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diff --git a/old/10859.txt b/old/10859.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a1369cc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10859.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3533 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Paul and Virginia, by Bernadin de Saint-Pierre + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Paul and Virginia + +Author: Bernadin de Saint-Pierre + +Release Date: January 28, 2004 [EBook #10859] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PAUL AND VIRGINIA *** + + + + +Produced by Internet Archive; University of Florida, Children, Grenet +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + +[Illustration: _Paul and Virginia. p.29._] + + +PAUL AND VIRGINIA, + +FROM THE FRENCH + +OF + +J.B.H. DE SAINT PIERRE. + + + + +1851 + + + + +PREFACE. + +The following translation of "Paul and Virginia," was written at Paris, +amidst the horrors of Robespierre's tyranny. During that gloomy epocha it +was difficult to find occupations which might cheat the days of calamity of +their weary length. Society had vanished; and amidst the minute vexations +of Jacobinical despotism, which, while it murdered in _mass_, persecuted in +detail, the resources of writing, and even reading, were encompassed with +danger. The researches of domiciliary visits had already compelled me to +commit to the flames a manuscript volume, where I had traced the political +scenes of which I had been a witness, with the colouring of their first +impressions on my mind, with those fresh tints that fade from recollection; +and since my pen, accustomed to follow the impulse of my feelings, could +only have drawn, at that fatal period, those images of desolation and +despair which haunted my imagination, and dwelt upon my heart, writing was +forbidden employment. Even reading had its perils; for books had sometimes +aristocratical insignia, and sometimes counter revolutionary allusions; and +when the administrators of police happened to think the writer a +conspirator, they punished the reader as his accomplice. + +In this situation I gave myself the task of employing a few hours every day +in translating the charming little novel of Bernardin St. Pierre, entitled +"Paul and Virginia;" and I found the most soothing relief in wandering from +my own gloomy reflections to those enchanting scenes of the Mauritius, +which he has so admirably described. I also composed a few Sonnets adapted +to the peculiar productions of that part of the globe, which are +interspersed in the work. Some, indeed, are lost, as well as a part of the +translation, which I have since supplied, having been sent to the +Municipality of Paris, in order to be examined as English papers; where +they still remain, mingled with revolutionary placards, motions, and +harangues; and are not likely to be restored to my possession. + +With respect to the translation, I can only hope to deserve the humble +merit of not having deformed the beauty of the original. I have, indeed, +taken one liberty with my author, which it is fit I should acknowledge, +that of omitting several pages of general observations, which, however +excellent in themselves, would be passed over with impatience by the +English reader, when they interrupt the pathetic narrative. In this +respect, the two nations seem to change characters; and while the serious +and reflecting Englishman requires, in novel writing, as well as on the +theatre, a rapid succession of incidents, much bustle and stage effect, +without suffering the author to appear himself, and stop the progress of +the story; the gay and restless Frenchman listens attentively to long +philosophical reflections, while the catastrophe of the drama hangs in +suspense. + +My last poetical productions (the Sonnets which are interspersed in this +work) may perhaps be found even more imperfect than my earlier +compositions; since, after a long exile from England, I can scarcely +flatter myself that my ear is become more attuned to the harmony of a +language, with the sounds of which it is seldom gladdened; or that my +poetical taste is improved by living in a country where arts have given +place to arms. But the public will, perhaps, receive with indulgence a work +written under such peculiar circumstances; not composed in the calm of +literary leisure, or in pursuit of literary fame, but amidst the turbulence +of the most cruel sensations, and in order to escape awhile from +overwhelming misery. + +H.M.W. + + + + +PAUL AND VIRGINIA. + + +On the eastern coast of the mountain which rises above Port Louis in the +Mauritius, upon a piece of land bearing the marks of former cultivation, +are seen the ruins of two small cottages. Those ruins are situated near the +centre of a valley, formed by immense rocks, and which opens only towards +the north. On the left rises the mountain, called the Height of Discovery, +from whence the eye marks the distant sail when it first touches the verge +of the horizon, and whence the signal is given when a vessel approaches the +island. At the foot of this mountain stands the town of Port Louis. On the +right is formed the road, which stretches from Port Louis to the Shaddock +Grove, where the church, bearing that name, lifts its head, surrounded by +its avenues of bamboo, in the midst of a spacious plain; and the prospect +terminates in a forest extending to the furthest bounds of the island. The +front view presents the bay, denominated the Bay of the Tomb: a little on +the right is seen the Cape of Misfortune; and beyond rolls the expanded +ocean, on the surface of which appear a few uninhabited islands, and, among +others, the Point of Endeavour, which resembles a bastion built upon the +flood. + +At the entrance of the valley which presents those various objects, the +echoes of the mountain incessantly repeat the hollow murmurs of the winds +that shake the neighbouring forests, and the tumultuous dashing of the +waves which break at a distance upon the cliffs. But near the ruined +cottages all is calm and still, and the only objects which there meet the +eye are rude steep rocks, that rise like a surrounding rampart. Large +clumps of trees grow at their base, on their rifted sides, and even on +their majestic tops, where the clouds seem to repose. The showers, which +their bold points attract, often paint the vivid colours of the rainbow on +their green and brown declivities, and swell the sources of the little +river which flows at their feet, called the river of Fan-Palms. + +Within this enclosure reigns the most profound silence. The waters, the +air, all the elements are at peace. Scarcely does the echo repeat the +whispers of the palm-trees spreading their broad leaves, the long points of +which are gently balanced by the winds. A soft light illuminates the bottom +of this deep valley, on which the sun only shines at noon. But even at +break of day the rays of light are thrown on the surrounding rocks; and the +sharp peaks, rising above the shadows of the mountain, appear like tints of +gold and purple gleaming upon the azure sky. + +To this scene I loved to resort, where I might enjoy at once the richness +of the extensive landscape, and the charm of uninterrupted solitude. One +day, when I was seated at the foot of the cottages, and contemplating their +ruins, a man, advanced in years, passed near the spot. He was dressed in +the ancient garb of the island, his feet were bare, and he leaned upon a +staff of ebony: his hair was white, and the expression of his countenance +was dignified and interesting. I bowed to him with respect; he returned the +salutation: and, after looking at me with some earnestness, came and placed +himself upon the hillock where I was seated. Encouraged by this mark of +confidence, I thus addressed him:-- + +"Father, can you tell me to whom those cottages once belonged?" "My son," +replied the old man, "those heaps of rubbish, and that unfilled land, were, +twenty years ago, the property of two families, who then found happiness in +this solitude. Their history is affecting; but what European, pursuing his +way to the Indies, will pause one moment to interest himself in the fate of +a few obscure individuals? What European can picture happiness to his +imagination amidst poverty and neglect? The curiosity of mankind is only +attracted by the history of the great; and yet from that knowledge little +use can be derived." "Father," I rejoined, "from your manners and your +observations, I perceive that you have acquired much experience of human +life. If you have leisure, relate to me, I beseech you, the history of the +ancient inhabitants of this desert; and be assured, that even the men who +are most perverted by the prejudices of the world, find a soothing pleasure +in contemplating that happiness which belongs to simplicity and virtue." +The old man, after a short silence, during which he leaned his face upon +his hands, as if he were trying to recall the images of the past, thus began +his narration:-- + +"Monsieur de la Tour, a young man who was a native of Normandy, after +having in vain solicited a commission in the French Army, or some support +from his own family, at length determined to seek his fortune in this +island, where he arrived in 1726. He brought hither a young woman whom he +loved tenderly, and by whom he was no less tenderly beloved. She belonged +to a rich and ancient family of the same province; but he had married her +without fortune, and in opposition to the will of her relations, who +refused their consent, because he was found guilty of being descended from +parents who had no claims to nobility. Monsieur de la Tour, leaving his +wife at Port Louis, embarked for Madagascar, in order to purchase a few +slaves to assist him in forming a plantation in this island. He landed at +that unhealthy season which commences about the middle of October: and soon +after his arrival died of the pestilential fever, which prevails in that +country six months of the year, and which will forever baffle the attempts +of the European nations to form establishments on that fatal soil. His +effects were seized upon by the rapacity of strangers; and his wife, who +was pregnant, found herself a widow in a country where she had neither +credit nor recommendation, and no earthly possession, or rather support, +save one negro woman. Too delicate to solicit protection or relief from any +other man after the death of him whom alone she loved, misfortune armed her +with courage, and she resolved to cultivate with her slave a little spot of +ground, and procure for herself the means of subsistence. In an island +almost a desert, and where the ground was left to the choice of the +settler, she avoided those spots which were most fertile and most +favourable to commerce; and seeking some nook of the mountain, some secret +asylum, where she might live solitary and unknown, she bent her way from +the town towards those rocks, where she wished to shelter herself as in a +nest. All suffering creatures, from a sort of common instinct, fly for +refuge amidst their pains to haunts the most wild and desolate; as if rocks +could form a rampart against misfortune; as if the calm of nature could +hush the tumults of the soul. That Providence, which lends its support when +we ask but the supply of our necessary wants, had a blessing in reserve for +Madame de la Tour, which neither riches nor greatness can purchase; this +blessing was a friend. + +"The spot to which Madame de la Tour fled had already been inhabited a year +by a young woman of a lively, good natured, and affectionate disposition. +Margaret (for that was her name) was born in Britany, of a family of +peasants, by whom she was cherished and beloved, and with whom she might +have passed life in simple rustic happiness, if, misled by the weakness of +a tender heart, she had not listened to the passion of a gentleman in the +neighbourhood, who promised her marriage. He soon abandoned her, and adding +inhumanity to seduction, refused to ensure a provision for the child of +which she was pregnant. Margaret then determined to leave for ever her +native village, and go, where her fault might be concealed, to some colony +distant from that country where she had lost the only portion of a poor +peasant girl--her reputation. With some borrowed money she purchased an old +negro slave, with whom she cultivated a little spot of this canton. Here +Madame de la Tour, followed by her negro woman, found Margaret suckling her +child. Soothed by the sight of a person in a situation somewhat similar to +her own, Madame de la Tour related, in a few words, her past condition and +her present wants. Margaret was deeply affected by the recital; and, more +anxious to excite confidence than esteem, she confessed, without disguise, +the errors of which she had been guilty. 'As for me,' said she, 'I deserve +my fate: but you, madam--you! at once virtuous and unhappy--' And, sobbing, +she offered Madame de la Tour both her hut and her friendship. That lady, +affected by this tender reception, pressed her in her arms, and exclaimed, +'Ah, surely Heaven will put an end to my misfortunes, since it inspires +you, to whom I am a stranger, with more goodness towards me than I have +ever experienced from my own relations!' + +"I knew Margaret; and, although my habitation is a league and a half from +hence, in the woods behind that sloping mountain, I considered myself as +her neighbour. In the cities of Europe a street, sometimes even a less +distance, separates families whom nature had united; but in new colonies we +consider those persons as neighbours from whom we are divided only by woods +and mountains; and above all, at that period when this island had little +intercourse with the Indies, neighbourhood alone gave a claim to +friendship, and hospitality toward strangers seemed less a duty than a +pleasure. No sooner was I informed that Margaret had found a companion, +than I hastened thither, in hope of being useful to my neighbour and her +guest. + +"Madame de la Tour possessed all those melancholy graces which give beauty +additional power, by blending sympathy with admiration. Her figure was +interesting, and her countenance expressed at once dignity and dejection. +She appeared to be in the last stage of her pregnancy. I told them that, +for the future interests of their children, and to prevent the intrusion of +any other settler, it was necessary they should divide between them the +property of this wild sequestered valley, which is nearly twenty acres in +extent. They confided that task to me, and I marked out two equal portions +of land. One includes the higher part of this enclosure, from, the peak of +that rock buried in clouds, whence springs the rapid river of Fan-Palms, to +that wide cleft which you see on the summit of the mountain, and which is +called the Cannon's Mouth, from the resemblance in its form. It is +difficult to find a path along this wild portion of enclosure, the soil of +which is encumbered with fragments of rock, or worn into channels formed by +torrents; yet it produces noble trees, and innumerable fountains and +rivulets. The other portion of land is comprised in the plain extending +along the banks of the river of Fan-Palms, to the opening where we are now +seated, from whence the river takes its course between those two hills, +until it falls into the sea. You may still trace the vestiges of some +meadow-land; and this part of the common is less rugged, but not more +valuable than the other; since in the rainy season it becomes marshy, and +in dry weather is so hard and unbending, that it will yield only to the +stroke of the hatchet. When I had thus divided the property, I persuaded my +neighbours to draw lots for their separate possessions. The higher portion +of land became the property of Madame de la Tour; the lower, of Margaret; +and each seemed satisfied with her respective share. They entreated me to +place their habitations together, that they might at all times enjoy the +soothing intercourse of friendship, and the consolation of mutual kind +offices. Margaret's cottage was situated near the centre of the valley, and +just on the boundary of her own plantation. Close to that spot I built +another cottage for the dwelling of Madame de la Tour: and thus the two +friends, while they possessed all the advantages of neighbourhood, lived on +their own property. I myself cut palisades from the mountain, and brought +leaves of Fan-Palms from the seashore, in order to construct those two +cottages, of which you can now discern neither the entrance nor the roof. +Yet, alas! there still remain but too many traces for my remembrance! Time, +which so rapidly destroys the proud monuments of empires, seems in this +desert to spare those of friendship, as if to perpetuate my regrets to the +last hour of my existence. + +"Scarcely was her cottage finished, when Madame de la Tour was delivered of +a girl. I had been the godfather of Margaret's child, who was christened by +the name of Paul. Madame de la Tour desired me to perform the same office +for her child also, together with her friend, who gave her the name of +Virginia. 'She will be virtuous,' cried Margaret, 'and she will be happy. I +have only known misfortune by wandering from virtue.' + +"At the time Madame de la Tour recovered, those two little territories had +already begun to yield some produce, perhaps in a small degree owing to the +care which I occasionally bestowed on their improvement, but far more to +the indefatigable labours of the two slaves. Margaret's slave, who was +called Domingo, was still healthy and robust, although advanced in years: +he possessed some knowledge, and a good natural understanding. He +cultivated indiscriminately, on both settlements, such spots of ground as +were most fertile, and sowed whatever grain he thought most congenial to +each particular soil. Where the ground was poor, he strewed maize; where it +was most fruitful, he planted wheat; and rice in such spots as were marshy. +He threw the seeds of gourds and cucumbers at the foot of the rocks, which +they loved to climb, and decorate with their luxuriant foliage. In dry +spots he cultivated the sweet potato; the cotton-tree flourished upon the +heights, and the sugar-cane grew in the clayey soil. He reared some plants +of coffee on the hills, where the grain, although small, is excellent. The +plantain-trees, which spread their grateful shade on the banks of the +river, and encircled the cottage, yielded fruit throughout the year. And, +lastly, Domingo cultivated a few plants of tobacco, to charm away his own +cares. Sometimes he was employed in cutting wood for firing from the +mountain, sometimes in hewing pieces of rock within the enclosure, in order +to level the paths. He was much attached to Margaret, and not less to +Madame de la Tour, whose negro-woman, Mary, he had married at the time of +Virginia's birth; and he was passionately fond of his wife. Mary was born +at Madagascar, from whence she had brought a few arts of industry. She +could weave baskets, and a sort of stuff, with long grass that grows in the +woods. She was active, cleanly, and, above all, faithful. It was her care +to prepare their meals, to rear the poultry, and go sometimes to Port +Louis, and sell the superfluities of these little plantations, which were +not very considerable. If you add to the personages I have already +mentioned two goats, who were brought up with the children, and a great +dog, who kept watch at night, you will have a complete idea of the +household, as well as of the revenue of those two farms. + +"Madame de la Tour and her friend were employed from the morning till the +evening in spinning cotton for the use of their families. Destitute of all +those things which their own industry could not supply, they walked about +their habitations with their feet bare, and shoes were a convenience +reserved for Sunday, when, at an early hour, they attended mass at the +church of the Shaddock Grove, which you see yonder. That church is far more +distant than Port Louis; yet they seldom visited the town, lest they should +be treated with contempt, because they were dressed in the coarse blue +linen of Bengal, which is usually worn by slaves. But is there in that +external deference which fortune commands a compensation for domestic +happiness? If they had something to suffer from the world, this served but +to endear their humble home. No sooner did Mary and Domingo perceive them +from this elevated spot, on the road of the Shaddock Grove, than they flew +to the foot of the mountain, in order to help them to ascend. They +discerned in the looks of their domestics that joy which their return +inspired. They found in their retreat neatness, independence, all those +blessings which are the recompense of toil, and received those services +which have their source in affection.--United by the tie of similar wants, +and the sympathy of similar misfortunes, they gave each other the tender +names of companion, friend, sister.