--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Johnson, Samuel collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 10 number: 2 published: 1906-12 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Samuel Johnson, "The History of Rasselas, V–IX," *Improvement Era* 10, no. 2 (December 1906): 89–99.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1002unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera1002unse start_page: 89 end_page: 99 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1906-12) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1002unse publication_year: 1906 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1906, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # The History of Rasselas, V–IX THE HISTORY Ob RASSELAS. PRINCE OF ABYSSINIA. BY SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL. D. CHAPTER V. THE PRINCE MEDITATES HIS ESCAPE. He now found that it would be very difficult to effect that which it was very easy to suppose effected. Wh^n he looked round about him, he saw himself confined by the bars of nature, which had never yet been broken, and by the gate, through which none that once had passed it were ever able to return. He was now impatient as an eagle in the grate. He passed week after week in clambering the mountains, to see if there was any aperture which the bushes might conceal, but found all the summits inaccessible by their prominence. The iron gate he despaired to open; for it was not only secured with all the powers of art, but it was always watched by successive sentinels, and was by its position exposed to the perpetual observation of all the inhabitants. He then examined the cavern through which the waters of the lake were discharged; and, looking down at a time when the siin shone strongly upon its mouth, he discovered it to be full of broken rocks, which, though they permitted the stream to flow through many narrow passages, would stop anybody of solid bulk. He returned discouraged and dejected; but, having now known the blessing of hope, resolved never to despair. In these fruitless searches he spent ten months. The time, however, passed cheerfully away: in the morning he rose with new 90 IMPROVEMENT ERA. hope, in the evening applauded his own diligence, and in the night slept sound after his fatigue. He met a thousand amusements which beguiled his labor and diversified his thoughts. He dis- cerned the various instincts of animals and properties of plants, and found the place replete with wonders, of which he proposed to solace himself with the contemplation, if he should never be able to accomplish his flight; rejoicing that his endeavors, though yet unsuccessful, had supplied him with a source of inexhaustible in- quiry. But his original curiosity was not yet abated; he resolved to obtain some knowledge of the ways of men. His wish still continued, but his hope grew less. He ceased to survey any longer the walls of his prison, and spared to search by new toils for interstices, which he knew could not be found, yet determined to keep his designs always in view, and lay hold on any expedient that time should offer. CHAPTER VI. A DISSERTATION ON THE ART OF FLYING. Among the artists that had been allured into the happy valley to labor for the accommodation and pleasure of its inhabitants, was a man eminent for his knowledge of the mechanic powers, who had contrived many engines both of use and recreation. By a wheel which the stream turned he forced the water into a tower, whence it was distributed to all the apartments of the palace. He erected a pavilion in the garden, around which he kept the air always cool by artificial showers. One of the groves, appropriated to the ladies, was ventilated by fans, to which the rivulet that ran through it gave a constant motion; the instruments of soft music were placed at proper distances, of which some played by the impulse of the wind and some by the power of the stream. This artist was sometimes visited by Rasselas, who was pleased with every kind of knowledge, imagining that the time would come when all his acquisitions should be of use to him in the open world. He came one day to amuse himself in his usual manner,and found the master busy in building a sailing chariot; he saw that the design was practicable upon a level surface, and with " THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS. 91 expressions of great esteem solicited its completion. The workman was pleased to find himself so much regarded by the prince, and resolved to gain yet higher honor. *'Sir," said he, "jou have seen but a small part of what the mechanic sciences can perform, I have been long of opinion, that instead of the tardy conveyance of ships and chariots, man might use the swifter migration of wings; and the fields of air are open to knowledge, and that only ignorance and idleness need crawl upon the ground. This hint rekindled the prince's desire of passing the mountains; having seen what the mechanist had already performed, he was willing to fancy that he could do more; yet resolved to inquire further, before he suffered hope to afflict him by disappointment. "I am afraid," said he to the artist, "that your imagination prevails over your skill, and that you now tell me i ather what you wish than what you know. Every animal has his element assigned him; the birds have the air, and man and beasts'the earth." **So, " replied the mechanist, "fishes have tho^ water, in which yet beasts can swim by nature, and men by art. He that can swim needs not despair to fly; to swim is to fly in a grosser fluid, and to fly is to swim in a subtler. We are only to proportion our power of resistance to the different density of matter through which we are to pass. You will be necessarily upborn by the air, if you can renew any impulse upon it faster than the air can recede from the pressure." "But the exercise of swimming," said the prince, "is very laborious; the strongest limbs are soon wearied. I