He was deeply versed in singular
and obscure branches of knowledge, and much given to visionary
speculations. Antonio, whose mind was of a romantic cast, had himself
given some attention to the occult sciences, and he entered upon these
themes with an ardour that delighted the philosopher. Their
conversations frequently turned upon astrology, divination, and the
great secret. The old man would forget his aches and wounds, rise up
like a spectre in his bed, and kindle into eloquence on his favourite
topics. When gently admonished of his situation, it would but prompt
him to another sally of thought.
"Alas, my son!" he would say, "is not this very decrepitude and
suffering another proof of the importance of those secrets with which
we are surrounded? Why are we trammelled by disease, withered by old
age, and our spirits quenched, as it were, within, us, but because we
have lost those secrets of life and youth which were known to our
parents before their fall? To regain these, have philosophers been
ever since aspiring; but just as they are on the point of securing the
precious secrets for ever, the brief period of life is at an end; they
die, and with them all their wisdom and experience. 'Nothing,' as De
Nuysment observes, 'nothing is wanting for man's perfection but a
longer life, less crossed with sorrows and maladies, to the attaining
of the full and perfect knowledge of things.
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