--They had but one will, one interest, +one table. All their possessions were in common. And if sometimes a passion +more ardent than friendship awakened in their hearts the pang of unavailing +anguish, a pure religion, united with chaste manners, drew their affections +towards another life; as the trembling flame rises towards heaven, when it +no longer finds any aliment on earth. + +"Madame de la Tour sometimes, leaving the household cares to Margaret, +wandered out alone; and, amidst the sublime scenery, indulged that luxury +of pensive sadness, which is so soothing to the mind after the first +emotions of turbulent sorrow have subsided. Sometimes she poured forth the +effusions of melancholy in the language of verse; and, although her +compositions have little poetical merit, they appear to me to bear the +marks of genuine sensibility. Many of her poems are lost; but some still +remain in my possession, and a few still hang on my memory. I will repeat +to you a sonnet addressed to Love. + + SONNET + + TO LOVE. + + Ah, Love! ere yet I knew thy fatal power, + Bright glow'd the colour of my youthful days, + As, on the sultry zone, the torrid rays, + That paint the broad-leaved plantain's glossy bower; + Calm was my bosom as this silent hour, + When o'er the deep, scarce heard, the zephyr strays, + 'Midst the cool tam'rinds indolently plays, + Nor from the orange shakes its od'rous flower: + But, ah! since Love has all my heart possess'd, + That desolated heart what sorrows tear! + Disturb'd and wild as ocean's troubled breast, + When the hoarse tempest of the night is there + Yet my complaining spirit asks no rest; + This bleeding bosom cherishes despair. + +"The tender and sacred duties which nature imposed, became a source of +additional happiness to those affectionate mothers, whose mutual friendship +acquired new strength at the sight of their children, alike the offspring +of unhappy love. They delighted to place their infants together in the same +bath, to nurse them in the same cradle, and sometimes changed the maternal +bosom at which they received nourishment, as if to blend with the ties of +friendship that instinctive affection which this act produces. + +'My friend,' cried Madame de la Tour, 'we shall each of us have two +children, and each of our children will have two mothers.' As two buds +which remain on two trees of the same kind, after the tempest has broken +all their branches, produce more delicious fruit, if each, separated from +the maternal stem, be grafted on the neighbouring tree; so those two +children, deprived of all other support, imbibed sentiments more tender +than those of son and daughter, brother and sister, when exchanged at the +breast of those who had given them birth. While they were yet in their +cradle, their mothers talked of their marriage; and this prospect of +conjugal felicity, with which they soothed their own cares, often called +forth the tears of bitter regret. The misfortunes of one mother had arisen +from having neglected marriage, those of the other from having submitted to +its laws: one had been made unhappy by attempting to raise herself above +her humble condition of life, the other by descending from her rank. But +they found consolation in reflecting that their more fortunate children, +far from the cruel prejudices of Europe, those prejudices which poison the +most precious sources of our happiness, would enjoy at once the pleasures +of love and the blessings of equality. + +"Nothing could exceed that attachment which those infants already displayed +for each other. If Paul complained, his mother pointed to Virginia; and at +that sight he smiled, and was appeased. If any accident befel Virginia, the +cries of Paul gave notice of the disaster; and then Virginia would suppress +her complaints when she found that Paul was unhappy. When I came hither, I +usually found them quite naked, which is the custom of this country, +tottering in their walk, and holding each other by the hands and under the +arms, as we represent the constellation of the Twins. At night these +infants often refused to be separated, and were found lying in the same +cradle, their cheeks, their bosoms pressed close together, their hands +thrown round each other's neck, and sleeping, locked in one another's arms. + +"When they began to speak, the first names they learnt to give each other +were those of brother and sister, and childhood knows no softer +appellation. Their education served to augment their early friendship, by +directing it to the supply of their reciprocal wants. In a short time, all +that regarded the household economy, the care of preparing the rural +repasts, became the task of Virginia, whose labours were always crowned +with the praises and kisses of her brother. As for Paul, always in motion, +he dug the garden with Domingo, or followed him with a little hatchet into +the woods, where, if in his rambles he espied a beautiful flower, fine +fruit, or a nest of birds, even at the top of a tree, he climbed up, and +brought it home to his sister. + +"When you met with one of these children, you might be sure the other was +not distant. One day, coming down that mountain, I saw Virginia at the end +of the garden, running toward the house, with her petticoat thrown over her +head, in order to screen herself from a shower of rain. At a distance, I +thought she was alone; but as I hastened towards her, in order to help her +on, I perceived that she held Paul by the arm, who was almost entirely +enveloped in the same cavity, and both were laughing heartily at being +sheltered together under an umbrella of their own invention. Those two +charming faces, placed within the petticoat, swelled by the wind, recalled +to my mind the children of Leda, enclosed within the same shell. + +"Their sole study was how to please and assist each other; for of all other +things they were ignorant, and knew neither how to read nor write. They +were never disturbed by researches into past times, nor did their curiosity +extend beyond the bounds of that mountain. They believed the world ended at +the shores of their own island, and all their ideas and affections were +confined within its limits. Their mutual tenderness, and that of their +mothers, employed all the activity of their souls. Their tears had never +been called forth by long application to useless sciences. Their minds had +never been wearied by lessons of morality, superfluous to bosoms +unconscious of ill. They had never been taught that they must not steal, +because every thing with them was in common; or be intemperate, because +their simple food was left to their own discretion; or false, because they +had no truth to conceal. Their young imaginations had never been terrified +by the idea that God has punishments in store for ungrateful children, +since with them filial affection arose naturally from maternal fondness. +All they had been taught of religion was to love it; and if they did not +offer up long prayers in the church, wherever they were, in the house, in +the fields, in the woods, they raised towards heaven their innocent hands, +and their hearts purified by virtuous affections. + +"Thus passed their early childhood, like a beautiful dawn, the prelude of a +bright day. Already they partook with their mothers the cares of the +household. As soon as the cry of the wakeful cock announced the first beam +of the morning, Virginia arose, and hastened to draw water from a +neighbouring spring; then returning to the house, she prepared the +breakfast. When the rising sun lighted up the points of those rocks which +overhang this enclosure, Margaret and her child went to the dwelling of +Madame de la Tour, and they offered up together their morning prayer. This +sacrifice of thanksgiving always preceded their first repast, which they +often partook before the door of the cottage, seated upon the grass, under +a canopy of plantain; and while the branches of that delightful tree +afforded a grateful shade, its solid fruit furnished food ready prepared by +nature; and its long glossy leaves, spread upon the table, supplied the +want of linen. + +"Plentiful and wholesome nourishment gave early growth and vigour to the +persons of those children, and their countenances expressed the purity and +peace of their souls. At twelve years of age the figure of Virginia was in +some degree formed: a profusion of light hair shaded her face, to which her +blue eyes and coral lips gave the most charming brilliancy. Her eyes +sparkled with vivacity when she spoke; but when she was silent, her look +had a cast upwards, which gave it an expression of extreme sensibility, or +rather of tender melancholy. Already the figure of Paul displayed the +graces of manly beauty. He was taller than Virginia; his skin was of a +darker tint; his nose more aquiline; and his black eyes would have been too +piercing, if the long eyelashes, by which were shaded, had not given them a +look of softness. He was constantly in motion, except when his sister +appeared; and then, placed at her side, he became quiet. Their meals often +passed in silence, and, from the grace of their attitudes, the beautiful +proportions of their figures, and their naked feet, you might have fancied +you beheld an antique group of white marble, representing some of the +children of Niobe; if those eyes which sought to meet those smiles which +were answered by smiles of the most tender softness, had not rather given +you the idea of those happy celestial spirits, whose nature is love, and +who are not obliged to have recourse to words for the expression of that +intuitive sentiment. In the mean time, Madame de la Tour, perceiving every +day some unfolding grace, some new beauty, in her daughter, felt her +maternal anxiety increase with her tenderness. She often said to me, 'If I +should die, what will become of Virginia without fortune?' + +"Madame de la Tour had an aunt in France, who was a woman of quality, rich, +old and a great bigot. She had behaved towards her niece with so much +cruelty upon her marriage that Madame de la Tour had determined that no +distress or misfortune should ever compel her to have recourse to her +hard-hearted relation. But when she became a mother, the pride of +resentment was stilled in the stronger feelings of maternal tenderness. She +wrote to her aunt, informing her of the sudden death of her husband, the +birth of her daughter, and the difficulties in which she was involved at a +distance from her own country, without support, and burthened with a child. +She received no answer; but, notwithstanding that high spirit which was +natural to her character, she no longer feared exposing herself to +mortification and reproach; and, although she knew her relation would never +pardon her for having married a man of merit, but not of noble birth, she +continued to write to her by every opportunity, in the hope of awakening +her compassion for Virginia. Many years, however, passed, during which she +received not the smallest testimony of her remembrance. + +"At length, in 1738, three years after the arrival of Monsieur de la +Bourdonnais in this island, Madame de la Tour was informed that the +governor had a letter to give her from her aunt. She flew to Port Louis, +careless on this occasion of appearing in her homely garment. Maternal hope +and joy subdued all those little considerations, which are lost when the +mind is absorbed by any powerful sentiment. Monsieur de la Bourdonnais +delivered to her a letter from her aunt, who informed her, that she +deserved her fate for having married an adventurer and a libertine; that +misplaced passions brought along with them their own punishment, and that +the sudden death of her husband must be considered as a visitation from +heaven; that she had done well in going to a distant island, rather than +dishonour her family by remaining in France: and that, after all, in the +colony where she had taken refuge, every person grew rich except the idle. +Having thus lavished sufficient censure upon the conduct of her niece, she +finished by a eulogium on herself. To avoid, she said, the almost +inevitable evils of marriage, she had determined to remain in a single +state. In truth, being of a very ambitious temper, she had resolved only to +unite, herself to a man of high rank; and although she; was very rich, her +fortune was not found a sufficient bribe, even at court, to counterbalance +the malignant dispositions of her mind, and the disagreeable qualities of +her person. + +"She added, in a postscript, that, after mature deliberation, she had +strongly recommended her niece to Monsieur de la Bourdonnais. This she had +indeed done, but in a manner of late too common, and which renders a patron +perhaps even more formidable than a declared enemy: for, in order to +justify herself, she had cruelly slandered her niece, while she affected to +pity her misfortunes. + +"Madame de la Tour, whom no unprejudiced person could have seen without +feeling sympathy and respect, was received with the utmost coolness by +Monsieur de la Bourdonnais; and when she painted to him her own situation, +and that of her child, he replied, 'We will see what can be done--there are +so many to relieve--why did you affront so respectable a relation?--You +have been much to blame.' + +"Madame de la Tour returned to her cottage, her bosom throbbing with all +the bitterness of disappointment. When she arrived, she threw herself on a +chair, and then flinging her aunt's letter on the table, exclaimed to her +friend, 'This is the recompense of eleven years of patient expectation!' As +Madame de la Tour was the only person in the little circle who could read, +she again took up the letter, which she read aloud. Scarcely had she +finished, when Margaret exclaimed, 'What have we to do with your relations? +Has God then forsaken us? He only is our father! Have we not hitherto been +happy? Why then this regret? You have no courage.' Seeing Madame de la Tour +in tears, she threw herself upon her neck, and pressing her in her arms, +'My dear friend!' cried she, 'my dear friend!' But her emotion choked her +utterance. + +"At this sight Virginia burst into tears, and pressed her mother's hand and +Margaret's alternately to her lips and to her heart: while Paul, with his +eyes inflamed with anger, cried, clasped his hands together, and stamped +with his feet, not knowing whom to blame for this scene of misery. The +noise soon led Domingo and Mary to the spot, and the little habitation +resounded with the cries of distress. Ah, Madame!--My good mistress!--My +dear mother!--Do not weep!' + +"Those tender proofs of affection at length dispelled Madame de la Tour's +sorrow. She took Paul and Virginia in her arms, and, embracing them, cried, +'You are the cause of my affliction, and yet my only source of delight! +Yes, my dear children, misfortune has reached me from a distance, but +surely I am surrounded by happiness.' Paul and Virginia did not understand +this reflection; but, when they saw that she was calm, they smiled, and +continued to caress her. Thus tranquillity was restored, and what had +passed proved but a transient storm, which serves to give fresh verdure to +a beautiful spring. + +"Although Madame de la Tour appeared calm in the presence of her family, +she sometimes communicated to me the feelings that preyed upon her mind, +and soon after this period gave me the following sonnet:-- + + SONNET + + TO DISAPPOINTMENT. + + Pale Disappointment! at thy freezing name + Chill fears in every shivering vein I prove; + My sinking pulse almost forgets to move, + And life almost forsakes my languid frame: + Yet thee, relentless nymph! no more I blame: + Why do my thoughts 'midst vain illusions rove? + Why gild the charms of friendship and of love + With the warm glow of fancy's purple flame? + When ruffling winds have some bright fane o'erthrown, + Which shone on painted clouds, or seem'd to shine, + Shall the fond gazer dream for him alone + Those clouds were stable, and at fate repine? + I feel alas! the fault is all my own, + And, ah! the cruel punishment is mine! + +"The amiable disposition of those children unfolded itself daily. On a +Sunday, their mothers having gone at break of day to mass, at the church of +the Shaddock Grove, the children perceived a negro woman beneath the +plantains which shaded their habitation. She appeared almost wasted to a +skeleton, and had no other garment than a shred of coarse cloth thrown +across her loins. She flung herself at Virginia's feet, who was preparing +the family breakfast, and cried, 'My good young lady, have pity on a poor +slave. For a whole month I have wandered amongst these mountains, half dead +with hunger, and often pursued by the hunters and their dogs. I fled from +my master, a rich planter of the Black River, who has used me as you see;' +and she showed her body marked by deep scars from the lashes she had +received. She added, 'I was going to drown myself; but hearing you lived +here, I said to myself, since there are still some good white people in +this country, I need not die yet.' + +"Virginia answered with emotion, 'Take courage, Unfortunate creature! here +is food,' and she gave her the breakfast she had prepared, which the poor +slave in a few minutes devoured. When her hunger was appeased, Virginia +said to her, 'Unhappy woman! will you let me go and ask forgiveness for you +of your master? Surely the sight of you will touch him with pity.--Will you +show me the way?'--'Angel of heaven!' answered the poor negro woman, 'I +will follow you where you please.' Virginia called her brother, and begged +him to accompany her. The slave led the way, by winding and difficult +paths, through the woods, over mountains which they climbed with +difficulty, and across rivers, through which they were obliged to wade. At +length they reached the foot of a precipice upon the borders of the Black +River. There they perceived a well-built house, surrounded by extensive +plantations, and a great number of slaves employed at their various +labours. Their master was walking amongst them with a pipe in his mouth, +and a switch in his hand. He was a tall thin figure, of a brown complexion; +his eyes were sunk in his head, and his dark eyebrows were joined together. +Virginia, holding Paul by the hand, drew near, and with much emotion begged +him, for the love of God, to pardon his poor slave, who stood trembling a +few paces behind. The man at first paid little attention to the children, +who, he saw, were meanly dressed. But when he observed the elegance of +Virginia's form, and the profusion of her beautiful light tresses, which +had escaped from beneath her blue cap; when he heard the soft tone of her +voice, which trembled, as well as her own frame, while she implored his +compassion; he took the pipe from his mouth, and lifting up his stick, +swore, with a terrible oath, that he pardoned his slave, not for the love +of Heaven, but of her who asked his forgiveness. Virginia made a sign to +the slave to approach her master, and instantly sprung away, followed by +Paul. + +"They climbed up the precipice they had descended; and, having gained the +summit, seated themselves at the foot of a tree, overcome with fatigue, +hunger, and thirst. They had left their cottage fasting, and had walked +five leagues since break of day. Paul said to Virginia, 'My dear sister, it +is past noon, and I am sure you are thirsty and hungry; we shall find no +dinner here; let us go down the mountain again, and ask the master of the +poor slave for some food.'--'Oh no,' answered Virginia; 'he frightens me +too much. Remember what mamma sometimes says, the bread of the wicked is +like stones in the mouth.'--'What shall we do then?' said Paul: 'these +trees produce no fruit; and I shall not be able to find even a tamarind or +a lemon to refresh you.' Scarcely had he pronounced these words, when they +heard the dashing of waters which fell from a neighbouring rock. They ran +thither, and having quenched their thirst at this crystal spring, they +gathered a few cresses which grew on the border of the stream. While they +were wandering in the woods in search of more solid nourishment, Virginia +spied a young palm tree. The kind of cabbage which is found at the top of +this tree, enfolded within its leaves, forms an excellent sustenance; but, +although the stalk of the tree was not thicker than a man's leg, it was +above sixty feet in height. The wood of this tree is composed of fine +filaments; but the bark is so hard that it turns the edge of the hatchet, +and Paul was not even furnished with a knife. At length he thought of +setting fire to the palm tree, but a new difficulty occurred, he had no +steel with which to strike fire; and, although the whole island is covered +with rocks, I do not believe it is possible to find a flint. Necessity, +however, is fertile in expedients, and the most useful inventions have +arisen from men placed in the most destitute situations. Paul determined to +kindle a fire in the manner of the negroes. With the sharp end of a stone +he made a small hole in the branch of a tree that was quite dry, which he +held between his feet; he then sharpened another dry branch of a different +sort of wood, and afterwards placing the piece of pointed wood in the small +hole of the branch which he held with his feet, and turning it rapidly +between his hands, in a few minutes smoke and sparks of fire issued from +the points of contact. Paul then heaped together dried grass and branches, +and set fire to the palm tree, which soon fell to the ground. The fire was +useful to him in stripping off the long, thick and pointed leaves, within +which the cabbage was enclosed. + +"Paul and Virginia ate part of the cabbage raw, and part dressed upon the +ashes, which they found equally palatable. They made this frugal repast +with delight, from the remembrance of the benevolent action they had +performed in the morning: yet their joy was embittered by the thoughts of +that uneasiness which their long absence would give their mothers. Virginia +often recurred to this subject: but Paul, who felt his strength renewed by +their meal, assured her that it would not be long before they reached home. + +"After dinner they recollected that they had no guide, and that they were +ignorant of the way. Paul, whose spirit was not subdued by difficulties, +said to Virginia, 'The sun shines full upon our huts at noon: we must pass +as we did this morning, over that mountain with its three points, which you +see yonder. Come, let us go.' This mountain is called the Three Peaks. Paul +and Virginia descended the precipice of the Black River, on the northern +side; and arrived, after an hour's walk, on the banks of a large stream. + +"Great part of this island is so little known, even now, that many of its +rivers and mountains have not yet received a name. The river, on the banks +of which our travellers stood, rolls foaming over a bed of rocks. The noise +of the water frightened Virginia, and she durst not wade through the +stream: Paul therefore took her up in his arms, and went thus loaded over +the slippery rocks, which formed the bed of the river, careless of the +tumultuous noise of its waters. 'Do not be afraid,' cried he to Virginia; +'I feel very strong with you. If the inhabitant of the Black River had +refused you the pardon of his slave, I would have fought with +him.'--'What!' answered Virginia, 'with that great wicked man? To what have +I exposed you! Gracious heaven! How difficult it is to do good! and it is +so easy to do wrong.' + +"When Paul had crossed the river, he wished to continue his journey, +carrying his sister, and believed he was able to climb in that way the +mountain of the Three Peaks, which was still at the distance of half a +league; but his strength soon failed, and he was obliged to set down his +burden, and to rest himself by her side. Virginia then said to him, 'My +dear brother the sun is going down: you have still some strength left, but +mine has quite failed: do leave me here, and return home alone to ease the +fears of our mothers.'--'Oh, no,' said Paul, 'I will not leave you. If +night surprises us in this wood, I will light a fire, and bring down +another palm-tree: you shall eat the cabbage; and I will form a covering of +the leaves to shelter you.' In the mean time, Virginia being a little +rested, pulled from the trunk of an old tree, which hung over the bank of +the river, some long leaves of hart's tongue, which grew near its root. +With those leaves she made a sort of buskin, with which she covered her +feet, that were bleeding from the sharpness of the stony paths; for, in her +eager desire to do good, she had forgot to put on her shoes. Feeling her +feet cooled by the freshness of the leaves, she broke off a branch of +bamboo, and continued her walk leaning with one hand on the staff, and with +the other on Paul. + +"They walked on slowly through the woods, but from the height of the trees, +and the thickness of their foliage, they soon lost sight of the mountain of +the Tree Peaks, by which they had directed their course, and even of the +sun, which was now setting. At length they wandered without perceiving it, +from the beaten path in which they had hitherto walked, and found +themselves in a labyrinth of trees and rocks, which appeared to have no +opening. Paul made Virginia sit down, while he ran backwards and forwards, +half frantic, in search of a path which might lead them out of this thick +wood; but all his researches were in vain. He climbed to the top of a tree, +from whence he hoped at least to discern the mountain of the Three Peaks; +but all he could perceive around him were the tops of trees, some of which +were gilded by the last beams of the setting sun. Already the shadows of +the mountains were spread over the forests in the valleys. The wind ceased, +as it usually does, at the evening hour. The most profound silence reigned +in those awful solitudes, which was only interrupted by the cry of the +stags, who came to repose in that unfrequented spot. Paul, in the hope that +some hunter would hear his voice, called out as loud as he was able, 'Come, +come to the help of Virginia.' But the echoes of the forests alone answered +his call, and repeated again and again, 'Virginia--Virginia.' Paul at +length descended from the tree, overcome with fatigue and vexation, and +reflected how they might best contrive to pass the night in that desert. +But he could find neither a fountain, a palm-tree, nor even a branch of dry +wood to kindle a fire. He then felt, by experience, the sense of his own +weakness, and began to weep. Virginia said to him, 'Do not weep, my dear +brother, or I shall die with grief. I am the cause of all your sorrow, and +of all that our mothers suffer at this moment. I find we ought to do +nothing, not even good, without consulting our parents. Oh, I have been +very imprudent!' and she began to shed tears. She then said to Paul, 'Let +us pray to God, my dear brother, and he will hear us.' + +"Scarcely had they finished their prayer, when they heard the barking of a +dog. 'It is the dog of some hunter,' said Paul, 'who comes here at night to +lay in wait for the stags.' + +"Soon after the dog barked again with more violence. 