STEPPES AND DESEKTS. 21 



Thus does man, everywhere alike, on the lowest scale of 

 brutish debasement, and in the false glitter of his higher cul- 

 ture, perpetually create for himself a life of care. And thus, 

 too, the traveller, wandering over the wide world by sea and 

 land, and the historian who searches the records of bygone 

 ages, are everywhere met by the unvarying and melancholy 

 spectacle of man opposed to man. 



He, therefore, who amid the discordant strife of nations, 

 would seek intellectual repose, turns with delight to con- 

 template the silent life of plants, and to study the hidden 

 forces of nature in her sacred sanctuaries ; or yielding to that 

 inherent impulse, which for thousands of years has glowed 

 in the breast of man, directs his mind, by a mysterious pre- 

 sentiment of his destiny, towards the celestial orbs, which, in 

 undisturbed harmony, pursue their ancient and eternal 

 course.* 



* Ipsa suae meminit stirpis, seseque Deisque 

 Mens fruitur felix, et novit in astra reverti. 



Barclaii Argenis, lib. v. Ed. 



