THE PROJECTOR. N° 41. Though only few possess Patrician treasures, or imperial state; Will deign to use them. His the city's pomp, The princely dome, the column, and the arch, AKENSIDE. February 1805. IN IN perusing the lucubrations of a Projector who flourished about the beginning of the last century, which were lent to me a few days ago by a friend, I had occasion to remark the slow progress we Projectors make in a long course of time towards any amelioration of our condition, or any advancement of our reputation with the world. It may be observed indeed that, in all ages, our state of worldly prosperity has been nearly the same, and that very little alteration is perceivable either in our wardrobe or our trea sury, from the days of queen Anne to those of king George III. This then would be poor encouragement to persist in our callings, or to propagate the breed of Projectors, had not we some secret store in reserve, some private source of consolation, of which we cannot be robbed by others, and which cannot easily be diminished by ourselves. And this appears, from the lucubration which I have just read, to be that wonderful faculty which Projectors possess of drawing upon the Imagination to supply the deficiencies of house and land.” Of this faculty I have been throughout life so sensible of the benefits, that I may truly say I owe to it, if not all, yet very much of that philosophy which enables me to go through the world without the aid of riches and honours; and that placid temper with which I can endure with composure those circumstances of privation and disappointment that would excite grief and despair in other men. The Pleasures of the Imagination are indeed such excellent substitutes for what the world usually sets. its heart upon, that the man who can enter keenly into the train of thoughts which Imagination inspires, has less cause for envy than any human being in existence. There is nothing, however great and distant, but what Imagination can bring near and supply; and it has many advantages above all other sources of wealth. I I may mention one, which I think will recommend it even to the avaricious, and certainly to the industrious; and that is, we may draw upon it by night as well as by day. No fountain of wealth, property, or happiness, can boast of this fullness and convenience of access; and hence it is that Projectors are so frequently known to pass those hours in the enjoyment of supreme delights, which other men lose in a suspension, if I may so speak, of existence itself. Hence also it is, that Projectors are more desirous of sleep than most other men, because the relief and the pleasures it affords are more peculiarly suited to the circumstances of men who have but a small share of the day-light concerns of the world. Hence too, in some of their plans and schemes for the good of mankind, we are enabled to discover very little difference between their sleeping and waking thoughts, or to ascertain whether they are the productions of the desk or the pillow. Now, I would have my readers attend to these remarks on the uses of the night-season. On account of this subject having been neglected, very many mistakes have been and gross made, and are daily making, in estimating the ages of men. It is generally thought, if we know the year in which a man was born, and the year in which he died, we have nothing more to do but subtract the former from the lat ter in order to obtain his age. But no process can be more fallacious. It is a mean sacrifice of philosophical reasoning to arithmetical calculation. It is immolating the wisdom of Bacon, and Boyle, and Newton, at the shrine of Cocker, and Dilworth, and Fenning. The true way to ascertain how long a man has lived, is to reckon how long he has slept, as well as waked; and if we take our estimate in this way, we shall, I am afraid, discover many reputed old men who have been cut off in their prime, and some young persons who have died of old age. But I must quit this digression, which I thought very necessary to be introduced in this place; and return to my immediate subject. So extensive are the means, and so great the exertions of him who can draw on his Imagination, that the world has not been content with supposing him capable of constructing a cottage, or a country-house, but has even attributed to him the honour of building castles, a species of architecture so long disused in this island, that we can contemplate what it was only by the imperfect light which some splendid ruins afford us. It is true, indeed, they tell us, that we Projectors build our castles in the air, and they think they have offered an objection both witty and decisive. But, for my own part, I cannot admit it as a fair objection; it appears to me an unreasonable sneer, since, in every species of architecture, it is a maxim of incontestable authority, that the foundation should correspond with the superstructure; and this is no more than what we propose in constructing those splendid edifices which constitute much of the happiness of our lives. Some writers, who affect to despise the race of Projectors, have instituted comparisons between real and imaginary happiness; but their distinctions are so subtle as to elude our grasp, and, I suspect, are not very well calculated to suit the understandings of those who are more ardently engaged in the pursuit of what they call happiness. When, however, they descend to particulars, it is plain that all the difference, in point of utility and safety, is clearly on the side of imagination. Crede quod habes, et habes. What, for example, is it to me whose park I walk in, or whose canal I sail upon, when I have all the enjoyment which the park |