day--nay, a single moment--appear to any of His creatures as a
thousand years.

I shall leave my reader to compare these Eastern fables with the
notions of those two great philosophers whom I have quoted in this
paper; and shall only, by way of application, desire him to consider
how we may extend life beyond its natural dimensions, by applying
ourselves diligently to the pursuit of knowledge.

The hours of a wise man are lengthened by his ideas, as those of a
fool are by his passions. The time of the one is long, because he
does not know what to do with it; so is that of the other, because
he distinguishes every moment of it with useful or amusing thoughts;
or, in other words, because the one is always wishing it away, and
the other always enjoying it.

How different is the view of past life, in the man who is grown old
in knowledge and wisdom, from that of him who is grown old in
ignorance and folly! The latter is like the owner of a barren
country, that fills his eye with the prospect of naked hills and
plains, which produce nothing either profitable or ornamental; the
other beholds a beautiful and spacious landscape divided into
delightful gardens, green meadows, fruitful fields, and can scarce
cast his eye on a single spot of his possessions that is not covered
with some beautiful plant or flower.



CENSURE.