons, or orders, truly religious.  Suppofiqg them to poffefs no higher merit in
this life, than that of paffing it without doing mifchief, they would be refpeft-
able in the eyes of infidelity itfelf.  The perfons hereexpofed are not men re-
ally pious, who have renounced the World, in order to cherifh, without in-
terruption, the fpirit of Religion : But thofe who  have affumed a habit con-
fecrated by Religion, to procure for themfelves the riches and the honours of
this World ; thofe againft  whom St. Jerome thundered fo  vehemently to no
purpofe, and who have verified his prediction in Paleftine and in Egypt, in
bringing Religion into difcredit, by the profligacy of their manners, by their
avarice, and their ambition. 
t4*           studies  of  nature.
of Europe.   It was not in France that it excited the higheft
admiration  : There are whole Provinces in England, where
it is ftill one of the books in which children are taught to
read.   When  the  Englifh  entered  the  Cambraifis, with
the  allied  army, they  wifhed  to carry  the  Author, who
was living there iu a  ftate of  retirement from the Court,
into their camp, to do him the honours  of a military fef-
tival ;  but  his  modefty  declined that  triumph :  He con-
cealed himfelf.   I fhall add but one trait to  his elogium :
He was the only  man  living  of whom Louis XIV  was
jealous : And he had reafon to  be fa ;  for while he  was
exerting himfelf to excite the terror, and purchafe the ad-
miration of Europe, by his  armies,  his  conquefts, his
banquets, his  buildings,  and his  magnificence,  Fenelon
was commanding the  adoration of the whole World by  a
Book*.
  • It is abfard to inftitute a comparifon between Bojfuet and Fenelon : I am
not capable of appraifing their feveral merits, but I cannot help confidering
the fecond as highly preferable 10 his rival.  He fulfilled, in my apprehenfion,
the two great precepts of the  Law : Hs loved God and Men.
  The Reader will, perhaps, not be  difpleafed at being told what J. jf. Rouf-
feau thought of this  great man.  Having,  one day,  fet out with him on a
walking excurfion to Mount Valerien, when we had reached the fummit of the
mountain, it was refolved  to afk a dinner of its hermits, for payment.   We
arrived at their habitation a  little  before they fat down  to table, and while
they were ftill  at Church.  J.  J. RvuJJtau propofcd to me to ftep in, and of-
fer up our devotions.   The hermits were, at that time, reciting the Litanies
of Providence,  which are remarkably beautiful.  After  we had addreffed
our prayer to God, in a little chapel, and as the hermits were proceeding to-
ward their  refectory, Roujfeau Card to  me, with his heart overflowing : " At
" this moment I experience what is  faid in the Gofpel  :  Where two or three art
" gathered together in my name, there  am I in the midfl oj them.  There is here a
" fentiment of peace and of felicity which penetrates the foul."  I replied :
" If Fenelon had lived, you would  have been a Ca'hojic."   He exclaimed in
an ecftafy, and with  tears in his eyes : " O !  if Fenelen were in  life, I would
11 ftruggle to get into his fervice as a lackey, in hope of meriting the place of
" his valet de chambre."
  Having picked up, fome time ago, on the Pont Xeuf, one of thofe little urns
which the Italians fell about  the ftreets for a few  halfpence a piece, the idea
ftruck me of converting it, as a decoration of  my folitude, into a monument 
RECAPITULATION.
M3
   Many learned men, infpired  by his genius, have chang-
 ed  among us the fpirit of the Government, and the  pub-
 lic  manners.   To  their Writings we are indebted for the
 abolition of many barbarous cuftoms, fuch as  that of pun-
 ifhing  capitally the  pretended crime of witchcraft  ;  the

facred to the memory of John James and of Fenelon,  after the manner of thofe
which the Chinefe fet up to the memory oi Confucius.  As there are two little
fcutcheons on this urn, I wrote on the one thefe words, J. J. Rousseau ; and
pn the other F. Fenelon.  I then placed it in an angle of my cabinet, about
fix feet from the floor, and clofe by it, the following  infcription.
                             D. M.
                     A la gloire durable Sc pure
             De ceux dont le genie eclaira les vertus,
             Combattit a la fois l'erreur 3c les abus,
             Et tenta d'amener le fiecle a la Nature.
      Aux Jean Jacques Rovsseaux, aux Francois  Fenelon*
                   J'ai dedie ce monument d'argile
                   Que j'ai confacre par leur noms
              Plusauguft.es que ceux de Cesar  & d'AcHiLLE.
             lis ne font  point fameux par nos malheurs :
                   Us n'ont point, pauvres laboureurs
                   Ravi vos bosufs, ni vos javelles  ;
              Jcrgeres, vos amans ; nouriffons, vos mamelles ;
                   Rois, les tftats oil vous regnex  :
                   Mais vous les cornblerez de gloire,
                   Si vous donnez  a leur memoirc
                   Les pleurs qu'ils vous ont epargnes.
                To the pure and unfading glorv,
      Of the men whofe virtues were illumined by genius;
      Who fet their faces againft error and depravity,
      And laboured to bring Mankind back to Nature :
   To the Rousseaus  and the Fenelons of the Human Race,
            I dedicate this humble monument of clav,
           And infcribe it with their names,
      Far more auguft than thofe of Cksar and Achilles.
      They purchafed  not fame by fpreading devaftation ;
           They did  not,  O ye poor hufbandmen,
           Seize your oxen, and plunder your barns ;
Nor, fhrpherdeffcs, carry off your lovers, nor, fucklings, your teats
           Nor, Kings, did they ravage your  domains ;
           But  their glory will be complete,
           If on their memory you beftow
           The tears which they hase fpared vou. 
 J44        STUDIES OF  NATURE,

 application  of the rack to all criminals without  diftinc-
 tion ;  the remains of feudal flavery  ;  the praaice of
 wearing fwords in the bofom of  cities, in  times of pro-
 found peace, and many others.  To them we owe the re-
 turn of the taftes, and of the<luties, of Nature, or, at leaft,
 their images.  They  have reftored  to many infants  the
 breafts of their  mothers, and to the rich a relifh  for  the
 country, which induces them, now a days, to quit the cen-
 tre of cities, and to take  up their habitation in the fub-
 urbs.  They have  infpired the whole Nation with a tafte
 for agriculture, which is degenerated, as ufual, into fanati-
 cifm, fince it became a fpirit of corps.  They have the
 honour of bringing back the nobleffe to the commonalty,
 toward  whom, it muft be confefled,  they  had. already
 made fome fteps of approximation, by their alliances with
 finance ; they have recalled that order to their peculiar
 duties by thofe of humanity.  They have dire6led all the
 powers of the State, the women themfelves not excepted,
 toward patriotic objeas, by arraying them  in attraaive
 ornaments and flowers.
   O ye men of letters ! without you the rich man would
 have no manner of intelfeaual enjoyment ; his opulence
 and his dignities would be a burthen to him.  You alone
 reftore to us  the rights of our nature, and of Deity.
   Wherever you appear, in the military, in the clergy, in
the laws, and in the arts, the  divine Intelligence unveils
itfelf, and the human  heart breathes a figh.   You are at
once the eyes and the  light of the Nations.   We  fhould
be, perhaps, at this hour, much nearer to happinefs, if fev-
eral of your number, intent on pleafing the multitude, had
not miffed them by flattering their paflions,  and by mif-
taking their deceitful voices for thofe of human nature.
   See how thefe paffions have miffed yourfelres, from
your having come too clofely into contaa  with men ! It
is  in folitude, and living together in unity, that your tal-
ents communicate mutual intelfeaual light.   Call to re-
 membrance the times when the La Fontaines, the Boileausr 
RECAPITULATION.
*45
the Racines, the Molieres, lived with one another.  What
is, at  this day, your deftiny ? That World, whofe  paf-
fions you are flattering, arms you againft each  other.   It
turns you out to a ftrife of glory, as the Romans expofed
the wretched, to wild beafts.  Your holy lifts are become
the amphitheatres of gladiators.  You are, without being
confcious of  it, the mere inftruments of the ambition  of
corps.   It is  by means of your talents that their leaders
procure for themfelves dignities and riches, while you are
fuffered to remain in obfcurity and indigence.   Think of
the glory of men of letters, among the Nations who were
emerging out of barbarifm ;  they prefented virtue to Man-
kind,  and were  exalted  into  the  rank of their  Gods.
Think of their degradation among Nations funk into  cor-
ruption : They  flattered their paffions, and became  the
viaims of them.   In the decline of the Roman Empire,
letters  were no longer cultivated, except by a few enfran-
chifed  Greeks.   Suffer the herd to run  at the heels of the
rich and the voluptuous.  What do you propofe to your-
falves in the facred career of letters, except to march on,
under the  proteaion pf Minerva ? What refpea  would
the World fhew you, were you not covered by her im-
mortal Egis  ? It would  trample you under  foot.  Suffer
it to be deceived by thofe who are  mean enough to be its
worfhippers ; repofe your  confidence  in Heaven, whofe
fupport will fearch and find you out wherever you may be.
   The vine, one day, complained  to Heaven, with tears,
of the  feverity of her deftiny.   She envied  the condition
of the reed.   "  I am planted," faid fhe, " amidft parched
" rocks, and am obliged to produce fruits replenifhed with
*• juice ; whereas, in the bottom of that valley, the reed,
" which bears nothing but a dry fhag,  grows at her  eafe
" by the brink of the waters."   A voice from  Heaven re-
plied :  " Complain not, O  vine !  at thy lot.  Autumn is
" coming on, when the reed will perifh, without honour,
" on the border of the marfhes ; but the rain of the fkies
" will go in  queft of thee in the mountain, and thy juices,
   VOL. Ill,             T 
I4S        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
" matured on the rock, fhall one day fcrve to cheer the
M heart of God and Man."
  We have, farther, a confiderable groiind of hope of
reformation, in  the affeaion which we bear to our Kings.
With us, the love of Country is one and  the  fame thing
with the love of our Prince.   This is the only bond which
unites us, and which, oftener than once, has prevented our
falling to pieces.  On the other hand, Nations are the re-
al monuments of Kings.  All thofe monuments of ftone,
by which fo many-Princes have dreamt of immortalizing
their names, frequently farved onlv to render them detef-
table,  Pliny tells us, that the Egyptians of his  time curfed
the memory of the Kings of Egypt, who had built the
pyramids ;  and, befides, their names had funk into obliv-
ion.   The modern Egyptians allege, that they  were raifed
by the Devil, undoubtedly from the fentiment of the dif-
trefs which rearing thofe edifices muft have coft Mankind.
Our own People  frequently afcribes the fame origin to
our  ancient bridges, and  to the great  roads cut  through
rocks, whofe fummits are loft in the clouds.   To no pur-
pofe are medals ftruck for their ufe ; they underftand noth-
ing about emblems  and infcriptions.  But it is the heart
of Man, on  which the impreflion  ought  to be made, by
means of benefits conferred ; the  ftamp  there imprinted
is never to be effaced.  The People have loft the memory
of their Monarchs who prefided in councils, but they cher-
ifh, to this day, the  remembrance of thofe of them who
fupped with millers.
  1 he affeaion of  the People fixes on  one fingle quality
in their Prince  ; it is his  popularity :  For it is from  this
that all the virtues flow, of which they  ftand in need.  A
fingle aa of juftice, difpenfed unexpeaedly, and without
oftentation, to a poor widow, to a collier, fills  them with
admiration and delight.  They look upon  their Prince as
a God, whofe  Providence is at all times, and in every
place, upon the watch : And they are  in  the right ;  far a
fingle interpofition of this nature, well tinned, has a ten- 
              RECAPITULATION.           147

dency to keep every oppreffar in awe, and enlivens all the
oppreffed with hope.  In our  days, venality  and pride
have reared,  between the People and their Sovereign, a
thoufand impenetrable walls of  gold, of iron, and of lead.
The People can no longer advance toward their Prince,
but the Prince has it ftill in his power to defcend  toward
the People.   Our Kings  have been  prepoffeffed, on this
fubjea, with  groundlefs fears and  prejudices.   It  is An-
gularly remarkable,  neverthelefs,  that, among  the  great
number of Princes of all Nations, who  have  fallen the
viaims of different  faaions, not a fingle one ever perifh-
ed, when employed in aas of goodnefs, walking about on
foot, and incognito ;  but all of them, either riding in their
coaches, or at table in the bofom of pleafure, or in  their
court,  furrounded by their guards, and in the very centre
of their power.
   We fee, at this hour, the Emperor and the King of
Pruffia, in a  carriage fimpfy, with one or two domeftics,
and no jruards, traverfing their fcattered dominions, though
peopled  in part with ftrangers and  conquered Nations.
The great men, and  the moft  illuftrious Princes of  An-
tiquity, fuch as Scipio, Germanicus, Marcus Aurelius, trav-
elled  without any retinue, on  horfeback, and frequently
©n foot.  How many provinces of his kingdom, in an age
of trouble and  fadlion, were thus travelled over  by our
•jreat Henry IV ?
   A King, in his  States, ought to be like  the Sun over
the Earth, on which there is not one fingle little plant but
what receives, in its  turn, the influence of his rays.  Of
the knowledge of how many  important truths are our
Kings  deprived, by  the  prejudices of courtLrs ?  What
pleafures do they lofe from their fadentary mode of life !
I do not  fpeak of thofe  of grandeur, when they fee, on
their approach,  Nations  flocking  together, in millions,
along the highways ; the ramparts of cities  fet  on fire
with the thunder of artillery, and fquadrons iffuing out
vf their  fea  ports, and covering  the face of the Ocean 
1^9         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
 with flags and  flame.  I believe they are weary  of the
 pleafures of glory.  But I can  believe them fenfible to
 thofe of humanity, of which  they are perpetually depriv.
 ed.  They are for ever conftrained to be Kings, and nev-
 er permitted to be Men.  What delight might it not pro-
 cure them to fpread a  veil over their greatnefs, like the
 Gods, and to  make their appearance  in the midft of a vir-
 tuous family,  like Jupiter, at the fire fide of Philemon and
 Baucis ! How little  would it coll them to make  happy
 people  every day of their lives ! In many cafes, what
 they lavifh on a fingle family of courtiers, would  fupply
 the means of happinefs  to a whole Province.   On many
 occafions, their appearance merely, would overawe all the
 tyrants of the diftricl, and confale all the miferable.  They
 would be confidered as  omniprefent,  when they  were not
 known as confined to a particular fpot.   One  confiden-
 tial  friend, a few  hardy fervants, would be  fufficient to
 bring within their reach all  the pleafures of travelling
 from place to  place, and to fcreen them from all the in-
 conveniencies  of it.
  They have it in their  power to vary the feafons as they
 will, without ftirring out of the  kingdom, and to extend
 their pleafures to the utmoft extent  of their authority.
 Inftead of inhabiting  country refidences on the  banks of
 the Seine, or amidft the  rocks of  Fontainbleau, they might
have them on the fhores of the Ocean, and at  the bottom
of the Pyrenees.   It depends  altogether on themfelves, to
pafs  the  burning heats  of Summer, embofomed in the
mountains of Dauphine, and encompaffed with a horizon
of fnow j the Winter in Provence, under olive trees and
verdant oaks ;  the Autumn, in the ever  green meadows,
and amidft  the  apple  orchards, of  fertile Normandy.
They lvould every day  behold arriving on  the  fhores of
France, the  feafaring  men of  all Nations, Britifh,  Span-
ifli, Dutch, Italian, all  exhibiting the peculiarities  and
the manners  of their feveral countries.  Our Kings have
jn their palaces,  comedies, libraries,  hothoufes,  cabinets 
RECAPITULATION.
149
  of Natural Hiftory ;  but  all thefe colleaions  are  only
  Vain images of Men and of Nature.   They poffefs no gar-
  dens more worthy of them  than their kingdoms, and  no
  libraries fa fraught with inftruaionas their own lubjeas*.
    Ah  ! if it be  poffible  for one fingle man to conltitute,
  on this earth, the  hope  of the Human Race, that  Man is
  a King of France.   He reigns over his  People  by love,
  his People over the  reft of  Esrope by  manners, Europe
  over the reft of the Globe by power.   Nothing  prevents
  his doing good when he pleafes.    It is in his power,  not-
  vrithftanding  the  venality  of employments, to  humble

   • Here, undoubtedly, the Volume ought  to have clofed.  It is no inconsid-
 erable  mortification to  me, that my  duty, as a Traiiflator, permitted me not
 to retrench the piece of extravagance  which  follows.  In juftice to myfelf,
 however, I tranfmit it to the Britifh  Public, with an  explicit  difavowal of
 its fpirit, of iu ftyle, of  its fentiments, and of its object.  I can excufe the
 rapturous vanity of a  Frenchman, when his Prince, or  when his Republic it
 the theme ; I can not only excufe, but likewife commend, the effufions of a
 grateful heart, filled with the  idea of a kingly benefactor ; I can excufe the
 felf complacency of an Author Contemplating the probable fuccefs and influ-
 ence of a good Book, his own production ; nay, I can  make allowance for a
 good Catholic, exalting a Saint upon Earth into an Interceffor in Heaven : But
 who can  forbear fmiling, or rather weeping, at the airy vifions of a returning
 golden age, on the very eve of an explofion  of the age of iron, clothed in  eve-
 ry circumftancc of horror ? Who but muft be kindled into indignation, at fee-
 ing genius degraded into a fervile minifter of fulfome adulation, to the vileft
 of women ? Who but muft deride the pretenfions  fo frequently advanced, by
 the wife and by the unwife, and as frequently expofed,  to the gift of predict-
 ing future events ?
   In Latin, the fame  word, Fates, denotes both Poet and Prophet; and the
 two characters are by no means incompatible.   Our Author is no mean Poet,
 he is a  firft rate Naturalift, he is an eloquent Writer, and, what is above all, he
 is a good and eftimable Man ; but events have demonftrated, that he is but a
 wretched  Prophet.  A few fhort years have  fcattered  his fond prognoftics
 •* into air, thin air."   He makes it one of the glories of the reign of Louis
 XVI, that he " fupported the oppreffed Americans."  Whatever political fa-
 gacity might have dictated, or predicted, at the time, refpeeting his interfer-
ence in the difpute between Great Britain and her American Colonies, the if-
fue has demonftrated that this interference was injudicious and impolitic, as
far as he  was perfonally concerned.   The fupport which he gave to opprejed
 America,  laid  an accumulated  weight on  oppreffed France, and precipitated
Umk Revolution, which, by progrefiivc fteps, abridged his power, annihilated 
 I5«         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

 haughty vice, and to exalt lowly virtue.   It is, farther,
 in his "power, to  defcend  toward his fubjcfts, or  to bid
 them rife toward him.   Many Kings  have repented that
 they had placed their confidence in treafures, in allies, in
 corps, and in grandees ; but no one that he had trufted in
 his People and  in  God.  Thus reigned  the  popular   <
 Charles V, and the St.  Louifes.   Thus you  fhall one day
 have reigned, O Louis XVI  ! You have, from your very
 firft advances to the throne,given laws forthereeftablifhment
 of manners ; and, what was ftill more difficult, you have
 exhibited the example, in  the midft of a  French Court.
 You have deftroyed  the remains of feudal  flavery, miti-
 gated  the  hardfhips  endured by unfortunate prifoners, as
 well as  the feventy of  civil and  military  punifhments  ;
 you  have  given  to the inhabitants of certain  provinces
 the liberty of affefling themfelves to  the public  impofts,
 remitted to the 'Nation  the dues of your acceflion  to the
 Crown, fecured to the poor feaman a part of the  fruits of
 war, and reftored  to men of letters the  natural  privilege
 of reaping thofe of their labours.
   While, with one hand, you were aflifting and relieving
 the wretched  part of the Nation, with the other, you raifed
 ftatues to its  illuftrious men  of ages paft,  and you fup-
 ported the cppreffed  Americans.   Certain wife men, who
 are about your perfon,  and, what is ftill more potent than
 their wifdom, the charms  and the fenfibility of your au-
 guft Confart, have rendered the path of virtue eafy to you.
 O great King !  if you proceed  with conftancy in the

his fplendor, hurled him from his throne, fubjected his neck to the axe, and
blafted the profpects of his Family.  Here was one of the fearful  readions of
 a righteous Providence.
  The naufeous elogium pronounced on the chirms and fenfibility of his avgujl
Confort, is ftill more intolerable. It is notorious to all Europe, that the lewd.
r.cfs, the pride, the prodigality, the ambition, the iefentmcnts, of that bad
woman, filled up the .iieafure of moral depravity among the higher orders in
France ; embroiled the two hemifpheres of the Globe in the horrors of war •
aed ruined her Country, ruined her  Hull and, ruined Herfeif, ruined her Pof-
terity.  Anotha of the reactions of a righteous Providence !         H. 111. 
RECAPITULATION.
t$*
rough paths of-virtue, your name will one day  be invok-
ed by the miferable of all Nations.  It will prefide over
their  deftinies even  during the life  of  their  own  Sov-
ereigns.   They will prefent it as a  barrier to oppofe  their
tyrants, and as  a model to their good Kings.   It will be
revered from the rifing to the fetting of the  Sun, like that
of the Titufes, and of the Antoninufes.   When the Nations
which now cover the Earth fhall be no more, your name
fhall ftill live, and fhall flourifh with  a glory  ever  new.
The Majefty of ages  fhall  increafe its venerability, and
pofterity the moft remote, fhall  envy  us the  felicity of
having lived under your government.
  I, Sire, am nothing.  I may  have  been  the viaim of
public calamities, and  remain ignorant of the  caufes.   I
may have fpoken of the means  of remedying them, with-
out knowing the power and the refources of mighty Kings.
But if you render us better and more happy, the Tacitufes
of future times  will ftudy, from you, the art of reforming
and governing  men in a difficult  age.  Other Fenelons
will one day fpeak of France, under your reign, as of hap-
py  Egypt under that of Sefofiris.  Whilft  you.are  then
receiving upon Earth,  the invariable homage of men, you
will be  their  mediator  with Deity, of whom you  fhall
have been  among us, the moft  lively image.   Ah ! if it
were poflible that we fhould  lofe the fentiment  of his ex-
iftence from the corruption of thofe who  ought to be our
patterns, from the diforder of our paffions, from the wan-
derings  of our own underftanding, from the multiplied ills
of humanity ; O King ! it would be ftill glorious for you
to preferve the  love of order in the midft of the  general
diforder.   Nations, abandoned to the will of lawlefs ty-
rants,  would flock together for refuge to the foot of your
throne,  and would come to feek, in you, the God  whom,
they no  longer perceived in Nature. 
 
           ADVERTISEMENT

                  RESPECTING

tlilS ADDITIONAL VOLUME OF MY WORK.*
       W HILE  1  was preparing for a republication of
 ibis Work, I received, on the fubjea of it, advices, criti-
 cifms, and compliments.'
   The advices related to its form.   I have conftantly ad-
 hered to  that of tamo, in  thefe three fucceffive editions,
 becaufe it is more commodious, an eafier purchafe  to the
 Reader, and more beneficial to the Author, becaufe Pi-
 rates find lefs profit in counterfeiting it.   'The fafhionable
 world, however, fignified a preference in  favour of ari 8vo.
 as being more genteel, and becaufe  the page,  having a
 broader margin, and admitting  of  a larger fpace between
 the lines, the impreffion would be more  beautiful.   Men
 of letters expreffed a wifh to have an Edition of the Book
 in 4to. becaufe, being in  a larger type,  it would be more
 pleafant to read,  and the plates might then be engraved on
 a larger fcale.  In a word, I was expeaing a  felicitation,
 from fome of the Literati, to afpire after the honours of a
 Folio, when  an  amiable  Lady  propofed to me, very fe-
 rioufly, to give an  Edition in i8vo. " oh purpofe," faid
 {he, with an  inimitable grace, " that 1 may never go with-
 " out it in my pocket."

  » The laft Britifh Edition of this work was printed in five Volumes 8vo.
the whole of which are now comprifed in three. Former Britifh Editions
Contained only four Volumes: The remainder of this Volume being  added to
the laft London Edition made a fifth Volume.
  VOL. III.              U 
i-54
ADVERTISEMENT.
   1 feel myfelf fo highly honoured by the good opinion
of the Ladies, that 1 know not whether my vanity would not
be more agreeably flattered with being in their pockets in
the fize of an  i8vo. than in that of a huge atlas, in the li-
brary of the Louvre.  This fpecies of incognito has, be-
fides, an inexpreffible famewhat in it which is  Angularly
grateful  to me.  In the agreeable perplexity to which I
am reduced, and under an impoffibility of giving four new
Editions at once, to gratify  the tafte of all my Readers, a
thought  ftruck me, of inviting thofe of them who diflike
the i2ino.  fize, to fend  their inflruaions,  free of poftage,
to  my Bookfellers, containing fmiply  their  addrefs, and
the form which  they prefer.   I fhall then be determined
by the plurality of fuffrages ; and as foon as  I  fhall  have
five hundred of them in favour of an Oflavo or a Ouarto.
I fhall publifh it by  fubfcription, on  a fine paper, with
new plates  drawn and engraved by Artifts of the firft abil-
ity.   But if there be only two hundred and fifty voices in
favour of the Decimooaavo, I will give the preference to
this fize; for I have  always eftimated the  fuffrage of one
Lady as equal, at leaft, to thofe of two  Gentlemen.
  Some men of  the world have inquired, whether I in-
tended to make any additions to this Edition ; and, in this
cafe, defned me  to  give a detached fupplement, for the
accommodation of thofe who have purchafcd the preced-
ing Editions, alleging that Authors, who acled  otherwife,
defrauded the Public.
  An Author  who.is difficult to pleafe with his own per-
formance,  which I acknowledge to be  the cafe with my-
felf, and  who  is  frequently called  upon to review it is
fometimes  reduced to the neceflity of making a few flight
additions, in order to elucidate  paflages which  may feem
to labour under fome obfaurity.  He  is obliged, at leaft,
to change fame things  in  the  notices,  which muft needs
vary in every different Edition, without admitting  the
poflibility of giving thefe variations, in a detached fupple-
ment, fa as to  excite any  intereft.   But, on  the fuppufi, 
AD V E R T I S £ ME N T.
*55
tion of his thereby defrauding a part of the Public of fame
part of his  performance, I afk, Whether  the Public, as a
body, does not defraud him more completely, by purchas-
ing,  without any  faruple, the fpurious  Editions of his
Work ?  The only method which  an Author can employ
to bring thefe into difcredit,  is to add  famething new, to
every genuine new Edition.
   Thefe piracies have done, and are ftill doing, me incon-
ceivable mifchief.   1 do  not  fpeak  of thofe of  my firft
Edition,  with which  the  fouthern  provinces  of France
have been filled* ; but fcarcely had the fecond appeared,
\tfhen it was counterfeited, with its  additions, approba-
tions, privilege, nay,  with the  very titles containing the
addrefs  of my bookfellers.   Other  plunderers have  had
the  audacity  to  announce, in the  catalogue  of books of
Leipfic fair,  for the month of Oaober 1787, an Edition
of my Studies of  Nature, publifhed at Lyons,  by Pieflrt
and de la Meniere, though  I  never had any thing printed
except at Paris.   A new Edition  of  the Work has juft
been publifhed at Bruffels, in four  volumes.   A Gentle-
man,  with whom my  Printer  is acquainted, faw at Lon-
don, in the month  of September laft,  four different Edi-
tions  of it, without being able to procure  the genuine one.

  * ?,I. Marin, fuperinrendent of the prefs at  Marfeilles, feized a whole bale
of thofe counterfeits, about a year and i half ago, which, in defiance of all his
Tetnonfti-ances, was confiscated to the benefit of the Syndical Chamber of that
cicy,  and not, as juftice required, to mine.  M. de Chafj'tl, fupcrintendent of
the prels at Nancy, flopped there, about fix months ago, fome fpurious copies
of thy fecond "Edition, which M  Vidaudde la Tour  took care to remit to rhe,
conformably to the decifkinof M de Lamoignon, keeper of the feals.   The Pi-
rate had only retrenched, in the advertifernent, what I  there faid of the beau-
ty of the characters of my lecond Edition, fimilar to thofe of the prr-fent,  be-
caufe the pitifulnefs of his own, would prefently have detected the fraud.  I
hive  now reafon to expect, from the vigilance of M. Vidavd de la Tour, whofe
zeal for the interefts of literary property fo well fupports the juftice of Af. de
Lamoignon, a name fo dear td the republic of letters, that we fhall fee at length
repreffed,  in the kingdom, the plundering committed  by literary pirates, in
delance of Royal authority, and fo injurious to the intereft of Authors, ef-
pccially of fuch  as have no other property except their Works. 
 £.$6            ADVERTISEMENT.

 It ma^vhowever, be very eafily diftinguifhed by the beau-
 ty of its charaaers, from all the fpurious Editions,  which,
 befides, can never beany thing more than bad copies of an
 original Edition, revifed and correaed by  my  own hand,
 witrjajl the attention of which I am capable. All this has not
 prevented the Public from welcoming them  with avidity.
 After all, the point to be  aimed at, is  not to have no
 ground of complaint againft Mankind, but to take care that
 the World have no juft ground of complaint againft us.
    Suppofing it were not a matter of conscience with me,
 to praaife juftice toward every individual, I  am under top
 many obligations to the Public, not to ftudy their  gratifi-
 cation, to the  utmoft of my ability.   I have never enjoy-
 ed any other fteady declaration in my favour, but  that of
 jthe public voice.  On the other hand, if  the importance
 of the errors which I  have ventured to  attack, and my
 perfanal  circumftances, are  taken into confideration, I
 Jiave the prefumption to hope that the generofity   of  the
 Public will, one day, rank me with the few in number,
 who have devoted themfelves to the  interefts of humani-
 ty, at the expenfe of their own fortune.
   I fhall  not  begin, at thefe years, to deviate from the
 principles which  have governed my life.   I am going to
 infert here, therefore, fome reffeaions, which would, per-
 haps, have come in more properly, in the advenifement
 prefixed to this third Edition ; but I transfer them  to this
 place, that thofe who are difpofed to purchafe the fifth
 volume feparately, may be informed of every thing  which
 I have thought it neceffary to add,  without being obliged
 to buy the other four.  I would haye, in like manner, an-
nexed the additions which I made  to my firft Edition, on
 the fubjea of the elongation of the Poles,  and of the Cur-
 rents of the Atlantic Ocean, had not thefe additions been
 too confiderable in bulk.   But if I do  not introduce them
 here, word for word, I repeat at leaft the fenfe of  them ;
 and to  thefe  I fubjoin new proofs, which demonftrate th?
 certainty of fhofe important truths. 
ADVERTISE ME-NT.
w
   I have firft correaed, in the titles of this third Edition,
an error which had flipt  into thofe of the other two.   It
is indeed a matter of the laft indifference to my Readers,
being no more than a tranfpofition of my baptifmal names ;
but it has given occafion to fame miftakes.
   I do not recolfea my having added  any  thing to  the
text, except a fingle obfervation  refpeaing  the  counts
currents of  the Ohio, which  1 have  inferted in  the firft
volume of this third Edition.  But it  is of  confiderable
importance, for it conftitutes one proof more in favour of
the explanation which I have given of the tides.
   The Reader will pleafe to remember, that I explain the
direaion  of our tides  in Summer,  toward the north,
from the counter currents, of the general Current, of  the
Atlantic Ocean, which, at that feafon, defcends from our
Pole, the ices of which are partly melted by the aaion of
the Sun which warms it during fix months.   I fuppofed
that this  general Current, which  then  runs  toward  the
South, being confined by the projetlion of  Cape Saint
Auguftine in America,  and by the entrance of the Gulf of
Guinea in Africa, produced on each fide counter currents
which give us. our tides,  reafcending to the  north  along
our coafts.  Thefe counter currents aaually exift in thefe
fame places, and are always produced on the  two fides of
a ftrait through which a current forces itfelf.  But I had
no need to fuppofe  the reaaions of  Cape Saint Auguftine
and of the entrance of the Gulf of  Guinea, in order to
make our tides reafeend a very great way toward the North.
The fimple aaion of the general Current of the Atlantic,
which defcends  from the North Pole and rufhes toward
the South, difplacing by  its impetuofity a vaft mafs  of
water, which it  repels to the right and to the left, is fuffi-
cient to produce, through the  whole length of its courfe,
thofe lateral reaaions which occafion our tides, and make
them flow to the North.
  I had quoted, on this fubjea, two obfervations, the firft
  whjch is level to every capacity.   It is that of a fource
at 
a53
A D V £ R T I S £ M E N V.
 which, on difcharging itfelf into a bafon, produces at the
 fides of that bafon, a backward motion or counter current,
 which  carries ftraws and other floating fubftances up to-
 ward the  fource.
   The fecond observation is  extraaed from the  Hiftory
 of New France by  Father Charlevoix.   He tells us  that,
 though the  wind was contrary,  he failed at the rate of
 eight  good  leagues  a day up  lake Michigan,  againft its
 general Current, with the afiiftance  of its lateral counter
 currents.
   But  M. de Crcvecceur, Author of the  Letters of  an
 American Farmer, goes ftill  farther ; far he  affures us,
 (•Vol. III. page 433) that in failing up the Ohio, along its
 banks, be made 422 miles in fourteen days, which amounts
 to more than fix leagues a day, " with the afiiftance," fays
 he, " of the counter currents, which have always a veloc-
 "  ity equal to the principal Current."   This  is the only
 obfervation  which  I  have added, on account of its im-
 portance,  and out of the refpea which I bear to its  Au-
 thor.
   Thus the general  effea of the  tides is placed in  the
 c4jeareit light, by the inftance of the  lateral  counter  cur-
 rent s of our bafons, into which fources  difcharge them-
 felves,T>yWiofe of the lakes which receive rivers, and by
 thofe of rivers themfelves, notwithftanding their confid-
 erable  declivities, without any neceflity fo/ a  particular
 ftrait, to produce thofe reaaions along  the  whole extent
of their fhores, though ftraits confiderably increafe thefe
 fame counter currents, or eddies.
   The courfe of our tides toward the North in Winter, it
 muft be admitted, cannot be explained as an effea of the
 lateral  counter currents of the Atlantic Ocean, which de-
 fcends  from the North, for at that feafon its general  Cur-
 rent comes from the South Pole,  the ices of  which are
 then in fufion by the heat of the Sun.  But the  courfe of
 tHofe tides toward the North, may be conceived ftill more
 eafily,  from the cftrea cffjct of the genera! Current ofiW 
ADVERTISEMENT.             f gg.
South Pole, which runs flraight North.  In this direaion,
that  fouthern Current  paffes, almoft throughout, from a
wider fpace into a narrower, being confined, firft of  all,
between  Cape  Horn and the Cape of Good Hope,  and
forcing its way  upward, into the very bays and  mediter-
raneans  of the  North, it  carries before it,  at once, the
whole mafs of the waters of the Atlantic Ocean,  without
permitting a fingje column of them to efcape, to the right
or to the left.   At the fame  time, fhould it  meet on  its
road, a Cape or Strait oppofing  its courfe, there can be
no doubt that it would there farm a lateral counter cur-
rent, or tides, which would run in the oppofite direaion.
This, accordingly, is the aaual effea which it produces at
Cape Saint Auguftine in America, and above the  Gulf of
Guinea,  toward the tenth degree of northern  Latitude, in
Africa ; that is, at the  two places where thefe two parts
of the Globe approach the neareft : For in the Summer of
the South Pole, the Currents and the tides,  fo far from
bearing northward below  thefe two points, return to the
fouth on the American fide, and tun eaftward on the  Af-
rican fide, the whole length of the Gulf of Guinea, in con-
tradiaion to all the Laws of the Lunar Syftem,
   I could fill a Volume with new proofs,  in  fupport of
the alternate fufion of the polar ices, and  of the elongation
of the Earth at  the Poles, which are confequences of each
other ;  but I have produced, in the preceding Volumes of
this Work, more than  were neceffary to eftablifh the  cer-
tainty  of thefe truths   The very filence of  Academies,
refpeaing  objeas of fuch  high importance, is7a demon-
ftration that they have no objetlion to ftart againft my hy-
pothefis.   Had I been in the wrong, in refuting the unac-
countable  error which led them to  conclude that  the
Earth was flattened at the  Poles,  from geometrical opera-
tions, which evidently  demonftrate  it to be  lengthened,
Journals, mod  of which are at  their difpofal, would not
have been wanting, to reprefs the voice of a falitary indi-
v^id^l •   I have met with but a fingle one who has had the 
i6o
ADVERTISEMENT,
hardinefs to fupport me with a fuffrage.  Among fa ma-
ny literary Potentates, who difpute with each other the
Empire of opinion, and who  traverfe that ftormy ocean-,
determined to fink to the bottom all who refufe to ferve
under their banner, a foreign Journalift has hoifled, in my
favour, the flag of  infurreaion.   It is that of Deux Ponts
which I  mean, conformably  to  my ufual cuftom of ac-
knowledging publicly the particular fervices done me ;
though the one in  queftion was rather a tribute prefented
to truth, than a compliment paid to me, who am personal-
ly unknown to that Writer, but whom I highly honour
for his impartiality.
  On the other hand, if Academics have not come for-
ward to explain themfelves, we muft take into confidera-
tion the embarraffment to which they felt themfelves re-
duced, that of retraaing publicly a conclufion  geometri-
cally falfe, but rendered venerable by age, and univerfal-
ly propagated.  They could not adopt my refults  without
condemning  their  own ;  and  it was impoflible for them
to condemn mine,  becaufe they were fupported by aaual
operations performed by themfelves.  I myfelf have been
no lefs embarraffed, when, on publifhing my obfervations,
I found myfelf reduced to the alternative of choofing be-
tween their efteem and their friendfhip ;  but I followed
the impulfa of the fentiment of truth, which ought to  ab-
farb  every political  confideration.  The intereft of  my
reputation, 1  confefs, claimed fome fmall fhare, in decid-
ing the point, but it was very fmall indeed.  Public utili-
ty has been my leading objea.   I have employed  neither
ridicule nor enthufiafm, againft men of  celebrity deteaed
in an  error.  I am not elevated  into a ftate of intoxica-
tion on the fcore of my Reafon.   I approached them as I
would have  done to  Plato laid afleep on  the brink of  a
precipice ;  fearing  the moment of their awaking, and ftill
more the prolongation of their flumbers.  I  have  not  im-
puted their blindnefs  to any want of light, an infinuation
to which  the learned are fa fenfibly  alive : but to the/ 
ADVERTISEMENT.
t6l
glare of fyftems, and efpecially, to the  influence of edu-
cation, and the power of moral habits, which cloud  our
reafon with fa many prejudices.  I have given, in the ad-
vertisement to my firft Volume, the origin of this error,
which was firft broached by Newton, and the geometrical
refutation of it; in the explanation of  the  plates at the
head of that Volume.
   I have reafon to apprehend that my moderation and can-
dor have not been imitated.  There appeared on the 21ft
of laft  November,  in  the  Paris Journal, a  very  fevere
anonymous  criticiftn of the Studies of Nature.  It
fats  out, indeed, with a general  commendation of  that
Work ; but it attempts to deftroy, in detail, all the good
which  the public voice feems to  have extorted from it.
Thefe  ftriaures had been preceded, a little while before,
by certain  other anonymous  letters, in which my Book
Was not mentioned by name, but a cold  and fubtile poifon
was fprinkled over it, without any feeming  defign, very
much Calculated to produce  its effea at the  long run.   I
was not a little furprifed to find this mafked battery open-
ed by an unknown  adverfary upon me ;  far  I was con-
fcious of having endeavoured to deferve well of all  man-
kind, and could not imagine that I flood in any one's way.
But on being informed that feveral of  my friends had, to
 no  purpofe, prefented to  the Journal of Paris, copies of
verfes, and profe ftriaures, in my  vindication • that long
 before this they had rejeaed fome fmall literary pieces, in
Which I was mentioned to advantage, I became convinced
that a  party had been there  farmed againft me.   Upon
this, I had recourfe to the General Journal of France, the
 impartial Compiler of which had  the  goodnefs to  infert
my  defence and remonftrance, in his  paper ot the 29th
 November, No. 143.
   Here, then, is a copy of my reply  to the critic who
thought proper to employ concealment and farcafm againft
 phyfical truths, and who1 affumed, in  making his attack
 Upon me, the poft of the coward, and thearms of the ruffian.
   VOL. III.-             W 
162
ADVERT IS E M E N T.
    To the Compiler of the Journal General of France.

     S I  R,
   " A Writer who conceals himfelf under the defcrip-
 " tion of a Solitary of the Pyrenees, jealous, I fuppofe, of
 " the gracious reception beftowed  by the Public  on my
 " Studies of Nature, has got  inferted into the Journal of
 '* Paris,  of yefterday the 21 ft, a very ill natured criticifm
 " of that Work.
   " He  feems to  have taken particular offence at my hav-
 " ing prefumed to accufe the Academicians of an error,
 " in concluding from  the increafe of  quantity in the  de-
 " grees of Latitude toward the Poles, that the Earth was
 " flattened  there ; at my attributing the caufe of the tides
'* to the melting of  the polar ices, &c...........In order to
M weaken the force of my refults, he exhibits them with-
" out the proofs.  He carefully keeps out of  fight  my
 " demonftration of the faa, fo fimple and fo evident, by
*' which  1 have made it  to appear that when the degrees
" of an arch of a circle lengthen, the arch of the  circi'e
" itfelf likewife  lengthens,  and  does  not become  flat.
" This is demonftrable from the poles of an egg, as well
" as from thofe of the Globe.  He has not told, that the
" ices of each  pole, having a circumference of trom five
" to fix thoufand  leagues, in  their winter, and  only from
" two  to three thoufand in- their fummer, I  had good
" ground for concluding, from their alternate fufions, all
" the  movements of the Seas.   He has  not faid a fingle
" word of  the  multitude of proofs geometrical,  nauti-
" cal, geographical,  botanical, and  even academical, by
4i which  I  have  fupported  thefe  new  and  important
" truths.   I leave it to my Readers to judge how far they
" are folid.
   " As it is evident that  this-anonymous Writer has ob-
" ferved  Nature only in Syftematic books ; that  he op-
** pofes names merely, to faas ; and authorities, to  red- 
ADVERTISEMENT.             163
"fans ; that he there confiders as decidedly certain, what I
" have completely refuted ;  that  he makes me to  fay in
" his critique what I  never did fay ; that fuch criticifm
" is within the reach of every fuperficial, idle, and difhon-
" eft man, who can hold a pen ; that neither my health,
" my time, nor my tafle, permit me to  confute fuch fpe-
" cies of differtation, even  had the author the manlinefs
" to fhew himfelf : I declare, therefore, that  in future, I
" will  not deign  to repel fuch attacks, efpecially on the
** field of the public papers.
  " At the. fame time, if there be any friend of truth who
" fhall difcover errors  in my Book, which undoubtedly,
" may  eafily be done, and who fhall have fo much friend-
" fhip for me, as addrefs himfelf direaiy to me,  I will
" take care to have them corre£led, and will openly ac-
M knowledge the obligation in terms of the higheft refpea ;
" becaufe, like that man, I aim at nothing but truth, and
 " honour thofe only who love it.
  •' I ftand, Sir,  quite alone.  As I belong to no  party,
" I have no one  literary Journal at ray difpofal.  It  is
" long fince I knew by experience, that I  had not the
" credit to get any thing inferted in that of Paris, even in
" the fervice of the miferable.  Permit me to entreat you,
" then, to find a place in your impartial paper,  for this
" my prefent reply, accompanied with  my folemn protef-
" tation of filence for the future.
  " One word more; while I complain of the anonymous
" critic, who has attacked my Work with fo much  acri-
" mony,  I feel myfelf obliged to acknowledge that he has
** pronounced an  exceflively fulfame elogium on my ftyle.
" I know not, however, which way to  account for it; but
" I feel myfelf ftill more humbled by his praife than irri-
" tated by his fatire.
               " I have the honour to be, &c.
                        " Signed,
                            44 DE SAINT  PIERRE.
 -*• Paris, Nov. 22, 1787." 
I.64            ADVERTISEMENT.

  The anonymous Reviewer  promifed to enter more mi-
nutely into an examination of my Bbok in  fame follow-
ing fheets  of the Paris  Journal ; but the Public  having
expreffed  fame difpleafure at feeing rne attacked rather
indecently, on a field to which  my friends had no accefs,
the Editor of that Journal, willing to make a fhow of im-
partiality, foon after publifhed a fragment of an epiftle in
verfe, intended to do  me honour.  This elogium is  like-
wife the  produaion  of  an anonymous Author ;  for the
virtuous conceal themfelves to do good, as  the malignant
to do mifchief.  The  verfes detached from the piece, and
which contain my  panegyric, are exceedingly beautiful ;
but there are fame others in the reft of  the epiftle, in my
opinion,  ftill more beautiful.  1 would  have expatiated
much more cordially in praife of them, had they not  gone
much too  far in praife of me.  Neverthelefs, gratitude
conftrains me to fay,  that they are the produaion of Mr.
Thereffe,  CounfeHor at Law, who favoured me a year ago,
in the month of January, with this particular teftimony of
his friendfhip, and of his fuperior talents.
   Let us  return to the point in  which the  Academicians
are principally interefled.  In order to acquire conviaion
that the  Poles of the Earth  are  drawn  out  lengthwife,
there is not the leaft occafion for folving  fame tranfcend-
ent geometrical  problem, hedged round  and round with
equations, fuch as the quadrature of the circle ; it  is  fuffi-
cient to poffefs the moft trivial notions of  geometry and
of phyfics.  Before I proceed to cplfea the proofs which
have already been produced, and to confirm thefe  by the
produaion of others altogether new, 1 beg  leave to fay
a word or two on the means which  may be employed for
afaertaining the  truth, as  much for the  fake of my own
inltruaion, as for that of my critics.
   We are in the bofom of ignorance, like mariners in the
rnidft of  a fea without fliores.   We perceive in it, here
and there, fome truths fcattered about  like  iflands.  In
 order to hit, and to diftinguifh, iflands in the open Sea, it 
ADVERTISEMENT.
165
is not fufrkient to  know their diftance from the North,
or to the Eaft.  Their Latitude gives one complete circle,
and their Longitude another ; but the interfeaion of thefe
two  meafurements determines  precifely the place where
they are.  We are capable of afcertaining truth, in like
manner, only by confidering it  under a variety of rela-
tions.  For this reafon  it is, that an objea which it is in
our power to fubjea to the examination of all our fenfes,
is much better known to us than an objea to which we
can apply the  tell  of  but one.  Thus, we have a much
more exaa knowledge of a tree than of a ftar, becaufe we
both fee and touch  the  tree : The flower of the tree af-
fords us ftill more knowledge of it than the trunk, becaufe
we can farther apply to it the teft of fmelling ; and final-
ly, our obfervations multiply, when we examine it by the
fruit, becaufe we can now call in  the evidence of the
tafte, and have the combined information of four fenfes at
once.  As to objeas toward which we  are able to dire&
but one of our organs, fay that of vifion, we can acquire
the knowledge of thefe only by confidering them under
different afpeas.  That tower in the horrizon, you fay, is
blue, fmall and round.   You approach it, and find it to be
white,  lofty  and angular.  Upon this you conclude it to
be fquare : But on walking round it, you  fee that it  is
pentagonal.   You judge it to be impoffible to afeertain its
height without the help  of an  inftrument, for it  is of a
prodigious elevation.  Take an acceffible objea of com-
parifon, that of your own height, and the length of your
fhadow, and you will find the felf fame  relation between
thefe, as between the fhadow of the tower and  its eleva-
tion, which you deemed to be inacceflible.
   Thus the  knowledge of any one truth is to be acquired
only by confidering it under different relations.  This is the
reafon  why  God alone is really intelligent, becaufe He
alone knows  all the relations  which exift among all be-
ings ;  and farther, why God  alone is  the  moft univer-
sally known of all beings, becaufe the relations which He 
a65
ADVERTISEMENT.
has eftablifhed among things,  manifeft  Him in all  his
Works.
  All truths  run into  one another,  like  the  links of a
chain.   We acquire the knowledge of them only  by com-
paring them to each other.  Had our Academicians made
the proper ufe of this principle, they muft have difcover-
ed that  the flattening of  the Poles was an error.   They
had only to apply the confequences of this doarine to  the
diftribution of the Seas.   If the Poles are flattened, their
radii being the fhorteft of the  Globe, all  the  Seas muft
ptrefs thitherward,  as  being the moft depreffed  place of
the Earth : On  the other hand, if  the Equator  were the
raoft elevated, all the Seas muft  retire from it, and the Tor-
rid Zone would  pi efent, through its whole circumference,
a Zone of dry land, of fix leagues and a half of elevation,
at its centre ;  as the radius of the Globe, at  the Equator,
exceeds, by that quantity, the radius at the Poles, accord-
ing- to the Academicians.
   Now the configuration of the  Globe prefents  us with
precifely the contrary of all this : For the moft extenfive
and the moft profound Seas are direftly over the Equator;
and, on the fide  of our Pole, the land ftretches prodigiouf-
ly forward to the North, and the Seas which  it  contains
are only mediterraneans, filled with high  lands.
   The South Pole is indeed, furrounded by a vaft Ocean ;
but as  Captain Cook could get no nearer  to  it than a dif-
tance of  475 leagues, we are entirely  ignorant whether
there be anv land in its vicinity.  Befides, it is  probable,
as I have faid elfewhere, that Nature,  which contrafts and
balances all things, has compenfated  the elevation in  ter-
ritory of  the  North Pole, by an equivalent  elevation in
ice, on the South Pole.  Cook found, in  faa, the icy cu-
pola of the South Pole, much  more  extenfive,  and more
elevated, than that  which  covers the North Pole,  and he
is againft  inftituting any manner of comparifan on  the
ftibjea.   Hear what he fays, in defcribing one of its fol-
 id  extremities,  which preve*  A his penetrating beyond 
ADVERTISEMENT.           167
 rhe 71ft degree of South Latitude, and  refembled a chain
 of mountains, rifing one above another, and  lofing them-
 felves  in  the  clouds.  " There never  were feen, in  my
 " opinion, mountains of ice  fuch as thefe, in the Seas of
 " Greenland ;  at  leaft I have never read or  heard of  the
 " like  : No comparison, therefore, can be ftated  between
 " the ices of the North, and  thofe of the Latitudes which
 " I am mentioning."  (Cook's Voyages, January, 1774.)
   This prodigious elevation of ices, of which Cook favv
 but one  extremity, may, therefore, be  a  counterpoife  to-
 the elevation of territory on  the North Pole, eftablifhed
 by the  learned  labours of the Academicians themfelves.
 But though the frozen Seas of  the South  Pole may repel
 the operations  of Geometry, we fhall fee prefently,  by
 two authentic obfervations, that the fluid Seas which fur-
 round it,  are more elevated than thofe at the Equator, and
 are at the fame level with thofe of the North  Pole.
   Let  us.now  proceed  to verify the  elongation of the
 Poles, by the very method which has been made to  ferve
 for a demonftration of their  being flattened.  This laft
 hypothefis has acquired a new degree of error, from  its
 application to the difiribution of land and  water upon the
 Globe ; that of  the elongation of the Poles, is  going to
 acquire new  degrees of evidence, by its extenfion to the
 different harmonies of Nature.
   Let us  colfea,  for this purpofe, the proofs which  lie
 fcattered about in the preceding Volumes.   Some of them
 are geometrical, fome geographical, fame atmofpherica),
 fame nautical, and  fome aftronomical.
   I. The  firft proof, of the elongation of the Earth at the
 Poles, is geometrical.   I have inferted it  in the explana-
 tion of  the plates, at the beginning of Volume  Firft ;  it
 alone is fufficient to fet the truth in queftion in the clear-
 eft light of evidence.  There was no occafion even for a
 figure in order to this.   It is very eafy  to conceive that
if, in a circle, the degrees of a  portion of this circle length-
en,, '.he whole portion containing thefe degrees, muft like- 
l6t            ADVERTISEMENT.

wife lengthen.  Now, the degrees of the Meridian  io
lengthen under the polar Circle, as they are greater there
than under the Equator, according to the  Academicians ;
therefore  the polar arch of the Meridian, or, which  is
the fame thing, the  polar curve  lengthens alfo.   I have
already employed  this  argument, to which no reply can
be <riven, to prove that  the polar curve was not flattened j
I can eafily employ  it likewife  to prove that  it is length-
ened out.
   II. The fecond proof of the elongation  of  the Earth at
the Poles is atmofpheric.  It is well known that the height
of the Atmofphere diminifhes, in proportion as we afcend
upon a mountain.   Now this height diminifhes  likewife,
in proportion as we  advance toward  the Pole.  I am fur-
nifhed,  on this fubjea,  with  two  barometrical experi-
ments.  The firft for the Northern Hemifphere ; and the
fecond for the Southern Hemifphere.  The mercury in
the Barometer, at Paris, finks one line, at the  height  of
eleven fathom ; and it finks likewife one line in Sweden,
on an elevation of only  ten fathom, one foot, fix inches,
and four lines.  The  Atmofphere of Sweden, therefore,
is lower, or, what amounts to the very fame thing, its Con-
tinent is  more elevated  than the Land  at  Paris.   The
Earth, therefore, lengthens out as you proceed northward.
This experiment,  and its confequences, cannot be rejea.
ed by the  Academicians ; for they are extraaed  from the
Hiftory of the Academy of Sciences, year 1712, page 4.
Confult the Explanation of the  plates, Atlantic Hemif-
phere, beginning of  Vol. I.
   III. The  fecond experiment, to prove the  lowering of
the Atmofphere at the Poles, was made toward the South
Pole.  It confifts of a faries of barometrical  obfervations
taken, from  day to  day, in the Southern Hemifphere,  by
Captain Cook, during  the years  1773, 1774, and  1775,
from which we fee, that the mercury faarcely ever rofe
higher than  29 inches Englifh, beyond the 60th degree of
South Latitude^ and mounted almoft always to 30 inches, 
Advertisement.           i6g
find even higher, in the vicinity of the Torrid Zone, which
is a proof that the barometer falls as you advance toward
the South Pole,  as well  as toward the North  Pole, and
that, confequently, both are elongated.
  The Table of thefe barometrical obfervations may be
confulted ; it is given at the end of Captain Cook's fecond
Voyage.  Thofe of the  fame kind, which have been col-
feaed in the fallowing Voyage, exhibit no regular differ-
ence from each other, whatever be the Latitude of the vef-
fel j  which is a proof of their inaccuracy, occafkmed,
moft probably, by the irregularity which muft have arifen
from  the fucceflive  death of the obferyers ; namely, of
the intelligent Anderfon, furgeon of the fhip, and Cook's
particular friend ; of that great man himfelf ; and of Cap-
tain Gierke his fucceffor ; andy perhaps, likewife from a
zealous partizan of Newton, who might have been difpof-
ed to throw a cloud over faas fa contrary to his fyftem of
the flattening of the Poles.
   IV. The fourth proof of the elongation of the Poles, is
hautical.  It confifts of fix experiments of three different
fpecies.   The two firft experiments are taken  from the
annual defcent of the ices of each Pole toward the Line ;
the two fecond, from  the Currents  which  defaend from
the Poles during their Summer ; and the  two  laft, from
the rapidity and  the extent of thefe fame Currents, which
perform the  tour  of the Globe alternately during fix
months :  Three are for the North Pole, and three far the
South  Pole.
  The firft experiment, that deduced from the  defcent of
the ices  of the  North Pole, is  detailed in the  Firft Vol-
ume of this Work, Study Fourth.   I have there quoted
the teftimonies of the moft celebrated  Navigators  of the
North  ; particularly of Ellis of  England, of Linfchotten
and Barents of Holland, of Martens of Hamburg, and of
Denis  the French Governor of  Canada, who atteft, that
thefe ices are of a  prodigious  height, and  that they are
frequently met with in the fpring, in temperate  Latitudes.
   vol.  in.              X 
J70            ADVERTISEMENT.

Denis affures us, that they are loftier than  the turrets of
Notre Dame, that they fometimes form floating chains of
more than a day's failing, and that they run aground as far
fauth  as the great  bank of  Newfoundland.  The moft
northerly part of this bank hardly extends beyond the fif-
tieth degree ; and mariners engaged in the whale fifhery,
do not fall in with the falid ices, in fummer, till they ap-
proach the 75th degree.  But  on the fuppofition that thofe
falid ices extend, in  winter, from the Pole  to the 65th
degree, the floating ices detached from the icy Continent,
perforin a courfe of 375 leagues, in the two firft months
of  fpring.  I-t is not the wind which drives-  them  fouth-
ward, for the fithing  veffels  which meet them have fre-
quently fair winds ; variable winds would carry them in-
differently to the  North,, to the Eaft, or to the Weft : But
it is the Current, from  the North,  which  carries  them
conftantly,  every  year,  toward the Line,  becaufe  the
Pole, from which they take their departure, is more el-
evated.
   V. The fecond experiment,,  of the feme  kind, far the
South Pole, is extraaed from  Captain Cook's Voyage, the
10th December, 1772.  " The  10th December, 8 o'clock
" in the morning, we difcovered ices to our Northweft;"
to which Mr. Forfler adds :  " And about two leagues to
" windward, another mafs,  which  refembled a point of
"white land.   In the afternoon, we paffed clofe by a
" third, which  was cubical,  and  was two  thoufand feet
** long, two hundred  feet broad, and, at leaft, two hun-
" dred feet in height."  Cook was then in the ,51ft degree
of fouth Latitude, and two degrees weft Longitude from
the Cape of Good Hope.  He faw a  great  many  more,
up  to the  17th January, 1773 ;  but being at that epocha,
in the Latitude of 65 degrees, 15 minutes,  fouth, he  was
flopped by a bank of broken ice, which prevented his go-
ing farther fouthward.   Thus, on the fuppofition that the
firft ice with which he  found himfelf entangled on the
 *oth  of December,  had taken its  departure  from  that 
ADVERTISEMENT.            T7I
•point on  fhe  10th of Oaober, the feafon at which it is
fuppofed that the aaion of the Sun has begun to diffalve
the ices of the South Pole, it nruft  have advanced at leaft
14 degrees, that is 350  leagues, toward  the Line, in two
months :  That is, muft have travelled  nearly the fame
diftance, in the fame  fpace of time, with the ices which
defaend from the North Pole.   The  South  Pole, there-
fore, as well as the North  Pole, is more  elevated than the
Equator, feeing its ices defaend  toward the Torrid Zone.
  VI.  The  third nautical experiment,  demonftrative of
the elongation  of the  North Pole, is deduced  from its
Currents themfelves, which  iffue direaiy from the bays,
and the ftraits of the North, with the  rapidity of fluices.
  I have quoted, to this purpofe, the fame Navigators of
the North ; Linfchotten and  Barents,  employed by  the
States  of Holland, to difcover  a  Northweft paffage to
China ; and Ellis, entrufted with a commiflion from En-
gland,  to  attempt a Northeaft paffage to the South Sea,
through the bottom of Hudfon's Bay.   They have difcov-
ered at the extremity  of thofe Northern Seas,  Currents
which  iffued from bays and ftraits,  running at the rate of
from eight to ten leagues  an  hour, hurrying along with
them air infinite  multitude of  floating  icy promontories,
and of tumultuous tides,  which, as well as the Currents,
precipitated themfelves direaiy from  the North,  from the
Northeaft, or from the Northweft, according as  the land
lay.   In  conformity to thofe invariable and multiplied
faas, I myfelf have derived complete conviaion, that the
fufion of the polar ices was the fecond caufe of the move-
ment of  the Seas ; that the Sun was the primary caufe ;
and on this I founded my  theory of the tides. See Vol.
I, Explanation of the  Plates, Atlantic Hemifphere.
  VII. The Currents of  the South Sea, in  like manner,
have their fource in  the ices of  the South Pole.  Hear
what Cook fays  on the fubjea,  in his Journal,  January,
*774*   " f^eed the majority of us were of opinion, that
M this ice extended to the  Pole ;  or that it might poflibh/ 
172            ADVERTISEMENT.
 " join fame land, to which it has adhered* from the earlU
 '• eft times :  That to  the South of this parallel, are fornv
 " ed all  the ices  which we found here and there to the
 " N.ortji) ; that they are afterwards  detached  by violent
 " gufts of wind, or by  other  caufes, and thrown to the
 " North by the Currents, which, in high Latitudes, we
 " always obferyed to  bear in that direaion."
   This  fourth nautical experiment, accordingly, proves
 that the South Pole is elongated,  as  well  as  the North
 Pole j for if both were flattened, the Currents would fet
 in towards them, inflead of flowing toward the Line,
   Thofe Southern Currents,  are  not fa violent at  their
 fource as the  Northern, becaufe they are not, like them,
 colfeacd in bays, and  afterwards difgorged by ftraits ; but
 we fhall fee prefently  that they extend quite as far.
  VIII. The fifth nautical proof of the elevation of the Poles
 above the Horizon of all Seas, is founded on the rapidity
 and the length of their Currents, which perform  the tour of
 the Globe.  The Reader may  eonfult, on this fubjea, the
 extent of my refearches, and of my proofs, at the beginning
 of my firft Volume, in the explanation of the plate, At-
 lantic  Hemifphere.   I quoted, firft, the Current of the
 Indian Ocean, which  flows fix months  toward the Eaft,
 and fix months toward the Weft, according tothe teftimo-
 ny of all the Navigators of India.   I have demonftrated
that  this  alternate and  half yearly Current cannot poffibly
 be afcribed, in any one refpea, to the courfe of the Moon,
 and  of  the Sun, which  uniformly move from Eaft tq
 Weft,  but to the  combined  heat of thofe  luminaries,
 which melt, for fix months  alternately, the  ices of each
 Pole.
  I have  afterwards adduced  two very  curious  obferva-
tions, in  proof of the exiftence of a firnilar  alternate  and
half yearly Current in the Atlantic Ocean, in which, till
now, no fuch thing had been fufpeaed.   The firft is  that
pf Rennfort, who found, in the month of July 1666, on
 leaving the Azores, the Sea covered with the wrecks of a 
ADVERTISEMENT.
173
«»vai engagement, which had taken  place nine days be.
fore, between the Englifh and Dutch, off Ofteod.  Thefe
wrecks had been carried along, in  nine days, more than
275 leagues to the South, which is confiderably above 30
leagues a day : And this is  a fifth  nautical  experiment,
which proves, from  the rapidity of  the Currents of the
North, the confiderable elevation of that Pole above the
Horizon of the Seas.
   IX. My fixth nautical experiment demonftrates partic-
ularly the elevation of the South Pole, from the extent of
its Currents, which, in winter, force their way  up to the
extremities of the Atlantic.   It is the obfervation of Mr.
Pennant, the celebrated Englifh Naturalift, who relates,
that the Sea threw on the coafts of Scotland, the  maft of
the Tilbury man of war, which  was burnt in the road of
Jamaica j and that they every year pick up on the fhores
of the northern ifles, the feeds of plants which  grow no
where but in Jamaica.   Cook likewife affures us, in the
Journal of his Voyages, as an undoubted faa, that  there
are found, every year,  on the coaft of Iceland, in  great
quantities,  large flat  and round feeds called the oxeye,
which grow only in America,
   X. and XI. The aftronomical proofs, of the elongation
of the Poles, are three in number.  The two firft  are Lu-
nar.  I mean  the twofold  obfervation of Tyhco Brhal
and of Kepler, who faw, in central eclipfes of the Moon,
the fhadow of the Earth lengthened at the Poles.  I have
quoted  it Vol.  I, Study IV.   It is  impoflible to oppofe
any thing to the  ocular teftimony of  two Aftronomers of
fuch high reputation, whofe calculations, fa far from being
favoured, were deranged, by  their obfervations.
   XII.  The third aftronomical proof, of the elongation
of the Poles, is Solar, and refpeas the North Pole.   It is
the obfervation of Barents, who perceived, in Nova Zem-
bla, in the 76th degree of North Latitude, the Sun in the
Horizon, fifteen days fooner than he expeaed.   The Sun,
in thi> cafe, was  two degrees and a half more elevated 
»74            ADVERTISEMENT,
 than he ought to  have been.  Allowing one  degree for
 the refraaion of  the Atmofphere, in winter, at the 76th
 degree of North  Latitude, or even a degree  and a half,
 which is a very confiderable  conceflion, there would re-
 main one  degree at leaft, for the extraordinary elevation
 of the Obferver, above the Horizon of Nova Zembla.   I
 have, on this occafion, deteaed another miftake of the
 Academician Bouguer, who fixes the greateft refraaion of
 the Sun at no more than 34 minutes, for all climates.  It
 is eafy to fee that  I do not  avail myfelf of all  the  advan-
 tages  given me by the Gentlemen whofe  opinions 1 am
 combating.  See Vol.  I, Explanation of the plate,  Atlan-
 tic Hemifphere.
   All thefe twelve proofs, deduced from the different har-
 monies of Nature, mutually concur in  demonftrating that
 the Poles are elongated.  They are fupported by a multi.
 tude of tadts, the number of which it were eafy for me to
 increafe ;  whereas the Academicians are unable to apply
 to  any one phenomenon of the Earth, of the Sea, or of
 the Atmofphere, their refult of the flattening of the Poles,
 without inftantly discovering it to be a miftake.  Befides,
 Geometry alone is Sufficient to convince them of it.
   They have, I admit, made the vibrations of the pendu-
 lum to quadrate with it ; but that experiment is  liable to
 a thoufand errors.   It is, at leaft, as  much to be fufpeaed
as that of the burning mirror, which has ferved  them as a
 foundation to conclude that  the rays  of the Moon had
no  heat ; whereas  the contrary has been  proved both
at Rome and at Paris, by profeffors  of Phyfics.  The
pendulum lengthens by heat, and contraas by cold.  It is
very difficult to counterbalance its variations, by an affem-
blage of rods of different metals.  On  the other hand, it
is very eafy for men, prejudiced from infancy by the doc-
trine of attraaion, to make a miftake of fome lines in fa-
vour of it.   Befides, all thefe petty  methods of Phyfics,
fubjea to fo many mifreckonings, can in no refpea what-
ever contradia the elongation of the Poles of  the Earth, 
ADVERTISEMENT.
*75
,of which Nature exhibits  the fame  refults on the Sea, ia
the Air, and in the Heavens.
   The elongation of the Poles being demonftrated, the Cur-r
rent of the Seas and of the tides follows as a natural confe-
quence.  Many perfons obferving a coincidence, between
our tides, and  the  phafes  of  the Moon, of the fame in-
creafes and diminutions, have  concluded as certain, that
this luminary, by means of her attraaion, is the firft mov-
ing principle of thofe phenomena : But thefe coincidences-
exift only in one part of the Atlantic  Ocean.  They pro-
ceed, not  from the  attraaion  of  the  Moon  aaing  upon
the Seas, but from her heat, reffeaed from the Sun on the
polar ices, the effufions of which fhe  increafes, conform-
ably to certain Laws peculiar to our Continents.  Every
where elfe, the number, the variety, the duration, the reg-
ularity and the irregularity of  the tides, have no relation
whatever to the phafes of the Moon, and coincide, on the
contrary, with  the  effeas of the Sun on the polar  ices,
and the configuration of the Poles of the Earth.  This we
are  now going to  demonftrate, by  employing  the  fame
principle of comparifon which has enabled us  to  refute
the error of the Academicians refpeaing the flattening of
the Poles, and to prove the  truth of my theory refpeaing
their elongation.
   If the Moon aaed, by her attraaion on the tides of the
Ocean, fhe would extend the influence of it to mediterr&i.
nean feas and  lakes.  But, this is not the cafe, as medi-
terranean feas  and lakes have no tides, at leaft, no lunar
tides ; far we have obferved that the lakes, fituated at the
foot of icy mountains,  have, in Summer,  falar tides, or a
flux like the Ocean.  Such is  the lake of Geneva, which
has  a regular afternoon's flux.  This  coincidence  of the
flux of lakes in the vicinity of icy  mountains,  with the
heat of the Sun, gives, at once, a high degree of probabil-
ity to my theory of  the tides ; and, on the contrary, the
difagreement of thofe fame  fluxes with the phafes of the
Moon, as well as the tranquillity of  mediterraneans, when 
Ij6            ADVERTISEMENT.
that ftar  paffes over their meridian, render, at firft fighfV
her attraction more liable to fufpicion.  But we fhall fee
prefently, that in the vaft Ocean itfelf, the greateft part of
the tides have no manner of relation either  to her attrac-
tion or to her courfe.
  I have already quoted, in the explanation of the" plates,
the Navigator Dampier, who informs us, that the higheft
tide which he obfarved, on  the coafts  of New Holland,
did not take place1 till three  days after the  full   Moon.
He affirms, as well as all the Navigators of the South, that
the tides rife very little, between the Tropics, and  that
they are, at moft, from four to five feet high, in the Eaft'
Indies, and a foot and a half only, on  the  coafts  of  the
South Sea.
  Let me now be permitted to afk, Why thofe fides  be-
tween the Tropics, are fo  feeble, and  fa much retarded,
tinder the direa  influence of the Moon ? Wherefore  the
Moon, by. her attraaion, gives us two tides every twenty
four hours, in our Atlantic Ocean, while fhe produces but
one in many places of the South Sea, which is incompar-
ably broader ? Wherefore there are, in that fame  South
Sea, diurnal and Semidiurnal tides, that is of twelve hours
and of fix hours ? Wherefore the greateft part of the tides
take place there  conftantly at the fame hours, and rife to a
regular height almoft all the year round, whatever may be
the irregularities of the phafes  of the Moon ? Why there
are Some which riSe at the quadratures, juft as at the full
and new Moons  ? Wherefore are they always ftronger in
proportion as you approach the Poles, and  frequently fet
in towards the Line, contrary to the pretended principle
of their impulfion ?
  Thefe problems, which it is impoflible to  Solve by the
theory of the Moon's attraaion at the Equator,  are of ea-
fy folution, on the hypothefis of the alternate aaion of
the Sun's heat on the ices of the two Poles.
  I am going, firft, to prove  this diverfity of  the tides,
even from the  teftimony of  Newton's compatriots,  and 
              ADVERTISEMENT.            f77

 jealous partifaris of his fyftem.  My witneffes are no ob-
 fcure men ; they are perfons of faience, naval officers  of
 the King of Great Britain, feleaed, one after another, by
 the voice of their Nation, and the appointment of their
 Prince, to perform the  tour of the Globe, and to derive
 from their obfervations, information of importance to the
 fludy of Nature.   They are men of no lefs note than Cap-
 tains Byron,  Carteret,  Cook,  Clerke,  and the aftronomer
 Mr. Wales.  To thefe I Shall fubjoin the teftimony of
 Newton himfelf.  Let us, firft of all examine what they
 relate refpeaing the  tides of the  fouthern part  of the
 South Sea.
   In the road of the  ifland of Maffafuero, in 33 degrees,
 46 minutes, of South Latitude, and 80 degrees, 22 mini
 utes, Weft Longitude, from the Meridian of London......
 " The Sea runs twelve hours to the North, and tlien flows
 " back  twelve hours  to the  South."   (Captain  Byron
 April, ,76,5.)                                    y   '
   As the ifland of Maffafuero is  in the fouthern part of
 the South Sea, its.tides, which  fet in to the North in April
 run, therefore, toward the Line, in contradiaion to the*
 Lunar Syftem  : Befides, its tides are of twelve hours dura-
 tion ; another difficulty.
   At Englifh Creek, on the coaft of New Britain, about
 the^th  degree of South Latitude, and  1,52  degrees of
 Longitude, " The tide has a flux and reflux once in twen-
 " ty four hours."  (Captain Carteret, Auguft, i767.)
   At the Bay  of the Ifles,  in  New Zealand,  toward q4
 degrees, ,59  minutes of  South Latitude, and i$5 degrees
 36 minutes, Weft Longitude: « From the obfervations'
 ^ which I have been able to make on the coaft, relatively
 ^ to the tides,  it appears, that the flood fats in  from the
  £>outh."  (Captain Cook, December, i769.)
   Here  are ftill tides in the open Seas  which run toward
the Line, againft the impulfion of the Moon.   They de-
scended, at that Seafan, to  New Zealand, from  the South
Pole, the Currents of which were then in a ftate of afctiv-
   VOL.  III.              y 
*78            ADVERTISEMENT.
ity, for it was the Summer of that Pole, being the month
ef December.   Thofe of Maffafuero, though obferved in
the month of April, by Captain Byron, had likewiSe the
fame  origin, becaufe the Currents of the  North Pole,
which do not commence till toward the end of March, at
the time  of  our vernal Equinox, had not as yet begun to
check the influence of the  South  Pole, in  the Southern
Hemifphere.
   At the mouth of  River  Endeavour, in New Holland,
15 degrees,  26  minutes  of  South  Latitude, and  214 de-
grees, 42 minutes  Weft  Longitude, where  Captain Cook
refitted his veffel, after  having run aground :  " Neither
" the  flood  tide, nor the ebb, were confiderable, except
" once in twenty four hours, juft  as we found  it while
" we  were  faft  upon the rock."  (Captain Cook, June,
1770.)
  At the entrance  of Chriftmas harbour, in Kerguelen's
Land, about 48 degrees, 29 minutes South  Latitude, and
68  degrees,  42  minutes, Eaft Longitude ;  " While we
" were lying at anchor, we  obferved that the  flood tide
" came from the Southeaft, running two  knots, at leaft,
•* in an hour."   (Captain Cook, December, 1776.
  Here,  accordingly, is another tide which defcended di-
reaiy from the South Pole.   It appears that this tide was
regular and diurnal, that isT a tide of twelve hours ; for
Cook adds, a few pages afterwards : " It is high  water
" here, at the full  and change  days, about ten o'clock ;
" and the tide rifes and falls about four feet."
  In  the  iflands  of O Taiti, in 17 degrees, 29 minutes,
South Latitude,  and  149 degrees, 35 minutes Longitude ;
and of Ulietea, in 16 degrees, 45 minutes, South  Lati-
tude : " Some obfervations were alfo made  on the tide ;
" particularly at Otaheite and Ulietea ; with a view of af-
" certaining  its greateft rife at the firft place.   When we
" were there, in  my  Second voyage, Mr. Wales  thought
" he had discovered, that it  roSe higher than I had obServ-
" ed it to do, when 1 firft vifited Otaheite in 1769.   But 
ADVERTISEMENT.
179
" the obfervations  we now made proved that it did not ;
" that is, that it never rofe higher than twelve or fourteen
" inches at moft.  And it was obferved, to be high water
" nearly at noon, as well at the quadratures, as at the full and
" change of the Moon."  (Captain Cook, December, 1777.)
   Cook gives, in this place of his Journal,  a table of the
tides in thofe iflands, from the firft up to the twenty Sixth
of November ;  from which it is evident that they had but
one tide a day, and this, during the whole  courfe of the
month, was at  its  mean height, between eleven and one
o'clock.  It is, accordingly, evident, that tides fo regular,
at epochs of the Moon fo different, could have no relation
whatever to the phafes of that luminary.
  Cook  was at Tai'ti, in 1769, in the month of July, that
is, in the winter of the South Pole : He was there a fec-
ond time, in 1777,  in the month of December, that is, in its
fummer ; It is  accordingly poffible, that  the  effufions of
this Pole, being  then more copious and nearer to Taiti,
than thofe of the North  Pole, the  tides might be ftronger
in that  ifland, in the month of December,  than  in July,
and that Mr. Wales, the Aftronomer, was in the right.
   Let  us now obServe the effeas  of the  tides, in the
northern part of the South Sea,
   At the entrance of Nootka, on the coaft of  America,
in 49 degrees, 36 minutes, of North Latitude, and 233 de-
grees,  17 minutes,  Eaft Longitude : " It is  high water on
" the days  of the new  and  full  Moon, at  12 hours, 20
" minutes.  The perpendicular rife and fall, eight feet
" nine  inches ; which  is  to be  underftood  of the day
" tides, and thofe  which happen two  or  three days after
" the full and new Moon.  The night tides, at this time,
" rife near two feet higher.  This was very confpicuous
" during the Spring tide of the full Moon, which happen-
" ed Soon  aSter our arrival ; and it was obvious, that it
" would be the Same in  thoSe of the new Moon, though
" we did not remain here  long enough to  fee the whole
" of its effea."  (Captain Cook, April, 1778.) 
f8©            ADVERTISEMENT.
  Here, then, are two tides a day, or femi diurnal, on the
/other fide of our Hemifphere, as in our own ;  whereas it
appears that there is only one in the Southern Hemisphere,
that is, in the South Sea only.  Farther, thoSe  Semi diur-
nal tides differ from ours, in  this, that they take place at
the fame hour, and that they exhibit no fenfible rife till
tlie fecond or third  day after the full Moon.  We Shall
preSently unfold the reafon of thefe phenomena, which
are  totally inexplicable  on the hypothefis  of  the Lunar
Syftera.
  We Shall fee, in the two fallowing obfervations, thofe
northern  tides of the South  Sea, remarked  in April, be-
coming,  in higher Latitudes, on the fame coaft, ftronger
in May, and ftill ftronger in June, which cannot, in any
refpea, be referred  to  the courfe  of the  Moon, which
paffes then into the  Southern  Hemifphere, but to the
courSe of the Sun, which paffes into the northern Hemif-
phere, and proceeds to warm, more and more, the ices of
the North Pole, the fufion of which increafes, in propor-
tion as the heat of the ftar of day increafes.   Befides, the
direaion of thofe tides of the North toward the Line, and
other circumftances, will conftitute a complete  confirma-
tion that they derive their origin from the Pole.
  At the entrance of Cook's River, on the coaft of Amer-
ica, toward 57 degrees, and 51 minutes, North  Latitude :
" Here was a ftrong tide fetting to the Southward out of
" the inlet.   It was the ebb, and ran between  three and
*' four knots in an hour ; and it  was low water at ten
" o'clock.  A  good  deal  of Sea weed, and Some  driSt
?' wood, were carried  out  with  the  tide.   The water too
" had become thick like  that in rivers ;  but we were en-
f couraged to proceed by finding it as Salt at low water a-;
*' the ocean.  The ftrength oS the flood  tide  was three
f knots; and the ftream ran up till four in the afternoon."
(Captain Cook, May, 1778.)  '
  By knots, the Sailors mean the divifions of the log rope;
and by log, a Small piece of wood which they throw into 
ADVERTISEMENT.            x$g
4he Sea tied to a rope, for meafuringthe courfe of a veffel.
When  in one  minute, three  divifions, or knots, of  the
rope run out from the  {hip, they conclude that the veffel,
or the current, is making three miles an hour, or one league.
   On failing up the fame inlet, at a place where it was on-
ly four leagues  broad :  " Through this channel ran a pro-
" digious tide.   It  looked  frightful to us, who could not
" tell whether the  agitation of the water was occafioned
" by the ftream, or by  the  breaking  of the waves againft
"rocks or  Sands......Here we lay during the ebb, which
" ran near five knots in the hour (one league two thirds.)
" Until we got thus far, the water  had retained  the fame
" degree of faltnefs at  low, as at high water ; and at both
" periods, was as fait as that in the Ocean.   But now  the
" marks of a River difplayed themfelves.   The water tak-
" en up this ebb, when  at the loweft,  was found  to be
" very confiderably frefher, than any we had hitherto taft-
" ed ; infomuch that 1 was convinced we were in a large
" river, and not in a ftrait, communicating with the North-
" ern Seas."  (Captain Cook, 30th May,  1778.)
  What Cook cajls  the inlet, to which the name of Cook's
great River has fince been  given, is, from its courfe, and
its brackifh  waters, neither a ftrait, nor a river, but a real
northern fluice, through which the effufions of the polar
ices are difcharged  into  the Ocean.   We  find others of
the fame kind at the bottom of Hudfon's Bay.  Ellis was
miftaken in thefe, in taking them   far ftraits which had a
communication from the Northern Ocean to the South
Sea.  It was in the view of diffipating the doubts which
had remained on this fubjea, that Cook attempted the Same
inveftigation, to the north of the coafts of California.
  Continuation of the  difcovery of the interior of the In-
let, or  Cook's great River  : " After we  had entered  the
" Bay, the flood fet ftrong into the river Turnagain ; and
" ebb came out with ftill greater force ;  the water falling,
" while we lay at anchor, twenty  feet upon a  perpendic-
'' lar "   (Captain Cook, June,  1778.) 
l82
ADVERTISEMENT.
  That which Cook  calls the ebb, or the reflux, appears
to me to  be the  flood, or the flux itfelf, for it was more
tumultuous, and  more rapid than what he calls the flux ;
for the reaaion never can be more powerful than the ac-
tion.  The falling tide, even in our rivers, is never  fo
ftrong as the rifing tide.   This  laft generally  produces a
bar at the mouth of the ftream, which the other does not.
  Cook, prepoffeffed in Savour oS the prevailing opinion,
that the cauSe of the  tides is between the Tropics, could
not affume the refalution to confider  this flood, which
came  from the interior of  the land, as a real tide.  Nev-
ertheless, in the  oppofite part of that  fame Continent, I
mean, at the  bottom  of  Hudfan's Bay, the flood, or the
tide, comes from the Weft, that is, from the  interior of
the country.
  The following is what we  find related, on this  fubjea,
in the Introduaion to Cook's third Voyage.   "  Middle-
" ton, who commanded the expedition in  1741 and 1742,
" into Hudfan's  Bay, had proceeded farther North  than
" any of his predeceffors in that  navigation.  He had, be-
" tween the latitude of 65" and 66\ found a very confid-
" erable inlet running Weftward, into which  he entered
" with his Ships  ; and, after repeated  trials of the tides,
" and endeavours to difcover the nature and courSe of the
" opening, for three weeks fucceffively, he  found the
" flood conftantly to come from the  Eaftward,  and that
" it was a large river he had got into, to which he  gave
" the  name of Wager River.
  " The accuracy, or rather the fidelity of this report was
" denied by Mr. Dobbs, who contended that, this opening
" is a Strait, and not a frefh water river, and that Middle-
" ton, if he had examined it  properly, would have found a
" paffage  through  it to the Weftern  American Ocean.
" The failure of this Voyage,  therefore, only Served to
" Surnifh  our zealous advocate for the  difcovery  with
" new arguments for attempting it once more ; and  he
" had the good fortune,  after getting the reward of twen- 
ADVERTISEMENT.
i*3
M ty thoufand pounds eftablifhed by aa of parliament, to
*' prevail upon a fociety of Gentlemen and Merchants to
" fit out the Dobbs  and  California ;  which  fhips it was
" hoped, would be able to find their way into the Pacific
" Ocean, by the very opening which Middleton's voyage
" had pointed  out, and which  he was  believed to have
" mifreprefented.
  " This renovation of hope only produced  frefh  difap-
" pointment.   For it is well  known, that the Voyage of
" the Dobbs and California*, inftead of confuting, ftrong-
•' ly confirmed  all that  Middleton had afferted.  The fup-
" poSed ftrait was found to be nothing more  than a frefh
" water river, and its utmoft Weftern  navigable bounda-
" ries were now afaertained, by accurate examination."
  Wager's  river, accordingly, produces a real tide from
the Weft, becaufe it is one of the fluices which open from
the North into the Atlantic Ocean : It is  evident, there-
fore, that Cook's great River  produces, on its fide, a real
tide Srom the Eaft, becaufe it is likewiSe one of the fluices
of the North into the South Sea.
  Befides, the  height  and the  tumult of thofe tides of
Cook's great  River, Similar to  thoSe of the bottom of Hud-
fan's Bay, of Waigat's Strait, &c. the diminution of their
faltnefs, their general  direaion  toward the  Line, prove
that they are formed  in Summer, in the North  of the South
Sea, as well as  in the North of the Atlantic Ocean, from
the fufion of the ices of the North Pole.
  In the fequel of  Cook's Voyage, finifhed  by Captain
Clerke, we fhall find two other obfervations, refpeaing the
tides, which the Lunar Syftem is equally incapable of ac-
counting tor.
  At the Englifh obfervatory,  Sandwich Iflands,  m the
bay of Karakakoo, in 19 degrees, 28 minutes, Norti, Lat-
itude, and 204 degrees Eaft Longitude,  " The tides are

  • Mr. Ellis embarked in the Voyage, and he it  is who wrote the relation
oi it. which I have repeatedly  quoted. 
Jr>4            ADVERTISEMENT.
" very regular, flowing and ebbing fix hours each.   Th-
" flood comes from the Eaftward ; and  it is high water,
" at the full and  change of the Moon, forty five minutes
" paft three,apparent time." (Captain C/<?r^, March, 1779.)
  At St. Peter and St. Paul's town, in Kamchatka, in 53'
degrees, 38 minutes, North Latitude, and 158 degrees, 43
minutes, Eaft Longitude, " it was high water, on the full
" and change of the Moon, at thirty fix minutes paft four,
" and the greateft rife  was five feet eight inches.   The
" tides were very regular every twelve hours."  (Cap-
tain Clerke, Oaober, 1779.)
  Captain Clerke, prejudiced, as well as Cook, in favour of
the fyftem of the Moon's attraaion, in the Torrid Zone,
Strains, to no purpofe, to refer to the  irregular phafes of
that ftar, the tides which  take place at  regular  hours in
the South Sea, as well  as  their other  phenomena.  Mr.
Wales, the Aftronomer, who accompanied Cook on his Sec-
ond Voyage, is  obliged to acknowledge, on this  Subjeft,
the deSeaiveneSs of Newton's theory.   Hear what he Says
of it, in an extraa inferted in the general Introduaion to
Cook's laft Voyage : " The number of  places, at which
" the rife and times of flowing of tides have been obferv-
" ed, in thefe voyages,  is  very  great ; and hence an im-
" portant article of ufeful knowledge   is afforded.  In
" thefe obfervations, fome very curious, and even unex-
" peaed circumftances have offered themfelves to our
" consideration.  It will be Sufficient to  inftance the ex-
" ceedingly Small height to whioh the tide  riSes,  in the
" middle oS the great Pacific Ocean ; where it Sails  fhort
" two thirds, at leaft, oS what might have been expeaed
" Srom theory and calculation."
  The  partiSans of the  Newtonian Syftem would find
themSelves reduced to very great  embarraffment,  were
they called upon to  explain, in a  Satisfying manner, firft,
Why there are,  daily, two tides of fix hours, in the At-
lantic Ocean ?  then,  Why there is but one of twelve
hours, in the  Southern part of the South  Sea, as at the 
              ADVERTISEMENT,            fg^

Aland of Taiti, on the coaft of New Holland, 6n that of
New Britain, at the ifland of Maffafuero, &c.  ?  Why, on
the other hand, in the northern part  of that very  fame
South Sea, the two tides of fix hours reappear every day
equal, at the Sandwich  iflands ; unequal on the coaft of
America, at the entrance of  Nootka ; and toward the fame
Latitude, reduced to a Single tide of twelve hours, on the
coaft of Afia, at Kamchatka ?
   I could quote others ftill more extraordinary.  On ac-
count of thofe ftrongly marked, and very numerous diffa-
nances, of the courfe of the tides, with that of the Moon,
with a fmall number of which only, however, Newton was
acquainted, he himfelf was conftrained to admit, as I have
mentioned in another place, " that there muft be,  in the
"  periodical  return of the tides, fame other mixt  caufe,
i4 hitherto unknown."  (Newton's Pkilofophy,- Chap. 18.)
   This other caufe hitherto unknown,  is the fufion  of the
polar ices, which confift of a circumference of from five to
fix thoufand leagues, in their Winter, and from two to three
thoufand, at moft, in their Summer.  Thofe ices, by flow-
ing alternately  into the  bofom of the  Seas,  produce all
their various phenomena.  If,  in  our  Summer, there be
two tides a day  in the Atlantic Ocean,  it is becaufe  of the
alternate divergent effufions  of the two  Continents, the
old and the new, which approach toward the North, where-
of the one pours out by day, and the other by night, the wa-
ters from the ice, which the Sun melts  on the Eaft and on
the Weft fide of the Pole he encompaffes every day with
his fires, and thaws for fix months together.   If there be
a retardation of 22 minutes  of  one tide,  from  that which
Succeeds it, it is becaufe the cupola of the polar ices, in
fufion, daily diminifhes,  and  becauSe  its effluxes are re-
tarded  by the Sinuofities oS the Atlantic channel.   If, in
our Winter, there  are likewife two tides, undergoing  a
daily retardation on our coafts, it is becaufe the effluxes
of the South Pole, entering into the channel oS the Atlan-
tic, likewiSe undergo two divergent  impulfions  at its
   vol.  in.              1 
m
ADVERTISEMENT.
mouth ;  the one in America, at Cape Horn, and the etR-
er in Africa, at the Cape of Good Hope.  Thefe two al-
ternate divergent effufions of  the Currents of the South
Pole, if I am not miftaken, is the very circumftance that
renders thefe two Capes, which receive their firft impul-
fion, fo tempeftuous, and the doubling of them fa difficult,,
during the Summer of that Pole, to  veffels going  out  of
the Atlantic Ocean  ; for then they meet  in the teeth the
Currents which are defcending from the South Pole.  For
this reafon it is, that they find  it extremely  difficult  to
double the Cape ot  Good  Hope, during the months of
November, December, January, February, and March, on
Voyages  to India, and that, on the contrary, they pafs ic
with eafe in our Summer months, becaufe they are then
affifted by the Currents of  the  North Pole, which  waft
them out of the Atlantic.  They experience the contrary
©f this on their return from  India,  during  our  winter
months.
  I am induced, from thefe considerations, to believe thai
veffels on their way to the South  Sea, would encounter
fewer obftacles in doubling Cape Horn, during its Winter
than during its Summer; for they would not be then driv-
en back into the Atlantic by  the Currents of the South
Pole, and they would be affifted, on the contrary, in get-
ting out of it, by thofe of the North  Pole.  1 could fup-
port this  conjecture by the experience of many Naviga-
tors.  That of Admiral Anjon will perhaps be adduced as
an objeaion  ;  but  he doubled this  Cape only in the
months of March and April,  which are,  befides,  two of
the moft  tempeftuous months of the  year, becaufe of the
general revolution of the Atmofphere, and of the Ocean,
which takes place ar the Equinox, when  the  Sun paffes
from the  one  Hemifphere to  the other.
  Let us now explain, upon the fame principles, why the
tides of the South Sea do not refemble thofe of the Atlan-
tic Ocean.   The South  Pole has not, as the  North  Pole
has, a double Continent, which feparates into  two the di- 
ADVERTISEMENT.           187
vergent effufions, which the Sun daily fets a flowing from
its ices.   Nay it has no Continent whatever: It has, con-
fequently, no channel, in paffing through which its ef-
fluxes fhould be retarded.  Its effufions, accordingly, flow
direaiy into the vaft  Southern Ocean, forming, on the
half of that  Pole, a feries of divergent emanations which
perform the tour of it  in twenty four hours, like the rays
of the Sua.   When a bundle of thefe effufions falls upon
an ifland,  it produces there a tide of twelve hours, that is",
of the fame duration with that which the Sun employs in
heating the  icy  cupola, through which  the Meridian of
that itland paffes.   Such are the tides of  the Iflands of
Taiti, of  Maffafuero, of  New Holland, of New Britain,
&c.  Each of thefe tides  lafts as long as the courfe of the
Sun above the Horizon,  and is  regular like  his  courfe.
Thus, while  the Sun is  heating, for twelve hours together,
with  his  vertical fires, the Southern iflands of the South
Sea, he cools them by a tide of twelve hours, which he ex-
ti a6ts out of the ices of the South Pole, by his horizontal fires.
Contrary  effeas frequently proceed from the fame caufe.
  This  order of tides is by no mean  the  fame  in the
northern part of the South Sea.   In that oppofite part of
our Hemifphere, the two Continents ftill approach toward
the North.  They pour, therefore, by  turn;., in Summer,
into the channel  which feparates them, the two femidiur-
nal effufions of their Pole, and there they colfea, by turns
in Winter, thofe of the South Pole, which  produces two
tides a day, as in the Atlantic Ocean.   But as this chan-
nel, farmed  to  the north of the South Sea, by the two
Continents, is extremely widened to below  the ,55th de-
gree of North Latitude,  or rather, as it ceafes  to  exift
by the almoft fudden retreating of the American and the
Afiatic Continents, which go off divergently to  the Eaft
iind to the Weft, it  comes to pafs, that thofe places only,
which arc fituated  in the point of divergence of the north-
ern part of thefe two Continents, experience two tides a
day.  Such are  the Sandwich Iflands, Situated  precisely 
*«8
A D V <E R T I S E M E N T.
 in the  confluence pf thefe two Currents  at  proportional
 diftances from America and  from Afia, toward  the 21ft
 degree  of North Latitude.   When this place is more ex-
 pofed to the Current of the one Continent, than to that of
 the other, its two  femidiurnal tides are unequal, as  at the
 entrance of Nootka, on the  coaft of America ;  but  when
 i,t is completely out of the  influence of the one,  and  en-
 tirely under that of the other, it receives only one  tide a
 day, as at Kamchatka, on the coail of  Afia, and this tide
 is then  of  twelve  hours, as the  aaion of the Sun on the
 half of  the Pole, the effufions of  which, in this cafe,  un-
 dergo no divifipn.
   Hence it is evident, that two harbours may be Situated
 in the Same Sea, and under the Same parallel, and have, the
 one two tides a day, and the other only one, and that  the
 duration of thofe tides, whether double or fingle, whether
 double equal, or double unequal, whether regular or retard-
 ed, is always of twelve hours, every  twenty four  hours •
 that is,  precifely the time which the Sun employs In heat*
 ing that half of the polar cupola from which  they flow ;
 which cannot poffibly be referred  to the unequal courfe
 of the Sun betwen the Tropics, and ftill much lefs to that
 of the Moon, which is frequently but a few  hours above
 the Horizon of fuch harbour.
   I have eftablifhed, then, by faas Simple, clear, and nu-
 merous, the difagreement of  the tides in moft Seas,  with
 the pretended aaion pf the Moon on the Equator, and, on
 the contrary, their perfea coincidence with the aaion of
 the Sun on the ices of the Poles.
  I beg the  Reader's pardon, but the importance of thofe
truths obliges me to recapitulate them.
  iff. The attraaion of the Moon, as  aaing on the waters
 of the Ocean, is contradiaed by the infenfibility to her
influence of mediterraneans and lakes, which never under-
go any motion when that luminary paffes over their Me-
ridian, and even over their Zenith.  On the contrary, the
action of :1k heat of the Sun, which extrails from the ices pf 
ADVERTISEMENT.
1-89
 the Poles, the Currents and the Tides of the Ocean, is as-
 certained by his  influence on  the icv  mountains, out of
 which  iffue, in Summer, currents and fluxes  which pro-
 duce real tides in the lakes which are at their feet, as is
 vifible  in the lake of Geneva, Situated  at the bottom of
 the Rhetian Alps.  The Seas are the lakes.of the Globe,
 and the Poles are the Alps of it.
    2dly. The pretended  attraaion of the Moon on the
 Ocean  is totally  inapplicable  either to  the two tides of
 fix hours, or femidiurnal, of the Atlantic Ocean, becaufe
 that ftar paffes daily only  over  its Zenith ; and equally
 fa to the tide of twelve hours, or diurnal, of the  fouthern
 part of  the  South  Sea, becaufe  it paffes, every day, over
 both the Zenith and Nadir of that vaft Ocean ;  and to the
 tides whether femidiurnal or diurnal of the northern  part
 of that  fame,Ocean, and to the variety of its tides, which
 here increafe at the full* and new Moons, and there, fev-
 eral days after, which here  increafe  at  the quadratures,
 and there diminifh ; and to their uniform equality at Oth-
 er places ; and to the direction of thofe which go toward
 the Line, and to their elevation, which  increafes  toward
 the Poles, and diminifhes under the very Zone of  lunar
 attraaion, that is, under the  Equator.  On the contrary,
 the aaion of the heat of  the Sun, on the Poles of the
 World, perfeaiy explains the fuperior height of the tides,
 near the Poles, and their depreffion,  near the  Equator;
 their  divergence from the Pole whence  they flow, and
 their perSea concordance with the Continents from which
 they defeend ; being double  in twenty four hours, when

  • I am of opinion, with Pliny, that the Moon by her heat diffolves ice and
(now. Accordingly, when fhe is at the full, fhe muft contribute to the fu-
fion of the  polar  ices, and confequently to the riling of the tides.  But, if thefe
increafe upon our coafts at the new Moon likewife, I th:nk that thofe fuper-
abundant meltings have alb been occafioncd by the full Moon, and are retard-
ed in their  courfe by fome particular configuration of one of the two Conti-
nents.  At  any rate, this difficulty is not of harder f jlution, on my theory,
than on that of attraction, which, in other refpe&s, is incapable of explaining
ttf greateft  |if.n of the nautical phenomena that I have juft related. 
igO            ADVERTISEMENT.

the Hemifphere which emits  them, or  which receives
them, is feparated into two  Continents ;  double and un-
equal, when the divergency of  the two Continents is un-
equal ;  Simple and lingular, when there is only one Conti-
nent which emits them, or when there is no Continent at all.
   gdly. The attraaion of  the Moon, which goes always
from Eaft to Weft, cannot  in any refpea be applied  to
the courfe of the Indian  Ocean,  which flows  Sor  fix
months toward the Eaft, and fix months toward the Weft;
nor to the courSe of the Atlantic Ocean,  which flows fix
months to the North, and fix  months to  the South.  On
the contrary, the aaion oS the half yearly and alternate
heat of the Sun, around each Pole, covered with a  Sea  of
ice, ot  five or fix thoufand leagues circumference, in Win-
ter, and of two or three thoufand in Summer, is in perfea
accord with the half yearly and alternate Current which
defcends from this Pole,  in its flux  toward the oppofite
Pole, conformably to the  direaion of the Continents, and
of the Archipelagoes, which ferve as fhores to it.
   On this fubjea I beg leave to obferve,  that though the
South Sea  does not appear to prefent any channel to the
courfe of  the polar effluxes, from the vaft divergence  of
America and Afia, we may, however,  catch  a  glance  of
one, fenfibly formed by the proje6lion of its Archipela-
goes, which are in correfpondence  with   the two  Conti-
nents.   By means of this  channel it is, that the  Sandwich
Iflands, which are fituated in the northern part of the
South Sea, toward the 21ft  degree of Latitude, have two
tides a day, from the divergent  pofition  of  America and
of Afia, though the ftrait, which feparates thefe two Con-
tinents,  be in the 65th  degree  of North  Latitude.  Not
that thofe iflands and this  ftrait of th'i North are exaaiv
under the fame Meridian  ; but the Sandwich iflands are
placed on a curve, correfponding  to the finuous curve  of
America, and whofe origin would be at the ftrait  of the
North.  That curve might  be  prolonged to the moft re-
mote Archipelagoes of  the South Sea, which are vifited 
ADVERTISEMENT.
tgt
with  two tides  a  day ; and  it would there exprefs the
Current formed  by the divergent Separation oS America
and Afia, as has  been Said  in  another place.   All  iflands
are in the midft of currents.   On looking,  therefore, at
the South Pole of the Globe, with a  bird's eye view,  we
fhould fee a fucceffion of  Archipelagoes,  difperfed in a
Spiral line all the way to the Northern Hemifphere, which
indicates the Current oS the South Sea, juft as the pro-
jeaion of the two Continents, on the fide of the  North
Pole, indicates the Current of  the Atlantic.  Thus the
courfe of the Seas, from the one Pole to the other, is in a Spi-
ral line round the Globe, like the courSe of the Sun from
the one Tropic to the other.
  Thi6 perception adds a new degree  of probability to the
correfpondence of the movements of the Sea with thofe
of the Sun.   I do not mean to affert that  the chain of
Archipelagoes, which projea in a Spiral direaion in the
South Sea, is  not  interrupted in  Some places ; but thoSe
interruptions, in my apprehenfion, proceed only Srom the
imperfeaion of our dilcoveries.   We might, if  I  am not
miftaken, extend them much farther, by guiding ourfelves
in the difcovery of the unknown iflands of that Sea, upon
the projeaion of the  iflands  which are already known.
Such voyages ought not to be made, in a  direa progrefs
from the Line toward the Pole, or by defcribing the fame
parallel round the Globe, as the praaice has been; but by
purfuing the Spiral direaion, of which I  have been fpeak-
ing, and which is fufficiently indicated by the general Cur-
rent itfelf of the Ocean.  Particular care ought to be tak-
en to obferve the nautical fruits which the alternate Cur-
rent of the Seas never fails to waft from  one ifland  to an-
other, frequently at prodigious diftances.   It was by thofe
Simple and  natural means, that the  ancient  Nations, of
the South  ot  Afia,  difcovered  fo many  iflands  in  the
South Sea, where their manners,  and their  language are
diftinguifhable to this  day.  Thus, by abandoning them-
felves to Nature, who frequently Seconds us much better 
tga              ADVERTISEMENT,

than our own fkill, they landed, without the help of chaff
or inftrument, on a multitude  of iflands, of which  they
had never fo much as heard the names.
   I have indicated, in the beginning of  the firft Volume,
thofe Simple methods of difcovery and of communication
between maritime Nations.   It is in the  explanation of the
plates, where I am fpeaking of the Atlantic Hemifphere,
and on the fubjea of Chriftopher Columbus, who, on the point
of perifhing at fea, on his  firft return from America; put
the  relation of his difcovery in a cafk, which he  commit-
ted  to  the  waves, in the  hope that   it  might  be caft  on
fome Shore.  On that occafion I obServed, that " a fim-
" p'e ghiSs bottle  might  preServe Such  a depofit for ages,
" on the SurSace of the Ocean, and cohvey  it oftener than
" once, from the one Pole to the other."   This experi-
ment has juft been realized, in part,  on  the coafts  of Eu-
rope*.  The account of  it  is given  in  the Mercury of
France, of Saturday 12th January, 1788, No. 2, pages 84
and 85, political part.


