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 CLASSIC TALES. 
 
 HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 FLAVILLA. 
 
 (from the adventurer.) 
 
 I have before remarked, that " to abstain from the 
 appearance of evil," is a precept in that law which 
 has every characteristic of Divinity ; and I have, 
 in more than one of these papers, endeavoured to 
 inforce the practice of it, by an illustration of its 
 excellence and importance. 
 
 Circumstances have been admitted as evidences 
 of guilt, even when death has been the conse- 
 quence of conviction ; and a conduct by which 
 evil is strongly implied, is little less pernicious 
 than that by which it is expressed. With respect 
 to society, as far as it can be influenced by ex- 
 ample, the effect of both is the same ; for every 
 man encourages the practice of that vice which 
 he commits in appearance, though he avoids it in 
 fact : and with respect to the individual, as the 
 esteem of the world is a motive to virtue only less 
 powerful than the approbation of conscience, he 
 who knows that he is already degraded by the im- 
 
 8£$oS 
 
2 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 putation of guilt, will find himself half disarmed 
 when he is assailed by temptation: and as he will 
 have less to lose, he will, indeed, be less disposed 
 to resist. Of the sex, whose levity is most likely 
 to provoke censure, it is eminently true, that the 
 loss of character by imprudence frequently induces 
 the loss of virtue : the ladies, therefore, should be 
 proportionably circumspect ; as to those, in whom 
 folly is most likely to terminate in guilt, it is cer- 
 tainly of most importance to be wise. 
 
 This subject has irresistibly obtruded itself upon 
 my mind in the silent hour of meditation, because, 
 as often as I have reviewed the scenes in which I 
 have mixed among the busy and the gay, I have 
 observed that a depravity of manners, a licentious 
 extravagance of dress and behaviour, are become 
 almost universal ; virtue seems ambitious of a 
 resemblance to vice, as vice glories in the deformi- 
 ties which she has been used to hide. 
 
 A decent timidity and modest reserve have been 
 always considered as auxiliaries to beauty ; but an 
 air of dissolute boldness is now affected by all who 
 would be thought graceful or polite : chastity, 
 which used to be discovered in every gesture and 
 every look, is now retired to the breast, and is 
 found only by those who intend its destruction ; 
 as a general when the town is surrendered re- 
 treats to the citadel, which is always less capable 
 of defence, when the outworks are possessed by 
 the enemy. 
 
 There is now little apparent difference between 
 the virgin and the prostitute : if they are not other- 
 wise known, they may share the box and the 
 drawing-room without distinction. The same fa- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 3 
 
 shion which takes away the veil of modesty, will 
 necessarily conceal lewdness ; and honour and 
 shame will lose their influence, because they will 
 no longer distinguish virtue from vice. General 
 custom, perhaps, may be thought an effectual se- 
 curity against general censure ; but it will not 
 always lull the suspicions of jealousy ; nor can it 
 familiarize any beauty without destroying its in- 
 fluence, or diminish the prerogatives of a husband 
 without weakening his attachment to his wife. 
 
 The excess of every mode may be declined 
 without remarkable singularity; and the ladies, 
 who should even dare to be singular in the present 
 defection of taste, would proportionably increase 
 their power and secure their happiness. 
 
 I know that in the vanity and the presumption 
 of youth, it is common to alledge the conscious- 
 ness of innocence, as a reason for the contempt of 
 censure ; and a licence, not only for every free- 
 dom, but for every favour, except the last. This 
 confidence can, perhaps, only be repressed by a 
 sense of danger : and as the persons whom I 
 wish to warn, are most impatient of declamation, 
 and most susceptible of pity, I will address them 
 in a story ; and I hope the events will not only 
 illustrate but impress the precept which they 
 contain. 
 
 Flavilla, just as she had entered her fourteenth 
 year, was left an orphan to the care of her mo- 
 ther, in such circumstances as disappointed all the ' 
 hopes which her education had encouraged. Her 
 father, who lived in great elegance upon the salary 
 of a place at court, died suddenly, without having 
 made any provision for his family, except an an-^ 
 a 2 
 
4* CLASSIC TALES.— rHAWKESWORTH. 
 
 nuity of one hundred pounds, which he had pur- 
 chased for his wife with part of her marriage 
 portion ; nor was he possessed of any property, 
 except the furniture of a large house in one of the 
 new squares, an equipage, a few jewels, and 
 some plate. 
 
 The greater part of the furniture and the equi- 
 page were sold to pay his debts; the jewels, which 
 were not of great value, and some useful pieces of 
 the plate, were reserved, and Flavilla removed 
 with her mother into lodgings. 
 
 But notwithstanding this change in their circum- 
 stances, they did not immediately lose their rank. 
 They were still visited by a numerous and polite 
 acquaintance ; and though some gratified their 
 pride by assuming the appearance of pity, and 
 rather insulted than alleviated their distress by the 
 whine of condolence, and minute comparison of 
 what they had lost with what they possessed ; yet 
 from others they were continually receiving pre- 
 sents, which still enabled them to five with a gen- 
 teel frugality : they were still considered as people 
 of fashion, and treated by those of a lower class 
 with distant respect. 
 
 Flavilla thus continued to move in a sphere to 
 which she had no claim ; she was perpetually sur- 
 rounded with elegance and splendor, which the 
 caprice of others, like the rod of an enchanter, 
 could dissipate in a moment, and leave her to re- 
 gret the loss of enjoyments, which she could 
 neither hope to obtain nor cease to desire. Of this, 
 however, Flavilla had no dread. She was re- 
 markably tall for her age, and was celebrated not 
 only for her beauty but her wit : these qualinca-> 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 5 
 
 tions she considered, not only as securing what- 
 ever she enjoyed by the favour of others, but as a 
 pledge of possessing them in her own right by 
 an advantageous marriage. Thus the vision that 
 danced before her, derived stability from the very 
 vanity which it flattered : and she had as little ap- 
 prehension of distress, as diffidence of her own 
 power to please. 
 
 There was a fashionable levity in her carriage 
 and discourse, which her mother, who knew the 
 danger of her situation, laboured to restrain, some- 
 times with anger, sometimes with tears, but al- 
 ways without success. Flavilla was ever ready 
 to answer, that she neither did or said any thing 
 of which she had reason to be ashamed ; and there- 
 fore did not know why she should be restrained, 
 except in mere courtesy to envy, whom it was an 
 honour to provoke, or to slander, whom it was a 
 disgrace to fear. In proportion as Flavilla was 
 more flattered and caressed* the influence of her 
 mother became less : and though she always treated 
 her with respect, from a point of good breeding, 
 yet she secretly despised her maxims and applaud- 
 ed her own conduct. 
 
 Flavilla at eighteen was a celebrated toast; and 
 among other gay visitants who frequented her tea- 
 table, was Clodio, a young baronet, who had just 
 taken possession of his title and estate. There 
 were many particulars in Clodio's behaviour, 
 which encouraged Flavilla to hope that she should 
 obtain him for a husband : but she suffered his 
 assiduities with such apparent pleasure, and his 
 familiarities with so little reserve, that he soon 
 ventured to disclose his intention, and make her 
 
 A3 
 
6 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 what he thought a very genteel proposal of ano- 
 ther kind: but whatever were the artifices with 
 which it was introduced, or the terms in which it 
 was made, Flavilla rejected it with the utmost 
 indignation and disdain. Clodio, who, notwith- 
 standing his youth, had long known and often 
 practised the arts of seduction, gave way to the 
 storm, threw himself at her feet, imputed his 
 offence to the phrenzy of his passion, flattered her 
 pride by the most abject submission and extrava- 
 gant praise, entreated her pardon, aggravated his 
 crime, but made no mention of atonement by 
 marriage. This particular, which Flavilla did 
 not fail to remark, ought to have determined her 
 to admit him no more : but her vanity and her 
 ambition were still predominant ; she still hoped 
 to succeed in her project. Clodio's offence was 
 tacitly forgiven, his visits were permitted, his 
 familiarities were again suffered, and his hopes 
 revived. He had long entertained an opinion that 
 she loved him, in which, however, it is probable, 
 that his own vanity and her indiscretion concurred 
 to deceive him ; but this opinion, though it im- 
 plied the strongest obligation to treat her with 
 generosity and tenderness, only determined him 
 again to attempt her ruin, as it encouraged him 
 with a probability of success. Having, therefore, 
 resolved to obtain her as a mistress, or at once to 
 give her up, he thought he had little more to do, 
 than to convince her that he had taken such a re- 
 solution, justify it by some plausible sophistry, and 
 give her some time to deliberate upon a final de- 
 termination. With this view, he went a short 
 journey into the country j having put a letter into 
 
CLASSIC TALES.-<-HAWKESWORTH. 7 
 
 her hand at parting, in which he acquainted her, 
 " That he had often reflected, with inexpressible 
 regret, upon her resentment of his conduct in a 
 late instance ; but that the delicacy and the 
 ardour of his affection were insuperable obstacles to 
 his marriage ; that where there was no liberty, 
 there could be no happiness : that he should be- 
 come indifferent to the endearments of love, when 
 thev could no longer be distinguished from the 
 officiousness of duty : that while they were happy 
 in the possession of each other, it would be ab- 
 surd to suppose they would part ; and that if this 
 happiness should cease, it would not only ensure 
 but aggravate their misery to be inseparably 
 united : that this event was less probable, in pro- 
 portion as their cohabitation was voluntary ; but 
 that he would make such provision for her upon 
 the contingency, as a wife would expect upon his 
 death. He conjured her not to determine under 
 the influence of prejudice and custom, but accord- 
 ing to the laws of reason and nature. After ma- 
 ture deliberation," said he, *' remember that the 
 whole value of my life depends upon your will. 
 I do not request an explicit consent, with what- 
 ever transport I might behold the lovely confusion 
 which it might produce. I shall attend you in a 
 few days, with the anxiety, though not with the 
 guilt, of a criminal who waits for the decision 
 of his judge. If my visit is admitted, we will 
 never part ; if it is rejected, I can never see you 
 more." 
 
 Flavilla had too much understanding, as well 
 as virtue, to deliberate a moment upon this pro- 
 posal. She gave immediate orders that Clodio * 
 should be admitted no more. But his letter was a 
 
& CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 temptation to gratify her vanity, which she could 
 not resist ; she shewed it first to her mother and 
 then to the whole circle of her female acquaint- 
 ance, with all the exultation of a hero who exposes 
 a vanquished enemy at the wheels of his chariot 
 in a triumph; she considered it as an indisput- 
 able evidence of her virtue, as a reproof of all 
 who had dared to censure the levity of her con- 
 duct, and a licence to continue it without apology 
 or restraint. 
 
 It happened that Flavilla, soon after this acci- 
 dent, was seen in one of the boxes at the play- 
 house by Mercator, a young gentleman who had 
 just returned from his first voyage as captain of a 
 large ship in the Levant trade, which had been 
 purchased for him by his father, whose fortune 
 enabled him to make a genteel provision for five 
 sons, of whom Mercator was the youngest, and 
 who expected to share his estate, which was per- 
 sonal, in equal proportions at his death. 
 
 Mercator was captivated with her beauty, but 
 discouraged by the splendour of her appearance, 
 and the rank of her company. He was urged 
 rather by curiosity than hdpe, to enquire who she 
 was; and he soon gained such a knowledge of her 
 circumstances as relieved him from despair. 
 
 As he knew not how to get admission to her 
 company, and had no design upon her virtue, he 
 wrote in the first ardour of his passion to her mo- 
 ther ; giving a faithful account of his fortune and 
 dependence, and intreating that he might be per- 
 mitted to visit Flavilla as a candidate for her 
 affection. The old lady, after having made some 
 enquiries, by which the account that Mercator had 
 given her was confirmed, sent him an invitation* 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 9 
 
 and received his first visit alone. She told him, 
 that as Flavilla had no fortune, and as a consider- 
 able part of his own was dependent upon his fa- 
 ther's will, it would be extremely imprudent to 
 endanger the disappointment of his expectations, 
 by a marriage which would make it more neces- 
 sary that they should be fulfilled ; that he ought 
 therefore to obtain his father's consent, before any 
 other step was taken, lest he should be embarrassed 
 by engagements which young persons almost in- 
 sensibly contract, whose complacency in each 
 other is continually gaining strength by frequent 
 visits and conversation. To this counsel, so sa- 
 lutary and perplexing, Mercator was hesitating 
 what to reply, when Flavilla came in, an accident 
 which he was now only solicitous to improve. 
 Flavilla was not displeased either with his person 
 or his address ; the frankness and gaiety of her 
 disposition soon made him forget that he was a 
 stranger : a conversation commenced, during which 
 they became. yet more pleased with each other ; 
 and having thus surmounted the difficulty of a 
 first visit, he thought no more of the old lady, as 
 he believed her auspices were not necessary to his 
 success. 
 
 His visits were often repeated, and he became 
 every hour more impatient of deiay : he pressed 
 his suit with that contagious ardour, which is 
 caught at every glance, and produces the consent 
 which it solicits. At the same time, indeed, a 
 thought of his father would intervene ; but being 
 determined to gratify his wishes at all events, he 
 concluded with a sagacity almost universal on these 
 occasions, that of two evils, to marry without his 
 consent was less than to marry against it ; and 
 
10 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWOItTH. 
 
 one evening, after the lovers had spent the after- 
 noon by themselves, they went out in a kind of 
 frolic, which Mercator had proposed in the vehe- 
 mence of his passion, and to which Flavilla had 
 consented in the giddiness of her indiscretion, arid 
 were married at May Fair. 
 
 In the first interval of recollection after this pre- 
 cipitate step, Mercator considered, that he ought 
 to be the first who acquainted his father of the 
 new alliance wjiich had been made in his family : 
 but as he had not fortitude enough to do it in per- 
 son, he expressed it in the best terms he could con- 
 ceive by a letter ; and after such an apology for 
 his conduct as he had been used to make to him- 
 self, he requested that he might be permitted to 
 present his wife for the parental benediction, which 
 alone was wanting to complete his felicity. 
 
 The old gentleman, whose character I cannot 
 better express than in the fashionable phrase which 
 has been contrived to palliate false principles and 
 dissolute manners, had been a gay man, and was 
 well acquainted with the town. He had often 
 heard Flavilla toasted by rakes of quality, and had 
 often seen her at public places. Her beauty and 
 her dependence, the gaiety of her dress, the mul- 
 titude of her admirers, the levity of her conduct, 
 and all the circumstances of her situation, had 
 concurred to render her character suspected ; and 
 he was disposed to judge of it with yet less charity, 
 when she had offended him by marrying his son, 
 whom he considered as disgraced and impoverished, 
 and whose misfortune, as it was irretrievable, he 
 resolved not to alleviate, but increase ; a resolution 
 by which fathers, who have foolish and disobedi- 
 ent sons, usually display their own kindness and 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. li 
 
 wisdom. As soon as he had read Mercator's let- 
 ter, he cursed him for a fool, who had been gulled 
 by the artifices of a strumpet to screen her from 
 public infamy by fathering her children, and se- 
 cure her from a prison by appropriating her debts. 
 In an answer to his letter, which he wrote only to 
 gratify his own resentment, he told him, that f* if 
 he had taken Flavilla into keeping, he would have 
 overlooked it; and if her extravagance had dis- 
 tressed him, he would have satisfied his creditors ; 
 but that his marriage was not to be forgiven ; that 
 he should never have another shilling of his mo- 
 ney ; and that he was determined to see him no 
 more." Mercator, who was more provoked by 
 this outrage than grieved at his loss, disdained to 
 reply ; and believing that he had now most reason 
 to be offended, could not be persuaded to solicit a 
 reconciliation. 
 
 He hired a genteel apartment for his wife of an 
 upholsterer, who, with a view to let lodgings, had 
 taken and furnished a large house near Leicester- 
 fields, and in about two months left her to make 
 another voyage. 
 
 He had received visits of congratulation from 
 her numerous acquaintance, and had returned them 
 as a pledge of his desire that they should be re- 
 peated. But a remembrance of the gay multi- 
 tude, which while he was at home had flattered his 
 vanity, as soon as he was absent alarmed his sus- 
 picion : he had, indeed, no particular cause of 
 jealousy; but his anxiety arose merely from a 
 sense of the temptation to which she was exposed, 
 and the impossibility of his superintending her 
 conduct. 
 
 In the mean time, Flavilla continued to flutter 
 
12 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTKf. 
 
 round the same giddy circle, in which she had 
 shone so long; the number of her visitants was 
 rather increased than diminished, the gentlemen 
 attended with yet greater assiduity, and she con- 
 tinued to encourage their civilities by the same 
 indiscreet familiarity : she was one night at the 
 masquerade, and another at an opera : sometimes 
 at a rout, and sometimes rambling with a party 
 of pleasure in short excursions from town ; she 
 came home sometimes at midnight, sometimes in 
 the morning, and sometimes she was absent several 
 nights together. 
 
 This conduct was the cause of much speculation 
 and uneasiness to the good man and woman of the 
 house. At first they suspected that Flavilla was 
 no better than a woman of pleasure ; and that the 
 person who had hired the lodging for her as his 
 wife, and had disappeared upon pretence of a 
 voyage to sea, had been employed to impose upon 
 them, by concealing her character, in order to 
 obtain such accommodation for her as she could 
 not so easily have procured if it had been known : 
 but as these suspicions made them watchful and 
 inquisitive, they soon discovered, that many ladies 
 by whom she was visited were of good character 
 and fashion. Her conduct, however, supposing 
 her to be a wife, was still inexcusable, and still 
 endangered their credit and subsistence ; hints were 
 often dropped by the neighbours to the disadvan - 
 tage of her character ; and an elderly maiden 
 lady, who lodged in the second floor, had given 
 warning ; the family was disturbed at all hours in 
 the night, and the door was crouded all day with 
 messages and visitants to Flavilla. 
 
 One day, therefore, the good woman took an 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 13 
 
 opportunity to remonstrate, though in the most 
 distant and respectful terms, and with the utmost 
 diffidence and caution. She told Flavilla, " that 
 she was a fine young lady, that her husband was 
 abroad, that she kept a great deal of company, 
 and that the world was censorious ; she wished 
 that less occasion for scandal was given : and 
 hoped to be excused the liberty she had taken, as 
 she migfct be ruined by those slanders which could 
 have no influence upon the great, and which, 
 therefore, they were not solicitous to avoid." This 
 address, however ambiguous, and however gentle, 
 was easily understood and fiercely resented. Fla- 
 villa, proud of her virtue, and impatient of con- 
 troul, would have despised the counsel of a phi- 
 losopher, if it had implied an impeachment of her 
 conduct; before a person so much her inferior, 
 therefore, she was under no restraint; she answered 
 with a mixture of contempt and indignation, that 
 '« those only who did not know her would dare to 
 take any liberty with her character ; and warned 
 her to propagate no scandalous report at her peril." 
 Flavilla immediately rose from her seat, and the 
 woman departed without reply, though she was 
 scarce less offended than her lodger, and from that 
 moment she determined when Mercator returned 
 to give him warning. 
 
 Mercator's voyage was prosperous ; and after 
 an absence of about ten months he came back. 
 The woman, to whom her husband left the whole 
 management of her lodgings, and who persisted in 
 her purpose, soon found an opportunity to put it 
 in execution. Mercator, as his part of the con- 
 tract had been punctually fulfilled, thought he 
 
14 CLASSIC TALES.— »HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 had some cause to be offended, and insisted to 
 know her reasons for compelling him to leave her 
 house. These his hostess, who was indeed a friendly 
 woman, was very unwilling to give ; and as he 
 perceived that she evaded his question, he became 
 more solicitous to obtain an answer. After much 
 hesitation, which perhaps had a worse effect than 
 any tale which malice could have invented, she 
 told him, that f* Madam kept a great deal of com- 
 pany, and often staid out very late ; that she had 
 always been used to quiet and regularity ; and was 
 determined to let her apartment to some person in 
 a more private station." 
 
 At this account Mercator changed countenance ; 
 for he inferred from it just as much more than 
 truth, as he believed it to be less. After some 
 moments of suspence, he conjured her to conceal 
 nothing from him, with an emotion which con- 
 vinced her that she had already said too much. 
 She then assured him, that " he had no reason to 
 be alarmed ; for that she had no exception to his 
 lady, but those gaieties which her station and the 
 fashion sufficiently authorised." Mercator's sus- 
 picions, however, were not wholly removed ; and 
 he began to think he had found a confidant whom 
 it would be his interest to trust : he, therefore, in 
 the folly of his jealousy, confessed, " that he had 
 some doubts concerning his wife, which it was of 
 the utmost importance to his honour and his peace 
 to resolve : he intreated that he might continue in 
 the apartment another year: that, as he should 
 again leave the kingdom in a short time, she would 
 suffer no incident, which might confirm either his 
 hopes or his fears, to escape her notice in his ab- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 15 
 
 ^sence ; and that at his return she would give him 
 such an account as would at least deliver him from 
 the torment of suspence, and determine his future 
 conduct." 
 
 There is no sophistry more general, than that 
 by which we justify a busy and scrupulous enquiry 
 after secrets, which to discover is to be wretched 
 without hope of redress; and no service to which 
 others are so easily engaged as to assist in the 
 search. To communicate suspicions of matrimo- 
 nial infidelity, especially to a husband, is, by a 
 strange mixture of folly and malignity, deemed 
 not only an act of justice but of friendship ; though 
 it is too late to prevent an evil, which, whatever 
 be its guilt, can diffuse wretchedness only in pro- 
 portion as it is known. It is no wonder, there- 
 fore, that the general kindness of Mercator's con- 
 fidant was on this occasion overborne ; she was 
 flattered by the trust that had been placed in her, 
 and the power with which she was invested ; she 
 consented to Mercator's proposal, and promised, 
 that she would with the utmost fidelity execute her 
 commission. 
 
 Mercator, however, concealed his suspicions 
 from his wife ; and, indeed, in her presence they 
 were forgotten. Her manner of life he began se- 
 riously to disapprove; but being well acquainted 
 with her temper, in which great sweetness was 
 blended with a high spirit, he would not embitter 
 the pleasure of a short stay by altercation, chid- 
 ing, and tears : but when her mind was melted 
 into tenderness at his departure, he clasped her in 
 an ecstacy of fondness to his bosom, and intreated 
 her to behave with reserve and circumspection ; 
 b 2 
 
10 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 " because/' said he, " I know that my^ father 
 keeps a watchful eye upon your conduct, which 
 may, therefore, confirm or remove his displeasure, 
 and either intercept or bestow such an increase of 
 my fortune as will prevent the pangs of separa- 
 tion which must otherwise so often return, and in. 
 a short time unite us to part no more." To this 
 caution she had then no power to reply ; and 
 they parted with mutual protestations of unalter- 
 able love. 
 
 Flavilla, soon after she was thus left in a kind 
 of widowhood a second time, found herself with 
 child ; and within somewhat less than eight months 
 after Mercator's return from his first voyage, she 
 happened to stumble as she was going up stairs, 
 and being immediately taken ill was brought to 
 bed before the next morning. The child, though 
 its birth had been precipitated more than a month, 
 was not remarkably small, nor had any infirmity 
 which endangered its life. 
 
 It was now necessary, that the vigils of whist 
 and the tumults of balls and visits should, for a 
 while, be suspended ; and in this interval of Ian* 
 guor and retirement JFlavilla first became thought- 
 ful. She often reflected upon Mercator's caution 
 when they last parted, which had made an in- 
 delible impression upon her mind, though it had 
 produced no alteration in her conduct : notwith- 
 standing the manner in which it was expressed, 
 and the reason upon which it was founded, she 
 began to fear that it might have been secretly 
 prompted by jealousy. The bitfh, therefore, of 
 her first child in his absence, at a time when, if it 
 had not been premature, it could not possibly have 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 17 
 
 been his, was an accident which greatly alarmed 
 her : but there was yet another, for which it was 
 still less in her power to account, and which, there- 
 fore, alarmed her still more. 
 
 It happened that some civilities which she re- 
 ceived from a lady who sat next her at an opera, 
 and whom she had never seen before, introduced 
 a conversation, which so much delighted her, that 
 she gave her a pressing invitation to visit her : this 
 invitation was accepted, and in a few days the 
 visit was paid. Flavilla was not less pleased at 
 the second interview than she had been at the 
 first ; and without making any other enquiry con- 
 cerning the lady than where she lived, took the 
 first opportunity to wait on her. The apartment 
 in which she was received was the ground floor of 
 an elegant house, at a small distance from St. 
 James's. It happened that Flavilla was placed 
 near the window ; and a party of the horse-guards 
 riding through the street, she expected to see some 
 of the royal family, and hastily threw up the sash. 
 A gentleman who was passing by at the same in- 
 stant, turned about at the noise of the window, 
 and Flavilla no sooner saw his face than she knew 
 him to be the father of Mercator. After looking 
 first stedfastly at her, and then glancing his eye at 
 the lady whom she was visiting, he affected a con- 
 temptuous sneer and went on. Flavilla, who had 
 been thrown into some confusion, by the sudden 
 and unexpected sight of a person whom she knew 
 considered her as the disgrace of his family and 
 the ruin of his child, now changed countenance, 
 and hastily retired to another part of the room : 
 she was touched both with grief and anger at this 
 b 3 
 
18 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 silent insult, of which, however, she did not then 
 suspect the cause. It is, indeed, probable, that 
 the father of Mercator would no where have looked 
 upon her with complacency ; but as soon as he 
 saw her companion, he recollected that she was 
 the favourite mistress of an oldxourtier, and that 
 this was the house in which he kept her in great 
 splendour, though she had been by turns a prosti- 
 tute to many others. It happened that Flavilla, 
 soon after this accident, discovered the character of 
 her new acquaintance ; and never remembered 
 by whom she had been seen in her company, 
 without the utmost regret and apprehension. 
 
 She now resolved to move in a less circle, and 
 with more circumspection. In the mean time her 
 little boy, whom she suckled, grew very fast ; and 
 it could no longer be known by his appearance, 
 that he had been born too soon. His mother fre- 
 quently gazed at him till her eyes overflowed with 
 tears ; and though her pleasures were now become 
 domestic, yet she feared lest that which had pro- 
 duced should destroy them. After much delibera- 
 tion, she determined that she would conceal the 
 child's age from its father ; believing it prudent 
 to prevent a suspicion, which, however ill founded, 
 it might be difficult to remove, as her justification 
 would depend wholly upon the testimony of her 
 dependants : and her mother's and her own would 
 necessarily become doubtful, when every one would 
 have reason to conclude, that it would still have 
 been the same supposing the contrary to have been 
 true. 
 
 Such was the state of Flavilla's mind, and her 
 little boy was six months old, when Mercator re- 
 
CLASSIC TALES.-— HAWKESWORTH. 19 
 
 turned. She received him with joy, indeed, but 
 it was mixed with a visible confusion ; their meet- 
 ing was more tender, but on her part it was less 
 cheerful ; she smiled with inexpressible compla- 
 cency, but at the same time the tears gushed from 
 her eyes, and she was seized with an universal 
 tremor. Mercator caught the infection ; and ca- 
 ressed first his Flavilla, and then his boy, with an 
 excess of fondness and delight that before he had 
 never expressed. The sight of the child made 
 him more than ever wish a reconciliation with his 
 father ; and having heard at his first landing, that 
 he was dangerously ill, he determined to go im- 
 mediately and attempt to see him, promising that 
 he would return to supper. He had, in the midst 
 of his caresses, more than once inquired the age of 
 his son, but the question had been always evaded ; 
 of which, however, he took no notice, nor did it 
 produce any suspicion. 
 
 He was now hasting to enquire after his father; 
 but as he passed through the hall, he was officious- 
 ly laid hold of by his landlady. He was not much 
 disposed to enquire how she had fulfilled his 
 charge ; but perceiving by her looks that she had 
 something to communicate, which was at least in 
 her own opinion of importance, he suffered her to take 
 him into her parlour.. She immediately shut the 
 door, and reminded him, that she had undertaken 
 an office with reluctance which he had pressed 
 upon her ; and that she had done nothing in it to 
 which he had not bound her by a promise ; that 
 she was extremely sorry to communicate her dis- 
 coveries ; but that he was a worthy gentleman, 
 and, indeed, ought to know them. She then told 
 him, " that the child was born within less than 
 
20 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 eight months after his last return from abroad; 
 that it was said to have come before its time, but 
 that having pressed to see it, she was refused/' 
 This, indeed, was true, and confirmed the good 
 woman in her suspicion ; for Flavilla, who had 
 still resented the freedom which she had taken in 
 her remonstrance, had kept her at a great distance : 
 and the servants, to gratify the mistress, treated 
 her with the utmost insolence and contempt. 
 
 At this relation Mercator turned pale. He now 
 recollected, that his question concerning the child's 
 birth had been evaded ; and concluded, that he 
 had been shedding tears of tenderness and joy over 
 a strumpet and a bastard, who had robbed him of 
 his patrimony, his honour, and his peace. He 
 started up with the furious wildness of sudden 
 phrenzy ; but she with great difficulty prevailed 
 upon him not to leave the room. He sat down 
 and remained some time motionless, with his eyes 
 fixed on the ground, and his hands locked in each 
 other. In proportion as he believed his wife to 
 be guilty, his tenderness for his father revived ; 
 and he resolved, with yet greater zeal, to prosecute 
 his purpose of immediately attempting a reconci- 
 liation. 
 
 In this state of confusion and distress, he went 
 to the house, where he learned that his father had 
 died early in the morning, and that his relations 
 were then assembled to read his will. Fulvius, a 
 brother of Mercator's mother, with whom he had 
 always been a favourite, happening to pass from 
 one room to another, heard his voice. He accosted 
 him with a great ardour of friendship ; and, sooth- 
 ing him -with expressions of condolence and affec- 
 tion, insisted to introduce him to the company. 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 21 
 
 Mercator tacitly consented: he was received at 
 least with civility by his brothers, and sitting 
 down among them the will was read. He seemed 
 to listen like the rest ; but was, indeed, musing 
 over the story which he had just heard, and lost in 
 the speculation of his own wretchedness. He 
 waked as from a dream, when the voice of the 
 person who had been reading was suspended ; and 
 finding that he could no longer contain himself, he 
 started up and would have left the company. 
 
 Of the will which had been read before him, he 
 knew nothing: but his uncle believing that he 
 was moved with grief and resentment at the man- 
 ner in which he had been mentioned in it, and the 
 bequest only of a shilling, took him into another 
 room ; and, to apologize for his father's unkind- 
 ness, told him, that " the resentment which he 
 expressed at his marriage, was every day increased 
 by the conduct of his wife, whose character was 
 now become notoriously infamous; for that she 
 had been seen at the lodgings of a known prosti- 
 tute, with whom she appeared to be well ac- 
 quainted." This account threw Mercator into 
 another agony ; from which he was, however, at 
 length recovered by his uncle, who, as the only 
 expedient by whicn he could retrieve his misfor- 
 tune and soothe his distress, proposed that he should 
 no more return to his lodgings, but go home with 
 him ; and that he would himself take such mea- 
 sures with his wife, as could scarce fail of inducing 
 her to accept a separate maintenance, assume 
 another name, and trouble him no more. Merca- 
 tor, in the bitterness of his affliction, consented to 
 this proposal, and they went away together. 
 
 Mercator, in the mean time, was expected by 
 
22 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 Flavilla with the most tender impatience. She 
 had put her little boy to bed, and decorated a small 
 room in which they had been used to sup by them- 
 selves, and which she had shut up in his absence ; 
 she counted the moments as they passed, and lis- 
 tened to every carriage and every step that she 
 heard. Supper now was ready : her impatience 
 was increased ; terror was at length mingled with 
 regret, and her fondness was only busied to afflict 
 her: she wished, she feared, she accused, she 
 apologized, and she wept. In the height of these 
 eager expectations and this tender distress, she re- 
 ceived a billet which Mercatorhad been persuaded 
 by his uncle to write, in which he upbraided her 
 in the strongest terms with abusing his confidence 
 and dishonouring his bed ; " of this," he said, 
 " he had now obtained sufficient proof to do jus- 
 tice to himself, and that he was determined to see 
 her no more." 
 
 To those, whose hearts have not already ac- 
 quainted them with the agony which seized Fla- 
 villa upon the sight of this billet, all attempts to 
 describe it would be not only ineffectual but ab- 
 surd. Having passed the night without sleep, and 
 the next day without food, disappointed in every 
 attempt to discover what was become of Mercator, 
 and doubting if she should have found him, whe^ 
 ther it would be possible to convince him of her 
 innocence ; the violent agitation of her mind pro- 
 duced a slow fever, which, before she considered 
 it as a disease, she communicated to the child 
 while she cherished it at her bosom, and wept 
 over it as an orphan, whose life she was sustajnr 
 ing with her own. 
 
 After Mercator had been absent about ten 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 23 
 
 days, his uncle, having persuaded him to accom- 
 pany some friends to a country seat at the dis- 
 tance of near sixty miles, went to his lodgings in 
 order to discharge the rent, and try what terms 
 he could make with Flavilla, whom he hoped to 
 intimidate with threats of a prosecution and di- 
 vorce; butwhen he came, he found that Flavilla 
 was sinking very fast under her' disease, and that 
 the child was dead already. The woman of the 
 . house, into whose hands she had just put her re- 
 peating watch and some other ornaments as a se- 
 curity for her rent, was so touched with her dis- 
 tress, and so firmly persuaded of her innocence by 
 the manner in which she had addressed her, and 
 the calm solemnity with which she absolved those 
 by whom she had been traduced, that as soon as 
 she had discovered Fulvius's business, she threw 
 herself on her knees, and intreated, that if he knew 
 where Mercator was to be found, he would urge 
 him to return, that if possible the life of Flavilla 
 might be preserved, and the happiness of both 
 be restored by her justification. Fulvius, who still 
 suspected appearances, or at least was in doubt of 
 the cause that had produced them, would not dis- 
 cover his nephew ; but after much entreaty and 
 expostulation, at last engaged upon his honour for 
 the conveyance of a letter. The woman, as soon 
 as she had obtained this promise, ran up and com- 
 municated it to Flavilla ; who, when she had re- 
 covered from the surprize and tumult which it 
 occasioned, was supported in her bed, and in about 
 half an hour, after many efforts and many inter- 
 vals, wrote a short billet, which was sealed and 
 put into the hands of Fulvius. 
 Fulvius immediately inclosed and dispatched it 
 
Hi- CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 by the post, resolving that, in a question so doubt- 
 ful and of such importance, he would no farther 
 interpose. Mercator, who, the moment he cast 
 his eye upon the letter, knew both the hand and 
 seal, after pausing a few moments in suspence, at 
 length tore it open, and read these words:— 
 
 " Such has been my folly, that, perhaps, I should not be 
 acquitted of guilt in any circumstances, but those in which 
 I write. I do not, therefore, but for your sake, wish them, 
 other than they are. The dear infant, whose birth has un- 
 done me, now lies dead at my side, a victim to my indiscre- 
 tion and your resentment. I am scarce able to guide my 
 pen. But I most earnestly entreat to see you, that you 
 may at least have the satisfaction to hear me attest my in- 
 nocence with the last sigh, and seal our reconciliation on 
 my lips while they are yet sensible of the impression." 
 
 Mercator, whom an earthquake would less have 
 affected than this letter, felt all his tenderness re- 
 vive in a moment, and reflected with unutterable 
 anguish upon the rashness of his resentment. At 
 the thought of his distance from London, he started 
 as if he had felt a dagger in his heart : he lifted up 
 his eyes to Heaven, with a look that expressed at 
 once an accusation of himself, and a petition for 
 her ; and then rushing out of the house, without 
 taking leave of any, or ordering a servant to attend 
 him, he took post horses at a neighbouring inn, 
 and in less than six hours was in Leicester-fields. 
 But notwithstanding his speed, he arrived too late ; 
 Flavilla had suffered the last agony, and her eyes 
 could behold him no more. Grief and disappoint*, 
 ment, remorse and despair, now totally subverted 
 his reason. It became necessary to remove him 
 by force from the body : and after a confinement 
 of two years in a mad-house, he died. 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 25 
 
 May every lady, on whose memory compas- 
 sion shall record these events, tremble to assume 
 the levity of Flavilla ; for, perhaps, it is in the 
 power of no man in Mercator's circumstances, to 
 be less jealous than Mercator. 
 
 ALMERINE AND SHELIMAH. 
 
 (from the adventurer-) 
 
 In those remote times when, by the intervention 
 of fairies, men received good and evil, which 
 succeeding generations could expect only from 
 natural causes, Soliman, a mighty prince, reigned 
 over a thousand provinces in the distant regions 
 of the east. It is recorded of Soliman, that he 
 had no favourite ; but among the principal nobles 
 of his court was Omaraddin. 
 
 Omaraddin had two daughters, Almerine and 
 Shelimah. At the birth of Almerine, the fairy 
 Elfarina had presided ; and, in compliance with 
 the importunate and reiterated request of the pa- 
 rents, had endowed her with every natural excel- 
 lence both of body and mind, and decreed that 
 " she should be sought in marriage by a sovereign 
 prince." 
 
 When the wife of Omaraddin was pregnant 
 with Shelimah, the fairy Elfariiaa was again in- 
 c 
 
26 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 voked ; at which Farimina, another power of the 
 aerial kingdom, was offended. Farimina was in^ 
 exorable and cruel ; the number of her votaries, 
 therefore, was few. Elfarina was placable and 
 benevolent ; and fairies of this character were ob- 
 served to be superior in power, whether because 
 it is the nature of vice to defeat its own purpose, 
 or whether the calm and equal tenor of a virtuous 
 mind prevents those mistakes, which are commit- 
 ted in the tumult and precipitation of outrageous 
 malevolence. But Farimina, from whatever 
 cause, resolved that her influence should not be 
 wanting ; she, therefore, as far as she was able, 
 precluded the influence of Elfarina, by first pro- 
 nouncing the incantation which determined the 
 fortune of the infant, whom she discovered by 
 divination to be a girl. Farimina, that the inno- 
 cent object of her malice might be despised by 
 others, and perpetually employed in tormenting 
 herself, decreed, " that her person should be ren* 
 dered hideous by every species of deformity, and 
 that all her wishes should spontaneously produce 
 an opposite effect." 
 
 The parents dreaded the birth, of the infant 
 under this malediction, with which Elfarina had 
 acquainted them, and which she could not reverse. 
 The moment theybeheld it, they were solicitous only 
 to conceal it from the world ; they considered the 
 complicated deformity of the unhappy Shelimah, 
 as some reproach to themselves ; and as they could 
 not hope to change her appearance, they did not 
 find themselves interested in her felicity. They 
 made no request to Elfarina, that she would by 
 any intellectual endowment alleviate miseries which 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 27 
 
 they should not participate, but seemed content 
 that a being so hideous should suffer perpetual 
 disappointment ; and, indeed, they concurred to 
 injure an infant which they could not behold with 
 complacency, by sending her, with only one at- 
 tendant, to a remote castle which stood on the 
 confines of a wood. 
 
 Elfarina, however, did not thus forsake inno- 
 cence in distress ; but to counterbalance the evils 
 of obscurity, neglect, and ugliness, she decreed, 
 that ' f to the taste of Shelimah the coarsest food 
 should be the most exquisite dainty ; that the rags 
 which covered her should in her estimation be 
 equal to cloth of gold ; that she should prize a 
 palace less than a cottage ; and that in these cir- 
 cumstances love should be a stranger to her 
 breast." T° prevent the vexation which would 
 arise from the continual disappointment of her 
 wishes, appeared at first to be more difficult; but 
 this was at length perfectly effected by endowing 
 her with content. 
 
 While Shelimah was immured in a remote 
 castle, neglected and forgotten, every city in the 
 dominions of Soliman contributed to decorate the 
 person, or cultivate the mind of Almerine. The 
 house of her father was the resort of all who ex- 
 celled in learning of whatever class ; and as the 
 wit of Almerine was equal to her beauty, her 
 knowledge was soon equal to her wit. 
 
 Thus accomplished, she became the object of 
 universal admiration ; every heart throbbed at her 
 approach, every tongue was silent when she 
 spoke ; at the glance of her eye every cheek was 
 covered with blushes of diffidence or desire, and 
 c2 
 
£8 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 at her command every foot became swift as that 
 of the roe. But Almerine, whom ambition was 
 thus jealous to obey, who was reverenced by 
 hoary wisdom, and beloved by youthful beauty, 
 was perhaps the most wretched of her sex. Per- 
 petual adulation had made her haughty and fierce ; 
 her penetration and delicacy rendered almost every 
 object offensive; she was disgusted with imper- 
 fections which others could not discover; her 
 breast was corroded by detestation, when others 
 were softened by pity ; she lost the sweetness of 
 sleep by the want of exercise, and the relish of 
 food by continual luxury : but her life became yet 
 more wretched, by her sensibility of that passion 
 on which the happiness of life is believed chiefly 
 to depend. 
 
 Nourassin, the physician of Soliman, was of 
 noble birth, and celebrated for his skill through 
 all the east. He had just attained the meridian of 
 life ; his person was graceful, and his manner soft 
 and insinuating. Among many others, by whom 
 Almerine had been taught to investigate nature, 
 Nourassin had acquainted her with the qualities of 
 trees and herbs. Of him she learned, how an 
 innumerable progeny are contained in the parent 
 plant; how they expand and quicken by degrees; 
 how from the same soil each imbibes a different 
 juice, which rising from the root hardens into 
 branches above, swells into leaves, and flowers, 
 and fruits, infinitely various in colour, and taste, 
 and smell ; of power to repel diseases, or precipi- 
 tate the stroke of death. 
 
 Whether by the caprice which is common to 
 violent passions, or whether by some potion which 
 
CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTH. 29 
 
 Nourassin found means to administer to his scho- 
 lar, is not known ; but of Nourassin she became 
 enamoured to the most romantic excess. The 
 pleasure with which she had before reflected on 
 the decree of the fairy, " that she should be 
 sought in marriage by a sovereign prince," was 
 now at an end. It was the custom of the nobles 
 to present their daughters to the king, when they 
 entered their eighteenth year; an event which 
 Almerine had often anticipated with impatience 
 and hope, but now wished to prevent with solici- 
 tude and terror. The period urged forward, like 
 every thing future, with silent and irresistible ra- 
 pidity, at length arrived. The curiosity of Soliman 
 had been raised, as well by accidental encomiums, 
 as by the artifices of Omaraddin, who now hasted 
 to gratify it with the utmost anxiety and pertur- 
 bation : he discovered the confusion of his daugh- 
 ter, and imagined that it was produced like his 
 own, by the uncertainty and importance of an 
 event, which would be determined before the day 
 should be passed. He endeavoured to give her a 
 peaceful confidence in the promise of the fairy, 
 which he wanted himself; and perceived with re- 
 gret, that her distress rather increased than-di- 
 minished : this incident, however, as he had no 
 suspicion of the cause, only rendered him more 
 impatient of delay ; and Almerine, covered with 
 ornaments by which art and nature were ex- 
 hausted, was, however reluctant, introduced to 
 the king. 
 
 Soliman was now in his thirtieth year. He had 
 sate ten years upon the throne, and for the steadi- 
 ness of his virtue had been surnamed the Just* 
 c3 
 
SO CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 He had hitherto considered the gratification of ap- 
 petite as a low enjoyment, allotted to weakness 
 and obscurity ; and the exercise of heroic virtue, 
 as the superior felicity of eminence and power. 
 He had as yet taken no wife ; nor had he im- 
 mured in his palace a multitude of unhappy beau- 
 ties, in whom desire had no choice, and affection 
 no object, to be successively forsaken after unre- 
 sisted violation, and at last sink into the grave- 
 without having answered any nobler purpose, 
 than sometimes to have gratified the caprice of a 
 tyrant, whom they saw at no other season, and 
 whose presence could raise no passion more remote 
 from detestation than fear. 
 
 Such was Soliman; who, having gazed some 
 moments upon Almerine with silent admiration, 
 rose up, and turning to the princes who stood 
 round him, " To-morrow," said he, " I will grant 
 the request which you have so often repeated, and 
 place a beauty upon my throne, by whom I may 
 transmit my dominion to posterity ; to-morrow, 
 the daughter of .Omaraddin shall be my w T ife." 
 
 The joy with which Omaraddin heard this de- 
 claration, was abated by the effect which it pro- 
 duced upon Almerine : who, after some ineffec- 
 tual struggles with the passions which agitated 
 her mind, threw herself into the arms of her wo- 
 men, and burst into tears. Soliman immediately 
 dismissed his attendants; and taking her in his 
 arms, enquired the cause of her distress: this, 
 however, was a secret, which neither her pride 
 nor her fear would suffer her to reveal. She con- 
 tinued silent and inconsolable ; and Soliman, 
 though he secretly suspected some other attach- 
 
CLASSIC TALES.-— HAWKESWORTH. 31 
 
 ment, yet appeared to be satisfied with the sug- 
 gestions of her father, that her emotion was only 
 such as is common to the sex upon any great and 
 unexpected event. He desisted from farther im- 
 portunity, and commanded that her women should 
 remove her to a private apartment of the palace, 
 and that she should be attended by his physician 
 Nourassin. 
 
 Nourassin, who had already learned what had 
 happened, found his despair relieved by this op- 
 portunity of another interview. The lovers, how- 
 ever, were restrained from condolence and con- 
 sultation, by the presence of the women who 
 could not be dismissed : but Nourassin put a small 
 vial into the hand of Almerine as he departed, 
 and told her, that it contained a cordial, which, if 
 administered in time, would infallibly restore the 
 cheerfulness and vigour that she had lost. These 
 words were heard by the attendants, though they 
 were understood only by Almerine; she readily 
 comprehended, that the potion she had received 
 was poison, which would relieve her from languor 
 and melancholy by removing the cause, if it 
 could be given to the king before her marriage 
 was completed. After Nourassin was gone, she 
 sate ruminating on the infelicity of her situation, 
 and the dreadful events of the morrow, till the 
 night was far spent; and then, exhausted with 
 perturbation and watching, she sunk down on the 
 sofa, and fell into a deep sleep. 
 
 The king, whose rest had been interrupted by 
 the effects which the beauty of Almerine had pro- 
 duced upon his mind, rose at the dawn of day, and 
 sending for her principal attendant, who had been 
 •rdered to watch in her chamber, eagerly enquired 
 
32 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 what had been her behaviour, and whether she 
 had recovered from her surprise. He was ac- 
 quainted that she had lately fallen asleep, and 
 that a cordial had been left by Nourassin, which 
 he affirmed would, if not too long delayed, sud- 
 denly recover her from languor and dejection, and 
 which, notwithstanding, she had neglected to 
 take. Soliman derived new hopes from this in, 
 telligence ; and that she might meet him at the 
 hour of marriage, with the cheerful vivacity 
 which the cordial of Nourassin would inspire, 
 he ordered that it should, without asking her any 
 question, be mixed with whatever she first drank 
 in the morning. 
 
 Almerine, in whose blood the long-continued 
 tumult of her mind had produced a feverish heat, 
 awaked parched with thirst, and called for sherbet : 
 her attendant, having first emptied the vial into 
 the bowl, as she had been commanded by the 
 king, presented it to her, and she drank it off. 
 As/soon as she had recollected the horrid business 
 of the day, she missed the vial, and in a few mo-> 
 ments she learned how it had been applied. The 
 sudden terror which now seized her, hastened the 
 effect of the poison, and she felt already the fire 
 kindled in her veins, by which in a few hours she 
 would be destroyed. Her disorder was now ap- 
 parent, though the cause was not suspected: 
 Nourassin was again introduced, and acquainted 
 with the mistake; an antidote was immediately 
 prepared and administered ; and Almerine waited 
 the event in agonies of body and mind, which are 
 not to be described. The internal commotion 
 every instant increased; sudden and intolerable 
 heat and cold succeeded each other ; and in less 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKES WORTH. 3$ 
 
 than an hour, she was covered with a leprosy ; her 
 hair fell, her head swelled, and every feature in 
 her countenance was distorted. Nourassin, who 
 was doubtful of the event, had withdrawn to con- 
 ceal his confusion; and Almerine, not knowing 
 that these dreadful appearances were the presages 
 of recovery, and shewed that the fatal effects of 
 the poison were expeiled from the citadel of life, 
 conceived her dissolution to be near, and in the 
 agony of remorse and terror earnestly requested 
 to see the king. Soliman hastily entered her 
 apartment, and beheld the ruins of her beauty 
 with astonishment, which every moment increased, 
 while she discovered the mischief which had been 
 intended against him and which had now fallen 
 upon her own head. 
 
 Soliman, after he had recovered from his asto- 
 nishment, retired to his own apartment ; and in 
 this interval of recollection he soon discovered 
 that the desire of beauty had seduced him from 
 the path of justice, and that he ought to have 
 dismissed the person whose affections he believed 
 to have another object. He did not therefore 
 take away the life of Nourassin for a crime, to 
 which he himself had furnished the temptation ; 
 but as some punishment was necessary as a sanc- 
 tion to the laws, he condemned him to perpetual 
 banishment. He commanded that Almerine 
 should be sent back to her father, that her life 
 might be a memorial of his folly ; and he deter- 
 mined, if possible, to atone by a second marriage 
 for the errors of the first. He considered how he 
 might enforce and illustrate some general precept, 
 which would contribute more to the felicity of his 
 people, than his leaving them a sovereign . of his 
 
34 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 own blood ; and at length he determined to publish 
 this proclamation throughout all the provinces of 
 his empire : ff Soliman, whose judgment has been 
 perverted, and whose life endangered by the in- 
 fluence and the treachery of unrivalled beauty, is 
 now resolved to place equal deformity upon his 
 throne ; that, when this event is recorded, the 
 world may know, that by vice beauty became 
 yet more odious than ugliness ; and learn, like 
 Soliman, to despise that excellence, which, with- 
 out virtue, is only a specious evil, the reproach of 
 the possessor, and the snare of others/' 
 
 Shelimah, during these events, experienced a 
 very different fortune. She remained till she was 
 thirteen years of age in the castle ; and it hap- 
 pened, that about this time, the person to whose 
 care she had been committed, after a short sickness 
 died. Shelimah imagined that she slept; but 
 perceiving that all attempts to waken her were in- 
 effectual, and her stock of provisions being ex- 
 hausted, she found means to open the wicket, and 
 wander alone into the wood. She satisfied her 
 hunger with such berries and wild fruits as she 
 found, and at night, not being able to find her 
 way back, she lay down under a thicket and slept. 
 Here she was awaked early in the morning by a 
 peasant, whose compassion happened to be proof 
 against deformity. The man asked her many 
 questions ; but her answers rather increasing than 
 gratifying his curiosity, he set her before him on 
 his beast, and carried her to his house in the next 
 village, at the distance of about six leagues. In 
 his family she was the jest of some, and the pity 
 of others; she was employed in the meanest 
 offices,, and her figure procured her the name of 
 
CLASSIC TALES.— -HAWKESWORTH. 35 
 
 Goblin. But amidst all the disadvantages of her 
 situation, she enjoyed the utmost felicity of food 
 and rest ; as she formed no wishes she suffered no 
 disappointment ; her body was healthful, and her 
 mind at peace. 
 
 In this station she had continued four years, 
 when the heralds appeared in the village with the 
 proclamation of Soliman. Shelimah ran out with 
 others to gaze at the parade ; she listened to the 
 proclamation with great attention, and, when it 
 was ended 3 she perceived that the eyes of the mul- 
 titude were fixed upon her. One of the horsemen 
 at the same time alighted, and with great ceremony 
 entreated her to enter a chariot which was in the 
 retinue, telling her, that she was without doubt 
 the person whom Nature and Soliman had des- 
 tined to be their queen. Shelimah replied with a 
 smile 3 that she had no desire to be great ; " but/' 
 said she, " if your proclamation be true, I 
 should rejoice to be the instrument of such admo- 
 nition to mankind ; and> upon this condition, I wish 
 that I were indeed the most deformed of my spe- 
 cies:" The moment this wish was uttered, the 
 spell of Farimina produced the contrary effect: 
 her skin, which was scaly and yellow, became 
 smooth and white, her stature was perceived gra- 
 dually to increase, her neck rose like a pillar of 
 ivory, her bosom expanded, and her waist became 
 less; her hair, which before was thin and of a 
 dirty red, was now black as the feathers of the 
 raven, and flowed in large ringlets on her shoul- 
 ders ; the most exquisite sensibility now sparkled 
 in her eye, her cheeks were tinged with the blushes 
 of the morning, and her lips moistened with the 
 dew: every limb was perfect, and every motion 
 
36 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 was graceful. A white robe was thrown over her 
 by an invisible hand; the crowd fell back in 
 astonishment, and gazed with insatiable curiosity 
 upon such beauty as before they had never seen. 
 Shelimah was not less astonished than the crowd : 
 she stood awhile with her eyes fixed upon the 
 ground ; and finding her confusion increase, would 
 have retired in silence ; but she was prevented by 
 the heralds, who having with much importunity 
 prevailed upon her to enter the chariot, returned 
 with her to the metropolis, presented her to Soli- 
 man, and related the prodigy. 
 
 Soliman looked round upon the assembly, in 
 doubt whether to prosecute or relinquish his pur- 
 pose ; when Abbaran, a hoary sage, who had 
 presided in the council of his father, came for- 
 ward, and placing his forehead on the footstool 
 of the throne ; " Let the king," said he, " accept 
 the reward of virtue, and take Shelimah to his 
 bed. In what age^ and in what nation, shall not 
 the beauty of Shelimah be honoured ? to whom 
 will it be transmitted alone ? Will not the story of 
 the wife of Soliman descend with her name? will 
 it not be known that thy desire of beauty was not 
 gratified, till it had been subdued ? that by an ini- 
 quitous purpose beauty became hideous, and by 
 a virtuous wish deformity became fair?" 
 
 Soliman, who had fixed his eyes upon Shelimah, 
 discovered a mixture of joy and confusion in her 
 countenance, which determined his choice, and 
 was an earnest of his felicity ; for at that moment, 
 Love, who, during her state of deformity, had 
 been excluded by the fairj T Elfarina's interdiction, 
 took possession of her breast. 
 
 The nuptial ceremony was not long delayed, 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 37 
 
 and Elfarina honoured it with her presence. When 
 she departed, she bestowed on both her benedic- 
 tion; and put into the hand of Shelimah a scroll 
 of vellum, on which was this inscription in letters 
 of gold : 
 
 " Remertiber, Shelimah, the fate of Almerine, 
 who still lives the reproach of parental folly, of 
 degraded beauty, and perverted sense. Remem- 
 ber, Almerine ; and let her example and thy own 
 experience teach thee, that wit and beauty, learn- 
 ing, affluence, and honour, are not essential to 
 human felicity ; with these she was wretched, and 
 without them thou wast happy. The advantages 
 which I have hitherto bestowed, must now be ob- 
 tained by an effort of thy own : that which gives 
 relish to the coarsest food, is temperance : the ap- 
 parel and the dwelling of a peasant and a prince, 
 are equal in the estimation of humility ; and the 
 torment of ineffectual desires is prevented, by the 
 resignation of piety to the will of Heaven ; ad- 
 vantages which are in the power of every Wretch, 
 who repines at the unequal distribution of good 
 and evil, and imputes to nature the effects of his 
 own folly." 
 
 The king, to whom Shelimah communicated 
 these precepts of the fairy, caused them to be 
 transcribed, and with an account of the events 
 which had produced them distributed over all his 
 dominions. Precepts which were thus enforced, 
 had an immediate and extensive influence ; and the 
 happiness of Soliman and of Shelimah was thus 
 communicated to the multitudes whom they go- 
 verned. 
 
38 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 AMURATH. 
 
 (from the adventurer.) 
 
 By which of the Indian sages of antiquity the fol- 
 lowing story was written, or whether the people 
 of the East have any remote tradition upon which 
 it is founded, is not known : but it was probably 
 related in the first person to give it an , air of 
 greater dignity, and render its influence more 
 powerful : nor would it, perhaps, appear altoge 
 ther incredible, to people among whom the Me- 
 tempsichosis is an article of faith, and the visible 
 agency of superior beings admitted without scruple. 
 
 Amurath, Sultan of the East, the judge of na- 
 tions, the disciple of adversity, records the won- 
 ders of his life : let those who presumptuously 
 question the ways of Providence,' blush in silence 
 and be wise ; let the proud be humble and obtain 
 honour ; and let the sensual reform and be happy. 
 
 The angel of Death closed the eyes of the 
 Sultan Abradin my father, and his empire de- 
 scended to me in the eighteenth year of my age. 
 At first my mind was awed to humility, and sof- 
 tened with grief; I was insensible to the splendour 
 of dominion, I heard the addresses of flattery 
 with disgust, and received the homage of depen- 
 dent greatness with indifference. I had always 
 regarded my father not only with love but reve- 
 rence ; and I was now perpetually recollecting 
 instances of his tenderness, and reviewing the so- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 33 
 
 lemn scene, in which he recommended me to 
 heaven in imperfect language, and grasped my 
 hand in the agonies of death. 
 
 One evening, after having concealed myself all 
 day in his chamber, I visited his grave : I pros- 
 trated myself on his tomb ; sorrow overflowed my 
 eyes, and devotion kindled in my bosom. I felt 
 myself suddenly smitten on the shoulder as with a 
 rod ; and looking up, I perceived a man whose 
 eyes were piercing as light, and his beard whiter 
 than snow. " I am," said he, '■' the Genius 
 Syndarac, the friend of thy father Abradin, who 
 was the fear of his enemies, and the desire of his 
 people ; whose smile diffused gladness like the 
 lustre of the morning, and whose frown was dread- 
 ful as the gathering of a tempest : resign thyself 
 to my influence, and thou shalt be like him." I 
 bowed myself to the earth in, token of gratitude 
 and obedience, and he put a ring on the middle 
 finger of my left hand, in which I perceived a 
 ruby of a deep colour and uncommon brightness. 
 ** This ring," said he, " shall mark out to thee 
 the boundaries of good and evil ; that without 
 weighing remote consequences, thou may'st know 
 the nature and tendency of every action. Be at- 
 tentive, therefore, to the silent admonition ; and 
 when the circle of gold shall by a sudden contrac- 
 tion press thy finger, and the ruby shall grow pale, 
 desist immediately from what thou shalt be doing, 
 and mark down that action in thy memory as a 
 transgression of the rule of right: keep my gift 
 as a pledge of happiness and honour, and take it 
 not off for a moment." I received the ring with 
 a sense of obligation which I strove to express, 
 d 2 
 
40 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 and an astonishment that compelled me to be silent. 
 The Genius perceived my confusion, and turning 
 from me with a smile of complacency, immedi- 
 ately disappeared. 
 
 During the first moon I was so cautious and 
 circumspect, that the pleasure of reflecting that my 
 ring had not once indicated a fault, was lessened 
 by a doubt of its virtue. I applied myself to 
 public business ; my melancholy decreased as my 
 mind was diverted to other objects; and lest the 
 youth of my court should think that recreation 
 was too long suspended, I appointed to hunt the 
 lion. But though I went out to the sport rather to 
 gratify others than myself, yet my usual ardour 
 returned in the field ; I grew warm in the pursuit, 
 I continued the chace, which was unsuccessful, too 
 long, and returned fatigued and disappointed. 
 
 As I entered the seraglio, I was met by a little 
 dog that had been my father's, who expressed his 
 joy at my return by jumping round me, and en- 
 deavouring to reach my hand : but as I was not 
 disposed to receive his caresses, I struck him in 
 the fretfulness of my displeasure so severe a blow 
 with my foot, that it left him scarce power to 
 crawl away and hide himself under a sofa in a 
 corner of the apartment. At this moment I felt 
 the ring press my finger, and looking upon the 
 ruby, I perceived the glow of its colour abated. 
 
 I was at first struck with surprize and regret ; 
 but surprize and regret quickly gave way to dis- 
 dain j ff Shall not the Sultan Amurath," said I, 
 " to whom a thousand kings pay tribute, and in 
 whose hand is the life of nations, shall not Amu- 
 rath strike a dog that offends him, without being 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 41 
 
 reproached for having transgressed the rule of 
 right?" My ring again pressed my finger, and 
 the ruby became more pale : immediately the 
 palace shook with a burst of thunder, and the 
 Genius Syndarac again stood before me. 
 
