Rasselas test page - The Open Anthology of Literature in English

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<ab>THE</ab>
<ab>PRINCE</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>OF</ab>
<ab>ABISSINIA.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>A</ab>
<ab>TALE.</ab>
<ab>IN TWO VOLUMES.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>VOL. I.</ab>
<ab>THE SECOND EDITION.</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>LONDON:</ab>
<ab> Printed for R. and J. D<hi rend=”smallcaps”>ODSLEY,</hi> in Pall-Mall;
</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab> and W. <hi rend=”smallcaps”>JOHNSTON</hi>, in Ludgate-Street. </ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>MDCCLIX.</ab>
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<ab>CONTENTS</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>OF THE</ab>
<ab>FIRST VOLUME.</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. I.</ab>
<ab>DESCRIPTION of a palace in a</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>valley page 1</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. II.</ab>
<ab>The discontent of Rasselas in the happy</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>valley 9</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. III.</ab>
<ab>The wants of him that wants nothing 16</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>A2 CHAP.</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. IV.</ab>
<ab>The prince continues to grieve and</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>muse 20</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. V.</ab>
<ab>The prince meditates his escape 30</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. VI.</ab>
<ab>A dissertation on the art of flying 33</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. VII.</ab>
<ab>The prince finds a man of learning 43</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. VIII.</ab>
<ab>The history of Imlac 46</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. IX.</ab>
<ab>Â·The history of Imlac continued 56</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP.</ab>
</div>
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<ab>CHAP. X.</ab>
<ab>Imlac’s history continued. A disserta-</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>tion upon poetry 64</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XI.</ab>
<ab>Imlac’s narrative continued. A hint on</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>pilgrimage 71</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XI.</ab>
<ab>The story of Imlac continued 80</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XIII.</ab>
<ab>Raffelas discovers the means of escape</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>91</ab>
<ab>CHAP. XIV.</ab>
<ab>Rasselas and Imlac receive an unexpec-</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>ted visit 97</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP.</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XV.</ab>
<ab>The prince and princess leave the valley,</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>and see many wonders 101</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XVI.</ab>
<ab>They enter Cairo, and find every man</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>happy 106</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XVII.</ab>
<ab>The prince associates with young men of</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>spirit and gaiety 115</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XVIII.</ab>
<ab>The prince finds a wife and happy man</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>119</ab>
<ab>CHAP. XIX.</ab>
<ab>A glimpse of pastoral life 126</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP.</ab>
</div>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XX.</ab>
<ab>The danger of prosperity 129</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XXI.</ab>
<ab>The happiness of solitude. The her-</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>mit’s history 134</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XXII.</ab>
<ab>The happiness of a life led according to</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>nature 141</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XXIII.</ab>
<ab>The prince and his sister divide between</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>them the work of observation 148</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XXIV.</ab>
<ab>The prince examines the happiness of</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>high stations 150</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP.</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XXV.</ab>
<ab>The princess perfues her enquiry with</ab>
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<ab>more diligence than success 154</ab>
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<ab>THE</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>THE</ab>
<ab>HISTORY</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>OF</ab>
<ab>RASSELAS,</ab>
<ab>PRINCE OF ABISSINIA.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. I.</ab>
<ab>Description of a palace in a valley.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>YE who listen with credulity to the</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>whispers of fancy, and persue</ab>
<ab>with eagerness the phantoms of hope ;</ab>
<ab>who expect that age will perform the</ab>
<ab>promises of youth, and that the deficien-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>VOL. I. B cies</ab>
</div>
</div>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>cies of the present day will be supplied</ab>
<ab>by the morrow ; attend to the history of</ab>
<ab>Rasselas prince of Abiffinia.</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Rasselas was the fourth son of the</ab>
<ab>mighty emperour, in whose dominions</ab>
<ab>the Father of waters begins his course ;</ab>
<ab>whose bounty pours down the streams</ab>
<ab>of plenty, and scatters over half the</ab>
<ab>world the harvests of Egypt.</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>According to the custom which has</ab>
<ab>descended from age to age among the</ab>
<ab>monarchs of the torrid zone, Raffelas was</ab>
<ab>confined in a private palace, with the other</ab>
<ab>sons and daughters of Abissinian royalty,</ab>
<ab>till the order succession should call him</ab>
<ab>to the throne.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The place, which the wisdom or po-</ab>
<ab>licy of antiquity had destined for the resi-</ab>
<ab>dence of the Abissinian princes, was a</ab>
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<ab>spa-</ab>
</div>
</div>
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<ab>spacious valley in the kingdom of Am-</ab>
<ab>hara, surrounded on every side by moun-</ab>
<ab>tains, of which the summits overhang</ab>
<ab>the middle part. The only passage, by</ab>
<ab>which it could be entered, was a cavern</ab>
<ab>that passed under a rock, of which it has</ab>
<ab>long been disputed whether it was the</ab>
<ab>work of nature or of human industry.</ab>
<ab>The outlet of the cavern was concealed</ab>
<ab>by a thick wood, and the mouth which</ab>
<ab>opened into the valley was closed with gates</ab>
<ab>of iron, forged by the artificers of ancient</ab>
<ab>days, so massy that no man could with-</ab>
<ab>out the help of engines open or shut them.</ab>
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<ab>From the mountains on every side, ri-</ab>
<ab>vulets descended that filled all the valley</ab>
<ab>with verdure and fertility, and formed a</ab>
<ab>lake in the middle inhabited by fish of</ab>
<ab>every species, and frequented by every</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>B 2 fowl</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>fowl whom nature has taught to dip the</ab>
<ab>wing in water. This lake discharged its</ab>
<ab>superfluities by a stream which entered a</ab>
<ab>dark cleft of the mountain on the northern</ab>
<ab>side, and fell with dreadful noise from</ab>
<ab>precipice to precipice till it was heard no</ab>
<ab>more.</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The sides of the mountains were co-</ab>
<ab>vered with trees, the banks of the brooks</ab>
<ab>were diversified with flowers; every blast</ab>
<ab>shook spices from the rocks, and every</ab>
<ab>month dropped fruits upon the ground.</ab>
<ab>All animals that bite the grass, or</ab>
<ab>brouse the shrub, whether wild or tame,</ab>
<ab>wandered in this extensive circuit, se-</ab>
<ab>cured from beasts of prey by the moun-</ab>
<ab>tains which confined them On one part</ab>
<ab>were flocks and herds feeding in the pas-</ab>
<ab>tures, on another all the beasts of chase</ab>
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<ab>frisk-</ab>
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<ab>frisking in the lawns; the sprightly kid</ab>
<ab>was bounding on the rocks, the subtle</ab>
<ab>monkey frolicking in the trees, and the</ab>
<ab>solemn elephant reposing in the shade.</ab>
<ab>All the diversities of the world were</ab>
<ab>brought together, the blessings of nature</ab>
<ab>were collected, and its evils extracted</ab>
<ab>and excluded.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The valley; wide and fruitful, supplied</ab>
<ab>its inhabitants with the necessaries of</ab>
<ab>life, and all delights and superfluities were</ab>
<ab>added at the annual visit which the em-</ab>
<ab>perour paid his children, when the iron</ab>
<ab>gate was opened to the sound of musick;</ab>
<ab>and during eight days every one that re-</ab>
<ab>sided in the valley was required to pro-</ab>
<ab>pose whatever might contribute to make</ab>
<ab>seclusion pleasant, to fill up the vacan-</ab>
<ab>cies of attention, and lessen the tedious-</ab>
<ab>B 3 ness</ab>
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<ab>ness of time. Every desire was im-</ab>
<ab>mediately granted. All the artificers of</ab>
<ab>pleasure were called to gladden the festi-</ab>
<ab>vity; the musicians exerted the power of</ab>
<ab>harmony, and the dancers shewed their</ab>
<ab>activity before the princes, in hope that</ab>
<ab>they should pass their lives in this blissful</ab>
<ab>captivity, to which these only were admit-</ab>
<ab>ted whose performance was thought able</ab>
<ab>to add novelty to luxury. Such was</ab>
<ab>the appearance of security and delight</ab>
<ab>which this retirement afforded, that they</ab>
<ab>to whom it was new always desired that it</ab>
<ab>might be perpetual; and as those, on</ab>
<ab>whom the iron gate had once closed,</ab>
<ab>were never suffered to return, the effect of</ab>
<ab>longer experience could not be known.</ab>
<ab>Thus every year produced new schemes</ab>
<ab>of delight, and new competitors for im-</ab>
<ab>prisonment.</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The palace stood on an eminence raised</ab>
<ab>about thirty paces above the surface of</ab>
<ab>the lake. It was divided into many</ab>
<ab>squares or courts, built with greater or</ab>
<ab>less magnificence according to the rank</ab>
<ab>of those for whom they were designed.</ab>
<ab>The roofs were turned into arches of mas-</ab>
<ab>sy stone joined by a cement that grew</ab>
<ab>harder by time, and the building stood</ab>
<ab>from century to century, deriding the sol-</ab>
<ab>stitial rains and equinocial hurricanes,</ab>
<ab>without need of reparation.</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>This house, which was so large as to</ab>
<ab>be fully known to none but some ancient</ab>
<ab>officers who successively inherited the se-</ab>
<ab>crets of the place, was built as if sus-</ab>
<ab>picion herself had dictated the plan. To</ab>
<ab>every room there was an open and secret</ab>
<ab>passage, every square had a communica-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>B 4 tion</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>tion with the rest, either from the upper</ab>
<ab>stories by private galleries, or by subterra-</ab>
<ab>nean passages from the lower apartments.</ab>
<ab>Many of the columns had unsuspected</ab>
<ab>cavities, in which a long race of mon-</ab>
<ab>archs had reposited their treasures. They</ab>
<ab>then closed up the opening with marble,</ab>
<ab>which was never to be removed but in the</ab>
<ab>utmost exigencies of the kingdom; and</ab>
<ab>recorded their accumulations in a book</ab>
<ab>which was itself concealed in a tower</ab>
<ab>not entered but by the emperour, at-</ab>
<ab>tended by the prince who stood next in</ab>
<ab>succession.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP.</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00160″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>C H A P. II.</ab>
<ab>The discontent of Rasselas in the</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>happy valley.</ab>
<ab>HERE the sons and daughters of</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Abissinia lived only to know the</ab>
<ab>soft vicissitudcs of pleasure and repose,</ab>
<ab>attended by all that were skilful to de-</ab>
<ab>light, and gratified with whatever the</ab>
<ab>senses can enjoy. They wandered in gar-</ab>
<ab>dens of fragrance, and slept in the for-</ab>
<ab>tresses of security. Every art was prac-</ab>
<ab>tised to make them pleased with their</ab>
<ab>own condition. The sages who instruc-</ab>
<ab>ted them, told them of nothing but the</ab>
<ab>miseries of publick life, and described all</ab>
<ab>beyond the mountains as regions of ca-</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>lamity,</ab>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>lamity, where discord was always rag-</ab>
<ab>ing, and where man preyed upon man.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>To heighten their opinion of their</ab>
<ab>own felicity, they were daily entertained</ab>
<ab>with songs, the subject of which was the</ab>
<ab>happy valley. Their appetites were ex-</ab>
<ab>cited by frequent enumerations of diffe-</ab>
<ab>rent enjoyments, and revelry and merri-</ab>
<ab>ment was the business of every hour from</ab>
<ab>the dawn of morning to the close of</ab>
<ab>even.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>These methods were generally success-</ab>
<ab>ful; few of the Princes had ever wished</ab>
<ab>to enlarge their bounds, but passed their</ab>
<ab>lives in full conviction that they had all</ab>
<ab>within their reach that art or nature could</ab>
<ab>bestow, and pitied those whom fate had</ab>
<ab>excluded from this feat of tranquility, as</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>the</ab>
</div>
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<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>the sport of chance, and the slaves of mi-</ab>
<ab>sery.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Thus they rose in the morning and</ab>
<ab>lay down at night, pleased with each</ab>
<ab>other and with themselves, all but Ras-</ab>
<ab>selas, who, in the twenty-sixth year</ab>
<ab>of his age, began to withdraw himself</ab>
<ab>from their pastimes and assemblies, and</ab>
<ab>to delight in solitary walks and silent me-</ab>
<ab>ditation. He often sat before tables co-</ab>
<ab>vered with luxury, and forgot to taste</ab>
<ab>the dainties that were placed before him:</ab>
<ab>he rose abruptly in the midst of the song,</ab>
<ab>and hastily retired beyond the sound of</ab>
<ab>musick. His attendants observed the</ab>
<ab>change and endeavoured to renew his love</ab>
<ab>of pleasure: he neglected their offici-</ab>
<ab>ousness, repulsed their invitations, and</ab>
<ab>spent day after day on the banks of ri-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>vulets</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00190″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>vulets sheltered with trees, where he</ab>
<ab>sometimes listened to the birds in the</ab>
<ab>branches, sometimes observed the fish</ab>
<ab>playing in the stream, and anon cast his</ab>
<ab>eyes upon the pastures and mountains</ab>
<ab>filled with animals, of which some were</ab>
<ab>biting the herbage, and some sleeping</ab>
<ab>among the bushes.</ab>
<ab>This singularity of his humour made</ab>
<ab>him much observed. One of the Sages,</ab>
<ab>in whose conversation, he had formerly</ab>
<ab>delighted, followed him secretly, in hope</ab>
<ab>of discovering the cause of his disquiet.</ab>
<ab>Rasseas, who knew not that any one was</ab>
<ab>near him, having for some time fixed</ab>
<ab>his eyes upon the goats that were brous-</ab>
<ab>ing among the rocks, began to compare</ab>
<ab>their condition with his own.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”What,”</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00200″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”What,” said he, ” makes the diffe-</ab>
<ab>rence between man and all the rest of the</ab>
<ab>animal creation? Every beast that strays</ab>
<ab>beside me has the same corporal necessi-</ab>
<ab>ties with myself; he is hungry and crops</ab>
<ab>the grass, he is thirsty and drinks the</ab>
<ab>stream, his thirst and hunger are ap-</ab>
<ab>peased, he is satisfied and sleeps; he rises</ab>
<ab>again and is hungry, he is again fed and</ab>
<ab>is at reft. I am hungry and thirsty like</ab>
<ab>him, but when thirst and hunger cease</ab>
<ab>I am not at rest; I am, like him, pained</ab>
<ab>with want, but am not, like him, satis-</ab>
<ab>fied with fulness. The intermediate</ab>
<ab>hours are tedious and gloomy; I long</ab>
<ab>again to be hungry that I may again</ab>
<ab>quicken my attention. The birds peck</ab>
<ab>the berries or the corn, and fly away to</ab>
<ab>the groves where they sit in seeming hap-</ab>
<ab>piness on the branches, and waste their</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>lives</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00210″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>lives in tuning one unvaried series of</ab>
<ab>sounds. I likewise can call the lutanist</ab>
<ab>and the finger, but the sounds that pleased</ab>
<ab>me yesterday weary me to day, and will</ab>
<ab>grow yet more wearisome to morrow. I</ab>
<ab>can discover within me no power of per-</ab>
<ab>ception which is not glutted with its pro-</ab>
<ab>per pleasure, yet I do not feel myself de-</ab>
<ab>lighted. Man has surely some latent</ab>
<ab>sense for which this place affords no gra-</ab>
<ab>tification, or he has some desires distinct</ab>
<ab>from sense which must be satisfied before</ab>
<ab>he can be happy.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>After this he lifted up his head, and</ab>
<ab>seeing the moon rising, walked towards</ab>
<ab>the palace. As he passed through the</ab>
<ab>fields, and saw the animals around him,</ab>
<ab>” Ye, said he, are happy, and need not</ab>
<ab>envy me that walk thus among you, bur-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>thened</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00220″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>thened with myself; nor do I, ye gentle</ab>
<ab>beings, envy your felicity; for it is not</ab>
<ab>the felicity of man. I have many dis-</ab>
<ab>tresses from which ye are free; I fear</ab>
<ab>pain when I do not feel it; I sometimes</ab>
<ab>shrink at evils recollected, and some-</ab>
<ab>times start at evils anticipated: surely</ab>
<ab>the equity of providence has ballanced</ab>
<ab>peculiar sufferings with peculiar enjoy-</ab>
<ab>ments.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>With observations like these the prince</ab>
<ab>amused himself as he returned, utering</ab>
<ab>them with a plaintive voice, yet with a</ab>
<ab>look that discovercd him to feel some</ab>
<ab>complacence in his own perspicacity, and</ab>
<ab>to receive some solace of the miseries of</ab>
<ab>life, from consciousnes of the delicacy</ab>
<ab>with which he felt, and the eloquence</ab>
<ab>with which he bewailed them. He min-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>gled</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00230″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>gled cheerfullv in the diversions of the</ab>
<ab>evening, and all rejoiced to find that his</ab>
<ab>heart was lightened.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>C H A P. III.</ab>
<ab>The wants of him that wants</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>nothing.</ab>
<ab>ON the next day his old instructor,</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>imagining that he had now made</ab>
<ab>himself acquainted with his disease of</ab>
<ab>mind, was in hope of curing it by coun-</ab>
