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probability, from those of our early British and Saxon history.

Nor should the story of the Argonautic expedition be reprobated, as the narrative of a mere piratical excursion, a trifling predatory expedition; any more than if a Spanish, a Portugueze, an English, or a Dutch poet, were to select for his subject, one of the early maritime expeditions of his nation. What, in fact, were the first enterprises, of the early adventurers and voyagers of Europe, to the East, and to the new world? Were they not equally piratical, and equally romantic, with those of ancient Greece? Were they not equally undertaken, by small bands of adventurers? Were they not equally marked by dangers, and with daring? And do they not afford equal room for the disguises of fiction, and the admixture of fable? Do not the narratives, of the different voyages of discovery, bring back, to modern times, the appearance of those illustrious and heroic piracies, of which we are told by Herodotus and Thucydides? -Men, at once robbers and merchants, rush from Europe, to nations inhabiting another part of the globe, unknown in situation, language, and even in name; nations, which neither had, nor possibly could have provoked them, by any injury; and, without any other motive to stimulate them, than the love of adventure, and a wild and indefinite expectation of acquiring immense wealth, they waste, they burn, they destroy. Their rapine and savage cruelty keeps pace with their dangers and heroic courage.-One poet, Camoens, has selected a similar argument; and adorned it so, as to make it appear highly interesting, not only to the Portugueze, his countrymen, but even to the poetical readers, of every other country, and of every time. And if any other poet should, in like manner, have chosen, as a subject, the maritime expeditions, and discoveries

discoveries of his countrymen, and adorned them, with all the power of genius, as monuments of the adventurous spirit, the bravery, and ancient glory of his nation; can we doubt of the song becoming popular; particularly among a people exulting in commerce, naval fame, and consequence; and enjoying the fruits of the discoveries celebrated by the poet?

We see, that the great poets of antiquity did not select their subjects wantonly, or capriciously; but, that, independent of the intrinsic merit of the fable, as an interesting story, and of the charms of the poetry, there was a certain political motive, a secret bond of connexion, and felicity of topics, that spoke to the selflove of the reader and auditor, and disposed them to take a peculiar interest in the productions, that celebrated the Argonautic expedition, the siege of Troy, the wanderings of Ulysses--Such subjects came home to the business and bosoms of the Greeks. They recalled to mind their maritime expeditions, their naval discoveries, and their triumphs in Asia. Thus, the epic strain of Homer nourished, in the young bosom of Alexander, the spirit that attempted, and atchieved, the downfal of Persia, and established the Greek empire in the East.

The accounts of the Argonautic expedition seems to represent that undertaking, as the first maritime enterprise of the Greeks. This must be understood, with niuch qualification, as meaning only the first great expedition, the first maritime warlike equipment, or the first, that was prepared to visit such distant shores, and explore the remote regions of Asia. The writers on this subject, in the spirit of poetical embellishment, and the desire of exalting the character of their heroes, wished to represent as the first, what was, in reality, only the greatest naval attempt, to that time, of the Greeks.

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What is said respecting Argo-that it was the first ship, that the plan of it was suggested by Minerva, and that it was built under her auspices, must be taken to mean, that Argo was the first great ship, or ship of war, perhaps the first decked ship, which the Greeks fitted out. That Argo was not, absolutely, and in a general sense, the very first vessel, in which the Greeks tempted the seas, and navigated, appears, from the tenour of history, and even from parts of the very narrative of the Argonautic expedition. It is plain, that there were ships in Greece, and that navigation was known antecedent to the building of Argo; since we are told, that Phenician merchants carried off Io; and that Minos fitted out fleets, to clear the sea of pirates. It appears, too, that Phryxus and Hellè fled from the wrath of their stepmother, in a vessel, which bore the figure of a golden ram; and that Hellè being sick, and leaning over the side of the ship, fell into the sea, and was drowned. We are further informed, in the relations of the Argonautic expedition, that the adventurers, in their voyage to Colchos, met the sons of Phryxus, at an island, where they had been shipwrecked, in their way, to Greece. We find, also, that the Colchian king, Eetes, had a very numerous fleet, on board of which he dispatched his subjects, to pursue the Argonauts ; after the elopement of Medea.-Perhaps, too, in saying, that the Argo was built under the directions of Pallas, the poets, and early chroniclers of that transaction, only meant to say, in the tone of figurative exaggeration, that the idea of the voyage was suggested by Minerva, or divine wisdom. But these seeming inconsistencies may be reconciled, by admitting such qualifications of the general sense, as I have already mentioned;

* See Diodorus Siculus, Book IV.

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and the most marvellous parts of the story will be rendered probable; and consonant to historical verity, by understanding these parts of the narrative, in a figurative sense, as they were truly meant; and by making due allowances, for the fictitious circumstances, which poetical embellishment, or ignorance and popular credulity, may have engrafted on ancient tradition. To the foregoing considerations, others, had I time and leisure, might be added; but, I trust, enough has been said, to persuade the candid reader, that the accounts of the Argonautic expedition are not only founded in fact, but true in the main; and that there is no good reason for our agreeing with Mr. Bryant, to resolve the accounts of this transaction into allegory and symbol. Indeed, we must be led to receive the opinions of this learned and ingenious, but visionary writer, with caution, when we find him calling in question, an event of such celebrity, and seeming authenticity, as the siege and destruction of Troy. An event, which seems to be established, by the concurrent voice of all antiquity; and the details of which are corroborated, and verified, by the researches of different modern travellers, who have visited the several scenes of action, for that express purpose; and employed no small care and sagacity, in exploring the present state, and appearance, of the Troas, and comparing them with Homer.*

With respect to the particular circumstances of the Argonautic enterprise; we are not to suppose, that this was literally the expedition of a single ship, or of fifty warriors only, proceeding to encounter the Colchian monarch, and the whole force of his state. To mag-nify the courage of those early adventurers, to render their dangers more interesting, and their atchievements

See Chevalier Franklin, &c.

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more surprising, poetical narrators have represented the transaction, as if this were the case; but, we must make due allowances, as I have before observed, for poetical licence. Whatever might have been the object of the Argonauts, whether to obtain the treasures, that originally belonged to Eetes, or to reclaim those, which had been carried away from Greece, by the children of Athamas, and either voluntarily surrendered, by them, or extorted forcibly from them, by the Colchians; whatever, I say, might have been the scope of this expedition; the Greeks could have little prospect of attaining it, by fair means; and the strongest reasons imaginable for expecting, that they should be obliged to resort to force. We may, therefore, naturally conclude, that the extent of their preparations, and the force of their armament, must have been, in some degree, commensurate to that expectation. It gives a more dignified idea, of the transactions of the Argonauts; and, at the same time, it involves less of the marvellous, and is more conformable to probability, as well as to the rela-tions of the most authentic ancient historians, to suppose the enterprise in question, a scheme of national retaliation, for a national injury, (whether the rape of Io, or any other outrage,) attempted, on a great scale; than to consider it, as the private adventure of a few romantic individuals, rashly embarking in a Quixotic conflict, with the assembled strength of a whole kingdom.

The learned Eustathius, in his scholia on Dionysius Periegetes, v. 686,† relates, that the Argonauts built

* That the latter might have been the motive of the Argonauts, is not improbable; since the account of Apollodorus states, that Argus, son of Phryxus, was one. + Editio Stephani, p. 105.

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