had been overlooked. The globe which we inhabit was very
imperfectly known. The regions and nations unexplored, it was
reasonable to believe, surpassed in extent, and perhaps in
populousness, those with which we were familiar. The order of
Jesuits had furnished an example of all the errors and excellencies
of such a scheme. Their plan was founded on erroneous notions of
religion and policy, and they had absurdly chosen a scene* within
reach of the injustice and ambition of an European tyrant.

It was wise and easy to profit by their example. Resting on
the two props of fidelity and zeal, an association might exist for
ages in the heart of Europe, whose influence might be felt, and
might be boundless, in some region of the southern hemisphere; and
by whom a moral and political structure might be raised, the growth
of pure wisdom, and totally unlike those fragments of Roman and
Gothic barbarism, which cover the face of what are called the
civilized nations. The belief now rose in my mind that some such
scheme had actually been prosecuted, and that Ludloe was a
coadjutor. On this supposition, the caution with which he
approached to his point, the arduous probation which a candidate
for a part on this stage must undergo, and the rigours of that test
by which his fortitude and virtue must be tried, were easily
explained. I was too deeply imbued with veneration for the effects
of such schemes, and too sanguine in my confidence in the rectitude
of Ludloe, to refuse my concurrence in any scheme by which my
qualifications might at length be raised to a due point.

Our interview was frank and affectionate. I found him
situated just as formerly. His aspect, manners, and deportment
were the same. I entered once more on my former mode of life, but