NOTE S. (1) SUCH is the attention of the Bees to their Queen, that ́ if she happens to die, they will leave off working, and take no further care of posterity. Goldsmith's Animated Nature, 8th Vol. p. 16. If the Queen falls in battle, that dreadful event puts an end to the war, without scattering dust among them, as recommended by Virgil. (2) When the Bees first begin to break their prisons, there are generally above an hundred excluded in one day. Thus in the space of a few weeks, the number of inhabitants in one hive, of moderate size, becomes so great, that there is no room to contain the new comers, who are, therefore, obliged by the old Bees to sally forth in quest of new habitations. Goldsmith's Animat. Nature, Vol. 8. p. 21. (3) Towards the latter end of summer, when the hive is sufficiently stored with inhabitants, a most cruel policy ensues. The Drone-Bees, which are generally in a hive to the number of an hundred, are marked for slaughter. These, which had hitherto led a life of indolence and pleasure; whose only employment was in impregnating the queen, and rioting upon the labours of the hive, without aiding in the general toil, now share the fate of most voluptuaries, and fall a sacrifice to the general resentment of society. The working Bees, in a body, declare war against them, and, in two or three days' time, the ground all round the hive is covered with their dead bodies. Animat. Nature, Vol. 8. p. 24. (4) The working Bees will even kill such Drones as are yet in the worm state in the cell, and eject their bodies from the hive, among the general carnage. Animat. Nature, Vol. 8. p. 24 25. CONTENTS. DIGRESSION to Paraguay-the government of that country not unlike the policy of the Bees-Manners of the people— No sovereign authority established at Paraguay—the laws of nature their chief guide-The inhabitants have no private property-are strangers to avarice-Education of their young children—No inequality of ranks-Peace their delight, but they let their neighbours see that they are prepared for war -they take proper opportunities to exercise their soldiersThe Spaniards, who have dominions in those parts, have called the troops of Paraguay into the field, and have seen 'distinguished proofs of their valour-The soldiers of Paraguay compared to the great Roman commanders-Individuals have no separate interest, and in a public calamity feel for the community at large, but never think of themselvesThey build cottages on the shore round their harbours, for the reception of strangers, but never suffer them to penetrate into the inland parts-False reports about the tyranny of the Jesuits-those reports believed by the Europeans, who have been driven from Japan by the Dutch, who, for the sake of trade, trample on the cross-Savage Indians tamed and instructed the Jesuits praised for their zeal and humanity— The government of Paraguay copied from the Bees-conclusion. THE BE E. S. CANTO IV. TORN by convulsions while the nations groan, Astræa has not yet resign'd her throne. A moral race on earth she still maintains, Mark how the people and their manners please ; Their fields and pastures know no separate bounds, And vile ejectments there are things unknown. And no proud landlord can distrain for rent. All lies in common; what their crops produce Is stor❜d in magazines for public use. All have their province in the general toil; These guide the state, and those manure the soil. Some tend the fold their milk-white flocks to sheer; The shepherd plods with joy; th' industrious hind And with warm sympathy their bosoms glow. To every rank affection they extend, Their neighbour's interest with their own they blend. While the swain toils abroad, with anxious care They view his cottage, and the works repair. The swain at night finds all defects redress'd, And with his door unlock'd sinks careless down to rest. |