Book II

friend." Mentor replied with a fmilc, " I have no desire to reproach you with the fault which you have committed; if you have such a sense of it, as will enable you to repress the violence of deiirc hereafter, I am satisfied: but when danger shall be pafl, perhaps presumption may return } it is, however, by courage only that we can now escape. Before we incur danger, we should consider it as formidable; but when it is present, we should treat it with contempt: now, therefore, fhew thyself worthy of Ulysses, and discover a mind superior to all the evils which combine against thee." The candour and magnanimity of Mentor, gave me great pleasure; but I was tranfported with wonder and delight, at the llratagem by which he delivered us: just as the clouds broke, and the light must in a few minutes have discovered us to the Trojans, who were very near, he remarked that one of their veflels, which greatly refembled ours, except that the Hern was decorated with garlands of flowers, had been separated from the rest of the fleet in the storm; he immediately placed ornaments of the fame kind at the ftern of our vef[el, and made them fast himself with bandages of the fame colour as those of the Trojans; he also ordered the rowers to floop over their feats as low as pofllble, that our enemies might not discover them to be Greeks. In this manner he proceeded through the midst of their fleet; and the Trojans, miflaking us for their veflTel which had been mifllng, fliouted as we pafled: we were sometimes forced irrefiftibly along with • them, but at length found means to linger behind; and while they were driven by the impetuofity of the wind towards Africa, we laboured at the oar, and made our utmost effort to land on the neighbouring coast of Sicily. Our labour indeed succeeded: but the port which we fought, was fcarce less to be dreaded, than the fleet which we had endeavoured to avoid; for on the coast of Sicily we found other fugitives from Troy, who had settled there under the government of Aceftes, who was himself of Trojan extraction.

C2 \Vc

We had no sooner landed, than these, people, imagining either tha^ \ve were inhabitants of some other part of the island, who had taken arms to furprize them; or a foreign enemy, who had invaded their country; burnt our velTel in the first tumult of tlieirrage, and put all our companions to the sword: MfiNxaR and myself were spared only that we might be presented to -Acelles, and that he might learn from us what were our designs, and whence we came. We entered thecjty, with our hands bound behind us; and had nothing to expect from this: refpite, but that our death, would be made the fpedacle of, a cruel people, as foap.^s they fljould discover us to be Greeks.

" We were brought before Aceftes, who was fitting with a fcepter of gold in his.haAd, adminiftring justice to his people, and^.preparing to assist at, afplftpin sacrifice. ,He aj[ked us, ,wit,h a, ile;rn voice, the name of our country, and the pur.pofe of our voyage: Mentor instantly replied, " We CQi;ne from the cqaflof the greater Hefperia, and our country is not far from thence:" he thus a^vpided a declaration that we were Greeks. But Aceftes, would hear no more} and concluding that we were llrangers, who had formed some evil design, which we were therefore solicitous to conceal; he commanded that we {hquld be sent into the neighbouring forells, to serve as slaves under thpfe wjio,had the care of his cattle. To live upon this condition, ^yas to me Icfs eligible, than, to die; and I cried out, " O.king! punish us rather with, death, than infarny. Know, that I am Telemachus, son of the wife Ul.ysses king of Ithaca: in search of my father J am bound to every shore j l^ut, in this search, if I am not perijiitted to succeed, if I mull never more return to itiy country, and if I can no longer live but as a flaye, put an end to. my life, and relieve me from a. burden which I cannot support." This exclamation inflamed the multitude; and they immediately demanded, that the ion of U]t,Y5SES, by whose j.nhuman fubtilty Troy had been fubyerted, should be put to death. S Acefles

