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THE VISION OF MIRZAH 
 BY JOSEPH ADDISON^? 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO 
 
 THE BOOK CLUB OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 MDCCCCXVII 
 
From the edition of Addison's Works 
 
 Printed by John Baskeryille, Birmingham 
 
 Mdcclxi 
 
 
JOSEPH ADDISON was born May ist, 1672, at Biographical 
 Milston,nearAmbresbury, Wiltshire England. ^Npte 
 His father, the Reverend Launcelot Addison, 
 was Dean of Litchfield. He received his early ed- 
 ucation at schools in the vicinity of his home and 
 afterward was sent to Charterhouse, where the 
 memorable intimacy between him and Steele first 
 began. At the early age of fifteen he entered 
 Queens College, Oxford, and when he had been 
 there about two years, his remarkable skill in 
 Latin verse procured him a demy ship at Magda- 
 len. He obtained his degree of Master of Arts 
 in 1693 and a fellowship five years later. 
 
 During his university career Addison devoted 
 himself to the study of the Latin poets and at that 
 time he had some idea of making poetry his life 
 work. It was through his verse that he attracled 
 the attention of Lord Somers and Charles Mon- 
 tagu, whose influence secured for him a pension 
 of 300 pounds a year from the Crown to enable 
 him to travel abroad. In 1699 he set out from 
 
 iii 
 
Biographical Oxford for France, remaining there until the end 
 ^frlpte of 1700, after which he passed twelve months in 
 Italy. He visited Germany prior to his return to 
 England towards the end of 1703. 
 
 The death of King William in 1702 and the 
 consequent fall of Addison s friends from power 
 deprived him of his pension and he was without 
 public employment until late in 1704, when he 
 was given the position of Commissioner of Ap- 
 peals in Excise. Soon after that he achieved po- 
 litical distinction, being appointed Under Secre- 
 tary of State in 1706 and, two years later, Chief 
 Secretary for Ireland. After Queen Anne's death 
 in 17 14 he was made Secretary to the Lord Jus- 
 tices and the Regency. In August, 1716, he mar- 
 ried Charlotte, Countess Dowager of Warwick, 
 and in April of the following year was named 
 by King George as one of his principal Secretar- 
 ies of State. He died June 17th, 1719, at Holland 
 House and was buried in Poets' Corner in West- 
 minster Abbey. 
 iv 
 
Addison has enriched English literature by his Biographical 
 poems, his plays, his ri 'Italian Travels" and by the c fr(pte 
 immortal papers which hare crowned the cr Tat- 
 ler," the rr Speclator" and the rr Guardian " with 
 lasting fame. His style has been held up as a 
 model of classical English; witness the testimony 
 of Macaulay, who says that in delicacy of wit, 
 fertility of imagination and grace of expression his 
 best essays approach near to absolute perfeclion. 
 
Omnem quce nunc obducla tuenti 
 
 Mortales hebetat visus tibi, et humida circum 
 Caligat, nubem eripiam 
 
When I was at Grand Cairo I picked up The 
 several oriental Manuscripts, which ^Vision of 
 I have still by me. Among others I Mirzah 
 met with one entitled The 'Visions of Mirzah, 
 which I have read over with great pleasure. 
 I intend to give it to the public when I have 
 no other entertainment for them ; and shall 
 begin with the first Vis ion, which I have trans- 
 lated word for word as follows. 
 " On the fifth day of the moon, which ac- 
 cording to the custom of my fore- fathers I 
 '' always keep holy, after having washed my- 
 self, and offered up my morning devotions, 
 I ascended the high hills oiBagdat, in order 
 to pass the rest of the day in meditation and 
 prayer. As I was here airing myself on the 
 tops of the mountains, I fell into a profound 
 contemplation on the vanity of human life; 
 and passing from one thought to another, 
 Surely, said I, man is but a shadow and life 
 "a dream. Whilst I was thus musing, I cast 
 
The " my eyes towards the summit of a rock that 
 ^Vision of " was not far from me, where I discovered one 
 Mirzah " in the habit of a shepherd, with a musical in- 
 " strument in his hand. As I looked upon him 
 " he applied it to his lips, and began to play up- 
 " on it. The sound of it was exceeding sweet, 
 " and wrought into a variety of tunes that were 
 " inexpressibly melodious, and altogether dif- 
 " ferent from any thing I had ever heard. They 
 " put me in mind of those heavenly airs that 
 "are played to the departed souls of good 
 " men upon their first arrival in paradise, to 
 " wear out the impressions of their last ago- 
 " nies, and qualify them for the pleasures of 
 " that happy place. My heart melted away in 
 " secret raptures. 
 
