OP HUMAN LIFE* 275 



them : all the reft was accidental. What was extraor- 

 dinary in the perfon and difcourfes of this dervife, 

 interefted hirii : he therefore got to be more intimate 

 with him : it did not intereft him fo much as to caufe 

 him to give entirely into it ; for this, he muft have had 

 a mind very differently organifed, and not have had 

 affairs to manage that led him fo far from the like fpe- 

 culations : but yet it interefted him enough for indu- 

 cing him to liften to the dervife with fo much attention, 

 and with an air of wonder, that bordered fo nearly 

 upon belief, as muft have given the latter an unper- 

 ceived deft re, without any farther aim, of making him 

 fwallow a thoufand lyes. All this taken together, it 

 appears to me as if Lucas dealt ftncerely and unfuf- 

 picioufly in the whole of this tranfaclion ; he relates it 

 in the very fame tone as he fpeaks of the twenty-thou- 

 fand pyramids he faw at Jurkup. cc I have more than 

 66 once, (fays he, in his epiftle dedicatory to Lewis 

 <c XIV.) travelled over Greece, the LefTer-Afia, Per- 

 <c fta, Syria, iEgypt and Africa; and. have there col- 

 €C lected, amid great perils, a large quantity of coins, 

 " engraved fcones, antient manufcripts, and other ufe- 

 <c ful curioiities, which have been found worthy of a 

 " place in the cabinet and the library of your majefty. 

 ff But, fir, there are rarities which a man can only 

 " pofTefs by his mind, and which can only be com- 

 " municated to others by fpeech : as thefe are no lets 

 <£ precious than the others, I have taken great care to 

 " collect them, for prefenting them in like manner to your 

 <c majefty : and thefe are contained in the book which 

 ie I take the liberty to offer to your acceptance." 

 There is no doubt but Lucas had here in his mind his 



t % dervife 



