sand. It was the prostration of the heart. On Kosciusco's return to his house, in the neighbourhood of this scene, he found a Russian military post established to protect it. The Emperor Alexander, having learned from M. de la Harpe, that Kosciusco resided in the country, ordered for him a guard of honour; and the country around his dwelling escaped all plunder and contribution. Kosciusco had withdrawn some years from the guilty world of Bonaparte, to cultivate a little farm; rejecting every offer, which was made him by Napoleon, who had learned to appreciate his worth.. Kosciusco knew him well. I called on him one day," continues Miss Williams, " to bid him farewell; having read in the official paper of the morning his address to the Poles, on the subject of recovering his freedom, being named to the command of the Polish army by Bonaparte. Kosciusco heard me with a smile at my credulity; but, on my showing him the address, with his signature, he exclaimed, This is all a forgery! Bonaparte knew me too well to insult me with any offer in this predatory expedition. He has adopted this mode, which I can never answer nor resent; and which he attempts to colour with the pretext of liberty. His notions and mine respecting Poland are at as great a distance, as our sentiments on every other subject."" IX. The Portuguese friars esteem idleness "vida celeste ;"— fitlife alone for the inhabitants of the Castle of Indolence.To be active in an honourable pursuit forms a principal feature in the delineation of a strong intellect. To that ignoble multitude, who live without guilt, virtue, ornament, or use; and of whom the earth never retains memorial, wealth is the mistress,-ah! the very god of the soul. Living with no ideas either of refinement or of content, they vegetate, as some flowers rise without a calyx; and as others blossom without nectaria. Content is the first, and the last, perfection of life;-as simplicity is the utmost perfection, to which the most exquisite art has power to attain. Though soft the moon her yellow light O'er yonder mouldering tower hath shed; Yet softer sleeps thy peaceful head. Drake. He, who worships no statue, that is not studded with. pearls and diamonds, is to the contented man an object of derision. The other repays the compliment with more than equal sincerity of disdain; smiling, with unblushing ignorance, as he addresses the deluding idol, that he worships. Thou dumb God, that givest all men tongues, -Thou art Virtue, Fame, Honour, and all things else. Who can get thee, And what he will'. 1 Fox. Act i. sc. i. 1. 25.-From Horace. -Omnes enim res Virtus, fama, decus, divina humanaque pulchris Divitiis parent. Bion called wealth "the metropolis;" and Phocylides the "mother of evil."-Seneca styled it " self-punishment."-" Nolite," says Cardan, “ opes effundere nec contemnere: sunt enim instrumenta omnium bonorum." Præcepta ad filios. "Call me not fool," says Jaques, "till Heaven hath sent me fortune.”. So Publius Syrius: "Fortuna, nimium fovet, stultum facit." IX. It is curious to observe the various dispositions of men, in regard to the value of particular things. While the philosopher of Pera esteems his philosophical instruments the most valuable articles, he possesses, the Tartar of the Crimea prides himself on the peculiar excellence of his sword-blade, and costly tobacco-pipe, with tubes of curious woods, and mouth-pieces of milk-white amber. He sits upon a hill with his pipe, gazing stedfastly before him : but should any one inquire, whether he derives any pleasure from a contemplation of the scene, he stares with astonishment; and inquires of the intruder, if he thinks he is frantic! The lady of Europe values herself upon her pearls, jewels, and robes of ermine ;-the ancient Scythians clothed themselves in the skins of foxes; the Hyperboreans in those of the squirrel and the marmot ;-the Indians of Strabo's age in skins of bears, lions, and panthers ;while the savages of America pride themselves equally upon their rude aprons, formed of the skins of wolves, deer, elks, lynxes, and racoons. Use with these uncultivated nations is the only measure of value. Aware "To admire what is hidden, and to despise what is plain," says Maximus Tyrius, "is the madness of men. of this, the poets invented fable: which, being more clear than enigma, and yet more obscure than conversation, is a mean between knowledge and ignorance." When we know the secret of an enigma, the enigma ceases to engage. Hence, when we have discovered the secrets of wealth, we lose most of our enjoyment, in respect to it. Wealth, too, is merely comparative. In France, and in almost all civilized nations, media of gold and silver have been established, which have ruined the repose of mankind. In other countries the natives look for their principal enjoyments in the lives of animals. How could the Arabian be recompensed for the loss of his camel? Having to traverse vast deserts, those animals are peculiarly fitted for that duty: the Arab, therefore, esteems it the peculiar gift of Heaven. Its milk produces him food; its soil supplies him with fuel; from its urine is extracted sal-ammoniac; and it is capable of travelling two hundred and eighty leagues in eight days, with only one hour's rest in a day; a few dates; a few balls of meal; a thorny species of herbage; and the water, which it carries in its intestine ventricle. How could we recompense a Peruvian peasant, for the loss of his lama? It constitutes almost all his wealth. It eats but little food, being abundantly supplied with saliva; and its frame is equally adapted for burthen and for draught. Its flesh is his meat, while its skin and its hair he manufactures into cloth. If the Arabian could exist without his camel, and the Peruvian without his lama, the Laplander would be the most miserable of the earth if deprived of his rein-deer. This animal supplies its master with almost all his comforts. Its flesh with meat; its milk with drink; its skin with garments; its sinews with thread; its bones with implements; its horns with glue; and its tendons with bow-strings. While seals supply the Greenlanders not only with food and clothing, but with light. X. The lands of Java are divided so equally 1, that each husbandman has just as much as will enable him to maintain his family, and employ his individual industry. In consequence of this wise distribution, Java, like Egypt, Japan, and France, has every thing within itself: and, like those countries, it may be compared to the pastas, which contains within itself both the wax and the wick. The Hindoos make the goddess of good fortune the goddess of plenty; but though they are celebrated for ancient architecture, and their modern weaving and jewellery, their mode of agriculture is irrational in the highest degree. They have no conception of the art of making hay: they sow various seeds, which ripen at different seasons, on the same land: and they have no idea of providing against a long drought by raising crops for cattle. On the banks of the Red River in America, several of the tribes blend the agricultural with the hunting and the wandering states. Happy in their general natures, and well supplied by their own industry, every hunter has a horse and six or eight dogs; which, harnessed to a sledge, carries his furs, his firewood, his wife, and his children. They wander among forests of pine, cedar, and other trees; beneath which are nuts of various kinds; cranberry and currant-trees; at the feet of which are frequently found strawberries and other fruits. The ancient Germans lived upon milk, cheese, and Raffles, i. p. 147. VOL. II. H |