  * I would recommend it to Navigators, who take an intereft in the prog-
refs of natural knowledge, frequently to repeat this  experiment, which is fo*
eafy, and attended with fo little expenfe.   There is no place where empty
bottles are more common, and of lefs ufe, than on board a fhip.  On leaving.
port, there are a great number of bottles filled  with wine, beer, cider, and
fpirits, the great part of which are emptied in the courfe of a few weeks, with-
out the means of filling them again, during the whole voyage,  in the view
of committing fome of them to the fea, there might be  fitted to them, per-
pendicularly, a little maft with a bit of cloth, or  tuft of white  feathers  at the
top.  This fignal would detach it from the azury ground  of the Sea, and ren-
der it perceptible a great way off.   It would be proper to cafe it round with
cordage,  to prevent its  being broken,  on  reaching  a fhore, to which the
Currents and the Tides would infallibly carry it,  fooner or later.  Effays
of this fort will  appear mere children's play to our men  of fcience, but they
may be matters of the laft  importance to fea faring people. They may fervc
to indicate to them the diicftion ami the velocity of the  Currents, in a man-
ner much more infallible,  and of far greater extent, than the log which is
thrown,  on board of fhips, or than the little boats which are fet a floating.
This laft method, though frequently employed by the illuftrious Cook, never
could give any thing more than the relative velocity of  the boat and of the
fhip, and not the ir.tripfic velocy  of >\-_ Current.  Finally, fuch effay*, cxv 
ADVERTISEMENT.
                            t
*93:
   " In the month of May of this year, fome  fifhermen  of
 " Arromanchcs,  near Bayeux,  found at Sea a fmall bottle
 " well corked  up.   Impatient to know what it might  con-
 " tain, they broke it ;  it was a letter, the addrefs of which
 " they could not  read, conceived in the Englifh Language.
 '* They carried it to the Judge of the Admiralty, who had


pofed to hazard as they are, may be employed by  mariners' at SeS, to convey
intelligence of themfelves to tHeir friends, at immenfe diftances from land, as
is evident in the experiment of ihc Bay of Bifcay, and to obtain afiiftance from
them, fhould they have  the misfortune to be fhipwrecked on fome defert ifland.
  We do  not repofe  fufficient confidence in  Nature.  We might employ,
preferably to  bottles, feme of the trajcttiles which fhe ufes, in different cli-
mates, to keep up the chain of her correfpondences all  over the Globe.  One
of the moft widely diffufed over the tropical Seas, is  the cocoa.  This Iruit
frequently fails to fhores five or fix hundred leagues diftarit from that on  which
it greW.  Nature formed it for eroding the Ocean.   It is of an oblong, tri-
angular, keel  ftiaped form, fo  that it  floats away on one of its angles, as on' a
keel, and paffing through the  ftraits of rocks, it runs  afhore at length  on the
ftiand, where  it quickly germinates.   It is fortified againft the fhock of driv-
ing aground by a cafe called caire, which is an-inch or two thick over the Cir-
cumference of the fruit, and three or four at its  pointed extremity, which may
be confidered  as its  prow, with fo much the more  reafon, that the other ex-
tremity is flattened like a poop.   This caire or hufk, is covered, exte;fially,
with a fmooth and coriaceous  membrane, on which charaflers miqlv.-bc trac-
ed ;  and it is formed, internally, of filaments inteflaced,  and ir,rxcd  with a
powder, reftmbling law duft.   By means of this elaftic covei, the cocoa may
be darted, by  the vio'ence of the billows, upon rocks, w.raout r<ceiving anv
injury.  Farther, its .interior  fhell  confifts of a tnatUf  more flexible than
ftone, and harder than  wood,  impenetrable to water, where it  may  remain a
long time, without  rotting ; this is the cafe with it'* hufk likewife,  of  which
the Indians, for this very reafon, make excellent cordage for (hipping.  The
fhell of the cocoa nut is fo very hard, that the germ never could force its v»av
out,  had  not  Nature  contrived, in its r9inted extremity, where the caire is
ftrongeft, three fmall holes, Covered with a fimple  pellicle.
  There are, befides, a great many other bulky vegetables, which the Currents
of the Ocean convey to piodigious diftances, fuch as the firs and the birches of
the North, the double  cocoas  of the  Sechellcs iflmds, the bamboos  of  the
Ganges, the great bulrufhes of the Cape  of Good Hope, &c.  It would be
very eafy to write on their ftems with a fharp  pointed fhell, and  to  rencer
diem diftingui(Viable at Sea, by fome apparent figrial.
  Similar refources might be found among amphibious animals, fuch as tor-
tpiles, which tranfport  themfelves to  inconceivable diftances, by means of the
Currents.   I have read fomewhere in the Hiftory of China, that one of its an-
    VOL. III.                   A  A 
*94
ADVERTISEMENT.
 " it depofitcd in bis regiftry.  The infcription  annotmo
 " ing that it belonged  to an  Englilh Lady,  he took pains
 " to  inform  himfelf whether  fuch a  perfon  exifted, and
 " employed the methods which prudence dictated, to have
 " the letter fafely conveyed to her.  The hufband of that
 " Ladv, a man of letters well known in his own  country,
 " by  feveral  valuable literary productions,  has  juft writ-
 " ten in return  ; and after expreffing his  gratitude to the
 *' Judge, in  very ftrong terms, informs him that the letter
 " in queftion was from a brother of his wife's, on his way
 " to India.   He wifhed to communicate  to  his fifter fome
 " intelligence refpecling. himfelf.    A veffel which he had
 " feen in the Bay of Bifcay, and which Seemed to be pro-
 " ceeding for England,  had fuggefted the idea of  it.  He
 " was in hopes  that it  might be in his power to get his
 " letter put on  board of her, but   fhe  having altered her
 " courfe, the thought ftruck him of putting it into a bot-
 ** tie, and of throwing it into the Sea."
   At  length, the journals*, by good  fortune, ftep  in  to
 Support  my theory.

cient Kii.",^') accompanied  by a crowd of people, one day beheld a lorioife
emerge Iron? the Sea, on the back of which were infcribed the Laws, vthiclr,
at this day, coi^ft'tu'c tb«  bafis  of 'he Chinefe government.   It  is probable
that this Legiflatof had availed himfelf of the moment,  when  this  tortoile
came on (hore, accorc'Ug to cuftom, to look out for a place where t» lay htT
eggs. to  write upon  her ifHck  the Laws which he wifhcd to eftablifh ; and
that he, in .like manner, tors.k acivanrage of the day following this arrangement,
■when that animal never fails tc return to the  fame place, to depofit her egg*,
to imprefs on a firople People, a re^eft for Laws wh'ch iffued out of the bofom
of the Ocean, and at fight of the wonderful tablets on which they were infcribed.
  Sea birds might, farther, furnifh more expeditious  methods cf communi-
cation, in as much astlteir  flight is very rapid, and that they were fo familiar
on the defert fhores, th.it-you may take them by the hand, as I know from nry
own experience on the ifland of Afcenfion.  There  might be  affixed to them,
together with  a letter of information, fome remarkable frgnal ;  and choice
might be made, in preference, of fuch birds  as arrive  regularly at different
feafons, and which frequent particular fhores, nay of the land birds of paffage,
fuch as the wood pigeon.
  • While  this adiertifcment was printing, the Journal of  Paris publifhed,
without my  knowledge, an extraft of my letter to the Ed.cor of  the GcneiaJ 
ADVERTISEMENT.             I95
   In the view of procuring for a facl of fo much  impor-
 tance, all the authenticity  of which it is fufceptible, I
 wrote to a Lady of my friends, in Normandy, who culti-
 vates the ftudy of Nature with fingular tafte, in the bofom
 of her own family, entreating her to apply to the Judge
 of the Admiralty, for certain articles of information from
 England, for which I  had  occafion.  I even  delayed, in
 expectation of her anfwer, the printing off this  fheet, for
 almoft  fix weeks.  The following are the particulars,
 which the Judge of  the Admiralty  of Arromanches had
 the politenefs to communicate to her, and which fhe was
 fo good as to convey to  me, this 24th oS February 1788.
   " The bottle was found  two  leagues off at fea, to the
 " right of the parifh of Arromanches, which is itfelf two
 " leagues diftant, to  the Northeaft from the city of Bay-
 " eux,  on the  9th of May 1787, and  depofited  in  the
 " Regiftry of   the  Admiralty,  the 10th  of the  fame
 " month.
   " Mr.  Elphinflon, the hufband of  the Lady to whom
 " the letter was addreffed. intimates,  that he cannot pretend
 " to affirm whether it was  the  author of the letter who
 " bottled it up, in the Bay of Bifcay, the  17th of Auguft
 " 1786, Latitude 45 degrees, 10 minutes,  North, Longi-
 " tude  10 degrees, 56 minutes,  Weft, as it  is dated ;  or
 " whether fome perfon  on board the veffel  which paffed
 " them, committed it the waves.
   " The veffel's name  was Nacket, and the one on  her
 " voyage to  Bengal was called the Intelligence, command-
 " ed by Captain Linflon.

 Journal cf France, in anfwer to my anonymous Critic.  This inftance of
candor difcovers, on the part of the Compilers, a much higher degree of im-
partiality wiih refpeft to me, than I fuppofed.  It is worthy of men of letters,
who poffefs an influence over the public opinion, and who do not wifh to in-
cur the reproach, which they themfelves fometimes impute, with fuch good
irafon, to the corps who formerly  oppofed the difcoveries that militated
J^ainft their fyflrms... I take this opportunity of doing juftice to the impar-
'•aliry of rhe Gentlemen Compilers of the Journal of Paris, as I always did t«
»)reir talents. 
£9$            ADVERTISEMENT.

  " The names  of the fifhermen are Charles le Rvmain,
" mafter of the boat ;  Nicholas Frefnel, Jean Baptijle U
" Bas, and  Charles I'Ami, manners, all of  the  p'arilh of
V Arromanches.
                 " Signed,
                " PHILIPPE DE DELLEVILLE."

  The  parifh* of Arromanches  is about 1  degree  Weft
Longitude from  the Meridian ot Greenwich, and  in 49
degrees,  ,5  minutes, North  Latitude.   Accordingly  the
bottle thrown into  the  Sea in 10  degrees, 56  minutes,
Weft Longitude, and 45 degrees, 10 minutes, North Lat-
itude, floated nearly 10  degrees of Longitude, which, in
that parallel, at the rate of about  17 leagues to a degree,
make 170 degrees toward the Eaft.  Again, it advanced
4 degrees northward, having been picked up two leagues
to the North of  Arromanches, that  is,  in 49  degrees, 10
minutes  Latitude, which makes  100 leagues toward  the
North, and in whole, 270 leagues.  It employed 266 days
in performing this  route, from the  17th Auguft 1786 to
the 9th of May 1787, which is Jefs than a league a day.
This velocity, undoubtedly, is not to be campared to that
with which the wrecks of  the battle of  Offend defcended
to the Azores, at the rate of  more than  35 leagues a day,
as has been  related in  the beginning  of Vol. I.  The
Reader might be  difpofed to call in queftion the accura-
xy of Rennefort's  obfervation, and at the fame  time, the
confequence which I have deduced from it, to demonftrate
the  velocity of the general  Current of the Ocean, had I
not elfewhere proved it by many  other  nautical  facls,
and were not the Journals of Navigators filled with Sim-
ilar experiences,  which atteft, that the Currents and  Tides
frequently carry  veffels  along, at the  rate  of three  and
four miles an hour, nay  run with the rapidity of fluices,
making from eight to  ten leagues an hour, in ftraits con-
tiguous to the polar  ices in fufion, conformably to  the
teftimony of  E'l/s, of Linfchotten, and  of  Barents.   But 
AD VERTISEMENT.
197
? venture to affirm, that the flownefs with which the let-
ter, thrown overboard in the entrance of  the Bay of Sif-
cay, arrived on the coafts of Normandy,  is a new  proof
o\ the exiftence and of the velocity of  the alternate  and
half yearly Current of the Atlantic Ocean hitherto  un-
known, which 1 have aflimilated to that of  the Indian
Ocean, and afcribed to the fame caufe.
   It may  be afcertained, by pricking the chart, that the
place where the Englishman's bottle was toffed into the Sea,
is more than 80 leagues from the Continent, and precifely
in the direction of; the middle of the opening of the Britifh
Channel, through which paffes one arm of the general Cur-
rent of the Atlantic, which carried, in Summer, the wrecks
of the battle of Offend as  far as the Azores.   Now, this
Current was likewife bearing  fouthward, when the En-
glifh traveller committed to it a  letter for his friends in the
North,  for it was the 17th of Auguft, that is, in  the Sum-
mer of  our  Pole, when the fufion of its ices is flowing
fouthward.   This bottle,  therefore, failed  toward the
Azores, and, undoubtedly, far beyond  them, during the
remainder of the month of Auguft, and the whole month
of September, till the equinoctial revolution, which Sends
backward the  courfe of the Atlantic, by  the effufions of
the South Pole, began to waft it again to  the North.
   Its return, therefore, is to  be calculated only from the
month of October, when I fuppofe it to be in the vicinity
of  the Line, the calms of which may have flopped it,
till it felt the influence of the South Pole, which does not
acquire activity, in our Hemifphere, till toward the month
of December.   At that epoch, the courfe of the Atlantic,
which goes to the North, being the fame with that of our
tides, it might  have  been brought  near our  fhores,  and
there expofed  to many retardations, by the difgorging of
the rivers  which croffed  its courfe, as they threw  them-
felves  into  the Sea,  but chiefly by  the  reaction of the
tides : For if their flux fets in  toward  the  North, their
re flax carries back to  the South. 
ir#
ADVERTISEMENT.
    It is of effential importance, therefore, to  make exper-
 iments of this kind in the open Sea, and efpccially to pay
 attention to the  direction  of the Current of the Ocean,
 for fear of conveying fouthward intelligence defigncd for
 the North.   At the SeaSon when that Current is not fa-
 vourable, advantage might be taken of the tides, which
 frequently run in the contrary direflion ; butas I have juft
 obferved, there is this great  inconveniency, that  if  their
 flux fets in northward, their reflux  carries back again to-
 ward the South.
   The tides have, in their  very flux and reflux, a perfect
 confonance with  the general  Currents of the Ocean, and
 the courfe of the Sun.   They flow during  twelve  hours
 in one day, whether they be divided into two  tides of fix
 hours, by the projection of the two Continents, as in the
 northern  Hemifphere ; or whether they flow for twelve
 hours  uninterruptedly, as  in  the  fouthern  Hemifphere  :
 Juft as the general Current oS one Pole flows fix  months
 of  the  y-ir.  Accordingly, the tides, which confift of
 twelve hours, in all cafes, are of a duration precifely equal
 to that  which the Sun  employs in  warming the  half of
 the polar Hemifphere  from which  they flow, that is one
 half day ; as the  general Current which iffues from  that
 Pole, flows  precifely during  the fame time  that the  Sun
 warms that whole  Hemifphere, namely, during half the
 year.  But as the tides, which are only the polar effufions
 of half a day, have refluxes equal to their flux, that is, of
 twelve hours, in like manner, the general Currents, which
 are the half yearly effufions of a whole Pole, have reflux-
 es equal to their flux,  that is of fix months, when the Sun
 puts thofe of the oppofite Pole in a  ftate of activity.
  Did time  and  room permit, I  could fhew how  thofe
 fame general  Currents, which  are the Secondary  moving
principles of the tides, carry  our Navigators  fometimes
 fafter, and fometimes  flower  than their  calculation, ac-
 cording to the feafon of  each Pole.    I could find a mul-
 titude of proofs of this  in Voyages  round  the  World, 
ADVERTISEMENT.
»9£
among others, in  Captain Cook's fecond and  third Voy-
ages.   Thefe Currents frequently interpofe obftacles  al-
moft  infurmountable to veffels making the  land.   For
example, when Cook leSt the ifland of Taiti, in December
1777, on his way to make difcoveries toward the North,
he discovered the Sandwich iflands in purfuing that courSe,
where he landed without any difficulty, becauSe  the Cur-
rent oS the  South Pole was in his Savour ; but when he
returned Srom the North, and wifhed to take in neceffary
refrefhments at thofe very iflands, he  found the Current
from the South fo adverfe, at the Same SeaSon,  that though
he came within fight of them on  the  26th of November
1778, it took him more than fix weeks tacking about, be-
fore he could find  proper anchoring  ground, and could
not get to his moorings, till the 17th January 1779.  Ac-
cordingly, the right  SeaSon for  landing on iflands which
are of  a higher Latitude than that from whence the de-
parture is  taken, is  the Winter of its  Hemifphere, as is
evident from the example of his return  to the fame iflands.
I could multiply facts in  fupport of a theory  fo import-
ant to Navigation, were I not apprehenfive of encroach-
ing on the patience of the Reader.   I have the confidence,
then, to flatter myfelf with having  placed in  the cleareft
light, the  coincidence  of the  movements  of the Ocean
with thofe ot  the Sun, and their disagreement  with  the
phafes  ot the Moon.
  I could produce more  than one objection  awainft the
fyftem ot attra£lion itfelf, on which Newton accounts for
the motion of the planets in  the Heavens.  Not that I
deny, in general, the Law ot" attraction, of which we fee
the effects on the  Earth, in  the gravity  of bodies, and in
magnetifm ;  but I do not find that  the application which
has been made of it, by Newton, and his  partifans, to  the
courfe of the planets, is accurate.  According  to Newton-,
the Sun and  the  Planets reciprocally attract  each other
with a  force  which  is  in the direct proportion of their
malfes, and the inverfe proportion  of the fquare of their 
20P
Advertisement.
diftance.  A Second force blends itfelf with attraction, to'
preferve the planets in their orbits.  From theSe combin-
ed forces their refults an ellipfe, for the curve defcribed
by each planet.  This curve is continually undergoing al-
teration, by the action exerciSed by the Planets over each
other.  By means of this theory, the courfe of thofe flari
is traced in  the Heavens, with the utmoft precifion, ac-
cording to the  Newtonians.   The courfe of the Moon
alone had appeared refractory to'it ;  but, to employ the
terms ufed in an Introduction  to the ftudy of Aftronotny,
an extract of which was given in the Mercury  of  the iff
December, 17^87, No. 48.  " This fatelitc, which the cel-
" ebrated Halley called an obftinate  ftar, Sidus pertinax,
" on account of the great difficulty, of calculating the ir-
" regularities of her courfe,  has  been, at laft, reduced to
" Subjection,  by the ingenious methods of Meffrs. Clair-
" auk, Euler, D[alembert, dela Grange, and de la Place."
  Here, then, are the moft  refractory ftars Subjected to
the Laws of attraction.   I have but one little objection to
make againft this domination, and the  learned methods,
which have Subdued the Moon's courfe.   How comes it,
that the reciprocal attractions  of the planets  fhould have
been calculated with fo much-precifion, by our Aftronor
roers, and that they fhould have fo  exactly weighed  the
maffes of them, when the Planet difcovered  a few years
ago, by Herfchel, had not as yet been put into their Scales?
Does  this Planet, then, attract nothing, and does  it Seel5
itfelf no attraction ?
  God forbid that I fhould mean to injure the  reputation1
of Newton, and of the ingenious Inquirers who have fol-
lowed his fteps.   If, on the  one hand, they have betrayed
us into fome errors, they have contributed, on  the other,
to enlarge the field of  human  knowledge.  Had Newton
never invented any thing except his  telefcope, we  fhould
have been under inexpreffible obligations to him.  He has
extended to Man the fphere of the Univerfe, and the fen-
timent of the infinity of Gqd.  Others  have diffufed, 
ADVERTISEMENT.             201
through all ranks of Society, a tafte for the ftudy of Na-
ture, by the fuperb pictures which they have exhibited of
her.  While I was detecting their miftakes, I refpected
their virtues, their talents, their diScoveries,  and their
painSul labours.   Men equally celebrated, Such as Plato,
Ariflotle,  Pliny,  Defcartes,  and many others, had, like
them, given currency to great errors.......The Philofophy
of Ariflotle alone had been, for ages, the moft infurmount-
able obftacle to the inveftigation of truth.  Let us never
forget that the Republic of Letters, ought to  be in reality
a Republic, which acknowledges no  other authority but
that of Reafon.  Befides, Nature has placed each of us in
the World,  to  keep up  an immediate  correspondence
with herSelf.   Her intelligence irradiates all minds, as her
Sun illuminates all eyes.  To  ftudy her Works only in
fyftems, is to obferve them merely  with  the eyes of an-
other perfon.
   It was not  my intention, then, to exalt  myfelf  on the
ruins of any one.   I do not wifh to rear my own pedeftal.
A graffy turS is elevation Sufficient to him who aSpires no
longer aSter any  thing but repoSe.  Did  I poffefs the
courage to prefent, myfelf, the Hiftory of the weaknefs of
my own mind, it would awaken the compaffion of  thofe
whofe envy I may have perhaps provoked.  Of how many
errors,  from infancy upward, have I been the  dupe ! By
how many falfe perceptions,  ill  founded  contempts, mif-
takcn eftimations, treacherous friendfhips, have I  practif-
ed illufion upon mySelf ! Thofe prejudices were not adopt-
ed by  me  on the faith of  another only, but  on my  own.
It is not my ambition to attract admirers,  but to fecure
indulgent friends.   I prize much  more highly the man
who bears with my infirmities,  than I  do him who exag-
gerates my puny virtues.  The  one fupports  me in my
weaknefs, and the other fupports himfelf  on my ftrength ;
 the one loves me in my poverty, and the  other adheres to
 me in my pretended affluence.  Time was when I fought
 for friends among the men of the world j but of  thefe I
    VOL. III.              B B 
002
ADVERTISEMENT.
hardly found any except perfons who expeaed from you-
Tinbounded complaifance ;  proteaors, who lie heavy up-
on you, inftead of  fuftaining your weight,  and who  at-
tempt to crufh you, if you  prefume to affert your own lib-
erty.   At prefent, I wifh for no  friends but among thofe
whofe fouls are fimple, candid, gentle, innocent, and en-
dowed with fenfibility.   They  intereft me much more, if
ignorant rather than learned, fuffering rather than prof-
perous, in  cottages rather  than in palaces.   They are the
perfons for whom I compofed my book,  and they are the
perfons who have made its fortune.  They have done  me
more good  than I  wifhed  to them,  for their repofe.   I
have adminiftered to them  Some conSolations ; and, in  re-
turn, they have conferred  on me  a  tribute  of glory.   I
have prefented to them  only the perfpeaives of  hope ;
and they, with emulous  zeal, have ftrained to accumulate
upon me a thoufand real benefits.  My mind was engrofL
ed only with the ills which they endure ;  and they have
reftlefsly promoted my happinefs.  It is in the view of ac-
quitting fome part of the obligations under which 1 lie to
them, in my turn, that  I have compofed this  additional-
Volume.   May it  merit for me, anew, fuffrages So pure,
So unbiaffed, and So  affeaing ! They are the alone objea
of my  wifhes.   Ambition  difdains them,.becaufe they  are
not poffeffed of power  ; but time will- one day refpect
them, becaufe intrigue can neither give nor deftroy them.
  This Volume confifts of two Hiftories, of which I give
fome account in the  particular advertisements which pre-
cede them. They  are  Sollowed by numerous  and long
Notes, which  Sometimes deviate from their Text.  But
every thing is in union  with every thing,  in Nature, and
Studies admit of univerfal  colleaion.  1 am, accordingly,
indebted to the Title of  my Book, for the advantage,
which  is far from being inconfiderable to talents feeble and
variable like mine, of going which way I pleafe, of attain-
ing where I can, and of  flopping  fhort  when L feel  my
ftrength fail. 
ADVERTISEMENT.
*03
   Some perfons to whom 1 read the Piece entitled the
G au ls, expreffed a wifh that I would not publifh it, till
•the Work, of which it is a part,  fhould be  completed :
But I am uncertain whether 1 ever fhall enjoy  leifure  to
execute it, and whether this fpecies of antique compofition
is likely to pleaSe the tafle of the prefent age.  It is, I ad-
mit, only a fragment ; but fuch as it is, it conftitwtes a
complete Work, for it prefents an entire  piaur'e of the
manners of our Anceftors, during the  domination of the
Druids.  Befides, in  the moft finifhed labours  of Man,
What is to be  found but fragments ? The Hiftory  of a
King is only a  fragment of the.Hiftory  of his Dynafty,;
that of his Dynafty,  a fragment  of the Hiftory  of his
Kingdom ; that of his Kingdom, a fragment of the Histo-
ry of the Human race ; which is itfelf merely a  fragment
of the Hiftory  of the beings which inhabit the Globe; the
-univerfal  Hiftory of which would be  nothing,  after all,
but a very fhort Chapter of the Hiftory of  the innumera-
ble Stars which revolve over our heads, at diftances which
bid defiance to  all the powers  of Calculation. 
 
    PAUL
       AND
VIRGINIA. 
 
PREFACE.
      I HAVE propofed to myfelf an obje& of no mean
importance, in compofing this little  Work.  I have en-
deavoured to  paint, in it, a foil, and  vegetables, different
from  thofe of Europe.   Our Poets have  long  enough,
compofed their lovers to reft, on the banks of the rivulets,
in the flowery meads, and under the foliage of the beech;
tree.   My wifh is  to feat mine on the fhore of the Sear
at the foot of rocks, under the  fhade of cocoa trees, bana-
nas, and citrons  in  bloffom.   Nothing is wanting  to the
other Hemifphere  of the  Globe, but a Theocritus, or a
Virgil, in order to our having piaures, at leaft, as inter-
efting as thofe of our own  Country.
   I am aware, that travellers, of exquifite tafle, have pre-
fented us with enchanting deScriptions of  feveral of the
iflands of the  South Sea ; but the  manners of their inhab-
itants, and ftill more, thofe of the Europeans which fre-
quent them,  frequently mar the landfcapes.  It was my
defire to blend with the beauty of  Nature, between the
Tropics, the  moral  beauty of a  fmall Society.   It  was
likewife my purpofe, to  place  in a ftriking light  certain
truths of high moment, and this one in particular  : That
human happinefs confifts in living conformably to  Nature
and Virtue.
   It was not  neceffary for me, however, to compofe a ro-
mance, in order to exhibit a representation oS happy fam-
ilies.   I  declare, in  the moft  Solemn manner, that thoSe
which I am  going  to difplay,  have aaually exifted, and
that their Hiftory #is ftriaiy true, as to the principal events
ot it.   They were authentically certified to me by many
refpcclable Planters, with, whom I  was acquainted, in the 
£08
PREFACE.
Ifle of France.   I have conneaed with them only a few
indifferent  circumftances ;  but which, being perfonal to
myfelf, have, on that very account,  the fame merit of
reality.
  When I bad formed, fome years ago, a very  imperfea
fltetch of this fpecies of Paftoral, I befought a fine Lady,
who lived  very much in the Great World, and  certain
grave perSonages, who mingle  very  little with it, to hear
it read over, in order to acquire Some preSentiment of the
effea which it might produce  on  Readers of a chara&er
fo very different :  I  had  the fatisfaaion  of obferving,
that  it melted them all into tears.   This was the only
judgment  which I could form on the matter, as,  indeed,
it was all   that I wifhed to  know.  But, as a great vice
frequently walks in the train of mediocrity of talents, this
fuccefs infpired me with the vanity of giving to my Work
the title of, A Piaure of Nature.  Happily for me, I rec-
olleaed to what a degree the nature of the climate in which
I received my birth was ftrange to me ; to what a  degree,
in countries where I have  contemplated the produaions
of Nature  merely as a paffenger, fhe is rich, various, love-
ly, magnificent, myfterious  ; and  to what a  degree, I  am
deftitute of Sagacity, of tafte, and ot  expreflion, to know,
and to paint her.  On this I checked my vanity, and came
to myfelf again.  I have therefore comprehended this fee-
ble effay under the name, and placed it in the train of my
Studies of Nature, to which the Public has  granted a  re-
ception fo  gracious, in order  that this title, recalling to
them my incapacity, may likewife preferve an everlafting
recolleaion of their own indulgence. 
PAUL AND  VIRGINIA.
      WN the eaftern  declivity of the mountain which
rifes behind Port Louis, in the Ifle of France, are ftill to
be feen, on a fpot of ground formerly cultivated, the ru-
ins of two little cottages.   They are fhuated almoft in the
middle of a bafon, formed by enormous rocks, which has
only one opening turned toward the North.  From that
opening, you perceive, on  the left,  the mountain known
by the name of Mount Difcovery, from which fignals are
repeated, of veffels fleering for the ifland  ; and, at the
bottom of  this mountain, the city of Port Louis ;  to the
right,  the road which leads from Port Louis to the quar-
ter of Pamplemouffes ; afterwards the  church of  that
name, which rifes, with its avenues of bamboos, in the
middle of a  great plain ; and, beyond it, a foreft which
extends  to the  fartheft extremities of the  ifland.  You
 have,  in front, on the brink of the  Sea, a view of Tomb-
 bay ;  a little to the right, Cape Misfortune, and beyond
 that, the boundlefs Ocean, in which appear,  on a level
 with the water's edge, Some;uninhabited little ifles, among
 others Mire Point, which reSembles a baftion in the  midft
 oS the waves.
   At the entrance of this  bafon,  from whence  So  many
 Objeas are diftinguifhable, the echos of  the mountain in-
 ceffantly repeat the noife of the winds  which ao-itate the
 neighbouring forefts, and the roaring of the billows, which
 break at a diftance, upon the fhallows ;  but at  the very
 foot  of the cottages, no noife is  any longer to  be heard,
 and nothing to be feen around, except great rocks, as fteep
 as the wall of a houfe.   Tufts of trees grow at their bafes,
 in their clefts, and up to their very fummits,  on  which
    vol.  in.             c  c 
210
STUDIES ©F  NATURE.
 the clouds fettle.  The rains which are attraaed by their
 peaks, frequently paint the colours of the rainbow on their
 green and dufky fides, and conftantly Supply, at the bot-
 tom, the Sources of which the fmall river of the Latamers
 is formed.  A profound  Silence reigns through this enclo-
 sure, where all is peace ;  the air, the waters, and the light.
 Scarcely does the echo there repeat the murmuring Sound
 of the palmifts, which grow on their elevated flalks, and
 whoSe long arrow  formed" branches are feen always  bal-
 anced by the winds.  A  mild light  illuminates the cavity
 of this bafon, into which the rays of the Sun deScend on-
 ly at  noon  day  ;. but, from the dawning of Aurora, they
 Strike upon the brim ot it, the peaks of which, riling above
 the Shadows of the mountain, prefent  the appearance of
 gold and purple on the azure of the Heavens.
   I took pleafure in retiring to this place, where you can
 enjoy, at once, an unbounded profpea, and a profound fol-
 itude.   One day, as I was fitting by the platform of thefe
 cottages, and contemplating their ruins, a man confidera-
 bly advanced into the vale of years,  happened to pafs that
 way.   He was dreffed, conformably to the cuftom of the
 ancient inhabitants, in a  fhort jacket and long trowfers.
   He walked barefooted, and fupported himfelf on a ftaff of
 ebony wood. His hair was completely white, his phyfiogn-
 omy fimple and majeftic.   I Saluted him refpeclfully.  He
 returned my Salute, and having eyed me Sor a  moment, he
 approached, and  Sat down on the hillock where I  had tak-
en my ftation.  Encouraged by this mark of  confidence,
I took the liberty of addreffing him in thefe words :  " Can
*■* you inform me, Father, to whom thefe two cottages be-
" longed ?" " My  fon," replied  he,  " thefe ruins,  and
" that now negleaed fpot  of ground, were inhabited, about
" twenty years ago, by two families, which there found
" the means of happinefs.   Their hiftory is affecting : But
 " in this ifland, fituated on the  road to India, What Eu-
ropean will deign to take an intereft in the deftiny of  a.
" few obfeure individuals ? Nay, who would fubmit to 
           PA-UL  AND  VIRGINIA.         211

"live here, though in happinefs and content, if poor and
44 unknown ?  Men are defirous of knowing only the hif-
44 tory ot the Great, and of Kings, which  is of no ufe to
" any one  "   4' Father," replied I, " it is eafy to difcern
" from your air, and your ftyle of converfation, that you
44 muft have acquired very extenfive experience.   If your         j
" leiSure permits, have the goodneSs to  relate to me, I be-
" Seech you, what you know of the ancient inhabitants of
" this defert ;  and be affured, that there is no man, how-
44 ever depraved by the prejudices oS the World, but who
" loves to hear of the felicity  which Nature and Virtue
14 beftow."  Upon this, like one who  is  trying to recol-
lea certain particular circumftances, after having applied
his hands Sor Some time to his Sorehead, the old man relat-
 ed what follows.
   In the year 1735, a young man of  Normandy, called
■De la  Tour, after having, to no purpofe, Solicited employ-
 ment in France, and afiiftance from his family,  determin-
 ed to come to this ifland, in the view of  making his for-
 tune.  He brought  along with him a  young wife, whom
 he paffionately loved, and who returned his affeaion with
 mutual ardor.   She was  defcended  from an ancient and
 opulent family of her Province ;  but he had  married her
 privately, and without a portion,  becaufe her relations op-
 pofed their union, on account of the obfcurity of his birth.
 He left her at Port Louis, in this ifland, and embarked
 for MadagaScar, in the hope of there purchafing Some ne-
 groes, and of  immediately returning to this place,  Sor the
 purpoSe of fixing his refidence in it.   He diSembarked at
 MadagaScar  during the  dangerous  SeaSon, which com-
 mences about the middle of  Oaober, and, Soon after his
 arrival, died of the peftilential  fever, which rages there
 for fix months of the year,  and  which always will pre-
 vent European Nations from  forming  Settlements on that
 Ifland.
   The effeas which he had carried with him were embez-
 zled after  his death, as generally  happens  to thofe who die 
£12        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
in Soreign countries.  His wife, who remained in the Ifle
of France, found her Self a widow, pregnant, and deftitute
of every earthly  refource, except a negro woman, in a
country where She was entirely unknown.   Being unwil-
ling to Solicit afliftance  from  any man, after the death of
him who was the Sole objea of her  affeaion, her misfor-
tunes gave her courage.  She refolved  to  cultivate, with
the help of her flave, a  fmall  Spot of ground, in  order to
procure the means of fubfiftence.
   In an ifland almoft a  defert, the foil of  which was un-
appropriated, She did not chooSe the moft Sertile diftria of
the country, nor that which was the moft favourable for
commerce ;  but looking about for fome fequeftered cove
of the mountain, fome hidden afylum, where fhe  might
live Secluded and unknown,  fhe  Sound her way Srom the
city to theSe rocks, into which fhe flunk as into a neft.
It is an inftina common to all beings poffeffed oS Senfibil-
ity, under the preffure of calamity, to Seek Shelter in places
the wildeft and the moft deSerted ; 3s iS rocks were bul-
warks againft misfortune, or, as if the calmneSs oS Nature
could compoSe the troubles of the foul.  But Providence,
which conies to our relief, when we aim only at neceffary
comforts, had in  ftore  for Madame de la Tour, a blefling
which neither  riches nor grandeur can purchafe ; and that
blefling was  a friend.
   In this place, for a year paft, had refided, a fprightly,
good, and fenfible woman,  called  Margaret.  She was
born in Brittany, of a plain family of peafants, by  whom
fhe was beloved,  and who would have rendered her hap-
py, had fhe not been weak  enough  to  repoSe  confidence
in the profeflions of love, of a man of family in the  neigh-
bourhood, who had promifed to marry her  ; but who, hav-
ing gratified  his paflion, abandoned her, and even reSuSed
to Secure to  her the means of fubfiftence  for the  child,
with which he had left  her pregnant.   She immediately
refolved, forever to quit the village where She was born,
and to conceal her fault in the Colonies, far from her 
PAUL AND  VIRGINIA.          213
.ceuntry, where fhe had loft the only dowry of a poor and
honeft young woman, reputation.   An old black  fellow,
whom fhe had purchafed with a poor borrowed purfe, cul-
tivated, with her, a Small corner ot this diftnct.
   Madame  de  la  Tour, attended  by  her black woman,
Sound Margaret in this  place, who was Suckling her child.
She was delighted to meet with a female, in a fituation
which fhe accounted Similar to her own.  She  unfolded,
.in a few words, her  former condition, and  her  prefent
wants.  Margaret, on hearing Madame de la  Tour's ftory,
was moved with' compaffion, and, wifhing  to  merit her
confidence rather than  her efteem, fhe confeffed  to  her,
without referve, the imprudence of which fhe  had been
guilty : " For my part," faid  fhe, " I  have  merited my
44 deftiny ;  but you, Madam........, virtuous  and unfortu-
44 nate !" Here, with  tears in her eyes, fhe tendered to the
Stranger the accommodations of her cottage, and her friend-
ship.  Madame de la  Tour,  deeply  affiled with a recep-
tion So tender, Solded her in her arms, exclaiming, 4* I See*
" that God is going to  put an end to my Sufferings, Since
44 he has inSpired you with Sentiments of greater kindnefs
44 to me, an entire ftranger, than I ever received from my
." own relations."
   I had the felicity of Margaret's acquaintance ; and,
though I live at  the  diftance of a league and a  half from
hence, in the woods, behind the long mountain, I  looked
upon myfelf as her neighbour.  In the cities of Europe, a
ftreet, a fimple paitition,  Separates the  members of the
fame family for years ;  but in the new  Colonies, we con-
fider as neighbours, thofe who are only feparated from us
by woods and by  mountains.  At that  time  particularly,
when this ifland  had little  commerce  with India, neigh-
bourhood alone was a title to friendfhip, and hofpitality to
ftrangers was confidered as a duty, and a pleaSure.
   As Soon as I  learnt that my  neighbour had got  a com-
panion, I went  to See her, in order to offer to both all the
^fliftance in my power.   I found in Madame de la Tour a 
514         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
 perSon of a very interefting figure ;  majeftic, and melan-
 choly.  She was then very near her time.   I faid to thefe
 two ladies, that it would be better for the  fake of the in-
 terefts of their  children, and efpecially to prevent the ef-
 tablifhment of any  other  inhabitant, to  divide between
 them the territory  of this bafon, which contains  about
 twenty acres.   They entrufted me with  making this di-
 vifion ; 1 formed it into two portions, nearly equal.   The
■* one contained the upper part of that enclofure, from yon-
 der point of the rock, covered with clouds, from whence
 iffues the fource of the river of the Lataniers, to that fteep
 opening which you fee  at  the top of the  mountain, and
 which is called the Embrafure, becaufe it  aaually refem-
 bles the parapet of a battery.   The bottom of this fpot of
 ground is fo filled with rocks and gutters, that it is fcarce-
 \y poffible to walk  along.   It, neverthelefs, produces large
 trees, and abounds with fountains and little rivulets.  In
 the  other portion, I  comprifed all the lower  part of the
 enclofure, which extends along the river of the Lataniers*
 to the opening where we now are, from whence that riv-
 er begins  to flow between  two hills toward the Sea.   You
 there fee fome ftripes of meadow  ground, and  a foil tol-
 erably fmooth and level, but which  is very little better
 than the other ; for  in the rainy feafon it  is marfhy, and
 in drought, ftiff as lead.  When you wifh, in that cafe,
 to  open  a  trench, you are obliged  to cut it with the
 hatchet.
    After  having made thefe two divifions,  I perfuaded the
 ladies to fettle their  refpe6tive poffeflions by cafting lots.
 The upper part fell  to  the fhare of Madame de, la Tour,
 and the lower to Margaret.   They  were  both  perfeaiy
 Satisfied ; but requefted me not to Separate their  habita-
 tion, '4in order," Said they to me,  " that we may always
 44 have it  in our power to See, to converSe with, and to
 " aflift each other."   It was neceffary, however, that each
 of them fhould have a  Separate  retreat.   The  cottage of
 Margaret was built in the middle of the bafon, exaaiy 
PAULAND  VIRGINIA.          £*£
upon the  boundary of her domain.   I  built clofe to it,
upon  that  of  Madame de  la Tour, another cottage ; fo
that thefe two friends were-  at once, in  the vicinity of each?
other, and on the property of their families.  1 myfelf cut
palifadoes in the mountain, and brought the  leaves  of the
Latanier from the  fea fide, to conftrua thefe two cottages,
which now, no longer prefent either door or roof.  Alas f
their ftill  remains  but too  much  for my  recolleaion.
Time, which deftroys, with fo much rapidity, the monu-
ments of empires, feems to refpea, in  th'efe deferts, thofe
of friendfhip, in order  to perpetuate my affliaion  to the
laft hour of my life.
   Scarcely  was the  fecond of the cottages  completed,
when  Madame de la Tour was delivered of a daughter.  I
had been the godfather of Margaret's child, who was call-
ed  Paul.   Madame  de la  Tour begged  me to name her
daughter alfo, in conjunaion with her friend, who gave
her the  name of Virginia.  " She will be virtuous," faidL
She, '4 and fhe will be  happy :  I knew calamity only in
44 ceafing to be virtuous."
   When Madame  de  la Tour was  recovered of her lying,
in, thefe two little habitations began to wear the appear-.
ance of comfort, with the affiftance of  the labour which I
occafionally beftowed upon them, but particularly, by the
afliduous labour of their flaves : That of Margaret, call-
ed Domingo,  was  an  Iolof Black, ftill robuft, though
rather advanced in life.  He poffeffed the advantage of
experience,  and good natural fenfe.  He cultivated, with-
out diftinaion, on  the twodiftrias, the foil which appear-
ed to him  the moil fertile,, and there he fowed the feeds
which he thought would thrive the beft in it.  He  fowed.
fmall millet and Indian corn, in places where the Soil was
of an inferior quality,  and a little wheat where the ground
was good.   In marfhy places,  he  fowed rice, and  at the
foot of the rocks were raifed  Giraumonts, gourds,  and
cucumbers,  which delight in climbing up their fides :  In
dry places, he. planted potatoes, which there acquire fin- 
2l6         STUDIES  OF   NATURE*

gular fweetncfs ;  cotton trees on  heights, fugar canes on'
ftrong land ;- coffee plants on the hills, where their grains
are fmall, but of an excellent quality ; along the river, and
around the cottages,  he planted bananas, which, all the
year round, produce  large fupplies  of fruit, and form a
beautiful fhelter ; and, in a word, fome plants of tobacco,
to foothe his own cares, and thofe of his good miftreffes.
He went to cut wood for fuel in the mountain, and broke
down pieces of rock, here and there, in the plantation, to'
fmooth the roads.   He performed all thefe labours with
intelligence and aaivity, becaufe he performed them with
zeal.  He was very  much attached to Margaret, and not"
much  lefs fo to Madame de la Tour, whofe flave he had
married at the  birth  of Virginia.  He paffionately loved
his  wife, whofe name was Mary.   She  was a  native of
Madagafcar, from whence fhe had brought fome degree of
Skill, particularly, the  art of making bafkets, and  fluffs
called pagnes, with  the  grafs which grows in the woods.
She was  clever, cleanly, and, what was above  all, incor-
jruptibly  faithful.   Her  employment was to prepare the
viauals, to take care of fome poultry, and to go  occafion-
ally to Port Louis, to fell the Superfluity of the two plant-
ations ;  this,  however was very  inconfiderable.   If to
thefe, you add two  goats, brought up  with the  children,
 and a great dog, that watched  the  dwellings during the
 night, you will have an idea of all the poffeflions, and of
 all the domeftic economy, of thefe two little farms.
   As for the two friends, they Spun cotton from morning
 till  night.  This employment  was Sufficient to maintain
 themfelves and their families ;  but, in other refpeas, they
 were fo ill provided with foreign commodities, that they
 walked bare footed  when at home, and never wore  Shoes
 except on Sundays, when they went to maSs, early in the
 morning, to the church of Pamplemouffes, which you See
 in the bottom.  It  is, nevertheless, much Sarther than  to
 Port Louis ;  but they Seldom vifited the city, for fear of
 being treated with contempt, becaufe they were dreffed in 
rAUL AND VIRGINIA.         21/
the coarfe blue linen cloth of Bengal, which is worn by
flaves.  After all, Is public refpe&ability half fo valuable
as domeftic  felicity ? If thefe ladies were expofed to a
little fuffering when  abroad, they returned horrie with fo
much more additional fatisfaaion.  No Sooner  had Mary
and Domingo perceived  them from this eminence, on the
road from Pamplemouffes, than  they flew to the bottom
of the mountain, in order to  affift them in reafcending it.
They read in the  eyes of their flaves, the joy which they
felt at feeing them again.  They found in their habitation,
cleanlinefs and freedom, bleffings which they  owed en-
tirely to their own induftry, and Servants  animated with
zeal and  affeaion.  As for themfelves, united by the
fame wants^ having experienced  evils almoft fimilar, giv-
ing to each other  the tender  names of friend, companion,
and  Sifter, they had but one will, one intereft, one table.
They had every thing iri common.  And if it  fometimes
happened, that former fentiments, more ardent than  thofe
of friendship, were rekindled in  their bofoms, a pure and
undefiled  Religion, affifted  by ^chafte  manners, direaed
them toward another life, like the flame which flies off to
Heaven, when it ceafes to find nourifhment on the Earth.
   The duties  of nature were ftill an additional fource of
happinefs to  their fociety.  Their mutual friendfhip re-
doubled at the fight of their children, the fruits of a love
equally unfortunate.  They took delight to  put them in-
to the fame bath, and to lay them to Sleep in the Same cra-
dle.  They frequently exchanged their milk to the  chil-
dren.  " My friend," faid Madame de la Tour, " each of
41 us will  have two children, and each of our children will
4>  have two mothers."   Like two buds which, remain up-
on two trees of the fame fpecies, all the branches of which
have been broken by the tempeft, produce fruits more de-
licious, if each of them, detached from the maternal flock,
is grafted on the neighbouring flem ;  thus,  thefe two lit-
tle children, deprived of their relations, were  filled with
fentiments toward each other, more tender than  thofe of
   VOL. in.              D a 
rib
STUDIES  OF  NATURB.
 fon and daughter, of brother and  fitter, when they were
 exchanged at the breaft, by  the two friends who had giv-
 en them being.  Already  their mothers  talked of theii
 marriage, though they were yet in the cradle, and this prof-
 pea of conjugal felicity, with which they foothed their
 own woes  to  peace, frequently  terminated in a flood of
 tears ;  the one, recolkaing the  miferies which  fhe had
 Suffered from having negleaed the forms of marriage, and
 the other, from  having fubmitted to its laws ;  the one,
 from having been  raifed above  her condition ; and the
 other,  from  having defcended below hers ; but they con.
 Soled themSelves with the. thought, that  the  day  would
 come,  when their children, more fortunate than  them-
 felves,  would enjoy, at once, far from the cruel prejudices
 of Europe, the pleafures of love,  and the  happinefs of
 equality.
   Nothing, indeed, was to be compared with the  attach-
 ment which the babes already  teftified for  each other : If
 Paul happened to complain, they  ftiewed Virginia to
 him ; at the fight of her, he fmiled, and was pacified.  If
 Virginia fuffered, you were informed of it by the lamen-
 tations  of Paul;  but this amiable child immediately con-
 cealed her pain, that her fufferings  might not diftrefs him.
 I never arrived here, that I did not See them both, entire-
 ly naked, according to the cuftom  of the country, Scarce-
 ly able  to walk, holding each other by the hands, and un-
 der the  arms, as the  conftellation  of the Twins is  repre-
 fented.  Night itfelf had not the power of Separating them ;
 it Srequently SurpriSed them, laid in the Same  cradle, cheek
joined to cheek,  boSom to boSom, their hands mutually
 paffed around each other's neck, and afleep in one anoth-
 er's arms.                                  •
  When they were able to Speak,  the firft  names which
 they learnt to pronounce were thoSe of  brother and filler.
 Infancy, which beftows careffes more tender, knows of no
 names more  Sweet.  Their  education  only Served to re-
 double their friendfhip, by direaing it toward their  rccip- 
PAUL AND  VIRGINIA.
1-13
rocal wants.  Very Soon, every thing that  concerned do-
meftic economy, cleanlineSs, the care of preparing a rural
repaft, became the province of Virginia, and her labours
were always followed by the praifes and careffes of Paul.
As for him, ever in motion, he digged in the garden with
Domingo, or with a little hatchet in his hand, followed
him into the woods, and if, in  thefe rambles, a beautiful
flower,  a delicious  fruit, or a neft of birds, came in his
way, though at the top of the higheft tree, he  fcaled it,
to bring them to his fifter.
   When you chanced to meet the  one of them, you might
be certain the other was not far off.  One day that I was
defcending from thefummit of this mountain, I perceived
Virginia at the extremity of the garden ; fhe was running
toward  the houfe,  her  head cbvered with her petticoat,
which fhe had raifed behind, to fhelter her from a deluge
of rain.  At a diftance, I thought fhe had been alone ; and
having  advanced, in order to aflift  her, I perceived  that
fhe  held Paul by  the arm, who was almoft enveloped in
the  fame covering ; both of them  delighted at  finding
themfelves Sheltered together under an  umbrella of their
own invention.   Thefe two  charming heads, wrapt up in
the fwelling petticoat, reminded me  of the children of Le-
da, enclofed in the fame fhell.
   All their ftudy was to pleafe, and to aflift each other ;
in every other refpea, they were  as ignorant as Creoles,
and  neither knew  how to read  or write.  They did  not
difturb  themfelves about what  had  happened in  former
times, and at a diftance from them  ;  their curiofity did not
extend  beyond  that mountain.  They believed  that  the
World  ended at the extremity of their  ifland, and they
could not foVm an idea of any thing  beautiful where they
were not.   Their mutual affeaion, and that of their moth-
ers, engaged every feeling of their  hearts : Never had ufe-
lefs fcience caufed their tears to  flow :  Never had the lef-
fons of  a gloomy morality oppreffed them with languor.
They knew not that it was unlawful to  ileal, every thing 
 t20        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

 with them being in common ;  nor to be intemperate, hav-
 ing always at command, plenty of fimple food ;  nor to
 utter falfehood, having  no truths that it was neceffary to
 conceal.  They had never been  terrified with the idea,
 that God has in referve dreadful punifhments for ungrate-
 ful  children ; with  them, filial duty was born of mater-
 nal affeaion.   They had  been taught  no other religion
 than that which inftruas us  to love one another ;  and, if
 they did not offer up long prayers at  church, wherever
 they were, in the  houfe, in  the fields, or in the woods,
 they raifed toward Heaven innocent hands and pure hearts,
 filled with the love of their parents.
   Thus paffed their early infancy, like  a beautiful dawn,
 which Seems to promife a ftill more beautiful day.  They,
 already, divided with their mothers the cares of the houfe-
 hold : As Soon as the crowing of  the cock announced the
 return of Aurora, Virginia rofe, went to draw water at a
 neighbouring fountain, and returned to the houfe to prepare
 breakfaft :  Soon after, when the fun had gilded the peaks
 of that enclofure, Margaret and her Son  went to the dwell-
 ing of Madame de la  Tour, where they immediately  be-
 gan a prayer, which was followed by  their  firft repaft :
 This they frequently partook of, before the door, feated on
 the grafs, under a bower of bananas, which furnifhed them,
 at the fame time, with ready prepared food,  in their Sub-
 stantial fruit, and table  linen in their long and glittering
leaves.
  Wholefome and plentiful nourifhment rapidly expand-
ed the bodies of thefe young people,  and a mild education
painted in their phy fiognomies,  the purity and contentment
of their fouls.   Virginia was only twelve years old ; al-
ready her perSon was more than half  formed ; a large
quantity of beautiful flaxen  hair  ornamented her head ;
her blue eyes and  coral  lips fhone, with the mildeft luf-
tre, on the bloom of her  countenance :  They always Smil-
ed in concert when  fhe Spoke ; but when  fhe was filent,
their natural obliquity toward Heaven gave them an  ex- 
PAUL  AND  VIRGINIA.         £f|
preSfion of extreme fenfibility, and even a flight tendency
to melancholy.   As for Paul, you  might already fee in
him, the charaaer of  a man, poffefling all  the graces of
youth ;  his  figure was taller than  that  of  Virginia, his
complexion darker, and his nofe more aquiline : His eyes,
which were  black, would have poffeffed a certain degree
of haughtineSs, iS the  long eye lafhes which Surrounded
them, and which reSembled the fine ftrokes oS a pencil,
had not given them the greateft SweetneSs.  Though he
was almoft continually in  motion, the moment his Sifter
appeared,  he became  tranquil, and  Seated himSelf befide
her ; their meal frequently paffed without a word being
uttered ■: Their  filence, the fimplicity of their attitudes,
the beauty of their naked feet, would  have  tempted you
to believe, that you beheld an antique groupe of white mar-
ble, reprefenting the  children  of Niobe ; But, when you
beheld their looks, which  feemed defirous  to meet each
other, their  fmiles returned with fmiles ftill  fweeter, you
would have taken them for thofe  children of  Heaven,
thofe bleffed Spirits, whoSe nature is love ; and who have
no need of thought to make their feelings known, nor of
words to exprefs their affeaion.
   In the mean time, Madame de la Tour, perceiving that
her daughter advanced in life, with fo many charms, Selt
her UneafineSs increaSe with her tendernefs  : She uSed to*
fay fometimes to me,  " If 1 fhould  chance to die, what
44 would become of Virginia, dowerlefs as fhe is ?"
   She had an aunt in France, a woman of quality, rich,
old, and a devotee, who had refufed her afiiftance, in a,
manner fo unfeeling,  when fhe married  De la Tour, that
She refolved never to have recourSe to her again, to what-
ever extremity fhe might be  reduced.   But, now that She
was become a mother, fhe no longer dreaded the Shame of
a reSuSal : She acquainted her aunt with the unexpeaed
death of  her hufband, the birth of her daughter, and the
embarraffment  of her affairs ; deftitute of fupport, and
 burdened with a child.  She, however, received  no an- 
*?.2
STUDIES OF  NATURE.
fwer ;  but, being a woman of exalted  charaaer, fhe no
longer feared humiliation,  nor to expofe hcrfelf to the re-
proaches of her relation, who had never forgiven her, for
having  married  a man  of low  birth,  though virtuous.
She  continued, therefore, to write to her aunt, by  every
opportunity, in the hope of raifing in her breaft, Some fa-
vourable emotions toward Virginia : Many years, howev-
er, elapSed, before fhe received from her any token  of re-
membrance.
  At length, in the year 1746, on the arrival of M. de la
Bourdonaye, Madame de la Tour was informed that their
new Governour had  a letter to deliver to her from her
aunt.  She immediately ran to Port  Louis,  for this once,
entirely indifferent about appearing in her  coarfe habit ;
maternal love raifing her above refpea to  the  World.
hl.de  la Bourdonaye delivered  her  aunt's  letter, which
infi«nuated that fhe merited her condition, Sor having mar-
iied an  adventurer, a libertine ; that the paffions always
carried their punifhment along with them ;  that the un-
timely death of her hufband was a juft chaftifement  of
God ;  that fhe had done well to remain in the Weft  In-
dia Iflands, inftead of difhonouring her family, by return-
ing to France ;  and that, after all, fhe was in an excellent
country, where  every body made  fortunes, except  the
idle.  After having  thus  reproached her, fhe  concluded
with making her own elogium ;  to avoid,  fhe faid, the al-
moft inevitable evils  which attend matrimony, fhe had al-
ways refufed to marry :  The truth was, that, being very
ambitious, fhe had refuftd to unite hcrfelf to any except
a man of rank ;  but,  although fhe was very rich, and that,
at Court, every thing is a matter of  indifference, fortune
excepted, yet no perfon was found, willing to Sorm  an al-
liance  with a woman, homely to the laft  degree, and, at
the Same time, poffeSfed of a moft unfeeling heart.
  She added, by way of poftfeript, that every thing con-
fidered, fhe had ftrongly  recommended her to M.  de  la
Baurdonay: : She had,  indeed, recommended her, but„ 
PAUL AND VIRGINIA.         2*3
 conformably to a cuftom but too prevalent at this day,
 which renders a proteaor more to be dreaded than  a de-
 clared enemy, in order to juftify to the Governor, her fe-
 verity to her. niece, in feigning to pity, fhe had calumni-
 ated her.
   Madame de la Tour, who could not be  feen by the mofi
 indifferent perfon,  without  intereft and  refpea,. was re-
 ceived with the  greateft coolnefs by M. de la Bourdonaye,
 already prejudiced againft  her.  To the  account which
 fhe gave, of  her own fituation, and that of her daughter,
 he anfwered  only by harfh  monoSyllables ;  4l I fhall en-
 44 quire...." 44 we fhall  See,"....4' in time,"....*4 there are
 44 many unhappy people,"....." why offend fo refpeaable
 41 an aunt  ?"...." you are certainly to blame."
   Madame de la Tour returned to the plantation, her heart
 oppreffed with grief, and full of bitternefs ; on her arri-
 val She Sat down, threw her  aunt's letter on the table, and
 Said to her friend, 44 Behold the  fruits of eleven years pa-
 44 tience."  But as no one of the  fociety knew how to
 read, except Madame  de la Tour,  fhe took up the letter
 ag^in,  and read it to all  the family.   Scarely had fhe con-
 cluded, than Margaret faid  to her with vivacity, " What
 44 need have we of thy relations ? Has God forfaken us ?
 " He only is our father : Have we  not lived happily un-
." til this day ?  Why, then,  fhould you afflia yourfelf?
 44 You have no  fortitude."   Perceiving  that Madame ak
 la Tour was  much  affeaed, fhe  threw herfelf on her bo-
 Som, folded  her in her arms, and exclaimed,  " My dear
 " friend, my dear  friend !"  Her own fobs quite choked
 her voice.   At this fight, Virginia,,  melting into tears, al-
 ternately preffed the hands of her mother, and of Marga-
 rv■/, to her lips, and to her  heart ;, whilft Paul, his eyes
 inflamed with rage, exclaimed aloud,  clenched  his fifts^
 Stamped with his feet, not knowing  how to vent his rage.
 At the noife which he made, Domingo and Mary ran in,
 *nd nothing  but exclamations of diftrefs were heard in the
 cottage : " Ah Madame !"......" My good miftrefs!"...« 
  «*4        SfUDIES  OP NATURE;
«
  14 My dear mother !"...." Do not diftrefs yourfelf." Such'
  tender marks of affeaion, foon diffipated the anguifh of
  Madame de la Tour • She embraced  Paul and Virgin?a,
  and Said to tbem, with a look of fatisfaaion, ,4 My dear
  " children, you are the caufe of my tears, but  you are al-
  " fo the  fource of all  the happinefs I enjoy :  Oh,  my
  *' children, misfortune attacks me only from afar, felicity
  14 is ever around me."  Paul and Virginia did not com-
  prehend what fhe Said, but as Soon as they Saw that fhe was
  compofed, they Smiled, and careffed her. Thus was peace
  reftored, and the paft Scene was only like a ftormy cloud
  in the midft of Summer.
    The good difpofitions of thefe children were unfolding
  themfelves  from day to day.  One  Sunday,  about fun-
  rife, their mothers having gone to the firft maSs, at the
  church of Pamplemouffes, a fugitive negro woman made
  her appearance, under the bananas which furrounded their
  plantation.  She was as meagre as a fkeleton, and without
  a bit of clothing, except a fhred  of tattered canvafs about
  her loins.   She threw herfelf at Virginia's feet, who was
  preparing' the family breakfaft, and thus addreffed her :
  " My dear young lady, take pity on a miferable runaway
  44 flave :  For more than a month paft, I have been wan-
  " dering  about thefe mountains, half dead with famine,
  " and frequently purfued by the huntfmen  and their dogs.
  *4 I have fled  Srom  my mafter, who  is a wealthy  planter
  44 on the black river :  He  has  treated me in  the man-
  44 ner you See."   She then Shewed her body,  deeply Sur-
  rowed by the ftrokes of the whip which fhe had received.
  She added, "I had thoughts of drowning myfelf, but know-
  " ing that you lived here, I thus  refleaed ;  Perhaps there
  " are ftill fome good white people in this country, 1 muft
  " not die yet."  Virginia, much  affeaed, replied,  44 Take
  " comfort, unfortunate creature ! eat, eat."  Upon which,
  fhe gave her the breakfaft which fhe had prepared for the
  family.  The flave, in a few  moments, devoured  the whole
  of it.   Virginia, feeing her refrefhed, faid to her :  44 Poor 
PAUL  AND  VIRGINIA.
225
'• wretch !  I have a great defire to go to your mafter, and
" implore your pardon : At the fight of you, he muft be
44 touched with  compaffion :  Will  you condua me to
" him ?"...." Angel of God  f" replied  the negreSs, " I
14 will  follow  you  wherever  you  lead  me."   Virginia
called her brother, and begged him to accompany  her  :
The fugitive flave conduaed   them, by  narrow paths, to
the middle of the woods, acrofs high  mountains, over
which  they fcrambled with  difficulty, and great rivers,
which  they forded.  At  length,  toward the middle of
the day,  they  arrived at  the  bottom of a mountain on
the banks of the Black River. They there  perceived a
well built  houfe,  considerable  plantations,  and a  great
number of flaves engaged in different occupations.  Their
mafter was walking in the  midft of them, with a pipe in his
mouth, and a ratan in  his hand.  He was a very tall, lean
man, of  an olive complexion, with  his eyes  funk in His
head, and his  eyebrows  black, and meeting each  other.
Virginia, quite petrified,  holding Paul  by the arm, ap-
proached  the mafter, and  entreated  him, for the love of
God, to pardori his Slave, who was a few paces behind
them.  The mafter, at firft,  did not pay much attention
to thefe  two children, who were but meanly clad ;  when,
however, he had remarked the elegant form of Virginia, her
beautiful  flaxen hair,  which appeared  from under  a blue
hood, and when he had heard Ihe fweet tones of her voice,
which trembled, as well  as her body, while fhe implored
his forgivenefs, he took  the  pipe from  his  mouth, and,
raifing his ratan toward Heaten, declared, with a terrible
oath, that he would pardon his Slave,  not for the love of
God,  but for the love  of  her.   Virginia immediately
made a fign for  the flave to advance toward  her mafter,
and then ran away, while Paul followed  her.
  They fcrambled, together, up the fteep declivity of the
mountain, by which they had defcended in the morning,
and having arrived  at its fummit,  they feated  themfelves
under a  tree, exhaufted with  fatigue, hunger, and thirft^r-
   VOL. Ill,               £  £ 
9H6        STUDIES OF  NATURE.
 They had travelled from the rifing of the Sun, more than
 five leagues, without having tafted food : Paul addreffed
 Virginia thus :  44 Sifter, it is paft midday ;  you are hun-
 " grv> you are  thirfty ; we  fhall  find no refrefhment
 " here ; let us again defcend the mountain, and requeft the
 44 mafter of the flave to give us fomething to eat."....44 Oh,
 44 no ! my friend," replied Virginia, 44 he has terrified me
 •' too much  already :  Do you not remember what mam-
 " ma has  often faid ; The bread of the wicked fills  the
 "mouth with gravel ?''...." What  fhall  we do then?"
 {aid Paul: "TheSe trees produce only bad Sruits :  44 There
 44 is not So much as a tamarind, or a lemon, to  refrefh
 41 you."....'4 God will have pity on us," returned Virgin-
 ia, " he hears the voices of the little birds, which call to
 *4 him for food."  Scarcely had  fhe  pronounced theSe
 words, when they heard the bubbling of a fountain, which
 fell from a neighbouring rock : They immediately ran to
 it, and  after having  quenched  their thirft with  water,
 more clear than  the cryllal, they gathered, and ate  a  few
 of the creffes which grew upon its banks.  As they were
 anxioufly   looking about, from fide to fide, to fee if they
 could not find fome more fubftantial food, Virginia per-
 ceived, among the trees of the foreft, a young palm tree.
 The colewort, which is inclofed in the leaves that grow on
 the top  ot  this tree, is very good to eat ; but though it?
 trunk was not thicker than a man's leg, it was more than
 Sixty feet  high.   The wood of this  tree,  indeed, is only
 formed of  a bundle of filaments,  but its pith is  fo hard,
 that it  refifts the edge of  the keeneft hatchet, and Paul
 had not  fo much as a knife.  The idea occurred to him,
 of Setting fire to  the palm tree, but here again he was at a
 lofs ; he had  no  fteel ;  and befides, in this ifland, fo cov-
 ered with rock, I do not believe that  a fingle flint ftone is
 to be found.   Neceffity produces induftry, and the moft
ufeful inventions are  frequently  to  be afcribed  to  the
moft miferable of mankind.  Paul refolved to kindle a
fire in the  fame  manner that the  blacks  do.   With  the 
PAUL AND  VIRGINIA.         227
fharp point of a ftone, he bored a little hole in the branch
of a tree that was very dry, which he mattered by prefling
it  under his Seet :  He then, with the edge  of this ftone,
made a point to another branch, equally dry, but of a dif-
ferent  Species of wood.   Afterwards, he applied this piece
of  pointed wood to the  little hole of the branch which
was under his feet, and  fpinning it  round, with  great ra-
pidity, between his hands, as you trundle round the mill
with which chocolate is frothed up,  in a  few moments,
he Saw fmoke and fparks iffue from the point of contacE.
He, then, gathered together fome dry herbage, and other
branches of trees, and applied the fire to the root of the
palm  tree,  which prefently  fell  with  a  terrible craflu
The fire likewife affifted him in peeling off from the cole-
wort  its  long,  ligneous, and prickly  leaves.   Virginia
arid he ate a part  of this cabbage raw, and the other part
dreffed upon the afhes, and found them  equally favoury.
They  enjoyed this frugal repaft with the higheft fatisfac-
tion, from the recollection of the good aaion which they
had performed in  the morning ;  but their joy was  greatly
damped, by the  uneafinefs, which  they  had  not a doubt
their long abfence muft have occafioned to their parents.
 Virginia recurred frequently to this  fubjea, while Paul,
 who  now felt  his ftrength reftored," affured her, that it
 would not be long before they got home, to quiet the anx-
 iety of their mothers.
    After dinner, they  found themfelves much embarraffed,
 Sor they had no longer a guide to direa them homewards.
 Paul,  who was diSconcerted at nothing, Said to Virginia,
 14 Our cottage looks toward  the noonday Sun, we muft,
 41 therefore, pafs as we did this morning, over that moun-
 " tain which you fee below, with its three  peaks.  Come,
 44 let  us walk on, my friend."   This mountain is called
 that of the Three Paps*, becaufe its three  peaks have that

   * There are many mountains, the fummits of which are rounded into the
 form of a woman') brealr, and bear that name in all language*.  They are,
 indeed,  real paps ; for from them iffu« multitudes of brooks and river*, 
228         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
 form.  They defcended, then,  the  gloomy declivity of
 the Black River, toward the north,  and arrived, alter an
 hour's walkiqp-, at the banks of aconfiderable river, which
 barred  their progrefs.   That  large portion of the ifland,
 entirely covered with forefts, is fo  little known, even at
 this day, that  many of its rivers and mountains are ftill
 without a name.   The river, upon the banks of which they
 were, flows impetuoufly over a bed of rocks.  The noife
 of its waters  terrified Virginia; fhe durft not venture to
 put her feet  into it, for the purpofe of fording  over.
 Paul, upon this, took Virginia on  his back ;  and, thus
 Jaden, paffed over the flippery rocks of the river, in Spite
 of the tumult of the waves.  4'  Be not afraid," faid he to
 her ;  4'  F feel my ftrength renewed, having the charge of
 44 you.   If the planter of the Black  River had refufed to
 " your  entreaties the pardon of  his  flave, I fhould have
 " Sought  with  him."  4' How  !"   exclaimed  Virginia,
 <: with  that  man,  So large,  and So  wicked ?  To what
 " have  I expoSed you ?  My God !  how difficult a thing
 " it is to aa properly ! Evil alone is  performed with fa-
 44 cility !"
   When Paid had arrived on the farther fide, he was de-
 Sirous of continuing the journey, laden as he was  with the
 weight  of his filler,  and  he flattered himfelf that he fhould
 be able thus to  afcend the mountain of the Three Paps,
 which he faw before him, at  the diftance  of a league and
 a half, under the fame burden with which he  had croffed
 the river ; but his ftrength very foon Sailed him, and he was
 obliged to Set her on the ground, and  repoSe himSelf by
 her fide.   Virginia  then Said to him,  44 Brother, the day
 44 is declining Saft ;  you have ftill Some ftrength remain-
 " ing, and mine entirely Sails ;  Suffer me to remain here,

which diffufe abundance over the face cf the Earth. They are the fources
of the  princrpal flreams which water it, and furnifh them with a conftant
fupply, by continually attracting the clouds around the peak, of the rock
v^ich overtrjps them  at the centre, like a nipple.  We have indica'.ed
thore wonderful provifions of Nature, in the preceding Studies. 
            PAUL AND  VIRGINIA.         2 2£

•' and do you return alone to our cottage, to rcftore trao*
" quillity to our mothers."   " Oh no !" faid Paul, "I will
44 never leave  you.  If the night fhould  Surprife us in
" theSe woods, I will light  a fire, I will  fell thefe  palm
44 trees, you fhall eat the colewort, and 1 will make of its
*' leaves  an ajoupa to fhelter you."  Virginia,  however,
being a little revived, gathered, from the trunk of an old
tree which grew upon the edge of the river,  long leaves
of the fcolopendra, which  hung down from its  boughs.
She made of thefe, a fpecies of fandals, which fhe put on
her feet ;  for they  were wounded to bleeding, by the fharp
ftones which covered the road ;  for, in her eagcrnefs to
do good, fhe had forgotten   to  put on  her  Shoes.  Feel-
ing herfelf relieved by  the freShneSs of thefe leaves, fhe
broke off a branch of bamboo, and proceeded on her jour-
ney,  retting one hand on this reed, and the other  on her
brother.   They thus walked flowly on through the woods ;
but the height of the trees, and the thicknefs of  their foli-
age, foon  made them lofe fight  of  the mountain of the
1 nree Paps, to, which  they  were direaing their courfe,
and even  of  the  Sun, which  was near fetting.  After
fome time,  they Strayed, without perceiving it, from the
beaten path which they had  hitherto purfued, and found
themfelves in a labyrinth of trees of lianes,  and of rocks
which had no outlet.
  Paul made Virginia fit down, and ran about  quite dif-
trafcted, in queft of a road that would lead them out of this
maze, but he fatigued himfelf in vain.   He fcrambled to
the top of  a  large tree, with the hope of difcovering, at
leaft, the  mountain of the Three Paps, but  he could  per-
ceive nothing  around  him, except the  fummits of trees,
fome of which were gilded by the laft rays  of the fetting
Sun.  In the mean time, the fhadow oS the mountains had
already covered the forefts in  the valleys ;  the  wind was
hufhed, as it ufually is at the fetting of the Sun ; a pro-
found filence  reigned  in thefe folitudcs,  and no other
found was to be heard,  but the braying of the deer, which 
tjd        STUDIES  OF NATURE*
came to Seek a  place of repofe, for the  night, in thefe
wild retreats.   Paul,  in the hope that  fome huntfman
might  hear his  voice, then called out with all his might ;
44 Come, come  to the relief of Virginia :"  But the only
anfwer he received was from the Solitary echoes of the for-
eft, which repeated, at intervals, 4' Virginia ! Virginia /"
  Paul, at length, defcended  from the tree, opprefled with
fatigue and vexation ; he meditated on the means of paff-
ing the night in this  place ;  but there  was neither foun-
tain, nor palm tree, to be found in it ;  nor even fo much
as branches  of  dry wood, proper to Icindle a fire.  He
then felt, from  experience, the inefficacy of his refources,
and began to weep.  Virginia Said to him, " Do not diS-
" treSs yourSelS, my Sriend, if you would not wifh  to  fee
** me overwhelmed with grief.   It is I  who am the cauSe
*' of all your Sufferings, and oS thoSe which our mothers
** now endure.  We fhould  do nothing  without confult-
*4 ing our parents,  not even what is right.   Oh !   I have
" been very  imprudent !" Upon Saying which, fhe burft
into tears.   In  the mean time, fhe Said to Paul, " Let us
"pray to God, my brother,  and he will take compaffion
" on us."  Scarcely had they  finifhed  their prayer, than
they heard a dog bark.   4' It is," Said Paul, 4' the dog of
•* fome huntSman,  who comes  of an evening  to kill  the
*4 deer in their  retreat."   A  fhort time after, the barking
of the dog redoubled.   4' I have an idea," .Said Virginia,
" that  it is Fidele,  our cottage dog ; yes,  I recolletfc
*4 his voice  : Is it poffible  that we fhould be So near
" our journey's end, and at  the foot of our mountain ?"
In truth, a moment afterwards, Fidele  was  at  their feet,
barking,  howling,  groaning,  and loading them with  ca-
refTes.   Before they had recovered from their furprife,
they perceived Domingo, who was running  toward them.
At the fight of this worthy  negro, who wept with joy,
they alfo fhed tears, without  being able  to fay  one  word.
When Domingo had a little recovered himfelf : " Oh, my
u young  mafters," faid  he to them, 4' what diftrefs your 
PAUL AND  VIRGINIA.
«3l
" mothers are in !  how aftonifhed they were at not find-
44 ing you,  on their return from mafs, whither I had ac- 1  ^
" companied them !  Mary, who was at work in a corner ■
44 of the plantation, could not tell whither you were goner
" I wandered about  the  plantation, not knowing myfelf
44 where to Seek  you : At length, I took the old clothes,
44 which you uSed to wear* ; I made Fidele Smell to them,
44 and, as iS the poor animal had underftood me, he  imme-
41 diately Set off  to trace your fteps.  He conduaed me,
41 always wagging his tail, to the Black River.  There, I
41 was informed by a planter, that you had  brought a fugi-
" live flave back to him, and that he had pardoned her at
44 your interceffion.   But what a pardon ! he  Shewed her
" to me, fattened,  with a chain round her  foot, to a log
" of  wood, and  an iron  collar, with  three  rings,  round
44 her neck.  From  thence,  Fidele, following the fcent,
,4 conduaed me  to the Mount of the Black  River, where
" he again flopped,  and barked as  loud  as he was able.
" It was on  the brink of a fountain, near a palm tree,
" which  had been levelled, and a fire not quite extin-
41 guifhed :  At  length,  he conduaed  me to  this place.
44 We are at the foot of the mountain of the Three Paps,
" and it is ftill four good  leagues from our dwelling.
,4" Come on,  eat,  and recruit  your ftrength."  He them
prefented to them a cake,  fome fruit, and a  large gourd
bottle filled with a liquor compounded  of water, wine,
lemon juice, fugar and  nutmeg, which their mothers had
prepared to ftrengthen and revive them.   Virginia fighed
at the recolleaion of the poor flave, and at the diftrefs of
their mothers.   She repeated feveral times, " Oh, how dif-
44 ficult it is to do good !"
   While Paul and fhe  were refrefhing  themfelves, Do~
mingo lighted a  fire, and looking about  among the rocks
for  a crooked  billet,  which we  call round  wood, and

  * This trait of fagacity in the black Domingo, and his dog Fiddle, very much
refembles that of the  favage Tcwenijfa, and his dog Oniah, mentioned by M»
de Creve:<£ur, in his humane Work, entitled, Letters of an American Farmer, 
232        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
 which burns even in the Sap, throwing out a very bright
 flame; he made a flambeau of it, and Set it a burning ; for
 it was now quite dark.   But he had to encounter a much
 greater difficulty  ;  when all was ready  for proceeding
 forward, Paul and Virginia were  abfolutely incapable ot
 walking any Sarther ; their feet being  Swelled, and raw all
 over.  Domingo was completely puzzled ;  he could not
 determine whether it would be more adviSable Sor him to
 ramble about in queft of afliftance, or to prepare  for paff-
 ing the night  with them, where they were.  " Whither
 14 has the time fled," faid he to them, 44 when I carried
 " you both at once in my arms ? But now, you are in-
 44 creafed in ftature, and I  am old."  While he was reduc-
 ed to this ftate of perplexity, a company of runaway ne-
groes appeared, about  twenty paces diftant.  The leader
of the troop, approaching  Paul and Virginia, thus addreff-
ed them : 44 Good little Whites,  be not afraid :  We Saw
44 you this morning pafling along,  in company with a ne-
" greSs of the Black River ; you were going to Solicit her
" pardon of a cruel  mafter ; out of gratitude we will car-
44 ry you home upon our fhoulders."   Upon this he made a
fign,  and four of  the ftouteft black fellows immediately
formed a litter, with boughs of  trees and lianes, placed
Paul and Virginia upon it, hoifted them upon their fhoul-
ders, and Domingo marching before them with his flam-
beau, they took the road, amidft the joyful acclamations
of the whole  company,  who loaded  them with benedic-
tions.   Virginia,  quite overcome,  whifpered  to  Paul:
" Oh, my dear Sriend f God never permits a good aaion
" to go unrewarded."
  About midnight,  they arrived at the bottom  of their
own mountain, the ridges of which were  illumined with
various fires.   Scarcely had  they got to  the top, when
they heard  voices calling aloud : 4' Is  it you, my chir-
*4 dren ?" The blacks and they replied together  :  44 Yes,
yes,  here we are !'' and  prefently they  perceived their
mothers and Mary coming to meet  them, with  flaming 
PAUL AND  VIRGINIA.         233
torches.  44 Unhappy children !"  exclaimed  Madame  de
la Tour, " Whence come you ?  Into what agonies have
" you  thrown us !"  " We  come," replied  Virginia,
" from  the Black River, whither we went this morning to
44 implore the pardon of a poor fugitive negrefs, to whom
" I likewife gave the family breakfaft, for  fhe  was juft
44 perifhing with  hunger ; and here, the black runaways
14 have  carried us home again."   Madame de la Tour ten-
derly embraced her daughter, utterly deprived of the pow-
er of Speech ; and Virginia, who felt her own face moif-
tened with her mother's tears, Said to  her : '4 How you
" repay me for all that I  have Suffered !" Margaret, trans-
ported with delight, locked Paul  in her arms, Saying,
" And  thou too,  my Son, thou haft performed a good  ac-
 44 tion  !" Being  arrived at  their  cottage, with  the chil-
dren, they gave a  plentiful Supper  to the black guides, who
returned to the  woods, with a thouSand good wifhes  for
 their profperity.
   Every fucceeding day was,  to thefe families, a day oi
 happinefs and tranquillity.  They  were ftrangers  to  the
 torments of  envy and  of ambition.  They coveted not,
 from abroad,  that vain reputation which is purchafed   bv
 intrigue, and which  the breath of calumny  deftroys.   It
 was fufficient for them to be in the place of witnelsand of
judge to  each other.  In this ifland, where, as  in all the
 European Colonies, no  curiofity is expreffed,  except in
 hunting after malicious anecdotes, their virtues, nay, their
 very names, were unknown.  Only, when a paflenger hap-
 pened to afk, on  the road to Pamplemo&ffes, of one of the
 inhabitants of the plain :  44  Who lives in yonder cottages
 44 on the top of the hill ?" the anfwer returned, without
 pretending   to  any farther knowledge of   them, was,
 44 They are good people."  Thus the violets,  from under
 the prickly fhrubbery, exhale at a diftance their fragrant
 perfume, though they  remain unfeen.
   They had banifhed from their  convcrfation  the praaice
 of evil fpeaking, which, under an appearance ot juftice,
   VOL. ill.               f  F 
*M'
STUDIES-  OF  >: AT U R- B.
 neceffarily diSpoSes the heart to hatred, or to  falfehood y
 for it is impoflible to refrain from hating men, if we be-
 lieve them to be wicked ; and to live with the wicked, un-
 lefs you conceal your hatred of them, under falfe appear-
 ances of benevolence.  Evil  fpeaking, accordingly, lays
 us under the neceflity of being upon bad terms with oth-
 ers, or with ourfelves.   But without fitting in judgment
 on men, in particular, they entertained one  another, only
 in devifing the means of doing good to all in general ;
 and, though they poffeffed not the power, they had an in-
 variable difpofition this way, which animated them with
 a benevolence at all times ready to extend itfelf in an out-
 ward direaion.  By living, therefore, in folitude, fo far
 from degenerating into favages, they  had become more
 humane.   If the  Scandalous  hiftory of  Society  did  not
 fupply them  with matter of converfation, that of Nature
 replenished their hearts with trunSports of wonder and de-
 light.   They  contemplated, with  rapture, the  power  of
 that Providence which, by their hands, had diffufed amidft
 thefe barren rocks  abundance, gracefulnefs, pleaSures pure,
 fimple, and perpetually renewing themSelves.
  Paul, at the  age of  twelve, more vigorous, and  more
 intelligent, than Europeans, in general, are at fifteen,.had
 embellifhed what  the Negro  Domingo only cultivated.
 He went with him to the adjoining woods, to take up by
 the roots the young plants  ot  lemon and orange  trees, of
 the tamarinds,  whofe round  head is of  fuch a beautiful
green,  and  of the attier, whofe fruit is ftored with a fug,-
ary cream,  which emits the perfume of the orange flower.
He planted thefe trees, after they  had attained a consider-
able  ftature,  all around this,  enclofure.   He had  there
fown the grains of fuch trees as, from the fecond  year,
and upward, bear  flowers, or fruits, as the agathis, from
which  depend  circularly, like the cryftal  pendants  of
a luftre, long clutters of white flowers ;  the Perfian lilach,
which  raifes  ftraight into the air  its gray, flaxen giran-
doles j  the papayer, whofe branchlefs  trunk, formed like. 
            PAUL AND  VI R G INI A.         53^,

rcolumn, briftled all over with green melons, carries aloft
a chapiter of broad leaves, refembling thoSe of the fig tree.
   He had likewife planted in it the kernels and the nuts
of the  badamier, of the mango, of the avocatier, of  the
goyavier, of the jacqs, and of the jamrofe.  Moft of thefe
trees already yielded  to their young  mafter, both  fhade
and fruit.   His induftrious hand had diffufed  fecundity
even over the moft fteril fpot of the enclofure.   Aloes of
various  kinds,  the raquet,  loaded with  yellow flowers
Striped  with red, the prickly tapers, arofe on  the dufky
(ummits of  the rocks, and feemed  defirous of  mounting
up to the lianes, garnifhed with  blue, or  fcarlet flowers,
which hung down here  and there, along the precipices  of
the mountain.
   He had  difpofed  thefe vegetables  in fuch a manner,
tint you could  enjoy the fight of them, by a fingle glance
of the eye.   He had planted in the middle of  the bafon,
the herbage, which grows to no great height, after that
the fhrubbery,  then the  trees of  fmall ftature, and  laft of
all the great trees, which garnifhed its circumference ;  fo
that this vaft enclofure  appeared, from its  centre, like  an
amphitheatre of verdure, of fruits, and flowers, containing
pot herbs, ftripes of meadow ground, and fields of rice
and corn.  JBut in fubjeaing thus  the vegetable kingdom
to his plan, ,he  had not deviated from the plans of Nature.
Direaed by the indications which  fhe vouchfafes to give,
he had placed in elevated fituations, the plants whofe feeds
are volatile, and  by the fide of the waters thofe whofe
grains are adapted to floating.  Thus,  each vegetable grew
in its proper  Site, and each Site received from its vegetable
its natural  dreSs.   The  ftreams,  which  deScended Srom
the Summit of  thefe rocks,  Sormed below in the valley,
here, Sountains, there, broad and capacious mirrors, which
refleaed, in  the midft of the verdure,  the trees  in bloom,
the rocks, and the azure of the Heavens.
   Notwithftanding the great irregularity of the foil, all
thefe plantations were, Sor the moft part, as acceflible  t® 
 £36          STUDIES  OINATUR*.

 the foot as to the eye.   In truth, we all affifted him, with
 our advice,  and  with  our exertions, in order  to accom-
 plifh his purpofe.   He had traced a path which winded
 round the bafon, and of which feveral  ramifications con-
 verged from  the  circumference to  meet  at the centre.
 He had availed himfelf of the moft rugged places of his
 domain, and united, by a  harmony the  moft delicious, fa-
 cility of walking with  the afperity of the foil, and domef-
 tic with foreft trees.   Of that enormous quantity of roll-
 ing ftones, which nowobftrua thefe  roads, as well as mar
 the greateft part of the furface of this ifland, he had form-
 ed  in various places, huge  pyramids, in  the layers of which
 he  had  mixed with earth,  and the roots of  rofe trees, the
poincillade, and other fhrubs, which  take pleaSure in  the
 rocks.   In a very Short time, theSe gloomy and inanimate
 piles  were  covered with verdure, or  with the dazzling
 Juftre of the moft beautiful flowers.   The cavities worn by
 the torrent in the fides of the mountain, bordered with
 aged trees inclined  toward each other, formed arched fub-
 terraneans, inacceflible to the heat, to  which they retired
 for coolneSs, during the Sultry ardor  of the meridian Sun.
 A narrow path conduaed into a thicket of wild trees, at
 the centre of which grew, fheltered  from the winds, a
 houfehold tree, loaded with Sruit.   There, was a corn field
 whitening to the harveft ;  here, an orchard.  Through this
 avenue, you could See the houfes ; through that, the in-
 acceflible Summits of  the  mountain.   Under  a  tufted
 grove of tatamaques, interlaced  with  lianes, no one ob-
 jea was diftinguifhable, even  in the brightnefs of noon-
 day.  On the point of that great rock adjoining,  which
juts out of the mountain, you could difcern all thofe con-
 tained within the  enclofure,  with the Sea at a diftance, on
 which Sometimes  appeared a veffel arriving from Europe,
 or returning  thither.   On this rock it was that the two
 families affembled of an evening, and enjoyed, in filence,thc
 coolnefs of the air, the fragrance of the flowers, the bubbling
 of the fountains, and the laft harmonies of light and fhade. 
           PAUL AND VIRGINIA.         S137

  Nothing could be more agreeable than the  names im-
pofed on the greateft part of the charming retreats of this
labyrinth.  The rock of which I have juft now  been
fpeaking, from whence they could difcern  my approach,
at a  confiderable diftance, was called  Friendship's
Discovery.   Paul and Virginia,  in their fportivenefs,
had planted a bamboo  upon  it, on the Summit of which
they hoifted a fmall white handkerchief, as a fignal of my
arrival, as foon as they perceived me ; in imitation of the
flag which is difplayed on the neighbouring  mountain, on
feeing a  veffel at  Sea.   I took a fancy to  engrave an in-
fcription on the ftem of this  reed.  Whatever pleafure  I
may have enjoyed in the courfe of my travels, in contem-
plating a ftatue, or a monument of Antiquity, I have enjoy-
ed ftill more in perufing a well conceived infcription.  It
feems to me, in that  cafe, as  if a human voice iffued out
of the ftone, made itfelf audible through the mighty void
of ages, and, addreffing itfelf to Man, in the midft of def-
erts, told him that he was not alone ; and that  other men,
in thefe very places, had felt, thought and fuffered, like
himfelf.   Should it happen to  be the infcription of  fome
ancient Nation, which fubfifts no  longer, it conveys our
foul  into the^regions  of infinity, and  communicates  to
it the Sentiment  of  its  own  immortality, by fhewing^
that a thought has outlived the  ruins even  of  an Empire.
   I infcribed, then, on  the little malt which  carried the
flag of Paul and Virginia, thefe verfes oi Horace ;

           .....Fratres Helenas, lucida fidera,
                Veotorumque regat Pater,
           Obftridtis aliis, praetcr lapyga*.

