They saluted him with great respect, which he repaid, like a man not unaccustomed to the forms of courts.  “My children,” said he, “if you have lost your way, you shall be willingly supplied with such conveniencies, for the night, as this cavern will afford.  I have all that nature requires, and you will not expect delicacies in a hermit’s cell.”

They thanked him, and, entering, were pleased with the neatness and regularity of the place.  The hermit set flesh and wine before them, though he fed only upon fruits and water.  His discourse was cheerful without levity, and pious without enthusiasm.  He soon gained the esteem of his guests, and the princess repented of her hasty censure.

At last Imlac began thus:  “I do not now wonder that your reputation is so far extended; we have heard at Cairo of your wisdom, and came hither to implore your direction for this young man and maiden, in the CHOICE OF LIFE.”

“To him that lives well,” answered the hermit, “every form of life is good; nor can I give any other rule for choice, than to remove from all apparent evil.”

“He will remove most certainly from evil,” said the prince, “who shall devote himself to that solitude, which you have recommended by your example.”

“I have, indeed, lived fifteen years in solitude,” said the hermit, “but have no desire that my example should gain any imitators.  In my youth I professed arms, and was raised, by degrees, to the highest military rank.  I have traversed wide countries, at the head of my troops, and seen many battles and sieges.  At last, being disgusted by the preferment of a younger officer, and feeling, that my vigour was beginning to decay, I was resolved to close my life in peace, having found the world full of snares, discord, and misery.  I had once escaped from the pursuit of the enemy by the shelter of this cavern, and, therefore, chose it for my final residence.  I employed artificers to form it into chambers, and stored it with all that I was likely to want.

“For some time after my retreat, I rejoiced, like a tempest-beaten sailor at his entrance into the harbour, being delighted with the sudden change of the noise and hurry of war to stillness and repose.  When the pleasure of novelty went away, I employed my hours in examining the plants which grow in the valley, and the minerals which I collected from the rocks.  But that inquiry is now grown tasteless and irksome.  I have been, for some time, unsettled and distracted; my mind is disturbed with a thousand perplexities of doubt, and vanities of imagination, which hourly prevail upon me, because I have no opportunities of relaxation or diversion.  I am sometimes ashamed to think, that I could not secure myself from vice, but by retiring from the exercise of virtue, and begin to suspect, that I was rather impelled by resentment, than led by devotion, into solitude.  My fancy riots in scenes of folly, and I lament, that I have lost so much, and have gained so little.  In solitude, if I escape the example of bad men, I want, likewise, the counsel and conversation of the good.  I have been long comparing the evils with the advantages of society, and resolve to return into the world to-morrow.  The life of a solitary man will be certainly miserable, but not certainly devout.”