"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