am afraid the act of flying will be yet more violent; and wings will be of no great use unless we can fly further than we can swim." "The labor of rising from the ground," said the artist, "will be great, as we see it in the heavier domestic fowls, but as we mount higher the earth's attraction and the body's gravity will be gradually diminished till we shall arrive at a region where the man will float in the air without any tendency to fall; no care will then be necessary but to move forwards, which the gentlest impulse will effect. You, sir, whose curiosity is so extensive, will easily conceive with what pleasure a philosopher, furnished with wings, and hovering in the sky, would see the earth, and all its inhabit- " : 92 IMPROVEMENT ERA. ants, rolling beneath him, and presenting to him successively, by- its diurnal motion, all the countries within the same parallel. How it must amuse the pendent spectator to see the moving scene of land and ocean, cities and deserts! To survey with equal serenity the marts of trade and the fields of battle; mountains infested by barbarians, and fruitful regions gladdened by plenty and lulled by peace! How easily shall vie then trace the Nile through all his passage; pass over to distant regions, and examine the face of nature from one extremity to the other!" "All this," said the prince, "is much to be desired; but I am afraid that no man will be able to breathe in these regions of speculation and tranquility. I have been told that respiration is difficult upon lofty mountains, yet from these precipices, though so high as to produce great tenuity of air, it is very easy to fall therefore I suspect that, from any height where life may be supported, there may be danger of too quick descent. "Nothing," replied the artist, "will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must be first overcome. If you will favor my project, I will try the first flight at my own hazard. I have considered the structure of all volant animals, and find the folding continuity of the bat's wings most easily accommodated to the human form. Upon this model I shall begin my task tomorrow, and in a year expect to tower in the air beyond the malice and pursuit of man. But I will work only on this condition, that the art shall not be divulged, and that you shall not require me to make wings for any but ourselves." "Why," said Rasselas, "should you envy others so great an advantage? skill ought to be exerted for universal good; All every man has owed much to others, and ought to repay the kindness he has received." "If men were all virtuous," returned the artist, "I should with great alacrity teach them all to fly. But what would be the security of the good, if the bad could at pleasure invade them from the "sky? Against an army sailing through the clouds, neither walls, nor mountains, nor seas could afl^ord any security. A flight of northern savages might hover in the wind, and light at once with irresistible violence upon the capital of a fruitful region that was rolling under them. Even this valley, the retreat of THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS. 93 princes, the abode of happiness, might be violated by the sudden descent of some of the naked nations that swarm on the coast of the southern sea." The prince promised secrecy, and waited for the performance, not wholly hopeless of success. He visited the work from time to time, observed its progress, and remarked many ingenious contrivances to facilitate motion, and unite levity with strength. The artist was every day more certain that he should leave vultures and eagles behind him, and the contagion of his confidence acted upon the prince. In a year the wings were finished; and, on a morning appointed, the maker appeared furnished for flight on a little promontory; he moved his pinions awhile to gather air, then leaped from his stand, and in an instant dropped into the lake. His wings, which were of no use to him in the air, sustained him in the water, and the prince drew him to land half dead with terror and vexation. CHAPTER VII. THE PRINCE FINDS A MAN OP LEARNING. The prince was not much aflflicted by this disaster, having suffered himself to hope for a happier event, only becaust^ he had no other means of escape in view. He still persisted in his design to leave the happy valley by the first opportunity. His imagination was now at a stand; he had no prospect of entering into the world; and, notwithstanding all his endeavors to support himself, discontent by degrees preyed upon him, and he began again to lose his thoughts in sadness, when the rainy season, which in these countries is periodical, made it inconvenient to wander in the woods. The rain continued longer and with more violence than had ever been known; the clouds broke on the surrounding mountains, and the torrents swept into the plains on every side, till the cavern was too narrow to discharge the water. The lake overflowed its banks, and all the level of the valley was covered with the inundation. The eminence on which the palace was built, and some other spots of rising ground, were all that the eye could 94 IMPROVEMENT ERA. now discover. The herds and flocks left the pastures, and both the wild beasts and the tame retreated to the mountains. This inundation confined all the princes to domestic amusements, and the attention of Rasselas was particularly seized by a poem, which Imlac rehearsed upon the various conditions of humanity. He commanded the poet to attend him in his apartment, and recite his verses a second time; then entering into familiar talk, he thought himself happy in having found a man who knew the world so well, and who could so skillfully paint the scenes of life. He asked a thousand questions about things, to which, though common to other mortals, his confinement from childhood had kept him a stranger. The poet pitied his ignorance and loved his curiosity, and entertained him from day to day with novelty and instruction, so