1793- onihe value and uses of the iarchtree; § 
for a man ofa philosophical turn of mind, and of 
strict and delicate virtue, the simile of Plato ought 
to be well considered. 
“¢ If one, says he, fhall observe a great company 
run out into the rain every day, and delight to be 
wet in it, and if he judges that it will be to little 
purpose for him to go and persuade them to come 
into their houses and avoid the rain, so that all that 
can be expected from his going to speak to them, 
will be that he fhall be wet with them ; woujd it not 
be much better for him to keep within doors, and 
preserve himself, since he cannot correct the folly 
2” 
of others ? 
On THE VALUE AND UsEs oF THE LarcH TREE. 
Tr a traveller fhould come from a sttange country, 
_ and report that he nad there found a tree whose wood 
was nearly incorruptible; who fhould say, that un- 
der ground it would remain fer centuries firm, and 
at length acquire almost a metallic hatdnefs; that 
above ground, though exposed to the weather, it 
could scarcely be said ever to rot:-that if cut into 
plank after being thoroughly dried, it was neither 
apt to fhrink nor warp in any way: that no kind 
of worm was known to make any imprefsion on it 
for ages, if made into furniture; and that even the 
sea worm in tropical regions, so destructive to most 
other kinds of wood, did not affect it: that it resist- 
ed fire, so as scarcely ever to be put into a flame; 
and only consumed slowly in circumstances that 