 " Amurath," said he, " thou hast offended 
 against thy brother of the dust ; a being who, like 
 thee, has received from the Almighty a capacity 
 of pleasure and pain ; pleasure which caprice is 
 not allowed to suspend, and pain which justice 
 only has a right to inflict. If thou art justified by 
 power in afflicting inferior beings, I should be 
 justified in afflicting thee : but my power yet 
 spares thee, because it is directed by the laws of 
 sovereign goodness, and because thou mayest yet 
 be reclaimed by admonition. But yield not to the 
 impulse of quick resentment, nor indulge in cru- 
 elty the forwardness of disgust, lest by the laws 
 of goodness I be compelled to afflict thee ; for 
 he that scorns reproof, must be reformed by pu- 
 nishment, or lost for ever." 
 
 At the presence of Syndaric I was troubled, and 
 his words covered me with confusion : I fell pros- 
 trate at his feet, and heard him pronounce with a 
 milder accent, " Expect not henceforth that I 
 should answer the demands of arrogance, or gra- 
 tify the security of speculation: confide in my 
 friendship, and trust implicitly to thy ring." 
 
 As the chace has produced so much infelicity, 
 I did not repeat it ; but invited my nobles to a 
 banquet, and entertained them with dancing and 
 music. I had given leave that all ceremony should 
 be suspended, and that the company should treat 
 me not as a sovereign but an equal, because the 
 » 3 
 
4<2 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 conversation would otherwise be encumbered or 
 restrained ; and I encouraged others to pleasantry, 
 by indulging the luxuriancy of my own imagina- 
 tion. But though I affected to throw off the trap- 
 pings of royalty, I had not sufficient magnanimity 
 to despise them. I enjoyed the voluntary defe- 
 rence which was paid me, and was secretly of- 
 fended at Alibeg my visier, who endeavoured to 
 prevail upon the assembly to enjoy the liberty that 
 had been given them, and was himself an exam- 
 ple of the conduct that he recommended. I sin- 
 gled out as the subject of my raillery the man 
 who alone deserved my approbation; he believed 
 my condescension to be sincere, and imagined 
 that he was securing my favour by that behavi- 
 our which had incurred rpy displeasure; he was, 
 therefore, grieved and confounded to perceive that 
 I laboured to render him ridiculous and contemp- 
 tible : I enjoyed his pain, and was elated at my 
 success ; but my attention was suddenly called to 
 my ring, and I perceived the ruby change colour. 
 I desisted for a moment ; but some of my courtiers 
 having discovered and seconded my intention, I 
 felt my vanity and my resentment gratified: I 
 endeavoured to wash away the remembrance of 
 my ring with wine ; my satire became more bitter, 
 and Alibeg discovered yet greater distress. My 
 ring again reproached me ; but I still persevered: 
 the visier was at length roused to his defence; 
 probably he had discovered and despised my 
 weakness; his replies were so poignant, that I 
 became outrageous, and descended from raillery 
 to invective : at length, disguising the anguish of 
 3ais mind with a smile, " Amurath " said he, " if 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 43 
 
 the sultan should know, that after having invited 
 your friends to festivity and merriment, you had 
 assumed his authority, and insulted those who 
 were not aware that you disdained to be treated 
 with the familiarity of friendship, you would cer- 
 tainly fall under his displeasure." The severity 
 of this sarcasm, which was extorted by long pro- 
 vocation from a man warmed with wine, stung me 
 with intolerable rage : I started up, and spurning 
 him from the table was about to draw my po- 
 niard: when my attention was again called to my 
 ring; and I perceived with some degree of regret, 
 that the ruby had faded almost to a perfect white. 
 
 But instead of resolving to be more watchful 
 against whatever might bring me under this silent 
 reproof, I comforted myself, that the Genius 
 would no more alarm me with his presence, The 
 irregularities of my conduct increased almost im- 
 perceptibly, and the intimations of my ring be- 
 came proportionably more frequent though less 
 forcible, till at last they were so familiar, that I 
 scarce remarked when they were given and when 
 they were suspended. 
 
 It was soon discovered that I was pleased with 
 servility ; servility, therefore, was practised, and 
 I rewarded it sometimes with a pension, and some- 
 times with a place. Thus the government of my 
 kingdoms was left to petty tyrants, who oppressed 
 the people to enrich themselves. In the mean 
 time I filled my seraglio with women, among 
 whom I abandoned myself to sensuality, without 
 enjoying the pure delight of that love which arises 
 from esteem. But I had not yet stained my hands, 
 with blood, nor dared to ridicule the laws which I 
 neglected to fulfil. 
 
44 CLASSIC TALES.-— HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 My resentment against Alibeg, however unjust, 
 was inflexible, and terminated in the most perfect 
 hatred : I degraded him from his office ; but I still 
 kept him at court, that I might embitter his life 
 by perpetual indignities, and practise against him 
 new schemes of malevolence. 
 
 Selima, the daughter of this prince, had been 
 intended by my father for my wife ; and the mar- 
 riage had been delayed only by his death : but the 
 pleasure and the dignity that Aiibeg would derive 
 from this alliance, had now changed my purpose. 
 Yet such was the beauty of Selima, that I gazed 
 with desire ; and such w r as her wit, that I listened 
 with delight. I therefore resolved, that I would 
 if possible seduce her to voluntary prostitution ; 
 and that when her beauty should yield to the 
 charm of variety, I would dismiss her with marks 
 of disgrace. But in this attempt I could not suc- 
 ceed; my solicitations were rejected, sometimes 
 with tears and sometimes with reproach. I became 
 every day more wretched, by seeking to bring 
 calamity upon others; I considered my disap- 
 pointment as the triumph of a slave, whom I 
 wished but did not dare to destroy; and I re- 
 garded his daughter as the instrument of my dis- 
 honour. Thus the tenderness, which before had 
 often shaken my purpose, was weakened ; my 
 desire of beauty became as selfish and as sordid 
 an appetite as my desire of food : and as I had 
 no hope of obtaining the complete gratification 
 of my lust, and my revenge, I determined to 
 enjoy Selima by force, as the only expedient to 
 alleviate my torment. 
 
 She resided by my command in an apartment 
 of the seraglio, and I entered her chamber at 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 45 
 
 midnight by a private door of which I had a 
 key ; but with inexpressible vexation I found it 
 empty. To be thus disappointed in my last at- 
 tempt, at the very moment in which I thought I 
 had insured success, distracted me with rage; and 
 instead of returning to my chamber, and con- 
 cealing my design, I called for her women. They 
 ran in pale and trembling : I demanded the lady; 
 they gazed, at me astonished and terrified, and 
 then looking upon each other stood silent ; I re- 
 peated my demand with fury and execration, and 
 to enforce it called aloud for the ministers of 
 death: they then fell prostrate at my feet, and 
 declared with one voice that they knew not where 
 she was ; that they had left her, when they were 
 dismissed for the night, sitting on a sofa pensive 
 and alone ; and that no person had since to their 
 knowledge passed in or out of her apartment. 
 
 In this account, however incredible, they per- 
 sisted without variation ; and having filled the 
 palace with alarm and confusion, I was obliged to 
 retire without gaining any intelligence by what 
 means I had been baffled, or on whom to turn my 
 resentment. I reviewed the transactions of the 
 night with anguish and regret, and bewildered 
 myself among the innumerable possibilities that 
 might have produced my disappointment. 1 re- 
 membered that the windows of fc elima's apartment 
 were open, and I imagined that she might that 
 way have escaped into the gardens of the serag- 
 lio. But why should she escape who had never 
 been confined ? If she had designed to depart, she 
 might have departed by day. Had she an assign 
 nation ? and did she intend to return, without be- 
 ing known to have been absent ? This supposition 
 
4-6 CLASSIC TALES. IIAWKESWORTH. 
 
 increased my torment ; because, if it was true, Se- 
 lima had granted to my slave that which she had 
 refused to me. But as all these conjectures were 
 uncertain, I determined to make her absence a 
 pretence to destroy her father. 
 
 In the morning I gave orders that he should be 
 seized, and brought before me; but while I was 
 yet speaking, he entered, and prostrating himself, 
 thus anticipated my accusation . '* May the Sultan 
 Amurath, in whose wrath the angel of Death goes 
 forth, rejoice for ever in the smile of Heaven! 
 Let the wretched Alibeg perish ; but let my lord 
 remember Seli ma with mercy; let him dismiss 
 the slave in whom he ceases to delight. I heard 
 no more, but cried out, f* Darest thou to mock 
 me with a request, to dismiss the daughter whom 
 thou hast stolen ! thou whose life, that has been so 
 often forfeited, I have yet spared! Restore her 
 within one hour, or affronted mercy shall give 
 thee up " ** Oh !" said he, " let not the mighty 
 sovereign of the East sport with the misery of the 
 weak : if thou hast doomed us to death, let us die 
 together." 
 
 Though I was now convinced that Alibeg be- 
 lieved I had confined Selima, and decreed her 
 death, yet I resolved to persist in requiring her at 
 hjs hands; and therefore dismissed him with a 
 repetition of my command, to produce her within 
 an hour upon pain of death. 
 
 My ring, which, during this series of events, 
 had given perpetual intimations of guilt, which 
 were always disregarded, now pressed my finger 
 so forcibly, that it gave me great pain, and com- 
 pelled my notice. I immediately retired, and gave 
 way to the discontent that swelled my bosom. 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 47 
 
 " How wretched a slave is Amurath to an invisi- 
 ble tyrant ! a being, whose malevolence or envy 
 has restrained me in the exercise of my authority 
 as a prince, and whose cunning has contrived 
 perpetually to insult me, by intimating that every 
 action of my life is a crime! How long shall I 
 groan under this intolerable oppression ! This 
 accursed ring is the badge and the instrument of 
 my subjection and dishonour : he who gave it, is 
 now perhaps in some remote region of the air ; 
 perhaps he rolls some planet in its orbit, agitates 
 the southern ocean with a tempest, or shakes 
 some distant region with an earthquake; but 
 wherever he is, he has surely a more important 
 employ than to watch my conduct. Perhaps he 
 has contrived this talisman, only to restrain me 
 from the enjoyment of some good, which he 
 wishes to withhold. I feel that my desires are 
 controuled ; and to gratify these desires is to be 
 happy." As I pronounced these words I drew 
 off the ring, and threw it to the ground with dis- 
 dain and indignation : immediately the air grew 
 dark: a cloud burst in thunder over my head, 
 and the eye of Syndarac was upon me. I stood 
 before him motionless and silent : horror thrilled 
 in my veins, and my hair stood upright. I had 
 neither power to deprecate his anger, nor to con- 
 fess my faults. In his countenance there was a 
 calm severity ; and I heard him pronounce these 
 words : " Thou hast now, as far as it is in thy 
 own power, thrown off humanity, and degraded 
 thy being : thy form therefore shall no longer con- 
 ceal thy nature, nor thy example render thy vices 
 contagious." He then touched me with his rod ; 
 and while the sound of his voice yet vibrated in 
 
4& Classic tales. — hawkeswortii. 
 
 my ears, I found myself in the midst of a desert, 
 not in the form of a man but of a monster, with 
 the fore-parts of my body like a wolf, and the 
 hinder parts like a goat. I Was still conscious to 
 every event of my life, and my intellectual powers 
 Were continued, though my passions were irritated 
 to frenzy. I now rolled in the sand in an agony 
 not to be described ; and now hastily traversed 
 the desert, impelled only by the vain desire of 
 flying from myself. I now bellowed with rage, 
 and now howled in despair ; this moment I 
 breathed execration against the Genius, and the 
 next reproached myself for having forfeited his 
 friendship. 
 
 By this violent agitation of mind and body, the 
 powers of both were soon exhausted : I crawled 
 into a den which I perceived near me, arid imme- 
 diately sunk down in a state of insensibility. I 
 slept, but sleep, instead of prolonging, put an 
 end to this interval of quiet. The Genius still 
 terrified me with his presence ; I heard his sen- 
 tence repeated, and felt again all the horrors of 
 my transformation. When I awaked, I was not 
 refreshed : calamity, though it is compelled to 
 admit slumber, can yet exclude rest. But I was 
 now rouzed by hunger ; for hunger like sleep is 
 irresistible. 
 
 1 went out in Search of prey ; and if I felt any 
 alleviation of misery, beside the hope of satisfying 
 my appetite, it was in the thought of tearing to 
 pieces whatever I should meet, and inflicting some 
 part of the evil which I endured; for though I 
 regretted my punishment, I did not repent of my 
 crimes : and as I imagined Syndarac would now 
 neither mitigate nor encrease my sufferings, I was 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 40 
 
 not restrained, either by hope or fear, from in- 
 dulging my disposition to cruelty and revenge. 
 But while I was thus meditating the destruction 
 of others, I trembled lest by some stronger sa- 
 vage I should be destroyed myself. 
 
 In the midst of this variety of torment, I heard 
 the cry of dogs, the trampling of horses, and the 
 shouts of the hunters ; and such is the love of life, 
 however wretched, that my heart sunk within me 
 at the sound. To hide myself was impossible, 
 and I was too much enfeebled either to fly or 
 resist. I stood still till they came up. At first 
 they gazed at me with wonder, and doubted whe- 
 ther they should advance : but at length a slave 
 threw a net over me, and I was dragged to the 
 city. 
 
 I now entered the metropolis of my empire, 
 amidst the noise and tumult of a rabble, who the 
 day before would have hid themselves at my 
 presence. I heard the sound of music at a dis- 
 tance: the heralds approached, and Alibeg was 
 proclaimed in my stead. I was now deserted by 
 the multitude, whose curiosity was diverted by the 
 pomp of the procession; and was conducted to 
 the place where other savages are kept, which 
 custom has considered as a part of the regalia. 
 
 My keeper was a black slave whom I did not 
 remember ever to have seen, and in whom it 
 would indeed have been a fatal presumption to 
 have stood before me. After he had given me 
 food, and the vigour of nature was restored, he 
 discovered in me such tokens of ferocity, that he 
 suffered me to fast many hours before I was again 
 fed. I was so enraged at this delay, that, for- 
 
 E 
 
50 CLASSIC TALES.— .HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 getting my dependence, I roared horribly when 
 he again approached me : so that he found it ne- 
 cessary to add blows to hunger, that he might 
 gain such an ascendancy over me, as was suitable 
 to his office. By this slave therefore, I was alter- 
 nately beaten and famished, till the fierceness of 
 my disposition being suppressed by fear and 
 languor, a milder temper insensibly stole upon 
 me ; and a demeanour that was begun by con~ 
 straint was continued by habit. 
 
 I was now treated with less severity, and strove 
 to express something like gratitude, that might 
 encourage my keeper to yet greater kindness. 
 His vanity was flattered by my submission; and, 
 to shew as well his courage as the success of his 
 discipline, he ventured sometimes to caress me 
 in the presence of those whose curiosity brought 
 them to see me. A kind of friendship thus im- 
 perceptibly grew between us, and I felt some 
 degree of the affection that I had feigned. It hap- 
 pened that a tiger, which had been lately taken, 
 broke one day into my den, while my keeper was 
 giving me my provision, and leaping upon him 
 would instantly have torn him to pieces, if I had 
 not seized the savage by the throat, and dragged 
 him to the ground : the slave presently dispatched 
 him with his dagger, and turned about to caress 
 his deliverer; but starting suddenly backward, 
 he stood motionless with astonishment, perceiving 
 that I was no longer a. monster but a dog. 
 • I was myself conscious of the change which 
 had again passed upon me, and leaping out of my 
 den, escaped from my confinement. This trans- 
 formation I considered as a reward of my fidelity, 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 51 
 
 and was perhaps never more happy than in the 
 first moments of my escape ; for I reflected, that 
 as a dog my liberty was not only restored but 
 insured ; I was no longer suspected of qualities 
 which rendered me unfit for society ; I had some 
 faint resemblance of human virtue, which is not 
 found in other animals, and therefore hoped to be 
 more generally caressed. But it was not long 
 before this joy subsided in the remembrance of 
 that dignity from which I had fallen, and from 
 which I was still at an immeasurable distance. 
 Yet I lifted up my heart in gratitude to the Power 
 who had once more brought me within the circle 
 of nature. As a brute I was more thankful for a 
 mitigation of punishment, than as a king I had 
 been for offers of the highest happiness and ho- 
 nour. And who, that is not taught by affliction, 
 can justly estimate the bounties of Heaven? 
 
 As soon as the first tumult of my mind was 
 past, I felt an irresistible inclination once more to 
 visit the apartments of my seraglio. I placed 
 myself behind an Emir whom I knew to have 
 been the friend of Alibeg, and was permitted to 
 follow him into the presence. The persons and 
 the place, the retrospection of my life which they 
 produced, and the comparison of what I was with 
 what I had been, almost overwhelmed me. I 
 went unobserved into the garden, and lay down 
 under the shade of an almond-tree, that I might 
 indulge those reflections, which though they op^ 
 pressed me with melancholy, I did not wish to 
 lose. 
 
 I had not been long in this place, before a little 
 dog, which I knew to be the same that I spurned 
 e 2 
 
52 CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 from me when he caressed me at my return from 
 hunting, came and fawned at my feet. My heart 
 now smote me, and I said to myself, " Dost thou 
 know me under this disguise ? Is thy fidelity to 
 thy lord unshaken ? Cut off as I am from the 
 converse of mankind, hast thou preserved for 
 me an affection, which I once so lightly es- 
 teemed, and requited with evil? This forgetful - 
 ness of injury, and this steady friendship, are 
 they less than human, or are they more?" I 
 was not prevented by these reflections from re- 
 turning the caresses that I received ; and Alibeg, 
 who just then entered the garden, took notice of 
 me, and ordered that I should not be turned out. 
 
 In the seraglio I soon learned, that a body, 
 which was thought to be mine, was found dead 
 in the chamber; and that Alibeg had been cho- 
 sen to succeed me, by the unanimous voice of 
 the people : but I gained no intelligence of Se- 
 lima, whose apartment I found in the possession 
 of another, and for whom I had searched every 
 part of the palace in vain. I became restless ; 
 every place was irksome ; a desire to wander 
 prevailed ; and one evening I went out at the 
 garden gate, and travelling till midnight, I lay 
 down at the foot of a sycamore-tree, and slept. 
 
 In the morning I beheld, with surprise, a wall 
 pf marble that seemed to reach to heaven, and 
 gates that were sculptured with every emblem of 
 delight. Over the gate was inscribed in letters 
 of gold, ff Within this wall liberty is unbounded, 
 and felicity complete : nature is not oppressed by 
 the tyranny of religion, nor is pleasure awed by 
 the frown of virtue. The gate is obedient to thy 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 53 
 
 wish, whosoever thou art ; enter therefore, and 
 be happy. 
 
 When I read this inscription, my bosom throb- 
 bed with tumultuous expectation : but my desire 
 to enter was repressed by the reflection, that I 
 had lost the form in which alone I could gratify 
 the appetites of a man. Desire and curiosity 
 were notwithstanding predominant : the door im- 
 mediately opened inward ; I entered, and it 
 closed after me. 
 
 But my ears were now stunned with the disso- 
 nance of riot, and my eye sickened at the con- 
 tortions of misery : disease was visible in every 
 countenance, however otherwise impressed with 
 the character of rage, of drunkenness, or of lust. 
 Rape and murder, revelling and strife, filled every 
 street and every dwelling. 
 
 As my retreat was cut off, I went forward with 
 timidity and circumspection ; for I imagined that 
 I could no otherwise escape injury, than by elud- 
 ing the notice of wretches, whose propensity to 
 ill was restrained by no law, and I perceived too 
 late, that to punish vice is to promote happiness. 
 
 It was now evening, and that I might pass the 
 night in greater security, I quitted the public way, 
 and perceiving a house that was encircled by a 
 mote, I swam over to it, and chose an obscure cor- 
 ner of the area for my asylum. I heard from 
 within the sound of dancing and music : but after 
 a short interval, was alarmed with the menaces of 
 rage, the shrieks of terror, and the wailings of 
 distress. The window of the banqueting room 
 flew open, and some venison was thrown out> 
 which fell just at my feet. As I had eaten nothing 
 e 3 
 
54* CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 since my departure from the seraglio, I regarded 
 this as a fortunate accident ; and after the plea- 
 sure of an unexpected repast, I again lay down 
 in expectation of the morning, with hope and 
 fear ; but in a short time many persons rushed 
 from the house with lights, and seemed solicitous 
 to gather up the venison which had been thrown 
 out; but not being able to find it, and at the 
 same time perceiving me, they judged that I had 
 devoured it. I was immediately seized and led 
 into the house : but as I could not discover that I 
 was the object either of malignity or kindness, I 
 was in doubt what would be the issue of the event. 
 Jt was not long before this doubt was resolved ; 
 for I soon learned from the discourse of those 
 about me, that I was suspected to have eaten 
 poison, which had been intended for another, and 
 was secured, that the effect might either remove 
 or confirm the suspicion. J±s it was not expected 
 that the poison would immediately operate, I was 
 locked up in a room by myself, 'where I reflected 
 upon the cause and the event of my confinement, 
 with inexpressible anguish, anxiety, and terror. 
 
 In this gloomy interval, a sudden light shone 
 round me, and I found myself once more in the 
 presence of the Genius. I crawled towards him 
 trembling and confounded, but not utterly with- 
 out hope. " Yet a few moments," said he, " and 
 the angel of Death shall teach thee, that the 
 wants of nature cannot be supplied with safety, 
 where the inordinate appetites of vice are not 
 restrained. Thy hunger required food; but the 
 lust and revenge of others have given thee poison/' 
 My blood grew chill as he spake ; I discovered 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 55 
 
 and abhorred my folly : but while I wished to ex- 
 press my contrition, I fell down in an agony ; my 
 eyes failed me, I shivered, was convulsed, and 
 expired. 
 
 That spark of immaterial fire which no violence 
 can quench, rose up from the dust which had thus' 
 been restored to the earth, and now animated the 
 form of a dove. On this new state of existence I 
 entered with inexpressible \ delight ; I imagined 
 that my wings were not only a pledge of safety, 
 but of the favour of Syndarac, whom I was now 
 more than ever solicitous to please. I flew im- 
 mediately from the window, and turning towards 
 the wall through which I had entered, I endea- 
 voured to rise above it, that I might quit for ever 
 a place in which guilt and wretchedness were 
 complicated in every object, and which I now 
 detested as much as before I had desired. But 
 over this region a sulphureous vapour hovered 
 like a thick cloud, which I had no sooner entered 
 than I fell down panting for breath, and had scarce 
 strength to keep my wings sufficiently extended 
 to break my fall. It was now midnight, and I 
 alighted near the mouth of a cave, in which I 
 thought there appeared some faint glimmerings of 
 light. Into this place I entered without much ap- 
 prehension ; as it seemed rather to be the retreat 
 of penitence than the recess of luxury : but lest 
 the noise of my wings should discover me to any 
 hateful or mischievous inhabitant of this gloomy 
 solitude, I entered in silence and upon my feet. 
 As I went forward the cave grew wider ; and by 
 the light of a lamp which was suspended from the 
 roof, I discovered a hermit listening to a young 
 lady, who seemed to be greatly affected with the 
 
56 CLASSIC TALES. H A\\ KEsWOfeTtt. 
 
 events which she was relating. Of the hermit t 
 had no knowledge ; but the lady I discerned to 
 be Selima. 1 was struck with amazement at this 
 discovery ; I remembered with the deepest con- 
 trition my attempts upon her virtue, and I now 
 secretly rejoiced that she had rendered them inef- 
 fectual. I watched her lips with the utmost im- 
 patience of curiosity, and she continued her nar- 
 rative. 
 
 " I Was sitting on a sofa one evening after I 
 had been caressed by Amurath, and my imagi- 
 nation kindled as I mused. Why, said I aloud, 
 should I give up the delights of love with the 
 splendour of royalty? Since the presumption of 
 my father has prevented my marriage, why should 
 I not accept the blessings that are still offered ? 
 Why is desire restrained by the dread of shame r 
 and why is the pride of virtue offended by the 
 softness of nature ? Immediately a thick cloud 
 surrounded me ; I felt myself lifted up and con- 
 veyed through the air with incredible rapidity. 
 I descended, the cloud dissipated, and I found 
 myself sitting in an alcove, by the side of a 
 canal that encircled a stately edifice and a spacious 
 garden. I saw many persons pass along; but 
 discovered in all something either dissolute or very 
 wretched, something that alarmed my fears, or 
 excited my pity. I suddenly perceived many 
 men with their swords drawn, contending for a 
 woman, who was forced along irresistibly by the 
 crowd, which moved directly towards the place in 
 which I was sitting. I was terrified, and looked 
 round me with eagerness, to see where I could 
 retreat for safety. A person richly dressed per- 
 ceived my distress, and invited me into the house 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 57 
 
 which the canal surrounded. Of this invitation I 
 hastily accepted with gratitude and joy : but I 
 soon remarked several incidents, which filled me 
 with new perplexity and apprehension. I was 
 welcomed to a place, in which infamy and honour 
 were equally unknown; where every wish was 
 indulged without the violation of any law, and 
 where the will was therefore determined only by 
 appetite. I was presently surrounded by women, 
 whose behaviour covered me with blushes; and 
 though 1 rejected the caresses of the person into 
 whose power I was delivered, yet they became 
 jealous of the distinction with which he treated 
 me : my expostulations were not heard, and my 
 tears were treated with merriment : preparations 
 were made for revelling and jollity ; I was in- 
 vited to join the dance, and upon my refusal was 
 entertained with music. In this dreadful situation, 
 I sighed thus to myself: How severe is that jus- 
 tice, which transports those who form licentious 
 wishes, to a society in which they are indulged 
 without restraint ! Who shall deliver me from 
 the effects of my own folly? who shall defend me 
 against the vices of others? At this moment I 
 was thus encouraged by the voice of some invisi- 
 ble being, f The friends of virtue are mighty; 
 reject not their protection, and thou art safe/ 
 As I renounced the presumptuous wish which had 
 once polluted my mind, I exulted in this intima- 
 tion with an assurance of relief: and when sup- 
 per was set before me, I suffered the principal 
 lady to serve me with some venison ; but the 
 friendly voice having warned me that it was poi- 
 soned , I fell back in my seat, and turned pale : 
 the lady enquired earnestly what had disordered 
 
58 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 me ; but instead of making a reply, I threw the 
 venison from the window, and declared that she 
 had intended my death. The master of the table, 
 who perceived the lady to whom I spoke change 
 countenance, was at once convinced that she had 
 indeed attempted to poison me, to preserve that 
 interest which as a rival she feared I should sub- 
 vert. He rose up in a rage, and commanded the 
 venison to be produced ; a dog that was supposed 
 to have eaten it was brought in : but before the 
 event could be known, the tumult was become 
 general, and my rival, after having suddenly 
 stabbed her patron, plunged the same poniard in 
 her own bosom. 
 
 In the midst of this confusion I found means to 
 escape, and wandered through the city in search 
 of some obscure recess, where, if I received not 
 the assistance which I hoped, death at least might 
 secure my person from violation, and close my 
 eyes on those scenes, which, wherever I turned, 
 filled me not only with disgust* but with horror. 
 By that benevolent Power, who, as a preserva- 
 tive from misery, has placed in us a secret and 
 irresistible disapprobation of vice, my feet have 
 been directed to thee, whose virtue has partici- 
 pated in my distress, and whose wisdom may 
 effect my deliverance/' 
 
 I gazed upon Selima, while I thus learned the 
 ardour of that affection which I had abusep!, with 
 sentiments that can never be conceived but when 
 they are felt. I was touched with the most bitter 
 remorse, for having produced one wish that could 
 stain so amiable a mind ; and abhorred myself for 
 having used the power which I derived from her 
 tenderness to effect her destruction. My fond- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 59 
 
 ness was not less ardent, but it was more chaste 
 and tender; desire was not extinguished, but it 
 was almost absorbed in esteem. I felt a passion, 
 to which, till now, I had been a stranger : and 
 the moment love was kindled in my breast, I re- 
 sumed the form proper to the nature in which 
 alone it can subsist, and Selima beheld Amurath 
 at her feet. At my sudden and unexpected ap- 
 pearance, the colour faded from her cheeks, the 
 powers of life were suspended, and she sunk into 
 my arms. I clasped her to my breast, and looking 
 towards the hermit for his assistance, I beheld in 
 his stead the friendly Genius, who had taught me 
 happiness by affliction. At the same instant 
 Selima recovered. " Arise," said Syndarac, ts and 
 look round." We looked round; the darkness 
 was suddenly dissipated, and we perceived our- 
 selves in the road to Golconda, and the spires of 
 the city sparkled before us. " Go," said he, 
 " Amurath, henceforth the husband of Selima, and 
 the father of thy people! I have revealed thy 
 story to Alibeg in a vision ; he expects thy re- 
 turn, and the chariots are come out to meet thee. 
 Go, and I will proclaim before thee, Amurath the 
 Sultan of the East, the judge of nations, the 
 taught of Heaven ; Amurath, whose ring is equal 
 to the ring of Solomon, returns to reign with wis- 
 dom, and diffuse felicity." I now lifted up my 
 eyes, and beheld the chariots coming forward. 
 We were received by Alibeg with sentiments 
 which could not be uttered, and by the people 
 with the loudest acclamations: Syndarac pro- 
 claimed our return, in thunder that was heard 
 through all the nations of my empire ; and has 
 prolonged my reign in prosperity and peace. 
 
<*0 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 For the world I have written, and by the world 
 let what I write be remembered : for to none who 
 hear of the ring of Amurath, shall its influence be 
 wanting. Of this, is not thy heart a witness, 
 thou whose eye drinks instruction from my pen? 
 Hast thou not a monitor who reproaches thee in 
 secret, when thy foot deviates from the paths of 
 virtue? Neglect not the first whispers of this 
 friend to thy soul ; it is the voice of a greater than 
 Syndarac, to resist whose influence is to invite 
 destruction. 
 
 ALMORAN AND HAMET. 
 
 CHAP. I. « 
 
 Who is he among the children of the earth, that 
 repines at the power of the wicked ? and who is 
 he, that would change the lot of the righteous ? 
 He, who has appointed to each his portion, is God ; 
 the Omniscient and the Almighty, who fills eter- 
 nity, and whose existence is from himself? but he 
 who murmurs, is man ; who yesterday was not, 
 and who to-morrow shall be forgotten : let him 
 listen in silence to the voice of knowledge, and 
 hide the blushes of confusion in the dust. 
 
 Solyman, the mighty and the wise, who, in 
 the one hundred and second year of the Hegira, 
 sat upon the throne of Persia, had two sons, Al- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. Qt 
 
 moran and Hamet, and they were twins. Almo- 
 ran was the first born, but Solyman divided his 
 affection equally between them : they were both 
 lodged in the same part of the seraglio, both were 
 attended by the same servants, and both received 
 instructions from the same teacher. 
 
 One of the first things that Almoran learnt, was 
 the prerogative of his birth ; and he was taught 
 very early to set a high value upon it, by the 
 terms in which those about him expressed their 
 sense of the power, the splendour, and the delights 
 of royalty. As his mind gradually opened, he 
 naturally considered these as the objects of uni- 
 versal desire, and the means of supreme felicity : 
 he was often reminded that the time was coming, 
 wh^n the sole possession of sovereign power would 
 enable him to fulfil all his wishes, to determine the 
 fate of dependent nations with a nod, and dispense 
 life and death, and happiness and misery, at his 
 will : he was flattered by those who hoped to draw 
 wealth and dignity from his favour ; and interest 
 prompted all who approached him, to administer 
 to his pleasures with a zeal and assiduity, which 
 had the appearance of reverence to his merit, and 
 affection to his person. 
 
 Hamet, on the contrary, soon became sensible 
 of a subordinate station : he was not, indeed, neg- 
 lected ; but he was not much caressed. When the 
 gratification of Hamet came in competition with 
 that of Almoran, he was always obliged to give it 
 up, except when Solyman interposed: his mind 
 was therefore naturally led to seek for happiness 
 in objects very different from those which had 
 fixed the attention of Almoran. As he knew not 
 
62 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 to how narrow a sphere caprice or jealousy might 
 confine him, he considered what pleasures were 
 least dependent upon external advantages ; and as 
 the first popular commotion which should happen 
 after his brother's accession to the throne might 
 probably cost him his life, he was very inquisitive 
 about the state into which his spirit would be dis- 
 missed by the angel of Death, and very diligent 
 to do whatever might secure him a share of the 
 permanent and unchangeable felicity of paradise* 
 
 This difference in the situations of Almoran and 
 Hamet produced great dissimilarity in their dis- 
 positions, habits, and characters j to which, per- 
 haps, nature might also in some degree contribute. 
 Almoran was naughty, vain, and voluptuous ; 
 Hamet was gentle, courteous, and temperate : 
 Almoran was volatile, impetuous, and irascible ; 
 Hamet was thoughtful, patient, and forbearing. 
 Upon the heart ol Hamet, also, were written the 
 instructions of the prophet ; to his mind futurity 
 was present by habitual anticipation ; his plea- 
 sure, his pain, his hopes, and his fears, were per- 
 petually referred to the invisible and Almighty 
 Father of Life, by sentiments of gratitude or re- 
 signation ; complacency or confidence ; so that 
 his devotion was not periodical, but constant. 
 
 But the views of Almoran were terminated by 
 nearer objects ; his mind was perpetually busied 
 in the anticipation of pleasures and honours, which 
 he supposed to be neither uncertain nor remote ; 
 these excited his hopes, with a power sufficient to 
 fix his attention ; he did not look beyond them 
 for other objects, nor enquire how enjoyments 
 more distant were to be acquired ; and as he sup* 
 
CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWOItTH. 63 
 
 posed these to be already secured to him by his 
 birth, there was nothing he was solicitous to 
 obtain as the reward of merit, nor any thing that 
 he considered himself to possess as the bounty of 
 Heaven. If the sublime and disinterested recti- 
 tude that produces and rewards itself, dwells in- 
 deed with man, it dwelt not with Almoran ; with 
 respect to God therefore he was not impressed 
 with a sense either of duty or dependence ; he 
 felt neither reverence nor love, gratitude nor re- 
 signation; in abstaining from evil, he was not 
 intentionally good ; he practised the externals of 
 morality without virtue, and performed the rituals 
 of devotion without piety. 
 
 Such were Almoran and Hamet, when Solyman 
 their father, full of days and full of honour, slept 
 in peace the sleep of death. With this event they 
 were immediately acquainted. The emotions of 
 Almoran were such as it was impossible to con* 
 ceal ; the joy that he felt in secret was so great, 
 that the mere dread of disappointment for a mo*< 
 ment suspended his belief of what he heard ; when 
 his fears and his doubts gave way, his cheeks were 
 suffused with sudden blushes, and his eyes sparkled 
 with exultation and impatience ; he looked ea- 
 gerly about him, as if in haste to act, yet his 
 looks were embarrassed, and his gestures irreso- 
 lute, because he knew not what to do : he uttered 
 some incoherent sentences, which discovered at 
 once the joy that he felt, and his sense of its im* 
 propriety ; and hjg whole deportment expressed 
 the utmost tumult and perturbation of mind. 
 
 Upon Hamet, the death of his father produced 
 a very different effect : as soon as he heard it, hi« 
 f 2 
 
<H CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 lips trembled, and his countenance grew pale ; he 
 stood motionless a moment, like a pilgrim trans- 
 fixed by lightning in the desert; he then smote 
 his breast, and looking upward, his eyes by de- 
 grees overflowed with tears, and they fell, like 
 dew distilling from the mountain in a calm and 
 silent shower. As his grief was thus mingled with 
 devotion, his mind in a short time recovered its 
 tranquillity, though not its cheerfulness, and he 
 desired to be conducted to his brother. 
 
 He found him surrounded by the lords of his 
 court, his eye still restless . and ardent, and his 
 deportment elate and assuming. Hamet pressed 
 hastily through the circle, and prostrated himself 
 before him : Almoran received the homage with 
 a tumultuous pleasure ; but at length raised him 
 from the ground, and assured him of his protec- 
 tion, though without any expressions either of 
 kindness or of sorrow. " Hamet," says he, " if 
 I have no cause to complain of you as a subject, 
 you shall have no cause to complain of me as a 
 king/' Hamet, whose heart was again pierced 
 by the cold and distant behaviour of his brother, 
 suppressed the sigh that struggled in his bosom, 
 and secretly wiped away the tear • that started to 
 his eye : he retired, with his looks fixed upon the* 
 ground, to a remote corner of the apartment; ancl 
 though his heart yearned to embrace his brother, 
 his modest diffidence restrained him from intrud- 
 ing upon the king. 
 
 In this situation were Almoran and Hamet, 
 when Omar entered the apartment. Omar, upon 
 whose head the hand of time became heavy, had 
 from his youth acquainted himself with wisdom j. 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 65 
 
 to him Nature had revealed herself in the silence 
 of the night, when his lamp was burning alone, 
 and his eyes only were open : to him was known 
 the power of the seal of Sol y man ; and to him the 
 knowledge of things invisible had been revealed. 
 Nor was the virtue of Omar inferior to his know- 
 ledge ; his heart was a fountain of good ; which, 
 though it flowed through innumerable streams, 
 was never dry ; yet was the virtue of Omar cloath- 
 ed with humility; and he was still pressing nearer 
 to perfection, by a devotion which though ele- 
 vated was rational, and though regular was warm. 
 From the council of Omar, Solyman had derived 
 ^lory and strength ; and to him he had committed 
 the education of his children. 
 
 When he entered the apartment, the crowd, 
 touched at once with reverence and love, drew 
 back; every eye was cast downward, and 
 every tongue was silent. The full of days ap- 
 proached the king, and kneeling before him, he 
 put into his hand a sealed paper: the king re- 
 ceived it with impatience, seeing it superscribed 
 with the hand of his father ; and Omar looking 
 round, and perceiving Hamet, beckoned him to 
 come forward. Hamet, whose obedience to Omar 
 had been so long habitual that it was now almost 
 spontaneous, instantly drew near, though with a 
 slow and irresolute pace ; and Almoran, having 
 broken the seal of the paper, began to read it to 
 himself, with a look that expressed the utmost 
 anxiety and impatience. Omar kept his eye fixed 
 upon him, and soon perceived that his countenance 
 was disfigured by confusion and trouble, and that 
 he seemed preparing to put up the paper into his 
 r 3 
 
66 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 bosom: he then produced another paper from 
 under his robe, and gave it to Hamet. " This/' 
 says he, " is a copy of the will of Sotyman, your 
 father, the original is in the hand of Almoran : 
 read itj and you will find that he has bequeathed 
 his kingdom between you." 
 
 The eyes of all present were now turned upon 
 Hamet, who stood silent and motionless with 
 amazement, but was soon rouzed to attention by 
 the homage that was paid him. In the mean time, 
 Almoran's confusion increased every moment : 
 his disappointment was aggravated by the sudden 
 attention of those who were present to bis bro- 
 ther ; and his jealousy made him think himself 
 neglected, while those acts of duty were per- 
 formed to Hamet, which were now known to be 
 his right, and which he had himself received before 
 him. 
 
 Hamet, however, regarded but little what so 
 much excited the envy of Almoran ; his mind was 
 employed upon superior objects, 1 and agitated by 
 nobler passions ; the coldness of his brother's be- 
 haviour, though it had grieved, had not quenched 
 his affection ; and as he was now no longer re- 
 strained by the deference due. from a subject to 
 his king, he ran to him, and catching him to his 
 breast, attempted to speak, but his heart was too 
 full, and he could express his affection and joy 
 only by his tears. Almoran rather suffered than 
 received the embrace ; and after a few ceremonies, 
 to which neither of them could much attend, they 
 retired to separate apartments. 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 67 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 When Almoran was alone, he immediately 
 locked the door; and throwing himself upon a 
 sofa in an agony of vexation and disappointment, 
 of which he was unwilling there should be any 
 witness, he revolved in his mind all the pleasures 
 and honours of supreme dominion, which had now 
 suddenly been snatched from him, with a degree 
 of anguish and regret, not proportioned to their 
 real but their imaginary value. 
 
 Of future good, that which we obtain is found 
 to be less than our expectations ; but that of which 
 we are disappointed, we suppose would have been 
 more : thus do the children of hope extract evil 
 both from what they gain and from what they 
 lose. 
 
 But Almoran, after the first tumult of his mind 
 had subsided, began to consider as well what was 
 left him, as what had been taken away. He was 
 still without a superior, though he had an equal ; 
 he was still a king, though he did not govern alone : 
 and with respect to every individual in his domi- 
 nions, except one, his will would now be a law ; 
 though with respect to the public, the concurrence 
 of his brother would be necessary to give it force. 
 " Let me then," says he, " make the most of the 
 power that is now put into my hand, and wait till 
 some favourable opportunity shall offer to encrease 
 it. Let me dissemble my jealousy and disappoint- 
 ment, that I may not alarm suspicion, or put the 
 virtues of Hamet upon their guard against me; 
 and let me contrive to give our joint administra- 
 tion such a form as may best favour my design/' 
 
68 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTff. 
 
 Such were the reflections with which Almoran 
 soothed the anguish of his mind; while Hamet 
 was busied in speculations of a very different kind. 
 If he was pleased at reflecting, that he was raised 
 from a subject to a prince, he was pleased still 
 more when he considered his elevation as a test of 
 . his father's affection to his person, and approba- 
 tion of his conduct : he was also delighted with the 
 thought, that his brother was associated with him 
 in the arduous task which he was now called to 
 perform. " If I had been appointed to govern 
 alone," says he, ". I should have had no equal ; 
 and he who has no equal, though he may have 
 faithful servants, can have no friend : there can- 
 not be that union of interests, that equal partici- 
 pation of good, that unrestrained intercourse of 
 mind, and that mutual dependence, which consti- 
 tutes the pure and exalted happiness of friendship. 
 With Almoran, I shall share the supreme delight 
 of wresting the innocent and the helpless from the 
 iron hand of oppression ; of animating merit by 
 reward, and restraining the unworthy by fear: I 
 shall share with Almoran the pleasures of govern- 
 ing a numerous, a powerful, and a happy people ; 
 pleasures which, however great, are like all others, 
 encreased by participation/' 
 
 While Hamet was thus enjoying the happiness, 
 which his virtue derived from the same source 
 from which the vices of Almoran had filled his 
 breast with anguish and discontent, Omar was 
 contriving in what manner their joint government 
 could best be carried into execution. 
 
 He knew that Solyman, having considered the 
 dispositions of his sons, was of opinion, that if 
 they had been blended in one person, they would 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 63 
 
 have produced a character more fit to. govern in 
 his stead, than either of them alone : Almoran, he 
 thought, was too volatile and warm ; but he sus- 
 pected that Hamet would sink into inactivity for 
 want of spirit ; he feared alike Almoran\s love of 
 enterprize, and Hamet's fondness for retirement. 
 He observed in Hamet a placid easiness of tem- 
 per, which might suffer the reins of government 
 to lie too loose: and in Almoran a quickness of 
 resentment, and jealousy of command, which 
 might hold them too tight: he* hoped, therefore, 
 that by leaving them a joint dominion, be should 
 blend their dispositions, at least in their effects, 
 in every act of government that should take place, 
 or that, however they should agree to administer 
 their government, the public would derive benefit 
 from the virtues of both, without danger of suffer- 
 ing from their imperfections; as their imperfections 
 would only operate against »each other, while, in 
 whatever was right, their minds would naturally 
 concur, as the coincidence of rectitude with recti- 
 tude is necessary and eternal. But he did not 
 consider, that different dispositions operating se- 
 parately upon two different wills, would appear in 
 effects very unlikefthose which they would concur 
 to produce in one ; that two wills, under the di- 
 rection of dispositions so different, would seldom 
 be brought to coincide ; and that more mischiefs 
 would probably arise from the contest, than from 
 the imperfections of either alone. 
 
 But Solyman had so long applauded himself for 
 his project, before he revealed it to Omar, that 
 Omar found him too much displeased with any 
 objection, to consider its weight: and knowing 
 that peculiar notions are more rarely given up, 
 
70 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 than opinions received from others, and made our 
 own only by adoption, he at length acquiesced^ 
 lest he should by farther opposition lose his influ- 
 ence, which on other occasions he might still em- 
 ploy to the advantage of the public ; and took a 
 solemn oath that he would, as far as was in his 
 power, see the will carried into execution. ' 
 
 To this, indeed, he consented without much re- 
 luctance, as he had little less reason to fear the 
 sole government of Almoran, than a joint admi- 
 nistration ; and if a struggle for superiority should 
 happen, he hoped the virtues of Hamet would ob- 
 tain the suffrages of the people in his favour, and 
 establish him upon the throne alone. But as change 
 is itself an evil, and as changes in government are 
 seldom produced without great confusion and cala- 
 mity, he applied himself to consider in what 
 manner the government of Almoran and Hamet 
 could be administered, so as most effectually to 
 blend their characters in their administration, and 
 prevent the conduct of one from exciting jealousy 
 in the other. 
 
 After much thought, he' determined that a 
 system of laws should be prepared, which the sons 
 of Solyman should examine #id alter till they 
 perfectly approved, and to which they should then 
 give the sanction of their joint authority ; that 
 when any addition or alteration should be thought 
 necessary, it should be made in the same manner ; 
 and that when any insuperable difference of sen- 
 timent happened, either in this or in any act of 
 prerogative independent of the laws for regulating 
 the manners of the people, the kings should refer 
 it to some person of approved integrity and wis- 
 dom, and abide by his determination. Omar 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 71 
 
 easily foresaw, that when the opinions of Almoran 
 and Hamet should differ, the opinion of Almoran 
 would be established; for there were many causes 
 that would render Almoran inflexible and Hamet 
 yielding: Almoran was naturally confident and 
 assuming, Hamet diffident and modest ; Almoran 
 was impatient of contradiction, Hamet was atten- 
 tive to argument, and solicitous only for the dis- 
 covery of truth. Almoran also conceived, that 
 by the will of his father, he had suffered wrong ; 
 Hamet, that he had received a favour. Almoran, 
 therefore, was disposed to resent the first appear- 
 ance of opposition ; and Hamet, on the contrary, 
 to acquiesce, as in his share of government, what- 
 ever it might be, he had more than was his right 
 by birth, and his brother had less. Thus, there- 
 fore, the will of Almoran would probably predo- 
 minate in the state ; but as the same cause which 
 conferred this superiority would often prevent 
 contention, Omar considered it, upon the whole, 
 rather as good than evil. 
 
 When he had prepared his plan, therefore, he 
 sent a copy of it by different messengers at the 
 same time both to Almoran and Hamet, inclosed 
 in a letter, in which he expressed his sense of ob- 
 ligation to their father, and his zeal and affection 
 for them: he mentioned the promise he had made, 
 to devote himself to their service; and the oath 
 he had taken to propose whatever he thought 
 might facilitate the accomplishment of their fa- 
 ther's design, with honour to them, and happiness 
 to their people. These motives, which he could 
 not resist without impiety, he hoped would ab- 
 solve him from presumption ; and trusting in the 
 rectitude of his intentions, he left the issue to God. 
 
72 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH* 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 The receipt of this letter threw Almoran into 
 another agony of indignation ; he felt again the 
 loss of his prerogative; the offer of advice he dis- 
 dained., as an insult, to which he had .been injuri- 
 ously subjected by the will of his father : and he 
 was disposed to reject whatever was suggested by 
 Omar, even before his proposal was known. With 
 this temper of mind he began to read, and at 
 every paragraph took new offence ; he determined, 
 however, not to admit Omar to the honour of a 
 conference upon the subject, but to settle a plan 
 of government with his brother, without the least 
 Tegard to his advice, 
 
 A supercilious attention to minute formalities 
 is a certain indication of a little mind, conscious 
 to the want of innate dignity, and solicitous to 
 derive from others what it cannot supply to itself: 
 as the scrupulous exaction of every trifling tribute 
 discovers the weakness of the tyrant, who fears 
 his claim should be disputed; while the prince, 
 who is conscious of superior and indisputable 
 power, and knows that the states he has subju- 
 gated do not dare to revolt, scarce enquires whe- 
 ther such testimonies of allegiance are given or not. 
 
 Thus the jealousy of Almoran already enslaved 
 him to the punctilios of state ; and the most trifling 
 circumstances involved him in perplexity, or fired 
 him With resentment: the friendship and fidelity 
 of Omar stung him with rage, as insolent and in- 
 trusive ; and though it determined him to an imme- 
 diate interview with his brother, yet he was embar- 
 
CLASSIC TALES.~HAWKESWORTH. 73 
 
 rassed how to procure it. At first he rose, and 
 was about to go to him ; but he stopped short with 
 disdain, upon reflecting that it was an act of con- 
 descension which might be deemed an acknow- 
 ledgment of superiority ; he then thought of send- 
 ing for Hamet to come to him ; but this he feared 
 might provoke him, as implying a denial of his 
 equality ; at length, he determined to propose a 
 meeting in the chamber of council, and was just 
 dispatching an officer with the message when 
 Hamet entered the apartment. 
 
 The countenance of Hamet was flushed with 
 joy, and his heart was warmed with the pleasing 
 sensations of affection and confidence, by the same 
 letter from which Almoran had extracted the bit- 
 terness of jealousy and resentment; and, as he had 
 no idea that an act of courtesy to his brother could 
 derogate from his own dignity or importance, he 
 indulged the honest impatience of his heart to 
 communicate the pleasure with which it over- 
 flowed : he was, indeed, somewhat disappointed, 
 to find no traces of satisfaction in the countenance 
 of Almoran, when he saw the same paper in his 
 hand which had impressed so much upon his own. 
 
 He waited some time after the first salutations, 
 without mentioning the scheme of government he 
 was come to concert; because, having observed 
 that Almoran was embarrassed and displeased, he 
 expected that he would communicate the cause, 
 and pleased himself with the hope that he might re- 
 move it : finding, however, that this expectation 
 was disappointed, he addressed him to this eftecj : 
 
 " How happy are we, my dear brother, in the 
 wisdom and fidelity of Omar ! how excellent is the 
 
74< CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 system of government that he has proposed ! how 
 easy and honourable will it be to us that govern, 
 and how advantageous to the people that obey !" 
 
 % The advantages," said Almoran, " which you 
 seem to have discovered, are not evident to me : 
 tell me then what you imagine they are, and I 
 will afterwards give you my opinion." 
 
 " By establing a system of" laws as the rules of 
 government," said Hamet, *f many evils will be 
 avoided, and many benefits procured. If the law 
 is the will only of the sovereign, it can never cer- 
 tainly be known to the people ; many, therefore, 
 may violate that rule of right, which the hand of 
 the Almighty has written upon the living tablets of 
 the heart, in the presumptuous hope, that it will 
 not subject them to punishment; and those by 
 whom that rule is fulfilled, will not enjoy the con- 
 sciousness of security, which they would derive 
 from the protection of a prescribed law which 
 they have never broken. If neither the offence is 
 ascertained^ nor the punishment prescribed, one 
 motive to probity will be wanting ; which ought 
 to be supplied, as well for the sake of those who 
 may be tempted to offend, as of those who may 
 suffer by the offence. Besides, he who governs 
 not by a written and a public law, must either ad- 
 minister that government in person, or by others: 
 if in person, he will sink under a labour which no 
 man is able to sustain ; and if by others, the infe- 
 riority of their rank must subject them to tempta- 
 tions which it cannot be hoped they will always 
 resist, and to prejudices which it will perhaps be 
 impossible for them to surmount. But to adminis- 
 ter government by a law which ascertains the 
 
CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 75 
 
 effence and directs the punishment, integrity alone 
 will be sufficient ; and as the sentence will, in this 
 case, depend not upon opinion but upon facts, jus- 
 tice will seldom be perverted, even when integrity 
 is wanting; because, as it cannot be imputed to 
 error, it will always incur the infamy and danger 
 of notorious guilt." 
 
 Almoran, who had heard the opinions of Hamet 
 with impatience and scorn, now started from his 
 seat with a proud and contemptuous aspect : he 
 first glanced his eyes upon his brother ; and then, 
 looking disdainfully downward, he threw back his 
 robe, and, stretching out his hand from him — 
 " Shall the son of Solyman," said he, " upon 
 whose will the fate of nations was suspended, whose 
 smiles and frowns were alone the criterions of right 
 and wrong, before whom the voice of wisdom it- 
 self was silent, and the pride even of virtue hum- 
 bled in the dust ; shall the son of Solyman be 
 harnessed, like a mule, in the trammels of law? 
 Shall he become a mere instrument to execute 
 what others have devised ? Shall he only declare 
 the determinations of a statute, and shall his ear 
 be affronted by claims of right ? It is the glory of 
 a prince to punish for what and whom he will ; 
 to be the sovereign, not only of property, but of 
 life ; and to govern alike without prescription or 
 appeal." 
 
 Hamet, who was struck with astonishment at 
 this declaration, and the vehemence with which it 
 was uttered, after a short recollection made this 
 reply : " It is the glory of a prince to govern 
 others, as he is governed by Him who is alone 
 g2 
 
76* CLASSIC TALES. HAWKES WORTH. 
 
 most merciful and almighty ! It is his glory to pre- 
 vent crimes, rather than to display his power in 
 punishment; to diffuse happiness, rather than en- 
 force subjection; and rather to animate with love, 
 than depress by fear. Has not He that shall judge 
 us, given us a rule of life by which we shall be 
 judged ? Is not our reward and punishment already 
 set before us ? Are not his promises and threaten- 
 ings motives to obedience? and have we not con- 
 fidence and joy when we have obeyed ? To God, 
 his own divine perfections are a law ; and these he 
 has transcribed as a law to us. Let us then govern 
 as we are governed ; let us seek our happiness in 
 the happiness that we bestow, and our honour in 
 emulating the benevolence of Heaven." 
 
 As Almoran feared, that to proceed in this ar- 
 gument would too far disclose his sentiments, and 
 put Hamet too much upon his guard, he deter- 
 mined for the present to dissemble; and, as he 
 perceived that Harness opinion, and an adminis- 
 tration founded upon it, would render him extreme- 
 ly popular, and at length possibly establish him 
 alone, he was now solicitous only to withdraw 
 him from public notice, and persuade him to leave 
 the government, whatever form it should receive, 
 to be administered by others ; returning, therefore, 
 to his seat, and assuming an appearance of com- 
 placence and tranquillity, with which he could 
 not form his language perfectly to agree—" Let 
 us, then," said he, " if a law must be set up in 
 our stead, leave the law to be executed by our 
 slaves: and, as nothing will be left for us to do 
 that is worthy of us, let us devote ourselves to the 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 77 
 
 pleasures of ease- and, if there are any enjoy- 
 ments peculiar to royalty, let us secure them as 
 our only distinction from the multitude/' 
 
 ", Not so," says Hamet, " for there is yet much 
 for a prince to do, after the best sytem of laws has 
 been established : the government of a nation as a 
 whole, the regulation and extent of its trade, the 
 establishment of manufactories, the encourage- 
 ment of genius, the application of the revenues, 
 and whatever can improve the arts of peace, and 
 secure superiority in war, is the proper object of a 
 king's attention." 
 
 " But in these/' said Alnioran, " it will be dif- 
 ficult for two minds to concur ; let us then agree 
 to leave these also to the care of some other, whom 
 we can continue as long as we approve, and dis- 
 place when we approve no longer : we shall, by 
 this expedient, be able to avert the odium of any 
 unpopular measure ; and by the sacrifice of a 
 slave, we can always satisfy the people, and silence 
 public discontent." 
 
 " To trust implicitly to another," says Hamet, 
 " is to give up a prerogative, which it is at once our 
 highest duty and interest to keep ; it is to betray our 
 trust, and to sacrifice our honour to another. The 
 prince who leaves the government of his people 
 implicitly to a subject, leaves it to one who has 
 many more temptations to betray their interest 
 than himself. A vicegerent is in a subordinate 
 station ; he has, therefore, much to fear and much 
 to hope : he may also acquire the power of ob- 
 taining what he hopes, and averting what he fears, 
 at the public expence ; he may stand in need of 
 dependants, and may be able no otherwise to pro- 
 g 3 
 
78 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. ' 
 
 cure them, than by conniving at the fraud or the 
 violence which they commit ; he may receive in 
 bribes an equivalent for his share, as an individual, 
 in the public prosperity ; for his interest is not 
 essentially connected with that of the state; he 
 has a separate interest, but the interest of the state 
 and of the king are one ; he may even be cor- 
 rupted to betray the councils, and give up the in- 
 terest of the nation to a foreign power ; but this is 
 impossible to the king; for nothing equivalent to 
 what he would give up could be offered him. But 
 as a king has not equal temptations to do wrong, 
 neither is he equally exposed to opposition when 
 he does right: the measures of a substitute are 
 frequently opposed merely from interest ; because 
 the leader of a faction against him hopes, that if 
 he can remove him by popular clamour, he shall 
 succeed to his power ; but it can be no man's in- 
 terest to oppose the measures of a king, if his mea- 
 sures are good, because no man can hope to sup- 
 plant him. Are not these the precepts of the Pro- 
 phet, whose wisdom was from above ? < Let not 
 the eye of expectation be raised to another, for 
 that which thyself only should bestow : suffer not 
 thy own shadow to obscure thee ; nor be content 
 to derive that glory, which it is thy prerogative to 
 impart." 
 
 " But is the prince," said Almoran, " always 
 the wisest man in his dominions? Can we not find 
 in another abilities and experience, which we do 
 not possess? And is it not the duty of him who 
 presides in the ship, to place the helm in that hand 
 which can best steer it r* 
 
 "A prince," said Hamet, "who sincerely in- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTK. W 
 
 tends the good of his people, can scarce fail to 
 effect it; ail the wisdom of the nation will be at 
 once turned to that object : whatever is his prin- 
 cipal aim, will be that of all who are admitted to 
 his council ; for to concur with his principal aim, 
 must be the surest recommendation to his favour. 
 Let us then hear others, but let us act ourselves/' 
 
 As Almoran now perceived that the longer this 
 conversation continued, the more he should be 
 embarrassed, he put an end to it, by appearing to 
 acquiesce in what Hamet had proposed. Hamet 
 withdrew, charmed with the candour and flexibi- 
 lity which he imagined he had discovered in his 
 brother ; and not without some exultation in his 
 own rhetoric, which he supposed had gained no 
 inconsiderable victory. Almoran, in the mean 
 time, applauded himself for having thus far prac- 
 tised the arts of dissimulation with success ; forti- 
 fied himself in the resolutions he had before taken ; 
 and conceived new malevolence and jealousy 
 against Hamet. 
 
 CHAP. IVh 
 
 While Hamet was exulting in his conquest, and 
 his heart was overflowing at once with self-com- 
 placency and affection to his brother, he was told 
 that Omar was waiting without, and desired ad- 
 mittance. Hamet ordered that he should be im- 
 mediately introduced; and when Omar entered, 
 and would have prostrated himself before him, he 
 catched him in his arms in a transport of affection 
 and esteem ; and, having ordered that none should 
 
&0 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 interrupt them, compelled him to sit down on a 
 sofa. 
 
 He then related, with all the joy of a youthful 
 and an ardent mind, the conversation he had had 
 with Almoran, intermixed with expressions of the 
 highest praise and the most cordial esteem. Omar 
 was not without suspicion, that the sentiments 
 which Almoran had first expressed with such ve- 
 hemence of passion were still predominant in his 
 mind ; but of these suspicions he did not give the 
 least hint to Hamet; not only because to commu- 
 nicate suspicions is to accuse without proof, but 
 because he did not think himself at liberty to make 
 an ill report of another, though he knew it to be 
 true He approved the sentiments of Hamet, as 
 they had indeed been infused by his own instruc- 
 tions ; and some precepts and cautions were now 
 added, which the accession of Hamet to a share 
 of the imperial power made particularly neces- 
 sary. 
 
