complacency which fhines fo remarkably in your countenance, and animates every look and motion?' That cheerfulness and complacency,' anfwered the good woman, 'I feel in my heart. My mind is not only ferene, but often experiences the higheft emotions of joy and exultation, that the brightest hopes can give.'— And whence,' faid I, do you derive this aftonishing art of extracting joy from mifery, and of fmiling amidit all the terrors of pain, forrow, poverty, and death?' She was filent a moment; then stepping to her clofet, reached a Bible, which he put into my hands. See there,' faid the, the volume in which I learn this art. Here I am taught that everlafting glory is in tore for all who will accept it upon the terms which Infinite Perfection has prefcribed; here I am promifed confolation, affiftance and fupport, from the LORD OF LIFE; and here I am affured that my tranfient afflictions are only meant to fit me for eter⚫nal and unfpeakable happinefs. This · happiness is at hand. The fort remainder of my life fecins but a point, beyond which opens the glorious profpect of immortality. Thus encouraged, how fhould I be dejected? Thus fupported, how fhould I fink? With fuch profpects, fuch affured hopes, how can I be otherwife than • happy?' ments to virtue which they propofe, together with the triking example I had before my eyes of their falutary effects, left me no doubt of their divine authority. During the time of my abode here, I have been witness to the more than heroic, the joyful, the triumphant death of the dear good woman. With as much softness and tenderness as ever I faw in a female character, the fhewed more dauntless intrepidity than the fterneft philofopher or the proudest hero. No torment could shake the conftancy of her foul, or length of pain wear out the ftrength of her patience. Death was to her an object not of horror but of hope. When I heard her pour forth her last breath in thanksgiving, and faw the fimile of extafy remain on her pale face when life was fled, I could not help crying out in the beautiful language I had lately learned from the Sacred Writings O Death! where is thy fting? OGrave! where is thy victory?" 6 I am now preparing to leave my excellent benefactor, and get my bread in a fervice, to which he has recommended me, in a neighbouring family. A ftate of fervitude, to which once I could not refolve to yield, appears no longer dreadful to me; that pride, which would have made it galling, Christianity has fubdued, though philofophy attempted it in vain. As a penitent, I should gratefully fubmit to mortification; but as a Chriftian, I find myfelf fuperior to every mortification, except the fenfe of guilt. This has humbled me to the duft: but the full affurances that are given me by the Saviour of the World, of the Divine pardon and favour upon fincere repentance, have calmed my troubled fpirit, and filled my mind with peace and joy, which the world can neither give nor take away. Thus, without any change for the better in my outward circumftances, I find myself changed from a diftracted, poor, despairing wretch, to a contented, happy, grateful being; thankful for, and pleafed with my prefent ftate of existence, yet exulting in the hope of quitting it for endless glory and happiness. While the fpoke, her eyes fparkled, and her whole face feemed animated with joy. I was ftruck with her manner, as well as her words. Every fyllable fhe uttered feemed to fink into my foul, fo that I never can forget it. I refolved to examine a religion which was capable of producing fuch effects as I could not attribute either to chance or error. The good couple preffed me with fo much unaffected kindness, to make their little parfonage my afylum till I could better difpofe of myfelf, that I accepted their offer. Here, with the affiftance of the clergyman, who is a plain, fenfible, and truly pious man, I have studied the Holy Scriptures, and the evidences of their authority. But after reading them with can- O! Sir, tell the unthinking mortals, dour and attention, I found all the ex- who will not take the pains of inquiring trinsic arguments of their truth superinto those truths which moft concern fluous. The excellency of their prethem, and who are led by fashion, and cepts, the confiftency of their doctrines, the pride of human reafon, into a conand the glorious motives and encourage-tempt for the Sacred Oracles of GOD; tell tell them these amazing effects of the power of Chriftianity: tell them this truth which experience has taught me, that, Though Vice is constantly at'tended by mifery, Virtue itself cannot confer happiness in this world, except it is animated with the hopes of eter⚫nal blifs in the world to come.' I am, &c. Y FIDELIA. N° LXXX. SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 1753. NON DESUNT CRASSI QUIDAM, QUI STUDIOSUS AB HUJUSMODI LIBRIS DETER REANT, CEU POETICIS, UT VOCANT, ET AD MORUM INTEGRITATEM OFFI CIENTIBUS. EGO VERO DIGNOS CENSEO QUOS ET OMNIBUS IN LUDIS PRÆLEGANT ADOLESCENTIÆ LITERATORES, ET SIBI LEGANT RELEGANTQUE SENOS. ERASMUS. THERE ARE NOT WANTING PERSONS SO DULL AND INSENSIBLE, AS