“Such,” said Pekuah, “has often been my wish; and I have heard the princess declare, that she should not willingly die in a crowd.”

“The liberty of using harmless pleasures,” proceeded Imlac, “will not be disputed; but it is still to be examined, what pleasures are harmless.  The evil of any pleasure that Nekayah can image, is not in the act itself, but in its consequences.  Pleasure, in itself harmless, may become mischievous, by endearing to us a state which we know to be transient and probatory, and withdrawing our thoughts from that, of which every hour brings us nearer to the beginning, and of which no length of time will bring us to the end.  Mortification is not virtuous in itself, nor has any other use, but that it disengages us from the allurements of sense.  In the state of future perfection, to which we all aspire, there will be pleasure without danger, and security without restraint.”

The princess was silent, and Rasselas, turning to the astronomer, asked him, whether he could not delay her retreat, by showing her something which she had not seen before.

“Your curiosity,” said the sage, “has been so general, and your pursuit of knowledge so vigorous, that novelties are not now very easily to be found; but what you can no longer procure from the living, may be given by the dead.  Among the wonders of this country are the catacombs, or the ancient repositories, in which the bodies of the earliest generations were lodged, and where, by the virtue of the gums which embalmed them, they yet remain without corruption.”

“I know not,” said Rasselas, “what pleasure the sight of the catacombs can afford; but, since nothing else offers, I am resolved to view them, and shall place this with many other things which I have done, because I would do something.”

They hired a guard of horsemen, and the next day visited the catacombs.  When they were about to descend into the sepulchral caves, “Pekuah,” said the princess, “we are now again invading the habitations of the dead:  I know that you will stay behind; let me find you safe when I return.”  “No, I will not be left,” answered Pekuah; “I will go down between you and the prince.”

They then all descended, and roved, with wonder, through the labyrinth of subterraneous passages, where the bodies were laid in rows on either side.

CHAP.  XLVIII.

IMLAC DISCOURSES ON THE NATURE OF THE SOUL.

“What reason,” said the prince, “can be given, why the Egyptians should thus expensively preserve those carcasses which some nations consume with fire, others lay to mingle with the earth, and all agree to remove from their sight, as soon as decent rites can be performed?”