THE MONK. CALA I S. V. My heart fmote me the moment he shut the door Pfha! faid I) with an air of careleffness, three feve ral times but it would not do: every ungracious fyllable I had utter'd, crouded back into my imagina❤ tion: I reflected, I had no right over the poor Francifcan, but to deny him; and that the punishment of that was enough to the difappointed without the addi tion of unkind language I confider'd his grey hairs his courteous figure feem'd tu reenter and gently afk me what injury he had done me? and why I could ufe him thus I would have given twenty livres for an advocate I have behaved very ill, faid I within myself; but I have only juft fet out upon my travels; and shall learn better manners as I get along. THE DESOBLIGEAN T. CALA I S. VI. When a man is difcontented with himself, it has one advantage however, that it puts him into an excellent frame of mind for making a bargain 1), Now there being no travelling through France and Italy. Italy without a chaife and nature generally. prompting us to the thing we are fittest for, I walk'd out into the coach yard to buy or hire fomething of that kind to my purpose: an old De. Tobligeant 2) in the furthest corner of the court, hit my fancy at first fight 3), fo I inftantly got into it, and finding it in tolerable harmony with my feelings *), I ordered the waiter to call Monfieur Deffein the mafter of the hotel but Monfieur Deffein being gone to vefpers, and not caring to face the Francifcan whom I faw on the oppofite fide of the court, in conference with a lady juft arrived at the inn I drew the taffeta curtain betwixt us, and being determined to write my journey, I took out my pen and ink, and wrote the preface to it in the Defobligeant. PREFACE IN THE DES OBLIGE AN T. VII. It must have been obferved by many a peripatetic philofopher), that nature has fet up by her own unquestionable authority certain boundaries and fences to circumfcribe the difcontent of man: fhe has effected her purpose in te quieteft and eafieft manner by laying him under almoft infuperable obligations to work out his enfe, and to fuftain his fufferings at ho me. It is there only that fhe has provided him with the most suitable objects to partake of his happiness, and bear a part of that burden which in all countries and ages, has ever been too heavy for one pair of fhoulders. "Tis true we are endued with an imperfect power of Dies ift unftreitig das fchwer fte Capitel im ganzen Bu che. Zur Erleichterung will ich kürzlich den Inhalt angeben Reifen aufser Geschäf ten ist der Natur zuw.der. Hat man dabey die Abficht fich Kenntniffe einzufammeln, fo hängt dies lediglich vom Zufalle ab. Ift man aber wirk fich im Einfammeln glücklich gewesen, so ist wieder die Anwendung der eingesammelten Kenntnisse eben fo dem Zufalle unterworfen. Doch gefetzt man ift in beyden Fällen glück lich, fo kann man dies auch mit weit weniger Mühe erlangen, was man fucht. Ein Europäer, er mag an welchem Orte le fprea ben, wo er will, kann fich Kenntniffe jeder Art erwerben, ohne nur einen Schritt aus feiner Vaterstadt zu thun. Insbefondere ift es einem Engländer zu verdenken, wenn er aus gedachtem Grunde fein Vaterland verlässt, da Künfte und Wiffenfchaften in keinem Lande mehr blühen als in England. 1) by many a peripatetic philofopher.,,Von manchen Peripatetischen Philofophen," d. h. von jedem. philofophifchen Reifenden, der über den Zweck des Reifens nachgedacht hat. Die peripa-. tetische Sckte philofophirte be kanntlich im Herumgehen. fpreading our happinefs fometimes beyond her limits, but tis fo ordered, that from the want of languages, connections, and dependencies, and from the difference in education, cuftoms and habits, we lie under fo ma ny impediments in communicating our fenfations out of our own sphere, as often amount to a total im poffibility. It will always follow from hence, that the balance of fentimental commerce ) is always againft the expatriated adventurer: he muft buy what he has little occafion for at their own price his conversation will feldom be taken in exchange for theirs without a large discount and this, by the by, eternally driving him into the hands of more equitable brokers 3) for fuch converfation as he can find, it requires no great fpirit of divination to guefs at his party. ---- This brings me to my point; and naturally leade me (if the fee-faw of this Defobligeant will but let me get on) into the efficient as well as the final cau fes of travelling. which may be derived from one of these general caufes Infirmity of body The first two include all those who travel by land of by water, lobouring with pride, curiofity, vanity or Tpleen, fubdivided and combined in infinitum, The third clafs includes the whole army of pe regrine martyrs 5); more efpecially thofe travellers who fet out upon their travels with the benefit of the clergy, either as delinquents travelling under the direction of governors recommended by the magiftra. te or young gentlemen transported by the cruelty of parents and guardians, and travelling under the di rection of governors recommended by Oxford, Aber. deen and Glafgow. zufetzen und ftatt wich, welches folgt, fetzen: they reafons may be derived, fo mö. gen ihre Urfachen hergeleitet werden. 5) the whole army of peregrine martyrs, d. h. alle diejenigen, die fich für's Reifen aufopfern, entweder weil fie wegen begangener Verbrechen ihr Vaterland auf Befehl der Obrigkeit verlaffen müffen, oder ganz unschuldig von ihren Eltern dazu gezwungen werden, weil es einmahl fo Mode ift. Unter den ersten versteht er die botanischen Studenten und unter den letz There tern die reichen jungen Engländer, die blos reifen müffen, um gereist zu feyn. Beyde ha. ben ihre Begleitung, die ersteren Gerichtsdiener, die zwey. ten Hofmeister. Dafs diefe Zu fammenstellung nicht ohne Ab. ficht gemacht fey, fieht man leicht. Weil die jungen Herrn ohne alles Verbrechen gleichfam exiliert werden, fo nennt er fie in der Folge sehr witzig innocent travellers, unfchuldige Reifende, mit der felben Nebenidee, die das Wort unfchuldig auch im Deut fchen hat (f. Cap. 8. Not. 2.). |