Book IX

of monals, when the first radiance of the sun unexpectedly breaks upon them after a long night. They glanced a hafty look of ailonifliment at each other, but their eyes Hill centered in her: they perceived, however, that llie had been, weeping, and that grief was strongly pictured in her countenance.

hi the mean time, she advanced towards the throne of Jupiter with a light and easy motion, like the flight of a bu'd, which glides unrefifted through the regions of the air. The God received her with a smile of divine complacency; and, rifmg from his seat, embraced her: " What is it, my dear child, said he, that has troubled you? I cannot behold your tears with indifference: fear not to tell me all that is in your heart; you know the tenderness of my affc(5lion, and my rcadincfs to indulge your wifla."

" O father, both of Gods and men, replied the Goddefs with a sweet and gentle, but interrupted voice, can you, from whom nothing is hidden, be ignorant of the cause of my diflrefs? Minerva, not satisfied with having; fubverted to its foundation the fuperb city which was under my protedion, nor with. having gratified her revenge upon Paris, for judging her beauty to be inferiour to mine; conduces in safety, through every nation, and over every sea, the son of Ulysses, by Avliofe cruel fubtilty the ruin of Troy was cfFc(5ted. Minerva is now the companion of Telf.machus; and it is, therefore, that her place among the Deities, who furround the throne of Jupiter, is vacant: she has condudcd that prcfumptuous mortal to Cyprus, only that he might infult me 4 he has despised my power; he difdained even to burn incense upon my altars; he turned with abhorrence from the feasts which arc there celebrated to my honour; and he has barred his heart against every pleasure that I inspire. Neptune has, at my request, provoked the winds and waves against him in vain. He was fliipwrecked, in a dreadful storm storm upon the island of Calypso j but he has there triumphed over Love himfclf, whom I fcnt to foften his unfeehng heart neither the youth nor the beauty of Calypso and her nymphs, nor the burning fhafts of immortal Love, have been able to defeat the artifices of Minerva; she has torn him from that island; a {tripling has triumphed over me; and I am overwhelmed with confusion."

*' It is true, my daughter, said Jupiter, who was dcfiroiis to footh her sorrows, that Minerva defends the breast of Telemachus against all the arrows of your son; and designs a glory for him, which no youth has yet defei'ved. I am not pleafcd that he has despised your altars; but I cannot fubjc(5l him to your power: I confcnt, however, for your sake, that he lliall be ilill a wanderer by land and sea j that he shall be Hill distant from his country, and still exposed to danger and misfortune: but the Deftinies forbid that he iliould perish; nor will they permit his virtue to be drowned in the pleasures which you vouchfafe to man. Take comfort, then, my child; remember over how many heroes and Gods your fway is absolute, and be content."

While he thus spoke, a gracious fmilc blended ineffable sweetness and majcfly in his countenance; and a glancing radiance ilTued from his eye, brighter and more piercing than lightning: he kissed the Goddefs with tenderness, and the mountain was fuffufed with ambrofial odours. This favour from the Sovereign of the flcies, could not fail to touch the fenfibiiity of Venus; her countenance kindled into a lively expression of joy, and Ihe drew down her veil to hide her bluflies and confusion. The divine aiTcmbly applauded the words of Jupiter; and Venus, without loiing a moment, went in search of Neptune, to concert new means of revenging hcrfclf upon Telemachus.

Y She

She told Neptune all that Jupiter had said. " I know already, replied Neptune, the unchangeable decrees of fate: but if we cannot overwhelm Telemachus in the deep, let us neglect nothing that may make him wretched, or delay his return to Ithaca. I cannot consent to destroy the Phenician velTel, in which he is embarked; for I love the Phenicians; they are my peculiar people; and they do more honour to my dominion, than any other nation upon earth: they have rendered the ocean itself the bond of fociexy, by which the most diflant countries are united; their facrijfices continually fmoke upon my altars; they are inflexibly just; they are the fathers of commerce, and difFufe through all nations convenience and plenty. I cannot, therefore, permit one of their vefTels to suffer Hiipwreck; but I will cause the pilot to miflake his course, and fteer from Ithaca, the port that he designs to make." Venus, satisfied with this promise, exprefled her pleasure by a malignant smile; and turned the rapid wheels of her celestial chariot over the blooming plains of Idalia, where the Graces the Sports and Smiles exprefled their joy at her return, by dancing round h^r upon the flowers, which, in that delightful country, variegate the ground with beauty, and impregnate the gale with fragrance.

