Chapter VI: Part THE SECOND (2)

“On the other hand, by virtue of the laws of combination, the result of the unions necessarily differs from the substances that are united; and it does not appear, that the soul and the body should make an exception. When the spirit and matter are united, think not the spirit the same as before; it is, in some measure, materialized; think not the matter such as it was before; it is, in some measure, spiritualized. From this mixture results a new Being, different from pure spirit, though it retains its noblest virtue; different from brute matter, though it partakes of its qualities: It is a particular Being, forming an individual, and thinking apart; in fine, it is such a Being as you that are reading, such as I that am writing. Therefore, what perceives in us, is properly speaking, neither the universal spirit nor the rational soul, nor organized matter: but a compound of all three. Just as when a lion roars, it is not the universal soul, that is in a rage; it is the compound of that soul and the brain of the lion. Hence it comes, that each animal forms a separate thinking individual, though all the animals think only by virtue of one and the same spirit, the universal soul. Let us proceed without losing sight of the faint light which guides us thro’ these dark paths.

“We have seen that, to form an animal, there needs only a combination of organized matter, and the universal soul; and, to form a man, there must be another union of organized matter, universal spirit, and rational soul. If the universal spirit was wanting; ever obedient to the dictates of the rational soul, we should see none but virtuous and spotless men, such as are no where to be found. If the rational soul was wanting, abandoned to this instinct of the universal spirit, which always follows the allurements of sense, we should see none but monsters of vice and disorder.

“The rational soul is united to the human body, the instant the motion essential to life is settled there, it is separated the instant that motion is destroyed; and, once separated, it is known to return no more, it departs for-ever; and enters into a state of which there is to be no end.

“The universal soul is united and separated in the same circumstances: But it is not always separated for-ever. Let, in any person, the motion essential to life, after having totally ceased, come to be renewed, (a thing which every physician knows to be very possible) and what will be the consequence? The rational soul, which departed upon the ceasing of the vital motion, cannot return; but the universal soul, always present, cannot fail of re-uniting with the organized body set in motion again. The man is dead, for his soul is separated from his body. He preserves, however, the air of a living man; because the universal soul is re-settled in his brain, which it directs tolerably well.

“Such to you appears a person perfectly recovered from an apoplectic or lethargic fit, who is but half come to life; his soul is flown; there remains only the universal spirit. Excess of joy, or of grief, any sudden opposition may occasion death, and does occasion it, in fact, oftener than is imagined. Let a fit of jealousy or passion affect you to a certain degree, your soul, too strongly shocked, quits its habitation for-ever: And, let your friends say what they please, or say what you will yourself, you are dead, positively dead. However, you are not buried: the universal soul acts your part to the deception of the whole world, and even of yourself.

“Do not complain therefore, that a relation forgets you, that a friend forsakes you, that a wife betrays you. Alas! perhaps it is a good while since you had a wife, or relations, or friends; they are dead; their images only remain.

“How many deaths of this kind have I seen at Babylon? Never, for instance, did contagious distemper make such havock as the late pious broils. It is true, the Babylonians are so constituted, that their soul sits very loose; the least shock parts it from the body; this is confirmed by observation. Call to mind their notorious quarrel about musick, their rage, their fury: How few heads were untouched? They are mad, said some reasonable people: But for my part, I knew they were dead.

“God rest the soul of the author of the _Petites Lettres a de grands Philosophes!_ He had long been declining; and at last died some months ago. Instantly, the universal soul, possessed of his brains, dislodged some shreds of verses, jumbled them together, and framed that lifeless comedy, the indecency of which gave offence to all the Babylonians that remained _alive_.

“I shall now speak of the signs by which the living may be distinguished from the dead: And, doubtless, the reader sees already what these signs may be. To behold wickedness with unconcern; to be unmoved by virtue, to mind only self-interest; and without remorse, to be carried away with the torrent of the age, are signs of death. Be assured, no rational soul inhabits such abandoned machines. What numbers of dead amongst us! you will say. What numbers of dead amongst us! will I answer.

