The History of Rasselas, XIX–XXII

THE

HISTORY OF RASSELAS. PRINCE OF ABYSSINIA. BY SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL D, CHAPTER XIX. A GLIMPSE OF PASTORAL LIFE. He was still eager upon the same inquiry; and having heard of a hermit that lived near the lowest cataract of the Nile, and filled the whole country with the fame of his sanctity, resolved to visit his retreat, and inquire whether that felicity, which public life could not afford, was to be found in solitude, and whether a man whose age and virtue made him venerable, could teach any peculiar art of shunning evils or enduring them? Imlac and the princess agreed to accompany him; and, after the necessary preparations, they began their journey. Their way lay through the fields, where shepherds tended their flocks, and the lambs were playing upon the pasture. "This," said the poet, "is the life which has often been celebrated for its innocence and quiet; let us pass the heat of the day among the shepherds' tents, and know whether all our searches are not to terminate in pasto- ral simplicity." The proposal pleased them, and they induced the shepherds, by small presents, and familiar questions, to tell their opinion of their own state; they were so rude and ignorant, so little able t© compare the good with the evil of their occupation, and so indis- tinct in their narratives and descriptions, that very little could be learned from them. But it was evident that their hearts were cankered with discontent; that they considered themselves as con-

THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS. 373 demned to labor for the luxury of the rich, and looked up with stupid malevolence toward those that were placed above them. The princess pronounced with vehemence, that she would never suffer these envious savages to be her companions, and that she should not soon be desirous of seeing any more specimens of rustic happiness; but could not believe that all the accounts of primeval pleasures were fabulous: and was yet in doubt whether life had anything that could be justly preferred to the placid grat- ifications of fields and woods. She hoped that the time would come, when, with a few virtuous and elegant companions, she should gather flowers planted with her own hand, fondle the lambs of her own ewe, and listen, without care, among brooks and breezes, to one of her maidens reading in the shade. CHAPTER XX. THE DANGER OF PROSPERITY. On the next day they continued their journey, till the heat compelled them to look round for shelter. At a small distance they saw a thick wood, which they no sooner entered than they perceived that they were approaching the habitations of men. The shrubs were diligently cut away to open walks where the shades were darkest; the boughs of opposite trees were artificially inter- woven; seats of flowery turf were raised in vacant spaces: and a rivulet that wantoned along the side of a winding path, had its banks sometimes opened into small basins, and its stream some- times obstructed by little mounds of stone heaped together to in- crease its murmurs. They passed slowly through the wood, delighted with such un- expected accommodations, and entertained each other with con- jecturing what, or who he could be, that, in those rude and un- frequented regions, had leisure and art for such harmless luxury. As they advanced, they heard the sound of music, and saw youths and virgins dancing in the grove; and, going still further, beheld a stately palace built upon a hill surrounded with woods. The laws of eastern hospitality allowed them to enter, and the master welcomed them like a man liberal and wealthy. He was skillful enough in appearances soon to discern that

374 IMPROVEMENT ERA. they were no common guests, and spread his table with magnifi- cence. The eloquence of Imlac caught his attention, and the lofty courtesy of the princess excited his respect. When they offered to depart, he entreated their stay, and was the next day still more unwilling to dismiss them than before. They were easily persuaded to stop, and civility grew up in time to freedom and confidence. The prince now saw all the domestics cheerful, and all the face of nature smiling around the place, and could not forbear to hope he should find here what he was seeking; but when he was congratulating the master upon his possessions, he answered with a sigh, "My condition has indeed the appearance of happiness, but appearances are delusive. My prosperity puts my life in dan- ger; the Bassa of Egypt is my enemy, incensed only by my wealth and popularity. I have hitherto been protected against him by the princes of the country; but as the favor of the great is un- certain, I know not how soon my defenders may be persuaded to share the plunder with the Bassa. I have sent my treasures into a distant country, and, upon the first alarm, am prepared to follow them. Then will my enemies riot in my mansion, and enjoy the gardens which I have planted. " They all joined in lamenting his danger and deprecating his exile; and the princess was so much disturbed with the tumult of grief and indignation, that she retired to her apartment. They continued with their kind inviter a few days longer, and then went forward to find the hermit. « CHAPTER XXI. THE HAPPINESS OF SOLITUDE. THE HERMIT'S HISTORT. They came on the third day, by the direction of the peas- ants,to the hermit's cell: it was a cavern in the side of a mountain overshadowed with palm trees; at such a distance from the cataract that; nothing more was heard than a gentle uniform murmur, such as composed the mind to pensive meditation, especially when it was assisted by the wind whistling among the branches. The first rude essay of nature had been so much improved by human labor that the cave contained several apartments appropriated to differ-

THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS. 375 ent uses, and often afforded lodging to travelers whom darkness or tempests happened to overtake. The hermit sat on a bench at the door to enjoy the coolness of the evening. On one side lay a book with pens and papers, on the other, mechanical instruments of various kinds. As they approached him unregarded, the princess observed that he had not the countenance of a man that had found or could teach the way to happiness. They saluted him with great respect, which he repaid like a man not unaccustomed to the forms of courts. "My children,^' said he, "if you have lost your way, you shall be willingly supplied with such conveniences for the night as this cavern will afford. I have all that nature requires, and you will not expect delicacies- in a hermit's cell." They thanked him; and, entering, were pleased with the neat- ness and regularity of the place. The hermit set flesh and wine- before them, though he fed only upon fruits and water. His dis- course was cheerful without levity, and pious without enthu- siasm. He soon gained the esteem of his guests, and the princess- repented of her hasty censure. At last Imlac began thus: "I do not now wonder that your- reputation is so far extended: we have heard at Cairo of your wisdom, and came hither to implore your direction for this young man and maiden in the choice of life." "To him that lives well," answered the hermit, "every form of life is good, nor can I give any other rule for choice than to re- move from all apparent evil. " "He will remove most certainly from evil," said the prince,, "who shall devote himself to that solitude which you have recom- mended by your example." "I have indeed lived fifteen years in solitude," said the her- mit, "but have no desire that my example should gain any imita- tors. In my youth I professed arms, and was raised by degrees to the highest military rank. I have traversed wide countries at the head of my troops, and seen many battles and sieges. At last, being disgusted by the preferments of a younger officer, and feel- ing that my vigor was beginning to decay, I resolved to close my • life in peace, having found the world full of snares, discord, and!