Neptune immediately difpatched one of the deities that preflde over those deceptions which referable dreams; except that dreams affc6t only those that lleep, and these impose upon the waking. This malevolent power, attended by a multitude of winged illufions, that perpetually fluttered round him, fled a fubtile and fafcinating liquor over the eyes of Athamas the pilot, while he was attentively confldering the brightness of the moon, the course of the fl:ars, and the coast of Ithaca, the cliffs of which he discovered riot far distant. From that moment, the eyes of Athamas became unfaithful to their objects, and presented to him another heaven and another earth: the fl:ars appeared as if their course had been inverted;

inverted; Olympus seemed to move by new laws, and the earth itfclf to have changed its position. A falfc Ithaca rose up before him, while he was fleering from the real country; and the delufive iliore fled as he approached it: he perceived that he did not gain upon it, and he wondered at the cause: yet fomctimes he fancied he heard the noise of people in the port; and he was about to make preparations, according to the orders he had received, for putting Telemachus on shore upon a little island adjacent to that of Ithaca* in order to conceal his return from the fuitors of Penelope, who had confpired his defi;ru(5lion. Sometimes he thought himiclf in danger of the rocks v/hich furround the coafl, and imagined that he heard the dreadful roarhig of the furge that broke againfl them: then the land suddenly appeared to be again diflant; and the mountains looked but like the clouds, which fomctimes obscure the horizon at the setting of the sun.

Thus was Athamas aflonifhed and confounded; and the influence of the Deity which had deceived his fight, imprefled a dread upon his mind, which, till then, he had never felt: he fomctimes almofl doubted, whether he was awake, or whether what he saw was not the illufion of a dream. In the mean time, Neptune commanded the East-wind to blow, that the veflel might be driven upon the coafl of Hefperia; and the wind obeyed with such violence, that the coafl of Hefperia was immediately before them.

Aurora had already proclaimed the day to be at hand; and the flars, touched at once with fear and envy at the rays of the sun, retired lo conceal their fading fires in t^ie bpfom of the deep, vvhen tlit pilot suddenly cried our, " I am now lure,£)f my port; the island of Ithaca is before us, and we almoil touch the shore. Rejoice, O Telemachus! for, in less than an hour, you will again embrace PtNELOPE, and perhaps again behold Ulysses upon his throne."

Y 2 This i<<4 BOOK IX.

Tills exclamation roufed Telemaciius, v/ho -was now in a profound sleep: he awaked, llarted up, and running to the helm, embraced the pilot; at the fame time, fixing his eyes, which were fcarce open, upon the neighbouring coast, the view struck him, at once, with furprize and difappointment; for, in these shores, he found no resemblance of his country. " Alas! said he, where are we? This is not Ithaca, the dear island, that I seek. You are certainly mistaken; and are not perfectly acquainted with a country, fo distant from your own." " No, replied Athamas, I cannot be mistaken in the coast of this island; I have entered the port fo often, that I am acquainted with every rock, and have not a more cxacfl remembrance even of Tyre itself. Observe that mountain which runs out from the shore, and that rock which rises like a tower: do not you see others, that, proje(5ling from above, seem to threaten the sea with their fall? and do not you hear the waves that break against them below? There is the temple of Minerva, which fecms to penetrate the clouds; and there, the citadel, and the palace of Ulysses!" " Still you are mistaken, replied Tele- MACHus! I see a coast, which is elevated, indeed, but level and unbroken; I perceive a city, but it is not Ithaca. Is it thus, ye Gods! that ye fport with men r"

While Telemachus was yet speaking, the eyes of Athamas were again changed; the charm was broken, he saw the coast as it was, and acknowledged his mistake. " I confess, said he, O TelemacHus! that some unfriendly power has fafcinated my fight. I thought I beheld the coast of Ithaca, of which a perfect image was represented to me, that is now vanished like a dream. I now see another city, and know it to be Salentum, which Idomeneus, a fugitive from Crete, is founding in Hefperia: I perceive riling walls as yet unfmillied; and I see a port, not intirely fortified.

