878 



ESSAYS. 



seen thy justice, thy integrity, thy miseries, and 

 hath sent me to afford and administer relief. 

 Give me thine hand, and follow without 

 trembling, wherever I shall lead ; in me be- 

 hold the genius of conviction, kept by the 

 great prophet, to turn from their errors those 

 who go astray, not from curiosity, but a recti- 

 tude of intention. Follow me, and be wise.' 



Asem immediately descended upon the 

 lake, and his guide conducted him along the 

 surface of the water ; till coming near the 

 centre of the lake they both began to sink ; 

 the waters closed over their heads ; they de- 

 scended several hundred fathoms, till Asem, 

 just ready to give up his life as inevitably lost, 

 found hi nself with his celestial guide in ano- 

 ther world, at the bottom of the waters, where 

 human foot hud never trod before. His 

 astonishment was beyond description, when 

 he saw a sun like tliat he had left, a serene 

 sky over his head, and blooming verdure un- 

 der his feet. 



' I plainly perceive your amazement,' said 

 the genius ; ' but suspend it for a while. 

 This world was formed by Alia, at the request 

 and under the inspection of our great prophet, 

 wlio once entertained the same doubts which 

 filled your mind when I found you, and from 

 the consequence of which you were so lately 

 rescued. The rational inhabitants of this 

 world are formed agreeable to your own ideas; 

 they are absolutely without vice. In other re- 

 spects it resembles your earth, but differs from 

 it in being wholly inhabited by men who 

 never do wrong. If you find this world more 

 agreeable than that you so lately left, you have 

 free permission to spend the remainder of your 

 days in it; but permit me, for some time, to 

 attend you, that I may silence your doubts, 

 and make you better acquainted with your 

 company and your new habitation.' 



' A world without vice ! Rational beings 

 without immorality !' cried Asem, in a rap- 

 ture: 'I thank thee, O Alia, who hast at 

 length heard my petitions ; this, this indeed 

 will produce happiness, ectasy, and ease. O 

 for an immortality tospend it among men who 

 are incapable of ingratitude, injustice, fraud, 

 violence, and a thousand other crimes, that 

 render society miserable !' 



' Cease thine acclamations,' replied the 

 penius. ' Look around thee ; reflect on every 

 object and action before us. and communicate 



to me the result of thine observations. Lead 

 wherever you think proper, I shall be your 

 attendant and instructor.' Asem and his com- 

 panion travelled on in silence for some time, 

 the former being entirely lost in astonishment; 

 but at last, recovering his former serenity, he 

 could not help observing, that the face of the 

 country bore a near resemblance to that he 

 had left, except that this subterranean v\ orld 

 still seemed to retain its primaeval wildness. 



' Here,' cried Asem, ' I perceive animals of 

 prey, and others that seem only designed for 

 their subsistence ; it is the very same in the 

 world over our heads. But Imd I been per- 

 mitted to instruct our prophet, I would have 

 removed this defect, and formed no \oracious 

 or destructive animals, which only prey on 

 the other parts of the creation.' ' Your ten- 

 derness for inferior anin>als is, I find, remark- 

 able,' said the genius, smiling, ' but, with re- 

 gard to meaner creatures, this world exactly 

 resembles the other; and, indeed, for obvious 

 reasons : for the earth can support a more 

 considerable number of animals, by thrirthus 

 becoming food for each other, than if they 

 had lived entirely on the vegetable productions. 

 So that animals of different natures thus form- 

 ed, instead of lessening their multitude, subsist 

 in the greatest nuinbi r possible. But let us 

 hasten on to the inhabited country before us, 

 and see what that offers for instruction.' 



They soon gained the utmost verge of the 

 forest, and entered the country inhabited by 

 men without vice ; and Asem anticipated in 

 idea the rational delight he hoped to experi- 

 ence in such an innocent society. But they 

 had scarce left the confines of the wood, when 

 they beheld one of the inhabitants flying with 

 hasty steps, and terror in his countenance, 

 from an army of squirrels that closely pursued 

 hi ii. ' Heavens !' cried Asem, ' why does he 

 fly ? What can he fear from animals so con- 

 temptible !' He had scarce spoke when he 

 pnrceived two dogs pursuing another of the 

 human species, who with equal terror and 

 haste attempted to avoid them. * This,' cried 

 Asem to his guide, ' is truly surprising ; nor 

 can I conceive the reason for so strange an 

 action.' 'Every species of animals,' leplied 

 the genins, ' has of late grown very powerful 

 in this country; for the inhabitants, at first, 

 thinking it unjust to use either fraud or force 

 in destroying them, they have insensibly 



