ABSTRACT
The influence of Lok over Waldorf was at present sole and uncontrouled; no Zenna interposed his friendly rhetoric to lead him to reflection. Waldorf pursued the path of error, already / strewed with victims; his every idea, surrounded by a myriad of illegible impressions and plausible opinions, clouded the perspicuity of his judgment; and his enlarged perceptions so indiscriminately admitted opinions the most absurd, with sentiments the most just, that his mind became a chaos of confusion; all method or regularity seemed banished from it. A crowd of contrary impressions disturbed his imagination; nor did he spare time to arrange them, consequently no benefit could be deduced from his ideas. The rare essence of intellect was indeed perceived amid the dross of mistaken and erroneous sentiments; and his easy eloquence and fascinating manners, seldom failed of improving his auditors. He had ever accustomed himself / to think deeply, without perceiving the dangers of speculation, or the consequences of propagating dubious opinions: his understanding was therefore powerful, though his doctrines were erroneous, and his opinions boldly original; which, contrasted with the modest sensibility of his manner, at once found its way to every heart. No wonder then that Waldorf became a victim to his thirst for knowledge, and that his refined philosophy accelerated the destruction of himself and others.