'Surely,' said +Virginia, 'it is Fidele, our own dog; yes, I know his voice. Are we then so +near home? at the foot of our own mountain? a moment after Fidele was at +their feet, barking, howling, crying, and devouring them with his caresses. +Before they had recovered their surprise, they saw Domingo running towards +them. At the sight of this good old negro, who wept with joy, they began to +weep too, without being able to utter one word. When Domingo had recovered +himself a little, 'Oh, my dear children,' cried he, 'how miserable have you +made your mothers! How much were they astonished when they returned from +mass, where I went with them, and not finding you! Mary, who was at work at +a little distance, could not tell us where you were gone. I ran backwards +and forwards about the plantation, not knowing where to look for you. At +last I took some of your old clothes, and showing them to Fidele, the poor +animal, as if he understood me, immediately began to scent your path; and +conducted me, continually wagging his tail, to the Black River. It was +there a planter told me that you had brought back a negro woman, his slave, +and that he had granted you her pardon. But what pardon! he showed her to +me with her feet chained to a block of wood, and an iron collar with three +hooks fastened round her neck. + +"'From thence Fidele, still on the scent, led me up the precipice of the +Black River, where he again stopped and barked with all his might. This was +on the brink of a spring, near a fallen palm tree, and close to a fire +which was still smoking. At last he led me to this very spot. We are at the +foot of the mountains of the Three Peaks, and still four leagues from home. +Come, eat, and gather strength.' He then presented them with cakes, fruits, +and a very large gourd filled with a liquor composed of wine, water, lemon +juice sugar, and nutmeg, which their mothers had prepared. Virginia sighed +at the recollection of the poor slave, and at the uneasiness which they had +given their mothers. She repeated several times, 'Oh, how difficult it is +to do good.' + +"While she and Paul were taking refreshment, Domingo kindled a fire, and +having sought among the rocks for a particular kind of crooked wood, which +burns when quite green, throwing out a great blaze, he made a torch, which +he lighted, it being already night. But when they prepared to continue +their journey, a new difficulty occurred; Paul and Virginia could no longer +walk, their feet being violently swelled and inflamed. Domingo knew not +whether it were best to leave them, and go in search of help, or remain and +pass the night with them on that spot. 'What is become of the time,' said +he, 'when I used to carry you both together in my arms? But now you are +grown big, and I am grown old.' While he was in this perplexity, a troop of +Maroon negroes appeared at the distance of twenty paces. The chief of the +band, approaching Paul and Virginia, said to them, 'Good little white +people, do not be afraid. We saw you pass this morning, with a negro woman +of the Black River. You went to ask pardon for her of her wicked master, +and we, in return for this, will carry you home upon our shoulders.' He +then made a sign, and four of the strongest negroes immediately formed a +sort of litter with the branches of trees and lianas, in which, having +seated Paul and Virginia, they placed it upon their shoulders. Domingo +marched in front, carrying his lighted torch, and they proceeded amidst the +rejoicings of the whole troop, and overwhelmed with their benedictions. +Virginia, affected by this scene, said to Paul, with emotion, 'O, my dear +brother! God never leaves a good action without reward.' + +"It was midnight when they arrived at the foot of the mountain, on the +ridges of which several fires were lighted. Scarcely had they begun to +ascend, when they heard voices crying out, 'Is it you, my children?' They +answered together with the negroes, 'Yes, it is us;' and soon after +perceived their mothers and Mary coming towards them with lighted sticks in +their hands. 'Unhappy children!' cried Madame de la Tour, 'from whence do +you come? What agonies you have made us suffer!' 'We come, said Virginia, +'from the Black River, where we went to ask pardon for a poor Maroon slave, +to whom I gave our breakfast this morning, because she was dying of hunger; +and these Maroon negroes have brought us home.'--Madame de la Tour embraced +her daughter without being able to speak; and Virginia, who felt her face +wet with her mother's tears, exclaimed, 'You repay me for all the hardships +I have suffered.' Margaret, in a transport of delight, pressed Paul in her +arms, crying, 'And you also, my dear child! you have done a good action.' +When they reached the hut with their children, they gave plenty of food to +the negroes, who returned to their woods, after praying the blessing of +heaven might descend on those good white people. + +"Every day was to those families a day of tranquillity and of happiness. +Neither ambition nor envy disturbed their repose. In this island, where, as +in all the European colonies, every malignant anecdote is circulated with +avidity, their virtues, and even their names, were unknown. Only when a +traveller on the road of the Shaddock Grove inquired of any of the +inhabitants of the plain, 'Who lives in those two cottages above?' he was +always answered, even by those who did not know them, 'They are good +people.' Thus the modest violet, concealed beneath the thorny bushes, sheds +its fragrance, while itself remains unseen. + +"Doing good appeared to those amiable families to be the chief purpose of +life. Solitude, far from having blunted their benevolent feelings, or +rendered their dispositions morose, had left their hearts open to every +tender affection. The contemplation of nature filled their minds with +enthusiastic delight. They adored the bounty of that Providence which had +enabled them to spread abundance and beauty amidst those barren rocks, and +to enjoy those pure and simple pleasures which are ever grateful and ever +new. It was, probably, in those dispositions of mind that Madame de la Tour +composed the following sonnet. + + SONNET + + TO SIMPLICITY. + + Nymph of the desert! on this lonely shore, + Simplicity, thy blessings still are mine, + And all thou canst not give I pleased resign, + For all beside can soothe my soul no more. + I ask no lavish heaps to swell my store, + And purchase pleasures far remote from thine. + Ye joys, for which the race of Europe pine, + Ah! not for me your studied grandeur pour, + Let me where yon tall cliffs are rudely piled, + Where towers the palm amidst the mountain trees, + Where pendant from the steep, with graces wild, + The blue liana floats upon the breeze, + Still haunt those bold recesses, Nature's child, + Where thy majestic charms my spirit seize! + +"Paul, at twelve years of age, was stronger and more intelligent than +Europeans are at fifteen, and had embellished the plantations which Domingo +had only cultivated. He had gone with him to the neighbouring woods, and +rooted up young plants of lemon trees, oranges, and tamarinds, the round +heads of which are of so fresh a green, together with date palm trees, +producing fruit filled with a sweet cream, which has the fine perfume of +the orange flower. Those trees, which were already of a considerable size, +he planted round this little enclosure. He had also sown the seeds of many +trees which the second year bear flowers or fruits. The agathis, encircled +with long clusters of white flowers, which hang upon it like the crystal +pendants of a lustre. The Persian lilac, which lifts high in air its gay +flax-coloured branches. The pappaw tree, the trunk of which, without +branches, forms a column set round with green melons, bearing on their +heads large leaves like those of the fig tree. + +"The seeds and kernels of the gum tree, terminalia, mangoes, alligator +pears, the guava, the bread tree, and the narrow-leaved eugenia, were +planted with profusion; and the greater number of those trees already +afforded to their young cultivator both shade and fruit. His industrious +hands had diffused the riches of nature even on the most barren parts of +the plantation. Several kinds of aloes, the common Indian fig, adorned with +yellow flowers, spotted with red, and the thorny five-angled touch thistle, +grew upon the dark summits of the rocks, and seemed to aim at reaching the +long lianas, which, loaded with blue or crimson flowers, hung scattered +over the steepest part of the mountain. Those trees were disposed in such a +manner that you could command the whole at one view. He had placed in the +middle of this hollow the plants of the lowest growth: behind grew the +shrubs; then trees of an ordinary height: above which rose majestically the +venerable lofty groves which border the circumference. Thus from its centre +this extensive enclosure appeared like a verdant amphitheatre spread with +fruits and flowers, containing a variety of vegetables, a chain of meadow +land, and fields of rice and corn. In blending those vegetable productions +to his own taste, he followed the designs of Nature. Guided by her +suggestions, he had thrown upon the rising grounds such seeds as the winds +might scatter over the heights, and near the borders of the springs such +grains as float upon the waters. Every plant grew in its proper soil, and +every spot seemed decorated by her hands. The waters, which rushed from the +summits of the rocks, formed in some parts of the valley limpid fountains, +and in other parts were spread into large clear mirrors, which reflected +the bright verdure, the trees in blossom, the bending rocks, and the azure +heavens. + +"Notwithstanding the great irregularity of the ground, most of these +plantations were easy of access. We had, indeed, all given him our advice +and assistance, in order to accomplish this end. He had formed a path which +wound round the valley, and of which various ramifications led from the +circumference to the centre. He had drawn some advantage from the most +rugged spots; and had blended, in harmonious variety, smooth walks with the +asperities of the soil, and wild with domestic productions. With that +immense quantity of rolling stones which now block up those paths, and +which are scattered over most of the ground of this island, he formed here +and there pyramids; and at their base he laid earth, and planted the roots +of rose bushes, the Barbadoes flower fence, and other shrubs which love to +climb the rocks. In a short time those gloomy shapeless pyramids were +covered with verdure, or with the glowing tints of the most beautiful +flowers. The hollow recesses of aged trees, which bent over the borders of +the stream, formed vaulted caves impenetrable to the sun, and where you +might enjoy coolness during the heats of the day. That path led to a clump +of forest trees, in the centre of which grew a cultivated tree, loaded with +fruit. Here was a field ripe with corn, there an orchard. From that avenue +you had a view of the cottages; from this, of the inaccessible summit of +the mountain. Beneath that tufted bower of gum trees, interwoven with +lianas, no object could be discerned even at noon, while the point of the +neighbouring rock, which projects from the mountain commanded a few of the +whole enclosure, and of the distant ocean, where sometimes we spied a +vessel coming from Europe, or returning thither. On this rock the two +families assembled in the evening, and enjoyed, in silence, the freshness +of the air, the fragrance of the flowers, the murmurs of the fountains, and +the last blended harmonies of light and shade. + +"Nothing could be more agreeable than the names which were bestowed upon +some of the charming retreats of this labyrinth. That rock, of which I was +speaking, and from which my approach was discerned at a considerable +distance, was called the Discovery of Friendship. Paul and Virginia, amidst +their sports, had planted a bamboo on that spot; and whenever they saw me +coming, they hoisted a little white handkerchief, by way of signal of my +approach, as they had seen a flag hoisted on the neighbouring mountain at +the sight of a vessel at sea. The idea struck me of engraving an +inscription upon the stalk of this reed. Whatever pleasure I have felt, +during my travels, at the sight of a statue or monument of antiquity, I +have felt still more in reading of well written inscription. It seems to me +as if a human voice issued from the stone and making itself heard through +the lapse of ages, addressed man in the midst of a desert, and told him +that I was not alone; that other men, on that very spot, have felt, and +thought, and suffered like himself. If the inscription belongs to an +ancient nation which no longer exists, it leads the soul through infinite +space, and inspires the feeling of its immortality, by showing that a +thought has survived the ruins of an empire. + +"I inscribed then, on the little mast of Paul and Virginia's flag, those +lines of Horace: + + Fratres Helenae, lucida sidera, + Ventorumque regat pater, + Obstrictis alils, praeter Iapyga. + +'May the brothers of Helen, lucid stars like you, and the Father of the +winds, guide you; and may you only feel the breath of the zephyr.' + +"I engraved this line of Virgil upon the bark of a gum tree, under the +shade of which Paul sometimes seated himself, in order to contemplate the +agitated sea:-- + + Fortunatue et ille deos qui novit agrestes! + +'Happy art thou, my son, to know only the pastoral divinities.' + +"And above the door of Madame de la Tour's cottage, where the families used +to assemble, I placed this line: + + At secura quies, et nescia fallere vita. + +'Here is a calm conscience, and a life ignorant of deceit.' + +"But Virginia did not approve of my Latin; she said, that what I had placed +at the foot of her weather flag was too long and too learned. 'I should +have liked better,' added she, 'to have seen inscribed, _Always agitated, +yet ever constant_.' + +"The sensibility of those happy families extended itself to every thing +around them. They had given names the most tender to objects in appearance +the most indifferent. A border of orange, plantain, and bread trees, +planted round a greensward where Virginia and Paul sometimes danced, was +called Concord. An old tree, beneath the shade of which Madame de la Tour +and Margaret used to relate their misfortunes, was called, The Tears wiped +away. They gave the names of Britany and Normandy to little portions of +ground where they had sown corn, strawberries, and peas. Domingo and Mary, +wishing, in imitation of their mistresses, to recall the places of their +birth in Africa, gave the names of Angola and Foullepointe to the spots +where grew the herb with which they wove baskets, and where they had +planted a calbassia tree. Thus, with the productions of their respective +climates, those exiled families cherished the dear illusions which bind us +to our native country, and softened their regrets in a foreign land. Alas! +I have seen animated by a thousand soothing appellations, those trees, +those fountains, those stones which are now overthrown, which now, like the +plains of Greece, present nothing but ruins and affecting remembrances. + +"Neither the neglect of her European friends, nor the delightful romantic +spot which she inhabited, could banish from the mind of Madame de la Tour +this tender attachment to her native country. While the luxurious fruits of +this climate gratified the taste of her family, she delighted to rear those +which were more graceful, only because they were the productions of her +early home. Among other little pieces addressed to flowers and fruits of +northern climes, I found the following sonnet to the Strawberry. + + SONNET. + + TO THE STRAWBERRY. + + The strawberry blooms upon its lowly bed: + Plant of my native soil! The lime may fling + More potent fragrance on the zephyr's wing, + The milky cocoa richer juices shed, + The white guava lovelier blossoms spread: + But not, like thee, to fond remembrance bring + The vanish'd hours of life's enchanting spring; + Short calendar of joys for ever fled! + Thou bidst the scenes of childhood rise to view, + The wild wood path which fancy loves to trace, + Where, veil'd in leaves, thy fruit of rosy hue, + Lurk'd on its pliant stem with modest grace. + But, ah! when thought would later years renew, + Alas! successive sorrows crowd the space. + +"But perhaps the most charming spot of this enclosure was that which was +called the Repose of Virginia. At the foot of the rock which bore the name +of the Discovery of Friendship, is a nook, from whence issues a fountain, +forming, near its source, a little spot of marshy soil in the midst of a +field of rich grass. At the time Margaret was delivered of Paul, I made her +a present of an Indian cocoa which had been given me, and which she planted +on the border of this fenny ground, in order that the tree might one day +serve to mark the epocha of her son's birth. Madame de la Tour planted +another cocoa, with the same view, at the birth of Virginia. Those fruits +produced two cocoa trees, which formed all the records of the two families: +one was called the tree of Paul, the other the tree of Virginia. They grew +in the same proportion as the two young persons, of an unequal height; but +they rose, at the end of twelve years, above the cottages. Already their +tender stalks were interwoven, and their young branches of cocoas hung over +the basin of the fountain. Except this little plantation, the nook of the +rock had been left as it was decorated by nature. On its brown and humid +sides large plants of maidenhair glistened with their green and dark stars; +and tufts of wave-leaved hartstongue, suspended like long ribands of +purpled green, floated on the winds. Near this grew a chain of the +Madagascar periwinkle, the flowers of which resemble the red gilliflower; +and the long-podded capsicum, the cloves of which are of the colour of +blood, and more glowing than coral. The herb of balm, with its leaves +within the heart, and the sweet basil, which has the odour of the +gilliflower, exhaled the most delicious perfumes. From the steep summit of +the mountain hung the graceful lianas, like a floating drapery, forming +magnificent canopies of verdure upon the sides of the rocks. The sea birds, +allured by the stillness of those retreats, resorted thither to pass the +night. At the hour of sunset we perceived the curlew and the stint skimming +along the sea shore; the cardinal poised high in air; and the white bird of +the tropic, which abandons, with the star of day, the solitudes of the +Indian ocean. Virginia loved to repose upon the border of this fountain, +decorated with wild and sublime magnificence. She often seated herself +beneath the shade of the two cocoa trees, and there she sometimes led her +goats to graze. While she prepared cheeses of their milk, she loved to see +them browse on the maidenhair which grew upon the steep sides of the rock, +and hung suspended upon one of its cornices, as on a pedestal. Paul, +observing that Virginia was fond of this spot, brought thither, from the +neighbouring forest, a great variety of birds' nests. The old birds, +following their young, established themselves in this new colony. Virginia, +at stated times, distributed amongst them grains of rice, millet, and +maize. As soon as she appeared, the whistling blackbird, the amadavid bird, +the note of which is so soft: the cardinal, the black frigate bird, with +its plumage the colour of flame, forsook their bushes; the paroquet, green +as an emerald, descended from the neighbouring fan palms; the partridge ran +along the grass: all advanced promiscuously towards her, like a brood of +chickens: and she and Paul delighted to observe their sports, their +repasts, and their loves. + +"Amiable children! thus passed your early days in innocence, and in the +exercise of benevolence. How many times, on this very spot, have your +mothers, pressing you in their arms, blessed Heaven for the consolations +your unfolding virtues prepared for their declining years, while already +they enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing you begin life under the most happy +auspices! How many times, beneath the shade of those rocks, have I partaken +with them of your rural repasts, which cost no animal its life. Gourds +filled with milk, fresh eggs, cakes of rice placed upon plantain leaves, +baskets loaded with mangoes, oranges, dates, pomegranates, pine-apples, +furnished at the same time the most wholesome food, the most beautiful +colours, and the most delicious juices. + +"The conversation was gentle and innocent as the repasts. Paul often talked +of the labours of the day, and those of the morrow. He was continually +forming some plan of accommodation for their little society. Here he +discovered that the paths were rough; there that the family circle was ill +seated: sometimes the young arbours did not afford sufficient shade, and +Virginia might be better pleased elsewhere. + +"In the rainy seasons the two families assembled together in the hut, and +employed themselves in weaving mats of grass, and baskets of bamboo. Rakes, +spades, and hatchets were ranged along the walls in the most perfect order; +and near those instruments of agriculture were placed the productions which +were the fruits of labour: sacks of rice, sheaves of corn, and baskets of +the plantain fruit. Some degree of luxury is usually united with plenty; +and Virginia was taught by her mother and Margaret to prepare sherbet and +cordials from the juice of the sugar-cane, the orange, and the citron. + +"When night came, those families supped together by the light of a lamp; +after which, Madame de la Tour or Margaret related histories of travellers +lost during the night in such of the forests of Europe as are infested by +banditti; or told a dismal tale of some shipwrecked vessel, thrown by the +tempest upon the rocks of a desert island. To these recitals their children +listened with eager sensibility, and earnestly begged that Heaven would +grant they might one day have the joy of showing their hospitality towards +such unfortunate persons. At length the two families separated and retired +to rest, impatient to meet again the next morning. Sometimes they were +lulled to repose by the beating rains, which fell in torrents upon the roof +of their cottages; and sometimes by the hollow winds, which brought to +their ear the distant murmur of the waves breaking upon the shore. They +blessed God for their personal safety, of which their feeling became +stronger from the idea of remote danger. + +"Madame de la Tour occasionally read aloud some affecting history of the +Old or New Testament. Her auditors reasoned but little upon those sacred +books, for their theology consisted in sentiment, like that of nature: and +their morality in action, like that of the gospel. Those families had no +particular days devoted to pleasure, and others to sadness. Every day was +to them a holiday, and all which surrounded them one holy temple, where +they for ever adored an Infinite Intelligence, the friend of human kind. A +sentiment of confidence in his supreme power filled their minds with +consolation under the past, with fortitude for the present, and with hope +for the future. Thus, compelled by misfortune to return to a state of +nature, those women had unfolded in their own bosoms, and in those of their +children, the feelings which are most natural to the human mind, and which +are our best support under evil. + +"But as clouds sometimes arise which cast a gloom over the best regulated +tempers, whenever melancholy took possession of any member of this little +society, the rest endeavoured to banish painful thoughts rather by +sentiment than by arguments. Margaret exerted her gaiety; Madame de la Tour +employed her mild theology; Virginia, her tender caresses; Paul, his +cordial and engaging frankness. Even Mary and Domingo hastened to offer +their succour, and to weep with those that wept. Thus weak plants are +interwoven, in order to resist the tempests. + +"During the fine season they went every Sunday to the church of the +Shaddock Grove, the steeple of which you see yonder upon the plain. After +service, the poor often came to require some kind office at their hands. +Sometimes an unhappy creature sought their advice, sometimes a child led +them to its sick mother in the neighbourhood. They always took with them +remedies for the ordinary diseases of the country, which they administered +in that soothing manner which stamps so much value upon the smallest +favours. Above all, they succeeded in banishing the disorders of the mind, +which are so intolerable in solitude, and under the infirmities of a +weakened frame. Madame de la Tour spoke with such sublime confidence of the +Divinity, that the sick, while listening to her, believed that he was +present. Virginia often returned home with her eyes wet with tears and her +heart overflowing with delight, having