clear, but of a yet more wonderful effect; the other's name was Worldly-wisdom, its water was thick and yet far from dormant 2 or stagnating, for it was in a continual violent agitation, which kept the travellers, whom I shall mention by-and-by, from being sensible of the foulness and thickness of the water; which had this effect that it intoxicated those who drank it, and made them mistake every object, that lay before them: both rivulets were parted near their spring into as many others, as there were straight and crooked paths, which they attended all along to their respective issues. 3 I observed from the several paths, many travellers now and then diverge, to refresh and otherwise qualify themselves for their journey, to the respective rivulets which ran near them; they contracted a very observable courage and steadiness in what they were about, by At the end of the perspective 3 drinking these waters. of every straight path, all of which did end in one issue and point, appeared a high pillar, all of diamond, casting rays as bright as those of the sun into the paths; which rays had also certain sympathising and alluring virtues in them, so that whosoever had made some considerable progress in his journey towards the pillar, by the repeated impression of these rays upon him, was wrought into an habitual inclination and attraction of his sight towards it; so that it grew at last in a manner natural to him, to look and gaze upon it, whereby he was kept steady in the straight paths, which alone led to that radiant body, the beholding of which, was now grown a gratification to his nature. At the issue of the crooked paths there was a great black tower, out of the centre of which streamed a long succession of flames, which did rise even above the clouds; it gave a very great light to the whole plain, and did sometimes outshine the light and oppress the beams of the adamantine pillar, though by the observation I made afterwards, it appeared that it was not any real diminution of light, but because the travellers would sometimes step out of the straight paths, when they lost the full prospect of the radiant pillar, and saw it but side-ways, while the great light from the black tower, which was somehow particularly scorching to them, would generally light and hasten them to their proper climate again. Round about the black tower there were, methought, many thousands of huge, misshapen, ugly monsters; these had great nets which they were perpetually plying and casting towards the crooked paths, and they would now and then catch up those that were nearest to them; these they took up straight, and whirled over the walls into the flaming tower, and they were no more seen or heard of. They would sometimes cast their nets towards the right paths to catch the stragglers, whose eyes, for want of frequent drinking at the brook that ran by them, grew dim, whereby they lost their way; these would sometimes very narrowly miss being caught away, but I could not hear whether any of these had ever been so unfortunate, who had before walked heartily in the straight paths. I considered all these strange sights with great attention, until at last I was interrupted by a group of the travellers in the crooked paths, who came up to me, bid me go along with them, and presently fell to singing and dancing; they took me by the hand, and so carried me away along with them. After I had followed them a considerable while, I perceived I had lost the black tower of light; at which I greatly wondered; but as I looked and gazed round about me and saw nothing, I began to fancy my first vision had been but a dream, and there was no such thing in reality; but then I considered that if I could, in fancy, see what was not, I might as well have an illusion wrought on me at present, and not see what was really before me. I was very much confirmed in this thought by the effect I then just observed the water of Worldly-wisdom had upon me; for as I had drunk a little of it again, I felt a very sensible effect in my head; methought it distracted and disordered all there; this made me stop on a sudden, suspecting some charm or enchantment. As I was casting about within myself what I should do, and whom to apply to in this case, I spied at some distance from me, a man beckoning, and making signs to me to come over to him. I cried to him, "I do not know the way." He then called to me audibly, to step at least out of the path I was in, for if I stayed there any longer I was in danger of being caught in a great net, that was just hanging over me and ready to fall; that he wondered I was so blind or so distracted, as not to see so imminent 5 and visible a danger; assuring me that as soon as I was out of the way, he would come to me and lead me into a more secure path. This I did, and he brought me his palm full of the water of Heavenly-wisdom, which was of very great use to me, for my eyes were straight cleared, and I saw the great black tower just before me; but the great net which I now spied near me, cast me into such a terror, that I ran back as far as I could in one breath, without looking behind me. Then my benefactor thus spoke to me: "You have made the most wonderful escape in the world; the water, you used to drink, is of a bewitching nature, you would else have been greatly shocked at the deformities and meanness of the place; for besides the set of blind fools in whose company you were, you may now observe many others, who are only bewitched after another no less dangerous manner. Look a little that way; there goes a crowd of passengers, they have indeed such good heads as not to suffer themselves to be blinded by this bewitching water; the black tower is not vanished out of their sight, they see it whenever they look up to it; but see how they go side-ways, and with their eyes downwards, as if they were mad, that they may thus rush into the net, without being beforehand troubled at the thought of so miserable a destruction. Their wills are so perverse, and their hearts so fond of the pleasures of the place, that rather than forego them they will run all hazards, and venture upon all the miseries and woes before them. See there that other company, though they should drink none of the bewitching water, yet they take a course bewitching and deluding; see how they choose the crookedest paths, whereby they have often the black tower behind them, and sometimes see the radiant column sideways, which gives them some faint glimpse of it. These fools content themselves with that, not knowing whether any others have more of its influence and light than themselves; this road is called that of Superstition, or Human Invention; the people who walk along it, overlook that, which the rules and laws of the place prescribe to them, and contrive some other schemes and sets of directions and prescriptions for themselves, which they hope will serve their turn." He showed me many other kinds of fools which put me quite out of humour with the place. At last he carried me to the right paths, where I found true and solid pleasure which entertained me all the way until we came in closer sight of the pillar, where my satisfaction increased to that measure that my faculties were not able to contain it; in the straining of them I was violently awakened, not a little grieved at the vanishing of so pleasing a dream. ANONYMOUS, from "The Spectator." 1. LABYRINTH, a confused path; an inexplicable difficulty; originally, a famous building in Egypt, consisting of halls connected by intricate passages from which there appeared to be no issue. 2. DORMANT, at rest; sleeping. (Lat. dormio, to sleep.) 3. PERSPECTIVE, a view, a vista, lit. a looking through; also, the art of delineating objects on a flat surface as they appear to the eye. (Lat. specio, to look.) 4. ADAMANTINE, made of diamond; lit. that which cannot be broken or penetrated. (Gr. a not, and damaō, to break.) 5. IMMINENT, near at hand; threatening to fall; lit. projecting over. THE LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE'S1 VINDICATION I THEN did use the person of your father; And did commit you. If the deed were ill, |