Through many a system, where the scatter'd light Of heavenly truth lay, like a broken beam the work of ARISTOTLE), agrees almost verbum verbo, with that in the letter of EPICURUS to PYTHOCLES; they both omit the mention of a deity; and, in his Ethies, he intimates a doubt whether the gods feel any interest in the concerns of mankind. Et yap is enμdex Tawasfata To Be Stat. It is true, he adds, Qrtep doxet, but even this is very sceptical. In these erroneous conceptions of Aristotle, we trace the cause of that general neglect which his philosophy experienced among the early Christians. PLATO is seldom much more orthodox, but the obscure enthusiasm of his style allowed them to interpret all his fancies to their purpose; such glowing steel was easily moulded, and Platonism became a sword in the hands of the fathers. The Providence of the Stoics, so vaunted in their school, was a power as contemptibly inefficient as the rest. All was fate in the system of the Portico. The chains of destiny were thrown over Jupiter himself, and their deity was like Borgia, et Cæsar et nihil. Not even the language of SENECA can reconcile this degradation of divinity: Ille ipse omnium conditor ac rector scripsit quidam fata, sed sequitur; semper paret, semel jussit."—Lab, de Providentia, cap. 5. With respect to the difference between the Stoics, Peripatetics, and Academicians, the following words of CICERO prove that he saw but little to distinguish them from each other: Peripateticos et Academicos, nominibas differentes, re congruentes; a quibus Stoici ipsi verbis magis quam sententiis dissenserant.»- Academic. lib. ii, 5, and perhaps what REID has remarked upon one of their points of controversy might be applied as effectually to the reconcilement of all the rest: The dispute between the Stoics and Peripatetics was probably all for want of definition. The one said they were good under the control of reason, the other that they should be eradicated."-Essays, vol. iii. In short, from the little which I know upon the subject, it appears to me as difficult to establish the boundaries of opinion between any two of the philosophical sects, as it would be to fix the landmarks of those estates in the moon, which Ricciolus so generously allotted to his brother astronomers. Accordingly we observe some of the greatest men of antiquity passing without scruple from school to school, according to the fancy or convenience of the moment. CICERO, the father of Roman philosophy, is sometimes an Academician, sometimes a Stoic: and, more than once, he acknowledges a conformity with Epicurus; - non sine causa igitur, Epicurus ausus est dicere semper in pluribus bonis esse sapientem, quia semper sit in voluptatibus. Tusculan. Q æst. lib. v. Though often pure in his theology, he sometimes smiles at futurity as a fiction; thus, in his Oration for Cluentius,speaking of punishments in the life to come, he says, Quæ si falsa sunt, id quod omnes intelligunt, quid ei tandem aliud mors eripuit, præter sensum doloris ?» though here perhaps we should do him justice by agreeing with his commentator SYLVIUS, who remarks upon this passage, «Hæc autem dixit, ut causæ suæ subserviret.» Horace roves like a butterfly through the schools, and now wings along the walls of the Porch, and now basks among the flowers of the Garden; while Virgil, with a tone of mind strongly philosophical, has left us uncertain of the sect which he espoused: the balance of opinion declares him an Epicurean, but the ancient author of his life asserts that he was an Academician, and we trace through his poetry the tenets of almos all the leading sects. The same kind of electric indifference is observable in most of the Roman writers. Thus Pro- Though Broukhusius here reads, dux Epicure, which seems to fix the poet under the banners of Epicurus, even the Stoic Seneca, whose doctrines have been considered so orthodox that St Jerome has ranked him amongst the ecclesiastical writers, and Boccaccio, in his commentary upon Dante has doubted (in consideration of the philosopher's supposed correspondence with St Paul), whether Dante should have placed him in Limbo with the rest of the Pagans-the Rigid Seneca has bestowed such commendations on Epicurus, that if only those passages of his works were preserved to us, we could not, I think. hesitate in pronouncing him an Epicurean. In the same manner we find Porphyry, in his work upon abstinence, referring to Epicurus as an example of the most strict Pythagorean temperance; and LANCELOTTI, the