62 



love and poeti^ were the progeny of this soft climate. The 

 Milesian fables, the prototype of the modern novel, were 

 the productioiis of Ionia, celebrated for its opulence,, its 

 commerce, the. number of its colonies on the borders of 

 the Propontis, the Tanais, and the Nile; and not less ce- 

 lebrated for thC; effeminacy of its inhabitants. In this pro- 

 vifice, where the Meander Avinds, through a most delicious 

 country ; where groves of myrtle, the almond, sweet wil- 

 low, and the orange, perfume the air; all nature inspires 

 the most voluptuous sensations. Here the Milesian tales 

 originated ; a,nd Aristides, Mho distinguished himself in 

 these compositions, according to Plutarch, must have writ- 

 ten before the time of Crassus: for, after his defeat, a 

 copy of these fables was found in the baggage of a Ro- 

 man officer, and brought to Surena. The warlike Parthians 

 despised a nation, which, in the midst of its military pur- 

 suits, could give itself up to such amusements. 



The influence of climate, and the love of pleasure, may 

 have encouraged the various branches of the Jine arts, that 

 are connected with the pleasures of sense, and minister to 

 luxury. This, in some degree, served to counteract the 

 tendency of arbitrary power to discourage arts and sciences^ 

 Thus we find, that the delightful regions of Asia Minor 

 were ever the favom-ite seats of love and poetry; where 

 the son of Bacchus and Venus was peculiarly worshipped; 

 and the voluptuous spirit of the climate breathed through 

 its poetry. AVhile the political state of the country pre- 

 cluded the sublimcr efforts of poetry, the epos, and the 



drama, 