“As there are signs which declare that such a particular person, who thinks himself, and whom you think full of life, is however deprived of it; so there are signs which show the ravages, these concealed deaths have made in the world. For instance, there must have been, of late years, a great mortality among the learned: For, if you observe almost all the productions of modern literature, you will find only a playing with words, destructive principles, dangerous assertions, dazzling hints. Alas! our authors are manifestly but machines, actuated by the universal soul.

“And, very lately, have we not had fresh proofs of this mortality? What is meant by these libels unworthy of the light? These _when’s_? These _if’s_? These _what-d’ye-calls_? These _wherefore’s_? And I know not how many more with which we are deluged. Be not persuaded that rational souls are capable of such excesses.

“I will conclude with opening a door to new reflections. Suppose a man, like so many others, vegetates only, and is reduced to the universal soul, I demand whether the race of such a man is not in the same state. If so, I pity our posterity. Rational souls were scarce among our fore-fathers; they are still more so among us; surely there will be none left among our offspring. All are degenerating, and we are very near the last stage.”

CHAP. XIII.
LETTER TO THE EUROPEANS.

The second of the works, of which I remember to have seen the plan delineated on the leaves of the Fantastical tree, was digested into the form of a letter, addressed to all the nations of Europe, the substance of which is as follows:

“O ye powerful nations of Europe; nations polished, ingenious, learned, warlike, made to command the rest; nations the most accomplished upon earth; the times are come: Your profound schemes for the happiness of man have prospered: You enjoy it at length, and I congratulate you upon it.

“In nature’s infancy, those uncivilised ages wherein men wandering in the fields, were fed with the products of the earth, a perfect security, easy pleasure, profound peace, or rather languishing indolence benumbed all the faculties of the soul. But when the sweets of property had flattered the human heart; when each had his inclosure and could say, _This is mine_; then all was in motion. A man had too much of one thing, and too little of another; he gave the superfluity for what he wanted: And trade was established. It was at first carried on among neighbours; then, from country to country; and at last, from one of the quarters of the world to the other three. From that time, mankind have formed but one numerous family, whose members are incessantly employed in cheating one another. The spirit of distrust, finess, and fraud, have displayed all the springs of the soul; the talents have shown themselves, the arts have taken birth; and men begin to enjoy the full extent of their understanding.

“How well these profound speculatists have conjectured, who have told us: _Would you have a state flourish? incourage populousness; for real strength and riches consist in a great number of citizens. To incourage populousness, enlarge trade more and more, set up manufactures, introduce arts of every kind; and, to consume superfluities, call in luxury._ Let the names of those who have opened this admirable way, be carefully preserved in our kalendar.

“It is true, by following this method, you have missed your aim, which was populousness. What fortune soever a man may raise, it is consumed by the boundless expence of luxury, which always exceeds the revenues: There is nothing left for the education and settlement of children; and means must be used to have a small number, or even none at all. Long races suit only those remote times when your ancestors, plentifully furnished with necessaries, were so unfortunate as to have no idea of pageantry. It is no wonder, if people so barbarous as not to know silk, lace, tea, chocolate, Burgundy, Champagne, should so increase in the northern regions, as to over-run, like a torrent, all your countries, should found monarchies, and dictate laws, which are revered to this day.

“But what signifies populousness and multitude? Rejoice, O ye fortunate nations; for you have coffee and snuff, cinnamon and musk, sugar and furs, tea and china. How happy are you! and how composed should your minds be!

“It is true, toils, hunger, thirst, shoals, storms, sooner or later destroy these insatiable traders, who traverse the seas to bring you these precious superfluities. But with how many advantages are these petty inconveniences repaid? The face of Europe is entirely new! even to your constitutions all is changed. Thousands of quintals of spices, circulate in your blood, carry fire into your inmost nerves, and give you a new sort of Being. Neither your health, nor your diseases are like those of your fore-fathers. Their robust constitution, simplicity of manners, their native virtues, are they comparable to the advantages you enjoy? That sensibility of the organs, that delicacy of mind and body, those universal lights, those vices of all kinds.... What! will it be said, are vices also to be reckoned among the actual felicities of Europe? Yes, without doubt: Is it not daily proved, that virtue heretofore might be useful to the prudent economy of your ancestors, but that, for enlightened citizens, who no longer walk by the old rules, vice is absolutely necessary, or rather changes its nature and becomes virtue.