had an opportunity of doing good. +After those visits of charity, they sometimes prolonged their way by the +Sloping Mountain, till they reached my dwelling, where I had prepared +dinner for them upon the banks of the little river which glides near my +cottage. I produced on those occasions some bottles of old wine, in order +to heighten the gaiety of our Indian repast by the cordial productions of +Europe. Sometimes we met upon the seashore, at the mouth of little rivers, +which are here scarcely larger than brooks. We brought from the plantation +our vegetable provisions, to which we added such as the sea furnished in +great variety. Seated upon a rock, beneath the shade of the velvet +sunflower, we heard the mountain billows break at our feet with a dashing +noise; and sometimes on that spot we listened to the plaintive strains of +the water curlew Madame de la Tour answered his sorrowful notes in the +following sonnet:-- + + SONNET + + TO THE CURLEW. + + Sooth'd by the murmurs on the sea-beat shore + His dun grey plumage floating to the gale, + The curlew blends his melancholy wail + With those hoarse sounds the rushing waters pour. + Like thee, congenial bird: my steps explore + The bleak lone seabeach, or the rocky dale, + And shun the orange bower, the myrtle vale, + Whose gay luxuriance suits my soul no more. + I love the ocean's broad expanse, when dress'd + In limpid clearness, or when tempests blow. + When the smooth currents on its placid breast + Flow calm, as my past moments us'd to flow; + Or when its troubled waves refuse to rest, + And seem the symbol of my present wo. + +"Our repasts were succeeded by the songs and dances of the two young +people. Virginia sang the happiness of pastoral life, and the misery of +those who were impelled, by avarice, to cross the furious ocean, rather +than cultivate the earth, and enjoy its peaceful bounties. Sometimes she +performed a pantomime with Paul, in the manner of the negroes. The first +language of man is pantomime; it is known to all nations, and is so natural +and so expressive, that the children of the European inhabitants catch it +with facility from the negroes. Virginia recalling, amongst the histories +which her mother had read to her, those which had affected her most, +represented the principal events with beautiful simplicity. Sometimes at +the sound of Domingo's tantam she appeared upon the greensward, bearing a +pitcher upon her head, and advanced with a timid step towards the source of +a neighbouring fountain, to draw water. Domingo and Mary, who personated +the shepherds of Midian, forbade her to approach, and repulsed her sternly. +Upon which Paul flew to her succour, beat away the shepherds, filled +Virginia's pitcher, and placing it upon her head, bound her brows at the +same time with a wreath of the red flowers of the Madagascar periwinkle, +which served to heighten the delicacy of her skin. Then, joining their +sports, I took upon me the part of Raguel, and bestowed upon Paul my +daughter Zephora in marriage. + +"Sometimes Virginia represented the unfortunate Ruth, returning poor and +widowed to her own country, where after so long an absence, she found +herself as in a foreign land. Domingo and Mary personated the reapers. +Virginia followed their steps, gleaning here and there a few ears of corn. +She was interrogated by Paul with the gravity of a patriarch, and answered, +with a faltering voice, his questions. Soon touched with compassion, he +granted an asylum to innocence, and hospitality to misfortune. He filled +Virginia's lap with plenty; and, leading her towards us, as before the old +men of the city, declared his purpose to take her in marriage. At this +scene, Madame de la Tour, recalling the desolate situation in which she had +been left by her relations, her widowhood, the kind reception she had met +with from Margaret, succeeded by the soothing hope of a happy union between +their children, could not forbear weeping; and the sensations which such +recollections excited led the whole audience to pour forth those luxurious +tears which have their mingled source in sorrow and in joy. + +"These dramas were performed with such an air of reality, that you might +have fancied yourself transported to the plains of Syria or of Palestine. +We were not unfurnished, with either decorations, lights, or an orchestra, +suitable to the representation. The scene was generally placed in an +opening of the forest, where such parts of the wood as were penetrable +formed around us numerous arcades of foliage, beneath which we were +sheltered from the heat during the whole day; but when the sun descended +towards the horizon, its rays, broken upon the trunks of the trees, +diverged amongst the shadows of the forest in strong lines of light, which +produced the most sublime effect. Sometimes the whole of its broad disk +appeared at the end of an avenue, spreading one dazzling mass of +brightness. The foliage of the trees, illuminated from beneath by its +saffron beams, glowed with the lustre of the topaz and the emerald. Their +brown and mossy trunks appeared transformed into columns of antique bronze; +and the birds, which had retired in silence to their leafy shades to pass +the night, surprised to see the radiance of a second morning, hailed the +star of day with innumerable carols. + +"Night soon overtook us during those rural entertainments; but the purity +of the air, and the mildness of the climate, admitted of our sleeping in +the woods secure from the injuries of the weather, and no less secure from +the molestation of robbers. At our return the following day to our +respective habitations, we found them exactly in the same state in which +they had been left. In this island, which then had no commerce, there was +so much simplicity and good faith, that the doors of several houses were +without a key, and a lock was an object of curiosity to many of the +natives. + +"Amidst the luxuriant beauty of this favoured climate, Madame de la Tour +often regretted the quick succession from day to night which takes place +between the tropics, and which deprived her pensive mind of that hour of +twilight, the softened gloom of which is so soothing and sacred to the +feelings of tender melancholy. This regret is expressed in the following +sonnet:-- + + SONNET + + TO THE TORRID ZONE. + + Pathway of light! o'er thy empurpled zone + With lavish charms perennial summer strays; + Soft 'midst thy spicy groves the zephyr plays, + While far around the rich perfumes are thrown: + The amadavid bird for thee alone + Spreads his gay plumes, that catch thy vivid rays, + For thee the gems with liquid lustre blaze, + And Nature's various wealth is all thy own. + But, ah! not thine is twilight's doubtful gloom, + Those mild gradations, mingling day with night; + Here instant darkness shrouds thy genial bloom, + Nor leaves my pensive soul that lingering light, + When musing memory would each trace resume + Of fading pleasures in successive flight. + +"Paul and Virginia had neither clock nor almanac, nor books of chronology, +history, or philosophy. The periods of their lives were regulated by those +of nature. They knew the hours of the day by the shadows of the trees, the +seasons by the times when those trees bore flowers or fruit, and the years +by the number of their harvests. These soothing images diffused an +inexpressible charm over their conversation. 'It is time to dine,' said +Virginia, 'the shadows of the plantain trees are at their roots; or, 'night +approaches; the tamarinds close their leaves.' 'When will you come to see +us?' inquired some of her companions in the neighbourhood. 'At the time of +the sugar canes,' answered Virginia. 'Your visit will be then still more +delightful,' resumed her young acquaintances. When she was asked what was +her own age, and that of Paul, 'My brother,' said she, 'is as old as the +great cocoa tree of the fountain; and I am as old as the little cocoa tree. +The mangoes have borne fruit twelve times, and the orange trees have borne +flowers four-and-twenty times, since I came into the world.' Their lives +seemed linked to the trees like those of fauns or dryads. They knew no +other historical epochas than that of the lives of their mothers, no other +chronology than that of their orchards, and no other philosophy than that +of doing good, and resigning themselves to the will of Heaven. + +"Thus grew those children of nature. No care had troubled their peace, no +intemperance had corrupted their blood, no misplaced passion had depraved +their hearts. Love, innocence, and piety, possessed their souls; and those +intellectual graces unfolded themselves in their features, their attitudes, +and their motions. Still in the morning of life, they had all its blooming +freshness; and surely such in the garden of Eden appeared our first +parents, when, coming from the hands of God, they first saw, approached, +and conversed together, like brother and sister. Virginia was gentle, +modest, and confiding as Eve; and Paul, like Adam, united the figure of +manhood with the simplicity of a child. + +"When alone with Virginia, he has a thousand times told me, he used to say +to her, at his return from labour, 'When I am wearied, the sight of you +refreshes me. If from the summit of the mountain I perceive you below in +the valley, you appear to me in the midst of our orchard like a blushing +rosebud. If you go towards our mother's house, the partridge, when it runs +to meet its young has a shape less beautiful, and a step less light. When I +lose sight of you through the trees, I have no need to see you in order to +find you again. Something of you, I know not how, remains for me in the air +where you have passed, in the grass where you have been seated. When I come +near you, you delight all my senses. The azure of heaven is less charming +than the blue of your eyes, and the song of the amadavid bird less soft +than the sound of your voice. If I only touch you with my finger, my whole +frame trembles with pleasure. Do you remember the day when we crossed over +the great stones of the river of the Three Peaks; I was very much tired +before we reached the bank; but as soon as I had taken you in my arms, I +seemed to have wings like a bird. Tell me by what charm you have so +enchanted me? Is it by your wisdom? Our mothers have more than either of +us. Is it by your caresses? They embrace me much oftener than you. I think +it must be by your goodness. I shall never forget how you walked barefooted +to the Black River, to ask pardon for the poor wandering; slave. Here, my +beloved, take this flowering orange branch, which I have culled in the +forest; you will place it at night near your bed. Eat this honeycomb, which +I have taken for you from the top of a rock. But first lean upon my bosom, +and I shall be refreshed.' + +"Virginia then answered, 'Oh my dear brother, the rays of the sun in the +morning at the top of the rocks give me less joy than the sight of you. I +love my mother, I love yours; but when they call you their son, I love them +a thousand times more. When they caress you, I feel it more sensibly than +when I am caressed myself. You ask me why you love me. Why, all creatures +that are brought up together love one another. Look at our birds reared up +in the same nests; they love like us; they are always together like us. +Hark? how they call and answer from one tree to another. So when the echoes +bring to my ears the air which you play upon your flute at the top of the +mountain, I repeat the words at the bottom of the valley. Above all, you +are dear to me since the day when you wanted to fight the master of the +slave for me. Since that time how often have I said to myself, 'Ah, my +brother has a good heart; but for him I should have died of terror.' I pray +to God every day for my mother and yours; for you, and for our poor +servants; but when I pronounce your name, my devotion seems to increase, I +ask so earnestly of God that no harm may befal you! Why do you go so far, +and climb so high, to seek fruits and flowers for me? How much you are +fatigued!' and with her little white handkerchief she wiped the damps from +his brow. + +"For some time past, however, Virginia had felt her heart agitated by new +sensations. Her fine blue eyes lost their lustre, her cheek its freshness, +and her frame was seized with universal languor. Serenity no longer sat +upon her brow, nor smiles played upon her lips. She became suddenly gay +without joy, and melancholy without vexation. She fled her innocent sports, +her gentle labours, and the society of her beloved family; wandering along +the most unfrequented parts of the plantation, and seeking every where that +rest which she could no where find. Sometimes, at the sight of Paul, she +advanced sportively towards him, and, when going to accost him, was seized +with sudden confusion: her pale cheeks were overspread with blushes, and +her eyes no longer dared to meet those of her brother. Paul said to her, +'The rocks are covered with verdure, our birds begin to sing when you +approach, every thing around you is gay, and you only are unhappy.' He +endeavoured to soothe her by his embraces; but she turned away her head, +and fled trembling towards her mother. The caresses of her brother excited +too much emotion in her agitated heart. Paul could not comprehend the +meaning of those new and strange caprices. + +"One of those summers, which sometimes desolate the countries situated +between the tropics, now spread its ravages over this island. It was near +the end of December, when the sun in Capricorn darts over Mauritius, during +the space of three weeks, its vertical fires. The south wind, which +prevails almost throughout the whole year, no longer blew. Vast columns of +dust arose from the highways, and hung suspended in the air: the ground was +every where broken into clefts; the grass was burnt; hot exhalations issued +from the sides of the mountains, and their rivulets, for the most part +became dry: fiery vapours, during the day, ascended from the plains, and +appeared, at the setting of the sun, like a conflagration. Night brought no +coolness to the heated atmosphere: the orb of the moon seemed of blood, +and, rising in a misty horizon, appeared of supernatural magnitude. The +drooping cattle, on the sides of the hills, stretching out their necks +towards heaven, and panting for air, made the valleys reecho with their +melancholy lowings; even the Caffree, by whom they were led, threw himself +upon the earth, in search of coolness; but the scorching sun had every +where penetrated, and the stifling atmosphere resounded with the buzzing +noise of insects, who sought to allay their thirst in the blood of man and +of animals. + +"On one of those sultry nights Virginia, restless and unhappy, arose, then +went again to rest, but could find in no attitude either slumber or repose. +At length she bent her way, by the light of the moon, towards her fountain, +and gazed at its spring, which, notwithstanding the drought, still flowed +like silver threads down the brown sides of the rock. She flung herself +into the basin; its coolness reanimated her spirits, and a thousand +soothing remembrances presented themselves to her mind. She recollected +that in her infancy her mother and Margaret amused themselves by bathing +her with Paul in this very spot; that Paul afterwards, reserving this bath +for her use only, had dug its bed, covered the bottom with sand, and sown +aromatic herbs around the borders. She saw, reflected through the water +upon her naked arms and bosom, the two cocoa trees which were planted at +her birth and that of her brother, and which interwove about her head their +green branches and young fruit. She thought of Paul's friendship, sweeter +than the odours, purer than the waters of the fountains, stronger than the +intertwining palm trees, and she sighed. Reflecting upon the hour of the +night, and the profound solitude, her imagination again grew disordered. +Suddenly she flew affrighted from those dangerous shades, and those waters +which she fancied hotter than the torrid sunbeam, and ran to her mother, in +order to find a refuge from herself. Often, wishing to unfold her +sufferings, she pressed her mother's hand within her own; often she was +ready to pronounce the name of Paul; but her oppressed heart left not her +lips the power of utterance; and, leaning her head on her mother's bosom, +she could only bathe it with her tears. + +"Madame de la Tour, though she easily discerned the source of her +daughter's uneasiness, did not think proper to speak to her on that +subject. 'My dear child,' said she, address yourself to God, who disposes, +at his will, of health and of life. He tries you now, in order to +recompense you hereafter. Remember that we are only placed upon earth for +the exercise of virtue.' + +"The excessive heat drew vapours from the ocean, which hung over the island +like a vast awning, and slithered round the summits of the mountains, while +long flakes of fire occasionally issued from their misty peaks. Soon after +the most terrible thunder reechoed through the woods, the plains and the +valleys; the rains fell from the skies like cataracts; foaming torrents +rolled down the sides of the mountain; the bottom of the valley became a +sea; the plat of ground on which the cottages were built, a little island: +and the entrance of this valley a sluice, along which rushed precipitately +the moaning waters, earth, trees, and rocks. + +"Meantime the trembling family addressed their prayers to God in the +cottage of Madame de la Tour, the roof of which cracked horribly from the +struggling winds. So vivid and frequent were the lightnings, that, although +the doors and window-shutters were well fastened, every object without was +distinctly seen through the jointed beams. Paul, followed by Domingo, went +with intrepidity from one cottage to another, notwithstanding the fury of +the tempest; here supporting a partition with a buttress, there driving in +a stake, and only returning to the family to calm their fears, by the hope +that the storm was passing away. Accordingly, in the evening the rains +ceased, the trade-winds of the south pursued their ordinary course, the +tempestuous clouds were thrown towards the north-east, and the setting sun +appeared in the horizon. + +"Virginia's first wish was to visit the spot called her _Repose_. Paul +approached her with a timid air, and offered her the assistance of his arm, +which she accepted, smiling, and they left the cottage together. The air +was fresh and clear; white vapours arose from the ridges of the mountains, +furrowed here and there by the foam of the torrents, which were now +becoming dry. The garden was altogether destroyed by the hollows which the +floods had worn, the roots of the fruit trees were for the most part laid +bare, and vast heaps of sand covered the chain of meadows, and choked up +Virginia's bath. The two cocoa trees, however, were still erect, and still +retained their freshness: but they were no longer surrounded by turf, or +arbours, or birds, except a few amadavid birds, who, upon the points of the +neighbouring rocks, lamented, in plaintive notes, the loss of their young. + +"At the sight of this general desolation, Virginia exclaimed to Paul, 'You +brought birds hither, and the hurricane has killed them. You planted this +garden, and it is now destroyed. Every thing then upon earth perishes, and +it is only heaven that is not subject to change.' 'Why,' answered Paul, +'why cannot I give you something which belongs to heaven? but I am +possessed of nothing even upon earth.' Virginia, blushing, resumed, 'You +have the picture of Saint Paul.' Scarcely had she pronounced the words, +when he flew in search of it to his mother's cottage. This picture was a +small miniature, representing Paul the Hermit, and which Margaret, who was +very pious, had long worn hung at her neck when she was a girl, and which, +since she became a mother, she had placed round the neck of her child. It +had even happened, that being while pregnant, abandoned by the whole world, +and continually employed in contemplating the image of this benevolent +recluse, her offspring had contracted, at least so she fancied, some +resemblance to this revered object. She therefore bestowed upon him the +name of Paul, giving him for his patron a saint, who had passed his life +far from mankind, by whom he had been first deceived, and then forsaken. +Virginia, upon receiving this little picture from the hands of Paul, said +to him, with emotion, 'My dear brother, I will never part with this while I +live; nor will I ever forget that you have given me the only thing which +you possess in the world.' At this tone of friendship this unhoped-for +return of familiarity and tenderness, Paul attempted to embrace her; but, +light as a bird, she fled, and left him astonished, and unable to account +for a conduct so extraordinary. + +"Meanwhile Margaret said to Madame de la Tour, 'Why do we not unite our +children by marriage? They have a tender attachment to each other.' Madame +de la Tour replied, 'They are too young, and too poor. What grief would it +occasion us to see Virginia bring into the world unfortunate children, whom +she would not perhaps have sufficient strength to rear! Your negro, +Domingo, is almost too old to labour; Mary is infirm. As for myself, my +dear friend, in the space of fifteen years I find my strength much failed; +age advances rapidly in hot climates, and, above all, under the pressure of +misfortune. Paul is our only hope: let us wait till his constitution is +strengthened, and till he can support us by his labour: at present you well +know that we have only sufficient to supply the wants of the day: but were +we to send Paul for a short time to the Indies, commerce would furnish him +with the means of purchasing a slave; and at his return we will unite him +to Virginia: for I am persuaded no one on earth can render her so happy as +your son. We will consult our neighbour on this subject. + +"They accordingly asked my advice, and I was of their opinion. 'The Indian +seas,' I observed to them, are calm, and, in choosing a favourable season, +the voyage is seldom longer than six weeks. We will furnish Paul with a +little venture in my neighbourhood, where he is much beloved. If we were +only to supply him with some raw cotton, of which we make no use, for want +of mills to work it, some ebony, which is here so common, that it serves us +for firing, and some resin, which is found in our woods: all those articles +will sell advantageously in the Indies, though to us they are useless.' + +"I engaged to obtain permission from Monsieur de la Bourdonnais to +undertake this voyage: but I determined previously to mention the affair to +Paul; and my surprise was great, when this young man said to me, with a +degree of good sense above his age, 'And why do you wish me to leave my +family for this precarious pursuit of fortune? Is there any commerce more +advantageous than the culture of the ground, which yields sometimes fifty +or a hundred fold? If we wish to engage in commerce, we can do so by +carrying our superfluities to the town, without my wandering to the Indies. +Our mothers tell me, that Domingo is old and feeble; but I am young, and +gather strength every day. If any accident should happen during my absence, +above all, to Virginia, who already suffers--Oh, no, no!--I cannot resolve +to learn them.' + +"This answer threw me into great perplexity, for Madame de la Tour had not +concealed from me the situation of Virginia, and her desire of separating +those young people for a few years. These ideas I did not dare to suggest +to Paul. + +"At this period, a ship, which arrived from France, brought Madame de la +Tour a letter from her aunt. Alarmed by the terrors of approaching death, +which could alone penetrate a heart so insensible, recovering from a +dangerous disorder, which had left her in a state of weakness, rendered +incurable by age, she desired that her niece would return to France; or, if +her health forbade her to undertake so long a voyage, she conjured her to +send Virginia, on whom she would bestow a good education, procure for her a +splendid marriage, and leave her the inheritance of her whole fortune. The +perusal of this letter spread general consternation through the family. +Domingo and Mary began to weep. Paul, motionless with surprise, appeared as +if his heart was ready to burst with indignation; while Virginia, fixing +her eyes upon her mother, had not power to utter a word. + +"'And can you now leave us?' cried Margaret to Madame de la Tour. 