which
distinguished us as Christians; that being now deprived of all the
fancied felicity which he enjoyed in the full exercise of all those
vices, he said, he was at leisure to look upon the dark side of them,
where he found all manner of deformity; and was now convinced, that
virtue only makes a man truly wise, rich, and great, and preserves him
in the way to a superior happiness in a future state; and in this, he
said, they were more happy in their banishment, than all their enemies
were, who had the full possession of all the wealth and power that they
(the banished) had left behind them.

"Nor, Sir," said he, "do I bring my mind to this politically, by the
necessity of my circumstances, which some call miserable; but if I know
any thing of myself, I would not go back, no not though my master, the
czar, should call me, and offer to reinstate me in all my former
grandeur; I say, I would no more go back to it, than I believe my soul,
when it shall be delivered from this prison of the body, and has had a
taste of the glorious state beyond life, would come back to the gaol of
flesh and blood it is now enclosed in, and leave Heaven to deal in the
dirt and grime of human affairs."

He spake this with so much warmth in his temper, so much earnestness and
motion of his spirits, which were apparent in his countenance, that it
was evident it was the true sense of his soul; and indeed there was no
room to doubt his sincerity.

I told him, I once thought myself a kind of a monarch in my old station,
of which I had given him an account, but that I thought he was not a
monarch only, but a great conqueror; for that he that has got a victory
over his own exorbitant desires, and has the absolute dominion over
himself, and whose reason entirely governs his will, is certainly
greater than he that conquers a city. "But, my lord," said I, "shall I
take the liberty to ask you a question?"--"With all my heart," said he.
"If the door of your liberty was opened," said I, "would not you take
hold of it to deliver yourself from this exile?"

"Hold," said he, "your question is subtle, and requires some serious
just distinctions to give it a sincere answer; and I'll give it you from
the bottom of my heart. Nothing that I know of in this world would move
me to deliver myself from the state of banishment, except these two:
first, the enjoyment of my relations; and secondly, a little warmer
climate. But I protest to you, that to go back to the