 " Remember," said Omar, " that the most ef- 
 fectual way of promoting virtue is to prevent oc- 
 casions of vice. There are, perhaps, particular 
 situations in which human virtue has always failed : 
 at least, temptation often repeated, and long con- 
 tinued, has seldom been finally resisted. In a 
 government so constituted as to leave the people 
 exposed to perpetual seduction, by opportunities 
 of dissolute pleasure or iniquitous gain, the multi- 
 plication of penal laws will only tend to depopu- 
 late the kingdom and disgrace the state ; to devote 
 to the scymitar and the bow-string those who 
 might have been useful to society, and to leave the 
 rest dissolute, turbulent, and factious. If the 
 streets not only abound with women, who inflame 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 8 1 
 
 the passenger by their appearance, their gesture, 
 and their solicitations ; but with houses, in which 
 every desire which they kindle may be gratified 
 with secresy and convenience; it is in vain that 
 * the feet of the prostitute go down to death, and 
 that her steps take hold on hell :' what then can 
 be hoped from any punishment which the laws of 
 man can superadd to disease and want, to rotten- 
 ness and perdition ? If you permit opium to be 
 publicly sold at a low rate, it will be folly to hope, 
 that the dread of punishment will render idleness 
 and drunkenness strangers to the poor. If a tax 
 is so collected, as to leave opportunities to pro- 
 cure the commodity without paying it, the hope of 
 gain will always surmount the fear of punishment. 
 If, when the veteran has served you at the risk of 
 his life, you withhold his hire, it will be in vain to 
 threaten usury and extortion with imprisonment 
 and fines. If, in your armies, you sutler it to be 
 an^ man's interest rather to preserve the life of a 
 horse than a man, be assured, that your own sword 
 is drawn for your enemy : for there will always be 
 some in whom interest is stronger than humanity 
 and honour. Put no man's interest, therefore^ in 
 the balance against his duty ; nor hope that good 
 can often be produced, but by preventing oppor- 
 tunities of evil." f 
 To these precepts of Omar, Hamet listened as 
 to the instructions of a father; and, having pro- 
 mised to keep them as the treasure of life, he dis- 
 missed him from his presence. The heart of Hamet 
 was now expanded with the most pleasing expec- 
 tations ; but Almoran was pining with solicitude, 
 jealousy, and distrust : he took every opportunity 
 
82 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 to avoid both Omar and Hamet ; but Hamet still 
 retained his confidence, and Omar his suspicions. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 In the mean time, the system of government was 
 established which had been proposed by Omar, 
 and in which Hamet concurred from principle, 
 and Almoran from policy. The views of Almo- 
 ran terminated in the gratification of his own ap- 
 petites and passions ; those of Hamet, in the dis- 
 charge* of his duty : Hamet, therefore, was inde- 
 fatigable in the business of the state ; and as his 
 sense of honour, and his love of the public, made 
 this the employment of his choice, it was to him 
 the perpetual source of a generous and sublime 
 felicity. Almoran also was equally diligent, but 
 from another motive: he was actuated, not by 
 love of the public, but by jealousy of his brother; 
 he performed his task as the drudge of necessity, 
 with reluctance and ill-will, so that to him it pro- 
 duced pain and anxiety, weariness and impatience. 
 
 To atone for this waste of time, he determined 
 to crowd all that remained with delight : his gar- 
 dens were an epitome of all nature, and on his 
 palace were exhausted all the treasures of art ; his 
 seraglio was filled with beauties of every nation, 
 and his table supplied with dainties from the re- 
 motest corners of his dominions. In the songs 
 that were repeated in his presence, he listened at 
 once to the voice of adulation and music; he 
 breathed the perfumes of Arabia, and he tasted 
 the forbidden pleasure of wine. But as every ap- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH.' 83 
 
 petite is soon satiated by excess, his eagerness to 
 accumulate pleasure deprived him of enjoyment. 
 Among the variety of beauties that surrounded 
 him, the passion, which, to be luxurious, must be 
 delicate and refined, was degraded to a mere in- 
 stinct, and exhausted in endless dissipation ; the 
 caress was not endeared by a consciousness of re- 
 ciprocal delight, and was immediately succeeded 
 by indifference or disgust. By the dainties that 
 perpetually urged him to intemperance, that appe- 
 tite, which alone could make even dainties tasteful, 
 was destroyed. The splendour of his palace, and 
 the beauty of his gardens, became at length so 
 familiar to his eye, that they were frequently be- 
 fore him without being seen Even flattery and 
 music lost their power by too frequent a repetition : 
 and the broken slumbers of the night, and the lan- 
 guor of the morning, were more than equivalent 
 to the transient hilarity that was inspired by wine. 
 Thus passed the time of Almoran, divided between 
 painful labours which he did not dare to shun, and 
 the search of pleasure which he could never find. 
 
 Hamet, on the contrary, did not seek pleasure, 
 but pleasure seemed to seek him : he had a per- 
 petual complacence and serenity of mind, which 
 rendered him constantly susceptible of pleasing 
 impressions ; ^very thing that was prepared to 
 refresh or entertain him in his seasons of retire- 
 ment and relaxation, added something to the de- 
 light which was continually springing in his breast, 
 when he reviewed the past or looked forward to 
 the future. Thus the pleasures of sense were 
 heightened by those of the mind, and the pleasures 
 of the mind by those of sense ; he had, indeed, as 
 
84 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 yet no wife ; for as yet no woman had fixed his 
 attention or determined his choice. 
 
 Among the ambassadors whom the monarchs 
 of Asia sent to congratulate the sons of Solyman 
 upon their accession to the throne, there was a 
 native of Circassia, whose name was Abdallah. 
 Abdallah had only one child, a daughter, in whom 
 all his happiness and affection centered; he was 
 unwilling to leave her behind, and therefore 
 brought her to the court of Persia. Her mother 
 died while she was yet an infant ; she was now in 
 the sixteenth year of her age, and her name was 
 Almeida. She was beautiful as the daughters of 
 Paradise, and gentle as the breezes of the spring; 
 her mind was without stain, and her manners were 
 without art. 
 
 She was lodged with her father in a palace that 
 joined to the gardens of the seraglio; and it hap- 
 pened that a lamp, which had one night been left 
 burning in a lower apartment, by some accident 
 set fire to the net-work of cotton'that surrounded a 
 sofa, and the whole room was soon after in a flame. 
 Almoran, who had been passing the afternoon in 
 riot and debauchery, had been removed from his 
 banqueting room asleep ; but Hamet was still in 
 his closet, where he had been regulating some 
 papers that were to be used the next day. The 
 windows of this room opened towards the inner 
 apartments of the house in which Abdallah re- 
 sided; and Hamet, having by accident looked that 
 way, was alarmed '^by the appearance of an un- 
 usual light ; and, starting up to see whence it 
 proceeded, he discovered what had happened. 
 
 Having hastily ordered the guard of the night 
 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 85 
 
 to assist in quenching the flame, and removing 
 the furniture, he ran himself into the garden. As 
 soon as he was come up tc the house, he was 
 alarmed by the shrieks of a female voice ; and 
 the next moment Almeida appeared at the window 
 of an apartment directly over that which was on 
 fire. Almeida he had till now never seen, nor did 
 he so mucli as know that Abdallah had a daugh- 
 ter : but, though her person was unknown, he 
 was strongly interested in her danger, and called 
 out to her to throw herself into his arms. At the 
 sound of his voice she ran back into the room — 
 such is the force of inviolate modesty — though the 
 smoke was then rising in curling spires from the 
 windows: she was, however, soon driven back, 
 and part of the floor at the same time giving way, 
 she wrapt her veil round her, and leaped into the 
 garden. Hamet caught her in his arms; but, 
 though he broke her fall, he sunk down with her 
 weight : he did not, however, quit his charge ; 
 but, perceiving she had fainted, he made haste 
 with her into his apartment, to afford her such as- 
 sistance as he could procure. 
 
 She was covered only with a light and loose 
 robe in which she slept, and her veil had dropped 
 off by the way. The moment he entered his 
 closet, the light discovered to him such beauty 
 as before he had never seen : she now began to 
 revive ; and, before her senses returned, she pres- 
 sed the prince with an involuntary embrace, which 
 he returned by straining her closer to his breast, 
 in a tumult of delight, confusion, and anxiety, 
 which he could scarce sustain. As he still held 
 her in his arms and gazed silently upon her, she 
 
 H 
 
86 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWOItTH. 
 
 opened her eyes, and instantly relinquishing her 
 hold, shrieked out, and threw herself from him. 
 As there were no women nearer than that wing of 
 the palace in which his brother resided, and as he 
 had many reasons not to leave her in their charge, 
 he was in the utmost perplexity what to do. He 
 assured her, in some hasty and incoherent words, 
 of her security ; he told her, that she was in the 
 royal palace, and that he who had conveyed her 
 thither was Hamet. The habitual reverence of 
 sovereign power now surmounted all other pas- 
 sions in the bosom of Almeida ; she was instantly 
 covered with new confusion, and, hiding her face 
 with her hands, threw herself at his feet. He 
 raised her with a trepidation almost equal to her 
 own, and endeavoured to soothe her into confi- 
 dence and tranquillity. 
 
 Hitherto her memory had been wholly sus- 
 pended by violent passions, which had crouded 
 upon her in a rapid and uninterrupted succession, 
 and the first gleam of recollection threw her into 
 a new agony : having been silent a few moments, 
 she suddenly smote her hands together, and burst- 
 ing into tears, cried out — " Abdallah ! my father! 
 my father !" Hamet not only knew, but felt all 
 the meaning of the exclamation, and immediately 
 ran again into the garden : he had advanced but 
 a few paces before he discerned an old man sitting 
 upon the ground, and looking upward in silent 
 anguish, as if he had exhausted the power of 
 complaint. Hamet, upon a nearer approach, per- 
 ceived by the light of the flame that it was Ab- 
 dallah ; and, instantly calling him by his name, 
 told him that his daughter was safe. At the name. 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 87 
 
 of his daughter, Abdallah suddenly started up as 
 if he had been rouzed by the voice of an angel 
 from the sleep of death : Hamet again repeated, 
 that his daughter was in safety ; and Abdallah, 
 looking wistfully at him, knew him to be the king. 
 He was then struck with an awe that restrained 
 him from enquiry : but Hamet, directing him 
 where he might find her, went forward, that he 
 might not lessen the pleasure of their interview, 
 nor restrain the first transports of duty and affec- 
 tion by his presence. He soon met with other 
 fugitives from the fire, which had opened a com- 
 munication between the gardens and the street; and 
 among them some women belonging to Almeida, 
 whom he conducted himself to their mistress. He 
 immediately allotted to her and to her father an 
 apartment in his division of the palace ; and, the 
 fire being now nearly extinguished, he retired to 
 rest. 
 
 CHAP. VI, 
 
 Though the night was far advanced, yet the eyes 
 of Hamet were strangers to sleep : his fancy in- 
 cessantly repeated the events that had just hap- 
 pened : the image of Almeida was ever before 
 him ; and his breast throbbed with a disquietude, 
 which, though it prevented rest, he did not wish 
 to lose. 
 
 . Almoran, in the mean time, was slumbering 
 
 away the effects of his intemperance ; and in the 
 
 morning, when he was told what had happened, 
 
 he expressed no passion but curiosity : he went 
 
 n 2 
 
83 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 hastily into the garden ; but, when he had gazed 
 upon the ruins, and enquired how the fire began, 
 and what it had consumed, he thought of it no 
 more. 
 
 But Hamet suffered nothing that regarded him- 
 self to exclude others from bis attention : he went 
 again to the ruins, not to gratify his curiosity, but to 
 see what might yet be done to alleviate the misery 
 of the sufferers, and seeure for their use what had 
 been preserved from the flames. He found that no 
 life had been lost, but that many persons had been 
 hurt; to these he sent physicians of his own house- 
 hold : and, having rewarded those who had assisted 
 them in their distress, not forgetting even the 
 soldiers who had only fulfilled his own orders, he 
 returned, and applied himself to dispatch the 
 public business in the chamber of council, with 
 the same patient and diligent attention as if no- 
 thing had happened. He had, indeed, ordered 
 enquiry to be made after Almeida ; and, when he 
 returned to his apartment, he« found Abdallah 
 waiting to express his gratitude for the obligations 
 he had received. 
 
 Hamet accepted his acknowledgments with a 
 peculiar pleasure, for they had some connection 
 with Almeida; after whom he again enquired, 
 with an ardour uncommon even to the benevolence 
 of Hamet. When all his questions had been 
 asked and answered, he appeared still unwilling to 
 dismiss Abdallah, though he seemed at a loss how 
 to detain him ; he wanted to know whether his 
 daughter had yet received an offer of marriage, 
 though he was unwilling to discover his desire 
 by a direct enquiry : but he soon found, that no- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 89 
 
 thing could be known which was not directly- 
 asked, from a man whom reverence and humility- 
 kept silent before him, except when something 
 was said which amounted to a command to speak. 
 At length, however, he said, not without some 
 hesitation — '« Is there no one, Abdallah, who will 
 thank me for the preservation of thy daughter 
 with a zeal equal to thy own i" — " Yes," replied 
 Abdallah, " that daughter whom thou hast pre- 
 served." This reply, though it was unexpected, 
 was pleasing : for Hamet was not only gratified 
 to hear that Almeida had expressed herself warmly 
 in his behalf, at least as a benefactor ; but he 
 judged, that if any man had been interested in her 
 life as a lover, the answer which Abdallah had 
 given him would not so readily- have occurred to 
 his mind. 
 
 As this reflection kept Hamet a few moments 
 silent, Abdallah withdrew ; and Hamet, as he 
 observed some marks of haste and confusion in 
 his countenance, was unwilling longer to continue 
 him in a situation- which he had now reason to 
 think gave him pain. But Abdallah, who had 
 conceived a sudden thought that Hamet's question 
 was an indirect reproach of Almeida, for not hav- 
 ing herself solicited admission to his presence; 
 went in haste to her apartment, and ordered her 
 immediately to make ready to attend him to the 
 king. 
 
 Almeida, from whose mind the image of Hamet 
 had not been absent a moment since she first savy 
 him, received this order with a mixture of pain 
 and pleasure, of wishes, hopes, and apprehen- 
 sions, that filled her bosom with emotion and co- 
 il 3 
 
90 CLASSIC TALES.-r-HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 vered her face with blushes. She had not courage 
 to ask the reason of the command, which she in- 
 stantly prepared to obey ; but the tenderness of 
 Abdallah, who perceived and pitied her distress, 
 anticipated her wish. In a short time, therefore, 
 he returned to the chamber of presence , and, 
 having received permission, he entered with Al- 
 meida in his hand. Hamet rose in haste to re- 
 ceive her, with a glow of pleasure and impatience 
 in his countenance ; and, having raised her from 
 the ground, supported her in his arms, waiting to 
 hear her voice ; but, though she made many at- 
 tempts, she could not speak Hamet, who knew 
 not to what he owed this sudden and unexpected 
 interview, which, though he wished, he could con- 
 trive no means to obtain, imagined that Almeida 
 had some request, and therefore urged her ten- 
 derly to make it : but, as she still remained silent, 
 he looked at Abdallah, as expecting to hear it 
 from him. f< We have no wish/' said Abdallah, 
 " but to atone for our offence ; nor any request, 
 but that my lord would now accept the thanks of 
 Almeida for the life which he has preserved, and 
 impute the delay, not to ingratitude, but inad 
 vertence : let me now take her back as thy gift, 
 and let the light of thy favour be upon us." — 
 *' Take her then," said Hamet, ** for I would give 
 her only to thee." 
 
 These words of Hamet did not escape the notice 
 either of Abdallah or Almeida; but neither of them 
 mentioned their conjectures to the other. Al- 
 meida, who was inclined to judge of Hamet's situ- 
 ation by her own, and who recollected many little 
 incidents, known only to herself, which favoured 
 
J'ain.ttd InjLMVe 
 
 M*li ©JEM M^m MAMMT 
 
 %l. Vp , 
 
 PubljLs~Ii&cL Try John IhoU i- Carw Bjgrrull a.t (fc3 r m Office. 
 Brydyes Street. Str<a-ui.,Feb J 3.' > 1808. 
 
CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTH. 91 
 
 her wishes, indulged, the hope that she should 
 again hear of Hamet, with more confidence than 
 her father ; nor were her expectations disappoint- 
 ed. Hamet reflected with pleasure, that he had 
 prepared the way for a more explicit declaration ; 
 and, as his impatience increased with his passion 
 every hour, he sent for Abdallah the next morn- 
 ing, and told him, that he wished to be more ac- 
 quainted with his daughter, with a view to make 
 her his wife. ■* As neither you nor your daughter 
 are my subjects," says Hamet, " I cannot com- 
 mand you ; and, if you were, upon this occasion 
 I would not. I do not want a slave, but a friend ; 
 not merely a woman, but a wife. If I find Al- 
 meida such as my fancy has feigned her ; if her 
 mind corresponds with her form ; and if I have 
 reason to think that she can give her tfeart to Ha- 
 met, and not merely her hand to the king, 1 shall 
 be happy." To this declaration Abdallah replied 
 with expressions of the profoundest submission 
 and gratitude ; and Hamet dismissed him, to pre- 
 pare Almeida to receive him in the afternoon of 
 the same day. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 As eight moons only had passed since the death 
 of Solyman, and as the reverence of Hamet for 
 the memory of his father would not suffer him to 
 marry till the year should be completed, he de- 
 termined not to mention Almeida to his brother, 
 till the time when he could marry her was near. 
 The fierce and haughty deportment of Almoran 
 had now left Hamet no room to doubt of his cha- 
 
92 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 racter : and though he had no apprehension that 
 he would make any attempts upon Almeida, after 
 she should be his wife ; yet he did not know how 
 much might justly be feared from his passion, if 
 he should see her and become enamoured of her, 
 while she was yet a virgin in the house of her 
 father. 
 
 Almeida had not only unsullied purity of mind, 
 but principles of refined and exalted virtue ; and 
 as the life of Hamet was an example of all that 
 was either great or good, Abdallah felt no anxiety 
 upon leaving them together, except what arose 
 from his fears, that his daughter would not be able 
 to secure the conquest she had made. 
 
 As it was impossible for Hamet to have such an 
 acquaintance with Almeida as he desired, till he 
 could enter into conversation with her upon terms 
 of equality, it was his first care to soothe her into 
 confidence and familiarity, and by degrees he suc- 
 ceeded ; he soon found, in the free intercourse of 
 mind with mind, which he established instead of 
 the implicit submission which only echoed his own 
 voice, how little of the pleasure that women were 
 formed to give can be enjoyed, when they are con- 
 sidered merely as slaves to a tyrant's will, the 
 passive subjects of transient dalliance and casual 
 enjoyment. The pleasure which he took in the 
 youthful beauty of Almeida, was now endeared, 
 exalted, and refined by the tender sensibility of 
 her heart, and by the reflection of his own feli- 
 city from her eyes : when he admired the grace- 
 fulness or her motion, the elegance of her figure, 
 the symmetry of her features, and the bloom of 
 her complexion, he considered them as the deco- 
 rations only of a mind capable of mixing with 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 95 
 
 his own iii the most exquisite delight, of recipro- 
 cating all his ideas, and catching new pleasure 
 from his pleasure. Desire was no longer appe- 
 tite ; it was imagination, it was reason ; it in- 
 cluded remembrance of the past, and anticipation 
 of the future; and its object was not the sex, but 
 Almeida. 
 
 As Hamet never withheld any pleasure- that it 
 was in his power to impart, he soon acquainted 
 Abdallah, that he waited only for a proper time 
 to place Almeida upon the throne ; but that he 
 had some reasons for keeping a resolution, which 
 he thought himself obliged to communicate to him, 
 conceaied from others. 
 
 It happened, however, that some of the women 
 who attended upon Almeida, met with some fe- 
 male slaves belonging to the seraglio of Almoran, 
 at the public baths, and related to them all the 
 particulars of Almeida's preservation by Hamet; 
 that he had first conveyed her to his own apart- 
 ments, and had since been frequently with her in 
 that which he had assigned her in his pa' ace : 
 they were also lavish in the praise of her beauty, 
 and free in their conjectures what might be the 
 issue of her intercourse with Hamet. 
 
 Thus the situation of Hamet and Almeida be- 
 came the subject of conversation in the seraglio of 
 Almoran, who learnt it himself in a short time 
 from one of his women. 
 
 He had hitherto professed great affection for 
 Hamet, and Hamet was deceived by his profes- 
 sions: for, notwithstanding the irregularities of 
 his life, he did not think him capable of conceal - 
 ing malice, or of offering injury to another, ex- 
 cept when he was urged by impetuous passions 
 
<H CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 to immediate pleasure. As there was, therefore, 
 an appearance of mutual affection between them, 
 Almoran, though the report of Almeida's beauty 
 had fired his imagination and fixed him in a reso- 
 lution to see her, did not think proper to attempt 
 it without asking Harness consent, and being in- 
 troduced by his order ; as he made no doubt of 
 there being a connection between them which 
 would make him resent a contrary conduct. 
 
 He took an opportunity, therefore, when they 
 were alone in a summer pavilion that was built 
 on a lake behind the palace, to reproach him, 
 with an air of mirth, for having concealed a 
 beauty near his apartments, though he pretended 
 to have no seraglio. Hamet immediately disco- 
 vered his surprise and emotion by a blush, which 
 the next moment left his countenance paler than 
 the light clouds that pass by night over the moon. 
 Almoran took no notice of his confusion : but, 
 that he might more effectually conceal his senti- 
 ments and prevent suspicion, he«suddenly adverted 
 to another subject, while Hamet was hesitating 
 what to reply. By this artifice Hamet was de- 
 ceived ; and concluded, that whatever Almoran 
 had heard of Almeida, had passed slightl}*- over 
 his mind, and was remembered but by chance ; 
 he, therefore, quickly recovered that ease and 
 chearfulness which always distinguished his con- 
 versation. 
 
 Almoran observing the success of his artifice, 
 soon after, as if by a sudden and casual recollec- 
 tion, again mentioned the lady; and told him, he 
 would congratulate Abdallah upon having resigned 
 her to his bed. As Hamet could not bear to think 
 of Almoran's mentioning Almeida to her father as 
 
CLASSIC TALES.— -HAWKESWORTH. 95 
 
 his mistress, he replied, that he had no such in- 
 timacy with Almeida as he supposed ; and that he 
 had so high an opinion of her virtue, as to be- 
 lieve, that if he should propose it she would not 
 consent. The imagination of Almoran caught 
 new fire from beauties which he found were yet 
 unenjoyed, and virtue which stamped them with 
 superior value, -by rendering them more difficult 
 of access ; and as Hamet had renounced a connec- 
 tion with her as a mistress, he wanted only to know 
 whether he intended her for a wife. 
 
 This secret he was contriving to discover, when 
 Hamet having reflected, that if he concealed this 
 particular, Almoran might think himself at liberty 
 to make what attempts he should think fit upon 
 Almeida, without being accountable to him, or 
 giving him just cause of offence, put an end to his 
 doubts, by telling him, he had such a design ; 
 but that it would be some time before he could 
 carry it into execution. This declaration increased 
 Almoran's impatience : still, however, he concealed 
 his interest in the conversation, which he now suf- 
 fered to drop. 
 
 He parted from his brother without any farther 
 mention of Almeida ; but while he was yet near 
 him, turned hastily back ; and, as if merely to 
 gratify his curiosity, told him with a smile, that 
 he must indulge him with a sight of his Circas- 
 sian ; and desired he might accompany him in 
 his next visit, or at some more convenient time : 
 with this request, Hamet, as he knew not how to 
 refuse it, complied ; but it filled his mind with 
 anxiety and trouble. 
 
 He went immediately to Almeida, and told her 
 all that had happened ; and as she saw that he 
 
96 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 was not without apprehensions of mischief from 
 his brother's visit, she gently reproached him for 
 doubting the fidelity of her affection, as she sup- 
 posed no power could be exerted by Almoran to 
 injure him who in power was his equal. Hamet, 
 in a transport of tenderness, assured her that he 
 doubted neither his constancy nor her love : but, 
 as to interrupt the comfort of her mind, would 
 only double his own distress, he did not tell her 
 whence his apprehensions proceeded ; nor indeed 
 had they any determinate object, but arose in ge- 
 neral from the character of his brother, and the 
 probability of his becoming a competitor for what 
 was essential to the happiness of his life. 
 
 But if the happiness of Hamet was lessened, 
 the infelicity of Almoran was increased. All the 
 enjoyments that were in his power he neglected, 
 his attention being wholly fixed upon that which 
 was beyond his reach : he was impatient to see the 
 beauty, who had taken entire possession of his 
 mind ; and the probability that he would be obliged 
 to resign her to Hamet tormented him with jea- 
 lousy, envy, and indignation. 
 
 Hamet, however, did not long delay to fulfil 
 his promise to his brother ; but, having prepared 
 Almeida to receive him, he conducted him to her 
 apartment. The idea which Almoran had formed 
 in his imagination was exceeded by the reality, 
 and his passion was proportionably increased ; yet 
 he found means not only to conceal it from Hamet, 
 but from Almeida, by affecting an air of levity 
 and merriment, which was not less incompatible 
 with the pleasures than the pains of love. After 
 they had been regaled with coffee and sherbet, 
 they parted ; and Hamet congratulated himself, that 
 
CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKE 3 WORTH. 97 
 
 his apprehensions of finding in Almoran a rival for 
 Almeida's love, were now at an end. 
 
 But Almoran, whose passions were become 
 more violent by restraint, was in a state of mind 
 little better than distraction : one moment he de- 
 termined to seize upon the person of Almeida in 
 the night, and secrete her in some place accessible 
 only to himself ; and the next to assassinate his 
 brother, that he might at once destroy a rival both 
 in empire and in love. But these designs were no 
 sooner formed by his wishes, than they were re- 
 jected by his fears : he was not ignorant, that in 
 any contest between him and Hamet, the voice 
 of the public would be against him ; especially in 
 a contest in which it would appear that Hamet had 
 suffered wrong. 
 
 Many other projects, equally rash, violent, and 
 injurious, were by turns conceived and rejected : 
 and he came at last to no other determination, than 
 still carefully to conceal his passion, till he should 
 think of some expedient to gratify it ; lest Hamet 
 should have a just reason for refusing to let him 
 see the lady again, and remove her so some place 
 which he might never be able to discover. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 In the mean time, Omar, to whom Hamet had 
 from time to time disclosed the minutest particulars 
 of his situation and design, kept his eye almost 
 continually upon Almoran ; and observed him with 
 an attention and sagacity which it was difficult 
 either to elude or deceive. He perceived, that he 
 i 
 
98 CLASSIC TALES.— -HAWKESWORTH, 
 
 was more than usual restless and turbulent ; that 
 in the presence of Hamet he frequently changed 
 countenance ; that his behaviour was artificial and 
 inconsistent, frequently shifting from gloomy dis- 
 content and furious agitation, to forced laughter 
 and noisy merriment. He had also remarked, that 
 he seemed most discomposed after he had been 
 with Hamet to Almeida, which happened generally 
 once in a week ; that he was become fond of so- 
 litude, and was absent several days together from 
 the apartments of his women. 
 
 Omar, who from this conduct of Almoran had 
 began to suspect his principles, determined to in- 
 troduce such topics of discourse, as might lead him 
 to discover the state of his mind ; and enable him 
 to enforce and confirm the principles he had taught 
 him, by new proofs and illustrations. 
 
 Almoran, who, since the death of his father, 
 had nothing to apprehend from the discovery of 
 sentiments which before he had been careful to 
 conceal ; now urged his. objections against religion, 
 when Omar gave him opportunity, without re- 
 serve. " You tell me," says he, " of beings that 
 are immortal, because they are immaterial ; be- 
 ings which do not consist of parts, and which, 
 therefore, can admit no solution, the only natural 
 cause of corruption and decay : but that which is 
 not material, can have no extension ; and tvhat 
 has no. extension, posseses no space ; and of such 
 beings, the mind itself, which you pretend to be 
 such a being, has no conception." 
 
 " If the mind," says Omar, " can perceive 
 that there is in itself any single property of such 
 a being, it has irrefragable evidence that it is such 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 90 
 
 a being % though its mode of existence, as distinct 
 from matter, cannot now be comprehended. "-^- 
 — " And what property of such a being, ** said 
 Almoran, * does the mind of man perceive in 
 itself?" — " That of acting," said Omar, « with- 
 out emotion. You have no idea that a material 
 substance can act but in proportion as it moves : 
 yet to think is to act ; and with the idea of think- 
 ing, the idea of motion is never connected ; on 
 the contrary, we always conceive the mind to be 
 fixed in proportion to the degree of ardour and 
 intenseness with which the power of thinking is 
 exerted. Now, if that which is material cannot 
 act without motion ; and if man is conscious, that 
 to think is to act, and not to move ; it follows 
 that there is, in man, somewhat that is not mat- 
 ter ; somewhat that has no extension, and that 
 possesses no space ; somewhat which, having no 
 contexture of parts that can be dissolved or sepa- 
 rated, is exempted from all the natural causes of 
 decay." 
 
 Omar paused ; and Almoran having stood some 
 moments without reply, he seized this opportunity 
 to impress him with an awful sense of the power 
 and presence of the Supreme and Eternal Being, 
 from whom his own existence was derived — " Let 
 us remember," said he, 'f that to every act of this 
 immaterial and immortal part, the Father of spi- 
 rits, from wbom it proceeds, is present : when I 
 behold the busy multitudes that crowd the metro- 
 polis of Persia, in the pursuit of business and 
 projects infinitely complicated and various ; and 
 consider that every idea which passes over their 
 minds, every conclusion and every purpose, with 
 i 2 
 
100 CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 all that they remember of the past, and all that 
 they imagine of the future, is at once known Jo 
 the Almighty, who without labour or confusion 
 weighs every thought of every mind in His ba- 
 lance, and reserves it to the day of retribution ; 
 my follies cover me with confusion, and my soul 
 is humbled in the dust." 
 
 Almoran, though he appeared to listen with 
 attention, and offered nothing against the reason- 
 ing of Omar, yet secretly despised it as sophistry, 
 which cunning only had rendered specious ; and 
 which he was unable to confute, merely because 
 it was subtle, and not because it was true : he had 
 been led, by his passions, first to love, and then 
 to adopt, different opinions ; and as every man is 
 inclined to judge of others by himself, he doubted 
 whether the principles which Omar had thus la- 
 boured to establish were believed even by Omar 
 himself. ■ 
 
 Thus was the mind of Almoran to the instruc- 
 tions of Omar, as a rock slightly covered with 
 earth is to the waters of heaven?, the crags are 
 left bare by the rain that washes them ; and the 
 same showers that fertilize the field can only 
 discover the sterility of the rock, • 
 
 Omar, however, did not yet disclose his sus- 
 picions to Hamet, because he did not yet see that 
 it could answer any purpose. To remove Almeida 
 from her apartment would be to shew a distrust 
 for which there would not appear to be any cause ; 
 and to refuse Almoran access to her when he de- 
 sired it, might precipitate such measures as he 
 might meditate and engage him in some desperate 
 attempt ; he, therefore, contented himself with ad- 
 vising Hamet to conceal the time of his marriage 
 
CLASSIC TALES.- — HAWKESWORTH. 1 01 
 
 till the evening before he intended it should take 
 piace, without assigning the reason on which his 
 device was founded. 
 
 To the council of Omar, Hamet was implicitly 
 obedient, as to the revelations of the Prophet ; 
 but, like his instructions, it was neglected by Al- 
 moran, who became every moment more wretched. 
 He had a graceful person and a vigorous mind ; 
 he was in the bloom of youth, and had a consti- 
 tution that promised him length of days ; he had 
 power which princes were emulous to obey, and 
 wealth by which whatever could administer to 
 luxury might be bought ; for every passion, and 
 every appetite, it was easy for him to procure a, 
 perpetual succession of new objects ; yet was Al- 
 moran not only without enjoyment, but without 
 peace ; he was; by turns pining with discontent, 
 and raving with indignation ; his vices had ex- 
 tracted bitter from every 'sweet ; and having ex- 
 hausted nature for delight in vain, he was repining 
 at the bounds in which he was confined, and 
 regretted the want of other powers as the cause 
 of his misery. 
 
 Thus the year of mourning for Solyman was 
 compleated, without any act of violence on the 
 part of Almoran, or of caution on the part of Ha- 
 met; but on the evening of the last day, Hamet 
 having secretly prepared every thing for perform- 
 ing the solemnity in a private manner, acquainted 
 Almoran by a letter, which Omar undertook to 
 deliver, that he should celebrate his marriage on 
 the morrow. Almoran, who never doubted but 
 he should have notice of this event much longer 
 before it was to happen, read the letter with a 
 i 3 
 
102 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWOHTH. 
 
 perturbation that it was impossible to conceal : he 
 was alone in his private apartment ; and, taking 
 his eye hastily from the paper, he crushed it to- 
 gether in his hand, and thrusting it into his 
 bosom, turned from Omar without speaking; and 
 Omar, thinking himself dismissed, withdrew. 
 
 The passions which Almoran could no longer 
 suppress, now burst out in a torrent of exclama- 
 tion — " Am I, then," said he, " blasted for ever 
 with a double curse, divided empire and disap- 
 pointed love ! What is dominion, if it is not pos- 
 sessed alone ! and what is power, which the dread 
 of rival power perpetually controuls ! is it for me 
 to listen in silence to the wrangling of slaves, that 
 I may at last apportion to them what, with a cla- 
 morous insolence, they demand as their due ! as 
 well may the sun linger in his course, and the 
 world mourn in darkness for the day, that the 
 glow-worm may still be* seen to glimmer upon the 
 earth, and the owls and bats that haunt the se- 
 pulchres of the dead enjoy a longer night. Yet 
 this have I done, because this has been done by 
 Hamet: and my heart sickens in vain with the de- 
 sire of beauty, because my power extends not to 
 Almeida. With dominion undivided and Almeida, 
 I should be Almoran ; but, without them, I am 
 less than nothing." 
 
 Omar, who, before he had passed the pavilion, 
 heard a sound which he knew to be the voice 
 of Almoran, returned hastily to the chamber in 
 which he left him, believing he had withdrawn too 
 soon, and that the king, as he knew no other 
 was present, was speaking to him : he soon drew 
 near enough to hear what was said ; and while he 
 
 ! 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 103 
 
 stood doubting and irresolute, dreading to <be dis- 
 covered, and not knowing how to retire, Almoran 
 turned about. 
 
 At first, both stood motionless with confusion 
 and amazement ; but Almoran's pride soon sur- 
 mounted his other passions, and his disdain of 
 Omar gave his guilt the firmness of virtue. 
 
 " It is true," said he, " that thou hast stolen 
 the secret of my heart ; but do not think that I 
 fear it should be known: though my poniard 
 could take it back with thy life, I leave it with 
 thee. To reproach or curse thee, would do thee 
 honour, and lift thee into an importance which 
 otherwise thou canst never reach." Almoran 
 then turned from him with a contemptuous frown ; 
 but Omar caught him by the robe, and prostrat- 
 ing himself upon the ground, intreated to be 
 heard. His importunity at length prevailed ; and 
 he attempted to exculpate himself from the charge 
 of having insidiously intruded *upon the privacy 
 of his prince ; but Almoran sternly interrupted 
 him — " And what art tnou," said he, " that I 
 should care, whether thou art innocent or guilty?" 
 — " If not for my sake," said Omar, " listen for 
 thy own ; and though my duty is despised, let 
 my affections be heard. That thou art not happy, 
 I know : and I now know the cause. Let my lord 
 pardon the presumption of his slave : he that 
 seeks to satisfy all his wishes, must be wretched ; 
 he only can be happy by whom some are sup- 
 pressed." At these words Almoran snatched his 
 robe from the hand of Omar, and spurned him in 
 a transport of rage and indignation — " The sup- 
 pression of desire," said he, " is such happiness 
 . as that of the deaf who do not remember to have 
 
104 CLASSIC TALES. ^-HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 heard. If it is virtue, know that as virtue I 
 despise it; for though it may secure the obedience 
 of the slave, it can only degrade the prerogative 
 of a prince. I cast off all restraint as I do thee : 
 begone, therefore, to Hamet, and see me no 
 more." 
 
 Omar obeyed without reply : and Almoran be- 
 ing again alone, the conflict in his mind was re- 
 newed with greater violence than before. He 
 felt all that he had disguised to Omar, with the 
 keenest sensibility ; and inticipated the effects of 
 his detection, with unutterable anguish and regret. 
 He walked backward and forward with a hasty 
 but interrupted pace ; sometimes stopping short, 
 and pressing his hand hard upon his brow ; and 
 something by violent gestures shewing the agita- 
 tion of his mind : he sometimes stood silent with 
 his eyes fixed upon the ground, and his arms fold- 
 ed together ; and sometimes a sudden agony of 
 thought forced him into loud and tumultuous ex- 
 clamations. He cursed the impotence of mind 
 that had suffered his thoughts to escape from him 
 unawares, without reflecting that he was even then 
 repeating the folly ; and while he felt himself the 
 victim of vice, he could not suppress his contempt 
 of virtue — «* If I must perish," said he, " I will 
 at least perish unsubdued : I will quench no wish 
 that nature kindles in my bosom ; nor shall my 
 lips utter any prayer but for new powers to 
 feed the flame." 
 
 As he uttered this expression he felt the palace 
 shake, he heard a rushing like a blast in the de- 
 sart, and a being of more than human appearance 
 stood before him. Almoran, though he was ter- 
 rified, was not humbled ; and he stood expecting 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH, 105 
 
 the event, whether evil or good, rather with ob- 
 duracy than courage. 
 
 " Thou seest," said the Appearance, " a Ge- 
 nius, whom the daring purpose of thy mind has 
 convoked from the middle region, where he was 
 appointed to wait the signal ; and who is now 
 permitted to act in concert with thy will. Is not 
 this the hnguage of thy heart — ' Whatever plea- 
 sure I can snatch from the hand of Time, as he 
 passes by me, I will secure for myself: my pas- 
 sions shall be strong, that my enjoyments may be 
 great : for what is the portion allotted to man, but 
 the joyful madness that prolongs the hours of fes- 
 tivity, the fierce delight that is extorted from in- 
 jury by revenge, and the sweet succession of va- 
 ried pleasures which the wish that is ever changing 
 prepares for love ?' 
 
 '* Whatever thou art," said Almoran, t( whose 
 voice has thus disclosed the secret of my soul, 
 accept my homage ; for I will worship thee : 
 and be thou henceforth my wisdom and my 
 strength." 
 
 " Arise," said the Genius, " for therefore I 
 am sent. To thy own powers mine shall be su- 
 peradded : and, if as weak only thou hast been 
 wretched, henceforth thou shalt be happy. Take 
 no thought of to-morrow ; to-morrow my power 
 shall be employed in thy behalf. Be not affrighted 
 at any prodigy ; but put thy confidence in me." 
 While he was yet speaking, and the eyes of Al- 
 moran were fixed upon him, a cloud gathered 
 round him ; and the next moment, dissolving again 
 into air, he disappeared. 
 
105 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTff. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Almoran, when he recovered from his astonish- 
 ment, and had reflected upon the prodigy, deter- 
 mined to wait the issue, and refer all his hopes 
 to the interposition of the Genius, without attempt- 
 ing any thing to retard the marriage ; at which he 
 resolved to be present, that he might improve 
 any supernatural event which might be produced 
 in his favour. > 
 
 Hamet, in the mean time, was anticipating the 
 morrow with a mixture of anxiety and pleasure ; 
 and though he had no reason to think any thing 
 could prevent his marriage, yet he wished it was 
 over, with an impatience that was considerably 
 increased by fear. 
 
 Though the anticipation of the great event that 
 was now so near kept him waking the greatest 
 part of the night, yet he rose early in the morn- 
 ing ; and while he waited till Almeida should 
 be%eady to see him, he was told that Omar was 
 without, and desired admittance, When he came 
 in, Hamet, who always watched his countenance 
 as a mariner the stars of Heaven, perceived that 
 it was obscured wiih perplexity and grief. " Tell 
 me," said Hamet, " whence is the sorrow that I 
 discover in thy face ?"-— *' I am sorrowful/' said 
 Omar, ** not for myself, but for thee." At these 
 words Hamet stept backward, and fixed his eyes 
 upon Omar, without power to speak. " Consi- 
 der/' said Omar, " that thou art not a man only, 
 but a prince : consider also, that immortality is 
 before theej and that thy felicity, during the. 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 107 
 
 endless ages of immortality, depends upon thy- 
 self: fear not therefore what thou canst suffer from 
 others; the evil and the good of life are transient 
 as the morning dew, and over these only the hand 
 of others can prevail." 
 
 Hamet, whose attachment to life was strong, 
 and whose expectations of immediate enjoyment 
 were high, did not feel the force of what Omar 
 had said, though he assented to its truth. " Tell 
 me," said he, " at once, what thou fearest for 
 me; deliver me from the torments of uncertainty, 
 and trust my own fortitude to save me from de- 
 spair."-—" Know then," said Omar, " that thou 
 art hated by Almoran, and that he loves Almeida." 
 At this declaration the astonishment of Hamet 
 was equal to his concern, and he was in doubt 
 whether to believe or disbelieve what he heard : 
 but the moment he recollected the wisdom and 
 integrity of Omar, his doubts were at an end ; 
 and having recovered from his surprize, he was 
 about to make such enquiries as might gratify the 
 anxious and tumultuous curiosity which was ex- 
 cited in his breast ; when Omar, lifting up his 
 hand, and beginning again to speak, Hamet re- 
 mained silent. 
 
 f When my cheeks," said Omar, " were yet 
 ruddy with youth, and my limbs were braced 
 by vigour, mine eye was guided to knowledge by 
 the lamp that is kindled at midnight; and much 
 of what is hidden in the innermost recesses of na- 
 ture, was discovered to me : my prayer ascended 
 in secret to Him, with whom there is wisdom 
 from everlasting to everlasting, and He illumi- 
 nated my darkness with his light. I know, by 
 such sensations as the world either feels not at all, 
 
108 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 or feels unnoticed without knowledge of their use, 
 when the powers that are invisible are permitted 
 to mingle in the walks of men; and well I know 
 that some Being, who is more than mortal, has 
 joined with Almoran against thee, since the veil 
 of night was last spread upon the earth." 
 
 Haniet, whose blood was chilled with horror, 
 and whose nerves were no longer obedient to his 
 will, i^fter several ineffectual attempts to speak, 
 looked up at Omar ; and, striking his hand upon 
 his breast, cried out in an earnest, but faultering 
 voice—" What shall I do?"—" Thou must do," 
 said Omar, " that which is right. Let not thy 
 foot be drawn by any allurement, or driven by 
 any terror from the path of virtue. While thou 
 art there, thou art in safety: and though the 
 world should unite against thee, by the united 
 world thou canst not be hurt." 
 
 " But what friendly Power," said Hamet, 
 " shall guard even the path of virtue from grief 
 and pain ; from the silent shaft of disappointed 
 love, or the sounding scourge of outrageous jea- 
 lousy ? These, surely, have overtaken the foot 
 of perseverance ; and by these, though I should 
 persevere, may my feet be overtaken." — " What 
 thou sayest," replied Omar, " is true ; and it is 
 true, also, that the tempest which roots up the 
 forest, is driven over the mountain with unabated 
 rage : but from the mountain, what can it take 
 more than the vegetable dust, which the hand of 
 nature has scattered upon the moss that covers it ? 
 As the dust is to the mountain, so is all that the 
 storms of life can take from virtue, to the sum of 
 good which the Omnipotent has appointed for its 
 reward." Hamet, whose eye now expressed 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 109 
 
 & kind of doubtful confidence, a hope that was 
 repressed by fear, remained still silent; and 
 Omar, perceiving the state of his mind, pro- 
 ceeded to fortify it by new precepts—" If heaven," 
 said he> " should vanish like a vapour, and this 
 firm orb of earth should crumble into dust, the 
 virtuous mind would stand secure amidst the ruins 
 of nature : for He who has appointed the heavens 
 and the earth to fail has said to virtue — * Fear not ; 
 for thou canst neither perish nor be wretched/ 
 Call up thy strength, therefore, to the fight, in 
 which thou art sure of conquest: do thou only 
 that which is right, and leave the event to 
 Heaven." 
 
 Hamet, in his conference with Omar,- having 
 gradually recovered his fortitude, and the time' 
 being now near when he was to conduct Almeida 
 to the court of the palace, where the marriage 
 ceremony was to be performed ; they parted with 
 mutual benedictions, each recommending the other 
 to the protection of the Most High. 
 
 At the appointed hour, the princes of the court 
 being assembled, the Mufti and the Imans being 
 ready, and Almoran seated npon his throne, 
 Hamet and Almeida came forward, and Were 
 placed one on the right-hand, and the other on 
 the left. The Mufti was then advancing to heaf 
 and to record the mutual promise which was to 
 unite them : Almoran Was execrating the appear- 
 ance of the Genius as a delusive dream, in alt 
 the tumults of anguish and despair, and Hamet 
 began to hope that the suspicions of Omar had 
 been ill founded; when a stroke of thunder shook 
 the palace to its foundations, and a cloud 
 
 K 
 
110 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTfl. 
 
 from the ground like a thick smoke between Hamet 
 and Almeida. 
 
 Almoran, who was inspired with new confidence 
 and hope, by that which had struck the rest of 
 the assembly with terror, started from his seat 
 with an ardent and furious look; and at the same 
 moment a voice that issued from the cloud, pro* 
 nounced with a loud but hollow tone — 
 
 " Fate has decreed to Almoran, Almeida." 
 
 At these words Almoran rushed forward, and 
 placing himself by the side of Almeida, the 
 cloud disappeared, and he cried out — " Let me 
 now proclaim to the world the secret which to this 
 moment I have hidden in my bosom : I love Al* 
 rneida. The Being who alone knew my love, 
 has now by miracle approved it. Let his decree 
 be accomplished." He then commanded that the 
 ceremony should proceed ; and seizing the hand 
 of the lady, began to repeat that part of it which 
 was to have been repeated by Hamet. But Al- 
 meida instantly drew her hand from him in an 
 agony of distress, and Hamet, who till then had 
 stood motionless with amazement and horror, 
 started from his .trance, and springing forward 
 rushed between them. Almoran turned fiercely 
 upon him, but Hamet, who having been warned 
 by Omar, imputed the prodigy to some evil 
 being whom it was virtue to resist, laid his hand 
 upon his scymitar, and with a frown of indigna-. 
 tion and defiance, commanded him to stand off — 
 *' I now know thee," said he,, 'f as a man, and 
 therefore, as a brother I know thee not." 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. Ill 
 
 Almoran reflecting that the foundation of his 
 reproach was unknown to all who were present, 
 and that to them he would therefore appear to be 
 injured, looked round with an affected smile of 
 wonder and compassion, as appealing to them 
 from a charge that was thus fiercely and injuriously 
 brought against him, and imputing it to the vio- 
 lence of sudden passions by which truth and rea- 
 son were overborne. The eye of Hamet at once 
 detected the artifice, which he disdained to ex- 
 pose ; he therefore commanded the guard that at- 
 tended to carry off Almeida to her apartment. 
 The guard was preparing to obey, when Almo- 
 ran, who thought he had now such an opportu- 
 nity to get her into his own power as would never 
 return, ordered them to see her safely lodged in 
 his own seraglio. 
 
 The men who thus received opposite commands 
 from persons to whom they owed equal obedience, 
 stood still, not knowing which to prefer: Almoran 
 then reproached them with want of obedience, not 
 to him, but to God, appealing to the prodigy for 
 the justification of his claim. Hamet on the con- 
 trary repeated his order, with a look and emphasis 
 scarce less commanding than the thunder and the 
 voice. But the priests interposing in favour of 
 Almoran, upon presumption that his right had 
 been decided by a superior power; the guard 
 rushed between Hamet and Almeida, and with 
 looks that expressed the utmost reluctance and 
 regret, attempted to separate their hands, which 
 were clasped in each other. She was affrighted 
 at the violence, but yet more at the apprehension 
 ©f what was to follow ; she therefore turned her 
 k2 
 
112 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTtt. 
 
 eyes upon Hamet, conjuring him not to leave her, 
 in a tone of tenderness and distress which it is im- 
 possible to describe : he replied, with a vehemence 
 that was worthy of his passion — " I will not leave 
 thee!" and immediately drew his sabre. At the 
 same moment they forced her from him ; and a 
 party having interposed to cover those that were 
 carrying her off, Hamet lifted up his weapon to 
 force his passage through them, but was prevented 
 by Omar, who, having pressed through the crowd, 
 presented himself before him. " Stop me not," 
 said Hamet, " it is for Almeida."—" If thou 
 wouldst save Almeida/' said Omar, '* and thyself, 
 do that only which is right. What have these 
 done who oppose thee, more than they ought? 
 and what end can their destruction answer, but to 
 stain thy hands with unavailing murder? Thou 
 canst only take the life of a few faithful slaves 
 who will not lift up their hands against thee : thou 
 canst not rescue Almeida from thy brother, but 
 thou canst preserve thyself from guilt," 
 
 These words of Omar suspended the rage of 
 Hamet like a charm, and returning his scymitar 
 in its sheath — " Let me, then," said he, H suffer, 
 and be guiltless. It is true, that against these 
 ranks my single arm must be ineffectual; but if 
 jny wrongs can rouze a nation to repress the ty- 
 ranny that will shortly extend over it the injuries 
 that now reach only to me, justice shall be done 
 to Hamet." Then turning to Almoran — " Hence* 
 forth," said he, ff the kingdom shall be mine or 
 thine. To govern in concert with thee is to asso- 
 ciate with the powers of hell. The beings that 
 are superior to evil, are the friends of Hamet, 
 
 
CLASSIC TALES. — HAWRESWORTH. 113 
 
 $nd if these are thy enemies, what shall be thy 
 defence ?'* Alraoran replied only by a contemp- 
 tuous smile ; and the assembly being dismissed, 
 he retired to his apartment : but Hamet and Omar 
 went out to the people, who had gathered in an 
 incredible multitude about the palace. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 A rumour of what had happened within had 
 reached them, which some believed and some 
 doubted : but when they saw Omar and Hamet 
 return together, and observed ^hat their looks were 
 full of resentment and trouble, they became silent 
 with attention in a moment; which Omar observ- 
 ing, addressed them with an eloquence of which 
 they had often acknowledged the force, and of 
 which they nev$r repented the effect. 
 
 He told them the tender connection between 
 Hamet and Almeida, and disclosed the subtle hy- 
 pocrisy of Almoran ; he expatiated upon the folly 
 of supposing, that the Power that was supreme 
 in goodness and truth, should command a violation 
 of vows that had been mutually interchanged, and 
 often repeated ; and devote to Almoran the beau- 
 ties which could only be voluntarily surrendered 
 to Hamet. They heard him with a vacant coun- 
 tenance of surprize and wonder; and, while he 
 waited for their reply, they agreed among them- 
 selves that no man could avoid the destiny that 
 was written upon his head; and that if Almeida 
 had thus been taken from Hamet, and given to 
 Almoran, it was an event that by an unchange- 
 k 3 
 
1 1 4> CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 able decree was appointed to happen ; and that,- 
 therefore, it was their duty to acquiesce. Omar 
 then beckoned with his hand for audience a second 
 jtime ; and told them, that Almoran had not only 
 practised the arts of sorcery to deprive Hamet of 
 Almeida, but that he meditated a design to usurp 
 the sole dominion, and deprive him of the share 
 of the government to which he had a right by the 
 will of Soiyman his father. This also they hear4 
 with the same sentiments of wonder and acquies- 
 cence-^-!' If it is decreed," said they, f* that Al- 
 moran should be king alone, who can prevent it ? 
 and if it is not, who can bring it to pass?" — 
 ' f But know ye not,", said Omar, "that when the 
 end is appointed, the means are appointed also ? 
 If jt is decreed that one of you shall this night 
 die by poison, is it not decreed also that he shall 
 drink it ?" 
 
 The crowd now gazed upon eacji other, without 
 reply, for some minutes : and at last they only 
 said, that no effort of theirs could change the 
 universal appointment of all things: that if Al- 
 moran was to be king alone, he would be so not- 
 withstanding all opposition ; and that if he was 
 not to be king alone, no attempt of his own, 
 however supported, could make him so. u I will 
 not," said Omar, " contradict your opinion * I 
 will only tell you what I have heard, and leave 
 you to suffer the calamities which threaten you, 
 with a fortitude and resignation that are suitable 
 to your principles ; having no consolation to offer 
 you, but that Hamet, whose destiny it was not to 
 make you happy, will suffer with you the evils 
 that neither he nor you could prevent : the mourn- 
 
 
CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 115 
 
 ful comfort of this fellowship he will not be de-> 
 nied ; for he loves you too well, to wish even to 
 be happy alone." The crowd fixed their eyes 
 upon Hamet, for whom their affection was now 
 strongly moved, with looks of much greater in- 
 telligence and sensibility : a confused murmur, 
 like the fall of the pebbles upon the beach when 
 the surge retires from the shore, expressed their 
 gratitude to Hamet, and their apprehensions for 
 themselves. 
 
 Omar waited till they were again silent, and 
 then improved the advantage he had gained — 
 " Almoran," said he, " considers you as the slaves 
 of his power ; Hamet as the objects of his bene- 
 volence : your, lives and your properties, in the 
 opinion of Almoran, are below his notice; but 
 Hamet considers his own interest as connected 
 with yours. When Almoran, therefore, shall be 
 unchecked by the influence of Hamet, he will 
 leave you to the mercy of some delegated tyrant, 
 whose whole power will be exerted to oppress 
 you, that he may enrich himself." 
 
 A new fire was now kindled in their eyes, and 
 their cheeks glowed with indignation at the wrongs 
 that threatened them ; they were no longer dis- 
 posed to act upon the principles of fatality, as they 
 had perversely understood them ; and they ar- 
 gued at once like reasonable and free beings, 
 whose actions were in their choice, and who had 
 no doubt but that their actions would produce ade- 
 quate effects. They recollected that Omar had, 
 in the reign of Solyman, often rescued them from 
 such oppression as now threatened them ; and that 
 the power of Hamet had since interposed in their 
 behalf, when Almoran would have stretched his 
 
I'M* CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 prerogative to their hurt, or have left them a prey 
 to the farmer of a tax. ff Shall Harriet," said 
 they, f? be deprived of the power that he employs 
 only for our benefit; and shall it centre in Almo- 
 ran, who will abuse it to our ruin ? Shall we 
 rather support Almoran in the wrong he has done 
 to Hamet, than Hamet to obtain justice of Al- 
 moran? Hamet is our king; let him command 
 us, and we will obey." This was uttered with a 
 shout that echoed from the mountains beyond the 
 city, and continued near a full hour. In the mean 
 time, the multitude was increasing every moment ; 
 and the troops that lay in and near the city having 
 taken arms, fell in with the stream : they were 
 secretly attached to Hamet, under whose eye they 
 had been formed, and of whose bounty they had 
 often partaken : and their fear being removed 
 by the general cry, which left them no room 
 to apprehend an opposition in favour of Almoran, 
 they were now at full liberty to follow their 
 inclinations. 
 
 In the mean time, Almoran, who had retired to 
 the innermost court pf the palace, had heard the 
 tumult, and was alarmed for his safety : he ran 
 from room to room, confused and terrified, with- 
 out attempting or directing any thing either for 
 his defence or escape ; yet he sent every moment 
 to know the state of the insurrection, and to what 
 end its force would be directed. 
 
 Among those whom accident rather than choice 
 had attached to the interest of Almoran, were 
 Osmyn and Caled : they were both distinguished 
 by his favour ; and each had conceived hopes that 
 if he should possess the throne alone, he would de- 
 legate his authority to him. Almoran now ordered 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 117 
 
 them to take the command of the troops that were 
 appointed to attend his person as their peculiar 
 duty, with as many others as had not declared for 
 Hamet, and to secure all the avenues that led to 
 liis seraglio. 
 
 Omar and Hamet were now on horseback, and 
 had began to form the troops that had joined them, 
 and as many others as were armed, which were 
 foefore mingled together in a confused multitude. 
 An account of this was brought to Almoran by 
 Osmyn ; and threw him into a perturbation and 
 perplexity, that disgraced his character and con- 
 founded his attendants. He urged Osmyn, in 
 whom he most confided, to dispatch, without giv- 
 ing him any orders to execute ; then turning from 
 him, he uttered, in a low and inarticulate voice, 
 the most passionate exclamations of distress and 
 terror, being struck with the thought that his 
 guard might betray him : when he recollected 
 himself, and perceived that Osmyn was still pre- 
 sent, he burst into a rage, and snatching out his 
 poniard, he swore by the soul of the Prophet, that 
 if he did not instantly attempt something, he 
 would stab him to the heart. Osmyn drew back 
 trembling and confused ; but, having yet received 
 no orders, he would have spoken, but Almoran 
 drove him from his presence with menaces and 
 execrations. 
 
 The moment that Osmyn left him, his rage 
 subsided in his fears, and his fears were mingled 
 with remorse—" Which way soever I turn," said 
 he, *? I see myself surrounded by destruction. I 
 have incensed Osmyn by unreasonable displea- 
 sure, and causeless menaces. He must regard me 
 
118 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 at once with abhorrence and contempt : and it is 
 impossible but he should revolt to Hamet." 
 
 In this agony the terrors of futurity rushed 
 upon his mind with all their force ; and he started 
 as if at the bite of a scorpion — " To me," said 
 he, '■?. death, that now approaches, will be but 
 the beginning of sorrow. I shall be cut off at 
 once from enjoyment, and from hope; and the 
 dreadful moment is now at hand." While he was 
 speaking, the palace again shook, and he stood 
 again in the presence of his Genius. 
 
 " Almoran," said the inhabitant of the unap- 
 parent world, " the evil which thou fearest shall 
 not be upon thee. Make haste, and shew thyself 
 from the gallery to the people, and the tumult of 
 faction shall be still before thee : tell them, that 
 their rebellion is not against thee only, but against 
 him by whom thou reignest ; appeal boldly to that 
 Power for a confirmation of thy words, and rely 
 for the attesting sign upon me." Almoran, who 
 had stooped with his face to the ground, now looked 
 upward and found himself alone : he hasted, there-* 
 fore, to follow the directions he had received; and 
 hope was again kindled in his bosom. 
 
 Osmyn, in the mean time, made a proper dis- 
 position of the troops now under his command ; 
 •and had directed a select company to remain near 
 the person of the king, that they might at least 
 make good his retreat. While he was waiting at 
 the post, and revolving in his mind the total dis^ 
 appointment of his hopes, and considering what 
 he should do if Hamet should establish himself 
 alone, he was joined by Caled. 
 
 Gaied had a secret enmity against Osmyn, aa 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 119 
 
 his rival in the favour of Almoran : but as he had 
 concealed his own pretensions from Osmyn, Os- 
 myn had no ill-will against Caled. As they were 
 now likely to be involved in one common cala- 
 mity, by the ruin of the prince whose party they 
 had espoused, Caled's enmity subsided, and the 
 indifference of Osmyn was warmed into kind- 
 ness ; mutual distress produced mutual confi- 
 dence; and Caled, after condoling with Osmyn 
 on their present hopeless situation, proposed that 
 they should draw off their forces, and revolt to 
 Hamet. This proposition Osmyn rejected, not 
 only from principle, but from interest — " Now 
 we have accepted of a trust," said he, " we ought 
 not to betray it. If we had gone over to Hamet 
 when he first declared against his brother, he 
 would have received us with joy, and probably 
 have rewarded our service ; but I know that his 
 virtue will abhor us for treachery, though prac- 
 tised in his favour : treachery, under the dominion 
 of Hamet, will not only cover us with dishonour, 
 but will probably devote us to death." 
 
 In this reasoning Caled could not but acquiesce ; 
 he felt himself secretly but forcibly reproved, by 
 the superior virtue of Osmyn : and while he re- 
 gretted his having made a proposal, which had 
 been rejected not only as imprudent but infamous, 
 he concluded that Osmyn would ever after suspect 
 and despise him; and he, therefore, from a new 
 cause, conceived new enmity against him. They 
 parted, however, without any appearance of sus- 
 picion or disgust ; and, in a short time, they were 
 in circumstances very different from their expec- 
 tations. 
 