While Athamas was remarking the various works which were •carrying on in this rising city, and Telemachus was deploring his misfortunes j misforiunes; the wind, which Neptune had commanded to blow, carried them with full fails into the road, where they found themselves under flicker, and very near the port.

t

Mentor, who was neither ignorant of the refentment of Neptune, nor the cruel artifices of Venus, only fmiled at the mistake of Athamas. V/hen they had got safe into the road, " Jupiter tries you, said he to Telemachus, but he will not fufTer you to perish; he tries you, that he may open before you the path of gloiy. Remember the labours of Hercules, and let the atchievements.of your father be always present to your mind; he that knows not how to suffer, has no greatness of foul. You mull weary fortune, who delights to perfecute you, by patience and fortitude; and be alTured, that you are much less endangered by the displeasure of Neptune, than by the carefles of Calypso. But whyxlo we delay to enter the harbour? the people here are our friends, for they are natives of Greece; and Idomeneus, having himself been ill treated by fortune, will naturally be touched with pity at our distress. They immediately entered the port of Salentum, where the Phenicians were admitted without fcruple; for they are at peace, and in trade, with every nation upon earth.

Telf.machus looked upon that rifmg city, with admiration. As a young plant, that has been watered with the dews of the night, feels the glow of the morning fim, grows under the genial influence, opens its buds, unfolds its leaves, fpreads out its odoriferous flowers variegated with a thousand dies, and difclofes every moment feme fresh beauty; fo flouriflicd this infant city of Idomeneus, on the borders of the deep. It rose into greater magnificence every hour; and discovered, in a distant profpecfl, to the flrangers that approached it by fca, new ornaments of architecSture, that fecmed to reach the clouds. The whole coafl refoundcd with thevoices voices of workmen, and the ftrokes of the hammer, and huge stones were seen suspended from puliies in the air. As soon as the morning dawned, the people were animated to their labour by their chiefs; and Idomeneus himself being present to dispense his orders, the works were carried on v/ith incredible expedition.

As soon as the Phenician vellel came-to shore, the Cretans received ' Telemachus and Mentor with all the tokens of a lincere friend- Ihip 5 and immediately acquainted Idomeneus, that the son of Ulysses was arrived in his dominions. " The son of Ulysses, said he, of my dear friend, Ulysses! of him, who is at once a ' hero and a fage; by w^hofe counsel alone, the defcruction of Troy was accompliilied! Let him be conducted hither, that I may convince him how much I loved his father!" Telemachus being then presented to him, told him his name, and then demanded the rights of hofpitality.

Idomeneus received him with a smile of tender complacency: -'' I believe, said he, I should have known you, if I had not been told your name. I perceive your father's lire and firmness in your eye; the fame coldnefs and refervc in your firll address, which, in him, concealed fo much vivacity, and such various grace. You have his smile of conscious penetration; his eai'y negligence; and his sweet, simple, and infmuating elocution, which takes the foul captive, before it can prepare for defence. You are, indeed, the son of Ulysses! From this hour you shall also be mine. Tell me, then, says he, what adventure has brought you to this coast? Are you in search of your father? Alas! of your father, I can give you no intelligence. Fortune has equally persecuted both him and me: he has never been ablg to return to his country; and I became the victim of Divine difplcafure in mine." While Idomeneus was thus speaking to Tklemaciius, he fixed his eyes attentively upon upon Mentor, as a man whose countenance was not wholly unknown to him, though he could not recollcdl his name.-

In the mean time, the eyes of Telemachus -^ere filled wiih tears; " Forgive, said he, Oking! the grief that I cannot hide. I ought now, indeed, to betray no passion, but joy at your presence, and gratitude for your bounty; yet, by the regret which you express for the loss of Ulysses, you imj^refs me with a new fcnfe of my misfortune in the loss of a father! I have already long fouglu him through all the regions of the deep. Such is the difpleafurc of the Gods, that they neither permit me to find him, nor to learn whether the sea has not closed over him for ever; nor yet to return to Ithaca, where Penelope pines with an anxious desire to be delivered from her lovers. I hoped to have found you in Crete, where I only heard the flory of your misfortunes j and I had then no thought of approaching the coail of Hefperia, where you have founded another kingdom. But fortune, who fports with mankind, and keeps me wandering through every country that is distant from my own, has at length thrown me upon your coast; a misfortune, which I regret less than any other, since, though I am driven fj-om Ithaca, I am at least brought to Idomeneus, the moil generous of men."

