Book XXII

Polydamas predi(5led, did not happen; Adraflus despised the timid prudence, which forclaw nothing but difficulty and danger; Polydamas became, at length, infupportable; he was difmifTed from all his employments, and left to languifli in poverty and'solitude.

Polydamas v/as, at first, overwhelmed with this reverfe of fortune: but, at length, it supplied what was wanting in his chara6ler, a fcnfe of the vanity of external greatness. He became wife at his own expencc, and rejoiced that he had felt adverfity: he learnt, by degrees, to suffer; to live upon little; to regale, with tranquillity, upon truth; to cultivate the virtues of private life, which are infinitely more eftimable, than those that glitter in the public eye; and not to depend, for his enjoyments, upon mankind. He dwelt in a defart, at the foot of mount Garganus, where a rock, that formed a kind of rude vault, fheltered him from the weather; a river, that fell from the mountain, quenched his thirst; and the fruit of some neighbouring trees allayed his hunger. He had two slaves, whom he employed to cultivate a small spot of ground; and he assisted them in their work with his own hands. The soil repaid his labour with ufury, and he was in want of nothing. He had not only fruit, herbs, and roots, in abundance; but the most fragrant flowers of every kind. In this retirement, he deplored the misfortune of those nations, which the mad ambition of their prince pufhes on to their ruin. He expeded, every day, that the Gods, who, though long-suffering, are just, would put an end to the tyranny of Adraftus: he thought he perceived, that, the more the tyrant rose in prosperity, the nearer he approached to destruction; for fuccelsful imprudence, and abfolutc authority in its utmoil flretch, are, to kings and kingdoms, the certain fore-runners of a fall. Yet, when he heard of the defeat and death of Adraftus, he expreflcd no joy, cither in having forefeen his ruin, or in being delivered from his tyranny: he v/as anxious, only, for

V f f his his country; which, he feared, the conquerors might reduce to a state of ilavery.

Such was the man, whom Telemachus proposed to give the Daunians for their king. He had been some time acquainted, both with his abiUties and his virtue; for Telemachus, as he had been advised by Mentor, apphed himself, with inceffant diligence, to discover the good and bad qualities of all persons, who had any considerable trull, whether under the allied princes with whom he served in the war, or among their enemies: and it was one of his principal employments, in every place, to discover and examine men who were distinguished by some singular talent or qualification, wherever they were to be found.

The confederate princes were, at first, something unwilling to bellow the kingdom upon Polydamas: " We have learnt, said they, by fatal experience, that a king of the Daunians, who has a military disposition, and military skill, must be extremely formidable to his neighbours. Polydamas is a great commander, and he may bring us into great danger." " It is true, said Telemachus, that Polydamas is acquainted with war; but it is also true, that he is a lover of peace; which, together, make the very charadter that our interefl: requires. A man, who has experienced the difficulties, the dangers, and tlic calamities of war, is much better qualified to avoid them, than he that knows them only by report: Polydamas has learnt to relifh, and to value, the bleflings of tranquillity; he always condemned the enterprizes of Adrailus, and forefaw the ruin in which they would terminate. You will have much more to fear from a weak prince, without knov/lcdge, and without experience, than from one, who fees all with his own eye, and determines all by his own will. The weak and ignorant prince will see all things with the eyes of another; either of some capricious favourite.

favourite, or feme flattering, turbulent, and ambitious minister; he will, therefore, be engaged in a war without intending it: and you can certainly have no dcpendance upon him, who afts implicitly by the direction of others; there can be no hope that his promises will be kept; and you will, in a short time, have no alternative, but to destroy him, or suffer yourfeives to be deflroyed by him. Is it not, therefore, more advantageous, more lafc, and» ai the fame time, more just and more generous, faithfully to fulfil the trust which the Daunians have placed in you, and give them a l^ing diat is worthy of dominion?"

