THE EARTH. 59 



submersion ->f the island of Atalantis, as mentioned by Plato, has bouo 

 most the subject of speculation. Mankind, in general, now consider 

 the whole of his description as an ingenious fable ; but when fables 

 are grown famous by time and authority, they become an agreeable, 

 if not a necessary part of literary information. 



" About nine thousand years are passed," says Plato,* " since the 

 island of Atalantis was in being. The priests of Egypt were well ac- 

 quainted with it: and the first heroes of Athens gained much glory in 

 their wars with the inhabitants. This island was as large as Asia Mi- 

 nor and Syria united ; and was situated beyond the Pillars of Hercu- 

 les, in the Atlantic ocean. The beauty of the buildings, and the fer- 

 tility of the soil, were far beyond any thing a modern imagination can 

 conceive ; gold and ivory were every where common ; and the fruits 

 of the earth offered themselves without cultivation. The arts and 

 courage of the inhabitants were not inferior to the happiness of their 

 situation ; and they were frequently known to make conquests, and 

 overrun the continents of Europe and Asia." The imagination of the 

 poetical philosopher riots in the description of the natural and acquired 

 advantages, which they long enjoyed in this charming region. " If," 

 says he, " we compare that country to our own, ours will appear a 

 mere wasted skeleton, when opposed to it. The mountains to the 

 very tops were clothed with fertility, and poured down rivers to enrich 

 the plains below." 



However, all these beauties and benefits were destroyed in one day 

 by an earthquake sinking the earth, and the sea overwhelming it. At 

 present not the smallest vestiges of such an island are to be found ; 

 Plato remains as the only authority for its existence: and philosopheis 

 dispute about its situation. It is not for me to enter into the contro- 

 versy, when there appears but little probability to support the fact ; 

 and, indeed, it would be useless to run back nine thousand years in 

 earch of difficulties, as we are surrounded with objects that more 

 closely affect us, and that demand admiration at our very doors. 

 When I consider, as Lactantius suggests, the various vicissitudes of na 

 ture ; lands swallowed by yawning earthquakes, or overwhelmed in 

 the deep ; rivers and lakes disappearing, or dried away ; mountains 

 levelled into plains; and plains swelling up into mountains; I cannot 

 help regarding this earth as a place of very little stability ; as a tran 

 sient abode of still more transitory beings 



CHAPTER XII. 



OF MOUNTAINS. 



HAVING at last, in some measure, emerged from the deeps of the 

 earth, we come to a scene of greater splendour ; the contemplation 

 of its external appearance. In this survey, its mountains arc the first 

 objects that strike the imagination, and excite our curiosity. There 

 is not, perhaps, anv thing in all nature that impresses an unpcc:itemd 



Plato in Critia. 