Idom.eneus, having embraced Telemachus with great tenderncfs, conducted him to his palace, where he enquired what venerable old man it was that accompanied him: " I think, said he, that I have fomewhere seen him before." " That is Mentor, replied Telemachus, the friend of Ulysses, to whose care he confided my infancy, and to whom my obligations are more than I can express."

Idomeneus immediately advanced towards Mentor, and gave him his hand. *' We have fccn each other before,' said he; do not you you remember the voyage that you made to Crete, and the good counsel that you gave me there I I was then carried away by the impetuofity of youth, and the love of deceitful pleasure. It was necessary, that, what I refused to learn from wisdom, I should be taught by adverfity: would to Heaven, that I had confided in your counsel! But I am astonished to see, that fo many years have made fo little alteration in your appearance; there is the fame freflmefs in your countenance, your flature is fliil ere6t, and your vigour is undiminifhcd: I see no difference, except that there are a few more grey hairs upon your head."

" If I was inclined to flatter, replied Mentor, I would say, that you also preserve the fame bloom of youth, which glowed upon your countenance before the siege of Troy; but I had rather deny myself the pleasure of gratifying you, than offend against truth. I perceive, indeed, by the wisdom of your difcourfc, that, from flattery, you could receive no gratification; and that he, who speaks to Idomeneus, rifks nothing by sincerity. You are, indeed, much changed; fo much, that I should fcarce have known you: but I am not ignorant of the cause; the 'hand of misfortune has been upon you: you are, however, a gainer, even by your sufferings; for they have taught you wisdom: and the wrinkles, that Time impreiTes upon the face, ought not much to be regretted, if, in the mean while, he is planting virtue in the breast. Besides, it should be considered, that kings muff wear out f after than other men: in adverfity, the solicitude of the mind, and the fatigues of the body, bring on the infirmities of age before they are old; and, in prosperity, the indulgencies of a voluptuous life, wear them out still more than corporal labour, or intelledlual fufferance. Nothing is fo fatal to health, as immoderate pleasure: and, therefore, kings, both in peace and war, have pains and pieafures which precipitate old age. A fober, temperate, and simple life, free from the inquietudes etudes both of accident and paflion, divided in due proportions between labour and rest, continues long, to the wife, the bleflings of youth; which, if these precautions do not retain them, arc evei-ready to fly away upon the wings of time."

Idomeneus, who listened with delight to the wisdom of Mentor, would longer have indulged himself in fo noble a pleasure, if he had not been reminded of a facrificc which he was to offer to Jupiter. Telemachus and Mentor followed him to the temple, surrounded by a crowd of people, who gazed at the two strangers with great eagerness and curiosity. " These men, said they, are very different from each other. The younger has something fprightly and amiable, that is hard to be defined: all the graces of youth and beauty are difFufed over his whole person; yet he has nothing effeminately foft: though the bloom of youth is scarcely ripened into manhood, he appears vigorous, robuft, and inured to labour. The other, though much older, has suffered no injury from time: at the firfl view, his general appearance is less noble, and his countenance less gracious; but, upon a closer examination, we find, imder his unaffuming fmiplicity, strong indications both of wisdom and of virtue; with a kind of namelefs fuperiority, that excites at once both reverence and admiration. When the Gods descended upon the earth, they doubtless afTumed the form of such strangers and travellers as these."

In the mean time, they arrived at the temple of Jupiter, which Idomeneus, who was descended from the God, had adorned with the utmost magnificence. It was fiuTOunded with a double range of columns, of variegated marble; the capitals of which were of silver. The whole building was cafed with marble enriched with bas relief: the carving represented the transformation of Jupiter

