the practice of virtue is commanded.'"

"Surely," said the Princess, "this man is happy."

"I visited him," said Imlac, "with more and more frequency, and was
every time more enamoured of his conversation; he was sublime
without haughtiness, courteous without formality, and communicative
without ostentation. I was at first, great Princess, of your
opinion, thought him the happiest of mankind, and often
congratulated him on the blessing that he enjoyed. He seemed to
hear nothing with indifference but the praises of his condition, to
which he always returned a general answer, and diverted the
conversation to some other topic.

"Amidst this willingness to be pleased and labour to please, I had
quickly reason to imagine that some painful sentiment pressed upon
his mind. He often looked up earnestly towards the sun, and let
his voice fall in the midst of his discourse. He would sometimes,
when we were alone, gaze upon me in silence with the air of a man
who longed to speak what he was yet resolved to suppress. He would
often send for me with vehement injunction of haste, though when I
came to him he had nothing extraordinary to say; and sometimes,
when I was leaving him, would call me back, pause a few moments,
and then dismiss me."



CHAPTER XLI--THE ASTRONOMER DISCOVERS THE CAUSE OF HIS UNEASINESS.