'No, my +dear friend, no, my beloved children,' replied Madame de la Tour; 'I will +not leave you. I have lived with you, and with you I will die. I have known +no happiness but in your affection. If my health be deranged, my past +misfortunes are the cause. My heart, deeply wounded by the cruelty of a +relation, and the loss of my husband, has found more consolation and +felicity with you beneath these humble huts, than all the wealth of my +family could now give me in my own country.' + +"At this soothing language every eye overflowed with tears of delight. Paul +pressed Madame de la Tour in his arms, exclaiming, 'Neither will I leave +you! I will not go to the Indies. We will all labour for you, my dear +mother; and you shall never feel any wants with us.' But of the whole +society, the person who displayed the least transport, and who probably +felt the most, was Virginia; and, during the remainder of the day, that +gentle gaiety which flowed from her heart, and proved that her peace was +restored, completed the general satisfaction. + +"The next day, at sunrise, while they were offering up, as usual, their +morning sacrifice of praise, which preceded their breakfast, Domingo +informed them that a gentleman on horseback, followed by two slaves, was +coming towards the plantation. This person was Monsieur de la Bourdonnais. +He entered the cottage where he found the family at breakfast. Virginia had +prepared, according to the custom of the country, coffee and rice boiled in +water: to which she added hot yams and fresh cocoas. The leaves of the +plantain tree supplied the want of table-linen; and calbassia shells, split +in two, served for utensils. The governor expressed some surprise at the +homeliness of the dwelling: then, addressing himself to Madame de la Tour, +he observed, that although public affairs drew his attention too much from +the concerns of individuals, she had many claims to his good offices. 'You +have an aunt at Paris, Madam,' he added, 'a woman of quality, and immensely +rich, who expects that you will hasten to see her, and who means to bestow +upon you her whole fortune.' Madame de la Tour replied, that the state of +her health would not permit her to undertake so long a voyage. 'At least,' +resumed Monsieur de la Bourdonnais, 'you cannot, without injustice, deprive +this amiable young lady, your daughter, of so noble an inheritance. I will +not conceal from you that your aunt has made use of her influence to oblige +you to return; and that I have received official letters, in which I am +ordered to exert my authority, if necessary, to that effect. But, as I only +wish to employ my power for the purpose of rendering the inhabitants of +this colony happy, I expect from your good sense the voluntary sacrifice of +a few years, upon which depend your daughter's establishment in the world, +and the welfare of your whole life. Wherefore do we come to these islands? +Is it not to acquire a fortune? And will it not be more agreeable to return +and find it in your own country?' + +"He then placed a great bag of piastres, which had been brought hither by +one of his slaves, upon the table. 'This,' added he, 'is allotted by your +aunt for the preparations necessary for the young lady's voyage.' Gently +reproaching Madame de la Tour for not having had recourse to him in her +difficulties, he extolled at the same time her noble fortitude. Upon this, +Paul said to the governor, 'My mother did, address herself to you, Sir, and +you received her ill.'--'Have you another child, Madam? said Monsieur de la +Bourdonnais to Madame de la Tour.--'No, Sir,' she replied: 'this is the +child of my friend; but he and Virginia are equally dear to us.' 'Young +man,' said the governor to Paul, 'when you have acquired a little more +experience of the world, you will know that it is the misfortune of people +in place to be deceived and thence to bestow upon intriguing vice that +which belongs to modest merit.' + +"Monsieur de la Bourdonnais, at the request of Madame de la Tour, placed +himself next her at the table, and breakfasted in the manner of the +Creoles, upon coffee mixed with rice boiled in water. He was delighted with +the order and neatness which prevailed in the little cottage, the harmony +of the two interesting families, and the zeal of their old servants. +'Here,' exclaimed he, 'I discern only wooden furniture, but I find serene +contenances, and hearts of gold.' Paul, enchanted with the affability of +the governor, said to him, 'I wish to be your friend; you are a good man.' +Monsieur de la Bourdonnais received with pleasure this insular compliment, +and, taking Paul by the hand, assured him that he might rely upon his +friendship. + +"After breakfast, he took Madame de la Tour aside, and informed her that an +opportunity presented itself of sending her daughter to France in a ship +which was going to sail in a short time; that he would recommend her to a +lady a relation of his own, who would be a passenger; and that she must not +think of renouncing an immense fortune on account of bring separated from +her daughter a few years. 'Your aunt,'he added, 'cannot live more than two +years; of this I am assured by her friends. Think of it seriously. Fortune +does not visit us every day. Consult your friends. Every person of good +sense will be of my opinion.' She answered, 'that, desiring no other +happiness henceforth in the world than that of her daughter, she would +leave her departure for France entirely to her own inclination. + +"Madame de la Tour was not sorry to find an opportunity of separating Paul +and Virginia for a short time, and provide, by this means, for their mutual +felicity at a future period. She took her daughter aside, and said to her, +'My dear child, our servants are now old. Paul is still very young; +Margaret is advanced in years, and I am already infirm. If I should die, +what will become of you, without fortune, in the midst of these deserts? +You will then be left alone without any person who can afford you much +succour, and forced to labour without ceasing, in order to support your +wretched existence. This idea fills my soul with sorrow.' Virginia +answered, 'God has appointed us to labour. You have taught me to labour, +and to bless him every day. He never has forsaken us, he never will forsake +us. His providence peculiarly watches the unfortunate. You have told me +this often my dear mother! I cannot resolve to leave you.' Madame de la +Tour replied, with much emotion, 'I have no other aim than to render you +happy, and to marry you one day to Paul, who is not your brother. Reflect +at present that his fortune depends upon you.' + +"A young girl who loves believes that all the world is ignorant of her +passion; she throws over her eyes the veil which she has thrown over her +heart; but when it is lifted up by some cherishing hand, the secret +inquietudes of passion suddenly burst their bounds, and the soothing +overflowings of confidence succeed that reserve and mystery with which the +oppressed heart had enveloped its feelings. Virginia, deeply affected by +this new proof of her mother's tenderness, related to her how cruel had +been those struggles which Heaven alone had witnessed; declared that she +saw the succour of Providence in that of an affectionate mother, who +approved of her attachment, and would guide her by her counsels; that, +being now strengthened by such support, every consideration led her to +remain with her mother, without anxiety for the present, and without +apprehensions for the future. + +"Madame de la Tour, perceiving that this confidential conversation had +produced an effect altogether different from that which she expected, said, +'My dear child, I will not any more constrain your inclination: deliberate +at leisure, but conceal your feelings from Paul.' + +"Towards evening, when Madame de la Tour and Virginia were again together, +their confessor, who was a missionary in the island, entered the room, +having been sent by the governor. 'My children,' he exclaimed, as he +entered, 'God be praised!' you are now rich. You can now listen to the kind +suggestion of your excellent hearts, and do good to the poor. I know what +Monsieur de la Bourdonnais has said to you, and what you have answered. +Your health, dear Madam, obliges you to remain here: but you, young lady, +are without excuse. We must obey the will of Providence; and we must also +obey our aged relations, even when they are unjust. A sacrifice is required +of you; but it is the order of God. He devoted himself for you: and you, in +imitation of his example, must devote yourself for the welfare of your +family. Your voyage to France will have a happy termination. You will +surely consent to go, my dear young lady.' + +"Virginia, with downcast eyes, answered, trembling, 'If it be the command +of God, I will not presume to oppose it. Let the will of God be done!' said +she, weeping. + +"The priest went away, and informed the governor of the success of his +mission. In the meantime Madame de la Tour sent Domingo to desire I would +come hither, that she might consult me upon Virginia's departure. I was of +opinion that she ought not to go. I consider it as a fixed principle of +happiness, that we ought to prefer the advantages of nature to those of +fortune; and never go in search of that at a distance, which we may find in +our own bosoms. But what could be expected from my moderate counsels, +opposed to the illusions of a splendid fortune; and my simple reasoning, +contradicted by the prejudices of the world, and an authority which Madame +de la Tour held sacred? This lady had only consulted me from a sentiment of +respect, and had, in reality, ceased to deliberate since she had heard the +decision of her confessor. Margaret herself, who, notwithstanding the +advantages she hoped for her son, from the possession of Virginia's +fortune, had hitherto opposed her departure, made no further objections. As +for Paul, ignorant of what was decided, and alarmed at the secret +conversation which Madame de la Tour held with her daughter, he abandoned +himself to deep melancholy. 'They are plotting something against my peace,' +cried he, 'since they are so careful of concealment.' + +"A report having in the meantime been spread over the island, that fortune +had visited those rocks, we beheld merchants of all kinds climbing their +steep ascent, and displaying in those humble huts the richest stuffs of +India. The fine dimity of Gondelore; the handkerchiefs of Pellicate and +Mussulapatan; the plain, striped, and embroidered muslins of Decca, clear +as the day. Those merchants unrolled the gorgeous silks of China, white +satin damasks, others of grass-green, and bright red; rose-coloured +taffetas, a profusion of satins, pelongs, and gauze of Tonquin, some plain, +and some beautifully decorated with flowers; the soft pekins, downy like +cloth; white and yellow nankeens, and the calicoes of Madagascar. + +"Madame de la Tour wished her daughter to purchase every thing she liked; +and Virginia made choice of whatever she believed would be agreeable to her +mother, Margaret, and her son. 'This,' said she, 'will serve for furniture, +and that will be useful to Mary and Domingo.' In short, the bag of piastres +was emptied before she had considered her own wants; and she was obliged to +receive a share of the presents which she had distributed to the family +circle. + +"Paul, penetrated with sorrow at the sight of those gifts of fortune, which +he felt were the presage of Virginia's departure, came a few days after to +my dwelling. With an air of despondency he said to me, 'My sister is going; +they are already making preparations for her voyage. I conjure you to come +and exert your influence over her mother and mine, in order to detain her +here.' I could not refuse the young man's solicitations, although well +convinced that my representations would be unavailing. + +"If Virginia had appeared to me charming when clad in the blue cloth of +Bengal, with a red handkerchief tied round her head, how much was her +beauty improved, when decorated with the graceful ornaments worn by the +ladies of this country! She was dressed in white muslin, lined with +rose-coloured taffeta. Her small and elegant shape was displayed to +advantage by her corset, and the lavish profusion of her light tresses were +carelessly blended with her simple head-dress. Her fine blue eyes were +filled with an expression of melancholy: and the struggles of passion, with +which her heart was agitated, flushed her cheek, and gave her voice a tone +of emotion. The contrast between her pensive look and her gay habiliments +rendered her more interesting than ever, nor was it possible to see or hear +her unmoved. Paul became more and more melancholy; at length Margaret, +distressed by the situation of her son, took him aside, and said to him, +'Why, my dear son, will you cherish vain hopes, which will only render your +disappointment more bitter! It is time that I should make known to you the +secret of your life and of mine. Mademoiselle de la Tour belongs, by her +mother, to a rich and noble family, while you are but the son of a poor +peasant girl; and, what is worse, you are a natural child.' + +"Paul, who had never before heard this last expression, inquired with +eagerness its meaning. His mother replied, 'You had no legitimate father. +When I was a girl, seduced by love, I was guilty of a weakness of which you +are the offspring. My fault deprived you of the protection of a father's +family, and my flight from home, of that of a mother's family. Unfortunate +child! you have no relation in the world but me!' And she shed a flood of +tears. Paul, pressing her in his arms, exclaimed, 'Oh, my dear mother! +since I have no relation in the world but you, I will love you still more! +But what a secret have you disclosed to me! I now see the reason why +Mademoiselle de la Tour has estranged herself from me for two months past, +and why she has determined to go. Ah! I perceive too well that she despises +me!' + +"'The hour of supper being arrived, we placed ourselves at table; but the +different sensations with which we were all agitated left us little +inclination to eat, and the meal passed in silence. Virginia first went +out, and seated herself on the very spot where we now are placed. Paul +hastened after her, and seated himself by her side. It was one of those +delicious nights which are so common between the tropics, and the beauty of +which no pencil can trace. The moon appeared in the midst of the firmament, +curtained in clouds which her beams gradually dispelled. Her light +insensibly spread itself over the mountains of the island, and their peaks +glistened with a silvered green. The winds were perfectly still. We heard +along the woods, at the bottom of the valleys, and on the summits of the +rocks, the weak cry and the soft murmurs of the birds, exulting in the +brightness of the night, and the serenity of the atmosphere. The hum of +insects was heard in the grass. The stars sparkled in the heavens, and +their trembling and lucid orbs were reflected upon the bosom of the ocean. +Virginia's eyes wandered over its vast and gloomy horizon, distinguishable +from the bay of the island by the red fires in the fishing boat. She +perceived at the entrance of the harbour a light and a shadow: these were +the watch-light and the body of the vessel in which she was to embark for +Europe, and which, ready to set sail, lay at anchor, waiting for the wind. +Affected at this sight, she turned away her head, in order to hide her +tears from Paul. + +"Madame de la Tour, Margaret, and myself were seated at a little distance +beneath the plantain trees; and amidst the stillness of the night we +distinctly heard their conversation, which I have not forgotten. + +"Paul said to her, 'You are going, they tell me, in three days. You do not +fear, then, to encounter the danger of the sea, at which you are so much +terrified!' 'I must fulfil my duty,' answered Virginia, 'by obeying my +parent.' 'You leave us,' resumed Paul, 'for a distant relation, whom you +have never seen.' 'Alas!' cried Virginia, 'I would have remained my whole +life here, but my mother would not have it so. My confessor told me that it +was the will of God I should go, and that life was a trial!' + +"'What,' exclaimed Paul, 'you have found so many reasons then for going, +and not one for remaining here! Ah! there is one reason for your departure, +which you have not mentioned. Riches have great attractions. You will soon +find in the new world, to which you are going, another to whom you will +give the name of brother, which you will bestow on me no more. You will +choose that brother from amongst persons who are worthy of you by their +birth, and by a fortune which I have not to offer. But where will you go in +order to be happier? On what shore will you land which will be dearer to +you than the spot which gave you birth? Where will you find a society more +interesting to you than this by which you are so beloved? How will you bear +to live without your mother's caresses, to which you are so accustomed? +What will become of her, already advanced in years, when she will no longer +see you at her side at table, in the house, in the walks where she used to +lean upon you? What will become of my mother who loves you with the same +affection? What shall I say to comfort them when I see them weeping for +your absence! Cruel! I speak not to you of myself; but what will become of +me, when in the morning I shall no more see you: when the evening will come +and will not reunite us? When I shall gaze on the two palm trees, planted +at our birth, and so long the witnesses of our mutual friendship? Ah; since +a new destiny attracts you, since you seek in a country, distant from your +own, other possessions than those which were the fruits of my labour, let +me accompany you in the vessel in which you are going to embark. I will +animate your courage in the midst of those tempests at which you are so +terrified even on shore. I will lay your head on my bosom. I will warm your +heart upon my own; and in France, where you go in search of fortune and of +grandeur, I will attend you as your slave. Happy only in your happiness, +you will find me in those palaces where I shall see you cherished and +adored, at least sufficiently noble to make for you the greatest of all +sacrifices, by dying at your feet.' + +"The violence of his emotion stifled his voice, and we then heard that of +Virginia, which, broken by sobs, uttered these words: 'It is for you I go: +for you, whom I see every day bent beneath the labour of sustaining two +infirm families. If I have accepted this opportunity of becoming rich, it +is only to return you a thousandfold the good which you have done us. Is +there any fortune worthy of your friendship? Why do you talk to me of your +birth? Ah! if it were again possible to give me a brother, should I make +choice of any other than you? Oh, Paul! Paul! you are far dearer to me than +a brother! How much has it cost me to avoid you! Help me to tear myself +from what I value more than existence, till Heaven can bless our union. But +I will stay or go: I will live or die; dispose of me as you will. Unhappy, +that I am! I could resist your caresses, but I am unable to support your +affliction.' + +"At these words Paul seized her in his arms, and, holding her pressed fast +to his bosom, cried, in a piercing tone, 'I will go with her; nothing shall +divide us.' We ran towards him, and Madame de la Tour said to him, 'My son, +if you go, what will become of us?' + +"He, trembling, repeated the words, 'My son:--My son'--You my mother,' +cried he; 'you, who would separate the brother from the sister! We have +both been nourished at your bosom; we have both been reared upon your +knees; we have learnt of you to love each other; we have said so a thousand +times; and now you would separate her from me! You send her to Europe, that +barbarous country which refused you an asylum, and to relations by whom you +were abandoned. You will tell me that I have no right over her, and that +she is not my sister. She is everything to me, riches, birth, family, my +sole good; I know no other. We have had but one roof, one cradle, and we +will have but one grave. If she goes, I will follow her. The governor will +prevent me! Will he prevent me from flinging myself into the sea? Will he +prevent me from following her by swimming? The sea cannot be more fatal to +me than the land. Since I cannot live with her, at least I will die before +her eyes; far from you, inhuman mother! woman without compassion! May the +ocean, to which you trust her, restore her to you no more! May the waves, +rolling back our corpses amidst the stones of the beach, give you, in the +loss of your two children, an eternal subject of remorse!' + +"At these words I seized him in my arms, for despair had deprived him of +reason. His eyes flashed fire, big drops of sweat hung upon his face, his +knees trembled, and I felt his heart beat violently against his burning +bosom. + +"Virginia, affrighted, said to him, 'Oh, my friend, I call to witness the +pleasures of our early age, your sorrow and my own, and every thing that +can forever bind two unfortunate beings to each other, that if I remain, I +will live but for you; that if I go, I will one day return to be yours. I +call you all to witness, you who have reared my infancy, who dispose of my +life, who see my tears. I swear by that Heaven which hears me, by the sea +which I am going to pass, by the air I breathe, and which I never sullied +by a falsehood.' + +"As the sun softens and dissolves an icy rock upon the summit of the +Apennines, so the impetuous passions of the young man were subdued by the +voice of her he loved. He bent his head, and a flood of tears fell from his +eyes. His mother, mingling her tears with his, held him in her arms, but +was unable to speak. Madame de la Tour, half distracted, said to me, 'I can +bear this no longer. My heart is broken. This unfortunate Voyage shall not +take place. Do take my son home with you. It is eight days since any one +here has slept.' + +"I said to Paul, 'My dear friend, your sister will remain. To-morrow we +will speak to the governor; leave your family, to take some rest, and come +and pass the night with me.' + +"He suffered himself to be led away in silence; and, after a night of great +agitation, he arose at break of day, and returned home. + +"But why should I continue any longer the recital of this history? There is +never but one aspect of human life which we can contemplate with pleasure. +Like the globe upon which we revolve, our fleeting course is but a day: and +if one part of that day be visited by light, the other is thrown into +darkness." + +"Father," I answered, "finish, I conjure you, the history which you have +begun in a manner so interesting. If the images of happiness are most +pleasing, those of misfortune are more instructive. Tell me what became of +the unhappy young man." + +"The first object which Paul beheld in his way home was Mary, who, mounted +upon a rock, was earnestly looking towards the sea. As soon as he perceived +her, he called to her from a distance, 'Where is Virginia?' Mary turned her +head towards her young master, and began to weep. Paul, distracted, and +treading back his steps, ran to the harbour. He was there informed, that +Virginia had embarked at break of day, that the vessel had immediately +after set sail, and could no longer be discerned. He instantly returned to +the plantation, which he crossed without uttering a word. + +"Although the pile of rocks behind us appears almost perpendicular, those +green platforms which separate their summits are so many stages by means of +which you may reach, through some difficult paths, that cone of hanging and +inaccessible rocks, called the Thumb. At the foot of that cone is a +stretching slope of ground, covered with lofty trees, and which is so high +and steep that it appears like a forest in air, surrounded by tremendous +precipices. The clouds, which are attracted round the summit of those +rocks, supply innumerable rivulets, which rush from so immense a height +into that deep valley situated behind the mountain, that from this elevated +point we do not hear the