TVce^es then turning to me, cried out, "I cannot rcfufe thy bloofl, O son of Ulysses! to the manes of those Trojans, with whom thy father crowded the ban^s of Acheron: thou mull jdie, and thy con- .du^Hior.shall perish with thee." At the. fame instant, an old man.proposed to the king, that we should be oiFered up upon the tomb of Anchifes: " The fhade 9f that hero, said he, will be gratified with their blood; and even the great iEneas, when he lliall be told of such a sacrifice, will be touched with joy at the zeal of your afFe(?tipn for the fiipreme obje(6t of his own." This proposition was reeeived with ajhout pf applaufe, and the execution of it was imniediately begun. We ^yere conduced to the tomb of Anchifes, where t\yo altars had been prepared; ,the hallowed fire was kindled, and the facrificial knife lay before us: they had adorned us, as vic- , tims, with garlands of flowers x and.the pleadings of compaflion weire overbprn by the impetuofity of zeal. But just at this dreadful, crifis,. Mentor, with all the calmnefs of security, demanded audi- _€n.ce of the king, and addrelTed him thus: " O Acelles! if the miffoxtunes.ofTELEMACHus, who is yet a yo|Uth, and has never borne arms. against the Trojans, can excite no pity in thy breall, at least letthy own danger awaken thy attention: the skill that I have ac- .quired in omens,, by which the will of the Gods is discovered, enables me to fpretel, that, within three days, a nation of barbarians.^will rufli upon.thee from the mountains, like a flood, to fpoil thy, city, and overfpread thy country with desolation: make haflC) ^, therefore, to avert the torrent; arm thy people, and secure within,.the^ walls of,the city whatever is valuable in the field. If, when,;three days are elapfed, ray predidlion shall appear to have been (false, .let,these altars be ftained with our blood; but, on the con- . .trary, if.it shall be confirmed by the event, let Acelles remember, , that he ought not to take away the life of those, to whom he will be indebted for his own." At these words, which were pronounced, not with the diffidence of conje(5lUre, but the aflTurance of certain knowledge,

14 B O O K I.

knowledge, Aceftes was astonished: " I perceive, O stranger, said he, that the Gods, who have allotted thee fo small a portion of the gifts of fortune, have enriched thee with the more valuable treasures of wisdom." He then commanded the solemnities of the sacrifice to be suspended, and immediately prepared against the invasion which had been predidled by Mentor. Multitudes of women trembling with fear, and men decrepit with age, followed by children whom the alarm had terrified into tears, were seen on every fide, crowding to the city; the sleep and cattle came in such droves from the paftures, that they were obliged to Hand without covert in the llreets; and a confused noise was every where to be heard, of multitudes that juftled each other with tumultuous and undiftinguifhed outcries, miilook a llranger for a friend, and prefled forward with the utmost eagerness, though they knew not whither they were going. The principal citizens, indeed, imagining themselves to be wifer than the rest, regarded Mentor as an impoftor, who had invented a falsehood to prolong his life: but before the end of the third day, while they were yet applauding their own fagacity, a cloud of dust was perceived upon the declivity of the neighbouring mountains, and an innumerable multitude of armed barbarians were soon afterwards distinguished: these were the Hymcrians, and other favages, that inhabit the Nebrodian mountains, and the fummit of Agragas; regions, in which the severity of winter is never foftened by the breezes of spring. Those who had despised the prediction of Mentor, were nqw punished by the loss of their Haves and their cattle; and the king addrefled him to this efFe(51:: " From henceforth I forget that you are Greeks, lince you are no more enemies but friends; and as you were doubtless sent by the Gods for our deliverance, I hope not less from your valour, than I have experienced from your wisdom j delay not, therefore, to afford us your alliftance."

" At

((

At this moment there appeared in the eyes of Mentor, somewhat that intimidated the fierce, and overawed the proud: he fnatched a fliield and an helmet, girded on a sword, and poifed a lance in his hand; he drew up the soldiers of Aceftes, and advanced towards the enemy at their head: Aceftes, whose courage was Hill high, but whose body was enfeebled by age, could only follow him at a distance; I approached nearer to his person, but not to his valour. In the battle, his cuiras refembled the immortal iEgis of Minerva; and death, watching his sword as a signal, followed him from rank to rank: thus a lion of Numidia, that hunger has made yet more furious, rufhes among the flock; he kills and tears to pieces without refiflance; and the lliepherds, instead of attempting to defend their sheep, fly with terror and trepidation to prefer.vc themselves.