“Another advantage that you owe to the depth of your policy and extensiveness of your trade is, that perpetual occasions offer to show your courage, and to practice your military virtues.

“When formerly your countries were under that vast dominion, which swallowed up all the rest, they sunk into indolence; you had only short wars and long intervals of peace, every thing languished. But since, out of the wrecks of that unwieldy empire, a hundred petty states have been formed, every thing has revived. The Europeans have incessantly quarrelled and fought for little spots of land; the grand art of heroism is returned, the art of sacking provinces and shedding blood: And that balance of power so much talked of, is at last established, which puts all Europe in arms at the motion of the least of its parts, and by means of which, a single spark is sufficient to set the whole earth in a flame.

“Let us not regret those times so productive of warriors, when country heroes, each at the head of two or three hundred vassals, continually harrassed one another. The seeds of dissention, which were grown scarce in your climates, have been sought in the farthest parts of the earth; and from the bosom of the two Indias, commerce has brought fresh seeds of enmity, discord, and war.

“These fertile sources are not exhausted; there still remain countries to be discovered. O ye indefatigable nations! is your courage abated? What! should you confine yourselves to your late progresses, as if there remained no unknown lands? Will you never go and hoist your standards, and build forts, directly under the Poles? Rouse yourselves, there are still left riches to plunder, countries to waste, blood to spill.

“But why should you cast your eyes on such objects? Are not your possessions immense? Is not your luxury carried to the utmost height? Are there still new vices to be introduced among you? And do not you begin to shake off the troublesome yoke of every sort of duty? Without doubt, you are very well, nor were you ever better. The little way you have to arrive at perfection, will soon be gone over. When modern wisdom, which timorously conceals herself still in the shade, shall appear in broad day; when she shall have raised her proud head, and shall see all Europe at her feet, universally adopting her maxims, then, you will have neither religious nor moral principles; you will be at the summit of felicity.”

CHAP. XIV.
THE MAXIMS.

The third work of which I remember to have seen the sketch on the Fantastical Tree, was entitled, _Rules of Conduct for the Eighteenth Century, addressed to a young Babylonian, who is coming into the world_. It contained the following Maxims.

“Every country has its customs, every age its manners; and, in human wisdom, the only unchangeable Maxim is, to change with the times and places. The most unquestionable Maxims of the Babylonians, and of the present times are such as these:

“To have true merit does not much signify; but to have small talents is essential. To make one’s court, for example, and pretty verses, is sufficient to prosper: and even farther than can be imagined.

“Great faults shall be forgiven you, but the least ridiculous ones are unpardonable. You think right, and say excellent things: But take care you do not sneeze; it will be such an indecorum, that all the Babylonish gravity would not be able to hold; and you might speak still better things, and not a soul hear you.

“Be particularly careful to act entirely with reference to yourself, and to talk always with reference to the publick-good. It is a fine word, that _publick-good_: If you would, it will never enter into your heart; but it must be always in your mouth.

“Seek not the esteem of the Babylonians in place, that leads to nothing; seek to please. What, think you, will esteem do for you? It is so frozen a sentiment, has so distant a relation to _self_! But amuse their highnesses, and their eminencies, you will then be prized, they will not suffer you out of their sight; they will do all for you, and think they can never do enough.

“Wait not to sollicit for a place you may be fit for; probably you will not succeed. But ask, without distinction, for whatever shall offer. It is a secret to you, but you must know, that it often enters into the depth of true policy, to prefer unfit persons, and remove those that are capable.

“In fine, if you will prosper, turn, according to circumstances, flatterer, like a dedication; quack, like a preface; verbose like a book of art or science; enthusiast, like a demi-philosopher; liar, like an historian; fool-hardy, like an author who is resolved to be talked of.

