880 



ESSAYS. 



severe than beautiful, ' nor forfeit all thy pre- 

 tensions to wisdom; the same selfish motives 

 by which we prefer our own interest to that 

 of others, induce us to regard our country 

 preferable to that of another. Nothing less 

 than universal benevolence is free from vice, 

 and that you see is practised here.' 'Strange!' 

 cries the disappointed pilgrim, in an agony of 

 distress; ' what sort of a world am I now in- 

 troduced to ? There is scarce a single virtue 

 but that of temperance, which they practise; 

 and in that they are no way superior to the 

 very brute creation. There is scarce an 

 amusement which they enjoy ; fortitude, 

 liberality, friendship, wisdom, conversation, 

 and love of country, all are virtues entirely 

 unknown here; thus it seems, that, to be ac- 

 quainted with vice is not to know virtue. 

 Take me, O my genius, back to that very 

 world which I have despised ; a world which 

 has Alia for its contriver is much more wisely 

 formed than that which has been projected 

 by Mahomet. Ingratitude, contempt, and 

 hatred, I can now suffer, for perhaps I have 

 deserved them. When I arraigned the wis- 

 dom of Providence, I only showed my own 



ignorance ; henceforth let me keep from vice 

 myself, and pity it in others.' 



He had scarce ended, when the genius, as- 

 suming an air of terrible complacency, called 

 all his thunders around him, and vanished in 

 a whirlwind. Asem, astonished at the terror 

 of the scene, looked for his imaginary world; 

 when, casting his eyes around, he perceived 

 himself in the very situation, and in the very 

 place, where he first began to repine and 

 despair; his right foot had been just advanced 

 to take the fatal plunge, nor had it yet been 

 withdrawn: so instantly did Providence strike 

 the series of truths just imprinted on his soul. 

 He now departed from the water-side in 

 tranquillity, and. leaving his horrid mansion, 

 travelled to Segestan, his native city ; where 

 he diligently applied himself to commerce, 

 and put in practice that wisdom he had 

 learnt in solitude. The frugality of a few 

 years soon produced opulence; the number 

 of his domestics increased; his friends came 

 to him from every part of the city; nor did 

 he receive them with disdain; and a youth 

 of misery was concluded with an old age of 

 elegance, affluence, and ease. 