" The barbarians, who hoped to have furprized the city, were themselves furprized and difconcerted; and the fubjecls of Acefles, animated by the example and the voice of Mentor, exerted a power which they knew not that they poiTefled. The son of the king who commanded the invasion, fell by my hand: our ages were equal, but he greatly exceeded me in fl:ature; for thcfe favages are descended from a race of giants, whose origin was the fame with that of the Cyclops. I perceived that he despised me as a feeble enemy; but regarding neither the fiercenefsof his demeanour, nor the fuperiority of his strength, I made a thruft at his breast with my lance; the weapon entering deeply, he vomited a torrent of blood and expired: but I was in danger of being cruflied by his weight as he fell, and the distant mountains echoed with the clafla of his armour. After I had flrippcd the body of the spoils, I returned to seek Acelles; and Mentor, having compleated the disorder of the enemy, cut to pieces all that made a fhew of resistance, and perfued the fugitives to the woods.

3 *' This

4?

" This success, of which every one had fo lately defpaired, fixed all eyes upon Mentor, as a favourite of the Gods, and diftingiiillied by divine in fpiration; and Acefles, in gratitude to his deliverers, acquainted us, that it would no longer be in his power to prote(5l us, if the fleet of iEneas ihould put back, to Sicily: he therefore furnillied us with a vefTel that we rnigh't retutni t6 oiir country;' and, having loaded us with presents, he urged our irtimediate depa^rture, as the only means by which the approaching danger could be avoided: he would not, however, supply us either with rowers or a pilot from among his own fubjedts, becaiife he was unwilHng to trufl them upon the Grecian coalls; but he feht on board some Phenician merchants, who, as they are a cdmmef-. cial people, and trade to every port, had nothing to fear. These men were to have returned with the vefTel to Aceftes, after they had ^ut us on shore at Ithaca; but the Gods^ who fport with the dQ^ ftgns of men, devoted us to other evils."

The E N D of the F I R S T E O 0 jfev

C &rifwuan. j*/a/^.

((

THE pride of the Tyrians had ofTended Sefoilris, the king of Egypt, who had extended his dominion by the conqiieft of many dates. The weakh which they had acquired by commerce, and the impregnable ftrcngth of their city which flood in the sea, had rendered them fo infolent and prefumptuous, that they refused to pay the tribute which had been imposed by Sefoftris in his return to Egypt; and had sent troops to the aflillance of his brother, who had attempted to afTaflinate him at a feast, in the midst of the rejoicings that had been made for his return.

" Sefoftris had determined to humble them, by inteiTupting their trade; he, therefore, sent out a great number of armed veflels, with orders to take or sink the Phenician Ihips wherever they should be found } and just as we lost fight of Sicily, we fell in with an

D Egypi8 B O O K 11.

Egyptian {ieet. The port and the land seemed to retreat behind us, and \o[c themselves in the clouds; and we saw the fleet approach like a floating city. The Phenicians immediately perceived their danger, and Avould have avoided it; but it was too late: the Egyptian veflels failed better than ours, the wind was in their favpur, and they had a greater number of oars: they boarded, and took us without reflilance, and carried us prifoners into Egypt. I told them, indeed, that neither Mentor nor myself was a Phenician, but they heard me with contempt; and imagining that wc were flavcs, a merchandize in which they knew the Phenicians traded, thought only how to dispose of us to the greatest advantage. We soon perceived the sea to be whitened by the waters of the Nile, and the coast of Eg>'pt appeared in the horizon like a cloud; we then ^rived at the iflandof Pharos, near the city of No, and thence proceeded up the Nile to Memphis.

" If the sorrows of captivity had not rendered us infenfible to^ ipleafure, wc must have been delighted with the profpedl of this fertile country, which had the appearance of a vast garden, watered with an infinite number of canals. Each fide of the river was diverfified with opulent cities, delightful villas, fields that produced every year a golden harvest, and meadows that were covered with flocks: earth laviilied her fruits upon the hufbandman till he flooped under the burden, and echo seemed pleased to repeat the ruftic music of the fhepherds. " Happy are the people, said Mentor, who arc governed by fo wife a king! they flourifli in perpetual plenty, and love him by whom that plenty is bestowed. Thus, OTelemachus! ought thy government to secure the happincfs of thy people, if the Gods shall at length exalt thee to the throne of thy father. Love thy fubje(5ls as thy children; and learn from their love of thee, to derive the happiness of a parent: teach them

B O O K II. ip them to conne(5t the idea of happincfs with that of their king; that, whenever they rejoice in the bleflings of peace, they may remember their benefactor, and honour thee with the tribute of gratitude. The tyrants who are only solicitous to be feared, and teach their fubjefts humility by oppression, are the scourges of mankind: they are, indeed, objects of terror; but as they are also objects of hatred and deteftation, they have more to fear from their fubjecls, than their fubjedts can have to fear from them."

