the universe demonstrably known by him; and to define the happiness we are noW treating on as consisting in that most different and higher degree of pleasurable emotion, of which he is capable from peculiar organic structure, KNOWLEDGE IS HAPPINESS.'

"I presume no one would be hardy enough to assert, that man has no more capability than a brute; and I pass over the sensations of feeding, procreation, and sleep, which he holds in common with the beasts, assuming them as properties indisputable. And therefore, on the strength of the assumptions before made, I do declare my perfect conviction of the truth of the deductions made from them, of which truth we are at this moment eyewitnesses."

"What then," I interrupted, “is not this crowd happy, either in corporeal or mental enjoyment; will they not attain their wishes to-morrow, if not to-day, or next week, next month, next year, at least at some indefinite period, before the termination of their career of existence?"-"No," said L- "they are not happy, nor will they attain their wishes."

Why not?

Because they are uncertain of a plenitude of food from day to day; because they are

ignorant, and ignorance is the parent of misery, at least such I consider the corollary, from our last proposition concerning knowledge and happiness.

And why are they ignorant, seeing that, as men, they possess a capability of acquiring knowledge?

Because the society which owns them as members is founded on inequality, as a primordial base.

But if inequality is found to be the parent of ignorance, and ignorance of unhappiness, why is inequality tolerated?

now we are come

"Ah!" said L-, 66 to it at last, now we shall go on regularly; now you have, without intention, struck the key-note to the strain of human woe; you have thrust sore at me in a vulnerable point, and here I must take my stand; for, as our Song says, 'Alas! there's no retreating.' It is tolerated for precisely the same reason, that one dog takes a bite from another stronger than himself; the little one smarts and howls, but the fear of a worse thrashing restrains him from returning the favour; while the great one paces off, with a gait betokening a sense of having bestowed requisite chastisement, duly tempered with mercy; as if the other should consider as compliments, the

extra holes just made in his hide. It is the triumph of the few, over the many that the few should hold dominion over the many, may sound paradoxical to the ears of inexperience; nevertheless such is the fact, and a fact admitting easy explanation. If the many presume to shew their teeth, the few extract them instanter, by way of timely preventive: Be quiet,' say they, waving off the crowd; 'thus it has always been, and thus it must be.' That remains to be seen."

LETTER VI.

WHILE he was yet speaking, we found ourselves close under a colossal edifice of stone, which towered far above its neighbours; whose sides seemed calculated to brave with impunity the storms of Time, to transmit the fame of its founders to remotest posterity. The instant I fixed my eyes on it, a rush of confused recollection, dim and shadowy as the vapour of the lake, passed before them: I held my hand to my forehead and gasped for breath. "What ails you? you are ill?" said Lwith kind alarm, and catching my arm fearful of my falling; "I have seen it before,” I muttered. "Seen what?" said he.-" I tell you I have seen it, this building is familiar to me." "You rave," said L, "when? how? This is the chief place of worship in the city, your imagination deceives you." As he spoke, the mist seemed to roll away, and my thoughts recovered their equipoise: "I see now," I exclaimed, “a reality; last night I dreamed.' "Oh!" said he, gaily, "if its only a dream, there is not much the matter; but really,

whatever your dream was, it seems to make a deep impression; pray, what was it about?"

I thought, as I gazed on a vast building like this, it fell and crushed me.

And so you connected your visionary fabric with this substantial reality? that's very commonly done, but beware of giving way to impressions like these: they soon become sources of real terror to those minds who have not firmness to bear up against them.

And yet my sleeping fancy was so strongly impressed, that the connection between the real and supposed object formed its own chain, spontaneously, without an effort of thought. "I know it," said he, "I comprehend your feelings easily enough; I have often felt the same, but with less intenseness: I often see places and persons, and converse with those whose appearance and voice seem familiar to me, though how, I cannot tell: I can only try to account for the phenomenon, by supposing I have seen figures like them in the visions of the night, perhaps at a long interval before, and that the impressions then made are called up anew, and embodied by their similitudes seen in reality. If it be objected, how the impressions made during sleep can lie dormant until renewed by accidental occurrences when awake, I answer, let it be remem