Page images
PDF
EPUB

WANDERER:

OR,

A COLLECTION OF

ORIGINAL

TALES AND ESSAYS,

FOUNDED UPON FACTS;

ILLUSTRATING

THE VIRTUES AND VICES OF THE PRESENT AGE

IN WHICH ARE INTRODUCED

The Oriental Travels of a Learned Mahometan
of the Last Century.

INTERSPERSED WITH ORIGINAL POETRY.

BY CHARLES FOTHERGILL, ESQ.

"Man! proud man,

"Drest in a little brief authority;

"Most ignorant of what he's most assur'd,
"His glassy essence; like an angry ape,
"Plays such fantastic tricks before high heav'n
"As make the angels weep."

[blocks in formation]

PRINTED FOR WYNNE AND SCHOLEY, 45 AND
JAMES WALLIS, 46, PATERNOSTER-ROW

1803.

249. S. 437.

Having such an end in view, I now present this volume to the world, in which I have endeavoured to set forth the evils that do result from the vices of mankind, as well as to display the incalculable advantages that are attainable by the pursuit of virtue and knowledge. In order to do this the more effectually, I have drawn a faithful picture of transactions that have either tended to debase the moral and intellectual character of man, or that have added lustre to his

name.

I have endeavoured to render the plain matter of fact interesting to my readers, by as warm a glow of colouring as the subjects required, or as I was able to bestow; and by paying a due regard to truth, I have laboured to impress their minds with a veneration for what I conceive to be a great and incontrovertible maxim-that, unless we cherish all the finer feelings of the heart, and do away all that tends to render those callous, we can neither expect to enjoy happiness ourselves, nor effectually contribute to that of our fellow creatures.

And as I believe every human being to be in search of what he thinks happiness, and that all his exertions tend towards this great object, I have deened it neceffary (according to the best of

my ability) to shew, that true happiness is founded alone on virtue and knowledge.

"To be good is to be happy; angels

"Are happier than men, because they're better.
"Guilt is the source of sorrow; 'tis the fiend,

"Th' avenging fiend, that follows us behind
"With whips and stings: the bless'd know none of
this,

"But rest in everlasting peace of mind,

"And find the height of all their Heav'n in goodness."

Whether it is the monarch, who contemplates his people as so many machines which he can use or adapt to his various purposes of aggrandisement; or the minister, who industriously plunders the people and cheats his master; or the ecclesiastic, who battens on the wealth of his superstitious followers; or the lawyer, who consumes the flower of his manhood in laying up the materials that enable him to swindle his clients; or the physician, who throws his countenance into all manner of contortions, the better to impose on the credulity of his foolish patients; or the gay fashionable, who consumes equally the health of his body and mind in a routine of endless dissipation; or the military puppet, who

[blocks in formation]
[graphic]

WANDERER:

OR,

A COLLECTION OF

ORIGINAL

TALES AND ESSAYS,

FOUNDED UPON FACTS;

ILLUSTRATING

THE VIRTUES AND VICES OF THE PRESENT AGE

IN WHICH ARE INTRODUCED

The Oriental Travels of a Learned Mahometan
of the Last Century.

INTERSPERSED WITH ORIGINAL POETRY.

BY CHARLES FOTHERGILL, ESQ.

"Man! proud man,

"Drest in a little brief authority;

"Most ignorant of what he's most assur'd,
"His glassy essence; like an angry ape,
"Plays such fantastic tricks before high heav'n
"As make the angels weep."

VOLUME I.

LONDON:

45 AD

PRINTED FOR WYNNE AND SCHOLEY,
JAMES WALLIS, 46, PATERNOSTER-ROW

1803.

249. S. 437.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors]
« PreviousContinue »