V "I replied, " Alas! what have we now to do with maxims of go< vcrnment? With refpe(5t to us, Ithaca is no more; we shall never again behold Penelope, or our country: with whatever glory Ulysses may at length return, to meet his son is a joy that he shall never taste; and to obey him till I shall learn to govern, is a plea^ sure that will for ever be witheld from me. Let us die then, my dear Mentor; all thoughts, but of death, are idle fpeculations; let us die, fmce the Gods have ceased to regard us with compassion." I was fo deprefTed by grief, that this speech was rendered almost unintelligible, by the fighs with which it was interrupted: but Mentor, though he was not prefumptuous with refpeft to future evils, was yet fearlefs of the present, " Unworthy son of the great Ulysses, said he, dost thou yield to misfortune without refillance! Know, that the day approaches, in which thou shalt again behold thy mother, and thy country: thou shalt behold, in the meridian of his glory, him whom thou hast never known, the invincible Ulysses, whom fortime can never fubdue; and whofc example, in more dreadful calamity than thine, may teach thee never to despair. Should he learn, in the remote countries on which the tempeft has cast him, that his son emulates neither his pntience nor his valour, the dreadful tidings would cover him with confuiion, and affiid him more than.all the evils of his life."

D s " Mentor

J

20 B O O K II.

*' Mentor then called my attention to the chcarfulnefs and plenty, ^vhich were difFufed over all Egypt; a country, which contained twenty-two thousand cities. He admired the policy with which they were governed; the justice which prevented the opprcffion of the poor by the rich; the education of the youth, which rendered obedience, labour, temperance, and the love of arts or of literature, habitual } the puncStuality in all the solemnities of religion, the public spirit, the desire of honour, the integrity to man, and *the reverence to the Gods, which were implanted by every parent in every child. He long contemplated this beautiful order with increafmg delight, and frequently repeated his exclamations of praise: " Happy are the people, said he, who are thus wisely ^Qverned; but yet more happy the king, whose bounty is fo extenfively the felicity of others, and whose virtue is the source of yet.nobler enjoyment to himself: his dominion is secured, not by terror, but by love; and his commands are received, not only with obedience, but with joy: he reigns in the hearts of his people. who are fo far from wishing his government at an end, that they consider his mortality with regret, and every man would rejoice ta redeem the life of his sovereign with his own."

" I listened attentively to this discourse of Mentor, and while he spoke 1 perceived new courage kindle in my bosom. As soon as we arrived at Memphis, a city distinguished by its opulence and splendor, the governor sent us forsvard to Thebes, that we might be qucRioned by Sefoftris; who, if he had been less attentive to adminiLler his own government, would yet have examined us himself, as he was extremely incenfed against the Tyrians. We, therefore, proceeded up the Nile, to the celebrated city with an hundred gates, the residence of this mighty prince. Thebes appeared to be of vail extent, and more populous than the moil flouriihing city of

Greece.

B O O K ir. 2r

Greece. The regulations that are established for keeping the avenues free from incumbrances, maintaining the aqucdudis and rendering the baths convenient, for the cuhivation of arts, and for the security of the publick, are the mofl: excellent that can be imagined. The fquares are decorated with fountains and obelifks, the temples are of marble, and the architecture, tho' it is simple, is majeftic; the palace itself is almost as cxtenfive as a town, and abounds with columns of marble, pyramids and obelifks, ilatues of a prodigious magnitude, and furniture of silver and gold.

