History of Rasselas, XLIII–XLIV

THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS. PRINCE OF ABYSSINIA. BY SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.. D. CHAPTER XLIII. THE ASTRONOMER LEAVES IMLAC HIS DIRECTIONS. ' ' ' Hear, therefore, what I shall impart with attention, such as the welfare of a world requires. If the task of a king be con- who has the care only of a few millions, to sidered as difficult, whom he cannot do much good or harm, what must be the anxiety of him, on whom depends the action of the elements, and the great gifts of light and heat? Hear me, therefore, with attention. " 'I have diligently considered the position of the earth and sun, and formed innumerable schemes in which I changed their situation. I have sometimes turned aside the axis of the earth, and sometimes varied the ecliptic of the sun: but I have found it impossible to make a disposition by which the world may be advantaged; what one region gains another loses by an imaginable alteration, even without considering the distant parts of the solar system with which we are acquainted. Do not, therefore, in thy administra- tion of the year, indulge thy pride by innovation; do not please thyself with thinking that thou canst make thyself renowned to all future ages,-by disordering the seasons. The memory of mis- chief is no desirable fame. Much less will it become thee to let kindness or interest prevail. Never rob other countries of rain to pour it on thine own. For us the Nile is sufficient. "I promised, that when I possessed the power, I would use it with inflexible integrity; and he dismissed me, pressing my hand. 'My heart, ' said he, 'will be now at rest, and my benevolence will no more destroy my quiet; I have found a man of wisdom and vir-

" THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS. 8G9 tue, tc whom I can cheerfully bequeath the inheritance of the sun.' The prince heard this narration with very serious regard; but the princess smiled, and Pekuah convulsed herself with laugh- ter. "Ladies," said Imlac, "to mock the heaviest of human afflic- tions is neither charitable nor wise. Few can attain this man's knowledge and few practice his virtues; but all may suffer his ca- lamity. Of the uncertainties of our present state, the ixost dread- ful and alarming is the uncertain continuance of reason." The princess was recollected, and the favorite was abashed. Rasselas,more deeply affected, inquired of Imlac, whether he thought such maladies of the mind frequent, and how they were contracted. CHAPTER XLIV. THE DANGEROUS PREVALENCE OF IMAGINATION. "Disorders of intellect," answered Imlac, "happen much more ofteu than superficial observers will easily believe. Perhaps, if we speak with rigorous exactness, no human mind is in its right state. There is no man whose imagination does not sometimes predominate over his reason, who can regulate his attention wholly by his will, and whose ideas will come and go at his com- mand. No man will be found in whose mind airy notions do not sometimes tyrannize, and force him to hope or fear beyond the limits of sober probability.All power of fancy over reason is a degree of insanity; but while this power is such as we can control and repress, it is not visible to others, nor considered as any de- pravation of the mental faculties: it is not pronounced madness but wher it becomes ungovernable, and apparently influences speech or action. "To indulge the power of fiction, and send imagination out upon the wing, is often the sport of those who delight too much in silent speculation. When we are alone we are not always busy; the labor of excogitation is too violent to last long; the ardor of inquiry willsometimes give wav to idleness or satiety. He who has nothing external that can divert him must find pleasure in his own thoughts, and must conceive himself what he is not; for who is pleased with what he is? He then expatiates in boundless futu-

" 870 IMPROVEMENT ERA. rity, and culls from all imaginable conditions that which for the present moment he should most desire, amuses his desires with im- possible enjoyments, and confers upon his pride unattainable do- minion The mind dances from scene to scene, unites all pleasures in all combinations, and riots in delights which nature and fortune, with all their bounty, cannot bestow. "In time, some particular train of ideas fixes *"he attention; all other intellectual gratifications are rejected; the mind, in weari- ness or leisure, recurs constantly to the favorite conception, and feasts on the luscious falsehood whenever she is offended with the bitterness of truth. By degrees the reign of fancy is confirmed; she grows first imperious, and in time despotic. Then fictions be- gin to operate as realities, false opinions fasten upon the mind, and life passes in dreams of rapture or of anguish. "This, sir, is ore of the dangers of solitude, which the hermit has confessed not always to promote goodness, and the astrono- mer's misery has proved to be not always propitious to wisdom. "I will no more," said the favorite, "imagine myself the queen of Abyssinia. I have often spent the hours, which the prin- cess gave to my own disposal, in adjusting ceremonies and regulat- ing the court; I have repressed the pride of the powerful, and granted the petitions of the poor; I have built new palaces in more happy situations, planted groves upon the tops of mountains, and have exulted in the beneficence of royalty, till, when the princess entered, I had almost forgotten to bow down before her." "And I," said the princess, "will not allow myself anymore to play the shepherdess in my waking dreams. I have often soothed my thoughts with the quiet and innocence of pastoral employments, have, in my chamber, heard the winds whistle and the sheep till I bleat; sometimes freed the lamb entangled in the thicket, and sometimes with my crook encountered the wolf. I have a dress like that of the village maids, which I put on to help my imagi- nation, and a pipe, on which I play softly, and suppose myself fol- lowed by my flocks." "I will confess," said the prince, "an indulgence of fantastic delight more dangerous than yours. I have frequently endeav- ored to imagine the possibility of a perfect government, by which all wrong should be restrained, all vice reformed, and all the sub-

' " THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS. 871 jects preserved in tranquility and innocence. This thought pro- duced innumerable schemes of reformation, and dictated many useful regulations and salutary edicts. This has been the sport, and sometimes the labor, of my solitude; and I start, when I think with how little anguish I once supposed the death of my father and my brothers. ' "Such," says Imlac, "are the effects of visionary schemes. When we first form them we know them to be absurd, but famil- iarize them by degrees, and in time lose sight of their folly. CHAPTER XLV. THEY DISCOURSE WITH AN OLD MAN. The evening was now far passed, and they rose to return home. As they walked along the bank of the Nile, delighted with the beams of the moon quivering on the water, they saw at a small distance an old man, whom the prince had often heard in the as- sembly of the sages. "Yonder," said he, "is one whose years have calmed his passions, but not clouded his reason: let us close the disquisitions of the night by inquiring what are his sentiments of his own state, that we may know whether youth alone is to struggle with vexation, and whether any better hope remains for the latter part of life." Here the sage approached and saluted them. They invited him to join their walk, and prattled a while, as acquaintances that had unexpectedly met one another. The old man was cheerful and talkative, and the way seemed short in his company. He was pleased to find himself not disregarded, accompanied them to their house, and, at the prince's request, entered with them. They placed him in the seat of honor, and set wine and conserves before him. "Sir," said the princess, "an evening walk must give to a man of learning, like you, pleasures which ignorance and youth can hardly conceive. You know the qualities and the causes of all that you behold, the laws by which the river flows, the periods in which the planets perform their revolutions. Everything must supply you with contemplation, and renew the consciousness of your own dignity."

872 IMPROVEMENT ERA. "Lady," answered he, "let the gay and the vigorous expect pleasure in their excursions; it is enough that age can obtain ease. To me the world has lost its novelty: I look round and see what I remember to have seen in happier days. I rest against a tree, and consider that in the same shade I once disputed upon the an- nual overflow of the Nile with a friend that is now silent in the grave. I cast my eyes upwards, fix them on the changing moon, and think with pain on the vicissitudes of life. I have ceased to take much delight in physical truth; for what have I to do with those things which I am soon to leave?" "You may at least recreate yourself," said Imlac, "with the recollection of an honorable and useful life, and enjoy the praise which all agree to give you." "Praise," said the sage, with a sigh, "is to an old man an empty sound. I have neither mother to be delighted with the reputation of her son, nor wife to pertake the honors of her hus- band. I have outlived my friends and my rivals. Nothing is now of much importance; for I cannot extend my interest beyond my- self. Youth is delighted with applause, because it is considered as the earnest of some future good, and because the prospect of life is far extended; but to me, who am now declining to decrepi- tude there is little to be feared from the malevolence of men, and yet less to be hoped from their affection or esteem. Something they may yet take away, but they can give me nothing. Riches would now be useless, and high employment would be pain. My retrospect of life recalls to my view many opportunities of good neglected, much time squandered upon trifles, and moie lost in idleness and vagrancy. I leave many great designs un attempted, and many great attempts unfinished. My mind is burdened with no heavy crime, and therefore I compose myself to tranquility: endeaver to abstract my thoughts from hopes and cares, which, though reason knows them to be vain, still try to keep their old possession of the heart; except, with serene humility, that hour which nature cannot long delay; and hope to possess, in a better state, that happiness which here I could not find, and that virtue which here I have not attained." He rose and went away, leaving his audience not much elated with the hope of long life. The prince consoled himself with re-

THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS. 873 marking, that it was not reasonable to be disappointed by this ac- count; for age had never been considered as the season of felicity; and if it was possible to be easy in decline and weakness, it was likely that the days of vigor and alacrity might be happy: that the noon of life could be bright if the evening could be calm. The princess suspected that age was querulous and malig- nant, and delighted to repress the expectations of those who had newly entered the world. She had seen the possessors of estates look with envy on their heirs, and knew many who enjoyed pleas- ure no longer than they could confine it to themselves. Pekuah conjectured that the man was older than he appeared, and was willing to impute his complaints to delirious dejection; or else supposed that he had been unfortunate, and was therefore discontented; "For nothing," said she, "is more common than to call our own condition the condition of life." Imlac, who had no desire to see them depressed, smiled at the comforts which they could so readily procure to themselves, and remembered that at the same age, he was equally confident of unmingled prosperity, and equally fertile of consolatory expe- dients. He forbore to force upon them unwholesome knowledge, which time itself would too soon impress. The princess and her lady retired; the madness of the astronomer hung upon their minds, and they desired Imlac to enter upon his office, and delay next morning the rising of the sun. CHAPTER XLVI. THE PRINCESS AND PEKUAH VISIT THE ASTRONOMER. The princess and Pekuah, having talked in private of Imlac's astronomer, thought his character at once so amiable and so strange that they could not be satisfied without a nearer knowl- edge; and Imlac was requested to find the means of bringing them together. This was somewhat difficult; the philosopher had never re- from women, though he lived in a city that had ceived any visits Europeans who followed manners of their own the in it many countries, and many from other parts of the world that lived there The ladies would not be refused, and with European liberty.

874 IMPROVEMENT ERA. several schemes were proposed for the accomplishment of their design. It was proposed to. introduce them as strangers in dis- tress, to whom the sage was always accessible; but, after some de- liberation, it appeared that by this artifice no acquaintance could be formed, for their conversation would be short, and they could not decently importune him often. "This," said Ra^selas, "is true; but I have yet a stronger objection against the misrepresentation of your state. I have always considered it as treason against the great republic of human nature to make any man's virtues the means of deceiving him, whether on great or little occasions. All imposture weakens confidence and chills benevolence. When the sage finds that you are not what you seemed, he will feel the re- sentment natural to a man who, conscious of great abilities, dis- covers that he has been tricked by understandings meaner than his own; and, perhaps, the distrust which he can never afterwards wholly lay aside, may stop the voice of counsel and close the hand of charity; and where will you find the power of restoring his bene- factions to mankind or his peace to himself ?" To this no reply was attempted, and Imlac began to hope that their curiosity would subside; but, next day, Pekuah told him she had now found an honest pretense for a visit to the astronomer, for she would solicit permission to continue under him the studies in which she had been initiated by the Arab, and the princess might go with her either as a fellow-student, or because a woman could not decently come alone. "I am afraid," said Imlac, "that he will be soon weary of your company; men advanced far in knowledge do not love to repeat the elements of their art, and I am not cer- tain that even of the elements, as he will deliver them connected with references and mingled with reflections, you are a very capa- ble auditress." "That," said Pekuah, "must be my care. I ask of you only to take me thither. My knowledge is, perhaps, more than you imagine it; and, by concurring always with his opinions, I shall make him think it greater than it is." The astronomer, in pursuance of this resolution, was told that a foreign lady, traveling in search of knowledge, had heard of his reputation, and was desirous tobecome his scholar. The uncom- monness of the proposal raised at once his surprise and curiosity:

