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Every niche in this Temple conspires to fill the beholder with awe.... Tradition has handed down to superstitious posterity such a chain of Miracles......that every side of the wall to which you may turn.......offers to your view a new and solemn object consecrated to the memory of some wonderful event....Added to this..... all Delphos believe in the absolute presence and superintendence of the God.

"Thus my eyes........from the first moment they could distinguish....were accustomed to gaze on every thing wonderful.........and my ears eagerly caught the sounds of surprizing events, which my tutors earnestly sought to impress on my belief.

This was a most necessary study... as it soon became my duty to attend strangers......whose curiosity brought them to visit the temple......and, to

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describe the origin.........merits......or character, of the innumerable paintings.......statues......and sculptures..... which embellished it.......as well as to make a pompous display of the singularly beautiful and costly presents with which the zealous partisans of the Deity had filled the apartments and domes of this splendid edifice.

"Nothing so astonishes the senses of inexperience as the dazzling view of immense riches.......I was accustomed to behold gold......silver......jewels..... pearls.......and every precious kind of curiosity........which the offerings of Crowned Heads......of Cities....and of private Wealth had been........for centuries past........pouring into our treasury.

"I knew not how other minds might have borne the constant sight of all this magnificence.........but I grew fatigued with viewing such gorgeous

pageantry of devout superstition.......I considered them as glittering baubles .....of no more consequence than the play-thing of a child, which the want of novelty soon robs of captivation..... The simple statue of a Solon, in my eyes ....possessed infinitely more charms. "I was too young....for a long time .......to form any adequate idea of the real worth of these deified heroes..... I surveyed these images attentively.... and, while I pondered on the virtues which distinguished their originals..... I could feel my heart inspired with veneration and respect for such superior excellencies.

From the effects these powerful objects had on my fancy then.....I have since learnt to applaud the Grecian Priests, who so wisely deified the Muses, and the Graces....Religion depends on impression... Its interests are preserved by the avidity with which

we receive them in our infancy........ and, when Reason would enable us to judge for ourselves, the Sentiment is so indelibly engraven on the heart, it resists all innovation.

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Sperstition has no absolute advantage over reason;.........but advantages are created by its early admission into the heart, before our unfolding faculties can oppose its entrance......How simple a task it is, to mould an unformed mind!......... particularly when the fascinating art of astonishing the soul, acts as a prelude to ensnare it....... What can be more natural, than to believe in the divinity of an Appollo ......to feel his influence.......his very Presence.....when every object which surrounds you, from the first dawn of observation, proclaims the workmanship and dwelling of a Superior!

"Who can behold the unrivalled statue of Phidias, and not ascribe its

excellence to super-human powers!... ......The minds of Men are as various as their birth and education.....Hence the heroic bravery of the Spartan...... the insinuating politeness of the Athenian.....the pompous arrogance of the Asiatic.

The mathematician looks down contemptuously on the poet.....the thrifty merchant laughs at the speculating philosopher......The one seeks to grasp a real object......and mocks the visionary pursuits of the other......The mere mechanic is a machine who cannot move, except when he is wound up by certain springs......The rough sailor personifies the boisterous element to which he is attached.....The soldier habitually despises the danger he is accustomed to......and the untutored peasant is crafty by nature, though unacquainted with the refinements of

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