<ab>sel, and officiously sought an opportunity</ab>
<ab>of conference, which the prince, having</ab>
<ab>long considered him as one whose intellects</ab>
<ab>were exhausted, was not very willing to</ab>
<ab>afford: “Why, said he, does this man</ab>
<ab>thus intrude upon me; shall I be never</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>suf</ab>
<ab>4</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00240″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>suffered to forget those lectures which</ab>
<ab>please only while they were new, and to</ab>
<ab>become new again must be forgotten?”</ab>
<ab>He then walked into the wood, and com-</ab>
<ab>posed himself to his usual meditations;</ab>
<ab>when before his thoughts had taken any</ab>
<ab>settled form, he perceived his persuer at</ab>
<ab>his side, and was at first prompted by his</ab>
<ab>impatience to go hastily away; but, be-</ab>
<ab>ing unwilling to offend a man whom he</ab>
<ab>had once reverenced and still loved, he</ab>
<ab>invited him to sit down with him on the</ab>
<ab>bank.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The old man, thus encouraged, be-</ab>
<ab>gan to lament the change which had been</ab>
<ab>lately observed in the prince, and to en-</ab>
<ab>quire why he so often retired from the</ab>
<ab>pleasures of the palace, to loneliness and</ab>
<ab>silence. “I fly from pleasure, said the</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>VOL. I. C prince,</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00250″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>prince, because pleasure has ceased to</ab>
<ab>please; I am lonely because I am mise-</ab>
<ab>rable, and am unwilling to cloud with</ab>
<ab>my presence the happiness of others.”</ab>
<ab>” You, Sir, said the sage, are the first</ab>
<ab>who has complained of misery in the hap-</ab>
<ab>py valley. I hope to convince you that</ab>
<ab>your complaints have no real cause. You</ab>
<ab>are here in full possession of all that the</ab>
<ab>emperour of Abissinia can bestow; here</ab>
<ab>is neither labour to be endured nor dan-</ab>
<ab>ger to be dreaded, yet here is all that</ab>
<ab>labour or danger can procure or purchase.</ab>
<ab>Look round and tell me which of your</ab>
<ab>wants is without supply: if you want</ab>
<ab>nothing, how are you unhappy?”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”That I want nothing, said the prince,</ab>
<ab>or that I know not what I want, is the</ab>
<ab>cause of my complaint; if I had any</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>known</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00260″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>known want, I should have a certain wish;</ab>
<ab>that wish would excite endeavour, and</ab>
<ab>I should not then repine to see the sun</ab>
<ab>move so slowly towards the western moun-</ab>
<ab>tain, or lament when the day breaks and</ab>
<ab>sleep will no longer hide me from myself.</ab>
<ab>When I see the kids and the lambs cha-</ab>
<ab>sing one another, I fancy that I should be</ab>
<ab>happy if I had something to persue.</ab>
<ab>But, possessing all that I can want, I</ab>
<ab>find one day and one hour exactly like</ab>
<ab>another, except that the latter is still</ab>
<ab>more tedious than the former. Let your</ab>
<ab>experience inform me how the day may</ab>
<ab>now seem as short as in my childhood,</ab>
<ab>while nature was yet fresh, and every mo-</ab>
<ab>ment shewed me what I never had observed</ab>
<ab>before. I have already enjoyed too much;</ab>
<ab>give me something to desire.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>C 2 The</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00270″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The old man was surprized at this new</ab>
<ab>species of affliction, and knew not what</ab>
<ab>to reply, yet was unwilling to be silent.</ab>
<ab>”Sir, said he, if you had seen the mi-</ab>
<ab>series of the world, you would know</ab>
<ab>how to value your present state.” “Now,</ab>
<ab>said the prince, you have given me some-</ab>
<ab>thing to desire; I shall long to see the</ab>
<ab>miseries of the world, since the sight of</ab>
<ab>them is necessary to happiness.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>C H A P. IV.</ab>
<ab>The prince continues to grieve</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>and muse.</ab>
<ab>AT this time the sound of musick</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>proclaimed the hour of repast,</ab>
<ab>and the conversation was concluded. The</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>old</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00280″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>old man went away sufficiently discon-</ab>
<ab>tented to find that his reasonings had</ab>
<ab>produced the only conclusion which they</ab>
<ab>were intended to prevent. But in the</ab>
<ab>decline of life shame and grief are of</ab>
<ab>short duration; whether it be that we</ab>
<ab>bear easily what we have born long, or</ab>
<ab>that, finding ourselves in age less regard-</ab>
<ab>ed, we less regard others; or, that we</ab>
<ab>look with slight regard upon afflictions,</ab>
<ab>to which we know that the hand of death</ab>
<ab>is about to put an end.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The prince, whose views were extend-</ab>
<ab>ed to a wider space, could not speedily</ab>
<ab>quiet his emotions. He had been be-</ab>
<ab>fore terrified at the length of life which</ab>
<ab>nature promised him, because he consi-</ab>
<ab>dered that in a long time much must be</ab>
<ab>endured ; he now rejoiced in his youth,</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>C3 be-</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00290″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>because in many years much might be</ab>
<ab>done.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>This first beam of hope, that had</ab>
<ab>been ever darted into his mind, rekindled</ab>
<ab>youth in his cheeks, and doubled the</ab>
<ab>lustre of his eyes. He was fired with</ab>
<ab>the desire of doing something, though</ab>
<ab>he knew not yet with distinctness, either</ab>
<ab>end or means.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>He was now no longer gloomy and</ab>
<ab>unsocial; but, confidering himself as</ab>
<ab>master of a secret stock of happiness,</ab>
<ab>which he could enjoy only by concealing</ab>
<ab>it, he affected to be busy in all schemes</ab>
<ab>of diversion, and endeavoured to make</ab>
<ab>others pleased with the state of which he</ab>
<ab>himself was weary. But pleasures ne-</ab>
<ab>ver can be so multiplied or continued,</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>as</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00300″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>as not to leave much of life unemployed;</ab>
<ab>there were many hours, both of the night</ab>
<ab>and day, which he could spend without</ab>
<ab>suspicion in solitary thought. The load</ab>
<ab>of life was much lightened: he went</ab>
<ab>eagerly into the assemblies, because he</ab>
<ab>supposed the frequency of his presence</ab>
<ab>necessary to the success of his purposes;</ab>
<ab>he retired gladly to privacy, because he</ab>
<ab>had now a subject of thought.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>His chief amusement was to picture</ab>
<ab>to himself that world which he had never</ab>
<ab>seen; to place himself in various condi-</ab>
<ab>tions; to be entangled in imaginary dif-</ab>
<ab>ficulties, and to be engaged in wild ad-</ab>
<ab>ventures: but his benevolence always</ab>
<ab>terminated his projets in the relief of</ab>
<ab>distress, the detection of fraud, the de-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>C 4 feat</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00310″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>feat of oppression, and the diffusion of</ab>
<ab>happiness.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Thus passed twenty months of the life</ab>
<ab>of Rasselas. He busied himself so in-</ab>
<ab>tensely in visionary bustle, that he forgot</ab>
<ab>his real solitude; and, amidst hourly</ab>
<ab>preparations for the various incidents of</ab>
<ab>human affairs, neglected to confider by</ab>
<ab>what means he should mingle with man-</ab>
<ab>kind.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>One day, as he was sitting on a bank,</ab>
<ab>he feigned to himself an orphan virgin</ab>
<ab>robbed of her little portion by a treach-</ab>
<ab>erous lover, and crying after him for</ab>
<ab>restitution and redress. So strongly was</ab>
<ab>the image impressed upon his mind, that</ab>
<ab>he started up in the maid’s defence, and</ab>
<ab>run forward to seize the plunderer with</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>all</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00320″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>all the eagerness of real persuit. Fear</ab>
<ab>naturally quickens the flight of guilt.</ab>
<ab>Rasselas could not catch the fugitive with</ab>
<ab>his utmost efforts; but, resolving to wea-</ab>
<ab>ry, by perseverance, him whom he could</ab>
<ab>not surpass in speed, he pressed on till</ab>
<ab>the foot of the mountain stopped his</ab>
<ab>course.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Here he recollected himself, and smiled</ab>
<ab>at his own useless impetuosity. Then</ab>
<ab>raising his eyes to the mountain, ” This,</ab>
<ab>said he, is the fatal obstacle that hinders</ab>
<ab>at once the enjoyment of pleasure, and</ab>
<ab>the exercise of virtue. How long is it</ab>
<ab>that my hopes and wishes have flown</ab>
<ab>beyond this boundary of my life, which</ab>
<ab>yet I never have attempted to sur-</ab>
<ab>mount!</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Struck</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00330″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Struck with this reflection, he sat</ab>
<ab>down to muse, and remembered, that</ab>
<ab>since he first resolved to escape from his</ab>
<ab>confinement, the sun had passed twice</ab>
<ab>over him in his annual course. He now</ab>
<ab>felt a degree of regret with which he had</ab>
<ab>never been before acquainted. He con-</ab>
<ab>sidered how much might have been done</ab>
<ab>in the time which had passed, and left</ab>
<ab>nothing real behind it. He compared</ab>
<ab>twenty months with the life of man.</ab>
<ab>”In life, said he, is not to be counted</ab>
<ab>the ignorance of infancy, or imbecility</ab>
<ab>of age. We are long before we are able</ab>
<ab>to think, and we soon cease from the</ab>
<ab>power of acting. The true period of</ab>
<ab>human existence may be reasonably esti-</ab>
<ab>mated as forty years, of which I have</ab>
<ab>mused away the four and twentieth part.</ab>
<ab>What I have lost was certain, for I have</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>certainly</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00340″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>certainly possessed it; but of twenty</ab>
<ab>months to come who can assure me ?”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The consciousness of his own folly</ab>
<ab>pierced him deeply, and he was long be-</ab>
<ab>fore he could be reconciled to himself.</ab>
<ab>”The rest of my time, said he, has</ab>
<ab>been lost by the crime or folly of my an-</ab>
<ab>cestors, and the absurd institutions of my</ab>
<ab>country; I remember it with disgust, yet</ab>
<ab>without remorse: but the months that</ab>
<ab>have passed since new light darted into</ab>
<ab>my soul, since I formed a scheme of rea-</ab>
<ab>sonable felicity, have been squandered by</ab>
<ab>my own fault. I have lost that which</ab>
<ab>can never be restored: I have seen the</ab>
<ab>sun rise and set for twenty months, an</ab>
<ab>idle gazer on the light of heaven: In</ab>
<ab>this time the birds have left the nest of</ab>
<ab>their mother, and committed themselves</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>to</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00350″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>to the woods and to the skies: the</ab>
<ab>kid has forsaken the teat, and learned</ab>
<ab>by degrees to climb the rocks in quest of</ab>
<ab>independant sustenance. I only have</ab>
<ab>made no advances, but am still helpless</ab>
<ab>and ignorant. The moon by more than</ab>
<ab>twenty changes, admonished me of the</ab>
<ab>flux of life; the stream that rolled be-</ab>
<ab>fore my feet upbraided my inactivity. I</ab>
<ab>sat feasting on intellecual luxury, re-</ab>
<ab>gardless alike of the examples of the</ab>
<ab>earth, and the instructions of the pla-</ab>
<ab>nets. Twenty months are past, who</ab>
<ab>shall restore them!”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>These sorrowful meditations fastened</ab>
<ab>upon his mind; he past four months</ab>
<ab>in resolving to lose no more time in idle</ab>
<ab>resolves, and was awakened to more</ab>
<ab>vigorous exertion by hearing a maid,</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>who</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00360″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>who had broken a porcelain cup, remark,</ab>
<ab>that what cannot be repaired is not to be</ab>
<ab>regretted.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>This was obvious; and Rasselas re-</ab>
<ab>proached himself that he had not disco-</ab>
<ab>vered it, having not known, or not con-</ab>
<ab>sidered, how many useful hints are ob-</ab>
<ab>tained by chance, and how often the</ab>
<ab>mind, hurried by her own ardour to dis-</ab>
<ab>tant views, neglects the truths that lie</ab>
<ab>open before her. He, for a few hours,</ab>
<ab>regretted his regret, and from that time</ab>
<ab>bent his whole mind upon the means of</ab>
<ab>escaping from the valley of happiness.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP.</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00370″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. V.</ab>
<ab>The prince mediates his escape.</ab>
<ab>He now found that it would be very</ab>
<ab>difficult to effect that which it was</ab>
<ab>very easy to suppose effected. When he</ab>
<ab>looked round about him, he saw him-</ab>
<ab>self confined by the bars of nature which</ab>
<ab>had never yet been broken, and by the</ab>
<ab>gate, through which none that once had</ab>
<ab>passed it were ever able to return. He</ab>
<ab>was now impatient as an eagle in a</ab>
<ab>grate. He passed week after week in</ab>
<ab>clambering the mountains, to see if there</ab>
<ab>was any aperture which the bushes might</ab>
<ab>conceal, but found all the summits in-</ab>
<ab>accessible by their prominence. The iron</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>gate</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00380″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>gate he despaired to open ; for it was not</ab>
<ab>only secured with all the power of art,</ab>
<ab>but was always watched by successive sen-</ab>
<ab>tinels, and was by its position exposed</ab>
<ab>to the perpetual observation of all the in-</ab>
<ab>habitants.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>He then examined the cavern through</ab>
<ab>which the waters of the lake were dis-</ab>
<ab>charged; and, looking down at a time</ab>
<ab>when the sun shone strongly upon its</ab>
<ab>mouth, he discovered it to be full of bro-</ab>
<ab>ken rocks, which, though they permitted</ab>
<ab>the stream to flow through many narrow</ab>
<ab>passages, would stop any body of solid</ab>
<ab>bulk. He returned discouraged and de-</ab>
<ab>jected; but, having now known the bles-</ab>
<ab>sing of hope, resolved never to despair.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>In</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00390″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>In these fruitless searches he spent ten</ab>
<ab>months. The time, however, passed</ab>
<ab>chearfully away : in the morning he rose</ab>
<ab>with new hope, in the evening applaud-</ab>
<ab>ed his own diligence, and in the night</ab>
<ab>slept sound after his fatigue. He met a</ab>
<ab>thousand amusements which beguiled his</ab>
<ab>labour, and diversified his thoughts.</ab>
<ab>He discerned the various instincts of ani-</ab>
<ab>mals, and properties of plants, and found</ab>
<ab>the place replete with wonders, of which</ab>
<ab>he purposed to solace himself with the</ab>
<ab>contemplation, if he should never be</ab>
<ab>able to accomplish his flight ; rejoicing</ab>
<ab>that his endeavours, though yet unsucess-</ab>
<ab>ful, had supplied him with a source of</ab>
<ab>inexhaustible enquiry.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>But his original curiosity was not yet</ab>
<ab>abated; he resolved to obtain some know-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>ledge</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00400″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>ledge of the ways of men. His wish</ab>
<ab>still continued, but his hope grew less.</ab>
<ab>He ceased to survey any longer the walls</ab>
<ab>of his prison, and spared to search by new</ab>
<ab>toils for interstices which he knew could</ab>
<ab>not be found, yet determined to keep his</ab>
<ab>design always in view, and lay hold on</ab>
<ab>any expedient that time should offer.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. VI.</ab>
<ab>A dissertation on the art of flying.</ab>
<ab>Among the artists that had</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>been allured into the happy val-</ab>
<ab>ley, to labour for the accommodation and</ab>
<ab>pleasure of its inhabitants, was a man</ab>
<ab>eminent for his knowledge of the me-</ab>
<ab>chanick powers, who had contrived ma-</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00410″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>ny engines both of use and recreation.</ab>
<ab>By a wheel, which the stream turned, he</ab>
<ab>forced the water into a tower, whence</ab>
<ab>it was distributed to all the apartments of</ab>
<ab>the palace. He erected a pavillion in the</ab>
<ab>garden, around which he kept the air</ab>
<ab>always cool by artificial showers. One</ab>
<ab>of the groves, appropriated to the ladies,</ab>
<ab>was ventilated by fans, to which the ri-</ab>
<ab>vulet that run through it gave a constant</ab>
<ab>motion; and instruments of soft musick</ab>
<ab>were placed at proper distances, of which</ab>
<ab>some played by the impulse of the wind,</ab>
<ab>and some by the power of the stream.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>This artist was sometimes visited by</ab>
<ab>Rasselas, who was pleased with every</ab>
<ab>kind of knowledge, imagining that the</ab>
<ab>time would come when all his acquisitions</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>should</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00420″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>should be of use to him in the open world.</ab>
<ab>He came one day to amuse himself in his</ab>
<ab>usual manner, and found the master busy</ab>
<ab>in building a failing chariot: he saw</ab>
<ab>that the design was practicable upon a le-</ab>
<ab>vel surface, and with expressions of great</ab>
<ab>esteem solicited its completion. The</ab>
<ab>workman was pleased to find himself so</ab>
<ab>much regarded by the prince, and re-</ab>
<ab>solved to gain yet higher honours. “Sir,</ab>
<ab>said he, you have seen but a small part</ab>
<ab>of what the mechanick sciences can per-</ab>
<ab>form. I have been long of opinion, that,</ab>
<ab>instead of the tardy conveyance of ships</ab>
<ab>and chariots, man might use the swifter</ab>
<ab>migration of wings; that the fields of</ab>
<ab>air are open to knowledge; and that on-</ab>
<ab>ly ignorance and idleness need crawl upon</ab>
<ab>the ground.”</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00430″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>This hint rekindled the prince’s desire</ab>
<ab>of passing the mountains; having seen</ab>
<ab>what the mechanist had already per-</ab>
<ab>formed, he was willing to fancy that he</ab>
<ab>could do more; yet resolved to enquire</ab>
<ab>further before he suffered hope to afflict</ab>
<ab>him by disappointment. “I am afraid,</ab>
<ab>said he to the artist, that your imagina-</ab>
<ab>tion prevails over your skill, and that</ab>
<ab>you now tell me rather what you wish</ab>
<ab>than what you know. Every animal has</ab>
<ab>his element assigned him; the birds have</ab>
<ab>the air, and man and beasts the earth.”</ab>
