He was at first inclined to believe, that the man must be pleased with his own condition whom all approached with reverence, and heard with obedience, and who had the power to extend his edicts to a whole kingdom. «< There can be no pleasure, said he, equal to that of feeling at once the joy of thousands all made happy by wise administration. » Yet, since by the law of subordination this sublime delight can be in one nation but the lot of one, it is surely reasonable to think, that there is some satisfaction more popular and accessible, and that. millions can hardly be subjected to the will of a single man, only to fill his particular breast with incommunicable content These thoughts were often in his mind, and he found no solution of the difficulty. But as presents and civilities gained him more familiarity, he found that almost every man who stood high in employment hated all the rest, and was hated by them, and that their lives were a continual succession of plots, and detections, stratagems and escapes, faction and treachery. Many of those who surrounded the Bassa, were sent only to watch and report his conduct; every tongue was muttering censure, and every eye was searching for a fault. At last the letters of revocation arrived, the Il crut d'abord qu'un homme devait être heureux lorsque sa présence inspirait le respect, que sa parole commandait l'obéissance, et que sa volonté s'étendait sur un royaume entier. « Peut-il être un plaisir plus grand, se disait-il, que de jouir en soimême de la félicité d'un peuple comme de son propre ouvrage?» Mais comme cette sublime jouissance ne peut, d'après la hiérarchie sociale, être le lot que d'un homme dans une nation, il se demandait si le bonheur ne devait pas se trouver encore dans des situations plus accessibles à la foule, et si des milliers d'individus pouvaient être placés dans une condition dépendante, uniquement pour procurer à un seul homme un contentement qu'il ne saurait faire partager à ses semblables. Cette difficulté le frappait sans qu'il pût la résoudre. Mais à mesure que sa politesse et sa bonté lui attiraient la confiance, il découvrit qu'il y avait une haine mutuelle entre les grands et le reste dès hommes, et que, de part et d'autre, on n'était occupé qu'à former des complots ou à s'en défendre, qu'à préparer des ruses ou à les déjouer, qu'à se líguer enfin et à se trahir sans cesse. La plupart de ceux qui entouraient le pacha avaient mission d'observer sa conduite et d'en rendre compte. Il y avait des murmures contre lui dans toutes les bouches, et tous les yeux épiaient ses moindres fautes. Un jour un ordre de révocation arriva. Le pacha Bassa was carried in chains to Constantinople, and his name was mentioned no more. « What are we now to think of the prerogatives of power? said Rasselas to his sister; is it without any efficacy to good? or is the subordinate degree only dangerous, and the supreme safe and glorious? Is the sultan the only happy man in his dominions? or is the sultan himself subject to the torments of suspicion, and the dread of enemies? » In a short time the second Bassa was deposed. The Sultan that had advanced him was murdered by the Janizaries, and his successor had other views and different favourites. fut conduit à Constantinople, chargé de chaînes, et on ne s'occupa plus de lui. « Que penser, après ceci, des prérogatives de la puissance? dit Rasselas à sa sœur. Est-elle inefficace pour notre bien, ou n'est-elle périlleuse que quand elle est subordonnée? Le pouvoir suprême a-t-il seul la sécurité comme la gloire? N'y a-t-il enfin que le sultan d'heureux dans son vaste empire, ou lui-même est-il en proie aux tourmens du soupçon et de la crainte? >> Peu de temps après un second pacha fut déposé, le sultan qui l'avait élevé au pouvoir ayant été massacré par les janissaires, son successeur imprima à sa politique et à ses faveurs une autre direction. CHAPTER XXV. THE PRINCESS PURSUES HER INQUIRY WITH MORE DILIGENCE THAN SUCCESS. THE princess, in the mean time, insinuated herself into many families; for there are few doors through which liberality, joined with good humour, cannot find its way. The daughters of many houses were airy and cheerful; but Nekayah had been too long accustomed to the conversation of Imlac and her brother, to be much pleased with childish levity, and prattle which had no meaning. She found their thoughts narrow, their wishes low, and their merriment often artificial. Their pleasures, poor as they were, could not be preserved pure, but were embittered by petty competitions and worthless emulation. They were always jealous of the beauty of each other, of a quality to which solicitude can add nothing, and from which detraction can take nothing away. Many were in love with trifles like themselves, and many fancied that they were in love when in truth they were only idle. Their affection was not fixed on sense |