( 115 ; 



said he, one day, I know not what secret is in thy 

 name ; it is as a secret of death. Thou hast learnt to 

 know me, inspired poet, and thou must know that 

 I am not one of those pusillanimous mortals , who 

 recoil from misfortune ; but I am a father , and 1 

 feel the want of enlightening my mind , respecting 

 my daughter's future existence. Say ail that thou 

 knowest about thy origin ; perhaps we may unra- 

 vel the mystery of thy destinies. I fancied I saw 

 on thy forehead , the sacred character wilh which 

 the gods stamp those who are born to command 

 men , to give them laws , to found among them 

 durable institutions. — The lyre is the property with 

 celestial confines , the chords of the lyre are civil 

 and celestial laws ; the sacred oath by the chords 

 of the lyre , lies men to each other and to the 

 divinity. Thy feaiures wear the stamp of a divine 

 race. O my father , said Orpheus, for I have no 

 other father but you , I have already told you 

 that I am totally unacquainted with what you ask 

 me, I do not know even the place of my birth; 

 and it is not without a deep sorrow , that I make 

 this confession. Man delights in glorifying himself 

 in his ancestors . I have voluntarily abandoned the 

 thought of consulting the voice of Leucade ; I 

 would not separate myself from the great family 

 which still remains without ancestors and to who m 

 1 am corne to promise a posterity. Prometheus suffer- 

 ed immense torture because he endowed mortals 

 with the capacity of good and evil. Though I am 

 not a Titan , I dare brave that danger. Is the 



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