<ab>”So, replied the mechanist, fishes have</ab>
<ab>the water, in which yet beasts can swim</ab>
<ab>by nature, and men by art. He that can</ab>
<ab>swim needs not despair to fly: to swim is</ab>
<ab>to fly in a grosser fluid, and to fly is to</ab>
<ab>swim in a subtler. We are only to pro-</ab>
<ab>portion our power of resistance to the</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00440″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>different density of the matter through</ab>
<ab>which we are to pass. You will be ne-</ab>
<ab>cessarily upborn by the air, if you can</ab>
<ab>renew any impulse upon it, faster than the</ab>
<ab>air can recede from the pressure.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”But the exercise of swimming, said</ab>
<ab>the prince, is very laborious; the strong-</ab>
<ab>est limbs are soon wearied; I am afraid</ab>
<ab>the act of flying will be yet more violent,</ab>
<ab>and wings will be of no great use,</ab>
<ab>unless we can fly further than we can</ab>
<ab>swim.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”The labour of rising from the</ab>
<ab>ground, said the artist, will be great, as</ab>
<ab>we see it in the heavier domestick fowls;</ab>
<ab>but, as we mount higher, the earth’s attrac-</ab>
<ab>tion, and the body’s gravity, will be gra-</ab>
<ab>dually diminished, till we shall arrive at</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00450″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>a region where the man will float in</ab>
<ab>the air without any tendency to fall: no</ab>
<ab>care will then be necessary, but to move</ab>
<ab>forwards, which the gentlest impulse</ab>
<ab>will effect. You, Sir, whose curiosity</ab>
<ab>is so extensive, will easily conceive with</ab>
<ab>what pleasure a philosopher, furnished</ab>
<ab>with wings, and hovering in the sky, would</ab>
<ab>see the earth, and all it’s inhabitants, rol-</ab>
<ab>ling beneath him, and presenting to</ab>
<ab>him successively, by it’s diurnal motion,</ab>
<ab>all the countries within the same parallel.</ab>
<ab>How must it amuse the pendent specta-</ab>
<ab>tor to see the moving scene of land and</ab>
<ab>ocean, cities and desarts! To survey</ab>
<ab>with equal security the marts of trade,</ab>
<ab>and the fields of battle; mountains in-</ab>
<ab>fested by barbarians, and fruitful regions</ab>
<ab>gladdened by plenty, and lulled by</ab>
<ab>peace! How easily shall we then trace</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00460″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>the Nile through all his passage; pass</ab>
<ab>over to distant regions, and examine the</ab>
<ab>face of nature from one extremity of the</ab>
<ab>earth to the other!”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”All this, said the prince, is much to</ab>
<ab>be desired, but I am afraid that no man</ab>
<ab>will be able to breathe in these regions of</ab>
<ab>speculation and tranquility. I have been</ab>
<ab>told, that respiration is difficult upon</ab>
<ab>lofty mountains, yet from these preci-</ab>
<ab>pices, though so high as to produce great</ab>
<ab>tenuity of the air, it is very easy to fall:</ab>
<ab>therefore I suspect, that from any height,</ab>
<ab>where life can be supported, there may</ab>
<ab>be danger of too quick descent.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”Nothing, replied the artist, will ever</ab>
<ab>be attempted, if all possible objections</ab>
<ab>must be first overcome. If you will fa-</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00470″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>vour my project I will try the first flight at</ab>
<ab>my own hazard. I have considered the</ab>
<ab>structure of all volant animals, and find</ab>
<ab>the folding continuity of the bat’s wings</ab>
<ab>most easily accomodated to the human</ab>
<ab>form. Upon this model I shall begin</ab>
<ab>my task to morrow, and in a year expect</ab>
<ab>to tower into the air beyond the malice or</ab>
<ab>persuit of man. But I will work only</ab>
<ab>on this condition, that the art shall not</ab>
<ab>be divulged, and that you shall not re-</ab>
<ab>quire me to make wings for any but</ab>
<ab>ourselves.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”Why, said Rasselas, should you en-</ab>
<ab>vy others so great an advantage? All</ab>
<ab>skill ought to be exerted for universal</ab>
<ab>good; every man has owed much to</ab>
<ab>others, and ought to repay the kindness</ab>
<ab>that he has received.”</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00480″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”If men were all virtuous, returned</ab>
<ab>the artist, 1 should with great alacrity</ab>
<ab>teach them all to fly. But what would</ab>
<ab>be the security of the good, if the bad</ab>
<ab>could at pleasure invade them from the</ab>
<ab>sky? Against an army sailing through</ab>
<ab>the clouds neither walls, nor mountains,</ab>
<ab>nor seas, could afford any security. A</ab>
<ab>flight of northern savages might hover</ab>
<ab>in the wind, and light at once with irre-</ab>
<ab>sistible violence, upon the capital of a</ab>
<ab>fruitful region that was rolling under</ab>
<ab>them. Even this valley, the retreat of</ab>
<ab>princes, the abode of happiness, might</ab>
<ab>be violated by the sudden descent of some</ab>
<ab>of the naked nations that swarm on the</ab>
<ab>coast of the southern sea.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The prince promised secrecy, and wait-</ab>
<ab>ed for the performance, not wholly hope-</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00490″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>less of success. He visited the work from</ab>
<ab>time to time, observed its progress, and</ab>
<ab>remarked many ingenious contrivances to</ab>
<ab>facilitate motion, and unite levity with</ab>
<ab>strength. The artist was every day</ab>
<ab>more certain that he should leave vul-</ab>
<ab>tures and eagles behind him, and the</ab>
<ab>contagion of his confidence seized upon</ab>
<ab>the prince.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>In a year the wings were finished, and,</ab>
<ab>on a morning appointed, the maker ap-</ab>
<ab>peared furnished for flight on a little</ab>
<ab>promontory: he waved his pinions a</ab>
<ab>while to gather air, then leaped from</ab>
<ab>his stand, and in an instant dropped into</ab>
<ab>the lake. His wings, which were of no</ab>
<ab>use in the air, sustained him in the water,</ab>
<ab>and the prince drew him to land, half</ab>
<ab>dead with terrour and vexation.</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00500″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. VII.</ab>
<ab>The prince finds a man of learning.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The prince was not much afflicted</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>by this disaster, having suffered</ab>
<ab>himself to hope for a happier event, on-</ab>
<ab>ly because he had no other means of escape</ab>
<ab>in view. He still persisted in his design</ab>
<ab>to leave the happy valley by the first</ab>
<ab>opportunity.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>His imagination was now at a stand;</ab>
<ab>he had no prospect of entering into the</ab>
<ab>world; and, notwithstanding all his en-</ab>
<ab>deavours to support himself, discontent</ab>
<ab>by degrees preyed upon him, and he be-</ab>
<ab>gan again to lose his thoughts in sadness</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00510″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>when the rainy season, which in these</ab>
<ab>countries is periodical, made it incon-</ab>
<ab>venient to wander in the woods.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The rain continued longer and with</ab>
<ab>more violence than had been ever known:</ab>
<ab>the clouds broke on the surrounding</ab>
<ab>mountains, and the torrents streamed in-</ab>
<ab>to the plain on every side, till the ca-</ab>
<ab>vern was too narrow to discharge the wa-</ab>
<ab>ter. The lake overflowed its banks, and</ab>
<ab>all the level of the valley was covered</ab>
<ab>with the inundation. The eminence, on</ab>
<ab>which the palace was built, and some</ab>
<ab>other spots of rising ground, were all that</ab>
<ab>the eye could now discover. The herds</ab>
<ab>and flocks left the pastures, and both</ab>
<ab>the wild beasts and the tame retreated to</ab>
<ab>the mountains.</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00520″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>This inundation confined all the prin-</ab>
<ab>ces to domestick amusements, and the</ab>
<ab>attention of Rasselas was particularly</ab>
<ab>seized by a poem, which Imlac re-</ab>
<ab>hearsed upon the various conditions of</ab>
<ab>humanity. He commanded the poet</ab>
<ab>to attend him in his apartment, and re-</ab>
<ab>cite his verses a second time; then</ab>
<ab>entering into familiar talk, he thought</ab>
<ab>himself happy in having found a man</ab>
<ab>who knew the world so well, and could</ab>
<ab>so skilfully paint the scenes of life. He</ab>
<ab>asked a thousand questions about things,</ab>
<ab>to which, though common to all other</ab>
<ab>mortals, his confinement from childhood</ab>
<ab>had kept him a stranger. The poet pi-</ab>
<ab>tied his ignorance, and loved his curio-</ab>
<ab>sity, and entertained him from day to</ab>
<ab>day with novelty and instruction, so that</ab>
<ab>the prince regretted the necessity of sleep,</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00530″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>and longed till the morning should re-</ab>
<ab>new his pleasure.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>As they were fitting together, the</ab>
<ab>prince commanded Imlac to relate</ab>
<ab>his history, and to tell by what accident</ab>
<ab>he was forced, or by what motive</ab>
<ab>induced, to close his life in the hap-</ab>
<ab>py valley. As he was going to begin</ab>
<ab>his narrative, Rasselas was called to a</ab>
<ab>concert, and obliged to restrain his curi-</ab>
<ab>osity till the evening.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. VIII.</ab>
<ab>The history of Imlac.</ab>
<ab>THE close of the day is, in the re-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>gions of the torrid zone, the only</ab>
<ab>season of diversion and entertainment,</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>2 and</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00540″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>and it was therefore mid-night before the</ab>
<ab>musick ceased, and the princesses retired.</ab>
<ab>Rasselas then called for his companion and</ab>
<ab>required him to begin the story of his</ab>
<ab>life.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” Sir, said Imlac, my history will</ab>
<ab>not be long: the life that is devoted</ab>
<ab>to knowledge pases silently away, and</ab>
<ab>is very little diversified by events. To</ab>
<ab>talk in publick, to think in solitude, to</ab>
<ab>read and to hear, to inquire, and answer</ab>
<ab>inquiries, is the business of a scholar.</ab>
<ab>He wanders about the world without</ab>
<ab>pomp or terrour, and is neither known</ab>
<ab>nor valued but by men like himself.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” I was born in the kingdom of Goi-</ab>
<ab>ama, at no great distance from the foun-</ab>
<ab>tain of the Nile. My father was a weal-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>thy</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00550″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>thy merchant, who traded between the</ab>
<ab>inland countries of Africk and the ports</ab>
<ab>of the red sea. He was honest, frugal</ab>
<ab>and diligent, but of mean sentiments,</ab>
<ab>and narrow comprehension: he desired</ab>
<ab>only to be rich, and to conceal his rich-</ab>
<ab>es, lest he should be spoiled by the go-</ab>
<ab>vernours of the province.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” Surely, said the prince, my father</ab>
<ab>must be negligent of his charge, if any</ab>
<ab>man in his dominions dares take that</ab>
<ab>which belongs to another. Does he not</ab>
<ab>know that kings are accountable for in-</ab>
<ab>justice permitted as well as done? If I</ab>
<ab>were emperour, not the meanest of my sub-</ab>
<ab>jects should be oppressed with impunity.</ab>
<ab>My blood boils when I am told that a</ab>
<ab>merchant durst not enjoy his honest gains</ab>
<ab>for fear of losing them by the rapacity</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>of</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00560″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>of power. Name the governour. who</ab>
<ab>robbed the people, that I may declare his</ab>
<ab>crimes to the emperour.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” Sir, said Imlac, your ardour is</ab>
<ab>the natural effect of virtue animated</ab>
<ab>by youth: the time will come when you,</ab>
<ab>will acquit your father, and perhaps hear</ab>
<ab>with less impatience of the governour.</ab>
<ab>Oppression is, in the Abissinian dominions,</ab>
<ab>neither frequent nor tolerated; but no</ab>
<ab>form of government has been yet dis-</ab>
<ab>covered; by which cruelty can be whol-</ab>
<ab>ly prevented. Subordination supposes-</ab>
<ab>power on one part and subjection on the</ab>
<ab>other; and if power be in the hands</ab>
<ab>of men, it will sometimes be abused.</ab>
<ab>The vigilance of the supreme magistrate</ab>
<ab>may do much, but much will still re-</ab>
<ab>main undone. He can never know all</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>VOL. I. E the</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00570″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>the crimes that are committed, and can</ab>
<ab>seldom punish all that he knows.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” This, said the prince, I do not un-</ab>
<ab>derstand, but I had rather hear thee than</ab>
<ab>dispute. Continue thy narration.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” My father, proceeded Imlac, origi-</ab>
<ab>nally intended that I should have no other</ab>
<ab>education, than such as might qualify</ab>
<ab>me for commerce; and discovering in</ab>
<ab>me great strength of memory, and quick-</ab>
<ab>ness of apprehension, often declared his</ab>
<ab>hope that I should be some time the rich-</ab>
<ab>est man in Abissinia.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”Why, said the prince, did thy fa-</ab>
<ab>ther desire the increase of his wealth,</ab>
<ab>when it was already greater than he durst</ab>
<ab>discover or enjoy? I am unwilling to</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>doubt</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00580″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>doubt thy veracity, yet inconsistencies</ab>
<ab>cannot both be true.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” Inconsistencies, answered Imlac,</ab>
<ab>cannot both be right, but, imputed to</ab>
<ab>man, they may both be true. Yet di-</ab>
<ab>versity is not inconsistency. My father</ab>
<ab>might expect a time of greater security.</ab>
<ab>However, some desire is necessary to</ab>
<ab>keep life in motion, and he, whose real</ab>
<ab>wants are supplied, must admit those of</ab>
<ab>fancy.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”This, said the prince, I can in some</ab>
<ab>measure conceive. I repent that I inter-</ab>
<ab>rupted thee.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” With this hope, proceeded Imlac,</ab>
<ab>he sent me to school; but when I</ab>
<ab>had once found the delight of knowledge,</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>E 2 and</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00590″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>and felt the pleasure of intelligence and</ab>
<ab>the pride of invention, I began silently</ab>
<ab>to despise riches, and determined to dis-</ab>
<ab>appoint the purpose of my father, whose</ab>
<ab>grossness of conception raised my pity.</ab>
<ab>I was twenty years old before his tender-</ab>
<ab>ness would expose me to the fatigue of</ab>
<ab>travel, in which time I had been instruc-</ab>
<ab>ted, by successive matters, in all the lite-</ab>
<ab>rature of my native country. As every</ab>
<ab>hour taught me something new, I lived</ab>
<ab>in a continual course of gratifications;</ab>
<ab>but, as I advanced towards manhood,</ab>
<ab>1 lost much of the reverence with which I</ab>
<ab>had been used to look on my instructors;.</ab>
<ab>because, when the lesson was ended, I did</ab>
<ab>not find them wiser or better than com-</ab>
<ab>mon men.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” At</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00600″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”‘ At length my father resolved to ini-</ab>
<ab>tiate me in commerce, and, opening one</ab>
<ab>of his subterranean treasuries, counted</ab>
<ab>out ten thousand pieces of gold. This,</ab>
<ab>young man, said he, is the stock with</ab>
<ab>which you must negociate. I began with</ab>
<ab>less than the fifth part, and you see</ab>
<ab>how diligence and parsimony have in-</ab>
<ab>creased it. This is your own to waste</ab>
<ab>or to improve. If you squander it by ne-</ab>
<ab>gligence or caprice, you must wait for</ab>
<ab>my death before you will be rich : if, in</ab>
<ab>four years, you double your stock, we</ab>
<ab>will thenceforward let subordination</ab>
<ab>cease, and live together as friends and</ab>
<ab>partners; for he shall always be equal</ab>
<ab>with me, who is equally skilled in the art</ab>
<ab>of growing rich.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>E3 ” We</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00610″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” We laid our money upon camels,</ab>
<ab>concealed in bales of cheap goods, and</ab>
<ab>travelled to the shore of the red sea.</ab>
<ab>When I cast my eye on the expanse of</ab>
<ab>waters my heart bounded like that of a</ab>
<ab>prisoner escaped. I felt an unextinguish-</ab>
<ab>able curiosity kindle in my mind, and</ab>
<ab>resolved to snatch this opportunity of</ab>
<ab>seeing the manners of other nations,</ab>
<ab>and of learning sciences unknown in A-</ab>
<ab>bissinia.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” I remembered that my father had</ab>
<ab>obliged me to the improvement of my</ab>
<ab>stock, not by a promise which I ought</ab>
<ab>not to violate, but by a penalty which I</ab>
<ab>was at liberty to incur ; and therefore de-</ab>
<ab>termined to gratify my predominant desire,</ab>
<ab>and by drinking at the fountains of know-</ab>
<ab>ledge, to quench the thirst of curiosity.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” As</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00620″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” As I was supposed to trade without</ab>
<ab>connexion with my father, it was easy</ab>
<ab>for me to become acquainted with the</ab>
<ab>matter of a ship, and procure a passage</ab>
<ab>to some other country. I had no motives</ab>
<ab>of choice to regulate my voyage; it was</ab>
<ab>sufficient for me that, wherever I wan-</ab>
<ab>dered, I should see a country which I</ab>
<ab>had not seen before. I therefore entered</ab>
<ab>a ship bound for Surat, having left a</ab>
<ab>letter for my father declaring my inten-</ab>
<ab>tion.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>E4 CHAP.</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00630″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. IX.</ab>
<ab>The history of Imlac con-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>tinued.</ab>
<ab>WHEN I first entered upon the</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>world of waters, and lost sight</ab>
<ab>of land, I looked round about me with</ab>
<ab>pleasing terrour, and thinking my soul</ab>
<ab>enlarged by the boundless prospect, ima-</ab>
<ab>gined that I could gaze round for ever</ab>
<ab>without satiety; but, in a short time, I</ab>
<ab>grew weary of looking on barren uni-</ab>
<ab>formity, where I could only see again</ab>
<ab>what I had already seen. I then descend-</ab>
<ab>ed into the ship, and doubted for a while</ab>
<ab>whether all my future pleasures would not</ab>
<ab>end like this in disgust and disappoint-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>ment.</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00640″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>ment. Yet, surely, said I, the ocean</ab>
<ab>and the land are very different; the only</ab>
<ab>variety of water is rest and motion, but</ab>
