Disdaining all assault : A land of wonders! which the sun still eyes Enamored, and delighting there to dwell. It has been suggested' also that Thomson had in mind the Abyssinian myth when writing the Castle of Indolence, as the description in the first canto agrees in some details with that of the happy valley. From these references it is evident, not only that Johnson's conception of the happy valley was not original with him, but that it had been long known in England, and had been several times employed by English writers. Johnson clearly added some details, but most essential particulars were supplied by one or another of the fabulous stories of Ethiopian travellers. That Johnson was himself acquainted with other accounts of Abyssinia than that of Lobo is clear from a sentence in the preface to his translation of that work. He there says: "The Portuguese traveller, contrary to the usual vein of his countrymen, has amused his reader with no romantic absurdities and incredible fictions"; and he goes on to mention in particular various absurd statements of other travellers. To what extent Johnson was indebted to others for his happy valley may be seen, if a detailed comparison of these scattered fragments is made with Johnson's description. First, other writers have described a beautiful place in Abyssinia, either a hilltop inclosed by a wall or a valley surrounded by overhanging mountains, in which the children of the emperor and 1 Rev. W. West, in his edition of Rasselas. of the subordinate kings or nobles were confined. This place was entered by one, sometimes two or three, passages, carefully guarded and usually fortified by nature and by art. It was a paradise in its natural endowments. The fruits, the groves, the rivulets, the flocks and herds, are all mentioned by various writers. This paradise contained a palace, or palaces, for the princes and their attendants, either situated beside the lake or on an island within it. In the palace lived the princes, while within were deposited also the treasure of succeeding monarchs of the empire. The attendants of the princes were not only guards, but learned and experienced teachers. To the valley the emperor made an annual visit for pleasure, or, according to others, to leave there his treasure.' To these conceptions Johnson added few important details. The most important one, for which no source has yet been found, is that of the festival at the annual visit of the emperor, when others than the princes of the blood royal and the sons of the nobility might enter this earthly paradise, to remain through life. This allowed an enlargement of the story, at least by the introduction of the important Imlac. But, with this exception, there is scarcely a circumstance which is not found in the accounts of some other writers. It remains to call attention to the fact that, before writing Rasselas, Johnson had already partially developed the conception of the happy valley. There 'In Gottfried's Archontologia Cosmica (1646), p. 712, it is said : "His treasure chamber is in the castle of Amara, wherein it is supposed that he deposits yearly a million of gold." is perhaps some suggestion of it in the garden of hope, Rambler, 67 (November 6, 1750). But there can be little question that, in the History of Ten Days of Seged, Emperor of Ethiopia,' the garden of pleasure is a prototype of the happy valley itself. The name Seged (Segued) occurs in Lobo; the place of the garden is Lake Dambea, in Ethiopia, and the garden is a garden of delights for the pleasure of the emperor. Moreover, the descriptions agree in numerous minute particulars, so that here seems to be a first sketch of what was elaborated in the later tale. III. CHARACTER AND INTERPRETATION OF THE WORK. It is clear at a glance that Johnson's Rasselas is no ordinary work of fiction. There is, for example, little interest of plot. With the exception of the narrated journey of Imlac and the episode of Pekuah's capture by the Arabs, the narrative of the journey of Rasselas from the happy valley and the account of the different persons he meets are unbroken by external events or interests. Moreover, the love passion, so eminently characteristic of romantic fiction, has no place in the story of the prince of Abyssinia. Finally, dramatic power, essential to the novelist, is almost wholly lacking in Rasselas. Johnson himself speaks in the person of each of the characters at different times. From these and other evidences that might be mentioned, it is clear that Johnson's purpose in writing Rasselas was not simply to interest and amuse. Rasselas has been called a work of philosophical 1 1 Rambler, 204. 205 (February 29, March 3, 1752). fiction. it was of hun The st ear of Yet given sage a one ca out be which unsucc sphere he had at last story, of nec placed But even this rather elaborate characterization is itself in need of more explicit definition. Fiction is not the ordinary vehicle of philosophy, and Rasselas may be called philosophical only in a somewhat general sense. A more explicit characterization of the story may perhaps be found by considering Johnson's position in the England of his time, and what he represented to the English people of his age. By his published works Johnson has acquired three different titles. He is called the 'literary dictator,' the 'great lexicographer,' and the great moralist' of the eighteenth century. Each of these characterizations has reason for its existence, although each is not equally appropriate. The first, for example, was not acquired until late in life, and after he had published most of his works. The second came from the Dictionary itself, an original compilation remarkable for the time at which it was prepared, and possessing many sterling qualities which have scarcely been surpassed by its successors. The third designation of Johnson is that which most aptly characterizes his real personality. It is based on that body of vigorous, original prose of the didactic order, which makes up the largest part of his writings, especially upon the essays which appeared in the Rambler, the Adventurer, and the Idler. Even his poetry, notably the Vanity of Human Wishes, reflects the same essential characteristics. It is with the essays of Johnson, as they embody the author's fondness for moralizing, that Rasselas properly belongs. For no better statement of Johnson's purpose in writing this moral tale has been given than that of Sir John Hawkins, who says riza. Fic and ome ation ering and age. hree tor,' list' cter ch is was pub the able sing sur n of his -ous, = up the rer, ty of cterhey that ent has Says it was written" to convey to the world his sentiments of human life and the dispensations of Providence." The story was but a vehicle," a means to catch the ear of his audience. Yet the general statement of Johnson's purpose given above does not account for the opinions of the sage author. These are notable in themselves. No one can read the story of the Abyssinian prince without being impressed with the gloomy views of life which its author takes. The search for happiness is unsuccessful. The prince of Abyssinia finds no sphere of life more happy than the valley from which he had escaped in discontent, and to which he returns at last in disappointment. Indeed, according to the story, choice is seldom permitted to mortals. A sort of necessity akin to fate governs their lives. "Very few," says Imlac, "live by choice; every man is placed in his present condition by causes which acted without his foresight, and with which he did not always willingly co-operate."' The burden of the book is expressed in those other significant words of Imlac, the mask of Johnson, "Human life is everywhere a state in which much is to be endured and little to be enjoyed." The question at once comes, How shall these gloomy views of life be explained? Are they owing to the melancholy of the writer, or are they to be accounted for by the thought and spirit of the time? In the first place Johnson's character was essentially serious, and he always took a serious view of human existence. Something of this was no doubt due to 1 See 50: 14. $39: 9. |