17 o

BO O K IT, into a bull, and his rape of Europa, whom he bore into Crete through the waves, which seemed to reverence the God, though he was concealed under a borrowed form; and the birth of Minos, the events of his youth, and the dispensation of those laws in his more advanced age, which were calculated to perpetuate the prosperity of his country. Telemachus observed also reprefentations of the principal events in the siege of Troy, at which Idomeneus acquired great military reputation: among these reprefentations, Telemachus looked for his father; and he found him feizing the horses of Rhefus, whom Diomedes had just slain; difputing the armour of Achilles with Ajax, before the princes of Greece; and defcending from the fatal horse, to deluge Troy with the blood of her inhabitants. By these atchievements Telemachus diflinguilhedhis father; for he had frequently heard them mentioned, and they had been particularly described to him. by Mentor. His mind kindled as he confKlered them; the tears fwelled in his eyes, he changed colour, and his countenance was troubled: he turned away his face to conceal his confuiion, which, however, was perceived by the king: " Do not be afliaraed, said Idomeneus, that we lliould see how fcnlibly you are touched, with the glory andi the misfortunes of your father."

The people were now g-athered, in a throng, under the vast porticos, which were formed by the double range of columns that surrounded the building. There were two companies of boys and virgins, who sung hymns to the praise of the God, in whose hand are the thunders of the iky: they were fele<5led for their beauty; and had long hair, which flowed in loose cmis over their fhouldcrs; they were cloathed in white, and their heads were crowned with rofcs,. and fprinkled with perfume. Idomeneus £acrificed an hundred bitlls to Jupiter, to obtain success in a war which he had under-

J3 O O K IX. 171 untleriakcn against the neighbouring states: the blood of the vidims fmokcd on every fide, and was received into large vafcs of silver and gold.

Theophancs, the pried of the temple, venerable for his age, and beloved of the Gk>d, having kept his head covered, during the ceremony, with the Ikirt of his purple robe, proceeded to examine the ilill panting entrails of the vi<51:ims: he then mounted the facrcd tripod, and cried out, " Who, ye Gods! are these strangers, that ye have brought amongll us? without them, the war which wc have undertaken would have been fatal; and Salentum would have fallen into ruin, while it was yet rising from its foundations. I see a hero in the bloom of youth; I see him conducted by the hand of wisdom! To mortal lips, thus much only is permitted." '

While he spoke, his looks became wild, and his eyes fiery; he seemed to see other objects, than those that were before him; his countenance was cnflamed, his hair flood up, his mouth foamed, his arms which were flretched upwards remained immoveable, and. all his faculties seemed to be under a supernatural influence.his voice was more than human; he gafped for breath, and was agonized by the Divine spirit that moved within him. He soon burst into a new exclamation: " O happy Idomeneus! What do I see! tremendous evils! but they are averted. Within, there is peace; but without there is battle! There is vidory! O Telemachus! thy atchievements furpafs those of thy father! Under thy falchion, pride and hoflility grovel in the dust together; and gates of brafs, and inaccellible ramparts, fall in one ruin at thy feet! O mighty

Goddefs! let his father Illustrious youth! thou shalt again be^ hold." Here the words died upon his tongue, and his powers were involuntarily suspended in fdenqe and aflonifliment.

2; 2 The

The multitude was chilled with horror; Idomeneus tremblec>, ■and did not dare to urge Theophanes to proceed; Telemachus himself scarcely comprehended what he had heard, and almost doubted, whether predictions fo sublime and important had reallybeen delivered. Mentor was the only person in that vast aflembly, whom the effufions of theDivinity had not astonished: " You hear, said he to Idomeneus, the purposes of the Gods; against whatever nation you shall turn your arms, your vidory is secure; but it is to this youth, the son of your friend, that y-ou will owe your fuc^ cefs: be not jealous of his honour; but receive, with gratitude, what the Gods shall give you by his hand."

Idomeneus endeavoured to reply; but not being yet recovered from his furprize, he could find no words, -and,, therefore, remained fdent. Telemachus was more mailer of himself: "The promise of fo much glory, said he to Mentor, does not much affect me; I desire only to know the meaning of those lafl words^, " thou shalt again behold:" is it my father, or my country only, that I lliall behold again? Why, alas! was the sentence left unfiniflied? why was it fo broken, as rather to increase than diminifli my uncertainty? O Ulysses! O my father! is it thy very self that I shall again behold! is it poilible! Alas! my wishes deceive me into hope; this cruel oracle has only fported with my misfortunes; one word more would have made me compleatly happy!" " Reverence what the Gods have revealed, fliid Mentor; and do not seek to discover what they have hidden: it is fit that prefumptuous curiosity should be covered with confusion. The Gods, in the abundance of their wisdom and mercy, have concealed the future, from the fight of man, in impenetrable darkness. It is proper, indeed, that we should know the event of what depends wholly upon ourselves, as a motive to recT:itude of condud i duel; but it is equally lit, that we flioukl be ignorant of those events on which we have no influence, and of what the Gods have determined to be our lot."

