3. I observed, that those, who had but just began to climb the hill, thought themselves not far from the top; but as they proceeded new hills were continually rising to their view; and the summit of the highest they could before discern, seemed but the foot of another, till the mountain at length appeared to lose itself in the clouds. As I was gazing on these things with astonishment, a friendly instructer suddenly appeared: "the mountain before thee," said he, "is the hill of Science. On the top is the Temple of Truth, whose head is above the clouds, and a vail of pure light covers her face. Observe the progress of her votaries; be silent and attentive."

4. After I had noticed a variety of objects, I turned my eye towards the multitudes who were climbing the steep ascent; and observed among them a youth of a lively look, a piercing eye, and something fiery and irregular in all his motion. His name was Genius. He darted like an eagle up the mountain ; and left his companions gazing after him with envy and admiration but his progress was unequal, and interrupted by a thousand caprices.

5. When pleasure warbled in the valley, he mingled in her train. When Pride beckoned towards the precipice, he ventured to the tottering edge. He delighted in devious and untried paths; and made so many excursions from the road, that his feebler companions often outstripped him. I observed that the muses* beheld him with partiality; but Truth often frowned and turned aside her face.

6. While Genius was thus wasting his strength in eccentric flights, I saw a person of very different appearance, named Application. He crept along with a slow and unremitting pace, his eyes fixed on the top of the mountain, patiently removing every stone that obstructed his way, till he saw most of those below him, who had at first derided his slow and toilsome progress.

7. Indeed, there were few who ascended the hill with equal and uninterrupted steadiness; for, besides the difficulties of the way, they were continually solicited to turn aside, by a numerous crowd of appetites, passions, and pleasures, whose importunity, when once complied with, they became less and less able to resist and though they often returned to the path, the asperities of the road were more severely felt; the hill appeared

Muses, certain goddesses among the ancients, or in heathen mythology, mine in number, to whom the invention of sciences is attributed, particularly the various sorts of poetry,

more steep and rugged; the fruits, which were wholesome and refreshing, seemed harsh and ill tasted; their sight grew dim; and their feet tript at every little obstruction.

8. I saw, with some surprise, that the muses, whose business was to cheer and encourage those who were toiling up the ascent, would often sing in the bowers of pleasure, and accompany those who were enticed away at the call of the passions. They accompanied them, however, but a little way; and always forsook them when they lost sight of the hill. The tyrants then doubled their chains upon the unhappy captives; and led them away, without resistance, to the cells of Ignorance, or the mansions of Misery.

9. Amongst the innumerable seducers, who were endeavoring to draw away the votaries of Truth from the path of science, there was one, so little formidable in her appearance, and so gentle and languid in her attempts, that I should scarcely have taken notice of her, but for the numbers she had imperceptibly loaded with her chains.

10. Indolence, (for so she was called,) far from proceeding to open hostilities, did not attempt to turn their feet out of the path, but contented herself with retarding their progress; and the purpose she could not force them to abandon, she persuaded them to delay. Her touch had a power like that of the torpedo,* which withered the strength of those who came within its influHer unhappy captives still turned their faces towards the temple, and always hoped to arrive there; but the ground seemed to slide from beneath their feet, and they found themselves at the bottom, before they suspected they had changed their place.

ence.

11. The placid serenity, which at first appeared to their countenance, changed by degrees into a melancholy languor, which was tinged with deeper and deeper gloom, as they glided down the stream of Insignificance; a dark and sluggish water, which is curled by no breeze, and enlivened by no murmur, till it falls into a dead sea, where startled passengers are awakened by the shock, and the next moment buried in the gulf of oblivion.

12. Of all the unhappy deserters from the paths of Science, none seemed less able to return than the followers of Indolence. The captives of appetite and passion would often seize the moment when their tyrants were languid or asleep, to escape from

Torpedo, a fish that has the power of communicating electric shocks, If while alive, it is touched even with a long stick, it benumbs the hand that so touches it. It is found in the rivers of South America.

their enchantment; but the dominion of Indolence was constant ́and unremitted; and seldom resisted till resistance was in vain.

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13. After contemplating these things, I turned my eyes towards the top of the mountain, where the air was always pure and exhilarating, the path shaded with laurels and evergreens, and the effulgence which beamed from the face of Science seemed to shed a glory round her votaries. "Happy," said I, are they who are permitted to ascend the mountain!" But while I was pronouncing this exclamation with uncommon ardor, I saw, standing beside me, a form of diviner features, and a more benign radiance.

14. " Happier," said she, are they whom Virtue conducts to the Mansions of Content!" "What," said I, "does Virtue then reside in the vale ?" "I am found," said she, "in the vale, and I illuminate the mountain. I cheer the cottager at his toil, and inspire the sage at his meditation; I mingle in the crowd of cities, and bless the hermit in his cell. I have a temple in every heart that owns my influence; and to him that wishes for me, I am already present. Science may raise thee to eminence ; but I alone can guide thee to felicity!"