that the prince regretted the necessity of sleep, and longed till the morning should renew his pleasure. As they were sitting together the prince commanded Imlac to relate his history, and to tell by what accident he was forced or by what motive induced to close his life in the happy valley. As he was going to begin his narrative, Rasselas was called to a concert, and obliged to restrain his curiosity till the evening. CHAPTER VIII. THE fflSTORY OF IMLAC. The close of the day is, in the regions of the torrid zone, the only season of diversion and entertainment, and it was therefore midnight before the music ceased, and the princes retired. Rasselas then called for his companion and required him to begin the story of his life. "Sir," said Imlac, "my history will not be long: the life that is devoted to knowledge passes silently away, and is very little diversified by events. To talk in public, to think in solitude, to read and to hear, to inquire and answer inquiries, is the business of a scholar. He wanders about the world without pomp or terror, and is neither known nor valued but by men like himself. "I was born in the kingdom of Goiama, at no great distance from the fountain of the Nile. My father was a wealthy merchant, who traded between the inland countries of Afric and the ports of ' "" " THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS. 96 the Read Sea. He was honest, frugal, and diligent, but of mean sentiments and narrow comprehension; he desired only to be rich, and to conceal his riches, lest he should be spoiled by the governors of the province. "Surely," said the prince, ''my father must be negligent of his charge, if any man in his dominions dares take that which belongs to another. Does he not know that kings are accountable for injustice permitted as well as done? If I were emperor, not the meanest of my subjects should be oppressed with impunity. My blood boils when I am told that a merchant durst not enjoy his honest gains for fear of losing them by the rapacity of power. Name the governor who robbed the people that I may declare his crimes to the emperor. ' * 'Sir, ' said Imlac, * 'your ardor is the natural effect of virtue animated by youth: the time will come when you will acquit your father, and perhaps hear with less impatience of the governor. Oppression is, in the Abyssinian dominions, neither frequent nor tolerated: but no form of government has yet been discovered, by which cruelty can be wholly prevented. Subordination supposes power on the one part, and subjection on the other, and if power be in the hands of men, it will sometimes be abused. The vigilance of the supreme magistrate may do much, but much will still remain undone. He can never know all the crimes that are committed, and can seldom punish all that he knows. "This," said the prince, "I do not understand, but I had rather hear thee than dispute. Continue thy narration." "My father, " proceeded Imlac, ' 'originally intended that I should have no other education than such as might qualify me for commerce; and, discovering in me great strength of memory and quickness of apprehension, often declared his hope that I should be some time the richest man in Abyssinia." "Why," said the prince, "did thy father desire the increase of his wealth, when it was already greater than he durst discover or enjoy? I am unwilling to doubt thy veracity, yet inconsistencies ' cannot both be true. "Inconsistencies," answered Imlac, "cannot both be right; but, imputed to man, they may both be true. Yet diversity is not inconsistency. My father might expect a time of greater security. ' " 96 IMPROVEMENT ERA. However, some desire ia necessary to keep life in motion; and he whose real wants are supplied must admit those of fancy. ''This," said the prince, "I can in some measure conceive. I repent that I interrupted thee." ''With this hope," proceeded Imlac, "he sent me to school; but when I had once found the delight of knowledge, and felt the pleasure of inteHigence and the pride of invention, I began silently to despise riches, and determined to disappoint the purpose of my father, whose grossness of conception raised my pity. I was twenty years old before his tenderness would expose me to the fatigue of travel, in which time I had been instructed, by successive masters, in all the literature of my native country. As every hour taught me something new, I lived in a continual course of gratiiications; but as I advanced towards manhood, I lost much of the reverence with which I had been used to look on my instructois; because, when the lesson was ended, I did not find them wiser or better than common men. "At length my father resolved to initiate me in commerce: and, opening one of his subterranean treasuries, counted out ten thousand pieces of gold. 'This, young man, ' he said, 'is the stock with which you must negotiate. began with less than the fifth 1 part, and you see how diligence and parsimony have increased it. This is your own to waste or to improve. If you squander it by negligence or caprice, you must wait for death before you be rieh; if, in four years, you double your stock, we will thenceforward let subordination cease, and live together as friends and partners; for he shall be always equal with me who is equally skilled in the art of growing rich. "We laid our money upon camels, concealed in bales of cheap goods, and traveled to the shore of the Red Sea. When I cast my eye upon the expanse of waters, my heart boundsed like that of a prisoner escaped. I felt an unextinguishable curiosity kindle in my mind, and resolved to snatch this opportunity of seeing the manners of other nations, and of learning sciences unknown in Abyssinia. "[ remember that my father had obliged me to the improvement of my stock, not by a promise which I ought not to violate, but by a penalty which I was at liberty to incur; and therefore de- ' THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS. 97 termined to gratify my