refore, are only elevated human beings,
but we adore an unseen power working in nature and in ourselves. The
animal takes its place between ourselves and nature; its actions are
guided, not, like our own, by the letter, but by the eternal laws of
nature, which owe their origin to the Deity, while the letter is a device
of man's own mind. And then, too, where amongst ourselves do we find so
earnest a longing and endeavor to gain freedom, the highest good, as
among the animals? Where such a regular and well-balanced life from
generation to generation, without instruction or precept?"

Here the king's voice failed. He was obliged to pause for a few moments,
and then continued: "I know that my end is near; therefore enough of
these matters. My son and successor, hear my last wishes and act upon
them; they are the result of experience. But alas! how often have I seen,
that rules of life given by one man to another are useless. Every man
must earn his own experience. His own losses make him prudent, his own
learning wise. Thou, my son, art coming to the throne at a mature age;
thou hast had time and opportunity to judge between right and wrong, to
note what is beneficial and what hurtful, to see and compare many things.
I give thee, therefore, only a few wholesome counsels, and only fear that
though I offer them with my right hand, thou wilt accept them with the
left.

"First, however, I must say that, notwithstanding my blindness, my
indifference to what has been going on during the past months has been
only apparent. I left you to your own devices with a good intention.
Rhodopis told me once one of her teacher AEsop's fables: 'A traveller,
meeting a man on his road, asked him how long it would be before he
reached the nearest town.' 'Go on, go on,' cried the other. 'But I want
to know first when I shall get to the town.' 'Go on, only go on,' was the
answer. The traveller left him with angry words and abuse; but he had not
gone many steps when the man called after him: 'You will be there in an
hour. I could not answer your question until I had seen your pace.'

"I bore this fable in my mind for my son's sake, and watched in silence
at what pace he was ruling his people. Now I have discovered what I wish
to know, and this is my advice: Examine into everything your self. It is
the duty of every man, but especially of a king, to acquaint himself
intimately with all that concerns the weal or woe of his people. You, my
son, are