TO DETER STUDENTS FROM READING BOOKS OF THIS KIND, WHICH, THEY SAY, ARE POETICAL, AND PERNICIOUS TO THE PURITY OF MORALS: BUT I AM OF OPINION, THAT THEY ARE NOT ONLY WORTHY TO BE READ BY THE INSTRUCTORS OF YOUTH IN THEIR SCHOOLS, BUT THAT THE OLD AND EXPERIENCED SHOULD AGAIN AND AGAIN PERUSE THEM. REATNESS, novelty, and beau the three principal fources of the pleafures that trike the imagination. If the Iliad be allowed to abound in objects that may be referred to the first fpecies, yet the Odyffey may boaft a greater number of images that are beautiful and uncommon. The vaft variety of fcenes perpetually shifting before us, the train of unexpected events, and the many fudden turns of fortune in this diversified poem, muft more deeply engage the reader, and keep his attention more alive and active, than the martial uniformity of the Iliad. The continual glare of a fingle colour that unchangeably predominates throughout a whole piece, is apt to dazzle and difguft the eye of the beholder. I will not, indeed, presume to say with Voltaire, that among the greatest admirers of antiquity, there is scarce one to be found who could ever read the Iliad with that eagerness and rapture, which a woman feels when the perufes the novel of Zayde; but will, however, venture to affirm, that the Speciofa Miracula of the Odyffey are better calculated to excite our curiofity and wonder, and to allure us forward with unextinguished impatience to the catastrophe, than the perpetual tumult and terror that reign through the Iliad. The boundless exuberance of his imagination, his unwearied spirit and fire, Σκάματον πύς, has enabled Homer to diverfify the defcriptions of his battles with many circumstances of great va ferent characters, ages, profeffions, or nations, of his dying heroes; fometimes by defcribing different kinds of wounds and deaths; and fometimes by tender and pathetic strokes, which remind the reader of the aged parent who is fondly expecting the return of his fon just murdered, of the defolate condition of the widows who will now be enflaved, and of the children that will be dashed against the ftones. But notwithstanding this delicate art and addrefs in the poet, the fubject remains the fame; and from this fameness, it will, I fear, grow tedious and infipid to impartial readers; thefe fmall modifications and adjuncts are not fufficiently efficacious to give the grace of novelty to repetition, and to make tautology delightful: the battles are, indeed, nobly and variously painted, yet ftill they are only battles. But when we accompany Ulyffes through the manifold perils he underwent by fea and land, and visit with him the ftrange nations to which the anger of Neptune has driven him, all whofe manners and cuftoms are defcribed in the most lively and picturesque terms; when we furvey the wondrous moniters he encountered and escaped— Antiphaten, Scyllamque, et eum Cyclope Antiphates his hideous feaft devour, D d FRANCIS. when when we see him refufe the charms of unfurmountable, he is at last restored But befides it's variety, the Odyffey is the most amusing and entertaining of all other poems, on account of the pictures it preferves to us of ancient manners, customs, laws, and politics, and of the domeftic life of the heroic ages. The more any nation becomes polifhed, the more the genuine feelings of nature are difguifed, and their manners are confequently lefs adapted to bear a faithful defcription. Good-breeding is founded on the diffimulation or fuppreffion of fuch fentiments, as may probably provoke or offend thofe with whom we converfe. The little forms and ceremonies which have been introduced into civil life by the moderns, are not fuited to the dignity and fimplicity of the Epic Mufe. The coronation feast of an European monarch would not thine half fo much in poetry, as the fimple fupper prepared for Ulyffes at the Phæacian court; the gardens of Alcinous are much fitter for defcription than thofe of Verfailles; and Naulicaa, defcending to the river to wash her garments, and dancing afterwards upon the banks with her fellow-virgins, like Diana amidit her nymphs 'Ρεῖα δ' ἀριγνώτω στέλεται, καλαὶ δὲ τὸ πᾶσαι, Though all are fair, she shines above the reft, is a far more graceful figure than the moft glittering lady in the drawingroom, with a complexion plaittered to repair the vigils of cards, and a fhape violated by a tiff brocade and an immeafirable hoop. The compliment alfo which Ulyffes pays to his innocent unadorned beauty, especially when he compares her to a young palin-tree of Delos, contains more gallantry and elegance than the most applauded fonnet of the politest French: marquis that ever rhymed. However indelicate I may be efteemed, I freely confefs I had rather fit in the grotto of Calypfo, than in the most pompous faloon of Louis XV. The tea and the card-tables can be introduced with propriety and fuccefs only in the mockheroic, as they have been very happily in the Rape of the Lock: but the prefent modes of life mutt be forgotten when we attempt any thing in the ferious or fublime poetry; for heroifm diidains the