author of Farfalloni degli antichi Istorici, has been seduced by this grave reputation of Epicurus into the absurd error of associ ating him with Chrysippus, as a chief of the Stoic School. There is no doubt, indeed, that however the Epicurean sect might have relaxed from its original purity, the morals of its founder were as con rect as those of any among the ancient philosophers, and his doc From the pure sun, which though refracted all With atoms vague, corruptible, and dark; And here the old man ceased—a winged train TO THE world had just begun to steal dark and love was gone! No eye to mingle sorrow's tear, 'T was gloomy, and I wish'd for death! trines upon pleasure, as explained in the letter to Menæceas, are rational, amiable, and consistent with our nature. M. de SABLONS, in his Grands hommes vengés, expresses strong indignation against the Encyclopédistes for their just and animated praises of Epicurus; and, discussing the question, si ce philosophe était vertueux, he denies it upon no other authority than the calumnies collected by Plutarch, who himself confesses that, on this particular subject, he consulted only opinion and report, without pausing to investigate their truth. Αλλα την δόξαν, ου την αλήθειαν σκοπούμην. To the factious zeal of his illiberal rivals the Stoics, Epicurus owed these gross misrepresentations of the life and opinions of himself and his associates, which, notwithstanding the learned exertions of Gassendi, have still left an odium on the name of his philosophy; and we ought to examine the ancient accounts of Epicurus with the same degree of cautious belief which, in reading ecclesiastical history, we yield to the declamations of the fathers against the heretics; trusting as little to Plutarch upon a dogma of this philosopher, as we would to St Cyril upon a tenet of Nestorius. 1801. The preceding remarks, I wish the reader to observe, were written at a time when I thought the studies to which they refer much more important and much more amusing than, I freely confess, they appear to me at present. LACTANTIUS asserts that all the truths of Christianity may be found dispersed through the ancient philosophical sects, and that any one who would collect these scattered fragments of orthodoxy, might form a code in no respect differing from that of the Christian. Si extitisset aliquis, qui veritatem sparsam per singulos per sectasque diffusam colligeret in unum, ac redigeret in corpus, is profecto non dissentiret a nobis.Inst. lib. vi, c. 7. This fine Platonic image I have taken from a passage in Father Bouchet's letter upon the Metempsychosis, inserted in PICART'S Cérem. Relig. tom. iv. A cording to Pythagoras, the People of Dreams are souls collected together in the Gala.y. Anang de sep at 92pay, ai tuzat mayesat nat ets try yalata -PORPHYR. de Antro Nymph. « So, instead of displaying my graces, Thro' look, and thro' words, and thro' mien, I am shut up in corners and places, Where truly I blush to be seen!»> Upon hearing this piteous confession, But, to-morrow, sweet spirit!» he said, Be at home after midnight, and then I will come when your lady 's in bed And we'll talk o'er the subject again.»> So she whisper'd a word in his ear, TO MRS To see thee every day that came, I wrote these words to an air which our boatmen sung to us very frequently. The wind was so unfavourable that they were obliged to row all the way, and we were five days in descending the river from Kingston to Montreal, exposed to an intense sun during the day, and at night forced to take shelter from the dews in any miserable but upon the banks that would receive us. But the magnificent scenery of the St Lawrence repays all these difficulties. Our voyageurs had good voices, and sung perfectly in tune together. The original words of the air, to which I adapted these stan Soon as the woods on shore look dim, Why should we yet our sail unfurl? There is not a breath the blue wave to curl Utawas' tide! this trembling moon EPISTLE IX. TO THE LADY CHARLOTTE R-WD-N. FROM THE BANKS OF THE ST LAWRENCE. NOT zas, appeared to be a long incoherent story, of which I could understand but little, from the barbarous pronunciation of the Canadians, It begins, Dans mon chemin j'ai rencontré And the refrain to every verse was, A l'ombre d'un bois je m'en vais jouer, A l'ombre d'un bois je m'en vais danser. I ventured to harmonize this air, and have published it. Without that charm which association gives to every little memorial of scenes or feelings that are