   " May the brothers oi Helen, ftars radiant likeyourfelves,
H;aVid may the Ruler  of the  winds,  direa  your courfe ;

   ^             * Thus imitated :
          May Helen's brothers, ftars fo bright,
          And jEolus guide your courfe aright,
          That, fafe from every ruder gale,
          Zephyrs alone may fwell the fail. 
 &<J&        STUBIES  OF V AT U R E«

■** binding up every ruder blaft, and filling your Sails only
 44 with the breath of the Zephyr."
  I engraved the following line, from Virgil, on the rind
of a tatamaque, under the fhade of which Paul fometimes
fat  down, to contemplate, from afar, the agitated Ocean  :

         Fortunatus et ille deos qui novit agrefles !

  " Happy, too, is he, in  knowing  no deities but thofe
-who make the plains their care !"
  And that other, over the door of Madame de la Tour's
■cottage, which was the place of general rendezvous :

         At fecura quies, ct nefcia fallere  vita.
      " Peace undifturbed, and hearts devoid of guile."

But Virginia did not approve of my Latin ; fhe faid, that
the infcription, which I had placed below her weathercock,
was too long and too  learned.  J fhould have rather pre-
ferred this, added fhe : always agitated, but ever
constant.  That device,replied I, is ftill better adapted
to virtue.  My obfervation excited a  blufh in her cheek.
  TheSe happy Samilies extended their benevolent difpo-
 fitions to all  that furrounded them.   They beftowed the
 moft  tender appellations on objefts apparently the moil in-
 different.  To an enclofure ot orange trees,  and  bananas,
planted in  form ot a circle, round  a portion of moffy
ground, in the middle of  which Paul and Virginia fome-
 times ufed to dance, they gave the name of  The Con-
cord.   An ancient tree, under the fliade of  which Mad-
 ame de la Tour and Margaret related, to each  other, their
 misfortunes,  was  called, The Tearg  wiped  away.
They gave the names of Brittany and Normandy to
 fmallTpots of ground, where they had planted corn, ftraw-
 berries,  and  peafe.  Domingo and Mary, wifhing, after
 the example of their  miftreffes, to call  to remembrance
 the places of their birth in Africa, denominated two pieces
.©f ground, where that grafs grew of which theymade baf- 
PAUL  AND  VIRGINIA,         aggk'
kets, and where they had planted a great gourd, Angola
and Foullepointe.   Thus,  by thefe produaions of
their own climates,  thefe exiled families cherifhed fond
ideas of their native country, and foothed their Sorrows in
a foreign  land.  Alas !  I have feen the trees, the foun-
tains, the rocks, of this fpot, now fo changed, animated by
a thoufand charming appellations ;  but in their  prefent
ftate, like a Grecian plain, they only prefent to view, ru-
ins, and heart affeaing infcriptions.
  Of the whole  enclofure, however,  no fpot was more?
agreeable than that which went  by the name of Virgin-
ia's Rest.  At the foot of the rock, named, The Dis-
covery of Friendship, is a hollow place, whence if-
fues a fountain, which forms, from its fource, a little lake,
in the middle of a meadow of fine grafs.  When Marga-
ret  had brought Paul into the World,. I made her a pref-
ent of an  Indian cocoa  nut, which had been given  me.
She planted this fruit on the borders  of the lake, intending
that the tree which it  fhould produce, might Serve,  one
day, as the epocha of her Son's birth.   Madame <& la Tour,
after her example, planted another there likewife, with a
Similar intention, as Soon  as She was delivered of Virginia.
From thefe nuts grew two cocoa trees, which formed  the
whole archives of the  two families ; one was called the
tree of Paul, the other that of Virginia.  They both grew
in the fame proportion as their young mafter and miftrefs,
of a height rather unequal, but which furpaffed, at  the end
of twelve  years, that of the cottages.  Already they inter-
wove their branches, and dropped their young  clutters of
cocoas, over the bafon of the fountain.
  This  plantation excepted, they had  left the cavity of
the rock juft as Nature had adorned it.  On its brown and
humid fides, radiated, in green and dufky ftars, large plants
of maidenhair, and  tufts of the  fcolopendra, fufpended
like long ribands of a greenifh purple, waved at the pleaf-
ure of the winds.  Near to that, grew long Stripes of  the
periwinkle, the flowers of which nearly nimble thofe of 
ftjgO         studies  of  nature.

the red gillyflower, and pimentos, whofe blood coloured
hufks are  brighter than coral.   Round  about thefe, the
plants of balm, with their leaves fefembling a heart, and
the bafilicons, with a carnation fmell, exhaled the fweetefl
of perSumes.  From the Summit of the rugged precipices
of the mountain  hung the lianes, like floating  drapery,
which formed, on the fides of the rocks,  large fefloons of
verdure.  The fea birds,  attraaed  by thefe peaceful re-
treats, flocked thither to pafs the night.   At funfet, you
might fee the  rook and the fea lark fly along the fhore of
the Sea ;  and, high  in  the air,  the black frigat and the
white bird of the tropics, which abandon, together with
the orb of day, the Solitudes of the Indian Ocean.
   Virginia  delighted to repoSe herSelf on the borders of
this fountain,  decorated with a pomp, at  once magnificent
and wild.  Thither  did fhe often refort, to wafh  the linen
of the family, under the fhade of the two cocoa trees ; and
fometimes fhe led her goats to pafture there.  While fhe
prepared cheeSes oS their milk, She took delight to See them
browSe on  the  maidenhair, which grew  on the fteep fides
6f the rock, and SuSpend themSelves in the air, on one of
its cornices, as on a pedeftal.
   Paul, perceiving this to be the favourite retreat of Vir-
ginia, brought thither,  from  the neighbouring foreft, the
nefts of all kinds of birds.   The parents of thefe birds
followed their young ones, and  eftablifhed  themfelves in
 this new  colony.   Virginia  fcattered among them, from
 time to time, grains of rice, of maize, and of millet.  As
 foon as fhe appeared, the whittling blackbirds, the bengali,
 whofe  warbling is  fo  fweet, and the cardinal, with his
 flame coloured plumage, left the bufhes ; the parroquets,
 as green as the  emerald,  defcended from the neighbour-
 ing lataniers  ; the partridges ran nimbly along the grafs :
 All  haftened, in variegated  groups, to her very feet, like
 little chickens, while  Paul and fhe  amufed themfelves,
 with tranfport, at their playfulnefs, their  appetites, and
 their loves * 
            PAUL  AND VIRGINIA.         241

  Amiable children, thus did you pafs your early days, in
Jierfoa  innocence, and employing yourfelves  in  aas of
virtue ! How many times, in that fpot, did your mothers,
folding  you in their arms, give thanks to Heaven,  for the
confolation which you were preparing for their  old age,
and at feeing you enter into life under aufpices fo happy  !
How many  times, under the Shade of thefe rocks, have I
partaken with them, your rural repaft, by which no animal
was deprived of  life !  Gourds  filled with milk, frefh eggs,
cakes of rice Served up on the  leaves of the banana tree,
bafkets filled with potatoes, mangoes, oranges, pomegran-
ates, bananas, attis, and pine  apples, prefented, at  once',
the moft nourishing aliment, the gayeft colours, and the
moft agreeable juices.
  Their converfation was as fweet, and as innocent, as the
repafts.  Paul frequently talked of the labours of  the day
paft, and of thofe ot tomorrow ;  he was always meditating
Something which would be fubfervicnt to the general good ;
here, the paths were not commodious ; there, they were in-
differently Seated ; theSe young bowers did not give a Suffi-
cient fhade ; Virginia would  be more comfortable  there.
  In the rainy SeaSon, in  the day time, i hey affembled all
together, in the cottage, mafters and Servants, and employ-
ed themfelves in weaving mats of the herbage,  and bafkets
of bamboo.  You faw difplayed, in the moft  perfea or-
der, along the boards of  the wall, rakes, hatchets,  fpades;
and clofe by thefe inftruments of agriculture, the  produc-
tions which were the  fruit of  them, bags of rice,  fheaves
of  corn, and rows of bananas.  Delicacy was there ever
blended with abundance.   Virginia, affifted by the inftruc-
tions of Margaret, and her  mother, amufed herfelf with
preparing fherbets, and  cordials,  with the  juice of the
fugar cane, of citrons, and of cedrais.
   When night  arrived,  they  Supped by the glimmering
light of a lamp ;  after which Madame de la Tour, or Mar-
garet,  related  the hiftories  of travellers,  who had loft
•heir way by night, in the forefts  of Europe,  infefted by
   VOL. in,               ©  & 
 2/±2        STUDIES OF NATURE.

 robbers ; or of the fhipwreck of  fome veffel, driven by
 the tempeft on the  rocks of a defert ifland.  On hearing
 melancholy details  of this kind, the hearts  of thefe fenfi-
 ble young folks caught fire.   They implored of Heaven,
 the grace, to put in praaice,  one day, the duties of hofpi-
 tality to unhappy perfons in  fuch circumftances.   Mean-
 while the two families feparated, to enjoy the gift of flcepj
 but in the ardor of impatience to meet again next morning.
 Sometimes they were lulled to  reft, by the noife of the
 rain rufhing down in torrents on the roof of  their cottages;
 or by the roaring of the winds, which conveyed  to their
 ears, the diftant murmuring of  the billows which broke
 upon  the fhore.  They united,  in giving thanks to God
 for their perfonal  Security, the Sentiment  of which was
 heightened by that  of danger  remote.
   Madame de la Tour, from time to time, read  aloud to
 the company Some interefting portion of the Hiftory of
 the Old or New Teftament.   They reafoned Sparingly on
 the Subjea of thoSe Sacred Books ; Sor their Theology
 confifted wholly in Sentiment, like that oS Nature ; and
 their  morality, wholly in aaive benevolence, like that of
 the Gofpel.  They had no days deftined, fome to mirth,
 others to melancholy.   Every day was, to them, a SeaSon
 of  feftivity, and every thing  that furrounded them a di-
 vine Temple, in which they inceffantly admired an Intel-
 ligence infinite, omnipotent, and gracioufly difpofed to-
 ward  Man.   This  fentiment of confidence  in the Power
 Supreme, filled them with confolation refpeaing the paft,
 with fortitude for the prefent, and with hope Sor the time
 to come.  Thus it was that theSe Semales, conftrained  by
 calamity to Sail  back into Nature, had unSolded  in them-
 Selves, and in their children,  thoSe feelings which are the
gift of Nature, to prevent our finking under the preffure
of calamity.
  But as there fometimes arife, in the beft regulated Spir-
it, clouds to difturb its Serenity, when any member of this
 Society had the appearance of  penfivcneSs, all the reft felt 
PAUL AND  VIRGINIA.
243
attraaed toward that one, and diflipated the bitterneSs of
thought, rather by feelings, than by refleaions.  Each ex-
erted, to this effea, their particular charaaer : Margaret,
a lively  gaiety ; Madame de la Tour, a  mild  theology ;
Virginia, tender careffes ; Paul, franknefs and cordiality.
Nay, Mary and Domingo, contributed their fhare of con-
Solation.  When they beheld  affliaion, they  were-afflia-
ed ; when they Saw tears fhed, they wept.  Thus the fee-
ble plants interlace their boughs, in order to refill the vi-
olence of the hurricane.
  When the weather was fine, they went every Sunday to
mafs,  to the church of Pamplemouffes, the tower oS which
you See below in the plain.  The wealthy Planters refort-
ed thither in their  palanquins ; and  made many efforts to
Sorm an acquaintance with theSe happily united families,
and invited them to partake of their  parties of pleafure.
But they uniformly declined accepting fuch tenders, civil-
ly and refpeafully, under the conviaion, that perfons of
confequence court the obfcure, only for  the pleafure of
having compliant  hangers on, and that it  re impoffible to
be complaifant, but by flattering the  paffions of another,
whether they be-good or bad.  On  the other  hand, they
fhunned, with no  lefs circumfpection, all intimacy with
the lower inhabitants, who are, for the moft part, jealous,
backbiters,  and vulgar.  They  paffed, at firft, with  one
of thofe fcts, for timid \ and with the  other,  for haugh-
ty ; but their referved behaviour was  accompanied with
marks of politenefs fo obliging,  efpeeially to perfons in
diftrefs, that they  imperceptibly acquired the refpea of
the rich, and the confidence of the poor.
   When mafs was over, they were frequently fought  un-
to, for the interpofition oS Some gracious office or another.
It was  a perSon in  perplexity, who applied to them for
their kind advice ; or a child, importuning them  to vifit
a fick mother, in one of the adjoining hamlets.  They al-
ways carried about them fome receipts adapted to the dif-
cafes  incident to  the inhabitants, and  thev adminiftered 
 *44        STUDIES OF  NATURE.

 their prescriptions with that good grace, which communi-
 cates Such a value to Small Services.  They Succeeded,
 particularly, in curing the maladies of the mind, fo op-
 preflive, in a ftate of Solitude,  and in an infirm  ftate of
 body.  Madame de  la Tour fpoke with fo much confi-
 dence of the Deity, that the fick perfon, liftening to her
 difcourfe, felt the impreflion of hisprefence.  From theSe
 vifits  Virginia  Srequently returned with her eyes bathed
 in tears, but her heart overflowing with joy ; Sor fhe had
 been  bleffed with an opportunity  of doing good.   She it
 was who prepared, beforehand,  the medicines neceffary to
 the fick, and who prefented them  with a grace ineffable.
   After thofe vifits of humanity, they  fometimes extended
 their  walk, by the valley of  the long  mountain, as far as
 my habitation,  where 1 expeaed them to dinner, on  the
 banks of the little river, which flows in my neighbour-
 hood.  I provided mySelf, for  fuch occafions, with fome
 bottles of old wine, in order to  enliven the  gaiety of our
 Indian repafts, by thofe pleafant and  cordial produaions
 of Europe.  At other times, we had our rendezvous  on
 the fhore of the Sea, at the mouth of fome other fmall riv-
 ers, which, in this part of the World, can hardly be call-
 ed any thing more than a larger kind of brook.   Thither
 we carried, from the plantation, various  kinds of  vegeta-
 ble provifion,  which we  added to  the abundant fupplies
 furnifhed by the Ocean.   We fifhed along the  fhore  for
 cabots, polypufes, lobfters,  roaches,  fhrimps, crabs, ur-
 chins, oyfters, and fhell fifh  oS every kind.  Situations
the moft  terrible Srequently procured us pleaSures the moft
tranquihzing.   Sometimes,  Seated  on a rock, under the
fhade  oS a velvet tree, we contemplated the billows, from
the main, rolling on,  and breaking  under our feet, with a
tremendous roar. Paul,  who, befide his other qualities
 could Swim like a fifh, now  and then  advanced  upon the
 Shallows  to meet the Surge, then, as  it approached, fled to-
 ward  the fhore,  purSued  by its  vaft, foaming and raging
fwell, a confiderable way up the  ftrand.   But Virginia, as 
PAUL AND VIRGINIA.         845
»ften as fhe Saw this, Screamed aloud, and declared that
fuch kind of amufement terrified her exceedingly.
   Our meals were followed up by the Singing and dancing
of thefe two young people,  Virginia chanted the felicity
of  a rural life,  and the wretchednefs of feafaring men,
whom avarice prompts to encounter a furious element,
rather than cultivate the earth, which confers fo many ben-
efits, in  peace and tranquillity.   Sometimes,  after the
manner of the negroes, Paul and fhe performed a panto-
mime.   Pantomime is the firft  language of  Man  ; it is
praaifed among  all nations.   It  is So  natural, and  So
expreflive, that   the  children  of the  whites  quickly
learn it,  from  feeing  thofe of the blacks  thus  amufe
themfelves.   Virginia, rccolleaing  the hiftories  which
her mother  uSed to  read,  thofe eSpecially which had
affeaed  her   the  moft,  exhibited  the principal  events
of them, with much  natural expreflion.  Sometimes, to
the found of  Domingo's tamtam, the made her appearance
on the downy ftage, bearing a pitcher on her head.  She
advanced, with timidity, to fill it with water at the  fource
of a neighbouring fountain.   Domingo and Mary, repre-
senting the fhepherds of  Midian, obftruaed her paffage,
and feigned to repel her.  Paul Hew toheraffiftance, beat
 off the fhepherds, filled the pitcher of Virginia, and plac-
 ing it upon her head, at the fame time bound around it a
 garland  of the  fcarlet  flowers  of the  periwinkle, which
 heightened the fairncfs of her complexion.   Then, taking
 a part in their innocent fports,  I affumed the charaaer of
 Raguel, and  bellowed on Paul, my daughter Zipporah in
 marriage.
    At another time, fhe reprefented the unfortunate Ruth,
 who returns to her country, a widow, and in poverty,
 where fhe finds herfelf treated  as  a  ftranger, after  a long
 abfence.  Domingo and Mary a&ed the  part of the reap-
 ers.   Virginia appeared, gleaning up and down after them,
 and picking  up the  ears of corn.  Paul,  imitating the
 gravity of a Patriarch, interrogated her ; fhe,  trembling, 
446
STUDIES OF  NATURE.
replied to his queftions.  Moved with compaffion, he im-
mediately granted an afylum to innocence, and the rights
ef hofpitality to misfortune.  He  filled Virginias apron
with provifions of every kind, and brought her before us,
as before the elders of the city, declaring that he  took her
to wife, notwithftanding her extreme indigence.   At this
fcene, Madame de la  Tour, calling to remembrance the
ftate of defertipn in which fhe had  been left by her own
relations, her widowhood, the kind reception which Mar-
garet had given her, now fucceeded by the hope of a hap-
py union between their  children, could not refrain from
tears ; and  this blended recolleaion of good and evil,
drew from the eyes of us all, the tears of Sorrow and of joy.
  Thefe  dramas were exhibited with fuch a truth of ex-
preflion,  that we a6lually imagined ourfelves  tranfported
to the plains of Syria, or  of  Paleftine.   There was no
want of decorations, of illuminations, and of orcheftras,
fuitable to this  fpeaacle.  The place of the fcene ufually
was at the  crofs  paths of a foreft, the openings of which
formed around us Several arcades of foliage.  We were at
their centre fheltered from the heat, all the day long : But
when the Sun  had defcended to  the  horizon,  his rays
broken by the trunks of the trees, diverged into the fhades
of the foreft,  in long,  luminous emanations, which pro-
duced the moft majeftic effea.   Sometimes, his complete
difk appeared at the extremity of an avenue, and  rendered
'it quite dazzling with a tide of light.  The foliage of the
trees, illumined on the under fide with his faffron colour-
ed rays,  fparkled with the  fires  of the topaz, and of the
emerald.  Their moffy  and brown trunks feemed to  be
transformed into columns of antique bronze, and the birds,
already retired in filence, under the dark foliage, for the
night, furprifed by the fight of a new Aurora, faluted,  all
at once,  the luminary of day, by a thoufand and a thou-
fand Songs.
   The night very often furprifed  us  regaling ourfelves
with  thefe  rural  feftivities; but  the purity of  the air, 
PAUL  AND  VIRGINIA.        24J
and the mildnefs of the climate, permitted us  to fleep un-
der an ajoupa, in the  midft of the woods,  free from all
fear of  thieves, either at hand, or at a diftance.   Eve-
ry  one returned, next morning, to his  own cottage, and
found  it  in  the fame ftate in which it had been  left.
There reigned, at that  time, fo much honefty and fimplic-
ity, in this uncommercial ifland, that the doors of many
houfes did not fallen by  a key, and a lock  was an obje8:
of curiofity to many Creoles.
  But there were certain days of the year  celebrated by
Paul and  Virginia, as feafons of peculiar rejoicing ; thefe
were the  birth days  of  their mothers.  Virginia never
failed,  the evening before, to bake and drefs cakes of the
flour  of wheat, which fhe fent  to  the  poor families of
whites, born  in the ifland, who had never tailed the bread
of  Europe, and  who, without any afiiftance  from the
blacks, reduced to live on maize, in the midft of the woods,
poffeffed, toward the fupport of poverty, neither the ftu-
pidity  which  is the  concomitant of  flavery,  nor the
courage which education  infpires.
  Thefe cakes were the only prefents  which Virginia had
it in her  power to make, of the affluence of  .the  planta-
tion ; but they were beftowed  with a grace  which greatly
enhanced  their value.   Firft, Paul himfelf was defired to
undertake the charge of prefenting them to thofe families,
and they were invited, on receiving them, to come on the
morrow, and  pafs the day at the habitation of  Madame de.
la Tour and Margaret.   There arrived, accordingly, a
mother, with  two or  three miferable daughters, yellow,
meagre, and fo timid, that they durft not lift up their eyes.
Virginia prefently fet them all  at their eafe : She Served
them  with a variety of refrefhments,  the goodnefs of
which fhe heightened  by fome particular circumftances,
that, according to her, increafed  its relifh.  That liquor
had been prepared by Margaret ; this  one by her mother ;
her brother himSelf had gathered that fruit on the fummit
of the tree.   She prevailed on  Paul to lead them out to 
£48
STUDIES  0 1  NATURE.
dance.  She rifcver gave  over  till fhe faw them content
and  happy.   It  was her with that they fhould become
joyful in  the joy of the family.  4' No one," faid fhe,
" can find happinefs for himfelf, but in promoting the
44 happinefs  of.another."  On taking their  leave, to re-
turn  home, fhe  preffed  them to carry  away any thing
which feemed to have given them  peculiar  Satisfaction,
veiling the neceffity oS accepting her prefents, under the
pretext of their  novelty, or of their Singularity.  If fhe
remarked their clothes to be exceffively tattered, fhe, with
the confent of her mother, feleaed fome  of  her own, and
charged Paul to go by  Health, and depofit  them at the
door of their cottages.   Thus,  She  did  good, aSter the
manner of the Deity ;  concealing the  benefaarefs, and
fhewing the benefit.
   You gentlemen of Europe, whofe minds  are  tainted,
from your early  infancy, by fo many prejudices, incom-
patible with happinefs, you are  unable to conceive, how
Nature  can beftow fo much illumination, and fo many
pleafures.  Your fouls,  circumfcribed   within  a fmall
fphere of human knowledge, foon attain the term of their
artificial enjoyments ; but  nature and the heart are inex-
hauftible.  Paul and Virginia had no time pieces, nor al-
manacks, nor books of chronology,  of hiftory, nor of phi.*
lofophy :  The periods  of  their lives were regulated  by
thofe of Nature.  They knew the hour of the day by the
Shadow of the trees ;  the feafons, by  the  times when
they produced their flowers, or their fruits ; and years,
by the number of their  harvefts.   Thefe delightful im-
ages  diffufed the greateft  charms  over  their  converfa-
tion.  " It is dinner time," faid Virginia to the  family ;
"  the  Shadows oS  the  bananas  are at   their  Seet ;" or
elfe,  44 Night approaches, Sor  the  tamarinds are clof-
44  ing their leaves." 44  When  Shall we  See  you ?" Said
Some of her companions ot  the vicinity to her.  " At
the   time  of  the   fugar   canes,"  replied  Virginia.
44  Your vifit will be ftill fweeter ar.d more  agreeable  at 
PAUL AND VIRGINIA.         C49
14 that  time," returned thefe young  people.  When en-
quiries were  made refpeaing her  own age, and that of
Paul, " My brother," faid fhe,  44 is of the fame age with
44 the great cocoa tree of the fountain,  and I, with that of
14 the fmall one.  The mango  trees have yielded  their
" fruit  twelve  times,'and the orange trees have  opened
44 their bloffoms twenty four times, fince 1 came into the
" World." Like Fauns and Dryads, their lives Seemed to be
attached to thofe of the trees.  They knew no other hiftof-
ical epochs, but the lives of their mothers ;  no other chro-
nology, but that of their orchards ; and no other philofo-
phy, but univerfal beneficence,* and resignation to the will
of God.
   After all, what occafion  had theSe young  people Sor
fuch riches, and  knowledge, as we have learnt to prize ?
Their ignorance and their  wants, were even a Sarther ad-
dition   to their happineSs.-   Not a day paffed, in which
they did  not communicate to each  other Some afiiftance,
or Some information ; I repeat it, information ; and though
it might  be mingled with fome error, yet  man, in a ftate
of purity, has no dangerous error to  fear.-  Thus did thefe
two children  of Nature advance in  life : Hitherto, no
care had wrinkled their foreheads,  no intemperance had
corrupted their blood, no  unhappy  paflion h.L.d  depraved
their hearts ; love, innocence, piety, were daily unfolding
the beauties of their foul, in graces ineffable, in their fea-
tures, in  their  attitudes, and in their motions.   In the
morning  of  life, they had  all  the frefhnefs  of it :  Like
our firft parents, in the garden of Eden, when, proceeding
from the hands of their. Creator, they faw, approached,
and  converfed  with each other, at firft, like brother and
fitter.    Virginia, gentle, modeft, and confident, like £5^;
Paul, like  Adam, with the ftature of a man, and all the
 fimplicity of a child.
   He has a thoufand times  told me, that fometimes being
alone with her, on  his return from  labour, he had thus
addreffed her :  44 Wrhen 1 am weary, the  Sight of thee re-
   VOL. in,               H H 
853
STUDIES  OF   NATURE.
st vives me ; when, from the mountain's heights, I defer/
" thee at the bottom of this valley, thou appeareft like a
" rofebud in the midft of our orchards ; when thou walk-
44 eft toward the dwelling of our mothers, the partridge,
44 which trips along to its young ones, has  a cheft lefs
44 beautiful, and a gait  lefs nimble, than  thou haft.   Al-
44 though I lofe fight of thee,  through the trees,  there is
44 no occafion for thy prefence, in order to find thee again ;
44 Something of thee, which I  am unable to exprefs, rc-
44 mains for me in the air through which thou haft paffed,
44 and  on the grafs upon which thou  haft been  Seated.
44 When I approach thee, all my fenfes are ravifhed ; the
44 azure of the Heavens is  lefs  radiant than  the  blue of
44 thine eyes ; the warbling of  the  bengali is lefs fweet
44 than the tone of thy  voice ;  if I touch  thee only with
,4 the tip of my finger, my whole body  thrills with pleaf-
" ure.  Doft thou  remember that day, on which we paff-
44 ed acrofs the  pebbly bed of the river, of the mountain
44 called the Three  Paps ; when I  arrived on its banks, I
44 was very much fatigued, but as foon as I had taken thee
" on my back, it Seemed as if I had got wings like a bird :
44 Tell me, by what charm thou haft been able  thus  to
44 enchant me :  Is it by thy underftanding ? Our mothers
44 have more than either of us : Is it by thy careffes ? Our
44 mothers embrace me  ftill oftener than thou doft  ; 1 be-
44 lieve it is by thy benevolence. 1  fhall never forget, that
" thou walkedft, barefoot, as far as the Black River, to fr>
44 licit the pardon oS a wretched fugitive flave. Receive, my
44 much loved Virginia, receive this flowery branch of the
44 lemon tree, which 1 have gathered for thee in the for-
44 eft : Place it, at night, by thy pillow :  Eat this morfel
44 of honeycomb, which I took  for thee from the top of
44 a rock.  Firft, however, repofe thyfelf upon my bofom,
" and I fhall be again revived."
  Virginia replied, 44 Oh,  my brother !  the rays of the
" rifing Sun, on the fummits of thefe rocks, afford me lefs
" delight than thy prefence :  I love my  own mother dear* 
PAUL  AND  VIRGINIA.
V&l
" ly ; I love thine ; but when they call thee Son, I love
44 them ftill more. The careffes which they beftow on thee,
" are felt more fenfibly by me,  than thoSe which I myfelf
44 receive Srom them.   Thou afkeft me, Why thou loveft
44 me ? but thoSe that are reared together, always love each
44 other : Behold our birds, brought up in the Same neft,
** they love  like us, like  us  they are always together :
44 Hearken, how they call and -reply to each other from
44 bufh to bufh : In like manner, when the echoes bring to
" my ear the airs which thou playeft, on thy flute, from
"the mountain top, 1 repeat the words of them at the bot-
44 torn of this valley : Thou art dear to me, but, above all,
44 fince that day on which thou wert determined to fight the
44 mafter of the flarve for my fake : Since that period, I have
44 faid to myfelf a thoufand times,  Ah ! my brother has  an
44 excellent heart; but forhim, I fhould have died with terror.
44 I daily implore the blefling of the Almighty on my own
44 mother, and on thine, on thy Self, and on  our poor domef-
44 tics: But when I pronounce thy name, my devotion
" feems  to  increafe, I  So earneftly entreat  the Almighty
44 that no evil may  befal thee !  Why doft thou go fo far
44 off, and  climb  to Such heights, to  find me fruits and
" flowers ? Have we not enough in the garden ?  How fa-
44 tigued, and in what a  heat, thou art juft now !" Then,
with her little white handkerchief, She wiped his forehead
and his cheeks, and .gave him a thouSand  kiffes.
  Nevertheless, for fome time paft, Virginia had Selt her-
Self difturbed, with an unknown  malady.  Her fine blue
eyes were  tinged with black, her colour faded, and an uni-
verfal languor weakened her  body.   Serenity no longer
fat upon her forehead, nor fmiles upon  her lips : All at
once might be feen in her, gaiety without joy, and SadneSs
without Sorrow.   She withdrew herSelf from her innocent
amufements, from  her fweet occupations, and the fociety
of her much loved family.  She wandered here and  there,
in the moft  Solitary places of the plantation, Seeking reft,
and finding none.  Sometimes, at the fight  of Paul, fh£ 
25?         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
 ran up to him, in a playful manner ;  when all of  a  Sud-
 den, as She was on the point of coming in contaa with
 him, an unaccountable embarraffment feized her ; a live-
 ly red coloured her pale cheeks, and her eyes no longer
 dared to fix themfelves on his.  Paul thus addreffed her :
 ■" Thefe rocks are covered with verdure, the  birds  war-
 " ble when they fee thee : All  is gay  around thee, and
 44 thou alone art fad."   Thus, with embraces, did he en-
 deavour to reanimate her ; but fhe, turning away her head,
 flew, trembling, to her mother.  The unhappy  girl felt
 herfelf difcompofed by the careffes  of her brother.  Paul
 was quite ignorant of the caufe of caprices, fo  new and fo
 ftrange.
  Misfortunes Seldom come  Singly.  One oS  thoSe Sum-
 mers which deSolate, from time to time, the  lands Situated
 between the Tropics, happened  to extend its ravages here
 alSo.  It was toward the end  of December, when the Sun,
 in Capricorn, fcorches, with  his vertical  fires, the whole
 Ifle of France, for three weeks together : The Southeaft
 wind, which reigns there almoft all the year round, now
 blew no longer.   Huge whirlwinds of duft raifed them-
 felves Srom the highways, and hung SuSpended in the air.
 The earth was cleSt aSunder in all parts, the graSs entirely
 burnt up ;  ardent exhalations iffued from the fides of the
 mountains,  and  moft  of the  rivulets  were dried up.
 No cloud  arofe  out  of the  Sea ;  during the day time,
only,  red  vapours aScended  above its  SurSace,  and ap-
peared, at Sun Set, like the flames of a great conflagration.
 Even the night feafon diffufed no coolnefs over the burn-
ing atmofphere.   The bloody difk of the moon  rofe,  of
an enormous fize, in the hazy  horizon ; the languid flocks
on the fides of the mountains, with their necks ftretched
out toward Heaven, and drawing in the  air with difficul-
ty, made the valleys refound with  their mournSul  cries :
 Even the cafre, who conduaed them, lay along the ground
 endeavouring to cool himfelf, in  that pofition.   Every
 \* here the foil was Scorching hot, and the Stifling air re- 
PAUL AND VIRGINIA.
*53
founded  with the buzzing of infeas, which  Sought  to
quench  their thirft with  the  blood  of  men,  and  of
animals.
  One of thefe parching nights, Virginia felt all the Symp-
toms oS her malady redouble.   She got up, fhe Sat down,
She returned to  bed, but in  no attitude could  fhe find ei-
ther fleep or  repoSe.  She  rambled,  by the light of the
moon, toward the  fountain ; fhe perceived  its fource,
which, in defiance of the drought, ftill flowed in  filver
fillets, over the dufky fides of the rock.  Without hesita-
tion, fhe  plunged herSelf into its bafon ; at firft, the Srefh-
neSs reanimated  her ; and a thouSand agreeable recollec-
tions preSented themfelves to  her mind.  She remember-
ed how,  in the days of infancy, her mother and  Marga-
ret amufed themfelves with  bathing Paul and her in that
very ftream, and how Paul, afterwards, appropriating this
bath Solely to her uSe, had  deepened  its bed, covered the
bottom with  Sand, and Sowed aromatic herbs around  its
brink.   On her naked arms, and on her  boSom, fhe per-
ceived the reflexes of the two palm trees, which had been
planted at the birth of  her  brother, and at her own, and
which now interwove their green boughs, and their yOung
cocoas, over her head.   She called to remembrance the
friendfhip of Paul, Sweeter  than perSumes, purer than the
water of the fountain, ftronger than united palm trees, and
fhe heaved a Sigh.  She then refleaed that it was the night
SeaSon, and that  fhe was in Solitude ;  a- conSuming fire in-
flamed her breaft.  Immediately, fhe  haftened, in diSmay,
from thefe dangerous fhades, and from waters more ardent
than the  funs of the Torrid Zone :  She hurried to her
mother, in order to Seek refuge from herfelf.  A thoufand
times, wifhing to difclofe  her  anguifli, fhe preffed her
hands  between  her own  ; a thoufand  times, fhe was on
the point of pronouncing the name of Paul, but her heart
was fo full, as to deprive her tongue of utterance, and, re-
clining her head  on the bofom of her mother, fhe bedew-
ed it with a fhower of tears. 
*«54
STUDIES ©F  NATURE.
  Madame de la Tour plainly perceived the caufe of her
daughter's diforder, but even fhe herSelf had not the cour-
age to  fpeak to her  about it.  44  My child," faid  fhe to
her, " addrefs  yourSelf to the Almighty, who  difpenSes
" health  and life, according t» his good pleafure.  He
"makes  trial of your virtue today, only in order to rec-
" ompenfe you  tomorrow ; confider, that  the chief  end
44 of our  being placed on the Earth is to praaifc virtue."
  In the mean  time, thoSe exceflive  heats raifed, out of
the bofom of the Ocean, an affemblageof vapours, which,
like a vaft parafol, covered the Sace of the ifland.  The
Summits  of the  mountains colkaed  thefe around them,
and long furrows of  flame, from time to time, iffued out
of  their  cloud  capt  peaks.   PreSently after, tremendous
thunder-claps made the woods, the plains, and the valleys,
reverberate the  noiSe of their explofions.   The  rain, in
cataraas, gufhed down from the Heavens.  Foaming tor-
rents precipitated themfelves down the fides of this moun-
tain ; the bottom of the bafon was transformed into a Sea ;
the platform on which  the cottages were raifed, into a lit-
tle  ifland ;  and the entrance into  the valley, had become
a fluice, out  oS which rufhed, with  awful impetuofity,
by  the force  of the roaring waters, the earth, the trees,
and the rocks-
  The whole  family,   Seized with  trembling, addreffed
their prayer to God, in Madame  de la Tour's cottage, the
roof of which cracked  dreadfully  by  the fury of the tem-
peft.  Though the door, and the  outfide window fhutters,
were cloSely barred,  every objea  was clearly diftinguifha-
ble within, through the joinings oS the boards, So bright
and So Srequent were  the  flafhes oS lightning.  The in-
trepid Paul, attended by Domingo, went Srom the one cot-
tage to the other, notwithftanding the raging of  the ele-
ments, here Securing a wall  by a crofs beam, and there by
driving  in a ftake ;  he went in, only  now and  then, to
comfort  the family with the hope of  the fpeedy return of
£ne weather.   In reality, towards evening the rain ceaf- 
PAUL AND  VIRGINIA.
a5J
 ed ; the Trade wind from the Southeaft refumed its ufa-
 al current ;  the ftormy clouds  were driven to the North-
 weft, and the Setting Sun appeared in the horizon.
   The firft wifli which Virginia expreffed, was to revifit
 the  place  of her  repofe : Paul  approached her,, with a
 timid  air, and offered her his arm, to affift her in walking
 thither.   She  accepted it,  with a fmile, and  they fet out
 together from the  cottage : The air was cool and fono-
 rous :  Clouds of white fmoke arofe on  the ridges of the
 mountains, furrowed  here and  there by the foam of tb*
 torrents, which were  now drying up on every  fide.  As
 for the garden,  it was entirely deftroyed  by deep gutters ;
 moft ot  the fruit trees were torn up by the roots ;  im-
 menfe  heaps of  fand covered the ftripes of meadow ground,
 and completely choked up Virginia's bath : The two co-
 coa trees, however, were ftill Handing, and  in  full ver-
 dure :• The bowers and the graffy turfs were no more, and
 the ear was no  longer charmed with the warbling of the
 birds, except a  few bengalis, on the Summit of the neigh-
 bouring rocks, which deplored, with plaintive notes, the
 lofs of their young.
   At  fight of this  defolation,  Virginia faid  to  Paul,
 44 You brought the birds hither, and the hurricane has dc-
 44 ftroyed them  ; you planted this garden, and it is  now
 44 no more :  Every thing on earth  perifhes  ;  Heaven,
 44 alone, is  unchangeable."  Paul replied : 44  Oh !  then,
 44 that  it were in my power to beftow fome gift  of Heav-
 44 en upon you  ! But alas f I poffefs nothing, now, even
 " on the earth." Virginia, with a blufb, returned : 44 You
 44 have, certainly, the portrait of  St. Paul, that you can
 44 call your own."   Scarcely had  fhe pronounced thefe
 words, than Paul flew to his mother's cottage, to feek for
it.  This portrait was a fmall miniature, reprefenting Paul
the hermit.   Margaret regarded it  with  Singular devo-
tion : While a girl,  fhe wore it, long, round her own neck ;
but when fhe became a mother, fhe fufpended  it round
 that  of her child.   It happened  that, being pregnant cf 
656          STUDIES  OP NATURE.

him, and abandoned by all the World, from merely con-*
templating the image of this bleffed Reclufe, the fruit of
her womb contraaed a ftrong refemblance to it ;  this de-
termined her to beftow the fame name on him ; and, like-
wife, to give him for a patron, a Saint that had paffed his
life far from Man, who had firft abuSed, and then deSerted
him.  Virginia, on  receiving this Small portrait from the
hands of Paul, faid, with much emotion : 44 My brother,
44 while I live, this fhall never be taken Srom  me, and I
44 Shall always remember, that you gave me the only pof-
44 Seflion you had in  the World."  On hearing thoSe tones
of cordiality, on this unexpeaed return of familiarity and
tendernefs, Paul was going to clafp her in his arms ; but,
as nimbly as a bird, fhe  fprung away, leaving him quite
confounded, and totally unable to account for a conduct
fo extraordinary.
   Meanwhile, Margaret  faid  to Madame de la  Tour ;
" Why fhould we not marry our children ?  Their paffioi*
44 for each other is  extreme ; my fon,  indeed, is not yet
*4 fenfible of it; but, when  Nature fhall have begun to*
44 fpeak to him, to no purpofe will we employ all our vig-
*l ilance over them ; every thing is to be feared."  Mad-
ame de  la Tour returned : 44 They are too young, and
44 too poor ; what anxiety would  it  coft  us, fhould Vir*
" ginia bring into the World unhappy children, whom,
*4 perhaps, fhe would not have ftrength to rear.  Domingo'
44 is very much broken ;  Mary is  infirm  ;  I mySelf, my
" dear friend, for thefe laft fourteen years, feel my health?
" very  much impaired.  A perfon foon grows   old  in
44 thefe  hot countries, efpccially when that period is  So
44 greatly accelerated by Sorrow.  Paul is  our only hope ;
" let us wait till age has ftrengthened his conftitution, and
84 till he is able to Support us by the labour of his hands.
14 At prefent, you well know, we have hardly any thing
44 more,  than a fcanty Supply Srom day to day.  But,  if
M we Send Paul to India,  Sor a fhort Space of time, com-
*<  merce will  Supply him with the means of purchafing 
PAUL  AND  VIRGINIA.        257
" fome flaves.  On his return hither, we will marry him
44 to Virginia ; for I  am well affured,  that no one can
44 make my beloved daughter So happy as your Son Paul.
  Let us mention the matter to our neighbour."
  TheSe ladies accordingly  conSulted me, and I approved
of their plan.  44  The feas oS India are delightful," Said I
to them ; 44 iS we chooSe a Savourable  SeaSon for going
44 from hence to that country, the voyage, outward, is but
44 fix weeks, at moft, and as long to return  ; we will make
44 up a  fmall affortment of goods for Paul; for I  have
44 fome neighbours, who are very Sond of him.  Were we
c< but to provide  him with  a parcel  of raw  cotton, of
44 which we  can  here  make no ufe, for want  of  mills
44 to drefs it  ; Some ebony  wood, which is So  common
44 here, that we uSe it for fuel ; and  feveral  forts of rofin,
14 which  go to wafte in  thefe woods ;  all of thofe  com-
44 modities will find a market in India, though they are of
44 no value at all here."
  I took  upon myfelf the charge of obtaining M.  de la
Bourdonaye's permiffion for this embarkation ;  but I
thought it neceffary, beforehand, to open the bufmefs to
Paul: How  was  I aftonifhed, however,  when that young
man faid to  me,  with a  good SenSe far above his years :
44 Why would you have me quit my family for a vifiona-
44 ry projea of fortune ? Can there be  a more advanta-
44 geous  commerce in the World, than  the cultivation of
44 a field, which fometimes yields fifty and a hundred fold ?
44 If we wifh  to engage in trade, Can we not do fo, by
44 carrying our Superfluities Srom hence to the city,  with-
44 out the neceflity of my rambling to  the Indies ?  Our
44 parents tell me  that Domingo is old, and  worn out; but
44 I  am young, and daily acquiring frefh vigour.  Wrhat
44 if any accident fhould befal them during my abfence,
44 more efpecially  Virginia,  who, even now, fuffers very
44 feverely ? Ah, no ! no ! I can never bring myfelf to the
" refolution of quitting them."
  VOL.  HI.               I I 
fl^g        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

  JHis anfwer greatly embarraffed me ;  Sor Madame de Iff
Tour had not concealed from me  Virginia's condition,
and the  defire  which  fhe  herfelf had  of deferring their
union till they were of a more mature  age, by Separating
them from each other.  I durft not fo much  as  hint to
Paul, that fuch were her motives.
  \\rhilft thefe tranfaaions weregoingon,aveffel newly ar-
rived from France, brought a letter to Madame de la Tour,
from her aunt.   The  fear of  death, without which  the
moft obdurate  hearts would never foften, had appalled her.
She had juft recovered from  a dangerous diforder, which
produced, however, a deep melancholy, and  which age
rendered incurable.  She requefted her niece to return to
France :  Or, if the ftate of her health was fuch, as to pre-
vent her taking fo long a voyage, fhe enjoined her to fend
Virginia thither, on whom fhe intended to beftow a good
education, a place at Court, and a bequeft  of all her pof-
feffions : The  return of her favour,  fhe added, depended
entirfely on compliance with thefe injunaions.
  Scarcely had this letter been read, than it Spread univer-
fal confternation in the family ; Domingo and  Mary  be-
gan to weep ; Paul, motionlefs with aftoniShment, Seemed
ready to burft with rage ; Virginia, her eyes ftedfaftly fix-
ed on her mother, dared not to utter a Syllable.   44 Can you
44 bring yourfelf to  the reSolution of quitting us ?"  faid
Margaret to  Madame de la Tour.   44 No, my friend, no,
44 my children," replied Madame de la Tour ; 441 will nev-
44 er  leave you ;  with  you I have  lived, and  with you I
44 mean to die  : I never knew  what happinefs was till I
44 experienced your friendfhip : If my  health is impaired,
44 ancient forrows are the caufe : My heart has been pierc-
44 ed by  the harfhnefs  of my  relations,  and  by the lofs of
44 my beloved hufband : But. Since that period, I have en-
44 joyed more conSolation and  Selicity with you,, in theSe
44 poor cottages,  than ever the  riches of my family gave
44 me reafon to expea, even in my native country."  At
thefe words, tears of joy bedewed the cheeks of the whole 
P ATI L AND  VIRGINIA.
25$
family : Paul, folding Madame  de  la. Tour in his arms,
exclaimed :  44 And I will  never, never quit you, nor go
44 from  hence to the Indies ; you  fhall experience no
44 want, my dear mother, as long as  we are able  to work
44 for you."  Of all the fociety, however, the perfon who
teftified the leaft  joy, and who,  neverthelefs, Selt it the
moft, was  Virginia.   A  gentle cheerfulnefs appeared
in her the remainder of the day, and the return of her
tranquillity redoubled the  general fatisfaaion.
  Next morning, at funrife, as they were offering up their
accuftomed matin prayer,  which preceded their breakfaft,
Domingo informed them, that a gentleman, on  horfeback,
was  approaching the plantation,  followed by two flaves.
It was M. de la Bourdonaye.   He entered the  cottage,
where the whole family  were at table : Virginia was Serv-
ing up, according to the cuftom of; the country, coffee and
boiled rice ; there  were, likewife, hot potatoes and frefh
bananas : The only diflies  which they had were the halves
of a gourd ; and all their table linen confifted of the leaves
of the plantain.  The Governor,  at firft, expreffed fome
furprife at the meanneSs of their dwelling ; then addreff-
ing himfelf to Madame de la Tour,  he faid, that  his pub-
lic  fituation fometimes prevented him from paying atten-
tion to individuals, but  that fhe, however, had  a title to
claim his more immediate regard.   44 You have, madam,"
added he, 4t an  aunt  at Paris, a lady of quality and very
44 rich,  who defigns to beftow  her fortune upon you, but,
44 at the fame time,  expects that you will  attend her."
Madame de la  Tour replied,  that her unfettled ftate of
health would not permit her to undertake fo long a voyage.
44 Surely then,"  cried M.  de la Bourdonaye, " you cannot
44 without  injuftice,  deprive your  young  and beautiful
44 daughter of fo great an inheritance. I will not conceal
44 from you, that your aunt has employed authority in or-
44 der to fecure your daughter's compliance with her with.
44 The Minifter has written  to me, on the fubjea, author-
44 ifing me, if there was neceflity for it, to exercife the 
s6o
STUDIES OF  NATURE.
44 hand of power; but my only aim in employing that, is,
44 to promote the"happinefs  of the inhabitants of this col-
44 ony ;  I expea, therefore, that  you will, with cheerful-
44 nets, fubmit to the Sacrifice of a few years, on which
44 depend the eftablifhment  of your  daughter, and your
44 own welfare, for the remainder of life.   For what pur-
44 pofe do people refort to thefe iflands  ?  Is it not in the
44 view of making a fortune ? Surely, however,  it is far
44 more agreeable to return, and obtain  one in our native
44 country."
  As he  faid thefe words, he placed upon the table a large
bag  of piaftres, which  one  of  his  flaves had brought.
44 This," added he, 44 is what yowr aunt  has  remitted, to
44 make the neceffary preparations for  the voyage of the
44 young lady, your daughter."   Fie then concluded with
gently reproaching Madame de  la Tour, for  not having
applied to him, in her neceflities : At the fame time, ap-
plauding  the  noble  firmnefs which  She had displayed.
Paul, upon  this,  broke  filence,  and  thus addreffed  the
Governor :  44 Sir, my mother did apply to you, and your
44 reception was unkind to the laft degree."   44 Have you,
44 then, another child ?" faid M. de la  Bourdonaye to Mad-
ame  de ta Tour : 44 No, Sir," replied fhe ; 44 this is the
44 Son of  my friend ; but he and  Virginia are our com-
44 mon property, and equally beloved by both."  44 Young
44 man,"  faid the Governor, addreffing himfelf to Paul,
44 when you fhall have acquired experience of the World,
" you will learn to what diftreffes people in place are ex-
44 pofed ;  you will difcover how eafy  it  is to prejudice
44 them, and how often intriguing vice obtains from them
14 what, in juftice, fhould be beftowed on concealed merit."
  M  de la Bourdonaye, on  the invitation of Madame de
la Tour, feated himfelf by her, at the table.   He breakfaft-
ed, as the Creoles do, upon  coffee,  mixed  with boiled
rice.  He was charmed with the order and  neatnefs of
the little  cottage,  with the union of the two happy  fami-
lies, and even with the zeal of their old domeftics. 44 Here," 
rAUL AND  VIRGINIA.        a6l
faid he, " is no furniture, but what the woods fupply, but
44 1 fee countenances ferene, and hearts of gold."   Paul,
delighted with the familiarity of the new Governor, faid
to him ; 44  I defire your friendfhip, for you are an honeft
44 man."  M. de la Bourdonaye received this mark  of in-
fular cordiality with  pleafure.   He embraced Paul, and
prefling him by the hand, affured him, that he might rely
upon his friendfhip.
  After breakfaft, he took Madame de la Tour apart, and
informed her, that a favourable opportunity juft now of-
fered,  ot fending her daughter into France, by means of a
veffel  on the point of failing ; and,  that he would recom-
mend her to the care of a lady, a relation of his own, who
was going paffenger in it ; representing, at the Same time,
that it would be very  wrong to Sacrifice the proSpea of
an immenfe fortune, to the pleafure of her daughter's com-
pany for a  few years.  44 Your aunt," added he, as he was
departing, 44 cannot hold out more than two years longer;
44 her friends have affured me of it :  Confider the matter,
44 therefore,  ferioufly,  I  pray you  ; conSult  your  own
44 mind ; Surely, every perfon of  common  SenSe muft be
44 of my opinion."   Madame de la Tour replied : 44 As I
44 defire  nothing, henceforward, but the welfare of my
44 daughter, the  voyage to France, fhall be left entirely to
44 her own  difpoSal."
   Madame  de la  Tour was not  Sorry at finding an oppor-
tunity  oS Separating Paul  and Virginia for a Short time ;
but, it  was  only in the view  of Securing their mutual hap-
pineSs, at a  Suture period.   She, accordingly, took her
daughter afide, and Said to her :  44 My dear child, ourdo-
44 meftics are growing old ;  Paul is ftill very young ; age
44 is ftealing upon Margaret, and I my Self am already infirm :
44 Should I happen to die, what will become of you in the
44 midft of  thefe deferts ?  You  will be left entirely alone,
44 with no perfon to affift you, and you will be obliged to
44 procure yourfelf a livelihood by  labouring  inceffantly
** in the ground,  like a hireling :  Such  an idea  over- 
2.6*2.       STUDIES  OF  NATURE*

" whelms me with grieS."  Virginia thus replied :  " Goa
44 has doomed us to labour :  You have taught me how to
44 work, and to offer up daily thankSgiving to Him.   Hith-
44 erto He has not abandoned us, nor  will he abandon us
*c now.   His providence watches with peculiar care over
44 the unhappy ; you have told me So a thouSand times, my
44 dear mother ! Oh, I fhall never have reSolution to quit
44 you."  Madame de la  Tour, much affeaed, returned, " I
44 have no other intention than that of rendering you hap-
44 py, and of uniting you  one day to  Paul, who is  not
44 your brother : Confider, likewife, that his  fortune now
44 depends entirely on you."
  A young girl, in love, thinks that every one is ignorant
of it.  She fpreads the fame veil  over her eyes  which fhe
wears on her heart ; but, when it is removed by the hand
of  a beloved friend, immediately the fecret torments of
her love tranfpire, as through an opened barrier, and the
gentle expanfions of confidence fucceed to the myfterious
referve  in  which fhe had enveloped herfelf.  Virginia,
fenfibly alive to the new teftimonies of her mother's kind-
neSs, Sreely related the many ftruggles which fhe had ex-
perienced with  herSelf, and of which God  alone  had
been the witnefs ;  that fhe perceived the hand of his prqv-
idence,  in the confolation  adminiftered by  a tender moth-
er,  who approved of her inclination,  and  who  would di-
rea her by wholefome counSel ;  and  that now refting en-
tirely on her Support, every  thing operated as an induce-
ment to remain where fhe was, without uneafineSs Sor the
preSent, or anxiety Sor the Suture.
  Madame de la Tour, perceiving that her confidence had
produced an effea, entirely different  from what fhe had
expeaed, faid to her : 44 My dear child, I have no wifh
41 to conftrain  your  inclinations ;  confider the matter at
<4 your leiSure  ; but conceal your love from Paul:  When
44 the heart of a young  woman is gained,  her  lover *has
" nothing more to afk of her." 
             PAUL AND  VIRGINIA.         ggj

    Toward the evening, while fhe was alone with Virgin-
 ia, a  tall  man, dreffed  in a  blue caffock, came in.  "He
 was an ecclefiaftical miffionary oSthe ifland, and conSeff-
 or to Madame de la Tour and Virginia, and  had been
 fent thither by the Governor.  44 My children," faid he,
 as he entered, 44 there  is  wealth in flore Sor you now,
 44 thank Heaven ! You have, at length, the means of grat-
 44 ifying your benevolent Seelings, by adminiftering affift-
 44 ance to the wretched.   I well know what the Govern-
 44 or has Said to you, and  your reply.   My good madam,
 44 the  ftate of your health obliges you to remain here ; but
 44 as for you, young iady, you have no excufe.   We muft
 44 obey the will of Providence, in refpeaing our old rela-
 44 tions, however unjuft they  may have been to us.  It is
 44 a facrifice, I grant, but it is the command  of the  Al-
 44 mighty.   He devoted himfelf for us, and it is our duty
 44 to  devote  ourfelves for the welfare  of our  kindred.
  4 Your voyage into France  will finally come to a  happy
 44 iffue.  Can you poffibly, my dear child, have any ob-
 "jeaion  to  go thither?" Virginia, with her  eyes caft
 down, and trembling as fhe fpake, replied : '4 If it is the
 44 command of God, that I fhould go, I have nothing to
 4fr Say  againft  it; the will of God be  done," faid fhe,
 burfting into tears.
   The miffionary took his  departure, and gave  the Gov-
 ernor  an account of the  fuccefs of  his  embaffy.  Mad-
 ame de la Tour, however, fent a meffage  to me, by Do-
 mingo, entreating me  to  come over, and  confult  about
 Virginia's,  departure.  It  was my firm opinion, that  fhe
 ought not to  be permitted  to go.  I maintain, as infalli-
 ble principles of happinefs, that the advantages of Nature
 ought always to bepreSerred before thofe of fortune ; and,
 that we fhould never Seek Srom  abroad, thoSe  bleffings
 which  we ran find at home.   I extend theSe  maxims to
all caSes, without a. Single exception.   But of what avail
could  my moderate counfels prove, againft the illufions of
an nnmenSe Sortune, and  my  natural rcaSon, againft the 
B64        studies  of nature.

prejudices of the world, and againft an authority held fa-
cred by Madame de la  Tour  ? This lady confulted  me
only out of politenefs, for fhe no longer deliberated in her
own mind, after the  decifion of her  confeffor.   Even
Margaret, who,  in  fpite of  the  advantages  which  fhe
thought her fon might derive from  Virginia's fortune,
had  warmly oppofed her departure, no l»ngcr made  any
objeaions.  As for Paul, entirely ignorant of the resolu-
tions which  might  be  Sormed, and alarmed at the Secret
conversations of Madame  de  la Tour  and her daughter,
he abandoned himfelf  to a gloomy fadnefs :  44 Surely,"
Said he, 44 they are contriving Some miSchief  againft  me,
14 Srom the myfteriouSneSs of their condua toward me."
  A report, meanwhile, being foon circulated in the ifland,
that  fortune had vifited theSe  Solitudes, merchants of eve-
ry defcription might be feen fcrambling up hither :  They
difplayed, amidft thefe  poor cottages, the richeft fluffs of
India ; the Superfine dimities of  Goudelour ; the hand-
kerchiefs of Poulicat  and Mazulipatam,  and  the muflins
of Decca, plain, ftriped, embroidered, and tranfparent as
the day ;  the baftas of Surat, fo  beautifully white, and
chintzes of all colours, and of the rareft fort, with a  fable
ground and green Sprigs.  They unrolled the magnificent
filks of China ; lampas pinked into tranfparency ; Satiny
white damafks ; Some of a meadow green, others of a daz-
zling red ; rofe coloured taffetas, fatins in whole  bales,
Pekins Soft as wool, white and yellow nankeens, and even
the fluffs of Madagafcar.
  Madame de la  Tour gave her daughter permiflion to
purchafe whatever  pleafed her, careSully examining, how-
ever, the quality of the goods and their prices, left the
merchants fhould impofe upon her.  Virginia made choice
of what fhe thought would be agreeable to her mother, to
Margaret, and to Paul.  " This," faid fhe, 44 will be  ufe-
44 ful for furniture, that for  Domingo and Mary."   In
Short, the bag of piaftres was expended, before fhe thought
of her own wants.   It  became neceffary to cull her por- 
PAUL  AND VIRGINIA.          265
tion out of  the prefents which fhe had diftributed among
the houfehold.
   Paul, overwhelmed with Sorrow, at the fight  of  thefe
gifts of fortune, which prefaged the departure of Virginia,
came to my houfe a few days afterwards ; he faid to me,
with a melancholy air, " My fitter is going to leave us ;
44 preparations are already made for her departure.  Come
44 over to our habitation, I entreat you, and  make ufe  of
44 your influence on the minds of her mother and of mine."
I,  accordingly, yielded to his importunity, though well
affured that my  reprefentations would be ineffeaual.
   If Virginia- had appeared beautiful  to me, in her drefs
of blue Bengal cloth, with a red  handkerchief tied round
her head,  how was the improved  when I faw her habited
like the ladies of this country !  She was  dreffed  in white
muflin, lined with rofe coloured  taffeta :  Her ftays dif-
played to  great advantage, her elegant and majeftic Shape ;
and her beautiful flaxen hair, in long double treffes, adorn-
ed her virgin  head : Her fine  blue  eyes had affumed a
caft of  melancholy, and the agitation which her heart en-
dured, by  ftruggling with a Smothered paffion, gave a glow-
ing tint to her complexion, and tones, full of emotion,  to
her voice.  The very contraft of her elegant drefs, which
fhe Seemed to wear againft her will, rendered her languor
ftill more affeaing.  No one  could See or hear her,  with-
out being  moved.   Paul's SadneSs was  increafed  by  it.
Margaret, affliaed at her Son's fituation,  took  him apart,
and  thus  addreffed  him : 4< Why, my  Son, do  you feed
44 yourfelf with  falfe hopes, which only Serves to render
44 the disappointment of them more bitter ? It is now time
44 to difclofe to you the Secret of your life, and of my own.
44 Mademoifelle de la Tour is related, by her mother's fide,
44 to a perfon of immenfe wealth, and of high rank.  As
44 to yourfelf,  you are only  the  Son of a poor low born
44 woman  ; and, what is ftill worfe, you are  a baftard."
  The word baftard greatly furprifed Paul; he had  never
heard it made ufe of before,  and  he afked his  mother the
  VOL. Ill,             K  K 
266
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
 meaning of it.   She replied, 44 You had no legitimate fa-
 44 ther.  When I was a girl, love betrayed me into a folly,
 44 of which you are the fruit.  My frailty  deprived you of
 44 the family of your father, and my repentance of that of
 44 your mother.   Unfortunate boy ! I  am  the  only  rela-
 44 tion you have in the World."   She concluded by hurtl-
 ing into a flood of tears.  Paul, folding her in his arms, ex-
 claimed : 44 Alas !  my mother, fince I have no other re-
 fi lation but you, I will love you ftill the more ; but, what
 44 a fecret have you juft divulged to me !  I now plainly
 44 perceive the reafon, why MademoiSelle de la  Tour has,
 44 for thefe two  months, fhunned me,  and  which has,  at
 44 length, determined her to take her  departure.  Alas !
 44 without doubt, fhe defpifes me !"
   However,  the hour of Supper came ; each of the guefts
 took a place at table, agitated with different paffions;  they
 ate little, and did not utter a fingle Syllable.   Virginia re-
 tired firft, and came and Seated herSelS  on  the Spot where
 we now are : Paul Soon Sollowed,. and placed himSelf by
 her fide ; a profound  filence enSued  Sor Some time.   It
 was one oS thoSe delightful  nights,  fo common between
 the Tropics, and whofe  beauty baffles all  defcription.
 The moon appeared in the middle of the firmament, envel-
 oped with a- cloudy curtain, which was gradually diflipat-
 ed by her rays.   Her light  infenfibly  diffufed itfelS  over
 the mountains of the ifland,  and  over  their peaks, which
 glittered with a  filve/y  verdure.  Not a breath  oS wind
 was to be heard.  In the woods, at the  bottom oS the val-
 leys, and at the  tops oS theSe rocks, the  SoSt warhlings, and
gentle murmurings of the birds, which were careffing each
 other in their nefts, delighted with the beauty of the night,
 and the tranquillity of the air, flole on the ear.  All,  even
tothe very infeas, were humming along the grafs ; the ftars,
twinkling in the  Heavens,  refleaed their  trembling im-
ages on the furface of the Ocean.   As  Virginia was  fur-
 veying, with wandering eyes, the vaft  and  gloomy hori-
 zon, diftinguifhable from the fhores of the ifland, by the 
           PAUL  ANB  VIRGINIA.         sfij

 red fires of the fifhermen, fhe  perceived, at the entrance
 of the port, a light fixed to a large dark body ;  it was the
 lanthorn on  the  veffel  in which  fhe was to embark Sor
 Europe, and which, ready to Set Sail, only lay at anchor
 till the breeze  Should Spring up.  At this fight, fhe was
Jo deeply affeaed, that fhe turned her head afide, left. Paul
 fliould perceive her tears.
   Madame de la Tour, Margaret, and I, were feated a few
paces from them, under the Shade  of the banana trees,;
and, owing to the ftillneSs of the night, we diftinaiy heard
-their converfation, which I Shall never Sorget.
   Paul Said to  her :  44 I  underftand,  madam,-that you are
44  to take your  departure hence in three days : Have you
44  no  apprehenfion, at the thought of  expofing yourSelS to
44  the dangers oS the Sea.....the Sea, at which you uSed to
 44  be  So terrified ?"  "It is my duty,  you  know," replied
 Virginia, " to obey  the commands of  my relations."
41  You are going, then," faid Paul, " to quit our  fociety
44  for a female  relation, who lives far  from hence, and
14  whom you  have never feen !"........44 Alas!" returned
Virginia, 44 had I been permitted to follow my own incli-
"  nations, I fhould have  remained  here all my life long ;
*\  but my mother is of a contrary opinion, and my confef-
44  for has told me it is the will of God, that I fhould de-
44  part ; that life is a  ftate  of probation....Alas !  how fe-
44  vere that probation is !"
   44 Flow," replied Paul, " fo many reafons to determine
" thee to leave us, and not one to induce  thee to remain !
44  Ah !  of the former, there is ftill one,  which you have
44 not mentioned : The attraaions which wealth holds out
44 are powerful.  You will foon find, in a world entirely
44 new to you,  another perfon  on whom to beftow the
44 name of brother, by which you now no longer addrefs
44 me : You will find this  brother among your equals, and
44 fuch as have riches  and high birth, which  I can never
44 offer you.  But, whither can you go to be more happy
44  than where you are ? On what land can you fet your 
ft68
STUDIES  OF   NATURE.
 " foot, dearer to you  than that  which gave you being ?
 44 Where can you find a  fociety more amiable, than one
 44 of which you are  entirely beloved ? How can you ex-
 44 ift without the careffes of your mother, to which you have
 44 been fo long accuftomed ? What will become of your
 44 mother herfelf, already far advanced in  life,  when fhe
 44 no longer fees you by her fide, at her table, in the houSe,
 44 and in her walks, where you uSed  to be her Support ?
 44 To what a  ftate will mine be reduced, who is as fondly
 44 attached to you as your own ?  What can I fay to give
 44 them confolation, when I fee them mourning your ab-
 44 fence ? Cruel girl! I fay nothing of myfelf ; but, What
 44 fhall become of me, when, in the morning, I no longer
 44 enjoy your company, and when night comes on, with-
 44 out bringing us together again  :  And when I fhall be-
 " hold thefe palm trees, planted at our birth, and which,
 44 fo long, have been the witneffes of our mutual affeaion ?
 44 Ah ! fince a new  deftiny attraas you ; fince you will
 44 feek  other countries, far from  the fpot where you was
 44 born, and other poffeffions than thofe which the labour of
 44 my hands has procured for you, allow me  to accompa-
 41 ny you  in your voyage ; I will encourage  you during
 44 thofe tempefts, which caufed fuch apprehenfions in you
 44 while on fhore.   Thy head fhall repofe upon my bo-
 44 Som  ; I will claSp thee to my breaft ;  and, in France,
 44 where thou art going in queft of fortune and of greatnefs,
 44 I will follow thee as thy flave ;  in  the palaces, where I
 44 fhall behold thee Served and adored, I will rejoice  at thy
 44 happinefs ;  even then  I  fhall  be rich  enough  to offer
 44 thee  the greateft of  Sacrifices, by dying at thy feet."
  His  voice was entirely ftifled with fobbing; we prefent-
Jy heard that  of Virginia, who  addreffed him in  thefe
 words, frequently interrupted by Sighs.....44 It is Sor thy
 44 Sake  that I go away.....Sor thee, whom I have Seen, daily,
 44 bowed down to the ground, labouring to Support two in-
 44 firm  families.  If I have embraced this opportunity of
 " acquiring wealth, it is only  to return, a thoufand fold, 
           PAUL AND  VIRGINIA.         «6g

44 the good which thou haft done to us all.   Can there be
44 a fortune worthy of thy friendfhip ? Why mention thy
44 birth to me ? Ah !  were it even poffible that  another
44 brother fhould be offered to me, could I choofe any but
44 thee ?  Oh, Paul! Paul!  thou art far  dearer to me
44 than a brother.  WTiat a ftruggle  hath  it coft  me to
44 keep thee at  a diftance ? I even  wifhed thee to  affift
44 me in  Separating me from myfelf, till  Heaven could
44 blefs our union.  But now, I remain ! I depart !  I live !
44 I die !  Do what thou wilt with me  : Oh,  irrefolute girl
44 that I am !  I  had fortitude to  repel thy careffes, but thy
44 Sorrow quite  overpowers me."
  At theSe words, Paul took  her ih his arms, and holding
her  cloSely  embraced, exclaimed with a terrible voice :
44 I  am refolved to go with her,  nor fhall any thing fhake
44 my reSolution."   We immediately flew toward him. and
Madame  de la  Tour addreffed him in theSe words : 44 My
44 Son, fhould you go away, what is to become of us  ?''
   He repeated thefe words, Shuddering :  My Son ! my
Son  !....44 Doft  thou," cried he, " aa  the part of a mother,
44 thou, who feparateft brother and Sifter ? We both were
44 nourifhed by thy milk ;  we both were nurSed upon thy
44 knees ; from thee, too, we learnt to  love each other ;
44 we have  faid fo  to each other a thoufand times ; yet,
 44 now, you are going to remove her from me; you are not
44 only  fending her to Europe,  that barbarous country
44 which denied thyfelf Shelter, but even to thoSe cruel re-
44 lations who abandoned you.  You may Say to me, Yon
44 have  no authority  over  her ; fhe is not your  Sifter.
44 Yes, fhe is   every thing to me, my riches,  my  family,
44 my birth, my all ;  I know no other blefling ;  we were
44 brought up under the fame roof, we repofed in the fame
" cradle, and the fame grave fhall contain us.  If fhe goes,
44 I  am refolved to follow.  The Governor will  prevent
44 me !  Can he prevent me from throwing myfelf into the
44 Sea ?  I will  fwim  after her; the Sea cannot  be more
 14 fatal to me than the dry land.  As I cannot live near her, 
«7©        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

44 I Shall, at leaft, have the Satisfaaion of dying before Tier
" eyes,  far, far from  thee.   Barbarous mother !  pitilefs
44 woman !  Oh, may that  Ocean, to  the perils of  which
44 thou art going to expofe her, never give her back to thy
" arms ! May thefe billows bear my body back to thee,
44 and catling it,  together with her's, on this rocky fhore,
44 caufe an eternal  melancholy  to fettle on thee, by pre-
44 fenting to thy view, the unhappy Sate of thy two chil-
44 dren."
  At thefe  words, I Seized him in my arms, for  I per-
ceived that defpair had overpowered his reafon : His eyes
fparkled ; large  drops of  fweat Tan  down  his inflamed
countenance ; his  knees trembled, and  I  felt his heart
beat, with redoubled violence, in his burning bofom.
  Virginia, terrified, faid to him :  44 Oh my friend, I
44 fwear, by the pleafures of our early age, by thy  misfor-
44 tunes and my own, and by all that ever could unite two
44 unfortunate wretches, that if I remain  here, I will only
44 live for thee ;  and if  I depart, I will one day return to
44 be thine.   I call you to witnefs, all ye, who have watch-
44 ed over my infant fteps, you, who have  the difpoSal of
*' my life, and who now behold the tears  which  I Shed :
44 1 fwear it,  by  high Heaven, which now  hears me ; by
"" that Ocean, which  I  am going to   brave ;  by  the air
44 which I breathe, and which, hitherto, I have never pol-
44 luted with  a falfehood."
   In like manner as  the  heat  of  the  Sun diffolves,  and
precipitates, an  icy rock  from the fummit of the Appe-
mines, fo did  the impetuous page of this young man Sub-
fide, at the voioe of  the beloved objea.   His lofty head
drooped down, and a torrent of tears gu fhed from his eyes.
His mother,  mingling her own  tears with his, held him,
locked in  her  arms,  without  the  power of utterance.
Madame de la Tour, quite diftraaed, faid to me :  44 I can
44 contain my Self no longer : My Soul is torn with con-
44 tending paffions.  This  unfortunate voyage Shall  not
44 take place.  Do, my dear neighbour, endeavour  to per- 
PAUL  AND  VIRGINIA.        2J%
54 fuade my fon to accompany you homewards :  Eight
44 days have elapfed, fince any of us have enjoyed a fingle
44 moment of fleep."
  I, accordingly, faid to Paul: <4 My good friend, your
44 fitter fhall  remain  with us ; tomorrow, we will  men-
44 tion the matterto the Governor ; meanwhile, leave your
** family  to repofe, and come and pafs the night at my
44 habitation.   It is late, it is midnight : The crofs of the
44 South is direaiy over the horizon."
 .He allowed me to condua  him, in filence.  After*
very reftlefs night, he rofe at day  break, and returned to
his own home.
  But, whereSore fhould I continue the  recital of this
melancholy ftory to you any longer ?  There is only one
agreeable  fide to contemplate  in human life.  Like the
Globe on which we revolve, our rapid career is only that
of a  day, and part of that day cannot receive illumination,
till the other  be involved in darknefs.
  44  Father," Said I to him, 44 I muft entreat you to finifb
44 the account  of  what you  have begun,  in a manner
44 fo  affeaing.   Images of happinefs  delight the  fancy,
44 but the recital of misfortunes conveys inftruaion tothe
44 mind.  1 am  anxious to learn what  became of the un-
44 fortunate Paul."
  The firft objea which ftruck Paul, on his return to the
plantation, was the negrefs Mary, who, mounted on a rock,
had her eyes ftedfaftly fixed  on the main Ocean.  The
moment  that he perceived her, he  exclaimed, 44 Where
44 is Virginia ?" Mary  turned her  head toward her  young
mafter, and burft into tears.   Paul, in a delirium, turned
round, and flew to the port.  He there  learned, that Vir-
ginia had embarked at day break, that  the veffel  had fet
fail   immediately, and was now no  longer in  fight.  He
direaed his fteps back to his place of habitation, and walk-
ed up and down, in profound filence.
  Although this enclofure of rocks appears almoft per-
pendicular  behind  us, thofe green flats which fubdivide: 
272        STUDIES  OF NATURE.
 their heights, are fo many Stages, by which you arrive, by
 means of fome intricate paths, at the foot of  that inclin-
 ing and inacceflible  cone of rocks, which is called the
 Thumb.  At the bottom of this rock, is an efplanade, cov-
 ered with great trees, but So lofty, and fo fteep, that they ap-
 pear like a large Soreft in  the air,  Surrounded with SearSul
 precipices.   The clouds, which the Summit of theThumb
 attraas continually around Tt, inceffantly feed Several caf-
 cades of water, which are precipitated to Such  a depth in-
 to the bottom of the valley,  Situated at the back of  this
 mountain, that when you are at  its top, you  no  longer
 hear the noife of their fall.   From this place, a great part
 of the ifland  is perceptible, and the  peaks of feveral of its
 mountains ;  among others, thofe of Piterboth,  and of the
 Three Paps, and their valleys, covered with forefts ; then,
 the open Sea, and the ifland  of Bourbon, which is forty
 leagues  tothe weftward.   From this elevation, Paul per-
 ceived the veffel which  bare  away Virginia.   He defcri-
 ed it at  more than ten leagues diftance, like a black Speck,
 in the middle of the vaft  Ocean.   He Spent a confidera-
 ble part of  the day  in contemplating  it, and, though it
 had aaually difappeared from his fight, he ftill imagined
 that he perceived it ;  and  when he  had  entirely loft it in
 the thick vapour of the horizon, he feated himfelf in this
 defolate  fpot, always  agitated by  the winds, which blow
 inceffantly on the tops of the palm trees, and of the tata-
 maques.   Their loud  and hollow murmurs refemble the
 deep tones ot  an organ, and inSpire a profound melancholy.
  There, I found Paul,  his head leaning againft the rock,
and his  eyes  riveted to the ground.  I had been  Seeking
him fince fun rife, and it was with much difficulty, that I
could prevail on him to defcend, and  revifit his  family.
At length, however, I  brought him back to his habitation;
but the moment he caft  his eyes on Madame de la Tour,
 he began to reproach  her  bitterly, for having  fo cruelly
deceived him.  She informed  us, that  a breeze having
 fprung up,' about three in (lie  morning, and the veffel  be* 
            F'AUL  AND  VIRGINIA.        %-]<\

 irlg in full trim to depart, the Governor, attended by his
 principal officers, and the miffionary, came, in a palanquin,
 to carry off Virginia ; and, in fpite of her eXpoftuIations,
 her tears, and thofe of Margaret, all of them exclaiming,
 that it was for their interel*, had hurried away her daugh-
 ter, who Was almoft expiring.  44 Alas !" exclhmed Paul,
 44 if I had only enjoyed the fatisfa6Hon of bidding her
 44 farewel, I fhould now be happy.   I  would have faid to
 " her,  Virginia, if,  during the time that we have lived to-
 " gether, I have made ufe of any one word, which may have
 " given you offence, tell me that I  have your forgivenefs,
 44 before we part  for ever.   I  would  have faid, Since
 44 Fate has decreed  an eternal feparation, adieu, my  dear
 '* Virginia,  adieu !  may you live, far from hence,  Con-
 44 tented,  and  happy."  Perceiving Madame de la Tour,
 and his mother, to weep : *4  Go,"  faid he  to them,  " go
  and Seek Some other hand than mine to wipe away your
 44 tears."   He then haftened  Srom them, fighing  deeply,
 and wandered here and there, through the plantation.  He
 went over all thoSe places, which  had been the moft fa-
 vourite retreats of  Virginia.   He  faid to her goats, and
 the kids, which followed him, bleating :  '4 What do vou
 44 afk ot  me ? Alas ! you will never more fee, in my com-
 44 pany, that perfon whofe hand ufed  to feed you."  He
 then  wandered to  Virginia's Reft, and, at fight of the
 birds, which fluttered around him, he exclaimed, 44  Un-
 44 happy fongfters !  No longer will you fly  to meet  her,
 44 from whom vou received your nourifhment."  Perceiv-
 ing Fidele  following  the fcent, up  and  down, and rang-
 ing around, he fighed, and  faid to him : 44 Alas !  thou
 " wilt never find  her more  !" At length, he went, and
 feated  himfelf on the rock where  he had fpoken to her
 the evening before, and at fight of  the Sea, where he  had
 perceived the veffel difappear, he wept bitterly.
  We followed him, however, ftep by ftep, fearing left the
 agitation of his mind fhould take Some fatal turn. His mother,
and Madame de la Tour, entreated him, by the moft tendes
   VOL. III.              L L 
 S74        STUDIES OF  NATURE-

 appellations, not to aggravate their affliaion, by his de-
 fpair.   At length, the latter calmed him in Some degree,
 by lavifhing upon him the names which were moft calcu-
 lated to revive his hopes.  She called him her Son, her
 dear Son, her Son in law, the only perSon on whom fhe in-
 tended  to beflow her daughter.   She, at length, perSuaded
 him to  return to the  houSe, and take Some nourishment.
 He feated himfelf at  table,  with us, near the fpot where
 the companion of his infancy ufed to place herfelf ;  and,
 as if fhe ftill occupied it, he addreffed himSelf to her, and
 rendered that food, which he knew was moft  agreeable to
 her ;  but, perceiving  his error, he burft into tears.   For
 fome days following, he  colleded every thing, which fhe
 was accuftomed to keep, for her particular ufe ;  the laft
 nofegay which fhe had worn, and a cup  made of  the co-
 coa nut, out of which fhe ufually drank ;  and, as if thefe
 reliqucs of his friend had been the moft precious treafures
 in the World, he kiffed them, and put them in his bofom,
 Th» ambergris does not fhed fo fweet a perfume, as thofe
 things which have been touched  by a beloved  objea.
 But Paul,  at  length, perceiving that his  dejeaion only
 augmented that of his mother, and of Madame de la Tour,
 and likewife obferving, that the neceffities  of the family
 called for continual  labour, he began with Domingo's help,
 to repair the garden.
  In a  fhort time,  this young man, before, as indifferent
 as a Creole about what was pafling in the World, entreat-
 ed me to teach him  to read and to  write, that he might be
 able to keep up a correfpondence with Virginia.  He, af-
 terwards, feemed eager to be inftruaed in geography, in
 order to form an idea of the country whither fhe was fleer-
 ing, and in hiftory, that he might learn, what were the
 manners of the people among whom fhe was going to live.
Thus did he attain to perfection  in agriculture, and in the
art of difpofing in order, the moft irregular fpot of ground,
merely by the  fentiment of  love.   Doubtlefs,  it is to the
delights of this ardent, and rcftlefs paffion,  that men muft 
"PAUL AND VIRGINIA.
afcribe the origin of the generality of arts  and Sciences;
and, it is from its  privations, that  the philofophy derives
its birth, which teaches us to confole ourfelves for every
lofs.  Thus, Nature, having made love the bond of union
to all created beings, has  rendered it the grand moving
principle of Society, and the principal fource of our illu-
minations, and of our pleafures.
  Paul did not greatly relifh the  ftudy  of geography,
which,  inftead of unfolding the nature of each country,
only prefents its political divifions.   Fliftory, and  espe-
cially modern hiftory, did not intereft him much more.   It
only preSented to his mind, general and periodical misfor-
tunes, the reaSon of which, it  was impoffible  for him to
penetrate ;  wars  without a caufe, and with no objea in
view; contemptible intrigues ; nations, deftitute of char-
aaer, and Sovereigns without  a  principle of humanity.
He even  preferred, to fuch  reading, that of romance,
which, having only  in view, the  feelings, and the inter-
efts  of  Man, fometimes  difplayed fituations  fimilar  to
his own.  Accordingly no book delighted  him  fo much as
Telemachus, from the piaures  which it  delineates of a
country life, and of the paffions, which are natural to  the
human heart.   He read to his mother, and to Madame de
la Tour, thofe paffages which affeaed him the moft : At
times, mournful recolleaions Hiking his mind, he loft the
power of utterance, and tears gufhed from his eyes.   He
thought he could trace the dignity  and the wifdom of An-
tiope, together with the misfortunes  and the tendernefs of
Euchans, in his beloved Virginia.  On the other hand,
he was quite fhocked at reading our fafhionable romances,
fo full of  licentious maxims and manners ; and when he
underftood that thefe romances difplayed a real piaure of
European nations, he feared, and not without reafon, that
Virginia might be there corrupted, and caft him from her
remembrance.
   In  truth,  near two years had elapfed, before Madame
 de U Tour beard any intelligence  of her aunt, or  of her 
 2j6        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

 daughter :  She had only been informed, by the report of
 a ilranger, that the latter had arrived, fafely,  in  France.
 At length, however, fhe received, by a veffel on her way
 to  India,  a packet, together with a  letter,  in Virginia's
 own hand writing ; and, notwithftanding the circumfpec-
 tion of her amiable and gentle daughter, the apprehended
 her to be very unhappy.   This letter fo well depiaed her
 fituation, and her charaaer, that I have retained  it ih my
 memory, almoft word for word :

     44 My dear and much loved Mother,

  441 HAVE already written to you feveral letters in my
 44 own hand ; but,  as I have received no anfwer, I muft
 44 fufpea that they have never reached you.  I  hope this
 44 will be more fortunate, both from the precaution which
 44 I have taken, to fend you news of myfelf, and to receive
 44 your's in return.
  44 Many tears have I  fhed Since our  Separation, I,  who
 44 Scarcely ever beSore wept, except  at the misfortunes of
44 another ! On my arrival, my grandaunt was  much  fur-
44 prifed, when, on queftioning me concerning my attain-
44 ments,  I informed her, that I could neither  read  nor
44 write.  She afked me what I had been doing, then, fince
44 I came into the World ;  and when I told  her, that my
44 whole ftudy had been the care of a  family, and obedience
 :i to you, fhe replied, that I had received the education of
44 a menial Servant.   The day Sollowing, fhe placed me as
44 a boarder, in  a large convent, near Paris, where I  had
44 mafters of every deScription : Among other things,  they
44 inftruaed me in  hiftory, in geography, in  grammar, in
44 mathematics, and in horSemanfhip ;  but my inclination
44 for all thefe  fciences  was  So Saint, that I profited very
44 little by the  feffons oS thofe gentlemen.   I feel that I
 44 am a poor creature, and of little fpirit, as they interpret
 14 the word here.   My aunt's kindnefs, however, does not
;' diminish : She is continually giving me new dreffes, aq- 
            paul and Virginia;         277

'* cording to the SeaSon : I have two women to attend me,
44 who are habited as elegantly as ladies of quality.   She
44 has, likewife, made me affume the title of Countefs, but
44 has obliged  me to  relinquifh the name of  La Tour,
44 which was as dear to me as to yourfelf. from the troubles
44 which, you have told  me, my poor father underwent, to
44 obtain you in marriage.   She has fubftituted your fatn-
44 ily name in its  place, which I likewife efteem, becauSe
44 it was your's, when a girl.   As fhe has raifed me  to a
44 fituation fo exalted, I  entreated her to fend you  Some
44 Supply :  How can I repeat her anfwer ? You, howev-
44 er, have always commanded me to Speak the truth ; this,
44 then,  was her reply, That a  Small matter would be of no
44 ufe to you ;  and, that, in the fimple ftyle of life which
44 you lead, a great deal would only embarrafs you.
  44 At firft, I attempted to  communicate to you tidings
44 of my fituation, by the hand of another, as  1 was inca-
44 pable of writing myfelf ; but,  not being able  to  find,
44 fince  my arrival here,  a fingle perfon, on whofe fidelity
"I could rely, I  applied  myfelf,  night and day, to the
44 means of learning how to  read and write ; and by the
44 afiiftance of Heaven, I accomplifhed this in a very lit-
44 tie time.   I  entrufted  the  ladies  who attend me, with
44 the difpatch of  my former letters, but I have  reafon to
44 fufpea, that they delivered  them to my grandaunt.   On
44 the prefent occafion, I have had recourfe to one oS my
44 Sriends, who is  a fellow  boarder ; and,  under her ad-
44 drefs, which I  have fubjoined, I  muft beg you to con-
44 vey an anfwer.   My grandaunt has prohibited  all for-
44 eign correfpondence, which might, as  fhe  alleges, op-
44 pofe infurmountable obftacles to the fplendid views,
44 which fhe entertains with regard  tome.   The only per-
44 fon, befide herfelf, who vifits me at the grate, is an old
44 nobleman of her acquaintance,  who, fhe informs me, has
44 taken a great liking to  my perfon.   To fay truth, I have
44 not the leaft for him, even were it poffible I fhould con-
44 ceive  a partiality for any  one whatever. 
-;Z        STUDIES  OF NATURE*

   44 I live in the midft of gaudy wealth, and have not the
*4 difpofal of a fingle farthing.  They tell me, that if  I
" had the command of money, it might lead to dangerous
44 confequences.   My very gowns are the property of my
*' waiting women, who are difputing  which  fhall  have
44 them, even before 1 have left them off  myfelf.  In the
44 very bofom of  riches, I am much  poorer  than when I
" was with you,  for I have nothing to give away.  When
" I  found  that  the  many  magnificent accomplishments
44 which  I was  deftined to acquire, were  not to procure
4i me the power of doing the fmalleft good, I had recourfe
44 to my needle, in the uSe of  which,  by good fortune,
44 you had inftruaed me.   I, accordingly, fend you  forne
44 pairs of ftockings, of my own manufaaure, for  your-
44 SelS, and my mamma Margaret ; a cap for Domingo, and
44 one ot my red  handkerchiefs for Mary :  I enclof'e  you,
44 likewiSe, in this packet, the  kernels of the fruits of
44 which  our defferts are compofed, together with the feeds
" of all kinds of trees, which I gathered, during my hours
•' of recreation, in the garden ot the convent.   To thefe
14 I alfo add, the feeds of the violet,  the daify, the butter-
" flower, the poppy, the  blue bottle,  and the Scabious,
44 which I have picked up  in the fields.   In the meadows
44 ot this  country, the flowers are far more beautiful than
4,4 in ours, but no  one pays any regard  to them.   I am
44 very well affured, that you, and my mamma Margaret,
44 will be much better pleafed with this  bag of feeds, than
44 with the bag of piaftres, which was  the caufe of  our
44 feparation, and of the tears which  I have Since fhed.   I
44 fhjll feel the greateft pleafure, if, one day, you have the
44 fatisfaaion of feeing apple  trees growing befide  our
44 bananas, and beech trees mixing their foliage with that
4' of the cocoas : You will fancy yourfelf in Normandy
44 again, which you ftill love fo much.
  44 You enjoin  me to communicate to you my joy, and
44 my Sorrows : Joy, I can  never experience  when at a
'* diftance from  yoy ; and, as  for  my  forrows, I Soothe 
PAUL  AND VIRGINIA.        279
44 them by refleaing, that I am  in a fituation where you
44 thought proper to place me, in obedience to the will of
44 Heaven.  My moft  cruel mortification  is, that not a
44 fingle perfon here mentions your name to me, and, that
44 I am not allowed to talk of you to any one.  My wait-
44 ing women,  or rather  thofe of my grandaunt, for they
44 are her's more  than  mine, tell  me, when I attempt to
44 converfe about thofe objeas which are fo dear te me :
44 Madam, remember that you are now  a Frenchwoman,
44 and, that you muft forget the country of favages.  Ah !
44 I fhall fooner forget myfelS, than Sorget the place where
44 I was born,  and where you ftill live I  It is the country
44 where I am, which, to me, is the country of Savages,.
44 Sor I live alone, without a fingle perfon to  whom I can
44 communicate that iove for you, which I fhall carry with
44 me to the grave.
  44 Dear and  much loved mother, I remain  your obedi-
44 ent and affeaionate daughter,
                      44 Virginia de la Tour."