<ab>the earth has mountains and vallies, de-</ab>
<ab>sarts and cities : it is inhabited by men</ab>
<ab>of different customs and contrary opini-</ab>
<ab>ons ; and I may hope to find variety in</ab>
<ab>life, though I should miss it in nature.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”With this thought I quieted my mind;</ab>
<ab>and amused myself during the voyage,</ab>
<ab>sometimes by learning from the sailors</ab>
<ab>the art of navigation, which I have ne-</ab>
<ab>ver practiced, and sometimes by forming</ab>
<ab>schemes for my conduct in different situ-</ab>
<ab>ations, in not one of which I have been</ab>
<ab>ever placed.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”I was almost weary of my naval amuse-</ab>
<ab>ments when we landed safely at Surat. I</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>se-</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00650″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>secured my money, and purchasing some</ab>
<ab>commodities for show, joined myself to</ab>
<ab>a caravan that was passing into the in-</ab>
<ab>land country. My companions, for some</ab>
<ab>reason or other, conjecturing that I was</ab>
<ab>rich, and, by my inquiries and admira-</ab>
<ab>tion, finding that I was ignorant, consi-</ab>
<ab>dered me as a novice whom they had a</ab>
<ab>right to cheat, and who was to learn at</ab>
<ab>the usual expence the art of fraud. They</ab>
<ab>exposed me to the theft of servants, and</ab>
<ab>the exaction of officers, and saw me</ab>
<ab>plundered upon false pretences, without</ab>
<ab>any advantage to themselves, but that</ab>
<ab>of rejoicing in the superiority of their</ab>
<ab>own knowledge.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” Stop a moment, said the prince. Is</ab>
<ab>there such depravity in man, as that he</ab>
<ab>should injure another without benefit to</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>himself?</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00660″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>himself ? I can easily conceive that all are</ab>
<ab>pleased with superiority; but your igno-</ab>
<ab>rance was merely accidental, which,</ab>
<ab>being neither your crime nor your folly,</ab>
<ab>could afford them no reason to applaud</ab>
<ab>themselves; and the knowledge which</ab>
<ab>they had, and which you wanted, they</ab>
<ab>might as effectually have shewn by warn-</ab>
<ab>ing, as betraying you.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”Pride, said Imlac, is seldom de-</ab>
<ab>licate, it will please itself with very</ab>
<ab>mean advantages; and envy feels not</ab>
<ab>its own happiness, but when it may</ab>
<ab>be compared with the misery of others.</ab>
<ab>They were my enemies because they</ab>
<ab>grieved to think me rich, and my</ab>
<ab>oppressors because they delighted to find</ab>
<ab>me weak.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”Pro-</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00670″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”Proceed, said the prince: I doubt</ab>
<ab>not of the facts which you relate, but</ab>
<ab>imagine that you impute them to mis-</ab>
<ab>taken motives.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” In this company, said Imlac,</ab>
<ab>I arrived at Agra, the capital of Indos-</ab>
<ab>tan, the city in which the great Mogul</ab>
<ab>commonly resides. I applied myself to</ab>
<ab>the language of the country, and in a</ab>
<ab>few months was able to converse with the</ab>
<ab>learned men; some of whom I found</ab>
<ab>morose and reserved, and others easy</ab>
<ab>and communicative; some were unwil-</ab>
<ab>ling to teach another what they had with</ab>
<ab>dificulty learned themselves; and some</ab>
<ab>shewed that the end of their studies was</ab>
<ab>to gain the dignity of instructing.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” To</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00680″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”To the tutor of the young princes</ab>
<ab>I recommended myself so much, that I</ab>
<ab>was presented to the emperour as a man</ab>
<ab>of uncommon knowledge. The empe-</ab>
<ab>rour asked me many questions concern-</ab>
<ab>ing my country and my travels; and</ab>
<ab>though I cannot now recollect any thing</ab>
<ab>that he uttered above the power of a</ab>
<ab>common man, he dismissed me astonished</ab>
<ab>at his wisdom, and enamoured of his</ab>
<ab>goodness.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” My credit was now so high, that</ab>
<ab>the merchants, with whom I had travel-</ab>
<ab>led, applied to me for recommendations</ab>
<ab>to the ladies of the court. I was sur-</ab>
<ab>prised at their confidence of solicitation,</ab>
<ab>and gently reproached them with their</ab>
<ab>practices on the road. They heard me</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>with</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00690″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>with cold indifference, and shewed no</ab>
<ab>tokens of shame or sorrow.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” They then urged their request with</ab>
<ab>the offer of a bribe; but what I would</ab>
<ab>not do for kindness I would not do for</ab>
<ab>money; and refused them, not because</ab>
<ab>they had injured me, but because I would</ab>
<ab>not enable them to injure others ; for I</ab>
<ab>knew they would have made use of my</ab>
<ab>credit to cheat those who should buy their</ab>
<ab>wares.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” Having resided at Agra till there</ab>
<ab>was no more to be learned, I travelled</ab>
<ab>into Persia, where I saw many remains</ab>
<ab>of ancient magnificence, and observed</ab>
<ab>many new accommodations of life. The</ab>
<ab>Persians are a nation eminently social,</ab>
<ab>and their assemblies afforded me daily</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>oppor-</ab>
<ab>4</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00700″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>opportunities of remarking charaters</ab>
<ab>and manners, and of tracing human na-</ab>
<ab>ture through all its variations.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”From Persia I passed into Arabia,</ab>
<ab>where I saw a nation at once pastoral</ab>
<ab>and warlike; who live without any set-</ab>
<ab>tled habitation; whose only wealth is</ab>
<ab>their flocks and herds; and who have</ab>
<ab>yet carried on, through all ages, an</ab>
<ab>hereditary war with all mankind, though</ab>
<ab>they neither covet nor envy their pos-</ab>
<ab>sessions.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP.</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00710″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. X.</ab>
<ab>Imlac’s history continued. A dis-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>sertation upon poetry.</ab>
<ab>WHEREVER I went, I found</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>that Poetry was considered as the</ab>
<ab>highest learning, and regarded with a ve-</ab>
<ab>neration somewhat approaching to that</ab>
<ab>which man would pay to the Angelick</ab>
<ab>Nature. And it yet fills me with won-</ab>
<ab>der, that, in almost all countries, the</ab>
<ab>most ancient poets are confidered as the</ab>
<ab>best: whether it be that every other</ab>
<ab>kind of knowledge is an acquisition</ab>
<ab>gradually attained, and poetry is a gift</ab>
<ab>conferred at once; or that the first</ab>
<ab>poetry of every nation surprised them as</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>a</ab>
<ab>8</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00720″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>a novelty, and retained the credit by con-</ab>
<ab>sent which it received by accident at first :</ab>
<ab>or whether, as the province of poetry is</ab>
<ab>to describe Nature and Passion, which</ab>
<ab>are always the same, the first writers took</ab>
<ab>possession of the most striking objects for</ab>
<ab>description, and the most probable occur-</ab>
<ab>rences for fiction, and left nothing to</ab>
<ab>those that followed them, but transcrip-</ab>
<ab>tion of the same events, and new combi-</ab>
<ab>nations of the same images. Whatever</ab>
<ab>be the reason, it is commonly observed that</ab>
<ab>the early writers are in possession of nature,</ab>
<ab>and their followers of art : that the first</ab>
<ab>excel in strength and invention, and the</ab>
<ab>latter in elegance and refinement.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”I was desirous to add my name to this</ab>
<ab>illustrious fraternity. I read all the poets</ab>
<ab>of Persia and Arabia, and was able to</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>VOL.I. F re-</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00730″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>repeat by memory the volumes that are</ab>
<ab>suspended in the mosque of Mecca. But</ab>
<ab>I soon found that no man was ever great</ab>
<ab>by imitation. My desire of excellence</ab>
<ab>impelled me to transfer my attention to</ab>
<ab>nature and to life. Nature was to be</ab>
<ab>my subject, and men to be my auditors:</ab>
<ab>I could never describe what I had not</ab>
<ab>seen: I could not hope to move those</ab>
<ab>with delight or terrour, whose interests</ab>
<ab>and opinions I did not understand.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”Being now resolved to be a poet, I saw</ab>
<ab>everything with a new purpose; my sphere</ab>
<ab>of attention was suddenly magnified: no</ab>
<ab>kind of knowledge was to be overlooked.</ab>
<ab>I ranged mountains and deserts for images</ab>
<ab>and resemblances, and pictured upon my</ab>
<ab>mind every tree of the forest and flower</ab>
<ab>of the valley. I observed with equal</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>care</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00740″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>care the crags of the rock and the pin-</ab>
<ab>nacles of the palace. Sometimes I wan-</ab>
<ab>dered along the mazes of the rivulet,</ab>
<ab>and sometimes watched the changes of the</ab>
<ab>summer clouds. To a poet nothing can be</ab>
<ab>useless. Whatever is beautiful, and what-</ab>
<ab>ever is dreadful, must be familiar to his</ab>
<ab>imagination: he must be conversant with</ab>
<ab>all that is awfully vast or elegantly lit-</ab>
<ab>tle. The plants of the garden, the ani-</ab>
<ab>mals of the wood, the minerals of the</ab>
<ab>earth, and meteors of the sky, must all</ab>
<ab>concur to store his mind with inexhausti-</ab>
<ab>ble variety : for every idea is useful for</ab>
<ab>the inforcement or decoration of moral or</ab>
<ab>religious truth; and he, who knows most,</ab>
<ab>will have most power of diversifying his</ab>
<ab>scenes, and of gratifying his reader with</ab>
<ab>remote allusions and unexpected instruc-</ab>
<ab>tion.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>F 2 “All</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00750″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” All the appearances of nature I was</ab>
<ab>therefore careful to study, and every</ab>
<ab>country which I have surveyed has con-</ab>
<ab>tributed something to my poetical</ab>
<ab>powers.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”In so wide a survey, said the prince,</ab>
<ab>you must surely have left much unob-</ab>
<ab>served. I have lived, till now, within</ab>
<ab>the circuit of these mountains, and yet</ab>
<ab>cannot walk abroad without the sight of</ab>
<ab>something which I had never beheld be-</ab>
<ab>fore, or never heeded.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” The business of a poet, said Im.</ab>
<ab>lac, is to examine, not the individual,</ab>
<ab>but the species; to remark general pro-</ab>
<ab>perties and large appearances: he does</ab>
<ab>not number the streaks of the tulip, or</ab>
<ab>describe the different shades in the ver-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>dure</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00760″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>dure of the forest. He is to exhibit in his</ab>
<ab>portraits of nature such prominent and</ab>
<ab>striking features, as recal the original to</ab>
<ab>every mind ; and must neglect the</ab>
<ab>minuter discriminations, which one may</ab>
<ab>have remarked, and another have neglec-</ab>
<ab>ted, for those characteristicks which are</ab>
<ab>alike obvious to vigilance and careles-</ab>
<ab>ness.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” But the knowledge of nature is on-</ab>
<ab>ly half the talk of a poet; he must be ac-</ab>
<ab>quainted like wife with all the modes of life.</ab>
<ab>His character requires that he estimate the</ab>
<ab>happiness and misery of every condition ;</ab>
<ab>observe the power of all the passions in all</ab>
<ab>their combinations, and trace the changes</ab>
<ab>of the human mind as they are modified</ab>
<ab>by various institutions and accidental influ-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>F 3 ences</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00770″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>ences of climate or custom, from the sprite-</ab>
<ab>liness of infancy to the despondence of</ab>
<ab>decrepitude. He must divest himself of</ab>
<ab>the prejudices of his age or country ; he</ab>
<ab>must consider right and wrong in their</ab>
<ab>abstracted and invariable state ; he must</ab>
<ab>disregard present laws and opinions,</ab>
<ab>and rise to general and transcendental</ab>
<ab>truths, which will always be the fame:</ab>
<ab>he must therefore content himself with</ab>
<ab>the flow progress of his name; con-</ab>
<ab>temn the applause of his own time,</ab>
<ab>and commit his claims to the justice of pos-</ab>
<ab>terity. He must write as the interpreter</ab>
<ab>of nature, and the legislator of mankind,</ab>
<ab>and consider himself as presiding over</ab>
<ab>the thoughts and manners of future</ab>
<ab>generations ; as a being superiour to time</ab>
<ab>and place.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” His</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00780″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”His labour is not yet at an end : he</ab>
<ab>must know many languages and many</ab>
<ab>sciences ; and, that his stile may be</ab>
<ab>worthy of his thoughts, must by inces-</ab>
<ab>sant practice, familiarize to himself every</ab>
<ab>delicacy of speech and grace of harmo-</ab>
<ab>ny.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XI.</ab>
<ab>Imlac’s narrative continued. A</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>hint on pilgrimage.</ab>
<ab>IMLAC now felt the enthusiastic fit,</ab>
<ab>and was proceeding to aggrandize his</ab>
<ab>own profession, when the prince cried</ab>
<ab>out, “Enough! Thou hast convinced</ab>
<ab>me, that no human being can ever be a</ab>
<ab>poet. Proceed with thy narration.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”To be a poet, said Imlac, is indeed</ab>
<ab>very difficult.” ” So difficult, returned</ab>
<ab>the prince, that I will at present hear no</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>more</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00790″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>of his labours. Tell me whither</ab>
<ab>you went when you had seen Persia.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”From Persia, said the poet, I tra-</ab>
<ab>veled through Syria, and for three years</ab>
<ab>resided in Palestine, where I conversed</ab>
<ab>with great numbers of the northern and</ab>
<ab>western nations of Europe; the nations</ab>
<ab>which are now in possession of all power</ab>
<ab>and all knowledge; whose armies are ir-</ab>
<ab>resistible, and whose fleets command the</ab>
<ab>remotest parts of the globe. When I</ab>
<ab>compared these men with the natives of</ab>
<ab>our own kingdom, and those that sur-</ab>
<ab>round us, they appeared almost another</ab>
<ab>order of beings. In their countries it is</ab>
<ab>cificult to wish for any thing that may</ab>
<ab>not be obtained: a thousand arts, of</ab>
<ab>which we never heard, are continually</ab>
<ab>labouring for their convenience and plea-</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00800″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>sure; and whatever their own climate has</ab>
<ab>denied them is supplied by their com</ab>
<ab>merce.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”By what means, said the prince, are</ab>
<ab>the Europeans thus powerful? or why,</ab>
<ab>since they can so easily visit Asia and A-</ab>
<ab>frica for trade or conquest, cannot the</ab>
<ab>Asiaticks and Africans invade their coasts,</ab>
<ab>plant colonies in their ports, and give</ab>
<ab>laws to their natural princes? The fame</ab>
<ab>wind that carries them back would bring</ab>
<ab>us thither.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”They are more powerful, Sir, than</ab>
<ab>we, answered Imlac, because they are</ab>
<ab>wiser; knowledge will always predomi-</ab>
<ab>nate over ignorance, as man governs the</ab>
<ab>other animals. But why their know-</ab>
<ab>ledge is more than ours, I know not what</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00810″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>reason can be given, but the unsearchable</ab>
<ab>will of the Supreme Being.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”When, said the prince with a sigh,</ab>
<ab>shall I be able to visit Palestine, and min-</ab>
<ab>gle with this mighty confluence of na-</ab>
<ab>tions? Till that happy moment shall</ab>
<ab>arrive, let me fill up the time with such</ab>
<ab>representations as thou canst give me. I</ab>
<ab>am not ignorant of the motive that as-</ab>
<ab>sembles such numbers in that place, and</ab>
<ab>cannot but consider it as the center of</ab>
<ab>wisdom and piety, to which the best and</ab>
<ab>wisest men of every land must be conti-</ab>
<ab>nually resorting.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” There are some nations, said Imlac,</ab>
<ab>that fend few visitants to Palestine; for,</ab>
<ab>many numerous and learned sects in</ab>
<ab>Europe, concur to censure pilgrimage</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00820″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>as superstitious, or deride it as ridicu-</ab>
<ab>lous.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”You know, said the prince, how</ab>
<ab>little my life has made me acquainted</ab>
<ab>with diversity of opinions: it will be too</ab>
<ab>long to hear the arguments on both</ab>
<ab>sides; you, that have considered them,</ab>
<ab>tell me the result.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Pilgrimage, said Imlac, like many</ab>
<ab>other acts of piety, may be reasonable</ab>
<ab>or superstious, according to the princi-</ab>
<ab>ples upon which it is performed. Long</ab>
<ab>journies in search of truth are not com-</ab>
<ab>manded. Truth, such as is necessary to</ab>
<ab>the regulation of life, is always found</ab>
<ab>where it is honestly sought. Change of</ab>
<ab>place is no natural cause of the increase</ab>
<ab>of piety, for it inevitably produces dis-</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00830″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>sipation of mind. Yet, since men go</ab>
<ab>every day to view the fields where great</ab>
<ab>actions have been performed, and return</ab>
<ab>with stronger impressions of the event,</ab>
<ab>curiosity of the fame kind may naturally</ab>
<ab>dispose us to view that country whence</ab>
<ab>our religion had its beginning; and I</ab>
<ab>believe no man surveys those awful scenes</ab>
<ab>without some confirmation of holy reso-</ab>
<ab>lutions. That the Supreme Being may</ab>
<ab>be more easily propitiated in one place</ab>
<ab>than in another, is the dream of idle</ab>
<ab>superstition; but that some places may</ab>
<ab>operate upon our own minds in an un-</ab>
<ab>common manner, is an opinion which</ab>
<ab>hourly experience will justify. He who</ab>
<ab>supposes that his vices may be more suc-</ab>
<ab>cessfully combated in Palestine, will,</ab>
<ab>perhaps, find himself mistaken, yet he</ab>
<ab>may go thither without folly: he who</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00840″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>thinks they will be more freely par-</ab>
<ab>doned, dishonours at once his reason and</ab>
<ab>religion.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”These, said the prince, are Euro-</ab>
<ab>pean distintions. I will consider them</ab>