past, the melody may perhaps be thought common and trifling; but I remember when we have entered, at sunset, upon one of those beautiful lakes into which the St Lawrence so grandly and unexpectedly opens, I have heard this simple air with a pleasure which the finest compositions of the first masters have never given me; and now there is not a note of it which does not recal to my memory the dip of our oars in the St Lawrence, the flight of our boat down the Rapids, and all those new and fanciful impressions to which my heart was alive during the whole of this very interesting voyage. The above stanzas are supposed to be sung by those voyageurs who go to the Grande Portage by the Utawas River. For an account of this wonderful undertaking, see SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE'S General History of the Fur Trade, prefixed to his Journal. At the Rapid of St Ann they are obliged to take out part, if not the whole, of their lading. It is from this spot the Canadians consider they take their departure, as it possesses the last church on the island, which is dedicated to the tutelar saint of voyagers.-MACKENZIE'S General History of the Fur Trade. 2. Avendo essi per costume di avere in veneratione gli alberi grandi ed antichi, quasi che siano spesso ricetaccoli di anime beate." -Pietro della Valle, Part. Second. Lettera 16 da i giardini di Sciraz. Oh! I have wonder'd, like the peasant boy Is rock'd to rest, the wind's complaining note From the clime of sacred doves, 4 Where the blessed Indian roves, Through the air on wing, as white As the spirit-stones of light,5 When I arrived at Chippewa, within three miles of the Falls, it was too late to think of visiting them that evening, and I lay awake all night with the sound of the cataract in my ears. The day following I consider as a kind of era in my life, and the first glimpse which I caught of those wonderful Falls gave me a feeling which nothing in this world can ever excite again. To Colonel Brock, of the 49th, who commanded at the Fort, I am particularly indebted for his kindness to me during the fortnight I remained at Niagara. Among many pleasant days, which I passed with him and his brother officers, that of our visit to the Tuscarora Indians was not the least interesting. They received us all in their ancient costume; the young men exhibited, for our amusement, in the race, the bat-game, etc.,-while the old and the women sat in groups under the surrounding trees; and the picture altogether was as beautiful as it was new to me. 2 ANBUREY, in his Travels, has noticed this shooting illumination which porpoises diffuse at night through the St Lawrence, v. i, p. 29. The glass-snake is brittle and transparent. 4 The departed spirit goes into the Country of Souls, where, according to some, it is transformed into a dove.-CHARLEVOIX, upon the Traditions and the Religion of the Savages of Canada. See the curious Fable of the American Orpheus in Lafitau, tom. i, p. 402. The mountains appeared to be sprinkled with white stones, which glistened in the sun, and were called by the Indians manetoe aseniah, or spirit-stones.-MACKENZIE's Journal. Which the eye of morning counts Where the wave, as clear as dew, Then, when I have stray'd awhile Then I chase the flow'ret-king Soft his neck and winds suffuse, Lovely in his looks of ire, Then my playful hand I steep I was thinking bre of what CARVER says so beautifully in his description of one of these lakes: When it was calm, and the sun shone bright, I could sit in my canoe, where the depth was upwards of six fathoms, and plainly see huge piles of stone at the bottom, of different shapes, some of which appeared as if they had been hewn ; the water was at this time as pure and transparent as air, and my canoe seemed as if it hung suspended in that element. It was im possible to look attentively through this limpid medium at the rocks below, without finding, before many minutes were elapsed, your head swim and your eyes no longer able to behold the dazzling scene.. 2. Après avoir traversé plusieurs isles peu considerables, nons en trouvâmes le quatrième jour une fameuse, nommée liste de Manitoualin.-Voyages du Baron de LAHONTAN, tom. i, lett. 15, Manataulin signifies a Place of Spirits, and this island in Lake Huron is beld sacred by the Indians. The Wakon-Bird, which probably is of the same species with the Bird of Paradise, receives its name from the ideas the Indians have of its superior excellence; the Wakon-Bird being, in their language, the Bird of the Great Spirit.