ARCADIA. 313 



'^* Jupiter, the Father of Mankind, was defirous of 

 " uniting, by a reciprocal interchange of benefits, 

 ** all the Nations of the Earth ; poor or rich, 

 ** barbarian or civilized. Even if we (hould be 

 " tin ible to find in Gaul any thing that can be 

 ** uieful in Egypt, or were we, by fome accident, 

 '* to lole the fruit of our voyage, fbill there will 

 *' remain for us one thing, of which neither death 

 ** nor lemptfls can deprive us; I mean the fatis- 

 *' faftion of having done good." 



This difcourfe, fuddenly, illuminated my mind 

 with a ray of divine hght. I embraced Cephas, 

 with tears in my eyes : " Let us depart," faid I 

 to him, " let us do good to Mankind, and imitate 

 the Gods r 



My father approved of our projeft; when I 

 took my leave of him, he folded me in his 

 arms, faying : '* My fon, you are going to under- 

 " take the mod difficult tafk in the World, for 

 *' you are going to engage in labour for the bene- 

 ** fit of Mankind. But if you can, by fuch means, 

 ** promote your own happinefs, reft afTured, that 

 ** you will render mine complete." 



After having taken leave of our friends, Cephas 

 and I embarked at Canopus, on board a Pheni- 

 cian velTel, which was going to Gaul for a cargo 



of 