  44 I recommend to your kindeft regards, Mary and Do*
" mingo, who took fuch care of  my infancy : Stroke Fi-
44 dele for me, who  found me again  when I was  loft in
44 the woods."
     \
  Paul was much furprifed  that Virginia had not  made
the leaft mention of  him ; fhe, who had not. even forgot-
ten  the houfe dog :  He was entirely  ignorant, that, be the
letter of a  female as long as it may, the fondeft idea always
comes in laft.
  In a poftfcript, Virginia particularly recommended ta
Paul, tw*o kinds  of  feeds, thofe  of the violet and of the
fcabious.  She gave him fome information  refpeaing the
charaaers of thefe plants, and about the  places in  which
it was moft proper to  fow them.  The  violet,  She told
him, produced  a Small flower, of a deep purple hue, which
delights to hide itSelf under the buflies, but is foon difcov- 
£8c        STUDIES OF  nature.
e'red by its delicious perfume.  She defired bun  to plant
it on the brink of the fountain, at the  toot of her cocoa
tree.  44 The fcabious," added fhe, 44  bears a pretty flower
44 of a pale blue, and its bottom is black, interfperfed with
44 white Spots.  One would think it to  be in  mourning :
44 It is, likewife, for this  very reafon, called  the widow's
44 flower.  It flourifhes beft in places rugged, and agitated
44 by the winds."  She requefted him to  fow it on the rock,
where fhe had talked with himyby night, for the laft time, and
to give that rock, for her fake, the name of Rock Far ewe l.
  She had inclofed thefe feeds, in a  little purSe, the em-
broidery of  which was very Simple, but  which appeared
ineftimabfe to Paul, when  he perceived  a P and a V  in-
terwoven in it, and formed of hair, which  he knew, by
its beauty, to be that of Virginia.
  The letter of this  fenfible  and virtuous  young lady,
drew tears' Srom the whole Samily.  Her mother  replied,
in the name of the whole fociety, de Si ring her either to re-
main, or return, as fhe thought beft, but affuring her, that
they had all loft the greateft  portion of their happineSs
fince her departure, and that, for herfelf in particular,  fhe
was quite inconfolable.
  Paul wrote her  a very long letter, in which he affured
her, that he would render the  garden worthy  to receive
her ; and, in like manner as fhe had interwoven! their
names in her purfe, fo would he mingle the plants of Eu-
rope with thofe of Africa.  He fent her fome of the fruit
of the cocoa trees of  her fountain, now arrived to perfea
maturity.   He added, that he would not  fend  her any of
the other feeds of  the ifland, in  order  that the  defire of
feeing its produaions once more,  might determine her to
return thither immediately.   He  importuned  her to  do
ihis without  delay, and thus gratify  the  ardent wifhes of
their family, and his own more particularly,  as, hencefor-
ward, he could tafte no joy at a diftance from her.
   Paul planted, with  the greateft  care, thefe European
grains, and above all, thoSe of the violet and of the fcabi- 
PAUL AND VIRGINIA.
281
 Dus, the flowers of which  Seemed to have fome analogy
 with the charaaer and the fituation of Virginia, who had
 So particularly recommended them to him : But whether
 they had  been corrupted on  their paffage, or whether,
 which is more probable, the climate of that part of Africa
 Was not favourable to them, only a very Small number of
 them fprung,  and  even thefe never attained to a  ftate of
 perfeaion.
    Envy, meanwhile, which  frequently  even  Outruns the
 happinefs of man, efpecially in the French Colonies, foon
 circulated reports all over the ifland, which gave Paul the
 greateft uneafinefs.  The people  belonging  to the veffel
 which had brought Virginia's letter, afferted,  that fhe was
- on the  point of marriage ; they went So  far as to name the
 nobleman who was to  obtain her hand ; nay, Some even
 declared, that the affair was over, and that they had been
  witneffes  of  it.   Paul, at firft, defpifed thefe rumours,
  conveyed by a trading veffel, which often brings falfe re-
 ports from the places  which it touches at on its paffage :
 But, as many of the inhabitants of the ifland, from a per-
 fidious  pity, officioufly interpofed to condole with  him
 on this  event, he  began to give  fome credit to it.  Befide,
 in fome  of  the  romances  which  he had read, he faw
 treachery treated with pleafantry, and, as he knew that
 thefe books exhibited  a faithful piaure  of the manners of
  Europe,  he  was  apprehenfive that the daughter of Mad-
  ame de la Tour  might have become corrupted, and  have
  forgotten her earlier engagements.   The light which he
 had acquired, made him anticipate mifery, and, what  gave
  a finifh to his fufpicions  was,  that  feveral European vef-
  fels had arrived within the year, without bringing any news
  whatever of Virginia.
    That unfortunate young man, abandoned to all the agi-
 tations  of a heart in  love, came frequently to fee me, in
 order to confirm, or to diffipate, his uneafinefs, by my ex-
  perience of the World.
     VOL. III.              MM 
2f?2
STUDIES  OF  NATURES
    I live, as  I  have told you, about a  league and  a half*
 from hence, on the bank of a fmall river, which flows  by
 Long Mountain.  There,  I pafs my life in Solitude, with-
 out a wife, without children, and without flaves.
    Next to the rare Selicity  of finding a  female partner
 perfeaiy fuited to a man, the  leaft unhappy  fituation in
 life is that of living alone.   Every one who has had much
 reafon'to complain of Mankind, fecks for Solitude.  Nay,
 it is very remarkable, that all  Nations, rendered mifera-
 ble by  their opinions, their manners, or by their govern-
 ments,  have produced numerous claffes of citizens, entire-
 ly devoted  to Solitude and to celibacy.  Such  were  the
 Egyptians in  their decline, and  the Greeks ot  the Lower
 Empire ; and fuch are, in our own day_s, the Indians,  the
 Chinefe, the modern Greeks, the Italians, and the greateft
 part of the  eaftern and Southern Nations of Europe.  Sol-
 itude, in Some degree, brings Man back to his natural ftate
 oS happineSs,  by removing the misfortunes of  Social life.
 In the midft  of our  Societies, torn  afunder by  So  many
 prejudices,  the Soul is in a ftate of perpetual agitation ; it
 is continually revolving, within itfelf, a thoufand turbu-
 lent and contradiaory opinions, by which the members
 ot  an ambitious and  miferable fociety are aiming at mutu-
 al fubjeaion ; but, in Solitude, it lays  afide thoSe  extra-
 neous  iliuftons which difturb it, and reSumes  the  ffmple
 fentiment of itfelf, of Nature, and of its Author.  Thus,
 the muddy water of a torrent, which lays wafte the coun-
 try, fpreading itfelf into  fome little bafon-, remote from
 its current,  finks  the miry particles to the bottom of its
 bed, recovers its former limpidnefs,  and, having again be-
 come tranfparent,  refleas, with its  own banks, the ver-
 dure of  the Earth,  and the light of the  Heavens.
   Solitude reftores the harmony of  the  body, as well  as
 that of the foul.   It  is among Solitary  claffes of people,
 that we  find perfons who live  to the greateft age, as among
the Bramins of India.   In  fhort, I believe  it fo neceffary
t<> happinefs, even in the commerce of  the World, that I 
PAUL AND VIRGINIA.         2^g
conceive it impoffible to tafte a durable pleafure in it, be
the fentiment what it may, or to regulate our condua by
any eftablifhed principle, unlefs we  form an internal foli-
tude, from which  our own opinion Seldom takes  its de-
parture, and into which,  that of another never enters,  I
do not, however, mean to affert, that it is the duty of man
to live entirely alone, for,  by hi& neceffities, he is united
to the whole human  race ; he, Sor that reaSon, owes1 his la-
bour to Mankind,  but he owes himSelf, likewife, to the
reft of Nature.  As God has given to each of us,  organs
exactly fuited to the  elements of the Globe on which we
live, feet to the foil,  lungs  to the air, eyes to  the light,
without the power of interchanging the uSe of theSe SenSes,
He, who  is the author of life,  has  referved  for  himfelf
alone, the heart, which is its principal organ.
  I pafs my days, then, remote  from men, whom I have
wifhed to Serve, and^who have repaid  me  with perfecu-
tion.  After having travelled over a great part of Europe,
and  feveral regions of America, and of Africa, I am now
fettled in this ifland, fo poorly  inhabited, feduced  by the
mildnefs of -the air, and  by its  enchanting  Solitudes.  A
cottage, which 1 have built in the foreft, at the Soot of a
tree, a little field, cleared for cultivation by my  own hands,
and  a river which  flows before my doqr, are fully adequate
to all my  wants, and all my pleafures.  I add to thefe en-
joyments, a few good books, which teach  me to become
better : They even make the World, which I have quit-
ted,  ftill  contribute  to my  happinefs, by  prefenting me
with piaures of thofe  paffions  which  render  its inhabit-
ants fo miferable ; and, by the  comparifon which I make
between their condition and my own, they procure  for me
a negative felicity.  Like a man faved from  fhipwreck,
feated on a rock, I contemplate, in my folitude, the ftorms
which are raging in the  reft  of the World ; nay,  my
tranquillity is increafed by the fury ot the diftant tempeft.
Since men ftand no longer in my  way, and  fince I am np
longer in theirs, I have ceafed to   hate, and  now Ijpity 
2«4
S T.U DIES  OF  NATURE.
them.   If I meet  with any unfortunate wretch, I try to
aflift him  by  my  counfels :  As one, pafling  along  the
brink of a torrent,  ftretches out his hand  to an  unhappy
creature drowning in  it.  I, however, have found inno-
cence alone attentive  to my voice.  Nature, to no pur-
pofe, allures to herfelf the reft of mankind ;  each  one
forms,  in his mind, an image of her, which he invefts with
his own paffions. He purfues, through the whole of life, the
vain phantom which ftill mifleads him ;  and he  then com-
plains to Heaven of the illufion which he had  praaifed
upon  himSelf.  Amongft a great number  ot unfortunate
wretches,  whom I have Sometimes endeavoured to  bring
back to Nature, I  have not Sound  a fingle one who  was
Jiot intoxicated with his own miferies.  They  liftened to
ine, at firft, with attention, in hopes that  I was going to
aflift them in acquiring either glory or  fortune, but per-
ceiving, that I only meant to teach them to do  without
theSe things, they  looked upon me my Self as a miferable
wretch, becaufe I  did not pur Sue their wretched  felicity  :
They condemned  the  folitary ftyle of lite which I  led,
pretended that they alone  were  ufeful  to Mankind, and
endeavoured to draw me into their yortex.  But, though
my heart is open to all the  World,  my opinions  are biaf-
ed by no one.   1 Srequently find enough within my own
breaft to make me Serve as a leffon to my Self.   In  my
prefent calm, I make a fecond paffage through the agita-
tions of my own paft life, which I once prized fo highly ;
the proteaions, the fortune, the reputation, the  pleafures,
and the opinions, which maintain  a cpnftant conflia, all
the World over.   1 compare thofe fucceffive  tribes of
Men, whom I have feen contending with  fo much fury,
about mere chimeras, and  who are now no more,  to the
little waves of my rivulet, which, foaming, dafh them-
felves  againft  the  rocks of its bed, and then  difappear,
never more to return.   For my own part,  I quietly com-
mit myfelS to the river of time, to be borne down toward
the ocean  of  futurity, which is circumfcribed with no 
PAUL AND VIRGINIA.
2«5
fhores, and, by contemplating the aaual  harmonies  of
Nature, I raife myfelf  toward its Author, and  thus
confole myfelf, with  the  expeaation of a deftiny more
happy, in the World to come.
  Although the multiplicity of objeas, which, from this
elevation, now ftrike  our  view, are not  perceptible from
tny hermitage, which  is fituated in the centre of  a foreft,
ftill the harmonies of  that fpot are very interefting*, efpe-
cially for a man, who, like me, prefers retiring into him-
felf, to ranging abroad.   The river  which flows "before
my door,  paffes in a  ftraight line, acrofs  the  woods,  So
that  my eye is ftruck  with a long  canal, overfhadowed
with trees of variegated foliage ; tatamaqucs, the ebony
tree, and what is here  called apple wood, olive wood, and
the cinnamon ,• groves of palm trees, here and there, raife
their long and naked  columns, more than a hundred feet
high ;  on their tops  clufters of  palms grow, while  they
appear like  one foreft piled above another.  There are,
likewife, lianes of different coloured  leaves, and  which,
Shooting their branches from one  tree to  another, form,
here, arcades of flowers, and  there, long feftoons of ver-
dure.  Aromatic  odours  iffue from  moft of  thefe trees,
and their  perfumes attach themfelves fo ftrongly to the
very clothes, that  the fmell  adheres to a perfon who has
croffed the  foreft, for feveral hours  afterwards.  In the
SeaSon, when their flowers are in full  bloom, you would
think them half covered with fnow.   At the end of Sum-
mer, feveral kinds of foreign birds come, by an unaccount-
able inflina, from unknown regions, beyond the boundlefs
Ocean, to pick up the feeds of the vegetables which this
ifland produces, and oppofe the brilliancy of their colours
to the verdure ot the trees, embrowned by the Sun. Among
others, different kinds of paroquets,  and blue pigeons,
which  are here called  the pigeons of Holland.   Monkeys,
the domefticated inhabitants  of thefe  forefts, amufe them-
felves among the dufky branches, from which they detach
themfelves by their gray  and greenifh  hair, with their 
j*86        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
faces entirely black ; fome fufpend themfelves by the tail,
balancing themfelves in the air ; others leap from branch
to branch, carrying their young ones in their arms.   Nev-
er has the murderous fufil feared thefe peaceful children
of Nature.  Here, nothing is heard but founds of joy, the
unknown warhlings and the chirping of  fome  fouthern
birds, which repeat the echoes of thefe forefts from afar.
The river, which flows bubbling over a rocky bed, through
the trees, reflects, here and there, in its limpid ftream, their
venerable maffes of verdure and of fhade, as well as the gam-
bols of the happy inhabitants: About a thoufand paces from
hence, it precipitates  itfelf down  different ftories of the
rock, and forms, in its fall, a fmooth fheet of  water,  as
■clear as cryftal, which  rolling down, breaks itfelf amidft
■.billows of foam.  A  thoufand  confufed  noifes proceed
Srom thefe tumultuous waters, and when diSperSed by the
winds of the foreft, they fometimes fly to a diftance, and
fometimes they ruth on the ear, all at once, and produce
a flunning found, like that  of the bells of a  cathedral.
The air, continually refreshed by the motion of this ftream,
keeps up, upon the banks of the river, notwithftanding
the1 burning heats of Summer, a verdure, and a coolnefs,
which is Seldom found  in this ifland,  even on  the moun-
tain tops.
   At fome  diftance from thence, there  is a rock, remote
enough from the cafcade, to prevent your being deafened
with the noife of its waters, and yet  fufficiently near for
j'ou to  enjoy the fight of their fall,  their frefhnefs, and
their murmuring.  During  the exceffive  heats, Madame
de la Tour, Margaret, Virginia, Paul  and I,  Sometimes
dined under the Shade  of  this rock.   As Virginia always
employed her minuteft aaions for the benefit  of others,
She  never ate a fruit in  the country without planting  its
feed, or its kernel, in the earth.   4l Trees," Said  fhe, 44 will
44 Spring from thefe, which may, one day, give their fruits
 44 to fome traveller, dr at leaft,  to fome bird."  Accord-
ingly, once, when She had been eating part of a papaya, at 
fAUL AND  VIRGINIA,         figy
 the foot of this rock, fhe  planted the  feeds of that fruit •
 there, foon afterwards, feveral papayas grew up, among
 which was a female plant, that is, one which bears fruit.
 This tree, at Virginia's  departure, was not  fp high  as
 her knee,  but, as its  growth is very rapid, it  attained,
 three  years after, to the  height of twenty  feet, and  the
 higher  part  of  its  trunk was  furrounded  with Several
 rows of ripe fruit.  Paul, having, by  chance, wander-
 ed to this place, was  greatly delighted at feeing fuch
 a  large  tree, grown from  a feed,  which  he had  feen
 planted by the hand of his friend ;  but, at the fame time,
 he Sunk  into a profound  melancholy, on obferving this
 teftimony  of her long abfence.   By objeas, which  we
 habitually  behold,  we  are  unable to perceive  with
 what rapidity' our  life paffes away;  they,  as  well  as
 ourfelves,  grow  old, with an  imperceptible decay : But
 thoSe, which we Suddenly See again, after  feveral years*
 abfence, admonifh  us  oS  the SwiltneSs  with which the
 ftream of our days flows on.   Paul was as much  furprif-
 ed, and as  Sorrowful, at the fight  of this large  papaya,
 loaded with fruit, as a traveller is, who,  on  his return to
 his native  country, after a long abfence, finds thofe who
 were  his contemporaries  to  be no more, and fees  their
 children, whom  he had left at the  breaft, themfelves be-
 come fathers of  families.  Sometimes, he was going to
 cut it down-, as it made him too  fenfible of the length of
 time  which had  elapfed  fince Virginia's departure ; at
other times, confidering it as a monument of  her benefi-
cence, he kiffed its trunk,  and addreffed to it theSe words,
diaated by  love and  regret : " Oh, tree, whoSe pofteritv "
  ftill exifts in our woods,  I view thee with more concern
44 and veneration, than the triumphal arches of  the Ro-
44 mans !' May Nature, which is daily deftroyingthe mon-
14 uments of  the  ambition of Kings, multiply, in thefe
44 forefts. thofe oSthe beneficence of a youna- and unfor--
14 innate trjrl." 
s88
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
   It was at the foot of this  papaya tree, that I was cer-
tain of feeing Paul, whenever  he came to my habitation.
I, one day, found  him there, plunged in melancholy, and
I held a converfation with  him, which I will repeat to
you, unlefs I  tire  you by my long digreffions ; they, how-
ever, are pardonable in a perSon of my age, and more So,
as they have a reference to  my laft friendfhrps.  1 will
relate it, in Sorm oS a dialogue, that you may judge of the
excellent natural  fenfe of this young man, and it will  be
eafy Sor you to diScover who is the Speaker, by the mean-
ing of his queftions, and by my anfwers.
   He Said to me :
   44 I am very low Spirited.  MademoiSclle de  la Tour
44 has been gone theSe three years and a half ;  and, for a
44 year and a  half paft, fhe  has not fent us any news of
44 herSelf.   She is rich, and I am poor : She  has certainly
44 forgotten me.   My inclination prompts me Strongly to
44 embark for France ;  I will enter into the fervice of the
44 King ;  I will make  a fortune, and  the  grandaunt  of
44 Mademoifelle de la Tour will give me her niece in mar-
" riage, when I fhall have become a great Lord."

                 The Old Man.
   tc My  good Sriend,  have you not  told me, that your
44 birth is ignoble  ?"

                       Paul.
   44 So my mother has told me ; Sor my own part, I do nof
44 So much  as  know the meaning of the  word Birth.   I
44 never discovered  that I  was more  deficient there  than
44 another,  or that  any  other perSon poffeffed  it more
44 than I do."

                 The Old  Man.-
   44 Deficiency in  birth will, in France, effeaually ex-
44 elude you Srom  any diftinguifhed employment ; what is
44 more, no corps  of any diftinaion will admit you.*' 
            PAUL  AND  VIRGINIA.        «8o
                         4
                        Paul.
  44 You have often informed  me, that one of  the chief
44 caufes of the prefent greatnefs of France was, that the
44 loweft fubjea might obtain  the higheft pofts ;  and you
44 have given me many inftances of celebrated men, who,
'4 lifing from a  low  condition, had done honour to their
44 country.   Do you mean to damp my courage  ?"

                 The Old  Man.
  44 My Son, nothing is farther from my intention : I told
44 you the truth, but it related  to times paft.   The face of
44 affairs, in France,  is, at prefent, greatly altered ; every
44 thing there is now  become venal ;  all is the hereditary
44 property  of a fmall  number of  families, or is divided
14 among incorporated affociations.  The  King is a Iumi-
44 nary, furrounded by the nobility, and by different corps,
44 as by fo many cbouds, and it is hardly poffible  that one
44 of his rays fhould fall  upon you.  Formerly,  in an ad-
44 miniftration lefs complicated, fuch  phenomena were to
44 be feen.   Then, talents and merit were difclofed on ev-
44 ery fide, like as the Srefh grounds, which have  juft  been
44 cleared, are  produaive with all their rich juices.  But
44 great Kings, who know Mankind, and how  to make
44 choice among.them, are very rare.  Kings, in general,
44 allow themfelves to be biaffed by the grandees, and by
44 the affociations which furround them."

                        PAUL.
  44 But probably I fhall find one of thofe  great  men,
'■' who will take me  under his prote£tion."

                 The Old Man.
  44 The proteaion  of the great, is to be obtained only by
44 Serving either their  ambition  or their  pleafure.   You
44 can never fucceed with them, for your  birth  is mean,
44 and your probity is untainted."
  vol. m.              n  n 
200
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
                       Paul.
  44 But I will perform aaions fo daring, I will keep my
44 promifes So inviolate, I will So punftually fulfil the du-
44 ties of my Situation, I will be So zealous and So conftant in
44 my friendfhips, as to merit adoption from fome of them,
44 which I have feen frequently to be the cafe, in thofe an-
44 cient hiftories  which you gave me to read."

                 The Old  Man.
  44 Ah,  my  good  friend ! among the Greeks and Ro-
44 mans, even  in  their decline, the higher orders of men
44 always paid refpea to Virtue ; we  have had, indeed, a
44 great number of celebrated  perfonages, of all defcrip-
44 tions, flatting up  from among the common people, but
44 I do not know of a fingle one who has been adopted in-
44 to a family of rank.   But for our Kings, Virtue would,
44 in France, be condemned to an eternal Plebeianifm.   As
44 I have often told you, they  fometimes honour virtue
44 when they perceive it ; but in the prefent  day, the diS-
44 tinaion which, in juftice, it fhould obtain,  is to be pur-
44 chaSed only with money."

                      Paul.
  44 In cafe, then,  I do  not  procure Support from the
44 Great, I will endeavour to render myfelf ufeful to Some
44 corps.   I will  adopt  its Spirit, and its opinions, entirc-
" ly ; I will make myfelf be loved."

                  The Old Man.
  44 You will aft, then, like other men ! you will Sacrifice
" your integrity to purchaSe Sortune !"

                       Paul.
  44 Oh, no !  the Search of truth fhall be my  only aim."

                The  Old Man.
  44 Inftead of making yourfelf be loved, you will, moft
"probably, expofe yourfelf to  hatred.  Befide, incorpo- 
PAUL AND  VIRGINIA.
991
44 rated affociations intereft themfelves very little in the dif-
44 covery  of truth.  To the ambitious, every opinion is
*4 indifferent, provided they  domineer."

                        Paul.
   44 How unfortunate ami ! I am difcouraged on every
44 fide.  I am doomed to paSs my life in labour and obfcu-
44 rity, far from Virginia."  And he heaved a deep Sigh.

                  The Old  Man.
  44 Let the Almighty  be your only patron, and  the hu-
44 man race  your corps ; be firmly attached both to the
" one and to the other.   Families, Affociations, Nations,
44 and Kings, have their prejudices  and  their paffions, and
44 vice is often requifite, in order to Serve them as they de-
44 fire.  But to Serve God and the human race, we have
44 occafion to exerciSe virtue only.
  44 But why do you wifh to be diftinguifhed from the reft
44 of Mankind ?  It is  an unnatural Sentiment, for, if it
" were univerfal, every  man would be at war with his
44 neighbour.  Satisfy yourfelf with fulfilling the duties of
44 that ftation, in which  Providence has placed you :  Re-
44 joice in your deftiny, which allows you to maintain your
44 integrity pure, and does not oblige you,  in imitation of
44 the Great, to place your happinefs in the opinion of the
44 lower ranks ; nor, in imitation ot the  lower, to cringe
44 to your fuperiors, in  order to procure the means of fub-
44 fiftence.   You are in a country, and in a.Situation, where
44 you can find a living, without any occafion either to de-
44 ceivc, to flatter, or to debaSe yourfelf, as the generality
44 of thofe are obliged to  do, who purfue  Sortune in Eu-
44 rope ;  in  a fituation, where  your condition does  not
44 prohibit your  exercifing any  virtue : Where  you can,
44 with impunity, be good, Saithful, Sincere,  intelligent, pa-
44 tient, temperate, chafte, indulgent, pious:  And where no
44 malignant Sneer will  interpoSe to  blaft your  wifdom,
*4 which is flill only  in the  bud.  Heaven has bellowed 
392
STUDIES OF  NATURE.
 44 on you, liberty, health, a good conScience, and Sriends :
 44 Kings, whoSe favour you are fo ambitious of obtaining,
 44 are not near fo happy."

                       Paul.
  44 Alas !  Virginia is ftill wanting to me ; without her,
 44 1 have nothing ; with her, I fhould poffefs every thing,
 44 She, alone, is my birth, my glory, and my fortune : But
 44 her aunt muft, no  doubt, have beftowed her, in marriage,
 44 on a man of high reputation !  By means of books and
 44 ftudy, however, men may become learned and celebrated :
 44 I will acquire knowledge, by dint of intenfe application :
 44' I will render a ufeful fervice to my country, by my fu-
 44 perior illumination, and will neither offend any one, nor
 44 be dependent on him : My fame will be illuftrious, and
 44 the glory which I  may obtain will be entirely my own."

                 The old  Man.
  44 My fon, talents  are ftill more rare than either birth
 44 or riches ; and, doubtlefs, they  are the moft invaluable
 44 pofleffions, becaufe nothing can  deprive us of them, and
 '" becaufe they univerfally conciliate public  efteem.  But
44 they coft a man dear ; they are  to be obtained  only bv
 41 privations of every kind ;  by an exquifite fenfibility,
 44 which  renders us  unhappy, both at home and  abroad,
 44 by the perfecution of our contemporaries.  In France,
 44 the lawyer does not envy the glory of  the Soldier, nor
44 the Soldier, that oS the Sailor, but every body will thwart
84 you  there, becauSe every body  piques  himSelS on his
 44 underflanding.   You will  Serve  mankind,  Say you ?
 44 But the perSon who produces them a fingle Sheaf of corn
44 from the ground,  does them a far more  profitable fer-
44 vice than he who gives them a book,"

                        Paul.
  44 Oh !  fhe who planted this  papaya has  given the in-
 fl habitants of  thefe forefts, a  much more ufeful and dc- 
PAUL AND  VIRGINIA.        293
 14 lightful prefent, than if fhe had given them a library :"
 And as he fpake, he took the tree  in his arms, and kiffed
 it with tranfport.

                   The  old  Man.
   44 The beft book that ever was written, which incul-
 44 cates only the do6trines of friendfhip, equality, human-
 44 ity, and  concord, namely, the Gofpel,  has Served, Sor
 44 many ages paft, as a pretext for the ravages of European
 44 cruelty.   How many  public and  private tyrannies are
 44 daily pra6tifed on the Earth, in  its name !  After that,
 44 who  can flatter himfelf with the hope of  being ufeful
 44 to Mankind by a book ?  Call to mind what has been
 44 the  fate of moft of thofe Philofophers, who preached
$44 up wifdom to Man.   Homer, who clothed  it in verfes
 44 fo beautiful, was reduced to beg his bread all  his life
 44 long. Socrates,  who gave to the Athenians fuch excel-
 44 lent -lcffons of it, both by  his difcourfes and by his man-
 44 ners, was condemned  by  them to fwallow  poifon, con-
 44 formably  to the fentence of  a  court of juftice.   His
 44 fublime  difciple, Plato, was doomed to flavery, by or-
 44 der of the very Prince who proteaed him ;  and, before
 44 their time, Pythagoras,  who  extended his humanity
 " even to the brute creation, was burnt alive by the Cro-
 44 tonians : What  do I  fay ? The greateft part of thefe
 44 illuftrious names have defcended  to us, disfigured  by
 44 fome traits of fatire, which characterise them ; for, hu-
 44 man  ingratitude delights to lay hold on thefe.  If, how-
 44 ever, among the  crowd, the glory  of any  hath reached
 44 our ears, pure and  untainted, they are thofe who have
 44 lived far from the fociety of their contemporaries ;  like
 44 thofe ftatues, which  are extraaed entire, out of the
 44 fields of Greece  and Italy, and  which, by being buried
 44 in the bofom of the earth, have  efcaped the fury of the
 44 barbarians.
   44 You fee, then, that, in  order to acquire the tempeftu-
 ** ous glory of literary fame, it is  neceffary  to exercife 
*94
studies of nature.'
 44 much  virtue, and to be  ready  to  facrifice life  itfelf.
 44 Befides, do you imagine, that this glory interefts wealthy
 44 people  in  France ? They greatly carefs  literary men,
 44 whofe learning does  not  raife them to  any dignity in
 44 their country, or to any  fituation  under government,
 44 nor procure  them admiffion at  Court.   PerSecution is
 44 little praaiSed in this age, So indifferent to every  thing
 44 except Sortune and pleafure ;  but knowledge and virtue
 ** Seldom raiSe a perfon, there, to a diftinguifhed rank, be-
 44 cauSe every thing in  the State is to  be  procured with
 44 money.  Formerly, thefe qualities were fure of meeting
 44 a recompenfe,  by places  either  in the  church, in  the
 44 magiftracy, or in the adminiftration ; but, at pTelent,
 44 they are only good for making books.  This fruit, how-
 44 ever, fo little prized by the  men of the World, is ever
44 worthy of its celeftial  origin.   It is to thefe very books,
 44 that the honour is referved, of bellowing  luftre on ob-
 14 fcurc virtue, oi confolingthe unfortunate, of enlighten-
 44 ing Nations,  and  of declaring the truth even to Kings.
 44 It is, undoubtedly, the  moft facred  office  with which
 44 Heaven can inveft a mortal on this  Earth.   Where is
44 the man, who has it not in his power to confole himfelf
 4f for the  injuflice, or  the contempt of thofe who have
 44 the difpofal of fortune,  when he  refleas, that his work
 44 will be handed down from age  to age, from nation to
 44 nation, and will ferve as a barrier againft error and ty-
44 ranny ; and that, from the bofom of obfeurity, in which
44 he has lived, a glory may iffue, which fhall eclipfe that
 ** of the greateft  part of Kings., whofe monuments fink
44 into oblivion, in fpite of the  flatterers who reared, and
44 who extol them ?

                       Paul.
   44 Ah !  I  fhould  covet  this  glory, only to diffufe its
44 luftre over Virginia,  and to  render her dear to all  the
 44 World.  But you, who have fo much experience, tell
 44 me, whether  we fhall ever marry ? I wifh to be a fchol-
44 irt at leaft to know what 1 am to expea in future." 
PAUL  AND VIRGINIA.        jSQ£
                 The old Man.
  14 Who would with to live, my fon, if he  knew what
44 was, to befal him hereafter ? A fingle forefeen calamity
44 occafions a thoufand vain anxieties : The certain prof-
44 pea of  a heavy affliaion would embitter all the days
44 which might precede it.  Indeed, it is not proper to en-
44 quire  too deeply, even into furrounding objeas ; Heav-
44 en,  which beftows refleaion upon us,  in order that w«r
44 may forefee our neceffities, has alfo given us neceffities,
44 to Set  bounds to our refleaion."

                       Paul.
  44 You tell me, that, in Europe, dignities and honours
44 are to be purchafed with  money.  I will go and acquire
44 wealth  in Bengal, and then direa my courSe  toward'
44 Paris,  and eSpoufe Virginia.  I will  go and embark
44 immediately."

                  The old  Man.
   44 How !  will you leave her mother and your own ?■"

                       Paul.
   44 Why, you yourSelf advifed me to go to India."

                 The Old Man.
   " When 1 gave you that advice, Virginia was here*
44  But,  at  prefent,  you are the  only  fupport  of  your
44  mothers."

                       Paul.
   44 Virginia will fend them  the means of fubfiftence,
**  Srom  the bounty of her rich relation."

                 The Old M'an;
   44  Rich people aflift thofe only who pay homage to them
44  in the World.  They have relations much more to be
44  pitied than Madame  de la  Tour, and who,  for want of
44 fupport from  them,  Sacrifice their liberty Sor  the Sake
44 of bread* and pafs their lives fhut up in a convent," 
*Qt5
STUDIES OF  NATURE.
                       Paul.
   " What a dreadful country Europe is !  Oh !  Virginia
" muft return hither.  What occafion has flic for a rich
44 relation ?  How happy the once was, under  thefe lowly
44 roofs, how beautiful, and how charming, when her head
44 was adorned  with a  red handkerchief, or a wreath of
" flowers.   Oh, Virginia, return, leave thy palaces  and
44 thy  greatnefs ;  return to thefe rocks, to the (hade of
44 thefe  woods,  and  to our cocoa trees.  Alas !  perhaps
44 at this very moment, thou  art miferable."........Saying
this, he  burft into tears.  44 Father," cried he, 44 conceal
44 nothing from  me ; if you are unable to tell me  wheth-
44 er  I  fhall ever marry Virginia, inform me, at leaft,
44 whether fhe ftill loves me,  though Surrounded by great
" men, who talk to the  King, and who vifit her ?

                 The Old  Man.
  44 Yes, my friend, I am  convinced,  by  many  reafons,
44 that fhe  loves you, but  principally by this, that fhe is
44 virtuous.rt  At thefe words, he clafped me round  the
neck,  tranfported with joy.

                        Paul.
  44 But do you believe European women to be fo incon-
44 ftant as they are reprefented  on the ftage, and in thofe
44 books which you have lent me ?"

                   The Old Man.
  " In thofe countries where men tyrannife, the  women
44 are always inconftant.  Violence ever produces deceit."

                       Paul.
  " How is it poffible Sor a man to exerciSe tyranny over
44 a woman  ?"
                 The Olt>  Man.
  14 By forcing women into marriage, without any  re-
44 gard to their  own inclinations ; a young girl to an old
l< man, a woman of feeling to a man  of infenfibility." 
P A U L A N D V I R G I N I A.          207
                        Paul.
  (t Vv hy do  they not  rather unite thoSe together, who
44 are more Suitable  to each  other ; the  young with the
44 young, and  lovers with thoSe on whom their affeaious
" are fixed ?"

                  The  Old Man.
  44 The reaSon is, that, in France, the generality of young
44 men have not Sufficient fortune to enable them to mar-
44 ry, and that they Seldom acquire  a competency till they
44 are advanced in years.   In  their  youth, they Seduce the
44 wives of their neighbours, and, when old, they are un-
44 able to fecure the affeaions  of thoir own wives.  When
44 young, they deceived others, and  when old, are, in their
44 turn, deceived themfelves.   It is one of the reaaions
44 of that univerfal juftice which governs  the World :  Iu
  it, one  excefs always  balances  another.  Thus,  moft
44 Europeans pafs their lives in a twofold diforder, and
44 this diforder is increafed in a fociety, proportionally as
44 riches are accumulated on a fmaller number of individ-
44 uals.  The  State refembles a garden,  in  which Small
44 trees are  unable to arrive at perfe£lion, if others too
44 great overfhadow  them ; but there is this manifeft dif-
44 ference, that the beauty of a garden may refult from a
44 fmall number of large trees, but the profperity of a State
44 ever depends on the multitude and  equality of the fub-
44 jeas, and  not on a fmall number, who  monopolize its
44 wealth."
                                \

                        Paul.
  44 But why is want of money a hindrance to marriage ?"

                  The  Old Man.
  44 Becaufe after a  man has entered  into that ftate, he
" wifhes to pafs his days in abundance, without the neceS-
" fity oS labouring."
  VOL. in.             O 0 
s§8         studies of  nature-

                       Paul.
   44 And why not labour ? I myfelf work very hard."

                  The Old Man.
   44  The reafon is, that, in Europe, manual labour is deem-
44 ed difhonourable.  It is there called mechanical labour :
44 Nay, that of cultivating the ground is efteemed the moft
44 defpicable of all.  There the artifan holds a Sar  highcE
44 rank than the peafant."

                       Paul.
   44 Flow ! the art which Supplies man with food, dcfpif-
44 ed in Europe !  I do not underftand you."

                  The Old Man.
  44  Oh !  it is impoffible for a man educated in a ftate of
44 Nature, to comprehend the depravity of a ftate of Soci-
44 ety.  Though fuch a one  is able to form, in his own
44 mind, an exaa idea of order, he cannot  form one  of dif-
44 order.   Beauty, virtue, and happineSs,  have propor-
44 tions ;  deSormity, vice, and rhiSery, have none."

                       Paul.
  44  The  rich,  then, are very  happy ; no obftacles lie in
44 their way ; and on the objeas of their love, they can
44 beftow pleafures without end."

                  The Old Man.
  44 They are, for the moft part, infenfibletoany pleafure,
44 becaufe the  attainment of  it  cofts  them no  trouble.
44 Does not experience teach you, that the enjoyment of
44 repofe is purchafed by fatigue ; that of eating, by hun-
44 ger ; that of drinking, by thirft  ? In like manner, that
44 of loving, and of being beloved, is only to be obtained
44 by a multitude  of privations  and  facrifices.   Their
44 wealth deprives rich  people of all  thefe pleafures, by
r4 outrunning their neceffuits.  Add,  befides, to the  dif-
44 guft which  always follows  fatiety,. that pride  which 
TAUT  AND VIRGINIA.         agp
44 Springs from their opulence, and  which the leaft pri-
44 vation wounds, even when the greateft enjoyments
44 have ceafed to flatter  it.   The perfume of  a thou-
44 fand rofes  only pleaSes  Sor  a  fingle  moment; but the
44 pain infliaed by one of their  thorns, lafts a long time
44 after the wound is received.  To the rich, one misfor-
44 tune, in the midft of many  enjoyments, is a thorn fur-
44 rounded by flowers ;  but, on the contrary, to the poor,
44 one pleafure, in the middle of many calamities, is a
011 flower furrounded on every fide by thorns.   They find
44 a poignant relifh in their enjoyments.  Every effea is
" heightened  by  its  contraft ; Nature has balanced  all
" things equally.  Every thing  confidered then, Which
44 ftate do you conceive to be preferable, that of having
44 almoft nothing  to  hope for, and all to  fear, or, that of
44 having nothing to fear, and every thing to  hope  for ?
C4 The firft of thefe ftates is that  of  the rich ;  the fecond,
44 that of the poor. Thefe extremes, however, are equally
44 difficult to he fupported by Man, whofe happinefs cott-
A> lifts in mediocrity and virtue,"

                         Paul.
   44 What do you underftand by the word virtue ?"

                  The Old Man.
   44 My Son, you who fupport your parents by the labour
44 of your hands, have no occafion  for a definition of it.
44 Virtue is an effort  made upon ourfelves, for the good
44 oS others, in the view of pleafing God only.

                        Paul.
   44 Oh, how virtuous then is Virginia f Virtue was her
44 aim, when fhe wifhed to become rich, in order that fhe
44 might exercife beneficence ; virtue made her leave this
44 ifland, and virtue will reftore her to us."  The idea of
her fpeedy return, kindling the young man's imagination,
all  his diSquietude  vanifhed in an  inftant.  Virginia had
not written, becaufe fhe was on the point of returning in 
300         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

perfon : So little time was  neceffary to return from Eu-
rope, with a fair wind.   He enumerated inftances of vef-
fels, which had made this voyage, of more than four thou-
fand five  hundred  leagues, in lefs  than  three months.
The veffel  in which fhe had embarked  would  not take
more than  two.  The  builders of the prefent day were
fo Skilful, and  the  mariners fo alert.  He talked of the
arrangements which he would make for her  reception ;
of the new  habitation which he intended to build ; and
of the pleafures and  the agreeable furpi ife which he would
contrive  for her every  day, when fhe became his wife ;
his wife......The idea ravifhed  his fenfes.   4< As for you,
41 father," faid  he to me, 44 you, in future, fhall  do noth-
44 ing but enjoy yourfelf.  Virginia  poffeffes wealth, and
44 we can purchafe plenty of Negroes, who will  work for
44 you.  You fhall  be with us always, and  nothing fhall
44 employ your mind, but amufement and pleafure."  Im-
mediately, he flew, like one diftra£ted, to communicate to
his family the joy with which he himfelf was intoxicated.
   Exceffive fears foon fucceed the moft Sanguine  hopes.
Violent paffions always plunge the Soul  into contrary ex-
tremes.   Frequently, on  the morrow, Paul came  to See
me, overwhelmed with grief.  He Said to me, <l I'irginia
41 has not written to me : Had fhe left Europe, fhe would
44 certainly have informed us of it.  Ah !  the reports which
44 have been Spread concerning her, are but too well Sound-
45 ed :  Her aunt has certainly married her to Some noble-
44 man.  The love of wealth has corrupted her, as is the
44 cafe with So many others.  In thoSe  books,  which So
44 well deScribe the  charaaer of the female fex, virtue is
44 merely a fubjea Sor romance.  Had Virginia  poffeffed
44 virtue, fhe would  not have quitted her own mother and
44 me.  While I paSs my life, with  my thoughts entirely
44 fixed  on her, fhe  has  caft me from her remembrance.
44 1 am tormenting myfelf, and fhe  is loft in  diffipation.
44 Ah ! that thought plunges me into defpair.   All labour
44 diSgufts me, and Society is a burthen.   Would to God, 
            PAUL AND VIRGINIA.          goi

 44 that war would break out in India, that I might  haften
 44 thither, and throw myfelf into the jaws of death."
   44 My  fon," replied I, 44 that  courage  which makes us
 44 rufti on to meet death, is the courage of only a fingle mo-
 44 ment.   It  is  often  excited  by the vain applaufe of
 44 man.   There is a fpecies of courage more rare, and ftill
 44 more neceffary,  which enables us  daily to fupport the
 44 misfortunes  of  life,  without a witnefs, and without
 " praife ; what I  mean is patience.  It refts not on the
 44 opinion of another,  nor on  the  impulfe  of our own
 44 paffions,but on the willof God.   Patience is the cour-
 44 age of  virtue."
   44 Ah,  then," cried he, 44 I have no virtue ! every thing
 44 overwhelms me, and finks me into deSpair."   " Virtue,"
 replied I, "always equal, conftant, and invariable, is not.
 44 the portion of  Mankind.  In the conflia of fo  many
 44 paffions by which we are agitated, our reafon is troubled
 44 and obfcured ;  but there are pharofes by which we can
 44 rekindle the flame ; I  mean Letters.
   44 Letters, my fon, are an afiiftance Sent to us Srom Heav-
 44 en.  They are  rays of that Wifdom which governs the
 44 UniverSe, and which Man, inSpired by a celeftial art, has
 44 learned to eftablifh upon this  Earth.   Like the rays of
 44 the Sun, they enlighten, they comfort, they warm : It
 44 is a flame altogether divine.   Like fire, they  direct all
 44 Nature to our ufe.  By means of them, we unite around
 44 us,  men and things,  times  and places. By them, we
 " feel ourfelves recalled  to the rules of human life.   They
 44 calm the paffions ;  they  reprefs vice ; they roufe vir-
 44 tue, by the  facred  example of thofe great men whom
 44 they celebrate, and whofe honoured images they habitu-
 44 ally prefent to us, crowned with refpea. They are the
 44 daughters of Heaven,  who  defcend to  Earth, in order
 44 to foothe the misfortunes of the Human Race.   The
 44 great Writers, whom they infpire, have always appeared
 44 in times the moft difficult for human Society to fubfift,
" the times of barbarifra  and of depravity.  My dear fon, 
30*       STUDIES  OF NATURE.

44 letters have afforded  confolation to an infinite number
44 of men,  far more miferable than you are ; Xenofhon,
444 banifhed  from  his country,  after having brought back
44 to it ten thoufand Greeks ; Scipio Africanus, exhauft-
44 ed with the relentlefs calumny of the Roman people ;
44 Lucullus, fickened with their cabals ; and Catinat, flung
*c with the  ingratitude of a French Court.   The  ingenious
44 Greeks affigned the  feVeral government of our various
" intelleaual powers to  the  feveral Mufes, who prefide
44 over Letters : We ought, therefore, to  refign to  them
44 the government of our paffions, in order that they may
*4 direa and curb them.   They ought, with regard to the
44 faculties of the foul,  to perform the fame funaions with
44 the Hours, which yoked, and guided the horfes of the
44 Sun.
  44 Apply yourfelf, then, my Son, to the  ftudy of books.
44 Thofe wife men, who have written before us, are trav-
44 ellers who have preceded us  in the  paths of calamity,
44 who ftretch out the  hand toward us, and invite us to
44 join their fociety, when every body elfe has abandoned
44 us.  A good  book is a good friend."
   44 Ah !" cried Paul, 44  I had no occafion to know how
44 to read  when Virginia was here :  She had  ftudied no
44 more than  I  had  done, but when the looked upon me,
44 calling me her friend, it was impoffible  Sor me to know
44 what Sorrow meant."
   44 DoubtleSs," Said  I  to him, 44 there  can be no Sriend
*4 fo  agreeable,  as  a  miftreSs who  loves  reciprocally.
 14 There is, befides, in  woman, a lively gaiety, which diffi-
44 pates the penfiveneSs  of man.   Her graces make the
44 dark phantoms  of  refleaion  to fly away.   On  her
44 countenance are depiaed  the gentle attractions of con-
44 fidence.   What joy  is not heightened by her joy ? What
44 forehead is not fmoothed when fhe fmiles ? What wrath
*' can repel her tears  ? Virginia will return  with more
 44 philofophy than  you poffefs ;  fhe  will be greatly fur-
 44 prifed at not finding the garden entirely reftored,  fhe, 
            P*.UL AND VIRGINIA.          gOj

 K whofe thoughts are fixed on embellifhing it, in fpite of
 44 th£ perfecutions of her relation, while far  from her
 44 mother, and from you."
   The idea of the approaching return of Virginia, reno-
 vated the  courage  of  Paul,  and brought him back to his
 rural occupations.  Happy in the midft of his perturba-
 tion, in propofing to his exertions, an end congenial to his
 predominant paflion.
   One morning, at day break, it was the 24th of Decem-
 ber, 1752, Paul, on rifing, perceived a white flag hung out
 on Mount Difcovery.  This  flag was the fignal that a vef-
 fel was defcried at fea.  He immediately flew to the city,
 in order to learn if it brought any intelligence of Virginia.
 He remained there till  the return of  the pilot of the port,
 who, according to cuftom, had gone out  to  reconnoitre
 her.   This man did not come back  till the evening.  He
 reported to the Governor, that the veffel which thev had
 hailed was the Saint Gerand,  of about Seven hundred tons
 burthen, commanded by a captain named M. Aubin ;  that
 fhe was four leagues diftant  at  moft, and that fhe could
 not come  to her moorings,  off Port Louis,  till the next
 day, in the afternoon, if  the  wind was fair.   It was thea
 a dead  calm.  The pilot  then delivered to the Governor
 the letters which the  veffel  had brought from France.
 Among others, there  was one in Virginia's hand writing
 for Madame de la Tour.  Paul feized it immediately, and,
 having kiffed it  with  tranfport, he  put  it in his bofom,
 and flew to the plantation.  As foon as he could perceive
 theifamily, from  afar, who  were waiting his return on
 Rtfck Farewel, he raifed  the letter  into the  air, without
 the power of uttering a fyllable : Immediately, the  whole
 family affembled round Madame de la Tour to hear it read.
   Virginia informed her mother that fhe had experienced
very harfh treatment from her grandaunt, who had attempt- *
ed to  force her into marriage, had afterwards  difinherited
her, and then turned her away, at a time which would not
permit her  to arrive at the Ifle France, till the hurricane 
304         STUDIES  OF   MATURE.
feafon : That fhe had, to no purpofe, endeavoured to Soft-
en her, by reprefentmg what fhe owed to her mother, and
to the  conneaions  of  her early life ;  tlaat fhe had been
treated by her, as a girl whofe head was turned with read-
me- romances ; that, at prefent,  her only wifh was, once
more, to  See and embrace her dear family, and that the
would have gratified this ardent wifh that very day, if the
captain would have allowed her to embark in the pilot
boat, but that he had oppofed her  departure, on account
of the diftance of the fhore, and of a heavy  fwell at fea, in
the offing, notwithftanding the ftillnefs of the wind.
   Scarce was this letter read, than the whole family, tranf-
poried  with  joy, cried  out  :  44 Virginia is arrived."
Matters and Servants  embraced  each other  by  turns.
Madame  de la Tour faid to Paul ; 4< My  fon, go and in-
44 form our  neighbour of  Virginia's arrival."  Domingo
immediately lighted a flambeau of round wood, and then,
in company with Paul, direaed his  courfe toward  my
habitation.
   It might be about ten  o'clock at night : I had juft ex-
tinguished  my lamp, and had  lain down to fleep, when I
perceived, through  the pallifades of my cottage, a light
in the woods.   Soon after, I heard the voice of  Paul,
calling me by name.   1 immediately arofe, and was Scarce-
ly dreffed, when  Paul,  almoft  diftraaed and breathleSs,
claSped me round the neck, Saying, 44 Come, come along,
44  Virginia is arrived.  Let us haften to the port, the veS-
44 fel will anchor there by day break."
   We immediately bent our courfe thither.  As we viere
croffing the woods of the Long Mountain, and already on
the road  which leads from Pamplemouffes to  the port, I
heard the found of fome one walking behind us.  It was
a negro hurrying on with his  utmofl fpeed.  As foon as
he had overtaken us, I  afked him whence he  came,  and
whither he was going with fuch expedition : He replied,
44 I come from that  quarter of the ifland which is called
" Gold Dull, and am difpatched to inform the Governor, 
            PAUL AND  VIRGINIA.         $©5

44 that  a veffel  from France has juft  caft anchor under
" Amber Ifland.  She is firing guns, in token of diftrefs,
44 for the fea is  very boifterous."  The man, having thus
fpoken, immediately haftened forwards.
  I then faid  to Paul,  '4 Let  us go  toward  Gold Duft,
" to meet Virginia ; it is only three leagues from hence."
We, accordingly, direaed our fteps toward the northern
part of the ifldnd.  The heat was ftifiing :  The moon had
juft arifen ; three black circles furrounded her.  A fright-
ful  darknefs overfpread the  whole face of Heaven.   By
the  frequent flafhes of lightning,  we  difcovered  long
ftreamers of thick clouds, gloomy and lowering at no great
height, piled one above  another, toward the middle of the
ifland, which rufhed from the fea with an amazing rapids
ity, although,  on land, not the leaft breath of wind was
ftirring*   Haftening onwards, we thought we heard the
roaring of thunder, but, on liftening more attentively, we
difcovered it to be the  report of cannon, reverberated by
the echoes.  The noife of the diftant firing, joined to the
tempeftuous appearance of the HeavenSj made me fhudder.
I had no doubt that  it  was a.Signal of diftrels from Some
Veffel on the point of foundering.   About half an hour af-
terwards the  firing  CeaSed, and this  filence  ftruck me as
much  more awful  than the mournful Sounds which had
preceded it.
   We quickened our pace without Saying a word, or dar-
ing to communicate our uneafineSs to each other.  Toward
midnight, we arrived,  in a  violent heat, on the Sea fhore,
at the  quarter called Gold Duft.   The waves dafhed them-
felves  againft it with a fearful noife.   The foam,  of a daz-
zling whiteneSs, and Sparkling like fire, covered the rocks
and fhores.  Notwithftanding the darknefs, we could diS-
tinguifh, by theSe phoSphoric lights, the canoes of the filh-
ermen, which they had, long before, drawn a great way up
on the ftrand.
  At fome diftance from  thence,  at  the  entrance of the
wood, we defcried afire, round which Several of the plant-
   VOL. m,              p  p 
 306        STUDIES OF  NATURE.

 ers were affembled.  We went  thither to reft ourfelves",
 and to wait for the return of day.  Whilft we fat by the
 fire, one of the planters told us, that the preceding after-
 noon, he had feen a veffel at fea, borne toward the ifland-
 by the currents ; that the lhades of the night had  conceal-
 ed her from his view, and that t\vo hours after lunfet, he
 had heard the firing of cannon, as a fignal calling for aflift.
 ance, but that the fea ran fo high, no one would fend out
 a boat to her relief : That foon aSter, he  could perceive
 their lanterns  lighted up, and, in that caSe, he was aSraid,
 the veffel having come So near the fhore, might havepaff-
 ed between the  main land and  the little Hie of Amber,
 miftaking the  latter Sor  Mire Point, near which, the veS-
 fels arriving at Port Louis are  accuftomed to pafs ; that
 if it were fo, which, however, he could not abfolutely af-
 firm, the veffel muft be in the greateft danger.  Another
 planter then fpoke, and  told  us, that he had feveral times
 paffed through the  channel which Separates the Ifle of Am-
 ber from the coaft ; that  he had founded it, and found that
 the mooring and anchoring ground were excellent ;  and,
 that the veffel was as Safe there as in the moft fecure har-
 bour.  44 I would rifk my whole Sortune in  her," added
 he, " and could fleep as  Soundly as if I were on dry land."
 A third planter afferted, that  it was impoffible Sor a veffel
 of that fize to  enter the channel, as even boats could  with
 difficulty navigate it.   He Said,  that lie had Seen her an-
 chor beyond the Ifle of Amber, fo that if the breeze fprung
 up in the morning,  fhe would have it in her power, either
 to put to fea again,  or to gain the harbour.  Other plant-
 ers delivered various opinions.
   Whilft they were diSputing among themfelves,  as is
 very cuftomary with idle Creoles, Paul and 1 kept a pro-
 Sound Silence.   We remained there till peep of dawn, but,
then, there was too little  light in the Heavens, to admit of
our diftinguifhing any objea  at fea,  which, befides, was
 covered with a thick fog ; we could only defcry to wind-
ward) a dufky cloud, which  they  told us  was the Ifle of 
PAUL  AWD  VIRGINIA.
S"P7
Amber, Situated at a quarter of a  league's diftance from
the coaft.  We perceived no objea by this gloomy light,
but the point  of  land  where we were, and the peaks  of
Some of the mountains of the interior of the ifland, appear-
ing, from time to  time, in  the  midft of the clouds which
floated around them.
   About Seven in  the morning, we heard the found'of
drums in the woods : It was the Governor, M. de  la
Jiourdonaye, who  came on horfeback, attended by a de-
tachment of foldiers, armed with mufkets, and by a great
number of  planters  and negroes.   He  drew  up  the fol-
diers on the beach,  and ordered  them  to fire a  volley.
Scarcely had they done So, when we perceived, on the Sea,
a flafh of light, almoft immediately  fucceeded by  the re-
port of a cannon.   We concluded that the veffel  was  at
no great diftance  from us, and we all flew to that quarter
where we had feen her Signal.  We then diScerned, through
the mift, the hull and Sail yards of a large veffel. We were
fo clofe to her, that, notwithflanding the roaring of the fea,
we diftinaiy heard the boatfwain's whittle, and the voices
oSthe Sailors, who gave three cheers of, Long live the
King : For this is the exclamation of Frenchmen, when in
extreme danger, as well as amidft their greateft rejoicings ;
as if they meant to call their Prince to their affiflance, in
perilous SeaSons, or as  if they intended, even  then, to de-
clare, that they were ready to meet death  for his fake.
   From the moment  that the Saint Gerand perceived  we
were within  reach  of giving her afiiftance, fhe went on
firing a gun every  three  minutes.   M. de la Bourdonaye
ordered large fires to be kindled, here and there, along the
Strand, and fent to all the  inhabitants  of the neighbour-
hood,  in quell of provifions,  planks, cables,  and empty
cafks.   A multitude foon arrived,  accompanied  by their
negroes, loaded with provifions  and cordage, who came
Srom the plantations of Gold  Duft,  the quarter of  the
Marfli, and from  Rampart River.  One of  the oldeft of
thefe planters approached the Governor, and thus addreff. 
308        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

cd him :  44 Sir, deep founds have, all  night  long,  been
44 heard in the mountain.  In  the  woods, the leaves are
44 violently agitated, though there is not a breath ot  wind
44 ftirring.  The fea biros are flocking,  in crowds, to take
44 refuge on the land ; furely, all thefe Signs announce the
44 approach of a hurricane."   "  Well,  my friend," repli-
ed tiie Governor, 44 we are well prepared for it, and,  fure-
44 lv, the  veffel is fo likewife."
  In truth, the whole  appearance of Nature  prefaged an
approaching  tempeft.  The clouds which were diftin-
guifhable  in  the  zenith, were, at  their  centre,  awfully
black,  and their edges of a  copper colour.  The air re-
founded with the fcreams of the paillencu,  the frigat, the
water cutter, and a multitude of other fowls,  which, not-
withftanding the gloom of the atmofphere, flocked from
all points of the horizon, to  feek a flicker in the ifland.
  Toward nine o'clock in the morning,  fearful noifes were
heard Srom the Sea, as if torrents of  water, mingled with
the roaring thunder, were rufhing from  the mountain tops.
The whole company exclaimed, 44 There's the  hurricane!'
and, at the fame moment, an awful whirlwind carried off
the fog, which overfpread the Ifle of Amber, and its  chan-
nel.   The Saint Gerand was then plainly defcried, her
deck crowded with people, her yards and round tops low-
ered, her flag hoifted, Sour cables on  her fore caftle, and
one to keep her  faft  aftern.   She had anchored between
the Ifle of Amber and the main land, within the Shelvy en-
cloSure, which Surrounds the Ifle  of France, and which
fhe had weathered through a channel that no veffel had ev-
er paffed beSore.   She preSented her bows to  the billows,
which rolled on Srom the main Ocean ; and at every Surge
which forced  its way into the  channel, her prow was ele-
vated to  Such a height, that her  keel was perceptible  in
the air ;  but, by this motion,  her  ftern,  plunging down-
ward, disappeared from view, to its verv carved work, as
if it had  been entirely Swallowed up.   In this  fituation, in
which the winds and the waves  were  driving her tqward 
PAUL AND VIRGINIA.
3°9
the fhore, it was equally impoffible to  return through the
track by which fhe had entered, or, by cutting her cables,
to run  aground upon the fhore, from which fhe was Sepa-
rated by a deep  bottom, Sown thick with Shelving rocks.
Every billow which broke againft the coaft, rufhed on,,
roaring, to the very bottom of the bay, and toffed the peb-
bles more than fifty feet up the fhore ; then, retiring back-
wards,  discovered a great  part  oS its bed, the ftones of
which  were dafhed. backward and forward, with  a rough
and horrible noiSe.   The  Sea, Swelled  by the winds, in-
creaSed every moment, and the  whole channel,  between
this ifland and  the Ifle oS  Amber, appeared to be an im-
menSe fheet of white foam, hollowed into deep and dufky
waves.  This foam colle£ted itfelf at  the bottom of the
creeks, to the height of more than fix feet, and the winds,
which brufhed along its furface, carried it beyond the fteep
cliffs of the fhore, more than half a league into the ifland.
At fight of thefe innumerable white  flakes, which were
driven, in a.horizontal direaion, to the very fpot of the
mountains, you  would have thought  that hills  of fnow
were rufhing from the fea.   The horizon prefented every
Symptom  of a lengthened tempeft : The Heavens and the
Sea Seemed to be confounded in it with each other. There  *
were inceffantly detached from it, clouds of  a fearful ap-
pearance, which flew along the  zenith, with the velocity
of birds ; whilft others appeared in it immoveable,  like
enormous rocks.  Not a fingle Spot oS azure was percep-
tible in the  whole  firmament ;  a pale and olive coloured
glare was all that illuminated the objeas on the Earth, on
the Sea, and in the Heavens,
   By  the violent ftraining of the veffel, what we feared
at length took place.  The cables on her bows Snapped ;
and as  fhe then rode by a fingle halSer, fliewas dafhed up-
on the rocks, half a  cable's  length from the fhore.  One
fcream of grief burft from  every breaft.  Paul was flatt-
ening to throw himfelf into the fea, when I Seized him by
the arm.  " My fon," Said I to him,  44 are you determin- 
£I1>       STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

44 ed to deftroy yourfelf ?" 44 Oh, let me go to her affift-
44 ance " cried he, 44 or let me die !" As defpair had over-
powered  his reafon, Domingo and L, in order to prevent
his deftruaion, tied round his middle a long cord, one of
the extremities of which we held faft.  Paul then advanc-
ed toward the»Saint Gerand, fometimes fwimming, fome-
times walking on  the fhallows.  Sometimes, he had the
hope of getting on board,  tor the Sea, in theSe  irregular
movements, leSt the  veffel nearly dry, So that you might
almoft walk round and round her :  But prefently, return-
ing with renovated  fury, it  covered her with enormous
arches of water, which carried away the whole fore part
of her bottom, and dafhed the unhappy Paul  a great way
up  on the fhore, his  legs bleeding, his cheft bruiSed, and
half drowned.  Scarcely  had this young man recovered
the ufe of his  fenfes, than he got up again, and returned,
with  redoubled  ardor, toward  the  fhip, which the  fea,
meanwhile, had torn afunder with  unremitting attacks.
Upon this, the whole crew, defpairing of Safety, threw them-
felves, in crowds, into the Sea ; Some on mails, on planks,
on hen coops, on tables, and  on  cafks. Then appeared an
objea worthy of eternal regret; a young lady  was feen on
the ftern gallery of  the Saint Gerand, ftretching out her
arms toward him, who was making fo many  fruitlefs ef-
forts to join her.   It was Virginia.   She Soon discovered
her lover  by his  intrepidity.  At  fight oS this amiable
girl, expoSed  to perils So  dreadful, we were overwhelmed
with forrow and defpair.   As for  Virginia, with a noble
and dignified air, fhe waved her hand to us,  as if to bid us
an eternal farewel.  The  Sailors had all thrown themSelves
into the Ocean.  One alone remained on the deck, who
was entirely  naked,  and  ftrong as a Hercules.   He  ap-
proached Virginia reSpeafully ; we faw him  throw him-
felf at her knees, and even endeavour to perfuade her to
pull off her clothes ;  but  fhe, repelling him, with dignity,
turned her face the other way.  The air refounded with
thefe redoubled cries of the foeaators : 44 Save  her, oh, 
PAUL AND VIRGINIA.
3**
 w fave her ;  do not, do not quit her."  But, at the fame
 moment, a mountain of water, of an enormous fize, en-
 gulphed itfelf between the  Ifle  of  Amber and the coaft,
 and advanced, roaring, toward the veffel, which it menac-
 ed with its dufky  fides  and foaming Summits.  At this
 awful fpeaacle, the Sailor flung himSelf alone into the fea,
 and Virginia, perceiving death inevitable, placed one hand
 on her clothes, and the other on her  heart ;  then raifing
 her placid eyes toward  Heaven, fhe feemed an angel, go-
 ing to take flight toward the celeftial regions.
   Oh, day ot horror ! Alas ! all was fwallowed up.   The
 Surge dafhed  far up the Shore, a part of  the Speaators,
 whom an emotion of humanity had  prompted to advance
 toward  Virginia,,  as well as the failor, who had attempted
 to preferve her by  Swimming.   This man, eScaped from
 almoft certain death, kneeled down  upon the  ftrand, fay-
 ing, 44 Oh, my God, thou haft preferved my life ; but
 44 I would have Sacrificed it, willingly, to fave that  of the
 44 excellent  young  lady, who,  with all  my  perfuafion,
 44 would not be prevailed on to undrefs herSelf, as I did."
 Domingo and I drew out from the waves the unfortunate
 Paul, entirely deprived of  recolleaion, whilft the  blood
gufhed  from his  mouth and  ears.   The  Governor put
him under  the care of Surgeons, while we traverSed the
 fea  fhore, to See whether the billows  had not borne the
body oS Virginia  thither ; but the wind  having Suddenly
 changed, as is very cuftomary in the cafe of  hurricanes,
we had the mortification of refleaincr, that we fhould not
have it  in our power to  render  to  this  unfortunate girl
even the rites of fepulture.   We haftened  from the fpot,
overwhelmed with forrow,  our minds  entirely engroffed
with  the lofs of only one  perfon, in a Shipwreck  where
So many had pcrifhed ; the greater part doubting, Srom
an end  fo diSaftrous, beSalling a young  woman oS Such
exalted virtue, whether a Providence exifted  at all ; for
there are calamities, So dreadful, and  So unmerited, that
the confidence,, even of  the wifeft, is  frequently ftaggered, 
gtfl        STUDIES OF NATURE.

  Meanwhile, they  had placed Paul, who now began to
recover the  uSe of his SenSes, in  an  adjoining houSe, till
his fituation permitted him to be carried to his own home.
As  for  me, 1 was  returning with Domingo, in order to
prepare Virginia's mother, and her friend,  for this calam-
itous event, when,  on our arrival at the entrance ot  the
valley of the river of the Lataniers,  fome negroes inform-
ed us, that the fea was driving a  great deal of the wreck
of the veffel up the oppofite bay.  We defcended thith-
er, and  one of  the firft objeas which we  deScried upon
the fhore, was the body of Virginia.   It was half cov-
ered with Sand, and in the very attitude  in which we had
feen her perifh.  There was no fenfible alteration in her
features.  Her eyes were clofed, but Serenity ftill Sat up-
on her  Sorehead ; only the pale  violet of  death  blended
itfelf upon her cheeks, with the rofes of modefty.  One
of her hands lay upon her clothes  ; the other, which clung
to her  heart, was firmly clofed  and ftiff.  I difengaged
from it, with much difficulty, a little  cafket ;  but how
was I  aftonifhed,  when I  perceived in it,  the portrait
which Paul had given her,  and which fhe had promifed
him never to part with while She lived.   At this laft to-
ken of the conftancy, and the love of this unhappy  girl,
I wept  bitterly.  As for Domingo,  beating his breaft, he
pierced the air with his mournful cries.  We, then, car-
ried the body to a fifherman's hut, where we gave it in
charge   to fome poor  Malabar  women,  who  wafhed  it
careSully.    ^
  Whilft they were performing this  fad office, we aScend-
ed, trembling, toward  the  plantation.  We there Sound
Madame de la Tour and Margaret at prayer, in  expeaa-
tion of news concerning the veffel.   As Soon as the  for-
mer perceived me, She exclaimed, ll Where is my daugh-
44 ter ?  my  beloved Virginia ?  my child ?" As my Si-
lence, and my tears,  but too well informed her of the ca-
lamity which had happened, fhe was fuddenly feized with
a fuffocation, and agonizing fpafms ; her  voice could be 
f» A U L AND  VIRGINIA.
3*3
diftinguifhed only in Sighs and Sobbing.   Margaret  ex-
claimed,  44 Where is my  Son ? 1 do not  See  my  Son ;"
and fainted away.   We haftened td her, and having brought
her to herfelf, I affured her that Paul was alive, and that
the Governor had taken proper care of him.   She recov-
ered the ufe of her fenfes, only to devote her attention to
the affiftance of her  friend, who, from time to time,  fell
into long  fainting fits.   Madame de la Tour paffed  the
night in thefe cruel paroxyfms, and, by the length of their
duration, I have judged that nothing equals the Sorrow of
a mother.  When fhe recovered her reafon, fhe fixed her
mournful  eyes fledfaftly toward  Heaven.  In vain  did
Margaret and I prefs her hands between ours, in Vain did
we addrefs her by the moft tender appellations ; to all
theSe teftimonies of our ancient affeaion, fhe appeared to-
tally infenfible, and  nothing but deep groans proceeded
from her oppreffed bofom.
   The next morning, they  brought Paul, Stretched along
in a palanquin.  Reafon bad refumfed its empire, but his
voice was entirely  loth   His interview with  his mother
and Madame de la  Toiir, which, at firft,  I had been appre-
henfive of, produced a better effea than all  the care which
I had hitherto taken.  A ray of comfort beamed on the
countenances of thefe two unhappy mothers.   They both
approached him, clafped him in their arms, kiffed  him ;
and  thofe tears  which  had been, till  then, reftrained,'
through exceSs oS Sorrow, now  began to flow.  Paul Soon
mingled his with theirs.   Nature being thus difburdened,,
in theSe three unhappy beings, a languid oppreflion Suc-
ceeded to the convulfions of their grief, and procured  for
them a lethargic repofe,  which bore, in truth, a ftrong re-
Semblance to death.
   Meanwhile, M. de la Bourdonaye Sent a meffenger to
me privately, informing me, that the body of  Virginia
had, by his order, been conveyed to the city, and that,
from thence, he meant to have it carried to the church of
Pamplemouffes.  I immediately went down to Port Lou-
   VOL. III.               o 2 
 3'14          STUDIES  OF NATURE1.

 is, where I found the inhabitants affembled from all part?,
 to affift at her funeral, as if the ifland had loft, in her, the
 moft precious treafure which it contained.   In  the port,
 the fhips  had the fail yards laid  acrofs, their flags half
 hoi fled up, and they were firing minute guns.  The gren-
 adier company opened the funeral proceffion.  They car-
 ried  their arms  inverted.  Their drums, covered with
 long pieces of crape, emitted only founds of  woe :  Grief
 fat ftrongly  depiaed on  the countenances of thofe war-
 riors, who had, a thoufand times, braved death in the field,
 with undaunted courage.   Eight young ladies, of the moft
 confiderable rank in the ifland, clothed in white, and hold-
 ing palm  boughs in their  hands, bore the body of their
 virtuous companion, ftrewed over with flowers.  A choir
 of little children followed it, chanting hymns :  Then, af-
 ter them,  the officers of higher rank, and the principal in-
 habitants of the ifland, and,  laft of all, the Governor him-
 felf, followed by a crowd of the common people.
   Thus far had Government interpofed, in ordering that
 fome honours might be rendered to the virtues of Virgin-
 ia.  But  when the body had  arrived  at the  foot of this
 mountain, at  the  fight ot thofe very  huts the happinefs
 of which fhe had fo long  conftituted, and which her death
 had filled with Sorrow, the whole  funeral ceremony was
 deranged ;  the hymns and  the chanting ceafed ; nothing
 was' now  to  be heard in the plain, but Sighs and  Sobs.
 Crowds of young  girls, belonging to the neighbouring
 plantations, haftened to Spread over the coffin of Virginia,
 handkerchiefs, chaplets, and wreaths of flowers, invoking
 her as if fhe had been a faint.  Mothers prayed  Fleaven
 to beftow on them daughters like  her ; the young  men,
 miftreffes  as conftant ; the poor, a friend  as affeaionate,
and the flaves, a miftrefs as kind.
  When they had  arrived at the  place deftined Sor her
 interment, the negreffes of MadagaScar, and the CaSres of
 Mofambique, placed bafkets oS Sruit  around her body,
and SuSpended  pieces of fluff on the neighbouring  trees. 
T- A U L AND VIRGINIA.         gig
according to the cuftom of their country.  The Indians of
Bengal, and thofe of the coaft of Malabar, brought cages of
birds, which they fet at liberty over her corpfe ;  to Such
a degree does the Jofs of a beloved objea intereft  all  Na-
tions, and fuch a power does  unfortunate virtue  poffefs,
feeing it attraas and unites all religions around its tomb.
   It was neceffary to place a guard near her grave, in or-
der to  keep back Some of  the daughters of the" poor in-
habitants, who were rufhing to throw themfelves  into it,
declaring, that, in this World, their Sorrow would admit
of no consolation, and that nothing now remained for them,
but to die with her, who had been their only benefaarefs.
She wTas interred near the church of Pamplemouffes, on
its weftern fide, at the  foot of a tuft of bamboos, where,
in going to mafs, with her mother and Margaret, fhe de-
lighted  to repoSe, Seated by the fide of him, whom  fhe
then uSed to call brother.
   On  returning from the funeral ceremony, M. de la
Bourdonaye afcended this mountain, followed by a part of
his numerous retinue.   He tendered to Madame de la Tour,
and her friend, all the affi fiance which  lay in his power.
He expreffed himfelf  in few words, but with great indig-
nation, againft her unnatural relation : Approaching Paul,
he faid  every thing which  he thought  could have a ten-
dency to confole him.   44 I was  anxious to contribute to
44 your happineSs, and that of your family,"Sdidhe;  4,Heav-
44 en is the witnefs  of my Sincerity.  My  friend,  you
44  muft  go  to  France ; 1 will procure you employment
44  there.   During your abfence, I will take as much care
4i ot your mother as if fhe were my own."   At the fame
time, he held out his hand to him ;  but Paul drew back
his, and turned his head afide,  that he might not fee him.
   As for myfelf, I remained  in  the dwelling ot  my un-
fortunate friends, to adminifter to them., as well as to Paul,
all the affiftance I could.   At the end of three weeks, the
latter was able to walk  ; but mental  depreflion feemed to
increafe,in proportion as his body grew ftronger.   He was 
316
STUDIES  OF  NATURE,
infenfiblc to every thing ; his looks were languid, and he
did not anfwer a fyllable to all the queftions  which were
put to him.   Madame de la Tour, who  was in a dying
condition,  frequently  faid to him, 44 My fon, fo long as
44 I fee you, I think I behold my dear Virginia."   At the
name of  Virginia, he ftarted up, and haftened from her,
in fpite  of the entreaties of his mother, who called  him
back  to her friend.   He wandered  alone to the garden,
and  feated himfelf at the  foot of Virginia's cocoa tree,
with his eyes ftedfaftly fixed  on her fountain.  The Gov-
ernor's furgeon, who  had  taken the greateft care of him,
and  of the  ladies, told  us,  that, in order to remove the
gloomy  melancholy which had fettled on his mind, we
ought to allow  him to do every thing that  he pleafed,
without contradiaing him in any refpea ;  Sor  this was
the onjy  means of vanquifhing that filence which he fo
obftinately preferved.
   I refolved  to follow his advice.   As Soon as Paul Selt
his ftrength, in Some  degree, reftored, the firft uSe which
he made of  it, was to retire  from the plantation.   As I
did not wifh tolofe fight of him, I walked behind, and de-
fired Domingo to bring Some provifions, a^id  to accompa,-
nv us.  In proportion as the young man  deScended Srom
this mountain, his joy and ftrength Seemed to revive.   He,
at firft, bent bis courSe toward  Pamplemeuffes, and when
he had arrived at the church, in the bamboo alley, he went
direaiy to the fpot where he Saw the earth had been new-
ly dug up :  There, he kneeled down, and raifing his eyes
to Heayen, he offered up a long prayer. This aaion appear-
ed to me a happy prefage of returning reafon,  as this mark
of confidence in the Supreme IJeing, was a proof that his
foul began to refume its natyral ftjnaions.   Domingo and
I fell down on our knees after his example, and prayed with
him.  At  length he  arofe,  and walked  to the northern
part of the ifland, without paying much attention to  us.
As I knew that he was entirely ignorant, not only where
the body of Virginia was  depofited,  but alfo, whether or 
           PAUL  AND VIRGINIA.         317

not it had been faved from the Sea, I afked him, why. he
had been praying to  God at the foot of the bamboos ;  he
replied, 44 We have  been there together fo often !"
   He  continued his journey to the entrance of the foreft,
where night overtook us.  There I perfuaded him, by my
example,  to take fome  nourifhment ;  we then rcpofed
ourSelves  upon the graSs, at the foot of a tree.   The next
day, I was in expeaation,  that he would direa his fteps
homewards again.  In truth, he fixed his eyes,  for  fome
time, Srom  the  plain, oa the church  of  Pamplemouffes,
with its long rows of bamboos, and made fome movements
to return thither ; but he Suddenly buried himfelf  in the
foreft, always dire6ting bis courfe toward the North.   I
penetrated his intention, and  in vain endeavoured to dif-
fuade him from  it.  We  arrived,  about  midday, at the
quarter of Gold Duft.   He haftily  defcended to the fea
Shore, exaaiy oppofite  to the place  where the Saint Ge-
rand had perifhed.   At fight of the Ifle of Amber, and  its
channel, then as Smooth as a mirror, he exclaimed, '4 Vir-
44 ginia !  oh, my beloved Virginia !" and then  Sell down
in a Swoon.  Domingo and I  carried him to the interior
oS the foreft, where we brought him to himfelf, with much
difficulty.  When  he had recovered his SenSes, he was
preparing to return to the Sea fhore ;  but, having entreat-
ed him not to renew his own grief and ours, by  fuch cru-
el rccolleaions,  he took another road.  In Short, for eight
days together, he rambled to all thofe places which he was
accufiomed to frequent, with the companion of his infan-
cy.  He wandered along the path, through which fhe had
gone, to afk pardon Sor the flave of the Black River : He
then vifited  the  borders  oS the river oS the Three Paps,
where  She had Set down, when  unable to walk any farther,
and that part  of the wood, in which fhe had been  loft.
Every place that recalled to his mind,  the inquietudes, the
fports, the repafts, and the beneficence of his much loved
Virginia ; the river of the Long Mountain, my little hab-
itation, the neighbouring cafcade, the papaya which file 
gt8        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

had planted, the mo fly ground where fhe delighted to run,
and the crofs paths of the foreft where fhe loved to Sing,
each, by turns, caufed his tears to flow : The very echoes
which had, So often, repeated the founds .of their mutual
joy,  now  refounded  with nothing but theSe mournful
-cries, 4< Virginia,  oh, my beloved Virginia!"
   In this wild and wandering way  of life, his eyes grew
hollow, his colour faded, and  his health  gradually, but
perceptibly,  declined.   Being  firmly  pcrfuaded  that the
Sentiment of our misfortunes is  redoubled by the remem-
brance ot the pleafures which we once enjoyed, and that
Solitude only gives  an  edge  to  the paffions, I refolved to
remove my unfortunate friend from the places which ex-
c'm?'\ the recolleaion  of his lofs,  and to convey him to
fotr • part of the ifland, where there were objeas to diffi-
p3tc* his  melancholy.   For this  purpofe, I  conducted him
>-~    - inhabited heights of the quarter of Williams, where
h   .ad never  been before.  Agriculture and commerce
t\cn  fpread much buftle and  variety  over this ifland.
 There were many  companies of carpenters, who Squared
the trees into logs, and others who were Sawing them into
planks : Carriages came and went along the roads : Large
flocks of oxen and horfes fed in  the extenfive paftures, and
the fields were filled with habitations.  The elevation of
the Soil, in feveral places, admitted of the  cultivation of
many kinds of  European vegetables.  You  might fee,
here and there, harvefts of corn in the plain, beds of ftraw-
herries in the  openings of the woods, and  hedges of roSe
trees along the highway.   The  coolneSs of the air, by giv-
ing tenfion to the nerves, was even favourable to the health
of the whites.  From thefe heights, fituated in the middle
of the ifland, and furrounded with thick woods, you can
difcover neither the Sea, nor Port  Louis, nor the church
of Pamplemouffes,  nor any thing  which  could  recal to
Paul's mind the remembrance of Virginia.  The very
■mountains, which prefent different branches on the fide of
Port  Louis, offer nothing to view on the  fide of Will- 
PAUL AND VIRGINIA.
3'$
nuns Plain, but a long promontory, in a ftraight and per-
pendicular line, out of which many pyramids of rocks el-
evate themfelves, and colka the clouds around their peaks.
  It was  to thefe  plains, accordingly, that I conduaed
Paul.   I  kept him continually in aaion, walking with
him, in funfhine, and in rain, by day and by night, lead-
ing  him into the  woods, and over  the  frefh ploughed
ground, and the fields, in order to amufe his mind by the
fatigue of his body ;  and to deceive his refleaions by ig-
norance of the place  where we were, and of the road
which we  had left.  But the mind of a lover finds, every
where, traces  of  the  beloved objea.   The night and the
day, the calm of Solitude and the noife of habitation, nay^
time itfelf, which erafes So many recollections, brought no*
relict to his mind.  Like the needle, touched by the mag-
wet, which is to no purpofe agitated, Sor as Soon as  it re*
covers a ftate of reft, it points to the  Pole whicrhattracts
it: So when I afked Paul, as we wandered about, in Will-
iams Plain, 44 Whither Shall we go now ?" he turned to
the North, and Said, 44 TheSe are our mountains, let us re-
i4 turn thither."
  I clearly perceived, that all the methods,  by which I
had endeavoured to divert his mind, were ineffeaual, and
that the only reSource now left, was to attack the paffion
in itfelf, by employing, to this purpofe, the whole ftrength
oi  my  feeble  reafon.   I,  accordingly,. replied,.  4< Yes,
44 thefe are the mountains, where your beloved Virginia
*4 once  lived, and  there is the  portrait which you gave
44 her, and which, in death,. She preffed to her heart, the
* laft emotions of which were dovoted to thee."  I then
prefented to Paul the little  portrait which he had given
Virginia, on the banks of the fountain of  the cocoa trees#
At fight of this, a gloomy joy overSpread his countenance.
He eagerly Seized the portrait with his feeble hands, and
preffed it to  his  lips.   Immediately, his breaft  became
oppreffed, and to his blood fliot eyes the tears ftarted, but
 were unable fo flow. 
320
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
   I Said to him, 44 My Son, attend to the words of one
44 who is your friend, who was fo to Virginia, and who,
44 in the ardor of your  expeaations, has  frequently en-
44 deavoured to fortify your reafon againft  the unforefeen
44 calamities of human life.  What is it you deplore with
44 fo much bitternefs of foul ?  Is it the  misfortune which
44 has  befallen yourfelf ? Is it that which has befallen
44 Virginia ?
  44 The misfortune which has befallen  yourfelf ? Yes, I
44 grant you it has been very Severe. You  have loft the moft
44 amiable of young women, who would  have made  the
44 moft virtuous of wives.  She had  Sacrificed her own
t( interefts to your's, and preferred you  to  fortune, as the
44 only recompenfe  worthy of her virtue.   But how do
44 you know, whether the objea, from whom you expea-
44 ed happinefs fo pure,  might not have  proved to you
44 the  Source of Sorrows innumerable ? She was dowerleSs,
44 and difinherited.  You would have had nothing,  in fu-
44 ture, to fhare with  her, but  what the labour of your
44 hands produced.  Rendered more  delicate  by educa-
44 tion, and  more courageous  by  her very misfortunes,
44 you would have feen her daily finking under the weight
44 of the fatigues which fhe exerted herfelf  to divide with
44 you.  In the event of bringing you children, her troubles
44 and  your own would  have been greatly increafed by
44 the  difficulty of Supporting  alone, with you, your aged
44 parents, and a growing family.
   44 You may tell me ; the Governor would have affifted
44 us :  But  how do you know, whether,  in a colony which
44 fo oSten changes its rulers, you would  have always found
44  fuch  men  as  M. de la Bourdonaye  f Whether  fome
44  Governor might not have been fent hither,  unpolifhed
44 and unprincipled ? Or, whether your wife,  in order to
44 obtain fome miSerable  pittance, would  not  have been
44  obliged to cringe  to  Such a man ?  Either fhe  would
44 have become frail, and  you  would have  been an objea
■''  of pity, or fhe would have maintained her honour, and 
PAUL AND  VIRGINIA.         321
44 you muft have remained under the preffure of poverty :
44 Happy, if, on account  of  her  beauty and virtue, you
41 had  not  been perfecuted  by thoSe very  perfons from
44 whom you folicited proteaion.
  44 You may  fay, 1 might have enjoyed  happinefs inde-
44 pendent  of  fortune, by proteaing  the beloved objea,
44 who was attached to me, in proportion to her Very weak-
44 nefs  ; by con fo ling  her with my own inquietudes ; by
44 making her rejoice even in my dejeaion, and thus cauf-
44 ing our love to increafe by our mutual Sorrows.   Doubt-
44 leSs,  virtue and love do delight in theSe bitter pleafures.
44 But  fhe is now no  more ;  there ftill  remains to  you,
44 however, what, next to yourfelf, fhe loved moft, name-
44 ly, her own  mother and your's, whom, by your incon-
44 Solable affliaion, you are bringing down  to the grave.
44 Make it your happineSs to Succour them, as it was her's.
44 My  Son,  beneficence is  the happineSs of  virtue ; there
44 is none greater, or more certain, on the Earth.   Projeas
44 of pleafures, of repofe, of enjoyments, of abundance,
44 and of glory, are not made for feeble Man, who is only
44 a traveller, and a paffenger, through this  World,   Be-
44 hold, how a fingle  ftep toward  fortune, has precipitat-
44 ed us from one abyfs into another-! You oppofed it, it
44 is true ;  but who of us did not believe, that the voyage
44 of Virginia  would terminate in  her own happinets, and
44 in your's.  The invitations of a rich and  old  relation ;
44 the advice of  a fenfible Governor ; the approbation of
44 a whole colony ; the exhortations and the authority of
44 an ecclefiaftic, have all  concurred  in deciding the fate
44 of Virginia.   Thus, we ruth on  to^ our  own  deftruc-
44 tion, deceived by the very prudence of thoSe  who gov-
44 ern  us.  It  would, doubtlefs, have been  better not to
44 believe- them, nor to  truft to the opinions, and the ex-
44 peaations of a deceitful World.   But, after  all, of fo
44 many .men, whom we fee thus bufily employed in thefe
44 plains ; of fo many others, who go, in queft of fortune,
" to the Indies, or  who, without leaving their own homes,
  VOL. III.               R  R 
322        STUDIES-OP  NATURE.
 44 enjoy at their eaSe, in Europe, the Sruit of the labours-
 44 of the people here, there is not fo much as one,  who js
 44 not deftined to lofe, fome day, that which he holds moft
 84 dear ; greatnefs, Sortune, wife, children, friends.  The
 44 moft of them have fuperadded to their lofs, the  reflec-
 44 tion of their own imprudence.  But as for you, when
 44 you retire within yourfelf, you find nothing to reproach
 44 yourfelf with.   You have maintained unfhaken  fideli-
 44 ty ;  in the flower of youth, you have poffeffed the pru-
 44 dence of a Sage, in not departing from the fentiment of
 44 Nature.  Your views, alone, were perfeaiy legitimate,
 44 becaufe they were pure, Simple, and difinterefted, and
 44 becauSe you had Sacred rights over Virginia, which no
 44 Sortune could compenSate.  You have loft her,  and it
 44 is neither your imprudence, nor your avarice, nor your
 4,4 SalSe wifdom, which occafioned that loSs,butGoD him-
 44 Self, who has employed  the  paffions  of  another, to  de-
 41 prive you  of the objea of  your love ;  God,  from
 44 whom you receive every thing, who fees what isproper
 41 Sor you, and whoSe wiSdom has not  leSt you any place
 44 Sor that repentance, and  deSpair, which  ever  Sollow in
 44 the  train  of thofe  evils, that we have  brought upon
 44 ourfelves.
   44 This is what you can Say to yourfelf, under the prtf-
 44 Sure of your: affliaion :  I have not merited it.  Is it,
 44 then, the misfortunes of Virginia, her end, her prefent
 44 condition, that you deplore ?  She has fubmitted  to the
 44 decifion referved for birth, for beauty, and  even  for
 " empires themfelves;  The life ef Man,  with all  its
 44 projeas, rears itfelf like a little tower, to which death
 64 applies the finishing  ftroke. The moment fhe  was born,
44 fhe was condemned to die.  Happy, in having refigned
44 her life before her mother, before your's, and before
44 yourfelf ;  that is, in not  having fuffered many deaths^
44 before the final one.
   44 Death, my fon, is a  blefling to all   Mankind.  It is
**■ the evening of that reftlefs day which we call life.  It 
PAUL  AND  VIRGINIA.
■3*8
"*: is in the flcep of death, that the difeafes, the griefs, the
 44 vexations, and the fears, which  inceffantly agitate un-
 44 happy mortals,.repofe  for ever.  Examine thofe  men
 44 who appear the moft happy, and you will find that they
 44 have purchafed their pretended enjoyments very dear-
 44 ly ;  public refpeaability, by  domeftic  diftreffes ; for-
 44 tune, by the lofs  of health ;  the rare pleafure of being
J,s beloved, by continual Sacrifices ; and, often, at the clofe
 44 of a life  devoted to the interefts of another, they fee
 44 nothing around them but falfe friends,  and ungrateful
 44 relations.  But Virginia was happy to the  laft moment
 44 of her's.   She was fo, whilft among us, by thofe blef-
 44 fings which Nature beftows ; at a diftance from us, by
 44 thofe of virtue :  Even  in that dreadful moment when
 44 we  Saw her perifh, fhe  was ftill  happy ; for,  whether
 44 fhe caft  her eyes  on a colony, in which fh€ was <*oing
 44 to caufe univerfal deSolation, or upon you,  who rufhed,
 44 with Such intrepidity, to her afiiftance, fhe  clearly per-
 44 ceived how dear  fhe was to us  all.  She was prepared
 44 to meet the future, by  refleaing  on the innocence of
 44 her paft life, and  fhe  then received the reward, which
 44 Heaven  reServes  Sor virtue, a courage Superior to dan-
 44 ger.   She encountered death with a Serene countenance.
   44 My Son, the Almighty has decreed to virtue, the pow-
 44 er of Supporting all the events of human life, in order
 44 to let  us fee that it alone can  make the proper ufe of
 44 them, and find in them felicity and glory.   When He
 44 referves  for it an illuftrious reputation, lie elevates it
 44 on a great theatre, and  fets it a conflifting  with  death :
 44 Then, its courage Serves as an example,  and the remem-
■*4 brance of its   misfortunes receives  a tribute of  tears
*" from pofterity, for ever.  This is the immortal  monu-
 44 ment referved  Sor it, upon a globe where  every thing
 44 paffes away, and where even the memory of the gener-
 44 ality of Kings is Speedily buried in everlafting oblivion.
   44 But Virginia exifts ftill.  ObServe, my Son, how ev-
 " cry  thing on  the  Earth  changes, and  that nothing is 
324        STUDIES OF NATURE.