120 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 Almoran had now reached the gallery; and 
 when the multitude saw him, they shouted as in 
 triumph, and demanded that he should surrender. 
 Hamet, who also perceived him at a distance, and 
 was unwilling that any violence should be offered 
 to his person, pressed forward, and when he was 
 eome near, commanded silence. At this moment 
 Almoran, with a loud voice, reproached them with 
 impiety and folly ; and appealing to the power 
 whom in his person they had offended, the air 
 suddenly grew dark, a flood of lightning descended 
 from the sky, and a peal of thunder was article 
 lated into these words :— - 
 
 Divided sway, the God who reigns alone 
 Abhors ; and gives to Almoran the throne. 
 
 The multitude stood aghast at the prodigy* and 
 hiding their faces with their hands, every one de- 
 parted hi silence and confusion, and Hamet and 
 Omar Were left alone. Omar was taken by some 
 (if the soldiers who had adhered to Almoran, but 
 Hamet made his escape. 
 
 Almoran, whose wishes were thus far accom- 
 plished by the intervention of a power superior to 
 his own, exulted in the anticipation of that happi- 
 ness which he now supposed to be secured •> #n£ 
 was fortified in his opinion, that he had been 
 wretched only because he had been \$eal$, ancl 
 that to multiply and not to suppress his jvishes**^ 
 the way to acquire felicity. 
 
CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 121 
 
 As he was returning from the gallery, he was 
 met by Osmyn and Caled, who had heard the 
 supernatural declaration in his behalf, and learned 
 its effects. Almoran, in that hasty flow of un- 
 bounded but capricious favour, which in con- 
 tracted minds is the effect only of unexpected 
 good fortune, raised Osmyn from his feet to his 
 bosom — "As in the trial/' said he, "thou hast 
 been faithful, I now invest thee with a superior 
 trust. The toils of state shall from this moment 
 devolve upon thee; and from this moment the 
 delights of empire unallayed shall be mine : I will 
 recline at ease, remote from every eye but those 
 that reflect my own felicity ; the felicity that I 
 shall taste in secret, surrounded by the smiles of 
 beauty and the gaieties of youth. Like Heaven, 
 I will reign unseen ; and like Heaven, though un- 
 seen, I will be adored." Osmyn received this 
 delegation with a tumultuous pleasure, that was 
 expressed only by silence and confusion. Almo- 
 ran remarked it; and, exulting in the pride of 
 power, he suddenly changed his aspect, and re- 
 garding Osmyn, who was yet blushing, and whose 
 eyes were swimming in tears of gratitude, with 
 astern and ardent countenance — " Let me, how- 
 ever/' said he, " warn thee to be watchful in thy 
 trust : beware that no rude commotion violate my 
 peace by thy fault ; lest my anger sweep thee in 
 a moment to destruction." He then directed his 
 eye to Caled — " And thou, too," said he, " hast 
 been faithful ; be thou next in honour and in 
 power to Osmyn. Guard both of you my para- 
 dise from dread and care ; fulfil the duty that I 
 have assigned you> and live." 
 
 L 
 
122 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTtf. 
 
 He was then informed by a messenger that 
 Hamet had escaped, and that Omar was taken. 
 As he now despised the power both of Hamet 
 and Omar, he expressed neither concern nor 
 anger that Hamet had fled, but he ordered Omar 
 to be brought before him. 
 
 When Omar appeared bound and disarmed, he 
 regarded him with a smile of insult and derision, 
 and asked him what he had now to hope. '* I 
 have, indeed," said Omar, "much less to hope 
 than thou hast to fear.'' — " Thy insolence/' said 
 Almoran, " is equal to thy folly : what power on 
 earth is there that I should fear V — u Thy own," 
 said Omar. "I have not leisure now," replied 
 Almoran, " to hear the paradoxes of thy philo- 
 sophy explained ; but to shew thee that I fear not 
 thy power, thou shalt live. I will leave thee to 
 hopeless regret, to wiles that have been scorned 
 and defeated, to the unheeded petulance of dot- 
 age, to the fondness that is repayed with neglect, 
 to restless wishes, to credulous hopes, and to de- 
 rided command ; to the slow and complicated tor- 
 ture of despised old age, and that, when thou 
 shalt long have abhorred thy being, shall destroy 
 it." — "The misery," said Omar; "which thou 
 hast menaced, it is not in thy power to inflict. 
 As thou hast taken from me all that I possessed by 
 the bounty of thy father, it is true that I am 
 poor ; it is true also that my knees are now feeble, 
 and bend with the weight of years that is upon 
 me. lam, as thou art, a man, and therefore I 
 have erred ; but I have still kept the narrow path 
 in view with a faithful vigilance, and to that I 
 have soon returned : the past> therefore, I do not 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 123 
 
 regret, and the future I have no cause to fear. 
 In him who is most merciful I have hope, and in 
 that hope even now I rejoice before thee. My 
 portion in the present hour is adversity ; but I 
 receive it, not only with humility, but thankful- 
 ness, for I know that whatever is ordained is 
 best." 
 
 Almorah, in whose heart there were no traces 
 of Omar's virtue, and therefore no foundation for 
 his confidence, sustained himself against their 
 force by treating them as hypocrisy and affecta- 
 tion. " I know," said he, " that thou hast long 
 learned to echo the specious and pompous sounds 
 by which hypocrites conceal their wretchedness, 
 and excite the admiration of folly and the con- 
 tempt of wisdom ; yet thy walk in this place shall 
 be still unrestrained. Here the splendour of my 
 felicity shall fill thy heart with envy, and cover 
 thy face with confusion ; and from thee shall the 
 world be instructed, that the enemies of Almoran 
 can move no passion in his breast but contempt, 
 and that most to punish them is to permit them to 
 live." 
 
 Omar, whose eye had till now been fixed upon 
 the ground, regarded Almoran with a calm but 
 steady countenance. " Here then," said he, 
 " will I follow thee, constant as thy shadow, 
 though as thy shadow unnoticed or neglected; 
 here shall mine eye watch those evils that were 
 appointed from everlasting to attend upon guilt ; 
 and here shall my voice warn thee of their ap- 
 proach. From thy breast may they be averted 
 by righteousness ; for without this, though all the 
 worlds that roll about thee should, to aid thee, 
 l2 
 
124 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 unite all their power, that power can aid thee only 
 to be wretched." 
 
 Almoran, in all the pride of gratified ambition, 
 invested with dominion that had no limits, and 
 allied with powers that were more than mortal, 
 was overawed by this address, and his countenance 
 grew pale. But the next moment, disdaining to 
 be thus controuled by the voice of a slave, his 
 cheeks were suffused with the blushes of indig- 
 nation ; he turned from Omar in scorn, anger, 
 and confusion, without reply ; and Omar departed 
 with the calm dignity of a benevolent and supe- 
 rior being, to whom the smiles and frowns of 
 terrestrial tyranny were alike indifferent, and in 
 whom abhorrence of the turpitude of vice was 
 mingled with compassion for its folly. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 In the mean time Almeida, who had been con- 
 veyed to an apartment in Almoran's seraglio, and 
 delivered to the care of those who attended upon 
 his women, suffered all that grief and terror could 
 inflict upon a generous, tender,, and a delicate 
 mind; yet in this complicated distress, her atten- 
 tion was principally fixed upon Hamet. The 
 disappointment of his hope, and the violation of 
 his right, were the chief objects of her regret and 
 her fears, in all that had already happened, and 
 in all that was still to come; every insult that 
 might be offered to herself she considered as an 
 injury to him. Yet the thoughts of all that he 
 might suffer in her person, gave way to her ap- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 125 
 
 prehension of what might befal him in his own: 
 in this situation, every calamity that her imagi- 
 nation could conceive was possible ; her thoughts 
 were, therefore, bewildered amidst an endless 
 variety of dreadful images, which started up be- 
 fore them which way soever they were turned ; 
 and it wa^ impossible that she could gain any 
 certain intelligence of his fate, as the splendid 
 prison in which she was now confined was sur- 
 rounded by mutes and eunuchs, of whom nothing 
 could be learned, or in whose report no confidence 
 could be placed. 
 
 While her mind was in this state of agitation 
 and distress, she perceived the door open, and the 
 next moment Almoran entered the apartment. 
 When she saw him, she turned from him with a 
 look of unutterable anguish ; and hiding her face 
 in her veil, she burst into tears. The tyrant was 
 moved with her distress; for unfeeling obduracy 
 is the vice only of the old, whose sensibility has 
 been worn away by the habitual perpetration of 
 reiterated wrongs. 
 
 He approached her with looks of kindness, and 
 his voice was involuntarily modulated to pity ; 
 she was, however, too much absorbed in her own 
 sorrows to reply. He gazed upon her with ten- 
 derness and admiration, and, taking her hand into 
 his own, he pressed it ardently to his bosom ; his 
 compassion soon kindled into desire, and from 
 soothing her distress he began to solicit her love. 
 This instantly rouzed her attention, and her grief 
 gave way to resentment; she turned from him 
 with a firm and haughty step, and, instead of 
 answering his professions, reproached him with 
 l3 
 
126 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTft. 
 
 her wrongs. Almoran, that he might at once 
 address her virtue and her passions, observed that 
 though he had loved her from the first moment he 
 had seen her, yet he had concealed his passion 
 even from her till it had received the sanction of 
 an invisible and superior power ; that he came, 
 therefore, the messenger of heaven, and that he 
 offered her unrivalled empire and everlasting love. 
 To this she answered only by an impatient and 
 fond enquiry after Hamet. " Think not of Ha* 
 met," said Almoran ; H for why should he, who 
 is rejected of heaven, be still the favourite of 
 Almeida ?"— " If thy hand," said Almeida, 
 "could quench in everlasting darkness that vital 
 spark of intellectual fire which the word of the 
 Almighty has kindled in my breast to burn for 
 ever, then might Almeida cease to think of 
 Hamet; but while that shall live, whatever form 
 it shall inhabit, or in whatever world it shall re- 
 side, his image shall be for ever present, and to 
 him shall my love.be for ever true." This glow- 
 ing declaration of her love for Hamet was imme* 
 diately succeeded by a tender anxiety for his 
 safety ; and a sudden reflection upon the proba- 
 bility of his death, and the danger of his' situ- 
 ation, if alive, threw her again into tears. 
 
 Almoran, whom the ardour and impetuosity of 
 her passions kept sometimes silent, and sometimes 
 threw into contusion, again attempted to soothe 
 and comfort her : she often urged him to tell her 
 what was become of his brother, and he as often 
 evaded the question. As she was about to renew 
 her enquiry > and reflected that it had before been 
 ©ften made, and had not yet been answered, she 
 
CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTH. 127 
 
 thought that Almoran had already put him to 
 death : this threw her into anew agony, of which 
 he did not immediately discover the cause, but 
 as he soon learned it from her reproaches and 
 exclamations, he perceived that he could not hope 
 to be heard while she was in doubt about the 
 safety of Hamet. In order, therefore, to soothe 
 her mind, and prevent its being longer possessed 
 with an image that excluded every other, he as- 
 sumed a look of concern and astonishment at the 
 imputation of a crime which was at once so horrid 
 and so unnecessary. After a solemn deprecation 
 of such enormous guilt, he observed that it was 
 now impossible for Hamet to succeed as his rival, 
 either in empire or in love, without the breach 
 of a command which he knew his virtue would 
 implicitly obey; he had no motive either to desire 
 his death or to restrain his liberty : ** His walk," 
 says he, "is still uncircumscribed in Persia; 
 and, except this chamber, there is no part of the 
 palace to which he is not admitted " , 
 
 To this declaration Almeida listened as to the 
 music of paradise, and it suspended for a while 
 every passion but her love. The sudden ease of 
 her mind made her regardless of all about her, 
 and she had in this interval suffered Almoran to re- 
 move her veil, without reflecting upon what he 
 was doing : the moment she recollected herself, 
 she made a gentle effort to recover it, with some 
 Confusion, but without anger. The pleasure that 
 was expressed in her eyes, the blush that glowed 
 upon her cheek, and the contest about the veil, 
 which to an amorous imagination had an air of 
 dalliance, concurred to heighten the passion of 
 Almoran almost to frenzy; she perceived her 
 
128 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 danger in his looks, and her spirits instantly took 
 the alarm. He seized her hand, and gazing ar- 
 dently upon her, he conjured her, with a tone 
 and emphasis that strongly expressed the tumul- 
 tuous vehemence of his wishes, that she would 
 renounce the rites which had been forbidden 
 above, and that she would receive him to whom 
 by miracle she had been allotted. 
 
 Almeida, whom the manner and voice of Al- 
 moran had terrified into silence, answered him at 
 first only with a look that expressed aversion and 
 disdain, overawed by fear. " Wilt thou not/' 
 said Almoran, " fulfil the decrees of heaven ? I 
 conjure thee, by heaven, to answer." From this 
 solemn reference to heaven Almeida derived new 
 fortitude ; she instantly recollected that she stood 
 in the presence of Him by whose permission only 
 every other power, whether visible or invisible, 
 can dispense evil or good. " Urge no more/' said 
 she, ". as the decree of heaven, that which is in- 
 consistent with divine perfection. Can he, in 
 whose hand my heart is, command me to wed the 
 man whom he has not enabled me to love ? Can 
 the Pure, the Just, the Merciful, have ordered 
 that I should sufler embraces which I loathe, and 
 violate vows which his laws permitted me to 
 make? Can he have ordained a perfidious, a love- 
 less, and a joyless prostitution? What if a thou- 
 sand prodigies should concur to enforce it a thou- 
 sand times, the deed itself would be a stronger 
 proof that those prodigies were the works of dark- 
 ness, than those prodigies that the deed was com- 
 manded by the Father of light." 
 
 Almoran, whose hopes were now blasted to 
 the root, who perceived that the virtue of Almeida 
 
CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH* ' 129 
 
 could neither be deceived nor overborne, that she 
 at once contemned his power and abhorred his 
 love, gave way to all the furies of his mind, which 
 now slumbered no more: his countenance ex u 
 pressed at once anger, indignation, and despair ; 
 his gesture became furious, and his voice was lost 
 in menaces and execrations. Almeida beheld him 
 with an earnest, yet steady countenance, till he 
 vowed to revenge the indignity he had suffered 
 upon Hamet. At the name of Hamet her forti- 
 tude forsook her ; the pride of virtue gave way to 
 the softness of love ; her cheeks became pale, her 
 lips trembled, and taking hold of the robe of 
 Almoran, she threw herself at his feet. His fury 
 was at first restrained by hope and expectation; 
 but when from her words, which grief and terror 
 had rendered scarce articulate, he could learn only 
 that she was pleading for Hamet, he burst from 
 her in an extasy of rage, and forcing his robe 
 from her hand with a violence that dragged her 
 after it, he rushed out of the chamber, and left 
 her prostrate upon the ground, 
 v As he passed through the gallery with a hasty 
 and disordered pace, he was seen by Omar, who, 
 knowing that he was returned from an interview 
 with Almeida, and conjecturing from his appear- 
 ance what had happened, judged that he ought 
 not to neglect this opportunity to warn him once 
 more of the delusive phantoms which, under the 
 appearance of pleasure, were leading him to de- 
 struction: he, therefore, followed him unperceived 
 till he had reached the apartment in which he had 
 been used to retire alone, and heard again the 
 loud and tumultuous- exclamations which were 
 
ISO CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 wrung from his heart by the anguish of disap- 
 pointment. " What have I gained," said he, r * by- 
 absolute dominion! The slave who, secluded: 
 from the gales of life and from the light of heaven, 
 toils without hope in the darkness of the mine, 
 riots in the delights of paradise compared with 
 me. By the caprice of one woman, I am robbed, 
 not only of enjoyment but of peace, and con- 
 demned for ever to the torment of unsatisfied 
 desire." 
 
 Omar, who was impatient to apprize him that 
 he was not alone, and to prevent his disclosing 
 sentiments which he wished to conceal, now threw 
 himself upon the ground at his feet. " Presump- 
 tuous slave!" said Almoran, "from whence and 
 wherefore art thou come?" — " I am come," said 
 Omar, " to tell thee, that not the caprice of a 
 woman, but the wishes of Almoran, have made 
 Almoran wretched." The king, stung with the 
 reproach, drew back, and with a furious look laid 
 his hand upon his poniard, but was immediately 
 restrained from drawing it by his pride. " 1 am 
 come," said Omar, "to repeat the truth, upon 
 which, great as thou art, thy fate is suspended. 
 Thy power extends not to the mind of another; 
 exert it, therefore, upon thy own, suppress the 
 wishes which thou canst not fulfil, and secure the 
 happiness that is within thy reach." 
 
 Almoran, who could bear no longer to hear the 
 precepts which he disdained to practise, sternly 
 commanded Omar to depart : " Begone," says 
 he, " lest I crush thee like a noisome reptile, 
 which men cannot but abhor, though it is too con- 
 temptible to be feared." — « I go," said Omar, 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWK.ESWORTH. 1 3 1 
 
 ** that my warning voice may yet again recal thee 
 to the path of wisdom and of peace, if yet again 
 I shall behold thee while it is to be found/* 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Almoran was now left alone, and, throwing him- 
 self upon a sofa, he sat some time motionless and 
 silent. He revolved in his mind the wishes that 
 had been gratified, and the happiness of which he 
 had been disappointed : " I desired," said he, 
 " the pomp and power of undivided dominion, 
 and Hamet was driven from the throne which he 
 shared with me by a voice from heaven ; I de- 
 sired to break off his marriage with Almeida, and 
 it was broken off by a prodigy when no human 
 power could have accomplished my desire. It 
 was my wish also to have the person of Almeida 
 in my power, and this wish also has been gratified ; 
 yet am I still wretched. But I am wretched only 
 because the means have not been adequate to the 
 end : what I have hitherto obtained, I have not 
 desired for itself; and of that for which I desired 
 it, I am not possessed ; I am, therefore, still 
 wretched because I am weak. With the soul of 
 Almoran I should have the form of Hamet ; then 
 my wishes would indeed be filled ; then would 
 Almeida bless me with consenting beauty, and 
 the splendour of my power should distinguish only 
 the intervals of my love ; my enjoyments would 
 then be certain and permanent, neither blasted by 
 disappointment nor withered by satiety." When 
 he had uttered these reflections with the utmost 
 Tehemence and agitation, his face was again ob- 
 
132 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 scured by gloom and despair; his posture was 
 again fixed, and he was falling back into his for <■ 
 mer state of silent abstraction, when he was sud- 
 denly rouzed by the appearance of the Genius, 
 the sincerity of whose friendship he began to dis- 
 trust. 
 
 " Almoran," said the Genius, " if thou art not 
 yet happy, know that my powers are not yet ex- 
 hausted; fear me not, but let thine ear be atten r 
 tive to my voice." The Genius then stretched out 
 his hand towards him, in which there was an 
 emerald of great lustre cut into a figure that had 
 four and twenty sides, on each of which was en- 
 graven a different letter. " Thou seest," said he, 
 " this talisman ; on each side of it is engraven one 
 of those mysterious characters, of which are 
 formed all the words of all the languages that are 
 spoken by angels, genii, and men. This shall 
 enable thee to change thy figure ; and what under 
 the form of Almoran thou canst not accomplish, 
 thou shalt still be able to effect, if it can be ef- 
 fected by thee in the form of any other. Point 
 only to the letters that compose the name of him 
 whose appearance thou would st assume, and it is 
 done. Remember only that upon him, whose 
 appearance thou shalt assume, thine shall be im- 
 pressed till thou restorest his own. Hide the 
 charm in thy bosom, and avail thyself of its 
 power." Almoran received the talisman in a 
 transport of gratitude and joy, and the Genius im- 
 mediately disappeared. 
 
 The use of this talisman was so obvious, that it 
 was impossible to overlook it. Almoran instantly 
 conceived. the design with which it was given, and 
 determined instantly to put it in execution. "I 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 133 
 
 . ^ili now/' said he, « assume the figure of Harriet, 
 and my love, in all its ardour, shall be returned 
 by Almeida," As his fancy kindled at the anti- 
 cipation of his happiness, he stood musing in a 
 pleasing suspence, and indulged himself in the 
 contemplation of the several gradations by which 
 he should ascend to the summit of his wishes. 
 
 Just at this moment Osmyn, whom he had 
 commanded to attend him at this hour, approach- 
 ed his apartment : Almoran was rouzed by the 
 sound of his foot, and supposed it to be Omar, 
 who had again intruded upon his privacy; he was 
 enraged at the interruption which had broken a 
 series of imaginations so flattering and luxurious, 
 he snatched out his poniard, and, lifting up his 
 arm for the stroke, hastily turned round to have 
 stabbed him, but seeing Osmyn, he discovered 
 his mistake just in time to prevent the blow. 
 
 Osmyn, who was not conscious of any crime, 
 nor indeed of any act that could have given oc- 
 casion of offence, started back terrified and amazed, 
 and stood trembling in doubt whether to remain 
 or to withdraw. Almoran, in the mean time, 
 sheathed the instrument of death, and bade him 
 fear nothing, for he should not be hurt. He then 
 turned about, and, putting his hand to his fore- 
 head, stood again silent in a musing posture; he 
 recollected, that if he assumed the figure of Ha- 
 rriet, it was necessary he should give orders for 
 Hamet to be admitted to Almeida, as he would 
 otherwise be excluded by the delegates of his own 
 authority : turning, therefore, to Osmyn, f6 Remem- 
 ber/' said he, " that whenever Hamet shall return, 
 it is my command that he be admitted to Almeida." 
 
134- CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 Osmyn, who was pleased with an opportunity 
 of recommending himself toAImoran, by praising 
 an act of generous virtue which he supposed him 
 now to exert in favour of his brother, received the 
 command with a look that expressed not only 
 approbation but joy : " Let the sword of de* 
 struction," said he, " be the guard of the tyrant ; 
 the strength of my lord shall be the bonds of 
 love : those who honour thee as Almoran, shall 
 rejoice in thee as the friend of Hamet." ToAI- 
 moran, who was conscious to no kindness of his 
 brother, the praise of Osmyn was a reproach ; he 
 was offended at the joy which he saw kindled in 
 his countenance by a command to shew favour to 
 Hamet, and was fired with sudden rage at that 
 condemnation of his real conduct which was im- 
 plied by an encomium on the generosity of which 
 he assumed the appearance for a malevolent and 
 perfidious purpose ; his brow was contracted, his 
 lip quivered, and the hilt of his dagger was again 
 grasped in his hand. Osmyn. was again over- 
 whelmed with terror and confusion ; he had again 
 offended, but knew not his offence. In the mean 
 time, Almoran, recollecting that to express dis- 
 pleasure against Osmyn was to betray his own 
 secret, endeavoured to suppress his anger; but 
 his anger was succeeded by remorse, regret, and 
 disappointment. The anguish of his mind broke 
 Out in imperfect murmurs. f* What I am," said 
 he, «* is to this wretch the object not only of 
 hatred but of scorn ; and he commends only what 
 I am not in what to him I would seem to be." 
 
 These sounds, which, though not articulate, 
 were yet uttered with great emotion, were still 
 
CLASSIC TALES. *— HAWKESWORTH. 135 
 
 mistaken by Osmyn for the overflowings of ca- 
 pricious and causeless anger. " My life," said 
 he to himself, " is even now wavering in a doubt- 
 ful balance. W henever I approach this tyrant, I 
 tread the borders of the grave : like a hood- 
 winked wretch, who is left to wander near the 
 brink of a precipice, I know my danger, but 
 which way soever I turn I know not whether I 
 shall incur or avoid destruction." 
 
 In these reflections did the sovereign and the 
 slave pass those moments, in which the sovereign 
 intended to render the slave subservient to his 
 pleasure or his security, and the slave intended to 
 express a zeal which he really felt, and a homage 
 which his heart had already paid. Osmyn was 
 at length, however, dismissed, with an assurance 
 that all was well ; and Almoran was again left to 
 reflect with anguish upon the past, to regret the 
 present, and to anticipate the future with solicit 
 tude, anxiety, and perturbation. 
 
 He was, however, determined to assume the 
 figure of his brother by the talisman which had 
 been put into his power by the Genius: but just 
 as he was about to form the spell, he recollected 
 that by the same act he would impress his own 
 likeness upon Hamet, who would consequently be 
 invested with his power, and might use it to his 
 destruction. This held him some time in sus- 
 
 Eence ; but reflecting that Hamet might not, per-, 
 aps, be apprized of his advantage till it was too 
 late to improve it; that he was now a fugitive, 
 and probably alone, leaving Persia behind him 
 with all the speed he <:ould make ; and that at the 
 worsts jf he should be still near, if he should know 
 M2 
 
136 CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 the transformation as soon as it should be made, 
 and should instantly take the most effectual mea- 
 sures to improve it, yet as he could dissolve the 
 charm in a moment, whenever it should be ne- : 
 cessary for his safety, no formidable danger could 
 be incurred by the experiment, to which he there-' 
 fore proceeded without delay. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 In the mean time Hamet, to whom his own 
 safety was of no importance but for the sake of 
 Almeida, resolved, if possible, to conceal himself 
 near the city. Having, therefore, reached the 
 confines of the desart, by which it was bounded 
 on the east, he quitted his horse, and determined 
 to remain there till the multitude was dispersed, 1 
 and the darkness of the evening might conceal 
 his return, when in less than an hour he could 
 reach the palace. 
 
 He sat down at the foot of the mountain Ka- 
 bessed, without considering, that in this place he 
 was most likely to be found, as those who travel 
 the desart seldom fail to enter the. cave that winds 
 its way under the mountain, to drink of the water 
 that issues there from a clear and copious spring. 
 
 He reviewed the scenes of the day that was 
 now nearly passed, with a mixture of astonishment 
 and distress, to which no description can be equal. 
 The sudden and amazing change that a few hours 
 had made in his situation, appeared like a wild and 
 distressful dream; from which he almost doubted 
 whether he should not awake to the power and 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 1ST 
 
 the felicity that he had lost. He sat some time 
 bewildered in the hurry and multiplicity of his 
 thoughts, and at length burst out into passionate 
 exclamations: «' What!" says he, " and where 
 am I ? Am I, indeed, Hamet, that son of Soly- 
 man who divided the dominion of Persia with his 
 brother, and who possessed the love of Almeida 
 alone? Dreadful vicissitude! I am now an out- 
 cast, friendless and forlorn ; without an associate, 
 and without a dwelling: for me the cup of ad- 
 versity overflows, and the last dregs of sorrow 
 have been wrung out for my portion ; the powers, 
 not only of the earth, but of the air, have com- 
 bined against me ; and how can I stand alone 
 before them ? ' But is there no power that will in- 
 terpose in my behalf? If He who is supreme is 
 good, I shall not perish. But wherefore am I 
 thus ? Why should the desires of vice be accom- 
 plished by superior powers ? and why should su- 
 perior powers be permitted to disappoint the ex- 
 pectations of virtue ? Yet let me not rashly ques- 
 tion the ways of Him, in whose balance the world 
 is weighed : by Him every evil is rendered sub- 
 servient to good, and by his wisdom the happiness 
 of the whole is secured. Yet I am but a part 
 only, and for a part only I can feel. Tome, 
 what is that goodness of which I do not partake ? 
 In my cup the gall is unmixed ; and have I not, 
 therefore, a right to complain ? But what have I 
 said ? Let not the gloom that surrounds me r nide 
 from me the prospect of immortality. Shall not 
 eternity atone for time ? Eternity, to which the 
 duration of ages is but as an atom to a world ! 
 Shall I not, when this momentary separation is 
 M 3 
 
1 3 8 CLASSIC f ALES.— HAWKESWOftf H. 
 
 past, again meet Almeida to part no more; arid 
 sriall not a purer flame than bums upon the earth! 
 unite us? Even at this moment her mind, which 
 not the frauds of sorcery can taint or alienate, is 
 mine : that pleasure which she reserved for me 
 cannot be taken by force; it is in the consent 
 alone that it subsists ; and from the joy that she 
 feels, and from that only, proceeds the joy she 
 can bestow." 
 
 With these reflections he soothed the anguish of 
 his mind, till the dreadful moment arrived, in 
 which the power of the talisman took place, and 
 the figure of Almoran was changed into that of 
 Harney and the figure of Hamet into that of Al- 
 moran. 
 
 At the moment of transformation, Hamet was 
 seized with a sudden languor, and his faculties 
 were suspended as by the stroke of death. When 
 he recovered, his limbs still trembled, and his lips 
 were parched with thirst ; he rose, therefore, and 
 entering the cavern, at the mouth of which he had 
 been sitting, he stooped over the well to drink; 
 but, glancing his eyes upon the water, he saw, 
 with astonishment and horror, that it reflected riot 
 his own countenance, but that of his brother. He 
 started back from the prodigy, arid supporting 
 himself against the side of the rock,, he stood 
 some time like a statue, without the power of 
 recollection: but at length the thought sudden- 
 ly rushed into his mind, that the same sorcery 
 which had prevented his marriage, and driven 
 him from the throne, was still practised against 
 him; and that the change of his figure- to that of 
 Almoran; Was the effect of Almoran's having as- 
 
CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTH. 1 39 
 
 sumed his likeness, to obtain, in this disguise, 
 whatever Almeida could bestow. This thought, 
 like a whirlwind of the desart, totally subverted 
 his mind ; his fortitude was borne down, and his 
 hopes were rooted up ; no principles remained to 
 regulate his conduct, but all was frenzy, confu- 
 sion, and despair. He rushed out of the cave with 
 a furious and distracted look, and went in haste 
 towards the city, without having formed any de- 
 sign, or considered any consequence that might 
 follow. 
 
 The shadows of the mountains were now length- 
 ened by the declining sun, and the approach of 
 evening had invited Omar to meditate in a grove 
 that was adjacent to the garden of the palace. 
 From this place he was seen at some distance by 
 Hamet, who came up to him with a hasty and dis- 
 ordered pace ; and Omar drew back with a cold 
 and distant reverence, which the power and the 
 character of Almoran concurred to excite. Ha- 
 met, not reflecting upon the cause of this beha- 
 viour, was offended, and reproached him with the 
 want of that friendship he had so often professed ; 
 the vehemence of his expression and demeanour 
 suited well with the appearance of Almoran ; and 
 Omar, as the best proof of that friendship which 
 had been impeached, took this opportunity to re- 
 peat his admonitions in the behalf of Hamet: 
 ff Whatever evil," said he, " thou canst bring 
 upon Hamet, will be doubled to thyself: to his 
 virtues, the power that fills infinitude is a friend, 
 and he can be afflicted only till they are perfect 5 
 but thy sufferings will be the punishment of vice, 
 and as long as thou art vicious they must increase. 
 Hamet, who instantly recollected for whom he 
 
140 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 was mistaken, and the anguish of whose mind was 
 for a moment suspended by this testimony of es- 
 teem and kindness, which could not possibly be 
 feigned, and which was paid him at the risk of 
 life, when it could not be known that he received 
 it, ran forward to embrace the hoary sage, who 
 had been the guide of his youth, and cried out, in 
 a voice that was broken by contending passions—* 
 " The face is the face of Almoran ; but the heart 
 is the heart of Hamet." 
 
 Omar was struck dumb with astonishment ; and 
 Hamet, who could not bear to be longer mistaken, 
 related all the circumstances of his transformation,, 
 and reminded him of some particulars which could 
 be known only to themselves — " Canst thou not 
 yet believe/' said he, " that I am Hamet? when 
 thou hast this day seen me banished from my 
 kingdom ; when thou hast now met me a fugitive 
 returning from the desart ; and when I learnt from 
 thee, since the sun was risen, which is not yet set, 
 that more than mortal powers were combined 
 against me?" — " I now believe," said Omar, 
 " that thou indeed art Hamet/' — " Stay me not, 
 then," said Hamet, " but come with me to re- 
 venge." — " Beware," said Omar, " lest thou en- 
 danger the loss of more than empire and Almeida," 
 — -" If not to revenge," said Hamet, " I may at 
 least be permitted to punish."- — " Thy mind," 
 says Omar, " is now in such a state, that to punish 
 the crime, by which thou hast been wronged, will 
 dip thee in the guilt of blood. Why else are we 
 forbidden to take vengeance for ourselves? and 
 why is it reserved as the prerogative of the Most 
 High ? In him, and in him alone, it is goodness 
 guided by wisdom : he approves the means only 
 
CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. HI 
 
 as necessary to the end ; he wounds only to heal, 
 and destroys only to save : he has complacence, 
 not in the evil, but in the good only which it is 
 appointed to produce. Remember, therefore, that 
 he to whom the punishment of another is sweet, 
 though his act may be just with respect to others, 
 with respect to himself it is a deed of darkness, 
 and abhorred by the Almighty." Hamet, who 
 had stood abstracted in the contemplation of the 
 new injury he had suffered, while Omar was per- 
 suading him not to revenge it, started from his 
 posture in all the wildness of distraction ; and 
 bursting away from Omar, with an ardent and 
 furious look, hasted toward the palace, and was 
 soon out of s?ght. 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 In the mean time Almoran, after having effected 
 the' transformation, was met, as he was going to 
 the apartment of Almeida, by Osmyn. Osmyn 
 had already experienced the misery of dependent 
 greatness, that kept him continually under the eye 
 of a capricious tyrant, whose temper was various 
 as the gales of summer, and whose anger was sud- 
 den as the bolt of Heaven ; whose purpose and 
 passions were dark and impetuous as the mid- 
 night storm, and at whose command death was in- 
 evitable as the approach of time. When he saw 
 Almoran, therefore, in the likeness of Hamet, he 
 felt a secret desire to apprize him of his situation, 
 and offer him his friendship. 
 
 Almoran, who with the form assumed the man- 
 nets of Hamet, addressed Osmyn with a mild 
 
142 CLASSIC TALES.. HAWKESWORTH* 
 
 though mournful countenance — " At length/' iaiti 
 he, "the will of Almoran alone is law; does ifc 
 permit me to hold a private rank in this place 
 without molestation >" — " It permits," said Os- 
 myn, "yet more; he has commanded; that you 
 should have admittance to Almeida/' Almoraiij 
 whose vanity betrayed him to flatter his own 
 power in the person of Hamet, replied with a smile 
 — " I know that Almoran, who presides like a 
 god in silent and distant state, reveals the secrets 
 of his will to thee ; I know that thou art — " "I 
 am," said Osmyn, " of all thou seest most wretch* 
 ed." At this declaration, Almoran turned short i 
 and fixed his eyes upon Osmyn with a look of sur- 
 prize and anger—-" Does not the fav6ur of Almo* 
 ran/' said he, "whose smile is power, and wealth, 
 and honour, shine upon thee ?" — " My lord," said 
 Osmyn, " I know so well the severity of thy vir- 
 tue, that if I should, even for thy sake, become 
 perfidious to thy brother — " Almoran, who was 
 unable to preserve the character of Hamet with 
 propriety, interrupted him with a fierce and 
 haughty tone — " How!" said he, " perfidious to 
 my brother! to Almoran perfidious !" 
 
 Osmyn, who had now gone too far to recede, 
 and who still saw before him the figure of Hamet, 
 proceeded in his purpose — " I knew," said he, 
 " that in thy judgment I should be condemned 5 
 and yet the preservation of life is the strongest 
 principle of nature, and the love of virtue is her 
 proudest boast."—" Explain thyself," said Almo- 
 ran, " for I cannot comprehend thee." — " I 
 mean," said Osmyn, " that he whose life depends 
 upon the caprice of a tyrant, is like the wretch 
 whose sentence is already pronounced ; and vvho, 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 14S 
 
 if the wind does but rush by his dungeon, ima* 
 gines that it is the bow-string and the mute/"— * 
 *' Fear not," said Almoran, who now affected to 
 be again calm ; " be still faithful, and thou shalt 
 still be safe/' — " Alas \" said Osmyn, " there is no 
 diligence, no toil, no faith, that can secure the 
 slave from the sudden phrenzy of passion, from 
 the causeless rage either of drunkenness or lust. 
 I am that slave ; the slave of a tyrant whom I 
 hate/' The confusion of Almoran was now too 
 great to be concealed* and he stood silent with 
 rage, fear, and indignation. Osmyn, supposing 
 that his wonder made him doubt the truth of what 
 he had heard, confirmed his declaration by an 
 oath. 
 
 Whoever thou art, to whose mind Almoran, the 
 mighty and the proud, is present ; before whom 
 the lord of absolute dominion stands trembling and 
 rebuked ; who seest the possessor of power by 
 which nature is controuled, pale and silent with 
 anguish and disappointment: if, in the fury of 
 thy wrath, thou hast aggravated weakness into 
 guilt : if thou hast chilled the glow of affection, 
 when it flushed the cheek in thy presence with 
 the frown of displeasure, or repressed the ardour 
 of friendship with indifference of neglect, now let 
 thy heart smite thee ; for in thy folly thou hast 
 cast away that gem, which is the light of life ; 
 which power can never seize, and which gold cam 
 never buy ! 
 
 The tyrant fell at once from his pride, like a 
 star from heaven; and Osmyn, still addressing 
 him as Hamet, at once increased his misery andi 
 his fears— *" Q, w said he, "that the throne of 
 Persia- was- thine *. then should innocence- enjoy 
 
144 CLASSIC TALES.^— HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 her birth-right of peace, and hope should bid 
 honest industry look upward. There is not one to 
 whom Almoran has delegated power, nor one on 
 whom his transient favour has bestowed any gift, 
 who does not already feel his heart throb with the 
 pangs of boding terror. Nor is there one who, if 
 he did not fear the displeasure of the invisible 
 power, by whom the throne was given to thy bro- 
 ther, would not immediately revolt to thee." 
 
 Almoran, who had hitherto remained silent, 
 now burst into a passionate exclamation of self- 
 pity — if What can I do ?" said he ; " and whither 
 can I turn?" Osmyn, who mistook the cause of 
 his distress, and supposed that he deplored only 
 his want of power to avail himself of the general 
 disposition in his favour, endeavoured to fortify 
 his mind against despair—" Your state," said he, 
 ,f indeed is distressful, but not hopeless." The 
 king, who, though addressed as Hamet, was still 
 betrayed by his confusion to answer as Almoran, 
 smote his breast, and replied in an agony — te It 
 is hopeless !" Osmyn remarked his emotion and 
 despair, with a concern and astonishment that 
 Almoran observed, and at once recollected his 
 situation. He endeavoured to retract such ex- 
 pressions of trouble and despondency, as did not 
 suit the character he had assumed; and telling 
 Osmyn that he thanked him for his friendship, 
 and would improve the advantages it offered him, 
 he directed him to acquaint the eunuchs that they 
 were to admit him to Almeida. When he was left 
 alone, his doubts and perplexities held him long 
 in suspense; a thousand expedients occurred to 
 his mind by turns, and by turns were rejected. 
 
 His first thought was to put Osmyn to death : 
 
CLASSIC TALES.—HAWKESWORTH. 145 
 
 but he considered, that by this he would gain no 
 advantage, as he would be in equal danger from 
 whoever should succeed him : he considered also, 
 that against Osmyn he was upon his guard ; and 
 that he might at any time learn from him what- 
 ever design might be formed in favour of Hamet, 
 by assuming Hamet's appearance : that he would 
 thus be the confident of every secret in which his 
 own safety was concerned, and might disconcert 
 the best contrived project at the very moment of 
 its execution, when it would be too late for other 
 measures to be taken : he determined, therefore, 
 to let Osmyn live ; at least, till it became more 
 necessary to cut him off. Having in some degree 
 soothed and fortified his mind by these reflections, 
 he entered the apartment of Almeida. 
 
 His hope was not founded upon a design to 
 marry her under the appearance of Hamet; for 
 that would be impossible, as the ceremony must 
 have been performed by the priests who supposed 
 the marriage with Hamet to have been forbidden 
 by a divine command; and who, therefore, would 
 not have consented, even supposing they would 
 otherwise have ventured, at the request of Hamet, 
 to perform a ceremony which they knew would 
 be displeasing to Almoran : but he hoped to take 
 advantage of her tenderness for his brother, and 
 the particular circumstances of her situation which 
 made the solemnities of marriage impossible, to 
 Reduce her to gratify his desires, without the sanc- 
 tion which alone rendered the gratification of them 
 lawful : if he succeeded in his design, he had rea- 
 son to expect either that his love would be extin- 
 guished by enjoyment, or that if he should still 
 
146 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 desire to marry Almeida, he might, by disclosing 
 to her the artifice by which he had effected his 
 purpose, prevail upon her to consent, as her con- 
 nection with Hamet, the chief obstacle to her mar- 
 riage with him, would then be broken for ever ; 
 and as she might perhaps wish to sanctify the plea- 
 sure which she might be unwilling to repeat, or 
 at least to make that lawful which it would not be 
 in her power to prevent. 
 
 In this disposition, and with this design, he was 
 admitted to Almeida, who, without suspicion of 
 her danger, was exposed to the severest trial, in 
 which every passion concurred to oppose her vir- 
 tue : she was solicited by all the powers of subtilty 
 and desire, under the appearance of a lover whose 
 tenderness and fidelity had been long tried, and 
 whose passion she returned with equal constancy 
 and ardour ; and she was thus solicited when the 
 rites, which alone could consecrate their union, 
 were impossible, and were rendered impossible by 
 the guilty designs of a rival, in whose power she 
 was, and from whom no other expedient offered 
 her a deliverance. Thus deceived and betrayed, 
 she received him with an excess of tenderness and 
 joy, which flattered all his hopes, and for a mo- 
 ment suspended his misery. She enquired, with 
 a fond and gentle solicitude, by what means he 
 had gained admittance, and how he had provided 
 for his retreat. He received and returned her ca- 
 resses with a vehemence, in which, to less partial 
 eyes, desire would have been more apparent than 
 love ; and in the tumult of his passion, he almost 
 neglected her enquiries : finding, however, that 
 she would be answered, he told her, that being by 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 147 
 
 the permission of Almoran admitted to every part 
 of the palace, except that of the women, he had 
 found means to bribe the eunuch who had kept 
 the door, who was not in danger of detection ; be- 
 cause Almoran, wearied with the tumult and fa- 
 tigue of the day, had retired to sleep, and given 
 order to be called at a certain hour. She then 
 complained of the solicitations to which she was 
 exposed, expressed her dread of the consequences 
 she had reason to expect from some sudden sally 
 of the tyrant's rage, and related with tears the 
 brutal outrage she had suffered when he last left 
 her. " Though I abhorred him," said she, "I 
 yet kneeled before him for thee. Let me bend in 
 reverence to that Power, at whose look the whirl- 
 winds are silent and the seas are calm, that his 
 fury has hitherto been restrained from hurting 
 thee!" 
 
 At these words the face of Almoran w r as again 
 covered with blushes of confusion : to be still be- 
 loved only as Hamet, and as Almoran to be still 
 hated ; to be thus- reproached without anger, and 
 wounded by those who knew not that they struck 
 him, was a species of misery peculiar to himself, 
 and had been incurred only by the acquisition of 
 new powers, which he had requested and received 
 as necessary to obtain that felicity which the par- 
 simony of nature had placed beyond his reach. 
 His emotions, however, as by Almeida they were 
 supposed to be the emotions of Hamet, she im- 
 puted to a different cause — '< As Heaven," says 
 she, " has preserved thee from death, so has it, 
 for thy sake, preserved me from violation." Al- 
 jjioran, whose passion had in this interval again 
 n2 
 
H8 CLASSIC TALES.~» HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 surmounted his remorse, gazed eagerly upon her, 
 and catching her to his bosom — " Let us at least/ 1 
 says he, " secure the happiness that is now of- 
 fered ; let not these inestimable moments pass by 
 us unimproved ; but to shew that we deserve them, 
 let them be devoted to love."—" Let us then," 
 said Almeida, " escape together." — " To escape 
 with thee," said Almoran, " is impossible. I shall 
 retire, and like the shaft of Arabia, leave no mark 
 behind me ; but the flight of Almeida will at once 
 be traced to him by whom I was admitted, and I 
 shall thus retaliate his friendship with destruction." 
 — " Let him then," said Almeida, " be the part- 
 ner of our flight." — " Urge it not now," said Al<- 
 moran ; " but trust to my prudence and my love, 
 to select some hour that will be more favourable 
 to our purpose. And yet," said he, " even then 
 we shall, as now, sigh in vain for the completion 
 of our wishes : . by whom shall our hands be joined, 
 when in the opinion of the priests it has been for- 
 bidden from above ?"*— " Save thyself, then," said 
 Almeida, " and leave me to: my fate."—" Not 
 so," said Almoran. " What else," replied Al- 
 meida, " is in our power }" — ** It is in our power," 
 said Almoran, " to seize that joy, to which a 
 public form can give us no new claim ; for the 
 public form can only declare that right by which 
 I can claim it now." 
 
 As they were now reclining upon a sofa, he 
 threw his arms round her; but she suddenly 
 sprung up, and burst from him ; the tear started 
 to her eye, and she gazed upon him with an ear- 
 nest but yet tender look — " Is it ?" said she ; 
 * no sure, it is not the voice of Hamet!"— " O 
 
CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 149 
 
 yes," said Alraoran, " what other voice should 
 call thee to cancel at once the wrongs of Hamet 
 and Almeida ; to secure the treasures of thy love 
 from the hand of the robber ; to hide the joys, 
 which if now we lose, we may lose for ever, in 
 the sacred and inviolable stores of the past, and 
 place them beyond the power not of Almoran 
 only but of fate ?" With this wild effusion of 
 desire, he caught her again to his breast, and 
 finding no resistance, his heart exulted in his suc- 
 cess; but the next moment, to the total disap- 
 pointment of his hopes, he perceived that she had 
 fainted in his arms. When she recovered, she 
 once more disengaged herself from him, and turn- 
 ing away her face, she burst into tears. When 
 her voice could be heard, she covered herself 
 with a veil, and turning again towards him—" All 
 fyut this," said she, •* I had learnt to bear ; and 
 how has this been deserved by Almeida of Ha- 
 met ? You was my only solace in distress ; and 
 when the tears have stolen from my eyes in silence 
 and in solitude, I thought on thee; 1 thought 
 upon the chaste ardour of thy sacred friendship, 
 which was softened, refined, and exalted into love. 
 This was my hoarded treasure ; and the thoughts 
 of possessing this, soothed all my anguish with a 
 miser's happiness, who, blessed in the conscious- 
 ness of hidden wealth, despises cold and hunger, 
 and rejoices in the midst of all the miseries that 
 make poverty dreadful : this was my last retreat; 
 but I am now desolate and forlorn, and my soul 
 looks round with terror for that refuge which- it 
 can never find/' — " Find that refuge," said Al- 
 moran, "in me." — "Alas," said Almeida, "can 
 n 3 
 
150 CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTIf. 
 
 he afford me refuge from my sorrows, who, for the 
 guilty pleasure of a transient moment, would for 
 ever sully the purity of my mind, and aggravate 
 misfortune by the consciousness of guilt!" 
 
 As Almoran now perceived that it was impos- 
 sible by any importunity to induce her to violate 
 her principles ; he had nothing more to attempt 
 but to subvert them. " When," said he, " shall 
 Almeida awake, and these dreams of folly and 
 superstition vanish ? That only is virtue by which 
 happiness is produced ; and whatever producej 
 happiness is therefore virtue : and the forms, and 
 words, and rites, which priests have pretended to 
 be required by Heaven, are the fraudful arts only 
 by which they govern mankind." 
 
 Almeida, by this impious insult, was roused 
 from grief to indignation-*— " As thou hast now 
 dared," said she, " to deride the laws, which thou 
 wouldest first have broken ; so hast thou broken 
 for ever the tender bonds by which my soul was 
 united to thine. Such as I fondly believed thee, 
 thou art not ; and what thou art, I have never 
 loved. I have loved a delusive phantom only, 
 which, while I strove to grasp it, has vanished 
 from me." Almoran attempted to reply ; but on 
 such a subject, neither her virtue nor her wisdom 
 would permit debate. " That prodigy," said she, 
 '" which I thought was the sleight of cunning, or 
 the work of sorcery, I now revere as the voice of 
 Heaven; which, as it knew thy heart, has in 
 mercy saved me from thy arms. To the will of 
 Heaven shaty my will be obedient ; and my voice 
 also shall pronounce, « To Almoran Almeida." 
 
 Almoran, whose whole soul was now suspended 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 151 
 
 jn attention, conceived new hopes of success ; and 
 foresaw the certain accomplishment of his pur- 
 pose, though by an effect directly contrary to 
 that which he had laboured to produce. Thus to 
 have incurred the hatred of Almeida in the form 
 .of Hamet, was more fortunate than to have taken 
 .advantage of her love ; the path that led to his 
 wishes was now clear and open ; and his marriage 
 with Almeida in his own person waited only till he 
 could resume it. He > therefore, instead of sooth- 
 ing, provoked her resentment — " If thou hast 
 loved a phantom," said he, " which existedonly 
 in imagination, on such a phantom my love also 
 has been fixed : thou hast, indeed, only the form 
 of what I called Almeida ; my love thou hast re- 
 jected, because thou hast never loved : the object 
 of thy passions was not Hamet, but a throne : and 
 thou hast made the observance of rituals, in which 
 folly only can suppose there is good or ill, a pre- 
 tence to violate thy faith, that thou mayest still 
 gratify thy ambition V- 
 
 To this injurious reproach, Almeida made no 
 reply; and Almoran immediately quitted her 
 apartment, that he might re-assume his own fi- 
 gure, and take advantage of the disposition which, 
 under the appearance of Hamet, he had produced 
 in favour of himself* But Osmyn, who suppos- 
 ing him to be Hamet> had intercepted and de- 
 tained him as he was going to Almeida, now in- 
 tercepted him a second time at his return, having 
 placed himself near the door of the apartment for 
 that purpose. 
 
 Osmyn was by no means satisfied with the issue 
 of their last interview ; he had perceived a per- 
 turbation in the mind of Almoran, for which> 
 
152 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 imagining him to be Hamet, he could not ac- 
 count; and which seemed more extraordinary 
 upon a review, than when it happened : he there- 
 fore again entered into conversation with him, in 
 which he farther disclosed his sentiments and de- 
 signs. Almoran, notwithstanding the impatience 
 natural to his temper and situation, was thus long de- 
 tained listening to Osmyn, by the united influence 
 of his curiosity and his fears : his enquiries still 
 alarmed him with new terrors, by discovering new 
 objects of distrust, and new instances of disaffec- 
 tion: still, however, he resolved not yet to re- 
 move Osniyn from his post, that he might give no 
 alarm by any appearance of suspicion, and con- 
 sequently learn with more ease, and detect with 
 more certainty, any project that might be formed 
 against him. 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 Almeida, as soon as she was left alone, began 
 to review the scene that had just passed ; and was 
 every moment affected with new wonder, grief, 
 and resentment. She now deplored her own mis- 
 fortune ; and now conceived a design to punish 
 the author of it, from whose face she supposed the 
 hand of adversity had torn the mask under which 
 he had deceived her: it appeared to her very 
 easy to take a severe revenge upon Hamet for the 
 indignity which she supposed he had offered her, 
 by complaining of it to Almoran; and telling 
 him that he had gained admittance to her by 
 bribing the eunuch who kept the door. The 
 thought of thus giving him up was one moment 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 153 
 
 rejected, as arising from a vindictive spirit; and 
 the next indulged, as an act of justice to Almo- 
 ran, and a punishment due to the hypocrisy of 
 Hamet : it was rejected, when her grief, which 
 was still mingled with a tender remembrance of 
 the man she loved, was predominant ; and in- 
 dulged, when her grief gave way to indignation. 
 
 Thus are we inclined to consider the same 
 action, either as a virtue or a vice, by the influ- 
 ence of different passions, which prompt us either 
 to perform, or to avoid it. Almeida, from deli- 
 berating whether she should accuse Hamet to 
 Almoran, or conceal his fault, was led to consider 
 what punishment he would either incur or escape 
 in consequence of her determination ; and the 
 images that rushed into her mind, the moment 
 this became the ©bject of her thoughts, at once 
 determined her to be silent — " Could I bear to 
 see," said she, " that hand which has so often 
 trembled with delight when it enfolded mine, con- 
 vulsed and black; those eyes, that as often as 
 they gazed upon me were dissolved in tears of 
 tenderness and love, start from their sockets ! and 
 those lips, that breathed the softest sighs of ele- 
 gant desire, distorted and gasping in the convul* 
 sions of death !" 
 
 From this image, her mind recoiled in an 
 agony of terror and pity ; her heart sunk within 
 her; her limbs trembled; she sunk down upon 
 the sofa, and burst into tears. 
 
 By this time, Hamet, on whose form the like- 
 ness of Almoran was still impressed, had reached 
 the palace. He went instantly towards the apart- 
 ment of the women. Instead of that chearful 
 alacrity, that mixture of zeal and reverence and 
 
154 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 affection, which his eye had been used to find 
 wherever it was turned, he now observed confu- 
 sion, anxiety, and terror ; whoever he met, made 
 haste to prostrate themselves before him, and 
 feared to look up till he was past. He went on, 
 however, with a hasty pace ; and coming up to 
 the eunuch's guard, he said, with an impatient 
 tone — " To Almeida \" The slave immediately 
 made way before him, and conducted him to the 
 door of the apartment, which he would not other- 
 wise ha^ve been able to find, and fdr which he 
 could not directly enquire. 
 
 When he entered, his countenance expressed 
 all the passions that his situation had rouzed in 
 his mind. He first looked sternly round him to 
 see whether Almoran was not present ; and fetch- 
 ing a deep sigh, he turned his eyes with a look 
 of mournful tenderness upon Almeida. His first 
 view was to discover^ whether Almoran had al- 
 ready supplanted him ; and for this purpose he 
 collected the whole strength of his mind : he con- 
 sidered that he appeared now, not as Hamet, but 
 as Almoran; and that he was to question Almei- 
 da concerning Almoran, while she had mistaken 
 him for Hamet ; he was therefore to maintain the 
 character, at whatever expence, till his doubts 
 were resolved, and his fears either removed or 
 confirmed. He was so firmly persuaded that Al- 
 moran had been there before him, that he did not 
 ask the question, but supposed the fact: he re- 
 strained alike both his tenderness and his fears; 
 and looking earnestly upon Almeida, who had 
 risen up in his presence with blushes and confu- 
 sion—" To me," says he, " is Almeida still cold J 
 and has she lavished all her love upon Hamet p 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 155 
 
 At the name of Hamet the blushes and confu- 
 sion of Almeida increased ; her mind was still full 
 of the images which had arisen from the thought 
 of what Hamet might suffer, if Almoran should 
 know that he had been with her; and though she 
 feared that their interview was discovered, yet 
 she hoped it might be only suspected, and in that 
 case the removal or confirmation of the suspici- 
 ons, on which the fate of Hamet depended, would 
 devolve upon her. 
 
 In this situation, she, who had but a few mo- 
 ments before doubted whether she could not vo- 
 luntarily give him up, when nothing more was 
 necessary for his safety than to be silent, now 
 determined, with whatever reluctance, to secure 
 him, though it could not be done without dissimu- 
 lation, and though it was probable that in this 
 dissimulation she would be detected. Instead, 
 therefore, of answering the question, she repeated 
 it — " On whom/' said she " my lord ? on Hamet?" 
 whose suspicions were increased by the evasion, 
 replied, with great emotion — " Aye, on Hamet : 
 did he not this moment leave you?" — " Leave me 
 this moment !" said Almeida, with yet greater 
 confusion and deeper blushes. Hamet, in the 
 impatience of his jealousy, concluded, that the 
 passions which he saw expressed in her counte- 
 nance, and which arose from the struggle between 
 her regard to truth and her tenderness for Hamet, 
 proceeded from the consciousness of what he had 
 most reason to dread, and she to conceal — a 
 breach of virtue, to which she had been betrayed 
 by his own appearance united with the vices of 
 his brother : he, therefore, drew back from her, 
 with a look of inexpressible anguish, and stood 
 
156 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWOftTlfi 
 
 some time silent. She observed, that in his cotm- 
 tenance there was more expression of trouble thaiV 
 rage; she, therefore, hoped to divert him from' 
 pursuing his enquiries, by at once removing his 
 jealousy ; which she supposed would be at an end 
 as soon as she should disclose the resolution she 
 had taken in his favour. Addressing him, there- 
 fore, as Almoran, with a voice which, though it 
 was gentle and soothing, was yet mournful and 
 tremulous—" Do not turn from me," said Sh<*, 
 " with these unfriendly and frowning looks * give 
 me now that love which so lately you offered, and 
 with all the future I will atone the past." 
 
 Upon Hamet, whose heart involuntarily an- 
 swered to the voice of Almeida, these words had 
 irresistible and instantaneous force; but recollect- 
 ing, in a moment, whose form he bore, and to 
 whom they were addressed, they struck him with 
 new astonishment, and increased the torments of 
 his mind. Supposing what he at first feared had 
 happened, and that Almoran had seduced her as 
 Hamet, he could not account for her now addres- 
 sing him as Almoran, with words of favour and 
 compliance; he therefore renewed his enquiries 
 concerning himself, with apprehensions of a dif-' 
 ferent kind. She, who was still solicitous to pot an ; 
 end to the enquiry, as well for the sake of Hamet* 
 as to prevent her own embarrassment, replieci; 
 with a sigh— « Let not thy peace be mtewrHpttfJ* 
 by one thought of Hamet ; for of Hamet Almeida 
 shall think no -more." Hamet, who> though he 
 had fortified himself against whatever might have' 
 happened to her person, could rfet bear the aliena-^ 
 tion of her mind, cried out, with looks of distrac- 
 tion, and a voice scarcely human-— " Not think of 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 157 
 
 Hamet!" Almeida, whose astonishment was every 
 moment encreasing, replied, with a tender and in- 
 teresting enquiry — " Is Almoran then offended, 
 that Almeida should think of Hamet no more ?" 
 Hamet being thus addressed by the name of his 
 brother, again recollected his situation ; and now 
 first conceived the idea, that the alteration of 
 Almeida's sentiments with respect to himself, 
 might be the effect of some violence offered her 
 by Almoran in his likeness ; he therefore recurred 
 to his first purpose, and determined, by a direct 
 enquiry, to discover whether she had seen him 
 under that appearance. This enquiry he urged 
 with the utmost solemnity and ardour, in terms 
 suitable to his present appearance and situation— 
 * Tell me," said he, " have these doors been 
 open to Hamet ? Has he obtained possession of 
 that treasure, which, by the voice of Heaven, has 
 been allotted to me ?" To this double question 
 Almeida answered by a single negative ; and her 
 answer therefore was both false and true ; it was true 
 that her person was still inviolate; and it was true 
 also, that Hamet had not been admitted to her ; yet 
 her denial of it was false, for she believed the con- 
 trary ; Almoran only had been admitted, but she 
 had received him as his brother. Hamet, how- 
 ever, was satisfied with the answer, and did not 
 discover its fallacy. He looked up to Heaven with 
 an expression of gratitude and joy; and then 
 turning to Almeida — " Swear then," said he, 
 *' that thou hast granted to Hamet no pledge of 
 thy love which should be reserved for me." Al- 
 meida, who now thought nothing more than the 
 asseveration necessary to quiet his mind, immedU 
 o 
 
158 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH, 
 
 ately complied — " I swear," said she, iC that to 
 Hamet I have given nothing, which thou would'st 
 wish me to withhold : the power that has devoted 
 my person to thee, has disunited my heart from 
 Hamet, whom I renounce in thy presence for 
 ever." , oi oJ 
 
 Hamet, whose fortitude and recollection were 
 again overborne > was throw r n into an agitation of 
 mind, which discovered itself by looks and gestures 
 very different from those which Almeida had ex* 
 pected, and overwhelmed her with new confusion 
 and disappointment : that he, who had so lately 
 solicited her love with all the vehemence of a de- 
 sire impatient to be gratified, should now receive 
 a declaration that she was ready to comply, with 
 marks of distress and anger, was a mystery which 
 she could not solve, In the mean time, the strug- 
 gle in his breast became every moment more vio^ 
 lent — " Where, then," said he, " is the constancy 
 which you vowed to Hamet; and for what instance 
 of his love is he now forsaken?" 
 