" The king was informed by those who took us, that we were found on board a Phenician veflel: it was his custom to give audience, at a certain hour every day, to all who had any complaint to make, or intelligence to communicate; nor was any man either despised or rejected by Sefoftris: he considered himself as pofleiP ing the regal authority, only that he might be the instrument of good, to his people, whom he regarded with the affection of a father; and strangers, whom he treated with great kindness, he was very felicitous to see, because he believed that-some useful knowledge might always be acquired, by an acquaintance with the manners and customs of remote countries. For this rcafon we were brought before him. He was seated upon a throne of ivory, and held a golden fceptre in his hand; though he was advanced in years, his person was still graceful, and his countenance was full of sweetness and majelly. He sat every day to adminifter justice to his people; and his patience and fagacity as a judge, would have vindicated the boldeft panegyrift from the imputation of flattery: such were the labours of the day: and to hear a declamation on some question of science, or to converse with those whom he knew to be worthy of his familiarity, was the entertainment of the evening: nor was the lultre of his life fullied by any fault, but

22 B O O K It.

but that of having triumphed over the princes whom he had conquered with too much oilentation, and confided too much in one of his officers, whose chara^er I shall prefently dcfcribe. When he saw me, my youth moved him to companion, and he enquired my country and my name: we were ilruck with the dignity and propriety of his expression, and I answered, . " Most illustrious prince, thou art not ignorant of the siege of Troy, which endured ten years; nor of its dellrudion, which exhausted Greece of her nobleft blood: Ulysses, the king of Ithaca, who is my father, was one of the principal inflruments of that great event; but is now, in search of his kingdom, a fugitive on the deep; and, in search of him, I am, by a like misfortune, a captive in Egypt. Reflore me once more to my father and my country; fo may the Gods preserve thee to thy children, and may they rejoice under the protection of fo good a parent." Sefoflris still regarded me with compassion; but doubting whether what I had told him was true, he gave charge of us to one of his officers, with orders to enquire of the persons who had taken our vefTel, whether we were indeed Greeks or Phenicians. " If they are Phenicians, said he, they will deserve punifhmcnt, not only as our enemies, but as wretches who have bafely attempted to deceiye us by a falsehood; but on the contrary, if they are Greeks, it is my pleasure that they be treated with kindness, and sent back to their country in one of my vefTels: for I love Greece, a country which has derived many of its laws from the wisdom of Egypt; I am not unacquainted with the virtue of Her- .cules; the glory of Achilles has reached us, however remote; I admire the wisdom that is related of the unfortunate Ulysses, and I rejoice to alleviate the distress of virtue."

" Metophis, the officer to whom the king had referred the examination of our affair, was as corrupt and feliilh as Sefoftris was generous and fmcere: he attempted to perplex us by enfnaring 3 questions;

queflions; and, as he perceived that Mkntok's answers were more prudent than mine, he regarded him with malevolence and fulpicion; for, to the unworthy, there is no infult fo intolerable as merit. He, therefore, caused us to be separated, and from that time I knew not what was become of Mentor. This Reparation was, to me, fuddcn and dreadful as a ftrokc of thunder: but Metophis hoped, that, by interrogating us apart, he should be able to discover some inconfiftency in our account; and yet more, that he might allure me, by promises, to discover that, which Mentor had concealed. To discover truth, was not indeed his principal view j but to find some pretence to tell the king we were Phenicians, that, as slaves, we might become his property; and notwithstanding our innocence, and the king's fagacity, he succeeded. How dangerous a situation is royalty, in which the wifefl: are often the tools of deceit! A throne is surrounded by the train of fubtilty and self-interest; integrity retires, because she will not be introduced by importunity or flattery: virtue, conscious of her own dignity, waits at a diflance till she is fought, and princes seldom know where she may be found; but vice and her dependents are impudent and fraudful, infmuating and officious, fkilful in difllmulation, and ready to renounce all principles, and to violate every tie, when it becomes necelTary to the gratification of the appetites of a prince. How wretched is the man, who is thus perpetually exposed to the attempts of guilt; by which he mull inevitably perish, if he does not renounce the muiic of adulation, and learn not to be offended by the plainncfs of truth. Such were the reflexions which I made in my diflrcfs, and I revolved in my mind all. that had been said tO' me by Men TO. '^.

