THE ASTRONOMER DISCOVERS THE CAUSE OF HIS UNEASINESS.
“AT last the time came when the secret burst his reserve. We were
sitting together last night in the turret of his house watching the
immersion of a satellite of Jupiter. A sudden tempest clouded the sky
and disappointed our observation. We sat awhile silent in the dark, and
then he addressed himself to me in these words: ‘Imlac, I have long
considered thy friendship as the greatest blessing of my life. Integrity
without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is
dangerous and dreadful. I have found in thee all the qualities requisite
for trust—benevolence, experience, and fortitude. I have long discharged
an office which I must soon quit at the call of Nature, and shall rejoice
in the hour of imbecility and pain to devolve it upon thee.’
“I thought myself honoured by this testimony, and protested that whatever
could conduce to his happiness would add likewise to mine.
“‘Hear, Imlac, what thou wilt not without difficulty credit. I have
possessed for five years the regulation of the weather and the
distribution of the seasons. The sun has listened to my dictates, and
passed from tropic to tropic by my direction; the clouds at my call have
poured their waters, and the Nile has overflowed at my command. I have
restrained the rage of the dog-star, and mitigated the fervours of the
crab. The winds alone, of all the elemental powers, have hitherto
refused my authority, and multitudes have perished by equinoctial
tempests which I found myself unable to prohibit or restrain. I have
administered this great office with exact justice, and made to the
different nations of the earth an impartial dividend of rain and
sunshine. What must have been the misery of half the globe if I had
limited the clouds to particular regions, or confined the sun to either
side of the equator?’”