 Almeida was now more embarrassed than be» 
 fore ; she felt all the force of the reproof, suppos- 
 ing it to have been given by Almoran, and she 
 could be justified only by relating the particular, 
 which at the expence of her sincerity she had de*. 
 termined to conceal, Almoran was now exalted 
 in her opinion, while his form was animated by 
 the spirit of Hamet, as much as .Hamet had been 
 degraded while his form was animated by the 
 spirit of Almoran. In his resentment of her per* 
 fidy to his -Aval, though it favoured his fondest and 
 most ardent wishes, there was an abhorrence of vice 
 and a generosity of 'mind which she supposed to 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 159 
 
 have been incompatible with his character. To 
 his reproach she could reply only by complaint; 
 &ad could no otherwise evade his question than 
 by observing the inconsistency of his own beha- 
 viour. ■ ■" Your words," said she, " are daggers 
 to my heart. You condemn me for a compliance 
 with your own wishes, and for obedience to that 
 voice which you supposed to have revealed the 
 will of Heaven. Has the caprice of desire already 
 wandered to a new object ? and do you now seek 
 a pretence to refuse, when it is freely offered, 
 what so lately you would have taken by- force?" 
 
 Hamet, who was now fired with resentment 
 against Almeida, whom yet he could not behold 
 without desire, and who at the same moment was 
 impatient to revenge his wrongs upon Almoran, 
 was suddenly prompted to satisfy all his passions, 
 by taking advantage of the wiles* of Almoran and 
 the perfidy of Almeida, to defeat the one and to 
 punish the other. It was now in his power in- 
 stantly to consummate the marriage, as a priest 
 might be procured without a moment's delay, 
 and as Almeida's consent was already given ; he 
 would then obtain the possession of her person by 
 the very act in which she perfidiously resigned it to 
 his rival, to whom he would then leave the beau- 
 ties he had already possessed, and cast from him 
 in disdain, as united with a mind that he could 
 never love. As his imagination was fired with the 
 first conception of his design, he caught her to his 
 breast with a fury in which all the passions in all 
 their rage, were at once Concentered. " Let the 
 priest/- said he, •■'«« instantly unite us; let us com- 
 prize* in one moment, in this instant, now our 
 o2 
 
1 60 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWOftTH> 
 
 whole of being, and exclude alike the future and 
 the past!" Then, grasping her still in his arms, 
 he looked up to heaven : f Ye powers," said he, 
 " invisible, but yet present, who mould my chang- 
 ing and unresisting form, prolong but for one hour 
 that mysterious charm that is now upon me, and T 
 will be ever after subservient to your will." 
 
 Almeida, who was terrified at the furious ar^ 
 dour of this unintelligible address, shrunk from 
 his embrace, pale and trembling, without power 
 to reply. Hamet gazed tenderly upon her, and 
 recollecting the purity and tenderness with which 
 he had loved her, his virtues suddenly recovered 
 their force ; he dismissed her from his embrace, 
 and turning from her* he dropped in silence the 
 tear that started to his eye, and expressed in a 
 low and faultering Voice the thoughts that rushed 
 upon his mind. " No," said he, "Hamet shall 
 disdain the joy which is at once sordid and tran- 
 sient ; in the breast of Hamet lust shall not be 
 the pander of revenge ! Shall I, who have lan- 
 guished for the pure delight which can arise only 
 from the interchange of soul with soul, and is 
 endeared by mutual confidence and complacency; 
 shall I snatch under this disguise, which belies my 
 features and degrades my virtue, a casual pos- 
 session of faithless beauty which I despise and 
 hate ? Let this be the portion of those that hate 
 me without a cause, but let this be far from me!" 
 At this thought he felt a sudden elevation of mind, 
 and the conscious dignity of virtue that in such a 
 conflict was victorious, rendered him in this glo- 
 rious moment superior to misfortune; his gesture 
 became calm, and his countenance sedate ; he 
 
CLASSIC TALES.- — HAWKESWORTll. 161 
 
 considered the wrongs he suffered, not as a suf- 
 ferer, but as a judge ; and he determined at once 
 ta discover himself to Almeida, and to reproach 
 her with her crime. He remarked her confusion 
 without pity, as the effect not of grief but of 
 guilt ; and fixing his eyes upon her with the calm 
 severity of a superior and offended being, '" Such," 
 said he, " is the benevolence of the Almighty to 
 the children of the dust, that our misfortunes are, 
 like poisons, antidotes to each, other." 
 
 Almeida stood fixed in wonder and expectation, 
 and looked earnestly at him, but continued silent. 
 " Thy looks," said Hamet, u are full of wonder, 
 but as yet thy wonder has no cause in comparison 
 of that which shall be revealed. Thou knowest 
 the prodigy which so lately parted Hamet and 
 Almeida: I am that Hamet, thou art that Al- 
 meida." Almeida would now have interrupted 
 him, but Hamet raised his voice, and demanded 
 to be heard : "At that moment/' said he, 
 " wretched as I am, the child of error and disobe- 
 dience, my heart repined in secret at the destiny 
 which had been written upon my head, for I then 
 thought thee faithful and constant ; but if our 
 hands had been then united, I should have been 
 more wretched than I am, for I now know that 
 thou art fickle and false. To know thee, though 
 it has pierced my soul with sorrow, has yet healed 
 the wound which was inflicted when I lost thee ; 
 and though I am now compelled to wear the form 
 of Almoran, whose vices are this moment dis- 
 gracing mine, yet in the balance I shall be weigh- 
 ed as Hamet, and I shall suffer only as I am found 
 wanting. 
 
 o 3 
 
162 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 Almeida, whose mind was now in a tumult that 
 bordered upon distraction, bewildered in a laby- 
 rinth of doubt and wonder, and alike dreading the 
 consequence f of what she heard, whether it was 
 false or true, was yet impatient to confute or con- 
 firm it; and as soon as she had recovered her 
 Speech, urged him for some token of the prodigy- 
 he asserted, which he might easily have given 
 by relating any of the incidents which themselves 
 only could know. But just at this moment Al- 
 moran, having at last/disengaged himself from 
 Osmyn, by whom he had been long detained, 
 resumed his own figure > and while the eyes of 
 Almeida were fixed upon Hamet, his powers were 
 suddenly taken from him, and restored in an in- 
 stant, and she beheld the features of Almoran 
 •vanish, and gazed with astonishment upon- his 
 own. " Thy features change !" said she, " and 
 thou indeed art Hamet!"---" The sudden trance," 
 said he, "" has restored me to myself; and from 
 my wrongs where shalt thou be hidden }" This 
 reproach was more than she could sustain, but he 
 caught her as she was falling, and supported her 
 in his arms. This incident renewed in a moment 
 all the tenderness of his love ; while he beheld 
 her distress, and pressed her by the embrace that 
 sustained her to his bosom, he forgot every injury 
 which he supposed she had done him, and per- 
 ceived her recover with a pleasure that,fpt aiaa* 
 ment obliterated the sense of his misfortune.; 3,2 ui> to 
 
 Her first reflection was upon the snare in which 
 she had been taken, and her first sensation, Wjaa 
 joy that she had escaped; she saw at onceifchfif 
 whole complication of events that had decejjvjei 
 
 <.i liv? 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWOItTH. 163 
 
 and distressed her, and nothing more was now 
 necessary than to explain them to Hamet ; which, 
 however, she could not do without discovering the 
 insincerity of her answers to the enquiries which 
 he had made, while she mistook him for his bro- 
 ther. . ■" If in my heart," says she, "thou hast 
 found any virtue, let it incline thee to pity the 
 vice that has mingled with it: by the vice I have 
 been ensnared, but I have been delivered by the 
 virtue. Almoran — for now I know that it was not 
 thee — Almoran, when he possessed thy form, 
 was with me ; he prophaned thy love by attempts 
 to supplant my virtue ; I resisted his importunity, 
 and escaped perdition ; but the guilt of Almoran 
 drew my resentment upon Hamet. I thought the 
 vices which, under thy form, I discovered in his 
 bosom, were thine ; and in the anguish of grief, 
 indignation, and disappointment, my heart re- 
 nounced thee : yet as 1 could not give thee up to 
 death, I could not discover to Almoran the at- 
 tempt which I imputed to thee : when you ques- 
 tioned me, therefore, as Almoran, I was betrayed 
 to dissimulation by the tenderness which still 
 melted my heart for Hamet." — " I believe thee," 
 said Hamet, catching her in a transport to his 
 breast. "I love thee for thy virtue; and may 
 the pure and exalted beings, who are superior to 
 the passions that now throb in my heart, forgive 
 me if I love thee also for thy fault! Yet let the 
 danger to which it betrayed thee teach us still to 
 walk' in the straight path, and commit the keep - 
 iag' of our peace to the Almighty: for he that 
 wanders in the maze of falsehood shall pass by 
 the good that he would meet, and shall meet the 
 evil that he would shun. I also was tempted, but 
 
164- CLASSIC TALES.-— HAWKESW4MWHW i 
 
 I was strengthened to resist: if I had ltsefkithe-t 
 power which I derived from the arts that* have? 
 been practised against me, to return evil for evil;, 
 if J had not disdained a secret and unavowe^r 
 revenge, and the unhallowed pleasures of a brutal 
 appetite, I might have possessed thee in the fornif 
 of Almoran, and have wronged irreparably myv 
 self and thee: for how could I have been admitted, 
 as Hamet, to the beauties which I eojoyed as 
 Ajmoran? and how couldst thou have given to 
 Almoran what in reality had been appropriated 
 by Hamet?" 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 But while Almeida and Hamet were thus con- 
 gratulating each other upon the evils which they 
 had escaped, they were threatened by others,, 
 which, however obvious, they had overlooked. 
 
 Almoran, who was now exulting in the prospect 
 of success that had exceeded his hopes, and who 
 supposed the possession of Almeida before the end 
 of the next hour was as certain as that the next 
 hour would arrive, suddenly entered the apart- 
 ment; but upon discovering Hamet, he started 
 back astonished and disappointed. Hamet stood 
 unmoved, and regarded him with a fixed and 
 steady look that at once reproached and con- 
 founded him. " What treachery," said Almoran, 
 " has been practised against me ? What ha& 
 brought thee to this place, and how hast tho# 
 gained admittance ?" — <f Against thy peace/'- said 
 Hamet, "no treachery has been practised, but by 
 thyself. By those arts in which thy vices have 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 16-> 
 
 employed* the' powers of darkness, I have been 
 taroa^httftftfeep;. ^4 by those arts I have gained 
 f^khrittafic&y *by» form, which they have imposed 
 xipcmwe^ Wis my passport; and by the resto- 
 ration of my own I have detected and disappointed 
 the fraud which the double Change was produced 
 to ^ execute. Almeida, whom as Hamet thou 
 could* t teach to hate thee, it is now impossible 
 that fe@ vAUmotei) thou shouldst teach to love." 
 ^ Almeida, who perceived the storm to be ga- 
 thering which the next moment would burst upon 
 the head of Hamet, interposed between them, and 
 addressed each of them by turns ; urging Hamet 
 to be silent, and conjuring Almoran to be merci- 
 ful. Almoran, however, without regarding Al- 
 meida, or making any reply to Hamet, struck 
 the ground with his foot, and the messengers of 
 death, to whom the signal was familiar, appeared 
 at the door. Almoran then commanded them to 
 seize his brother, with a countenance pale and 
 livid, and a voice that was broken by rage. Hamet 
 was still unmoved ; but Almeida threw herself at 
 the feet of Almoran* and, embracing his knees, 
 was about to speak, but he broke from her with 
 sudden fury. " If the world should sue/' said he, 
 "I would spurn it off. There is no pang that 
 cunning can invent which he shall not suffer; 
 and when death at length shall disappoint my 
 vengeance, his mangled limbs shall be cast out 
 unburied, to feed the beasts of the desart and the 
 fowls of heaven. " During this menace, Almeida 
 sunk down without signs of life; and Hamet 
 eiftjgglkig in vain for liberty to raise her from 
 the ground, she was carried off by some women 
 who were called to her assistance. 
 
166* CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTtt. 
 
 Iii this awful crisis, Hamet, who felt ; hte ovm 
 fortitude give way, looked up, and though he 
 conceived no words, a prayer ascended from his 
 heart to heaven, and was accepted by Him to 
 whom our thoughts are known while they are yet 
 afar off, For Hamet the fountain of strength 
 was opened from above ; his eyes sparkled wit& 
 confidence, and his breast was dilated by h^pe. 
 He commanded the guard that were leading him 
 away to stop, and they implicitly obeyed; he 
 then stretched out his hand towards Almoran; 
 whose spirit was rebuked before him. fe Hear 
 me," said he, " thou tyrant ! for it is thy Genius 
 that speaks by my voice. What has been the 
 fruit of all thy guilt> but accumulated misery? 
 What joy hast thou derived from undivided em- 
 pire ; what joy from the prohibition of my mar- 
 riage with Almeida; what good from that pow#r 
 which some evil daemon has added to thy own ? 
 what, at this moment, is thy portion but rage and 
 anguish, disappointment and despair ? Even I, 
 whom thou seest the captive of thy" power, whom 
 thou hast wronged of empire, and yet more of 
 love; even I am happy in comparison of tfee^jT 
 I know that my sufFerings> however multiplied, 
 are short, for they shall end with life, and no life 
 is long; then shall the everlasting ages com- 
 mence, and through everlasting ages thy suffer- 
 ings shall increase. The moment is now near 
 when thou shalt tread that line which alone is threi 
 path to heaven, the narrow path that is stretched 
 over the pit which smokes for ever and for ever ! 
 When thine aching eye shall look forward to the 
 end that is far distant, and when behind thcfu ■? 
 shalt find no retreat ; when thy steps shall fatt^ 
 
CLASSIC ; TALES.— HAWKESWORTH. 107 
 
 ter, and thou shalt tremble at the depth beneath, 
 which thought itself is not able to fathom ; then 
 shall the angel of distribution lift his inexorable 
 hand against thee, from the irremediable way shall 
 tjhy feet be smitten, thou shalt plunge in the 
 burning flood, and though thou shalt live for ever 
 thou shalt rise no more !" 
 
 As the words of Hamet struck Almoran with 
 terror, and overawed him by an influence which 
 he could not surmount, Hamet was forced from 
 his presence before any other orders had been 
 given about him than were implied in the menace 
 that was addressed to Almeida ; no violence, 
 therefore, was yet offered him, but he was secured 
 till the king's pleasure should be known, in a dun- 
 geon not far from the palace, to which he was con- 
 ducted by a subterraneous passage ; and the door 
 being closed upon him, he was left in silence, 
 tlarkness, and solitude, such as may be imagined 
 before the voice of the Almighty produced light 
 and life. 
 
 When Almoran was sufficiently recollected to 
 consider his situation, he despaired of prevailing 
 upon Almeida to gratify his wishes till her attach- 
 ment to Hamet was irreparably broken, and he 
 therefore resolved to put him to death. With this 
 view he repeated the signal which convened the 
 ministers of death to his presence ; but the sound 
 was lost in a peal of thunder that instantly fol- 
 lowed it, and the Genius, from whom he received 
 the talisman, again stood before him. 
 
 "Almoran," said the Genius, "I am now 
 compelled into thy presence by the command of 
 a, superior Power, whom if I should dare to dis- 
 obey, the energy of his will might drive me in a 
 
168 CLASSIC TAtBS.— "HAWKfeSWX^T^. 
 
 moment beyond the limits of nature and the ffSach 
 of thought, to spend eternity alone, without e^m-* 
 fort and without hope." — " And what," said Al- 
 moran, " is the will of this mighty and tremend- 
 ous Being ?" — " His will," said the Genius, " I 
 will reveal to thee. Hitherto thou hast befcii' 
 enabled to lift the rod of adversity against thy 
 brother, by powers which nature has not entrusted 
 to man : as these powers, and these only, have 
 put him into thy hand, thou art forbidden to lift 
 it against his life ; if thou hadst prevailed against 
 him by thy own power, thy own power would 
 not have been restrained ; to afflict him thou art 
 still free, but thou art not permitted to destroy. 
 At the moment in which thou shalt conceive a 
 thought to cut him off by violence, the punish- 
 ment of thy disobedience shall commence, and 
 the pangs of death shall be upon thee." — '* If 
 then," said Almoran, "this awful power is the 
 friend of Hamet, what yet remains in the stores 
 of thy wisdom for me ! Till he dies, I am at 
 once precluded from peace, and safety, and en- 
 joyment." — " Look up," said the Genius, "for 
 the iron hand of despair is not yet upoti thee. 
 Thou canst be happy only by his death, and his 
 life thou art forbidden to take away ; yet mayest 
 thou still arm him against himself, and if he dies 
 by his own hand thy wishes will be full,"—*' O 
 name/' said Almoran, (t but the means, and it 
 shall this moment be accomplished !" — '** SelecV' 
 said the Genius, " some friend -£" r ; 
 
 At the 1 name of friend; Almoran started and 
 looked round in despair: he recollected the per- 
 fidy of Osmyn, and he suspected" that from th£ 
 same cause all were perfidious. " While Hamet 
 
 
CLASSIC m f ^l^S % — -HAWKESWOR'hlk 1 60 
 
 yet has life," said he, " I. fear the face of man, 
 as of a savage that is prowling for his prey." — 
 " Relinquish not yet thy hopes," said the Genius, 
 " for one, in whom thou wilt joyfully confide, 
 may be found. jJe.t him secretly obtain admit- 
 tance to Hamet, as if by stealth j let him express 
 an abhorrence of thy reign, and compassion for 
 his misfortunes; let him pretend that the rack is 
 even now preparing for him, that death is in- 
 evitable, but that torment may be avoided ; let 
 him then give him a poniard as the instrument of 
 deliverance, and perhaps his own hand may strike 
 the blow that shall give thee peace." — " But 
 who," said Almoran, " shall go upon this impor- 
 tant errand ?" — u Who," replied the Genius, " but 
 thyself? Hast thou not the power to assume the 
 form of whomsoever thou wouldst have sent?"— • 
 « I would have sent Osmyn," said Almoran, 
 " but that I know him to be a traitor." — " Let 
 the form of Osmyn then," said the Genius, " be 
 thine. The shadows of the evening have now 
 stretched themselves upon the earth; command 
 Osmyn to attend thee alone in the grove where 
 Solyman, thy father, was used to meditate by 
 night; and when thy form shall be impressed 
 upon him, I will there seal his eyes in sleep till 
 the charm shall be broken ; so shall no evil be 
 attempted against thee, and the transformation 
 shall be known only to thyself." 
 
 Almoran, whose breast was again illuminated 
 by hope, was about to express his gratitude and 
 joy, but the Genius suddenly disappeared. He 
 b^gan, therefore, immediately to follow the in- 
 struction^ that hs had received : he commanded 
 
170 CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 Osmyn to attend Mm in the grove, and forbade 
 every other to approach; by the power of the 
 talisman he assumed his appearance, and saw 
 him sink down in a supernatural slumber before 
 him ; he then quitted the place, and prepared to 
 visit Harriet in the prison. 
 
 ' ' . : ern^b 
 
 - CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 The officer who commanded the guard that 
 kept the gate of the prison was Caled. He was 
 now next in trust and power to Osmyn ; but as 
 he had proposed to revolt to Hamet, in which 
 Osmyn had refused to concur, he knew that his 
 life Was now in his power ; he dreaded lest, for 
 some slight offence, or in some fit of causeless 
 displeasure, he should- disclose the secret to Al- 
 rnoran, who would then certainly condemn him 
 to death. To secure this fatal secret, and put an 
 end to his inquietude, he resolved, from the mo- 
 ment that Almoran was established upon the 
 throne, to find some opportunity secretly to de- 
 stroy Osmyn : in this resolution he was confirmed 
 by the enmity which inferior minds never fail to 
 conceive against that merit which they cannot 
 but envy without spirit to emulate, and by which 
 they feel themselves disgraced without an effort 
 to acquire equal honour; it was confirmed also 
 by the hope which Caled had conceived, that 
 upon the death of Osmyn^ he should succeed to 
 his post: his apprehensions^ likewise, were in- 
 creased by the gloom which he remarked in the 
 countenance of Osmyn, and which, not knowing 
 
CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 171 
 
 that it arose from fear, he imputed to jealousy and 
 malevolence. 
 
 When Almoran, who had now assumed the 
 appearance of Osmyn, had passed the subter- 
 ranean avenue to the dungeon in which Hamet 
 was confined, he was met by Caled, of whom he 
 demanded admittance to the prince, and pro- 
 duced his own signet as a testimony that he came 
 with the authority of the king. As it was Caled's 
 interest to secure the favour of Osmyn till an 
 opportunity should offer to cut him off, he re- 
 ceived him with every possible mark of respect 
 and reverence ; and when he was gone into the 
 dungeon, he commanded a beverage to be pre- 
 pared for him against he should return, in which 
 •such spices were infused as might expel the ma- 
 lignity which in that place might be received with 
 the breath of life, and taking himself the key of 
 the prison, he waited at the door; 
 
 When Almoran entered the dungeon^ with a 
 lamp which he had received from Caled> he found 
 Hamet sitting upon the ground ; his countenance 
 was impressed with the characters of grief, but it 
 retained no marks either of anger or fear. When 
 he looked up and saw the features of Osmyn, he 
 judged that the mutes were behind him, and 
 therefore rose up to prepare himself for death. 
 Almoran beheld his calmness and fortitude with 
 the involuntary praise of admiration, yet persisted 
 in his purpose without remorse. " I am come/' 
 said he, "by the command of Almoran, to de- 
 n^iunce that fate, the bitterness of which I will 
 fSffabJe thee, to avoid."--" And what is there/' 
 said fclamet, "in my fortunes, that has prompted 
 p2 
 
172 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 thee to the danger of this attempt ?" — <{ The ut- 
 most that I can give thee," said Almoran > " I can 
 giye thee without danger to myself; but though I 
 have been placed, by the hand of fortune, near 
 the person of the tyrant, yet has my heart in 
 secret been thy friend. If I am the messenger of 
 evil, impute it to him only by whom it is devised. 
 The rack is now preparing to receive thee, and 
 every art of ingenious cruelty will be exhausted 
 to protract and to increase the agonies of death." 
 — " And what," said Hamet, *« can thy friend- 
 ship offer me?" — " I can offer thee," said Al- 
 moran, " that which will at once dismiss thee to 
 those regions where the wicked cease from trou- 
 bling, and the weary rest for ever." He then 
 produced the poniard from his bosom, and pre- 
 senting it to Hamet, "Take this," said he, "and 
 sleep in peace." 
 
 Hamet, whose heart was touched with sudden 
 joy at the sight of so unexpected a remedy for 
 every evil, did not immediately reflect that he 
 was not at liberty to apply it ; he snatched it in a 
 transport from the hand of Almoran, and ex- 
 pressed his sense of the obligation 'by clasping him 
 in his arms, and shedding the tears of gratitude 
 in his breast, *' r Be quick," said Almoran; " this 
 moment I must leave, and in the next perhaps the 
 messengers of destruction may bind thee to the 
 rack." — " I will be quick/' said Hamet, " and 
 the sigh that shall last linger upon my lips shall 
 bless thee !" They then bid each other farewel ; 
 Almoran retired from the dungeon, and the door 
 was again closed upon Hamet 
 
 Caled, who waited- at the door till the supposed 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 173 
 
 psniya should return, presented him with the 
 beverage which he had prepared, of which he 
 recounted the virtues; and Almoran received it 
 with pleasure, and having eagerly drank it off] re- 
 turned to the palace. As soon as he was alone he 
 resumed his own figure, and sate with a confident 
 and impatient expectation that in a short time a 
 messenger would be dispatched to acquaint him 
 with the death of Hamet. 
 
 Hamet, in the mean time* having grasped the 
 dagger in his hand, and raised his arm for the 
 blow — " This/' said he, " is my passport to the 
 realms of peace, the immediate and only object of 
 my hope I" But at these words his mind instantly 
 took the alarm. " Let me reflect/' said he, " a 
 moment : from what can I derive hope in death ? 
 —from that patient and persevering virtue, and 
 from that alone, by which we fulfil the task that 
 is assigned us upon the earth. Is it not our duty 
 to suffer as well as to act ? If my own hand con- 
 signs me to the grave, what can it do but perpe- 
 tuate that misery which, by disobedience, I would 
 shun ? what can it do, but cut off my life and hope 
 together?" With this reflection he threw his 
 dagger from him, and, stretching himself again 
 upon the ground, resigned himself to the disposal 
 of the Father of man, most merciful and al- 
 mighty. 
 
 Almoran, who had now resolved to send for the 
 intelligence which he longed to hear, was dispatch- 
 ing a messenger to the prison, when he was told 
 that Caled desired admittance to his presence. At 
 the name of Caled, he started up in an extasy of 
 joy, and not doubting but that Hamet was dead> 
 p3 
 
174 CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTa. 
 
 he ordered him to be instantly admitted. When 
 he eame in, Almoran made no enquiry about 
 Hamet, because he would not appear to expect 
 the event, which yet he supposed he had brought 
 about; he, thereibre, asked him only upon what 
 business he came. IS I come, my lord/' said he, 
 p to apprize thee of the treachery of Osmyn."-— 
 "\ know," said Almoran, "that Osmyn is a 
 traitor: but of what dost thou accuse him?" — 
 "As I was but now," said he, <* changing the 
 guard that is set upon Hamet, Osmyn came up 
 to the doorof the prison, and producing the royal 
 signet, demanded admittance, As the command 
 which I received, when he was delivered to my 
 custody, was absolute that no foot should enter, 
 I doubted whether the token had not been ob- 
 tained by fraud for some other purpose; yet as 
 he required admittance only, I complied : but 
 that if any treachery had been contrived I might 
 detect it ; and that no artifice might be practised 
 to favour an escape, I waited myself at the door, 
 and listening to their discourse, I overheard the 
 treason that I suspected." — "What then," said 
 Almoran, " didst thou hear?"—" A part of what 
 Was said," replied Galed, et escaped me ; but I 
 heard Osmyn, like a perfidious and presumptuous 
 slave, call Almoran a tyrant ; I heard him pro- 
 fess an inviolable friendship for Hamet, and assure 
 him of deliverance. What were the means I 
 know not, but he talked of speed, and supposed 
 that the effect was certain/* 
 
 Almoran, though he was still impatient to hear 
 of Hamet, and discovered that if he was dead his 
 tteath was unknown to Caled, was yet notvwth- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 175 
 
 Standing rejoiced at what he heard; and as he 
 knew what Caled told him to be true, as the con- 
 versation he related had passed between himself 
 and Hamet, he exulted in the pleasing confidence 
 that he had yet a friend : the glooms of suspicion 
 which had involved his mind, were dissipated, 
 and his countenance brightened with complacency 
 and joy. He fcad delayed to put Osmyn to death, 
 only because he could appoint no man to suceeed 
 him of whom his fears did not render him equally 
 suspicious ; but having now found in Caied a 
 friend, whose fidelity had been approved when 
 there had been no intention to try it; and being 
 impatient to reward his zeal, and to invest his 
 fidelity with that power which would render his 
 services most important, he took a ring from his 
 own finger, and putting it upon that of Caled, 
 If Take this/' said he, " as a pledge that to-mor- 
 row Osmyn shall lose his head, and that from 
 this moment thou art invested with his power." 
 
 Caled having, in the conversation between Al- 
 moran and Hamet, discerned indubitable treach- 
 ery, which he imputed to Osmyn, whose appear- 
 ance Almoran had then assumed, eagerly seized 
 the opportunity to destroy him ; he therefore, not 
 trusting to the event of his accusation, had min- 
 gled poison in the bowl which he presented to 
 Almoran when he came out from Hamet: this, 
 however, at first he had resolved to conceal. 
 
 In consequence of this accusation, he supposed 
 Osmyn would be questioned upon the rack; he 
 supposed also that the accusation, as it was true, 
 would be confirmed by his confession; that what- 
 ever he should then say to the prejudice of his 
 accuser would be disbelieved ; and that, when 
 
176 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 after a few hours the poison should take effect, no 
 inquisition would be made into the death df a 
 criminal, whom the bow-string or the scymitar 
 would otherwise have been employed to destroy. 
 But he now hoped to derive new merit from an act 
 of zeal, whieh Almoran had approved before it 
 was known, by condemning his rival to die, whose 
 death he had already insured. " May the wishes 
 of my lord/' said he, "be always anticipated; 
 and may it be found, that whatever he ordains is 
 already done; may he accept the zeal of his 
 servant whom he has delighted to honour, for be- 
 fore the light of the morning shall return, the eyes 
 of Osmyn shall close in everlasting darkness." 
 
 At these words the countenance of Almoran 
 changed, his cheeks became pale, and his lips 
 trembled. "What then," said he, "hast thou 
 done ?" Caled, who was terrified and astonished, 
 threw himself upon the ground, and was unable 
 to reply. Almoran, who now, by the utmost 
 effort of his mind, restrained his confusion and his 
 fear that he might learn the truth from Caled, 
 without dissimulation or disguise, raised him from 
 the ground, and repeated his enquiry. "If I 
 have erred," said Caled, " impute it not : when I 
 had detected the treachery of Osmyn, I was 
 transported by my zeal for thee. For proof that 
 he is guilty I appeal now to himself, for he yet 
 lives ; but that he might not escape the hand of 
 justice* I mingled in the bowl I gave him the drugs 
 of death." 
 
 At these words Almoran, striking his hands to- 
 gether, looked upward in an agony of despair and 
 horror, and fell back upon a sofa that was behind 
 him. Caled, whose astonishment was equal to 
 ... . I . ... hhh 
 
CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 177 
 
 his disappointment and his fears, approached him 
 with a trembling though hasty pace ; but as he 
 stooped to support him, Almoran suddenly drew 
 his dagger and stabbed him to the heart, and re 
 peated the blow, with reproaches and execrations, 
 till his strength failed him. 
 
 In this dreadful moment the Genius once more 
 appeared before him, at the sight of whom he 
 waved his hand, but was unable to speak. " No- 
 thing," said the Genius, " that has happened to 
 Almoran is hidden from me. Thy peace has been 
 destroyed alike by the defection of Osmyn and by 
 the zeal of Caled : thy life may yet be preserved, 
 but it can be preserved only by a charm which 
 Hamet must apply/' Almoran, who had raised 
 his eyes, and conceived some languid hope, when 
 he heard that he might yet live, cast them again 
 down in despair when he heard that he could re- 
 ceive life only from Hamet. " From Hamet/* 
 said he, ff I have already taken the power to save 
 me ; I have, by thy counsel, given him the in- 
 strument of death, which by thy counsel also I 
 urged him to use: he received it with joy, and he 
 is now doubtless numbered with the dead/'— \ 
 " Hamet," said the Genius, "■ is not dead, but 
 from the fountain of virtue he drinks life and 
 peace. If what I shall propose he refuses to per- 
 form, not all the powers of earth, and sea, and air, 
 if they should combine, can give thee life ; but 
 if he complies, the death that is now suspended 
 over thee shall fall upon his head, and thy life 
 shall be again delivered to the hand of time." — ■. 
 " Make haste then," said Almoran, 'f and I will 
 here wait the event." — " The event/' said the 
 Genius, *' is not distant f and it is tlje last experi* 
 
l7& CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 ment which my power can make either upon hiril 
 or thee. When the star of the night that is now 
 near the horizon shall set, I will be with him." 
 
 When Almoran was alone, he reflected that 
 every act of supernatural power which the Genius 
 had enabled him to perform had brought upon him 
 some new calamity, though it always promised 
 him some new advantage. As he would not im- 
 pute this disappointment to the purposes for which 
 he employed the power that he had received, he 
 indulged a suspicion that it proceeded from the 
 perfidy of the being by whom it was bestowed ; 
 in his mind, therefore, he thus reasoned with him- 
 self: — '' The Genius who has pretended to be the 
 friend of Almoran, has been secretly in confe- 
 deracy with Hamet: why else do I yet sigh in 
 vain for Almeida, and why else did not Hamet 
 perish when his life was in my power? By his 
 counsel I persuaded Hamet to destroy himself, 
 and in the very act I was betrayed to drink the 
 potion by which I shall be destroyed ; I have 
 been led on from misery to misery,; by ineffectual 
 expedients and fallacious hopes t In this crisis of 
 my fate, I will not trust with implicit confidence 
 in another ; I will be present at the interview of 
 this powerful, but suspected Being with Hamet, 
 and who can tell but that, if I detect a fraud, I 
 may be able to disappoint it : however powerful 
 he is not omniscient ; I may, therefore, be pre,- 
 sent, unknown and unsuspected even by him, in a 
 form that I can chuse by a thought, to which he 
 cannot be conscious." ;. 93 rf* 
 
 , [cd bstfisA 
 
GLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTH. 179 
 
 won?* tedi *4%itr^i\ >cJ[j *o 
 
 i Aim 3«i cilAP. XIX. shdd eils twa 
 
 k ifad W 
 
 In consequence of this resolution, Almoran, 
 having commanded one of the soldiers of the 
 guard that attended upon Hamet into an inner 
 room of the palace, he ordered him to wait there 
 till his return: then making fast the door, he as- 
 sumed his figure, and went immediately to the 1 
 dungeon ; where producing his signet, he said he 
 had received orders from the king to remain with 
 the prisoner till the watch expired. 
 ■ As he entered without speaking, and without a 
 light, Hamet continued stretched upon the ground, 
 with his face towards the earth; and Almoran, 
 having silently retired to a remote corner of the 
 place, waited for the appearance of the Genius. 
 
 The dawn of the morning now broke, and in a 
 few minutes the prison shook and the Genius ap- 
 peared. He was visible by a lambent light that 
 played around him, and Hamet starting from the 
 ground, turned to the vision with reverence and 
 wonder; but as the Omnipotent was ever present 
 to his mind, to whom all beings in all worlds are 
 obedient, and on whom alone he relied for protec- 
 tion, he was neither confused nor afraid. " Ha- 
 met!" said the Genius, <( the crisis of thy fate is 
 near." — « Who art thou/' said Hamet, " and for 
 what purpose ai L thou come?"—" I am," replied 
 the Genius, " an inhabitant of the world above 
 thee ; and to the will of thy brother my powers 
 have been obedient : upon him they have not con- 
 ferred happiness, but they have brought evil upon 
 thee. It was my voice that forbade thy marriage 
 
J SO CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTK. 
 
 with Almeida, and my voice that decreed the 
 throne to Almoran : I gave him the power to as- 
 sume thy form, and by me the hand of oppression 
 is now heavy upon thee. Yet I have not decreed 
 that he should be happy, nor that thou shouldst 
 be wretched ; darkness as yet rests upon my pur- 
 pose ; but my heart in secret is thy friend/' — " If 
 thou art indeed my friend/' said Hamet, " de- 
 liver me from this prison, and preserve Hamet for 
 Almeida." — " Thy deliverance," said the Genius, 
 '? must depend upon thyself. There is a charm, 
 of which the power is great; but it is by thy will 
 only that this power carrbe exerted." 
 
 The Genius then held out towards him a scroll, 
 on which the seal of seven powers was impressed. 
 " Take," said he, a this scroll, in which the mys- 
 terious name of Orosmades is written. Invoke the 
 spirits that reside westward from the rising of the 
 sun, and northward in the regions of cold and dark- 
 ness : then stretch out thy hand, and a lamp of 
 sulphur, self-kindled, shall burn before thee. In 
 the fire of this lamp, consume that which I now 
 give thee; and as the smoke, into which it changes, 
 shall mix with the air, a mighty charm shall bo 
 formed, which shall defend thee from all mischief: 
 from that instant no poison, however potent, can 
 hurt thee ; nor shall any prison confine : in one 
 moment, thou shalt be restored to the throne and 
 to Almeida; and the angel of death shall lay his 
 hand upon thy brother ; to whom, if I had con- 
 fided this last best effort of my power, he would 
 have secured the good to himself, and have trans- 
 ferred the evil to thee." 
 
 Almoran, who in a borrowed fonn had listened 
 to this address of the Genius to Hamet, was now 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 181 
 
 Confirmed in his suspicions that evil had been 
 ultimately intended against him ; and that he had 
 been entangled in the toils of perfidy, while he 
 believed himself to be assisted by the efforts of 
 friendship; he was also convinced, that by the 
 Genius he was not known to be present. Hamet, 
 tiowever, stood still doubtful, and Almoran was 
 Jcept silent by his fears. " Whoever thou art/* 
 said Hamet, "the condition of the advantages 
 which thou hast offered me is such as it is not law- 
 ful to fulfil : these horrid rites, and this commerce 
 with unholy powers, are prohibited to mortals in 
 the law of life/ > — " See thou to that/* said the 
 Genius: '? good and evil are before thee* that 
 which I now offer thee, I will offer no more. ?? 
 
 Hamet, who had not fortitude to give up at 
 once the possibility of securing the advantages 
 that had been offered, and who was seduced by 
 human frailty to deliberate at least upon the 
 choice, stretched out his hand, and receiving the 
 scroll, the Genius instantly disappeared. That 
 which had been proposed as a trial of his virtue, 
 Almoran believed indeed to be an offer of advan- 
 tage ; he had no hope, therefore, but that Hamet 
 would refuse the conditions, and that he should be 
 able to obtain the talisman, and fulfil them him- 
 self: he judged that the mind of Hamet was in 
 suspence, and was doubtful to which side it might 
 finally incline; he, therefore, instantly assumed 
 the voice and the person pf Omar, that ^>y the 
 influence of his counsel he might be able to turn 
 ^he scale. 
 
 When the change was effected, he called Hamet 
 by bis name ; and Hamet, who knew the voice^ 
 
 Q 
 
182 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 answered him in a transport of joy and wonder i 
 >l My friend," said he, " my father ! in this dreary 
 solitude, in this hour of trial, thou art welcome to 
 my soul as liberty and life ! Guide me to thee by 
 thy voice ; and tell me, while I hold thee to my 
 bosom, how and wherefore art thou come!" — 
 " Do not npw ask me," said Almoran ; ** it is 
 enough that I am here, and that I am permitted 
 to warn thee of the precipice on which thou 
 Standest. It is enough that I have overheard the 
 specious guile which some evil being has practised 
 upon thee."— " Is it then certain," said Hamet, 
 '*' that this being is evil ?*'— " Is not that being 
 evil," said Almoran, " who proposes evil as the 
 condition of good }"-*« Shall I then," said Ha- 
 met, " renounce my liberty and life ? The rack 
 is now ready, and perhaps the ne&t moment its 
 tortures will be inevitable."-*-" Let me ask thee, 
 then," said Almoran, *' to preserve thy life wilt 
 thou destroy thy soul?" — *.' Ostay \ h said Hamet: 
 " let me not be tried too far. t Let the strength of 
 him who is Almighty be manifest in my Weak- 
 ness !" Hamet then paused a few moments^ but 
 he was no longer in doubt ; and Almoran, who 
 disbelieved and despised the arguments by which 
 he intended to persuade him to renounce wfeaf, 
 upon the same condition, he was impatient to 
 secure for himself, conceived hopes that he should 
 succeed, and those hopes Were instantly confirmed, 
 '* Take then," said Hamet, " this unholy charm, 
 and remove it far from me as the sands of Alai 
 from the trees of Oman ; lest, in some dreadful 
 moment, my virtue may fail me, and thy counsel 
 may be wanting !"—" Give it me then," said 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 183 
 
 Ahnoran ; and feeling for the hands of each other, 
 he snatched it from him in an extasy of joy, and 
 instantly resuming his own voice and figure, he 
 cried out, '-' At length I have prevailed ! and life 
 and love, dominion and revenge, are now at once 
 in my hand." 
 
 Hamet heard and knew the voice of his brother 
 with astonishment, but it was too late to wish that 
 he had withheld the charm which his virtue would 
 not permit him to use. "Yet a few moments 
 pass," said Almoran, <f and thou art nothing." Ha- 
 met, who doubted not the power of the talisman, 
 and knew that Almoran had no principles which 
 would restrain him from using it to his destruction, 
 resigned himself to death, with a sacred joy that 
 he had escaped from guilt. Almoran then, with 
 an elation of mind that sparkled in his eyes and 
 glowed in his cheek, stretched out his hand in which 
 he held the scroll, and a lamp of burning sulphur 
 was immediately suspended in the air before him * 
 he held the mysterious writing in the flame, and 
 as it began to burn, the place shook with reiterated 
 thunder, of which every peal was more terrible 
 and loud. Hamet, wrapping his robe round him, 
 cried out, " In the fountain of life, that flows for 
 ever, let my life be mingled ! Let me not be as 
 if I had never been, but still conscious of my be* 
 ing, let me still glorify him from whom it is de- 
 rived, and be still happy in his love!" 
 
 Almoran, who was absorbed in the anticipation 
 of his own felicity, heard the thunder without 
 dread, as the proclamation of his triumph. " Let 
 thy hopes," said he, " be thy portion; and the 
 pleasures that I have secured shall be mine !" As 
 
l&4> CLASSIC TALES. HAWkESWOKTH. 
 
 he pronounced these words, he started as at & 
 sudden pang ; his eyes became fixed, and his 
 posture immoveable ; yet his senses still remained, 
 and he perceived the Genius once more to stand 
 before hirm tk Almoran," said he, " to the last 
 sounds which thou shalt hear let thine ear be at- 
 tentive! Of the spirits that rejoice to fulfil the 
 purpose of the Almighty^ I am one. To Hamet 
 and to Almoran I have been commissioned from 
 above : I have been appointed to perfect virtue by 
 adversity, and in the folly of her own projects to 
 entangle vice. The charm which could be formed 
 only by guilt, has power only to produce misery : 
 of every good which thou, Almoran, wouldst have 
 secured by disobedience, the opposite evil is thy 
 portion ; and of every evil which thou, Hamet, 
 wast by obedience willing to incur, the opposite 
 good is bestowed upon thee. To thee, Hamet; 
 are now given the throne of thy father, and Al- 
 meida; and thou Almoran, who, while I speak, 
 art incorporating with the earth, shalt remain 
 through all generations a memorial of the truths 
 which thy life has taught r 
 
 At these words of the Genius, the earth trem- 
 bled beneath; and above the walls of the prison 
 disappeared: the figure of Almoran, which was 
 hardened into stone, expanded by degrees, ancTa 
 rock, by which his form and attitude are still 
 rudely expressed, became at once a monument of 
 his punishment and his guilt ! 
 
 Such are the events recorded by Acmet, the 
 descendant of the Prophet and the preacher of 
 righteousness : for to Acmet, that which passed 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 185 
 
 In secret was revealed by the angel of Instruction, 
 that the world might know, That to the wicked 
 increase of power is increase of wretchedness, 
 and those who condemn the folly of an attempt to 
 defeat the purpose of a Genius, might no longer 
 hope to elude the •appointment of the Most High, 
 
 OPSINOUS. 
 
 (from the adventurer.) 
 
 Of all the expedients that have been found out 
 to alleviate the miseries of life, none is left to 
 despair but complaint ; and though complaint, 
 without hope of relief, may be thought rather to 
 encrease than mitigate anguish, as it recollects 
 every circumstance of distress, and embitters, the 
 memory of past sufferings by the anticipation of 
 future ; yet, like weeping, it is an indulgence of 
 that which it is pain to suppress, and soothes with 
 the hope of pity the wretch who despairs of com- 
 fort. Of this number is he who now addresses 
 you : yet the solace of complaint and the hope 
 of pity, are not the only motives that have in- 
 duced me to communicate the series of events by 
 which I have been led on in an insensible devi- 
 ation from felicity, and at last plunged in irre- 
 mediable calamity ; I wish that others may 
 escape perdition, and am, therefore, solicitous ta 
 <*3 
 
186 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWK.ESWQRTH. 
 
 warn them of the path that leads to the precipice 
 from which j have fallen. 
 
 I am the only child of a wealthy farmer, who, 
 as he was himself illiterate, was the more zealous 
 to make his son a scholar ; imagining that there 
 was in the knowledge of Greek and Latin some 
 secret charm of perpetual influence, which, as I 
 passed through life, would smooth the way before 
 ine, establish the happiness of success, and sup~ 
 ply new resources to disappointment. But not 
 being able to deny himself the pleasure he found 
 in having me about him, instead of sending me 
 out to a boarding-school, he offered the curate 
 of the parish ten pounds a year and his board td 
 become my tutor* 
 
 This gentleman, who was in years, and had 
 lately buried his wife, accepted the employment^ 
 but refused the salary ; the work of education, he 
 said, would agreeably fill his intervals of leisure* 
 aind happily coincide with the duties of his func- 
 tion; but he observed that his curacy, which, 
 was thirty pounds a year, and had long subsisted 
 him when he had a family, would make him 
 wealthy now he was a single man, and therefore 
 he insisted to pay for his board: to this my fa- 
 ther, with whatever reluctance* was obliged to 
 consent. At the age of six years I began to read 
 my Accidence under my preceptor, and at fifteeit 
 bad gone through the Latin and Greek classics. 
 But the languages were not all that I learned of 
 this gentleman ; besides other science of less im- 
 portance, he taught me the theory of Christianity 
 by his precepts, and the practice by his example. 
 
 As his temper was calm and steady, the influ- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. RAWKESWORTH. 187 
 
 «nee which he had acquired over me was unli- 
 mited : he was never capriciously severe, so that 
 I regarded his displeasure not as an effect of his 
 infirmity, but of my own fault ; he discovered so 
 much affection in the pleasure with which he 
 commended, and in the tender concern with 
 which he reproved me, that I loved him as a fa- 
 ther; and his devotion, though rational and manly, 
 Was yet so habitual and fervent^ that I reverenced 
 him as a saint. I found even my passions con- 
 trouled by an awe which his presence impressed ; 
 and by a constant attention to his doctrine and 
 his life, I acquired such a sense of my connexion 
 with the invisible world, and such a conviction of 
 the consciousness of Deity to all my thoughts, 
 that every inordinate wish was secretly suppressed* 
 and my conduct regulated by the mdst scrupulous 
 circumspection. 
 
 My father thought he had now taken sufficient 
 care of my education, and therefore began to ex- 
 pect that I should assist in overlooking his ser- 
 vants and managing his farm, in which he in- 
 tended I should succeed him ; but my preceptor, 
 whose principal view was not my temporal ad- 
 vantage, told him that, as a farmer, great part 
 of my learning would be totally useless ; and that 
 the only way to make me serviceable to mankind, 
 in proportion to the knowledge I had acquired, 
 would be to send me to the university, that at a 
 proper time I might take orders. But my father, 
 besides that he was still unwilling to part with me, 
 had probably many reasons against my entering 
 the world in a cassock: such, however, was the 
 deference which he paid to my tutor, that he had 
 almost implicitly submitted to -his- determination, 
 
138 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 when a relation of my mother's, who was an at- 
 torney of great practice in the Temple, came to 
 spend part of the long vacation at our house, in 
 consequence of invitations which had been often 
 repeated during an absence of many years. 
 
 My father thought that an opportunity of con- 
 sulting how to dispose of me, with a man so well 
 acquainted with life, was not to be lost; and per* 
 haps he secretly hoped that my preceptor would 
 give up his opinion as indefensible, if a person of 
 the lawyer's experience should declare against it. 
 My qousin was accordingly made umpire in the 
 debate ; and after he had heard the arguments on 
 both sides, he declared against my becoming a 
 farmer: he said, it would be an act of injustice 
 to bury my parts and learning in the obscurity of 
 rural life, because, if produced to the world, they 
 would probably be rewarded with wealth and 
 distinction. My preceptor imagined the question 
 was now finally determined in his favour; and 
 being obliged to visit one of his parishioners that 
 was sick, he gave me a look of congratulation as 
 he went out, and I perceived his cheek glow with 
 a flush of triumph, and his eye sparkle with tears} 
 of delight, i ' 
 
 But he had no sooner left the room, than my 
 cousin gave the conversation another turn: he 
 told my father, that though he had opposed his 
 making me a farmer, he was not an advocate for 
 my becoming a parson, for that to make a young 
 fellow a parson, without being able to procure him 
 a living, was to make him a beggar : he then 
 made some witty reflections on the old gentleman 
 who was just gone out ; ** Nobody," he said, 
 Jf could question his having been put to a bad 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 180 
 
 trade; who considered his circumstances now he 
 had followed it forty years." And after some 
 other sprightly sallies, which* though they made 
 my father laugh, made me tremble, he clapped 
 him upon the shoulder, " If you have a mind 
 your boy should make a figure in life, old gen- 
 tleman," says he, " put him clerk to me ; my 
 lord chancellor King was no better than the son of 
 a country shopkeeper; and my master gave a 
 person of much greater eminence many a Jialf 
 crown when he was an attorney's clerk in the 
 next chambers to mine. What say you ? shall I 
 take him up with me or no }" My father, who 
 had listened to this proposal with great eagerness* 
 as soon as my cousin had done speaking, cried > 
 " A match ;" and immediately gave him his 
 hand, in token of his consent. Thus the bargain 
 was struck, and my fate determined before my 
 tutor came back. 
 
 It was in vain that he afterwards objected to 
 the character of my new master, and expressed 
 the most dreadful apprehensions at my becoming 
 an attorney's clerk, and entering into the society 
 cf wretches who had been represented to him, 
 and perhaps not unjustly, as the most profligate 
 upon earth: they do not, indeed, become worse 
 than others merely as clerks, but as young persons 
 who, with more money to spend in the gratification 
 of appetite, are sooner than others abandoned to 
 their own conduct: for though they are taken 
 from under the protection of a parent, yet being 
 scarce considered as in a state of servitude, they 
 are not sufficiently restrained by the authority of 
 a master. 
 
 My father had conceived of my cousin as the 
 
190 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH." 
 
 best-natured man in the world; and probably 
 was intoxicated with the romantic hope of living 
 to see me upon the bench at Westminster-hall, or 
 of meeting me on the circuit lolling in my own 
 coach, and attended by a crowd of the inferior 
 instruments of justice. He was not therefore to 
 be moved either by expostulation or intreaty ; and 
 I set out with my cousin on horseback, to meet the 
 stage at a town within a few miles, after having 
 taken leave of my father with a tenderness that 
 melted us both ; and received from the hoary 
 saint his last instructions and benediction, and at 
 length the parting embrace, which was given 
 with the silent ardour of unutterable wishes, and 
 repeated with tears that could no longer be sup- 
 pressed or concealed. 
 
 When we were seated in the coach, my cousin 
 began to make himself merry with the regret and 
 discontent that he perceived in my countenance 
 at leaving a cowhouse/ a hogstye, and two old 
 grey pates, who were contending whether I should 
 be buried in a farm or a college. I, who had 
 never heard either my father or my tutor treated 
 with irreverence, could not conceal my displea- 
 sure and resentment; but he still continued to 
 rally my country simplicity with many allusions 
 which I did not then understand, but which 
 greatly delighted the rest of the company. The 
 fourth day brought us to our journey's end, and 
 my master, as soon as we reached his chambers, 
 shook me by the hand, and bid me welcome to 
 the Temple. 
 
 He had been some years a widower, and hi$ 
 only child, a daughter, being still at a boarding- 
 school, his family consisted only of a niau an4 
 
CLASSIC TTALES.— ftAWKESWORTH* 19l 
 
 tiiaid- servant and myself: for though he had two 
 hired clerks, yet they lodged and boarded them- 
 selves. The horrid lewdness and profaneness of 
 these fellows terrified and disgusted me ; nor 
 could I believe that my master's property and 
 interest could be safely intrusted with men, who 
 in every respect appeared to be so destitute of 
 virtue and religion : J, therefore, thought it my 
 duty to apprise him of his danger ; and accord- 
 ingly one day when we were at dinner, I com- 
 municated my suspicion, and the reason upon 
 which it was founded. The formal solemnity 
 with which I introduced this conversation, and 
 the air of importance which I gave to my disco- 
 very, threw him into a violent fit of laughter, 
 which struck me dumb with confusion and asto- 
 nishment. As soon as he recovered himself, he 
 told me, that though his clerks might use some 
 expressions that I had not been accustomed to 
 hear, yet he believed them to be very honest; 
 and that he placed more confidence in them than 
 he would in a formal prig, of whom he knew 
 nothing but that he went every morning and 
 evening to prayers, and said grace before and 
 after meat ; that as to swearing, they meant no 
 harm; and as he did not doubt but that every 
 young fellow liked a girl, it was better they should 
 joke about it than be hypocritical and sly : not 
 that he would be thought to suspect my integrity, 
 or to blame me for practices which he knew to be 
 merely effects of the bigotry and superstition in 
 which I had been educated, and not the disguises 
 of cunning or the subterfuges of guilt. 
 
 I was greatly mortified at my cousin's behaviour 
 on this occasion, and wondered from what cause 
 
192 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 it could proceed, and why he should so lightly 
 pass over those vices in others from which he 
 abstained himself; for I had never heard him 
 swear, and as his expressions were not obscene, I 
 imagined his conversation was chaste ; in which, 
 however, my ignorance deceived me, and it was 
 pot long before I had reason to change my opi? 
 nion of his character. 
 
 There came one morning to enquire for him at 
 his chambers, a lady who had something in her 
 manner which caught my attention, and excited 
 my curiosity : her clothes were fine, but the 
 manner in which they were put on was rather 
 flaunting than elegant ; her address was not easy 
 nor polite, but seemed to be a strange mixture of 
 affected state and licentious familiarity ; she looked 
 in the glass while she was speaking to me, and 
 without any confusion adjusted her tucker ; she 
 seemed rather pleased than disconcerted at being 
 regarded with earnestness, and being told that 
 my cousin was abroad, she asked some trifling 
 questions, and then making a slight curtsey, took 
 up the side of her hoop with a jerk that dis- 
 covered at least half her leg, and hurried down 
 steirs. 
 
 I could not rjelp enquiring of the clerks if they 
 knew this lady, and was greatly confounded when 
 they told me, with an air of secrecy, that she- 
 was my cousin's mistress, whom he had kept 
 almost two years in lodgings near Covent-garden. 
 At first I suspected this information ; but it was 
 soon confirmed by so many circumstances, that J 
 could no longer doubt of its truth. 
 
 As my principles were yet untainted, and the 
 influence of my education was still strong, I re* 
 
CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTH. 103 
 
 garded my cousin's sentiments as impious and 
 detestable ; and his example rather struck me with 
 horror, than seduced me to imitation. I flattered 
 myself with hopes of effecting his reformation, 
 and took: every opportunity to hint the wickedness 
 ef allowed incontinence ; for which I was always 
 rallied when he was disposed to be merry, and 
 answered with the contemptuous sneer of self, 
 sufficiency when he was sullen. 
 
 Near four years of my clerkship were now ex- 
 pired, and I had never yet entered the lists as a 
 disputant with my cousin : for though I conceived 
 myself to be much his superior in moral and theor 
 logical learning, and though he often admitted 
 me to familiar conversation, yet I still regarded 
 the subordination of a servant to a master as one 
 of the duties of my station, and preserved it with 
 such exactness, that I never exceeded a question 
 or a hint when we were alone, and was always 
 silent when he had company, though I frequently 
 heard such positions advanced, as made me won- 
 der that no tremendous token of the divine dis- 
 pleasure immediately followed : but coming one 
 night from the tavern, warm with wine, and, as 
 I imagined, flushed with polemic success, he in- 
 sisted upon my taking one glass with him before 
 he went to bed ; and almost as soon as we were 
 seated, he gave me a formal challenge, by de- 
 nying all divine revelation, and defying me to 
 prove it. 
 
 I now considered every distinction as thrown 
 down, and stood forth as the champion of reli- 
 gion, with that elation of mind which the hero 
 always feels at the approach of danger. I thought 
 
19* CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 myself secure of victory ; and rejoicing that he 
 had now compelled me to do what I had often 
 wished he would permit, I obliged him to declare 
 that he would dispute upon equal terms, and wc 
 began the debate. But it was not long before I 
 was astonished to find myself confounded by a 
 man, whom I saw half drunk, and whose learn- 
 ing and abilities I despised when he was sober; 
 for as I had but very lately discovered that any 
 of the principles of religion, from %he immor- 
 tality of the soul to the deepest mystery, had 
 been so much as questioned, all his objections 
 were new. I was assaulted where I had made no 
 preparation for defence ; and having not been so 
 much accustomed to disputation as to consider, 
 that, in the present weakness of human intellects, 
 it is much easier to object than answer, and that 
 in every disquisition difficulties are found which 
 cannot be resolved, I was overborne by the sudden 
 onset, and in the tumult of my search after an- 
 swers to his cavils, forgot to press the positive 
 arguments on which religion "is established : he 
 took advantage of my confusion, proclaimed his 
 own triumph, and because I was depressed treated 
 me as vanquished. 
 
 As the event which had thus mortified my pride 
 was perpetually revolved in my mind, the same 
 mistake still continued: I enquired for solutions 
 instead of proofs, and found myself more and 
 more entangled in the snares of sophistry. In 
 some other conversations, which my cousin was 
 now eager to begin, new difficulties were started, 
 the labyrinth. of doubt grew more intricate, and, 
 as the question was of infinite moment, my mind 
 
CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTH. 195 
 
 was brought into the most distressful anxiety. I 
 ruminated incessantly on the subject of our de- 
 bate, sometimes chiding myself for my doubts, 
 and sometimes applauding the courage and free- 
 dom of my inquiry. 
 
 While my mind was in this state, I heard by 
 accident that there was a club at an alehouse in 
 the neighbourhood, where such subjects were 
 freely debated, to which every body was admitted 
 without scruple or formality : to this club, in an 
 evil hour, I resolved to go, that I might learn 
 how knotty points were to be discussed, and truth 
 distinguished from error. 
 
 Accordingly, on the next club night I mingled 
 with the multitude that was assembled in this 
 school of folly and infidelity : I was at first dis- 
 gusted at the gross ignorance of some, and shocked 
 at the horrid blasphemy of others ; but curiosity 
 prevailed, and my sensibility by degrees wore 
 off. I found that almost every speaker had a dif- 
 ferent opinion, which some of them supported by 
 arguments, that to me, who was utterly unac- 
 quainted with disputation, appeared to hold oppo- 
 site probabilities in exact equipoise : so that, in- 
 stead of being confirmed in any principle, I was 
 divested of all ; the perplexity of my mind was 
 increased, and I contracted such a habit of ques- 
 tioning whatever offered itself to my imagination, 
 that I almost doubted of my own existence. 
 
 In proportion as I was less assured in my prin- 
 ciples, I was less circumspect in my conduct : 
 but such was still the force of education, that any 
 gross violence offered to that which I had held 
 gacred, and every act which I had been used ta 
 R 2 
 
1<>6 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 regard as incurring the forfeiture of the Divine 
 Favour, stung me with remorse. I was indeed 
 still restrained from flagitious immorality, by the 
 power of habit : but this power grew weaker and 
 weaken and the natural propensity to ill gradu- 
 ally took place ; as the motion that is communi- 
 cated to a ball which is struck up into the air 
 becomes every moment less and less, till at length 
 it recoils by its own weight. 
 
 Fear and hope, the great springs of human ac- 
 tion, had now lost their principal objects, as I 
 doubted whether the enjoyment of the present 
 moment was not all that I could secure ; my power 
 to resist temptation diminished with my depen- 
 dence upon the grace of God, and regard to the 
 sanction of his law ; and I was first seduced by a 
 prostitute, in my return from a declamation on 
 the beauty of virtue, and the strength of the moral 
 sense. 
 
 I began now to give myself up entirely to sen* 
 suality, and the gratification of appetite termi- 
 nated my prospects of felicity ; that peace of 
 mind, which is the sunshine of the soul^ was ex- 
 changed for the gloom of doubt, and the storm of 
 passion ; and my confidence in God and hope of 
 everlasting joy, for sudden terrors and vain wishes, 
 the loathings of satiety, and the anguish of disap- 
 pointment. 
 