" While my thoughts were thus employed, I was sent by Metophis towards the Mountains of the defart Oafis, that I might afllfl: his slaves in looking after his flocks, which were almoll without number.' number." CALYPSohere interrupted Telemachus: " And what did you then, said she? in Sicily, you chose death rather than llavery." *' I was then, said Telemach us, become yet more wretched, and had no longer the sad consolation of such a choice; slavery was irrefiftibly forced upon me, and I was compelled by fortune to exhaufl the dregs of her cup: I was excluded even from hope, and every avenue to liberty was barred against me. In the mean time, Mentor, as he has fmce told me, was carried into Ethiopia, by certain natives of that country, to whom he had been fold.

" The scene of my captivity was a defart, where the plain is a burning fand, and the mountains are covered with snow; below was intolerable heat, and above was perpetual winter: the pafturage was thinly scattered among the rocks, the mountains were sleep and craggy, and the vallies between them were almost macceffible to the rays of the sun: nor had I any society in this dreadful situation, but that of the fhepherds, who are as rude and uncultivated as the country. Here I spent the night in bewailing my misfortunes, and the day in following my flocks, that I might avoid the brutal infolence of the principal slave, whose name was Butis, and who, having conceived hopes of obtaining his freedom, was perpetually accufing the rest, as a testimony of his zeal and attachment to the intere.ft of his mailer. This complication of distress almost overwhelmed me; and, in the anguifti of my mind, I one day forgot my flock, and threw myself on the ground near a cave, expe6ting that death would deliver me from a calamity which I was no longer able tofuftain. But, just in the moment of despair, 1 perceived the mountain tremble; the oaks and pines seemed to bow from the fummir, the breeze itself was huflied, and a deep voice, which seemed to ifTue from the cave, pronounced these words: *' Son of the wife Ulysses! thou must, like him, become great by patience. Princes who have not known adverfity, are unworthy

\vortliy of happincfs; they are enervated, by luxuiy, and intoxicated with pride. Surmount, and remember diefe m-iifortuaes, and thou art happy. Thou (halt return to Ithaca, and thy glory IhallfiU the world. When thoufliak have dominion over others, forget not that thou hast been like them, weak, deftitutc, and affli(Sted; be it thy happiness, therefore, to afford them comfort. Love thy people; detest flattery; and remember, that no man is great, but in proportion as he reftrains and fubdues his pailions," These words inspired me as the voice of Heaven: joy immediately throbbed in my veins, and courage glowed in my bolbm; nor was I seized with that horror, which fo often caufcs the hair to stand upright, and the blood to ftagnate, when the Gods reveal themselves to men. I rose in tranquillity; and kneeling on the ground, I lifted up my hands to Heaven, and paid my adorations to Minerva, to whom 1 believed myself indebted for this oracle. At the fame time I perceived my mind illuminated with wisdom; and was conscious to a gentle, yet prevailing infltiencc, which over-ruled all my pafllons, and restrained the ardour of my youth: I acquired the friendship of all the fliepherds of the defart; and my meekness, patience, and diligence, at length obtained the good-will even of Butis himself, who was at first disposed to treat me with inhumanity.

" To fliorten the tedious hours of captivity and solitude, I endeavoured to procure some books; for I funk under the sense of my condition, merely becaufc 1 had nothing either to recreate or to fortify my mind. Happy, said I, are those, who have loll their relifla for tumultuous pleasure, and are content with the foothing quiet of innocence and retirement! Happy are they, whose amufement is knowledge, and whose fuprcme delight the cultivation of the mind! wherever they shall be driven by the persecution of fortune, the means of enjoyment are Hill with them; and that z6- BOOK n.