-Monse. The islands of Lake Erie are surrounded to a considerable dis tance by the large pond-lily, whose leaves spread thickly over the surface of the lake, and form a kind of bed for the water-snakes in summer. The gold-thread is of the vine kind, and grows in swamps. The roots spread themselves just under the surface of the morasses, and are easily drawn out by handfals. They resemble a large entangled skein of silk, and are of a bright yellow.-Mouse. L'oiseau mouche, gros comme un hanneton, est de toutes conleurs, vives et changeantes: il tire sa subsistence des fleurs comme les abeilles; son nid est fait d'un coton très-fin suspendu à une branche d'arbre.— Voyage aux Indes Occidentules, par M. Bosse, zd part, lett. xx. By the garden's fairest spells, Oft, when hoar and silvery flakes To the wig-wam's cheering ray, While, beneath the golden ray, Feather'd round with falling snow, And an arch of glory springs, Brilliant as the chain of rings Thus have I charm'd, with visionary lay, The lonely moments of the night away; And now, fresh daylight o'er the water beams! Once more embark'd upon the glittering streams, Our boat tlies light along the leafy shore, Shooting the falls, without a dip of oar Or breath of zephyr, like the mystic bark The poet saw, in dreams divinely dark, Borne, without sails, along the dusky flood, 3 While on its deck a pilot angel stood, And, with his wings of living light unfurl'd, Coasted the dim shores of another world! Yet oh! believe me in this blooming maze So heavenly calm, as when a stream or hill, 1 Emberiza hyemalis. See IMavy's Kentucky, page 280. * Lafitan wishes to believe, for the sake of his theory, that there was an order of vestals established among the Iroquois Indians: bat I am afraid that Jacques Carthier, upon whose authority he supports himself, meant any thing but vestal institutions by the cabanes publiques which he met with at Montreal.-See LAFITAU, Meurs des Sauvages Americains, etc. tom. i, p. 173. * Vedi che sdegna gli argɔmenti umani Vedi come l'ha dritte verso 'l cielo DANTE, Purgator, cant. ii. Or veteran oak, like those remember'd well, Whether I trace the tranquil moments o'er Her sails are full, though the wind is still, And there blows not a breath her sails to fill! Oh! what doth that vessel of darkness bear? There lieth a wreck on the dismal shore Where, under the moon, upon mounts of frost, Yon shadowy bark hath been to that wreck, To Deadman's Isle, in the eye of the blast, Oh! hurry thee on-oh! hurry thee on, TO THE BOSTON FRIGATE.' ON LEAVING HALIFAX FOR ENGLAnd, october 1804. Νόστου προφασις γλυκερου. PINDAR. Pyth. 4. WITH triumph this morning, oh Boston! I hail The stir of thy deck and the spread of thy sail, For they tell me I soon shall be wafted, in thee, To the flourishing isle of the brave and the free, And that chill Nova-Scotia's unpromising strand 2 Is the last I shall tread of American land. Well-peace to the land! may the people at length, Know that freedom is bliss, but that honour is strength; That though man have the wings of the fetterless wind, Of the wantonest air that the north can unbind, We were thirteen days on our passage from Quebec to Halifax. and I had been so spoiled by the very splendid hospitality with which my friends of the Phaeton and Boston had treated me, that I was but ill prepared to encounter the miseries of a Canadian ship. The weather, however, was pleasant, and the scenery along the river delightful. Our passage through the Gut of Canso, with a bright sky and a fair wind, was particularly striking and romantic. 1 Commanded by Captain J. E. Douglas, with whom I returned to England, and to whom I am indebted for many, many kindnesses. In truth, I should but offend the delicacy of my friend Douglas, and, at the same time, do injustice to my own feelings of gratitude, d.d I attempt to say how much I owe to him. Sir John Wentworth, the Governor of Nova-Scotia, very kindly allowed me to accompany him on his visit to the college which they have lately established at Windsor, about forty miles from Halifax, and I was indeed most pleasantly surprised by the beauty and fertility of the country which opened upon us after the bleak and rocky wilderness by which Halifax is surrounded. I was told that, in travelling onwards, we should find the soil and the scenery improve, and it gave me much pleasure to know that the worthy Governor has by no means such an « inamabile regnum as I was, at first sight, inclined to believe. |