sound of their fall. On that spot you can discern +a considerable part of the island with its precipices crowned with their +majestic peaks; and, amongst others, Peterbath, and the three Peaks, with +their valley filled with woods. You also command an extensive view of the +ocean, and even perceive the Isle of Bourbon forty leagues towards the +west. From the summit of that stupendous pile of rocks Paul gazed upon the +vessel which had borne away Virginia, and which, now ten leagues out at +sea, appeared like a black spot in the midst of the ocean. He remained a +great part of the day with his eyes fixed upon this object: when it had +disappeared, he still fancied he beheld it: and when, at length, the traces +which clung to his imagination were lost amidst the gathering mists of the +horizon, he seated himself on that wild point, for ever beaten by the +winds, which never cease to agitate the tops of the cabbage and gum trees, +and the hoarse and moaning murmurs of which, similar to the distant sound +of organs, inspire a deep melancholy. On that spot. I found Paul, with his +head reclined on the rock, and his eyes fixed upon the ground. I had +followed him since break of day, and after much importunity, I prevailed +with him to descend from the heights, and return to his family. I conducted +him to the plantation, where the first impulse of his mind, upon seeing +Madame de la Tour, was to reproach her bitterly for having deceived him. +Madame de la Tour told us, that a favourable wind having arose at three +o'clock in the morning, and the vessel being ready to set sail, the +governor, attended by his general officers, and the missionary, had come +with a palanquin in search of Virginia, and that, notwithstanding her own +objections, her tears, and those of Margaret, all the while exclaiming that +it was for the general welfare they had carried away Virginia almost dying. +'At least,' cried Paul, 'if I had bid her farewell, I should now be more +calm. I would have said to her, Virginia, if, during the time we have lived +together, one word may have escaped me which has offended you, before you +leave me for ever, tell me that you forgive me. I would have said to her, +since I am destined to see you no more, farewell, my dear Virginia, +farewell! Live far from me, contented and happy!' + +"When he saw that his mother and Madame de la Tour were weeping, 'You must +now,' said he, 'seek some other than me to wipe away your tears;' and then, +rushing out of the house, he wandered up and down the plantation. He flew +eagerly to those spots which had been most dear to Virginia. He said to the +goats and their kids which followed him, bleating, 'What do you ask of me? +You will see her no more who used to feed you with her own hand.' He went +to the bower called the Repose of Virginia; and, as the birds flew around +him, exclaimed, 'Poor little birds! you will fly no more to meet her who +cherished you!' and observing Fidele running backwards and forwards in +search of her, he heaved a deep sigh, and cried, 'Ah! you will never find +her again.' At length he went and seated himself upon the rock where he had +conversed with her the preceding evening; and at the view of the ocean, +upon which he had seen the vessel disappear, which bore her away, he wept +bitterly. + +"We continually watched his steps, apprehending some fatal consequence from +the violent agitation of his mind. His mother and Madame de la Tour +conjured him, in the most tender manner, not to increase their affliction +by his despair. At length Madame de la Tour soothed his mind by lavishing +upon him such epithets as were best calculated to revive his hopes. She +called him her son, her dear son, whom she destined for her daughter. She +prevailed with him to return to the house, and receive a little +nourishment. He seated himself with us at table, next to the place which +used to be occupied by the companion of his childhood, and, as if she had +still been present, he spoke to her, and offered whatever he knew was most +agreeable to her taste; and then, starting from this dream of fancy, he +began to weep. For some days he employed himself in gathering together +every thing which had belonged to Virginia; the last nosegays she had worn, +the cocoa shell in which she used to drink; and after kissing a thousand +times those relics of his friend, to him the most precious treasures which +the world contained, he hid them in his bosom. The spreading perfumes of +the amber are not so sweet as the objects which have belonged to those we +love. At length, perceiving that his anguish increased that of his mother +and Madame de la Tour, and that the wants of the family required continual +labour, he began, with the assistance of Domingo, to repair the garden. + +"Soon after, this young man, till now indifferent as a Creole with respect +to what was passing in the world, desired I would teach him to read and +write, that he might carry on a correspondence with Virginia. He then +wished to be instructed in geography, in order that he might form a just +idea of the country where she had disembarked; and in history, that he +might know the manners of the society in which she was placed. The powerful +sentiment of love, which directed his present studies, had already taught +him the arts of agriculture, and the manner of laying out the most +irregular grounds with advantage and beauty. It must be admitted, that to +the fond dreams of this restless and ardent passion, mankind are indebted +for a great number of arts and sciences, while its disappointments have +given birth to philosophy, which teaches us to bear the evils of life with +resignation. Thus, nature having made love the general link which binds all +beings, has rendered it the first spring of society, the first incitement +of knowledge as well as pleasure. + +"Paul found little satisfaction in the study of geography, which, instead +of describing the natural history of each country, only gave a view of its +political boundaries. History, and especially modern history, interested +him little more. He there saw only general and periodical evils of which he +did not discern the cause; wars for which there was no reason and no +object; nations without principle, and princes without humanity. He +preferred the reading of romances, which being filled with the particular +feelings and interests of men, represented situations similar to his own. +No book gave him so much pleasure as Telemachus, from the pictures which it +draws of pastoral life, and of those passions which are natural to the +human heart. He read aloud to his mother and Madame de la Tour those parts +which affected him most sensibly, when, sometimes, touched by the most +tender remembrances, his emotion choked his utterance, and his eyes were +bathed in tears. He fancied he had found in Virginia the wisdom of Antiope, +with the misfortunes and the tenderness of Eurcharis. With very different +sensations he perused our fashionable novels, filled with licentious maxims +and manners. And when he was informed that those romances drew a just +picture of European society, he trembled, not without reason, lest Virginia +should become corrupted, and should forget him. + +"More than a year and a half had indeed passed away before Madame de la +Tour received any tidings of her daughter. During that period she had only +accidentally heard that Virginia had arrived safely in France. At length a +vessel, which stopped in its way to the Indies, conveyed to Madame de la +Tour a packet, and a letter written with her own hand. Although this +amiable young woman had written in a guarded manner, in order to avoid +wounding the feelings of a mother, it was easy to discern that she was +unhappy. Her letter paints so naturally her situation and her character, +that I have retained it almost word for word. + +"'My dear and beloved mother, I have already sent you several letters, +written with my own hand but having received no answer, I fear they have +not reached you. I have better hopes for this, from the means I have now +taken of sending you tidings of myself, and of hearing from you. I have +shed many tears since our separation; I, who never used to weep, but for +the misfortunes of others! My aunt was much astonished, when, having, upon +my arrival, inquired what accomplishments I possessed, I told her that I +could neither read nor write. She asked me what then I had learnt since I +came into the world; and, when I answered that I had been taught to take +care of the household affairs, and obey your will, she told me that I had +received the education of a servant. The next day she placed me as a +boarder in a great abbey near Paris, where I have masters of all kinds, who +teach me, among other things, history, geography, grammar, mathematics and +riding. But I have so little capacity for all those sciences, that I make +but small progress with my masters. + +"'My aunt's kindness, however, does not abate towards me. She gives me new +dresses for each season; and she has placed two waiting women with me, who +are both dressed like fine ladies. She has made me take the title of +countess, but has obliged me to renounce the name of La Tour, which is as +dear to me as it is to you, from all you have told me of the sufferings my +father endured in order to marry you. She has replaced your name by that of +your family, which is also dear to me, because it was your name when a +girl. Seeing myself in so splendid a situation, I implored her to let me +send you some assistance. But how shall I repeat her answer? Yet you have +desired me always to tell you the truth. She told me then, that a little +would be of no use to you, and that a great deal would only encumber you in +the simple life you led. + +"'I endeavoured, upon my arrival, to send you tidings of myself by another +hand, but finding no person here in whom I could place confidence, I +applied night and day to reading and writing; and Heaven, who saw my motive +for learning, no doubt assisted my endeavours, for I acquired both in a +short time. I entrusted my first letters to some of the ladies here, who, I +have reason to think, carried them to my aunt. This time I have had +recourse to a boarder, who is my friend. I send you her direction, by means +of which I shall receive your answer. My aunt has forbid my holding any +correspondence whatever, which might, she says, be come an obstacle to the +great views she has for my advantage. No person is allowed to see me at the +grate but herself, and an old nobleman, one of her friends, who, she says, +is much pleased with me. I am sure I am not at all so with him; nor should +I, even if it were possible for me to be pleased with any one at present. + +"'I live in the midst of affluence, and have not a livre at my disposal. +They say I might make an improper use of money. Even my clothes belong to +my waiting women who quarrel about them before I have left them off. In the +bosom of riches, I am poorer than when I lived with you; for I have nothing +to give. When I found that the great accomplishments they taught me would +not procure me the power of doing the smallest good, I had recourse to my +needle, of which happily you had learnt me the use. I send several pair of +stockings of my own making for you and my mamma Margaret, a cap for +Domingo, and one of my red handkerchiefs for Mary. I also send with this +packet some kernels and seeds of various kinds of fruits, which I gathered +in the fields. There are much more beautiful flowers in the meadows of this +country than in ours, but nobody cares for them. I am sure that you and my +mamma Margaret will be better pleased with this bag of seeds, than you were +with the bag of piastres, which was the cause of our separation and of my +tears. It will give me great delight if you should one day see apple-trees +growing at the side of the plantain, and elms blending their foliage with +our cocoa-trees. You will fancy yourself in Normandy, which you love so +much. + +"'You desired me to relate to you my joys and my griefs. I have no joys far +from you. As for my griefs, I endeavour to soothe them by reflecting that I +am in the situation in which you placed me by the will of God. But my +greatest affliction is, that no one here speaks to me of you, and that I +must speak of you to no one. My waiting women, or rather those of my aunt, +for they belong more to her than to me, told me the other day, when I +wished to turn the conversation upon the objects most dear to me, +'Remember, madam, that you are a Frenchwoman, and must forget that country +of savages.' Ah! sooner will I forget myself than forget the spot on which +I was born, and which you inhabit! It is this country which is to me a land +of savages; for I live alone, having no one to whom I can impart, those +feelings of tenderness for you which I shall bear with me to the grave. + + 'I am, + 'My dearest and beloved mother, + 'Your affectionate and dutiful daughter, + 'VIRGINIA DE LA TOUR." + +"'I recommend to your goodness Mary and Domingo, who took so much care of +my infancy. Caress Fidele for me who found me in the wood.' + +"Paul was astonished that Virginia had not said one word of him, she who +had not forgotten even the house dog. But Paul was not aware that, however +long may be a woman's letter, she always puts the sentiments most dear to +her at the end. + +"In a postscript, Virginia recommended particularly to Paul's care two +kinds of seed, those of the violet and scabious. She gave him some +instructions upon the nature of those plants, and the spots most proper for +their cultivation. 'The first,' said she, 'produces a little flower of a +deep violet, which loves to hide itself beneath the bushes, but is soon +discovered by its delightful odours.' She desired those seeds might be sown +along the borders of the fountain, at the foot of her cocoa tree. 'The +scabious,' she added, 'produces a beautiful flower of a pale blue, and a +black ground, spotted with white. You might fancy it was in mourning; and +for this reason, it is called the widow's flower. It delights in bleak +spots beaten by the winds.' She begged this might be sown upon the rock +where she had spoken to him for the last time, and that, for her sake, he +would henceforth give it the name of the Farewell Rock. + +"She had put those seeds into a little purse, the tissue of which was +extremely simple; but which appeared above all price to Paul, when he +perceived a P and a V intwined together, and knew that the beautiful hair +which formed the cipher was the hair of Virginia. + +"The whole family listened with tears to the letter of that amiable and +virtuous young woman. Her mother answered it in the name of the little +society, and desired her to remain or return as she thought proper; +assuring her, that happiness had fled from their dwelling since her +departure, and that, as for herself, she was inconsolable. + +"Paul also sent her a long letter, in which he assured her that he would +arrange the garden in a manner agreeable to her taste, and blend the plants +of Europe with those of Africa. He sent her some fruit culled from the +cocoa trees of the mountain, which were now arrived at maturity: telling +her that he would not add any more of the other seeds of the island, that +the desire of seeing those productions again might hasten her return. He +conjured her to comply without delay with the ardent wishes of her family, +and, above all, with his own, since he was unable to endure the pain of +their separation. + +"With a careful hand Paul sowed the European seeds, particularly the violet +and the scabious, the flowers of which seem to bear some analogy to the +character and situation of Virginia, by whom they had been recommended: but +whether they were injured by the voyage, or whether the soil of this part +of Africa is unfavourable to their growth, a very small number of them +blew, and none came to perfection. + +"Meanwhile that envy, which pursues human happiness, spread reports over +the island which gave great uneasiness to Paul. The persons who had brought +Virginia's letter asserted that she was upon the point of being married, +and named the nobleman of the court with whom she was going to be united. +Some even declared that she was already married, of which they were +witnesses. Paul at first despised this report, brought by one of those +trading ships, which often spread erroneous intelligence in their passage; +but some ill-natured persons, by their insulting pity, led him to give some +degree of credit to this cruel intelligence. Besides, he had seen in the +novels which he had lately read that perfidy was treated as a subject of +pleasantry; and knowing that those books were faithful representations of +European manners, he feared that the heart of Virginia was corrupted, and +had forgotten its former engagements. Thus his acquirements only served to +render him miserable, and what increased his apprehension was, that several +ships arrived from Europe, during the space of six months, and not one +brought any tidings of Virginia. + +"This unfortunate young man, with a heart torn by the most cruel agitation, +came often to visit me, that I might confirm or banish his inquietude, by +my experience of the world. + +"I live, as I have already told you, a league and a half from hence, upon +the banks of a little river which glides along the Sloping Mountain: there +I lead a solitary life, without wife, children, or slaves. + +"After having enjoyed, and lost, the rare felicity of living with a +congenial mind, the state of life which appears the least wretched is that +of solitude. It is remarkable that all those nations which have been +rendered unhappy by their political opinions, their manners, or their forms +of government, have produced numerous classes of citizens altogether +devoted to solitude and celibacy. Such were the Egyptians in their decline, +the Greeks of the lower empire; and such in our days are the Indians, the +Chinese, the modern Greeks, the Italians, and most part of the eastern and +southern nations of Europe. + +"Thus I pass my days far from mankind whom I wished to serve, and by whom I +have been persecuted. After having travelled over many countries of Europe, +and some parts of America and Africa, I at length pitched my tent in this +thinly-peopled island, allured by its mild temperature and its solitude. A +cottage which I built in the woods, at the foot of a tree, a little field +which I cultivated with my own hands, a river which glides before my door, +suffice for my wants and for my pleasures. I blend with those enjoyments +that of some chosen books, which teach me to become better. They make that +world, which I have abandoned, still contribute to my satisfaction. They +place before me pictures of those passions which render its inhabitants so +miserable; and the comparison which I make between their destiny and my +own, leads me to feel a sort of negative happiness. Like a man whom +shipwreck has thrown upon a rock, I contemplate, from my solitude, the +storms which roll over the rest of the world; and my repose seems more +profound from the distant sounds of the tempest. + +"I suffer myself to be led calmly down the stream of time to the ocean of +futurity, which has no boundaries; while, in the contemplation of the +present harmony of nature, I raise my soul towards its supreme Author, and +hope for a more happy destiny in another state of existence. + +"Although you do not descry my hermitage, which is situated in the midst of +a forest, among that immense variety of objects which this elevated spot +presents, the grounds are disposed with particular beauty, at least to one +who, like me, loves rather the seclusion of a home scene, than great and +extensive prospects. The river which glides before my door passes in a +straight line across the woods, and appears like a long canal shaded by +trees of all kinds. There are black date plum trees, what we here call the +narrow-leaved dodonea, olive wood, gum trees, and the cinnamon tree; while +in some parts the cabbage trees raise their naked columns more than a +hundred feet high, crowned at their summits with clustering leaves, and +towering above the wood like one forest piled upon another. Lianas, of +various foliage, intertwining among the woods, form arcades of flowers, and +verdant canopies; those trees, for the most part, shed aromatic odours of a +nature so powerful, that the garments of a traveller, who has passed +through the forest, retain for several hours the delicious fragrance. In +the season when those trees produce their lavish blossoms, they appear as +if covered with snow. One of the principal ornaments of our woods is the +calbassia, a tree not only distinguished for its beautiful tint of verdure; +but for other properties, which Madame de la Tour has described in the +following sonnet, written at one of her first visits to my hermitage: + + SONNET + + TO THE CALBASSIA TREE + + Sublime Calbassia, luxuriant tree! + How soft the gloom thy bright-lined foliage throws, + While from thy pulp a healing balsam flows, + Whose power the suffering wretch from pain can free! + My pensive footsteps ever turn to thee! + Since oft, while musing on my lasting woes, + Beneath thy flowery white bells I repose, + Symbol of friendship dost thou seem to me; + For thus has friendship cast her soothing shade + O'er my unsheltered bosom's keen distress: + Thus sought to heal the wounds which love has made, + And temper bleeding sorrow's sharp excess! + Ah! not in vain she lends her balmy aid: + The agonies she cannot cure, are less! + +"Towards the end of summer various kinds of foreign birds hasten, impelled +by an inexplicable instinct, from unknown regions, and across immense +oceans, to gather the profuse grains of this island; and the brilliancy of +their expanded plumage forms a contrast to the trees embrowned by the sun. +Such, among others, are various kinds of paroquets, the blue pigeon, called +here the pigeon of Holland, and the wandering and majestic white bird of +the Tropic, which Madame de la Tour thus apostrophised:-- + + SONNET + + TO THE WHITE BIRD OF THE TROPIC. + + Bird of the Tropic! thou, who lov'st to stray + Where thy long pinions sweep the sultry line, + Or mark'st the bounds which torrid beams confine + By thy averted course, that shuns the ray + Oblique, enamour'd of sublimer day: + Oft on yon cliff thy folded plumes recline, + And drop those snowy feathers Indians twine + To crown the warrior's brow with honours gay. + O'er Trackless oceans what impels thy wing? + Does no soft instinct in thy soul prevail? + No sweet affection to thy bosom cling, + And bid thee oft thy absent nest bewail? + Yet thou again to that dear spot canst spring + But I my long lost home no more shall hail! + +"The domestic inhabitants of our forests, monkeys, sport upon the dark +branches of the trees, from which they are distinguished by their gray and +greenish skin, and their black visages. Some hang suspended by the tail, +and balance themselves in air; others leap from branch to branch, bearing +their young in their arms. The murderous gun has never affrighted those +peaceful children of nature. You sometimes hear the warblings of unknown +birds from the southern countries, repeated at a distance by the echoes of +the forest. The river, which runs in foaming cataracts over a bed of rocks, +reflects here and there, upon its limpid waters, venerable masses of woody +shade, together with the sport of its happy inhabitants. About a thousand +paces from thence the river precipitates itself over several piles of +rocks, and forms, in its fall, a sheet of water smooth as crystal, but +which breaks at the bottom into frothy surges. Innumerable confused sounds +issue from those tumultuous waters, which, scattered by the winds of the +forest, sometimes sink, sometimes swell, and send forth a hollow tone like +the deep bells of a cathedral. The air, for ever renewed by the circulation +of the waters, fans the banks of that river with freshness, and leaves a +degree of verdure, notwithstanding the summer heats, rarely found in this +island, even upon the summits of the mountains. + +"At some distance is a rock, placed far enough from the cascade to prevent +the ear from being deafened by the noise of its waters, and sufficiently +near for the enjoyment of their view, their coolness, and their murmurs. +Thither, amidst the heats of summer, Madame de la Tour, Margaret, Virginia, +Paul, and myself sometimes repaired, and dined beneath the shadow of the +rock. Virginia, who always directed her most ordinary actions to the good +of others, never ate of any fruit without planting the seed or kernel in +the ground. 