<ab>another time. What have you found to</ab>
<ab>be the effect of knowledge? Are those</ab>
<ab>nations happier than we?”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”There is so much infelicity, said the</ab>
<ab>poet, in the world, that scarce any man</ab>
<ab>has leisure from his own distresses to esti-</ab>
<ab>mate the comparative happiness of others.</ab>
<ab>Knowledge is certainly one of the means</ab>
<ab>of pleasure, as is confessed by the na-</ab>
<ab>tural desire which every mind feels of</ab>
<ab>increaring its ideas. Ignorance is mere</ab>
<ab>privation, by which nothing can be pro-</ab>
<ab>duced: it is a vacuity in which the foul</ab>
<ab>fits motionless and torpid for want of at-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>traction</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00850″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>traction; and, without knowing why, we</ab>
<ab>always rejoice when we learn, and grieve</ab>
<ab>when we forget. I am therefore inclined to</ab>
<ab>conclude, that, if nothing counteracts the</ab>
<ab>natural consequence of learning, we grow</ab>
<ab>more happy as our minds take a wider</ab>
<ab>range.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”In enumerating the particular com-</ab>
<ab>forts of life we shall find many advan-</ab>
<ab>tages on the side of the Europeans. They</ab>
<ab>cure wounds and diseases with which we</ab>
<ab>languish and perish. We suffer incle-</ab>
<ab>mencies of weather which they can ob-</ab>
<ab>viate. They have engines for the despatch</ab>
<ab>of many laborious works, which we</ab>
<ab>must perform by manual industry.</ab>
<ab>There is such communication between.</ab>
<ab>distant places, that one friend can hardly</ab>
<ab>be said to be absent from another. Their</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00860″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>policy removes all publick inconvenien-</ab>
<ab>cies: they have roads cut through their</ab>
<ab>mountains, and bridges laid upon their</ab>
<ab>rivers. And, if we descend to the priva-</ab>
<ab>cies of life, their habitations are more</ab>
<ab>commodious, and their possessions are</ab>
<ab>more secure.'”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”They are surely happy, said the</ab>
<ab>prince, who have all these convenien-</ab>
<ab>cies, of which I envy none so much as</ab>
<ab>the facility with which separated friends</ab>
<ab>interchange their thoughts.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”The Europeans, answered Imlac,</ab>
<ab>are less unhappy than we, but they are</ab>
<ab>not happy. Human life is every where</ab>
<ab>a state in which much is to be endured,</ab>
<ab>and little to be enjoyed.”</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00870″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XII.</ab>
<ab>The story of Imlac continued.</ab>
<ab>I AM not yet willing, said the prince,</ab>
<ab>I to suppose that happiness is so par-</ab>
<ab>simoniously distributed to mortals; nor</ab>
<ab>can believe but that, if I had the choice</ab>
<ab>of life, I should be able to fill every day</ab>
<ab>with pleasure. I would injure no man,</ab>
<ab>and should provoke no resentment: I</ab>
<ab>would relieve every distress, and should</ab>
<ab>enjoy the benedictions of gratitude. I</ab>
<ab>would choose my friends among the wise,</ab>
<ab>and my wife among the virtuous; and</ab>
<ab>therefore should be, in no danger from</ab>
<ab>treachery, or unkindness. My children</ab>
<ab>should, by my care, be learned and pious,</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>and</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00880″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>and would repay to my age what their</ab>
<ab>childhood had received. What would</ab>
<ab>dare to molest him who might call on</ab>
<ab>every side to thousands enriched by</ab>
<ab>his bounty, or assisted by his power?</ab>
<ab>And why should not life glide quietly</ab>
<ab>away in the soft reciprocation of pro-</ab>
<ab>tection and reverence? All this may be</ab>
<ab>done without the help of European re-</ab>
<ab>finements, which appear by their effects</ab>
<ab>to be rather specious than useful. Let</ab>
<ab>us leave them and persue our journey.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”From Palestine, said Imlac, I passed</ab>
<ab>through many regions of Asia; in the</ab>
<ab>more civilized kingdoms as a trader, and</ab>
<ab>among the Barbarians of the mountains</ab>
<ab>as a pilgrim. At last I began to long</ab>
<ab>for my native country, that I might re-</ab>
<ab>pose after my travels, and fatigues; in the</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00890″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>places where I had spent my earliest years,</ab>
<ab>and gladden my old companions with the</ab>
<ab>recital of my adventures. Often did I</ab>
<ab>figure to myself those, with whom I had</ab>
<ab>sported away the gay hours of dawning</ab>
<ab>life, fitting round me in its evening,</ab>
<ab>wondering at my tales, and listening to</ab>
<ab>my counsels.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”When this thought had taken pos-</ab>
<ab>session of my mind, I considered every</ab>
<ab>moment as wasted which did not bring</ab>
<ab>me nearer to Abissinia. I hastened into</ab>
<ab>Egypt, and, notwithstanding my impa-</ab>
<ab>tience, was detained ten months in the con-</ab>
<ab>templation of its ancient magnificence, and</ab>
<ab>in enquiries after the remains of its ancient</ab>
<ab>learning. I found in Cairo a mixture of</ab>
<ab>all nations; some brought thither by the</ab>
<ab>love of knowledge, some by the hope of</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00900″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>gain, and many by the desire of living</ab>
<ab>after their own manner without observa-</ab>
<ab>tion, and of lying hid in the obscurity of</ab>
<ab>multitudes: for, in a city, populous as</ab>
<ab>Cairo, it is possible to obtain at the fame</ab>
<ab>time the gratifications of society, and</ab>
<ab>the secrecy of solitude.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”From Cairo I travelled to Suez,</ab>
<ab>and embarked on the Red Sea, passing a-</ab>
<ab>long the coast till I arrived at the port</ab>
<ab>from which I had departed twenty years</ab>
<ab>before. Here I joined myself to a cara-</ab>
<ab>van and re-entered my native country.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”I now expected the caresses of my</ab>
<ab>kinsmen, and the congratulations of my</ab>
<ab>friends, and was not without hope that</ab>
<ab>my father, whatever value he had set</ab>
<ab>upon riches, would own with gladness</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>and</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00910″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>and pride a son who was able to add to</ab>
<ab>the felicity and honour of the nation.</ab>
<ab>But I was soon convinced that my thoughts</ab>
<ab>were vain. My father had been dead</ab>
<ab>fourteen years, having divided his wealth</ab>
<ab>among my brothers, who were removed</ab>
<ab>to some other provinces. Of my com-</ab>
<ab>panions the greater part was in the grave,</ab>
<ab>of the rest some could with difficulty re-</ab>
<ab>member me, and some considered me as</ab>
<ab>one corrupted by foreign manners.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”A man used to vicissitudes is not ea-</ab>
<ab>sily dejected. I forgot, after a time, my</ab>
<ab>disappointment, and endeavoured to re-</ab>
<ab>commend myself to the nobles of the</ab>
<ab>kingdom: they admitted me to their ta-</ab>
<ab>bles, heard my story, and dismissed me.</ab>
<ab>I opened a school, and was prohibited to</ab>
<ab>teach. I then resolved to sit down in the</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00920″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>quiet of domestick life, and addressed a</ab>
<ab>lady that was fond of my conversation,</ab>
<ab>but rejected my suit, because my father</ab>
<ab>was a merchant.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”Wearied at last with solicitation and</ab>
<ab>repulses, I resolved to hide myself for</ab>
<ab>ever from the world, and depend no</ab>
<ab>longer on the opinion or caprice of others.</ab>
<ab>I waited for the time when the gate of</ab>
<ab>the happy valley should open that I might</ab>
<ab>bid farewell to hope and fear: the day</ab>
<ab>came; my performance was distinguished</ab>
<ab>with favour, and I resigned myself with</ab>
<ab>joy to perpetual confinement.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”Hast thou here found happiness at</ab>
<ab>last? said Rasselas. Tell me without</ab>
<ab>reserve; art thou content with thy con-</ab>
<ab>dition? or, dost thou wish to be again</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00930″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>wandering and inquiring? All the in-</ab>
<ab>habitants of this valley celebrate their lot,</ab>
<ab>and, at the annual visit of the emperour,</ab>
<ab>invite others to partake of their feli-</ab>
<ab>city.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”Great prince, said Imlac, I shall</ab>
<ab>speak the truth: I know not one of all</ab>
<ab>your attendants who does not lament the</ab>
<ab>hour when he entered this retreat. I am</ab>
<ab>less unhappy than the rest, because I have</ab>
<ab>a mind replete with images, which I can</ab>
<ab>vary and combine at pleasure. I can</ab>
<ab>amuse my solitude by the renovation of</ab>
<ab>the knowledge which begins to fade from</ab>
<ab>my memory, and by recollection of the</ab>
<ab>accidents of my past life. Yet all this</ab>
<ab>ends in the sorrowful consideration, that</ab>
<ab>my acquirements are now useless, and</ab>
<ab>that none of my pleasures can be again</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00940″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>enjoyed. The rest, whose minds have</ab>
<ab>no impression but of the present moment,</ab>
<ab>are either corroded by malignant passions,</ab>
<ab>or sit stupid in the gloom of perpetual</ab>
<ab>vacancy.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” What passions can infest those, said</ab>
<ab>the prince, who have no rivals? We</ab>
<ab>are in a place where impotence precludes</ab>
<ab>malice, and where all envy is repressed</ab>
<ab>by community of enjoyments.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”There may be community, said Im-</ab>
<ab>lac, of material possessions, but there can</ab>
<ab>never be community of love or of esteem.</ab>
<ab>It must happen that one will please more</ab>
<ab>than another; he that knows himself de-</ab>
<ab>spised will always be envious; and still</ab>
<ab>more envious and malevolent, if he is</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00950″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>condemned to live in the presence of those</ab>
<ab>who despise him. The invitations, by</ab>
<ab>which they allure others to a state which</ab>
<ab>they feel to be wretched, proceed from</ab>
<ab>the natural malignity of hopeless misery.</ab>
<ab>They are weary of themselves, and of</ab>
<ab>each other, and expect to find relief in</ab>
<ab>new companions. They envy the liber-</ab>
<ab>ty which their folly has forfeited, and</ab>
<ab>would gladly see all mankind imprisoned</ab>
<ab>like themselves.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”From this crime, however, I am</ab>
<ab>wholly free. No man can say that he is</ab>
<ab>wretched by my persuasion. I look with</ab>
<ab>pity on the crowds who are annually soli-</ab>
<ab>citing admission to captivity, and wish</ab>
<ab>that it were lawful for me to warn them</ab>
<ab>of their danger.”</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00960″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>My dear Imlac, said the prince, I</ab>
<ab>will open to thee my whole heart. i</ab>
<ab>have long meditated an escape from the</ab>
<ab>happy valley. I have examined the</ab>
<ab>mountains on every side, but find myself</ab>
<ab>insuperably barred: teach me the way</ab>
<ab>to break my prison; thou shalt be the</ab>
<ab>companion of my flight, the guide of</ab>
<ab>my rambles, the partner of my fortune,</ab>
<ab>and my sole director in the choice of</ab>
<ab>life.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”Sir, answered the poet, your escape</ab>
<ab>will be difficult, and, perhaps, you may</ab>
<ab>soon repent your curiosity. The world,</ab>
<ab>which you figure to yourself smooth and</ab>
<ab>quiet as the lake in the valley, you will</ab>
<ab>find a sea foaming with tempests, and</ab>
<ab>boiling with whirlpools: you will be</ab>
<ab>sometimes overwhelmed by the waves of</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00970″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>violence, and sometimes dashed against</ab>
<ab>the rocks of treachery. Amidst wrongs</ab>
<ab>and frauds, competitions and anxieties,</ab>
<ab>you will wish a thousand times for these</ab>
<ab>feats of quiet, and willingly quit hope</ab>
<ab>to be free from fear.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”Do not seek to deter me from my</ab>
<ab>purpose, said the prince: I am impatient</ab>
<ab>to see what thou hast seen; and, since thou</ab>
<ab>art thyself weary of the valley, it is evi-</ab>
<ab>dent, that thy former state was better than</ab>
<ab>this. Whatever be the consequence of</ab>
<ab>my experiment, I am resolved to judge</ab>
<ab>with my own eyes of the various condi-</ab>
<ab>tions of men, and then to make delibe-</ab>
<ab>rately my choice of life.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”I am afraid, said Imlac, you are</ab>
<ab>hindered by stronger. restraints than my</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00980″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>persuasions yet, if your determination is</ab>
<ab>fixed, I do not counsel you to despair.</ab>
<ab>Few things are impossible to diligence</ab>
<ab>and skill.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XIII.</ab>
<ab>Rasselas discovers the means of</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>escape.</ab>
<ab>THE prince now dismissed his fa-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>. vourite to rest, but the narrative</ab>
<ab>of wonders and novelties filled his</ab>
<ab>mind with perturbation. He revolved</ab>
<ab>all that he had heard, and prepared in-</ab>
<ab>numerable questions for the morning.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Much of his uneasiness was now re-</ab>
<ab>moved. He had a friend to whom he</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”00990″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>could impart his thoughts, and whose</ab>
<ab>experience could assist him in his designs.</ab>
<ab>His heart was no longer condemned to</ab>
<ab>swell with silent vexation. He thought</ab>
<ab>that even the happy valley might be endured</ab>
<ab>with such a companion, and that, if they</ab>
<ab>could range the world together, he should</ab>
<ab>have nothing further to desire.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>In a few days the water was discharged,</ab>
<ab>and the ground dried. The prince and</ab>
<ab>Imlac then walked out together to con-</ab>
<ab>verse without the notice of the rest. The</ab>
<ab>prince, whose thoughts were always on</ab>
<ab>the wing, as he passed by the gate, said,</ab>
<ab>with a countenance of sorrow, “Why</ab>
<ab>art thou so strong, and why is man so</ab>
<ab>weak?”</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01000″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”Man is not weak, answered his com-</ab>
<ab>panion; knowledge is more than equiva-</ab>
<ab>lent to force. The master of mecha-</ab>
<ab>nicks laughs at strength. I can burst the</ab>
<ab>gate, but cannot do it secretly. Some</ab>
<ab>other expedient must be tried.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>As they were walking on the side of</ab>
<ab>the mountain, they observed that the</ab>
<ab>conies, which the rain had driven from</ab>
<ab>their burrows, had taken shelter among</ab>
<ab>the bushes, and formed holes behind</ab>
<ab>them, tending upwards in an oblique</ab>
<ab>line. “It has been the opinion of an-</ab>
<ab>tiquity, said Imlac, that human reason</ab>
<ab>borrowed many arts from the instinct</ab>
<ab>of animals; let us, therefore, not think</ab>
<ab>ourselves degraded by learning from the</ab>
<ab>coney. We may escape by piercing the</ab>
<ab>mountain in the same direction. We</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01010″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>will begin where the summit hangs over</ab>
<ab>the middle part, and labour upward till</ab>
<ab>we shall issue out beyond the promi-</ab>
<ab>nence.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The eyes of the prince, when he heard</ab>
<ab>this proposal, sparkled with joy. The</ab>
<ab>execution was easy, and the success cer-</ab>
<ab>tain.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>No time was now lost. They hasten-</ab>
<ab>ed early in the morning to chuse a place</ab>
<ab>proper for their mine. They clam-</ab>
<ab>bered with great fatigue among crags</ab>
<ab>and brambles, and returned without hav-</ab>
<ab>ing discovered any part that favoured</ab>
<ab>their design. The second and the third</ab>
<ab>day were spent in the same manner, and</ab>
<ab>with the same frustration. But, on the</ab>
<ab>fourth, they found a small cavern, con-</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01020″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>cealed by a thicket, where they resolved</ab>
<ab>to make their experiment.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Imlac procured instruments proper to</ab>
<ab>hew stone and remove earth, and they</ab>
<ab>fell to their work on the next day with</ab>
<ab>more eagerness than vigour. They were</ab>
<ab>presently exhausted by their efforts, and</ab>
<ab>sat down to pant upon the grass. The</ab>
<ab>prince, for a moment, appeared to be</ab>
<ab>discouraged. “Sir, said his companion,</ab>
<ab>practice will enable us to continue our la-</ab>
<ab>bour for a longer time; mark, however,</ab>
<ab>how far we have advanced, and you will</ab>
<ab>find that our toil will some time have an</ab>
<ab>end. Great works are performed, not</ab>
<ab>by strength, but perseverance: yonder</ab>
<ab>palace was raised by single stones, yet you</ab>
<ab>see its height and spaciousness. He that</ab>
<ab>shall walk with vigour three hours a day</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01030″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>will pass in seven years a space equal to</ab>
<ab>the circumference of the globe.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>They returned to their work day af-</ab>
<ab>ter day, and, in a short time, found a</ab>
<ab>fissure in the rock, which enabled them to</ab>
<ab>pass far with very little obstruction. This</ab>
<ab>Rasselas confidered as a good omen.</ab>
<ab>”Do not disturb your mind, said Imlac,</ab>
<ab>with other hopes or fears than reason</ab>
<ab>may suggest: if you are pleased with</ab>
<ab>prognosticks of good, you will be terri-</ab>
<ab>fied likewise with tokens of evil, and</ab>
<ab>your whole life will be a prey to super-</ab>
<ab>stition. Whatever facilitates our work</ab>
<ab>is more than an omen, it is a cause of</ab>
<ab>success. This is one of those pleasing</ab>
<ab>surprises which often happen to active</ab>
<ab>resolution. Many things difficult to de-</ab>
<ab>sign prove easy to performance.”</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01040″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XIV.</ab>
<ab>Rasselas and Imlac receive an un-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>expected visit.</ab>
<ab>THEY had now wrought their way</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>to the middle, and solaced their</ab>
<ab>toil with the approach of liberty, when</ab>
<ab>the prince, coming down to refresh him-</ab>
<ab>self with air, found his sister Nekayah</ab>
<ab>standing before the mouth of the cavity.</ab>
<ab>He started and stood confused, afraid to</ab>
<ab>tell his design, and yet hopeless to con-</ab>
<ab>ceal it. A few moments determined him</ab>
<ab>to repose on her fidelity, and secure her</ab>
<ab>secrecy by a declaration without reserve.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” Do not imagine, said the princess,</ab>
<ab>that I came hither as a spy: I had long</ab>