“These are the true principles of wisdom: But remember, it is the Babylonian wisdom of the Eighteenth Century.”

CHAP. XV.
THE THERMOMETERS.

As I was attentively examining a leaf of the Fantastical Tree, on which I perceived grand projects, and insufficient means; I saw another, so small and curled as to be almost invisible, fly off from a neighbouring bough, and suddenly disappear. At the same instant I felt a slight pricking in my forehead, and a sort of restlessness in my head, which I cannot describe, and which has not left me ever since.

Certainly this leaf has entered my brain, and is labouring to unfold itself; some new invention will result from it one time or other. I even begin to suspect of what kind; and I imagine, it will be a mechanical affair. If I am not mistaken it is this:

The different tempers, the different talents, the different dispositions depend upon the heat and motion, more or less considerable, of the animal spirits: This is a settled point among the physicians; I shall not appeal from their judgment. The question would be to find a mechanical instrument, to discover in each person the degree of heat and motion of this animal liquid, in order to discern what any one is fit for, and to employ him accordingly. This is what I am seeking, and what the leaf, which is busy in my brain, when unfolded will not fail to show me.

I will compose a quintessence analogous to the animal liquid; and, instead of spirits of wine, I will fill thermometers with it. On the side of the tube, in the room of the different degrees of the temperature of the air, there shall be an enumeration of the objects, about which men are usually employed: Instead of cold, temperate, hot, very hot, _&c._ shall be put, good for history, good for physick, good for poetry, good for the gown, good for the sword, good for the mitre, good for the baton, good for Bedlam, _&c._

When a person shall put his hand upon the phial, the liquor will be condensed, or dilated; and, rising or falling in the tube, will show what the person is good for.

I will present Thermometers to sovereigns, that they may chuse Generals, Ministers, Counsellors, and especially Favourites, who will love them enough to tell them the truth. I will give some to Bishops to fill their Benefices and Dignities, for I observe, that those who are appointed to watch, should themselves be watched. I will give some to Fathers, that their children may be wisely disposed of: We shall not see them gird with a sword a son whom they ought to dedicate to the altar, nor bury in a cloister a daughter who would have been the delight of a husband, and the happiness of a family. I will give some to the Great, that they may discern those who deserve their protection: They will grant it no more to a base flatterer, to a supple intriguer, to an ostentatious mean person, who has pretensions; but to true merit, which is seldom seen by them, and never with all its advantages. I will give some to those tender-hearted virtuous Girls, made to enliven the small number of our pleasures, and to allay the multitude of our troubles. With my Thermometers, they will chuse husbands worthy of their affection, if any such there be; and they will not see themselves given up to men born for the plague of their sex; those men without morals, who marry for life, and espouse only for six months.

In fine, I will give some to particular persons, that each may examine himself, and act accordingly: For I observe, that generally every one does what he should not do; I see none but what are misplaced.

I am now solliciting for a pension, to defray the vast expence, that I must evidently be at in making Thermometers, even though I should give them only to such as most want them.

It is true, that reflection might serve instead of my liquid and glass-tubes, but reflections are known to be very rare. For example, it is now at Babylon as on the real stage; all is action, nothing is thought, and my Thermometers may become a necessary piece of furniture.

CHAP. XVI.
THE LENTILS.

The sap which circulates in the Fantastical Tree, said the Prefect, is exhausted in bearing and nourishing leaves. Let it be considered, how many plans, views, projects, come into men’s heads; the prodigious quantity of leaves that this tree must furnish will be astonishing; and it will be no longer wondered, that its whole substance is wasted in their production.

Mean while, the sap, passing into the philosophical branch, makes more progress there than any where else; it produces blossoms, and sometimes fruit. These blossoms are of a singular form and colour, that is to say, admirable to some eyes, and very odd to others. Their odour is very penetrating; few love it, many cannot bear it: To like it, requires a strong head, and a brain organized on purpose.

These same blossoms are extremely delicate: The least change of the air disorders their economy. They generally fade without leaving any fruit.

In fine, the fruit is very late, and seldom comes to perfect maturity. The shell is almost round, divided within into little cells, and ending at the top in a crown.

