MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS, 439 
ftolen either on earth, in air, or 
water. 
“ T met with thy works but two 
days paft. O divine man! a pro- 
digy in this iron age! who would 
ever thought thou couldft exift 
among us in our fhape! I would 
have gone to China for a man en- 
dowed with the tenth part of thy 
light!. Qh, grant me to fee thee, 
to be luftrated and initiated by thee! 
What joy, if, like to Proclus Leonas, 
to thee I could be a domeftic ! who 
feel living in myfelf the foul of 
Leonidas. 
“ My determination was to go 
and live in North America, from 
love of liberty, and there to keepa 
{chool of temperance and love,. in 
order to preferve fo many men 
from the prevailing difgracefulvices 
of brutal intemperance and felfith 
cupidity. — There, in progrefs of 
time, if thofe vices natural to a 
commercial country are found to 
thwart moft of the bleffings of li- 
berty, the happy felect ones, taught 
better difcipline, may form a {fo- 
ciety by themfelves, fuch a one as 
the gods would favour and vifit lov- 
ingly; which would preferve true 
knowledge, and be a feminary and 
an afylum for the lovers of it. 
** There I would devoutly erect 
altars to my favourite gods,—Diof- 
cari, Hector, Ariftomenes, Meffen, 
Pan, Orpheus, Epaminondas, Py- 
thagoras, Plato, Timoleon, Marcus 
Brutus, and his Portia; and, above 
all, Phebus, the god of my hero 
Julian, and the father of that holy, 
gentle commonwealth of the Peru- 
vians, to which awullus ultor has, as 
yet, been fufcited ! 
“ Mufic and gymnaftic are {ci- 
ences neceflary for a teacher to 
potlefs —(what deep and various 
fenfe thefe two words contain !) and 
Tam a ftranger to both! O Gods! 
who gave me the thought and the 
{pirit, give me the means! for all 
things are from you. 
“« Thomas Taylor, be thou their 
inftrument to convoy inte my mind 
knowledge, truth, and prudence! 
Do thou love and help me. I will 
go to thee to-morrow morning. 
“ P. S.' May I look to thee, en- 
dowed with an ancient and no mo- 
dern enthufiafm ! 
“ Graccuus Croronetos.” 
According to the premife con- 
tained in his letter, Valadi waited 
upon Mr. Taylor the following day ; 
threw himfelf in due form at his 
feet ; tendered to him a fmall fum ° 
in bank-notes, which at that mo- 
ment conftituted all his fortune ; 
and begged, with great humility, to 
be admitted as a difciple into his 
houfe. His prayer was granted ; 
and for fome time he enjoyed the 
advantage of imbibing philofophy 
from the fountain-head: but, find- 
ing himfelf more formed for an 
active than a contemplative life, he 
determined to quit philofophy, in 
order to take fome fhare in the pe- 
litical commotions which began to, 
agitate France with redoubled force, 
When he took leave of his refpect- 
able mafter of philofophy, he had 
exchanged his quaker-like apparel 
for a complete fuit of military 
clothes. ‘1 came over Diogenes,”’ 
faid he: ** I am going back Alex- 
ander,”’ 
It was now the {pring of 1789; 
and every thing, indeed, announced 
a revolution, in which he was far 
more inftrumental than is generally 
fuppofed. 
After paffing through the varicus 
viciflitudes of the revolution, he 
was guillotined under the agency: 
of Robefpierre, in December 1793. 
E e 4 Proce edings 