<ab>observed from my window, that you and</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>VOL. I. H Imlac</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01050″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Imlac directed your walk every day to-</ab>
<ab>wards the same point, but I did not sup-</ab>
<ab>pose you had any better reason for the</ab>
<ab>preference than a cooler shade, or more</ab>
<ab>fragrant bank; nor followed you with</ab>
<ab>any other design than to partake of your</ab>
<ab>conversation. Since then not suspicion</ab>
<ab>but fondness has detected you, let me</ab>
<ab>not lose the advantage of my discovery.</ab>
<ab>I am equally weary of confinement with</ab>
<ab>yourself, and not less desirous of know-</ab>
<ab>ing what is done or suffered in the world,</ab>
<ab>Permit me to fly with you from this</ab>
<ab>tasteless tranquility, which will yet grow</ab>
<ab>more loathsome when you have left me.</ab>
<ab>You may deny me to accompany you,</ab>
<ab>but cannot hinder me from following.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The prince, who loved Nekayah above</ab>
<ab>his other sisters, had no inclination to</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>refuse</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01060″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>refuse her request, and grieved that he</ab>
<ab>had lost an opportunity of shewing his</ab>
<ab>confidence by a voluntary communica-</ab>
<ab>tion. It was therefore agreed that she</ab>
<ab>should leave the valley with them; and</ab>
<ab>that, in the mean time, she should watch,</ab>
<ab>lest any other straggler should, by chance</ab>
<ab>or curiosity, follow them to the moun-</ab>
<ab>tain.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>At length their labour was at an end;</ab>
<ab>they saw light beyond the prominence,</ab>
<ab>and, issuing to the top of the mountain,</ab>
<ab>beheld the Nile, yet a narrow current,</ab>
<ab>wandering beneath them.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The prince looked round with rapture,</ab>
<ab>anticipated all the pleasures of travel,</ab>
<ab>and in thought was already transported</ab>
<ab>beyond his father’s dominions. Imlac,</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>H 2 though</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01070″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>though very joyful at his escape, had</ab>
<ab>less expectation of pleasure in the world,</ab>
<ab>which he had before tried, and of which</ab>
<ab>he had been weary.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Rasselas was so much delighted with</ab>
<ab>a wider horizon, that he could not soon</ab>
<ab>be persuaded to return into the valley.</ab>
<ab>He informed his sister that the way was</ab>
<ab>open, and that nothing now remained</ab>
<ab>but to prepare for their departure.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP.</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01080″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>C H A P. XV.</ab>
<ab>The prince and princess leave the</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>valley, and see many wonders.</ab>
<ab>T H E prince and princess had jewels</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>sufficient to make them rich when-</ab>
<ab>ever they came into a place of commerce,</ab>
<ab>which, by Imlac’s direction, they hid in</ab>
<ab>their cloaths, and, on the night of the</ab>
<ab>next full moon, all left the valley. The</ab>
<ab>princess was followed only by a single fa-</ab>
<ab>vourite, who did not know whither she</ab>
<ab>was going.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>They clambered through the cavity,</ab>
<ab>and began to go down on the other side.</ab>
<ab>The princess and her maid turned their</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>H 3 eyes</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01090″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>eyes towards every part, and, seeing no-</ab>
<ab>thing to bound their prospect, considered</ab>
<ab>themselves as in danger of being lost in</ab>
<ab>a dreary vacuity. They stopped and</ab>
<ab>trembled. “I am almost afraid, said the</ab>
<ab>princess, to begin a journey of which I</ab>
<ab>cannot perceive an end, and to venture</ab>
<ab>into this immense plain where I may be</ab>
<ab>approached on every side by men whom</ab>
<ab>I never saw.” The prince felt nearly the</ab>
<ab>same emotions, though he thought it</ab>
<ab>more manly to conceal them.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Imlac smiled at their terrours, and</ab>
<ab>encouraged them to proceed; but the</ab>
<ab>princess continued irresolute till she had</ab>
<ab>been imperceptibly drawn forward too</ab>
<ab>far to return.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>In</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01100″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>In the morning they found some shep-</ab>
<ab>herds in the field, who set milk and fruits</ab>
<ab>before them. The princess wondered</ab>
<ab>that she did not see a palace ready for her</ab>
<ab>reception, and a table spread with deli-</ab>
<ab>cacies; but, being faint and hungry,</ab>
<ab>she drank the milk and eat the fruits,</ab>
<ab>and thought them of a higher flavour</ab>
<ab>than the products of the valley.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>They travelled forward by easy jour-</ab>
<ab>neys, being all unaccustomed to toil or</ab>
<ab>difficulty, and knowing, that though</ab>
<ab>they might be missed, they could not</ab>
<ab>be persued. In a few days they came in-</ab>
<ab>to a more populous region, where Imlac</ab>
<ab>was diverted with the admiration which</ab>
<ab>his companions expressed at the diversity</ab>
<ab>of manners, stations and employments.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>H 4 Their</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01110″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Their dress was such as might not bring</ab>
<ab>upon them the suspicion of having any</ab>
<ab>thing to conceal, yet the prince, where.</ab>
<ab>ever he came, expected to be obeyed,</ab>
<ab>and the princess was frighted, because</ab>
<ab>those that came into her presence did not</ab>
<ab>prostrate themselves before her. Imlac</ab>
<ab>was forced to observe them with great</ab>
<ab>vigilance, lest they should betray their</ab>
<ab>rank by their unusual behaviour, and</ab>
<ab>detained them several weeks in the first</ab>
<ab>village to accustom them to the sight of</ab>
<ab>common mortals.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>By degrees the royal wanderers were</ab>
<ab>taught to understand that they had for a</ab>
<ab>time laid aside their dignity, and were to</ab>
<ab>expect only such regard as liberality and</ab>
<ab>courtesy could procure. And Imlac, hav-</ab>
<ab>ing, by many admonitions, prepared them</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>5 to</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01120″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>to endure the tumults of a port, and the</ab>
<ab>ruggedness of the commercial race,</ab>
<ab>brought them down to the sea-coast.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The prince and his sister, to whom</ab>
<ab>every thing was new, were gratified</ab>
<ab>equally at all places, and therefore re-</ab>
<ab>mained for some months at the port</ab>
<ab>without any inclination to pass further.</ab>
<ab>Imlac was content with their stay, be-</ab>
<ab>cause he did not think it safe to ex-</ab>
<ab>pose them, unpracticed in the world, to</ab>
<ab>the hazards of a foreign country.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>At last he began to fear lest they</ab>
<ab>should be discovered, and proposed to fix.</ab>
<ab>a day for their departure. They had no</ab>
<ab>pretensions to judge for themselves, and.</ab>
<ab>referred the whole scheme to his direction,</ab>
<ab>He therefore took passage in a ship to</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Suez;</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01130″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Suez; and, when the time came, with</ab>
<ab>great difficulty prevailed on the princess</ab>
<ab>to enter the vessel. They had a quick</ab>
<ab>and prosperous voyage, and from Suez</ab>
<ab>travelled by land to Cairo.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>C H A P. XVI.</ab>
<ab>They enter Cairo, and find every</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>man happy.</ab>
<ab>AS they approached the city, which</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>filled the strangers with astonish-</ab>
<ab>ment, “This, said Imlac to the prince,</ab>
<ab>is the place where travellers and mer-</ab>
<ab>chants assemble from all the corners of</ab>
<ab>the earth. You will here find men of</ab>
<ab>every character, and every occupation.</ab>
<ab>Commerce is here honourable: I will act</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>as</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01140″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>as a merchant, and you shall live as</ab>
<ab>strangers, who have no other end of tra-</ab>
<ab>vel than curiosity; it will soon be observed</ab>
<ab>that we are rich; our reputation will</ab>
<ab>procure us access to all whom we shall</ab>
<ab>desire to know; you will see all the</ab>
<ab>conditions of humanity, and enable</ab>
<ab>yourself at leisure to make your choice of</ab>
<ab>life.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>They now entered the town, stunned</ab>
<ab>by the noise, and offended by the crowds.</ab>
<ab>Instruction had not yet so prevailed over</ab>
<ab>habit, but that they wondered to see</ab>
<ab>themselves pass undistinguished along the</ab>
<ab>street, and met by the lowest of the</ab>
<ab>people without reverence or notice. The</ab>
<ab>princess could not at first bear the</ab>
<ab>thought of being levelled with the- vul-</ab>
<ab>gar, and, for some days, continued in</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>her</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01150″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>her chamber, where she was served by</ab>
<ab>her favourite Pekuah as in the palace of</ab>
<ab>the valley.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Imlac, who understood traffick, sold</ab>
<ab>part of the jewels the next day, and hired</ab>
<ab>a house, which he adorned with such mag-</ab>
<ab>nificence, that he was immediately con-</ab>
<ab>sidered as a merchant of great wealth.</ab>
<ab>His politeness attracted many acquain-</ab>
<ab>tance, and his generosity made him</ab>
<ab>courted by many dependants. His ta-</ab>
<ab>ble was crowded by men of every na-</ab>
<ab>tion, who all admired his knowledge,</ab>
<ab>and solicited his favour. His compa-</ab>
<ab>nions, not being able to mix in the con-</ab>
<ab>versation, could make no discovery of</ab>
<ab>their ignorance or surprise, and were gra-</ab>
<ab>dually initiated in the world as they gain-</ab>
<ab>ed knowledge of the language.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01160″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The prince had, by frequent lectures,</ab>
<ab>been taught the use and nature of money;</ab>
<ab>but the ladies could not, for a long time,</ab>
<ab>comprehend what the merchants did with</ab>
<ab>small pieces of gold and silver, or why</ab>
<ab>things of so little use should be received</ab>
<ab>as equivalent to the necessaries of life.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>They studied the language two years,</ab>
<ab>while Imlac was preparing to set before</ab>
<ab>them the various ranks and conditions</ab>
<ab>of mankind. He grew acquainted with all</ab>
<ab>who had any thing uncommon in their</ab>
<ab>fortune or conduct. He frequented the</ab>
<ab>voluptuous and the frugal, the idle and,</ab>
<ab>the busy, the merchants and the men</ab>
<ab>of learning.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The prince, being now able to con-</ab>
<ab>verse with fluency, and having learned</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>the</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01170″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>the caution necessary to be observed in</ab>
<ab>his intercourse with strangers, began to</ab>
<ab>accompany Imlac to places of resort, and</ab>
<ab>to enter into all assemblies, that he might</ab>
<ab>make his choice of life.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>For some time he thought choice need-</ab>
<ab>less, because all appeared to him equally</ab>
<ab>happy. Wherever he went he met gay-</ab>
<ab>ety and kindness, and heard the song of</ab>
<ab>joy, or the laugh of carelesness. He</ab>
<ab>began to believe that the world over-</ab>
<ab>flowed with universal plenty, and that</ab>
<ab>nothing was withheld either from want</ab>
<ab>or merit; that every hand showered li-</ab>
<ab>berality, and every heart melted with be-</ab>
<ab>nevolence: ” and who then, says he, will</ab>
<ab>be suffered to be wretched ?”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Imlac</ab>
<ab>4</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01180″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Imlac permitted the pleasing delusion,</ab>
<ab>and was unwilling to crush the hope of</ab>
<ab>inexperience; till one day, having sat a</ab>
<ab>while silent, ” I know not, said the</ab>
<ab>prince, what can be the reason that I</ab>
<ab>am more unhappy than any of our friends</ab>
<ab>I see them perpetually and unalterably</ab>
<ab>chearful, but feel my own mind restless</ab>
<ab>and uneasy. I am unsatisfied with those</ab>
<ab>pleasures which I seem most to court;</ab>
<ab>I live in the crowds of jollity, not so</ab>
<ab>much to enjoy company as to shun</ab>
<ab>myself, and am only loud and merry to</ab>
<ab>conceal my sadness.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Every man, said Imlac, may, by</ab>
<ab>examining his own mind, guess what</ab>
<ab>passes in the minds of others: when you</ab>
<ab>feel that your own gaiety is counterfeit, it</ab>
<ab>may justly lead you to suspect that of your</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>com-</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01190″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>companions not to be sincere. Envy is com-</ab>
<ab>monly reciprocal. We are long before we</ab>
<ab>are convinced that happiness is never to be</ab>
<ab>found, and each believes it possessed by o-</ab>
<ab>thers, to keep alive the hope of obtaining</ab>
<ab>it for himself. In the assembly, where you</ab>
<ab>passed the last night, there appeared such</ab>
<ab>spriteliness of air, and volatility of fancy,</ab>
<ab>as might have suited beings of an higher</ab>
<ab>order, formed to inhabit serener regions</ab>
<ab>inaccessible to care or sorrow: yet, be-</ab>
<ab>lieve me, prince, there was not one who</ab>
<ab>did not dread the moment when solitude</ab>
<ab>should deliver him to the tyranny of</ab>
<ab>reflection.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”This, said the prince, may be true</ab>
<ab>of others, since it is true of me; yet,</ab>
<ab>whatever be the general infelicity of man,</ab>
<ab>one condition is more happy than ano-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>ther,</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01200″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>ther, and wisdom surely directs us to take</ab>
<ab>the least evil in the choice of life.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”The causes of good and evil, an-</ab>
<ab>swered Imlac, are so various and un-</ab>
<ab>certain, so often entangled with each</ab>
<ab>other, so diversified by various rela-</ab>
<ab>tions, and so much subject to accidents,</ab>
<ab>which cannot be foreseen, that he who</ab>
<ab>would fix his condition upon incon-</ab>
<ab>testable reasons of preference, must live</ab>
<ab>and die inquiring and deliberating.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” But surely, said Rasselas, the wise</ab>
<ab>men, to whom we listen with reverence</ab>
<ab>and wonder, chose that mode of life for</ab>
<ab>themselves which they thought most like-</ab>
<ab>ly to make them happy.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>VOL. I. I “Very</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01210″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”Very few, said the poet, live by</ab>
<ab>choice. Every man is placed in his pre-</ab>
<ab>sent condition by causes which acted with-</ab>
<ab>out his foresight, and with which he did</ab>
<ab>not always willingly co-operate; and</ab>
<ab>therefore you will rarely meet one who</ab>
<ab>does not think the lot of his neighbour</ab>
<ab>better than his own.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”I am pleased to think, said the prince,</ab>
<ab>that my birth has given me at least one</ab>
<ab>advantage over others, by enabling me</ab>
<ab>to determine for myself. I have here the</ab>
<ab>:world before me; I will review it at lei-</ab>
<ab>sure: surely happiness is somewhere to be</ab>
<ab>found.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP.</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01220″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>C H A P. XVII.</ab>
<ab>The prince associates with young</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>men of spirit and gaiety.</ab>
<ab>RASSELAS rose next day, and re-</ab>
<ab>solved to begin his experiments upon</ab>
<ab>life. “Youth, cried he, is the time of</ab>
<ab>gladness: I will join myself to the young</ab>
<ab>men, whose only business is to gratify</ab>
<ab>their desires, and whose time is all spent</ab>
<ab>in a succession of enjoyments.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>To such societies he was readily ad-</ab>
<ab>mitted, but a few days brought him</ab>
<ab>back weary and disgusted. Their mirth</ab>
<ab>was without images, their laughter with-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>I 2 out</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01230″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>out motive; their pleasures were gross</ab>
<ab>and sensual, in which the mind had no</ab>
<ab>part; their conduct was at once wild and</ab>
<ab>mean; they laughed at order and at law,</ab>
<ab>but the frown of power dejected, and the</ab>
<ab>eye of wisdom abashed them.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The prince soon concluded, that he</ab>
<ab>should never be happy in a course of life</ab>
<ab>of which he was ashamed. He thought</ab>
<ab>it unsuitable to a reasonable being to act</ab>
<ab>without a plan, and to be sad or chear-</ab>
<ab>ful only by chance. ” Happiness, said</ab>
<ab>he, must be something solid and perma-</ab>
<ab>nent, without fear and without uncer-</ab>
<ab>tainty.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>But his young companions had gained</ab>
<ab>so much of his regard by their frankness</ab>
<ab>and courtesy, that he could not leave them</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>with-</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01240″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>without warning and remonstrance. “My</ab>
<ab>friends, said he, I have seriously consi-</ab>
<ab>dered our manners and our prospects,</ab>
<ab>and find that we have mistaken our own</ab>
<ab>interest. The first years of man must</ab>
<ab>make provision for the last. He that</ab>
<ab>never thinks never can be wise. Perpe-</ab>
<ab>tual levity must end in ignorance; and</ab>
<ab>intemperance, though it may fire the spi-</ab>
<ab>rits for an hour, will make life short or</ab>
<ab>miserable. Let us consider that youth is</ab>
<ab>of no long duration, and that in maturer</ab>
<ab>age, when the enchantments of fancy</ab>
<ab>shall cease, and phantoms of delight</ab>
<ab>dance no more about us, we shall have no</ab>
<ab>comforts but the esteem of wise men,</ab>
<ab>and the means of doing good. Let us,</ab>
<ab>therefore, stop, while to stop is in our</ab>
<ab>power: let us live as men who are some-</ab>
<ab>time to grow old, and to whom it will</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>13 be</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01250″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>be the most dreadful of all evils not</ab>
<ab>to count their past years but by follies,</ab>
<ab>and to be reminded of their former luxuri-</ab>
<ab>ance of health only by the maladies which</ab>
<ab>riot has produced.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>They stared a while in silence one upon</ab>