15. While Virtue was thus speaking, I stretched out my arms towards her, with a vehemence which broke my slumber. The chill dews were falling around me, and the shades of evening stretched over the landscape. I hastened homeward and resigned the night to silence and meditation.

LESSON LXV.

The Vision of Mirza, exhibiting a Picture of Human Life.— SPECTATOR.

1. On the fifth day of the moon, which, according to the custom of my forefathers, I always keep holy, after having washed myself, and offered up my morning devotions, I ascended the high hills of Bagdad, in order to pass the rest of the day in meditation and prayer.

2. As I was here airing myself on the tops of the mountains, I fell into a profound contemplation on the vanity of human life; and, passing from one thought to another," Surely," said I, man is but a shadow, and life a dream.”

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3. Whilst I was thus musing, I cast my eyes towards the summit of a rock that was not far from me, where I discovered one in the habit of a shepherd, with a little musical instrument

2. The subject of such a commanding passion wonders, if indeed he were at leisure to wonder, at the persons who pretend to attach importance to an object which they make none but the most languid efforts to secure. The utmost powers of the man are constrained into the service of the favorite cause by this passion, which sweeps away, as it advances, all the trivial objections and little opposing motives, and seems almost to open a way through impossibilities.

3. This spirit comes on him in the morning as soon as he recovers his consciousness, and commands and impels him through the day with a power from which he could not emancipate himself if he would. When the force of habit is added, the determination becomes invincible, and seems to assume rank with the great laws of nature, making it nearly as certain that such a man will persist in his course as that in the morning the "sun will rise.

4. A persisting untameable efficacy of soul, gives a seductive and pernicious dignity even to a character and a course which every moral principle forbids us to approve. Often in the nar rations of history and fiction, an agent of the most dreadful designs compels a sentiment of deep respect for the unconquerable mind displayed in their execution.

5. While we shudder at his activity, we say with regret, mingled with an admiration which borders on partiality,-What a noble being this would have been if goodness had been his destiny! The partiality is evinced in the very selection of terms, by which we shew that we are tempted to refer his atrocity rather to his destiny than to his choice.

6. In some of the high examples of ambition, we almost revere the force of mind which impelled them forward through the longest series of action, superior to doubt and fluctuation, and disdainful of ease, of pleasure, of opposition, and of hazard.

7. We bow to the ambitious spirit which reached the true sublime in the reply of Pompey to his friends, who dissuaded him from venturing on a tempestuous sea, in order to be at Rome on an important occasion: "It is necessary for me to go -it is not necessary for me to live."

8. You may recollect the mention, in one of our conversations, of a young man who wasted, in two or three years, a large patrimony in profligate revels with a number of worthless associates, who called themselves his friends, and who, when his last means were exhausted, treated him, of course, with neglect or contempt.

6. Reduced to absolute want, he one day went out of the house with an intention to put an end to his life; but wandering awhile almost unconsciously, he came to the brow of an eminence which overlooked what were lately his estates.

10. Here he sat down, and remained fixed in thought a number of hours, at the end of which he sprang from the ground with a vehement exulting emotion. He had formed his resolution, which was, that all these estates should be his again : he had formed his plan too, which he instantly began to execute.

11. He walked hastily forward, determined to seize the very first opportunity, of however humble a kind, to gain any money though it were ever so despicable a trifle, and resolved absolutely not to spend, if he could help it, a farthing of whatsoever he might obtain.

12. The first thing that drew his attention was a heap of coals shot out of carts on the pavements before a house. He offered himself to shovel or wheel them into the place where they were to be laid, and was employed. He received a few pence for the labor, and then, in pursuance of the saving part of his plan, requested some small gratuity of meat and drink, which was given him.

13. He then looked out for the next thing that might chance to offer, and went, with indefatigable industry, through a succession of servile employments in different places, of longer and shorter duration, still scrupulously avoiding, as far as possible, the expense of a penny. He promptly seized every opportunity which could advance his design, without regarding the meanness of occupation or appearance.

14. By this method he had gained, after a considerable time, money enough to purchase, in order to sell again, a few cattle, of which he had taken pains to understand the value. He speedily but cautiously turned his first gains into second advantages; retained, without a single deviation, his extreme parsimony; and thus advanced by degrees into larger transactions and incipient wealth.

15. I did not hear, or have forgotten the continued course of his life; but the final result was, that he more than recovered his lost possessions, and died an inveterate miser worth £60,000. I have always recollected this as a signal instance, though in an unfortunate and ignoble direction, of decisive character, and of the extraordinary effect which, according to general laws, belongs to the strongest form of such a character.