2 ad 
Oe 
448 
MODERN LANGUAGES. 
Art. III. Raccolta di Letiere Istorico-Mitologiche e Morale. Da G. A. Gracuta. 
8vo. pp- 200. 
THE author shall declare his own ob- 
ject in this selection. 
«In giving to the public these letters, it 
may appear to some too presumptuous an at- 
tempt to range myself in the copious number 
of eminent writers upon the same subject ; 
and to others, to be a labour almost needless, 
considering the few who, (comparatively 
speaking) will read them. In the first pits 
I shall say, if the matter is rightly considered, 
every tongue, every way, and every method 
ought to be tried, if not to destroy (an at- 
tempt almost impossible) at least to diminish 
the evil, which the many depraved produc- 
tions, under various colours and forms, dis- 
grace the art of printing, with so much de- 
triment to young people, thus undermining 
their good morals, in order to blow up, as it 
were, that education, which their friends had 
given them with so much zeal ; they being 
conscious that the principal riches of a state, 
and the cause of the welfare of families, 
chiefly depend on the good education given to 
children ; and is to the mind what agricul- 
ture is to the earth; and as we are by our 
corrupt nature more prone to evil than in- 
clined to good ; and, blindly, more lulled by 
present pleasures, than engaged by thoughts 
of future happiness ; wherefore, if the fear of 
God should not come in aid of good advice, 
where should we not be led by those profane 
writers! As it is so, I have selected in these 
letters, subjects, if not of the most sublime 
kind, at least, the easiest to be put in practice, 
and the more adapted to the circumstances — 
of the times, and the most general, in order to ~ 
oppose the vices that are also most general ; — 
therefore, in them will be inculcated, that the 
mind ought to be guided by reason ; that, 
to use provoking words, is often the cause of 
= evils ; that the passionate man hurts 
imself more than others ; that virtue never 
grows old nor loses strength ; that those who 
are habituated to afflictions bear them more 
calmly; that before one makes any one his 
friend, one ought to examine him carefully, 
before trusting him with a secret; that the 
flatterer flies from the yirtuous man, and at- 
taches himself to the presumptuous one; 
but, to avoid prolixity, 1 shall only add, that 
too great a prosperity, as well as too great an © 
adversity, are equally dangerous; and peace 
in families, and subordination in subjects, are 
the fruits of virtue alone, without which, nei- 
thera state nora family can long prosper, but 
it must of necessity decay and A l, as a tree 
with withered roots.” 
We have only to remark that the se- 
lection seems well adapted for the de- 
signed purpose, and that the Signor’s 
Italian is somewhat less confused than 
his English. 
