CHIEF EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF 1709. Birth. SAMUEL JOHNSON, 1728. Enters Pembroke College, Oxford. 1735. Publishes Lobo's Abyssinia. Marriage. 1737. Removes to London. 1738. London. 1740-3. Debates. 1744. Life of Savage. 1745. Miscellaneous Observations on Macbeth. 1747. Plan for a Dictionary of the English Language. 1749. Vanity of Human Wishes. Irene acted. 1750-2. The Rambler. 1752. Death of his wife. 1758-60. The Idler. 1759. Death of his mother. Rasselas. 1762. Pensioned. 1763. Gets to know Boswell. 1764. Literary Club founded. (or 1765) Gets to know the Thrales. 1765. Edition of Shakespeare. 1773. Tour to Scotland. 1775. Journey to the Western Islands. 1779. First four volumes of The Lives of the Poets. 1781. Last six volumes of The Lives of the Poets. Death of Thrale. 1784. Mrs. Thrale's second marriage. Death. THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS, PRINCE OF ABYSSINIA. CHAPTER I. DESCRIPTION OF A PALACE IN A VALLEY. YE who listen with credulity to the whispers of fancy, and pursue with eagerness the phantoms of hope, who expect that age will perform the promises of youth, and that the deficiencies of the present day will be supplied by the morrow,-attend to the history of Rasselas, prince of 10 Abyssinia. Rasselas was the fourth son of the mighty emperor, in whose dominions the Father of Waters) begins his course; whose bounty pours down the streams of plenty, and scatters over half the world the harvests of Egypt. According to the custom which has descended from age to age among the monarchs of the torrid zone, Rasselas was confined in a private palace, with the other sons and daughters of Abyssinian royalty, till the order of succession should call him to the throne. The place which the wisdom or policy of antiquity had destined for the residence of the Abyssinian princes, was a spacious valley in the kingdom of Amhara, surrounded on 20 ΙΟ every side by mountains, of which the summits overhang the middle part. The only passage by which it could be entered, was a cavern that passed under a rock, of which it has long been disputed whether it was the work of nature or of human industry. The outlet of the cavern was concealed by a thick wood, and the mouth which opened into the valley was closed with gates of iron, forged by the artificers of ancient days, so massy that no man could without the help of engines open or shut them. From the mountains on every side, rivulets descended, that filled all the valley with verdure and fertility, and formed a lake in the middle, inhabited by fish of every species, and frequented by every fowl whom nature has taught to dip the wing in water. This lake discharged its superfluities by a stream, which entered a dark cleft of the mountain on the northern side, and fell with dreadful noise from precipice to precipice till it was heard no more. The sides of the mountains were covered with trees; the banks of the brooks were diversified with flowers; every 20 blast shook spices from the rocks, and every month dropped fruits upon the ground. All animals that bite the grass, or browse the shrub, whether wild or tame, wandered in this extensive circuit, secured from beasts of prey by the mountains which confined them. On one part were flocks and herds feeding in the pastures, on another all the beasts of chase frisking in the lawns; the sprightly kid was bounding on the rocks, the subtle monkey frolicing in the trees, and the solemn elephant reposing in the shade. All the diversities of the world were brought together; the blessings of nature 30 were collected, and its evils extracted and excluded. The valley, wide and fruitful, supplied its inhabitants with the necessaries of life, and all delights and superfluities were added at the annual visit which the emperor paid his children, when the iron gate was opened to the sound of music, and, |