44 loft :  No human fkili  can annihilate the fmalleft parti-
44 cle of matter ; and could that which was  rational, Sen-
44 fible, SuSceptible of  love, virtuous, religious, have per-
44 ifhed, when  the elements with  which it was  inverted,
44 are not liable to deftruaion : Ah ! iS Virginia enjoyed
44 happineSs once in  our  Society, how much more does She
44 £njoy now !  There  is  a God, my Son ; all  Nature an-
44 nounces it ; there is no  occafion to prove it to  you,
44 Nothing but the wickedneSs oS  men could  make them
44 deny a juftice which they contemplate with terror.  A
44 Sentiment of Him  is in  your heart, in like manner as
44 his works are before your  eyes.   Can you believe, then,
44 that He will  leave  Virginia  without a recompenfe ?
44 Can you believe, that  the Same Power, which clothed a
44 Soul So noble, in a form fo beautiful, in which fuch di-
44 vine Skill was clearly perceptible, was not able to  have
44 Saved her from the waves ?  That He, who has arranged
44 the aaual happineSs of Man, by  laws of which you are
44 entirely ignorant, could not prepare another for Virgin-
44 ia, by laws equally unknown to  you ?  Before we were
tl created, if we  had poffeffed  the Sacuky of thinking,
44 could we have  formed any idea of our future being ?
" And now that we are in this dark and fugitive exiftence,
" can we forefee what  is  beyond death, by which we
44 muft make  our tranfition Srom  it ? Has the Almighty
44 occafion, like man, Sor  this little  globe  of Earth, to
44 Serve as the  theatre of his wifdom and goodnefs, and is
44 he capable of propagating human life only in the plains of
44 death ? There is not a fingle drop of water in the Ocean,
44 but what is filled with living creatures, which  have all
*l a reference to us ; and does nothing exift for us, among
44 all thofe ftars which revolve over bur heads !  What, is
44 there no fupreme Intelligence, and divine Goodnefs, in any
44 fpot but precifely that where we are; and in thofe radiant
44 and innumerable  globes,  in thofe vaft  plains  of  light
44 which furround them, and which are never obfcured by
" darknefs  or  tempeft, do  you believe  there is nothing 
PAUL AND  VIRGINIA.         325
4,4 but empty  Space, and an eternal nonexiftenee ! If we,
44 who could give nothing to ourSelves, durft Set bounds
44 to that Power,  from which  we have  received every
44 thing, we might believe ourSelves to be ftationed here
44 upon the limits of his empire, where life is ever ftrug-
44 gling with death, and innocence with tyranny.
  44 Without doubt, there is Somewhere a place in which
44 virtue  receives  its reward.   Virginia  now  is happy.
44 Ah ! if, Srom the abode of angels, fhe could communi-
44 cate to you her  thoughts,  fhe  would Say, as fhe did in
44 her laft Sarewel : Oh, Paul, life is only a ftaje pf pro-
14 bation.   1 have been found faithful  to  the laws of Na-
44 ture, of love, and of virtue.   1  croffed  the feas in obe-
44 dience to my relations ; I renounced riches to preferve
44 my fidelity ; and  I have preferred death  to the violation
44 of modefty.  Heaven has decreed, that the career of my
44 earthly exiftence has been fufficiently filled up.  I have,
44 forever, made my efcape  from poverty, from calumny,
44 from tempefts, and from  the  painful fpeaacle  of the
44 woes of others.   None  of thofe ills which terrify Man-
44 kind, can  ever, in future, affea me ;  and yet you ftill
44 pity me !  I am pure, and  unfufceptible of change, as a
44 particle  of light ; and you wifh to recal  me  to  the
44 gloomy night of life f Oh, Paul! Oh, my friend ! Call
44 to mind thofe days of happinefs, when, in the morning, we
44 enjoyed the beauty of the Heavens, rifing with the Sun,
4< on the peaks oS thefe rocks, and diffufing itSelt, with its
44 radiations, over the boSom of our Sorefts.   Weexpe-
44 rienced a felicity, the cauSe of which we were  unable
44 to comprehend.  In our innocent defires, we wifhed to
44,be all eye, in order to enjoy the rich colours of Aurora;
44 all fmell, to inhale the perfume of our flowers ; all ear,
44 to liften to the warbling of our b.irds ;  all gratitude, to
44 acknowledge thefe bleffings.   Now, at the  fource  of
44 beauty, whence flows all that is delightful on the Earth,
44 my foul immediately taftes, hears, touches, what it could
44 then perceive only thrpugh feeble organs.   Ah ! what 
$26        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
 44 language is capable of defcribing thefe regions of an
 44 eternal morning, which I inhabit forever.  Every thing
 44 that Omnipotence, and celeftial Goodnefs, could create,
*' in order to administer confolation to an unSortunate be-
 44 ing ; all the harmony, which the  friendfhip of  an infi-
44 nite number  of beings partaking of the fame felicity,
4,4 mingles in our  common  tranfports, I now experience
 44 without alloy.  Support  thySelf, then,  in thy Slate of
*' probation, that thou rriayeft increafe the happinefs oS thy
454 Virginia, by  a  love which knows no bounds, and by a
44 marriage, the torches oS which can never be extingUifh-
44 ed.  There, I will calm thy Sorrows ; there, I will wipe
44 away thy tears.   Oh, my  Sriend ! my young hufband 1
44 elevate thy Soul toward infinity, in order to Support the
44 miferies of a moment."
   My own  emotion  entirely  ftifled my voice.   As for
Paul, regarding me  ftedfaftly, he exclaimed : 44 She is no
 44 more ! fhe is no more !" A  long, languid  oppreffion
 Succeeded thefe mournful words ; then returning  to him-
felf, he faid, 44 Since death  is a bleffing, and  Virginia is
44 happy, I will die alfo, that I may again be united to her."
Thus the confolation which 1 endeavoured  to adrninifter,
only Served to aggravate his deSpair.   I was like a perfon,
who wifhes to Save his friend, when finking to the bottom
of a river, without  his making any effort to fwim.   Sor-
 row had  entirely  overwhelmed him.  Alas !  the  misfor-
tunes of our early age prepare  Man for entering into life,
and Paul had never experienced them.
   I conduaed him back  to  his habitation,  and I there
 found his mother,  and  Madame de la Tour, in a languid
 ftate, which had greatly increafed Since I leSt them.   Mar-
garet was the moft broken down.   Lively charaaers, over
 whom flight troubles  Aide eafily away, are the leaft able to
 withftand heavy calamities.
   She Said to me, 44 Oh my kind neighbour ! I dreamt to-
 ** night,  that I Saw Virginia, clothed in  white, in the
 ** midft of bowers and delicious gardens.   She Said to me, 
PAUL  AND  VIRGINIA.
327
  44' I enjoy a  felicity greatly  to be envied.   Then fhe ap-
  14 proached Paul, with a joyful air, and carried him away
  44 with her.   As I was endeavouring to retain my Son, I
  44 felt as if I was quitting the Earth myfelf, and that I fol-
  14 lowed him with a pleafure inexpreflible.  Upon that, I
  w wifhed to bid Sarewel to my Sriend, but I perceived her
  44 coming after us,, accompanied by Mary and Domingo.
  44 But what is ftill more Singular, Madame de la Tour has
  44 had, this very night, a dream, attended with exaaiy fim-
  44 ilar circumftances."
   I replied,  44 My freind, I believe that nothing happens
 " in the World, without the permiffion of God.  Dreams
 44 fometimes announce truth."
    Madame de la Tour related to me a dream entirely re-
 Sembling this, which fhe had that Same night.   I never
 obferved that thefe two ladies were in the leaft  inclined to
 Superftition.   I was, therefore,  ftruck  with the  coinci-
 dence of their dreams, and I  had not the leaft doubt in
 my  own mind,  that they would foon be  realized.  The
 opinion, that truth is fometimes  conveyed to us in fleep,
 is univerfally propagated over all  the Nations of the Earth.
 The greateft  men  of antiquity  have adopted  it ; among
 ©thers,  Alexander, Cefar,. the Scipios, the two Catos and
 Brutus, who  were none pf them men  of weak  minds.
 The Old and  New Teftament have furnifhed us with ma-   \
 ny inftances of dreams which were verified.   For my own
 part, I have  no  occafion for any higher proof on  the
 fubjea  than   my  own  experience ; and I  have  foundv
 more than once, that  dreams are fometimes  warnings,
 which give us inSormation very  interefting to  ourSelves.
 But if any perfon Shall pretend to attack or defend by ar-
 gument, things which tranScend the powers oS human un-
dcrftanding, he undertakes an impoffibility.  However, if
the rcaSon of Man is only an image of that of the Almigh-
ty ; fince Man is capable of conveying his thoughts to the
extremities of the World by  fecret and concealed means,.
why  fhould not that Intelligence which governs the Worlds 
328
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
 employ Similar methods in accomplifhing the Same pur-
 pose ? One friend confoles another by a letter, which trav-
 els through a  multitude of kingdoms,  which circulates
 amidft the hatred of Nations, and communicates  joy and
 hope to one fingle  individual :  Why, then, may not the
 Sovereign Proteaor of innocence come, by  fome Secret
 means, to the relief of a virtuous foul, which repofes con-
 fidence in hiin  alone ? Has he occafion to  employ  any
 exterior fign to execute his will ; Fie whoaas continual-
 ly, in all his works, by an internal  impulSe ?
   Why, then, doubt the reality  of  dreams  ?  Life, filled
 with fo many vain and tranfitory projeas, what is it but a
 dream ?
   However that may be, thofe of my unfortunate friends
 were foon  realized.  Paul died two months after his be-
 loved  Virginia, whofe   name he  repeated  inceffantly.
 Margaret expired eight days aSter  her  Son,  with a joy
 which it is beftowed only on virtue to tafte.  She took
 the moft tender Sarewel oS Madame de la Tour, 44 in the
 44 hope," Said fhe, 44 oSa Sweet and eternal reunion.   Death
 44 is the greateft oS bleffings," added  fhe ; 44 it is highly de-
 44 Arable.   If  life be a punifhment, we ought to  wifh Sor
 44 its termination ; if it be a ftate of probation, we ought
 44 to wifh it fhortened."    »
  Government took care  of Domingo and  Mary, who
were no longer in a condition for fervice, and who did not
 long Survive their miftreSs.  As Sor poor Fidele, he droop-
ed to death nearly about the Same time with his mafter.
  I conduaed Madame de la Tour to my habitation ; fhe
fupported herfelS, in the midft oS loffes So terrible,  with a
grcatneSs  oS Soul altogether incredible.   She adminiftered
confolation to  Paul and  Margaret to the very  laft mo-
ment,  as  if Slie had  no  diftreSs but theirs  to  Support.
When they were no more, fhe Spoke to me of them every
day, as if they had been beloved friends, ftill in the neigh-
bourhood.  She Survived them, however, only a month.
 As  to her aunt, far from reproaching her with thefe raif- 
           PAUL AND VIRGINIA.-          320

 fortunes, fhe prayed God to forgive her, and to appeafe the
 dreadful horrors of mind with which, we heard, fhe had
 been Seized, immediately after fhe had difmiffed Virginiat
 *vith fo much barbarity.
   This unnatural  relation Soon met with  the punifhment
 due to her cruelty.   I heard, by the  Succeffive arrival of
 feveral veffels,  that  fhe was  tormented by the Vapours,
 which  rendered life  and death  equally infupportable.
 Sometimes, fhe reproached  herfelf  with the premature
 death of her charming grandniece, and with that  of her
 mother, which  foon  Sollowed  it.  Sometimes, fhe  ap-
 plauded herSelf for having difcarded two unhappy wretches,
 who had diSgraced her family by the meanneSs of their in-
 clinations.  Frequently  flying  into  a paffion at  fight of
 the  great  number of  miferable people, with which Paris
 is filled, She exclaimed, 44 Why do  they not fend thefe
 44 idle Wretches  to perifh  in our Colonies ?" She  added,
 that the ideas of  virtue; of humanity, and of  religion,
 adopted by all Nations,* were nothing but the political in-
 ventions of their Princes.  Then, fuddenly plunging into
 the oppofite extreme, fhe abandoned herfelf to fuperftitious
 terrors, Which filled her with mortal apprehenfions.  She
 ran. about,  carrying with her vaft foms, which fhe beftow-
 ed ort the  rich monks, who* were her ghoftly direaors
 and entreated them to appeafe the Deity, by the Sacrifice
 of her fortune ; as if that Wealth, which fhe had denied to
 the miSerable^ could be acceptable to  the Father  of Man-
 kind ! Her imagination was frequently haunted by deluges
 of firer burning mountains, or hideous fpeares  wandering
 before her, and calling her by name; with horrible fcreams.
 She threw  herfelf at the feet of her direaors, and formed,
 in her own mind, tortures and punifhments preparing for
 her ;  for Heaven,  juft  Heaven,  fends fearful vifions to
 harrow up  the Souls oS the unmerciSul.
   Thus fhe paffed  feveral years, by turns an atheift and a
devotee, equally  in horror oS HSe and of death.  But what
 terminated  an exiftence fo deplorable,  was the very thing
   Vol. 111.               s s 
3$0         STUDIES  OP  NATURE.

to which fhe had Sacrificed  the fentiments  of  Nature-.
She had the mortification to refka, that her riches would,
after her death, go to relations whom fhe  hated.   In or-
der to prevent this, fhe endeavoured to alienate the great-
eft part  of her  fortune ; but  they,  availing themfelves
of the frequent paroxyfms of fpleen to which fhe was fub-
jea, had her fhut up as  a lunatic,  and her eftates  put in
truft for  her heirs.  Thus her very riches put the finish-
ing ftroke to her deftruaion ; and as they had hardened
the heart of her who poffeffed them, So they, in like man-
ner, extinguifhed natural  affeaion in the breafts of thofe
who coveted them.   She, accordingly, died ;  and, what
filled up  the meaSure pf her woe,  with fp much uSe of her
reafon  left, as tp know that fhe had  been plundered  and
defpiSed, by thoSe very perSons whoSe opinion had direa-
ed her all her life long.
  By the fide of Virginia, and at  the foot of the fame
bamboos, her friend Paul was laid ;. around them,. their
tender  mothers and  their Saithful  Servants.  No marble
raifes itSelS over their humble graves ;  no engraved in*
Scriptions, recording their virtues ;  but their memory will
never be effaced  from the hearts of thofe who lay under
obligations to them.   Their Shades have no need of that
luftre, which they Shunned all their life time ;  but if they
ftill intereft themfelves  in what  is paffing on  the Earth,
they, doubtlefs, delight in wandering under the flraw cov-
ered roofs,  where induftrious virtue refides ; in confoling
poverty  difcontented with its lot ; in  encouraging, in
youthful lovers, a lafting flame,.a relifh for the bleffings
of Nature, a love of labour, and a dread of riches.
  The voice of the people, which  is filent refpeaing the
monuments reared to the glory of Kings, has beftowed on
feveral parts  of  this ifland, names, which will eternalize
the lofs of  Virginia.  You may fee, near the Ifle oS Am-
ber, in the middle of the Shelves, a place called, The
Saint Gerand's  Pass, from  the name of the veffel
which  perifhed there, in returning from Europe.  The ex- 
PAUL AND VIRGINIA.
S3*
trcmity of  that long point of land, which  you fee about
three leagues from hence, half covered with .the waves of
the Sea, which the Saint Gerand  could not double, the
evening of the hurricane, in order to make  the harbour, is
named Cape Misfortune ;  there, juft  before you, at
the bottom of this valley, is To MB Bay, where the body
ot Virginia was found, buried in the fand, as if  the fea
had intended to bear her back to her family, and  to  ren-
der the laft duties to her  modefty, upon the fame fhores
which fhe had honoured with her innocence.
  Young people fo tenderly united ! Unfortunate mothers !
Dearly  beloved family ! TheSe woods,  which  gave you
■fhade, theSe fountains, which flowed for you, thofe rocks,
upon which you repofed  together, ftill lament  your lofs.
No one, fince you, has dared to cultivate this deSolate Spot,
nor rear again theSe humble cottages. Your goats have be-
come wild  ; your orchards are deftroyed; your birds have
flown away ; nothing is now to be heard but  the cries of the
hawk, flying around the top of this bafon of rocks.  For
my part, fince I behold you no longer, I am like a friend
ftripped of his friends, like a father who has loft his  chil-
dren, like a traveller wandering along the  Earth,  where I
remain in gloomy folitude.
   As he  uttered  thefe words, the good old man walked
away, melting into  tears, and mine had flowed, more than
once, during this melancholy relation.
END  OF PAUL  AND  VIRGINIA. 
/ 
ARCADIA. 
 
m
      .A.S there are Notes of con fiderable length in the two
following Fragments, I have thought it adviSable to tranf-
fer them to the end of their refpeaive articles.  The ufe
of Notes,/o common in modern Books, arifes, on the one
hand, Srom the unfkilfulnefs of Authors, who feel them-
felves at a lofs how to  introduce into  their works, obfer-
vations which they conceive to be interefting ; and on the
other, from the exceffive delicacy of Readers,  who do not
like tp have their progrefs interrupted by digreffions.
  The Ancients, whp wrpte better than we do, never fub-
jeined Notes to  their text ; but they ftepped afide from
it, to the right and to the left, according  as occafion re-
quired.   In this manner wrote  the moft celebrated  Phi-
loSophers and Hiftorians of Antiquity, fuch as Herodotus,
Plato,  Xenophon,  Tacitus, the good  Plutarch......Their
digreffions, if I may be permitted to judge, diffuSe a very
pleafing  variety over their Works.  They   fliew you a
great deal of the country  in a little time ; and  conduct:
you by the lakes, over the mountains, through the forefts;
but never fail to  lead  you to the mark, and that  is  no
eafy matter.   This mode of travelling, however, does not
fuit the Authors, nor the Readers, of  our  times, who are
difpofed to find their way only through the  plains.   In
order to  Save  others,  and eSpecially myfelf, Some part of
the intricacies oS the road, I have compofed Notes, and
feparated them Srom the Text.   This arrangement pre-
sents a Sarther accommodation to the Reader ; he will be
Spared the trouble of perufing the Notes, if he grows tired
•f the Text. 
 
FRAGMENT.
837
FRAGMENT,

      BY  WAY OF PREAMBLE
                 TO

       THE  ARCADIA.
 .»......x\S Soon as they perceived  that, after an experi-
ence of mankind fo Vexatious, my heart panted only for
a life of Solitude ;  that I had embraced  principles  from
which 1 would not  depart ;  that my opinions  reSpeaing
Nature were contrary to their Syftems ; that I was not a
perSon diSpoSed to be either their puffer, or to court their
proteaion ;  and that, in a word, they had embroiled me
with my patron, whom they frequently abufed to me, in the
view of alienating me from him, iind to whom  they affid-
uoufly paid their court ; they then became my enemies.
A great many vices are imputed to the Great ;  but I have
always Sound  many  more in the  Little, who ftudy to
pleaSe them.
  TheSe laft were too cunning to attack me openly, with a
PerSonage to whom I had given, in the very height of my
 misfortunes, proofs of a friendfhip fo difi mere fled.  On the
contrary, in prefence of that gentleman, as well as before my-
 SelS, they paffed high encomiums on my principles,  and on
 fome very fimpleaas of moderation, which had refulted from
 them ; but they employed  terms fo artfully exaggerated,
 and appeared  fo uneaSy about the opinion  which the
 World would entertain of the  matter, that  it ••■ is  ^.fy to
  VOL. III.               T T 
 3^3          STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

 diScern their great objea was to induce me to  renounce
 it, and that they commended my patience So extravagant-
 ly, only to make me loSe it.  Thus they calumniated me
 under the guiSe of panegyric, and  deftroyed my reputa-
 tion in feigning to pity me ; like thofe forcercffes of Thef-
 Salv, mentioned by Pliny, who blafted  the  harvefts, the
 flocks, and the hufbandmen, by Speaking good oS them.
   I Separated  myfelf, therefore, from thofe  artful  men,
 who  continued to juftify themfelves at my expenfe, in
 representing me as a perfon of a miftrufrful diSpofition,
 after having abufed my confidence in So many  different
 ways.
   Not but that I confider mySelf as reprehenfible  for a
 fenfibility, too acute, to pain, whether phyfical  or moral.
 A Single prickle gives me more uneafineSs than  the Smell
 of a hundred rofes gives  pleaSure.   The beft company in
 the World appears to me intolerable, if I meet in  it a fingle
 felf important, envious, evil fpeaking, malignant, perfidious
 perSon.  I am well aware, that people oS very great worth
 affociate, every day, with perSons of all thefe deScriptions,
 fupport them, nay, flatter them, and  turn them to  their own
 account ; but I am well aware, at the fame time, that thefe
 fame people of worth bring  into Society nothing but the
jargon of the World ;.whereas I, for my  part, always
pour put my heart ; that they pay deceivers in their own
coin, and I with all I have, that is  to fay, with my fenti-
ments.  Though my enemies may  reprefent me as of a
miftruftful charaaer, the greateft part of  the  errors of my
life, efpecially as far as they are concerned, arofe Srom an
excefs of confidence ;  and, after all, I would much rather
have them complain,  that 1  miftrufted  them without a
caufe, than  that they  fhould have had, themfelves, any
reafon to be miftruftful of me.
  I endeavoured to make friends of the men of  an oppo-
fite party, who had expreffed an ardent inclination to at-
iraa me thither, before I joined  it,  but who, the moment
L.came over, no longer put  any value on my pretended 
FRAGMENT.
339
merit.  When they perceived that  I did not adopt  all
their prejudices ; that I aimed at nothing but the difcov-
ery of truth ;  that, diSpoSed to malign neither  their ene-
mies nor my own, 1 was not a fit perSon to  be employed
in cabal and intrigue ; that my feeble virtues, which they
once fo highly extolled, had procured me nothing lucra-
tive ; and that they were incapable of doing harm to any
one ; in a  word.that I no more  belonged to their  fide,
than  to that of their antagonists ; they negleaed me en-
tirely, and  even persecuted me in their  turn.   Thus I
found, by experience, that  in a felfifh and corrupted age,
our Sriends meaSure their consideration of us only by that
which their own enemies entertain refpeaing us, and that
they court us, juft iivproportion  as we can be  ufeSul, or
render ourSelves Sormidable, to them.   I have every where
Seen  confederacies  of  various  forts, and  I  have always
found in them the Same Species of men.   They march, it
is true, under  ftandards of different colours ;  but they are
always thofe  of ambition.  They have  but one and the
Same objea in view, namely, to domineer.  Nevertheless,
the  intereft of their corps excepted, I never  met  with
two of them,  whofe opinions  did not differ as much  as
their faces.   What is a fource of joy  to the  one,  finks
the other into  defpair : To the one, evidence appears  to
he abfurdity  ; to the other, downright  abfurdity is evi-
dence.  What do  I fay ? In the exaa ftudy which I
have made of men, in the view of finding a comforter
among them,  I have feen perfons  the moft renowned, dif-
fer completely from themfelves, according as it was morn-
ing or night, as it was before or after dinner, as they were
in public or in private.  Books, even thofe which are moft
eagerly cried up, abound  with contradiaions.   Thus, I
was made fenfible, that  the diSeaSes oS the mind  were no
 leSs reduced to Syftematic methods oS cure, than thofe of
the body, and that I had aaed very imprudently,  in adding
the unlkilfulnefs of the phyficians to  my  own infirmities, 
£40        STUDIES  OF  NATURE,

as there are more patients, oS every description, killed by
remedies than by difeafes.
   While all this was going on, my calamities had not yet
attained  their final period.  The  ingratitude  of  men, of
whom I had  deferved  better things ; unexpeaed family
mortifications ;  the total annihilation of my Slender pat-
rimony, Scattered abroad to the Sour winds oS Heaven, in
enterprises  undertaken  for the  fervice of my Country ;
the debts under which  I  lay oppreffed, by engagements
of this kind ;  all my hopes  of  fortune blafted.......thefe
combined calamities,  made dreadful inroads at once upon
my health and my reafon.   I was  attacked by a malady
to which I had hitherto  been a  ftranger.   Fires, Similar
to thaSe of lightning, affeaed the organs of vifion.   Eve-
ry objea prefented itfelf to me double, and in motion :
XAke^CEdipus, I faw  two  Suns.  My  heart was  not lefs
difturbed than my head.  In the finefl  day of  Summer, I
could not crofs the  Seine, in a boat, without  undergoing
anxieties unutterable ;  even I, whp had preferved my foul
in tranquillity, amidft a tempeft off the  Cape of  Good
Hope, on board a veffel ftruck with lightning.  If I hap-
pened to pafs Simply  through a public garden,  by  the fide
of a bafon full of water, I underwent fpafmodic affeaions
ot extreme horror.   There were particular moments, in
which I imagined  myfelf  bitten, without  knowing how,
pr when, by a mad dog.   Much worfe than this  had ac-
tually  befallen  me ; 1  had been bitten by the tooth of
calumny.
   One thing is abfolutely  certain, the paroxySras of this
malady overtook me only when in the Society of men.
I found it intolerable to continue in an apartment where
there was company, efpecially if the doors were Shut.  I
could not even croSs  an alley in a public garden, if Sever-
al perSons  had got  together in  it.  I derived no  relief
from the circumftance of their being unknown to me ; I
recolleaed, that I had been calumniated by  my own friends,
and for the moft honourable aaions of my life.   When, 
FRAGMENT.
34«
I was alone, my malady Subfided : I felt myfelf  likewife
at my eafe in places where 1 Saw  children only.  I Sre-
quently went, Sor this purpofe, and Seated myfelf by the
box  of the horfe fhoe, in the Tuileries, to look at the
children playing on the  graffy parterre, with  the  little
dogs which frifked  about them.   Thefe were my fpe6ta-
cles, and my tournaments.  Their innocence reconciled
me to the human Species, much better than all  the wit of
our  dramas, and than all  the  Sentences of our  Philofo-
phers.   But at  fight of any one walking up to the  place
where I was, I  felt my whole frame agitated, and  retired.
I often  faid to myfelf, My fole ftudy  has  been  to  merit
well of Mankind ; Wherefore, then, am  I  Shocked, as
often as I fee them  ? To no purpofe did I call  in reafon
to my aid : My reafon could do nothing againft a malady
which was enfeebling all  its powers (1).   The  very ef-
 forts which  reafon made to furmount it, ferved  only to
 exhauft her ftill more, becaufe fhe employed them againft
herfelf.  Reafon called, not for  vigorous  exertion, but
for repofe.
  Medicine,  it  is true,«did  offer me her afiiftance.   She
informed me that the  focus  of my diforder  was in the
nerves.  I felt  it much better than She was able to define
it to me.  But  Suppofing I had not been too poor to avail
myfelf  of her  prescriptions, I had too much experience
to put any faith in  them.  Three gentlemen, of  my ac-
quaintance, tormented with the  fame fpecies of indifpofi-
tion, died in  a  Short time of three different remedies, and
thefe, pretended fpecifics  for the cure of the nervous dif-
order.   The  firft, by  bathing and bleeding;  the fecond,
by the ufe of opium ; and the third,  by  that  of ether.
Thefe two laft,  were both  celebrated Phyficians (2,) of the
Faculty, at Paris, both of high reputation  for their medi-
cal writings, and particularly on the fubjea  of nervous
affeaions.
  I difcovered afrefh, but  for this once by  the experience
©f another, what an  ijlufion I had  pra6tifed upon myfelf, 
342        STUDIES OF NATURE.
in expeaing the cure of my complaints from me* ; I dif-
covered how vain their opinions and their doarines were,
and what a filly part I had been aaing through the whole
courfe of my life, in rendering  myfelf miferable, while I
exerted my Self to  promote their happinefs, and in maim-
ing myfelf  to procure eafe for others.
   Nevertheless,  from  the  multitude  of the  calamities
which oppreffed me, I derived a powerful motive to refig-
nation. On comparing the good and the ill with which
our fleeting days are fo Strangely variegated, I caught a
glimpfe of  a moft important truth, not generally known :
Namely, that Nature produces nothing which deferves  to
be hated ;  and that her Author, having placed us in a ca-
reer which muft, of neceflity, terminate in death, has fur-
nifhed us with  as many  reaSons Sor being  reconciled to
the thoughts of diffolution,  as for cherifhing the  love of
life.
   All the  branches of human  life  are  mortal, like the
trunk.  Our fortunes, our reputation, our friendships, our
loves, all the moft endeared objeas of our affeaion, per-
ifh oftener  than once before we ocrrfelves die ; and if the
moft  fortunate deftinies were difplayed,  with all the ca-
lamities which  have attended them, they would appear to
us like thofe ftately oaks which embellifh the earth with
their  Spreading  branches, but which  rear others,  of  ftill
greater fize, toward Heaven, ftruck with the lightning.
   For my  own part, a  feeble Shrub,  fhattered by fo many
tempefts, nothing more remained to me that could be loft.
Perceiving, befides, that I had henceforth nothing to hope,
either from others, or from myfelf, I committed myfelf to
God alone, and engaged  my promife  to Him, never tp
eKpea any thing effential tp  my happinefs,  from any one
man in particular, to whatever extremity I  might chance
to be reduced, and of whatever kind it might be.
   My confidence was  acceptable to Him,  of  whom no
one ever implored afiiftance  in vain.  The firft  fruit of
my refignation, was the calming of my woes.  My Solid- 
FRAGMENT.
343
 tudes were lulled to reft,  as  Soon as I ceaSed to ftruggle
 againft them.  Very Soon aSter, there dropped into my lap,
 without the flighteft Solicitation, by the credit of a perfon
 whom I did  not know (3,) and in  the department of a
 Minifter to whom I had  never  been ufeful, an annual
 gratuity from his Majefty.  Like Virgil, I partook of the
 bread of Auguflus.  The benefit was of Moderate value ;
 it was given  from year to year ; it  was uncertain ; de-
 pending on the pleafure oS a Minifter, very liable himSelf
 to Sudden revolutions, on the caprice oS intermediate per-
 fons, and  on the malignity of my  enemies, who might,
 fooner or later, get it intercepted by their intrigues.  But
 having refleaed on the  fobjea for a little, I found that
 Providence was treating me preciSely in the Same way in
 which the Human Race, in general,  is treated, on whom
 Heaven  beftows, fince the beginning  oS the World, in the
 crops oS the harveft, only an annual Subfiftence, uncertain,.
 borne on herbage continually battered by the winds, and
 expoSed  to the depredations of  birds  and infeas.  But ifc
 diftinguifhed me, in a very advantageous manner,  Srom
 the greateft part oS Mankind, in that  my crop coft me  no
 Sweating nor  labour, and left me the  complete exercife of
 my liberty.
   The firft uSe I made eS it was tp withdraw Srpm perfid-
 ious men,  whom I  no longer needed to importune.  As
 Soon  as  I Saw  them no more, my  Soul was reftored to
 tranquillity.   Solitude is a JoSty mountain, Srom whence
 they appear of a very diminutive fize.  Solitude, howev-
 er,  was  rather  inimical  to my condition, in diSpofing
 the mind  too intenSely to meditation.   To J. J. Rouffeau
 I  ftand indebted Sor the  reeftablifhment' of  my health.
 I had read  in his immortal produaions, among other nat-
 ural truths, that Man was  made to aa, and not to medi-
tate.   Hitherto,  I  had exerciSed my  mind, and  Suffered
my body  to reft ; I now  inverted the order of that regi-
men : I exerciSed the body, and gave  repoSe to the mind.
I renounced the greateft part of books.  I threw my eye* 
344        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

upon the Works of Nature, which fpake, to all my fenfes,
a language which neither time nor nations have it in their
power to alter.   My  Hiftory, and my Journals,  were the
herbage of the fields and meadows.   My thoughts did not
painfully go  forth in queft of them, as  in the cafe of hu-
man fyftems ; but their thoughts  quietly Sought out  me,
under a  thouSand engaging forms.   In theSe I  ftudied,
without effort, the laws  of  that univerfal Wifdom,  with
which  I had been furrounded from the  cradle,  and on
which I had hitherto beftowed a very fuperficial attention.
I purfued the traces of  them in every part of the World,
by reading books of Travels.   Thefe were the only mod-
ern books  for  which I retained a relifh, becauSe they
transported me  into  other Societies than that in which  I
was unhappy, and, eSpecially, becauSe they Spake to me of
the various Works of Nature.
  By means of them I was taught, that  there is, in every
part of  the earth, a portion of happinefs for all  men, of
which,  almoft  univerfally, they are deprived ; and that
though in a ftate oS war, Srom  our political  Order which
diSunites them,  they were in a ftate oS peace, in  the order
of Nature, who invites  them  to approximation.  Thefe
confolatory meditations  reconduaed me, infenfibly, to my
ancient projeas of public felicity ; not to execute  them
in perfon, as formerly, but, at  leaft, to  compofe an inter-
efting piaure of it.  The fpeculation Simply of a general
happinefs, was  now fufficient for my individual felicity.
I likewife refleaed,  that  my  imaginary plans might one
day be realized by  men  more  fortunate than myfelf.
This defire redoubled in me, at the fight  of the  miferable
beings of which our Societies confift.   I felt, above all,
from the privations which  I myfelf had undergone, the
neceffity of a political  order conformable to the order of
Nature.  In  a  word, I  compofed one after the inftinft,
and the demands, of  my own heart.
   Enabled by my own travels, and  ftill more by reading
thofe of others, to fefea on the fur face of the Glpbe, a fit- 
P R A b M E N T.
345
Nation proper for tracing the plan of a happy ftate of So-
ciety, I fixed it in the  bofom of South America, on the
rich and defert fliores of the river of the Amazons.
  I  extended myfelf,  in imagination, over the face of
thofe immenfe  forefts.   There I conftruaed forts ;  I
cleared  large tiads of land ; I covered them with copious
harvefts, and with orchards prefenting overflowing crops
of all the  fruits  foreign to Europe.  There I  offered an
afylum to  the men of all Nations, the individuals of which
I had feen in  diftrefs.   There I planted the men of Hol-
land and of Switzerland, who have no territory in  their
own  Country ;  and  Ruffians deftitute of the means of ef-
tablifhing themfelves in their vaft Solitudes at home ;  En-
glishmen  tired of the convulfions of their popular liberty,
and  Italians, of  the  lethargy of their ariftocratical gov-
ernments  ; Pruffians fick of their military defpotifm, and
 Poles, of  their republican anarchy ; Spaniards, of the in-
tolerance  of religious  opinions, and  Frenchmen, of the
levity of theirs ; Knights of Malta and Algerines ; the
peafantry of  Bohemia,  Poland, Ruffia, Franche Comt6,
Lower  Brittany, efcaped from the tyranny of their com-
patriots ;   the runaway Negro  flaves of  our barbarous
 colonies  ;  the proteaors,  and the   protcaed, ot  all
Nations ; courtiers, gownmen, Scholars,-  Soldiers, mer-
 chants, financiers ;  every  unfortunate wretch  torment-
ed with the maladies of European,  African,  and Afiatjc
 opinions, all oS them, with a very Sew exceptions, aiming
 at mutual oppreffion, and reaaing upon each other, by vi-
 olence pr cunning, impiety or Superftition.
   They abjured the national prejudices which  had render-
 ed them,  from the womb, the enemies of other men ; and
 eSpecially that which is the Source of all  the animofities
 of the Human Race, and which Europe inftils, with the
 mother's  milk,  into  each of her fons—the defire of being
 the firft.   They adopted, under the immediate proteaion
 of the Author of Nature, the principles of univerfal
 toleration ; and by  that aa of general juftice, they fell
   VOL. in.              U u 
346        STUDIES  • F NATURE.

back, without  interruption, into  the  unconftrained exer-
ciSe oS their particular charaaer.  The Dutchman there
purSued agriculture and  commerce, into the very bofom
of the moraffes; the Swifs, up to the fummit of the rocks,
and the Ruffian, dexterous in managing the hatchet, into
the very centre of the thickeft forefts.   The Englifhman
there addiaed  himSelf to  navigation, and  to  the ufeful
arts, which conftitute the  ftrength of States ;  the Italian,
to the liberal arts, which raife them to  a flourifhing con-
dition ;  the Pruflian, to military exercifes ;  the Pole, to
thofe of horSemanfhip ;  the referved Spaniard,  to the tal-
ents which  require  firmneSs ; the Frenchman,  to thoSe
which render  life  agreeable, and  to  the  Social inflina,
which qualifies him to be the bond of union among all Na-
tions.   All thefe men, of opinions fo very  different, en-
joyed, through the medium of toleration, an intercommu-
nication of every thing that was beft in their feveral  char-
aaers, and tempered the defeas of one,.by the redundan-
cies of  another.   Thence  refulted  from education,  from
laws, and  from habit, a combination of arts, of talents, of
virtues, and of religious principles, which  formed, of the
whole, but one fingle people, difpofed to exift; internally,
in the moft perfea harmony, to  refift  every external  in-
.vader, and to  amalgamate with all the  reft of the Human
Race.
   I committed, then, to writing,  all the Speculations
which I had purfued on this Subjea j but when I attempt-
ed to put  them together, in order to  Sorm to  mySelf, ani
to convey to others, the idea of a republic, modelled con.
formably  to the Laws of Nature, I perceived that, after
all the labour I had beftowed, I never could make the
illufion pafs on any one reafonable being.
   Plato, it is  true,  in his Atlantis, Xenophon  in his Cy-
ropedia, Fenelon  in his Telemachus,  have  depiaed  the
felicity of various political Societies, which have, perhaps,
never exifted  ; but, by means  of blending their fiaions
with hiftorical traditions, and  throwing them back into 
FRAGMENT.
347
ages remote, they have beftowed on them a fufficient air
ef probability, to induce a Reader poffeffed of indulgence,
to receive  as realities, recitals  which he  has no  longer
the power of fupporting by faas.  This was by no means
the cafe with  my Work.   I there went on the fuppofi-
tion, in modern  times, and in a well  known part of the
Globe,  of the exiftence  of a very  considerable  People,
formed  almoft entirely of the miferable refufe of the Eu-
ropean Nations,  exalted, all at once, to the higheft degree
of felicity ; and  this rare phenomenon, fo worthy of, at ,
leaft, the curiofity of Europe, ceafed to produce any illu-
sion, as  Soon as it was certain that it had no real exiftence.
Befides., the ScantineSs of theory which I had procured, re-
fpeaing a country So different Srom ours, and So Superficial-
ly deScribed by travellers, could have furnifhed to my pic-
tures only a falfe colouring, and very indiftina features.
   I relinquifhed, then, my political  veffel, though I had
laboured upon her for feveral years, with unwearied per-
feverance.  Like the canoe of Robinfon Crufoe, I left her
in the foreft where I had moulded her, for want of power
to put her in motion, and  to carry her along the  tide of
human opinions.
   To no purpofe did my imagination perSorm the  tour of
the Globe.   Amidft fo many Sites prefented, for the hap-
pinefs of Man,  by  Nature, I could  not  fo much  as find
where to put  down the  illufory habitation of a People,
happy in conformity to her Laws : For neither the  repub-
lic of St. Paul, near to Brafil, formed of banditti who
made war upon  the whole World ;  nor  the evangelical
affociation  of William Penn, in North America, which
goes not even So  Sar as to  aa upon the deSenfive, againft
their enemies ; nor  the conventual redemptions (4) of the
Jefuits in Paraguay  ; nor the voluptuous iflanders of the
South Sea,  who, in the very lap of fenfuality, offer up hu-
man facrifices (5), appeared to me the  proper reprefenta-
tives of  a People making a right ufe, in the ftate of Nature,
ot all their faculties, phyfical and moral. 
84s
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
    Befides, though thefe fraternities prefented to me cer-
 tain republican images, the firft. was a ftate of downright
 anarchy ; the fecond, fimply an affociation, under the pro-
 teaipn of the State in  which it was contained ; and the
 Qther  two formed hereditary  ariftocracies merely, under
 which a particular  clafs pf citizens, having referved all
 power to itfelf, even to the difpofal of the national fub-
 fiftence, kept the People at large  in a ftate of perpetual
 tutelage, without the poffibility of their ever emerging
 from the clafs of Neophytes, or of Toutous (6).
   My foul, finding no complacency in ages prefent, wing-
 ed its way  toward the ages of Antiquity, and  alighted,
 firft of all, among the Nations of Arcadia.
   This happy portion of Greece prefented to me climates
 and fituations, fimilar to  thofe which  are difperfed over
 the reft of Europe.  I  could  fafhion them, at  leaft, into
 piaures variegated, and poffefling the advantage of refem-
 blance.  It was filled with mountains of confiderable ele-
 vation, Some oS which, Such as that  of Phoe, covered with
 fnow all the year  round, rendered  it fimilar to Switzer-
 land.   On the other hand, its  moraffes, fuch as that  of
 Stymphale, gave  it, in this part of  its territory, a refem-
 blance to Holland.   Its vegetables, and its animals, were
 the Same with thoSe which are Scattered over the Soil  of
 Italy, oS France, and of the North of Europe.  It produc-
 ed  olive trees, vines, apple trees, corn  of all kinds, paf-
 ture ;  forefts of oaks, of pines, and  of firs ;  oxen, horfes,
 Sheep, goats, wolves.....The occupations of the Arcadians
 were the fame with thofe of our peafantry.  They were
claffed  into  hufbandmen,  fhepherds, vinedreflers,  huntf-
 men.   But in this they differed widely from ours,  they
were  very warlike  externally,  and very  peaceable  at
home.   As foon as the State was menaced with war, they
voluntarily appeared for  its defence, every man at his
proper charge.  There was  a confiderable proportion  of
Arcadians among  the  ten  thoufand Greeks, who, under
the command of Xenophon, effeaed the  famous retreat 
FRAGMENT.
349
put of  Perfia.  They were much  devoted to religion ;
for moft of  the  Gods of Greece were natives of  their
Country ; Mercury,  on  Mount  Cyllene ; Jupiter, oa
Mount  Lyceum  ; Pan, on Mount Menalus, or, accord-
ing to others, amidft the forefts of Mount Lyceum, where
he was woi {hipped with Angular devotion.   Arcadia, too,
was the theatre on which Hercules exhibited the moft af.
tonifhing of his laborious achievements.
   With thofe  fentiments of  patriotism and of religion,
the Arcadians blended that  of love, which has, at length,
acquired  the afcendant, as  the principal idea which  that
People have left us of themfelves.  For, political and re-
ligious inftitutions vary, in  every  Country, with the lapfe
of ages, and are peculiar to it ; but the Laws of Nature
are of all periods of time, and intereft all Nations.  Hence
it has come to pafs, that the Poets, ancient aiid modern,
have  reprefented  the Arcadians as  a Nation of amorous
Shepherds, who excelled in  Poetry and Mufic, which are,
in all countries, the expreflive languages of  love.   Virgil,
in particular, frequently celebrates their talents, and their
rural  felicity.   In his ninth Eclogue, which  breathes the
gentleft melancholy, he thus introduces Gallus, the fon of
Pollio,  inviting the Arcadian fwains, to deplore with him
the lofs of his miftrefs Lycoris :

                    Cantabitis, Arcades, inquit,
      Montibus haec veftris.  Soli cantare periti,
      Arcades.  O  mini turn quam molliter olfa qtiiefcent,
      Veftra meos olim fi fiftula dicat amores !
      Atque utinam ex vobis unus, veftrique fuiflTem
      Aut cuftos gregis, aut maturae vinitor uvae*  !

      * To your lov'd mountains, and your verdant plains,
      Repeat, Arcadians, thefe my leve iorn ilrains.
      In magic numbers you alone  excel.
      Lull'd to foft reft my lifelefs limbs fhall dwell,
      Should  your fweet notes immortalize my flame,
      And give, to Gal/us dead, a deathlefs  name,
      Ob, had I been, of you, fome fhepherd's fwain I
      Or cull'd the grapj:;  or reap'd the golden grain ! 
95«
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
   "" You ihall fing,"  fays he, " O ye Arcadians, thefe
 " plaintive  ftrains  of mine,  on your  own  mountains.
 " Arcadians, you alone are (killed in fong.  O, how foft-
 " ly fhall my bones repofe, if your pipe Shall one day im-
*' mortalize my unSortunate loves !  And would to  Heav-
 " en I had  been  one of you, though in the humble fta-
 " tion of a fhepherd's boy, or of a grape gatherer in the
 " vineyard !"
   Gallus, the fon of a Roman Conful, in the age of Au-
gujlus, considers the condition of the Arcadian Swains as
 fo enviable, that he preSumes  not to afpire to the felicity
of being among them a proprietary fhepherd, or the drefT-
er of a vineyard  which he could  call his own, but only
 to that of a fimple  keeper of cattle : Cufilos  gregis ; or
 of one of thofe hireling labourers,  whom they accident-
 ally picked  up, as they went on their way, to  aflift in
 treading out the ripened  clufters : Matura vinitor uvee.
   Virgil abounds in Such delicate fhades of Sentiment,
which totally diSappear in tranflations, and eSpecially in
 mine.
   Although the Arcadians parted  a  confiderable part of
 then life in finging, and in making love, Virgil does not
reprefent them as an effeminate race of men.  On the con-
trary, he afligns to them fimple manners, and a particular
 charaaer of force, of piety, and virtue, which  is confirm-
ed by all the Historians who have made mention of them.
He introduces them asaaing  a very diftinguifhed and im-
portant part, in the origin of the Roman empire ; for
when Eneas failed up the Tiber, in the view  of  forming
alliances with the Nations who  inhabited the fhores of
that river, he found, at the place of his difembarkation, a
fmall city called Pallanteum, after the name of Pallas, fon
to Evander, King  of  the Arcadians, who had  built it.
This city was afterwards enclofed within the precina of
the city of Rome, to which  it ferved as its firft fortrefs.
For this reafon it is, that Virgil denominates King  Evan-
der the founder of the Roman fortrefs  : 
FRAGMENT.
33*
         Rex Evandrus, Romanae Conditor arcis.
                         iENEiD, Lis. viii. Ver. 313,

   I feel an irrefiftible propenfity to infert, in this place.
Some paffages  pf the Eneid, which have a direa relation
to the  manners of the Arcadians, and which difcover, at
the fame time, their influence on thofe of the Roman Peo*
pie.   I am abundantly fenfible, that I fhall give but a very
indifferent tranflation oS thoSe paffages, as I have done of
all the  Latin quotations already introduced into my Book ;
but the delicious poefy  of Virgil  will  indemnify the
Reader for my  bad profe, and gratify the tafte which it
will inSpire into  mySelS, oS  what is natural to me.   This.
digreffion, befides, is  by  no means foreign to the general
plan of this Work.   I fhall produce in it, various exam-
ples of the powerful effeas  arifing from confonances and
contrafts, which I have confidered, in my preceding Stud-
ies, as  the*firft  moving principles  of Nature.  We fhall
See that, after  her example, Virgil abounds with them,
and that they alone are the caufe of the harmeny of his
ftyle, and pf the magic of his piaures.
   Firft, Eneas, by command of  the God  of the Tiber,
who had appeared to him  in a dream, comes to folicit the
alliance of Evander,  in order to his making good an eftab-
lifhment in Italy.  He avails himfelf of the  anciently al-
lied origin of their  families, which both defcended from
Atlas ; the one by Eleclra ; the other by Maza. Evan-
der makes no reply on the fubjea of this genealogy  ; but
at fight of Eneas,  he recolfeas, with delight,  the features,
the voice, and the addrefs of Anchifes, whom he had, fo
long before, entertained in his palace, within the walls of
Pheneum, when that  Prince, on  his way  to Salamis, with
Priam, who was going to vifit his fitter Hefione, took, the
cold mountains of Arcadia in his road :

                    Ut te fortiflime TeuciQm
       Accipio agnofcoque libens !  ut verba parentis
       Et vocem Anchifa magni vultumque recorder \ 
J58        STUDIES  OF   NATURE.

         Nam memini Hefiones vifentem regna fororis
         Laomedontiadem Priamum, Salamina petentem
         Pj-otinus Arcadiae gelidos invifere fines*.
                                 j*Eneid, B. viii. L. 154 -159.

   Evander was then in the flower of his age ; he  felt an
ardent defire to join his hand in friendfhip to that of  An-
ehifes : Dextrd conjungere dextram.   He  calls  to mind
the tokens of friendfhip which he had received  of  him,
and his prefents, among which were  two  bridles, bitted
with gold, now  made over to his fon Pallas, as  fymbols,
no doubt, of the prudence fo neceffary to a young Prince :
      Fraenaque bina, meus quae nunc habet, aurea, Pallasf.
                                       JEneid, B. viii. L. 16*.

And he immediately adds :
                                                   w
      Ergo et quam petitis, jun&aeft mihi foedere dextra:
      Et lux cum primum terris fe craftina  reddet,
      Auxilio laetes dimittam, opibufque juvabot-
                                JEneio, B. viii.  L. 169—171
* On all thy features how I dwell with joy!
  Welcome, thrice welcome, glorious Prince of Troy !
  How in thy face, my ancient friend I fee !
  Anckifes looks, and lives, and fpeaks in thee !
  Well I recal great Prianfs ftately port,
  When once he fought his royal filler's court
  On Salaminian fhores, with all his train ;
  And took his way through our Arcadian plain.
f On me, at parting, generous he beftow'd
  Two golden bridles, that refulgent glow'd,
 (A glorious prefent, by my fon poffefs'd ;)
  With a rich quiver and embroider'd veft.

J The peace you afk, we give ; our friendfhip plight,
  And, foon as morn reveals the purple light,
  With our confederate troops, a martial train,
  Safe I'll difmifs thee from thefe walls again.
FrTTo
Pitt.
PlTT« 
                    FRAGMENT.                353

  " My right hand, then,  has  feated, from that day, the
" alliance which you now folicit J and as foon  as tomor-
14 row's dawn fhall revifitthe Earth, I will joyfully difmifs
" you  to  the field, with  the  fuccours  which you  afk,
" and will fupport you to the utmoft extent of my ability."
  Thus Evander, though a Greek,  and, confequently, a
natural enemy to the Trojans, gives his aid to Eneas, pure-
ly from the recolleaion of the friendfhip which he enter-
tained  for  his  ancient gueft Anchifes.  The  hofpitality
which he had formerly expreffed to the father,  determines
him now to fupport the fon.
  It is not foreign  to my fubjea to remark in this place,
to the  honour of Virgil, and of his heroes, That as often
as Eneas, under the preffure of calamity, is reduced to the
neceffity of having  recourfe to  the afiiftance of ftrangers,
he never fails to remind them of either the glory of Trov,
Or of ancient family alliances; or to urge fome other polit-
ical reafon, calculated to intereft  them in his favour ;  but
thofe who tender him  their fervices,  are always  induced
to aa  thus from motives of virtue.   When thrown by the
tempeft on the Lybian fhore, Dido is determined to afford
him an afylum, by a fentiment ftill more fublime than the
recolleaion of any particular hofpitality, highly  refpe£ied
as it was among the ancients ;  but by the general intereft
which we take in the miferable.  In order td fender the ef-
fea of this more dignified, and, more affeaing, She applies to
herSelf the need of it, and reverberates from her own heart,
on the Trojan  Prince, only the fame degree of fympathy
which the demands for herfelf.   Thefe are her words :
      Me quoque per multos fimilis fortuna labores
      jaclatam, hac demum voluit confiftere terra.
       Non ignara mali, miferis fuccurere difco*.
                              ./Eneid,  B. i. L. 632—624.

    * My wanderings and  my fate refembling yours,
      At length I fettled on thefe Lybian fhores;
      And, touch'd with miferies myfelf have known,
      I view with pity, woes fo like my own.           Pitt,
   VOL.  Ill,              W W 
354
STUDIES   OF  NATURE-
   " A fortune fimilar to thine, after having purfued me
 ** too, through diftreffes innumerable, permitted me, at
 " length, to form a Settlement on thefe fhores.  Nurtured
 " mySelS in the School of adverfity, I am inftruaed to fut-
 " cour the miSerable."
   Virgil uniformly prefers natural to political  reafons,
 and the intereft of Mankind to national interefts.   Hence
 it comes to pafs that  his Poem, though compofed to dif-
 fufe the particular glory  of the Roman People, interefts
 the men of all ages, and of all Nations.
   To return to King Evander : Fie was employed in of-
 fering a facrifice to  Hercules,  at the head of his Arcadian
 Colony, at the time  Eneas landed.  After  having  engag-
 ed the Trojan Chief, and his attendants, to partake of the
 facred banquet, which  his  arrival had interrupted, he in-
 ftruas his gueft in the origin of  this facrifice, by  relating
 to him the hiftory  of the robber Cacus, whom Hercules
put to death, in a cavern adjoining to the Aventine  Mount.
 He prefents him with a tremendous piaure of the  combat
of the fon of Jupiter, with  that flame vomiting monfter ;
he then adds :

    * Ex illo celebratus honos, laetique minores
      Servavere diem : Prinuifque Poiitius auttor,
      Et domus Herculei cuftos Pinaria facri,
      Hanc atom luco ffatuit : Qua? maxima Temper
      Dicetur nobis, et erit quae maxima Temper.
      Qjjare agite, O juvenes, tantamm in munere Iaudum,

    * From that blcft hour ih' Arcadian tribes beflow'd
     Thefe folemn honours on their guardian God.
     Potitius firft, his gratitude to prove,
     Ador'd Alcides in the fhady grove ;
     And with the old Pinarian facred line,
     Thefe altars rais'd, and paid the rites divine,
     Rites, which our fons forever fhall maintain ;
     And ever facred (hall the grove remain.
     Come then, with us to great Alcides pray,
     And crown your heads, and folcmnize the day. 
FRAGMENT.                  353
      Cingite fronde comas, et pocula porgite dextris 5
       Coramunemque vocate deum, et data vina volentes.
      Dixerat:  Herculed bicolor cum populus umbra
       Velavitque comas, foliifque innexa pependit :
      Et facer implevit dextram fcyphus.  Ocius omnes
       In menfam lseti libant, divofque precantur.
         Devexointerea proprior fit vefper Olympo :
      Jamque facerdotes, primufque Potitius, ibant.
       Pellibus in morem cincli, flammafque ferebant.
       Inftaurant epulas, et menfe grata fecundae
       Dora ferunt : Cumulantque oneratis lancibus aras.
      Turn Salii ad cantus, incenfa altaria circum,
      Populeis adfunt evindti tempora ramis.
                                tEneid, B. viii. L. 268—286.

   *• From that period this  facred  Seftival has  been cele-
"'  bratcd, and exulting pofterity hails the return of the an-
*4  nual day.   Potitius has the honour of having firft infti-
"  tuted it, and the Pinarian Family,  to whom belongs the
44  direaion  of this Solemn Service,  in honour  of Hercules,
"  reared this  altar in  the  hallowed grove  : Which ever
*l  fhall  be called, and,  in my efteem, ever fhall be, the
44  moft Venerable of Altars.  Conie on,  then,  my young


       Invoke our common God with hymns divine,
       And from  the goblet pour the generous wine.
       He faid, and with the poplar's facred boughs,
       Like great Alcides, binds his  hoary brows ;
       Rais'd the crown'd goblet high, in open view :  ~\
       With him, the guefts the holy rite purfue,       £
       And on tke board the rich libation threw.      *
         Now from before the rifing fhades of night,
       Roll'd down the fteep of Heav'n the beamy light.
       Clad in the fleecy fpoils of fheep, proceed
       The holy priefts ; Potitius at their head.
       With flaming brands and offerings, march the train,
       And bid the hallow'd altars blaze again  ;
      With care the copious viands they difpefc ;
      And for their guefts a fecond  banquet  rofe.
      The fires curl high ; the Salii dance around
      To facred (trains, with fhady poplars crown'd.
                                                      Pit*; 
356        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
" friends from Troy, in grateful remembrance of merit So
" exalted, crown your brows with  the foliage  of  his fa-
44 vourite tree, put your right hand to  the goblet ; in-
" voke  a deity who fhall be  our common proteaor, and
14 pour out your joyful libations of the juice of the grape.
44 He Said, and inftantly a poplar branch of double colour-
44 ed foliage,  from the Herculean tree, fliaded his hoary
44 locks,  and,  in  twifted  Sprigs,  hung gracefully down
44 from  his temples :  The facred  bowl  filled   his  right
" hand.  With holy ardor every one immediately  poured
44 his libation on the table, and preferred his prayer.
  44  Meanwhile, the Star of Evening began to appear, the
44 harbinger of approaching night :  And now a proceffion
': of Priefts, Potitius led the  train, moved along, dreffed,
44 as  the order of the feaft required, in the  fleecy fkins of
44 the flock,  and with  flaming torches in their  hands.
44 The banquet is renewed, and the grateful delicacies of a
44 fecond table are Served up : While the altars are  load-
44 ed with piles of rich offerings.   The Salians advance,
44 their  brows  adorned  with  boughs of  poplar, and fur-
44 round the blazing altars, with feftive Songs and dances."
  Every circumftance, here detailed by the  Poet,  is far
from being a mere poetical fiaion, but a real tradition of
the Roman Hiftory.   According to Titus Livius, in the
firft  Book of  his Hiftory, Potitius and  Pinarius were
the Chiefs of two illuftrious  Roman Families.  Evander
inftruaed them in the ritual of the worfhip to be  paid to
Hercules, and committed the condua of it to their charge.
Their pofterity enjoyed the  dignity of this  priefthood,
down to the cenforfhip of Appius Claudius.   The altar
of Hercules, Ara Maxima, was  at Rome, between the
Aventine and the Palatine mountains, in the open  place
called, Forum Boarium.   The Salians were the Priefts of
Mars, inftituted by Numa, to the number of twelve.  Vir-
gil proceeds on the fuppofition, according  to  fome com-
mentators, that they had exifted  ever fince  the  days of
Jting Evander, and that they fung in the facrifices  of Her- 
FRAGMENT.
357
cules.  But there is a great appearance  of probability,
that  Virgil in  this, likewife,  followed  the  Hiftoiical
tradition ;  for  we  know how  carefully he  colle£ted,
with a kind of religious ardor, even the flighteft prognof-
tics, and the moft frivolous  prediaions, to which  he af-
figned a firft rate importance, the moment that they ap-
peared in any r.efpe£t  conncaed with the  foundation of
the Roman Empire.
   Rome was  indebted, then,  to  the Arcadians, for her
principal  religious ufages.   She was ftill  farther  indebt-
ed to them for others, much  more interefting to humani-
ty ; for  Plutarch derives one  of  the etymologies of the
name Patricians, an order eftablifhed by Romulus, from
the word 44 Patrocinium,  which means patronage,  or pro-
*4  teaion ;  and this  word is ufed, tp this day, in the fame
.*'  fenfe, becaufe pne of the leading men who accompani-
"  ed Evander into Italy  was named Patronus, who, be-
"  ing a perfon noted for a charaaer of beneficence, and
"  for granting  fupport to the poorer and  more oppreffed
"  clafs of  Mankind, communicated  his name  to that of-
"  fice of humanity."
   The facrifice  and the banquet of  Evander,  terminated
in a hymn to the honour  of Hercules.  1 cannot re fill the
inclination which 1  feel to infert it here, in order to make
it  appear, that the fame people who  fung fo melodioufly
the loves of fhepherds  were  equally  capable of celebrat-
ing the virtues of Heroes ;  and that the fame  Poet, who,
in  his Eclogues, tunes fo Sweetly the rural pipe, can blow
as vigoroufly the epic trumpet.

     *  Hie juvenum chorus, ille fenum, qui carmine laitdes
       Herculeas et facta ferunt :  Ut primum novercie

     *  The choirs of old and  young, in lofty lays,
      Refound great Hercvles' immortal praife.
      How firft, his infant hands the fnakes o'erthrew,
      Ijiat Juno fent ; and the dire monflers flew, 
g^S            STUDIES  OF   NATURE.
  Monftra manu geminofque premens eliferit angues :
  Ut bcllo egregias idem disjecerit urbes,
  Trojamque, yEchaliamqne :  Ut duros mille labores
  Rege fub Eiu>fiheo, fatis Junonis iniquae,
  Pertulerit.   Tu nubigenas invidte bimembres,
f Hylseumque, Pholumque manu : Te CrefCa macias
  Prodigia, et vafium Nemea fub rupe Leonem.
  Te Stygii tremuere lacus :  Te janitor Orci,
  OfTa ftiper recubans, antro  femefa cruento.
  Nee te ullae fades, non terruit ipfe Typhaeus
  Arduus, arma tenens : Non te rationis egentem
  Lernanis turba capitum circumftetit anguis.
  Salve, vera Jovis proles, decus addite Divis :
  Et nos, et tua dexter adi pede facra (ecundo.
  Talia carminibus celebrant :  Super omnia Caci
  Speluncam adjiciunt, fpirantemque ignibus ipfum.
  Confonat omne nemus ftrepitu, collefque refuitant.
                            ^neid, B. viii. L.  287—30.J.

  What mighty cities next his arms deftroy,
  TtV jEchalian walls, and ftately towers of Troy.
  The thoufand labours of the hero's hands,
  Enjoin'd by proud Eury/llieus' ftern commaads,
  And jfove's revengeful Queen.   Thy matchlcfs might
  O'ercame the cloud born Centaurs in the fight ;
  Byltzus, Pholus, funk, beneath thy feet,
  And the grim bull, whofe rage difpcopled Crete,
  Eeneath thy arm, the Nem'ean monfter fell ;
  Thy arm, with terror fill'd the realms of Hell ;
  Ev'n Hell's grim porter fhook  with dire difmay,
  Shrunk back, and trembled o'er his mangled prey.
  No fhapes of danger could thy foul affright,
  Nor huge Typhceus, towering to the fight,
  Nor Lcrna's fiend thy courage could confound,
  With all her hundred heads, that hifs'd around.
  Hail, mighty Chief, advam-'d to Heav'n's abodes !
  Hail, fon of  Jove ; a God among the Gods !
  Be prefent to the vows thy fuppliants pay,
  And with a fmile thefe grateful rites furvey.
  Thus they—but Cacus' cavern crowns the flrain,
  Where the grim monfter breath'd his flames in vain,
  To the glad fong, the vales, the woods rebound,
  The lofty hills reply, and echo to the found.
                                                   Pitt. 
FRAGMENT.              3^
   " On this hand were arranged a choir of youth, on that,
 n a  venerable band  of  old men, to celebrate the praifes,
 44 and the mighty achievements of Hercules :  How, with
 ,£ the preffure of his potent fingers, he ftifled to death two
 *4 fearful fnakes, the firft monfters armed  againft him by
 '4 his cruel ftepmother : How he humbled the two proud
 14 cities, Troy and yEchalia :  How he triumphantly fur-
 " mounted a thoufand painful labours, under King Eu-
 " ryflheus, impofed by the reSentment of unrelenting Ju-
 <4 no : Thou, invincible Hero, thou, by thine arm, fub-
 44 duedft the double limbed, cloud born Centaurs, Hylaus
 44 and Pholus ; the monfters of Crete fell  by thy ftroke,
 44 and the formidable lion under  the  Nemean  rock ;  the
 " Stygian lakes  trembled  at thy  approach ;  as did  the
 44 janitor  of Hell, as he lay reclined on a heap of half
 <4 gnawed bones, in  his bloody den : No  appearance of
 " danger appalled  thee, not even the gigantic  Typhoeus
 44 himfelf, rufhing upon  thee tremendous in arms : Thou
 44 wert not difmayed, though enclofed on every fide  by
 44 the many headed  fnake of Lerna.  Hail,  undoubted
 44 offspring of mighty Jove !  add new luftre to the fkies  :
 " Gracioufly bend down to hear our vows, and to accept
 " our Sacrifices."
  44  Such  was the lofty fubjea of their-Song : Above all
 44 the reft they exalted the  prodigies of the fearful  den of
 44 Cacus, and the monfter himfelf vomiting forth ftreams
 44 of fire.  The Spacious grove was filled with the harmo-
 " ny, and  the noife rebounded from hill to hill."
  Thefe are ftrains worthy of the manly breafts of Arca-
 dians : We  feem to  hear them filling the ambient air in
 the echoes of the woods  and  of the mountains  :

      Confonat omne nemus ftrepitu, collefque refultant.

  Virgil always expreffes  natural confonances.  They
redouble the effea of his piaures, and infufe into them
the fublime  fentiment of infinity.  Confonances are i»
poetry, what reflexes  are in painting. 
*>tO        STL DIES OF NATURE.

   This hymn will ftand a companion with the fineft odej
of  Horace.  Though compofed in regular Alexandrine
verfes, it has all  the eleg-int turn, and the movements, of
a lyric composition, efpecially in its tranfitions.
   Evander afterwards relates, to Eneas, the hiftory of the
antiquities of the Country, beginning with Saturn, who,
dethroned  by Jupiter, retired thither, and there eftablifh-
ed the Golden Age.  He informs his  guefts  that the Ti-
ber, anciently  called  Albula,  had acquired  its prefent
name from the Giant Tibris, who made a conqueft  of the
fliores of  that  river.  He fhews him the altar and the
gate, fince  called Carmentalis by the Romans, in honour
6f the nymph Carmenta, his mother, by whofe advice he
had come to form a Settlement in that  place,  after having
been  banifhed from  Arcadia, his  native Country.  He
points out  to him an extenfive wood, of  which Romulus,
in after times, availed himfelf as an afylum ; and, at the
bottom of  a rock, the grotto of  Pan Lupercal, fo called,
he  tells  him, in  imitation  of that of the Arcadians of
Mount Lyceum.

    * Nee non et facri moiYftraf nefnus Argileti :
      Tefiaturque locum, et lethum docet hofpiiis Argi.
      Hinc ad Tarpeiam fedem et Capitolia ducit,
      Aurea nunc, ohm fylveftribus horrida dumis.
      Jam turn religio pavidos terrebat agreftes
      Dira  loci, jam turn fjrlvam faxumque tremebant.
      Hoc nemus, nunc, inquir, frondofo vertice colterr^


     '* Here, Pan, beneath the rocks thy temple flood ;
      There, the renown'd afylum, in the wood.
      Now  points the monarch, where,  by vengeful fleel
      His murder'd gueft, poor haplefs Argus fell!
      Next, to thecapitol their courfe they hold,
      Then  roof'd with reeds, but blazing now with gold,'
      Ev'n then her awful fanftity appear'd ;
      The fwains the local majefty rever'd.
      All pale with facred horror, they furvcy'd
      The folcmti mountain and the reverend fhade. 
F R A G M E N T.               36 (
      (Qjis Deus incertum eft) liabitat Deus, Arcades ipfum
      Credimt fe vidifle Jovem : Cum tepe ni;>rantem
      /Eirjda concuteret dextra, nimbofque cicret.
      H:ec duo praeterea di jectis oppida muris,
      Rel'iquias veterumqne vides monumenfa virorum.
      Hanc Janus pater, hanc Saturnus condidit urbem :
      Janicultini huic, illi fuerat Saturnia nomen.
                              jEncid, B. viii. L. 345—358.

   44 He next flieWs him the facred grove of  Argiletum :
"  Makes a folcmn appeal to that awful  fpot, and relates
44 the ftdry of  his murdered gueft Argus.  Then he con-
44 duas him to the Tarpeian rock ;  and  to the Capitol, now
44 fhining with burnifhed gold, once clothed all over with
  wild fhrubbery. Even then the gloomy religious horror of
14 this Spot terrified the trembling ruflics ; even then they
   fhuddered, as they approached the rocky precipice and
44  the wood.   Some God,  Says he, but which  of the celcf-
44  tial Powers  we know not, inhabits  this grove,  and this
44  Shaggy topped eminence.  Our Arcadians imagine they
44  have had a glimpfe of Jupiter himfelf, from  time to time
"  Shaking the  heart appalling yEgis with fits  formidable
"  right hand, and roufing  into  fury the thunder impreg-
44 nated clouds.   You farther fee thefe two ruinous  cities,
44  with walls crumbling into duff, the fad  remains and ven-
" erable monuments of perfonages who fl.«urifiK\l in ages
14 long  fince paft.   Janus  founded the one, and Saturn

      Some God, the monarch f.iid, fome latent  God
      Dwells in that gloom, and haunts the frowning wood.
      Oft our Arcadians deerri, their wondering eyes
      Have feen great Jove, dread fovereign of the fkies ;
       High o'er their heads, the God his asgis held,
      And blacken'd Heav'n with clouds, and (hook th' immortal fhield !
      In ruins there two mighty towns, behold,
      Rais'd by our fires ; huge monuments of old  !
      Jinus' and Saturn's name they proudly bore,
      Their two great founders !.....but are now no more !
                                                  Pitt.
   Vol* hi.                x x 
 3tr2        STUDIES  OF  NA'TUR'E,

 " the other : Hence, this obtained the name of Janicu-
 " lum, and that of Saturnia."
   Here are the principal monuments of Rome, as well as
 the earlieft religious eftablifhments, afcribed to the Arca-
 dians.  The Romans celebrated the feaft of Saturn in the
 month of December.   During that period of feftivity, the
 mafters and the flaves Sat down at the Same table ; and theSe
 laft then enjoyed the liberty of faying, and oS doing, what-
 ever  they pleafed, in  memory of the ancient equality of
 mankind, which prevailed in the reign of Saturn.   The
 altar, and the gate, Carmentalis, long fubfifted at Rome,
 as well as the grotto of Pan Lupercalj, which  was under
 Mount Palatine.
   Virgil oppofes, with the ability of  a great Mafter, the
 rufticity of the ancient Sites, which furrounded the fmall
 Arcadian  city of Pallanteum, to.the  magnificence oS thoSe
 very places within the  precinas of Rome ; and their rude
 altar, with their venerable and religious traditions, under
 Evander,  to the gilded temples of a city, in which  noth-
 ing venerable or  religious was any  longer to be Seen un-
 der Auguflus*
   There is  here, likewiSe, another moral contraft, which
 produces a more powerful effea than all the phyfical con-
 trafts, and which  admirably paints the fimplicity, and the
 uncorrupted integrity of the King of Arcadia.   It is when
 that Prince juflifies  himfelf, without being called upon to
 do fo, from the  fufpicion of having caufed the death of
 his gueft Argus, and appeals, as a witnefs of his innocence,
 to the wood which he had confecrated to him.  This  Ar-
gus, or this Argian, had infinuated himSelS into his houSe,
 with  an intention  to murder him :  But, having been de-
 teaed, was condemned  to die.  Evander had a tomb rear-
 ed to his memory, and here Solemnly protefts, that he had
 not violated, in his caSe, the Sacred  rights of hofpitality.
 The piety of this good King, and the proteftation which
 he makes of his innocence, refpeaing a ftranger, who was
 deeply criminal againft himfelf, and juftly condemned by 
FRAGMENT.                 ^63
•the laws, forms a wonderfully fine contraft to the illegal
 proscriptions of guefts, of parents, of friends, of patrons,
 of which Rome had  been the theatre for an age before,
 and which had excited in no one citizen either Scruple or
 remorSe.  The quarter of Argiletum extended, in Rome,
 along the banks of the Tiber.  The town  Janiculum  had
 been  built on the mount of that name, and Saturnia on
 the rock firft called  the Tarpeian, and  afterwards  the
 Capitol, the  place of  Jupiter's refidence.  This ancient
 tradition, of Jupiter's frequently  colleaing the clouds on
 the Summit  of this foreft covered rock, and  there bran-
 difhing his dark segis, confirms what has been faid in my
 preceding Studies of the hydraulic attraaion of the fummits
 of mountains, and of their forefts, which are the Sources
 of rivers.  This was  the cafe, JikewiSe, with Olympus,
 frequently involved in clouds, on which the Greeks fixed
 the habitation of the Gods.   In the ages of ignorance,
 .religious fentiments  explained  phyfical  effeas  : fn ages
 of illumination, phyfical  effeas bring men back to relig-
 ious fentiments.   Nature, at all times,  Speaks to Man the
 Same  language, in different diafeas.
    Virgil completes the contraft of the ancient monuments
 of Rome, by prefenting a picture'of the poor and  fimple
 habitation of the good King Evander,  in  the very place
 where fo many fumptuous palaces were afterwards reared,

     * Talibus inter fe dictis ad tecla fubibant
       Pauperis Evandri: Paifimque armenta videbant
       Romanoque Foro et lautis magire Carinis.
       Ut ventum ad fedes : Haec, inquit, limina victor
       Afcides fubiit : Haec ilium regia cepit,

     * Thus they convers'd on works of ancient fame,
       Till to the Monarch's humble courts they came ;
       There oxen ftalk'd, where palaces are rais'd,
       And bellowing herds in the proud forum graz'd,
       Lo ! faid the good old King, this poor abode
       Rcceiv'd great Hercules, the victor God ! 
364         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
      Aude, hofpes, contemnere opes, et te quoque dignur*
      Finge Deo, rebufque veni non afper egcnis.
      Dixit; et angufti fubtcr faftigia tectj
      Ingentem Mucam duxit : Stratifque locavit,
      Etui! turn toliis et pelle Libyflidis urfae.
                             ^neid, B. viii. L. 359—368.

  " While thus converfing, they drew nigh to the lowly
*4 roof of the poor Evander :  And faw the cattle Strolling
.*' up  and down, and heard their lowing, in what is now the
44 Roman Forum, and  the Splendid quarter  of the Roftra.
44 Being arrived, This  threthold, fays he, received the vic-
44 torious Alcides ; this humble palace entertained a gueft
44 fo  illuftrious.   Dare, like  him, my  beloved gueft, to
44 look  down  on  wealth, and  thus  approve thy  celeftial
" origin,  and  kindly accept the hofpitality of  this poor
44 manfion.   He Spake, and conducted  the mighty Eneas
" through the narrow  portal ; and placed him  on a couch
" of foliage, covered with the Skin of a  Libyan bear."
  It is here evident, how deeply Virgil is penetrated with
the fimplicity of Arcadian manners, and with what de-
light  he  fets  Evander's  cattle a lowing  in  the Forum
liomanum, and ma*kes them pafture in the proud  quarter
of the city diftinguifhed by  the name of Cannae, thus call-
ed,  becaufe Pompey  had  there built a palace, ornamented
with the prows of fhips in  bronze.  This rural  contraft
produces the  moft agreeable  effea.  The  author of the
Eclogues recolleaed,  affuredly, in  this place, the fhep-
herd's pipe.   Now,  he is going to lay down the trumpet,
and to  affume the flute.   He proceeds to oppofe  to  his
piaure  of the dreadful conflia with Cacus, to the  hymn

      Thou, too, as nobly, raife thy foul above
      All pomps, and emulate the feed oi Jove-
      With that, the hero's  hands the Monarch preft,
      And to the manfion led his godlike gueft.
      There on a bear's rough fpoils his limbs he laid,
      And fweiling foliage heap'd  the homely bed,
                                                Pitt,
                                                1 . . 1 , 
F R A © M E N T.                   36,5
of Hercules,  to  the religious  traditions  of  the  Roman
monuments, and  to the  auftere manners ot Evander, the
molt voluptuous  epifode of his whole Work.   It  is that
of Venus,  coming to folicit Vulcan to make a Suit of ar-
mour for Eneas.

    ,* Nox  ruit, et furcis tdhnem amplerStitur a'is  ;
       At Venus hand ammo nequicquam exterrita mater,
       Laurentumque minis et duro mota tumultu,
       Vulcanuni alloqui'.ur, thalamoque haec conju^is aureo
       Incipit, et dictis divinum afpirat amoreni :
      XJum be.to  Argolici vaftabant Per^ama regea
       Debita, cafurafque inimicis iguibus arces :
       Non  ullum  auxilium  miferis, non arnia rogavi
      Artis opilque  tuae ; nee te, carifTime conjux,
       Incaffumve  tuos volui cxerccre labores,
       Quamvis et Priami deberem plurima natis,
       Et durum -/Eneae fleviiTem faepe laborem.
       Nunc, Jovis imperiis, Rutulorum conftitit oris :

    f Now  awful Night her folemn darknefs brings,
      And ftretches o'er the World her dufky wings ;
      When Fenut, (trembling at the dire alarms
      Of hoftile Latium, and her fons in arms,)
      In thoTe ftill  moments, thus to Vulcan faid,
       Riclin'd and leaning on the golden bed:
      (Her thrilling words her melting confort move,
      And every accent fans ihe flames of love :)
         When cruel  Greece and unrelenting Faie
       Confpir'd to  fink in dull the Trojan ftate,
       As Ilion's doom was feal'd, I ne'er implor'd
       In thofe long wars, the  labours of my Lord ;
      Nor urg'd my dear, dear confort to impart,
      For a  loft empire, his immortal art ;
      Tho' Priam's  royal offspring claim'd my care,
      Tho' much I  forrow'd for my godlike heir.
       Now as the Chief, by Jove's fupreme command,
      Has reach'd,  at length, the deftin'd Latian land ;
       To thee, my  guardian power, for aid I  run ;
      A Goddefs begs ; a mother for a fon.
      Oh ! guard the hero from thefe dire alarms,
      Forge, for the Chief, impenetrable arms.
      gee, what proud cities every hand employ,
      To arm new  hofts againft the fons of Troy j 
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
Ergo eadem fupplex venio, et Sanctum mini numen
Arma rogo, genitrix nato.  Te filia Nerei,
Te potuit lachrymis Tithonia fledtere conjux.
Afpice qui coeaat populi quae maenia claufis
Ferrum acuant portis, in me excidiumque meorum.
Dixerat; et niveis hinc atque hinc diva, lacertis
Cunclantem amplexu molli fovet: Hie  repente"
Accepit folitam flammam, notufque medullas
Intravit calor, et labefactaper offa cuctirrit:
Non fecus atque olim tonitru cum rupta curufco
Ignea rima micans percurrit lumine nimbos.
Senfit laeta dolis, et formae confcia conjux.
Turn pater Eeterno fatur devittus amore :
Quid caufai petis ex alto ? Fiducia ceffit
Quo tibi, Diva, mei ?  Similis fi cura fuiiTet,
Turn quoque fas nobis Teucros armare  fuiffet.
Nee pater omnipotens Trojam, nee fata  vetabant
Stare, decemque alios  Priamum fuperefle per annos.


On me and ali my people, from afar
See what affembled nations pour to war!
Yet not in vain her forrows Thetis fhed,
Nor the fair partner sf Tithonus' bed,
When they, of old,  implor'd my Lord to grace
With  arms immortal, an inferior race.
Hear then, nor let thy Queen in vain implore
The gift, thofe Goddeffes obtain'd before.
   This faid, her arms, that match the Winter fnowi,
Around her unrefolving Lord, fhe throws ;
When lo ! more rapid than the lightning flies,
That gilds with momentary beams the ikies,
The thrilling flames of love, without control,
Flew thro' the footy God, and fir'd his foul.
With confcious joy her conqueft fhe defcry'd ;
When, by her charms fubdu'd, her L»rd reply'd :
   Why all thefe  reafons urg'd, my mind to move ;
When fuch your beauties, and  fo fierce my love !
Long fince, at your requeft, my ready care,
In Troy's fam'd  fields, had arm'd your fons  for war.
Nor did the high decrees of Jove and Fate
Doom to  fo fwift a fall the Dardan State.
But, ten years more, old  Priam might enjoy
Th* imperial fceptre and the throne of Troy. 
                    FRAGMENT.                 367

      Et nunc, fi bellare paras, atque hasc tibi mens eft ;
      Quicquid in arte mea poffum promittere curse,
      Quod fieri ferro, liquidove poteft electro,
      Quantum ignes animaeque valent: Abfifte, precando,
      Viribus fndubitare tuis.  Ea verba locutus,
      Optatos dedit amplexus : Placidumque petivit
      Conjugis infufus gremio, per membra foporem.
                              ^Eneid, B. viii. L. 369—405.

   " Night haftens on, and encircles the Earth with dufky
"  wings.   But VenuS, whofe maternal breaft was agitated
44  with well grounded apprehenfions, alarmed at the threats
"  of the  Laurentian Chief, and  the dire preparations o£
"  approaching war, addreffes herSelf to  Vulcan, and, re-
44  clined  on her SpouSe's golden  bed, thus begins, while
"  love celeftial flowed" from her  lips :  All  the time that
"the Grecian Princes were ravaging the plains of ill fat-
"  ed Troy, and aflailing her lofty turrets, doomed to fall
"  by hoftile fires ; I claimed no afiiftance for the wretch-
"  ed People ; I afked no arms^ the  production of thy match-
*4  lefs  fkill ; nor  could I think, my dearly beloved  huf-
"  band, of employing thee in a fruitlefs  labour, though I
14  both lay under manifold  obligations  to the  family  of
" Priam, and  had  frequent occafion to fhed tears over the
"  perilous exertions of Eneas.  Now, by Jove's fupreme
" command, he has landed on the Rutulian fhore.  In the
Yet, if our Queen is bent the war to wage,
Her facred caufe fhall all our art engage.
The nobleft arms our potent fkill can frame,
With breathing bellows, or the forming flame,
Or polifh'd ftcel, refulgent to behold,
Or mingled metals, damafk'd o'er with gold,
Shall grace the Chief : Thy anxious fears give o'er,
And doubt thy intereft in my love no more.
  He fpoke ; and fir'd with tranfport by her charms,
Clafp'd the fair Goddefs  in his eager arms; '
Then, pleas'd and panting on her bofom lay,
Suuk in repofe, and all diffolv'd away.
                                           Pirr> 
 j6*        STUDIES  (5 F  NATURE.