WHOLESOME READING. 875 and when, after a short deliberation, he consented to admit her, he could not stay without impatience till the next day. The ladies dressed themselves magnificently, and were at- tended by Imlac to the astronomer, who was pleased to see himself approached with respect by persons of so splendid an appearance. In the exchange of the first civilities he was timorous and bashful; but when the talk became regular, he recollected his powers, and justified the character which Imlac had given. Inquiring of Pe- kuah what could have turned her inclination towards astronomy, he received from her a history of her adventure at the pyramid and of the time passed in the Arab's island. She told her tale with ease and elegance, and her conversation took possession of his heart. The discourse was then turned to astronomy; Pekuah displayed what she knew; he looked upon her as a prodigy of ge- nius, and entreated her not to desist from a study which she had so happily begun. They came again and again, and were every time more wel- come than before. The sage endeavored to amuse them, that they might prolong their visits, for he found his thoughts grow brighter in their company; the clouds of solitule vanished by de- grees, as he forced himself to entertain them; and he grieved when he was left at their departure to his old employment of reg- ulating the seasons. The princess and her favorite had now watched his lips for several months, and could not catch a single word from which they could judge whether he continued, or not, in the opinion of his preternatural commission. They often contrived to bring him to an open declaration: but he easily eluded all their attacks, and on which side soever they pressed him escaped from them to some other topic. As their familiarity increased, they invited him often to the house of Imlac where they distinguished him by extraordinary respect. He began gradually to delight in sublunary pleasures. He came early, and departed late; labored to recommend himself by assiduity and compliance; excited their curiosity after new arts, that they might still want his assistance; and when they made any excursion of pleasure or inquiry, entreated to attend them. By long experience of his integrity and wisdom, the prince

876 IMPROVEMENT ERA. and his sister were convinced that he might be trusted with- out danger; and, lest he should draw any false hopes from the civ- ilities which he received, discovered to him their condition, with the motives of their journey; and required his opinion on the choice of life. ' 'Of the various conditions which the world spreads before you, which you shall prefer," said the sage, "I am not able to in- struct you. 1 can only tell that I have chosen wrong. I have passed my time in study without experience; in the attainment of sciences which can, for the most part, be but remotely useful to mankind. I have purchased knowledge at the expense of all the common comforts of life; I have missed the endearing elegance of female friendship, and the happy commerce of domestic tender- ness. If I have obtained any prerogatives above other students, they have been accompanied with fear, disquiet, and scrupulosity: but even of these prerogatives, whatever they were, I have, since my thoughts have been diversified by more intercourse with the world, begun to question the reality. When I have been for a few days lost in pleasing dissipation, I am always tempted to think that my inquiries have ended in error, and that I have suffered much, and suffered it in vain." Imlac was delighted to find that the sage's understanding was breaking through its mists, and resolved to detain him from the planets till he should forget his task of ruling them, and rea- son should recover its original influence. From this time the astronomer was received into familiar friendship, and partook of all their projects and pleasures: his respect kept him attentive, and the activity of Rasselas did not leave much time unengaged. Something was always to be done; the day was spent in making observations, which furnished talk for the evening, and the evening was closed with a scheme for the morrow. The sage confessed to Imlac, that since he had mingled in the gay tumults of life, and divided his hours by a succession of amusements, he found the conviction of his authority over the skies fade gradually from his mind, and began to trust less to an opinion which he never could prove to others, and which he now found subject to variation from causes in which reason had no

: THE HIS10R Y OF RA SSELA S. 877 part. ''If I am accidentally left alone for a few hours," said he, "my inveterate persuasion rushes upon my soul, and my thoughts are chained down by some irresistible violence; but they are soon disentangled by the prince's conversation, and instantaneously re- leased at the entrance of Pekuah. I am like a man habitually afraid of specters, wbo is set at ease by a lamp, and wonders at the dread which harassed him in the dark; yet, if his lamp be ex- tinguished, feels again the terrors which he knows that, when it is light, he shall feel no more. But I am sometimes afraid less I indulge my quiet by criminal negligence, and voluntarily forget the great charge with which I am intrusted. If I favor myself in a known error, or am determined by my own ease in a doubtful question of this importance, how dreadful is my crime!" "No disease of the imagination," answered Imlac, "is so dif- ficult to cure as that which is complicated with the dread of guilt fancy and conscience then act interchangeable upon^ us, and so often shift their places that the illusions of one are not distin- guished from the dictates of the other. If fancy presents images not moral or religious, the mind drives them away when they give it pain; but when melancholic notions take the form of duty, they lay hold on the faculties without opposition, because we are afraid to exclude or banish them. For this reason the superstitious are often melancholy, and the melancholy almost always superstitious. "But do not let the suggestions of timidity overpower your better reason: the danger of neglect can be but as the probability of the obligation, which when you consider it with freedom, you find very little, and that little growing every day less. Open your heart to the influence of the light which, from time to time, breaks when scruples importune you, which you in your lucid in upon you: moments know to be vain, dc not stand to parley, but fly to busi- ness or to Pekuah, and keep this thought always prevalent, that you are only one atom of the mass of humanity, and have neither such virtue nor vice as that you should be singled out for super- natural favors or afflictions." [to be concluded in next number.]