 "I had been often told that the rock be- 
 " fore me was the haunt of a Genius ; and that 
 "several had been entertained with music 
 " who had passed by it, but never heard that 
 "the musician had before made himself visi- 
 
" ble. When he had raised my thoughts, by The 
 " those transporting airs which he played, to ^Vision of 
 " taste the pleasures of his conversation, as I Mirzah 
 " looked upon him like one astonished, he 
 " beckoned to me, and by the waving of his 
 "hand directed me to approach the place 
 " where he sat. I drew near with that rever- 
 " ence which is due to a superior nature ; and 
 "as my heart was intirely subdued by the 
 "captivating strains I had heard, I fell down 
 " at his feet and wept. The Genius smiled up- 
 " on me with a look of compassion and affa- 
 " bility that familiarized him to my imagina- 
 " tion, and at once dispelled all the fears and 
 "apprehensions with which I approached 
 " him. He lifted me from the ground, and 
 " taking me by the hand, Mirzah, said he, I 
 " have heard thee in thy soliloquies, follow me. 
 " He then led me to the highest pinnacle 
 " of the rock, and placing me on the top of 
 " it, Cast thy eyes eastward, said he, and tell 
 
The " me what thou seest. I see, said I, a huge 
 Vision of " valley and a prodigious tide of water rolling 
 Mirzah " through it. The valley that thou seest, said 
 " he, is the vale of misery, and the tide of wa- 
 " ter that thou seest, is part of the great tide 
 " of Eternity. What is the reason, said I, that 
 " the tide I see rises out of a thick mist at one 
 "end, and again loses itself in a thick mist at 
 "the other? What thou seest, said he, is that 
 "portion of Eternity which is called Time, 
 " measured out by the Sun, and reaching from 
 " the beginning of the world to its consum- 
 "mation. Examine now, said he, this sea that 
 " is thus bounded with darkness at both ends, 
 " and tell me what thou discoverest in it. I see 
 " a bridge, said I, standing in the midst of the 
 " tide. The bridge thou seest, said he, is hu- 
 "man life; consider it attentively. Upon a 
 " more leisurely survey of it, I found that it 
 " consisted of threescore and ten entire arches, 
 "with several broken arches, which added to 
 
" those that were entire, made up the number The 
 "about an hundred. As I was counting the "Vision of 
 "arches, the Genius told me that this bridge Mirzah 
 "consisted at first of a thousand arches ; but 
 "that a great flood swept away the rest, and 
 "left the bridge in the ruinous condition I 
 " now beheld it. But tell me further, said he, 
 " what thou discoverest on it. I see multitudes 
 " of people passing over it, said I, and a black 
 " cloud hanging on each end of it. As I looked 
 "more attentively, I saw several of the pas- 
 " sengers dropping through the bridge, into 
 " the great tide that flowed underneath it; and 
 "upon further examination, perceived there 
 "were innumerable trap-doors that lay con- 
 cealed in the bridge, which the passengers 
 "no sooner trod upon, but they fell through 
 "them into the tide, and immediately disap- 
 " peared. These hidden pit-falls were set very 
 "thick at the entrance of the bridge, so that 
 " throngs of people no sooner broke through 
 
 5 
 
The " the cloud, but many of them fell into them. 
 'Vision of " They grew thinner towards the middle, but 
 Mirzah "multiplied and lay closer together towards 
 "the end of the arches that were entire. 
 
 "There were indeed some persons, but 
 " their number was very small, that continued 
 " a kind of hobbling march on the broken 
 "arches, but fell through one after another, 
 " being quite tired and spent with so long a 
 "walk. 
 
 " I passed some time in the contemplation 
 "of this wonderful structure, and the great 
 " variety of obje&s which it presented. My 
 "heart was filled with a deep melancholy to 
 "see several dropping unexpectedly in the 
 "midst of mirth and jollity, and catching at 
 " every thing that stood by them to save them- 
 " selves. Some were looking up toward the 
 " Heavens in a thoughtful posture, and in the 
 " midst of a Speculation stumbled and fell out 
 "of sight. Multitudes were very busy in the 
 
 6 
 
" pursuit of bubbles that glittered in their eyes The 
 " and danced before them, but often when 'Vision of 
 "they thought themselves within the reach Mirzah 
 "of them, their footing failed and down they 
 "sunk. In this confusion of obje&s, I ob- 
 served some with Scymetars in their hands, 
 " and others with Urinals, who ran to and fro 
 " upon the bridge,thrusting several persons on 
 " trap-doors which did not seem to lie in their 
 "way, and which they might have escaped, 
 "had they not been thus forced upon them. 
 "The Genius seeing me indulge myself 
 "in this melancholy prospedt, told me I had 
 " dwelt long enough upon it : take thine eyes 
 "off the bridge, said he, and tell me if thou 
 "seest any thing thou dost not comprehend. 
 " Upon looking up, What mean, said I, those 
 "great flights of birds that are perpetually 
 "hovering about the bridge, and settling up- 
 "on it from time to time? I see vultures, har- 
 " peys, ravens, cormorants ; and among many 
 
 7 
 
The " other feathered creatures several little wing- 
 
 ^Vision of "ed boys, that perch in great numbers upon 
 
 Mirzah " the middle arches. These, said the Genius, 
 
 " are envy, avarice, superstition, despair, love, 
 
 " with the like cares and passions that infest 
 
 " human life. 
 
