had bequeathed
me. This consisted, first, of a sum about which I think it best to be
guarded, foreseeing the possibility of a new tax upon real and funded
property; and, secondly, of certain precious manuscripts, to which the
following volumes owe their existence.

I imagine I trace this latter bequest to a visit I paid the Sage, if so
I may be permitted to call him, a few weeks before his death.

Although he read little of our modern literature, my friend, with the
affable good-nature which belonged to him, graciously permitted me
to consult him upon various literary undertakings meditated by the
desultory ambition of a young and inexperienced student. And at that
time I sought his advice upon a work of imagination, intended to depict
the effects of enthusiasm upon different modifications of character.
He listened to my conception, which was sufficiently trite and
prosaic, with his usual patience; and then, thoughtfully turning to his
bookshelves, took down an old volume, and read to me, first, in Greek,
and secondly, in English, some extracts to the following effect:--

"Plato here expresses four kinds of mania, by which I desire to
understand enthusiasm and the inspiration of the gods: Firstly, the
musical; secondly, the telestic or mystic; thirdly, the prophetic; and
fourthly, that which belongs to love."

The author he quoted, after contending that there is something in the
soul above intellect, and stating that there are in our nature distinct
energies,--by the one of which we discover and seize, as it were,
on sciences and theorems with almost intuitive rapidity, by
another, through which high art is accomplished, like the statues of
Phidias,--proceeded to state that "enthusiasm, in the true acceptation
of the word, is, when that part of the soul which is above intellect is
excited to the gods, and thence derives its inspiration."

The author, then pursuing his comment upon Plato, observes, that "one of
these manias may suffice (especially that which belongs to love) to lead
back the soul to its first divinity and happiness; but that there is
an intimate union with them all; and that the ordinary progress through
which the soul ascends is, primarily, through the musical; next, through
the telestic or mystic; thirdly, through the prophetic; and lastly,
through the enthusiasm of love."

While with a bewildered understanding and a reluctant attention I
listened to these intricate sublimities, my adviser closed