clouds, he can exalt the hero not one inch above the standard of humanity; incapable, therefore, of exalting the idol, he debases himself, and falls prostrate before him.

When man has thus acquired an erroneous idea of the dignity of the species, he and the gods become perfectly intimate; men are but angels, angels are but men, nay but servants that stand in waiting to execute human commands. The Persians, for instance, thus address their prophet Haly *. "I salute thee, glo"rious Creator, of whom the sun is but a shadow, "Master-piece of the Lord of human creatures, "great star of justice and religion. The sea is not "rich and liberal but by the gifts of thy munificent "hands. The angel treasurer of heaven reaps his "harvest in the fertile gardens of the purity of thy "nature. The primum mobile would never dart the "ball of the sun through the trunk of heaven, were "it not to serve the morning, out of the extreme love "she has for thee. The angel Gabriel, messenger "of truth, every day kisses the groundsil of thy gate. "Were there a place more exalted than the most "high throne of God, I would affirm it to be thy "place, O master of the faithful. Gabriel, with all "his art and knowledge, is but a mere scholar to "thee." Thus, my friend, men think proper to treat angels; but if indeed there be such an order of beings, with what degree of satirical contempt must they listen to the songs of little mortals, thus flattering each other. Thus to see creatures, wiser indeed than the monkey, and more active than the oyster, claiming to themselves the mastery of heaven; minims, the tenants of an atom, thus arrogating a partnership in the creation of universal nature! Sure Heaven is kind that launches no thunder at those guilty heads; but it is kind, and regards

* Chardin's Travels, p. 42.

their follies with pity, nor will destroy creatures that it loved into being.

But whatever success this practice of making demi-gods, might have been attended with in barbarous nations, I do not know that any man became a god in a country where the inhabitants were refined. Such countries generally have too close an inspection into human weakness, to think it invested with celestial power. They sometimes indeed admit the gods of strangers, or of their ancestors, which had their existence in times of obscurity; their weakness being forgotten, while nothing but their power and their miracles were remembered. The Chinese, for instance, never had a god of their own country, the idols, which the vulgar worship at this day, were brought from the barbarous nations around them. The Roman emperors, who pretended to divinity, were generally taught by a poignard that they were mortal; and Alexander, though he passed among barbarous countries for a real god, could never persuade his polite countrymen into a similitude of thinking. TheLacedæmonians shrewdly complied with his commands by the following sarcastic edict:

Εν Αλεξανδρα Βέληται είναι θεους Θεος 15000

Adieu.

LETTER CXVI.

To the Same.

THERE is something irresistibly pleasing in the conversation of a fine woman; even though her tongue be silent, the eloquence of her eyes teaches wisdom. The mind sympathizes with the regularity of the object in view, and struck with external grace, vibrates into respondent harmony. In this agreeable disposition, I lately found myself in company with my friend

and his niece. Our conversation turned upon love, which she seemed equally capable of defending and inspiring. We were each of different opinions upon this subject; the lady insisted that it was a natural and universal passion, and produced the happiness of those who cultivated it with proper precaution. My friend denied it to be the work of nature, but allowed it to have a real existence, and affirmed that it was of infinite service in refining society; while I, to keep up the dispute, affirmed it to be merely a name, first used by the cunning part of the fair-sex, and admitted by the silly part of ours, therefore no way more natural than taking snuff or chewing opium.

"How is it possible," cried I, " that such a passion can be natural, when our opinions even of beauty, "which inspire it, are entirely the result of passion "and caprice? The ancients, who pretended to be "connoisseurs in the art, have praised narrow fore"heads, red hair, and eye-brows that joined each "other over the nose. Such were the charms that "once captivated Catullus, Ovid, and Anacreon. "Ladies would, at present, be out of humour, if "their lovers praised them for such graces; and "should an antique beauty now revive, her face "would certainly be put under the discipline of the "tweezer, forehead-cloth, and lead-comb, before it "could be seen in public company.

"But the difference between the ancients and mo"derns is not so great, as between the different "countries of the present world. A lover of Gon66 gora, for instance, sighs for thick lips; a Chinese "lover is poetical in praise of thin. In Circassia, a "straight nose is thought, most consistent with "beauty; cross but a mountain which separates it "from the Tartars, and there flat noses, tawney skins, " and eyes three inches asunder, are all the fashion. "In Persia and some other countries, a man when he "marries, chuses to have his bride a maid; in the

"Philippine Islands, if a bridegroom happens to "perceive on the first night that he is put off with "a virgin, the marriage is declared void to all in"tents and purposes, and the bride sent back with "disgrace. In some parts of the East, a woman of "beauty, properly fed up for sale, often amounts "to one hundred crowns; in the kingdom of Loan86 go, ladies of the very best fashion are sold for a "pig; queens however sell better, and sometimes

amount to a cow. In short, turn even to England, "do not I there see the beautiful part of the sex 66 neglected; and none now marrying or making "love, but old men and old women that have saved 66 money ? Do not I see beauty from fifteen to twen66 ty-one, rendered null and void to all intents and 66 purposes, and those six precious years of woman"hood put under a statute of virginity? What ! "shall I call that rancid passion love, which passes "between an old bachelor of fifty-six, and a widow "lady of forty-nine? Never! never! What advan"tage is society to reap from an intercourse, where "the big belly is oftenest on the man's side? "Would any persuade me that such a passion was "natural, unless the human race were more fit "for love as they approached the decline, and, like "silk-worms, became breeders just before they ex"pired."

Whether love be natural or no, replied my friend, gravely, it contributes to the happiness of every society into which it is introduced. All our pleasures are short, and can only charm at intervals : love is a method of protracting our greatest pleasure; and surely that gamester who plays the greatest stake to the best advantage, will, at the end of life, rise victorious. This was the opinion of Vanini, who affirmed that every hour was lost which was not spent in love. His accusers were unable to comprehend his meaning, and the poor advocate

for love was burned in flames, alas! no way metaphorical. But whatever advantages the individual. may reap from this passion, society will certainly be refined and improved by its introduction: all laws, calculated to discourage it, tend to imbrute the species, and weaken the state. Though it cannot plant morals in the human breast, it cultivates them when there: pity, generosity, and honour, receive a brighter polish from its assistance; and a single amour is sufficient entirely to brush off the clown.

But it is an exotic of the most delicate constitution; it requires the greatest art to introduce it into a state, and the smallest discouragement is sufficient to repress it again. Let us only consider with what ease it was formerly extinguished in Rome, and with what difficulty it was lately revived in Europe: it seemed to sleep for ages, and at last fought its way among us through tilts, tournaments, dragons, and all the dreams of chivalry. The rest of the world, China only excepted, are, and have ever been, utter strangers to its delights and advantages. In other countries, as men find themselves stronger than women, they lay a claim to a rigorous superiority: this is natural, and love, which gives up this natural advantage, must certainly be the effect of art. An art calculated to lengthen out our happier moments, and add new graces to society.

I entirely acquiesce in your sentiments, says the lady, with regard to the advantages of this passion, but cannot avoid giving it a nobler origin than you have been pleased to assign. I must think, that those countries, where it is rejected, are obliged to have recourse to art to stifle so natural a production, and those nations, where it is cultivated, only make nearer advances to Nature. The same efforts that are used in some places to suppress pity and other natural passions, may have been employed to extinguish love. No nation, however unpolished,