The little cells of the philosophical fruit, are full of seeds transparent as crystal, round and flatted like a Lentil, but infinitely smaller. When the fruit is ripe, it bursts; the cells open, the seeds come out. But as they are very light, they are suspended in the air, and the wind blows them every way over the surface of the earth.

One thing would astonish thee if thou wast not a little versed in chymistry and optics, and that is, these philosophical grains have a particular analogy to the eye. They will not stick to any other substance; but, as soon as they come within the reach of certain eyes, they never fail to fasten on them, and that just before the sight of the eye. As they are perfectly transparent, they cannot be perceived: But they are discovered by their effects.

He that has a seed of this kind before his eyes, sees things as they are, and he cannot be imposed upon by chimæras. What used to appear to him _great_, is prodigiously lessened, and what appeared to him _little_, is magnified in the same proportion; so that to his eyes, every thing is upon a level or nearly so.

In general, men appear to him very little, and those lords over others, whom he beheld before as colossuses, seem to him so little above the rest, that he hardly perceives the difference.

He sees the extent of human knowledge, and finds it so near to ignorance, that he does not conceive how learning can breed vanity, or ignorance cause shame.

He sees without disguise the phantom of immortality, the idol of the great and the jest of the wise. He sees the celebrated names penetrate a little more or less into futurity; and then stop like the rest and sink into eternal oblivion.

He sees what is low in the most sublime; the dark part of what casts the most lustre, the weak side in what appears the strongest: And his imagination presents to him nothing dazzling, but wherein his reason discovers all the defects.

He sees the earth, as a point in the boundless space; the series of ages, as an instant in eternal duration; and the chain of human actions, as the traces of a cloud of flies in the aerial plains.

In fine, he respects virtue; and, as to the rest, whatever he perceives all around him, even to the most minute things, seems to him all alike. He esteems nothing, he despises nothing, he prefers nothing, and accommodates himself to every thing.

Such a man cannot be conceived to be susceptible of all those little sallies of joy which affect others, but then he is screened from those little mortifications which trouble them so much, and in my opinion, he is a gainer.

CHAP. XVII.
THE SUBTERRANEOUS ROAD.

I have one thing more (said the Prefect) to show thee; prepare thy eyes and thy ears; and be frightened at nothing.

The rivulet, by the side of which we walked to the Fantastical Tree, receives several streams as it flows along; and, as if it left with regret so beautiful a residence, after forming a thousand serpentine windings in the meadow, it glides gently towards its mouth. In that place, a hole, formed by an opening of the earth, receives and transmits it through subterraneous channels.

We came to the place where it was broadest. The bottom was of smooth gravel, and the water not above an inch deep. The Prefect went in and I followed him.

I had gone but a few paces, when the bottom gave way: I sunk, but it was only to my waste; and I remained in that posture, without being able to get to one side or the other. Fear nothing, says the Prefect, calmly enjoy the last spectacle I have reserved for thee.

I then gave myself up to the efforts of the waters, which carried me away, and I soon entered into the subterraneous cavities, where they were lost. At a little distance, the rivulet flowed into another, and soon after, both ran into a river. I was carried from stream to stream; I crossed gulphs, lakes, and seas.

As long as a faint light permitted, I contemplated the internal frame of the earth. It is a labyrinth of immense caverns, deep grottos, irregular crevices, which have a communication with one another. The waters that flow in these subterranean places, spread themselves sometimes into vast basons, and seem to stagnate; sometimes they run with a rapid stream through narrow straits; and dash against the rocks with such impetuosity, as to produce the phosporus and flashes of lightening; very often they fall from the top of the vaults with a dreadful noise. The dazzled eye sees, as it imagines, the foundations of the earth shake; one would think, that the whole was turned upside down, and falling into chaos.

When the glimmering light, which I had enjoyed some time, came to fail, I found myself buried in profound darkness, which increased the horror, I had conceived at what I had seen. A hideous noise, mixed with the murmuring of the streams, with the whistling of the gulfs, with the roaring of the torrents, threw me into great perturbation of mind; and my troubled fancy formed to itself a thousand frightful images.