 I was indeed impatient under this fluctuation 
 of opinion, and therefore I applied to a gentleman 
 who was a principal speaker at the club, and 
 deemed a profound philosopher, to assist the la- 
 bours of my own mind in the investigation of truth, 
 and relieve me from distraction by removing my 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 197 
 
 doubts : but this gentleman, instead of adminis- 
 tering relief, lamented the prejudice of education, 
 which he said hindered me from yielding without 
 reserve to the force of truth, and might perhaps 
 always keep my mind anxious, though my judg- 
 ment should be convinced. But as the most ef- 
 fectual remedy for this deplorable evil, he recom- 
 mended to me the works of Chubb, Morgan, and 
 many others, which I procured, and read with 
 great eagerness ; and though I was not at last a 
 sound deist, yet I perceived with some pleasure 
 that my stock of polemic knowledge was greatly 
 increased; so that, instead of being an auditor, 
 I commenced a speaker at the club : and though 
 to stand up and babble to a crowd in an alehouse, 
 till silence is commanded by the stroke of a ham- 
 mer, is as low an ambition as can taint the human 
 mind, yet I was much elevated by my new dis- 
 tinction, and pleased with the deference that was 
 paid to my judgment. I sometimes, indeed, re- 
 flected, that I was propagating opinions by which 
 I had myself become vicious and wretched ; hut 
 it immediately occurred, that though my conduct 
 was changed, it could not be proved that my vir- 
 tue was less ; because many things which I avoid- 
 ed as vicious upon my old principles, were inno- 
 cent upon my new. I therefore went on in my 
 career, and was perpetually racking my invention 
 for new topics and illustration ; and among other 
 expedients, as well to advance my reputation, as 
 to quiet my conscience, and deliver me from the 
 torment of remorse, I thought of the following: 
 
 Having learned that all error is innocent, be- 
 cause it is involuntary, I concluded that nothing 
 e 3 
 
J 9# CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH, 
 
 more was necessary to quiet the mind than to 
 prove that all vice was error ; I therefore formed 
 the following argument : u No man becomes vi- 
 cious, but from a belief that vice will confer happi- 
 ness: he may, indeed, have been told the contrary: 
 but implicit faith is not required of reasonable 
 beings; therefore as every man ought to seek 
 happiness> every man may lawfully make the 
 experiment : if he is disappointed, it is plain that 
 he did not intend that which has happened; so 
 that every vice is an error; and therefore no vipe 
 will be punished." 
 
 I communicated this ingenious contrivance to 
 my friend the philosopher, who, instead of de- 
 tecting the difference between ignorance and per- 
 verseness, or stating the limitations within which 
 We are bound to seek our own happiness, ap- 
 plauded the acuteness of my penetration, and the 
 force of my reasoning. I was impatient to display 
 so novel and important a discovery to the club, 
 and the attention that it drew upon me gratified 
 my ambition to the utmost of my expectation. I 
 had indeed some opponents : but they were so 
 little skilled in argumentation, and so ignorant of 
 the, subject, that it only rendered my conquest 
 more signal and important; for the chairman sum- 
 med up the arguments on both sides, with so exact 
 and scrupulous an impartiality, that as I appeared 
 not to have been confuted, those who could not 
 discover the weakness of my antagonists, thought 
 that to confute me was impossible ; my sophistry 
 was taken for demonstration, and the number of 
 proselytes was incredible. The assembly con*- 
 sisted chiefly of clerks and apprentices, young 
 
CLASSIC TALES.*— HAWKESWORTH. 199 
 
 persons who had received a religious though not a 
 liberal education; for those who were totally 
 ignorant, or wholly abandoned, troubled not 
 themselves with such disputations as were carried 
 on at our club : and these unhappy boys, the im- 
 petuosity of whose passions was restrained chiefly 
 by fear, as virtue has not yet become a habit> 
 were glad to have the shackles struck off which 
 they were told priestcraft had put on. 
 
 But however I might satisfy others, I was not 
 yet satisfied myself, my torment returned, and 
 new opiates became necessary : they were not 
 indeed easily to be found ; but such was my good 
 fortune, that an illiterate mechanic afforded me a 
 most seasonable relief, " by discussing the im- 
 portant question, and demonstrating that the soul 
 was not nor could be immortal. ,, I was, indeed, 
 disposed to believe without the severest scrutiny, 
 what I now began secretly to wish ; for such was 
 the state of my mind, that I was willing to give 
 up <;he hope of everlasting happiness, to be deli- 
 vered from the dread of perpetual misery ; and as 
 I thought of dying as a remote event, the appre- 
 hension of losing my existence with my life did 
 not much interrupt the pleasures of the bagnio 
 and the tavern. 
 
 They were, however, interrupted by another 
 cause ; for X contracted a distemper, which alarm- 
 ed and terrified me, in proportion as its progress 
 was swift, and its consequences were dreadful. 
 In this distress I applied to a young surgeon, who 
 was a speaker at the club, and gained a genteel 
 subsistence by keeping it in repair; he treated 
 my complaint as a trifle ; and to prevent any se- 
 rious reflections in this interval of pain and soli- 
 
200 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 tude, he rallied the deplorable length of my 
 countenance, and exhorted me to behave like a 
 man. 
 
 My pride, rather than my fear, made me very 
 solicitous to conceal this disorder from my cousin ; 
 but he soon discovered it rather with pleasure than 
 anger, as it com pleated his triumph, and afforded 
 him a new subject of raillery and merriment. By 
 the spiritual and corporeal assistance of my sur- 
 geon, I was at length restored to my health, with 
 the same dissolute morals, and a resolution to 
 pursue my pleasures with more caution : instead, 
 therefore, of hiring a prostitute, I now endeavoured 
 to seduce the virgin, and corrupt the wife. 
 
 In these attempts my new principles afforded 
 me great assistance: for I found that those whom 
 I could convert, I could easily debauch ; and that 
 to convert many, nothing more was necessary 
 than to advance my principles, and allege some- 
 thing in defence of them, by which I appeared to 
 be convinced myself ; for not being able to dis- 
 pute^ they thought that the argument which had 
 convinced me, would, if they could understand it, 
 convince them : so that by yielding an implicit 
 assent, they at once paid a compliment to their 
 own judgments, and smoothed the way to the in- 
 dulgence of appetite. 
 
 While I was thus gratifying every inordinate 
 desire, and passing from one degree of guilt to 
 another, my cousin determined to take his daugh- 
 ter, who was now in her nineteenth year, from 
 school ; and as he intended to make her mistress 
 of his family, he quitted his chambers, and took 
 a house. 
 - This young lady I had frequently seen, and al- 
 
CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTH. 201 
 
 ways admired ; she was therefore no sooner come 
 home, than I endeavoured to recommend myself 
 by a thousand assiduities, and rejoiced in the many* 
 opportunities that were afforded me to entertain 
 her alone ; and perceived that she was not dis- 
 pleased with my company, nor insensible to my 
 complaisance. 
 
 My cousin, though he had seen the effects of 
 his documents of infidelity in the corruption of 
 my morals, yet could not forbear to sneer at reli- 
 gion in the presence of his daughter ; a practice 
 in which I now always concurred, as it facilitated 
 the execution of a design that I had formed of 
 rendering her subservient to my pleasures. I 
 might indeed have married her, and perhaps my 
 cousin secretly intended that I should : but I knew 
 women too well to think that marriage would 
 confine my wishes to a single object ; and I was 
 utterly averse to a state in which the pleasure of 
 variety must be sacrificed to domestic quiet, or 
 domestic quiet to the pleasure of variety ; for I 
 neither imagined that I could long indulge myself 
 in an unlawful familiarity with many women, be- 
 fore it would by some accident be discovered to 
 my wife ; nor that she would be so very courte- 
 ous or philosophical as to suffer this indulgence 
 without expostulation and clamour ; and besides, 
 I had no liking to a brood of children, whose wants 
 would soon become importunate, and whose claim 
 to my industry and frugality would be universally 
 acknowledged ; though the offspring of a mistress 
 might be abandoned to beggary, without breach 
 of the law, or offence to society. 
 
 The young lady, on the contrary, as she per- 
 ceived that my addresses exceeded common civili- 
 
202 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 ties, did not question but that my view was to 
 obtain her for a wife ; and I could discern that she 
 often expected such a declaration, and seemed 
 disappointed that I had not yet proposed an appli- 
 cation to her father: but imagining, I suppose, 
 that these circumstances were only delayed till the 
 fittest opportunity, she did not scruple to admit all 
 the freedoms that were consistent with modesty ; 
 and I drew every day nearer to the accomplish- 
 ment of my design, by insensible approaches, 
 without alarming her fears, or confirming her 
 hopes. 
 
 I knew that only two things were necessary ; 
 her passions were to be inflamed, and the motives 
 from which they were to be suppressed, removed. 
 I was therefore perpetually insinuating, that no- 
 thing which was natural could be ill; I com- 
 plained of the impositions and restraints of priest- 
 craft and superstition : and, as if these hints were 
 casual and accidental, I would immediately after- 
 wards sing a tender song, repeat some seducing 
 verses, or read a novel. 
 
 But henceforward, let never, insulted beauty 
 admit a second time into her presence the wretch 
 who has once attempted to ridicule religion, and 
 substitute other aids to human frailty, for that 
 " love of God which is better than life," and that 
 fear " which is the beginning of wisdom :" for 
 whoever makes such an attempt, intends to be- 
 tray; the contrary conduct being without ques- 
 tion the interest of every one whose intentions are 
 good, because even those who profanely deny re- 
 ligion to be of divine origin, do yet acknowledge 
 that it is a political institution well calculated to 
 strengthen the band of society, and to keen out 
 
CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTH./ 203 
 
 the ravisher, by intrenching innocence and arming 
 virtue. To oppose these corrupters by argument 
 rather than contempt, is to parley with a murderer, 
 who may be excluded by shutting a door. 
 
 My cousin's daughter used frequently to dispute 
 with me, and these disputes always favoured the 
 execution of my project : though, lest I should 
 alarm her too much, I often affected to appear 
 half in jest; and when I ventured to take any li- 
 berty, by which the bounds of modesty was 
 somewhat invaded, I suddenly desisted with an 
 air of easy negligence ; and as the attempt was 
 not pursued, and nothing further seemed to be in- 
 tended than was done, it was regarded but as 
 waggery, and punished only with a slap or a frown. 
 Thus she became familiar with infidelity and in- 
 decency by degrees. 
 
 I once subtilely engaged her in a debate, whether 
 the gratification of natural appetites was in itself 
 innocent; and whether, if so, the want of external 
 ceremony could in any case render it criminal. I 
 insisted that virtue and vice were not influenced by 
 external ceremonies, nor founded upon human 
 laws, which were arbitrary, temporary, and local : 
 and that as a young lady's shutting herself up in a 
 nunnery was still evil, though enjoined by such 
 laws ; so the transmitting her beauty to posterity 
 was still good, though under certain circumstances 
 it has by such laws been forbidden. This she 
 affected utterly to deny, and I proposed that the 
 question should be referred to her papa, without 
 informing him of our debate, and that it should be 
 determined by his opinion ; a proposal to which 
 she readily agreed. I immediately adverted to 
 
204- CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH, 
 
 other subjects, as if I had no interest in the issue 
 of our debate ; but I could perceive that it sunk 
 deep into her mind, and that she continued more 
 thoughtful than usual, 
 
 I did not however fail to introduce a suitable 
 topic of discourse the next time my cousin was 
 present, and having stated the question in general 
 terms, he gave it in my favour, without suspecting 
 that he was judge in his own cause ; and the next 
 time I was alone with his daughter, without men* 
 tioning his decision, I renewed my familiarity, I 
 found her resistance less resolute, pursued my ad- 
 vantage, and compleated her ruin. 
 
 Within a few months she perceived that she 
 was with child; a circumstance that she commu* 
 nieated to me with expressions of the most piercing 
 distress : but instead of consenting to marry her, 
 to which she had often urged me with all the little 
 arts of persuasion that she could practise, I made 
 light of the affair, chid her for being so much 
 alarmed at so trivial an accident, and proposed a 
 medicine which I told her would effectually pre- 
 vent a discovery of our intercourse, by destroy- 
 ing the effect of it before it could appear. At this 
 proposition she fainted, and when she recovered, 
 opposed it with terror and regret, with tears, 
 trembling and intreaty : but I continued inflexible, 
 and at length either removed or over- ruled her 
 scruples, by the same arguments that had first 
 seduced her to guilt. 
 
 The long vacation was now commenced, and 
 my clerkship was just expired : I therefore pro- 
 posed to my cousin that we should all make a 
 visit to my father, hoping that the fatigue of the 
 
CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWOBTH. 205 
 
 journey would favour my purpose, by increasing 
 the effect of the medicine, and accounting for 
 an indisposition which it might be supposed to 
 cause. 
 
 The plan being thus concerted, and my cou- 
 sin's concurrence being obtained, it was imme- 
 diately put in execution. I applied to my old 
 friend the club surgeon, to whom I made no secret 
 of such affairs, and he immediately furnished me 
 with medicaments, which he assured me would 
 answer my purpose; but either by a mistake in 
 the preparation, or in the quantity, they produced 
 a disorder, which, soon after the dear injured un- 
 happy girl arrived at her journey's end, termi- 
 nated in her death. 
 
 My confusion and remorse at this event are not 
 to be expressed, but confusion and remorse were 
 suddenly turned into astonishment and terror; 
 for she was scarce dead before I was taken into 
 custody, upon suspicion of murder. Her father 
 had deposed, that just before she died, she desired 
 te speak to him in private ; and that then, taking 
 his hand, and intreating his forgiveness, she told 
 him that she was with child by me, and that I 
 bad poisoned her, under pretence of preserving 
 her reputation. 
 
 Whether she made this declaration, or only 
 confessed the truth, and her father to revenge the 
 injury had forged the rest, cannot now be known ; 
 but the coroner having been summoned, and the 
 body viewed, and found to have been pregnant, 
 with many marks of a violent and uncommon 
 disorder, a verdict of wilful murder was brought 
 
206 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 in against me, and I was committed to the county 
 gaol. 
 
 As the judges were then upon the circuit, I 
 was within less then a fortnight convicted and 
 condemned by the zeal of the jury, whose pas- 
 sions had been so greatly inflamed by the enormity 
 of the crime with which I had been charged, that 
 they were rather willing that I should suffer, being 
 innocent ; than that I should escape, being guilty ; 
 but it appearing to the judge in the course of the 
 trial that murder was not intended, he reprieved 
 me before he left the town. 
 
 I might now have redeemed the time, and, 
 awakened to a sense of my folly and my guilt, 
 might have made some reparation to mankind for 
 the injury which I had done to society ; and en- 
 deavoured to re-kindle some spark of hope in my 
 own breast, by repentance and devotion. .. But, 
 alas ! in the first transports of my mind, upon so 
 sudden and unexpected a calamity, the fear of 
 death yielded to the fear of infamy, and I swal- 
 lowed poison: the excess of my desperation hin- 
 dered its immediate effect ; for, as I took too much, 
 great part of it was thrown up, and only such a 
 quantity remained behind as was sufficient to 
 insure my destruction, and yet leave me time to 
 contemplate the horrors of the^ gulph into which I 
 am sinking. 
 
 In this deplorable situation I have been visited 
 by the surgeon who was the immediate instru- 
 ment of my misfortune, and the philosopher who 
 directed my studies : but these are friends who 
 only rouse me to keener sensibility, and inflict 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 207 
 
 upon me more exquisite torment. They reproach 
 me with folly, and upbraid me with cowardice ; 
 they tell me too, that the fear of death has made 
 me regret the errors of superstition ; but what 
 would I now give for those erroneous hopes, and 
 that credulous simplicity, which, though I have 
 been taught to despise them, would sustain me in 
 the tremendous hour that approaches, and avert 
 from my last agony the horrors of despair! 
 ♦ I have indeed a visitor of another kind, the 
 good old man who first taught me to frame a 
 prayer, and first animated me with the hope of 
 heaven; but he can only lament with me that 
 this hope will not return, and that I can pray 
 with confidence no more : he cannot by a sudden 
 miracle re-establish the principles which I have 
 subverted. My mind is all doubt, and terror, 
 and confusion ; I know nothing but that I have 
 rendered ineffectual the clemency of my Judge, 
 that the approach of death is swift and inevitable, 
 and that either the shades of everlasting night, 
 or the gleams of unquenchable fire are at hand. 
 My soul in vain shrinks backward ! I grow giddy 
 with the thought; the next moment is distrac- 
 tion ! Farewel. 
 
 OPSINOUS. 
 
 5 2 
 
20S CLASSIC TALES. HAWKE3W0RTH. 
 
 AGAMUS. 
 
 (from the adventurer.) 
 
 TO THE ADVENTURER. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 To indulge that restless impatience, which every 
 man feels to relate incidents by which the passion^ 
 have been greatly affected, and communicate 
 ideas that have been forcibly impressed, I have 
 given you some account of my life, which, with- 
 out further apology or introduction, may, per- 
 haps, be favourably received in an Adventurer. 
 
 My mother died when I was very young ; and 
 my father, who was a naval commander, and had, 
 therefore, no opportunity to superintend my con- 
 duct, placed me at a grammar-school, and after- 
 wards removed me to the university. At school 
 the number of boys was so great, that to regulate 
 our morals was impossible ; and at the university 
 even my learning contributed to the dissoluteness 
 of my manners. As I was an only child, my 
 father had always allowed me more money than I 
 knew how to lay out, otherwise than in the grati- 
 fication of my vices : I had sometimes indeed been 
 restrained by a general sense of right and wrong ; 
 but I now opposed the remonstrances of consci- 
 ence by the cavils of sophistry; and having 
 learned of some celebrated philosophers, as well 
 ancient as modern, to prove that nothing is good 
 but pleasure, I became a rake upon principle. 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 20£ 
 
 My father died in the same year with Queen 
 Anne, a few months before I came of age, and 
 left me a very considerable fortune in the funds. 
 I immediately quitted the university and came to 
 London, which I considered as the great mart of 
 pleasure ; and as I could afford to deal largely, I 
 wisely determined not to endanger my capital. I 
 projected a scheme of life that was most agreeable 
 to my temper, which was rather sedate than vola- 
 tile, and regulated my expences with the econo- 
 my of a philosopher. I found that my favourite 
 appetites might be gratified with greater conve- 
 nience and less scandal, in proportion as my life 
 was more private : instead, therefore, of incum- 
 bering myself with a family, I took the first floor 
 of a house which was let into lodgings, hired one 
 servant, and kept a brace of geldings at a livery 
 stable. I constantly frequented the theatres, and 
 found my principles confirmed by almost every 
 piece that was represented, particularly my reso- 
 lution never to marry. In comedy, indeed > the 
 action terminated in marriage ; but it was gene- 
 rally the marriage of a rake, who gave up his 
 liberty with reluctance, as the only expedient to 
 recover a fortune ; and the husband and wife of 
 the drama were wretches whose example justified 
 this reluctance, and appeared to be exhibited for 
 no other purpose than to warn mankind, that 
 whatever may be presumed by those whom indi- 
 gence has made desperate, to marry is to forfeit 
 the quiet, independence, and felicity of life. 
 
 In this course I had continued twenty years, 
 without having impaired my constitution, les- 
 sened my fortune, or incumbered myself with aa 
 s3 
 
210 , CLASSIC TALES. fiAWKESWORTfl. 
 
 illegitimate offspring ; when a girl, about eighteen, 
 just arrived from the country, was hired as a 
 chambermaid by the person who kept the house 
 in which I lodged : the native beauty of health 
 and simplicity in this young creature had such 
 an effect upon my imagination, that I practised 
 every art to debauch her, and at length succeeded. 
 I found it convenient for her to continue in the 
 house, and, therefore, made no proposal of re- 
 moving her into lodgings ; but after a few months 
 she found herself with child, a discovery which 
 interrupted the indolence of my sensuality, and 
 made me repent my indiscretion : however, as I 
 would not incur my own censure by ingratitude 
 or inhumanity, I provided her a lodging and at- 
 tendants, and she was at length delivered of a 
 daughter. The child I regarded as a new incum- 
 brance ; for though I did not consider myself as 
 under parental or conjugal obligations, yet I 
 could not think myself at liberty wholly to abandon 
 either the mother or the infant. To the mother, 
 indeed, I had still some degree of inclination ; 
 though I should have been heartily content never 
 to have seen her again, if I could at once have 
 been freed from any farther trouble about her ; 
 but as something was to be done, I was willing to 
 keep her within my reach, at least till she could 
 be subservient to my pleasure no longer : the 
 child, however, I would have sent away j but she 
 intreated me to let her suckle it, with an importu* 
 nity which I could not resist. After much think- 
 ing, I placed her in a little shop in the suburbs, 
 which I furnished, at the expence of about twenty 
 pounds, with chandlery ware, commodities of 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKfcSWORTH. 211 
 
 Which she had some knowledge, as her father was 
 a petty shopkeeper in the country : she reported 
 that her husband had been killed in an engage- 
 ment at sea, and that his pay, which she had been 
 impowered to receive by his will, had purchased 
 her stock. I now thought I had discharged every 
 obligation, as I had enabled her to subsist, at 
 least as well as she could have done by her labour 
 in the station in which I found her : and as often 
 as I had an inclination to see her, I sent for her to 
 a bagnio. 
 
 But these interviews did not produce the plea - 
 sure which I expected ; her affection for me was 
 too tender and delicate ; she often wept in spite of 
 all her efforts against it ; and could not forbear 
 telling me stories of her little girl with the fond 
 prolixity of a mother, when I wished to regard 
 her only as a mistress, These incidents at once 
 touched me with compunction, and quenched the 
 appetite which I had intended to gratify; my 
 visits therefore became less frequent: but she never 
 sent after me when I was absent, nor reproached 
 me, otherwise than with tears of tenderness, when 
 she saw me again. 
 
 After the first year I wholly neglected her; and 
 having heard nothing of her during the winter, I 
 went to spend the summer in the country. When 
 I returned, I was prompted rather by curiosity 
 than desire to make some inquiry after her ; and 
 soon learnt that she had died some months before 
 of the small pox, that the goods had been seized 
 for rent^ and the child taken by the parish. At 
 this account, so sudden and unexpected, I was 
 sensibly touched; and at first conceived a design 
 
212 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 to rescue the child from the hands of a parish 
 nurse, and make some little provision for it when 
 it should be grown up : but this was delayed from 
 day to day, such was the supineness of my dispo- 
 sition, till the event was remembered with less and 
 less sensibility y and at length I congratulated my- 
 self upon my deliverance from an engagement 
 which I had always considered as resembling in 
 some degree the shackles of matrimony. I re- 
 solved to incur the same embarrassment no more, 
 and contented myself with strolling from one pros- 
 titute to another, of whom I had seen many ge- 
 nerations perish ; and the new faces which I once 
 sought among the masks in the pit, I found with 
 less trouble at Cuper's, Vauxhall, Ranelagh, and 
 innumerable other places of public entertainment, 
 which, have appeared during the last twenty years 
 of my life. 
 
 A few weeks ago I celebrated my sixtieth birth- 
 day with some friends at a tavern ; and as I was 
 returning to my lodgings, I saw a hackney coach 
 stop at the door of a house which I knew to be of 
 ill repute, though it was private, and of the first 
 class. Just as I came up, a girl stepped out of it, 
 who appeared, by the imperfect glimpse I caught 
 of her as she passed, to be very young, and ; ex- 
 tremely beautiful. As I was warm with wine, I 
 followed her in without hesitation, and was de- 
 lighted to find her equally charming upon a nearer 
 view. I detained the coach, and proposed that 
 we should go to Haddock's: she hesitated with 
 some appearance of unwillingness and confusion, 
 but at length consented : she soon became more 
 free, and I was not less pleased with her conver- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 213 
 
 sation than her person: I observed that she had a 
 softness and modesty in her manner, which is 
 quickly worn off by'habitual prostitution. 
 
 We had drank a bottle of French wine, and 
 were preparing to go to bed, when, to my un- 
 speakable confusion and astonishment, I disco- 
 Tered a mark by which I knew her to be my 
 child : for I remembered, that the poor girl, whom 
 I so cruelly seduced and neglected, had once told 
 me with tears in her eyes, that she had imprinted 
 the two letters of my name under her little Nancy's 
 left breast, which, perhaps, would be the only 
 memorial she would ever have of a father. I was 
 instantly struck with a sense of guilt with which 
 I had not been familiar, and, therefore, felt all 
 its force. The poor wretch, whom I was about to 
 hire for the gratification of a brutal appetite, per- 
 ceived my disorder with surprise and concern: 
 she enquired with an officious* solicitude wha* sud- 
 den illness had seized me; she took my hand, 
 pressed it, and looked eagerly in my face, still 
 inquisitive what could be done to relieve me. I 
 remained some time torpid : but was soon roused 
 by the reflection, that I was receiving the caresses 
 of my child, whom I had abandoned to the lowest 
 infamy, to be the slave of drunkenness and lust, 
 and whom* I had led to the brink of incest. I 
 suddenly started up ; first held her at a distance ; 
 then catching her in my arms, strove to speak, 
 but burst into tears. I saw that she was con- 
 founded and terrified ; and as soon as I could re- 
 cover my speech, I put an end to her doubts by 
 Tevealing the secret. 
 
 It is impossible to express the effect it had 
 upon her: she stood motionless a few minutes, 
 
214 . CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 then clasped her hands together, and looked up in 
 an agony, which not to have' seen is not to con- 
 ceive. The tears at length Started from her eyes; 
 she recollected herself, called me father, threw 
 herself upon her knees, embracing mine, and 
 plunging a new dagger in my heart, by asking my 
 blessing. 
 
 We sat up together the remainder of the night, 
 which I spent in listening to a story that I may, 
 perhaps, hereafter communicate; and the next 
 day I took lodgings for her about six miles from 
 town. I visit her every day, with emotions to 
 which my heart has till now been a stranger, and 
 which are every day more frequent and more 
 strong. 1 propose to retire with her into some 
 remote part of the country, and to atone for the 
 past by the future : but, alas ! of the future a few 
 years only can remain, and of the past not a mo- 
 ment can return.- What atonement can I make to 
 those, upon whose daughters I have contributed 
 to- perpetuate that calamity, from which by mi- 
 racle I have rescued my own ! How can I bear 
 the reflection, that though for my own child I had 
 hitherto expressed less kindness than brutes for 
 their young, yet, perhaps, every other whom I 
 either hired or seduced to prostitution, had been 
 gazed at in the ardour of parental affection till 
 tears have started to the eye ; had been catched 
 to the bosom with transport, in the prattling sim- 
 plicity of infancy ; had been watched in sickness 
 with anxiety that suspended sleep ; had been fed 
 by the toil of industrious poverty, and reared to 
 maturity with hope and fear. What a monster is 
 he;, by whom these fears are verified, and this 
 hope deceived ! And yet, so dreadful is the force 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. • 215 
 
 of habitual guilt, I sometimes regret the restraint 
 which is come upon me ; I wish to sink again into 
 the slumber from which I have been rouzed, and 
 to repeat the crimes which I abhor. My heart is 
 this moment bursting for utterance : but I want 
 words. Farewel. agamus. 
 
 TO THE ADVENTURER- 
 SIR, 
 As I was informed by your bookseller, upon who n 
 I called a few days ago to make a small purchase 
 for my daughter, that your whole work would be 
 comprized in one hundred and forty papers, I can 
 no longer delay to send you the account of her 
 life, which I gave you some reason to expect when 
 I related my own. This account she gave in that 
 dreadful night, the remembrance of which still 
 freezes me with horror ; the night in which I had 
 hired her as a prostitute, and could not have been 
 deterred from incest, but by an event so extraor- 
 dinary that it was almost miraculous. I have, in- 
 deed, frequently attempted to relate a story which 
 I can never forget, but I was always dissatisfied 
 with my own expressions; nor could I ever pro- 
 duce in writing a narrative which appeared equal 
 to the effect that it wrought upon my mind when 
 I heard it. I have, therefore, prevailed upon the 
 dear injured girl to relate it in her own words, 
 which I shall faithfully transcribe. 
 
 The first situation that I remember was in a 
 cellar ; where, I suppose, I had been placed by 
 the parish officers with a woman who kept a little 
 dairy. My nurse was obliged to be often abroad, 
 and I was then left to the care of a girl, who was 
 
21 6 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 just old enough to lug me about in her arms, and 
 who, like other pretty creatures in office, knew not 
 how to shew her authority but by the abuse of it. 
 Such was my dread of her power and resentment, 
 that I suffered almost whatever she inflicted, with- 
 out complaint ; and when I was scarcely, four 
 years old, had learnt so far to surmount the sense 
 of pain, and suppress my passions, that I have 
 been pinched black and blue without wincing, and 
 patiently suffered her to impute to me many tri- 
 vial mischiefs which her own perverseness or 
 carelessness had produced. 
 
 This situation, however, was not without its 
 advantages; for instead of a crust and small beer, 
 which would probably have been the principal 
 part of my subsistence if I had been placed with 
 a person of the same rank, but of a different em- 
 ployment, I had always plenty of milk ; which, 
 though it had been skimmed for cream, was not 
 sour, and which indeed was wholesome food; 
 upon which I throve very fast, and was taken 
 notice of by every body, for the freshness of my 
 looks, and the clearness of my skin. 
 
 Almost as soon as I could speak plain, I was sent 
 to the parish school to learn to read ; and thought 
 myself as fine in my blue gown and badge, as a 
 court beauty in a birth-night suit. The mistress of 
 the school was the widow of a clergyman, whom 
 I have often heard her mention with tears, though 
 he had been long dead when I first came under her 
 tuition, and left her in such circumstances as 
 made her solicit an employment, of which before 
 she would have dreaded the labour, and scorned 
 the meanness. She had been very genteelly edu- 
 cated, and had acquired a general knowledge o£ 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTB. 21? 
 
 literature after her marriage ; the communication 
 of which enlivened their hours of retirement, and 
 afforded such a subject of conversation, as added 
 to every other enjoyment the pleasures of benefi- 
 cence and gratitude. 
 
 There was something in her manner which won 
 my affection and commanded my reverence. I 
 found her a person very different from my nurse ; 
 and I watched her looks with such ardour and 
 attention, that I was sometimes able, young as I 
 was, to anticipate her commands. It was natural 
 that she should love the virtue which she had pro- 
 duced, nor was it incongruous that she should 
 reward it. I perceived with inexpressible delight, 
 that she treated me with peculiar tenderness ; and 
 when I was about eight years old, she offered to 
 take my education wholly upon herself, without 
 putting the parish to any farther charge for my 
 maintenance. Her offer was readily accepted, my 
 nurse was discharged, and I was taken home to 
 my mistress, who called me her little maid, a 
 name which I was ambitious to deserve ; because 
 she did not, like a tyrant, exact my obedience as 
 a slave, but like a parent invited me to the duty 
 of a child. As our family consisted only of my 
 mistress and myself, except sometimes a char- 
 woman, we were always alone in the intervals of 
 business; and the good matron amused herself by 
 instructing me, not only in reading, writing, and 
 the first rules of arithmetic, but in various kinds 
 of needlework ; and, what was yet of more mo- 
 ment, in the principles of virtue and religion, 
 which in her life appeared to be so amiable, that 
 I wanted neither example nor motive. She gave 
 
218 CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTtt. 
 
 me also some general notions of the decorum 
 practised among persons of a higher class; and I 
 was thus acquainted, while I was yet a child, and 
 in an obscure station, with some rudiments of 
 good breeding. 
 
 Before I was Jifteen, I began to assist my bene- 
 factress in her employment, and by some plain- 
 work which she had procured me I furnished 
 myself with decent clothes. By an insensible and 
 spontaneous imitation of her manner, I had ac- 
 quired such a carriage, as gained me more respect 
 in a yard-wide stuff than is often paid by strangers 
 to an upper servant in a rich silk* 
 
 Such was now the simplicity and innocence of 
 my life, that I had scarce a wish unsatisfied ; 
 and I often reflected upon my own happiness with 
 a sense of gratitude that increased it. But, alas ! 
 thi , felicity was scarce sooner enjoyed than lost : 
 tie good matron, who was in the most endearing 
 sense my parent and my friend, was seized with 
 a fever, which in a few days, put an end to her 
 life, and left me alone in the world without alli- 
 ance or protection, overwhelmed with grief and 
 distracted with anxiety. The world, indeed, was 
 before me ; but I trembled to enter it alone, I 
 knew no art by which I could subsist myself; and 
 I was unwilling to be condemned to a state of 
 servitude, in which no such art could be learned. 
 I, therefore, applied again to the officers of the 
 parish, who, as a testimony of respect to my pa- 
 troness, condescended still to consider me as their 
 charge, and with the usual sum bound, me ap- 
 prentice to a mantua-maker ; whose business, of 
 which indeed she had but little, was among persons 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTtt. 219 
 
 that were something below the middle class, and 
 ;s«baj as I verily believe, had applied to ( the 
 churchwardens for an apprentice, only that she 
 might silence a number of petty duns, and obtain 
 new credit with the money that is given as a con- 
 sideration for necessary clothes. 
 
 The dwelling of my new mistress was two back 
 rooms in a dirty street near the Seven Dials. She 
 received me, however, with great appearance of 
 kindness; we breakfasted, dined, and supped to- 
 gether ; and though I could not but regret the 
 alteration of my condition, yet I comforted myself 
 with reflecting, that in a few years I should be 
 mistress of a trade by which I might become in- 
 dependent, and live in a manner more agreeable 
 to my inclinations. But my indentures were no 
 sooner signed, than I suffered a new change of 
 fortune. The first step my mistress took was to 
 turn away her maid, a poor slave who was covered 
 only with rags, and dirt, and whose ill qualities I 
 foolishly thought were the only cause of her ill 
 treatment. I was now compelled to light fires, go 
 of errands, wash linen, and dress victuals ; and, 
 in short, to do every kind of household drudgery, 
 and to sit up half the night, that the task of henw 
 ming and running seams, which had been as- 
 signed me, might be performed, t 
 
 Though I suffered all this without murmur or 
 complaint, yet I became pensive and melancholy ; 
 the tears would often steal silently from my eyes, 
 and my mind was sometimes so abstracted in the 
 
 Jontemplation of my own misery, that I did not 
 tear what was said to me. But my sensibility 
 produced resentment instead of pity; my me- 
 t 2 
 
220 CLASSIC TALES, — HAWKESWOMU& 
 
 lancholy drew upon me the reproach of suilentitoj 
 I was stormed at for spoiling my work with sniveling 
 for I knew not why, and threatened that itahouid 
 not long be without cause : a menace which was 
 generally executed the moment it was uttered; 
 my arms and neck continually bore the marks m 
 the yard, and I was in every respect treated with 
 the most brutal unkindness. 
 
 In the mean time, however, I applied myself 
 to learn the business as my last resource, and the 
 only foundation of my hope. My diligence and 
 assiduity atoned for the want of instruction ; and 
 it might have been truly said, that I stole the 
 knowledge which my mistress had engaged to 
 communicate. As I had a taste for dress, I re- 
 commended myself to the best customers, and 
 frequently corrected a fault of which they com- 
 plained, and which my mistress was not able to 
 discover. The countenance and courtesy which 
 this gained, though it encouraged my hope of the 
 future, yet it made the present less tolerable. My 
 tyrant treated me with yet more inhumanity, and 
 my sufferings were so great that I frequently me- 
 ditated an escape, though I knew not whither 
 to go, and though I foresaw that the moment I 
 became a fugitive I should forfeit all my interest, 
 justify every complaint, and incur a disgrace 
 which I could never obliterate. 
 
 I had now groaned under the most cruel op- 
 pression something more than four years ; the 
 clothes which had been the purchase of my own 
 mortey I had worn out, and my mistress thought 
 it her interest not to furnish me with any better 
 than would just serve me to go out on her errands, 
 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 221 
 
 and follow her with a bundle. But as so much of 
 my time was past, I thought it highly reasonable, 
 and indeed necessary, that I should make a more 
 decent appearance, that I should attend the cus- 
 tomers, take their orders and their measure, or at 
 least fit on the work. After much premeditation, 
 and many attempts, I at length surmounted my 
 fears, and in such terms and manner as I thought 
 least likely to give offence, I entreated that I 
 might have such clothes as would answer the pur- 
 pose, and proposed to work so many hours extra- 
 ordinary as would produce the money they should 
 cost. But this request, however modest, was an- 
 swered only with reproaches and insult. " I 
 wanted, forsooth, to be a gentlewoman: yes, I 
 should be equipped to set up for myself. This 
 she might have expected for taking a beggar from 
 the parish ; but I should see that she knew how 
 to mortify my pride, and disappoint my cunning." 
 I was at once grieved and angered at this treat- 
 ment ; and I believe, for the first time, expressed 
 myself with some indignation and resentment. 
 My resentment, however, she treated with derision 
 and contempt, as an impotent attempt to throw 
 off her authority ; and declaring that she would 
 soon shew me who was mistress, she struck me so 
 violent a blow that I fell from my chair. Whe- 
 ther she was frighted at my fall, or whether she 
 suspected I should alarm the house, she did not 
 repeat her blow, but contented herself with revil- 
 ing the poverty and wretchedness which she la- 
 boured to perpetuate. 
 
 I burst into tears of anguish and resentment, 
 and made no reply; but from this moment ray 
 t3 
 
222 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKES WORTH. 
 
 hatred became irreconcileable, and I secretly de* 
 termined at all events to escape from a slavery, 
 which I accused myself for having already en- 
 dured too long. 
 
 It happened that the next morning I was sent 
 with some work as far as Chelsea : it was about 
 the middle of May. Upon me, who had long 
 toiled in the smoke and darkness of London, and 
 had seen the sun shine only upon a chimney or a 
 wall, the freshness of the air, the verdure of the 
 fields, and the song of the birds, had the power of 
 enchantment. I could not forbear lingering in 
 my walk ; and every moment of delay made me 
 less willing to return, not indeed by increasing my 
 enjoyment but my fear : I was tenacious of the 
 present, because I dreaded the future; and in- 
 creased the evil which I approached at every step, 
 by a vain attempt to retain and possess that which 
 at every step I was leaving behind. I found, 
 that not to look forward with hope, was not to 
 look round with pleasure ; and yet I still loitered 
 away the hours which I could not enjoy, and re- 
 turned in a state of anxious irresolution, still tak- 
 ing the way home, because I knew not where else 
 to go, but still neglecting the speed which alone 
 could make home less dreadful. My torment 
 encreased as my walk became shorter; and when 
 I had returned as far as the lower end of the Mall 
 in St, James's Park, I was quite overwhelmed 
 with regret and despair, and sitting down on one 
 of the benches I burst into tears. 
 
 As my mind was wholly employed on my own 
 distress*, and my apron held up to my eyes, it was 
 some time before I discovered an elderly lady who 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 223 
 
 had sat down by me. The moment I saw her, 
 such is the force of habit, all thoughts of my own 
 wretchedness gave way to a sense of indecorum ; 
 and as she appeared by her dress to be a person 
 in whose company it was presumption in me to 
 sit, I started up in great confusion, and would 
 have left the seat. This, however, she would not 
 suffer ; but taking hold of my gown, and gently 
 drawing me back, addressed me with an accent of 
 tenderness, and soothed me with pity before she 
 knew my distress. It was so long since I had 
 heard the voice of kindness, that my heart melted 
 as she spoke with gratitude and joy. I told her 
 all my story ; to wfcich she listened with great 
 attention, and often gazed stedfastly in my face. 
 When my narrative was ended, she told me that 
 the manner in which I had related it was alone 
 sufficient to convince her that it was true ; that 
 there was an air of simplicity and sincerity about 
 me, which had prejudiced her in my favour as 
 soon as she saw me ; and that, therefore, she was 
 determined to take me home; that I should live 
 with her till she had established me in my busi- 
 ness, which she could easily do by recommending 
 me to her acquaintance; and that in the mean 
 time she would take care to prevent my mistress 
 from being troublesome. 
 
 It is impossible to express the transport that I 
 felt at this unexpected deliverance. I was utterly 
 wnacquainted with the artifices of those who are 
 hackneyed in the ways of vice; and the remem- 
 brance of the disinterested kindness of my first 
 friend, by whom I had been brought up, came 
 fresh into my mind : I, therefore, indulged the 
 hope of having found such, another without scru- 
 
224 CLASSIC TALES.^— HAWHESWORTH. 
 
 pie; and uttering some incoherent expressions of 
 gratitude, which was too great to be formed into 
 compliment, I accepted the offer, and foil owed my? 
 conductress home. The house was such as I had 
 never entered before ; the rooms were spacious, 
 and the furniture elegant. I looked round with 
 wonder; and blushing^ with a sense of my own 
 meanness, would have followed the servant who 
 opened the door into the kitchen, but her mistress 
 prevented me. She saw my confusion, and en- 
 couraging me with a smile, took me up stairs into 
 a kind of dressing-room, where she immediately 
 furnished me with clean shoes and stockings, a 
 cap, handkerchief, ruffles and apron, and a night- 
 gown of genteel Irish stuff, which had not been 
 much worn, though it was spotted and stained in 
 many places : they belonged, she said, to her 
 cousin, a young lady for whom she had under- 
 taken to provide; and insisted upon my putting 
 them on, that I might sit down with her family at 
 dinner ; V for," said she, \t I have no acquaint- 
 ance to whom I could recommend a mantua-maker 
 that I kept in my kitchen." 
 
 I perceived that she watched me with great 
 attention while I was dressing, and seemed to be 
 greatly delighted with the alteration in my appear- 
 ance when I had done. " I see," said she, "that 
 you was made for a gentlewoman, and a gentle- 
 woman you shall be,, or it shall be your own 
 fault." I could only court'sy in answer to this 
 compliment ; but notwithstanding the appearance 
 of diffidence and modesty in the blush which I felt 
 burn upon my cheek, yet my heart secretly ex- 
 ulted in a proud confidence that it was true. When 
 I came down stairs, I was introduced by my par 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 223 
 
 froness (who had told me that her name was 
 Wiellwo^d) to the young lady her cousin, and 
 three others ; to whom, soon after we were seated, 
 aba related my story, intermixing much invective 
 against my mistress, and much flattery to me, 
 with neither of which, if the truth be confessed, 
 I was much displeased. 
 
 After dinner, as I understood that company 
 was expected, I entreated leave to retire, and was 
 shewed up stairs into a small chamber very neatly 
 furnished, which I was desired to consider as my 
 own. As the company staid till it was very late, 
 I drank tea and supped alone, one of the servants 
 being ordered to attend me. 
 
 The next morning, when I came down stairs to 
 breakfast, Mrs. Wellwood presented me with a 
 piece of printed cotton sufficient for a sack and 
 coat, and about twelve yards of slight silk for a 
 night-gown, which, she said, I should make up 
 myself as a specimen of my skill. I attempted 
 to excuse myself from accepting this benefaction, 
 with much hesitation and confusion; but I was 
 commanded with a kind frown, and in a peremp- 
 tory tone, to be silent. I was told, that when 
 business came in, I should pay all my debts ; that 
 in the mean time, I should be solicitous only to 
 set up, and that a change of genteel apparel 
 might be considered as my stock in trade, since 
 without it my business could neither be procured 
 nor transacted. 
 
 To work, therefore, I went ; my clothes were 
 made and worn ; many encomiums were lavished 
 upon my dexterity and my person ; and thus I 
 was entangled in the snare that had been laid for 
 me, before I discovered my danger. I had con- 
 
226 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 tracted debts which it was impossible I shod 
 
 pay ; the power of the law could now be applied 
 to effect the purposes of guilt; and my creditor 
 could urge me to her purpose, both by hope and 
 
 fear - . .bfirfl 
 
 I had now been near a month in my new lodg- 
 ing; and great care had hitherto been taken to 
 conceal whatever might shock my modesty, or 
 acquaint me with the danger of my situation. 
 Some incidents, however, notwithstanding this 
 caution, had fallen under my notice, that might 
 well have alarmed me ; but as those who are wak- 
 ing from a pleasing dream, shut their eyes against 
 the light, and endeavour to prolong the delusion 
 by slumbering again, I checked my suspicions 
 the moment they rose, as if danger that was nofc 
 known would not exist ; without considering that 
 enquiry alone could confirm the good, and enable 
 me to escape the evil. 
 
 The house was often filled with company, which 
 divided into separate rooms ; the visits were fre- 
 quently continued till midnight, and sometimes 
 till morning : I had, however, always desired 
 leave to retire, which had hitherto been permitted, 
 though not without reluctance ; but at length I 
 was pressed to make tea, with an importunity 
 that I could not resist. The company was very 
 gay, and some familiarities passed between the 
 gentlemen and ladies, which threw me into con- 
 fusion and covered me with blushes ; yet I was 
 still zealous to impose upon myself, and, there- 
 fore, was contented with the supposition that they 
 were liberties allowed among persons of fashion, 
 many of whose polite levities I had heard de- 
 Ecribed and censured "by the dear monitor of my 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 227 
 
 youth, to whom I owed all my virtue and all my 
 knowledge. I could not, however, reflect without 
 solicitude and anxiety, that since the first week of 
 my arrival I had heard no more of my business. 
 I had, indeed, frequently ventured to mention it ; 
 and still hoped, that when my patroness had pro- 
 cured me a little set of customers among her 
 friends, I should be permitted to venture into a 
 room of my own ; for I could not think of carry- 
 ing it on where it would degrade my benefactress, 
 of whom it could not without an affront be said, 
 that she let lodgings to a mantua-maker, nor 
 could I without indecorum distribute directions 
 where I was to be found, till I had removed to 
 another house. But whenever I introduced this 
 subject of conversation, I was either rallied for 
 my gravity, or gently reproached with pride, as 
 impatient of obligation. Sometimes I was told 
 with an air of merriment, that my business should 
 be pleasure ; and sometimes I was entertained 
 with amorous stories, and excited by licentious 
 and flattered descriptions, to a relish of luxurious 
 idleness and expensive amusements. In short, 
 my suspicions gradually increased ; and my fears 
 grew stronger, till my dream was at an end, and I 
 could slumber no more. The terror that seized 
 me, when I could no longer doubt into what hands 
 I had fallen, is not to be expressed, nor, indeed, 
 could it be concealed : the effect which it produced 
 in my aspect and behaviour, afforded the wretch 
 who attempted to seduce me no prospect of suc- 
 cess; and as she despaired of exciting me by the 
 love of pleasure to voluntary guilt, she determined 
 to effect her purpose by surprise, and drive me 
 into her toils by desperation. 
 
228 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 It was not less my misfortune than reproach, 
 that I did not immediately quit a place in which 
 I knew myself devoted to destruction. Tfiis, ; 'm^ 
 deed, Mrs. Wellwood was very assiduous to pre- 
 vent : the morning after I had discovered her 
 purpose, the talk about my business was renewed ; 
 and as soon as we had breakfasted, she took me 
 out with her in a hackney-coach, under pretence 
 of procuring me a lodging; but she had still 
 some plausible objection against all that we saw. 
 Thus she contrived to busy my mind, and keep 
 me with her the greatest part of the day ; at three 
 we returned to dinner, and passed the afternoon 
 without company. I drank tea with the family, 
 and in the evening, being uncommonly drowsy, I 
 went to bed near two hours sooner than usual. 
 
 To the transactions of this night I was not con- 
 scious ; but what they had been, the circumstances 
 of the morning left me no room to doubt. I 
 discovered with astonishment, indignation, and 
 despair, which for a time suspended all my facul- 
 ties, that I had suffered irreparable injury in a 
 state of insensibility ; not so much to gratify the 
 wretch by whom I had been abused, as that I 
 might with less scruple admit another, and by 
 reflecting that it was impossible to recover what I 
 had lost, became careless of all that remained. 
 Many artifices were used to soothe me ; and wheti 
 these were found to be ineffectual, attempts were 
 made tointimidate me with menaces. I kniew net 
 exactly what passed in the first fury of my dis- 
 traction, but at length it quite exhausted me. In 
 the evening, being calm through mere languor 
 anoMebility, and no precaution having been taken 
 to detain me, because I vvas not thought able to 
 
CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 22$ 
 
 escape, I found means to steal down stairs, and 
 get into the street without being missed. Wretched 
 as I was, I felt some emotions of joy when I firs|t 
 found myself at liberty ; though it was no better 
 than the liberty of an exile in a desart, where, 
 having escaped from the dungeon and the wheel, 
 he must yet, without a miracle, be destroyed by 
 savages or hunger. It was not long, indeed, be- 
 fore I reflected that I knew no house that would 
 receive me, and that I had no money in my 
 pocket. 1 had not, however, the least inclination 
 to go back. I sometimes thought of returning to 
 my old mistress, the mantua-maker ; but the mo- 
 ment I began to anticipate the malicious inference 
 she would draw from my absence and appearance, 
 and her triumph in the mournful necessity that 
 urged me to return, I determined rather to suffer 
 any other evil that could befal me. 
 
 Thus destitute and forlorn, feeble and dispi- 
 rited, I continued to creep along till the shops 
 were all shut, and the deserted streets became 
 silemv The busy crowds, which had almost borne 
 me before them, were now dissipated ; and every 
 one was retired home, except a few wretched 
 outcasts like myself, who were either huddled to- 
 gether in a corner, or strolling about not knowing 
 whither they went. It is not easy to conceive 
 the anguish with which I reflected upon my con- 
 dition ; and, perhaps, it would scarcely have been 
 thought possible that a person, who was not a 
 fugitive from justice, nor an enemy to labour, 
 could be thus destitute even of the little that is 
 essential to life, and in danger of perishing for 
 want in the midst of a populous city, abounding 
 u 
 
: 
 
 230 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKfiSWbfeTtt. 
 
 with accommodations for every rank, from the 
 peer to the beggar. Such, however, Was my lot. 
 I found myself compelled by necessity to pass 
 the night in the streets, without hope of passing 
 the next in any other place, or indeed of procur- 
 ing food to support me till it arrived. I had now 
 fasted the whole day, my languor increased every 
 moment ; I was weary and fainting ; my face was 
 covered with a cold sweat, and my legs trembled 
 under me : but I did not dare to sit down, or to 
 walk twice along the same street, lest I should 
 have been seized by the watch, or insulted by 
 some voluntary vagabond in the rage or wanton- 
 ness of drunkenness or lust. I knew not, indeed, 
 well how to vary my walk ; but imagined that, 
 upon the whole, I should be more safe in the city 
 than among the brothels in the Strand, or in 
 streets which being less frequented arc less' care- 
 fully watched : for though I scarce ventured to 
 consider the law as my friend, yet I was more 
 afraid of those who should attempt to break the 
 peace, than those who were appointed to keep it. 
 I went forward, therefore, as well as I was able, 
 and passed through St. Paul's church-yard as the 
 clock struck one ; but such was my misfortune, 
 that the calamity which I dreaded overtook me in 
 the very place to which I had fled to avoid it. 
 Just as I was crossing at the corner into Cheap- 
 side, I was laid hold on by a man not meanly 
 dressed, who would have hurried me down towards 
 the Old Change. I knew not what he said, but I 
 strove to disengage myself from him without 
 making any reply : my struggles, indeed, were 
 weak; and the man still keeping his hold, and 
 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 231 
 
 perhaps mistaking the feebleness of my resistance 
 for some inclination to comply, proceeded to in- 
 decencies, for which I struck him with the sudden 
 force that was supplied by rage and indignation ; 
 but my whole strength was exhausted in the blow, 
 which the brute instantly returned, and repeated 
 till I fell. Instinct is still ready in the defence of 
 life, however wretched, and though the moment 
 before I had wished to die, yet in this distress I 
 spontaneously cried out for help. My voice was 
 beard by a watchman, who immediately ran to- 
 wards me, and finding me upon the ground, lifted 
 up his lantern, and examined me with an atten^ 
 tion which made me reflect with great confusion 
 upon the disorder of my dress, which before had 
 not once occurred to my thoughts : my hair hung 
 .loosely about my shoulders, my .stays were but 
 half-laced, and the rest of ,my clothes were care- 
 lessly thrown on in the tumult and distraction of 
 mind, which prevented my attending to trivial 
 circumstances when I made my escape from Well- 
 wood's. My general appearance, and the con- 
 dition in which I was found, convinced the watch- 
 man that I was a strolling prostitute ; and finding 
 that I was not able to rise without assistance, he 
 also concluded that I was drunk-; he, therefore, 
 set down his lantern, and calling his comrade to 
 assist him, they lifted me up. As my voice was 
 faultering, my looks wild, and my whole frame 
 so feeble that I tottered as 1 stood, the man was 
 confirmed in his first opinion ; and seeing my face 
 bloody, and my eyes swelled, he told me with a 
 sneer, that to secure me from farther ill treatment 
 he would provide a lodging for me till the morn- 
 u 2 
 
%%% CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 jng; and accordingly they dragged me between 
 them to the Compter, without any regard to my 
 entreaties or distress. 
 
 I passed the night in agonies, upon which even 
 now I shudder to look back ; and in the morning 
 I was carried before a magistrate. The watchman 
 gave an account of his having found me very 
 drunk, crying out murder, and breeding a riot in 
 the street at one o'clock in the morning: if I was 
 scarcely yet sober," he said, " as his worship 
 might see, and had been pretty handsomely beat- 
 en ; but he supposed it was for an unsuccessful 
 attempt to pick a pocket, at which I must have 
 been very dexterous indeed to have succeeded in 
 that condition." 
 
 This account, however injurious, was greatly 
 confirmed by my appearance : I was almost co- 
 vered with kennel dirt, my face was discoloured, 
 my speech was inarticulate, and I was so oppress- 
 ed with faintness and terror that I could not stand 
 without a support. The magistrate, however, 
 with great kindness, called upon me to make my 
 defence, which I attempted by relating the truth : 
 but the story was told with so much hesitation, 
 and was in itself so wild and improbable, so like 
 the inartificial tales that are hastily formed as an 
 apology for detected guilt, that it could not be 
 believed; and I was told, that except I could 
 support my character by some credible witness, I 
 should be committed to Bridewell. 
 
 I was thunderstruck at this menace ; and had 
 formed ideas so dreadful of the place to which I 
 was to be sent, that my dungeon at the mantua- 
 maker's became a palace in the comparison; and 
 
MSSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTrt. 233 
 
 to return thither, with whatever disadvantages, 
 was now the utmost object of my hope. I there- 
 fore desired that my mistress might be sent for, 
 and flattered myself that she would at least take 
 me out of a house of correction, if it were only 
 for the pleasure of tormenting me herself. 
 
 In about two hours the .messenger returned, and 
 with him my tyrant, who eyed me with such ma- 
 licious pleasure, that my hopes failed me the mo- 
 ment I saw her, and I almost repented that she 
 was come. She was, I believe, glad of an oppor- 
 tunity effectually to prevent my obtaining any 
 part of her business, which she had some reason 
 to fear ; and therefore told the justice who exa- 
 mined her, that " she had taken me a beggar 
 from the parish four years ago, and taught me 
 her trade; but that I had been always sullen, 
 mischievous, and idle; that it was more than a 
 month since that I had clandestinely left her ser- 
 vice, in decent and modest apparel fitting my con- 
 dition ; and that she would leave his worship to 
 judge whether I came honestly by the tawdry rags 
 which I had on my back." This account, how- 
 ever correspondent with my own, served only to 
 confirm those facts which condemned me : it ap- 
 peared incontestibly that I had deserted my ser- 
 vice, and been debauched in a brothel, where I 
 had been furnished with clothes, and continued 
 more than a month. That I had been ignorant of 
 my situation, prostituted without my consent, and 
 at last had escaped to avoid farther injury, ap- 
 peared to be fictitious circumstances, invented to 
 patfiate my offence : the person whom I had ac- 
 cused lived in another countv ; and it was neces- 
 v 3 
 
2.34 CLASSIC TALES^-HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 sary for the present to bring the matter to a' start 
 issue : my mistress, therefore, was asked, whether 
 she would receive me again upon my promise of 
 good behaviour ; and upon her peremptory re^ 
 fusal my mittimus was made out, and I was com- 
 mitted to hard labour. The clerk, however, was 
 ordered to take a memorandum of my charge 
 against Wellwood, and I was told that enquiry 
 should be made about her. 
 
 After I had been confined about a week, a note 
 was brought me without date or name, in which I 
 was told, " that my malice against those who 
 would have been my benefactors, was disappoint- 
 ed ; that if I would return to them my discharge 
 should be procured, and I should still be kindly 
 received; but that if I persisted in my ingrati- 
 tude it should not be unrevenged." From this 
 note I conjectured that Wellwood had found means 
 to stop an enquiry into her conduct, which she had 
 discovered to have been begun upon my informa- 
 tion, and had thus learnt where I was to be found : 
 I therefore returned no answer, but that I was con- 
 tented with my situation, and prepared to suffer 
 whatever Providence should appoint. 
 
 During my confinement I was not treated with 
 great severity ; and at the next court, as no par- 
 ticular crime was alledged against me, I was or- 
 dered to be discharged. As ray character was 
 now irretrievably lost, as 1 had no friend who 
 would afford me shelter, nor any business to 
 which I could apply, I had no prospect but again 
 to wander about the streets, without lodging and 
 without food. I therefore intreated that the oScecs^ 
 af the parish to which I belonged, might be or- 
 
- CLASSIC TALES. HAWkESWORTTT; 2Sf 
 
 doffed to receive me into the workhouse, till they 
 could get me a service, or find me some employ- 
 ment by which my labour would procure me a 
 subsistence. This request, so reasonable, and so 
 uncommon, was much commended, and immedi- 
 ately granted ; but as I was going out at the gate 
 with my pass in my hand, I was met by a bailiff, 
 with an emissary of Wellwood's, and arrested for 
 a debt of twenty pounds. As it was no more in 
 my power to procure bail, than to pay the money, 
 I was immediately dragged to Newgate. It was 
 soon known that I had not a farthing in my pock- 
 et, and that no money either for fees or accom- 
 modations could be expected ; I was therefore 
 turned over to a place called the common side, 
 among the most wretched and the most profligate 
 of human beings. In Bridewell, indeed, my as- 
 sociates were wicked; but they were overawed 
 by the presence of their taskmaster, and restrained 
 from licentiousness by perpetual labour : but my 
 ears were now violated every moment by oaths, 
 execrations, and obscenity ; the conversation of 
 Mother Well wood, her inmates, and her guests, 
 was chaste and holy to that of the inhabitants of 
 this place ; and in comparison with their life, that 
 to which I had been solicited was innocent. Thus 
 I began insensibly to think of mere incontinence 
 without horror; and, indeed, became less sensible 
 of more complicated enormities, in proportion as 
 they became familiar. My wretchedness, how- 
 ever, was not alleviated, though my virtue became 
 less. I was without friends, and without money ;' 
 and the misery of confinement in a noisome dun- 
 geon, was aggravated by hunger and thirst, and 
 cold and nakedness. In this hour of trial I was 
 
236 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKES WORTH. 
 
 again assailed by the wretch, who had produced 
 it only to facilitate her success. And let not 
 those, before whom the path of virtue has been 
 jstrewed with flowers, and every thorn removed by 
 prosperity, too severely censure me, to whom it 
 was a barren and a rugged road in which I had 
 long toiled with labour and anguish, if at last, 
 when I was benighted in a storm, I turned at the 
 first light, and hasted to the nearest shelter: let 
 me not be too severely censured, if I now ac- 
 cepted liberty, and ease and plenty, upon the only 
 terms on which they could be obtained. I con- 
 sented, with whatever reluctance and compunc- 
 tion, to return, and complete my ruin in the place 
 where it was begun. The action of debt was im- 
 mediately withdrawn, my fees were paid, and I 
 was once more removed to my lodging near Co- 
 vent Garden. In a short time I recovered my 
 health and beauty; I was again dressed and 
 adorned at the expence of my tyrant, whose power 
 increased in proportion to my debt : the terms of 
 prostitution were prescribed me ; and out of the 
 money which was the price not only of my body 
 but my soul, I scarce received more than I could 
 have earned by weeding in a field. The will of 
 my creditor was my law, from which I knew not 
 how to appeal. My slavery was most deplorable, 
 and my employment most odious ; for the princi- 
 ples of virtue and religion, which had been im- 
 planted in my youth, however they had been 
 choaked by weeds, could never be plucked up by 
 the root; nor did I ever admit a dishonourable 
 visit, but my heart sunk, my lips quivered, and 
 my knees smote each other, 
 o From this dreadful situation I am at length de- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWOJTXH. 237 
 
 livered. But while I lift up my heart in gratitude 
 to Him, who alone can bring good out of evil, I 
 desire it may be remembered, that my deviation 
 to ill was natural, my recovery almost miraculous. 
 My first step to vice was the desertion of my ser- 
 vice; and of this, all my guilt and misery were 
 the consequence. Let none, therefore, quit the 
 post that is assigned them by Providence, or ven- 
 ture out of the straightway ; the bye-path, though 
 it may invite them by its verdure, will inevitably 
 lead them to a precipice ; nor can it, without folly 
 and presumption, be pronounced of any, that their 
 first deviation from rectitute will produce less evil 
 than mine. 
 
