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and pointed out the ftrokes of inimitable fkill. He obferv. ed the grand exertions of power, and the rich exuberance of goodness, moft fignally, moft charmingly confpicuous through the whole-Upon one circumftance he enlarged, with particular satisfaction.

THERON.

See, Afpafio, how all is calculated to adminifter the highest delight to mankind. Thofe trees and hedges, which kirt the extremities of the landfcape, ftealing, away from their real bulk, and leffening by gentle diminutions, appear, like elegant pictures in miniature. Thofe which occupy the nearer fituations are a fet of noble images, fwelling upon the eye, in full proportion, and in a variety of graceful attitudes; both of them ornamenting the feveral apartments of our common abode, with a mixture of delicacy and grandeur.

The bloffoms that array the branches, the flowers that embroider the mead, addrefs and entertain our eyes with every charm of beauty; whereas, to other creatures, they are deftitute of all those attractions, which refult from a combination of the lovelieft colours, and the most alluring forms. Yonder ftreams, that glide with smooth ferenity, along the vallies, glittering to the distant view, like fheets of polished crystal, or foothing the attentive ear, with the foftnefs of aquatic murmurs, are not lefs exhilarating to the fancy, than refrefhing to the foil through which they pafs. The huge, enormous mountain; the fleep and dizzy precipice; the pendent horrors of the craggy promontory; wild and awful as they are, furnish an agreeable entertainment to the human mind; and pleafe, even while they amaze: whereas, the beats take no other notice of those majestic deformities, than to avoid the dangers they threaten..

ASPASIO.

How wonderfully do fuch confiderations exalt our idea of the Creator's goodnefs, his very diftinguifhing goodness to mankind! And thould they not proportionably endear that eternal Benefactor to our hearts? His ever bountiful hand has, with profufe liberality, scattered bleffings among

all the ranks of animated existence. But to us he exercises a beneficence of a very fuperior kind. We are treated with peculiar attention. We are admitted to fcenes of delight, which none but ourselves are capable of relishing.

tant.

THERON.

Another remark, though very obvious, is equally imporThe deftination of all these external things is no less advantageous, than their formation is beautiful. The bloom, which engages the eye with its delicate hues, is cherishing the embryo fruit; and forming, within its filken folds, the rudiments of a future deffert. Those streams, which shine from afar, like fluid filver, are much more valuable in their productions, and beneficial in their fervices, than they are beautiful in their appearance. They diftribute, as they roll along their winding banks, cleanliness to our houses, and fruitfulness to our lands. They nourish, and at their own expenfe, a never failing fupply of the finest fifh. They vif it our cities, and attend our wharves,as fo many public vehicles, ready to fet out at all hours.

Thofe fheep, which give their udders to be drained by the bufy frifking lambs, are fattening their flefh for our fupport; and while they fill their own fleeces, are providing for our comfortable clothing. Yonder kine, fome of which are browsing upon the tender herb, others, fatiated with pafturage, and ruminating under the fhady covert, though confcious of no fuch defign, are concocting for our use, one of the fofteft, pureft, moft falutary of liquors. The bees that fly humming about our feat, and pursue their work on the fragrant bloffoms, are collecting balm and sweetness, to compofe the richeft of firups; which, through the produce of their toil, is intended for our good. Nature and her whole family, are our obfequious fervants, our ever-active labourers. They bring the fruits of their united industry,and pour them into our lap, or depofit them in our ftore-rooms.

ASPASIO.

Who can ever fufficiently admire this immenfe benignity-The Supreme Difpofer of events has commanded de light and profit to walk hand in hand, through his ample creation, making all things fo perfectly pleasing, as if beau ty were their only end; yet all things fo eminently ferviceable, as if usefulness had been their fole defign.—And, as a moft winning invitation to our gratitude, he has rendered man the centre, in which all the emanations of his beneficence, diffufed through this terreftrial fyftem, finally ter min ate.

HERVEX

SECTION II.

CADMUS AND HERCULES.

Importance of Literature.

HERCULES.

Do you pretend to fit as high on Olympus as Hercules ? Did you kill the Nemean lion, the Erymanthian boar, the Lernean ferpent, and Stymphalian birds? Did you deftroy tyrants and robbers? You value yourself greatly on fubduing one ferpent: I did as much as that while I lay in my cradle.

CADMUS.

