had a far different aspect—­his form was emaciated nearly to a shadow—­his features were handsome but thin & worn—­& his eyes glistened as if animating the visage of decay—­his forehead was expansive but there was a doubt & perplexity in his looks that seemed to say that although he had sought wisdom he had got entangled in some mysterious mazes from which he in vain endeavoured to extricate himself—­As Diotima spoke his colour went & came with quick changes & the flexible muscles of his countenance shewed every impression that his mind received—­he seemed one who in life had studied hard but whose feeble frame sunk beneath the weight of the mere exertion of life—­the spark of intelligence burned with uncommon strength within him but that of life seemed ever on the eve of fading[95]—­At present I shall not describe any other of this groupe but with deep attention try to recall in my memory some of the words of Diotima—­they were words of fire but their path is faintly marked on my recollection—­[96]

It requires a just hand, said she continuing her discourse, to weigh & divide the good from evil—­On the earth they are inextricably entangled and if you would cast away what there appears an evil a multitude of beneficial causes or effects cling to it & mock your labour—­When I was on earth and have walked in a solitary country during the silence of night & have beheld the multitude of stars, the soft radiance of the moon reflected on the sea, which was studded by lovely islands—­When I have felt the soft breeze steal across my cheek & as the words of love it has soothed & cherished me—­then my mind seemed almost to quit the body that confined it to the earth & with a quick mental sense to mingle with the scene that I hardly saw—­I felt—­Then I have exclaimed, oh world how beautiful thou art!—­Oh brightest universe behold thy worshiper!—­spirit of beauty & of sympathy which pervades all things, & now lifts my soul as with wings, how have you animated the light & the breezes!—­Deep & inexplicable spirit give me words to express my adoration; my mind is hurried away but with language I cannot tell how I feel thy loveliness!  Silence or the song of the nightingale the momentary apparition of some bird that flies quietly past—­all seems animated with thee & more than all the deep sky studded with worlds!”—­If the winds roared & tore the sea and the dreadful lightnings seemed falling around me—­still love was mingled with the sacred terror I felt; the majesty of loveliness was deeply impressed on me—­So also I have felt when I have seen a lovely countenance—­or heard solemn music or the eloquence of divine wisdom flowing from the lips of one of its worshippers—­a lovely animal or even the graceful undulations of trees & inanimate objects have excited in me the same deep feeling of love & beauty; a feeling which while it made me alive & eager to seek the cause & animator of the scene, yet satisfied me by its very depth as if I had already found the solution to my enquires