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faith, morality, or Christian piety; nor fhall I introduce any thing which can convey the leaft prejudice to the character of any body. In fhort, I declare, that, in making a panegyric upon Hell, my defign is not to excite the reader to wish to go there, ftill lefs to go with him in his journey; which, if he earnestly defires to take, he may very well go without me. In this cafe indeed my book may serve him as a guide in that country, an honour which I do not in the leaft defire, being able to repeat after the poet, with the greatest fincerity:

My little book, you shall go to Hell without me †. .

AFTER fo authentic a declaration, if any foolish perfon, of whom there are great numbers in the world, fhould judge otherwise of my work, or inten tions, I freely tell them, that I fhall concern myself very little about their opinion. It will suffice me, if the perfons who have wit and good fenfe fee, in reading it, what is the end which I propofe, and am affured that they do not difapprove it. They will foon perceive that I write not for the idiot, the bigot, or the fribble, but for those who know that there

are

This is an imitation of this verfe of Ovid: Parve (nec invideo) fine me, liber, ibis in urbem. Ovid. Trift. Eleg. I.

are feveral things which we frequently ironically commend, with a design to give an averfion to them, and others against which we vehemently declaim, in order to make them more lovely. This is a ftrata

gem which is very common to writers, and still more fo with priests and lawyers.

HAVING thus expofed my intention to my readers, I fhall proceed without any farther introduction. concerning it.

THE

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The excellence of Hell with regard to its origin.

W

THEN a writer undertakes to make an

eulogium, or even to give a plain defcription of a city, caftle, fortrefs, citadel, or building, though ever fo little renowned, he commonly begins with its origin, and never fails to praife him who was the founder of it; for this reason no author ever gave a defcription of the city of Thebes, without mentioning Amphion at

the

the fame time, who was thought to be the founder of it; of Babylon, without praifing the celebrated Semiramis; of Carthage, without making mention of the fair and unhappy Dido; of Rome, without adding an encomium upon Romulus, its founder; of Padua, without fpeaking of Antenor, who was fuppofed to have founded it; in fhort, they never name the famous city of Anvers, nor its ftrong fortifications, without naming the celebrated Ferdinand de To ledo, duke of Alba, who made them be conftructed by his engineer Paloto, who had a greater knowledge â of fortifications than any of his contemporaries.

BUT whatever panegyric may be made upon the moft confiderable, the most renowned, the most wonderful thing the universe has ever yet contained, it is evident there never was, or ever will be, any city, palace, or other building, however splendid it is, or has been, without excepting thofe to which have been given the title of the wonders of the world, that can prefume to boaft fo ancient an origin, fo illuftrious a founder, or fo fkilful an architect, as that of Hell.

EXALT as much as you please, ye lovers of antiquity, the profound knowledge, the astonishing and unbounded imagination, the admirable mafterpieces of execution, and, in fhort, all the talents, fcarcely credible, of the famous Archimedes ‡. Boaft,

A celebrated mathematician of Syracufe, and a relation

Boaft, ye admirers of mechanic powers, the facred promife which he made king Hiero, that if he would give him a place in Heaven, where he might fix his ftation, he would, by means of the machines he had, or fhould invent, move the earthly globe from whence it hangs, and tranfport it whither he pleased: yet neither these ancient wonders, enlarged as they have been by fame, nor all the genius, induftry and invention of that furprising man, were any thing

when

relation of the monarch abovementioned.-His furprifing skill in mathematics was evinced by a vast number of machines which he invented, particularly those by which he raised up into the air the fhips of Marcellus, the Roman general, who came to besiege Syracufe. When the city was taken, Archimedes was fo highly engaged in fome mathematical inveftigation, that he heard not the noife which commonly attends on fuch occafions: A foldier, who found afked him his name,

him bufied in drawing lines, for Marcellus had given orders, that, in confideration of his extraordinary talents, no injury should be done to him, or any of his family;-But Archimedes's mind being full of what he was about, he defired him not to disturb him; which fhort answer fo enraged the brute, that he killed him on the spot.

Marcellus was vaftly concerned at it, and in order to comfort his family, and in some measure to repair the lofs they had fuftained, loaded them with prefents, and every fort of civility he was capable of.

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