HISTOIRE DE CASSANDRE.

CASSANDRE, fille de Priam, étoit si belle, que le Dieu Apollon en devint amoureux, et lui accorda le don de prédire l'avenir, pour en avoir les dernières faveurs; mais comme elle trompa le Dieu et ne se rendit point, il fit en sorte que quoiqu'elle prédit toujours la vérité, personne ne la croyoit. On dit même à présent d'une personne qui prédit les suites d'une affaire, sur lesquelles on ne l'en croit pas: c'est une Cassandre.

HISTOIRE D'ÉNÉE.

ENÉE étoit Prince Troyen, fils d'Anchise, et de la Déesse Vénus, qui le protégea dans tous ses dangers. Sa femme s'appella Creuse, et il en eut un fils nommé Ascagne ou Iulus. Quand Troye fut brulée, il se sauva, et porta son père Anchise sur ses épaules, à cause de quoi il fut appellé le pieux Enée.

Vous savez déjà ce qui lui arriva à Carthage avec Didon; après quoi il alla en Italie, où il épousa Lavinie fille du Roi Latinus, après avoir tué Turnus qui étoit son rival.

Romulus, qui étoit le fondateur de Rome, descendoit d'Enée et de Lavinie.

TRANSLATION.

I NOW send you, my dear, a very short history of the siege of Troy. You will there see how justly the Trojans were punished for supporting Paris in his injustice.

I will send you soon the histories of several Kings and Heroes, who were in the Grecian army, and deserve to be known. I ought to have informed

you, that the city of Troy was in Asia; and that Greece is a country in Europe; which, at present, belongs to the Turks, and is part of what is called Turkey in Europe.

Considering the manner in which you now go on, you will in time be very learned; I am even afraid lest you should soon know more than myself. However, I shall forgive you, and will be very happy to be esteemed ignorant, in comparison of you. Adieu.

THE HISTORY OF THE SIEGE OF TROY.

THE Trojans having refused to restore Helen to her husband, the Greeks declared war against them. Now there was in Greece a great number of Kings, who furnished troops, and commanded them in person. They all agreed to give the supreme command to Agamemnon, King of Mycenæ, and brother to Menelaus, husband to Helen.

They embarked for Troy; but meeting with contrary winds, were detained by them at Aulis. Upon which Calchas, the High Priest, declared, that those adverse winds were sent by the Goddess Diana; who would continue them, till Iphigenia, daughter to Agamemnon, was sacrificed to her. Agamemnon obeyed, and sent for Iphigenia; but just as she was going to be sacrificed, Diana put a Hind in her stead, and carried off Iphigenia to Tauros, where she made her one of her Priestesses.

After this, the winds became favourable, and they pursued their voyage to Troy, where they landed and began the siege: but the Trojans defended their city so well, that the siege lasted ten years. The Greeks, finding they could not take it by force, had recourse to stratagem. They made a great wooden Horse, and enclosed in its body a number of armed men; after which they pretended to retire to their ships, and abandon the siege. The Trojans fell into this snare, and brought the Horse into their

Town; which cost them dear, for, in the middle of the night, the men, concealed in it, got out, set fire to the city, opened the gates, and let in the Grecian army, that had returned under the walls of Troy. The Greeks sacked the city, and put all the inhabitants to the sword, except a very few, who saved themselves by flight. Among these was Eneas, whom I mentioned to you before; and who fled with his father Anchises upon his shoulders, because he was old; and led his son Ascanius by the hand, because he was young.

STORY OF AJAX.

AJAX was one of the most valiant Greeks that went to the siege of Troy; he was son to Telamon, Prince of Salamis. After Achilles had been killed, he demanded that Hero's armour, as his nearest relation; but Ulysses contested that point, and obtained the armour. Upon which Ajax went mad, and slaughtered all the sheep he met with, under a notion that they were so many Greeks: at last he killed himself.

STORY OF NESTOR.

NESTOR was the oldest and wisest of all the Greeks who were at the siege of Troy. He was above three hundred years old: so that, on account of his experience, as well as his wisdom, the Grecian army was directed by his counsels. Even at this present time, it is said of a man, who is very old and very wise, he is a Nestor.

STORY OF ULYSSES.

ULYSSES was another Prince who went to the siege of Troy; he was King of Ithaca, and son of Laertes. His wife's name was Penelope, with whom he was so much in love, that, unwilling to leave her, he feigned himself mad, in order to be excused going

to the siege of Troy; but this device being discovered, he was compelled to embark for Ilion. He was the most artful and subtile of all the Greeks. During those ten years of his absence at Troy, Penelope had several lovers, but she gave encouragement to none; so that even now, when a woman is commended for chastity, she is called a Penelope.

The

After the destruction of Troy, Ulysses was several years before he reached his kingdom, being tossed about by tempests and various accidents. voyages of Ulysses have been the subject of a very fine poem, written by Homer, in Greek, and called The Odyssey. Ulysses had one son, whose name was Telemachus.

There were also many illustrious persons on the Trojan side. Priam was their King. He was very old, and had fifty children by his wife Hecuba. After the taking of Troy, he was killed by Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, and Hecuba made captive to Ulysses.

STORY OF HECTOR.

HECTOR was son to Priam, and the bravest of the Trojans; Andromache was his wife, and his son's name Astyanax. He resolved to engage Achilles ; who killed him, and then brutally fastened his dead body to his car, and dragged it in triumph round the walls of Troy.

After that city was taken, his wife, Andromache, became captive to Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles. He afterwards fell in love with, and married her.

STORY OF CASSANDRA.

CASSANDRA, daughter of Priam, was so beautiful, that the God Apollo fell in love with her; and gave her the power of foretelling future events, upon condition of her compliance with his desires. But as she deceived the God, by not gratifying his wishes,

he ordered matters in such a manner, that, although she always foretold truth, nobody believed her. It is even now said of a person who foretells the consequences of an affair, and is not believed, She is a Cassandra.

STORY OF ENEAS.

ENEAS was a Trojan Prince, son of Anchises, and of the Goddess Venus, who protected him in all the dangers he underwent. His wife's name was Creusa, by whom he had a son called Ascanius, or Iulus. When Troy was burnt, he made his escape, and carried his father Anchises upon his back; for which reason he was surnamed The Pious Eneas.

You already know what happened to him, with Dido, at Carthage. After that he went to Italy, where, having killed his rival, Turnus, he married Lavinia, daughter to King Latinus.

From Eneas and Lavinia was descended Romulus, the founder of Rome.

LETTER VIII.

MON CHER ENFANT, A Isleworth, ce 29me Juillet. Je vous ai envoyé, dans ma dernière, l'histoire d'Atalante*, qui succomba à la tentation de l'Or; je vous envoie à cette heure, l'histoire d'une femme, qui tint bon contre toutes les tentations; c'est Daphné fille du fleuve Penée. Apollon en fut éperdument amoureux; et Apollon étoit comme vous savez un Dieu fort accompli; car il étoit jeune et bien fait, d'ailleurs c'étoit le Dieu du Jour, de la Musique, et de la Poësie. Voici bien du brillant; mais n'importe, il la poursuivit inutilement, et elle ne voulut jamais l'écouter.

*Qui ne se trouve pas.