 " fame fHie of anxiety, I have now recourfe to thee a$ *
 " Suppliant, and  implore a protection ever Sacred  in  my
 " eyes.   Armour I afk of thee, a mother for a fon.  The
 " daughter of  Aureus, and the fpoufe of Tithonus, had the
 " art of prevailing on thee, by their tears, to grant a fim-
 " ilar Savour.  Behold, what Nations arc combined, what
 " cities have fhut their gates, and arc whetting the Sword,
 " for the deftruction of me and mine.
  " She Spake, and, as he  hefitated, fhe flung her Snowy
 " arms around hrm, and cherifhed  him in her Soft em-
 " brace  :   He inftantly  catches  the  well  known flame,
 " and the  accuftomed fire  penetrated his very marrow,
 " and flew  like  lightning  through  his  melting frame :
 " Juft as when a fiery ftream iffues from the bofom of a
 " thundery  cloud, and Skirts  its edge with tremulous
 " light.   His  fair SpouSe, conScious of beauty's power,
 *4 joyfully  perceived  the influence of her wily charms :
 " And thus the good natured Parent of Arts, Subdued  by
 " the irrefiftible  magic  of mighty love,  replies :  Why
 " go So  Sar in queft oS  arguments ?  Whither, my God-;
 " deSs, -has thy confidence  in me fled ? Hadft  thou ex-
 " preffed a fimilar anxiety before, I would then have fabri-
 " cated arms for thy favourite Trojans.   Neither almighty
" Jove, nor Fate, forbad Troy to  ftand,  nor  Priam  to
" Survive  Sor  ten years more.   Now,  then, if for war
 *' thou art preparing, and if fuch is thy refolve, whatever
" my  fkill can perform, I Solemnly  promiSe to effeft ;
" whatever can be produced Srom iron, or liquid mixtures
" of the finer metals ; as far as the fiery element, and the
" breathing  bellows, have* power to  fafhion :  Ceafe, by
" continuing your entreaties, to exprefs a doubt of your
" empire over  me.  Having thus Spoken, he returned the
" expe&ed careffes, and melted away in  the Soft bofom of
,4 his fair  confort, while  gentle  fleep ftole upon every
 •4 limb."
  Virgil  always  employs  conformities  in the midft  of
 contrafts.   He chooSes the night SeaSon Sor introducing 
                   r R A C M E N T.                365

PcttUj to practife her bewitching arts on Vulcan, becaufe
the power of Venus is  greateft in the night.  It was im-
poflible for me to convey, in  a feeble profe  verfion, all
the graces of the language of  the  Goddcfs  of Beauty.
There is in her diftion, 2. delightful mixture of  elegance,
of  negligence, of addrefs, and of timidity.  I fhall  con-
fine myfelf to only a few ftrokes of her character, which
appear to me capable of being moft eafily  hit.   At firft,
fhe lays great ftrefs on  the obligations which  fhe was un-
der to Priam's family.   The chief, and, I believe, the on-
ly one, was the apple, adjudged  in her favour, by Paris,
one of  the fons ot Priam, in prejudice of Juno and  Mi-^
fierva.   But  that  apple, which had declared her the moft
beautiful of the three, and which had, moreover, humbled
her rivals, was  every thing to Venus : She, accord-
ihgly, calls it Plurima, and extends  her gratitude on that
account, not to Paris only, but to all the fons of Priam :

      QMamvis et Priami deberem plurima rtitii.

  As  to Eneas, her  fon  by Anchifes, though he be here
the grand object of her enterprife, fhe fpeaks  only of the
tears which fhe has fhed over his calamities, and even thefe
fhe difpatches  in a fingle line.  She  names  him  only
once, and in the verfe  following, defcribes him with fo
much  ambiguity, that  what  fhe fays of Eneas might be
referred  to Priam, fo fearful is the of repeating the  name
of the fon of Anchifes in prefence of her hufband I As to
Vulcan,  fhe  flatters  him, fupplicates, implores, wheedles
him.   She calls his fkill, 44 her facred protection :" Sanc-
tum numen.   But when the comes to her great point, the
armour for Eneas, fhe exprefles herfelf literally in four
words ;  44 Arms I beg  ; a mother  for a fon ;"  Arma ro-
go ; genetrix nato.  She does not fay, 44  For her fon ;"
but conveys her meaning in general terms, to avoid ex-
planations of a nature too particular.  As the ground was
Slippery, fhe fupports herfelf by the example of two faith-
  VOL.  in.                Y Y 
87°
STUDIES  OF  NATUR2.
 ful wives, that of Thetis, and of Aurora, who had obtain-
 ed, from Vulcan, armour for  their  fons ; the firft,  for
 Achilles, the fecond, for Memnon.  The children of thefe
 Goddefles were, indeed, legitimate, but they were mortal,
 like  Eneas, which was  fufficient for the  moment.   She
 next attempts to alarm her hufband for her own perfonal
 SaSety.  She  Suggefts, that  fhe flood expoSed to incredi-
 ble danger.  '4 Combined Nations,"  Says fhe,  " and for-
 14 midable cities whet the Sword againft  me."   Vulcan is
 ftaggered,  jet  ftill hefitates  ; the fixes his determination
 by a  mafter ftroke ;  fhe  Solds him in her beautiSul arms,
 and  careffes him.   Let who can, render the force of,
 Cunclantem amplexu  molli fovet...fenjit lata doles....and,
 above all, format confeia, which defies all  the powers of
 tranflation.
   Vulcan's reply prefents perfect adaptations, to the Situa-
 tion into which he had been thrown, by the carefles of Venus,
   Virgil gives him, firft, the title of Father :

         Turn Pater aeterno fatur devictus amore.

   I have tranflated  the  word Pater,  " Father of  Arts,"
 but  improperly.   That epithet  belongs  more juftly to
 Apollo than to  Vulcan : It here imports, the good Vulcan.
 Virgil frequently employs  the word, father, as Synony-
 mous  with good.  He  often applies it to Eneas, and to
 Jupiter  himSelS : Pater Eneas, Pater omnipotens.   The
 principal character of a  father being  goodnefs, he quali-
 fies, by this name, his hero, and the Sovereign  of the
 Gods.  The word, father, in this paffage, Signifies, in the
 moft  literal SenSe of the words, good man ; for Vulcan-
 Speaks and  afts  with  Singular goodnefs  oS diSpofition.
 But  the  word,  father, taken apart, is not Sufficiently dig-
 nified  in our  language,  in  which it conveys the  fame^
meaning, in a  trivial manner.  The commonalty addrefs
 it, in  familiar difcourfe, to old men, and to good  natured
Tjerfons. 
FRAGMENT.                gyri
   Some commentators have obServed, that in theSe words :

            Fiducia cefiit quo tibi Diva mei,

There is an inverfion oS grammatical conft ruction ;  and
they have thought proper to  aScribe this to a poetical 'li-
cenSe.   They have not perceived, that the  irregularity of
Vulcan's diction proceeds from the  diforder of his head ;
and that Virgil reprefents  him, not only as tranfgrefling
againft the rules of grammar, but  trefpaffing  againft the
laws even of common fenfe, in  making  him fay, that  had
Venus expreffed a fimilar anxiety  before,  it would have
been in  his power to fabricate  armour  for the Trojans ;
that Jupiter, and the Fates, did not forbid Troy fo ftand,
nor Priam to reign ten years  longer :

                   Similis fi cura fuiiTet;
      Turn quoque fas nobis Teucros armare fuiffet j
      Nee Pater omnipotens Trojam, nee Fata vetabant
      Stare, decemque alios Priamum fupereiTe per annos.

   It was decidedly clear, that Fate had  deftined Troy to
fall in the eleventh year of the Siege, and that this irrevo-
cable decree had been declared by many oracles and prognoS-
itics; among others, by theprefage of a Serpent, which devour-
ed ten little birds in the neft, with their mother.  There is
in Vulcan's diScourSe a great deal of Swaggering, to Say no
worSe of it, for he infinuates, that there were arms which he
could have made, in complaifance to Venus, capable of coun-
teracting the courfe of Fate, and the will of Jupiter him-
felf, to whom he gives the epithet of omnipotent, by way
of defiance.  Obferve, Sarther,  by  the way, the rhime of
thefe two verSes, in which the Same word is twice repeat-
ed, Succeflively, without any apparent neceffity.

                   .....fi cura fuiffet
                   ......armare fuiffet. 
372
STUDIES OF NATURE.
   Vulcan, intoxicated with  love, knows neither what he
Says, nor what he  does.   He is completely  deranged in
his expreflion, in his thoughts,  and in his actions, for he
forms  the  refolution  of fabricating magnificent  armour
for the illegitimate Son of his laithlefs SpouSe.  It is true,
he avoids naming  him.  She has pronounced his name
but once,"out pf discretion ;  and he Suppreffes it altogeth-
er out of jealoufy.  To Venus alone the Service is  to be
rendered.   It appears as iS he believed fhe was going per-
sonally to engage in combat  : 44 IS tor war thou art pre-
44 paring,"  fays he to her, 44 and if fuch is thy reSoJve ;M

       .....Si bellare paras, atque haec tibi mens eft.

   The total diforder of his  frame terminates that of his,
addrefs.  Heated with the fire of love in the  arms of  Ve-
nus,  he diffolves like metal in the furnace :

                Conjugis infufus grcmio.

   Remark  the accuracy of that metaphorical  confonance,
infufus, 4' di {Solved," So perfectly adapted to the God of
the forges of Lemnos.   At length, he becomes complete-
ly infenfible.

                .....placidumque petivit
                .....per membra foporem.

   Sopor means a great deal more than Sleep.  It Sarther
preSents a confonance of the ftate of metals after their fu-
fion, a total ftagnation.
   But in order to weaken the effect,  of what is licentious
in this picture, and inconfiftent with conjugal manners,
the fage Virgil oppofes, immediately after, to the Goddefs
of voluptuoufneSs, requefting, of her hufband, armour  for
her natural fon,  a  matron chafte  and poor,  employed in
the arts of Minerva to rear  her  young ones  ; and he ap-
plies that  affecting image,  to the Self  Same hours of the 
FRAGMENT.
373
pight, in the view of prefenting a new contraft of the dif-
ferent ufes which vice and virtue make of the fame time.

     * Inde ubi prima quies medio jam noctis abadiae.
      Curriculo expulerat iomnum ; cum foemina, primum
      Cui tolerare colo vitam tenuique Minerva,
      Impofitum cinerem et fopiios fufcitat ignes,
      Noctem addens operi, famulafque ad lumina longo
      Exercet penfo ; caftum ut fervare cubile
      Conjugis, et poffit parvos educere natos.
                              MitziD, B. viii. L. 407—413.

   44 At the hour  which terminates the firft fleep,  when
fi the car of night had as yet performed but half its courfe;
44 that feafon when firft  the careful houfewife, accuftom-
44 ed to earn her living by the  labours of the diftaff, and
44 the feeble induftry of the arts of Minerva, blows away
44 the gathered afhes,  and roufes up the flumbering flame,
¥ making night itfelf  contribute to her thrift, and inures
*' her maidens to lengthened tafks  by  a glimmering light ;
" to Save herSelf from the temptation  of infidelity  to  her
" hufband's bed, and to fupply  the means of rearing her
" tender offspring."
   Virgil goes on to  deduce new  and  fublime  contrafts,
from the humble occupations of this virtuous matron.  He
oppofes, in  clofe fucceffion, to  her feeble  induftry, tenui
Minerva,  the  ingenious  Vulcan ; to  her  dying  embers,
which  fhe rekindles, fopitos ignes, the continually flaming
crater  of a volcano ;  to her  maidens, among whom  fhe
diftributes balls of wooj, longo exercet penfo, the tremen-

     * But rofe refrefh'd, impatient, from the bed,
      When half the filent hours of night were fled.
      What time the poor, laborious,  frugal dame,
      Who plies the diftaff, ftirs the dying flame ;
      Employs her handmaids by the  winking light,
      And lengthens out their talk with half the night ;
      Thus to her children fhe divides the  bread,
       And guards the honours of her  homely bed,
                                                   FlTT. 
374
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
dous  Cyclopes  forging a thunder bolt for Jupiter, a car
for Mars, an aegis for Minerva, and who, at the command
of their mafter,  interrupt their  celeftial  engagements, to
undertake a  fuit of  armour  for Eneas, on  the buckler of
which were to be engraved the principal events of the Ro-
man Hiftory.

    *  Haud fecus Ignipotens, nee tempore fegnior illo,
       Mollibus 8 ftratis opera ad fabrilia iurgit.
        Infula Sicanium juxta latus ^Eoliamque
       Erigitur Lipaicn, fumantibus ardua (axis :
       Qnam fubter fpecus et Cyclopum exefa caminia
       Antra iEtnea tonant : Validiqne incudibus ictus
       Auditi referunt gemitum, ftriduntque cavernis
       Stricturae Chalybum, et fornacibusi^nis anhelat :
      Vulcani domus, et Vulcania nomine tellus.
      Hue tunc Ignipotens ccelo defcendit ab alto.
       Ferrum exercebant valto Cyclopes in antro,
       Brontefque, Steropefqueet nudus membra Pyracmoa«
      His informatum  manibus, jam parte polita,
       Fulmen erat, toto Genitor que plurima ccelo

    * So to his tafk, before the dawn, retires
      From foft repofe, the father of the fires.
        Amid th' Hefperian and Sicilian flood,        \
      All black with fmoke, a rocky iflaud ftood,      C
      The dark Vulcanian land, the region of the God.  J
       Here the grim Cyclops ply, in vaults profound,
      The huge iEoliau forge, that thunders round.
      Th' eternal anvils ring, the dungeon o'er ;
      From fide to fide the fiery»*caverns roar.
      Loud groans the mafs beneath their pond'rous blows,
      Fierce burns the flame, and the full furnace glows.
      To this dark region, from the bright abode,
      With fpeed impetuous flew the fiery God.
      Th' alternate blows the brawny brethren deal ;
     Thick burll the fparkles from the tortur'd fteel.
      Huge ftrokes,  rough Steropes and Brontes gave,
     And ftrong Pyracmon fhook the gloomy cave :
     Before their Sovereign came, the Cyclops ftrove,
     With eager fpeed, to forge a bolt for Jove.
     Such as by Heaven's almighty Lord are hurl'd,
      All charg'd with vengeance, on a guilty World. 
                 FRAGMENT,                  «J7£

 Dejicit in terras ;  pars imperfecta manebat.
 Tres imbris torti radios, tres nubis aquofae
 Addiderant:  Rutili tres ignis, et alitis Auftri.
 Fulgores nunc terrificos, fonitumque, metumque
 Mifcebant operi, flammifque fequacibus iras.
 Parte alia Marti currumque rotafque volueres
 Inftabant, quibus  ille viros, quibus excitat urbes s
 yEgidaque horrificam, tin bat «e Palladis arma
 Certatim fquamis ferpentum auroque polibant:
 Connexofque  angues, ipfamque in pectore Divas
 Gorgona, defecto vertentem lumina collo.
 ToUite cundta, inquit, cceptofque auferte laborer
 JEtiie'i Cyclopes, et hue advertite mentem.
 Arma acri facienda viro : Nunc viribus ufus,
 Nunc manibus rapidis, omni nunc arte migiflra :
 Praecipitate moras.  Nee plura effatus :  At illi
 Ocius incubuere omnes,  pariterque laborem
 Sortiti: Fluit  acs rivis, aurique metallum :


 Beneath their hands, tremendous to furvey !
 Half rough, half form'd, the dreadful engine lay :
 Three points of  rain ; three forks of hail confpire ;
 Three arm'd with wind ; and three were  barb'd with  fire*
 The mafs they temper'd thick with livid rays,
 Fear, Wrath, and Terror, and the lightning's blaze.
 With equal  fpeed, a fecond train prepare
The rapid chariot for the God of war ;
 The thund'ring wheels and axles, that excite
 The madding nations to the rage  of fight.
 Some, in a fringe, the burnifh'd ferpents roll'd,
 Round the dread aegis, bright with fcales of gold ;
 The horrid  aegis, great Minerva's fhield,
 When, in her wrath, fhe takes the fatal field.
 All charg'd  with curling fnakes the bofs they rais'd,
 And ihe grim Gorgon's head tremendous blaz'd.
 In agonizing pains the monfter frown'd,
 And roll'd in death, her fiery eves around.
  Throw, throw your tafks afide, the Sovereign faid ;
 Arms for a godlike Hero muft be made.
 Fiv 10 the work  before the dawn of day ;
 Your fpeed, your ftrength, and  all your fkill difplay.
  Swift as the word,  (his orders to purfue,)
To the black labours of the  forge they flew ;• 
376         STUDIES  OF  NATURE
      Vulnificufque chalybs vafta fornace liquefcit.
      Ingentem clypfum informant, nnum omiia contra
      Tela Latinorum :  Septenofque orbibus orbes
      Impfdiunt : Alii ventoiis follibus  auras
      Accipiunt, redduntque : Alii firidentia tingunt
      /Era lacu :  Gemit impofitis incudibtis antrum.
      Illi interfefe multa vi brachia tollunt
      In nutnemm, verfantqne tenaci forcipe mafiam.
                              iENEiD,  B. viii. L. 447—453.

  " Not  lefs vigilant, nor lefs difpofed to  induftry, at
44 that early  hour, the God who  rules  the  fire, uprofe
" Srom his Soft couch, and addreffed  himSelf to his  plaf-
" tic labours.  •
  " Not Sar Srom the Sicilian fhore,  and ^Eolian  Lipari,
" an ifland  ariSes  out of the deep, forming a huge  mafs
" of  lofty and ever fmoking rocks :  In the burning en-
" trails of which, a fpacious cavern, and the fire confumed
" jEtnean vaults, inceffantly thunder with the fultry la-
44 hours of  the Cyclopian brothers ;  the anvils r^verbe-
" rate the thumping of their fturdy ftrokes : The hammer-'
" ing of flaming  fteel refounds from cave  to cave, while
" ftreams of fire afcend Srom the Soaming Surnaces  : Such
" is the dread domain of Vulcan, and from his name the
" ifland has  obtained  the appellation of Vulcania.  Hith-
" er it was  that the fiery God, from the heights of Olym-
'* pus, now repaired.

      Vaft heaps of fteel in the deep furnace roll'd,
      And bubbling ftreams of brafs, and floods of melted gold.
        The brethren firft a glorious fhield prepare,
      Capacious of the whole Rutulian war.
      Some, orb in orb, the blazing buckler frame ;
      Some with huge bellows roufe the roaring flame :
      Some in the ftream the Miffing metals drown'd,     >
      From vault to vault the thund'riog ftrokes rebound,  C
      And the deep cave rebellows to the found.         )
      Exaft in time each ponderous hammer plays ;      -v
      In time their arms the giant brethren raife,        C
      And turn the glowing mafs a thoufand ways,       j
                                                   Pitt, 
Fragment.               %yj
   %i The Cyclopes there he found plying their irony la-»
"  hours  in the  capacious cavern, Brontes, and Steropes,
44  and the naked limbed  Pyracmon.  They had in hand a
44  dread  thunderbolt, one of. thofe which father Jove fo
44  frequently Jiurls from flaming Heaven upon the Earth :
44  It was, as yet, but half reduced to form, partly polifh->
44  ed, and partly in a rude imperfect ftate.  They had
44  blended  in it, three rays of rain,  congealed into hail j
44  three of the  watery cloud ; three of ruddy fire, and
44  three of the winged South  wind.  They were now in-
44  fufing into the compofition the terrific  flafli, and noife,
44  and difmay, and anger  mingling with  the rapid  flame.
44  In another  forge, they were ardently fiiiilhing a warlike
44  car, and fwift flying  wheels for  Mars,  in  which he
44  roufes hoftile armies and cities to the  fierce combat.
44  Others were  employed  in  burnifhing, with emulous
44  fkill, a horrific a;gis, the  armour of Pallas when moved
44  to vengeance,  with fcaly  Serpents wrought in gold ; ex-
44  hibiting the intertwifted Snakes, and the dire head of the
"  Gorgon herSelf,  a covering  for the  breaft  of  the  God-
44  defs, cut off by  the neck, and rolling about her  dead-
'4  ly eyes.
   44 Children of ^Etna, fays he, Cyclopian  brothers, de-
44  fift ; remove thefe unfinifhed labours out of the way,
44  and attend  to what I am going to give in charge.   We
"  have to fabricate, armour  for a  redoubted mortal :
44  Now exert  your utmoft  ftrength,  now ply your bufy
44  hands,  now call forth all your mafterly  fkill ; Let not a
44 fingle inftanf  be loft.   He faid no more : They all,
" with the quicknefs of thought, engaged  in the work, and
44 aflign to each his Share,  in the mighty tafk, by lot.  The
" golden and the brazen  metals flow  in rivulets ; and the
44 death Sraught fteel diffolves  in  the enormous  furnace.
44 The vaft and ponderous Shield they fafhion, itfelf alone
" a bulwark againft all the weapons of the Latins: A fev-
" enfold texture of impenetrable orb upon orb.    Some
" draw in, and expel, the air, with the breathing bellow's*;
   VOL. III.               z  Z 
37$         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
 " fome temper the biffing brafs in the cooling furge ;  the
 ,4 hollow cave rebellows with the ftrokes thundering on
 " innumerable anvils.   They, in  regular time and order,.
 " elevate the brawny arm to the lufty blow, and turn
 '* round and round  the flaming mafs with the tenacious
 " tongs."
   You think vow See thofe gigantic Sons of JEtna at work,
 and hear the noife of their  ponderous hammers ; fo imi-
 tative is the harmony of Virgil's verfification !
   The compofition of the  thunder is well  worthy of at-
 tention.   It is replete  with genius, that  is, with observa-
 tions of Nature entirely new..  Virgil introduces into it
 the four elements all at once, and places them in contraft :.
 The earth and the water, the fire and the air.

        Ties imbris torti radios, tres nubis aquo'a?
        Addiderant, rutuli tres ignis, et alitis Aultri.

   There is, indeed, in the compofition, no earth properly
 fo called, but he  gives Solidity to the water, to Supply its
place ;  tres imbris torti radios, literally, " three  rays of
" crifped rain," to denote  hail.   This metaphorical ex-
preflion  is  ingenious :  It SuppoSes the Cyclopes to have
criSped the drops ot the rain,  in order to Sorm them  into
hailftones.  Remark, likewiSe, the appropriate correspond-
ence  of  the expreflion alitis Auflri, " the winged Auf-
" ter."  Aufter is the Wind, of the South, which almoft
always occafions thundery weather in Europe.
   The Poet has afterwards had the boldnefs to place meta-
phyfical SenSations on the anvil of  the Cyclopes : Metum,
44 fear ;" iras, 44 wrath."  He amalgamates them with  the
thunder.  Thus he Shakes, at  once, the  phyfical  Syftem,
by the contraft  of the elements ; and the moral Syftem, by
the conSonance of the foul, and the perfpe&ive of Deity.

             ......Flammifque fequaeibus iras.

  He fets the thunder a rolling, and thews Jupiter in thex
cloud. 
FRAGMENT.
375
   Virgil, farther,  oppofes to  the head  of Pallas that of
 Meduja ; but this is a contraft in common to him with all
 the Poets.   But here is one peculiar to himSelS.   Vulcan
 commands his Cyclopian  workmen to lay afide their ope-
 rations defigned for the ufe of deities, and to give undivid-
 ed attention to the armour of a mortal.   Thus he puts in
 the fame balance, on the one hand, the  thunder of  Jupi-
 ter, the car of Mars, the aegis and cuirafs of Pallas ; and
 on the other, the deftinies of the Roman Empire, which
 were to be engraven on the buckler of a man.   But if he
,gives the preference to this new work, it is wholly  out of
 love to Venus, not  from any regard to the glory  of Eneas.
 Obferve, that the jealous  God Still avoids naming the  Son
 of Anchifes, though he feems here reduced to the neceffi-
 ty of doing it.  He fatisfies himfelf  with faying vaguely
to the Cyclopes, Arma acri facienda viro.   The epithet,
 acer, is fufceptible of both a favourable and unfavourable
 fenfe.   It may import  keen,  wickedly fevere,  and can
hardly, with propriety, be applied  to a perfon of So much
fenfibility as Eneas, to whom  Virgil  So  Srequently  ap-
propriates the character of the Pious.
   Finally, Virgil, after the tumultuous picture of the ^Eo-
lian forges, conveys us  back, by  a new contraft,  to  the
peaceful habitation  of good King Evander, who is almoft
as early a rifer as the good houfewife, or  as  the God of
fire.        . .
    * Haec pater ^oliis properat dum Lemnius oris,
      Evandrum ex humili tecto lux mfcitat alma
      Et matutini volucrum fub culmine cantus.
      Confurgit fenior, tunicaque inducitur artus,
      Et Tyrrhena pedum circumdat vincula planti* :

    * Thefe cares employ the father of the fires ;
      Meantime Evander from his couch retires,
      Call'd by the purple beams of morn away,
     And tuneful birds, that hail'd the dawning day.
     Firft the warm tunic round his limbs he threw ;
     Ntxt on his feet the fhining fandals drew, 
380         STUDIES  OP  NATURE.
       Turn laferi atque humeris Tegcaeum fnbligat enfem,
       Demiffa ab lae^a panlheras terga retorquens.
       Necnon et gemini cuftodes limine ab alto
       Pro  edunt, greffumque canes comitantur herilem.
       Hi fpitij /Eneas fedem et fecreta petebat,
       Scimonum mem >r et promiffi muneris heros.
       Nrc minus ./Eneas fe matutinus agebat.
       Filius huic Pallas, olii comes ibat Achates.
                              Mnew, B. viii. L. 454—466.

   44 While the Lemnian God was diSpatching this weigh-
•* ty bufinefs on the fhores of ^Eolia, the genial rays of re-
" turning  Aurora, and the  matin Song of the birds under
*4 his  ftraw clad roof, Summoned Evander from  his lowly
14 bed.  The venerable fire arofe :  He affumes the tunic,
*4 fitted to  his ancient limbs, and  binds the TuScan Sandals
*4 upon his feet ;  next he fits to his  Shoulders and fide the
■4 Arcadian  Sword ; a  panther's  hide, thrown  careJeSsly
" backward, depended  over his  leSt arm.   Two faithful
*4 guardian dogs leave their  ftation at the threfhold,  and,
44 well pleafed, attend their matter's footfteps.   The hero,
" well recollecting the  converfation of the night before,
" and  the  aid which he had promifed,  was bending his
44 courfe toward  the apartment, and Secret retreat, of his
44 refpected gueft.  Eneas,  too,  had  been  up  with the
44 dawn : They met ;  the  one ^attended by his youthful
*4 heir, the other,  by his corifiderftial friend Achates."
  Here is  a very  interefting moral contraft.
  The good  King Evander, without any  body guards ex-
cept two dogs, which likewife Served to watch the houSe,

      Around his moulders flow'd the panther's hide,
      And the bright fword hung glittering at his fide.
      Two mighty dogs, domeftic at his board,
      (A faithful guard] attend their aged  Lord.
      The promis'd aid revolving in his breaft,
      The careful Monarch fought his Godlike gueft,
      Who with Achates rofe at dawn of day,
      And join'd the King and Pallas on the way.
                                                 PiTf, 
FRAGMENT.                381
walks forth, at day break, to converfe on  bufineSs with
his gueft.  And do not imagine, that under his ftraw cov-
ered roof mere trifles are negociated.  No lefs a fubject
is difcuffed than  the reeftablifhment of the Empire of
Troy, in the perfon of Eneas, or rather, the foundation of
the Roman Empire.   The point in  queftion is the diffo-
lution of a formidable confederacy of Nations.  To aflift
in effecting this, King Evander offers to Eneas a reinforce-
ment of four  hundred cavaliers.   They  are, indeed, Se-
lected, and to be commanded by Pallas, his only fon.  I
muft  here obferve one of thofe delicate correfpondencies,
by which Virgil  conveys important  leffons of virtue to
Kings, as well as to other men, in feigning actions appa-
rently indifferent; I mean the confidence repofed by Evan-
der in his fon.   Though  this young  Prince  was,  as yet,
but in the bloffom of life, his father admits him to a con-
ference  of  thp higheft  importance, as  his  companion  ;
Comes ibat.   He had given the  name of  Pallanteum, in
honour of his Son, to the city which he himSelf had  Sound-
ed.   Finally,  of the  four  hundred  cavaliers whom he
promifes to the Trojan Prince, to be under the command
of Pallas, two hundred he himfelf is to Select out  of  the
Arcadian youth, and  the other two hundred are to be fur-
nifhed by his  fon, in  his own name.

     * Arcadas huic equites bis centum, robora pubis
      Lecta, dabo ; totidemque fuo tibi nomine Pallas.
                             .#lneid, B. vifi. L. 518—519.

   Inftances of paternal confidence are rare among Sove-
reigns, who frequently confider their Succeffors as their
enemies.  TheSe traits ftrongly  depict the candor, and
fhe fimplicity of manners, of the King of Arcadia,

    * Beneath his ftandard rang'd, a chofen force
      I fend, two hundred brave Arcadian horfe j
      And, 10 fupport the gathering war, my fan
      6h^ll lead an equal fcjuadron of his own,
                                                FlTT» 
STUDIES  OF   NATURE.
   That good Prince might, perhaps, be cenSured  Sor in-
 difference about his only Son, in removing  him Srom his
 perSon, and expofing  him to the dangers oS  war :  But he
 acts thus Sor a reaSon diametrically oppofite ;  his objeft
 is to Sorm the young man to virtue, by making him Serve
 lxis firft campaigns under a hero Such as Eneas.

     * Hunc tibi praeterea, fpes et folatia noftri
       Pallanta adjungam.  Sub te toierare magiftro
       Militiam, et grave Martis opus, tua cernere facia
       AfJiielcat;  pximis et te miretur ab annis.
                             jEneid, B. viii. L. 514—517.

   " I will likewife Tend my Son Pallas himSelS with thee ;
 *' Pallas, my hope  and  my delight.  Let  him accuftom
 *' himSelf to endure the painful toils of war under  fuch a
 <l mafter, form his mind to glory by the fight oS thy gal-
 44 lant deeds, and learn to  admire  thee Srom his earlieft
 ** years."
   The important part afted by this young  Prince may be
 Feen in  the Sequel of the ^ineid.   Virgil  has extra£ted
 many exquifite beauties out of it : Such are, among oth-
 ers, the affecting leave  which his father  takes of him ;
 the regret expreffed by the good old man, that age per-
 mitted him not to accompany his fon to the field  ; after
 that, the imprudent valour of the young man, who, for-
 getting the leffon conveyed by the two bridles of Anchi-
fes, ventured to attack the formidable Turnus, and receiv-
 ed from his hand the mortal blow  ;  the high Seats in arms
 performed by Eneas,  to avenge the death oS  the  Son of
 his hoft and ally ;  his profound Sorrow at fight of the

    *  And let ray Pallas by thy fide engage,
       Pallas, the joy of my declining age.
       Beneath fo great a mailer's forming care,
       Let the dear youth learn every work of war ;
       In every field thy  matchtefs toils admire,
       And emulate thy deeds, and catch the glorious fire.
                                                Pitt, 
FRAGMENT.                %%£
youthful Pallas, cut off in the flower of his age, and  the
very firft day that he had engaged in the fight ; finally,
the honours conferred  on the lifelefs body, when he fent
it to the afflicted Father.
   Here it is we  may remark one of thoSe touching com-
parisons (7), by which  Virgil, in imitation of  Homer, di-
minifhes the  horror of  his  battle pieces, and  heightens
their  effect, by eftablifliing, in them,  confonances with
beings of another order.   It is in reprefenting  the beauty
of  the young Pallas, the luftre of which death has not'
yet entirely effaced.

    *- Qrralem virgineo demefTum pollice florem
      Seu mollis violae, feu languentis hyacinthi;
      Cui neque fulgor adhuc, necdum-fua forma receffit:
      Non jam mater alit tellus, virefque miniftrat.
                                jEneid, B. xi. L. 68—71,

   44 Like a tender violet, or languishing hyacinth, crop-
" ped by the fingers of a  virgin ;  which have  not yet loft
•' their beauty and their radiance ; but  their parent Earth
44 fuftains them  no more, no more  Supplies  them with
"  nourifhment."
   Mark another  conSonance with the  death  of Pallas.
In order to  exprefs the idea  that thefe  flowers have  not
Suffered in  being Separated  Srom the parent ftem, Virgil
repreSents them as gathered  by a young maiden :  Virgin-
eo demejfum pollice ; literally,  " reaped by  a virgin  fin-
" ger »" anf^ rrom that gentle image, there reSults a terri-
ble contraft with the javelin of Turnus, which had nailed
the buckler of Pallas to his breaft, and killed  him  by a
Single blow.

    * There, like a flftwer he lay, with beatity crowrr'd,
      Pluck'd by fome lovely virgin from the ground ;
      The root no more the mother earth fupplies,
      ^ftel ftill th'unfaded colour chairns the eyes!
                                                 Pitt, 
3*4
STUDIES  OT  NATURE.
   Finally,  Vtrgil, after having reprefented  the  grief of
 Evander, on beholding the dead body of  bis fon, and the
 defpair of that unhappy father, imploring the vengeance
 of Eneas, derives, from the very death ot  Pal/as, the ter-
 mination of the war, and the clofe of  the Eneid ;  for Tur-
 nus, overcome  in fingle combat by Eneas, refigns to him
 the victor)', the empire, the PrinceSs Lavima, and Suppli-
 cates him to reft Satisfied with Sacrifices So  ample ; but the
 Trojan hero, on the  point oS granting him his life, per-
 ceiving  the  belt of  Pallas, which Turnus had affumed,
 after having flain  that young  Prince, plunges his  fword
 into his body,  as he pronounces thefe words :

                    * Pallas te hoc vulnere, Pallas
       Immolat,  et pcenam fcelerato  ex fanguine furnit.
                             .tEneid, B. xii. L. 948—949.

   44 It is Pallas, Pallas, who, by this blow, exacts atone-
 ,4 ment, and takes vengeance on thy criminal blood."
   Thus it is that the Arcadians have exerciSed an influ-
 ence, in every  poffible refpect,  over the hiftorical monu-
 ments, the religious  traditions, the earlieft wars, and the
 political origin of the Roman Empire.
   It is evident, that the age in which I exhibit the Arca-
 dians, is by no means  an age of fiction.  I collected,
 therefore, refpecting them, and their country, the delicious
 images which  the Poets have tranSmitted  to us of  thefe,
 together with the moft authentic traditions of Hiftorians,
 which I found, in great  numbers, in the Voyage of Pau-
fanias into Greece, the Works  of Plutarch, and  the Re-
 treat of the ten thoufand by Xenophon ; So that I collect-
 ed, on  the  Subject of Arcadia, all that Nature  prefents
 moft lovely in our  climates,  and Hiftory,  moft proba*
 ble in Antiquity.
• 'Tis Pallas, Pallas, gives the fatal blow.
  Thus is his ghoft aton'd.
Pitt. 
FRAGMENT.               3^
  While I was engaged  in thoSe agreeable reSearches, I
had the good fortune to form a perfonal  acquaintance
with  John James Roujfeau.   We very Srequently went
out a walking, in  the Summer  time, in  every diiection
round Paris.   I derived inexpreflible Satisfaction from his
fociety.   He had nothing of the vanity of moft literary
characters, who are  continually difpofed to draw the at-
tention of other men to their  ideas ;  and ftill  lefs that of
the  men of the World, who imagine  that a man of letters
is good for nothing but to relieve their languor, by prat-
tling  to  them.  He took his fhare  of both the benefit,
and the burthen of  converfation, talking in his turn, and
attentively liftening when others talked.  Nay, he left to
thofa with whom  he affociated,  the fubject of the conver-
fation, regulating  himfelf  according to their ftandardj
with  fo little  arrogance  of pretenfion, that among thofe
who did not know him, perfons  of moderate difcernment
took  him for an ordinary man, and thofe who affumed
the lead, confidered him as  much inferior to themfelves \
for with  them he fpoke very little,  or on  very  few fuh-
jects.  He has been  fometimes accufed of  pride, on  that
account, by men of  the fafhionable world, who impute
their  own vices to perfons who have not the advantage of
fortune, but poffefs an independent  fpirit,  that  Scorns to
bend the neck to their yoke.  But, among many other an-
ecdotes which I could produce, in Support  ot  what  I juft
now  Said, namely, that fimple people took  him for an or-
dinary man, here is one which muft convince  the Reader
of his habitual modefty.
  The very day  that we went to look for a dinner with
the hermits  of Mount Valerian, as I have related in a note,
not far from  the beginning of this Volume,  on our re-
turn  to Paris  in the  evening,  we were caught in a fhower,
not far from the Bois de Boulogne, oppofite to the Gate
Maillot.   We went  in  to take  Shelter, under the  great
Cheftnut trees, which had now begun to put out leaves ;
for  it was during  the Eafter holidays.  Under  thofe trees
   VOL.  III.             A A A 
a«6
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
 we found  a great deal of company, who, like ourfelves,
 had crowded thither for ©overt.  One of the Swifs's lads
 having perceived John James, came  running up to him,
 m a tranSport of joy, and thus accofted him : '4 How now,
 " my good man, Whence do you come ? It is  an age fince
 ** we have had the pleafure of feeing you !"  Rouffeau
 mildly  icplied : " My wife has had a long fit of illnefs,
 " and I myfelf have  been confiderably out of order.,r
 44 Oh !  my poor good man," replied  the lad, 44 you are
 44 not comfortable here : Come, come ; I will find you a
 ** place within doors."
   In fact, he exerted himSelf fo zealoufly, that he procur-
 ed us an apartment above flairs, where, notwithftanding
 the crowd, he contrived to accommodate us with chairs,
 a table, and Some bread and  wine.   While he was  fhew-
 Hig  us  the way, I Said to  John James, 44 This young
 " man  Seems  to be very familiar  with  you  ; furely he
 44 does not  know who you are ?" 44 Oh !  yes," replied he,
 44 we have  been acquainted thefe feveral years.  My wife
 " and I  ufed frequently to come hither, in  fine weather,
 •* to eat a cutlet of an eveniug."
   The appellation of " good man," So Srankly beftowed
 on him  by the tavern boy, who had, undoubtedly, long
 miftaken John James for fome honeft  mechanic ; the
joy which  he expreffed at feeing him again, and the zeal
 with which he Served  him,, conveyed to  me, completely,
 an idea of the good nature  which the fublime Author of
 Emilius diSplayed in his moft trivial actions.
  So Sar Srom  Seeking to  Shine in  the eyes of any one
whatever, he himfelf acknowledged, with a fentiment of
humility not often to be found, and,  in my opinion, alto-
gether unfounded, that he was not fit to take part  in con-
versation of a  fuperior ftyle.  44 The leaft appearance of
44 argument," faid  he to me one day, 44 is  fufficient to
4* overSet me.  My underftanding comes to my afiiftance
" half an hour later  than to other  men.  1 know  what
" the reply  ought to be, precifely when it is out of time." 
FRAGMENT.               38;
  That tardinefs of reflection did not  proceed  from 4< a
" maxillary depreflion," as is alleged,  in the 44 Profpec-
*4 tus of a new Edition of the Works of John James"
by a Writer,  in  other  refpects highly  eftimable : But
from his ftrong SenSe of natural gquity, which permitted
him not to give a decifion on the moft  trifling fubject, till
he  had examined  it; from  his genius, which  turned  it
round  and  round,  to get a view of it in every direction ;
and, finally, from  his modefty, which  repreffed  in him
the theatrical tone, and the oracular SententiouSneSs (8) of
our conversations.   He was in the midft of a company of
wits, with his Simplicity, what a young girl, in the glow of
natural colours, is  amidft women who put on artificial red
and  white.  Still lefs would he have Submitted to exhibit
himSelf as  a Spectacle among the Great ; but in a tete d
tete, in the freedom  of  intimacy, and  on Subjects  which
were  Samiliar to him, thoSe eSpecially  in which the hap-
pineSs  of Mankind was interefted, his  foul  Soared aloft,
his Sentiments became impreflive, his ideas profound, his
images fublime, and  his fpoken, as ardent as his written,
expreflion.
   But what I  prized ftill more highly than even his geni-
us, was his probity.  He was one  of the few  literary
characters, tried In the furnace of affliction,  to whom you
might, with perfect Security, communicate your moft Se-
cret thoughts.  You had nothing  to fear from his malig-
nity, if he deemed them to be wrong, nor from his perfi-
dy,  if  they appeared to him to be right.
   One afternoon, then, that  we were enjoying our repofe,
in the  Bois de Boulogne, I led the conversation to a Sub-
ject which I have  had much at  heart, ever fince I came to
the  ufe of  reafon.  We  had juft been fpeaking of Plu-
Jarch's lives  of eminent men, of Amyot's Tranflation, a
Work which  he very highly  prized, in which he had been
taught to read when a child, and  which, if I am not mif-
taken, has  been the germ of his eloquence, and of his an- 
388        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
tique virtues ; fo much influence does the firft education
exercife over the reft of life !  1 faid to him then :
  I could  have wifhed very  much to fee  a Hiftory of
your compofing.
  'J. J. " I once felt a powerful propenfity to write that
" oS Cofmo de Medicis (9).  He was a fimple individual,
44 who became the Sovereign oS his Sellow citizens, by ren-
44 dering  them more  happy.  He raiSed, and  maintained
44 his Superiority merely by the benefits wh'ich he conSer-
44 red.   I had made a rough fketch of that fubject :  But
44 I have relinquifhed  it : I poffefs not the talents requi-
44 Site to the compofition of Hiftory."
  Why have not you yourfelS, with all your ardent zeal
Sor the happineSs of Mankind, made fome attempt to form
a happy Republic ?  1 know  a great  many  men  of all
Countries, and  of  every condition, who would have fol-
lowed you.
  44 Oh !  I have had  too much experience of Mankind !"
Then looking at me, after a moment's  filence, he added,
with an air of fome  difpleafure :  44 I have feveral times
44 entreated you never to introduce that fubject."
  But wherefore might you not have  formed, with an af-
femblage of  Europeans,  deftitute of  fortune, and of a
Country, in fome uninhabited ifland of the South Sea, an
eftablifhment fimilar  to that which William Penn founded
in North America,  in the midft of Savages ?
  44 What a difference between the age in which he lived
f( and ours ! In Penn's time, there was a religious belief ;
44 now a days, men no longer believe in any thing."  Then,
SoStening his  tone : 44 I fhould have  liked  very well to
44 live in a Society,  Such as I figure it to mySelS, in the ca-
44 pacity oS a private member ;  but on  no consideration
44 whatever would I have undertaken any charge ;  leaft of
64 all that of ruler in chief.  It is long  fince I became
44 Senfible  oS my own incapacity : I was unfit  for the
54 Smatleft employment." 
FRAGMENT.               gft<j
  You would have found perSons in abundance, diSpoSed
to execute your ideas.
  44  Oh  ! I beSeech you, let us call another Subject."
  I have Some thoughts of writing the Hiftory oi the Na-
tions of Arcadia.  They are not indolent fhepherds like
thofe of the Lignon.
   His features  SoStened into a Smile.  44 Talking," Says
he to me, 44 of'the fhepherds of the Lignon, I once under-
44 took  a journey to Forez,  for the exprefs purpofe of
44 viewing the country of  Celadon  and Aftrca, ot which
44 Urfeius has  prefented us with pictures So enchanting.
44 Inftead of amorous fhepherds,  1 Saw, along the banks
44 of the  Lignon,  nothing but  fmiths, founders, and iion-
44 mongers."
   How ! in a country fo delightful !
   44 It is a country merely of forges.  It was this journey
44 to Forez which diffolved my illufion.   Till then,  nev-
44 er a year paffed that I did not read the Aftrea from end
44 to end :  1 had  become quite  familiarized with  all tire
44 perfonages  oS  it.  Thus  Science  robs  us   of  our
44 pleafures."
  Oh !   my Arcadians have no manner of refcmblance to
your blackfmiths, nor to the  ideal Shepherds ot Ufa us,
who paffed  the days and nights in no other occupation but
that of making love, expofed  internally  to all the perni-
cious confequences of idlenefs, and  from  without, to the
invafions of  furrounding  Nations.   Mine practiSe  all
the arts of rural  life.  There are among them fhepherds,
hufbandmen,  fifhermen, vine dreffers.  They have avail-
ed themfelves of all the Sites ot their country, diverfified
as it is with mountains,  plains, lakes  and rocks.  Their
manners are patriarchal as in the early ages of the World.
There are in this  Republic, no  priefts, no Soldiers, no
Slaves ;   Sor they are So religious, that every Head of a
family is the pontiff of it;  fo warlike, that every individ-
ual inhabitant is  at all times prepared to  take up axw.s in
defence pf his Country, without the inducement ot pay ; 
89°        STUDIES OE NATURE.
  and in Such a ftate of equality, that there are not So much
  as domeftic Servants among them.  The children are there
  brought up in the habit of Serving their parents.
    The utmoft care is taken to avoid inSpiring them, under
  the name of emulation, with the poifon oS ambition, and
  no Such leffon is taught as that of furpaffing each other •
  but, on the contrary, they are inured, betimes, to prevent
  one another, by good offices oS every kind ; to obey their
  parents ; to preSer their Sather,  their mother, a  Sriend, a
 miftrefs,  to themSelves ;  and  their  Country  to  every
 thing.  In  this ftate  of Society, there is no quarrelling
 among the  young people, unlefs it be fome difputes among
 lovers, like thofe  of  the Devin  du Village.   But virtue
 there frequently convokes the  citizens to national affem-
 blies, to concert together meafures conducive to the gen-
 eral welfare.  They eleft, by a plurality of voices, their
 Magiftrates, who govern the State as if it were one fami-
 ly, being entrufted, at  once, with  the  functions of peace,
 of war, and of religion.  From their  union  fuch a force
 refults, that they have  ever been  enabled to repel all the
 Powers who prefumed to encroach on  their liberties.
   No ufelefs, infolent,  difguftful, or  terrifying monu-
 ment, is to be feen  in their  Country ; no colonnades,
 triumphal arches, hofpitals, or priSons ; no frightful gib-
 bets on the  hills, as you enter their towns : But  a bridge
 over a torrent, a well in the midft of an arid plain, a grove
of fruit trees on an uncultivated mountain, round a fmall
temple, the  periftyle of which Serves as a place of fhelter
for travellers, announce, in fituations  the moft deferted,
the humanity  of the inhabitants.   Simple infcriptions on
the bark of a beech tree, or on a rude unpolifhed rock,
perpetuate, to pofterity, the memory of illuftrious  citi-
zens, and of great aftions.   In the  midft of  manners So
beneficent,  Religion Speaks to all hearts, in a language
that knows  no change.   There is not a fingle mountain,
nor a river, but what is confecrated to Some God, and is'
called by his name ; not a fountain  but what hasits Na'i- 
FRAGMENT.
39»
 ad ; not a flower, nor a bird,  but what is the refult of
 fome ancient and affecting metamorphofis.   The  whole
 of Phyfics is there  conveyed in religious  fentiments, and
 all religion in the monuments  of Nature.  Death itfelf,
 which empoifons So many pleaSures, there  preSents per-
 spectives  only of confolation.  The tombs of anceftors
 are raifed amidft groves of myrtle, of cyprefs, and of fir.
 Their defcendants, to whom they endeared themfelves in
 life, refort thither in their hours of pleafure, or  of pain,
 to decorate.them with flowers, and to invoke their fhades,
 perSuaded that they continually prefide over  their defti-
 nies.   The paft, the preSent, and the  future, link together
 all the members oSthis Society with the bands of the Law
 of Nature, fo that, there,  to live and to die is equally an
 object of defire.
   Such was the vague idea which  I gave  of the Plan of
 my Work to John James.   He was delighted with it.
 We made  it, oftener than once, on our walking excur-
 sions,  the  Subject oS much pleaSant conversation.  He
 Sometimes imagined incidents of a poignant Simplicity, of
 which I availed mySelf.   Nay, one day,  he perfuaded me
 to change my Plan entirely.  44 You muft," faid  he to
 me, 44 SuppoSe a principal  action in your Hiftory, Such as
 44 that of a man on his travels, to  improve himfelf in the
 44 knowledge of Mankind.  Out  of  this will Spring up
 14 incidents varied and agreeable.  Befides, it will be nec-
 44 effary to oppoSe to the ftate of Nature of the Nations of
 44 Arcadia, the ftate of corruption of Some other People,
 44 in order  to give relief  to your  pictures by means  of
 44 contrafts." •
  This advice was to me a ray of  light, which produced
 another : This was, firft of all,  to oppofe to thefe two
pictures, that of the barbarifm  of a third people, in order
to  rcprefent the three Succeffive ftates  through which moft
Nations paSs ; that of barbarifm, that  of Nature, and that
of corruption.  I thus had a complete harmony of three
periods ufual to human Societies. 
 g92        S T U D I F. i  OF  N'AtURt

   In the view of representing a ftate of barbarifm, I ma*de*
 choice of  Gaul,  as  a country, the  commencements of
 ■which, in every refpect, ought to intereft us the moft, be-
 caufe the firft ftate of a People communicates an influence
 to  all  the  periods of its duration,  and makes itfelf  felt
 even in a ftate of decline, juft as the education  which a
 man receives on  the  breaft, extends its influence even to
 the age of decrepitude.   Nay, it Seems as  if at this  laft
 epocha, the habits of infancy  reappeared with more force
 than thofe  ot the reft of life,  as has been obServed in the
preceding Studies.   The  firft impreflions  efface  the laft.
The character of Nations is  Sormed  from  the cradle, as
well as that of Man.   Rome,  in her decline,  preferved
the fpirit of univerfal domination, which  fhe had from
her origin.
   I found the principal characters of the manners, and of
the religion of the Gauls, completely traced in  Cefar's
 Commentaries, in Plutarch, in Tacitus on the Manners of
the Germans, and in  Several modern TreatiSes on the My-
thology of  the Nations of the  North.
   1 have taken up the ftate of the Gauls feveral ages prior
fo the time of Julius Cefar, in order  to have an opportu-
nity of painting a more marked character  of barbarifm,
and approaching to that which we have found among the
favage tribes of North America.  I  fixed the commence-
ment of the civilization of our Anceftors,  at the  deftruc-
tion of Troy ; which was likewife the epocha, and,  un-
doubtedly,  the caufe of feveral important  revolutions, alt
over the  Globe.   The Nations of which the human Race
is compofed, however divided they may appear to be, in
refpect of language, of religions, of cuftoms, and of cli-
mate, are in equilibrium among themfelves, as  the differ-
ent Seas which compofe the  Ocean  under different Lati-
tudes.  No extraordinary movement can be excited in  any
one  of thofe Seas,  but  what muft  communicate itfelf
more or lefs, to each of the others.  They have all a ten-
dency to find their level.  A Nation is, farther, with re- 
FRAGMENT.               385
fpett to  the Hurhaii Race, what a man is with refpect to
his own Nation.  If that man dies in it, another is born
there within the fame compafs of time.   In like manner,
if one  State on the Globe is  deftroyed, another is regene-
rated at the fame epocha : This is what we have feen hap-
pen in our own times, when  the greateft part ot the Re-
public of Poland, having been  difrnembered in the North
of Europe, to be confounded i;i the three adjoining States,
Ruflia, Pruflia, and  Auftria, very foon after  the greateft
part of the Britifh Colonies of North  America, was dif-
tinited from the three States of England, Scotland, and Ire-
land, to form one Republic ; and as there was  in Europe,
a portion of Poland not difrnembered,  there was, in likfe
manner,  in America, a portion of the  Colonies that did
not Separate Srom Great Britain.
   The Same  political  reaftions are  to be found in all
Countries, and  in all  ages.  When the  Empire of  the
Greeks was Subverted on the banks pf the Euxine Sea, ih
1453, that of the Turks immediately  replaced it ; and
When that of Troy Was  deftroyed  in Afia under Pnani,
that of Rome received its birth in Italy, under E,v>as.
   But, from  that total fubverfion of Troy, there enfucd
a great many revolutions of inferiour moment  in the reil
of the Human Race, and  efpecially  iu the' Nations  of
Europe.
   I  oppofed to the ftate of barbaYiSrn  of the Gauls, that
of the corruption of Egypt, which was  then at its higheft
degree  of civilization.   To  the epocha of the Siege  o£.
Troy, it is that, many learned men have afiigned the brill-
iant  reign of Sefo/lris.    Befides, this opinion,  being
adopted by Fenelon in his Telemacmis, was a Sufficient au-
thority Sor my Work   I likewiSe Selected my traveller
Srom Egypt,  by the advice of John Jama, in as much
as, in Antiquity, a great many political  and religious ef-
tablifhments were  communicated by reflux from Egypt,
to Greece, to Italy, and even  direaiy to the Gauls, al the
Hiftory of many of our ancient ufages Sufficiently evinces,
  VOL. III.              B  B  B 
386
STUDIES OF  NATURE.
 This, too, is a confequence oS political reactions.  When-
 ever a State has attained its higheft degree ot elevation, it
 is come to its firft ftage  of decay ; becauSe  all human
 things begin to fade as Soon as they have reached the point
 oS perfection.  Then it  is  that the Arts, the  Sciences,
 Manners, Languages, begin to undergo a reflux from civil-
 ized to  barbarous States, as is demonftrated by the age of
 Alexander among the Greeks, of Augujlus among the Ro-
 mans, and of Louis XIV among ourfelves.
   I had, accordingly, oppofitions of character in  the Gauls,
 the  Arcadians,  and the Egyptians.  But Arcadia alone
 prefented me with a great number of contrafts to the oth-
 er parts  of Greece, which were but then emerging out of
 barbarifm ; between the peaceful manners of its induftri-
 ous inhabitants, and the boifterous difcordant characters of
 the heroes ot  Pylos, of Mycencx, and of Argos  ; between
 the gentle adventures of its fimple and innocent  fhepherd-
 effes, and the awlul cataftrophes of Iphigenia,.of Eleclra,
 ai;c! of Clytemneflra.
   I divided the materials of my Work into twelve Books,
 and conftructed a kind of Epic Poem of them ;  not con-
 formably to the rules laid down by Ariflotle, and to thofe
 of our  modern  Clitics, who pretend, after him, that an
 Epic  Poem ought to exhibit only one principal  act ion of
 the life of a hero  ; but conformably to the Laws of Na-
 ture, and after the manner of the Chinefe, who frequently
 comprehend in it the whole life of a hero, which, in my
judgment, is much more Satisfactory.   Befides, I have not,
 in this,  deviated  Srom  the example of Homer ; for, if I
 luve not adopted  the plan of his Iliad, I have nearly cop-
 ied that of his Odyffey.
  But.  while  I was  devifing plans Sor the  happineSs  of
 Mankind, my  own was disturbed by new calamities.
  My ftate of health, and my experience, permitted me no
 longer to folicit, in my native Country, the flender  re-
 fources, which I was on the point of lofing  there, nor to
go abroad in queft of them.  Befides,  the nature of the 
FRAG M E N T.
3*7
labours in which 1 had engaged, could not poffibly intereft
any  Minifter in my favour.  I thought ot prefenting to
public view, fuch of them as I deemed moft calculated to
merit  the prote£tion  of Government.  I publifhed  my
Studies of  Nature.  I have the confolation of be-
lieving that I have,  in that Work, confuted  fundry dan-
gerous errors, and demonftrated  fome important truths.
Their  fuccefs has procured Sor me, without Solicitation,
a great many compliments on the part of the Public, and
fome annual  marks of  favour from  the  Court, but of
So little Solidity, that a flight revolution in  an adminis-
tration, has ftripped  me of moft of them, and together
with them, what is much more vexatious,  fome others of
ftill  higher consideration, which I had enjoyed Sor four-
teen years.  Court favour had the Semblance oS doing me
good : The benevolence of the Public has given a more
fteady fupport to me and my Work.  To it  I am indebt-
ed for a tranfient tranquillity and repoSe  ; and under thefe
aufpices  I fend  into the World  this firft  Book, entitled
The Gauls, to Serve as an Introduction to  the Arcadia.
I have not enjoyed the Satisfaction of talking on the fub-
ject  of it to John James.   It was rather too  rude for the
placidnefs of our converfations.   But, rough and wild as
it may be, it is an opening in  the rocks, from whence
there is a glimpfe of the valley in which he fometimes re-
pofed.  Nay, when he  fet out, without  bidding me fare-
well, for Ermenonville, where he clofed his days, 1 tried
to recal myfelf to him, by the  image of  Arcadia, and the
recollection of  our ancient intercourfe, in concluding the
letter  which I  wrote to him,  with  theSe two verSes Srom
Virgil, changing only a  fingle word ;

      Atque utinam ex vobis unus tecumque fuiiTem
      Aut cuftos gregis, aut mature vinitor uvae 1 
388
NOTES.
  (r) My reafon could do nothing,  &c.  God has beftowed on ma
this  diftinguifhed mark of his  favour, that whatever diforder my
reafon may have undergone, I have never loft the ufe of it, in my
ov\n  apprehenfion, and efpeciaily in the eyes of other men.   As foon
as 1 felt the Symptoms of my indifpofition,  I retired into folitude.
What was, tlien, that extraordinary realon, which intimated to me
that  my  ordinary  reafon was disturbed *  I am tempted to believe,
that  there is in our foul an unchangeable focus of intellectual light,
which no darknefs is able entirely to overpower.  It is, lam of opin-
ion, this fenforium which admoniflies the drunk man that his reafon
is over elevated, and the failing old man, that his  underftanding is
enfeebled.  In order to behold the fhining of that candle within us,
a man muft have his  paffions ftilled, he muft be  in folitude, and,
above all, he muft be in the habit of retiring into himfelf.  I confid-
er this intimate fentiment of our intellectual functions, as the very
effence of our foul, and a proof of its immateriality.

  (2) Two celebrated Phyficians.  Doctor  Roux, Author of the
Journal of  Medicine, and Doctor Buquet, Profeffor of the faculty
of Medicine at Paris : Who both died in the very  prime of life, of
their own remedies againft the nervous diforder.

  (3) The credit cf a f erf on luhom 1 did not knoiv.  Though I am
accuftomed, when occafion requires, to mention by name, in my
writings, the perfons who  have rendered me any fervice, and  to
whom I am under effential obligations, this is neither the time nor
the place for it.  I am introducing here no memoirs of my life, but
thofe which may ferve as a preamble to my Work on Arcadia.

  (4) The Conventual Redemptions.  There were, in my opinion,
many defects in the eftabiifhments of the Jefuits in Paraguay.  As
thefe monaftic orders do not marry, that they had not within them-
felves, the independent principle of exiftence ; that they always re-
puhed the fraternity with Europeans, and, that they formed, even, 
NOTES.                      389
in their Redemptions, one  nation within another Nation ; hence it
came to pafs, that the deftruftion of their Order in Europe, involv-
ed in it that of their eftablifhments in America.   Befides,  the con-
ventual regularity,  and the multiplied ceremonies which they had
introduced into  their political adminiftration, could fuit only an in-
fant People, who muft be inceffantly kept up by the leading String,
and led by the eyes.  They  are not the lefs, on that account, de-
fending of immortal honour, for having collected, and Subjected to
humane Laws, a multitude of barbarians, and for having inftructed
them in the Arts ufeful to human life, by preferving them from the
corruption of civilized Nations.

   (5)  Offer up human facrifice s.  They likewife eat dogs, thofe nat-
ural friends of Man.  1 have remarked, that every People among
whom this is practifed, were not difpofed to Spare human flefli when
occafion prompted :  To eat the flefh of dogs is a ftep toward anthro-
pophagy.

   (6) Toutous.   The name of a clafs of men  of the commonalty  in
the Ifland of Tai'ty,  and in  the other iflands of that Archipelago.
They are not permitted to eat Swine's flefh, which is there of an ex-
cellent quality,  and exceedingly common.   Jt is referved  for the
E-Arres who are the chiefs.  The Toutous bring up the Swine, and
the E-Arres feed upon them.  Confult Captain Cook's Voyages.

   (7) One of thofe touching  comparifons. Thofe comparisons are
beauties which Seem appropriate to poetry. But I think painting might
adopt them  to advantage, and derive powerful effects from them.
For example, when a painter isrepreSenting on the fore ground of a
battle piece, a young man of an interefting character, killed, and
ftretched along the  grafs, he might introduce near him, Some beauti-
ful wild plant, analogous to his character, with drooping flowers, and
the ftalks half cut down.  If it were in a picture of a modern battle,
he might mutilate, and, if I  may venture on the expreffion, kill, in
it, the vegetables of a higher  order, fuch as a fruit tree, or even an
oak ? For our cannon bullets commit ravages of a very different
kind in the plains,  from thofe produced by the arrows and javelins
of the Ancients. They  plough  up the turf of the hills, mow down
the forefts, cleave afunder the young trees, and  tear off huge frag-
ments from the trunks of the moft venerable oaks.  I do not recol-
lect that I ever Saw any of thefe effects reprefented in pictures of our
 modern battles. They are, however,  very common in  the reaj 
55
NOTES.
fcenes of war, and redouble the impreffions of terror which Painter;
intend to excite, by the representation of Such Subjects.  The defo-
lation of a country  has a ftill more powerful expreffion than groups of
the dead, and of the dying.  Its groves levelled, the black furrows of
its uptorn meadows, and its rocks maimed, awfully dilplay the effects
of human fury, extending even to the ancient monuments of Nature.
We difcern in them the wrath of Kings, which is their final argu-
ment, and is accordingly  inScribed on  their cannon :  Ultima ratio
Regum. Nay, there might be expreffed through the whole extent of
a battle piece, the detonations of the difcharge of artillery, repeated
by the valleys to Several leagues diftance, by representing, in the back
.grounds, the terrified Shepherds driving oft" their charge,  flocks of
birds flying away toward the horizon, and the wild beafts abandon-
ing the woods.
  Phyfical confonances heighten moral fenfations, efjpecially when
there is a tranfition from one kingdom of Nature to another kingdom.

  (8) And, finally, from his modefty, which repreffed in him the the-
atrical tone, and the  oracular fententioufnefs of our conn) erf ations.
Thefe are the perfonal reafons which he might have for talking Spar-
ingly in company ; but I  have no doubt that he had others  much
more weighty, ariling from the character of our Societies themfelves.
1 find thofe general  reafons So happily detailed, in  the excellent
Chapter of  Montaigne's Effays, On the Art of Conwerfation,  that I
cannot  reprefs  my inclination to infert a fhort  extract from it, in
hope that the Reader may be induced to perufe the whole.
  " As  the mind acquires new vigour from communication with
" vigorous and well regulated minds, it is impoffible to exprefs how
" much it lofes and degenerates by the continual commerce and in-
*'timacy of groveling and  puny characters,  there is no confa-
" gion that Spreads So rapidly as this.  I have paid very dear for my
" experience on this Subject.  I am fond of arguing, and  of difcuf-
" fion ; but with few men, and in my own  way : For to ferve as a
" Show  to the  Great, and to make an emulous parade of wit and
" prattle, I confider as a moft degrading employment for  a man of
 e< honour."
  So much  for the active conversation of a gentleman, among men
of the World,  and now, a  few pages  farther dewn,  for the paffive
 conversation.
  ** 1 he gravity, the robe, and the fortune of the perfon who Speaks,
 64 frequently give currency  to infipid and trifling tittle tattle.  It :« 
                           NOTES.                     39,

  (f prefumable that a Gentleman  fo followed, fo awful, muft poffeSs
  " within himSelf a fund very Superior to one of the herd ;  and that
  " a perSon entrufted with So many employments and commiffions of
  " importance, fo difdainful and  fo Selfsufficient, muft poffeSs much
  " greater ability than that other who Salutes him at Such a reSpect-
  " Sul diftance, and whom  no  one  employs.  Not  only the words,
  " but the  very  grimaces of thofe consequential perSonages, attract
  ' consideration,  and turn to account, every one vying with another
  " to put Some flattering and Significant gloSs upon them. If they let
  " themfelves down So far as to converfe  with  ordinary men, and
  " meet with any thing from them except approbation and reverence,
  " you are Sure to  be levelled to the duft by  the authority of their
  " experience. They have  heard, they have Seen, they have done :
  M You are quite  overw helmed by an accumulation of instances."
    What, then, would Montaigne have Said, in an age when fo ma-
  ny of the Little imagine themfelves to be Great ; when every one has
  two, three, four  titles to fet  himSelf off; when thoSe who have none,
 entrench themSelves under  the patronage of thoSe who have ? The
  greater part, in truth, begin with placing themSelves on the knees
 ot a man who is  making a noife ; but they never reft  till they get
  upon his Shoulders.   1 do not  fpeak of thofe Selfimportant gentle-
 men, who, taking poffeffion  of an  Author, that they may put on the
 air of Serving hiin, interpofe  themfelves between  him and the Sources
 of public favour, in order to reduce him to a particular dependence
 on them, and who become his declared enemies, if he has the Spirit
 to reject  the  infelicity of being protected by them.   The happy
  Montaigne  had no needof fortune.  But what would  behave Said
 of thofe unfeeling fellows, So common in all ranks, who, to get rid
 of their lethargy, court the acquaintance of a Writer of reputation,
 and wait in filence for his letting off, at every turn, Sentences newly
 coined, or Sallies of wit ;  who have not So much as the knit to take
 them in, nor the faculty of retaining them, unlefs they are delivered
 in an impofing tone, or puffed off in the  columns of a Journal ; and
 who, in a word,  if  by chance they happen to be ftruck, have fre-
 quently the malignity to  affix to them an indifferent, or a danger-
 ous meaning, in order to lower a reputation which gives them um-
 brage.  Afliiredly,  had Montaigne himfelf appeared in our circles,
 as nothing more  than plain Michael, notwithstanding his exquifite
judgment, an eloquence fo natural, erudition So vaft, and which he
 underftood fb happily  to apply, he would have Sound himSelf every-
 where reduced to  Silence,  like John James.   I have been Somewhat 
$>A
NOTES-
 diffuSe on thi?  chipter, in honour of the two Authors, of Emiiiusy
 and of the Effays.   1 hey have both been acenfed of referve, and oi
 making no  great  figure in conversation ;  and,  likewife, of being
 both egotifts in  their writings ; but with very little juftice on  either
 Score.   It is Man whom they are ever deScribing in their own per-
 fon ; and I always find that when they talk of themfelves, they talk
 likewiSe of me.
   To return to John James : Ke was moft Sincere in denying him-
 felf to the gratification of vanity ; he referred his reputation  not to
 his perfon, but to certain natural truths, diffufed  over his writings ;
 but, in other  reSpects, Setting no extraordinary  value on himfelf.
 I told him, one day, that a young lady had Said  to me, fhe would
 think herfelf happy in attending him  as his Servant.  " Yes," re-;.
 plied he, " in order to hear me talk Six or Seven  hours on the Sub-
 ject; of the Emilius."  I have oftener than once  taken  the liberty
 to combat fome of his opinions ;  So far from being offended, he with
 pleafure acknowledged his  miftake, the moment that he was made
 fenfible of it.
  Of this, I beg leave to quote one inftance,  which reflects fome
 credit on myfelf, though it may favour of vanity ; but, in Sincerity,
 my Sole intention in producing it, ii to vindicate his character from
 that  charge.  Wherefore, faid I to him, once  that the Subject hap-
 pened to come in the way, have you, in your Emilius,  represented
 the Serpent in Pouffiri's Deluge, as the principal object of that Paint-
 ing,? It is not So, but the infant, which its mother is Straining to place
 on a rock.  He meditated for a moment, and Said  to me, " Yes....
 " yes, you are in the right : I was miftaken.  It  is the child ; un-
 " doubted!y, it  is the child ;" and he appeared to be perfectly over-
 joyed that I had Suggefted the remark.  But he flood in no need of
 my Superficial  observations, to  bring him to  fhe acknowledgment
6f the little Slips which had eScaped  him.  He faid to me one day,
 " Were  I  to  undertake a new Edition of my  vVorks, I would
 " certainly Soften what . have written on the Subje  t of  Phyficians;
" There is no one  profeffion  which requires fo much  clofe ftudy
 u and application as theirs.  In all Countries,  they  are really  the'
 " men of the moft cultivated understanding."   Lpon another occa-
 fion, he faid to me, " 1 mingled in my  quarrel with Mr. Hume
" too ftrong an infufion of Spleen,   but the dull climate of En-
" gland, rhe ftate of my fortune, and the persecutions which I had
 "juft been e.iduring in  France, all  contributed  to plunge me intr*
 " melancholy."  He has faid to me oftener than once, " I am fond 
NOTES/
393
u of celebrity ; T acknowledge it :  But," added  he, with a figh,
" God has punifhed me in the point where I had offended."
  At the Same time, perSons of high  respectability  have cenSured
him for acknowledging fo much evil  of  himfelf in his Confeffions.
What would they have faid, then, if, like fo many  others, he had,
in theSe, indirectly pronounced his own  eulogium ? The more hu-
miliating that the failings are, of which he there accu&s himSelf,
the more Sublime is his candor in expoSing them.  There  are, it
muft be admitted, Some paffages, in which he is chargeable with in-
difcretion in Speaking out too plainly, where another perSon is con-
cerned ; particularly  where he dilclofes the  not over  delicate at-
tachments of his  inconftant benefactrefs, Madame de Warcns.  But
1 have reaSon to believe, that his pofthumous Works have been fal-
sified in more  than one place.  It is poffible that he did  not name
her in his manufcript; and if he did  mention  her by  name, he
thought he might do this without hurting any one, becauSe She left
no pofterity.  Befides, he Speaks of her every where with a warmth
of intereft.  He  uniformly fixes the  attention of  the Reader, in the
midft of her irregularities, on the qualities of her mind.   In a word,
he confidered it as his duty to tell the good and the bad of the per-
 fonages of his Hiftory,  after the example of the  moft celebrated
 Hiftorians of Antiquity.  Tacitus Says expreSs-ly, in the opening
 of his  Hiftory, Book firft, " I have no  reafon either to  love or to
 " hate Otho, Galba, or  Vitellius.   It is true, 1  owe my fortune to
 " Vefpafian,  as  I owe  the progrefs and preservation of it to his
 "children ; but when a man is going  to write Hiftory, he ought
 " to forget benefits as  well  as injuries."  In truth, Tacitus  taxes-
 Vefpafian,  his benefactor, with avarice, and other faults.   John
 James, who  had affumed for his  motto, Vitam impen.'.sre  ve-
 ra, (to devote life to truth) may have valued himSelf  as much on
 his love for truth, in writing his own Hiftory, as Tacitus did in
 writing that of the Roman Emperors.
    Not that I  by any means  approve the  unreferved  franknefs of
 John James, in  a ftate of Society like that in which  we live, and
 that I  have not reaSon to complain, befides, of the inequality of his
 temper, of inconclufiveneSs in his  Writings,  and of Soma errors in
 conduct, as he himSelf has published theSe  for the  purpofe  of con-
 demning them.  But, where is the man, where is the Writer, where
  is, efpecially, the unfortunate Author, who has no fault to reproach
  himfelf with.  John James has difcuffed queftions So SuSceptible of
  being argued on either fide ; he was confcious of poffefling, at once,
     VOL.  III.                C C C 
3^4                    NOTES.
 a-mind fo great, and of being Subjected to a fortune fo deplorable^;
 he had to encounter  wants fo  preffing, and friends fo perfidious,
 that he was frequently forced out of the common road.  But even
 when he deviates, and becomes the victim of others, or of himfelf,
 you fee him for ever forgetting his own miferies, that he may de-
 vote his undivided attention to thofe of Mankind.  He is uniformly
 the defender of their rights, and the advocate of the miferable.
 There might be inSoribed on his tomb thoSe affecting words from a
 Book on which he pronounces an elogium fo fublime, and of which
 he carried always about  him fome Select paffages,  during the laft
 years of his life : His Sins, which are  many, are  forgiv-
 en ;  FOR  HE LOVED MUCH.

  (9) Cofrto de Medicis.   Here is the decifion  pronounced upon ■
 him by Philip de Commines, the Plutarch of his age, in  refpect  oi
 native fimplicity.
  " Cofms de Medicis, who was the chief of that houfe, and, indeed, •
 " founded it, a man worthy of  being named  among  the greateft
 " of the Great, efpecially when his  condition in life is taken into
 *' the account, namely, that of a merchant, has conveyed his name
 *' to a family the moft illuftrious, I think, that ever was in the
 *'World.  For their very fervants, under the Sanction of that name
 " of Medicis, poffeffed fo much credit, that I fhould hardly be be-
 " lieved, were I to relate-the inftances which I have Seen of it  in
 " France, and in England.....I knew one of their Servants, Gerard
 " £>uannefe by  name,  who was almoft the only instrument of fup-
 " porting King Edivard IV, on  the throne of England, during the
 " Civil Wars of that Kingdom."  And a little lower : " The au-
 " thority of his predeceffors was injurious to this Peter de Medicis,
" in as much as that of Cofmo, who had been the founder of the
" Family, was gentle and amiable, and fuch as was neceffary to.a;
M city poffeffed of liberty."  (Rook <vii.J 
       ARCADIi


                 BOOK FIRST.


                  THE  GAULS,

      A LITTLE beSore the autumnal Equinox, Tirte-
us, a  fhepherd  oS Arcadia, was Seeding his flock on one
of the heights of Mount Lyceum, which projects along
the gulph of MefTenia.  He  was feated  under the fhade
of fome pine trees, at the foot of a rock, from whence he
contemplated, at a diftance, the Sea agitated by  the winds
of the South.   Its olive coloured waves were whitened
with  foam,  which fell  back, in giraadoles, the whole
length of the  ftrand.   The fifhing boats, appearing and
disappearing alternately, between the Swelling Surges, ven-
tured, at the  rifk of running  aground on the beach, to
truft  their fafety to their inSignificance ; whereas  large
veffels,  in full fail, under the violent  preffure  of the
winds, kept at a cautious  diftance, in  the dread of  being
fhipwrecked.   At the bottom  of the  gulph,  crowds of
women and children  raifed their hands to  Heaven, and  ut-
tered the cries of Solicitude, at Sight of the danger which
threatened thefe poor mariners, and of the  fucceffion of
billows  which rolled Srom the Sea, and  broke, with a noiSe
like thunder, on the rocks of Steniclaros.  The echoes of
Mount Lyceum  reverberated  their  hoarfe and confufed
roaring, Srom  all quarters, with So much exactneSs, that
Tirteus,  at times, turned  round his head, imagining that
the tempeft was behind him, and that the Sea was break-
ing on the top of the  mountain.  But the  cries of  the
 coots and the Seagulls, which «ame, flapping their wings, 
39$
STUDIES OF  NATURE.
to Seek refuge there, and the flafhes of lightning, which
furrowed  the Horizon, foon made him SenSible, that Safe-
ty was on the dry land, and that the tempeft was ftill more
dreadful, at a diftance, than it appeared to his view.
   Tirteus conipaffionated the deftiny of feamen, and pro-
nounced tl.at ot fhepherds to be bielTed, as  it, in fome de-
gree, reSembled that of the  Gods,  by placing tranquillity
in his heart, and the tempeft under his feet.
   While he was exprefling his  gratitude to  Heaven, two
men of a noble deportment appeared on the great road,
which  winded below,  toward the  bafe of  the mountain.
One of them was in the full vigor of life, and  the other
ftill in the bloom  of  youth.   They were  walking with
great fpeed, like travellers  impatient  to  reach their  ob-
ject.   As Soon as they were within  hearing, the elder of
the two called to  Tirteus, afking if they were  not on
the road to Argos.  But the noife of the wind among the
pines,  preventing his voice from being heard, the younger
afeended toward the fhepherd, and cried aloud to him :  Fa-
fl ther, are we not upon the road to Argos ?" " My fon,"
replied Tirteus, " 1 do not  know where Argos lies.  You
" are in Arcadia, upon the road  to Tegeum,  and thoSe
" towers which you See before you are the towers of Bel-
" lemine."  While they  were  talking,  a  fhagged dog,
young  and frolicfome,  which  accompanied the ftranger,
having perceived in the  flock  a  fhe goat entirely white,
ran up to  play  with her ;  but  the goat, terrified at  the
Sight of this animal, whofe eyes were covered all over with
hair, fled  toward the top  of the mountain, whither the
dog purfued her.  The young man recalled his dog, which
immediately returned  to his feet, lowering his head,  and
wagging his tail.   He then flipped a leafh round the dog's
neck, and begging the Shepherd to hold him  faft, he ran
after the  goat, which  ftill continued to flee before him :
His dog, however, feeing him ready to difappear, gave So
violent a jerk  to Tirteus, that he made his efcape with the
Je.afh about  his  neck, and  ran with Such Speed, that in a 
                    ARCADIA.                 397

Ihort time,  neither goat,  traveller, nor dog, were  to  be
feen.
  The traveller who had remained  on  the  highway, was
preparing to follow his companion, when the fhepherd
thus addreSTed him : " Sir, the weather is boiftcrous, night
" approaches, the foreft  and the mountain  are full  of
" quagmires, where you may  be in danger of lofing your-
" SelS.  Come and repoSe yourSelf awhile in my cottage,
" which is not tar from -hence.   I  am perfectly fure that
" my goat, which is very tame, will return of  herfelf, and
" bring back your friend to us, provided he does not lofe
" fight of her."   In  faying thefe words, he  applied his
pipe to his mouth, and the flock, immediately, began to
file off, by a path, toward  the  Summit ot the mountain.
A large ram marched at the head of this little  flock ;  he
was followed by Six fhe goats, whoSe dugs almoft touched
the ground ; twelve  ewes, accompanied by their  lambs,
which were already confiderably grown,, caine  next ; a fhe
aSs  and her colt clofed  the proceflion.
  The ftranger followed Tirteus i'n filence.  They afcend-
ed about Six hundred paces, along an open down, planted,
here and there, with  broom and roSemary :  As they were
entering the foreft of oaks, which covers the top ot Mount
Lyceum,  they  heard the  barking of a dog ;  foon after,
they defcried the young man's fhock running toward them,
followed by his mafter, who carried the white goat on his
moulders.   Tirteus Said  to him,  "  My Son,  though this
" goat is dearer to me than any other ot the whole flock,
" 1  would rather have  loft her, than that you fhould have
" endured So much fatigue in  recovering her ;  but, if you
" pleafe, you fhall this night  repoSe  in my cottage ; and
" tomorrow, if you are  refolved to continue  your journey,
" I will conduct you to Tegeum, where you  may be in-
" formed of the road to Argos. Notwithftanding, Sirs, if I
" may be permitted to  advife, you will  not depart from
" hence tomorrow.   It is the feaft of Jupiter, on Mount
" Lyceum, and people affemble' here, in multitudes, from 
 V)&        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

*' all Arcadia, and from a  great  part of Greece.  If you
 " are fo good as to accompany me thither,  when I prefent
*' mySelS at the altar of Jupiter, I fhall be rendered more
" acceptable,  by  adoring  him in  company  with  my
" guefts."   The  young ftranger replied :  "  Oh, good
" fhepherd,  we accept,  with  cheerfulnefs,  your hoSpital-
*' ity  Sor this  night, but  tomorrow,  with the  dawn, we
"*' muft purSue our journey toward Argos.   We have, Sor
" a long  time, been contending with the waves, in order
"  to reach that city, celebrated over the whole  Earth, for
•' its temples,  for its palaces, and from its being the refi-
" dence of the great Agamemnon."
  After he had thus fpoken, they croSTed a part  of the for-
eft of Mount Lyceum, toward the Eaft,  and defcended in-
to a little valley,  fheltered from the winds.   A frefh and
downy herbage covered  the Sides of its hills.  At the bot-
tom flowed a rivulet called Achelous (1), which falls in-
 to the river Alpheus, whofe iflands.,  covered with  alders
and linden  trees, are perceptible at  a  diftance  Srom the
plain.   The trunk of an old willow,  laid low by the hand
of time,  Served as a bridge to the Achelous ; this bridge
 had no ledging, except Some  farge reeds,  which grew on
 each Side of it ; but  the brook, the bottom of which was"
 paved with  rocks, was fo  eafily forded over,  and fo little
ufe had  been made of  the bridge,  that the convolvolus
 almoft entirely covered it  with  its heartfhaped foliage, and
with  flowers refembling white fpires.
   At a little diftance from this  bridge flood the dwelling
of Tirteus.   It was a  fmall houfe,  covered  with  thatch,
 built  in  the middle of a  moffy ground.   Two poplars
 formed a fhade for it to the Weft.  On the South  Side, a
vine Surrounded  the doors and windows, with its purple
 clufters, and with its leaves, already  of the colour of fire.
 An old ivy  fheltered it  from the North, and covered, with
 its evergreen foliage, a part of the ftaircafe, which led, or
 thcoutfide,  to the upptr ftory. 
A' R C A d r A.                  399
  As Soon as the flock approached  the houSe, they be-
gan to bleat according to cuftom.   Immediately, a young
girl appeared, deScending the ftaircaSe, and carrying under
her arm a veffel to receive the milk which fhe was going
to draw.  Her robe was of white wool ; her cheftnut
locks were turned up under a hat,  formed of  the  rind o£
the linden tree; her arms and feet  were naked,  and for
fhoes, fhe wore  focks, as is the fafhion of the young wo-
men of Arcadia. From  her fhape, you would have thought
her one of the nymphs of Diana ;  from her vafe, that fhe
was the Naiad of the fountain ; but her timidity foon dis-
covered her to be a fhepherdefs.   As Soon as fhe perceived
the ftrangers, fhe caft down her eyes, and blufhed.
   Tirteus Said to her : " Cyanea, my daughter, make hafte
" to milk your goats, and to prepare Something for Supper,
" while I warm Some water to wafh the feet of thefe travel-
" lers, whom Jupiter has  fent to us."  In the mean while,
he entreated the ftrangers  to repofe themfelves on a grafs
plat,  at the  foot of the  vine.   Cyanea, having  kneeled
down on the turf, milked  the goats, which had affembled
around her ;  and having finifhed,  fhe led  the  flock intp
the fheepfold, which flood at one end of the houfe.  Tir-
teus, in the mean time, warmed water, and wafhed  the feet
of his guefts, after which, he invited them to walk in.
   Night was already  advanced ; but a  lamp, fufpended
from the cieling, and the blaze of the hearth, which was
placed, after the manner of  the Greeks, in the middle o£
the habitation,  fufficiently illuminated  the interior of it.
There  were  feen, hanging round  the walls, flutes,  fhep-
herd's crooks, Scrips, moulds for making cheefe ;  bafkets
of fruit, and earthen pans  full of milk, flood upon Shelves
fattened to the  joifts.   Over the door by which they had
entered, there was a fmall ftatue of the good Ceres, and
over that of  the fheepfold,  the figure  of the God Pan,
formed from a  root of  an  olive tree.
   As foon as the  ftrangers were introduced,  Cyanea cov-
ered the table, and Served up cabbages  with  bacon, Somie 
40©
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
wheaten bread, a pot  filled with  wine,  a cream chotfcv
frefh eggs, and Some of the fecond figs of the year, white
and violet coloured.   She placed by the board four feats,
made of oak wood.   She covered  that of her father with
the fkin of a wolf, which he himfelf had  killed in hunt-
ing.  Afterwards, having afcended to the upper ftory, fhe
returned again, with the fleeces of two fheep ;  but  whilft
fhe Spread them on the Seats  oS the travellers,  fhe  burfl
into tears.  Her father Said to her,  " My dear daughter,
" will you remain  Sor ever inconSolable about the JoSs of
" your  mother ? And can you never touch  any thing
" which fhe was  accuftomed to uSe, without Shedding
" tears ?" Cyanea made no reply, but turning her head to-
ward the wall, fhe wiped her eyes.   Tirteus addreffed a
prayer, and offered a libation to  Jupiter,  the  patron of
hofpitality ; then, having invited his  guefts to Sit down,
they all began to eat in pro Sound Silence.
   When the meal was finifhed, Tirteus  Said to the two
travellers, "  My dear guefts, had you chanced to enter
" the habitation of fome other inhabitant of Arcadia, or had
" you paffed this way, fome years ago, you would have
" been much better received. But the hand of Jupiter has
" Smitten me. I once poffeffed, upon the neighbouring hill,
" a garden, which Supplied me, at all  SeaSons, with pulSe,
" and excellent Sruit :  It is Swallowed up in the foreft.
" This Solitary valley once refounded with the lowing of
"  my oxen.  Nothing was to be heard from morn to eve,
"  in my dwelling, but Songs of mirth, and founds of joy.
*• I have feen around this table three Sons and Sour daugh-
"  ters.   The youngeft Son was arrived at an age capable
"  of tending a flock of fheep.  My daughter Cyanea dreff-
"  ed her little. Sifters, and already Supplied  the place of a
"  mother to them.   My wife, induftrious, and ftill young,
"  maintained, all the year round,  gaiety, peace, and abun-
 "  dance in my  habitation.  But the lofs of my eldeft fon
 "  has been followed  by that of  almoft my whole family.
 " Li,ke other young men, he was  defirous of fhewing hi* 
ARCADIA.                 40*
" agility, by climbing up the higheft trees.  His mother,
" to whom Such exercifes caufed the greateft dread, had
" frequently entreated him to abftain from amufements of
" this*  kind.   I  had often predicted that fome misfortune
" would be the confequence.  Alas ! the Gods have pun-
" ifhed my  unwarrantable  predictions, by accptnplifhing
" them.  One Summer's day, in which  niv Son was in
" the  Soreft,  keeping the  flocks  wifh  his  brothers,  the
" youngeft of them took a fancy to eat  fome of the fruit
" of a  wild cherry tree.   The eldefl immediately climbed
" it, in order  to  gather them ; and when he had reach-
" ed the  Summit,  which was   very  elevated,-  he per-
" ceived his mother at a little diftance,  who, Seeing  him
" in her turn,  uttered a  loud Scream, and fainted.  At this
" Sight, terror, or repentance, Seized my  unhappy Son ; he
" fell.   His mother, being brought to herfelf by  the cries
" of her children, ran toward him, but  in vain attempted
" to reanimate him in her arms : The  unfortunate youth
" turned his eyes toward her, pronounced her name and
" mine, and expired. The griet with which my  w.iie was
" overwhelmed,  carried her in a few dayi to the grave.
" The  moft tender union reigned amongft my children, and
" equalled their affection for their mother. They, however,
" all died, through forrow for her lofs, and for that of each
" other. How much anxiety has itcoft ine  to preferve this
" poor girl!".......Thus fpake Tirteus, and, in Spite of his
efforts, the tears ruflied to his eyes.  Cyauna threw herfelf
on the  bofom  of her father, and mixing  her tears with his,
fhe  preffed him  in her  arms,  unable to utter a  fyllable.
Tirteus faid to her : " Cyanea, my dear daughter, my fole
" confolation, ceafe to afflict thySelf.  We fhall one day
" See them again ; they are with  the  Gods."   Thus he
Spoke,  and Serenity once more appeared on  his counte-
nance,  and on that  of  his daughter.   With the greateft
compofure, fhe poured  out Some wine  into  each of  the
cups ;  then, taking a Spindle and a diftaff, furnifhed with
  VOL. III.        D D O 
j&x
STUDIES OF  NATU RE.
wool,  fhe Seated herSelS by her Sather, and began to Spin,
looking at him, and Supporting herSelf on his knees.
   The travellers, in the mean time, were melted into tears.
At length the younger of the two, refuming the converfa-
tion, faid  to  Tirteus, " Had we  been received  into  the
"palace, and at the table ot Agamemnon,  at that  inftant
<rwhen, covered with glory, he was reftored to his daogh-
" ter Iphigenia, and to his wife Clytemneflro., who had lan-
" guifhed  for  his return  fo long, we could neither have
" feen  nor heard any thing So affecting as what  we have
"juft witneffed.—Oh ! my good  fhepherd !  it  muft be
" acknowledged, that you  have experienced Severe trials ;
" but if Cephas,  whom you fee here, would relate to you
" thofe which overwhelm men, in every quarter of the
" Globe, you would  fpend this  whole night in liftening
" to him, and  in  blefling your own lot :  How many
" Sources of diftrefs  are unknown to you,  in the midft of
" this peaceful retreat! You here live in perfect freedom;
" Nature fupplies all  your wants ; paternal love renders
" you happy, and a mild  religion confoles  you under all
" your griefs."
  Cephas, taking up  the  converfation, faid to his young
friend, " My Son, relate  to us your  own  misfortunes :
" Tirteus will  liften to you with more intereft  than  he
" would to me.  In  mature  age,  virtue is  generally the
" fruit of reafon ; in youth,, it is always that of feeling."
  Tirteus, addreffing himfelf to the young ftranger, faid,
" PerSons of my age  do not  fleep  much.   IS you are not
" over oppreffed with fatigue, I Shall receive great pleaS-
" ure Srom hearing you.   1 have  never quitted my own
" country, but I love  and honour travellers.  They are
" under the protection of Mercury and of Jupiterv Some-
" thing ufeful  may  always be gathered from them.  As-
" for yourfelf, you muft certainly have experienced great
" diftrefs in your own country, having,  at  fo  early  an
"age,  Separated from your parents, with whom ifc is So
M pleaSant to live and to die." 
ARCADIA.
•4®3
  " Though it is difficult," replied the young man, «« to
" fpeak always of ourfelves with Sincerity, yet,  as you
" have given us So  kind a reception, I fhall candidly re-
" late to you all my adventures, both good and bad."
  My name is Amafis.  I was born  at Thebes, in Egypt,
the fon  of an opulent father.  He had me educated by the
priefts of the Temple of Ofiris.  They inftructed  me in
all the Sciences upon  which  Egypt values herSelS : The
facred language by  which you may converSe with ages
paft, and that oS the Greeks, which enables  us to hold
converSe with all the Nations of Europe.   But what is in-
finitely  fuperior to Sciences and Languages,  they  taught
me to be juft, to fpeak the truth, to fear the  Gods only,
and to prefer before every thing elfe,  that glory which is
acquired by virtue.
   This laft fentiment  increafed in me as I grew up. Noth-
 ing had been fpoken of  in Egypt, for fome time paft, but
 the Trojan war.  The names of Achilles, of Heclor, and
 of other heroes, difturbed my fleep.  1 would have pur-
 chafed  a fingle day of their renown, by the facrifice of my
 whole  life.  I thought  the  deftiny  of my  countryman
 Memnon was enviable,  who had perifhed on the walls of
 Troy, and in honour of whom a fuperb monument  was
 reared at Thebes (2).   What do I fay ? I would willing-
 ly have given my  body to be changed into the flatue of a
 hero, provided, they had expofed me, on a pillar, to the
 veneration of Nations.  1  refolved, then, to tear myfelf
 from the delights  of Egypt, and from the endearments of
 my paternal manGon, in  order to  acquire an illuJdrious
 reputation.  Every time that I prefented  myfelf before
 my father, " Send  me to the fiege of Troy," faid I to him,
 " that 1 may purchafe for myfelf a name renowned among
 " men. . You have my elder brother with you,  who is
 " fufficient to  fecure the continuance of your pofterity :
 " If you  always  oppofe  my  inclinations,   through  the
 " dread of lofing  me,  know,  that if I efcape the fword,
 *' lihall not eScape the  more painful death oi chagrin." 
404        STUDIES  OF  NATURE-