<ab>another, and, at last, drove him away by</ab>
<ab>a general chorus of continued laughter.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The consciousness that his sentiments</ab>
<ab>were just, and his intentions kind, was</ab>
<ab>scarcely sufficient to support him against</ab>
<ab>the horrour of derision. But he reco-</ab>
<ab>vered his tranquility, and persued his</ab>
<ab>search.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>C H A P.</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01260″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XVIII.</ab>
<ab>The prince finds a wife and happy</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>man.</ab>
<ab>As he was one day walking in the-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>street, he saw a spacious building</ab>
<ab>which all were, by the open doors, in-</ab>
<ab>vited to enter: he followed the stream</ab>
<ab>of people, and found it a hall or school</ab>
<ab>of declamation, in which professors read</ab>
<ab>lectures to their auditory. He fixed his eye</ab>
<ab>upon a sage raised above the rest, who dif-</ab>
<ab>coursed with great energy on the govern-</ab>
<ab>ment of the passions. His look was vene-</ab>
<ab>rable, his action graceful, his pronunci-</ab>
<ab>ation clear, and his diction elegant. Ha</ab>
<ab>showed, with great strength of sentiment,</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>and</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01270″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>and variety of illustration, that human</ab>
<ab>nature is degraded and debased, when</ab>
<ab>the lower faculties predominate over the</ab>
<ab>higher; that when fancy, the parent of</ab>
<ab>passion, usurps the dominion of the mind,</ab>
<ab>nothing ensues but the natural effect of</ab>
<ab>unlawful government, perturbation and</ab>
<ab>confusion; that she betrays the fortresses of</ab>
<ab>the intellect to rebels, and excites her</ab>
<ab>children to sedition against reason their</ab>
<ab>lawful sovereign. He compared reason</ab>
<ab>to the sun, of which the light is con-</ab>
<ab>stant, uniform, and lasting; and fancy</ab>
<ab>to a meteor, of bright but transitory</ab>
<ab>lutsre, irregular in its motion, and de-</ab>
<ab>lusive in it direction.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>He then communicated the various</ab>
<ab>precepts given from time to time for the</ab>
<ab>conquest of passion, and displayed the</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01280″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>happiness of those who had obtained the</ab>
<ab>important victory, after which man is</ab>
<ab>no longer the slave of fear, nor the fool</ab>
<ab>of hope; is no more emaciated by en-</ab>
<ab>vy, inflamed by anger, emasculated by</ab>
<ab>tenderness, or depressed by grief; but.</ab>
<ab>walks on calmly through the tumults or</ab>
<ab>the privacies of life, as the sun persues</ab>
<ab>alike his course through the calm or</ab>
<ab>the stormy sky.</ab>
<ab>He enumerated many examples of he-</ab>
<ab>roes immovable by pain or pleasure, who</ab>
<ab>looked with indifference on those modes</ab>
<ab>or accidents to which the vulgar give</ab>
<ab>the names of good and evil. He ex-</ab>
<ab>horted his hearers to lay aside their pre-</ab>
<ab>judices, and arm themselves against the</ab>
<ab>shafts of malice or misfortune, by in-</ab>
<ab>vulnerable patience; concluding, that</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>this</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01290″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>this state only was happiness, and that</ab>
<ab>this happiness was in every one’s power.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Rasselas listened to him with the vene-</ab>
<ab>ration due to the instructions of a superi-</ab>
<ab>our being, and, waiting for him at the</ab>
<ab>door, humbly implored the liberty of</ab>
<ab>visiting so great a master of true wisdom.</ab>
<ab>The lecturer hesitated a moment, when</ab>
<ab>Rasselas put a purse of gold into his hand,</ab>
<ab>which he received with a mixture of joy</ab>
<ab>and wonder.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”I have found, said the prince, at his</ab>
<ab>return to Imlac, a man who can teach</ab>
<ab>all that is necessary to be known, who,</ab>
<ab>from the unshaken throne of rational for-</ab>
<ab>titude, looks down on the scenes of life</ab>
<ab>changing beneath him. He speaks, and</ab>
<ab>attention watches his lips. – He reasons,</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>and</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01300″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>and conviction closes his periods. This</ab>
<ab>man shall be my future guide: I will</ab>
<ab>learn his doctrines, and imitate his life.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”Be not too hasty, said Imlac, to</ab>
<ab>trust, or to admire, the teachers of mo-</ab>
<ab>rality: they discourse like angels, but</ab>
<ab>they live like men.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Rasselas, who could not conceive how any</ab>
<ab>man could reason so forcibly without feel-</ab>
<ab>ing the cogency of his own arguments,</ab>
<ab>paid his visit in a few days, and was</ab>
<ab>denied admission. He had now learned</ab>
<ab>the power of money, and made his way</ab>
<ab>by a piece of gold to the inner apartment,.</ab>
<ab>where he found the philosopher in a room</ab>
<ab>half darkened, with his eyes misty, and</ab>
<ab>his face pale. “Sir, said he, you are</ab>
<ab>come at a time when all human friend-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>ship</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01310″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>ship is useless; what I suffer cannot be</ab>
<ab>remedied, what I have lost cannot be sup-</ab>
<ab>plied. My daughter, my only daugh-</ab>
<ab>ter, from whose tenderness I expected all</ab>
<ab>the comforts of my age, died last night</ab>
<ab>of a fever. My views, my purposes, my</ab>
<ab>hopes are at an end: I am now a lonely</ab>
<ab>being disunited from society.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”Sir, said the prince, mortality is an</ab>
<ab>event by which a wife man can never be</ab>
<ab>surprised: we know that death is always</ab>
<ab>near, and it should therefore always be</ab>
<ab>expected.” Young man, answered</ab>
<ab>the philosopher, you speak like one that</ab>
<ab>has never felt the pangs of separation.”</ab>
<ab>”Have you the forgot the precepts, said</ab>
<ab>Raffelas, which you so powerfully enfor-</ab>
<ab>ced? Has wisdom no strength to arm</ab>
<ab>the heart against calamity? Consider,</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>that</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01320″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>that external things are naturally vari-</ab>
<ab>able, but truth and reason are always the</ab>
<ab>fame.” “What comfort, said the mourn-</ab>
<ab>er, can truth and reason afford me? of</ab>
<ab>what effect are they now, but to tell me,</ab>
<ab>that my daughter will not be restored?”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The prince, whose humanity would</ab>
<ab>not suffer him to insult misery with re-</ab>
<ab>proof, went away convinced of the emp-</ab>
<ab>tiness of rhetorical found, and the inef-</ab>
<ab>ficacy of polished periods and studied sen-</ab>
<ab>tences.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP.</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01330″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XIX.</ab>
<ab>A Glimpse of pastoral life.</ab>
<ab>He was still eager upon the fame en-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>quiry; and, having heard of a</ab>
<ab>hermit, that lived near the lowest cata-</ab>
<ab>ract of the Nile, and filled the whole</ab>
<ab>country with the fame of his sanctity,</ab>
<ab>resolved to visit his retreat, and enquire</ab>
<ab>whether that felicity, which publick life</ab>
<ab>could not afford, was to be found in so-</ab>
<ab>litude; and whether a man, whose age</ab>
<ab>and virtue made him venerable, could</ab>
<ab>teach any peculiar art of shunning evils,</ab>
<ab>or enduring them.</ab>
<ab>Imlac</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01340″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Imlac and the princess agreed to ac-</ab>
<ab>company him, and, after the necessary</ab>
<ab>preparations, they began their journey.</ab>
<ab>Their way lay through fields, where</ab>
<ab>shepherds tended their flocks, and the</ab>
<ab>lambs were playing upon the pasture.</ab>
<ab>”This, said the poet, is the life which</ab>
<ab>has been often celebrated for its innocence</ab>
<ab>and quiet: let us pass the heat of the</ab>
<ab>day among the shepherds tents, and know</ab>
<ab>whether all our searches are not to termi-</ab>
<ab>nate in pastoral simplicity.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The proposal pleased them, and they</ab>
<ab>induced the shepherds, by small presents</ab>
<ab>and familiar questions, to tell their opi-</ab>
<ab>nion of their own state: they were so</ab>
<ab>rude and ignorant, so little able to com-</ab>
<ab>pare the good with the evil of the</ab>
<ab>occupation, and so indistinct in their nar-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>ratives.</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01350″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>ratives and descriptions, that very little</ab>
<ab>could be learned from them. But it was</ab>
<ab>evident that their hearts were cankered</ab>
<ab>with discontent; that they considered</ab>
<ab>themselves as condemned to labour for</ab>
<ab>the luxury of the rich, and looked up</ab>
<ab>with stupid malevolence toward those</ab>
<ab>that were placed above them.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The princess pronounced with vehe-</ab>
<ab>mence, that she would never suffer these</ab>
<ab>envious savages to be her companions,</ab>
<ab>and that she should not soon be desirous of</ab>
<ab>seeing any more specimens of rustick</ab>
<ab>happiness; but could not believe that all</ab>
<ab>the accounts of primeval pleasures were</ab>
<ab>fabulous, and was yet in doubt whether</ab>
<ab>life had any thing that could be justly</ab>
<ab>preferred to the placid gratifications of</ab>
<ab>fidds and woods. She hoped that the</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>time</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01360″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>time would come, when with a few vir-</ab>
<ab>tuous and elegant companions, she should</ab>
<ab>gather flowers planted by her own hand,</ab>
<ab>fondle the lambs of her own ewe, and</ab>
<ab>listen, without care, among brooks and</ab>
<ab>breezes, to one of her maidens reading</ab>
<ab>in the shade.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XX.</ab>
<ab>The danger of prosperity.</ab>
<ab>On the next day they continued theit</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>journey, till the heat compelled</ab>
<ab>them to look round for shelter. At a</ab>
<ab>small distance they saw a thick wood,</ab>
<ab>which they no sooner entered than they</ab>
<ab>perceived that they were approaching the</ab>
<ab>habitations of men. The shrubs were</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>dili-</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01370″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>diligently cut away to open walks where</ab>
<ab>theshades were darkest; the boughs of</ab>
<ab>opposite trees were artificially interwo-</ab>
<ab>ven; seats of flowery turf were raised in</ab>
<ab>vacant spaces, and a rivulet, that wan-</ab>
<ab>toned along the side of a winding path,</ab>
<ab>had its banks sometimes opened into</ab>
<ab>small basins, and its fiream sometimes</ab>
<ab>obstructed by little mounds of stone</ab>
<ab>heaped together to increase its mur-</ab>
<ab>murs.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>They passed slowly through the wood,</ab>
<ab>delighted with such unexpected accom-</ab>
<ab>modations, and entertained each other</ab>
<ab>with conjecturing what, or who, he</ab>
<ab>could be, that in those rude and unfre-</ab>
<ab>quented regions, had leisure and art for</ab>
<ab>such harmless luxury.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>As</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01380″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>As they advanced, they heard the</ab>
<ab>sound of musick, and saw youths and</ab>
<ab>virgins dancing in the grove; and, go-</ab>
<ab>ing still further, beheld a stately palace</ab>
<ab>built upon a hill surrounded with woods.</ab>
<ab>The laws of eastern hospitality allowed</ab>
<ab>them to enter, and the master welcomed</ab>
<ab>them like a man liberal and wealthy.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>He was skilful enough in appearances</ab>
<ab>soon to discern that they were no com-</ab>
<ab>mon guests, and spread his table with</ab>
<ab>magnificence. The eloquence of Imlac</ab>
<ab>caught his attention, and the lofty cour-</ab>
<ab>tesy of the princess excited his respect.</ab>
<ab>When they offered to depart he entreat-</ab>
<ab>ed their stay, and was the next day still</ab>
<ab>more unwilling to dismiss them than be-</ab>
<ab>fore. They were easily persuaded to</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>stop,</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01390″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>stop, and civility grew up in time to</ab>
<ab>freedom and confidence.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The prince now saw all the domesticks</ab>
<ab>chearful, and all the face of nature smil-</ab>
<ab>ing round the place, and could not for-</ab>
<ab>bear to hope that he should find here</ab>
<ab>what he was seeking; but when he was</ab>
<ab>congratulating the master upon his pof-</ab>
<ab>sessions, he answered with a sigh, “My</ab>
<ab>condition has indeed the appearance of</ab>
<ab>happiness, but appearances are delusive.</ab>
<ab>My prosperity puts my life in danger;</ab>
<ab>the Baffa of Egypt is my enemy, in-</ab>
<ab>censed only by my wealth and popularity.</ab>
<ab>I have been hitherto protected against</ab>
<ab>him by the princes of the country; but,</ab>
<ab>as the favour of the great is uncertain, I</ab>
<ab>know not how soon my defenders may</ab>
<ab>be persuaded to share the plunder with</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>the</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01400″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>the Baffa. I have sent my treasures into</ab>
<ab>a distant country, and, upon the first a-</ab>
<ab>larm, am prepared to follow them.</ab>
<ab>then will my enemies riot in my man-</ab>
<ab>sion, and enjoy the gardens which I have</ab>
<ab>planted.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>They all joined in lamenting his dan-</ab>
<ab>ger, and deprecating his exile; and the</ab>
<ab>princess was so much disturbed with the</ab>
<ab>tumult of grief and indignation, that</ab>
<ab>she retired to her apartment. They</ab>
<ab>continued with their kind inviter a few</ab>
<ab>days longer, and then went forward to</ab>
<ab>find the hermit.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP.</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01410″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XXI.</ab>
<ab>The happiness of solitude. The</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>hermit’s history.</ab>
<ab>THEY came on the third day, by</ab>
<ab>the direction of the peasants, to</ab>
<ab>the hermit’s cell: it was a cavern in</ab>
<ab>the side of a mountain, over-shadowed</ab>
<ab>with palm-trees; at such a distance from</ab>
<ab>the cataract, that nothing more was</ab>
<ab>heard than a gentle uniform murmur,</ab>
<ab>such as composed the mind to pensive</ab>
<ab>meditation, especially when it was assist-</ab>
<ab>ed by the wind whistling among the</ab>
<ab>branches. The first rude essay of nature</ab>
<ab>had been so much improved by human</ab>
<ab>labour, that the cave contained several</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>apart-</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01420″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>apartments, appropriated to different</ab>
<ab>uses, and often afforded lodging to tra-</ab>
<ab>vellers, whom darkness or tempests hap-</ab>
<ab>pened to overtake.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The hermit sat on a bench at the door,</ab>
<ab>to enjoy the coolness of the evening. On</ab>
<ab>one side lay a book with pens and papers,</ab>
<ab>on the other mechanical instruments of</ab>
<ab>various kinds. As they approached him</ab>
<ab>unregarded, the princess observed that</ab>
<ab>he had not the countenance of a man that</ab>
<ab>had found, or could teach, the way to</ab>
<ab>happiness.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>They saluted him with great respect,</ab>
<ab>which he repaid like a man not unac-</ab>
<ab>customed to the forms of courts. “My</ab>
<ab>children, said he, if you have lost, your</ab>
<ab>way, you shall be willingly supplied with</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>K 4 such</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01430″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>such conveniencies for the night as this</ab>
<ab>cavern will afford. I have all that na-</ab>
<ab>ture requires, and you will not expect</ab>
<ab>delicacies in a hermit’s cell.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>They thanked him, and, entering,</ab>
<ab>were pleased with the neatness and regu-</ab>
<ab>larity of the place. The hermit set flesh</ab>
<ab>and wine before them, though he fed</ab>
<ab>only upon fruits and water. His dis-</ab>
<ab>course was chearful without levity, and</ab>
<ab>pious without enthusiasm. He soon</ab>
<ab>gained the esteem of his guests, and</ab>
<ab>the princess repented of her hasty cen-</ab>
<ab>sure.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>At last Imlac began thus: ” I do not</ab>
<ab>now wonder that your reputation is so</ab>
<ab>far extended; we have heard at Cairo</ab>
<ab>of your wisdom, and came hither to im-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>plore</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01440″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>plore your direction for this young man</ab>
<ab>and maiden in the choice of life”.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” To him that lives well, answered</ab>
<ab>the hermit, every form of life is good;</ab>
<ab>nor can I give any other rule for choice,</ab>
<ab>than to remove from all apparent evil.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”He will remove most certainly from</ab>
<ab>evil, said the prince, who shall devote</ab>
<ab>himself to that solitude which you have</ab>
<ab>recommended by your example.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” I have indeed lived fifteen years in</ab>
<ab>solitude, said the hermit, but have no</ab>
<ab>desire that my example should gain any</ab>
<ab>imitators. In my youth I professed arms,</ab>
<ab>and was raised by degrees to the highest</ab>
<ab>military rank. I have traversed wide</ab>
<ab>countries at the head of my troops, and</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>seen</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01450″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>seen many battles and sieges. At last,</ab>
<ab>being disgusted by the preferments of a</ab>
<ab>younger officer, and feeling that my</ab>
<ab>vigour was beginning to decay, I resolved</ab>
<ab>to close my life in peace, having found the</ab>
<ab>world full of snares, discord and misery. I</ab>
<ab>had once escaped from the perfuit of the</ab>
<ab>enemy by the shelter of this cavern, and</ab>
<ab>therefore chose it for my final residence.</ab>
<ab>I employed artificers to form it into</ab>
<ab>chambers, and stored it with all that I</ab>
<ab>was likely to want.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”For some time after my retreat, I</ab>
<ab>rejoiced like a tempest-beaten sailor at</ab>
<ab>his entrance into the harbour, being de-</ab>
<ab>lighted with the sudden change of the</ab>
<ab>noise and hurry of war, to stillness and</ab>
<ab>repose. When the pleasure of novelty</ab>
<ab>went away, I employed my hours in ex-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>amining</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01460″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>amining the plants which grow in the</ab>