All fcruples being intirely removed by this discourse, Polydamas was immediately proposed to the Daunians, who waited the determination of the assembly with great impatience. As soon as they heard the name of Polydamas, they answered, " The allies have now proved the sincerity of their intentions, and given us a pledge of perpetual peace, by propoling a man of such virtue and abilities for our king: if they had proposed a man without spirit, without virtue, without knowledge, we Ihould have concluded, that they dcfigned only to make us weak and contemptible, by rendering our government corrupt; a cruel fubtilty, which we could not have seen pra(n;ifed againll us, without a secret but llrong refentment! The choice of Polydamas, indeed, is a proof of nobler principles: for, as the allies have given us a king, who is incapable of doing any thing inconfiftcnt with the liberty and honour of our state, it is manifest, that they expedl nothing which can either degrade or opprefs us; and, on our part, we take the Gods to witness, that, if the rivers return not back to their sources, we will not cease to love those, who have treated us with fo noble a beneficence. May our latefl posterity remember the benefits, which have this day been conferred upon us; and renew, from generation to generation, the peace of the golden age in Hefperia, till time shall be no more!"

F f f a Telemachus

Telemackus then proposed to the Daunians, that the plains of Arpos iliould be given to Diomede, for the settlement of a colony: " You will lay this new people, said he, under an obligation without expcncc. You do not occupy the country, in which they will settle; yet they will be indebted, for their settlement there, to you. Remember, that all men should be imited by the bands of love; that the earth is of an extent, much larger than they can fill; that it is necellary to have neighbours; and eligible to have such neighbours, as arc obliged to you for their settlement: nor should you be infenlible to the misfortunes of a prince, to whom his native country is interdi<51;ed for ever. An union between him and Polydamas will be immediately formed, upon mutual principles of rectitude and benevolence, the only principles upon which any union can be lading: you will, therefore, secure all the bleflings of peace to yourselves j and become fo formidable to all the neighbouring Hates, that none of them will attempt the acquiiition of grcatnefs and power, that would be dangerous to the rest. As we have given, to your country and people, a king, that will procure, to both, the highest degree of prosperity and honour; let your liberality, at our request, bellow a country that you do not cultivate, upon a king, who has an indubitable claim to your adiftance."

The Daunians answered, that they could refuse nothing to Te- LKMACHus, who had given them Polydamas for a king; and they went immediately to seek him in his defart, that they might place him upon the throne. First, however, they granted the fertile plains of Arpos to Diomede, for a new kingdom; and their bounty to him, was extremely pleafmg to the allies; because his colony of Greeks would powerfully assist them to repress the Daunians, in any future attempt to make encroachments upon the neighbouring Hates, of which Adraftus had given them fo pernicious an example.

All xxr.

All the purpofcs of the alliance being now accomplished, the princes drew off their forces in separate bodies; and Telemachus departed with his Cretans, having first tenderly embraced his noble friend Diomede, Neftor still inconfolable for the loss of his son, and Piiilodtctes who poiTefTed and deserved the arrows of Hercules.

The END of the TWENTY. FIRST B O O K..

C.G.^c.

j-mirMi.

O.Gr^mffWfc

TELEMACHUS was now impatient to rejoin Mentor at Salentum, and to embark with him for Ithaca, where he hoped his father would arrive before him. As he approached the city, he was astonished to see, that the neighbouring country, which he had left alnioft a defart, was now in the highest state of cultivation j and fwarmed, like a hive, with the children of induflry and labour: this change he imputed to the wisdom of Mentor. But when he entered the city, and perceived that its appearance was much less magnificent, and that fewer hands were employed to furnifii the luxuries of life, he was d'ifpleafed; for he was naturally fond of elegance and splendour: his displeasure, however, soon gave way to other sentiments; he saw IdomCneus and Mentor at a diflance, coming to meet him; and his hedrt instantly overflowed with tenderness and joy. It was not, however, without fomc mixture of anxiety j anxiety; for, notwithstanding his success in the expedition against Adraftus, he doubted, whether his condu(5l, upon the whole, would be approved by Mentor, and endeavoured to read his sentiments in his eyes as he approached.

Idomcneus embraced Telemachus with the affection of a parent; and TiiLEMACHus, as soon as he was difengaged, threw himself upon the neck of Mentor, and burst into tears. " I am satisfied, says Mentor: you have, indeed, committed great faults; but they have acquainted you with your infirmities, and warned you of self-confidcnce. More advantage is sometimes derived from difappointment, than success. Great atchievements frequently produce contemptible vain glory, and dangerous presumption: but difappointmcnts from ill conducft, inake the man a cenfor of himself; and restore the wisdom, which success had taken away. You arcnot to seek praise from men; but to offer it, with humility, to the Gods. You have, indeed, performed noble exploits; but you mufl confcfs, that you was rather the inflrument, than the agent: were they not efFedled, by powers, communicated froin without? and were they not frequently endangered, by your precipitation and impi-udence? Are you not fccretly conscious, that Minerva exalted you into a nature, fiiperiour to your own; and that, after this transformation only, you became equal to the atchievements that you performed? Minerva fufpcnded your paflions, as Neptune fufpends the fwelling of the furge, when he commands the tempeft to be flill."

