373 HIiNRY KIRKE WHITE S REMAIXS. 



gether. The hermit's cell was the work of nature. It 

 penetrated far into the rock, and in the innermost recess 

 was a little chapel, furnished with a crucifix, and a hu- 

 man skull, the objects of the hermit's nightly and daily 

 contemplation, for neither of them received his adoration. 

 That corruption had not as yet crept into the Christian 

 Church. The hermit now lighted up a fire of dried sticks, 

 for the nights are very piercing in the regions above the 

 Hellespont and Bosphorus), and then proceeded to pre- 

 pare their vegetable meal. While he was thus employed, 

 his young guest survej'ed, with surprise, the dwelling 

 which he was to inhabit for the night. A cold rock- 

 hole, on the bleak summit of one of the Thracian hills, 

 seemed to him a comfortless choice for a weak and soli- 

 tary old man. The rude materials of his scanty furni- 

 ture still more surprised him, A table fixed to the 

 ground, a wooden bench, an earthen lamp, a number of 

 rolls of papyrus and vellum, and a heap of leaves in a cor- 

 ner, the hermit's bed, were all his stock. " Is it pos- 

 sible," at length he exclaimed, *' that you can tenant 

 this comfortless cave, with these scanty accommodations, 

 through choice ? Go with me, old man, to Constanti- 

 nople, and receive from me those conveniences which 

 befit your years." " And what art thou going to do at 

 Constantinople, my young friend ?" said the hermit, 

 " for thy dialect bespeaks thee a native of more southern 

 regions. Am I mistaken, art thou not an Athenian ?" 

 " I am an Athenian," replied the youth, '• by birth, but 

 I hope I am not an Athenian in vice. I have left my 

 degenerate birth-place in quest of happiness. I have 

 learned from my master, Speusippus, a genuine asserter 

 of the much belied doctrines of Epicurus, that as a future 

 state is a mere phantom and vagary of the brain, it is 

 the only true wisdom to enjoy life while we have it. But 

 I have learned from him also, that virtue alone is true 

 enjoyment. I am resolved therefore to enjoy life, and 

 that too with virtue, as my companion and guide. My 

 travels are begun with the design of discovering where I 

 can best unite both objects ; enjoyment the most exqui- 

 site, with virtue the most perfect. You perhaps, may 