 "I here fetched a deep sigh; Alas, said I, 
 " man was made in vain ! How is he given 
 "away to misery and mortality! tortured in 
 " life, and swallowed up in death ! The Genius 
 " being moved with compassion towards me, 
 "bid me quit so uncomfortable a prospect. 
 " Look no more, said he, on man in the first 
 " stage of his existence, in his setting out for 
 "Eternity; but cast thine eye on that thick 
 "mist into which the tide bears the several 
 " generations of mortals that fall into it. I 
 "directed my sight as I was ordered, and 
 " (whether or no the good Genius strength- 
 ened it with a supernatural force, or dissi- 
 "pated part of the mist that was before too 
 8 
 
"thick for the eye to penetrate) I saw the The 
 
 "valley opening at the further end, and spread- Vision of 
 
 " ing forth into an immense ocean, that had a Mirzah 
 
 " huge rock of Adamant running through the 
 
 "midst of it, and dividing it into two equal 
 
 " parts. The clouds still rested on one half of 
 
 " it, insomuch that I could discover nothing 
 
 "in it: but the other appeared to me a vast 
 
 "ocean planted with innumerable islands, 
 
 "that were covered with fruits and flowers, 
 
 "and interwoven with a thousand little shin- 
 
 " ing seas that ran among them. I could see 
 
 "persons dressed in glorious habits with 
 
 " garlands upon their heads, passing among 
 
 " the trees, lying down by the sides of foun- 
 
 " tains, or resting on beds of flowers ; and 
 
 " could hear a confused harmony of singing 
 
 " birds, falling waters, human voices, and mu- 
 
 "sical instruments. Gladness grew in me up- 
 
 " on the discovery of so delightful a scene. I 
 
 "wished for the wings of an eagle, that I 
 
The 
 
 ^Vision of 
 
 Mirzah 
 
 ' might fly away to those happy seats; but 
 ' the Genius told me there was no passage 
 ' to them, except through the gates of Death 
 ' that I saw opening every moment upon the 
 ' bridge. The Islands, said he, that lie so fresh 
 ' and green before thee, and with which the 
 ' whole face of the ocean appears spotted as 
 ' far as thou canst see, are more in number 
 'than the sands on the sea-shore; there are 
 ' myriads of Islands behind those which thou 
 ' here disco verest, reaching further than thine 
 'eye or even thine imagination can extend 
 ' itself. These are the mansions of good men 
 'after death, who according to the degree 
 and kinds of virtue in which they excelled, 
 are distributed among these several Islands, 
 which abound with pleasures of different 
 kinds and degrees, suitable to the relishes 
 and perfections of those who are settled in 
 them ; every Island is a paradise accommo- 
 dated to its respective inhabitants. Are not 
 
 10 
 
" these, O Mirzah, habitations worth contend- The 
 
 "ing for? Does life appear miserable, that Vision of 
 
 " gives thee opportunities of earning such a Mirzah 
 
 "reward? Is death to be feared, that will con- 
 
 "vey thee to so happy an existence? Think 
 
 " not man was made in vain, who has such an 
 
 " Eternity reserved for him. I gazed with in- 
 
 " expressible pleasure on these happy Islands. 
 
 "At length said I, shew me now, I beseech 
 
 "thee, the secrets that lie hid under those 
 
 " dark clouds which cover the ocean on the 
 
 " other side of the rock of Adamant. The Ge- 
 
 " nius making me no answer, I turned about 
 
 " to address myself to him a second time, but 
 
 " I found that he had left me. I then turned 
 
 "again to the vision which I had been so 
 
 " long contemplating, but instead of the roll- 
 
 " ing tide, the arched bridge, and the happy 
 
 " Islands, I saw nothing but the long hollow 
 
 "valley of Tlagdat, with oxen, sheep, and 
 
 " camels, grazing upon the sides of it. 
 
 1 1 
 
Three hundred copies of this book 
 
 have been printed by yohn Henry G P{ash 
 
 The portrait is by Dan Sweeney 
 
 San Francisco, California 
 
 August, Mdccccxvii 
 
ROOK IS DOT ON THE LAST DATE 
 B0 ° STAMPEDBELOW 
 
 NITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS 
 
 BOOK ON THE DATE ^E. TH 
 
 DUE. 
 
 
 L,D21-100m-7,'39(402s) 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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