While IdoiTieneus w^as gratifying his curiosity, by making various enquiries of the Cretans, that vv^ere returned with Telemachus from the war; Telemachus was liflening to ihe wisdom of Mentor. At length, looking round him with astonishment, " I see many alterations here, said he, of which I cannot comprehend the caufc: 2 has has any misfortune happened to Salentum in my absence? The magnificence and splendor, in which I left it, have disappeared. I see neither silver, nor gold, nor jewels; the habits of the people are plain, the buildings are smaller and more simple, the arts languifh, and the city is become a defart."

" Have you observed, replied Mentor with a smile, the ilate of the country that lies round it?" *' Yes, said Telemachus; I perceive that agriculture is become an honourable profeflion, and that there is not a field uncultivated." " And which is best, replied Mentor, a fuperb city, abounding in marble, and silver, and gold, with a fteril and negledted country; or a country in a flate of high cultivation, and fruitful as a garden, with a city, where decency has taken place of pomp? A great city, full of artificers,- who are employed only to effeminate the manners, by furnilliing the super- . fluities of luxury, surrounded by a poor and uncultivated country; resembles a monfl;er, with a head of an enormous size, and a withered enervated body, without beauty, vigour, or proportion. The genuine flrength and true riches of a kingdom, consist in the number of people, and the plenty of provisions j and innumerable people now cover the whole territory of Idomeneus, which they cultivate with unwearied diligence and afiiduity. His dominions may be considered as one town, of which Salentum is the center; for the people that were wanting in the fields, and superfluous in the city, we have removed from the city to the fields: we have also brought in many foreigners; and, as the produce of the earth will always be in proportion to the number of people that till it, this quiet and peaceable multitude is a much more valuable acquifition than a new conqucfl:. We have expelled those arts, which divert the poor from pi'ocuring, by agriculture, the neceilaries of life; and corrupt the wealthy, by giving them the fuperfluitics of luxury and pride: but we have done no injury to the polite arts;

nor

40?

flor to those, who have a true genius for their cultivation. Idomeneus is thus become much more powerful, than he was, when you admired his magnificence; a falfc splendor, which, by dazzling the eye, concealed such weakness and misery, as would, in a Ihort time, have fubverted his empire! He has now a much greater number of fubjecHis, and he fubfifts them with greater facility: these people, inured to labour and hardfliip, and set aboVe a fond and effeminate attachment to life, by the wife inflitutions of the government under which they live, are always ready to take the field, in defence of the country which they have cultivated with their own hands; and the flate, which you think is in decay, will shortly be the wonder of Hefperia.

" Remember, O my son! that there are two evils in government, which admit of no remedy; an unequitable and defpotic power in the prince, and a luxurious depravity of manners in the people. Princes, that have been accuftomcd to confidcr their will only as law, and to give the reins to their passions, may do any thing; but their power of doing any thing, is neceflarily fubverted by its own excess-: their government is capricioufly adminiflered, without maxim or principle; they are universally feared, and flattered j their fubjefts degenerate into slaves; and, of these slaves, the number is perpetually diminifhing. Who shall dare to affront them with truth! Who fljall flem the torrent of deftruftion! it fwells over all bounds; the wife flic before it, and figh in secret over the ruin of their country. Some sudden and violent revolution only, can reduce this enormous power within proper bounds; and by that, which alone can reflrain it, it is frequently deflroyed. Nothing is fo certain a prefage of irremediable deflru(5tion, as authority pufhed to excess; it is like a bow that is overbent, which, if not relaxed, will suddenly fly to pieces: and who shall venture to relax it i This cxceilive, this fatal, but flattering power, has been once

^ gg the the ruin of Idomeneus; he was dethroned, but not undeceived t and of that power, which, as it is not intended for mankind, can be alTumed only to their ruin, he would Hill have been the dupe, if the Gods had not sent us hither for his deliverance: and, after all, events, fcarce less than miracles, have been necelTary to open his eyes.

