But let not my father impute those uneasy fenfations to fo trifling a caufe as love. No, never let it be thought that your fon, and the pupil of the wife Fum Hoam, could ftoop to fo degrading a paffion. I am only difpleafed at feeing fo much excellence fo anjuftly difpofed of. The uneafinefs which I feel is not for myself, but for the beautiful chriftian. When I reflect on the barbarity of him for whom the is defigned, I pity, indeed I pity her; when I think that she must only fhare one heart, who deferves to command a thoufand; excufe me, if I feel an emotion, which univerfal benevolence extorts from me. As I am convinced that you take a pleasure in those fallies of humanity, and are particularly pleafed with compaffion, I could not avoid difcovering the fenfibility with which I felt this beautiful ftranger's diftrefs. I have for a while forgot, in her's, the miseries of my own hopeless fituation: the tyrant grows every day more fevere; and love, which foftens all other minds into tenderness, feems only to have encreased his feverity. Adieu, LETTER XXXV. TO THE SAME. THE whole Haram is filled with a tumultuous joy; Zelis, the beautiful captive, has confented to embrace the religion of Mahomet, and become one of the wives of the faftidious Perfian. It is impoffible to describe the transport that fits on every face on this occafion. Mufic and feafting fill every apartment, K 4 apartment, the moft miferable flave feems to forget his chains, and fympathizes with the happiness of Moftadad. The herb we tread beneath our feet is not made more for our use, than every flave around him for their imperious mafter; mere machines of obedience they wait with filent affiduity, feel his pains, and rejoice in his exultation. Heavens! how much is requifite to make one man happy! Twelve of the moft beautiful flaves, and I among the number, have got orders to prepare for carrying him in triumph to the bridal apartment. The blaze of perfumed torches are to imitate the day; the dancers and fingers are hired at a vaft expence. The nuptials are to be celebrated on the approaching feaft of Barboura, when an hundred taels in gold are to be diftributed among the barren wives, in order to pray for fertility from the approaching union. What will not riches procure! an hundred domeftics, who curfe the tyrant in their fouls, are commanded to wear a face of joy, and they are joyful. An hundred flatterers are ordered to attend, and they fill his ears with praife. Beauty, all commanding beauty, fues for admittance, and scarcely receives an anfwer; even love itfelf feems to wait upon fortune, or though the paffion be only feigned, yet it wears every appearance of fincerity; and what greater pleasure can even true fincerity confer, or what would the rich have more? Nothing can exceed the intended magnificence of the bridegroom, but the coftly dreffes of the bride; fix eunuchs in the moft fumptuous habits are to conduct him to the nuptial couch, and wait his orders. Six ladies, in all the magnificence of Perfia, are directed to undrefs the bride. Their business is to affift to encourage her, to diveft her of every encumbering part of her drefs, all but the laft covering, which, by an artful complication of ribbons, is purpofely made difficult to unloofe, and with which The is to part reluctantly even to the joyful poffeffor of her beauty. Moftadad, O my father, is no philofopher; and yet he feems perfectly contented with ignorance. Poffeffed of numberlefs flaves, camels, and women, he defires no greater poffeffion. He never opened the page of Mentius, and yet all the flaves tell me that he is happy. Forgive the weakness of my nature, if I fometimes feel my heart rebellious to the dictates of wifdom, and eager for happiness like his. Yet why wifh for his wealth with his ignorance; to be like him, incapable of fentimental pleafures, incapable of feeling the happinefs of making others happy, incapable of teaching the beautiful Zelis philofophy. What, fhall I in a tranfport of paffion give up the golden mean, the univerfal harmony, the unchanging effence, for the poffeffion of an hundred camels; as many flaves, thirty-five beautiful horses, and feventy-three fine women: firft blaft me to the centre! degrade me beneath the moft degraded! pare my nails, ye powers of Heaven! ere I would ftoop to fuch an exchange. What, part with philofophy, which teaches me to fupprefs my pasfions inftead of gratifying them, which teaches me even to diveft my foul of paffion, which teaches ferenity in the midft of tortures; philofophy, by which even now I am fo very ferene, and fo very much at cafe, to be perfuaded to part with it for any other enjoyment! Never, never, even though persuasion fpoke in the accents of Zelis! A female flave informs me that the bride is to be arrayed in a tiffue of filver, and her hair adorned with the largest pearls of Ormus; but why teaze you with particulars, in which we both are fo little concerned; the pain I feel in feparation throws a gloom over my mind, which in this fcene of uni verfal joy I fear may be attributed to fome other caufe; how wretched are those who are like me, denied even the laft resource of mifery, their tears. Adieu. I BEGIN to have doubts whether wisdom be alone fufficient to make us happy. Whether every step we make in refinement is not an inlet into new dif quietudes. A mind too vigorous and active, ferves only to confume the body to which it is joined, as the richest jewels are fooneft found to wear their fettings. When we rife in knowledge as the profpect widens, the objects of our regard become more obfcure, and the unlettered peafant, whofe views are only directed to the narrow fphere around him, beholds Nature with a finer relish, and taftes her bleffings with a keener appetite, than the philofopher whofe mind attempts to grafp an univerfal fyftem. As I was fome days ago purfuing this fubject among a circle of my fellow-flaves, an antient Guebre of the number, equally remarkable for his piety and wifdom, feemed touched with my converfation, and defired to illuftrate what I had been faying with an allegory taken from the Zendavefta of Zoroafter; by this we fhall be taught, fays he, that they who travel in pursuit of wisdom, waik only in a circle; and after all their labour, at laft return to their priftine ignorance; and in this alfo we fhall fee fee that enthusiastic confidence or unfatisfying doubts terminate all our enquiries. In early times, before myriads of nations covered the earth, the whole human race lived together in one valley. The fimple inhabitants, furrounded on every fide by lofty mountains, knew no other world but the little fpot to which they were confined. They fancied the heavens bent down to meet the mountain tops, and formed an impenetrable wall to furround them. None had ever yet ventured to climb the steepy cliff, in order to explore those regions that lay beyond it; they knew the nature of the fkies only from a tradition, which mentioned their being made of adamant; traditions make up the reasonings of the fimple, and ferve to filence every enquiry. In this fequeftered vale, bleffed with all the fpontaneous productions of Nature, the honeyed bloffom, the refreshing breeze, the gliding brook, and golden fruitage, the fimple inhabitants feemed happy in themselves, in each other; they defired no greater pleasures, for they knew of none greater; ambition, pride, and envy were vices unknown among them; and from this peculiar fimplicity of its poffeffors, the country was called the Valley of Ignorance. At length, however, an unhappy youth more afpiring than the reft undertook to climb the mountain's fide, and examine the fummits which were hitherto deemed inacceffible. The inhabitants from below gazed with wonder at his intrepidity, fome applauded his courage, others cenfured his folly; ftill however he proceeded towards the place where the earth and heavens feemed to unite, and at length arrived at the wifhed-for height with extreme labou and affiduity. His firft furprize was to find the skies, not as he expected within his reach, but ftill as far off as before; his amazement increased when he saw a wide extended |