here is to be such
a day; and before that time, it will require some trouble to make them
fit to appear in company with angels without disgracing humanity. God
bless you! I feel a conviction that we have some perfectible principle
in our present vestment, which will not be destroyed just as we begin to
be sensible of improvement; and I care not what habit it next puts on,
sure that it will be wisely formed to suit a higher state of existence.
Thinking of death makes us tenderly cling to our affections; with more
than usual tenderness I therefore assure you that I am yours, wishing
that the temporary death of absence may not endure longer than is
absolutely necessary.

LETTER VIII.

Tonsberg was formerly the residence of one of the little sovereigns of
Norway; and on an adjacent mountain the vestiges of a fort remain, which
was battered down by the Swedes, the entrance of the bay lying close to
it.

Here I have frequently strayed, sovereign of the waste; I seldom met any
human creature; and sometimes, reclining on the mossy down, under the
shelter of a rock, the prattling of the sea amongst the pebbles has
lulled me to sleep--no fear of any rude satyr's approaching to interrupt
my repose. Balmy were the slumbers, and soft the gales, that refreshed
me, when I awoke to follow, with an eye vaguely curious, the white sails,
as they turned the cliffs, or seemed to take shelter under the pines
which covered the little islands that so gracefully rose to render the
terrific ocean beautiful. The fishermen were calmly casting their nets,
whilst the sea-gulls hovered over the unruffled deep. Everything seemed
to harmonise into tranquillity; even the mournful call of the bittern was
in cadence with the tinkling bells on the necks of the cows, that, pacing
slowly one after the other, along an inviting path in the vale below,
were repairing to the cottages to be milked. With what ineffable
pleasure have I not gazed--and gazed again, losing my breath through my
eyes--my very soul diffused itself in the scene; and, seeming to become
all senses, glided in the scarcely-agitated waves, melted in the
freshening breeze, or, taking its flight with fairy wing, to the misty
mountain which bounded the prospect, fancy tripped over new lawns, more
beautiful even than the lovely slopes on the winding shore before me. I
pause, again breathless, to trace, with renewed delight, sentiments which
entranced me, when, turning my humid ey