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ideas together ; judges of their relations or oppositions ; 

 and acts in consequence of this judgment. He alone, 

 of all animals, enjoys the gift of speech ; he clothes his 

 ideas with such signs as he thinks proper $ and, by this 

 admirable prerogative, he forms a connection between 

 them, which renders his imagination and memory an in- 

 estimable fund of knowledge. By this means, man 

 communicates his thoughts, and brings all his faculties 

 to a state of perfection ; by this he attains to all arts 

 and sciences ; and by means of this, all nature is subject 

 to him. 



Sometimes, with a strong and harmonious voice, he 

 celebrates, in a poem, the virtues of a hero : at others, 

 by a stroke of the pencil, he changes a dull canvass into 

 a charming perspective. Here we see him, with the 

 chissel and graver in his hand, animating the marble, 

 and giving life to brass : there, with the plummet and 

 square, erecting a magnificent palace. Now we behold 

 him, by a microscope of his own invention, discovering 

 new worlds amidst invisible atoms ; or penetrating the 

 secret exercise and motion of a particular organ : at 

 other times, by changing this microscope into a tele- 

 scope, he pierces into the heavens, and contemplates 

 Saturn and his moons. Returning home, he prescribes 

 laws to the celestial bodies ; describes their paths ; mea- 

 sures the earth; and weighs the sun : afterwards, he 

 dives into the nature of beings ; examines their rela- 

 tions, and the admirable harmony resulting from them ; 

 and, by an attentive view of their various perfections, 

 he sees an immense chain formed, comprehending the 

 vhole. 



In another station, man is occupied in such arts as 

 contribute to the supply of his necessities or conveni- 

 encies : his reason condescends to every thing. The 

 earth, cultivated by his care, teems every year with new 

 productions : hemp <nd flax divest themselves of their 

 bark to furnish him with clothing. The sheep aban- 

 dons, for his use, his rich fleece; and the silk-worm 



