by no means favourable to industry; half
our time is generally consumed in speculating upon the reward, instead
of earning it, whenever the value of that reward is not _precisely
ascertainable_. In all occupations, where judgment or accurate
observation is essential, if the reward of our labour is brought
suddenly to excite our hope, there is an immediate interruption of all
effectual labour; the thoughts take a new direction; the mind becomes
tremulous, and nothing decisive can be done, till the emotions of hope
and fear either subside or are vanquished.

M. l'Abbe Chappe, who was sent by the king of France, at the desire of
the French Academy, to Siberia, to observe the transit of Venus, gives
us a striking picture of the state of his own mind when the moment of
this famous observation approached. In the description of his own
feelings, this traveller may be admitted as good authority. A few
hours before the observation, a black cloud appeared in the sky; the
idea of returning to Paris, after such a long and perilous journey,
without having seen the transit of Venus; the idea of the
disappointment to his king, to his country, to all the philosophers
in Europe; threw him into a state of agitation, "which must have been
felt to be conceived." At length the black cloud vanished; his hopes
affected him almost as much as his fears had done; he fixed his
telescope, saw the planet; his eye wandered over the immense space a
thousand times in a minute; his secretary stood on one side with his
pen in his hand; his assistant, with his eye fixed upon the watch, was
stationed on the other side. The moment of the total immersion
arrived; the agitated philosopher was seized with an universal
shivering, and could scarcely command his thoughts sufficiently to
secure the observation.

The uncertainty of reward, and the consequent agitations of hope and
fear, operate as unfavourably upon the moral as upon the intellectual
character. The favour of princes is an uncertain reward. Courtiers are
usually despicable and wretched beings; they live upon hope; but their
hope is not connected with exertion. Those who court popularity, are
not less despicable or less wretched; their reward is uncertain: what
is more uncertain than the affection of the multitude? The Proteus
character of Wharton, so admirably drawn by Pope, is a striking
picture of a man who has laboured through life with the vague _hope_
of obtaining universal applause.

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