tuos intercludere conavimus, ut ad nos adspirare non posses *." I taught, that the desire of pleasure or happiness was the prime mover of the human frame and of the human mind, and that in the possession or enjoyment of real and permanent pleasure the chief happiness of man did consist, and I endeavoured to prove that this pleasure was in the absence of bodily pain, and in the presence of mental tranquillity by virtue. That sacrifices and ceremonies in the temples, abnegations and macerations of body, or dejections of spirit in cloystered retirement, were of no avail for the favour of the God of the universe, nor any thing short of sincere confidence in his wisdom, and goodness, and benevolence towards our fellow creatures. For these doctrines, and the abuse which was made of them by some of my followers, I was railed at by the Stoics, at whom I railed not again, because I knew that in their austere pretences to superior virtue, and in the pride of their performances, they disdained my principles, which were founded on the weakness of human nature, and its improvement by rational and attainable purposes. The doctrines of my garden led to no less. purity of manners than those of the Portico, but they led to them as an effect of my prin *Tusc. quæst. 5.-" O Fortune! I have laid hold of "thee, and grasped thee, and strove to shut out all thy " avenues." ciples, and not as a foundation for spiritual pride, and philosophical ostentation. My disciples were temperate and correct in their manners, but they were gay and chearful. Virtue and happiness were with them inseparable; and I taught them to believe that they could not subsist asunder. I could never believe or teach that the world was disturbed by Dæmons, but rather that it was uniformly governed with perfect wisdom, but in a manner ultimately inscrutable to the wisdom of man, though discoverable every where, in faint, but beautiful traces, of the glorious system. Having said thus, he paused, and I, tho' full of admiration and respect, was able in broken accents thus to address the venerable man. "O excellent and injured Epicurus! thou has now amply discovered that virtue did not deceive thee upon earth, but is the never-failing friend of man. "I also desire to be fully persuaded, that all rational beings were formed for each other, and that bearing with them is a branch of justice, and a source of happiness; that mistakes are involuntary, and the ultimate affections of the heart almost always unknown: that health of body and peace of mind, which constitute supreme happiness, can consist only in virtue producing in the body absence from pain and irritation by temperance, and in the mind tranquillity, by the love of order, and by confidence in the perfection of the Supreme Being, and of the universe. Ah! why should I suffer the little affair of Glory to disturb me, when I reflect how all the things that I admire shall be involved in oblivion, and in the vast immensity of eternal duration. 66 How empty the noisy echo of applauses; how fickle and injudicious the applauders; how narrow the bounds within which our praise is confined; and that the earth itself, nay all the finest glasses, can descry in the firmament, is but as a point in the infinity of nature! "Yes, Epicurus, I also desire above all things to keep myself from distraction, and from useless desires; to retain my freedom, and to consider every thing as a man of courage, as a man, as a citizen, as a poor and fallible mortal; that the world is in continual change, that this life is seated in opinion, and will quickly pass away, never to return, while virtue and happiness, being seated in the soul, must be eternal like itself." While I was thus speaking, I found myself drawn involuntarily to my Portico in the summer house, that I might show to my visitor the statues of Lucretius Carus, of Pomponius Atticus, of Horace, and of Gassendi ; but, in moving along, methought I struck my foot upon a stone, and fell to the ground, which awakened me in trepidation from my pleasing dream. *The Chapter-house at Dryburgh Abbey. I started up suddenly from my place, and beheld, with great confusion, before my face, the statue of Epicurus in the niche where I had fallen asleep... As soon as I had recovered myself, I went away with pleasing alacrity to assist in the sowing of my turnip. Felix ille animi divisque simillimus ipsis On the Varietes of Men. FOR THE BEE.-JUNE 5. 1793.. The proper study of mankind is man. THE most striking varieties among men, are in colour, language, and permanent habits. Colour.. There is such a variety in the form, features, and complexions of the human race, that many people are of opinion that all man kind cannot be originally descended from the same parents. But notwithstanding the restless curiosity that agitates inquisitive spirits, there is a certain laziness of mind that often inclines people to be satisfied with what seems to be the easiest solution of their doubts, rather than to take the trouble of searching farther to find the true cause of things: and this seems to me to be the case in the present question relating to the diversity of colour. Now, without entering into the physical disquisition concerning the nigrification of the rete mucosa in blacks, by the effects of constant heat upon animal oils, and the position of black nations, where that constant heat and the trade winds should naturally produce them, I think that, to examine this question. properly, we may divide it into two parts. The first is the difference of complexion; the other is the different cast of features and composition of parts, observable even in neighbouring nations; but so great betwixt nations remote from each other, that they do not appear to have any relation together. The most remarkable difference among mankind is the distinction into black and white people; and if it can be sufficiently demonstrated, that the cause of this complexion does not exceed the ordinary powers of nature, it will be easier to account for the different shades of complexion, and all other less remarkable varieties in the human species. What we call white people are generally to |