whole nation. It is faid that luxury feeds the poor at the expence of the rich, as if the poor could nor get their bread more ufefully by multiplying the fruits of the earth, without debauching the rich by the refinements of voluptuoufnefs. A whole nation. habituates itself to look upon the most fuperfluous things as the necessaries of life; new neceffaries are daily invented, and men can no longer live without things which were unknown thirty years before. This luxury is called a good tafte, the perfection of arts, and the politenefs of the nation. This vice, which is the fource of an infinite number of others, is commended as a virtue and spreads its contagion from the prince down to the very dregs of the people. The near relations of the king imitate his magnificence; the nobility that of the king's relations; the middle fort ftrive to come up to the nobility, for where is the man who form a right judgment of himself?) and the loweft defire to pafs for the middle fort. Thus every one lives above his circumstances; fome through oftentation and to glory in their riches; others through a falfe fenfe of shame, and to conceal their poverty: Even thofe who are wife enough to condemn fo great a diforder, are not enough fo to dare to be the firft to rife up against it, and to fet contrary examples. A whole nation is ruined, and all conditions of men confounded. The defire of getting money to fupport a vain expence, Corrupts the purest minds; to be rich is the only thing that is minded, and to be poor is infamous. Let a man be learned, wife, virtuous; let him inftruct mankind, win battles, fave his country, facrifice all his own interefts yet will he be defpifed, if his talents are not fet off with pomp and show. Even they who have not money, endeavour to feem to have it, and spend as if they really had it; they borrow, they cheat, they ufe a thousand artifices to procure it. But who will cure thefe evils? The taste and customs of a whole nation must be changed, and new laws must be enacted. And who can attempt this but a king who is fo much of a philofopher, and fo prudents

NG

pre modération, faire honte à tous ceux qui aiment une dépenfe faftueufe, & encourager les fages, qui feront bien aifes d'être autorifés dans une honnête frugalité ?

Télémaque écoutant ce difcours, étoit comme un homme qui revient d'un profond fommeil. Il fentoir la vérité de ces paroles, & elles fe gravoient dans fon cœur, comme un favant fculpteur imprime les traits qu'il veut fur le marbre, en forte qu'il lui donne de la tendreffe, de la vie & du mouvement. Télémaque ne répondit rien; mais repaffant tout ce qu'il venoit d'entendre, il parcouroit des yeux les chofes qu'on avoit changées dans la ville. Enfuite il difoit à Mentor :

Vous avez fait d'Idoménée le plus fage de tous les rois; je ne le connois plus, ni lui, ni fon peuple. J'avoue même que ce que vous avez fait ici eft infiniment plus grand que les victoires que nous venons de remporter. Le hafard & la force ont beaucoup de part au fuccès de la guerre. Il faut que nous partagions la gloire des combats avec nos foldats; mais tout votre ouvrage vient d'une feule tête : il a fallu que vous ayez travaillé feul contre un roi & contre tout fon peuple pour les corriger. Les fuccès de la guerre font toujours funeftes & odieux; ici tout eft l'ouvrage d'une fageffe célefte; tout eft doux, tout eft pur, tout eft aimable, tout marque une autorité qui eft au-deffus de l'homme. Quand les hommes veulent de la gloire, que ne la cherchent-ils dans cette application à faire du bien? O qu'ils s'entendent mal en gloire, d'en efpérer une folide, en ravageant la terre, & en répandant le fang humain ! Mentor montra fur fon visage une joie fenfible de voir Télémaque fi défabusé des victoires & des conquêtes, dans un âge où il étoit fi naturel, qu'il fût enivré de la gloire qu'il avoit acquife.

Enfuite Mentor ajouta : Il eft vrai que tout ce que Vous voyez ici eft bon & louable : mais fachez qu'on pourroit faire des chofes encore meilleures. Idoménée modere fes paffions, & s'applique à gouverner fon peuple avec juftice; mais il ne laiffe pas de faire encore bien des fautes, qui font les fuites malheureuses de fes fautes anciennes. Quand les hommes veulent quitter

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as to put out of countenance, by the example of his own moderation, all thofe who are fond of oftentatious expences, and to encourage the wife, who would be very glad to be authorised in a laudable frugality? Telemachus hearing this difcourfe, was like a man coming out of a profound fleep. He felt the truth of thefe words, and they were engraved on his heart as a skilful ftatuary imprints what features he pleafes on the marble, and gives it foftnefs, life and motion. Telemachus made no reply; but revolving what he had heard in his mind, he furveyed the alterations which had been made in the city, and at length thus addreffed himself to Mentor.

