62 



vancement of science; and at the same time that I presume 

 to offer my sentiments upon the subject proposed, to the 

 notice of the academy, I would bespeak its indulgence — that 

 " Jiaf'5 f^ixgom," which only the wise, and the learned, are 

 capable of affording. 



The power which fiction, from the remotest antiquity, has 

 usurped over the human mind, must be evident even to him 

 who is but little acquainted with the history of mankind — 

 but accurately to ascertain how much is to be ascribed to it, 

 rather than to other co-existent and powerful causes, is a 

 task that involves in it considerable difficulty, a difficulty 

 that will be found to apply even to those times, when the 

 influence of fiction must have been most felt; when it was 

 sought for with the greatest avidity, and received with the 

 most universal delight. 



Before I enter on the more immediate subject of this 

 essay, which relates merely to modern times, it will be 

 agreeable, and I hope, will not be considered unnecessary, 

 to take a brief view of the origin of fiction, and of its influ- 

 ence upon the manners and morals of the Greeks and Ro- 

 mans ; should it be thought that, in so doing, I depart some- 

 what from the subject proposed, I desire to shield myself 

 under the authority of Dr. Johnson, who says, " To judge 

 rightly of the present, we must oppose it to the past, for all 

 judgment is comparative."* 



• Rasselas. 