376 IMPROVEMENT ERA. misery. I had once escaped from the pursuit of the enemy by the shelter of this cavern, and therefore chose it for my final resi- dence. I employed artificers to form it into chambers, and stored it with all that I was likely to want. "For some time after my retreat, I rejoiced like a tempest- beaten sailor at his entrance into the harbor, being delighted with the sudden change of the noise and hurry of war to stillness and repose. When the pleasures of novelty went away, I employed my hours in examining the plants which grew in the valley and the minerals which I collected from the rocks. But that inquiry is now grown tasteless and irksome. *I have been for some time un- settled and distracted; my mind is disturbed by a thousand per- plexities of doubt and vanities of imagination, which hourly prevail upon me, because I have no opportunities of relaxation or diver- sion. I am sometimes ashamed to think that I could not secure myself from vice, but by retiring from the exercise of virtue, and begin to suspect that I was rather impelled by resentment than led by devotion into solitude. My fancy riots in scenes of folly, and I lament that I have lost so much and have gained so little. In solitude, if I escape the example of bad men, I want likewise the counsel and conversation of the good. I have been long com- paring the evils with the advantages of society, and resolve to return into the world tomorrow. The life of a solitary man will Jbe certainly miserable, but not certainly devout." They heard this resolution with surprise, but after a short pause offered to conduct him to Cairo. He dug up a considerable treasure which he had hid among the rocks, and accompanied them to the city, on which, as he approached it, he gazed with rapture. CHAPTER XXII. THE HAPPINESS OF A LIFE ACCORDING TO NATURE. Rasselas went often to an assembly of learned men, who met at stated times to unbend their minds and compare their opinions. Their manners were somewhat coarse, but their conversation was instructive, and their disputations acute, though sometimes too violent, and often continued till neither controvertist remem-

THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS. 377 bered upon what question they began. Some faults were almost general among them: every one was desirous to dictate to the rest, and every one was pleased to hear the genius or knowledge of another depreciated. In this assembly Rasselas was relating his interview with the hermit, and the wonder with which he heard him censure a course of life which he had so deliberately chosen, and so laudably fol- lowed. The sentiments of the hearers were various. Some were of opinion that the folly of his choice had been justly punished by condemnation to perpetual perseverance. One of the youngest among them, with great vehemence, pronounced him a hypocrite. Some talked of the right of society to the labor of individuals, and considered retirement as a desertion from duty. Others readily allowed, that there was a time when the claims of the public were satisfied, and when a man might properly sequester himself to re- view his life and purify his heart. One, who appeared more affected with the narrative than the rest, thought it likely that the hermit would, in a few years, go back to his retreat, and perhaps, if shame did not restrain, or death intercept him, return once more from his retreat into the world. "For the hope of happiness," said he, "is so strongly im- pressed that the longest experience is not able to efface it. Of the present state, whatever it be, we feel, and are forced to confess, the misery; yet, when the same state is again at a distance, im- agination paints it as desirable. But the time will surely come, when desire will be no longer our tormentor, and no man shall be wretched but by his own fault." "This," said a philsopher, who had heard him with tokens of great impatience, "is the present condition of a wise man. The time is already come when none are wretched but by their own fault. Nothing is more idle than to inquire after happiness, which nature has kindly placed within our reach. The way to be happy is to live according to nature, in obedience to that universal and unalterable law with which every heart is originally impressed; which is not written on it by precept, but engraven by destiny, not installed by education, but infused at our nativity. He that lives according to nature will suffer nothing from the delusions of hope, or importunities of desire: he will receive and reject with

378 IMPROVEMENT ERA. equability of temper; and act or suffer as the reason of things shall alternately prescribe. Other men may amuse themselves with subtle definitions, or intricate ratiocinations. Let them learn to be wise by easier means: let them observe the hind of the for- est, and the linnet of the grove: let them consider the life of ani- mals whose motions are regulated by instinct: they obey their guide, and are happy. Let us therefore, at length, cease to dis- pute, and learn to live; throw away the incumbrance of precepts, which they who utter them with so much pride and pomp do not understand, and carry with us this simple and intelligible maxim That deviation from nature is deviation from happiness. " When he had spoken, he looked around him with a placid air, and enjoyed the consciousness of his own benificence, ''Sir," said the prince, with great modesty, "as I, like all the rest of mankind, am desirous of felicity, my closest attention has been fixed upon your discourse; I doubt not the truth of a position which a man so learned has so confidently advanced. ' Let me only know what it is to live according to nature?'' "When I find young men so humble and so docile," said the philosopher, "I can deny them no information which my studies have enabled me to afford. To live according to nature is to act always with due regard to the fitness arising from the relations and qualities of causes and effects; to concur with the great and unchangeable scheme of universal felicity; to co-operate with the general disposition and tendency of the present system of things.'' The prince soon found that this was one of the sages whom he should understand less as he heard him longer. He therefore bowed and was silent; and the philosopher, supposing him satis- fied, and the rest vanquished, rose up, and departed with the air of a man that had co-operated with the present system. [to be continued.]