40^ STUDIES OF NATURE. 



*' who gave Laws to Athens, and Inachus to Ar- 

 *' gos. At Argos it is that Agamemnon reigns, 

 ** whofe renown is diffufed over the face of the 

 " whole Earth. There fhall we behold him 

 *' crowned with glory, in the bofom of his family, 

 *' and encompafled with Kings and Heroes. If 

 ** he is ftill engaged in the fiege of Troy, his 

 *' (hips will eafily convey us to thy Country. Thou 

 *' haft feen the moft refined ftate of civilization in 

 ** Egypt, and the grofl'eft barbarifm in the Gauls ; 

 *■' thou wilt find in Greece, a politenefs and an 

 ** elegance which will charm thee. Thou wilt 

 " thus have had the fpedtacle of the three periods 

 ** through which moft Nations pafs. In the firft, 

 '' they a|"e below Nature ; they come up to her, 

 " in the fécond -, and in the third, they go beyond 

 ** her." 



The views of Cephas were too congenial with 

 my paffion for glory, to admit of my neglefting 

 an opportunity of forming an acquaintance with 

 men fo illuftrious as the Greeks, and efpecially 

 fo renowned as Agnmemnon. I waited with impa- 

 tience for the return of a fcafon favourable to 

 navigation; for we had reached the Veneti in 

 Winter. We pafled that feafon in an inceflant 

 round of feafting, conformably to the cuftom of 

 thofe Nations. As foon as Spring returned, we 

 prepared to embark for j\rgos. Before we took 



our 