<ab>valley, and the minerals which I collec-</ab>
<ab>ted from the rocks. But that enqui-</ab>
<ab>ry is now grown tasteless and irksome.</ab>
<ab>I have been for some time unsettled and</ab>
<ab>distracted: my mind is disturbed with a</ab>
<ab>thousand perplexities of doubt, and vani-</ab>
<ab>ties of imagination, which hourly pre-</ab>
<ab>vail upon me, because I have no oppor-</ab>
<ab>tunities of relaxation or diversion. I am</ab>
<ab>sometimes ashamed to think that I could</ab>
<ab>not secure myself from vice, but by re-</ab>
<ab>tiring from the exercise of virtue, and</ab>
<ab>begin to suspect that I was rather im-</ab>
<ab>pelled by resentment, than led by devo-</ab>
<ab>tion, into solitude. My fancy riots</ab>
<ab>in scenes of folly, and I lament that</ab>
<ab>I have lost so much, and have gained so</ab>
<ab>little. In solitude, if I escape the ex-</ab>
<ab>ample of bad men, I want likewise the</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>con-</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01470″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>counsel and conversation of the good.</ab>
<ab>I have been long comparing the evils</ab>
<ab>with the advantages of society, and re-</ab>
<ab>solve to return into the world tomorrow,</ab>
<ab>The life of a solitary man will be certain-</ab>
<ab>ly miserable, but not certainly devout.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>They heard his resolution with sur-</ab>
<ab>prise, but, after a short pause, offered</ab>
<ab>to condut him to Cairo. He dug up a</ab>
<ab>considerable treasure which he had hid a-</ab>
<ab>mong the rocks, and accompanied them</ab>
<ab>to the city, on which, as he approached</ab>
<ab>it, he gazed with rapture.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP.</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01480″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XXII.</ab>
<ab>The happiness of a life led ac-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>cording to nature.</ab>
<ab>RASSELAS went often to an</ab>
<ab>assembly of learned men, who</ab>
<ab>met at stated times to unbend their</ab>
<ab>minds, and compare their opinions.</ab>
<ab>Their manners were somewhat coarse,</ab>
<ab>but their conversation was instructive,</ab>
<ab>and their disputations acute, though</ab>
<ab>sometimes too violent, and often conti-</ab>
<ab>nued till neither controvertist remember-</ab>
<ab>ed upon what question they began.</ab>
<ab>Some faults were almost general among</ab>
<ab>them: every one was desirous to dictate</ab>
<ab>to the rest, and every one was pleased to</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>hear</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01490″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>hear the genius or knowledge of another</ab>
<ab>depreciated.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>In this assembly Rasselas was relat-</ab>
<ab>ing his interview with the hermit, and</ab>
<ab>the wonder with which he heard him</ab>
<ab>censure a course of life which he had so</ab>
<ab>deliberately chosen, and so laudably fol-</ab>
<ab>lowed. The sentiments of the hearers</ab>
<ab>were various. Some were of opinion, that</ab>
<ab>the folly of his choice had been justly</ab>
<ab>punished by condemnation to perpetual</ab>
<ab>perseverance. One of the youngest a-</ab>
<ab>mong them, with great vehemence, pro-</ab>
<ab>nounced him an hypocrite. Some</ab>
<ab>talked of the right of society to the la-</ab>
<ab>bour of individuals, and considered re-</ab>
<ab>tirement as a desertion of duty. Others</ab>
<ab>readily allowed, that there was a time</ab>
<ab>when the claims of the publick were sa-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>tisfied,</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01500″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>tisfied, and when a man might properly</ab>
<ab>sequester himself, to review his life, and</ab>
<ab>purify his heart.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>One, who appeared more affected</ab>
<ab>with the narrative than the rest,</ab>
<ab>thought it likely, that the hermit would,</ab>
<ab>in a few years, go back to his retreat,</ab>
<ab>and, perhaps, if shame did not restrain,</ab>
<ab>or death intercept him, return once</ab>
<ab>more from his retreat into the world:</ab>
<ab>”‘ For the hope of happiness, said he, is</ab>
<ab>so strongly impressed, that the longest</ab>
<ab>experience is not able to efface it. Of</ab>
<ab>the present state, whatever it be, we feel,</ab>
<ab>and are forced to confess, the misery,</ab>
<ab>yet, when the same state is again at a dis-</ab>
<ab>tance, imagination paints it as desirable.</ab>
<ab>But the time will surely come, when de-</ab>
<ab>sire will be no longer our torment, and no</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>man</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01510″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>man shall be wretched but by his own</ab>
<ab>fault.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” This, said a philosopher, who had</ab>
<ab>heard him with tokens of great im-</ab>
<ab>patience, is the present condition of a</ab>
<ab>wise man. The time is already come,</ab>
<ab>when none are wretched but by their own</ab>
<ab>fault. Nothing is more idle, than to</ab>
<ab>enquire after happiness, which nature has</ab>
<ab>kindly placed within our reach. The</ab>
<ab>way to be happy is to live according to</ab>
<ab>nature, in obedience to that universal and</ab>
<ab>unalterable law with which every heart is</ab>
<ab>originally impressed; which is not written</ab>
<ab>on it by precept, but engraven by destiny,</ab>
<ab>not instilled by education, but infused at</ab>
<ab>our nativity. He that lives according to</ab>
<ab>nature will suffer nothing from the delu-</ab>
<ab>sions of hope, or importunities of de-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>sire:</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01520″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>fire: he will receive and reject with equa-</ab>
<ab>bility of temper; and at or suffcr as the</ab>
<ab>reason of things shall alternately pre-</ab>
<ab>scribe. Other men may amuse them-</ab>
<ab>selves with subtle definitions, or intricate</ab>
<ab>ratiocination. Let them learn to be wise</ab>
<ab>by easier means: let them observe the</ab>
<ab>hind of the forest, and the linnet of the</ab>
<ab>grove: let them consider the life of ani-</ab>
<ab>mals, whose motions are regulated by</ab>
<ab>instinct; they obey their guide and are</ab>
<ab>happy. Let us therefore, at length,</ab>
<ab>cease to dispute, and learn to live; throw</ab>
<ab>away the incumbrance of precepts, which</ab>
<ab>thev who utter them with so much pride</ab>
<ab>and pomp do not understand, and carry</ab>
<ab>with us this simple and intelligible max-</ab>
<ab>itl, That deviation from nature is devi-</ab>
<ab>ation from happiness.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>VOL. I. L When</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01530″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>When he had spoken, he looked</ab>
<ab>round him with a placid air, and enjoyed</ab>
<ab>the consciousness of his own beneficence.</ab>
<ab>”Sir, said the prince, with great mo-</ab>
<ab>desty, as I, like all the rest of mankind,</ab>
<ab>am desirous of felicity, my closest atten-</ab>
<ab>tion has been fixed upon your discourse:</ab>
<ab>I doubt not the truth of a position which</ab>
<ab>a man so learned has so confidently ad-</ab>
<ab>vanced. Let me only know what it is</ab>
<ab>to live according to nature.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>” When I find young men so humble</ab>
<ab>and so docile, said the philosopher, I can</ab>
<ab>deny them no information which my stu-</ab>
<ab>dies have enabled me to afford. To live</ab>
<ab>according to nature, is to act always</ab>
<ab>with due regard to the fitness arising from</ab>
<ab>the relations and qualities of causes and</ab>
<ab>effects; to concur with the great and un-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>changeable</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01540″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>changeable scheme of universal felicity,</ab>
<ab>to co-operate with the general disposi</ab>
<ab>tion and tendency of the present system</ab>
<ab>of things.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The prince soon found that this was</ab>
<ab>one of the sages whom he should under-</ab>
<ab>stand less as he heard him longer. He</ab>
<ab>therefore bowed and was silent, and the</ab>
<ab>philosopher, supposing him satisfied, and</ab>
<ab>the rest vanquished, rose up and departed</ab>
<ab>with the air of a man that had co-ope-</ab>
<ab>rated with the present system.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>L 2 CHAP.</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01550″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XXIII.</ab>
<ab>The prince and his sister divide</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>between them the work of ob-</ab>
<ab>servation.</ab>
<ab>RASSELAS returned home full</ab>
<ab>of reflexions, doubtful how to di-</ab>
<ab>rect his future steps. Of the way to</ab>
<ab>happiness he found the learned and sim-</ab>
<ab>ple equally ignorant; but, as he was</ab>
<ab>yet young, he flattered himself that he</ab>
<ab>had time remaining for more experi-</ab>
<ab>ments, and further enquiries. He com-</ab>
<ab>municated to Imlac his observations and</ab>
<ab>his doubts, but was answered by him</ab>
<ab>with new doubts, and remarks that gave</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>him</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01560″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>him no comfort. He therefore discours-</ab>
<ab>ed more frequently and freely with his</ab>
<ab>sister, who had yet the same hope with</ab>
<ab>himself, and always assisted him to give</ab>
<ab>some reason why, though he had been</ab>
<ab>hitherto frustrated, he might succeed at</ab>
<ab>last.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”We have hitherto, said she, known</ab>
<ab>but little of the world: we have never yet</ab>
<ab>been either great or mean. In our own</ab>
<ab>country, though we had royalty, we had</ab>
<ab>no power, and in this we have not yet</ab>
<ab>seen the private recesses of domestick</ab>
<ab>peace. Imlac favours not our search,</ab>
<ab>lest we should in time find him mista-</ab>
<ab>ken. We will divide the task between</ab>
<ab>us: you shall try what is to be found in</ab>
<ab>the splendour of courts, and I will range</ab>
<ab>the shades of humbler life. Perhaps</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>L 3 com</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01570″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>command and authority may be the su-</ab>
<ab>preme blessings, as they afford most op-</ab>
<ab>portunities of doing good: or, perhaps,</ab>
<ab>what this world can give may be found</ab>
<ab>in the modest habitations of middle for-</ab>
<ab>tune; too low for great designs, and too</ab>
<ab>high for penury and distress.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XXIV.</ab>
<ab>The prince examines the happi-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>ness of high stations.</ab>
<ab>RASSELAS applauded the design,</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>and appeared next day with a</ab>
<ab>splendid retinue at the court of the Bassa.</ab>
<ab>He was soon distinguished for his magni-</ab>
<ab>ficence, and admired, as a prince whose</ab>
<ab>curiosity had brought him from distant</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>coun-</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01580″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>countries, to an intimacy with the great</ab>
<ab>officers, and frequent conversation with</ab>
<ab>the Bassa himself.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>He was at first inclined to believe,</ab>
<ab>that the man must be pleased with his</ab>
<ab>own condition, whom all approached with</ab>
<ab>reverence, and heard with obedience,</ab>
<ab>and who had the power to extend his</ab>
<ab>edicts to a whole kingdom.” There</ab>
<ab>can be no pleasure, said he, equal to that</ab>
<ab>of feeling at once the joy of thousands</ab>
<ab>all made happy by wise administration.</ab>
<ab>Yet, since, by the law of subordination,</ab>
<ab>this sublime delight can be in one nation</ab>
<ab>but the lot of one, it is surely reasonable</ab>
<ab>to think that there is some satisfaction</ab>
<ab>more popular and accessible, and that</ab>
<ab>millions can hardly be subjected to the will</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>L 4 of</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01590″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>of a single man, only to fill his particular</ab>
<ab>breads with incommunicable content.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>These thoughts were often in his</ab>
<ab>mind, and he found no solution of the</ab>
<ab>difficulty. But as presents and civilities</ab>
<ab>gained him more familiarity, he found</ab>
<ab>that almost every man who stood high in</ab>
<ab>employment hated all the reft, and was</ab>
<ab>hated by them, and that their lives were</ab>
<ab>a continual succession of plots and de-</ab>
<ab>testions, stratagems and escapes, fac-</ab>
<ab>tion and treachery. Many of those,</ab>
<ab>who surrounded the Bassa, were sent on-</ab>
<ab>ly to watch and report his conduct; every</ab>
<ab>tongue was muttering censure, and eve-</ab>
<ab>ry eye was searching for a fault.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>At last the letters of revocation ar-</ab>
<ab>rived, the Bassa was carried in chains to</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Con-</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01600″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>Constantinople, and his name was men-</ab>
<ab>tioned no more.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”What are we now to think of the</ab>
<ab>prerogatives of power, said Rasselas to</ab>
<ab>his sister; is it without any efficacy to</ab>
<ab>good? or, is the subordinate degree</ab>
<ab>only dangerous, and the supreme safe</ab>
<ab>and glorious? Is the Sultan the only</ab>
<ab>happy man in his dominions? or, is the</ab>
<ab>Sultan himself subject to the torments of</ab>
<ab>suspicion, and the dread of enemies?”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>In a short time the second Bassa was</ab>
<ab>deposed. The Sultan, that had advanced</ab>
<ab>him, was murdered by the Janisaries,</ab>
<ab>and his successor had other views and</ab>
<ab>different favourites.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP.</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01610″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>CHAP. XXV</ab>
<ab>The princes persues her enquiry</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>with more diligence than suc-</ab>
<ab>cess.</ab>
<ab>THE princess, in the mean time,</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>insinuated herself into many fa-</ab>
<ab>milies; for there are few doors, through</ab>
<ab>which liberality, joined with good hu-</ab>
<ab>mour, cannot find its way. The daugh-</ab>
<ab>ters of many houses were airy and chear-</ab>
<ab>ful, but Nekayah had been too long ac-</ab>
<ab>customed to the conversation of Imlac</ab>
<ab>and her brother to be much pleased with</ab>
<ab>childish levity and prattle which had no</ab>
<ab>meaning. She found their thoughts nar-</ab>
<ab>row, their wishes low, and their merri-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>ment</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01620″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>ment often artificial. Their pleasures,</ab>
<ab>poor as they were, could not be pre-</ab>
<ab>served pure, but were embittered by pet-</ab>
<ab>ty competitions and worthless emulation.</ab>
<ab>They were always jealous of the beauty</ab>
<ab>of each other; of a quality to which solici-</ab>
<ab>tude can add nothing, and from which de-</ab>
<ab>traction can take nothing away. Many were</ab>
<ab>in love with triflers like themselves, and</ab>
<ab>many fancied that they were in love when</ab>
<ab>in truth they were only idle. Their af-</ab>
<ab>fection was seldom fixed on sense or vir-</ab>
<ab>tue, and therefore seldom ended but in</ab>
<ab>vexation. Their grief, however, like</ab>
<ab>their joy, was transient; every thing</ab>
<ab>floated in their mind unconnected with</ab>
<ab>the past or future, so that one de-</ab>
<ab>sire easily gave way to another, as a se-</ab>
<ab>cond stone cast into the water effaces and</ab>
<ab>confounds the circles of the first,</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>With</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01630″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>With these girls she played as with</ab>
<ab>inoffensive animals, and found them</ab>
<ab>proud of her countenance, and weary</ab>
<ab>of her company.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>But her purpose was to examine more</ab>
<ab>deeply, and her affability easily persuad-</ab>
<ab>ed the hearts that were swelling with sor-</ab>
<ab>row to discharge their secrets in her ear:</ab>
<ab>and those whom hope flattered, or pros-</ab>
<ab>perity delighted, often courted her to</ab>
<ab>partake their pleasures.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>The princess and her brother common-</ab>
<ab>ly met in the evening in a private summer-</ab>
<ab>house on the bank of the Nile, and re-</ab>
<ab>lated to each other the occurrences of the</ab>
<ab>day. As they were fitting together, the</ab>
<ab>princess cast her eyes upon the river that</ab>
<ab>flowed before her. “Answer, said she,</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>great</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01640″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>great father of waters, thou that rollest</ab>
<ab>thy floods through eighty nations, to the</ab>
<ab>invocations of the daughter of thy na-</ab>
<ab>tive king, Tell me if thou waterest,</ab>
<ab>through all thy course, a single habita-</ab>
<ab>tion from which thou dost not hear the</ab>
<ab>murmurs of complaint?”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”You are then, said Rasselas, not</ab>
<ab>more successful in private houses than I</ab>
<ab>have been in courts.” “I have, since</ab>
<ab>the last partition of our provinces, said</ab>
<ab>the princess, enabled myself to enter fa-</ab>
<ab>miliarly into many families, where there</ab>
<ab>was the fairest show of prosperity and</ab>
<ab>peace, and know not one house that is</ab>
<ab>not haunted by some fury that destroys</ab>
<ab>its quiet.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”I</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>8</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01650″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”I did not seek ease among the poor,</ab>
<ab>because I concluded that there it could not</ab>
<ab>be found. But I saw many poor whom I</ab>
<ab>had supposed to live in affluence. Poverty</ab>
<ab>has, in large cities, very different ap-</ab>
<ab>pearances: it is often concealed in splen-</ab>
<ab>dour, and often in extravagance. It is</ab>
<ab>rhe care of a very great part of man-</ab>
<ab>kind to conceal their indigence from the</ab>
<ab>rest: they support themselves by tempo-</ab>
<ab>rary expedients, and every day is lost</ab>
<ab>in contriving for the morrow.</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>”This, however, was an evil, which,</ab>
<ab>though frequent, I saw with less pain,</ab>
<ab>because I could relieve it. Yet some</ab>
<ab>have refused my bounties; more offended</ab>
<ab>with my quickness to detect their wants,</ab>
<ab>than pleased with my readiness to succour</ab>
<ab>them: and others, whose exigencies com-</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>4 pelled</ab>
</div>
</div>
<div type=”page” n=”01660″>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>pelled them to admit my kindness, have</ab>
<ab>never been able to forgive their bene-</ab>
<ab>faitress. Many however, have been</ab>
<ab>sincerely grateful without the ostentation</ab>
<ab>of gratitude, or the hope of other fa-</ab>
<ab>vours.”</ab>
</div>
<div type=”paragraph”>
<ab>END of the FIRST VOLUME.</ab>
</div>
</div>
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