Genius.

He then led me to the highest Pinnacle of a Rock, and, placing me on
the Top of it, "Cast thy Eyes yonder," said he, "and tell me what
thou seest." "I see," said I, "a huge Valley, and a prodigious Roadway
running through it." "The Valley that thou seest," said he, "is the
Vale of Travel, and the Roadway that thou beholdest is part of the
great Railway System." "What is the Reason," said I, "that the Roadway
I see rises out of a thick Mist at one End, and again loses itself
in a thick Mist at the other?" "Monopoly and Muddle freely engender
Mists," responded the Genius. "Examine now," said he, "the Roadway
that is bounded with Darkness at both ends, and tell me what thou
discoverest in it." "I see a Bridge," said I, "standing in the midst
of the Roadway." "Consider it attentively," said he.

Upon a more leisurely Survey of it--a Survey which, meseemed, it would
have been well had Others made with similar Attentiveness--I found
that the Arch thereof looked shaky and insecure; moreover, that a
Great and Irregular-shaped Cleft or Crack ran, after the fashion of a
Lightning-flash in a Painted Sea-scape, athwart the structure thereof
from Keystone to Coping. As I was regarding this unpleasing Portent,
the Genius told me that this Bridge was at first of sound and
scientific construction, but that the flight of Years, Wear and Tear,
vehement Molecular Vibration, and, above all, Negligent Supervision,
had resulted in its present Ruinous Condition.

"But tell me further," said he, "what thou discoverest on it."

"I see," said I, "if my eyes and the dark Mists and Shadows deceive me
not, a Figure couched upon the Parapet of the centre Arch thereof."