there can never be community of love or of esteem. It must happen
that one will please more than another; he that knows himself
despised will always be envious, and still more envious and
malevolent if he is condemned to live in the presence of those who
despise him. The invitations by which they allure others to a
state which they feel to be wretched, proceed from the natural
malignity of hopeless misery. They are weary of themselves and of
each other, and expect to find relief in new companions. They envy
the liberty which their folly has forfeited, and would gladly see
all mankind imprisoned like themselves.

"From this crime, however, I am wholly free. No man can say that
he is wretched by my persuasion. I look with pity on the crowds
who are annually soliciting admission to captivity, and wish that
it were lawful for me to warn them of their danger."

"My dear Imlac," said the Prince, "I will open to thee my whole
heart. I have long meditated an escape from the Happy Valley. I
have examined the mountain on every side, but find myself
insuperably barred--teach me the way to break my prison; thou shalt
be the companion of my flight, the guide of my rambles, the partner
of my fortune, and my sole director in the CHOICE OF LIFE.

"Sir," answered the poet, "your escape will be difficult, and
perhaps you may soon repent your curiosity. The world, which you
figure to yourself smooth and quiet as the lake in the valley, you
will find a sea foaming with tempests and boiling with whirlpools;
you will be sometimes overwhelmed by the waves of violence, and
sometimes dashed against the rocks of treachery. Amidst wrongs and
frauds, competitions and anxieties, you will wish a thousand times