luxurious refinements, the falfe delicacy and state of modern ages. The primeval, I was about to fay patriarchal, fimplicity of manners difplayed in the Odyfley, is a perpetual fource of true poetry, is inexpreffibly pleating to all who are uncorrupted by the bufinefs and the vanities of life, and may therefore prove equally instructive and captivating to younger readers. It feems to be a tenet univerfally received among common critics, as certain and indifputable, that images and characters of peaceful and domeftic life are not fo difficult to be drawn, as pictures of war and fury. I own myself of a quite contrary opinion; and think the defeription of Andromache parting with Hector in the Iliad, and the tender circumftance of the child Aftyanax ftarting back from his father's heimet, and clinging to the bofom of his nurse, are as great efforts of the imagination of Homer, as the dreadful picture of Áchil- ¦ les fighting with the rivers, or dragging the carcate of Hector at his chariotwheels: the behaviour of Hecuba, when the points to the breaft that had fuckled her dear Hector, is as finely conceived as the molt gallant exploits of Diomede and Ajax: the Natural is as firong an evidence of true genius, as the Subline. It is infuch images the Odyssey abounds: the fuperior utility of which, as they more nearly concern and more ftrongly affect us, need not be pointed out. Let Longinus admire the majesty of Neptune whirling his chariot over the deep, furronnded by fea moniters that gambolled before their king; the defcription of the dog Argus, creeping to the feet of his matter, whom he alone knew in his difguife, and expiring with joy for his return, is fo inexpreffibly pathetic, that it equals, if not exceeds, any of the magnificent and bolder images which that excellent critic hath produced in his treatise on the fublime. He justly commends the prayer of Ajax, who, when he was furrounded with a thick darkness that prevented the difplay of his prowess, begs of Jupiter only to remove the clouds that involved him: 4 Anl then," fays he, deftroy me if thou wilt in the day-light;' iv dè pass nal Bare. But furely the reflections which Ulyffes makes to Amphinomus, the most virtuous of the fuitors, concerning the mifery and vanity of man, will be found to deferve equal commendations, if we confider their propriety, folemnity, and truth. Our hero, in the difguife of 1 beggar, had just been fpurned at and ridiculed by the reft of the riotous lovers, but is kindly achieved by Amphinomus, whofe behaviour is fincly contratted to the brutality of his brethren. Upon which Ulyffes fays- Hear me, O Amphinomus! and ponder the words I fhall ( speak unto thee. Of all creatures that breathe or creep upon the earth, the 'mott weak and impotent is man. For he never thinks that evils fhall befal him at another feason, while the gods heftow on him strength and happiness. But when the immortal gods afflict him with adverfity, he bears it with unwillingness and repining. Such is the mind of the inhabitants of earth, that it changes as Jupiter fends happinefs or milery. I once numbered myfelf among the happy, and, elated with profperity and pride, and relying on my family and friends, committed many acts of injuftice. But let no man be proud or unjuft, but receive whatever gifts the gods beltow on. him with humility and filence.' I chofe to tranflate this fententious paffage as literally as poflible, to preferve the air of it's venerable fimplicity and ftriking folemnity. If we recollect the fpeaker, and the occafion of the fpeech, we cannot fail of being deeply affected. Can we, therefore, forbear giving our affent to the truth of the title which Alcidamas, according to Aristotle, in his rhetoric, beftows on the Odyssey; who calls it a beautiful mirror of human • life, καλὸν ἀνθρωπίνε βιὰ κάτοπῖρον. Homer, in the Iliad, refembles the River Nile, when it defcends in a cataract that deafens and aftonishes the neighbouring inhabitants. In the Odyfley, he is ftill like the fame Nile, when it's genial inundations gently diffufe fertility and fatnefs over the peaceful plains of Egypt. Z No LXXXI. TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 1753. NIL DESPERANDUM, AVAUNT DESPAIR. Have fometimes heard it slifputed in converfation, whether it be more lauCable or defirable, that a man fhould think too highly or too meanly of hinfelf: it is on all hands agreed to be beit, that he fhould think rightly; but fince a fallible being will always make fome deviations from exact restitude, it is not wholly ufelefs to enquire towards which lide it is taler to decline. The prejudices of mankind feem to favour him who errs by under-rating his cwn powers; he is confidered as a modeft and harmiefs member of fociety, not likely to break the peace by competition, to endeavour after fuch splendor of reputation as may dim the luftre of others, or to interrupt any, rn the enjoyment of themfelves; he is no man's rival, and therefore may be every man's friend. The opinion which a man entertains HOR. of himself ought to be diftinguished, in order to an accurate difcuffion of this