 Such, Mr. Adventurer, is the story of my child, 
 and such are her reflections upon it ; to which I 
 can only add, that he who abandons his offspring, 
 or corrupts them by his example, perpetrates 
 greater evil than a murderer, in proportion as im^ 
 mortality is of more value than life. 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Your humble servant, 
 
 Agamus. 
 
 MR. FRIENDLY. 
 
 (from the adventurer.) 
 
 Perhaps few undertakings require attention to a 
 greater variety of circumstances, or include more 
 complicated labour, than that of a writer who ad- 
 
2$8 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 dresses the public in a periodical paper, and invites 
 persons of every station, capacity, disposition, and 
 employment, to spend, in reading his lucubrations, 
 some of those golden moments which they ^fe 
 apart from toil and solicitude. 
 
 He who writes to assist the student, of whatever 
 class, has a much easier task, and greater proba- 
 bility of success; for the attention of industry is 
 surely more easily fixed than that of idleness: 
 and he who teaches any science or art, by which 
 wealth or honour may be acquired, is more likely 
 to be heard, than he who only solicits a change of 
 amusement, and proposes an experiment which 
 cannot be made without danger of disappoint- 
 ment. 
 
 The author who hopes to please the public, or, 
 to use a more fashionable phrase, the town, with- 
 out gratifying its vices, should not only be able to 
 exhibit familiar objects in a new light, to display 
 truths that are not generally known, and break up 
 new veins in the mines of literature ; he must have 
 skill to select such objects as the town is willing to 
 regard, such truths as excite its curiosity, and such 
 knowledge as it is solicitous to acquire. 
 
 But the speculative and recluse are apt to for- 
 get that the business and the entertainment of 
 others are not the same with their own ; and are 
 often surprised and disappointed to perceive, that 
 what they communicate with eagerness and ex- 
 pectation of applause, is heard with too much in- 
 difference to be understood, and wearies those 
 whom it was expected to delight and instruct. 
 
 Mr. George Friendly, while he was a student at 
 Oxford, became possessed of a large estate by the . 
 death of his elder brother : instead, therefore^pf ° 
 
CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWOItTH. fW 
 
 going up to London for preferment, he retired to 
 the family-seat in the country ; and as he had ac- 
 quired the habit of study and a strong relish for 
 literature, he continued to live nearly in the same 
 manner as at college; he kept little company, 
 had no pleasure in the sports of the field, and, be- 
 ing disappointed in his first addresses, would never 
 marry. 
 
 His sister, the wife of a gentleman who farmed 
 his own estate, had one son whose name was John. 
 Mr. Friendly directed that John should be put to 
 a reputable school in the country, and promised 
 to take care of his fortune. When the lad was 
 about nineteen, his uncle declared his intention to 
 send him to the university ; but first desired to 
 see him, that he might know what proficiency he 
 had made in the languages. John, therefore, set 
 out on a visit to his uncle, and was received with 
 great affection : he was found to have acquired a 
 reasonable knowledge of Latin and Greek; and 
 Mr. Friendly formed a very favourable opinion of 
 his abilities, and determined to reward his dili- 
 gence, and encourage him to perseverance. 
 
 One evening, therefore, he took him up into his 
 study, and after directing him to sit down, «* Cousin 
 John," said he, " I have some sentiments to com- 
 municate to you, with which I know you will be 
 pleased ; for truth, like virtue, is never perceived 
 but with delight." John, whose heart did not give 
 a full assent to the truth of this proposition, found 
 himself in circumstances which, by the mere 
 force of habit, caused him to draw in a long breath 
 through his nose, and at the same time with a 
 grin of exquisite sensibility to scratch his head. 
 U But my observations, cousin," said his uncle, 
 
240 CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 <* have a necessary connexion with a purpose 
 that I have formed, and with which you shall also 
 be acquainted. Draw your chair a little nearer. 
 The passions, cousin John, as they are naturally 
 productive of all pleasure, should by reasonable 
 beings be also rendered subservient to a higher 
 purpose. The love of variety which is found in 
 every breast, as it produces much pleasure, may 
 also produce much knowledge. One of the prin- 
 cipal advantages that are to be derived from 
 wealth, is a power to gratify and improve this 
 passion. The rich are not confined by labour to a 
 particular spot, where the same ideas perpetually 
 recur ; they can fill the mind, either by travel or 
 by study, with innumerable images, of which 
 others have no conception. But it must be con- 
 sidered, that the pleasure of travelling does not 
 arise from the sight of a dirty town, or from lodg- 
 ing at an inn ; nor from any hedge or cottage that 
 is passed on the road ; nor from the confused ob- 
 jects that are half discovered in the distant pros- 
 pect; nor from the series of well-built houses in 
 a city, or the busy multitudes that swarm in the 
 streets: but from the rapid succession of these 
 objects to each other, and the number of ideas that 
 are thrown in upon the mind." Mr. Friendly 
 here paused for John's reply ; and John suddenly 
 recollecting himself, said, " Very true."-— " But 
 how," said Mr. Friendly, "can this love of Va- 
 riety be directed to the acquisition of knowledge f 
 Here John wriggled in his seat, and again scratch^ 
 e4 bis head : he was indeed something embarrassed 
 by the question : but the old gentleman quk&ty 
 put l£m out of his pain by answering it himself. 
 ',' Why, by a judicious choice of the variety thaf 
 
CLAmfr, TABES,— HAWKESWO&TH. 24 1 
 
 iH(^rPr°^ uce our entertainment. If the various 
 4$#b}ings of a hare only, or the changes of a 
 g$me at whist, have afforded the variety of the 
 day, whatever has been the pleasure, improve- 
 ment has been wanting. But if the different cus- 
 toms, the policy, the trade of nations, the variety 
 of soils, the manner of culture, the disposition of 
 individuals, or the rise or fall of a state, have been 
 impressed upon the mind ; besides the pleasure of 
 the review, a power of creating new images is ac- 
 quired. Fancy can combine the ideas which me- 
 mory has treasured: and when they have been 
 reviewed and regulated by judgment, some scheme 
 will result, by which commerce may be extended, 
 agriculture improved, immorality restrained, and 
 the prosperity of the state secured : of this, cousin 
 John, you was not wholly ignorant before." John 
 acquiesced with a bow ; for though he had been a 
 little bewildered, yet he understood by the tone of 
 voice with which his uncle concluded the last sen- 
 tence, that such acquiescence was expected.— 
 " Upon this occasion," continued Mr. Friendly, 
 " I must remark, though it is something foreign to 
 my purpose, that variety has by some philosophers 
 been considered as affording not only the pleasure 
 and improvement, but even the measure of life ; 
 for of time in the abstract we have no idea, and 
 can conceive it only by the succession of ideas to 
 each other : thus, if we sleep without dreams, the 
 moment in which we awake appears immediately 
 to succeed that in which we began to slumber." 
 . A thicker gloom now fell upon John, and his 
 countenance lengthened in proportion to his un- 
 «Je's-lecture, the end of which he perceived %rip 
 x 
 
242 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 now become more remote; for these remarks, witfi 
 respect to John, were not impressed with the sigi>; 
 nature of truth, Hor did they reflect any KleH'-olF 
 his own ; they were not 
 
 * n il&dzk 
 
 •* Something whose truth convinc'd at sight we find, 
 " That gives us back the image of our mind.'* 
 
 Pope's Essay on Crit, 
 
 • 
 With respect to John, therefore, they had no cha- 
 racteristic of wit; and if they contained know- 
 ledge, it was knowledge which John had no wish 
 to ; acquire : the old gentleman, however, pro- 
 ceeded thus with great deliberation : 
 
 U But though curiosity should be principally 
 directed to useful purposes, yet it should not al- 
 ways be repressed or diverted, when the use is not 
 immediate or apparent : for he who first perceived 
 the magnetic attraction, and applied it to various 
 experiments, probably intended nothing more than 
 amusement; and when the polarity of the needle 
 was discovered, it was not in the pursuit of any 
 project to facilitate navigation. I am, therefore, 
 now about to gratify your curiosity, cousin, with a 
 view of London, and all the variety that it con- 
 tains." Here John's countenance brightened, he 
 rouzed himself on his seat, and looked eager with 
 attention. 
 
 H As you have," continued his uncle, " ap- 
 plied with great diligence to your grammar learn- 
 ing, 1 doubt not but you have also read many of 
 our best. English authors, especially our immortal 
 Shakspeare ; and I am willing that, before you 
 enter upon a course of academic study, you should 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTjH. 24 $ 
 
 j^p ?5 tbe theatre." John was going to expresshts 
 &$» when his uncle increased it by putting into his 
 hand a bank note of fifty pounds. " This/' said 
 he, " under the direction of a gentleman to whom 
 I shall recommend you, will furnish you with pro- 
 per apparel, bear your expences for a couple of 
 months, and gratify you with all the entertain- 
 ments of the town." 
 
 John could now bear some part in the conver- 
 sation : he was much obliged to his uncie, and 
 hoped he should live to make him amends; " for," 
 .says he, " one of our ushers, who was just re- 
 turned from London before I left school, has made 
 me long to see it : he says there is a man there 
 who dances upon a wire no bigger than a pack- 
 thread ; and that there is a collection of all the 
 strange creatures in the world." 
 
 John, who had uttered this with a broad grin, 
 and expressed his delight from head to foot, was 
 somewhat disconcerted when his uncle told him 
 coolly, that though he would not have him leave 
 London without seeing every thing in it that might 
 justly raise curiosity, yet he hoped his notice was 
 not principally attracted by objects which could 
 convey no instruction, inspire no noble sentiment, 
 nor move one tender passion. " I mentioned," 
 says he, " Shakspeare, that mighty genius, whose 
 sentiments can never be exhausted, and in whom 
 new beauties are discovered at every view. That 
 you may derive yet greater delight and advantage 
 from the representation of his pieces, I will read 
 .you some historical and critical notes that I have 
 been making during twenty years, after having 
 lead the first edition of his works, and every com- 
 x2 
 
■ &&4? CLASSIC TALES.— -HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 mentator that has either illustrated or obscured his 
 meaning." The old gentleman then taking out 
 and wiping his spectacles, opened his bureau and 
 produced the manuscripts. " I am now/' said he, 
 "' about to confer a favour upon you, which I do 
 Hot yet intend for any other ; for as I shall conti- 
 nually enlarge this work, it will not be printed till 
 I am dead." He then began to read, and John 
 sat very silent, regaling himself with the antici- 
 pation of his own finery, the dexterity of the 
 wire-dancer, and the variety of the savages that 
 he was to visit in London. The old gentleman, 
 who imagined that he was held motionless with 
 -attention, wonder, and delight, proceeded long in 
 his lecture without once adverting to John for his 
 explicit eulogium : but at the end of a favourite 
 passage, which closed with a distich of his own 
 poetry, he ventured to steal his eyes from the pa- 
 per, and glancing them upon John, perceived that 
 he was fast asleep, with his mouth open and the 
 bank note in his hand. 
 
 Friendly, after having gazed upon him a few 
 moments with the utmost astonishment and in- 
 dignation, snatched away the note : and having 
 rouzed him with a denunciation of resentment that 
 touched those passions which Shakspeare could 
 not touch, he thrust him out of the room and shut 
 the door upon him : he then locked up his manu- 
 script; and, after having walked many times 
 backward and forward with great haste, he looked 
 at his watch, and perceiving it to be near one in 
 the morning, retired to bed with as little propen- 
 sity to sleep as he had now left to his nephew. 
 • . . . ,- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. KAWKESWORTH. 245 
 
 HASSAN. 
 
 (FROM THE ADVENTURER.) 
 
 Omar, the hermit of the mountain Ai*bukabis» 
 which rises on the east of Mecca, and overlooks 
 the city, found one evening a man sitting pensive 
 and alone, within a few paces of his cell. Omar 
 regarded him with attention, and perceived that 
 his looks were wild and haggard, and that his b*ody 
 was feeble and emaciated : the man also seemed 
 to gaze stedfastly on Omar ; but such was the ab- 
 straction of his mind, that his eye did not imme- 
 diately take cognizance of its object. In the mo- 
 ment of recollection he started as from a dream, 
 he covered his face in cob fusion, and bowed him- 
 self to the ground. " Son of affliction/' said 
 Omar, " who art thou, and what is thy distress Y* 
 t{ My name," replied the stranger, "is Hassan* 
 and 1 am a native of this city : the Angel of Ad- 
 versity has laid his hand upon me m y and the wretch 
 whom thine eye compassionates, thou canst not 
 deliver."—" To deliver thee/' said Omar, " be- 
 longs to Him only, from whom we should receive 
 with humility both good and evil ; yet hide not 
 thy life from me ; for the burthen which I cannot 
 remove, I may at least enable thee to sustain/* 
 Hassan fixed his eyes upon the ground, and re- 
 mained some time silent ; then fetching a deep 
 sigh, he looked up at the hermit, and thus com- 
 plied with his request. 
 
 x3 
 
241 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH* 
 
 Jt is now six years, since our mighty lord the 
 caliph Almalic, whose memory be blessed, first 
 came privately to worship in the temple of the 
 holy city. The blessings which he petitioned of 
 the prophet, as the prophet's vicegerent, he was: 
 diligent to dispense ; in the intervals of his devo- 
 tion^ therefore, he went about the city, relieving 
 distress and restraining oppression : the widow 
 smiled under his protection, and the weakness of 
 age and infancy was sustained by his bounty. I, 
 who dreaded no eviUbut sickness, and expected no 
 good beyond the reward of my labour, was sing- 
 ing at my work, when Almalic entered my dwell- 
 ing. He looked round with a smile of compla- 
 cency, perceiving that though it was mean it was 
 neat, and that though I was poor I appeared to be 
 content. As his habit was that of a pilgrim, I 
 hastened to receive him with such hospitality as 
 Was in my power ; and my cheerfulness was ra- 
 ther increased than restrained by his presence. 
 After he had accepted some coffee, he asked me 
 many questions ; and though by my answers I 
 always endeavoured to excite him to mirth, yet I 
 perceived that he grew thoughtful, and eyed me 
 with a placid but fixed attention- I suspected 
 that he had some knowledge of me, and therefore 
 required his country and his name. " Hassan," 
 said he, * f I have raised thy curiosity, and it shall 
 be satisfied; he who now talks with thee is Al- 
 malic, the sovereign of the faithful, whose seat is 
 the throne of Medina, and whose commission is 
 from above." These words struck me dumb with 
 astonishment, though I had some doubt of their 
 truth ; but Almalic^ throwing back his garment; 
 
CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTH. 247" 
 
 discovered tjre peculiarity of his vest, and put the 
 royal signet upon his finger, I then started up, 
 and was about to prostrate myself before him, but 
 he prevented me : " Hassan," said he, (< forbear; 
 thou art greater than T, and from thee I have at 
 once derived humility and wisdom." I answered, 
 <f Mock not thy servant, who is but as a worm 
 before thee: life and death are in thy hand, and 
 happiness and misery are the daughters of thy 
 will." — <c Hassan/' he replied, " I can no other- 
 wise give life or happiness than by not taking 
 them away : thou art thyself beyond the reach 
 of my bounty, and possessed of felicity which I 
 can neither communicate nor obtain. My influ- 
 ence over others fills my bosora with perpetual 
 solicitude and anxiety ; and yet my influence over 
 others extends only to their vices, whether I 
 would reward or punish. By the bow-string I 
 can repress violence and fraud ; and by the dele- 
 gation of power I can transfer the insatiable wishes> 
 of avarice and ambition from one object to ano- 
 ther ; but with respect to virtue I am impotent : 
 if I could reward it, I would reward it in thee. 
 Thou art content, and hast therefore neither ava-« 
 rice nor ambition: to exalt thee, would destroy 
 the simplicity of thy life, and diminish that hap^ 
 piness which I have no power either to increase or 
 to continue." He then rose up, and commanding 
 me not to disclose his -secret, departed. 
 
 As soon as I recovered from the confusion and 
 astonishment in which the caliph left me, I began 
 to regret that my behaviour had intercepted his 
 bounty; and accused that cheerfulness of folly 
 which was the concomitant of poverty and la„ 
 bonr. I now repined at the obscurity of my sta- 
 
248 CLASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 tion, which my former insensibility had perpe- 
 tuated : I neglected my labour, because I despised 
 the reward ; I spent the day in idleness/ forming 
 romantic projects to recover the advantages which 
 I had lost; and at night, instead of losing myself 
 in that sweet and refreshing sleep, from which I 
 used to rise with new health, cheerfulness, and 
 vigour, I dreamt of splendid habits and a nume- 
 rous retinue, of gardens, palaces, eunuchs, and 
 women, and waked only to regret the illusions that 
 had vanished. My health was at length impaired 
 by the inquietude of my mind ; I sold all my 
 moveables for subsistence: and reserved only a 
 mattrass, upon which I sometimes lay from one 
 night to another. 
 
 In the first moon of the following year, the 
 caliph came again to Mecca, with the same se- 
 crecy, and for the same purposes. He was willing 
 once more to see the man whom he considered as 
 deriving felicity from himself. But he found me, 
 not singing at my work, ruddy with health, and 
 vivid with cheerfulness ; but pale and dejected, 
 sitting on the ground, and chewing opium, which 
 contributed to substitute the phantoms of imagina- 
 tion for the realities of greatness. He entered 
 with a kind of joyful impatience in his counte- 
 nance, which, the moment he beheld me, was 
 changed to a mixture of wonder and pity. I had 
 often wished for another opportunity to address 
 the caliph; yet I was confounded at his presence, 
 and throwing myself at his feet, I laid my hand 
 upon my head, and was speechless. " Hassan/" 
 said he, M what canst thou have lost, whose weateh 
 was the labour of thy own hand? and what can 
 have made thee sad, the spring of whose joy was 
 
.^fc^&SlC^ALES, HAWKESWORTH. 24-9 
 
 ia thy H>wn bosom? What evil hath befallea 
 thee ? : speak, and if I can remove it, thou art 
 jtgjapy," I was now encouraged to look up, an<J 
 i replied, " let my lord forgive the presumption 
 ^ bis servant, who rather than utter a falsehood 
 .would be dumb for ever. I am become wretched 
 by the loss of that which I never possessed : thou 
 hast raised wishes which indeed I am not worthy 
 thou should satisfy ; but why should it be thought 
 that he who was happy in obscurity and indi- 
 gence, would not have been rendered more happy 
 by eminence and wealth ?•" 
 
 When I had finished this speech, Almalic stood 
 some moments in suspense, and I Continued pros- 
 trate before him. " Hassan," said he, « I per- 
 ceive, not with indignation but regret, that I mis- 
 took thy character ; I now discover avarice and 
 ambition in thy heart, which lay torpid only be- 
 cause their objects were too remote to rOuze them. 
 I cannot, therefore, invest thee with authority, be- 
 cause I would not subject my people to oppres- 
 sion ; and because I would not be compelled to 
 punish thee for crimes which I first enabled thee 
 to commit. But as I have taken from thee that 
 which I cannot restore, I will at leasV gratify the 
 .wishes that I excited, lest thy heart accuse me of 
 injustice, and thou continue still a stranger to thy- 
 self. Arise, therefore, and follow me." I sprung 
 -from the ground as it were with the wings of an 
 eagle ; I kissed the hem of his garment in an ex- 
 iasy of gratitude and joy ; and when I went out 
 of my house, my heart leaped as if I had escaped 
 from the den of a lion. I followed Almalic to 
 r$m Caratawsera in which he lodged j and after he 
 sew r ■ ■ ... 
 
SjJjQ CLASSIC TALES. HA>WK£SWQ«?J1. 
 
 had fulfilled his vows, he took me with him %pi 
 Medina. He gave me an apartment in the JS€pf$f- 
 glio ; I was attended by his own servants, my pFO- 
 Visions were sent from his own table, and I re- 
 ceived every week a sum from his treasury, which 
 exceeded the most romantic of my expectations. 
 But I soon discovered that no dainty was so taste- 
 ful as the food to which labour procured an appe*. 
 tite ; no slumbers so sweet, as those which weari- 
 ness invited ; and no time so well enjoyed, as that 
 in which diligence is expecting its reward. I re- 
 membered these enjoyments with regret; and 
 while I was sighing in the midst of superfluities, 
 which though they encumbered life, yet I could 
 not give up, they were suddenly taken away. 
 
 Almalic, in the midst of the glory of his king- 
 dom, and in the full vigour of his life, expired 
 suddenly in the bath; such, thou knowest, was 
 the destiny which the Almighty had written upon 
 his head. 
 
 His son Aububeker, who succeeded to the 
 throne, was incensed against me, by some who re- 
 garded me at once with contempt and envy : he 
 suddenly withdrew my pension, and commanded 
 that I should be expelled the palace ; a command 
 which my enemies executed with so much rigour, 
 that within twelve hours I found myself in the 
 streets of Medina, indigent and friendless, ex- 
 posed to hunger and derision, with all the habits 
 of luxury, and all the sensibility of pride. O! 
 let not thy heart despise me, thou whom expedi- 
 ence, has not taught, that it is misery to lose that 
 which it is not happiness to possess. O ! that for 
 me, this lesson had not been written on the tablets 
 of Providence ! I have travelled from Medina 
 
<ft^«tf# TALES.-- HAWKfesWORTH. 25 1 
 
 to JSfefcda 1 ; but I cannot fly from myself. How 
 dffifcfeM are the states in which I have been 
 pfaQed ! The remembrance of both is bitter ; 
 for the pleasure of neither can return. Hassan, 
 having thus ended his story, smote his hands to- 
 gether, and looking upward, burst into tears. 
 
 Omar, having waited till this agony was past, 
 went to him, and taking him by the hand, '* My 
 son," said he, " more is yet in thy power than 
 Almalic could give, or Aububeker take away. 
 The lesson of thy life the Prophet has in mercy 
 appointed me to explain. 
 
 " Thou wast once content with poverty and la- 
 bour, only because they were become habitual, 
 and ease and affluence were placed beyond thy 
 hope; for when ease and affluence approached 
 thee, thou wast content with poverty and labour 
 no more. That which then became the object 
 was also the bound of thy hope ; and he, whose 
 utmost hope is disappointed, must inevitably be 
 wretched. If thy supreme desire had been the 
 delights of Paradise, and thou hadst believed that 
 by the tenor of thy life these delights had been 
 secured, as more could not have been given thee, 
 thou wouldst not have regretted that less was not 
 offered. The content which was once enjoyed 
 was but the lethargy of the soul ; and the distress 
 which is now suffered, will but quicken it to ac- 
 tion. Depart, therefore, and be thankful for all 
 things : put thy trust in Him, who alone can gra- 
 tify the wish of reason, and satisfy the soul with 
 good : fix thy hope upon that portion, in compa- 
 rison of which the world is as the drop of the 
 backet, and the dust of the balance. Return, 
 my son, to thy labour ; thy food shall be again 
 
25% CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTI& 
 
 tasteful/ and thy rest shall be sweet: to ^hy vbtk+ 
 tent also will be added stability, when it depe&da 
 nofc upon that which is possessed upon earth> but 
 upon that which is expected in heaven." 
 . Hassan, upon whose mind the Angel of Instruct 
 tion impressed the counsel of Omar, hastened to 
 prostrate himself in the temple of the Prophet. 
 Peace dawned upon his mind like the radiance-of 
 the morning: he returned to his labour with 
 cheerfulness; his devotion became fervent and 
 habitual ; and the latter days of Hassan were 
 happier than the first. 
 
 CA&AZAN. 
 
 (FROM THE AttVENTVRER.) 
 
 Carazan^ the merchant of Bagdat, was eminent 
 throughout all the East for his avarice and his 
 wealth: his origin was obscure, as that of the 
 spark which by the collision of steel and adamant 
 is struck out of darkness; and the patient labour 
 of jjersevering diligence alone had made him rich* 
 It was remembered, that when he was indigent 
 he was thought to be generous ; and he was still 
 acknowledged to be inexorably just. But whether 
 in his dealings with men he discovered a perfidy 
 which tempted him to put his trust in gold> ot? 
 whether in proportion as he accumulated wealth 
 he discovered his own importance to increase, 
 
CLASSIC TALESi-rr-HAWKESWORTH» 253 
 
 Carazan prised it more as he used it less ; he gra- 
 dually lost the inclination tpvdQgoad, as he ac- 
 quired the power ; and a* the hand of time scat- 
 tered snow upon his head, the freezing influence 
 extended to his bosom. 
 
 But though the door of Carazan was never 
 opened by hospitality, nor his hand by compas- 
 sion, yet fear led him constantly to the mosque at 
 the stated hours of prayer; he performed all the 
 rkes of devotion with the most scrupulous punctu- 
 ality, and had thrice paid his vows at the temple 
 of the Prophet. That devotion which arises from 
 the love of God, and necessarily includes the love 
 of man, as it connects gratitude with beneficence* 
 and exalts that which was moral to divine, con- 
 fers new dignity upon goodness, and is the object 
 not only of affection but reverence. On the con- 
 trary, the devotion of the selfish, whether it be 
 thought to avert the punishment which every one 
 wishes to be inflicted, or to insure it by the com- 
 plication of hypocrisy with guilt, never fails to 
 excite indignation: and abhorrence. Carazan, 
 therefore, when he had locked his door, and turn- 
 ing round with a look of circumspective suspicion 
 proceeded to the mosque, was followed by every 
 eye with silent malignity; the poor suspended 
 their supplication when he passed by ; and though 
 he was known by every man, no man saluted 
 him. 
 
 Such had long been the ; life of Carazan, and 
 such was the character which he had acquired, 
 when notice was given by proclamation, that he 
 was removed to a magnificent building in the cen- 
 tre,o£-the city, that bis table should be spread for 
 
 Y 
 
2$<i CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESW&BTft. 
 
 the public, and that the stranger should be wel- 
 come to his bed : the multitude soon rushed like 
 a torrent to his door, where they beheld him dis-^ 
 tributing bread to the hungry and apparel to the 
 naked, his eye softened with compassion, and his 
 cheek glowing with delight. Every one gazed 
 with astonishment at the prodigy ; and the mur* 
 mur of innumerable voices increasing like the 
 sound of approaching thunder, Carazan beckoned 
 with his hand • attention suspended the tumult in 
 a moment, and be thus gratified the curiosity 
 Which had procured him audience. 
 ? To Htm who touches the mountains and they 
 smoke, the Almighty and the Most Merciful, be 
 everlasting honour! he has ordained sleep to be 
 the minister of instruction, and his visions have 
 reproved me in the night. As I was sitting alone 
 in my haram, with my lamp burning before me, 
 computing the product of my merchandize and 
 exulting in the increase of my wealth, I fell into 
 a deep sleep, and the hand of Him who dwells in 
 the third heaven was upon me. I beheld the 
 Angel of Death coming forward like a whirlwind, 
 and he smote me before I could deprecate the 
 blow. At the same moment I felt myself lifted 
 from the ground, and transported with astonishing 
 rapidity through the regions of the air* The 
 earth was contracted to an atom beneath, and the 
 stars glowed round me with a lustre that obscured 
 the sun. The gate of Paradise was now in sight, 
 and I was intercepted by a sudden brightness 
 which no human eye could behold : the irrevoca- 
 ble sentence was now to be pronounced ; my day 
 6f probation was past, and from the evil of my 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 255 
 
 life nothing could be taken away, nor could any 
 thing be added to the good. When I reflected 
 that my lot for eternity was cast, which not all 
 the powersof nature could reverse, my confidence 
 totally forsook me; and while I stood trembling 
 and silent, covered with confusion and chilled with 
 horror, I was thus addressed by the radiance that 
 flamed before me. 
 
 " Carazan, thy worship has not been accepted, 
 because it was not prompted by love of God ; 
 neither can thy righteousness be rewarded, be- 
 cause it was not produced by love of man : for 
 thy own sake only hast thou rendered to every 
 man his due ; and thou hast approached the Al- 
 mighty only for thyself. Thou hast not looked 
 up with gratitude, nor round thee with kindness, 
 Around thee thou hast, indeed, beheld vice and 
 folly; but if vice and folly could justify thy par- 
 simony, would they not condemn the bounty of 
 Heaven ? If not upon the foolish and the vicious, 
 where shall t\ie sun diffuse his light, or the clouds. 
 distil their dew? Where shall the lips of the 
 spring breathe fragrance, or the hand of autumn 
 diffuse plenty? Remember, Carazan*. that thou 
 hast shut compassion from thine heart, and grasped 
 thy treasures with a hand of iron ; thou hast lived 
 for thyself, and therefore henceforth for ever thou 
 shalt subsist alone. From the light of heaven,, 
 and from the society of all beings, shalt thou be 
 ciriven; solitude shall protract the lingering hours 
 of eternity, and darkness aggravate the horrors of 
 despair." At this moment I was driven by some 
 Xfmdret and irresistible power through the glowing 
 system of creation, and passed innumerable worlds 
 y2 
 
256 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 in a moment. As I approached the verge of na- 
 ture, I perceived the shadows of total and bound- 
 less vacuity deepen before me, a dreadful region 
 of eternal silence, solitude, and darkness ! Un- 
 utterable horror seized me at the prospect, and 
 this exclamation burst from me with all the ve- 
 hemence of desire : " O ! that I had been doomed 
 for ever to the common receptacle of impenitence 
 and guilt ! there society would have alleviated the 
 torment of despair, and the rage of fire could not 
 have excluded the comfort of light. Gr if I had 
 been condemned to reside in a comet, that would 
 return but oiice in a thousand years to the regions 
 of light and life ; the hope of these periods, how- 
 ever distant, would cheer men in the dread interval 
 of cold and darkness, and the vicissitude would 
 divide eternity into time." While this thought 
 passed over my mind, I lost sight of the remotest 
 star, and the last glimmering of light was quench- 
 ed in utter darkness. The agonies of despair 
 every moment increased, as every moment aug- 
 mented my distance from the last habitable world. 
 I reflected with intolerable anguish, that when ten 
 thousand thousand years had carried me beyond 
 the reach of all but that Power who fills infini- 
 tude, I should still look forward into ah immense 
 abyss of darkness, through which I should still 
 drive without succour and without society, farther 
 and farther still, for ever and for ever. I then 
 stretched out my hand towards the regions of 
 existence, with an emotion that awaked me. Thus 
 have I been taught to estimate society, like every 
 other blessing, by its loss. My heart is warmed 
 to liberality ; and I am zealous to communicate 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. i 257; 
 
 the happiness which I feel, to those from whom 
 it is derived ; for the society of one wretch, whom 
 in the pride of prosperity I would have spurned 
 from my door, would, in the dreadful solitude to 
 which I was condemned, have been more highly 
 prized than the gold of Afric, or the gems of 
 Golconda. 
 
 At this reflection upon his dream, Carazan be- 
 came suddenly silent, and looked upward in ecstacy 
 of gratitude and devotion, The multitude were 
 struck at once with the precept and example ; 
 and the caliph, to whom the event was related, 
 that he might be liberal beyond the power of gold, 
 commanded it to be recorded to the benefit of 
 posterity. 
 
 SOME ACCOUNT OF 
 
 THE ADMIRABLE CRIGHTON. 
 
 (from the adventurer. J 
 
 I have sometimes heard it disputed in conversa- 
 tion, whether it be more laudable or desirable that 
 a man should think too highly or too meanly of 
 himself: it is on all hands agreed to be best, 
 that he should think rightly : but since a fallible 
 being will always make some deviations from exact 
 y3 ' -- - 
 
£58 CliASSIC TALES. — HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 rectitude, it is not wholly useless to enquire to- 
 wards which side it is safer to decline. 
 
 The prejudices of mankind seem to favour him 
 who errs by under-rating his own powers ; he is 
 considered as a modest, and harmless member of 
 society, not likely .to break the peace by compe- 
 tition, to endeavour after such splendour of re- 
 putation as may dim the lustre of others, or to 
 interrupt any in the enjoyment of themselves ; he 
 is no man's rival, and therefore may be every 
 man's friend. 
 
 The opinion which a man entertains of himself 
 ought to be distinguished, in order to an accurate 
 discussion of this question, as it relates to persons 
 or to things. To think highly of ourselves in 
 comparison with others, to assume by our own 
 authority that precedence which none is willing 
 to grant, must be always invidious and offensive ; 
 but to rate our powers high in proportion to 
 things, and imagine ourselves equal to great un- 
 dertakings, while we leave others in possession of 
 the same abilities," cannot with equal justice pro- 
 voke censure. 
 
 It must be confessed, that self-love may dis- 
 pose us to decide too hastily in our own favour : 
 but who is hurt by the mistake ? If we are in- 
 cited by this vain opinion to attempt more than 
 we can perform, ours is the labour, and ours is 
 the disgrace. 
 
 But he that dares to think well of himself, will 
 not always prove to be mistaken ; and the good 
 effects of his confidence will then appear in great 
 attempts and great performances : if he should 
 not fully complete his design, he. will at least ad- 
 
CLASSIC TALES* — HAWK.ESWORTlf„ 25£ 
 
 Vance it so far as to leave an easier task for hint 
 that succeeds him; and even though he should 
 wholly fail, he will fail with honour. 
 
 But from the opposite error, from torpid de- 
 spondency can come no advantage ; it is the frost 
 of the soul, which binds up ail its powers, and 
 congeals life in perpetual sterility. He that has 
 no hopes of success, will make no attempts; 
 and where nothing is attempted, nothing can be 
 done. 
 
 Every man should, therefore, endeavour to 
 maintain in himself a favourable opinion of the 
 powers of the human mind; which are, perhaps, 
 in every man greater than they appear, and 
 might, by diligent cultivation, he exalted to a 
 degree beyond what their possessor presumes to 
 believe. There is scarce any man but has found 
 himself able, at the instigation of necessity, to do 
 what in a state of leisure and deliberation he 
 would have concluded impossible; and some of 
 our species have signalized themselves by such 
 achievements, as prove that there are few things 
 above human hope. 
 
 It has been the policy of all nations to preserve, 
 by some public monuments, the memory of those 
 who have served their country by great exploits ; 
 there is the same reason for continuing or reviving 
 the names of those whose extensive abilities have 
 dignified humanity. An honest emulation may 
 be alike excited ; and the philosopher's curiosity 
 may be inflamed by a catalogue of the works of 
 Boyle or Bacon, as Themistocles was kept awake 
 to f the trophies of Miltiades. 
 
 Among the favourites of nature that have frofia 
 time to time appeared in the world, enriched with 
 
2Q0 CLASSIC TALES.-— HAWKE5WGRTH.S 
 
 various endowments and contrarieties of excel- 
 lence, none seems to have been more exalted 
 above the common rate of humanity, than the 
 man known about two centuries ago by the apn 
 pellation of the Admirable Crighton: of whose 
 historyj whatever we may suppress as surpass- 
 ing credibility, yet we shall, upon incontestable; 
 authority, relate enough to rani; him among pro-; 
 digies. 
 
 " Virtue," says Virgil, " is better accepted, 
 when it comes in a pleasing form:" the person of 
 Grighton was eminently beautiful ; but his beauty- 
 was consistent with such activity and strength* 
 that in fencing he would spring at one bound the. 
 length of twenty feet upon his antagonist; and 
 he used the sword in either hand with such force 
 and dexterity, that scarce any one had courage to 
 engage him. ' 
 
 Having studied at St. Andrew's in Scotland, he 
 went to Parjs in his twenty-first year, and affixed 
 on the gate of the college of' Navarre a kind o£ 
 challenge to the learned of that university to dis- 
 pute with him on a certain day ; offering to hi$ 
 opponents, whoever they should be, the choice 
 or ten languages, and of all the faculties an$ 
 sciences. On the day appointed, three thousand 
 auditors assembled, when four doctors of the, 
 church and fifty masters appeared against him ; 
 and one. of his antagonists confesses that the, 
 doctors were defeated, that lje gave proofs of 
 knowledge above the reacfy o£ man, and that a 
 hundred years passed without food or sleep would 
 not be sufficient for the attainment of his learning,. 
 After a disputation of nine hours he was presented 
 by, the president and professors with a diamond- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 261 
 
 and a purse of gold, and dismissed with repeated 
 acclamations. 
 
 From Paris he went away to Rome, where he 
 made the same challenge, and had in the pre- 
 sence of the pope and cardinals the same success. 
 Afterwards he contracted at Venice an acquaint- 
 ance with Aldus Manutius, by whom he was in- 
 troduced to the learned of that eity ; then visited 
 Padua, where he engaged in another public dis- 
 putation, beginning his performance with an ex- 
 temporal poem in praise of the city and the 
 assembly then present, and concluding with an 
 oration equally unpremeditated in commendation 
 of ignorance. 
 
 He afterwards published- another challenge, in 
 which he declared himself ready to detect the 
 errors of Aristotle and all his commentators, either 
 in the common forms of logic, or in any which 
 his antagonists should propose of a hundred dif- 
 ferent kinds of verse. 
 
 These acquisitions of learning, however stu- 
 pendous, were not gained at the expence of any 
 pleasure which youth generally indulges, or by 
 the omission of any accomplishment in which it 
 becomes a gentleman to excel : he practised in 
 great perfection the arts of drawing and painting; 
 he was an eminent performer in both vocal and 
 instrumental music ; he danced with uncommon 
 gracefulness ; and on the day after his disputation 
 at Paris exhibited his skill in horsemanship before 
 the court of France, where, at a public match of 
 tilting, he bore away the ring upon his lance 
 fifteen times together. 
 
 He excelled likewise in domestic games of 
 less dignity and reputation ; and in the interval 
 
262 CLASSIC TALES.— HAWKESWORTH. 
 
 between his challenge and disputation at Paris, 
 he spent so much of his time at cards, dice, and 
 tennis, that a lampoon was fixed upon the gate 
 of the Sorbonne, directing those that would see 
 this monster of erudition, to look for him at the 
 tavern. 
 
 So extensive was his acquaintance with life and 
 manners, that in an Italian comedy, composed by 
 himself, and exhibited before the court of Man- 
 tua, he is said to have personated fifteen different 
 characters; in all which he might succeed with- 
 out great difficulty, since he had such power of 
 retention, that once hearing an oration of an hour, 
 he would repeat it exactly, and in the recital fol- 
 low the speaker through all his variety of tone 
 and gesticulation. 
 
 Nor was his skill in arms less than in learning, 
 or his courage inferior to his skill : there was a 
 prize-fighter at Mantua, who, travelling about 
 the world, according to the barbarous custom of. 
 that age, as a general challenger, had defeated 
 the most celebrated masters in many parts of 
 Europe ; and in Mantua, where he then resided, 
 had killed three that appeared against him. The 
 duke repented that he had granted him his pro- 
 tection ; when Crighton, looking on his sangui- 
 nary success with indignation, offered to stake 
 fifteen hundred pistoles, and mount the stage 
 against hi™. The duke, with some reluctance, 
 consented, and on the day fixed the combatants 
 appeared : their weapon seems to have been single 
 rapier, which was then newly introduced in Italy. 
 The prize-fighter advanced with great violence 
 and fierceness, and Crighton contented himself 
 calmly to ward his passes, and suffered him to exr». 
 
•CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWORTH. 263 
 
 haust his vigour by his own fury. Crighton then 
 became the assailant, and pressed upon him with 
 such force and agility, that he thrust him thrice 
 through the body, and saw him expire : he then 
 divided the prize he had won among the widows 
 whose husbands had been killed. 
 
 The death of this wonderful man I should be 
 willing to conceal, did I not know that every 
 reader will enquire curiously after that fatal hour, 
 which is common to all human beings, however 
 distinguished from each other by nature or by 
 fortune. 
 
 The Duke of Mantua having received so many 
 proofs of his various merit, made him tutor to 
 his son Vincentio di Gonzaga, a prince of loose 
 manners and turbulent disposition. On this occa- 
 sion it was that he composed the comedy in which 
 he exhibited so many different characters with 
 exact propriety. But his honour was of short 
 continuance ; for as he was one night, in the time 
 of the carnival, rambling about the streets with 
 his guitar in his hand, he was attacked by six 
 men masked. Neither his courage nor his skill 
 in this exigence deserted him ; he opposed them 
 with such activity and spirit, that he soon dis- 
 persed them and disarmed their leader, who, throw- 
 ing off his mask, discovered himself to be the 
 prince his pupil. Crighton falling on his knees, 
 took his own sword by the point, and presented 
 it to the prince ; who immediately seized it, and 
 instigated, as some say, by jealousy, according 
 to others, only by drunken fury and brutal resent- 
 ment, thrust him through the heart. 
 
 Thus was the Admirable Crighton brought into 
 
264 CLASSIC TALES. HAWKESWOBTIJ. 
 
 that state, in which he could excel the meanest of 
 mankind only by a few empty honours paid to his 
 memory. The court of Mantua testified their 
 esteem by a public mourning, the contemporary 
 wits were profuse of their encomiums, and the 
 palaces of Italy were adorned with pictures, re- 
 presenting turn on horseback, with a lance in one 
 hand and a book in the other. 
 
 - . - - '■ \ 
 i 
 
" 
 
 STERNE. 
 
 CRITICAL ESSAY ON HIS WRITINGS AND GENIUS. 
 
 It has fallen to the lot of few writers to attract the 
 applause and censure of the world so largely as 
 Sterne. With the most unequivocal evidences 
 of genius, he mingled in his works so much wit 
 and vulgarity, so much piety and profaneness, 
 so much sentiment and licentiousness, that while 
 the gay and frivolous were inevitably much de- 
 lighted, the graver classes of society regarded his 
 productions at once with disgust and apprehen- 
 sion. The grand object, however, of his writings, 
 in a moral point of view, appears to have been to 
 put men in good humour with one another, and 
 dispose them not only to those important services 
 which the distresses of life frequently call for in 
 the case of considerable numbers, but to those 
 minute attention? which may be imparted by all 
 in any circumstances, and go far even with the 
 most fortunate individuals, towards supplying that 
 mass of pleasing sensation and reflection for which 
 alone life is desirable; The frank, undisguised, 
 unsuspecting character, is every where in the 
 z 
 
266 ESSAY ON STERNE. 
 
 productions of Sterne exhibited with the charms 
 which naturally attach to it, as conciliating affec- 
 tion, and procuring and bestowing happiness. Its 
 accessibility to imposture is regarded as an incon- 
 venience well compensated by its freedom from 
 the irritation of perpetual distrust;, and the smiles 
 occasioned by its simplicity are also an attestation 
 to its inoffensiveness. Yet impulse or sentiment 
 may perhaps be too highly and exclusively ex- 
 tolled. How far it may be permitted to supersede 
 calculation, is still to be determined. Even were 
 there no other feelings among mankind than those 
 of humanity and kindness, the uncontrouled yield- 
 ing to sentiment amidst all the varieties of inter- 
 communication, may easily be conceived capable 
 of introducing great inconvenience, as well as ec- 
 centricity ; and if the best feelings be not regu- 
 lated by discretion; if advertence to tendencies 
 and consequences be not mixed with the effusions 
 of nature, a thousand cases may be imagined of 
 embarrassing mistakes and injurious, though most 
 benevolent sincerity. As these would occur, even 
 were all mankind to possess the artlessness of in- 
 nocence, how much more requisite will appear a 
 certain degree of restraint and caution in social in- 
 tercourse, when it is considered that this age of 
 infantine purity has never existed but in the dreams 
 of enthusiasts, and that hitherto there has always 
 
ESSAY ON STEKNE. 267 
 
 existed a' certain proportion of mankind, whose 
 olyj&et it has been to impose upon the credulous, 
 and defraud the unwary. For the successful con- 
 duct of life in such circumstances, some degree of 
 circumspection and reserve is indispensably neces- 
 sary. Without this, a man would find himself 
 committed in friendship with the practised hypo- 
 crite of plausible and insinuating address, and 
 after anticipating from this union all the soothings 
 of consolation under distress, and all the rapture 
 of joy doubled by diffusion, would awake with the 
 most bitter surprise, and find, to his most acute 
 mortification, that he had taken a viper to his bo- 
 som. In the deposit of fortune, as well as the af- 
 fections, it would be equally absurd to give way 
 to the first favourable feelings. The language of 
 high honour and fastidious probity is current with 
 all classes of society, and can be assumed in all 
 its fascination by those, to whose hearts rectitude 
 and dignity are perfect strangers. But with what 
 facility would the untutored child of feeling listen 
 to the high swelling sentiments uttered by the de- 
 signing projector ? How little would he conceive 
 that expressions, so fitted to excite confidence, 
 could proceed from any whose conduct was such 
 as most effectually to blast it ? And how readily 
 would he rush into the snare in which artifice would 
 Jt*e?ever ready to involve him? It would seem, a 
 z2 
 
268 ESSAY ON STERNE. 
 
 forlorn hope, therefore, that grown children, or in 
 other words the mere creatures of sentiment, 
 could, in a world like the present, be either happy 
 or secure. Their peace, their property, their 
 dearest hopes and most amiable affections, would 
 be constantly exposed to depredation : their bloom 
 of innocence would only tempt to fasten on them 
 the canker worm of guilt 
 
 Far be it, however, that while stating the ne- 
 cessity of just and comprehensive views, of ad- 
 verting to characters and consequences, we should 
 encourage that spirit of eternal jealousy and dark 
 distrust which some appear to have thought the 
 only effectual passports through life. Those who 
 are perpetually on the watch, necessarily and in- 
 cessantly experiencing some degree of apprehen- 
 sion, must of course possess a state of mind per- 
 fectly remote from rapture or tranquillity. He 
 who boasts that he never was imposed upon, may 
 be compared to those warriors who, to guard 
 against the weapons of their enemies, have per- 
 petually lacerated and galled themselves under 
 the weight of armour : or, like the envenomed in- 
 sect secluded in its corner, if they have preserved 
 their web of life uninjured by intrusion, it has 
 been by solitary and distressing vigilance, and by 
 converting their own minds into the constant la- 
 boratory and receptacle of that poison, which has 
 
 
ESSAY ON STERNE.' 269 
 
 sometimes fatally overflowed upon an enemy. 
 Not to have been occasionally the victim of de- 
 ceit,, is perhaps little better, if not for the cha- 
 racter at least for the happiness of the individual, 
 than to have been always a knave. His mind 
 must have been a storehouse for all the forms and 
 means of villany ; he must have familiarised 
 himself with all the instruments and combinations 
 of duplicity and violence ; with all the atrocities 
 of desperation ; with all the subtleties of intrigue ; 
 with all the modes of art and force which are 
 practised on the strong and the defenceless. In 
 these chambers of imagery he must have held his 
 court : in this armoury of guilt he must have ap- 
 propriated the means of crime to its various ob- 
 jects. Here he must have chosen and rejected the 
 instruments of his supposed adversaries, as they 
 might appear applicable or unfit for their respec- 
 tive purposes ; advancing at length by unceasing 
 examination and comparison to an accuracy of 
 estimate, which might almost put to the Slush the 
 veteran practitioner, for his ignorance in the tools 
 of his regular occupation. Even if it be admit- 
 ted, that by thus habituating itself to contemplate 
 and discriminate the modes and implements of 
 vice, the mind should contract no temptation to 
 employ them, as it certainly acquires skill for the 
 direction of them, at least that state of feeling 
 z 3 
 
270 ESSAY ON STERNF. 
 
 may be expected to be incurred which is unfa- 
 vourable both to cheerfulness and benevolence, 
 by which affection is chilled and misanthropy 
 cherished; and in which dexterity in the detec- 
 tion of guilt is experienced to be a wretched com- 
 pensation for all the hauntings of suspicion and 
 all the restlessness of apprehension. 
 
 The wisdom of the serpent has, from high au- 
 thority, been recommended to be combined, in in^ 
 tercourse with the world, with the inoffensiveness 
 of the dove. It is the character of a Roman Em- 
 peror, as given by an elegant and profound his- 
 torian, that his excellent understanding was fre- 
 quently deceived by the unsuspecting goodness of 
 his fceart. A better description of the balance 
 desirable between the mind and the affections, of 
 tfie weight which feeling and .calculation should 
 possess respectively over the man, is not to be 
 found in the whole compass of history or elo- 
 quence. The vagaries of impulse, and the anx- 
 ieties of perpetual suspicions, are equally pre- 
 cluded. The general habit of discrimination pre- 
 vents the misapplication of feeling, and the pre- 
 disposition to kindness cuts off minute doubts 
 and sordid apprehensions. After all, however, 
 there is something so amiable in the character 
 of thoughtless unapprehensive kindness, of that 
 straight-forward benevolence, which thinks, speake, 
 
 ■ I : 8«0u 
 
ESSAY ON STERNE. 271 
 
 and acts, as it were, simultaneously, and there is so 
 little danger of its being cherished to excess, that 
 an author, whose representations on this topic are 
 somewhat overwrought, may well be considered 
 as chargeable, in this instance, with no gross and 
 unpardonable error. It is inexpressibly more dif- 
 ficult to bring men back from artifice and design 
 to the due point of liberal and enlightened cha- 
 racter, than to advance them to it from uninformed 
 simplicity. It is easy to convert credulity into 
 caution ; but a mind sunk in suspicion can with 
 extreme difficulty, if ever, be recovered to breathe 
 the free atmosphere of general kindness. 
 
 Thus much will be thought abundantly suffi- 
 cient with regard to those beings of sentiment, 
 iato which, from various passages and represen- 
 tations, it might appear the wish, if not the object 
 of Sterne to convert all mankind ; an object both 
 undesirable and impracticable ; but in the pursuit 
 of which the value of honest and ardent feeling is 
 made completely apparent, and the superiority of 
 the ingenuous over the designing, both in respecta- 
 bility and happiness, fully displayed. With re- 
 spect to the general end, he appears to have had 
 in view, by his writings, that of exciting good hu- 
 mour among the various individuals of our spe- 
 cies, and putting to flight misanthropy, spleen, 
 and the whole tribe of selfish and corroding pas- 
 sions; besides the means already mentioned, he 
 
272 ESSAY ON STERNE. 
 
 has also had recourse to that principle which was 
 bestowed by nature for the same precise purpose, 
 and is admirably calculated for its attainment. 
 This principle is no other than that sexual sym- 
 pathy by which, at a certain period of existence, 
 all individuals find themselves peculiarly incom- 
 petent for their own happiness, and, endeavouring 
 to strengthen their solitary weakness by mutual 
 association, throw out the tendrils of affection and 
 confidence. By these the foliage of human soci- 
 ety is compacted and interwoven, : on this grand 
 ♦principle all who have explored the beauty and 
 order of the moral world to their foundation, have 
 rested, as the chief basis of human civilization; 
 and the poetical descriptions of a golden age, .-of 
 pastoral loves, and Arcadian harmony, are only 
 embellishments of those facts which are supplied 
 by the actual history of man. In adverting to 
 this principle, however, the moralist will employ 
 the utmost circumspection to prevent feelings/ 
 which constitute a perpetual fountain of domestic 
 sweets and general charity, from becoming the 
 source of pollution and licentiousness. So easily 
 and frequently does this perversion occur, that too 
 much caution cannot be exercised for preventing 
 what was intended to refine and elevate mankind 
 from sinking into brutal indulgence and excess. 
 Love will, therefore, by the judicious writer, be 
 treated more as a sentiment than an appetite : 7 and 
 
ESSAY ON STERNE. 273 
 
 instead of coarsely drawing aside the 1 veil of the 
 sanctuary, and exposing its mysteries to profana- 
 tion, he will employ that delicate yet animating 
 reserve, and that shadowy yet impressive imagery 
 which promote at once the ardour and purity of 
 the worshipper. To drive away spleen it is by 
 no means necessary to introduce licentiousness, 
 and with a view to produce the cordiality and 
 kindness of social intercourse, it is surely a most 
 paradoxical and anomalous mode to cherish that 
 spirit of gross voluptuousness, by which modesty 
 is either offended or impaired, and by which selfish 
 gratification, at whatever expence, becomes as 
 much and as grossly the object of pursuit, as be- 
 fore the invitations of nature to sexual association. 
 Sterne, however, was little aware of the ne- 
 cessity of this caution, or little disposed to ob- 
 serve it. Capable as he was, as in various pas- 
 sages he has sufficiently evinced, of describing the 
 passion of love in all its elegance and tenderness, 
 he prefers, frequently, the grossest allusions. His 
 pages are stained with references and descriptions 
 which modesty must ever blush to meet with, and 
 language scarcely to be heard within the walls of 
 a bordello, is occasionally found to flow from his 
 pen without reluctance. In some instances terms 
 evidently occurred to his mind, which being never 
 written in works of taste, nor tolerated by a deco- 
 rous public, were for that reason only rejected by 
 : . : --■. b . 
 
27 $ ESSAY ON STERNE. 
 
 him ; and asterisks, in due literal or syllabJ£*QUjn§ 
 ber, are substituted, which, with more expliGifna^sj 
 than the celebrated eastern star of antiquity, guide, 
 the simple as well as wise to the specific and po- 
 pular phraseology. It was disgusting and humi- 
 liating to persons fond of connecting in their ima- 
 ginations considerable talents, with moral as well 
 as critical taste, to perceive a man capable, by 
 his excursive fancy, of levying contributions on 
 all the departments of art and nature, of transfer- 
 ring all sorts of illustration and imagery to every 
 species of lively adventure, curious incident, or 
 useful lesson, prefer what good taste would ever 
 reject for its coarseness, and virtue for its impu- 
 rity. To this general circumstance, however, cre- 
 ative of disgust in the present instance, another 
 was added : not only was the perversion of taste 
 and talents in the author of these works to be de- 
 plored; but the degradation of professional cha- 
 racter. Sterne was a clergyman, and a dignitary 
 in the church. A woman of pleasure, a comer 
 dian^or buffoon, might have indulged in these 
 licentious exhibitions, not certainly with the 
 sanction of propriety, but without inconsistency 
 of character. The voluptuary could have de- 
 rived no weight to the seductions of the worfe* 
 from the professional or personal situation ©£&&& 
 writer : no. inconsistency would have been f)b$ikrS 
 eisp and no surprize, would have bee& y<8&lte&ft 
 
ESSAY ON STERNE. 275 
 
 But an ecclesiastical dignitary, who after deliver- 
 iftgfrom hh pulpit the most admirable lessons of 
 p*&i£y and circumspection, stepped forth almost 
 immediately with lectures from the press on sexual 
 voluptuousness; one day exhibiting himself as the 
 purifier, the next as the polluter of the affections ; 
 in one instance the canonical panegyrist of refined 
 and Celestial transports, in another with all the 
 explieitness of mountebank phrase and gesticu- 
 lation, pandering to appetite and soliciting lust, 
 was certainly a novel, irreverend, and contempti- 
 ble spectacle. This alternation of exhibition and 
 combination of characters, hitherto supposed in- 
 capable of being united by all the power of im- 
 pudence, attracted very considerable attention. 
 Multitudes indeed only looked with delight to the 
 author's sprightly whim and curious eccentricity, 
 and without any exercise of criticism drank his 
 debilitating infusions with transport. Others saw 
 his inconsistency and degradation, but pardoned 
 both for the sake of the mirth and pleasantry with 
 which they were accompanied. A third class, 
 however, and certainly not the least respectable, 
 could see no apology for the wanton dereliction of 
 decency in one whose peculiar and sacred pro- 
 fession bound him to inculcate virtue. The ani- 
 madversions upon this clerical promoter of, liber- 
 tinism were neither few nor lenient; and the dif- 
 fused circulation of the intended antidotes is a suf r 
 
276 ESSAY ON STERNE. 
 
 ficient evidence of the insinuation of the poison. 
 Critics protested in behalf of public decency, and 
 With but half suppressed indignation appealed to 
 the author whether his ambition to please the more 
 amiable and meritorious part of the species did 
 not require him to avoid and expunge passages 
 by which delicacy must be hurt. Even bishops 
 did not hesitate to denounce from the pulpit and 
 the press so flagrant a violation of the religious 
 character as the author had displayed in his works ; 
 and zeal against the blemishes of these produc- 
 tions, by a very natural tendency, urged on a de- 
 preciation of their merits. The lash of criticism, 
 however, the ardour of zeal, and even the blush 
 of modesty, were incapahle of preventing the 
 continued ebullitions of vulgar sportiveness, for 
 which the author had so strong a predilection. 
 The intervals between the publication of the se- 
 veral parts of his productions, sufficiently dis- 
 closed the feelings they had excited among those 
 who are regarded as the general advocates of li- 
 terature and decorum. But, as if from an inbred 
 and incorrigible pruriency of imagination, a libi- 
 dinous allusion still continued the dearest, the 
 most favourite deposit of his wit; and in almost 
 immediate connection with sentiments which, from 
 their excellence and purity, might be supposed 
 worthy of the pen of a seraph, is to be found 
 ^orae grovelling and disgusting ribaldry^ 
 
ESSAY ON STERNE. 277 
 
 The sermons of this celebrated writer are cer- 
 tainly of too light and undignified a dress for pub- 
 lic delivery. Not merely the broad jest, but the 
 humorous allusion, is with great propriety ex- 
 ploded from the pulpit. The knowledge of the 
 human heart, however, displayed in these compo- 
 sitions, is of a very superior kind : characters are 
 accurately discriminated : the delusions of guilt 
 are developed with energy and truth. They hold 
 up not only a mirror but a light to the conscience ; 
 and paintjng is often, with admirable ingenuity 
 and effect, substituted for precept. The stile may 
 be wished less quaint and artificial ; and it would 
 have been better certainly if the author had occa- 
 sionally appeared less desirous to excite the ludi- 
 crous feelings of his audience, and had less ap- 
 peared but half to repress his own. But many 
 have taken up these volumes to be amused by 
 their singularity, who have been animated to vir- 
 tue by their eloquence ; and while with a view to 
 gratify taste or beguile existence, they have pe- 
 rused his masterly delineations of character have 
 been led to recognize and reform their own. 
 
 The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy dis- 
 plays shrewd observation, ready and genuine 
 wit, and well-drawn character. The pedantries 
 and absurdities of the learned, which aro a fair 
 •subject for ridicule, are exposed by it without re- 
 
 a a 
 
 
^ ESSAY ON STERNE. 
 
 sery f e, and pleasantry is ever use fully applied, in 
 d^achjng fr°m philosophy whatever would (iis- 
 g^ace it; in separating mere pretension from me- 
 ^^ and discriminating cumbrous learning and su- 
 jp^cjiioijis, dogmatism, from that well disposed and 
 we)l stored mind, which, with much knowledge 
 applicable to the real purposes of life, possesses 
 also judgment to controul its excursions into the 
 realms of. conjecture ; which perceives that it hag 
 much to acquire and is never disinclined to learn. 
 It has been remarked, however, that the learned 
 follies ridiculed by Sterne were not the growth 
 pf his own age; and the observations of Doctor 
 Ferriar, of Manchester, have abundantly proved^ 
 that both for the topics of his wit, and his wit it- 
 self, Sterne was sometimes too diffidentto trust en- 
 tirely to his own judgment and resources. The co- 
 incidence between several livery and beautiful pas- 
 sages of his writings and some of Burton, in his 
 Anatomy of Melancholy, is sufficiently illustrative 
 of this point. It is somewhat extraordinary that 
 the consciousness of great powers which ever at- 
 tends on genius should have permitted him to 
 stoop to this obligation; and it is mortifying to 
 perceive that his liberality or justice was not suf- 
 ficient to induce his acknowledgment of it. 
 