You have made Idomeneus the wifeft of all kings; I neither know him nor his fubjects again. Nay, I confefs that what you have done here is infinitely greater than the victories which we have obtained. Chance and strength have a great part in the fucceffes of war; we muft share the glory of battles, with our foldiers; but all you have done proceeds from a fingle head You alone must have ftruggled against a king and all his people in order to reform them. The fuc ceffes of war are always fatal and odious; here all is the work of an heavenly wisdom, all is calm, all is innocent, all is lovely, all difcovers an authority more than human. When men thirst for glory, why do they not feek it by thus applying themfelves to do good? O what wrong notions have they of folid glory, fince they expect to obtain it by ravaging the earth and by shedding human blood! Mentor's countenance shewed that he was exceedingly glad to fee Telemachus form fo true a judgment of victories and conquefts, at an age when it was fo natural for him to be intoxicated with the glory he had acquired.

After this Mentor added. All that you fee here is indeed laudable and good; but know that it is poffible to do yet better. Idomeneus curbs his paffions, and applies himself to govern his people with justice; but he ftill commits a great many errors, which are the unhappy confequences of his former errors. When men defire to forfake evil, the evil ftill feems to pur

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le mal, le mal femble encore les pourfuivre; long-temps il leur refte de mauvaifes habitudes, un naturel affoibli, des erreurs invérérées, & des préventions prefque incurables. Heureux ceux qui ne fe font jamais égarés ils peuvent faire le bien plus parfaitement. Les Dieux, ô Télémaque, vous demanderont plus qu'à Idoménée, parce que vous avez connu la vérité dès votre jeuneffe, & que yous n'avez jamais été livré aux féductions d'une trop grande profpérité.

Idoménée, continuoit Mentor, eft fage & éclairé; mais il s'applique trop au détail, & ne médite pas affez le gros de fes affaires pour former des plans. L'habileté d'un roi, qui eft au-deffus des hommes, ne confifte pas à faire tout par lui-même c'eft une vanité groffiere, que d'efpérer d'en venir à bout, ou de vouloir perfuader au monde qu'on en eft capable. Un roi doit gouverner, en choififfant & en conduifant ceux qui gouvernent fous lui, il ne faut pas qu'il faffe le détail, car c'eft faire la fonction de ceux qui ont à travailler fous lui; il doit feulement s'en faire rendre compte, & en favoir affez pour entrer dans ce compte avec difcernement. C'eft merveilleufement gouverner, que de choisir & d'appliquer, felon leurs talens, les gens qui gouvernent. Le fuprême & parfait gouvernement confifte gouverner ceux qui gouvernent: il faut lcs obferver, les éprouver, les modérer, les corriger, les animer, les élever, les rabaiffer, les changer de places, & les tenir toujours dans la main. Vouloir examiner tout par foi-même, c'est défiance, c'est petireffe, c'eft fe livrer à une jaloufie pour les détails, qui confume le temps & la liberté d'efprit néceffaires pour les grandes chofes. Pour former de grands deffeins, il faut avoir l'efprit libre & repofé; il faut penfer fon aife, dans un entier dégagement de toutes les expéditions d'affaires épineufes; un esprit épuisé par le détail eft comme la lie du vin qui n'a plus de force ni de délicateffe. Ceux qui gouvernent par le dé tail, font toujours déterminés par le préfent, fans étendre leurs vues fur un avenir éloigné; ils font tou jours entraînés par l'affaire du jour où ils font; & cette affaire étant feule à les occuper, elle les frappe trope

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fue them; they long retain bad habits, a weakness of nature, inveterate errors, and almost incurable prejudices. Happy they who never ftrayed! they may do good to a greater perfection. The Gods, Telemachus, require more of you, than of Idomeneus, because you have known the truth from your youth and have never been delivered up to the feducements of too great a profperity.

Idomeneus, continued Mentor, is wife and know, ing; but he applies himself too much to particulars, and does not fufficiently confider the whole of his affairs to form judicious fchemes. The art of a king, who is fet over other men, does not confift in doing all himself; it is grofs vanity to hope to do this, ot to endeavour to perfuade the world that one is capa ble of it. A king ought to govern by chufing and guiding thofe who govern under him; he must not defcend to particulars, for that is doing the office of his agents; he ought only to make them give him an account, and to know enough to examine that account with judgment. He is an admirable governor, who chufes and employs thofe who govern, according to their respective talents. The highest de gree and perfection of government confifts in governing thofe who govern they must be watched, tried, checked, reproved, encouraged, promoted, degraded, removed from one poft to another, and always kept in dependance. A prince who pries into every thing himself, betrays a mistrustful narrow foul, he abandons himself to jealoufy about trifles, which confumes the time and the freedom of mind which are neceflary for affairs of importance. To form great defigns the foul must be free and compofed; it must think at its cafe, and be entirely difengaged from all knotty and difficult affairs; a mind exhausted by particulars, resembles the lees of wine which have neither ftrength nor flavour. Governors who defcend to particulars, are always determined by the prefent, without extending their views to remote futurity they are continually borne away by the affairs of the

which being the only object of their thoughts,

makes