Telemachus felt the force of this reply, yet he could not reflrain himfclf without difficulty. In the mean time, Idomeneus, having perfectly recovered the pofleflion of his mind, began to express his gratitude to Jupiter, for having sent Telemachus and Mentor to give him victory over his enemies. A magnificent entertainment was given after the sacrifice, and he then addrelled the strangers to this effect: " I confess, that, when I returned from the siege of Troy to Crete, I was not sufficiently acquainted with the arts of government. You are not ignorant, my dear friends, of the miffortunes which excluded me from the fovereignty of that extensive island; for you tell me that you have been there fmce I quitted it.misfortunes, which I shall think more than atoned, if they teach me wisdom, and repress my passions! I traverfed the feas like a fugitive, pursued by the vengeance both of heaven and earth; the elevation of my former fl:ate, served but to aggravate my fall; and I fought an asylum for my houfhold Gods upon this defart coafi, which I found covered with thorns and brambles, with impenetrable forests, as ancient as the earth upon which they grew, and abounding with almofl: inaccessible rocks, in which the wild beafls, that prowled by night, took ihelcer in the day. Such was my necessity, that I was glad to take poflcffion of this desolate wildcrncfs with a small number of soldiers and friends, who kindly became the companions of my misfortunes, and to consider these defarts as my country; having no hope of returning to that happy island, in which it was the will of the Gods that I iliould be born to reign. I felt the change with the keeneft fcnfibility: what a dreadful example, said I, is Idomeneus tb other kings! and what inftru6tion may they derive from his fuflferings! They imagine, v

2. that that their elevation above the rest of men, is a security from misfortune; but alas! tlicir very fiiperiority is their danger. I was dreaded by my enemies, and beloved by my fubje(5ts; I commanded a powerful and warlike nation; fame had acquainted the remoteft regions with my glory; I was the lord of a fertile and delightful country; I received tribute from the wealth of a hundred cities; I was acknowledged to be descended from Jupiter, who was bom in the country that I governed; I was beloved as the grandfon of Minos, whose laws at once rendered them powerful and happy: and what was wanting to my felicity, but the knowledge how to enjoy it with moderation! My pride, and the adulation which gratified it, fubverted my throne, and I fell, as every king must fall, who delivers himself up to his Own paflions, and to the coimfcls of flattery. When I came hither, I laboured to conceal my anguish, by a look of che^'fulness and hope, that I might support the courage of my companions: " Let us build a new city, said I, to console us for what we have lost. We are surrounded with people who have set us a fair example for the undertaking: we see Tarentum rising near us, a city founded by Phalautus and his Lacedemonians; Philodetes is building Petilia on the fame coast, and Metapontum is another colony of the like kind. Shall we do less than these strangers have done; who are wanderers as well as we, and to whom fortune has not been less severe?" But I wanted the comfort which I fought to bcftow; and concealed, in my own bosom, that anguish, which I foothed in others; of this I hoped no other alleviation, than to be relcafed from the conftraint of hiding it, and anticipated the close of day with comfort, when, surrounded by the fliades of night, I might indulge my fonjows without a witness. My eyes were then drowned in tears, and sleep was a stranger to ray bed: yet, the next morning, I renewed my labour with equal ardour and perseverance j and these are the caufcs that I am old before my time."