weary liftlefnefs which renders life infiipportable to the voluptu^ ous and the lazy, is unknown to those who can employ themselves by reading. Happy are those, to whom this employment is pleasing, and who are not, like me, compelled to be idle! While my mind was agitated by these thoughts, I had wandered into a thick forefl; and, fiiddcnly looking up, I perceived before-me an old man with a book in his hand: his forehead was somewhat wrinkled, and he was bald to the crown; a beard, white as snow, hung down to his girdle; his ftature was tall, his cheeks were flill florid, and his eyes piercing: there was great sweetness in his voice; his address, though it was plain, was engaging; and I had never seen any person, whose manner and appearance fo strongly excited veneration and esteem. His name was Termofiris; he was a priefl of Apollo, and officiated in a temple of marble which the kings of Egypt had consecrated to that Deity in the forest: the book which he held in his hand, was a coUedtionof hymns that had been composed to the honour of the Gods. He accofted me with an air of. friendship, and we entered into conversation. He related past events v with such force of expreflion, that they seemed to be present; , and with such comprehensive brevity, that attention was not wearied j. and he forefaw the future, by a fagacity that discovered the true charafters and dispositions of mankind, and the events which they would produce. But with all this intelle(5lual fuperiority, he was chearful and condefcending; there is no grace in the utmost gaiety of youth, that was not exceeded by Termofuis in his age j and he regarded young persons with a kind of parental afFecflion, when he perceived that they had a difpoiition to be inftru6ted and a love for virtue.

" He soon discovered a tender regard for me, and gave me books to relieve the anxiety of my mind: he called me his son, and I frequently addreiTed him as a father; " The Gods, said I, who have deprived;

-deprived me of Mentor, have in pity fuflained me with thy friendship." He was, without doubt, Uke Orpheus and Linus, irradiated by the immediate inspiration of the Gods; he often repeated verses of his own, and gave me those of many others who had been the favourites of the mufcs. When he was habited in his long white robe, and played upon his ivory lyre, the bears, lions, and tigers of the forest, fawned upon him, and licked his feet -, the fatyrs came from their recefles, and danced round him; and it might almost have been believed, that even the trees and rocks were influenced by the magic of his song, in which he celebrated the majesty of the Gods, the virtue of heroes, and the wisdom of thofc who prefer glory to pleasure,

" Termofiris often excited me to courage: he told me, that the Gods would never abandon either Ulysses or his son; and that I ought, after the example of Apollo, to introduce the fliepherds to the acquaintance of the mufes. Apollo, says he, difpleafcd that Jupiter frequently interrupted the ferenity of the brightcfl: days with thunder, turned his refentment against the Cyclops who forged the bolts, and destroyed them with his arrows, hnmediately, the fiery explofions of Mount Etna ceased; and the Urokes of those enormous hammers, which had fhaken the earth to the centre, were heard no more: iron and brafs, which the Cyclops had been used to polish, began now to rufl and canker; and Vulcan quitting his forge, in the fury of his refentment haftily climbed Olympus, notwith- Handing his lamencfs, and rufliing into the afTembly of the Gods, covered with dufl and sweat, complained of the injury with all the bitterness of invecftive. Jupiter being thus incenfed againfl Apollo, expelled him from heaven, and threw him -down headlong to the earth: but his chariot, though it was empty, ilill performed its usual course; and, by an invifiblc impulse, continued the fucceflioa of day and night, and the regular change of seasons to mankinds

E 2 Apollo,

28 B O O K ir.

Apollo, divefted of his rays, was compelled to become a fhepherdV and kept the flocks of Admctus kmg of Theflaly.

" While he was thus difgraced and in exile, he used to footh his mind with music, under the fliade of some elms that flourillied upon the borders of a limpid flrcam. This drew about him all the neighbouring flicpherds, whose life till then had been rude and brutal, whose knowledge had been confined to the management of their sheep, and whose country had the appearance of a defart. To these favages, Apollo, varying the fubjedt of his song, taught all the arts, by which existence is improved into felicity. Some-times he celebrated the flowers which improve the graces of Spring, the fragrance which she diflTufes, and the verdure that rises under her feet: sometimes the delightful evenings of Summer, her zephyrs that refrelh mankind, and her dews that allay the thirst of the earth -. nor were the golden fruits of Autumn forgotten, with which she rewards the labour of the hulbandtnan; nor the chearful idleness of Winter, who piles his fires till they emulate th£ sun, and invites the youth to dancing and feftivity: he dcfcribed also the gloomy forests with which the mountains are overihadov/ed, and the rivers that wind with a pleasing intricacy through the luxuriant meadows of the valley. Thus were the fiiephcrds of Thcfi!aly made acquainted with the happiness that is CO be found in a rural life, by those to whom nature is not bountiful in vain: their pipes now rendered them more happy than, kings; and those uncorrupted pleasures which fly from the palace,, were invited to the cottage.. The fhepherdefTes were followed by the fports, the fmiles and the graces, and adorned by simplicity and in^nocence: every day was devoted to joy 5 and' nothing- was to be-, heard, but the chirping of birds, the whifpers of the zephyrs that fportcd among the branches of the trees, the murmurs of water falling from a rock, or the songs with which the mufcs inspired;