I went on a good while in this darkness; and I know not how far I had gone when a faint light struck my eyes. It was not like that which precedes sun-rising, or follows sun-set; but that melancholy light, which a town on fire spreads at a distance in the shade of the night. I was some time before I saw whence it came: At last, I found myself close to the most terrible of all the sights.

A vast opening exposed to my eyes in an immense cavern, an abyss of fire. The devouring flame rapidly consumed the combustible matter with which the arched roofs of the abyss were impregnated. A thick smoke mixed with fiery sparks, diffused itself to a great distance. From time to time, the calcined stones fell down by pieces, and the liquified metals formed flaming streams. Sometimes whole rocks, rent from the tops of the vaults, gave passage to water, which poured down in boiling streams. The moment the water touched the calcined matters and melted minerals, it caused most shocking detonations: The concavities of the globe resounded, their foundations were shaken: And I conceived that such was the cause of those terrible earth-quakes, that have destroyed so many countries, and swallowed up so many cities.

I was soon in darkness again; for I still went on. Every moment I should have been destroyed, if the Prefect of Giphantia had not watched over me. I saw him no more: But his promise was with me: And the dangers, I had escaped, heartened me against those I had still to undergo. By degrees I took courage, and became so easy as to make some reflections.

Alas! said I, through a frightful desart I came into the most beautiful mansions in the world, and I am now going thence through gulfs, abysses, and vulcanos. Good and evil closely follow one another. It is thus, the light of the day and darkness of the night, the frosts of the winter and the flowers of the spring, the gentle zephyrs and the raging storms, succeed one another. However, by this strange concatenation, is formed the enchanting prospect of nature. Let us not doubt it: The natural world, notwithstanding its disorders, is the master-piece of infinite wisdom; the moral world, in spite of its stains, is worthy the admiration of the philosopher: And Babylon, with all its faults, is the chief city of the world.

At last, after many days of subterraneous navigation, I once more saw the light; I came out of these terrible vaults, and the last current landed me upon a maritime coast. The serenity of the air was not ruffled with the wind; the calm sea shone with the rays of the rising-sun; and, like a tender wife who stretches out her arms, and sweetly smiles on a beloved husband, the earth seemed to resume new life at the return of that glorious orb, from whence springs all its fertility. By degrees, my troubled senses were calmed: I looked round me, and found myself in my own country, six hundred furlongs north-west from Babylon, to which city I address and dedicate this narrative of my hazardous travels.

_FINIS._

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Footnote 1:

The Jansenists (so called from Jansenius bishop of Ypres) explained
the Doctrine of Grace after the Calvinistical or rather Methodistical
manner, whilst the Molinists (so named from Molina a Spanish Jesuit)
explained it after the Arminian or rather Semi-pelagian way. The
Gallican clergy were divided between these two Opinions.

The reader may remember, there are three opinions concerning Grace.
Says the Calvinist and Methodist, Grace does ALL. Says the Arminian
and Semi-pelagian, Grace does HALF. Says the Pelagian, Grace does
NOTHING.

Footnote 2:

The city of Ombi stood on the eastern side of the Nile, and Tentyra or
Tentyris on the western; both in Thebais part of Upper Egypt. The
Tentyrites were professed enemies of the Crocodiles, whilst the rest
of the Egyptians held them in great veneration, especially the
Ombites, who for their sake waged war with the Tentyrites.

Footnote 3:

Our author in this and the following chapter gives a very lively
summary of the four great monarchies of the world.

I. The Assyrian or Babylonian founded by Nimrod (or Belus I.) soon
after the dispersion at Babel, and which ended with the taking of
Babylon (A. C. 538) by Cyrus who founded II. The Persian empire which
ended with the defeat of Darius Codomannus (A. C. 334) by Alexander
the Great who founded III. The Grecian or Macedonian empire which in
about five years was divided among his successors, and at length
(after the battle of Actium and death of Cleopatra) became subject to
IV. The Roman empire under Augustus Cæsar, of which there are still
some remains.

