times predominate over his reafon; and every fuch tyranny of fancy is a temporary degree of infanity. He who delights in filent speculation, often indulges, without restraint, the airy visions of the soul, and expatiates in boundless futurity; amusing his defires with impoffible enjoyments, and conferring upon his pride unattainable dominion. In time, fome particular train of ideas abforb the attention; the mind recurs conftantly, in wearinefs or leasure, to the favourite conception; and the fway of fancy becomes defpotic. Delufions then operate as realities; falfe opinions engross the understanding; and life paffes in dreams of pleasure or of mifery.

An Egyptian aftronomer, who had spent forty years in unwearied attention to the motions and appearances of the heavenly bodies, conceived that he was invested with the power of regulating the weather, and varying the feasons. The fun, he thought, obeyed his mandates, and paffed from tropic to tropic by his direction. G 3

The

The clouds burft at his call on the fouthern mountains; and the inundations of the Nile were governed by his will. He mitigated the rage of the Dog star; reftrained the equinoctial tempefts; and difpensed rain and fun-fhine to the feveral nations of the earth.* Such power, though imaginary, was too extenfive for the feebleness of man; and the astronomer funk under the burthens of an office, which he laboured to adminifter with impartial justice, and univerfal benevolence. The difcordant claims of different regions and climates; and the opposite requifitions of the various fruits of the ground in the fame diftrict, haraffed his mind with in

* So far is borrowed, with confiderable variations, from Raffelas, Prince of Abyffinia, a novel written by Dr. Samuel Johnfon. The original affords a ftriking picture of literary infanity; but the imaginary powers, of the aftronomer, over the universe, are confined to the diftribution of rain and fun-fhine. He is reprefented alfo as equal, in his own idea, to the government of nature; and anxious only for a proper fucceffor. I have given a different turn to the narration, with a view to convey more important inftruction to the mind.

ceffant

ceffant care, fufpenfe, and perplexity. If he suffered the clouds to pour down their treasures on the thirsty defarts of Arabia, impetuous torrents overwhelmed the fertile plains of Baffora: And when he sent forth a storm, to sweep away the peftilential Samiel, which carried death and defolation in its progress, a fleet, laden with the richest merchandise, was fhipwrecked in the gulf of Ormus. The fervid beams of the fun, whilft they matured the luscious grape of Smyrna, destroyed the harvest of corn, and fcorched the herbage of the fields. The philofopher thought he could perhaps remedy these evils, by turning afide the axis of the earth, and varying the ecliptic of the fun. But he found it im

* The Samiel is a fudden vapour, to which travellers are expofed in the defarts of Arabia, in the months of June, July, and Auguft. It brings inftantaneous death to every man or beast that happens to ftand in the way of it. This peftiferous guft quickly paffes, and does not extend itself far; but runs, as it were, in ftreams of no great breadth.

poffible to make a change of position, by which the world could be advantaged: And he dreaded the injury, which he might occafion, to distant and unknown parts of the folar fyftem. Oppreffed with anxiety, he earnestly folicited the great Governor of the universe to diveft him of the painful pre-eminence, with which he was honoured. "Father of light," he cried, "thy omnipotent hand, and all-feeing eye, are alone equal to the mighty empire of this globe. The vast operations of nature exceed my finite comprehenfion; and I now feel, with reverence and humility, that to difpenfe good and evil in all thofe varied combinations, which conftitute the harmonious fyftem on which the general happinefs depends, nothing lefs can be required then unerring wifdom, fpotlefs rectitude, and fovereign power,'

"

The Deity listened with indulgence to a prayer which flowed from a fincere and pious heart: In the folly of the astronomer he saw and pitied the weakness of human nature; and by ftrengthening the present conviction

conviction of mind, he graciously removed the infanity under which he laboured.

THE CHARACTER OF THE MERCHANT

Yo

HONOURABLE.

ou live in a mercantile country, my fon, and I wish you to think respectfully of the character of a merchant. Hear the sentiments of the firft genius of the age on this subject. "In France," fays Voltaire," the title of Marquis is given to any one who will accept of it; and whoever arrives at Paris, from the most remote province, with money in his purfe, and a name terminating in ac or ille, may strut about, and cry, Such a man as I! a man of my rank and figure! and may look down upon a trader with fovereign contempt; whilft the trader, on the other fide, by thus often hearing his profeffion treated fo difdainfully, is fool enough to blush at it. However, I need not fay