he did not care to trust to the nimbleness of the
count’s heels, of which he had already had some
experience, he declared he must Lock up for
that evening. Here, reader, if them pleasest,
as we are in no great haste, we will stop and make
a simile. As when their lap is finished, the
cautious huntsman to their kennel gathers the nimble-footed
hounds, they with lank ears and tails slouch sullenly
on, whilst he, with his whippers-in, follows close
at their heels, regardless of their dogged humour,
till, having seen them safe within the door, he turns
the key, and then retires to whatever business or
pleasure calls him thence; so with lowring countenance
and reluctant steps mounted the count and Bagshot
to their chamber, or rather kennel, whither they were
attended by Snap and those who followed him, and where
Snap, having seen them deposited, very contentedly
locked the door and departed. And now, reader,
we will, in imitation of the truly laudable custom
of the world, leave these our good friends to deliver
themselves as they can, and pursue the thriving fortunes
of Wild, our hero, who, with that great aversion to
satisfaction and content which is inseparably incident
to great minds, began to enlarge his views with his
prosperity: for this restless, amiable disposition,
this noble avidity which increases with feeding, is
the first principle or constituent quality of these
our great men; to whom, in their passage on to greatness,
it happens as to a traveller over the Alps, or, if
this be a too far-fetched simile, to one who travels
westward over the hills near Bath, where the simile
was indeed made. He sees not the end of his journey
at once; but, passing on from scheme to scheme, and
from hill to hill, with noble constancy, resolving
still to attain the summit on which he hath fixed
his eve, however dirty the roads may be through which
he struggles, he at length arrives——at
some vile inn, where he finds no kind of entertainment
nor conveniency for repose. I fancy, reader,
if thou hast ever travelled in these roads, one part
of my simile is sufficiently apparent (and, indeed,
in all these illustrations, one side is generally
much more apparent than the other); but, believe me,
if the other doth not so evidently appear to thy satisfaction,
it is from no other reason than because thou art unacquainted
with these great men, and hast not had sufficient
instruction, leisure, or opportunity, to consider
what happens to those who pursue what is generally
understood by greatness: for surely, if
thou hadst animadverted, not only on the many perils
to which great men are daily liable while they are
in their progress, but hadst discerned, as it were
through a microscope (for it is invisible to the naked
eye), that diminutive speck of happiness which they
attain even in the consummation of their wishes, thou
wouldst lament with me the unhappy fate of these great
men, on whom nature hath set so superior a mark, that
the rest of mankind are born for their use and emolument