It is not on account of the ferpent that I boast myself a greater benefactor to Greece than you. Actions fhould be valued by their utility, rather than their fplendour. I taught Greece the art of writing, to which laws owe their precifion and permanency. You fubdued monfters; I civilized men. It is from untamed paffions, not from wild beafts, that the greateft evils arife to human fociety. By wifdom, by art, by the united strength of civil community, men have been enabled to fubdue the whole race of lions, bears and ferpents; and what is more, to bind by laws and wholesome regulations, the ferocious violence and dangerous treachery of the human difpofition. Had lions been deftroyed only in fingle combat, men had but a bad time of it'; and what but laws could awe the men who killed the lions? the genuine glory, the proper diftinction of the rational fpecies, arife from the perfection of the mental powers. Courage is apt to be fierce, and ftrength is often exerted in acts of oppreffion; but wifdom is the affociate of juftice. It affifts her to form equal laws, to purfue right meafures, to correct power, protect weakness, and to unite individuals in a common intereft and general welfare. He. roes may kill tyrants; but it is wifdom and laws that prevent tyranny and oppreffion. The operations of policy far furpass the labours of Hercules, preventing many evils which valour and might cannot even redrefs You heroes regard nothing but glory; and scarcely confider whether the conquefts which raife your fame are really beneficial to your country. Unhappy are the people who are governed by valour not directed by prudence, and not mitigated by the gentle arts!

HERCULES.

I do not expect to find an admirer of my ftrenuous life, in the man who taught his country men to fit ftill and read; and to lose the hours of youth and action in idle fpeculation and the sport of words.

CADMUS.

An ambition to have a place in the registers of fame, is the Eurytheus which impofes heroic labours on mankind. The mufes incite to action, as well as entertain the hours of repofe; and I think you should honour them for presenting to heroes fo noble à recreation, as may prevent their taking up the distaff, when they lay down the club..

HERCULES.

Wits as well as heroes can take up the distaff What think you of their thin-fpun fyftems of philofophy, or lafcivious poems, or Milefian fables? Nay, wha is ftill worse, are there not panegyrics on tyrants, and books that blafpheme the gods, and perplex the natural fenfe of right and wrong ? I believe if Eurytheus were to fet me to work again, he would find me a worse task than any he impofed; he would make me read over a great library; and I would ferve it as I did the Hydra, would burn as I went on, that one chimera might not rife from another, to plague mankind. I should have valued myfelf more on clearing the library, than on cleanfing the Augean stables. CADMUS.

It is in thofe libraries only that the memory of your la bours exifts. The heroes of Marathon, the patriots of Thermopyle owe their fame to me. All the wife institutions of lawgivers, and all the doctrines of fages, had perished in the ear, like a dream related, if letters had not preferved them. O Hercules! it is not for the man who pre. ferred virtue to pleature, to be an enemy to the mufes. Let Sardanapalus and the filken fons of luxury, who have watted life in inglorious eafe, defpife the records of action, which bear no honourable teftimony to their lives: but true merit, heroic virtue, should respect the facred fource of lafting-honour.

HERCULES.

Indeed, if writers employ themfelves only in recording the acts of great men, much might be faid in their favour. But why do they trouble people with their meditations? Can it be of any confequence to the world what an idle man has been thinking?

CADMUS.

Yes it may. The most important and extenfive advantages mankind enjoy, are greatly owing to men who have never quitted their clofets. To them mankind are obliged for the facility and fecurity of navigation. The invention of the compafs has opened to them new worlds. The knowledge of the mechanical powers has enabled them to conftruct fuch wonderful machines, as perform what the united labour of millions, by the fevereft drudgery could not accomplish. Agriculture too, the moft ufeful of arts, has received its fhare of improvement from the fame fource. Poetry likewife is of excellent ufe, to enable the memory to retain with more ease, and to imprint with more energy upon the heart, precepts and examples of virtue. From the little root of a few letters, fcience has spread its branches over all nature, and raised its head to the heavens. Some philofophers have entered fo far into the counfels of Divine Wisdom, as to explain much of the great operations of nature. The dimenfions and diftances of the planets, the causes of their revolutions, the path of comets, and the ebb. ing and flowing of tides, are understood and explained. Can any thing raise the glory of the human fpecies more, than to fee a little creature inhabiting a small spot, amidst innumerable worlds, taking a furvey of the univerfe, comprehending its arrangement, and entering into the scheme of that wonderful connexion and correfpondence of things. fo remote, and which it seems a great exertion of Omnipotence to have established? What a volume of wisdom, what a noble theology, do thofe discoveries open to us! While fome fuperior geniuses have foared to these sublime fubjects, other fagacious and diligent minds have been inquiring into the most minute works of the Infinite Artifi cer: the fame care, the fame providence is exerted through the whole; and we fhould learn from it, that to true wif dom, utility and fitnefs appear perfection, and whatever is beneficial is noble.

HERCULES.

I approve of fcience as far as it is affiftant to action. I like the improvement of navigation, and the difcovery of the greater part of the globe, because it opens a wider field for the mafter fpirits of the world to bustle in.

CADMUS.

There fpoke the foul of Hercules. But if learned men are to be esteemed for the affistance they give to active

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