Idomeneus

Idomcneus then rcquefted the afTiftance of Telemachus and Mentor, in the war that he had undertaken: " 1 will send you to Ithaca, said he, as soon as it shall be over; and, in the mean time, I will difpatch ships to every country in quell of Ulysses, and from whatever part of the known world, on which he shall have / been call by a tempcfl, or by the refentment of some adverfe Deity, he shall be brought in safety: may the Gods grant that he be Hill alive! As for you, I will embark you on the bed vclTels that ever were built in the island of Crete; veflcls that are conllru^ted of trees which grew upon Mount Ida, the birth place of Jupiter: that sacred wood can never perish in the deep; it is reverenced equally by the rocks and winds; and Neptune himself, in the utmofl fury of his wrath, does not dare to fwell the waves ' against itv Be aiTured, therefore, that you shall return to Ithaca in; safety; and that no adverfe Deity shall again drive you to another coall: the voyage is short, and easy: difmifs, therefore, the Phenician vefTel that has brought you hither, and think only of th2 glory you will acquire by establishing the new kingdom of Idomcncus, to atone for his fuflferings that are pail. This, O son of Ulysses! shall prove that thou art worthy thy father; and if the inexorable fates have already compelled him to descend into the gloomy dominions of Pluto, Greece shall think, with pleasure, that she flill fees her Ulysses in thee."

Here Idomeneus was interrupted by Telemachus: " Let us send away the Phenician vefTcl, said he; why should we delay to take arms againll your enemies, fnice your enemies mufl also be ours? If we have been vidlorious in the behalf of Aceftes, a Trojan, and consequently an enemy to Greece; should we not exert ourselves with ■ more ardour, and shall we not be more favoured by the Gods, in 5 • the-

^s

IX.

the cause of a Grecian prince, a confederate of those heroes, by whom the perfidious city of Priam was overturned? Surely, the oracle that wc have jufl heard, has made doubt impossible!"

The E N D of the NINTH BOOK.

.r.nw.- .fr/.

C. (rty^Trrt/m. f'ht'.

X.

MENTOR turned to TtLEMACHus, who, while he was speak^ ing, felt an heroic ardour kindle in his bosom, with a look of calm complacency: " I see with pleasure, said he, O son of Ulysses! the desire of glory that now fparkles in your eye; but you must remember, that your father acquired his pre-eminence among the confederate princes at the siege of Troy, by his superior wisdom and difpaflionate counsels. Achilles, though he was invincible and invulnerable, though he was sure to spread terror and deflru(5lion wherever he fought, could never take the city of Troy, which, when he expired under her walls, flood yet unfliaken, and triumphed over the conqueror of Heftor: but Ulysses, whose valour was under the, diredion of. confummate prudence, carried fire and sword to its center; and it is to Ulysses, that we owe the fall of those lofty towers, which threatened confederate Greece more than ten years with deftru(5non. A circunifpcd and fagacious

A a valour.

i^S B O O K X.

valoiir,^s J3J. much fupcriour to a thoughtlefs and impetuous courage,, as PiliNMvjfci^i.tQMaKS; l^t lis, therefore, before we engagein this war, .e.i^uire upon Ay seat grounds it is undertaken. 1 am. willing to incur any danger; but it is, fit. I flxpuld first learn, from Idbmeneus, whether his. wa^r, is just, against whom it is waged, and. on what forces he builds his hopes of success."

" When we arrived at this coast, replied Idorheneus, we found it inhabited by a favage people j who lived wild in the forefls, sub* filling upon such animals as they eould kill.by hunting, and such fruits and herbage as the seasons produced without culture. These people, who were called^Iidandurians, being terrified at the fight of our vefiTels and our arms, fled to the mountains; but as our soldiers were curious to see the country, and were frequently led far into ir in pursuit of their game, they met with some of the fugitives, and: were addrelTed by their chiefs to this effedt: " We have abandoned the pleasant borders of the fca, that you might pofl^efs them; and' nothing remains for us, but mountains that are almost inacceflible: it is, therefore, but equitable, that, of these mountains, you flaould leave us the peaceable pofix:ffion. You are fallen into our hands, a wandering, difperfcd, and defencelefs party; and we could nowdeftroy you, without leaving, to your companions, a poflibility of difcovering your fate: but we wjll not dip our hands- in the blood of those, who, though strangers, partake of one common nature with ourfelvesi Go then^..j.n_ peace! Remember, that you are jndebtedj for your lives^^ to our humanity; and that a people,, whom you have fligmatized with the name of favages and barbarians, have given you this leflbn of moderation and generosity!" "

" Our people, thus difmilTed by the barbarians, came back to the camp, and told what had happened. The soldiers took fire at the relation; they difdaiued, that Cretans should owe their lives to a company