222 THE JOURNEYMAN. 



not this a noble hope, and does it not deserve to be 

 cherished ? 



' I have read somewhere (in Byron's " Don Juan," if I 

 mistake not) that virtue is but another name for romance. 

 Unbelief alone could have made a remark like this, but 

 I think it so shrewd that, were there no such thing as 

 Revelation, and consequently nothing like assurance of a 

 future state of rewards and punishments, I would at 

 once assent to its truth, so far as what I may term 

 active virtue is concerned. I make a distinction when 

 I say active, the passive being essential to the happiness 

 which Epicurus sought after. Believing, as I assuredly 

 hope I do, in Revelation, I shall dare imitate this re- 

 mark so far as to say that Romance is the shadow of 

 Religion, and Religion the truth of Romance ; and, if 

 you have patience enough to follow me, I shall en- 

 deavour to explain what I mean when I say so. We 

 both know from experience the character of the romantic 

 man. He is one who casts the reins to his imagination, 

 and believes in all the promises that are given him by 

 hope. He is a day-dreamer that lives in an ideal world 

 of his own creation. If of a kind, unsuspicious temper- 

 ament, his dreams are of a peaceful description. Love 

 and friendship are his guiding stars. 



" He hopes a Sylph in eve^ dame, 

 A Pylades in every friend ; " 



and the world of his dreams, the world which these 

 noble beings inhabit, is* so far from resembling that one 

 of which other people have experience, that neither pain, 

 sorrow, accident, nor the evils which folly and villany 

 produce, have any part in it. If the visionary be of a 

 venturous, restless spirit, and imbued with love of fame, 

 the world presented in his dreams is of a less quiet and 



