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the scenes I had left, in preference to the actual objects before me-a sort of longing for the indolent life I had been leading; but this mood of the mind soon wore off, and was succeeded by a tone of vigour and vivacity, which, I hope, will be more per

manent.

Farewell.

F. R.

LETTER XI.

Apathy to the usual Pursuits and Pleasures of Life-Character of Rodney-Description of the State and Progress of his Feelings-Too keen an Insight into the Illusions of the World not favourable to Happiness-Contrast of a Man of Enthusiastic Temperament.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

In the course of your life you have, I dare say, come in contact with characters who seem to be devoid of interest in the affairs of the world; destitute of passion; dead to the animating pursuits of business or ambition; and possessing a remarkable propensity to divest objects of the colours which are thrown around them by ordinary imaginations.

Such a man is my neighbour Rodney, whom I have lately had the good fortune to add to my catalogue of friends. A few days ago we were together at a convivial entertainment. I had several times met with him in society, and had at once felt that I was in the presence of a man

of no common mind. In conversation he was not loquacious, but he talked well: what he said was expressed with singular clearness, and he succeeded in placing the understandings of his hearers precisely on the eminence from which he himself was viewing the subject. The conversation of our convivial party was far from being of an intellectual character: it was a mixture of the worldly and the sensual, and Rodney had scarcely opened his lips. Late in the evening he and myself quitted the house together. "What a farce is life and all its pleasures," he exclaimed as we left the door of our host: " what purpose, what beneficial end is accomplished by meeting together to eat and drink till nature is oppressed or the spirits become boisterous? Oh! for some object worthy of existence, some pleasures deserving the name, something to rescue life from insipidity and disgust!"

During this exclamation we were walking along the streets of W——. It was late, and they were nearly deserted and silent, except that the quick footsteps of an occasional passenger and the noise of nocturnal revelry from some of the taverns now and then broke on the

ear. The moon was in the meridian, the sky cloudless, and the atmosphere calm. On the bridge that led from the town we paused to look at the scene and to listen to the flow of the current. All was tranquil; the freshness of the air was grateful to the feverish state of men just risen from the convivial board, and the beauty of the night soothed us into calmness of feeling. "I never feel my own weakness or the vanity of human life more," said Rodney, breaking the silence into which we both had fallen, "than when I look at that glorious moon and those myriads of resplendent stars. I feel myself, while I gaze on those eternal bodies, a mere bubble on the stream of time, floating along for a period, but soon to disappear. What permanent connection have I with this goodly earth and yon splendid heavens ? When I turn from these to men and their habitations, what vanity, what folly, what meanness appears in their pursuits. The thousands of human beings who are now sleeping unconscious in the town which we have just quitted, will rise to-morrow and enter with eagerness on their several careers, as if they were straining after some object which was to confer im

mortal happiness; and yet what do all their efforts amount to? In what do they all terminate? In securing a few animal gratifications, or a few fugitive smiles and transient acclamations from those around them. And what an ardour and bustle in attaining these trivial ends, these transitory enjoyments. What an immensity of hope and zeal and agitation! What anger and resentment, what hypocrisy, dishonesty, and falsehood! I view these things sometimes with loathing, sometimes with indifference; but can any thing be more wretched than the destiny of mankind hurrying them headlong after trifles not worthy of a moment's rational attention ?"

"You appear," I replied, "to have a morbidly acute perception of the evils of the world and of the weaknesses and vices of human nature. Surely, many human pursuits are noble and elevating, and productive of real happiness. It is, you must allow, no enviable state of mind to look with indifference, or even distaste, on the common engagements of men."

"In that remark," he rejoined, "I entirely coincide with you. I look upon it as a real misfortune to have this perspicacity of what is

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