 Amidst a number of exquisite sentiments and 
 descriptions, this work must be acknowledged 
 
ESSAY ON STER* S% 
 
 often, to' fail in interest. The candour, forbear- 
 ance, and humanity of uncle Toby possess fre- 
 quently almost a power of fascination. The story 
 of Le Fevre, to borrow a phrase of Johnson, finds 
 a mirror in every breast. The death of Yorick, 
 and the prudential exhortations of Eugemus, with 
 various other passages, are truly admirable. But 
 digressions appear to have been as studiously 
 sought for by Sterne, as by other writers they 
 are sedulously avoided, are perpetually occurring 
 to impede curiosity, and often substitute nothing 
 but cold or coarse conceits, for the continuance of 
 well compacted narrative. The reader also be- 
 comes at length tired of the changes perpetually 
 rung in his ear by uncle Toby of the technical 
 terms of war and fortification. Glacis artd rave- 
 lins, salient points and counterscarps, cease at 
 length to divert ; and the moodiness and incohe- 
 rence of uncle Toby and his faithful attendant, 
 frequently resemble too strongly the prattling and 
 waywardness of childhood, or the wanderings and 
 tearfulness of dotage. The recourse of the au- 
 thor to blank chapters and to black or marble 
 pages, is certainly, in the language of Shakspeare, 
 " wondrous pitiful," and in separate connection 
 baWi$h tn ^ f re( l uent substitution of lines for sentences, 
 folfo just, such as might be expected from a mere mum- 
 mery or pantomime of literature. The author 
 Aa 2 
 
280 ESSAY ON STERNE. 
 
 has thus evaded the display of wit, which he takes 
 the credit of possessing, but which his readers, af- 
 ter long wearying themselves on these mysterious 
 hieroglyphics, are at last apt to consider as hav- 
 ing n6 more existed than appeared, unless indeed 
 ^WSfevfet to induce the reader to search for what 
 was not to be found, and to laugh at the presumed 
 conjectures and endless wanderings of such as 
 might be thus bewildered by their credulity. 
 
 In the Sentimental Journey, bagatelle, obscenity, 
 and sentiment, as in the life of Tristram, are 
 the order of the day. The hints afforded to the 
 traveller by the author are creditable to his tem- 
 per and feelings, if indeed the conduct of a 
 writer be inferable from his precepts. The spirit 
 of accommodation recommended should ever be 
 displayed, instead of that captious judgment and 
 exasperating dogmatism which render the travels 
 of many one scene of irritation to themselves, 
 and disgust or ridicule to others, tending not to 
 liberalize the mind but to confirm and increase all 
 the prejudices of education. The beauties of this 
 work are great and various. The facility with 
 which the author describes the vivacity and badi- 
 nage of the French character, is highly interest- 
 ing. The adventure of the Monk is an admirable 
 lecture on the delicacies of humanity, Le Fleiii 
 is an exquisitely painted child of nature. Ttje 
 
ESSAY ON STERNE. 281 
 
 sorrows of Maria are touched with a pencil as 
 soft and captivating as her own melodious pipe ; 
 and in the reflections on the bastile, the starling, 
 and the captive, the charms of liberty are de- 
 scribed by one of her own children. A banquet 
 is supplied for the pensive and the gay. Sallies 
 of wit and ejaculations of piety, tragedy and 
 trifles, pun and pathos, are served up with an un- 
 sparing hand, and a spirit of humanity and bene- 
 volence will find itself cherished by a variety of 
 scenes supplied by the sprightly or the sombre 
 pencil. Amidst so much to excite admiration and 
 delight, it must nevertheless be admitted that the 
 grossest allusions occasionally, although not with 
 so much frequency as in the former work occur, 
 passages in which the author assumes his cap and 
 bells, and appears even solicitous to stimulate 
 passion and defy decorum. To the pure it has 
 been said all things are pure. Yet notwithstand- 
 ing the high authority for this maxim, there are, 
 perhaps, few parents who would wish their daugh- 
 ters deeply versed in the writings of Sterne, nor 
 are there many husbands who would be delighted 
 to find him the favourite author with their wives, 
 as his works, though well calculated to excite 
 mirth, too often effect it at the expence of de- 
 dency> and if they can divert spleen can also un - 
 fortunately impair modesty. While it is to be 
 a a '3 
 
282 ElS AY ON STERNE. 
 
 regretted, however, that such extraordinary excel- 
 lence should be mingled with such gross delin- 
 quency, it will be remembered with pleasure that 
 the separation of the pure metal from the dross is 
 no affair of extreme difficulty. In the extracts 
 which will be given from Sterne in the Classic 
 Tales, care will be taken that nothing shall be 
 introduced but what may be perused without in- 
 jury by the giddy, and without embarrassment by 
 the modest. The passages applicable for this 
 purpose are abundantly sufficient, and their ad- 
 mirable tendency to cherish the benevolent af- 
 fections, and to keep alive that good humour and 
 flow of cheerfulness without which lengthened life, 
 is only protracted misery, is not now to be proved, 
 but has been long pronounced by critical justice, 
 and decided by substantial fact, . 
 
 
 
 
 j 
 
 1 ) '. 
 
 indi ,J.V:> 
 
 1 
 
 ■■'. 
 
CLASSIC TALES. — STERNE. 2£S 
 
 LE FEVRE. 
 ii cpapap 
 
 (from Tristram shandy.)^ ls ffi e & 
 
 
 
 ■He was one evening sitting at his supper^ 
 
 when the landlord of a little inn in the village 
 came into the parlour, with an empty phial in his 
 hand, to beg a glass or two of sack : 'Tis for a 
 poor gentleman — I think of the army, said the 
 landlord, who has been taken ill at my house four 
 days ago, and has never held up his head since, 
 or had a desire to taste any thing till just now, that 
 he has a fancy for a glass of sack and a thin toast ; 
 — -/ think, said he, taking his hand from his fore- 
 head, it would comfort me. — 
 
 If I could neither beg, borrow, or buy such a 
 thing, added the landlord, I would almost steal it 
 for the poor gentleman, he is so ill. — I hope in 
 God he will still mend, continued he, — we are all 
 of us concerned for him. 
 
 Thou art a good-natured soul, I will answer 
 for thee, cried my uncle Toby, and thou shalt 
 drink the poor gentleman's health in a glass of 
 sack thyself, — and take a couple of bottles, with 
 my service, and tell him he is heartily welcome 
 to them, and to a dozen more if they will do him 
 good. 
 
 Though I am persuaded, said my uncle Toby, 
 as the landlord shut the door, he is a Very compas- 
 sionate fellow, Trim, yet I cannot help entertain- 
 ing a high opinion of his guest too; there must 
 be something more than common in him, that in 
 
284< CLASSIC TALES. STERNE. 
 
 so short a time should win so much on the affec- 
 tions of his host :— And of his whole family, ad- 
 ded the corporal, for they are all concerned for 
 him. — Step after him, said my uncle Toby, do 
 Trim, and ask if he knows his name. 
 
 I have quite forgot it, truly, said the landlord, 
 coming back into the parlour with the corporal ; 
 but I can ask his son again. Has he a son with 
 him then ? said my uncle Toby. — A boy, replied 
 the landlord, of about eleven or twelve years of 
 age ; but the poor creature has tasted almost as 
 little as his father ; he does nothing but mourn 
 and lament for him night and day: he has not 
 stirred from the bed-side these two days. 
 
 My uncle Toby laid down his knife and fork, 
 and thrust his plate from before him as the land- 
 lord gave him the account; and Trim, without 
 being ordered, took it away without saying one 
 word, and in a few minutes after brought him his 
 pipe and tobacco. 
 
 Stay in the room a little, said my uncle Toby. 
 Trim! said my uncle Toby, after he had lighted 
 his pipe and smoked about a dozen whiffs. — -Trim 
 came in front of his master, and made his bow ; 
 — my uncle Toby smoked on and said no more. — 
 Corporal ! said my uncle Toby ; the corporal 
 made his bow. — My unOle Toby proceeded no 
 farther, but finished his pipe. 
 
 Trim ! said my uncle Toby, I have a project 
 in my head, as it is a bad night, of wrapping my- 
 self up warm in my roquelaure, and paying a vi- 
 sit to this poor gentleman. — Your honour's roque- 
 laure, replied the corporal, has not once been had 
 on, since the night before your honour received 
 your wound, when we mounted guard in the 
 
CLASSIC TALES. —STERNE. 285 
 
 trenches before the gate at St. Nicholas ; and be- 
 sides, it is so cold and rainy a night, that what 
 with the roquelaure, and what with the weather, 
 'twill be enough to give your honour your death, 
 and bring on your honour's torment in your 
 groin. I fear so, replied my uncle Toby ; but I 
 am not at rest in my mind, Trim, since the ac- 
 count the landlord has given me. — I wish I had 
 not known so much of this affair, added my uncle 
 Toby, or that I had known more of it : — how shall 
 we manage it ? — Leave it, an* please your honour, 
 to me, quoth the corporal ; I'll take my hat and 
 stick and go to the house and reconnoitre, and act 
 accordingly; and I will bring your honour a full 
 account in an hour. — Thou shalt go, Trim, said 
 my uncle Toby, and here's a shilling for thee to 
 drink with his servant ; — 1 shall get it all out of 
 him, said the corporal, shutting the door. 
 
 My uncle Toby filled his second pipe ; and had 
 it not been that he now and then wandered from 
 the point, with considering whether it was not full 
 as well to have the curtain of the tenaile a straight 
 line, as a crooked one, he might be said to have 
 thought of nothing else but poor Le Fevre and his 
 boy the whole time he smoked it. 
 
 It was not till my uncle Toby had knocked the 
 ashes out of his third pipe that corporal Trim re- 
 turned from the inn, and gave him the following 
 account : 
 
 I despaired at first, said the corporal, of being 
 able to bring back to your honour any kind of in- 
 telligence concerning the poor sick lieutenant.— Is 
 ihe 'in' the army then? said my uncle foby.— Fie 
 Js, said the corporal. And in what regiment? said 
 
tf&2 .awaaTa— ;gajAT 0122,-. 
 
 286 , . classic tales,-^sternk1 , 
 
 Ibe corporal, every thing straight forwards, as I 
 JearMate-Tben, Trim, I'll fill another pipe, -said 
 J^j5?iifflteie;3]Qfoy, and not interrupt thee till thou 
 Jaast done ; so sit down at thy ease, Trim, in the 
 window seat, and begin thy story again. The 
 corpora} made his old bow, which generally spoke 
 as plain as a bow could speak it — your honour is 
 good;— and having done that, he sat down as he 
 was ordered, and began the story to my uncle 
 Toby over again, in pretty nearly the same words. 
 Jjs'fJ despaired at first, said the corporal, of being 
 able to bring back any intelligence to your ho - 
 jjour about the lieutenant and his son : for when I 
 asked where his servant was, from whom I made 
 myself sure of knowing every thing which was 
 proper to be asked, — -that's a right distinction, 
 Trim, said my uncle Toby, — I was answered, an' 
 please your honour, that he had no servant with 
 him ;— that he had come to the inn with hired 
 horses, which, on finding himself unable to pro- 
 i ceed, (to join, I suppose, the regiment) he iiad 
 dismissed the morning after he came. — If I get 
 better, my dear, said he, as he gave his purse to 
 his son to pay the man, we can hire horses from 
 hence.-p— But, alas! the poor gentleman will never 
 get from hence, said the landlady to me, for I 
 heard the death-watch all nightlong ;— - and when 
 he dies, the youth, his son, will certainly die with 
 him; for he is broken-hearted already. ||iy| 
 
 I was hearing this account, continued the cor- 
 poral, when the youth came into the kitchen, to 
 order the thin toast the landlord spoke of ;--but I 
 will doit for my father myself, said the youth. 
 Pray let me save you the trouble, young/gen- 
 tleman, said I, taking up a fork for that pur- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. — STERNE. 287 
 
 pose, and offering him my chair to sit down °Dy 
 the fire> whilst I did it.— I believe, Sir, said tie, 
 
 %fy modestly, I can please him best ^yselfr^t 
 am sure, said I, his honour will not like the toast 
 the worse for being toasted by an old solaier>i- 
 The youth took hold of my hand, and instatttly 
 tmrst into tears.— Poor youth ! said my uncle 
 Toby, he has been bred up from an infant in itee 
 army, and the name of a soldier, Trim, sounded 
 in his ears like the name of a friend ;— «I wish I 
 had him here. JoT. 
 
 I never in the longest march, said the corporal, 
 had so great a mind to my dinner, as I had to cry 
 with him for company : — what could be the mat- 
 ter with me, an' please your honour ? — Nothing in 
 the world, Trim, said my uncle Toby, blowing his 
 nose, but that thou art a good-natured fellow. 
 
 When I gave him the toast, continued the cor- 
 poral, I thought it was proper to tell him I was 
 captain Shandy's servant, and that your honour 
 (though a stranger) was extremely concerned for 
 his father : and that if there was any thing in 
 your house or cellar — (and thou mightest have 
 added my purse too, said my uncle Toby) — he 
 was heartily welcome to it :— he made a very low 
 bow (which was meant to your honour), but no 
 answer, for his heart was so full— so he went up 
 stairs with the toast : — I warrant you, my dear, 
 said I, as I opened the kitchen door, your father 
 will be well again. — Mr. Yorick's curate was 
 smoking a pipe by the kitchen fire ; but said not a 
 word, good or bad, to comfort the youth. — I 
 
 f thought it wrong, added the corporal,*— I think so 
 tod, said my uncle Toby. 
 ! When the lieutenant had taken hi's -glass of sack 
 
 -ijjq isdi -loVihol i Aiii J biis8 ^nsm3l> 
 
288 CLASSfC TAtES STERNEl 
 
 and toast, he felt himself a little revived, and sen? 
 down into the kitchen to let me know that ia 
 about ten minutes he should be glad if I would 
 step up stairs.— I believe, said the landlord, he m 
 going to say his prayers, for there was a book 
 laid upon the chair by his bed-side, and as I sfcrafc 
 the door I saw his son take up a cushion. 
 
 I thought, said the curate, that you gentlemen of 
 the army, Mr- Trim, never said your prayers at all. 
 — «I heard the poor gentleman say his prayers last 
 night, said the landlady, very devoutly, and with 
 my own ears, or I could not have believed it. — 
 Are you sure of it, replied the curate.— A soldier, 
 an* please your reverence, said I, prays as often 
 (of his own accord) as a parson ;— and when he is 
 fighting for his king, and for his own life, and for his 
 honour too, he has the most reason to pray to God 
 of any one in the whole world. — 'Twas well said 
 of thee. Trim, said my uncle Toby.- — But when a 
 soldier, said I, an* please your reverence, has been 
 standing for twelve hours together in the trenches, 
 up to his knees in cold water, or engaged, said I, 
 for; months together in long and dangerous marches 
 — harrassed, perhaps, in his rear to-day — haras- 
 sing others to-morrow—detached here — counter- 
 manded therer— resting this night out upon his arms 
 -—beat up in his shirt the next— -benumbed in his 
 joints— perhaps without straw in his tent to kneel 
 upon— may say his prayers hoiv and when he can. 
 I believe, said I,— for I was piqued, quoth the cor- 
 poral, for the reputation of the army,— X believe, 
 an' please your reverence, said I, that when a sol- 
 dier gets time to pray, he prays as heartily as a 
 parson, though not with all his fuss and hypocrisy. 
 -Thou shouId\st not have said that, Trim, said 
 
CLASSIC TALES. STERNE. 289 
 
 my uncle Toby, — for God only knows who is a 
 hypocrite, and who is not, — at the great and ge- 
 neral review of us all, corporal, at the day of 
 judgment (and not till then), it will be seen who 
 have done their duties in this world, and who have 
 not; and we shall be advanced, Trim, accord- 
 ingly. — I hope we shall, said Trim. — It is in the 
 scripture, said my uncle Toby ; and I will shew 
 it thee to-morrow ; — in the mean time we ma/ 
 depend upon it, Trim, for our comfort, said my 
 uncle Toby, that God Almighty is so good and 
 just a governor of the world, that if we have but 
 done our duties in it, it will never be inquired 
 into whether we have done them in a red coat or 
 a black one.-—- 1 hope not, said the corporal : — 
 but go on, Trim, said my uncle Toby, with thy 
 story. 
 
 When I went up, continued the corporal, into 
 the lieutenant's room, which I did not do till the 
 expiration of the ten minutes, he was lying in his 
 bed, with his head raised upon his hand, with his 
 elbow upon the pillow, and a clean white cambric 
 handkerchief beside it The youth was just stoop- 
 ing down to take up the cushion, upon which I 
 supposed he had been kneeling. The book was 
 laid upon the bed; arid as he rose, in taking up 
 the cushion with one hand, he reached out his 
 other to take it away at the same time. — -Let it re- 
 main there, my dear, said the lieutenant. 
 
 He did not offer to speak to me till I had walked 
 up close to his bed-side. — If you be captain Shan- 
 dy's servant, said he, you must present my thanks 
 to your master, with my little boy's thanks along 
 with them, for his coiirtesy to me : if he was of 
 b b 
 
290 CLASSIC TALES. STERNE. 
 
 Leven's, said the lieutenant — I told him your ho- 
 nour was— then, said he, I served three campaigns 
 with him in Flanders, and remember him,^-but 
 'tis most likely, as I had not the honour of any 
 acquaintance with him, that he knows nothing of 
 me. You will tell him, however, that the person 
 his goodnature has laid under obligations to him, 
 is one Le Fevre, a lieutenant in Angus's- — but %e 
 knows me not, said he a second time, musing: — 
 possibly he may my story, added he — pray tell 
 the captain I 'was the ensign at Breda, whose 
 wife was most unfortunately killed with a musket 
 shot, as she lay in my arms in my tent* — I re- 
 member the story, an* please your honour, said I, 
 very well. Do you so ? said he, wiping his eyes 
 with his handkerchief, then well may I. — In say- 
 ing this, he drew a little ring out of his bosom, 
 which seemed tied with a black ribband about his 
 neck, and kissed it twice. Here, Billy, said he— 
 the boy flew across the room to the bed-side, and 
 falling down upon his knee, took the ring in Ins 
 hand, and kissed it too $ then kissed his father, 
 and sat down upon the bed and wept. 
 
 J wish, said my uncle Toby, with a deep sigh, 
 I wish, Trim, I was asleep. 
 
 Your honour, replied the corporal, is too much 
 concerned ; shall I pour your honour out a glass 
 of sack to your pipe ?— Do, Trim, said my uncle 
 Toby. 
 j f <>; I remember, said my uncle Toby, sighing again, 
 the story of the ensign and his wife, with a cir- 
 cumstance his modesty omitted ; — and particu- 
 larly well, that he, as well as she, en some ac- 
 count or other (I have forgot what), was uui- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. STERNE. w 291 
 
 versally pitied by the whole regiment • — but ftnisfi 
 the story thou art on : — 'Tis finished already, said 
 the corporal, for I could stay no longer, so wished 
 his honour a good night: young Le Fevre rose 
 from off the bed, and saw me to the bottom of the 
 stairs ; and as we went down together, told me 
 they had come from Ireland, and were on their 
 route to join the regiment in Flanders. But, alas ! 
 said the corporal, the lieutenant's last day's march 
 is over. Then what is to become of his poor boy ? 
 cried my uncle Toby. 
 
 It was to my uncle Toby's eternal honour, — 
 though I tell it only for the sake of those who, 
 when cooped in betwixt a natural and a positive 
 law, know not for their souls which way iu the 
 world to turn themselves — that notwithstanding 
 my uncle Toby was warmly engaged at that time 
 in carrying on the siege of Dendermond, parallel 
 With the allies, who pressed their's on so vigo- 
 rously, that they scarcely allowed him time to get 
 his dinner, that nevertheless he gave up Dender- 
 mond, though he had already made a lodgment 
 upon the counterscarp ; and l^ent his whole 
 thoughts towards the distresses at the inn ; -and, 
 except that he ordered the garden gate to be bolted 
 up, by which he might be said to have turned the 
 siege of Dendermond into a blockade — he left 
 Dendermond to itself, to be relieved or not by the 
 French king, as the French king thought go<30 ; 
 and only considered how he himself should relieve 
 the poor lieutenant and his son. 
 
 That kind Being, who is a friend to the friend- 
 less, shall recompence thee for this. *Iib\ 
 
 Thou has left this matter shorty said my uncle 
 Bb2 
 
292 # CLASSIC TALES. — STERNE. 
 
 Toby to the corporal as he was putting him to bed, 
 and I will tell thee in what, Trim.— In the first 
 place, when thou madest an offer of my services 
 to Le Fevre, as sickness and travelling are both 
 expensive, and thou knewest he was but a poor 
 lieutenant, with a son to subsist as well as himself 
 out of his pay, that thou didst not make an offer 
 to him of my purse; heeause, had he stood in 
 need, thou knowest, Trim, he had been as wel- 
 come to it as myself.— Your honour knows, said 
 the corporal, I had no orders:— -True, quoth my 
 uncle Toby, thou didst very right, Trim, as a 
 soldier, but certainly very wrong as a man. 
 
 In the second place, for which indeed thou hast 
 the same excuse, continued my uncle Toby, wbgn 
 thou offeredest him whatever was in my house, 
 thou shouldst have offered him my house too : a 
 sick brother officer should have the best quarters, 
 Trim, and if 4ve had him with us, we could tend 
 and look to him :-— thou art an excellent nurse thy- 
 self, Trim, and what with thy care of him, and 
 the old woman's, and his boy's, and mine together, 
 we might recruit him again at once, and set him 
 upon his legs. 
 
 In a fortnight or three weeks, added my uncle 
 Toby, smiling, he might march. — He will never 
 march, an* please your honour, in this world, 
 said the corporal : — He will march, said my uncle 
 Toby, rising up from the side of the bed, with 
 one sh,oe off.-— An* please your honour, said the 
 corporal, he will never march but to his grave :— 
 He shall march, cried my uncle Toby, marching 
 the foot which had a shoe on, though without. ad- 
 vancing an inch, he shall march to his regiment. 
 
CLASSIC TALES. STERNE. 293 
 
 —He cannot stand it, said the corporal. — He 
 shall be supported, said my uncle Toby. — He'll 
 drop at last, said the corporal, and what will be- 
 come of his boy.V-ffe shall not drop, said my 
 uncle Toby, firmly. — A-weli-a-day, do what we 
 can for him, said Trim, maintaining his point, 
 the poor soul will die.-^ife shall not die, by God ! 
 cried my uncle Toby. 
 
 The accusing Spirit, which flew up to heaven's 
 chancery with the oath, blushed as he gave it in ; 
 and the Recording Angel, as he wrote it down, 
 dropped a tear upon the word, and blotted it out 
 for ever. 
 
 My uncle Toby went to his bureau, put his 
 purse into his breeches pocket, and having or- 
 dered the eorporal to go early in the morning for 
 a physician, he went to bed, and fell asleep. 
 
 The sun looked bright the morning after, to 
 every eye in the village but Le Fevre's and his 
 afflicted son's; the hand of death pressed heavy 
 upon his eye-lids, and hardly could the wheel at 
 the cistern turn round its circle, when my uncle 
 Toby, who had risen an hour before his wonted 
 time, entered the lieutenants room, and without 
 preface, or apology, sat himself down upon the 
 chair by the bedside, and independently of all 
 modes and customs, opened the curtain in the 
 manner an old friend and brother officer would 
 have done it, and asked him how he did.-*-how he 
 had rested in the night— what was his complaint — 
 were was his pain— and what he could do to help 
 him -anti without giving him time to answer any- 
 one of the enquiries, went on and told him of the 
 sb3 
 
294 CLASSIC TALES. — STERN'E. 
 
 little plan which he had been concerting with the 
 corporal the night before for him. 
 
 You shall go home directly, Le Fevre, said my 
 uncle Toby, to my house — and we'll send for a 
 doctor to see what's the matter — and we'll have 
 an apothecary — and the corporal shall be your 
 nurse — and I'll be your servant, Le Fevre. 
 
 There was a frankness in my uncle Toby, not 
 the effect of familiarity, but the cause of it, which 
 let you at once into his soul, and shewed you the 
 goodness of his nature ; to this there was some- 
 thing in his looks, and voice, and manner, super- 
 added, which eternally beckoned to the unfortu- 
 nate to come and take shelter under him ; so that 
 before my uncle Toby had half finished the kind 
 offers he was making to the father, had the son in- 
 sensibly pressed up close to his knees, and had 
 taken hold of the breast of his coat, and was pull- 
 ing it towards him. The blood and spirits of Le 
 Fevre, which were waxing cold and slow within 
 him, and were retreating to thie last citadel, the 
 heart, rallied back — the film forsook his eyes for 
 a moment — he looked up wistfully in my uncle 
 Toby's face— then cast a look upon his boy — and 
 that ligament, fine as it was, was never broken. 
 
 Nature instantly ebbed again — the film returned 
 to its place — the pulse fluttered — stopped — went 
 on — throbbed — stopped again — moved— stopped 
 — shall I go on ? No. 
 
bfiici arf doid'rr ubU\ 
 
 . I iii^iri sdb isioqioa 
 }di falsa : sdz uoY 
 
 i yoi 
 
 9Y£d oiooh 
 
 irffoqjs ax; 
 
 k/ to^ tab 
 
 - 
 
 
ma r v. ' 
 
 
 
 Published by JohrvHurtf. is Carew Ma/riM. at thenars Office. 
 Brydgee Street!. Strand. Febrh'Adoe. 
 
CLASSIC TALES.— STERNE. 295 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 THE FIRST PART. 
 
 (FROM THE SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY.) 
 
 They were the sweetest notes I ever heard ; 
 
 and I instantly let down the foreglass to hear them 
 more distinctly. — 'Tis Maria, said the postillion, 
 observing I was listening : poor Maria, continued 
 he (leaning his body on one side to let me see her, 
 for he was in a line betwixt us) is sitting upon a 
 bank playing her vespers upon her pipe, with her 
 little goat beside her. 
 
 The young fellow uttered this with an accent 
 and a look so perfectly in tune to a feeling heart, 
 that I instantly made a vow I would give him a 
 four-and-twenty sous piece, when I arrived at 
 Moulines. 
 
 And who is poor Maria ? said I. 
 
 The love and pity of all the villagers around us ; 
 said the postillion. It is but three years ago that 
 the sun did not shine upon so fair, so quick-witted 
 and amiable a maid ; and better fate did Maria 
 deserve than to have her banns forbidden by the 
 intrigues of the curate of the parish who published 
 them. 
 
 He was going on, when Maria, who had made 
 a short pause, put the pipe to her mouth and be- 
 gan the air again — they were the same notes; yet 
 were ten times sweeter. It is the evening service 
 
$9Q CLASSIC TALES. — STERNE. 
 
 to the Virgin, said the young man ; but who has 
 taught her to play it, or how she came by her 
 pipe, no one knows; we think that heaven has 
 assisted her in both ; for, ever since she has been 
 unsettled in her mind, it seems her only consola- 
 tion : she has never once had the pipe out of her 
 hand, but plays that service upon it almost night 
 and day. 
 
 The postillion delivered this with so much dis- 
 cretion and natural eloquence, that I could not 
 help deeyphering something in his face above his. 
 condition, and should have sifted out his historyv 
 had not poor Maria's taken such full possession of 
 me. 
 
 We had arrived by this time almost to the bank 
 where Maria was sitting : she was in a thin white 
 jacket, with her hair, all but two tresses, drawn up 
 into a silken net, with a few olive leaves twisted a 
 little fantastically on one side — she was beautiful ; 
 and if ever I felt the full force of an honest heart- 
 ache, it was the moment I saw her". 
 
 God help her, poor damsel . l above a hundred 
 masses, said the postillion, hiave been said in the 
 several parish churches and convents around, for 
 her, but without effect. We have still hopes, as 
 she is sensible for short intervals, that the Virgin 
 at last will restore her to herself; but her parents, 
 who know her best, are hopeless on that score, and 
 think her senses are lost for ever. 
 
 As the postillion spoke this, Maria made a ca- 
 dence so melancholy, so tender and querulous, that 
 I sprung out of the chaise to help her, and found 
 myself sitting betwixt her and her goat before I 
 relapsed from my enthusiasm. 
 
 Maria looked wistfully for some time at me, and 
 
C$A*SJC TALES.— STOftNE. 2&? 
 
 tf$n #&<J?er goat, and then at me, and then at her 
 go#t again, and so on alternately. 
 
 \Vell, Maria, said I, softly, what reserdblatfit^ 
 do you find? 
 
 I do entreat the candid reader to believe me, 
 that it was from the humblest conviction of what 
 a beast man is, that I asked the question ; and that 
 I would not have let fall an unseasonable plea- 
 santry in the venerable presence of misery, to be 
 entitled to all the wit that ever Rabelais scattered. 
 
 Adieu, Maria! adieu, poor hapless damsel! 
 some time, but not now, I may hear thy sorrow^ 
 from thy own lips — but I was deceived; for that 
 moment she took her pipe, and told me such a 
 tale of woe with it, that I rose up, and with broken 
 and irregular steps walked softly to the chaise. 
 
 THE SECOND PART. 
 
 The state of that disordered maid affected me 
 not a little ; and when I came again within the 
 neighbourhood where she lived, it returned so 
 strong into my mind, that I could not resist an 
 impulse which prompted me to go half a league 
 out of the road, to the village where her parents 
 dwelt, to enquire after her. The old mother came 
 to the door ; her looks told me the story before 
 she opened her mouth. She had lost her husband ; 
 he had died, she said, of anguish for the loss of 
 Maria's senses, about a month before. She had 
 feared at first, she added, that it would have plun- 
 dered her poor girl of what little understanding 
 was left; but, on the contrary, it had brought: her 
 more to herself— still she could not rest— ~her^#$£ ! s 
 
298 CLASSIC TALES. — STERNE. 
 
 dau^ter, she said, crying, was wandering some- 
 where about the road. 
 
 ,-> Why does my pulse beat languid as I write 
 this? and what made Le Fie ur, whose heart seemed 
 only to; y>e tuned to joy, to pass the back of his 
 hand twice across his eyes, as the woman stood 
 and told it? 
 
 When we had reached within half a league of 
 Mjoulines, at a little opening in the road leading to 
 a thicket, I discovered poor Maria sitting under a 
 pioplar. She was sitting with her elbow in her lap, 
 aijd her head leaning on one side within her hand : 
 a small brook ran at the foot of the tree. 
 
 She was dressed in white, and much as I have 
 described her, except that her hair hung loose, 
 
 fhich before was twisted within a silken net. She 
 ad superadded likewise to her jacket, a pale green 
 ribband, which fell across her shoulder to the 
 waist, at the end of which hung her pipe. Her 
 
 foat had been as faithless as her lover ; and she 
 ad obtained a little dog in lieu of him, which she 
 had kept tied by a string to her girdle ; as I looked 
 at her dog, she drew him towards her with the 
 string. Thou shalt not leave me, Sylvio, said 
 she I looked in Maria's eyes, and saw she was 
 thinking more of her father than of her lover or 
 her little goat; for as she uttered them the tears 
 trickled down her cheeks. 
 
 J sat down close by her, and Maria let me wipe 
 them away as they fell with my handkerchief. I 
 then steeped it in my own — and then in her*s— 
 and then in mine— and then I wiped tier's again — 
 and, as I did it, I felt such undescribable emotions 
 withjp me, as I am sure could not be accounted 
 for from any combinations of matter and motion. 
 
CLASSIC TALES. STERNE. 299 
 
 I arn^ Dositive I have a soul; nor can all the 
 books with which materialists have pestered the 
 world ever convince me of the contrary. 
 
 When Maria had come a little to herself*, I 
 asked her if she remembered a pale thin person of 
 a man, who had sat down betwixt her and her goat 
 about two years before? She said she was un- 
 settled much at that time, but remembered it on 
 two accounts ; that ill as she was, she saw the per- 
 son pitied her; and next, that her goat had stolen 
 his handkerchief, and she had beaten him for the 
 theft. She had washed it, she said, in the brook, 
 and kept it ever since in her pocket to restore it 
 to him in case she should ever see him again, 
 which, she added, he had half promised her. As 
 she told me this, she took the handkerchief out of 
 her pocket to let me see it : she had folded it up 
 .neatly in a couple of vine leaves, tied round with 
 a tendril — on opening it, I saw an S marked on 
 one of the corners. 
 
 She had since that, she told me, strayed as far 
 as Rome, and walked round St. Peter's once, and 
 returned back ; that she found her way alone 
 across the Appenines, had travelled over all Lom- 
 bardy without money, and through the flinty 
 roads of Savoy without shoes : how she had borne 
 it, and how she had been supported, she could 
 not tell ; but God tempers the wind, said Maria, to 
 the shorn lamb. 
 
 Shorn, indeed ! and to the quick, said I ; and 
 wast thou in my own land, where I have a cot- 
 tage, I would take thee to it and shelter thee : thou 
 shouldest eat of my own bread, and drink of my own 
 cup. I would be kind to thy Sylvio— in all thy 
 weakness and wanderings I would seek after thee 
 
300 CLASSIC TALES.— STERNE. 
 
 ; : • mow 
 
 and bring thee back — when the sun went down I 
 would say my prayers— and when I had done, thou 
 shouldest play thy evening song upon thy pipe ; 
 nor would the incense of my sacrifice be worse 
 accepted for entering heaven along with that of a 
 broken heart. 
 
 Nature melted within me as I uttered this ; and 
 Maria observing as 1 took out my handkerchief, 
 that it was steeped too much already to be of use, 
 would needs go wash it in the stream. And where 
 will you dry it, Maria? said I. I'll dry it in my 
 bosom, said she — 'twill do me good. 
 
 And is your heart still so warm, Maria ? said I. 
 
 I touched upon the string on which hung all her 
 sorrows : she looked with wistful disorder for some 
 time in my face, and then, without saying any 
 thing, took her pipe, and played her service to 
 the Virgin ; the string I had touched ceased to 
 vibrate -—in a moment or two Maria returned to 
 herself— let her pipe fail — and rose up. 
 
 And where are you going, Maria? said I. She 
 said, to Moulines. Let us go, said I, together. 
 Maria put her arm within mine, and lengthening 
 the string to let her dog follow — in that order we 
 entered Moulines. 
 
 Though I hate salutations and greetings in the 
 market place, yet when we were in the middle of 
 this, I stopped to take my last look and last fare-* 
 wel of Maria. 
 
 Maria, though not tall, was nevertheless of the 
 first order of fine forms — affliction had touched 
 her looks with something that was scarce earthly 
 —still she was feminine — and so much was there 
 about her of all that the heart wishes, or the eye 
 looks for in woman, that could the traces be ever 
 
CLASSIC TALES.. — STERNE. 301 
 
 worn out of her brain, and those of Eliza's out of 
 mine, she should not only eat of my bread and drink 
 of my own cup, but Maria should lie in my bosom, 
 and be unto me as a daughter. 
 
 Adieu, poor luckless maiden! — Imbibe the oil 
 and wine which the compassion of a stranger, as 
 he journeyeth on his way, now pours into thy 
 wounds — the Being who has twice bruised thee, 
 can only bind them up for ever. 
 . 
 
 THE THIRD PART. 
 
 . 
 
 On my next arrival at Moulines, I enquired 
 after this disconsolate maid, and was informed she 
 had breathed her last ten days after I had seen her. 
 I informed myself of the place of her burial, 
 whither I repaired ; but there was 
 
 Not a stone to tell where she lay. 
 
 However, by the freshness of the surface of the 
 earth which had been removed, I soon traced out 
 her grave, where I paid the last tribute due to 
 virtue ; nor did I grudge a tear. 
 
 Alas, sweet maid, thou art gone ! — but it is to 
 be numbered with angels, whose fair representa- 
 tive thou wast upon earth. Thy cup of bitterness 
 was full, too full to hold, and it hath run over into 
 eternity. There wilt thou find the gall of life 
 converted into the sweets, the purest sweets of 
 immqrtal felipity. 
 
 c r 
 
3Q2 ^ASSIC TALES.-STSRNE. 
 
 9ii rot ^siifonc rfbtfe ^ I dgTo/f gW 
 
 as .gbsj, £ ^noi? ee Mg^Xfd - bn£ iri&l g 6 gsw 
 
 -, .hsbiV iOKICK. dyJifioioH 
 
 —The parson had made himself a country talk, 
 by a breach of all decorum, which he had com- 
 mitted against himself, his station, and his office ; 
 and that was in never appearing better, or other- 
 wise mounted, than upon a lean, sorry, jack -ass of 
 a horse, value about one pound fifteen shillings ; 
 who, to shorten all description of him, was full 
 brother to Rosinante, as far as similitude conge- 
 nial could make him ; for he answered his descrip- 
 tion to a hair's breadth in every thing — except 
 that I do not remember J tis any where said, that 
 Rosinante was broken-winded, and that, moreover, 
 Rosinante, as is the happiness of most Spanish 
 horses, fat or lean, was undoubtedly ^ horse at all 
 points. 
 
 I know very well that the hero's horse was a 
 horse of chaste deportment, which may have given 
 grounds for a contrary opinion : but it is certain 
 at the same time, that Rosinante's continency (as 
 may be demonstrated from the adventure of the 
 Yanguesian carriers) proceeded from no bodily de- 
 fect or cause whatsoever, but from the temperance 
 and orderly current of his blood; — and let me tell 
 you there is a great deal of very good chastity in 
 the world, in behalf of which you could not say 
 more for your life. f*u*w 
 
 I could not stifle this distinction in favoui^of 
 
 Don Quixote's horse ; in all other points the Vpar- 
 
 . ' .... 
 
CLASSIC TALES.— STERNE. SOS 
 
 son's horse, I say, was just such another, for he 
 was as lean and as lank, and as sorry a jade, as 
 Humility herself could have bestrided. 
 
 In the estimation of here and there a man of 
 weak judgment, it was greatly in the parson's 
 power to have helped the figure of this horse of 
 his, for he was master of a very handsome demi- 
 peaked saddle, quilted upon the seat with green 
 plush, garnished with a double row of silver headed 
 studs, and a noble pair of shining brass stirrups, 
 with a housing altogether suitable, of grey super- 
 fine cloth, with an edging of black lace, termi- 
 nating in a deep black silk fringe, poud 're d' 'or ; 
 all which he had purchased in the pride and prime 
 of his life, together with a grand embossed bridle, 
 ornamented at all points as it should be. But not 
 caring to banter his beast, he had hung all these 
 up behind his study door; and, in lieu of them, 
 had seriously befitted him with just such a bridle 
 and such a saddle as the figure and value of such 
 a steed might well and truly deserve. 
 
 In the several sallies about his parish, and in 
 the neighbouring visits to the gentry who lived 
 around him, you will easily comprehend that the 
 parson so appointed, would both hear and see 
 enough to keep his philosophy from rusting. To 
 speak the truth, he never could enter a village, but 
 he caught thcattention of both old and young — • 
 labour stood still as he passed-— the bucket hung 
 suspended in the middle of the well — the spinning 
 wheel forgot its round — even chuck-farthing and 
 shuffle-cap themselves stood gaping till he was out of 
 sight : and as his movement was not of the quick- 
 est, he had generally time enough on his hands to 
 c c 2 
 
3#4 $&&$& TALES. STERNE. 
 
 make his observations—to hear the groans *>f tfte 
 serious, and the laughter of the light hearted ; all 
 which he bore with excellent tranquillity. His 
 character was, he loved a jest in his heart, and as 
 ite saw himself in the true point of ridicule, he 
 would say, he could not be angry with others for 
 seeing him in a light in which he so strongly saw 
 himself : so that to his friends, who knew his foible 
 was not the love of money, and who therefore made 
 the less scruple in bantering the extravagance of 
 his humour, instead of giving the true cause, he 
 chose rather to join in the laugh against himself; and 
 as he never carried one single ounce of flesh upon 
 his own bones, being altogether as spare a figure 
 as his beast, he would sometimes insist upon it, 
 that the horse was as good as the rider deserved— 
 that they were centaurlike— both of a piece. At 
 other times, and in other moods^ when his spirits 
 were above the temptation of false wit, he would 
 say, he found himself going off fast in a consump- 
 tion : and with great gravity would pretend, he 
 could not bear the sight of a fat horse without a 
 dejection of heart, and a sensible alteration in his 
 pulse;; and that tie had made choice of the lean 
 one he rode upon, not only to keep himself in 
 countenance, but in spirits. 
 
 At different times he would give fifty humorous 
 and apposite reasons for riding a meek-spirited 
 jade of a broken- winded horse, preferable to one 
 of mettle ; for on such a one he could sit mecha- 
 nically, and meditate as delightfully de vxmita&e 
 mundi et fuga scecuH, as with the advantage of a 
 death's h§ad before him; that, in all other exer- 
 citations, he could spend his time, as he rode slow- 
 
CLASSIC TALES. STERNE. 30.5 
 
 'fytalong, to as much account as in his study; 
 tehatihe could draw up an argument in his sermon, 
 cJrla hole in his breeches, as steadily upon the one 
 as in the other; that brisk trotting and slow argu- 
 mentation, like wit and judgment, were two in- 
 compatible movements. But that, upon his steed, 
 he could unite and reconcile every thing — he 
 could compose his sermon— he could compose his 
 cough—and, in case nature gave a call that way, 
 he could likewise compose himself to sleep. In 
 short, the parson on such encounters would assign 
 any cause but the true cause ; and he withheld 
 the true one, only out of a nicety of temper, be- 
 cause he thought it did honour to him. " 
 
 But the truth of the story was as follows : In 
 the first years of this gentleman's life, and about 
 the time when the superb saddle and bridle were 
 purchased by him, it had been his manner, or 
 vanity, or call it what you will, to run into the 
 opposite extreme. In the language of the country 
 where he dwelt, he was said to have loved a good 
 horse, and generally had one of the best in the 
 whole parish standing in his stable always ready 
 ibr saddling ; and as the nearest midwife did not 
 live nearer to the village than seven miles, and in 
 a vile country, it so fell out that the poor gentle- 
 man was scarcely a whole week together without 
 some piteous application for his beast ; and as he 
 was not an unkind hearted man, and every case 
 was more pressing and more distressful than the 
 last— as much as he loved his beast, he had never 
 a heart to refuse him; the upshot of which was 
 generally this, that his horse was either clapped, 
 of spavined, orgreazed, or he was twitter-boned, or 
 c c 3 
 
$06 CLASSIC TALES. — STERNE, 
 
 broken-winded, or something, in short, or other had 
 befallen him, which would let him carry no flesh; 
 so that he had every nine or ten months a bad. 
 horse to get rid of, and a good horse to purchase 
 in his stead. 
 
 What the loss in such a balance might amount 
 to communibus amis, I would leave to a special 
 jury of sufferers in the same traffic to determine ; 
 but Jet it be what it would, the honest gentleman 
 bore it for many years without a murmur, till, at 
 length, by repeated ill accidents of the kind, he 
 found it necessary to take the thing under consi- 
 deration ; and on weighing the whole, and sum- 
 ming it up in his mind, he found it not only dis- 
 proportion^ to his other expences, but withal so 
 heavy an article in itself, as to disable him from 
 any other act>of generosity in his parish : besides 
 this, he considered that with half the sum thus 
 galloped away he could do ten times as much 
 good ; and what still weighed more with him than 
 all other considerations put together, was this, that 
 it confined all his charity into one particular chan- 
 nel, and where, as he fancied, it was the least 
 wanted, namely, to the child-bearing and child* 
 getting part of his parish ; reserving nothing for 
 the impotent-r— nothing for the aged — nothing for 
 the many comfortless scenes he was hourly called 
 forth to visit, where poverty, and sickness, and 
 affliction dwelt together. 
 jFor these reasons he resolved to discontinue the 
 expence ; and there appeared but two possible ways 
 to extricate him clearly out of it ; and these were 
 either to make it an irrevocable law never more to 
 lend his steed on any application whatever, or 
 
 x* nibm sold hm& 
 
CLASSIC TALES. STERNE. 507 
 
 else to be content to ride the last poor devil, such 
 as they had made him, with all his aches and in- 
 firmities, to the very end of the chapter. 
 
 As he dreaded his own constancy in the first, 
 he very cheerfully betook himself to the second ; 
 and though he could very well have explained it, 
 as I said, to his honour, yet for that very reason 
 he had a spirit above it ; chusing rather to bear 
 the contempt of his enemies, and the laughter of 
 his friends, than undergo the pain of telling a 
 story, which might seem a panegyric on himself. 
 
 I have the highest idea of the spiritual and re- 
 fined sentiments of this reverend gentleman, from 
 this single stroke in his character, which I think 
 comes up to any of the honest refinements of the 
 peerless knight of La Mancha, whom, by the bye, 
 with all his follies, I love more, and would actually 
 have gone farther to have paid a visit to, than the 
 greatest hero of antiquity. 
 
 But this is sot the moral of my story : the thing 
 I had in view was to shew the temper of the world 
 in the whole of this affair. For you must know, 
 that so long as this explanation would have done 
 the parson credit, the devil a soul could find it out; 
 I suppose his enemies would not, and that his 
 friends could not. But no sooner did he bestir 
 himself in behalf of a midwife, to dwell in the vil- 
 lage, and pay the expences of the ordinary's 
 licence to set her up, but the whole secret came 
 out; every horse he had lost, and two horses more 
 than ever he had lost, with all the circumstances 
 of their destruction, were known and distinctly re- 
 membered. — The story ran like Wild-fire— The 
 parson had a returning fit of pride which had just 
 seized him, and he was going to be well mounted 
 
SOS CLASSIC TALES.— STETiNE. 
 
 once again in his life; and if it were so, %%i 
 plain as the sun at noon-day, he would pocket the 
 expence of the licence ten times told the very first 
 year : so that every body was left to judge what 
 were his views in this act of charity. 
 
 What were his views in this, and in every other 
 action of his life, or rather what were the opinions 
 which floated in the brains of other people con- 
 cerning it, was a thought which too much floated 
 in his own, and too often broke in on his rest, 
 when he should have been sound asleep. 
 
 About ten years ago this gentleman had the 
 good fortune to be made entirely easy on that 
 score, — it being just so long since he left his pa- 
 rish, — and the whole world at the same time be- 
 hind him- — and stands accountable to a judge of 
 whom he will have no cause to complain. 
 
 But there is a fatality attends the actions of 
 some men : order them as they will, they pass 
 through a certain medium, which so twists and 
 refracts them from their true directions, that, with 
 all the titles to praise which a rectitude of heart 
 can give, the doers of them are nevertheless forced 
 to live and die without it. 
 
 He was as mercurial and sublimated a composi- 
 tion, as heteroclite a creature in all his declensions, 
 with as muoli life and whim, and gaiete de cceur 
 about him, as the kindliest climate could have en- 
 gendered and put together. With all this sail, 
 poor Yorick carried not one ounce of ballast ; he 
 was utterly unpractised in the world ; and at the 
 age of twenty-six knew just about as well how to 
 steer his course in it as a romping unsuspicious 
 girl of thirteen: so that on his first setting out, 
 the brisk gale of his spirits, as you will imagine, 
 
CLASSIC TALES*— -STEKNE. 30£ 
 
 ran him foul ten times in a. day of somebody's 
 tackling; and. as the grave and more slow-paced 
 were oftenestin his way, — you may likewise kna* 
 girie 'twas with such he had generally the ill luck 
 to become the most entangled. For aught I know, 
 there might be some mixture of unlucky wit at 
 the bottom of such fracas. — For, to speak the 
 truth, Yorick had an invincible dislike and op- 
 position in his nature to gravity ;-^-not to gravity 
 as such — for where gravity was wanted, he would 
 be the most grave and serious of mortal men for 
 days and weeks together ; but he was an enemy 
 to the affectation' of it, and declared open war 
 against it, only as it appeared a cloak for igno- 
 rance, or for folly : and then, whenever it fell in 
 his way, however sheltered and protected, he 
 seldom gave it much quarter. 
 
 Sometimes, in his wild way of talking, he 
 would say, that gravity was an arrant scoundrel \ 
 and he would add — of the most dangerous kind 
 too, — because a sly one ; and that he verily be- 
 lieved more honest well-meaning people were 
 bubbled out of their goods and money by it in one 
 twelvemonth, than by pocket picking and shoplift- 
 ing in seven. In the naked temper which a merry 
 heart discovered, he would say, there was nodanger 
 — but to itself: — whereas the very essence of gra- 
 vity was design, and consequently deceit: — 'twas 
 a taught trick, to gain credit of the world for more 
 sense and knowledge than a man was worth ; and 
 that with all its pretensions, it was no better, but 
 often worse, than what a French wit had long ago 
 defined it, viz. A mysterious carriage of the body to 
 cover tlie defects of the mind /—which definition of 
 
 <*nis£oii IBw uoy m t sfhiqa &*6 9flJ 
 
3ib CLASSIC TAtfcS^-ST EftNk 
 
 gravity, Yorick, with great imprt$fcitee^*v<H*ld 
 say, ^esjerved to be written in letters of gold. 
 
 But, in plain truth, he was a man unhacknied 
 and unpractised in the world, and was altogether 
 as indiscreet and foolish on every other subject of 
 discourse, where policy is wont to repress re- 
 straint. Yorick had no impression but one, and 
 iliat Was what arose from the nature of the deed 
 spoken of; which impression he would usually 
 translate into plain English without any periphra- 
 sis, and too oft without much distinction of either 
 personage, time, or place ? — so that when men- 
 tion was made of a pitiful or ungenerous proceed- 
 ing, "he never gave himself a moment's time to 
 reflect who was the hero of the piece, what his 
 station, or how far he had power to hurt him here- 
 after ; but if it were a dirty action — without more 
 ado— the man was a dirty fellow, and so on. 
 \nd as his comments had usually the ill fate to 
 e terminated either in a bon mot, or to be enli- 
 vened throughout with some drollery or humour 
 of expression, it gave wings to Yorick's indiscre- 
 tiori. In a word, though he never sought, yet at 
 the same time, as he seldom shunned occasions of 
 saying what came uppermost, and- without much 
 ceremony, he had but too many temptations in 
 life, of scattering his wit and his humour, his 
 gibes ^ind his jests about him.*— They were not 
 lost for want of gathering. 
 
 , What were the consequences, and what^was 
 Yorick's catastrophe thereupon, you will read as 
 follows: 
 
 Th6 mortgager and the mortgagee difftotiie 
 one from the other, hot more in length of purs*, 
 
than the jester and jestee do in that of memory. 
 But M this the comparison between thein runs, as 
 the scholiasts call it, upon all four; wfeich, by 
 tbi. by/ is upon one or two legs more than some 
 krfitBe best of Homer's can pretend to ; namely, 
 i&at the one raises a sum and the other a laugh 
 at your expence, and think no more about it. 
 Interest, however, still runs on in both cases ;■ — 
 the periodical or accidental payments of it just 
 serving to keep the memory of the affair alive; 
 till at length, in some evil hour, pop comes the 
 creditor on each, and by demanding principal on 
 the spot, together with full interest to the very 
 day, makes them both feel the full extent of their 
 obligations. 
 
 As the reader (for I hate your if a J has a tho- 
 rough knowledge of human nature, I °^d not 
 say more to satisfy him, than my hero could not 
 go on at this rate, without some slight experi- 
 ence of these incidental mementos. To speak 
 the truth, he had wantonly involved himself in a 
 multitude of small book debts of this stamp, which, 
 notwithstanding Eugenio's frequent advice, he too 
 much disregarded : thinking, that as not one of 
 them was contracted through any malignancy, 
 but, on the contrary, from an honesty of mind, 
 and a mere jocundity of humour, they would all 
 ©£ them be crossed out in course. 
 
 Eugenius would never admit this, and would 
 often tell him that one day or other he would cer- 
 tainly be reckoned with ; and he would often add 
 in an accent of sorrowful apprehension — to the 
 riitte^most mite. To which Yorick, with his usual 
 ncajpejefcsness of heart, would as often answer with 
 
312 CLASSIC TALES.: — STERNE. 
 
 a pshaw!— and if the subject were started in the* 
 fields, with a hop, skip, and a jump, at the end 
 of it; but if close pent' up in the social chimney- 
 corner, where the culprit was barricadoed in with 
 a table, a couple of arm-chairs, and could not so 
 readily fly off in a tangent, — Eugenius would 
 then go on with his lecture on discretion, in words 
 to this purpose, though somewhat better put to- 
 gether. Trust me, dear Yorick, this, unwary 
 pleasantry of thine will, sooner or later, bring 
 thee into scrapes and difficulties, which no after- 
 wit can extricate thee out of. — In these sallies, too 
 oft, I see it happens, that a person laughed at, 
 considers himself in the light of a person injured, 
 with all the rights of such a situation belonging 
 to him ; and when thou viewest him in that light 
 too, and reckonest up his friends, his family, his 
 kindred, his allies, — -and musterest up with them 
 the many recruits which will list under him from 
 a sense of common danger, — 'tis no extravagant 
 arithmetic to say, that for every, ten jokes thou 
 hast made an hundred enemies ; and till thou hast 
 gone on, and raised a swarm of wasps about thy 
 ears, and art half stung to death by them, thou 
 wilt never be convinced it is so. 
 
 I cannot suspect it in the man whom I esteem, 
 that there is the least spur from spleen or male- 
 volence of intent in these sallies,— I believe and 
 know them to be truly honest and sportive: — but 
 consider, my dear lad, that fools cannot distin- 
 guish this, and that knaves will not ; and thou 
 knowest not what it is, either to provoke the one 
 or to make merry with the other: — whenever 
 they associate for mutual defence, depend upon 
 
CLASSIC TALES. STERNE. 313 
 
 it, they will carry on the war in such a manner 
 against thee, my dear friend, as to make thee 
 heartily sick of it, and of thy life too. 
 
 Revenge from some baneful corner shall level a 
 tale of dishonour at thee, which no innocence of 
 heart or integrity of conduct shall set right. The 
 fortunes of thy house shall totter ; thy character, 
 which led the way to them> shall bleed on every 
 side of it; — thy faith questioned, thy works be- 
 lied, thy wit forgotten, thy learning trampled 
 on. To wind up the last scene of thy tragedy, 
 Cruelty and Cowardice, twin ruffians, hired and 
 set on by Malice in the dark, shall strike together 
 at all thy infirmities and mistakes : — the best of 
 us, my dear lad, lie open there; — and trust me, 
 trust me, Yorick, when to gratify a private appetite 
 it is once- resolved on, that an innocent and an help- 
 less creature shall be sacrificed, 'tis an easy matter to 
 pick up sticks enow from any thicket where it has 
 strayed, to make afire to offer it up with. 
 
 Yorick scarcely ever heard this sad vaticination 
 of his destiny read over to him, but with a tear 
 stealing from his eye, and a promissory look at- 
 tending it, that he was resolved for the time to 
 come, to ride his tit with more sobriety. But, 
 alas ! toe late :— -a grand confederacy, with ***** 
 and ***** at the head of it, w T as formed before 
 the first prediction of it. The whole plan of the 
 attack, just as Eugenius had foreboded, was put 
 in execution all at once, — with so little mercy on 
 the side of the allies, and so little suspicion in 
 Yorick of what was carrying on against him, that 
 when he thought, good easy man ! full surely 
 preferment was o'ripening, they had smote his 
 Dd 
 
£ 1 1 mm*-2te$$i?rmm' 
 
 ^Mft^ffmltimd bid abiioY— \sbdi iol ob 
 Yorick, however, fought it out with: all ima^ 
 ginaple gallantry for some time ; till,, oyerf 6^ejc r 
 fli<by* numbers, and worn out at length by the 
 calamities of the war,— but more so by ihe un- 
 generous manner in which it was carried on ? — he 
 threw down the sword £ and though he kept up 
 his, spirits in appearance to the last, he died, ne- 
 weHbelegs, as was generally thought, quite broken 
 hearted* 
 
 What inclined Eugenius to the same opinion 
 was as follows ; 
 
 A few hours before Yorick breathed his last, 
 Eugenius stept in, with an intent to take his last 
 sight and last farewel of him. On his drawing 
 Yorick' s curtain, and asking how he felt himself, 
 Yorick, looking up in his face, took hold of his 
 hand,— and after thanking him for the many 
 tokens of his friendship to him, for which, lie 
 said* if it were their fate to meet hereafter* he 
 would thank him again and again ; he told Wm, 
 he was within a few hours of giving Jiif, enemies 
 the slip for ever. — I hope not, answered Eugenius, 
 with tears trickling down his cheeks* and vvith 
 the tenderest tone that ever man spok%5| hope 
 not, Yorick, said he. — Yorick replied with, a 
 lookup, and a gentle squeeze of Eugenius's hand, 
 and that was all,— but it cut Eugenius tojus^he^t. 
 ^•Come, come, Yorick> quoth Eugenius* wiping 
 bisjeyes, and summoningup the, man within fe?> 
 my dear * lad, be comforted ; let not al| thy ,$p$its 
 and fortitude forsake thee at>thi& crisis .wfen, $hpu 
 ..most ^**est;th^ 
 b&usqo luvsfi bafi—msrf# baaob md$ axl— ioob 
 
WilWi ■jfliilflT ittMMP $ib 
 
 do for thee! — Yorick laid his hand upon his heart; 
 ^Sidgeritly shook his head. For my part/ conti- 
 nued Eugehius; crying bitterly as he uttered the 
 words, I declare, I know riot, Yorick, how to part 
 with thee; and would gladly flatter my hopes, 
 added Eugenius, cheering up his voicey that there 
 is still enough left of thee to make a Mshop/^-arid 
 that I may live to see it.^I beseech thee, Euge- 
 nius, quoth Yorick, taking off his night-ea^'as 
 well as he could with his left hand, his right 
 being still grasped close in that of Eugenius— I 
 beseech thee to take a view of my head. — I see 
 nothing that ails it, replied Eugenius. Then, alas! 
 my friend, said Yorick, let me tell you, that it is 
 go bruised and misshapened with the blows which 
 have been so unhandsomely given me in the dark, 
 that I might say with Sancho Panca, that should 
 I recover, and " mites thereupon be suffered to 
 rain down from heaven as thick as hail, not one 
 of them would fit it." Yorick's last breath was 
 hanging upon his trembling lips, ready to depart 
 as he uttered this ; yet still it was uttered with 
 someiMftg of a Cervantic tone ; and as he spoke 
 it, Etfgenius could perceive a stream of lambent 
 fire lighted up for a moment in his eyes; faint 
 picture faff those flashes of his spirit, which (as 
 Shakespeare said of his ancestor) were Wont to 
 ^er the 1 table in a roar ! 3 *i *«<* — , ; 
 
 Eugenius was convinced from this, that the 
 Mhrfc of his friend was broken ; he squeezed his 
 hand, and then Walked softly out of the room, 
 -w%e^ig as h6 Walked, rtdi&burmk afc 
 
 Yorick fotlowed Eugenius with his eyes to the 
 door— he then closed them — and never opened 
 
316 CLASSIC TALES. STERNE; 
 
 them more. He lies buried in a corner of his 
 church-ryard,, under a plain marble slab, which his 
 friend Eugenius, by leave of his executors, laid 
 upon his grave, with no more than these three 
 words of inscription, serving both for his epitaph 
 and elegy — 
 
 ALAS ! 
 
 P00R * .HTflOWBaraWAJ, 
 
 YORICK ! 
 
 Ten times a day has Yorick's ghost the conso- 
 lation of hearing his monumental inscription read 
 over with such a variety of plaintive tones, as 
 denote a general pity and esteem for him;— a 
 foot- way crossing the church-yard close by the 
 side of his grave,— not a passenger goes by with- 
 out stopping to cast a look on it, and sighing as he 
 walks on, 
 
 Alas, poor Yorick ! 
 
 snxseR 
 
 frNis. 
 
 
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 HAWKESWORTH. Page 
 
 FlaviUa 1 
 
 AlmerineandShelimah - - - 25 
 
 bfJ91 fiOJ^iji J 
 
 avk Amurath -. - 3S 
 
 Almoran and Hamet - - - - 60 
 
 °P sill0us 185 
 
 Agamus 208 
 
 Mr. Friendly ------ 237 
 
 Hassan -------- 245 
 
 Carazan -------- 252 
 
 Some Aocount of the Admirable 
 
 Crighton 257 
 
 STERNE. 
 
 Critical Essay on his Writings and 
 
 Genius ------- 265 
 
 LeFevre -------- 283 
 
 Maria - - - - - - - - 295 
 
 Yorick -------- 302 
 
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 ifq/illSB'fiJ < J 
 
 
THE EXAMINER, 
 
 A NEW SUNDAY PAPER, PRICE 7|d. 
 
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THIS DAY IS PUBLISHED, 
 
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 ON THE 
 
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