In truth, I was vifibly  declining ; I avoided  all Society,
and was So recluSe, that they gave me the Sirname of Mon-
eros.  To no purpofe did  my father attempt to combat a
fentiment, which  was the  fruit ot the  education  he had
given me.
  One day he introduced me  to Cephas, exhorting me  to
follow hiscounfels.   Though  I had never feen Cephas be-
fore, a fecret fympathy attached me to him, the moment I
beheld him.   This refpeclable friend did not endeavour  to
oppofe my favourite  paffion,  but, in  order to weaken  it,
he changed the object :  "  You thirft after glory," faid  he
to me ;  " it is, undoubtedly, the  moft defirable thing  in
" the World,  Since the Gods reServe it for themfelves  as
" their peculiar portion.  But how can you reckon upon
" obtaining it  at  the Siege of Troy ?  Which  Side would
" you take ; that  of the Greeks or of the Trojans  ?  Juf-
" tice declares for  Greece ; compaffion  and duty  for
" Troy.   You are an Afiatic (3) ; would you  then, com-
" bat in favour of Europe againft Afia ? Would you bear
" arms againft Priam, that father, and that King  So un-
" fortunate, ready to Sink, with  his  Samily and empire,
" under the arms of Greece ?  On the other hand, Would
" you undertake the defence of the ravifher Paris, and  of
'• the adultcrefs  Helen  againft Menelaus,  her hufband ?
" There is no true  glory independent of juftice.   But,
" even though a  free man were able to afcertain,, in the
" quarrels of Kings, on which fide juftice lay, Do you
" conceive that, in following it, would con Si ft  the greateft
" poffible glory thai can be acquired ? Whatever applauSes
" conquerors may receive Srom their compatriots,  truft
" me, Mankind know well how to place them, one day,
" in their proper  Situation.  They have given only the
" rank of heroes and of demigods to thofe who have mere-
" ly praaifed juftice, fuch as Thefeus, Hercules, Pirithous.
** But they have raifed  to  the fupreme  order of  Deity,
" thofe who have  been beneficent ; fuch as Ifis, who gave
" Laws  to  men :  OJins, who taught  them the Arts, and 
ARCADIA.                 405
44 Navigation ;  Apollo, Mufic ;  Mercury,  Commerce ;
*' Pan, the art of breeding cattle ; Bacchus, the cultiva-
" tion of the vine ; Ceres, that of corn.   I am a native of
" Gaul," continued  Cephas ;  " it is  a Country naturally
" rich and  fertile, but which, for want of civilization,  is
" deftitute of the greater part  of thofe things which min-
" ifter to happinefs.   Let  us  go, and  carry thither the
" arts, and  the ufeful plants of Egypt ;  a humane Relig-
" ion, and Social Laws :  We  may,  perhaps, bring back
" Some commodities uSeful to your own  Country.   There
" does not exift a Nation, however Savage it may be, that
" does not  poffefs  Some ingenuity, Srom which a polifhed
'' People  may  derive  benefit ; Some ancient  tradition,
" Some rare production, which is  peculiar to its own cli-
M mate.  It is thus that Jupiter, the Father of Mankind,
" was defirous  of uniting, by  a reciprocal interchange of
" benefits,  all the Nations of the  Earth ;  poor or rich,
" barbarian or civilized.  Even if we fhould be unable to
" find in Gaul  any thing that can be ufeful in Egypt,  or
"  were we, by  fome accident, to lofe the fruit of our voy-
" age, ftill there will remain  for us one thing, of  which
" neither death nor  tempefts can deprive us ;  I mean the
"  Satisfaction pf having done good."
   This difcourfe,  fuddenly,  illuminated my  mind with
a  ray of  divine light.  I embraced Cephas, with tears in
my eyes :  "  Let us  depart,"  faid I to  him ; ** let us do
■" good to  Mankind, and imitate the Gods  !"
   My father approved  of our project; when I took my
leave of him, he folded me in  his arms, faying, " My fon,
" you are going to undertake the moft difficult tafk in the
" World,  for you are going  to  engage in labour for the
"  benefit  of Mankind.   But  if  you can, by fuch means,
" promote your own happinefs, reft affured, that you will
■'  render mine  complete."
   After having taJten leave of our friends, Cephas  and I
embarked at Canopus, on board a Phenician veffel, which
 was going to Gaul for  a cargo of furs,  and lor pewter, to 
406        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

■the Britifh Iflands.  We carried  with us linen cloths,
models of waggons, ploughs, and various looms ; pitchers
of wine, mufical inftruments,  and  grains oS different Spe-
cies ; among others, thofe of hemp and  flax.   We cauf-
ed to be Saftened in cherts, round the poop  of the fhip, on
the deck, and even along  the  cordage, flips of the vine,
which were  in bloffom, and  fruit trees  of various forts.
You  might  have taken our  veffel,  covered with  vine
branches and foliage, for that of Bacchus  fetting out on
ihe conqueft of the Indies.
   We anchored, firft, on the coaft of the Ifland Crete, in
order to take  in  Some plants which  were Suitable^o the
climate oS Gaul.  This ifland produces a greater quantity
of vegetables than Egypt, in the  vicinity of which it is fit-'
uated,  Srom  the variety of its temperatures,  extending
from the burning  Sands of its fhores, up to the fnowy re-
gion of Mount  Ida, the fummit  of which is loft  in the
clouds.  But, what ought  to render it ftill more valuable
to its inhabitants, is, its having been governed by the Sage
•laws of Minos.
   A favourable wind afterwards  drove  us from Crete to
 the height of Melita (4).   This is a fmall ifland, the hills
 of which,  being formed of white ftone, appear, at a dif-
tance, on the Sea,  like  cloth  fpread  out to bleach  in the
 Sun.   We caft anchor  here., to  lay in water, which  is pre-
 ferved in great purity, in citterns.  In vain fbould we have
ibught,  in this place,  for any  other  fpecies  of fupply :
 The. ifland is deftitute of every thing, though, from its fit-
nation  between  Sicily» and Africa,  and  from the  vaft
 extent  of  its port, which is divided  into  feveral arms, it
 ought to be the centre of commerce for all the Nations of
 Europe, of Africa, and  even of Afia.   Its inhabitants Sub-
 fift entirely  by plunder.   We preSented them with Some
 feeds of the melon, and of the xylon (5).   This is an  herb
 which  thrives in the. drieft  places, anckthe wool of which
 ferves  for the manufacture  of cloths extremely white and
 delicate.  Though Melita, which is an  entire rock, pro- 
ARCADIA.
407
 duces almoft nothing fit Sor the Subfiftence oS men and an-
 imals, yet there is taken  annually, about  the autumnal
 Equinox, a  prodigious quantity of quails (6), which re-
pofe there, on their paffage Srom Europe to ASrica.   It is
 an amufing  Spectacle to  See them, Sattened as they are,
croSs  the Sea, in quantities incredible.  They wait till the
 wind blows from the North, when, raifing one of their
wings in the air, like a Sail, and beating with the other
like an  oar, they  graze along  the waves, having their
rumps loaded with  Sat.  When they arrive at this ifland,
they are  So fatigued, that they  may  be caught with  the
hand.  A  man- can gather more in one day than he can
make ufe of in a year.
   From  Melita, we were wafted by the gale as  far as the
Ifles of Enofis (7),  which are fituated at the Southern ex-
tremity of Sardinia.  There the  winds became  contrary,
and obliged us to anchor.   Thefe iflands con fi ft of fandy
rocks, which produce nothing ; but, by a wonderSul in-
terpofition of the providence of the Gods, who> in places
the moft  unproductive, find the means of fupporting Man.
in a thoufand different  ways, tunnies  are given  to thefe
iflands, as quails are to the rock of Melita.  In  Spring,
the tunnies, which  make their  way  from the Ocean into
the Mediterranean, pafs  in fucb great quantities, between
Sardinia  and the Iflands of Enofis, that their inhabitants
are occupied, night and  day, in fifhing for them, in Salting
them, and in extracting their oil.  I have Seen, upon their
fhores, heaps  of the burnt bones of theSe  fifties^  which
were higher than this houSe.  But this gift of Nature does
not render the inhabitants affluent.   They fifh for the ben-
efit of the inhabitants of Sardinia.   Thus, we Saw flaves
only in the Iflands of Enofis, and tyrants alone at Melita.
   The wind becoming favourable, we departed, after hav-
ing prefented the inhabitants with fome flips of vine, and
received  from them fome young plants of  the  cheftnut
tree, which they import  from Sardinia,  where the fruit of
*heSe trees grows to a confiderable fize.. 
4&S
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
   During the voyage, Crphas pointed out to me the varie-
 gated afpccls of the  land, not one of which Nature has
 made Similar to another,  in quality and in  form  ;  in order
 that divers plants and animals may find,  in the fame cli-
 mate, different temperatures.  When  nothing was to be
 perceived but the Heavens and  the  water,  he  called my
 attention to men.  " Obferve," faid he to  me, " thefe fea-
 " faring people, how robufl they are ! you might  take
 " them  for  tritons.  Bodily  exercifc is  the aliment of
 *' health (8).  It diffipates an infinite number of diSeaSes
 " and paffions, which Spring out of  the repoSe of cities.
 " The Gods have planted human life in the fame manner
 " as the oaks of my country.  The more  they are buffet-
 " ed by the winds, the more vigorous they become.  The
 " Sea," continued he, " is  the  fchool  of every virtue :
 " There, you  live in privations, and dangers  of every
 " fort.   You are there, under the neceffity of being cour-
 " ageous, Sober,chafle, prudent, patient, vigilant,religious."
 " But," anSwered  I, "  How  comes  it  that the great-
 " er part of the companions of our voyage poffefs none
 " of thefe qualities ? They are, almoft all of them, intern-.
 *' perate,  violent,  impious, commending  and  blaming,
 " without difcernment, whatever they fee performed."
   " It is not the Sea which has corrupted them," replied
 Cephas ; " they have brought with  them  the paflions of
 '* the land.   It is  the love of riches, idlenefs, and the dc
 " fire of giving themfelves up to all  manner of irregulari-
 " ties, when on  fhore, which  determines  a great number
 " of men to enter into the fea  fervice,  Sor the purpoSe of
 " enriching themSelves  j and, as they cannot acquire,
" without a great deal of trouble, the means of gratifica-
*' tion on this element, you always fee them reftlefs, ful-
" len, and impatient, becaufe  there is nothing fo difcon-
" tented as vice, when it  finds itfelf in the  road of virtue.
** A fhip is the crucible  in which  morals  are put to the
" teft.  There, the wicked degenerate  more and more, and
!_• the good become better.  Virtue, however, can  derive 
A R C A b f A.                  4*9
" advantage from every Situation.   Profiting by  their de-
" feels, you may here learn equally  to defpife abufe, and
" idle applaufe ;  to aft fo as to merit your own approba-
" tion, and to have no other witnefs of  your actions but
" the Gods;  He who is defirous of doing good to Man-
" kind, muft inure himfelf betimes to lubmit to unkind
" treatment from them.   It is by the labour  of the body,
" and the injuftice of men, that you are enabled to forti-
" fy, at Once,  both your body and your foul.   It was bv
" fuch  means that Hercules acquired that  courage, and-
" that invincible  ftrength, which have raifed his glory to
" the ftars."
  1  followed, then, as far as I was able,  the advice of my
friend, notwithftanding my extreme youth.  I exerted my-
felf  in raifing the unwieldy Sail  yards,  and  in  managing
the  Sails.  But  the leaft raillery trom my Companions, who
ridiculed  my inexperience, entirely diSconcerted me.   It
would have been eafier  for me tq contend with the boif-
*erous  elements  than  with the contempt of men : Such
fenfibility to the  opinions of others had my education in-
fpired.
   We paffed the ftrait which  Separates  Africa from Eu-
rope, and Saw, on the right and on the left, the two moun-
tains, Calpe and  Abila, which fortify the entrance.   Our
Phenician failors did not fail to inform us,  that their Na-
tion was the firft of all thofe of the Earth, which had dar-
 ed to penetrate into the vaft  Ocean,  and coaft along its
 fhores, even as far  as  the Frozen Zone.   They placed
 their own reputation far above  that of  Hercules,  who e-
 refted, as they faid, two pillars at this  paffage, with the
 inscription, beyond this  you  cahnot pass,  as if
 the  termination of his labours were alfo to be  that ot the
 refearches of  Mankind.   Cephas, who  neglected no op-
 portunity of recalling men to a fenfe of juftice,  and of ren-
 dering homage to the memory  of heroes, faid to them,
 " 1 have always heard it  Said, that the ancients ought to
 ."„ be reSpefted.  The inventors of a feience are the moft
   VOL.  III.              E  E  E 
4TO        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

" worthy of commendation, becaufe they open the career
" to other men.   It is  lefs difficult afterwards  for  thofe
" who follow- them to  extend  their progfefs.  A child,
"  mounted on  the  fhoulders of  a tall man, fees farther
"  than the perfon who Supports him."   Cephas, however,
Spoke to them  without effect ; they would not deign to
render the flighteft  homage to the Son of Mcmena.   As
for ourfelves, we revered the  very fhores of Spain, where
he had killed the three bodied Geryon.   We crowned our
heads with  branches  ot poplar, and,  in honour ot  him,
poured out fome wine of ThaSos on the waves.
  We foon  difcovered the profound  and verdant forefts
which cover Celtic Gaul.   It was a Son of Hercules,  call-
ed Galate, who gave to its inhabitants the firname of Ga-
latians, or Gauls.  His mother,  the daughter of one of
the Kings of Celtes,  was of a prodigious ftature.   She
Scorned to  take  a hufband from among  her father's Sub-
jects ;  but when Hercules paffed through Gaul, after the
defeat of Geryon, fhe could not refufe her heart and  hand
to the conqueror of a tyrant.   We afterwards entered the
channel which Separates  Gaul from the Britifh Iflands,
and, in a few days, we  reached the  mouth  of  the Seine,
the green waters  of which may,  at all- times, be diftin-
guifhed Srom the azure waves of  the Sea.
   My joy was  complete.   We were upon the  point of
arriving.  Our trees were frefh, and covered with leaves.
Several of them, and,  among  others, the flips of the  vine,.
were already loaded with ripe fruit : I pictured to myfelf
the joyful reception which we were going to receive from
a people deftitute of the principal gifts  of  Nature, when
they fhould fee  us difembark apoa their  fhores,  with  the
delicate productions of Egypt and of Crete.   The labours
of agriculture are alone  fufficient to fix wandering and un-
fettled Nations, and to deprive them of the  inclination of
Supporting by violence, that  life which Nature fuftains
with  So many  bleffings.  Nothing more than  a  grain of
eorn is requifite, Said  I to mySelf, in order to polifh  the 
AR^AIIA.
41.1
Whole Gallic Nation, by thofe arts which Spring from ag-
riculture.  This fingle grain of flax  is fufficient, at fome
future period, to afford them  clothing.   This flip of the
vine may Serve to diffafe gaiety and joy  over their fefti-
vals, to the  lateft pofterity.   I then felt how far fuperior
the Works  of Nature are to thofe of  Man.   Thefe laft
begin to decay the moment that they appear ; the others,
on the  contrary, carry in themfelves the fpirit of life
which propagates ttiem.   Time, which deftroys the mon-
uments  of  Art, Serves only to multiply thofe of Nature.
I perceived more real benefits inclofed in a Single grain of
feed, than is to he found in Egypt in the treafuries of her
Kings.
   I gave myfelf up to thefe divine  and humane Specula-
tions,  and,  in the tranSports of my joy,  I embraced Ce-
phas, who had given me fo juft an idea of the real wealth
of Nations, and of true  glory.   My  friend, at the fame
time, obferved, that  the  pilot was preparing to ftem the
current of  the Seine, at  the entrance of which we  now
were.   Night was approaching ; the wind blew from the
Weft,  and  the Horizon was  overcaft.   Cephas  faid to the
pilot, " I would advife you not to enter into the river, but
" rather to caft anchor in that  port, beloved of Amphi-
 " trite, which you fee upon the  left.   Liften to what I
■*' have heard related, on  this fubject, by our ancient feers.
    "  Seine, the daughterof Bacchus, and a nymph of Ceres,
•"  had  followed  into Gaul, the Goddefs  oS Agriculture,
 " at the time when  She  was Seeking  her loft daughter,
■" Proferpine, over the whole Earth.   When  Ceres had
 " finifhed her career, Seine afked, as a reward Sor her Ser-
 '*  vices, thoSe meadows which you See below.   The  God-
 "  deSs conSented, and granted, befides, to the daughter of
 " Bacchus, the power oS  making corn Spring up wherev-
 " er fhe Set her fooj.  She then left Seine upon her fhores,
 **  and  gave her,  for a  companion and attendant, the
 "  nymph  Heva, who was charged to keep ftrict  watch
 " over her, left fhe fhould be carried off by Some Sea god, 
 41*        bTUDHS OP  N'ATl'RF.

 " as her daughter Proftrpine had been, by  the Prince of
 " the infernal regions.  One day, while Seine was amuf-
 " ing  herfelf,  by running along the Sands, to Seek for
 " fhelis, and as fhe fled, uttering loud fcreams, before the
 " waves of the fea,  which fometimes wet the foles of her
 " feet, and Sometimes reached even to her knees, her com.
 " panion Heva perceived, under  the billows, the hoary
 " locks, the empurpled viSage,  and the. azure  robe of
 " Xeptune.  This God was returning from the Orcades,
 " after a terrible earthquake, and was furveying the fhores
 ** of the Ocean,  with his  trident,  to  examine  whether
 " their foundations  had not been convulfed.  At fight of
 " him, Heva uttered a fhriek, and warned Seine, who im-
 " mediately tripped toward the meadows.   But the God
 " of the Seas, having perceived  the nymph of Ceres, and
 " being ftruck with the gracefulnefs of her  figure, and
 " her agility,  drove his  fea horfes  along  the  ft rand, in
 " purfuit of her.  He had almoft overtaken her, when
 " fhe implored affifiance from her  father  Bacchus, and
 " from  Ceres,  her  miftrefs,  They  both  liftened to her
"  petition.  At the moment that  Neptune was extending
 " his arms to catch  her, the whole body of Seine  melted
 " into water ;  her veil, and her  green  robes,  which the
 "  wind  watted before her,  became  waves of  an emerald
" colour.  She was transfouned into a river of that hue,
 " which ftill delights to ramble over the places in which
 " fhe delighted while a nymph.  What renders this more
"  remarkable is,  that Neptune, notwithstanding her met-
 "  amorphofis, has not ceaSed to be enamoured of her, as
"  it is Said the river Alpheus, in Sicily, ftill continues to
"  be, of the fountain Arethufa.   But, if the Sea god has
"  preferved his affection for Seine, fhe  ftill continues to
"  retain her averfion Sor him.   Twice every day  he pur-
 " Sues her, with a loud and roaring noiSe, and as oSten
 " Seine  flies to the meadows, afcending toward her Source,
 '; contrary to the natural courfe of rivers.   At all feafons 
ARCADIA.
4»3
" flie Separates her green waves from the azure billows of
" Neptune.
  "  Heva died with recrct  for the  lofs of her  miftrefs :
" but the Nereidj, as a reward to her fidelity, erected to
" her memory, upon the thore, a  monument compofed of
" black and white ftones, which  may  be perceived at  a
" very great diftance.   By a Skill divine, they have even
'* enclofed in it an echo, in order  that  Heva,  after her
" death,  might warn mariner?, both by  the  eye and the
" ear, of the dangers of the land, as fhe had, during her
" life, cautioned the nymph of Ceres againft  thofe of the
" Sea.   You fee her tomb from  hence.   It is that fteep
" mountain, formed of difmal beds of  black and white
" ftones.  It  always  bears the name of  Heva (g).  You
" perceive, by thofe piles of flint ftones with which  its
" bafis is covered, the  efforts ufed by  the enraged  Nep*
" tune to undermine the foundation ; and you may hear,
"  from hence, the roaring of the mountain,  which warns
" mariners to take care of themSelves.  As to Amphitrite,
**' deeply affected by the misfortune  of Seine, and the infi-
" delity of Neptune, fhe entreated the Nereids to hollow
"  out that little bay,  which yon  fee  upon your left,  at
"  the mouth of the river ;  and it was her intention that
"  it fhould  be, at all times,  a  fecure  harbour againft the
"  fury of her hufband.   Enter into it, then,  at this time,
" if you will be ruled by me, while daylight remains. I
"  can affure you that I have, frequently, feen the God of
"  the Seas  purfue Seine far up the  country, and overturn
" every  thing which he encountered in  his paffage.  Be
"  on your guard, therefore, againft  meeting a God whom
 " love has rendered furious."
  " You muft,  furely," anfwered  the Pilot to  Cephas,
" take me for  a very  ignorant fellow,  when you  relate
"  Such flories  to a perSon of my age.   It is now forty
"  years  Since I have followed a fea  life.   1 have anchor-
'■ cd, night  and day, in the Thames,  which is full of fands,
"  and in the Tagus, which flows with fuch rapidity ; I 
.4(4       STUDIES  OF NATURE.

"  have feen the cataraas of the Nile, which make a roar-
"  ing fo dreadful, but  never have I feen or heard  any
"  thing fimilar to what you have now been relating.  I
"  fhall hardly be fimple enough to remain here at anchor,
"  while the wind is favourable for going up the river.  I
"  fhall pafs the night in its channel, and expect to fleep
"  very Soundly."
   He Spoke, and,  in  concert  with the Sailors, raiSed  a
hooting, as ignorant and preSumptuous men are accuftom-
ed to do, when advice is given them which they do not
underfland.
   Cephas then approached me, and enquired  if  I knew
how to fwim.   "  No,"  aufwered I ; " I have learnt, in
"  Egypt,  every thing  that could render me reSpectable a-
*'  mong men,  and almoft  nothing which could  be uSeful
"  to myfelf."  He then faid  to me,  " Let us  not fepa-
"  rate Srom each other ; we will keep cloSe to this bench
*'  of the rowers, and repofe all our truft in the Gods."
   In the mean time the  veffel, driven by the winds, and,
undoubtedly, by the vengeance of Hercules alfo,  entered
the river in full fail.  We avoided, at firft,  three Sand
banks which are Situated at its mouth ; afterwards, being
fairly involved in  the channel, we could fee  nothing a-
round us,  but a vaft foreft, which extended down  to  the
very banks of the river.  The only evidence we had  of a
country inhabited,  was fome fmoke, which appeared rifing,
here and  there, above the trees.  We proceeded in  this
manner till night prevented us fromdiftinguifhing any ob-
ject ; then the pilot thought proper to caft anchor.
   The veffel, driven on one fide by a frefh breeze,  and
on Ihe other by the current of the river, was forced  into
a  crofs pofition in the channel.  Bat,  notwithftanding
this dangerous fituation, our  Sailors  began to drink  and
make  merry,  believing  themSelves   Secure  Srom   all
danger, becauSe they were  furrounded  with land on every
fide.  They afterwards went to reft, and  not a fingle man
remained on deck, to watch the motions  of the fhip. 
ARC AD r A.                 415-
  Cephas and I ftaid above, feated on one of the rowers*
benches.  We banifhed fleep from our eyes, by conven-
ing on the  majeftic appearance of the ftars which  rolled
over  our  heads.   Already had the  conftellation of the
Bear  reached the middle of its courfe, when we heard, at
a diftance, a deep,  roaring noife, like that of a cataract.  1
imprudently rofe up to fee what it could be.   I perceiv-
ed,  (10) by the whitenefs of its foam, a mountain of water,
which approached  us from the Sea, rolling itfelf over and
over.   It occupied the whole breadth of  the river, and,
rufhing above its banks, to the right hand, and to the left,
broke, with a horrible crafh, among the trunks of the trees
of the foreft.   In the fame inflant, it came upon our vek
fel, and  taking her  Sideways, Sairly over Set her.   This
movement toffed me into the wateF.  A moment after-
wards, a fecond furge, ftill more elevated than the former,
turned the veffel  keel   upward.   I  recollect that  1 then
heard iffue from the inverted wreck, a multitude of hol-
low and ftifled fcreamings ;  but, being defirous of calling
my friend to my affifiance, my  mouth filled with fait wa-
ter ;  I felt a murmuring noife  in ray ears ; I  found my-
felf carried away with inconceivable rapidity, and foon af-
ter I  loft all recollection.
  I am not fenfible how long I might have remained in
the water ; but when I  recovered my fenfes, 1 perceived,
toward the Weft, the bow of Iris in the Heavens,  and to
the Eaft, the firft fires of Aurora, which tinged the clouds
with  filver and vermillion.  A company of young girls,
extremely fair, half clad in Skins, furrounded me : Some
of them prefented  me with liquors in fhells, others wiped
ine dry with moffes, and others fupported my  head w,ith
their  hands.  Their flaxen hair, their vermiUion  cheeks,.
their  azure eyes, and that celeftial Somewhat, which com-
paffion always  portrays on  the  countenance ot woman,
made me  believe that I  was in Heaven, and that 1 was at-
tended by  the Hours,  who  open the gates of it,  day by
day, for the admiffion of unfortunate mortals,   Tne firft 
4tG       STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

emotion of my heart was to look for you, and the fecohd
to enquire after  you.   Oh, Cephas ! I could  not have
felt my nappineSs complete,  even in  Olympus, without
your prefence.  But the illuSion was  Soon over, when I
heard a language,  barbarous  and unknown to me, iffue
from the roSy lips of thefe young females.  I then recol-
lected, by  degrees, the circumftances of my fhipwjeck.  I
arofe : I wifhed  to Seek Sor you, but knew not where to
find you again.   I wandered about in the midft  ot the
woods.  I was ignorant whether the river,  in  which we
had been fhipwrecked, was near, or at a diftance, on my
right hand, or on my leSt ; and, to increaSe my embarraff-
ment, there was no perSon of  whom I could enquire its
Situation.
  After having reflected a Short time, 1 obferved that the
graSs was wet, and the Soliage of the trees of a bright
green, from which I concluded that it muft have rained a-
bundantly the preceding night.  I was confirmed in this
idea by the fight oS the water, which ftill flowed,  in yel-
low currents, along  the roads.   I farther concluded, that
theSe waters  muft, of neceffity, empty, themfelves into
fome  brook, and this brook into  the  river.   I was about
to follow  thefe indications,  when fome men,  who came
out of an  adjoining cottage, compelled me, with a threat-
ening tone,  to enter.  I then  perceived that I was free
no longer, and that  I had become the flave of a people/
who, I once flattered myfelf, would have honoured me as
a God.
   I call  Jupiter to  witnefs,  O Cephas, that  the  afflic-
tion oS having been fhipwrecked in port, of feeing myfelf
reduced to fervitude by thofe, for  whofe benefit 1 had
travelled fo  far, of being relegated to a  barbarous coun-
try, where I  could make myfelS underftood by no perSon,
far Srom the delightful country of Egypt, and from my
relations, did not equal the diftrefs which I felt in having
 loft you.  1 called to remembrance the wifdom of your
 counfels ; your  confidence in the Gods, of whofe provi- 
                    ARCADIA.                 417

derice you taught me to be SenSible, even in  the midft  of
the greateft calamities * your obfervations on the Works
bf Nature, which replenifhed her to me, with life and be-
nevolence ;  the tranquillity in which you  fo well knew
how to  maintain all  my  paffions ; And I felt,  by  the
gloom which was gathering around my heart, that I had
loft, in you, the firft of bleffings, and that a prudent friend
is the moft valuable gift  which  the bounty of  the Gods
can beftow upon Man:
  Thus,  I thought of nothing, but of the means of regain-
ing you  once more, and I flattered myfelf that I fhould
Succeed,  by  making my eScape in the middle of the night;
if I could only reach the  fea coaft.  I was perSuaded that
I could  not be far diflant from it, but I  was  entirely igno-
rant on which fide  it lay.   There was no eminence near
me  Srom whence I could  difcover it.   Sometimes,  I
mounted to the Summit of the moft lofty trees, but I could
perceive nothing except  the furface of the foreft, which
extended as far as the Horizon.   Often did I  watch the
flight of the birds, to fee if I could difcover fome fea fowl
coining  on fhore to build her neft in the foreft  ,- or fome
wild pigeon going to pilfer fait from  the fhores of the
Ocean.  I would, a thoufand times,  have preferred the
found of the piercing cries of the fea  thrufh, when fhe
comes,   during a tempeft,  to.flielter herfelf among the
rocks, to the melodious voice of the red breaft, which al-
ready announced, in the yellow foliage of the  woods, the
termination of the fine weather.
   One night,- after  I had retired to reft, I thought  1 heard,
at a diftance, the noife which the waves of the Sea make,
when they  break upon its fhores ; that I could even dif-
tinguifh  the tumult of the waters of the Seine purfued bv
Neptune.  Their roarings, which had formerly chilled me
with horror, at that time transported  me with  joy.   I
aroSe : I went out of the  cottage, and liftened attentively ;
but the  founds, which feemed to iffue from various parts
ot the  Horizon,  foon  perplexed my  underftanding :  I
    VOL. III.           F F F 
 418          STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

 began to difcover that it was the murmurings of the winds;.
 which agitated at a diftance the foliage of the oaks, and of
 the beech trees.
   Sometimes, I  endeavoured f>  make the Savages of  my
 cottage comprehend that I had  loft  a  friend.  1 applied
 my hand to my  eye5, to my mouth, and to  my heart ; I
 pointed to  the Horizon ; I raifed my hands,,claSped, to
 Heaven, and fhed tears.  They underftood this dumb lan-
 guage, by which I expreffed  my affliction, for they wept
 with  me ;  but, by a contradiction, Sor which I could  not
 account,. they redoubled their  precautioas, in order to
 prevent me from making my eScape.
   I applied mySelf, therefore, to  learn their language, that
 1>might inform them of my condition, and in order to in-
 tereft there  in it.  They were themfelves eagerly difpof-
 ed to teachme the names of the objects which I  pointed
 out to them.  Slavery is very mild among thefe Nations.
 My life, liberty  excepted, differed, in nothing, from that
 of my mafters.  Every thing was in eommon between us,
 provifion,' habitation,  and the earth upon which we  flept,
 wrapped up in fkins.   They hadeven fo much considera-
 tion Sor my youth, as to give me the eafieft part of  their
 labours to perform.  In a fhort time, I was able  to  con-
 verSe with them.  This is what  I learnt of their govern-
 ment and character.
   Gaul is peopled with a great number of petty Nations,
 fome of which are governed by Kings,  others by  Chiefs,
 called Iarles ; but all Subjected.to the power of the Druids,
 who unite them  all'- under the fame religion^ and govern
 them with fo much  the greater facility,  that they are di-
 vided by a thoufand different cuftoms.  The Druids have
perfuaded thefe  Nations that  they are  defcended  from
Pluto, the God oS the Infernal Regions, whom they call
 Ha der,  or  the Blind.  This is the reafon that the Gauls
 reckon by nights, and  not by days, and that they reckon
 the hours of the  day from the  middle of  the night,  con-
 trary to the  practice of all other Nations.   They adore 
ARCADIA.
f**
Teveral other Gods, as terrible as Ha der ; Such as Niorder,
the mafter of the winds, who dafhes veffels on their coafts,
in ordcrt  they fay, to procure them plunder.  They, ac-
cordingly, believe, that every fhip which is  wrecked up-
on their  fliores, is fent them  by  Niorder.   They have,
befides, Thor, or Theutates, the God of War, armed with
a club, which he darts from the upper regions of the air ;
they give him gloves of iron, and  a belt, which redoubles
his fury  when  it  is girded around  him.  Tir,  equally
cruel ; the filent Vular,  who  wears Shoes of confiderable
thicknefs, by means of which he can walk through the air,
and upon the "Water, without making any noife ; Hemda(9
with the golden tooth, who fees  day and night : He can
hear the flighted Sound, even that which the grafs or the
wool makes as they grow : Ouller, the God of the  Ice,
 fhod with fkates ; Loke,  who  had three children by the
giantefs   Angherhode :  The meffenger of  grief, name-
ly, the  wolf Fenris,  the  Serpent of Midgard,  and the
mercilefs  Hela.    Hela  is death.  They  Say, that  his
•palace is  miSery ; his table, Samine ;  his  door, the preci-
pice ; his porch,  languor ; and  his bed,  conSumption.
They  have,  befides, Several  other  Gods,  whoSe  ex-
ploits are as ferocious as  their names,  Herian, Riflindi,
Svidur, Svidrer, Saljk ; which, tranflated, mean the war-
 rior, the thunderer, the deftroyer, the incendiary, the fa-
 ther of  carnage.  The Druids honour thefe Divinities,
 (n)with funereal ceremonies, lamentable  ditties,  and hu-
 man facrificcs.   This horrible   mode of  worfhip gives
 them fo much power over the terrified Spirits of the Gauls,
that they prefide in all their counfels, and decide  upon  all
 their affairs.  If any one  prefumes to oppofe their judg-
 ment, he is excluded from the communion of their myfte-
 ries (12J ;  and,  from that  moment, he is  abandoned  by
 every one, not excepting his own wife and*children ;  but
 it Seldom happens that any one  ventures to refift them ;
 for they  arrogate to themSelves, exclufively, the charge of
 educating youth, that they may impreSs upon their minds 
4*»       STUDIES OF NATURE.

early in life, and in a manner never to be effaced, thefe
horrible opinions.
  As for the Iarles, or Nobles,  they  have the power of
life and death over their own vaffals.   Thofe who  live
under Kings pay them the half of the tribute which is lev-
ied  upon the commonalty.  Others govern them entirely
to their own advantage.  The richer fort give feafts to the
poor of their own  particular clafs, who accompany them
to the wars, and rrtake it a point of honour to die  by their
fide.  They  are extremely brave.  If, in hunting, they
encounter a bear, the  Chief arnongft  them lays afide his
arrows, attacks  the animal  alone, and kills him with one
ftroke of his cutlafs.   If the fire catches their habitation,
they never quit it  till  they fee the burning joifts ready to
fall upon them.  Others, on the brink of the Ocean, with
lance or fword in hand, oppofe  themfelves to the  waves
which dafh upon the fhore." They fuppofe valour to con-
Sift, not only in refitting their enemies of the human  fpe-
cies, and ferocious animals,  but even the elements  them-
Selves..  Valour, with  them, Supplies  the place of juftice,
They always decide their differences by force of arms, and
confider reafon as the reSource of thofe only who are def-
titute of  courage.  »Thefe two claffes of citizens, one of
which  employs  cunning,  and the other force,  to make
themfelves feared,  completely  balance  each  other ;  but
they unite in tyrannizing over the people, whom they treat
with fovereign contempt.   Never can a plebeian, among
the  Gauls, arrive at the  honour of filling any public fta-
tion.  It would appear, that this Nation exifts only for its
Priefts and its Nobles.   Inftead  of  being confoled by the
one, and  protected by the other, as juftice requires,  the
Druids terrify them, only in order that the Iarles  may op-
prefs them.
  Notwithftanding all  this,  there is no race of  men  pof-
Seffed of better  qualities than the  Gauls.  They  are very
ingenious,  and excel  in Several Species  of   ufeful  arts,
which are  to be found  no where elfe.   They' overlav 
ARCADIA.
4*»
plates of iron with tin, (13)  fo artfully, that it might pafs
for filver.   They compact pieces of wood  with  fo  much
exaftnefs,  that they  form of them  vafes capable of con-
taining all  forts of liquors. What is ftill more wonderful,
they have a method  ot  boiling water in them, without
their being confumed.  They make flint ftones  red hot,
and throw  them into the water contained in the wooden
vafe, till it acquires the degree of heat which they wifh to
give it. They alfo know how to kindle fire without making
ufe either of fteel or of flint,  by the friction of the  wood
of the ivy  and of the laurel.   The  qualities of their heart
are ftill fuperior to thofe of their  underftanding.  They
are extremely hofpitable.  He who has little, divides that
little, cheerfully, with him who  has  nothing.   They are
fo paffionately fond of their children, that they never treat
them unkindly.  They are contented  with bringing them
back to  a  fenfe of their duty  by  remonftrance.   The re-
Sult from  this conduct is, that, at all times, the moft ten-
der affection unites all the members of their families, and
that the young people there  liften,  with the greateft re-
fpect, to the counfels of the aged.
   Neverthelefs, this People would  be  fpeedily  deftroyed
by  the  tyranny of  its Chieftains,  did they not oppofe
their  own  paffions  to themfelves.  When quarrels rife
among the Nobility,  they are fo much under trie perfua-
fion that arms muft decide the controverfyt and  that  rea-
Son has no voice in the decifion, that they are obliged, in
order to merit popular efteem, to Sollow  up their  refent-
ments to the death.   This vulgar prejudice is fatal to a
great number of the larles.   On the other hand, they give
Such credit to the dreadful ftories retailed by the Druids,
refpecting their  Divinities,  and fear,  as  is generally the
 cafe, affociates with  thefe traditions circumftances fo ter-
rifying,  that the  Priefts frequently tremble much more
whan the people, before the idols which they themfelves
 had fabricated.   I am, thence, thoroughly  convinced of
 the truth of the maxim of our facred books, which favs— 
.&%        STUDIES  OF  NATURE

Jupiter has ordained, that the evil which a man does to
his fellow creature, fhould recoil, with  fevenfold ven-
geance, upon himfelf, in order  that  no one may find his
own happinefs in the mifery of another.
   There are, here and  there, among fome of the  Gallic
Nations, Kings who e ftablifh their own authority, by un-
dertaking the defence of the weak ;  but it is the women
who preferve the Nation from  ruin.  Equally  oppreffed
by the Laws of the Druids, and by the ferocious manners
of the larles, they are doomed to the  moil painful offices,
fuch  as  cultivating the ground,  beating  about  in the
woods, to ftart game tor their huntfmen, and carrying the
baggage of the men on their journies.   They are, befides,
fubjected, all their life long,  to the imperious governance
of their own children.   Every hufband has the power of
life and death over his wife, and when he dies,  if there
arifes the flighteit Sufpicion that his  death  was  not natur-
al, they put his wife to the torture :  If, through  the vio-
lence of her torments, fhe pleads guilty., fhe is condemned
to the flames (14).
   This unfortunate fex triumphs over its tyrants  by their
own  opinions.   As  vanity  is  their  domineering paffion,
the women turn them into ridicule.   A Song Simply is, in
their hands, Sufficient to deftroy the refult of their gravefl
affemblies. The  lower claffes, suad  eSpecially the young
people, always devoted to  their Service, Set this Song into
circulation, through the villages and  hamlets.  It is Sung
day and night : He who is the fubject  of it, be he who
he may, dares to fhew his face  no more.   Hence it comes
to pafa, that the women,  fo weak as individuals, enjoy,
collectively, the moft  unlimited power.   Whether it be
the fear of ridicule, or, that they have experienced the  fu-
perior difcernment of their  women, but certain it is,  the
 Chieftains undertake nothing of importance, without con-
 sulting them.   Their voice  decides, whether  it is  to be
 peace or war.  As they are obliged, by  the  miferies of
 Society, to renounce their own opinions, and to  takeief- 
ARCADIA.
4*2$'
age in the arms  of  Nature, they are neither blinded nor
hardened, by the prejudices of  the men.  Hence it hap-
pens, that they judge more clearly than the other fex, of
public affairs, and forefee future events with fuch fuperior
diScernment.  The common people, whoSe calamities they
Solace, ftruck, at Srequently finding in them a more dis-
criminating  underftanding than  in their  Chiefs, without
penetrating into  the  caufes  of  it, take a pleafure  in  af-
cribingto them Something divine (15).
   Thus, the Gauls- paSs Succeffively and rapidly Srom for-
row  to  fear, and from fear to joy.   The Druids terrify
them,  the larles abuSe them, and the women make them
laugh, dance,, and Sing.  Their religion, their  laws, and
their manners, being perpetually at variance,  they live in
a ftate oS continual  flu6luation, which conftitutes  their
principal character.  Hence, alio, may be derived  the
reafon why  they are fo  very curious about new.s, and So
defirous  of  knowing what paffes among ftrangers.   It i$.
tor this reafon, that  fo many are to  be  found  in foreign
countries, which they are  fond  of vifiting, like all men
who are unhappy at home.
   They  defpiie hufbandmen, and, of conSequence, ncgleft
agriculture,  which is the bafis of public profperity.  Wherv
we landed  in their country, they cultivated only thofe
grains which come  to perfection in  the Space of a Sum-
mer,  Such  as beans, lentiles, oats,  fmall millet, rye, and
barley.  Very little wheal  u> to be feen there.  Never-
thelefs, the earth abounds with natural productions. There
is a profufion of excellent pafture by the fide of the riv-
et s.   The forefts are  lofty, and filled with  fruit trees of
all kinds.  As they  were frequently in want of provifions,
they employed me in Seeking it for them, in the fields and
in the woods.  I found, in the  meadows, cloves of garlic,
the roots of  the  daucus, and of the  dropwort.   I fome-
times returned,  loaded with myrtle  berries, beech  mad,
pJums, pears, and  apples, which I  had gathered in the
'01 eft.  They dreffed  thefe fruits,  the greater part of 
 424        STUDIES OF  NATURE.

 which cannot be eaten raw, on account of their harfbnefs.-
 But they have trees there, which produce fruit of an ex-
 quifite  flavour.   I have often  admired the apple trees,
 loaded with Sruits  of a colour fo brilliant, that they might
 have been miftaken for the moft beautiful flowers.
   This is what they related, refpcfting the origin  of thofe
 apple trees, which grow there in  fuch abundance, and of
 the greateft beauty.  They  tell  you,  that  the beautiful
 Thetis,  whom they call  Fnga,  jealous of  this  circum-
 stance, that, at her nuptials, Venus, whom they denominate
 Siofne, had carried away the apple, which was the prize of
 beauty, without putting it in  her power to contefl it with
 the three Goddeffes, refolved to  avenge herSelf.
   Accordingly,  one day that  Venus had  defcended on this
 part of the Gallic fhore, in queft of pearls  for  her drefs,
 and of the Shells called  the knife handle, for her fon Sifi-
 one (16), a triton ftole away her  apple, which fhe had de-
 pofited upon a rock, and carried  it to the GoddeSs of the
 Seas.  Thetis immediately planted its feeds  in the neigh-
 bouring  country, in order to perpetuate the memory of
 her revenge, and of her triumph.   This is the reaSon, Say
 the Celtic Gauls, of the great number of apple trees which
 grow in  their  Country,  and of the Singular beauty of their
 young women (17).
   Winter came on, and I am unable to exprefs my afton-
 ifhment  to you, when  I beheld,  for  the  firft time, the
 Heavens diffolve into white plumage,  refembling that of
 birds, the water of the fountains become hard as ftone,
and  the  trees  entirely  ftripped  of their foliage.  I had
never feen the like in   Egypt.   I had  no doubt  but that
the Gauls would immediately expire, like the plants, and
the elements,  of their  Country  ;  and,  undoubtedly, the
rigour of the climate would  foon  have  put  an end to my
career, had they not taken the greateft  care to clothe me
with furs.  But how  eafy it is for a perfon, without ex-
perience, to be deceived ! I  was entirely ignorant of the
 refources of Nature ; for every feafon, as well as for every 
ARCADIA.                   425
 climate;  Winter is, to thoSe Northern Nations, a time of
 feftiviiy, and of abundance.   The river birds, the elks, the
 buffalos, the hares, the deer, and the wild boars, abound,
 at that feafon, in  the forefts,' and approach their habita-
 tions.   They  killed thefe in prodigious quantities.
   I was not lefs  furprifed, when I  beheld the return of
 Spring, which difplayed, in thofe defolate regions, a mag-
 nificence  which  1 had never.feen  before, even 'on  the
 banks of the Nile : The bramble, the rafpberry, the fweet
 briar, the ftrawberry, the primrofe, the violet,  and a great
 many other flowers, unknown in Egypt, adorned the ver-
 dant borders  of  the forefts.  Some, fuch as  the honey-
 fuckle,  entwined  themSelves round the trunks of the oaks,
 and fufpended from the boughs  their perfumed  garlands.
 The fhores, the  rocks,  the woods,  and the  mountains,
 were all clothed in a pomp, at once magnificent and wild.
 A  Spectacle  fo  affecting  redoubled  my melancholy  :
 " Happy," faid 1 to myfelf,  " if I could perceive among
 *' fo many plants, a fingle one of thoSe  which I  broucht
 " wifh  me Srom  Egypt !  Were it  only the humble fhx,
 " it would recal the  memory of my Country, during my
 '' whole life time ; in dying, I  would Select it for the
 " place of my grave :  It  would,  one day,  tell Cephas
 " where the  bones of his friend repofe, and  inform  the
 " Gauls of the name and of the travels of Amafis."
   One  day, as 1 was endeavouring to diflipate  mv melan-
 choly, by looking at the young girls  dancing on  the frelh
 grafs, one oS them quitted the dancers, and came and wept
 over me : Then,  on a Sudden, She again joined her com-
 panions, and continued to dance, frifking about, and atnuS-
 ing herSelf with them.   I took the fudden  tranfuion from
joy to grief, and from grief to joy, in this young girl, to
 be the effeft of the natural levity of the people, and I did
 not give myfelf much  trouble about it ;  when I Saw an
old man iffue Srom the foreft, with a red beard, clothed in
a robe made of the fkins of weafels.   He bore a branch - f
   vol. hi.             g c o 
 ,■.28       STUDIES  OF  NAT" UK if.

 miftletoe in  his hand, and at  his  girdle hung  a knife of
 flint.   He was followed by a company of young perfons,
 in the flower of their age,  who  had girdles of the fame
 fort of fkins,  and holding  in their hands  empty gourds,
 pipes  of  iron, bullocks'  horns, and other  inftruments of
 their barbarous mufic.
   As foon as  this old man appeared, the dancing ceaSed,
 every countenance became Sad, and the  whole company
 removed to a diftance Srom me.  Even  my mafter and
 his Samily retired  to their cottage.  The wicked old man
 then approached me,  and Saftened  a leathern cord round
 my neck ; theft, his Satellites,  forcing  me to Sollow him,
 dragged me along, in  a ftate  of ftupefaction, in  the fame
 manner as wolves would  carry off a Sheep.  They con-
 ducted me acroSs  the  Soreft  to the very borders of the
 Seine : There, their Chief fprinkled me with the water of
 the river ; he then made me enter a large boat, conftrufted
 of the bark of the birch  tree, into which he likewife em-
 barked with all his train.
   We Sailed  up the Seine Sor eight days together, during,
 which all  kept a profound Silence.   On the ninth, we ar-
 rived at a little town, built in the middle  of an ifland.
 They here  made me dlSembark on the  oppofite  Shore, on
 the right hand'bank of the river, and they  conducted me
 into a large hut, without windows, which  was illuminated
 by torches olfir.   They tied me to a flake, in the middle
 of the  hut,  and  thofe young men, who  watched over
 me night  and  day, armed with hatchets  of  flint,  never
 Ceafed   to  dance  around  me, blowing,  with  all  their
ftrength, through the bulls' horns and iron  pipes.   They
 accompanied this  deteftable  mufic' with  theSe  horrible
words, which they Sung in chorus :
   " Oh, Niorder  ! Oh,  Riflindi ! Oh,  Svidrer ! Oh,
 "  Hela ! Oh,. Hela ! God of Carnage and of Storms, we
 "  bring thee flefh.   Receive the blood of this victim,  of
"  this child of death.   Oh, Niorder ! Oh, Riflindi! Oh,
'  Svidrer ! Oh, Hela ! Oh,  Hela  !" 
A.'R C AD I A.
427
  Whilft they pronounced  theSe awful  words, their eyes
rolled about in their heads, and their mouths foamed.  At
length thofe fanatics,  overwhelmed  with  fatigue,  fell
afleep, except one of them,  who was  called Omfi.   This
name,  in  the Celtic  tongue, Signifies beneficent.  Omfi,
moved with compaffion, approached me :  " UnSortunate
" young man;" Said he, " a cruel war has broken-out be-
" tween the Nations oS Greatbritain and thoSe of Gaul.
•* The Britons pretend to be the mafters of the Sea which
" Separates their ifland from us. We have already been
" defeated in two  naval engagements  with them.  The
" College of the Druids of Chartres has determined, that
" human victims are neceffary, to render Mars favoura-
" ble, whofe temple is juft by this place.   The  Chief of
" the Druids, who has fpies over all  the Gauls, has dif-
" covered that the tempefts had caft you upon our coafts:
" He went himSelf to find  you out.  He is old and piti-
" lefs.  He bears the name of two of  our moft formidable
" Deities.   He is called Tor Tir (18).  Repofe  thy con-
" fidence,  then, in the  Gods of thy own Country, for
" thofe of Gaul  demand thy blood  !"
  I was Seized with  fuch terror, that I was unable to make
the leaft reply to Omfi : I only thanked him, by  an incli-
nation of my head, and he immediately haftened from me,
left he fhould be perceived by any of  his companions.
  At that moment,  I called to mind the reafon which in-
duced the Gauls, who had made me their Have, to hinder
me  from removing  from their habitation ; they  were ap-
prehenfive that I might fall into the hands of the  Druids  ;
but I had not the power of efcaping my  cruel deftiny.
My deftruftion now appeared  fo inevitable in  my own
eyes, that I did not believe Jupiter himfelf was able to de-
liver me from the jaws of thofe tygers, who were thirfting
Sor  my blood.  I recollefted no more,  oh, Cephas ! what
you have fo  Srequently  told me, That the Gods never
abandon innocence.   I did not even remember their hav-
ing Saved me from fhipwreck.   Prefent  danger totally oh- 
$o_3         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

literates paft deliverance from the mind.   Sometimes,  I
imagined that they had preferved me from the waves, on-
ly to five me up to a death a thoufand times more painful.
   Nevertheless, I was  addreffing my Supplications to Ju-
f :'<->; and I enjoyed a  kind oS repoSe,  in relying entirely
on that  Providence which governs the World,  when, all
oS a Sudden, the doors  of the cottage opened, and a nume-
rous company of Priefts entered, with Tor  Tir at  their
head,  always bearing in his  hand a branch  of  miftletoe
fro::i the oak.   Immediately,  the young barbarians who
furrounded me awoke, and began their funereal fongs and
dances.   Tor Tir approached me ; he placed upon my
head a crown of the yew tree, and a handful of the meal
of beans ; afterwards, he put a gag in my  mouth,  and
having untied me from  my  flake,  he fattened my hands
behind my  back.  Then,  all his  retinue began to march
to the found of their doleful inftruments, and two Druids,
Supporting  me by the arms, condufted me to the place of
facrifice.
   Here,  Tirteus, perceiving that the Spindle Sell Srom the
hands of Cyanea, and  that fhe turned pale,  faid to her,
"  My daughter, it is time for you to go to  reft.  Remem-
"  bcr that you muft rife tomorrow before the dawn, to go
"  to Mount Lyceum,  where  you have to prefent,  with
"  your  companions, the  fhepheid's  offering on the altar
"  of  Jupiter."    Cyanea,  trembling  all  over, replied,
"  My father,  every thing is ready againft the feftival of
"  tomorrow.  The wreathi ot tlowers, the wheaten cakes,
"  the veffels of milk,  are all prepared. But it is not late:
"  The moon, as yet, has not  illuminated the bottom of
••  the valley, nor have  the cocks  yet crowed ; it is not
"  midnight.  Allow me,  I entreat you, to  flay here till
"  the end of this ftory.  My father, I am near  you,  and
fl  I fhall apprehend no danger."
   T:rt:us looked at his  daughter, with a Smile;  and, hav-
ing made an apology to Amafis Sor interrupting  him, en-
treated he would proceed. 
ARCADIA.
&9
  We went out of the hut, replied Amafis, in the middle
*F a dark night, by the Smoky light of fir torches.   We
traverfed, at firft, a vaft field of ftones ; we faw, here and
there, the  fkeletons  of  horfes and of dog,, fixed  upon
flakes.  From thence we arrived at the entrance of a large
cavern, hollowed in the fide of a rock all over white (19).
The lumps of black  clotted blood, which had been fhed
around, exhaled an infectious frnell, and announced this
to be the Temple of Mars.  In the interior of this fright-
ful den, along the walls,  were ranged human  heads  and
bones ; and, in the middle of  it, upon a piece of rock, a
ftatue of iron reared  itfelf to  the fummit of the cavern,
reprefenting the God Mars.  It was fo misfhapen, that it
had more refemblance to a block of rufty iron than to the
God of War.  We could diftinguifh, however, his  club.
Set thick with piercing points, his gloves ftudded with the
heads of nails, and his horrible girdle, on which was por-
trayed the image of  Death.  At  his feet was feated the
 King of the Country, having around him the principal
perfonages of his  State.   An  immenfe  crowd of people
were collected within and without the cavern, who preferv-
ed  a melancholy filence,  impreflcd with refpeft, religion,
and terror.
    Tor Tir,  addreffing himSelf to the whole affembly, faid
 to  them, *'  Oh King, and you  larles  affembled for the
 "  defence of the Gauls,  do not  believe that you ever can
 "  triumph  over your enemies, without the affifiance of
 "  the God  of Battles.   Your  loffes  have demonftrated
 "  what is the  confequence of neglecting his awful wor-
 "  fhip.  Blood offered up to the Gods, faves the effufion
 "  of that which  mortals fhed.  The  Gods ordain men to
 "  be born,  only that they may die.  Oh ! how happy are
 "  you, that the feleftion of the viftim has not fallen upon
 "  one of yourfelves ! Whilft I  was  confidering, within
 "  myfelf, whofe life among us would be acceptable  to the
 ft  Gods, and ready to offer up my own for the good  of
 "  my Country, Niorder, the  God of the Seas, appeared 
 43?        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

 " to me in the gloomy forefts of Chartres ; he was  drip-
 *' ping all over with fea water.   He faid to me, with a
 " voice thundering like  the  tempeft, I fend to you,  for
 " the falvation of the Gauls, a ftranger, without relations
 " ana without friends.  1 myfelf dafhed  him upon the
 " wcftern fhores.   His blood will be acceptable  to th«
 " Gods of the infernal regions.   Thus  Spake Niorder.
 " Niorder loves you, oh, ye children oi Pluto !"
   Scarcely had  Tor Tir made  an end oS this terrible ad-
 drels when a Gaul, who was Seated by the  King,  rufhed
 toward me : It was Cephas.  " Oh, Amafis !  Oh, my
 " dear Amafis!" cried he.  " Oh, my barbarous compa-
 " triots ! are you going to Sacrifice a man, who has come
 ** from the banks of the Nile to bring you the moft pre-
 *' cious bleffings of Greece and of Egypt ? You fhall begin
 4t then, with  me, who firft infpired him with this defire,
 " and who touched his heart with pity for perfons fo cru-
 " el  to him."  As he pronounced thefe words, he preffed
 me in his arms., and bathed me with his tears.  For my
 part,  I wept and fobbed, without the  power oS  expreffing
 to him, in  any other way, the tranSports of my joy.   Im-
 mediately the cavern  refounded  with the voice of  mur-
 murs  and of groans.  The young  Druids  wept,  and let
 fall from their hands the inftruments of my  facrifice ; for
 Religion becomes  mute, whenever Nature fpeaks.   Nev-
 ertheless, no one in the affembly durft, even now, deliver
 me Srom  the  hands  of the  butchering priefts, when the
 women, rufhing into the midft of the affembly, tore afun-
 der my  chains, and removed my gag and Sunereal crown.
 Thus, for the  Second  time, did I owe my life to the wo-
 men of Gaul.
  The King, taking me in h:s arms, faid to me,  " What,
 *' is it you, unhappy ftranger, whom  Cephas has been in-
 " ceffantly regretting ! Oh, ye Gods, the enemies of my
 " Country, do you fend benefaftors hither, only that they
 " may be  immolated."   Then, addreffing himfelf  to the
Chiefs of the Nations, hefpoke  to them, with fo much ea- 
ARCADIA.                 4 £|
ergy, of the rights  of humanity, that, with one accord,
they all fwore, that they would never more reduce to flav-
ery thofe whom thetempefts might caft upon their fhores;
never to facrifice, in Suture, any  one  innocent man, and
to offer to Mars only the blood of the criminal.  Tor Tir,
in a rage, endeavoured, in vain, to  oppofe this law : He
retired, menacing the King, and all  the Gauls, with the
approaching vengeance of the Gods.
  Neverthclefs, the -ing, accompanied by my friend, con-
dufted  me,  amidft the  acclamations of the People, into
his city, which was  fituated  in the neighbouring ifland.
Till the moment  of  our arrival in this ifland, I had been
fo much difcompofed, that I was incapable of a fingle ra-
tional refieftion.   Every fpecies of new reprcfentation of
my misfortunes contrafted my heart, and  obfcured my
underftanding.  But  as foon as I recovered the ufe of my
reafoning powers, and  began to  reflect on the extreme
danger  which I  had juft eScaped, I Sainted away.   Oh,
how weak  is man, in  a paroxySm of joy !  He is ftrong,
only io encounter wo.   Cephas brought me to myfelS, af-
ter the manner of the Gauls, by fhaking about my  head,
and blowing on my face.
   When I had recovered my fenfes, he took my hands in
bis, and faid to me, " Oh, my friend, how many tears you
"  have coft me !  When the waves of the Ocean, which
" overfet our veffel, had feparated us, I found  myfelf
" caft, T know not how, upon the right hand bank of the
"  Seine.  My firft care was to feek for you.  I kindled
"  fires  upon the  •fliore ; I called you by name ; I em-
"  ployed feveral of my compatriots, who had gathered to-
" gether on hearing my cries, to reconnoitre, in  their
"  boats, the banks of the  river, to fee if they could not
"  find you : All  our refearches  were ineffectual.  The
"  day reappeared, and  prefented  to my view our veffel
" overturned, and her   keel in the air, clofe to the fhore
"  where I was.  It never occurred  to my  thoughts that
"  you might have landed on the oppofite fhore, in my
• 
43a
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
" own country, Belgium.  It was not  till the third day;
" that, believing you had perifhed, I refolved to pafs over
" to it, to vifit my relations.   The greateft part of them
" had paid the debt of Nature, during my abfence : Thofe
" who remained overwhelmed me with kindnels ; but not
" even a brother can compenfate for the loSs ot a friend. I
" returned almoft immediately to the other fide of the riv-
" er. There they unloaded our unfortunate veffel, of which
" nothing had  been  loft but the men.   I Sought  your
" body along the Sea fhore, and I repeated my demand of
" it evening,  morning, and in the middle of the night,
" from the nymphs of the Ocean, that  I  might rear you
" a monument rtear to that of Heva.  1 fhould have paff-
" ed all my  life, I believe, in thefe vain reSearches, had
" not the King, who reigns on  the  banks of this river,
" inSormed that a Phenician veffel was wrecked on his
" domains, claimed the property which, according to the
" laws of the Gauls, belonged to him.   I collected, ae-
" cordingly,  every thing  which we had brought  from
" ^SXP1' even*to the very trees, which had not been dam-
*' aged by the water j and I prefented  myfelS, with  theSe
" wretched Sragments, before that Prince.  Let us blefs,
*' then, the providence of the Gods, which has united us
" again, and  which has rendered your misfortunes  more
" ufeful to my  Country than even your prefents.  If you
" had not made fhipwreck on  our coafts, the barbarous
" cuftom of condemning to flavery thofe who endure that
" calamity, would not have been abolifhed ;  and, if you'
" had not been condemned to be Sacrificed, I fhould, moft
" probably, never  have Seen you more,  and the blood of
" the innocent would ftill have Smoked upon the altars of
«' the God of War."
  Thus fpake Cephas.   As for the King, he omitted noth-
ing which he  thought  would  tend to make me lofe  the
recolleftion of  my misfortunes.  He was called Bardus.
He was already confiderably advanced in  years,  and he
wore, acccording to the cuftom  of his people, his beard
• 
ARCADIA.
433
and hair Very long.   His palace was built  of the  trunks
of firs, laid in rows  One upon another.  It  h;id no other
door (20), except large bullocks' hides, which clofe up the
apertures.  No perfon was there, on guard, tor  he had
nothing to fear from his  fubjefts ; but he had employed
all his fkill and induftry, to fortify his  city againft ene-
mies  from without.  He had furrounded  it with walls.
formed of the trunks of  trees, intermixed  with  fods of
turf, with towers of ftone at the  angles; and at the gates.
Sentinels were flationed on  the top ot  thefe  towers, who
watched day and night.   King Bardas had received  this
ifland from the nymph Lutetia, his mother, and it bore her
name.  It was, at firft, covered with nothing but trees, and
Bardus had not a fingle fubjeft.  He employed himfelf iu
twitting, upon the banks  of the ifland, ropes of the  baik
of the lime tree, and in hollowing  alders to make boats.
He fold thefe produftions of his  own hands to the mari-
ners who failed up or down the Seine.  While he work-
ed, he fung the advantages of induftry and of commerce,
which unite together all mankind.   The  boatmen  fre-
quently flopped to liften to his Songs.  They were repeat-
ed, and fpread  throughout  all the Gauls,  among whom
they were known under the name of the  verSes  of the
Bards.  Soon  after, a great number of people came to ef-
tablifh themfelves in this  ifland, in order to hear him  Sing,
and to live in greater fecurity.  His riches accumulated
with  his fubjefts.  The  ifland was covered with habita-
tions, the neighbouring forefts were cleared, and, in a  fhort
time,  numerous flocks covered both  the adjacent  fhores.
It was in this   manner that the good King formed an em-
pire without violence.  But while,  as yet,  his ifland was
not furrounded by walls, and while he was already plan-
ning to make it the  centre of commerce for all the Nations
of Gaul, war was on the  point of exterminating all its in-
habitants.
   One day, a great  number of warriors, who were failing
up the Seine, in canoes made of the bark ot the elm, dif-
   VOL. III.            H  H  H 
 434         STUDIES OF  NATURE'.

 embarked upon its northern fhore, direftly oppofite to lu-
 tetia.   They were under the command of the Iarle Car-
 nut, third fon of Tendal, Prince of the North.  Gamut
 was on his return from laying wafle all the coafts of the
 Hyperborean  Sea, over which he had  fpread horror and
 devaftation.   He was fecretly favoured in Gaul  by the
 Druids, who, like all weak men, take the fide of. thofe who
 have rendered themfelves formidable.  As foon as Carnut
 had landed,  he went in  fearch of King Bardus, and faid
 to him, " Let us fight, thou and I, at the head of otirwar-
 "  riors :  The weakeft fhall  obey the ftrongeft ; for it is
 "  the firft Law of Nature, that every thing  fhould  yield
 4'  to  force."  King Bardus replied, " Oh, Carnut ! it
 w  the point  in difpute were the hazarding of my own life,
 "  for the defence of my people,  I would, without hefita-
 "  tion, expoSe it.  But I will not expoSe the lives of my
 " people, were it even to fave  my own.  It is goodnefs,
 "  and not force, wnich  ought to be  the choice of Kings.
 " It is goodnefs only, which governs the World, and it
 " employs,  for  that purpofe, intelligence  and ftrength,
 " which are fubordinate to it, as are all the other Powers
 " of the Univerfe.   Valiant fon of Tendal,  Since thou
 " wifheft to govern men,  let us try whether of the two,
 "  you or I,  is the moft  capable of doing them good.  Be-
 **  hold thefe poor Gauls entirely naked.  Without mak-
 " ing offenfive comparisons, I  have  Several times clothed
 " and Sed them, even to the denying mySelf clothes and
 " food.  Let us fee what provifion thou wilt make  Sor
 " their wants."
  Carnut accepted the challenge.  It was now Autumn.
He went to the chace with his warriors; he killed a great
number of birds, flags, elks, and wild boars.   He  after-
wards, with the flefh  of thefe animals, gave  a  great feaft
to the inhabitants of Lutetia, and clothed in their fkins
thofe who were naked.   King Bardus faid to him, " Son
"*• of Tendal,  thou art a mighty  huntfman : Thou wilt be
" able  to fupport  the people,  during the  huuting feafon ; 
A R C A D I A.
435
" but in Spring, and during Summer time, they will per-
" ifti with  hunger.   For my part,  with  my corn,  the
" fleeces of my fheep, and the milk of my flocks, 1 can
" maintain them  throughout the whole year."
  Carnut made no reply ; but  he remained encamped,
with his warriors, upon the banks of the river, and refuf-
ed to withdraw'.
  Bardus, perceiving his obftinacy,  went to Seek "him in
his turn, and propoSed a Second challenge to him : " Val-
" our," Said he,  " is the quality of a warlike Chief, but
" patience is ftill more neceffary  to  Kings.  Since thou
" wifheft to reign, let us try which of  us can  carry this
" ponderous log, the longeft."   It  was the  trunk of an
oak of thirty years old.  Carnut took it on his  back, but
 foon lofing patience,  haftily threw it down again.  Bar*
 dus laid it acrofs his fhoulders, and bore it without mov-
 ing,  till  after SunSet,  and even till  the night was far ad-
 vanced.
   Nevertheless, Carnut and his warriors would not depart.
 They thus  paffed the whole Winter, employed in hunting.
 The Spring returned, and they threatened to deftroy a rif-
 ing city, which refufed to do them homage ;  and they be-
 came ftill greater objefts of terror, as they began to be  in
 total want of food.   Bardus  did not know  how to rid
 himfelf of  <hem, for they were the moft powerful.   In
 vain did he confult Hie mold aged of his people ; no one
 could give him any  advice.   At laft, he laid  his diftrefs
 beSore his mother Lutetia, who  was now very  old, but
 v/ho ftill poffeffed an excellent underftanding.
    Lutetia  faid  to him, " My fon, you are  acquainted
  "  with  a great number of ancient and curious hiftories,
  "  which I taught you, in  your infancy ;  you  excel in
  "  tinging : Challenge the fon of Tendal  to a competition
  "  in Song  with you."
    Bardus  went, and Sound out Carnut, and Said to him,
  "  Son of Tendal, it is not fufficient for a King to main-
  *'  'ain his  fubjefts, and to be  firm and conftant in his  la- 
436        -S T U D I E S OF N  A T V R E.

•« bours :  He ought to know, likewife, how to banifh
11 from their minds thofe miferies of opinion which ren-
" der them unhappy : For, it is opinion  which exercifes
" influence over Mankind, and renders them good or bad.
" Let us fee, whether of the two, thou or I, can exert the
" greateft power over their minds.  It was  not by  fight-
" ing merely that  Hercules  attrafted followers in  Gaul,
" but by divine Songs, which flowed from his  mouth like
" chains of gold, charmed the ears of thofe  who  liftened,
" and conftrained them  to follow him."
  Carnut, with joy, accepted  this third challenge.  He
fung the combats of the Gods of the North  on the icy
mountains ; the tempefts of Niorder upon the Seas ; the
tricks of Vidar in the air ; the ravages of Thor on the
Earth ; and the empire of Hceder in the dark regions of
Hell.  To thefe he added the rehearfal of his own victo-
ries, and his tremendous ftrains transfufed the  emotions of
furv into the heart of his warriors, who were on  tiptoe to
Spread univerfal deflru6lion.
  As  to  King Bardus, the following were his milder
ftrains :
  " I Sing the  dawn of the  morning ; the earlieft rays of
" Aurora, which have arifen on the Gauls, the empire of
" Pluto ; the bleffings of Ceres, and  the misfortune of the
" infant Lois.   Liften to my fongs,  ye fpirits of the riv-
" ers, and repeat them to the fpirits  of the azure moun-
"  tains.
  " Ceres  came  from  feeking her  daughter  Proferpine
" over the face of the whole Earth.   She was. on her re-
" turn to Sicily, where grateful  myriads adored her. She
" traverfed the favage Gauls,  their  tracklefs mountains,
"  their dcfert valleys, and their gloomy forefts, when fhe
?<  found her progrefs flopped by the waters of Seine, her
11 own nymph, transformed into a river.
   " On the oppofite bank  of the  Seine, there happened,
f* at that time, tp be a- beautiful  boy, with flaxen hair,
'* named Lois, bathing himfelf in the ftream.   He took 
ARCADIA.
437
"  delight to Swim in the tranfparent waters,  and to run
"  about naked on the Solitary  verdant downs.  The mo-
"  ment that he perceived a  female, he flew to hide  him-
"  felf amidft a tuft of reeds.
   "  My lovely child ! cried Ceres to him,  with a Sigh ;
M  come to me, my lovely child ! On hearing the voice of
"  a woman in diftrefs,  Lois  left  his retreat  among the
" reeds.   He  puts  on,  with blufhes, his robe of lamb's
">  fkin,  which was  fufpended  on a willow.   He croffes
"  the Seine on a bank of Sand, and preSenting his  hand
"  to Ceres; Shews her a path through the midft of the wa-
"  ters.
   "  Ceres having paffed the river,  gives the  boy Lois a
"  cake, a fheaf of corn, and a kifs ;  fhe then informs him
"  how bread was made from the corn, and how corn grows
"  in  the fields.  Thanks,  beauteous ftranger, returned
"  Lois ; I will carry to my mother thy leffons,  and thy
"  welcome prefents.
  "  The mother of Lois divides with her child and huf-
"  band  the cake and  the kifs.  The enraptured father
"  cultivates a field, and fows  the grain.  By  and by the
"  Earth is clothed with a golden harveft, and a report is
"  diffufed over the  Gauls,  that a Goddefs  had prefented
*'  a celeftial plant to their fortunate inhabitants.
   "  Near to that place lived a Druid.  He was entrufted
"  with the infpeftion of the forefts.  He meafured out to
"  the Gauls,  for food,  beech  mall, and acorns from the
"  oak.   When  he beheld  a  field  cultivated, and a rich
"  harveft : What becomes of  my power, fays he, if men
"  learn to live on corn  ?
   "  He calls Lois.   My  pretty little  friend, fays  he to
"  him,  where wert thou when thou beheldeft  the ftrang-
"  er, who gave thee the fine ears of corn.  Lois, appre-
"" hending no evil, condufts him to the banks of the Seine.
"  I was, fays he, under  that filver leaved willow ; I was
"  running about over thofe fnowy daifies :  I  flew to hide
\\  myfelf under thefe reeds, becaufe I  was naked.   The 
4^8        STUDIU  O'  «ATURI.

*'  treacherous Druid fmiled : He Seizes Lois, and plunges
"  him into the depths of the ftream.
   "  The mother of Zois Saw her beloved child no more.
"  She wanders through the woods,  calling aloud, Lots !
"  Where art thou  ?  my darling child, Lois !  The echoes
"  alone repeat, Lois, my darling child, Lois!  She  runs
"  like one diftrafted along the banks of the Seine.   She
"  perceives  Something white by  the edge  of  th? water:
"  He cannot be far off,  faid fhe ;  there are  his beloved
"  flowers, there are  his fnowy daifies.  Alas!  it was Lois,
 " her darling child,  Lois !
   "  She weeps, fhe  groans,  fhe fighs; ihe takes up in her
"" trembling arms  the clay cold body of Lot's ; fhe fond-
 " ly tries to reanimate him in  her bofom  ; but the  heart
" of the mother has  no longer the power of communicat-
" ing warmth to the body of the fon ;  and the clay cold
•*' body of the fon is already freezing the heart of a moth-
 " er : She is  on  the point of expiring.   The Druid,
 4t mounted on an adjoining rock, exults in his vengeance.
   "  The Gods do  not  always appear at the cry of the
 " miferable ; but the voice of a forlorn mother attrafted
 *' the attention of Ceres.  The Goddefs appeared.  Lois,
 •" fays fhe,  be thou the moft beautiful flower of the Gauls.
 *' Immediately the pale  checks of Lois  expanded into a
 " calix more white than the fnow : His flaxen hairs were
 " transformed  into filaments of gold, the fweeteft of per-
 " fumes exhales  from it.  Its  limber  ftem  rifes toward
 " Heaven,  but its  head ftill droops on the banks of the
  " river which he loved.  Lois is changed into a lily.
    " The Prieft of Pluto beholds this  prodigy unmoved.
  "• lie raifes to the  fuperior Gods,  an inflamed counte-
 ** nance, and eyes  fparkling with rage.  He blafphemes*
  " he threatens Ceres .♦  He was going to affault her with
  " an impious hand ; when She cries to him aloud : Gloomy
  *' and cruel tyrant, R.emain.
    " At the voice oS the Goddefs, he becomes immovea-
  *' hie.   But the rock  feels  the powerful  command ; it 
ARCADIA.
m
" opens into a cleft ; the legs of the Druid fink into it ;
" his viSage, bearded all over, and empurpled with rage,
" riSes toward Heaven  in divergent  crimSon radiations,
" and the garment which covered his murderous arms, is'
*'* briflled into prickles.   The Druid is transSormed into
" a thiftle.
   " Thou, Said the GoddeSs of the Harvefts, who wouldft
" perfevere in  feeding  men  like beafts, become  thyfelf
" food for animals.   Continue to be the enemy of the
" harvefts after thy death, as thou wert during thy life.
" As for thee, beautiful flower of Lois, be thou the orna-
   ment of the Seine, and  may  thy viftorious flower, in
" the hand  of  her  Kings, one day prevail triumphantly
" over the miftletoe of the Druids.
   " Gallant followers of Carnut,  come and dwell in my
" city.  The flower of Lois- perfumes my gardens ;  the
" virgins,  night  and day,  chant his  adventure  in  my
" plains.  Every one there engages in  eafy and cheerful
" labour :  And my granaries, beloved by Ceres, overflow
" with piles of grain."
   Scarcely had Bardus  finifhed  his fong, when the war-
riors of the North, who  were perifhing with hunger, aban-
doned the fon of Tendal, and fixed their refidence  in Lu-
tetia.  This good King Srequently Said to me,  " Ah !
" why have I not here Some illuftrious  bard of Greece,
" or of Egypt, to polifh the minds of my fubjefts ? Noth-
" ing tends  fo much to humanize the heart, as  the melo-
" dy of fweet Songs.  With the  capacity of compofing
" fine verSes, and ingenious fiftlons, there is no need of a
" Sceptre to maintain authority."
   He  carried Cephas and  me to vifit the Spot where he
had planted the  trees and the grains recovered from our
Shipwreck.   It was on the declivity of a hill expofed to
the South.   I was transported with delight, when I Saw*
the trees which  we had imported, replenifhed with juices
and v'gor.   I firft diftinguifhed the quince tree of Crete,
firom its cottony  and fragrant fruit; the walnut  tree oi 
440         STUDIES  OF  MATURE.

Jupiter, of a gloffy green ;  the filbert ; the fig tree ;  lire*
poplar ; the pear tree of Mount Ida, with its pyramidicai
fruit.  All thefe  trees were  from the Ifland  of Crete.
There were befides the vines of Thafos, and young cheft-
nut trees of the Ifland of Sardinia.   I faw a vaft countrv
within the compafs  of a fmall  garden.   Among thofe
plants appeared fome which were my compatriots, Such
as the hemp  and  the flax.  TheSe were the  vegetables
which pleaSed the King moft, becauSe of their utility.  He
had admired the fluffs into which they are  manufactured
in Egypt, more durable and more pliant than the fkins in
which moft  of the Gauls are habited.   The King took
delight  in  watering  thofe plants v/ith his own  hand, and
in clearing them of weeds.  Already the hemp, of a beau-
tiful green, carried all its heads  equal to the ftature of a
Man, and the flax, in bloffom, clothed the ground with a
fhade of azure.
   While Cephas and I were inwardly  exulting in the re-
fieftion of having done good, information was received
that the Britons, elated with their recent fuccefs, not con-
tent to  difpute with  the Gauls  the empire of  the  Sea
which Separates them,  were preparing to attack them by
land, and to Sail up the Seine,  with an intention to carry
fteel and flame into the very boSom of the Country. They
had  taken  their departure  in boats innumerable, from a
promontory of their  ifland, feparated from  the Continent
by only a narrow  ftrait.   They coafted along the fhore of
the Gauls, and were ready to enter the Seine, the dangers
of which they knew  how to   avoid,  by  running into the
creeks, which are fheltered from  the rage of Neptune.
The intended invafion of the Britons was noifed abroad over
all the Gauls, from the  moment  that they began to put it
into execution ; for the Gauls kindle fires  on  the moun-
tains, and by the number of thefe fires, and the thicknefs
of their fmoke, convey intelligence much more promptly
than by the flight of a bird. 
ARCADIA;
44*
  Ori receiving news that the Britons had embarked,  the
ton federated troops of the Gauls began to march to  de-
fend the mouth of the Seine.   They  were ranged under
the ftandards of their Several Chieftains : Thefe eon Sifted
of the ikins of the wolf, the bear, the vulture, the eagle,
or of fome other mifchievous animal, fufpended at the ex-
tremity of a long pole.  That of King Bardus, and ot his
ifland, prefented  the figure of a fhip, the fymbol ot com-
merce.   Cephas and  I  accompanied  the-King on this ex-
pedition.  In a few days, all the united torce ot the Gauls
was  col left ed on the  thore of the Sea.
   Three opinions were ftartcd, refpcfting the mode of de-
fence.   The firft was, to drive piles  along  the coaft, to
prevent  the debarkation of the Britons ; a plan ot eafy
execution, confidering that our numbers were inconceiva-
ble, and  the forefts  at hand.  The  fecond was, to give
them  battle the  moment that  they  landed.  The third,
not  to expofe the troops to the open attack of the advanc-
ing  enemy, but  to  affault them when landed, and after
they were entangled  in  the woods and valleys.   No one
of thefe opinions  was followed up ; for difcord prevailed
among the Chieftains of Gaul.   Every one was for c*.;-
inanding, while no  one was  difpofed to obey.  While
the)- were wafting time in deliberation, the enemy appear-
ed, arid  difembarked, while we were fettling the arrange-
ment of our plan.
   But for Cephas, we  had been undone.  Before the ar-
rival of the Britons, he had  advifed King Bardus to di-
vide his  force into two, compofed  of  the inhabitants of
Lutetia,  to place himSelf in ambufh, with the better part,
in  the woods which  covered the  oppofite fide of  the
Mountain of  Heva ; while Cephas himfelf fhould engage
the  enemy with the other party, joined to the reft ot  the
Gauls.  I entreated  Cephas to detach  from  his divifion,
the  young Soldiers, who panted,  like myfelf,  to  come to
cloSe aftion,  and to entruft me with the command.  I
have no  fear of danger, faid I.   Through all  the proofs
   VOL. III.              1  I I 
 442         ST'UDIES  <§ T   NATURE.

 which the Priefts of Thebes prefcribe to the initiated, I
 paffed, and knew not what Sear was.  Cephas  hefitated a
 few moments.   At  laft  he committed the yonng men of
 his divifion to my charge, recommending to them, as well
 as to me, not to Separate  too far Srom the main body.
   The enemy, meanwhile, had made good their landing.
 At fight of this, many of  the Gauls advanced to  attack
 them, rending the air with loud cries ;  but as they  charg-
 ed in fmall parties, they were eafily repulfed ;  and it
 would have been impoffible to rally a fingle man oS them,
 bad not our rear afforded them arfopportuaity of recover-
 ing from their- confufion.  We prefently perceived the
 Britons in full march to attack us, The youthful band
 which I commanded was inftantly in motion, and advanc-
 ed toward the Britons, unconcerned whether we were fup-
 ported by the reft of the Gallic force or not.   When we
 got within bow fhot, we  faw  that the enemy formed only
 one  fingle column, long, broad, and cloSely embattled, ad-
 vancing Slowly upon us,  while their barks were Sorcing
 their way up the river, to get upon our  rear.   I was ftag-
 gered, I conSeSs,  at  fight of that  multitude of  half na-
 V.C-\ barbarians, painted with red and blue, marching along.
 in profound filence, and with the moft perfeft order.  But
 when all at once there iffued, from their noifelefs phalanx,
 clouds of darts, of arrows, of pebbles,  and  leaden  balls,
 which brought down many of us, piercing fome through
 and through, my furviving companions betook themfelves-
 to flight.  1 myfelf was  going to forget  that it  was my
 duty to fet them an example of re folution, when I beheld
 Cephas by my fide ; he was followed by the whole army.
 "  Let us invoke Hercules,"  cried he,  "and  advance to
 "  the charge."  The prefence of my  friend  reanimated
all my courage.  I refumed my ftation, and we made the
attack with our pikes levelled.   The firft  enemy whom I
encountered, was a native of the Hebrides, a  man of gv-
gantic ftature. The afpeft of his arms  infpired horror :
His- head-and fhoulders were clad in the fkin of a prickly 
ARCADIA,                 ^
ihornback ;  he wore around his neck a collar of human
jaw bones, and he bore for a lance, the trunk of  a young
fir, armed with the tooth of a whale.  " What demandeft
" thou of Hercules ?"  faid he to me ; " here he is to at-
" tend thee."  At the fame time, he aimed at me a ftroke
of his enormous lance, with fo much fury, that  if it had
hit the mark,  I muft have been nailed by it to the ground,
which it  penetrated to a  great depth.  While he was
ftruggling  to difengage  it, I  pierced  him  through  the
throat with the fpear which was  in'my hand : There im-
mediately iffued from the  wound a ftream of black and
thick blood ;  and down fell the Stately Briton, biting  the
aground, and blafpheming the Gods.
   Meanwhile our troops, collected into one firm body,
were  clofely  engaged  with the column of the enemy.
Clubs clafhed with clubs, buckler  preffed on buck-
ler,  lance  croffed lance.   Thus two fierce  bulls difpute
the empire of the meadows : Their horns entwine ; their
 foreheads rattle againft each other: Bellowing, they prefs
in oppofite direftions.; and whether they  gain or loSe
.ground, neither Separates from his rival.  Thus  we main-
tained the combat, body to body.   Neverthelefs, that col-
 umn, which exceeded us in numbers, was bearing us down
with Superior force, when King Bardus came up, and affault-
 ed their rear with his troops, who came into  action with a
.fhout which rended the air.  Upon this a panic terror Seiz-
ed thefe barbarians, who had been flufhed with the hope of
 furrounding us, but were themSelves Surrounded.  They
 deSerted their ranks in conSufion, and fled toward the fhore
 of the Sea, in  the hope  of regaining their  barks, which
 had now confiderably  advanced  up the ftream.  A dread-
ful carnage enfued, and many prifoners were taken.
   The combat being finifhed, I faid to Gephas, The Gauls
 are indebted for their  viftory, to  the counfel which you
 gave the King ;  Sor my part, to you I owe the preserva-
 tion  of my  honour.   I had  Solicited a poft which 1 knew
 ,aot  how to fill i I ought to have exhibited an example of 
444        STUDIES  OF   NATURE,

valour to thoSe who were under my command ; but was
incapable of  doing  it, when  your prefence rekindled a
fenfe of duty.   I imagined that the initiations of  Egypt
had fortified me againft all apprehenfion oS danger ; but
it is eaSy to be brave amidft conflicts, out ot  which you
are Sure of efcaping.   Cephas thus replied :  " O  Ama-
" /is ! there is  more fortitude in confeffing  a  fault, than
" there is weaknefs  in committing it.   It is Hercules who
" has given us the viftory ; but, aSter him, it  was Sur-
" priSe which robbed our enemies of courage, and which
■' had  fhaken your's.   Military valour,  like every other
" virtue, is to be  acquired only by exercife.   We  ought,
" Oh all occafions, to be  diffident of ourfelves.  In vain
" do we truft to our own experience ; in  the aid of Heav-
" en alone  our confidence fhould be placed.  While we
" are buckling on our armourxto defend us before, for-
" tune ftrikes  at us  from behind.  Confidence  in  the
" Gods alone, is a defence on every fide."
  To Hercules we confecrated  part of  the Spoils  taken
from the Britons.   The Druids adviSed to burn the pris-
oners,  becauSe the Britons were inuSe to  treat thoSe whom
thev took in battle from the Gauls in this manner.   But
1 prefented mySelf in the  affembly of the Gauls, and thus
addreffed them  : " O ye Nations ! you fee  from my ex-
" ample, whether the Gods delight in  human facrifices.
" They have depofitedthe viftory in your generous hands :
" Will you flain them with the blood of the  miferable ?
" Has there not enough of blood been fhed in the rage of
" battle ?  Can you now  fpill  it, without paffion, and in
" the joy of triumph ?  Your enemies immolate their prif-
" oners.  SurpaSs them in generofity, as you SurpaSs them
" in courage." The larles, and all the warriors, received this
advice with  loud appiauSe ;  And it was decreed that the
prifoners of war fhould be difarnird,and reduced to flavery.
  1 was the cauSe, therefore, of the abolition  of the Law
which condemned them to the flames.   I  likewife prov-
ed the  occafion of abrogating the cuftom of Sacrificing  in- 
ARCADIA.
445
noeents to Mars, and of reducing the fhipwrecked to fer-
vitude.   Thus  was  I  thrice  ufeful to Mankind  in the
Gauls  ;  once  by my  fuccefs, and twice by my misfor-
tunes :  So true it is  that the Gods can, when the)' pleafe,
bring good out of evil.
  We returned to Lutetia, loaded with the acclamations
and applaufe of the People.   The  firit anxiety expreffed
by the King, on  his  arrival,  was to carry us with him to
vifit his garden.   The greateft part of our trees were in
great forwardnefs.   He  admired,  firft,  how Nature had
preferved their fruits from the attack of  the birds.  The
cheftnut, ftill in a milky ftate, was covered with leather,
and with a prickly fhell.  The tender walnut was proteft-
ed by a hard fhell, and a bitter outward cafe.  The Soft
fruits were defended, previous to their  maturity, by their
roughnefs, their  acidity, or their verdure.   Thofe which
were ripe invited the hand to gather them,   The gold col-
oured apricot, the velvet peach, and the cottony quince, ex-
haled the fweeteft of perfumes. The boughsof the plum tree
were covered with violet coloured fruits, befprinkled with
a white powder.   The grapes, already of a vermillion hue,
hung in clufters from the vine ; and over the broad leaves
of the fig tree, the half  opened fig diftilled its juice in
drops ot honey and cryftal.   " It is eafy to See," Said the
Kintr, " that thefe fruits  are prefent*  Sent  Srom Heaven.
"  They are  not, like the Seeds of our foreft trees, at a height
"  which we cannot reach (21).   They prefent themfelves
"  to the hand.   Their  Smiling colours  allure the eye,
fl  their Sweet perSumes the organs of  Smelling, and they
"  Seem  formed  for  the mouth, from  their  fize  and
'*  roundnefs."  But  when that good king had caught the
flavour  of them by his palate, " O real gift of Jupiter !"
exclaimed he,  " no aliment prepared  by  human  Skill  is
"  once to   be compared  to them J They  excel in Sweet-
"  neSs the honey and  the  cream.  O, my  dear Sriends,
('  my much refpefted guefts, you have beftowed on me a
*■'  preSent of much higher value than my kingdom ! You 
 4^6        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