question, as it relates to perfons or to things. To think highly of ourselves in comparifon with others, to affume by our own authority that precedence which none is willing to grant, must be always invidious and offenfive; but to rate our powers high in proportion to things, and imagine ourselves equal to great undertakings, while we leave others in pcffeffion of the fame abilities, cannot with equal justice provoke cenfure. It must be confeffed, that felf-love may dilpofe us to decide too hastily in our own favour: but who is hurt by the mistake? If we are incited by this yain opinion to attempt more than we can perform, ours is the labour, and ours is the difgrace. But he that dares to think well of. Dd z himself, himfelf will not always prove to be miftaken; and the good effects of his confidence will then appear in great attempts and great performances: if he fhould not fully compleat his defign, he will at leaft advance it fo far as to leave an easier task for him that fucceeds him; and even. though he should wholly fail, he will fail with honour. But from the oppofite error, from torpid defpondency can come no advantage; it is the froft of the foul, which binds up all it's powers, and congeals life in perpetual fterility. He that has no hopes of fuccefs, will make no attempts; and where nothing is attempted, nothing can be done. Every man fhould, therefore, endeavour to maintain in himself a favourable opinion of the powers of the human mind; which are perhaps, in every man, greater than they appear, and might by diligent cultivation be exalted to a degree beyond what their poffeffor prefumes to believe. There is scarce any man but has found himself able, at the inftigation of neceffity, to do what in a flate of leifure and deliberation he would have concluded impoffible; and fome of our fpecies have fignalized themselves by fuch atchievements, as prove that there are few things above human hope. It has been the policy of all nations to preferve, by fome public monuments, the memory of thofe who have ferved their country by great exploits; there is the fame reafon for continuing or reviving the names of those whofe extenfive abilities have dignified humanity. An honeft emulation may be alike excited; and the philofopher's curiofity may be inflamed by a catalogue of the works of Boyle or Bacon, as Themiftocles was kept awake by the trophies of Miltiades. Among the favourites of nature that have from time to time appeared in the world, enriched with various endowments and contrarieties of excellence, none feems to have been more exalted above the common rate of humanity, than the man known about two centuries ago by the appellation of the Admirable Crichton; of whofe hiftory, whatever we may fupprefs as furpaffing credibility, yet we fhall, upon inconteltible authority, relate enough to rank him among prodigies. eminently beautiful; but his beauty was confiftent with fuch activity and ftrength, that in fencing he would fpring at one bound the length of twenty feet upon his antagonist, and he ufed the fword in either hand with fuch force and dexterity, that fcarce any one had courage to engage him. Having ftudied at St. Andrew's in Scotland, he went to Paris in his twenty-first year, and affixed on the gate of the college of Navarre a kind of challenge to the learned of that university to difpute with him on a certain day: offering to his opponents, whoever they fhould be, the choice of ten languages, and of all the faculties and sciences. On the day appointed three thoufand auditors affembled, when four doctors of the church and fifty mafters appeared against him; and one of his antagonists confeffes that the doctors were defeated; that he gave proofs of knowledge above the reach of man; and that a hundred years passed without food or fleep, would not be fufficient for the attainment of his learning. After a difputation of nine hours he was prefented by the prefident and profeffors with a diamond and a purfe of gold, and difmiffed with repeated acclamations. From Paris he went away to Rome, where he made the fame challenge, and had in the prefence of the pope and cardinals the fame fuccefs. Afterwards he contracted at Venice an acquaintance with Aldus Manutius, by whom he was introduced to the learned of that city: then vifited Padua, where he engaged in another public difputation, beginning hisperformance with an extemporal poem in praife of the city and the affembly then prefent, and concluding with an oration equally unpremeditated in commendation of ignorance. He afterwards published another challenge, in which he declared himself rea dy to detect the errors of Ariftotle and all his commentators, either in the common forms of logic, or in any which his antagonists fhould propofe of a hundred different kinds of verfe. Thefe acquifitions of learning, however ftupendous, were not gained at the expence of any pleasure which youth generally indulges, or by the omiffion of any accomplishment in which it becomes a gentleman to excel: he practifed in great perfection the arts of drawing and painting, he was an eminent performer |