predominant desire, and, by drinking at the fountains of knowledge, to quench the thirst of curiosity. "As I was supposed to trade without connection with my father, it was easy for me to become acquainted with the master of a ship, and procure a passage to some other country. I had no motives of choice to reg ilate my voyage was sufficient for me : it that, wherever I wandered, I should see a country which I had not seen before. I therefore entered a ship bound for Surat, having left a letter for my father declaring my intention. ' CHAPTER IX. THE HISTORY OP IMLAC CONTINUED. "When I first entered upon the world of waters and lost sight of land, I looked round about me with pleasing terror, and, thinking my soul enlarged by the boundless prospect, imagined that I could gaze around without satiety, but in a short time I grew weary of looking on barren uniformity, where I could only see again wh^t I had already seen. I then descended into the ship, and doubted for awhile whether all my future pleasures would not end like this, in disgust and disappointment. Yet, surely, said I, the ocean and the land are very different the only variety of water ; is rest and motion, but the earth has mountains and valleys, deserts and cities : it is inhabited by men of different customs and contrary opinions; and I may hope to find variety in life though I should miss it in nature. "With this thought I quieted my mind, and amused myself during the voyage, sometimes by learning from the sailors the art of navigation, which I have never practiced, and sometimes by forming schemes for my conduct in different situations, in not one of which I have been ever placed. "I was almost weary of my naval amusements when we landed safely at Surat. I secured my money, and purchasing some commodities for show, joined myself to a caravan that was passing into the inland country. My companions, for some reason or other, conjecturing that I was rich, and by my inquiries and admiration, finding that I was ignorant, considered me as a novice whom they had a right to cheat, and who was to learn at the usual expense 98 IMPRO YEMEN T ERA . the art of fraud. They exposed me to the theft of servants and the exaction of and saw me phindered upon false pre- officers, tenses, without any advantage to themselves, but that of rejoicing in the superiority of their own knowledge." ''Stop a moment," said the prince. "Is there such depravity in man as that he should injure another without benefit to himself? I can easily conceive that all are pleased v/ith superiority; but your ignorance was merely accidental, which being neither your crime nor your folly, could afford them no reason to applaud themselves; and the knowledge which they had, and which you wanted, they might as effectively have shown by warning as betraying you." "Pride," said Imlac, "is seldom delicate, it will please itself with very mean advantages; and envy feels not its own happiness, but when it may be compared with the misery of others. They were my enemies, because they grieved to think me rich, and my oppressors, because they delighted to find me weak," "Proceed," said the prince; "I doubt not of the facts which you relate, but imagine that you impute them to mistaken motives." "In this company, " said Imlac, "I arrived at Agra, the capital of Indostan, the city in which the great Mogul commonly resides. I applied myself to the language of the country, and in a few months was able to converse with the learned men; some of whom I found morose and reserved and others easy and communicative; some were unwilling to teach another what they had with difficulty learned themselves, and some showed that the end of their studies was to gain the dignity of instructing. *To the tutor of the young princes I recommended myself so * much that I was presented to the emperor as a man of uncommon knowledge. The emperor asked me many questions concerning my country and my travels; and though I cannot now recollect anything that he uttered above the power of a common man, he dismissed me astonished at his wisdom, and enamored of his goodness. "My credit was now so high that the merchants with whom I traveled applied to me for recommendations to the ladies of the court. was surprised at their confidence of solicitation, and I gently reproached them with their practices on the road. ) ; , ; THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS. 99 They heard me with cold indifference, and showed no tokens of shame or sorrow. "They then urged their request with the offer of a bribe; but what I would not do for kindness, I would not do for money; and refused them, not because they had injured me, but because I would not enable them to injure others, for I knew they would have made use of my credit to cheat those who should buy their wares. ''Having resided at Agra till there was no more to be learned, I traveled into Persia, where I saw many remains of ancient magnificence, and observed many new accommodations of life. The Persians are a nation eminently social, and their assemblies afforded me daily opportunities of remarking characters and manners, and of tracing human nature thorough all its variations. "From Persia I passed into Arabia, where I saw a nation at once pastoral and warlike; who live without a!jy settled habitation; whose only wealth is their flocks and herds; and who have yet carried on, through all ages, an heriditary war with all mankind, though they neither covet nor envy their possessions."- (TO BE CONTINUED. SMILES WILL LIGHTEN DUTY. Are you weary of the long and rugged road Weary of the burdens, oh, my brothers? Men have found the surest way of lightening the load Is to try and lighten it for others. Hearts still hold the most of love that most their love bestow On lonely lives of those who are forlorning; Roll the stone from out the path where tired feet must go, And touch your lips with gladness every morning. Touch your lips with gladnesss, and go singing on your way,