" The other incurable evil, is luxury. As the prince is corrupted by an excess of power, the people are corrupted by luxury. It has been said, indeed, that luxury feeds the poor at the expence of the rich: but, certainly, the poor may be fubfifted by useful employments; if they apply thcmfelves to multiply the produ(5ls of the earth, they will be under no necessity to corrupt the rich by the refinements of luxury. . A deviation from the simplicity of nature, is sometimes fo general, that a whole nation considers the moll trifling fuperfluities as the neceflaries of life: these factitious neceflaries multiply every day; and people can no longer fublifl without things, which, thirty years before, had never been in being. This luxury is called talte, improvement, and politencfs; and though a vice, which fuperinduces almost every other, it is cultivated and commended as a virtue. Its contagion fpreads from the prince to the meaneft of the people: the royal family imitates the magnificence of the king; the nobles, that of the royal family; the middle class, that of the nobles; for who makes a jull estimation of himself? and the poor would intrude upon the class above them. Every one lives above his condition; some from oftentation, and to glory in their wealth; some from a false shame, and to conceal their poverty. Even those, who discover the mischief of this general folly, want fortitude to set the firll examples of reformation: all conditions are confounded, and the nation is undone., A desire of gain to support this idle expence, taints, by degrees, the purcfl:, minds; wealth is the only objed of defu-e, and poverty the

I. only only mark of difgrace. You may have learning, talents, and virtue; you may difFufe knowledge, you may win battles, save your country, and sacrifice your interefl; and, after all, if your merit is not set off by the glitter of fafliionable expcnce, you will fmk; into obscurity and contempt. Even those who arc without money, will not appear to want it; they live at tlic fame cxpence, as if they had it; they borrow, they cheat, and pra(5life a thousand fcandalous expedients, to procure it: and who shall apply a remedy to these evils? New laws must be inllituted, and the taste and habit of the whole nation must be changed: and who is equal to such an undertaking, but he, who is at once a philosopher and a prince; who, by the example of his own decency and moderation, can shame the fools that are fond of oftcntation and parade, and keep the wife in countenance, who would rejoice to be encouraged in an honest frugality."

Telemachus, while he listened to this discourse, perceived the delufions of his mind vanifh, like a man that wakes from a dream. He was now conscious to truth; and his heart was transformed to its image, as marble to the idea of the sculptor, when he gives it the features, the attitude, and almost the foftnefs of life. At first, he made no reply; but, while he recolle<5l:cd what he had heard, he attentively reviewed the alterations that had been made in the city.

At length, turning to Mentor, " You have, said he, made Idomeneus one of the wifeft princes upon earth; I no longer know either him, or his people. I am now convinced, that your atchievements here, are much greater than ours in the field. The success of war is, in a great degree, the elTec^ of personal prowefs and chance; and the commander must always share the glory of conquest -with his men: but your work is, properly and exclusively,

G g g 2 your

4i:

your own: you have, alone, opposed a whole nation, and its prince 5 and you have corredled the manners and principles of both. Th« success of war is always fatal and horrid: but all, here, is the work of celellial wisdom; all is gentle, pure, and lovely; all indicates an authority more than human. When man is desirous of glory, why does he not seek it, by works of benevolence like these? O how false are their notions of glory, who hope to acquire it, by ravaging the earth, and deflroying inankind!" At this exclamation of Telemachus, Mentor felt a fecretjoy that brightened in his countenance; for it convinced him, that his pupil had reduced the value of conquest and triumph to their true standard, at an age, when it would have been but natural to over-rate the glory he had acquired.

" It is true, replied Mentor after a paufe, all that Idomeneus has done here is right, and deserves commendation; but he may do Hill better. ,jjejias npw_brca;igh^^ and he a,pplies himself to the government of.his, people, . upon just principles: but he has still great faults, which seem to be the progeny of faults that are pall. When we make an effort to leave familiar vices, they seem to follow us; bad habits, relaxation of mind, inveterate errors, and strong prejudices, long remain. Jiappj

Aajre.thqfe, who never deviated into error j^i,theirre6titud£, and ilhcirs only, can be uniform and cqnflant. The^jQods^ QX?AEM.Af _chus!^ require more from you, than from Idomeneus; because

^^ou have been made acquainted ^yith truthj^fr^^ your earliest.

(infancy; and have never been exposed 10 the fedudion of un- ^bounded prosperity.

" Idomeneus, continued Mentor, is by no means deficient, either in penetration or knowledge; but he walles his abilities upon little things; he is too much bufied upon parts, to comprehend the whole J