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suaded that they were destined to vanish from existence, even 

 at the moment they flowed from his lips — let us imagine those 

 circumstances, and we shall have no difficulty in conceiving 

 how an enthusiastic individual impressed with these emotions 

 would exert every power of his intellect, to preserve from 

 annihilation compositions v/hich ought to be immortal. The 

 motive would be sufficient for any labour of invention how- 

 ever surprising; and it may not be an uninteresting employ- 

 ment to discover, if possible, the progressive steps by which 

 the task might have been accomplished. 



Whether the inventor was of India, Chaldea, Phoenicia, or 

 Egypt, he has not succeeded in transmitting to our days the 

 verses which he intended to immortalise; or even a name 

 that might justly rank, among the most illustrious of man- 

 kind, beyond that of Homer himself. Yet in the place of 

 those works, for whose celebrity he perhaps alone was inter- 

 ested, he has bestowed upon us a gift of more value and in- 

 terest than an hundred Iliads. — Not that it perpetuates those 

 divine compositions which have humanised man, ameliorat- 

 ed his nature, and elevated his character with the traits of 

 nobleness and magnanimity; — not that it has enabled him 

 to record with unequivocal precision his observations and 

 sentiments, and to argue, discuss, and ascertain with pre- 

 eminent accuracy, every shade of probability, and limitation 

 of truth within the cognisance of his faculties. — Not that it 

 facilitates his progress in natural, moral, or intellectual phi- 

 losophy, and the discovery of those simple and admirable laws 



