uties of nature; when we
gazed upon the sun, gilding the peaks of those rocks, and then spreading
his rays over the bosom of the forests.

"'How exquisite were our emotions while we enjoyed the glowing colours of
the opening day, the odours of our shrubs, the concerts of our birds! Now,
at the source of beauty, from which flows all that is delightful upon
earth, my soul intuitively sees, tastes, hears, touches, what before she
could only be made sensible of through the medium of our weak organs. Ah!
what language can describe those shores of eternal bliss which I inhabit
for ever? All that infinite power and celestial bounty can confer, that
harmony which results from friendship with numberless beings, exulting in
the same felicity, we enjoy in unmixed perfection. Support, then the trial
which is allotted you, that you may heighten the happiness of your Virginia
by love which will know no termination, by hymeneals which will be
immortal. There I will calm your regrets, I will wipe away your tears. Oh,
my beloved friend! my husband! raise your thoughts towards infinite
duration, and bear the evils of a moment.'

"My own emotion choked my utterance. Paul, looking's at me stedfastly,
cried, 'She is no more! She is no more!' and a long fainting fit succeeded
that melancholy exclamation. When restored to himself, he said, 'Since
death is a good, and since Virginia is happy, I would die too, and be
united to Virginia.' Thus the motives of consolation I had offered, only
served to nourish his despair. I was like a man who attempts to save a
friend sinking in the midst of a flood, and refusing to swim. Sorrow had
overwhelmed his soul. Alas! the misfortunes of early years prepare man for
the struggles of life: but Paul had never known adversity.

"I led him back to his own dwelling, where I found his mother and Madame de
la Tour in a state of increased languor, but Margaret drooped most. Those
lively characters upon which light afflictions make a small impression, are
least capable of resisting great calamities.

"'O, my good friend,' said Margaret, 'me-thought, last night, I saw
Virginia dressed in white, amidst delicious bowers and gardens. She said to
me, 'I enjoy the most perfect happiness;' and then approaching Paul, with a
smiling air, she bore him away. While I struggled to retain my son, I felt
that I myself was quitting the earth, and that I followed him with
inexpressible delight. I then wished to bid my friend farew