'From this,' said she, 'trees will come, which will give their +fruit to some traveller, or at least to some bird.' One day having eaten of +the papaw fruit, at the foot of that rock she planted the seeds. Soon after +several papaws sprung up, amongst which was one that yielded fruit. This +tree had risen but a little from the ground at the time of Virginia's +departure; but its growth being rapid, in the space of two years it had +gained twenty feet of height, and the upper part of its stem was encircled +with several layers of ripe fruit. Paul having wandered to that spot, was +delighted to see that this lofty tree had arisen from the small seed +planted by his beloved friend; but that emotion instantly gave place to a +deep melancholy, at this evidence of her long absence. The objects which we +see habitually do not remind us of the rapidity of life; they decline +insensibly with ourselves; but those which we behold again, after having +for some years lost sight of them, impress us powerfully with the idea of +that swiftness with which the tide of our days flows on. Paul was no less +overwhelmed and affected at the sight of this great papaw tree, loaded with +fruit, than is the traveller, when, after a long absence from his own +country, he finds not his contemporaries, but their children, whom he left +at the breast, and whom he sees are become fathers of families. Paul +sometimes thought of hewing down the tree, which recalled too sensibly the +distracted image of that length of time which had clasped since the +departure of Virginia. Sometimes, contemplating it as a monument of her +benevolence, he kissed its trunk, and apostrophised it in terms of the most +passionate regret; and, indeed I have myself gazed upon it with more +emotion and more veneration than upon the triumphal arches of Rome. + +"At the foot of this papaw I was always sure to meet with Paul when he came +into our neighbourhood. One day, when I found him absorbed in melancholy, +we had a conversation, which I will relate to you, if I do not weary you by +my long digressions; perhaps pardonable to my age and my last friendships. + +"Paul said to me, 'I am very unhappy. Mademoiselle de la Tour has now been +gone two years and two months; and we have heard no tidings of her for +eight months and two weeks. She is rich, and I am poor. She has forgotten +me. I have a great mind to follow her. I will go to France; I will serve +the king; make a fortune; and then Mademoiselle de la Tour's aunt will +bestow her niece upon me when I shall have become a great lord. + +"'But, my dear friend,' I answered, 'have you not told me that you are not +of noble birth?' + +"'My mother has told me so,' said Paul. 'As for myself I know not what +noble birth means.' + +"'Obscure birth,' I replied, 'in France shuts out all access to great +employments; nor can you even be received among any distinguished body of +men.' + +"'How unfortunate I am!' resumed Paul; 'every thing repulses me. I am +condemned to waste my wretched life in labour, far from Virginia.' And he +heaved a deep sigh. + +"'Since her relation,' he added, 'will only give her in marriage to some +one with a great name, by the aid of study we become wise and celebrated. I +will fly then to study; I will acquire sciences; I will serve my country +usefully by my attainments; I shall be independent; I shall become +renowned; and my glory will belong only to myself.' + +"'My son! talents are still more rare than birth or riches, and are +undoubtedly an inestimable good, of which nothing can deprive us, and which +every where conciliate public esteem. But they cost dear: they are +generally allied to exquisite sensibility, which renders their possessor +miserable. But you tell me that you would serve mankind. He who, from the +soil which he cultivates, draws forth one additional sheaf of corn, serves +mankind more than he who presents them with a book.' + +"'Oh! she then,' exclaimed Paul, 'who planted this papaw tree, made a +present to the inhabitants of the forest more dear and more useful than if +she had given them a library.' And seizing the tree in his arms, he kissed +it with transport. + +"'Ah! I desire glory only,' he resumed, 'to confer it upon Virginia, and +render her dear to the whole universe. But you, who know so much, tell me +if we shall ever be married. I wish I was at least learned enough to look +into futurity. Virginia must come back. What need has she of a rich +relation? she was so happy in those huts, so beautiful, and so well +dressed, with a red handkerchief or flowers round her head! Return, +Virginia! Leave your palaces, your splendour! Return to these rocks, to the +shade of our woods and our cocoa trees! Alas! you are, perhaps, unhappy!' +And he began to weep. 'My father! conceal nothing from me. If you cannot +tell me whether I shall marry Virginia or no, tell me, at least, if she +still loves me amidst those great lords who speak to the king, and go to +see her.' + +"'Oh! my dear friend,' I answered, 'I am sure that she loves you, for +several reasons; but, above all, because she is virtuous.' At those words +he threw himself upon my neck in a transport of joy. + +"'But what,' said he, 'do you understand by virtue?' + +"'My son! to you, who support your family by your labour, it need not be +defined. Virtue is an effort which we make for the good of others, and with +the intention of pleasing God.' + +"'Oh! how virtuous then,' cried he, 'is Virginia! Virtue made her seek for +riches, that she might practise benevolence. Virtue led her to forsake this +island, and virtue will bring her back.' The idea of her near return fired +his imagination, and his inquietudes suddenly vanished. Virginia, he was +persuaded, had not written, because she would soon arrive. It took so +little time to come from Europe with a fair wind! Then he enumerated the +vessels which had made a passage of four thousand five hundred leagues in +less than three months; and perhaps the vessel in which Virginia had +embarked might not be longer than two. Ship builders were now so ingenious, +and sailors so expert! He then told me of the arrangements he would make +for her reception, of the new habitation he would build for her, of the +pleasures and surprises which each day should bring along with it when she +was his wife? His wife! That hope was ecstasy. 'At least, my dear father,' +said he, 'you shall then do nothing more than you please. Virginia being +rich, we shall have a number of negroes, who will labour for you. You shall +always live with us, and have no other care than to amuse and rejoice +yourself:' and, his heart throbbing with delight, he flew to communicate +those exquisite sensations to his family. + +"In a short time, however, the most cruel apprehensions succeeded those +enchanting hopes. Violent passions ever throw the soul into opposite +extremes. Paul returned to my dwelling absorbed in melancholy, and said to +me, 'I hear nothing from Virginia. Had she left Europe she would have +informed me of her departure. Ah! the reports which I have heard concerning +her are but too well founded. Her aunt has married her to some great lord. +She, like others, has been undone by the love of riches. In those books +which paint women so well, virtue is but a subject of romance. Had Virginia +been virtuous, she would not have forsaken her mother and me, and, while I +pass life in thinking of her, forgotten me. While I am wretched, she is +happy. Ah! that thought distracts me: labour becomes painful, and society +irksome. Would to heaven that war were declared in India! I would go there +and die.' + +"'My son,' I answered, 'that courage which, prompts us to court death is +but the courage of a moment, and is often excited by the vain hopes of +posthumous fame. There is a species of courage more necessary, and more +rare, which makes us support, without witness, and without applause, the +various vexations of life; and that is, patience. Leaning not upon the +opinions of others, but upon the will of God, patience is the courage of +virtue.' + +"'Ah!' cried he,' I am then without virtue! Every thing overwhelms and +distracts me.' + +"'Equal, constant, and invariable virtue,' I replied, 'belongs not to man.' +In the midst of so many passions, by which we are agitated, our reason is +disordered and obscured: but there is an ever-burning lamp, at which we can +rekindle its flame; and that is, literature. + +"'Literature, my dear son, is the gift of Heaven; a ray of that wisdom +which governs the universe; and which man, inspired by celestial +intelligence, has drawn down to earth. Like the sun, it enlightens, it +rejoices, it warms with a divine flame, and seems, in some sort, like the +element of fire, to bend all nature to our use. By the aid of literature, +we bring around us all things, all places, men, and times. By its aid we +calm the passions, suppress vice, and excite virtue. Literature is the +daughter of heaven, who has descended upon earth to soften and to charm all +human evils. + +"'Have recourse to your books, then, my son. The sages who have written +before our days, are travellers who have preceded us in the paths of +misfortune; who stretch out a friendly hand towards us, and invite us to +join their society, when every thing else abandons us. A good book is a +good friend.' + +"'Ah!' cried Paul, 'I stood in no need of books when Virginia was here, and +she had studied as little as me: but when she looked at me, and called me +her friend, it was impossible for me to be unhappy.' + +"'Undoubtedly,' said I, 'there is no friend so agreeable as a mistress by +whom we are beloved. There is in the gay graces of a woman a charm that +dispels the dark phantoms of reflection. Upon her face sits soft attraction +and tender confidence. What joy is not heightened in which she shares? What +brow is not unbent by her smiles? What anger can resist her tears? Virginia +will return with more philosophy than you, and will be surprised not to +find the garden finished: she who thought of its establishments amidst the +persecutions of her aunt, and far from her mother and from you.' + +"The idea of Virginia's speedy return reanimated her lover's courage, and +he resumed his pastoral occupations; happy amidst his toils, in the +reflection that they would find a termination so dear to the wishes of his +heart. + +"The 24th of December, 1774, at break of day, Paul, when he arose, +perceived a white flag hoisted upon the Mountain of Discovery, which was +the signal of a vessel descried at sea. He flew to the town, in order to +learn if this vessel brought any tidings of Virginia, and waited till the +return of the pilot, who had gone as usual to visit the ship. The pilot +brought the governor information that the vessel was the Saint Geran, of +seven hundred tons, commanded by a captain of the name of Aubin; that the +ship was now four leagues out at sea, and would anchor at Port Louis the +following afternoon, if the wind was favourable: at present there was a +calm. The pilot then remitted to the governor a number of letters from +France, amongst which was one addressed to Madame de la Tour in the +hand-writing of Virginia. Paul seized upon the letter, kissed it with +transport, placed it in his bosom, and flew to the plantation. No sooner +did he perceive from a distance the family, who were waiting his return +upon the Farewell Rock, than he waved the letter in the air, without having +the power to speak; and instantly the whole family crowded round Madame de +la Tour to hear it read. Virginia informed her mother that she had suffered +much ill treatment from her aunt, who, after having in vain urged her to +marry against her inclination, had disinherited her; and at length sent her +back at such a season of the year, that she must probably reach the +Mauritius at the very period of the hurricanes. In vain, she added, she had +endeavoured to soften her aunt, by representing what she owed to her +mother, and to the habits of her early years: she had been treated as a +romantic girl, whose head was turned by novels. At present she said she +could think of nothing but the transport of again seeing and embracing her +beloved family, and that she would have satisfied this dearest wish of her +heart that very day, if the captain would have permitted her to embark in +the pilot's boat; but that he had opposed her going, on account of the +distance from the shore, and of a swell in the ocean, notwithstanding it +was a calm. + +"Scarcely was the letter finished, when the whole family, transported with +joy repeated, 'Virginia is arrived!' and mistresses and servants embraced +each other. Madame de la Tour said to Paul, 'My son, go and inform our +neighbour of Virginia's arrival.' Domingo immediately lighted a torch, and +he and Paul bent their way towards my plantation. + +"It was about ten at night, and I was going to extinguish my lamp, when I +perceived through the palisades of my hut a light in the woods. I arose, +and had just dressed myself when Paul, half wild, and panting for breath, +sprung on my neck, crying, 'Come along, come along. Virginia is arrived! +Let us go to the Port: the vessel will anchor at break of day.' + +"We instantly set off. As we were traversing the woods of the Sloping +Mountain, and were already on the road which leads from the Shaddock Grove +to the Port, I heard some one walking behind us. When the person, who was a +negro, and who advanced with hasty steps, had reached us, I inquired from +whence he came, and whither he was going with such expedition. He answered, +'I come from that part of the island called Golden Dust, and am sent to the +Port, to inform the governor, that a ship from France has anchored upon the +island of Amber, and fires guns of distress, for the sea is very stormy.' +Having said this, the man left us, and pursued his journey. + +"'Let us go,' said I to Paul, 'towards that part of the island, and meet +Virginia. It is only three leagues from hence.' Accordingly we bent our +course thither. The heat was suffocating. The moon had risen, and it was +encompassed by three large black circles. A dismal darkness shrouded the +sky; but the frequent flakes of lightning discovered long chains of thick +clouds, gloomy, low hung, and heaped together over the middle of the +island, after having rolled with great rapidity from the ocean, although we +felt not a breath of wind upon the land. As we walked along we thought we +heard peals of thunder; but, after listening more attentively, we found +they were the sound of distant cannon repeated by the echoes. Those sounds, +joined to the tempestuous aspect of the heavens, made me shudder. I had +little doubt that they were signals of distress from a ship in danger. In +half an hour the firing ceased, and I felt the silence more appalling than +the dismal sounds which had preceded. + +"We hastened on without uttering a word, or daring to communicate our +apprehensions. At midnight we arrived on the sea shore at that part of the +island. The billows broke against the beach with a horrible noise, covering +the rocks and the strand with their foam of a dazzling whiteness, and +blended with sparks of fire. By their phosphoric gleams we distinguished, +notwithstanding the darkness, the canoes of the fishermen, which they had +drawn far upon the sand. + +"Near the shore, at the entrance of a wood, we saw a fire, round which +several of the inhabitants were assembled. Thither we repaired, in order to +repose ourselves till morning. One of the circle related, that in the +afternoon he had seen a vessel driven towards the island by the currents; +that the night had hid it from his view; and that two hours after sun-set +he had heard the firing of guns in distress; but that the sea was so +tempestuous, no boat could venture out; that a short time after, he thought +he perceived the glimmering of the watch-lights on board the vessel, which +he feared, by its having approached so near the coast, had steered between +the main land and the little island of Amber, mistaking it for the point of +Endeavour, near which the vessels pass in order to gain Port Louis. If this +was the case, which, however, he could not affirm, the ship he apprehended +was in great danger. Another islander then informed us, that he had +frequently crossed the channel which separates the isle of Amber from the +coast, and which he had sounded; that the anchorage was good, and that the +ship would there be in as great security as if it were in harbour. A third +islander declared it was impossible for the ship to enter that channel, +which was scarcely navigable for a boat. He asserted that he had seen the +vessel at anchor beyond the isle of Amber; so that if the wind arose in the +morning, it could either put to sea or gain the harbour. Different opinions +were stated upon this subject, which, while those indolent Creoles calmly +discussed, Paul and I observed a profound silence. We remained on this spot +till break of day, when the weather was too hazy to admit of our +distinguishing any object at sea, which was covered with fog. All we could +descry was a dark cloud, which they told us was the isle of Amber, at the +distance of a quarter of a league from the coast. We could only discern on +this gloomy day the point of the beach where we stood, and the peaks of +some mountains in the interior part of the island, rising occasionally from +amidst the clouds which hung around them. + +"At seven in the morning we heard the beat of drums in the woods; and soon +after the governor, Monsieur de la Bourdonnais, arrived on horseback, +followed by a detachment of soldiers armed with muskets, and a great number +of islanders and blacks. He ranged his soldiers upon the beach, and ordered +them to make a general discharge, which was no sooner done, than we +perceived a glimmering light upon the water, which was instantly succeeded +by the sound of a gun. We judged that the ship was at no great distance, +and ran towards that part where we had seen the light. We now discerned +through the fog the hull and tackling of a large vessel; and +notwithstanding the noise of the waves, we were near enough to hear the +whistle of the boatswain at the helm, and the shouts of the mariners. As +soon as the Saint Geran perceived that we were enough to give her succour, +she continued to fire guns regularly at the interval of three minutes. +Monsieur de la Bourdonnais caused great fires to be lighted at certain +distances upon the strand, and sent to all the inhabitants of that +neighbourhood, in search of provisions, planks, cables, and empty barrels. +A crowd of people soon arrived, accompanied by their negroes, loaded with +provisions and rigging. One of the most aged of the planters approaching +the governor, said to him, 'We have heard all night hoarse noises in the +mountain, and in the forests: the leaves of the trees are shaken, although +there is no wind: the sea birds seek refuge upon the land: it is certain +that all those signs announce a hurricane.' 'Well, my friends,' answered +the governor, 'we are prepared for it: and no doubt the vessel is also.' + +"Every thing, indeed, presaged the near approach of the hurricane. The +centre of the clouds in the zenith was of a dismal black, while their +skirts were fringed with a copper hue. The air resounded with the cries of +the frigate bird, the cur water, and a multitude of other sea birds, who, +notwithstanding the obscurity of the atmosphere, hastened from all points +of the horizon to seek for shelter in the island. + +"Towards nine in the morning we heard on the side of the ocean the most +terrific noise, as if torrents of water, mingled with thunder, were rolling +down the steeps of the mountains. A general cry was heard of, 'There is the +hurricane!' and in one moment a frightful whirlwind scattered the fog which +had covered the Isle of Amber and its channel. The Saint Geran then +presented itself to our view, her gallery crowded with people, her yards +and main topmast laid upon the deck, her flag shivered, with four cables at +her head, and one by which she was held at the stern. She had anchored +between the Isle of Amber and the main land, within that chain of breakers +which encircles the island, and which bar she had passed over, in a place +where no vessel had ever gone before. She presented her head to the waves +which rolled from the open sea; and as each billow rushed into the straits, +the ship heaved, so that her keel was in air; and at the same moment her +stern, plunging into the water, disappeared altogether, as if it were +swallowed up by the surges. In this position, driven by the winds and waves +towards the shore, it was equally impossible for her to return by the +passage through which she had made her way; or, by cutting her cables, to +throw herself upon the beach, from which she was separated by sand banks, +mingled with breakers. Every billow which broke upon the coast advanced +roaring to the bottom of the bay, and threw planks to the distance of fifty +feet upon the land; then rushing back, laid bare its sandy bed, from which +it rolled immense stones, with a hoarse dismal noise. The sea, swelled by +the violence of the wind, rose higher every moment; and the channel between +this island the Isle of Amber was but one vast sheet of white foam, with +yawning pits of black deep billows. The foam boiling in the gulf was more +than six feet high: and the winds which swept its surface, bore it over the +steep coast more than half a league upon the land. Those innumerable white +flakes, driven horizontally as far as the foot of the mountain, appeared +like snow issuing from the ocean, which was now confounded with the sky. +Thick clouds, of a horrible form, swept along the zenith with the swiftness +of birds, while others appeared motionless as rocks. No spot of azure could +be discerned in the firmament; only a pale yellow gleam displayed the +objects of earth sea, and skies. + +"From the violent efforts of the ship, what we dreaded happened. The cables +at the head of the vessel were torn away; it was then held by one anchor +only, and was instantly dashed upon the rocks, at the distance of half a +cable's length from the shore. A general cry of horror issued from the +spectators. Paul rushed towards the sea, when, seizing him by the arm, I +exclaimed, 'Would you perish?'