Alas! sufferings real, evident, continually before us, have
not effects very serious or lasting, even in the minds of the more
reflecting and compassionate; nor, indeed, does it seem right that
the pain caused by sympathy should serve for more than a stimulus to
benevolence. If then the strength and solidity of truth placed
before our eyes have effect so feeble and transitory, I need not be
very apprehensive that my representations of Poor-houses and
Prisons, of wants and sufferings, however faithfully taken, will
excite any feelings which can be seriously lamented. It has always
been held as a salutary exercise of the mind to contemplate the
evils and miseries of our nature: I am not therefore without hope
that even this gloomy subject of Imprisonment, and more especially
the Dream of the Condemned Highwayman, will excite in some minds
that mingled pity and abhorrence which, while it is not
unpleasant to the feelings, is useful in its operation. It ties and
binds us to all mankind by sensations common to us all, and in some
degree connects us, without degradation, even to the most miserable
and guilty of our fellow-men.
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