connected with Literature, 243 



Little credit is due to the story of an Italian 

 philosopher's being so wholly absorbed in con- 

 templation, as to be unconscious that he was 

 upon the rack. — I^t us call to mind an elegant 

 sentiment of our Master of Nature, w^hose 

 works every philosopher who reads them will 

 often have occasion to quote : — 



Oh ! who can hold a fire iti his hand 

 By thinking of Ihe frosty Caucasus, &c. 



Philosophers, nevertheless, there are, who 

 assert, that man may in time become so perfect, 

 that his mind shall be unaffected by variations 

 in the state of his body. But even were this 

 improbability to be desired, it surely cannot 

 be expected ^ — for their mutual reliance is at 

 present so great, that it justifies the conclusion, 

 that mind will never become omnipotent over 

 matter, until it shall be altogether indepen- 

 dent of it. 



Hh2 