--'Let me go to save her,' cried he, 'or +die!' Seeing that despair deprived him of reason, Domingo and I, in order +to preserve him, fastened a long cord round his waist, and seized hold of +each end. Paul then precipitated himself towards the ship, now swimming, +and now walking upon the breakers. Sometimes he had the hope of reaching +the vessel, which the sea, in its irregular movements, had left almost dry, +so that you could have made its circuit on foot; but suddenly the waves +advancing with new fury, shrouded it beneath mountains of water, which then +lifted it upright upon its keel. The billows at the same moment threw the +unfortunate Paul far upon the beach, his legs bathed in blood, his bosom +wounded, and himself half dead. The moment he had recovered his senses, he +arose, and returned with new ardour towards the vessel, the planks of which +now yawned asunder from the violent strokes of the billows. The crew, then +despairing of their safety, threw themselves in crowds into the sea, upon +yards, planks, hencoops, tables, and barrels. At this moment we beheld an +object fitted to excite eternal sympathy; a young lady in the gallery of +the stern of the Saint Geran, stretching out her arms towards him who made +so many efforts to join her. It was Virginia. She had discovered her lover +by his intrepidity. The sight of this amiable young woman, exposed to such +horrible danger, filled us with unutterable despair. As for Virginia, with +a firm and dignified mien, she waved her hand, as if bidding us an eternal +farewell. All the sailors had flung themselves into the sea, except one, +who still remained upon the deck, and who was naked, and strong as +Hercules. This man approached Virginia with respect, and, kneeling at her +feet attempted to force her to throw off her clothes; but she repulsed him +with modesty, and turned away her head. Then was heard redoubled cries from +the spectators, 'Save her! Save her! Do not leave her!' But at that moment +a mountain billow, of enormous magnitude, ingulfed itself between the Isle +of Amber and the coast, and menaced the shattered vessel, towards which it +rolled bellowing, with its black sides and foaming head. At this terrible +sight the sailor flung himself into the sea; and Virginia seeing death +inevitable, placed one hand upon her clothes, the other on her heart, and +lifting up her lovely eyes, seemed an angel prepared to take her flight to +heaven. + +"Oh, day of horror! Alas! every thing was swallowed up by the relentless +billows. The surge threw some of the spectators far upon the beach, whom an +impulse of humanity prompted to advance towards Virginia, and also the +sailor who had endeavoured to save her life. This man, who had escaped from +almost certain death, kneeling on the sand, exclaimed, 'Oh, my God! thou +hast saved my life, but I would have given it willingly for that poor young +woman!' + +"Domingo and myself drew Paul senseless to the shore, the blood flowing +from his mouth and ears. The governor put him into the hands of a surgeon, +while we sought along the beach for the corpse of Virginia. But the wind +having suddenly changed, which frequently happens during hurricanes, our +search was in vain; and we lamented that we could not even pay this +unfortunate young woman the last sad sepulchral duties. + +"We retired from the spot overwhelmed with dismay, and our minds wholly +occupied by one cruel loss, although numbers had perished in the wreck. +Some of the spectators seemed tempted, from the fatal destiny of this +virtuous young woman, to doubt the existence of Providence. Alas! there are +in life such terrible, such unmerited evils, that even the hope of the wise +is sometimes shaken. + +"In the meantime, Paul, who began to recover his senses, was taken to a +house in the neighbourhood, till he was able to be removed to his own +habitation. Thither I bent my way with Domingo, and undertook the sad task +of preparing Virginia's mother and her friend for the melancholy event +which had happened. When we reached the entrance of the valley of the river +of Fan-Palms, some negroes informed us that the sea had thrown many pieces +of the wreck into the opposite bay. We descended towards it; and one of the +first objects which struck my sight upon the beach was the corpse of +Virginia. The body was half covered with sand, and in the attitude in which +we had seen her perish. Her features were not changed; her eyes were +closed, her countenance was still serene; but the pale violets of death +were blended on her cheek with the blush of virgin modesty. One of her +hands was placed upon her clothes: and the other, which she held on her +heart, was fast closed, and so stiffened, that it was with difficulty I +took from its grasp a small box. How great was my emotion, when I saw it +contained the picture of Paul; which she had promised him never to part +with while she lived! At the sight of this last mark of the fidelity and +tenderness of the unfortunate girl, I wept bitterly. As for Domingo, he +beat his breast, and pierced the air with his cries. We carried the body of +Virginia to a fisher's hut, and gave it in charge to some poor Malabar +women, who carefully washed away the sand. + +"While they were employed in this melancholy office, we ascended with +trembling steps to the plantation. We found Madame de la Tour and Margaret +at prayer, while waiting for tidings from the ship. As soon as Madame de la +Tour saw me coming, she eagerly cried, 'Where is my child, my dear child?' +My silence and my tears apprised her of her misfortune. She was seized with +convulsive stiflings, with agonizing pains, and her voice was only heard in +groans. Margaret cried, 'Where is my son? I do not see my son!' and +fainted. We ran to her assistance. In a short time she recovered, and being +assured that her son was safe, and under the care of the governor, she only +thought of succouring her friend, who had long successive faintings. Madame +de la Tour passed the night in sufferings so exquisite, that I became +convinced there was no sorrow like a mother's sorrow. When she recovered +her senses, she cast her languid and steadfast looks on heaven. In vain her +friend and myself pressed her hands in ours: in vain we called upon her by +the most tender names; she appeared wholly insensible; and her oppressed +bosom heaved deep and hollow moans. + +"In the morning Paul was brought home in a palanquin. He was now restored +to reason but unable to utter a word. His interview with his mother and +Madame de la Tour, which I had dreaded, produced a better effect than all +my cares. A ray of consolation gleamed upon the countenances of those +unfortunate mothers. They flew to meet him, clasped him in their arms, and +bathed him with tears, which excess of anguish had till now forbidden to +flow. Paul mixed his tears with theirs; and nature having thus found +relief, a long stupor succeeded the convulsive pangs they had suffered, and +gave them a lethargic repose like that of death. + +"Monsieur de la Bourdonnais sent to apprise me secretly that the corpse of +Virginia had been borne to the town by his order, from whence it was to be +transferred to the church of the Shaddock Grove. I hastened to Port Louis, +and found a multitude assembled from all parts, in order to be present at +the funeral solemnity, as if the whole island had lost its fairest +ornament. The vessels in the harbour had their yards crossed, their flags +hoisted, and fired guns at intervals. The grenadiers led the funeral +procession, with their muskets reversed, their drums muffled, and sending +forth slow dismal sounds. Eight young ladies of the most considerable +families of the island, dressed in white, and bearing palms in their hands, +supported the pall of their amiable companion, which was strewed with +flowers. They were followed by a band of children chanting hymns, and by +the governor, his field officers, all the principal inhabitants of the +island, and an immense crowd of people. + +"This funeral solemnity had been ordered by the administration of the +country, who were desirous of rendering honours to the virtue of Virginia. +But when the progression arrived at the foot of this mountain, at the sight +of those cottages, of which she had long been the ornament and happiness, +and which her loss now filled with despair, the funeral pomp was +interrupted, the hymns and anthems ceased, and the plain resounded with +sighs and lamentations. Companies of young girls ran from the neighbouring +plantations to touch the coffin of Virginia with their scarfs, chaplets, +and crowns of flowers, invoking her as a saint. Mothers asked of heaven a +child like Virginia; lovers, a heart as faithful; the poor, as tender a +friend; and the slaves, as kind a mistress. + +"When the procession had reached the place of interment, the negresses of +Madagascar, and the caffres of Mosambiac, placed baskets of fruit around +the corpse, and hung pieces of stuff upon the neighbouring trees, according +to the custom of their country. The Indians of Bengal, and of the coast of +Malabar, brought cages filled with birds, which they set at liberty upon +her coffin. Thus did the loss of this amiable object affect the natives of +different countries, and thus was the ritual of various religions breathed +over the tomb of unfortunate virtue. + +"She was interred near the church of the Shaddock Grove, upon the western +side, at the foot of a copse of bamboos, where, in coming from mass with +her mother and Margaret, she loved to repose herself, seated by him whom +she called her brother. + +"On his return from the funeral solemnity, Monsieur de la Bourdonnais came +hither, followed by part of his numerous train. He offered Madame de la +Tour and her friend all the assistance which it was in his power to bestow. +After expressing his indignation at the conduct of her unnatural aunt, he +advanced to Paul, and said every thing which he thought most likely to +soothe and console him. 'Heaven is my witness,' said he, 'that I wished to +ensure your happiness, and that of your family. My dear friend, you must go +to France: I will obtain a commission for you, and during your absence will +take the same care of your mother as if she were my own.' He then offered +him his hand; but Paul drew away, and turned his head, unable to bear his +sight. + +"I remained at the plantation of my unfortunate friends, that I might +render to them and Paul those offices of friendship which soften, though +they cannot cure, calamity. At the end of three weeks Paul was able to +walk, yet his mind seemed to droop in proportion as his frame gathered +strength. He was insensible to every thing; his look was vacant; and when +spoken to, he made no reply. Madame de la Tour, who was dying, said to him +often, 'My son, while I look at you, I think I see Virginia.' At the name +of Virginia he shuddered, and hastened from her, notwithstanding the +entreaties of his mother, who called him back to her friend. He used to +wander into the garden, and seat himself at the foot of Virginia's cocoa +tree, with his eyes fixed upon the fountain. The surgeon to the governor, +who had shown the most humane attention to Paul, and the whole family, told +us that, in order to cure that deep melancholy which had taken possession +of his mind, we must allow him to do whatever he pleased, without +contradiction, as the only means of conquering his inflexible silence. + +"I resolved to follow this advice. The first use which Paul made of his +returning strength was to absent himself from the plantation. Being +determined not to lose sight of him, I set out immediately, and desired +Domingo to take some provisions and accompany us. Paul's strength and +spirits seemed renewed as he descended the mountain. He took the road of +the Shaddock Grove; and when he was near the church, in the Alley of +Bamboos, he walked directly to the spot where he saw some new-laid earth, +and there kneeling down, and raising up his eyes to heaven, he offered up a +long prayer, which appeared to me a symptom of returning reason; since this +mark of confidence in the Supreme Being showed that his mind began to +resume its natural functions. Domingo and I followed his example, fell upon +our knees, and mingled our prayers with his. When he arose, he bent his +way, paying little attention to us, towards the northern part of the +island. As we knew that he was not only ignorant of the spot where the body +of Virginia was laid, but even whether it had been snatched from the waves, +I asked him why he had offered up his prayer at the foot of those bamboos. +He answered, 'We have been there so often!' He continued his course until +we reached the borders of the forest, when night came on. I prevailed with +him to take some nourishment; and we slept upon the grass, at the foot of a +tree. The next day I thought he seemed disposed to trace back his steps; +for, after having gazed a considerable time upon the church of the Shaddock +Grove with its avenues of bamboo stretching along the plain, he made a +motion as if he would return; but, suddenly plunging into the forest, he +directed his course to the north. I judged what was his design, from which +I endeavoured to dissuade him in vain. At noon he arrived at that part of +the island called the Gold Dust. He rushed to the seashore, opposite to the +spot where the Saint Geran perished. At the sight of the Isle of Amber and +its channel, then smooth as a mirror, he cried, 'Virginia! Oh, my dear +Virginia!' and fell senseless. Domingo and myself carried him into the +woods, where we recovered him with some difficulty. He made an effort to +return to the seashore; but, having conjured him not to renew his own +anguish and ours by those cruel remembrances, he took another direction. +During eight days he sought every spot where he had once wandered with the +companion of his childhood. He traced the path by which she had gone to +intercede for the slave of the Black River. He gazed again upon the banks +of the Three Peaks, where she had reposed herself when unable to walk +further, and upon that part of the wood where they lost their way. All +those haunts, which recalled the inquietudes, the sports, the repasts, the +benevolence of her he loved, the river of the Sloping Mountain, my house, +the neighbouring cascade, the papaw tree she had planted, the mossy downs +where she loved to run, the openings of the forest where she used to sing, +called forth successively the tears of hopeless passion; and those very +echoes which had so often resounded their mutual shouts of joy, now only +repeated those accents of despair, 'Virginia! Oh, my dear Virginia!' + +"While he led this savage and wandering life, his eyes became sunk and +hollow, his skin assumed a yellow tint, and his health rapidly decayed. +Convinced that present sufferings are rendered more acute by the bitter +recollection of past pleasures, and that the passions gather strength in +solitude, I resolved to tear my unfortunate friend from those scenes which +recalled the remembrance of his loss, and to lead him to a more busy part +of the island. With this view, I conducted him to the inhabited heights of +Williams, which he had never visited, and where agriculture and commerce +ever occasioned much bustle and variety. A crowd of carpenters were +employed in hewing down the trees, while others were sawing planks. +Carriages were passing and repassing on the roads. Numerous herds of oxen +and troops of horses were feeding on those ample meadows, over which a +number of habitations were scattered. On many spots the elevation of the +soil was favourable to the culture of European trees: ripe corn waved its +yellow sheaves upon the plains: strawberry plants flourished in the +openings of the woods, and hedges of rose bushes along the roads. The +freshness of the air, by giving a tension to the nerves, was favourable to +the Europeans. From those heights, situated near the middle of the island, +and surrounded by extensive forests, you could neither discern Port Louis, +the church of the Shaddock Grove, nor any other object which could recall +to Paul the remembrance of Virginia. Even the mountains, which appear of +various shapes on the side of Port Louis, present nothing to the eye from +those plains but a long promontory, stretching itself in a straight and +perpendicular line, from whence arise lofty pyramids of rocks, on the +summits of which the clouds repose. + +"To those scenes I conducted Paul, and kept him continually in action, +walking with him in rain and sunshine, night and day, and contriving that +he should lose himself in the depths of forests, leading him over untilled +grounds, and endeavouring, by violent fatigue, to divert his mind from its +gloomy meditations, and change the course of his reflections, by his +ignorance of the paths where we wandered. But the soul of a lover finds +everywhere the traces of the object beloved. The night and the day, the +calm of solitude, and the tumult of crowds, time itself, while it casts the +shade of oblivion over so many other remembrances, in vain would tear that +tender and sacred recollection from the heart, which, like the needle, when +touched by the loadstone, however it may have been forced into agitation, +it is no sooner left to repose, than it turns to the pole by which it is +attracted. When I inquired of Paul, while we wandered amidst the plains of +Williams, 'Where are we now going?' he pointed to the north and said, +'Yonder are our mountains; let us return.' + +"Upon the whole, I found that every means I took to divert his melancholy +was fruitless, and that no resource was left but an attempt to combat his +passion by the arguments which reason suggested. I answered him, 'Yes, +there are the mountains where once dwelt your beloved Virginia; and this is +the picture you gave her, and which she held, when dying, to her heart; +that heart, which even in her last moments only beat for you.' I then gave +Paul the little picture which he had given Virginia at the borders of the +cocoa tree fountain. At this sight a gloomy joy overspread his looks. He +eagerly seized the picture with his feeble hands, and held it to his lips. +His oppressed bosom seemed ready to burst with emotion, and his eyes were +filled with tears which had no power to flow. + +"'My son,' said I, 'listen to him who is your friend, who was the friend of +Virginia, and who, in the bloom of your hopes, endeavoured to fortify your +mind against the unforeseen accidents of life. What do you deplore with so +much bitterness? Your own misfortunes, or those of Virginia? Your own +misfortunes are indeed severe. You have lost the most amiable of women: she +who sacrificed her own interests to yours, who preferred you to all that +fortune could bestow, and considered you as the only recompense worthy of +her virtues. But might not this very object, from whom you expected the +purest happiness, have proved to you a source of the most cruel distress? +She had returned poor, disinherited; and all you could henceforth have +partaken with her was your labours: while rendered more delicate by her +education, and more courageous by her misfortunes, you would have beheld +her every day sinking beneath her efforts to share and soften your +fatigues. Had she brought you children, this would only have served to +increase her inquietudes and your own, from the difficulty of sustaining +your aged parents and your infant family. You will tell me, there would +have been reserved to you a happiness independent of fortune, that of +protecting a beloved object, which attaches itself to us in proportion to +its helplessness; that your pains and sufferings would have served to +endear you to each other, and that your passion would have gathered +strength from your mutual misfortunes. Undoubtedly virtuous love can shed a +charm over pleasures which are thus mingled with bitterness. But Virginia +is no more; yet those persons still live, whom, next to yourself, she held +most dear; her mother, and your own, whom your inconsolable affliction is +bending with sorrow to the grave. Place your happiness, as she did hers, in +affording them succour. And why deplore the fate of Virginia? Virginia +still exists. There is he assured, a region in which virtue receives its +reward. Virginia now is happy. Ah! if, from the abode of angels, she could +tell you, as she did when she bid you farewell. 'O, Paul! life is but a +trial. I was faithful to the laws of nature, love, and virtue. Heaven found +I had fulfilled my duties, and has snatched me for ever from all the +miseries I might have endured myself, and all I might have felt for the +miseries of others. I am placed above the reach of all human evils, and you +pity me! I am become pure and unchangeable as a particle of light, and you +would recall me to the darkness of human life! O, Paul! O, my beloved +friend! recollect those days of happiness, when in the morning we felt the +delightful sensations excited by the unfolding beauties 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 farewell, when I saw +she was hastening after me with Mary and Domingo. But what seems most +strange is, that Madame de la Tour has this very night had a dream attended +with the same circumstances.' + +"'My dear friend,' I replied, 'nothing, I believe, happens in this world +without the permission of God. Dreams sometimes foretell the truth.' + +"Madame de la Tour related to me her dream, which was exactly similar; and, +as I had never observed in either of those persons any propensity to +superstition, I was struck with the singular coincidence of their dreams, +which, I had little doubt, would soon be realized. + +"What I expected took place. Paul died two months after the death of +Virginia, whose name dwelt upon his lips even in his expiring moments. +Eight days after the death of her son, Margaret saw her last hour approach +with that serenity which virtue only can feel. She bade Madame de la Tour +the most tender farewell, 'in the hope,' she said, 'of a sweet and eternal +reunion. Death is the most precious good,' added she, 'and we ought to +desire it. If life be a punishment we should wish for its termination; if +it be a trial, we should be thankful that it is short.' + +"The governor took care of Domingo and Mary, who were no longer able to +labour, and who survived their mistresses but a short time. As for poor +Fidele, he pined to death, at the period he lost his master. + +"I conducted Madame de la Tour to my dwelling, and she bore her calamities +with elevated fortitude. She had endeavoured to comfort Paul and Margaret +till their last moments, as if she herself had no agonies to bear. When +they were no more, she used to talk of them as of beloved friends, from +whom she was not distant. She survived them but one month. Far from +reproaching her aunt for those afflictions she had caused, her benign +spirit prayed to God to pardon her, and to appease that remorse which the +consequences of her cruelty would probably awaken in her breast. + +"I heard, by successive vessels which arrived from Europe, that this +unnatural relation, haunted by a troubled conscience, accused herself +continually of the untimely fate of her lovely niece, and the death of her +mother, and became at intervals bereft of her reason. Her relations, whom +she hated, took the direction of her fortune, after shutting her up as a +lunatic, though she possessed sufficient use of her reason to feel all the +pangs of her dreadful situation, and died at length in agonies of despair. + +"The body of Paul was placed by the side of his Virginia, at the foot of +the same shrubs; and on that hallowed spot the remains of their tender +mothers, and their faithful servants, are laid. No marble covers the turf, +no inscription records their virtues; but their memory is engraven upon our +hearts, in characters, which are indelible; and surely, if those pure +spirits still take an interest in what passes upon earth, they love to +wander beneath the roofs of these dwellings, which are inhabited by +industrious virtue, to console the poor who complain of their destiny, to +cherish in the hearts of lovers the sacred flame of fidelity, to inspire a +taste for the blessing of nature, the love of labour, and the dread of +riches. + +"The voice of the people, which is often silent with regard to those +monuments raised to flatter the pride of kings, has given to some parts of +this island names which will immortalize the loss of Virginia. Near the +Isle of Amber, in the midst of sandbanks, is a spot called the Pass of +Saint Geran, from the name of the vessel which there perished. The +extremity of that point of land, which is three leagues distant, and half +covered by the waves, and which the Saint Geran could not double on the +night preceding the huricane, is called the Cape of Misfortune; and before +us, at the end of the valley, is the Bay of the Tomb, where Virginia was +found buried in the sand; as if the waves had sought to restore her corpse +to her family, that they might render it the last sad duties on those +shores of which her innocence had been the ornament. + +"Ye faithful lovers, who were so tenderly united! unfortunate mothers! +beloved family! those woods which sheltered you with their foliage, those +fountains which flowed for you, those hillocks upon which you reposed, +still deplore your loss! No one has since presumed to cultivate that +desolated ground, or repair those fallen huts. Your goats are become wild, +your orchards are destroyed, your birds are fled, and nothing is heard but +the cry of the sparrowhawk, who skims around the valley of rocks. As for +myself, since I behold you no more, I am like a father bereft of his +children, like a traveller who wanders over the earth, desolate and alone." + +In saying these words, the good old man retired, shedding tears, and mine +had often flowed, during this melancholy narration. + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Paul and Virginia, by Bernadin de Saint-Pierre + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PAUL AND VIRGINIA *** + +***** This file should be named 10859.txt or 10859.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/8/5/10859/ + +Produced by Internet Archive; University of Florida, Children, Grenet +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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