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able to offer Eurydice ail that a man wishes to ofFer 

 to the woman of his choice , he would départ in 

 spite of the danger, which would surround him. 

 It is not to try the experiment of Leucade ; he has 

 intimately associated himself with the immense 

 elass of those for whom as yet the capacity of good 

 and evil does not exist ; mortals who must be rais- 

 ed to the rank of men ; but his generous heart 

 refuses to make Eurydice share in such a perilous 

 destiny. He speaks thus to the sage Titan , who 

 has so favourably received him , and whose dearest 

 interests he would not betray : « Noble old man , 

 hâve the gods vainly placed in my soûl an immense 

 désire to tear savage hordes from the barbarity in 

 w^hich I see them plunged , as in a mire ? Armed 

 Pallas , half serpent , is the admirable emblem of 

 dawning humanity. She is attended by the Dios- 

 cures , children of Jupiter , and she plays on the 

 flûte. When the progress of humanity will be more 

 advanced , this half serpent , which at présent crawls 

 on the fertile earth, will walk erect in ils dignity 

 and indépendance. In -vain the jealous Titans would 

 tear the heart from the strong breast of Bacchus ; 

 and the heart is the seat of the civil soûl. I hâve 

 reaped , it is true , no harvest from my first atlempts, 

 but of what avail would courage be , had we mere- 

 ly to act in the easy path of success. I will go to 

 the wise Egypt and Ihere learn ail the sublime 

 marvels of poetry and of morals. There I shall 

 learn the différent natures of soûls, if really a dif- 

 férent nature exists, and I will cause piyself to be 



