Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub

remain in fafety till the following day; " and then," continued fhe, "if they fhew any inclination to fly off, they may eafily be fixed, by beating the frying-pans, as they do to a fwarm of bees.

This hint from Mifs Ardent, re-kindled the expiring flame of hope in the breasts of the philofophers.--Next morning, which proved a very rainy one, word was brought, that a number of the fugitives were feen in a hawthorn-tree, at the bottom of the lawn-thither the philofophers inftantly repaired, each armed with fome culinary inftrument, which, as foon as they reached the place, they began to beat, in fuch a manner as might have arrefted the Sun in the entrance of the jaws of the Crocodile!

Loft was the labour of the philofophers! who, in this inftance, exerted their talents in vain. Inftead of gathering together in a cluster, as was expected, no fooner did the difcordant founds from the inftruments of the philofophers reach the hearing of the fparrows, than away they flew to another tree. Thither they were again purfued, but ftill the more noife that was made, the lefs did the fparrows feem inclined to liften. The mafter of the bees, declared, that he had never feen a fwarm fo unmanageable!

Wet, and wearied, Sir Caprice and his learned guests, at length returned into the house. Mifs Ardent, and Mr. Axiom, thought it a good opportunity to laugh at the fyftem of the young philofopher; who, on his part, defended the infallibility of his Idol, by declaring, that the experiment had not been fully made :-that the habits of old fparrows were not easily conquered ;-but that young ones, young birds of any kind, he was ftill convinced, if taken before their habits were fufficiently formed, would be found to obey the neceffity of exifting circumftances, exactly as did the little ufeful infects, of whofe instinctive fagacity, ignorance had faid fo much.

or

The hint was not loft upon the Baronet. A reward for nestlings, of every defcription, was again offered: and again attended with the wifhed-for fuccefs.Ah! how many loving pairs among the feathered tribes, were, for the fake of this experiment, bereft of their infant families! The groves refounded with the plaints of woe! But little pain did the forrows of the mourners give to the heart of the young fyftemift. By his advice, the little birds, after having had their bills rubbed with honey, were fhut up in the hive, with a portion of the fame sweet food, for their fubfif

tance.

On the evening of the third day, which was the conclufion of their deftined term of probation, the entrance to the hive was opened, but not a bird came forth; every method was taken to entice them abroad -but in vain. At length, by the affiftance of the fervants, their habitation was fo far raised, as to enable the philofophers to take a peep within. Sight of horrors! and fmell, ftill worfe than the fight! The lifeless corpfes of the three hundred half-fledged neftlings lay at the bottom of their hive, in a promifcuous heap"They have effectually fwarmed at last!" faid Mr. Axiom.-Neither the Baronet, nor the young philofopher, ftaid to make any remark-but every one putting his fingers to his nofe-impelled by the neceffity of exifting circumftances, hurried from

the difmal fcene."

Such, Maandaara, are the illufive phan-toms which the all pervading fpirit, the fovereign Maya, prefents to the perception of metaphyfical Philofophers!

May Ganefa, averting calamity, preferve to thee the use of thy fenfes! And may the poojah performed for thy friend, by the holy Bramins of Almora, preferve his mind from the contamination of fyftems! What can I say more?

LETTER XVII.

My time, for these two past days, has been occupied in a manner, that, I hope, will give pleasure to Maandaara.

I have been engaged in tranflating for your perufal, the greateft part of a very long epiftle, with which Doctor Severan has had the goodness to favour his unworthy fervant.

According to previous agreement, I tranfmitted to him, all that I had written to you fince my arrival at Ardent-Hall; intreating him to favour me with fuch frictures upon it, as he thought might be neceffary, towards giving me more juft ideas upon the fubjects of which I had treated.

In his obfervations, the Doctor does not follow me through the particular fyftems of the philofophers; but speaks, in general terms, of the effects produced, by what he calls Scepticifm; which, according to the great English Cofha, is the art of doubting. But you fhall have it, as nearly as the different idioms of the two languages will permit, in his own words. After opening his letter with the ufual exordium, he thus proceeds:

[ocr errors]

Knowing the ardour with which you purfue knowledge, and the strong inclination that impels you to investigate the caufes of the different phenomena which prefent themselves to your obfervation, cheerfully comply with I your request.

"The hiftory of Literature is intimately connected with the revolutions of Empires; and among all the rude ftorms which have affailed it, in none did it fuffer more, than in that which it endured, together with the government, of ancient Rome. Literature was, by this event, effectually driven from thofe countries where it had formerly flourished; and, during a long period (emphatically diftinguished by our hiftorians, by the epithet of dark) learning was almost completely obliterated. In this æra of ignorance, fuperftition established her gloomy reign; and when the attention of men was once more turned to literary purfuits, the objects they had to furmount were new and numerous, and of a nature not very eafily to be fubdued.

"Inftead of that free communication, which had formerly been permitted to men, they were now fettered by the tyrannical edicts of Kings and Priests; the invefligation of truth being equally

« EdellinenJatka »