-2,58 OF THE PROLONGATION 



fuch a fenfelefs tale upon honeft Paul> with as much 

 confidence as if it had been a real matter of fact ? 



The ufbec dervife, according to all that our travel- 

 ler relates of hirn, was a dervife, the like of whom 

 there are but few in the world. His very exterior, fays 

 Lucas, was indeed extraordinary; yet he dees not 

 mention in what this extraordinarinefs confifted. He 

 appeared to be not above thirty years old, and fpoke, it 

 feems, Latin, Spanilh, Italian, and French, with like 

 facility : the laft as well as a native of Paris, though 

 he declared he had never been in France.; — Should 

 now this ufbec Tartar at laft turn out to be an Euro- 

 pean — perhaps a dervife, born jn the very bofom of 

 France ? At leaft he muft have fhewn me a very au- 

 thentic certificate of his birth, before I took him for a 

 native Ulbec ! At the vifit which the dervife returns 

 to Paul Lucas, he imparted to him very fine cafes in 

 the art of phyfic (I tranflate here purpofely word for 

 word, becaufe this phrafe, to us readers, — fays juft 

 nothing) and promifed him in future ftill more. 

 <c But," continued he, " this requires certain prepara- 

 cc tions on your part, and I hope you will one day be 

 cc capable of the light, which I can fhed upon your 

 <c mind # ." Obferve here the railing of indeterminate 

 hopes — and particularly the preparations that are ne~ 

 celfary for rendering him fufceptible of the lights and 

 the folutions, which the dervife is able to give him. 



The attention of our traveller was naturally redou- 

 bled at this difcourfe. It was therefore proper to keep 



* J'efpere que vons ferez qudque jour cn etat de propter des Jin 

 mieres que je fuis en etat deviepandre dans Votre entendement. 



con- 