thashe fhcpherds who followed Apollo: they were taught also to conquer in the race, and to fhoot with the bow. The Gods themselves became jealous of their happiness; they now thought the obscurity of a shepherd better than the splendour of a Deity, and recalled Apollo to Olympus ►

" By this story, my son, be thou infl;ru(5led: thou art now in the fame state with that of Apollo in his exile; like him, therefore, fertilize an uncultivated soil, and call plenty to a dcfart; teach thcfe ruftics the power of music, foften the obdurate heart to fenfibility, and captivate the favage with the charms of virtue. Let them taste the pleasures of innocence and retirement; and heighten this felicity with the tranfporting knowledge, that it is not dependent upon the caprice of fortune. The day approaches, my son, the day approaches, in which the pains and cares that furround a throne, will teach thee to remember these wilds with regret.-

" Termofiris then gave me a flute, the tone of which was fb melodious, that the echoes of the mountains which propagated the found, immediately brought the neighbouring fhepherds in crowds about me: a divine melody was communicated to my voice, I perceived myself to be under a supernatural influence, and I celebrated' the beauties of nature with all the rapture of enthusiasm. We frequently sung all the day in concert, and sometimes we encroached upon the night. The fhepherds, forgetting their cottages and their flocks, were fixed motionlefs as flatues about me while I delivered my inftrudlions; the defart became infenfibly less wild and rude, every thing aflumed a more pleafmg appearance, and the country itself seemed to be improved, by the manners of the. people.

*' We often alfembled to sacrifice in' the temple of Apollo, at' "which Termofiris officiated as priefl: the flicphcrds wore wreaths of laurcB so laurel in honour of the God; and the fhepherdeiTes were adorned ■with garlands of flowers, and came dancing with balkets of consecrated gifts upon their heads. After the sacrifice, we made a rural feast: the greatest dehcacies were the milk of our goats and sleep, and some dates, figs, grapes, and other fruits, which were fresh gathered by our own hands; the green turf was our seat; and the foliage of the trees afforded us a more pleafmg Ihade than the gilded roofs of a palace. But my reputation among the fhephcrds was complct^^d by an accident: an hungry lion happened to break in among my flock, and began a dreadful slaughter; I ran towards him, though I had nothing in my hand but my sleep-hook: when he saw me, he ere<5led his mane; he began to grind his teeth, and to extend his claws; his mouth appeared dry and inflamed, and his eyes were red and fiery. I did not wait for his attack, but ruflied in upon him, and threw him to the ground: nor did I receive any.hurt; for a small coat of mail that I wore as an Egyptian shepherd, defended me against his claws. Three times I threw him, and he rose three times against me, roaring fo loud that the utmost receflTes of the forest echoed: but, at last, I grafped him till he was ftrangledj and the fliepherds who were witneflx^s of my conquest, insisted that I should wear his fkin as a trophy.

" This adion, and the change of manners among our fhepherds Avas rumoured through all Egypt, and came at length to the ears of Sefoftris: he learnt, that one of the two captives, who had been taken for Phenicians, had restored the golden age in the midst of •deiarts which were fcarce habitable, and desired to see me; for he was a friend to the mufes, and regarded, with attention and complacency, whatever appeared to be the means of inftrudion. I was accordingly brought before him: he listened to my story with pleasure, and soon discovered that he had been abufed by the avarice of jyietophis. Metophis he, therefore, condemned to perpetual imprisonment.