rs an inhabitant
of this wilderness, in which I never saw a man before." Obidah then
related the occurrences of his journey, without any concealment or
palliation.

12. "Son," said the hermit, "let the errors and follies, the dangers and
escapes, of this day, sink deep into your heart. Remember, my son, that
human life is the journey of a day. We rise in the morning of youth, full
of vigor, and full of expectation; we set forward with spirit and hope,
with gayety and with diligence, and travel on awhile in the straight road
of piety toward the mansions of rest. In a short time we remit our fervor,
and endeavor to find some mitigation of our duty, and some more easy means
of obtaining the same end.

13. "We then relax our vigor, and resolve no longer to be terrified with
crimes at a distance, but rely upon our own constancy, and venture to
approach what we resolve never to touch. We thus enter the bowers of ease,
and repose in the shades of security. Here the heart softens, and
vigilance subsides; we are then willing to inquire whether another advance
can not be made, and whether we may not at least turn our eyes upon the
gardens of pleasure. We approach them with scruple and hesitation; we
enter them, but enter timorous and trembling, and always hope to pass
through them without losing the road of virtue, which we for a while keep
in our sight, and to which we propose to return.

14. "But temptation succeeds temptation, and one compliance prepares us
for another; we, in time, lose the happiness of innocence, and solace our
disquiet with sensual gratifications. By degrees we let fall the
remembrance of our original intention, and quit the only adequate object
of rational desire. We entangle ourselves in business, immerge ourselves
in luxury, and rove through the labyrinths of inconstancy till the
darkness of old age begins to invade us, and disease and anxiety obstruct
our way. We then look back upon our lives with horror, with sorrow, and
with repentance; and wish, but too often vainly wish, that we had not
forsaken the paths of virtue.

15. "Happy are they, my son, who shall learn, from thy example, not to
despair, but shall remember that though the day is past, and their
strength is wasted, there yet remains one effort to be made; that
reformation is never hopeless, nor sincere endeavors ever unassisted; that
the wanderer may at length return after all his errors; and that he who
implores strength and courage from