J-0 INTERPRETATION OF NATURE. 



thiv.j airy or abstract, and which shall advance the interests 

 of mankind.&quot; &quot; A noble undertaking, doubtless,&quot; said 

 he ; &quot; but whom have you for associates in this work ?&quot; 

 &quot; None at all,&quot; was my reply; &quot; I have not even a person 

 with whom I can converse without reserve on such subjects, 

 none at least in whose converse I can explain myself, and 

 whet my purpose.&quot; &quot; A hard fate,&quot; he said, &quot; yet know,&quot; 

 he immediately added, &quot; that others have also at heart such 

 subjects.&quot; Whereupon I exclaimed with joy, &quot; Precious 

 raindrop of hope, that hast at last sprinkled my thirsty 

 spirit, and recalled me to life. Why I met not long ago a 

 certain evil-eyed old fortune-telling woman, who muttering 

 I know not what, prophesied that my offspring should die 

 in the desert.&quot; &quot; Would you,&quot; said he, &quot; that I mention 

 a circumstance relating to such matters, which I met with 

 myself in France.&quot; &quot; Most willingly,&quot; I replied, &quot; and shall 

 be grateful besides.&quot; 



He then related that he had, while at Paris, been invited 

 and introduced by a friend of his to an assembly of per 

 sonages, &quot; such,&quot; said he, &quot; as you too would have loved 

 to see. No occurrence of my life was ever more delightful 

 than that introduction. There were about fifty present, 

 none young, but all mature of years, and of whom each in 

 his aspect wore a stamp of dignity and of honour.&quot; He 

 related, that among them he recognized men who had held 

 offices of state, others senators of the realm, divers eminent 

 ecclesiastics, and some generally of all the notable classes 

 of the body politic. And when he entered at first, he found 

 them occupied with easy converse one with another, yet 

 they were ranged on seats placed with some formality of 

 order, and sate as if expecting some one s coming. 



Not long after there came to them a personage of an 

 aspect, as he thought, mild and exceedingly placid, yet the 

 comportment of his features was as of one that pitied men. 

 And, when they all stood up to receive him, he looked around, 

 and said with a smile ; &quot; I could never have conceived, 

 now that I recognize your features, one after another, that 

 the idle hour of all of you should have fallen upon the same 

 nook of time, and I cannot enough admire how it hath so 

 occurred.&quot; Whereupon one of the assembly made answer, 

 that it was he himself that had occasioned that leisure, 

 seeing that what they expected to reap from him, they 

 regarded as preferable to all business. &quot; I perceive,&quot; he an 

 swered, &quot; that the whole waste of the time here consumed, in 

 which each of you, if apart, might have benefited many, is 



