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him, to appreciate the value of things, and view the world at a distance; and shall be able to do so more exactly now than when plunged in its tumults. I, too, may not discover truth; but at least I shall have leisure to make the attempt. I am impatient to begin."

The sight of a distant temple of his own rearing, in a beautiful wood, here caught his eye. It reflected the rays of the setting sun, and the whole prospect was burnished with splendour. He was pleased with the effect; and it gave an additional complacency to his brow as he viewed, from a favourable point, this work of his own taste. "Here," continued he," Philosophy may really be exercised, and Contemplation prune her wings."

"Hic gelidi fontes, hic mollia prata,,

"Hic nemus.

He went on planning in his own mind hours of enjoyment, in a place dedicated, as it should seem, to wisdom and happiness. His temple recalled ancient Greece to his mind, and the groves of Academus rose to his view. "How different," exclaimed he, "from a trifling or slippery world, where all is vulgarity, envy, or ennui!"

He then again fell into musing; from which he was lightly disturbed, not by leaves and fuming rills, Aurora's fan," but by a servant announcing

dinner; a summons for which, with all his philosophy, he secretly craved: so that a minute more found him seated at table.

His repast was recherché in the extreme; yet his senses were not pleased, and his palate scarcely excited. Every thing was ill-seasoned, and either too much or too little done. In fact, notwithstanding. his craving, he had either waited too long, or was not hungry. In fact too, however strange it may seem, although he had now come sixty miles to be alone, he was almost surprised, and to a cursory observer might have appeared not pleased, to find exactly what he came for. His dinner forced upon his memory (involuntarily, indeed, but not the less strongly) the companions of his banquets in London; and the conversation, the interchange of idea, the lively sallies of polite fellowship, were thought of at least, though not (he said) with regret: on the contrary, as he poured out a bumper of Burgundy, he indulged again in a mental soliloquy upon the delights of solitude, and the unfitness of a man to live who could not live alone.

"The world," said he, "is so entirely, even in its banquets, a mere vulgar crowd, that the true play of mind is seldom indulged. How different is the noisy contest for pre-eminence in conversationthe impatience of interruption—the struggle for wit that will not come-from this calm and happy re

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past! It is in solitary reflection alone that we feel ourselves men; and that is the best feast which least interferes with it. Let others bear the burthen of the world! I view it at a distance."

These reflections were diluted with more Burgundy; though neither that, nor any French wine, agreed with his constitution: an inconvenience, however, which he never would allow. As for Port, and all Spanish vintages, they were nothing but liquid fire, and had long been made to yield to this more elegant beverage; to carry off which, it was only necessary to throw in a little coffee; which he now drank in its quintessence, fuming from a silver lamp on the table; while he crowned the latter with no inconsiderable quantity of liqueur, the fire of which, he said, was so subdued that it never annoyed him. This, together with having, without appetite, tasted of almost every dish before him, made him at midnight feel heated and uneasy; and he retired to a bed of down, where, not having subdued his body with any fatigue, he was surprised to find that he could not sleep.

CHAP. II.

RETROSPECTIVE HISTORY OF A MAN OF REFINEMENT.

"The Courtier's, Soldier's, Scholar's eye, tongue, sword."

SHAKSPEARE.

THUS passed the evening of the arrival of Tremaine at his retirement; that retirement which he had so sighed for, amidst many a scene of tumult and vexation, in the world where he had taken a lead. It is true, he thought of it most when least successful in any object he might be pursuing. But still his mind dwelt often with genuine pleasure on the charms of tranquillity, and the usefulness, the independence, and even the necessity of frequent seclusion. Accordingly, at Court, in the Senate, or in the heat and crowd of assemblies, particularly when things went ill, he always consoled himself with the notions of that happy life, which, in a philosophical retreat, and with unbounded leisure, he was sure of commanding. His friends, indeed, told him (and he was not displeased at the liberty) that he had yet no right to such an indulgence; that

the world still wanted him,-either to oppose the most corrupt of administrations, or to become a minister himself. But in reply he used to say that he must live for himself, as well as his country; and that it was in the meridian, not in the wane of life, that man could best assert the dignity of retreat. He was fond, on these occasions, of quoting the philosophic Temple, of whom it had been said by Hume, "that he was a man whom philosophy had taught to despise the world, without rendering him unfit for it." He would dwell, too, upon that exclamation of King Charles II. when he found Sir William too restless to give his mind to a great public question: "So, get ye gone to Shene! we shall have no good of you till you have been there."

Sir William Temple's, indeed, was a full mind. Was Tremaine's, then, a vacant one? Certainly not; for his real character must not be inferred from the little traits we have hitherto related of him, but from the history which we shall have occasion to give of his past life, and of that portion of it which followed the scene in which we have just exhibited him.

We have said that Tremaine was in the meridian of his age. He had formerly read much, and he had lived a great deal in the world; though chiefly

* The administration of the time being is always the most corrupt of administrations.

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