Consolations in Travel | Page 7

my imagination. "Time," I
said, "which purifies, and as it were sanctifies the mind, destroys and
brings into utter decay the body; and, even in nature, its influence
seems always degrading. She is represented by the poets as eternal in
her youth, but amongst these ruins she appears to me eternal in her age,
and here no traces of renovation appear in the ancient of days." I had
scarcely concluded this ideal sentence when my reverie became deeper,
the ruins surrounding me appeared to vanish from my sight, the light of
the moon became more intense, and the orb itself seemed to expand in
a flood of splendour. At the same time that my visual organs appeared
so singularly affected, the most melodious sounds filled my ear, softer
yet at the same time deeper and fuller than I had ever heard in the most
harmonious and perfect concert. It appeared to me that I had entered a
new state of existence, and I was so perfectly lost in the new kind of
sensation which I experienced that I had no recollections and no
perceptions of identity. On a sudden the music ceased, but the brilliant
light still continued to surround me, and I heard a low but extremely
distinct and sweet voice, which appeared to issue from the centre of it.
The sounds were at first musical like those of a harp, but they soon
became articulate, as if a prelude to some piece of sublime poetical
composition. "You, like all your brethren," said the voice, "are entirely
ignorant of every thing belonging to yourselves, the world you inhabit,
your future destinies, and the scheme of the universe; and yet you have
the folly to believe you are acquainted with the past, the present, and
the future. I am an intelligence somewhat superior to you, though there
are millions of beings as much above me in power and in intellect as
man is above the meanest and weakest reptile that crawls beneath his
feet; yet something I can teach you: yield your mind wholly to the
influence which I shall exert upon it, and you shall be undeceived in
your views of the history of the world, and of the system you inhabit."
At this moment the bright light disappeared, the sweet and harmonious
voice, which was the only proof of the presence of a superior
intelligence, ceased; I was in utter darkness and silence, and seemed to
myself to be carried rapidly upon a stream of air, without any other
sensation than that of moving quickly through space. Whilst I was still
in motion, a dim and hazy light, which seemed like that of twilight in a

rainy morning, broke upon my sight, and gradually a country displayed
itself to my view covered with forests and marshes. I saw wild animals
grazing in large savannahs, and carnivorous beasts, such as lions and
tigers, occasionally disturbing and destroying them; I saw naked
savages feeding upon wild fruits, or devouring shell-fish, or fighting
with clubs for the remains of a whale which had been thrown upon the
shore. I observed that they had no habitations, that they concealed
themselves in caves, or under the shelter of palm trees, and that the
only delicious food which nature seemed to have given to them was the
date and the cocoa- nut, and these were in very small quantities and the
object of contention. I saw that some few of these wretched human
beings that inhabited the wide waste before my eyes, had weapons
pointed with flint or fish-bone, which they made use of for destroying
birds, quadrupeds, or fishes, that they fed upon raw; but their greatest
delicacy appeared to be a maggot or worm, which they sought for with
great perseverance in the buds of the palm. When I had cast my eyes on
the varied features of this melancholy scene, which was now lighted by
a rising sun, I heard again the same voice which had astonished me in
the Colosaeum, and which said,--"See the birth of Time! Look at man
in his newly created state, full of youth and vigour. Do you see aught in
this state to admire or envy?" As the last words fell on my ear, I was
again, as before, rapidly put in motion, and I seemed again resistless to
be hurried upon a stream of air, and again in perfect darkness. In a
moment, an indistinct light again appeared before my eyes and a
country opened upon my view which appeared partly wild and partly
cultivated; there were fewer woods and morasses than in the scene
which I had just before seen; I beheld men who were covered with the
skins of animals, and who were driving cattle to enclosed pastures; I
saw others who were