Footnote 4:

Arbaces governour of Media, and Belesis of Babylon.

Footnote 5:

After the death of Sardanapalus (who is said to burn himself, his
wives and concubines, his eunuchs and riches, in one of the courts of
his palace) the empire was divided into the Median over which Arbaces
reigned at Nineveh, and the Assyrian over which Belesis reigned at
Babylon. These were united under Cyrus about 210 years after. Belesis
(the Baladan of Scripture) is called also Nabonassar. From the first
year of his reign begins the famous Astronomical Æra of Nabonassar,
containing 908 years from February 26 before Christ 747, to the 23d
year of Antoninus Pius in the year of our Lord 161.

Footnote 6:

Nebuchadnezzer (A. C. 589) utterly destroyed Jerusalem, put out king
Zedekiah’s eyes, killed his sons and erected the golden image in the
plains of Dura.

Footnote 7:

By a solemn treaty Ptolemy had Egypt, _&c._ Cassander had Macedonia
and Greece. Lysimachus had Thrace, Bithynia, _&c._ Seleucus had Syria,
_&c._ Of these, the kingdom of Egypt (under 14 monarchs including
Cleopatra) and of Syria (under 27 kings) subsisted till subdued by the
Romans. The rest soon fell to pieces.

Footnote 8:

His Library is said to consist of above 200,000 volumes. Among the
rest was the Septuagint or Greek translation of the Old Testament A.
C. 267. done by Ptolemy’s order. This library was at last destroyed by
fire.

Footnote 9:

This man who from a huntsman raised himself to the throne of Lusitania
(now Portugal) defeated the Romans in several battles; so that Cepion
the consul was forced at last to have him murdered by treachery. He
was (says Livy) much lamented and honorably buried.

Footnote 10:

Rome was taken by Alaric king of the Goths in 410. By Genseric the
Vandal in 455. By Odoacer king of the Heruli in 465, and by Totila the
Goth in 546, by whom it was miserably plundered.

Footnote 11:

Attila king of the Huns, (called _the scourge of God_) after his other
devastations entered Gaul with 500,000 Men and was defeated in the
plains of Chalons in 451, with the loss of 200,000 Huns. After which
he wasted Italy and destroyed Aquileia and other places. Then
returning home, he died on his wedding night. The Huns were the most
terrible of all the northern swarms. By the very terror of their
countenances they are said to over-run the Scythians, Alans and Goths.
They were so ignorant as not to know letters.

Footnote 12:

Mahomet was born at Mecca in Arabia, May 5, 570. He is thought by some
to be persuaded that he was really inspired to propagate the belief of
one God, and to overthrow the idolatrous religion of his country. If
he retained some absurd notions, it was (say they) to induce his
countrymen to embrace his religion. The Mahometan æra begins July 16,
622, when he fled from Mecca to Medina. He died Jan. 17, 631, after
having reduced Arabia to his obedience. His religion has since spread
itself over Asia, Africa, and great part of Europe.

Footnote 13:

Soliman, father of the Othman race, came out of Scythia with 50,000
men in the year 1214, and pushed his conquests to the Euphrates. In
attempting to pass that river he was drowned in 1219. Othman his
grandson was declared sultan in 1300. Mahomet II. the seventh emperor
of the Turks, put an end to the Eastern empire by taking
Constantinople in 1453. The Turks embraced the religion of Mahomet.

Footnote 14:

Camayeu, is a stone, whereon are found various figures formed by
nature. It is the name the orientals give the onyx, on which and on
agate, these natural figures are often found. When the figures are
perfected by art, it is still called a camayeu, as is also a painting
in one colour, representing basso relievos.

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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. Changed all long ſ to short s. 2. Added 200 to all page numbers in Part 2 to avoid conflicts with Part 1 numbering. 3. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. 4. Retained anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. 5. Footnotes have been re-indexed using numbers and collected together at the end of the last chapter. 6. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. 7. Superscripts are denoted by a caret before a single superscript character or a series of superscripted characters enclosed in curly braces, e.g. M^r. or M^{ister}.