 " hare introduced into favage Gaul a portion  of delicious
 " Egypt.  I prefer a fingle one of thefe trees to all the
 *' mines of tin which render the Britons  fo  rich and  fo
 :' haughty."
   He fent for the principal inhabitants of the  city, and
 made each of them title thofe wondrous fruits.   He rec-
 ommended to them caret Lilly to prefcrve the feeds, and  to
 put them in the ground at the proper SeaSon.  From the joy
 expreffed by this excellent Prince, and by his People, I was
 made SenSible that Man's higheft delight confifts in doing
 good to his Sellow creatures.
   Cephas Said to me, " Now is the time  to  fhew to my
 *' compatriots the uSe of the Arts  of Egypt.   I  have fav-
 " ed from the fhipwrecked veffel  the  greateft part of our
 " machines; but hitherto they have remained unemploy-
 " ed; nay, I durft not fo much as look at them ; for they
 ** reminded me too affeftingly of the  lofs of  yo-    The
 *' moment is come for turning them  to account.  Thofe
 *' fields of corn are now ripe.; that hemp,  and thofe flax-
"*' es, are haftening to be fo."
   Having gathered thofe plants, we taught  the King, and
 his People,  the ufe of mills, for  reducing corn to  flour,
and the different proceffes of  preparing dough, in  order
to make bread of it (22).  Previous  to our  arrival, the
-Gauls peeled wheat, oats,  and barley, by pounding them
 with  wooden mallets  in the trunk of a tree hollowed out,
and Satisfied themSelves with boiling the grain  in this ftate
for Seed.  We  afterwards Shewed them  the method  oS
 £:■.■.'■- : 'ismp in water, to Separate the filaments from the
 flraw, of drying it, of  beating it, of dreffing it, of fpinning
 it, and of twifting feveral  threads together, for  the pur-
 pofe of making  cordage.   We made  them obferve how*
 thofe cords, by their ftrength and  pliancy,  are adapfced  to
 act as the nerves of  every fpecies of machinery.  We
 taught them the art of diftending the  threads  of flax  on
 looms, to weave into cloth by means of the fhuule ; and
 fcow thefe gentle and ufeful  labours  might  employ the 
A R C A D I A.
4-4-7
 young people, innocently and agreeably, during the long
 nights oS Winter.
    We inftrufted  them in the uSe of the auger, of the gim-
 let, of the plane,  and of the Saw, invented by the ingeni-
 ous Dedalus ; as  thefe tools furnifh Man with addition-
 al hands, and fafhion to  his  ufe a multitude of trees, the-
 timber of which would have gone  to wafte in the forefts.
 We taught them to extract from their knotty trunk pow-
 erful Screws,  and ponderous preffes, fit for Squeezing out
 the juice of an infinite number of fruits, and for forcing.
 oils out of the hardeft nuts.   They  did not gather many
 grapes from our vines ; but we infpired them with an ar-
 dent defire of multiplying, the flips,  not only by the ex-
 cellence of the fruit from the bough, but by letting them
 tafte the wines of  Crete, and  of the Ifle of Thafos,  which
 we had preferved  in urns.
   After having difclofed to them the uSe of an infinity of
 benefits,  which Nature has pjaced on the face of the Earth,
 obvious to the eye of Man, we aided  them in discovering'
 thofe which fhe has depofited under their feet ; how wa-
 ter may be found  in places the  moft  remote  from rivers,
 by means of wells  invented by Dandus ; in what manner
 metals are'difcovered, though buried in the bowels of the
 Earth ; how, after having them melted into  bars, they
 could lie hammered upon the anvil, to  prepare them for
 being divided into tablets and plates;  in what manner, by
 a procefs  the moft Simple, clay  may be Safliioned,  on the
 potter's wheel, into figures and vaSes oS every Sorm.  We
 SurpriSed  them much more, by Shewing them bottles  of
 glafs, made with Sand and flint.  They were delighted to
 ecftaSy, to See the liquor which they contained maniSeft to
 the eye, but Secured Srom the touch.
   But when we read to  them the books  of Mercurius
 Tnfmegjjlus, which treat  of the  liberal  Arts, and of the
natural Sciences, then it was that their admiration exceed-
ed all bounds.   At firft they  were incapable of compre-
hending, how Speech could iffue from a dumb  book, and. 
448        STUDIES OF  NATURE.
how the thoughts of the earlieft Egyptians could poffibly
have been tranfmitted to them, on the frail leaves of  the
papyrus.  When they afterwards heard the recital of our
discoveries ; when  they Saw the prodigies effected by the1
mechanical powers, which  move the heavieft bodies by
means of fmall levers,  and thoSe of Geometry, which can
meafure diftances the moft inacceffible,  they  became per-
fectly tranfported.   The wonders of chymiflry and of
magic, and the various phenomena of phyfics hurried them
from rapture to rapture.   But when we predicted to them
an eclipfe of the Moon,  which, prior to our arrival, thev
confidered is an accidental failure of that planet, and when
they faw,  at the very  moment which wc had  indicated,
the orb  of night become dark  in the midft of  a Serene
Sky,  they Sell  at our  feet, Saying, " Affuredly, ye  are
"  Gods !"
   Omfi, that young Druid who had difcovered  So much
fenfibility to my affliftions, attended all our leffons of in-
ftruftion.  " From  your intelligence," faid he to us, " and
'*■  Srom  your  beneficence, 1 am  tempted to  believe you
"  Some oS the Superior Gods ; but from the ills which
"  you have  endured,  I perceive  that you are only men
"  like ourfelves.   You muft, undoubtedly, have contriv-
"  ed the means of  climbing up into  Heaven ;  or the in*
"  habitants of the  celeftial  regions fnuft have  defcended
"  into highly  favoured Egypt, to communicate to you fo
"  many benefits, and  So  much illumination.   Your Arts
"  and Sciences SurpaSs our underftanding, and can be the
"  effefts only of a  power divine.  You  are the darling
"  children of  the fuperior Gods : As Sor us,  we are aban-
"  doned oS Jupiter to the infernal deities.  Our country
"  is covered with unproductive forefts, inhabited by  ma-
"  Ieficent genii, who  diffeminate" through the whole of
"  our exiftence, difcord, civil broils, terrors, ignorance,
"  and mifchievous opinions.  Our lot is a thouSand times
"  more deplorable than that of the beafts, which,  clothed,
"  lodged, and  fed by the hand of  Nature, follow undevu 
A R C A D I Aj
449
" atingly  their inftincf,  without being tormented by th*
" Sears of Hell."
  "  The Gods,"  replied  Cephas,  " have not been unjuft
" to any Country,  nor to any one individual.  Every
" Country poffeffes bleffings peculiar to itSelf, and which
*' Serve to keep up a communication among all Nations,
" by a reciprocal interchange of commodities. Gaul con-
" tains the  metals  which  Egypt wants ; her forefts are
" more beautiful  ; her cattle yield milk in greater abun-
" dance ; and, the fleeces of her fbeep are greater in quan-
" tity, and give a finer wool.   But wherefoever the hab-
" itation of Man  is fixed, his  portion is always far fupe-
" rior to that oS the beafts, becauSe he is endowed with  a
" reaSon which expands  in proportion to the  obftacles
" which it Surmounts, and becauSe he alone of animals is
" capable of applying to his own ufe' means which noth-
" ing can refift, Such as fire.  Thus, Jupiter has beftow-
*' ed upon him empire over the Earth, by  illuminating
" his reaSon with the intelligence  of Nature herfelf, and
" by confiding to him alone that element which is her
'' prime moving principle."
  Cephas afterwards talked to Omfi, and to the  Gauls, of
the rewards prepared, in the World  to  come, for virtue
and beneficence, and the  punifhments laid up in ftore for
vice and tyranny  ; of the metempfychofis, and  the other
myfteries oS the religion of Egypt, as  far as a flranger is
permitted to be inftrufted in them.   The  Gauls, confol-
ed by his DiScourSe, and enriched by our prefents, called
us their benefaftors, their fathers,  the true interpreters qf
the Gods.   I ing Bardus  thus  addreffed us :  " I  will
" adore Jupiter alone.   As Jupiter loves Mankind, he
" muft afford particular protection  to Kings,  to whom
" the  felicity of whole  Nations is  entrufted.   I  will
" likewife pay homage  to Jfis, who has brought down
" his  benefits to the Earth, that She  may prefent the
" vows of my People to the Sovereign of the Gods." At
the fame time, he gave orders to rear a temple to Lfis (23),
  VOL. Ill,           K  K  K 
45*
STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
jK  fome  diftance from  the  city, in the  midft  of the*
"foreft ; to ereft her ftatue in it, with the infant  Orus in
 her arms, fuch as we had brought it with us in our veffel;
 to  honour her with all the facred ceremonies  of  Egypt ;
 and that herpriefteffes, clothed in linen, fhould night and
 day adore her with fongs, and by a lite of purity, which
 exalts Man to the Gods.
   He afterwards  expreffed a wifh to be inftrufted  in read-
ing and tracing  the Ionic characters.   He was fo ftruck
 with the utility of letters,  that, tranfported with  delight,
 he  fung the following ftrains.
   "  Behold the  magic  charafters  which  have power to
 " recal the dead  from the dark receffes of the tomb. They
 " inform us what our  fathers  thought  a  thoufand  years
 " ago ; and a thoufand years  hence, they will be inftruft-
 " rng our children what we think at this  day.  There is
 " no arrow  that  flies fo far, neither is there any lance fo
 " ftrong.  They can reach a man though entrenched on
 " the Summit  ot a mountain ; they penetrate into  the
 " head though fortified with  the helmet, and force their
 " way to the heart in defiance of the cuirafs.  They calm
 " feditions, thev  adminifter fage counfels,  they conciliate
 " affeftion,  they comfort, they  ftrengthen ; but in ths
 " hands of a wicked man, the)' produce quite an oppofite
 " effeft."
  " My fon," faid this-good King to ine,  one day, " Are
 " the moons of  thy country more beautiful than ours ?
 " Haft thou remaining in Egypt any  objeft of  regret-?
 " Thou haft brought to us from thence all the beft of hu-
 " man  bleffings :- Plants, arts and Sciences.  All  Egypt
 " ought to be  here for thy  fake.  Continue to live with
 " us.   After my  death thou fhalt reign over the Gauls.
  I have  no child,  except an  only daughter named Go-
 " tha :  To thee  I will  give  her in marriage.  A whole
 " People, believe me, is of more value than one  family,
 " and a good wife than  the land of one's nativity.  Go-
 " t.ha's  refidence  is in  that  ifland  below, the trees   cf 
ARC A D I A.                J£Q\
" which are vifible Srom  this Spot ;  for it  is proper that
" a young  woman fhould be  brought up remote  from
" men, and efpecially at a diftance  from the Courts of
" Kings."
  The defire of making a Nation happy fufpended in me
the love of  Country.   I confulted CepJias on the fubject,
who adopted the views  of  the King.  I  befought that
Prince, therefore, to permit  me to  be condufted to the
place of his daughter's  habitation, that,  in conformity to
the cuflom of the Egyptians, I might endeavour to ren-
der myfelf  agreeable to the perfon who was one day to be
the partner of my pains and of my pleafures.  The King
gave orders to an aged female, who came every day to the
palace for provifions for Gotha, to conduft me to  her pref-
ence.  The ancient lady made me embark with her in  £
barge loaded with neceffaries ; and committing ourfelves
to  the  courfe of the ftream,  we landed,  in a very little
while, on the ifland where  the daughter of King Bardus
refided.  This ifland was called the Ifle of Swans, becaufe
the birds of that name reforted thither in the Spring,  to
make their nefts among the reeds that .fur-round its fliores,
and which, at all feafons, fed  on  the anferina potentilla
(24) produced there in great abundance.   On our  land-
ing, we perceived the Princefs feated  under a  clump  of
alder trees, in the midft of a  down, yellowed all over with
the flowers of the anferina.  She was encompaffed with
ftvans, which fhe called to her, by fcattering among them
the  grains of oats.  Though fhe was under the fhade of
the trees, fhe'furpaJTed thofe birds in  whiteneSs, from the
purity of her complexion, and the fairnefs of her ermine
robe.   Her hair was of the moft beautiful  black ; and fhe
 wore it encircled, as well as her robe, with a red colour-
 ed ribband.  Two women, who attended her at  fome dif-
 tance,  advanced  to meet us.  The  one  tied our barge to
 the branches of a willow ;  and the  other,  taking me  by
 the hand, prefented me to her miftrefs.  The young Prin-
 ejefs made  mc fit down by  her on the grafs ; after  which 
45*        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

fhe invited me to partake with her of  fome flour of mil-
let boiled, of a duck roafted on the bark of the birch tree,
with goat milk in the horn of an elk.  She then waited,
in modeft filence, till I fhould explain to her the intention
of my vifit.
  Having tafled, in compliance with the cuftom, the dirti-
es prefented to me,  I addreffed her thus :  " O beautiful
"  Gotha, I afpire to the honour of being fon in law to the
"  King, your father, and I vifit you with his confent,  to
"  know whether my fuit will be agreeable to you ?"
  The daughter of  King Bardus, with downcaft  looks,
replied, " Q ftranger ! I  have been demanded in mar-
" riage by many larles, who are, from day to day, making
"  my father magnificent prefents, in the hope of obtaining
*  my hand  ; but  no one of them poffeffes  my  affection,
"  Fighting  is  the  only art which they underftand.  As
"  for thee,  I believe, if thou becomeft my  hufband, thou
"  wilt make my happinefs thy ftudy,  fince  thou already
"  haft devoted thyfelf to the happinefs of my People.
"  Thou  wilt inftruft me in the arts of Egypt, and I fhall
"  become like  unto the good Ifis of  thy Country, whofe
"  name is mentioned with fuch profound refpect all over
"  Gaul."
   After ffie had thus Spoken,  fhe attentively confidered
the  different parts of my  habit, admired the finenefs of
their texture,  and  made her women  examine them, who
lifted up their eyes to  Heaven in aftonifhment.  After a
fhort paufe, looking at me, fhe thus proceeded:  " Though
"  thou Cornell from a Country  replenished with every
" Species of wealth, and every production  of ingenuity,
"  do not imagine that I am in want of any thing, and that
"  I myfelf am  deftitute of intelligence.  My  father has
"  trained me up in the love of labour, and he caufes me
"  to live in the greateft abundance of all things."
   At  the fame time fhe introduced  me into her palace,
where  twenty of her women were employed in  plucking
river fowls, to make, for her, ornaments and robes of their 
                    ARCADIA.                453

plumage.   She Shewed me bafkets and mats of very deli-
cate rufhes, woven by her own hand ; veffels of fine pew-
ter in great quantities ;  a hundred fkins of wolves, mar-
tens, and foxes, with twenty bear fkins.   " All this treaf-
"  ure," faid fhe to me, " fhall be thine,  if thou efpoufeft
"  me ; but  upon  thefe  conditions, that thou takeft no
"  other wife but me;  that thou fhalt not oblige me to la-
"  bour the ground, nor to go in queft of the fkins of the
"  deer and of  the buffaloes which thou  muyeft  kill  in
"  hunting in the forefts ; for fuch talks are impofed by
"  hufbands on  their wives, m theSe countries, but which I
"  do  not at all  like ;  and that, if at length thou becomeft
"  tired of living with me, thou fhalt replace me in this
"  ifle, whither  thou haft come to woo me, and where my
"  pleafure confifts in  feeding the fwans, and in chanting
"  the praifes of Seine, the nymph of Ceres."
   I fmiled within myfelf at the fimplicity of the daughter
of King Bardus,  and at fight of what fhe  denominated
treafure ;  but as the true riches of a wife confift, in the
love of induftry,  candor, franknefs, gentlenefs, and that
there  is no dowry once to be compared to thefe virtues, I
replied to her,  " O beautiful Gotha, marriage among the
"  Egyptians is  a legal union, a mutual interchange of pof-
"  Seffions, and  of Sorrows ;  thou fhalt  be dear to me as
"  the better half of myfelf'"  I then made her a prefent
of a fkein  of flax, which grew,  and was prepared in the
gardens of the King, her father.  She received it with de-
light, and faid to  me, " My friend, I will fpin this flax,
**  and have it weaved into  a robe for the day of my ef-
"  pouSals."  ShepreSented me, in her turn, with  this lit-
tle dog which you See, So covered over with hair, that his
eyes are  Scarcely diScernible.  She Said to  me,  " The
*'  name oS this dog is  Gallus ; he is deScended  from a
'•  race remarkable for their fidelity.  He will follow thee
"  wherefoc.ver  thou goeft, over the land, over the Snow,
*'  and into  the water.   He will accompany thee in the
"  chace, nay, tp the field of battle.  He will be  to thee, 
454        STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

"  at all Seafons, a faithful companion, and a fymbol of my
'*  affection."   As the day was drawing to a clofe, fhe re-
minded me that it was time to retire, defiring me, in fu-
ture, not to come down along the current of the river,
but to travel by land on the banks, till I came oppofite to
her ifland, where her women fhould be in waiting to Serry
me over, and thus conceal  our mutual felicity from jeal-
ous eyes.   I took my leave of her,  and returned to my
home, forming in my own mind, as I went on  my way, a
thoufand agreeable projefts.
   One day as  I was going to vifit her, through a path cut
out in the foreft, in compliance with the advice which fhe
had given me, I met one of the principal larles, attended
by a great number of his vaffals.  They were armed as it
they had been in a ftate of war.  For my part, I wore no
armour, like a man who was at peace with all the World,
and whofe  mind  was occupied only with the reveries of
Jove.  The Iarle advanced toward me with a haughty air,
and thus accofled me : "  What feekeft thou in this coun-
"  try of warriors, with  thefe womanifh  arts of thine ?
"  Meaneft thou to teach us how to Spin flax, and expeft-
"  eft thou  to obtain  the  beauteous  Gotha  as  thy recom-
"  penfe ?  My name is Torflan.  I  was one of the com-
*'  panions  of  Carnut.  I have been engaged in twenty
"  two battles bv fea, and  have come off victorious in thir-
"  ty fingle combats.  Thrice have I fought with Vittiking,
"  that  renowned Prince of  the North.  I  am going  to
"  carry thy hairy fcalp, and lay it at the feet of the God
"  Mars, from whom then madeft thy efcape, and to quaff
"  from thy Skull the milk of my flocks."
   After an addrefs fo brutal,  I apprehended that the bar-
barian was about  to  affuffinate me  ; but uniting magna-
nimity  to  ferociouSneSs, he took off his head piece and
cuirafs, which  were of bull's  hide, and prefenting to me
two naked  fwords, defired me to make my choice.
   It was ufelefs to think of reafonino- with a man under
the influence of jcaloufy  and madnefs.  I fecrctly invpk- 
ARCADIA.
453
ed the  aid  of  Jupiter, the  proteftor  of  ftrangers ;  and
having chofen  the  fhorter,  but  the  lighter of the  two
fwords, though  I had fcarcely  ftrength  to  wield  it, a
dreadful combat enfued,  while his vaffals furrounded us
as witneffes, expefting to  fee  the earth  reddened either
with the blood  of  their Chieftain, or with that of- their
gueft.
   My  intention  at firft was  to difarm my enemy, in the
view ot faving his life, but he  did not leave this  in  my
option.  Rage tranfported him beyond all the bounds of
prudence.  The firft blowr which he aimed at me, carried
off a huge fplinter from a  neighbouring oak.  1 fhunned
the blow,  by  trooping down my head.  This movement
redoubled his  infolence.   " Wert thou," exclaimed he,
"  to ftoop down to  hell, thou fhouldeft not efcape me."
Then,  taking his fword in  both hands, he fell furioufly
upon me ;  but Jupiter preferving my fenfes in complete
tranquillity, I parried with  the back of my fword the
Stroke  with which he was going to fell me to the ground,
and prefenting to him the point, he violently rufhed upon
it, and run himfelf through the breaft.  Two ftreams of
blood iffued at once  from the wound and from his mouth;
he fell backward, the fword  dropped from his hands, he
raifed  his eyes to Heaven, and expired.   His vaffals  im-
mediately encompafled his body, uttering  loud and horrid
cries.  But they Suffered  me  to depart without the leaft
moleftation ; for generofity  is a prominent character in
thoSe barbarians. I reared.to the city, Sadly deploring my
viftory.
   I gave an account of what had happened, to Cephas and
to the  King.   " Thofe larles," Said the King,  " give me
" much uneafineSs.  They tyrannize over my  People.
" Every profligate in the Country, on whom they can lay
if their hands, they  take care to wheedle over, in order to
" ftrengthen their party.  They Sometimes render them-
" Selves formidable even to myfelf.   But the Druids are
" ftill much more fo.  No one dares to do any thing here 
4$6        STUDIES  OF  MATURE.

"  without their eonfent.   Which way fhall I go to work
"  to enfeeble thofe two powers ? 1 imagined that by in-
"  creafing the influence of the Lirles, I fhould raife a bul-
"  wark to oppofe that of the Druids.  But the contrary
"  has taken place : The power of the Druids is increafed.
"  It appears as if there were  an underftanding between
"  them,  for the purpofe  of extending  their oppreffion
"  over the People, nay, even over my guefls.   O ftran-
"  ger," Said he  to me, " you have had but too much ex-
"  petience oS this !"  Then,  turning to Cephas,  " O my
"  friend," added he,  " you who,  in the  courfe  of your
•'  travels, have  acquired  the knowledge neceffary to the
"  government of Mankind, give fome inftruftion, on this
"  Subject, to a King, who never was beyond the limits of
"  his own Country.  Oh! how fenfible I am of the ben-
"  fit which Kings might derive from travelling."
   " I will unfold to you, O King," replied Cephas, "fome
"  part of the Policy  and Philofophy of  Egypt.   One of
"  the fundamental Laws  of Nature is, that  every thing
"  muft be governed  by  contraries.   From contraries the
"  harmony  of  the Univerfe refults.   The  fame thing
" .holds good-with refpect to that of Nations.   The pow-
"  er of arms, and that of Religion, are at variance in ev-
"  ery Country.   Thefe two powers  are neceffary to the
"  prefervation of the State.  When  the People are op-
■   preffed by their Chieftains, they flee  for refuge to the
*'  Priefts ;  and when oppreffed by their Priefts, they Seek
"  refuge in the Chieftains.   The power of the Druids has
"  increafed, therefore, with you, by that very increafe of
"  the power ot the larles ; for thefe two powers univer-
"  fally counterbalance each other.   If you wifh, then, to
"  diminith one of the two,  fo  far from augmenting its
"  counterpoife, as you have done, you ought, on the con-
"  trary,  to reduce it.
   " But there is a method ftill  more fimple, and more in-
"  fallible, ot diminifhing,  at once, both the powers which
■'  are fo offenu-.e to ygu.  It u, to  render your Peoples 
A R C A D t A.                  £57
  happy ; for they will no longer ramble in queft of pro-
" teftion out of yourfelf, and thefe  two powers will hi
" fpeedily annihilated, as they are indebted, for the whole
" of their influence, only to the opinion of that very  Peo-
" pie.   In this you will fucceed, by furnifhing the Gauls
:< with ample means  of fubfiftence, by  the eftablifhment
" of the arts Which fweetert human life, and eSpecially by
" honouring and encouraging  agriculture., which  is its
" main Support.  While the  People  thus  live in the en-
" joyment of abundance, the  larles"  and the  Druids  will
" find themfelves in  the fame ftate.   Whenever thefe two
" corps fhall have learned to be content with their con-
" dition, they  will no longer think of difturbing the re-
" pofe of others ;  they will no  longer  have  at their dif-
" poSal that crowd  oS miferable wretches, half flarving
" with cold and hunger,  who,  for a morfel cf bread, are
" ever ready to abet the Violence of the one, or the fu-
" perftition of the other.  The refult of this humane pol-
" icy will be, that your own power, fupported by that of
" a People whom your  exertions are rendering happy,
" muft tompletely abforb that of the  larles and of the
"  Druids.  In every Well regulated Monarchy, the pow-
" er of the King is in the People, and that of the People
"  in the King.   You will  then reduce yoUr nobility and
" the priefthood to  their natural functions.  The Iarlex
" will  defend the Nation againft foreign  invafion, ana
"  will be no longer  oppreffors  at home : And the Druids
"  will no longer govern the  Gauls  by terror ; but will
 " comfort them, and, by their fuperior illumination, and
" companionate counfels, will  affift them in bearing the
"  ills of life,  as the minifters  of every Religion ought
«'  to do.                                         /
   " By fuch  a policy it is that Egypt has attained a de-
 " gree of power, and of felicity, which renders her the
 " centre of the Nations, and that the wifdom of her prieft-
 " hood commands fo much  refpect  over  the face  of the
 •'  whole Earth.  Keep  this  maxim, therefore, conftantly
    VOL. iu.          L L L 
 458       STUDIES'  OF   NATURE.

 " in view : That every excefs of power, in a religious or
 " military corps, arifes out of the  wretchednefs of the
 " People, becaufe all power is derived from them.  There
 " is no other way of curbing that excefs, but by rendering
 " the People  happy.
   "  When once your authority fhall be completely eftab-
 " lifhed, communicate a fhare of it to Magiftrates fclefted
 " from among perfons of the moft diftinguifhed goodnefs.
 " Bend your chief attention to the education of the chil-
 " dren of the commonalty : But take care not  to entruft
 " it to the firft adventurer who may be difpofed to under-
 " take it, and ftill lefs to any  one  particular corps, fuch
 " as that of the Druids, the interefts of which are always
 " different from thofe of the State.   Confider the educa-
 " tion of the  children of your People, as the moft valua-
 " ble part of your adminiftration.  It alone can form cit-
 ' izens.  Without it the beft Laws are good for nothing.
   " While you wait for  the means  and an opportunity,
   of laying a  Solid foundation  whereon to rear the Sabric
 " of Gallic Selicity,  oppoSe Some barriers to the ills which
 " they endure.  Inftitute a variety of feftivals, to diflipate
 " their thoughts  by  the  charm of  mufic and dancing.
 " Counterbalance the united  influence of the larles and
 "  Druids, by  that of the  women.  Affift thefe in emerg-
 " ing out of  their domeftic  flavery.  Let them  affift at-
 "  the feftive meetings and affemblies, nay, at the religious
   feafts.  Their natural  gentleneSs will gradually- foften
 **  the ferocity of both manners and religion."
   "  Your obfervations," replied the King to Cephas, " are
   replete with truth, and your  maxims with wifdom.   I
   mean to profit by them.  It is my determination to ren-
   der this city illuftrious  for its induftry.  In the mean
   while,  my People  afk for nothing better than to  fing
 "  and make  merry ;  I  myfelf will compofe fongs  for
 <  their ufe.  As for the women, I am fully perfuaded that
"  their aid will be of high  importance to me.  By their
'<  means, I fhall begin the work of rendering my People 
ARC A*B 1 A.                 459
" happy ; at leaft by the influence of Manners, if I can-
" not by that of Laws."
  While this good  King  was fpeaking, we perceived on
the  oppofite  bank of  the Seine, the body of Torfian.  It
was ftripped naked, and appeared  on the grafs like a hil-
lock of fnow.  His friends and  vaffals moved Solemnly
around it, and, from time  to time, rent the air with fear-
ful  cries.  One of his kindred croffed the river in a boat,
and addreffed the King in theSe words : " Blood  calls Sor
•' blood;  the Egyptian  muft be put  to  death!"  The
King made no reply to this perSon ; but as Soon as he had
retired, accofted me in theSe words :  " Your deSence of
" yourSelf was perfeftly warrantable and legal ; but were
" this my perfonal  quarrel, I fhould be under the ncceffi-
'" ty of withdrawing from the confequences.  If you re-
"  main, you will be obliged, by the Laws, to fight, one after
"  another, with all the kindred of Torfian, who are very
"  numerous, and fooner or later  fall  you muft.   On the
"  other hand, if 1 defend  you againft them,  as I mean  to
"  do, this rifing city muft-be involved in your deftruftion ;
"  for the relations, the friends and the vaffals of Torfian,
"   will affuredly come and lay Siege to it ; and they will  be
*'  joined by multitudes of the Gauls whom the Druids,
"   irritated as they  are againft you, are already exciting  to
*'   vengeance.  Neverthelefs, be confident of this, you will
 "   here find men determined not  to abandon you,  be the
 "   danger ever fo threatening."
    He immediately iffued his orders to provide for"the Se-
 curity of the city ; and inftantly  the inhabitants were feen
 in  motion along the ramparts, refolved, to a man, to ftand
 a Siege in my deSence.   Here, they  collefted a  huge pile
 of flint  ftones ; there, they planted prodigious crofs bows,
 and long beams, armed with prongs of Iron.  Meanwhile,
 we perceived innumerable tribes of men ^marching along
 the banks of the Seine, in martial array.  They were the
 friends, the kinfmen,  the vaffals of Torfian, with their
 flaves, the partifans of the Druids, fuch as were jealous of 
46o        STUDIES.OF  NATURE.

the King's eftablifhment,  and thoSe who, Srom levity of
mind, affeft novelties.  Some floated  down the  river in
boats •• others crofted the  foreft in  lengthened  columns.
They took their  ftation as one man on the banks adjoin-
in=r to Lutetia, and their numbers furpaffed the powers of
reckoning  It was abfolutejy  impoffible 1 ever fhould
efcapfc them.   In vain  would it have been to make the
attempt under Savour of the darknefs; for as foon as night
Set in, the befiegers kindled innumerable fires, with which
the river was illumined to the very bottom oS its channel.
  Reduced to this perplexjty, I  formed in my own mind
a refolution which was well pleafing to Jupiter.  As I
no longer expefted any thing good at the hands of men, I
refolved  to throw myfelSinto the arms  of Virtue, and to
fave this  infant city, by a voluntary  furrender of myfelf
to the enemy.  Scarcely had 1 repofed  my confidence in
the Gods, when they  appeared for my deliverance.
  Omfi prefented himfelf before us,  holding in his hand
an oaken bough, on which had grown a fprig of the miS-
tletoe.   At fight of  this  little  fhrub, which had almoft
proved fo Satal  to me, I fhuddered with horror ; but I
was not aware, that we are frequently indebted for fafety
to that which menaced us  with deftruftion, as we likewife
frequently meet  deftruftion  in  what  promifed us fafety.
" O King !"  faid Omfi,  " O Cephas ! be cpmpoSed ;  I
" bear in my hand  the  means oS  Saving your  Sriend.
"  Yoang ftranger," Said he to me, " were all the Nations
" of Gaul combined againft thee, armed  with  this,  thou
" mayeft pafs through the thickeft of their hofts, while
" not one of thy numerous  foes  durft fo much as  look
" thee in the face.  It is a fprig of the miftletoe, which
" grew on this oaken branch.  Permit me to inform you
" from whence proceeds  the power of  this plant, equal-
" ly formidable to the Gods and to the men of this Coun-
" try (25).   Balder, one day, informed his mother Friga,
" that he had dreamed he was going to die.  Friga con-
V jured  the fire,  the metals, the ftones, difeafes,  the  wa- 
ARCADIA.
461
f1 ter,  animals,  Serpents,  that  they  fhould not  hurt her
tf  Son  ; and  the incantations of Friga were fo powerful.,
" that nothing could refill them.   Balder, mingled, there-
"  Sore, in  the combats of  the Gods,  undaunted amidft
'*  fhowers of arrows.   Lake, his enemy, was eagerly de-
"  firous of discovering the caufe of it.   He affumed the
"  form of an old woman,  and threw  himfelf in the way
"  of Friga.   Flights  of  arrows, and Jhcutrs  of  maffy
"  rock, faid  he to her, fall upon thy  fon Balder, but hurt
■l  him not.  J know  it well, faid Friga; all thefe things
11  /tave pledged unto  me their  oath.   Nothing in Naturt
" has  the power  of doing him harm.   This grace have I
il  obtained of every being poffeffed of power.   Of one little
" fiirub alone I afked it not, becaufe it appeared to me too
" feeble to excite apprehenfion.   It adhered to the bark of
"  an oak ; and Jcarcely had the advantage of a roof.  It
"  lived without earth.  TkenameofitisMfiletein.   Thus
"  fpake Friga.   Loke went inftantly in queft of  this  little
"  fiirub ;  and mixing  in the  hofts of the  Gods, while
"  they were engaged  in combat with the  invulnerable
"  Balder, for battles are their  fports,  he approached the
"  blind Ilozder.  Wherefore, faid he to him, levellefl thou
"  not  likewife weapons againfi Balder?  I am  blind, repli-
"  ed Hceder, neither  am I provided  with arms.   Loke
"  prefented  to  him  the miftletoe of the oak, and faid to
"  him, Balder is jufl  before thee.   The blind Hceder let
"  fly  the  fatal Shaft :  Balder falls  transfixed  and  life-
"  lefs.  Thus the  invulnerable Son  of a Goddefs was
"  flain by a twig of miftletoe, launched from the hand of
'-'  one blind.  This is the origin of  the refpect paid in the
" Gauls to  this  fiirub.
   " Compaffionate, O ftranger  ! a People  governed by^
"  terror, becaufe the voice of  reaSon is not heard among
'•'  them.  1 flattered myfelf, on thy arrival, with the hope
"  that thou wert deftined to found, and to extend her em-
"  pi're, by  introducing the  Arts of Egypt ; and that  I
y-  Should behold the accomplifhment of an ancient oracle 
46*         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.
" univerfally received among us, by which a deftiny the
" moft  Sublime is affigned to this  city ;  that its temples
" fhall  rear their heads  above the tops  of  the  forefls  ;
" that it fhall affemble, within its precinfts, the men of
" all Nations ; that the  ignorant fhould refort hither for
" inftruftion, the miferable for confolation  ;  and that
" there  the Gods fhould communicate themfelves to men,
" as in highly favoured Egypt.   But, ah,  thefe  happy
" times are ftill removed to an awful diftance."
  The King thus addreffed Cephas and myfelf :  "  O my
" friends, avail yourfelves, without a moment's delay, of
*' the fuccour which Omfi brings you."   At the fame
time he gave orders to  prepare a barge for us, provided
with excellent rowers.   He  prefented us with two afhen
half pikes, mounted with fteel  by  his own hand, and two
ingots of gold, the firft fruits of his commerce.  He next
employed fome of his confidential  fervants, to conduft us
tothe territory of  the Veneti.  "  They  are," faid he to
us,  " the beft Navigators ot all  the  Gauls.  They will
" furnifh you with the means of returning into your own
" Country, for their veffels  traffick up the Meditcrrane-
" an.   They are, befides, a People of Singular goodneSs.
" As Sor you, O my  Friends I  your names fhall be ever
" held in honour, all over the Gauls.  Cephas and Ama/ts
" Shall  be the burden of my Songs ; and fo long as  I live,
" their  names  Shall   Srequently  reSound   along theSe
" fhores."
  We accordingly took  leave of  this good King,  and of
Omfi, my deliverer.  They accompanied  us to the brink
of the Seine, diffolved into tears, as we ourfelves likewife
were.   As we paffed through the city, crowds of People
followed us, exhibiting  the  tendereft marks of  affection.
The women carried their infants aloft in  their arms, and
upon their fhoulders, difplaying to us, with tears in their
eyes,  the linen garments in  which  they were  clothed.
We bid adieu to King Bardus and Omfi, who could hard-
ly fummon  up fufficient refolution to meet the moir.cnt 
ARCADIA.                 463
of Separation.  Wie perceived them, Sor a long time, on
the moft elevated pinnacle of the city, waving their hands
in token of faying farewel.
   Scarcely  had we put off from the  ifland, when  the
friends of Torfian crowded  into  boats innumerable, and
rufhed out to attack us, with tremendous  Shouts.   But at
fight of  the hallowed Shrub which I carried in my hands,
and which I raifed into the air, they fell  proftrate on the
bottom of their barges, as if they  had  been ftruck with a
power divine ; fuch  is the power of fuperftition over
minds enflaved.  We, accordingly,  paffed through  the
midft of  them, without fuftaining  the flighteSl injury.
   We forced our way  up the river during the courfe of a
day.  After this,  having gone afhore, we  bent our courfe
toward  the  Weft,  acrofs forefts almoft impracticable.
Their foil was here  and there covered with trees, laid low
by the hand of Time.   It had throughout a carpeting of
mofs, thick  and  Spongy, into which  we  Sometimes Sunk
up to the knees.  The  roads which divide thofe Sorefts,
and which Serve as boundaries to different Nations of  the
Gauls, were fo little  Srequented,  that trees of confidera-
ble fize   had  fhot up in the  midft of them.  The tribes
which inhabited  them were  ftill  more favage than their
Country.  They  had no other temples except fome thun-
der ftruck yew tree, or an aged oak, in the  branches  of
which fome pruid had planted an  ox head with the horns.
When, in the night time, the foliage of  thofe trees was1
agitated by the Winds, and illumined by the light of  the
Moon, they  imagined  that they Saw the Spirits and  the
Gods of their forefts.  Upon this, feized with a religious-
horror,   they proftrated themfelves to  the ground, and-
adored,  with  trembling, thofe vain  phantoms of their
own  imagination-  Our guides  themfelves never durft
have  traverfed thoSe  awful regions, which religion had'
rendered formidable in  their eyes, had not  their confidence
been  Supported much more  by the  branch of miftletoe
with which I was armed, than by  all our reafonings. 
 461       STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

  Vie did not find, in the courfe of our progrefs throfcgfc
the Gauls, any appearance of  a rational  worfhip  of the
Deity, excepting that one evening, on our arrival at the
Summit  of a Snow covered mountain, we  perceived there
a fire, in the midft  of a grove of beech trees and firs.  A
mofs grown rock, hewn out in form of an alt:ir, Served as
a hearth to it.   It was furrounded with large piles of dry
wood, and  with a large affortment of bear and wolf fkins,
fufpended  on the boughs of the neighbouring trees.   In
ever)- other refpeft, there  was  not perceptible  all around
this folitude, through  the whole extent of  the Horizon;
any one trace of human habitation.   Our guides inform-
ed us, that this fpot Was conSecratcd to the God who pre-
fides  over travellers.  The word confecrated made mb
 fhudder.   "  Let us remove hence,"  Said I to Cephas.
" Every altar in the Gauls excites a thouSand  SuSpicions
" in my breaft.   I will henceforward pay homage to the
" Deity, only iri  the temples of  Egypt."  Cephas re-
plied, " Rejeft  every religion which fubjefts one  marl
"  to another man in the  name of the Divinity, were it
"  even  in  Egypt ; but in every place  where the good or
"  Man  is  ftudied, God  is acceptably worfhipped, were
"  it even  in  Gaul.  In  every place, the happinefs  of
"  Men  conftitutes the glory of God.  For  my  part, I
"  facrifice at every  altar, where the miferies of the Hu-
 "  man  Race  are  relieved."   As he faid thefe words,  he
proftratcd  himSelS, and put  up  his prayer : He  then
threw into the  fire  a  log of  fir, and  fome branches  of
the juniper tree, which perfumed the air, as  the fparks
 with a crackling noife afcended  upward.  I imitated his
example ;  after  which, we went and feated ourfelves  at
the foot of the rock, in a  place carpeted over with mofi),
 and fheltered from the North wind ; and having covered
 ourfelves  with  the fkins  which  were fufpended  on the
 trees, notwithflanding  the Severity of the cold, we paffed
 the night  in a comfortable degree of warmth.   On the re-
 turn of the morning, our guides informed us, that we had 
ARCADIA.                465
 fo march all the day  long over  Similar  heights, without
 finding wood, or fire, or  habitation.  We prefented our
 acknowledgments  a fecond time to Providence, for the
 afylum fo feafonably afforded us ; we replaced the fkins
 on the  trees, with a religious exaftneSs ;  we threw Srefh
 wood  upon the fire ; and before we proceeded on our
 way, I  engraved the  following words on the  bark of a
 beech  tree ;

             CEPHAS  and AM AS IS,
     IN  THIS  PLACE PRESENTED ADORATION
                         TO
                   THE DEITY
        WHO  PRESIDES  OVER TRAVELLERS.

   We  paffed SuCceflively through  the territories of the
 Carnutes (26), the Cenomanes,  the  Diablintes, the Re-
 dons, the CurioSolites, the inhabitants of Dariorigum, and,
 at length, \fre arrived on the Weftern extremity of Gaul,
 among the Veneti.  The Veneti are  the moft expert nav-
 igators of thofe Seas.  They have even founded a colony,
 which bears their  name,  at the  bottom  of  the Adriatic
 Gulf.   As foon ai  they Were informed  of our being the
 friends oS King Bardus, they loaded us with innumerable
 demonftrations  of  kindnefs.  They  proffered to carry us
 direftly to Egypt,  as  far as which  they  have  extended
 their commerce ; but as  they likewife trade to Greece,
 Cephas faid to me,  " Let us vifit Greece ; we fhall  there
 " find Srequent opportunities of returning into thy Coun-
 " try.   The Greeks  are  the friends  ot  the Egyptians.
 " To Egypt they are  indebted for the  moft  illuftrious of
 " the founders of their cities.  Cecrops it was  who gave
 " Laws to Athens, and Inachus  to Argos.  At Argos it
 " is that Agamemnon  reigns, whofe renown is diffufed
" over the Sace of the whole Earth.   There fhall wc be-
«• hold him crowned with glory, in the bofom of his  fam-
  VOL. III.           M M M 
466'       STUDIES-  OF  NATURE.

"  ily, and encompaffed with Kings and Heroes.   If he is
"  ftill engaged in the Siege of Troy, his fhips will eafily
"  convey us to thy Country.  Thou haft  feen  the moft
"  refined ftate  of civilization in  Egypt, and the groffeft
"  barbarifm in  the Gauls ; thou wilt find  in Greece, a
"  politenefs  and an  elegence  which will charm thee.
"  Thou wilt thus have had the fpeftacle of the  three pc-
"  riods through which moft  Nations  pafs.  In  the firft,
"  they are below Nature ; they come up to her, in the fec-
"  ond ;  and in the third,  they go beyond her."
   The views of Cephas were too  congenial with my paf-
fion Sor glory, to admit of my neglefting an opportunity
of forming an acquaintance with men fo illuftrious as  the
Greeks,  and eSpecially So renowned as Agamemnon.  I
waited with impatience for the return of a  feafon favour-
able to  navigation ;  for we had  reached the Veneti in
Winter.   We paffed that  feafon in an-mceffant round-of
feafting, conformably to the cuftom of thofe Nations.   As
foon as  Spring  returned, we prepared to embark for Ar-
gos.  Before we took our departure from the Gauls,  we
learned that our difappearing from Lutetia had  reftored
tranquillity to the States  of King Bardus ; but that his
daughter, the?beautiful Gotha, had retired,  with her wo-
men, into the Temple of Ifis, to whom fhe  had confecrat-
ed herfelf; and  that, night and day, fhe made the foreft re-
found with her  melodious fongs.
  1 fenfibly felt the mortification of this excellent Prince,
who loft his daughter from the very  circumflance of  our
arrival in his Country, an event which was one day to
crown him with immortal honour ; and I myfelf experi-
enced the truth  of the ancient maxim,  That public con-
sideration is to be acquired only at the expenSe of domef-
tic felicity.
  After  a  navigation Somewhat tedious, we paffed  the
Straits of Hercules.  I felt myfelf tranfported with joy at the
fight of the fky of Africa, which recalled to my  thoughts
the climate of my native Country.  We defevied the  lof- 
AR CADI A.                 467
•ly mountains of Mauritania, Abila, fituated in  the mouth
of the Strait of Hercules, and  thofe which are called the
Seven Brothers, becaufe they are of the fame elevation.
They are covered from their Summit, down to the very wa-
ter's edge, with palm trees loaded with dates. We difcovered
the fertile hills of Numidia, which clothe themfelves twice
a year with harvefts that rife under  the fhade of the olive
trees  ; while ftuds of  magnificent courfers, pafture at all
feafons in the evergreen valleys.  We coafted along the
fhores of Syrtis, where the delicious  fruit of the Lotos is
produced,  which, as we are told, makes ftrangers who eat
it to forget their Country.  We foon came in  fight of the
fands of Libya,  in the midft of which are fituated the en-
chanted gardens of the Hefperides ; as if Nature took de-
light in making Countries the moft unproductive to ex-
hibit a contraft  with the moft  fertile.   We heard, by
night, the roaring of tygers and lions, which came to bathe
themfelves in  the  Sea ;  and by the  dawning light  of
Aurora, we could  perceive  them  retiring  toward the
mountains.
   But the ferocity  of thofe animals  comes not up to that
of the men who inhabit that region of the Globe.   Some
 of them immolate  their children to Saturn ; others bury
their women alive in the tombs of their hufbands.  There
are fome who, on the death of their Kings, cut the throats
 of all who ferved them when alive.  Others endeavour
 to allure ftrangers  to their fhores, that they may devour
 them.  We had, one day, riearly fallen a prey  to  thofe
 abominable  men eaters ;  for while  v/e  were afhore, and
 Deaceably exchanging with them Some  tin and iron, for
 different forts of the excellent fruits  which their Country
 produces,  they had contrived an ambufh  to intercept our
 getting on board, which with no fmall difficulty we eScap-
 ed.   ASter running Such a dreadful rifk, we durft not ven-
 ture  again to  difembark on  Such  inhoSpitable fhores,
which Nature has  to no purpofe  placed under a fky So
Jerene. 
£6.8        STUDIES.OF NATURE.

  I was fo irritated at the crofs accidents of  an expedi-
tion undertaken for the fervice of Mankind, and eSpecial-
ly at this laft inftance of perfidy, that  I faid to Cephas,
" The whole Earth, I believe, Egypt excepted, is peopled
" with barbarians.  I am perfuaded that abfurd opinions,
•'* inhuman religions, and  ferocious manners,  are the nat-
" ural portion of all  Nations ; and it is, undoubtedly, the
" will of Jupiter, that they fhould be for ever abandoned
•' to thefe  ; for he has  fubdiyided them by fo many dif-
" ferent languages, that the moft beneficent of Mankind,
" fo Sar Srom having it in his power  to reform them, is
"  not capable of fo  much as making himfelf underftood
"  by them."
  Cephas thus replied : " Let us  not accufe Jupiter of the
" ills which  infeft Mankind.   The human  mind is  fo
"  contrafted, that though we  fometimes feel  ourfelves
"  much incommoded,  it  is impoffible Sor us to imagine
"  how we could mend  our  condition.   If we  remove a
" fingle one of the natural evils of which we fo bitterly
"  complain, we fhould  behold ftarting up out of its ab-
"  fence, a thouSand other  evils of much  more dangerous
"  confequence.   Nations  do not underftand each other ;
" this, you allege, is  an  evil :  But if all fpake the fame
"  language, the impoftures, the errors, the prejudices, the
" cruel opinions peculiar to each Nation, would be dif-
" fufed all over the Earth.  The general confufion which
" is  now  in the words,  would, in that cafe, be in the
" thoughts."  He pointed to a bunch of  grapes :  " Ju-
" piter," faid he, " has divided the  Human Race into
" various languages, as he has divided that clutter into
" various berries, containing a great number of feeds, that
" if one part of thefe feeds fhould become a  prey to cor-
" ruption, the other might be preferved (27).
   " Jupiter has divided  the languages of men, only for
•" this end, that they might  always be enabled to under-
'< ftand that of  Nature.  Nature univerfally  Speaks  to
ff their heart, illumines reaSon,  and diScloSes happineSs tp 
ARCADIA,                469
*' them, in a mutual commerce of kind offices.   The paf-
■" fions oS Mankind, on the contrary, as univerSally, cor-
" rupt their hearts, darken their underftanding, generate
" hatreds, wars, diScords, and Superftitions, by diSclofing
" happineSs to them only in their perSonal  intereft, and
" in the depreffion of another.
  " The divifion of  languages prevents thefe particular
" evils from becoming univerfal ;  and if they are perma-
"  nent in a Nation, it is becaufe there are ambitious corps
" who make an  advantage of them ; for error and vice
" are foreign to  Man.  It is  the office of  virtue to de-
" ftroy thofe  evils.   Were it not for vice, there would
" be little room for the exercife of virtue  on the Earth.
"  You are on your way  to vifit the Greeks.   If what is
"  faid of them be true, you will find in their manners a po-
" litenefs and an elegance which will delight you.   Noth-
" ing fhould be comparable to the virtue of their heroes,
" having paffed through the  teft of long and fevere ca-
"  lamities."
   All  I had hitherto experienced of the barbarifm of Na-
tions, flimulated  the ardor which I  felt to reach Argos,
and to fee the mighty Agamemnon happy in the midft of
his family.   By this time we defcried the Cape of Tena-
rus, and  had almoft doubled  it, when  a furious gale of
wind, blowing from the  coaft of  Africa, drove us upon
the Strophades.   We perceived the Sea breaking againft
the rocks which furround thofe Iflands.  Sometimes, as
the billows retired, we had  a view  of their cavernous
foundations :  Anon, Swelling again, the Surge covered
them, tremendoufly  roaring, with  a  vaft fheet of foam.
Neverthelefs, our mariners perfevered, in defiance of  the
tempeft, in  attempting  to make  Cape  Tenarus, when  a
violent guft of wind tore our fails to pieces.   Upon this,
we were reduced to the neceffity of flopping fhort at Sten-
iclaros.
   From  this port, we took  the road, refolving to travel
 to  Argos by land.  It was on our way to this refidence 
37©         STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

of the King of Kings, my good ftiepherd, that  we had
the good fortune to meet with you.  At prefent, we feel
an inclination to accompany you to Mount Lyceum, for
the purpofe of beholding the affembly of a People, whofe
ihepherds difplay  manners fo hoSpitable and  So polite.
As he pronounced  theSe laft words, Amafis looked at Ce-
phas, who expreffed his approbation of them by an incli-
nation of the head.
   Tirteus  faid to  Amafis, " My  Son, your  relation has
'* deeply affefted  us  ; of this you have had  a proof in
" the  tears  which we  have  fhed.   The Arcadians once
" were more miferable than the Gauls (28). We fhall nev-
" er forget the reign of Lycaon, formerly changed into a
" wolf, as  a punifhment of his cruelty.  "But this fubject
" would, circumftanced as we now are, carry us too far.
44 1 give thanks to Jupiter, for having difpofed  you, as
" well as  your friend, to pafs the approaching c*iy  with
" us on Mount Lyceum.   You will  there behold no pal-
" ace, no  imperial city ;  but ftill  lefs will you fee  Sav-
" ages and Druids : You will behold enamelled verdure,
" groves,  brooks, and  fhepherds vying with each other
" in giving  you a cordial welcome.  May  Heaven in-
" cline you to make a longer abode among us !  You
44 will meet tomorrow, at the feaft of Jupiter, multitudes
 " of men  from all parts of  Greece,  and Arcadians much
" better informed than I am, who are undoubtedly ac-
44 quainted with the city of Argos.  For my own part, I
 " frankly acknowledge, I never heard mention made ci-
 44 ther of the Siege of Troy, nor of the glory of Agamem-
 44 non, celebrated, as you tell  me, over all the Earth.  I
44 have employed  myfelf wholly in promoting the happi-
 44 nefs of my family, and that of my neighbours.  I have
 44 no knowledge except of meadows  and flocks.  I never
 44 extended  my curiofity beyond the limits of my own
  44  Country.  Your's, which  has carried  you,  fo early in
  44 life, into the heart of foreign Nations, is  vvorthv of a
 "  God, or of a King." 
ARCADIA.                 47-1
   Upon this, Tirteus turning to his daughter, Said to her,
 •' Cyanea, bring hither tfie cup of Hercules."   Cyanea im-
 mediately arofe, haftened to  fetch it, and, with a Smile,
 prefented it to her father.   Tirteus replenifhed it with
 wine ;  then, addreffing himfelf  to the two ftrangers, faid,
   Hercules, like you, my dear guefts, was a great travel-
 44 ler.  Into  this hut  he deigned  to enter ; here he re-
   poled,  while  he was  purfuing, for a year together, the
 " brazen footed  hind  of Mount Erimanthus.  Out of
 " this cup he drank :  You are  worthy of drinking from
 14 it after him.  1 ufe it only on high feftivals, and  never
 " prefent it to  any but  my friends.  No ftranger ever
 " drank  from it  before  you."   He faid,  and tendered
 the  cup to  Cephas.   It  was made of the wood of  the
 beech tree, and held a cyathus of wine.   Hercules empti-
 ed it at a fingle draught ; but Cephas, Amafis, and Tirteus,
 could hardly mafter it, by drinking twice round.
   Tirteus afterwards condufted  his guefts to an adjoining
 chamber.  It was lighted by a window, fhut by a texture
 of rufhes, through the interftices of which might be per-
 ceived, by the luftre of the Moon, in the plain  below, the
 iflands of the Alpheus.   There were in  this chamber two
 excellent  beds, with coverlets of a warm and light wool.
 Then Tirteus  took leave of his  guefts, wifhing that  Mor-
 pheus might  pour the balm of his  gentleft poppy  upon
 their eyelids.
   As foon as Amafis was left alone with Cephas, he fpake
 with tranfports of delight, of the tranquillity of this val-
 ley, of  the goodnefs of the  fhepherd, of the  fenfibility
 and the graces of his youthful daughter, to whom he had
 never Seen any  thing once to be compared, and of  the
 pleafure which he promifed  himSelf the next day, at the
 feaft of Jupiter, in beholding a whole People as happy as
 this fequeftered family.   Converfation fo delightful might
 have fwectencd  the  remainder of the night, to both  the
 one and the other, fatigued as they were with travelling,
• jihout the aid of fleep, had  they not been invited to re* 
47*          STUDIES  OF  NATURE.

pofe, by the mild light of the Moon, fhining through the
window, by the murmuring of  the wind  in the foliage of
the poplars, and by the dillant noife of the Achelous, the
fource of which precipitates itfelf, roaring, from the fum-
mit of Mount Lyceum. 
Notes.
473
  (i)  At the bottom flowed a rivulet called Achelous.  There were
in Greece feveral rivers and rivulets which bare this name. Care
muft be taken not to confound the brook, which iflued from Mount
Lyceum, with the River of that name, which defcended from Mount
Pindus. and feparated Etolia from Acarnama.  This River Ache-
lous, as the fable goes, changed himfelf into a Bull, in order to dif-
pute, with Hercules, the pofFefTron of O'eianira, daughter of Oeneui,
King  of Etolia.   But Hercules, having feized him by one of his
horns, broke it off; and the difarmed River was obliged to replace
the loft hora, by afliiming one taken  from the head of the goat
Amalthea.   The Greeks were accuftomed to veil natural truths
under ingenious fictions.  The meaning of  the fable in queftion is
this.  The Greeks  gave the name of Achelous to feveral rivers,
from  the word Ayfon, which  fignifies herd of oxen, either on ac-
count of the bellowing noife of their waters, or, rather, becaufe their
heads ufually feparated, like thofe of oxen, into horns, or branches,
which facilitate their confluence into each other, or into the Sea, as
has been obferved in the preceding Studies. Now, the  Achelous
being liable to  inundations, Hercules, the friend of Oeneus, King
of Etolia, formed a canal  for receiving the fuperflux of that river,
according to Strabo's account, which  weakened one of its ftreams,
and gave birth to the fabulous idea, that Hercules  had  broken off
one of his horns.   But as, on  the other hand, there refulted from
this canal a fource of abundant fertility to the adjacent country, the
Greeks added, that Achelous,  in place of his bull's horn, had taken
in exchange that ef the goat  Amalthea, which, as  is well known,
was the fymbol of plenty.

  (2) Memnon, in honour of ivhom a fuperb monument ivas reared
at Thebes.   Memnon, the fon of Tithonus and Aurora, was killed at
the fiege of Troy by Achilles.  A magnificent tomb was erefted to
his memory, at Thebes, in Egypt, the ruins of which ftill fubfift on
the banks of the Nile, in a place called by the Ancients, Memnonh
urn ; and in modern times, by  the Arabians, Medinet Habou ; that
is, City of the Father.  Here are ftill to be  feen coloflal fragments
of his ftatue, out of which, in  former times, harmonious founds if-
fued at the rifing of Aurora.
   VOL.  III.           N N N 
ij;|                     N O T h 5.

  I propofe to. make, in this place, fome obfervations on the fub>2r
of the found which that ftatue produced, becaufe it is particularly
interefting to the ftudy of Nature.  In the firft place, it is impoflible
to call the faft in queftion.  The Englifti Traveller Richard Pocock
who,  in  the  year  1738, vifited the remains of the Memnonium,oi
which he has given a defcription as minute as the prefent ftate c 1
things admits of, quotes, en the fubject of the marvellous effect of
Memnon's ftatue, feveral authorities of the  Ancients, of v.hich  I
here prefent an abridgment.
  Sttabo tells us, that there were in the rilemrionium., among other
coIoiTal figures, two ftatues at a fmall diftance from  each other ;
that the upper part of one of them had been thrown down, and that
there ifiued, once a  day, from its  pedeftal, a noife  fimilar to that
produced by linking upon a  h:ird body.  He himfelf heard  the
noife, having been on the lpot  with AZlius Gallus ; but he pretends
not to aftirm, whether it proceeded from the  bafis, or  from the
llatuc, or from the byftanders.
  Pliny the Naturalift, a man  more fcrupuloufly exaft than  is gen-
erally imagined, when an extraordinary faft is to  be attefted, fatis-
fies himfelf with relating the one in queftion, on  the public faith,
employing fuch terms of doubt as thefe ;  Narratur, ut putan/hdi-
cunt, of which he makes fuch frequent ufe in his Work.  It is when
he is mentioning the ftsr.e called bafaltes, Hijl. Nat. lib. 36, cap. 7.
  In-venit eadem Egypt us in Ethiopia quern 'vacant b"afalten,ferrei
coloris atque duritia.....
  Non abfimilis  illi narratur in Thebis, delubro Serapis, ut putant,
Memnonis JlatuJ. dicatirs ; qutm quotidianofolis ortu contatlum ra-
diis crepare dicunt.
  " The Egyptians likewife found, in Ethiopia, a ftone called  ba-
*' faltes,  of the colour and hardnefs of iron.....
  *' One not unlike it, is faid to be the ftone of which  the ftatue of
" Memnon is made,  at  Thebes, in the Temple  of Serapis, from
44 whence, as the report gees, a found iffues every morning, ou its
" being ftruck with the  rays of the riling  Sun."
  Jwveiwl, fo carefully  on his guard againft fuperftition, efpecialLy
the fuperftitions of Egypt adopts  this  faft in his fifteenth Satire,
which is levelled at thefe very  fuperftitions.

       Effigies fati i n'.tet mure a cercp'tthcci,
       Dimidio magic*  rcfonant ubi Metnnone chorda,
       itque i-etus Theba csniutn ja'cet obrtita portis. 
NOTES.                      tf6
   14 There (bines the gilded image of a confecrated monkey, where
** the magic chords refound from  the mutilated ftatue of Memnon,
*' and ancient Thebes lies buried  under the ruins  of her hundred
" gates.''
   Paufanias relates,  that is was Cambyfes wlio broke this ftatue ;
that half of the trunk was fallen to the ground  ; that the other half
emitted every day, at  fun riling, a found fimilar to that of a bow
firing fnapping from  over tenfion.
   Philojlratus fpeaks of it from his own .knowledge.  He fays, in
the life  of Apollonius of Tyana, that the Memtionium was not only
a Temple, but a forum ;  that is, a place of very confiderable extent,
containing its public fquares, its private buildings,  ike.   For Tem-
ples,  in ancient times, had a great many exterior dependencies ;  the
groves which were confecrated to them, apartments for the priefts,
enclofures for the viftims, and accommodations for the entertain-
ment of-ftrangers.  Philojlratus alfures us, that he faw the ftatus of
Memnon entire, which fuppofes that the upper part of it had been
repaired in his  time.  He reprefents it under the form of a young
man fitting, with his eyes turned toward the rifing Sun.  It was of
a black coloured ftone.  Botli feet were in a line, as was the cafe
with  all rhe ancient fiatues, up to the time of Ucdalus, who was
the firft, it  is faid, that made the ftatues to advance, the one before
the o'her.  Its  hands refted  on the thighs, as if he were going to
rife.
  On lookine at the eyes and mouth, you would have thought it was
going to fpeak.   Philojlratus, and his travelling companions, were
not furprifed  at the attitude of this ftatue, becaufe they were igno-
rant of its virtue :  But when  the rays of  the' rifing Sun firft darted
on its head, they no fooner reached the mouth, than it did aftually
fpeak, which appeared to them a prodigy.
  Here is, accordingly, a feries of grave Authors, from Strabo^ who
lived  under Augujlus, down to Philojlratus, who lived under  the
reigns of Cavacalla and Geta, that is, during a period of two hun-
dred years, who affirm, that the ftatue of Memnon emitted a found
at the rifing ot Aurora.
   As to Richard Pocock, who faw only the half of it in 1738, he found
it in the fame ftate  that Strabo had feen it, about 1738 years before,
except that it emitted no found.  He fays  it is of a particular fort of
granite, hard and  porous, fuch as  he had never feen before, and
which a good deal  refeinb'.es the eagle ftone.   At the diftance of
thirty feet from it,  to the No;th, there is, as in the  time of Strabo, 
476                     NOTES.

another coloffal ftatue entire, built of five layers of ftones, the pe-
deftal of which is 30 f«t long, and 17 broad.  But  the pedeftal of
the mutilated ftatue, which is that of Memnon, is 33 feet long by 19
broad.  It confifts of a fingle piece, though cleft about 10 feet be-
hind the back of the ftatue. Pocock fays nothing of the height of
thefe  pedeftals, undoubtedly, becaufe  they are  encumbered with
fand ; or, rather, becaufe the perpetual  and infenfible aftion of
gravity muft have made them fink into  the  Earth, as may be re-
marked of all the ancient monuments which are not founded on the
folid rock. This effeft is obfervable, in like manner, in the cafe of
heavy cannon, and piles of balls, laid on the ground ia our arfenals,
which imperceptibly  fink in the courfe of a few  years, unlefs fup-
ported by ftrong platforms.
  As to the reft of the ftatue of Memnon,  the following are the di-
menfions given by Pocock.
                                                   Feet. Inch.
   Prom the fole of the foot to the ankle bone  -    -    a  6
   From ditto to the inftep      -     -      --40
   From ditto up to the top of the knee      -      -    190
   The foot is 5 feet broad, and the leg 4 feet thick.
  Pocock apparently refers thefe meafurements to the Englifti ftand-
ard, which reduces them nearly by  the eleventh part. He found,
befides, on the pedeftal, the legs and the feet of the ftatue, feveral
infcriptions in  unknown charafters ; others of great  antiquity,
Greek and Latin, very indifferently engraved, which are the attefta-
tions of the perfons who had heard the found which it emitted.
  The remains of the Memnonium  prefent  all around, to a very
great diftance, ruins of an immenfe and uncouth architefture, exca-
vations in the folid rock, which form part of a temple, prodigious
fragments of walls tumbled down, and reduced to rubbifh, and oth-
ers (landing ; a pyramidical gate, avenues, fquare pillars, furmount-
ed by ftatues with the head broken off, holding in one hand a litufes,
and a whip in the other, as that of Oftris.   At a ftill greater diftance,
fragments of gigantic figures fcattered along the ground, heads of
fix feet diameter, and 11 feet in length, flioulders 21 feet broad, hu-
man ears three feet long and 16 inches broad ; other  figures which
feem to iffue out of the earth, of which the  Phrygian bonnets only
are to be feen.  All thefe gigantic produftions are  made of the moft
precious materials,  cf black and white marble,  of marble entirely
black, of marble with red fpots, of black granite, of yellow granite ;
 and thry are, for the moft part, loaded with hieroglyphics.  What 
NOTES.
477
 fentiments  of rcfpeft and admiration muft have been produced in
 the minds of thofe fuperftitious people, by fuch enormous and myf-
 terious  fabrics, efpecially,  when  in their lolemnly  filent -courts,
 plaintive founds were heard iffuing from a breaft of ftone, at the firft
 rays of Aurora, and the coXoWA Memnon fighingat fight of hismother!
   The faft  is too well attefted, and is of too long duration, to admit
 of being called in queftion.  Neverthelefs, many of the learned have
 thought proper to afcribe it  to fome exterior and momentaneous ar-
 tifice of  the  priefts  of Thebes.  Nay, it appears  that Strabo, who
 witneffed the noife  made by the  ftatue, Lints this fufpicion.  We
 know, in reality, that ventriloquifts are able, without moving  the
 lips, to utter words and founds which feem to come from a confider-
 able diftance, though they are produced clofe by your  fide.  For
 my  own part, however  durable the marvellous effeft of Memnon's
 ftatue may be fuppofed, I can conceive it produced by the Aurora,
 and eafily imitable,  without being under the neceffity of renewing
 the  artifice of it, till  after the lanfe of ages.  It  is well known that
 the  priefts of Egypt  made a particular  ftudy of Nature ; that they
 had formed of it a Science known by  the name of Magic,  the poffef-
 fion of which they referved to themfelves.  They were not igno-
 rant, affuredly, of the effeft of  the dilatation of metals, and among
 others of iron, which is contrafted by cold, and lengthened by heat,
 They might have placed, in the great bafis of Memnon^ ftatue, a long
 iron rod  in a fpiral line,  and  fufceptible, from its extenfion, of con-
 traction and dilatation, by the flighteft aftion of cold and of heat.
   This medium was  fufficient for extrafting found from  fome me-
 talic compofition.  Their coloffal ftatues being partly hollow, as may
 be feen in the fphinx, near the pyramids of Grand Cairo, they could
 difpofe in them machinery  of every  kind.  The ftone itfelf of the
 ftatue of Memnon being, according to Pliny, a bafaltes, which pof-
 feffes the hardnefs and  the colour of iron, may very well have the
 power of contracting and of dilating itfelf, like this metal, of which
 it is apparently compofed. It is certainly of a nature different from
 other ftones, as Pocock,  who had  made obfervation  of all forts of
 thefe, affirms that he had never feen the like of it.  He afcribes to
 it a particular charafter of hardnefs and porofity, which are, in gen-
 eral, attributes of ferruginous ftones.   It might, therefore, be fuf-
 ceptible of contraction and dilatation, and thus poffefs within itfelf a
 principle of  motion, efpecially at the  rifing of  Aurora, when the
contraft of the cold oigjht, and of the firft rays of the rifing Sun, has
 nipft aftion. 
4r8
NOTE 6,
   This effeft muft have been infallible, under a fky like that of Up-
 per Egypt, where it fcarccly ever rains.  The founds emitted from
 tbe ftatue of Memnon, at the moment when the Sun appeared over
 the Horizon of Thebes, had, therefore, nothing more marvellous in
 it, than the explofion of the cannon of the Palais Royal, and that of
 the mortar of the King's Garden, as the Sun paffes over the merid-
 ian of Paris.  With a burning glafs, a  bit of match, and fome gun.
 powder, it would be eafily poffible to make a ftatue of Jupin r thun-
 der, in the midft of a  defert, on fuch a day of the year, and even at
 fuch an hour of the day and of the night, as might be refolved on.
 This would appear fo much the more marvellous, that  it would thun-
 der only in clear weather, like the highly  ominous thunder chips
 among the Ancients.
   What prodigies are operated at this day on perfons labouring un-
 der the prejudices of fupcrftition, by  means of electricity, which,
 through the medium of a rod of iron, or copper, ftrikes in an inviii-
 ble manner, is capable of killing a man at a fingle blow, calls down
 the thunder from the bofom of the cloud, and direfts it at pleafure as
 it falls ? What effects  might not be produced by means of aerofta-
 lion, that art ftill in its infancy, which, through the  medium  of a
 globe of taffeta, glazed over with an elaftic gum, and filled with a
 putrid air, eight or ten times lighter than that which  we breathe,
 ra'fes feveral men at once above the clouds, where the winds tranf-
 port them to incredible difuinces, at the rate of nine  or ten leagues
 an hour, without the  leaft fatigue ? Our aeroftats, it is trre, are of
 no manner of ufe to us, becaufe they are carried along at the mercy
 of the winds, as they  have not yet  difcovered fhe means cf con-
ducting their machinery ; but I am perfuaded they will  on:' day at-
 tain this point of perfection.   There is, on the fubject of this inven-
tion, a very curious paffage  in  the Hiftory of Cliina, which proves
 that the Chinefe were  in ancient times  acquainted with aeroftation,
 and that they knew the method of  conduiting  the machine which
 way they pleafed, by  night and by day.  This need not excite fur-
 prife,  qn the part of a Nation which has invented, before us, the
 Art of Printing, the Mariner's Compafs, and Gunpowder.
   I fhall give  this faft complete, from the Chinefe  annals, in the
 view of rendering  our incredulous Readers fomewhat more referv-
 ed, when they treat as fabulous what they do not comprehend in the
 Hiftory ot Antiquity ; and credulous Readers  not quite fo eafy of
 belief, when they  afcribe to miracles, or to magic, effeft s-v. luch
 iiK-'cin phyfics imita-te publicly in our own d<iv*. 
                          NOTES.                     479

   It  is on the fubject of the Emperor Ki, according to Father le
 Comte, or Kieu, conformable to the pronunciation of Father Matini,
 wlio has given us a Hiftory of the earlieft Emperors of China, after
 the annals of the Country.  This Prince, who reigned about three
 thoufand fix hundred years ago, gave himfelf up to the commifTion
 of cruelties fo barbarous, and to irregularities fo abominable, that
 the name is, to this day, held in  deteftation all over China, and
 that when they mean to defcribe  a man diihonoured by every fpe-
 cies of criminality, they give him the appellation of Kieu.   In or-
der to enjoy  the delights of a  voluptuous- life without diftractioo,
he retired,' with his lady and favourites, into a magnificent palace,
from which the light of the Sun was excluded on every fide.  He
fnpplied  its  place by an infinite number of fuperb lamps, the luftre
of which feemed, to him, preferable to that Orb of Day, becaufe it
was ever uniform, and did not recal to his imagination, by the vicif-
fitudes cf day and night, the rapid courfe of human  life.  Thus, in
the midft of fplendid appartments always illuminated, he renounced
the government of Empire, to put on the yoke of his own paffions.
But the Nation's, whofe  interefts he had abandoned, having revolt-
ed, chaced him from his infamous retreat, and fent him out a vaga-
bond for his life, having, by his mifconduft, deprived his pofterity of
the fucccfTion to the Crown, which was transferred to another fami-
ly, and leaving a memory  loaded  with fuch  execration, that the
Chinefe Hiftorians never give him any other name but the Kobber,
without once beftowing  on him  the title o£. Emperor.
  " At the fame time," fays Father le Com.'e, " they deftroyed his
"  palace ; and,  in order to tranfmit to pofterity the  memory of
"  worthleffnefs fo eminent, they fufpended the lamps of it in all the
"  quarters of the city.  This cuftom was  repeated  annually,  and
" became, from that time, a remarkable feftivity all over the Em-
** pire.   It is celebrated  at Yamt Cheou, with more magnificence
" than any where elfe, and it is find that, formerly, the illumina-
" tions on this occafion were fo beautiful, that one  Emperor, not
" daring avowedly to quit his Court, and re fort thither to enjoy the
" f'peftacle, p it  himfe'f,  the Queen, and feveral Princeffes of the
"  Blood, in the hands of a magician, who engaged to convey them
" to it  in a very fhort  time.  He-  made them mount, in the night
" time, on fuperb thrones,  which were carried aloft by  fwan3,
 ' and which, in a moment, arrived at Yamt Cheou.
  " 1 he Emperor, wafted through  the air, on clouds which gradu-
" ally defcended over tie city, contemplated  the whole feftival at
*' his leifure : He afterwards returned thence, with the fame vel-jc 
48O                     NOTE S.

" ity, and by the fame vehicle, without it* being perceived at Court
«« that he had been at all abfent.  This is not the only fable which
" the Chinefe relate.  They have hiftories relative to every fub-
" jt ft, for they are fuperthtious to an excefs, and on the fubjeft of
" magic, in particular, whether feigned or real, there is not a Peo-
" pie in the World to be compared with them."  Memoirs of the
Prefent State of China, by Father le Comte'.   Letter VI.
  This Emperor, who was thus tranfported through the air, accord-
ing to Father Magaillans, was called Tarn, and th;s event took place
two thoufand years after the reign of Kieu ;  that is about fix teen
hundred years ago.  Father  Magaillans,  who expreffes no doubt
refpectingthe truth of the event, though he fuppofes it to have been
performed by magic, adds, after the Chinefe, that the Emperor Tarn
caufed a concert of  vocal and inftrumental mufic to be played by
his  band, in the air, over Yamt Cheou, which greatly furprifed the
inhabitants of that city.  Its diftance  from Nankin, where the Em-
peror might be then fuppofed to  refide, is about eighteen  leagues.
However, if he was at Pekin, as Magaillans gives us to underftand,
when he  fays, that the Courier from Yamt Cheou was  a month on*
the road,in carrying him the news of that extraordinary mufic, which
they afcribed to the inhabitants of Heaven,  the aerial journey was
175 leagues in  a ftraight line.
  But without departing from the  faft  as  it ftands, if Father le
Comte had feen at noon day, as was done by the whole inhabitants
of Paris,  of London, and of the other moft confiderable cities of Eu-
rope, Philofophers fufpended by globes above the clouds, carried
40, nay,  50 leagues  from the point of their departure, and one of
them crofting, through the air, the arm of the Sea which feparates
England from France, he would not fo haftily have treated  the Chi-
nefe tradition as a fable.   I find, befides, a great analogy «f forms,
between thofe magnificent thrones, and thofe clouds luhicb gradu-
ally defcended over the city of Yamt Cheou, and our aeroftatic globes,
to which it is fo eafily poffible to give thofe voluminous decorations.
The conducting fwans alone feem to prefent a difficulty in the man-
agement of this aerial navigation.  But wherefore fhould it be deem-
ed  impoffible for the Chinefe to have trained fwans to flight fimply,
herbivorous birds, fo eafily tamed to the purpofes of domeftic life,-
when it  is confidered, that we have inftrufted the falcon,  a bird of
prey always wild, to purfue the game, and afterwards to return to
the wrift of the fowler ? The Chinefe, living under a much better
police, more ancient and more pacific than we, have acquired an in-
f-ght into Nature which our  perpetual difcords permittee) not us ta 
NOTES.                     4$1
attain till a much later period : And, undoubtedly, it is this pro-
found infight info Nature which Father le Comte, otherwife a ma/i
of underftanding, confider? as magic, pretended  or real, in which
he acknowledges the Chinefe furpaffed all Nations.  For my own
part, I, who am no  magician, think I have a glimpfe, conformably
to fome of the Works of Nature, of an eafy method whereby aero-
ftats may direft their courfe even againft the wind ; but I would  not
publifh it were I ever fo certain of its fuccefs.  What miferies have
not the perfecting of the compafs, and of gunpowder, brought  up-
on the Human Race ! The defirable objeft of refearch is not, what
is to render  us more intelligent,  but  what is to render us better.
Science, in the hand of Wifdom, is a torch which illuminates,  but
brandifhod by the hand of Wickednefs, fets the World on fire.

  (3)  You are an Afiatic.  Amafts was an Egyptian, and Egypt  was
in Africa ; but the  Ancients afiigned it to Afia.  • The Nile ferved
as a boundary to Afia on the Weft.   Confult Pliny, and the ancient
Geographers.

  (4)  To the height of Melita.   This is the ifland now called Malta*

  (5)  Of the xylon.  This is the cotton on an herb : It is originally
a native of Egypt.   They now manufacture at Malta very beauti-
ful fluffs of it, which is  the principal fource of fupport to the com-
monalty of that  ifland,  who  are  miferably indigent.   There is a
fecond fpecies produced  on a fhrub, which is cultivated in Afia  and
the Weft India iflands.  Nay, I believe there is a  third fpecies that
grows  in America,  on a tall  prickly tree ; fuch care has  Nature
taken to diffufe a Vegetable fo ufeful over  all the warm regions of
the Globe ! This  much  is certain, that the Savages of the parts of
America, which  are fituated between the Tropics, made for them-
felves  garments  and hammocks of cotton, when Columbus landed
on that Country.

  (6)  A prodigious quantity of quails.   The quails ftill take Malta
in their way,  and appear on a day named and marked in the alma-
nacks of the country. The cuftoms-of the animal creation do  not
Vary ;  but thofe of the human fpecies have undergone confiderable
changes in that ifland.  Some Grand Mafters of the Order of Saint
John, to whom the ifland belongs, have there engaged in projefts
of public utility ; among others, they have conveyed the water of a
rivulet into the very harbour.  Many other undertakings: are  ftill
  VOL.  III.          OOO 
4«3
NOTE S.
 behind, undoubtedly, which concern the happinefs of the Hunun
 Race.

   (7) As far as the Ifles of Enofis.  Thefe are at this time  called
 the Iflands of Saint Peter and St. Antiochus.  They are very fnull;
 but they  have great fifhery  for thunnies, and they manufaftuie
 great quantities of fait.

   (S) Bodily exercife is the aliment of health.  Certain Pi ,iiofophcrs
 have carried  matters much farther.  They have pretended that
 bodily exercife was  the aliment of the foul.  Exereife of body is
 good only for the prefervation ot health ; the foul has its own apart.
 Nothing is more common, than to fee men of delicate health pofleff-
 ed of exalted virtue, and robuft perfons  very  defective there.   Vir-
 tue is no more the refult of phyfical qualities, than ftrength of body
 is the effeft of moral qualities.  All temperaments are equally pre-
 difpofed to vice and to virtue.

   (9) // aliixys bears the name of Heia.   There is, in fact, at the
 mouth of the Seine, on its left fide bank, a mountain formed of lay-
 ers of black and white  ftones, which is called the Heve.   It ferves
 as a landmark  for mariners, and there is a flag erected upon it, for
 giving fignals to fhips at Sea.

   (10) I perceived by the vohitenefs of its foam a mountain of wa-
 ter.   This mountain of water is produced by  the tides, w hich force
 their -way, from the Sea, up the Seioe, and make it to flow back-
 ward againft its courfe.  It is  heard coming from a very great dif-
 tance, efpecially in the night time.  They  call  it the Bar, becaufe
 it obftrufts the whole courfe of the Seine.  This Bar is uiually fol-
 lowed by a fecond Bar, ftill more elevated, which purfues it at the
 diftance of about a hundred fathom.  They run much fafler thaw a
 horfe at full fpeed.

  (n) The Druids honour thefe Divinities.  Refpefting  the man-.
 ners and mythology of the ancient Nations of  the North, Herodotus
 may be confulted, the Commentaries of Cefar, Suetonius,  Tacitus,
 the Eda of  Mr. Malltt, and the Swedifh Collections, tranflated by
 the Chevalier de Keralio.

  (12) He is excluded from the communion of their myfieries. Cefar
Aiys precifely the fame thing in his Commentaries, 
It OTES.                     jfo
  'X1*) They overlay plates of iron ivith tin.  The Laplanders  un-
 derftand the art of wiredrawing tin to a very high degree of perfec-
 tion.  There is, in general, an extreme  ingenuity diftinguifhable in
 all  the arts praftifed by lavage Nations.   The  canoes and the ra-
 quettes of the Efquimaux ; the pros of the iflanders of the South
 Sea ;  the nets, the lines, the hooks, the bows, the arrows, the ftone
 hatchets, the habits, and the  head dreffes of moft of thofe Nations,
 have the moft exaft conformity with theirneceffities. Pliny afcribes
 the  invention of cafks to the Gauls.  He praifes their tin ware, their
 dying in wood,  &c.

   (14) She  is condemned  to  the flames.   See Cefar's  Commen-
 taries.

   (15} Afcribe to them fomething divine.   Confult Tacitus on the
 manners of the  Germans.

   (16) For her fon Sifione. The Gauls, as well as the Nations of
 the  North, called Venus, Siofne, and Cupid, Sifione.  Confult  the
 Eda.  The moft formidable weapon  among the Celtae, was neither
 the  bow, nor  the fword, but the cutlafs.  They armed the Dwarfs
 with it ; who, thus equipped,  triumphed over the fword of the  Gi-
 ants.  The enchantment made with  a dagger was incapable of be-
 ing  diffolved.  It was fit, therefore,  that the Gaulifli Cupid fhould
 be armed, not with  a bow and a quiver, but with a dagger.  The
 dagger handles  in queftion, are two  valved fifh  fhells, lengthened
 out  into the form of a dagger handle, the name of which they bear.
 They  are found in great abundance along the fhores of Normandy,
 where they bury themfelves in the fand,

   (17) Of the fingular beauty oftheir young nuomen. And perhaps
 of the law fuits, for which Normandy is famous, as that apple was,
 originally, a prefent of  difcord.  It might be poffible  to find out a
 caufe lefs remote of thefe fuits at Law, in the prodigious number of
 petty jurifdiftions, with which that province is filled, in their litig-
 ious ufages,  and  efpecially in the European  fpirit of education,
 which fays to  every man, from  his childhood upward,  Be  the
 frft.
   It would not be fo eafy to difcover  the moral or phyfical caufes of
 the  fingularly remarkable  beauty of the women of Pays de Caux,
t.efpecially among the country girls.  They have blue eyes, a deli-
 racv of features  a  frefhnefs  of complexion, and a fhape, which 
484
NOTES.
 would do honour to the fineft ladies about Court.  I know but of
 one other canton in the whole kingdom, in which the women of the
 lower  claffes are equally beautiful.   It is  at  Avignon.   Beauty
 there,  however, prefents a  different character.  They have large,
 black, and foft  eyes, aquiline  nofes,  and the heads of  Angelica
 Kauffman.  Till  modern Philofophy  think proper to take up the
 queftion, we may allow the mythology of the Gauls to  affigo a
 reafon for the beauty of  their young women, by a fable which the
 Greeks would not, perhaps, have rejected.

   (18) Tor Tir.  Perhaps it may be from the names  of thofe  two
 cruel Gods of the North, that the word torture is derived.

   (19) In the fide of a rock all over <white.  Montmartre is meant,
 Mons Martis.   It  is well known that this rifing  ground, dedicated
 to Mars, whofe name it bears, is formed of a rock of plafter.  Oth-
 ers, it  is true, derive the name  of Montmartre from Mons Marty.
 rum.   Thefe two etymologies may be  very eafily reconciled.  If
 there were, in ancient times, a great  many  martyrs on this moun-
 tain, it was  probably  owing to  its being the  refidence  of fome
 celebrated idol, to which they were there offered in facrifice.

  (20)  It had no other door except large bullocks'' hides.   Gates were
 a matter of very difficult conftru6tion to favage tribes, w ho did  not
 underftand the ufe of the  faw, without which it was almoft impoffi-
 ble to  reduce a  tree into planks.  Accordingly, when they aban-
 doned  a Country, thofe who had gates  carried them off with them.
 A Norwegian hero, whofe name I do  not at prefent  recolleft, he
 who difcovered Greenland,  threw his into the Sea, in order to dif-
 cover  where the Deftinies  intended to fix his  refidence ; and he
 made a fettlement good on that  part of-Greenland to which they
 were wafted. Gates and their threfhold were, and ftill are, facred
 in the Eaft.

  (21)  At a height luhich ive cannot reach.  The walnut and cheft-
 nut grow at a great height;  but  thefe fruits fall to the ground when
 they are ripe, and do not break in falling, like the foft fruits, which,
befides, grow on trees which are  eafily fcaled.

  (22) In order to make bread of it.  The Gauls lived, as did all
 Other favage tribes, on pap, or frumenty. The Romans themfelves
 yrere3 for three hundred years, ignorant of the ufe of  bread : Ac^ 
NOTES.
483
 cording to Pliny, boiled grain, or frumenty, conftituted the  great-
 eft part of their aliment.

   (23) Te rear a Temple to Ifis.  It is pretended that this is the an-
 cient Church of Saint Genevieve, reared to Ifis, prior to  the intro-
 duction of Chriftianity among the Gauls.

   (24)  They fed upon the anferina potentilla.  The anferina  poten-
 tilla is found in great abundance on the banks of the Seine, in the
 vicinity of Paris.  It fometimes  renders them completely yellow,
 toward the clofe of Summer, by the colour of its flowers.   This
 flower is  rofe formed, about the fize of a fhilling, without rifing
 upon a ftem.  It enamels the ground, as  does  likew ife its foliage,
 which fpreads very far, in form of net work.  Gecfe are very fond
 of this plant.  Its leaves, in form of a goofe foot, adhering clofely
 to the ground, admit of the water fowl's walking over them  as up-
 on a carpet, and the yellow colour of its flowers forms a very beau-
 tiful  contraft with the azure of the river, and  the verdure of the
 trees ; but  efpecially wiih  the marbled colour of the geefe,  which
 are perceptible on this ground at a great diftance.

   (25) Formidable to the Gods and to the Men of this Country. See
 the Volofpa of the Irifh.  This hiftory  of Balder has a fingular re-
 femblance to that of Achilles plunged, by his mother Thetis,  in the
 river Styx, as far as the heel, in order to render him invulnerable,
 and, after all, killed by a wound in that part of the  body which
 had not been dipped, from an arrow difcharged by the hand of the
 effeminate Paris.   Thefe two fictions  of the Greeks, and of the
 Savage  Nations of the  North, convey a  moral  meaning founded
 in truth ;  namely, that  the powerful  ought never to defpife the
 feeble.

   (26) We  paffed fucceffivcly through the territories of the Carnutes,
 &c.  The Carnutes were the inhabitants of the Pays Chartrain, the
 Cenomanes, thofe  of Mans, and the Diablintes, thofe of the  adja-
cent country.   The Redons, who inhabited  the city of Rennes, had
the Curiofolites in their vicinity ;  and the tribes of Dariorigum
were neighbours to the Veneti, who inhabited Vannes, in Britanny.
It is alleged that the Venetians of  the Adriatic Gulf, who  bear the
fame name in Latin, derive their origin from them.  Confult Cefar,
Strabo, and DativilU's Geography. 
^35
NOTES.
  (27) The othjr might be preferved.   Moft fruits which contain
an  aggrfegation of feeds, as  pomegranates,  apples, pears, oranges,
und even the produftions of  the gramineous plants, fuch as the ear
of corn, bear them divided by fmooth  fkins, under frail capfules;
but the fruits which contain only a fingle feed, or rarely two,  as the
walnut, the hafelnut, the  almond, the  cheftnut, the cocoa, and all
the kernel fruits,  fuch  as the cherry, the plum, the apricot, the
peach, bear  it enveloped in very hard  capfules, of wood, of  ftone,
or of leather, conftrufted with admirable art.  Nature has fecured
the prTervation of aggregated  feeds,  by multiplying their little
cells, and that of folitary feeds, by fortifying their cafes.

  (28) The Arcadians nvere once more miferable than the Gauls.
It would appear that the firft ftate of Nations is the ftate ot barba-
:-ifni.   V«'c are almoft tempted to believe it, from the example of the
Greeks, prior to Orpheus ; of the Arcadians, under Lycaon ;  of the
Gauls, under the Druids : Of the Romans, prior to Numa ; and of
il niift all the favage tribes of America.
  I -isn perfuaded that barbarifm is a malady incident to the infan-
cy of Nations, and that it is foreign to the nature of Man.  It is fre-
quently a reaction merely  of the ills winch rifing Nations endure on
the part of their enemies.  Thefe ills infpire them with a vengeance
fo much the more ti  ;e, in  proportion as the Conftitution of their
State is more liable  to fubverfion.  Accordingly, the fmall favage
hordes of the New World, reciprocally eat  the prifoners taken in
war, though the families of the fame clan live together in the moft
perfect union.  For a fimilar reafon it is that the feebler animals aie
much more vindictive than the powerful.  The bee darts her fling
into the hiv.ii of any one  who comes near her hive  ; but the elephant
fees the arrow  of the huntfman fly clofe to him, without turning
afide out of his  road.
  Barbarifmis, fometimes, introduced into a growing State, by the
individuals who join the affociation.   Such*\as,  in its firft begin-
nings, that of the Roman People, partly formed of the banditti col-
lected by Romulus,  and who did not be0in to civilize till the times
of Numa.  In other cafes, it  communicates itfelf, like the peftilence,
to a People already  under regular government, merely  froni their
coming into contaft with their neighbours.   Such was that of the
Jews, who, notwithftanding the feverity of their Laws, facrificed their
children to idols, after the example of the Canaanites.   It moft fre-
quently  incorporates itfelf with the legifiatioo.of a People, through 
NOTE 9.                      487"
the tyranny of a defpot, as in Arcadia, under Lycaon, and ftill more
dangeroufly, through the influence of an ariftocratical corps, which
perpetuates  it, in favour of their own authority, even through the
ages of civilization.  Such are, in our own days, the ferocious prej-
udices of Religion,  inftilled into the Indians, in other  refpefts fo>
gentle, by their Bramins ; and thofe of honour inftilled into the
Japanefe, fo polifhed, by their Nobles.
  I repeat  it,  for  the  confolation  of the Human  Race :  Moral
evil is foreign  to Man, as well as phyfical evil.  Both the one and
the other fpring up out of deviations from the Law of Nature.  Na-
ture has made Man good.  Had fhe  made him  wicked,  flie, who is
fo uniformly confequential in her  Works, would  have furnifhed
him with claws, with fangs, with poifon, with fome offenfive weap-
on, as fhe has done to thofe of the beafts, whofe character is defign-
ed to be ferocious.   She has not fo much as provided  him with de-
fenfive armour, like other  animals ;  but has created  him the moft
naked, and the moft miferable, undoubtedly  in the view of con-
ftraining him to have conftant recourfe to the humanity of his fellow
creatures, and  to extend it  to them  in his turn.  Nature no more
makes whole Nations of men jealous, envious, malignant, eager to
furpafs each other, ambitious, conquerors, cannibals, than fhe forms
Nations continually labouring under the lcprofy, the purples, the
fever, the fmailpox.   If you  meet even an  individual, fubjeft to
thefe phyfical evils,  impute them, without hcfitation, to fome  un«
wholefome aliment on which  he feeds, or to a putrid air which in-
fefts the neighbourhood.  In  like manner, when you find, barba-
rifm in a rifing Nation, refer it folcly to the errors of its policy, or
to  the  influence of  its neighbours, juft as  you would the mif-
chievoufnefs of a child, to  the vices of his  education, or  to  bad
example.
  The courfe of the life of  a People is  fimilar to  the  courfe of the
life of a man, as the port of a tree refembles that of its branches.
  I had devoted my attention, in the text, to the moral  progrefs of
political focieties, barbarifm, civilization, and corruption.   I had in
this note caft a glance, no lefs important, on the natural  progrefs of
Man  ; childhood, youth, maturity, old  age ; but thefe approxima-
tions  have been extended far beyond the proper bounds of a fim-
ple note.
  Befides, in order to enlarge his  Horizon, a  man muft fcramble
up  mountains, which are but  too  frequently involved in  ftormy
clouds.  Let us redefcead into the peaceful valleys.  Let us repofe 
48&
NOTES.
between the declivities of Mount Lyceum, on the banks of the
Achelous.  If Time, the Mufes, and the  Reader, fhall  be propi-
tious to thefe new Studies, it will be fufficient for my pencil, and
for my ambition, to have painted the meadows, the groves, and the
fhepherdeffes of bleft Arcadia.
                                         r
THE  END.
       PRINTED AT WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS,
at the press of I. THOMAS, by L. WORCESTER. 
 
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